Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and I make absolutely no money from this

Harry Potter and the Puppet of Time

Chapter 2

"Hullo, my name is Draco Malfoy. Are you going to Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes, I'm Harry." the bespectacled boy answered.

Before they could exchange any more words Hagrid butted in. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." After a nod from Harry the half-giant left the shop.

'Huh, already a change from my other life. I don't think Hagrid entered with Harry the first time. No matter, that might give me a bit more time. It's such a pain I can hardly reveal anything to Harry, Dumbledore is sure to read his mind when he arrives at Hogwarts.'

"Wasn't that the Hogwarts gamekeeper?" Draco asked innocently to get the conversation going again.

"Yes, his name is Hagrid."

"I heard of him, very good with animals but has a bit of problem with recognizing what is dangerous to normal people. Guess it's because he's so big and strong, there isn't much that can harm him." That should go over better than what the other Draco had said. "Is he the only one with you?"

"Yes."

'God, this is like pulling teeth.'

"That's strange; normally one of the teachers does the introduction for people not used to the magical world. Well, I suppose he qualifies because he works at Hogwarts. Did he give you the standard muggleborn introduction package, explain about the Hogwarts houses or tell you about how to get to the Hogwarts express?" Draco asked.

Now Harry seemed to become curious. "No, he didn't."

"Well, it's his first time introducing a new student, so I guess it's inevitable that he makes some mistakes. You can pick up the information package when you get your books later; it explains some basics about our world and the laws and stuff. You have to specifically ask one of the clerks, though. The Hogwarts express is the train that takes us to the school in Scotland all the way from King's cross in London. The platform number is nine and three-quarters and it's magically hidden between nine and ten. You just have to walk straight through the barrier. I think it is explained in the information package, but I hear many people have trouble with it." he explained patiently.

That earned him a smile from Harry. "Thanks. What about the houses?"

"The students at Hogwarts are sorted into four houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." Draco grimaced. "Please don't tell anyone I said this, but I think most Slytherins and Gryffindors are bullies of one sort or another. The two houses have some sort of feud going, and you will get bullied by the other side. Almost my whole family was in Slytherin, but personally I'm hoping for Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, even if my father won't like it. The adults won't say how one is sorted into the houses, but apparently you can influence it to a degree. Some people say that one house is better than the other, but they all are equal. It really depends what you want." Draco gestured towards himself. "As you can probably guess I like to learn and explain things. What is the most important thing for you?"

Harry hesitated a moment before he spoke a single word. "Friends."

"Then I guess Hufflepuff would be the right house for you; they are really big on friendship and such. My cousin just graduated, and she was a Hufflepuff and is now working to become an auror, that's a magical policeman. Oh, and don't just join a house because a relative or famous person was there. You are not them."

Draco had never met Nymphadora, but by listening to the adults he kept up with the news. During their talk Madam Malkin had finished with Harry, and time was growing short. Draco himself would need to be fitted for a few more robes.

"Hey, do you like football?" Draco asked.

Harry seemed a bit confused by the question. "It's okay. Why?"

"Well, they only play Quidditch at school, that's the main sport of the magical world. It's played on flying brooms in the air. I like flying, but I don't like the game. If I find enough people we could start a football club."

At that Harry smiled. "I'll think about it, but thanks for the offer."

Noticing Hagrid on the other side of the front window grinning wildly and holding two large ice creams he knew the conversation was over. "Well, it seems your escort is back. Unfortunately I have to stay here until my father comes back. I'll see you on the express or at Hogwarts, I suppose."

Draco watched Harry leave the shop with a last wave to him. Internally he was quite relieved, the meeting had gone as good as he could have reasonably expected. Hopefully it would prevent Harry from remaining completely ignorant about their world. If he was lucky it might even cause him to be sorted differently. McGonagall never truly stood up for her house in general and Harry in particular, her duties as deputy headmistress and close association with Dumbledore got in the way of that. In Slytherin he would have to deal with Snape hating him, and the danger of him becoming a Dark Lord would be much greater. The other two houses were really the best bet, although Draco didn't believe that Harry had the academic drive at this point to be sorted into Ravenclaw.

At the same time Draco had prevented the set-up meeting with the Weasley family from taking place, making a friendship with Ron more unlikely. Harry would be much better off without the lazy boy dragging his performance down, and the Weasleys were Dumbledore loyalists in any case. The other Harry's Quidditch career had led to an enormous number of potentially lethal injuries, occupied too much of his time and provided an additional avenue of manipulation. Better to keep him from the game completely. Besides, Draco really didn't like Quidditch, and a football game now and then would be fun.

Not that any of that would seriously hamper Dumbledore's plans. Draco was sure that the esteemed Leader of the Light would have no problems in manipulating Harry; after all he didn't need to control his day-to-day life. The headmaster kept his plans fluid, but it would be a tiny bit more difficult for him to implement them now. From what the older Draco had pieced together Dumbledore would be largely content in letting Harry do his own thing while he monitored his behavior via occasional legilimency or other means and used subtle compulsion charms to steer him into a specific direction when it became necessary. Most of the blatant manipulation and conditioning had already happened at the Dursleys or would only happen a few years in the future, but now wasn't the time to do something about it. Harry would need uninterrupted and unsupervised time to learn occlumency before Draco could go about repairing the damage done to him.

'Oops, I didn't do anything about his clothing or malnourishment. Better to keep the meeting from Aquila, then. She doesn't know about the plan and would never forgive me that I didn't introduce myself as his cousin.'

