Harry Potter and the Dark Lord's Blessing

by King Andro

What if Voldemort had seen the similarities between his and Harry's life and tried to set Harry on a very different path? Harry/Harem Mentor Voldemort

2. 2

Harry Potter and the Dark Lord's Blessing

Chapter 2

Rated – R Eleven year olds acting like eleven year olds;

Harry had to smile as they made their way back to their secret chamber. It really was too funny. Both it's actually. First there were the Weasley twins. Their excitement was obvious to everyone. Which was the second it. Apparently the whole school had concluded that a giddy pair of Weasley twins wasn't a good thing; even Dumbledore looked at them in concern and all students, even their best friend Lee Jordan and the rest of the Quidditch team shied away from them. Without reason.

'Yet,' Harry reminded himself. Soon they would have access to the work of the Marauders and then things would get interesting. For others, at least.

Harry had already opened the door when Hermione led the twins forward. "Gred. Forge. Welcome to the home of the Marauders."

It was amusing to see the two overawed like that. In the end it took over an hour before the twins left. They decided it was too late to get much of anything done together and returned to their common rooms. Perhaps for the first time Harry wished he would need to sleep like the other boys as the hours drags on. He just wanted to get the whole mess that had been his life so far behind.

---

Monday was chaos pure. Unlike the last time there were no free editions this time and every paper found itself in high demand from the student body. Thankfully Hermione had warned them of this possibility and Harry had ordered half a dozen copies for himself and his friends.

The Daily Prophet

Monday, November 25th 1991

Wonder at Hogwarts!

By Rita Skeeter

The Department of Magical Law Enforcement under Director Amelia Bones has announced the retrial of Sirius Black, accused of betraying the Potters to He-who-must-not-be-named, the murder of Peter Pettigrew, the murder of twelve muggles, and the very public use of magic. The case appeared beyond reproach, until one looked closer. Sources within the Department for Magical Law Enforcement, as well as the Wizengamot have verified that the reports of a trial were indeed incorrect. Mr. Black has spend the last ten years in Azkaban without trial!

How could this happen? That is a question that the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, has to answer. So far we at The Daily Prophet have not received an explanation. Cornelius Fudge, Minister since shortly before You-know-who's fall, is most certainly the person to be held most responsible for this reprehensive failure of justice, though Albus Dumbledore, then Head of the Wizengamot, also bears a large part of the guilt.

Many will ask why Minister Fudge and Headmaster Dumbledore should bear any guilt, after all we know that Sirius Black is guilty of those crimes and was one of the top Death Eaters following You-know-who; well, we didn't know, we merely assumed. This assumption was scattered for some people on Halloween, October 31st. On that day several dozen people were allowed to witness an incredible display of power, skill, and knowledge at the Hogwarts school of Wizardry and Witchcraft. Twelve students, assisted by Professors Quirrell (Defense against the Dark Arts) and Trelawney (Divination), performed a stunning ritual that allowed them to communicate with the dead.

While some may believe that it is nothing unusual, having grown up at Hogwarts with its many ghosts, there is only one known occasion of anyone actually talking to the dead in the last century; Details of the ritual are not known, but the rarity it is used speaks for how difficult it is. The fact that Professor Quirrell managed to teach the twelve students of his first year elective called 'Arcane Arts' managed the deed is nothing short of a true wonder and speaks of both the ability and dedication of teacher and students.

To no ones surprise, Harry Potter, The-boy-who-lived, is among this astonishing group of students composed of members of all four houses. Hermione Granger, muggleborn, and Parvati Patil are representing Gryffindor along with Harry Potter. Padma Patil, Su Li, and Lisa Turpin represent Ravenclaw, while Tracy Davis and Daphne Greengrass are the only Slytherin in the group. Astonishingly at least to this reporter Hufflepuff sends the largest contingent of students to this elective, namely Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, Megan Jones, and Sally-Ann Perks.

When it came the turn of The-boy-who-lived nobody was surprised to see James Harold Balthazar Reginald Potter and Lily Rose Evens Potter, muggleborn. Thanks to the participation of the niece and charge, Director Amelia Bones was presents and could converse directly with the Potters; she learned several astonishing things. The most immediate issue was the fate of Sirius Orion Black, heir of the most ancient and noble House of Black. With Peter Pettigrew identified as the Potter's Secret Keeper Director Bones reopened the investigation and quickly came to the conclusion that not only had there never been a trial for Mr. Black, but there hadn't even been an investigation!

A quick check of Mr. Black's wand showed that the last spells used were consistent with a skilled wizard getting dressed and ready to leave the house in the shortest amount of time possible – as would be expected for an auror getting alerted of an attack on his friends house. Armed with this information Mr. Black was interrogated under Veritaserum, the strongest truth potion known. Details of the interrogation have not been released yet. The trial will be held today at eight in the morning and is expected to end in the acquittal of Mr. Black.

For more on Sirius Black see page 2

For more on Peter Pettigrew see page 3

For more on the conspiracy to imprison Sirius Black, see page 4

For more on the Ritual performed, see page 7

For more on the Potters see page 10

Related topic – Potter Will ignored – page 12

Related topic – Boy-who-lived placed with muggles illegally – page 19

Related topic – Dursleys arrested for abuse of the-boy-who-lived – page 24

Related topic – Dumbledore's crimes against The-boy-who-lived – page 36

Related topic – Ministry abandoned the-boy-who-lived! – page 45

Harry grimaced when he realized that the whole and today exceptional thick paper was just about him and everything that Madam Bones had warned him about. Dumbledore was subjected to unexpected harsh verbal abuse for his role in things. There was a several pages long special about the arrest of the Dursleys and how the Aurors had reacted to the verbal abuse; Harry felt grim satisfaction at the list of injuries they suffered.

"You seen the editorials?" Harry asked the others, when he finished with the paper.

"Interesting," Tracy commented, her mask firmly in place.

"What's interesting?" Hermione asked as she looked at the editorials again.

"They go after Fudge, and more indirectly against Malfoy and the other Death Eaters that walked free because they claimed to be under the Imperius. The blanket demand that all trials without Veritaserum be rolled up again will cause a huge uproar," Susan said.

Tracy nodded, "Fudge has made more enemies, or maybe simply worse enemies than I thought."

Daphne agreed, "Unless something dramatic happens soon, there will be a huge fight for power."

"What would happen if Dumbledore, Fudge, Malfoy, and the other Death Eaters are all send to prison?" Hermione asked. Her understanding of the Wizarding World was growing under the tutelage of her friends, but it would still take a long time before she could analyze events like they could.

The atmosphere turned pensive. "Anything really," Lisa said after more than a minute of silence.

"It could turn pretty bad," Tracy agreed.

"Unless something is done to prevent that," Daphne added.

Su eyed Harry, "The Wizarding World is looking up to few people only. The Minister, the Headmaster, and you. Two of them are falling at the same time."

Susan frowned at her friends, "I don't think Harry is quite old enough to try that. If it had happened in two years, yes, but he's too young."

"I'm too young for what?" Harry asked, suddenly completely lost.

"They want you to become Minister of Magic, of course," Sally-Ann said. "Not a bad idea, but I have to agree with Susan, you're still a bit too young."

"What about becoming Minister and leaving the day-to-day business to someone acting in his name?" Megan asked.

"Who?" Sally-Ann replied immediately.

"Auntie Amelia?" Susan asked.

"No," Harry said firmly. "No. No. No! NO!" He lowered his voice again, as the last 'no' had attracted a bit too much attention. "I'm not even thinking about considering it! I'm eleven for god – ouch!" Parvati, who sat beside him, had punched his arm, hard. "Sorry, Merlin's sake!

"Yes, Harry," Hermione said somberly. "But you're still the best for the job."

"Or at least would be, if you weren't so easy," Su said, before all eleven girls collapsed into giggling heaps.

Harry starred at them for a moment, and then shook his head and sighed. "You'll be the death of me," he mumbled, before starting to chuckle, too.

---

After lunch they met for their Arcane Arts class.

"Professor," Hermione asked. "Could we discuss the Halloween ritual some more?"

"What questions do you have, Ms. Granger?"

Hermione bit her lip as her eyes lost focus, "Why did you have me perform the ritual? Why were you certain that I would gain anything?"

Quirrell sat back and took a deep breath, "Why not? We are far ahead of what I had planned; indeed but for wandless magic and accessing your core we are further than I thought we would get in the whole year. So I think I should first compliment you on your hard work so far. Well done."

"When will we learn wandless magic?" Su Li asked.

"Well, Ms. Li, I had planned to mix some lessons in after Halloween, but after the results I thought it safer to stay away from the more stressful forms of magic. Yes, stressful. The rituals you went through since then were stressful for your body, but they hardly touched your magical core. And while it is stressful to first learn how to use a wand, you have used it long enough that the stress to your core has become very low, especially with all your extra practice. By the way, Mr. Potter, how are your eyes?"

"Much better, Professor. The ritual worked as your described. By now I don't actually need glasses anymore; there's still a slight difference but it's almost gone."

Quirrell smiled, "Very good. But I will ask you to keep wearing your glasses. It will offer you an extra surprise if you are attacked and the attacker thinks you helpless without your glasses. And there are many extras that can be added to your glasses later on."

"Extras?" Harry asked in surprise.

Quirrell chuckled. "Of course. The ability to see at night, to see things outside normal human vision, ability to see things too far away for to normally see, to zoom them in, and other nice tricks. The most interesting for you may be the ability to see through certain kind of materials, like cloths."

Harry frowned at the Professor, "Why would I want to do that?"

Quirrell just continued to chuckle and shook his head, "Never mind. I suppose you're one of the few males who have no use for that, at least not in the sense most would. You could still use it to find hidden wands and other weapons. But that's for the future. You will also have to be careful what enhancements are allowed during Quidditch matches." Harry nodded. "Well, back to what I was talking about. Your cores should by now be stable enough for wandless magic and such, but we still have three rituals to study in detail, and a few more general things to do, so we'll leave that for next term.

"Now, Ms. Granger, why did I think the ritual would work for you. As you might remember from our visit to Mr. Ollivander, there is one book that is known to have survived from the time of Atlantis. Beside the information on wands, it does contain something that is thought to be a census of all intelligent life on the planet. That's at least what the book claims, if the translation is correct. According to that humans were able to use magic; sorry, all humans were able to use magic, at some point in the past. One of the few scrolls of Merlin left contains his theory of the meaning of that information. He concludes that it is indeed a world wide census and therefore muggles are only weak squibs, and that everyone has magical ancestors, if you go back far enough in history. He has proven it, in his words, by having all muggleborn he could find perform the ritual we did, and all of them gained at least one ability."

"But why haven't we heard about it before?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"That, Ms. Granger, is quite simple. Merlin may be one of the most revered people in our society, but that doesn't mean that his actual works are well know, or respected. Merlin did many great things, but few people could name any of them. You won't learn about them in class, and I am not sure if they are recorded in the library. The ministry likes it that way, as do most purebloods, so it is kept quiet; they can't quite ban his works, but there are other ways to keep things out of circulation among the general population. The reason this particular work is especially little known is because of the conclusion Merlin drew – it comes down to the theory that muggleborns are the main source of power for the Wizarding World, and that purebloods should marry them before other purebloods. This of course violates all principles of blood supremacy many purebloods believe in."

"Uhm, Sir, how did the people of Atlantis know that everyone who couldn't do magic had magical ancestors?"

"A very good question, Ms. Granger. I don't have the exact figures available, but something over ninety nine percentile of the human population back then could use magic. And over ninety nine percentile of those who couldn't had magical ancestors within the last three generations."

"But Sir," Daphne said. "If squibs have children there's a one in three chance they have a magical child. Given those figures, how did muggles become so dominant? Or at least wide spread?"

"A good question, Ms. Greengrass. We don't know much about the end of Atlantis, or about anything to do with Atlantis really. The founders of Hogwarts were all four very knowledgeable scholars. They were for some reason very interested in Atlantis; indeed their common interest may have been the reason they came together and founded Hogwarts – not as a school but a place of learning in general. It would explain the design as well as the sheer strength of the wards; they intended to gather a library of unmatched size and significance. There are very few details known about that period; it is almost as though the founders and their teachers and apprentices went through every book and document and removed any information about the decades surrounding the formation of the school, or about the Founders. That is why we have to rely on rumors about everything that happened during that time.

"They have however left a book about their theories concerning the fall of Atlantis and their interpretation of the data in the book and Merlin's scrolls; they actually reference to several scrolls that haven't been found since then, making it very hard to tell whether their speculations are correct or not. Anyway, they concluded that Atlantis was not a city state but at the very least a large island containing many cities comparable in size to current muggle cities – meaning several million inhabitants, each. Almost all the population of the Kingdom of Atlantis lived on that island and there were very few city colonies outside, and they were inhabited almost exclusively by squibs in the second or higher generation. When Atlantis was destroyed, the whole island was gone before anyone, or at least more than a handful of people, could leave. They went so far as to claim that no Wizard or Witch survived the fall of Atlantis; only a few thousand squibs did. It took millennia until wizards and witches were numerous enough again to learn how to control their powers, and to develop them. The founders placed the Fall of Atlantis at ten to forty thousand years ago."

"How did Atlantis fall?" Harry asked after a while of silence.

"A very good question, Mr. Potter. I believe the Founders had found an answer but locked it away with all the other documents they hid. I say hid, because I sincerely hope they didn't destroy anything, but it is of course, possible. Many people have speculated why they did it; no conclusive answer has been put forth so far."

"What about the rift between Slytherin and the other founders?"

"Assumptions and rumors, Ms. Patil. Everything we know for sure is that at one point the Founders, the teachers, and their guests left the school for several days; when they came back Salazar Slytherin wasn't among them, and nobody was willing to talk about where they were, or what happened. It could mean anything."

"And the rumors have been accepted as truth, because nobody said otherwise, or if so, it wasn't recorded in history," Tracy said.

"Correct, Ms. Davis. Two points to Slytherin. When facts are not available, rumors will take their place; even when facts are available, rumors often become more prominent than the truth."

"After all everyone says Parselmouths are evil, and rituals are evil, and so on," Harry said.

Quirrell smiled and nodded, "Indeed, Mr. Potter. Yet you can't ignore rumors out of hand, especially those that are accepted as truth. Public opinion has to be taken into account for many issues. If it became public knowledge that you are a Parselmouth you would have to deal with most students assuming you were evil, and nothing you or your friends say would be able to change the perception of the majority of them. So truth is fluid and a matter of perception."

"But.. isn't there a real truth?" Hermione asked.

"Of course, Ms. Granger. But you can't assume that everyone believes the same truth to be the real thing. You will have to take that into account in the future. After the article today people are going to listen to what you say and will try to twist your words to mean what they want to hear. Or they may spread lies and half-truths about you if they hear something they don't like. Hopefully you will be shielded from that here at Hogwarts and your parents should shield you at home. Anyway, are there more questions?"

"Yes, Sir. What does it mean that I'm the true Heir of Slytherin?"

"I don't know – if you are indeed the heir in the magical sense, then you would have access to the Slytherin family vault and the family properties. There may be magical items or even creatures bound to the family line that would obey you above all others. There may be parts of Hogwarts that only you can access, and you may even have some authority over Hogwarts. There may be other things, but I think those are the most likely options. Or it may mean nothing at all."

"Professor, is it safe to learn our talents yet?" Tracy asked.

"Most likely, Ms. Davis. I would like you to wait some more though. Your core needs to be settled for the two rituals during the winter holidays and activating an ability may cause problems then. After New Year I recommend that all of you study Occlumency, as control of ones own mind is useful for all areas of not only magic, but life itself. You will find everything much easier after becoming a master Occlumens, but even basic Occlumency will make many tasks easier. Once you have mastered Occlumency there should be no problem learning your abilities, as long as you do not try too much at once. Any more questions?"

"You have analyzed our magic, Professor," Harry said slowly. "Have you found any hint as to what happened that night; with the Killing Curse, I mean."

