Malfoy looked at her in fury, but did not continue the matter. A couple of anxious shouts later, Malfoy and his cronies levitated the fallen professor and darted off towards the Hospital wing, cursing loudly as they departed. The rest of the students too followed suit. Daphne decided to join them but then something happened that shot up a cold shudder up her spine. She looked back and saw Harry Potter holding her hand and gesturing her not to leave. Swallowing, she stopped trying to escape and stood still, feeling his palm leave her arm. Her outer mask remained as tight as usual, while she was shivering in fear inwards. However this was, it was not Harry Potter. Almost all of the class had left for the Hospital wing, and now she was alone in the room, with a very deadly wizard who was not Harry Potter.


Never in her life had Daphne been so mortally afraid as she was right now. Potter, or whomever it was imposing as Potter, was alone with her in the deserted Potions classroom. The last of the Gryffindors had also left, and now she was just alone with him. She cursed Tracy for not waiting for her. She cursed Snape for putting her with Potter for the Potions work.

"Yes, Potter?"

"Thank you for your help, Miss Greengrass. Your support was... most appreciated."

"Think nothing of it, Potter. After all," Daphne felt some amount of her inner courage reappear, "It was not as if you did something."

"Of course not." Harry answered offhandedly. Daphne pursed her lips, and looked up at the strange boy. "You are different from... what you appeared to be last year."

Harry eyed her strangely and then smirked, "Have you been noticing me, Miss Greengrass?" Daphne widened her eyes for a fractional instant before her calm demeanor settled on her face. "You are the Boy-who-lived. Why wouldn't anyone notice you?"

Harry let out a hollow laugh. "Yes, you are correct. Boy-who-lived! Indeed. Strange how an odd tag puts you in the limelight."

"To be honest, I have never quite seen you enjoying the limelight, despite what Professor Snape and Malfoy have to say."

"True, True." Harry nodded his head absentmindedly, "Professor Snape suffers from an acute case of... obsession when it comes to me." The shrieks of Severus Snape deep inside his mind reinforced the truth of the statement. "He could never grow out of it."

"Yes of course, funny how that obsession causes strange things to happen."

"Strange things you say?" Harry smirked.

"Yeah." Daphne answered offhandedly, "It is just a coincidence that he is suddenly petrified, shall we say, while staring at his obsession's eyes. Like I said," her nervous face shifted into a smirk, "Strange things."

Harry nodded subtly. "True."

Daphne decided that she had played enough. "I believe I have some business to attend to. It was... nice, talking to you." She strode forward, crossing the row and was almost at the door. Her hand reached forward to hold the doorknob... if only...

"Miss Greengrass," Harry called out.

"Yes?" Daphne answered, an odd sense of desperation flitting through her spine. She just stood there, not turning back at him.

"You know what happens to those who decide to look for trouble?"

"What?" she asked with an almost genuine curiosity in her voice.

"They find it."

Daphne whirled around, her wand almost ready to be called into her palm. She found the eerily bright emerald eyes staring back at her, an amused expression stuck in them.

"Just a thought. It flitted through my mind; I thought I should share it with you."

Daphne nodded subtly, whirled around and walked out of the door.


Harry watched her leave the room. Had he not been an accomplished Legilimens, he would never have garnered the true potential of the girl who strode past him. She had seen him invite Snape and had observed how the greasy old bat fell down to his mental prowess. She had seen him lie in front of the whole class and put up a 'worried' mask, and she knew very well that he was the culprit. That was exactly when Harry had looked back at her for an instant and legilimized her. For a fourth year, the girl had sufficiently high-powered mental defenses. Considering that most students at Hogwarts did not even begin building mental defenses before NEWTS, it said a lot about her resilience and potential. Her shields were almost at par with someone like Nott senior or Rudolphus Lestrange; but the dark lord Potter was nothing if not unconventional. Unlike the conventional Legilimency approaches in which the attacker forced his way into the victim's mind and tried to construe relevant information; Harry's method involved compelling the victim to think of the desired information and then Harry would see it. It was something he had copied from Lord Voldemort- not one of his best memories, but it worked fine.

