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... I recieved a few more votes for ocs but Remus is still in the lead. And I am considering a threesome but I'm not yet sure whether the characters figuring out the dynamics of their relationship would ruin the story. I'll keep you posted but I will not go with the threesome unless I am entirely comfortable with it.

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Mysteria

Chapter Eight

Harry couldn't believe it. If one thing could ruin this for him it was Malfoy. He'd hoped to get away from the blonde. And now he was stuck at another school with him. Luckily Malfoy hadn't spotted him yet; Harry was way too tired to bother with Malfoy tonight. As he looked away he couldn't help being a little satisfied that Malfoy looked worse for wear. His condition definitely not up to his usual 'perfection'. The blonde was holding himself a little stiffly and was definitely a little gray around the edges.

Just then the teachers made an appearance. Like the students they had to walk down from the very top, but their entrance was at the top of the greyish silver section. They descended the steps in a line, two people walking abreast. It took them very little time to take their seats. Harry spotted Silay and Kire, Neville's mentor chatting amicably on one of the tiers. He swept his gaze over the other teachers pretty quickly before resting them on Calfora. The Headmistress was sat about halfway up the steps, directly in the middle of the row. She alone had a cushion. But Harry didn't care about that; with the cushioning charms it was just as comfy as it would be if he'd had a cushion too.

She was a beautiful woman, definitely not as unconventional as Dumbledore either. This was a bit of a relief if he was honest, only Dumbledore could pull off his extraordinarily bad taste in robes. She didn't wear weird robes with stars over them; her taste ran to a simple form fitting black robe that seemed to highlight her pale skin. Her red hair was loosely piled on top of her head, several of the curls having come loose and dangling down in various places. Her eyes were large and golden, she had high cheekbones and a creamy complexion with cupid's bow lips that needed no gloss, their red colour almost as startling as her hair.

Sat next to her was an unknown vampire, probably the Deputy Headmaster. Something beginning with 'D' if he remembered right. Typical vampire, pale and a perfect, slightly glowing complexion and short black hair. Black hair and pale skin seemed to be a genetic trait of the Vampire species. It wasn't like it was in movies or even with werewolves where any type of person could be turned. There was no turning in vampires. They were all born as any other mammal was born. They were their own species, just like the demons, not genetically altered humans. They may have humanoid appearances but they weren't human, they had their own traits.

At their appearance the older students had quieted, after a few moments the younger students followed their lead. When all was silent Calfora got to her feet.

"Welcome to another year at Mysteria. Older students you know the drill so I'm not going to explain anything to you. Feel free to talk quietly."

Harry gaped at her incredulous, as a low hum of conversation started behind him. If this were Hogwarts McGonagall would be shushing them all right now and shooting disapproving looks at Dumbledore for the suggestion. That wasn't happening here though.

"First years, first of all congratulations on surviving the test of worth, getting here means you deserve to be schooled but only if you graduate will you be considered worthy of our school. I hope your rooms are satisfactory, if not make them so. I assure you that anybody who complains will be ignored. This school is not easy; you may even come to regret your decision. If that is so then get lost, we don't want you. But understand this if you set foot out of school grounds without permission you will lose all that you have learned and the doors will be forever barred to you. Now, because of the inherent difficulties in getting here and the homicidal tendencies of the school and some of her students it was decided by the Founder to have an initiation day. Meaning that you have one day to get used to this school. One day to learn about the pitfalls and trials. One day is all you have to memorise the routes to your classes without having to worry about defending yourself. From midnight tomorrow that changes and you become fair game. From then on the school will try to trip you up and its students will test out their own powers and skills on you. So I suggest that despite your tiredness you work on your protection because tomorrow this school won't let you learn her easily."

