Chapter 5

The sun had just risen over Hogwarts, with its light just barely reaching the Slytherin common room through the lake. Normally, most students would already be up by then, but it was Sunday, and many of the Slytherins had elected to sleep in. A certain quartet, however, sat or stood around a small table in the corner of the room, a chessboard between two of them.

"Bishop to E5." Blaise ordered, and the miniature Weasley Twin moved to the designated square. As it arrived at its destination, it pulled out a Beater's bat and soundly brained the miniature Hermione Granger that was sitting at that location.

"Knight to E5." Harry said, and a dagger appeared in the Weasley Twin's back, with a miniature Tracey Davis kicking the white piece down and retrieving its knife.

The game continued for several more minutes before Harry's knight took Blaise's queen, which took the form of a miniature Professor McGonnagall. It went downhill for Blaise from there, and several moves later, Harry's bishop, which had taken Daphne's form, checkmated the white king, which took Dumbledore's form. The miniature copy of the elderly wizard knelt down, and the black king, which took on Harry's form, strode across the board and, with a single swing of an obsidian sword, beheaded the miniature headmaster. With the match over, the pieces reverted back to their original marble and obsidian forms and put themselves away.

"Good game." Blaise said as he stood up.

"Likewise." Harry replied.

"I still wanted to be the queen." Daphne pouted from behind Harry.

"Are you implying something Daphne?" Tracey smirked.

"Yes! The queen is the strongest piece! Who doesn't want to be the queen?" Daphne replied.

"By that logic, Harry should have been the queen. He did, after all, soundly thrash you in the practice duel we had yesterday." Blaise interjected, causing Daphne's pout to intensify.

"Enough. You can be the queen next time, Daphne. As for you, Blaise, did you find out anything when you went out under the cloak last night?" Harry asked. He and the rest of his group had been taking turns using the Cloak to sneak out and gather information. While all four of them could indeed fit under the cloak, Harry wanted to make sure everyone had enough sleep in order to avoid suspicion. After all, Dumbledore definitely knew about the cloak, and Harry didn't want to reveal any more than what was necessary to the old headmaster.

"I found out something all right. Hagrid has a dragon's egg." Blaise reported.

"What? Did you say a dragon egg?" Tracey exclaimed.

"Yes, you heard right, Tracey. It's big, round, and brown, likely a Welsh Green or a Norwegian Ridgeback. Hagrid was tending to it, and the Lions were with him."

"With this, we could get the big oaf sacked." Daphne suggested.

"No, we won't be doing anything of the sort." Harry replied.

"Why not?" Daphne asked.

"Hagrid may be big and stupid, but he is one of the few people here that Dumbledore truly trusts. Even if we reveal the secret, the old man would go to great lengths to stonewall any attempt to remove Hagrid from the school. Besides, doing that would get us nowhere, as Hagrid clearly knows a lot about the stone, and could still let slip more about the stone's defenses to the Weasleys and their compatriots, information that I can then force out of Granger." Harry said.

"Allright. What do we do about this then?" Blaise asked.

"Nothing for now, although a Dragon would be an excellent asset to have if we were to tame one." Harry said.

"Are you crazy?!" Three voices shouted out in reply.

"What? It is a possibility, after all, there are several instances in history of wizards taming dragons and using them in battle, Salazar Slytherin and Gelleret Grindlewald, to name a few." Harry said.

"Harry, Grindlewald's dragon broke free of the layers of compulsions keeping it docile during the battle of Berlin and devastated both sides before it was finally killed, and Slytherin was a parseltongue, which let him actually talk to the thing when he raised it from a young age! Even then, most historians agree that Slytherin had to kill the beast when it met wild dragons and turned against him! Taming a dragon is suicide!" Blaise protested.

"Allright, allright, I get the point Blaise. We won't be taming a dragon any time soon, but the question remains as to what we do with it, as I assume that none of you want that thing in Hagrid's hands." Harry said.

"We could sell it to the Goblins. That's what my family did with the dragons we raised before the practice was banned, and they fetched a handsome price, the younger the better." Blaise suggested.

"All in favor?" Harry asked. Three hands went up. "Good. We'll sell the dragon to Gringotts and split the money between us. You are to keep an eye on the egg. Alert us if it hatches, and we'll work from there. Anything else?"

"No." Blaise said.

"Good. I will use the cloak tonight to observe Professor Quirrel. Tracey, you said he left the school in the middle of the night two nights ago, correct?"

"Correct. I spotted him heading towards the forbidden forest near midnight, alone." Tracey said.

"Then I will follow him and determine what he is doing. He may possibly be gathering reagents for a ritual that would allow him to bypass the defenses, after all, and if he gets the stone, all our work will be for naught." Harry said, standing up, chessboard tucked under his arm.

"Just don't do anything stupid, alright?" Daphne said.

"I plan on living, thank you very much!" Harry said, before turning away and walking out of the dormitory, the rest of his group falling into step around him.


