Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction based on the Harry Potter Universe. All recognisable characters, plots, and settings are the exclusive property of Joanne Kathleen Rowling.

I make no claims to ownership, nor am I making any profit.

Some lines have been taken from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone. I'm not the owner of Harry Potter else, Harry would've been way more competent, and Sirius would've never died.

Type:-Self-Insert OC Fanfic.

Pairings- Not decided yet.

Author's Notes: I'll be taking a lot of liberty with some canon knowledge of events, and specific facts have been liberally changed to better facilitate the story's plot.

Special thanks to AJAvenger01 for being the beta of this fic.

My other fic, Dulce Periculum, is also something I've been working on. I hope you check it out. I also have a Discord Server where I talk more about the story and updates, the link for the server is in my profile as well as at the end of the chapter.


Sortes Qui Facit

by

Ares Alexander Peverell


Year1: Rising Powers and Sorcerer Stones

Chapter10: Backstories


Ares was so busy in his musings that he never noticed the intrigued eyes carefully looking at him from behind, tracing the photo in their own eyes.


"This is the photo of your parents, isn't it?" Arianna Rosier asked in a soft voice, snapping Ares out of his musings.

He had almost pulled his wand out before he had Rosier standing there, looking at him with something akin to sympathy.

"Yes," he whispered. She only nodded at his brief answer, not expecting him to speak anything else.

"I've heard that you've had a falling out with Greengrass and Davis," she questioned him, getting back to her usual calm and collected demeanour.

"Indeed. It appears that they did not want to participate in this Slytherin politics," Ares drawled, switching back to his neutral face.

Her lips twitched at his statement. It was clear that she found the response amusing.

"Anyone in Slytherin is involved in the politics of the house. It has been a rule since Salazar Slytherin himself was a teacher here," she told him.

Ares nodded at her statement. It was technically true after all. You can't survive in the ocean if you don't know how to swim.

"While I understand their family's neutrality and the fact that they are firsties, I doubt that their families would not guide them," he spoke.

"While that may be true, it might be the fact that they are waiting it out," she stated.

It made sense that they'd try to wait for the storm to settle down. Unlike him, they were not in the centre of the happenings. It was him that had given them the option to stay neutral. While he didn't regret it per se, their support would've been better.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Natalie Avery entered the room.

"Hello everyone," she waved as she entered the room, carrying several books in her hand. The smaller girl proceeded to hug Arianna before looking at him with her sparkling light green eyes.

"Miss Avery," he greeted her a bit stiffly. This was his first time here and a single meeting had hardly acquainted them with each other.

"Mr Potter," she greeted him cheerfully. Plopping next to him on the sofa, she looked between the two of them.

"What are you talking about?" she questioned, genuinely curious about the previous discussion they were having.

"Nothing much! Just Potter's fight with Greengrass," she informed the girl.

"Ah!" her gaze softened as she looked at him. "I heard Malfoy cornering her about that," she told him, much to his surprise. He didn't know that.

Ares rubbed his face with the palm of his hands. His day was just getting worse and worse.

"Aww. Don't worry about that. The big bad me would protect you," she cooed at him.

Ares just frowned at her tone.

"Aww, You're no fun at all," she muttered in mock disappointment. He could see that Rosier was trying hard not to laugh at the girl's antics.

"Were you dropped on your head when you were a baby, Miss Avery?" he questioned her, giving the best impression of innocence and puppy eyes.

"Aww. You're so cute," she gushed at him before hugging him like he was a teddy bear.

Wait a minute! I'm not a damn child. The girl had embraced him like he was crazy. As much as he wanted to ignore it, her rather sizable assets were pressed against his body. She was surprisingly well developed for a third-year student.

Not a paedophile. Not a paedophile. He assured himself as he waited for the third year to end her embrace. He was technically an adult after all.

Rosier lost it when she looked at her disgruntled expression as she snorted in amusement.

"Bye sweetie," she winked at him and then at Rosier before hurriedly moving out of the damn room.

"Stop laughing," he snapped at the only remaining member of the room. However, this time, his age worked against him as she just kept looking at him with an amused look.

"She can be awfully flirty, Potter. Looks like she has a new victim in you," Rosier told him, eyes shining in mirth.

"Is she like that with everyone?" he questioned Arianna. It would be nice to get some intel on everyone. But it would take some time and he didn't want to appear as mistrustful towards them. Technically, they had saved him or else he would've been outclassed there and his life would've been somewhat hell.

"No. Just to the people who are in our circle,"

"But I'm rather new here," he said, puzzled by such logic.

