Harry's eyes suddenly snapped open and the memory of Scylla's attack and almost dying, crashed down upon him. Once again, his breathing quickened and his vision began to fade out once again. Just then, a blurry figure materialised in front of him and a pair of hands firmly cupped his face.

The figure began speaking, but he could barely hear them over the sound of his own breathing. Eventually, his vision cleared and he found himself face-to-face with the bright blue eyes of Penny Haywood. Finally, he heard her voice, "- there we go, Harry. It's okay. You're safe. It's okay. Calm down. I'm right here. Nothing's going to happen to you. That's it. Just breathe slowly. In… and out… In… and out…"

After she let go of his face, he croaked, "H-how long was I out? Sorry about that."

The blonde-haired girl smiled at him, "It's only been five minutes."

In the background, he heard Ron exclaim, "Harry!, you okay, mate?"

This was followed by the sound of multiple feet rushing, but Penny suddenly raised a hand from her knelt position on the floor, and stopped them. She snapped, "Back up! Don't crowd him! He needs some space! Hermione, can you help me?"

As Hermione held the others back, Penny turned back to Harry and spoke softly, "Can you get up? You just had a really bad panic attack from that Boggart. It's okay, I could recognise the attack because grandad fought in World War 1. When he came back, he was in a really bad shape with severe PTSD. I remember one particularly bad episode, it was late at night, and I heard him suddenly yelling about 'getting those pesky Jerrys', then there was a loud shotgun blast. Blew the bedroom door right off its hinges and with a massive hole in it. Took mum and dad two hours to calm him down."

She stood up and offered him a hand, as he was sitting on the floor. He grasped her hand and hauled himself up. He staggered a little, but Ron and Neville quickly grabbed him and steadied him. Lupin came over and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, "Are you okay, Harry?"

He got his breathing under control, "Sorry, don't know what came over me. Didn't mean to scare everyone."

Remus soothed, "That's okay. It can happen to anyone. Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head, "Not now. Maybe later."

Remus straightened, "Well then. Class dismissed. Five points to everyone who tackled the Boggart. As for homework, kindly read the chapter on Boggarts and summarize it for me. Do try and turn it in by Monday, that will be all."

When they finally made it back to the Common Room, Katie was there to meet them. Looking at Harry's slightly shell-shocked face, she guided him to the couch and wrapped her arms around him. The other Gryffindors were dead silent for a few minutes, when Seamus suddenly demanded, "Okay, what the f**k was that thing!?"

Harry lied, "I guess it kind of started last summer. Was on vacation in Australia and while surfing, I got attacked by a Great White shark."

Kevin Farrell chipped in, "That didn't look like a shark to me."

Harry laughed sheepishly, "Yeah… Uh… About a month before starting school, Uncle Sirius kind of forced me to watch a monster movie marathon on the telly. One of those monsters was pretty darn terrifying."

That satisfied everyone, and many of them moved off. After a few minutes, Katie cast a privacy spell around them, as well as Ron, Hermione, Ginny, the twins and Neville. She gently asked, "There's more to the story, isn't there?"

He nodded, "You remember when Annabeth came to pick us up and she looked panicky? Turns out, Luke snuck into camp and poisoned Thalia's tree. It severely damaged the wards, so we went on a quest to find the Golden Fleece. Without those wards, camp would be overrun by monsters. The Fleece was located in the Sea of Monsters, which is the modern day Bermuda Triangle. The official entrance was between two islands guarded by a monster on each island."

He grabbed a parchment and began drawing, "This, is Charybdis. She was once a beautiful giantess, who was cursed to look like a monster."

Ron commented, "Bloody hell, she looks pretty ugly."

Harry snorted and continued drawing, "And this… is Scylla. She was a nymph, who earned the jealousy of Circe. As a result, she was cursed into becoming this monster. Any time a ship would pass her island, each of her heads would grab a sailor to devour. Apparently, one of Scylla's heads went for my friend Jackson. I tackled him out of the way, only to get snatched up instead."

