Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to WereBunny87. Thank you for your review!
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Chapter Five: Prime Meridian
When Albus asked her if she would mind taking Harry out shopping with her family, she didn't know what to think. She heard brief stories from her twins and Ron who was in the same year as Harry. At worst, Ron complained about Harry's sorting into Slytherin and what that could mean. At best, Ron would say that they might be friends, though his tone seemed uncertain and justified his "might" when describing his relationship with Harry. Apparently, Hermoine was closer to Harry than either Ron or Neville, Ron's best friend. Even then, Ron seemed uncertain as well of Harry's friendship with Hermione.
She was surprised by her other son, though. Percy's attitude, from his own brief testimony, was marked with respect for the young Potter heir. Seeing Percy, who was always reserved even with his own family, take a liking to Harry only endured Harry to her at first.
However, Albus seemed rather weary of Harry from the brief conversation they both shared with each other. That in itself made it impossible to not be suspicious and weary of Harry as well. Albus knew more than her in the end. To have someone have such an impact on someone as great as Albus—and a negative one at that—could only understandably cause alarm. Albus seemed to think that their family might be a good influence on young Harry. She certainly hopes so and that it would not be the other way around. The smallest pebble can create a thousand ripples after all.
Molly continued watching Percy and Harry interact as the whole family entered Flourish and Blotts Bookseller. She wanted to take precaution, though. She would do this one request from Albus, but her family was and would always be her priority. She would not allow anyone influencing her family in a bad manner. Yes, just this one thing would she do, but that would be all.
"We all have the potential and capacity to be incredibly good or incredibly evil. It was the enemy that you couldn't see that is the most dangerous. I will not have this uncertainly in my family," Molly thought. Molly knew she might be exaggerating, but precaution had always been her forte.
"Come, Ginny," Molly said as she held her daughter's hand and guided her inside the book store as well. They proceeded to the end of the store and away from both Percy and Harry who were engrossed in a leather book. She wanted Ginny to turn her attention from Harry—who she could tell her daughter was infatuated with—to other more important things, like her own first year at Hogwarts.
"Oh, mum! Can't I go with Percy and Harry? I want to see what they are seeing that's got their attention!" Ginny's eyes stayed on Harry, much to her disapproval.
"No! You do as I say young lady!" Molly replied to her sternly.
"What does it matter if I am getting Ron's old books anyway?" Ginny question her, still not even bothering with eye contact.
Molly turned her head so her only daughter would look at her.
"Because you still need to get your writing supplies and it doesn't hurt to look around and see what this store has to offer. You never know. A book calls to your attention and we may buy it for your birthday," Molly whispered conspiratorially said.
Ginny grinned and Molly returned her smile, though a bit tightly. Not that Ginny took notice.
"Now, let's go over there before you father comes back and then he has us listening about his Muggle colorful pens he has gotten from Hermione. I can only listen for so long." Ginny laughed out loud with her.
"There's my girl," Molly thought. Yes, Ginny had a strong fixation on Harry, something she certainly did not approve. Keeping her family away from Harry sounded like a better idea as time went on. He didn't seem like he was evil, but now a days, you never know. Her grandfather always told her that the most dangerous person is the one with the feign face of righteousness.
As she entertained Ginny, Molly kept her ears on her rowdy twins as they tried to egg Ron into touching a book about magical beasts. Ron exclaimed and she was about to intervene when she saw her husband come inside the book store and reprimand the twins. He surprisingly seemed to be a bit in a bad mood and that was soon explained once he saw Lucius Malfoy enter not far behind Arthur also looking quite crossed.
On the other side of the building, grey eyes watched the scene before him, before descending the wooden staircase with purpose.
"Honestly, Potter. You rather keep these cretins as company? I am willing to question your status as a Slytherin," Draco drawled as he observed Harry with the older Weasel.
Potter did not reply, only glanced at him and then to the Weasel at Potter's right.
"Cat got your tongue, eh, Potter?" Draco asked, trying to see if he would finally answer him.
