Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter J. K. Rowling does. I am using a few lines from the first book but that is not my work that is hers.

A/N: Italics mean Parseltongue, mail, and Voldermort's voice

Big thank you to my co-writer Costalfirebird

Headmaster's Office

Albus carefully poured himself a shot of firewhiskey; picking up the glass, spilling the contents everywhere as his hands were still shaking from his encounter with Death. He made his way over to his desk and sat down. Pulling out one of his drawers, he looked in at a golden ring, with a small square stone for its jewel and a blood red stone. He carefully closed it and leaned back in his chair. He knew the whole game had changed now; the fact that Harry now had Death in his corner was worrying enough. He decided he better put an appearance in at dinner to avoid any questions. He rose from his chair. Just as he was about to walk out the door, he turned to the sorting hat and sighed. "You could have made this easier for me, why did you have to go put them together?"

The sorting hat stared down from his shelf at the old fool. The hat had known the headmaster's plans. He had seen the wheels turning inside the old goat's head. The sorting hat chuckled. "Headmaster, what I do with the students is none of your concern. Lord Hogwarts is safe in Ravenclaw. Had I placed him in Gryffindor then he would have been held back in his conquest. Yes, headmaster, Lord Hogwarts is not like any first year I have even seen. His seven years here will be very interesting."

Albus glared at the hat then stormed out of the office. Fawkes shook his head. He could not believe how far his master had fallen from grace. He knew he would have to watch out for the boy. Albus was not one to give up so easily.

Great Hall

Harry was sitting next to Tracey and Daphne when the headmaster stormed in. Harry could see that the headmaster was not feeling right, his face was very pale.

Meanwhile over at the Gryffindor table a certain redhead was scheming how to make friends with the Boy-Who-Lived. Albus Dumbledore had promised him an allowance while he was at school, if he could get close to Harry and befriend him. So far he could not see any opportunity to do that while those two girls were hanging off his arm. Suddenly he saw his chance as the two girls got up and left the Great Hall together. Ron quickly made his way over to the Ravenclaw table. He took a quick look at the staff table and saw Dumbledore smiling at him. Ron took that as a good sign and sat down next to Harry.

"Hi Harry, I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk tomorrow around the school grounds. I felt we got off on the wrong foot earlier, and I want to start again by offering my hand in friendship."

Harry placed his fork and knife down, and turned to the redhead. "Thank you for your apology Ron, but I am rather happy with the company I have at the moment. I am curious though, why you are making such an effort out of this when you know I am part of the Greengrass family. According to Lord Greengrass your father, while at the Ministry, avoids him like the plague. I believe it is something about him thinking that the Greengrass family is dark. So why would he allow his son to interact with someone from a dark family?"

Ron was speechless; he didn't know what to do. Defeated for the moment he returned to his table with the now full trays of food and started to mount his plate once again. Harry glanced over disgusted at his table manners. He had been brought up in the pureblood ways. He knew that the Weasleys were purebloods so he could not wrap his mind around the way one of their children was consuming food like a dust bin. Harry wondered if the poor boy knew what a fork and knife was. In the end Harry ignored him and finished his dinner. He acknowledged the rest of his Housemates and left the Great Hall ignoring the redhead trash bin on his way out.

Ravenclaw Tower

Daphne and Tracey were sitting on one of the sofas going over their homework from the day. When they noticed the entrance swing open and watched as Harry walked through. Tracey slowly moved over so that Harry could sit between the both of them. Daphne immediately put her book down and curled up to his chest. Tracey noticed that the two wanted some alone time so she moved over to the end of the sofa to finish her homework.

Harry leaned back into the sofa. He was wondering if he should tell Daphne about his encounter with Death, but in the end he decided to leave it for now. Harry was wondering how much more powerful he would need to be to use the wand. He could cast almost any spell, not to mention cast it silently as well. Harry knew about the Hallows from the story Martha used to read. At that time he thought they were just myths. Having Death appear and give him the true Cloak of Invisibility, as well as showing him the wand was awe inspiring. Harry had hoped to mention the stone but Death had left before he could ask. Harry hoped he would have no more encounters with Death; however it seemed Fate had other ideas in store for him.

