Welcome back! Neolyph here, bringing another chapter! Slightly mixed reviews chapter, but there is a reason for the things I wrote.

Real quick, I started a forum for this story, at the suggestion of a couple reviews and PMs. The link for it can be found here:

forum/A-Broken-Wizard-and-a-Broken-Magus-Discussion-Forum/188670/

The link is also on my profile. For anyone interested, if you can write a good omake in the forum or a PM, I'll stick it in a chapter as a Post-Script.

Now, for reviews:

Aetumus: The reason that Harry is doing what he is doing is because he can. He has endured an entire life of hell because of the actions of a select few, and fully intends to get his pound of flesh. Harry wants them to feel exactly how he felt: scared, alone, and victimized for reasons unknown. Not to mention, he might wrap up his little revenge scheme earlier than four years. He is taking his time with it because which would be worse? Severe pain and torture before death? Or watching your entire life and everything that you have ever built slowly being destroyed by some shadowy and unknown power? Physical torture is satisfying in the short term, but mental anguish lasts far longer and is more painful. For example, the only reason Harry didn't do a lot worse to Zouken was that he was in a rush and didn't want to alienate his new allies. I hope this explains it a bit and that I can keep you as a reader.

EternalKnight219: There is a reason for that. I should have probably made it more clear, but remember in the first chapter I think it was that there were two reactions of the torture of Zouken and the Dursleys? They were hardening or shattering. Sakura shattered, but Harry hardened. This has made his something of a mild sociopath, which is what gives him both his grasp of magecraft, reality marble, and knowledge of manipulation. He blames his parents because they are as of the moment, completely unrepentant. James and Lily will both have grievances with Dumbledore, but at the moment, they are in denial as to the extent of the abuse their son suffered due to the guilt it would force them to acknowledge. Dumbledore's confession will come, but not for a while. As with Aetumus, I want to keep you as a reader. If you PM me, I'll explain a bit further the direction I'm taking this story. I promise that it makes sense.

Thundramon: It's less lust and more the desire for attention that most girls show him, due to his fame. He wants them fawning over him, not fucking him. Yes, Dark Pureblood families are very harsh when it comes to raising children. Orion is Sirius' middle name. Basically, James and Lily each named one of the twins, and James insisted on traditional names. He picked Orion, and Lily picked Harry. Since Harry isn't a pureblood name, they went with Hadrian. Sirius is living with his cousin, Narcissa, while Remus is in the muggle world, job-hopping. Snape and Harry aren't lord and servant. They're partners. Snape knows a wizarding-edited version of Harry's life, with the exception of the Grail War, Kaleidoscope, True Magic, and Servants. Essentially, he has history but not context. Their partnership is based on Snape's hatred of Dumbledore, James, and Voldemort. His condition to joining was that Lily not experience any physical harm.

Lord Anime: It's alright. Harry is still Harry. He's only calling himself that because it's his pureblood name. Harry is a bit informal for a Slytherin heir, so he is using the name on his birth certificate. Only those in Slytherin house that are on his shit-list will call him Hadrian.

AbaddontheDevourer: Glad to know I was the first. All of the Servants are at Hogwarts and astralized when in public. They mainly just either follow Harry around or explore the castle. Occasionally, he's going to send them out for a job. Haven't decided on the relationship. Might make it a poll.

Acolyte of the Blood Moon: It think it was raining in the books. Don't remember either, but it is in my head. The Potters do love Harry, in their own way. James loves his son, but is completely paranoid that the heir to his great and always light family will turn out dark.

Kirit0 SAO: Here you go... nom nom nom.

Akuma-Heika: Whenever I think of how Lucius Malfoy should have been in canon, I think of Frank Underwood from House of Cards. However, he hasn't quite been as good a father to his son as he should have been, so Draco is still an entitled little shit that doesn't understand his father's views. I split the last two chapters at the recommendation of my beta, Arawn, who said that A) It might become a bit monotonous to read and B) People might expect it to become the standard chapter length when it was only written in a single, massive fit of inspiration. I'll just say that Dumbledore has a reason for acting the way he does and leave it at that. Orion is a question of nature vs. nurture, one I don't have an answer for, as nobody does. Rider's eyes have jumped a couple ranks due to Harry's prana, and could even harm him if he viewed them directly. Zealot does not possess any name beyond Zealot. If she does pick an actual name, she or Harry will pick it. Ginny hung out a lot with Ron, who was an Orion fanboy, and it rubbed off on her. An accio with the force of a true magician would damn well teleport a toad. Longest sorting in their time at Hogwarts. Don't know about Albus or Merlin. The displaced purebloods are living in muggle London.

BijuuDamaBomber: Interesting ideas. I'll consider them at the very least.

T-B-R: Harry actually did, but he still wears glasses both because they're disarming, and Sakura likes them.

Heika: Harry hasn't yet formed much of an opinion of Ivy. This version of Dumbledore is a bit more "hands on". Sorting goes by order of Hogwarts charter I believe, since they don't seem to go alphabetically in canon. They were registered last, so they went last.

camdawg: Archer has no reason to kill Harry, as he is in no way Shirou Emiya.

Anonamon: Thanks for the advice. I actually do take writing classes in my college, but this fic is my way of relaxing. Normally the quality is a bit better, but my beta, Arawn, is a bit busy with work right now, so he doesn't as much time as he used to in order to beta this story.

Guest: Albus wants to turn a dark Harry to the light, and needed him to be dark first.

Heika: I study programming and I have no goddamn idea how Watson works, and programming metal works on the same principle. If he studied enough, he could do that, but I have a better idea for making it intelligent. Tom was evil when he arrived at Hogwarts, just like Harry, and hated Dumbledore, just like Harry. Dumbledore views the circumstances as identical. That FMA idea is something I've been considering.

