The last week of the holidays approached quickly and with it came the yearly list of items required for the school year.

It was a bit past nine in the morning and I was sitting on my bed as I scanned the parchment for anything special and quickly was disappointed when I only found things like the usual book list and the recommendation to restock potion ingredients on it.

I groaned and threw the letter back on my desk, where the paper landed with a metallic thud. Wait, metallic?

Shortly after my impulsive reaction I had the letter back in my hands and indeed there was more inside than the usual stuff.

Dear Mr. Potter,
It is my pleasure to inform you that from this year on, you will be the male Gryffindor prefect. Not only do I sincerely hope that this will keep you away from any rule breaking, but I also have to admit that there is no better choice for the male prefect in your year than you, Mr. Potter. Countless times you have proven how devoted you are to this school, fought off great evils in such young years and faced death more often than most adults do in their entire life. The courage, selflessness and strength you display is inspiring and especially in dark times your fellow students will need someone in whom they can put their trust in. I hope this badge can emphasize that this person is you, Mr. Potter.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall, Head of House Gryffindor and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"Oh my.. That was unexpected." I mumbled to myself as I took out the beautifully designed prefect's badge and stared at it's polished and shiny Hogwarts emblem.

"Well, actually it's just unexpected because you never thought about it before.", I quickly corrected myself with a small grin, "Who else should get it? We boys are all such a mess, I'm just lucky enough to have my moments to prove myself."

Becoming a prefect wasn't something that had me jumping with joy, but it gave me confidence and made me feel recognized for the things I had done. Something I recently learned to value. To a certain degree at least.

"Fighting dragons and killing basilisks is finally paying off." I chuckled before putting the badge back into the letter and placing it on my desk.

"I just hope Sirius won't accuse me of betraying the marauder's ideal..", I grinned widely, "Well, doesn't this give me access to a lot more areas of the castle? I could well exploit my status as a means to appease the prankster that happens to be my godfather."

"Harry, I can't believe it! You're the other prefect for Gryffindor!" I suddenly felt a human missile hitting me full force and I chuckled at my best friend's enthusiasm.

"Easy Hermione, easy." I told her as I wrapped my arms around her nonetheless, noticing that she was still in her pyjamas just like me.

"I'm so happy for you, finally you get the recog.. Oh." Hermione then blushed furiously and stepped away from me.

"Sorry, that really was impolite of me. Storming into your room when you could have been, uh, I'll just wait outside." Her eyes darted downwards to my bare chest as she spoke and when she turned around to leave the room, I couldn't stop myself from checking out her sexy body.

"Do you really have to wear shorts in front of me?" I thought to myself with a growl as my eyes were glued to her dainty, creamy thighs.

"It probably is a good thing that I have a few minutes to myself right now.." I mused when she had closed the door and I already felt my blood boiling in the pleasant way, so I decided to quickly take care of that problem…

Shortly afterwards I met my favourite witch in the corridor, dressed for the day and relieved of a hormonal problem.

"So.. you wanted to congratulate me?" I cheekily asked and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Yes, I wanted to congratulate you, you insufferable narcissist." She countered and I smirked.

"Coming from you, little devil." My words earned me a scolding glance and her face reddened. I loved it how she didn't like it the slightest when I rubbed it under her nose that she wasn't just the innocent angel.

"Anyway, how did you know that I was a prefect? It's not like I already told you." I changed the topic and Hermione glimpsed.

"Oh yeah, Professor McGonagall mentioned it in the letter she sent me with the prefect's badge." She explained and I grinned in amusement.

"Why exactly am I mentioned in a letter about your appointment as a prefect?"

"Wasn't I mentioned in your letter as well?"

"No, you weren't."

"Well, maybe that's because you are more important to me than I am to you?"

"Do you want to find out?" I didn't know what I was saying nor doing and Hermione giggled.

"And how do you want me to find out, Mr. Prefect?" She asked me and I blushed with a sheepish smile.

"I don't know.. Just forget what I just said." I scratched the back of my head before leading her downstairs towards the conference room. Breakfast was waiting.

"I'm quite disappointed, you know. As your godfather I thought you would respect my values a bit more than that." Sirius told me with a cheeky grin when Hermione excitedly announced that we were prefects.

