December comes, and it brings with it the usual constant snowfall of early winter. Quidditch practices are quickly put on hold (which is nice, since I lack a broom with which to practice), and the lack of such activities means that I have fewer excuses not to let Tamelyn take control and spend time researching.

I can't figure it out.

'Figure what out? We've kind of had a lot on our minds recently.'

I suppose that's true. In this case, I was talking about the Shrieking Shack.

'Seriously? That's what you choose to focus on right now? Between your need to get a body of your own, our need to figure out why your core self wanted to kill me, your promises to teach me legilimency, and the fact that I shot down your anti-muggleborn argument, you choose to rekindle our Shrieking Shack investigation?'

I wanted to research something low-stress. I needed a break from the more important projects.

'And your solution was to go back to a frustrating investigation that's proven to be full of dead ends? Why don't you just, I don't know, do whatever it is you do to relax?'

Research is how I relax.

'Somehow, I'm not surprised to learn that your only hobby is less stressful work. It explains a lot about you.'

Hey!

'Well it does!'

…Hmph.

I take control of my body and wave my wand to send all of the research materials back to their proper shelves. It's honestly amazing how much magic I've been able to pick up just from feeling Tamelyn control my body. That's probably been the best part of our arrangement so far.

'Why don't you just use your text-searching spell to look through newspapers? Surely that would be more efficient than searching each one like you've been doing.'

The text-search spell is… finicky. It doesn't work very well on newspapers, since they don't have any binding.

'Well, if you invented this spell, why don't you just change or adjust it so it can work on newspapers?'

…I'm not even going to begin explaining why that won't work. Spell creation is insanely complicated. It's not like accidental magic where you just have to visualise what you want to happen. Wand magic is highly structured and organised, so only certain things will work. I created a spell that searches pages for mention on a certain word phrase, but it only searches multiple pages if they're bound together.

'That seems like an arbitrary limitation.'

Oh, it is an arbitrary limitation. Sometimes I think that magic is sentient but barely understands people, so it's just very bad at figuring out exactly what we want. Either that or it's sapient and deliberately fucking with us.

I walk out of the library and pause, trying to decide what to do. Exams for the autumn term are coming up, so I don't have any homework left to do. My broom is wrecked so I can't go flying. Ron is trying desperately to catch up on his homework for the term, so I can't play chess with him, and Hermione is almost certainly splitting her time between her own unnecessary studying and chiding Ron for procrastinating while helping him catch up on his work, so I can't really hang out with her either…

Wow, I really don't have many hobbies, do I?

I could go see Hagrid, but I really don't feel like trekking through the snow at the moment…

'I think I'm going to go speak with Lupin.'

Good idea. Ask him about the Shrieking Shack. He was probably a student around that time that it first became "haunted".

I roll my eyes as I walk towards the Defence classroom.

'You need a break. And probably a hobby, too.'

I'll think over the hobby thing. Don't expect any results. I'm not really one for leisure.

'I find that extremely easy to believe.'

Peeves rounds the corner and throws several dungbombs at me, which I promptly vanish with a wave of my wand.

'The way you explained it, I thought silent casting would be harder than this.'

It normally would be, but you're able to "borrow" my knowledge and experience with magic to access higher tiers more easily, which is then backed up by the frankly absurd power of our combined cores. All magic will be easier for you like this. Hell, you may be able to master wandless magic before the start of your fifth year at this rate.

'That's probably the first reason I've come up with not to get you out of my body as soon as we can.'

Oh, don't even joke about that. I have no plans on being here any longer than necessary.

'Realistically, how long is that going to take? I mean, you have a plan to get out, at least.'

Alchemy is complicated. I'll need a lot more time to finish understanding the principles before I can even start attempting the basics. From there, I'll need to get in plenty of practice to make sure I actually know what I'm doing. Unfortunately, we're building a body the hard way for my plans.

'Why go for the hardest course of action?'

Because it will be the closest possible match for what my body was like at the age of eighteen. If I'm going to go through the trouble of making a body for myself, then I will be doing it properly. Especially since our situation, while problematic, opens up some new opportunities.

None of the moving staircases are at my current landing, so I jump down to the floor below and cast a cushioning charm as I land.

'I don't think I ever appreciated just how exhilarating magic was before this.'

It really is amazing, isn't it? Once you start getting good at magic, you really learn to appreciate just how powerful and useful it is. After all it's hardly practical to use a spell if you need a precise wand movement and specifically intoned incantation. When you start learning to do whatever you want with a wave of your wand, you learn just how powerful magic can truly make us.

I rap my knuckles on the door to Lupin's office. His voice sounds through the door shortly.

"You can come in, Harry."

I open the door and see Professor Lupin tucking a piece of parchment into his robes as he moves to pour us each a cup of tea.

"How did you know it was me, si-Remus?"

Lupin just smiles. "Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it? A master never reveals his secrets, you know."

'Is he joking? I can't tell.'

Me neither. It's kind of weird how friendly he is with you, in my opinion.

'I know, right? I mean, I get that he was friends with my dad, but I'm kind of weirded out by how, I don't know, invested in me he seems.'

You're weirded out, yet you keep coming back here.

'I mean… I guess I just like the idea that an adult cares about me for reasons besides my being the "boy-who-lived".'

…Yeah, I guess I understand.

Lupin finishes preparing the cups of tea, so I ask him Tamelyn's question.

"Professor, do you know anything about the Shrieking Shack?"

Lupin nearly stumbles at my question, though he somehow refrains from spilling the tea as he sits down.

"What makes you ask that, Harry?" He replies with clearly failing composure.

Huh, looks like he knows something after all. I really didn't expect him to know anything.

'Yet you still had me ask him?'

It pays to be thorough. Let this experience be proof of that.

"I've been trying to investigate it, and you're probably the only adult I know of who was a student around the time when it first became haunted."

Lupin's smile falters. "And when did it first become haunted, according to your research?"

"Sometime between 1963, when the previous owners died, and the mid-seventies, when the Hogwarts ghosts began avoiding the area." Lupin visibly relaxes at my explanation, so I press him. "What do you know about it?"

He smiles again, though it's obviously forced. "I'm afraid I couldn't tell you much more about it beyond what most people would be able to."

…Is he kidding me? He doesn't actually think that I would buy that, does he? "I don't appreciate being lied to, Professor. I've had to deal with enough of it already."

Lupin winces at my accusation. "I suppose I was pretty transparent." He says with a sigh. "I wasn't lying though — there's a lot of stuff about the Shrieking Shack that I literally cannot tell you."

Well that's interesting. His choice of language makes me suspect an oath.

'That does seem likely. Should I press him further?'

I don't see why not. Go for it.

