The news that Severus Snape, the bat of the dungeons had been hospitalized and that Harry Potter was somehow responsible for it had spread like wildfire. Gryffindors had applauded it as his bravery, though nobody had really come up and asked him, especially since the fact that Harry Potter was a reclusive was well known to all. The Hufflepuffs were confused, whether to applaud him for his actions or fear him because he had done something, which everyone regarded as, nigh impossible. As could be expected, the rumor mill was actively involved in creating newer and newer stories about how Harry Potter had done this impossible feat.

The treatment continued for almost a week that followed. As he would enter a corridor, it would fall silent as the students would almost suck in their breath and wait for him to pass. For the first few days, he had even enjoyed it, but soon enough, the silent treatment had turned downright ridiculous. Fred and George, as expected had found humor in this as was expected. In some ways, it reminded Harry of his days during the second year, when people had suspected him of being Slytherin's heir. As of now, he was being referred to as some mage who had a basilisk's gaze of all things, seeing as Snape had looked into his eyes and had himself petrified.

It had gone beyond ridiculous soon enough. Dumbledore had asked him to visit him in his office and had asked him to give his own account of the incident. There had been some amount of passive Legilimency involved but given Harry's shields, all the old man had found was inky blackness; something that had evolved into one of the more uncomfortable conversations.

FLASHBACK

"Tell me Harry, what do you know about Occlumency?"

Harry looked at Dumbledore with an odd look. "What is that, sir?"

Dumbledore folded his hands and rested his chin over his fingers. "Occlumency is an obscure art which helps a wizard to shield his mind. You say you do not know anything about it?"

"No sir." Something told Dumbledore that it was the same type of 'No' Tom Riddle had often given him. He sat up straight, "Let me get it straight, Harry. Last year you did not have any form of mental defenses, and yet now you have extremely high-powered mental shields; and yet you say that you do not know anything about it?"

Harry gave the Headmaster a cold look. "Headmaster, I am telling you the last time that I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Very well." The Headmaster sighed, "Will you give me the permission to perform a spell on you? I promise it is only to test a theory."

Harry scrunched his face in confusion. "I am not sure, Professor. What exactly are you going to do?"

"I am going to test your mental shields. I assure you my attack will be completely harmless. I will not violate your privacy."

That is a first.

Harry smirked inwardly. "Very well professor."

Dumbledore looked at him straight in the eye and held his wand towards him. Bracing himself, Harry held his breath waiting for the attack to come. Dumbledore focused on the wand and whispered, "Legilimens!"

A surge of magical energy seemed to enter into Harry's mind. The problem was, there were no mental shields at all, unlike what could be expected normally. Dumbledore extended his foray outward and tried to figure out the location of Harry's mental shields. He found none.

"This is strange. There is only...endless darkness all around. No shields, no mindscape, no memories... how strange!" Dumbledore mused. He tried radiating in one particular direction, hoping that the darkness was some kind of illusion but found none. Disappointed, he exited out of Harry's mindscape.

"Tell me Harry, did you find anything?"

Harry nodded in denial. "Nothing at all, Professor. All I felt was some kind of force trying to enter my mind for an instant before it seemed to vanish away." Dumbledore rubbed his temples in frustration. He had lived for an extraordinarily long age, and despite that, he had never found anyone with this kind of mental defense.

"Are you sure you feel nothing at all, Harry?"

"Nothing at all, professor."

"Will you mind me trying once again for the second time?"

Harry scrunched his face. Becoming Dumbledore's personal lab rat was not high up in his to-do list. "I am not sure, Professor. I kind of, like keeping my secrets to myself."

"Hmm... yes you are right. My apologies, you may go."

"Thank you professor."

I wonder what might have happened to Severus. Dumbledore could not help but muse.

END OF FLASHBACK

The distance between Harry and Hermione had increased much further than either had expected. Needless to say, Harry wasn't going to complain. Ever since his performance had risen, Hermione had drifted away from him. Whenever Harry answered a question, it would erupt a frown in her face. That had given rise to one of the more odd incidents in Mcgonagall's class.

