Anxiety

Harry Potter must be found...

Albus Dumbledore sat reading his morning paper in the great hall of Hogwarts. He was still housed in his old office as the resignation of his position as Headmaster was not finalized yet. Poor McGonagall had been quite perturbed by the sudden news. However despite her protests he'd managed to calm her down enough to accept his decision. She'd be a fine headmistress and Hogwarts would do well under her leadership, of that he was certain. Explaining the mystery of Harry had helped his case tremendously yet it did little to calm down McGonagall. Such is the price of knowledge.

It was the morning on the second day of Harry's disappearance and he was reading the latest issue of the Quibbler as he was prone to on quiet mornings such as these. However spotting the headline of the first article he spluttered his morning juice all over the table, causing quite a stir among the remaining teachers who hadn't withdrawn from Hogwarts for the summer. He quickly vanished the mess with his wand and with the passing of his momentary shock he sat down to read the most peculiar article he'd seen yet even by the Quibbler's standards. Most would dismiss most or everything of the Quibbler with barely a glance, however the timing of this story was out of this world.

'Harry Potter kidnapped' the headline read. He kept reading and found to his surprise a rather lengthy explanation of how fairies had spirited away young Harry to groom him as their king and champion in a fight against something most ponderously called 'industrialization'. A muggle term for moving people into the cities, the article further elaborated. Apparently it was all then tied to the rising usage of radio waves in the muggle world which was in turn affecting dormant ley lines in a way which was never really brought up and that was what had upset the natural order, which in turn had upset the fairies. It was far out at best as always and Albus did find it implausible given his extensive knowledge of fairies and leylines. Though that 'industrialization' thing would need some reading later, he had most bases covered as to prove that the article was false. But on the other hand there was supposedly no one who even knew that Harry was gone yet. He stroked his beard wisely, well aware of the heavy atmosphere and the attention he'd garnered from whomever was present of the teachers, as he pondered the implications.

He could really use a lemon drop about now, he decided. He voiced his craving for his prized sweets and was met with a chorus of aggravated sighs as tension drained from the room. He just shrugged it off. Young people were so stiff these days in Albus' opinion.

Louise was stalking through the halls toward her first class. Following her closely was her familiar, Harry, silent as a shadow. Which was actually for the best after the rude awakening this morning. She'd been woken in a strange manner that morning. She had been sleeping as usual when a noise which she had never heard before had woken her abruptly and scared her out of her wits. As she scrambled out of bed she instead fell out over the side of her bed screaming bloody murder. Landing squarely in the makeshift bed that Harry had made she managed to share a bit of her traumatic morning with her groggy familiar who had only just begun to take into account that the alarm clock on his watch had gone off.

Spotting the infernal beeping artifact on Harry's hand instantly made her form an uncanny understanding of who and what was guilty of the morning's transgressions on her bedrest and she snarled in an unladylike manner that had she been a magical animal she would have made Hagrid think twice about taking her in. Harry, knowing the undiluted hatred some people of his world shared for the alarm clock, could only fumble awkwardly with the wristwatch as he turned it off.

Then, showing true gryffindor courage Harry had taken the bull by its teeth and explained what the fuss had been all about, defending himself that he was simply doing his job as she'd asked, insisting that it was not a magical artifact but simply a muggle device for telling time. It didn't help matters for him that he had never had much understanding of the watch's exact mechanism himself but in the end Louise had let him off by telling him to warn her in advance of any other muggle devices he might have, not that he really had any.

So here they were, walking down the stone corridors towards their first lesson of the day. The spectacle had made her forget her queasiness about the coming day. This feeling however was now returning in full force. She held on to the faith that perhaps she would not be called on or perhaps with having summoned a familiar, her days as Louise the Zero would be over.

Albus Dumbledore strolled into the meeting room of his pet organization the Order of the Phoenix. While the order had seen both better days and worse, he was no less surprised at the same old fire that lit the eyes of some of the members, as back in the old days when they were the only ones around in a dangerous world. Times had changed, but the order, while out of form and vastly different, was intact.

The meeting room was in no other place than the ancestral home of the Black family, a family of wizards and witches that had long supported the dark lord's ideals of blood purity. However thanks to the current living owner, the falsely accused fugitive Sirius Black, a rebel within who did not share his family's views, the order had managed to claim Grimmauld place as possibly the most unlikely base of operations in their fight against Voldemort's tyranny. It was strangely fitting, even with all the

The room grew silent as he emerged, which was no small feat as the whole order had been assembled as well as the almost honorary members Hermione Granger and the Weasley children. They already knew more than most in the room with the exception being McGonagall who was following in his wake.

