Harry Potter and all associated characters and situations are the property of J.K. Rowling. I make no claim to ownership.

LONG AUTHOR NOTE (sorry): Thanks for all the favs, follows and reviews (especially the last, because feedback is always helpful). Several reviewers have asked about pairings, so I'll go ahead and clarify this and also update the story description. There will be no romantic pairings before Harry's Fourth Year at the earliest. Harry will be making friends and allies and enemies, both male and female, but he will not develop any romantic inclinations towards anyone else (though there may be a few flirtatious moments here and there if the mood strikes me).

This is for three reasons. First, this story is primarily about mystery, political intrigue and world-building, and I have to confess, I am not an overly romantic person, so I want to get the main story up and running before I risk it getting derailed into a genre I'm not comfortable with.

Second, stories about children who discover true love at eleven frankly disturb me. My ship of choice is H/Hr, but I am frankly creeped out by stories in which Harry and Hermione discover their "soul bond" early, get married in Fourth Year, and kill Voldemort through the love they express when they lose their virginity to each other at fifteen. I have never met a single married couple who were childhood sweethearts that didn't end in acrimonious divorce, and when I was Harry's age, I was still pretty sure that girls had cooties, so the whole idea of pairing Harry with anyone this early just ain't happening.

Finally, JKR herself has recently indicated that she now thinks Harry and Hermione should have ended up together (to which approximately half the fanfic community said "Duh!"). I think her mistake was that she decided on Harry/Ginny all the way back in Book One and, having decided on that pairing, didn't do anything with Ginny to develop her as a credible partner for Harry, and so when it finally happened, everyone was thrown by it. I mean, no one who saw that scene from with Harry and Hermione slow dancing in the tent in Deathly Hallows pt I (who had not already read the book) would have predicted the epilogue. As a result, you can probably find more Harry/Daphne pairings than Harry/Ginny pairings even though canonically, Daphne was basically wallpaper.

So, long story short: No romantic pairings before Fourth Year (probably when Harry starts angsting over the Yule Ball). Now, on with the show.

CHAPTER 14: Halloween 1991 (Finale: The Power Play)

Immediately after Neville's dramatic announcement, he was escorted to the Headmaster's Office, while McGonagall accompanied Hermione to Gryffindor tower and Snape grudgingly led Harry back to the Slytherin dungeon. The Potions Master seemed quite annoyed with the young Snake and also seemed to be experiencing some pain in his leg.

"Of all the unmitigated Gryffindorish tomfoolery! And you were awarded fifteen points for it! You are fortunate that I don't deduct thirty for your actions!"

"Sir, as I explained, we had no idea that the troll would be on the First Floor and merely intended to find Mr. Longbottom and see that he got to safety. I had to make a split second decision with no time to plan or investigate, and I made the best decision I could under the circumstances."

"Exactly! And you made exactly the sort of rash decision I'd expect from a Gryffindor rather than a Slytherin!"

"Well, sir, respectfully, if that's what you think, then you should probably change how Sorting is done here at Hogwarts. Because all the Hat said to me was that Slytherin was the house of cunning and ambition where I'd have the best chance to prove myself. I might have asked to go somewhere else if it had warned me that Slytherin was also the house of selfish prats who abandon their friends when things get tough."

Snape's head snapped around furiously. "And what is THAT supposed to mean, POTTER!?"

Harry looked up at Snape, somewhat surprised at his anger. "Merely that, as I said, Neville Longbottom is a close friend, and I don't accept that it is a Slytherin characteristic to abandon valued friends to their fate without trying your best to help them," he said honestly.

Snape relaxed, mollified. For an instant, he had thought that the boy was referring to how his friendship with Lily came to an end all those years before. "Still, five points deducted for defying your prefect's orders," he snapped irritably.

Harry sighed. "Yes sir." They walked on in silence for a few seconds. "Mind you, even if I were a selfish prat, I still would have gone after Neville. I've put a lot of effort on forming a relationship with the Heir Presumptive of an Ancient and Noble House. It would have been foolish to ignore the opportunity to ingratiate myself with him further when I genuinely believed the risk was minimal."

