Chapter Six – End of Year

The end-of-year exams passed without much difficulty for Daphne. Harry and she had been practising surrounding their bodies with a cocoon of warm air to protect themselves from the cold, and many other advanced spells from the second and third years, so Professor Flitwick's task of heating a cup of tea was almost laughable. In any case, his exam was immensely underwhelming. The same went for Transfiguration and Defence Against the Dark Arts.

The only things Daphne found difficult were Potions – Snape treated her like a leper ever since she had made her friendship with Harry public – and History of Magic. What did she care about the names of cranky old wizards whose bones had long since turned to dust in their graves? One day people would read about her in the history books, and certainly not for something as boring as the invention of a self-stirring cauldron.

However, even if the exams were easier for Daphne than for many others, she was still a little saddened when she finally got through them. They had one week left at Hogwarts before they would receive their marks, and then the school year would be over. For Harry, that meant he would return to his Muggle relatives, and she too would return to her family for the summer. What a joy.

Well, it was all to no avail, and so Daphne resolved to make the most of this last week.

With determined steps, she walked out of the castle, for she had seen Harry standing in one of the meadows with Granger and Weasley on the Marauder's Map. And as she approached the three Gryffindors, she heard that they were engaged in a heated conversation. Harry's face lit up when he saw her, though, and he waved her over.

"Hey, Daphne!"

Granger and Weasley didn't seem to share his joy, as Daphne could see from their scowls. Nothing new on that front, then. Daphne didn't care. Since the two of them had urged Harry not to tell her about Hagrid's dragon, she couldn't care less about them, even more than she already did. But they were still Harry's friends, so she forced herself to a minimum of friendliness. She nodded to them both before turning to Harry with a smile.

"I'm glad you're here," he said. "We could use your help to –"

"I don't think telling her about this is a good idea," Granger interrupted him.

But Harry was undeterred and continued. "We could use your help to protect the Philosopher's Stone."

"HARRY!"

Daphne clicked her tongue. "Oh, hush, Granger. I've known about this for a long time."

That wasn't quite true, she had only known about Flamel and the stone since the events in the Forbidden Forest, but Granger didn't need to know that. Besides, that wasn't the only thing she knew. She knew about the worries Harry had had since their encounter with the hooded figure smeared with unicorn blood; the figure they thought might be Voldemort. And she knew about the nightmares he'd had since, and the pain in his scar.

"But, when –"

"I told her about it," Harry said. "But that's not important now. Daphne, we learned that Hagrid told a hooded figure how to get past Fluffy. And Dumbledore has left the castle and McGonagall doesn't believe us. So we have to stop Snape from stealing the stone!"

Daphne nodded. Even though she still wasn't sure that Snape was working for Voldemort, they still shouldn't rule anything out of the question. And it didn't surprise her that, once again, adults couldn't be relied upon. Anyone who sent children to the Forbidden Forest for detention would probably not stand out with brilliant judgement in any other way. So it was up to them to take care of the matter if Snape did indeed try to steal the stone.

"I see. Have you come up with a plan yet?"

"We were just about to. I think we should split up. Two of us should keep an eye on Snape, wait outside his quarters and follow him when he leaves. And the other two should keep watch outside in the corridor on the third floor."

"Then let us both shadow Snape. We can use your Invisibility Cloak for that."

"She knows about the cloak?!" asked Weasley.

Harry groaned in exasperation. "I showed her. Will you please stop it? I trust Daphne, okay?"

Daphne took great satisfaction in the sour looks on Granger and Weasley's faces after Harry's words. She gave them both a sweet smile, which grew wider as Granger's expression darkened even further.

"Thank you, Harry. I trust you too. So, shall we go?"

"Wait, why are you deciding who goes with Harry?" said Weasley. "I can follow Snape with him, and Hermione and you can go to the third floor."

"That's enough," Harry said sharply. "You know perfectly well that none of you can stay with Daphne for more than an hour without bawling each other out. And vice versa."

