Hogwarts

Voldemort decided that he would have to engage Hagrid in a conversation if he ever wanted to be able to catch a unicorn. Hagrid who was a simpleton was fool enough for him to exploit. All he needed was to get the oaf talking and then subtly drive him toward what he needed to know, in this case, information about Unicorns.

He could have tried to manipulate Silvanus Kettleburn into telling him but the old Professor was crafty and he could likely see through his manipulations. If he tried to trick the Professor and he smelt something fishy, Voldemort would be left empty-handed. Hagrid on the other hand was the perfect choice. He went into the forest regularly and it was entirely possible that he would know a way to capture a Unicorn. The only thing he had to do was to ask this question as innocently as he could make it. He had two choices in that matter- Either present himself as a beast enthusiast to him and ask him or get him drunk and let him ramble.

The hazard with asking him straight up was that in that condition the oaf would be able to remember that he had given that information to Quirrell. In case any Unicorns died, he would tell Dumbledore. The old fool was shrewd enough to connect links and form a chain. It would come back to bite him later.

The other way was entirely risk free and if he had the oaf drunk enough to slip his cogs, Hagrid would not remember a single thing the next day. A slight problem was that Quirrell had almost never talked with Hagrid before and if he suddenly started talking to Hagrid trying to be friendly with the Games Keeper that would look suspicious. He would have to keep an eye on the oaf when he went down to the village for drinks. At the right moment, he would meet Hagrid under a hood and ask him all he wanted to know. He would need to wait for the opportune moment to strike so that it bore fruit.

As they had agreed for the shopping trip, Harry met them near the statue of the old crone. Like earlier, Neville opened the hump for them while Harry kept an eye on everyone on the map. When Daphne and Isobel were in the hump, Neville hooted for him to join them. Clearing the map, Harry jumped down behind them to take them to Hogsmeade.

Isobel who was not in the know asked him, "Harry, did you invite Greengrass?"

Harry gave his best lopsided grin, "No. She threatened me at wand-point until I agreed to let her come."

Neville cautioned him, "Mate, do you have a death-wish today?"

Harry turned to him, "Why would you think so Minion?"

Neville protested, "I am no Minion.". He then turned to Daphne, "Back me up, Daph."

Daphne who had a mischievous grin on her face said, "I do not deign to put my weight behind minions."

Isobel asked them, "What are you all on about?" She turned to Harry, "As it is, you haven't answered my question yet."

Harry said, "Well Isobel, this is one of the best kept secrets. Daphne is one of my oldest friends and sometime she is being irritating, unreasonable and bossy yet she is very endearing."

Daphne growled, "Irritating am I? Well you're going to see irritating." She whipped her wand out and zapped Harry's backside with a stinger.

In response, Harry yelped then said, "Oww! Why is it that when girls cannot win, they resort to violence?"

Neville said, "Don't ask me. I don't want to be at the receiving end of one of her tirades for saying something funny."

Daphne cooed, "Good boy, Neville. If you keep behaving like this I promise to buy a Honeydukes chocolate for you."

Harry pouted, "Why does he get a chocolate and I don't?"

Daphne scowled, "Because he is a good boy."

Isobel said, "If you promise to behave, I promise to get you a chocolate Harry."

Harry turned to Daphne and Neville, trying to look smug, "See, this kind girl has agreed to buy me a chocolate."

They kept bantering back and forth till they reached the village. Unlike every time they had come into the village, this time there was a shocker waiting for them. When they climbed the stairs from the cellar of Honeydukes, they could hear someone was there with Mr. Flume and they were laughing about something. The laugh was innocuous of itself but the person who was up there with Mr. Flume made them hesitate from walking out as they all figured they recognized that voice. Sure enough, it belonged to Albus Dumbledore.

They were hiding for some time before Dumbledore called out to them, "Come out you lot. I already know that you're down there."

Well, there was nothing for it. The Headmaster had caught them. Their heads hung in disappointment as they climbed up through the trap-door to find him sitting in a chair like his own at Hogwarts with his eyes twinkling behind those half moon spectacles. He asked them, "Did you think that I wouldn't know that you all snuck out of school?"

Harry asked him, "How did you know?"

Dumbledore chuckled, "The Baron had been patrolling that corridor. He saw you disappear into the hump of the old crone. I always thought that the statue was most peculiar. Now I know why."

Daphne asked him, "Are you going to punish us, Professor?"

He shook his head, "That wasn't my intention but I'd rather that you people would not flout rules so casually."

