Disclaimer: The usual. I own nothing; please don't sue this penniless writer.

Harry found that his dreams had been increasing in intensity lately. He could still feel the waves of darkness sweeping through the castle but now they were starting to resemble a human form. It made him feel rather jumpy as the shadows around the castle seemed to jump out at him from around the corners.

He had progressed with his studies as usual and even managed to become the youngest quidditch player at Hogwarts. It had all started out with a simple invitation by Draco to go out flying since they both had brought their brooms. They were planning to sneak out with a few others to fly around the quidditch pitch after dinner where there was unlikely to be anyone around. Him being partly the noble Gryffindor he was had suggested bringing Ron and some of his Gryffindor friends along in an effort to breach the gap between the two houses.

"Awwww…, come on Draco you wouldn't let something like house rivalry get between a nice bout of flying would you?"

"They're bloody Gryffindors. I don't see why you're so keen on inviting them along."

"Come on, after all I'm half Gryffindor and I'm not that bad am I?" he tried to persuade the other.

"Well you aren't half bad I suppose although I don't see why you bother to hang around with those losers. I only put up with you because you're one of us too. I don't know how I have managed to survive your random Gryffindor urges"

"It can't be that bad. After all you're not afraid of losing to some of those Gryffindors are you?"

"I have nothing to be afraid of," Draco huffed, insulted. "Fine, invite them if you will."

And that had ended up in a rather sullen bunch of Gryffindors and Slyhterins zooming around in the quidditch pitch that evening, both parties looking as if they would rather be somewhere else. The trouble started when Neville who was rather clumsy on his broom accidentally dropped a Remembrall that his grandmother had given him. Of course it had to fall into the hands of Draco Malfoy, who thought that it was a good opportunity to have a little fun and started tossing it amongst the Slytherins out of reach of poor Neville who was struggling around rather clumsily to get to it.

"Come on now, Draco. Stop being a prat," Harry said in annoyance. He was starting to realize what a bad idea this had turned out to be. 'Blame it on his foolish Gryffindor tendencies'

Ignoring Harry, Draco threw the round orb with all his strength so it flew high and far across the pitch close to one of the castle towers. Without thinking, Harry zipped off after the ball trying to catch it before it got smashed against the stone. Pushing his broom forward he moved in a beeline towards the wall looking for a moment as if he was going to crash headfirst into it before swerving suddenly and avoiding it at the very last moment, the remembrall clasped in his hand.

Flying back to the others, he was aware of the stunned looks that his housemates were sporting.

Ron broke the silence as he asked Harry, "Where did you learn to fly like that? That was amazing!"

The Slyhterins couldn't help but agree while calling out praises and congratulations on the amazing feat. It seemed that they had all forgotten about the cause of the problem in light of Harry's spectacular display.

Their joy was short-lived though as a rather irate looking Professor McGonagall was seen storming out across the pitch.

"50 points from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. What were you boys thinking, sneaking out here unsupervised and Harry, come with me."

Harry gave a forlorn look to his friends and followed after Mcgonagall. The day was not quite turning out how he'd hoped it'd be. He supposed it couldn't get any worse now could it? He was rather surprised that instead of heading to Professor McGonagall's office they first went to see Professor Snape. He couldn't quite hear what they were discussing but after much debate they seemed to come to a conclusion. "Well Mr. Potter, it seems that you have the honour of being the youngest seeker in a century at Hogwarts. Professor Snape and I have agreed to allow you to play due to your rather splendid performance on the pitch this afternoon."

Harry's eyes nearly popped out of his socket when he heard that. He had never once expected something as exciting as this.

"But Professor, aren't first years not allowed on the team?" he asked with slight dismay.

"Well for your case we can make an exception."

"It seems that your celebrity status does seem to have some impact here. However, I have heard about your performance and I trust Minerva to make a sound decision. You may be on both the Slytherin and Gryffindor teams. I shall however be watching your performance to see if it matches the great description I have heard. You would do well not to disappoint Slytherin house for this honour," Professor Snape said in a low voice.

Harry couldn't help but suppress a shiver at that. Professor Snape sure could be very intimidating when it came to protecting his own house.

"But sir, what about the matches between Slytherin and Gryffindor?"

"You may play for either houses as long as both teams are in agreement of the arrangement. Now, if there is nothing else I have essays to mark." 'and probably fail' thought Harry considering how harsh Snape was in his marking. He did reasonably well in potions but then Snape did tend to be partial towards his own house so he supposed he couldn't quite let that get to him. After all it was all very confusing considering how he was extra harsh to the Gryffindors while being excessively lenient with members of his own house. That probably accounted for his mediocre marks all the time though he thought with a slight smirk.

…….

Later that evening it seemed that the word had spread like wildfire. He had only really told Draco, Blaise and Ron but it seemed that everyone had heard the news and he was getting mixed reactions. Some were genuinely ecstatic giving him big thumps on the back while others were looking at him warily, as if he had done something illegal to get on the team. The Gryffindor and Slytherin houses were also each having a different point of view in that Harry would help win all the matches for their respective house and not the other and he had just about given up on explaining that he would technically be playing for both houses except in the match against each other. It didn't help that everyone seem to expect him to win in his first match and that was in three weeks time. He couldn't help the feeling of dread that settled in his stomach dampening some of his earlier elation.

