TWENTY FOUR

Sadly, Harry found that they had managed to waste away almost half their weekend in the library before grumbling stomachs pulled Harry's attention away from a particularly interesting book on warding gone wrong.

Blaise had lost himself in the Prophet's daily cubeword-crossword (something of the 3D moving variety that Harry had only managed to complete once... With rather a lot of help) hours earlier, and only emerged from his scribblings to demand obscure facts about the members of the Wizengamot, or drag out cryptic clues.

Theo had complained loudly in the hopes of getting them kicked out of the library, but had actually known an odd Quidditch answer and had traded it for Blaise's Omnioculars to watch the duel again, and the International Italy vs Germany Quidditch Game. He was now inside a one-way silencing ward (Harry's work) looking like a loon when he cheered. Notably none of them had started on their actual homework.

Harry shut his book quietly and was considering sneaking away, when he realised they weren't alone at their table.

'How long have you been here?' he asked quietly.

Luna didn't have anything in front of her, and appeared to be trying to count something Harry couldn't see on the vaulted ceiling. Harry squinted warily above him.

'Oh, about two hours.'

Harry glanced at Blaise and Theo, who remained oblivious. They had claimed a little nook up some almost hidden stairs, and if it weren't Luna, Harry would have wondered how she found them.

'Want to come for a walk?' Harry asked, slipping his book and empty essay away.

Luna gave him a cheeky smile. 'No thanks. I am conducting a social experiment.'

Harry glanced at his two friends a little worried, but shrugged. 'Be careful.'

'They will be fine.'

Harry snorted, but left her to it. Regardless, the looks on their faces when they finally noticed her would be amusing. He would have to find a pensive.

Not wanting to waste the extra hours, Harry decided to spend the time before dinner finally catching up with Belleza. He had a few left over apples so his curiosity would outweigh his hunger for a few hours more.

Entering through the secret passage, Harry paused as he passed the cupboard with Pettigrew in it. He contemplated the rat. An incredibly large part of him felt extremely guilty for not just handing Pettigrew in to the authorities to free Sirius, but almost as much of him was... well not scared precisely, just... reluctant. He knew that no matter what other nonsense had gone on that night, Pettigrew still betrayed his... family, to the Dark Lord. It had become obvious since that he wasn't the only one who had betrayed Harry that night, but that didn't make Harry any more inclined to forgive him.

Harry scowled at the cupboard before stalking further down the corridor towards the Chamber.

No, Harry didn't want to hand in Peter because he was afraid that with different perspective, he might find that it wasn't just two of the Marauders that he would loose. Sirius was one of the few things he had left.

.:You're in a bad mood:.

Harry startled then froze up, before giving Belleza a curt nod.

She had been concentrating on devouring the two whole pigs he brought, and Harry had been in a morbid enough mood to just watch

.:My Godfather hasn't shown up on my map:.

.:You expected him to?:.

Harry shrugged.

.:I was hoping:.

Belleza slid slowly across the room coming to a stop in front of Harry. Harry looked into the eye closest to his face, and felt his mood lift a little at the wonder of his magic. At least he wasn't dead.

Belleza looked at him curiously for a moment longer before turning away.

.:Have you found a ritual to try yet?:. She asked, letting the topic drop.

Harry winced. He had only done the bare minimum of research, having been engrossed in warding.

.:I may have been slightly distracted. There was a language potion I used to take, but it is only temporary, I had been meaning to look into whether there was a ritual that was longer lasting:.

Belleza hissed an exasperated noise.

.:What of magical travelling? Or Duelling? Have you been slacking off their too?:.

Harry glared, but from her tone he was beginning to suspect that he might be being teased, especially as Belleza hadn't seemed too concerned about timescales previously.

.:I won a duel last night, actually:. He griped.

.:You will learn more from loosing than you ever will from winning:. Belleza hissed. Harry was almost certain now that he was being teased.

She continued after a minute of heavy stare.

.:The ritual you speak of would do quite well around Samhain. It requires three tongues of those who speak the language you wish to learn:. Harry blanched just a little, but Belleza carried on unaware. .:It has the best effect if the the tongue left the body the full moon before the ritual is completed. That is in a few weeks, and would be further strengthened by being set to be activated on the night where those who have passed on are closest to us:.

Harry had been distracted from his morbid mood quite thoroughly, confirming that he was not nearly morbid enough to consider cutting out someone's tongue just yet. The end of Belleza's phrase caught his attention.

.:Wait, left the body, does that mean it could just be donated? does the... body, have to be alive?:.

Belleza seemed to consider for a moment. .:If you complete it on Samhain then there would already be a strong connection with death, so theoretically it would work better in learning a language that so many souls speak if the tongues come from those who have passed:.

.:They don't have to be killed? Just dead?:.

Belleza gave an abortive movement Harry took as a shrug. .:It only matters that you have the tongues, the rest will only yield more or less fluent results:.

Harry frowned to himself. If he could get outside the castle wards he could probably contact one of the Vampire bars, their contacts often knew how to get more than blood.

.:I shall look into it. Do you know where I might find more information on the ritual:.

.:In a book:.

