Harry Potter and The Winter Court Chapter 7

Later that evening, just as they were about to head down to dinner, Hermione cornered Harry in the Ravenclaw Common Room. "Okay Harry, you've been avoiding this all day. How do you know Perrenell Flamel? And why didn't you tell me you knew her?"

Harry had already put up his normal filters, so he wasn't worried about eavesdroppers, "I haven't told you a lot of the details of my years there. Nothing personal, just didn't seem important at the time so I didn't bring it up. She was one of the people that mom found to help her teach me about potions."

"So the wife of the greatest alchemist of all time, and a damn good alchemist herself if the biographies are right, was unable to get you to brew a potion correctly. You really are screwed up." She shook her head, finally realizing exactly how bad her best friend's condition was.

"Thanks, I think." Harry said with a mock tone of injury.

"Don't give me that." She smacked his shoulder to punctuate her words, "I know for a fact that you don't consider it a bad thing, just something to be endured until you can get out of it. You also enjoy turning in those strange concoctions we make in class."

He smiled, leaning back in his chair, "So I do, on both points. But as for my relationship with Perrinell, she and my mother became good friends while they were working together. That was a few years ago, and I haven't seen her since."

"Fair enough, and thank you for telling me Harry." An evil smile split her face, "Now, how do you want to go about getting hurt?"

xxxXXXxxx

"So that was the Harry you used to tell me about. The one you would teach in your dreams. The one who could somehow botch even the simplest potions." Nicholas looked at his wife thoughtfully until she nodded, "I guess that proves that it was really the dreamlands you were traveling through."

She stuck her tongue out at her doubting husband, "Told you mister skeptic. Maybe now we can have a real discussion about what that kid can do."

"Okay hun, but you can't blame me for being a little doubting given the circumstances. So, what can he really do." Nick asked, wanting to be as prepared as possible when he met with the object of his interest.

It took over half an hour for Perrinell to finish relating everything she knew about her once student, of coarse this was also with the qualifier that she had not seen him in years.

"No wonder Albus is impressed with the young man. With a resume like that, he would probably be the most powerful magic user on the planet as of right now, possibly ever."

"Come on Nicholas, you have a class in the morning and don't want to be cranky on your first day back." Perenell pushed her husband toward the bedroom, noticing the grin spreading across his face as well.

xxxXXXxxx

The next morning, following his regular exercises, Harry stopped by the Hospital wing. He walked through the doors to find the two medi-witches sipping tea around a small table that was separated from the patient area.

"Good morning, ladies." The raven haired boy smiled at them.

"Ah, Mister Potter." Poppy said, "I was just telling my new assistant about how you have made my job a lot less interesting this year."

"How would that be, Madam Pomfrey?" His green eyes were sparkling like the headmaster's, but with a malicious and predatory hint to it.

The healer was sure he knew what she was referring to, "The first year Gryfindore Potions class has always been the worst for minor injuries and incomplete potions reactions. This year has seen that drop to a total of one actual injury, and that was the potions professor."

"Is it my fault if I don't want to see any of my fellow student's unnecessarily hurt?" He said as way of a defense, "Besides, this one over here should have plenty of fun stories from the last six hundred years."

"Oh that she does, but I do believe this is a time you would like to speak with Madam Flamel." Making her excuses, the healer exited the wing.

"It's been a while Madam Flamel." Harry held out his hand.

"Don't you give me that young man." Perrenell rushed forward, grabbing the young man in an enthusiastic hug.

Setting him on the ground, the wife of the oldest wizard in the world took a few moments to take stock. "You've grown so much from the last time I saw you, and your eyes, why did you change them?"

"Didn't. They started shifting on their own about a week after I got here. Damn place also makes me keep my shields at high or get burnt to a crisp." Harry took the other seat so they could get comfortable.

"And your parents, how is your mother?"

"They're fine, just spoke to them and got that little thing Skuld made for me." His expression darkened, "I'm afraid that may be the last time I'll see them, as the connection seems to have burned the link and permanently altered the Mirror of Erised."

"You damaged an ancient magical artifact just to call home?" There was a mix of incredulity and respect in the woman's voice.

"It wasn't intentional, I just temporarily altered the energy flow to open the link. It's not like all that energy was being used for anything constructive anyway." The green haired wizard shot back. "How was I supposed to know that it would cause the mirror to reflect scenes from the dreamlands. Guess there gonna have to change the name for a century or two, until the energy redistributes and it stops jumping fractures randomly."