DADA Classroom

"You're worthless Quirrell! Why I ever decided to attach myself to you is beyond me. I should have let those vampires kill you in Albania."

"Milord, I apologize, the stone will be in your hands by the end of the school year. I assure you. I have convinced Dumbledore to allow me to provide one of the defences for the stone. However he will not allow me to know of the other measures that will be used to keep it safe."

"What defense did you provide Quirrell?"

"Milord, I have provided a fully grown mountain troll in the room just outside the room containing stone. Of course the beast will listen to me when the time comes to retrieve it."

"Good, now on to the second little problem Potter. Ten years I have waited, when the time comes he will die by my hand, are we clear Quirrell?"

"Yes, milord, I have my first lesson with the first year Ravenclaws tomorrow. It should be rather interesting."

"One more thing Quirrell, keep that bloody stuttering to minimum, you drive me crazy with that."

"I will try to be more mindful of your situation milord; after all it can't be very comfortable sharing a head with me."

"You got that bloody right. Now to the Forbidden Forest I need more blood."

Slytherin dungeon

Draco felt sick. His new battle scar had made him somewhat of an outcast. His plans for becoming leader of the House had all but burnt to ash. Draco didn't know whose cat had cause this damage, but he knew if he ever saw it again then he would kill it. In fact, his only friends he now had were his two bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle. His father had offered them a reward to protect his son. Even his own girlfriend, Pansy Parkinson, was ignoring him. It seems she couldn't believe that he had been bested by a little feline.

Draco sat back as he realized he had more pressing things to worry about; a Miss Daphne Greengrass to be precise. Draco was fuming when he had learnt that she had been promised to Potter. He sighed he knew it would take a lot of work, but he was certain that he could accomplish his goal.

"The first thing I need to do is fix the damage that damn cat did to my face, and then contact Father about that stupid marriage contract." Draco said this with so much hatred he felt Potter deserved. He could feel the temperature drop around him. "Now if I could only do this in the common room. Where did I put that damned salve the bitch gave me?" He started looking through his trunk and could feel the chill in the air getting worse. "Damned castle is even fighting against me!"

"More like the ghosts Mr Malfoy. I would suggest leaving Lord Hogwarts alone." The voice of the Bloody Baron was bone chillingly cold.

Draco spun around and faced the ancient specter, "You're the bloody Slytherin House ghost! Why help that inferior half-blood!"

"Because he is my Lord and Master, plus I didn't like your father, and I don't like you." The ghost started floating away. "By the way, Peeves took your salve."

"Damn it all!"

The Next Day

Ravenclaw Tower

Harry was walking down to the common room to join the girls for breakfast, and even though he was still at the top of the stairs he could hear the commotion already. When he got to the common room he saw all the first year students were gathered around the bulletin board. Harry walked up to board and looked on it to see what was causing the commotion. The first year Ravenclaws had to take flying lessons with both Gryffindor and Slytherin this Thursday. Harry tried to hide his disdain for this idea of sharing a class with both Malfoy and Weasley. Having a class with just one was bad enough, but to have it with both of them was maddening.

"Harry, can we talk?" Harry turned around to see the same fifth year from yesterday.

"Yes, we can so long as you keep your emotions in check." Harry replied flatly.

"Of course, Professor Flitwick reprimanded me for my actions yesterday, and said if I did it again my prefect status would be revoked. So I am sorry Harry." He was not looking down, but rather determined.

"Apology accepted, just don't let it happen again." Harry then turned to Daphne and Tracey who were just coming to see the board. "Hello girls, how was your night?"

"Good. What is on the bulletin board Harry?" Tracey asked with one hand over her stomach.

