A/N: And I'm back! Yay! Thoughts and text are in italic, parseltounge in "italic" (with quotation marks). Enjoy!

Chapter Seven: The Marauding
As break progressed, Fred and George Weasley were in heaven, or something close to it. Pranks were going off everywhere. Harry had asked them not to prank Malfoy for the moment as to keep the him guessing as to where he stood with Harry keep your friends close and your enemies closer but they had taken every opportunity to prank Crabbe and Goyle, keeping the blond haired boy the escorted constantly on edge.

Harry was amused. He had no particular liking or hatred for the Malfoy heir, though he could be a nuisance, and did not see any advantage of making an enemy of him. He had no intention of getting on friendly terms with the boy either, especially as Malfoy's temporary respect for him was due to his belief that Harry was the heir of Slytherin, and should Malfoy get to close he would discover that to be false, which would only cause Harry trouble in his own house.

Harry, however, had other things to think about as well. He had no idea where Black was, who the heir of Slytherin might be, where the chamber was located, or what monster it might contain. For the moment he settled to researching how to sense energy, and the difference between magical aura and life force. It was important that he understand how others could detect him, and he hoped that perhaps learning such skills might help in dealing with Black- and with the heir of Slytherin, and Slytherin's monster.

Unfortunately, this was far easier said than done, and after several minutes of fruitless searching he enlisted the help of Madame Pince. After several minutes looking through library catalogs and shelves towards the back, she handed him a small leather-bound book, its casing worn and faded, pages yellowed parchment. He flipped it open, and began to read:

Sensing varying types of energy is a skill requiring both awareness and practice. Life energy and auras cannot be differentiate without observation and practice, though recognizing them together is one of the first things to attempt, since the combination is easiest to detect.

If this is an area of study that interests you, the very first thing you must do is become consistently as aware of your surroundings as possible. Pay close attention to the senses that are commonly ignored by humans, especially hearing and smell, and to all aspects of your surroundings.

Close your eyes. Focus your attention inward, on your heartbeat-pulse-breath-life-energy. Slow your breathing, and allow your awareness to spread outwards. Hear, smell, and feel the space around you. Feel for the presence of people near by. It will seem faint, at first, but with practice it will become easier to detect.

Paying attention to your surroundings is vital. In still water, the way the currents come back to you after you've disturbed it can alert you as to the proximity of other objects. Air, also, can alert you to your surroundings, though it is more subtle, and takes more practice to feel where there is open space, and where there are objects. You will want to be able to be able to not only detect things around you, but to eventually differentiate between the living and the non-living, the magical and the non-magical.

Practice walking with your eyes closed. You will feel oddly unsteady at first. Our ability to walk and balance ourselves is strongly linked to our sight. You will gain steadiness, and gradually stop running into things as you slowly develop your sixth sense...

-Chapter One, The Book of Sight

After a few days of chaos the twins had withdrawn, spending most of their time in intensive research, so it was to Harry's surprise when they came down the stairs from their dorm and called out to him where he sat reading.

"Harry! We're going to Hogsmeade, wanna come?"

"Sure-"

"He can't go to Hogsmeade, he's not a third year!" interrupted Ron from the corner of the common room.

"No need to fret, Ronald, you can come too," Harry told the younger Weasley, glancing over to the twins, who nodded.

"I'll check on Ginny to see if she wants to come, get the cloak and meet me by the passage. She's in the library, right?"

"Yep. Good thought, mate, she's been a bit freaked over the whole chamber of secrets thing, an outing would probably do her good," commented George.

"Right, see you there!"

"Ginny!"

"Er... uh, Harry, hi..."

"Your brothers and I are going to Hogsmeade, and I we were wondering if like to come with us."

"What? Now? How... I mean, sure."

"Come on, we're supposed to meet them by the passage."

She got up hurriedly to follow him out of the library."

Emerging from the cellar of Honeyduke's behind Fred and George, Harry (invisible) and Ron and Ginny (under the cloak), were eager to look around and explore, having never before been to the village. Even just Honeyduke's was fascinating, containing a wide variety of sweets, from sugar quills to chocolates to cockroach clusters and blood pops. George bought a small variety of treats for Ginny, much to Ron's annoyance, before moving on. The twins lead them through a variety of shops, including the joke shop Zonko's and the local apothecary, the latter in which they spent quite a while picking out ingredients, presumably for their experiments.

Surprisingly, even Ron was acting warmly towards Harry, enthusiastically pointing out

things he found intriguing in the shops to both Harry and Ginny. The two younger Weasleys's enthusiasm in exploration tied the three of them together for the moment.

The five of them had paused in the Three Broomsticks for butter-beer when, to their misfortune, McGonagall and Hagrid entered the pub, accompanied by a man in pinstriped robes ("Fudge," Fred whispered to his younger, invisible companions). They sat quietly, not wanting to attract attention.

It was the topic of conversation, however, that caught Harry's interest. He sat quietly, absorbing the information. Best friend, secret keeper, godfather, Pettigrew... When the adults had left, they moved on up the hill, towards a building the twins referred to as "the shrieking shack" which was, evidentially, haunted. It was then that Harry spotted a dark shape in the shadows.

Stepping forward, he could see that in was a large black creature, a bear-like dog. It was watching him with a strange intensity. He held out a hand.

"Come here, boy, I won't hurt you." It bounded forward eagerly, and began licking his hand.

"That's not a dog," Silas hissed to him from around his neck.

"I thought not. A human, then?"

"Yes."

Harry turned back to the man-dog. Animagus, like McGonagall...

"Would you like to come with me? I could use a good guard dog."

The animagus barked enthusiastically. It could be Black. I'll have to be careful Harry thought, and then, keep your friends close and your enemies closer...

"How come you get to keep him?" asked Ron in a disgruntled voice.

"Because he wants me to, don't you?" The animagus barked again, rubbing against Harry's leg.

"Some people have all the luck," muttered Ron, but he was smiling.

"You never know, a stray dog could be trouble," Ginny commented to Ron.

"Yes, it could," Harry agreed, "I think I'll call it... Padfoot." After the marauder. It fits, after all, and for all I know, he could be. 'Padfoot' barked enthusiastically, and licked Harry's hand.

The twins laughed. "Yep," announced Fred, "He'll be trouble alright."

As they trudged back towards the tunnel, Harry whispered to Silas, "Could you keep watch while I sleep? You can always sleep about my neck during classes, and I'd like you to be able to wake me if the man-dog tries anything."

"Of course, Harry Potter."

A/N: Please give me feedback. I'll try and post again soon. Many thanks to:

Ahappyjtm, akunamatata, baeryl, I-Y-T-Y, OrionLuckyStar, Bewittching, ManicReversed, Lurk, Thestrals, Mee Yah, firmin, Aqua Mage, jbfritz, thsunami, maria, Nights Silhouette, GoddessMoonLady, MarauderinglyMagical, NamelessHeretic, FroBoy, azntgr01