Wow... The reaction to this fic took my breath away and left me laughing myself silly as the traffic blew all records. In a day I almost got as many faves as I've so far got in a year. Thanks guys.

Conflict

With everyone gone, there was only Louise and Harry left standing on the field under the twin moons.

"What is your problem?" Louise growled out. "You're supposed to be my familiar, but all you do is cause trouble!"

"I'm not your familiar. I'm Harry! Harry Potter!" Harry snapped back, just as angry. "I actually had a life before all of this."

Louise crossed her arms in defiance.

"So? You said you weren't nobility. You should be happy. Instead of whatever you did before, this is your chance for an easier life." She said. "You'll have to work for me but as my familiar I would treat you better than any plebeian could realistically hope to be treated."

Harry sighed and calmed himself. If he blew up whatever ties he had with this girl then he was on his own and he would rather not burn that bridge yet in this new world. His sudden flight had been badly planned in the spur of the moment. Certainly it would be easier to stay here. After all, this was a magic academy. It might have a headmaster like Dumbledore who could help him. It was unlikely, but possible.

Though the problem remained; she didn't understand him at all. She had a completely different mindset. In her mind and likely in the minds of most in this world, her offer was a genuine ticket to a better existence if being a plebian was half as bad as it sounded. He'd have to convince her otherwise.

"You don't understand. That stuff has nothing to do with it at all. I don't want money and I certainly don't want a title. I just want to go back to my friends." Harry said.

Louise's anger turned to confusion and she deflated. She had been sure that he would submit to her offer and perhaps even apologize for his actions. She must have misjudged him, she thought. If he was the son of a rich trader, then it could explain why he might feel above working for her. But that didn't explain his given motives or the clothes he wore. Big saggy pants which looked suited for work and a shirt which looked like hand-me-downs. Not exactly aristocratic or fashionable.

What could she offer to one who wanted nothing from her?

"You don't want to be my familiar?" She asked slowly in disbelief.

"I don't want to. I'd rather be home," He said clearly. "But I am a little out of options as I cannot get home on my own."

"How come?" She asked. The more she learned, the more questions seemed to appear.

"Well," he started. "When I looked out the window the other night, there was only one moon."

He pointed upwards. "Now I see two. There's only supposed to be one."

"Just what are you implying?" She inquired. If her familiar was crazy, she would,- she didn't really know what she'd do but it would just be her luck that it was her familiar that was weird and mentally unstable. And stubborn, she added.

"What I'm implying is that I'm not from this world." Harry said. "I grew up in a place called England. England is a country in Europe, which is a continent on Earth. We still have nobles in England and a Queen, but they do not rule the country. And most nobles aren't magical."

"England, Europe, Earth?" She tried out the foreign words awkwardly before narrowing her eyes in suspicion. What he'd said didn't make sense. "But if the Queens and Kings doesn't rule, then who does?"

"We like to say that the people do." Harry said. "A man is elected by the people for a few years at a time. That goes for both the wizarding world and the muggle world. In my world we call those without magic muggles. Muggles do not know of magic and cannot use it. They believe that it doesn't exist because the wizarding world hides itself from them."

"That's absurd" Louise said. "Why would they hide from peasants? And if the people are just electing common folk, won't they just elect an idiot who does everything to please the peasants so they'll elect him again?"

"Well, I don't know a lot about that. I'm not really into politics." Harry deflected. He didn't have a lot of trust in the wizarding government after they'd branded him a lunatic. "But about hiding from muggles, it had to do with some witch hunts some hundred years ago." Harry said. "Nowadays it is because muggles have so much strange and dangerous technology."

"I don't believe it." she said. "All this stuff about different worlds and these... muggles. You're just making up words."

She turned and walked back inside.

"I'm not lying." Harry followed her. "If you don't believe me, then that's your business. What I want to know now is how I can get unsummoned. That way I can get back and you can maybe get a new familiar or something."

"Impossible, the contract is absolute no matter who, when, where or what I summoned." she said, shoulders sagging. Harry noticed this and frowned. 'This is the triwizard contest all over again... in reverse.' Harry thought. 'First I'm summoned somewhere weird and now I'm magically bound by 'strange magic'. I must be out of luck. And not just me. I'm not really what she expected from a familiar either, it seems.'

Thinking back on Dumbledore's familiar, the phoenix, he couldn't help but crack a smile. Dumbledore had once said that the bird owned him rather than the other way around. It seemed like that between him and Hedwig too, most of the time. He missed her already.