"Draco, are you finished?"

The voice of his father interrupted his thoughts. It had been impossible to exclude him today; after all getting his wand was a very important event. Lucius was an idiot, but that idiot would have authority over Draco for quite a few years. Especially considering that his grandfather hadn't long to live and emancipation would be impossible at first. Meaning Draco showed the man the proper respect and mostly kept his head down.

"Yes father."

"Then come along, we don't have time to dawdle." After a nod to Madame Malkin Lucius turned around and stepped onto the street with Draco following behind him.

The next few moments consisted of a blur of activity, but Draco would remember the opening stages quite clearly. When his father took the next step from the door heedless of where he was going Arthur Weasley ran straight into him, not having time to stop or space to sidestep the unexpected obstacle even if he had been paying attention to where he was going. Both men went down while Lucius walking stick went flying, hitting a wizard who was currently levitating a stack of boxes filled with overripe fruit. The surprise of the hit caused the man to yank his wand up, sending the boxes and fruits flying. The fruity missiles came down all over the alley, initiating chain reactions of their own. An especially overripe pumpkin landed directly on his father's head before shattering. Draco hadn't believed such things possible outside of muggle comedy movies and could only stare openmouthed as the disaster zone spread.

Naturally, instead of staying calm his father began arguing with Arthur Weasly, and soon the other wizards and witches started arguments of their own. Draco carefully edged away from them in search of a quiet corner to wait things out.

Ginny was mortified. Her entire family was making a spectacle where the whole alley could see it, and her mother's voice was already winding up to make sure everyone in a large radius would be able to hear it, too. She was the only Weasley who wasn't swept away in the heat of the argument and kept out of the growing disturbance. Her father was arguing with Mr. Malfoy (who had still pumpkin juice dripping from his face and clothes), her mother was having a screaming contest with Mrs. Flint, Percy and the eldest Flint boy looked like they would be coming to blows in a few moments, the twins had their own private argument with a girl who looked liked she was also a Flint and a boy who was apparently her boyfriend and Ron was engulfed somewhere in the chaos she couldn't see. All in all there were probably thirty adults and forty-five kids involved, but her family was at the center of it. Oh, how she wished that the ground would open and simply swallow her up.

Then she noticed a blond boy who was obviously the son of Mr. Malfoy who was likewise standing to the side, holding his head in his hands and muttering "This isn't happening; this can't be happening." After saying these words a few more times he breathed deeply and composed himself before looking around. When his eyes found her he cocked his head thoughtfully for a moment before approaching her.

She feared she would be drawn into the argument but apparently the boy had different ideas. "Hi, I'm Draco Malfoy. You're a Weasley, aren't you?" he asked in a calm voice.

"Yes, I'm Ginny Weasley." she answered.

He pointed back over his shoulder at the confrontation. "You don't seem to want to partake in the fun. How about we sit down at Fortescue's until things calm down? I pay."

Ginny knew her family wouldn't like her consorting with a Malfoy, but the boy seemed nice and a bit more distance to the disturbance would be appreciated. Besides, she wasn't one to spurn free ice cream. She shrugged. "Sure."

Not even a minute later they were sitting at a table with a prime view of the events in the street and talking amiably while eating a delicious frozen treat. From the looks of it they weren't the only people who were watching the still spreading disturbance with fascination.

"You know, the entire scene would be funny if it wasn't my father there making an embarrassment of himself." Draco remarked after awhile.

Ginny sighed. "I know what you mean. None of them ever backs down, do they?"

"No, it doesn't seem that way. I wonder if they need to call the aurors or if things will calm down on their own. It will surely be talked about for quite a while. I don't even want to imagine what the other children at Hogwarts will say." he answered.

"I wish I could go to Hogwarts, too." she sighed.

Draco laughed. "My little sister is the same. Don't worry; one year isn't much time at all."

"That's only because you aren't stuck at home alone with nothing much to do, oh brother of mine." a female voice sounded from behind.

Turning her head around, Ginny saw a girl her own age standing a meter behind them with folded arms. Even if she hadn't called Draco her brother it would have been clear from the family resemblance that she was his sister.

"Hello Aquila. Allow me to introduce Ginny Weasley. Ginny, this is my sister Aquila."

After exchanging greetings Aquila sat down at their table.

"What did our father do now, and how did it escalate to that?" Aquila asked while gesturing at the still arguing people.

Draco sighed. "He didn't look where he was going and collided with Ginny's father. The rest grandfather will have to show you in our pensieve; you wouldn't believe me if I told you. Where are grandfather and mother?"

"They will be here shortly; I think they just wanted to pick out a trunk. I decided to go ahead on my own." She sent another look at the now slowly calming crowd. "But I certainly didn't expect to find that. Or you talking with a member of the Weasley family; you know how father goes on about them. No offense, Ginny."

Ginny shrugged. "None taken. If you hear my family you would think you Malfoys are all followers of You-know-who and eat muggle babies for breakfast each day."

"Of course we don't; have you any idea what that would do to our blood pressure? No, it's for supper that we eat the babies." Draco joked and they all laughed.

Aquila surveyed the thinning crowd. "Much as I would like to continue this conversation with intelligent people I fear we have to go our separate ways. Our father wouldn't react well to see us talking in a friendly manner, and I guess the same is true for your family."

Nodding, Ginny replied "You're right about that. Well, thanks for the ice cream and company, Draco."

Draco waved her thanks away. "It was no trouble at all. Goodbye, Ginny."