On his shoulder sat Harry's white owl. He had released the bird from its cage when checking Harry's room in the hope that she would find him but the owl had returned to him earlier today to his disappointment. Since then Hedwig had doggedly followed him throughout the day as if she had appraised him as her best shot for finding her master again. As her gaze scanned the room Hedwig hooted and flew from his shoulder and landed on the table in front of Hermione, who took to idly petting the owl. She had been crying, if her slightly red eyes were any indication, but the owls demanding presence seemed to bring a small smile to her face. The usually boisterous Ron Weasley turned to him with such hopeful eyes that Albus almost couldn't meet them. He had few if any good news.

Mad-eye Moody was the first to make his voice known before Dumbledore had even seated himself.

"Dumbledore! Why are these kids allowed in the meeting? They aren't order members. They are not even honorary members!" His magical eye spun to the children as he made a wide gesture towards them.

"Easy, old friend. They are here because the emergency which we'll discuss has more to do with them than any of us," Dumbledore placated, as he finally slid into his chair. He popped a lemon drop into his mouth before offering the crowd. His offer was shot down.

"It's about Harry isn't it?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said. He'd have to tell them what he knew. He figured he should be delicate about it.

"So who've read the Quibbler this morning?" he asked jovially.

Harry sat in the back of the classroom next to the small pinkette. They were having a class with an mostly bald professor with round glasses and blue robes. He went about with a staff or perhaps a walking stick, not that he seemed to need it. The fashion of this world was a in a way a tad more regal and again less strict than at Hogwarts. The white school uniform with the black cape and skirt was of a high quality, which reflected the high standing of the background of the students. He'd learned that no small amount of mages came here to study from different parts of Halkeginia; Tristain acting as an international boarding school in neutral territory. It was interesting as it was a polar opposite to the school he was familiar with. No rivaling houses compelled the students to compete against their peers and form social groups. There was apparently no need either.

Harry had instantly taken a liking to the wizened professor as he paraded about in front of the class while explaining magic theory that even Harry felt he could follow despite his rather abrupt entry into the subject. That is, until he had started writing on the blackboard. He recognized the letters, but the words were unreadable! Harry felt like pulling his hair out. While he technically didn't need to learn any of this since he wasn't supposed to be a real mage, it could be something important. If he wanted some way of getting home then he shouldn't disregard learning the local magic. This wasn't just slacking off with Ron and then relearning it all up before a test from Hermione what he should have learned weeks and months ago. This was vitally important.

Louise noticed his despair and poked him to catch his attention. He turned to her.

"What is it?" she whispered almost so quietly he almost didn't hear.

"I can't read the blackboard," he returned to her. She glanced up at the blackboard and grinned.

"Pff, don't worry. I know this stuff by heart." she whispered, a hint of pride in her words.

Then Harry noticed her own rather intricate notes full of scribbling. He knew a thing of two about bookworms and Louise certainly seemed to qualify, at least in terms of organization. He almost snickered at the idea that Hermione certainly did have her bossy moments even after all the time spent around him and Ron. With that picture in mind she'd be much easier to deal with. Imperious Hermione who had an strong will and attitude. It was almost too easy to apply her likeness to Louise, who herself seemed to be somewhat smart.

Not quite as smart as Hermione, of course. That would be implausible, but Louise was definitely more bookish than Ron and he had ever been, for what that was worth. But in the end as Harry glanced at her filling notes: How does that help me?

He got his answer soon after.

As Harry took notes as best as he could, Louise would silently mutter the meanings of the words and symbols that the professor drew on the blackboard, curiously glancing at the words he wrote to represent them.

Class proceeded like that for some time.

However their little exchange of words didn't go unnoticed. A boy sitting behind them rose up with cheeks red from apparent suppressed anger.

"Professor Colbert, why is a commoner sitting in the midst of our class, taking notes as if he's a student," he demanded. "This is quite clearly an outrage."

The teacher, who hadn't paid Harry any mind before, seemed to finally notice that Harry was sitting in the room. Before the professor could answer, Harry raised his hand and the now named Colbert nodded his head, prompting him to speak.

"If I am to serve a mage, then shouldn't I take care to understand them too?" Harry asked in a neutral tone to the class.

The teacher seemed to nod, satisfied with the answer and made to continue the lesson.

"I can hear Louise's muttering. Can you even read?" the boy demanded again, loudly. The blond haired student tried to peer over Harry's shoulder and managed to see his notes and his voice grew even louder. "That's pure gibberish you're writing!"

A bit of laughing came from an assorted group of students as they tried to catch a look at his notes.

