Wretched Irritants

"SLYTHERIN!"

As soon as the loud words rang out, Elanor couldn't help the relieved sigh she let out. Of course, she wouldn't have cared if he ended up in another house, but she'd see far less of her friend than she would like. Not to mention it would be criminal for him not to be a Slytherin!

Where else would an actor of his calibre go?

Watching him sweep off the hat with natural grace he seemed to be blessed with, her hands shook slightly in apprehension all of a sudden. He was a good actor. A very good actor, who could easily have fooled her, taken her mind for a spin even, out of personal amusement if he wanted to. Every Slytherin she knew would sooner stab you in the back, than actually consider you friends, she'd even seen that occur between groups in her house. Harry couldn't really be that kind of Slytherin could he? Did Slytherin actually make one such a person?

And then all her doubts were swept away as soon as he plonked himself down next to her, this time acting more like his natural bright self.

"Alright there Ellie?" he prompted, nudging her shoulder slightly, though it was unnoticeable to any other. Glancing at him for a moment, he seemed to know exactly where her mind had just gone, and was doing his best to remove such a notion from her thoughts. She replied smoothly, no trace of her nervousness apparent, and ignoring the raised eyebrows of the rest of the Slytherins, and even the curious stares from the rest of the houses.

"Just fine, Harry. Just fine."

"Good to know." He replied equally as smoothly, matching her tone perfectly, though his eyes seemed to show slight amusement at the act. Perhaps it wasn't a good idea to set him an unintended challenge in such a manner? He'd find a way to annoy her within minutes if he took up the task, and that was something she, under no circumstances wanted him to do, especially in the Great Hall. Though, he seemed to understand that this was no place for frivolity at the moment, being that he was currently the centre of attention.

Why couldn't he understand that in other places?

"Why hello there Tori!" he called down the table all of a sudden, abruptly reminding her that he would do so, even if he understood that.

"Idiot." She hissed venomously to herself staring at her cutlery as though to melt it with her gaze, though Harry's slightly widening smile indicated that he fully knew what he was doing to her.

And she knew he would enjoy every second of it.

/

Albus Dumbledore was an old man yes, but not a fool, and he had felt something was off today. It hadn't taken much longer for him to decide that Harry Potter was the reason he felt that way. He didn't like to make assumptions usually, but he only had one possible explanation for it.

Glancing at the boy, who was now happily chatting with whom he recognised as Astoria Greengrass, the youngest of the Greengrass Family, and even sat next to Elanor Riddle, only further increased the feeling that something strange was happening, but he was at a loss as to what it actually was.

He had known about the boy of course, having personally received the transfer request into his school, several months prior, and he liked to make sure he knew about every student he had. He was a good headmaster, and good headmasters should know their students. Of course, knowing about his students didn't mean he wouldn't pry into their personal lives, after all, he had made such a mistake long ago, and that turned out to be something he let his heart rule, instead of his logic.

And the consequences were catastrophic to the wizarding world. He could have stopped the dark Lord Voldemort before he truly began, and yet, his heart foolishly prevented him doing such a thing. His heart betrayed him, and the world paid for his error. Never again.

So he had ruthlessly combed through every scrap of information he could get on his new student, which unfortunately, wasn't much, and this set off a few warning bells in his mind. Yet, he did not turn him away from Hogwarts. How better to keep an eye on an unknown quantity, than to see him in person?

Letting his gaze linger on the odd group of three for a moment longer, something about their interaction caused his heart to falter slightly. It wouldn't be noticeable to most, but Dumbledore could see the slight weight that had lifted off the young Riddle's shoulder, and not for the first time, wracked his mind over whether his machinations were necessary. Was what he was doing wrong? But he had gone so far already, things were already in motion. He had convinced himself that what he was doing was necessary. The Greater Good… How he hated those words, and yet, lived by them.

It was all for the Greater Good. She could never know, never understand, just how crucial things were. And perhaps, some part of him knew that she couldn't handle the truth. It was such a cruel thing sometimes, and the poor girl had done nothing wrong other than to exist. It wasn't fair to her, but he had to look beyond one child, and consider the whole wizarding world's survival. Even if he had to sacrifice a few people here and there, it would not truly matter to him. It would weigh heavily on his heart, but he would not do such things personally. He knew he was too cowardly to take it upon himself. So he became the chess master, playing people like pawns, and all the while, his heart burned at logic's callousness.

But it was necessary. A means to an end, with as little trouble as he could possibly manage. Riddle, he needed to isolate, keep safe and secure from the truth and the Light's enemies. In the same way, he had to do the same with the Boy-Who-Lived, Neville Longbottom, but he hadn't the bravery to condemn him to a dark childhood. He needed to subtly shape him into a strong willed, self-sacrificing young man. He forcefully made himself imagine that he was simply giving him a good life, before it had to end. In the end, the boy would care too much about others, and do what was necessary. Fate was cruel, and Dumbledore, her grudging agent. He hoped for the best, yet knew things would never go as smoothly as he hoped.

