AN: So… It's not exactly May anymore… Sorry about that. Depression's a bitch. Hopefully I can provide a flurry of updates now to make up for the pause.

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„So, do we have any idea who's going to be teaching Defense this term?" Sophie asked on the train to Hogwarts. "I don't expect Professor Yaxley will stay on?"

"I don't think so," Harry said. "I think it's supposed to be Mr. Titus – Professor Davies, I mean."

"And will he stay till the end of the year?"

"Dunno. Would be nice for a change, wouldn't it? I can ask Roger."

Harry left the compartment and walked through the carriage. Passing the Ravenclaws, he remembered something and stuck his head in. "Er, sorry to disturb you," he said, "but do any of you play chess?"

"Yeah," Su replied, "I love chess, and Morag is a pretty decent player as well. And Kevin."

"All right. If I recommended you to Ron, would you play with him? I mean, he's brilliant at chess and I think he gets bored beating us all the time."

"Ronald Weasley is brilliant at chess?" Su seemed surprised. "Well yes, sure, I'll be happy to play him, if he's as good as you say."

Padma snickered at that, and Hermione gave her an eye roll. Harry didn't want to get involved in any argument, so he quickly left and continued down the train, until he found the Ravenclaw fourth years. It was a small year, and all five of its students were sitting together, chatting happily, as Harry came in. "Hey, Horatio, Roger," he said, "how was your break?"

"Fine," Horatio said, and the boys both got up to talk to him in the corridor.

"It was your first ball, right?" Harry asked. "What was it like?"

"Pretty impressive," Horatio admitted. "I mean, I've seen my share of grand events, but it's like Roger told me, balls are just...balls. They're different. Everyone is at their best."

"Who did you dance with?"

He grimaced. "Well, that was worse. You know there really aren't any Ancient Family girls my age. I was hoping at least Maeghan McCormack would show up, but she didn't, so all the women there were married. Not that its a problem, but it's different."

Harry could see how it would be. "Who's the youngest there, anyway?"

"Not sure exactly, but it's the crowd around you cousin's wife. You know, she, Mrs. Mercurius Ollivander, and so on."

Harry was surprised. He didn't realize there was this much of a gap. "There's really no one for ten years?"

"Well, Maeghan, like I said...and a bunch of guys. But the war was beginning just around the time these people were born, so, you know..."

Harry nodded. Of course. "Anyway," he said, "I actually had a question for Roger – will your grandfather be staying on as a defense teacher the whole year, do you know?"

Roger shook his head. "Definitely not. He's in for the winter term, and then I think he arranged it with his sister?"

"His sister?"

"Mrs. John Boot? Don't know if you know her. She kinda married out of these circles, but is in touch with the family and agreed to do it. Her grandson is actually in Ravenclaw at the moment, I think."

"Oh, right, Terry Boot, isn't it? He's in my year."

"Yeah, that's him. So, you know, turn to him for details about the spring term."

"Will do."

The Ravenclaw boys went back to their own compartment, and Harry returned to his. "Ron," he said, plopping down to his seat, "I talked to the Ravenclaws, and apparently Su Li is a great chess player. So, you know, just in case you wanted some more interesting games."

"I dunno. Isn't it weird?"

Harry shrugged. "It's up to you. She says she'd be happy to play you. Seemed to doubt your proficiency, though."

That did the job, and Ron was off, ready to beat that insolent Ravenclaw chit.

Sophie immediately took up the space that he left behind. "Thanks, Harry," she said. "I can finally stretch properly."

"Did you find out about the Defence teacher?" Parvati asked him.

"Yeah, sorry. Professor Davies will just teach us this term, and then it'll probably be Terry Boot's grandma."

"Why is it always relatives of Ravenclaws?" Seamus wondered. "Seems unfair."

Harry shrugged. "Because my cousin is a Revnclaw," he said, "and I don't think he quite trusts anyone else with teaching me."

Sophie sniggered. "He must have trouble with Hogwarts then," she said. "I mean, lots of teachers here aren't Claws, right?"

"Definitely not McGonnagal, Snape or Sprout," Harry agreed. "Not sure what houses are the rest from..."

"I bet Binns was a Claw," Ron muttered. "He¨s so stuffy and boring!"

Harry frowned. "I don¨t think so. I mean, most Ravenclaws seem to hate him, so..."