He gave her a knowing look, which Daphne only acknowledged with a smile. He knew her too well.

"So I will go with Daphne and you two keep watch. But do not endanger yourselves. If anyone tries to steal the stone, you will shout the whole castle awake. Then the teachers will have to do something."

Weasley grunted, but finally nodded. "All right. You can count on us."

"And you take care of yourself too, Harry," Granger said in a maudlin voice. Daphne had to work hard not to roll her eyes.

And so the four of them parted. Granger and Weasley hurried up to the third floor, while Harry and Daphne sneaked into the dungeons under the Invisibility Cloak. It wasn't the first time they'd done this, so they moved in perfect unison. Outside Snape's quarters, they sat down with their backs to the wall and waited.

Daphne spread out the Marauder's Map in front of them. They saw Granger and Weasley take up position on the third floor, but after a short time they were shooed away by Professor McGonagall. Harry jumped to his feet.

"Don't," Daphne said, grabbing his hand.

"We have to protect the stone!"

"That's what we're doing. If Snape wants to steal the stone, he'll have to come out of his quarters at some point, and we can follow him. And with the map, we can also keep an eye on the third floor. But we need both the map and the cloak. We can't split up."

It was obvious how much Harry disliked this, but finally, he nodded. He sat down beside her again and they continued to keep watch, always keeping one eye on the map in front of them. They watched Granger and Weasley go back to the Gryffindor common room. For hours and hours they walked up and down there, while the other Gryffindors one by one went to bed. Eventually, their two ink dots paused in front of the fireplace and stopped moving. They had probably fallen asleep on one of the sofas.

All the while, Snape never left his quarters. It was getting later and later, and Daphne could feel herself growing tired. Harry was getting quieter too, and at one point his head was sinking into her shoulder as his chest slowly rose and fell.

A smile formed on Daphne's lips. Carefully, she removed his glasses and let him sleep. Merlin knew how much he could use the sleep after all the nightmares of late, and the toil of the day. They had studied like maniacs. Harry had proved to be a more than capable training partner and he was quickly catching up with her, both in the witchcraft and wizardry taught at Hogwarts and in her own forbidden play of magic. When she thought of the trouble he had had with an earthworm just a few weeks ago and where he was now, she had to suppress a giggle.

Daphne had to yawn. She didn't have Harry's nightmares, but she didn't sleep much either. What was the point when there was still so much to learn and experience in the world?

Still, Snape made no move to leave his quarters. On the map, Daphne saw that he was standing in front of his fireplace. Surely he was brewing some kind of torture potion, certainly not hair shampoo.

Next to her, Harry began to snore softly. How cute. She cast a light spell on both of them to silence the sounds, but his sleeping sounds were contagious. She had to stifle another yawn. Her eyelids grew heavy.

Her gaze settled on the heavy wooden door to Snape's quarters. She knew from that one time she had detention with their Potions teacher that the door squeaked horribly, as if Snape took pleasure in the awful sound. In any case, she would hear it when he finally left his quarters. Surely it wouldn't hurt if she closed her eyes for...

Before Daphne could finish the thought, sleep had overtaken her.

When Harry stepped into the Great Hall with Daphne the next morning, his whole body ached. It didn't seem to like sleeping on a hard stone floor at all. Great watchdogs they had been. His only consolation was that the castle was still standing, his fellow students were still alive, and there were no horror stories on the front pages of the newspapers. So Voldemort had not returned that night to plunge Britain into darkness once more.

That was also what Daphne had told him in the morning. Perhaps he had worried unnecessarily over the past few weeks. Still, he didn't regret spending every free minute with her. Even if Voldemort had not returned that night, he was still out there somewhere, waiting for an opportunity to regain his old power. Or there were other dark creatures lurking out there, as they had seen with their own eyes in the Forbidden Forest. The best way to prepare for these dangers was to become as powerful as possible. Daphne understood that, but he wasn't sure Ron and Hermione would. Blood magic was widely ostracised, and he feared their reaction if they found out what kind of experiments he was doing with Daphne.