His audience's eyes widened in horror, and he uttered a hollow laugh. Harry continued, "Would have probably died if I hadn't stabbed the head that was snatching me up."

Hermione sat down on the couch, taking his other side, and hugging him. She murmured, "I'm glad you're okay. It's okay, I completely understand that almost dying at the hands of a monster can be very traumatising."

Ginny was a little confused, "Surely it couldn't be that bad."

Ron replied, "You weren't there, Gin. When that Boggart transformed, it was bloody terrifying. I think everyone screamed. Lavender and Parvati even fainted at the sight of the monster."

Over the next few days, DADA quickly became everyone's favourite class. The only exception was Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Snyde and Murk. Malfoy in particular, often tried to highlight Lupin's often shabby state of clothing. However, nobody really cared at all, since Lupin always kept his classes entertaining.

After boggarts, they studied Red Caps, who were nasty little goblin-like creatures. They lurked wherever there had been bloodshed, be it castle dungeons or potholes of deserted battlefields. Their sole purpose was to bludgeon anyone who ever had the misfortune of crossing their path.

The next creature in their curriculum, were Kappas. These were creepy water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys. They also possessed webbed hands which were itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds.

As for the other classes, they carried on as usual. In Divination, he often had discussions with Trelawney about the Oracle of Ancient Greece. When October swung by, Quidditch season was just around the corner. Once again, Oliver Wood was back into one of his moods. He ran everyone through the wringer, until Angelina looked ready to strangle him with her bare hands.

With the threat of Greyback, the Gryffindor Quidditch team trained under the watchful eyes of Madam Hooch. After their final session, Oliver Wood strolled into the locker room common area. He grinned at Harry, "Hey Potter, glad you intervened when Malfoy pulled his stunt. Of course, I would have preferred that you were uninjured in the altercation. How are the hands?"

Harry wiggled his fingers, "Good as new, Cap!"

Wood grinned again, "Malfoy tried to convince Flint that he was injured in Care of Magical Creatures, but no one bought it. Our match with Slytherin is still on."

The day before the match, the winds reached howling point and the rain fell harder than ever. It was so dark inside the corridors and classrooms that extra torches and lanterns were lit.

Once again, the perennial rivals met on the pitch and the captains tried to crush each other's hands. Over the howling winds, Harry barely heard Madam Hooch call out, "Mount your brooms!"

Harry dug his right foot out of the mud with a squelch and swung it over his Nimbus Two Thousand. Madam Hooch put her whistle to her lips and gave it a blast that sounded shrill and distant — they were off.

Harry rose fast, but his Nimbus was swerving slightly with the wind. He held it as steady as he could and hunted for the Snitch. As usual, his Hunter senses picked up the Snitch and was following its movements. However, the rain was making his job a little more difficult.

Within five minutes Harry was soaked to his skin, but kept moving in order to stay warm. Along the way, he saw red and green shapes whistling around him. A sulking Malfoy decided to tail him, his head turning left and right, in search of the Snitch.

The crowd was hidden beneath a sea of cloaks and battered umbrellas. Twice Harry came very close to being unseated by a Bludger, but he managed to sense them and swerve out of the way. As the game progressed, the sky grew darker, as though night had decided to come early. When a flash of lightning showed Oliver Wood signalling to him, he flew over immediately.

"I called for time-out!" Wood roared at his team. "Come on, under here —"

They huddled at the edge of the field under a large umbrella. Harry asked, "What's the score?"

"We're fifty points up," said Wood, "but unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night. Harry, forget about waiting until we get 90 on the board. Let's end this as quick as possible."

After another quick strategy meeting, they were back in the air. This time, Harry was flying with a vengeance. He bore down on the Snitch, which immediately flitted away. Harry stretched out his right arm, and was inches away, when something smashed into his left shoulder and his shoulder exploded in pain.

He let out a pained grunt as he clutched his shoulder. Suddenly, he felt something warm and sticky on his fingers and inspected his gloved hand to see blood coating them. Then, he felt another massive hit, this time from Captain Flint, the impact sending Harry's broom spinning out of control. He tried to wrestle it back under control, but ended up crashing on the ground.

