TWENTY-SEVEN

Heading back to the castle Harry belatedly decided to make himself scarce. He was glowing more and more as the ritual got closer to its peak. He wondered why he hadn't glowed whilst performing the actual ritual. At any rate, it would be best if no one else found out.

He checked the map and was rather annoyed to find that Dumbledore and McGonagall seemed to be down near the kitchens, and after a few minutes of watching them, he suspected they weren't planning on moving any time soon. Harry cursed his luck, and with a sigh headed up to the second floor.

.:I hate that:. Harry commented to an amused Apep after the delayed transfiguration to get over the blood ward into the bathroom.

'That looked decidedly nasty.' Harry spun around faster than normal, rolling up of the floor and drawing his wand. He relaxed slightly upon seeing who it was, but only slightly.

'Hello, Harry.'

Harry winced internally as Myrtle batted her eye-lids.

'Hello Myrtle.'

'You aren't turning into a ghost are you?'

Harry blinked. That was an odd way to ask if he were dying. But then he remembered his reason for coming down here. He had been standing still in a duelling stance, and the gold glow had pooled brightly around him. He dropped his wand hand and scratched the back of his head with the other.

'Not today, sorry.' He felt a little bad as Myrtle seemed to deflate a bit.

'Oh. I was kind of hoping-… it's been very lonely lately, you see.'

'Er, right. Did Nick invite you to his Death Day Party?'

'Yes.' Myrtle seemed to cheer up a bit.

'Right, well-'

'Ooh, I should go get ready.'

She disappeared through the floor in a rush. Harry looked at the spot she'd left, a bit bemused.

.:Exactly what involves getting ready for a ghost?:. Harry asked an equally amused Apep.

Harry had half planned to have a bit of a nap, or at the very least start in on some of the homework that was piling up. Belleza, however, had other plans. Harry left the chamber a few hours later, once the glow had subsided, with extra homework on rituals added to his list. Apparently only choosing his ritual a week before the due date was lazy, so he had been given five new rituals to research and report back on. One of them caught Harry's interest especially: a ritual tying a wand to your magic, so if it were taken from you it could be called at will. Rather useful against disarming! Then there was a Dark ritual to get a second animagus form (though Harry would have had to previously complete his first form); a ritual to get rid of the Trace (which was unnecessary as Harry could avoid it through his Aura manipulation) and two more Dark rituals: one for becoming a metamorphagus, and one for increased strength. Unfortunately both of these involved rather brutal and disgusting sacrifices. Particularly drinking all the blood of a (magically sustained) metamorphagus. Harry would not be participating in either of these, but Belleza told him to study them to understand how they worked, not to actually perform them.

Harry was anticipating the effects of his ritual, but he had no way of knowing what they would be until the signs showed. All the book said on the matter was that they varied for different bloodlines, but they would be obvious to the wizard. Belleza assured Harry that Salazar himself had actually done the same ritual, and while the signs were apparent to him, they weren't obvious to anyone else. Normally they didn't show until the next day, though considering all the other weird things Harry had pulled off, he took that with a grain of salt. Harry just had to wait.

In any case nothing had shown up by the time he arrived at the Slytherin common room. Dumbledore and McGonagall had at least moved from the kitchens by then, and other than an upstart first year having taken over the lounge in the older students' absence (removed simply by walking to the lounge, twirling his wand and raising one eyebrow - she fled almost immediately) he was in and out of the common room with little fuss. The map proved that Millie and Lillian were back, but Daphne, Tracey and the boys were still in the carriages coming up to the school.

The Death Day Party started at dusk, and apparently went until dawn, though Harry had no intention of staying past curfew. He had a date with his godfather. Harry had been plotting this for some time, and in the end decided that the best way to do things was with an alibi. He didn't know the exact time Sirius would break in, nor which way he would come (though he presumed past the willow). Besides, Harry didn't see the point in having to smuggle Sirius into the castle when he could do that for himself. No, instead he had set a small charm on the floor in front of the Fat Lady. It wouldn't set off an alarm, it would simply record the exact time Sirius arrived. Harry would leave the Death Day Party at ten thirty, go up and check the charm and turn back the appropriate number of hours.

He hoped Sirius wouldn't hold it against him if he stunned him, but figured a petrified Pettigrew would probably make up for it.

'Good evening Nick. A Solemn Death Day to you.'

'Potter! Lovely to see you.' Nick greeted Harry at the door next to an external wall. The Hogwarts guests were mostly coming through the floors, while the other guests arrived through the wall. Harry suspected he'd startled Nick a little, sneaking up on him through a regular entrance.

Making his attendance of the DeathDay party an annual tradition was an odd choice, and no doubt his friends would think him a bit strange, but Harry had decided mourning on Halloween suited his stance. After all, he may not have become an orphan on this night, but he had certainly lost his parents. Not to mention all his other cursed luck on All Hallows Eve.

The Death Day party wasn't that bad either. It was just rather unfortunate that it was the same day as the end of the annual Headless Hunt, especially considering Nick's failed beheading.

Harry, again, spent the evening mostly with Peeves and the Bloody Baron, listening to the Baron pull out an endless stream of entertaining set-downs to the pompous Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore, who seemed to take every opportunity to make Nick's night less special.

Apparently the novelty of a living guest had worn off some since last year, though Harry still talked with a few interesting characters. One of the Kings of England did come over for a long chat (although Harry wondered at the time why the Baron had put a cold hand through Harry's spine when he went to ask the King's name), and two giggling perpetual teen girls dragged a startled Myrtle into conversation.

