Author's Notes: I know, I know. This chapter has taken forever - but I swear that it wasn't my fault. When I uploaded Chapter Nineteen, not only had I already written this chapter, but I had already sent it to my beta. She usually is incredibly fast, but this time real life caught up with her and she was unable to correct the chapter. Finally I decided that the update had taken too long and decided to upload the chapter anyway, but bear in mind it hasn't been betaed. Consider yourself warned.

Chapter Twenty: Bullying

Things didn't go downright okey for Connor after the chat with Severus. Actually, life at Hogwarts kept being rather difficult for him during the following days. He still had to endure the glares and snide remarks from his housemates, many of them several years older and several inches taller than Connor, especially after any of them got a particularly low mark in Potions. He still had to endure that most of his dormates had chosen Janus Rutherford as their leader, who kept making derisive comments about how Connor should have gone to Slytherin, how everything was bound to be a piece of cake if you were one of the teachers' child, and how certain people didn't have friends at all...

The last one was the one that hurt Connor the most, even though it was stupid. After all, he had friends... they just weren't in his dormitory. And there always was Benny Dunstar, but in spite of the camarederie of the first night, Connor wasn't sure whether they were going to be friends. Their tempers didn't match, and sometimes it was really hard to get on well with the boy.

And, of course, he still had the lessons. Some of them – like History of Magic or Astronomy – weren't difficult at all for Connor. On the other hand, he already knew Transfiguration was bound to be his downfall. Knowing it was an important subject and, besides, it was McGonagall's subject, he put all his effort on it... only to make very little, if not any, progress. Transfiguration, Connor feared, just wasn't his thing. Herbology was a nightmare, too: plants just seemed to die at his touch. Like his mother, whose flowers always died within a couple of hours, he was just unable to keep the plants alive. Professor Sprout had begun to glare at him whenever he came into the Greenhouse. Charms was all right – but who could really do badly with Flitwick?

Another lesson that turned out to be a huge disappointment for Connor – and nearly all his classmates – was Defence Against the Dark Arts. They had all been eager to start studying dark creatures and throwing counter-jinxes at each other – but soon they realised that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Right from day one, Professor Lysandra Nicodemou made clear that first-years would only study theory, which meant no dangerous creatures, no counter-jinxes and, of course, no duelling. Instead, she lectured them on the ethical difference between common magic and Dark magic, the time and hystorical context when that difference had been established, and the legislation that regulated it, and other equally boring-to-death subjects. Connor had eagerly read his syllabus only to find that the rest of the year was going to be exactly the same: all boring theory.

Professor Nicodemou seem to enjoy teaching her lessons almost as litte his students liked attending them. It was rumoured that, due to a recent illness, she'd been forced to temporarily quit an important charge at the Department of Magical Catastrophes, and in desperate need of cash she'd accepted Dumbledore's offer to teach at Hogwarts.

Connor didn't know whether the rumours were right or not, but it would have certainly explained the little patience she had with her students. It would also have explained the lack of control she had over her class – even first-years rebelled to the boredom of her lessons, and sometimes not even her yelling in her dreadfully high-pitched voice was enough to keep her students quiet for long. She certainly didn't have Severus' and Professor McGonagall's gift to catch their students' attention without raising their voices. Instead she screamed, and the majority of the children ended up with a headache after the end of most lessons. In all, she wasn't one of the most popular teachers.

However, the position of Most Unpopular Teacher at Hogwarts was still Severus'. All Gryffindors groaned every time they headed towards the dungeons, but none of them did it with more reason than Connor Angel. Severus' treatment hadn't improved at all since their chat, but at least Connor had learnt to avoid detention by keeping his mouth shut.

Precisely after one disastrous Potions lessons, Connor was chatting with Alden Higgs, who'd just introduced him one of his friends, Linus Scrimgeour. Connor hadn't believed possible that two friends could be so different from each other. Alden was a self-centered boy, who could chat excitedly and non-stop about anything and that cared a little more than other boys his age about his physical appearence – well, perhaps more than a little. He could easily be labeled as shallow, as he usually cared more about trifle stuff than he did about, for instance, his marks. Scrimgeour, on the contrary, was Alden's opposite. The best one could say about his appearence was that he looked... neat. He was very serious-looking and he was obsessed over his marks. He had already mentioned to Connor that he was preparing to become Prefect – and that was ages away! Definitely, those two were an odd pair.

Scrimgeour was talking about the Prefects' selection process, as Alden complained about the unfairness of the rule that didn't allow first-years to go to Hogsmeade, when they reached the Entrance Hall and walked past Janus Rutherford and Matthew Brennan. Connor waved a hand to Matthew and ignored Janus completely. Instead, he said goodbye to Alden and Linus, who had to rush to another class. When he turned to head towards Gryffindor Tower, he heard Janus saying in an audible whisper:

'You have to be careful around certain people, Matt.'