It all came down to Voldemort not being the kind of person to father a child on a whim. No. This was simply another experiment on his exploration of the darkness. What use she had to him, he could not fathom, but it was not good, he knew that. Tom Riddle knew nothing of love, so there was no other option left to him, but to be wary of the child that had been created. It could simply be another of Tom's endless plans, or an amusement to him, something he did on a whim. He could not figure it out, so he had to do some guesswork. The only conclusion was that he could never allow her to know about Tom, but what he had done, most people would never have dared to imagine. Stifling a weary sigh, he moved his eyes onwards, looking around at the children, some nervous, some happy, chatting amongst their social groups. A sight he hoped would last for many years to come, though the time was approaching. The signs had been growing clearer now, with the Quidditch World Cup in particular, that Tom was close to a return. And he needed to be prepared.

And he needed to start by watching the Potter boy carefully, because it wouldn't do for Riddle to change. She needed to understand just how cruel magic could be, and she could never stray from his vision of the future. Neville was on the path he had forged all those years ago, but now he needed to make sure that Riddle's didn't get derailed by one unforeseen obstacle.

And that boy could ruin everything he had strived for in the long struggle against Tom. He just knew it somehow. The only thing he was not sure of, was whether he could stop it. Something about those emerald eyes just seemed to make him feel ever so small.

He hadn't dared to risk passive Legilmency yet, content to wait until he met with the boy personally. It wouldn't do to leave things up to chance.

/

"Now that we are all fed and watered, I have a few announcements to make." Dumbledore stood up from his ornate chair, addressing the students as soon as the Welcoming Feast had been eaten.

As each student turned to look at him, he continued. "Firstly, Mr Filch, the school caretaker has informed me that the list of objects forbidden in the castle has been expanded to include Screaming yo-yo's, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises of some four hundred and thirty seven items, and is available in Mr Filch's office, if any of you wish to view it." He ended in slight amusement, knowing that despite Mr Filch's efforts, no student ever would read it.

"As always, I am obliged to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to all students, as is Hogsmeade for those who are below third year." He added, glancing at the red-headed Weasley twins as he spoke, though they still continued grinning as normal.

"It is also my sad duty to inform you that inter-house Quidditch Cup will not take place this year." He added smoothly, as the hall erupted into slight outrage, particularly from the vocal Weasley twins.

"No Quidditch!?" they yelled in familiar tandem, carrying above the sudden buzzing of voices.

"This is due to an event that will be starting this October, and taking up much of the teachers time and energy-" he continued loudly, cutting through the noise, and commanding silence with ease. "-but I am sure you will enjoy it all greatly. I take great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts-" he added, before the doors to the Great Hall suddenly burst open with a bang, stifling his words in his throat, as a grizzled man limped in, with a loud thunk of his seemingly wooden leg. The enchanted sky above suddenly flared into a slight storm, before the man raised his wand, an electric blue blast of what seemed like lightning firing straight up, exploding in a slight boom, as the sky settled once more. Shrugging uncaringly at the gobsmacked expressions on the students' faces, he growled slightly, limping towards Headmaster Dumbledore with a thump sounding every time his wooden leg hit the floor.

Put simply, the man had a very distinctive appearance, people often claimed his face looked like it was carved out of wood, such was the volume of scars that littered it. Even a chunk of his nose was missing and his hair was a slightly straggly dark grey. The most distinctive part of his appearance though, was a vivid electric blue magical eye, which seemed to move around incessantly independently of the other dark brown.

Reaching the Headmaster, Dumbledore seemed to favour him with a slight smile, before announcing to the students. "Ah, may I introduce our new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Moody."

Moody then murmured to Dumbledore as he took his seat eye still spinning around madly. "Sorry I'm late Albus, I had a spot of trouble getting here." Dumbledore merely replied with a small nod, before continuing his announcements clearing his throat slightly.

"As I was saying, we have the honour of hosting a very prestigious event over the coming months. An event that has not been held for over a century. It is to my delight, that I am able to inform you that Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament his year."

"YOU'RE JOKING!" a loud yell of surprise came from the Gryffindor table, by Fred Weasley, his twin George simply staring gobsmacked at the headmaster.

Dumbledore's eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled amusedly. "I assure you Mr Weasley, I am not joking!"

"For those of you who may not know what this tournament is, a bit of background history perhaps?" he added rhetorically, noticing a few confused faces amidst the sea of excitement.

"The Triwizard Tournament was formed some seven hundred years ago, between the three largest European schools of Wizardry, Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, as a friendly competition. It was hoped it would be a good way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of various nationalities. A champion was chosen from each school, to compete in three events as a test of magical ability. Each school took it in turn to host the tournament every five years, and this remained so, until the death toll mounted so high as to cause it to be discontinued."

He had now gained the rapt attention of the entire hall, aside from a few disinterested people it seemed, and others like Miss Granger who had balked at the fact there was a death toll.

"There have been several attempts to reinstate the tournament, but none have been successful, until our own Departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another try." He added smoothly, students still hanging on to his every word about the prestigious event.

"We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion shall find themselves in mortal danger. The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving this October with a shortlist of candidates, and selection shall take place this Halloween. An impartial judge will decide who is worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, eternal glory, and a thousand galleons of prize money." At this, Dumbledore paused once more for effect, exercising his prowess in the art of public speaking.

"Eager though you may be to win, all participants have agreed to impose an age limit on the contenders this year. Only wizards or witches of seventeen or older will be allowed to submit their name for consideration." He added gravely, before speaking up loudly to forestall any objections. "I will personally ensure that no student under this age will be able to hoodwink our impartial judge into being Hogwarts Champion."

