Disclaimer is in chapter 1.

Padma Patil watched from one corner of the Ravenclaw common room as Wednesday Addams went about her reading. The Addams scion was alone, as was her wont, and seemed deeply involved in the book she was reading. Padma bit her lip nervously, she'd been trying to work up the nerve to approach Wednesday since they had returned from holidays.

At the Yule ball, Addams and Harris had intervened for her and her sister, saving them from a humiliating night. Parv had shrugged it off, but she was like that. Padma found herself taking the favor a bit more seriously, especially since Harris had told her that Wednesday actually seemed to like her at least a bit.

She honestly hadn't believed that Wednesday LIKED anyone, except maybe Harris and Granger. For a lot of reasons she wanted to see if it were true. Her father would consider disowning her if she let a chance to establish friendly contact with a clan as powerful as the Addams, for one, but more importantly she was curious, and really did owe the girl one.

She took a sharp breath and got up, walking stiffly across the room to where Addams was seated. Wednesday didn't look up as she arrived, merely flipped a page as she continued to read.

"So, you finally found some of your sister's courage and decided to come over."

Padma swallowed hard, but nodded. "I… I wanted to thank you for what you did at the Yule ball."

"No, you came over because you wanted to speak with me." Wednesday said, finally looking up. "The thing I am not certain of, is what you wished to speak with me about."

Padma slumped a little, "Nothing exactly. I just… wanted to be on the inside."

"Inside of what?"

Padma blinked, "You know."

"I do not." Wednesday countered calmly. "Enlighten me."

"You and Harris, Granger, a few others… I want to join your group."

Wednesday blinked.

"Are you researching Flat Footed Bell Ringers?"

Xander blinked, looking up at the blond peering over at him. "Uh… no?"

"Pity. You must be working out an Arithmancy formula for a new spell, then." Luna said as she sat down.

"Uh… yeah." He mumbled, mind still trying to catch up to her first comment.

"What kind of spell is it?" She asked brightly, smiling at him.

He was somewhat entranced by the blond, Xander had to admit. She wasn't precisely pretty, nor cute, but her expressions combined with the distinctive build of her face was… Xander shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Excuse me?"

"The spell, what type is it?" She asked, glancing at the pages upside down. "Oh! Very elegant equations. You do nice work."

"I did the rough stuff, Wednesday and Hermione polished it." Xander corrected mildly, "And it's a shield spell."

"Hmmmm…." She hummed, off tune as she continued to read the numbers upside down. "Very complex for a shielding spell. Are those conjuration equations?"

"Ok, I'm impressed." Xander admitted, passing her the papers, "And yes they are. What else do you see?"

"Aside from the conjuration equations? I see the core of the Protego spell," She said, "But that's not a surprise. My mother developed that one to replace the slower Protegia incantation."

"You're mother's a crafter?"

"She was. Once." Luna said, a hint of emotion coloring her voice. "She's dead now."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Why? Did you kill her?" Luna asked, looking at him with eyes whose dreamy shadows were belied by the speed and sharpness of her question.

"I? Wha… no!"

"Then you have nothing to apologize for." Luna smiled.

"Uh. Right."

Luna looked back down to the equations and frowned as she focused deeply. "There is an elemental signature in here, I do not recognize it."

"Titanium." Xander answered, his tone curious. "It's a very hard metal."

She nodded, "I can read that in the numbers. Brittle, however."

"That's what makes it perfect."

"I don't understand." Luna blinked, "It will shatter under a significant impact. How is that good for a shield?"

"That would be telling," Xander took the papers back, smiling. "I am impressed. I have a hard time reading those elements, and I placed them there."

Luna pouted, "I can usually tell everything about a spell from reading its equation. This one is much harder to read."

"That's not by design, it's because you don't understand the elements in combination." Xander admitted candidly. "Still, you've done better than I would have believed."

She shrugged, still pouting, "Thanks I suppose."

Xander smiled, "Now I just have to figure out why I can't cast it."

Luna blinked, "Oh, that's because you're too close. You think you know what you designed, but you don't."

Xander stared for a long moment, "Huh?"

The concept was fascinating.

It was also ludicrous, in her opinion, but fascinating nonetheless. Wednesday eyed the dusky skinned girl who was nervously sitting across from her with some amusement.

"You actually believe that Alexander, myself, Hermione, and… who? Potter?" She smirked, "Are some sort of elite cabal within Hogwarts."

"I know you are." Padma returned with only a hint of her nerves entering her voice. "Though I wouldn't say Potter was a part of it exactly. Certainly not entirely on the inside, from what I can tell."

Wednesday cocked an eyebrow at the girl, "Convince me."

