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CHAPTER 11: Halloween 1991 (Pt. 1)

31 October 1991

As the Slytherin First Years got ready for the day, Harry laid in his bed, deep in thought. Today was Halloween in the Muggle world. He supposed it was in the wizarding world too, but it was also Victory Day, the day Jim Potter vanquished You-Know-Who. Tonight's feast would likely be particularly impressive, since it was the Git's first year at Hogwarts. The "carrot" had apparently worked. Jim had not suffered any serious point losses since joining the Quidditch team and appeared to have buckled down on his studies.

"Appeared" being the operative word, of course. Now that he knew that tantrums would get him nowhere, Jim had become a bit more, well, Slytherin in his approach. He'd ingratiated himself with the Weasley Terrors (as the Slytherins dubbed the Twins), and good friends that they were, they'd taken to pranking the Snakes, and Harry in particular, with a vengeance. Particularly notable was the morning Harry spent forced to walk backwards everywhere, not to mention the two days that the entire First Year Slytherin class had been compelled to refer to each other as "Junior Death Eater" every time they spoke to one another. The twins rarely pranked Neville and Hermione out of house loyalty, but there was something of a cold war amongst the Gryffindor firsties, with Neville and the girls on one side and the rest of the boys on the other. Dean had even stopped coming to the study sessions.

Exacerbating things was the fact that Neville was still making no progress in his own wand work, yet he refused to consult with his grandmother about the issue of his wand. He hadn't quit the study group, but he now barely even tried in Charms and Transfiguration. Naturally, this had resulted in him losing some points for lack of effort and, eventually, a Howler from his grandmother during lunch the previous week.

All of which suddenly made Harry's position in his own house a bit more precarious. He was doing well academically and still held the advantages of being the Potter Heir (though his solicitor advised that James Potter was still looking for grounds to disinherit him). But his reputation was no longer "mysterious eccentric loner" but rather "loser on the outs with his family whose only friends were other losers." Largely as a consequence, Daphne and Tracie had rather coolly advised him that they were back on a last name basis. So it was a somewhat downbeat Harry Potter who walked with his dorm mates to breakfast. Up ahead in front of the Great Hall, he noticed the Weasley Twins waiting and watching. Then, to his right, he heard a soft hiss from the tapestry depicting St. Patrick purging the snakes out of Ireland. Harry stopped... and then took a running jump to clear the group of floor tiles that the snake had warned were hexed.

"Potter, do stop acting like a Muggle fool," drawled Draco from just behind him. Then, there was a crackle of magic followed by cries of dismay. Harry turned around. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson all now had hair the color of Gryffindor red with golden eyebrows to match.

"The Weasley Terrors," Harry said in a bored voice. "And fairly obvious this time. Do at least try to be aware of your surroundings, Malfoy. Now, I suggest you go to the infirmary before whatever that stuff is soaks in. That or you can look like lost Weasley cousins the rest of the week." Draco snarled at Harry, and then he, his two bookends, and his ... whatever Pansy was stormed off to the infirmary. Daphne Greengrass sidled up to Harry and looked at him with curiosity.

"How did you know the Weasleys had put a trap there," she asked.

Harry shrugged and then lied. "Just something we losers figured out in our loser study group. I'm sure someone as clever as you would have figured out on your own. If not, you'd look lovely with bright red hair." She huffed and headed on to breakfast. Harry then turned and walked boldly in the Twins' direction, hoping that Egbert's memory and eye for detail were as good as he claimed (Egbert being the snake hanging from the tree in the background of a painting on the third floor who claimed to have overheard observed the Twins and picked up some juicy gossip from it). "Gentlemen, a moment of your time?"

The Twins, who had been both amazed and annoyed at how casually he'd evaded their prank, straightened up.

"Oh? And what might us two..." "Innocent little Gryffies ..." "Want to say to..." "A mean little snake like you."

Harry sighed. Part of him wondered if he and Jim would have the same back and forth patter down if they'd lived together. Another part of him was suddenly grateful to the Dursleys for preventing just that outcome.

"Well, I'd like to try diplomacy for a start. Have I, in fact, done anything to anger you two or to deserve the somewhat aggressive level of pranking I've had to put up with for the last month? Because if so, I apologize and I'm happy to make amends. If not, of course, I'll have to assume the worst – that you two have simply agreed to become Jim's attack dogs and come after me for no reason but his pettiness."

"Gryffindors stick together, little snakey Potter," said one of them with surprising coldness. So it had been Jim. Harry guessed that meant it was time for "the stick."

"Well, Slytherin's don't. So you can go after my house-mates to your hearts' content, but leave me out of it. Because ... well, I do apologize for making threats, it's really not my style ... but so help me, if one more hex or jinx or prank hits me and I think you to are responsible," he hesitated for emphasis as the Twins looked at him smugly, "I'll tell Snape about The Map."

Thatgot their attention. And while the Twins were pretty good at acting innocent, they were not prepared for a First Year Slytherin threatening their most treasured secret. After a few seconds of eye-goggling, one of them ("The one with the tiny mole next to his left eye," Harry noted for future reference) finally said nervously, "W-What Map?"

"Oh, do you have more than one? The one I'm talking about is activated by ... oh what were the words? Something like 'I swear I'm up to no good.' No! 'I solemnly swear I'm up to no good.' That's how it goes, right?"

The Twins were even more shocked at that, and inwardly, Harry was singing Egbert's praises for his perception and memory. "Look, guys. I don't want to be your enemy. To be honest, I'm a fan of your work ... well, when it's not directed at me and when you don't cross the line from 'playful amusement' to 'cruel bullying.'" They actually looked a bit hurt at that, so Harry decided to offer the carrot as well. "In fact, I think if you had a bit of ... financial support, you could take your work to the next level."