"I know you will all extend every courtesy to our guests this coming October, and fully support our selected champion. But now, it is late, and students must be well rested for the coming lessons tomorrow. Bedtime! Chop Chop!" he added affably, as the prefects from each house stood to escort the newly arrived students to their dormitories.

/

"Seriously Harry, you really don't have to try and irritate me every chance you get, you do it well enough just being your normal self." Elanor murmured to him as they headed towards the dungeons and the location of the Slytherin dorms dutifully ignoring the calculating looks they were receiving. "Did you really have to be such a tease?"

At this Harry shook his head slightly with a wry smile. "I intend to enjoy myself you know Ellie, but I'll try not to drive you up the wall… much." He added, as his smile changed into a sly smirk, eyes glinting slightly. "Besides, she's a breath of fresh air, don't you think?"

"Tcha!" Elanor scoffed, rolling her eyes slightly as she glanced at Astoria, chatting with her friends further ahead in the group. "Puppy love, that's all. I hope you don't take it too far with the fun, or whatever it's meant to be."

"Not planning on going so far as to hurting the girl." Harry's smirk slid off his face rapidly. "It's just a rebellious phase, I reckon. Not to say I won't tease her for fun, but she gives as good as she gets, especially for a twelve year old."

"Well… good, I guess." Elanor murmured again. "And we still haven't had that private talk yet have we? Those two intruded on our privacy. And don't even think about it." She ended, narrowing her eyes at Harry's suddenly faux innocent look, poking him in the ribs with her elbow slightly.

"Got it." Harry replied smoothly. "No mentioning what was obviously on your mind." He added slyly, causing Elanor's jaw to drop in shock.

At her look, he continued glibly. "Oh come on, I saw that look on the train. If I didn't know better-"

"No. Absolutely not!" Elanor squeaked slightly. "You just took me by surprise, what with your complete lack of manners!"

"I'll have you know, I'm a real gentleman." Harry replied, mock-offended. "And besides, that was on purpose." He added with a mischievous snicker, causing Elanor to jab him sharply with her elbow, and making him wince.

"Well don't do it again." She replied imperiously. "Why the hell did you even do that?"

At this, Harry simply looked at her blankly before replying seriously. "Just a little test. Astoria responded as I expected, since she's easy to read. The other Greengrass though, she's a little more difficult. It's easier to read a person when you put them in completely new situations."

"But what were you trying to learn anyway?" Elanor blinked slightly, confused at his reasoning. "It's not as if they're dangerous to you or anything."

"No, not in the slightest." Harry agreed. "It's a habit. I need to know everything I can about the people around me."

"Hat did say I have trust issues too." He scowled minutely, causing Elanor to raise an eyebrow in slight surprise, before simply looking forward again, having understood what he meant, and knowing he would not go into detail at this point in time.

"At least I don't go too far." Harry muttered rebelliously to himself all of a sudden, causing Elanor to twitch slightly, hearing him apparently argue with himself. "No, nothing like him." He added with a slightly stubborn tone.

Elanor simply decided at that moment to consider this as a Harry quirk, but vowed to look into it later if it turned out to be something more substantial. Not for the first time, she again felt slightly unsure of what she had gotten herself into. Whatever it was, she hoped it wouldn't cause her any trouble.

/

"Welcome to Slytherin House." A low silky voice cut through the murmur of conversation in the common room like a knife. The common room itself was surprisingly cold and uninviting, much like the man who had spoken. Though the room itself had its charms in the forms of dark green motifs with artistic silver snakes, it was hard to imagine the man having any such charm, such was the emptiness of his stare.

"For the newcomers to this noble house, I am Professor Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin, and resident Potions Master." He added smoothly, drawing the undivided attention of everyone in the room, even those who had obviously been subjected to this speech before. Next to Harry, Elanor scoffed subtly as the words noble uttered from his lips, causing Harry's lips to twitch in amusement.

The black haired professor's eyes snapped straight to her for a moment, subtly warning her against doing anything further to draw his ire, while Harry frowned subtly at the surprising awareness of the Potions Teacher, dressed all in black, Harry thinking for an absurd moment that he looked like a rather comical vampire.

"While some of you, may not understand why that is, remember that whatever others may have you believe the worst of this house, we have always produced wizards and witches of renown. In your time here, I will ensure you perform respectably. Any who do not meet expectations, will suffer my displeasure." He ended coolly, glancing at the black haired, green eyed newcomer as he did so. A slight vague sense of recognition seemed to cross his mind for a moment. Had he seen the boy before? Looking away from him after a moment, he dismissed the thought as soon as it came. That was an impossible notion after all.

"Now, I shall leave you in the capable hands of our prefects. Timetables will be handed out at the morning meal in the great hall. Mr Potter, with me." He added, not sparing Harry another glance and sweeping from the room in practiced style, causing Harry to smirk slightly at Elanor.

"Greasy Bat indeed." He spoke quietly, causing Elanor to snicker slightly. "Well, it seems we shall have to hold our private chat later. Our esteemed Head of House wishes to see me." He added, smirk only widening slightly at the thought of possibly gaining his displeasure.

"I'll be in the common room when you get back." Elanor nodded slightly. "Don't antagonise him so soon either." She added with a knowing glance at his slight grin.

"Spoilsport." He replied with ease, but shrugging in acceptance, before he pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against, and walking out the entrance smoothly.