Potter turned to him and eyed him before dismissing him without a backward glance. He turned and motioned the Weasel with his right hand, but not without departing with an amused statement—amusing at least to Potter.
"That is quite a Muggle expression if I ever heard of one, Malfoy. I did not know you were an enthusiast in the art of Muggle idioms."
The Weasel has the audacity to snicker quietly before following Potter to the staircase where advanced books on Charms and Transfiguration were housed. The same staircase Draco himself had just emerged from.
Draco tried to contain his blush and gather his wits. Once he felt his control return, Draco finally turned to follow Potter. He was stopped, however, after feeling a hand on his right shoulder.
"Where are you headed, Draco? No matter. Don't waste your time now. Your mother is waiting for us at her favourite restaurant. We shall not make her wait for us any longer. My business is finished here," his father said while sparing a glance at Potter and then to the Weasel family before turning and walking away to the door.
Draco turned and spared Harry a glance back before catching up to his father. His hands tightened into a fist the longer the distance between him and Harry. He glared at the Weasel before closing the door on his way out.
Lucius meanwhile kept his left hand on his cane, caressing the snake head, wondering if leaving the Diary on the hands of that blood traitor was a grand idea or not. It was a possession he inherited from his own father on his death bed. It was an heirloom given to his father by the Dark Lord—something not to take lightly. His decision had been made once his fellow blood traitor colleague insulted his family. It did not matter either way. The Weasels would ensure he had the last say. That would be the added bonus.
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Being at Hogwarts was worth the struggle. After an inconvenient encounter with a house elf named Dobby and the after "care" of his relatives, Hogwarts felt like a sanctuary. It was a wise decision to return. Harry would rather not think and witness his uncle's strangeness that had not begun—since it was always there— bold and intensified attention. He vaguely remembered his uncle saying something to him that he unfortunately could not remember before he succumbed to his usual fainting spell his uncle always provoked by surprise. He did remember the dread, though.
Taking a seat at the end of the long Slytherin wooden table, the rest of the Slytherins eyed him in an unusual manner. Without a doubt it had to do with a Second Year being in the place where First Years traditionally sat. It did not matter to him as he knew he would probably be excluded from his peers in his year and above. It would still be seen if the same was to be true from the First Years. It was highly probable, though, given the influence and/or pressure of their fellow peers, that of their own parent's and/or of their volition.
Harry glanced at the Head Table, noting the new Professor dressed in light blue frilly robes sitting beside the increasingly irate Potions professor. He quickly turned his head to the incoming First Years once he saw Professor Snape glared at viciously him as if feeling his gaze.
Nervous glances were thrown throughout the Great Hall. Most glances were eventually thrown in his direction. Nudges were seen and many eyes widen and then looked down with a blush once they saw that they had his attention. Eventually, their direction was averted to an old black hat that sat on a wooden stool once they saw his attention being directed by said object that had been deposited by Professor McGonagall.
All in the Great Hall became silent as it began to sing about the four great houses of Hogwarts. The hat stood up straight and tall as if happy to be out of the Headmaster's office.
The sorting soon began. It caught the Professors and the attentive student's attention that the hat would swing to the Slytherin side for most of the students before it would turn to another house that would be proclaimed thereafter. The First Year would glance at the Slytherin house in poorly concealed disappointment before heading to their new Hogwarts House.
The Slytherins who noticed this began talking amongst each other and began to jeer at Harry in small gestures. Harry paid no mind to them, only steadily gazing at the sorting hat.
"Luna Lovegood!" Professor McGonagall proclaimed.
A girl with turnip earrings skipped up to the sorting hat, waved at Harry and then proceeded on putting on the hat. Across the table, Draco clenched his jaw. Pansy who sat across from him, rolled her eyes discreetly.
"Ravenclaw!" the hoarse voice of the sorting hat shouted. Luna waved once again to Harry before once more skipping to her new House. Laughter from the Slytherins grew once more. Harry remained stoned face, though his eyes glimmered.
Dumbledore's gaze remained on his face, Harry noted.