The girl had eavesdropped on his conversations with the Unspeakable and had broken into the compartment and found it empty. She had her suspicions whether someone was posing as Harry Potter at Hogwarts. She had kept it to herself, at least what he had garnered from her memories. That was good, since that made Obliviation a good response, though after what happened in the potions class, he was unsure if she would still keep it to herself. His mind could not but reminisce of the future self of the same slytherin girl who just passed him by.

The most feared witch among the Traditional Purebloods. The most ruthless mercenary for hire, the most pragmatic and powerful of them all, one who had crossed wands with the dark lord Potter not once, but several times. The Bellatrix Lestrange of his generation.

Daphne 'Raven' Greengrass. Raven because of her animagus form. That one single pragmatic witch had foiled many of the dark lord Potter's plans to take down the entire Wizengamot.

My one truly opponent. One, which I can respect. And this time, she will be on my side.

His mind shifted to the future back again. His team members. His inner council. Neville Longbottom. Burned alive in a Fiendfyre while trying to save a hundred wizards from the clutches of Inferno. Susan Bones, dead in the experimental lab along with several hundreds of others. Theodore Nott, killed while Harry himself was trying to set up their greatest failsafe option. The option of Time Travel. Blaise Zabini, killed while defending the contingent while the dark lord Potter was ravaging the Inferno Headquarters. Jonathan Smith, Fred Weasley and Justin Finch-Fletchley, killed in the final war before the end. Draco Malfoy, killed in a clash with the war drones, trying to save his wife Astoria, and finally, Gabrielle Delacour, their researcher and the creator of the runic portal that facilitated his time travel.

All of them killed in the attempt to make the world free from the clutches of Inferno Corporation. An army of mundanes equipped with technology, both mundane and magical, thanks to the efforts of one Hermione Jane Granger. All because she wanted to make the magical world a 'damn' copy of the mundane. Harry's fingers twitched at the thought of that girl still living and breathing.

It would be so damn easy to kill her, for once and for all. It was almost an irony that on his first travel to Hogwarts by the Express, he had met his greatest supporter, his greatest foe, his greatest betrayer, and one of his most faithful friend.

And I had misjudged them all.

Harry sighed. This time, it would all be different. It had to be.


Daphne could have sworn that she had never been so mortally afraid in her life. Her heart was yelling at her, telling that there was a dangerous and deadly wizard behind her and had his eyes upon her. Her mind told her to keep calm and just walk away, as fast as could be possible. There was something about Harry Potter, something inexplicable. Something that made her realize that she had just been in the presence of the most dangerous individual she had ever met.

And he was only fourteen years old.

Daphne somehow managed to cross the illusionary wall separating the Slytherin dormitories from the rest of the dungeons. Although she was sure that if Harry Potter wanted, it would not stop him from entering. After all, Potter was a Parselmouth, and this was the dormitory for Slytherin. The thought sent a cold shudder down her spine.

"Daph? Daph!"

Daphne whirled in surprise. A sense of elation filled her as she found her best friend, Tracy Davis standing beside her. The auburn-haired girl walked towards her, and held her arm. "What happened to-why are you shaking, Daph?" Her voice was full of concern.

"Potter!" Daphne swallowed, "Potter knows that I know about his meeting with the Unspeakables. Potter knew that I knew about what happened to Snape. Potter knew that I could tell on him, and he held me back and told me-" her face flushed with fear, "Potter is going to come after me if I do not stop snooping around in his business."

Tracy's face shifted to something...else. "You mean, he threatened you?"

Daphne nodded in denial. "Of course not," she stood up and paced the room, "He just knew somehow that I knew, and that I was eavesdropping on him. And he very subtly warned me not to do so." She turned to her friend, her face flushed with anxiety, "he told me one single thing."

"What?"

"Those who go look for trouble, find it."

Tracy raised her eyebrows. "That doesn't sound like the Potter we know."

"And what exactly do we know about Potter? The moment I was paired with him, I created a miniature rune ward to detect a person's identity. I just wanted to be sure if the Point-Me charm had gone wrong or something. It was Potter. That person, no matter how odd it sounds, is Harry Potter."

