More plans

They had set the conditions of the prank competition between them but the task in itself was a hard one. The first task was to steal records of past detentions from the office of the caretaker. Not every one of them knew Filch was a squib so they were not sure what kind of protection they would find in his office. For those who thought Filch was a wizard, they would be cautious in dealing with him but those who knew what he was would have no problem getting the job done. They would just have to manipulate some people and the rest would be done by them.

While Filch's office was a generally harmless place, Harry had plans to stop other teams from winning. The deadline was set to be a week from the day the competition was announced. Harry told them the rules and one of them said that the teams could not stop other teams from carrying out the tasks. Another rule said that they could enlist help from others. At no point did Harry forbid that the help could take the form of stopping or stalling other teams, so long as that help was coming from someone outside the competition. Now, that was being highly divisive, but he was raised by Lord Black who never had any qualms in getting what he wanted no matter the means. Harry also had the perfect person in mind to do it.

There was another event that he was thinking of organizing and for that he would need Ron's help. Ron had started to work hard since the beginning of the second term. He was making an effort in his homework but he, unlike his brothers, wasn't on good terms with many. He rarely talked with anyone who was not in Gryffindor but he had given up his intolerance of people from other houses. He had realized that Hogwarts was but a school where they would stay for 7 years. Beyond the hallowed castle they had long lives where they would run into each other quite often. It would not do for them to snipe at each other at every opportunity.

Ron, as he often did in his spare time, was sitting at a game of chess with Jordon who was losing badly yet could not let go of it. Harry asked him, "Ron, do you have a moment?"

Ron, who had not removed his eyes from the chess set for a second, raised a finger, "Just a moment, Harry. Lee's bishop is about to be slaughtered."

True to his word, the next moment he had killed Lee's bishop. Even though the game was still in its early stages, it was clear to Harry that Ron already had Lee pinned down ten different ways. Lee took his time, considering his moves, but each time he moved a piece, Ron responded the moment his opponents hand left his piece. It wasn't long before Ron moved a rook and called, "Checkmate.". Lee's king responded by throwing its crown down on the board.

He gave a huge grin to Lee, "That makes five in a row, Lee. Do you want to make it best six out of eleven?"

Harry hastily attracted his attention, "Mate, you can beat him up later. I have to talk to you right now."

"What do you want Harry?", Ron asked him.

"Ron, I couldn't help but hear that there are a few players in other houses who brag that they are very good at chess. Naturally, I told them that they don't stand a chance against you. They challenged your prowess, making remarks about your ancestry and the like. I hope that you don't mind that I accepted a few challenges on your behalf?", Harry asked innocently.

Ron was thoughtful for a few moments before he agreed, "Not at all, Harry. I'll take them all on but I won't use new chess pieces. I want my own pieces to play with."

Harry asked him in confusion, "Why is that? I mean your chess pieces look battered and very old. I sure can get you new ones."

Ron grinned, "How much Wizard chess have you played, Harry? As the pieces grow older, they start to trust the player rather than trying to assert their own will. If I were to use a new chess set, I would have to break in the pieces, teaching them how I play before they would start obeying me. I don't have that problem with this set because I know the chess pieces and they know me."

Harry wondered, "Do you mean to say that if I were to give you a new chess set tomorrow, you would lose?"

Ron shook his head, "Not likely, Harry. I mean I still know how to play, but it might turn into a contest of wills with the pieces and I just don't need the distraction."

Harry nodded, "Alright mate. There is one more thing about it though. You may have to play against a Slytherin or two."

Ron grinned, "Fine by me. I have no problem with playing against them. I might even learn a thing or two, eh?"

Harry grinned, "That's the spirit Ron."

The chess event was one which would not even need to be organized in secret. They could hold it in the Great Hall and no one would bat an eye-lid. Harry however thought that talking about it to Dumbledore beforehand wouldn't go amiss. The headmaster would definitely encourage any such attempts to foster unity amongst the warring houses.

Head master's Office

Dumbledore was worried. The killing of a Unicorn was a most serious matter. It was a sin of the highest degree with the ramifications being great. He had learned that the blood of Unicorn which flowed could curse the land. So far, he was grateful that nothing was discovered of the sort when he inspected the unicorn killed recently. He had only guesses as to the identity of any suspects. His guesses were generally correct, perhaps the cost of being a genius with a veritable sense of understanding as he did. Since Arcturus Black had told him that Tom had made horcruxes, Albus knew that there was a tough time ahead.