By now, everyone in the castle had gotten used to his friendship with Daphne, so no one gave her a second glance as she walked with him to the Gryffindor table; however, the watchful eye would not have failed to notice that her hair was strangely dishevelled that morning, and her school uniform was rumpled. It had been strange for Harry to see a sleeping Daphne, as she was usually full of life and beans. The only time he had ever seen her sleeping had been in her crow form after she had risked her life for him. He had vowed then never to let that happen again. In the future, he would be the one to protect his friends.

As soon as they sat across from Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table, Hermione grabbed his hand. There were tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry. McGonagall spotted us after a few minutes and shooed us away from the third floor. I'm afraid we couldn't keep watch and –"

"It's all right, Hermione," he said with a smile. "Nothing happened. The stone wasn't stolen and Voldemort hasn't returned." He nodded towards the teachers' table where Snape sat with the other teachers. Only Professor Dumbledore and Professor Quirrell were absent. "And Snape only left his quarters this morning."

"So you were more successful?" asked Ron.

Harry exchanged glances with Daphne, whose amber eyes twinkled mischievously. "Harry fell asleep."

"Hey, you fell asleep too!"

Ron and Hermione gave them incredulous looks before shaking their heads. "And we idiots were worried," Ron muttered.

After this uneventful night of shadowing Snape, Harry's last week of term flew by. The big highlight, of course, was Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup for the first time in many years, for which Harry was hailed as a hero by his housemates; after all, this would probably have been unthinkable without his performance as Seeker. It was a nice feeling to be admired and respected.

Apart from that, Harry still sat over the Marauder's Map every night to keep an eye on the corridor on the third floor, but nothing else happened. However, three days before they were to leave Hogswarts, he saw Professor Dumbledore, other teachers and Hagrid go into the forbidden corridor and take Fluffy away. The next morning there was no trace of the night's events, although Harry thought he detected a faint smell of dog excrement as he walked through the castle.

One of their teachers, however, never showed his face again. One evening in the Great Hall, Professor Dumbledore announced that Professor Quirrell had unfortunately resigned for personal reasons. Hogwarts was once again in need of a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, which Fred and George said was nothing unusual. Some even believed that the position was cursed, as no teacher had lasted more than a year in decades. Well, Harry had always found Quirrell a bit strange; friendly enough and certainly not their worst teacher, but he was curious to see who would succeed him next year.

With Daphne, even in these last days of the school year, he continued to practice magic regularly, as well as using his own and others' pain to cast blood magic. And it was during one of their meetings at the edge of the Forbidden Forest that Harry finally let his frustration over the coming weeks get the better of him. Daphne had not yet arrived, so he had no one to worry about.

"Diffindo! Reducto! Bombarda! Incendio!"

His spells were directed at a tree stump, which splintered into several pieces and finally burst into flames with his last spell. Harry clenched his fist around his wand, panting heavily. It had felt good, but it was nowhere near enough.

He pointed his wand at another tree stump. "Incen–"

"What have these poor trees done to you?"

Harry turned to see Daphne walking towards him with an amused smile. He brushed his sweat-soaked hair out of his face and nodded at her. "Hi, Daph."

Daphne raised an eyebrow. "Daph? That's what my sister used to call me."

"Astoria, right? What's she like?"

"We used to have a lot of fun together, but now she's just Father and Mother's little princess. She does everything they tell her to."

"Unlike you," Harry said with a chuckle.

Daphne nodded. "Unlike me." She brushed a strand of her black hair out of her face. "Well, what did the poor stumps do to you to make you treat them so angrily?"

"I ... I can't really say. I guess it's just, you know, I like it here a lot. The castle, the magic, you and the others. For the first time in my life, I really feel at home somewhere. I'm happy here. And when I think of being back with the Dursleys for the next two months..." He shrugged. "I guess I'm just not looking forward to it."