With that Dumbledore left them in the shop to look around. The first place to go was the Three Broomsticks where Madame Rosmerta beamed at them, "Welcome you lot. It is always refreshing to see you."

After a quick butterbeer, they decided that they should leave before it got too late. As it was, they were yet to finish their shopping. As it turned out, Isobel had nothing to buy but she just wanted to get out of the castle for a while. On the other hand, Harry restocked his supplies and then some from Zonko's. There was a flourishing Black Market in the castle which dealt with prank products. The twins made gold from that. They used the map to go out, purchase their supplies and later they would sell those products through the black market.

Harry came to know of it when he found them selling two dungbombs for the price of four. They quickly reached an agreement to cut Harry in for a third of the profits on anything they sold if he would bring the merchandise back from Zonko's.

Daphne true to her promise caused a severe dent in his money bag with all the shopping that she did. She literally squandered his gold in Honeydukes buying all sort of sweets then she dragged them to Tomes & Scrolls where she brought some story books she found interesting. After about an hour, they were done.

When they were returning, they had to run into a side alley to avoid running into Hagrid. It looked like he was going out for a drink to the village. When Hagrid had passed them, they returned to Honeydukes. From there it didn't take long for them to get back to the castle.

The Hog's head

Hagrid hailed the barman as he entered, "Abeforth, how're ya doin'?".

The barman banished a bottle of mead and a tankard to the half giant.

He was mid-way through making short work of the bottle of mead when another wizard joined him, "Mind if I sit here, my good fellow?"

Hagrid waved his dustbin lid sized hand, "Think nothing of it. Have a seat."

The other man presented his fat pudgy hand to Hagrid to shake, "Hello, I'm Aleric Stewart. I'm a magizoologist."

A magizoologist was something that Hagrid was interested in knowing. He liked beasts and magizoologists were his favorite type of people. He beamed at the man, "I'm Hagrid. I'm groundskeeper at Hogwarts."

The other man perked up in his seat, "You're Hagrid! I've heard from Amos Diggory that you know a lot about beasts. Would you like to tell me about a few of them?"

Hagrid agreed, "Sure would. Whaddya want ter know?"

The conversation went on about countless magical beasts. From this, Voldemort disguised as the stranger learned two things: that Hagrid could drink a lot before it really hit him and that Hagrid had a liking for monstrous and dangerous creatures. He'd like nothing better than to get a dragon egg of his own and raise it. He kept refilling Hagrid's tankard as the time went by with a refilling charm. When he gauged that Hagrid was far enough gone that he would remember nothing later, he brought the conversation around to what he really wanted to talk about.

Aleric asked, "I've wanted to study a Unicorn but they always elude me. I've wanted to see how their hide changes colours as they grow up but to my regret I can't find one."

Hagrid took a big gulp of the liquid from his tankard before he started to speak, "Them Unicorns. They're skittish creatures and they're swifter 'en horses. They can smell ya comin' a mile off. They won't be seen unless they want ta be seen. They don' like birds much 'cause they can just drop out of the sky without 'em ever seein' 'em."

The stranger asked him further, "I know that they like sugar cubes but what else do they like?"

Hagrid's speech was slurring and his eyelids were getting heavy from drinking too much, "Well, yer see, there's a couple o' acres o' alfalfa growin' on the nort' end o' the Forbidden Forest. They like grazin' there. If yer be wantin' some unicorn hair, their tails're always getting' snarled in them bramble bushes an' leavin' a few behind. Lovely creatures they are…" With that, Hagrid's head sank into his arms on the bar as he started snoring.

The stranger settled his tab with the barman and made his exit. He knew what he had to do now. Quirrell could not fly but Voldemort could. A scent masking charm was trivial. He berated himself for not thinking of that before. The alfalfa field would be good enough to find one of them. It wouldn't be long before he would be able to sink his teeth into one.

Dueling Classroom

It had been a few days since the unauthorized Hogsmeade excursion. Harry and Neville were excited to begin to learn spell chains. They knew that it was advanced magic, especially for wizards their age and to be able to pull it off was certainly going to be exciting. They wanted to learn everything they could from the Charms master so they could make their mark in the Tournament.

Flitwick began explaining, "A spell chain is not so much about power. It is about concentration, quick wand movement and practice. As you both know, a chain is made of links which are connected together. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. For a spell chain to work, it must be cast flawlessly, continuously and faster than thought. If you have to stop and think about each spell in the chain, the chain will break. That is why I have told you to drill those basic spells until you no longer have to think to cast them. If you have not yet reached that level of proficiency with your basic spells, you will only get frustrated trying to learn spell chains."