The only thing he could do was to keep Voldemort from gaining a body. There were only a handful of ways that Tom could do that. One was to get his hands on the Philosopher's stone. Having been forewarned, he had already thwarted one attempt. That's right; the vault at Gringotts had already been emptied earlier that same day. The other way was a gruesome, arcane necromantic ritual. Albus knew that the ritual was a ghastly one and that it involved murder. Then there was the third ritual which revolved around blood and gore including a necromantic potion which was meant to renew, revive and resurrect.

Thankfully Albus had the stone in his possession now. It had a number of protections beginning with a marvellous three-headed beast. Even Albus didn't know how the beast could be tamed. He suspected that no one in Britain actually knew about it except Hagrid. He had been told by the Greek Chap who had sold it to him. When he had erected protections for the stone, he had not confided in anyone except Minerva and Severus about the thing they were supposed to be protecting but just that he needed for them to put some serious protections in place that if they could not disable the intruder, they would at least slow them on their way to the stone. All the protections had been designed that way and that was the reason that he could not leave the castle for extended periods of time. Whenever he went out of the castle for the Wizengamot or any other errand, he would ask Severus to keep an eye on the beast to be sure that no one was able to get in.

To his amusement, he had found that Hadrian Potter-Black and his group of friends had discovered the beast and they were hot on the trail. It would be interesting to see if they would be able to find the stone at all. He had done nothing to encourage or discourage them.

He had discovered quite by accident that young Harry was on the trail of the beast. Madam Pince had complained to him that at times she could not see where one of the tables in the library disappeared off to. Albus knew that the magic of the castle was sentient but not so much as to play tricks on the staff. His curiosity got the better of him and he decided to investigate the matter.

He was under his strongest disillusionment charm and prowled the library all day long for four days before he found what was happening. He sensed a ward being raised in the library and his detection spells found it was a simple notice-me-not ward. Curious to find what was happening, he stalked further. He found the most curious sight when he was able to bypass the ward. There were ways to bypass a simple notice-me-not ward without tearing it down and Dumbledore had no problem bypassing it. When he finally went past the wards, he had found the most interesting sight- Hadrian Potter Black was sitting with Neville Longbottom and Daphne Greengrass in the library and they were talking about the beast on the third floor. He had heard about young Harry's account of encountering the beast but he was more amazed with the fact that the two first year Gryffindors were actually intimately familiar with a Slytherin student. His senses indicated that something grand was at play here with the three meeting in secret and scheming of all things. It wasn't until later that he realized that he and everyone else was being taken for a ride by Arcturus Orion Black.

The house of Black was perhaps the most influential house by reason of being related to all the Ancient houses such as Weasley, Longbottom, Crouch, Prewett, Potter and so on. They practically behaved as royals when they were out in public. Their manners and deportment had always been a subject of interest and intrigue. Most of them had an aura of haughtiness around them which attracted others to them. For the most part, they all sought power. Arcturus Orion Black was no exception to the rule. He had made his coalition powerful on the Wizengamot when he regularly attended those sessions. He had the knack of making decisions at times which were for the betterment of his family or for his interests. Contrary to Albus's expectations, he had joined the Longbottom and Potter Alliance when they fought against Grindelwald, though Albus doubted if Lord Longbottom knew anything about it. Then Arcturus had ruled the dark faction with an iron will and remained their leader until Voldemort came along and Arcturus Orion Black with his sometimes friend sometimes foe Abraxas Malfoy had become irrelevant due to being replaced by one with more drastic views about blood supremacy and dreams of grandeur for the pureblood elite. How ironic that the "Dark Lord" that all these pure bloods were toadying to was himself a half-blood, conceived under questionable circumstances.

His musings were broken when he heard the Gargoyle refusing entrance to someone who didn't have the password. From the sound of it, it was a student. He was pretty insistent that the Gargoyle step aside and let him in. The gargoyle, as it was its job, refused to step aside and insisted on the password to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was interested with whatever the newcomer had to say and waved his wand once; following which the Gargoyle leapt aside grunting, "Go on in! The headmaster is waiting for you."

When the door to his office opened, Albus came face to face with the new comers who were Hadrian Potter-Black and Neville Longbottom.

He beamed at them, "Come in Harry and Neville. Please be seated."

As they took seats across from him, he asked, "What brings the two of you here?"

Glances were exchanged between them before Harry started speaking, "Professor recently I had asked a question of my guardian and he could not answer it. Would you like to give it a try?"

Albus encouraged him, "Ask your question, Harry. I will answer it if I can."

"Professor since I arrived at the school, I have seen that, despite being similar in so many ways, the students of Gryffindor and Slytherin do not mingle with each other. In fact I sense there is some sort of rivalry between them which, according to me, is stupid. I appreciate healthy competition but what exist between the two houses seems more like a feud. I asked Lord Black about it but he said that he does not know the reason why. Can you shed some light on the matter?"