"Alright, so I'm your familiar. What happens now?" Harry said without any conviction. He'd play along though.

"Now? I'll go to bed and you," she pointed towards Harry harshly. "Will clean my clothes, wake me up at dawn and make me ready for school before accompanying me throughout the day attending to my every demand. Any questions?"

"In return for what again?" Harry asked. He had the strangest feeling of leaving behind Little Whinging travelling across the universe, dimensions and maybe even the very fabric of time, magic and space just to wind up in a place not much different than he had left. Considering his lifelong job as a servant boy of the Dursleys he was used to such work and now that he had, after years of subtle threats of magic and lots of resistance on his part, escaped it mostly, the universe came right back putting him in a position where he had few alternatives other than menial servitude. After all he'd rather do dishes in a magic academy as a servant than forage in the forest as an illegal alien. He did, right? Right...?

Harry rubbed his temples.

"Shelter, food and other possible expenses covered, under my supervision. This is a two-way relationship, I'll remind you. I am merely sitting on the heavy end of the deal." she said. "For example I would like to purchase you some new clothes. Those doesn't seem to fit and you look like a peasant."

"That's fine with me." Harry nodded. 'Maybe a little different than 'dear home'.'

They quickly reached Louise's room. Harry stopped in the doorway.

"So where do I sleep?" Harry asked.

She pointed to a stack of hay on the floor next to the bed. The only thing sticking out in the otherwise well-kept room.

"You must be mad. First of all, I am a guy. I should be in the boys dorm. Second of all, I am not some animal." Harry said as he went in and shuffled the object in question around.

"You should be glad I am not putting this on you if anything." Harry saw the calculating glint in her eye as she picked up a collar with a lock that was chained to the wall. Harry blanched.

"Have you always had that or did you think of me specifically for that?" Harry said. She was becoming down-right scary. "Though it's not going to work. I can just open it with magic."

"I see, well that's to be expected." she drawled as she shelved the collar.

"Now about the room?" Harry reminded her.

"I only have this room. First and second of all, you're just my familiar. And familiars sleep in the room of the student or in the stalls set up for that purpose. We haven't had a case of a human familiar before as far as I know. Would you rather sleep among your fellow familiars?" Louise said offhandedly. She began undressing again without a care in the world, much to Harry's chagrin.

"No, but I expected something more fit for humans." Harry said while staring into the wall. "Even a mattress would be fine. And why do you keep undressing in front of me? Isn't it a bit... indecent?"

"How so? You're just my familiar remember?" Louise said and threw her cloak over Harry's head. Soon followed the rest of her garments. "You can start by having these cleaned for tomorrow as I asked of you earlier if you aren't entertaining any more thoughts of running away. If you prove your worth, perhaps I'll make some concessions."

"Fine. I'll do your little chores in return for food. I'll have them ready. But I'll want information too. I'm not planning on staying around here." he said, folding the clothes. "Actually I'll just deal with those now."

Harry laid them on the floor before casting a scouring charm he'd learned from Mrs. Weasley while at the Burrow. He only stopped in his work to smirk at Louise's surprised expression at his casual display of magic before he levitated the clothes up upon the drawer, ready for use.

Then he turned to his so-called bed. He had an idea to at least make it comfortable enough for actual sleeping. First he cast an Engorgement charm on the hay to enlarge it to a humongous extent. Then he cast a cushioning charm to actually to avoid a sore back in the morning before plotting down on the thing and letting out a contented sigh.

He'd managed to outdo the bed in his own bedroom back at the Dursleys, though the cushioning charm would take a little getting used to.

He glanced up at the scandalously-clad pinkette who was refining the finer points of the age old art of staring people to death. Harry almost laughed before thinking that perhaps she just might be able to stare him to death. Their magic was different after all. Not to mention their moral compass or customs.

"What is it, Louise?" he opted for instead.

"Nothing." she said dismissively and turned away. With a flick of the hand she turned off the light and went to bed.

Suddenly feeling dead tired himself Harry did the same without giving it any further thought. That was a mistake.

Next morning Harry woke up to one hell of a surprise.

"Get up, you lazy dog." A disembodied voice snapped from somewhere.

"Huh?" Harry mumbled still half asleep. Standing over him was his new alien overlord, Miss Vallière. He yawned in reply.

"We're running late and it's your fault! You were supposed to wake me up at dawn!" the now very embodied voice snapped at him. "Get ready, we're heading down to breakfast and you're missing out if you hold me back any longer!"