"Understatement of the century," Daphne laughed softly. She sat down on the grass and looked up at him. "But Harry, you're a wizard. What do you care about some Muggles?"

Harry sat down next to her. "Don't say it like that, Daphne. You're not like that."

"I might as well say, what do you care about some wizards, were your family wizards. What do you care about anyone?" She took his hand and squeezed it gently. "You got through a year with Snape without going for his throat. What's two months compared to that?"

"When you put it like that..."

"And if things get too bad, I'll come and get you and we'll fly away together."

A grin came over Harry's face. There was something amusing about the idea. Him flying on his broom, and next to him Daphne in her crow form. Below them, the raging Dursleys as he rained stink bombs down on them.

"The two months are going to fly by, Harry. And before we know it, we'll be back here together, at Hogwarts."

Daphne's voice had softened as she said this. Harry looked at her and this time it was he who squeezed her hand. "I'm looking forward to it. And if things get too bad with your family, it'll be me who comes for you."

Daphne gave him a small smile. Then she took a deep breath and rose from the floor. "Enough sentimentality. It's time for some wand-waving. Do you think you're ready for the next lesson?"

Harry rose as well. His heart pounded energetically but steadily in his chest. Admittedly, it hadn't been easy getting to this point. In a perfect world, there would be no need for what they were doing, but the world wasn't perfect. And they were only animals. Even before that, animals had to die for his pleasure every time he ate meat. The comparison didn't work perfectly, he knew, but that was the way it was. Without power, one could not get far in this world, leaving it to dark figures like Voldemort and Malfoy's father. He would never accept that. And so he nodded.

"Let's do it."

"You made the transition from insect to mouse quite easily, so I'm confident you won't have much trouble with the next step," Daphne said. "We will continue with a very special kind of animal with a natural affinity for magic." She pulled out her black wand and made a circular motion. "Serpensortia."

A long black snake shot out from the tip of her wand and landed on the ground. It raised itself, ready to strike, but Daphne didn't let it come to that. "Stupefy," she said. A flash of red hit the snake and it went limp. Daphne nodded at him. "You may begin."

"Thank you." Harry pointed his wand at the snake, took one last deep breath, and said in a practised voice, "Diffindo."

His spell severed about an inch of the end of the snake's body. A pleasant warmth spread through Harry's insides as he felt the snake's life power spill over to him. However, there was also something else ... For a moment there was a hideous hissing in his ears, and after that, it was as if there was a whimpering that reached out to him.

"Do you hear that?" he asked.

Daphne looked at the snake. "What do you mean? And that was a clean cut. Good work, Harry."

"You don't hear it?"

Daphne looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"

Harry shook his head. It still sounded like someone was whimpering next to his ear. "Probably just a beeping in my ears..."

"Do you still feel the snake's life power in you?"

"Yes, but it is already fading. In just half a minute I won't be able to use it for spells anymore."

"That's something I want to look into more over the summer," Daphne said in a thoughtful tone. "How to store the life power we've gained. But let's get on with it for now. Next, let's both hurt the snake at the same time. You will use its pain to strengthen a spell with which you will attack me. And I will use the pain to strengthen my shield charm. That should be interesting."

Daphne gave him a mischievous smile that showed her anticipation. She loved her experiments.

At the same time, they raised their wands and got into position. And as if from the same mouth, they shouted, "Diffindo."

"Arrrhhh!"

Harry winced and dropped his wand. He could hear a horrified whimper. Pained sounds that made him nauseous. He had to strain to keep from vomiting.

"Harry, what's wrong? You dropped your wand." Across from him stood Daphne, a shield charm in front of her. She gave him a curious look that turned to concern. "Are you all right?"

"Don't you hear it?" asked Harry.

"What?"

"That!" He gestured to their surroundings. "I hear whimpering. Cries of pain."

Daphne's brow furrowed, as it always did when she was thinking hard. "I don't hear anything, Harry. Where are the sounds coming from?"