"I see. Who did you swear an oath to?"

Lupin sighs. "No oaths, just a modified unbreakable vow with several escape clauses that we apparently misworded since we were children."

'Escape clause?'

It's a way of preventing a vow from being permanent. For example, you could swear a vow that will only be in effect for five years, or that it will only be in effect so long as certain conditions remain true. It's one of the major reasons that most people use unbreakable vows instead of magical oaths.

'Wait, why did we swear oaths then?'

Because we are sharing a body. Unbreakable vows require both parties to hold their wands up to each other, something that we are physically incapable of doing.

'I guess that makes sense.'

"So…" I say, jumping back to my conversation with Lupin, "You swore a vow with someone else and now you can't tell me anything about the Shrieking Shack?"

"That's… mostly true. There are some things that I can tell you about it, but they're all very personal. I'll be sure to tell you someday, but I don't think I'm ready now. Alright?"

I nod and sip my tea for a while before Lupin asks me a question.

"Harry, you said that you've had to deal with a lot of people lying to you. Could you give me some examples of the sorts of lies that people have told you?"

I think it over for a bit, debating how much to tell him, or if I should even reply at all.

I say you go for it. If you're lucky, it might shake his faith in Dumbledore, which can only be a good thing for us. Anything to keep his attention off of us.

"Dumbledore's done it a few times, like back at the end of my first year. He told me that the reason Quirrel, whom Voldemort was possessing, couldn't touch me was because of my mother's love for me, when it was actually some sort of ritual that was completed with her death. And then he refused to tell me why Voldemort was so focused on me, giving me nothing more than a vague explanation that he would 'tell me when I was older', as if that isn't the hallmark phrase of adults who just don't want to answer questions."

"An unfortunate reality of adulthood, Harry, is realising that you can't go telling everyone everything. Sometimes, information does have to be withheld for someone else's own good. It's never a pleasant choice to make, but it's a necessary one."

'Given that I had just burned a man to death with my bare hands, I'd like to think I was entitled to some form of information.'

Especially since it's information that's clearly pertinent now. My core self is still out to get you, so knowing why would at least help you be more prepared.

Lupin looks a bit alarmed at my mention of burning a man to death, but doesn't press me on it. "Was there anyone else who lied to you?" He asks.

"Well, my relatives did, but… I'd rather not talk about them, if you don't mind."

Lupin's brow furrows. "Harry, are you… happy at your relatives'?"

I don't wince, much as I'd like to. "I said that I'd rather not talk about it, sir."

"Right, yes, I suppose you did." He says with a sigh.

I can see why you keep coming back here. It's nice to have an adult who backs off when you'd rather not talk about something. Slughorn filled that role for me while I was at Hogwarts, though he was never personally invested in me the way that Lupin seems to be with you.

'You'll have to tell me more about Slughorn someday.'

Oh, he was a terrible person who was more concerned with networking than anything else, but those networking skills meant he was very good at knowing not to pry, which I appreciated. He was also very well-informed, which helped when I had questions about some of magic's more obscure aspects.

"So, Professor, you knew my mum, too, right? You've told me a lot of stories about my dad, but not many about her. I'd like to know more about her, especially since she was smart enough to come up with a ritual capable of blocking the killing curse."

Lupin's face quickly shows the same wistfulness that he gets whenever he talks about his childhood. "I didn't know your mother nearly as well as I knew your father. She rather hated our guts for the first several years of our schooling, and not entirely without reason. We were troublemakers of the highest calibre, after all. That said, Lily found me less offensive than she did the rest of our group."

"What was she like?"

"She was… a genius. I honestly think that if Hogwarts allowed it, she would have been moved ahead a year or two. She excelled at pretty much everything she put her mind to, though she did tend to get a bit… wrapped up in her academics. Alice constantly had to constantly remind her to eat and sleep so she didn't spend all of her time trying to solve whatever problem caught her fancy."

"Alice?" I ask. I don't remember him mentioning anyone named Alice before.

"Alice Prince, the mother of your friend Neville. She wasn't friends with your mother, not back in school, at least, but they were acquaintances, since they were in the same dorm. Anyways, going back to your mother, she was the sort of person to throw herself completely into any project that caught her attention. Even though she hated us, she wound up helping out with a few of our pranks, even if the help was inadvertent on her part. On one occasion, your dad approached her with a problem he was having with a modification that he was trying to make to a potion, and she vanished into the library for almost a week before she spontaneously reappeared with a recipe for the modified potion."

"What was the potion?" Tamelyn asks, slipping into control for a moment.

"Ah, I'm afraid that information falls under the unbreakable vow I mentioned."

That's a pity. Potion modification is an extremely advanced process that very few are ever capable of.

'Hmm…"

"So, if my parents disliked each other so much, then how did they end up getting married?" I ask.

"Ah, your father wound up maturing quite a bit after an… incident in our sixth year. Enough that he ended up becoming Head Boy and usurping my position of prefect when we came back for our seventh year. Your mother also severed ties with… her best friend in her sixth year, so she and James ended up becoming friends, and later, more than friends."

It seems bizarre to me that two who were at odds for so long were able to enter a successful romance together. I can't imagine that ever happening to me.

I suppose stranger things have happened, though.

Mastering wandless magic is much harder than mastering silent and gestureless magic. I've been trying to ignite a piece of parchment sitting on the table in front of me for the past fifteen minutes to no avail.

Well, maybe if you were to not embrace your inner pyromaniac and try working with one of the wandless spells that I already know, you'd be having more success!

'I've already been using your experience to cast silently and gesturelessly, and do you know what? As much fun as it is, it feels like I'm cheating. I want to actually work for this.'

Harry, you're not even halfway through your third year. You are not going to master a wandless spell at the tender age of thirteen.

'And that lack of mastery won't be for a lack of trying on my part.'

Gods, maybe you should have been in Hufflepuff with that attitude.

'You know, your militant dislike of Hufflepuff is kind of hilariously clichéd.'

Hey!

'Well it is!'

I bet you'd be more anti-Hufflepuff if I was in your head last year when they all thought you were the Heir of Slytherin…

'If you were in my head last year, then there wouldn't have been an "Heir of Slytherin" for people to accuse me of being.'

They were still being mindless idiots about it.

'And I am quite certain that that had less to do with them being Hufflepuffs and more to do with them being just as prone to conclusion jumping as the rest of Magical Britain.'

Okay, that's fair. I retain my right to dislike Hufflepuffs, though.

I roll my eyes and go back to trying to light the parchment on fire. It still fails to spontaneously combust.

Funnily enough, they weren't even wrong. You are an Heir of Slytherin.

'So you keep reminding me.'

