Retirement Plan.

Part 23.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

The plan wasn't a terrible one, even if it might be a bit risky, the basic idea was to use the Fidelius Charm to hide the fact that Regulus Black was alive as a magical kept secret within his older brother's soul.

If successfully cast the spell meant that Regulus could walk down Diagon Alley in the middle of the day and not a single person would be able to figure out his real identity.

So he could pretend to be someone else, without running into trouble with the Ministry, assuming that a secure fake identity could be set up. That was a problem for later and might be something that could be solved with more magic.

He wouldn't even be able to tell someone or purpose or by accident, since he wouldn't be the Secret Keeper, and since the Potters had felt comfortable trusting Sirius to keep their secret then it made sense the Regulus would feel the same even if the two brothers had never been that close.

A person's animagus form isn't random it is in some ways of reflection of who they are. Siruis Black was a dog because he was loyal to his pack and affectionate. For some reason, the Maurders seemed to have misunderstood that or they would have never trusted Pettigrew when they saw he was a rat.

I couldn't have used that spell to hide the fact that I was alive because everyone already knew I was alive. It wasn't a secret to be hidden. Regulus was believed to be dead by nearly everyone who'd ever known him, and the people of the wizarding world would be quite happy to go on believing it.

Aside from having great power, Raven was very skilled at magic involving the soul so she'd been able to figure out the spell quickly enough. So now, we just needed someone to serve as the secret keeper who would rather die than serve up Regulus to the Ministry of Magic.

While it might seem as if the charm was only good for hiding a location that wasn't the limit of the spell only its most common use. As such I figured that we might get more use out of the charm.

I could have become the keeper of the secret despite having become a dragon because I still have a human soul or close enough, according to Raven. Which was something I'd been rather pleased to hear even if it meant I couldn't call myself a dovahkinn.

Also, I would have to worry about Dementors, but since I could turn into a dragon in body and then fly away it wasn't big of a deal. I wondered if my fire would destroy Dementors since I'm a Greater Dragon rather than merely a fire-breathing magical animal.

I figured that my soul remaining a human one might be partly why my wand had a phoenix feather core rather than one made from a dragon's heartstring. Phoexins are also creatures of fire, that might have played a part.

The Fidelius Charm wasn't foolproof even when your Secret Keeper could be depended upon and once Siruis Black learned about his brother's return he could still mention Horcruxes to someone, so we were taking a risk even if I didn't think it much of one.

Regulus Black was more confident than I that he could get his brother to agree to be the Secret Keeper and to keep his mouth shut about why he'd been in that cave.

I wasn't too worried about that information getting out because I was in a much stronger position now than I had been when I arrived in this world. I had some political pull myself thanks to my Order of Merlin, a much better understanding of wealth, and most importantly I had an idea of my full magical power.

"Mr Twycross" greeted Sirus Black as he came out of the fireplace, using the floo to quickly travel from his home to mine, "You mentioned that you had something very important to tell me".

There was no need to beat around the bush and so I quickly led the former convict in the drawing room. Regulus was waiting for him there, but Siruis didn't recognise the man due to the young wizard having covered his face with a hood.

As for how I got the older of the two Blacks to get here, that was simple enough, I just promised to share something within that would change his life.

Siruis was reckless enough to come alone, and to be fair he was a powerful wizard while I'd attended Hogwarts for a single term. As such it was not so crazy that the older wizard thought he could handle me and it wasn't as if I had any connection to dark wizards.

"Your brother is alive," I said.

As the younger Black lowered his hood, Siruis recognised his own brother.

"Reggie, is that you?" he asked.

I stepped out of the room, and let them get on with their reunion. It was best to let the siblings sort things out between them. I would only be a distraction.

"They might be a while" I reasoned.

The house contained more people within its walls than normal and soon there would be many of them as Dawn was preparing for her party this evening and Hermione was again in my library.

When it became time for to get changed for the party later I had a feeling that it would be hard to get her out of that room. I amused myself with an image of her hanging onto a table full of books as I tried to drag her out.

Raven appeared, having been invisible as planned, there had been a small chance that Siruis Black would have reacted badly to the situation.

Since the house's defences had been lowered somewhat for the party (because I didn't want someone getting killed by the defences just because they got a bit rowdy) it was important to keep a close eye on our guests. At least until people started heading home.

"I'd imagine so," remarked Raven "It's not every day your little brother comes back from the dead".

Even for the Wizarding World, it was a strange event. Harry Potter aside people killed by Lord Voldemort stayed dead.

"Since we have a bit of time I want to show you something I've been working on" said Rachel.

She spent a lot of time working on one of her projects, so I wasn't surprised that she had something she wanted me to check out. I was surprised when we went up into the attic and she opened up a wardrobe that hadn't been there before.

"Go on through," she instructed.

I did as she wished and for a moment I thought it to be a Vanishing Cabinet, only it turned out to be more like a trip to Narina. Well, it was a cave I ended up in, and it was a familiar one.

"Wait, is this the cave we took the locket from?" I question.

Raven soon followed me into the cave.

"It is and it isn't," she told me.

Well, that didn't explain anything at all.

"I sealed the cave away by folding space" Raven let me know "I know you wanted a dragon's lair so I removed the cave from normal space/time and made you a pocket dimension that you can use as a dragon's lair".

Understandably it took me a few moments to process what she had just told me. It wasn't exactly a simple bit of information to absorb.

"You made me a pocket dimension," I said with a smile on my face.

To her, it wasn't even a big deal, which was a testament to how much power she had, but even if it hadn't been that hard for her it
must have taken a lot of effort, and that meant something to me.

"I love you so much" I admitted.

Seeing Raven so taken aback by my admission was also a treat.

"I love you too," she said "I mean you I knew you...".

Rather than let her babble on for who knew how long I kissed her. It's a very effective way of shutting up babbling girlfriends.

"Dawn helped" Rachel let me know after some kissing "She donated a bit of her blood as it's a good catalyst for dimensional magic".

No wonder she'd been able to defeat Voldemort so easily if she could make this a project around her schoolwork and the time she spent with me.

"What happens if Dumbledore comes looking for the cave?" I wondered.

Raven wasn't at all concerned by that.

"He'll find nothing" she assured me "This cave is its own separate universe. The place where it was is just a solid cliff now".

It was hard to wrap my head around that.

"This is amazing" I commented as I began to look around "You evened out the floor and got rid of the lake".

Raven shrugged.

"To be fair you cleaned out the cave with dragon's fire," she told me "Obsidion is brittle so I just smoothed out the ground and made it more level. It's big enough for you to relax in your dragon form and you sleep on piles of gold if that is what makes you happy. I'll stick with my feather-stuffed mattress".

I had daydreamed more than once about being able to do that. It would take time to move the treasure in here and it would barely begin to fill this place.

"We should steal from more Death Eaters," I said.

I looked over at the shelves that Raven had created out of the black stone that made up this place. She had magical candles lit, yet they didn't cast much light so I had to get close to see the shelves. The candles made me wonder about something.

"Is oxygen going to be an issue?" I asked.

Of course, she'd already thought of that.

"There are charms to take care of that" the former Teen Titan let me know.

I walked around some more as I did that I envisioned having trophies up on the walls and maybe a throne for when I relaxed in here when in my human form.