Harry took a deep breath, trying to calm his pounding heart. Meanwhile, he concentrated on the source of the whimpering. His eyes widened as he located it. With a shaking hand, he pointed to the snake. "There. The sounds are coming from the snake."

Daphne nodded thoughtfully, as if she had suspected as much. "Try talking to it."

"What?"

"Try talking to the snake," Daphne repeated. So he hadn't misheard. "I have a hunch." With that, she pointed her wand at the snake and said, "Enervate."

The snake was now no longer stunned, but it didn't move, too hurt it seemed.

Harry gave Daphne a confused look, but she didn't look like she was joking. And so he walked slowly towards the snake. As he did so, the whimpering grew louder.

"Um, snake?" he began, "can you hear me?"

"No, Harry. Try talking to the snake. To it and only to it. Block out the fact that I am beside you."

Harry shook his head. This was the strangest experiment they had ever done, and that should mean something. He looked at the snake in front of him. The last inch of its body lay severed in the grass and two deep cuts gaped at the centre of its body. Was it really the snake that was making those noises? Like the snake in the zoo? But why did he hear it and Daphne didn't?

Curiosity got the better of Harry. He crouched down in front of the snake and looked at it intently. Now he could see the snake's head. Dark brown snake eyes stared back at him, surprisingly alive, surprisingly accusing, and filled with hatred.

"Snake, can you hear me?" he said. But it was not those words he heard this time. An eerie hiss came from its mouth, making his hair stand on end.

At his words a sparkle passed through the snake's eyes, Harry certainly didn't mistake it.

"Youuu underssssstand meee?" a hissing voice rang out, undoubtedly coming from the snake.

"Yes, I understand you."

"Whyyy? Whyyyy areee youuu doinnng thissss tooo meee?"

Harry's mouth felt dry. Upset, he replied, "We're just practising magic. It's nothing personal."

The snake slowly straightened up. Its tongue slipped out of its mouth. "Practissssing? You practisssse withhh myyyy painnn? Whaaat monsssterssss aaare youuu?"

"We are not –"

"Diffindo."

A beam of light shot through the air and struck the snake. Its head was cut off and lay in the grass in front of Harry, its eyes empty and lifeless, but Harry felt as if they were still looking at him accusingly.

"Why did you do that?!" he shouted to Daphne as she put her wand down.

"It didn't sound like it was a pleasant conversation," she said, "and my theory has been confirmed."

"Your theory? And does that mean you didn't understand what we said?"

"Unfortunately, no. For me, you were just hissing around creepily and I didn't hear anything from the snake. I didn't know you were a Parselmouth, Harry."

"Parselmouth?" asked Harry. He had never heard the term before.

"Someone who can talk to snakes," Daphne explained.

"You mean not everyone can?"

"Of course not, it's an extremely rare magical ability. So rare, in fact, that no one else in Britain is currently known to be able to do it. But wait, does that mean you've done it before?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, the summer before I got the Hogwarts letter. At a zoo, I talked to a snake and made the glass disappear from its enclosure so it could escape."

Now it was Daphne who stared at him in disbelief. "And you're only telling me this now?!"

"I didn't think it was anything special," he said with a shrug.

"But it is, Harry! It's an incredibly special ability. I'm almost a bit jealous of you. But be warned, this ability is usually associated with dark wizards and witches, like Salazar Slytherin, Morgana Le Fay, or Voldemort. So be careful if you want to make this public."

"And then you're jealous of me?" asked Harry. "Even if it is a dark wizard ability? And does that mean –"

Daphne clicked her tongue. "Don't you dare finish that thought. Idiots think like that. Good and evil, light and dark, who cares? It's a powerful ability and more power is always good."

Harry wasn't surprised that Daphne thought that way. His friend sometimes had a very pragmatic view of things.

"So it's not a bad thing?" he asked.

Daphne walked over to him and took his hand in hers. "No, Harry, it's not a bad thing. You're perfect just the way you are and I'm glad to have you by my side." She gave him a gentle smile, which Harry returned. "But I think that's enough for today. We should return to the castle. I wanted to do some packing before dinner so I wouldn't be stressed afterwards."