"In that case, he must be a Hufflepuff," Parvati stated very shrewdly.

To be honest, more than about the a possible new Defence teacher, Harry was worried about his training with Snape. When Alduin had told him, he'd been incredulous.

"I know, and I'm sorry," Alduin said with true remorse in his voice. "But you do see why it's necessary, don't you?"

Harry did, unfortunately. His training with Maurice really hadn't been too effective. Still, he wished Alduin had talked to him before asking Snape. He'd have just felt better about the whole thing. He said as much to Alduin, who sighed.

"I had considered it," he'd said, "but it'd have felt like a lie. Because I can't let you say no to this, Harry, as sorry as it makes me feel. Too much depends on it. So I wouldn't have been able to ask you if you agreed. Given this, it seemed fairer to tell it how it is."

Harry supposed that, logically speaking, it made sense. He couldn't quite get rid of his irritation, though.

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Not long after New Year, Mrs. Gerard Ollivander came to Alduin with a troubling discovery.

She appeared as if it was an ordinary morning call, but as soon as they sat in the drawing room, she said: "I've made some progress. There might be a way for your ward to survive the...Horcrux extraction." The expression on her face prevented Alduin from feeling hopeful. "The problem is," she continued, "there's no way to guarantee it in advance, or even test it, really."

Of course it wasn't going to be easy. "What is it?" He asked.

"Well...you know how the Killing Curse works, right?"

"Yes, of course. Separates soul from body."

"Precisely. Now there is a chance that, if used on Mr. Potter, the soul that got separated wouldn't be his soul, exactly."

Alduin stared at her, thinking that surely, he must have misheard. This couldn't be real. "So, what, you want me to chuck an Avada at him and hope for the best?"

She grimaced. "No," she said. "Not quite. There are ways to...well, to improve the chances of it working. Your intention, for one – if you meant to kill the Horcrux, not Harry. If you aimed precisely at the scar. The wand might play a part as well – if you used his, it'd presumably be unwilling to harm its master and more likely to target the Horcrux instead." She paused, giving Alduin enough space to fully realize his growing horror. Surely she was not suggesting what he thought she was suggesting? Surely he was dreaming? And here he thought the situation couldn't get any worse... "Of course," she continued, "proper separation between the Horcrux and Harry's soul would be required for this to have any chance of succeeding, something I gather from the Parseltongue ability is not always the case. But I can't help you with that, you need someone who specializes in mind and soul."

"I'm not bringing Valerius Prince in," he stated resolutely. Especially not at this point, when it seemed he needed to be wary not only of Riddle's supporters, but also of those who wished to destroy him and didn't care if one boy died in the process.

"Like I said, I understand why," she replied, "but, well...find someone else you can trust, then. You need this."

"There's time," he replied a little sharply, "because I'm not doing that now, or ever, unless it's the only option."

"I wasn't suggesting you should," she said in a reproving tone.

"Right." Alduin took a deep breath. "So until Riddle comes back, I'll try to find someone I can trust with this expertise...and you could try to look for another way." He would not just accept doing this, he would not. If he had to fund his own research lab to work full-time, he would find a way.

And what if it called for another kind of sacrifice? He asked himself. What if, to test this properly, you would need another horcrux? Would you be willing to test it on someone? Would you be willing to become a test subject yourself?

He pushed these thoughts away. No need to contemplate that until it became absolutely necessary.

"Yes," Mrs. Gerard said meanwhile, ignorant of his musings, "I will try, but...do not hold out too much hope. That I discovered even one way was unexpected enough. You should see it as a blessing."

As Alduin bid goodbye to her, he considered that if being forced to cast the Killing Curse on your ward with his own wand counted as a blessing to her, then Janette Ollivander lived in a very strange world.

After she left, he went up to the nursery to play with Wynn, because while what he really wanted was to shut himself in his study, he knew perfectly well that he wouldn't be able to resist the siren's call of a bottle of whisky in these circumstances. He had been doing much better lately, hadn't touched drink outside of a surreptitiously dealcoholised glass of port after dinner in society. This Christmas has been almost good, dare he say it. But that news that Mrs. Gerard just brought him...that would have made anyone want to have a drink, Alduin thought, not just an alcoholic like him. Wynn was the only safe way to distract himself.