In the end though Harry found he was too distracted to take in much, and was starting to regret not just hiding out under his invisibility cloak near the Gryffindor portrait.

It was nearing ten when Nick made his way over the their little group. 'My Lord,' Nick acknowledged the Baron with a nod. 'Potter. And Peeves... I'm surprised the table is still standing and the decorations are still up.'

Peeves cackled. 'Me and Harrykins here made a deal.'

Harry gave Peeves a flat look. 'Have you been talking to the Weasley twins?'

'Wouldn't you like to know?' Peeves stuck out his tongue.

'I believe they have a similar petition with Peeves, only they promise to make their own mischief in payment for immunity.' the Baron provided. Peeves pouted, but as usual wasn't game to take on the Baron.

'Do they?' Harry mused.

'Jolly good.' Nick offered. 'Oh, sorry, but I must be getting on. I think Catherine and Anne are looking to leave.'

Harry followed Nick's path across the room to two well dressed ladies, both of whom were carrying their heads and glaring across the room at the ghost he had been talking to earlier.

'Was that King Henry the VIII?' Harry demanded.

'Pompous fool! A Squib.' The Baron offered with a sneer.

'Huh…' Harry murmured. 'Oh, why did Nick call you My Lord? Were you a Dark Lord?'

The Baron snorted. 'No. That is his rather misguided effort to pay heed to my title as a Baron.'

'Should be calling you Your Bloodyness.' Peeves offered.

'What makes you think I'd be a Dark Lord?' The Baron ignored Peeves with practiced ease.

'My mistake. A Light Lord then, or I suppose a Grey Lord.'

'There hasn't been a Grey Lord since before Merlin and Morgana. The professors look quite worried.'

'What?' Harry followed the Baron's gaze, discovering a frazzled looking McGonagall next to Dumbledore, Flitwick and a seething Snape.

'Oh, bother. I didn't think about them.' Harry groaned under his breath.

'I don't doubt you shall be more than capable of handling the situation with style.' Harry gave the Baron an amused glance, then faced the barrage.

'We really must stop meeting like this.' Harry said to the approaching group, partially referring to the previous year, and partially taking a jibe at Snape's day.'

'Potter! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?!' McGonagall started loudly.

'Not really, no. Has something happened then?'

'What have you cooked up now?' The Baron muttered. Harry spared him a slight shrug.

'Mr. Potter,' Dumbledore started in a somber voice, 'In future perhaps you would let us know as to your whereabouts for large feasts. It appears they have a habit of involving you and a large search party in some way.'

Harry raised an eyebrow. 'Very well. In future, on Halloween, I will be at Nick's Death Day Party.'

'But why?' The room turned as one to Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore. 'Nicholas isn't even scary!?'

Harry sneered at him as Nick bristled. 'Says the ghost running around playing a game with his head.'

Harry turned back to the staff. 'I'm sorry, but I'll ask again, has something happened?'

'We have been looking for you for nearly two hours!' McGonagall said sharply.

Enjoying himself thoroughly on the inside, Harry made a show of turning to Snape in exasperation. 'Sir?'

'Someone has helped Black into the castle.' said Snape.

Peeves broke the atmosphere by cackling and shooting up through the ceiling to investigate the matter. Harry just thought it was a shame Peeves hadn't managed to call Dumbledore ProfessorHead this timeline.

'Now Severus, I remember the conversation we had before the start of term. I still do not believe that a single person inside this castle would have helped Black enter it.' said Dumbledore, his tone making it clear that the subject was closed. Snape chose to ignore it this time around. Harry wondered if Dumbledore realised yet that Snape was no longer his lap-dog.

'Perhaps we were just looking for the wrong motives.' Snape's eyes didn't leave Harry. Harry also wondered if Dumbledore realised Snape didn't suspect Remus this time either.

Dumbledore turned back to Harry 'I must go down to the Dementors. I said I would inform them when our search was complete. I am glad that you are safe, Harry.'

'And the portrait?' Flitwick piped up.

'I've found a temporary guardian for the Gryffindor portrait hole. You'll be able to move them back in tomorrow.'

'The Gryffindor porthole?' Harry asked mildly.

'Yes. We can only assume that Sirius Black hadn't heard of your-…' Flitwick trailed off with an apologetic look.

'Unexpected sorting.' Harry provided him. 'I think it would be fair to say the majority of people were working under the presumption that I'd be sorted into Gryffindor. Is the Fat Lady okay?' Harry asked.

'Hiding in a map of Argyllshire on the second floor. Apparently she refused to let Black in without the password, so he attacked. She's still very distressed, but once she's calmed down, I'll have Mr. Filch restore her.' Dumbledore looked at Harry over his half-moon glasses. 'Gryffindor portrait, hmm? The most interesting amalgamation of knowledge you have on this castle.'

Harry tilted his chin up slightly.

'I shall walk Potter back to his common room. The dungeons have all been searched.'

'Thank you Severus.'

Harry wasn't delusional enough to believe Snape offered out of the goodness of his heart. He had been willing to listen to a proper set down. He wasn't, however, prepared for what Snape was going to spring on him.

Snape had grabbed him by the collar as they left, Harry had sort of gone with it, not wanting the other professors (especially Dumbledore) to understand their odd relationship any better. As soon as they were out of sight, however, Snape grabbed Harry's time-turner chain and before Harry realised what he was about, had it off and over Harry's head.

Harry stopped and stared for a moment in complete shock. It didn't last too long, however.