"Our flying lessons will be held on Thursday at three thirty with Gryffindor and Slytherin, and what did I tell you about eating too much?"

"Don't and I didn't. I am just hungry, let's go." She wrapped one arm around Harry's left arm, and one glance over to Daphne told Harry she was annoyed.

Thursday

Defense Classroom

Harry, Daphne, and Tracey were sitting there in their second class of the day, and the professor was informing the class of the importance of the knockback jinx, but the instruction was a bit lost due to the professor's stuttering. It took him about fifteen minutes to just describe the spell, and about twenty five minutes to get through the primary use of the spell. What was bothering Harry more than the repetitive stuttering, was the constant pain he was feeling from his scar, just looking at the professor was causing pain. However it was worse when the professor had his back to the class. Harry was trying to ignore it when he was caught off guard by a quick fire question.

"Mister P-p-potter what are the e-e-effects of the knockback jinx on a magical s-s-switch?" The professor stammered out.

"It will either activate or deactivate the switch sir. This is used in the castle to control the entrance gates and portcullises sir." Harry answered quickly.

"V-v-very good Mr Potter, ten points to Ravenclaw."

The professor locked eyes with Harry at that moment in time, and his head felt like it was lit on fire. He tried to resist bringing his hand to his forehead, but at one point it felt like a bludger was slamming into his head. Looking back at the professor he saw the professor rubbing the side of his turban. Strangely the professor's face was showing no signs of distress, but his eyes were wider than normal. The class soon finished and Harry gathered his things and left the classroom acting as if nothing was wrong. As they walked down the corridor Daphne was trying to look at his forehead. When she couldn't get him to hold still long enough to get a good look she pulled him into an unused classroom.

Harry didn't have much time to look around the room as his betrothed lifted up his hair and started examining his head. Tracey started walking towards the back right-hand corner of the room. "Are you all right Harry?" Daphne asked.

"I'm fine." Harry responded automatically.

"No you're not. I saw your hand go to your forehead more than once during class, and before the class ended you and the professor were staring each other down. You looked like you were in extreme pain Harry." Daphne was staring at him now.

"I wasn't in pain it just felt like my head was on fire." He was trying not to scare her, but it seemed like that wasn't working.

"Harry that is pain!" Daphne placed her hands on her hips.

Before he could respond Tracey shouted out. "Guys you need to see this! That Weasley boy is no longer in school and we can eat in peace."

"What?" Harry and Daphne responded as one.

"Come here take a look." Tracey was motioning towards a mirror in the back part of the room.

Daphne and Harry ran over to the mirror. When Daphne stood in front of it her eyes went wide in awe, "Oh my God, Harry, you look handsome, and that wedding dress I'm wearing looks beautiful!"

"What are you talking about Daphne I am standing right here not in the mirror." Harry then stood next to her, and he could only see the reflection of the three of them standing in the room. "I just see the three of us."

"Maybe you need to stand where Daphne is Harry." Tracey suggested.

Daphne moved aside and had a huge smile on her face. Once Harry stood where she had been standing he looked into the mirror. Instead of a Ronald-free Great Hall or an older version of himself and Daphne at their wedding Harry saw an older version of himself. He was standing there in front of the Wizengamot with his cloak draped over his shoulder, the Elder wand in his hand, and a stone firmly clenched in his other hand. Daphne was also there leaned up against him smiling at him with pride shining in her eyes. There was no way this was real. Death had said he would not get the wand until he was ready, and he had no idea where the resurrection stone was. He took a step back and looked at the top of the mirror. Engraved in the gold rim was: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi. This confused him for a moment until he read the first word again. He started laughing.

"What is it Harry?" Daphne asked concern written on her face.

"Look at the top of the mirror." He said through his laughter.

"Okay, I don't get it," Tracey said with a raised eyebrow.