FLASHBACK

"Today we are going to learn some basic applications of transfiguration that are applicable in defense and dueling. The headmaster has prevailed upon us professors to include certain aspects of practical defense into our course schedules this year, because of the Triwizard Tournament and its related tasks. From this week onwards, we shall focus on basic animation and inanimate conjuration and how to apply it during a duel." Mcgonagall lectured to everyone seated in class.

"You reckon there will be some kind of dueling event in the tournament?" Tracy whispered. The duo had still not tried to face Potter and talk to him, despite Tracy's numerous trials. Except in classes, no one seemed to have any idea where Potter spent his free time. It was almost as if Potter would vanish away. Tracy had her suspicions about Potter disillusioning himself and spending time in some unused part of the castle. Why he did that, she had no idea, though Daphne had her suspicions.

"I don't know, but there is some chance to it though." Daphne whispered back. The raven-haired girl, for all her reclusiveness, was a fearsome duelist. After all, it wasn't just her cold behavior and pretty face, which had got her the 'Ice Queen' moniker. Marcus Flint, Thomas Belby and many more could stand witness at what would follow whenever someone threatened her. Jonathan Greengrass had made sure that his eldest daughter's wand skills were at par with her cunning. It was not public news but the elder Greengrass spent her summers in dueling competitions, honing her skill.

"You could try and win it, if they allow us to participate, that is." Tracy teased, knowing how good her best friend was with a wand.

"I could, but we will have to see. Look at Potter." Daphne countered, subtly nodding towards the emerald-eyed boy who had his wand laid aside almost casually. Mcgonagall took the center of the stage and then spoke again.

"Defensive and offensive Transfiguration require one to cast quickly and efficiently. It takes a lot of practice and honed skill to become a transfiguration master in dueling. Since this is not something one can learn sitting in your chairs, I invite you one by one to come and try defending yourself against my attacks using Transfiguration alone. Anyone?"

Harry lazily raised his hand, his wand still lying beside him on the desk in front. The transfiguration professor called him up, and he was almost about to stand when-

"Please professor, I believe I can perform better." Hermione Granger uttered loudly, shocking the class. The brown-haired girl ignored the bitter looks the rest of the class gave her, and looked up at Mcgonagall, who frowned at her. "Are you sure you couldn't wait, Miss Granger? Potter here was the first to volunteer, after all."

"Of course professor, I am sure I will be a better choice. After all, it is not like I cheat and try to better my class performance." Hermione commented snidely, ignoring the odd look Harry was giving her. It was something of an argument the two had some days ago. Harry had finished off his runes and Arithmancy homework faster than Hermione, and had refused to show it to her when she had demanded it. Her obvious inference was that Harry was somehow cheating and using others to help to do his work for him. Reasonably, Harry had given her a 'you-mistake-me-for-someone-who-gives-a-damn' look and walked away.

Mcgonagall turned to Harry who simply shrugged and sat back down. Had Granger looked back, she would have seen Daphne glaring at her with her narrowed eyes, which had turned into slits. She walked out of the row and strode towards the center of the room. Mcgonagall left the center and stood at a side, ushering her to do the same.

"Now I am going to attack you using Transfiguration, and you must also defend yourself using the same. All attacks and defenses must be through Transfiguration and Transfiguration alone. Is that clear, Miss Granger?" she explained sternly.

Hermione nodded. This was going to be a walk in the park. After all, she had already read the wand movements and the theory during the summer break and had practiced casting the spells as soon as she had reached school this term. She was confident that she knew at least eight different defensive strategies and a couple more of the offensive ones. As for casting them, there was nobody better than the smartest witch of the age. Mcgonagall had herself told her so.

Mcgonagall raised her wand like a conductor's baton and waved it in complex arcs, silently transfiguring the lone book on the table beside her into a killer vine, which shot at her, obviously commanded to incapacitate. Hermione waved her wand and intoned the counter spell loudly, performing the complicated wand movement that was specified in the book.