As soon as he stepped outside, he was met with the blank but subtly commanding form of Severus Snape, who for lack of a better term, seemed to be scrutinising him carefully. Harry simply met his stare calmly, projecting a slightly curious air about himself, which didn't take much effort to maintain, given that he was actually interested in what Snape was trying to see in him. After a moment more, where Harry simply stared back unerringly, Snape finally spoke.

"Well Mr Potter, this is an unusual situation for me, given that we very rarely get transfer students at Hogwarts." He spoke smoothly, giving no outward signal to his curiosity, though Harry had already found the unspoken question rather obvious.

"Yes professor, I had heard it was unusual, in a manner of speaking." Harry replied calmly, furthering the conversation. "But I had heard good things about Hogwarts, and was no longer content with my own company." He added smoothly, glossing over the subject of him now being a legal adult, having no recognised family left.

"Indeed." Snape nodded slightly at his response. Here was someone who could infer what he wanted to know, from almost nothing at all, and it seemed to be a refreshing change, considering the Slytherin students he actually had under his wing. All in all, he really was interesting, Dumbledore himself having told Snape about the boy and how so little information could be found regarding him. While he didn't particularly like the Headmaster's methods of gathering information, himself being an accomplished Occlumens, he understood that sometimes, a lack of knowledge was dangerous, even if it was about some random child he had never heard of.

"Should you find yourself struggling with the work at any point, kindly inform me. I would hate for a student to lower the reputation of our house." He continued after a moment, mentioning his obligatory role as head of house, though something in his tone seemed to peak Harry's interest.

"I am sure you have better things to do sir." Harry nodded respectfully. "As it is, Professor McGonagall has also extended the same courtesy, if that is not too troubling?" he ended on a slight question.

At this, Snape inwardly grinned. At least the boy seemed to recognise that he seemed to dislike dealing with children, and taken the logical step of outright informing him that he wouldn't bother him. He was really beginning to find him ever more interesting now. As a rule, Snape hated children. Competent and mature ones, he could deal with, but he absolutely hated most he came across. Even his godson, Draco Malfoy, was one of those he disliked. Why Lucius had chosen him for that role, he would never know, but he wasn't a fool, and had agreed grudgingly.

"Not at all Mr Potter." He replied after a moment. "You may return now." He prompted Harry with a small wave of the hand.

"Of course Professor. A pleasure meeting you." Harry replied smoothly, smiling ever so faintly, before turning around and speaking the password to the smooth stone wall in front of him, revealing a door to the common room.

"Oh and Mr Potter?" Snape called after him quietly, causing Harry to stop and turn his head slightly back at him.

"Be careful with Miss Riddle." He added. "We wouldn't want you to emulate her."

Harry held back his initial retort, outwardly showing a slight hint of confusion, but knowing Snape wouldn't elaborate on his point. It was all too clear to him, based on things Ellie had told him about the bat.

"Of course sir." He replied blankly, before turning around and walking into the common room.

Snape simply looked at the dank stone wall that had closed up behind him for a moment, before he allowed a small smirk to form on his face.

"Oh Albus… you'll regret allowing him in Hogwarts." He murmured to himself in assurance. He just knew that the boy was something different. He'd eat the morons in his house for breakfast, and Miss Riddle would be swept along for the ride. And he would be ever so content to watch Dumbledore realise what a fool he'd been in regards to that girl. It would be ever so amusing to see how things would change around here. As for getting involved, that just wasn't his style. Unlike most of these bratty kids, he was a real Slytherin.

Turning around and walking into the shadowy gloom towards his office for a well-earned glass of wine, he murmured to himself once more, his black eyes glinting slightly in malicious amusement.

"Until next time Mr Potter." Were the words that he spoke into the gloom. "Until next time."

/

Harry blinked for a moment at the sight he saw in front of him in the common room. In fact, most of the older students also looked slightly incredulous, as Elanor seemed to be swarmed by Tori and her small group of friends, questions coming from left and right, until the poor girl's head seemed to be spinning as she tried to keep up. Tori herself was utterly unrepentant as Harry's entrance drew her attention.

Elanor breathed out a harried sigh, as their attention was diverted away to Harry, leaving her to catch her breath, now thoroughly starting to hate what Harry did on the train. She just knew his penchant for mischief would get her involved in his mayhem eventually.

"Oh come on Tori, I leave for one minute and you're already trying to steal all my secrets!" Harry sighed with fake-aggrievance. "Aren't we friends?" he added dramatically, holding a hand over his 'wounded' heart, causing Elanor to scowl at his irritating actions, while Tori curled a finger in her hair, with an incredibly convincing innocent look, complete with wide puppy dog eyes that Harry was sure she must have practised extensively.

He also noticed the slightly disgusted stare of a blonde haired, grey eyed boy on the dark green ornate couch in the middle of the room, amongst the scowl of a raven-haired, pug faced girl who seemed to be inseparably latched onto his arm.

Harry simply raised an eyebrow at her antics, before folding his arms across his chest, looking mock sternly at her. Tori simply looked back at him challengingly, while her friends shared a few silent looks of amusement at the byplay.

"Miss Greengrass." Harry spoke up after a moment with a weary sigh, causing Astoria to blink after a moment more, realising he wasn't playing around anymore, leaving her to pout slightly in disappointment.

"Talk to me in the morning Tori." Harry followed up after a minute, when it seemed like Astoria had gotten the message this time.

"I'll hold you to that." She replied smoothly, before she and her friends trailed out of the room to go to their rooms for the night.