She paused with a derisive snort. "I've heard tales of those other schools that some of you have left, Hogwarts with her trick staircases and doors, Beauxbaton's with its changing floors and Durmstrang with its suits of armour that shoot random curses." She smiled. "Well my dears, that is a walk in the park compared to this. I suggest you make friends quickly, the greater your number the more chance you have. Oh and the unforgivables are allowed. I would however prefer you not to use them; they require little imagination and once you've done it you can do it again quite easily. There's no learning or improvement involved, very boring. Try and be creative. Breakfast begins at eight thirty so make sure you don't miss it. Those of you who signed up for Duelling and Survival Skills have an even earlier start so get yourselves to the courtyard by seven am. Since you are first years don't even bother taking any weapons yet, all you'll need is your wand. At the end of breakfast your mentor will come and direct you to his office and will give you a time to meet with me. These meetings are mandatory, anybody who misses one will not be called again. That is all for now, let us eat."

She sat down and immediately turned her attention to the vampire on her right. Harry glanced at Chrysan and Neville and saw they appeared just as shocked as he did. At that moment they were all seriously re-thinking their decisions to stay.

Harry was distracted from his thoughts by a series of pops. The sounds drew his gaze to the teachers section. His eyes widened as he saw laden tables appear out of nowhere. Harry was still staring ahead of him when his own table appeared. He nearly jumped and upset the whole thing.

It ran the entire length of the row; there were no legs it just hung in mid air at the perfect height for all of them to eat at. In front of him were all his favourite dishes. Roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding, Lamb with Mint Sauce, Chicken Drumsticks and probably every possible variety of potatoes, amongst other things that he wasn't as keen on.

He hadn't realised until that moment how hungry he actually was. Everyone else seemed to be of like mind if the rate the food was disappearing off the plates was anything to go by.

Once they were done with the mains the deserts appeared. It seemed that by then everyone was feeling refreshed enough to begin conversations again. He asked Neville about his summer and the other boy proudly showed him his new wand, eleven inches, willow with a dragon heart string core. His Fathers wand had been broken at the Ministry; Harry pushed away his feelings of grief when they again welled up. He didn't want to think of Sirius now.

Harry's summer hadn't been particularly interesting so they spent little time discussing that. They spent a lot of time asking Chrysan questions on demon culture.

"We don't have schools you understand." He said shovelling ice cream into his mouth. "Because very few demons actually have any magical ability. What we do have is what is termed demon magic so we're usually taught by our own elders on such things. Having wizard magic has allowed me to come here but I still need to take lessons in some demon subjects so I will be taking extra lessons in those areas with my mentor as there are no demon professors." He then turned to Harry with a curious gleam in his eye. "So what manner of creature are you Harry?"

Harry smiled to himself, he'd been wondering how long it would be before it was brought up. "I honestly have no idea. According to Silay I am an unnamed creature."

"There are few afforded the same classification." Chrysan mused. "All are quite unique. It must be a rare bloodline. Are there any unknowns in your family's bloodline?"

Harry chuckled. "There are several actually."

Neville whistled.

"I do not envy you the search then my friend."

Harry smiled; he liked Chrysan, who he was seriously considering calling Chrys as his full name was a mouthful. It wasn't long after that when they realised that many of the older students were just getting up and leaving. Weren't there any end of feast speeches? He stole a glance at the teacher's tables and found Headmistress Calfora already gone and most of the other teachers with her. Huh guess not. Silay gave him an encouraging grin and a wave before he too left.

After climbing back up all the steps, which took them forever. All three of them had to pause for a break at the top. Going through the door and back into the corridor Harry turned to ask something of the other two who were behind him. "Are we going to the library then?"

Before the other two could answer Harry heard another voice, one that he'd hoped to avoid.

"Do you even know what a library is Potter?"

Harry sighed before turning around to face his enemy.

"Malfoy, still can't come up with anything new? NO!... Don't start yelling. It's been a long day and I am definitely not interested in fighting with you. Either grow up yourself or realise I have. Because if you try to pick a fight with me again I will either ignore you or beat you to within an inch of your life." He hissed.

The other boy just stared at him, shocked and before Harry turned away he thought he saw a hint of fear. Dismissing Malfoy he turned back to his friends, raised his eyebrow at their faces and said. "Shall we go?"

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The library was an old fashioned room, wall to wall bookshelves with most of the books being hand written and bound in leather. The few modern books that had made the grade seemed really out of place. There was a study section with comfortable couches and several desks, the walls were panelled with a warm honey coloured wood. The seats were all done in a rich wine red velvet that went perfectly with the colour of the wood.