The blond girl eyed her with a thoughtful expression before speaking. "Would it be acceptable to you if we became pen pals? I meet so few people who are interesting to talk to. I can send one of our house elves to deliver my letters and collect yours. None of the adults would ever know."

Ginny smiled after a moment of consideration. "Sure, I would like that. Bye!"

Making herself as inconspicuous as possible, she left the tables, made a little detour and approached her mother from a completely different direction. The two young Malfoys had been nice to talk to; she didn't get that many opportunities to interact with other people her age. She had originally harbored the hope of seeing Harry Potter today, but what were the chances that he would be here at the same day as them? Gaining a pen pal was a very good second in her opinion.

In that moment her mother spied her. "Ah, there you are, Ginny. I've wondered where you had gotten to."

"I tried to stay out of the way of thing on the side of the road, mum." She showed her mother the cauldron filled with some of their purchases she had volunteered for carrying because it made her feel like she was going to Hogwarts. "I didn't want to accidentally get knocked over and spill our things on the ground."

That earned her a pat on the head from her mother. "Very sensible, Ginny. Honestly, the nerve of some people. These horrible Flints…"

Ginny tuned her mother's ranting out when she trudged along to collect their remaining family members. It was typical for her to talk at length about other people's faults while being oblivious to her own. The visit to Diagon Alley had certainly been far more exciting than expected.

Abraxas Malfoy let out a sigh after Draco left his study. His grandson's meeting with Harry Potter had been unexpected, but he couldn't fault Draco for not making a move. He was there alone and it was very likely that Dumbledore had posted a watcher besides the bumbling half-giant. Hagrid was completely loyal to the man and the ideal patsy if you needed a friendly face, but he wasn't the most attentive guardian possible.

The problem was that even if they could talk with Harry none of them had a legal right to his guardianship. Pollux or Arcturus might have been able to swing something with young Harry's consent, but with them dead there was no way he or Cassiopeia could go against Dumbledore with the whole political power his positions gave him. At least he had been able to ascertain where Harry Potter had spent the last ten years of his life now that he had received his wand and was on record with the ministry, even if it had cost him a pretty penny.

To think that Dumbledore had left the boy with muggles of all people. Muggles! Sure, the woman was his aunt by blood, but it was no fitting way to bring up the heir of one of the Old Families. There was no telling what the boy knew, didn't know or had falsely been taught. According to Draco he was obviously not used to the magical world, but their conversation had been too limited to ascertain anything else. Presenting himself as helpful and possible future friend was really the best thing Draco could have done. Abraxas was proud of both his grandchildren. Draco in particular showed a maturity far beyond his years.

'He will need it. I have only about two years left. Hopefully Lucius won't ruin the family.'

It was really a shame he couldn't simply pass over Lucius, but Draco was too young. There were ways to an early emancipation, but none he could use with Narcissa and Lucius alive. If he had already been an adult he could have named him the direct heir, but the way things were he had to limit himself to other measures. A smile lit his face when the old man thought of all the assets he had squirreled safely away. What assets Lucius didn't know about he wouldn't be able spend, after all. The scene on Diagon Alley had once again shown why Lucius couldn't be trusted. His son was simply way too arrogant for his own good. Abraxas knew he himself had the same weakness, but he kept it firmly under control.

Well, there was no sense in fretting about it further. With Draco at Hogwarts he would concentrate on Aquila. There was so much to teach and so little time.

Draco exchanged greetings with people he knew while he made his way onboard the Hogwarts express. He wasn't especially close with any of them, but they were the children he had been allowed regular contact with. Unfortunately, they seemed to have turned out mostly like the other Draco had experienced. Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle were prime examples of the problems with the application of the pureblood ideology to a very limited population. The elder Draco had invested a lot of effort in his later life, but he finally had been able to conclusively prove that marrying only other magicals indeed increased the magical strength of a bloodline over time and on average. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for general intelligence and a lot of other rather important traits.

Crabbe's death in the other future was typical for the type of wizard that ideology produced: Powerful enough to call forth full-blown fiendfyre, but too stupid to recognize that a cluttered room with a lot of flammable material was one of the worst possible places you could use that spell, especially if you were inside that same room. Not that he had possessed enough willpower and ability to concentrate to keep it under control under battle conditions. No, Draco had decided to follow the philosophy of Aunt Cassie: There was only power. If a person had enough power and more importantly enough intelligence to wield it effectively it didn't matter much who this person's parents were. It wasn't what his grandfather considered ideal, but it was an acceptable philosophy to him.

This time around the two boys seemed to have taken to following Nott around. In Draco's opinion he was welcome to them. Sure, there was a place for muscle in every lord's employ, but if that muscle was literally too stupid to live it constituted more a liability than an asset. The rest of the entourage of his other self wasn't much better. Theo Nott was a less whiny and more dangerous version of his alternate self, Pansy Parkinson was a simpering fool, Millicent Bulstrode had not only a troll's looks but its intelligence and so on. The only two people out of the potential Slytherin crowd who were worth anything while being salvageable were Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass, and that was mostly because their families had remained neutral in the entire Voldemort mess and had therefore not indoctrinated them to a hopeless degree.

Nodding his head here and there, Draco searched for a free compartment with a good look of the train platform. He was very early, but it was a necessity if he wanted to find a good compartment. Finally finding one to his liking, he stored his trunk and sat down.