They nodded and he continued, "Now, I want you to think about the wand movements for your basic spells. The easiest spell chains are the ones where the end wand movement of one spell blends smoothly into the starting of the next wand movement." He gave them a minute to consider before he continued, "I want both of you to think about a simple spell chain. Don't dismiss any spell as irrelevant. Even a simple stinger can throw off your opponent and give you the edge you need to win a duel. Try to come up with a combination that will serve you well in a duel. When you're ready, we'll try them out on the practice dummies."

Harry and Neville were going over every spell that they remembered from their repertoire of spells which they had learnt with the charms teacher and with Remus. They were muttering the incantations under their breath and recalling the required wand motion for every spell they knew.

It took sometime before they came up with the simplest they could remember. Harry went first, "Professor a shield breaker, a stunner and incarcerous would be easy to put together."

Neville went second, "Leg lock jinx, bat bogey hex and a stunner would be an effective combo, Professor."

Flitwick nodded, "You're both right. These can be chained together with little trouble however I am afraid that you will need to keep at it for a long time before you can cast them fluently. Also a word of caution, never use the same chain twice in a duel. Don't use a spell chain at all unless there is no other way out of it for you. You'll want to keep an advanced ability like this a secret as long as you can."

They nodded, "Professor, what do you have planned for us after spell chains?"

Flitwick chuckled because he remembered how long it had taken him to master spell chains and he was considered to be a prodigy, "For now, work on your first spell chain. We'll work on progressively more difficult ones as we go along. Your success will depend on your speed, power, agility and creativity. Again, I caution you, never use the same trick twice in front of the same audience. If you won with it before, you can count on them figuring out a way to beat it the second time."

"Professor do we need to know advanced shields?", Neville asked.

The tiny professor shook his head, "I don't put much stock in shields of any sort. Dodging is pretty much always better. It doesn't drain your magical core and there's no risk of a chain led by a shield breaker taking you out. Besides, at your level of competition, advanced shields such as Protego Maxima are not needed before a spell such as stupefy. These spells can be stopped by a simple shield. Starting next year, I'll start teaching you selvio hexa which is a neat little trick and depends on the speed of the caster."

Harry asked him, "Professor which spells should we use to get a break through?"

"Most duelists tend to rely far too much on their shields during a duel. You can use a shield breaker. When you cast a spell chain, try to include a shield breaker in it. For the next few lessons, you will try to chain the spells together which you told me today. We will move to more complicated things when I am absolutely certain that you can do this spell chain without thinking."

With that he put them to work. He conjured dummies and asked them to cast spell chains at them. The dummies were immobile and would take the spell chains on themselves. They had to perfect their casting for now. Later Flitwick planned to increase the difficulty. These two needed to know as much as they could if they wanted to make their mark in the duelling ring.

Great Hall

Harry was returning to Gryffindor tower after dinner when Severus intercepted him, "Potter-Black."

Harry turned to face the dungeon bat and tried to put some respect in his tone, "Yes Professor Snape."

Snape curled his lip, "I know what you're doing."

Harry was apprehensive but kept a calm face and answered, "I don't understand what you mean, Professor."

Snape did a Malfoy-esque drawl, "I know that you've been dropping dungbombs in the dungeons."

Harry shook his head, "Professor, I didn't do it."

Snape sneered, "Don't try to act smart with me Potter-Black. Be grateful that I don't have any direct evidence or you would be on your way out of the school at this moment. I am warning you that if one more dung-bomb is set off in my dungeon, I will put you in detention with me for the rest of the year."

With that, the Dungeon Bat stalked off toward the Dungeons. Harry walked to the tower, all the time wondering who could have told on him. He was sure that Neville was not one to tell on him. Hermione was always around him so she could not have told him either. Ron hated the Dungeon Bat with all his heart. He wouldn't have gone to him to tell on Harry either. Isobel would not do that at least not knowingly. Perhaps Snape had looked in someone's mind without them knowing. He would have to alert his friends to this threat.

On one hand, the joke had gotten old long ago and it was disrupting classes. On the other hand, if the dung-bombings suddenly stopped when the dungeon bat threatened him, it would only confirm his suspicions. However was that really so bad? Ah well, He had better things to do with his time anyway. As soon as he could let Kreacher know, the dung-bombings would stop.