Quirrell looked pensive for a moment, before he started, "I have found some things. There is a rather weak blood charm protecting you. If we assume it continuously degenerated for the last ten years, it might have protected you. Regardless of the power it shouldn't be able to affect the Killing Curse, but large amounts of magic can in theory make anything happen. It's a low probability though. There are rumors around that for the last eighteen or so months of the war you and Neville Longbottom were in exceptional danger – the only thing you two have in common is your birthday. As such some people think that He-who-must-not-be-named learned of some kind of prophecy. Unless there is another explanation for why he'd target you and Mr. Longbottom, both hidden under Fidelius, when other families that openly resisted him were much more readily accessible. I can not guess what the prophecy may have said; the result of that night seems most unlikely to me."

Harry nodded slowly. "So the same reason we succeeded with those rituals… does that make me immortal?"

"I do not know, Mr. Potter, and I can not guess. Will not guess. Prophecies are tricky things, always true, but often in ways not readily predicted. The Prophecy might make you immortal, or it might simply have fixed the day you die; it won't let you die earlier, but neither will it allow you to survive the date. Unless you have actually access to the precise wording of a prophecy it is useless to try to interpret it. All I can recommend to you is to forget about it."

Harry merely nodded in response and pushed the whole topic into the back of his mind. There were more important things to deal with now. An idea formed, but Susan was quicker.

"Have you found out something on the talents you couldn't identify, Professor?"

"I'm sorry Ms. Bones, but I haven't found anything. All I can say is that they are not uncommon talents but that there appears to be no reference material available at all." He hesitated for a moment, but didn't continue.

Harry hesitantly raised his hand, "Professor; since we did the ritual at the autumn Equinox we don't need to sleep much anymore; could we be exempt from the curfew?"

Quirrell looked thoughtful for a moment, but then slowly shook his head, "I'm sorry Mr. Potter, but I can't do that without the ritual become public knowledge; especially after today. All teachers and other employees, the ghosts, portraits, Headboy and Headgirl, and the prefects would have to be told at least. Without explanation the resulting rumors would likely be worse than the truth." Suddenly he frowned, before smiling again, "Your heads of house already know of the rituals, and I don't think it would be a problem for them to miss the fact that you are occasionally not in your house; if you get caught outside you will be punished as any other student. And as long as you don't miss classes and keep up your grades I think they will accept it; it has always been policy to allow students with high grades extra rights." He made some notes on a parchments on his desk. "When I say occasionally I mean that it will be at your discretion where you spend the night as long as your classmates do not learn of this arrangement. Since your apparent inability to sleep has been brought to the attention of your head of house several times already, I think we can assume that all students have heard of it. I'll leave it to you to come up with the details, and avoid any suspicion. Assuming, of course, that I can get permission. I will give you the answer tomorrow during class."

"Thank you, Professor."

Quirrell waved it off, "Not a problem, Mr. Potter. The curfew exists so that all students get the necessary sleep. Since you do not need as much sleep, it makes no sense to force you to obey it. So, if that was all, then let's get down to the next ritual." He waved his wand and a complex pattern appeared of the board. "Once you have finished the runes we went over in the last class, you will draw this pattern on the back of your partner. You begin on the neck, right below the hair, and draw the line down in one movement over the whole back. After that the order you draw things is unimportant. Once you are done, you do the same for the legs; back of the legs, that is. After that you switch, before drawing the pattern on the side on the kneecap and ankles. Afterwards pattern one on the arms, and two on the elbows and wrists. Finally pattern three on the face. The potion you use to draw the patterns is very slimy and smells rather repulsing, so once you have practiced the patterns normally, you will practice applying a potion of similar consistency. So please start practicing."

They spend the rest of the afternoon trying to memorize the patterns required and finding the easiest way to draw it. While they were at it, Professor Quirrell told them about the little details in the pattern that they would need to pay special attention to; after class Quirrell removed the color from their hands and the walls. Usually they'd head to the library after class, but today they decided to head to the Marauder's room.

"I really wish he'd explain where those patterns come from," Hermione said, as they walked towards the secret room.

"They are runes," Padma said. "At least I think they are."

"Wouldn't it be easier to draw them if we knew the runes and then applied them one by one?" Hermione wondered.

"In theory, maybe. But the few I have managed to identify were applied in different angels. I'm not sure it would be easier to draw if we knew the elements. It might actually be harder, since you'd instinctively try to place them with the same orientation."

"Not to mention that we'd need to first learn runes and then practice placing them in the correct pattern," Su said. "It would be easier in the long run, but we would spend a long time learning only runes; and then be bored during the classes in third year."

"Like we won't have learned most of them by then anyways," Lisa said dryly.

Su looked at her, and then shrugged, "True."

"So what do we do today?" Susan asked.

"It's Monday," Sally-Ann said. The expressions at this statement ranged from amusement to grimaces.

"Fan mail!" Susan, Sally-Ann, Parvati, and Padma chorused.

"I still don't understand why so many people write me," Harry grumbled.

The group chuckled. As Hermione opened the door to the secret room, Tracy answered, "It's pretty simple really. You are famous, and all those people want to know someone famous. Easy, really."

Harry just shook his head and took the shrunken mailbag Gringotts send earlier that day and touched it with his wand, lifting the shrinking spell. Then he simply dropped the bag on the floor and sat at the desk, and got out his notebook to write some replies where appropriate. They had set Monday afternoon aside to deal with the huge amount of mail Harry received – more than anyone could handle alone, now that there were hundreds if not thousands of cards expressing their sympathy, condemning Dumbledore, or something else like that. Thankfully the goblins sold standard reply forms and had send a batch of customized ones along so that Harry simply needed to sign them; the girls would fill in the name, and address the envelop and the magic of the parchment would make it appear as though he had written the whole letter.

He had leaned towards hiring a secretary or asking Gringotts to handle the mail when he learned that there were thousands of letters waiting for him, but after a few letters the girls decided that the letters were just too amusing; or at least some of them. So Harry had settled with letting Gringotts inspect the mail for dangerous content and ordered more reply forms. He kept marveling at the goblins ability to anticipate his response and provide appropriate forms.

The letters causing the most amusement for the girls, and the most embarrassment for Harry, were those that contained either a declaration of love from some little witch (or sometimes not so little! Ough!), or baby pictures. But no matter how embarrassing they were, Harry still loved the pictures and the pictures of his parents that some of their friends had send to him after their death. Aside from the photo album he now had, there was now a huge collection of birthday and Christmas cards – too many really for him to read all of them. And of course he now had a huge pile of presents; though most of it was for babies or little children, so he didn't have any use for them at the moment.

It had taken them a long time to work through all the mail that had accumulated over the years, but they had done it. Now they had set aside every Monday afternoon to work through the new letters; there weren't that many now, though there were many letters simply thanking him for replying to their letters. There were only a handful of letters about the trial this time, though Harry was certain they'd have to deal with hundreds of those next week.

"Oooh!," Parvati squealed.

"What's it this time?" Harry asked with a groan.

"Oh, it's not you this time," she said, now gaining everyone's attention. "It's a thank you for stopping You-know-who letter from Mynee's little sister; seems her parents just told her your tale," Parvati said with a grin at Hermione.

Hermione on the other hand moaned and buried her face in her hands, "Not that Nickname again!"

"Well, you had your chance to choose a nickname on your own; now it's Mynee," Susan said.

"Is it too much to ask for people to use my name?" Hermione asked with a hint of desperation.

"Of course not, Mynee," Padma said soothingly. "It's acceptable for people to call you that, but you're among friends here."

"I think we should add a thank you of our own to Harry's reply," Parvati said.

"That's for sure," Lisa agreed. "We've tried to find a suitable name for months. And I have to say that I like this one."

"You're only saying that because nobody wants to give you a nickname," grumbled Hermione.

"You read to focused," Lisa replied wryly.

"Yeah, everyone knows we've named her Shilorm," Parvati agreed.

Hermione blinked in confusion, "Shilorm? I've heard that one before, but I can't remember where."

"A Shilorm is a snake with wings. Since I admitted to liking snakes, and I can speak to birds, they decided to name me after them."

"Oh."

Lisa shrugged, "I don't really mind the name, though I think it may have been better suited for Harry; he loves to fly and can speak snake after all."

Harry grinned, "Ah, but we have concluded that if I were to be named after a snake it ought to be a basilisk at least."

Lisa fell to her knees and prostrated herself, "Of course your majesty, Lord of all Snakes."

As most of the girls giggled, well all save Hermione who was more surprised by this display than anything, Harry smirked as he stood up, "Rise, servant. It does not do for something as beautiful as a Shilorm to dirty herself on the floor."

Lisa flushed. "You were supposed to be embarrassed," she muttered.

"It doesn't work that many times; at least not the same thing," Harry said.

"Do you really think I'm beautiful?" Lisa asked quietly, as she avoided Harry's eyes.

Harry blinked, "Of course." Whatever else he wanted to say was forgotten when she hugged him.

"Thanks Harry," she said, as she let go.

"No problem, Shilorm." Then he turned to Hermione, "So, Mynee?"

Hermione blushed and tried to look angry, but there was a small smile on her face. "That little brat pretended not to be able to pronounce my name and begged me to teach her. I must have said my name a thousand times or so, when I got so confused by her twisted versions of my name that I forgot the 'o' once! Once! And that little beast snapped that up at once and refused to call me anything else since then!" she grumbled, unable to hide her affection towards her sister.

"Nice," Harry said, like the other witches unable to suppress a chuckle.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You aren't the one stuck with it!"

"No," Harry said without mirth. "I'm stuck with boy-who-lived and other such nonsense." Hermione flushed slightly and nodded, before they all turned back to their pile of letters.

"Uhm, Harry?" Daphne said a few minutes later.

"Yeah?" Harry answered thankful for the distraction.

"I think you should read this letter."

"Sure, let me see."

She gave him the letter and Harry quickly read through it with a frown. "Interesting," he mumbled, before clearing his throat and reading the letter out loud.

'Dear Harry

From the letters my brothers send home, I have come to the conclusion that Ronald is acting like a complete prat. I'm not totally certain why he is, but I want to tell you that normally he isn't that bad. Yes, he is a jealous prat, but he doesn't usually insult people. Mom is really mad at him, and nearly send him a howler about his behavior; I have exchange several letters with the twins and Percy since then.

Ron is the youngest of my six brothers, and he has always had issues about never comparing well with his brothers. Bill was Headboy and now is a curse breaker at Gringotts. Charlie was Quidditch Captain and Seeker for Gryffindor and now works as dragon handler in a reservation in Rumania, Percy, as you certainly know is Prefect and heading to Headboy. The twins aren't doing well in classes, and I should know, I've heard mom berating them for their grades each year since they started school, but they are really good at practical jokes (and Ron used to be their favorite target), they are really good at Quidditch, and they are popular.

Our family isn't well off either, so almost everything Ron owns has been owned by one of our brothers before. Even though I'm younger I'm a bit better off, since I'm a girl. Anyway, Ron really wanted to get out of his brothers shadow and do something they didn't, be better than them somehow. But unless he's changed a lot at school he is too lazy to achieve anything on his own. I believe he saw you as a chance to fame, wanted to be your friend so he could somehow share your fame.

The twins were pretty firm that you don't like your fame, and I know that if they are serious about something it really is important. But I don't think Ron can see it, or wants to see it. When you choose to spend you time learning and working for the extra class you are taking, Ron only saw how it affected him; he would no longer be your best friend, and the little fame that would give him was gone. Ron has always been rather vicious when someone took what he considered his.

He's also very centered on himself; I don't know how well you got to know him, but he has a hard time comprehending that others might not share his thoughts on a particular subject. What I mean is that if he thinks that every sane person likes what he likes, and hates what he hates. How he managed to develop this attitude with all our brothers around, I don't understand, but I think you need to know that.

After the incident in the common room he send a few rather scratching letters about you and your friends to mom; she was rather angry with him, but started to believe him. I managed to persuade her to talk to Professor Dumbledore; I don't know what his connection to our family is, but he drops by every once in a while. Mom was rather shocked when Professor Dumbledore listened calmly and then agreed with you; he even called Professor Snape and himself Masters of the Dark Arts. Mom was rather shocked about that, and I think she's still in denial. Poor mom, it shattered her whole world view. Anyway, Professor Dumbledore was delighted that you stood above the common prejudice.

I know that after what he said asking you to forgive him is useless, but I ask you not to hold it against the rest of our family. I for one would like to get to know you better, and I think mom wants to meet you and your friends to apologize for Ron.'

As he stopped, Daphne cried out, "Hey, no stopping there," and took the letter from his hands:

'I want to thank you for your reply to my numerous cards. I will treasure it forever. I'm really looking forward to getting to know you better next year.

Yours forever,

Love Ginny Weasley.'

"You could have let that go," Harry said.

"Not a chance, Harry. That girl has a huge crush on you."

"Yeah, she send you a card for every birthday and Christmas since you were four," Tracy said, as she checked the list; the purebloods had pretty much insisted that every letter or card he got was recorded.

"How many girls with a crush does that make?" Susan asked sweetly, grinning at Harry.

"If we limit it to five years older or younger, forty two," Tracy said. "That's only those with a crush at the moment, of course."

Harry just groaned and buried his face in his hands, "I really, really hate that."

"Oh, get used to it Harry; you'll have to deal with groupies all your life," Hermione said. And then spend thirty minutes explaining the term groupies.

"Well, now that those questions are answered, what do we do about the letter? Or better, about Ron?" Harry asked.

"Well, the letter is simple," Sally-Ann said. "You thank her for telling you about Ron and especially Dumbledore, say that you are looking forward to meet her, and then tell her that while you would like to make a friend, you hate people that worship you. If you want her in your harem, send her a voucher for a wand from Ollivander's or something like that."

"I don't want a harem!" Harry growled.

"So no prezzies for that poor girl," Parvati said with fake sorrow.

Harry suppressed any reaction and instead changed the topic, "So what about Ron?"

"It doesn't change anything," Megan said.

"Until he apologizes to all of us, we ignore him whenever possible," Hannah continued.

"And if Ginny is right, then it may be better not to get close to him afterwards either," Su said. "He may or may not be a reliable friend, but I don't think he'd share well."

"And I doubt he will ever get over his prejudice; he may not openly act on them, but they appear too deeply ingrained for him to change," Hermione said. "And I don't think he'll ever work hard for his grades or take it well if his friends were so much better in school than him."

"You are forgetting the rituals," Tracy said. "He might claim to accept it, but he'd always be envious of us. We are better than him already, and as time progresses we will become much better. Given this description of him, do you think he could accept that?"

Harry sighed, and shook his head, "From the time we spend together I'm pretty sure he couldn't; we'd have to have him perform the rituals, too; and I'm not sure he'd be willing to learn what he must to perform them."

"Well, so can we finally agree to let him be? That you should forget about him?" Daphne asked. She had taken Ron's comments worst for some reason.

"Fine, you are right, I'll forget about it. Okay?" Harry said. If he was honest he knew that he had no other choice for some time already, but for some reason he had refused to say so aloud. He took back the letter from Daphne and read it again, "Is it just me, or does she seem very mature for a what? Ten? Nine? Year old girl?"

"Hadn't we covered this before?" Tracy asked.

Harry could see how their eyes lost focus, as they went through their memories again. "It doesn't matter," he said. "I may simply have forgotten it. So what's the matter with that?"

"It's one of the oldest customs," Sally-Ann said. "Actually a combination of customs that come together. For one a child in the Wizarding World does not send letters without their parents explicit approval, and then only to close friends. While I am not sure how much the Weasley family follows traditions, that is one of the most commonly observed ones, simply because of the number of dangerous things that can be send in a letter. While things may be a bit different in your case, especially for the 'Thank you for defeating You-Know-Who' and 'Sorry for your childhood' notes, a note such as the one she send is only appropriate on her parents' instruction. They have her writing you, instead of writing themselves, because you are still a child; it's more appropriate, I guess you could say."

Sally-Ann took the note and read it again. "Her parents probably instructed her to write the part about his brothers, that his mother is mad at him, that they are poor, and maybe that he is self centered. The rest, especially the part about Dumbledore's visit and the ending were probably hers. Tradition has it that the child is given certain issues that are to be touched upon in the letter, but given complete freedom at how it is done; the parents, according to customs, do not read the finished version, nor are told the details."

"In other words this is a letter from her family begging for understanding, and a letter from her expressing her crush mixed together into one," Daphne said.