The encounter with the Weasley family in Diagon Alley a month ago had been a surprise; it certainly didn't happen in the other timeline. He wasn't entirely sure why he had approached Ginny. Well, the prime reason was that she hadn't behaved like an idiot and it was much more fun to watch the disturbance with someone who had the same problem as him, namely idiot family members. But there was another reason. Draco had gained the vague feeling that Ginny was somehow important for some of the future happenings at Hogwarts, but he wasn't sure.

That thought caused him to frown. He hadn't noticed at first, but the memories he had received were either incomplete or something had gotten scrambled somewhere in the process. The events of Hogwarts years one, four, five, six and seven were more or less clear, but surprisingly little seemed to happen in year three. Well, aside from the dementors and the rather feeble attempts of his counterpart to get Hagrid fired and a hippogriff killed.

He hadn't received complete memories; in fact most of the lessons and other random stuff weren't included in the first place. Draco thought that a very wise measure. If it were otherwise he would have been bored to tears during his entire school career, and the amount of memories his older self had been able to send had obviously been limited. He really didn't need to know what he had eaten each day. Most of what he had deciphered either was helpful abstract knowledge, things he had no way of finding out normally, very advanced stuff that would come in useful later and most importantly the high points of the following years with enough actual memories to provide the necessary context and all sorts of plans and suggestions how he could go about to change things. Some of them he considered insane, but all in all he knew what the following years would bring.

That brought him to the problem he had discovered. Either literally nothing of importance happened in second year, or the memories relating to it had somehow been lost. Draco's money was on the second option. Oh, he had found bits and pieces of different events, but he had not been able to assemble a coherent whole. Somehow Ginny had played an important role and Harry had rescued her from some unspecified threat, but that was all he had been able to ascertain. Well, you couldn't expect that a series of mainly untested spells regarding to time travel worked absolutely correctly the first time you tried it, and unfortunately there wouldn't be any second chances.

Suddenly he spied a familiar face he definitely hadn't expected to meet here outside of his compartment.

"Justin, is that you?" he asked in surprise.

The boy stopped walking and turned around to face the compartment. "Draco, old chap? You're a wizard?"

A grin spread slowly over Draco's face while he stood and shook the boy's hand. "You can say that. In fact, my whole family has been magical for generations."

Justin laughed. "That certainly explains some of the peculiar things about you. My parents thought you and your grandfather were merely eccentric. With you here the entire thing will go over much better with my parents. Especially my mother wanted me to go to Eton."

Draco shrugged. "What can I say? We certainly have enough money that nobody dares to call us crazy, and I think I did quite admirably considering that I first visited the Muggle World when I was seven. You should see what some of the other wizards get up to."

Draco had met Justin Finch-Fletchley and his family while attending a horse race with his grandfather. They had somehow hit it off well just after a few minutes of talking. Justin's family was upper class and deeply involved in banking and similar things. His grandfather had promptly used the opportunity to establish a new business contact outside of the channels wizards normally used and they had kept in contact over the years. Now that he knew what to look for he found a few tangential mentions of Justin in the older Draco's memories, but he had never paid the boy much attention. Well, another difference for the already very long list.

They continued talking amiably until Draco saw the person he had been waiting for entering the train platform. Hurriedly he opened the window and shouted a greeting. "Hey Harry. Over here!"

The bespectacled boy looked around searchingly for a moment before spotting him. He gave a wave of acknowledgement and turned to enter the train at the nearest entrance. Draco met him at the entrance to help him with his trunk. A minute later they sat together and continued to chat.

"That's a beautiful owl." Draco remarked.

Harry smiled. "Thanks, her name is Hedwig. Hagrid got her for me as a birthday present."

A short time later two girls joined them in the apartment. Draco recognized them as Hannah Abbot and Susa Bones. Interestingly, Harry gave only his first name. Unfortunately for him his hair shifted a bit and gave a prime view of his scar. The girls' eyes went wide.

"A-Are you Harry Potter?" Susan asked.

"Yes, I am." Harry began to turn red under the stares of the girls. Time for Draco to intervene.

"You know, it isn't very polite to gawk at him, and I sincerely hope nobody wants to take a closer look at his scar. I certainly wouldn't want to be constantly reminded of something I have no memory of along with my parents' deaths." he said.

Now it was Susan's and Hannah's turn to turn red, but that didn't prevent three of the occupants of the compartment to turn their stares towards him while Justin had obviously no idea what was going on.

"You knew who I am?" Harry finally asked.

Draco shrugged. "I recognized you pretty much immediately; your description is all over the wizarding world, after all. When you gave only your first name during our meeting at Madame Malkin's I assumed you didn't want to be recognized and I played along. You really don't like your fame, do you?"

Harry lowered his head. "No, I don't. I didn't even know about it and magic until Hagrid brought me my letter on my birthday."

Hannah and Susan were back to staring openmouthed at him.

"Could somebody please explain to me what is going on?" a clearly frustrated Justin asked.

"Well, you see, there was this very bad wizard who killed a lot of people only a few years ago. Not like a serial murderer, but more like the enemy leader in a civil war with his side acting like terrorists. Like the IRA, but worse. Everyone now calls him only You-know-who, but the name he used himself was Voldemort." Susan and Hannah shivered. Draco gestured towards them. "As you can see his name commands even terror among those who haven't any conscious memories of the time. I don't know if that is his real name in the first place, but people don't like it if you speak it. So even if you find it silly please be considerate of other people's feelings and use the hyphenated moniker. Anyway, as I was saying he killed a lot of wizards and muggles, but I believe the muggle part was mostly kept under wraps."