"Verto tergum!"

A ray of silver light shot out of her wand and hit the vine, slowing it for a moment. The smile had just begun forming on Hermione's face when the vine leaped again, incapacitating and binding her tight.

"Verto tergum!" Mcgonagall intoned loudly, for the rest of the class to hear. The vine transfigured back into the book, releasing Hermione back who dropped down on the floor, much to other's chortling. "Miss Granger, while I admire the fact that you took the initiative to learn the spells before they were being taught, I would have like it if you would have instead focused your efforts on learning them properly instead of memorizing spells and wand movements." Looking towards the populous, she asked, "Anyone else?"

Daphne saw her chance and took it.

"Miss Greengrass. Would you like a chance?"

"Yes professor." The black-haired girl strode towards the center, much to Hermione's consternation. She did not notice the curious look of anticipation on Potter's face as she passed him. Teacher and student took to the opposite sides of the room as Mcgonagall begun.

"Transmutare in vas." She intoned softly, causing the book to transfigure into iron chains and leap towards the black-haired girl who smartly dodged out of the way and intoned.

"Mutata in speculo."

The iron chains stopped midway and transformed into small glass pieces, which floated midway as Daphne cast her second spell. "Oppugno!" causing them to fly at increasing speed towards the professor who hastily conjured a metal shield to protect herself.

"Very good, Miss Greengrass. Fifteen points to Slytherin for a proper demonstration of a first-year transfiguration spell in dueling. Notice class, Miss Greengrass did not use anything fancy. Just a simple first year transfiguration spell. Well done."

Daphne nodded her head and walked back, making sure she did not look at Harry who was trying his best not to smirk at her as she walked to her seat. Hermione's face could not do a better imitation of a rather irritated toad, what with the way she was all green with envy. Ron however, had his usual sneer stuck to his face—the very same one that flit into his face whenever an incident dealing with 'Slytherins' happened.

"Mr. Potter, still up to attempting?" Mcgonagall urged. Harry shook his head and walked into the center, much to Hermione's consternation. Standing at one end, he waited for the professor to begin.

"Mr. Potter, I would advise you to hold your wand tight; this is a duel after all." Mcgonagall urged, looking at the casual way his wand was twirling in his hand. Harry observed the sudden smirk flash on Hermione's face, but did not say anything. His posture was deceptively elating; what with the way, he was twirling his wand in his fingers. However, Daphne knew better not to underestimate Potter. She knew very well that no matter how harmless it seemed, one single flick and a shield could be conjured in an instant. Nothing like a good deception, after all.

"This is going to be interesting." She muttered, much to Tracy's surprise.

Mcgonagall waved her wand and the book once again transformed into killer vines, which leapt towards him. Harry focused his magic through his wand and conjured a long blade, using it to slash the vines off, before throwing said blade at his professor who forced it into a wild bear that leapt back at him. Harry transfigured one of the desks into an iron chain and bound the bear, before transfiguring it back into the book.

"That will be enough, Potter. Good work. Take twenty points for Gryffindor." Mcgonagall exclaimed with a proud smile. "Thank you professor." Harry intoned before returning to his seat.

"That was...different," Tracy muttered softly, much to Daphne's smirk. She had to meet Potter and soon.

END OF FLASHBACK


Harry walked silently along the third floor, his steps slower than usual as he kept on turning corners and walking towards the more uninhabited parts of the great castle. Knowing the great castle as good as the back of his hand, he knew most of the corridors and the shortcuts, much more than what was shown in the Marauder's map. He felt a shadow shove out of the path behind him, as he turned another corner.

Someone trying to prey on the predator?

A cruel smirk floated on his lips as he turned a sharp bend, only to activate the disillusioning powers of the cloak. A dark lord for over a decade, but still the invisibility powers of the cloak were much better than his best disillusionment charm. He stood a step beside the narrow path, waiting for his stalker to arrive. After all, patience was the name of the game.