Harry narrowed his eyes on the boy who sought to defame him. He was tired of being the target of political assassinations and belittlement. Even if he knew they were wrong, it still stung to be considered illiterate. Again, the thought of being surrounded by Malfoys came to mind. At least things weren't quite that bad. But it was inching closer.

"It's not gibberish! It's English, not that you'd understand!" Harry voiced his objection to the students face, who lost the smug look on his face, no doubt wondering what exactly English was. The feeling of vindication from the boy's speechlessness was short lived though.

"Silence, I will have order in this classroom," the professor called out sternly. "Let me see those notes."

Harry shot a glare at the student and noted his features, before reluctantly heading for the teacher. In class, retaliation was limited and even outside of the class, Harry knew no effective way of dealing with a bully that would get them off his back. Merlin know, he'd tried everything he could think of to get Draco off his case, but apparently Draco was more clingy that Creevey.

"Now I believe we haven't been introduced as of yet. I am Professor Jean Colbert. Since you're not technically a part of my class, you may address me as Mr. Colbert or Professor Colbert. Whichever you prefer" The teacher stuck forward his hand.

"A pleasure, Professor. My name is Harry James Potter, sir." Harry shook his hand, before handing him the papers.

The teacher hummed to himself for a few seconds, glancing the notes over and turned a page. Then he gave them back to Harry and turned to the class.

"I see no reason to keep Mr. Potter from my classes. That's a decision for Miss Vallière to make. However that does not mean that my classroom is open for familiars. This is obviously a special case," he said before turning to Harry again.

"I would like to talk with you after class, Mr. Potter," he said in a much lower private tone. Harry inwardly groaned as he returned to his seat. Louise glanced at him with a expectant expression.

"Colbert wants to see me after class," he whispered to her. Passing a note would have been so much easier however that was impossible.

She eyed him suspiciously but her scrutiny quickly faded to resignation.

"I guess, there's nothing to do about it now," she whispered with a sigh. "But try not to gather more attention to us."

Harry just nodded. That had been his agenda all along since arriving here. But perhaps it was time for a turn around. For all his thoughts about marshaling the help of the school, he had done surprisingly little to initiate that. So why not start now?

"This is my fault. If Harry had moved in here like he wanted to then this wouldn't have happened. I could have done something. Now Harry's trapped by some lame lousy fairies or something," Sirius said. The usually indomitable trickster was beyond distraught.

Dumbledore took pity on the man.

"If it's anyone's fault, then the blame lies with me. It was I who placed him that home to begin with," he said. This sentence made people look at him with deathly silence as if he had loudly spoken Voldemort's name, as he did from time to time.

Dumbledore's hand in Harry Potters living arrangement had always been a taboo. Everyone knew that Dumbledore had put him at the Dursley and everyone knew how much Harry wanted out of it. Most were against it themselves. However no one had ever brought it up in front of Dumbledore, besides Sirius. This new act opened the floor for a question which had bugged many for so long. The taboo was lifted, at least for a time.

It was Mrs. Weasley, who spoke first. Albus knew she would have taken in the boy on the spot if he ever asked her to, just as surely as he knew the coming question.

"Why did you leave him there, Albus?" she asked. She was merely confused instead of doubting him like some were. Yet how could they know? Many of the old order, that had stood against the tide of darkness that had swept the country back then, had only an inkling to the pressure he had been under. They had stood with him when everything had seemed to be the end. They had been a light in a tide of darkness. But even that light had been diluted. There had been distrust, betrayal and much doubt. Voldemort had all but won.

Dumbledore sighed tiredly.

"I was the only authority left back then. I felt there was no one else I could have entrusted young Harry to. The ministry was in shambles. You couldn't know for sure who was a death eater, under imperio or a spy," he began. "And considering there was a spy even among the marauders, then how could I trust anyone among us with Harry?"

Sirius clenched his fists in anger. If he hadn't gone after Peter Pettigrew, also known as Wormtail, then things would have been different. A fact he lamented more and more these days.

"So I decided to make certain of Harry's safety above all." Dumbledore said. "And I knew just the place. Because what happened that night when Voldemort tasted defeat the first time was no freak accident or dumb luck. It was magic of a special kind. A kind of which I more often than not can only gist at what can do. That is what swayed me to place Harry at the Dursley's because his bond to his mother protects him from harm."

This explanation earned him some strange looks so Dumbledore had to elaborate a bit about the blood magic protecting Harry.

"I am not saying that I did the best thing possible for Harry, but I saw no other choice and I had no allies outside the order whom I could trust given the circumstances."

