Harry dropped his backpack on the ground, tossed his red coat into the corner, and flopped down on the couch next to Neville. The Gryffindor Common Room was its chaotic norm, same as it had been ever since he'd first stepped foot in the room, but now that Harry and his friends had reached their fifth year they'd earned the right to claim their own little spot. It had actually been Ginny who had chosen the little corner, telling everyone that since it was darker than other spots in the common room most people didn't want it and thus it was perfect for their group. In private however she stated that it was a small deadzone where the hidden security cameras couldn't see a thing (and how surprised had the group been to learn that after their third year the headmaster had actually decided to put some security measures in place throughout the school!) and that after she installed a few of audio jammers of her own design (based on ones she'd, ahem, liberated from the Josephs) no one using an electrical device would be able to hear them either. This made it the perfect place to plot and plan for the group that was called to New Marauders by some and The Pride by others.

Today Harry had been the last to arrive. Hermione was curled up in one of the arm chairs, a book clutched in her hands and Gardevoir levitating a notepad and pen beside her; from the way Hermione's eyes would occasional flicker it was clear that she and her Pokémon were psychically linked at the moment and she was having Gardevoir write notes down for her. Ron and Ginny were on the ground, a small chess set sitting next to them with Ginny consulting her dex for move suggestions while Ron just went at it with gut instinct, his Emolga sitting on his head watching with interest. Neville had his Flogres out and was grooming her while Luna, dressed in workout gear, had, for reasons only she herself would understand, climbed on top of a squat bookshelf and was currently moving through her meditation exercises, which at that moment involved her standing on one hand, bare toes pointed towards the ceiling. All of them looked up when Harry let out a groan and his friends could tell he was frustrated from the way he rolled his head back and looked at the ceiling. Hedwig as perched near him, having flown ahead as was the norm, while Leafeon ambled up to his trainer and rested his head on Harry's knee.

"I know I'm new to this whole "Having guardians who actually love you" thing but is it normal for them to ignore your questions and deflect away when you press them?"

Ron nodded, moving his queen over several squares. "Completely."

"Absolutely," Ginny added, fingers rapidly tapping away at her dex's keyboard. "I think it would be more shocking if mum actually gave us a straight answer. Took me 6 months to wear her down enough to find out where babies came from." She jerked her thumb towards her brother. "Ron still doesn't know."

"Shut up," Ron groused. "Check."

"My parents like to tell me to find out the answer myself," Hermione supplied as she came out of her psychic trance, glancing at Gardivoir who nodded in utter agreement.

"That explains so much," Ron joked. Hermione and Gardivoir a look and Ron let out a squeak, Emolga having to dive over to Ginny as Ron shook violently. "HEY! Do not put images of Crabbe naked dancing the can-can in my head!"

"How would you even know..." Neville stopped, shaking his head. "Nope, I don't want to know."

"I guessed based on weight and general attitude," Hermione said with a shrug.

"That will replace the Wailord in my nightmares," Ginny groused.

"The naked Crabbe or Hemione being able to figure out what we all look like naked based on math?" Luna asked innocently.

"Both."

Neville shuddered before answering Harry. "My gram usually just stares at me before I can even ask and I end up just saying, "I need to go to the bathroom." I think she believes I have bladder control issues." He recalled his Pokemon and began putting his grooming kit away. "Need to send out Flora tomorrow and check her petals over," he muttered.

"Daddy tells me whatever I want to know no matter how titillating or graphic," Luna said with a wide grin as she slowly moved till she was kneeling on the bookcase, bend bending in an arch and chest jutting out. Harry glanced over and saw several of the other Gryffindors were watching the blonde with full attention; with her wearing a sleeveless shirt and yoga pants that hugged the curves she'd developed over the summer in Kalos he understood what had them enamored. Harry didn't see the appeal personally, as to him Luna was both his sister in all but blood and Neville's intended, but he understood. And it was his status as her honorary brother that saw him, when one of them made a lewd comment they thought he'd never hear (not realizing that his bonding with Leafeon meant he heard all their dirty little secrets) let his mask drop, his teeth sharpening and eyes flashing as he snarled slightly, raising up a clawed hand. The other Gyrffindors quickly decided to look elsewhere to get their jollies and Harry forced his mask of humanity firmly back on. Luna, for her part, didn't seem to notice Harry's actions, stretching her arms above her head and giving a cute little murmur that hinted that maybe she'd at least seen what she had been doing to the other boys. "It is the force ghost of the crazy old man that lived near our house who always gives vague answers." Her smile became a scowl. "Him and that muppet. I'm going to have words with that wrinkled piece of felt."