Snape glanced back down at the boy as they walked. "Well, that's better, I suppose." Then, he winced in pain again.

"Sir, the infirmary isn't far if you want to stop in there for a bit. If I may say so, that does look like a very painful Cerberus bite."

Snape stopped and looked down at the boy in a mix of amazement and fury. "Oh no. No, no, NO! Tell me that you are not so much a Gryffindor that you ..."

"Of course not!" Harry interrupted indignantly. "What kind of idiot do you take me for?" Then, he changed to an almost cheerful expression. "Speaking of idiots, though, I am reliably informed that the Git-Who-Lived and his pet Weasel have been to see the Cerberus, and also that they have noticed the trap door it's guarding. I gather they see it as some sort of ... adventure."

Snape all but groaned at the news, as the two resumed their walk towards the dungeons. "Please keep me informed of anything you hear about the matter and do not approach that room yourself."

"Yes sir. Should I also keep an eye on Professor Quirrell?"

Snape's head snapped around again in surprise. Then, he became annoyed at himself for his lack of discretion. Unfortunately, his normally rigid self-control was rather impaired by the intense pain in his leg inflicted by Hagrid's infernal beast. "Why would you think Quirrell is worthy of your suspicion? He is a Hogwarts professor, after all."

"Well, you yourself just said he claims to be an expert on trolls. But when he actually encounters a troll, he doesn't try to capture or kill it. Instead, he runs to the Great Hall, announces that the troll is in the dungeons, and faints dead away. It turns out, however, that the troll is not in the dungeons but on the First Floor, and some distance away from any staircases big enough for it to fit through easily. And as I'm sneaking out of the Great Hall, I notice that Quirrell is already recovered from his supposed faint and has disappeared completely. So it occurs to me that maybe Quirrell deliberately let the troll into the castle onto the First Floor and merely said it was in the dungeon so that all the professors will run off and start searching the castle floor by floor from the dungeon up, thereby giving him time to go straight to the third floor and try to get past the Cerberus. Luckily, the Head of Slytherin House is clever enough to see that the troll is merely a diversion and goes to the Third Floor corridor himself to secure it which, unfortunately, is when the Cerberus got a piece of him."

Snape looked down at the boy appraisingly. "Hmm. Have you considered the possibility that the cunning Head of Slytherin is actually the one trying to steal ... that which lies beyond the Cerberus ... and merely used the troll as a distraction?"

Harry shook his head. "That theory would not explain how the troll got in, unless the cunning Head of Slytherin let it in and then just blindly trusted that Professor Quirrell would find it and then act appropriately. And it still doesn't explain Professor Quirrell's own suspicious actions. And if the troll getting in was just a coincidence which the cunning Head of Slytherin took advantage of, well, that's just wildly out of character, I think, to rush off like that without any sort of advanced planning. Practically ... Gryffindorish."

The corner of Snape's mouth twitched. "Perhaps the cunning Head of Slytherin and Quirrell are in it together," he suggested idly.

"I refuse to believe that the cunning Head of Slytherin would ever work with a man who wears a turban," said Harry drily.

"How is it possible that you are the child of James Potter?!"

"As I recall, nurture over nature was the theory you proposed. Oh, and by the way, this may be completely unrelated, but whenever we're anywhere near Quirrell, both Jim and I get strange headaches. I just thought it was generic weirdness before, but after this troll business, it seems like it might be important."

Snape rolled his eyes. "Potter, cease your pretensions of childish naivete. While I deplore your Gryffindor tendencies, it is clear that you are remarkably cunning for a First Year student. You know perfectly well that if you have a mysterious ailment that only strikes you whenever you are near someone whom you have already found suspicious, of course it is important! Do these headaches last the entire time you are near him?"

