Summary…Just days after the DOM a mysterious letter arrives and Harry is faced with a decision. Reject the offer and continue on the path Dumbledore has set for him or forge a new one and challenge every opinion ever forced on him.

SLASH. Creature fic, new school, Grey/Powerful Harry, possibility of Mpreg but will maybe take a vote on it…

Oh if anything else warning worthy develops I will put the warning in the authors note. I'll also try to highlight it in the text. K?

A/N…Right as stated in the summary this is SLASH so i would hope that anyone whose got to this point has got that by now, so remember if you don't like it don't read it. HBP and eventual DH spoliers, but I think most people will have read that by now, so just in case. Will mention Mpreg but it isnt likely it will actually happen in the story. Could do but i doubt it.

Sorry I havent mentioned anybody here, i'm going to try and reply to everyones review directly instead of in the chapter. The only time i'll put a reply in the chapter is when it addresses something that I think needs explaining.

Pairing news... Lol, votes it is. Right I am introducing a few more ocs over the next chapter and also the third Hogwarts student will be revealed. I will continue to accept votes for a while yet. But I was wondering if everyone could give me their opinions on something else. A reviewer mentioned the fic being a threesome, now I dont really see this as a threesome fic but I was wondering what everyones opinion was on this?

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Mysteria

Chapter Seven

Harry stared for a moment more but finally shook himself free from its spell. Glancing down at his watch he realised that he still had just over fifteen minutes to get through the doors. Plenty of time to stare but there might be a final test. And he could stare all he wanted when he was a student. He couldn't run anymore though, all he could do was walk. He followed the path, not wishing to risk stepping off the stones. The path headed down to the water and followed the edge for a short distance before meeting the bridge which slowly ascended above the water.

Reaching the edge of the water he was halted by one of the black stallions. It didn't block the path but stood with one foot upon the stones, the others in the shallows of the water.

'Do you wish a ride the last few feet to the castle?'

The words seemed to enter his head with ease; the speech more invasive than any other. Even parseltongue, when the words were spoken and translated without conscious thought.

"Er no thank you." He said not trusting the stallion one bit. There was something at the back of his mind. He should know what the creature was but he couldn't remember.

He was followed after he edged past the creature, upon closer examination the horses mane and tail seemed to be made of seaweed and bulrushes. That struck another chord but the name still eluded him.

It followed his path, never more than a pace away from him. It made him uneasy. He felt Silvera stir against his skin; she had fallen asleep again earlier. But then again Silay had told him she was a baby still, so he didn't expect anything different from her at the moment.

"Master, why is a Kelpie following us?"

"A Kelpie!"

He yelled and broke into a run trying to get away from the creature but it followed. How could he have forgotten the forms Kelpies took on to play their games. A short while later he left the Kelpie behind, ignoring the dejected look the creature shot him when he refused to let it drown and devour him.

Wanting to get to the school he decided to run the length of the bridge until he reached the landing with the two trees.

He was out of breath at the end. He stood a moment, doubled over and leaning against the trunk of the nearest tree. The black marble of the walls before him gleamed brightly and dazzled his eyes. And the white vines that surrounded the black trees tickled his back. The white oak doors stood before him with their black motifs, runes for protection and strength among others.

Once his breath settled he crossed to the door and tried the handle. It didn't open. He checked the watch, he still had over ten minutes. There had to be some weird time wards on this part of the island, surely it had taken him longer than that! Thinking for a moment he decided to try knocking. The door swung open on the second rap.

Once he crossed the threshold the door slammed shut behind him. The entrance hall was quite large, easily as large as Hogwarts. But it did appear bigger due to being open planned. Instead of being a closed off room with a few doors and the Grand staircase like at Hogwarts, the room had only one solid wall with one door, the one he'd come through. The other three were walls of columns a metre apart, each joined to the one next to it by arched walls. A metre above the arches the side walls caved inwards until they met in the centre with another arch. The ceiling of the Arched Hall as he later found out it was called, had an enchanted ceiling much like the Great Hall only clearer and more defined. The daytime sky and a few floating candles and standing candelabras were the only sources of light.

