January 4, 1997

The idea of returning to Hogwarts was once something that excited Harry. He got to leave his family behind and just be himself; there was no bigger concern than passing his exams and hanging out with his friends. But now, it was all different.

Waking up the day they were due to catch the train back to Hogwarts, Harry lay on his bed staring at his bed's canopy. His eyes took in the intricate carvings and sighed. The past few days had been exhausting, not so much physically but mentally. His holiday break revealed a lot about not only his personal life but he had also learnt a lot about the mystery that plagued Hogwarts.

There were a lot of variables that needed to be taken into consideration. First, someone or something was attacking others by petrifying them. They not only attacked a few muggleborn students but a ghost and a cat. There was also the voice; a voice only Harry and Harvey could hear, which meant it was a snake – because nothing else made sense. Harry had wondered if the voice and attacks were connected; they seemed to be, as neither of them had heard the voice at any other point when someone was attacked – at least, Harvey hadn't mentioned it. And if they were connected, then the voice was a snake with the ability to petrify beings, and that had to be a rare type of creature. To find one and be able to control it would no doubt be difficult unless the person controlling the snake was also a parselmouths, which meant there was a third parselmouths running around Hogwarts.

Harry rubbed his hands over his face and sat up. He kicked back his sheets and made his way toward his bathroom.

Then there was also the drama with Draco. The diary that had ended up in Ginny's hand also seemed to be making the rounds. Not only did it seem to be something that Lucius Malfoy wanted back, but it had also mysteriously disappeared. It concerned Harry when Ginny had informed him that the diary had spoken back to her, and he'd been hoping to discuss it with Carlisle, but he hadn't had the chance. It couldn't be good if Lucius was upset about its disappearance; who knows what kind of dark spells were laced into its bindings that could have very easily influenced Ginny. And then there was the possibility that the diary was somehow linked to the chamber; its sudden appearance at the same time that the attacks started happening seems coincidental.

The hot water crashing into his face drowned away the last of the lingering sleep.

There was a lot that needed to be done, which meant the idea of not returning to Hogwarts disappeared, and what was left was a mental list of people he needed to talk to. As Harry left his bathroom, dried himself and dressed, he noted what he would need to do. First was Carlisle; he could speak to him on the train and find out if he'd learnt anything further about the diary. Harry also wanted to talk to Snape, not only to hand in his potion findings but also to ask him about what the diary could be. He didn't think talking to Dumbledore would result in anything helpful, but he couldn't imagine that the old man would completely dismiss the idea that a dangerous diary in the hands of one of his students might be causing some trouble; then again, Dumbledore seemed to be showing his true colours more and more these days. Harry also wanted to see if he could find the diary; Draco might have stolen it back, but how would he have gotten into the Gryffindor common room? So perhaps, another student had gotten nosy. Maybe even an older brother?

The knock on Harry's door pulled him from his thoughts. He looked up as he buttoned his jacket and said, "Come in."

The door opened, and Sirius leaned against the frame. He smiled warmly. "Ready to go back to school?"

Harry sighed. "I suppose." He picked up his wand from his side table and tapped it twice. His trunk slid from the wardrobe and started to pack itself.

Sirius chuckled. "I wish I'd lived here as a child."

Harry squinted his eyes. "I'm not a child."

"Legally, you are."

"Not for much longer."

Sirius' shoulders dropped. "No, next month, you will be an adult."

"Do you feel old yet?" His tone teased as he slid his wand into his jacket pocket.

Sirius chuckled. "Only when I try to get up from the couch."

Harry laughed and walked over to his father.

Sirius lifted his hand and placed it on the back of his shoulders. He said, "I know how clever you are, but be careful. Please."

Harry could hear the fear beneath his words. He said, "Dad, I'll be fine."

Sirius nodded. "I know. But I also know you and what you would do to protect those around you." His hand slid to Harry's shoulder and squeezed.

Harry smiled warmly and pulled his dad into a hug. It wasn't often that they showed this kind of affection. And as Harry squeezed Sirius against his chest, he told himself that he would make an effort more often to hug his dad. Sirius seemed to let a breath of relief fall out of him.

He said, "I love you, son."

"Love you too, Dad."

They stood there for a few moments before heading downstairs. Harry's trunk followed and shrunk before flying into his pocket. He took Sirius' arm, and they apparated to King's Cross. They landed smoothly on the apparation point and stepped out onto the platform to the bustling crowd of parents and students. Harry followed his father through the crowd, and in their usual spot, they found James with Harvey, who seemed to be digging through his trunk for something.

"Lost something?" asked Sirius.

"Just his wand," said James.

Harry glanced around and noticed he couldn't see his mother anywhere.

