AN: And now, Harry's perspective muahahahaha.

Malfoy

We shouldn't have come. We are wasting time.

Harry was sitting up in his bed in the darkness of the infirmary. They were in the far corner, hidden by curtains. Moonlight was coming from the opposite side of the room. Although the window was another access point for someone to spy or barge in, it was also an exit route and Harry was grateful for it. It gave them a low level of light he could faintly see his friends with, but also allowed them to have no candles near, preventing a passerby from knowing their exact location. They were in the shadows.

Ron and Hermione's beds were opposite his. The Headmaster mentioned their sleeping arrangements for tonight were temporary, and even then, the new arrangements were still temporary and he needed them out as soon as possible.

Boor was a good man, Harry thought. When researching where Durmstrang was located to find Draco Malfoy, they had discussed the strategy of entering the school. Hermione, in her research on faculty, stated that they needed to be as forthcoming as possible.

Ron looked at her as if she was nuts. "Do you even remember fourth year?! I'm sure Krum was an okay bloke," Ron dismissed quickly, seemingly knowing Hermione's response and also not wanting a recap of Krum's friendship with Hermione, "but everyone else from that school that stepped out of that ship was a creep!"

"He's a world renown duelist who is known for his integrity when it comes to sport. He was well-known for winning against opponents who were not above using unregistered spells while playing a clean game himself." Hermione explained, as she started packing books from around the tent into her purse.

Harry and Ron looked at each other in alarm. "And….?" Harry squinted at his friend who was now looking at the aghast.

"How do you not know of him? We spoke of him in second year with Lockheart when we started discussing the Dueling Club."

Harry and Ron shrugged.

Hermione sighed and dropped her purse to the ground.

"There is nothing he despises more than a cheat. He had a large fanbase because he would win duels by speed alone, but in dueling, it's commonplace for duelists to create new spells in order to subvert rules. There are lists of restricted spells in dueling." Hermione noticed she was losing their attention, "After he retired from competition, he began writing books on the importance society's role in raising children, telling children the truth – even if it hurts being one of them." Nothing like Dumbledore, Harry thought grimly.

"He is against secrecy laws and the Wizarding World being hidden away. He is almost radical in his ideas and traditionalists don't know whether to be accepting or not of him."

Ron frowned, "He a good guy or not? Does he want to rid the world of muggles?"

Hermione swayed her bushy hair back and forth. "It's been debated, as honest as he claims to be he certainly hasn't cleared up the misunderstanding if he's not. He states that our world's magic gets weaker the more we hide it when living double lives in the Wizarding and Muggle worlds. His papers on Dark Magic theory are quite prolific as well. Before he left Britain, he would assist in the Auror team with interrogations. He is brilliant at detecting lies without the use of magic. Frankly, I'm somewhat thrilled we get to meet him."

Ron's eyes narrowed. "He isn't another Lockheart, is he?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Let's go."

Durmstrang did not inspire a warm fuzzy feeling, Harry thought as they rounded the corner and finally spotted the castle's flags. The fog had cleared in the valley and they could clearly see that in between all the mountains they had been scaling down, sat a castle atop a lake.

It's ready for war.

Spikes decorates all the squared towers, Durmstrang looked mad and sinister, a proper medieval castle.

The gates of the school stood at the front of a bridge's entrance. The ship that had been seen in fourth year was docked underneath. While Hogwarts used Platform 9 ¾ to transport most of the students to the castle, Durmstang instructed its students to wait by the coastline of their choosing, the ship would find them.

When they finally reached the gates, a man in brown robes, Ministry worker, Harry feared, was waiting for them at the gates.

Bartholomew Boor was plain and unassuming. A person who you wouldn't notice was in the lift with you. He did not seem to be the master duelist Hermione said he was, or someone who was particularly passionate about anything but dusting books.

Hermione had stated the truth at his inquiring brow. They were Hogwarts students whose parents were on the wrong side of the Dark Lord and they ran away after one too many incidents at the castle. They needed somewhere safe, not permanent, where they could gather themselves before moving on.

Boor narrowed his eyes and looked them up and down. "The glamour on you two," he gestured toward Harry and Ron, "what are they for? Are you that easily recognizable?"

"We are on the run sir. We wanted to be as plain as possible."

The Headmaster seemed to accept the explanation after a pause. He nodded. "Very well. I will set you three up in spared beds we have. I'm afraid you three will be separated. We are not like Hogwarts, we do not segregate our students to separate dorms, but rather have split up the school by boys and girls. The Dining Hall, Grounds and Library are essentially your common rooms. We are a fairly small school. I'll take you three to the infirmary first to clean up and you can find an empty seat in the Dining Hall for breakfast."

The grand doors opened as they approached the castle.

Harry couldn't help but ask, "What House were you, sir? At Hogwarts."

Boor didn't even glance at him as he started lighting the hall's sconces a bit brighter as they passed.

"Hufflepuff."

Draco Malfoy was just like his father. Cold. Hateful.

His friends were sleeping, drained from the journey and the scare of losing Ron.

After the blond bastard hit Ron with the slicing spell and walked away without a second glance, in almost a blink of an eye, Durmstrang's Headmaster had his wand out and was chanting the sing song spell Vulnera Sanentur.

Harry couldn't sleep, not that he was sleeping anyway these days. There was guilt in watching Voldemort torture at night; One more innocent gone because of his inability to complete Dumbledore's tasks. Most pressing was now the guilt he felt that he brought his friends to Durmstrang, and it most certainly felt like it was a death sentence.

They were wasting valuable time.

Ron was right.

"A rotten lot, the Malfoys." Ron spat as they read the note in the Forest of Dean.

They were well acquainted with Lucius Malfoy, having dealt with the Hogwarts Governor in second year. He had inadvertently given them the first Horcrux in the form of the diary; Ginny became a pawn in a plan they could never quite figure out.

Up to the moment of reading the note, he hadn't known Malfoy had a son his age- Why wouldn't a Hogwarts Governor allow his child into the school he was helping to oversee?

In no real surprise, the only conclusion was that Lucius Malfoy wanted Hogwarts to fail and burn while keeping his evil spawn safe. Something he was succeeding on.

The last thing Harry was ruminating over in his head, was the fact he knew Sectumsempra. He knew who made it, having read it in the margins of his potions book and tried to unsuccessfully cast it at said creator.

Snape gave Draco Malfoy the spell. Cold, distant and nasty Severus Snape- who never cared about anyone, not even the people who defended him most. Dumbledore's murderer.

Why? And why did the penmanship in the note start to look more and more familiar. Had the scroll said, 'Troll' he would have known right away whose writing he was looking at.

Is Snape helping us or making sure we fail? He helped us with the Sword of Gryffindor. Was the doe… him?