"I'm not disappointed. Quite the contrary, it fills me with pride to see Lily's son taking after her. Your mother would be proud, Harry.", Remus gave me a kind smile that I returned warmly, "And I think no one ever doubted that you would become a prefect, Hermione."

"Yeah, I should have bet on that as well.." Sirius remarked with a meaningful look towards his best friend, and the werewolf chuckled.

"I'd very much like to give you detention for every time you make such a stupid remark." My best friend shot my godfather a truly frightening glare and I tried to look normal when I remembered what Sirius had told me on the day of the trial.

"The only difference between your friendship and a romantic relationship is that you don't snog and don't moan each other's name at night." His words echoed through my head as the animagus in question roared with laughter.

"You were born for the task, Hermione. I swear, if you give your fellow students THAT look then I'm afraid even Fred and George will have to run for their lives. You could be the first prefect that radiates REAL authority. Well, actually the second, Lily was quite serious about that business as well." Sirius explained and I knitted my brows.

"Wait a second, what can a prefect do? Taking points and stuff like that?" I asked and Hermione once again proved why she was Miss know-it-all.

"Yes, prefects can award and deduct house points as well as give out detention." She explained and I grinned evilly.

"Harry, no! You won't exploit your status to give Gryffindor a thousand points just because you feel like it." Hermione rolled her eyes as she obviously realized that I wasn't as upright as she was.

"Yes, Harry. You will exploit your status to make your dad proud." Sirius whispered into my ear and I smirked at my best friend who clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"And here I was happy about us being a prefect team."

"You'd rather have somebody else at your side?" I asked teasingly.

"I bet Ron wouldn't care enough about being a prefect to even abuse his position." She countered.

"Woah, woah, Hermione. I didn't knew you could be so mean." Remus stated and I turned towards him with a small grin.

"She hides her wicked side well. The more time you spend with her, the more you realize she isn't an angel." I told him and Sirius snickered.

"Then you must know her wicked side expertly."

"Shut up, Padfoot." I groaned because of his unnecessary statement and suddenly disliked the idea of having to spend two hours of defence lessons with the prankster. I surely was to get bombarded by teasing remarks…

My godfather surprised us when he and Remus used their lesson to visit Hermione's parents, much to the brunette's delight.

"You don't break the rules when nobody knows you do it." Was his argument when my best friend told him that we ACTUALLY shouldn't leave the house without Dumbledore's authorization. Well, actually.

Especially when Sirius mentioned that he had written to her parents if they had time at this specific date, there was no way anybody could reject this plan. Dentists after all had a very full schedule during the week.

So without a soul noticing, we flooed over to Hermione's home and I witnessed an emotional roller-coaster of two parents and their child who got previously and abruptly separated, with only as much as a brief explanation that their child almost got killed and thus has to remain in a foreign place for the rest of the holidays.

Many things were discussed, from Hermione and my new status as prefects to how badly Daniel Granger wanted to beat up the person that was responsible for the near-demise of his little princess, and it made me realize no matter how relaxed and humorous the dentist might be, he still had the instincts of a father.

"Harry, promise me that you'll take good care of my daughter at Hogwarts when I can't protect her." He pointed a finger at me with a serious expression etched into his face when our visit came to an end and I extended my arm for him to take.

"I swear it, sir. On my life." I returned his gaze with the same honesty and he shook my hand.

"And don't call me sir. Makes me feel old." His mood changed as quickly as one could blink and I smiled mildly.

"Yes, Daniel."

"Now, there is no chance you could come along another time before the start of term?" Jane then pleaded with my godfather who smirked at the prospect of doing some rule-breaking again.

"If we feel confident enough to not get caught, then we'll write you and give you a date. But for now, we shouldn't push our luck to much. Today we had the possibility because nobody was in the house, something that is unlikely to happen again." Remus explained and stopped Sirius from responding, and I knitted my brows.

"Yeah, where are the Weasleys anyway?" I asked and Sirius grinned.

"At Diagon Alley. You'll go there as well in a few minutes. Don't worry, THAT part is authorized by the old owl."

"Why does everybody know about our schedule except us?!" Hermione inquired to know and the animagus shrugged his shoulders.