The day passed by quickly, and soon Harry was under the cloak, about to exit the Slytherin common room. Casting silencing charms on the cloak to prevent any noises from giving him away, Harry strode out of the room and into the darkened halls of Hogwarts, Marauder's map open in his left hand, while his right glowed with a dim red light, illuminating the dots on the map. Most were still, indicating students in their beds. A few, however, were still moving. One, a Peter Pettigrew, scurried around the Gryffindor First-Year dormitories. The name sounded familiar to Harry, but he dismissed it as something he had heard in passing through the hallways. He had more important things to worry about, after all, than a Gryffindor prankster.

Soon, Harry found Quirinius Quirrel on the map. The professor's dot was close by, but Harry heard no footsteps. The reason was soon revealed though, as the possessed professor did not walk through the halls, rather he glided, his cloak hissing softly behind him. Harry followed the man out of the school, tucking the map into his pocket as he did so, the possessed man unaware of his presence. It was not long before the pair reached the edge of the Forbidden forest, upon which the possessed figure looked around briefly, it's eyes briefly passing over Harry's position, noticing nothing, before it leaned forward and entered the forest proper, Harry following invisibly right behind it.

After nearly an hour of walking, Harry began to notice changes in the forest. The trees were closer together, while the plants seemed much more vibrant. One such plant suddenly wrapped itself around Harry's ankle, causing him to fall forward, barely catching himself. Thankfully, the silencing charms prevented Quirrel from hearing Harry. Angry, Harry shredded the vine before hurrying after his quarry, which had suddenly began to move faster, to the point that Harry struggled to keep up.

A glimmer of pure white alerted Harry to another presence nearby. Apparently the possessed professor noticed as well, as it suddenly turned towards the new arrival and accelerated. A startled whinny sounded out, followed by rapid hoofbeats as the prey fled its hunter.

Harry began to sprint, his limited vampiric strength allowing him to keep up with his quarry, which in turn was pursuing- and gaining on- the unicorn. Suddenly, a small white bundle fell to the ground from the Unicorn's side with a weak whinny. The effect on the larger unicorn was instantaneous. It swung around, intent on protecting the unicorn foal which struggled pathetically to rise to its feet. It was over then, as the hunter descended upon the mother, a pained shriek echoing through the forest, followed by the sound of a struggle, as the felled unicorn fought in vain to save itself. As Harry approached, the mother used the last of its strength to push away the still living foal, which had managed to get to its feet. It clumsily stumbled away from its dying mother, slowly making its way towards Harry's position.

That was when the foulest stench Harry had ever experienced filled the air. Harry would later learn that the smell was that of unicorn blood, which was one of the most effective poisons for use against Vampires, as a single ingested drop of Unicorn blood would spell instant death for even the most powerful vampire, and Harry was no exception. Fortunately, the smell was strong enough to make it fairly easily detectable for any vampire with a functioning nose. As it was, the smell caused Harry to gag, the sound of which was fortunately blocked by the silencing charms he had placed.

That was when the unicorn foal, which had slowly been stumbling towards him, made contact with Harry's invisible form, causing the little creature to fall to the ground. Its eyes were closed, but it could still feel the cloak that kept Harry hidden, and it latched onto the invisible fabric with its teeth, attempting to use it to stand once more. The action caused the cloak to be dragged down, revealing Harry whilst covering the foal, concealing the fallen animal. In addition, the silencing charms that Harry had cast on the Cloak were no longer in effect, causing Harry's resulting cursing to be picked up by the possessed professor up ahead, who whirled to face him.

"Ill met by moonlight, Harry Potter." The wraith hissed as it glided towards him.

"Professor." Harry replied, preparing for a battle.

"You know full well that I am no professor, Potter." The wraith hissed as it came to a stop a few feet in front of Harry.

"That may be, but you still hold the position." Harry replied as he prepared an Exsanguinator.

"A necessary act on my part. After all, it puts me so close to what I seek, and that fool Dumbledore has only made it easier for me to obtain it." The wraith hissed in response. It was then that Harry let the curse fly.

"Do not use my curse against me, Potter!" The wraith scolded as the Exsanguinator struck a silvery shield that had appeared out of thin air.

"Your curse? You created this?" Harry asked as he fired two more scarlet jets of light.

"Of course I did, if I did not, then it wouldn't be my curse!" The wraith said, amused, as it lazily deflected the two curses. "Now, while I find it amusing that you, Dumbledore's golden boy, are casting such dark curses at me, I believe that it is time for you to die. Avada Kedavra!"

With those words, a jet of green light emanated from one of the figure's sleeves. Harry saw the tip of a wand poking out from beneath the robe as he dodged, the killing curse striking a tree instead.

"Die Voldemort!" Harry shouted as he unleashed a barrage of spells, ranging from exsanguinators and bone shattering curses to incendiary and blasting hexes. Most of the spells were either dodged or blocked, but one incendiary curse hit the ground beneath the wraith, causing a pillar of fire to explode from the ground, catching the possessed professor by surprise. The flames were quickly transfigured into a storm of daggers, which were sent at Harry, but the fire did damage, as Harry saw that the robe that covered the Wraith was quickly burning away. Another jet of green light flew from the burning figure, but once again, Harry leaped out of the way, the spell hitting the ground instead. By the time Harry turned to look at his target, the robe had mostly burned away, revealing Professor Quirrel, although the man's now pale skin was covered in burns. The professor's eyes were a burning red as they stared at Harry, holding nothing but hatred for the one who dared wound Voldemort's vessel. The floating figure had its wand pointed directly at Harry, and as Harry watched, the still burning figure's lips moved, and another jet of green light flew towards Harry, followed closely by another, and then another, the forest around the pair being lit up bright as day by the light of so many killing curses.