I stop trying to ignite the parchment and instead try to levitate it. Levitation is just as hard as fire, apparently.

"Are you done trying to light that parchment on fire with your mind, Harry?" A voice calls from behind me.

I look backwards to see Katie standing over me with a teasing smile on her face. I spend a moment wondering how she knew what I was trying to do before I realise she was quoting a muggle euphemism.

"Not yet, but I can take a break if you'd like."

"C'mon, then. The twins are setting up some snow forts for a snowball fight before most of us leave Hogwarts for the break. They wanted us to grab as many people as possible for their 'grand celebration of mayhem'."

"Sure, I have nothing better to do. Let me just grab my cloak and boots and I'll meet you there. Main courtyard, I assume?"

Katie nods in affirmation so I head up to my dorm to grab my things.

Seriously? A snowball fight? You're participating in a snowball fight?

'Well, it's not like there's anything else to do. Besides, the twins throw together some really good group activities.'

Spending a while playing in the snow seems like such a waste of time, though…

'It's fun. I think I'm allowed to have fun once in a while, even if your demented workaholic attitude disagrees.'

Ugh. Fine.

Ron and Hermione are quietly talking to each other on the edge of the courtyard while Fred, George, and Lee are constructing some unnecessarily intricate snow forts. I watch them for a moment, admiring the way they combine manual labor and wandwork in their building efforts. In the back of my mind, Tamelyn continues to grumble about this being a waste of time.

I cast a warming charm at myself as more people trickle into the courtyard. The entirety of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Quidditch teams seem to be present, as do a few other members from their houses. Much to my surprise, a few members of the Slytherin quidditch team are there as well, including Marcus Flint, their captain.

My curiosity piqued, I spot Alicia in the crowd and ask her why they're here.

"Oh, them? They overheard us when we were asking a few members of the Ravenclaw team in the great hall and asked to join. I didn't care enough to chase them off.

"Really?" I ask, surprised at her attitude. "Even with how brutally they play during matches?"

"Harry, have you ever seen a professional quidditch match? What they do is pretty tame in comparison. While it may be extreme for a school quidditch match, I plan on going pro once I get out of school. If I'm being honest, I consider their brutal playstyle to be good practice for my future career."

"Huh." I never honestly considered it that way. "So nothing they do is illegal?"

Alicia shrugs. "Most of it isn't at least. I mean, don't you think that Hooch would have called more fouls on them if they were? They obviously push things too far at times, but for the most part, they just play very aggressively within the rules of the game."

I blink a few times. "I suppose that's not really too surprising, now that I think about it. I mean, muggle sports can be just as brutal, and they don't have magical healing to make injuries heal faster." I never really did think much about it, but my knowledge of quidditch was extremely limited back during my first game, and none of the other teams played as aggressively, so I guess I just assumed that the Slytherins were constantly breaking the rules and getting away with it.

Way to be biased against Slytherins, Potter.

'Shut up. Just for a few moments. Please. You keep grumbling about the cold despite the fact that I applied a warming charm.'

It's the principle of the matter. It's beneath us to be out here in this sort of weather.

Fred's (or possibly George's) shouting interrupts me before I have a chance to gripe back at her.

"Oi! It looks like everyone who's going to be here is here, so my esteemed colleagues and I thought we might take this opportunity to establish some rules for this little game before we get started!"

Rules? They must be taking this really seriously if they're actually putting rules into it.

"Rule number one is this!" The other twin says, picking up seamlessly from the first. "It's quite simple, really." He waves his wand, and huge piles of snow appear above the waiting crowds before plummeting downwards, blanketing us.

"There are no rules!" Lee shouts from atop one of the snow forts.

I realise that I should have expected this as I start dodging the hail of snowfire that begins flying around. I quickly take cover behind a snow bank while the twins and Jordan continue to pelt everyone in the gathered crowd with magically commanded snowballs. A few people attempt to take cover in the second fort that the twins constructed, though given the screams I can hear coming from within, I assume it's trapped.

An older student jumps over the snowbank and begins taking cover with me. "Y'know," he says to me, "Somehow, I expected this to be a standard snowball fight with two teams, rather than 'free-for-all versus Jordan and the Weasley twins'."

"They're certainly good at defying expectations." I reply as I try and place a name to his face. He's one of the Slytherin chasers, so he must be… "Warrington, right?"

Warrington grins. "Hey, I didn't actually expect you to know my name. You've got such a small social bubble that I didn't actually think you actually knew anyone's names aside from your Gryffindor yearmates and Malfoy."

"I'm trying to branch out." I say as a wave of snow collides against the snow bank, splashing powdery frost over the two of us. "Got any plans?"

"For what I want to do in life, or for dealing with the twins?"

I roll my eyes. "For dealing with Jordan and the twins, obviously. I don't think we're well-acquainted enough to go into your life plans just yet."

Warrington snickers. "Suit yourself, Potter. Do you know how to cast a physical shield? That's probably our best bet against those snowballs. I don't trust them not to have rigged them with all sorts of pranks."

I'm about to say that I don't know how to cast a physical shield when Tamelyn butts in.

I can't give you the instinctual knowledge of how to cast the spell, but I think I can give you the knowledge of the wand movement and incantation.

Information on how to cast the spell flows into my mind.

"I know the incantation and wand movement, but I've never tried to cast it before." I reply.

"Well, looks like you get to test it out in the field. Let's start this out with a bang, shall we?" Warrington says with the same sort of grin that the Weasley twins have when they're about to prank someone. "You'll want to step back from the snowbank for this."

I push myself back from the snow as Warrington whips out his wand and yells "Expulso!"

The mound of snow is blasted towards the centre of the courtyard where the Weasleys set up their fortification, obscuring everything in a short-lived cloud of snow. Warrington wastes no time before rushing forward and casting a fire-stream charm at the snow fort. As the airborne snow clears, it quickly becomes apparent that his flames aren't having any effects on the snow.

"What the hell!" He shouts. "Did you guys ward the snow or something!? That shouldn't even be possible!"

"A master never tells his secrets, Cassius." One of the twins says. "Now prepare to taste defeat!"

Warrington starts dodging a barrage of snowballs thrown by Jordan and the twins. I watch the snowballs thrown at Warrington, and note that they do indeed have tricks built in. Some swerve around to go for indirect shots, others accelerate after being thrown, some release clouds of smoke, and all of them are likely charmed to play some sort of minor pranks given the state of everyone else in the courtyard. For instance, Hermione's hair has been turned a dark shade of purple, and Ron is sporting a small pair of antlers. I was hiding behind that snowbank for less than ten minutes, and in that time, almost everyone seems to have been hit at least once.