Suddenly Susan spoke up. "He and his followers killed my whole family. My parents, grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts were all murdered. Now only my aunt and I are left." She shivered again when she fell silent. Hannah enveloped her into a hug and sent Draco a look saying he should get on and over with his tale.

"Well, things were really bad until something unexpected happened. For whatever reason You-know-who decided to go after Harry's parents personally. His father was an auror, that's a magical policeman, and he had fought against him several times together with his wife and lived to tell the tale. That caused You-know-who to mark them for death. The Potters had gone into hiding, but somehow he found them. No one knows what really happened that night. The only survivor was Harry here, but considering that he was a bit more than a year old at the time he obviously couldn't tell anyone what happened. The next morning the Dark Lord was gone, his spells fading and organization unraveling, but Harry's parents were dead as well. He obviously survived, but I have no idea how accurate the official version of events is. It seems to be universal knowledge that he survived the killing curse although it left that famous scar. The strange thing is how people know about that in the first place, as far as I know the killing curse leaves no physical traces and Harry disappeared from the wizarding world in that night. You-know-who's wand was never recovered, so how do people know which spells were cast? Anyway, in the following years a lot of tales and whole books about the Boy-who-lived appeared, making him famous and recognizable on sight by every wizard and witch." Draco concluded his explanation.

"To summarize things, Harry here is a celebrity for something he doesn't remember and didn't even know about until recently?" Justin asked.

Harry nodded. "Yes, I lived with my muggle aunt and uncle, and they didn't tell me anything. They don't like magic or me. I always thought my parents had died in a car accident. Draco's tale was the most detailed account anybody has given me. Well, Hagrid told me a bit, but not that much. When I first entered the Leaky Cauldron I was almost mobbed by well-wishers."

"Oh, poor Harry." Hannah and Susan cried simultaneously, jumped up from their seats and enfolded him in a double hug. Draco noticed how Harry stiffened at first but relaxed slowly the longer the hug lasted. He hadn't planned for this development, but it was better than almost anything he could have hoped for. Time to use the opportunity to make a few more inroads.

"Harry, there will be many who will only see you as the Boy-who-lived or want a piece of your fame or the money your parents probably left you. The Potters were always a wealthy family, after all. You can't escape your fame." Draco shared a look with all other occupants of the compartment. "If you want to we can be your friends, and to us you will always be just Harry. Right?"

Susan nodded and finally let go of Harry. "Spoken like a true Hufflepuff. I agree." Hannah and Justin gave similar statements.

Harry smiled. "Thanks, I would like that."

In that moment the train began its journey, and they all took their seats. It didn't take long for a red-headed boy to turn up. "Everywhere else is full. Can I sit here?"

Draco narrowed his eyes. "Sorry, but as you can see our compartment is already full." That was even true. With five of them the compartment's capacity was reached. What was more interesting was that there were always more places than students; the train had always the size to accommodate all students comfortably. He knew that the boy was Ron Weasley, and from how he glanced at Harry it was clear that he had specifically sought him out.

The other Draco's memories of Ron Weasley had been extensive, and none of them were good. Aside from their personal feud to complement the informal family feud the Weasel had been one of the other Harry's two best friends. He was one of the main reasons why Harry hadn't made more friends earlier in his time at Hogwarts. Ron was a glutton, lazy, jelaous and stupid, and his behavior appeared to be contagious. Additionally he tried to monopolize Harry's time. Draco really wondered why the other Harry hadn't ditched him in fourth year at the latest; his behavior over the entire stupid Triwizard Tournament had been completely inexcusable. But no, as soon as he came crawling back after the first task all was forgotten.

It had been one of the older Draco's fondest memories when Ron's entire life came crashing down nineteen years after Voldemort's final defeat. The idiot had used a Confundus-charm on the examiner during a driving test because he was too lazy to accept the verdict and go to the effort of repeating the test. That little Confundus had spiraled completely out of control into a massive breach of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, and the following investigation had uncovered several additional instances of abuse of authority. Most of them were fairly minor, but taken together Ron had a massive problem. He had lost literally everything: the respect of his friends and family, his marriage and his job. In fact, he barely escaped prison and drank himself to death within the year. Harry had been blameless but had been forced to resign from his post as Head Auror. One and a half years later he had been stabbed to death in a brawl between several drunks.

The memories of that time were still vague, but the elder Draco hadn't been able to rejoice for long. With the Statute of Secrecy irrevocably broken international relations had destabilized, leading to several prospective Dark Lords trying to take over the Muggle Word. Not long after that the Third World War had started. Well, this time around Draco would make sure to keep Ron as far away from Harry as he could manage.

'Please say or do something stupid. Please say or do something stupid.'

Ron didn't disappoint. Pointing towards him, the red-headed boy began to speak. "You can always turn him out. I've heard of his family. They were one of the first to come back to our side after You-know-who disappeared. His father said he had been bewitched, but my dad doesn't believe it. He says the Malfoys didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark side. You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much nicer than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there. My name is Ron Weasley." After that declaration he tried to push his way further into the compartment, but was blocked by Harry and Justin.

"Thank you, I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself." Harry answered coolly.

"I would suggest you find a compartment of your own." a stone faced Justin added.

The two girls nodded in confirmation, and confronted with a united front the Weasel faltered. His face growing red, he turned around and left the compartment while muttering "Mental, the lot of them."