Dumbledore smiled, "There is a story behind it which I would tell you gladly but before we get to it, please tell me if you have tried to befriend a Slytherin student since you came to the school?"

Harry shook his head, "No professor. I have tried to talk to a few of them but no one of them ever speaks civilly with us. I don't know why they wouldn't like to be friends with us."

Dumbledore mentally snorted. The lad was technically telling the truth. The only way to reconcile that with the facts, as the Headmaster knew them was that they must have been friends before they arrived at the school. These first year students actually thought that they were successfully fooling the entire castle including Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Well, if they wanted to play it this way, Albus was not going to spoil it for them. He also tried a very light nudge of his legilimancy probe on Harry and found that there were some solid mental shields in place and he was excited with this. The boy had already learned a useful skill which would be handy to him when Albus decided to start teaching him however that time was not yet. For now he needed to keep the stone safe.

Also the question had caught him by surprise. In all his years as a student and then headmaster no one had ever asked this question of him nor had any students tried to find the answer to it. No Gryffindor and Slytherin student had ever become friends with each other or tried to bridge their gaps. A few couples of Gryffindor and Slytherin had formed but that only happened after they left Hogwarts coincidentally except for young Harry's grand-parents Charlus and Dorea but nobody knew of their affair until they came into the open with it. The only friendship between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor which he had seen happening was between Lily Evans and Severus Snape. But, they also knew each other before they had come here. With time Albus knew their friendship was going to end due to the company that Severus kept. Albus had also tried to find the answer to this question but had found no plausible story which would justify the hatred between the houses.

He decided to tell what little he knew. He turned to the duo, "Nobody really knows for sure. What I am about to tell you is largely based on speculation and circumstance. When Hogwarts was established, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin sought students for their houses. The students that they usually preferred were similar in the characteristics sought by them. As time passed and some of the students were lured by evil and they decided to use everything that they learned for the propagation of evil. The Gryffindors who were usually the first to resist the advance of evil clashed with the Slytherins but mercifully it had not come into the hallowed halls of Hogwarts. With the passage of time as more and more people fell under the shadow of evil, the previous camaraderie ended and they became sworn enemies. Then came the time when wizards and witches were being persecuted by muggles all around. I am sure you both have heard about the middle-ages and the witch burnings."

Harry shook his head, "No Headmaster. We haven't heard about it. All Professor Binns ever teaches us about is the goblin revolts."

Dumbledore chuckled, "I guess you make a fair point however we digress here. When the International Statute of Secrecy was signed to protect muggles and magical folk from each other, we had to go into hiding. Most of the Slytherins felt that it was wrong for us to go into hiding fearing muggles and they started muggle baiting. As clashes between muggles and wizards increased, some of the leaders in the wizarding world decided to face the threat head on and not surprisingly, most of them were Gryffindors. As time passed, the rivalry became a sort of tradition and seeped into the hallowed halls of Hogwarts. But I believe that if Gryffindors were to successfully extend an olive branch to the Slytherins, they would be formidable together."

Harry nodded, "Thank you Headmaster. You have been most helpful to us."

Dumbledore smiled, "it is always a pleasure to educate young minds, my boy. You are welcome to ask questions anytime you feel like it."

Black Townhouse

Sirius Black and Remus Lupin were sitting before Lord Black who had summoned them. He wanted to talk to them about their future since he felt in his bones that he did not have much time before he would see Melania again. He had realized most of his desires when he rescued Harry Potter from the muggles had been fulfilled. He had an heir in place, his grandson was free and his family was complete now. The only thing left for him to do was to see to the end of Voldemort who was responsible for the destruction of his family. But he knew that he didn't have that much time. He had committed the secret of the horcruxes to Dumbledore who admittedly was the shrewdest of anyone else Arcturus knew. He also knew the boy who became Voldemort later in life. He would be able to find the horcruxes and destroy them in time. If he failed, the wizarding World would be in for another war. Mercifully Amelia was at the helm of affairs. She had sufficient time to see that the wizarding world was ready for another war and the utter destruction of the death eater menace. Also his heir, his secret weapon was ready to unleash on the children of death eaters and lead them away from the pureblood tripe so that they would not follow their fathers foolishly. If the wizarding world did not embrace the muggle-born, it would die a slow death.

"Grand-father you called for us?", Sirius asked him.

He nodded, "I have been noticing that you and Moony are restless with having nothing to do. As I had promised, I have obtained a license for a business of enchanting. I have seen your work on the motor cycle and I was very impressed but there is a lot about enchanting that you need to learn before you will be properly prepared to run a business successfully. To that end, I have obtained an apprenticeship for you with a technomancer in Germany who has agreed to teach you enchanting for the next 5 months. By the time you return, you will be ready to set up shop. In the meanwhile, I have to get the ministry to soften its stance on the topic and to relax the laws a little. You will leave the day after tomorrow and you will learn everything diligently. Is that clear?"