Daphne had been following Potter right from the Charms class. She knew that he had an annoying habit of vanishing on people right after classes, only to reappear sometime before the next class started, usually from some pillar or some classroom. Despite being highly familiar with the use of the disillusionment charm, she had dismally failed to locate him. The disillusionment charm, like every other charm, came with its own flaws with which a disillusioned person could be located. However, it seemed that conventional rules did not apply to Potter, who seemed to be able, those flaws. Either the boy was exceptionally skilled in the charm, or he was doing something else...

Some kind of perfect invisibility spell from his family library perhaps...

She turned the sharp bend and looked ahead. Just like always, Potter had disappeared. Disappointed, she turned back only to stare into the brightest green eyes she had ever seen as she felt a powerful body bind manifest all around her. She tried to scream but no words came out, revealing some kind of privacy ward under effect.

"Greengrass, you surprise me. Still looking out for trouble?"

Daphne forced a calm expressionless demeanor on her face as she gathered whatever was left of her inner courage and cunning. Somehow, Potter seemed to do something to her, which made her feel vulnerable. The stoic ice-queen, the girl feared by all, had an odd tendency to scream her lungs out and run for the hills whenever in close proximity with him.

"I was... I was looking for you."

Harry's face shifted into an odd evaluating expression. "And I suppose that Slytherins stalk people whom they look out for?"

Daphne ignored the vivid taunt in his question and focused on the issue. "You are...difficult to find. After every class, you just seem to vanish away; though I am not sure if it is a disillusionment charm that you employ."

"I suppose you have a point." Harry answered offhandedly, "what can I do for the Ice-Queen?"

"I...I need your help, Potter."

"Interesting." Potter gave her a look, something akin to the way a ferocious predator looks at a powerful yet potential prey. "Pray tell, what can Harry Potter do for you?"

"I know that you are having some kind of issues with the Department of Mysteries. I know that you are responsible for whatever it is, that has happened to Professor Snape." Daphne felt a bit courageous. "I kept your secret when Malfoy asked me."

"Hmmm. Too right you did." His eyes glinted as he looked at her eyes directly, "Tell me Greengrass, what is going to stop me from simply obliviating the shit out of you?"

Daphne swallowed. Perhaps the blunt interrogation was not that great an idea after all. "You could, but I have already taken precautions."

"And what if, I decide to invade your mind, figure out your precautions and then get you a permanent bed beside our illustrious potions master?"

Daphne gulped. Damn Tracy and damn her ingenious ideas. She knew very well that Potter was deadly. Trying to bargain with him was like trying to bargain with a hungry tiger and stopping it from eating you. She cursed herself for her arrogance. This was a deal with the devil. "I- I did not think that you would do that to me. I kept your secret, and I realized that-"

"That you could hold it over my head." Harry answered with a soft snarl distinct in his voice.

"No- No! I thought, I thought that I could use it to gain your trust, and in return, convince you to-"

"Help you." Harry finished.

"Help me." Daphne iterated, her voice shaking with fear.

He looked at her with an evaluating expression, his passive Legilimency constantly screening her surface thoughts with ease. Fear had a wonderful way of decreasing one's mental defenses making the victim much more vulnerable to passive Legilimency.

Maybe I could use this to recruit her on my side.

"What do you need, Greengrass?" He finally asked, his voice now softened a bit. Daphne couldn't help but feel a bit elated. "I have a problem and it is about Malfoy. I was hoping you could help me deal with it."

Harry fixed her with an odd stare, which Daphne construed as one simple question. "Why me of all people?"

"Because you are powerful and you have your own opinion. Besides, Malfoy is always an arse when it comes to you. Then again, I am not asking you to do it free. I am happy to negotiate whatever remuneration you might ask for."

One word flitted through the minds of the witch and the wizard simultaneously.

Bait.

"Interesting. Tell me Greengrass, your family is neutral. If the dark lord returns," Harry inwardly smirked as the girl showed no reaction about the fact that Voldemort might be alive, "—would you and your family join his cohorts?"