"Indeed. But Adrian trusts you not to betray him. That is enough for all of us. Plus, she is an excellent judge of someone's character herself. She may be a third-year student, but she is not someone to be underestimated." Rosier told him, her eyes analyzing his every move.

"Of course not," he told her sincerely. Facades could be misleading. He was well acquainted with that notion.

"Hmm! Well, it's time for dinner," she said, standing up as she tidied herself. "Well! Are you coming?" she looked at him.

"I don't want to intrude," he tried to politely refuse.

"Nonsense. Besides, most of them are busy today due to one reason or another," she stated.

"Very well," a semi-reluctant Ares told her, joining her as they walked towards the Great Hall.


A/N- I am introducing a time-skip here. The following things will remain the same as the canon and would not change at all.


1- Harry has a midnight duel with Malfoy. However, it doesn't matter as they sort it out and the trio and Longbottom do see Fluffy the Cerebrus. Harry never tells Ares about it nor does he get to know about it. Belleza isn't omnipotent you know?

Remember, Ares only knows the major events. Minor events and timelines are not given in the books.

2- Final flying lesson. It will remain the same as Harry becomes the Gryffindor seeker. Ares will not join the Quidditch team. I don't want to make him a Gary-Stu (male Mary Sue).

3- As much as I'd love to see Hermione Granger insulted and add some of my own, I'd rather not write that scene as that is plain canon.

To refresh your memory, it's the same scene where Ron Weasley insults Hermione Granger stating that she has no friends which made her cry.

I can easily copy-paste it but that would be disrespectful to JKR. I generally try to avoid copying from canon unless it's too repetitive or absolutely needed (Sorting Chapter).

4- The following time-skip is straight to Halloween night. Since Ares knows about it, there's going to be some difference.

With that out of my way, Enjoy! :)


[Time Skip]

[Halloween Evening]


Ares was currently seated with Selwyn and his group in the Great Hall. After the not so recent argument with Greengrass, she had all but gone out of the way to avoid him. While he understood the appeal of neutrality, this was just plain annoying.

He had mostly spent the last few weeks with the group. After the initial phase of awkwardness, they had all but accepted his presence as normal. While he didn't exactly integrate into the group, it was not uncommon for him to spend some time with them. He usually conversed with Natalie and Adrian (as they preferred to be called).

Despite Adrian's fanaticism towards quidditch and Natalie's obsession with flirting and overt affection, they all went along just fine. It also helped that the two were quite near to his age group as compared to the other two.

He rarely talked to Harry these days. Between classes, homework(which was turning into a nightmare) and Harry's quidditch practises, they mostly talked during DADA classes.

Thankfully, Belleza usually took care of keeping an eye on him.

Ares had managed to activate three of the metallic snake decorations near the Slytherin dorms. It had taken him a week's worth of practice to learn to hold a notice-me-not and silencing charm on himself. Yet, the efforts had been worth it. He now knew most of what was going on in the Slytherin Common Room. Belleza had seen to it. The information had saved him from several traps and power-plays. Even the group looked grateful when he informed them of certain things.

Speaking of his familiar, she was currently roaming around the school, looking for the troll. He had asked her to keep an eye on it. Quirrel would be releasing it today and he didn't want to risk it.

To top it off, Granger had been crying in the girl's toilet and he knew that Harry would be following it. He would simply follow them and provide help if it was required. No need to change unnecessary things in his opinion.

"TROLL! Troll in the dungeons, Headmaster. Thought you needed to know," Filch shouted, entering the Great Hall with a bang before falling to the floor in a dead faint.

Ah! There is Filch. Ares thought before looking again.

Wait! What the fuck? Wasn't Quirrel supposed to come here and inform everybody? Ares thought in obvious confusion as he stared at the motionless body of the caretaker. His cat was mewling around his prone body, sniffing and trying to wake him up.

The hall broke into pandemonium as the students started talking and moving around, trying to protect themselves from the troll in case it tried to enter from the entrance.

Ares looked around to see that neither Snape nor Quirrel was present at the feast. He did not want to attend, but he wanted to keep an eye on things. He was kind of angry though those people celebrated on this day. But he stayed silent. Judging by the face he made, neither Natalie nor Adrian spoke much. It was honestly a welcome surprise since he thought the boy couldn't breathe without talking about quidditch.

BANG! Dumbledore shot a blast from his wand, effectively quieting the entire hall.

The entire hall stood up to see Dumbledore standing up. His aura commanded respect as he analyzed the situation at hand.

"Prefects," Dumbledore commanded, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately. Call for help from any portrait if you encounter it."

With the order in motion, he went off with McGonagall and Flitwick in tow. Ares thought that they were likely going to search for the troll. Since Snape and Quirrel were absent, it was a high probability that they were after the Cerberus inside the third-floor corridor.