Leaping over the first pair of curses, Harry sprinted towards where the cloak was, firing several exsanguinators back at Voldemort, who swatted the scarlet lights aside with contemptuous ease, replying with a scarlet light of his own, which struck Harry square in the chest. Immediately, agony unlike anything Harry had ever known shot through his body as the Cruciatus curse took effect.

Harry watched as his opponent landed on the ground, striding up to Harry, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air.

"Pitiful. You have such power, and yet you are unable to defeat me when I have but a fraction of my own available to me." Voldemort said as he ended the effects of the Cruciatus curse. Raising his wand until it was pointed directly between Harry's eyes, Voldemort smiled as he prepared to strike down the one that had ended him all those years before. That was when Voldemort coughed and collapsed to the ground, releasing Harry as he did so. As Harry struggled to his feet, he saw that the burns that covered Voldemort's host were darkening, while the skin surrounding the injuries was shriveling and turning black. The faint scent of death that had until then surrounded Voldemort began to quickly intensify as his host body began to rapidly degrade, as if the man was burning up from the inside out.

"Consider yourself... fortunate." Voldemort choked out as he struggled towards the body of the unicorn he had killed a few minutes prior, but not before sending a banishing charm at Harry, sending him flying back to where the cloak lay. His body still twitching in agony from the Cruciatus curse's aftereffects, Harry felt rather than saw the cloak, but when he tried to pick it up, something dragged it down. Looking down, Harry saw the unicorn foal that had nearly gotten him killed, still clutching the cloak in its teeth, refusing to let go. Stepping on the foal's back, Harry ripped the cloak out of the pathetic creature's teeth, while a loud crack indicated the unicorn's back breaking. As Harry donned the cloak, he took the opportunity to cast several more spells, one aimed at the unicorn foal's body, which was quickly reduced to ashes, while another flew towards Voldemort, only for its target to turn and block the spell, allowing Harry to see that the blackening and decay of his opponent's body had been stopped, and was slowly being reversed.

"Fool." Voldemort spoke, before firing another jet of scarlet light at Harry, intending to torture him again, but as the spell hit the invisibility cloak, something odd happened. Instead of passing through like it would have through normal clothing, the spell splashed against the translucent fabric. For a moment the cloak glowed a bright red before the curse faded. The cloak still glowed, however, although instead of cruciatus red, it was a dim silver, as hundreds of threads within the cloak were lit up, although the light was rapidly fading. Unwilling to look a gift horse in the mouth, Harry turned and ran back to Hogwarts, not once stopping or turning back to see if Voldemort was following him. Harry did not stop running as he re-entered Hogwarts, continuing to sprint until he rounded a corner and hit something, or rather, someone. The cloak went flying off, and Harry saw that he had ran smack into Professor Dumbledore.

"Why Harry, I certainly did not expect you to be out and about this late at night!" The old man said cheerily as he stood back up.

"Sorry, sir." Harry mumbled as he gathered up the cloak.

"Now now, my boy, you are far from the first student I have caught being out after curfew. In fact, your father was quite the troublemaker back in his day as well! Now, what might you be doing up at this hour? I certainly hope that you weren't planning any mischief up near Gryffindor tower!" The professor said, eyes twinkling.

"Professor..." Harry began, thinking of what to say. He quickly decided to tell the truth, with some omissions. With luck, he could force Dumbledore into moving early and removing the threat of Voldemort.

"Yes, my boy?" Dumbledore asked, concern replacing the twinkle in his eyes.

"Professor, I saw someone killing a unicorn in the forbidden forest. I think it was Voldemort." Any trace of a smile vanished from Dumbledore's face at that.

"Come with me, Harry. This is not the place for this sort of discussion." Dumbledore said, before leading Harry into a nearby classroom. Shutting the door, the elderly professor waved his wand, chanting a lengthy incantation in Latin. Upon the spell's completion, the door glowed a bright white, and the air around it seemed to shimmer slightly, before the glow faded.

"There, that should prevent anyone from overhearing or entering. Now, Harry, please tell me everything."

"Very well, sir. Last night, I was looking at a magical map that my father made, when I noticed Professor Quirrel's dot heading towards one of the exits. I decided to investigate using my invisibility cloak."

"This map, may I see it?" Dumbledore asked, and Harry nodded, pulling the map out of his pocket and saying the password, upon which the map came alive. As Dumbledore examined the map, Harry gasped and pointed at one of the entrances to the school. A black dot marked 'Voldemort' had just entered the castle.

"Please continue, Harry." Dumbledore said gravely as his eyes tracked the dot marking the position of England's most infamous wizard.