Draco sensing his feelings whispered to him, "Don't worry, Marcus Flint is a fanatical team captain. He'll get you up to speed in no time."

'Right, just what I need.' Harry thought sarcastically. "Who's the Gryffindor team captain?" he asked.

"Oliver Wood. He's just as bad though so you'll probably be getting it from both of them."

……

Practices for the Gryffindor team were on Tuesday evenings and Thursday evenings for Slytherin. There had been a huge argument at the beginning when they were trying to decide which team Harry should train with and finally with some mediating by Harry and their respective house heads it had been settled. Harry would train with the house which was participating in the next inter-house match. If it was more than four weeks away from any house match he could train with any of the teams. He had set down his foot on not training with both as he had found out early on that doing both Tuesday's and Thursday's had him tired beyond relief as both team captains were apt slave drivers.

His first match loomed up being a Slytherin against Hufflepuff. It was expected to be a rather easy win although Flint had not gone any easier on him saying that this was his first chance to prove himself and he would have his head if he did not catch the snitch. Harry gulped as Flint went through the rest of his threats with the other team members. Oliver Wood seemed almost tolerable after Flint's harsh ways. 'Almost' being the key word because even though Flint was very intimidating during team practices and pep talks, Wood put in almost as many hours as him or more really. When it came to quidditch there was almost no easy way around the two of them and he just had to be the lucky one to have it all.

He was rather nervous as they marched out onto the playing field. Within seconds the whistle was blown and they were off in the air. The sensation of the wind blowing against his face and the freedom that came with flying took his mind off his worries as he lazily circled around the pitch keeping an eye out for the snitch. He loved flying and he was rather adept at it despite the little opportunity he had to practice since his mother usually preferred him to be on the ground where she could see him.

……..

Down in the seats, a pair of dark red eyes watched as the match progressed. They followed the movements of the youngest seeker as he twirled around the field expertly avoiding bludgers and any other obstacles along the way. Suddenly he dived as if following after the snitch but then he quickly pulled out of the dive and continued his relaxed circling.

Deciding to see how well the boy could stay on his broom he started incanting in barely audible tones, his ruby orbs never wavering from the boy. Soon the broom started to jerk roughly, zooming from one side to the other trying to throw off its rider.

Harry was shocked when his broom suddenly gave an unplanned jerk and stopped following his commands. He nearly fell off as another unexpected twist caught him off balance. His eyes narrowed as he decided that someone was definitely jinxing his broom, but the question was who? As he struggled to keep on his broom, he ran through all the ways to stop the jinx in his mind. He remembered reading that it was usually a battle of wills where the curse could only be overcome if the one countering it had more power of will than the other. This tended to be rather difficult if the caster was someone of profound strength.

Suddenly, the broom gave an unexpected twitch and he slipped of the edge only to stop himself from falling by grabbing onto one end of it. Things weren't looking very good at the moment as Harry found himself dangling a 500 feet above ground. He struggled to muster enough concentration as he chanted the counter charm urgently feeling a growing surge of power flowing through his body as beads of sweat rolled down his chin. The broom was trembling slightly as it seemed to be fighting against staying still and throwing its rider to his death.

In the distance he could hear the shocked exclamations of the crowd as no doubt everyone would have seen him by now, dangling high above the ground. He forced his broom to move lower and lower, as he managed to regain control of it with his magic. His relaxed a bit as he gradually drifted closer to ground level when a sudden outburst of strong magic cut through the broom causing him to lose control and fall the rest of the way to the ground. He heard a loud crack as his body hit the ground like a limp doll. He was pretty sure that he had broken a couple of bones although he was too tired to care.

……

Everyone was staring at the scene in stunned silence as they saw the young seeker's broom jerk around erratically nearly throwing him off in the frenzy. A loud gasp resounded as he lost his handhold and ended up dangling from the edge of the broom. Then as if guided by an invisible hand the broom had slowly calmed down and started drifting down towards the ground only to suddenly twitch and throw its rider 10 metres from the ground.

……

He decided he had seen enough as he drifted out of his follower's mind and back to his throne room. The dimly lit lamps cast black shadows against the walls as he pondered over the boy's power. It seems that he was much more than he appeared to be. 'Now to move on to a more direct method of communication' he thought.

...

AN: Thank you so much for all your reviews.

DestinyEntwinements, thuyhy-thuyhy, Jarno, Shania Maxwell, shannyauburn, ivan the terrible, animegurl088, Sarah R Potter, AceZ-Shadow, Midnight Star, Nymoue, Fancyfree, good morning starshine the earth says hello-debbs (that's a really long nick!)

Ok, I know everyone kinda wants to get to the bit where LV and Harry meet and yes I will get to that soon, it's just going to be in a different way that's all and I haven't forgotten about Kaspar, he will be back later on. I'm sorry it took so long to update, I have not stopped writing, it's just that I've started classes and all and I don't have any access to the internet at the moment. My computer hard drive died for a week or so and then I had to move back to my flat and my internet is not going to be up for another week to two weeks. Things are pretty hectic and I'm just posting this chapter using my university internet. I hope that you'll all be patient and I'm sorry if it's a bit rushed through. Reviews would be very encouraging! Thank you.