"No, it's more like an intermittent stabbing pain centered right here," Harry touched his scar. "Hermione says that from his reaction, Jim gets the same pain also centered on his own scar."

"Hmm. Avoid Quirrell outside of class. During your Defense lessons, whenever these pains strike you, make a note of the time and whether Quirrell was doing anything unusual at the onset. If you can do so discretely, have your Gryffindor associates observe the Other Potter to see how he reacts and whether his reactions differ from your own. You will present a written summary of your notes to me in one week's time. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," said Harry as if instructions to essentially spy on another teacher and also get his friends to do likewise were the most commonplace things in the world.

By that point, the two had arrived at the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. "As I have said, Potter, you have a distressingly strong Gryffindor streak within you, which is unfortunate but understandable given your lineage. That said, I must confess that I am thus far pleased to see how well you have harnessed it and bent it to a Slytherin's wisdom. Five points to Slytherin." Those were the first points Snape had given Harry since the start of school, and the boy smiled appreciatively and thanked his teacher with suitable humility.

With that, Snape gave the password and the door to the common room slide open. Inside were the majority of Harry's house mates who had only just arrived after the all-clear was given. Rodney Montague was the first to meet Snape and Harry at the door.

"Mr. Montague," drawled Snape. "I return the last of your charges to you. His punishment for leaving the Great Hall after you had ordered it sealed has already been addressed. No further comment on that matter is necessary."

Montague looked back and forth between Snape and Harry. "Very good, sir," he finally said.

"And for what it's worth, Mr. Montague," said Harry, "I sincerely apologize if my rash actions caused you any distress."

The boy looked up at the prefect with such a mixture of respect and perfect innocence that, for a second, Montague almost thought he was sincere. Snape exited the common room, and Montague, after looking strangely at Harry for a few seconds, rounded up the other prefects to let them know what Snape had said. Harry walked over where an anxious Theo was waiting off by himself. He warmly thanked the boy for his help and shook his hand, discretely palming the ring back to him in the process. Theo nodded bashfully. Then, Harry headed off in the direction of the First Year dorm rooms when his way was blocked by Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. The rest of the First Years (and a dozen or so from the other years) were near enough to observe but were not actively interfering.

"Unbelievable!" exclaimed Malfoy. "When my father hears that the Heir of an Ancient and Noble House snuck away, in defiance of the prefect's orders, in pursuit of a blood traitor squib and a mudblood ..."

"BINGO!" shouted Harry loudly. All the Slytherins nearby were startled by his outburst. "Sorry. That's a Muggle thing. You finally managed to work mudblood, blood traitor, and my father into a single sentence. I thought if I pointed it out first I might win a prize." Somewhere in the background, he heard Theo snigger briefly before getting control of himself.

"You are such an embarrassment to this house, Potter. How many points did you lose us with that stunt?"

"Well actually, I gained fifteen. But then, Professor Snape took five from me not obeying the prefect's orders. But then, after I explained my reasoning for my actions, he gave me back five for demonstrating what he referred to as Slytherin wisdom."

"You're lying," snarled Malfoy.

"Ask him tomorrow," replied Harry cheerfully. "I. Dare. You."

"When my father..."

"WHY ARE YOU HERE?!" interrupted Harry with an angry shout. Draco was taken aback and several other Slytherins moved closer to the arguing group.

"Because someone needs to put you in your ..."

"No! Not 'why are you here, right now, annoying me?'! I mean 'why are you in Slytherin House at all?'! Yes, you're a rich Pureblood. So what. So is Zacharias Smith and he's a Hufflepuff! We've been in this house for two months, and I haven't seen you display anything I'd call cunning! You're certainly not subtle! And I don't think you have any ambition beyond strutting around like a peacock flaunting the wealth and privilege you've gotten from an inheritance that you've done nothing to earn. And you talk like one of those Muggle dolls that spouts prerecorded messages if you pull a string out of its back. It's all 'Mudblood-This' and 'Blood Traitor-That' and 'Wait till my father hears.' It's pathetic!"