Harry wanted to take no chances with things coming to pass. He had already waited for a term. Anymore wait could be injurious to the plans they had for the future. This plan had been in the making for some time now. Harry had deliberated over it several times now. He had also conferred with his confidantes and they had polished every detail of it. He could not afford any distractions now, not when they were so close.

The planning

Harry sat with Neville and Daphne in the library that day to talk about what was going on. As always they had chosen a table in the back with the ward device on the table. If things went for the better, they would not need to be so secretive in their dealings anymore.

When he was sure that they would not be overheard, he said solemnly, "As you will both recall, we weren't going to put our plan into action until next year. Things here are worse than I thought. I think that we'd best get started on it now. I called the two of you here to ask you what you think."

Neville grinned, "Are you sure that we need to launch the plan now, Harry? I mean is this really the most opportune time? I only ask because I'd rather spend one more term doing pranks before we have to get down to business."

Daphne glared at him, "Be serious, Minion."

Harry chuckled, "He is my minion and his name is Neville not Sirius, Daph." Neville joined him in chuckling.

She glared at him too, "That Sirius Black is a bad influence on you both."

Harry raised his hands in a pacifying gesture, "I for one don't begrudge that Neville wants to wait for one more term, Daph. In fact, I was not of a mind to start it this year either, but when I talked with Lord Black recently, he made me realize that there is no time better than the present."

She raised an eye-brow, "So, when do we go public?"

He smirked, "As soon as I can get the right people together for a meeting. I want representatives of every house present. Due to reasons that we discussed earlier, you cannot represent Slytherin though. It will have to be someone else. I would prefer Adrian Pucey to be the representative for Slytherin house. We will have to work out the details though. There's a lot to be deliberated upon. I will remind you that we have to keep everything on the down-low. We don't want any of the teachers to get wind of what we're up to. If one word gets out, probably the entire castle will be put in detention."

Neville snorted, "You can't do without the drama, eh? Always the drama queen."

Harry huffed, "You just don't appreciate dramatic license, do you."

Daphne interceded before they could leave her out of the conversation, "you two idiots can whack each other over the head later. For now, can we concentrate on what we're here to do?"

Harry nodded, "Too right, Daph. When the time comes, I will ask a little favour of you to carry a letter to Pucey without anyone else knowing."

She nodded, "What about other details?"

He smirked, "Leave that to me. Our other friends have been lamenting that they have had nothing to do lately. They are going to get busy real soon."

Forbidden forest

Armed with the information from the oaf, Voldemort decided to try his luck in the meadow at the north end of the forbidden forest. Applying a disillusionment charm to himself, he flew high over the trees to reach that part of the forest faster than anyone could run. Flying suited him fine and this way he could avoid all the dangerous plants and creatures that inhabited the forest and hunted by night. Quirrell was dying by slow degrees from the effects of Voldemort's possession of him. Weakened as he was, he knew he was dying. He was fighting the control, knowing that he would die if he did not break free soon. Voldemort did not want to risk dividing his attention between keeping control of his vessel and dealing with petty annoyances and delays while he hunted a unicorn.

As he flew over the forest, he occasionally caught a glimpse of a creature through the gaps between the trees. He sighted some werewolves, a kappa, centaurs, a beast that looked like a demiguise and even a creature he only saw a flash of but he was sure that it was a chimera. He continued to soar silently towards the place where Hagrid had told him that the favorite fodder of the unicorns was found.

When he came to the place, he wanted to growl in frustration and curse Hagrid. It was true that the place was teeming with Unicorns but what the big oaf failed to tell him was that it was always guarded by those cursed half breeds. Centaurs prowled around the place, bows in hand and alert. Night was about to fall. He hoped that they would move away before he tried to down a Unicorn. If they didn't, maybe he would have to just kill them all. He would kill as many of these half breeds as he had to in his quest to dip his fangs into a Unicorn.

Remembering what Hagrid had told him about the unicorn's sense of smell he put anti-scent charms on himself and settled in to take mental notes on his prey and their protectors. He found a tree-branch to perch on that gave him a commanding view of the meadow. After about two hours, it was quite dark and only one lone centaur was left standing guard. Voldemort wouldn't even have to kill this one.

The only thing he had to do now was to wait for a unicorn to come there. He would wait even if he had to wait all night. He set a proximity ward around the place and started dozing off.

The ward woke him about three hours later. Someone or something was approaching the clearing. Before doing anything else, he drew his wand and refreshed the disillusionment and scent masking charms on himself. He spotted the lone centaur who was still on sentry duty. With his wand in hand, he watched and waited to see what happened next.