Connor stopped dead on his tracks as he realised at once that the comment was meant for him. However, he did not turn around, neither did he show any other external signs of listening to the conversation.

'Why so?' There was a bemused, and yet curious, note in Matthew's voice. Janus let out a theatrical sigh.

'See, Matty, some people won't take it well the fact you belong to a Muggle family. Some might say that... well... you're inferior or something, and they can be nasty to you. Slytherins, in particular, got a reputation of treating Muggle-born children badly, and you should probably be careful with those who get along with them...'

It took a moment for Janus' words to sink in but when they did, they made quite an impact, which was probably what Janus had been looking for in the first place. What he wasn't prepared for was to this kind of impact.

Connor spun so fast that he would have tripped hadn't it been for his amazing balance.

'What have you just said?'

Connor had taken many stuff from Janus lying down, but this was the last straw. For a long part of his life, Connor had been forced to see that there was a huge difference between him and the other children he knew, and it wasn't just the fact he didn't live with his parents. No, the huge difference many people had been unkind enough to point out when he was still a small boy was that, unlike most Hogsmeaders and other children he knew, like Draco Malfoy or Theo Nott, he didn't belong to a pure-blooded family. In other words, he was nothing but a filthy Mudblood. To some people he would never become a real wizard as his blood was tainted by his unworthy lineage.

At an early age, Connor had learnt to defend himself from those attacks, first with his fists and then with snide remarks. The insult still stung, though, and there were few things Connor hated more than being taunted about his impure bloodline.

However, that afternoon Connor discovered there was something much worse than being called a Mudblood, and that was beind unfairly accussed of being a rascist. Fury swelled inside him, his hands clenching into fists. Janus, unaware of the full iimpact of his words, looked at him with a sneer on his face.

'I said,' he replied slowly, as if he were talking to a toddler, 'that Matty should better get out of the way of certain people. That certain people might judge him because of his background.'

All right, enough is enough, I don't care if I get expelled, I'm so going to smash this whelp's skull, right here, right now, no matter what Severus or McGonagall will do to me when they find out, don't care 'bout Janus' little gang's revenge, he's earned this...

Connor took a deep breath... and made his decision.

'Well, then this is the first time that I think you're right about something.'

'You think so?'

Janus looked shocked, his eyes widening in incredulity. Matthew Brennan's eyes, on the other hand, narrowed and for a second Connor thought he'd seen the slightest hint of suspicion.

'Yeah, sure. There are loads of prejudiced people around here you might want to avoid, Matthew.'

The Muggle-born boy said nothing, but looked at Connor in the eye intently, as if he were trying to find something in there. Connor looked back, and slowly a gleam of understanding appeared in Matthew's eyes. Janus, on the other hand, still looked puzzled, although a hint of uncertain suspicion could be seen now in his eyes. Connor kept an unfathomable face and went on.

'It's the kind of people that would stick up their noses at you, and brag about how many generations of pure-blooded wizards their families have produced. They also think Muggle culture is inferior, so they don't even bother to learn about it – that's how some of them don't even know what electricity is.'

Janus head jerked up, and his eyes gleamed with fury when he finally understood what Connor's speech was aimed at.

During their fourth night at Hogwarts, Matthew had made the mistake to comment out loud that he hoped he wouldn't miss his beloved videogames too much, or TV programmes like The Simpsons. His fellow dormates, as it couldn't have been other way, had stared at him as if he'd suddenly grown red horns. They'd been curious about Matthew's words, but when he'd tried to explain them, most of them – including Janus, of course – couldn't help to laugh at the ridiculous stuff Muggles invented.

Matthew, who was more patient than most children his age, had even tried to explain Janus what electricity was. Janus, instead of admitting he was obviously too stupid to grasp the concept of stuff that worked without magic, had laughed it off and said that there was no way he'd ever get Muggle technology, as there hadn't been anyone with a single drop of Muggle blood in the Rutherfords' family tree for seven generations.

Naturally, the Muggle-born boy had nothing to reply to that, and he'd soon given up to try to explain his culture to his fellow classmates. Connor would have come to his rescue if he'd been present, but he generally avoided being in the same room with Janus as much as he could.

'What's that supposed to mean, Angel?' Janus hissed through gritted teeth. Connor shrugged.

'I don't know. Maybe you aren't as good as you think you are. After all, you're always picking on me...'

'Of course I pick on you! You're nothing but a second-handed Slytherin...'

'...who also happens to be a Muggle-born, and therefore, some might think you're a little racist.'

Janus' jaw fell open as his eyes widened in shock.