"A little surprise here and there can make the day a lot better." He tried to sound wise, which was very amusing.

"But don't we have lessons in that time?" My best friend still wasn't convinced.

"Since it's Dumbledore's lesson and he's okay with it, you don't have to worry, Hermione." Remus said with a small smile.

"Alright.. sooner or later we have to go there anyway." She agreed and with that the schedule for the next part of the day was settled…

Business in Diagon Alley went smoothly, although it took quite a while, and in the early hours of the afternoon we were back at Grimmauld Place.

"I see you're back from your shopping trip." My godfather remarked when I emerged from the fireplace with a full rucksack and two bags hanging down my shoulder.

"Yeah, the booklist doesn't get shorter with the years.", I said as I stepped out of the fire and sighed, "And neither do they get lighter."

"You'll be grateful for their size one day when you have to prepare for your OWL's. You really can't learn enough for them" Sirius chuckled and I groaned at the mention of the big exams that awaited me at the end of the school year.

"How hard are they to pass?" I asked as my best friend appeared in the fireplace and the animagus shrugged his shoulders.

"Depends on the person, I guess. Though the theory part is always worse, remember that. The practical part is really easy when you can perform the spells, but theory demands a lot more than just knowing things by heart." He explained and when he saw Hermione's look he laughed.

"You'll get an O in every subject anyway, don't put yourself out."

"Yes, she really will pull that off." I seconded Sirius motion and the brunette blushed cutely.

"I'll give my best." She said as Ginny stepped out of the flames.

"How's it going, Sirius?" The redhead asked my godfather.

"I thoroughly enjoyed not having to look after my little guests when you were away.", He grinned rakishly, "No, honestly: It was a bit boring without anybody in the house, you even had to take Remus away from me.."

"I think I'd rather stay alive than lend you one of our protectors just because you don't know how to spend the time." Ginny countered with a small smirk and Sirius crossed his arms in front of his chests.

"Hey, I DID spend the time quite wisely. I began cleaning the living room on the first floor and found quite a few interesting pieces of jewellery. You ladies can have look at them, if you want." Sirius got up from his chair and already was on his way to the staircase.

Deciding that jewellery was a foreign territory to me, I went to my room and unpacked all my new belongings.

I heard the rest of the Weasley family gradually returning to the house as I temporarily stored my books on the bed and looked at their covers, for any hint what might be the substance they might try to teach me.

I maybe wasn't as intrigued by the idea of books as my best friend, but I didn't necessarily hate them either. At least that was for books that contained knowledge I was interested in.

"Defensive Magical Theory? Don't tell me this is a.. book by the ministry." I asked aloud and quickly found the answer when I saw the capital M on the backside of the book. This didn't sound good.

"What's that rubbish? Nice, ten sentences that describe the stunning spell, one that tells me what it does and not a single word on how to use it or even to produce it. How wonderful!" I groaned after flipping open a random page and scanning the text as I already walked towards the living room on the first floor, curious to see my godfather's reaction.

"Hey Sirius, I bet even you could write a better defence guide." I gave him the book when he noticed me entering the room and he snorted as he read the backside.

"Were you reading a new school book of ours faster than me, Harry Potter?" Hermione asked me when she realized what I had been talking about, and I saw she was currently holding a black ring with a white pearl in the centre.

"Mh.. wouldn't look too bad on her." My head couldn't suppress the comment as I focused on what really mattered.

"Nah, I was just checking out the covers. And saw this." I told her and gestured towards the book in Sirius hand.

"Seems like whoever is your new defence teacher at Hogwarts is somebody brainwashed by the ministry." My godfather stated and Hermione's eyes widened in alarm before she snatched the book out of his hand.

"Let me have a look at that." She said with a bossy tone before burying her nose in the first page of the book.

"Hey Ginny, found anything you like?" Sirius turned around with a smirk and caught the Weasley girl staring at a small sculpture of a wolf.

"Is that a dire wolf, Sirius?" She asked with a light blush and I mentally face-palmed myself. Of course they have magical wolves.

"Yup, the dire wolf is the animal of the Black family's emblem.", He explained before chuckling, "Yes, you can keep it. Do I look like the kind of person who has a use for decoration?"