"So," Harry said hesitantly. "How true is it? I mean, if it were written by a young girl, I'd say it is true. But if her parents dictated her?"

"You can assume it to be true," Susan said. "Auntie Amelia knows their father; he has little if any ambition and is generally a good man. And it's not like they have anything to gain."

"Unless they hope that you fall for Ginny and marry her," Sally-Ann said. "Maybe even arrange a marriage between you two, as a second wife or something; given your status it's almost expected that you will have more than one wife."

"You mean that's legal?" Hermione asked.

"In short, yes. There are several limitations, but it is legal. Nowadays it is rare, and I can't remember hearing of a multiple marriage in years." Su said. "Last I heard was in China in sixty-six."

"I believe the last in Britain was before the war with Grindlewald," Sally-Ann added.

Hermione nodded slowly, "So they may try to arrange for her to be Harry's twelfth wife?"

"Twelfth?" Harry asked wide eyed.

"Well, you didn't think you could get rid of us, now did you, Mr. Potter," Hermione asked in her best McGonagall voice. Harry's sputtering reaction set of the girls and giggled madly for a time, while Harry wondered just what his life would be like. He was almost certain that Sally-Ann had not joked when she said that he was expected to have more than one wife. He'd have to talk with them about that later.

After they recovered from the giggle-fest they finished with the current batch of letters, and finished with a request to Gringotts for reply forms to what was going to be a flood of letters in response to the most recent revelations. Once every letter was read, every reply written, and every envelop sealed, they headed up to the owlery and send out almost all of the school owls. Athena, Hermione's snow owl, carried the three letters to Serena, Hermione's little sister; one from Harry, thanking her for the letter, one from the girls, thanking her for telling them Hermione's nickname, and one from Hermione herself, expressing her displeasure with the nickname and the fact that it was now known to her friends. Hedwig carried the reply for Ginny, and the letter to Gringotts.

"There aren't going to be enough owls around next week," Harry commented, as they made their way down to the kitchen; dinner was already over.

"So?" Parvati asked. "Some people will have to wait for an answer. But you will not buy more owls."

Harry raised his hands in defeat, "Okay, I give. No buying owls."

"Good boy," the girls said together, before giggling madly, while Harry just rolled his eyes.

After a quick but huge dinner in the kitchens they headed back to their common rooms and started their homework, before going to bed for a few hours. They used the remainder of the night to study Latin. There weren't many books on magic written in Latin since most of the Wizarding World considered the Catholic Church an enemy and avoided the language where possible, but Hermione insisted that it would help them learn other languages, so Harry didn't protest much. Parvati had joined them, since she was bored, not out of any enthusiasm.

---

Tuesday began much like Monday had, but for the fact that everyone was already starring at them, or better at Harry, even before the Daily Prophet arrived. The newspaper at least provided temporary reprieve as students clustered around the handful of papers that were available. Harry berated himself for not ordering a copy, and made a mental note to subscribe to at least The Daily Prophet. Thankfully Susan seemed to have subscripted it, so they did have a copy on their own.

The news was a mix of the expected and the unexpected. Sirius Black had been found innocent and was now off to St. Mungo for treatment expected to last at least three months. The blame for his incarceration in spite of his innocence, and the lack of investigation prior to it was split between the then and current Minister of Magic, Cornelius Oswald Fudge, and the then Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Since Dumbledore had already retired from his Ministerial Offices, The Daily Prophet concentrated their criticism on Minister Fudge. Beside the rather scratching editorials there were statements from several officials of the Wizengamot and other Ministerial employees that almost uniformly attacked Fudge and his record. It appeared that Tracy had been right; Fudge had made many enemies and they were now out for blood.

The second issue that was touched upon by some of the members of the Wizengamot were the other trials that had been held during and after the first war with Voldemort. There were no clear positions yet, but it appeared that the issue would go before the full Wizengamot before long. Harry was thankful that for all the significance of the events to him personally he wasn't mentioned this time. He hoped that it was more than just the calm before the storm.

The Herbology lesson that followed breakfast was unusually strict, and Professor Sprout gave them an unusual amount of homework. After lunch the defense class was much the same. They learned the leg-locker curse and the tickling curse, and had to write an essay on their experience with casting the curse; due next day! It didn't require Hermione's intellect to realize that the teachers wanted to keep them busy for the time being.

Not that Harry and his friends had any problem with the amount of work; it was actually welcome. Needing only a bit over three hours of rest each day at the utmost, less during certain moon phases, and none at all during full moon, they were usually looking for things to keep them occupied. True, there was a lot to learn but Harry wasn't the only one that wasn't fully motivated to learn only for learning sake.

The ray of light during the day was Professor Quirrell's assurance that their Heads of House had agreed to let them spend the nights studying together if they didn't make it too obvious and did actually sleep in their dorms. When they met in their hideaway after classes everyone was really excited, and they didn't get much done beyond a timetable for the day.

So they left for an early dinner and then retreated to the library to do their homework. Once done they went to their dorm and went to bed early. It was timed well enough, and all of them were awake and rested before curfew. And by the time curfew came, they were already hidden away from nosy Prefects, caretakers, cats, ghosts, and anything else that could get them into trouble.

They spend the first few hours dancing while going over the customs and traditions of the Wizarding World once more; Hermione and Harry knew most of them by now, but they weren't natural to them yet, and as the night proved would still confuse some details when distracted. At least the dancing was coming along well, and Harry finally felt comfortable in the knowledge that he had become a skilled dancer; at least skilled enough not to embarrass himself in public. Silently he wondered when he would first be invited to an official event, and hoped that they'd wait for at least another few years, even though he suspected that the invitations would start piling up once he had a new guardian.

"Well, I'm done for the moment," Harry said, as he dropped on the couch, Padma sitting down next to him.

"Exhausted already?" Tracy asked with a grin.

Harry looked at her and then smirked, "I doubt I'm the only one; you don't look too fresh either."

"None of us is," Padma said as she let her head drop onto Harry's shoulder. "How long have we been at it? Four hours?"

"Bit over five," Hermione said, trying to catch her breath, as she let Susan to the couches. "And I know I'm almost done for."

"Well, at least we're warm for the moment," Parvati said. "I think we should shower and get fresh robes on before we cool down too much. It's icy, even with the fireplace roaring."

"Stupid castle," Hermione muttered.

"Stupid wizards and witches, you mean," Harry corrected her. "They could use magic to keep the cold out. It's not the castle's fault they don't."

"Yeah, they could at least keep it above freezing on the inside," Daphne said, rubbing her arms lightly; she and Tracy were the first to sit down.

"How about we try the sauna now?" Lisa asked.

"Good idea," Hermione said, and turned right around, and headed towards the bathroom. "Let's take a shower first to get off the sweat, and then get in. Come on."

"Let's go," Lisa agreed, as she pulled Harry and Padma to their feet.

"Yeah, a shower sounds nice," Padma agreed.

They walked to the bathroom, when Harry remembered that there was only a group shower, "Maybe I should wait for you to get done?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You'll see us naked in the sauna anyway, so what difference is there if we shower together or not? So come on!"

Harry didn't know what it was, but something was different this time from all the other times they had been together while nude. Somehow the whole situation was strange, unknown; he didn't really know how to describe it. They threw their cloths down the chutes to wherever the house-elves cleaned them, and got under the shower.

It was a much more interesting experience than Harry had believed; then again he had never showered with friends before. The Gryffindor boys would at most qualify as casual acquiesces. Helping Hermione with her hair, and washing her back seemed to please him on a level he didn't really understand. All he knew was that he'd never hesitate to help any of the girls in the future, and he decided not to worry about it for the moment. After they were done soaping one another they dried each other in the showers (since they were much warmer than the other rooms), before they picked up some dry towels and ran to the sauna.

Harry decided on the way there through the cold room that they would need to talk with the house-elves to see if there was a way to keep their apartment warm during winter. Or at least not icy cold.

Once in the sauna Hermione instructed them in how muggles used one. Even while it was probably not necessary for them to sit on towels to prevent their sweat from soaking into the wood because of the spells protecting the benches, probably protecting them, Harry corrected mentally, they found it more comfortable to sit on them than on the hot wood.

"So, what are we supposed to do, while we sit here?" Parvati asked.

"Just what we'd do normally," Hermione said. "Talking."

"So anything we haven't talked about tonight?" Susan asked as she stretched.

"Not really," Lisa said with a smirk.

"So what do we talk about?" Harry asked.

After a moment Tracy said, "You were thinking, Su?"

All eyes went to the Asiatic girl, who had already been flushed, and now turned red all over. "Nothing," she squealed.

"Doesn't look like nothing," Susan commented.

"Yeah, it does look a lot like someone had naughty thoughts," Parvati agreed.

"Come on, Su. You can tell us," Padma encouraged her.

"Whatever it was, we won't hold it against you," Lisa agreed with her housemate.

"Yeah, we're all best friends here. No need for secrets," Tracy said, while her housemate Daphne merely raised an eyebrow.

Su seemed to struggle for a moment, but then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I was merely wondering. I mean I've seen it, but I've never really seen it, you know?"

That statement was met with silence; after a few seconds Parvati shook her head, "No, I don't. I think you missed something important in your explanation."

The ethnic Chinese girl blushed furiously, "You know; it!"

The others frowned until Hermione suddenly said, "Oh, I get it!" Then she flushed, too, though it was limited to her face.

"So, what is it?" Harry asked, for some reason uncertain he wanted to know the answer.

Hermione took several deep and calming breaths, "I believe what Su meant was that while we have seen each other nude before, we never really had a chance to look, to explore." Despite the fact that she managed to keep her voice even and calm, she couldn't prevent her face from flushing badly. It was nothing compared to Su Li, who had turned bright red all over. The others had blushed to some degree, though none as badly as Su.

"Now I think that is a bad idea," Sally-Ann said.

"I don't know," Parvati said. "I agree with Su; we never really had a chance to look. This is the prefect opportunity."

"Have your parents not explained it to you?" Sally-Ann asked, she sounded unusually aggressive, almost angry.

"Yes they have," Padma said. "But I don't see how this would be a problem."

"I think we have to be more precise about what 'it' our parents told us about," Daphne interrupted. "We have seen some significant differences in some other traditions, like preferred dances and such before. I believe we may have encountered such a situation; or at least a large difference in details." She shook her head, "Forget that, we have encountered such a situation, since I don't see anything that could be problematic."

"Nothing that could be problematic!" Sally-Ann barked angrily, her voice shaking in fury, as she stood up.

"Calm down!" Harry bellowed. He didn't know why he did it, but the effect was immediate; Sally-Ann looked at him and blinked, apparently confused, before she dropped back onto her towel. "Now, I think we have encountered some traditions that we haven't covered before. Daphne, why don't you tell us about it?" Harry asked calmly.

Daphne nodded. "I don't know what the muggle world is like, but in the Wizarding World there are certain… well, I used to call them rituals, but they aren't really rituals. At least nothing like the rituals we have performed. Not from what mother said, at least," the Slytherin explained. "Anyway, the Wizarding World has a nudity taboo, as you already know. Or at least some kind of taboo, since Quirrell said that the spell he used was traditionally used by masters." She shook her head, "Let's think about that later. The issue is that there are strict limits as to when you should be nude with a member of the other gender; the taboo would cover both the shower and this session in the sauna though, so I don't see any problem with Su's idea; an idea I think most of us have at least considered in passing."

"I believe Sally-Ann is more concerned about looking leading to more; the whole purity issues," Megan said.

"I'm sorry, but I can't see things going that far," Lisa said decisively, shaking her head all the while.

"What exactly are the purity issues?" Hermione asked.

"As you know wizards and witches sometimes have squib children," Daphne said. "In some circles people believe that if you follow a certain set of traditions called 'The Purity Ritual' the chance of having children with magical power is vastly increased." She shrugged, "My family doesn't believe in them, so I don't know all the details. Got a summary of what it's about because many other families believe in it, though, so that I'd know what they are talking about. It has something to do with a potion brewed with the blood of the monthly bleeding consumed right before the first penetration, followed twelve hours later by a second potion prepared with a mixture of blood from the hymn, vaginal fluid, and the husband's ejaculation; short the whole mess of the first penetration. Mothers doesn't believe it and says that according to the numbers she could find there is no difference. But as I said, I can't see how that could cause problems in this situation."

"I haven't even heard of that," Su said. "I don't think my parents even know about that tradition."

"Sally-Ann?" Hermione prompted.

"I have not heard of that ritual either," she said quietly. "Nor do I believe Megan was referring to that particular ritual. The purity of body and mind is a concept mother has told me about many times; it specifically prohibits what Su was suggesting."

"My mother told me about the same thing," Megan said wryly. "But after the rituals and now today, I'm pretty sure that I no longer qualify for purity of mind, nor do I think Sally-Ann does." Said girl wanted to say something, but Megan waved her off. "I've seen you look at Harry during the shower, you wouldn't have unless you had thought about it. No purity left in mind, as the concept is absolute. No thinking about the other gender sexually at all."

"And as the concept as we learned them does make no distinction between mind and body, once you've thought about it, you no longer qualify and are free to do what you wish," Hannah added.

Sally-Ann frowned, "That is what I was talking about; but what about puers corpus?"

The others frowned at that until Lisa said, "The only spell that I've heard about is Putus Corpus, and it is limited to detect whether or not there has been penetration."

"Penetration by the other gender," Hermione corrected. As the other looked at her she shrugged, "I've stumbled across the spell by chance. You know I read everything I get my hands on."

"Who has to worry about that spell?" Daphne asked. "I doubt my parents would care, as long as I was discreet." Now everyone was looking at her. "Hey, I have a good relation with my mother. She specifically said to have fun and to not get pregnant; I doubt she thought I would do anything this early, but who knows. Grandmother always said that mother was wild during her time at Hogwarts."

"Well my mother didn't say anything one way or another," Hannah said. "But we do know that she and her twin were active during their time at Hogwarts and switched around much like Padma and Parvati do now."

"And we've overheard them talking one evening when they talked about previous lovers," Megan continued. "They certainly weren't virgins when they married. And I think they may still switch from time to time." Hannah nodded in agreement.

"So does virginity have any specific magical importance?" Hermione asked.

"No," Lisa said. "It may be relevant in marriage contracts or some other traditions that include magic, but I have not heard of any inherent magical significance."

"I wouldn't be so certain," Padma said. "Ritual Magic has been almost forgotten, so there may be some significance there. And I think I've read something about the importance in certain sex magic rituals, I can't recall the context though."

"Sex magic?" Daphne asked.

Padma shrugged, "It's an Indian thing, I think. Sex magic and practices have a much more important status in India than here."

"So you are saying?" Lisa asked.

"Oh, I'd say that everything goes short of loosing our virginity, or breaking the hymn; chances are we could gain a lot if we do it in some form of ritual."

"Do you know where we can find more information about that? Somehow I don't think there's anything on sex magic in the library."

"Ask Quirrell?" Parvati asked. The others starred at her, and she simply shrugged, "Hey, he is the one teaching us how to do rituals. We are talking about loosing our virginity in a ritual. It seems logic."

"And who's going to ask?" Daphne asked with a smirk. "Won't be me, I tell you."

"Well, Harry, of course," Parvati said, as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Me?" Harry cried in a high pitched voice filled with desperation. "Why me?"

"You're a guy," Parvati said simply. "Besides, if we do it, you'll be the one who gets eleven virgins."

"And a lot more if we add some of the girls that have crushed on you," Padma said; all girls giggled in response to that statement, and Harry's groan as he buried his face in his hands.

"Come on Harry, you'll ask, and we'll reward you," Hermione said.

"Reward?" Harry asked with a shaking voice. "Do I want to know?"

"Sure you do," Parvati said. "Don't tell me you aren't the slightest bit interested in our bodies. Wouldn't you like to study them? In detail?"

"Oh, and I think we can make you fell good, too," Padma said. "Those books on sex magic did include a lot of things that can be done without actually having sex."

"Uhm, do you really think we should do that?" Sally-Ann asked.

"Well, it is against school rules," Hermione said. "Then again, no school can officially condone sex between students." After a moment and a look towards the Patil twins, she added, "At least not in Britain. I don't know about other cultures."