'You can't be a Muggle-born. You were raised by Snape from all people...'

'Funny. I thought you were called a Muggle-born when neither of your parents had magical powers. As my mother is a manager in a Muggle hotel, and my father was very clearly a Muggle himself, I thought that made me a Muggle-born. Silly me.'

Matthew coughed, and his eyes were suspiciously glinting with amusement, but Janus merely ignored him, his whole attention focused on Connor.

'C'mon! If you are a Muggle-born, then why do you hang out so much with a bunch of Slytherins? Everyone knows...'

'...their reputation of rascism, yeah. But, funny thing, they've never picked up on me. Some other people, on the contrary...'

Janus now looked positively furious.

'I'm not a rascist person!'

Connor narrowed his eyes. 'Really? 'Cause from the way you laugh at Muggle culture, just because you're too dumb to get it, and the way you brag about your pure-blooded family, some people might think otherwise.'

Janus was temporary speechless. It was really funny to see him with such a dumb expression on his face, but this was getting tiring by now.

'I would like to keep discussing this issue with you but see, unlike others, I have more important things to do than listen to your babbling. Now, if you excuse me, I'll go back to the common room. Bye, Matthew.'

'Bye, Connor!' Matthew replied naturally. Only Merlin knew the effort it took him to do so, as he was barely suppressing his laughter.

That evening, at Gryffindor common room, Matthew Brennan sat on the armchair next to Connor's and they chatted a long time. Matthew was glad to find someone who spoke his same language, whereas Connor was glad to find out someone who couldn't have cared less about whether he'd been raised by Severus Snape or whether he hung out with Slytherins.

Perhaps it was a little early to say, as both children chatted about their favourite comics (Matthew's was Spiderman, Connor hadn't decided yet), whether it was the beggining of a beautiful friendship or not...

...but it had to start somehow, didn't it?

Harry looked both ways before taking a tentative step out in the sunshine. These days, he had to be extra careful when he went out to the playground. One could never know when they would attack next, and during breaktimes he was particularly vulnerable.

To say that Harry's popularity at his new school hadn't increased since day one would have been an understatement. The first day was only a tester of the hell his life would turn into within the following days. The worst was yet to come.

It seemed that Curly, Marko and Alan Greenburg were the official bullies of the school. The Trio – as most people knew them – had no other occupation in their pitiful lives than to make their fellow classmates' lives as miserable as possible. And they were masterminds where causing pain and humiliation were concerned. Besides, they had a sixth sense to spot weaknesses – or at least Alan, who seemed to be the leader of the group, had. Obviously, neither of them had any trouble using them to their advantage. They loved to harass those they perceived as weak – and also those they had reasons, rational or not, not to like.

It was no mystery at the school that the Trio had taken a particular dislike for that skinny, spectacled boy called Harry Potter. Since the incident in the cafeteria, the three boys had decided to loathe the new child with passion and to make his life at school as hellish as possible. And God, they were succeding.

For one thing, they didn't let pass one single ocassion to bother him one way or another. Throwing paper balls during lessons, mocking him, hiding his stuff, pouring juice into his bag, were the most innocent things they did to him. Sure, they were annoying as hell, but that was nothing compared to the times they tried to chase him down in order to use him as a punching bag. Of course, they were much bigger than Harry, but luckily he was way faster than any of them, and so far they hadn't been able to catch him. Harry was well aware that he couldn't let himself be caught, or there'd be little left of him by the time the Trio was finished with him.

It didn't help that the school Harry was attending to was bound to be one of the worst in town. It was set in a poor neighbourhood, so many of its students had parents that were unemployed or had ill-paid jobs so the situation at home wasn't idyllic. Naturally, most of the children had a couple of issues of their own, and to cap matters there were few ill-paid teachers, who could barely deal with the increasing number of students. The natural conclusion was that mayhem and chaos had become the norm, and not the exception, within the walls of Harry's new school.

The only teacher who remained in full control of her class was Mrs. Koenig, nicknamed Fraulein Hitler by some of the more daring students. She was terribly strict, and not even a fly dared to make noise during her lessons. She also had a hideous temper, and her young students had soon learnt to fear her chilly tone and the small ruler she used to hit them on their fingers when they misbehaved. Actually, she brought Harry unpleasant memories of his Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge, with one small difference: Mrs. Koenig had no favourites. To her, all her students were equally evil wrongdoers, although she admitted that some of them were more likely to turn into criminals when they grew up. The Trio was part of the last group so Mrs. Koenig never stopped watching them, which was a good thing: they couldn't bully Harry during her lessons. However, the rest of the time Harry was pretty much on his own.