Justin let out a sigh when he sat back down. "I have to say that was an unpleasant chap. What was he talking about, Draco?"

This was a difficult question. How he answered would shape their relationships for the years to come. Hesitantly he began speaking. "It's complicated. My father was among the followers of You-know-who, but in his trial he successfully pleaded that he had been under a curse that took his free will away. There were certainly a lot of such cases; in fact the fading of the control spells was the first sign that You-know-who was gone. The problem is that there is no way to check if that is true in the individual cases. Now, I'm not very close to him and he doesn't talk about it, but there are rumors he was a willing follower in truth. They are spread mainly by my family's political opponents, but that gets even more complicated. Needless to say the Weasleys as a family belong to a different political faction and our animosity goes back generations. I can honestly say that neither I nor my grandfather would ever willingly swear allegiance to You-know-who. Unfortunately I can't speak for my father or some other people related to my family. I can only say that I'm not my father and I don't share his beliefs. Besides, if I were a blood-purist like You-know-who I wouldn't have been on friendly terms with Justin and his family for years. It's my hope we can become friends regardless of that. No one can pick his relations, after all."

Draco saw Harry's flinch with satisfaction. That comment had hit the mark. He knew that his aunt and uncle were pretty much the muggle version of Death Eaters who lacked only the support of an organization of like-minded people to become violent.

Harry held out his hand. "I don't hold you responsible for the actions of other people or what your father might have done. No one should be held to that standard."

Smiling, Draco shook the offered hand. The other occupants of the compartment expressed similar sentiments. It hadn't been in his plans to get that close to Harry that quickly but it wasn't like he could control every little action in the world. If they were sorted into the same house things would get problematic concerning possible scrutiny from Dumbledore.

They continued talking about this and that but didn't touch any really serious topics. There was a knock on the door of their compartment and a round-faced boy came in.

"Sorry." he said. "Have you seen a toad?" When they shook their heads, he wailed "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me."

"Have you asked a prefect or one of the older students for help?" Draco asked. "There are spells for finding and summoning things, so they should be able to help you."

The boy nodded before leaving the compartment again. "Thanks, I didn't think of that."

When the lady selling snacks arrived they pooled their money to buy a bit of everything. Draco got lucky with his share of the Every Flavour Beans, but Justin, Harry and Hannah weren't so fortunate. Susan had wisely refrained from eating any of them. Then the conversation veered to the Hogwarts Houses.

"Susan and I are hoping for Hufflepuff. We've been friends for like forever, and don't shy away from hard work." Hannah said.

Susan nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, my aunt was in Hufflepuff and she still keeps in contact with her school friends. If its friendship and loyalty you want Hufflepuff is the place for you."

Justin and Harry didn't have any preference, but Draco advocated Ravenclaw.

"Why do you want to be there, old chap?" Justin asked curiously.

His answer earned a round of laughter. "Simple, they have a private library in their tower." After the laughter subsided he continued speaking. "It's just that I like to learn and study, and I fear my father's reaction if I end up in Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. He has some silly prejudice against these houses. Slytherin is what is really expected from me, but I might be able to sell Ravenclaw with the right sort of arguments. We can stay in contact even if we're sorted into different houses, but it won't be as easy."

Soon enough they arrived at Hogsmeade station. Draco wondered how many children lived normally here and had to be brought to London only to take the train back to their home. When they were led to the boats the first years were required to use Draco was separated from them somehow and ended up sharing a boat with Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger of all people. It was then that he noticed another change.

This Hermione seemed different from the insufferable know-it-all she had been in the other timeline. She kept relatively quiet most of the time, but in her eyes was a look of calculation that was decidedly out of place for an average eleven year-old.

'I wonder what brought that change on. The other Hermione was extraordinarily intelligent in some ways and extremely stupid in others.'

In the other future she had become known as the witch responsible for the House Elf genocide. It was perhaps the only eradication of a sentient species in history that had been done with the intention of helping said species. When everything in Magical Britain came crashing down some time after her husband's Confundus-stunt and Harry's death she had seen all her work for the freedom of house elves becoming undone and resorted to desperate measures. No one ever figured out what exactly she had done before she went into hiding, but somehow all magical bonds between house elves and their families were forcefully severed and new ones became impossible to form worldwide. Aside from the fact that most house elves didn't actually want to be free the other Hermione had overlooked a little known but vital fact: house elves needed a bond with a magical family to survive long-term and procreate. Places of great magical power such as Hogwarts could substitute for that under certain circumstances, but the other Hermione's actions had made that impossible. Two years after that the last house elf died. They had been a small population centered around Britain and some other European countries in the first place; other places had their own forms of magical household servants.

Draco made some small talk with them, and at least Neville was his expected timid self. The boat ride was otherwise pleasant and Hogwarts a truly impressive sight to behold. During their wait in the antechamber the Weasel made some inane comments about wrestling a troll and some ghosts passed through. Absentmindedly Draco noticed how Hermione was calming a nervous Neville down, but most of his attention was focused on his occlumency. He had no idea if he would be able to deceive the Sorting Hat, but he would try his best. After all, you couldn't see were the thing kept its brain.

Finally they were told to form a line and led into the great hall by McGonagall. Like the sight of the castle it was truly impressive. The enchanted ceiling was a truly masterful piece of magic. Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." she said. "Abbott, Hannah!" The pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. After a moment the hat shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!".

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Draco saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!" "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!" "RAVENCLAW!" The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

" Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Draco could see the Weasley twins catcalling.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!" "HUFFLEPUFF!"