"Isn't that a big reason not to talk with Quirrell?" Harry asked hopefully.

Hermione shook her head, "Actually if we did the ritual during class it would be perfectly legal."

"Yeah, so all you need to tell him is that if he has a ritual like that we'd be willing to do it," Parvati said with a smile.

"You seem to be very eager," Harry observed, trying to stall for time to come up with some reason not to do it.

Parvati shrugged, "Padma and I've pleased each other for years."

Harry frowned suddenly, and then snipped his fingers, "Tinky!"

With a pop the house-elf appeared. "Lord Heir calls Tinky?"

"Yes, Tinky; you created this room, right? The spells creating heat aside, what other spells or other effects are in place?"

Tinky frowned and looked around, snipping her finger several times. "Only spell Lady Heir wishes; Tinky thinks spell lowers inhibitions of wizards and witches and makes them be more open."

"Thank you Tinky," Harry said. The House-elf smiled brightly at him before popping away. "Hermione?"

The young witch blushed, "I wanted the sauna to be a place where we could be open about anything; I didn't think the elves would actually place a spell on it."

"It does explain the unusual openness and forwardness of the discussion," Daphne said dryly. "But did it do anything that wouldn't have happened otherwise within the next month?"

"We'll never know," Parvati said. "But I don't really care; the spell didn't change how we think, it just made us more likely to share it with others. It was getting annoying to spend next to no time with Pad pleasuring one another."

"So you two masturbate together?" Hermione asked.

"Masturbate?" Padma asked.

"To masturbate means to pleasure yourself or sometimes pleasure another with your hands only," Hermione said.

Padma nodded, "Yeah, we do that. And sometimes more." She flushed as she realized what she'd admitted to.

"Perhaps we should take this somewhere without spell," Harry offered.

"No," Parvati said at once. "We'll finish this conversation first. I think it's a good thing to have it now."

"It seems there are several different issues," Tracy said. "One: Harry is to ask Quirrell about the ritual. Two: Everyone here is interested in the other gender and how they are different. Three: Most of us enjoy pleasuring ourselves, and usually do so when alone; our room here offers the perfect place to do it and explore further as we wish, if we agree to not hide it. Anything I forgot?"

"No, I think you brought it down to the important issues," Padma said, while her twin and Hermione nodded.

"Good. Point one. Anyone opposed?" Tracy asked. "So be it. Two, anyone opposed?" Again nobody said a thing. "So be it. And three?"

"Would we have to?" Sally-Ann asked.

"Of course not," Tracy said. "Though I doubt you'll mind after you tried it."

Sally-Ann blushed, "Do all of you do it? Am I the only one that doesn't?"

"Well, I don't," Harry said.

"We've done some experimentation before Hogwarts, but nothing since we came here," Hannah said for herself and Megan.

"I haven't either," Su said.

"Me neither," Susan added.

"I've first done it after Harry's first ritual," Daphne said. "After seeing him nude, I did some experimentation. Done it a couple times since."

"Well, you know that Pad and I help out one another; feels lot better than doing it alone, too. Though lately we aren't doing it nearly often enough."

"I've actually done it the first time after Sally-Ann's ritual. I don't know what it was, but the way she moved during the ritual was somehow hypnotic. Only time so far," Tracy said.

"I did it after the ritual that took care of my skin problems," Lisa said. "It was painful as anything I've ever done, but I felt strange afterwards, and did some experimenting once I was alone; only found a chance to do it a couple more times."

"Well, most of my knowledge is from books," Hermione said. "I've done it only once, at home." Hermione flushed badly. "Apparently I wasn't very quiet. Mum sat me down and explained everything to me, and gave me some basic books. I haven't done it since then because I was afraid of being noticed."

"Well, now that we have admitted that, we need to decide what to do." Parvati said with a bright smile. "I'd say we show Harry what girls look like, and then study him in detail. Everyone agreed?"

"I think we should do it in the bedroom," Hermione said. "Let's take a quick shower and then we can play." She shuddered. "It's been too long."

---

Harry didn't know if whether he should be thankful when the new day dawned or not. The night had been… educational. And fun. It was… addictive was the only word he could find. As such he was in really good mood when they headed for breakfast.

The mood didn't last long. Stares were less common than the day before, until The Daily Prophet arrived. The paper was truly thriving on the endless scandal surrounding the boy who lived. It also carried the summaries of the first few minor trials that were held because of various charges related to Harry's upbringing and the failure to read his parent's will, and the execution of the goblin handling the Potter estate. As if that wasn't enough the paper was once again several times the usual size and this time they had dedicated it to his life with the Dursleys. Page after page of speculations of just what might have happened inside of Number 4 Privet Drive. There were dozens of interviews with neighbors, schoolmates, and teachers. The only thing that was halfway amusing was the difference of what they said before and after the reporter had informed them of the impeding child abuse trial.

Even the girls didn't stay out of the limelight this time. As a follow on to the report about the ritual reporters had interviewed their families and carried a multi-page report with lots of background information on all of them. Harry felt furious.

"They could at least have used a better picture," Daphne grumbled, ripping him out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"Oh, the picture. Can't believe my parents would give them such a bad picture of me."

"Maybe they did it so that not everybody would recognize you?" Harry asked. "Being recognized by everyone is no fun."

"It's not as if any of our families are unknown," Tracy replied. "You tell them our family name, and every pureblood knows where we are living."

"I can remember my first time in Diagon Alley," Harry said. "We entered the Leaky Cauldron from the muggle side, and someone spotted my scare and everyone there crowded around us and tried to shake my hand, talk with me, or whatever. If you can't be recognized easily from the picture you may escape that."

Daphne shrugged, "I'm eleven, going to be twelve; I won't go to Diagon Alley alone to shop for years. I honestly don't think my parents considered that, no matter how well it explains the situation. I'd prefer if that picture had never been made, and I'm certainly not enjoying everyone seeing it.

Harry just shrugged in response; while it wasn't a good picture, he didn't see any problem with it. By then breakfast was almost over and they had to hurry to reach class in time. The history class did nothing to improve Harry's mood, or lessen his dread; the second class that day was Defense against the Dark Arts, and that meant he would have to talk with Quirrell about the ritual. He couldn't think of anything that would be more embarrassing.

The Defense lesson itself passed quickly, though Harry couldn't remember anything of it, and most of the students left the class right after Quirrell dismissed them, heading down to the Great Hall for lunch. Hermione, Parvati, Padma, Lisa, and Su waited at the door, while Harry approached the Professor.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Potter?" Professor Quirrell asked, changing from his normal classroom tone to the somewhat less formal façade he presented during Arcane Arts classes.

"Well, you see Professor, we were all together last night and talked, and well, that's to say…"

Professor Quirrell smirked as his eyes seemed to glow with some internal light for a moment, before they returned to normal, "I see. Let me guess; you wanted to say that you discovered the pleasures of flesh last night, and have decided to, ehm, get rid of your virginity in a ritual, before you loose it playing around. Am I close?"

Harry was bright red as he nodded, looking panicked at the professor.

"Calm down, Mr. Potter," Quirrell sad with a sigh. "There is no reason to panic." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "I won't mention your activities, or our conversation to anyone, I can assure you of that. I do however not have any knowledge of sex magic myself, not of rituals based on sex magic. I only know of a few rituals that involve virginity, each of them is not merely Dark Magic, but evil. As such there is at least some magical significance in taking virginity by force, or ending the life of people before they can loose it. I'm not sure there is…" He abruptly rushed into his office and opened a hidden door. With a wave of his wand a book flew into his hand. He leaved through it, looking for something, mumbling under his breath. After four minutes, he looked up, "Well, this isn't an evil ritual, but still very dark. Let me check it out." He grabbed a sheet of parchment and began taking notes for almost ten minutes, before he looked up, "If the notations of this ritual are correct, there is no ritual you would wish to use."

"If?" Harry asked.

Professor Quirrell shrugged, "Unlike the impression you may have gotten so far, there is little we actually know about rituals. We know of the significance of certain events, conditions, and actions, because others before us have stumbled across them, or done very dangerous research work to find the magical properties of an action or condition. Some were very precise as to the exact properties, others were very vague, suggesting that the inventor either tried something random and succeeded, or that someone other than the inventor noted down his observations of a ritual. There are very few people who actually research rituals and understand them, most people treat them like potions; they blindly follow the receipt they are given without even trying to understand it. Much like we do in class, only that they've only the notes in a book or on some scroll to use, instead of someone walking them through it."

"Will we learn how to understand ritual?" Hermione asked; sometime while Quirrell had taken notes the girls had entered the office, too. Harry noted that the Hufflepuff and Slytherins had also joined them at some point.

"Not this year, Ms. Granger. I know you are learning Runes and Arithmancy already, but to understand rituals you need understand both to such a degree that you could get full marks in your NEWTs without any preparation. I believe you will reach this level sometime in your fourth or fifth year, at least if you continue working as hard as you did. You will also need a much greater understanding of Potions. I will therefore not waste any time trying to explain it to you. You will benefit far more if you simply perform them for now, and start studying them once you have a firm grounding in magical theories."

"But…"

"No, Ms. Granger, that is my last word on that. It is sufficient for most circumstances to simply perform rituals without any modification. And as you see, even my enormous knowledge of rituals doesn't make a difference when it comes to new situations. And the act you were considering does not really lend itself to experimentation."

"What about sex magic?" Padma asked, blushing as she used the words in from of a teacher.

"As far as I know sex magic draws its power from the circle of life. Life energy is not to be confused with light or good magic, as it feeds some of the most vile magic known. I know that the act of impregnation and of giving birth are very significant in the circle of life, and that they are central to most sex magic rituals. Circle of life, that may… let me think for a moment. Ah, yes. The act of loosing virginity would represent the transition from child to parent if I remember the book correctly, or more general the transition from childhood to adulthood. Now a child would be under the protection of its parents, so loosing virginity would lift them out of the protection from their parents; so there should be something based on that. I believe impregnation is prejudiced towards protective wards, to keep mother and child safe, so taking virginity may be prejudiced towards destroying wards, as it signifies the end of need for the protections."

Quirrell shook his head, "No, that appears what taking virginity by force does. There should be a difference; consent usually makes a vast difference in ritual magic; in all magic really." He closed the book and returned it to wherever it came from. "As you can see, I do not have all the answers. If you find a ritual for it, it would probably be best to do it like written. Given my classes and the current situation, I don't have the time to spare to study either sex magic in general or possible rituals in particular; not that I would ever do so with a student under seventeen. If you find something and want me to help, I will, but I would prefer if we could leave it like this. Your parents or guardians might be less understanding if I were somehow involved. And I'd like to avoid that complication. Now if you can wait six years and all of you are of age, that'd be very different."

"I believe we will try alone then," Harry said.

Professor Quirrell nodded, "When you find something, you might want to check what stages of physical development are covered. That's the only possible complication I can think of at the moment."

"Thank you, Professor," Padma and Parvati chorused and they all headed towards the Great Hall; Harry was really glad that the conversation was over.

Meanwhile Voldemort went over the conversation again, and wondered why he had acted the way he did; once again he didn't find an answer. But it hardly mattered. Unless something changed dramatically Dumbledore would be gone in a few days, and he could get the Philosophers Stone whenever he wanted.

---

After lunch they had Charms; until now Harry had thought that Professor Quirrell had just wanted to get some of the more basic stuff done, but Professor Flitwick did also proceed faster than usual; usually they only worked through a single charm a lesson, but this time he had them learn two; the only one beside their Arcane Arts group that managed it was Terry Boots, though. It was slowly becoming obvious just how much more they practiced, as Terry barely managed the second charm, while none of them had to even struggle. Even with all the other stuff they were doing, five extra hours a day meant ample time for everything. The fact that many students had problems with the normal class load and more than struggled with the accelerated pace didn't stop Professor Flitwick from burying them with homework. They had to write an essay of at least a foot each on both charms, as well as three others, due next week. The teachers were apparently determined to leave them no free time for the time being.

After class they headed to the library and worked through their assignments. Thankfully Madam Pince was doing some research on her own, so they could stay and work in the library until it was time for Astronomy. To Harry's great surprise they actually managed to finish all five essays for Charms, the essay on muggle witch burnings for History of Magic, and the essay for Defense against the Dark Arts that Harry had completely missed. It was quite embarrassing to admit that he hadn't heard a word of that lesson, but after a good (if quite, since they were in the library) laugh, the witches filled him in on what he had missed. They even had enough time to practice the charms they had been assigned, before they headed to the Astronomy tower. Only on their way there did their stomachs remind them that they had worked through dinner, and needed some sustenance.

Astronomy was the worst class in Harry's opinion; not because of anything about the class actually. Professor Sinistra was very competent and a good teacher and she knew as much as any witch. But that was pretty much the problem. Wizards, being limited to ground-based optical telescopes improved by magic had discovered some planets and moons before muggles, but fallen far behind them by now. To make matters even more complicate for them, wizards had given the few moons they knew off different names than the rest of the world used. Normally that wouldn't have been a problem for Harry, but Hermione had already studied the muggle books before she knew she was a witch, and she had tutored Harry during their first few weeks at Hogwarts; only then had they realized that wizards actually not only knew less about the topic, but actually had given the moons different names. So not only did they have to remember which moons the Wizarding World knew about, but they also needed to remember by which name. It would have been easier to simply forget the muggle knowledge, but both Harry and Hermione agreed that they wouldn't unlearn anything just because the Wizarding World was too stupid to learn from muggles. The other girls had been skeptical at the beginning, but had been persuaded by the sheer amount of detailed information – even if they hadn't heard of meters (and derived measurements) before.

So they spend the hours observing all ten moons of Saturn (even if there were at least eighteen), and learning what Wizards thought about the solar system, and the stars in general. At least it was better than hearing tales of curious wizards apparating to the moon only to be never heard of again; of course everyone thought they simply hadn't enough power to apparate the whole way, extreme temperature and lack of breathable air or atmospheric pressure were things not even considered, since wizards completely lacked the scientific basics needed to reach such a conclusion.

The most annoying part about it was that they didn't realize that they'd fallen behind muggles; since the Wizarding World had no organized star watching and relied on individual observers with their personal telescopes, they didn't even consider that the muggle telescopes sometimes acquired were not the limit of muggle technology, but merely toys for home astronomers. Harry and Hermione assumed that most other muggleborn or raised found this amusing, since there was no way that all muggleborn had been completely ignorant of the Space Race or the Moon Landing.

When the class ended early morning (it was nearly three am), Harry and company were more than ready for sleep; it was actually the first time since the ritual that he was dead tired when he went to bed. Even so they were among the first at breakfast the next morning. Harry wasn't looking forward to the arrival of the post owls, and therefore The Daily Prophet, but even he was surprised when it arrived.

Apparently the school board had decided that enough was enough and had removed Dumbledore from his office as Headmaster the day before. According to the paper the position would remain vacant until the winter holidays, when Professor McGonagall would become Headmistress of Hogwarts for the remainder of the year. Any permanent decision would be delayed until the summer holidays.

The group just shared a quick look, before they finished breakfast and disappeared back to their little hole; none of them was looking forward to be among their (supposed) peers when they received the news. It would be better to let things settle a bit.

"Well, I didn't expect that," Harry said, as he dropped on the couch, as the girls took their seats.

"Given the pressure that resulted from the latest failings, it's not that much of a surprise," Hermione said. "In the muggle world he'd already be gone a long time ago."

"Yeah, but you miss just how powerful he was," Tracy said. "He has been the most important wizard for nearly fifty years. Before the whole stories about Harry broke, he was the most influential and powerful wizard in Britain. He has had an important role in bringing up children for even longer than that."

"Still, it's good that he's gone," Daphne said. "We'll see if McGonagall is up to replace him."

"Well, let's forget about that for a while," Harry said. "I doubt it will cause a change for us one way or another. Where do we stand? I mean, after what we did… what exactly are we?"

"I'd think that's obvious," Susan said. "You're our boyfriend, and we're your girlfriends." Then she giggled.

Harry rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I think I understood that, but what does it mean?"

"It doesn't change a thing," Daphne said. "We're best friends. We share everything, we don't lie to one another, and all that." She held her hand out, palm down.