"Very well. I decided to investigate tonight, and I followed Quirrel as he left the castle, but something was strange. Instead of walking, Quirrel was flying. He looked more like some kind of wraith than a person. I followed him into the forbidden forest, careful to stay under the cloak. I don't know how long I walked, but eventually I saw a flash of white among the trees. Quirrel must have seen it too, because he suddenly started to fly faster, so that I had to run to keep up with him. The unicorn must have noticed him too, because it started to run away. It looked like it was going to escape, but then I saw a little white bundle fall down behind it. It was a foal, sir. A unicorn foal, and the one Voldemort was chasing must have been its mother. As soon as the foal fell, the mother turned around and tried to fight Voldemort, but she couldn't do anything to him, and Voldemort killed her. She used the last of her strength to push her foal out of harm's way. It tried to stumble away, but it bumped into me and knocked my cloak off, and Voldemort saw me." Harry stopped, concentrating on his magic to force tears into his eyes. He had long since figured out exactly when to fake crying for maximum effect. It had allowed him to isolate many of his potions test subjects so that he could stun them and take them away.

"Harry? What happened? Are you alright?" Dumbledore walked over, concerned.

"He... Voldemort saw me, and used some kind of red spell on me. It felt like my entire body was being stabbed with red hot knives sir, I can still feel a little of it." Harry said through fake tears. "Voldemort then floated up to me and grabbed me by the throat, but then he started to burn up. I don't know what happened, sir, but it was like his body was burning up from the inside. He screamed, and grabbed the unicorn foal off the ground and... and he..." Harry trailed off.

"Harry? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, sir. I said I will tell you everything, and I will. Voldemort, he... he drank its blood, right in front of me. That was when I grabbed my cloak and ran away, sir. I'm sorry I can't tell you anything else." Harry said.

"You need not be sorry, my boy. You were extremely brave today, Harry, and your courage even in the face of such evil has made me so proud..." The professor trailed off.

"Sir? What do we do now? Voldemort is in the castle." Harry asked.

"I already have a trap set in the castle for Voldemort, and the bait is something that he cannot resist. As for the unicorns, I will ask Hagrid to contact the Centaurs. They will keep them safe from harm. As for you, Harry, I urge you to keep your head down. You are not yet strong enough to face Voldemort and-" Dumbledore began, but Harry cut him off.

"Will you train me then, Professor? I don't want to feel helpless like I did in the forest." Harry asked.

"I am afraid not, my boy. Your magical core is yet to mature, and until it does when you are fourteen, you won't be able to cast the same magics that I do. However, I am not so foolish as to leave you unprepared. I will give you what I can to help you prepare yourself. Be warned though, that even with the gifts I impart to you, Voldemort can still easily defeat you. You lack both his raw power and his experience, so I urge you, for your own sake, to stay safe. Don't confront Voldemort if you can help it, Harry."

"I won't, sir." Harry said, although inside he was seething. Voldemort was inside the castle and Dumbledore wasn't going to do anything? No wonder the old man lost so much in the first war against Voldemort!

"Now Harry, please return to your dormitory. If you so wish, I will escort you there." Dumbledore said.

"No thank you, sir. It would be better if I went off alone under the cloak. Less suspicious that way." Harry said as he de-activated the map and tucked it away, before donning the cloak.

"Stay safe, Harry." Dumbledore said, as Harry left the room.


The next morning, Harry entered the common room, still rubbing sleep out of his eyes, only to find Blaise, Tracey, and Daphne waiting for him.

"Well? How did it go?" Blaise asked.

"Voldemort has completely taken over Quirrel's body and is hunting unicorns for their blood. He drinks their blood to reverse his host body's degradation." Harry said, causing the trio's faces to pale.

"Unicorn blood? Are you absolutely sure that it was a unicorn that was killed?" Daphne asked, leaning in close.

"What other animal looks like a horse with blindingly white fur and a single horn?" Harry asked.

"Bloody hell..." Tracey said, her face paling further.

"If he's drinking Unicorn blood he must really be desperate considering the curse that comes with it." Blaise said, sinking into his chair.

"Either that, or he has a way to undo the curse, such as the stone." Harry said.

"Then he will make a move soon. We should be ready." Daphne said.

"True, it is only a matter of time before even Unicorn blood stops being effective at stopping his body from degrading. I believe that he will strike near the end of the year, so that he can escape more easily. If that is indeed true, we still have several months in which to prepare. Tracey, you're going under the cloak next. You know what to do." Harry said, and Tracey nodded, before the quartet of students stood up and left the Slytherin common room for breakfast.

The hall was already partially full by the time Harry and his group arrived. Sitting down together, their breakfasts appeared before them and they began to eat. That was when another boy, Theodore Nott, whom Harry recognized as one of Malfoy's followers, sat down on his left. Harry immediately knew that something was up, as Nott had often said that he would rather die than grace a 'blood traitor' like Harry with his presence. Sneaking a brief glance at the boy failed to reveal anything, as Nott had his face stuck in a copy of the daily prophet, seemingly oblivious to Harry's presence beside him. It was then that Harry noticed Professor Snape staring at him, or rather, at the space between him and Nott.

