The Shadow of the Wizarding World

By: Jamnaz79

Beta: ?

-x-x-x-x-x-

Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc. Nor do I claim to.

-SotWW-

The choice though was simple for Remus; he truly wanted to be in Harry's life. He wanted to have the chance to learn who his best friend's child really was. The only way to do that was to agree to Harry's terms and take advantage of this opening. He pulled out his wand and raised it into the air, "I, Remus Lupin, swear on my magic to the terms listed on this contract. Furthermore I swear on my life that I will help and protect you Harry James Potter."

The haggard man slid away his wand but not before slicing open his own hand and picking up a quill to sign the magical contract in his own blood. "Will you give me a chance to get to know you Harry? I want to be part of that family you spoke about."

Harry was stunned by the actions of the man. In one move he had removed almost all of the possible restraints he had from the man. He parted his lips to show what the action meant to him, "Thank you Mooney."

The smile that broke out over the worn down man's face was so bright that it seemed the weariness melted away, "Good then let's get started. I was told you were working on a certain charm?"

Harry raised his wand into the air concentrating on Halloween this year with his new family then spoke firmly, "Expecto Patronum!"

He stared at the back of the werewolf as the man closed the door to leave his office. A sigh of frustration escaped the lips of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore before he picked up a few pieces of his favorite candy. The elder wizard tossed a couple of the sweet and sour gems into his mouth to enjoy the tart taste of the lemon drops. If only life was as simple as a good piece of candy. But instead sometimes it seemed for the old man that life was far too frustrating.

The boy-who-lived seemed to be getting more and more independent. While this had resulted in a few rivals and supporters of the Dark Lord being dealt with not to mention the larger focus of support for muggleborns it still went against the plans of his Great Good. After all, Harry was supposed to follow his wisdom and his path. The boy should become his apprentice and take after him as tradition dictated. He could be the perfect choice for the next Leader of the Light, assuming that he somehow survives his confrontation with Voldemort.

According to reports from his teachers the boy was excelling at every subject except potions. He seemed to have finally flipped the switch as muggles say and started to show he was worthy of attention. Perhaps telling him the prophecy had been the correct choice, even if it was forced. The boy now worked with a reckless abandon that shamed even the brightest Ravenclaw. According to Minerva, Babbling and Filius there was a good chance that the boy would be ready for his owls at the end of the year! This was truly remarkable to accomplish, especially when considering in prior years the boy had been a middle of the road student. There had been a remarkable very few students that had been capable of learning at a pace like the boy was. He was proud to say he was the last one that had skipped years to take his owls early. Perhaps this was the power that the Dark Lord knows not at work?

If so what was the reason that the boy was different now? There was so many factors different with the boy from the end of last year to this one. It could have been the influence of those horrid muggles or perhaps it had been the poor influence on education of the Weasley boy? The muggle wouldn't be bothering anyone ever again at least. Poor excuses for humanity, steal from Albus Dumbledore? Ignore his plans and requests to raise the boy properly, the beasts instead took his money to spend on their fat pig of a child! A slight smile crossed the lips of the old man as he sucked on the lemon drop wondering how that family will enjoy the winter in Siberia. A few compulsion charms never hurt anyone and nobody had to know. The family's house seemed to have already been destroyed by Harry. He had given them a chance to start over; everyone deserved a second chance after all. So what if it was starting over with barely any money just before a Russian winter. It was only fitting that they leave the country to never return.

The Weasley situation had been a frustrating one as well. It seemed that not only had he managed to lose a valuable spy on Harry in the loss of Ron Weasley but the family was now estranged to him. Molly, bless her heart, still believed in the Greater Good. She will always see the long term, after all she is the last of the Prewett family and they had always been staunch fighters for the Light. She had understood and taken his suggestion that the Dementor attack was the world of that Umbridge woman. It was a surprise that she had ordered her family to abandon Harry and saw him as much to blame as the Ministry. Of course Arthur now having a prestigious position in the Ministry means there is little need to be at the side of Harry. The family seemed to have distanced itself from even himself slightly of late. Perhaps they were merely shaking their wings or else it might be a possible sign of trouble in the future. Still they were members of the Light and would come around to the cause when Voldemort showed back up. It nothing else Arthur's new position may be valuable in the Ministry to the Order.