Daphne pondered with the question for a while. "No. However, I am not willing to fight for Dumbledore's side either. I suppose you are on his side, fighting against the dark lord?"

"Who said anything about fighting him?" Harry asked as Daphne raised her eyebrows. Potter was not going to fight against the dark lord. She hated that their discussion was going about in circles, with Potter evading direct questions effortlessly.

"The House of Greengrass had been forced to sign a treaty with House Malfoy a hundred years ago. In accordance to that agreement, a daughter of my family has to be wed to the Malfoy scion or else the Malfoy family would seize three quarters of my family fortune. Me being the eldest daughter, it is now my responsibility. I am sure you can understand that I have no desire to marry that obnoxious cow anytime soon." Daphne grit her teeth in exasperation.

"Touché!" Harry replied, much to Daphne's consternation.

Harry let out a sigh and put forward his thoughts. "Here is my remuneration. You and your family sign a détente agreement in blood with me. In addition, you bear a vow of silence regarding any secrets that I may decide to share with you. In return, I will help you with your problem with Malfoy. Give or take?"

Daphne weighed the offer. While it was true that she feared that Potter would claim much more, a part of her was still at odds with agreeing to Potter's demands. A détente agreement, while deceptively simple on the outside, could have many implications politically. Sealing the agreement in blood meant that the House of Greengrass would be permanently aligned to the House of Potter for eternity, unless of course some future generations of their families might wish to declare a House enmity and break the contract. However, there were other factors and stipulations to consider too. House Greengrass could maintain its neutrality, its only resistance being that it could never side against House Potter. Then again, there was...

"I will need to speak to my father about it, Potter. I am sure you understand."

Once again, the witch and wizard had one single word in their minds.

Catch.

"Of course. You have a day to consider. Same time, tomorrow."

"Where will I find you?"

"You won't. I will." Harry deadpanned.

"Great." Daphne muttered. An hour later, Mcgonagall would receive a missive from the Head of Greengrass family, citing that he needed his eldest daughter off from school for a day due to family business.


The next day... DADA Classroom...

"Morning class," Moody continued his usual gruff voice as he began his class. Harry as usual was sitting on a side all alone. The class had been for Gryffindors and Slytherins, one of the most famous anomalies in Hogwarts. A dark lord for years and despite all of that, Harry could never figure out why anyone in the right mind would put two antagonistic Houses together in a class, which taught dangerous spells.

He shook himself off from his reveries and focused on Moody. He had to hand it to Crouch Junior; the man was indeed a professional actor. The style, the gait, the way of movement—everything had been perfectly synchronized. Had Harry not know that this time the Alastor Moody in front of him was real, he would have thought that it was Barty Crouch Junior.

Then again, I did kill Junior personally. I would know if the bastard were alive.

"Dumbledore has ordered that a special class needs to be arranged this year; something beyond the normal curriculum." Moody whipped his wand, and the letters formed on the board.

UNFORGIVABLES

"Any of you lasses and lads know a thing about them?"

The reaction was fantastic. Just as expected.

Hermione Granger had stood up and ranted out how it was illegal to learn Unforgivables, only to stop midway through her diatribe because Moody had silenced her. When he further informed that the class was optional and that the weak-willed were free to leave, a grudging Hermione Granger forced herself to sit back down, much to the chortling of the Slytherins.

"There are three specific curses termed as Unforgivables. Completely forbidden to cast, irrespective of your social or political position. Casting any of the unforgivable curses on anyone is a direct ticket to Azkaban. Even during the last Wizarding war, us Aurors were not allowed to cast any of them. "

He paused to allow the class to absorb everything he said, using the time to look over at the facial expressions of his students. Most of the faces were filled with astonishment and puzzled curiosity. He cast a quick glance at the Potter boy, only to find him looking straight at him with utmost attention.

"So can any of you name the three curses?"

"My father told me about one. The Imperius curse." Ron Weasley muttered out, his face holding an expression of surprise as if he had been surprised that he had actually answered a question. "

"Correct in one, Weasley. Your father would indeed know about that. Gave the ministry a lot of trouble in the days after the war." Ron looked a bit peaked but smiled and sat down.