Chapter 14: Scouting Expedition

Albus Dumbledore loomed over the Great Hall like a king surveying his subjects from his lofty throne. This was one his favorite parts to every new year, the examination of the students to determine potential darkness, potential good, and who he needed to push in one direction or the other. The new first years bore much potential, and it was up to him to make sure that said potential was realized, but also to ensure that the seeds of darkness were not allowed to take root. More often than not, if the problem was dealt with when they were young, wizards and witches grew into splendid adults, who wouldn't think of using the Dark Arts. Thus, his careful inspection of each batch of new first years, which already told him that this would be a particularly interesting crop, for several students had already earned his attention.

Chief among them of course was Orion Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. James's younger son was to be Dumbledore's legacy and greatest project, taking up the mantle of Leader of the Light after his eventual demise. He did bear some concerns about the boy's personality though, but for now he would assume that it was simply youth being youth making the boy act as he did. He had instructed Lily and James that it was necessary to dote on the boy as much as possible, so that he would never feel unwanted and stray to the dark. Tom Riddle's hatred for the magical world was a result of his lack of love in his upbringing, so logically to create a Leader of the Light, Orion would need to be shown as much love as his parents could muster. He would grow into a compassionate young man, willing to help others, and to protect those who were too weak to do so themselves.

It was one of the reasons he had sent young Harry to the Dursleys, along with his own personal experiment. If Harry grew up the brother of the Boy-Who-Lived and was forced to endure his parents showering all of their love and attention on Orion, it might have driven the boy irrevocably into the dark. Abuse could be healed by putting the boy with his parents, who he fortunately seemed to have completely forgiven in his desperation for a family, but an entire childhood of being permanently neglected in favor of his twin brother could not be healed simply by placing the boy with the people who had neglected him.

Of course, his plan had gone slightly astray due to the intervention of this Zouken person. The man was apparently on par with some of the more depraved Death Eaters, preforming dark magical experiments on children. It was something of a shame that this had apparently crippled young Harry's magical core, as he had originally intended for the boy to become a lieutenant in the Order, but sometimes sacrifices were necessary. Besides, perhaps such a thing could be used to further mold Orion into a good leader, if Harry ever had to sacrifice himself for his brother, Orion would eventually grow to abhor violence, therefore ensuring that he would never allow another war to take place as long as he was alive.

The familiars that had bonded themselves to the boy were a great concern. He could see them even now, standing at the far end of the Great Hall, impassively alternating between keeping an eye on their charge and watching the students around him warily. They were far too loyal to be swayed to his views, and while he was confident that whatever he did they would not be a hindrance, he would have preferred to not see them at Hogwarts, but they were apparently necessary to make sure that Harry's magical core didn't lash out with "atypical" magic, so he had allowed them to come.

There were three of them, all seemingly identical in their breathtaking beauty. He would most certainly feel great lust were his sexual leanings not in the opposite direction. He would have to divine the exact nature of these apparent constructs to see whether or not he would have to remove them from the school. Severus' report indicated that they seemed completely obedient to Harry, but that was a concern in itself. The PR disaster if the Boy-Who-Lived's brother was found ordering around three women like slaves would be catastrophic.

He racked his brain, trying to work out exactly what sort of constructs these women were, but couldn't work it out. They had obviously been created in some dark ritual, but the only one he knew of that could create humanoids was the alchemical practice of homunculus creation, one of the darkest arts in existence, and even that produced something better resembling a deformed baby than the three identical beauties in maid uniforms that had bound themselves to Harry. And while Harry was clearly intelligent, he highly doubted that even with access to Zouken's library he would have been able to improve the ritual so dramatically, as there was no outside sign that could indicate a Dark origin on the familiars.

Evidently, whatever they were, they lacked souls. They had managed to fully walk up to the Hogwarts gate and knock on it, all without being attuned to the wards. The Hogwarts detection wards could detect and halt anything with a soul, which contained a person's identity. These maids had walked right through them without tripping them. Even vampires and magical creatures possessed souls, but not these women. They also must possess extreme magical resistance, as the physical wards that didn't rely on detecting intruders, but simply blocking anything physical that didn't have permission to enter had been pushed aside by the intruders. Those wards could overcome the collective magical resistance of an entire army of dragons, but had not affected these constructs.

When he had first learned of their following their charge to his school, Dumbledore had instantly contacted Gringotts to confirm the existence of the familiar bond, hoping to have it declared invalid. The request he put in for information regarding the boy's three construct familiars was answered with three certificates, each testifying to the familiar bond between the boy and the women. He'd sighed at that, knowing that he would never be able to have the paperwork found invalid, even with his position.

One supreme law of intelligent wizards was that you didn't attempt anything legally dubious when it came to Gringotts paperwork, as it was the quickest way to have your vault seized and end up barred from the bank. All of the funding for the Order was contained in Gringotts vaults, so he couldn't afford to be barred. And that wasn't even talking about the other consequences, as the Goblins abhorred having something they produced criticized or contested, and they tended to deal with those responsible very harshly.

The only resolution he could think of would be to talk either Harry or the women into severing the familiar bond. He'd try the women first, as he still couldn't fathom why exactly three women with apparent free will would intentionally enslave themselves to a ten-year-old. He suspected that this Zouken fellow had used dark magic to forcibly bind them to Harry, for reasons unknown, and that they followed him more out of obligation than anything else. If he offered to break the bond, he would likely earn their gratitude, and could induct them into the Order. Three women who possessed that insane degree of magical resistance and could not be detected by most wards would be most useful for his plans. Although he would have to check if they were also resistant to potions, as it wouldn't do for them to find out about things he didn't want known if he couldn't Obliviate them, or at least find a way to keep them silent. With magic ineffective against them, he could only hope Potions would work.