Hey, um…

'Yes?'

Mind if I take over for a bit?

'…Why? I'd really rather not go back inside yet, if you don't mind,'

No, it's just…

'Yes?'

It kind of looks fun.

It goes without saying that Tamelyn almost certainly hasn't been in an actual snowball fight before. If the similarities in our upbringings hold true, then her only experience with snowball fights before Hogwarts was being ruthlessly targeted by the other children and tattled on when she dared to strike back. It's not an experience that endears one to the sport, or to snow in any form. It took witnessing the beauty of a Hogwarts winter combined with frequent insistence on outdoor activities from the Weasleys to reopen my eyes to the beauty of winter.

Tamelyn, not having had any friends during her Hogwarts years, would have had no one to push her boundaries and force her to try things she wouldn't have been inclined towards in the first place. Even her sorting into Slytherin wouldn't have helped, since the windows in her common room would have given her a view under the lake, rather than that of the beautiful snowy landscape.

Watching this hectic snowball fight is probably the first time she's realised that playing in the snow can actually be fun.

'…Fine, you can take over. Just avoid doing anything permanent harm, okay?'

I wouldn't dream of it, Harry.

Tamelyn pulls my wand out of my pocket as we exchange control.

"Aegis." Tamelyn murmurs as she waves my wand in a circle, bringing a shimmering grey shield into existence around us.

The downside to physical shields is that they're two-way. So while it will stop objects from getting inside the shield, it also prevents objects already inside the shield from leaving.

'So you're going to rely on spellfire instead of snowballs?'

Hm… No. I think I can do better than that. Time to see if my time studying alchemy is worth anything when it comes to application…

Tamelyn waves my wand at a pile of snow, slowly forming part of it into a snowball. The process takes less than a minute, but still feels painstakingly slow.

'That seemed like a lot of effort to make a snowball.'

Alchemy is hard. If it was easy, it would be taught in first year with the rest of the core subjects.

'Why not just transfigure it?'

Transfiguration is temporary. Anything made by alchemy is permanent. Moreover, alchemy can be performed from a greater distance than transfiguration can. Turning a lump of snow into a snowball is probably the simplest thing I could have done.

'And it still took you several minutes. You have to make a body using this process?'

Not entirely. I'll be using a different process under the same field. Haven't you been paying attention while I've been reading?

'Absolutely not. I can barely follow what those books say, so I usually just leave you be and focus on my occlumency meditation.'

Well, at least you're not wasting time. Still, you should try and at least pay attention. I'll try not to get too annoyed if you ask any questions. Now then, let's go back to this snowball fight so I can whoop some arse.

'You know, this is just supposed to be a casual snowball fight…'

Sure, that's what they want you to think. Look at the twins, Harry. They are revelling in the power of what they believe to be an assured victory. It's time for me to prove them wrong.

I would normally roll my eyes, but since I'm not in control of my body, I'm unable to do so.

Well, if alchemy's out, then this shield is worthless. I suppose I'll just have to take cover and build up some munitions for a bit.

Tamelyn cancels the shield and jumps behind one of the remaining snowbanks, staring at the snow that composes it.

A short silence permeates the air.

Harry, how do I make a snowball?

'Um… You grab snow and pack it into a ball? It's not that complicated.'

I've never done it before, and I wanted to ensure that there were no tricks to making a snowball properly. Much as I hate admitting this shortcoming to you, I would rather tell you than push ahead and risk embarrassing myself in front of your peers.

'…It's a snowball Tamelyn. It's not that complicated. The worst case scenario is that it falls apart midair.'

Which is unacceptable. It's a display of weakness.

'It's just a snowball fight, Tam. You don't need to take it this seriously.'

Everything short of perfection is irrelevant. Now help me make a snowball.

I try and guide my hands without taking back full control of my body. It adds a further element of surrealness to my already surreal life. I idly wonder if this is what a possession feels like under normal circumstances.

…That's it? That's all there is to it?

'I did say that it wasn't that complicated.'

Hmph.

Tamelyn starts making more snowballs and I just watch her move. After doing that for a minute or so, I shift my focus away from her work on focus on my occlumency, not that there's much work to be done. Since I've done all of the basic setup of occlumency, at this point, any further work I can do on my own would just be learning to get a better feel for my mind. Tamelyn told me that I could learn to repel legilimency at this point, but I would need a legilimens to try and read my thoughts. It's something I'm not anxious to try, even if my oath would prevent any potential legilimens from gleaning the existence of my companion.

Okay, time to make an impression.

Tamelyn has formed a large pile of snowballs and is drawing my wand out of my pocket.

'Is it really necessary to use my wand for this?'

I would rather not take my chances with throwing the snowballs by hand. I have no experience and would like to make all of my shots hit. Besides, something tells me I'll want to have a shield ready.

'Knowing the twins, you're probably right.'

Of course I'm right. Now then…

She flicks my wand at the pile and casts a low-power animation spell. I feel them lying in wait, ready for commands, as Tamelyn walks out to the centre of the courtyard, commanding everyone else's attention.

"I think that's quite enough of that, don't you agree? It's time for the fight to be won by the real champion." She says, arrogant grin adorning my features.

"It seems we have a challenger, my dear comrades." One twin says.

"Indeed, and quite a confident one, at that." The other twin continues.

"Well, we certainly can't let such confidence go unchallenged, can we lads?" Jordan finishes."

Snowballs start flying in our direction, though Tamelyn quickly recasts the physical shield, causing them all to splash harmlessly against it.

"You'll have to do better than that, boys!" Tamelyn laughs as she commands her own snowballs to start attacking them.

The trio takes cover behind the parapets of their fort, though the animation charm on the snowballs lets them arc over the cover to hit their intended targets. One of the twins pokes his head up, the remnants of a snowball clearly visible in his orange hair.

"Well that was rude of you, Harry. Animated snowballs? Why, that's downright unsportsmanlike."

"Anything to assure a victory!" Tamelyn fires back.

"Well, if that's how you're going to play, then we should step up our game, then!"

'Oh Tamelyn, what have you done…?'

I am allowing myself to fight my opponents at their true strength, so I can prove myself superior to them.

Fred and George began throwing snowballs at the same time that Tamelyn recasts her shield. Rather than make more snowballs of her own, she starts using my wand to redirect some of them back to the twins, leaving the rest to splash harmlessly against her shield. After a few seconds of dodging, they break out their own shields, at which point Tamelyn starts firing shield-breakers at them in between redirecting their snowballs. After that, the snowballs they throw start taking unusual paths, corkscrewing through the air or arcing over us to hit the shield from behind. None of the ones that hit the shield actually affect its integrity, though.

'This seems too easy.'