'My parents told me that the answers I sought were within here,' Gardivoir mentally projected, tapping her had. After a moment she added, 'Of course, they also enjoyed getting high off Full Restores and watching their arms wave about.'

Hedwig ruffled her feathers. "At least your parents were just hippies. My mum shoved me out of the nest the first time I asked questions and said, "Hedwig, you're as dumb as a brick and twice as ugly. If a strange man with glasses wants to be your trainer I say go for it!". And that's why I'm with Harry now!"

"...I doubt the validity of that story," Harry said, glowering. Hedwig, for her part, laughed.

Leafeon shrugged. "I never got to ask my parents anything... but one of them is the partner to our arch nemesis who would happily kill all of us so I doubt I'd get a straight answer."

"I will never get used to them talking," Ron whispered to Ginny, who merely shrugged, Emolga giving Ron a 'what ya gonna do?' expression.

"We never got used to you talking either."

"I was a late bloomer!"

"This is just so annoying!" Harry complained, throwing his hands up into the air. "I am being taught ancient and mystical arts by a legendary Pokémon and a group of famous trainers... half of whom are considered terrorists by my own government! I own several powerful and rare Pokémon, including a Hoothoot that is most likely from Le Fay's Noctowl's line, a legendary who belonged to Salazar Slytherin, and a psedo-legendary dragon!"

"By the way, my Goodra wants to set up a playdate with your Komo-O," Luna said sweetly.

"You have a Goodra?" Neville asked.

"Yeah! Cynthia and Diantha gave him to me. Gabrielle named him Kakarot."

"…that isn't going to end well," Neville muttered.

Harry continued to rant. "Yet Remus thinks I'm not old enough to hear about some group my parents were a part of? Come on! He's just being overprotective!"

"Did he really say you weren't old enough?" Ron asked. Harry nodded and his red-headed friend patted him on the leg. "That sucks."

"Okay, I swear to all that are listening that I will never hide anything from my kids or keep secrets that are really important just because I think they are too young to hear them."

"Epic child foreshadowing," Luna sang, going into a crouch before leaping from the bookcase and landing gracefully on the floor before moving into the splits. "Or would that be Cursed Child Foreshadowing?"

"You guys find anything?" Harry asked almost desperately. "Even a scrap of intel?"

"Nothing on the web but this was a group founded before the internet was a thing," Ginny stated, her face screwed up in disgust. "We'll probably have to talk to an anthropologist or something. Look at stone tablets and in some ancient tombs."

Hermione frowned, looking up from her book. "You do know that people were able to get along just fine before computers, right?"

"I do not accept your reality and refuse to join it," Ginny said, sticking out her tongue, Emolga giggling before gliding back to Ron.

"Nev?" Harry asked.

"No luck," Neville said with a sad shake of his head. "I sent a message to Barty but he hasn't responded... he could be on a mission for Avalon or doing something to help us and can't answer."

"And not because Luna kept spamming his inbox?" Ron asked with a teasing grin.

Luna, having switched to the Water Dance position, pursed her lips. "I haven't bugged Mr. Crouch in weeks."

"Really?" Ron said, surprised.

"Of course. I see now it was silly to believe he was a Time Lord."

Hermione shared a look with Gardivoir. "Luna, that is very mature and-"

"Wait for it..." Harry interrupted.

"Clearly he is the human clone of the Doctor created by sending his regenerative energies into his served hand and the real Doctor is now a woman with nice suspenders."

"Aaaaand there it is." He dropped his head in his hands. "No one is talking, no avenues of research… this is the part where moody teens give up, right?"

"Don't have to be moody to give up!" Ron said helpfully. "I give up all the time and I'm in a great mood!"

Hermione finally shut her book and looked at the group, letting out a small huff as she handed it to Gardivoir who glided towards her dorm room to put it away. "I can't believe there isn't some kind of record about The Order of Moltres. Someone had to have written something down about them… there are hundreds of books about how your mum might have defeated Voldemort but nothing about the group she and your father were apparently in? No news reporters or documents about their founding?" At Harry's shake of his head Hermione grumbled and had he not been so annoyed at the entire situation the young Speaker would have found his friend's frustration amusing. There was nothing Hermione hated more than an answer she couldn't find in a book. In her view the entire world should be cataloged and cross-referenced for easy look up. Where Harry looked at long grass and was excited about what might be hiding there Hermione stared in disgust and wondered why no one had bothered to document the fauna that lived there.