Padma took a breath, "First year, nothing much happened. You, Harris, and Granger networked somewhat. Mostly Granger and Harris. Granger's actions were obvious, she aligned with Potter and that put her well into the upper tiers of Gryffindor. Harris was harder to track, partly because Slytherin is so closed up, partly because his actions are more subtle. I do know that by the start of second year, Harris commanded a degree of loyalty in his house second only to Malfoy."

Wednesday maintained a calm expression, giving no hint of the surprise she felt. While she was aware that Xander had exerted some degree of control within his house, she wasn't aware that it was quite so pronounced. She was also relatively certain that it was largely unintended, though that wasn't specifically relevant at this time.

"Second year," Padma ticked off her fingers, "Harris continued to extend his influence in Slytherin while Granger supported Harry's position in Gryffindor. When the attacks extended to Hermione, you and Alexander teamed up with Harry and Ronald to handle the problem."

Wednesday shrugged, "Interesting conclusions."

Padma shot her a glance that held entirely more attitude than Wednesday expected from the other girl. Despite the absurdity of her conclusions, Wednesday was becoming amused by the story.

"Fine. Third year." Padma muttered, ticking off another finger. "Once again, between slowly extending influence and responding to the immediate crisis, your little group attained a level of quiet infamy that's actually mind boggling for those of us who can glimpse the extent of it."

"You've told me what Hermione and Alexander bring to this… cabal," Wednesday said with an amused air, "However you haven't mentioned myself."

Padma frowned, "That because you were the hardest one to figure out. Aside from scaring the hell out of your fellow Ravenclaws, you didn't seem to be doing anything. Not until this year."

Wednesday raised a single eyebrow, not genuinely curious. "Oh? Do tell."

"With one move, you unseated Cho Chang's power clique and established that fear is power." Padma replied, "when Harris followed it up with the heart spiked to the door just before Cho and Marietta opened it from the inside, you proved that you actually control Ravenclaw."

Wednesday sat back, for the moment forgetting about her own work, and slowly examined the teen across from her. She couldn't fault Padma's conclusions, nor the path she took to reach them. It was hardly apparent, from the outside, that each action taken had been one of enlightened self-interest and not some far reaching plan.

The analysis of the effect was, indeed, flawless, Wednesday concluded after a moment's thought. By largely unintentional actions, she and her two friends had established control over better than fifty percent of the school.

Of course, the analysis of the intentions behind the actions was flawed of course. They had no intentions of exercising such control except as needed to preserve a certain margin of decorum. After all, why would any of them actually CARE what some school children did? Especially since two thirds of the supposed Cabal were unlikely to remain in Europe past seventh year?

"There is one flaw in your analysis, Miss Patil." Wednesday said finally.

"Oh?" Padma looked confused, and more than a little apprehensive.

"Indeed. You've made a fatal assumption," Wednesday continued, "You've assumed that Myself, Alexander, and Hermione actually have USE for the children in this school. Speaking for myself, I do not."

Padma flinched, "but… why then?"

"Alexander is a genuinely good and caring person," Wednesday shrugged, "And despite this flaw, he's proven extremely successful in his life within the magical world. Hermione, of all of us, is the only one who fits your analysis, though she would furiously deny any part of some all reaching Cabal as you describe it. Her personal sense of justice would consider it… distasteful, at the very least."

Padma blinked, trying to understand what Wednesday was saying.

"However I do compliment you on your analysis of the effect, if not the intent." Wednesday said after some thought. "You have brought a serious issue to my attention, one that I had not considered."

"I have?"

"Indeed." Wednesday confirmed, "If you can piece together this little conspiracy theory, supporting it as you have with the limited information available to a student… then others have almost certain done so as well."

Wednesday was silent a long moment, considering the implications of that statement.

"In fact, given that you are entirely correct about the EFFECT of our actions, if not the intent behind them, I will have to give serious thought to how others are likely to perceive and react to us in the future. For this, I do thank you."

Padma frowned, her attention focused inwardly for a long time. Long enough that Wednesday returned to her book while she waited for the teen to assemble her thoughts. A few minutes turned into a half hour, then was reaching for three quarters of an hour before Padma spoke again.

"I still want in, if you'll have me."

Wednesday looked up, surprised though she didn't show it. "I believe I informed you that there was nothing to be 'in'."

"No, you said that there was no INTENT to create your cabal. However, you have it." Padma corrected, "Why leave it to waste?"

Indeed. Wednesday pursed her lips, considering that statement, then sat back and steepled her fingers.

"And if you were to be permitted to join… what do you bring to the table?" She asked with a thin smile.

Padma swallowed, "Access to magics not taught at Hogwarts, or even in Europe any longer. I have my family grimoires, and aside from certain spells reserved specifically for family members, I am willing to share in exchange for equal consideration."

Wednesday dipped her head, "An impressive offer, Miss Patil. I will… communicate your request to Alexander and Hermione."