"And you knew this when?"

"Just after I left him at the classroom. The runic circle requires the presence of one single person inside it- the person whose identity is to be judged. Before I left the room, I managed to look at my workstation, the color was still normal. It meant one simple thing. That person was not an imposter."

"But that means..."

Daphne turned towards Tracy with an odd look, "It means whatever we knew about Potter was just a front. A mask whose name was 'the Boy-who-Lived' and something has happened, forcing him to show his true self. That is all I can think of."

Tracy's face was an odd mixture of conflicting emotions. "Daph! I think we can exploit this, for ourselves."

Daphne looked at her friend as if she had just grown two heads. "Are you insane?"

"No wait hear me out," Tracy demanded, "- as of right now, what is the biggest thing that is screwing up your life?" Daphne had almost begun to say something but Tracy beat her to it once again, "except this thing with Potter."

Daphne stopped and withheld her comment, before slowly swallowing. "The betrothal contract with Malfoy?"

Tracy's grin deepened. "And who is the one person at Hogwarts that would be perfect for the job?"

Daphne looked at her friend with an inscrutable expression on his face, before whispering, "You mean..."

"Harry Potter."


Severus Snape considered himself one resilient and intelligent person. A consummate slytherin, one who had been a slave to two Masters and yet had come out the winner out of his dealings with either. He had risen to power and acquired the remaining fortune of the Prince name, especially since the Dark Lord had helped him kill the other existing members and then force the sole remaining member to sign out the family to Snape, only to behead him after it was done. He then successfully had his fingers into the sentiments of Albus Dumbledore, playing upon the old man's need to provide others with second chances. He had played out his sorrow at Lily's death wonderfully and had himself out of prison, not to mention the post of Potions master and a free reign to mold the future generations into something like himself. For ten years, his reign had been absolute until that one boy entered into the halls of Hogwarts.

Harry Potter.

That detestable brat, arrogant like his father, a moron if there ever was, and the epitome of Gryffindor. Now, he had become the bane of Severus Snape's life.

He had even forgotten how long he was there, held prisoner in the depth so Potter's mindscape. Never had he imagined something like that to happen, such mental and magical prowess, and that too in James Potter's spawn... it was inconceivable. After being continuously tortured for hours and days and...Well time seemed to have no essence here, what with him being held prisoner amidst never-ending void of infinite blackness. Now though, he was completely spent, exhausted and... Ready to die.

"Feeling good, ya Snivellus?" the detestable brat was back.

"Get me out of here, Potter!" he wailed and screamed, "Dumbledore will find me." It was a false threat, for he knew that for all of the old man's powers, it was almost impossible to deduce how or what caused him to be as such.

"I will... I will, but before that, I will have some fun with you. You love spending time in other's minds too much, don't you? I will try to give you a taste of your own medicine!" The brat smirked before Severus felt a humongous force hit his shields. His shields felt the force, but held somehow. It was then that the second attack came. One that felt like a sharp knife. It cut like hot steel through melting butter.

Then the screams began.


"What exactly do you think happened to Severus, Poppy?" Albus Dumbledore peered into the still body of his potions Master, muttering odd phrases in obscure languages, trying to figure out what might have happened to the man. Poppy was busy whispering her own incantations and poking her wand at various intervals. Finally convinced, she looked up at the Headmaster.

"It appears that his consciousness is missing."

"You mean he is unconscious? It cannot just be that simple!" Dumbledore refuted. Poppy nodded in denial. "You are wrong Headmaster, what I mean is his 'consciousness' or rather, his mental presence is missing. It is just his body over here. If not for his body still acting normal, I would have proclaimed him dead."

"What?"

"That is all I can say, Headmaster."

"Hmmm..." Dumbledore mused. "Is it possible that he has tried to perform some kind of astral jump?"

Poppy looked incensed. "Albus Dumbledore, you are out of your bloody mind. Astral jump? Someone like you could try doing it, but Severus, No way. Besides, he was in the middle of a class."

"Not at all." Dumbledore agreed. "Unless..." He looked up towards Poppy, "send some of the students present at the scene to my office. I need to hear what they have to say."