Harry could hear the smugness in her tone and gave Belleza a sarcastic glare. .:Yes, I am the one who is in a funny mood:.

Belleza chose to ignore him.

Talking of a Dark ritual had reminded Harry of Dumbledore's affiliation.

.:There is something I wished to ask, actually. The difference between Dark and Light magic, is it absolute?:.

.:I do not understand your question:.

.:You told me that Dark magic is that which requires sacrifice, and Light is that which is drawn from the ambient magics, but I can't get my head around it. Albus Dumbledore-:.

.:The current Headmaster?:. Belleza interrupted.

.:Yes. He is considered by almost all to be the Light Lord of magic. He is one of the few who has the power to duel Tom and plausibly win:. Harry frowned .:But he is well known for having a Mastery in Transfiguration, which is based on sacrifice of one item for another:.

.:Then he cannot be the Light Lord. Well, not unless the level of proficiency for such a title has significantly decreased along with the subpar educational courses:. Belleza continued in a quieter hiss that Harry couldn't quite catch, but he suspected to be something along the lines of 'Salazar would have been appalled'.

.:A Light Lord cannot use Dark magic?:.

.:It isn't quite so straight forward, however a Light or Dark Lord would struggle to maintain their status while using the opposing magic in enough quantity and concentration to gain a Mastery:.

Harry frowned at the information. He knew that a lot of what the world knew of Albus Dumbledore was false propaganda, but he didn't think Madam Marchbanks would have raved about the skills of a student if she wasn't impressed with them. Nor Rita to have missed such a scandal in her future book. However he was also struggling to think of actually seeing Dumbledore use transfiguration. There was the glass to sand, in the Department of Mysteries battle, but it was still elemental, and could have been a varied form of a disintegration hex. Sand was still glass, so it hadn't necessarily changed material. He couldn't be sure and his memory of the duel was hazier than he'd like to admit. He had forced Slughorn out of being an armchair, but again, that could easily have been magic influencing Slughorn himself, rather than the transfiguration. He just didn't know.

It was frustrating.

.:And McGonagall-:. Harry frowned .:-who teaches Transfiguration, I see her forcing changes with magic all the time, but I have never felt a darkening in her Aura. It is closer to neutral than not, however it is Light:.

.:I know little of Auras except to tell between them:.

Harry had switched his Aura several times in Belleza's presence but she could always identify him. He sighed.

.:I rather suspect you see Auras differently to me anyway:.

.:Yours is growing stronger, if that helps:.

Harry gave a light smile. .:I'm afraid not:.

Harry stayed to chat with Belleza and discuss a few other ritual possibilities incase he couldn't get any tongues, but he was still distracted, and couldn't get his mind away from the curiosity about Dumbledore. It hadn't even crossed his mind that Belleza might not know, and he was rather embarrassed to realise that he had been looking up to her as an all knowing legend. He hated putting people on pedestals, it was one of his more annoying habits.

They covered quite a few other topics, but right before Harry left he confirmed one fact on Light and Dark Lords of magic. There was definitely only ever one Lord per type of magic at a time. Harry had asked about Tom, but all that Belleza could confirm was that he wasn't yet a Lord of magic when he sent her back to sleep, but he was when he returned through the diary (if a little distanced from his magic through association with Ron).

Harry was in the process of saying goodbye, as it was nearing dinner, when the last part of the conversation sparked an idea.

.:One last thing, could it be reasonable to assume that it would be possible to gain a mastery in a Dark magic before becoming a Light Lord?:.

Belleza seemed to think on it.

.:I do not know, though were I to hazard a guess, I would assume not. Tom was deep into Dark magic the last time I saw him, in the very least:.

Harry nodded vaguely, but his mind was running a million miles a minute.

Harry had been assuming, since discovering only one Lord could exist at a time, that Tom took over as a Dark Lord when Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald. Harry was also working on the assumption that the Slytherins were incorrect in assuming that the previous Dark Lord had to die for another to exist. But what if Grindelwald wasn't a Dark wizard? What if he was, in fact a Light Lord, just with nasty behaviour?

Harry felt elated at the possible solution... right up until the moment he realised he had just created even more questions he didn't have a way of answering.

He said his goodbyes to Belleza with a frown on his face.

Dinner passed without any interference, but Harry planned to surprise Slytherin when they returned to the common room. Harry was chatting to Daphne about the probability of Slytherin being assigned the Ancient category for their History essays as they walked through the porthole. Blaise, Harry noticed out of the corner of his eye, took one resigned look at the lounge, and headed towards the dorm. Harry smirked.

'So you think it is unfair then, getting the Ancient category?'

Daphne frowned. 'Well there will certainly be less resources to work from. Though Ravenclaw will probably drown in Modern. I pity the person who gets Flamell.'

Harry spared a stray thought to the invitation he'd received, but pushed on, subtly herding the group towards the lounge.

'What of the fact that the majority of the people we are given will come from pre-ministry and the associated restrictions?'

Daphne gave Harry a surprised look as she sat down. 'You think we'd get away writing about Dark magic in practical uses?'

'It is Binns.' Harry pointed out. He hardly thought the ghost would care. He still hadn't decided if Binns actually read their essays, or just used one of those quills that lit up key words.