The rest of the morning was passed with the two old friends passing stories back and forth. Harry completely ignored anything outside the hospital wing until his stomach growled loudly around lunch time.

"Guess I need to go eat something before my metabolism decides to eat me alive." Harry hugged Perrenell again and quickly made his way from the room.

xxxXXXxxx

After Nicholas's first class, the famous alchemist made his way to the Headmaster's office. Knocking on the door, he was surprised when it was wrenched open, "Get in here old man." Albus snarled.

"Calm do my young friend or you'll never get to be as old as me." Flammell shot back.

"Why didn't you tell me your wife knew Harry Potter? And why did you act so clueless when I told you about him?"

Sighing, the older of the two answered both questions at once, "I didn't make the connection between my wife's dreams and the young man we discussed."

"Your wife's dreams? Are you telling me she can travel to the Dreamlands some way?" Dumbledore was uncomfortable being the one with all the questions and very few answers for a change. Perhaps this was how he made others feel.

"Yes Albus, though not for a while now. From time to time, over the past few centuries, she has been able to access the Dreamlands through an induced trance state. She developed the technique based on a tome of Merlin's earliest research. This requires that several things, some of which are still unknown, be just right. The longest time frame has been a few years, then the barriers closed and she could no longer gain access. That was only a matter of years ago."

"What do you mean, the barriers?"

"The walls of reality are not static things, but change in thickness over the course of time. She's developed a ritual that allows her to gauge the relative resistance she might encounter to moving through the various layers of the dreamlands. In the recent past it's been too high for her to even reach the nearer layers. She believes that there is about to be a major shift in reality, like a storm brewing on the horizon or a war that could be just gearing up." Nicholas looked thoughtful, "She did say that a few months ago there was a major distortion that rippled through the walls separating things. That must have been when Harry came back completely."

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here, Nicholas?"

"It is a war, my young friend. One the likes of us can never even imagine. War that wages across uncountable worlds, and will take lives without number. The best thing that we can do is stay out of the way until it's over. If we get between the forces that are at work here, we will be squashed like bugs under the foot of a giant." Nichols was rubbing his temples.

xxxXXXxxx

Amelia was taking the weekend as an opportunity to visit her niece, Susan. She sensed that something was changing in the world, and she wanted her niece to be safe.

"Aunt Amelia." Susan excitedly cheered as she saw her only remaining relative approaching. "What are you doing at Hogwarts?"

"I came to see you, little one." The normally stern faced woman said with a warm smile. "Can't I come to see my favorite niece if I want to?"

"I'm your only niece Aunt Amy. But what really brings you here? I've never known you to just drop by like this." The suspicious younger bones added.

"There are some things that coming, I can't be more specific than that right now." Amelia answered.

"What are you talking about, what things?" The girl looked scared and confused.

"All I can say is, stay close to Harry Potter. Near him is the best place to survive what is coming."

"Are you trying to set me up with Harry?" Susan blushed.

"Not at all. But that doesn't mean you can't be his friend." The matronly woman answered.

"I'll try. Can I tell Hannah about it?"

"Of course, my dear, I would never try to break you too up."

ooo000OOO000ooo

"So let me get this straight, your aunt wants us to become friends with the Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lived?" Hannah Abbot asked her best friend.

"Yes and Yes. Don't ask me; I don't know what she's thinking, but I'm not going to pass on such an opportunity to get close to him." Susan had a predatory tone to her voice at the last.

"Are you planning something?" Hannah asked.

"If it just so happens that he and I get a little closer than friends, I don't see anything wrong with that. And I even have my guardian's permission, so what is there to loose." Susan answered.

"Have you seen him when he gets back from his morning run? Those tight shirts he wears make him look so buff." Hannah started getting a dreamy expression as she described her crush.

"He is dreamy, isn't he?" Susan echoed.

At that moment the object of their affection walked past, accompanied by his usual companion. This wasn't all that surprising, as the girls positioned themselves so that they would be able to follow the young man, and hopefully to catch him alone.

The two girls fell into step behind the pair of friends, about which there were a great many rumors, and continued the pursuit all the way to the great hall. Once in the dining area, they decided to let it go until the trip to their first classes.

After the meal, the silent vigil continued with the two girls following their prey at a short distance. In their way through the castle there was no indication that Harry or Hermione knew they were there. Until they came around a corner and found one wand each pointed between their eyes.