Yes, it does. Are they not taking this seriously? They aren't casting any spells, just throwing more snowballs…

'I can never tell with those two.'

Tamelyn flicks my wand at an incoming snowball. Its path is unaffected by her spell, and it collides with the shield, shattering it.

What the-?

Tamelyn's remark is cut off as another snowball hits us in the back of the head. She whirls around to see Katie idly tossing a snowball in her hand.

"You let your guard down, Harry. You need to be more careful than that. Fred and George aren't your only opponents." She says as she lobs another snowball at us.

We easily dodge it, but Tamelyn doesn't take the insult lightly and summons a large quantity of snow from the bank behind Katie, sending her keeling over as it hits her from behind.

"Oops." Tamelyn says with a malicious grin.

"Playing dirty, are you? Well fine, two people can play dirty." Katie pulls herself out of the snow and turns to the rest of the courtyard. "Hey Everyone! Two sickles to each person who lands a hit on Potter!"

Oh, crap.

Tamelyn quickly goes on the defensive as most of the participants turn on us. After several seconds of dodging spells and letting the snowballs splatter against the shield, Tamelyn changes approach and switches from an Aegis shield to a Protego shield, and begins wandlessly banishing any incoming snow.

'Isn't that a bit flashy?'

I am fighting against very unfavourable odds. As it is, if I wasn't able to draw on our combined strength, then the shield would have collapsed already. I'm finding myself wishing that I could cast the shield wandlessly, so I could use the wand to go on the offense. None of the wandless spells I know are particularly well-suited to offence.

'So what you're telling me is that we're fucked.'

I might be able to blind most of them for a second if I overcharged a lumos, but I'd rather not risk magical exhaustion by overcharging a wandless spell.

A series of simultaneous shots from several of the attacking crowd break the shield, and the second it causes Tamelyn's focus to falter is all that's needed for several snowballs to hit us.

The snowball fight turns to a more even tide after that brief moment of arse-whooping, though Katie's promise of payment made us a favourite target for the rest of the fight. Eventually, everything winds down and people start making their way into the great hall to warm up. As Tamelyn grows bored of the snowball fight, I slip back into control of my body and make my way inside, only to be stopped by Katie in the entrance hall.

"Hey, Harry, I don't suppose you could break a few galleons for me, could you? And maybe lend me a few, on top of that? I may have overextended myself with my offer of payment earlier."

I raise an eyebrow. "You want me… to pay you… so you can pay back other people for hitting me in a snowball fight?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm asking of you. I didn't expect that many people would be able to hit you. C'mon, do a girl a favour, will you?"

I rub my forehead in exasperation. "Katie, this is the third time this year that you've needed me to lend you money. I know that's it's never been much, but can you please try and exercise some fiscal responsibility?"

Katie nods. "I'll take your advice to heart. So will you lend me the money?"

I sigh and pull several galleons out of my pocket. "I don't have any sickles on me, so you'll have to find someone else to break them."

Katie pulls me into a tight hug. "Thanks, Harry! You're the best!" She says before running off.

I'm surprised you tolerate that kind of behaviour from her.

'I like Katie. Besides, she's been good about helping me with homework over the past two years whenever Hermione isn't available. I owe her a lot for all of the help she gave me last year after Hermione was petrified. I see this as paying her back for all the help she's given me.'

I wouldn't have guessed that from watching you interact.

'That's just part of our relationship.'

Hmph.

I pour myself a cup of hot chocolate from one of the pitchers on the Gryffindor table and relish in the heat that spreads through my body from the first sip.

'Well, regardless of the outcome, that was fun.'

Yeah… I suppose it was.

'Glad to see you're relaxing your standards a bit, Tam.'

"So, Tam," I greet her as we rest inside of our dreamspace, "why are you so disparaging of other houses? I mean, I know you take pride in your house and your ancestry…"

"Our ancestry." She corrects.

I ignore her. "…But I've heard you use every other house as an insult at some point. Seriously, where did that attitude come from?"

She's silent for a moment, thinking it over. "What makes you bring this up?"

"Eh, just your comment in the common room earlier when I was trying to learn a wandless spell."

"Ah." She sighs and stretches. "A lot of it was witnessing the students in the other houses when I was in school. I'm not about to claim that any of my peers were intelligent, but most of the Slytherins were at least sensible."

"That's basically the opposite of my experience." I muse.

"Yes, well, from your year, Malfoy and his two goons somehow tricked the Sorting Hat into putting them into Slytherin, and they've spent an unreasonable amount of time tormenting you since. The Slytherins in my era were more like Greengrass or Nott than those three. None of them were fond of me, of course, since I came into Slytherin house with a muggle name and no knowledge of the wizarding world, but they were sensible enough not to try and challenge me to midnight trophy room duels. Nor were they foolish enough to fall for such obvious traps." She says, a faint hint of amusement visible upon her features.

"Yeah, yeah." I grouse as I lean back on the ground. I still haven't figured out how to interact with the environment like she does. "So it was just your peers being sensible that made you prefer the house?"

"That and the Sorting Hat."

"The Sorting Hat?" I ask as I turn my head to the side to look at her. "What happened during your sorting? The Hat told me that I could become great in Slytherin, but…"

"You didn't have the best impressions of the house, nor were you in any way looking to become great at the time. We are similar, but we are not the same. We were both thrust into the magical world with no support and minimal help, but while I decided to immerse myself in the culture and learn everything I could to become as strong and knowledgeable as possible, you desired nothing more than to fade into the woodwork. Though I wouldn't say you're particularly well-suited to Gryffindor, either."

I shrug. "I think I was well-suited to it back in first year. Probably not so much nowadays. You've been… well, I can't say you've been a good influence on me, but you've definitely been an influence on me."

Tamelyn laughs at my joke, a rare occurrence of levity between us. "C'mon, I'll show you my memory of my sorting.

I stare upwards at the enchanted ceiling of the great hall, entranced by the sight. In London, it was never possible to see this many stars at night. It's a view so beautiful that it makes me want to leave muggle life and the city behind forever so I can always look up at night and see the stars…

Dumbledore starts reading names off of a list so we can be sorted, a process that seems to consist mostly of putting on an old hat and having it shout out a house. Most students are sorted in seconds. I wonder if the process is random? It seems too fast for the Hat to be able to sensibly sort people. Then again, some students take a while. Minerva McGonagall seems to be one of them. The Hat stays on her head for several minutes before putting her in Gryffindor.

The Gryffindor table is just to the right of the central aisle where the students are lined up. It's boisterous and loud, two things that I hate. I don't think I'd like to go there.

Eventually, Dumbledore calls my name.

"Riddle, Tamelyn!"