Harry groggily sat up. What had just happened? 'Ah, right. I've technically been kidnapped by the universe. And it seems I've dozed off at my first workday. Jet lag is an unforgiving...'

He rose with a hasty apology though it didn't seem to help his cause much. But Harry wasn't about to lose breakfast if he could help it.

"Follow me, and hurry, I even had to clothe myself this morning because of your incompetence." she berated him as they quickly went through the castle. Harry tried not to imagine what she'd meant with that "A noble with servants never clothe themselves you know."

And now he knew too much.

Harry absorbed the implications of that information as they went out of the dormitory building. What would Ron say to that? He'd be teased for months. Perhaps even Hermione would join in on the teasing.

They reached a pair of huge doors that presumably let in to where breakfast was had and she stopped. "You'll have to stay out here as you're not a student. I considered bringing you with me, but your blunder earlier changed my mind. I'll bring you some leftovers when I'm done."

With that she went on inside. Harry saw a hall which reminded him of the great hall back at Hogwarts. A few inside had noticed him standing in the door and were staring and poking their neighbors. At that point staying outside suited Harry fine. While he was used to the weird treatment, if these were all nobles then this would be like a big nest of pureblood slytherins. There had to be a few Draco Malfoys in between and then he might not be able to control himself. Causing a scene the first day would make it impossible to get any of the teachers on his side if they weren't bonkers too.

Besides, he had never seen so many strange magical creatures he'd never seen before! The stairs leading up to the halls were flooded with them. He found this side of the fence much more interesting than stuffy aristocrats. Hagrid would have a field day here. And most seemed friendly too. At least to Harry.

So Harry spent his morning getting familiar with the familiars.

Louise sat alone in the great hall. They were still serving breakfast so she had made it in time. She wondered what to do with her familiar. After all, today was scheduled as a day to get to know your familiar better. It was as she sat there in contemplation that she was suddenly joined by her arch nemesis, Kirche, and her merry little band consisting of Montmorency and the stoic Tabitha.

Louise knew without a doubt that the glint of mischief in Kirche's eye would mean a lot of grief for her. But she couldn't run away when in public. As a noble she had to stand her ground. So it was with a determined front that she cordially welcomed Kirche to her table.

It was as Harry was tentatively approaching the blue dragon that he'd been watching with one eye all morning that a group of people he recognized walked out of the entrance doors. The redhead from yesterday along with Guiche who was rather focused on another pretty blond girl with them. Alongside them he saw a blue haired girl with a indifferent expression with glasses and couldn't help snorting. It seemed that strange hair was the norm here. Right behind this group Louise walked along in silence. Her pink hair was rather hard to miss despite her small stature. They went straight for him.

"Ahh Harry! There you are." the redhead spoke. "We were hoping you'd join us for tea. After all we're supposed to get to know our familiars and I hoped you'd join us." She was carrying a tray but more importantly a full plate of delicious looking food. And Harry was getting hungry.

"We heard you hadn't had breakfast yet, so I brought you some left-overs." She continued, stressing her part in this little ploy. He could see Louise scowling behind them. Something was going on and he had no small inkling as to what.

Though he was suspicious, Harry gratefully accepted the offer. No small amount of intrigue were going to keep him from eating and he didn't feel he really owed any allegiance to his 'master'. And the way that Kirche didn't seem to make a fuss out of his status was a nice change. Though with a darkening frown he recalled that she had seen that he was a wizard, which might change things in her eyes. But for now, food was food.

"I think that Montmorency and I will be going somewhere a little more private." Guiche said as he let the blond away followed by their familiars. "Perhaps we'll join you later."

Harry couldn't help but notice that she was someone else than the one he'd been courting yesterday. With their blond hair they looked somewhat alike. Perhaps they were siblings, he considered.

"Alright, now follow us, you can't eat out here on the ground." the redhead spoke again. "We'll go to the gardens and have tea."

So soon Harry found himself sitting among the nobles of the academy in the gardens. Most of the familiars had been brought along, so he had learned that the blue dragon familiar belonged to none other than the blue haired silent girl. It lay in the grass in the shadow of the inner wall nearby.

Breakfast and tea in a foreign universe was surprisingly good in Harry's opinion. And he decided that this would all be very pleasant if not for a few baleful stares. It was as if the very idea of a peasant enjoying himself on equal footing as them were a capital offense. But none spoke out which suited Harry fine for now.