He picked his son up from the ground where he was playing under Litty's supervision, and took him into his arms. "How are you on this beautiful day, eh?" He asked, and nudged his cheek with his nose. Wynn laughed, and Alduin smiled in turn. Truly, his son was the best therapy, and right now, he was in urgent need of some peekaboo.

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"Has Su really actually beaten Ron?" Harry asked Neville incredulously on Saturday evening after they'd been at school for a week.

"Well, just once."

"Still, Ron getting beaten at chess! I thought I'd never see the day. Was he angry?"

"More amazed, I think. It hasn't happened to him for a few years. But he's only more determined in playing her now. Even says he might join that chess club."

"About time," Harry muttered. He couldn't understand why his friend hadn't done so before.

"I wish there was a Herbology club," Neville said. "I mean, you'll have your Quidditch and training with Snape and Ron will have chess and I'll just have lots of free time."

"Yeah, like you can't spend it with Sophie and Dean and Seamus. But you could ask Sprout to start one, I guess?"

Neville frowned. "Isn't it weird?"

"I don't know. We can ask someone if it's ever done..." Harry looked around for some older students he knew. There was Kiara, but he wasn't sure her one year's advantage would be enough in this. However, Percy Weasley was sitting nearby.

Harry got up from his chair. "Hey, Percy," he said. "Mind if I disturb you?"

Percy put down his book. "No, Harry, what do you need? Is something the matter?"

"I was just wondering...are there, like, clubs for different subjects? I mean, I play Quidditch and Ron's about to join the chess club-"

"Is he?" Percy looked pleased. "I have been telling him he should since last year, but he never listens."

Ah, Harry thought, so this is why he hadn't joined. "Yeah, and Neville said he'd like to do something with Herbology, but..."

Percy frowned as he thought about it. "Well, there is certainly an Astronomy Club and an Arithmancy Club," he said, "so I see no reason for a Herbology Club not to exist. I mean, I suppose Professor Sprout has less time, what with being a Head of House as well, but...you can always ask."

Neville still looked unsure, but Harry insisted, and after the Herbology class on Monday, he dragged him to see the teacher.

"Hoping to ensure preferential treatment?" Zacharias sneered at them, but Harry ignored him and Professor Sprout gave the boy a look that made him subside.

"What can I do for you?" She asked, and Harry nudged Neville, seeing Susan berate Zach out of the corner of his eye.

"Well...I thought...well, Harry gave me an idea..." Harry nudged him again, and Neville took a deep breath and said quickly: "I just thought it'd be nice if there was a Herbology club."

Professor Sprout smiled at him. "I'm pleased you think so," she said. "Unfortunately, I don't have the time to run one. However, perhaps if you could find an older student – ideally a prefect – willing to supervise it, I'd be amenable to sanctioning it and giving you some tips."

Neville seemed crestfallen. They thanked the professor and left the greenhouse, but on the way up to the castle, he said despondently: "There's no chance I'm going to find someone like that. I mean, why would they want to do that? No one obviously needed a Herbology club until now, so they're hardly going to decide they do just because I ask them, aren't they?"

"Hey, cheer up," Harry said. "Alduin managed to find people willing to volunteer to actually teach Defence at Hogwarts. Running a Herbology club should be a piece of cake compared to that."

"Yeah, well, but they're people who actually have grandkids at Hogwarts. They have a good reason to do this. Besides, we don't know quite as many people as your cousin, do we?"

"Not as many, no," Harry admitted, thinking about whether someone with a younger sibling who had an interest in Herbology would work similarly well as Alduin's contacts, "but we do know a few."

Percy couldn't help them, and neither could Kiara, but with Horatio and Roger they finally had some luck. "Clement does Herbology," Horatio said when they cornered them in the Great Hall. "Avery, I mean. And he's a prefect. Try asking him."

"He's going to tell us to go to the devil," Neville prophesied. "I mean, we don't even know him personally, not really, Harry's just seen him at some garden parties, right?"

"Very likely he will," Horatio agreed, "but well, you can try."

"Can't you help us?"

Horatio grimaced. "Me and Clement are not exactly the best of friends," he said. "I don't mind him, but he's friends with Marcus and Marcus is an idiot. So we don't really get on."

Neville looked even more glum after this talk, but Harry didn't give up and mirror-called Draco once they were back in the Gryffindor common room. "Hey," he said. "Listen, how do you get on with Clement Avery?"