Up on the landing to the Gryffindor Tower…

Harry was in conversation with the famous portrait known as 'The Fat Lady,' also known as Margaret, guardian to the Lion's Den. Though she wouldn't allow him entrance without an escort, she was delighted to find someone with an artistic talent who was more than happy to just talk about what life was like looking through the canvas.

"It's an interesting experience for sure," she explained, "when I was first woken up, I thought I was trapped and unable to move anywhere. It was the same feeling you'd get if you were trapped in a net. I then found out that was normal until I was hung on the wall and through the magic of the castle, I was able to learn how to navigate around."

Harry tilted his head as he ran his fingers over the painted surface, "What does it look like when you travel between frames? Does the world look different to you versus what you remember from when you were alive?"

She glanced to either side of her, "It kind of looks like an open doorway between rooms. The world doesn't really look different. There are times, depending on the position of the light, that it does look a bit grainy like looking through a slightly dirty window but otherwise it's normal. So, was there anyone within that you were interested in finding or did you just come to see me?" She fluttered her eyelashes at him, teasingly.

Harry smiled warmly, "Would it be too cheeky of me to admit both? I was hoping to meet up with either Neville Longbottom or the Weasley twins."

She returned his warm smile with one of her own, "No, it wouldn't be that cheeky. It's actually rather nice. I wish there were more students like you who took an interest in how we portraits were created. As for the Longbottom boy, last I saw he was headed towards the greenhouses. The twins I recommend staying away from, as they're nothing but trouble. But if you really want to talk to them, give me a moment." With that she got up and walked out of the frame.

When she returned, the frame opened up to let the twins come walking out, large grins on their faces.

"Ahh, Harrykins!" they exclaimed.

"What can we…" began one.

"Do for the one who…" the other ping-ponged back.

"Pulled a delightful prank on us?" they both finished in stereo.

Harry laughed at their wordplay, "You guys never fail to bring a laugh to those around you. Listen, I had a couple of ideas for a prank but no real means to pull it off."

With a flourish, the twins grandly escorted Harry to an out of the way empty classroom.

"So, young Harry, what did you have in mind?" one of them inquired. Harry decided to label him 'Twin One' and the other 'Twin Two.'

"Well, a couple of background questions first. According to rumor is that you're able to either get your hands on all sorts of materials, potions or the like for your pranks, right?" They nodded. "Okay, next question is who do you consider to be the ultimate target for pranking?"

Twin Two responded that the headmaster was generally considered to be the one true target for magical mayhem. "The thing is, no one has been able to magically put one over on him. He's too shifty for anything to stick, as it were."

Harry beamed at this and spread his arms out wide, "Well, there's your answer and my suggestion as how to solve that problem. Instead of pranking him magically, why not prank him non-magically?"

That got their undivided attention. Twin Two even asked, "What sort of pranks can you do non-magically in a magical castle?"

Harry's evil grin was just beginning to grow while elsewhere in the castle the headmaster suddenly shivered in fear for no apparent reason.

Two days later, as everyone was sitting down for their breakfasts, the headmaster made his way up to the staff's table and glanced around him through his enchanted glasses. He sighed at the rather pathetic attempts to prank him or the others. 'Spoons enchanted to flex and spill their contents, goblets with false bottoms to prevent consumption, oh this is new, a napkin with a Impermeable charm on it. Clever, that undoubtedly would prevent me from cleaning up my messes.'

He sat down on his chair and immediately there was a loud, wet 'BBRRRRTTT!' that sounded uncannily like he'd just messily passed gas. On top of that was the overpowering stench of bowels being released. The other teachers around him frowned then began gagging at the stench permeating from under the headmaster as they quickly abandoned their places at the table.

"Albus? Did you perhaps eat or drink anything that you shouldn't have?" Minerva dryly commented as she covered her nose and mouth with a napkin. Her face was turning a distinct shade of green.

Albus could only look on in horror as he shifted in his seat and felt the uncomfortable sensation of something squishing coming from the cushion. He could feel whatever it was soaking into his robes. The look on his face was priceless as he imagined whatever it was, was leaving a stain.

Down amongst the students, the Weasley twins had jumped up and began chanting 'WE GOT HIM! WE GOT HIM!' over and over as they combined a sort of happy jig. Hermione glanced over at the noise the twins were creating and wondered about it until she spotted the look on Harry's face. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion and got the green-eyed boy's attention.