"We should get back to the house" Rachel advised.

By the time we got back down the drawing room, Sirius Black was shouting.

"I'll do it!" he yelled.

Raven and I entered the room.

"I trusted the wrong person last time I won't make that mistake again I will be the keeper" he insisted.

Well, that made things simpler.

"So Sirius you will keep the secret that Regulus is alive," I said "Then we just need to come up with some new identity for you".

The older of the two brothers waved that concern away.

"A few well-placed bribes will take care of that" he insisted "Reggie become the son or grandson of someone who got kicked out of the family. What's another cousin?".

That worked fine for me

"And the other matter?" asked Raven.

The existence of the Horcruxes was a matter of concern.

"I'll keep my mouth shut" promised Sirius Black "Reggie says you dealt with the Horcruxes and I believe him".

Fingers crossed that this matter would be dealt with soon.

"Then let's get on with the spell," said Raven.

Siruis looked surprised.

"I'm guessing you're not the first years you appear to be," he said "Something else to keep secret, but I'll do it for Reggie".

This wasn't without risk, we were depending on family loyalty here, I hoped it didn't come back to bite us later, or I would wish we'd left Regulus in the damn lake.

Twycross House. The Wizarding World.

Hermione and I had sneaked away from Dawn's party, but not until Raven did so as not to be rude. I doubted that the hostess even noticed as she was having the time of her life.

Despite my distaste for such social events, I was glad that I'd funded her gathering as it was making the Key very happy.

Not that t I was thinking about Dawn much right now as I was sitting on the couch in my bedroom and I had Hermione Granger with me, and she wanted to take our relationship to the next level. I was more than happy to help her advance that far.

Even though she was sitting still and not doing much, Hermione was panting heavily as I ran pinched her nipples through her top, causing them to stiffen. I had my other arm around as we kissed and I played with her breasts.

"Oh ... mmmmm ... James ... that feels so good" she struggled to say.

I was having similar thoughts about how this felt. Here I was touching the tits of a girl who had the looks of Emma Watson.

She had many other qualities I could admire such as her magical power, her intelligence and her loyalty to her friends, but right now I was more interested in her physical attributes.

Deciding to get on with things, I kissed Hermione some more and then I took her hand. I guided her down to my crotch to make it clear what I wanted from her.

Hermione started trying to free my cock, but since we were still kissing she wasn't having much luck as she couldn't divert her attention to the task at hand.

Since I wanted more I did the work for her, and soon my hard cock found its way into Hermione's hand. I leaned my head back and groaned as I felt Hermione's soft fingers wrap around my hard shaft as she began to stroke me.

I relaxed for a while and when I bothered to open my eyes I noticed that Hermione was keeping her full attention on the hard cock she was manipulating with her small hands. She was very focused on her attempt to please me.

"It's firm and very warm" she commented.

Without warning Hermione closed her eyes, bent forward and then she made my dick vanish into her warm and wet mouth. It felt very good to feel her mouth envelop my hard dick.

Since the lovely Miss Granger was now lying on the couch I was able to move my hand down to her ass, it made for a tempting target. I ended up feeling her bum for a while, something Hermione didn't react to since she seemed very focused on orally pleasing me.

As she did her best to please me I lifted the hem of her skirt and slowly pulled it up to reveal her white cotton panties. I expected her to be embarrassed by me seeing her knickers, yet she just kept going, leaving me free to feel her bum some more.

Once I got a hand between her legs and inside her knickers, I felt her dampness. I moved my fingers up and down her slippery slit over and over again, and this time I did get a reaction from the officious young witch.

When I found her clit, not easy as she'd begun trying to squeeze her thighs together, I focused my attention on this spot and kept at it since it made her feel good.

Hermione, meanwhile, was having trouble concentrating on her task, and she was making some squealing noises, she got very vocal despite her mouth being filled when I shot my load directly into her mouth.

She hadn't been at all prepared for this and the poor girl choked.
Thankfully we'd brought our drinks with us so she recovered fast.

"I didn't think it would come out so fast" she told me "I wasn't expecting you to cum so much. My books don't go into enough detail".

Some things you just have to learn for yourself.

"Would you like me to return the favour?" I asked.

Hermione blushed and nodded. I felt how wet she'd become, she was very horny even if she wouldn't admit it.

"Go lie down on the bed" I ordered.

She did as she was told without delay. This version of Hermione wasn't totally free of the need to obey an authority figure as I'd discovered. I would become that authority.

None of the witches in my life were the kind to resist my commands despite the binding contracts not compelling them to obey as none of them were leaders or the dominating type.

Dawn could be sexually aggressive to some extent, but even she liked it when I took charge in the bedroom. She was more playful than anything else.

"We need to get rid of that," I said.

Before the young Miss Granger could figure out what I meant I'd gotten her knickers down and I had removed her public hair with a flick of my wand that soon vanished back into the storage space.

I'd hear a rather minor curse, more of a jinx really, that removed hair and prevent it from growing until the spell was lifted.

"Why did you.." Hermione started to say.

Any protest she would have made vanished as she felt my lips meet her slippery slit before I began to probe her opening with my tongue.

"That feels ... mmmm ... good!" Hermione informed me.

Well, that was the point.

"Be a good girl and I'll make you feel even better," I promised.

I softly ran a finger up and down her bare slit, rubbed her clit, and then I applied a little pressure. Hermione gasped and moaned as she felt my fingers penetrate her.

I was not surprised by how tight she was and it was tough to get a finger inside her despite how wet she'd become. She was most certainly a virgin.

Not that I'd needed to probe her so as to find that. My dragon senses drew me to treasure and virgins. That certainly hadn't been mentioned in any of the contracts. Not that I minded.

Hermione didn't protest my exploration, she simply laid there and made the odd noise. I was left with the impression that I'd been petting a very affectionate cat.

However, rather than comment on her acting all adorable I began lapping at Hermione's pussy. She was proving very easy to please.

She was soon getting close, so very close to her climax, alas for her, I had no intention of letting her orgasm this soon. She was now mine to do with as I pleased, she'd given herself to me willingly and I intended to take advantage of this.

So I took a deep breath and watched Hermione's face as I moved so that I could put my cock inside her. I saw her eyes snap shut and heard her moan as I made my cock slowly move inside her.

When I looked down I was rewarded with the sight of my cock slowly disappearing into her tight teen pussy. It was the best magic trick of them all.

"Ugh ... mmmm ... oh" was all Hermione could say.

Then when I broke her maidenhead I got much more of a reaction.

"Ahhhhh!" Hermione screamed.

There was nothing quite like getting to deflower a young witch and I'd done it three times now, four if you counted Dawn letting me take her black cherry.

A pity I might never get to this again. I really should get one of those magical items that let you go into your memories.

"Oh ...James," Hermione whispered.

I didn't rush at this point despite my urge to simply fuck her into a coma as she would not thank me for that. Instead, I made soothing noises and gave her some time to relax. Once she was ready I began to slowly fuck her and she liked it.

She lay there on the bed, with her legs open as I began to pick up the pace. I was standing by the bed and I was starting to wish I moved her so I could lie on top of her as my legs were feeling a bit weak.

Who could blame me given that I had such a tight and wet pussy to enjoy? No matter I would keep going, focusing on only increasing my pace once Hermione was ready for me to fuck her harder.