Sirius knew there was nothing that he could say that would change Arcturus's mind. The old man was very headstrong and never liked to have his wishes defied. If he wanted something done then he would see that it was done. He nodded, "yes grandfather. I will do as you ask of me."

Arcturus then turned to Moony, "Potter Potions will be ready to start functioning in a month and you will be the one responsible for its affairs. In your duty as the executive of this company you have to tour around the world and secure supplies of hard to find ingredients. Your other duty would be to see to it that the company is working as a flawless organism and to help Mr. Belby as he requires of you. He will mostly concern himself with research on new potions and particularly on improving the Wolfsbane. He has been tinkering with some other things that he thinks would be able to cure lycanthropy. As per the agreement, any such technique that he devises will be patented in the name of Potter Potions with Mr. Belby being entitled to receive 50% of the net profits we would make on the sale of the products. I have arranged for him to receive a stipend to tide him over until his share of the business provides him with the necessities of life, at a reasonable rate of course. Also do remember that we are not going to engage in the manufacture of ordinary potions or any of those potions which are manufactured by Greengrass Potions since they are our allies and I have no intention to hurt their commercial interests. Our agreement with them about supplying them ingredients from our Greenhouses will continue as it always has done. Is that clear?"

Remus nodded, "yes Lord Black. It is agreeable. When do I leave on my first buying trip?"

Arcturus smirked, "you'll be leaving with Sirius since the first stop will be Germany. It will take you about two months to complete your tour and return after you have engaged some decent suppliers for us. If you find any rare potions on your travels don't forget to collect the recipe for it and a sample. You'll get a reasonable share of the profits of any such find."

Remus tried to interject, "Lord Black..."

Arcturus barked, "I'm not doing any kindness to you, boy. You have always been very diligent towards your duties without asking anything in return. You didn't even marry anyone fearing that it would interfere with taking care of Harry. Find someone for yourself. It's never too late."

Hogwarts

To shake up the order of things, Harry chose to sit at the Slytherin table this morning. After a good, long run around the lake, he and Neville arrived at the Great Hall while breakfast was underway. Predictably Ron and Hermione had kept seats for them but Harry motioned for Neville to follow him.

Every one watched the two as they strode toward the Slytherin table, making a deliberate show of it making sure that everyone was following them with their eyes. Isobel stood up from her place at the Ravenclaw table to join them as they reached the Slytherin table beside Adrian Pucey.

Harry tapped him on the shoulder, "buzz over, Pucey. Make space for us."

As they sat, they could see every one's eye was upon them. At the staff table, Snape was frothing at the mouth with his lips curled upwards in a sneer, Dumbledore's lips were twitching ready to break into a grin as he was hiding it behind a goblet. McGonagall's face was stoic as ever however her eyes showed intrigue. Pomona Sprout was watching interestedly while Flitwick was indifferent since he had started to know the boys better than most of the teachers.

As Harry, Neville and Isobel slipped in beside Pucey, Flint who was sitting a few spaces down from him shouted, "What do you think you're doing Potter- Black?"

Harry looked at him in disdain, "Heir Flint, is that the way your father has taught you to speak to the heir of an Ancient and Most Noble House? As to your question, I am sitting beside my friends and trying to eat my breakfast."

Malfoy who was sitting at the end nearest to the staff table shouted, "Potter-Black, this is not the Gryffindor table."

Harry looked at him contemptuously, "oh Cousin Draco, I was under the impression that you can read a book."

This comment made most of them in the vicinity laugh however Malfoy was turning red in the face, "What do you mean?"

Harry turned to Dumbledore, "Headmaster is it written anywhere in the rules that a student can't eat at other house tables? As far as I know, we are obliged to sit at our house tables only during the welcoming and leaving feasts and any feasts which may fall in between."

Dumbledore whose eyes were twinkling like two miniature suns, said jovially, "You have heard right, Mr. Potter-Black. There is nothing in the Hogwarts charter rules against sitting at other tables during non-feast meals."

Snape drawled, "Still Potter-Black can't sit at the Slytherin table. He will corrupt my students."

McGonagall snorted, "Spare me the sermon, Severus. Your students don't need anyone to corrupt them."

Snape sneered, "Of course Minerva! You would think so. After all, it is your precious Lion and they can't do any wrong."