It seemed all of his new friends so far had ended up in Hufflepuff. No surprises until now.

That changed when Hermione Granger was placed under the hat. It took several minutes and it seemed the girl was arguing with the hat, but finally it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

Neville didn't take as long as in the other timeline before he was sorted into Gryffindor, too.

Finally it was Draco's turn. He walked forward in a manner that he hoped looked normal and carefully placed the hat on his head while concentrating on his deceptive occlumency.

"Hmm." a small voice said in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of cunning, I see. Not a lack of courage or loyalty to friends and family either. There's talent - my goodness, I haven't seen such a thirst for knowledge in generations, now that's interesting..."

Draco could actually feel the hat poking around in his mind, but until now it hadn't found the occluded part of his thoughts and memories. 'I would prefer Ravenclaw if you don't mind.'

"Not Slytherin like most of your family, eh?" the small voice said. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that - no. Well, if you're sure - better be RAVENCLAW!"

After the hat shouted the name of his new house Draco calmly took off the hat and walked to the Ravenclaw table. He got some amount of applause, but not as much as other people. With a nod to his new housemates he sat down, watching the Sorting with interest while observing the High Table out of the corner of his eye.

'Severus looks surprised; I bet he thought I would end up in Slytherin. The others didn't react in any way.'

Draco wasn't close to his godfather. His grandfather disliked the man and kept their contact to the minimum that could be barely considered polite. Secretly Draco agreed. Severus Snape wasn't a good man, and Draco was pretty sure if he hadn't been caught between Dumbledore and Voldemort he would have tried to set himself up as a minor Dark Lord in some small, out-of-the-way country. Certainly no sane person would let him anywhere near impressionable children, and letting him actually trying to teach was pure madness. Oh sure, he was a very capable potions master and exceptional wizard in general, but he was a sadist and completely unsuited for teaching. Self-study was the only way to learn something; the potions classes were only good to get some practical experience. The number of students taking potions past OWL-level had dropped sharply ever after he took over the teaching position, thereby depriving the country of many future healers and other important professions which required a NEWT in potions. Most non-Slytherins had to resort to private tutoring after school if they wanted to work in those jobs. Slytherin house had pretty much degenerated into a training pit for future Death Eaters and blood purists under his reign, and the antagonism with the Gryffindors was increasing. The old head of house Slughorn had his faults, but he had never permitted the degree of open abuse Snape did.

That wasn't even touching the man's other problems. He had happily killed and raped while he was a Death Eater only to get cold feet when his love/obsession Lily Potter became a target. If he had been a better man Draco might have felt compassion for his being stuck between two masters, but Snape had chosen his own path. The only reason he was still here and not in a cell in Azkaban was that Dumbledore didn't want to lose his pet Death Eater and shielded him from the consequences of his actions. It was quite disconcerting to see how several problems at Hogwarts and the Wizarding World in general were never addressed simply because Dumbledore said all was well and his political allies kept everything under wraps and out of the spotlight.

The other young Draco had been very close to Snape and delighted in his torment of Harry, but from the distance of more than a hundred years it had seemed idiotic and childish, an opinion which the real Draco shared. He had better things to do than acting like an incompetent schoolyard bully.

It seemed far longer than it was in reality, but finally it was Harry's turn to be sorted. As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

"Potter, did she say." "The Harry Potter." "The Boy-who-lived."

'You'd think Harry was an exotic animal when you see all the people craning their necks to get a look at an eleven year-old.' Draco thought.

The sorting of Harry was by far the longest of all the new first years, and Draco crossed his fingers that his manipulations had been successful. Suddenly the hat shouted "HUFFLEPUFF!" and the corresponding table erupted into loud cheers. Draco noticed the looks of surprise on many faces, but at least Dumbledore never lost control of his poker face. When Harry arrived at the table of his new house Justin immediately pulled him on the free seat between him and Hannah.

'YES! Operation: Keep Harry Out Of Gryffindor was a full success.'

The few remaining children were sorted, Dumbledore made his inane announcements, the third corridor was mentioned and the feast began. Draco made a bit of conversation with his new housemates. Terry Boot, Stephen Cornfoot, Michael Corner were fellow purebloods, Anthony Goldstein was a half-blood and Kevin Entwhistle was a muggleborn, not that such things mattered much to Draco. On the girls' side Padma Patil and Morag MacDougal were purebloods; Sue Li, Mandy Brocklehurst and Lisa Turpin half-bloods. The old Draco had never paid that much attention to the Ravenclaws, meaning he didn't have any preconceived notions about any of them. At least Stephen and Morag he knew in passing, his grandfather was friends with Morag's grand-uncle and did business with Stephen's father.

After the feast they were led to Ravenclaw tower and the riddle-locked door was explained. Draco considered that setup stupid, after all anyone with a bit of thinking ability would be able to get into their common room. Professor Flitwick made some introductorily speech and the prefects introduced themselves. A short time later Draco was lying in his new bed in the Ravenclaw boys' dormitory, thinking about the day.

All in all it had gone much better than he had hoped for. First thing tomorrow morning he would have to compose a letter to his family. He hoped his being in Ravenclaw would go over well. Not that there was anything anybody could do about that now. Draco briefly considered the insanity of letting a millennium-old artifact with indecipherable enchantments decide about such a large chunk of the life of young children. Had he been in charge he would have simply divided the new students at random or done without the houses in the first place. He was still contemplating the matter when sleep overwhelmed him.