"Ginny Weasley!" Harry finally turned his gaze from the front of the podium and turned to gaze at the food in front of him. He felt rather than saw the enraptured gaze of the female Weasley. The shout of "Gryffindor" was immediately heard. Ginny's sour face emerged from the sorting hat. Ginny ignored Ronald and her twin brothers and pulled out her new journal given to her by her father and began to write furiously. Her face remained a flush of ugly red.
After the last few students were sorted, Dumbledore stood up. "Welcome! Welcome first years and welcome back to our second years and above. This year, I would like to welcome back our regular staff, with an addition to our new Defense Against the Dark Art's professor, Gilderoy Lockhart!" Loud cheers and sighs were released from the female population. Fred and George meanwhile released exaggerated whistles as the new professor stood and gave three grand bows before resuming his seat.
"Now, let us enjoy our delicious meal, courtesy of our house elves. Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" Dumbledore shouted with enthusiasm.
Several of the Slytherins groaned upon hearing the ending speech. A distant "He said that last year" was met with annoyed and exasperated sighs.
Harry continued to look at his plate and only started to serve himself food once everyone else had reached for their own portion. Conversation from the first years was stopped before they began by the warning looks the upperclassmen would toss them.
Harry remained at the top off his class year, much to the vexation of both Hermione and Draco, who would glare at each other and then at Harry once the latest updates to the grades were announced by the professors each week. Despite it all, Hermione insisted on following him around, chatting some nonsense or another as her ragtag of Ronald and Longbottom would follow with great reluctance upon their faces.
A memorable lecture by McGonagall on the start of the second lesson back from the summer had been a topic of conversation and making many anticipate their seventh year at Hogwarts already.
"Settle down, now and leave your quills in front of you for the moment. You shall not need it for now," Professor McGonagall instructed as she took center stage of the podium.
Many of the students happily did as they were told. A lesson without writing in her class was something that was rarely done.
"I have read your submissions on your assigned individualized Transfiguration project I handed out to you for the summer. I regret to inform you that with the exception of two great parchments and one exceptional one," every eye turned to Hermione and Draco and then Harry for the latter, "the assignment was left much to be desired." Professor McGonagall eyed student with a grave expression.
Hermione turned her gaze to the chalkboard, already wondering how she could have improved on her work.
"I understand the difficulty this class can and will become. The assignment, though, should have been passed by the majority, if not, by all of you. Let me explain it to you ladies and gentlemen in laymen terms so you may all understand. The assignment given to you encompassed the entirety of the whole first year and to correctly complete the assignment, topics and lessons from the first lecture to the last would and should have been used. What this tells me is that many, except for the said select few, have failed to understand the basics for Transfiguration. Even so, those two that did 'great' for the lack of a better term and as described previously, on said assignment, were unable to analyze and synthesize their assignment. This shows me that the fundamentals of transfiguration were not learned. And, when I say 'learned', I do not mean memorization." McGonagall continued. Tilting her eyes and looking them sternly above her glasses, she continued to look at each student for emphasis.
"This is worrisome. We shall review for the first month and I will expect growth. The fundamentals of this course are highly important and that goes to say the same can be said of your other subjects. There are benefits to learning this subject thoroughly. It is an incentive that I shall enlighten you. Your last year at Hogwarts will involve you learning and hopefully achieving in becoming a Animagus." Gasps were heard.
"However," the student's excited faces soon turned to wariness, "to become Animagus involves the ultimate transfiguration of the mind, body and essence without losing oneself to the other form. It is difficult and in most cases, successful transformation to and fro is quite rare. You might not even succeed at all. There are ministry regulations for a reason. You will be permitted in attempting to become an Animagus if you successfully pass all the Transfiguration classes with or above Exceeding Expectations. Animagus can only be attempted with the instruction and supervision of someone who is certified, which I am. Any other manner is illegal and will land you to be detained by Aurors and sent to Azkaban with your magic suppressed."
Professor McGonagall continued once the students abruptly stopped expressing their disbelief of, in their own opinion, unfairness of the situation. Potter, Minerva, observed, remained impassive always. She really didn't understand him.