Exploring, they found that most of the library was for general use, at least on the ground floor, a set of stairs led up to the next. But that was reserved for apprentices or those with permission from a teacher. Which meant they couldn't get a look at what was up there. At the back of the students area they found a large section reserved for teachers and apprentices with permission.

Deciding to split up they all headed for a different section. Harry went to find some books on wards, Chrysan on transfiguration and Neville on charms.

There were very few students in the library at this time and of the few that were in, most were first years. He'd only seen one older student and that was an Apprentice who went straight up the stairs. Apprentices he noticed had an extra symbol on their robes, a capital 'M' with an inverted 'A' beneath it, both letters were joined to create a shape that vaguely resembled a heart, a very sharp one with a line across the bottom point. Harry shook his head; he was thinking too much about useless things, he should be focusing on looking for a book.

After grabbing a couple of useful looking ones he headed back to the table they'd chosen earlier. He passed by both the female vampire and the wild looking boy and his sister on his way to his own table. All three were absorbed in their own books. He spotted two or three other first years in and around the shelves. Everyone else seemed not to have bothered. Judging by the hints the Headmistress had dropped, Harry thought that they would be regretting that decision soon enough.

He greeted the other two as he set his stack down. They then began poring over any book that took their fancy, writing down each spell they found on the scrap parchment they'd grabbed from the box in the corner. Harry thought that was a really good idea, the library was full of boxes of old parchment and spare quills. You didn't have to go routing around in your bag for the items and could even pop in when you didn't have your bag with you. This in his opinion might actually save a lot of time running up and down stairs. Which he was all for.

They pooled their knowledge at the end, admittedly though they were all the most curious about the spells Chrysan had found to transfigure their beds. They decided on a few basic wards that wouldn't overtax them before leaving. Unfortunately Chrysan's spell work had to be very basic. Not many demons had magic and since they weren't allowed to attend other schools this was the first formal schooling Chrysan had had. Until now he'd had no one to learn from and he'd had to do everything himself. He was very surprised when Harry and Neville told him a little about what they'd done in school. Chrysan wasn't a jealous person so the fact that they'd had more training in magic didn't bother him. After all he was physically fitter than both boys; everyone had their own skills and downfalls. Harry and Neville had already offered to help him with his magic and he in turn had offered to help them train their bodies outside of Duelling classes. It was a very beneficial friendship they were forming.

It was getting very late though and they all had Duelling and Survival Skills at seven in the morning. Harry didn't know whether he'd be able to get himself up at all in the morning, let alone in time for the lesson.

After saying goodbye to Chrysan Harry waited until the Demon was in his room before dropping to his knees and crawling up the last two flights of stairs. He was exhausted, absolutely knackered, there was no way he'd get up in the morning. Who in hell decided to put all these steps in one place?

He was pulling himself up by his hands when he noticed a spot of blood on the steps. Looking up he saw further drops on more stairs. He passed the third landing, the blood still going up; it had come from his room.

Suddenly feeling full of energy he picked himself up and ran up the last few steps to his room. He saw the blood on the handle even as he was twisting it to open. He burst into the room and saw nothing, nothing out of place; his trunk hadn't even been opened. Hedwig was perched in her cage, she'd been startled awake when he came in and was squawking at him angrily. Harry ignored her. Silvera was curled up and around herself, she was watching him curiously. Mir on the other hand hadn't been asleep, he was stretched out on the floor cleaning his claws, coincidently quite near a few drops of blood. The white fur of his paw was stained slightly pink.

Harry smiled and went over to him; he gently lifted the cat into his arms. Mir immediately started purring upon contact. Harry chuckled and began stroking the little cat's ears.

"Well I don't think I need these wards as much as I thought I did." He mused aloud. After a while he let Mir go and turned his attention to his room. After casting a couple of the wards around the room he found himself dead on his feet, deciding to leave the bed until tomorrow, he instead cast a quick cushioning charm on the cot and was asleep before his head hit the tattered pillow.

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When Harry woke he felt well rested.