Tracy's eyebrow arched, but then she nodded and placed her hand above Daphne's, "Best friends."

One by one the others joined. After Susan as the last had placed her right hand on the other hands, Daphne spoke again, "Best friends forever forth, shall no secret or lie come between us. As we are many, we are one; so we declare, so mote it be!"

As Daphne finished a white glow encompassed their bodies and a blinding bright light emitted from their hands, as a feeling of warmness and delight flooded through them.

It took only a minute or so for the feeling to recede. "What happened?" Harry asked.

"It was an old oath Daphne and I found in one of the books we got from the restricted section," Tracy said. "It only works if all participants agree with the words of the oath leader, Daphne in our case. It used to be quite popular, but after some rather far reaching oaths by some halfwit children the knowledge was restricted, and over the centuries it's been almost forgotten."

"So what exactly are the consequences of this oath?" Hermione asked.

Daphne shrugged, "I'm not certain. We'll probably not be able to lie to one another again. And we'll probably not be able to end our friendship, ever, regardless what happens."

"Well, I like that. I couldn't imagine a life without all of you anyway," Harry said with a smile, and was rewarded with bright smiles from all girls. "So, not to dampen the mood, but are we going to keep doing stuff?"

"Sure we are," Parvati said.

"At least if you want; you want, don't you?" Padma asked.

Harry nodded, "Yeah, but… well. Oh forget it, yeah I do want to continue."

"So are we together, or do we share with others?" Hermione asked. At the blank looks she explained, "I mean, are we going to only do it with one another, or are we going to fool around with others, too."

"I don't think that's recommendable," Sally-Ann said slowly. "I don't know what it's like in the muggle world, but it is not really acceptable in the Wizarding World; if word got out…"

Most of the other purebloods nodded at that, even the Patil twins. "Yeah, it's better if we keep it inside these rooms, too, I think," Parvati said.

"I think we should keep anything that might be seen as inappropriate in these chambers," Daphne said. "If there was even a hint of inappropriate behavior on our side the teachers would take a lot more interest in what we do in our spare time. And I would be most disappointed if our time together would be cut short." Some of the others agreed fiercely.

"That reminds me. We did jump right in the last time, and there wasn't any kissing; I want to try that!" Susan demanded.

"Oh, there was some kissing," Parvati corrected. "But you're right; kissing can be a lot of fun."

"Well, we don't have enough time to really have fun at the moment," Lisa said. "I don't want to be late for Charms."

"Yeah, and there are some other things we need to talk about," Harry said. "Like Quirrell? I mean, what he said about those rituals."

"What is there to talk about?" Hermione asked. "We'll need to wait until Christmas holidays; Padma and Parvati can then look up possible rituals in their family library. And maybe others can, too." She frowned, and turned to Harry, "Is there a Potter library?"

Harry frowned himself, and then walked over to the shelve he kept all the documents Gringotts and the Ministry had send him. Shifting through the papers for a moment, he found what he was looking for, "Looks like it is currently stored at Gringotts, in the family vault. There isn't a list of books included, not even a count."

"Oh, that's normal," Su said. "Libraries are spelled to disappear from their current location to the family vault whenever they are threatened. Your house was burning, which would be a threat to the library, so the books relocated to the vault. Depending on the power of the spells, it's possible that every book in the house was taken along. The goblins wouldn't know how many books there are, their documents would just show that the library has entered the vault."

"Couldn't that be used to penetrate the security of Gringotts?" Hermione asked.

Tracy shook her head, "Nope. The transportation spell that allows the library to enter can not transport living matter, actually it can't even transport matter, but it only transmits the magical essence of the library; this essence then calls all the books that are linked to it. The spells are sufficiently complicate that they can only be attached to books, and not even all books qualify. That's the reason many families keep certain magical books in their vault unless they really need them. The magic inherent in the books prevents them from being linked into the library."

"And here I thought I had by now learned the important bits," Harry sighed as he slumped onto the couch.

"Hey, you are doing well," Hannah said. "You have only known about this world for less than four months. We have been brought up with these things all our life. And even I didn't know that."

"Well, looks like we have something to tease our parents with," Megan said. "Our mothers put us through what they named comprehensive training in the months before we left for Hogwarts to make sure we knew everything we might come to need. God how I hated those spells."

"And now we've found a hole in the knowledge that embarrassed us," Hannah agreed, smirking at Megan; it was the first time Harry had seen her smirk. Megan responded in kind.

"Spells?" Hermione asked.

"As you might have realized we know more about the Wizarding World than you likely know about the muggle world. There are certain spells that can be used to teach things faster than normal, while allowing the recipient to understand things she normally wouldn't. The downside is that any emotional attachment to the information is taught, too. You remember when Sally-Ann was going on about 'it'? It's probably because her mother was either reluctant to talk with her about it, or firmly believed that it shouldn't be talked about in mixed company. Auntie Amelia always used some calming charms and a few other charms on herself before she used the spell to minimize the emotions transferred. Mr. Malfoy probably used the spell to teach his son to hate muggles; that's the reason the spell was invented in the first place, to have heirs follow the family traditions," Susan explained.

"I guess that's why they aren't used in school then?" Hermione half stated.

"Not really," Megan said. "It's extremely difficult to cast on anyone but your child, and according to mother only the most powerful witches could maintain more than two links at a time; wizards, for some reason can only maintain one link, unless they have lots of magic." As Hermione started to frown, Megan continued, "The spell also requires complete acceptance from the recipient, so it's very hard to abuse. The worst part is that it causes really bad headaches if used for more than ten minutes a week; headaches that can't be cured by potions or charms and will last a full week. More than twenty minutes a day or forty a week will knock you out for a couple hours and cause you to forget everything you have received through the spell in the last two months."

"That's why the spell isn't used to teach most things," Hannah continued. "It's just used to teach some of the more complicated concepts, usually. Or those that you don't want to talk about, which is really bad, as it passes that attitude along."

Harry just nodded his understanding, and then asked, "Are you certain that it wouldn't just make them put you through even more training?"

Hannah and Megan shared a glance and shuddered. "Now that's a horrible thought," Hannah muttered quietly.

"Don't you think they'd be more amused?" Susan asked. "I mean Auntie Amelia has trained me, too, but I think she'd be more amused that we spend time talking about such obscure issues."

Megan shrugged, "You're probably right; but they might consider hard training amusing."

"Oh come on," Tracy muttered. "There is only so much to learn. And once we've gone through with the rituals over the winter holidays it won't be a problem, unless your parents also performed rituals."

"Well, according to Hogwarts: A History the last rituals at Hogwarts were performed in the nineteen twenties," Hermione said.

"I guess we now have our own chapter in that book," Harry said, and chuckled at the look of absolute delight on Hermione's face. The other girls joined him almost at once.

Hermione flushed, "What? I like the idea."

Suddenly Su interrupted, "It's time; actually it's past time." Eyes widened as everyone looked at their watch, before they scrambled to get their bag and hustled to their classes.

They reached the Charms classroom just as Professor Flitwick entered. Flitwick nodded and gave them a smile, "Now everyone here, good." He smiled at them. "You all have had time to study the theory on our last two spells, and the three others. I expect everyone to be able to cast them at the end of the lesson. Those who don't manage will demonstrate a few other spells at the beginning of the next lesson." Most of the students groaned at that threat. "If you think that is bad, you should see what some of the upper years are doing," Flitwick said. "I can assure you they have a lot more work to do than you."

Harry only smirked; Since Hufflepuff/Slytherin lessons were earlier in the week, they already knew what was coming, and all six of them performed four (Hermione and Su all five) spells perfectly right at the start of class, and managed to just finish the essays before end of class.

Flitwick only nodded at them and looked satisfied, when they handed in the essays and demonstrated the charms. "Well done. I suppose we should have expected that you would handle the extra work without problem. Oh well, I will inform Professor Quirrell and see that he gives you some extra work."

"Why? Parvati asked indignantly.

Professor Flitwick looked at her with an unreadable expression, "These are trying times for Hogwarts, Ms. Patil. It is our obligation as your teachers to ensure that you are able to learn without distractions. The current situation with Professor Dumbledore is something that distracts many students from their class work. As such we have decided to increase the work load of all students to keep their minds of productive things." He looked at them thoughtfully, "You may not need that, but it would not do to single you out by allowing you to be the only students not overwhelmed by school work."

Harry chuckled slightly, "Professor, I seriously doubt any amount of work would overwhelm Hermione!"

Flitwick looked at them and then smiled benignly, "I have to agree, Mr. Potter. Ms. Granger is rather unique in that regard. She rather reminds me of two other brilliant students I taught not to long ago, your mother and Narcissa Black. They both thrived in their competition for the highest grades; I do hope that someone will be able to challenge Ms. Granger in the same way."

"We'll do our best, Professor," Lisa assured her Head of House. "But the amount of time she spends with books is truly frightening." She gave a mock shiver.

'Oh you!" Hermione cried, as she cuffed Lisa on the shoulder.

"Now come on Hermione, we all know you were born with a book in your hands," Harry said soothingly.

Naturally in infuriated the bushy-haired girl only further; she sat out to berate Harry fiercely, but taking note of the giggles from the other girls and Professor Flitwick's smile, she settled for an indignant huff.

"Let's head down for lunch," Su said as the byplay had obviously ended.

"I don't think I want to eat in the Great Hall today; not after the papers."

"Kitchen it is," Padma agreed, and the sextet headed downstairs, and after finding the other half of their group, disappeared into the kitchen.

The afternoon brought the first Transfiguration lesson after the teachers decided to increase their workload, but thanks to the experience of their Ravenclaw and Slytherin friends, Harry and the six girls were prepared for the task Professor McGonagall set for them. Apparently the deputy Headmistress considered them special though, since she set them a much more difficult task; Harry wouldn't really have minded, if it had been something useful. On the other hand it was better than wasting three quarters of the lesson because they had finished the task set, while none of the others had.

Soon the lesson ended, and they would be free for the day. With a pile of homework, McGonagall dismissed the class, "Mr. Potter, if you would please stay behind."

Harry nodded curiously, and waited at her desk while she put the partially transfigured cups away. Hermione was staying with him, while the other five girls waited at the door.

When she was done, McGonagall looked around, saw the girls waiting, and smiled, "Good. Professor Flitwick reported that you were rather far ahead of your classmates and that giving you the same amount of homework would not have the same effect it was on your classmates. While I do not like to single you out, your performance is superior. Only a few Ravenclaws are close to your level of expertise, and few of them have anywhere near as much practice as you. The amount of time you spend on your own perfecting your casting really shows. Anyway, Professor Quirrell has volunteered to fill your extra time." She handed Harry an envelop. "I am certain he explained what he wishes you to study in sufficient detail, if not you are free to ask questions at dinner tonight." Her lips thinned slightly, as she regarded them. "I am well aware that the other students stare at you, Mr. Potter, but your disappearing act is not helping any. I know from my grandniece that you are answering your mail, but you need to appear to your peers at school outside of class, too. I am not saying that you should attempt to socialize with everyone, or even anyone beyond your current friends, but at least try to join the rest of school at the regular meals. It may be best to stay away from your common rooms until things have settled a bit, but do try to be seen at least sometimes outside of class."

Harry blinked and then nodded, "Yes, Professor."

She gave him another of her rare smiles, "Very good, Mr. Potter. I will see you at dinner, then." With a decisive nod, she left the room.

Harry and his friends slowly made their way to their new common room. After relating McGonagall's words to the rest, they opened the envelop. It only contained four words:

Master the Patronus Charm

Susan's eyes widened, "The Patronus Charm is a spell most Aurors do not manage," she said, her voice containing shock and amazement at the task set before them. "Auntie Amelia has tried to increase the number of people who can use it since the Dementors sided with V-Vo-Voldemort during the war. Maybe a third of the Aurors can cast the spell without Dementor present. Auntie thinks it would be less than a quarter if they were within range of a Dementor's aura."

"Dementor?" Harry asked.

Susan shrugged her shoulders, "I only know that Auntie Amelia considers them foul creatures."

"Dementors are the guardians of Azkaban," Hermione said. "They are surrounded by an aura that causes despair. It's assumed that they feed on happy thoughts."

"Assumed?" Harry asked, knowing the tone Hermione had used.

She shrugged, "If they were feeding on happy thoughts, wouldn't they be surrounded by an aura that brings forth happy thoughts, making it easier to feed on them? Instead they bring up your worst memories, according to the book I found. As such the case could be made that they feed on suffering or despair. Sure, the aura could be there simply for defensive purpose and have nothing at all to do with their dietary requirements, but it would be very counterproductive if they truly were to feed on positive thoughts, since hardly anyone would manage to think positive thoughts in their presence. And none of the descriptions I have found said anything about happy thoughts being ripped away, or draining away; it's always that the Dementors summon the worst memories."

"A good argument," Harry said. "We won't be able to prove it one way or another, though, so let's just concentrate on the Charm for now."

"I'm surprised it has nothing to do with Arcane Arts," Su said. "It seems to be an advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment."

"It probably is," Padma said. "I don't think he expected to be asked for something today."

"He could have given us something about the theory behind rituals," Hermione said.

"That would require us to learn more about Potions, Runes, and Arithmancy," Padma said. "Which in turn would mean that we'll be busy now, but rather bored in those subjects in the future."

"Maybe if we tell him that we want to take tests in Runes and Arithmancy without taking the classes," Harry suggested. "I mean, we should be able to learn what's needed on our own, right?"

"I don't know if that's possible," Tracy said. "At least I haven't heard anything about it."

"It is," Lisa said. "I've heard the current fifth year Prefect, Clearwater or something like that, mention that she plans to take OWLs in all twelve subjects, even though you can only take three electives, meaning ten subjects."

"So we would need to study two subjects on our own anyway?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, but Runes and Arithmancy are the only real electives," Padma said. "Divination is only useful for someone who has the gift, and the comments about Professor Trelawney are less than complementary, which is rare in Ravenclaw. Even Professor Snape was viewed upon as better teacher before his change. Then we have Muggle Studies, which according to a half-blood who took it for a few weeks is useless; something about being decades out of date, though I don't see why that would matter. And Care for Magical Creatures? Professor Kettleburn is regarded as a good teacher, but unless you like creatures and plan to work with them, the class is useless. It doesn't even cover how to correctly collect Potion ingredients from the creatures, let alone the respective properties. So it's really only useful if you want to work with creatures."

"I guess I can see the problem with Divination," Harry said. "And if the Muggle Studies stuff is really decades out of date, which is probably a low estimate, mind you, I can see that it is useless, too. And from what I've heard Creatures, along with Divination, are the courses you choose if you don't want a lot of work."

"Why low estimate?" Daphne asked. "And why would it matter?"

"You're kidding, right?" Hermione asked in disbelieve.

"Uhm, no?"

Hermione sighed. "Muggle society is changing a lot. It's not just culture or politics, but the very way society works that has gone through rather dramatic changes over the last few centuries. And that's what everyday life is concerned. If you look at science, there are huge changes each decade."

Harry nodded, "And as for why I think it's a low estimate, that's because of Astronomy, and the story about people trying to apparate to the moon."

"What about those?" Lisa asked. "I mean, it's pretty clear that the distance is quite large, too large for anyone to have sufficient power to apparate there directly. Maybe if you apparated in steps it would work."

Harry grimaced and shook his head. "It wouldn't make a difference. You would die before you could return home."

"Die? Susan asked in horror.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, while the mean temperature of the mean is slightly below the freezing point, the temperature is actually either very hot, or very cold. And I mean very! I think minus four hundred degrees or two hundred and sixty degrees. Those temperatures alone would kill quickly. Then there is the problem with the lack of breathable air. And the absence of air pressure. Either fatal on its own."

"Air pressure?" Lisa asked. "What is that?"

"And how do you know about that?" Padma asked.

"Or the temperatures?" Su added.

Hermione goggled at Lisa, so Harry took it upon himself to answer, "The easy answer is that muggles have been there, and had to find ways to survive in spite of the conditions."

"Muggles have been to the moon!?" Sally-Ann shrieked, disbelieve clearly audible.

"For twenty-two years, I believe," Hermione said. "Though it has been nearly twenty years since the last visit, because there is simply no reason to send humans there at the moment."