"Thank you, Miss Addams, for your time and patience."

Luna had left Xander in somewhat of a daze, he had to admit. When she left the library, he tried to keep working for a while, but finally gave it up and decided that it was time for a bit of a work out instead.

Sometimes, he'd found, the only way to settle his mind was to exhaust his body. He didn't feel like meeting up with Harry just then, however, so the Room was out. He could see that Harry was there just by checking the map, instead he decided to have a little fun.

Normally moving from the ground floor of Hogwarts to the top, and back again, was a significant task to say the least. It also too upwards of a half hour, if the moving staircases were feeling particularly kind.

Xander started from the Library, which was situated on the ground floor, and sprinted up the first set of stairs before it could react to his presence. He cleared it in a few seconds, barely planting a foot on the first floor balcony it led to before he raced up the second.

The stairs shifted under him before he made it up halfway, causing Xander to smirk. He planted a foot on the rail and vaulted clear off the stairway, hooking the second floor balcony with his fingers. He swung under the platform, purposely pushing his muscles into the motion, then used the back swing to lever himself up to the platform.

He took a moment there, grinning like a madman, and caught his breath. Then he was off again, bolting up toward the third floor.

This time the stairwell didn't move, and Xander had a bizarre sensation that he had managed to SHOCK Hogwarts herself into inaction. The very idea drove him on as he rounded the bend and raced up the fourth stairwell. Again, there was no motion as he reached the top of this particular set of stairs and came to a halt near the hall that would lead to the Astronomy tower.

Four floors would be enough, he decided. He only needed to set a slow burn to his muscles, not massive exhaustion. He stood there for a moment, eyes surveying the distances. Just over 50 feet to the ground floor, since this particular stairwell didn't lead to the dungeons. Enough of a fall to put him in the hospital wing for a while, possibly kill him despite the supernatural toughness that came with a full magical core.

Probably not, though. If he fell, he'd most likely be found with shattered bones in his legs. Xander's knowledge of such injuries was limited, and he wouldn't mind keeping it that way, but worst case for that would be having any irreparable bones vanished so that they could be regrown with Skele-gro.

Not a pleasant thought, but not enough to scare him into inaction either.

"Just do it." He whispered, suddenly going from stop to full sprint without warning.

Xander cat vaulted the first rail, out into space above the fifty floor drop, bringing his feet forward as he began to drop, just in time to land on the balls of his feet and roll into a third floor hall.

Again, Xander felt that same shudder of shock run through him and he wondered if maybe the Castle WAS paying attention to his actions.

He ran back toward the balcony, and was surprised to see that the staircase was moving to intercept him this time, positioning itself so it would be beneath him when he jumped. Xander smirked, skidding for a moment, then cross vaulted over the rail and just dropped.

He freefell for only a few seconds, caught the edge of the balcony below, and swung from the second floor to a free drop the last dozen feet to the first, rolling to the middle of the stairwell and coming to his feet.

Xander grinned up, "You'll have to do better than that, next time. Good workout."

With that parting shot, he turned and jogged easily toward the Slytherin dungeons.

Harry was tired from the workout he had inflicted on himself when he finally left the Room of Requirements for the night. He had to admit, Xander's left hand wand was impressive, though only for combat. Aggressive combat, specifically. It wasn't much for creativity, not even in fighting, however.

The wand was powerful for violent, ugly curses but held a lot less juice for anything else. Not really something he wanted to carry, if Harry were to be honest with himself, however as long as he was being honest he supposed he had to admit that it could very well be what he needed.

Keeping Xander's few warnings in mind, he hid the wand away when he got to his room. Unlike Xander, Harry wasn't licensed to carry a pair of wands and there were more than a few people who'd like to get him in trouble, he had no doubt. So as soon as he got back to his room, Harry stashed it in his trunk, wrapped in his invisibility cloak, and he locked everything up.

After that it was homework time, and he found Hermione and Ron in the common room pouring over the day's assignments.

Well, Hermione was of course. Ron was half-heartedly pecking at the parchment, as if hoping that his quill would do the work for him.

"Hey guys."

"You're late, Harry." Hermione frowned at him.

"Yeah, mate. You left me alone with HER…" Ron rolled his eyes.

"Just what is THAT supposed to mean?"

"Uh…" Ron swallowed, knowing full well that he was already on thin ice with Hermione for reasons he wasn't entirely clear on. "Nothing, just that… well… I mean…"

"He means that you're a bit scary when you Study, Hermione." Harry smiled easily, dropping into a seat.

"Yeah, that."

She huffed, "Well I wouldn't be if you two would just do your work on time."

Ron started to get his back up, but Harry nodded in agreement. "You're right."

"I am?"

"She IS?"

Harry nodded, sighing as he opened his potions book. "Yeah. She is, and you are."