Moody took out one of his jars and levitated out a rather large spider. Ron recognized it as one of those large spiders, acromantula they were called, the ones he had faced with Harry in his second year, although this one was quite small comparatively. He cast a quick glance at Harry and found him looking sharp at the spiders.

Moody pointed his wand at the spider, and intoned loudly.

"Imperio!"

The spider suddenly went all relaxed. Then as if it was some puppet of some sort, it began dancing on the desk. Almost laughed at the situation, save Harry. He had more than enough experience to understand what it meant.

"Total control!" intoned Moody loudly, "it is fun isn't it? I wonder how many of you will continue your mirth when I cast it on you."

"You can't do that. It is illegal," squeaked Hermione.

Moody gave the girl a sharp stare. "Miss Granger, please, get out of the class."

Hermione squeaked in shock. "What?"

"I said, please get out. Unless you want to be the first one to experience the Imperio from my wand."

Hermione nodded primly and walked out.

"Now? Any other remaining here who would like to lecture me about the ethics of unforgivable curses? None? Good. Let's continue."

Harry's mind wandered to his past. Especially towards one of his more... personal researches on the Imperius Curse. The dark lord Potter had come up with his own version of the Imperius, one that was much less susceptible to flaws and even lacked the 'cloudy eyes', which was a sure way to track whether a victim had been imperiused or not.

The Coercitio Imperium curse.

The dark lord Potter had kept powerful figures at the ICW under his direct control for over a year before leading the attack that obliterated the entire structure. It was one of the curses, whose use was restricted to members of his own circle. Nobody else knew about the particular curse.

"Now I shall begin to put each and every one of you under the curse. If you don't have any defense at all, you won't face any intrusions and will simply become a mindless puppet for me. If you have even the slightest form of mind defense, then you will face an intrusion into your mind, which will..., efficiently try to convince you to do whatever I order you. This is funny for me and exhausting for you. The key to winning the battle is to irritate me to death by resisting my commands. So who will be my first guinea pig? "

The entire class looked blankly at him. Finally, Seamus Finnegan stood up.

"Good to see some Gryffindor bravery, although bravery is perhaps the nicest synonym for stupidity." Several of the Slytherins laughed.

"Go Seamus!" Dean and Ron cheered him back. Seamus walked out to stand in front of Moody who quite inelegantly whipped his wand and intoned, "Imperio!" Seamus's eyes dazed. This was going to be interesting.

"Jump like a frog." Moody ordered clearly. Instantly, Seamus dropped down, sat on his four limbs, and started to jump all the way across the room. He even managed to make a decent croaking as he jumped. It was hilarious. Moody looked at him with disdain. "This is a perfectly good example of what happens when you do not have any mental defenses. Who's next?" he asked, freeing Seamus from the effects of the curse.

The next thirty minutes were quite funny. Neville had walked up, asked Millicent Bulstrode, and danced a waltz all across the room. Tracy Davis and Lavender Brown both had a great time exercising and jumping over the benches. Daphne had some resistance but on further forcing, even she had started to meow like a kitten.

"Potter, you are next," barked Moody.

Harry stood up, and much to Moody's amusement, the class fell silent. As per as his knowledge, Potter was a kind of enigma. Powerful in his own right, and a recluse. He was also a suspect in whatever had befallen Severus Snape, but knowing that son of a bitch, Moody suspected that the death eater was not completely innocent in the incident.

Harry walked up to the center of the room, right next to Moody, keeping his mind blank. His mind wandered to the altercations with Voldemort in his previous life; he had lost count of the number of times he had been put under that particular curse. Snape had already damaged his mind with his mind-rape sessions in fifth year, making Occlumency impossible for him to learn. However, Harry Potter was clearly nothing if not unconventional. His indomitable will, coupled with the way his magic responded to him, had created something phenomenal. If he could not create proper shields, he came up with the next big thing.