It was only later, when they had already parted in the entrance hall, that Harry noticed that Daphne had held his hand all the way back to the castle. Not once had she let go.

Thank you, Daphne, he thought as he climbed the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. I'm glad to have you by my side too.

"...with a few exceptions from my house, all have been disappointing. I would be surprised if more than a handful of them passed their OWLs. Most of them would probably forget how to brew even the simplest potion of forgetfulness".

"It can't be that bad, can it?" said Pomona worriedly. "And they still have three years until their OWLs."

"Don't worry," Minerva said. "Severus' students always seem to outperform themselves at their OWLs when they're being assessed by the Ministry examiners rather than by him."

Severus snorted contemptuously. "I simply still have quality standards. Or do you want the lives of the patients at St Mungo's to one day depend on the effectiveness of substandard and flawed –"

"That's enough," Albus said calmly.

He had listened to his teachers' childish arguments long enough. There were so many more important things to do. Especially his mental battle with Tom, after he had managed to trap his mind in the Mirror of Erised; one of his better ideas, Albus found with all humility. Admittedly, it had been a risky plan, but in the end, it had paid off. Tom had been caught and could do no more evil, and apart from Quirinus, no one else had been harmed.

Albus sighed inwardly at the thought of Quirinus.

Oh, Quirinus. Why did you choose to help Tom? Was his power so alluring?

It was moments like these that made Albus feel old. He had lived such a long life, making so many mistakes. Hopefully, at least now, at the end, he would be able to do something better. If his strength was enough; his efforts to break Tom's resistance to discover the origins of his immortality were wearing him down. He was no longer ninety-nine...

"Let's continue with the first-years," he said. "Minerva, would you like to start again?"

It was traditional for the teachers at Hogwarts to get together at the end of the year to talk about their students. Who showed what talent, where potential lay, and who needed more support or challenge. They had already passed from seventh to second year, but the youngest were still outstanding. Albus had to admit that he was particularly curious about them, especially one of them.

Minerva spoke again. "All in all, the situation is as I had expected. The Muggle-borns had some difficulty catching up with their fellow students from magical families at the beginning, but I have adjusted my pace accordingly so that everyone can keep up. The exception was Miss Granger, who studies harder than any of the other students. She also writes by far the longest and deepest essays. Her marks in the year-end exams were also excellent. Almost as good as Miss Granger was Miss Greengrass. Her written performance was not as good as Miss Granger's, but in practical performance she outperformed all the others. Miss Greengrass seems to me to have a natural talent for Transfiguration. In class, she is always the first to master a new spell, seemingly without effort. I will be watching her progress closely. If it continues, perhaps she could receive special training."

She adjusted her glasses and looked at her notes on the table in front of her. "Other very good performances were given by Miss Patil, the one from your house, Filius, also Mr Goldstein, Mr Malfoy, Miss Davis, and Mr Potter. Mr Potter, in particular, has improved greatly over the past few months, and this was also evident in the end-of-year exams. It cannot be said that he was bad at the start, but he had to be assessed as a Muggle-born. As a result, he had the same adjustment problems I mentioned earlier. By now, I think we should offer a course at the beginning of the year to teach the new students to write readably with a quill."

A chuckle went round the table at her words. Albus had to smile as well. Yes, deciphering illegible handwriting was not one of the things he missed about his own teaching career, even if he did miss a lot of other things; especially being able to watch the students grow and outgrow themselves.

"More encouragement is needed for Mr Crabbe, Mr Goyle, and" - she sighed - "Mr Longbottom. In his case, his grandmother has been writing to me every week to check on his progress. I need to have a word with her. She must learn that she cannot force her grandson into a role he is not made for. He is not his father, nor his mother, but an individual with his own unique strengths and weaknesses."

Albus nodded at her words. "Yes, please do. Filius, would you like to continue?"