'Give that back.' Harry hissed.

Harry was furious, he could feel his magic pooling under his skin. They were still far too close to Dumbledore for Harry to let it out without consequence, however.

'Ten points from Slytherin. Watch your tone!' Snape drawled. 'I have put up with more than enough drama from you today.'

'I need that.'

'And you can have it back-'

Harry held out his hand.

'-Tomorrow.'

Harry snarled. Snape remained visibly unaffected.

'I did not get you a time-turner so that you could help criminals-'

'Sirius is innocent!' Harry growled.

'Then why does he need to break into Hogwarts?!' Snape was still whispering, but it had the velocity of a yell. 'Why then did he break into Gryffindor tower. What,' He drew in a sharp breath, 'are you playing at!?'

Harry drew on a significant amount of effort to pull back both his magic and his emotions. 'I did not help Sirius break into Hogwarts. Nor-' Harry said forcefully, 'did I help him break out of Azkaban.'

'But you would.' Snape hissed. He let go of Harry's robes suddenly. 'Get back to the common room. You can collect your time-turner tomorrow evening. You can hardly be needing it on the weekend.'

'I need it tonight.'

'To do what? Help Black? You only believe he isn't after your blood. Unless you are willing to admit to aiding and abetting a wanted criminal?'

Harry shut his eyes and clenched his teeth. His magic was so close to his skin now, and almost completely out of his control.

'Please Sir.' Harry said, voice flat.

'No.'

Harry snarled.

'So be it.' Harry stalked off down the hall without so much as a by-your-leave. Sirius would be back again to wake up Ron with a knife. Harry would just have to dedicate all the time he usually put aside for potions to trying to locate his godfather. Once down another floor Harry pulled out the map, just to check Sirius had left the castle. He wasn't anywhere obvious at any rate. Harry located the rest of the Slytherins in the common room, the same with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws in theirs. Annoyingly Gryffindor was the only ones situated in the Great Hall. Unlike in the original timeline.

Harry had still had half a mind to hunt down Hermione and her time-turner, but the rest of the staff were on guard rotation. Harry clenched the map furiously, feeling it shake from anger. On the floor above Snape was pacing back and forth. Harry could kill the man.

Letting out another snarl Harry spun around and punched the rock wall.

Unfortunately with his magic being so volatile it both cracked the stone on impact, but also failed to protect his hand. The throbbing did nothing to abate Harry's temper.

'Damn you.' Harry hissed, viciously poking Snape's dot on the map with his wand. 'Mischief managed.' The lie felt bitter in his mouth.

Harry strode the four levels down to the dungeons with a sharp gait, the walk did nothing to decrease his anger. In fact, despite the fact that he'd managed to pull up the perfect Slytherin mask, Harry was now beyond furious. Apparently the castle seemed to recognise this, as the wall to the common room practically sprung out of his way despite Harry not saying the password. As soon as he entered the common room the ambient parcel magic reacted to the magic bubbling under his skin. A hush fell across the room before the Slytherins had time to even realise exactly who it was.

Harry stalked across the room to the lounge. Luckily (for them) no one had made an attempt on it in his absence. The crowd parted naturally.

'Do you know what happened?' Blaise asked after a moment where the entire common room was silent, merely watching as Harry sat stiff.

'Sirius Black broke in to the castle. The Gryffindor common room portrait has been slashed up in his anger. She wouldn't let him in.' Harry said in a deceptively mild voice.

A murmur went around the room, but no one said anything.

'The Gryffindor common-… er-' Theo started, but then broke off.

'Clearly your Godfather doesn't even know what house you're in.' Draco's quiet but snide comment could be heard across the whole room from where he was leaning cooly against the wall.

Harry's face remained blank. His magic thickened however and beside him Blaise sucked in a breath. Harry desperately pulled on his magic again, but it was as if all the snakes in the room were a siren, calling for it to openly react.

'Or perhaps,' Harry drawled, 'it isn't me that he's after.'

Another murmur around the room.

Harry let his eyes fall shut, having to use every reserve of will to force his magic to remain hidden.

'Our dear Potions Professor,' Harry stated suddenly. The room froze, none of them could mistake the venom in Harry's voice. 'has made rather a strong error of judgement.'

Harry's eyes opened and did a slow circuit of the room. Calculating. 'Am I your King, then?' He asked, changing the topic in a bored drawl. Draco and a few other contenders stiffened, but Harry had the majority. When no one spoke up against him specifically, Harry finally let his magic respond to the parcel magic that had been calling to it.

He felt some of the fury lessen, but it just left cold, calculating anger simmering. Around the room he could feel the other students magic reacting to his. Harry's magic was boiling.

'Well?' Harry demanded.

Blaise was the first to react, Theo only a second behind him. Their heads bowed, and suddenly their magic sprang to the surface, smooth and sweet. Submissive. Harry felt a little less angry.

Daphne was next, and that set off a chain reaction. Flint and his following reacted almost as one, then Rhea and hers. Not everyone bowed their heads, but those openly allied to him did, and as their magic sprung to the surface, it called to the other Slytherins.

Submissive. All of it submissive.

It was also drawing on Harry's magic, not knowing why he did it, Harry let go of any hold. It was like with the ritual earlier, Harry's magic was practically singing, and it was open enough for everyone there to feel it.

'Until otherwise stated.' Harry spat out, 'Severus Snape is persona non grata to the House of Slytherin.'

