See the end for Author's Notes.

Chapter Five

"Harry! Can I have a word?"

Both Vincent and Malfoy sent looks of disapproval at him. Harry let out a world-heavy sigh and turned to look at Granger as she hurried up the corridor. "Call me Potter," he corrected her.

The girls' steps faltered at the rebuke, but otherwise showed no other sign that she was surprised. (If one ignored that her aura noticeably dimmed and shrunk in around the edges.) "Of course. Potter. I need to talk with you."

She pointedly looked behind him at the two other Slytherin boys. Goyle had been in the hospital wing after having an allergic reaction to a plant in herbology and they were going to visit him. Harry wasn't sure why Malfoy had agreed to accompany them, but had kept the peace when the blond hadn't branched off upon reaching the main staircase leading to the dungeons. It was only because the hospital was located in the clock tower that they were even close to the Gryffindor common room to begin with. "Alone."

Malfoy sneered and was ready to whip out his sparkling wit and sharp tongue, but Harry was faster. "You two can go along and see if Madam Pomfrey is going to release him for Transfiguration. I'll catch up."

Vince's own pointed gaze was a clear communication on what he had to say about the situation but he continued on without voicing them. Malfoy wasn't so considerate. "Careful Potter. Someone might think you two are friends." He sneered the last word to put the disdainful emphasis most Slytherins had on the concept of friendship.

Harry rolled his eyes after the two heirs. Draco Malfoy was a right menace when he put his mind to it, which was unfortunately frequently. "Ignore him," Harry said as he turned back to Granger who had her own scowl of disapproval.

"Oh I intend to," she sniffed. "It's not like he ever says much of note anyway."

'Oh goody,' he thought to himself. 'They've developed a feud already.'

"Draco is smart enough and is the best potioneer in our year. He is a wealth of knowledge that not even all born into the wizarding world are privy to. It's best you not voice your opinions about him too loudly less he takes offense and seriously considers you antagonistic to the house of Malfoy. He is its heir."

Granger rolled her eyes, but did give a sharp nod of acknowledgement. "Fine. But that doesn't mean I'm going to like him."

Harry shrugged. He still didn't very much like Malfoy himself but the blond had mellowed out a bit since the school year had started. It was already Wednesday and Harry had only heard 'My father says...' twice that week. It was a vast improvement from the twice an hour interval the blond had used during the first two months of school. "I didn't say you had to. You, on the other hand, said you wanted to talk. If it's about the troll incident I've already been harangued by Crabbe and Weasley on separate occasions. You don't have to worry about me collecting on the life debt and I'm definitely not inclined to aid you unprompted once again. It's all in our best interests that we forget about-"

"Ron and Seamus are just idiots. I told them they should apologize for yelling at you. "

Harry arched an eyebrow. "Ron, is it? I didn't know you three were so close."

She huffed again, but a noticeable blush dusted across her cheeks- her aura also darkened in spots as if her magic, too, was embarrassed. Harry didn't pay this too much notice although he thought it was good that she finally had friends. Even if it was with Ronald Weasley. That probably meant that she was going to align herself with the Light and having an example like the Weasley family around wasn't going to make her a potential ally if Malfoy was to be believed. (And although he was skeptical of most things the blond said, when it came to the political affiliations of families, he tended to know what he was talking about.) "If that's everything then Granger," Harry turned to follow his friends, but as it turned out, that wasn't everything.

"It's not about the troll. It's about Professor Snape. I think he's up to something."

Harry frowned and shot an exasperated glare over his shoulder. "If I don't talk ill about your head of house why should you talk ill of mine? Besides, he's not a bad guy. Just a little grumpy."

"No. Har-Potter," she corrected when his glare increased in severity, "He was the first to disappear when the troll had been announced in the dungeons. Don't you think that was odd?"

"He probably didn't accept that anyone else would be able to handle the creature. Quirrell was useless, as you saw."

"But then his leg was bleeding that night. I saw it after you and that other Slytherin boy left."

Harry rolled his eyes and turned away again. This was ridiculous. "He might've cut his leg on all the trash in the bathroom. There was glass, rocks, and timber everywhere. I'm sure it was-"

"There's a three-headed dog guarding a trap door in the out-of-bounds corridor."

At this Harry turned back around to stare aghast at Granger. "You went down there? You?!"

"Of course I didn't do it intentionally," Hermione scoffed. "Me and Neville accidentally- you know what, it doesn't matter. The point is that your Head of House was trying to sneak past it and got attacked for his trouble!"