There was some idle conversation before the redhead turned to the pinkette.

"So it seems you managed to outdo yourself. Summoning such an impressive familiar as you said you would. I'm surprised. Especially considering your history in this academy, Louise the Zero." She said. Harry perked up. The way it was said oddly reminded him of a situation from back home.

"Thank you, Kirche. You didn't do bad yourself." Louise said in a tone that clearly suggested otherwise.

"Now, now. I wouldn't get cocky. I did say he was impressive." the now aptly named Kirche returned. "But he not much next to my familiar. Magic or no magic."

As if on cue, said fire-lizard bounced up to their table with all the bluster it could. It reminded him a bit of how Goyle and Crappe would act, even if this lizard seemed to have that spark of feral intelligence in its eyes, that the two Slytherin grunts lacked. With that he realized that they were arguing like he and Draco Malfoy would. That wasn't a good thing.

"Well, you know what they say. The familiar is a reflection of the summoner, lizard-woman!" Louise said in disdain.

"Says you! I suppose you really are a man then, Louise!" Kirche yelled. "I, for one, am not surprised!"

Louise's cheeks flared up in anger before biting out another retort forcing Harry to amend his earlier thought. They were like Draco and Ron arguing. They were worse.

Squirming a bit uncomfortably in his seat between the two raging women, he noticed the reaction of the last occupant at the table across him. Or rather the lack thereof. The other girl with the odd hair colour was reading a book without a care in the world. He couldn't decipher the title. It all looked like strange runes to him.

Noticing his interest, she glanced up from her book. Harry nodded at the two women who had settled to angrily glare at each other.

"Hi, my name is Harry. Are they always like this?" he asked.

"It varies." The short clipped answer she produced didn't tell him much.

"What's your name?"

"Tabitha" she answered curtly, again. Harry was beginning to see a trend.

"So you've got a dragon as your familiar?" he asked after the conversation died.

"I do." she answered.

Harry faltered and she turned back to her book. He resisted muttering a dry thanks for her time.

Any further antics between the two girls at their table were stopped short by a panicked Guiche who was tumbling past them with a confused Montmorency in tow.

And trailing a bit behind them was the brown haired girl he'd been with. As luck would have it she caught up with them right next to their table. Lowered voices turned to hissing and it quickly escalated to shouting and soufflé smeared all over Guiche's face as Montmorency and the other girl figured out just how they had been played by the hopeless womanizer.

The brownhaired first year Katie then noticed Harry sitting at the table and gave him the expression he normally received by people back home who hadn't actually met him before. It was that of dawning surprise along with recognition of what he was, rather than who he was that he was so accustomed to back home. His display last night had obviously not gone unnoticed and the way he had beat up her former crush had been imprinted upon her. Especially since secrets were likely in play.

The last thing he needed right now was a scene. Particularly not one which would put him in the kind of sensational spotlight that had given him a lot of hassle back home. He wasn't quite sure, but he just didn't want to deal with it here right now. He'd have to fight for that right of course.

"You're the one who bested Guiche in a duel!" Katie stammered loudly in surprise, hands to her mouth as if she had somehow mentally held back the shock of the fight since last night. Maybe she wanted to cause a scene as much as Harry didn't want one. These were nobles after all and they were deliberate in their theatrics if anything.

Glancing around the table told him that he needed to act quickly if he was to influence the outcome. Kirche was already in the middle of seconding Katie and trying to take over the stage. Guiche was looking pale and desperate and Montmorency was gobbing up every word like everyone else within earshot. Louise was looking at him.

Tabitha was reading her book.

"That's ridiculous. Why would I duel Guiche and let alone win?" Harry asked rhetorically, focusing all attention on him. He took a calming breath before continuing.

"Guiche and me dueling is a misunderstanding. How would I even beat Guiche?" He turned to the blonde who looked back warily. "Right, Guiche?"

The sweating noble, who still had pieces of soufflé all over, answered slowly, with his eyes never leaving Harry. "Of course... Us dueling would be... silly."

There were a few chuckles at the thought of a peasant dueling a mage as things slowly returned normal, satisfied at the return to status quo, but the occupants at the table kept their stares fixed on Harry.

First up was Katie. "Why did you lie?" she asked in a low tone.

Harry shrugged. "I'm sorry, girl. But I don't have a thing for attention. And I didn't exactly lie either."

"But you did duel Guiche and you are a mage." The girl frowned at him.