"Well, actually I'd say yes.", Hermione answered before handing me my book, "And the defence guide really sucks. The book probably only made it to the stores because it gets heavily funded by the ministry. Propaganda at it's finest."

Her tone was bitter and she eyed the book with a dislike I had never seen before.

"Hermione Granger can hate books? I didn't know that was possible." I stated with a smirk and her eyes gleamed dangerously.

"Don't tease me like that. Besides, of course I don't like bad literature. This bookworm only reads the quality books." She retorted and Sirius snickered.

"Don't tease me like that! Oh my, you two should hear yourselves!" He cackled as me and my girl.. fuck, best friend blushed intensely.

"Guys, he's just jealous of your friendship." Ginny said with a small grin of her own and I couldn't believe how many people seemed to be praying to the god that wanted me and Hermione in a romantic relationship.

"Sirius really is a devoted missionary." I thought to myself as Ginny left the room with her small new treasure in hand.

"Nah, I'm not jealous.", Sirius said with a small smile, "My old bones don't feel the need for that kind of adventures any more."

"C'mon, you're not old." I chuckled and my godfather sighed.

"Compared to you young leaves I am. But yes, I look younger than I am, so that's no problem." He winked at me teasingly and both Hermione and I laughed at his daring statement.

"Isn't that a grey hair there?" She pointed to his moustache and the animagus put his hands on his hips.

"Ey, that's really insulting, young lady. Didn't anybody teach you some manners at home?" Sirius pretended to feel hurt before becoming serious again.

"Now, before I completely forget what I actually wanted to tell you in the first place, I just spit it out: You need to keep learning how to defend yourselves after the start of term. The ministry most probably will try to hinder you from learning practical defence, so it's up to you to learn it. This stupid book is a very good proof for that." Sirius explained as he intensely looked us in the eyes and I nodded without hesitation.

"Voldemort is out there and I will have to kill him eventually. It's my destiny to learn enough to be on his level. I'll find a way, no matter what." I promised him and he smiled at me with pride.

"That's my godson. And you will of course stand by his side the entire time, like always." He then addressed Hermione who also nodded in confirmation.

"He won't get rid of me so easily." She gave me a sly grin that had me chuckling.

"Alright then, I think I'm done here for now." He excused himself and closed the door as he exited the room.

"Where do you think he's going now?", Hermione asked once the footsteps became quieter, "This prankster needs to be kept an eye on, if you ask me."

"Dunno, Fred and George were talking about asking him for his opinion on the skiving snack boxes.."

"The WHAT?!" The prefect's eyes flashed dangerously and before she could storm off to find the twins, I grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"Hermione, they are legal adults. You will fail to stop them like Mrs. Weasley did when they arrived here." I reminded her and before I could rationally calculate the consequences of my actions, I pulled her closer so that she wasn't more than a foot away from me. Her lips suddenly became very hard to resist.

"But they.. are going to sell their stuff to other people, which is.. irresponsible." Hermione breathed and I noticed she was staring at my lips as well.

"Oh my god, what is happening here?!" I thought to myself as I felt myself getting aroused tremendously because of her closeness AND the way her eyes had darkened.

"Hermione.. whoever buys their stuff is at fault." I countered as I tried to uphold the conversation and deflect any attention from the uncomfortable bulge in my jeans.

"Maybe they should.. put that in their terms of service." She whispered and I had to bite my tongue in order to stop myself from licking my lips, her mouth looking so inviting with every syllable that left it.

"Yeah. Maybe they should." I repeated her words before I stepped away, mobilizing every ounce of restraint left in my body, my heart racing and my erection aching.

"What's that kind of jewellery anyway?" I asked when I faced the cupboard that displayed the rings and necklaces that Sirius had found during his cleaning mission, and I thanked the gods for the distraction.

"Most of them aren't too fancy. Though they make a good job of representing their owners." Hermione appeared next to me and I tried to inconspicuously move closer to the cupboard so that she wouldn't have a chance to see the bulge in my trousers.

"What about the ring you held in your hand when I entered?" I asked when I picked up the black ring with the white pearl and my best friend giggled.