A mindscape, one that had no shields at all. An infinite void of darkness, coupled with an enormous gravity that sucked down any kind of Legilimency foray into a makeshift prison he had created deep within his own magical core. He remembered the number of times his friends had gone insane trying to figure out how he did what he did. His answer- I wanted to do it and it happened.

The most interesting part of his mindscape was the prison. A place where he could simply suck in any kind of Legilimency foray and imprison it for an extended amount of time. Since Legilimency was a form of astral projection into someone's mind, imprisoning the foray meant that the person's consciousness was also sucked into it, away from his or her own body. That was exactly what had happened to Severus Snape.

For the first two weeks, Severus Snape had lived his worst fears and memories repeatedly, the illusion strengthening more and more as Snape's own mental defenses degraded. Being away from his own magical core meant that Snape was stuck in there with a limited amount of energy, one that was dwindling down to almost negligible quantities. Slowly, the proud man had been reduced to a bumbling wreck who was lost inside the illusion. Harry had decided that he would let the bumbling fool out after another week. It would take Snape months to even acquire some level of mental clarity. It was cruel, but nothing that the greasy bat did not deserve. However, that was for later and Moody was speaking.

"Ready Potter? I am going to cast the Imperius on you. Try and resist it."

Harry nodded.

"Imperio."

A calm feeling almost descended into his mind before getting lost into the gravity of his mindscape. Moody felt his spell vanish away somewhere in the depths of Potter's mind.

Odd.

His face shifted into a confused look. "Imperio!" The foray left his wand before reaching the boy, and just as previously. It vanished the moment it entered into the boy's mindscape.

"Everything all right, Professor?" Daphne could not help but ask loudly. Potter was proving himself more and more of an enigma. She could not feel but think that an alliance with Potter was a right thing to do.

Moody on the other hand, seemed confused. Forty years of service as an Auror and he had never faced anything like this. The lad was not even resisting the curse. It was almost as if, the curse was resisting from being drawn into the boy's mind and vanish into nothingness. Finally, he spoke. "I do not know how you did what you did, but it was good, Potter." Turning to the audience, he continued, "The Imperius doesn't work on the boy." Turning back to Harry, "Go back to your seat, Potter."

"Sure, professor." Harry shrugged, before returning to his seat.


After the class was over, Daphne walked out with Tracy to return towards the dungeons. She had hoped to talk to Potter after the class, but it seemed he was more than skilled in avoiding her clandestine skills. Entering the Slytherin dorms, she and Tracy departed ways. Tracy went towards the girl dorms while Daphne retreated to the Slytherin library, planning to read a bit on counters for compulsion curses.

"That is quite a book you have got." A gentle and familiar voice shocked the hell out of her, as she whirled with an unladylike yelp. Standing just behind her, now facing her icy blue eyes with his emerald green ones, stood the Boy-who-lived, right inside the Slytherin library.

"How—how-" Daphne tried, but her shocked mind got the better of her.

"How did I get in? I assure you I simply walked in." Harry smirked. Daphne's face flitted into desperation. "How did you enter the Slytherin dorms unseen? This library... it is a secret limited to Slytherins only."

Harry wondered if he should tell her that he had himself spent years living in the castle after the battle of Hogwarts; or if he should tell her that Theo Nott had regaled him with stories of the Slytherin dorms during their talks. Shaking off his musings, he looked at her in the eye.

"I am a Parselmouth." He hissed, scaring the crap out of the girl. He smirked. The general populous did not know it, but the reason why Parseltongue was regarded as a dark ability and so scary, was that it was exactly that. Scary. The classical tongue of the serpent lords had an inbuilt mechanism, which triggered fear in the minds of those that did not speak it. It was one of the reasons, why Lord Voldemort was so scary.

"I am a Parselmouth." He repeated, this time in English with an amused expression on his face. It was almost funny to see 'The Raven' get so scared by his presence. He stopped the intimidation techniques to allow the fourth—year to get her wits back.