The Professor for Charms straightened up in his chair. "On the whole, my impression is similar to Minerva's. The Muggle-borns have indeed caught up impressively quickly. In my house, I have also arranged for them to receive extra tutoring from older students, and it has paid off. I am particularly proud of the students from my house – Miss Patil, Mr Goldstein, Miss Li, to name but a few – who have made remarkable progress. Miss Granger has also written the best essays in my class, and she has an excellent understanding of the theory of magic and how to apply it practically. As a result, she is usually able to cast spells successfully and accurately by the second lesson. In this respect, she is second only to Miss Greengrass and, in recent months, Mr Potter. Their magical abilities are truly impressive. Miss Greengrass is perhaps a little more consistent in her abilities than Mr Potter, who sometimes still has problems controlling the power of his spells. I've already told you how he turned the classroom into a snowy landscape after Christmas."

Another chuckle went round the table. Albus was just glad that Harry had made himself at home at Hogwarts. And he had even given his old house its first Quidditch Cup win in years: he was allowed to be quietly pleased about that too, despite all his impartiality as Headmaster.

"It seems to me that their friendship has been of great benefit to young Harry. Miss Greengrass challenges him in a way that no extra lessons ever could. Or maybe he's trying to impress her, maybe that's part of it. Either way, it's a very fruitful inter-house friendship. You can be proud of your students, Minerva and Severus."

Minerva smiled at his words, while Severus looked like he was going to throw up. Albus, on the other hand, nodded gratefully at Filius. Now that the threat of Tom had hopefully been eliminated once and for all, they could focus on healing the rifts in the wizarding community. New friendships between Gryffindors and Slytherins would only be beneficial. He couldn't praise Harry and Miss Greengrass enough. And from what he had heard, he should follow their academic careers closely as well.

"However, more effort to keep up next year will have to be made by Mr Crabbe and Mr Goyle from Slytherin, Mr Longbottom from Gryffindor, and Miss Bones from Hufflepuff." At the last name, Filius looked to Pomona. "Could it be that she is under a lot of pressure from home?"

Pomona nodded with regret on her face. "Yes, I think so too. Madam Bones seems to have high expectations of her niece, which she finds difficult to meet. Madam Bones probably wouldn't even be happy with Miss Greengrass or Mr Potter if she were their aunt."

Albus sighed softly, and he wasn't the only one at the table. This was always the big problem. No matter how hard they tried to give their students a home at Hogwarts, a place where they could grow and make friends, in the end it was the students' families that shaped their children.

"But I will keep an eye on her," Pomona continued. "On the anniversary of her parents' death, I invited her over for tea and we had a long talk. I think she is an inquisitive and ambitious young witch, far more concerned about the state of the world than she lets on. Maybe she's unhappy with the political situation, but I'm not sure, maybe she just wants to distance herself from her aunt. In any case, it's hard for her that the people who killed her parents are still alive and in Azkaban. The same goes, I think, for Mr Longbottom, who, by the way, shows a great talent for herbology. I will try to encourage him more next year. The other students, on the whole, are doing as well as could be expected. An ordinary year, it seems to me. However, Mr Crabbe and Mr Goyle, whose performance has been inadequate, must definitely improve."

"Thank you for the insights, Pomona," Albus said. "Severus?"

"Disappointing year," the Potions Master said. "Good performances by Mr Malfoy, Miss Parkinson, Mr Nott, and Miss Davis. Mr Zabini and Miss Bulstrode still with acceptable performances, the rest not worth mentioning. Potter, Longbottom, and Greengrass are particularly disappointing. The latter has taken an extremely unfortunate development since she started hanging out with Potter. But perhaps her parents will talk some sense into her over the summer."

Albus noticed the venomous looks the other teachers were giving Severus, so he decided he had better move on quickly. He turned to Aurora.

"So, how did our first years do in Astronomy? I hope no one fell off the tower this year?"