Daphne's eyebrows rose suddenly. Harry smugly assumed she was shocked and finally noticing they were sitting on the lounge.

Fortunately, Apep was lazing along the back again and set him straight.

.:Pink suits you:.

Harry frowned slightly, making no sign that he'd heard Apep, but carefully testing his body for foreign magic. He immediately noticed a shift around his hair. Judging Apep's reaction, Harry could only assume his hair was pink. He was about to just dismiss the magic, feeling that ignoring it would probably piss the castor off more than not, but Loki's words rang through his head.

He tilted his head to one side.

'It had better be dark pink.' Harry stated loud enough to be heard by most of the room. His tone was cold as ice, a turn from his previously jovial state.

'B-baby pink.' Daphne murmured.

Harry sent a silent annoyed huff towards Luna's bracelet (no doubt the inspiration) before flicking his wrist so his wand flew into his hand. Around the room people stilled.

'Anda Ssa.'

Harry's voice was a mere whisper, but it carried.

There was a eep noise towards the back of the room, but Harry didn't follow it with his eyes. He turned his attention back to Daphne and carefully spoke in his original tone.

'It will depend on whom we are given. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor will certainly have an easier time research wise, though there were several more Goblin rebellions in the middle periods, and I personally pity the student who receives Darick the Dull.'

Under his mask Harry was trying not to pant from the surprising amount of effort that spell took. It had caught him unaware, though with his new understanding of Dark magic it shouldn't have. The spell, which returned the effects of the last spell to the castor, was known for being extremely Dark (though not illegal, just frowned upon). Harry was proving a point, while also getting the satisfaction that his attacker would be stuck with baby pink hair for up to a month. In this case it was mostly harmless, however while it only worked on low-level spells, it could be quite nasty dependant on the previous spell. A simple welt hex could leave permanent scarring, and a tickling charm could become actual torture.

His group took it all in stride, and didn't mention it further, except for nearly an hour later when Harry made a move towards bed.

'Why are you wearing a pink bracelet?' Lillian asked quietly.

'Luna gave it to me.' Harry replied easily.

His group seemed to shuffle a bit, but despite obviously wanting to, no one made any comment on Harry's association with the strange Ravenclaw.

Harry spent Sunday reading the introduction to Death Omens, a book he had yet to open since his random decision to buy it at the beginning of the year. It was proving surprisingly interesting (even more so for suitably morbid ideas for his divination homework), however as Harry was reading it while hiding under the bleachers in the Hufflepuff section of the Quidditch stadium, he was finding quite a few distractions.

It seems Oliver Wood was just as determined as in the original timeline to win this year's house cup. He had taken their robes seriously, and half of Gryffindor had turned out to trial. A large proportion of Slytherin were also in attendance, though doing a surprisingly good job of pretending not to be there. Harry was relatively sure that Harry's continued relationship with Flint had spiked interest, and Rhea and Grace's gang were sitting in the teachers stand behind wards Harry had become familiar with during the horcrux hunt. Prospective Slytherin Beaters (including several girls Harry was pleased to note) were scattered across the stands in various forms of disguise. The most effective was Maggie Warllholm, who had simply acquired some Gryffindor robes and was sitting in plain sight in the Gryffindor section taking notes without question.

Theo had bribed Blaise into the use of his Omnioculars again, and was making vicious insults about twins and Weasleys after every move.

Harry was utterly bored and annoyed at being dragged out to the cold.

To be fair, he would normally have been more interested, but Gryffindor were only trialling for seeker, and of the eight hopefuls, Harry knew all their skill and had not a single doubt that Ginny would gain her spot on the team.

Four hours later (Oliver had been over dramatic in his drills) Harry was proven correct and the stunned Weasley twins confusedly congratulated their sister in the same sentence as demanding to know when she learnt to fly.

The majority of Slytherin returned to their dorm in the afternoon laughing about another Weasley joining the lions team. Harry wasn't sure whether to be more amused about the twins being duped, or the house of Slytherin. They had all seen her fly, so he wasn't sure why they weren't taking it seriously. She wasn't close to a threat to Harry, however it gave Gryffindor a better chance against the other houses, and they could make it hard to win by margin. Harry wasn't going to forget that in the original timeline Ginny had become a professional chaser either. Looks like Slytherin wouldn't be the only ones who could use their players in more than one role.

Just like in the original timeline, the Gryffindor team started training sessions full of determination, three nights a week. Flint, much to Harry's amusement took this as a personal affront, and had begun planning two longer sessions, and a self run morning work out.

Harry simply resigned himself to it, though the new school week brought the beginning of what Harry knew to be a wet and cold month's worth of weather. The nights were getting darker too, along with the weather, but no amount of mud, wind, or rain seemed to be able to tarnish either captains' wonderful vision of winning (again, or finally) the huge, silver Quidditch Cup.

The Slytherin team held three training sessions without their new beater, but Marcus ended up giving in to Draco's whining, and putting up a sign to say the trials would be moved to the following Saturday.