"No one in the school knows a thing, as far as I can tell," Harry stated at he stroked Leafeon's head. He'd put out feelers, asked a few Gryffindors he trusted to ask around, even approached Daphne Greengrass hoping maybe the Slytherin would trade info for a favor but she, like most, had only heard the faintest of rumblings about the Order and didn't have anything to offer… or wasn't willing to because the secret was worth far more than having him owe them anything. "I'm sure Snape knows but he'd never tell me; he's with Remus in making sure I'm kept safe this year and I think they are keeping Sirius distracted with the whole Pack Hunt thing so he doesn't consider telling me. Angelina heard whispers half the professors were involved too but we've seen how little McGonagall cares about cluing us in."

Hedwig glanced at Hermione. "You can't just…" she wiggled his feathers and then tapped her skull.

Hermione shook her head. "Not without them noticing and the laws about psychics are very clear about such an invasion." Harry quietly nodded; at the beginning of the summer when the conversation had turned to just how much Harry should reveal about his Speaking ability Lance had been quite clear that there were dangers to abusing such a power that went beyond Lugia's Law (something that Jack himself had drilled into Harry's head; he'd bluntly told Harry that if Lugia had wanted he could have killed Jack when he'd offered himself up for punishment before any of them could have reacted and then escaped before Clair or Lance could have attacked). He'd used psychic abilities as the prime example. International laws had been set to ensure that psychics, mind readers, and others of their ilk couldn't use their abilities to cheat and game the system. Psychics, much like Magnuses, Element Benders, and Veela, had to register with their government. Speakers currently avoided that need because as far as the public knew there was only one fully trained Speaker: Jack. Jonas kept his training unwraps and Harry and Jasmine had been warned to do the same. And so little was understood about what Jack did that the public thought his abilities were just something Jack alone could do. But for psychics, being as numerous as they were, there were laws in place to keep them in check. They had to have League-Approved psychic judges monitor their matches (to ensure they weren't controlling the gym leaders) and regular surprise inspections at their workplaces were common (Luna had later confirmed this, as Cynthia and Diantha had to often do surprise inspections to ensure their Kalos Flock didn't break the rules and then report back to their Ministry).

One example that had truly stuck with Harry had been a Kanto Gym Leader, Sabrina, who Remus had told him about when Lance had begun discussing the topic in detail. When Jack had blown up the Kanto Elite 4 building it had forced the Kanto government to get outside help from Hoenn, Sinnoh, and to a lesser extent Alola while they repaired and rebuilt; Kalos and Unova of course had sided with Johto during the war and were busy assisting them in forming their own government and Avalon had been still recovering for the war with Voldemort and been in no position to assist them. A gym inspector from Hoenn had begun to go through the paperwork that had been retained offsite and discovered a complaint made against Sabrina Voyant of Saffron by one Misty Waterflower, the Cerulean Gym Leader. Apparently Sabrina had decided to use her powers to convince people they were dolls and would torment them for hours and sometimes days at a time in her twisted mental mindscape; she'd even kept her mother in such a state for nearly a year. Miss Waterflower had herself been a victim of Sabrina's and filed a complaint shortly after… which had been filed but never passed along to the proper authorities. An investigation had been launched and soon it came to light that the Saffron Gym hadn't been inspected in years and that complaints had never been properly handled, meaning that Sabrina had been able to do as she wished for ages. The fact that Oroku Koga was good friends with Sabrina's father and had become head of the Kanto police force (and the gym evaluators by an extension) led to a lot of rumors that could never be proven with the man dead. The Hoenn inspector had quickly gone to the international courts with his findings and soon a team of International League-Authorized psychics were brought in to scan Sabrina's mind.

The battle that had followed had destroyed the Gym, left several hospitalized, and killed four Pokémon before Sabrina was finally subdued, with the gym leader's own Haunter being the one to deliver the blow that took her out of the battle.

What had been found both in scanning Sabrina's mind and testimony from past victims and witnesses has painted a horrible picture of greed, reckless endangerment, bribery, and sadistic experiments. Not just Kanto but the entire world had been horrified by what had been discovered.

In the end, according to Remus, Mr. and Mrs. Voyant, Sabrina's parents, were arrested for child abuse and Sabrina was stripped of her gym leader status and sent to one of the world's best mental health institutes to undo the damage her parents had done to her in her youth while claiming they were 'helping her'. The Saffron Dojo became the city's new gym so the city didn't lose out there but the Voyants, who had been Gym Leaders for nearly a 150 years would never again be allowed to serve in the role again.