Harry blinked. Then scowled. He knew the Gryffindors didn't like Professor Snape. They had a good reason because the man was a right menace during potions class, but still. "I would have expected this from Weasley. It was my mistake to assume you were more sensible than him."

"I'm trying to warn you I think he's up to no good! Think about it Potter, why would a Hogwarts Professor need to get into an out-of-bounds corridor being guarded by a monster like that? Wouldn't he already know what's down there? What's guarding it?"

"So you think he's a thief, do you?"

"I think he's hiding something. He is the Head of Slytherin house, Harry. They're known for their duplicitous nature."

Harry's eyes narrowed and he gritted his teeth. Hermione flushed, but raised her chin despite her aura shrinking in on itself even further. It seemed that she had no intention to take any of her accusations back. "Best for you to be off Miss Granger. Wouldn't want you to become tainted by my dastardly Slytherin ways."

Harry turned away, not looking back even as Granger let out a shout of anger and stomped her feet as she stormed away. 'How childish,' he thought as he too left the corridor, but at a more controlled pace. 'If anyone should feel upset it should be me.' Harry knew that Professor Snape wasn't very nice to Gryffindors, but the bloody Headmaster of the school had a bias against Slytherins so really only Slytherins had the right to feel picked on. Not to mention how every other house operated under the belief that only 'evil' people were sorted into the snake pit.

He rattled off the list of the sacred twenty-eight houses and number of Wizengamot seats of each family (the sacred twenty-eight held half of the total number of seats amongst their numbers) to calm himself down. Vincent said it was best to recite things at a measured, steady pace to keep control of one's emotions. The older boy liked to recite the seventeen curses and counter-curses listed from Jinxes for the Jinxed- a Defense text he had read once.

Harry's mood wasn't improved in the slightest to see Zabini sitting on a cot only two beds away from where Goyle was being harangued by Madame Pomfrey. "Potter," he greeted.

Truthfully it was Malfoy who had a bone to pick with the Italian wizard, but with the weird gray area Harry found himself in when it came to the Malfoy heir, he was almost expected to take the blond's side. Didn't mean he couldn't be polite. "Hey Zabini. I haven't seen you since potions class."

"Oh yes, well, my mother's husband died you see and I was pulled out of class to await her floo. I'll probably be at home for the rest of the week."

"Merlin," Harry breathed, scolding himself for casually asking a potentially painful question. He felt a bit bad for being upset that the boy was in the hospital wing, especially now that he knew that Zabini had a much more legitimate reason than Harry to be visiting. "I'm sor-"

"Seriously Potter. You think I would tell you if I was all torn up inside? This marks my mother's fifth husband and I wouldn't be surprised if she's married again by my OWL year. I didn't much like him anyway. Was glad to go away to Hogwarts and get rid of his father-son bonding attempts'."

All of the air deflated out of Harry at the boy's laissez-faire attitude. What was he supposed to say to that exactly? He was saved from committing a social faux pas by Malfoy, Vince, and Goyle walking up. "Madam Pomfrey released me as long as I spend the rest of the free period relaxing, but I'm not to go to Astronomy tonight." Goyle grinned.

Harry pouted. "I have a right mind to pretend I'm sick too. I hate Astronomy."

"What's wrong with you?" Malfoy zeroed in on Zabini's presence with a look of suspicion and completely bypassed any of the appropriate pleasantries.

Harry found himself wondering not for the first time how Draco Malfoy could possibly have been raised by a daughter of the House of Black.

Zabini shrugged and held out his hands in a 'What can you do?' motion. Malfoy would have pressed the point if the matron hadn't come bustling up that moment and shooed the four of them out. This didn't save Harry from being under Malfoy's analyzing gaze on their way to the library. "Tell me what you and Zabini were talking about," he demanded.

Harry couldn't resist rolling his eyes at the presumptious boy. "Malfoy you seem to be under the impression that I listen to you."

"I'm heir, of course you do."

Harry's smile was too sharp around the edges to be anything remotely pleasant. It had the blond prat backing up a step. "No. You're the heir of the Malfoy house. You're not Heir Malfoy. I, on the other hand, am Heir Potter among other things. Trust me when I say this: I will never follow your command."

He caught the fleeting sight of a smile on Vince's face and knew he hadn't overstepped. It was always a tightrope with influential families like Malfoy's, especially with him being the only scion of the main house. But when he tried to flaunt a status he did not have it was expected that Harry corrected him tuit-de-suite less he would be seen as submitting to his authority.