After about 5 minutes, he saw perhaps the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. A fully grown Unicorn with a horn that was maybe 3 feet long, as white as light and agile as the wind was approaching. The beast did not charge in just like that but it took its time approaching that place. It would stop and cock its head around as if to see if some danger was lurking about. At times, it would raise its snout as if it were trying to sniff the air.

The beast kept at it for about 10 minutes which seemed like an eternity to Voldemort. To be so close and yet so far. What if the beast bolted? Voldemort wanted to just blast the beast with the killing curse and be done with it for tormenting him so, but a dead unicorn would be of no use to him. He would have to wait.

Finally the beast came into the clearing as the Centaur cajoled it to come forward. With a flick of the tail, the unicorn ambled out in plain sight and began grazing. With the beast occupied and far enough away from the trees that immediate escape would be impossible, it was time to act. Leaving the shelter of the branches, he carefully and quietly flew around behind the hapless centaur. With a single, high-powered stunner to the back of the head, the centaur would be taking a nap for a long time.

As the centaur fell, Voldemort had already flown towards the Unicorn. Sure enough, it understood what was going on. Predictably, the beast began to bolt, but Voldemort was too quick. His spell chain of stunner, Incarcerous and Petrificus Totalus found its mark. The unicorn fell, unconscious, bound in rope and stiff as any statue. The beast was otherwise unharmed, but that would soon change.

Voldemort levitated the beast and carefully but quickly walked deeper into the forest. When he was at a sufficient distance, he cast a cutter at the beast. The wound which he had caused squirted silver blood. The smell of blood incensed him. He put his mouth to the wound and drank greedily. As it made its way down his gullet, it gave him a sensation as if he had just taken a draught of rejuvenation.

The reaction soon followed. He fell to the forest floor, helpless with convulsions. It seemed to go on for hours but it was only a few minutes. While he was helpless, the unicorn, unnoticed, snorted one more time and died.

He knew that he had sealed Quirrell's fate. His host could not survive more than a few months unless he drank the blood of a unicorn again. It mattered little to Voldemort whether his vessel lived or not so long as he obtained the stone. For now, Quirrell was strong enough to continue with that quest and that was all that mattered to him. The blood had given this body strength, but not much. He would need to hunt again in a few days to gain more. He knew that the reaction would be less each time, but that mattered little. He would have gladly endured the reaction even if it got worse each time. The quest for the stone was all that he cared about. He would have to sustain this body until the job was done.

Looking at his handiwork, it occurred to him that he had to divert attention from why the unicorn was killed. He removed the tail and horn to make it look like the work of poachers who would trade the body parts on the black market in places like Knockturn Alley. Then he left the rest of the body to whatever scavengers inhabited the forest.

A meeting

When they met at breakfast the next day, Harry accosted Lisa and Michael, "I've heard that you two have been grumbling about having nothing to do."

Lisa nodded, "Your sources are reliable, Harry. We haven't had a prank yet this term. Do you have something in mind?"

Harry told her, "Would you carry a message from me to your house? Try to get this message to the right people and by right people I mean not to the prefects. Can you do that?"

Michael nodded, "Sure thing, Boss. What's the message?"

Harry turned to Susan, Hannah and Ernie, "I want the same favour from you. Take my message to your house."

The message was to have four representatives from each house to be present in a room on the sixth floor where a meeting would take place and there would be no firsties allowed. The meeting would change the dynamics in the school. This plan had been in the works for a long time but Harry had not thought to act on it until his second year. Certain things had happened which forced his hand early, but there was nothing for it.

He leaned closer to them and said, "This evening I will wait for your representatives. Tell them that secrecy is a must. If they violate it, they will incur the wrath of House Black for their lives. I do not take kindly to loose lips or traitors."

Forbidden forest

The centaurs found one of their number stunned and in the forest near the place where Unicorns came to graze. When he came around, he told them that the last thing he remembered was one of the unicorns beginning to graze around midnight and then nothing until they found him. That got them anxious.

They broke off and searched the forest. It didn't take long for one of them to find the body. It was a pathetic sight, bereft of horn and tail, having been nibbled on by the various scavengers. A flock of ravens scattered at the approach of the centaur. He kept vigil to keep the scavengers off while another one of them galloped off to tell Hagrid what they found.

A few minutes later, Hagrid and Dumbledore arrived. A number of the centaurs had formed a ring around the dead unicorn, partly to stand guard and partly to see what the humans would make of it. Hagrid examined the ground around the body through his tears while Dumbledore cast detection spells on the body. His visage grew darker with each spell he cast.