"Really? I wouldn't call what we had a duel. A duel is not the same as a surprise attack. And I never said I wasn't a mage." Harry grinned at her. He knew he had lied his back off and elegantly skirted around his magic thing, but he really didn't like the attention. He knew his secret probably wouldn't last but he would make enough waves when it did come out anyway that it didn't matter. Everyone here at the table knew he was a mage, but they could likely be hushed. And Katie had lost credibility from her outburst. If she tried to spread any rumors she would only be digging her own proverbial grave. Harry felt very slytherin at that moment.

She walked off with a huff of annoyance. 'What a victory.' Harry grinned.

Louise glanced strangely at her familiar. Why would he not make sense to her? He was entrancing their classmates, attracting the interest of her enemies and tricking nobles without any thought put to it. He didn't want fame, nor did he want wealth. He had magical talent which he kept secret from most and a strong will and character. And he didn't want to have anything to do with her if he had a choice.

For the first time she felt a bit anxious about having him as a familiar. He was simply too much for her to handle. He was hardly what she had in mind when she begun the summoning ritual. He held most of the qualities she'd thought ideal, but he intimidated her because she couldn't hope to control him. She could order him around all she wanted and he would play along, but it was as if it didn't count for anything in the grand scheme of things. It was just something he did to appease her while he pondering his options and looking for a way out. He'd leave the first chance he got.

She had selfishly hoped for a familiar who would be hers and hers alone who didn't care about her magic or the opinion of anyone but hers. Why was a guy of all things like him her familiar? One, who didn't even want to be her familiar and nothing she could think of could change that. And they both knew it, yet calling him out on it would dispel any semblance of control over the situation she actually had left.

So far he'd seen her fail in magic once, but that was an isolated event and nobody had outright stated her inadequacy. However tomorrow classes would begin again and her failure as Louise the Zero would become apparent. Then he would lose whatever faith he had for her usefulness like the rest and she'd be on her own against the world again. Louise bit her lip. She hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Elsewhere Dumbledore had just made a very alarming discovery. The watchers who had been watching over Harry had reported nothing out of the ordinary until he stopped showing up.

Harry Potter had disappeared scant days after coming back from Hogwarts. Now he stood in Harry's room to figure out why and how. So far nobody except him and the watchers, Tonks and Remus, knew of Harry's disappearance but soon the other coming watchers from the order of the phoenix would find out. Albus had sent an owl to Harry's two friends, informing them of the situation and advising them to remain calm. Later he would have to inform the order of the phoenix and possibly the ministry of magic depending on what he found here. With Voldemort on the loose he couldn't afford to take any chances. Shouldn't have.

He had never anticipated the Dark Lord to act this fast or this boldly for surely none other than Voldemort could be behind this and Dumbledore had severely underestimated him after he'd had a decade of plotting by himself. He'd been a fool for not taking Harry's security for granted. Without Harry on the scene Voldemort would act boldly.

With a flourish of his wrinkled hand he called up a roll of parchment. His resignation from the seat of headmaster of Hogwarts was a necessary sacrifice. There was too much be done. Harry Potter must be found.

A/N: Again the support was overwhelming! I'm uploading this with a hammering heart. I hadn't expected anything like this. Of all my pilot stories, this was the one I least expected to get so much attention. It surpassed my year-old main story in favs/alerts in just days :3

It makes me feel all giddy inside, like when I posted my first chapter ever. So I've decided to continue this as of now. Thanks again everybody. I hope I can provide.

I will apologize for the wait too. I was ill-prepared to continue this story but it's shaping up. I just moved out from home and started on the university of Aalborg. Add that to the fact that I am already a slow writer (I usually daydream about plots rather than write them). Though I've been hard at work this last month thanks to all the inspiration you guys have given me (at least on my other projects).

Also last and perhaps least, I've made a few updates to the first chapter as of 9/10-12 (10/9-12 for Americans, I believe). Harry is now from the beginning of his fifth year instead of a year later. Sorry to change such a major thing but it felt better. Such things are liable to change back and forth till I'm comfortable, but I will try to notify about such changes.

I've also moved the first bit of this chapter to the end of the 2nd chapter since I got a lot of feedback from people on my first chapter who were upset with Harry's docile behavior, which tended to disappear after this chapter.

Edit: My thanks to MutantRancor for pointing out that canonically Dumbledore is not inclined to use the phrase 'For the greater good' for reasons pertaining to his past. (Serviceannouncement, hint hint)