Harry felt the second week back was far easier than the first in terms of wrapping his head around getting to classes. He was surprised that Hermione hadn't caught on to his plan yet, as he now took advantage of using her time turner between most classes, even going out of his way to meet up with her across the school and risking running into himself or the Slytherins. His Diary had become invaluable for tallying up his extra hours and organisation under his friends noses.

Settling into the more mundane work for classes wasn't quite so easy to take. He suspected Charms was likely to become a problem. Having had an extra essay ready for Harry to complete each lesson was Flitwick's permanent solution, but Harry wasn't so sure. Though in Transfiguration he was given no such option, and it was quickly becoming one of his least favourite classes due to frustration. It was looking like he would need to come up with something to do in the remainder of his lessons after he completed the coursework. Potions went on as always, though Neville was steadily improving without Snape breathing down his neck quite so much. Snape would come over, however all Harry had to do was give him a hard stare with an eye flick towards Neville, and Snape backed down. It was almost becoming dull, and if Harry hadn't had so much respect for his old Neville, he might regret doing it. He did feel a bit bad that Ron and Seamus now seemed to be getting the full brunt of Snape's ire, but felt they were dealing with it better than Neville had.

Despite doing extra classes, taking on three Quidditch practices, and researching healing, warding and rituals, Harry was still managing to edge ahead in almost all of his classes. He had been readjusting to study, and learning to dumb his work down the previous years, but it had now reached beyond the point of tedious, and he was frustrated as well with external matters. Not doing anything about Pettigrew, Sirius, and his parents had slowly been eating away at his patience.

Harry's mood soured over the week despite his best efforts, and when he returned to the Slytherin common room one evening after training, cold and stiff, to find the room with an undercurrent of buzzing excitement he possibly could have handled things better.

'What now?' he demanded of Blaise, who was idly sprawled in the chair next to the lounge watching Daphne struggle with her star charts for Astronomy.

'It's the first Hogsmeade weekend,' Pansy spoke up before Blaise could answer. 'Who are you taking?'

There was a surprised pause across the common room. Pansy had been orbiting Harry after he shut Draco down three times in as many days for the lounge. Draco was giving her a death-glare from the staircase.

'You are coming with me!' Draco all but growled at Pansy.

Harry just gave them a flat stare and ignored them both.

'Well?'

Blaise shrugged. 'End of October. Halloween.'

'Excellent timing,' said Loki, who had followed Harry in. 'I need to visit Honeydukes. I'm nearly out of Blood Pops.'

There was a moment of stunned silence in which Tracey mouthed 'Blood Pops?!' to Daphne and the room at large, but Harry decided to push on and not ask.

Harry's eyes flicked to the notice that had appeared on the battered old bulletin board.

'I'll be going alone.' Harry said flatly, finally responding to Pansy, and ignoring Draco.

'Oh good.' Theo spoke up from behind the Quidditch team (he had been spying on the practices under the delusion that Flint hadn't noticed) 'I'm not taking anyone either. We can look at the new Firebolt disp-'

'Alone.' Harry interrupted harshly. 'Usually the name applied to the state of solidarity.'

Harry regretted the snappy tone immediately, but was too generally grumpy to care. He started stalking towards the dorm when the stunned stares slipped to wary silence. Harry spun around to find Snape had entered the common room.

'My office.'

Harry's lip twitched towards a sneer, but he held it.

'Do you mind if I change, Sir?' He indicated his Quidditch robes. Normally it would be suicide to question one of Snape's direct orders, but if this meeting was what he expected, it would take a while, ands he was wet and cold.

'Five minutes, Potter.' Everyone but Harry flinched at the tone. Harry just turned back towards the dorm but once alone he let himself grin. There had been far fewer attempts on the lounge than he expected (though he hadn't anticipated Flint's support), but it was still nice to get an easy display of power.

Harry still rushed, thanking himself for the extra charms he'd had Madam Malkin place on his robes to prevent wrinkles and creasing. Despite the three minute change (because he was sure Snape could only handle so much before he burst) Harry still looked spectacular. One of the fourth year girls dreamily sighing at Harry on the way out did nothing to help Snape's mood.

Snape slammed his office door open, so Harry purposely shut it softly behind them.

'You will not be going to Hogsmeade.' Snape said with an air of forced finality. Harry slowly raised one eyebrow at him.

'Due to Black, I presume?'

'Yes.'

Harry was rather amused. He contemplated telling Snape that he and Black had a deal, just for kicks and to increase Snape's suspicions. But he refrained.

'I will be fine.'

'You will not be fine you silly boy! Black is no doubt perfectly capable of killing you. Just because he didn't this summer doesn't mean he can't!'

Harry's amusement fled.

'Tell me something Sir.' Harry said in a sarcastic tone. 'If my parents are alive, then who exactly did Sirius betray?'

Snape's face was one of complete shock.

'I would be fine.'

Harry considered just leaving, but he wasn't one to lie to himself if he could help it, and he knew the reason he'd fallen so easily into a grumpy mood. He'd been putting things off too long.

'Sir, when I'm near the Dementors I hear my mother dying.'

Snape winced, just slightly, but Harry caught it.

'You are sure they are alive?'