Abraxas carefully removed the letter from the owl obviously belonging to Hogwarts. It had interrupted their dinner, but the timing matched with a sending time of early morning in Scotland. The letter had been expected, and he wondered which house his grandson had ended up in. Unfolding the letter, he began to read.

"Well, what does it say?" Narcissa asked.

The old man chuckled before passing the letter along without reading more than the first paragraph. "It seems Draco's studious nature was stronger than the family tradition. We can count a new Ravenclaw among us. The last one was my great-aunt Priscilla. He writes it took a while to decide between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, but in the end his love of books and knowledge won out."

Lucius seemed to grumble a bit, but in the end it mattered little to Abraxas which house Draco was in. True, traditionally the Malfoys were Slytherins, but Ravenclaw was completely acceptable. It seemed his friend Alan MacDougal's grand-niece had wound up there, too. Abraxas had considered setting up a betrothal contract with her among others for Draco and had actually spoken with the boy about it, but after hearing Draco's arguments he had abandoned that line of thought. It was likely the political situation would shift greatly in the next years, and it wouldn't do to hitch their cart to the wrong horse. Alan had understood, but Lord Parkinson had made no secret of his disappointment. He was sure Lucius would have gone for that agreement, but Abraxas didn't think it was a good idea to consort with another family that had fanatically supported Voldemort. Abraxas tried his utmost to move them towards a more neutral position and that would have been a set-back to that endeavor.

Narcissa's pealing laughter interrupted his thoughts. "Oh my, Harry Potter was sorted into Hufflepuff."

Abraxas cocked a bushy eyebrow. "Really? I would have expected Gryffindor. It seems your son isn't the only one who breaks with tradition."

"He writes he actually shared a compartment with Harry, the Bones girl and some other people. They went all into Hufflepuff. He thinks Harry wanted to follow the majority of his new friends." Narcissa continued reading. "If possible he will try to keep the contact with Harry, but with them being in different houses it will not be as easy." Suddenly she laughed out loud.

"What do you find so funny, dear?" Lucius asked.

Narcissa took some time to calm down and wipe some tears away. "It seems Arthur Weasley's youngest son entered their compartment during the train ride to ingratiate himself with Harry. Draco calls him 'the Weasel' in his letter, and his attempt backfired spectacularly. Somehow he managed not only to alienate Harry but Susan Bones and their friends, too. He made some comments about our family being dark in his small-minded Weasley manner and suggested they throw our son out of the compartment to make room for him. Needless to say, Draco turned the argument around and convinced all the others of his viewpoint."

Lucius smirked at this as if it was his success. "I suppose he has still a lot of Slytherin in him."

After she finished reading the letter a frown creased Narcissa's face. "Draco writes that Dumbledore told everyone that the third corridor is off-limits and a painful death awaits any student who goes there."

"What is that old fool playing at now?" Lucius ground out.

There were many things Abraxas and his son didn't agree on, but their dislike of Dumbledore was not among them.

"Draco didn't know, but he will try to find out more in an inconspicuous manner if the opportunity presents itself." Narcissa said.

"It's good to be careful. Dumbledore might be crazy, but he is still a very dangerous man. I doubt we can do anything even if he keeps an acromantula or something like that in the castle. Still, I will bring it up in the next meeting of the school board of governors. The Longbottom heir now visits Hogwarts, and old Augusta is very protective of him." Abraxas said thoughtfully. He looked at Narcissa. "Are you finished with the letter? I want to show it to Aquila before I send it on to Cassiopeia."

His daughter-in-law handed the letter back. "She's still sleeping. I think she stayed awake the entire night in case Draco sent a letter that evening. She already misses her big brother."

Abraxas laughed. "Ah, to be young again. It will seem no time at all until she leaves for Hogwarts, too. Now, if you will excuse me."

Leaving his finished dinner behind, Abraxas made his way to his study. Once there he duplicated the letter with a spell onto an identical looking piece of parchment, lit a candle and waved the original carefully above the flame. After a few moments formerly invisible writing appeared on the backside of the letter. He and Draco were pretty sure that the mail was somehow monitored, and there were things no one besides Abraxas could be allowed to learn. Almost all magically invisible writing could be detected, but the same wasn't true for the simple muggle methods of making invisible writing. Lemon juice was easy to come by, and after the application of a bit of heat it became visible. Naturally, it was additionally coded with a cipher only he and Draco knew.

Abraxas frowned when he read the sentences. Draco wasn't sure, but he suspected Harry was being mistreated by the muggles. His clothing had once again been ill-fitting and he seemed malnourished. Unfortunately there was nothing they could do about it directly. Abraxas had begun to carefully probe into the neighborhood where Harry's family lived. The first thing he had discovered was an extensive network of wards. There were a whole lot more magical detection wards in the area than normal, and it had caused him to abort his investigation. If he tried anything further with the ministry of magic Dumbledore would surely hear about it.

The other bit of news was more lighthearted. Abraxas chuckled lightly when he read that Justin Finch-Fletchley was magical. That certainly explained the strange behavior of the family in the last few months. Suddenly Abraxas got an idea. If he couldn't find out more things about Harry's relatives the magical way he would have to go to the muggles. Some of his acquaintances certainly had the right connections to make a discreet inquiry.

He nodded to himself. Yes, that would be a good way to further unravel the secret of Dumbledore's strange actions regarding the last Potter.

Author's notes: Thanks for the reviews, folks.

This chapter was very quick to write. The next one will probably take longer.