Before McGonagall could retort, Dumbledore intervened, "There is no need to fight among ourselves, Severus and Minerva. Mr. Potter-Black can sit wherever he chooses. In fact, for his attempts to increase camaraderie between the houses, I award twenty points apiece to him, Mr. Longbottom and Miss McDougall."

After the teachers stopped squabbling, Adrian turned to Harry, "So Harry, what's the real reason for this? I don't think that it's for showing camaraderie, as Dumbledore claims."

Harry smirked and slapped Pucey on the back, "Spoken like a true Slytherin, Adrian. Of course I have ulterior motives behind this act. As they say, 'A true Slytherin never reveals his secrets.'".

Adrian chuckled, "A true Slytherin indeed. I guess we mistook you for a Gryffindor just because you wear Red and Gold."

The breakfast passed swiftly with them talking about inconsequential things however Harry kept an eye on everyone's reaction to his presence at the Slytherin table. A few were not pleased with him but others looked like they were willing to give a chance to befriending the boy-who-lived.

He also noticed Daphne who kept her expressionless face in place while Tracy tried to talk to her. He figured that Tracy was trying to ask her what Harry was up to.

Isobel poked him in the ribs and asked him in a whisper, "So Harry, is this another of your attempts at gaining power in the school?"

He kept his facial features schooled into an impassive expression, "I don't know what you're talking about Isobel."

She smirked evilly, "Remind me to talk about it later and I'll tell you what I meant."

To Harry's woe, the first class that day was Potions and Snape was in a foul mood. He was having them brew the wiggenweld potion. It required extreme care and even a moment's lapse of concentration could lead to failure.

Also Snape probably figured that breaking him and Neville up would work in his favour. As they all entered, he started instructing them, "To promote the spirit of friendship and camaraderie that was exuded in the Great Hall this morning, I have decided to team students together from both the houses. For the rest of the term, you will sit as per this arrangement."

He then started calling out arrangements, "Lavender Brown with Vincent Crabbe, Hermione Granger with Blaise Zabini, Ronald Weasley with Lilith Moon, Hadrian Potter- Black with Tracy Davis, Fay Dunbar with Theodore Nott, Ellia Runcorn with Draco Malfoy, Parvati Patil with Gregory Goyle, Seamus Finnigan with Pansy Parkinson, Dean Thomas with Milicent Bulstrode and Neville Longbottom with Daphne Greengrass."

As they all scrambled to find their partners, Tracy found Harry pretty easily and grinned at him, "so it looks like we are stuck together in this Harry."

Harry grinned, "yeah but it also puts you in the line of fire with Snape."

Snape who was at the head of the class said a little loudly, "Quiet! Today we are going to learn to brew the Wiggenweld Potion. Who can tell me about this?"

Harry raised his hand and so did Hermione with a few others. Snape deliberately chose not to see any of them and drawled, "Looks like you dunderheads have learned nothing about this potion before coming to this class."

Hermione said, "Please sir, the Wiggenweld potion is a powerful healing potion that can be used to heal injuries or reverse the effects of sleeping draught. It is a potion which requires a delicate balance of concentration and deft handling of the ingredients since a moment's lapse of concentration can ruin the potion, meaning one would have to start again."

"Five points from Gryffindor", he announced, "You were not asked to answer the question, Miss Granger."

Ron said indignantly, "You took points from her because she answered your question? That is outrageous."

"Detention Weasley, this evening at 8:00 my office and 5 points from Gryffindor for talking back to a teacher."

Ron tried to protest more but Lilith Moon kicked him under the table. He glared at her but at that moment, Snape had moved past.

"So as the insufferable know-it-all Miss Granger said, this potion requires extreme concentration and deft handling of potion ingredients. The recipe is on the black board. You have 45 minutes. You may begin."

Harry wanted to protest against Snape's treatment of Hermione however he decided to let go of it for the moment. The Wiggenweld potion required extreme concentration and failure was not an option.

As he prepared his workstation, Tracy assisted him. Looking around the room, they both realized that not all of the teams were working so well together. As she lined up the ingredients, Harry set a fire burning under the cauldron and erected an anti-tampering ward around it. It was a good thing that his first teacher had taught this to him because as soon as he had started to work, a lionfish spine bounced harmlessly off the anti-tampering ward around the cauldron. He looked around to find Draco who was frowning that his efforts were futile.