Their eyebrows shot up and that, and the one without a mole asked, "Are you offering us a bribe to not prank you?"

Harry made a point of looking mildly offended. "I'll make you a deal. You don't call it a bribe and I won't call it paying protection money. A galleon a week. You leave me out of your pranks. If Jim asks you to prank me, tell him ... tell him that Snape has been looking out for me and it's too risky or something like that. And before you ask, no, I will not help you prank any other Slytherins."

They looked at one another before saying in unison. "Two galleons."

"A galleon and eight sickles. And for that price, you also leave Theo Nott alone as well. He doesn't deserve it."

They both stiffened. "His father was a Death Eater," said Mole Weasley.

"I know," Harry said calmly. "And believe me when I say that Fate played him a crueler trick by giving him that bastard for a father than you could come up with on your worst days."

Their eyes widened and then they nodded solemnly. They understood. "It's a deal." "No pranks or jokes on ickle firstie snake Potter." "Or ickle firstie snake Nott." They even shook on it. "Now then, tell us, how did you find out about the Map?"

He leaned in conspiratorially. "Let's just say ... 'snake' spelled sideways is 'sneak.' Until next time, gentlemen." And with that, he walked away whistling, not even knowing how much quiet admiration he'd earned from two future allies.

***

Neville was, as usual, on top of his game in Herbology, winning two points for Gryffindor. Nevertheless, Harry noticed he was tense and asked the boy about it, but he didn't want to talk. Instead, after waiting until most of the class had left, he asked Harry if he would mind skipping lunch to help him with the Levitation Charm which they would be covering in Charms. Hermione had been helping him to no avail, so he thought Harry might have some insights as he'd been the first Slytherin to master it the day before. Unfortunately, as they were leaving the greenhouse, an unwelcome voice intruded.

"That snake won't be able to help you, squib," said Jim from behind them. "Heck, he's not much more than a squib himself."

"Our points earned so far would seem to show who's the better wizard, little brother," Harry said mildly.

Jim's eyes flared. "Points aren't everything. And while your little study group has been playing around, I've been getting real lessons from the upper years on the Quidditch team." He whipped his wand, waved it and said "ACCIO REMEMBERALL." To Harry and Neville's surprise, the glass globe slipped out of Neville's pocket and floated lazily through the air and into Jim's hand.

"That was a Fifth Year summoning spell, by the way." Jim smirked and then looked down at the globe in his hand. "I still remember the day I first saw this thing, Longbottom. While your buddy Harry was standing around slack-jawed, afraid to stand up to a filthy Death Eater wannabee like Malfoy, I was up in the air, facing him head on, risking my life to get this back to you." He took a few steps towards Neville and Harry, idly tossing the Rememerall in his hand as he did.

"I know I was kind of a jerk in the beginning, but I'm sorry. And I've gotten better, both at not acting out like I was and at working magic. Forget Harry and Granger and their stupid little club. Let me help you." He looked down smugly at the Rememberall. "After all, I've just proven that I'm better at magic than..."

"ACCIO REMEMBERALL." Suddenly, it was Jim's turn to be surprised, as the orb shot out of his hands like a rocket and slapped into the waiting hand of Hermione, who had been standing off to the side out of sight.

Harry smiled, while Jim stared dumbfounded. "Nicely done," said the Slytherin. "When did you learn that spell?"

"Just now. Well, you told me the incantation on the train but didn't know the wand pattern, which Jim kindly just demonstrated. It's not really hard at all. Just a double reverse swish as you say 'Accio' and then a ten-degree-above-horizontal flick in the direction of the target object as you describe what it is. Mass and especially range will probably be quite limited until we're older and our magic is stronger, but the basic spell is simple enough for nearby objects you can clearly see."

Harry considered that and then lashed out with his own wand. "ACCIO REMEMBERALL!" The orb then shot out of Hermione's hand and into his own just as fast as it had for her. "Wow. That was easy." He looked up at Jim smugly. "Thanks, little brother. You 're a really good teacher!"

Jim was speechless. It had taken him two days to master the charm that Hermione and his brother had just performed effortlessly after watching him demonstrate it once. Finally, he shook off his surprise in favor of anger. "Go to hell, snake!" he said. "And you two traitors can go with him!" Then, he turned and stalked off.

Harry shook his head and handed the Rememberall to Neville, but he was surprised when the orb immediately turned a very dark and angry red that almost seemed to shimmer and pulse angrily in Neville's hand.

"Um, has it been doing that?"

"Yeah, for the last few days" said Neville quietly. "Makes sense. I forget more than I remember, it seems."

"Come on, Nev. Don't let Jim get you down," said Harry.

"He's not, Harry," Neville said curtly. "You two are."

Harry and Hermione looked at one another. "Um, excuse me?" Harry said.

He exhaled in frustration. "Jim just did a Fifth Year spell, which was impressive enough even if he had upperclassmen teach it to him. You two? You just learned it yourselves just from watching him do it once! And you do it better than him! Meanwhile, I can't do anything in the First Year spell book!" He started walking away from the other two. "I'm thinking maybe I should write to Uncle Algie and see if there's a way for me to voluntarily step down as heir and just pass the lordship directly to him. Jim was right. I am a squib in every way that matters."

"Neville!" exclaimed Hermione. "You can't give up!"

"Look! I'm grateful for all you've tried to do for me, both of you. But ... I just can't deal with this anymore. And I'm tired of feeling ... pitied! From now on, just leave me alone and concentrate on the others in the group. They might actually get something out of it." And with that, he left. After a worried look passed between them, Harry and Hermione followed their friend towards the castle. Neither noticed Theo Nott standing at the corner of the greenhouse, a look of deep concern on his face.

The next update will be on Monday, May 18, sometime between 4pm and 7pm CST.