Another drawback about his new school was that Harry had been unable to make any friends. The truth was that many of his classmates didn't seem to be particularly sociable or interested in making new friends. However, Harry suspected the main reason the other children avoided him was the fear they felt for the Trio, who wouldn't have liked anyoned to treat Harry too friendly. That wasn't exactly a cheering thought.

Harry chose a corner of the playground, from which he would be able to see anybody that came on his way, and took out his sandwich. He began eating quickly, and it was lucky he did so, because when he had not yet finished it he saw Alan Greenburg coming closer. Harry stood up at once, and glanced around to find a possible escape. However, this time the Trio had showed they were capable of strategizing: as Alan strode towards him from the center, Curly walked towards him from the left and Marko, from the right. Uh-oh...

'So, Potter, what're you eating?' Alan asked conversationally. Harry eyed him, and then eyed Curly and Marko, who were trying to look somewhat friendly, but all they managed to transmit was maliciousness. Harry suddenly remembered that the Trio never bothered to bring anything from home, as it was much easier for them to snatch food from the other kids. Marty Blummer, a fatty boy who wouldn't be fat for long thanks to the Trio, was one of their predilect victims. It seemed that Marty hadn't brought enough sandwichs to school that day.

''Cause you know, we're kind of hungry. We forgot to bring a snack today.'

For a moment, Harry pondered the situation. He had two options. The first one was to put an easy and painless end to it by giving them what was left of the sandwich. The other one was... well, a little more rebellious. It only took him an instant to make his choice.

He put into his mouth what was left of the sandwich and made quite of an effort to swallow it. When he did, he gave Alan a forced smile.

'It was tuna. But I'm afraid you'll have to find somebody else now to steal their food.'

Alan's eyes glinted with anger. 'You think yourself smart, Potter. But there's three of us and guess what?'

'Mrs. Koenig isn't watching,' Curly stated, his eyes glinting malevously, 'neither are the other teachers. And you know what, Potter?' He grinned; a twisted, cruel grin. 'None of the other kids' gonna help you, 'cause none of them wants you here.'

Marko chuckled. Harry knew for a fact that the boy wasn't an idiot, but appearances were clearly deceiving. Especially as he practically never opened his mouth at all.

Harry could have pointed this out, or he could have replied to Curly's comment by saying that the reason the other kids wouldn't intervene was because Curly was thrice their size, but instead he chose to hold his breath.

'What's the matter, Potter? Cat ate your tongue?'

'He's a chicken.' Alan imitated a chicken rather succesfully. Actually, he was very good at imitating creatures and people. If he hadn't been such a moron, he could have even been funny.

But Harry wasn't thinking about Alan's acting skills right now. Actually, all he was looking for was a moment of distraction... and when Curly and Marko bent and held their ribs as they laughed at Alan's act, Harry's moment arrived.

He ducked and, before any of them could react, pushed Marko out of the way with his shoulder and began to run like hell. Their laughter stopped at once.

'Son of a b...!'

He could hear them running right behind him, but Harry didn't stop to glance over his shoulder. Instead, he raced towards the entrance doors, but they were too far...

'You aren't going to get out of this one alive, Potter!'

A tin can flew past his head, and it was a miracle it didn't hit him. He didn't stop, though, and kept running. His heart throbbed in his chest and he could feel blood pounding on his temple, apart from a sharp pain on his side, but he kept running. God, if he could only get away from them...

The next thing that Harry remembered from that day was hearing Mrs. Koenig's utterly infuriated voice:

'What on earth do you think you are doing, Mr. Potter?'

Her voice sounded faint, as if it came from quite a distance. When Harry turned to see the source of the voice, he realised that Mrs. Koenig looked much shorter than Harry used to see her. In fact, her head was tilted upwards, and she was staring right into Harry's eyes. But why did he see her so small? And why did the ground look like it was so far away?

It was then when Harry realised he was no longer at the playground running away from the Trio. It was then when he realised he was on the school's roof.

Uh-oh.

Connor knew that Janus Rutherford wasn't going to let it go that easily. Since the day he'd practically accussed him of being a pure-blood racist, Janus hadn't confronted Connor directly, but that didn't mean the tension between them had eased one little bit. Actually, it seemed to have only increased since that day.

It didn't help that Janus' idly comments about Connor being a spoiled brat weren't received with the same acceptance, since everyone had checked and double-checked the hideous way Snape treated Connor, and that none of the other teachers showed him any favouritism. In fact, some of his peers had started to feel a bit of sympathy for Connor, sympathy the boy didn't welcome at all but that nonetheless existed. Janus' comments about Connor fraternizing with Slytherins sounded a little more believable, but as Connor started to get on better with his fellow Gryffindors, he stopped spending so much time with Slytherins, so Janus was proved wrong once more. And of course, Connor getting along with his dormates was something that also annoyed Janus to no end.