I crush the panic and anxiety that I feel rising in my chest and walk towards the hat, keeping my face calm and my posture as straight as possible. As I sit down on the stool, Dumbledore places the Hat on my head, which promptly falls over my eyes, preventing me from seeing.

Well this is interesting…

I freeze at the sound of the voice in my head.

Um… Hi?

Hello, Miss Riddle. You know, I didn't expect another student I would actually have to talk to this year. Normally, I just sort through their memories and put them in the appropriate house. Your sorting requires additional input from you, so you can be put in your proper house.

Everyone else gets put somewhere automatically? I'm special, though, and I get to provide my own input?

You could truly go into any house, though Ravenclaw and Slytherin would be best suited for your strengths. Ravenclaw would suit your thirst for knowledge and Slytherin would help you quench your ambitions. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff could help you find camaraderie and friendship that you've been deprived of your whole life.

I don't want to be in Gryffindor. They're too loud, and too excitable. It's not for me.

And friendship? You've never had friends before…

I've been without friends my whole life. I don't need them now.

Hmm… Let me ask you a question, Miss Riddle. What is it that you want? What do you want to do with your life?

I want to learn as much about magic as possible and become as strong as possible.

And why is that? Why do you want it?

I want to become strong so that no one can have power over me. I refuse to let myself be weaker than anyone else. I refuse to ever let myself feel weak ever again.

Hm… I suppose there is only one house in which you will truly become what you seek. You do have potential here, Miss Riddle. The path you will walk will not be easy, but with the right drive, you truly could become stronger than anyone. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours.

"SLYTHERIN!" The Hat shouts. I make my way to the table on the side of the room, catching a brief glance of the disapproval on Dumbledore's face as I make my way over there.

Well what does he know? The Hat said I could become stronger than anyone. I don't need the approval of people like Dumbledore. In fact, his disapproval is probably a good thing. I still resent him for the wardrobe incident.

Many of my housemates shoot hostile glares at me as I sit down. I keep my posture straight, trying not to let their glares affect me. The Hat did say that my path would be difficult.

Someday, I'll be better than all of them.

"So that was it?" I ask as the world reasserts itself after the memory. "It doesn't exactly seem like the sort of experience that would lead one to resent other houses…"

"No, I imagine that it wouldn't, not at first glance at least…" Tamelyn responds. "I spent a lot of time thinking over what the Hat said to me, you know. I didn't exactly have much of a social life, so there was plenty of time to mull things over. It's just… Everyone in Slytherin house had a goal. They all wanted to do something with their life, something to change the world. Did you know that, despite only being about a quarter of the population, more than half of Magical Britain's business leaders and politicians are Slytherins? Most of the people with the power to truly affect the world all come from a single house."

"I've not been involved with politics." I reply casually.

"And I don't blame you for that. It's an ugly field in any world, magical or muggle. But the Hat told me that I could only truly succeed in my goal if I went to Slytherin. Looking back on it, I think it had a point. I don't think I could have succeeded elsewhere."

"Are you really so convinced that Slytherin was the only place you could have succeeded? Moreover, are you really sure that Slytherin house is where all of the truly ambitious and visionary people are sorted? I don't know much about what Hogwarts was like when you attended the school, but based on what I see of the house nowadays, that doesn't seem to hold true. Frankly, I'm kind of skeptical that it was ever true in the first place."

"What's your theory, then?" She asks, intrigued.

"I think that Slytherin house has cultivated a culture of networking. You said that youe head of house was a networker, right? I imagine that he ended up spreading that mentality to a lot of his house, so it's not necessarily that the Slytherins end up being the only ones who have ambitions, but that they end up being the only ones who end up with enough influence to succeed in their ambitions. Not to mention that most of the house ends up being purebloods from old families, so they're the ones who are more likely to get jobs and funding through sheer nepotism."

Tamelyn mulls over my theory. "I suppose that could be true — it's certainly not something I'd considered before. I suppose if I really wanted to know the answer, then I'd have to do some very thorough research. Your reasoning does have merit, though."

"So no more calling me a Gryffindor as an insult?" I ask teasingly.

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that, Harry." She says with a remorseless grin. "Old habits do die hard, after all."

Alchemy is very complicated. Just about anyone could guess that. What's less well-known is that alchemy is boring. I'm making a token effort to follow along to the alchemy text at Tamelyn's request, but my vision keeps glazing over as I try and follow along.

'Please, stop. You're killing me here.'

This is important stuff, Harry! Alchemy is based on the founding principles of materials and magic! Everything in your potions book is based on this knowledge.

'And my eyes glaze over when I read the potions book, too.'

It's no wonder you struggle in potions class, if that's the case.

'Why would I need to use my own knowledge when I can ask the "genius companion in my head"?'

Playing to my ego, are you? Clever…

'Seriously, though, can we please take a break?'

And do what? There's barely anyone left in the castle, and Lupin is sick again, so it's not like you can go visit him.

'You said you could teach me legilimency. Why not start on that?'

Because there's no way for you to safely test it on magicals without their consent, and that is not something you want people knowing that you're studying.

'How do people learn the skill if they don't want knowledge of it being spread around?'

Most people hire tutors who are bound by some sort of magical contract or vow. In my case, I practiced on unwitting muggles in the orphanage and around London. There's no chance of being caught doing legilimency on a muggle, so they make the best choice of target. As I hope should be obvious, there are no muggles in Hogwarts, so unless you have a way to sneak us out of the castle, then you won't be able to learn legilimency any time soon.

'…I don't know a way out of the castle, but I know some people who might.'

"Fred, George." I say as I approach the twins. "I was wondering if you could help me out with something."

"Well, Harry, I imagine that we could help you with almost anything. There is very little that we can't do after all." The first twin (Fred, I guess) replies.

"Indeed, the true question is if we will help you. After all, while our genius is infinite, our time is not." George(?) adds.

"Given your… superlative knowledge of the school, I was wondering if you two might know a way to sneak off the grounds without drawing too much attention." I say.

The twins exchange a glance and begin an explanation. "Well, the short answer is yes, we know several hidden passages that leave the grounds. There are seven passages that connect to various points in and around Hogsmeade."

"Four of them are known by Filch, so using them is highly risky and inadvisable. One is under the whomping willow, and we have no idea where it goes. We've never been able to keep the tree still long enough to get past."

"One is located behind a mirror on the fourth floor and connects to an alley behind The Three Broomsticks. Just casting Alohomora on the mirror lets you pass through it like it's not even there. Unfortunately, that passage collapsed at the end of last year after one of our… experiments went wrong, and we haven't had a chance to repair it yet."