"Harry? What. Did. You. Do?" she whispered.

The smug grin was all that she needed as a response but his words just accentuated it, "Me? I didn't do anything." One of her eyebrows quirked up in continued suspicion and he slumped in his seat in defeat. "Okay, fine. Wow, you're really good at getting information out of someone without saying a word."

"Don't change the subject, Harry. Now what did you do?" she warned.

Gesturing lazily with one hand, "I may or may not have suggested a few non-magical pranks the twins could pull on the headmaster. Rumor has it that the headmaster is the highest target one could find here in the castle. He's apparently never been pranked magically."

Hermione caught onto the operative word, "Magically. So you came up with a suggestion to get him using non-magically." Harry nodded appreciatively that she caught on so quickly.

"I offered the suggestions while letting the school's known pranksters do all the 'dirty work' if you will. What just happened up there was a Whoopee Cushion filled with chunky gravy and the contents of a dungbomb."

She just sighed and thumped her head on the table.

Harry was busy working in Potter's Place on some new techniques he'd read about when Millie Bulstrode stopped in to finally see what the buzz was about. She was impressed by the appearance and texture covering the exterior walls. They seemed to invite people to touch and run their fingers over the surfaces. The plaster was both warm to the touch and cool at the same time. She peeked in through the windows and spotted Harry busy molding some clay on a spinning wheel. She quietly entered and examined some of the other vases, pots, plates and sculptures resting on the shelves. She smiled at some of the whimsical decorations embedded in the walls and hanging from hooks. All in all, it was the perfect place to come up with something artistic.

"See anything you like?" Millie was startled out of her reverie and whirled to spot Harry watching her with a knowing grin on his face, the wheel slowing to a stop.

Shaking herself slightly, "Everything? It's so comfy in here. Now I understand why you built it."

Harry just silently smiled back at her.

Millie looked up and spotted the golden constellations painted across the ceiling, the stars glinting in the light. She stepped into the rainbow light falling from the skylight and watched it as it danced across her arms.

"I don't think I'd ever want to leave, it's so beautiful."

Gesturing about him, Harry replied that she was welcome anytime she wanted. "Thanks. My only request is that you sign your name in the guest book along with the 'materials check out' book sitting on the bookshelf so I know what will need to be replaced or replenished."

Millie joined him at the potter's wheel and asked what it was he was working on. "I'm working on creating a batch of mugs to be given out as gifts this Christmas. What I'm doing here is creating the basic shape then after it dries a bit, I'll go back and, using some narrow painter's tape, apply it in various decorative line patterns. Once that's done, I'll apply another layer of clay slip."

"What would that achieve?" she asked.

"Well, when the slip dries, I can then remove the tape revealing the underlying layer of clay. If I use a slip that is tinted another color, there will be a contrast to what's below. It'll be more apparent after it's fired." He explained.

"Neat. What about painting it?"

Harry shrugged, "It's an option though for this batch, I'll just be using the tape."

"May I sit here and watch?"

"Sure but if you want, I have some others here that you can experiment with. I have another wheel I can set you up on." He rose from his chair after she had nodded her desire to help out.

The two children worked in relative silence. Millie was focused on remembering what Harry had told her while Harry was busy with his batch and simultaneously keeping an eye on her. They took a break after about an hour so Harry could show her some of his other creations as well as a few from the occasional curious student or teacher.

"What was really surprising was when Mr. Filch showed up and made a water and food bowl for Mrs. Norris. It had some simplistic pictures hand painted to look like little fishies and a cat's paw print. It wasn't anything elaborate but nevertheless, by the end, I got to see something that I don't think anyone else has in living memory."

Millie was wide-eyed during the story and gasped, "What? What did you see?"

"I got to see him smiling, and not the evil smiles he usually gives whenever he catches a student where they're not supposed to be but an actual, honest, happy smile."

Millie just slowly shook her head in disbelief, "Wow…"

Once the mugs were done and they had cleaned up the mess, Harry took Millie out to where the wood-fired kiln had been built.

"This is the kiln I use for firing the pottery. It uses wood to heat the firing chamber and takes a fair amount of fuel to reach the proper temperatures. I would request that you don't attempt to use this on your own until I can get some time to instruct you properly, okay?" She accepted that.