Malfoy sniffed but tilted his head slightly in a show of submission. It was hardly distinguishable from a casual tilt of the head to most, but any pureblood who had learned the nonverbal cues of the old families- the same nonverbal communication that Vincent had been teaching him for the past two months- would take it for what it was. A victory for Harry. It would be a point for Harry in the tangle of knots that was the Slytherin hierarchy.

He hadn't yet made any attempts to interact with the carefully worded power plays that other Slytherins performed, but had noticed Malfoy and Nott both taking steps to improve their own standing. One's name could only get one so far. For instance Malfoy's only made him the highest ranked of the first years and automatically above some of the smaller pureblood lines of second year. It had been Malfoy's own words and actions that ranked him among the third years in Slytherins hierarchy. With Harry now having placed himself in a place of power against the blond he would now have to play to gain the same against those ranked around him. Which meant he would need to start speaking with third years.

All of this to gain more power and play more games. All of this for his father.

Malfoy was a sight more tolerable for the next few weeks and didn't even make a snide comment when Harry spent Saturday afternoons down at Hagrid's. It became obvious when he returned to the common room one evening before the Yuletide holiday break that he wasn't the only one to notice the shift in the hierarchy.

"Mister Potter would you care to join me?"

The conversation that he had been having with Vincent and Nott cut off abruptly at the interruption. Harry recognized the girl who had called out to him almost immediately, more so because of her unusually active aura than her influence in his house, although she had plenty of that as well. She was Daphne Greengrass. Third Year. The top rank of her year whose authority went well up into the fifth years. If there was a Queen of Slytherin to be found it would be the Greengrass Heiress.

She had been named Heir apparent of her household at eleven and that meant something considerable to anyone who cared to pay attention. (Although Harry was still a little baffled about what exactly it signified despite Vincent's attempts at explanation. It appeared to be one of those things that everyone simply knew and took for granted and thus never knew how to succinctly explain to outsiders.) "Of course Miss Greengrass," he followed her lead in a formal address.

No titles, yet a public greeting all the same. Was this his first alliance?

Up close Daphne Greengrass looked like a fairytale princess. Her hair was more golden than yellow and was pinned back in perfect coifs on the top then allowed to spill across her right shoulder. Her blue eyes were deep and mesmerizing, reminding Harry of the depths of the ocean if he were to ever see it. Her face was classically handsome in a way that was only ever depicted in storybooks with a small button nose and a heart-shaped face. Her skin wasn't the alabaster pale of the Malfoy family, but more like warm cream. In short, Daphne Greengrass was mesmerizing in every way imaginable. And she smelled like flowers! "I'm sorry it has taken so long for us to meet," she continued after raising a privacy ward around them. "My courses have taken up most of my time this term."

So it was a simple introduction? That was a relief.

Daphne Greengrass was a considerable leap higher in the hierarchy and to begin negotiations without blackmail of some sort or an ally of similar or higher status than her own would have been akin to political suicide, or so Vincent assured him. Harry had taken Vince's lessons on the social ladder very seriously. The higher he was on it personally, the more pull he would be able to exert when it came time to aid his father. "I appreciated the time to gather my bearings at the castle. But now I am looking forward to getting to know my classmates. You, most of all."

"Oh?"

Harry nodded. He needed to start becoming more active in the hierarchy and in his search for his father. And it couldn't hurt to get some early recruitments lined up to join his father's army when they graduated. "Anyone versed in the Dark Arts would be an asset to my family."

Daphne's deep blue eyes widened and she let out chuckles that sounded like wind chimes. "You think I'm versed in the Dark Arts? Where'd you get a silly idea like that?"

Harry frowned. Her aura, for one, but he had learned early on that no one else saw them. But the depth of the magic that swirled around her was something he had learned to attribute to those who had come from a long line of Dark magic users. "Magic is passed through the bloodline. You come from such a line."

Daphne froze on the chaise across from him, but revealed nothing. Her laughter had ceased as abruptly as it had bubbled out of her. If anything the heiress' stillness revealed more about her thoughts than any words she would ever voice aloud. Even her aura had stilled it's ever present dance around her. Finally when Harry was sure she had forgotten she spoke again. "You should keep such words to yourself, Harry. There are ears everywhere and a puppet master hides amongst the children."

Her words only confused him more. He noted with displeasure that her face had relaxed into a smooth mask he recognized all too well from his lessons. It was one reserved for dinner parties and family gatherings, Vincent had said. In other words, everything unpleasant and dangerous that a youth of a notable family would have to experience growing up. "A puppet master? Do you mean Dumbledore? I already know he's dangerous. My runic necklace burns every mealtime."