That didn't take long as she was fully into it now, and I was able to pick up the pace. I could focus on my own pleasure and time become meaning less as I fucked the Hogwarts student.

Once I was done I filled up her well-used cunt and moved so that I could lie down next to her. I would have cleaned up the mess, but my legs had stopped working.

"That was loads better than the girls in the dorm said it would be" Hermione let me know once she could speak again.

It was always nice to get a positive review.

The Great Hall. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Upon returning to the college I discovered that the start-of-term meal we got when we arrived back at the school wasn't anywhere near as lavish as the feast we enjoyed at the start of the year, but it was still a very fine dinner in my opinion.

I'd enjoyed generous servings of well-cooked pork, chicken, beef, Yorkshire pudding, and roast potatoes with some vegetables, before moving on to the pudding.

I would never understand the appeal of gravy it always struck me as odd that some of my fellow first-year Ravenclaws felt the need to drown their food in the stuff.

"I miss pizza" commented Dawn "And burgers, and hot dogs. We should eat out more when we're not at school, and why do they never serve proper deserts".

Rooby, the House Elf who kept us fed at home, was a traditional House Elf who served typical British cuisine when we were at home, not that I minded because if I really wanted something different there was nothing stopping me from venturing out into the Muggle world.

All I had to do was Floo to the Leaky Cauldron and then I was in London with takeaways all over the place. I would order them from home but the house was in a remote location and was surrounded by muggle-repelling charms.

All I could do at school is to pack things in my pouch of holding, and this allowed me to enjoy a nice cup of tea. Hermione shared my love for British tea while Dawn drank coffee and Rachel partook in some of the herbal stuff.

Apparently, no one at the Ravenclaw table had thought to bring their own refreshment to the Great Hall and yet they were supposed to be the smart kids.

"I'll take you for a nice lunch in the Three Broomsticks this weekend" I promised Dawn.

The pub had a menu that contain food she enjoyed more so hearing that made her smile. She liked it when I spoiled her. If I had actually been her biological Daddy she'd have grown up to be a total brat.

As the dinner finally came to an end the Headmaster decided to speak. I wondered if he was still looking into Snape's disappearance and if he was suspicious of the fact that Sirius Black was spending time with a cousin no one had known about.

I would have to make some more efforts to keep the old man off balance if only to amuse myself.

"Due to Professor Binns having moved on to the next great adventure over the holidays History of Magic classes have been cancelled. Please use the free time to study for your exams".

The ghostly teacher had only ever quoted the course book verbatim, making the class entirely redundant in my view. No one seemed to care enough to react beyond a few small cheers and some whispering as more talkative students speculated about what could have happened to the ghost of the history professor.

"Proffesor Horace Slughorn has chosen to return to his old post of head of Slytherin and Potion's Master, and we also have a new Defence Professor, Mr R.J Lupin".

Slughorn must be known to some of the students as he got some applause.

"We also have a new student joining us" Dumbledore let everyone know.

This announcement got more of a reaction from the student body as it was so unexpected.

"Miss Addams, a transfer student from Nevermore Academy in America, has decided to come to Hogwarts. She has just arrived and will now be Sorted" declared the Headmaster.

Odd to have a Sorting after dinner. I wondered why Wednesday Addams had gotten here so late. Had she been on the train? I'd not thought to go and check. Mostly because I had three girlfriends who all wanted to spend time with me.

The scary goth girl went and sat on the stool as a thousand students had before, and then something unexpected happened, the Sorting Hat whimpered.

I was fairly certain that was the noise it made and I got the impression that the hat was crying, only there were no tears because it didn't have fluids to leak out.

"Ravenclaw!" the hat screamed.

At first, no one clapped other than Dawn, who seemed amused by all of this, and a few of us joined in before the hall was filled with a strange silence.

"Well that should be everything," said Dumbledore, as if nothing odd had happened "Good night everyone".

No one knew what to say about the sight they'd just seen, and since we were leaving no one edged away from Miss Addams.

"I knew it wouldn't get boring here" stated Dawn "I think this term is going to be interesting".

Many people forget that the phrase 'may you live in interesting times, is actually a curse.

Retirement Plan.

Part 24.

Potion's Classroom. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Since I was taking as few classes as I could get away with this meant that I didn't have to get out of bed most mornings, or at least not very early.

My afternoons were a different story and today I had double potions. That would keep me busy from the end of lunch until almost dinner.

"Ah James, good you're here," greeted Professor Slughorn as we walked into the classroom "I was starting to worry that you and your friends had gotten lost".

Given that I'd never been to the potion's lab before that was a concern and I wondered why he singled me out when three of us had just walked into the room.

Hermione was already here, having attended potions lessons here before while I and my companions had hired Slughorn as a tutor before he'd returned to full-time teaching.

"Hope we are not too late," I said.

I looked around the room and saw a small class made up of students from every house. There weren't many students in the first year. Still, it was a smaller group than expected, containing students from all four houses, I wondered how many people were still making use of a tutor due to Snape's many years of poor teaching.

"Not at all," said Slughorn "Please join us".

He'd properly cover for me if I turned drunk and had a hooker on my arm. Not that I intended to test that.

"Now who can tell me what potions I have on display?" the teacher asked as we gathered around the biggest table "I don't expect you to know them all since some of them are NEWT-level potions made by students in my more advanced classes".

The one that smelled of familiar perfume and old books had to be a love potion of some kind. Actually, that wasn't one perfume that was a few mixed in.

"That one is Amortentia," Raven told the other students "It's supposed to smell different to each person. Its smell will depend on what you are attracted to".

Slughorn was pleased by her explanation.

"Indeed, Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world. It is recognizable by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen and by the fact that steam from it rises in spirals during the brewing process" he informed the class. The potion does indeed smell differently to different people according to what attracts them".

I wondered if I was actually attracted to books or if I smelt that because the women in my life spent a lot of time in libraries so I associated the smell with them.

"What do you smell, Mr Twycross?" he asked.

I didn't want to answer this question, but everyone was expecting me to say something.

"There's that smell you sometimes get in some libraries," I said and "And perfume".

Slughorn was satisfied with that and invited others to get a whiff. Another student reported that smelt broom polish and that made sense as he was a Quidditch fanatic. I didn't even know the guy's name, but he was talking about the sport whenever I heard him speak. He was basically a background character.

Before long the other brews on display were named. They were the Polyjuice Potion, Veritaserum, Boil Remover, and some others I'd never even heard of before. The smallest bottle contained the luck potion. Dawn identified it in short order and seemed very pleased to see it.

"Felix Felius, know as liquid luck," Slughorn told the class

Already I wanted it.

"A powerful potion, toxic in large amounts, and if you get it wrong it becomes a deadly poison" we were warned "This small vial contains enough for a whole day of good luck".

Had he brewed up a big batch so that he would have a vial for every year or was he showing this small sample of it to this class alone because it has Harry Potter in it? It could be former as even a small cauldron could have filled enough vials so that someone from each class could win some a bit.

"Use of this potion during any sporting event, be that a Quidditch match or a duel is illegal, the same goes for any Ministry-run exams," he warned "Other than that, it can help with many endeavours, as the winner of our little contest will discover".

He had everyone's total attention. Not that people had been ignoring him before.