"I like the contrast but to be honest, jewellery isn't my thing – Don't get me wrong, I like to look at rings and things like that, but not as something I see myself wearing.. It's comparable with looking at a painting." She explained and I chuckled.

"Right, rings and lockets are things for the simple-minded ladies." I gave her a cheeky smile and she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Don't ogle her." I told myself as I felt the urge inside of me to steal a glance at her front when it moved because of her gesture.

"That's really mean to say. A lot of very intelligent women wear rings. Look at Professor McGonagall, for example." She proved me wrong and I raised my hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright. I never said anything." I gave her an apologetic look that made her giggle.

"And for that wisdom, I give you this award." She tried to sound dramatic as she randomly picked up a golden locket with the letter S engraved on the centre of the display, the letter being formed by dozens of little emeralds. I suddenly heard a quiet voice, almost like a hiss coming from the locket.

"Hermione, can you hear that?" I asked her immediately, sensing that this was no ordinary piece of jewellery, and she shook her head.

"No, I can't. Is something wrong?" She looked concerned when my eyes stared at the green S on the locket and I almost instinctively I reached for it.

"May I?" I asked and she hesitantly put the golden object in my palm.

"It's cold.. And heavy.", I told her with a small gasp, "And pulsating."

"Pulsating?" Her brows were knitted in confusion as she snatched the locket out of my hand to feel it herself.

"Oh my god! You're absolutely right." She exclaimed before her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Though I still don't hear any voice."

"But I swear there is one! It's not exactly like a human's voice though. More like a hiss." I explained and found myself imitating a snake's sound with a perfection that startled me for a second.

"Of course! It's parseltongue, that's why you can't hear it." I gasped and felt my jaw dropping at the realization, Hermione blinking before her eyes widened as well.

"Oh my god, you know what this tells us about the locket, don't you? It's definitely bewitched in a dangerous way. If this THING can speak parseltongue, then I don't want to know what makes it pulsating." My brilliant best friend declared as she put the locket back to all the others rings and necklaces.

"I suggest we stay away from it until we know what it really is.", Hermione said as she guided me outside the living room, "And I think we should definitely tell Dumbledore tomorrow after the order meeting. For now however, I think Sirius should conceal it somehow. The last thing I want to see is somebody accidentally getting killed by it in the worst case."

A few minutes later the deed was done and my godfather had successfully locked the locket away in one of the drawers of the cupboard.

"I honestly didn't feel anything when I picked it up earlier this day. Though I didn't observe closely enough, obviously." Sirius explained with a dry chuckle.

"But why does it "speak" parseltongue? Besides that, nobody would think of this locket being an extraordinary, probably cursed object. You're lucky it didn't already kill you when you touched it." He continued and I hummed, deep in thought.

"This thing doesn't belong to Voldemort, does it?" I guessed and my godfather shrugged his shoulders.

"Probably not. I would know if I possessed a belonging of the most dangerous wizard alive, ey?"He countered.

"But if it is a family heirloom, why does it speak parsel? I'm not sure I've read about a Black that can speak with snakes." Hermione remarked and Sirius went through his beard.

"Maybe somebody of my ancestors won it after a duel with another dark family." He responded and I raised a brow.

"Wait, you can duel somebody if you want to own their stuff?" I asked, amazed and shocked at the same moment.

"No, not generally spoken. Only members of noble and ancient families can challenge another person of another family to a so called "Duel of the Fates". The duellists decide whether it's lethal or non-lethal, but since the most duels were lethal, that's how the name probably was defined." Hermione explained and I gasped: That was brutal.

"But how does that explain how Sirius ancestors might have won the locket in a duel?" I asked and Sirius chuckled.

"That's easy: If that duel was decided to be a non-lethal one, both duellists had to settle on a prize they would give in the case of a defeat and a prize they desired in case of a victory. So my ancestors.."

"Ahh. That makes sense now. But wait, wouldn't it be unfair if there is no limitation to what the "prize" could be?" I asked in return and Sirius snorted.

"We're talking about the wizarding world. The word "unfair" doesn't exist here." My godfather seemed to be loathing the idea as much as he hated pureblood bigotry and I understood his reasoning.