'Are you sure that was her hair?' Harry parroted.

Snape acknowledged the point with an inclined nod.

'I have spent as much time and resource as I could tracking them down.'

Harry was simultaneously surprised and ashamed.

'Nothing?'

'You will not share their location?' Snape sounded almost hurt beneath all the grump. If Harry wasn't feeling so pathetic he might have laughed.

'I don't know where they are at the present time.' They weren't in the house Harry had been called to in the future.

Snape's whole demeanour changed in an instant. 'You lost them?'

Harry decided it was better not to let on that he had never exactly found them, so just nodded. Snape slowly morphed into what Harry had come to expect in the original timeline.

'You don't even have a plan.' The statement was filled with loathing and sneer.

Harry had nothing to say. Truth was he'd come back in time with nothing more than a vague thought to do things better. Only the more time he spent in the past, the more things spun out of control. Honestly, discovering his parents were alive had been one of the worst nights of his life, but they weren't the reason he'd come back. Luna and he had been thinking on it for a while. It was just the feather that broke the Dragons back. Pressures and opinions and events not to be believed haunted Harry's past and in that moment he had just needed to escape.

Harry looked at Snape blankly for a long minute in which Harry could feel Snape's magic pooling in anger ready to lash out.

'I'm thirteen.'

Harry didn't know where that blatant lie had slipped out from, but surprisingly it seemed to deflate some of Snape's anger, so Harry rolled with it.

'She may have been your love, but she was my mother. I have time. I am going to do this right.'

'Get out.' Snape snarled it but Harry could feel that his magic had calmed.

'I'll go to Hogsmeade?'

'When your body is recovered I'll-'

'Use it to point out the Potter's Gringots accounts haven't closed.' Harry interrupted, then left before Snape could finish his no doubt degrading insult.

Despite being tired from Quidditch and having two essays to start on, Harry headed upwards towards the owlery.

Harris Noir could afford a private detective or two.

Thursday morning dawned far too early for Harry's liking. He was only half listening to Theo complaining about the three foot essay on substance qualifications they had received the previous evening for Charms. Harry would nod or 'Hmm' every now and then where appropriate, but he was too distracted. Besides, Flitwick had added an extra two foot to Harry's essay, though only added one extra distinction to study, so Harry himself would have to go into far more detail. For once he hadn't finished the essay in class (much to Flitwick's smug satisfaction) and he would be joining Theo and Blaise in the Library during the double free, however at the moment...

Hermione walked into the hall next to Dean, by the looks of things lecturing him on something or other. They sat down in their usual spot closer to the seventh year NEWT students. Harry tuned back in to Theo's rant.

'...and it isn't in Charmed Physics, which I'm beginning to think Flitwick only mentioned so we could switch to discussing spin-to-velocity ratios. A far more interesting topic to be sure, but-'

'Try Matter, by Lewis A Burt.' Harry interrupted, standing up as he spoke. 'I'll see you in Defence.'

'But that's a Transfiguration book.' Theo paused, but then '-What do you mean I'll see you in Defence?'

'I would have thought it was rather self explanatory,' Harry grinned, 'but I can draw you a diagram if it's too complicated for you.'

Theo scowled, but Blaise's snort drew his ire, so Harry slunk off to the Gryffindor table before anyone had time to say anything.

Harry ignored the Slytherin table's no doubt unhealthy glare and gleefully focused instead on the wary but stunned faces of the Gryffindors as he slid in next to Neville and across from Hermione.

'Good morning Lions. Happy Birthday Granger.'

Hermione blinked blankly at the silver wrapped present Harry had slid across the table at her.

'Potter...-' she started unsurely, but was interrupted as several people around her said in various forms 'It's your birthday!? sounding quite surprised.'

Harry would have felt smug, except in the original timeline he hadn't thought on it either until sixth year. Today, originally, he'd been trying to stop a fight between Hermione and Ron over... Harry's though process faded off and he looked suspiciously at Ron. He sighed mentally and searched for his mental connection to the fake Scabbers, sending out an instruction to stage a foiled escape tonight. Turning back to Hermione he noticed she was looking at the diary completely unsure how to respond.

'I have a diary. You wrote in it three days ago ruining my-' she broke off half angry half embarrassed at seeming ungrateful. Harry's eyes gleamed.

'This diary is magical. There are instructions inside. It should help with... organising things.' Harry stood absently flicking his wand to call up the time. 'Have a good day Granger. Class starts in five minutes.' There was a mad rush as the stunned Gryffindors all scrambled to fit in a last bit of toast before class.

Harry was distracted and split off from the Gryffindors on the way to class when he caught sight of Peeves down a side corridor painting grease on the floor outside Filch's office.

'Peeves.' Harry greeted.

'Potty!' Peeves startled, but sounded pleased. 'You're going to be late for class.'

'Harry shrugged with a smile. 'Hogsmeade trip has been announced. Do you need anything?'

'Peevsie be hearing you can't go.'

'You've been hearing I'm not allowed to go.' Harry corrected. Peeves laughed.

Five minutes later Harry had a list and had challenged Peeves to try and paint Fawkes blue. The poltergeist had looked part horrified, part determined, and just a little bit defeated. Harry had faith in him though, it might take time, but Peeves was always up for a challenge.