"It is up to the Professors to decide which students are allowed in their classes for the fifth years and above. It is all dependent on the student's grades they receive. I will tell you now that I accept students whose grades are Outstanding, Exceeding Expectations and Acceptable to fifth year Transfiguration and beyond. Starting fifth year, those with an 'O' or 'EE' shall be given an extra class each week that will be for the Animagus training I have described. No exceptions shall be made. From what I have seen from this year, you ladies and gentlemen, have a lot of material to conquer from last year and still learn of the material you shall learn throughout this year as well. Let the blood bath begin."
The thumping of heads was heard throughout the classroom. Professor McGonagall—in many Gryffindor's opinion—gave a smirk that would have made even Salazar Slytherin proud.
The second school year continued where it had left off. The only difference it seemed was that everyone was one year ahead of last year.
The only exception to this new school year was the new curfew the Head of Houses declared that morning on the third week back. It was a favorite topic of Hermione's incessant talk.
"I am not sure why they want us to return to our House Common Room right after dinner. I mean, what if we have to go and use the library for the latest assignment due, or if we have some sort of charm practicing to do that can't be safely done within our dormitory? What if we are suddenly sick and must visit the infirmary? What if—"
"Oh, can it, Hermione! Can't you see you are boring us? No one is listening to your yapping. Blimey, if I hear more from you, I think I might decompose like those plants that Neville tried to save last time in the Green House!" Ron complained as Neville scowled.
Hermione kept her head high as she turned from Harry and stumped towards the other two boys. "It is impossible to 'decompose '. I think you meant to say that you might 'decombust' in its figurative manner of speech."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he muttered. Harry ignored all three and continued on his path to the dormitory. They would depart separately either way since he was not in Gryffindor. He heard the exclaimed shout of Hermione being left behind and the two other sets of footsteps behind her as they raced to catch up to him. He took a right to the dungeons without looking backwards.
"Bye, Harry!" was echoed and reach his ears, followed by the same departing from Ronald, though with less enthusiasm. Longbottom merely glared at his back. It was pointless to keep following Harry since they were venturing rather close to the Slytherin dormitory.
The continued whispers started as he was about to open the metal door to the Slytherin grand Common Room entrance. This was the second time he heard the soft whispers of hunger which was then followed by an excited exclamation of food. The first time that said whispers were heard coincided almost generously three weeks ago. At first, he had thought it might be fellow classmates taunting him once more. That thought was discarded once he had cast a discreet spell informing that no one was within his range at that time.
Casting the spell once more, the result was the same: he was alone. The only readings his magic signaled to him was the bodies of Hermione, Ronald and Longbottom, which were now all headed to their Gryffindor dormitory. It was too much of a coincidence. He had taken note that there was the yet unexplained disappearance of Colin Creevey.
If he had been a bloody Gryffindor, he would have followed the voice, but thankfully, he was not one. Even still, hearing voices was never good in the Muggle world and he was almost certain that the same could be said about wizardry world.
As Harry maneuvered himself to his room he shared with two other students and made his way to his side of the room, he bypassed Malfoy who was once again following him with his eyes.
"Potter?" Harry paused at the foot of his bed and turned his eyes to look at Malfoy.
Seeing his intense eyes, Draco averted his eyes before settling his eyes to focus on Harry's shoulder. He could never get used to that shade of green. It was not because he was familiar with the particular spell, but he had read about it once, before his mother had scolded him.
"I wanted to let you know that I found a house elf lurking amongst your things earlier today."
Harry paused and turned sharply at the mention of an elf.
"What happened with the elf and what was he doing at the time you caught him?" Harry questioned him.
"He was attempting to open your trunk with no luck. Potter, my father sends condolences for the trouble that elf might have caused you. May I ask if you have encountered him before today?"
Confused, Harry confirmed that it was not his first encounter with the elf.
Nodding as if expecting it, Draco took a deep breath. "The elf's name is Dobby and the reason I know that is because he belongs and is bonded to the Malfoy family. I am not sure why he has come after you."