Harry couldn't explain it if he tried. He had simultaneously calmed down, while his fury grew beyond belief. He had been confident that tonight he would get Sirius. But Snape clearly couldn't let old grudges die. Had it been any other Slytherin, Snape would have told Harry that he would take no responsibility for the consequences, and sat back and watched the drama unfold with undisguised amusement. As long as they didn't get caught.

But it was Black.

Harry had, not even twelve hours earlier, thought that Snape was one of the only people Harry could trust. Clearly trust was relative.

There was a pause as the magic settled, then it was as if the Slytherins took a collective gasp of air. Everyone began talking at once. Everyone but Harry and his immediate circle of friends.

No one drew their magic back in, and Harry could feel the room slowly charging as the night went on. Harry stayed up late just sitting in the common room stewing and trying to let the humming magic calm him down.

The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder; Hannah Abbott spent much of their next Herbology class telling anyone who'd listen that Black could turn into a flowering shrub. Like last time the Fat Lady's ripped canvas had been taken off the wall and replaced with the portrait of Sir Cadogan and his fat grey pony. At least Harry wasn't being challenged to a duel every time he entered his common room (though like Gryffindor their password was being changed at least daily). Personally Harry just thought this was likely to cause more security risk as he'd easily overheard Gryffindor's password for Tuesday, and overheard Hufflepuff's code twice because everyone had to keep asking each other. Harry had taken to demanding entrance to the Slytherin common room with parseltongue and ignoring all passwords, as he found the whole process ridiculous.

One of the prefects had approached Harry asking if he had a preference on choosing the password, however his suggestion of 'Snivillus' had been turned down due to lack of bravery in the house of Snakes.

Harry's ire towards Snape did not go away. Every time he heard someone mention Sirius (often due to all the rumours), his mood would sour further. After the relatively clear weekend the weather had turned foul again and every time Harry had to go outside he was reminded Sirius was out in that weather and his mood shifted lower again.

Sirius' plight wasn't the only thing keeping Harry annoyed. He was now being closely watched. Flitwick, Burbage, Babbling and Sinistra (the last Harry didn't mind as much as he knew he should) had all found excuses to walk along corridors with him, and he'd twice spotted Percy trying to tail him like an extremely pompous guard dog. The teachers were well-meaning, and he suspected Percy was acting on possibly Mr. Weasley's orders this time, but it was driving him crazy. Trying to use the time-turner without suspicion was becoming hopeless, as the school was back to pointing him out as he went down hallways, and the Slytherin's were sticking so close he'd actually had to start a Gryffindor-Slytherin fight as a distraction in order to sneak into the Chamber. What capped it all, however, was that Harry saw Dumbledore bumping into Neville in the hall twice, offering him a lemon drop while sneakily adding a tracking charm. McGonagall and Hagrid had been seen walking with Neville to class by Daphne too. Harry was furious. Apparently they suspected Sirius must be after the other Prophecy child too now. Harry had wanted to ask Neville about it in potions (he rightly assumed Snape would put him back on regular classwork), but less than five minutes in Harry lost patience with Snape's snide remarks and purposely blew up their potion in such a way that the entire class had to be cancelled. Harry felt a bit bad when Gryffindor lost fifteen points, but considering Snape would have to clean it himself (due to it's volatile corrosive properties - Harry broke through the upper level wards just to get crushed moon stone especially), he thought it was worth it.

Harry had made his war with Snape so clear that even Ron (according to Hermione) caught on to the fact that the majority of Slytherin were rebelling against their head-of-house. It was subtle; setting off the Gryffindors with Snape-insults when Snape was near, or rearranging prefect meetings to the least convenient times, but enough of it was happening that most of the school caught on. Harry was mildly astonished with the level of support. Unfortunately, as King it was his responsibility to maintain fair House punishments, so after a week Harry had to tell them it was enough or openly admit the infraction.

Harry seethed silently instead.

Snape had tried to pull the same stunt as McGonagall, stopping evening Quidditch practice, but Harry had started a near-rebellion within the house and the order had been retracted after Snape caught thirty students breaking curfew to fly. Only after the house lecture did Harry point out to Snape that he could have just trained separately during the day.

The weather worsened steadily as the first Quidditch match drew nearer. Undaunted, the Slytherin team was training harder than ever. Then, at their final training session before Saturday's match, Marcus surprised Harry completely, bringing the team some unwelcome news.

'We're not playing Gryffindor!' he told them, looking very angry. 'Wood's just been to see me. We're playing Hufflepuff instead.'

'Why?' demanded Loki.

'Wood's excuse is that their Seeker's arm is injured,' said Marcus, grinding his teeth furiously. 'Apparently the second year Lions caused some trouble after history yesterday and the Weasley chit got hexed in the crossfire.'

'They're claiming it was one of us?' Harry asked mildly.

'Of course.' Marcus spat.

'And was it?' Harry's voice was suddenly cold and flat, and the entire team flinched. Harry had told off some fifth year students earlier that week for the same thing, telling them it was pathetic and insulting to the teams perceived skills. He would be very unimpressed to say the least. Also, a small part of him still didn't want Ginny to get too hurt. Cheating-ex in future-past or not.

'It was a Slytherin, but I don't think it was due to Weasley's position. Beside's the brat is obviously milking it. It was just a welt hex.' Marcus scowled. 'But it's clear why they're doing it. Don't want to play in this weather. Think it'll damage their chances…'

There had been strong winds and heavy rain all day, and as Marcus spoke, they heard a distant rumble of thunder.

'There's nothing wrong with Weasley's arm!' said Draco furiously. 'She's faking it! I saw her complaining to that photo boy about being babied earlier today.'

