The book arrived for Matt on the following Thursday morning. He had stuck to his original decision, and hadn't mentioned it to either James or Ali, and so awkwardness ensued as he tried to conceal it from his friends.

"Hey, Matt," asked James, noticing his friend's post, "What've you got there?"

"Uh," said Matt, "It's just a book I asked Mum to send me when I wrote home to her."

"Oh," said James, immediately returning to his breakfast. Ali, however, was not as easily dissuaded as James, the mention of a book piquing her interest.

"What is it?" she asked, turning her full attention to Matt.

Matt frowned; he had forgotten that Ali was also from a muggle background, and so would most likely know whatever book he picked. Chewing his lip, he tried desperately to come up with something that wouldn't interest her. In a flash of inspiration, he recalled a book she had been arguing about with one of the other Gryffindor girls the previous evening – luckily for Matt, she had been on the side of the argument condemning said book.

"Pride and Prejudice," said Matt. However the sense of victory at finding a solution for his predicament was soon followed by one of regret as he registered the peculiar look he was receiving in response. Deciding to stick to his guns, he shrugged half-apologetically as he stood up from the table, and hurried off to the dormitories to hide the book.

Whereas James was completely uninterested in Matt's sudden obsession with 'Pride and Prejudice', Ali was convinced he was up to something. Regardless of what he might say, she didn't really believe that that was the book which he had specifically asked his mum to send, nor could she imagine that anyone could be that interested in it. Though James might not have noticed it, Ali had hardly failed to note that her friend often brushed them off in favour of reading, and she suspected that the book which he was reading was the one he had received in the post.

Over the following weeks, the three friend's interest in the mystery that surrounded James' dad had waned considerably – or rather, their active pursuit of the mystery had waned. It was still fixed prominently in Ali's thoughts, and she often contemplated it when she had nothing else to do. But wherever they turned, they were met with dead ends, and so the three friends had, for all intents and purposes, given up (for now, at least).

Instead, they now spent their days like every other first year at Hogwarts: they attended lessons during the day, they rushed their homework the night before it was due in, and they spent every second of free-time immersing themselves in the magical world that they were now part of.

James, Matt and Ali were now becoming very familiar with the secret passages within the school, and they were putting them to good use, often sneaking out to the kitchens after hours, or simply sneaking out after hours. In accordance to James' dad's wishes, the cloak went with them, and thanks to this, and the map, they had yet to be caught during one of their night-time excursions.

That wasn't, however, to say that they hadn't been on the receiving end of a detention. James had, following in the footsteps of his family, been the first to receive a detention from a particularly irate Professor Daly after he slipped a colour changing charm (courtesy of his Uncle George) into one of the Ravenclaw's potions during class. The activity, in itself, had been innocent enough, but James had not quite thought out the consequences – said Ravenclaw had, instead of seeking help, tried to fix the potion themselves, resulting in a rather impressive, though luckily harmless, explosion.

Since then, and a few more detentions, James had decided to think his pranks through more thoroughly, and as a result they were less frequent, but he was getting caught considerably less, and they were becoming far more successful.

Matt had also experience his fair share of detentions, usually when he was caught red-handed mid-prank with James, and yet Ali had only a few to her name. When James brought this up after being caught executing his latest prank, she had simply smiled benignly, and told him to follow his dad's advice and not get caught.

Matt had finished the biography within a week of receiving it, yet it had left him with more questions than he had to begin with. On the one hand, if he took it at face value, then it did in fact, explain everything, but on the other hand, that required him to take a leap of faith, and accept it all as the truth. And so, Matt decided that he would re-read it, but this time he would make notes in the margin, highlight key parts, and so forth.

However, four weeks later, he was regretting his decision to do so. He was forced to read the book only when alone, and so he could often be found reading into the small hours of the morning. As a result of this, he was constantly tired, and only just managing to maintain his academic performance. He was surprised that his friends hadn't called him out; he was sure that there was something more hidden behind the suspicious glances he often caught Ali directing at him.

Shaking his head to clear the thoughts, he looked down at the book sitting closed on the table before him - he had finally finished going through it again. This was one of the rare occasions when he was able to do so, and so he was sat in the library during the first Saturday of half-term making the most of the fact that James and Ali had managed to land themselves in detention after being caught out after hours by Filch.