"Why you filthy little Halfblood...!" Draco furiously started fumbling for his wand.

Harry's eyes lit up almost deliriously. "Finally!" he thought. He'd gotten his wand and his holster on July 31st, and spent thirty minutes every night for the next month practicing how to quick draw it because he'd foolishly thought that such things were a factor in wand usage. When he got to Hogwarts, however, he discovered that, outside of aurors and professional duelists, wizards didn't seem to care about such things. In fact, he was the only First Year who'd actually paid for one of Ollivander's overpriced wand holsters instead of just tucking his wand away in the pocket of his robes like everyone else. He still kept practicing with the holster for several minutes each day though ... for this exact moment.

Harry flicked his wrist down, and his wand shot out of his holster with a soft "snikt"and landed in the palm of his hand. Instantly, he snapped it back up directly into Malfoy's face, nearly touching the tip of his nose. The entire maneuver had taken half a second, not even one of Harry's better times, but it was lightning fast compared to his opponent who was still fumbling for his wand. Malfoy froze in surprise, while Crabbe and Goyle backed away nervously. There were gasps all around at Harry's effortless speed. Few of the young Slytherins watching had ever been exposed to real dueling, and from their limited experience, Harry's reflexes appeared superhumanly fast.

"You know," said Harry easily. "My friend, the Mudblood Granger, taught me this neat fireworks spell. I bet at this range it would really hurt."

At that, Rodney Montague finally stepped forward. "Potter, that's enough. Stand down."

"It's okay, Mr. Montague. We're fine. We're all fine here. Aren't we fine, Mr. Malfoy?"

Draco looked up from the tip of the wand to peer into Harry's eyes. And like James Potter before him, he suddenly realized that Harry's eyes were the exact same color as the Killing Curse. "Yes, Montague," he said with a dry swallow. "We're ... we're all fine here."

"Yes, perfectly fine. By the way, I mentioned that I won fifteen house points but forgot to say what for. You see, the Mudblood Granger and the Blood Traitor Squib Longbottom and little old Blood Traitor Halfblood me, well, we found that mountain troll that caused Professor Quirrell to faint like a little girl. And then ... we beat it into a coma."

There were even more gasps at that, and Zabini exclaimed "No way!" in a surprisingly Muggle manner. Harry made a mental note to look into that.

"Yes way!" he replied with a grin. "I, with the help of two other First Years that most of you look down on as dirt beneath your feet, took down a fully grown troll by ourselves. So, Mr. Malfoy, I invite you to consider whether or not I should be intimidated by your weak magic and your father's money and your two henchmen. Because the correct answer is... I'm not."

Then, he took two steps back and raised his wand. With a subtle flick of his wrist, the wand snapped back into its holster with an audible "zip" that made half the Slytherins in the room flinch. "Now then, I'm tired, I've had a long day, and I think I have troll blood in my hair. So, I'm going to take a hot shower and then go to bed. If you want to continue this discussion at some point in the future, Malfoy, I'd be happy to oblige. But before then, I think you should sit down with a piece of parchment, write down all your assets, and then write down what you think my assets are. And then, double the points you put down in my column, because I promise you haven't seen half of what I can do. And then, Malfoy? If you still want to take me on, go for it. We'll see who rusts first."

Finally, he broke eye contact with the visibly shaken Draco to look around the room. Some were intimidated while others merely looked thoughtful. But everyone had been transfixed by Harry's performance. He smiled. "Good night, Slytherins," he said mildly as he walked around Goyle towards the dorms. As he left, he was alternately whistling and humming a strange tune that the Slytherin students found at once both unnerving and unearthly. Had there been any Muggleborns in the house, they would have instantly recognized it as the theme from "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."

Over in the corner, out of everyone's view, Theo Nott watched as his first friend strolled away. And for possibly the first time in his life, Theo grinned from ear to ear.

The next update is scheduled for Friday, May 29, between 4 and 6 pm.