Through the arches opposite he could see a staircase, even grander than the one at Hogwarts. On either side of this staircase were open plan courtyards. He could see the sky when he looked through. But he knew it was fake, just like the ceiling above his head.

He didn't know what to do, should he just wait here?

A slight noise to his left had him spinning around and drawing his wand. He hadn't seen anyone else when he'd looked that way a moment ago.

The figure that faced him was his age, well he guessed he was but with the species it was hard to tell. It wasn't a regular wizard that stood before him. Not unless wizards of other countries had ice blue skin and long, white blonde hair the colour of a wraiths. And he was willing to bet they didn't have gigantic bat-like wings that were white but with tinges of blue and lilac when the light hit them. The others eyes were dark blue, there was a depth to them that shouldn't be possible in an eye. He had claws on the ends of his fingers which he had painted black. Harry's inspection took his eyes lower but he brought them back up immediately when he realised that the other man was wearing nothing but a short loincloth that only just covered his ah...assets.

He glanced back up in time to see a quick grin and a flash of sharp fangs. He had to be a demon, yep there's the forked tail.

Realising he was staring he broke his eyes away and looked down. The chuckle when it came was deep and seemed to roll over him and hit every nerve making him shiver. He felt the membranes that guarded his wings and tail twitch slightly.

"Greetings little one I'm Chrysan." He said as he stepped forward, holding a hand out.

"I'm Harry." He said as he placed his hand in Chrysans'. He ignored the small tingle that seemed to pass up his spine at the contact. "And I'm not little." He added defiantly even as he looked up into the demon's eyes.

Just then they were interrupted by the door opening.

"Neville!"

"Harry!" Neville laughed happily jumping up and down. "I did it, I made it."

"Knew you could do it mate." Harry said slapping him on the back after Neville had timidly stepped nearer. "Nev this is Chrysan, Chrysan this is Neville."

He knew his introductions left a lot to be desired but he didn't really care. He stood back as the two made a better job of it. Then Neville seemed to get a good look at him.

"Harry what did you do?"

"Huh?"

"You didn't look like that this morning Harry."

"What? Oh yeh, sorry Neville." He said sheepishly. "I got a makeover, sick of both looking like a scruffy little sod and a James Potter look alike. I don't mind looking like my Dad but it did get a little annoying you know."

Neville shook his head. "Well you'd already changed quite a bit when I saw you this morning. I'd say you look more like your Mother now than your Dad. You have his chin and nose." He said remembering the photo's his Gran had showed him of his parents with their friends. "But you've definitely got your Mum's eyes and cheekbones." He laughed. "I'd say the lips were hers as well."

"You trying to say I look like a girl Neville." He said dangerously. Neville just grinned though.

"Not a girl, no." Chrysan interrupted. "A very refined young man maybe." He smirked.

"Oh great now there's two of you." Harry said throwing up his hands. The two boys just grinned at each other, Neville completely forgetting his nervousness from earlier.

"Fascinating as this discussion is I feel as though I must break it up." They turned to see who had spoken and found a slim black haired man leaning against an arch. Behind him just leaving the staircase were Master Kire and Silay. The black haired guy had to be Chrysan's mentor. He was very pale, obviously a vampire.

"Come Chrysan I must show you to your room before the feast. I assume you do not need a healer."

Chrysan smirked and shook his head before turning to Harry and Neville.

"See you at the feast." He said before leaving.

By then Kire and Silay had reached the arches. Silay smiled and beckoned them forward.

"Don't worry about Rane, he doesn't like to admit it but he does care for his students. He'll be questioning that boy for the next twenty minutes on what he did and how he feels." Kire smiled.

"He does have a point though." Silay said as the door began to open again. "It is time to take our students to their rooms." He took hold of Harry's shoulder and began steering him towards the stairs as the door opened up to admit a red headed girl and another dark haired girl who came in not a moment behind her. The first girl spotted the second out of the corner of her eye, jumped and ran a couple of steps before catching herself.