Daphne's sharp gaze snapped to his chest where the necklace in question could be seen peeking out from under his robe. "Helena's work, I'm sure. Someone's been keeping secrets."

Harry's frown deepened. He somehow felt that nothing was going to plan and that he might've gotten Prefect Dodderidge into a spot of trouble. "It was very considerate of her. I owe her a debt. There are things that I cannot have the Headmaster know I am aware of and the war would have been lost the first day of classes if it wasn't for her assistance. Do not be cross with her."

Daphne's classic beauty made her stare a foreboding thing to be on the other end of. Especially when her aura was giving no hints as to how she felt. (He was beginning to think that the emanations of magic that everyone had wasn't as helpful a tell as he had originally thought. He was meeting more and more people that could control it just as well as their facial expressions.)

Harry knew he had made a mistake, but he couldn't figure out where. Perhaps it was forward of him to announce his interest in an allegiance based on her magical aura, but no one seemed to bother by hiding it. Even amongst Slytherin it was rare to see anyone who bothered keeping their magic under lock and key. Only the Headmaster, Professor Snape, and Professor Quirrell even bothered with it. All anyone's magical aura really told someone was what type of spells their magic was predisposed to. Harry's own was gray!

"A debt. Have you told her this?"

Harry shook his head hurriedly. "No, but I will post-haste!"

He jumped to his feet to do just that- and remove himself from this disaster of an introduction- when he was stopped by a tug on his robes that almost had him falling back into his own chair. Miss Greengrass had used a sticking charm on his robes!

"I didn't say you had to leave, calm down. I just have a decision to make that I hadn't expected. But now I see what the rumors are all about. You are full of surprises, aren't you Mister Potter? I would be pleased if I could uncover more in the future."

Harry was completely confused. He had apparently broken some pureblood etiquette rule that Vincent hadn't told him about when he spoke of her aura (maybe? He'd have to ask later for verification), then she all but forced him to stay sitting with her in the common room (with a ruddy sticking charm!), and now she was offering him an alliance? One of those things were not like the other and it was the last two that made no sense in or out of context.

"I don't understand. You want to ally yourself with me?"

The smile she gave him made her look like she was cooing at an especially cute puppy. He thought he was the puppy in that particular metaphor. "No, mon petit chou. I am offering to teach you."

"But Crabbe is already teaching me. I've learned a lot already this term."

Daphne's smile seemed a touch self-indulgent and did nothing to banish the belief that she saw him as a puppy from Harry's mind. And what on heck was a 'petty choo'? "I'm sure Vincent Crabbe does his best, but there are some things that only a woman can teach you."

Harry doesn't know why that sentence made him blush, but he thought it had something to do with the implications in that one sentence. He was eleven not fifteen! He made a note to ask Vincent about pureblood courting rituals. Maybe he was being asked into a courtship and he didn't know the proper way of declining yet?

"Lady Greengrass, if that is all I have a few essays I should be starting."

Her smile was innocent enough, but the way her gaze rested upon him somehow indicated that he was only escaping her clutches because she allowed him to. "Of course. I'm sure there will be plenty of time for us to discuss things further at a later time."

Harry rose as she did and bowed over her outstretched hand. "Until next time, Mister Potter."

Harry nodded once more than walked hurriedly towards the boys common room where he would be safe from the girls of his house. Upon entering the room he's immediately sat upon by Draco Malfoy. "What were you doing talking to Queenie?"

"Who?" Harry frowned as he sidestepped the huffy blond.

"Daphne Greengrass." One could hear the exasperation in Draco's voice as he followed Harry to his desk. "Crabbe said you were called aside as soon as you got in. What did she want? Why was she talking to you? What did you do to get her attention anyway? How come-"

"Merlin and Morgana Malfoy," Harry whined as he dropped his bag down heavily on his desk, probably knocking around his ink. "If I knew the answer to that I would tell you."

Malfoy harrumphed and lifted his chin like he was prone to. "Well it's odd that Queenie would talk to you of all people."

"Why?" Nott, who had been sitting quietly on his bed with Goyle going over a star chart, asked. "Because she's better than him?"

Harry scowled at the other blond. While he didn't have any problems with Zabini, he did not have any fond feelings for Theodore Nott as of yet and every time the boy opened his mouth he just added more reasons to not particularly like him. "It's because Harry's status amongst the hierarchy is so muddled," Vincent answered instead. "He has garnered a relatively high standing by his name and feats alone, but has only just recently begun participating in the discussions."