If someone had told Daphne before Christmas that she would be sitting in a compartment with Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger on her way home, she would probably have called them crazy. And yet that was exactly what she was doing at the moment, although Granger and Weasley were not important in this list. They were Harry's friends, though, and so she had to put up with them, just as she had for the last few months, whether she liked it or not.

However, she thought with a smile, she was the only one of his friends who knew that Harry was a Parselmouth. He had chosen not to tell the other two for fear of how they would react. Even though Daphne could not understand the reason for his decision, the decision itself filled her with satisfaction. By now she knew much, much more about him than his two supposed best friends. If only they knew what Harry was capable of. Daphne had to stifle a grin at the thought.

"So, are you happy with your grades?" Granger asked the group.

Daphne rolled her eyes inwardly. Typical Granger, wanting to talk about school again.

"Well, they're better than Fred and George's, so Mum can't have that much to complain about," Weasley said.

His words made Daphne roll her eyes even more, if only internally. You didn't study to please your parents. Either you found your own drive or you might as well not.

"I'm pleased," Harry said with a smile.

Granger beamed at him. "And you have every reason to be, Harry. Truly impressive achievements. Perhaps next year we can –"

But Harry had turned sideways and was now facing Daphne. "All thanks to you, Daph. I couldn't have done it without you."

Daphne waved it off, although the scowl Granger was giving her made her want to cheer. "I didn't do anything more than give you a little push out the door. You'll be a powerful wizard one day, Harry."

Maybe as powerful as me. Maybe.

"Count on it. There's still so much I want to learn." Harry rose from his seat. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I have to go to the restroom."

"Wait, I'll come with you," Daphne said. At his questioning look, she added, "I want to give you something."

With that, they left the compartment together and walked down the aisle. As they passed Malfoy's compartment, he gave them a venomous look, but they ignored it; although Daphne already knew that she would have a lot to hear back home about how she had treated the son of their esteemed friend Lucius Malfoy. Well, she would deal with that when the time came.

"What do you want to give me?" asked Harry.

Daphne pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. "My address. Please write to me over the summer, Harry. I'll write to you too."

"Don't you worry that your parents..." He hesitated, as if searching for the right words.

"They probably already know about us anyway," Daphne said. "I don't care what they think."

A grin formed around Harry's lips. "I get it. You don't want anyone telling you who you can and can't be friends with."

"You get it," Daphne said with a firm nod. "And if Hedwig brings me a letter from you every day, they'll have to accept it eventually."

"Every day?" asked Harry with a laugh.

"At least. You'll see, we'll have a wonderful pen pal relationship and before we know it, it'll be September and we'll be on this very train back to Hogwarts."

Harry's eyes softened. "Yeah, that sounds nice."

They had reached the toilets by now. Just then the door opened and Tracey Davis stepped out. She was trembling and her face was ashen. She had tried to wipe away the marks, but Daphne could see that she had been crying. Daphne wondered what that meant. She didn't think it was just because she was going to miss her dear friend Parkinson so much.

She then said goodbye to Harry and returned to their compartment. There she was greeted by the intense stares of Granger and Weasley. It struck her that this was the first time she was alone with the two Gryffindors.

"You know, Greengrass, I was wondering something," Granger said.

Daphne raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"What do you want from Harry, anyway? You two have nothing in common."

"That's where I disagree with you, Granger," Daphne said. "Harry and I are very, very much alike. And he's precious to me. That's all there is to it."

Granger snorted as if she didn't believe that, but didn't reply anything else.

Daphne began to look out of the window where the countryside rushed past them, meadows and forests and shimmering blue rivers. It looked dreamy. How she would love to transform into her crow form and fly through these picturesque landscapes, feeling the sun's rays on her feathers...

So that had been her first year at school, she thought. It had been more adventurous than she had expected, and nowhere near as lonely as she had feared. After Christmas, anyway. She couldn't wait to see what her second year would be like. But first she had to get through the two months of summer with her family. She let out a small sigh. Well, it was all to no avail. At least she could write to Harry and read his letters.

The thought brought a smile to Daphne's lips.