Looking over at the Gryffindor table, he noted the Malfoy boy sitting sulkily, glaring at his housemates. He'd intentionally asked the hat to sort the boy into the house of bravery, hoping to encourage the values in him. It was bad enough that the boy's father was one of the few dark families that had survived his cleaning up of the dark families, but by making the boy a Gryffindor, he could simply make the house a light one instead of facing Lucius head on, a fight he was not sure he could win politically. Since young Draco lacked the cunning of his father, it was a valid action, one that wouldn't be contested, and the teen would learn in time to follow the Light instead of the Dark, without need for conflict.

Glancing toward the opposite end of the hall, he noted the two girls sitting next to Harry. He'd done as much research as he could in the short time, but couldn't come up with any information on this Sakura and Illyasviel girls, beside their Hogwarts registers and an adoption form for the Sakura girl. Their father was an equal mystery. The ministry record stated that he was a pureblood, but somehow lacked a magical ancestry chart. If there was one thing he hated, it was unknown variables. Perhaps he'd have to arrange a meeting with this Emiya individual.

He was disconcerted that both of the girls had been sorted into Slytherin. The white haired one was the very image of innocence, with a childishly cheerful demeanor, but was one of the quickest Sortings in the year. The one with the strange purple hair was also odd. She seemed very shy and sweet, but her eyes were dead; completely void of life in a way he'd only witnessed in cases like the Longbottoms, where someone was tortured into insanity with the Cruciatus curse. He'd noted that they had lit up slightly upon her sorting into Slytherin, seemingly delighted at being sorted with Harry. It seemed further investigation was warranted.

He also noted that Harry seemed to be in a conversation with the young Greengrass girl. It was a shame what he'd been forced to do to her family, but it was necessary. The family had been the leader of his opposition on the Wizengamot, so he'd used his position to pass directive after directive specifically targeted at the businesses the Greengrass family relied on. By the time he was done, the family had been made a sufficient example: galleonless, homeless, and bereft of their Wizengamot seats, which since they couldn't maintain, he could as Chief Warlock claim their votes for himself.

With this, he had nearly unilateral control of the Wizengamot, as those whose votes he didn't fully possess, were cowed enough that they voted however he instructed them to. Every once in a while, one of the darker families would attempt to make a stand, and would suffer the same fate as the Greengrasses. It was due to this that the entire Slytherin house seemed to despise him, as they had gone from the economic powerhouse of Hogwarts to the poorest house over the course of a decade.

Fortunately, most of the children whose families he'd been forced to ruin were the children of Death Eaters. It was a "sins of the father" type deal, he knew, but sometimes children made a very good example. When future generations looked at the Slytherin table, they would be reminded of why exactly one did not throw their lot behind a Dark Lord. True the children themselves were innocent, but future generations would hardly care.

Unfortunately for Dumbledore, he'd never studied muggle history as well as he should have. He had no idea that it was the economic ruining of the German people by the Treaty of Versailles that had permitted Adolf Hitler's rise. And there sitting amongst the Slytherins was a young boy with power, charisma, and a burning desire for vengeance. He had just unknowingly laid the House at the feet of someone who wanted revenge, and who had everything needed to unite the House of the Cunning and Ambitious against him.

-Break-

As the last of the Slytherin table finished eating, the dishes there disappeared and the headmaster stood once again. Harry was nearly disgusted by the false grandfatherly persona he put on, which he imagined would fool many of the less perceptive students.

"Well, now that we've all eaten our fill, I have a few start-of-term announcements to make. First years please note that the Dark Forest is strictly forbidden for all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that the third floor corridor on the right hand side is strictly out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death."

At this, Filch, standing at the main doors, sneered, his thick and greasy black hair coming down over his shoulders like a curtain.

"Aside from that, your heads of house will detail the rest of the rules. Thank you. You will now follow your respective prefects back to your dormitories, where you can rest your weary heads after this long day."

Given the signal, the prefects rose and began ushering the first years out of the hall. The Gryffindors all instantly began pushing and shoving to get out first while the prefects barked orders towards them. The Hufflepuffs followed after them at a slightly more sedate pace, followed by the Ravenclaws. The Slytherins were last, simply waiting for the commotion to end as it enabled them to return to their dormitories at their own pace. The maids followed at the rear of the group, drawing glances but not questions. Asking questions only made you look stupid in Slytherin, so everyone just pretended that they knew what was going on.

The Slytherins were housed deep in the dungeons, where everything was cool and slightly damp. As a trade-off, since they weren't limited by the towers the other houses used, the Slytherin rooms were much larger, especially when coupled with space expansion charms.

"The painting here serves as a door to the common room," the prefect, Marcus Flint, explained, "If you want to get in, you gotta state the password. Listen up first years, because I'm only gonna say this once."

He turned towards the painting, which was of two green snakes entwined together, both bearing their fangs in preparation to strike.

"Arcana Imperii" he intoned, and the snakes twisted apart, and the wall slid apart, revealing the common room.

It reminded Harry somewhat of a gentlemen's club, not the stripper sort, but the kind where old upper-class British men congregated to read news, discuss politics, drink whiskey, and smoke cigars. Lush carpets covered the floors, an ornate fireplace cast an ominous light over the expensive furniture, opaque windows built into the walls cast green light into the room, all of which resulted in a very cultured looking room, which very much fit the style of Slytherin.

"Girls dormitories are on the right, boys on the left. There's a ward over the entrance to the girls' dorms, so boys can't get in. Now, a couple of ground rules: 1) The number one rule of Slytherin house is the united front. You do not let any house division show. If you have a problem with another member of Slytherin, you handle it in-house, nothing leaves the dorm. If a Slytherin is in trouble publicly, you are expected to stand by them, regardless of your personal feelings. To every other house, Slytherin is a singular, united force. Mess with one of us, the gain the ire of the entire house. Understand? 2) We're Slytherin, so most rules of fair play don't apply, but if you get caught doing something and lose us points, you lose the protection of the house until you regain them. 3) You do not squeal on you housemates. It doesn't matter what the professors throw at you or why, you don't break. Anyone asks, you don't know anything about anything. Slytherin wins the House Cup every year, not because we win more points than the other houses, but because we don't get caught.