Nott was going to try something, and it was severe enough that it warranted Snape's full attention. Immediately, Harry turned away from Nott, and started a conversation with Daphne, all the while keeping an eye on Nott. He didn't have to wait long, as at the moment Nott thought Harry's back was turned, he discreetly produced a small vial from his sleeve and dumped its contents into Harry's drink, a rather nice Earl Grey tea. It was then that Nott turned away from Harry, almost certainly in an attempt to avoid looking suspicious.

Harry then turned back to his plate, using his peripheral vision to inspect the situation. Nott had doubtlessly attempted to poison him, and the contents of that vial were dangerous enough to warrant Snape's personal attention. That was when Harry saw something else. Nott drank with his right hand, while Harry drank with his left, leaving both their cups standing right next to each other. Smirking, Harry made sure that Nott's back was still turned before he reached over and switched the two cups. Bringing Nott's tea to his lips, Harry looked directly at the boy and smiled amicably.

"A toast to Slytherin." Harry said, catching Nott's attention, before he downed the drink.

"Hmph. A blood traitor like you should not even be in this house." Nott replied, before he picked up Harry's cup and drank its contents. The young blood purist then set the cup down, staring at Harry, likely looking for some reaction to his poison. That was when Theodore Nott blinked, and immediately let out a terrified scream, drawing the attention of the entirety of Slytherin house. The Draught of Eternal Nightmares did its work well, because as soon as Nott blinked again out of reflex, he screamed once more.

One of the reasons the Draught of Eternal Nightmares was such a terrifying poison was because it altered its victims' perception of time. Even a quick blink of an eye, something that was done unconsciously through reflex, would result in nearly a minute of terror. Actually falling asleep under the draught's influence could lead to nightmares that seemed to last for days on end. When the victim attempted to keep themselves awake, the draught would cause hallucinations from the victim's nightmares to appear in the real world, making it seem to the victim's sleep deprived mind that the nightmare had not ended. Victims had been known to tear their own eyes out as they lost their grip on reality, believing themselves to be forever stuck inside a dream. It was this poison that Theodore Nott had brewed in an attempt to destroy Harry, and it was this poison that he had ended up imbibing himself.

Nott's screams as he continued to rapidly blink drew the attention of the entire great hall, and the boy was soon rushed out of the hall by Professor Snape. The hall was silent for a few moments, before conversation slowly resumed, this time focused on the strange case of Theodore Nott.

"What do you suppose happened to him?" Daphne asked.

"He guessed wrong." Harry replied with an amused smirk.

"Harry, you didn't!" Daphne exclaimed.

"I didn't do anything! Not my fault he was stupid enough to put the poison in the wrong cup!" Harry replied, smile still on his face.

"He tried to poison you?" Daphne asked.

"Who tried to poison you?" Tracey chimed in.

"Tried is the key word. Hopefully this will keep him off my back for the rest of the year." Harry replied. The rest of breakfast was spent making small talk, before the Slytherins headed to their first class of the week, which, in Harry's case, was Charms.


With a bored flick of his wrist and an intoned lumos, Harry's wand tip burst into a bright light once again, demonstrating another perfect wand-lighting charm, much to Professor Flitwick's delight. Thankfully, the class ended before the diminutive professor could ask for a repeat performance. With charms over, the Slytherins dispersed, heading off to the various electives that they had chosen. Soon, Harry, Blaise, Tracey and Daphne were all sitting around a table in the dungeons while Professor Snape watched them. While the four first years were not the only students in the room, the greasy haired professor had apparently deemed them to be the most interesting group of the bunch. While the other Slytherin first years in the room used the time to catch up on homework or to simply relax, Harry's group spent their time poring over a volume of the Encyclopedia Arcanum, and practicing what was within, at least in most cases. They couldn't try any rituals or other darker magics for obvious reasons, but today the quartet was studying Battle Magic, which served only to pique Snape's interest.

Much of the magic within the book was theory rather than practice, with the book being intended as a guideline for producing one's own spells rather than giving practical examples of specific spells. Oh there were practical examples, but they were usually used to reinforce points in the theory.

Another large portion of the book was devoted to dueling tactics and even had some details on a magical martial art that was designed to use the wand as a melee weapon in case something prevented its user from casting magic. Harry had skimmed through that section though, as the section after it contained a much more valuable, at least in his mind, trove of knowledge. It was a huge compendium of commonly used combat spells and their counters. While more esoteric spells such as those found in family grimoires were not included for obvious reasons, there were still thousands of charms, hexes, jinxes and curses listed along with their counters within those pages, and if Harry could memorize them all, he would be nearly impossible to defeat in a conventional duel. Of course, Harry mused, it would be nearly impossible to memorize such a list through ordinary means. Even magic would be of limited use in this scenario. Then again, Harry had read of a ritual that could grant selective eidetic memory to the one performing it, but the questionable legality, massive energy release, and required sacrifice made it a very ill advised ritual to perform anywhere outside of an isolated forest in the middle of nowhere.

"An unusual subject for you to be studying at this age, Mr. Potter." The voice caused Harry to look up from the book, a move that was quickly mirrored by the rest of the book's readers.

"What is so unusual about wishing to defend yourself?" Harry asked the greasy-haired professor.