"But especially now in hindsight I see my folly. I relied on the blood magic to safeguard him and let my attention wander. Fate has played me for a fool. That, which I sought to protect the most, vanished from behind the very bulwarks meant to protect it. Despite my precautions Harry has now disappeared into thin air. I fear he's nowhere within reach of any of us."

After a bit of churning silence, Hermione spoke up.

"So what about Hedwig? Who'll look after his owl?" Hermione nudged her head at the owl sitting on her shoulder, whom was doing her best to avoid the bushy hair of her human furniture.

As if answering the question Hedwig took off and landed on Albus' shoulder, hooting softly.

"It seems that won't be needed, Ms. Granger. I have an inkling that it is Hedwig here who will be looking after me to make sure that I find Harry again. With such a devoted friend keeping an eye on me, I am certain it won't be long," he chuckled in good humor.

That brought some smiles around. Hedwig just appraised him with serious eyes. In Albus' eyes, she'd shown an uncanny pragmatism seeking him out, which was strangely befitting of a wizards owl. Harry and his friends were simply full of surprises.

However not all those surprises were of the good kind, he had to remind himself. The old wizard had finally begun to unravel the mystery behind Harry's scar and the more he learned, the more he worried.

"A word, Mr. Potter?" Colbert called out as Harry and Louise gathered their writing supplies with the rest of the students. They dutifully went to met the professor.

"Now, Mr. Potter, I've never seen such a language before and it quite piqued my interest." he said jubilantly. Harry was just about to begin an explanation but the professor interrupted him in his excitement.

"Now, I understand that you've just recently been summoned here as Ms. Vallière's familiar, but it wasn't until just now that it struck me that you could be from literally anywhere."

"Literally anywhere wouldn't cut it, Professor," Harry chuckled. This further intrigued the man and Harry wondered why he hadn't taken the time to seek out any of the teachers sooner.

"Ah, that really begs the question, Mr. Potter, where do our familiars come from? Many mages don't care for such so-called inane questions. They only focus on the results, and will turn a blind eye to everything else. But such knowledge interests me. Mr. Potter, may I ask where you're from? You seem familiar with our language so I hope that you could perhaps point it out on a map, if shown?" A small nudge of his staff and a map flew onto the teachers table in front of the blackboard. Using a staff as a magic focus seemed overly impractical in Harry's opinion, but again, he was not exactly unbiased in opinion.

Harry glanced at Louise and she blinked in confusion. If Colbert believed that Harry was lying for whatever reason, then he would likely get in trouble. He knew that such an outfall would spell trouble for Louise too. But it was worth the risk.

He gave the map a look-over. He didn't recognize anything even as he tried tilting his head. And the names were unreadable. He turned to the excited professor. He could lie, he supposed, but what good would that help. He was their mistake and he would certainly make them fix it, just as Hogwarts would fix their mistakes if the situation were reversed. And the way this man spoke, not only would this man be able to help him, but Harry figured he'd literally beg Harry to allow him to help.

"I don't recognize this map, sir," Harry stated simply. He could have said more, but he stopped sharp as there was no need. Instead, he let the statement sink in. It took only a second.

"You don't recognize... the... map..." First the professor frowned, thoughts and meanings clearly whirling around inside his head. Hook. Then he seemed to strike a specific idea and took up a thinking pose. Line. Then his eyes widened in sudden realization in the same manner as Harry and his group whenever they figured out another piece to whatever mystery they were currently unraveling. And sinker.

For Colbert, it would be the point of no return. This was good for Harry's too, as Colbert was in an open frame of mind and seemed to trust Harry at face value. Harry was confident that even if the professor couldn't help, he'd try.

"You don't mean you're from off the map?" Colbert said in surprise. "Beyond the holy lands then? Or across the ocean? Or were you simply created? Is that even possible?" He began to mutter. Harry cut him off.

"I find that highly unlikely, Professor. I think we must go way farther out than you realize, unless you can tell me where I can find a place that has only one moon."

Now all he could hope for was that the professor really believed him or could even grasp the concept.

"And that place, is where you learned to write those like this? This place with only one moon?" The professors voice was grave and serious. But he was listening intently.

"And more. However I couldn't understand the language when I first got here. I was a bit dizzy when I came to, but it all sounded like french to me," Harry explained. Then again, given the option he would take waking up in France to being summoned here any day.

"French?" Colbert inquired.

"A language most foul, I assure you, Professor," Harry nodded seriously. "It wasn't until Louise cast... erm... a translation spell, that I was able to understand anything. I still can't read the written language."

"A translation spell. Very well done, Ms. Vallière," Colbert turned to Louise. She flushed from the praise. She hadn't struck him as a teachers pet, though she seemed to relish the praise. He had the feeling that this should have been a regular occurrence, but wasn't. He didn't understand, so he let it go.