Violation of any of these rules will lose you the protection of the house, which will make you fair game for the Gryffindors to attack without fear of retribution. Trust me, you don't want that to happen. Now, any questions? No? Good. Sort out your own room assignments. Due to the small number of you and the amount of room we have, all of you can have your own room."

With that, Marcus walked to the end of the hall and passed through a door leading to the prefect rooms. Alone in the common room, some of the less intelligent first year Slytherins decided that it was time for a powerplay. Looking for a target, they settled for the boy that had looked about to cry as he was sorted, namely Harry. Theodore Nott, Jugson Ivanoff, and Aiden Bragge all exchanged a look, which passed for subtle given their year.

"So, Potter," Theodore began as Ivanoff and Bragge began slowly circling behind him; Harry noticed that Daphne and many of the upper year Slytherins dotted around the room were watching him closely, "How's it feels, being sorted into the house of the snakes? You see, it's really not that good for you, even under normal circumstances. Most of the kids in this house, we used to be all nice and wealthy, until your daddy teamed up with the Headmaster to ruin us. My family used to own a mansion and three summer homes. Now? We're all crammed into a three-room apartment in muggle London, unable to publicly use magic or even talk about it too loudly. And now you come along, Half-Blood. I'll be the first to tell you, I've been itching for this for years."

Harry noted the wand that the boy was fingering as he spoke with something resembling contempt. The three boys were all far too absorbed into their imminent attack to notice the actions Harry was taking.

"You see Potter, I think that it's very important for you to understand your new place in this house right off the bat."

As he finished, Nott jabbed his wand forward, muttering a crude but simple dark curse designed to immobilize a victim painfully. It was likely something his father had taught him. The two boys behind Harry moved at the same time, firing milder hexes of their own.

Or rather, they would have had their knees not been painfully buckled by two maids positioned behind them as Nott's curse splashed harmlessly against Panzer. Monica withdrew her staff and with a swift motion, Nott joined his comrades on their knees as he gritted his teeth in pain. Knowing that the time was opportune, Harry strode to a nearby chair, sitting on it like a throne as he stared down at the three kneeling boys, restrained by the homunculi, whose faces were set into stone scowls. Sakura and Illya took places on both sides of the chair, demonstrating their connection to Harry. Sat like that, he was the very image of calm confidence, further showing that even when he was attacked, he was not one to lash out in anger, and further proving himself to those witnessing the scene. The fact that he had clearly already followers of his own in the two first year girls was just icing on the cake.

"I think, Mr. Nott, that we need to have a little heart-to-heart. I feel that it is best for everyone to understand this early on, so we have no misunderstandings. I am only a Potter in the sense that James and Lily gave birth to me, and when the day comes, I will inherit the lordship. I was not raised by the Potters, and as such, I do not see the Potters as family. As a matter of fact, the first time I met the Potters was about eight hours ago. They shipped me off to relatives who beat and abused me for six straight years. I hate the Potters as much, if not more, than anyone else here. You don't like me personally? That's fine, but don't start something just because I bear the last name 'Potter'. Understood?"

Looking around the common room, he saw appraising looks from many of the upper years, and approval from Daphne. He'd shown his intelligence and ambition prior, and now he'd shown his power. His point made, he stood and strolled towards the dormitories, not sparing a second glance towards the silent common room. The maids gave the three kneeling boys a last painful squeeze as a deterrent before leading Illya and Sakura towards the girls' dormitories.

Picking out a room at the far end of the hall, Harry checked that it was empty and entered. It was a very nice room, tastefully and elegantly decorated with Slytherin colors and snake motifs. Checking the room over, he found several spy spells layered on the room, some placed by the Headmaster, and others placed by upper year Slytherins looking to keep an eye on their underclassmen, for either blackmail or to keep them out of trouble.

His original impulse was to remove these spells, but then another idea occurred to him. You were in the best position when your enemy thought he knew every move you made. Instead of overpowering and destroying the spells, he consulted Caster and rewrote the spell structures. He wove a complicated series of enchantments over the spells so that he could alter what they showed their caster. With it, he could make whoever was watching the image view whatever he wanted.

With this, he could selectively control the information the Headmaster had or thought he had on him. He did however remove the spy spells from the upper year Slytherins. It was best that they didn't underestimate him, as that would lead to needless complications. If he was to rule them, they would need an honest estimation of his power.

What he instead decided to do was find an empty area of the school and convert it into his own personal quarters; well, quarters for himself and the girls.

He quietly sent Caster to perform the same spells on the room Illya and Sakura had selected for themselves. With the room clear, he Kaleidoscope'd into it, greeting the girls as the Servants all deastralized, filling the room. Formulating a plan, Harry sat in a chair in the corner, trying to work out places in the school he could take over for his own purposes. Sakura ended up sitting in his lap with her arm wrapped around his shoulder, leaning into him contentedly.

He mentally reviewed all of the places Tom Riddle had known in the school that were available for use. There was the third floor corridor on the right hand side, a large and abandoned series of rooms and tunnels, but based on Dumbledore's announcement from Filch, it was being used for something. His second option was the Chamber of Secrets. The basilisk in there might prove an issue, but as the true Heir of Slytherin, he would be able to control it, or kill it if it proved an issue. He did however see the benefit of having a bloodthirsty monster lurking in the basement in case he needed to take out a problematic individual within the school. The Room of Requirement would work, but it was too finicky for his purposes, and he suspected that the Headmaster could exercise some degree of control over it, or could at least monitor it.