All of that was well and good but it was the reactions after the fact that sent the clear message to Harry. News of just what Sabrina had been able to do sent shockwaves through the world. Combined with what Jack had done in Fuchsia City and the lingering fears over the then recently revealed cloning experiments Team Rocket had attempted with Mew DNA, and the International Courts had passed strict laws on psychics that made what had been set up before look like the rules to a child's game. Intense monitoring, testing every few months, and harsh punishments that could see Hermione, if she broke any of the laws, jailed for the rest of her life and possibly lobotomized (and that still made Harry sick to his stomach) showed just how bad abusing one's power could get.

"Why don't you just give your psycho girlfriend a ring and ask her what we should do?" Ginny said with a shrug, looking over the chess board and selected her rook.

Harry's brow furrowed. "Okay, a few things... first off, did you just call Jasmine-"

"-your girlfriend? Yeah. Isn't she?"

"That isn't the problem I had, Ginny. You don't think it's a bit offensive to call my girlfriend a psycho?"

"No less than you calling me a red head," Ginny said with a smirk. "I call'em like I see'em. It's what makes me-"

"A bitch?" Ron asked, only for Ginny to reach over and slam her fist down on his hand. "OW! Not disproving my point!"

"Ginny's attitude aside, calling Jasmine might be a good idea," Neville said as the Weasleys continued to bicker. "She was raised by a freedom fighter... probably learned a thing or two about intel gathering. Can't hurt to get a fresh outlook."

Harry shrugged and turned on his holocaster. "Yeah, good put Nev." He waited a moment as his dex connected to Jasmine's. "Hopefully she's not in the middle of a gym battle or training..."

The holocaster flickered and projected out between the couch and where Ginny and Ron were laying and Harry tiled his head at the hologram of his girlfriend sitting on her bed, her hair in a long braid and her face done up in makeup like she was an 8 year old experimenting for the first time. She was wearing a baggy tee and sweats, her feet tucked under her and looking decidedly unsexy. Oh, Harry was sure that the idea of his girlfriend in pajamas would make most people raise an eyebrow and smirk before most likely made some crude comment. Jasmine was attractive, after all. But this wasn't some model wearing lacy panties with her hair perfectly done and her skin utterly flawless. No, this was Jasmine as a young woman, relaxed and not needing to prove anything to anyone.

But then Jasmine noticed just who had called her and her smile made the sun seem like a flickering ember.

"HARRY!" Jasmine exclaimed in surprised delight. "I thought you were Serena... we called her but got disconnected when Sylveon accidently knocked over her dex... energetic to a fault, that one. Fleur, it's Harry!"

Jasmine leaned over to adjust her dex (and Harry shot a dark look at the Gryffindors who had begun to crane their necks towards their corner again, this time in hopes of seeing the Princess of Johto give them a glimpse inside her shirt) allowing the image reader to expand its optical field and reveal Fleur sitting on Jasmine's bed, wearing her own pair of casual pjs and her hair in curlers. Like Jasmine there was nothing put together or overly sexy about Fleur in that moment, just her in her natural state. Still, she was one of the most attractive young women in all of Kalos and would have gotten stares wearing a burlap sack.

"Bonjour, Harry!" Fleur said with a smile that he could tell was only half natural.

"We aren't interrupting, are we?" Harry asked.

Jasmine waved him off. "Not at all. Fleur just... needed some time away so she decided to take a vacation in Johto; she's staying at the gym with me for the next few weeks, helping me set up."

"Nothing too serious?" Harry asked, sensing there was much more to the story than Jasmine was letting on. He hadn't heard much from the other Champions since they'd parted in June, save for Cedric and that was only because he and Hermione were doing the long distance relationship thing, but he knew that they were all working and preparing to help him deal with Voldemort and Team Nocturne. He knew little of what Viktor and Wally were up to but apparently Iris and Gary had sought out Gary's childhood friend Ash and were training with him. As for Fleur after she had gotten done helping to train Luna she'd gone off the map and Harry had a sneaking suspicion that her going quiet had been related to the Pack and their hunting down on Team Nocturne.