Harry was late to defence. He considered turning back, but in the end just chose being late. Remus was less than pleased, and took ten points from Slytherin, but it was his sad disappointed look (reminding Harry far too much of Teddy) that actually effected Harry.

The rest of the day passed smoothly. Hermione thanked Harry a lot more enthusiastically in divination, having realised that she no longer needed to worry about the contradictory timetable anyone could see in her diary and admitted to wasting one of her extra hours setting it up. Throughout the day no one mentioned anything, but by the time Harry was hoping to slip off to get to healing Theo, Blaise and Daphne cornered him and herded him to the boys dorm.

This was especially impressive seeing as Blaise and Daphne must have worked together to drag Theo back in from practicing Quidditch. The trials were the next day.

'We need to talk.' Theo started. Harry merely raised one eyebrow. 'It's about house politics.' Theo seemed unable to go on.

'You're going to loose the house if you continue in your light ways now.' Blaise finished bluntly.

Harry was a little annoyed, but hid it well under his mask.

'So little faith. I assume you are talking about my seating this morning.'

'You can't just sit with the enemy!' Daphne sounded exasperated.

Harry leaned back onto the headboard of Blaise's bed where they were all sitting.

'No?' he asked dangerously.

'Slytherin has been dark for years. Being labeled the Light's saviour was one thing when you were obviously against it, but-'

'Enough!' Harry interrupted. He was part annoyed that he had been too distracted feeling sorry for himself that he hadn't noticed this coming, but he was more annoyed that none of them had said anything until it clearly built up to bursting. He was also annoyed that he hadn't had time to research anything more about Light and Dark Lords. Blaise and Theo fell silent, but Daphne opened her mouth to argue. 'No.' Harry talked over her. 'Do you have a problem with Light magic?'

They all opened their mouths, but at a sharp look from him shut them again and merely reluctantly nodded. Making an instantaneous decision Harry pushed his way to his feet then spun to face them. He for the first time in Slytherin, released his whole Aura shifting it to much darker than his usual neutral. Not even close to all the way, but Darker than any of the three of them.

'Get on your knees.'

Blaise reacted instantly, probably out of pure shock. Daphne was shaking, and after one sneer at Blaise, ducked her head and followed. Theo was looking at Harry in what looked like awe, but Harry could feel from his magic to be terror.

'Harry pushed his magic towards Theo, who fell to the ground. Harry stalked forward and dragged Theo to his knees by his left arm. Harry pressed his wand to Theo's wrist hard. Blaise and Daphne gasped and Theo tried to pull away, but Harry only gripped harder, his nails breaking Theo's skin.

'Would you really like a new Dark Lord?' Harry asked sweetly. Theo looked horrified and yanked on his arms again. Harry let him go and he fell to the ground on his back breathing hard. Harry cut off his Aura abruptly and Blaise and Daphne slumped.

On the inside Harry was shaking himself, he'd played that part far to well. And on his friends. Harry shut his eyes for a moment, breathed in and out heavily, then opened them.

'I am not Voldemort. Nor am I Dumbledore. Next time you have an issue don't bottle it up.' Harry thought carefully over his next few words. 'I assume that if you saw fit to hold an- intervention-, then the rest of the house is wavering?'

'Slytherin is Dark.' Daphne said. Theo was looking pensive however. He was still lying on his back, but had a calm mask on now.

'Actually Slytherin hasn't always been Dark. Just more often than not.' Theo muttered.

Harry ran his hand through his hair. He questioned whether the whole thing was worth it.

'Look, if you are going to date Granger that's fine.' Daphne said, sounding anything but pleased, 'But you need to win over the Dark first. Once you have their loyalty then draw in the Light side.'

Harry made a rather startled noise, then couldn't help himself and followed it with a snort. 'I don't want to date Granger.'

'You aren't taking her to Hogsmeade?' Theo asked, surprised.

Harry frowned. 'I told you, I'm going alone.'

All three of his friends gaped at him.

'What?'

Daphne threw her hands in the air and stormed out.

Harry turned to Blaise and Theo with a questioning look.

'You're actually serious?' Theo asked. Blaise had a dopey look on his face staring after Daphne.

Harry frowned, stepping forward to pull Theo to his feet. 'Why does it matter?'

Blaise and Theo caught each other's eyes and burst into laughter. Harry let out an exasperated noise and left the room to turn back and head to Healing. Some times he really didn't understand his friends. He would deal with it later.

The next morning on his way down to the pitch with Marcus Harry focused his attention on the house. He hadn't noticed much, but was beginning to see that there were even more girls than Harry would have expected trying out, and they were all... giggly. Harry had a sudden horrifying flashback to Gryffindor trials when he'd been captain.

'Oh bugger.'

Flint followed his eyes and grimaced. 'Could have done us a favour and announced your date first.'

On his other side Draco sniffed.

Harry laughed.

Despite large numbers, the trials went quickly. Marcus sorted the serious out quick enough by announcing that Loki would be hitting a bludger at them on the ground and if they missed they could make their own way to the infirmary. That cut the numbers down significantly, and narrowed down the people Marcus would even allow on a broom to twelve.