Madam Hooch's whistle blew furiously, and she was at his side in an instant. Madam Pomfrey was also hurrying over with some medical supplies, as every Gryffindor in the stands booed and jeered loudly.

Pomfrey tsked, "Okay Mr. Potter, let's get you looked at."

She loaded him onto a stretcher and waved her wand around his head. She mused, "Hmm… No concussion, but that shoulder looks pretty nasty."

Oliver flew down immediately, "You okay Harry?"

Harry grit his teeth in pain, "Gah! I'm such an idiot! I completely forgot about this old injury of mine. Stupid Bludger's gone and made it worse now. Sorry captain, looks like I'm out for the count."

He nodded, "No hard feelings, Potter. I may be a Quidditch-obsessed nut, but I do care about my teammates."

Harry snorted, "Tell that to Angelina after our last practice. Also, tell Thistlethwaite that the Snitch is near the Slytherin goalposts. Malfoy doesn't seem to have spotted it yet."

Oliver mock-scowled, "Cheeky bugger… If you weren't injured, I'd smack you upside the head. Oi! Thistlethwaite! You're on!"

Within minutes, he found himself back in the hospital wing, with Madam Pomfrey clucking disapprovingly, pulling off his jersey and cleaning his wound. The matron called out behind her, "Miss Lobosca, I need yours and Miss Abbott's assistance."

Chiara and Hannah came over, as they were volunteering in place of Tracey, who was at the game. Pomfrey pointed at Harry, "There seems to be something lodged in Mr. Potter's left shoulder. I need both of you to hold him steady while I extract the object, or objects."

The two girls fought down blushes as they grabbed the shirtless boy's arms. Then, Madam Pomfrey took a pair of forceps and began carefully extracting something and depositing them in a kidney tray.

Hannah nearly shrieked, "Are-Are those, teeth?!"

He bit back a curse as the next tooth was pulled out, "Survived a shark attack during the summer hols. Bloody thing bit me in the left shoulder."

By the time the nurse was done, there were five teeth on the kidney tray. Pomfrey then cleaned the teeth and handed them to Harry, "Here you go, Mr. Potter. A souvenir, if you will."

A few minutes later, the team burst in, cheering away and carrying Robyn on their shoulders. Ron, Hermione and Neville entered right behind them. The group made their way over to the bed-ridden Harry, just as Hannah was wrapping his shoulder in a bandage.

Alicia took one look at Harry's shirtless body and whistled, "Dang! And Katie gets a piece of prime beef like that? Lucky bitch!"

Harry turned scarlet, the boys roared in laughter, and Katie smacked her teammate, also blushing. Hermione asked, "Are you okay, Harry?"

He grimaced, "Bludger hit wasn't too bad. Any other day, I could have walked it off. Turns out, I completely forgot that I had an old injury which kind of got aggravated with the hit. Remember the 'shark attack'? Apparently, a few teeth got lodged into my shoulder, and the Bludger let the teeth dig in even further."

Those in the know, winced in sympathy. Oliver interrupted, "Anyway, we won! Potter! Your intel was spot on, and Robyn snatched the Snitch before Malfoy even realised what was happening. Wanker was too busy laughing when you went splat!"

Then Neville nervously inched forward, "Err… Harry. I-er, I don't know how to tell you this. When you crashed, your broom snapped in two pieces."

Harry sighed, "Oh well. It served me well, in the last two years. I'll ask Uncle Sirius to help me buy another broom."

He was released later that day, and he joined the celebrations. One day in the dorms, he approached Angelina. He said, "Hey 'Lina, I need a small favour. You know those shark teeth that Madam Pomfrey extracted, I was hoping to make them into a necklace."

The dark-skinned girl held out her hand, "Sure thing!"

With a few underpowered Piercing Hexes, she drilled a hole in each tooth. Harry thanked her and took the teeth back. Then, he sat down at a table, unhooked his Camp necklace and carefully threaded each tooth in the necklace.