Still, despite all else Harry was distant and that was a problem. Perhaps he had made mistake in not listening to the boy's warning about Sirius. Perhaps he should have called for a trial right away and investigated the situation further or even forced the Dementor's away from the school. While it would have been useful to have the Lord Black in debt to him, he only had so much political capital. Choices had to be made and sometimes sacrifices, that was the way of the world. Choose the good fight for the Greater Good and sadly Sirius was not required for the success of the plan. A missed estimate by him, but there was still possibilities for fixing that situation. While Black now had legal control of the boy, he had been making small inroads with his professors to the boy, still there had to be more to regain his loyalty and trust.

The plan had been for the werewolf to be brought in to teach this year and befriend the boy. Hopefully Remus could gain the trust of Harry by talking about his father and their youth. But, it seemed that Remus, the foolish brave boy that he was, decided to take a loyalty oath to Harry. Remus would not talk about anything that he would teach the by without Harry's permission. Furthermore he wouldn't let slip purposely any knowledge he might impart on the boy or what the boy was planning. To put it simply, it ruined the whole reason he had fought with the Board of Governors to get the werewolf approved to teach.

It seemed Remus was a wash to be useful; perhaps he could at least guide the boy to walk the path of the Light. A split second the thought that Snape could perhaps infiltrate the boy's mind using legilimency but that was dismissed right away. From the actions of the boy it seemed he had already started to learn enough about the mind arts to know when he would be assaulted. Add to the fact that Severus was a childish fool and would not be able to ever control himself with anyone named Potter. It just spelled disaster. No, Severus would not be a good choice unless he wanted to end up getting charges filed against him for mental torture.

He would have to do it himself. When the boy was ready he would need to just take young Harry under his wing and start to teach the boy some of his special abilities. It might be called favoritism butit was more important to get the boy prepared for what was to come.

Next year with that ridiculous tournament that the Ministry had coming it would be the perfect time to train the boy. There would be multiple schools visiting, since the boy was too young to be a champion he would certainly want to learn more. No smart lad like Harry would be able to resist comparing himself to students of the other schools. Harry will want guidance to try to make up to the other students and he would be there to give him that grandfatherly guidance. This would be the wonderful chance to give the offer to tutor the boy personally. Yes, next year should be the perfect opportunity to impart some wisdom and direct the path of Harry. Plus if the boy had his OWLS already so much the better! He will have to tell Minerva to push the boy even harder so this year he can get the tests out of the way.