Harry simply looked at their exit before sighing once more. If it wasn't obvious to Elanor before, it was obvious now that he was rather weary, and probably wanted to get their catch up out of the way as soon as he could. It was strange how she could recognise that now, having only known him for just shy of two months, but then again, she had actually spent every day in his company, rarely stopping by her orphanage.

Before she could speak to him though, she was abruptly brought out of her thoughts by Draco Malfoy, who had elected to speak to Harry.

"Harry Potter right?" he queried him. "I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." He continued, with his head held high, hand outstretched in an obvious attempt to initiate a handshake. Harry barely spared a glance at the slightly snobby boy in front of him, but still held out his hand, Draco grasping it for a small handshake, before it ended abruptly.

"I trust Professor Snape told you how things work around here?" he continued seemingly politely, with a small undercurrent of trying to assert his dominance in the situation. If Harry had not been ever so slightly tired at the moment, he probably would have laughed in his face, but simply didn't want the bother tonight.

"Ah yes, he seems to be a competent professor." Harry replied smoothly, showing no sign of what he was actually thinking. "I should fit in rather well judging by his comments." He added, unable to resist the slight jab at Malfoy, informing him that Snape seemed to consider him a real Slytherin. Sadly, this went over the boy's head, causing Harry to inwardly sigh in disappointment. He wasn't going to get anything stimulating out of this.

"Just as long as you know who's in charge around here." Malfoy responded snobbishly, trying to stare Harry down.

"Oh trust me, I know." Harry smiled genially, his voice dripping with sarcasm, as his eyes caught Elanor's who had smirked in slight amusement. She was hoping Harry would show up Malfoy a little, but she had to admit that this was just as amusing, especially to those who could recognise his tone for what it really was.

"As a fellow Slytherin, I feel it my duty to inform you to avoid certain… irregulars, in this house." Malfoy added magnanimously, missing the dark glint in Harry's eye for the moment. "Astoria for example, while not a fine example of a pureblood, is still worthy of the name. She'll learn to conform eventually though. Riddle on the other hand…" Malfoy trailed off slowly, expecting Harry to fully understand what he was saying.

At this point, listening to Malfoy had gotten rather irritating to Harry, whose placating smile had now smoothly dropped from his face, leaving it blank and cold. "Riddle?" he replied ever so slightly coldly, though the unaware brat in front of him failed to pick up on his tone. Elanor had though, amongst one or two others, like Daphne Greengrass, who had stayed to watch Malfoy introduce himself as normal, next to her dark skinned friend Blaise Zabini, who had a subtle smirk of anticipation form on his face.

"Oh this should be good." He whispered conspiratorially to the other girl next to him, called Tracey Davis, who nodded in agreement, not taking her eyes off the pair.

"Yes, Riddle." Malfoy smirked at Harry, still not actually paying attention to his reaction, having been uncaring enough of his conversation partner. To be perfectly honest, he was simply dictating things to Harry, and expecting him to agree. After all, Malfoy was a powerful name, and no one would dare to contradict him in this house.

"Filth such as her shouldn't even be in this house. Salazar Slytherin would be ashamed." He added with a scowl, causing a few people to glance over at her, but being rather surprised at the small smile that had etched itself on her face. With that look, she seemed to be ever so much more imposing than they could have imagined. Some of the more exuberant Slytherins would have sworn she looked like a bloodthirsty demon with a malicious glint in her cold brown eyes, while more conservative ones would simply say she was looking forward to the fireworks.

"Oh?" Harry queried slightly dangerously. "What kind of… filth?" he added ever so slightly teasingly, a small toothy grin forming on his face, causing a few of the more cowardly Slytherins to shudder and look away.

"Trash that has no place in our world Harry." Draco added obliviously, uncaring that he had no permission to use his name. After all, he was above him in status. Malfoys were the top of the pureblood chain after all.

"Muggle spawn, Mudbloods, those that spit on our culture and way of life. Filthy people such as Riddle." He added slightly exuberantly, channelling his father, though none in public saw such a side of him.

"You mean to say that a pureblood such as Riddle is such a person?" Harry responded whimsically now, his grin becoming amused now, rather than dangerous. He snickered slightly, causing Malfoy to look at him and drawing the undivided attention of everyone else, who had absolutely no idea that this was the case. Though it wasn't as if any of them knew of her parentage. It was simply an assumption. "You are remarkably misinformed Malfoy." He added, staring into his shocked grey eyes.

"In fact…" Harry drawled lightly, this time acting like Malfoy… to Malfoy of all people! "Wasn't your mother a Black Ellie?" he cocked his head at Elanor's surprised stare. She wasn't expecting him to come out with that, after all. Not waiting for her reply, though he wasn't actually asking for one, he continued this time to a gobsmacked Malfoy who had paled slightly. "Oh!"

"I forgot, that means you're related to her doesn't it?" Harry added, grinning like a shark now, eyes lighting up in amusement. "Hey Ellie, come say 'Hi' to your newfound family!" he added with a lilting voice, causing Elanor to look at him in horror.

"I refuse to believe that stuck-up arsehole is related to me!" she exclaimed loudly uncharacteristically adamant, drowning out Malfoy's horrified protest at Harry's suggestion, and causing a few quickly stifled snickers to sound out.

"Well put it this way Ellie." He added, now completely ignoring Malfoy who had stepped back a few paces and was trembling slightly in horror. "I dare say you have an equal claim on the Black Inheritance hmm?"