After the first match, the first game of Capture the Flag was going to be scheduled in two weeks. This one was also going to be a Slytherin versus Gryffindor affair. One night, Percy Weasley gathered everyone. He revealed a red flag with the Gryffindor symbol on it, and paced around the Common Room, "Okay everyone. We have a week to prepare for this game. Honestly, I have never heard of this game until Dumbledore announced it. Has anyone played it before?"

Harry, Mackenzie and Katie immediately raised their hands. Every head turned to him, and Percy spoke, "Okay, Potter. Looks like you're taking point in this. Lay it on us."

Harry took the flag from him and explained, "Okay, so in a nutshell. This flag will stay in our Common Room and we have to defend it. At the same time, we have to go to our opponents' Common Room and retrieve their flag. The game ends when either their flag is in our Common Room or our flag is in theirs. In essence, it's a race."

Angelina nodded, "Okay, so what do you suggest?"

He stroked his chin in thought, "I think it's best if half of us go to retrieve their flag, and the other half stay back and defend ours. I'm thinking that First-Year to Third-Year, will defend the Flag. Fourth-Year and above, will be the attack squad. My suggestion is that you all take different paths. Also, you lot have a bigger spell repertoire. Additionally, Fred, George? I need you two to stock up on pranking supplies. We're going to create traps on the way here. In case Slytherin try to overwhelm us with numbers, the traps can thin the herd."

The twins looked like Christmas had come early. Percy looked quite alarmed though, "P-Harry… Are you sure it is wise to unleash the twins?"

Ron quipped, "Better them than us. Besides, they're not exactly breaking the rules. Professor Dumbledore didn't mention anything about pranks being prohibited. It's fair game."

Percy threw up his hands in an 'I give up' gesture. He groaned, "Alright fine. You two are given free rein only for Capture the Flag."

The twins saluted, "Yes sir! We won't disappoint you, sir. You won't regret a thing!"

Percy nodded, "Harry… Tomorrow is the first Hogsmeade weekend. Go with them and see what you can dig up."

Fred rubbed his hands in glee, "Excellent! I'm almost out of Stink Pellets. Come Harrikins, strategy meeting!"

The twins led him up into the Third Year dorms. Making sure that they were alone, George closed the door, while Fred took out a large square piece of parchment that had clearly seen better days.

"This, Harry, is the secret of our success," said George, patting the parchment fondly.

"It's a wrench, giving it to you," said Fred, "but we decided last night, your need's greater than ours."

"Anyway, we know it by heart," said George. "We bequeath it to you. We don't really need it anymore."

Harry recognised it and snorted, "So that's where it was!"

The twins were puzzled, "You know about the Marauder's Map?"

Harry grinned, knowing that he had some arsenal over them, "Of course! I know who they are. You two, know about them, as well."

George challenged, "You're having us on! There's no way!"

Harry grinned, "Want to bet?"

He pulled out his wand, touched the parchment and spoke clearly, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

And at once, thin ink lines began to spread like a spider's web from the point that his wand had touched. They joined each other, they crisscrossed, they fanned into every corner of the parchment; then words began to blossom across the top, great, curly green words, that proclaimed:

"Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present

THE MARAUDER'S MAP"

Fred grabbed him and shook him, "Tell us your secrets! O wise one! We must know!"

Harry smirked, "Get used to disappointment."

They got on their knees and begged, "Please!"

He mock thought about it and emitted a dramatic sigh, "Okay fine. Padfoot is none other than Sirius Black! Moony is none other than Remus Lupin…"

"You're joking! There's no way! Professor freaking Lupin, was a Marauder!"

Harry grinned, "It gets better! Wormtail… is Pettigrew. We do not speak his name ever again. Which reminds me…"

He tapped the parchment with his Celestial Bronze wand again. Then fresh words showed up, "It is hereby acknowledged that Messr Wormtail has betrayed the Marauder's Oath, and is no longer a Marauder."

Finally, Harry said, "Last but not least, Prongs… is none other than my own father, James Potter!"