Harry was mildly amused at Draco's outrage. Hypercritical considering Harry knew Draco would have done the same. Then again, Slytherins weren't above being hypocritical if it benefited them.

'I know that, but we can't prove it,' said Marcus bitterly, 'Their plays are entirely different. Not to mention Hufflepuff have got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory —'

'He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?' asked Loki.

'Something you're not telling us, Leander?' Theo teased. Loki scowled.

'You know what I meant!'

'I don't know why you're worried, Flint, Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, we annihilated them.' Draco said turning up his nose.

'We were playing in completely different conditions!' Marcus growled. 'Diggory's put a very strong side together! He's an excellent Seeker! I'm not interested in having you slack off because you underestimate them. Gryffindor is trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!'

'We'll win.' Harry said it with complete confidence, and Marcus lost a little tension in his shoulders. Under his Slytherin mask however Harry was a bit unsure. He was wary due to the timeline repeating itself despite separate circumstances. Cedric was nowhere near Harry's level anymore, but he was the best out of the other houses, and there was always a large measure of chance as a Seeker. The best skills in the world and the fastest broom wouldn't help if the snitch turned up right in front of the other seeker's face. In theory it shouldn't, due to the arithmetic magic, but then Ginny hadn't injured her arm and Slytherin hadn't played in the original timeline.

Harry wasn't sure how he felt about everyone seeing his patronus either.

The day before the match, the winds reached howling point and the rain fell harder than ever. It was so dark inside the corridors and classrooms that extra torches and lanterns were lit. Gryffindor as a whole were walking around looking smug, while Slytherin seethed and Hufflepuff looked grumpy.

Harry had no room in his head to worry about anything except the match tomorrow. Not only was Theo completely freaking out, quoting all sorts of useless Quidditch information ('Did you know that statistically speaking seekers are the most likely to die… and beaters are the most likely to kill someone?'), but Harry had also remembered something far more important about the match.

In the original time-line he'd seen Sirius.

Harry arrived to defence on time, and sat towards the back of the room, planning on focusing on his plot to catch Sirius. Unfortunately that was thrown out the window when the classroom door flew open and slammed behind a scowling Snape. Harry groaned. He'd mildly been aware that it was the full moon, but hadn't registered the importance until now. Harry scowled at his textbook and preemptively turned ahead to the chapter on werewolves.

'Sit down and be silent.' Snape demanded as Lillian and Millicent walked into the room.

'Professor Lupin is unavailable at this time. As such I have been inconvenienced by having to run this class. Professor Lupin has not left any record of the topics you have covered so far-'

'Please, sir, we've done Boggarts, Red Caps, Kappas, and Grindylows,' said Hannah Abbot quickly, 'and we're just about to start-'

'Be quiet,' said Snape coldly. 'I did not ask for information. I was merely commenting on Professor Lupin's lack of organization.'

'He's the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we've ever had!' said Zacharias Smith boldly, and there was a murmur of agreement from the Hufflepuffs. The Slytherins were more quietly agreeing, though Harry heard Vince mumble 'Not that that is hard.'

Harry was startled that Vince had spoken at all, but had to agree. Quirell and Lockhart were hardly up to par. They should just wait until they'd seen Umbridge… not that Harry would let that catastrophe repeat.

Snape looked more menacing than ever.

'You are easily satisfied. Lupin is hardly overtaxing you - I would expect first years to be able to deal with Red Caps and Grindylows. Today we shall discuss-'

Harry watched him flick through the textbook, to the very back chapter. Harry had anticipated it, but it still made him furious that Snape was so pathetic.

'-werewolves.' said Snape. Beneath the desk Harry clenched his hands, his nails digging into his palms so much they drew blood.

'But, sir,' said Ernie McMillan, 'we're not supposed to do werewolves yet, we're due to start Hinkypunks in-'

'Mr McMillan,' said Snape in a voice of deadly calm, 'I was under the impression that I am teaching this lesson, not you. And I am telling you all to turn to page 394.' He glanced around again. 'All of you! Now!'

In amongst the many bitter sidelong looks and some sullen muttering as the class opened their books, Harry's still form drew Snape's attention.

'Potter! Turn to page 394.' Snape paused to sneer. 'Immediately!' He added, when Harry made no move to touch his book.

Slowly Harry looked up until he was looking Snape in the eye.

'I already had my book open to werewolves sir. As the last topic in a book designed for the full third year I had no other expectations.' Harry drawled slowly, emphasising the last sentence in a way which made Snape scowl. At the next set of desks over Daphne frowned, but everyone else seemed too cowed to notice much.

'Which of you can tell me how we distinguish between the werewolf and the true wolf?' said Snape after a moment of glaring at Harry.

Everyone sat in motionless silence. Harry could see Susan Bones shuffling in her seat, and Justin Flinch-Fletchly too; But the Hufflepuffs were hardly going to put themselves out their for Snape's vitriol.

Pulling up her mask, and with just the tiniest hesitation, Daphne's hand went into the air.

'Anyone?' Snape said, ignoring Daphne. His twisted smile was back. Harry's fingernails dug further into his hands. Snape would never have ignored Daphne before, but she was Harry's; Snape's eyes slid over the room like she wasn't even there.