Albus smiled as he popped a lemon drop into his mouth happy over his new plan to regain the trust of the boy.

~~~ SOTWW ~~~

Harry smiled as he looked down at the fish bowl that he created after a month of work. Two little goldfish swam in circles around a tiny little castle that was a replica of Hogwarts. He was ecstatic at his results. Not only had been able to turn the block of wood into a fishbowl but he was completed the multi-part transfiguration. He turned part of the wood into water filling the bowl; some was of the wood turned into the castle along with the rocks on the bottom. He had managed to create the water in the bowl along with the very alive fish swimming around within it. It was a remarkable work to complete, a five part transfiguration. Normally it was not something seen until NEWT level work. But, Harry was anything but normal and he had been working on the concepts and laws of the transfigurations repeatedly over the month. It had been drilled into his head relentlessly from Professor McGonagall.

She had started with the bowl first which was simple and something learned in first year. Next came the difficult part to learn to transform the water into the bowl at the same time. The creation of the water was neither a big deal nor the bowl; it was doing both at the same time which was difficult. The more directions the magic had to be imagined to take at once, the more force of will and power required by the wizard. This was an advanced concept that started to be touched upon during fifth year normally. Harry had mastered it quickly and now was up to five instant transfigurations at once. Finally, the creation of the fish was truly a magnificent work since that normally could only be done during sixth year work. All together it had been a frustrating few weeks where he spent every night with Professor McGonagall.

Did he mention that he was annoyed with Professor McGonagall? She was rather frustrated because of a game. Well not just any game, Quidditch. So far Gryffindor had been defeated twice in the House Quidditch league. It appeared that despite last year being the best team they had in a number of years and easily winning the cup on the back of Harry's amazing seeker play, this year's team was in ruins. Harry had not asked about it but from the rumors the team was ready to implode.

There had already been a few fights between the Weasley twins and Wood. The start of them happened once Harry had pretty much been forced out of the team. The troublesome twins had taken to ignoring some practices and instructions from Wood in games which ultimately ended up in a fist fight. If that was not bad enough Katie Bell had been continuously in arguments in Alicia and Angela. According to Hermione, she was rather upset at the other paid from the "Flying Foxes" of Gryffindor because of Harry's situation. Not only were the trio estranged but she had threatened to quit after finding out about Harry's chosen replacement. The new seeker for the team, Ginny Weasley, seemed to be a competent flyer but she wasn't in the same league as Harry.

All of this had resulted in Gryffindor being destroyed by Slytherin and then following that up by horribly losing to Hufflepuff by 300 points! Was Harry a little sad and embarrassed for his House? Perhaps he was slightly concerned that they looked like fools. Katie had been nice and really didn't deserve the torture, neither did Wood whose only dream was to play professional Quidditch. Maybe he was a little guilty of teaching Draco how to fly better and become a better seeker. Currently the snakes were 2-0 and looking to become Champions this year. But, overall Harry just didn't care. Quidditch was fun, it was a wonderful game and he loved to fly. But, he had no intention of giving support or even watching the games when his heart wasn't in it.

So while Professor McGonagall was partly blaming herself for the situation with her Quidditch team she was also proving demanding to Harry with her expectations. She had made the fishbowl assignment to Harry not expecting the boy to complete this level of transfiguration. In all, this would be something she would expect of a NEWT level student to try to complete in seventh year or someone special like Ms. Granger in fifth years. Yet her lion cub had done it! He had become a prodigy just as good as his father had been and perhaps even better!

She reached over and gently rested her hand on the shoulder of the boy. He looked up at her with his mother's eyes shining. Her own gaze was filled with pride for what the boy had accomplished. "This is simply amazing Mr. Potter. It is a work of art to accomplish this level of transfiguration. This is where we stop just casting spells and start to mold creations that are astounding to the eye. I am so very proud of you."

The raven haired boy's cheeks turned pink at the compliment ad praise. His left hand reached up slowly to embarrassedly run his fingertips through his long hair. Just at the same time a sheepish smile crossed his lips, "Thank you Professor. I just wanted to be up to your challenge."

The sound was strange to the ears of Harry; it was not something he had ever heard come out of the lips of the stern witch, laughter. She was actually laughing with a smile! "Mr. Potter, you have been up to the challenge all year. I gave you this project hoping you would complete it by the end of the next year or in two years not in a month's time! This is something that will be hailed as remarkable, a generational talent."

The young Potter Lord blinked at the words in surprise and just realized how much of his ability he had shown to the stern woman. Perhaps the overwhelming drive to prove himself and make up for the past mistakes may have bit him in the ass this time. He cleared his throat and tried his best to look bashful, "Professor, can we not tell other of this? Please?"

The words brought the woman up short with a frown edging on the corners of her lips, "Why ever not Mr. Potter?"

Harry scratched the back of his head as he looked down at his feet with his best lost child look, "I already get attention all of the time because of my parent's death and Voldemort. I don't want any more if I can help it. Would it be possible to make this our secret? At least for now, please?"

The boy looked up with hopeful, innocent eyes to his Professor. She swore that she felt her heart melt a little bit at the sight of young James, her favorite pupil ever, looking at her. She was reminded when James came to her asking for her help to learn to become an animagus. He had gotten her to promise to keep it quiet and it had been a promise she kept to this day. She knew in her heart that his son just managed the same request. She let out a sigh, "Very well Mr. Potter. But, I expect you to come to me only for any questions on transfiguration. If I am going to be your confidant I will consider you my apprentice when you are ready."

She paused as she watched the boy blink and nod his head swiftly. A slight smile touched the corners of her lips, one of the few this year, "Good, but now that I know you are capable of completing this work I will start to be demanding with your assignments. Am I understood Mr. Potter?"

"Yes Professor. I swear I will do my best! I won't let you down! "Harry smiled brightly to the elder witch.

"Good now let's work on your little hair changing ability that little Nymphadora mentioned to me." The stern woman enjoyed the sight of the boy's cheek's turning pink at the name of the teenage witch. So like James.