He settled for the third floor corridor, as it possessed the most space for his use. All he had to do was sort out whatever the Headmaster had put there that spelled 'Most Painful Death'.

Shouldn't be too hard.

-Break-

Daphne Greengrass laid in bed, considering her options. She was growing increasingly confidant in Potter as a candidate for her vassalage. They'd talked at length over the course of the feast, and she was very impressed. He had seemed to have picked up that she was testing him for something, but she didn't know how much he'd figured out, which frustrated her.

Quietly, she removed an artifact from her meager belongings, a mirror which when activated could be used to send written messages. It was one of the few family heirlooms that her mother had managed to hold on to, and she refused to sell it due to its value.

Retrieving her wand, she used it to write a message:

"Dearest Mother,

I have successfully arrived at the school, and been sorted into Slytherin House, in accordance with your expectations. Unfortunately, my original target has been sorted into Gryffindor. I presume that this marks him as unsuitable for us to swear our house to. Based, on this, I have selected a second target, who shows great promise. His sorting was a great surprise, and I believe that he will become great.

The candidate is Hadrian Potter, Heir Presumptive to House Potter.

While his brother Orion was sorted into the house of lions and his father was party to our ruining, Hadrian after a very long sorting has joined us in Slytherin. He possesses the backing of our head of house, Professor Snape, and is most definitely in possession of Slytherin virtues. I suspect that he has already gathered that I am auditioning him for something, which is demonstrative of his cunning. With your permission, I would continue examining him for the position of our future lord and master.

Also, on a curious note, Heir Potter seems unusually powerful for his age, and is in possession of unique assets and temperament. Upon our moving to the common rooms, three of my fellow first years attempted to assault Potter, but were foiled by his three maids. I am unsure as to how he managed to get them into the school, but the Headmaster seems to have grudgingly permitted it. Only one of the boys, Theodore Nott, was successful in firing a spell at Potter, which was dispelled by what I presume is either enchanted clothing or a cleverly utilized ward.

Potter then sat down and explained that his mother and father had not raised him, but instead left him to be raised by abusive relatives. He claims to hate the Potters just as much, if not more, than the rest of Slytherin House. I believe that if we swear ourselves to him, he would be amiable to setting out to destroy Dumbledore in retaliation for the abuses he suffered.

I have also noted that several of my elder housemates seem to be analyzing Potter with similar intent as myself. Many of them had been fully expecting Heir Malfoy to be sorted into our house, providing a wealthy liege lord to swear ourselves to, but with his unexpected sorting, Heir Potter has become the most desirable candidate. If we are to achieve a respected status with him, it would be prudent to act sooner rather than later.

Potter displays unprecedented potential, and I pray that you acknowledge it as I have.

Your loving daughter,

Daphne Greengrass"

Daphne tapped the mirror once again with her wand, sending the message to her mother. She sincerely hoped that her mother accepted Potter as she had. Not only was he obviously powerful and intelligent, but he also seemed to be mature, self-disciplined, and above all not cruel. Her largest concern had she sworn herself to Draco Malfoy would have been the demeaning acts he likely would have forced her to perform for his amusement and whims. Considering how close he was to the two enigmas, Sakura and Illya, at the very least she believed he wouldn't ask such things of her, as neither of the girls seemed the type to follow an arrogant boy.

She really didn't care what happened to her personally, as she existed only as a tool for her family, but that didn't mean she enjoyed pain or shame. Given that the three maids that served the boy seemed content, she imagined that Harry would be a fair Master for herself and her family. She certainly hoped so, as her younger sister would share the same lord as the rest of the family.

The thought of Harry Potter becoming the next Voldemort was a thought she found tremendously amusing, with the sheer irony of it. All she knew was that if Harry Potter became a Dark Lord, she would be securing the #2 spot for herself. Although she knew that if she wished to do so, she would have to be careful in her maneuvering, as it was clear that for the moment such a position was filled either by Illya or Sakura. And she was especially wary of both, as while they seemed unassuming, she knew better than to judge a book by its' cover. The hat would never have Sorted them into Slytherin if it hadn't had good reason to. And judging by the terror it had shown when it had almost Sorted Sakura in Hufflepuff, at least the purple-haired girl was hiding something. But nothing would stop her from becoming the most trusted lieutenant of the future major power in the Wizardry World.

It was what she had trained herself for after all.

She was stirred from her thoughts as the mirror rippled, displaying the reply in her mother's elegant handwriting.

"My beloved daughter,

I am hesitant to throw our lot behind the offspring of our enemy, but the idea intrigues me nonetheless. The judgement shall be yours. If you believe that Potter is our family's future, swear yourself to him, and become the keystone of his future organizations. If not, find a more suitable candidate, and quickly. Our prospects grow bleaker by the hour.

Do not fail me,

Avery Greengrass"

-Break-

On a brief scouting expedition, Harry went to check out the third floor corridor. He was going to be cautious, primarily to avoid being caught rather than out of fear for any danger contained within the school. Using the Kaleidoscope to sneak out of the dungeons undetected, he disillusioned himself and cast a muffliato spell to silence his movement. He had to make this quick, as the girls would be waiting for him to come to bed. The only one that had chosen to accompany him on this little trip was Assassin, who was silently filling his shadow as always.

He quietly made his way through the halls, not passing a single living soul on his way to his planned future dormitory. Arriving at the entrance, he was stymied by Filch, who was guarding the massive door, muttering darkly to himself. Harry didn't really want to know what went through the bitter caretaker's greasy head late at night, so he didn't listen in.

Honestly, a combination of a comb-over and hair that went past your shoulders just was not a good look on anyone.

"Assassin," he called over his mental link.

"Yes, Master?" was her instant reply.