'Are you telling me that Professor Lupin hasn't even taught you the basic distinction between-'

'We told you,' said Ernie suddenly, 'we haven't got as far as werewolves yet, we're still on-'

'Silence!' snarled Snape. 'Well, well, well, I never thought I'd meet a third-year class who wouldn't even recognise a werewolf when they saw one. I shall make a point of informing Professor Dumbledore how very behind you all are…'

'Please, sir-' said Daphne, but Harry interrupted. Daphne usually hated defence, but under Remus she was flourishing, and Harry wasn't going to let Snape ruin that.

'No doubt Dumbledore will believe every word.'

Harry said it in a tone devoid of all emotion, empty enough to portray sarcasm without any and stop both Daphne and Snape in their argument. 'The werewolf is different in several ways. Snout, leg structure and tail most specifically.' Harry continued.

Snape scowled. 'The bare minimum of information, but that is unexpected.'

Harry shot Daphne a warning look as Snape turned to walk around his desk. Surprisingly she heeded; Daphne's mouth shut, jaw clenched and the class fell to silence.

No one made a sound throughout the rest of the lesson. They sat and made notes on werewolves from the textbook, while Snape prowled up and down the rows of desks, examining the work they had been doing with Professor Lupin.

'Very poorly explained…That is incorrect, the Kappa is more commonly found in Mongolia…Professor Lupin gave this eight out of ten? I wouldn't have given it three…'

When the bell rang at last, Snape held them back.

'You will each write an essay, to be handed in to me, on the ways you recognise and kill werewolves. I want two rolls of parchment on the subject, and I want them by Monday morning. It is time somebody took this class in hand.'

'Don't bother.' Harry told the rest of the Slytherin's as they headed to lunch. 'Snape is just in a foul mood and I can guarantee you Lupin won't mark it.'

'Do you think this is about Longbottom's Boggart?' Blaise asked.

Harry shook his head. 'No. Snape and Lupin were enemies during school. Though I suppose the Boggart didn't help.'

The Slytherin's seemed to accept that with some grumbling, though Harry was too busy quietly seething to really notice. Gryffindor had Defence after the break, and no doubt it would go along the same lines.

A surprise pop quiz in Transfiguration and a new essay in Runes finished off Harry's main classes for the day and left Harry in a terrible mood for poor Pomfrey to deal with for the Healing class. There was none in the hospital wing all afternoon so they spent the afternoon covering anatomy and how magic flowed through different parts of the body in different ways. Harry was struggling to keep his mind focused throughout the lesson. The only good thing that came of it was that Pomfrey taught Harry two new spells when she saw he'd torn up his palm with his fingernails throughout the day; Depurgo - to clean out non-magical wounds, and Coeoligo - to seal together simple clean wounds. The anatomy however seemed to go in one ear and out the other.

Harry woke extremely early the next morning; so early that it was still dark. For a moment he thought the roaring of the wind along the cliffs had woken him. Then he felt a cold breeze on the back of his neck and sat bolt upright. He had already drawn his wand and was half out of bed before he realised it was only Peeves.

'What did you do that for?' said Harry furiously.

'The ProfessorHead just got a floo call from blondie's pa.'

Harry fumbled for his alarm clock and looked at it. It was half past four.

'Lucius Malfoy called before five?' Harry asked, somewhat unbelieving. Hardly pureblood protocol.

'Plotting mischief doesn't wait for nobody!'

It was rather odd. Making sure Peeves wasn't looking (he'd floated over to tickle under Goyle's nose), Harry pulled out the map. Sure enough Dumbledore's dot was right up against the fireplace in his study.

Harry shut the map and flopped back onto his bed with a groan.

'It's too early for this.'

'Peevesie only wanted to help.' Peeves puffed out his cheeks, blew hard, and zoomed backward out of the room, cackling. Harry doubted that Peeves would have been so obliging if the information came at a more reasonable time. Cursing the Poltergeist, Harry rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, but it was very difficult, now that he was awake, to ignore the sounds of the thunder rumbling outside, and the pounding of the waves against the base of the cliff, and the whistling noise that the wind made flying between the balconies. In a few hours he would be out on the Quidditch field, battling through that gale. Finally, he gave up any thought of more sleep, got up, dressed, picked up his Nimbus Two Thousand, and walked quietly out of the dormitory.

The noise of the storm was slightly less in the common room, so Harry settled in to reinforcing all of his gear with warming charms. Harry knew better than to think the match would be canceled; Quidditch matches weren't called off for trifles like thunderstorms. Nevertheless, he could hardly work up his usual enthusiasm. Cedric was currently in fifth year and a lot bigger than Harry, despite Harry's extra weight and height compared to the original timeline. Seekers were usually light and speedy, but Harry knew how Cedric's weight had been an advantage in this weather last time. Cedric only had to fight half as hard against being blown off course, and he didn't have glasses to freeze over when the dementors came.

Harry whiled away the hours until dawn in front of the fire, he managed to finish all of the work for Snape in that time, though doing so hardly improved his mood. At long last Harry thought it must be time for breakfast, so he headed to the great hall alone.

Curiously the Bloody Baron joined him for breakfast, appearing next to Harry a few moments after he arrived. Harry had questions he'd been meaning to ask, but couldn't work up any enthusiasm. Harry revived a bit over a large bowl of porridge, and by the time he'd started on toast, the rest of the team had turned up. No one said anything while they picked out their breakfast and the team and the Bloody Baron maintained a stony silence.

'It's going to be a tough one,' Marcus eventually spoke, he wasn't eating anything.

'Admitting defeat already, Flint?' said Loki. To an outsider it would seem a bit harsh, but some of the tension dropped from Marcus' shoulders and he reached for a sausage.

'Hardly. A bit of rain might frighten the Hufflepuffs.' he pulled behind his mask and scoffed.