"Are you certain?" Sally-Ann asked, her voice sounding somewhat steadier.

"Without a doubt," Hermione said. "And I honestly can't understand how the Wizarding World could miss that. I'm sure it dominated muggle news for weeks, if not months." She shook her head.

"Hey," Harry suddenly exclaimed, startling the others. "How about we ask Quirrell to not give us extra work and instead study the muggle world? Or if he wants something that he can test us in, what about languages? It would be especially useful for defense, since we could learn spells from different countries; our opponents in a duel wouldn't be easily able to recognize the spells, since we would use incantations they don't know."

Su nodded, "I think languages would be a good idea. And then we could add schoolbooks from different countries to the library. It might be interesting to study the differences in school systems, anyway."

"It would certainly be a way to spend our time; but would it be a productive way to spend our time?" Hermione asked. "Would we really gain anything from studying the schoolbooks of other countries?" She looked at Harry, "I can see the use of some more advanced books in different languages, but I'm not certain about the basic ones."

"It would help us to understand the instructions," Parvati added. "And who knows what we might learn? I think we should at least attempt it with one other language; we can always change our approach later."

"That sounds like a plan," Daphne agreed. "But for now we should study the Patronus."

They looked at Harry's mini library. "I don't think we'll find anything here," Hermione said disappointed.

"We still have over an hour until dinner," Harry said. "We should find enough information before dinner to stay here afterwards."

That brought a smile to everyone's face. "Well, let's go. The sooner we're done, the more fun we can have today!" Hermione commanded.

Madam Pince quickly directed them to the correct shelve and they had soon found the charm. To their surprise the attention they got was less than they had feared (though still more than they were comfortable with); it was obvious that the attempt to distract all the students with extra work was succeeding. When they were eating dinner, once more on the Hufflepuff table, they were rather surprised when the Weasley twins joined them.

"Harry, mate."

"Where have you been?" Harry raised an eyebrow, but the twins looked only grimmer.

"Wood was not pleased that you were not at the training."

"And we promised not to come to the room without invitation.

"So we couldn't get you."

"I mean, as Seeker you don't need to train much with the rest of the team."

"But you must still be able to work with the beaters."

"Us."

"Or you will not play as well as you might otherwise."

"I mean Oliver is still impressed with what you demonstrated in training before the match against Slytherin."

"And our next match isn't until the end of February."

"So he won't get too annoyed if you miss a session."

"Especially with all the attention going your way at the moment."

"Yeah; we didn't really train anyway because half the school was there trying to gawk at you."

"But you should really tell him before."

"Or at least us."

Harry's eyes opened wider and wider during their speech, and his face contorted as though in pain. "Sorry, I can't believe I completely forgot about Quidditch!"

"I knew there was something we were forgetting," Lisa said.

Harry blinked and then starred at the others, "Did I really go book shopping and did not buy a single book on Quidditch?" He sounded like he couldn't believe what he did; which was what he was really feeling.

"You could always owl order," Hermione offered.

"I can't believe I didn't even look at the Quidditch books," was Harry's only reply, though it was doubtful that he had even heard her.

After snapping Harry back to reality by emptying a pitcher of water over his head, the twins told him, "Now that you're listening again, mate."

"Oliver is busy as hell at the moment, too."

"OWL year."

"And teachers going crazy with extra work only make that worse."

"So he has decided to be humane."

"And we won't have any more practice this term."

"He says he trusts us to keep in shape on our own."

"I seriously doubt that. Not the staying in shape bit, but that he trusts us. He just doesn't have the time for anything else."

"Very likely," his twin agreed, before turning back to Harry, "You'd better do some flying nonetheless."

"Yeah, it would be really bad if you loose some of your skill."

"You really have the making of a superb Seeker."

"Be a waste to ignore that."

"Yeah, you could probably play the league before you're done with Hogwarts."

"If you train enough."

Harry regarded them for a moment, "It sounds nice. I mean, I love flying, and I like Quidditch, but I'm not sure I want to be a professional Seeker." Then he looked down on his plate, "And with the rituals we are doing, it does feel like I'm cheating anyway."

Both twins shook their head, "You were bloody brilliant before you did any stupid ritual, Harry."

"Yeah, you really impressed us. And Oliver, too."

"That's no mean feat. Oliver is a real stickler for performance."

"You could have given Charlie a run for his money, and he was Seeker for years."

"And while I haven't heard of it, I wouldn't be surprised if most professional players did use rituals."

"Yeah, some of the things they do seem to be impossible to us; and we are pretty good."

"Even in our own humble opinion."

Harry nodded, "You're very good. Thanks guys. How did you like the books?"

The two regarded him seriously. "The animagus transformation is more complicated than we thought."

"But we hope to master it by the end of the year."

"As for the rest?"

"Let's just say that the Marauders were bloody brilliant."

They smirked at Harry in unison. "Everyone is getting really edgy around us since we haven't played a joke all week."

"We have studied what the Marauders did, but we have our pride."

"Meaning that we won't copy them, but give it our own touch."

"And that means we have to master what they did first."

"As long as you guys are happy," Harry said and gave them a smile.

"Sure are!" they said in unison.

"Well, I don't know about you, but we have lots of work to do," Harry said.

The twins nodded sagely, "We all do, mate. Just do not forget to have fun."

Harry smirked, "Oh, I'm sure I won't."

"Good. See you later." With that they took left and joined their classmates on the Gryffindor table.

Harry and the girls finished dinner quickly, and disappeared back into their room and practiced the Patronus for an hour, succeeding only in summoning some silvery mist. Deciding to take a break, the Gryffindors and Hufflepuff work on the Transfiguration homework; in spite of Professor McGonagall's intention, they do finish rather quickly.

"Maybe we should try something different," Hermione suggested, as they went back to the Patronus Charm.

"And what could we do differently, Mynee?" Lisa asked.

"Well, it says to remember some happy memory, what about creating one right before casting?"

"How do you suggest we do that?"

Hermione stood up and beckoned Lisa to her, who did so without obvious nervousness. Hermione then proceeded to give her the most sensual kiss Harry had ever seen. Lisa moaned in protest when Hermione pulled back, but Hermione didn't let that stop her. She quickly brought up her wand and cried, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" Instead of the usual small cloud of silvery mist there was now a much larger cloud, mostly silver but with golden and red patches. While the mist didn't have a defined form yet, it appeared as though it was a flying creature, with a long tail.

Everyone starred at the semi-formed creature for a few moments before it dissipated back into nothingness. "Wow," Hermione said happily. "It worked!"

"I don't think so," Su said. "It is supposed to be all silvery glowing. There wasn't supposed to be any gold or red in it."

"Well, it's supposed to be summoned with happy memories," Padma said. "While it was a happy memory, it was also filled with love and probably excitement."

"Well, I suppose there aren't many that have even tried something like this," Harry commented. "So maybe we have found a variation of the spell. If we can get a Corporal Patronus, maybe Professor Quirrell can somehow see if it is more or less powerful than the normal Patronus."

"Great idea," Parvati said, as she pulled him against herself and proceeded to kiss him senseless. He dimly felt her pull, and managed to moan in protest, before he heard her should the incantation and remembered why they were kissing in the first place. He slowly brought up his own wand, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" The creature that formed was clearly serpentine. And huge. According to the books the strength of a Patronus did not depend on its size, it merely assumed the size considered normal for the animal in question, and only in very rare occasions exceeded that size. His Patronus had to be nearly sixty feet long from the look of it. It was only then that he noticed that the Patronus wasn't glowing silver-white, or even silver-white with gold and red mixed in, it looked almost completely golden, with some red mixed in.

"Wow," Harry said, as he regarded his Patronus in awe. Only then he noticed that it wasn't fading like the mist had, or Hermione's indistinct form. He had actually succeeded in summoning a Corporeal Patronus!

"Merlin!" Daphne exclaimed loudly, drowning out similar remarks from the other girls. "What is Salazar Slytherin's name is that."

"A Basilisk," Lisa said in shock. "That's a Basilisk. The King of Serpents." Suddenly she squealed, "Oh, I hope my Patronus is a snake, too. Maybe a runespoor or a fire viper." She hugged Harry as the Patronus was slowly fading, "Oh, I'm so jealous Harry. I love the Patronus."

Harry meanwhile tried to keep steady on his feet as a wave of exhaustion unlike anything he'd ever felt swept through him. Once Lisa let go of the hug, he stepped back and let himself drop onto the couch. Ignoring the girls going on about how well he did, he raised a hand, silencing them. "Impressive, maybe. But totally and completely exhausting, too. I don't think I'm up for any more attempts tonight," he said quietly.

"Was it really that draining?" Hannah asked with concern.

Harry mutely nodded, and closed his eyes as he fought down the exhaustion. He'd love nothing better than to simply drop to sleep, but he knew that the girls would be worried. And ten years with the Dursleys had taught him how to command his body to a degree many people would envy. "Draining, yes. But nothing to really worry about. I don't think there's a danger unless possibly if you cast the spell when already exhausted."

"Well, let's not try that," Megan said.

"So, why don't you drain yourself, too, and we then get on with non-magical activities?" Harry asked. "After all we don't know if it would be safe to continue in the state I'm in, so Professor Quirrell can't possibly hold it against us."

"And we have already done all other homework," Hermione agreed with a nod. "I think we should learn some more Latin, though. Or another language. I don't like the idea to waste so many hours doing nothing."

Harry looked at her in disbelieve, and then shook his head, "Hermione, we are not talking about doing nothing. We are talking about doing some serious snogging and engaging in other even more pleasurable activities, Miene."

Hermione flushed bright red, "Well, that's something else, of course."

This brought about a round of giggling, and Harry leaned back, and smiled contently. Even the act of chuckling seemed to be beyond his level of activity his energy reserves allowed.

After a few moment the girls settled down again. "Why are you learning Latin?" Lisa asked Hermione.

Hermione shrugged, "Well, it seems as good a language to learn as any. It's the root from which many other languages evolved, so it makes learning them easier once you have mastered Latin, and since many incantations are partially of completely Latin, it helps learning magic, too."

"The incantations are Latin?" Hannah asked in disbelieve.

"Many," Hermione said.

The pureblood looked outraged to varying degrees. Lisa finally broke the mood with a chuckle, "Well, that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! Every witch and wizard considers Latin the language of our natural enemy, and at the same time we are using it!" She broke down in helpless giggles, son joined by everyone in the room. Even Harry found the necessary energy.

It took over ten minutes before they calmed enough to resume training. Even after another hour none of the girls had managed to cast a Corporeal Patronus, but all of them had expended a lot of energy summoning semi formed Patroni, still too indistinct to positively identify them.

"So," Parvati said. "Snogging, now?"

"I think you need to recover a bit first," Harry told the visibly exhausted girl, as he pulled her down on his lap.

She snuggled into him, and laid her head on his shoulder, "Could get used to this."

Harry kissed her throat lightly, "Feel free to." He looked at the others and saw them in similar positions. "Before we proceed with more pleasurable activities, do we ask Professor Quirrell to let us study muggles and languages instead of some semi-useful spells?"

"I would say magic," Hermione said, "had I not seen what Professor McGonagall gave us to work on. The Patronus is at least somewhat useful, should we ever encounter a Lethifold or a Dementor, but I don't believe Professor Quirrell expected us to progress anywhere nearly as far as we already did. If he keeps to his current policy of not giving us anything that we would cause us to be bored later on in some classes, how long can he find things that we can so safely and that are useful?"

"Not long," Lisa replied. "If we were third or fourth years he could probably teach us auror level spells, or maybe the Dark Arts so we can better understand what we defend ourselves against, but anything I know of that is not taught in class requires a lot of stuff taught in future classes."

"So learning languages and none magical things is the easiest way to spend our time learning things that may be useful," Harry concluded.

Hermione nodded, "Probably. Though studying Wizarding laws or something like that would work. Nothing practical, though." Most of the others nodded.

"Well, then I'll ask tomorrow," Harry said and turned all his attention to Parvati.

---

Friday rolled around, and with it another Potion lesson. Thankfully the Daily Prophet for once didn't bring any new revelations; indeed the paper now seemed to be caught up in the debate on whether or not all trials without use of Veritaserum after the war against Voldemort should be rolled up again. The Potion lesson was remarkable though, since it was the first time Harry had seen Snape smile in his direction.

"Well done," Snape said, nodding towards them. "It is good to see that I don't teach only Dunderheads." He looked at the other students. "It seems that Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, Ms. Patil, Ms. Davis, and Ms. Greengrass have completed the required potions and essays already. Well, you still have this and the next two lessons to finish your potions, and a week longer to finish your essays, but it's good to see that at least some of you recognize that completing a task before the last minute is allowed. Five points to each of them, and a ten foot essay on the potion ingredients used in your potions to everyone else. Due next week. Begin!"

He then waved his wand over a stack of parchments on his desk, before he levitated them to the group. "These are several ways to brew a potion with the same effect. I want you to analyze the differences between them, and predict which would be the most effective, and why. Once you are done, brew them. Observe the effects and protocol the process. Then try to come up with a way to improve the effect of the potion; the most potent variation known is not included in the instructions." He smirked at them, "I don't believe you will be able to manage that, but if you do, you will be the first students to earn my respect in a long time." With that he cast a silencing charm around the group, so that they could work together without disturbing the other groups.

It didn't take them long to identify the Forgetfulness Potion, but they didn't make any progress on the rest. Before they knew it, the lesson had ended, and they were heading for lunch. "Thanks a lot," Ron snorted as he rammed Harry against the wall as he rushed past.

Harry looked sadly at Ron's back, as he rubbed his shoulder; it wasn't hurt, but bumping into a wall was never pleasant.

"Forget about him already," Hermione muttered, as she hugged him from behind. "Whenever we see him he just adds more reasons not to be his friend."

"He isn't a bad guy," Harry replied.

"Nobody ever said he was," the current Gryffindor Patil said; Harry thought it might be Padma, but for some reason is became harder to tell the two apart. "But just being a good guy doesn't make him pleasant to be around, or someone that you should be close with; if he hasn't figured out that Professor Snape would have handed out the work anyway, even though all Professors' have handed out lots of extra work all week long, then his naivety could get you into trouble later, if you were his friend."

"I know," Harry replied with a sigh. "If I mess up in public, it wouldn't only reflect back on myself, and the House of Potter, but also on those that officially count me as their friend; in turn I will be held accountable for my friends mistake, too."

"Correct," Daphne said, as she and Tracy joined them. "This is one reason why Malfoy is stupid for associating with Crabbe and Goyle; everyone can see that they are nothing more than his lackeys, which means that their actions are his actions. And even the Malfoy name can take only so much before it looses all respect in society."

Harry sighed again, and shook his head, "Sometimes I wish I was still ignorant of those things."

"It wouldn't protect you from the consequences of your actions," Tracy said. "You are the Head of the House Potter; everyone will assume that you do know the customs and traditions, so if you don't follow them they would consider it a deliberate insult." She snorted in the most unladylike way, "Who in his right mind would believe that The-Boy-Who-Lived is ignorant of the ways of the Wizarding World; anyone who'd suggest that would be laughed at."

"I don't know," Daphne said. "After all the articles about the Dursleys, and Dumbledore's actions, people might actually believe it. But that would give you a year or two at the most before they expect you to have learned the important things."

Tracy nodded, "You are probably right. Still, I think it would take a decade or two at least to teach Weasley how the Wizarding World really works."

"I don't think he is stupid," Harry replied.

"Never said that," Tracy said. "But remember the letter."

"Which one?" Harry asked, as he tried to find what Tracy may be talking about.

"His sister's," Tracy said. "The lines about how everyone sane is like him; that is one of the most important differences between you. What enables you to learn what you need to learn, while he would resist learning. And I do not know if his attitude can be changed."

"Not quickly," Daphne said. "From what I have seen of the Weasley twins, you either have a firm position, or you will always do exactly what they want you to do."

"Probably," Padma, or was it Parvati, agreed. "And their other brother, Percy, isn't much different. If Ronald were likely to listen to others, he would follow Percy's nagging and study all the time; I doubt we could get him to listen to anything we say for the longest time. Even then, learning is not something done easily, unless you have experience in it."