They both eyed him warily, as if trying to judge whether he was under the influence of… well, something. Possibly Polyjuice, judging from Hermione's expression. Harry suppressed the urge to flinch. Had he really been that bad?

"Look," he sighed, "I just have to face facts. Someone is trying to do me in, right?"

Ron scowled, but nodded. "Too right. What's that got to do with homework?"

"Honestly!" Hermione huffed again, "If he doesn't work on his education, he'll hardly be able to protect himself will he?"

"That's part of it," Harry agreed, "But it's more than that. I just kind of realized how badly slacking off has been messing with my entire life. I can't afford it right now, I honestly never could."

Ron was looking less and less happy with the conversation, but surprisingly kept quiet about it.

"I've been lazy… nothing wrong with that, really," Harry said with an eye toward Ron, "except that being lazy when someone is trying to kill you is really stupid. I kinda want to live to take my NEWTS."

"Oh Harry…" Hermione's huff vanished instantly as she slumped. "You're not going to die."

"Of course not Mate." Ron said instantly, looking offended by the implication.

Which implication, Harry wasn't certain.

"I agree with you, Harry." Ron said after a moment's thought. "Though I'm not sure where Potions homework has anything to do with it at all."

Harry laughed, mostly at the sheer level of indignation Hermione managed to summon up in response to that. He managed to cut off her tirade, however.

"Probably nothing, Ron," He said honestly, "Nothing direct anyway. It's just… it's a pattern that I was just forced to see in my life. If I'm going to break the pattern, I've got to break it everywhere. Potions is just one part."

Ron sighed, and once again Harry could almost see him go into the tank. He waved Hermione to silence and went back to his potions work, letting Ron work things out on his own. Truth was, that was the only way Ron tended to learn. He had to make his own mistakes and think things through from there, which was where Harry thought Hermione kept going wrong.

Some people didn't learn from books, some didn't learn from people. Harry suspected that Ron was one of those, and Ron simply needed to learn some things for himself from the ground up. It was slower than other ways, but it had its own advantages as well.

When Ron finally came back up, Harry could see that he was a lot more relaxed.

"You're probably right, mate." Ron said then, "Never thought about it, but I can see how it could be true."

Hermione shot Ron a dark looked at the word 'could', but Harry just smiled slightly. There was the difference in Hermione and Ron's core personality, unless he missed his guess. Hermione accepted 'facts' easily, Ron grudgingly accepted 'possibilities'.

Harry decided that he wanted to exist somewhere in the middle of the two.

In his room, Xander stripped off his robes and took a quick shower before coming back out and heading into his 'doorway'. Inside the habitually locked door, Xander had decorated the modest 'office' space with a 'borrowed' school desk. He'd pilfered that, and the chair, from one of the unused classrooms along with a small shelving unit for his more common books.

Most of his portable library was kept in his trunk, which he unfortunately couldn't take into the doorway due to the size differences within each item.

The trunk stored much more space than his door, so while the door could fit into the trunk, the trunk would catastrophically dismantle the doorway if he tried to stuff it inside. One of the rules of expanded space was that, while you could place an expanded special item within another similar item, they would take up the same amount of space as their expanded volume.

It was a mind boggling set of calculations, but what it boiled down to was that Xander would have to step out to get his books.

He was working on an idea to solve that, but not just then.

No, tonight Xander decided to just polish off his plans for TV in his room.

It wasn't a complicated job, actually, and he'd already managed to talk to Willow about it a few times over the holidays. She was working on that end with Sirius, who had volunteered in exchange for getting one of his own.

The idea revolved around a large fifty inch mirror mounted on the back wall of the room and, of course, Xander's favorite spell, The Protean.

At home, Xander knew that Willow had bought a large projection television and connected it to premium cable. In the same room, mounted just the right distance away to frame the TV perfectly, was an identical mirror to the one Xander was etching runes on just then.

Willow and Sirius would be perfectly echoing the Protean Runes Xander was working on, creating a magical link between the two. Assuming they weren't done already, Sirius was better at runes than he was, Xander had learned. Though the former prisoner had taken a few weeks to brush off the rust.

When he was done, Xander carefully charged the runic lattice and activated the mirror.

It remained black.

"Hmmm…" Xander picked up his Spell Phone and thumbed in the dial for Willow, "Willow?"

"Yes Xander?" Her voice came back instantly.

"Did you finish the mirror?"

"Oh yes, is yours done?"

"Yeah, but it's black…"

"One second… I have to turn on the TV."

Xander groaned, palming his face as the mirror snapped to life, the image brightening until he was watching Home Improvement over his magic mirror.

"Heh. More power." Xander grunted, grinning widely.

"Xander Lavelle Harris! Don't you DARE use him as a role model!"