Theo sat up a little straighter next to Harry, but under the table Harry could see his knuckles had gone white due to the grip on his beaters bat. Harry didn't say anything, just put a piece of toast on Theo's plate and elbowed him when he until he made a move to eat it.

But it was considerably more than only a bit of rain. Such was the popularity of Quidditch that the whole school still turned out to watch the match, but they ran down the lawns toward the Quidditch field, heads bowed against the ferocious wind, umbrellas being whipped out of their hands as they went. Just before he entered the locker room, Harry saw Ron and Seamus laughing and pointing at the teams from under an enormous umbrella on their way to the stadium.

The team changed into their emerald robes and waited for Marcus' usual pre-match pep talk, but it didn't come. He just glared at them individually, then as a group and eventually barked out 'Win!' before beckoned them to follow him.

The wind was so strong that they staggered sideways as they walked out onto the field. If the crowd was cheering, Harry certainly couldn't hear it over the fresh rolls of thunder. Theo had been unusually silent the whole time, but he tried to shout something as they walked to the starting positions. Harry had no idea what he'd said, but grabbed his shoulder and gave it a squeeze and yelled 'You'll be great!' in Theo's ear. He didn't know if he'd heard it.

Rain was splattering over Harry's glasses, and he was seriously considering giving up his advantage and just admitting that he'd fixed his sight. A repelling charm on his face would work much better, but it would work havoc with the one on his glasses.

The Hufflepuffs were approaching from the opposite side of the field, wearing canary-yellow robes. The Captains walked up to each other and shook hands; Diggory smiled at Marcus but Marcus now looked as though he had lockjaw and merely nodded. Harry saw Madam Hooch's mouth form the words, 'Mount Your brooms.' He pulled his right foot out of the mud with a squelch and swung it over his Nimbus Two Thousand. Madam Hooch put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant - they were off.

Harry rose fast, but his Nimbus was swerving slightly with the wind. He held it as steady as he could and turned, squinting into the rain.

Harry could only catch a word here and there of the commentary, and it was dangerous cutting through the play as a fourth chaser, as through the rain it was almost impossible to see which team had the Quaffle and which team were defending. Having predicted this, Marcus and Harry had come up with a different tactic.

Harry flew low against his broom speeding towards who he thought was Theo, but turned out to be Loki. Loki gave him a nod and dropped into a dive. Harry tailed him closer than would normally be safe, especially in conditions like these, except Harry had slipped completely to a neutral Aura and despite the wind and rain, had not gotten over how much control he had. He couldn't see where they were heading, and Loki's robes were flicking him in the face. He could feel the rain stinging the right side of his face as it compressed at the edge of Loki's slipstream. The only warning he had was a slight whistling and Loki tilting his head to the left.

Harry pulled hard to the right, tilting up and just missing Loki swinging for the bludger that Theo had hit over. Not having time to think about it or who they were closing in on, Harry flew so close behind the bludger that the tip of his broom almost tapped it.

WHAM!

Harry threw himself to the right, avoiding the collision as the bludger knocked a yellow player off course and the Quaffle flew through the air. Harry snatched it and did a full turn-about pegging the Quaffle back to where Loki had made the hit. As planned Draco was there to catch it and Graham was coming up on his right.

'Flint pass-… -ice catch from-… Malfoy shoots and-…'

Harry couldn't hear if Slytherin had scored, he could only make out bits of Lee's commentary every time the wind changed. He was mostly sure that the green umbrellas in the Slytherin stand were celebrating not dipping in a collective groan.

Harry shot upwards out of the game searching out Cedric. After a loop around the stadium he spotted him hovering sort of close to the teachers stand.

It was a good tactic, really; Just about the only spot he might actually hear the commentary. Scowling, Harry flew higher until he was just off directly above Cedric.

He dropped.

'-at's Gritte with the Quaffle, passes to Page, back to- No! One of the Slytherin chasers intercept. They all look- WHAT THE-'

Lee's voice faded in then out as Harry dropped past them. He had accelerated straight down cutting so close to Cedric that his robes whipped his face and he had to swerve tightly to avoid the front of his broom.

'Tag!' Harry yelled with a smirk.

Harry couldn't hear Cedric's response, but he was pretty sure Cedric had heard him, as he suddenly had a yellow tail.

Harry pushed to almost full speed, but stayed a little upright so Cedric's broom could keep up. He was sure Cedric knew he wasn't following the snitch, but his obnoxious comment had done the trick, as Loki said it would. Cedric wouldn't fall for a feint to the ground or into the stands, however-

Harry suddenly yanked his broom upwards, then repeated a moment later, leaning down and letting his magic guide his body into a sharp loop putting him directly above Cedric.

Robes whipped against broom handles and there was a second of silence as Cedric's body blocked off the wind then-

'Aargh!'

Harry flew back down towards the match with a grin. He couldn't let them collide, as it would injure him as well, but Cedric had certainly looked shaken.

Seeing the Quaffle in the Hufflepuff zone Harry dropped down through the match scattering their formation before flying back above the game.

He caught the score (40:10 to Slytherin), but didn't stick around. Finding a slightly sheltered spot next to one of the towers he spent a moment running his eyes over the game trying to spot a glint of the snitch. It was less than ten minutes into the game and Harry was soaked to his skin and frozen despite the extra charms he'd layered. From one end of the pitch he could hardly see his teammates, let alone the tiny Snitch.

Soon Harry spotted Cedric hovering further down the same tower, and with no better plan Harry decided to lead Cedric on a chase.