Connor, on the other hand, felt less and less patience with the boy. Although he wasn't looking forward to getting into trouble, Connor felt ready to get back at Janus at the first opportunity he got.

The opportunity took its time to show up, though. It wasn't so easy getting into a fight at Hogwarts, especially when the always watchful Professor McGonagall was the Head of your House. She had an inherent talent to sense trouble and the art to put an end to it before it even started. Besides, both Connor and Janus were still shy first-years, they weren't daring enough to pick up a fight under a teacher's nose.

As a result of this, the days following their argument at the Entrance Hall were followed by snide remarks, sarcastic comments, glares and arguments that nearly turned into fights. Both Connor and Janus seemed to accumulate mutual despise, until it reached unsuspected levels. And, of course, one day it just exploded.

They had all been in the dormitory, getting ready for dinner. Usually it was strange that both Connor and Janus spent time in the same room at the same time, but that night Matthew had to pick up a book and Connor had accompanied him. After all, Connor reasoned, it was his dormitory as well. Janus doesn't own it, so he'd better sod off.

Later on Connor wouldn't be able to recall what had exactly started the fight, but probably there hadn't been a good reason anyway. They were both eager to pick up a fight, and any excuse would have done.

In this case, it probably had something to do with the fact that Janus smashed a glass when Matthew and Connor came in, and that the latter couldn't hide his laughter in time. This might have led Janus to make an acid comment about Connor's most recent disaster during their last Transfiguration class, and as this was a sensitive nerve for Connor, it might have been the reason he began to tease the other boy about his clumsiness at Potions. And then, ladies and gentlemen, war began.

'It's not my fault that damned potion turned out all wrong, if your dear Snape is such a lousy teacher who never stops harassing me!' Janus exclaimed. Connor's eyes narrowed.

'In case you haven't noticed, Professor Snape gives me a hard time too, and I daresay he treats me worse – but I, unlike other dunderheads, am able to read the instructions on the blackboard and not make a mess of it!'

Janus' cheeks flushed with red. 'Who are you calling a dunderhead?'

Connor looked around casually. 'Well, I don't know what you think, but it seems to me you're the only dunderhead here. What do you say?'

The other boys held their breaths, thunderstuck. Janus' hands were trembling from fury, and he seemed to be about to choke.

'I'm not a dunderhead,' he managed to spit out at last. 'Snape's a git, he always marks down Gryffindors. My cousin once told me that he gave him a D just because...'

Connor, although inflamed by the insult to Severus, spoke in a cool voice:

'If he got a D, then your cousin was more of a dunderhead than you are.'

Benny Dunstar let out a shocked gasp, Geoffrey's eyes widened and Humphrey and Ferris exchanged uneasy glances. Matthew, on the other hand, only looked pensive.

Connor ignored them all, and focused his attention on Janus instead. He'd gone pale, and his hands had clenched into fists so tight that his knuckles had gone white too.

Janus launched himself forward, his right fist aimed at Connor's chin, who had already seen that coming. He jumped aside and caught Janus' fist with his. Connor pulled Janus forward as he aimed his fist to the boy's stomach.

Janus gasped when the pain overcame him, but he recovered soon enough to kick Connor on his knees, making him to fall. From that moment on, things got very dizzy for Connor, and he wasn't completely aware where he was punching Janus anymore, or where he was being punched. It was all a mess of kicking, elbowing, punching and hitting, and none of them seemed to feel the pain or to be able to stop. Connor just wanted to smash Janus' smug face, and it seemed that the othe boy had the same idea for Connor's.

'Boys, please calm down...'

'C'mon, you're gonna kill each other!'

'If McGonagall finds out...'

'STOP IT NOW!'

The last voice was Matthew's, who shouted at the top of his lungs as he grabbed Connor's shoulders and pulled him back. He needed Geoffrey's help to do so, as Humphrey and Ferris did the same with Janus.

'Dunstar, don't stay there staring like an idiot and lend us a hand!' Humphrey exclaimed. Benny, who had been watching the scene with a stunned expression on his face, flinched and finally reacted, going to help Ferris and Humphrey to hold Janus.

For a moment, it seemed like Connor and Janus would have liked to resume their fight, but as adrenaline worn out they became aware of how tired they were, and how much their muscles ached in all sort of places.

'McGonagall's going to take a zillion points from us when she sees you two like this,' Geoffrey complained, and the rest seemed to silently agree. Connor's stomach did a flip. He certainly hadn't thought about that. He hadn't thought at all, actually. Now that he did, though, he became aware of all the consequences. What if McGonagall didn't just take points from them? What if she gave them detention? What if, Merlin forbid it, she decided to talk to Severus and Janus' dad? What if... Was fighting a possible cause for expulsion? He felt revolted at the idea.