"The last passage is accessed by casting Dissendium on the statue of the one-eyed witch on the third floor, and connects to the cellar of Honeydukes. While we are certain that Filch doesn't know of it, we aren't certain that no one else knows. Not anymore, at least."

"You see, Harry, we had this lovely item that we nicked from Filch's office back in our first year. The keyword in this case being 'had'."

"It was a most delightful map that showed the entire castle. Every room and secret passage and all of their occupants was laid bare upon its parchment surface."

"Alas, after almost four years with it, we were caught and it was confiscated. So, while Filch does not know about the passage in question, we can't promise that no one else does. That said, given that the break just started, this is probably the best time to sneak out if you want to do so. The teachers are probably less alert now that most of the student body has left."

I blink my eyes as I try and recover from their back and forth. "Right, so, third floor corridor witch statue. I've never heard of this 'Dissendium' spell, though."

"It's not an actual spell. It's really just a password that you need to say with your wand out. It's probably why Filch never discovered that passage, though, what with him being a squib and all."

I nod. "Alright, then. Anything else I should know?"

The twins exchange a glance. "You may want to use that 'secret cloak' of yours. The Honeydukes cellar is off-limits to customers, so it'll help you sneak back in. Fred and I nearly got caught doing that, once."

"Best of luck, Harry! We'll cover for you if anyone asks where you've gone."

I move up to my room so I can grab my cloak.

'I hate when they alternate sentences like that. It always gives me a headache.'

It is both annoying and headache inducing. I am very glad that you don't share any classes with them. I'd hate to put up with that on a daily basis.

I stay under my cloak as I make my way towards the one-eyed witch statue, taking care to avoid the ghosts that float through the halls.

'So, once we get to Hogsmeade, what's the plan? Take a floo to the Leaky Cauldron and head into muggle London?'

I mean, if we wanted to be inefficient and draw the attention of the pub's occupants, then yes, we could do that. Instead, we are going to apparate to a side alley on the muggle side of the Leaky Cauldron once we get past the outer perimeter of the castle's wards.

'If we can apparate to the Leaky Cauldron, then why did you make me take the Knight Bus there this summer?'

Two reasons. One, I hadn't been to the Leaky Cauldron for about fifty years. As such, my memories of the area may not have been accurate to the area in its current state. Knowing the details about an area is vital when it comes to apparition, and I wasn't keen to test it with out of date memories and risk splinching us.

I don't know what splinching is, but it sounds wholly unpleasant. As I mull that over, I see the distinctive shape of the one-eyed witch statue. I pull out my wand and quietly whisper "Dissendium" at the statue, causing a medium-sized hole to appear in the statue's back. I peer into the hole, seeing mostly darkness with some hints of light further down.

'Well, nothing for it, I suppose.'

I jump into the hole, which quickly levels off into a brief slide. I glance back at the smooth stone surface behind me, which has clearly been worn down by centuries of use.

'That's going to be a pain to climb back up.'

It certainly seems so.

'So, what was the second reason for taking the Knight Bus instead of apparating?'

Oh, I like the Knight Bus. That's it.

'I'm amazed that you enjoy the Knight Bus, yet have a problem with my flying.'

Unlike your flying, the Knight Bus is actually safe.

I ignore her jab and start walking down the passage, taking in the rough-hewn appearance of the stone, as though it was constructed in a hurry.

'Why are there so many passages that connect to Hogsmeade, anyways? Isn't it a bit of a security risk?'

I imagine many of these are from the early pre-Statute days when abductions were a more common occurrence. They were probably designed so that civilians in Hogsmeade could quickly evacuate to the fortified castle in the case of an attack.

It's the first time we've discussed the Statute after our disagreement over the best way to preserve it. It's still a bit of a sore spot for both of us, as I was annoyed at the fact that she was willing to support genocide, even as a last resort to prevent an apocalyptic scenario, and Tamelyn's too prideful to admit that her willingness to do so was based on flawed judgement. Given that we're still forced to live with each other for now, it's easier for both of us if we just don't bring it up.

'How will we know when we cross the ward line?'

We'll have to try and feel out for any major changes in the magic of the area.

It takes another ten minutes before I feel it: a faint shift in air as we cross one of the countless wall-sconces in the length tunnel.

'Was that it?'

Yes, I believe it was. Walk for another few metres, then I'll take over and apparate us.

Once I reach the next sconce, Tamelyn takes over and pulls out my wand. The world falls out from beneath me and is replaced by an all-encompassing suffocation that lasts for a single instant that draws on for far too long before a different ground comes back to meet us. If I was in control of my body, I would be heaving on the ground right now.

'That was awful.'

You get used to it. Now come on, let's find a café somewhere.

'Why a café?'

It's somewhere where we can reasonably spend a long period of time without spending a lot of money or attracting too much attention. You can reasonably spend hours at a café without anyone raising an eyebrow.

'We could do the same at a public library.'

Yes, but it's not easy to make eye contact with anyone in a library, since most people will have their nose stuck in a book. A café is our best bet for easy legilimency targets.

Tamelyn transfigures my robes into some more mugglish clothing, and causally summons the wallet off of a random pedestrian. She pulls a few notes out of the wallet before running up behind him and profferring it. With a modest denial of a reward, we start making our way through the streets while keeping an eye out for any cafés or coffee shops as we do so. After twenty minutes or so of aimless wandering, we find a decent-looking one and head inside. I order a tea (which I pay for with the stolen notes), and find a seat in the corner.

'Looks like we got here just before the lunch rush.'

Yes, that's good. The lunch rush will bring in plenty of people. Now then, ready for the lesson to start?

'I suppose so. Care to start with how I'm supposed to wield my wand in public without attracting undue attention?'

Ah, that's the glory of legilimency. Unlike almost every other spell, even when it's cast with a wand, the spell isn't aimed with a wand. Normally, if you were to cast, say, a stunner, then you'd aim your wand to aim the spell. When you cast a legilimency probe, then you use the wand as a focus to amplify the power, but you aim the spell with your eyes. As such, you can cast the spell by gripping your wand in your inner pocket, and no one would be the wiser.

'I see. So where should we start?'

Start by getting a hang of the sensation of the spell. Grab your wand and give it a half-twist clockwise while whispering "Legilimens".

I grip the wand inside of my jacket and whisper the incantation. I feel a sensation of magic pooling up in my eyes that quickly dissipates when I release the grip on my wand in shock.

'Is that… normal?'

Yep. What you felt is the legilimency probe forming in your gaze. You may want to go at it a few more times before try doing anything with the probe. You want to get used to the sensation of forming a probe before you try using it.

'Right.'

After several more goes, I wouldn't say that I get used to the sensation of forming a probe, but the unnervingness of doing so has lessened substantially.