As he poured Dittany into the cauldron and added Wiggentree bark to it while stirring it, he kept an eye on the other students in the dungeon. He noticed that Lavender was struggling with her work because the gorilla Crabbe was being unhelpful to her. He was just gaping like an idiot while Lavender worked on the potion. Parvati was having trouble asking Goyle to assist her in the brewing. Goyle either could not distinguish one ingredient from another or was being purposefully daft as he kept mixing up the ingredients. Fay was working by herself and spurned Nott's attempts to help her. As he arranged the ingredients, she said something to him under her breath that made him go red in the face. Lilith Moon was clueless about what to do so Ronald was doing the brewing while she took care of the ingredients. Hermione was working in perfect synchronization with Zabini who was helping her with the brewing. Seamus Finnigan was haranguing with Parkinson who looked offended for some reason. Dean worked coolly with his potion. It looked like Bulstrode was trying to be helpful. Neville looked perfectly at home with Daphne working beside him.

"5 points off Gryffindor for wasting time, Potter-Black.", said Snape who had just come up towards their table. "If you were not so busy looking at others perhaps you would have made better progress with your own potion."

Harry turned to glare at the Dungeon Bat who looked back at him, daring him to talk back. Disappointing him, Harry went to work on his potion while resolving to pay him back in some form. He had intentionally teamed them together hoping they would bungle brewing their potions.

He was diligently working on his potion when he heard Snape tormenting Neville, "Asking Miss Greengrass to do all the work, Longbottom? I should have known. 5 points off Gryffindor."

To their credit, Neville and Daphne did not speak a word. Harry however was keeping track of all the point deductions and was going to McGonagall as soon as the lesson was over.

As he was mid-way through his potion, he heard a mighty crash and there was Lavender straddling Crabbe's chest pummelling him with her fists while her hairs were drenched in yellow goo which he figured was her failed potion.

Snape sent a banishing charm at the pair of them separating them and thundered, "5 points off Gryffindor, Miss Brown. Now pick yourself up and go to the infirmary. Detention this evening at 8:00, my office."

Crabbe followed suit and they were left in peace again. It was just a few minutes later that there was a mighty boom and a cauldron exploded drenching Pansy Parkinson in unfinished potion who was screaming like a Banshee. As opposed to what it was supposed to do, it changed her skin tone to a nasty green colour while Seamus had his face blackened with soot.

Snape roared, "5 points off Gryffindor Finnigan and detention this evening at 8:00 in my office. Now take Miss Parkinson to the infirmary."

Tracy was snickering, "Snape is on a roll today."

Mercifully the lesson was over soon without any more accidents. Harry submitted a vial of their work with his and Tracy's name on it. As soon as they had left the dungeons, they all started laughing uproariously.

Neville, who could hardly catch his breath between gusts of laughter, said, "What a lesson. If Snape has one more lesson like that I swear he will have a riot on his hands."

On the other hand, Hermione looked grim. Harry turned to her, "Hermione you must come with us to Professor McGonagall and complain about his behavior."

Her eyes were filled with tears, "I can't do that. He's a teacher."

Harry spoke firmly to her, "Hermione, teacher or not, he is a bully who is using his authority to abuse students. If we do not complain, he will go on abusing students. If you will not come willingly and make a complaint to our head of house, Professor McGonagall, I will take you there even if I have to drag you there."

The mental image of Harry dragging Hermione by the shoulders to McGonagall's office while she protested was enough to set everyone laughing.

Harry next turned to Ron, "I noticed you were going to oppose Snape and you stopped when Moon said something to you. What did she say?"

Ron turned slightly red, "She said that Snape was a git. He was egging us on and that I would do better to concentrate on getting my potion right rather than losing points for my house." He had a thoughtful look for a moment before he went on, "You know, Harry, she's alright."

They had some time to go before lunch so they went to McGonagall's office first. She was surprised to see so many of her lions at once, "What happened?"

Harry spoke first, "Professor we just had a Potions Lesson. Professor Snape partnered us with Slytherins and most of them tried to sabotage our potions so that Lavender had to go to the infirmary and so did Seamus. He also called Hermione an insufferable know-it-all because she had answered his questions in addition to taking points off all of us. He also gave detention to Ron, Lavender and Seamus but no detention to Crabbe or Parkinson who were equally guilty."

McGonagall's nostrils flared, "I see. I am returning the points that he took from you. I will also transfer your detentions. You three will be serving them with me. It is my prerogative, as your head of house, to transfer detentions to myself for my students. I will also have a word with the Headmaster about it."

Headmaster's Office

Professor McGonagall thundered into Dumbledore's office. Her demeanour was enough to make Dumbledore wary of her at once. Having dealt with Minerva McGonagall for half a century had made him something of an expert on her tempers. He was sure that she was about to unload on him and most likely for something which he hadn't done.

"Albus, we need to talk", she said curtly making him cringe.