"You enjoy scaring me, don't you?" Daphne grit her teeth. Harry shrugged, "It does make life interesting." Ignoring the intense look of loathing on the girl's face, he reverted to the original point behind all the intimidation. "I suppose you have arrived at an answer."

Daphne nodded blankly and sighed. "I have a couple of conditions though."

"Sure. Name them and I will consider them." Harry replied offhandedly.

How is it possible that Harry Potter is a Gryffindor?

Daphne kept her thoughts to herself, pausing for a while, before continuing. "My father has agreed to a détente by blood just as you propositioned, but I have two clauses. One, you do not interfere in our neutrality or in our businesses. My father does business with both factions with the Wizengamot and it will hamper our dealings if you force us by any way to limit ourselves."

"That is not an issue. I may not have taken my seat yet, but as soon as I will, I will align myself to the Neutral faction."

Daphne paused.

"You—what?" she almost bawled out.

"Easy Greengrass. Don't get so excited!" he mocked, much to her irritation. She ignored his taunt and continued, "The next clause is that you teach me how to better myself in the arts of dueling."

Harry gave her an evaluating look, trying to figure out why she would want to do such. Daphne clarified. "I am no dummy myself; however I believe I can better myself by regularly practicing with a more powerful opponent."

Harry fixed her with a dry stare which conveyed—'why me?'

Daphne stared back with a sultry expression that conveyed the answer back—'why would you ask me such a stupid question?' causing him to erupt into laughter. "Very well, Miss Greengrass., I will try fixing up a schedule. Did you bring the contract as told?"

Daphne unfolded her bad and took out a piece of vellum, on which the contract was engraved in calligraphic ink. My father has given me the authority as his heir to perform the treaty on his behalf.

"So be it." Harry replied. "Tell me more about this contract." Daphne swallowed and continued, "The buyout clause is three hundred thousand galleons and a duel to the death with a fighter of Malfoy's choice. My father can easily provide the money but the contract forbids anyone of or married into the Greengrass family to fight for us. And we being neutral, and Malfoys being who they are, nobody would be willing to stand in our stead."

"Hence I will have to fight. I find it amusing that you think that I will fight to the death for your honor."

"Of course you would. You are a Gryffindor." Daphne retorted back. Seeing his amused expression, she changed track, "though, I admit, you are the most Slytherin-ish Gryffindor I have ever met. Honestly, I have a hard time figuring out how you landed into the lion's den."

Harry let out an amused smile. "That is a story for another day. You do understand that under the oath of silence, you are magically bound to protect my secrets. Don't you?"

Daphne nodded.

"Very well. Let us sign it. I don't suppose you have a blood quill in your bag," he commented offhandedly, reaching out for the vellum.

Daphne raised her eyebrows. "For a person claiming to have spent his childhood with muggles, you are quite dangerously well-informed, Potter." Harry just smirked.


### Well, there you have it. The longest chapter so far. 6300+ words! Sheesh! Anyway, the story has just begun now. I realized a very powerful potential subplot that I had unwittingly created while writing the chapter and things are going to turn out much more interesting in the future. Hopefully my readers will enjoy the chapter and fill the review column with lots of reviews. Also, I suppose I will take this moment in stating that wizarding Chronicles is back to active from its dormant status, in case you have not noticed it yet. As for Serpent Lord story, it will still lie dormant since I am engrossed in some serious research on some arcane material that I am going to amalgamate into the story.

Well that is for now. Oh wait, one more thing. Despite my obvious pride and happiness at the fact that so many readers are enjoying my story, I am finding it deliberately insulting when some 'Guest' decides to grace with his/her presence and pretend as if I am creating the story in accordance to his/her wishes. My story, I work how I like, when I like. Don't like it? Allow me to introduce you to the 'close' button on your screen. Another thing that I have grown to hate is how some 'intellectuals' decide what the story is like just by reading the first couple of chapters. For such geniuses, my advice is... Bub, just don't!

Well, that all for now. Thanks for listening to the rant, and hope this chapter fulfills your expectations. Regards.