~~~ SOTWW ~~~

The old saying is that time flies when you are having fun. In this case it flew because Harry was so busy this year. Between classes each day, extra lessons that he attended till late at night, homework, and extra studies perfecting the rune project with Hermione the months seemed to fly by and before he knew it was almost winter break.

The rune project had been perfected by Harry and Hermione. They decided to name it the JP-Record or JPRec for short, and it could now record up to ten hours of music or the Wizarding Wireless. Then it could play what it recorded back. The James Potter Foundation would be the front to sell the product. The Foundation was already designing headphones to work with the product for those that want to list quietly and not disturb others. In addition the Foundation was able to work out a deal with the British Quidditch Leagues to record their playoff matches and sell them as a permanent record for their fans.

The device so far was a success for the Potter foundation. While it was difficult to create them as they were actually a rather intricate craft the runic pattern, this was partly because there was a secondary overlay rune pattern which hid all of the carved runes. The devices were set to be sold for a profit, there was already numerous pre-orders from many of the major shops in the alley that wanted to be the first to order the devices. Sirius had even been able to arrange for a free hobgoblins song in each device sold for the first year.

It was early December and he was truly getting excited at the prospect to spend his Winter break with a real family. It was something that he had never experienced before. So naturally he was excited when he received a familiar owl. The beautiful white owl, Hedwig landed before him with an angry hoot. She still was rather upset at him for this summer and it seemed no amount of bacon would make up for it. Naturally he tried again offering her a few pieces which she took, yet the glare was not out of her eyes. Carefully Harry plucked out the parchment and broke the seal from his godfather.

Hello Pup,

I hope this Letter finds you well. I figured I would let you know that the family holiday dinner will be held at Castle Black instead of Grimmauld Place. I figured it was a good time to show and our guest the operation. Yes, we will be having a guest family join us. On another note, I remember your last letter stated you have not gotten a date yet for the little dance at your school. Do not worry Pup, I have taken the liberty of getting you a pair of dates. Trust me, you will than me later. Also I would recommend be careful of Tonks. She is rather upset at that prank you played which caused her clothing to become see through whenever she entered the Ministry. I heard that it took her a full ten minutes before she realized it. You are in sooo much trouble. Good luck.

Sirius

Harry slowly lowered down the letter with a bit of concern entering his heart. He knew he was in deep shit with Nymph for that one, but even more he knew that letting Sirius pick his date would mean trouble. Could he trust his godfather not to stick him with a horrid date on purpose as a prank? A part of him was worried that was just what the man would do, but the other part knew that his adoptive father would most likely set him up with the best time possible just to enjoy the outcome. At least he got some mail; it was the first time in over a week. So he couldn't help a smile creeping over his face from getting a letter.

So it was a surprise that Harry received a second owl while eating breakfast. A school owl showed up carrying a letter addressed to him. At first he was hesitant to take the letter but the writing on the front seemed familiar. Slowly the young man reached out to take hold of the parchment and broke the seal reading it over. At once his eyes rose towards the Slytherin table and he saw the raised eyebrow of a dark haired beauty as she met his emeralds with her sapphire gaze. He gave her a single nod then carefully stood up and left the Great Hall.

It didn't take too long till he found the third corridor empty classroom which once held Fluffy. A flick of the wand transfigured a bit of the rubble from the past explosion into a pair of chairs for himself and his guest. It was not too long till the pale dark haired beauty entered the room. He allowed her to place the privacy wards before holding out a chair gentlemanly for the beautiful snake. Then Harry stepped over and settled into his own chair, "You wished to meet me Daphne?"

The young woman was absolutely stunning on the eyes. Her skin was flawless, hair styled perfectly no matter what time of day, her clothing kept properly ironed. No matter what the situation Daphne Greengrass always appeared to the eyes of others calm and in control. Harry couldn't help but wonder if her hair and clothing would be ruined in a blizzard. Somehow he doubted it, yet a part of him wanted to find out someday if he could stir the hornet's nest and find out. A tiny smile crossed his lips at the thought as she started to speak. "You are in trouble Potter. Or at least you are becoming a target again."

"What do you mean?" An eyebrow slightly rose at her words, yet otherwise he appeared to be calm.