"It is a mirror read it backwards." The girls raised an eyebrow. "'I show not your face, but your heart's desire.' It doesn't show anything we don't already know." Harry said with a smile on his face. "Come on we don't have much time to eat. We have to study, and then head to the Practice field for flying lessons."

"You never told us what you saw Harry?" Tracey asked with a smile on her face.

Harry let out a sigh. "I was standing in the Wizengamot with the Elder wand." He decided to let them know that much. Even that was a little too much.

"What!" both girls said in unison.

"Come on, I will tell you more, but we need to get lunch first." With that Harry started walking towards the door. The sound of his friends running to catch up with him echoed throughout the room.

Ministry of Magic

The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office

Arthur Weasley was sitting there at his desk going over the reports of yet another wizard creating shrinking keys to sell to muggles. He let out a haggard sigh. Didn't wizards and witches have better things to do than annoy muggles with disappearing keys? He was still perplexed why they didn't look more closely at the rubber ducky that was more interesting than disappearing keys. He was snapped out of his contemplation when a letter landed upon his desk. He thought it might be from Amelia about the raid from last night, but one look at the writing told him it was from one of his children. Upon reading the letter his smile turned into a frown.

Hi Dad,

School is great! I am enjoying the classes (well except for the homework). I have made lots of friends, and the food is good too! It is nothing like Mum's cooking though.

Oh, I met Harry Potter! I am worried about him though Dad. He says he is part of the Greengrass family, and you think they are dark right? Well if that is the case wouldn't he and their daughter be sorted into Slytherin? They're in Ravenclaw Dad so they can't be dark. He also said you don't talk to Mr Greengrass why is that Dad? Sure Harry is a bit of a book worm, but he doesn't sound like a dark person. If he is maybe I could lead him away from that you know.

If you would talk to Mr Greengrass a little maybe Harry wouldn't mind being friends with me, and I could steer him away from the Dark Arts!

Thanks,

Ron

Arthur was confused by his son's letter. Arthur had been avoiding Lord Greengrass because of what Professor Dumbledore had told the Order about them stealing Harry Potter from his guardianship all those years ago. This is what caused him to think the family was Dark. Clyde Greengrass and Dumbledore for years had been in constant struggle over the guardianship of the Boy-Who-Lived, and all this time he had only heard Albus' version. Maybe there was more to it than the headmaster was telling them. The only way he would know any more than what Albus provided was to talk to Lord Greengrass. It was too late for him to do it today, but the next time he saw the man he would try and start a conversation with him for Harry's sake at least.

Hogwarts

Practice Field

Daphne was standing in the Practice Field in between her two friends, and she was trying as hard as she could to keep her emotions in check. Magic was swayed dramatically by ones emotions, and the way she was feeling right now was not a very good feeling. She wasn't angry with Harry, but she was not happy about what Harry had told them before lunch today. Well that was an understatement she was more than unhappy, she was angry, but not with Harry. She could believe the headmaster would not only try and take custody of Harry, but steal from him as well. The man had taken something that had belonged to Harry's father. All Harry would tell her about it was that it was a cloak of invisibility, but given what he had told them before lunch she would not doubt him if he said it was the cloak of Invisibility given to Ignotus Peverell by Death itself, and if that was the case then Professor Dumbledore was playing with fire.

Daphne took a look around the field. It was a bit crowded in Daphne's opinion. Gryffindor and Slytherin were standing across from one another. This left little room for Ravenclaw to line up beside the brooms provided for the lesson. Some of the students in the other two houses were giving each other death stares. Neville Longbottom was the only Gryffindor not staring down a Slytherin. He looked nervous, and kept looking between the broom and the sky. Daphne felt sorry for the boy. Most students made fun of him because of his timid nature. The Slytherins were the worst about it though, and Draco seemed to take some kind of joy out of doing it. During lunch today he had walked up to Neville and taken something right out of his hands, and only Professor McGonagall's arrival made him return it.