"And let us be honest," Hermione added. "None of you would invest as much time and energy in teaching him, as you did in teaching us."

The three pureblooded witches nodded. "Especially not if we could spend time with you and the others instead," Tracy said.

Harry nodded in acceptance. With a drawn out sigh, he shook his head, "Let's forget about him and head to lunch." With that he took Hermione's and Padma's hand, and lead them towards the Great Hall, Daphne and Tracy falling into step behind them.

Lunch passed without further incident, though most first year Gryffindors and Slytherins were glaring at them throughout their stay in the Great Hall. Quirrell joined them a few moments later, "Ah welcome. Before we review the ritual again, have you found anything on the Patronus Charm I asked you to look up?"

"Yes, Professor," Hermione said in her usual eager way. "Our Patroni are still not corporeal, aside from Harry's, of course."

Quirrell's eyes widened in shock as he starred first at Hermione, and then at Harry. Harry suddenly felt the urge to remember every detail of what had happened when he cast the Patronus Charm last night and frowned, until he realized that Quirrell must be using Legilimency on him to learn what exactly happened. Quirrell smiled and nodded as the thought flickered through Harry's mind, and Harry could see a faint glow coming from his eyes.

"Well, that is most surprising. I did not actually expect you to try and cast it before talking with me. And given the exhaustion Mr. Potter felt after successfully casting the Charm, I think it will be best if we leave it for a while. Honestly I'm surprised your magical cores could support as much magic as they did. I will have to revise my estimate of your power upwards."

He frowned as he looked at them, "For those wondering, I used Legilimency to learn what happened; I'm not in the habit to use it this freely without permission, but I felt it was necessary for me to know everything that happened. I have no knowledge of the meaning of the different colors, but I think we will leave experimenting for the end of the school year. I don't want to risk any adverse side effects; magical exhaustion often leaves long term consequences."

He frowned for a moment, before he sighed. "And I have to apologize to you; when I conjured the paper I intended it to say that you should look up the Patronus Charm, not master it. It seems I got distracted while the letter was still forming, and the wording changed. I'm sorry about that, and glad that nobody suffered any consequences."

When Quirrell fell silent Harry raised his hand, and Quirrell nodded toward him, "Professor, we were wondering if you had already made firm plans as to what we should study in private. Most of the extra work we've been given in other classes seems rather useless, and we have found little that we are qualified to learn, that isn't handled in classes later on."

Quirrell regarded him for a moment, and then nodded. "You are correct in your assessment. You have too little theoretic grounding to study anything that is not on the curriculum. I assume you have found a solution?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said. "We have spent a lot of thought on it and found two, perhaps three, topics that could be studied without dealing with some stuff even earlier that we'd do anyways. There are two, probably three areas we could study, that we would not cover during the regular curriculum." He blinked and frowned in thought, "Four, actually, now that I think of it. The least interesting I believe would be the laws of the Wizarding World. Might be useful to someone who wants to become a lawyer, but it'd be rather dry."

Quirrell nodded, "Indeed. That's one thing I have not thought about, but it would certainly be a possibility. I assume you have realized why all students are given a lot of extra work at the moment?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, the other Professors haven't made an attempt to hide it from us. Anyway, the next possibility would be other Wizarding countries, and their laws and customs. See how they handle relation with magical creatures and such. The third idea is to learn languages; there are many languages and spells in other languages."

"I'm not certain that there is a lot of material on the different Wizarding countries, let alone some for direct comparison. So while it might be interesting, you would probably have to study the laws of each country, and try to get hold of someone who can tell you of their customs and traditions. So I don't think that is a workable idea. Languages on the other hand is an excellent idea. Many interesting tomes are not written in English, and it is always good to know a few extra languages, and not only in duels, though I admit that it can be useful there, too. Your last idea."

"Well, that'd be a mix of muggle studies and what muggle children learn at school, Sir. We, that is Hermione and I, have noticed that the Wizarding World knows next to nothing about the muggle world, and that there are some things known in the muggle world that would could be useful to know, or deadly not to know."

"Deadly, Mr. Potter?" Quirrell asked seriously.

"How much do you know about muggles, Professor?"

"I didn't have much contact with them since my childhood. That was during the Second World War, I believe it was called."

"Then you have an idea how deadly muggle weapons could be," Hermione said. Quirrell nodded with visible reluctance. "They only got worse since then. And they have learned a lot about the way things work."

Professor Quirrell nodded slowly. "It falls under the same constrains as the ritual you asked me about; I will let you decide what you wish to study, as long as you do spend sufficient time on it, and at least appear very busy. After some thought I intended to have you study the history of the Wizarding World, but I think your idea may prove more useful; keeping the muggles from discovering our world has become harder, and I could see some career options for those skilled in navigating the muggle world, and capable of concealing evidence discreetly. I can also see that muggles may have come up with interesting concepts, though I don't believe that any of those would be of much use for us, but the general attitude of the Wizarding World is hostile to anything muggle, so you should refrain from mentioning anything you learn to other students. Since it is basically keep busy work in any case, it is as good as anything else, I guess. Learn what you will, but do learn!"

"You mean you don't want any papers on our progress, or anything?" Hermione asked.

"Ms. Granger," Professor Quirrell said quietly, "I am getting so many essays from students at the moment that even correcting two essays at a time with the aid of a clone I have no spare time, and as far as I can tell the other Professors are even worse off. So, no, I don't want anything from you." He looked seriously at them, "If you were a few years more advanced I'd hire you to correct the other essays for me while I check yours, but as it is I don't have the time. He shook his head, "Now that we've cleared that up, let us return to our current ritual. The ritual is simply designed to improve your reflexes; as such it is rather simple. It is my hope that we will finish preparations today. That would allow us to devote all six December sessions to the two rituals that affect your mental capabilities." He muttered a spell and tapped the side of his head. "Strip, and apply the potion." With a wave of the wand a large container with slimy and stinking liquid appeared in the room.

Without any hesitations they shed their cloths, long since used to seeing each other nude. It took about three hours to apply the markings, and another hour before they had finished their inspection of one another to assure that the patterns were perfect, since even minor variations could have major consequences.

After checking the final pattern, Quirrell nodded, "Well done everyone. Do you want to do the ritual tonight, or tomorrow?"

"Tonight," Daphne answered for the whole group.

"Good. Enjoy dinner. We will meet again at seven pm."

---

Dinner passed quickly, and nobody bothered them. Not so much because of any hostility towards people that interrupted them, but because they showed no interest in anyone outside their group, and people tended to respect that. Not that it kept the amount of stares down, but it made things more bearable. Harry really didn't want to hear what people were thinking about him and Dumbledore. The few bits he had over heard were enough; apparently half the students believed that he had removed Dumbledore to become the next Dark Lord, while the others pitied him.

Life was much more pleasant with his friends only.

After Dinner they headed to the ritual chamber. Like with the muscle enhancing ritual they had done before Professor Quirrell awaited them outside and handed them the materials they would need. Shedding their cloths they headed inside and used the first potion to draw the ritual circle they would need, before covering one another in the complicated patterns they had memorized. After triple checking everything twice over they assumed their position in the ritual circle and downed the last potion, trying to ignore the smells of the potions and the disgusting look of the potion they had to consume. After five minutes of vigilant effort to not throw up, they slowly began to chant a couple words Quirrell had drilled into them some time ago, repeating them over and over until they blacked out.

When they woke up the next morning all their extremities ached and it was painful to move, though thankfully not as painful as the last ritual had been. Quirrell gave them a relieved smile as they left the room, and cleaned them up with a wave of his wand. They gave him a thankful smile as they got dressed and then headed to their common room. Once there they collapsed on the couches and stayed there until after lunch, enjoying the meals the house elves eagerly brought them, before heading into the sauna, hoping that it would improve their recovery time. It helped a bit, and the hot bath afterwards helped, too, but they were still to sore to do anything productive for the rest of the day, which made the aftermath worse than the last ritual; there the pain had been worse but much shorter lived. All together it was far from what Megan had expected her birthday to be like.

By Sunday morning they were all back to full health and ready to celebrate. With Megan's birthday on Saturday, Hannah's on Sunday, and Lisa's coming up on Tuesday, they had decided to have one big party, and thus didn't leave their hidden rooms at all. The house elves were more than pleased to provide birthday cakes and a feast. The girls exchanged minor gifts and Harry felt slightly apprehensive that his presents might be a bit too much.

Since neither Megan nor Hannah owned an owl, he had send Hedwig out to get some. Hedwig had done her job brilliantly, and proven that she was cleverer than Harry had suspected. Instead of returning with owls, she had returned with two beautiful Silverfalcons, a magical breed of falcons that was well suited to carrying mail, even in weather that owls couldn't handle. He knew it was a perfect present since their families were often in arctic environment for pleasure or business reasons and unreachable with normal post owls, but he was very surprised, and even more pleased, that Hedwig had known that and made such an excellent decision. Of course they were a bit (or more correctly a lot) more expensive than regular owls, but Harry didn't mind.

He had attempted to get an actual Shilorm for Lisa, but there was none for sale, and nobody could tell him where he might get one. Even Hedwig didn't know, and even if he could get one, Harry wasn't really sure if it was safe. While Shilorms were known to exist, they had found only very limited amount of factual knowledge on them. Thankfully he had decided to look for the Shilorm early and had enough time to get an alternate present. He had decided that if he couldn't get a real Shilorm, he ought to get her something ornamented with one or more Shilorms instead. At first he wanted to get her some robes, but with their current growth rate she would have outgrown them too quickly. As such he settled for a brooch with small emeralds as eyes, which incidentally matched his eye color perfectly. It had been a bit more expensive than he had planned, but the way her eyes widened when she opened the present made it well worth the money.

Not that he would forget the thank you kiss from any of the girls anytime soon. He was really looking forward to the next birthdays, if that was the reaction his presents provoked!

Still, they had promised Professor Quirrell that they would study, so they only started the celebrations in the afternoon and spend the morning and early afternoon going over the Potion problem, which continued to resist their attempts to solve it, as well as learning the basics of the Chinese language, Mandarin, from Su – they had decide to delay their education about muggles until after Yule holidays to allow Hermione to get some additional materials. Of course they also enjoyed the pleasure their bodies could give them after the day filled with pain.

Lessons on Monday were as expected. The overview of the rituals they would engage in over the Yule holidays made the shudder because of the unexpected complexity of the rituals, and the costs associated with them.

Afterwards they worked through the huge stack of mail Harry had received about the revelations of the last week; thankfully the reply forms Gringotts had prepared could be used to answer most of them; indeed only about one in twenty required a personalized answer. Harry made sure to add a praising thank you letter to Gringotts for their assistance; without their help they would have needed days to deal with the letters. As it was they managed to deal with the mail, and finish the comparable little homework their received.

Tuesday began well enough with a birthday song for Lisa and they had fun until a notification from the Ministry arrived, announcing that the trial against the Dursleys would be held the same day. Thankfully everything was well organized; apparently someone had even planned ahead for the whole group to travel along.

The Ministry of Magic was a bit of a disappointment. The Atrium was a large hall with a dark floor made of polished wood, while the ceiling was blue with golden symbols, possibly runes, moving across it. The sides were lined with many fireplaces, apparently for floo travel. There were five golden statues around a pool in the center of the hall, and the way into the Ministry itself was through a set of golden gates, but compared to the impression Diagon Alley or Gringotts had left, the Atrium seemed sadly normal.

Security was another disappointment; simply by mentioning his name, Harry and his friends were allowed to enter without having to even register their wand – not that it provided any security, but Harry was still put out about how easily they could skip through what most likely was some kind of requirement.

Madam Bones met them at the elevators and quickly lead them to the courtroom. "I'm not going to have time to explain the whole legal procedure just now, Mr. Potter, but we'll go over what is important for you. As possible witness you are required to attend the trial and watch the proceedings until you are called. Then you will simply have to answer the questions asked. Once a question is asked, unless it is overruled, you will have to answer it. You are allowed to make a reasonable lengthy explanation if you consider it necessary. At the end of questioning you may make a statement, again, reasonable length. I will represent the prosecution during this trial, and as such I can tell you that I don't intend to call you, but your aunt or uncle might."

Harry nodded. "If everything goes as I expect, the trial will last less than an hour. And then the Dursleys will be done with."

Harry nodded again and smiled at the elder witch, "Thank you Madam Bones."

She returned the smile and shrugged, "Just doing my job."

---

As they sat in the courtroom the Dursleys were levitated in and placed on their seats, roughly. After a quick 'Enervate' it became clear why they had been stunned; they were simply shouting obscenities and generally insulting everyone around them. And they didn't seem to take note as the judge entered, nor at the double take or irritated looks he gave them.

He tabbed the bench with his wand and a loud gong sounded through the room. "December 3rd, 1991. The Ministry of Magic, represented by the honorable witch, Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, versus Vernon and Petunia Dursley. Charges filed are severe child abuse of Harry James Potter, Lord Potter, member of the Noble House of Potter, torture of the same, as well as verbal abuse of representatives of the Ministry of Magic. How does the Defense plead?"

Vernon's face turned red as he tried to protest during the judges speech, but was magically restrained. Suddenly he was able to talk again, and immediately began to shout, "You freaks have no right to do this to us! We are upstanding people, normal people, and you are nothing more then freaks! You…"

The judge silence him with a wave of his wand. "Has the defendant been informed of his rights?"

"He has," Madam Bones said, as she stood up. "I personally informed him and his wife during their introduction to the magical world. Their arrests were made within minutes of completing the introduction. It should be noted that Petunia Dursley was aware of the magical world for well over three decades, and that Vernon Dursley was for at least a decade, probably more." Madam Bones sat down again.

The judge sighed and nodded. "Very well, in the name of Her Majesty I find the defendants guilty of verbal abuse of Ministry employees. The defendants are sentenced to a fine of five hundred galleons and two weeks in Azkaban. Madam Bones, please proceed."

"Thank you, your honor." She stood again and handed a sheet of parchment to the judge and the defense, "This is a report made by Healer Nightshade. I believe it is all the proof needed to sentence the defendants to long prison sentences, according to muggle criminal law."

"Does the defense have any comments?"

"We don't answer to freaks; I demand a real court, without any freaks, or their freakish things," Vernon replied, waving the sheet Director Bones had given him through the air.

The judge simply sighed. "As the Defense fails to counter the evidence provided by the prosecution, I have no choice but finding the defendants guilty. You are found guilty of the torture of Mr. Potter, namely locking him into a cupboard for several days with a broken arm. For this crime you are sentenced to thirty five years in Azkaban and are ordered to pay a fine of 50% of your family wealth, before any other fines are applied, to Mr. Potter. You are also found guilt on the charge of ten years of continuous Child Abuse you are sentenced to another twenty years in Azkaban. Do you have any last comments before the court goes into recess and the sentence goes into effect?"

"We never wanted that Freak!" Vernon bellowed. "We were forced to take him, by you freaks, and you have no right to sentence us to anything!"

The judge shook his head, "Mr. Dursley, this trial, on request of Madam Bones, was conducted under the guidelines of Her Majesties Justice. I myself have left the Wizarding World many decades ago and serve as Judge to Her Majesties government. It was simply a matter of convenience that I held the trial here instead of forcing everyone else involved to travel. The formalities may not have been those we use in court, but I can assure you that this trial would be upheld against any appeal. The acts you are prosecuted for are crimes under Her Majesties code of justice, and all evidence used would be permissible in any of Her Majesties courts. As for your claim about being forced to raise Mr. Potter, I am certain that you have heard of an institution called orphanage. You were at no point compelled to keep raising Mr. Potter. You did so under your own free will, and as such you have to bear the consequences. May the sentence be executed, court is in recess."

With that he stood up and left the room without a look back, as the Aurors stunned the Dursleys again for transport.

"Well, that went smoother than I expected," Professor Quirrell commented.

"Indeed, they couldn't have acted worse if I had given them a script," Madam Bones said, as she joined them. "Dumbledore's trial was set for tomorrow, but after this session I'll try to have it moved up to today, so you don't need to come again tomorrow, if that's alright with you?"

Harry simply nodded, and Madam Bones left. A few moments later a dark skinned Auror came up to them, "Mr. Potter?"