A rough tongue was licking his cheek. Mir was perched on his chest, seeing that he was awake the little kitten began to purr and knead his chest with sharp claws. Harry gently disengaged the cat before reaching for his wand and casting a quick tempus charm, half six. Half six, he jumped up and threw open his trunk. He grabbed some clothes, a towel and his toiletries and bolted out the door, hoping that the bathroom he spotted yesterday was free.

Luckily it was, although he nearly collided with an upper year who stepped out the door towelling his hair dry and wasn't looking where he was going. The idiot shot him a disgusted look before pushing past him. Harry didn't bother retaliating he just ran into the bathroom.

He didn't bother getting a shower as he figured he would be sweating heavily by the end of Duelling, so he settled on a thorough wash instead. When he was done he ran back upstairs to drop his old clothes off before hurrying back downstairs.

'Whoever decided to put so many steps in this school...I really, really hate you!' He thought as he passed the floor with the infirmary. Jogging down the steps towards the arched entrance hall he spotted a lot of people milling about.

He headed into the crowd searching for Chrysan and Neville and tried unsuccessfully not to resent all the other males for still being taller than him. After a while he gave up looking for the other two boys and settled in next to a pillar to wait for them. Looking around he noticed another first year not far from him. He recognised her as the girl who'd followed him in yesterday, the one who'd jumped when she saw the vampire behind her. She looked like she was seriously regretting doing this.

Harry still couldn't see the other two and the girl seemed to be on her own. He headed over, she smiled hesitantly at him when he stopped next to her.

"Hello I'm Harry Potter." He said holding out a hand.

Her eyes widened but she quickly got over her surprise and shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you Harry, I'm Melaisa Hughes. You wouldn't happen to be regretting having to get up this early as well would you?"

She startled him into laughter, suddenly not seeming as shy as she had.

"I want to do the class. But I'm sure that if someone had told me that I would have to do this, this early in the morning, And after what we went through last night, well I'm sure I would have changed my mind."

She laughed lightly, a musical sound that made a few of the students turn and stare at them. Seeing this she blushed and quickly went shy again.

Harry was about to say something else when everything around them went silent. Harry couldn't see anything but he felt comfortable betting that their instructor had just shown up.

"Right, older students you know the drill get over to the left. First years on the right."

Hearing that voice Harry knew this wasn't a teacher to cross. Just like McGonagall the duelling Master wouldn't stand for any nonsense. Guessing that the man was stood at the end near the stairs he and Melaisa headed right.

They soon found themselves fighting against a tide of higher years.

"Harry, where the hell have you been?"

Harry looked up and smiled, pulling a reluctant Melaisa behind him he headed over to Chrysan and Neville, who was looking just as nervous as Melaisa.

"Having second thoughts." He answered.

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Duelling wasn't what he'd expected. For one thing they spent the first twenty minutes of the class chatting with their friends while their teacher sorted out the older years. Once he was done detailing their instructions he came and gave the first years a once over, assessing and calculating.

"Humans on the left, creatures head right."

That was all he said. He definitely wasn't a person who said more than he needed to. Looking at him Harry couldn't quite make his mind up what the man actually was. He looked like a vampire but there was something else there. He was the typical vampire except for a few features. He had the pale skin and very long black hair that he'd platted intricately down his back, not a hair escaped. But his eyes...his eyes were a little too large for his face really. The eyes were violet, the pupil like a cats. And he had a light dusting of purplish scales on his cheeks. His hands were clawed, the nails tinted black. He was also very muscular as opposed to the usual slenderness of vampires.

There was definitely some other blood there.

Harry and Chrysan waited for everyone else to get sorted out. Neville and Melaisa being human, albeit humans with elemental powers were on the other side. Eventually it seemed they were just waiting on Draco Malfoy. Malfoy had headed over to the human side but the Master had stopped him.

He had hold of Malfoy's upper arm and was looking at him intently. Malfoy was trying to act tough but he couldn't help wincing slightly at the man's grip.

"I don't appreciate it when students try to make me out to be a fool. Get over where you belong." The master growled.

Draco was looking seriously confused and a little scared. The blonde had always been a coward underneath all his bravado. Harry couldn't resist curling his lip in a sneer. Malfoy was weak.

"I don't like vain little gits who care more about their appearance than their true selves, remove the glamour boy."