"If you were intending to defend yourself, Mr. Potter, you would be looking at shield charms and methods of non-lethal incapacitation. What you would not be looking at is this." At that, Snape's finger jabbed at the subject of the page Harry was reading, which read 'Wide-Area Destruction Spells and their Applications'.

"Do you take me for a fool, Mr. Potter? This 'Delayed-Activation Fiendfyre' is most certainly not a form of countercurse or shield charm, and it clearly is designed to annihilate buildings and other such structures, and is completely impractical in standard dueling situations. Now, you have three seconds to come up with a reason for your investigation into this... Dark magic." Snape practically spat out. Ever since he had first spoken to the professor, Harry knew that the man held some form of dislike towards him, but the man never had a chance to act on that dislike. Now, however, that chance had been provided to him.

"Well? No excuse? Very well then, stay here after class is over. In addition, I will be confiscating this book for the time being. Dumbledore will be made aware of your sojourn into... darker magics." Snape's features slowly grew into a sadistic looking smile.

Time flew by very quickly after that, and soon Harry found himself alone in the room with the potions professor.

"It seems that you have in fact inherited your father's arrogance, Potter. It is impossible for you to even conjure up fiendfyre at your current age, much less control it. Had you attempted this, and through some fluke managed to succeed, the entire school would have been put at risk." Snape said, staring Harry in the eye.

"What is my punishment then, Professor?" Harry asked, staring Snape in the eye. It was then that he felt his rudimentary mental defenses trigger as something attempted to probe his mind. He quickly ducked his head, avoiding eye contact, praying that Snape had not seen anything that would reveal his true nature. After all, while he could detect a legilimency probe well enough, his actual defenses against one may as well have been nonexistent.

"Interesting, Potter, very interesting." The professor said, and while Harry could not see his face, he knew the greasy haired man was smiling.

"What is interesting, sir?" Harry asked.

"That is for me to know and you to find out, Potter. Now come with me." With that, Snape strode out of the room, Harry following behind him.

Soon, the pair had reached the Headmaster's office.

"Come in." The voice of the aged headmaster beckoned them inside. The pair stepped inside the office, and sat down on a pair of chairs that Dumbledore had just conjured.

"Ah, Severus, what brings you up here at this hour? I certainly hope that Mr. Potter has not been causing any trouble!" The old man said, a twinkle in his eye.

"I am afraid that it is something of that sort, Headmaster. I have found this book in Mr. Potter's possession, and he has been regularly reading from it during our Supervised Study sessions. I have taken the liberty of confiscating it due to the nature of its contents, some of which are quite dark." Snape replied.

"This book, may I inspect it for a moment?" Dumbledore asked, and Snape obliged, handing over the thick volume. Several moments passed before Dumbledore spoke again.

"Pardon me Severus, but I will have to ask you to leave this room. I have a matter of importance to discuss with Mr. Potter here." At that, a smirk settled on Snape's features, and the man promptly turned and exited the room, the door closing behind him.

A few moments passed in silence, before the aged professor spoke once more.

"How did this book enter your possession, Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked.

"I purchased it, Professor." Harry replied.

"And how much have you learned from it and its companion volumes?" Dumbledore asked once again.

"I... What do you mean?" Harry said, shocked.

"I remember very clearly... Five young students, four Ravenclaws and a Slytherin. So eager they were to learn... For the duration of their stay here at Hogwarts, I watched them experiment with the very nature of magic itself."

"You knew the authors, Professor?" Harry asked.

"They were in the year above me when I went to school here, Harry... and I remember nearly eighty years later when I met them again. It was after the war with Grindlewald, when I was rising to prominence in the world of wizarding politics, that they came to me, asking for permission to teach at Hogwarts."

"What happened then, sir?" Harry asked, curious.

"My rejecting them was one of my greatest regrets, Harry, for had I accepted, then five of the brightest minds of their generation would still be alive. But alas, the Hogwarts staff had no openings available, and I was forced to say no. It was the very next day that I heard of their deaths by their own hands." At that, Dumbledore seemed to age several years in front of Harry's eyes.

"After their deaths, I investigated into their lives, and discovered what they had been working on. Their Magnum Opus, so to speak. It was a series of books containing everything they had discovered through painstaking experimentation in the various disciplines of magic, both light and dark." Dumbledore sighed before he continued.

"It was when their life's work was dismissed as wild speculation that they came to me at Hogwarts, wishing to get a teaching position in order to pass on at least some of their knowledge. My refusal to allow them even that was the straw that broke the camel's back, and the rest you likely know. All five were found dead at one of their homes, with their bodies arranged inside a ritual circle. I visited their home personally after I heard of the tragedy, and I personally saw their bodies. However, their life's work, the Encyclopedia Arcanum, was missing. But enough of my rambling. Where did you come across that book?"

"I found it in a bookstore owned by a good friend of mine. We actually became friends while discussing the books' contents." Harry replied.

"I am glad to hear that Harry. At least now I can rest a little easier knowing that, although they have died, their wishes are being fulfilled at last." At that, Dumbledore handed the book back to Harry.