"Young Mr. Malfoy was proclaiming that Potter had something to do with it all." Poppy answered with a smile on her face as she brushed off the ridiculousness of the fact.

"Right!" Dumbledore muttered, more to himself than to Poppy, "Very well, send them up."


First day at Hogwarts. Fight with Unspeakables. Verbal spar with Dumbledore. Snape already dispatched to Hospital wing. Weasley and Granger at arm's length. First interaction with Raven.

Not bad.

Harry smirked. The year looked promising to say at least. He walked candidly towards the Room of Requirement, the invisibility still in full effect.

Time to get the diadem.

He walked past the blank wall three times, the illusion working just as perfectly as always. His mind, focused on one single thought.

I want to enter the Room of hidden things.

I want to enter the Room of hidden things.

I want to enter the Room of hidden things.

The door opened into a place the size of a cathedral with the appearance of a city, its
towering walls built of objects hidden by thousands of long-gone students. The entire room was filled with towering lumps of objects everywhere. Finding a diadem over here was similar to finding a needle in a haystack, and he did not really have enough time.

Harry focused on his memories.

The tiara... The old warlock... the vanish- of course, the vanishing cabinet! The tiara was next to the cabinet.

He expanded his senses to find the cabinet. The presence of so many magical artifacts nearby made the process much more difficult than normal. After a couple of minutes, he found a lead.

Got it.

Keeping his magical sense firm on the cabinet, he began walking. After two minutes of weaving through the rows, he finally stood in front of the vanishing cabinet.

Hmm. Draco helped transporting Death eaters into Hogwarts using this...the other one is in Borgin and Burkes. Wonder if I...

A smirk filled his lips. "Annihilo..."

A burst of deep purple shot out of his hands, hitting at the cabinet, blasting it into smithereens. He was sure that no one would ever recognize the destroyed bits as part of a vanishing cabinet.

Now, the diadem...

He extended his arm towards the tiara sitting on the head of the warlock, eager to collect it and destroy it as quick as possible, when-

"Wait!" A commanding voice interrupted his action. Harry whirled around to find the Gray Lady—Ghost of the Ravenclaw Tower drifting towards him, her hands raised in righteous fury. Letting the surprise vanish itself from his face, he adopted a look of serenity.

"Lady Helena, I did not expect I would be meeting you in such extenuating circumstances."

The look of surprise and shock flitted across the ghost woman's face. "How did you-never mind- how did you know that the diadem is here?" Her face shifted into a condescending look. "I suppose you found it and wanted to use it for yourself?"

Harry laughed. "No my Lady. If anything, I wish to destroy it."

"Why would you want to destroy my mother's precious artifact?"

"Because it has been defiled, and should I say so, defiled because you split out its secret to someone who made it into the abomination it is presently."

Tears ran down the ghost's face. "You know..."

Harry nodded.

"Is there a way to save it and repair it?" she pleaded, almost begging. Harry considered her statement, "Not without destroying its magical properties. The venom will destroy the horcrux, and at the same time, the magical properties of the diadem."

"At least the diadem will remain. That is something I guess."

Harry nodded. "May I-?"

As soon as Helena Ravenclaw gave her assent, he grabbed the diadem and dropped it on the ground. Taking out another vial of basilisk venom, he opened the vial and poured the corrosive liquid on the diadem. The diadem hissed out an inscrutable sound, almost eerily sounding like a whisper, before going completely silent.

Just like the silence before the storm.

Then, the storm came. The diadem glowed with an ethereal dark radiance before a dark smoke erupted out of it. It manifested into Voldemort's face for a moment before fading away with a scream. After an instant, all that remained was the diadem, devoid of all energies.

An incomplete thought flitted through Harry's mind. It was something related to the smoke, but he was too engrossed in the diadem and everything else that he let it pass. Picking up the diadem, he held it towards the Gray Lady who looked at it with reverence.

"Thank you Lord Potter, the Eagle of Ravenclaw will always be indebted to you." She replied sorrowfully, her voice almost strained and grating for a moment. It oddly reminded him of the way Trelawney would sound when delivering one of her prophecies, but he shook himself off his reveries.