After a few minutes, Dumbledore turned to Hagrid, "What do you make of this?"

Hagrid answered, "It doesn't make sense, Headmaster. There're no unicorn tracks nor drag marks leading up to the body. There's no blood neither." Pointing to the wound he said, "There gotta be all kinds of it from that there wound, but nary a drop." He broke down and wept some more, "They dinna have ter do this. I got load loads o' unicorn tail hairs and even horns in me hut. They're all over the forest if ya know where to look. The horns'll grow back if ya don' kill 'em. They dinna have ter kill 'im."

Dumbledore reached up and patted the half-giant on the arm, "I'm sorry you had to see this, Hagrid. We'll figure out who did this." He turned to Bane, the current leader of the centaurs, "I know what you're thinking Bane, but this is not the work of poachers. No, this is worse. The despicable murderer of this noble creature did it to drink his blood. What's worse, unless I miss my guess whoever did it will have to do so again. The magical signature is so garbled that I cannot tell for sure who did it. Until we get to the bottom of this, may I suggest that none of your people go anywhere by themselves? I will ask Hagrid to increase the security of the forest and to find the perpetrator. Rest assured that I will get to the root of this matter."

Dumbledore understood the gravity of the situation and how dangerous things were becoming. The stone was not in immediate danger but Voldemort had started killing Unicorns. He already suspected that Tom had infiltrated the castle and his suspicions were on Quirrell. So far, he had no absolute proof, but Severus had been dogging his steps and had sustained injury twice already keeping Quirrell out of the room on the third floor. What's more is that he had to pause in his search for horcruxes. While the Philosopher's Stone was being guarded at Hogwarts, he could not go in search of them. There were a few places to investigate. Knowing Tom, those places would be guarded by the darkest of spells. Nobody that he knew had enough experience with Dark magic to be able to negate those spells and find those horcruxes.

In the meanwhile, Minister Bones had been working diligently to improve things in Wizarding Britain. She had slightly relaxed the requirements for Aurors so that they could recruit more. Anyone who had an E in defense and A Grade in potions along with requisite grades in other subjects could apply to become an Auror now. She was hopeful of filling the ranks to such a level that they would not be understaffed. She was also seriously considering bringing some of the retired Aurors back into service because even if a new batch arrived with the next month, it would take 3 years for them to graduate from the Auror Academy.

On the administrative side of things, she was planning to repeal legislations which favoured purebloods in matters of employment in the ministry simply because they were purebloods. She was intending to make it so that only those who deserved would be able to ascend to those positions based on their merits and prowess with a wand. The most visible impact would be on the Auror Department where more muggle-born and Half-bloods would be encouraged to apply. Being an Auror was considered a post of prestige and until recently only the purebloods or influential half-bloods need apply. No muggle born was chosen for the job. May be with the discrimination being at an end, the muggle born would be able to try and adapt themselves to the wizarding world rather than having to live in two worlds at once. It was well said that no one could ride two boats at a time.

Hogwarts

Daphne Greengrass found Adrian Pucey in the Common Room and went straight up to him, "Heir Pucey, do you have a moment?"

Adrian recognised the gesture and straightening himself, he asked, "Yes Heiress Greengrass, how can I serve you?"

He followed her out of the Common Room to a deserted room in the Dungeons. After Daphne was sure that they were alone and would be over-heard, she produced a letter for him, "This is a offer of friendship from Heir Black who want to have amicable relations with everyone who is someone in the Wizarding World. He wanted me to give it to you in private and secrecy would be appreciated."

He took the letter and Daphne walked out leaving him in.

That evening, in the appointed room on the sixth floor, representatives of every house were present for the meeting including Slytherin. Since the meeting was not meant for firsties, they were not allowed except for Harry who had called the meeting.

Attending from Gryffindor were Harry, the Twins and Oliver Wood, while from Ravenclaw were Davies, Hillard, Cho Chang and Green. Hufflepuff was represented by Appleby, Gwendoline Jones, Tintwistle and Diggory while Slytherin were represented by Pucey, Bletchley, Bole and Higgs. These were members of the neutral faction on the Wizengamot so Pucey considered them to be the safest bet to invite.