He glanced towards the Gryffindor table. They were already moving as were the other prefects who were leading the other houses. He saw Penelope leading the house as she checked on everyone. Their eyes met and he returned a reassuring nod to her.

"Alright! Since the headmaster has obviously forgotten that the Slytherin dormitories are in the dungeons, we will be following the stairway from the second floor to the library. It also has several wards so we will be safe there." Gemma spoke, although there was an undertone of nervousness in her voice. The male prefect did nothing as he simply stood beside her for the gesture's sake.

Convenient. I'll simply slip away to the second-floor bathroom to ensure that nothing else happens. Filch or Quirrel, it changes nothing. But Ares was only reassuring himself.

Ares followed the prefects. Slytherins being Slytherins, they didn't make a single fuss about anything. It was refreshing to see the self-preservation instincts being active in everyone.

He slipped away, taking a shortcut to the second floor. The Hogwarts castle had so many secrets that it was like a wet dream for any explorer to map them all. He had barely climbed the stairs when a loud rumbling noise made him snap his attention towards a corridor. A sudden scream of terror soon followed it.

Ares broke into a run, hoping that he was not too late. The scene that met him almost made his eyes pop out of his skull.

Shit! He whispered.

Two trolls had managed to corner a couple of Ravenclaws. He could see Penelope raising a shield as the troll slammed its club on the floor, sending debris towards their way. They were surrounded on two sides and couldn't move due to the troll's constant smashing.

Ares contemplated the situation. He stood no chance against the troll. The only spell powerful enough that he could think of were the Unforgivables. And he was certainly not going to use them as he had passed out the last time.

Distraction is, then!

He pointed his wand at the troll and fired an over-powered tooth-pulling hex. Thankfully for him, it hit the troll in the teeth and he roared in pain as several of his front teeth snapped out of his mouth.

Ares could see the blood coming out of its mouth as it roared in agony, turning his focus towards him.

"Run!" he told the prefect as she struggled to maintain their shields, "I'll distract them," he shouted while running in the opposite direction. He kept summoning small objects behind him, the shards hurting the feet of the beast.

Ares kept running as he saw the staircase in front of him. He had a dangerous glint in his eyes as he recognized the third-floor corridor.

"Percutio, Percutio, Secare!"Ares fired the deadliest spells in his arsenals. The spells only served to enrage the troll even further as they managed to hurt it.

The troll broke into a charge. Ares just smirked at the dumb beast.

"Aquamenti, Glacius," he intoned, freezing the floor beneath the troll as he used the classic yet effective combination. Ares quickly moved out of the way as he flattened himself against the side of the wall, narrowly avoiding the speeding slippery troll.

"Toodles!" he cheered at the troll.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Ares winced at the loud noise as the troll broke the railing and fell several floors below. He did not doubt that the voice would've been hard all over the castle.

He picked his bruised and battered body as he tried to carry himself to the second-floor bathroom. He just wanted to ensure everything was fine. The troll had still managed to do quite a number on him.

He had barely climbed down the stairs when he heard another grunt. However, it was a cry of pain and rage.

Salazar! Where are the teachers? Smoking weed or drinking firewhiskey? Ares thought.

He saw Snape fighting against three trolls. The man was limping but he was able to hold his own against the trolls. The man barely avoided a club thrown by the troll as another smashed his against the hastily conjured shield of his own. The third had managed to flank behind him with his club ready to smash him.

Ares summoned the club hastily, barely managing to evade it as it flew towards him.

Snape saw it too as he banished all the trolls with some kind of wide-area banishing spell.

"Potter!" he snarled before hastily limping towards him to get a better angle. Ares had barely avoided being mauled by one troll. He was impressed with the greasy potions master handling three on his own, disabled and would've no doubt won even without him.

Two trolls were down and out of count when the third made a beeline towards him. A bruised and shocked Ares simply tried to protect his body as he closed his eyes, bracing himself for the sudden attack. His self-preservation instincts were screaming at him to move as he tried to dodge the troll. Even then, he would've not avoided it entirely.

However, it was not needed.

"Sectumsempra" Snape screamed, his voice filled with barely concealed shock.

Ares only felt a splatter of warm and thick liquid on his body. He carefully opened his eyes to see the body of the troll inches away from him. The surprised head of the troll was still rolling near his feet.

"Potter! You fool? What in Salazar's name forced you to fight a troll," the man screamed, spittle flowing from his mouth as he limped near him. The man looked quite murderous at that instant.