Harry had to look away before he started laughing; he knew he'd have done the same thing. Especially after making his way here. As Silay led him up the stairs, he heard the door open several more times.

"The ground floor level which we are leaving now does not house any classrooms. This area is reserved for students to congregate in and leads to the dining hall. This area is mainly for the students to use during breaks and to meet up with their friends on a night. If you went into the left courtyard you would see a door that would give you access to our library. On the right is a common room for you to retreat to. Also on that side is the corridor that leads you to the dining hall. And incidentally behind that is the teacher's wing with their rooms and joint offices. I'll be coming to get you in the morning and take you to my office as we'll have some things to take care of."

Harry nodded absently. Like Hogwarts the staircase walls hosted several paintings, though not nearly as many, probably not even half. At the top of the stairs they faced another large staircase but Silay didn't take him up it. Instead he took Harry down the right hand corridor.

"On the left side is access to the second floor of the library. You won't need that unless you are accepted for an apprenticeship. On this side is the infirmary."

As soon as he said that they stopped. Inside the infirmary there were a couple of students in their beds, resting after just being healed. One of them he realised was the boy who'd gotten his hand stuck after trying to steal something. He seemed to have taken Harry's advice and cut off his hand. The Medi-Witch was just giving him a new hand, silver like the one Wormtail had.

"That boys an idiot." Harry whispered.

"Oh he is." Silay agreed.

"He tried to steal some jewellery or something in the arbour." Harry continued.

"And now he's paying the price." Silay chuckled. "Calfora hates thieves, she'll allow the castle free reign on him."

"Why the silver hand though?" Harry found himself asking.

Silay glanced at him before answering. "It was a sign of a person's status in the olden days. The silver limb indicates he can't be trusted. Other colours show other things. It's almost a mark in a way. That hand can never be removed it will tell everyone he meets that he can't be trusted. Gold is usually used in the case of services rendered. If they lost it in the line of duty and things like that, like if a Manticore they were trying to put down ate it or something. Then again in most cases now the limb or whatever can be reattached but in cases such as his they never are. Besides the arbour wouldn't have given him his hand back even if he'd just brushed a necklace while walking by it."

"Is he really a thief then?" Harry asked, thinking how apt the silver hand was for Pettigrew.

"Oh yes." Silay replied. "She wouldn't have given him the limb otherwise; she'd have regenerated the tissues and formed a new hand."

"How did he get here before me though?" Harry asked puzzling over it.

"Injured students who pass the door are immediately apparated straight to the infirmary. I think he came in just after you."

"But who apparated him?"

"The school. Since he made it through the door she'd want to keep him alive so she could play with him some more. The school has a consciousness and can be quite vicious against those she doesn't like."

Harry's head was reeling, they'd always wondered about Hogwarts but he'd never really thought that a building could have a consciousness and now he found out it was possible. Then he saw who they were headed towards.

"Remus how are you feeling?" He asked rushing forward, the older man stood and enveloped him in a hug.

"I'm doing just fine cub. How are you, did you get injured?" Harry shook his head quickly.

"No Silay has just brought me to see you. I'm just a little tired I think."

"Good, I can't believe you've left Hogwarts. But I don't blame you for doing it. I'm quite proud of you for making the decision and getting here in one piece I have no doubt you'll graduate."

"Thanks Remus. Wait a minute, how do you know about this place?"

"I came here Harry, before Silay started as a student I believe."

"You went here but how?"

Remus chuckled. "I was sick of feeling an outcast in Hogwarts, I had my friends yes but when I wasn't with them I never felt like I belonged. You'd be surprised who else went here."

"Who?" asked Harry eagerly. Remus just chuckled.

"There's a record in the library, you should check it out."