"You have to imagine that a few truly wealthy and powerful houses lost all their might on a single day, thus why most duels were decided to be lethal. Besides, a person's life is the most valuable thing another can demand, so it had to be a separate choice entirely." Hermione explained and I hummed in thought.

"But couldn't I theoretically cheat and first kill my opponent before claiming his possessions afterwards?" I asked and my best friend shook her head.

"No. Those duels were only official if the two duellists made an unbreakable vow, a vow where all the details of the duel would be discussed. And if any of the participants cheated in any way, death would claim them, so you had to play nicely."

"But I don't have to make a duel an official matter. If I wanted to kill someone, then I'd just fight him anyway." I countered and Hermione was slightly amused by my response.

"In the wizarding world you could be accused of murder if you can't prove that whomever you killed wasn't engaged in a legal battle, a Duel of the Fates in another word. And since vows leave traces on whoever cast them, you could prove your "innocence" with such a vow." She told me and I laughed.

"That's bullshit. Murder is murder, no matter what. Please tell me that these duels are something of the past, right?"

"No, they aren't. Although their popularity has decreased significantly since quite a few decades." She proved me wrong and Sirius chuckled.

"There really isn't a thing she doesn't know." He exclaimed with a mixture of amusement and disbelief, something that made the brunette witch blush.

"There are a LOT things I still don't know. But as they say, you're good at what you enjoy. Call me a nerd, but I like history quite a lot." She explained and Sirius shook his head.

"I never called Lily a nerd just because she had rare interests that are quite similar to yours." He assured her with a small smile and Hermione raised a brow.

"History? A rare interest? I doubt it."

"Yeah, I bet a lot of pensioners enjoy it." I cheekily countered and received a slap on my forearm.

"Harry James Potter, did you call me old?" Her eyes were burning with brown flames and I shook my head before it was too late.

"No, I'd never call you old, Hermione. You're far too b.." I stopped mid-sentence as I realized what I wanted to say and from the corner of my eye I saw my godfather having the time of his life as he silently observed the scene in front of him.

"I'm far too what?" She inquired to know and I felt like every cell of my brain was giving it's best to find a fitting word.

"Benevolent?" I gave her an innocent look and bat my eyelashes at her, making her giggle.

"I think we should have dinner a bit earlier today. You're getting all childish when you're hungry." She told me and I wrinkled my forehead.

"Really? I never thought about that before.. But maybe she's just messing with me, I don't know. Though I'm quite hungry, that's true.." I thought before shrugging my shoulders and leaving the room with a chuckle…

"Where did you find this object, Sirius?" Dumbledore's eyes widened in shock when he saw the locket Sirius revealed from it's previous location.

"I found it when the kids were in Diagon Alley yesterday and I began cleaning the living room. There's a lot of jewellery left in this house." He explained and pointed to the cupboard where the other pieces of jewellery and decoration were displayed.

"Do you know what it is, sir?" Hermione asked with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness.

"This was once the locket of Salazar Slytherin." He explained and I gasped loudly.

"That explains why it can speak parsel!" I exclaimed and Dumbledore gave me a mild smile.

"Not exactly. I assume this locket got bewitched and cursed by Voldemort when he owned it, thus making it pulsate in your palm." The headmaster stated and I raised a brow.

"And how did it get into Sirius house?" I asked and Dumbledore shrugged his shoulders.

"That I can't tell you. Although I would be very interested to know it's story myself."

"But what did Voldemort want with a locket?" Was my next question, still not understanding why a dark lord would like to have some piece of decoration in his possession.

"This is no ordinary locket, Harry. Voldemort sees himself as the heir of Slytherin, as you no doubt know. Also he has altered it's qualities, with dark magic if I had to guess. What kind of dark magic I cannot tell you, as I myself am not sure about the answer." He responded and Hermione's eyes narrowed on the headmaster.

"But you have your assumptions, don't you?" She asked and Dumbledore sighed.

"Of course I have, Miss Granger, but even if they were undoubtedly true I wouldn't tell you."

"Why not, Albus? The kids are in the order and I thought you were done hiding things from them." Sirius demanded to know and the other wizard went through his silvery beard.