Harry quickly lit the fire and set the flue to the primary exhaust as the heat began to rise and he began to load the pottery chamber with Millie's help. Once that was done and he confirmed that the fire temperature was where it was supposed to be, he changed the position of the flue gate to send the heat into the pottery chamber.

"So how long does it take for the pottery to…cook?"

"Generally it depends on what kind of effect I'm going for and what type of materials I'm using. For this batch, I'm estimating that it should take no more than a few hours. There is a schedule to follow on how long and at what temperature though using magic does help quite a bit."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, through the use of Potter family magic, I'm able to speed up the drying time before putting the pieces in to be bisque fired." He then went on to explain the different steps needed to be reached before the final glaze firing.

"So what's going on over there?" Millie asked as she pointed to an area that had been marked off and the ground dug up.

Harry glanced over to where she was pointing, "Oh! That's where Vince got permission to set up his metalworking forge and crafting space. It looks like it should be fascinating to watch. I plan on helping out since he helped out here."

Millie looked mildly impressed, "Metalworking, huh? Any idea as to what sort of things he's going to make?"

Harry shrugged a shoulder, "No idea. I know I've seen him sketching a few things out and sending letters back and forth to his dad and uncle."

Millie continued to stop by Potter's Place but not to work on pottery. Instead, she had expressed an interest in painting. She had sent for and received her personal collection of paints and brushes from home and began to sketch out some scenes that she'd wanted to do since arriving at the school. Harry helped her install a cabinet for her to store her extra canvases and easels along the East wall.

Professor Snape stopped by once to see what sort of artwork and ceramics Harry had been working on. He watched as the boy took a lump of local lake clay and began squishing and kneading it then began to flatten it out using a mallet. Harry then used a scribing tool to mark out the outline of what appeared to be a flattened fish before trimming away the excess. Next, he used a wooden wedge as a form for the fish shaped slab. He pushed one end up, pulled another side down, twisted here, and tugged there before finally applying a bit of magic to dry it to where it would no longer try to fall apart.

Harry put that aside then began finishing up another prior piece. He spotted the professor observing in the corner of his eye but didn't acknowledge the man. He pulled out his glazes and began applying the first layer. After letting that dry, he added different blue-green glaze that had a bit of metallic flake in it.

Once the final coat was on and sitting on the rack to be taken out to the kiln did he finally turn and face his potions professor. "Was there something I could help you with, professor?"

Severus shook his head, "No. I merely stopped by to see what you were working on. You've created quite a stir amongst the students and staff in a very short time, Mr. Potter."

Harry snorted, "I can't tell if that's a good or bad thing. I'll just assume it was a good thing and leave it at that." He stretched his arms and winced when he felt the joints popping.

Severus looked closer at the eleven-year-old pottery prodigy, "Mr. Potter. I just now realized it but you no longer appear to have a scar."

Harry yawned then kind of smirked, "Nope. Haven't had it for a while now."

"May I ask your reason for getting rid of it?"

Harry leant back in his chair and laced his fingers behind his head, "It was causing an untold number of headaches every time I was in the defense class. I had no luck with just Madam Pomfrey prescribing a pain potion every time I went to see her so I wrote to Saint Mungo's and asked for their help. With the description and observations I'd written about, they sent a Healer and a Cursebreaker to investigate closer. I don't know specifically what it was that resided in my scar other than it was some kind of 'dark entity.'"

Severus slowly nodded as he thought about it, "And so the two of them removed the scar and the surrounding tissue."

"Exactly. Granted, I had to clue them into that idea. I guess actually cutting something from the body isn't something they normally think of doing."

Severus shook his head slowly, "No…that's usually looked up on as a barbaric practice suitable only for the muggles despite the fact that it's a perfectly sound procedure. So you have no more pain?"

Harry gestured widely, "Nope. Free and clear! That makes me very happy."

"I'm surprised the headmaster allowed you to go through with it."

Harry looked puzzled, "Why would he? I had permission from my Head of House as my in loco parentis so there was no need to inform the headmaster."

Severus shrugged with his hands, "I don't know either. It just seems that the headmaster is inordinately involved with your well-being for some reason."