"Oh the look on your face!" Harry burst out in loud laughter at Malfoy's horrified twist of his lips, amongst Elanor's steadily darkening façade. He knew he'd be in for an earful off her later, but just couldn't help but be endlessly amused at the spanner he had thrown in the works.

At this point, Malfoy flushed slightly in anger before snarling as he whipped out his wand. "I'll teach you to disrespect me!"

However, before he could even fire off a spell, his wand had inexplicably vanished from his hand, leaving him looking slightly dumfounded before seeing it being held by Potter, who seemed to be twirling it around in one hand in slight boredom. "It seems that even your wand thinks you're a stuck-up arsehole. Why, it even jumped into mine to get away!" Harry spoke to him in a flat voice. "I suppose you're a honest one at least, if a bit foolish." He added silkily, reminding Malfoy of a time when he was being rebuked by his father. It was ridiculously demeaning, especially in front of nearly all of Slytherin.

"Give me my wand Potter!" he spat at him, all trace of faux-politeness gone from his tone, giving way to fury. "Now!" he ordered him sharply, though Harry seemed to think it more of a timid attempt to ask for it back. His angry visage wasn't even remotely frightening.

"You need to work on that." Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "You're less frightening than a flobberworm." He added flatly.

"Crabbe! Goyle!" he barked out angrily. "Teach Potter a lesson!"

When nothing seemed to be happening, Malfoy turned around slightly bewildered, until he saw the two unconscious forms of his glorified bodyguards, and Elanor absently fingering her wand. "What?" she asked flatly. "I hope you don't think I'll be helping you." She added coolly, before Malfoy turned around with his eye twitching slightly, only to be met with Harry's eyes. He flinched almost immediately, Harry's face twisting into cruel amusement as he did so.

Swallowing his pride for the moment, knowing that he wouldn't receive any help from the other Slytherins, he ground out slowly. "Please give me back my wand… Potter." He added please this time, though it rankled him ever so much to demean himself.

"Of course!" Harry responded with an affable smile, the cruel amusement gone within a flash. "All you had to do was ask! After all, I'm sure we all agree that cursing someone in such a manner is ever so unbecoming hm?" he added, jabbing at the childish manner in which he had reacted, before holding the wand out point end first, to ensure Malfoy couldn't just curse him as soon as he had it, though he would have loved to see him try.

At Harry's raised eyebrow, Malfoy scowled slightly, having received his wand. "Thank you." He hissed slightly, inwardly seething at the audacity he had, before reminding himself that he needed to check the claim he had made with his father. Whether it was true or not, she would never be considered a real pureblood to him. After all, she was trash.

/

Shortly after the confrontation, Elanor had swept out of the common room down a hallway, Harry following a moment later. Thankfully, no one had approached them afterwards, otherwise she didn't know what she would do, anger boiling in her veins. As soon as Harry had stepped around the corner, she had turned around and abruptly pushed him against a wall, fists clenched in his robes near his neck. She didn't know what she was going to do to him in all honesty, but she was so incensed at the moment, she couldn't really think straight, as her form trembled slightly.

"Why?" she asked, voice trembling as she tried not to yell at him. "Why would you do that?" she asked him again, this time tugging at him slightly, trying to shake the answer out of him somehow, though his hands suddenly gripped her shoulders tightly, but not painfully.

"Does it matter why?" he sighed wearily as he looked down at her, as she did her best to avoid looking directly at him. She didn't think she could actually do it right now.

"Does it?" Harry asked her more insistently now, pulling her slightly closer, not letting his grip off her shoulders.

"I need to know what the hell you were thinking!" Elanor snapped at him finally, futilely trying to tear herself out of his grasp.

"Because from what I could see, you were just bringing it up for your own sick amusement!" she snapped again, having given up on getting out of his iron grip. "What am I supposed to think, when you blurt out things about my family, in front of everyone!?" her voice quivered slightly this time, though it didn't seem to lose any heat. "I told you all of this in confidence…" her voice wavered now. "You don't do that. You don't do that!" she snapped now, eyes watering as she glared at him directly now.

"Why?" she asked him once more, this time almost pleading with him to answer her.

"Do you know what it's like to have a friend that is treated like you are?" Harry replied with his own question, before continuing wearily. "It's not enough to just be your friend, when there's nothing I can do to change your mind about changing how people treat you. I know you wouldn't agree with me if I'd told you to say such a thing yourself."

"See, it's meaningless really, though I know you don't think of it that way." Harry added smoothly. "He called you filth Ellie!" he growled slightly, the vibration being felt by Ellie due to their close contact. "People like him won't judge you on what you're like as a person. You're in Slytherin, home of the nobles."

"Your mother is dead and gone. She abandoned you Ellie." He whispered now, pulling her into a consoling hug. "Just trust me, I did this to make things better for you. Really, I did." He added, closing his eyes for a moment. "You're expected to use your family name for power and respect in Slytherin, just look at Malfoy."

"I don't want to be anything like Malfoy." She mumbled with faint disgust, anger having faded away, leaving her feeling slightly hollow, with a small lingering of sadness.

"There's a difference Ellie. You're not using your family tree as your sole means of respect here. Malfoy certainly wouldn't care if you were his family, he'd probably treat you worse." Harry sighed, eyes dulling slightly at the faraway look in Elanor's eyes. "But I want people to treat you better. If I have to make your decisions for you, I will, and I won't regret it. I'll regret it if I end up hurting you, but I didn't mean to."