Picking the book back up, he flicked though it absently as he reviewed everything that he had learnt from it. Setting it down again, he pulled his pen and some parchment from his bag, and began to make a list of the things which he had discovered from Skeeter's biography.

1. When Harry Potter was about one, Voldemort tried to kill him, but he was unable to. This is how: Harry's parents died, Voldemort was defeated (the first time), Harry got his scar.

2. Harry Potter was the one to finally kill Voldemort in the battle of Hogwarts.

3. During the year when he was missing, he was travelling round the world, visiting places of important magical history, and meeting Witches and Wizards who knew pieces of information about his destiny, so that he could learn what he needed to know in order to embrace it. Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley went with him.

4. This destiny was to destroy the evil in the world: this manifested itself as having to destroy Voldemort.

5. This destiny was Harry Potter's because he is their heir of all of the Hogwart's founders. This was revealed in many ways through his life:

i. Voldemort couldn't kill him

ii. He is a parsel-mouth – like Salazar Slytherin

iii. He was able to summon to sword of Gryffindor, and demonstrated his bravery throughout his life

iv. He showed Hufflepuff's acceptance in the way he dealt with the bad representation the press gave him

v. He was chosen as a tri-wizard champion, despite his age, because of his clear worthiness

vi. He showed abilities above and beyond what could be expected of people his age

vii. He possessed knowledge that no-one else knew – as shown in his final duel with Voldemort

viii. He is the only survivor of the killing curse

6. He has been famous since he was a child – everyone in the wizarding world knows who he is

Matt frowned as he re-read the last point on his list, everyone, it seemed, but his family. He chewed his lip as he contemplated the absurdity of what he had written. To suggest that James' dad was the heir of all four founders of the school – how was that even possible? Yet Rita Skeeter had written about it in what was a rather convincing manner, he couldn't dispute the fact that she did back up her points (whether her sources were valid was another matter). And it did answer the questions the three friends had.

Putting the book and the paper back in his bag, Matt stood and turned to return to the Gryffindor common room. If he wanted to check the validity of Skeeter's claims, then he was going to need some help.

Matt's foot bounced erratically as he waited for James and Ali to return from their detention. He had tried to do some of his holiday work, but he had found himself unable to concentrate on anything other than the portrait hole.

His attention snapped back into focus as he heard the frame swing open, and he swept his gaze up to meet Ali. Immediately upon noticing that she was alone, he was on his feet, and moving towards her.

"What – Matt, are you okay?" she asked, noticing the somewhat panicked look that he was giving her.

Ignoring her, he steered her back out of the common room, and into the nearest empty classroom, so that they could talk in private. Motioning for her to sit down, he pulled a chair out so that he was sat across the desk from her. Without saying anything, he placed the biography face up between them.

"No way!" she breathed, picking it up, and flipping through the pages as Matt had done countless times before. "What does it say?"

Pulling his list from his bag next, Matt took a deep breath as he began to recount everything that he had learnt.

Ali sat in awed silence staring blankly at Matt, not quite registering that he had finished speaking. Groaning in frustration, Matt waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello-o?"

Ali started, and turned to face. "But, it's ridiculous! Insane! It's – it's just…"

"Exactly," said Matt, leaning back in his chair, "But is it true?"

Ali mimicked his pose, and ran her hands through her hair, as she tried to process the onslaught of information logically. It was ridiculous, and yet, there was something in the story. There was definitely something about James' dad, and she wasn't sure that it wasn't anything less than this. What the book claimed was absurd, improbable, but not impossible.

Raising her face to Matt, she shrugged, her uncertainty showing in her eyes. "I don't know. It's time we asked someone about it."

Matt looked at his friend, and considered who they should ask, who was likely to know, and nodded. Rising from his chair, he grabbed the book, and the paper, not bothering to put them back in his bag. Reaching the door, and holding it open for Ali, he froze as he realised what they had overlooked in their excitement at potentially solving the mystery. Ali, noticing his sudden stillness, turned to look at him questioningly.

"We need to tell James first."