From what he could judge from Janus' face, the boy was having the same frightening thoughts. Suddenly, Connor had a brilliant idea.

'No one's going to see us like this.'

Ferris snorted.

'What are you planning to do, Connor? Starve here until the marks are gone?'

Connor was too tired to argue back. 'No. I know a potion that can erase all marks within minutes.'

'Oh, c'mon, Angel, stop showing off...'

'Janus, shut up for five bloody seconds, will you?' Matthew snapped. Janus looked surprised at the usually quiet boy's angry response and didn't dare to make a remark. Matthew turned to face Connor.

'You're gonna need some ingredients from the Student's Cupboard, right?' At Connor's nod, he added 'Give me the list and Geoffrey and I will go to pick them.'

'Hey, why me...?'

Matthew glared, and they all found out that his glares could send shivers down your spine. Geoffrey didn't dare to finish the question.

Connor went to his trunk, and revolved until he found a dusty book Severus had given him a couple of years ago, filled of simple potions. He flipped through the pages until he found what he needed, and gave the list of the ingredients to Matthew, who grabbed Geoffrey's arm and disappeared.

'Do you need help with it, Connor?' Humphrey asked. Connor shook his head.

'Nope, it's rather simple. You can go and have dinner, we'll join you later.'

'What, so Janus' going to stay alone with you?' Benny asked, puzzled. They all loked at Janus, who merely shrugged.

'It's not like I can go down like this with all the Prefects watching, can I?'

Benny let out an 'oh', and after a last dubious look at the two of them, the three boys left through the door and disappeared down the staircase.

Matthew and Geoffrey, however, decided to stay with them as Connor made the potion and lend him a hand. They prepared the ingredients that Connor needed, whereas Janus read the intructions out loud.

As they watched the confidence that Connor showed while making a potion, Geoffrey commented:

'You must really like this stuff.'

'Oh, yeah,' Connor said absently. 'I've always liked to learn these things, and to see all the stuff you can manage with different potions, so Severus – I mean, Professor Snape – taught me...'

'Oh, it sounds so great. I wish I had been taught this sort of things as a child,' Matthew commented, and Janus and Geoffrey stared at him. Connor couldn't decide if their susprise was out of the dislike both of them felt for Potions, or out of the way Matthew had said "as a child" as if he were forty or something.

Matthew noticed the staring and protested:

'Hey, I spent all my childhood studying boring Maths, Grammar, and a lot of useless things!'

Connor chuckled. 'Don't think magical primary schools are that different.'

Matthew looked surprised. 'There are magical primary schools?'

'Oh, only a few,' Geoffrey explained, and they both told Matthew about their days at Mr. Banerji's school. Janus decided to intervene in the conversation:

'We shared a tutor with some other wizarding families that lived nearby...'

And so they began to talk, if not amiably, at least civilly until the potion was finished, used and it was time to check whether Benny, Ferris and Humphrey had managed to finish with all the food.

'You've got to be kidding me.'

Little Mr. Bonham seemed to shrink at Sirius' glare. Mrs. Koenig, on the other hand, pulled herself to her full height, which made her look even more terrifying.

'Mr. Black, believe me that this matter is no joke and that in no way are we kidding -' From her tone, it was easily deduced that she never kidded, neither had she told a joke in her whole life, '- your godson was found on the kitchen's roof. He's obviously been climbing school buildings which, as I assume you should know, is against the rules.'

'Yes, of course it's against the rules. And what does the rules book say about three students bullying another one who is single-handed? So what Harry's done is wrong – I understood that part. Would you have preferred him to punch them back?' snarled Sirius. Mrs. Koenig looked unabashed.

'No. He should have gone looking for an adult – '

'Which he would have done, had they let him!'

'Please, Mr. Black, Mrs. Koenig, keep your voices down,' Mr. Bonham said softly and somewhat shakily. Both Sirius and Koenig turned to stare at him, but after all he was still the school's headmaster so they fell silent. 'I am sure we will be able to find a solution for this matter,' he went on, more firmly. 'And no, Mrs. Koenig, I do not find necessary to expel Harry, neither do I think it's wise to do the same with Alan, Francis and Mark. Of course,' he hastened to add at Sirius' freezing glare, 'they will be punished, and from now on we will be watchful so their misbehaviour does not repeat.'

Neither Sirius nor Mrs. Koenig were fully satisfied by Mr. Bonham's words, but his voice had an unusual firm note, and he hurried to dismiss them before a rebellion took place in his small office.

Once outside, Sirius saw Harry glumly sitting on a bench, staring at his shoelaces. As he took a step towards him, though, Harry looked up, a mixture of anxiety, guilt and fear obscuring his face. Sirius hurried to ease his troubled mind.