"Why are you following us?" The mouth attached to the green, illusion covered, eyes asked calmly.

"Ummm..." Susan began uncertainly, "My aunt told me that I should try to get... stay, I mean, stay close to you."

Harry smiled, but didn't relax the grip on his wand, "You're Madam Bones' niece?" She nodded, "And your companion?"

"I'm Hannah Abbot, her best friend. Where Susan goes, I go." The girl tried to be brave under the steady presence of the twin wands, and almost managed it.

Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance, nodding after a second. Then Harry lowered his wand, "Okay, we'll talk later. In the mean time, you probably need to get to class, as do we."

Susan was surprised at the silent communication between the friends and started wondering how close they really were. "Um... Okay, later then."

xxxXXXxxx

On the way down to dinner Harry and Hermione ran into their earlier stalkers. He nodded to them and motioned toward one of the classrooms, saying, "In here."

When the door was closed Hermione started, "So what exactly was it you wanted to accomplish by 'staying close' to Harry?"

Since all pretense had apparently been abandoned Susan shot back, "First, what is it between you two?"

Harry laughed, "Not what you think ladies. We're just good friends who first met in Diagon Alley just before coming here."

"But Susan and I have known each other for years and still have trouble with the glance talking thing." Hannah protested.

"Yeah," Susan jumped in, "You two act like some of the old married couples I've seen."

"We do spend a lot of time together, but we've never even considered anything like that." Hermione said. "I think of Harry as a brother, and it would just feel too weird."

"So, what are you two after?" Harry restated the question.

"We would like to stay close to you." Susan said, "Though I would not be against getting closer to you."

"Hey, what about me?" Hannah interrupted.

"Why don't we just agree to be friends, and see if it grows into anything else, okay?" Harry cut off the impending fight.

The girls nodded, becoming two more friends that Harry could probably count on, once he got to know them a little better.

xxxXXXxxx

All of the students began to settle into a new routine with the latest addition to the teaching staff. Professor Flamel brought many changes to the subject of Potions, including the sudden lack of snide remarks and exploding cauldrons. This resulted in most of the student body increasing their ranking of the class from dead last to second or third. There were even a few of them that now found the class as their favorite.

Harry took notice of one of these students, a round faced young man with a talent for Herbology that was now beginning to excel in Potions in the two weeks since his most feared teacher departed. Neville Longbottom was kind and generous, sharing his insights with others and always happy to help the teachers after class.

The raven haired wizard thought of Mr. Longbottom as a good prospect for both a friends and a valued member of the team. With his new-found gift for potion making the young wizard could be invaluable in later stages of the battle against the forces of order.

And so it was that, one weekend in mid-December, a green eyed boy sat next to him in one of the many courtyards of the castle while three girls sat on the bench facing them.

"How's it going Neville?" Harry Asked.

Neville looked up from his Herbology text to find eight sets of eyes staring at him. "Um, okay."

"Relax. We just want to get to know you. You seem to be a nice guy, after all." Harry smiled warmly.

"But why me? I'm just a nobody." Longbottom mumbled the last, feeling very self-conscious.

"You don't give yourself enough credit." Hannah said, "Professor Sprout says that you're the best in your year in her class."

"And I've heard that Professor Flamel say that your potions skills are improving at a rapid pace." Hermione added, "At least since he started teaching."

Neville blushed at the praise he was receiving from the girls, so Harry jumped in to save him, "Leave him alone girls, can't you see that he's embarrassed enough." Turning to the prospective friend he continued, "But what they say is true. You're better at potions than I'll ever be, and Herbology just doesn't seem to be my cuppa tea. But that aside, I do know that your parents and mine were good friends, so why not give it a chance?"

"Okay." The young Longbottom smiled, enjoying being praised.

xxxXXXxxx

Most of the student population left the castle a couple weeks before Christmas, going home to spend the holidays with their families. One notable exception was a raven haired, green-eyed, young man who had spent most of his life so far living a duel existence. His body was always in this world, while his mind was wondering the Dreamlands. He had no family to return to, as his relatives in this reality were not his favorite people, and his parents were on the other side of an energy barrier that he could no longer penetrate.

So he was at school through the holidays, working on the final touches for a magical device originally developed by the previous magical generation. This prototype version contained several modifications that would reveal even more information about the little dots scurrying over the surface of the parchment. It would have been impossible to layer any more charms into the original matrix, so he had woven a series of runes into the pattern to take some of the load. Twenty seven individual arrays, in three languages, were interconnected to produce a regenerative energy source to power all the effects required.