"And she doesn't do alliances of any sorts," Draco added. "Even with me. Which means that she wanted something else from Boy Wonder here. And the fact that she would call him out in the middle of the common room means she's staking a claim. Queenie's up to something."

"She said she wanted to teach me things."

Everyone else stared at Harry in wide eyed astonishment. "What?" Harry whined.

"She wants to claim you as a student? Really? WHY?!" Draco shouted.

Harry shrugged. He didn't know as much about the rules that regulated the purebloods interactions with one another as he pretended to and knew it was a fool's dream to imagine a few months talking with Vince was going to remedy that. "Why do you keep calling her Queenie?" Harry asked in hopes of changing topics.

It took Draco a few notable seconds to stop obsessing over whatever new social faux pas Harry had committed. He waved a hand in the air as if clearing away cobwebs and said, "Her younger sister is my betrothed. She told me to call her Queenie after we started courting proceedings during Samhain."

"So it's official then?" Nott looked impressed.

Harry thought there were more important questions to be asked. "You're engaged?"

Draco shrugged. "Most pureblood families set up some sort of betrothal contract for their first born. I'm sure your parents-ow"

Goyle looked theatrically apologetic as he held his hands up. "Sorry Malfoy," he said in a parody of guilt, "I missed Greg."

By Nott's snicker, no one really believed him. Before it could devolve into a hexing match- of which Harry knew Vincent would win if only because he knew more hexes than the rest of them- Harry and Goyle convinced the others that their potions essay was of utmost importance. (This wasn't very far from the truth as everyone knew that Professor Snape was by far the strictest teacher when it came to theoretical knowledge of his subject.)

They got through the rest of the week without anyone else bringing up Daphne Greengrass and Harry had begun to think he had managed to avoid a troublesome situation just when she started her nefarious plan. The first time was at a Saturday breakfast so Harry was completely caught off guard. She had called him to sit beside her and introduced him to several other third years and a few fourth years. Even in his sleep-addled brain he was aware that they were rather important people.

Daphne called him to attend her several times in the following weeks (Prefect Dodderidge would sometimes act as a buffer from some of the more touchy girls, but for the most part allowed him to suffer the notice of so many giggling girls by himself). Zabini had mockingly called Harry Daphne's puppy. Malfoy had hexed him for the insult but Harry found that he agreed with him, at least on that front.

He was relieved to be one of the few Slytherins to remain behind for Yule hols. Sure Zabini was there as well (a fact that Draco laughed at far more than was proper) and there were two fifth years who were studying for their OWLS, but one of four students left in the dungeons gave Harry the peace he had taken for granted those few times he was locked away in his cupboard.

He had owl ordered all of the gifts he was to give to his classmates and had sent Hedwig out with each one in the week leading up to Yule as per tradition. Daphne and Vince would receive their gifts on the first day to signify their importance to him, but Draco would be given the next day lest Harry offend his delicate sensibilities. He almost wished he could have just had all of them delivered at once, but Daphne had actually scowled when he had suggested having a few of the school owls carry them. Apparently it was rude to do something so impersonal.

When the morning of the fourth day of Yule arrived he awoke to a pile of presents. Harry had already been warned by Vince that the school elves kept all Yule gifts for the first few days until Christmas arrived since the pagan traditions were practiced by a scarce minority, but he was still surprised by the actual presents. He had never gotten Christmas presents before, not really. Most years the Dursleys gave him a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks or some of Dudley's old clothes. This year they had sent a pence and the expected pair of socks. Harry kept the money, but set the holey socks aside to be thrown away.

The next parcel had a note attached. 'Your father left this in my care years ago. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well.'

The script had the complex swirls and flambouncy that was common in a charmed script. Whoever had sent the package had not wanted to be identified by their handwriting. Harry felt a tad bit flattered that this mysterious person thought it was necessary to go to such lengths to maintain their anonymity. All the same, it was best to not underestimate who the gift was from and what the gift was. His father was the Dark Lord after all. It might be cursed.