"At this time of year many students suffer from colds, the price of living in a draft castle in Scotland," said our teacher "So you will be brewing the Pepperup Potion, which is commonly used to counter the effects of the common cold. The potion I judge to be of the highest quality will win my little prize".

I knew that it had the side-effect of causing steam to emit from the drinker's ears for hours on end afterwards depending on how much you drank.

"Now students, I want you to pair up and brew the potion as instructed in your books," said Slughorn "This potion is normally taught to more experienced brewers so you will work in pairs and take things slowly. Call for me if you run into any trouble".

We began to pair up. Dawn wanted to work with me as she was under the impression that the notes I'd taken from the Half-Blood Prince book would help us.

She was partly correct as while the notes in that book were about more advanced potions some of its tips could apply to less advanced concoctions if used correctly.

I had taken plenty of notes in a scrapbook of my own and this would be good as it wasn't just a matter of using the ingredients more effectively as sometimes you didn't want them to be too potent as they could be bad for you in larger amounts.

"Rachel is better with potions than any of us" I reminded Dawn.

Raven forstalled any further debate in this matter.

"A twenty-four potion split between four people in six hours of good luck each" she pointed out "If pair of us wins I can measure out the dosage and six hours each will be more than enough".

The four of us quickly agreed to that and paired up with Dawn still clinging as she was in the mood to get some attention from me. Given how much the lack of proper attention had harmed her when she was younger I was inclined to indulge her need.

"We need Bicorn horn, Mandrake root and Jewelweed," I said to the Key in human form.

The afternoon passed by quickly even if the work progressed slowly. Some students stopped and started again, others got things wrong and tried to salvage their potions with guidance from Slughorn as he explained how to counter mistakes and let students know when they just had to give up before starting again.

I made sure to use the Half-Blood Prince's alternate instructions if they made sense.

By the end of the class, Raven won, no surprise there as a potion like this was simple to her.

"Well done Miss Roth" he praised "It's safe to say that Madam Promphey would not hesitate to add this potion to her stock".

Since I'd never interacted with the school nurse I didn't know how careful she was with her supplies, and while Slughorn was rather lavish with his praise I could tell that Raven was still pleased to have won.

"Professor, what is the shelf life for this potion?" I asked.

The teacher seemed pleased by the question. Perhaps because it suggested that we weren't just going to try out on a lark.

"Due to the fact that the potion is lucky itself, the chances of the vial breaking are extremely low, the same goes for it spoiling due to some accident so if correctly stored I suspect that it could last up to a decade before it becomes too toxic to drink," he answered, "However to be safe I wouldn't leave it for more than five years as certain potions can become more potent with age and the luck potion already has side effects that can be dangerous".

I'd asked because while I would never use it during a contest as I would want to win due to my own planning, skills and power, if they had the Triwizard Tournament in this timeline I wouldn't mind being able to increase my chances of being able to enter.

"Given to mudbloods. What a waste of a good potion" I heard Draco Malfoy as we left the classroom.

The snake had avoided my attention so far. Now he had just made a great mistake and I was tempted to punch him in his stupid face. I might have because he was bound to keep running his mouth off.

Only Wednesday Addams suddenly put herself between me and the inbred little fuck. I couldn't see what she was doing, but I saw the effects.

Soon Draco Malfoy, along with the two human-looking trolls that followed him around, began to back away, they then turned and walked off in a bit of a rush. They didn't run, but they were certainly in a hurry to leave.

"What did you do to them?" Hermione asked.

The Addams girl turned and looked at us.

"I smiled at him," she said.

A cold shiver went down my spine. Even junior Death Eaters shouldn't be subjected to such horrors. Not that this was going to stop me from teaching that family their proper place.

Charms Classroom. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

As planned I was meeting with Professor Flitwick so that he could tutor me in duelling, or at the very least offer me some tips while measuring my progress, as he had promised he would.

Siruis Black was even more eager than before to prepare me for the contests ahead. Returning his brother to him had led to Black wanting to lavish more attention on me during training and I wasn't going to complain.

I knocked on the door of the classroom, and I got no reply, it wasn't until I opened the door that I heard the music and realised that Flictwick must have soundproofed the room with a charm.

When I entered the music soon came to an end, but I heard enough to guess what song she'd been playing and it was not something you'd expect to hear here at Hogwarts.

Wednesday Addams was here playing the cello and if she didn't wish anyone to hear her that would explain the charm placed on the door to keep the noise inside the room.

"Very good Miss Addams" praised our head of House "The choir will benefit greatly from your inclusion".

I had not known we even had a school choir. Although I did now recall that one appears near the start of one of the movies. Since I wasn't at all musical and neither were any of my companions it hadn't mattered to any of us.

"What song was that?" asked the teacher as his student began to pack up "I'm familiar with the classics in both the magical and muggle worlds, yet I didn't recognise the composer".

"It was written by Mick Jagger" stated Wednesday.

Flitwick clearly had no idea who that was.

"I believe that was Paint It Black, by The Rolling Stones," I said "Mick Jagger is the lead singer and songwriter for the band".

As soon as I spoke those words I got the undivided attention of the other two people in the room. Addams was now intently staring at me, more so than she normally did.

"So that was a rock and roll song" realised Flitwick "I never would have guessed".

While Wednesday packed up as the teacher turned his attention to me.

"I didn't hear you come in," he remarked.

He had been engrossed.

"I knocked, but no one answered," I said, "I thought the room might be empty so I decided to come in and wait".

Since Flitwick had insisted that I be here at this time I'd not left when I got no answer to my knock.

"I got rather caught up in Miss Addams's performance," he told me.

Since I'd heard her play in the TV series I didn't blame him.

"I requested that you come to see me as I have a little time for some duelling practice" Flitwick let me know "Mr Black somehow managed to convince Professor Dumbledore to have an internal duelling contest here at the college despite the Headmaster having refused in the past".

The disappearance of Snape must have spooked the old man.

"He's commissioning five trophies, one for each year" Flitwick let me know "And at the end of this term one student from each house will face off against a student from another house, and if they win that round they will face whoever wins the duel between the other two houses, so you'll only have to win two matches to be the winner for your year".

Since I was the only first-year Ravenclaw getting any tutoring in duelling it made sense that Flitwick had selected me to duel for the house.

"Because the contest will take place at the end of this term before everyone starts cramming for the exams we don't have much time to prepare" warned the Charms Master.

Given the standards of the students in the duelling lessons, I wasn't worried.

"That is assuming you want to enter, Mr Twycross," the teacher was now saying "You are the best candidate and you have expressed interest in taking part in a duelling tournament over the summer".

I did seem to have a little talent in duelling and it was something I wanted to explore.

"Yes, Professor. It would be good to see how well I do outside of the tutoring sessions," I said.

Flitwick moved onto the floor of the classroom and waved his wand to create a shield around us after moving some stuff around to give us more space.

"I assume you wish to stay and watch, Miss Addams," said the professor.

She just nodded, and I kept my back to the young woman as I began to block a few spells sent at me by my Charms teacher so that I would not get distracted by her staring or be tempted to show off

Flitwick didn't even have to say anything or move his wand much in order to knock me to the ground despite my attempts to block his spells. As I got up I saw that Addams was amused by the display.