'So, now what do I do?'

Now, you need to force the probe to connect with someone. I would suggest the clerk, as it should be pretty easy to meet her gaze. Try not to do anything more complicated than connecting the probe for now. I'll give you further instruction after that.

I cast the spell once more and stare at the clerk's eyes, trying to force the probe to connect to her. After trying for several seconds, I feel the probe "leave" and form a connection between us.

'Got it. What now?'

We're going to start with the basics, so let's start with surface probes. Try and lightly brush against her mind using the connection.

It takes me almost half an hour to do that, since not only do I have trouble feeling out the probe, but the clerk frequently looks away, which breaks the connection and requires me to remake it. Eventually, though, I do figure out how to "move" the probe, using it to lightly brush the surface of her mind. I feel exhaustion, impatience, exasperation, and annoyance, yet each emotion feels distinctly foreign, as though I can tell that it's not mine. It's wholly different from when Tamelyn's emotions bleed over, as those are barely distinguishable from my own feelings.

'That's… weird.'

I suppose it would be to you. You have to remember, I'm a natural legilimens, so all of this is second-nature to me.

'That must have been odd.'

It certainly didn't help endear any of the other orphans to me, since I could easily feel the fear and scorn behind their words.

I take a sip of my tea. It's far weaker than I prefer, like the richness of the tea is being drowned out by milk and honey.

'So, should I just keep doing that for a while?'

Yes. Try and do it with other people now. Keep yourself limited to surface probes for now, though. We'll want to work you up to the complicated stuff.

I take another sip of the awful tea before meeting the gaze of someone on the other side of the shop. I send out a probe, trying to connect it and brush against his thoughts before he looks away. I'm able to connect the probe quickly enough, but fail to probe his thoughts before he looks away and severs the connection.

'This is hard.'

Just keep going at it. Just because you're not good at it now means you'll simply have to work harder to become good at it. Don't be like the rest of the wizarding world that only does what they're good at and ignores everything else. You can be good at anything if you're willing to try hard enough. Now try again.

I meet the gaze of a woman waiting in line while talking on an extremely bulky cell phone. The connection is formed much faster this time, and it doesn't take me as long to push the probe against her thoughts. Stress, joy, longing, and exhaustion all run through her mind. I suppose it's a fitting melange of emotions for the pre-Christmas Time rush that plagues most of society.

'I got it that time.'

Good. Keep going. Let's see how much progress we can make with you.

I keep at it for several hours, eventually getting results from over half of my probes, a vast improvement from my initial results where I was only getting successful results from around a fifth of them.

Of the minds I glimpse, everyone has at least two emotions from the set of stress, exhaustion, and unhappiness. I'm quite glad that I don't feel the full extent of those emotions, as I would likely fall into a spiralling depression if I was. I keep practicing with the probes for a while longer after that, determined to see how much practice I can get in. As dinnertime starts to roll around, I realise that we should really be heading back to Hogwarts.

You have a point. Still, you made good progress today. Let's go find an alley or something where we can apparate back to the tunnel before we're missed. Once you're able to do surface scans successfully more than three-quarters of the time, we can move onto the more complicated stuff.

Tamelyn takes control and leaves the shop, finding a small alley behind the shop where the dumpsters are located.

This'll have to do.

She scowls at the dumpsters, which positively reek, even in the cold winter air.

Filthy muggles…

Another wholly unpleasant apparition lands us back in the tunnel connecting Hogwarts to Hogsmeade. Tamelyn quickly cancels the transfiguration on my clothes, returning their appearance to that of my school robes, before she dons my invisibility cloak and hands control back to me. I start walking back towards the school, thinking back over the results of my legilimency.

'Almost all of those people were unhappy.'

Very few people are truly happy.

'Yeah, but most of them were unhappy in some way or another.'

Of course they were. They're muggles. Muggles live very unhappy lives.

'Do you have anything to add besides your usual anti-muggle bias?'

It's not bias, Harry. Remember that, since I have far more practice and intuition with legilimency, I can read more than just their emotions when I probe their minds. Muggles are almost inherently unhappy. Think about your relatives — they have almost everything that they could possibly want, but would you say any of them are happy?

'…No. Definitely not.'

There's your answer, then.

We fall back into silence for the rest of the walk. I do my best to remain quiet as I slip out of the statue and make my way to dinner. My eyes scan across the few people in the great hall as I enter, and I wonder what they're feeling at that moment. I have to resist the urge to grab my wand and brush their minds for the answers.

Yeah, you might have trouble adjusting to the ability to use legilimency. Just remember that it's not a solution to all of your problems, as useful as it is. Besides which, you wouldn't want to risk using it on someone who has occlumency shields. They would probably catch you, and that would raise far too many questions for your own good.

I take a helping of food from one of the serving platters. Despite the oddities of today, it was enjoyable. I hope the rest of the break remains just as relaxing.

A/N: This chapter took longer than I'd have liked. Between an illness, a health scare, writer's block, and a relapse of my videogame addiction, I wound up hitting a lot of hurdles in getting this chapter completed.

You guys wanna know a secret? I completely forgot about the Shrieking Shack investigation plotline until I saw it when I was looking for info in a previous chapter. I suppose that's what happens when I'm working on two separate stories and don't have any of my plans written down.

I read one fic (I cannot remember which one) where Alice was a member of the Prince family, which is why Snape held a grudge against Neville just like he did against Harry. I was rather fond of that idea, so I borrowed it for this fic.

The snowball fight scene was pure fluff, and despite having a few moments and lines that I'm proud of, I'm not especially fond of how it turned out, mostly because it was written over the course of several weeks as I grappled with various issues. That said, I really like writing Katie and Alicia. Katie will probably become a minor character in this story, since I enjoyed working with her so much.

The twins don't have the map and someone else does. I should hope that the answer is obvious based on this chapter and a brief mention in chapter 11.

E/N (Xgenje): Being the last one to read this before its inevitable posting, I found a surprising amount of speed bumps. We got through them and cleaned this up a fair bit. I can only hope that Ten doesn't fix her video game addiction. She helps me alot with challenges during the POE leagues.

I am really enjoying the interactions between Harry and Tammy. They are a cute couple. When Ten first told me about this idea I was all "Pssshh, a Harry/Moldywart story? Eww." but I am actually starting to honestly ship them… Gods save me.

E/N (Foadar): The chapter really needed the addition to the Lupin scene to feel complete. Before, it cut off rather rapidly, which Tendra has attested to writer's block at the time. Snape being a first(?) cousin to Alice is an interesting proposition which I have not seen before, and it has been duly noted. (I might borrow the idea. You have been warned.)