Harry nodded absently; he was too busy looking Remus over. He'd thought Madam Pomfrey a good healer but she had nothing on the healer here. Remus looked better than he'd ever seen him, his wounds were healed over and his scars fading. He was still looking a little rough around the edges but no one could perform miracles.

"Hang on; I thought that prank Sirius pulled on Snape was in your sixth year?"

"It was."

"Huh I don't get it." Harry said a little confused.

"Calfora wasn't Headmistress then, she was the Master Conjuror. And Headmaster Florn was a bit more relaxed about security than he should be. I don't know if Silay has explained the security measures to you yet but as you know no one knows this is a school." Harry nodded. "Well did you wonder how they couldn't know it was a school when students disappeared from their old schools for three years before coming back fully qualified?"

Harry honestly hadn't.

"Well in that sort of situation it would become pretty obvious that the students were leaving their schools to be taught somewhere else. Eventually everything would have come out. The Founder of this school believed that students learned better away from distraction. The school is almost cut off from the real world. Only teachers, former students and current students can access it. Not even family. No distractions, even the activities that take place during the summer are in some way geared towards learning. The Founder believed the outside world to be the biggest distraction of them all. Not only family and friends but the interest and pressure of people in general. The whole of the country, maybe even the rest of Europe look at the average grades a school has. And with something like this school, that teaches to a higher level of magic there'd be expectations. People would begin to assume that graduates from Mysteria all want positions of power, all want to be leaders. There'd be heavy pressure from governments for the students to join them in some capacity."

Remus paused a moment to collect his thoughts. "And then would come the fear. Not all students use the motto. Like me, for whatever reason, they choose to keep it secret that they gained Mysteria." He shook his head. "It's just easier to say someone attained Mysteria than consciously switching between that and the truth. It's easy to slip up if in your head you continue to think that you graduated from the school, instead of just doing some random thing to achieve a state of mind. Most students never need to use what they learn here or they choose not to. If you don't admit to having attained Mysteria then you can't use the powers you developed to their full extent. That's another safety precaution the Founder installed, you are limited to the level of power you would have gained at your original school. I chose not to reveal my powers for my own safety. When I finished school there was no way that a Ministry registered werewolf could come out being as powerful as I am. You may come back from Mysteria a leader, you may have powers ordinary Witches and Wizards can't fathom but you aren't invulnerable Harry. I want you to remember that. Everyone dies whether you meet your match in a duel, are murdered in your bed or die in your sleep. We all end up in the same place and it's just as easy to send a powerful person there as it is a weak one. You just have to pick your moment and your method. The world is still too prejudiced for me to be myself. Hopefully one day that will change but for now I intend to be around for a lot longer and that won't happen if people become even more scared of me."

"Harry, look how scared people are of Voldemort and he didn't even go to this school. Can you imagine how people would react if they learnt that there was a school churning out graduates with the powers we possess? It would be a Witch hunt, the only difference between this and the old one would be that this time it would be our own kind persecuting us. All those reasons are why the Founder decided to keep this school secret. And he created one large spell to keep it that way. Any student, new or old when on the school grounds is also in the Wizarding World."

Seeing Harry's blank look he chuckled. "I'm not the best person to be explaining this. Calfora will do a much better job. Right, so the security measures are like this. The spell creates a copy, a doppelganger if you will of each student. These doppelgangers then go about living that person's life for them while they are at the school. Each night as you sleep you get the memories of what you did that day. It's a very ingenious spell. All your friends see you there with them; they interact with you just as they would if you were real. But the doppelganger is also made safe from harm. The doppelganger has no initiative so it will not take advantage of situations. Imagine that you saw someone doing something strange, well you Harry would try to find out what it is. Your doppelganger would not. Meaning your doppelganger is very likely safe from Voldemort's manipulations this year. The doppelganger will live your life for the next three years, longer if you become an apprentice and no one will ever realise."

"Ok. So what's this have to do with the prank in sixth year?" Harry asked, deciding not to think much about someone else living his life.