"I need you to distract Filch. Go make some noise down the hallway," he commanded.

"It shall be done, Master," Assassin replied before quickly moving to comply.

A moment later, a tremendous clamor resounded down the corridor, making him wonder what precisely his Servant had done to make that much noise. Deciding it was better left unanswered, he watched Filch snap up and dash towards the source of the noise, screaming about how he would catch those responsible and string them up by their ankles. The evil glee in his voice further convinced Harry that he would have to be careful to never end up alone with the man.

Taking advantage of the distraction, he crept up to the doorway and put his hand against the lock. The silvery metal of Panzer flowed out of his palm and into the lock, filling the space and hardening. Rotating his hand, his impromptu key unlocked the door, and he slid inside.

He found himself in a large square room, lit around the perimeter by torches. He also noted clinically that there was a trapdoor as expected in the center of the room. Neither of these really registered to him though, in favor of the Cerberus staring at him from the trap door.

It was massive, filling up roughly two thirds of the giant room. Evidently, Assassin's distraction had roused it from its sleep, as it looked rather cross about something. It resembled a black English Mastiff, albeit one with three identical, drooling heads with teeth the size of baseball bats.

Its three heads all simultaneously swiveled towards him, growling in anger, a noise which made the room vibrate with its volume. Not wanting to be eaten, he recalled his experience with giant canines. Tentatively, he did what he thought what was reasonable based on how dogs seemed to react to him.

He projected a box of dog biscuits. It may have seemed stupid, but if he had learnt one thing from Zelretch's tutoring, it was that sometimes overthinking things was unnecessary, and that it was best to, as they say, "wing it".

Almost instantly, the growling ceased and was replaced by enthusiastic panting and whining. Not even surprised anymore, Harry projected two more boxes, tossing one to each of the heads, which were snapped up in a display that would mortally terrify anyone that hadn't spent a week alone with Primate Murder.

Watching the dog eat, he recalled what he knew of Cerberi. They were a magical, three-headed race of dog that were renowned for their unstoppable strength and magical resistance, unshakable loyalty, and guardian abilities. It was said that they could shake off a dozen killing curses, would only obey orders from their owners, and once instructed to guard a location, would maintain vigil over it until they were called off or died. Their only weakness was that they would fall asleep if exposed to music, though they could be trained to ignore it.

Evidently though, this one was highly untrained. First of all, a Cerberus that recognized a Master would never be swayed from its hostility by treats from a stranger. Second, it had been asleep earlier, despite them never sleeping when on the job. It seemed that whoever had gotten it to stay there had no idea on how to train it, or had lacked the time to do so.

Sensing an opportunity to give Prim and Midnight a new playmate, he projected a dozen raw steaks, which he threw to the heads one at a time. By the time he was done, the giant dog was willing to let him approach.

Scratching three heads at the same time proved a slight difficulty, until he called Assassin in to help him out, which she did gladly. It appeared that the raven haired Servant was rather fond of dogs. Perhaps the idea of a species that loyally devoted themselves to a singular individual for their entire life appealed to her. Regardless, soon the beast was quite friendly to Harry and Assassin.

Harry coaxed the dog up, and went into the trapdoor with Assassin. A blast of structural analysis alerted him to the various detection spells layered throughout the underground chamber, which he manipulated so as to bypass without disabling.

The trapdoor itself simply led to a large hole, at the bottom of which laid vines that instantly tried to strangle him and his Servant. His brow twitched at how Assassin seemed to be strangely enjoying the sensation of being wrapped in contracting tentacle-like vines. He swore he heard her moan his name at one point. Not wanting to ponder it further, he activated Panzer's defense protocols.

Hundreds of liquid metallic tendrils spread from him, slashing and dicing any vines of either himself or Assassin. He deliberately ignored her sigh of disappointment at that. Continuing through the nearby door, they entered a chamber with a locked door on the other side, a few broomsticks leaned against the wall, and thousands of keys flying through the air. Ignoring the broomsticks, he simply repeated the trick with Panzer on the locked door. The magic in the door seemed to resist, likely spelled against lock picking, but Panzer simply absorbed the magic channeled at it and unlocked the door.

This room contained a large chess set. Attempting to walk past it resulted in one of the pieces smacking Harry with the butt of its spear. Panzer absorbed the impact, but it appeared that Assassin didn't take the attack on him quite as well.

Her black hair rose up like an legion of angry snakes, before striking out in fury at the pieces, completely eviscerating them. Not the way he'd have handled it, but Harry supposed that it worked. As the rubble began reconstructing itself, the pair stepped over it and into the next room. As they entered, black fire encircled them and they were presented with a potions riddle to bypass them.

Wanting to hurry up and get to bed, Harry instead simply walked through the flames at the end of the room, which Panzer blocked out. Assassin just astralized and waltzed through them at his side. The next room contained two vicious looking trolls, munching on a bone. He had to tell his Servant to not kill them, as it would cause too much suspicion. Instead, he just dashed past them faster than they could react and made it to the opposite doorway.

The last chamber was large and circular. Bluebell flames illuminated the edges of the room, reflecting off the mirror in the center. The mirror itself was very elaborate and ornate, with the words, "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi" inscribed on the top.

As he gazed into the mirror, he was puzzled as he saw himself and the girls watching the various members of his revenge list go through emotional breakdowns. While his victims were evidently in great torment, the girls seemed content and happy, and even Saber had a smile on her usually stern face.

"Assassin," he asked, "are you seeing the same thing I am?" When he didn't receive a reply, he turned towards her and witnessed her blushing harder than he'd ever seen, with an expression of pure bliss on her face. Slowly, she turned towards him, an almost predatory gleam in her eyes.

"I certainly hope so, Master. I hope so. By your most holy name, I pray that this mirror shows the future," she said in that particular voice she used when she was about to start making attempts for his chastity.