The boys gawked at him and then began worshipping him, "We're not worthy! We're not worthy!"

Harry briefly basked in their fawning, and then cleared his throat, "Erm… Weren't we here for a strategy meeting?"

That got the twins to stop and they got serious again. They pored over the Map and charted the best course of action to Hogsmeade. As they wound up the meeting, Harry insisted that they not use the map during the game, as that would be cheating. Fortunately, the twins had no quarrel with that, and they let him keep the map, as it was rightfully his.

A day later, the Third-Years all handed in their permission slips, and then Harry split from his friends to join the twins. They stocked up on Dung bombs, Hiccup Sweets, Frog Spawn Soap, Nose-Biting Teacups, Stink Pellets, and many more goodies.

Then, they heads to The Three Broomsticks to meet with Hermione and Dean. As they sat around drinking Butterbeer, Harry said, "Hermione, Dean… You two are important to Phase 2 of this plan. Phase 1 is stocking up on our items. Time to commence Operation Home Alone."

Dean had a massive grin on his face, "Bloody brilliant! The Snakes won't know what hit them! I'll write home and ask my folks to send some toys over."

Then, Hermione raised a hand, "Question… We're not going to hurt or injure them, are we? I mean, I detest Malfoy as much as the next person, but I don't want to injure him too badly. Kevin McAllister's traps have the potential to be pretty deadly."

Harry nodded sagely, "Good point, let's try and trim down the pranks to a more humiliating level."

George nodded, "Gotcha. Pranks are usually fun when no one's getting hurt. We may be pranksters, but we're not cruel to hurt anyone. Unless they go after one of our own. That's when the Sickles go down. No mercy."

They talked for a little while longer, when Harry noticed movement in the corner of his eye. He spotted McGonagall walking inside the pub and then look around. Her eyes zeroed in on their group and she briskly walked towards them.

As she came within earshot, the deputy Headmistress reached into her robe and withdrew a letter. She handed the letter to Hermione and said, "Miss Granger, there is some correspondence for you, it is rather urgent."

The girl silently took the letter and read it, before exclaiming, "WHAT! THEY CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"

She stood up quickly and rushed out, yelling, "Crookshanks! Crookshanks! Where are you?!"

The letter was lying on the table and Harry took it. McGonagall helpfully translated for him, "Dear Hermione, we recently received a letter from your Head of House and deputy Headmistress. According to her, the cat that we recently bought for you, has been… out of control.. Since you have evidently neglected to discipline Crookshanks or train it, your mother and I felt that it was prudent that he be sent back home."

Hermione sweetie? Remember when I asked you whether you were sure you wanted a pet? I asked that you be responsible and take the time to train him. Since you have failed that, Crookshanks will be coming home and we will be hiring a cat trainer."

Ron muttered, "Bloody hell! Imagine the scenes if we hadn't discovered Pettigrew in our First Year! Had Crookshanks eaten Pettigrew/Scabbers, Sirius wouldn't have been found innocent and would have still been rotting in Azkaban. I think I caught Crookshanks in our dorm a few times."

McGonagall nodded gravely, "Indeed, Mr. Weasley. Sometimes I feel that that girl has a tendency to get tunnel vision when it comes to studying. What I mean is that she gets so caught up studying, she starts to neglect her own health and other things around her. I'm just glad that she did not try to be over-ambitious and take all the Electives. Some of the paintings in the Common Room have often reported seeing her studying in there until nearly 2 in the morning. Then when she finally goes to sleep, she wakes up again, by 5AM. This is honestly very unhealthy behaviour."

Hermione soon came storming back, in tears, "He's gone! His basket is also gone! I was doing just fine, taking care of Crookshanks! Mum and dad can't do this to me!"

McGonagall chose that moment to interject. She cast a privacy barrier around their table and sharply said, "Miss Granger! For the past few weeks, I have received multiple complaints from various students in different Houses, that your car is responsible for the deaths of at least 8 pet rats. From there, I conducted my own investigation, and what I found, was very worrying. On multiple occasions, you have simply let your cat do its own thing. As such, it has regularly wandered all over the castle and eaten many pet rats and mice.

