Title: Masquerade

See first chapter for disclaimer and summary.

Author: ShaeLynn Teelle

Polite constructive criticism is welcome; FLAMES WILL BE FED TO THE DRAGON IN MY BED.

Chapter 3

- 11 years old -

Harry sighed as he watched his uncle's car drive away quickly. He had been left at the train station and was expected to find his own way. There was at least a few hours to go before the train would leave and Harry had both his trunk and Hedwig's owl cage with him, the unhappy bird inside. He sat on a bench near the roadway, letting his thoughts wander as they had ever since the man, Hagrid, had come to get him for his school supplies.

He could understand why the very large man was upset with his relatives, but if he wasn't mistaken, the Dursleys did have custody over him. Their refusal should have been the end of the conversation. The revelation of magic had explained so many things from his childhood, so many punishments for events he could never explain.

Now he knew. And with Hagrid's visit he also knew that magic was power that could be used to intimidate others, just as size could. He had watched the interaction closely, enthralled with seeing the terrified look on his uncle's face for a change, enthralled with the feeling of power that had come over him,. Knowing that it was because of him, for him.

The Boy-Who-Lived. He wanted to feel that power again, not to cause the fear, but to know that the fear was because of him regardless. One hand drifted into his pocket, holding the two small stones in there. The rest of what he had collected were within his trunk, safely tucked away until he reached Hogwarts.

Across the street from him, just inside a dark alley, a door seemed to appear out of the gloom. Harry smiled, knowing where the door led and how it had done as it had. He also knew what he was going to do with the time he had left.

Since that first tentative foray into William's shop two years prior, Harry had managed to get there a number of times. It was only after he had learned of Hogwarts that he realized why the shop always seemed to be there just as he needed it most.

The door he was headed towards did indeed appear on the side of the building as all his thoughts had turned towards it for that moment. The shop he knew only had a single location, the one he had managed to discover deep in Muggle London that first day, but the door… there was something about the door that it appeared, always in a dark alley, when Harry thought of it or needed it.

He opened the door and pulled his trunk inside the dim room with its many bins of colored stones and bits of wood or bones. William was not yet in the room and Harry placed his trunk and pet into a dark corner near the door where they wouldn't be readily noticed. Then, he waited for William to show himself.

It wasn't long and the older man came through, a pleased smile on his face like whenever Harry managed to come. The eleven year old pulled the man into a conversation about one of the stones, learning and remembering what the man, his teacher, said to him. William knew Harry would not be allowed a book to learn from at his relatives and taught him verbally whenever he saw him.

Then, as Harry aimlessly shifted through the bin of olive green stones they had been discussing, he asked the man the one question he had wanted to know since Hagrid had come to fetch him.

"So which house do you think I should aim for at Hogwarts?"

The older man started, then smiled in answer to the grin on Harry's face. "I did not know if you would have realized it or not before you arrived there."

"My… relatives had no wish for me to go. A large man by the name of Hagrid came to give me my letter. I never would have received it otherwise."

William nodded, understanding what Harry wouldn't say. There had been only once the boy had entered his shop uninjured in the time he had known him. Silently, he pulled a mild healing draught from his pocket and set it on the counter before Harry.

"You understand more than the rest of your year mates. You understand the grays that the world lives in. You know the advantages of hiding yourself, Vrai Noir. My advice is to hide in plain sight. A snake is expected to live in a snake's hole."

"You know who I am." A statement.

The man nodded, silent.

"You advise against Slytherin." Again, it was a statement, not a question.

The man paused for a moment before he nodded, once, briefly. William turned suddenly, away from Harry. He pulled a small bag and a piece of parchment from a shelf behind his desk. The items were handed to the boy.

"This is a list of titles you might find useful. At least some should be within the Hogwarts library. The bag was made for you by my daughter. She bade me give it to you when next I saw you." There was pride in the man's voice when he spoke of his daughter.

Harry looked at the bag closely. On the front was, obviously hand stitched, a large V and an N. Around it were four shapes in a circle, clear enough to realize they were attempts at the four house animals of Hogwarts. The green snake was the clearest, the silver eyes seeming to sparkle at him. The raven was the next clearest, easily discernable with the bright blue outlining of the dark gray wings and body.

The lion and the badger were more blobs with four legs, distinguishable only by virtue of their colors and eyes as being animals of the other houses. Harry smiled at the dark green bag. He had never met, never even seen the girl, but the shop owner spoke many tales over the times he had been there.

"Will I meet her at Hogwarts, William?" he asked.

William's face fell for just a moment as he shook his head, "She can't go to Hogwarts, though she would have loved to last year. Miina is mute. She was cursed when her mother was killed many years ago so she could not speak of their assailant. Magic cannot help her without knowing the curse that was cast."

"Will I meet her someday?" Harry asked quietly, already protective of the girl that had touched him deeply with her simple gift that had so much effort into it when she had never met him.

"Yes. Perhaps this summer. She is very eager to meet you, Noir."

Harry nodded, a genuine smile crossing his face before William brought his attention to the time and Harry gathered his things to leave, several stones resting in his pocket, safely ensconced within the gift.

- 11 years old - Christmas

Harry carefully finished the short letter within the dim light of the open window. Hedwig sat on the ledge beside him patiently waiting. Harry didn't fear the cold night air waking his dorm mates as he had quickly learned that the window ledges were charmed to keep the cold and wind out if they were open, especially being in a tower where the wind was often stronger.

Ron snorted slightly and rolled over, mumbling in his sleep. Harry had sent out a similar letter just before Christmas. William's prompt reply had allowed Harry to slip a stone into the trunks of each of his fellow first year Gryffindor boys. A simple, small piece of jet for each of them, for protection.

The Gryffindors often left their trunks open and never locked them except for Harry. The hardest part about the unknown gifts had been cleansing and charging them without getting caught, but he had enjoyed himself evading the students and the teachers alike. He was certain that even Dumbledore was unaware of his activities.

The stones had also arrived with an instruction sheet. Harry now knew how to make a door appear in any Muggle neighborhood without being in the need of it. And it listed where the two permanent exits had been placed, though they were all connected through the single door. One of these exits was in Knockturn Alley and the other was in a large Wizarding city in India, with an invitation to accompany William there sometime when it was safe.

As Harry tied the new letter to Hedwig's leg he mentally went over the acceptance and thank you that were on the parchment. Both had been genuine, no masks hiding the words and Harry sighed as Hedwig flew away with the parchment.

- 11 years old – Year End

Harry held his breath and stepped through the purple fire. It didn't burn him and on the other side he saw Quirrel in front of the Mirror of Erised. His hand went into his pocket where several of his most useful stones rested. He clutched them in his hand and took a deep breath before he stepped forward, his masks firmly in place.

Much later Harry was dressing in the infirmary. His hand throbbed, but the level of pain was one he had lived with many times before and he barely noticed as he dug his hands into his pockets. They clenched around the stones there to fortify himself and his masks before he went back to the rest of the school.

He pulled his right hand from his pocket suddenly, looking at the stones he clutched. There was one out of place. One he had never seen before. As he looked closer he realized he had seen it before, but just once in that brief moment he had seen the Philosopher's Stone in the mirror. It was no larger than his thumb nail and nearly as flat, but he knew instantly, as he always had in the shop, that the stone was made of magic.

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