He had often wondered if this was the tone that wives took with their husbands to keep them in line but never having married, he had no first-hand knowledge of such things. Yet, he got a good dose of these tantrums by virtue of the positions he held in the magical world. He had Madam Bones mad at him at times, former minister Millicent Bagnold had once taken him to task with that tone and Minerva was used to giving him a daily dose of it. However undoubtedly none of the other witches could compare to Minerva McGonagall who was looking like a thunderstorm right now, her lips forming a line thin and straight enough to use as a ruler.

"What happened Minerva?", he asked a bit too cheerfully.

She snapped, "Severus Snape happened, that's what."

"Oh!", he asked curiously, inwardly happy that she was not going to chastise him for whatever Severus had done this time. He sighed however thinking of the headache he would have trying to mediate between those two. He continued, "What has Severus done this time?"

"Oh, the usual, being a bully to first year Gryffindor students, pairing them up with Slytherins and encouraging his students to interfere with their brewing and then giving unjust detentions to them", she said curtly.

"Those are very grave charges Minerva", he said while he walked to the fireplace and threw in a pinch of floo powder and said, "Severus, I want a word."

A minute later, Severus Snape stepped out of the fireplace, "What is it, Albus?"

Albus turned to him, "Minerva here has complaints that you bullied her students in your potions lesson today. Is it true?"

Severus drawled, "I only punished those who were not being attentive in class or were unable to brew successfully. I did not bully them."

McGonagall snapped, "Pairing them with your students so that they can sabotage their potions! Is that what you call teaching?"

Dumbledore sighed, "Severus, what happened?"

Severus started telling him, "As you had encouraged camaraderie between Slytherin and Gryffindor students this morning at breakfast, I decided to take it further and made them pair up from both houses. Did I do any wrong?"

Dumbledore sighed, "Severus, we both know that those students don't see eye to eye on many issues yet you decided to force them to pair together? Most of your students come from pureblood families who followed Lord Voldemort during the war and don't think highly of muggle-borns or of those who fought against the death-eaters. Yet you did this? Why?"

"That is what I want to show to you. Most of my students come from death eater families and won't mingle with Gryffindors yet you in your infinite wisdom overlook my advice."

Dumbledore said to him firmly, "Severus what the students do with each other is their own business. You are not to try to dissuade nor force them from doing what they want. If a friendship develops between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor, what is the harm in that? In the long run, that would be beneficial to the school. But, I don't think that is what young Harry had on his mind when he approached the Slytherins with an offer of friendship."

Minerva asked him sharply, "What do you mean by that Albus? Surely Harry is too young to think about politics and things like that."

Albus chuckled good naturedly, "My dear Minerva, did you forget who has raised young Harry? He was raised by Lord Black who is a consummate politician. If I have learned something from the Blacks, it is that they love power. Arcturus Orion Black has been shaping young Harry since he was a little child. I am sure there is nothing that Harry does without a plan. If he is befriending Slytherins, he has his eyes set upon something in the future which we can't see yet."

The dueling room

When Harry and Neville entered the dueling classroom, Professor Flitwick was waiting for them. After they had made themselves comfortable, he asked them, "So how far have you both progressed with Spell chains?"

Neville answered him, "Professor we have made some progress with spell chains though not as much as we would have liked. I mean we can use them alright but they take too long to cast."

He nodded, "you both seem to be very impatient. Spell chains take a lot to learn and even longer to learn to cast them quickly. The only thing you can do is practice them. With every practice you will get better. The only thing that you can do now is to practice and let things happen in their own time. Today we will be practicing in a different way though."

"What way, Professor?", Harry asked him.

"Today Mr. Potter we will see how good you both are. Firstly Mr. Potter will cast at Mr. Longbottom who will only dodge against those spells. When he is doing that, he will not be allowed to cast or use his wand. When it's Mr. Potter's turn then he will dodge against Mr. Longbottom and likewise he won't be allowed to use his wand. You will do this until you are unable to continue due to being stunned or being hit with a spell. The one who survives the longest will be the winner. Is that clear?"

They both nodded and Neville took his position to dodge as Harry cast at him. As they both bowed to each other, Harry immediately sent a stunner towards Neville who had started to move, having already anticipated this. Harry kept casting at Neville trying to corner him and Neville kept moving in different directions to escape the stunners. It had been about 5 minutes of relentless casting and Neville showed no signs of faltering when Harry decided to get creative. He sent a stinging hex at Neville who faltered a little in surprise but managed to evade it. Harry followed up with more stinging hexes then suddenly he sent a tripping hex at Neville's feet. Not being able to control himself, he fell flat on his face.

"6 minutes!", Flitwick exclaimed happily. "That was quite some time, Neville."