When they had all arrived, Harry stood up to address them, "I know I am just a firstie, but I hope that you will all hear me out anyway. What I want to speak to all of you about this evening has been planned for some time. A while ago, I asked my guardian, Lord Black, why it is that Gryffindor and Slytherin fight all the time. He told me that we have lots in common, that we were once close allies but something happened which drove a wedge between the two houses. This happened so long ago that the details are lost to history. I say that it is high time that we stopped feuding over issues in which we have no part and for which even the oldest of us cannot remember the reasons. This school is not the whole world. When we graduate from here, we will be dealing with one another, in life, in business, regardless of what house we happened to be in for our seven years here. For my part, as a Gryffindor, I want to extend an olive branch to the house of Slytherin if you will accept it. Of course, there's always going to be some rivalry between houses, some healthy competition, but let's use that as it was originally intended to be. That is to push ourselves to be the very best that we can be."

Pucey who had been nominated to speak for Slytherin said, "I get what you're saying, Harry, but how do we encourage competition without it getting ugly?"

Harry beamed at Pucy, "I'm glad you asked. I propose a competition. The prize will be 500 Galleons, a purse that I will provide myself. Instead of this being a competition between houses, it will instead be between hand-picked teams, the members of which can be from any house. The entire competition will be secret. Only the people in this meeting will know about it. It will not be Quidditch or broom racing entirely but a mixture of events. Are you all in?"

The offer was tempting and his intentions behind it were good but they did not understand how it could achieve the desired result. What they did not know was that it was only one of several things planned and each thing carried money along with the thrill of adventure.

After they had all deliberated, Pucey asked, "How will we decide the teams?"

Harry smirked again, "Had you noticed that there are 4 of us from each house?"

Oliver understood it instantly and said, "I see. So how do we make teams?"

One of the twins produced a handful of straws, "We'll draw straws for team captains. When we have four captains, they'll draw straws again for picking order. Fair enough?"

It was Pucey who drew the longest straw. He got to choose first. The second was Oliver. The third was Gwendoline. The final team captain was Hillard.

Pucey got to choose first. With bated breath, Harry waited to see if he would select those belonging to his house or from different houses.

Pucey did not disappoint him when he opened his mouth and said, "I choose Hadrian Potter-Black."

Oliver groaned in disappointment but it was his turn. "I choose Cedric Diggory."

Gwendoline did not waste a moment in making her choice, "I choose Fred Weasley."

Hillard took the last Gryffindor, "I choose George Weasley."

There was a moment of confusion as they had to sort out which twin was which. It was only when Harry threatened to remove them that they stood beside their teammates all the while muttering.

Pucey's other choices were Appleby and Chang. Oliver chose Green and Bole. Jones chose Davies and Higgs while Hillard got Bletchley and Tintwistle.

After the team selections were done, Harry started to address them again, "You were all invited because you own brooms and you are all good at Quidditch. There will be four events to this competition. The rules for each event will be stated later. The first will be about a month from now. It will involve an excursion into the Forbidden forest."

That got him a gasp from others and incredulous looks from the twins. They thought that they had already won it, but they were in for the surprise of their lives. The competition would require team effort and they would either learn from it or they would hate each other for the rest of their lives.

Gringotts

Arcturus was sitting before the Black Account Manager with Remus and Sirius. He had told them that he was getting old and he wanted the two men to shoulder the responsibility of the family and its holdings. They both had agreed to do his bidding but neither of them was ready to believe that Arcturus was old enough to retire.

When they reached the bank, Arcturus did not stop at the counter. He simply walked toward the office of his account manager. When they reached his office they were promptly admitted and given seats. After they made themselves comfortable, Arcturus asked him, "What do you have for me?"

The goblin nodded, "Lord Black, as you had instructed I have purchased a potion making company which solely deals with manufacturing of Wolfsbane. Since you had not given me further instructions, I have not done any restructuring or anything else with it."

Arcturus nodded, "Alright. Have that partnership contract ready for Mr. Belby offering him 40% partnership in the new venture. Have it expressly stated that he does not bring any capital to it but only his expertise. The scope of his duties is to supervise the potion masters, to conduct further research on the potion and may be find a cure for Lycanthropy. Also, he shall be responsible for expansion of our line of products with the passage of time and we will deal only with those potions which are not readily available in market but require special skills. I do not intend for this business to remain a charity but earn me gold since lots of gold will go into production and distribution. I want to make at least marginal profits out of it which will be reinvested into research promptly."

The goblin nodded, "It will be done, Lord Black. Are there any further instructions for me?"

Arcturus nodded, "Tell me about the state of holdings of The Daily Prophet and other similar publications. How much of it is privately owned?"

The goblin consulted some parchments before he answered, "About 40% of its shares are privately owned between the Ancient and Most Noble houses while 30% of it is owned by the English Printing Press and the rest is owned by the Ministry."