"You can shield yourself very well" praised the demi-human "And I know that you cast some powerful spells beyond what should be your level of skill, however, Mr Black tells me, you are lacking when it comes to movement".

Flitwick pointed his wand at the floor with his wand and I saw footprints appear. I thought it was something meant to help people learn the moves of a type of dance, but my first impression was wrong, as most are.

"Once we've covered the basics I'll explain in greater detail how to bring down someone who can cast such strong shields," the teacher said "For now, you just need to know that some duellists are very good at unleashing several spells that are cast very quickly with the intention overwhelming a duellist, and then incapacitating them".

Flitwick had defeated me with such ease that I knew that I was years away from defeating a professional duellist.

"However, hostile spells are only useful if they actually strike something or someone so dodging is a basic skill that all duellists need to master" I was told.

This made sense since anyone who'd seen me duel, which included most of the student body at Hogwarts by now, would know I could cast strong shields and would plan to counter that, or at least that was what I would do.

Sirus Black had mentioned to me that I needed to be more aggressive when duelling. I'd not taken his advice to heart as I knew that he was reckless. Yet I acknowledge that perhaps I was too defensive when in a duel.

"Couldn't they just damage the stage so as to limit my movement?" I asked, "Or make it slippery enough that I won't want to move?".

Dungeons and Dragons had a spell called Grease meant for just that sort of thing.

"They can, and I know that you are capable of that tactic since it is what you used to defeat the troll last term" said Flitwick "I've seen duellists who specialise in transfiguration litter a stage with conjured junk that they then use to control the movements of the other duellists".

That sounded like something I needed to look out for.

"The weakness of that tactic is that it takes time and you leave yourself vulnerable to more direct attacks while trying to alter your environment with advanced transfiguration" Flitwick let me know "Any wizard or witch worth their wand could have easily countered your plan to make the floor of that corridor slippery with ice. It only worked so well because a troll's magic is focused on their bodies so they can't spells and their inherit toughness means that they tend to ignore dangers".

I'd known that casting spells directly at the troll would have been pointless.

"As I know I am a Charms Master, so I duel using Charms. From what I've seen of you in class and from what Mr Black tells me, you clearly favour charms over other kinds of magic, at least when duelling" said my teacher.

Raven had advised me that since I was a dragon pretending to be a wizard I'd be well-suited to magic involving air and fire for offensive magic. There were many charm spells that call upon those elements, not that this was my only reason for focusing on them.

"Charm spells just appeal to me more than the magic used in other subjects," I said "Along with potions they seem like proper magic to me. Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy are all rather dry subjects in my mind. And Divination isn't very reliable. Charms are fun, it's a creative subject where your imagination matters a lot".

Flitwick smiled upon hearing that. I could tell that he understood what I was trying to say even if my attempt to explain hadn't been very good.

"I've heard people say that they view Charms as the most fantastical of all the magical subjects. That Charms bring them the most happiness when practising magic," my teacher was soon telling me "I have devoted myself to Charms and I can teach you to use them in many ways both in class and in duelling, but we do need to cover the basics first".

Seemed sensible to me.

"Now dodging is important because even the most powerful of spells can't harm you if the person trying to curse you can't actually strike you with the spell," Flitwick said to me "There are two main ways to prevent a hostile spell from striking you. A barrier, be that a shield or something conjured, or to simply dodge. Taking cover is also an option, just not in normal duelling since you are on a stage".

"Given your youth, I want you to go with dodging as you have more energy than older duellists and these sessions will help you to build up your stamina," he said, "Despite this, you shouldn't depend on dodging as that will make you predictable".

"If you show promise I will devote some of my limited time to teaching you to make good use of both methods of defence while Mr Black focuses more on offensive spell casting" he promised.

I studied the floor and saw that the footprints if followed in the right pattern would allow me to move out of the way of hostile spells without leaving the stage or ending up with me facing the wrong way. There were only so many ways to move so it made sense to mix styles of defence as Flitwick had already mentioned. Dodge some and shield others.

"Of course, the other duellists will know these moves so it's best not to become predictable nor should you allow the witch or wizard you are facing to control the battle by staying on the defensive" advised the teacher "In time you'll learn to make use of parts of the common series moves and mix them together to suit your own needs".

Flitwick moved further away from me before raising his wand.

"We'll start by testing your reflexes," he said as he took out his wand "Keep your wand holstered. We'll be focusing on basic movements for a few lessons. By the time I'm done with you will be able to dodge spells without needing to think about it".

I got the feeling that this was going to involve me getting hit by mild Stinging Hexes until I learned to dodge and it turned out that I was totally right about that.

This might seem a bit wrong since it was much like letting a teacher hit me, but the pain would motivate me to learn more quickly and I would need to practice until dodging hostile spells became second nature to me.

I knew that would need to learn everything Flitwick could teach me if I was ever going to duel experienced wizards.

Quidditch Pitch. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"I'm having trouble processing this" I admitted "Hermione Granger is falling a class".

Since she lacked anything meaningful to say the young witch hit my arm. I barely noticed as in terms of physical might she was a weak girly girl.

"It's not funny," she said "I can't fail this class".

I didn't think it was very amusing. If anything it was a little worrying.

"It's more perplexing than funny," I told her "Or maybe concerning is a better word. I didn't even know you could fail the flying class. I was informed that nearly everyone passes before the first year is over".

Madam Hooch the flying coach was not amused either.

"This is indeed a very serious situation, Mr Twycross," she stated "No one has ever failed my class. Not even Murphy McNully and he was in a wheelchair"

How did he mount a broom then? Seemed offensive to enquire so I didn't.

"Miss Granger will not be the first. If she has to go flying every morning until the end of the year of exams then that is what will we do" we were told.

At this point, I wondered what this had to do with me so I asked about that. All I'd known was that I needed to go down to the pitch.

"The reason I brought you out here is that it will be easier to do what I have planned if Miss Granger can fly with someone she trusts," said Madam Hooch. "Professor Flitwick seems to think that Mr Twycross can get you into the air, Miss Granger".

The Head of Ravenclaw House had raised his opinion on me greatly since he'd begun taking a little interest in my duelling.

"You will pass this class Miss Granger and no note from your parents will excuse you this time" insisted the coach.

So Hermione was one of those kids when it came to PE. Not that I judged as during my first life I'd also been one of those students.

"Why did it have to be James," moaned Hermione.

If not for the fact that I knew she liked me I might be offended. I assumed that she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the closest thing she had to a boyfriend.

"Brooms aren't meant to handle two people," said the coach "However, Mr Twycross smartly supplied us with Oakshafts which are very dependable brooms, and so if you take things slowly you won't get into any trouble".

I couldn't argue with that logic and she was right about brooms normally only having one person fly on them. They responded to the will of the rider and so having two riders could be a problem. As such, I would have to control the broom until Hermione got used to being up in the air.

"We'll start slow with you holding on to my back," I said as Hermione joined me on my broom "Try to think of it as getting on a motorbike. You just need to hold on".

The day wasn't a nice one, but the sky was mostly empty with only a few fliers up in the air over the other side of the pitch.

Once we took off didn't go more than a few feet in the air and we moved about a few feet per second yet the young witch held on to me so tightly you'd think we were strapped to the back of a rocket. I couldn't help finding this a little silly and I wanted to tease her.