Harry's eyes sharpened.
Not deterred and stepping closer, Draco continued. "I've already sent Dobby back to my Manor and directly to my father. He shan't be bothering you anymore."
Draco presented his hand. It faltered before Harry presented his hand and shook the offered hand as he accepted his apology.
Just then, Nott entered and was dumbstruck by the scene in front of him. He shook his head and left the room, laughing quietly to himself.
Confused by Nott's sudden departure, Harry withdrew his hand and went to prepare himself for bed once he saw Malfoy just stare after Nott with his mouth agape.
Regaining his composure, Draco meanwhile hastily left the room to go to the Common Room. He attempted, and failed, to avoid Theodore's knowing looks.
After nearly falling asleep with Hedwig perched at the top of his bed post and Garuini draped next to him, a sudden thought occurred to Harry. He looked at Garuini. He had a mission for her.
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"I heard that there is a cover up from the balmy old Dumbledore. I hardly think that Creevey transferred since it is hardly heard of. I mean, who in their right mind transfers from Hogwarts?" Draco quite loudly said to his group of friends.
"It could be. I mean, no one knows what has happened to him and I heard a Hufflepuff say that they thought they saw Creevey's parents being accompanied by Dumbledore to his office the other day," Pansy revealed back. To her right sat Millicent who was struggling with her Defense Against the Arts assignment about Life Debts that the professor had assigned out of the blue despite never having covered it yet in lecture.
Conversations around the common area soon evolved to the same topic, but between different groups. Having heard enough for the past two hours of the same topic in a variety of manner, Harry stood and left before Malfoy even attempted to include him in the conversation. He would not even know how to reply.
He did not want to respond in any way since he did not know about the truth of Creevy, but neither did he want to seem to defend Dumbledore. That would be an even worse issue, in his opinion. Dumbledore was not a person that he highly regarded as he seemed to make unwise decisions like with the philosopher's stone. Not to mention his distrust he has seen in his eyes when Dumbledore would glance at him in the Great Hall. That had not gone unnoticed by the students, which only increased the other's negative aspect of him. Besides, Dumbledore was not well liked at all in Slytherin, particularity for other reasons also.
"Garuini said that all she saw was many more spiders lurking about than last year. They were all headed to the Forbidden Forest in a rush. I vaguely recall seeing the same the other time as well when I heard the whispered voice," Harry thought as he tried to remember.
What a coincidence as well that had not been seen since yesterday night, on All Hallows' Eve, now that he looked back. That cat was always on in the hallway and would always pass by him, expecting a treat of some sort from him. His mind was racing. Harry had erroneously assumed she must have been keeping away from the Slytherin dungeons due to the colder temperature that was being experienced in the hallways that year. She must have been the second to have disappeared, with Creevey being the first.
Exiting the Common Room and not far from where he stood, he saw Lovegood standing looking confused without shoes. She turned around and smiled in relief.
"Harry! Can you help me go back to the Ravenclaw Common Room? I don't know where it is from here," she asked. Since the start of the year, she spoke to him with great familiarity.
"Of course. Lovegood—" Harry started until he was interrupted.
"Luna"
"Excuse me?" Harry asked, inwardly confused.
"Call me 'Luna'. It is my name after all," Lovegood, no, Luna said brightly.
Harry turned and stared at her with solemnity in his features. She in return smiled another smile, though this time, it was a small sad smile as she in turn looked at him.
Emotion flashed behind his eyes before they cleared and turned, knowing she would follow.
"Luna, where are your shoes and why are you outside the Slytherin dormitory? You can get in trouble if a Prefect or Professor Snape were to find you in this part of the Hogwarts," Harry inquired.
Luna frowned for a second before it was replaced by a smile and she startled him as she attempted to grasp his hand. She settled to grasping his school robes once she saw him moving his hand out of the way and out of reach. "Some Hufflepuffs charmed my shoes and I have been without them since. Then I got lost as I tried to find my shoes." She looked at Harry and noticed his face looked grim.