Harry pointed onto the map to draw Colbert's attention back again. "What are these nations called? Where is Tristan?" he asked.

"This is Tristain," Colbert said as he pointed it out on the map. "And this is Gallia, Germania, Romalia and Albion."

The familiarity with the names felt eerily uncanny. Tristain gave him no associations, but Germania was a dead giveaway to Germany from Earth. Thinking back to his history classes from public school it was fairly easy to remember that the area of Germany had been called Germania in the roman period or something like that. And the Romans had fought the Gauls from... somewhere north of Rome?

Albion was the easiest one to place. It was one of the old names for England and being an island on the map was also helping. Though it was all misshapen as if it was actually just England, Wales and nothing else. He didn't know anything about Romalia though with a bit of a stretch it could defer to the Roman empire? Or Roma? What did that make Tristain then? Belgium and the Netherlands? It seemed more likely than Switzerland certainly but he had no idea.

Which begged the question, why? Why all this familiarity? He certainly hadn't traveled back in time. That was implausible. Or was it? More implausible than magic? He sincerely hoped so. Perhaps he was in an alternative universe and it just wanted to taunt him with the familiarity of a world that was unmistakably foreign to him. Both places had magic, but it was not the same magic. It could be Europe, a much bastardized version of it. Which brought up thoughts of home.

He shuddered to think of what horrors his poor England would suffer in this dimension. Evil dark lords and who knew what could be on the move and he'd likely have a run in with them later. Fate had never been Harry's best pal.

He considered offering what he thought of the nations but stopped himself. Such claims would sound even more crazy and were rather irrelevant. At least he had something to weigh his culture against. Feudal Europe with magic playing a central part in it all. Not that he knew much of feudalism besides kings and queens. He wondered how many tendencies from his old world carried over.

For example, that everyone at the academy are nobles could mean that muggleborns weren't accepted or that muggleborns simply didn't exist outside of illegitimate offspring. Or perhaps magic was the trait that defined nobility. If so, it was no wonder that most got it in their head that they were of a higher pedigree. Magic might even be hereditary here, which would make the nobles completely unbearable.

"In any case Mr. Potter, it seems I have to let you two loose if you are to enjoy any of your free period before the next class starts. However I would like to continue our talk at a later time if possible," Colbert said. "I find the existence of unexplored foreign places and cultures to be an exhilarating thought. Ms. Vallière, Mr. Potter. You're dismissed."

Instead of arguing that his homeplace certainly was thoroughly explored he simply gave his farewells and left in tow with Louise. In Harry's eyes the professor seemed more interested in learning of Harry's place of origin than of Harry's plight. But again, Harry hadn't really pointed out that he didn't want to be here. In being lost in his thoughts, he'd totally missed the opportunity to ask about getting home.

'All in good time. I'll just bear it for a while, I guess,' he thought sullenly. 'At least my world is going nowhere.'

For the umpteenth time Harry glanced at his companion. It was the last class of the day. Another professor, a woman who identified herself as Chevreuse, was talking about alchemy and some simple rules pertaining to it. It was rather like transfiguration in effect, however very different in approach. Apparently.

It involved wandwaving and words all the same. So he made a few notes as to test it out later.

At several points in the lesson, Chevreuse asked the class for answers or demonstrations, however Louise had not even batted an eyelash at the questions. Neither was she picked for any of them. He wouldn't really have noticed it if it wasn't a hard blow to the Hermione-facade he had been seeing in his head. The questions were easy. Even Harry could make qualified guesses as to some of their answers. However instead of answering she just wrote notes and let people like Guiche, Montmorency and Kirche answer.

Speaking of Kirche, she had kept glancing at Harry strangely most of the day. He'd paid it little mind at first, but such things always worried him when it was by an individual. Especially when the individual was a woman. Perhaps it was because of the last time Harry had told all of them, being Guiche, Montmorency, Kirche, Tabitha and of course Louise that he would rather not have it publicly known that he was a wizard, and now she thought he was weird or something. It was plausible. That's what usually happened.

He didn't want to draw attention. Which brought him back to Louise. Why wasn't she drawing any attention to herself, instead of just sitting in the back of all classes scribbling notes. Had she meant us and not just me, when she said she didn't want attention? That didn't exactly make sense. So far attention had seemed to be sought after more viciously than vampires stalked for blood, by the aristocrats. It was the figurative lifeblood of the aristocracy around here. And she was an aristocrat, there was no doubt about it. So why wasn't she playing the game of thrones as nobles were prone to?

He'd even caught her trying to replicate a few of his letters and even words and experimenting with them as if the lesson had stopped being as interesting as his gibberish.