Harry looked pensive for a moment, "Professor? Will this conversation get back to him?"

"Not if you don't want it to."

"Good. Keep this between us but over the summer prior to September, I found out from my account manager that the headmaster has been stealing money and valuables from the family vault while claiming it was being used for my upkeep with my family."

Severus looked pensive, "That's…disturbing, Mr. Potter. Does your account manager know just what was taken from your vault besides the money?"

Harry shrugged briefly, "I have the letter that Riptooth sent me in my trunk. In addition to the money, the headmaster took several books of advanced age and on a variety of topics. He also had in his possession something called a 'pensieve,' an invisibility cloak of indeterminate age and was using a property in Spain that belongs to my family as his own winter vacation spot."

Severus was disgusted of the thievery by the old man. He knew that the headmaster would be able to spin anything he did as part of some nebulous 'Greater Good' and therefore would be able to weasel out of any sort of legal punishment. "I hope that these items the headmaster took have been recovered and checked for any 'additions?'"

"According to my account manager they're in the process of recovering them and charging the fees to the headmaster's account."

"So, Professor? What do you think of the talents of Vincent Crabbe? I love some of his designs that he's been sketching out."

Severus actually smirked, "It's fascinating to be sure. I never knew the boy had it in him, as he's usually so quiet in class and in the dorms. Are you going to be assisting in the construction?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, and I'll be supplying him with some smelting crucibles for the forge."

Harry was invited to have dinner at the Slytherin table that evening. While there, he quietly listened and observed how the older students discussed the events and topics of gossip from the day. He had to suffer a few undisguised and disgusted stares as he sat down amongst them but those were only from the members of the darker families. Draco asked him what he'd been up to as he handed over a bowl of mashed potatoes.

"Well, I got done some of the whimsical wand holders and another batch of mugs. Mille helped with those before getting setup to do some painting of her own. She's actually pretty good at landscapes! I don't know what she does with them all but I could easily see some of her paintings being displayed in an art gallery somewhere. Also, Professor Snape stopped by!"

Draco and the others stared at him in stunned silence, "R-really? What did he do to you or the shop?"

Harry scrunched his face a bit in bemused puzzlement as he shook his head, "He and I spoke about some of my creations as well as touching on Vince's metalworking project. He's impressed that you have such a, as he puts it, 'fascinating talent.'"

Vince's mouth slowly fell open in surprise. Tracy leaned over and tapped it closed again. "He really said that about me?"

Harry nodded as he chewed on a piece of fish. When he finished swallowing, he replied, "Yup, he said that he was impressed because you're normally so quiet during class and in the dorms. I get the impression that he had thought you are a bit of a simpleton but that's just my take on his observations."

Vince rolled his eyes, "Great. My Head of House thinks I'm a simpleton."

Harry gestured with his fork, "No, that's my observation of his observation. I could be totally wrong on that but does it really matter? Your Head of House has noticed you. From what I've learned, it's a good thing."

"Especially in Slytherin," Draco interjected, "It means that you're worthy of his attention and he might have bigger plans for you or thinks you're worthy to be introduced to other people who could help you in life." Harry pointed at Draco with his fork and nodded in agreement.

Daphne leant closer to join in, "So getting back to Millie's paintings. I heard she just stashes them away in a closet in her room at home."

"Who stashes what away in their room?" The group looked up to see Millie approaching.

Harry snarked back, "We heard that you've been stashing the bodies of those who would dare mock you."

Millie just laughed and snapped her fingers, "Darn, you weren't supposed to find out about that!" That got everyone else to laugh along with her as she settled down into her chair.

"Seriously though, Daphne here heard that you've just been stashing your completed paintings in your closet at home."

Millie nodded, "Yup, nowhere else to put them. I've got about a dozen with no homes. I've already put them up all over the place in the manor and a couple of the outlier buildings."

"Have you ever thought of displaying them in an art gallery? Does magical Britain have such a thing?"

Everyone looked thoughtful before shaking their heads. Draco even commented that he'd never heard of one in Diagon Alley let alone Hogsmeade.

"It does sound like a great idea though," he said. "Just imagine what it could do for the school if we were able to showcase what students could do in their own time?"

Tracy quipped that it would also prove that Hogwarts was in desperate need of a proper art class. "I know they have a club of sorts but it doesn't meet all that often. Not enough interest, I guess."