"I must warn you, Harry, that the authors of these volumes did not discriminate regarding their contents. They believed that all knowledge needed to be shared, and I agree with them, to an extent. Thus, you will find that some of this book's companion volumes contain information on some very dark arts, and that the information on those arts may sometimes lurk right beside the most benign of magics. I trust that you to exercise discretion with what you learn from these, Mr. Potter?"

"I will, sir, but may I ask you a question?" Harry asked.

"Far be it from me to deny you, my boy." Dumbledore smiled as he awaited Harry's reply.

"Professor, what would you say is dark magic?" At that, Dumbledore's features became contemplative.

"I believe that very little magic is truly dark, regardless of what the ministry says on the topic, just like very little magic is truly light. I could kill you with a levitation charm by levitating you off a cliff or out of a high window, or I could use something as terrible as the cruciatus curse for its original purpose of reviving people from a comatose state. Most magic is neither light nor dark, but rather it is grey, much like humanity as a whole."

"Then what would you say makes magic truly dark?" Harry asked again.

"Truly dark magic, I believe, is something that can only be used to cause harm. Something like, say, the killing curse. After all, while it is far from the only spell that can kill, it is one of the few spells that can ONLY kill. Even fiendfyre has its uses in destroying dark and cursed objects, but the killing curse is such that it can only bring death out of hatred. It is spells like that, which can only bring harm, that I believe are truly black magics. Does that answer your question, Harry?"

"It did, sir." Harry smiled.

"That is good to hear, Harry. Now, I assume that it was your encounter with Voldemort in the forbidden forest that prompted your reading of this?" Dumbledore asked.

"Partially, sir. I had been reading from it and several of its companion volumes beforehand."

"And your encounter in the forest caused you to start looking at more advanced magics?"

"Yes, sir."

"Please, Harry, do not call me sir. After all, I would like to think that I am more to you than a distant authority figure!" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at that.

"Of course, Dumbledore, sir." Harry replied, causing the old headmaster to laugh.

"Your father said the same thing to me when he was your age, my boy. Now, I believe that your next class is coming up, and I doubt that you wish to be late for Potions class! Off you go now!" Harry turned, about to leave, when Dumbledore spoke up again.

"Oh, and regarding what we spoke of last night, the reading material has been delivered to your dormitory. I hope that it is sufficient."

"I hope so too, Professor." Harry said, before he left, Encyclopedia volume still in hand.


The next few weeks were ordinary, aside from Theodore Nott being removed from the school and placed in St. Mungo's, as the school infirmary did not have the antidote on hand. Unsurprisingly, there was no official investigation into the matter, the boy's father likely using his influence to cover up his son's attempted crime.

Finally, the night they were going to acquire Hagrid's Dragon came, which found the quartet sneaking after a similarly numbered group of Gryffindors, who had managed to sneak out of their common room after hexing the prefect keeping them in. Soon, the Lions were all within Hagrid's hut, while the Slytherins hid outside, still under the invisibility cloak.

It was when the Lions emerged from the hut that things went wrong. Neville, Ron and Hermione emerged first, wands at the ready, while the Weasley twins followed them, carrying both a cage, which presumably contained the dragon, as well as a pair of broomsticks, which they had not entered the hut with. Evidently they had spent a good amount of time planning before they had acted, and had prepared accordingly, stashing broomsticks at Hagrid's hut several nights in advance.

That was when a pair of red lights flew at the lions from the shadows, striking Neville and Ron, who both lost their wands. Harry turned towards the source and saw a pair of older Gryffindors stride out of the bush wands at the ready.

Harry watched as Hermione sent a full body bind at one, before ducking out of the way as her target returned fire. She did not last long though, as while she dodged the first two disarming charms, the third one caught her square in the chest, sending her wand spiraling out of her hand. A full body bind incapacitated her, leaving all three Gryffindor first years lying on the ground. However, their sacrifice bought the twins much needed time, as while the older Griffins were focusing on the first years, the twins mounted their brooms as one and took off, with one carrying the cage while the other wove below him, firing spells down at his attackers, who, once Hermione was incapacitated, sent their own bolts of scarlet light back at them.

"What do we do?" Blaise asked. A few seconds passed before Harry replied.

"Nothing. By the time we reach the castle, the twins would have already reached the pick-up point and dropped off their charge. We should get back to the castle before the professors get here."

As if summoned by Harry's words, two professors, namely Snape and Dumbledore appeared in a burst of fire, while a bright scarlet bird, a phoenix, Harry realized, perched on the old man's shoulder and trilled softly, as if in disapproval at the students present. Soon, Snape had assigned detention with sadistic glee before leading the students back to the castle, the phoenix following him, leaving Dumbledore alone outside Hagrid's hut. The old headmaster looked around, his eyes passing over where Harry and the rest of his group huddled under the invisibility cloak. Then, after a few moments, Dumbledore spoke.

"You can come out now, Harry." At that, Harry froze.

"I'm coming out. Everyone else, back to the castle." Harry ordered, before stepping out from under the cloak.

"Professor?" He asked, his mask of innocence in place once more.

"Ah, so you were indeed present here, my boy! How lovely to see you!" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, plainly visible even in the middle of the night.

"How did you know I was there?" Harry asked, curious as to how the headmaster could detect him under the cloak.