"As I said Master Florn was a little lax in security, he let us go back during the holidays and weekends. So I of course did, wanting to see my friends. One weekend it was the full moon and since full moons were fun, going around the forest with your Father and Sirius I went home thinking nothing about it. You know what happened then."

"Wait a minute, why have you had so much trouble getting a job? Even if you didn't use the motto there would still be some people who knew you'd gone here and I bet a lot of them had their own businesses and stuff."

"Even if I was more powerful than Dumbledore the prejudice of the Wizarding world would still keep me from a job Harry. Whether I knew others who had opportunities for me or not, the Ministry's regulations on my kind don't help. And there's been a war going on for the last few decades, that doesn't lessen peoples distrust of dark creatures. So I decided to keep in the background. People underestimate me easily and it leads to their downfall. Until my kind are treated equally in the Wizarding world I'm much better off giving them no reason to fear me. And coming out with the motto would do that. When you leave you can choose to use it or not and when I finally do a lot of people will regret saying things about me. They'll see something different in me for those who do not have the right cannot use the words, they can discuss them but never associate them with themselves."

Harry smiled sadly at Remus' wistful expression. "Are you staying for a while?"

Remus shook his head. "No I've got to leave soon. But I'll write to you cub. I can't leave my friends to fight in the war alone. I can still do something out there." He smiled suddenly. "You're Headmistress has offered me a position once the war is over. Which I suppose is telling me something..." He smiled sadly.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked a little confused.

"That I'll survive the war." He said. "You're Headmistress is a very gifted Seer Harry, if she ever tells you anything you'd be wise to heed her."

Harry nodded intending to ask something else but was interrupted.

"Sorry Harry." Silay said coming back; he'd gone a little way away earlier to give them some privacy. "We have to go and get your room sorted. We have to be done by seven thirty." Harry nodded and gave his Godfather another hug.

"Work hard and keep in touch." Remus said before allowing Harry to pull back. "That's another good thing about being a former student, I can write to you."

Once they were outside in the corridor Silay led him back to the staircase, they went up that one then another two before finally emerging onto a landing. "Your Godfather must have really impressed Calfora, she's letting him leave with his memories intact."

Harry just smiled deciding not to mention that Remus was once a student here.

"The two floors below this one housed the classrooms. This one is the student's floor. You are assigned a room before you arrive and that will be your room throughout your entire stay. You're lucky you got a tower room."

"You mean I have to climb more stairs!" Harry exclaimed. Silay chuckled and led him down the corridor, past a lot of doors with brass name plates. At the end was a small spiral staircase. They passed a small landing with one door; the name read Salisa Jaren Mai. Huh, sounded like a vampire's name. They carried on up.

The next room appeared to belong to Chrysan, he could hear the demons voice drifting through the wood. The third door, he didn't quite catch the name engraved on the plaque. And the fourth and last one up was his.

Harry was extremely knackered by then but Silay didn't seem to have broken out into a sweat. Then again the lucky sod hadn't had to walk/fly here.

"You have ten minutes then you should start making your way down to dinner. You do remember where I said the dining hall was, don't you?"

Harry sighed. "Yes the ground floor."

Silay smiled, showing his teeth. "You are responsible for your own protection and decoration of your rooms. And if you miss any of the set meals then that's too bad the house elves have orders to remove anyone who sets foot in their kitchen." He smirked. "Doesn't mean you can't try though. Then again you could always try your luck at the orchard. Oh and you'll get your time table at breakfast tomorrow, you then have the rest of the day to navigate the school before classes start the next day as we most certainly don't give out maps. Tardiness is punished harshly, especially in my classroom. Any questions?"

Harry just shook his head, it was a little hard to concentrate when you had a lot of information fired at you and had a sleeping snake breathing near your ear, her tongue every so often flicking against your neck.

Silay smiled. "Right well I'll see you at dinner then." And off he went. It was a while before Harry felt like he'd gotten all that information sorted out. Once he had he turned his attention to the door before him. Oak panelled with a brass name plate, classy.