Slowly returning to the mirror, though ensuring that at least one eye was on his Servant at all times in case he needed to defend himself, or rather his innocence, he tried to puzzle out what exactly it was and why it was there. He'd gathered so far that everything leading up to this were various defense mechanisms, but he couldn't figure out whether this was the defended object or the final defense.

He so curiously wanted to know what exactly all of this was, and what exactly was so important that a school Headmaster felt it completely reasonable to keep an untrained and Masterless Cerberus inside his school. It was just asking for trouble, especially when he had warned the whole school to not check the corridor out, meaning that now every adventurous student would want to see for themselves what was there. And to make things worse, the door between the Cerberus and the corridor was hardly an obstacle to a determined student, he was pretty sure that even a first year could open it. Which would lead the unfortunate student to face a Cerberus who would gladly eat them or maim them.

As if in answer to his desire, the mirror's surface rippled and showed him his own reflection. Then his reflection winked and patted his pocket. As the reflection did so, Harry felt a weight settle into the pocket of his robes. Curious, he reached in and pulled out a stone the color of blood. It was clear, and about the size of a baseball, but what was odd was that he could not feel his reality marble store it. Confused, he attempted a structural analysis…

By the Root, his brain hadn't been under this much stress since he'd stared at the vault of Gilgamesh. Not wanting a massive headache, he cut the flow of prana. He'd take the stone back with him and see if between him, Caster, Illya, and Sakura, they'd be able to figure out what it was. Considering this a successful little scouting expedition, he turned on his heel.

"Come, Assassin. We've done what we came here for. Let's go to bed."

"Yes, Master," the Servant said, quickly falling in line behind him.

The pair backtracked their way through the various obstacles, generally utilizing the same techniques as the first time. When they arrived at the room with the vines, which were already growing back at an impressive rate, he commanded Assassin to pick him up, and she launched them back through the trapdoor.

Back in the room with the Cerberus, who gave them an enthusiastic greeting, Harry sent the raven haired Servant ahead to check if Filch was still there. After confirming that he was still searching for the intruder, muttering to himself all the while, he slipped out the door and teleported back to his room.

Inside his room, he was greeted by the girls, all of whom were already in bed and waiting for him. Setting the stone on the counter, he stripped down to his boxers and was promptly pulled into the bed by Caster, the woman grabbing hold of him, as did the others, and cuddled him like a giant teddy bear.

He was honestly curious as to the school's reaction would be were they to learn that he shared a bed with nine gorgeous women every night, one of them willing to do anything he asked and who considered him a God she enthusiastically worshiped. His parent's reaction might be amusing in particular. Already, he was mentally rehearsing the tearful explanation he would give his father when the man inevitably demanded an explanation as to his sorting into Slytherin. He was thinking something along the lines of going undercover with the snakes to protect Orion. The Potters were so naïve, it was almost sickening, all he needed to do was act the part, and they would believe anything he said. Any decent magus would be keeping an eye on him for several years before even starting to trust him, but they were evidently far less paranoid.

Chuckling to himself darkly, he once again reviewed his list of possible venues within the school. The third floor corridor would work, once it was unoccupied. The Chamber of Secrets might make a decent workshop, but it wasn't exactly designed for living conditions. He wouldn't take a tower, as they were far too conspicuous. One might suffice for temporary living quarters until he the underground chambers were cleared. He'd seen one overlooking the lake that seemed nice and abandoned. With some tidying up, he'd be able make it work until something a bit subtler could be prepared.

What he did know was that he wasn't staying in these bloody rooms. They granted far too much access to him for his liking, and he wouldn't be able to completely remove the spying spells without the Headmaster noticing, which would limit what he could do inside them. And if the man ever found out he wasn't sleeping in his room, he'd have to explain why he was monitoring him so closely, something he doubted could be done without explaining his less than healthy interest in him.

Those thoughts were best saved for tomorrow. Now was the time for blissful sleep with the girls.

-Break-

From his quarters in Hogwarts, James Potter was getting very intoxicated. His son and the heir to the Potter legacy was a Slytherin. Why hadn't he taken the Headmaster's warning more seriously? He'd done all he could to ensure that the Potter line wouldn't be tainted by darkness, but the goblins of Gringotts wouldn't budge on a legal matter if Merlin himself was requesting it. Honestly, how bloody hard was it to disinherit a child that you know in advance will be led to evil?

He didn't even care if he'd be hungover for his first day of teaching. Right now, the bottle of Ogden's Firewhiskey was the only thing standing between him and complete despair. The only recourse left to him was to ensure that Harry turned into the lightest child to ever live.

That might be slightly difficult given what he'd seen of his oldest son. Fortunately, the boy was very enthusiastic to meet himself, Lily, Orion, and Ivy. Even he was surprised by the enthusiasm with which he was greeted by the child he'd unknowingly sent to Lily's abusive sister.

The problems arose from his companions. The two girls with him seemed sweet enough, but he didn't like the idea of some stranger calling Harry his son, and his own son calling two other girls his sisters. His primary concern were the three black haired beauties his that were accompanying his son. His internal father was immensely proud of the fact that his son had three women like that as his companions, but it wasn't like they had any romantic attachment, that would have been immensely disturbing.

He'd consulted with the Headmaster, but neither of them could deduce exactly what kind of constructs they were, nor why they served Harry as they did. Logically, any intelligent being that could think on the level of a human would abhor the idea of being a familiar, with the exception of ones designed to provide guidance, like Phoenixes. So why were three women who could make any straight wizard walk straight into a wall dressing up in fetishistic maid uniforms and enslaving themselves to a ten-year-old?