Harry levitated the package into his trunk and after removing a bunch of his extra books was able to place it at the bottom in the built in compartment. That particular section was meant for potions and alchemical ingredients and equipment. It wasn't warded, but there were several layers of strengthening and anti-flame and anti-corrosion runes etched on the top. It was to prevent any mishaps from within destroying everything else in his trunk. It should keep any potentially harmful spells that had been cast on the package from discharging and possibly decapitating him. Just to be sure Harry piled up his heaviest books around the side compartment and then covered the whole thing with his dragon-hide gloves for herbology. The gloves were huge and went all the way up his arm and was loose to boot. It offered more than enough leather to fold across the top of the pile. Satisfied that he was as shielded as he was going to get from anything harmful in or on the package without the aid of an adult (or Vince), Harry turned to the rest of his Yuletide gifts. He hadn't been surprised by some but then had been surprised by others. Like he had started to accept that for whatever reason he and Draco Malfoy seemed to be allies of a fashion. Not the way that Vincent and Harry were, but some facet therin. Harry had taken their developing relationship into consideration when he was ordering Yule gifts and had purchased for the boy an alchemy set. Not that they taught the class to anyone below fifth year, but Draco was well on his way to achieving Adept status in potion making and would find no problems with performing some of the beginning transmutations. The signed first edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them that Draco had sent him in return was incredibly insightful of the blond. Harry supposed he had better start calling him by his first name aloud if they were at this point in their alliance.

Goyle predictably got him sweets of various types that were appreciated all the same. Vincent had sent him a large rolled-up parchment with a note attached describing how to use a blood ritual ("... a perfectly legal and minor blood magic spell that isn't prohibited by the Ministry but is considered to be Dark Magic and should be cast away from the Slytherin common room..."). The spell would trace back his family tree for as many generations as his blood could transcribe. The more blood he gave the farther back the tree would go. Harry made a note to use it sometime before the start of the next term and to get Vincent a proper thank you when he returned.

Daphne had sent him two gifts. Both were potion sets. Upon reading what both did he wasn't sure whether he was to thank her or find a way to politely return the gifts. The first was a series of potions to be taken over the span of a month in three day increments to eventually correct his vision. ("I appropriated your glasses one afternoon to evaluate what strength of potions you would need and I'm afraid your eyesight really is rather horrid. So I got you the extended set just to be sure that there are no chances of reversion.") The second was a hair-care routine- ("-to tame that bird's nest on top of your head. No self-respecting Heir should allow themselves to go so long without having properly brushed hair"). There was a cleansing salve and then a moisturizing tonic... So shampoo and conditioner he assumed. The third one was some sort of cream that was supposed to make his hair soft and tangle-free after washing.

Harry understood that Daphne was doing what she wanted as his upperclassman sponsor the same as Vince being his year sponsor. For one reason or another the both of them were intent on helping him reach a position of power within Slytherin politics, but neither offered a straight-forward answer as to why when asked. Vincent hadn't made any further comments after that 'change the world' speech he had pulled in September. Harry just wished that he understood. He could learn how to walk, talk, act, and dress like one of the peerage all he wanted, but he was still an outsider. Some ideas and concepts that came to them naturally were completely foreign to him.

Harry placed both gifts back in their parcels and set them aside. He'd have to do something about them eventually, but he could probably get away with not using it for the time being. He shuddered to think what Daphne would say when he tried to get out of using the potions. He would fail, but his honor as a monster required him to at least try and get out of what was probably the wizarding equivalent of a pampering toiletries basket.

Harry shuddered. Women were terrifying.

A/N: This took me a bit longer to write than the first four chapters, but that is mostly because it is a lot of filler. It's a little north of five thousand words making it longer than the last two updates but still smaller than chapter two. The next update will see a lot more of the philosopher's stone mystery and the conclusion to first year. I know we haven't heard anything substantial about Voldemort up til this point (and you'll have to wait even longer for his official appearance despite the philosopher's stone debacle) but once he does show up, he pretty much drives forward all of Harry's choices from that point forward. It gets a tad out of hand but more's the fun I think. I've just finished writing second year and most of the following summer so third year is in the works where we will see Harry come into his magical ability more. Up til that point his magical studies have been mostly passive in nature (like occulmency or his constant research into the theory of a topic he finds interesting). That changes in his third year and he becomes extremely focused on improving but also extremely reckless in his pursuit of mastering his power. In my mind this is a canon Harry Potter trait, his ability to obsess to the point of losing all reason. I think of this as ruthlessness- he sees his goal (often information or knowledge of some sort) and takes the most direct way there with unwavering focus. Probably why he was always involved in whatever nonsense was going on at school in the series. I have lots of thoughts about Harry as a character honestly. He is fun to write with.

Also! Before I forget, I would like to give a shout out to all of the lovely reviews I have been given. They mean so much to me and each one makes me smile in happiness.

Updated: January 2021

À la prochaine~