"Oh, I'm so happy you came into Thunderbird with me, Harry!" Melissa whispered excitedly as he joined her with the rest of the Thunderbirds on the upper floor as the sorting continued.

"I'm happy to be here with you," Harry smiled at Melissa, noticing that her school badge now showed the Thunderbird symbol and he quickly glanced down at his own robe and saw the Thunderbird appearing there. He was pleased he'd made a friend out of today. Harry had always had a lonely childhood and while he had gotten used to the idea of nobody liking him, he had been slightly hurt when some of the cousins he had in America from the Potter family hadn't wanted anything to do with him.

It had hurt him a little, but the years spent with Dudley, who'd been conditioned by his parents to parrot their views and actions, had conditioned him to expect such pain.

He knew Aunt Miranda and Uncle Isaac would be thrilled as well, especially after the mind-healing sessions had largely cured him of the misery caused by the Dursleys and his time on the streets of London before he'd discovered the truth, and before he had come to the MACUSA for a fresh start, so he could get away from the shadow that hung over him. But he was worried about how long Melissa would hang around him.

It was only a matter of time before she discovered the truth. Parkinson probably already knew who he was, judging from her reaction and she would very likely gloat about it at some point.

When the last student was sorted, this one went to Pukwudgie, Headmaster Fontaine turned and smiled as he addressed everyone in the hall.

"Students, please follow your Houses to the Great Hall. The feast will begin momentarily," he said.

A brief frown crossed Harry's face as he studied Fontaine for a moment, wondering just what he knew before he and Melissa walked with the other Thunderbirds and the other Houses to the Great Hall, walking through two massive double doors into the Great Hall.

Great Hall.

Harry had never seen a room as massive as this one. It was easily larger than the Dursley's home and he wondered how much of the American Potter's largest homes could fit inside. The walls were high and made of massive blocks of stone with a cathedral-like front, with stained glass depicting the images of the Ilvermorny Houses with a wizard and a witch showing their House's spirit; for Horned Serpent, it showed the witch and wizard discovering new spells, potions and educating new minds; the Pukwudgie depicted a witch and wizard of that House healing the sick; the Thunderbird showed the wizard and the witch who represented that House and that mindset going on adventures and spreading the word of Ilvermorny, while the Wampus showed the warrior witch and wizard fighting for their beliefs. Harry found it a very strong mental image, it was purely designed to inspire the witches and wizards who attended the school, but he wondered how many students found it easy to live up to their Houses' images.

Sitting at the House table, Harry sat close to Melissa. The first years stuck to their year group even though there was no real rule that said the year groups shouldn't mingle. When Fontaine announced the feast was beginning, the first years gasped when they took in the sheer amount of food.

There were meats roasted, fried, boiled or baked, and there were heaps of vegetables, sauces and gravies, and strangely there were mint humbugs and some other sweets, pumpkins and sweet potatoes.

"Hey, Harry."

Harry heard the familiar voice and looked up. He smiled. "Hi, Dan," he said. "Melissa, this is Daniel Potter. My cousin."

Melissa turned and studied the other boy. Daniel was a few years older than Harry, and she saw the resemblance except Daniel's hair was slightly longer, a different shade of black that looked more brown. And his eyes were a gleaming silver. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said politely, shaking his hand.

Dan sent Harry a questioning look before he pumped Melissa's hand gently. "Melissa who?"

"Melissa Picquerry."

"Yaz and Katie are bound to come over from their respective Houses in a bit, Harry," Dan told Harry.

"Okay, thanks for telling me."

"Who's Yaz and Katie, more cousins?" Melissa asked curiously.

"Older cousins. The Potters have more than twenty-six children in the various branches, including me. Four of them are girls who attend Salems," Harry explained, glancing at Dan with a look Melissa couldn't place. There seemed to be a lot of mystery surrounding Harry, and she was fascinated by it, although she wondered if she would like what she found.

"Are they here?"

"Well, Yaz, Katie, and Dan are here, but so's Kelly Samander; she's another cousin and Robert Holmes."

Melissa blinked. She knew the names Samander and Holmes, both prominent magical American families. Many families were interrelated with them.

Harry went on, "And there's my cousin Abraham Potter, named after the auror; he's a seventh year in Horned Serpent."

"And he's right behind you."

Harry jumped and turned and sighed, "I wish you would stop doing that," he shook his head.

"Not can do, little cousin. Don't screw up."

"I won't," Harry glared back at him.

"Oh, so you're here, are you?"

Melissa frowned at the hostility, noting the tension in Harry's shoulders as well as the almost feral jutting of his jaw. "Hello, Esmerelda," he said quietly looking up.

Following his gaze, Melissa took in a girl who looked around the same age as Abraham. She had worked out quickly that Abraham….tolerated, it seemed, Harry's presence and existence; but this girl seemed determined to reject it. But why? Esmeralda was a tall girl with dark hair that seemed prominent in the Potter family, messiness and all, but she had a sharply angular face and she was quite beautiful in a pureblood way, something that put Melissa off due to her half-blood nature.

On her robes was the Horned Serpent badge.

And Melissa did not like the way she was looking at Harry.

But Esmerelda hadn't finished, "You might want to find another friend, not this Death Eater spawn."

The Potters stiffened and Melissa stiffened but Harry looked at Esmerelda with something akin to pride.

Melissa couldn't believe it.

Death Eater spawn.

Death Eater.

Like all witches and wizards raised in the magical world, Melissa was fully aware of the Dark Lord known to the British as You-Know-Who, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort, who'd made use of a taboo curse to further threaten the magical world and terrorise them in Britain. The Dark Lord had been brought down by a kid, Neville Longbottom.

Lord Voldemort had terrorised Britain for years and even attacked places and parts of Europe, while some people derided him and those who followed him, and those who claimed he was worse than Grindelwald; Melissa's family had made it clear to her Grindelwald had done more in a few years than Voldemort had ever managed in ten.

But…what did Esmerelda mean when she called Harry Death Eater spawn, and why did Harry seem proud of it?

Melissa made up her mind; her family had many connections in the MACUSA, and it was time for her to use them to learn more about the mysterious Mr Harry Potter.

"I can make and choose my friends, thanks," Melissa snapped when she realised Esmerelda was waiting for an answer.

Esmerelda scowled. "You'll regret it; everything his kind touches turns to poison."

"Esme, that's enough," a young dark-skinned girl said as she walked up, judging by her badge she was a Wampus. "Harry's not responsible for what his parents did, and you know they didn't have a choice."

"Everyone has a choice," Esmerelda spat before he stalked off, leaving the other girl to sigh in irritation.

"Stupid idiot. Even after seeing those memories, she's still stubborn."

"She's a parrot, Yaz," Harry said. "Merlin knows how she got into Horned Serpent since she takes the opinions of her parents, and repeats them verbatim."

"You didn't exactly help, Harry," Dan pointed out. "You looked proud of what your parents did."

Melissa was starting to question the implications of what she was hearing. Was the boy she was interested in the son of Death Eaters?

"I understand why they did it, but I don't like it," Harry said shortly.

"Erm, Hi, I don't think we've been introduced," a blonde-haired girl had come over to them followed by a second girl of Mexican descent, "I'm Erica Jackson, and this is Lana Ortega."

"Hello, I'm Harry Potter," Harry smiled and held out his hand, "Nice to meet you."

Out of the two girls, Melissa noted only Erica seemed to recognise the Potter name. Lana didn't. Still, that didn't stop the blonde girl from smiling back.

"I'm Melissa Picquerry," Melissa smiled and shook the hands of both girls.