Arcturus nodded, "How much is in the hands of House of Black and Potter?"

"Of the 40% shares that are held privately, House of Black and Potter own about 15% together while the rest are evenly distributed between House of Longbottom, House of Bones, House of Malfoy and House of Macmillan etc."

Arcturus nodded, "I want controlling interest of that publication. Look into purchasing stock from every possible source until I have it. Look into purchasing from the Ministry and the Press first. Not only is it a steady income stream, I also want to keep them honest."

The goblin nodded, "Was there anything else, Lord Black?"

"I want you to find opportunities where we can heavily invest in some businesses which would yield us significant returns. Also, please ready papers for a new business which is related with Enchanting. Sirius here has a proclivity towards enchanting. I believe he would do well to take it up as a regular occupation."

Sirius was looking at him in wonder and found his voice with some difficulty, "How did you know?"

Arcturus smirked, "I've seen the motorcycle, how much you enchanted it to work with magic. I daresay I was pleased with the work that went into it. I think it would be good for you to take it up as a vocation. It will keep you busy apart from bringing in a lot of money."

Then he turned to the Goblin again, "Now, do you have the agreement ready which I wanted you to draft?"

The goblin produced a stack of parchments which he took and riffled through. After satisfying himself with the contents of the document, he passed it to Remus, "I want you to read it and sign. Remember I am not taking no for an answer."

Remus read the entire document and asked in disbelief, "Why do we need this? I am already working as Lord Regent for House Potter. As it is you already pay me handsomely. I can't possibly take anymore."

Arcturus growled, "This is not kindness boy. You will earn every bit of gold I am squandering on you by working hard. Whatever I paid you until now was in an unofficial capacity but this is your new job. I want you to work alongside Mr. Belby and ensure that the business succeeds. It is a huge responsibility. As to your place of residence, you are free to live at the Townhouse or the country estate which James had left for you in his will."

Hogwarts

Two days later, there was another meeting at the same place but with different sets of people. These were people that the twins had found who claimed themselves to be pranksters. There were the Gryffindor Pranksters who were the biggest contingent as always. There was also a fair share from other houses. The contingent of Slytherin was led by Bole who was reputed to have skill to rival the twins. He was backed up by three of his peers namely the heir of Fawley, the heir of Du Vant and the heiress of Griffith. The Ravenclaws came under Sean Murphy. He was accompanied by Agnes Reid, Esmeralda Vasquez and Shikhar Gupta. The hufflepuffs were there under the banner of Diggory, Abercrombie, Harriet Kelson and Wilson Rogers.

The twins took the lead on this one. Harry had briefed them and wanted to take the backseat this time. Fred started speaking with George occasionally putting in, "Welcome all you fine folks to this gathering of pranksters in residence. Though undoubtedly we are the best, we give credit where credit is due. This meeting is called because although we are the best, this competition will give us the chance to prove it while at the same time allowing all of you to showcase your talents. We will form teams. We will then give tasks to those teams. Whichever team gets the highest amount of points at the end will win 100 Galleons as the prize. So do you all agree?"

Bole asked, "What is Potter-Black doing here?"

The twins grinned, "Little Harry is part of the Gryffindor team. You can pick team members from other houses or you can ally with teams of other houses, if you so wish."

Teams were immediately formed with members of same houses. The twins continued, "So now that the Teams are formed, you need to know the rules. The first rule is that you cannot snitch on other teams. Second, you will not try to stop other teams from fulfilling their tasks and most importantly you will not cheat in any way. Cheating will result in getting banned from the competition. You can solicit help from others if you wish to."

When everyone agreed to the terms, the twins said, "Now the first task. I know it can be hard and if you decide not to participate, your only penalty is that you will not earn any points for that task. The task is to infiltrate Filch's office and retrieve the drawer full of detention records from the year 1975-76. The team that successfully retrieves the records and returns here first will win the first round. Is that agreeable?"

They nodded and the meeting was dismissed. Meanwhile, Harry was thinking of other ways that they could encourage students to mingle together. There was another way though that would require a bold move on his part. May be he could try to become the first Lion who braved sitting with the Snakes for breakfast. There were so many things that he could do like challenging them for wizard chess matches depending on Ron's prowess. Ron would be elated to have beaten the snakes and may be that would thaw the ice. He could hope for a time eventually where people would be more amicable towards each other. While he could do nothing about the marked ones, he could definitely work on the children of death eaters.