"I can show you the world!" I sang.

Hermione did not approve of my song choice so she hit me again.

"Shining, shimmering, splendid" I went on to sing "Tell me, Hermione. Now when did you last let your heart decide?"

"This is not romantic" she complained.

Her words were ignored by me and I sang louder as we went up higher. By now we were far enough away from Hooch that she wouldn't be able to hear what it was I was singing.

"I CAN OPEN YOUR EYES. TAKE YOU WONDER BY WONDER OVER, SIDEWAYS, AND UNDER ON A MAGIC BROOMSTICK RIDE!".

She was not amused, and I was glad that the wizarding world didn't have lawyers as it meant no one could sue me for singing that song. Although I might need to deal with noise complaints if I kept going.

"This is the man I gave up my virginity to" she moaned.

And now she all was mine.

"Let's go a bit faster," I said.

She was not happy about this.

"James Twycross you will take me down right now" she ordered.

I had to make it clear she had no ability to command me.

"Sorry Hermione Jean Granger, I've been told to get you flying so we're not going down until you get used to being in the air," I said, "I used to be scared of heights, it's just something you need to deal with if you are ever going to be a proper witch".

She clearly hadn't expected me to disobey her.

"So we are going to stay up here until you can command the broom to go down" I insisted.

Which wasn't as easy as it sounded as I'd have to give up control of the broom. Like wands, they only responded to one magical person at a time so I would have to surrender control and when that happened the ride might get a little rough.

"How do I make it go down?" she wished to know.

She should already know this.

"Imagine that the broom is like your wand" I answered "It will obey you as long you keep focused on what you want. Picture the broom slowly going down. Stay calm, and try to will the broom to act how you wish".

I could feel the broom moving down so I relaxed and let Hermione take us down a few feet as we came into land.

"See you can do it," I said.

Madam Hooch seemed pleased by the limited progress we'd made today.

"Not a bad start," she said "Come back tomorrow and we'll do this again".

At least these extra lessons weren't too time-consuming, and I should still be able to get away this weekend for something that I wanted to finally get done.

Retirement Plan

Part 25

Umbridge Cottage. Location Unknown.

The home of Delores Umbridge was a small cottage with a well-kept garden that the former head of the Improper Use of Magic Office had a lot of time to tend to now that she was out of work

Before being sacked, Senior Undersecretary Umbridge had risen high in the ranks of the Ministry. She was only in her 30s and given how long wand wavers can live for she was still very young. Yet from what I'd seen of her in the Divine Mirror she didn't appear at all young, her natural bad looks must be making her seem much older, or perhaps her inner self was somehow leaking out to taint her physical appearance and she couldn't cover that up despite how much pink she wore.

No doubt her advancement had come at the cost of others and in the past she had helped to create laws that would have driven creatures and people she saw as 'half-breeds' into the arms of Voldemort or anyone else who offered them more than scorn.

Perhaps I would one day become that leader as the Wizarding World could do with a good kick in the backside in the form of a rebellion, and it wasn't going to get one due to a conflict with Voldemort.

The idea of leading muggle-borns and half-breeds to victory over the inbred fucks who ran this country appealed to me. I even had the wealth required to fund such a movement and I'd have the support required if I could get the right people onboard.

Because I knew what she had done so far and what she would do if given the chance I'd decided to remove Umbridge. I wouldn't murder her, as there were other ways for me to deal with people who could become problems. More humane ways that my companions would support.

The reason that we were doing this now was that we'd discovered that Lucius Malfoy, who I'd been intending to go after for a while, was meeting with Umbridge in secret. Thankfully not for any personal reasons, they were meeting to go over some papers.

I didn't know exactly what they were working on, but given who they were I knew that it couldn't possibly be anything good, and I felt that it needed to be stopped.

Perhaps Malfoy wanted to get Umbridge back into the Ministry so that she would carry out his agenda or maybe they were working on ways to keep the corrupt Fudge in power by blackmailing people within the Ministry of Magic.

Regardless of what they were up to, Umbitch needed to be dealt with and to be punished for her crimes. That Malfoy could be dealt with at the time same time was a welcome bonus because assaulting his manor would be tricky. Unless I attacked it as a dragon that would draw a lot of attention.

I highly doubted that Malfoy was telling people he was coming here so should we capture him successfully he should disappear without a trace. If someone did look into his vanishing it wasn't as if they had reason to think that three first-year students were involved.

My desire to deal with Malfoy had led to us waiting at the perimeter of the property outside of the magical defences that he would have to travel to in order to teleport away. As soon as he closed the front gate that led to the garden I waved my wand as the invisibility cloak dropped to the ground.

"Petrificus Totalus"

The Full Body-Bind Curse, also known as the Body Freezing Spell, was a curse that temporarily paralysed the opponent. I'd learned from Siruis Black who focused on more offensive tactics when teaching me about duelling. It worked like a charm.

"We should just kill him" stated Dawn as my companions came out of their hiding places.

The coldness in her voice surprised me. It didn't seem coming from Dawn.

"That's not the plan" insisted Raven.

Not only was her idea to trap people in special books more humane than sending anyone to Azkaban, as anything was better than that, but it was also safer for us since the books were unlike any magic in this world and because I had a very secure place to store those books, no one could track the people we captured to us.

"We know he's a murder" insited Dawn "He planted that diary on Ginny Weasley or would have, he'd kill children if it suited his plans".

I couldn't disagree with her reasoning. The bastard must have known that the diary would put the students in enough danger to justify sacking Dumbledore and he hadn't cared. Even with his son in the school. There was no way he can have been one hundred percent sure that only Muggleborn students died.

"This isn't about revenge or even justice," argued Rachel "We are doing this to make the magical world a safer place for us and the people we care about".

She had a point.

"Key, we can't alter the plan now," I said to Dawn, "Too many things could go wrong".

None of us was going to use our publicly known names when committing our crimes. I would be Magnus, she would be Key and Rachel would use Raven as she really liked that name. None of us were very good at picking names.

Dawn didn't have a cool outfit for this kind of work either. That was something we would have to fix.

The spell to trap Malfoy in a book wasn't a subtle one and once it was done we all waited for a while, but nothing happened. Umbridge didn't come to investigate and there was no sign of life within the cottage.

"I'm not sensing any strong emotions from inside the house" informed Raven.

That might seem odd, but if Umbridge had her study cut off from outside distractions with certain charms she could have missed what just happened. We would soon find out.

Before we got that far Raven needed to deal with the enchantments that defended this home and I was no expert in this field so I just watched.

I knew enough to know that Umbridge hadn't been willing to pay for proper defences and she lacked the skill to put them up herself as Raven was quickly able to deal with the enchantments.

Interestingly the word 'ward' is never actually used in canon they are referred to as protective enchantments in the textbooks as well. The use of the word wards was a fanon thing.

"There's a spell I don't know on the lock" Raven informed us "It requires an actual key or an alarm will go off that might inform the Ministry if I use any magic on it. Give me a little time to take it apart".

Dawn stepped forward and took out some small bits of metal from a pocket. With them, she began to fiddle with the lock.

"More magic isn't always the answer," she said.

She had the door unlocked in no time. This was a skill she'd picked up from her kleptomaniac phase I assumed or maybe from Spike.