'You aren't getting expelled.' Harry let out all the air of his lungs in a sigh, and the relief was almost palpable on his face. 'And Mr. Bonham has promised he's going to do something about that little gang of gits, the Trio of Idiots or whatever their name is.' Harry looked surprised by this and then frowned. Sirius got the distinct impression the boy didn't have much confidence in Mr. Bonham's ability to solve the problem. Well, neither had he, but it was unnatural to see someone so young being so cynical. He's not cynical, a voice inside him protested. He's just... well... tired.

Sure.

It was not until they were back in the car and they had gotten a couple of blocks away from the school that Sirius asked the question that had been bugging him since Mr. Bonham had first called.

'Why didn't you tell me that you were being bullied?'

In his head, Sirius would have sworn it hadn't sounded that brutally blunt. Sirius Black's amazing tact strikes again, he thought bitterly.

Harry did not answer at once. Instead, he stared out the window dully. Sirius opened his mouth, closed it and had to bit his lower lip to keep himself quiet. After a few moments, Sirius heard a faint whisper:

''Cause I didn't want to worry you, when you had problems at work and all...'

Sirius turned his head so fast that Harry winced.

'Harry, it's my job to worry over you, and it comes before anything else! If you've got a problem, you have to tell me at once. How I'm supposed to help you sort it out if you don't? I thought we'd already talked about it.'

And they had. However, Harry still seemed to have trouble to confide completely in Sirius. Harry had certainly inherited from his parents their indepence and sense of self-suffiency so he liked to sort things out by himself. Sirius, though, suspected that his first years at his uncle's and aunt's place had scarred the boy enough so he wouldn't trust any adults easily.

Harry was gloomily looking at his knees.

'I didn't reckon you'd think it was such a big deal...'

Sirius took a deep breath. Patience, boy, patience.

'Harry,' he said softly, 'anything that troubles you is a bid deal for me, okay? You can tell me anything, you know that, don't you?'

Harry nodded faintly, and Sirius decided not to push it. They were nearly at home when Harry spoke again, startling him.

'You believe me, right? When I say I didn't climb that wall... Mrs. Koenig says I'm a liar, but I never tried to get to the roof, I just appeared there...'

Sirius put a hand on Harry's shoulder, and kept his eyes fixed on the path ahead as he did not dare to look the boy in the eye.

'Of course I believe you, Harry. I know you are no liar.'

Unlike me, he thought as his insides squirmed, but Harry merely relaxed and smiled at him, always unsuspecting. And that made Sirius' insides to squirm a little more.

Connor thought that he'd had enough fight for a fortnight, after what had happened with Janus Rutherford, but he'd been wrong. Very wrong, indeed.

'Look, first-years midgets!'

Gryffindor first-years were walking through the Entrance Hall in order to reach their tower when they heard the rude calling.

At first, Connor didn't know who had talked, as Geoffrey, Ferris, Janus and Humphrey, who were walking ahead him, blocked the speaker from sight. However, he did hear perfectly Janus' reply.

'Who are you calling midgets?'

Connor heard Ferris and Humphrey gasp and when he could peer over their shoulders, he knew why. In front of them, blocking the path, there were two massive fifth-year boys. Slytherins, to be more precise. And they did not look friendly.

'Did you hear it? One of the midgets dared to talk to me!' the boy who had first talked said. His friend sneered.

'He's a Gryffindor, don't expect much common sense. Now, kiddos, get out of our way. We're in a hurry.'

Benny, who had been chatting with Connor and was standing next to him, stepped forwards and opened his mouth... only to receive a nudge in his ribs. Benny shot a hurt look at Connor, but he knew his friend would soon thank him. After all, these were fifth-years. And they were huge.

Humphrey and Ferris must have thought the same way, as they both dragged Janus to one side. Connor nudged Benny again – this time more gently – and they both moved aside with Geoffrey. But no one had counted on Matthew.

Matthew, as it was usual in him, wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings. Instead, he was engrossed with a Muggle comic – Spiderman, as it couldn't have been other way. Actually, he was so engrossed that he did not see the two enormous Slytherins – and literally walked into them.

'Ouch!'

Matthew bounced against the tallest boy – the one who had called them midgets – and fell to the floor on his butt. The Slytherin looked furious.

'Are you an idiot? Can't you look where you're walking to, jerk?'

Meanwhile, his friend had bent, not to help Matthew, but to pick up the comic he'd dropped. He examined it and his sneer became more pronounced.

'Well, Illyous, you certainly can't expect much from this one. He's a filthy Mudblood.'