"I mean that it has been noticed over the past few weeks the lack of tension with you and Malfoy. Sure there is a slight rivalry still but it is not the same. Not to mention it is widely known your problems with the Weasley family. Put it together and it means many of the snake pit that you are vulnerable." She fell silent with a look of distaste on her lips after having to speak such a large explanation that should be obvious.

"I see. I will just have to be careful. Do you know who I might need to watch out for?" He leaned back into his chair to concern her words.

"Most of the seventh years are too busy with their own concerns except for Marcus of House Flint. He seems to have a grudge with you. I would look out for a few of the fifth years and fourth years if you are found alone like Jacobs, Wright, Robinson, Lee, Bailey or Rodgers. From our own year Nott may be a problem in the future. But he is cautious and will test the waters first before he decides what to do. To put it simple, be careful." The beautiful young woman stuck the tip of her tongue out between her lips biting gently to it in thought.

Whatever the thought was it was interrupted by Harry as he reached out to touch her arm gently, "Thank you Daphne, I seem to often be in your debt."

A heat wave seemed to take the girl as she turned crimson in the cheeks at the touch from the boy. Her tongue disappeared as she pulled back her arm. A clearing of the throat was done before she spoke, "This benefits my House as well as yours. But, you can do a small favor in return perhaps."

The hands of the boy folded together onto his lap as he waited for her to continue. He was not disappointed as her soft voice picked up again, "Tracey needs to learn to dance. I was going to teach her but I prefer not to dance as the male lead of course. Perhaps you will consent to standing in?"

It was Harry's turn to turn crimson in his cheeks and clears his throat, "I do not… I mean I have never danced before."

She rolled her eyes at the boy and let out a huff, "Very well, you will both learn together. But, I expect you to provide the music. We will need classical, a waltz and perhaps some muggle rock and roll."

At that request a smile crossed the lips of the boy, "I will definitely not disappoint in that. You will have the music you require for our lessons."

Harry stood up slowly then glanced at the Slytherin girl. He still was sometimes confused by her, was she a friend or simply an ally? Did it matter right now? He truly rarely ever had friends; perhaps it would be nice to have a few more. "Thank you Daphne. I honestly do appreciate you looking out for me."

"There is nothing to thank me for Potter. If I let something happen to you my father would be rather annoyed." She paused a moment in consideration her eyes seeming to roam down his body to his boots then back up before she continued. Her voice was softer almost hesitant, "You have a proper date for the dance?"

The question stunned the boy in shock. At first he merely looked at her so long that he could spot a hint of crimson at the edges of her pale cheeks. He gave her a small smile with a nod, "Yes, My godfather seems have arranged a Black associate's daughter as a date for family reasons. I am to be hosting them a few days before at the family dinner."

A haughty sniff came out of the girl, "Letting your godfather ask out your dates?"

She rolled her eyes and continued before Harry could speak up, "I guess, I shall see what this date looks like when we have that dinner. I expect her to be up to standards worthy of our family alliance."

The boy's lips turned to a small smile as he folded his arms over his chest then spoke out in a snooty voice, "Indeed, We do have high standards. Very few could meet the requirements to someday be worthy of becoming the next lady Potter or Black."

For a brief second surprise passed through her eyes as she stared at him then a hint of a smile crossed her lips. Daphne turned and walked away from the boy, her hips seemed to swivel back and forth enticingly. The thought crossed Harry's brain, wasn't there some sort of law against a woman being able to do that already at their age?

"Keep safe Potter." The words were whispered just as the doorway was closed behind the girl leaving the boy to the chambers and his thoughts about her, surviving the holidays from Tonks, the threats from Slytherin House and finally who the hell was his godfather setting him up with?

Author Note: I hope you like the chapter. Next one should be up in about a week's time and should be less filler. No beta on this chapter which caused a bit of the delay. I still am looking for a Beta if anyone wants to volunteer. If anyone is up for it please just pm me. I need someone able to fix my horrid excuse for grammar. A few people asked me recently how far the story will go. I expect to end the story around the 350k mark. But you never know it could grow past there too if I can grow it past my outline. Please toss me suggestions and reviews, I welcome them always and look forward to them.

Story Recommendation: The British Reformation by Kb0 – A T rated story that is a solid Fleur and Harry story. Always a good bit of fun.