But the room was nothing like what the ostentatious door proclaimed. Harry stood there gaping for a full minute before he remembered what Silay had said; he had to decorate his rooms himself. Thank Merlin. He thought. If he had to live like this for the next three years then he'd have rather stayed with the Dursleys. The room was almost empty except for his trunk, only a small, simple desk with a chair, bookshelf and bed furnished it. The bed wasn't even a proper bed, it was a cot. Like a camp bed but worse. His kitten Mir was laid out on the cot asleep; taking up a lot more space than something so small should be capable of. Someone, most likely Silay had let him out of his carrier.

Taking another look he predicted a lot of people in the library tomorrow looking up transfiguration spells and charms. Luckily for him he wasn't too bad at transfiguration and charms. But no matter how good he was he didn't think he could make that cot even half way comfortable. The walls were coated in white paint and the floor was dark stone. The only cool thing about the room was the shuttered doorway that led to a rather large balcony. The only thing between him and the night air were the shutters, he placed a strengthening spell on them for now and decided that tomorrow he would search for a draft blocking spell, or he would transfigure some curtains or something.

There was a window immediately behind the head of his bed. The windows width actually surpassed the width of the cot. Upon closer inspection he realised it was in fact a bay window. He loved bay windows; there were a lot of design possibility there. This one had a wide stone ledge that was big enough for him to sit on; he could even comfortably cross his legs and lean back against the glass. But he didn't know how strong the glass was at the moment and didn't want to test it with his weight. After all he'd spent part of the last few hours flying and didn't fancy testing his muscles again by suddenly plummeting out a window.

He leaned over and opened it, checking to see how wide the gap was. He could easily fit through there if he needed an escape and couldn't reach the balcony. A moment later a happy hoot startled him and Hedwig flew past his head, brushing her wings across his face as she came inside. Continuing to hoot happily she settled down in her cage for a nap. Why was it that all the familiars he'd picked spent most of their time sleeping?

The other good thing about the room was its circular shape, being the top room of a tower it was a given but it was still appreciated, the roof was brilliant though. Being at the top of a tower he had a very high ceiling going all the way to the point of the towers roof, several oak beams crossed the diameter of the circle. They didn't just cross from one side to the other in straight lines though, each beam met in the centre of the room. Arranged like a spiral they all rested on the one immediately below them.

They were a little ways apart; the lowest began just to the right of his bed. Each beam after that started about two metres away from the last and also rested on top of the last beam when it reached the centre of the room. The gaps between were large enough for him to fly through if he cared to do so. In fact the spiral arrangement of the beams almost made a spiral staircase; the steps were just a little too far apart for comforts sake. Either way it was a good place to sit if he wanted to. There'd be a good view too, as a little round window sat immediately above the bay window, next to the highest beam. It made the perfect seat. He found later that the little window, since it was several metres higher than the bay afforded a better view of the area beyond the school.

The tower was placed quite close to the entrance of the school, he could see the bridge and the lake surrounding it. He had a good view of frolicking horses but the rest was blocked by the thick tree line he'd walked through earlier. But looking through the little round window he saw over the tops of the trees, he could see the archery range, the greenhouses and even the orchard. In the distance, passing the gruesome arbour he could just about make out the black and white marble walls. His eyesight had never been that good before, it was definitely thanks to his creature inheritance that he saw so far. Either way it was a lovely view.

The walls of the hollowed out roof above the beams had been plastered and painted white like the other walls. So when looking up the whole effect was as though you were looking at an old carriage wheel or one of those wooden chandeliers that appeared in old movies, when the hero would cut a rope and the chandelier would drop on his enemies. He loved the room, it just needed decorating.

He didn't really have long but if he hurried he could make a few changes. He couldn't remember the spell to change the colours of things. He knew the wand movement but had forgotten the incantation. He threw open his trunk and grabbed his first year book of charms so that he could look up Colouring Charms. It wasn't hard after that to change the blank walls into a more suitable colour. He admitted to himself later that he did go a little fancy with the charm. He charmed the walls black and then added a little marbling effect in green. He then directed his wand to the white ceiling just visible through the beams and changed it to a midnight blue, almost black but not quite. He then added a few white dots to make stars. Later he would discover a charm to make them shimmer.