Though the Ministry had tried to hide Jack's threat, that after that night no one was safe from him and his allies, the warning had spread like a fungus; creeping at first, hardly moving, but the instant one turned their attention away it swelled out in all directions. Not helping was the fact that Jack was apparently living up to his word, if the reported murder of Walden Macnair was any indication. Oh, Fudge was doing his best to hide that it was the Pack that had hunted the man down, claiming that it was some rogue but Harry knew the man was fumbling for excuses. He suspected Fudge wanted to pin the murder on Jack but knew he couldn't. First because while the Sons had taken quite a blow with Voldemort's frame-up they still had allies. Jack had come out and issued a direct statement that he'd had nothing to do with the Little Surrey Incident and was putting a reward out for the imposter and that had helped ensure Kalos and Unova stayed firmly on Johto's side. Hoenn and Sinnoh delivered the standard declarations of anger and denouncement but honestly didn't have a Ponyta in the race so it was of little concern to them and while Kanto used the massacre as reasoning once again try to have Jack arrested and put in their custody they wouldn't move against him; not with Johto primed to defend The Father AND the hero of the last war, Lance Blackthorn, having 'turned his cloak' and joined Jack's side. That left Avalon as the only one that could really put up a stink, forcing Johto to send its ambassadors to assure them that they were investigating the incident and that Jack was currently on voluntary house arrest, staying in Olivine and only able to move around Johto with an escort.

The fact that his own brother was in charge of the police that watched Jack… and the Johto Hoods were fiercely loyal to the man that had freed their region… was known by all but commented on by no one. Again, like with Sinnoh and Hoenn, each region had its own little tricks to get around such things and no one wanted to be the one to press Johto… and then get trapped when it was their turn to be in trouble. It was all good to act indignant when it was someone else who was the target of world-wide hatred… but the moment it was one of your powerful nationals the story changed. So Sinnoh and Hoenn and all the rest would nod when Johto said Jack was basically a prisoner of their own region and then not bat an eye that the guards all looked to him like the Father they named him to be. So long as he didn't do anything brazen.

One would have thought that Macnair's murder would be seen as just that, a brazen act, and Fudge would be moving to get Jack actually arrested, but there in lay the second problem the Minister faced: admitting that Jack had been right. He'd warned them all in the graveyard, after all: Your money can't buy your protection, your social standing won't shield you, your lineage will not aid you. That had made a lot of people in Avalon nervous. Being a part of Team Nocturne or just quietly supporting them was one thing when you knew your government and those in power would give you at most a slap on the wrist if you had the right connections or wealth. But an assassin who would hunt you down without a thought of your title or bank account? That terrified many and Harry had learned from Sirius that Fudge had been desperately trying to convince people that Jack was all bluster. Avalon wasn't Kanto… Johto was no where near the region and Jack didn't have the understanding of Avalon that he'd had of Kanto. He wouldn't be able to sneak in and kill and then slip out like a specter.

So Fudge couldn't just come out and say that Jack had done exactly that: slipped into Avalon, brutally murdered someone (a ministry employee, no less!), and then slipped out without leaving any evidence. He had to cover it up as best he could, actually helping the Pack by claiming it couldn't be them, while quietly making demands of Madam Bones to ensure Avalon was safe without actually coming out and saying "from Kenway and his friends".

Yes, Fudge was denying it but Harry knew that it was the Pack that had taken out Macnair… though the way the man had died, stabbed so many times, wasn't their style. Jonas would have put a bullet in his head, nice and clean, and Fleur's mothers would have slit his throat. Jack preferred blunt force trauma. As for Clair and Lance he couldn't see them being so sloppy. Macnair had been shredded, from what the newspapers were reporting, stabbed all over his body in seemingly random spots. It wasn't the act of someone who had truly fought before… who had killed before.

Harry glanced at Fleur's holographic form.

"Of course not," Jasmine said with a smile. "Just needed to get away from her folks and I've been puttering around the gym, getting it set up and hiring on junior trainers so I needed a break myself. Worked out well… tonight we decided to do the traditional Hollywood sleepover: makeup, doing each other's hair, practicing kissing, eating junk food, reading trashy magazines, that sort of thing-"

"Wait, back up," Ron said, leaning forward. "Practicing-"

"But you didn't call to hear about my gym or about our sleepover," Jasmine said. "So what exactly is the problem?"

"Needed your advice on something," Harry said right before Ginny practically threw herself in front of him.

"Settle a bet: You aren't offended if I call you a psychopath, right?"

"Yes, I am," Jasmine stated.

"See, I told-wait, what?"