"Why do this for me?" Elanor looked away from him, head bowed slightly. "I'm not-"

"Don't do that!" Harry snapped at her sharply, shocking her slightly with his harsh tone. "You're better than that!"

"Are you really starting to consider their words as truth?" Harry continued pleadingly. "What right do they have to judge? Cowards, the lot of them!"

"I'll be damned if you ever decide you're worth less than pathetic brats such as them." Harry continued, his voice becoming like steel, hard and unwavering. "Just remember, you're worth more to me than any of those worthless creatures that prattle on about things that mean nothing." He added, before blinking slightly in surprise at his own words.

"I'm still mad Harry." Elanor sighed, but relented slightly as she gave into his hug grudgingly. "Just don't do anything like that again."

"I just want you to be great." Harry murmured. "I know you will be, and I don't want anyone to make you feel like you can't be."

"But… I promise." He added, conceding to her request. "Just don't tell me I can't hex them."

At this, Elanor gave a slightly weak chuckle before replying softly. "Don't go too far though Harry."

"Me? Never!" he replied smoothly, before allowing Elanor to extricate herself from his arms.

Shaking her head slightly she sighed tiredly. "And we still haven't had our little talk. Your fault this time, I guess."

"Fair point." Harry frowned. "By the way, where do I go?" he added with a weak chuckle, having realised he still didn't know where he'd be staying.

Elanor gave him a slightly brittle smile, before replying. "Just follow me."

"Was already planning on it." Harry responded smoothly, before following her down the corridor, passing by a few open doors, where people had yet to return to their rooms.

"In Slytherin, each student from third year onwards gets their own room." Elanor spoke up after a few moments walking. "There's a few spare around where I'm staying, just to make it easier for you."

"Let me guess, there's a free room right next door to yours hm?" Harry replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Where else?" Elanor responded, dutifully ignoring his actual implication like a professional. "Not as if anyone wanted to stay near me of all people." She scoffed slightly, Harry electing not to add any words into the mix this time.

"And here we are." She spoke up a moment later, having reached a door, with the number twenty-three etched on the door in silver. "I'm in twenty-five, just next door, and twenty-four just across the corridor is vacant too. Take your pick."

"Twenty-five is not included." She added blandly as Harry opened his mouth, causing him to pout slightly.

"Ok, ok." He replied with a sigh. "Twenty-three will do." He added, before turning the brass knob on the dark mahogany door, leading into a room with a four-poster bed, with forest green drapes and quilt cover, edged with a silver colour, in keeping with the theme of the Slytherin house crest. One side of the room had a chest of drawers and a wardrobe, both matching the colour of the door, and on the other was a door leading into a small bathroom. At Harry's curious look, Elanor spoke up.

"We are in the dungeons after all. Far more space here than anywhere else in the castle. The locations of the common rooms are a very poorly kept secret anyway, though no one's sure where the Hufflepuff rooms are, come to think of it. Anyway, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw have a tower each, and have to share dorms."

"Anyway, it's up to you what you do with your room, you'll be living in it for several years anyway." She added smoothly.

"Done anything to yours?" Harry looked at her curiously.

"No." she replied flatly. "The best I can think of doing is a locking charm, and those can be broken." She added absently.

"I guess people have no respect for personal space anymore. I'll ward your door to prevent unwanted visitors then." He sighed. "I'll be doing the same to mine, so it's only fair." He added at her look.

"I'll show you how to do a little warding at some point." He conceded to her continued stare.

"You do that." She replied smoothly. "We can talk while you unpack."

"You helping?" Harry looked at her questioningly.

"Nope. I'll just sit on the bed and watch you do your thing." She replied swiftly, causing Harry to cough slightly.

"Of course." He replied after a moment's thought, causing Elanor to scowl slightly.

"You need to stop doing that." She groaned. "It's becoming irritating."

"Sorry." He grinned slightly unrepentantly, before waving his wand in one sweeping motion, his trunk spilling open as books and clothes and various other trinkets flying out as they were sent to their respective places, some actually folding themselves, drawers opening to allow things to drop in. A few moments of madness later, everything settled down once more, leaving Harry looking at Elanor with a faint grin.

"We can talk now." He added, when her slightly stunned look seemed like it wouldn't fade.

This caused Elanor to simply shake her head, as if to forget what she had actually just seen. After a moment's thought, she realised that the magic was probably simpler than it looked, but it was still a sight to see.

"Still need to get used to the things you do with magic." She sighed. "Anyway, what exactly did you do with Bella?" she looked at him curiously, having wondered what he had meant for almost the whole day.

"Oh yeah." Harry nodded in remembrance. "Here." He rolled up his sleeve for a moment, before tracing the point of his black wand down his forearm, slowly revealing ink to Elanor's eyes.

"I guess that explains why I didn't see a tattoo earlier. Amongst other things." She murmured to herself before blinking slightly. It was quite an elaborate tattoo, and looked almost lifelike, complete with the black scales and blue eyes she associated with Isabella. "Can she hear me?" she added, looking at Harry once again, tearing her eyes away from it.

"No. She can hear me though, but that's more like telepathy of a kind, rather than me actually talking." Harry replied. "I can call her out anytime, but I'll leave her be for now. Don't have quite enough room in here for her anyway."