"I didn't. I simply made a guess, and it appears that I have guessed correctly. After all, you do have a tendency to be present whenever something of import occurs in this school." Dumbledore replied.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, genuinely curious.

"On Halloween, you were in the bathroom with Hermione when the troll just happened to enter. During the Quidditch match immediately after that, you were the target of Voldemort's first attempt to remove you. Then you encounter him again out in the forbidden forest, and now you are out here, watching the lions and the griffins fight each other while the Weasley twins deliver Hagrid's dragon to safety. Your father was the same you know?"

"My father? What do you mean by that?" Harry asked again.

"Whenever something of import happened at school while he was learning here, he was always involved in some way. More than half the time, he was the instigator, and if not, he was the target. It might even be a new magical trait emerging in the Potter family, although it is more likely that you are simply very lucky... or very unlucky, Harry."

"I believe it is the latter. All I want to be is an ordinary student, but as you said, I am always caught up in whatever important event is going on at the moment! If anything, I am the unluckiest student in this school!" Harry complained.

"Ah, but Harry, you are not ordinary, far from it. No matter how hard you may wish for it to be otherwise, you are the Boy-Who-Lived, and thus both adored and a target. Your survival on that fateful night so long ago made you more than a simple wizard. You are an icon of hope for the wizarding world, and if someone wishes to crush that hope, they need only to crush you. That is why I let you keep a book that I would have otherwise confiscated, Harry. Whether you like it or not, you are a target, and thus I am being very lenient in regards to what you learn from in order to keep you safe. Now, let us return to the castle. I am sure that standing out here in the cold is not how you planned to spend the night!"

With those words, the pair began to walk back to the castle. They had almost reached the entrance when Harry spotted movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned, and saw a figure in the distance quickly making its way towards the forbidden forest. As Harry turned towards it, the figure stopped, before slowly turning to face him. Dark Lord stared at dark prodigy for what seemed to be an eternity, before Harry felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Dumbledore, and what he saw now seemed to paint a whole new picture about the man. Before, Harry had always seen Dumbledore the benevolent headmaster, who offered lemon drops to students with a twinkle in his eye.

Now, however, Harry saw Dumbledore, defeater of Grindlewald and the most powerful light wizard of his age, looking out at Voldemort with his wand at the ready.

"Go on back inside, Harry. I shall return soon." With that, Harry turned away from Voldemort and strode back towards the castle. He still felt the dark lord's eyes following him as he entered the ancient school. As he reached the entrance, Harry turned and saw Dumbledore moving his wand in a complex pattern, tracing runes in the air in a circular pattern. A bright flash of light as the spell was fired was the last thing Harry saw before he entered the building and closed the door.

Once the door was closed, an invisible hand tapped Harry on the shoulder, causing him to whirl around and see Blaise, Tracey and Daphne under the cloak, raising it to allow him to rejoin them.


"What did Dumbledore want to talk about?" Blaise asked after the group returned to the Slytherin common room.

"He was just commenting on how I always seem to be present when something is going on around here. Apparently it's a trait that I share with my father." Harry replied.

"But how did he know you were there in the first place? We were perfectly concealed under the cloak!" Daphne asked.

"He didn't know I was there. He just took a wild guess. He admitted as much to me, and I don't think that Dumbledore the benevolent headmaster would outright lie to anyone in his care." Harry replied, after some thought. For all he knew, Dumbledore could indeed have a way of seeing through invisibility cloaks, but it was unlikely. Any charm powerful enough to reveal through an invisibility cloak would have produced some sort of visual effect, and Harry knew that his was no ordinary invisibility cloak. After all, an ordinary cloak wouldn't have stopped Voldemort's curse in the forest, nor would it last long enough to be considered an heirloom by his father.

"I see. How about we continue this discussion in the morning." Daphne's statement was punctuated with a yawn.

"I agree." Tracey said, before she stood up and left, heading for the girls' dormitories, with Daphne following her.

"Well, our first real operation as a group was a catastrophe. We didn't get the dragon, you got caught by the headmaster, and we're all in desperate need of rest." Blaise said, standing up as well.

"Goodnight, Harry." The boy said as he left the room, leaving Harry alone to think. Blaise was right, what should have been a simple theft had ended in near disaster. Obviously, much improvement would be needed before they tried to get at the sorceror's stone. With that thought in mind, Harry headed to his dormitory, intent on getting some sleep. Blaise was right, he was tired after all.


A/N: I LIVE! In all seriousness though, this update was much delayed, but now that exams are over I can finally start working on this, as well as my other fics.

Regarding this chapter, I am particularly proud of how I did the interactions between Harry and Dumbledore, with Harry putting on an act of goodness that has even Dumbles fooled... for now. In addition, I would like to request feedback on the encounter with Quirrelmort in the forest, as I'm not very sure of how I did that scene. I hope that I portrayed Voldemort as a credible threat and a unique rather than a stereotypical bad guy, although a lot of personality development for him has been saved for the next chapter.

Next chapter will see the end of first year, after which I will work on some of my other fics that need updating. Now off you trot! The review box is but a click away! I hope you enjoyed this much delayed chapter!