The only other person who acted like this was the blue haired mystery, Tabitha. Sneaking a look her way, he saw her openly reading her book. A book that did not match the ones everyone else had on their tables and hadn't used as reading hadn't been assigned yet. She'd been picked once by her teacher this lesson. Apparently the teacher had thought to embarrass the girl since she wasn't paying attention, but she answered flawlessly, if a bit curtly, giving only a glance before resuming her book.

In Harry's opinion, now having a little experience to judge her from, it spoke volumes about her character, without really having hinted at a single thing. An indirect proof marked by the absence of the normal and expected. She was an enigma of a kind he'd never encountered before. Disinterested in everyone and everything around her except for that book in front of her. Undivided focus, or rather, a lack of commitment to the daily happenings around her. Interesting as she was, he laid it at the back of his mind. Magic was being taught and unlike the familiar brand he'd grown used to, he was still a bit too excited about this new kind to not pay apt attention.

Next up the teacher asked for a volunteer to perform a piece of magic. Kirche flashed him a dangerous look, boldly holding eye contact and raised her hand.

"Yes, Ms. Zerbst? Would you like to attempt the spell?" Chevreuse acknowledged the redhead. The redhead glanced their way again. Now it could have meant anything. But he had learned of their mutual animosity and this behavior was something he'd expect from Draco in a potions class. It was the same smirk that told that she was up to no good.

Harry poked Louise's elbow. "Heads up. Something is fishy."

Louise however paid him no notice. She had suddenly grown very attached to her notes, which she'd enclosed herself over. Harry frowned. Just a few minutes ago, she hadn't bothered much with them.

"Thank you, Professor. However I was thinking, why don't we give Louise a try? After all, it has been some time since her last attempt." Kirche said in an most innocent tone. Several things happened simultaneously.

Louise jerked in surprise and spilled a blob of oil, ruining half a day's worth of notes. Many people began shifting uncomfortably. Tabitha set down her book and glanced up for once.

"What are you thinking, Kirche? Have you lost your mind?" A blond girl, whom he didn't know, asked in what could only be disbelief. The red head gave her a hard stare and the girl sat down with a squeak. However Kirche couldn't quell the simmer of hushed whispers that had sprung from nowhere from the suggestion.

"Quiet down everyone," The professor called out. Even she was acting strange.

"Ms. Zerbst, I will not grant your request and I am certain that Louise can make such decisions for herself in the future unless called upon. Now why don't you try instead?" Chevreuse insisted perhaps a bit more forcefully than strictly necessary in Harry's opinion.

"My pleasure, Professor." Kirche answered without missing a beat and proceeded to ace the spell with a simple flourish. "Such a simple spell is nothing for a mage like myself, Kirche the Ardent. I apologize for the uproar; I was just concerned for the education of my fellow schoolmate."

A blatant lie if Harry had ever heard one.

Beside him, Louise trembled in silent anger. Harry sympathized with her, though he doubted that he had caught everything that had just transpired in front of him. Though he certainly got the gist of it. Louise was not a normal mage. In any case while making sure his wand was concealed he muttered a quick spell, fixing her notes before anyone would notice it. She stared in surprise at his small charm and then at him. She glared at the notes as if they had offended her and discarded her quill on the table, much to his surprise and stayed completely silent for the rest of the lesson. As luck would have it, class ended a few moments later.

Louise was the first out the door as she had hastily packed her stuff and raced out. Harry sighed and gathered his own few things she'd loaned him before heading out after her. He was aware of several eyes following him on the way out, though he paid it little mind. However as he exited the classroom, Louise was already gone.

He didn't find Louise in her room. So instead he dumped his borrowed stuff off and went out to look for her again. As he opened the door he came almost face to face with a maid. Besides the usual maid outfit, she had dark hair that framed a kind face and had, though as a respectable English gentleman, he would never pay attention to such a detail at first glance, a rather well-endowed bust.

"Hello, Mr. Potter. I was wondering if you had time. I've been meaning to ask you something," she asked him.

He was caught quite unawares, but now wasn't quite the time.

"I'm sorry, lady, but I don't have time at the moment. Would you mind if we talked later?" Harry said. He had to go and find Louise. Girls tended to be the most sad when they wanted nothing to do with anyone. In Harry's mind that made it all the more dire to act. The last time he'd seen behavior like that was from Hermione back in first year when Ron had been a prat and had said things which had hurt her. Well, Ron was still a prat sometimes now, but they'd all grown on each other since.

On the other hand, why was he trying to help Louise? Well, it seemed like the right thing to do. He didn't want to stand by passively when people were hurting.