"They don't call me The Key for nothing" she joked.

Once inside, we all used the Freezing Charm (Immobulus) to make sure that none of the moving kitten pictures made any noise or distracted us in any way as we moved from room to room.

"Please don't loot this place" requested Dawn "It should all burn in fire".

I'd considered trying to get some loot so as to add further to my fortune, but there was nothing here worth taking as far as I could see, and I wasn't desperate enough for cash to bother rooting around for Umbridge's coin purse.

Besides, I didn't have the contacts required to fence stolen goods and even if I did, who'd want stuff this pink?

Well, there was always Mundungus Fletcher, but he was a minion of Dumbledore even if he was not a dependable one and so I would not do business with him.

After making sure that we wouldn't be bothered by Umbridge's poor taste in decorations we headed to the study. Only to find it empty and it was easy enough to acquire the papers we need by simply taking all of them.

If there was blackmail material here we could go through it some other time as it wasn't high on our list of things we wanted to get done.

Then we went to the bedroom and found the horrible witch already tucked up in bed. I felt the desire to wake her up and gloat, or threaten her in some way, but I was no Voldemort or other stereotypical villain so instead of talking I let Dawn stun her, as she needed the practice, and then Raven get on with her work.

Soon another evil magic user was now trapped and Rachel looked a little winded afterwards. That spell was taxing.

"I'll be fine" she assured "Let's just burn this place to ashes and go".

While attacking Malfoy Manor was problematic, it turned out that the manor had grounds that were tended to by servants and it was often visited by important guests, this cottage was in the middle of nowhere and thus a safer target to strike at.

"Oh, I get to ride you this time" Dawn insisted.

I couldn't help smiling upon hearing that.

"Phrasing," I said.

She didn't get the reference and since we needed to get moving I didn't bother to explain. We headed out of the cottage and stopped some distance away.

"Just remember to yell Dracarys when you want me to burn the cottage," I told Dawn "It's very important".

She gave me a confused look as she climbed onto my back. A few moments later I was in my dragon form with the Key holding onto me as I prepared to breathe fire. Spending time in my dragon form, which was arguably my true form, could be fun.

"Dracarys!" she yelled.

Burning the small building with dragon's fire rather than using chemicals was meant to confuse any investigators. It was also why we didn't leave the dark mark in the sky this time.

Dawn very much enjoyed the experience and while it might have been pleasant to watch the dark witch's lair finish becoming ash we couldn't risk getting caught at the scene of the crime so we soon made our exit.

Quidditch Pitch. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

My second term at this magical college passed quickly as I prepared for the school's internal duelling contest and devoted myself to the study of wand magic when I wasn't spending time with one of my three girlfriends who I got to fuck regularly. I even found the time to help Hermione pass her flying class even if she only just managed it.

The burning down of Umbridge's cottage and her disappearance never even made the papers and while Lucius Malfoy vanishing did people stopped speculating about it after a while. I guessed that since no one knew where he'd gone that night no one connected the two events or if they did the investigators never let it slip to the public.

Smartly my group never discussed the matter outside the Room of Requirement and that only happened once because Hermione wanted all of the details. She also wanted to be included the next time we went after a bad guy. Given what the canon version of her did to Rita Skeeter I wasn't surprised by this.

No one from the Ministry came to Hogwarts to ask questions as far as I knew and I figured that it was a very good thing that in this timeline Hagrid never got a dragon's egg or he would have been blamed by someone even if was very silly.

At least Draco Malfoy was keeping his mouth shut and not just because Wednesday Addams scared him as well as his goons.

He couldn't threaten people with his father any more and while he was mostly an adult by the standards of wizards he didn't have his father's political skill, nor he could he spend time at the Ministry to keep Fudge in line so his family's influence was waning.

In contrast, Ron Weasley was annoying me more than ever, he seemed to be under the impression that we were rivals despite me not having given much thought at all since Halloween.

The young Miss Addams had been more on my mind as late as she kept coming to watch me practice my duelling under the guise of learning about the sport and Dawn was encouraging me to bring her into the group for her own amusement if nothing else.

"I invited her to come over during the Easter holidays" The Key let me know as the audience settled in to watch the duelling contest that would soon begin "She isn't going back home for Easter, she's staying here at the school, but she can leave to come visit".

Wednesday Addams wasn't very close with her family at this time of her life if the Netflick series was anything to go by.

"Are we having another party?" I asked.

Dawn smiled at me.

"It will be a small one this time" she promised "I figured we could have a casual dinner party, maybe a buffet, some soft music, and then the hot tub for an orgy once everyone starts to unwind".

Hermione gasped upon hearing that as Raven made a face that let me know she didn't find the joke to be at all funny. Everyone else was outside of the muffliato spell so they hadn't heard that.

"I'm kidding" Dawn assured us "I promised to keep that sort of thing in the group, but the hot tub is an option for relaxation".

That was fine with me.

"You should totally take the chance to talk to Wednesday," insisted Dawn "She's interested in you".

That much was obvious.

"I'll talk to her" I promised.

For now, I needed to focus on the duelling. The first-years were going first since these duels would be the most simple and least entertaining for the large audience.

Since I was the only first-year Ravenclaw with any desire to duel I had to go and do my best for my house. I'd even gone to the trouble of putting together a cool-looking outfit to wear when duelling.

"We'll begin with Ravenclaws vs Gryffindor," Black told me as he came over and I dropped the privacy spell "You'll be going up against Ron Weasly".

That was not pleasant news.

"Why the hell am I going up against Ron Weasly" I complained.

I'd been expecting to face Harry Potter. He was a good person to face because if I lost then I'd lose to the Chosen One, there is no shame in that, and if I won, then I would have beaten the Chosen One. Which would be awesome.

"My godson doesn't like the attention," said our duelling instructor.

Yeah, the Dursleys would have made sure of that. Perhaps one day I should go and visit them. I loathed those who harmed children and they should be punished.

"Harry has reasons to learn about duelling other than winning contests," said Black.

Even without Voldemort, it was likely that Potter would face challenges in the future that his godfather was trying to prepare him for.

"Now go on up and make Ravenclaw proud" insisted the teacher.

Weasly was soon sent up on stage by Black who had a few words for the redhead and the ginger had an angry look on his face. I didn't need to be an empath to tell that he resented his older brothers and unlike the book version this Weasly hadn't even been Potter's sidekick while growing up.

Due to his low self-esteem, he took every chance to build himself up by trying to bring others down rather than by actually working at anything. Perhaps if I humbled him publicly he would actually make some effort to improve, yet I doubted it.

"You're going down, bookworm" promised the student.

I sighed.

"Ah yes, the trash-talk part of the duel," I said "Let's see. You're ugly, you have poor personal hygiene, you lack table manners...".

Flitwick, who overseeing this event, began counting down to signal the start of the duel despite me not having finished my insult.

"Three, Two, One!".

"Locomotor Wibbly!"

I shielded that spell and then dodged another spell that had the incantation Mucus Ad Nauseam which sounded very unpleasant to me.

Flitwick had pushed me hard during our training sessions which had become more frequent than originally intended because the teacher found that he was rather enjoying taking me under his wing.

These days I focused so much on duelling that I paid little attention to my other lessons and the only reason Flitwick let me get away with that was that I'd promised to divert my focus to my other classes for the majority of the final term so as to prepare for the exams.

