Chapter Three
The following morning Harry and Hermione received their schedules from their respective heads of house.
They were happy to see that as with their timeline Slytherin and Gryffindor shared quite a few classes together.
This enabled them to sit next to one another.
And before they knew it they got used to being back in school.
The pair began comparing it to their time in the Ministry.
As such they both found the workload to be incredibly easy.
But then again they were back to being only first years.
There was plenty of time for the workload to increase.
But for now their routine was one in which they were easily able to handle.
When not in classes the pair were often seen together.
They would either be walking the grounds and generally exploring the castle.
Either that or studying together in the library.
What nobody was aware of however was that they also spent large swaths of time together in the Room Of Requirement.
There thy exercised and Harry the former head of the DMLE put them both through Auror training.
This enabled them to carefully develop their physical fitness of their younger bodies over a prolonged period of time.
Of course they also talked about how things were going for them now they were back at Hogwarts.
This mostly involved things such as how Snape and Harry had befriended one another.
And Lily, Alice, and Hermione doing the same.
Then there was talk of the growing number of students Harry was turning from Voldemorts side.
Something that started with one Bellatrix Black.
Harry smiled just thinking about it.
"So what happened?" Hermione asked.
Harry then explained.
It was several days after he humiliated her in the Slytherin common room that one Bellatrix Black came walking towards him.
He was sat at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.
At first Harry was concerned due to the crazed look she had in her violet coloured eyes.
"Peverell" she said voice filled with malice.
"Black" Harry replied as he was preparing to summon his wand at a moments notice.
"Tell me what you know about the Dark Lord" she demanded.
"Ah so it's about that" Harry thought.
He looked around the table seeing several staring with interest.
However they were being the consummate Slytherins and waiting to see how things played out.
Harry sighed.
"Fine" he said.
"Anyone who wants to know should follow me" he said as he wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up in a graceful manner.
He began walking without even looking back but could tell that he was being followed by quite a few individuals.
He made his way to the Trophy Room.
And instantly headed for the Service for the School Trophy in the name of one Tom Marvollo Riddle.
When he saw everyone had arrived he began informing all those present like he was giving a lecture.
"Tom Marvollo Riddle is a Half Blood" Harry said.
"His Father was a Muggle squire, names Tom Riddle Senior. And his Mother was a Squib of the Gaunt Line named Merope" Harry explained.
He then went on to tell them of her luring of Tom Riddle Snr with the use of Love Potions.
Everyone present was dismayed or disgusted by the story.
But on specific Slytherin who was of the less intelligent order that looked like individual Harry knew as Vincent Crabbe asked "What does this have to do with the Dark Lord?"
Harry sighed hoping they would have figured this out for themselves.
But it seemed he was going to have to spell this out for them.
Literally in fact.
And so he flicked his wand into his hand making several tape a step back.
He smiled seeing their reaction but gave it very little other reaction.
Instead he began writing Tom Marvollo Riddle's name in flaming letters.
And once he was finished he gave a swish of his wand.
The letters then re-organised themselves to say "I am Lord Voldemort" shocking all those present.
"As you can see the Half Blood is lying to those in the Knights Of Walpurgis" Harry said.
"He is trying to pass himself off as a pureblood so that he can gain influence" Harry said with a cold detached tone.
"He wants to make you all target supposed Muggleborns, and all so he can gain power for himself" Harry explained.
"What do you mean supposed Muggleborns" one witch who looked a lot like Bellatrix asked.
Harry recognised her as being Andromeda.
An individual who was currently in her fifth year. And if Harry remembers correctly was currently in a secret tryst with one Ted Tonks.
Harry sighed.
"Well you see there is no such thing as a Muggleborn" Harry said.
He then went on to explain how they are descended from Squibs who were kicked out of families for lacking magic.
This as you can imagine was a bitter pill for the pureblood supremacists in the room to swallow.
Many were in complete denial.
"Look it's not up to me to prove it to you. But if you are willing I suggest you invite a Muggleborn to Gringotts and pay for them to take an inheritance test" Harry explained.
"You may be surprised and also find yourself gaining an ally with a supposedly extinct magical family" Harry said.
The true Slytherins present were instantly taken with the idea.
And Harry's suggestion would later go on to cripple the Pureblood movement.
But that was a story for another time.