It was amazing the effect these simple words caused: at once, all Gryffindors jumped and moved forwards, elbow against elbow so they formed a solid wall, and glared at the boy who'd insulted Matthew.

'Don't call him a Mudblood!'

The boy sneered at Benny and Ferris, who'd both shouted at the same time. 'What are you, Muggle-lovers?'

Matthew, who'd pulled himself to his feet with a puzzled look on his face, asked:

'What's a Mudblood?'

Illyous grimaced and walked away from Matthew as if he had a contagious disease. Matthew's confusion increased, and Connor's blood boiled.

'Mudblood is a disgusting, stupid term narrow-minded people use to call Muggle-borns. You know, those that claim they came from endogamic families where everybodys sleeps with their sister or cousin as they have no other choice left.'

Everyone turned to face Connor, his fellow classmates with a horrified but also somewhat awed look on their faces, whereas the two Slytherins looked absolutely furious. Matthew, on the other hand, finally seemed to understand what was going on.

'You, little filthy midget, you're going to pay...'

'If you try to hurt Connor, you'll have to fight with all of us,' Geoffrey, who was a whiner but not a coward, calmly stated, 'and I think it won't look too good on your file that you fought with a bunch of first-years.'

'That's right!' Matthew, who'd finally succeded at snatching his comic back, exclaimed. 'Connor's not alone.'

To Connor's surprise, all his classmates were looking resolved and not even Janus protested at Matthew's statement. The Slytherin boys exchanged amused glances, though, and drew their wands from their pockets. Oh, damn...

'So, what are you going to do now?' Illyous inquired smugly. 'I doubt any of you can produce a few sparks, not to say a hex. But let's give it a try, shall we?'

Connor threw caution to the winds, ducked and launched himself forwards, hitting Illyous' knees and making him to fall. Once they recovered from the first shock, his classmates hastened to follow his example and soon both boys were on the floor, wandless.

'What on earth is going on here?'

Everyone froze. Dreading what he was bound to see, Connor rose his head... and groaned at the sight of a furious (and rather astounded) Severus Snape.

Illyous, trying to rise to his feet with dignity, rather unsuccesfully as Connor made him to trip, answered:

'These mid – first-years attacked us and took our wands away.'

Severus stared at the boy, as though he could not believe his stupidity.

'You let a bunch of first-years to take away your wand?'

The boy shifted uncomfortably. 'They crashed against our knees and made us fall, sir.'

Severus kept staring at the boy, and then his incredulous look was replaced with an unfathomable expression.

'Ten points from Gryffindor.'

'But they insulted...'

'Rutherford, shut up before I take twenty points instead of ten. And you two,' he added, looking at Illyous and his friend, 'come to my office. I would like a word with you two about your stupidity.'

He turned around and left, his black robes drifting behind him. Illyous, before leaving with his friend, shot a murderous glare at Connor.

'You're going to pay, Muggle-lover midget.'

As soon as they were out of sight, Humphrey said.

'Go, go team!'

And even though Geoffrey was complaining over a scratch on his arm, they all laughed at Humphrey's singsong voice.

As for Illyous' so announced vengeance, it never took place. According to what Alden Higgs told Connor the following Potions lesson, another fifth-year had conversationally commented to Illyous and his friend that the Muggle-lover midget, whom they had both insulted and threatened, happened to be Snape's surrogate son.

Sparky: Well, I'm afraid that I can't answer all your questions as they would pretty much give all the plot away. However, you can be certain that from now on things will be easier for Connor at Gryffindor House as he's already showed he deserves to be there. And, in Chapter Twenty-Two, there might be an encounter you've all been waiting for...

Jesse: I'm so sorry for the awfully long time it took me to update, I hope it won't happen again. As for the bullies, I'd like to kick them myself. Such disgusting, despicable creatures. And let's face it: Snape is quite a jerkface. He just can't help it.

pottersparky: Welcome to the club! Thanks for the review. About the e-mail problem, check the notes at the bottom. Till next chapter!

Luna Moonlight Fawn: Thanks you so much! You're going to make me blush with your complimments. It was sad for me too to see the boys suffering (as I can painfully relate to theirfeelings) but if bad stuff didn't happen we'd haveno story. And Rowling is meaner than me. Anyway, I'mrelieved you think Snape's chat with Connor made up for all the suffering I put him through, it makes me feel less guilty...

sk8ter92: Welcome to you too, and thanks for your review. You had to wait no more: the chapter's here. Hopefully next update will be sooner, as I have already written up to Chapter Twenty-Three.

Author's Notes 2: Some people have pointed out they had trouble to see my e-mail. I thought of displaying it here but ffnet will not let me (besides, I've developed a spam-phobia) so to communicate with me you can tell me which your e-mail address is and I'll write to you. See you, and good luck for you all.