"Severus! Unhand the boy this instant," he heard the voice of Madam Pomfrey scream as he was immediately cleaned by the irate witch who cast a quick cleaning charm and began muttering spells.

The entourage of Dumbledore followed by the remaining head of the three houses arrived there along with Quirrel.

"Harry is still in the second-floor bathroom," he managed to get out as the Medi-witch cast some sort of disinfecting charm at him, making him grit his teeth in pain.

"I know, my boy. We just rescued them. Or I daresay they managed to rescue themselves," the old wizard informed him in a sympathetic note, making him sigh in relief.

"Now we just need to know what happened on the third-floor while you tell us your part, Ares," Dumbledore spoke, gesturing towards him.

Ares rubbed his head as the stares of every one were fixed at him.

"Honestly! The boy needs rest," Pomfrey interjected.

"Nah! I'm fine," Ares gritted out, somehow managing to remove himself from the grasps of the witch as she did another diagnostic.

"No need to check," Ares interrupted," It was me up there," he spoke, making both McGonagall and Snape mutter something about damn Potters and their rule-breaking.

Ares retold them the incident entire incident, making his intentions seem that he wanted to go after Harry. He was somewhat glad that Penelope and the Ravenclaws had managed to see him assisting in their escape.

He told them about how he attracted the troll away from the students and turned the floor to ice, effectively managing to make it slip past the railing of the floor.

He then told them that he was searching for Harry when he saw Snape and decided to help him.

When he finished his story, Dumbledore appeared to be in deep thought.

"Headmaster. The boy has broken several school rules and deserves to be punished. Perhaps detention for the entire year will make sure that such travesty never happens again," he spoke, sending a murderous glare towards him.

"No! That's unfair, Severus," Flitwick said, "Mr Potter saved several members of my house from the troll. I cannot, in good faith, allow this punishment to go through," he firmly spoke.

"On the contrary, I believe that he should be rewarded for his brilliant presence of mind and surviving the troll. When his twin was not punished, why do we expect Ares here to be punished? His intentions were not malicious at all." the diminutive professor passionately stated.

"I ag-agree. M-Mr Potter saved sever-several students from harm-m. He doesn't deserve t-to be p-pun-punished," Quirrel interjected.

"Yes! I even think that both the Potters deserve an award for Special Services to the School," Sprout spoke, eliciting support from her fellow teachers.

"Very well! It seems that I have been outnumbered again," Snape spoke," However, I am his head of the house and he will still face detention for a week no matter how much you encourage his misdemeanours,"

"Albus?" McGonagall questioned, gesturing towards the headmaster.

"Ah! My apologies Minerva. I believe that thirty points to Slytherin and an Award for Special Services to the school will do the job," he spoke, his usual twinkle missing from his eyes.

Sensing another argument about to start, Dumbledore quickly interrupted his teachers, shooting a quick wink at Ares as he saw his amused look at his actions.

"Now Mr Potter here needs rest. I'm afraid that Poppy here will have my head if we keep him here any further," he spoke. "There will be no classes, Mr Potter, so you will have the fortune to announce that in your house,"

"Off you trot. I'll send some hot chocolate with the elves, Mr Potter." Dumbledore told him, twinkle returning into his sapphire eyes. Ares respectfully nodded at the teachers before leaving. He almost broke into a run when he heard Pomfrey complaining about keeping him for a week.

God! That witch is terrifying. He muttered to himself as he started walking towards the common room.

He mentally prepared himself for the questioning he would be on the end of when he reached there.

"Damn! Why did things change so suddenly?" he muttered.

"Oh! That's easy. It's your magnificent presence here," a voice told him from his side.

Ares turned to see…

"Morticia?" he whispered, the name escaping before he could even comprehend anything in his mind.


Another chapter update guys. Be prepared for the upcoming chapter where I will solve all the doubts and queries regarding this story. Some details have been missed in the chapters and so I'll add them all in one place.

I enjoyed writing this chapter. Hope to meet you in the next Q/A session. I'll be answering any questions in the comments as well as on my Discord server. So make sure to stay tuned.


Check my other story Dulce Periculum if you like Hellatrix stories. It's currently one of the few Hellatrix fics on this site. You can also check Tales of a Dying Heart. It's one of my better concepts and I hope you'll like it.

I have a Discord server where I post contents that are relevant to the SQFverse, and I'd appreciate you there. The community also has several fellow writers and if you're interested in writing, that's the place you can get all the guidance and the start you need.

Discord Link- /6ngeKHXktN

You're all welcome to Thestral Manor. Our server is a lot more open-minded than most others, along with having several other writers. I also post a lot of spell and story aspects that are not feasible here. I'd love to see you there. :)

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Ares Alexander Peverell.