Instead in the here and now he had to explain how he was the Heir Of Slytherin.
Of course he avoided telling them it was through right of combat.
Instead he told them how the Peverell family were related to the Slytherins through the second Brother.
Of course that also involved informing them that the story of the Three Brothers was at least based on a certain amount of fact.
The existence of the Hallows however was played off as being a complete work of fiction.
And after that Harry gained a certain level of cache and influence in the House of the Snakes.
Especially as he was seemingly honest in the complete sense and didn't want them falling for the "Half Blood's lies" which is what many began calling the tenants that the Knights of Walpurgis were based upon.
That certain Muggleborns were invited to Hogsmeade to take an inheritance test at the villages Gringotts bank also gave credence to Harry's words.
However there was one side effect of the whole thing Harry hadn't foreseen.
And that was one Bellatrix Black becoming borderline obsessed with him.
She would follow him around like a little lost puppy and hang off his every word.
Something only further enhanced when she followed him down into the Chamber Of Secrets without him noticing.
He had to hand it to her, her stealth skills were top notch even as a student.
She saw him make his way into the fabled chamber and kill Slytherins beast.
Of course that he had to rescue her from it due to it smelling her presence also went a long way in explaining her newfound obsession with him.
It was honestly quite disconcerting.
What followed was a question and answer session where Harry had to explain that the beast had gone crazy after a millennium of loneliness.
And as such he was simply putting it out of it's misery.
Thankfully he handled it with far more ease this time.
Having prepared a Rooster to take with him.
As such he didn't have to rely on the timely intervention of the Sorting Hat, and Faux to see him through this time.
What he wasn't telling her was that it was also mostly for the money and the Basilisk's Venom which was why he was acting against it so soon.
It also didn't help she and Hermione didn't get along for very obvious reason's.
And as such Harry was constantly having to play peacemaker to prevent wands from being drawn.
It was all very exhausting on Harry's part.
After that for the most part time at Hogwarts got back pretty much to normal.
Harry and Hermione attended lessons.
Spent time together in the library where they worked through their assignments and studied together.
What most people didn't realise was that the pair were only really revising what they should have learned as first years, adding any and all supplementary reading they could come up with the further bolster their knowledge.
This to Harry showed him just how lacking he was on the theory.
Something that he realised was due to him being so distracted by Ron in their timeline.
Harry had mixed feeling about their former friend.
On one hand he had many a great memory with him.
But on the other they were all tainted by what he now knew was him working with Dumbledore to manipulate Harry practically from the moment they met.
Something that continued on until Harry and Hermione discovered the Love Potions that they were being dosed with in a Ministerial Health check they had to undergo as part of their roles as Head of the DMLE and Minister of Magic respectively.
Things pretty much went to hell after that.
The Weasleys were quickly arrested and questioned.
There they admitted under Veritaseum that they had worked to gain the Potter and later Black fortunes.
They also admitted to doing most of this on the orders of one Albus Dumbledore.
None of them expected Harry to survive the war.
And as such hoped a faked will which they gained through Dumbledore and one of his Goblin contacts would allow them access to the wealth they coveted.
Unfortunately for them Harry survived.
And as such they had to actually go through with marrying Ginny off to Harry just to gain even a fraction of the money they had been eying for years.
Their plan probably would have worked to.
Had their children not turned into complete little phycho's (probably due to being conceived with Love Potions similar to Voldemort) and joined on Delphi Riddle (who had escaped from Azkaban) in her plan to destroy the world, plunging it into a third and most costly war.
Harry sighed just thinking about that.
"We can alter things. Hell with how obsessed Bellatrix is with me now, we probably already have" Harry pondered.
Harry however knew it was only the first step of many.
And to truly save this Merlin forsaken Magical world they still had a great deal of work left to do.
Hermione however seemed to be working towards that goal quite effectively.
While he was turning the Slytherin's worlds on their heads.
She was reaching out and networking with the other houses.
And beginning to form something of a study group with Lily Evans and Alice Liddell.
They would often be joined by Harry and Snape.
Of course this eventually drew the attention of the Marauders.
And as such Harry found himself turning many of their supposed pranks back on them much to the study groups amusement and the Marauders dismay.
But all in all Harry and Hermione had to admit they had gotten off to a pretty decent start in their second attempt at a Hogwarts life.