With all the waving around Silvera had finally woken up, it didn't stay that way for long though, she gave him an exasperated look and then went straight back to sleep. The only difference between this time and the last was that this time her tongue flickered against his collarbone, instead of his neck.

He cast a quick tempus charm and decided that he should be heading down to the feast. He quickly lifted Silvera from around his neck and placed her gently on the bed, she glared at him for the jostling then went back to sleep. She didn't do much did she?

He shut his door and cursed when he realised there was no lock. He'd have to look up wards in the morning. Could he transfigure a lock and key? He really doubted it. He'd have to hope that everyone was too busy at the feast to try and get into his rooms.

He headed down; silently reviewing in his mind what junk he had in his trunk that he could transfigure. He had an idea that he'd be looking through a lot of books after the feast. There was no way he was sleeping in that bed, he'd put up with a cot for ten years and there was no way he was doing it again. He also needed to learn at least a basic ward; there was no way, even if he got the bed sorted that he would be sleeping if he didn't feel secure.

Passing the room below his he saw that the name on its plague read Frear Sern. Huh, interesting name.

The walk back down the stairs while very tiring was also interesting, he passed several students most of them second years or higher but none of them paid any attention to him. Being the Boy Who Lived and having everyone stare at him had been a constant in his life, he'd never liked it and now he was feeling the anonymity of being just another new student. It was bloody brilliant.

He just followed everybody else; he didn't bother looking to see if anyone he knew was around. Surely he'd find out in the dining hall. Entering the dining hall was a bit of a shock, he didn't know what he had been expecting, well he'd probably been expecting something a little like Hogwarts. Four long house tables and a teacher's table set to the side. Instead he saw the weirdest dining hall he'd ever seen. It was arranged like an amphitheatre.

When you entered you looked down upon a cavern. Rough hewn rock walls surrounded them and high above your head was a glorious network of white crystals that glowed in the light of a thousand candles that were floating in each and every crack and crevice. Below the glorious ceiling was what could only be described as steep marble steps. It really did remind him of one of the amphitheatres he'd seen in a picture from one of the Dursley's holidays. Or like the Hollywood Bowl he'd seen in a film once. But unlike them there was no stage, only the slightest platform at the foot of the steps opposite.

The steps opposite were greyish silver, whereas the rest alternated black and white. These were the ones the students were sitting on; the grey section was left empty. Some students were sitting apart from their peers. Others were sitting in pre-arranged spots with groups of friends all in a line.

He felt a sharp poke in his back and turned his head to find an older boy glaring at him.

"First years sit at the bottom, near the Masters." He said pointing. Sure enough when Harry followed his gaze he saw a couple of recognisable heads, most notably the two girls that had shown up after him. Everyone else was unknown to him. He felt another tap on his shoulder, annoyed he turned expecting the same boy to be there. Instead he came face to face with the Demon from earlier. Chrysan.

"Hello again Harry. Mind if I join you?"

"No, no that's fine."

Chrysan just smirked before matching his pace to his. They descended the stones steps together; luckily the ones meant for travel were half the size as the ones meant for seating, which was good because even with his recent growth spurt he didn't think the decent would have been comfortable. He glanced at each row as he passed it by, Harry wondered where they were supposed to put their plates, there were no tables and the seats definitely didn't look comfy.

The two of them made their way down to the very bottom; there were only five levels which he supposed made sense with the schools structure. Five years, the three lower ones the mandatory years, the additional two were for apprentices. It wasn't surprising that these students were the least numerous. But one thing Harry noticed was that even if all the students sat together on one solitary row, they wouldn't fill it. There was so much space in the cavern. The sight of it was imposing, awe inspiring but he still felt comfortable, even more so than Hogwarts with all the cheery colours and the smaller, cosier atmosphere. He realised that the students could sit where they wanted within their rows, total privacy, that's what was given. Unlike at Hogwarts where the teachers could see everything you were doing and could deal with it quickly. Here the message was iGovern yourself/i. Or in Harry's opinion, do what you want we're not gonna stop you.