She protested, "B-but Professor! Crookshanks is a cat! Cats eat mice! All those other students should keep their rats and mice in cages if they have such an issue!"

McGonagall was having none of it, "Miss Granger, by that same argument, Mr. Potter has an owl and owls are known to eat mice and rats. However, Hedwig, other students' owls and the school owls have enough common sense and basic training to not attack the pet mice and rats of other students. As for your other statement, why should the other students be forced to lock up their pets while your pet has free rein to the castle? That does not sound fair, does it? Even Mrs. Norris knows not to attack the other students' pets. Your cat is clearly untrained and you are not taking responsibility for it."

He voice lowered to a more gentle tone, "Miss Granger, you are a bright student and I hate to chastise you like this, but you need to learn some responsibility. I think it is for the best that your cat be sent away for a while, until it is properly trained."

The bushy-haired brunette glanced down in shame, "I'm sorry, Professor. I understand what you are saying. It's just that I was so excited to finally own a pet. I'm 14, so I thought that I was old and mature enough to care for a pet on my own."

McGonagall smiled, "My dear girl… Age does not mean maturity. Let me give an example. Professor Snape was once a student here, at Hogwarts."

Harry raised a hand, "Professor, I think I know this story."

She nodded at him, "Indeed, Mr. Potter. Anyway, now Professor Snape was classmates with Mr Potter's parents, as well as Professor Lupin and Auror Black. Potter Sr, Lupin, Black and the inmate Peter Pettigrew… were pranksters. Mr. and Mr. Weasley, I sincerely hope that you do not take after them fully. The four of them fancied themselves as pranksters, but the reality was that they were bullies. Now, Professor Snape was often a target of their pranks, but he could give back as well as he could take it. Another link between Potter Sr. and Professor Snape was that they were both very fond of Lily. You have often heard us say that Harry Potter looks like his father. Now imagine someone with the face of your tormentor. I must confess, I am rather glad that Harry takes after his mother, more than his father. Otherwise, Professor Snape could have so easily harboured a grudge and taken it out on Harry. However, he grew out of it, as did Mr. Potter's father."

Soon, she left their table, leaving the group to finish their food and drinks, silently. Later on, they trudged back to their common room. Along the way Harry bumped into Tulip Karasu, who told him that she managed to intercept a letter for Lavender Brown.

When they were close to their tower, Harry secretly cast some detection spells. The Ravenclaw girl was one of the biggest pranksters in their year, and the Weasley twins took her under their wing. Fortunately, it came up blank, so when he entered the Common Room, he caught up with Lavender.

She smiled at him and took the letter. Then her face fell and she went white in shock. Now concerned, he stepped forward, "Everything alright, Lavender?"

Her lower lip trembled, "My r-rabbit, Binky. He was killed by a fox. He was just a baby!"

His heart sank, and he gently pat her back. She wrapped her arms around him and sobbed as he comforted her. Parvati came over to ask what was wrong, and he mouthed, 'Her baby rabbit died.'

That was enough for Parvati to join the hug. Then Lavender mumbled, "W-what's today's date?"

Harry checked his watch, "October 16th."

Her face grew pale, "She was right! That thing I was dreading, 'it will happen on the sixteenth of October!' Remember? Although… One thing confused me."

Hermione was puzzled, "You were dreading Binky being killed by a fox."

Lavender shook her head, "Trelawney mentioned that I would be dreading something on the 16th of October."

Hermione made as if to speak up again, but Ron elbowed her. He muttered, "Hermione, there is a time for logic and a time for emotion. This is not the time for logic."

Then Harry remembered Lavender's last sentence, "By the way, what confused you?"

She sniffled and spoke, "Mum and dad wrote that the day after Binky was killed, the fox was found in our backyard close to our rabbit hutch, with a silver arrow in its body."

Harry smiled, "I guess a hunter got to the fox."

Lavender took a deep shaky breath. "Yeah, I guess."