All that was left was to cast the last three spells, one to preserve the parchment indefinably, one to bind the two forms of magic together, and a last one to regulate the level of magical leakage, even in the most non-magical environments.

"Finished." Harry sighed. The runes flared briefly before fading into the surface, leaving a blank piece of parchment. He touched the rune on the left temple of his glasses, allowing him to see the flow of energies into and out of the map. He could see a few leaks, places where the flow didn't loop all the way back into the matrix. Making several notes on the parchment that was on the table for just that purpose he canceled the mage sight on his spectacles. While he could see broad lines and pools of energy with his innate sight, it would just show a glowing mass with the Maurauder's Map v 1.1, where as he needed to see specifics to know how to correct the effects for the finished product.

Harry and Hermione had talked about what the pass-phrase should be, eventually deciding to not fix what was not broken. Harry pulled his wand and touched it to the parchment, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Several spidery lines spread out from the point of contact, making the surface momentary look like glass that was shattering in slow motion. Then the lines turned, twisted, and crossed each other, extending to the edge of the parchment.

A wire-frame diagram of the school eventually resolved, showing a few dozen dots moving almost lethargically, at this scale, around the grounds. He also noticed around a hundred other dots that seemed to zip around, or simply disappear only to reappear at some other place. Then there were the ones that were sitting perfectly still, indicating people and creatures that were most likely asleep.

He studied the map for a short time, touching his wand to individual dots to bring up the information on the individual represented. House elves, Mrs. Norris, Professor McGonnagal, all were detailed with such things as species, general health condition, and any magic they were currently under the effect of. In the case of the deputy headmistress, she was currently in her animagus cat form, prowling around her quarters for whatever reason

Deciding to test another new feature , he placed his wand on one corner of the parchment and the pointer finger of his opposite hand on the opposite corner. He then drug the two together, causing the image to zoom out, showing the area immediately surrounding the castle and grounds. He repeated the process until he could see the whole of the British Isles. Being only a prototype for most of the upgrades, they had elected to limit the scope of the map. No point in overloading the matrix after all.

He went back to looking at the castle, focusing in on the Ravenclaw dorms, finding only a few specks there including his own. He scrolled over to the Hufflepuff dorms, finding even fewer there. Finally, he was moving the point of focus to the Slytherine dorms when he ran over a lone dot, tracking toward no where in particular. He held his wand over the dot and was a little surprised at the information it displayed. It couldn't be that easy.

xxxXXXxxx

The return of students from the holiday break was a mixed bag of emotions. Many of the student's were reluctant to resume the rigorous schedule of classes, even the ones they enjoyed. But most of those, and a good portion of the other pupils, were happy to see their friends again. Gossip and bragging were the first order of business, even for those that had stayed behind. Harry waited until he could put up a few privacy charms around a corner of the courtyard while Hermione put us some warming charms.

This done he turned to his friends, "I know what we told you before the break was a little shocking." Neville, Hannah, and Susan all nodded, so he continued, "I need to know, before we continue, if you can handle it. If you want out, I have no problem with that, and no hard feelings."

Susan shrugged, "I was expecting weird, but nothing like this. I'm good though."

Hannah sighed, "It is hard to accept that all the older legends are true, but not impossible. Those demonstrations you did helped, I'm in."

Neville was still looking a little nervous, but his holiday had helped. "My gran told be about the last war, and then there's my parents. I want's to help in any way I can."

"Okay." Hermione began, now that all the others were committed to the path, "Harry and I have been working on several different plans, one of which is a map to help us locate people anywhere in the world."

"Isn't that a little advanced for student's?" Hannah interrupted.

"I would say yes, except that the original was made by a group of student's two decades ago, and I happen to have access to one of the creators." Harry answered. "The Maurauders were a group of pranksters that spent a great deal of time exploring the castle and surrounding grounds."

Hermione picked up the thread of the explanation, "They then put the information together into a map that could track anyone who entered the area, allowing them to avoid staff while still pulling some of the best pranks in history, having yet to be surpassed by the even the Weasley twins."

"That map has been lost, but the knowledge of the original creator remained. So we made a new one." He revealed the new version of the Maurauder's Map to the group, demonstrating some of the features that had been added. "This was meant to be a prototype, allowing for the testing of several new techniques, but it has already yielded more than I could have hoped. Peter Petigrew is in the Castle."