"Where's Lily?" asked Sirius.

Harvey jumped up, holding up his wand. "Found it." He stuffed it into his pocket.

James waved his wand, making the trunk repack itself. He said, "Lily didn't think it was a good idea to come. She wants to keep the magical transportation to emergencies only until the baby's born."

"Not long now," said Sirius.

"Three weeks," said Harvey, bouncing on his toes. "And I'll get to be a big brother too."

Harry smiled at Harvey's excitement. "You'll do a better job than me."

Harvey frowned. "You're a great big brother."

"Thanks, Harvey."

They said their final goodbyes before getting onto the train. Harvey shuffled with Harry down the carriages until he found Hermione and Ginny. Harry told him to behave before moving further down to find his friends.

He paused a few times to say hello to a few other students until he found Carlisle. He was sitting on his own, arms crossed over his chest and staring out the window. London was quickly disappearing before their eyes as Harry opened the compartment door. Carlisle turned to look at him, and the expression on his face didn't sit well with Harry.

Harry said, "Hey, you okay?"

Carlisle shook his head. "You didn't happen to get that diary back, did you?"

"No, why?" Harry moved into the compartment and closed the door behind him.

Carlisle said, "My father is freaked. He hasn't let it show in front of Draco or me, but I overheard him talking to our mother. He mentioned…You-Know-Who, and he sounded scared."

"What has he got to do with a diary?" Harry asked as he took a seat across from him.

"I don't know, but it can't be good."

Harry had already been concerned that Ginny had come into the possession of something that had belonged to the Malfoy's. There was an endless number of hexed and dark objects that had been passed down through the generations that could result in a number of catastrophic events when placed into the hands of a young and naive girl. The Black family was much the same; Sirius had sealed the most dangerous items away in a vault in his office to keep them out of Harry's reach when he was younger. To this day, Harry was careful when searching through the cupboards of White Oak. He never knew what he'd find next. But the idea that the diary didn't belong to the Malfoy's but Voldemort made it much worse.

Carlisle leant forward and hissed, "You've got to get it back from the Weasley girl; she could be in danger. The thing might be cursed."

Harry shook his head. "Ginny doesn't have it."

"What? You said she picked it up in Diagon Alley."

"She did. She used it as her diary for most of the year, but it disappeared from her room before leaving for the holidays."

Carlisle sighed. "Maybe it's just a book then. I mean, if she used it and is fine, maybe it was just a book that You-Know-Who just owned."

Harry frowned. "I don't think it's just an ordinary diary."

"Why?"

"Ginny told me that the diary wrote back."

Carlisle's eyes widened, his shoulders stiffened, and his knuckles turned white.

Harry watched as his friends processed the information and tried to think of any non-dangerous reasons an inanimate object would do such a thing or be spelled to talk back, but nothing came to mind.

Carlisle dropped back against the seat and tapped his finger on his knee. "We've got to find it."

Harry nodded. "It's on my to-do list."

The door to the compartment opened, making the two friends stop and turn. Amelia and Jenna were standing there looking at them suspiciously. Carlisle forced a stiff smile for his girlfriend; Harry just sat back and tried to act like they hadn't been talking about anything important.

"What are you two up to?" asked Jenna.

Carlisle shrugged. "Just catching up."

Amelia scoffed. "Right. Like you two didn't spend most of the holidays together."

Harry shook his head. "Actually, Dad and I skipped the traditional Pureblood parties this year. Kept it small."

Carlisle snapped back to look at him. "I meant to ask you about that." He kicked out his foot, hitting Harry in the shin.

Harry gasped and kicked back. "Shit! You bastard."

Carlisle said, "You're the one who left me to deal with all our bloody relatives. Do you have any idea how boring it was? Draco was busy peacocking for all the adults for me to have any entertainment at all."

Harry smirked. He could imagine how the night how have gone if he had been there with them. They would have mocked and teased Draco until he was red in the face. "You could have just left and flooed over to White Oak."

Carlisle scoffed. "Like my mother would have allowed that."


The remainder of the train ride to Hogwarts was kept on the lighter side. Harry was still considering what the diary could be, and he was still trying to sort through possibly theories on the attacks, but he chatted and spent time with his friends. Will and Cedric even turned up about halfway through the trip; the only person Harry hadn't seen was Dylan. He knew his friend was going through some stuff and would need to find the time to talk to him properly, but he didn't know when that would be.

He didn't see Dylan until they were seated at the Ravenclaw table. Harry had sat across from Jenna and had been doing his best to annoy his friend by taking the pieces of food she would reach. Just as Harry stabbed a potato with his fork, Jenna reached out to smack his hand, did Dylan sit down. He looked flustered; his normally neat clothes were rumpled.