"I...I ...I don't understand." Draco stuttered his face paling even further.

"The glamour boy, remove it."

"I don't..."

Harry didn't like Draco but having known him as long as he did he could tell the other boy had no idea what their teacher was talking about.

It seemed the Master had realised it too, his eyes widened slightly before he turned Draco around and pushed him towards the creatures.

"Stay behind after class."

That was the last thing Master Kin said to him before he turned his attention to his other students.

"Those of you who have creature blood are physically fitter than most humans." He said sizing up each group separately. "Under my teachings the humans will eventually be able to match your strength. As you are all different we will explore your individual strengths and weaknesses. We will begin with a general fitness test. Afterwards I will separate you even further. Five laps around the courtyard, now."

The whole class set off immediately, spurred on by his command.

It only took a moment for the running class to separate into groups. In the front were Chrysan and the wild looking boy and his sister. Seeing them run Harry knew they were werewolves. The three of them easily outstripped the others but after a moment Chrysan slowed up to run with Harry, who was in the second group along with a couple of vampires. Harry was quite happy that Chrysan had dropped back. Not only was it a nice friendly gesture but more importantly the demon was wearing that damn loincloth again and it wasn't easy to concentrate on his footing when he had that in front of him.

The group afterwards consisted of the athletic humans and the slower creatures and behind that the non-athletic humans. Neville was in that group with Melaisa. Harry was surprised that he didn't feel more tired than he did, but there was no way he could ever match pace with the werewolves up front.

Once everyone had finished the run they were put through a series of other tests. He tested their strength, co-ordination, balance...everything.

They were all exhausted by the end of the lesson. Harry was ready for a shower and breakfast. The second and third year students had been practicing hand to hand combat, at a simple hand gesture from the Master they all headed out.

"You can relax now." He said turning to the panting first years who had just finished another five laps. "No that doesn't mean sit down. Stand until you get your breaths back."

"This was your first duelling lesson. We haven't done much duelling, we may get to that tomorrow. Now your first Survival Skill's lesson is this evening, come back here at half past five. Your lesson will last until seven then its dinner, after that you have the rest of your day free. Both of your lessons will be with me from now on. At this school there are three defence Masters, we work on a rotational basis. The other two Masters will be here this afternoon leaving me free to focus on you. We each take a batch of first years and mentor it throughout their three years. It's my turn to take first years this year and I will be working you hard. Tomorrow bring your wands, we may as well get a little practice in after our workouts. You all took way too long today, work harder tomorrow." By the end of his speech the entire class was gaping in disbelief. Work harder? He had to be kidding.

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Breakfast was a simpler affair than the feast the night before. Several smaller tables appeared here and there down the line, each one laden with various foods. They'd missed some of their breakfast time showering, it was lucky this place had as many bathrooms as it did. Harry didn't mind though, he definitely didn't need a whole hour for breakfast.

Looking over the timetable he was handed by an Apprentice Harry noticed that he had a couple of new subjects tomorrow. Mondays began with Transfiguration which was followed by his first new subject Healing, after lunch he had DADA and Blood Magic then Transportation.

He was looking forward to all of the subjects, especially DADA, he couldn't wait to see how they handled it here.

Oh shit, he had double potions on Wednesday. Hopefully the teacher would be better than Snape. He had two lessons of every subject per week apart from Natural Magic and Occlumency/Legilimency which were single lessons each.

After breakfast Silay showed up and led him to his office. Supposedly to go over a few things and tell him his time to meet with Headmistress Calfora.

The teachers wing was two corridors past the dining hall, so it was a very short walk. Silay only having time to ask him what he thought of the school so far. Harry answered honestly, he had had second thoughts about staying. He did like the school and he was definitely looking forward to lessons, but it was true what he'd been told, it definitely wasn't easy. And they hadn't even gotten to the really hard stuff yet!

"Here we are." Silay announced.

Harry looked up, for some reason Silay had a kind of expectant smirk on his face.

"What?"

The smirk widened slightly.

"Nothing."

Shaking his head Harry glanced at the door. Then did a double take.

The name on the door read.

.Silay Snape.

.Master of Curses.

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