Despite being unsure if Harry had spotted the snitch, Cedric couldn't risk it with such poor visibility and while he would pull out from near the ground and stands, Harry managed to lead him on a merry chase.

Cedric tried to lead Harry, but only twice. Once Harry was too far behind, so he feinted following him, only to purposely almost collide with the Hufflepuff Chaser Demetri Fawley, and once Harry pinned him into a corner only pulling out with enough time for Harry to pull out; Cedric having to swerve through the crowd, getting a gash on his wrist from the corner of a battered umbrella.

Harry lost track of time. It was getting harder and harder to hold his broom straight as it's bristles got more and more waterlogged. The sky was getting darker, as though night had decided to come early. Once a bludger nearly unseated him, only his neutral Aura connection with the proximity charms and natural instinct to drop into a roll saved him, and the second time a bludger actually nicked his shoulder.

Cedric was the only player Harry was managing to properly keep track of. Everyone was now so wet, and the rain so thick now that he could hardly tell the players apart…

One of their dives had Cedric nearly collide with another player, though Harry wasn't sure if it was a teammate or opponent.

With the first flash of lightning came the sound of Madam Hooch's whistle; Harry could just see the outline of Marcus through the thick rain, gesturing him to the ground. Harry waved Cedric over having to gesture a large T with his arms to communicate, the rain having thickened so much that they could only make out the ground in waves.

Both teams splashed down into the mud.

'I called for time-out!' Marcus roared at his team. 'Come on, under here-'

They huddled at the edge of the field under a large umbrella; Harry took off his glasses and wiped them on his robes with a scowl.

'What's the score?'

'We're ninety points up,' said Marcus, 'but unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night.'

'It's not great.' Harry winced. 'To be honest it'll be more luck than skill. I can barely see twenty meters in front of me and with this wind the snitch won't fly straight even if I catch sight of it.'

Really, it was a wonder either of them had spotted it at all the first time.

The team didn't seem too pleased to hear that, but they didn't look surprised.

'Was that the whistle?' Draco yelled.

They all turned and squinted towards Madam Hooch.

'Right. Make it a quick one Potter!' Marcus slapped Harry on the back, followed by Miles and Graham. Theo slung his arm over Harry's and they braced themselves together back out into the wind.

'Good Luck!'

'You too.'

The crowd was hidden beneath a sea of cloaks and battered umbrellas. Harry urged his broom through the turbulent air, staring in every direction for the Snitch, avoiding a Bludger, and following Cedric in the corner of his eye. They both spiralled each other, drifting upwards because of the wind.

There was another clap of thunder, followed immediately by forked lightning. This was getting more and more dangerous. Harry needed to get the Snitch quickly. He was putting less and less focus on directing his broom, letting the connection to the inbuilt magic warn him of incoming collisions.

Suddenly there was a spike of Lightning that was closer and brighter to the others; It struck down on one of the towers sending off green sparks against the protection field. Harry looked away to try and save his eyes from the brightness, and as he was turning back a gold glint caught his attention.

Reacting on instinct he pushed his broom almost directly upwards; a groan heard on a gust of wind told him Cedric was following.

Another strike of lightning drove through the air and this time close enough he could taste the tang and smell the ozone. But it lit up the sky and confirmed it was the snitch he was chasing.

Harry's numb hand slipped on the broom handle and a particularly strong gust of wind helped Cedric forward so they were spiralling upwards around each other less than half a body length between them.

'Come on!' he growled at his Nimbus as the rain whipped his face. 'Faster!'

But something odd was happening and Harry felt his stomach drop. Determined, he pushed his chest hard up against the broom bringing his occlumency up to full strength and ignoring everything else. An eerie silence was falling across the stadium. The wind, though as strong as ever, was forgetting to roar. It was as though someone had turned off the sound, as though Harry had gone suddenly deaf.

Harry grit his teeth, taking one hand off the broom and stretching for the snitch, ignoring the crystallisation of the water on his gloves and the horribly familiar wave of cold sweeping over him, inside him.

What looked like a black shadow swept across in front of his path, but Harry didn't let it distract him; neither pausing nor turning. To his right Cedric let out a shout of warning, and suddenly there was the familiar feeling of that cold pull and Harry could hear a rattling breath from beside him.

'Not Harry, not Harry, please not Harry!'

'Stand aside, you silly girl…stand aside, now…'

'Not Harry, please no, take me, kill me instead -'

Harry gripped his broom tighter and reached out, fighting against the numbing, swirling white mist that was filling his brain.

Another set of long, decaying fingers gripped around the end of Harry's broom, but right at that moment Harry felt freezing metal in his fingertips.

With a start Harry realised he had lost grip of his broom at the same time his right hand closed on the snitch.

'H- Harry, I can explain.'

Harry could feel the air and rain whipping past him, only half aware he was falling. What was he doing? Was he flying?

A shrill voice was laughing, the woman was screaming.

'I know it's not the best time, but - - No! Please, don't hurt them - - It was for your safety - - We knew he would be after you - - wanted us dead! - - You needed to not have even the slightest liking for those raising you.'

Voices echoed through his head making no sense, It was as though freezing water were rising in his chest, cutting at his insides. And then he heard it again…Someone was screaming, screaming inside his head…a woman…

'Do you think it was easy giving up my only son?'

He was falling, falling through the icy mist.

'Not Harry! Please…have mercy…have mercy…'

A shrill voice was laughing, the woman was screaming, and Harry knew no more.