"As long as Harry isn't able to completely shield his mind against Voldemort, I fear I have no choice this time but to remain silent for now. If I were to tell them and Voldemort finds out, then I don't want to imagine how difficult it will be to defeat him..", The headmaster explained with a sad sigh, "But maybe my assumptions are wrong. That's why I make it my task now to find an answer to this peculiar riddle."

"Should I keep the locket here with me or do you want to take it into your custody?" Sirius asked and Dumbledore hummed in thought.

"It's more likely that someone steals an object in Hogwarts than it is here in Grimmauld Place. You can keep the locket until we know how to deal with it." Dumbledore concluded before turning towards me and Hermione.

"Tell no one about the locket. The fewer know about it, the better." His voice was one that perfectly stressed of what importance his instructions were, and I nodded.

"But I am most thankful that you shared your suspicions with me. This might give us a hefty advantage in our fight against Tom Riddle IF we get behind the purpose of this locket. For now however, all we can do is hide it and wait until I have more information about the curse that lingers on this piece of jewellery." The headmaster clapped his hands as a means to tell us he was finished with his business.

"Professor, before you go I wanted to ask you something: Who is the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year?" I asked Dumbledore as he already wanted to leave the room, making the old wizard swirl around again.

"Her name is Dolores Umbridge. You already met her at your hearing, Harry."

"No, not the one that looks like a toad." Hermione groaned and I was a bit surprised to hear her use such insulting words in front of Dumbledore.

"Yes, exactly THAT woman, Miss Granger." The headmaster chuckled lightly in amusement and Sirius put his hands on his hips.

"Now Albus, why do you hire a ministry witch that is known for her medieval methods and cruelty?" My godfather pointed a finger at Dumbledore who sighed in defeat.

"Nobody wanted to have the job after what happened to Alastor Moody the previous year. I also could swear the ministry tried it's best to lure the few remaining candidates away, but I don't have a proof. Anyway, as the law states, the ministry is allowed to search for a candidate on their own if the headmaster fails to find a teacher. I had no chance to refuse the offer." He explained and he looked a bit ashamed of himself for not finding a fitting candidate. Something I could understand.

"Can't Remus return to Hogwarts? He was such an excellent teacher." Hermione asked with a sad expression on her face and Dumbledore's shoulders sagged.

"I'm afraid that's not possible. I'm sure you remember his reason to resign a year ago?" The headmaster replied and I realized we were stuck with my nemesis for the moment.

"Alright, I see your point. Stupid prejudices." Hermione mumbled.

"You better make sure she controls herself in Hogwarts or a famous mass-murder might come over and commit another atrocity." Sirius growled warningly and Dumbledore scratched his beard.

"The problem is that she is appointed by the ministry, which already makes me unable to fire her legally. But no matter her state of independence, she has to follow the school rules. MY school rules." The headmaster wore a look of determination, his sky-blue eyes sparkling with confidence.

"A miracle has to happen if she successfully manages to undermine the school rules." He stated.

And that miracle should be the Hogwarts High Inquisitor…


Author's note:

In the next chapter we will return to Hogwarts, so I hope you liked the overall (and long) beginning phase of this story.

In the very beginning of my planning I thought about making Ron a prefect and having an angry Harry because of that, but as you just saw I reconsidered. Harry already has enough reasons to be angry and he is the only logical choice to wear that badge. It belongs to him, rightfully. I hope you see that as well,

Anyway, as this story now reaches the main part of a story, I want to address something:

I have the outline of this story finished since I started writing, although a lot of space is still empty. But if YOU have any suggestions for a scene or an idea in general, then write a review and let me know! If I like the idea then I'll gladly include it(of course I'd mention who gave me the imput).

Why do I do that?

a) Because it's fun to adapt an idea of somebody else

b) Because I'd like to have some sense of connection between myself and my readers

c) If a reader suggests an idea and I include it in the actual story, then both parties will be happy -hopefully

I don't do this because I'm lacking ideas. Just wanted to mention it, before anybody accuses me of lack of creativity ;-)

The name "Duel of the Fates" I use for the wizarding duels here is of course stolen from John Williams epic soundtrack of "Star Wars" with the same name.

I hope this chapter was worth the waiting time and 'til the next time!

NewOrderFan05