All he could deduce was that whatever manner of construct the maids were, they had been made in a very dark ritual, and therefore, they were dark. Whatever motives they had for serving his son, they were suspect. Dumbledore had expressed an interest in turning them to the light, and was going to drag them to an impromptu meeting/interrogation tomorrow, and if they passed would offer to sever their familiar binding to Harry.

He hoped they accepted the offer.

-Break-

At a little past seven, Harry awoke with the girls. Once Illya, Sakura, and the maids were dressed, he Kaleidoscope'd them back to their room. He took the robes he'd brought with him and alchemically dyed the trimming a nice Slytherin green, along with the tie. Once he'd gotten dressed, he brought up a matter with Caster.

"Say, Caster, can I ask you to do something?"

The blue haired witch finished donning her hooded dress before replying, "Of course, Master. I presume it's about that stone you brought back with you last night."

"Yes," he confirmed, "I would like you to take a look at it while we're eating breakfast. It's one of the few items I've found that causes my reality marble to wig out. I figured that since you have A-Rank Mystic Code Crafting, you might be able to figure out what it is."

"Certainly Master, I'll just have to put up some magic circles in here and I'll be able to experiment. I'll inform you when I have the results. You brought it back from your scouting trip to the third floor corridor?"

"Yes. Whatever it is, the Headmaster went through a lot of trouble to defend it. I have no idea what the political backlash of him keeping a Cerberus inside of a school would be, but I fully intend to find out. Perhaps an anonymous tip to the Board of Governors. If this stone is important enough for him to risk administrative probation, I definitely want to find out what it is. Who knows, it might even be useful."

Caster nodded dutifully, and set about drawing several magical circles on the desk in the room with some of the Magecraft supplies from Harry's trunk. Mentally, she was squealing. She'd finally have a chance to show off her magecraft skills! In all honesty, having a True Magician for a Master made her feel a bit inadequate. It was bad enough that he was a better cook than her, but she was determined to impress him with this! She'd find out every minute detail of this giant red rock, even if she had to spend every moment of her time until the end of the year on it!

Seeing her intense and to be quite honest, adorable, look of concentration, Harry turned and stepped out into the hallway. Apparently, he was the first one up as the place was silent. He figured that it was likely due to the fact that it was the first day of the term, everyone was tired, and he was still an hour early for breakfast.

Mentally retracing his steps from when he'd followed the prefect, he made his way down to the Great Hall. Inside, he was only there for a few moments before Sakura, Illya, Leanna, Monica, and Joy came in with him. The Homunculi sat down at the table with him, making a barrier between Illya, Sakura, and the rest of the house. Harry appreciated that, as while he was a near-godly powerhouse, Illya and Sakura were just two better-than-average magi. Sure, they could handle anyone in the school with ease, but that would require them to reveal their magecraft. The maids would be able to intimidate most of the students into leaving the two alone. If not, greater measures could be taken. He'd like to see how untrained children dealt with facing an angry Servant, Berserker certainly had taken a shine to all three of them. Although that might be a bit much, it would certainly make sure that nobody tried to mess with them again.

Sitting at the Slytherin table, he looked up to the teachers' table. The only three professors up there were Severus Snape, who looked incredibly smug about something, Filius Flitwick, who was looking at the maids with a puzzled expression on his face like he was curious about them, but was too polite to ask, and James Potter, who looked incredibly hungover. Harry felt a bit of pleasure at the knowledge that he was likely the cause of what was obviously a night of heavy drinking.

After roughly thirty minutes of polite conversation with the girls, other students and professors began entering the Great Hall, filling it with noise. At the dot of eight o'clock, food filled the tables and breakfast began. Before any of them touched their food, Harry performed a quick structural analysis on it to ensure that it was free of potions and spells. Finding it clean, they began eating as he surveyed the hall, noting students and professors of interest. Draco Malfoy shuffled in, looking particularly haggard, and sat down at the emptiest part of the Gryffindor table. The second his body made contact with the seat, there was a brief 'swish' and his hair turned a fiery red while his robes transfigured into a frilly, Gryffindor-yellow dress.

At his indignant squawk, two redheaded twins on the opposite end of the table exchanged high-fives under the table, something that was missed by the professors due to the angle. He made a note to watch his back, as the two then shot a quick glance and a smirk towards the Slytherin table while McGonagall came down and started trying to undo whatever the twins had done to the boy, while shooting them accusing looks which they pretended not to notice.

Neville seemed to be settled into the house nicely, and was sitting across from Orion and Ron, looking mildly disgusted with the way they were shoveling food like it was their last meal. He was curious as to why the shy boy was associating with the two, but moved on. That Ravenclaw girl that had sat with Orion on the train, Herm-something, was holding a quiet debate with several of her housemates, which she seemed to be winning.

At his own table, Daphne was sitting several seats down and looked to be contemplating something. He was unsure as to what, but he imagined that it had something to do with his minor powerplay and announcement last night. The three boys: Nott, Bragge, and Ivanoff, looked slightly sore and were shooting him vengeful looks. Fortunately, their Slytherin nature would likely keep them from doing anything too public, but in private he'd have to keep an eye out for them.

The Headmaster was sitting up in his big chair, and was staring at him. What thoughts were hidden behind that infuriating twinkle he didn't know, but it put him on edge. The look on James' face made him reschedule his tearful confrontation to A.S.A.P. Fortunately, Lily didn't look quite as confrontational, but was instead shooting her husband angry glares, likely over his late-night drinking.

Snape came around, passing out the class schedules. Upon getting theirs, he, Illya, and Sakura compared them. They all had the same schedule, with Charms first, with the Gryffindors. Sighing at the thought of spending more time with his brother, he quickly finished his food. After finishing his rounds, Snape informed him and the maids that Dumbledore wanted to see the Homunculi alone after the meal. Giving his consent, as he could guess the topic of conversation.

Once the meal was finished, the students stood and filed out of the hall to their respective classes.