Jasmine glowered at Ginny. "I am highly offended that you called me a psychopath." After a few moments of watching Ginny go pale with the realization that she'd just insulted someone who found designing new bladed weapons to be fun Jasmine smirked. "I'm a highly functioning sociopath. Please get it right."

"I DO THE REFERENCES!" Luna screeched, leaping forward only for Neville to grab her and pull her onto his lap. "That is my bit! Without it I only have my brains, skills, charming personality, and stunning good looks!" Neville began to run his fingers through her hair and Luna cooed and quieted down.

"Anyway…" Harry said, rolling his eyes at his friends antics, "remember the whole thing about the Order of Moltres and me trying to find out more about them?"

"Some group your parents were in, right?" Jasmine said.

"But unlike the Sons they aren't worshiped," Ron said.

Jasmine frowned. "The Sons aren't worshiped… I think." She looked to Fleur. "Is that why those guys bought us drinks yesterday?"

"No, they did that because we were dancing together."

"Ah, right. Anyway, so you were trying to figure out what the Order of Moltres was and why Umbitch-"

"Umbridge," Hermione chimed in.

"I know what I said. Why Umbitch was so mocking of them?" She pursed her lips. "I'm assuming it hasn't worked out well for you."

"That's putting it lightly," Harry groused. "No one is telling us anything. Not Remus, not Sirius… nothing about them in any books, nothing online-"

"Because they are from a backwards time before computers mattered!" Ginny called out.

"-no news reports… nothing. We have hit a wall. I was hoping you'd have a suggestion."

"Preferably one that doesn't involve mass murder," Hedwig said. When Harry shot her a dark look she merely shrugged. "What? With your girlfriend its helpful to clarify."

"…I sense I've gained a reputation," Jasmine said dryly.

"Harry, if I might interrupt, I believe I have a solution to your problem," Fleur said, nudging Jasmine over so she was in the center of the projection. "When I was a child my maman told me the tale of the Klefki and the Pangoro. See, Klefki was a trickster, always playing pranks on his friends in the forest. So one day all the other Pokémon waited till he was sleeping and they took his keys and hid them. Klefki tried to figure out where they'd hidden them but they refused to tell him. He begged and he whined but his friends would not say a word. They said it was their own prank and they wouldn't tell him til they were ready. Klefki though was clever and decided to seek out Pangoro, who disliked him most of all. Pangoro mocked him and said he would never help him but Klefki merely shrugged. 'Of course you can't help me,' Klefki said, 'you are far too dumb to know where my keys are! You'd never be able to find them so I will ask someone else.' Pangoro didn't like that and declared that he did know where the keys were but Klefki ignored him, claiming his boasts were just that. Pangoro, enraged, grabbed Klefki and took him to where the other Pokémon had hidden his keys and proudly showed him… only for Klefki to snatch up his keys and fly away." Fleur smiled as she finished her tale. "And that is your solution."

"So we need to find one of Harry's enemies and trick them into tell us about the Order of Moltres!" Luna declared.

Everyone stared at her.

"What? I can contribute things without making jokes."

"…since when?" Ron asked, only for Luna to kick at him. "Why is everyone beating me up?!"

Harry though frowned. "But how would we know that we weren't getting lies?"

Jasmine smirked and nodded towards Hermione. "They might tell you lies but will they be able to keep stray thoughts from leaking out?"

"That… might actually work," Hermione admitted. "I can't dig into someone's mind but if they are thinking too hard and I pick something up they'd never know. Even then that isn't against the law."

"And Luna would be able to detect if they were lying," Fleur supplied.

Luna grinned. "I'm good like that."

Jasmine nodded. "You just need someone who doesn't like Harry and who has a weak mind and who wears their emotions on their sleeve."

Harry smirked. "And I know who… and just how to do it…"

~The Next Day~

Harry walked by the Slytherin table during the morning meal and let out a weak cough.

"Did you just cough on me, Potter?" Draco demanded, leaping to his feet. "This insult to the Malfoy name will not stand! I-"

"Demand we battle to regain your honor?" Harry asked.

"Yes! I… wait… no, I mean-"

"Great!" Harry said with a grin. "Prof. Slate, would you mind being our referee?"

Prof. Slate, who was being dragged away from a startled Madam Hooch (who he had been pitching woo to) by his Toxicroak, sat up and smiled. "Of course, Mr. Potter! I would be delighted to. After lunch today? I don't think either of you have Gauntlet practice…"

"Nope, schedules are clear. We'll do it outside. See you then Draco!"

The scion of House Malfoy furrowed his brow in confusion.