"Probably too complicated to go into detail with though." Harry added at Elanor's questioning glance. "It's probably the most complex piece of magic I've actually shown you, because this isn't a normal magical tattoo. Perhaps it's more on the scale of the complexity of a Dark Mark." He added slightly absently, before frowning at the comparison he had made. "Certainly not a foul creation though, yet it's still probably in a grey area. At least it's not illegal." He added with a sly smirk.

"Anyway, you wanted to talk about duelling right?" Harry added, before receiving a nod off Elanor in confirmation. "You wanted to learn how to defend yourself." Harry pointed out, before continuing. "Well duelling is quite a broad subject, but the entire point of it is to defeat an opponent as efficiently as you can, exploit their weaknesses, play to your strengths etcetera. The main issue is a matter of style and level."

"Style and level?" Elanor frowned. The books had mentioned nothing like that, so she was understandably intrigued.

"It's not a matter of learning spells useful in combat, because that would be a massive list, since almost anything can be used to give you an edge." Harry responded smoothly, now taking a small lecturing tone as she leaned back against the headboard, waiting for him to continue. "While it's good to learn spells like Shield Charms and Curses and so on, even Healing Spells and Counter-curses and charms are all useful, the main thing is your level and your style, which dictates how easy it will be to win."

"Your level, is almost self-explanatory, because let's say, elite level would be someone like Flitwick, who was a duelling champion. Then there's a step above that, which becomes a struggle of almost pure power and will, with combatants like Dumbledore and the Dark Lord. Your style is something else though, and that's usually unique, unless you're trained like a police force, the Aurors for example."

Harry paused for a moment before continuing. "Some people move around unceasingly, continuously avoiding their opponent's spells, and returning their own. Others stand in one spot, flinging powerful curses, and throwing up incredible shields, which incidentally is how the Dark Lord duelled when he toyed with people. Others use everything around them to their advantage, case in point, Dumbledore, who is superb with transfiguration."

"Some people say power is meaningless in duelling, but not even the best duellist could beat Voldemort or Dumbledore, because their power would be too great to stand against. They know magicks that are just naturally overwhelming forces of nature even, and would overwhelm anyone who couldn't fight on their level. Flitwick, even though he is a duelling champion, couldn't hope to match against the Dark Lord or Dumbledore one on one. The difference in level is too much, even if he has more experience of actual duels, which is extremely likely."

"Though it should be simple to teach you the basics of how to defend and retaliate on a school level. If you want, we can build it up to more complex things later anyway." Harry ended. "Besides, people like Malfoy are probably too arrogant to think of anything other than making their opponent hop around, while they stand there, toying with them." He tacked on after a short moment, causing Elanor to make a noise of fervent agreement.

"Oh yeah, in second year he and Longbottom just stood their ground and hexed each other." Elanor input with an aggrieved shake of her head.

"Ah well, we'll have time to figure things out Ellie." Harry sighed, before absently tracing his wand back over the tattoo, causing it disappear into unblemished skin once more. "That's just a glamour by the way." He added. "Very useful."

"Yes, I'll teach you anything you want me to." He waved a hand before she could ask once more. "As for duelling, it'll be a little while until I get used to the routine here, and we find a place, though the spare room over there might be useful, damage might be noticed."

"Sure, sounds fine with me." Elanor nodded after a moment. "Should probably get some sleep now, we have to up early in the morning, and you don't want to be sleeping the whole day away Harry."

"Too bad." Harry sighed. "I could sleep the whole day away I reckon."

At this, Elanor rolled her eyes slightly, before slipping off the bed and heading to the door. "I'll be making sure you're awake, through any means necessary Harry." She smirked slightly as Harry blanched.

"No need for anything like that now! I'll be up." Harry chuckled weakly.

"Night Harry." Elanor shook her head wryly as she opened the door.

"Night Ellie." Harry called back after a moment, as she walked through, door shutting with a click behind her. "Night." He murmured again to the silent room, looking around awkwardly before shivering slightly.

"I should just put things off for tomorrow." Harry groaned. "I can't go running about so soon."

"Until tomorrow." He nodded to himself, before planting his face in the pillow, drifting off to a dreamless sleep.

AN 07.09.2014

9K Words for those of you that are unsure how much I'd written here. I keep promising things will be included in chapters that end up being in others instead, so I'm just not gonna say anything except definite inclusions like the fact that there will be a Dumbledore meeting and one or two lessons next time, along with anything else I feel could be included – meeting a few people too I guess if I get the 'feel' right.

This is 2k words more than the previous chapter, which was the longest I'd written. It turns out that my chapter length is horribly inconsistent, yet ironically consistently getting longer. I'll just come out and say that I'll end a chapter where I feel it should end. As for the slow pace, it doesn't seem entirely too bad to me, but there are always small time-skip phases, in this case, about two months have passed since Elanor met Harry. And yes, Elanor didn't know she was related to Malfoy – more on things to do with her family and the Blacks later. Also, I'll discuss why Snape might feel Harry is familiar, but it's far more complicated than you might think, but that also comes so much later, I feel horrible for saying it now and teasing you.

Until next time!

(By the way, I didn't want to write a cliché Dumbledore, so what it may look like here, understand that this isn't Manipulative entirely, or Dark, or a bashing fic. Malfoy is kinda bashed - but that's not a constant - but he still acts like the child he did at this point anyway. Needless to say, you'll get a fair accounting of people you might even dislike from canon.)

Fur-