He took out his wand and muttered a spell. Seconds later, her shoes came back and landed softly on her hands. They both saw the inside of her shoes were covered with some sort of green slime. Frowning deeper, and deeming it safe, he waved his wand and Luna's shoes were pristine condition. Even the previously worn parts of her shoes were repaired. Luna's eyes widened at the show of wordless magic, but she did not call it to attention. Instead she moved forward to hug Harry in thanks, only to be stopped by him stepping back.
Harry gave her a single wave at her to continue walking with him.
She frowned in confusion. "You are welcome, Luna," Harry said instead of explaining. "Let us be on our way to your dormitory. I will leave you nearby so I do not get reprimanded."
She followed him quietly, trying to ignore at the chatter and the harsh whisperings that followed them by the stray group of students that saw them together. Harry's face remained unreadable as always with only his eyes showing any emotion at all.
Her heart lightened when he glared at any that called her "Loony" as they kept walking.
Not saying anything further, once they arrived to the familiar gateway to the Ravenclaw section of the castle, Luna stepped close to Harry and held out her hand. He instantly grasped her hand and firmly shook it.
Instead of leaving, Luna said, "You know, Harry, I want to thank you for showing me that sometimes, the most magical moments don't involve a wand." Harry's eyes flashed.
Stepping forward, the Madame inside the portrait asked Luna, "That which destroys empires and saves fools. That which melts the coldest hearts and freezes the warmest summer days."
Luna turned to Harry to give him a wave and replied, "Love."
The Lady bowed her head and opened the entrance to the Ravenclaw's Common Room.
Harry remained in his place and turned to leave once Luna quietly closed the wooden door behind.
He picked up his pace once he heard Professor Flitwick's voice approaching with another student. The student was recounting how Slytherin Harry Potter was seen in the area.
Lost in his thoughts about what just conspired, he did not notice the staircases moving in the direction opposite the destination he has in mind that would lead him eventually the Black Lake.
Instead, he was brought to the second floor, directly to the girl's lavatory. He proceeded forward upon hearing a distant but equally loud noise of running water.
Stepping forward, Harry saw that the dark lavatory did indeed have running water all over, originating from an elaborate snake engraved sink-tap. What further caught his attention was something that was out of place. It was a lone black journal at the foot of the sink-tap.
Looking around and finding no one, Harry grabbed the journal and proceeded to open it. Blank but aged pages greeted him. It looked like an innocent journal, but he knew better: he felt strong magic around it. Turning the journal around as he continued to inspect the journal, he found a name in gold bold letters identifying who it belong to: TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE.
With shaky hands, he pocketed the journal inside his school robes.
Hastily, Harry left the lavatory and descended the stairs. He was glad it was the weekend and had of course finished all his assignments as it afforded him with the opportunity to be at leisure. Finding his favourite tree near the Black Lake that afforded him both shade and privacy, he sat down. With still shaky hands, he stared at the journal and simultaneously ran his hands down the length of the journal reverently.
Trying to calm himself, he grabbed his Book and read a passage that was underlined three times by its previous owner. "Do not think I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword." He tried to continue to read, but his eyes kept straying to the journal. Knowing he would be unable to continue reading, he returned the Book to his schoolbag he always carried with him when at Hogwarts.
"Sometimes the way forward is sometimes the way back," Harry justified as he returned his attention to the journal in his hand.
He carefully looked at the pages and not one single word was written inside the journal. The hoot of a raven that was housed inside the hollow of the tree croaked, startling him, and knocking the quill and ink that he had taken out previously. Some of the ink got on the open page of the parchment despite his best effort to prevent such a thing from occurring. To his surprise, the ink disappeared into the pages.
"What sorcery is this journal?" Harry thought as his eyes watched in rapture.
Taking the quill and dipping it into the ink bottle, he proceeded to write something, anything, to see if the same event were to occur.
"My name is Hadrian Potter," he wrote in his neat script.
The journal replied in the same exact script he had just written.
.
.
.
"Hello, Harry Potter. My name is Tom Riddle."
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Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. Let me know what you think and please review!