Marcus then had the remaining go through some flying drills and only Theo, two fifth year boys and a surprising second year girl Sarah Tilth remained. In the end Theo won out (Much to Harry's internal delight) and Marcus kicked the onlookers out of the stands saying it was as good a time as ever to have the first full practice.

Theo was especially bubbly, and commented to Harry before flying off 'Don't forget to drop the evil Dark Lord persona and try out neutral.'

Harry rolled his eyes at the teasing, but decided to try.

Sweet Morgana.

It was like the first time he'd ridden a Firebolt all over. The newer brooms in the future had come out progressively. Apparently the Slipstream Gold had been a huge jump in upgrade from the Firebolt Mark III, but Harry had been bitter and reclusive by then and had never bought one.

It was... Harry soared high into the air, then dropped into a 180 degree turn on a whim. He found that by focusing his magic to Neutral he could... understand the broom better. It became even more instinctual because he could actually feel the broom reacting to moves. It was like it was connected directly to him. Now, as he was approaching the ground at neck-breaking speed he could feel the cushioning charms reacting to proximity, so knew even better exactly how far away the ground was, which meant he knew the exact last moment he could pull up. He didn't have to guess. Of course this just gave him more confidence to cut that last moment finer. By the sound of the entire team's collective gasps, not one of them expected him to pull up in time. But he did.

And it was easy.

What's more, he could actually feel the resistance pooling in the internal directional runes if he focused his magic to just under his fingertips in the grip. So not only did he pull up in time, he finally managed to pull off the Cartel Zigroll. Harry couldn't help it, he let out a loud, joyful 'whoop!' and shot up in the air again doing a large loop only holding on with his legs and letting his arms just hang below him as he was upside down.

A cheshire grin spread its way over his face. Not that anything had changed, but the other teams really didn't stand a chance.

Harry had been brought back from his new freedom as the practice continued, as Draco had begun to sulk that Harry was even better again. The rest of the team was ecstatic. Draco's grump, and the meeting the night before put Harry in mind of Blaise and Daphne's little drama and its connections. He suspected he was running out of time to get in before Draco (or rather Lucius) did, and resigned himself to falling back on the less sly plan B. When practice finished Harry stayed on his broom, waving off the others, and flew up to the owlery (no point hiking all the way up there). He took advantage of both the privacy and the small bench to pen a relatively obvious (in his opinion) bit of manipulation.

Good afternoon Mr. Peneus,

My name is Harry Potter and I am a pretty big Quidditch enthusiast. I hope you don't mind that I am writing to you, only your niece Daphne Greengrass is a friend of mine and she said you would be a good person to help me out with some advice.

I am the Seeker on my house team, and currently the rest of Slytherin house are riding generous donations from Mr Malfoy, the Nimbus 2001's. Mine met an unfortunate end when I broke the charms after an enthusiastic dive, so I am back riding my 2000. There is nothing wrong with the broom exactly, it's just that I am a little wary of it (as you can imagine) having had trouble with it's newer version. The new Firebolt has come out, rather conveniently, but it is quite a bit of money to outlay and I guess I just wanted a professional opinion on whether or not it was worth it.

I know the Bulgarian team has just signed a contract with the Firebolt company, which is a high review considering their current seeker and the likelihood of success in the coming World Cup, however that is a team decision. Do you think the broom is the best for a Seeker specifically? Your business does excellent reviews on all types of gear, I wouldn't mind commissioning one on the Firebolt if you would gear it toward Seekers specifically.

Again, I hope you don't mind my writing to you, and thank you in advance for any assistance.

Harry Potter

P.S. I would also like to congratulate you on your engagement. Blaise Zambini is another one of my closest friends but for some reason remained tight lipped on any greetings. I hope you don't think it too odd, he's actually a great guy, he just complains about not making attachments to his step fathers. Perhaps you will be the one to take up the roll model he clearly needs. It's a bit forward of me to say so, but he's my friend - please don't go too hard on him.

Harry looked down at the letter disgusted. It was full of pandering, generally lacking finesse and unfocused. He hated it. Daphne hadn't told him to write and Blaise would probably kill him if he ever read it. Despite feeling dirty for having written it, it was probably the only shot he had. He would just have to be careful about who found out what.

Unfortunately all subtlety went out the window when Daphne got a letter at breakfast two days later.

'Potter!'

'Yes Daphne?' Harry specifically used her first name, but it didn't lessen the glare he was receiving.

'Why, do tell me, has my Uncle sent me a missive saying nothing more than 'Did Potter really break the Nimbus 2001?'?'

Harry winced, but still promptly replied 'Curiosity?'

Daphne stared at him for a full minute; opening and shutting her jaw without managing a word. Eventually she threw the letter down in front of him and stormed off. Theo leaned forward and snatched it up as soon as she was gone.

'Would you look at that?' he exclaimed, 'That really is all it says. Not even a hello!'

There were amused mutterings along the Slytherin table within hearing.

'Hmm...' Harry said non-commitedly while avoiding Blaise's heavy stare.