Jenna glanced up and down at Dylan's appearance and said, "You beat you up?"

Dylan frowned. "No one." He muttered his words as he reached to take a few pieces of the roast chicken.

Harry turned his head and saw Will walking along the Slytherin table. His neutral expression gave nothing away, but Harry knew that Dylan's appearance had to be because of Will. He said, "Did you finally have that talk?"

Dylan paused for a moment, chicken falling off his fork and onto his plate. He cleared his throat and said, "Not really."

Harry was tempted to roll his eyes. Dylan didn't even have to explain for Harry to know what had actually happened. For the sake of his friend, Harry didn't react and just turned back to his food. He made conversation with Jenna about her holiday. He even managed to get Dylan to smile before the food was cleared away.

But as they were getting ready to leave, their attention was drawn by Dumbledore. He walked across the front of the hall to stand by his podium and said, "Good evening, students. I'd like to take a moment to welcome you all back to Hogwarts. I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and are ready to jump back into your classes. Before I send you off to bed, I do have a few announcements and rules that are in place from now on." Dumbledore took a breath.

Students all glanced at one another, concerned.

"With the safety concerns due to the number of attacks, from this point on, all students will be escorted to each class by a teacher. This includes being escorted to and from the Great Hall for your meals. All clubs and Quidditch have also been suspended until further notice."

"What?" A student's voice echoed through the hall.

"You can't cancel Quidditch!" yelled Oliver Wood.

"Silence!" demanded Dumbledore. He frowned as the students settled again. "I don't want to be taking away such things, but it is necessary until the one behind these attacks is caught."

Harry didn't like the idea of Quidditch being cancelled any more than Wood did, but he thought it was about time that something was done. Dumbledore had been far too reckless with student's lives so far.

"Any student found to be breaking these rules won't like the punishment they receive!"

"Couldn't be any worse than getting petrified," muttered Dylan.

Harry glanced at his friend and frowned but didn't respond.

"So, if you would please wait for your head's of house. They will escort you to your common rooms for the evening."

Students sat at their tables and waited. Snape was the first teacher who stepped out. The Slytherins fell in line behind him and marched down towards the Dungeons. Ravenclaws were next; Harry stood, nudging Dylan as he groaned, and they followed Flitwick towards their tower.

The walk seemed to take longer than Harry could remember, and when they did arrive, you could sense the relief from the rest of the Ravenclaws.

Flitwick stood near the entrance as they walked past and said, "Ravenclaws, I just want to take a moment with you all."

The students all settled around the room. Harry found a shelf to lean against and waited.

Flitwick said, "If you have any questions, feel free to ask now. Or, if you have concerns you wish to address me privately, send me an owl."

A first-year who had taken a seat on the floor beside one of the couches put up her hand.

"Yes, Penny?" asked Flitwick.

"Professor, what is going to happen if the person hurting other students isn't found?" she asked.

Flitwick sighed. "I'm afraid to say that Hogwarts would probably have to close."

"You can't do that!" said a third-year.

"Where else would we go?" asked a fourth-year.

Harry sighed. It was a valid question. There wasn't an abundance of wizarding schools; some were very expensive. And not all students had parents that could home school them.

Flitwick frowned. "I know it seems bad." He tried to smile. "Let's try and stay positive. Just stick to the new rules, wait for your teachers, and never go anywhere alone."

Everyone seemed to nod.

"Good." Flitwick nodded and glanced over everyone; he stopped when he looked at Harry. "Mr Black, a word."

Harry furrowed his brow but pushed away from the shelf. He fell into step behind Flitwick until they were outside the main door. "Is something the matter, Professor?" asked Harry.

Flitwick shook his head. "No, no. Professor Snape asked me to inform you that your private studies will be slightly altered." He pulled out a piece of parchment. "Also, I will say, even though you have these private studies, I expect you to wait for a Professor to escort you down to the dungeons. No matter how talented you may be, Harrison, you are still a pupil in our care."

Harry nodded. "Of course, Professor."

Flitwick gave Harry a knowing stare. He waved his wand, opening the Ravenclaw door, before turning and heading down the hall. Harry stepped back into the common room, noticing most of the students had separated, before glancing down at the parchment.

In Snape's scribbles, he read the changes to his lessons. He now had Tuesday and Wednesday mornings with Snape. That meant he'd be assisting him in the sixth-year lessons and the fourth-year lessons. These were replacing his Tuesday and Friday afternoon sessions, then were now written as his free periods.

"What did Flitwick say?" asked Jenna. She was standing by the stairs.

"Snape changed my lessons," he said.

"Does he do that often?"