Daphne's attention was brought back to the here and now when Madam Hooch announced her arrival. She did not look too happy at the size of the class.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Daphne took one look at her broom and she could tell it had seen better years. The twigs hadn't been taken care of in at least a century or better, and the handle was cracked in a few places.

"Stick your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'UP!'"

"Up!" everyone shouted.

Daphne's broom shot up into her hand on the first try. The same was true for Harry and Tracey as well. She had to keep herself from laughing as it took Draco three tries to get his broom into his hand. Hermione Granger, a girl she had seen a few times in the library, could only make her broom roll around on the ground, and poor Neville couldn't even get his to move.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to hold the broom so they didn't go sliding off the end of it. Daphne, Harry, and Tracey started laughing when the teacher told Malfoy that he had been doing it wrong for years. The fool had always bragged about how good he was at riding a broom. He even went so far as to say if his house team didn't pick him it would cost them the Quidditch Cup. But given what Madam Hooch had just said Daphne doubted the boy could even fly a broom properly.

"Now when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your broom steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle-three- two-"

Apparently Neville was so nervous that he didn't want to wait for the whistle. He kicked off from the ground and went sailing into the air. Daphne thought he was at least twenty feet off of the ground. Neville leaned over to look at the ground, and then fell off his broom. Like most people there she breathed in sharply when he started falling, and when Neville stopped falling all together the class seemed to let out a collectively held breath.

Daphne looked over to Harry and saw that he had his wand out and pointed at the floating Gryffindor. He walked over to Neville and picked something off the ground. "You dropped this Neville."

"Thank you." The young Lord Longbottom looked at the ground as Harry handed him a small globe.

The class progressed well from there with the only problem being Draco's constant whining about not being able to fly around freely. Once class was dismissed Daphne walked over to her betrothed and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "What was that for?"

"What you did for Neville. He could have been hurt badly you know?" Daphne said this while looking at the ground a little bit embarrassed about the public display of affection.

"Of course I do, and to be honest I was surprised that Madam Hooch didn't have her wand out faster." was his response.

"Well, no one is perfect Harry." Tracey said as she got closer to them.

"Except you right Tracey?" Harry asked this with a smile on his face. Daphne hit Harry on the arm for that one "Ow!"

"Exactly, now let's go I want to get to the table before Weasley so that I can at least get started eating before he arrives." Tracey said this as she started pulling her friends towards the castle.

"How do you stay in shape girl?" Daphne asked.

"I run early in the morning. Now let's go!"

October 30

Ravenclaw Boys dorm

Harry threw his bag down at the foot of his bed. It had been a long day, and Draco didn't make it any easier. He kept trying for some unknown reason to goad Harry into some kind of fight. In fact not too long after DADA class today he had challenged Harry to a duel for no apparent reason. Harry had only pointed out the fact that Draco's father was in no position to expel Harry from this school, but that was no reason for the boy to challenge him to an 'honor duel' in the dead of night. Harry accepted the challenge, but simply changed the time, and apparently he was right because Draco response was to say that Harry was simply afraid of him and then he walked away.

"Is something wrong master?" Rex hissed.

Harry hissed back in reply "No, Rex, I am fine. Just having to deal with a major idiot is all." Harry then petted the basilisk on its head. It then occurred to him he had been meaning to ask his familiar something. "Hey Rex being as Halloween is tomorrow I want to ask you something?"

"What is it master?"

"How did you know about the Deathly Hallows? I mean I was told the story by Martha, but who told it to you?" Harry was looking down at the young basilisk hoping he had not stuck a sore nerve for his familiar.

"I overheard the shopkeeper telling their children the story when they held me in their house until I was old enough to sell." Rex flicked his tongue across Harry's finger.

"I see. Do you want me to pick you up anything tonight?" The basilisk shook its head. "Okay see you later then."

End of chapter 5

A/N: Please review. Big Thank you to HowlnMadHowie for proof-reading this chapter.