"Uhm, sure, that's okay. It can wait," the maid replied, though she began fidgeting with her maid skirt.

'It seems unlikely that it can wait for long, since you showed up outside my door right after classes have ended.' Harry thought, but he didn't comment on it.

"Thanks, we'll talk later, I promise. Now erm, what was your name?" She brightened at that.

"My name is Siesta. It's nice to meet you," she said.

"Likewise, Siesta," Harry said. "You haven't seen Louise around by any chance?"

"Miss De Vallière? Last I saw her she was headed for the fields," Siesta said, looking thoughtful.

Harry said his thanks and set out. At first he didn't exactly know where to look. But soon he heard an explosion off in the distance. If it meant what Harry thought it meant, then he'd been spot on, which was bad. He grimaced, though he didn't stop walking in that direction and after a minute or so, Louise came in sight among heaps of up-heaved earth and grass. Her dress was slightly ripped and she had soot on face from the explosions, though she didn't seem to mind much in her anger.

And she really was angry, that much was apparent. Harry approached cautiously before he called out to her.

She turned around and glared at him with her wand arm twitching, which was never a good sign. He didn't want to be an outlet for her anger.

"What's wrong, Louise?" he asked and immediately smacked himself. 'What a stupid question.'

"Go away!" she yelled at him.

"No can do," he replied as he stopped a few meters away.

"Leave me alone!" she yelled at him with a hint of desperation. "As your master, I command you!"

"Tough luck, pinky," he snorted at her. "Besides if I did that I'd be alone too. And I'm already enough lost in this world as it is."

"Yeah right." She laughed humorlessly. "You have lots of people who'd be your friend. Just ask anybody!"

Harry didn't know what to say at this point. He disagreed of course, given the rather hostile reception he'd had so far, but that wouldn't seem to be helping her any. However as he stayed silent she raised her wand and went back to venting her frustrations on the school grounds.

"You should stop doing that," Harry commented, but she studiously ignored him and blasted another crater. Clumps of earth and grass flew everywhere. As she raised her wand again, he drew his own wand and summoned her wand out of her hand.

She whirled on the spot and glared at him. She seemed to get stuck in indecision about whether to break down and cry without her crutch of making things explode or emulate her magic and in a manner, explode herself. Harry hoped for the first, then she might open up about the problem so they could deal with what was bugging her. However Louise settled for the latter.

"Fine!" she stomped her foot down as if everything was nothing but not fine and went up to his face. "I get it!"

'It' apparently being some obvious truth, that was the cause behind the art of eating babies and other reprehensible acts of undiluted evil. She was angry, she was raging, but she wasn't done.

"You're a great mage. You're fantastic even!" Louise yelled, anger in everything from her tone to her wild gestures. "However you can stop showing off now. You have made your point! You have convinced me of how much better you are! So stop trying to get everyone's attention."

It was more snarl than speech at this point. Then, doing what Harry had least expected from a noble, a mage and a woman, she punched his shoulder, hard, and stormed off.

Harry had been so surprised that he'd not even tried to evade the punch. Many people had made wrong opinions of Harry throughout his school time. No matter what he did, people just wouldn't listen to him and it was starting to piss him off.

Even as he rubbed his aching shoulder, he yelled straight back at her.

"You don't get it all, do you?" Harry said angrily at her back. Curiously enough she stopped so he continued. He would have anyway, but it was easier than yelling his lungs out.

"Anything I do is taken always out of context and made into some crazy story of me seeking attention. But I don't even want it. I just want to be Harry, but nobody ever listens to me! I am actually trying to help you here, but you only think of yourself, don't you?!"

She glanced once over her shoulder, looking thoughtful before huffing as she marched off.

Harry just exhaled slowly, feeling his tense body slowly relax. He didn't want to follow her right now. Her last comment had pissed him off. Especially because she might not realize how close to home that she'd hit, unintentionally.

'I'm just Harry' he'd always told himself. It was the first words out of his mouth when he was told he was a wizard. It had been his mantra over the years as he'd battled dementors, basilisks and what else was unleashed upon him. People's adulation and their criticism couldn't change him, because he had his center in place. But deep down, another thought reared its head as it did whenever called up. He wasn't like other people or even the other wizards. He was special. And Harry hated it because every time he even contemplated it, he was only a hair's breath away from thinking freakish instead.

Harry didn't want to be anyone special. He just wanted to be live with Sirius and be with his friends.

"Trouble with the trollop, Harry?" A new voice asked. He whirled around and came face to face with Kirche. He hadn't even noticed her. "You shouldn't worry about her."