I could have kept up with the shielding and dodging, but while duelling was about showmanship as much as actually winning even Weasley could get lucky so it was best to wrap this up in case he managed to get past my defences.

"Flipendo!"

I made use of the Knockback Jinx to send the redhead off the stage, much to the amusement of the crowd, and then I took a short break.

When I got back to the stage I had to face off against Malfoy who had at least been able to defeat some girl from Hufflepuff. To be fair he wasn't that bad with curses, and rather than bother with any trash talk he just glared at me. Trying to be unsettling I guessed.

It failed. I'm a dragon, no low-level wizard is going to be able to defeat me.

"Three, Two!".

If Flitwick called out One then it was drowned out by Malfoy shouting.

"Serpensortia!"

Before I could do anything about the snake it vanished as Flitwick moved closer to the stage.

"You go on three not on two!" he yelled "You are disqualified, Mr Malfoy".

The crowd did not like hearing that. I didn't know if they hated the cheater, or if they were disappointed that they wouldn't see a show, and it didn't matter as I'd won. I got to go collect my trophy, that I would later give to Flitwick to put in his office.

I should be ready for the contest over the summer, but until then I had other things to focus on.

Twycross House. Wizarding World.

It was the day after term ended when Siruis Black once again came to visit and he was escorted into the library by my House Elf.

Raven and I had been reading here in the library while Dawn went off to prepare for her next party. Hermione had gone home to visit her parents since she still lived with them when not at school.

At first, I thought he might be here to talk about the duelling contest
he wanted me to enter over the summer, but that turned out not to be the case.

"I have something for you, James," he said "A little something to say well done".

He handed over a book.

"The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts" I read out loud

It was a new edition and signed by Arsenius Jigger who had published several editions since the 1920s. The actions of Grindelwald and then Voldemort over the last hundred years meant the Defence Against the Dark Arts had become a more important subject in the last century than it had been before.

"Thank you, I'll make sure to read ahead" I promised.

Rooby served tea without anyone having to ask.

"So you'll be teaching us Defence starting September," Raven said.

I hadn't considered that. This was the kind of book that a Professor would teach from and Siruis was more than wealthy enough to get the author to send a few signed copies to him.

"Didn't you turn down the job?" I asked, "Or was that just a rumour".

Black picked up his teacup and took a sip before speaking.

"I did pass it up before because I wanted to focus on duelling," he said "However the Headmaster thinks Remus will need to be replaced so I need to be prepared. We might end up sharing the position with me staying focused on duelling or with Remus, I mean Professor Lupin, taking my place as the school's duelling instructor".

Dumbledore must think that the curse might still be active and wanted a replacement on hand.

"The school governors weren't happy," Sirus told us "But
Dumbledore reminded them that I am innocent and that if they hold my time in Azkaban against me then they'd be no better than the people who'd locked me up without a trial. Besides I am more than qualified for the job and I think they just like having something to complain about".

Black then went on to explain that during the war with Voldemort, whose name he spoke without fear I noted, he was a Hit Wizard. A Hit Wizard or Hit Witch was a member of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad that was trained to deal with highly dangerous combat situations, such as arresting criminals, containing dark creatures, and preventing the trade of dark artefacts.

They were Wizarding Britain's equivalent of specialist firearms officers, but they were below Aurors who were the elite dark wizard catchers. Very few people ever become Aurors because their standards for recruitment were very high.

"How did you become a Hit Wizard, Mr Black?" Raven asked.

I could tell that he was thinking back to that time.

"Just a few years before Harry was born, James, Harry's father I mean, and I was involved in a motorbike chase with two policemen" he let us know "The chase started off as just a bit of fun, we never meant for anyone to get hurt, but it became much more serious when we were attacked by three men on broomsticks".

Death Eaters I assumed.

"Very foolishly we used our magic to raise the police car that had been chasing us" Black let us know "The Ministry had much bigger things to worry about at the time and they were desperate enough to conscript the two of us rather than lock us up despite us nearly killing the policemen in that car".

It wasn't unheard of for judges to draft young men into the military so as to avoid having to send them off to prison and I could see it happening back then with Voldemort looking as if he could soon take over.

"Both James and I were good fighters" Sirus was now saying "And with the Death Eaters knocking off our superiors there was plenty of room for advancement even with our shady start. James proved to Lily that he could be mature and so they soon got married. Harry came along not after, and I'm sure you know the rest".

Our instructor suddenly stood up.

"James, would you and your lady friend please follow me outside" Sirus requested "I've been trying to think of a way to really thank you for returning my brother to me, and I've found something".

Rather than protest and say that he didn't owe me anything, as finding his brother had been a fluke, I decided just to go along with whatever he wanted. Clearly, it meant a lot to him and I assumed the book was a prize for winning the duelling contest. Which had also meant a lot to him.

He could mention Regulus to us because Raven both knew the secret that Regulus Black was alive. The spell had worked well and Regulus was now living under a different first name and pretending to be the grandson of some Black who was kicked out of the family for not having magic.

Once we were outside I saw why Sirus had come in via the front door when he was welcome to use the floo network. He had brought a motorbike with him. A machine I knew to be very motorcycle that Hagrid had used to bring Harry Potter to the home of his aunt and uncle.

"This beauty started life a Triumph Bonneville T120" I was told, "By the time I was done with it I gave it an engine capacity equal to some trucks. There are charms on the fuel tank that should keep it full for many years to come since it mostly runs on magic".

Wand magic could not simply conjure stuff, at least not for long, but you could use magic to increase the volume of what you had, such as a tank of petrol, this didn't work forever because the volume you added to began to degrade after a time.

As such you couldn't pull a Jesus and feed the five thousand with a few fishes and some bread, but feeding a large family on a Ministry worker's salary was possible if you knew the right charms.

The bike must be much larger than the original model would have been or Hagrid would have broken just by sitting on it, but it didn't seem large enough for the half-giant.

What charm made this possible I couldn't even guess as it clearly had some advanced charm work placed upon it. Perhaps it was re-sized for the rider.

"I had some good times while riding this bike," I was informed, "But as I've been reminded more than once over the last few years, I have to be more responsible".

Not for his own sake. He was changing for his godson and must have recovered quite a bit from Azkaban if he was thinking along those lines.

"Wouldn't you rather give this to Harry, Mr Black?" Raven asked.

That was a good question.

"You can call me Siruis when we are not at the castle" he insisted.

I gave the bike a closer inspection.

"You can remove the sidecar if you'd rather have a certain someone hold on to you when your riding," said Sirus with a smirk on his face.

"Besides, Harry's more of a broom flyer and I'll track down his Dad's old bike sooner or later," he said.

Potter did like flying so I could see him wanting a bike like this.

"I don't actually know how to drive one of these" I admitted, "I guess I could take a class".

This turned out not to be a concern.

"The bike does all the work for you," said Sirus "You just need to focus on where you want to go and the bike does the rest. It gets more tricky if you don't have a destination in mind so don't go for a joyride until you get more used to it. Oh, and keep it on the road during the day".

Quickly I realised that there was someone I should see about this bike just to make sure it was legal. I didn't want it to get confiscated. Which I would do as soon as Siruis's visit came to an end.