Harry gestured with his fork, "If you find out who they are and if they need a place to gather, let them know that Potter's Place would be happy to host them." Tracy nodded in acknowledgement.

"Actually, you've given me an idea. I wonder if there'd be any interest in holding workshops on how to make your own mug or something at Potter's Place?"

Daphne quietly twittered, "Harry, you could offer to show them how to wallow around in mud and I guarantee that you'd have a multitude of people lined up."

Harry dropped his head and groaned, "I had hoped that by this point people would see me not as some mythical savior but as just an ordinary kid who loves magic and making art."

Tracy patted him on the head, "No such luck for you, Potter." Harry glared at her balefully while the others laughed at his exasperation.

After dinner, Harry wandered through the hallways aimlessly. He passed by Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, as she prowled around keeping an eye out for misbehaving students and mice. He came up on the Grand Staircase and decided to just climb wherever the stairs led him. After about ten minutes of directionless climbing, the stairs stranded him on the third floor landing. He looked around and realized he shouldn't be there. It had been forbidden to all by the headmaster back at the start of school.

He patiently waited for the stairs to turn back and rescue him but they seemed determined to ignore him. 'Stupid stairs. Well, nothing for it; I'll just sit here until they make up their nonexistent minds.'

As he waited, he laid down and gazed up at the ceiling, he could've sworn he heard a low and deep growling sound coming from somewhere deeper down the corridor. He briefly thought about investigating but quickly shook off that idea. 'Nope, I promised Aunt Petunia that I wouldn't get involved with anything crazy. There's nothing that going to cause me to go down a dark, dusty and spooky corridor to find out what's making the growling noise.'

He looked down over the edge of the landing and spotted the caretaker, Argus Filch making his way up one of the other stairs. Calling out and waving his arms, he got the man's attention. "Mr. Filch! Up here on the third floor landing! Hi! Do you know how to get the stairs to come back this way? There's something growling down the corridor and I'd rather not become its next meal!"

Mr. Filch yelled back for him to not move whilst he went and got a teacher to magically trigger the stairs to move back to their original points. He quickly shuffled away while Mrs. Norris appeared from nowhere and merely sat there and stared at him. Harry waved at the cat and chuckled when she just growled at him and looked away. 'Don't move, he says. Like I'm going to go swinging from the chandelier while I'm waiting.'

Mr. Filch returned with Professor Flitwick who activated the charms to reset the stairs. With a grinding sound, the stairs returned to their starting positions, which allowed Harry to quickly scramble down and join the adults.

"Thank you, Professor Flitwick and Mr. Filch. I thought I was going to have to spend the night up there. That'll teach me to wander about this place."

"What were you doing up there in the first place, boy?" Argus growled at him.

"I was just wandering around after dinner before heading back to my dorms for the evening. I'd heard there were some nice sculptures up on the fourth floor and wanted to see them." Argus looked suspiciously at him before grunting 'likely story' and heading off with Mrs. Norris following along behind.

Harry looked in askance at Professor Flitwick who merely rolled his eyes and shook his head in exasperation. "Don't bother, Mr. Potter. No one really understands his motives."

"Why is he even here? I've never seen him perform magic to assist in cleaning."

Filius blushed a bit and glanced around before saying quietly, "That's because the man is a Squib."

"A what?"

"A Squib is someone who is born to a magical family but has no magic of their own. Apparently, this is the only job that he's able to get in the magical world."

Harry scrunched his face up at that, "What about going to the non-magical world? There's got to be something he could do there?"

Filius just shrugged, "I'm not sure and frankly, I'd be hesitant to bring it up with him as it's a bit of a sore subject. Was there anything else you needed, Mr. Potter?" Harry shook his head. "Then I wish you good night."

Harry continued to stand there in thought for a few moments before heading down to his dorm.

Just around the corner from the Grand Staircase…

Albus was fuming at what he had just witnessed.

'Blast that boy! I was sure that if I guided the stairs to leave him stranded on the third floor landing, he'd get curious enough to go investigate. I even hit him with a mild Compulsion charm to egg him on. He couldn't be THAT strong-willed…'

He quickly shuffled off back to office to continue to plan his next move. Something else was niggling at his memory of the boy. Something he'd seen…or not seen.