"Thank you."

The ghost smiled. "I have heard the forests telling me about a new eagle that has perched here at Hogwarts."

"Really?" Harry asked, his tone amused.

Helena smiled before looking at the wizard in apprehension. "Now that my mother's last surviving artifact is saved from the malice that maligned it over the decades, I can finally rest in peace. Farewell Harry Potter." Her tone became slightly disembodied towards the end as he saw her slowly fade away. It was not her moving away from the Room. Helena Ravenclaw had finally achieved her peace, ready for the next great adventure.

Now only the Cup remains. Then, Voldy and his pet are fair game.


Albus Dumbledore sat alone in his office, pondering over the recent events. Many things just did not add up at all. Ever since the day Sirius Black vanished off from the face of the earth, things had gone astray. Too much of the incidents happening ever since then, did not add up. Odd.

First was the fact that he had trouble remembering what might have happened that very night at the forest. He had slight flashes of seeing a great fire, and of someone casting a Patronus. In all possibility, it must have been Harry. An extraordinary achievement no doubt, but the boy was almost annoyingly precocious when it came to such incidents. He remembered thinking about calling the boy to have some kind of discussion, but for the life of him, he could not remember what he had discussed. It simply did not add up.

Was there a chance that Harry Potter had obliviated him?

Dumbledore discarded the thought. The young Potter was no doubt angry with him, not a great surprise considering everything he had been though, but this... this was unfathomable. Besides, for all his talents, Dumbledore could not see the boy as advanced enough to cast a memory charm, one that could manage to override Dumbledore's mental defenses. Especially considering how the elder wand added up to his mental protections, the thought was completely inconceivable.

There must have been some other cause. Something I am not being able to apprehend yet.

That brought another thought floating into his mind. The elder wand. Since the summer, there had been a significant loss of power in the wand. He had always felt that burning surge of power trying to hurl itself out of the mythical wand, but ever since the summer, the surge was almost absent, as if the wand had finally settled down and turned stable.

Something is wrong with the wand. For the first time, it feels... right, almost as if the wand has accepted me as its master perfectly.

Then of course, there was the problem regarding Severus Snape. He knew it very well that Severus had used his position to bully the students of the other Houses, and did his best to make sure Slytherins got off from persecution. Dumbledore had believed that Severus would finally see the light and discontinue his behavior. He had hoped that Lily's child would help him in that regard.

As unfortunate as it was, things had worsened after Harry Potter had returned to the Wizarding world. Severus had only seen him as James Potter's son, never as Lily's child. Severus always had a tendency to exert his passive Legilimency skills, much to his consternation. Now though, it seemed that he had reached his own folly- he had tried to legilimize young Potter and something had happened, but what... Albus could not fathom.

Strange things tend to happen around the Child of Prophecy...

Albus sighed. Things were turning out to be more than what he had anticipated, and the Triwizard had not yet even begun. The venerable Headmaster folded his hands, letting out a long-drawn sigh.


Fleur sat on the bench, drawing out huge breaths. Ever since the Quidditch world cup, she had delved herself into the arts of dueling and learning curses and their counters. A formidable duelist amongst her peers, Fleur had been overwhelmed with the desire to be better ever since her experiences at the hands of those... monsters. Despite being under the Cruciatus, Fleur had heard what they were speaking. She had heard what they wanted to do with her, how they were slowly going to...break her.

Never again. Never again will I be so weak! Fleur had promised herself.

Her sessions with Master Antonio had increased, in both number and longevity of the sessions, and she had begun handling the higher forms of offensive and defensive spellcasting. Her father had allowed her access to the family library too. At the same time, she could not but think about her savior at the World Cup—the man who had saved her life. The man who had butchered those who were torturing her. A part of her mind also went back to Harry Potter, the boy she had met just once, one who was immune to her allure. Overall, she found herself much more willing and anticipating going to Britain for the Triwizard tournament.

I have to prove myself better. Prove that I am Fleur Delacour, and that there is no one like me.


### That's it for the chapter guys. Reviews please.