Harry was thankful (possibly for the first time ever) that he had a double Potions to start the day. He was getting suspicious looks from most of his year mates and he would be glad to sit with a Gryffindor. This opinion was reinforced during the lesson. Without Snape breathing down his neck Neville was managing much better, and adding in Harry's help (essentially an older tutor) they were actually doing phenomenally well. Maybe their potion didn't have quite the right silky smooth consistency like Draco and Pansy's, nor the exact crisscross pattern bubbles like Hermione and Dean, but it was pretty close, and they finished way before any of the others. An easy E, maybe a low O if Snape was grading fairly. Of course Snape grading fairly was a ridiculous notion, his behaviour towards Neville had improved, but not that much. But the low A would do.

Finishing early left Harry and Neville to chat quietly amongst themselves as they packed up. (Harry took this permission with the grain of salt that was expected and threw up the one way silencing ward he'd practiced on Theo in the Library the other day).

'I can't believe we finished first! Me!' Neville paused, 'In Potions!' he added as if Harry might not have understood.

Harry grinned.

'I thought I was a goner after the boggart incident, but apparently Snape has been taking that out on professor Lupin instead. Some ancient rivalry or some such.' Neville babbled and shrugged off his good fortune in his easy going way.

'Ah yes, he would probably kill me, but I'd love to have seen your boggart. Nearly everyone in the school heard about it. You're actually probably lucky it was Snape. If it had have been any of the other teachers the Slytherins would have been ruthless with their teasing. As it is they are far more scared of him than they are inclined to tease an unfortunate Gryffindor.'

Neville paled. 'I hadn't even thought of the students.'

Harry shrugged. 'I think they all thought Snape would be angry enough at you. A fair few students lost money when you survived the week.'

Neville looked a little startled, but shook it off.

'I think your boggart was all the talk actually. Though I hear no one has been game to ask you about it.' Harry noted with some amusement that Neville carefully didn't phrase it as a question or make eye contact. Harry laughed.

'Blaise told me he didn't know whether to be awed or terrified.'

'In hindsight it is surprising that you-know-who didn't turn up in more Defence classes.'

Harry knew what Neville meant, but had a sudden amusing flash of thought about Quirrell.

'Most people are afraid of creepy-crawlies or things that go bump in the night. Voldemort would be more likely to be the Boggart of someone who has come across him or has reason to believe they will again. Little fears are closer to the front of our minds and Boggarts work of passive legilimency anyway.'

'And you?'

Harry shrugged.

'I'm a bit curious about what the brave Gryffindors were afraid of.' Harry switched the topic and to a teasing tone.

'Should I tell Slytherin you admitted that?' Neville teased back.

'Possibly not. What were Hermione and Dean's?' Harry asked with a wink.

Neville sighed. 'Dean's was a severed hand. He said something about a bloke named- Adam?'

Harry snorted. 'And his family, perhaps?'

Neville shrugged. 'He trapped it with a bit of wood and metal used by muggles for trapping rats. Hermione's however, remains a mystery.'

Harry was a bit disappointed, but had expected it.

'She didn't get a turn. I wish I knew what hers would have been. Dean thinks it's probably some unfinished homework, but I'm not so sure.'

'I'd probably guess along those lines.' Harry said, thinking of the end of year exam. Though that probably wasn't accurate as Hermione would obviously have been under extra stress, so perhaps Neville was right and it would normally be something unexpected. Neville had always been very observant.

'The professor had a crystal ball, which was strange, but the weirdest of all was Ron.'

'Weasley?' Harry asked, surprised.

'Yeah,' Neville snorted, 'Ron Weasley is afraid of books.'

Harry had to struggle not to blank his face, just managing a weak inquiring look.

'Yeah, Hermione seemed to find it amusing until Ron set it on fire and the book screamed.'

'It? Just one book then?' Harry checked.

'Weird right?' said Neville.

Harry shrugged. 'I suppose.' Not books, but Diaries then. Poor Ron.

'Oh, and I wasn't in the class, but Terry Boot's was Lockhart. Apparently Terry saw a mind healer over the holidays and confirmed that he was one of Lockhart's victims. That wasn't so funny.'

'Did you get checked?'

'Yeah. Gran thinks it's criminal that he has got off essentially scott free. She took me straight to St. Mungos from Platform 9 and 3/4 last year on our way to visiting-...' Neville broke off awkwardly.

'Did they find anything?' Harry went on, knowing Neville didn't like to talk about his parents.

'Not on me, no. But Hermione was obliviated. They think she must have been quite early on as the signature was a bit off, but apparently they degrade over time. She spent the whole holiday trying to figure out what had been taken, but the best we could figure is that she must have found out somehow that he was a fraud near the beginning of the year.'

Harry suddenly felt like throwing up. He had done a complete turn around and had never been so glad the Potions double was finishing. After all, Lockhart wasn't the sick bastard who had stolen her memories. Harry tried to convince himself all over again that it was necessary and proceeded to feel guilty all the way through the muggle studies double he had turned back for with Hermione. In his time Obliviate had been made into an unforgivable as well, Harry tried not to think about how many of those he had been using lately.