When it was Harry's turn, Neville started with a petrifying hex which Harry deftly evaded. Neville followed up with a stunner and an incarcerous and a stunner in quick succession. He kept alternating between spells and kept throwing them in different directions depending upon the movement of his feet. He kept dancing in and out of Neville's spells for quite some time when Neville cast a wide-area stunner freaking Harry out. As Flitwick had told them, a wide area stunner could not be dodged but had to be shielded and as Flitwick had forbidden them from using a shield, he was helpless and fell before the spell.

Flitwick enervated him grinning, "5 minutes Harry. It was not as much as Neville's however he was not hesitant in using any spell he could think of. I think you should take a lesson from it. No matter who is your opponent you must not hesitate to take him down. Is that clear?"

Harry nodded determinedly.

Meeting of the pranksters

When Harry and Neville returned to the Gryffindor tower Fred and George accosted them, "Harrikins, where were you?"

He raised an eye-brow, "Whatever is the matter, Fred and George?"

"Mate, other teams are already making plans to steal from Filch and we haven't yet done anything. Don't you want to win against them?", Gred asked him.

"It would look bad for us if we didn't even try", added Forge.

Harry smirked, "Guys we have a plan in place. The rules say that the teams can't stop each other or interfere, right?"

When they nodded, he continued, "Well Neville here has volunteered to spoil their game while we would be free to try."

Neville blanched, "Oi, when did I volunteer?"

Harry waved him off, "Mate, I won't commit to anything without counting you in my plans."

The twins were grinning in unison, "It is a mighty fine plan, Harrikins. What do you need us to do?"

The first team whose plans were foiled were the Puffs. Feeling emboldened under the leadership of Cedric, they had decided to employ their team mates on different tasks. Diggory for certain knew that Filch was a squib so there would be nothing in his office that they couldn't break into. His office likely would not be locked with a locking charm so they would be able to enter there at will. The key was to keep him away from his office long enough for them to enter, to locate and remove the desired records.

Wilson Rogers who was a second year and had an innocent face was selected to lead Filch away from his office. At the appointed time, he found Filch in his office lounging in his chair. He spoke hurriedly to him and appeared out of breath, "Mr. Filch, I saw some students huddled near the Hufflepuff common room and talking about leaving a few dungbombs in the corridors."

Filch was immediately out of his chair followed by his cat, Mrs. Norris, "Show me the way, brat. I will hang them up by their thumbs in the basement. Oh how I wish I could punish them as per the old ways."

Harriet Kelson had been stationed near his office to signal if he was coming back.

As he was being led away, Cedric and Abercrombie who were watching from afar chose that moment to appear. They walked to Filch's office as if they had all the time in the world and entered his office nonchalantly. Neville, who was hiding under the cloak and had been given the Map was watching them in amusement. When he noticed that Cedric and Abercrombie were about to strike, he walked in that direction while letting loose with a couple of Dr. Filibuster's firecrackers. They went off with a bang.

In a moment, Filch was running back to his office shouting at the top of his lungs. Neville watched in amusement as Filch found Cedric and Abercrombie fleeing from his office. He assumed that they were the ones who had let loose the crackers. He immediately started telling them off while threatening to do unspeakable things to them. Neville calmly walked toward Gryffindor Tower knowing the Hufflepuffs wouldn't be trying again tonight.

Quirrell was getting frustrated. This farce was taking too long. He still had no idea how to get past the three headed dog. The beast was only the first line of defense for the stone yet he was not able to get past even that. There was no telling how many other horrors waited further down that path. For now getting past the dog was being a bit problematic for him.

He was quite certain that the dog belonged to Hagrid because Kettleburn had lost too many of his limbs to try and domesticate a beast like that. The thing was that he needed to let the big oaf talk about it and blabber to him about the ways to tame the beast. He however could not meet him as a beast enthusiast again because that would make him immediately suspicious as he had noticed how the security in the Forbidden forest had been tightened up.

He needed something to make Hagrid forget his wits and blabber to him everything that he wanted to know. For that to happen, he would need to get something to Hagrid which he could not resist. He knew Hagrid had no use for gold. Neither Quirrell's nor Tom's knowledge about beasts was sufficient to interest him. He thought hard about it and recalled everything he knew about Hagrid. Hagrid always had a fascination for dangerous creatures even when he had been a child. He had raised an Acromantula in the castle which Tom had used to get him expelled from Hogwarts when Myrtle Warren had died. He had also heard that Hagrid always wanted a pet Dragon for himself. Perhaps he could get a dragon egg to him but that would be costly and take some time and effort. He would need to raid a Dragon Reserve to get an egg and that would have to be done in secret because if the news ever got out, Dumbledore would immediately know that something was fishy. He would have to employ his inner Slytherin to get what he wanted.