"I respectfully disagree with your assessment of yourself, by the way," she said without missing a beat. "You may already have noticed, but I find you very interesting."

"What do you want, Kirche?" Harry ignored her flirting as best as he could but her bashfulness caught him off guard. Kirche was a pretty woman, and Harry was a growing teen. He had never faced a situation with a girl making such obvious moves on him and it unsettled him. But after the stunt she'd pulled in class he was fairly sure she was behind all of today's drama. In Harry's mind that overrode any compulsions on the matter. And he was in a bad mood.

"Isn't is obvious, Harry dear? You no doubt have power. I have no doubt you could easily beat Guiche in a real duel. You are from some mysterious place and you don't act like a normal commoner," Kirche purred. "I want you, of course. And the Zerbst family always get what they want. Especially in cases such as this one. I won't let a Vallière like her stop me."

"What did you do?" Harry asked her coldly. He was starting to get angry again.

"I did what any woman in my position would have done. I eliminated all the obstacles between us and gave myself the opportunity to talk to you. One on one," Kirche said, smirking confidently. Louise was an obstacle. As Harry's master she'd try to keep them separated because of the animosity between their families. Now she'd be too distraught and meek to get in her way for a while. And by that time it'd be too late.

"You really should discard yourself of her, Harry. You're way too interesting to be wasted on that Vallière-girl. You could become my familiar instead." In this world, people respected power and beauty. Kirche had both in spades. All she needed to do was to break Louise's hold on him as her familiar and he would come running into her arms.

"You see, what I did was simply showcasing what everyone already knows about Louise, barring you of course," The redhead said conspiratorially. "Around here, she is known Louise the Zero."

She made a dramatic pause.

"Louise has zero skill at performing magic and a zero percent success rate with all her attempted magic. I would say her only achievement outside of making explosions would be summoning you."

Harry was surprised, but he took it all in stride. And things pretty much made sense now. A smart girl who can't perform magic in a school full of ambitious self-entitled nobles. It must have been like being the only muggleborn in a pureblood academy. The only squib in a wizard family. The only freak in a little house in Surrey. Unforgivable.

"Zero is really descriptive of her actually," Kirche said faux thoughtfully. "She has zero friends, zero sex appeal, zero personality and zero bust."

With the last comment she offhandedly pulled attention to her own large buxom, which was quite clearly showing cleavage.

Harry sighed. His patience had run out. Such tricks of seduction had no hold over him, when someone was being so obvious about it.

"That changes nothing, really. On second thought it only makes it worse," Harry said as he stared her down. "What you did to her was cruel."

"All is fair in love and war," Kirche said unabashed. "Louise would have tried to stop us. You don't like being controlled do you? Especially by someone weaker than yourself, right?"

"There's no us, Kirche," Harry said coolly.

"Oh, but there will be, you just don't know it yet." Kirche said smirking. So he hadn't simply submitted himself after her first attempt. That would almost have been boring, so that was fine. Neither did he change his mind when she had told him about how useless Louise was. She could respect that. And that left the last option. She freely admitted to having kind of hoped for it to present itself.

"I'll just have to forcefully kidnap you and show you just what you're missing out on," she said as if she weren't planning on abducting him.

For the slightest moment, Harry's body told him of the folly of defending himself against the pretty, nay, beautiful sexy woman who wanted to love his socks off. Somehow it didn't sound as wrong as it actually was. He squashed the feeling immediately. Harry wouldn't let anyone rape him today, or any other day for that matter. It really was a principle matter. Together with his moral compass, the bodily urges of a lonely teen was massively outvoted.

"I guess you're right, Kirche," Harry said. "I actually do not like being controlled by those weaker than me."

Kirche raised an eyebrow at the implied insult and brandished her wand as Harry did the same. It was simple. Disarm Harry and he was hers to play with. If Harry disarmed her, well then it was another matter altogether. She liked to think she was his then, but she had an inkling that it wouldn't work like that. In that case she would likely have lost her best shot at getting to him. 'So I better make this one count' Kirche thought. She wouldn't have it any other way.

A/N: It's been a while since my last update. I am sorry to cheat you out of a fight, but this chapter was dragging on. Hopefully that means I can quickly start on the next chapter. This time Harry will be facing someone who has seen what he can do and isn't caught flatfooted like Guiche was.

As mentioned this one is a bit longer than the others - mostly that's because of the rather lengthy bits from the HP world. We'll be following what happens because I need something to happen there. And it must feel nice to you to know that the HP-verse didn't combust from a lack of HP (geddit? :3 ).

As always, thanks for all the reviews. I'll try to respond to as many as I can, but I'm lazy and disorganized so don't expect too much from me :)