Harry shook his head. "No. It's probably because of the new rules. It's harder for me to get down to the dungeon whenever I need to since we have escorts now."

Jenna huffed. "It's the most sensible thing that he's done since these attacks started."

Dylan snorted. "It's annoying, is what it is."

"Why? Because you can't sneak off for a booty call?"

Harry's eyes widened at Jenna's jab.

Dylan turned red. "Shut up!" He stepped between them and headed up towards their room.

"Well done," muttered Harry.

Jenna shrugged. "He over-reacted."

"He's a little…." Harry wasn't sure what to say. He knew that Dylan hadn't exactly been sharing his personal life with anyone else. "He's dealing with some stuff."

Jenna sighed. "Okay." She narrowed her eyes but didn't pry any further.


Harvey sat in the Gryffindor common room by the fire. He was sitting with Hermione, who had happily been going over their Potions homework. Harvey had been confident with his work, but watching Hermione wiggle her nose and clench her brows together, made his gut twist.

"It can't be that bad," he whined.

Hermione glanced up and smiled. "It's not."

Harvey frowned. "But you look so…so…I don't know."

Hermione let out a short giggle. "I was just concentrating. Did Harry help you with your paper?"

Harvey shook his head. "No. I did it by myself."

"Well, it's good." She held it out to him. "Not as good as mine." She smirked, "but good."

Harvey chuckled and took his paper. "I apologies, oh mighty smarty pants."

Hermione smirked and shrugged. She placed her hands on her hips and said, "I accept your apology."

Harvey laughed along with his friend before rolling up his parchment and putting it into his bag. They'd been sitting by the fire since they'd gotten back from dinner. The new rules had put a damper on everyone's spirits of being back, but Harvey had tried to stay positive. They would catch whoever was behind this.

"Laughing about your next victim, Harvey?"

Harvey's shoulders stiffened. He turned to Ron, who was leaning against the couch. Harvey frowned at his ex-friend. "I'm not behind this, Ron."

Ron scoffed. "Whatever."

Hermione sighed. "Enough, Ronald."

Ron rolled his eyes. "How's the potion? Will it be ready soon?"

"Two weeks, and then we will be good," she said.

Ron huffed. "If you think delaying this will save your friend, you are wrong."

Hermione ignored him and opened her book.

Harvey wanted to knock some sense into Ron, but that wasn't going to happen. No matter what he did or said, Ron seemed to think he was the devil. He thought that maybe there was a reasonable part of Ron who would see through it all, but he was full-on crazy. Harvey had even told Ron that he was acting like Draco; that hadn't helped matters.

Ron took their silence as his cue to leave. He stomped away; Harvey and Hermione both sighed with relief.

"What are we going to do with him?" muttered Hermione.

Harvey shrugged. "I'm kind of done trying to fix things."

Hermione snapped her book shut. "Maybe once you interrogate Malfoy, he'll see sense."

"At this point, Draco could petrify someone in front of Ron, and he'd still claim I was behind it all. Ron is beyond reason."

"Does that mean you won't help with the potion?"

"I originally told Harry I stayed out of all this. After everything that happened last year with Quirell, we agreed to a normal, boring year. But I just keep getting myself involved."

"I understand if you want to keep that promise."

"Thanks. You're a great friend, Hermione."

Hermione smiled. "Harry is a good brother and a good friend. I get wanting to keep your promise to him. I kind of wish that I wasn't involved either."

"Then why keep doing it?"

"Ron will just find his own way. And I somehow see that as ending badly."

Harvey couldn't disagree. Who knows what Ron would do if the polyjuice potion wasn't an option. Harvey glanced up and noticed another familiar redhead walking towards the stairs. He sat up straight and called, "Ginny!"

Ginny stopped and shook her head before climbing up the stairs.

Harvey sagged back against the couch.

"You aren't having much luck with the Weasley's, are you?" Hermione asked.

Harvey said, "I deserve Ginny's cold shoulder. I just want to apologise."

Hermione patted his knee. "Give her time. You did read her diary."

Harvey frowned. "I opened it. But it was empty, so I didn't read anything."

"It was empty?"

Harvey nodded.

"But she writes in it all the time."

"I don't know what to tell you. It was blank. Harry thought it was strange too."

"A charm, perhaps?"

"I don't think Ginny could do magic like that."

"Maybe it was charmed before she got it?"

Harvey shrugged.

"Either way. You did invade her privacy."

"Because I was trying to help."

"Still not a good enough reason. At least, not yet. She'll get over it. Maybe you could help her by finding it."

"She lost it?"

"Ginny said it disappeared from her bag before we all left for the holidays."

"Do you think Draco might have taken it?"

"I don't know. But finding it would probably help mend your friendship."