He loved it. Trust, responsibility and punishment for wrong actions, that seemed to be the meaning behind all this. The placing of the first years at the bottom did give them a little protection but they were still far enough away from the area reserved for the teachers to still be free of perusal. Reaching the bottom they walked a little along the stone steps to get closer to the other first years.

"HARRY."

Harry span around so fast when he heard his name shouted that he nearly slipped off the edge of the step. Luckily Chrysan was close enough to grab his elbow and steady him.

"Neville. Don't do that."

The other boy blushed sheepishly as he came up to them. "Sorry Harry."

The three of them sat down and sighed with relief, it seemed the other two were as knackered as he was. Harry was relieved to feel a cushioning charm beneath him. It had never entered his head that the marble benches would have cushioning charms on them. He was thankful because his legs were killing him. And he was tired, he had a funny idea he wouldn't be able to keep his eyes open for much longer.

Leaning forward he was able to see the other first years. There had to be around twenty students there already. He wondered if there were anymore still to come. He recognised the two girls who had come in after him. One was sat close by, the other; the red head was sat at the very far side almost completely on her own. She looked a little shy. The closer of the two, the black haired girl was a vampire. You could tell with the way the candlelight flickered off her skin, light gave the pale skin of vampires a strange quality. It made it shine. Then again the inch long incisors he'd glimpsed made it pretty obvious too.

In the middle of the bunch sat the boy with the silver hand. He was talking with another boy who had a bit of a wild look about him. The second boy didn't look too pleased with the conversation; in fact he looked like he wanted to rip the thief apart. The girl next to him, clearly a sibling placed her hand on his arm and squeezed slightly. This seemed to calm him a little as he visibly pulled himself together.

A little further down, near the shy girl was a group of four youths. Two girls and two boys, they each had an aura of power about them. But their power seemed limited, as though they had control over one thing almost to the exclusion of all others.

The rest of the students seemed pretty un-remarkable. He looked the other way to see if anymore students had arrived after them. He saw another two vampires, males, the rest seemed to be human. One or two could easily be Werewolves, after all they were harder to recognise than other creatures. Satisfied he turned to Neville.

"So what's your room like Neville?"

The other boy seemed to glow at the question. "Oh it's great Harry. They've given me a big room with lots of windows; it's even got a sky light. And there are lots of flower pots and stuff and even a pool for water plants. I've already transferred my Mimbulus Mimbletonia to a bigger pot."

"That's great Neville." He smiled; he knew Neville was an Earth Elemental so his room would be tailored to fit him. It seemed all he needed was the plants.

"How's your room then Chrysan?" He asked, turning to the demon.

"Same as yours I imagine. They had to have given us both balconies so we can go flying." Harry nodded in answer. He didn't even bother asking how Chrysan knew he was a flier. Demons had a strange gift that allowed them to instinctively know the strengths and weaknesses of other people. That gift would surely have told him that Harry was physically tired. His gift would have even pinpointed Harry's trouble spots, meaning his muscles. So Chrysan could probably see the tension in his back, after that it wasn't hard to form the conclusion that Harry had flown part of the way here.

He realised the Demon was still talking. "Other than that it's pretty un-remarkable actually. I can't even fit on the bed right if I have my wings out. I'm going to go to the library after this to look for an advanced transfiguration book to help with that."

"I was going to do the same, mind if I tag along?"

"Sure."

"How about you Neville?" He asked turning back to his friend. But Neville wasn't paying attention to the conversation. He was looking back at the stairs. Harry followed his gaze and saw another boy just sitting down. Even being a bit of a distance away the hair stood out. Long platinum blonde hair, with silver highlights, Malfoy!

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