Harry nodded. "I'm Auror Shacklebolt. Professor Dumbledore has requested a meeting with you. If you are willing I can lead you to a meeting room."

Harry closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. "Very well." He turned to the others, "I want at least two of you with me, please."

"Of course Harry," Hermione said.

"I'll come to," Padma said.

Harry nodded, "Lead the way, Auror Shacklebolt."

The Auror nodded and before long they were sitting in a meeting room, and Dumbledore entered, looking more solemn than they'd ever seen him. "Ah, Mr. Potter. Thank you for meeting with me."

Harry nodded curtly, as Auror Shacklebolt stepped back and cast a charm. Seeing Harry's look, Dumbledore explained, "I asked Kingsley to talk with you in private. The charm he used prevents him and anyone else listening in from remembering anything they hear. He can still listen to us, though, and would know if I were to use magic against you. I don't have my wand, so there isn't much I could do in any case."

Harry nodded, this time more thoughtful, "What did you want to talk about Professor?"

Dumbledore sighed, and leaned back in his chair, looking much older. "I want to apologize to you, Mr. Potter." He sighed again, defeated. "I only wished the best to you, but I failed. I am sorry for any harm I have caused you. I am certain you have some questions, and if you will ask them, I will do my best to answer them." He folded his hands over his stomach and looked at Harry expectantly.

"Why have you placed him with the Dursleys?" Hermione asked, earning her a thankful smile from Harry.

"Ah, Ms. Granger, there were two reasons. For one, I could not believe that anyone would mistreat their own family like Mr. Potter experienced. It has been suggested to me that I might have been blinded by my ideals, my wish to see the best in everyone, and I can't really disagree. Looking back I know I should have seen it, known better." He sighed. "The second reason was the way his parents died. Lily sacrificed herself and thereby allowed me to invoke an ancient protection spell that should protect Mr. Potter better than any other protection possible. I now see that I have made the mistake I often warn people about, I have chosen the easy option, not the right one to keep him safe. At least after the alternatives have been pointed out to me; I guess I didn't want to see the other choices before."

"Blood magic?" Hermione asked.

Dumbledore seemed surprised, "Indeed, Ms. Granger. The wards were based on blood and maintained by the blood relation both Mr. Potter and Mrs. Dursley share with Mrs. Potter. When both sides of the links love one another, this magic forms the strongest protection known in the Wizarding World."

"But with the hate between them it is nothing but a very weak protection charm," Hermione nodded. At Dumbledore's look she continued, "Professor Quirrell analyzed our magic before the rituals; a while ago he mentioned that there was a rather weak blood charm protecting Harry." Dumbledore merely nodded at her explanation.

"Couldn't you have placed the blood wards around any wizarding home?" Padma asked.

"Alas, no. It depended on the blood relation with Mrs. Potter; she had no magical relatives. At least not as far as anyone knows. Unless either her mother or one of her grandmothers had an affair with a wizard, no blood relative would have been close enough, if they did exist. And I did find nothing that suggested that it might have happened."

Padma shook her head, "That's not what I meant. I understood the blood relation part. But if you used blood magic to protect Harry, why not use blood magic to create a relative. I am no expert, but I do not believe the blood-brother or the blood adoption ritual require the granting party to be alive – to receive magical gifts, yes, but not to become blood relatives. Even then you could have used Harry's blood for a blood brother ritual. For the ancient magic it should not make any difference."

Dumbledore, whose eyes had widened almost comically during her tirade, slumped in his seat and sighed. "You are correct, Ms. Patil, it would have worked. Or at least I agree that it should work, and the time available should have been sufficient to perform those rituals. Alas, I do believe that your experience in the Wizarding World have given you a completely unique perception of the events. I have in the last weeks talked with many friends and experts about my actions, and not one of them suggested rituals. Even those comparably common pieces of blood magic are extremely rare. And when done it usually is a spontaneous action, perhaps even accidental, rather than an attempted to solve a problem. Your study group aside I doubt there are a score of wizards out there that would even consider rituals to solve a problem – I doubt there is a single one who'd think of rituals first. I don't think anyone but you would have ever come up with that solution."

"Why obliviated the people investigating the Dursleys, though?" Hermione asked.

"Alas, that is a common problem with powerful witches and wizards; it probably was been done with you, too." At Hermione's astonished expression he continued, "A child with magical powers is liable to perform accidental magic, and the more powerful the child is, the more often and the more visible the magic is. Mr. Potter is very powerful, even before the rituals you have performed. The first few times I visited was because Mr. Potter had performed accidental magic, and had attracted unwanted attention. In the future I simply assumed it was more of the same, and didn't check the minds of the people I obliviated; for all the necessity of obliviating muggles, I do not like to violate their minds. And when I was there, I never saw any evidence, though maybe that was just because of my blindness. I will admit that my schedule has always been full, and I usually could only spare minutes to deal with the situation at hand; not enough to even attempt to find out what the problem really was. I should have hired someone to take care of that, but after the supposed betrayal of Sirius Black I couldn't trust anyone."

"Why not use some kind of magically binding contract or oath to ensure their loyalty?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore sadly shook his head, "A personal prejudice of me, perhaps, but I hold a strong distaste for such magic. The formulation of such magic is very tricky and there are almost always unintended consequences. While often harmless many wizards have died because of poor wording or unanticipated situations; even more have been forced to compromise their morals and commit actions they normally never would. I have never been willing to risk something like that." Then, in a haunted voice, he added, "Not after seeing whole families dying because of an oath sworn by a few children. Some things magic can do are best left undone."

"Why are you so interested in Harry," Padma asked.

"I am sorry, but I can not tell you," Dumbledore answered.

"We will visit the Hall of Prophecies before we leave the Ministry anyways," Harry said. "If it is because of a Prophecy they will know it soon anyway."

Dumbledore slumped in defeat and sighed again, "Yes, it is because of a Prophecy. I can only ask you not to hear it and enjoy your life for now. Come back and listen to it when you are an adult," he said pleadingly.

Harry shook his head, "I don't think I could enjoy life without knowing what it says." Now it was Harry's turn to sigh. "I will always wonder what it says, until I hear it. I can always ask Professor Quirrell to obliviated the knowledge afterwards, if the knowledge disturbs me too much."

Dumbledore closed his eyes in defeat and nodded, "If that is your choice Harry, I will not argue with you. I no longer have the right to do so, and I now realize that." He looked intently at Harry, "The Prophecy basically says that you are chosen to defeat Voldemort; you have already reduced him, but he did not die that night. He is still around and he will seek revenge. And you will have to stop him, and defeat him, once and for all. I have set up meetings with Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Snape, and Quirrell for after my trial. I will ask them to assist you in any way they can. All four of them, as well as Auror Shacklebolt, retired Master Auror Moody, and Remus Lupin hold my full confidence. Just do me one favor, now that you know the Prophecy. Do not devote all your time to learning and forget to live. Enjoy your childhood while you can, Harry." He looked pleadingly at him, "Whatever you do, devote at least a few hours a day to just being a child, to be with your friends."

Harry slowly nodded, "I will try, Professor."

"Thank you." He gave them a content smile, "Please also remember one other thing, Harry. Love is the greatest power there is. I believe it will be the one thing that allows you to win." He smiled happily, as his eyes lost focus, "There is no greater power than love." He shook his head, as the focus returned to his eyes. "I think you should go and listen to the Prophecy now. If you have any more questions afterwards, feel free to ask them. I will answer any question you have, as long as I am able to."

"I have another question," Hermione said, causing both Harry and Padma to smile; how untypical for Hermione to have a question! "You said that the ancient magic you used for the blood wards could create the strongest protection known in the Wizarding World. What would it be like if it were at full power? I mean, what would happen if some kid tried to curse Harry? How would it defend against a real attack? What protection would it offer the home? What are the exact conditions needed to use it to ward a location? Can more than one location be warded? And…"

'Please, Ms. Granger," the former Headmaster interrupted. "Even I can not remember that many questions at once, while trying to come up with answers." He smiled kindly as Hermione blushed; Padma and Harry smiled fondly at their bushy haired friend. "Those are very good questions, and some of them I have not previously considered. I do not know what would happen if a curse was used in what could be described as a schoolboy prank." He closed his eyes, "And we probably do not want to know what would happen. A humorous prank would likely have a minimal response, if any; a malicious prank however would likely trigger the same response as a real attack; I am not completely sure what the response to an attack would look like, but according to the book I found the charm in it is supposed to kill them." Dumbledore sighed. "If you look at it from a child's perspective, the wards would probably be troublesome; if you were to restore them to full strength, somehow, I would recommend warning the whole school about the possible consequences of an attack on you. The ward aspect would prevent anyone who wishes to harm either participant in the blood protection from entering the house; a weak individual couldn't get closer than a mile or two to the house, while very few would get as close as a hundred yards. It couldn't replace most of the standard wards around a wizarding home, since it is directly linked to wishing harm to the individuals in question. Could you explain what you meant with multiple locations?"

Hermione frowned, "Given the effects of the charm at full power it doesn't matter, but I was thinking about establishing a blood link between Harry and I and use the blood wards to protect my home, while a second ward would be around Harry's home; either Bones' Manor or the home of Sirius Black, whoever he might be staying with."

"Even if not practical from your perspective anymore, Ms. Granger, you have given me something to research. The charm as it is should hold for approximately another ten to twelve months. I will attempt to construct a variation of the charm to only protect homes; since a lot of the power for the current version goes into providing mobile protection, it should be possible to use it to ward multiple locations. Assuming I do not end in Azkaban I will work with several of my colleagues to provide possible variations. We should set up a meeting during the summer holidays; I will present you with the options – all options – and leave you and your guardian to choose how to proceed. If that is acceptable, Mr. Potter?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, thank you, Professor. If there is a way to use it, I am all in favor. As long as the conditions aren't too troublesome."

The ancient man nodded. "I do hope that I have learned from my mistakes."

"Another option you might want to consider is to use the magic of the charm to improve Harry's magical core instead. I mean, her action was effectively a willing sacrifice. There should be some kind of non-evil ritual to boost Harry's magic."

Dumbledore looked pensive at that. "You are most certainly correct, Ms. Patil. The ritual would still be classified as dark, and probably be truly dark, even though it is a willing sacrifice. And most of the magic would have been consumed when it reflected the Killing Curse."

"But wasn't it the Prophecy that protected Harry?" Hermione interrupted him.

Dumbledore seemed to fight down the instinctive response. "To be honest, Ms. Granger, I do not know. I have always assumed that is what happened, but it appears that I had to revise so many assumptions, believes, and certainties about the events surrounding the event in question. I will consult with Professor Quirrell and an old friend of mine, Nicholas Flammel, but I do not know of any way to find out for certain. And I can't in good conscience have you perform a power ritual to find out; the ritual is probably too dark to risk using it without certain benefit."

"But…" Auror Shacklebolt said, then apparently becoming confused at what he wanted to say and closing his mouth.

"I will not deny that it is sometimes necessary to use Dark Magic," Dumbledore said gravely. "It should however never be used lightly, and never become your first choice. Dark doesn't mean evil, but that doesn't mean that there is no risk in using Dark Magic, legal and public ramifications aside."

"Is there really any difference?" Harry challenged him.

Dumbledore looked pensive once more. "There is, Mr. Potter, just not as… dramatic as most light wizards think. Nor as little as many accomplished masters of the Dark Arts realize. As far as I can tell the difference is not actually a consequence of the magic in question, but the human mind. Dark Magic makes it comparably easy to hurt people, without inflicting wounds – it removes the natural human hesitation to injure from the equation, and therefore makes you more likely to hurt another person. The Dark Arts also give you a large number of spells useful in duels or combat and make you less likely to keep looking for peaceful alternatives to combat. Dark Rituals give you a taste of what it feels like to increase your magical core – a feeling that supposedly is highly addictive. Almost compulsive. Practice of the Dark Arts usually involves using them against targets, either animals or human looking puppets. Either reduces the hesitance to use it against other humans. With time, Dark Wizards tend to use painful variations of the stunning curse, instead of the painless version, to punish people for attacking them. It is a very slow change, an inner corruption, if you will, as opposed to the outer corruption that comes with evil magic."

"And in your fear to be corrupted yourself you overcompensated and always used the most light choice you could see," Hermione said. As the others raised their eyebrows, she continued, "I mean, he always tried to subdue Death Eaters in the last war, never hurt them. Always assumed the best in a person. I mean, it could be natural for him, but it might also be what he sees as the save choice."

The old headmaster frowned at Hermione, but slowly nodded, "Maybe you are right, Ms. Granger. It is possible." He sighed heavily and looked more tiered than ever. "Since I killed Grindlewald forty-five years ago everyone has looked up to me. I had few people that I could go to for advice. My brother is a good man, wise in his own way, but not a philosopher. He hasn't studied the Dark Arts nor politics. Very few of my friends survived the war, and the few that did didn't live long. Grief tends to shorten the lifespan of a wizard dramatically. That leaves my occasional mentors, the Flammels, to talk to, but they tend to live in seclusion and ignore the problems of the world. I guess that the lack of anyone equal, any true friend, left me without a second opinion. Perhaps my case can serve as a warning to you, too. In my desire to prevent the corruption that comes with the Dark Arts, I became corrupted in another fashion."

"I don't think that is a fair assessment, Headmaster," Hermione said. "Don't you think the same would have happened without Dark Magic, because of the fame and being looked upon by almost everyone? I can see how your fear might have made it worse, but I believe the problem would still exist without Dark Magic."

"Maybe," Dumbledore said half-absently. "We will never know. Either way I do hope you will remember my fate and avoid something similar, Mr. Potter. When you have defeated Voldemort everyone will look to you to solve their problems; you will take the position I had. I hope you will do better."

Harry absently nodded, as Dumbledore seemed to get lost in thought, and let the girls lead him out of the room.

"Did you understand what he was talking about?" Harry asked.

"Most of it," Hermione admitted. "I think he's afraid that he will end up in Azkaban. Not because of himself, but because he won't be able to guide you. This was an attempt to give you some advice for your future life about things we're probably too young to fully understand."

"You seemed to understand it," Padma said.

Hermione grimaced, "My uncle complained about the corrupt politicians last Christmas; my parents tried to explain it to me, and this was very similar. The argument I used was only a variation of what I mother said about corruption in autocratic societies."

"Auto-what?" Harry asked.

"Dictatorships. A society where one person holds all the power."

With a nod from her companions they continued on in silence, thinking about the recent conversation. Soon afterwards the twelve students were escorted down to the Hall of Prophecies by Professor Quirrell, and listened to the Prophecy:

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ...
Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ...
And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ...
And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives ...
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies...

Harry had been distracted by Dumbledore's words on the way to the Hall of Prophecies, and after hearing the Prophecy it only got worse. He didn't remember anything about Dumbledore's trial, though he remembered sitting through it, and hearing the judges finding him guilty. He was only ripped out of his daze when the Portkey send them all sprawling on the ground in front of Hogwarts.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked, as she saw Harry paying attention to the rest of the world once more.

Harry slowly nodded, "Yeah; it was just a lot to take in, is all."

"Let us head to my office," Quirrell said.

Soon they were seated in his office. "Now, Mr. Potter, I noticed you didn't pay attention to what was happening around you since sometime after your talk with Professor Dumbledore. What exactly do you remember?"

Harry frowned for a moment, "I was talking with Dumbledore, and he recommended that I leave to hear the Prophecy. Then I was suddenly hearing it. The next thing I remember is that Dumbledore was found guilty. That's about it."

Quirrell nodded, "My guess is that your mind shut down, because of the responsibility the Prophecy puts on you."

Harry nodded, "I think so. I mean Professor Dumbledore told me about it, and it was like all I could think about was Voldemort."

"Don't let it wear you down," Quirrell advised. "But for now you have to learn what happened. I don't think it would be a good idea to have you not know what exactly happened."

"We'll take care of that, Professor," Susan assured him, while the other girls nodded determinately.

Quirrell smiled, "Indeed it may be better if you tell him. Very well, I have to inform the other Professors of the events anyway. I shall see you tomorrow then."

"Before you go Professor, is it possible that the Prophecy only refers to what has already happened?" Hermione asked.

"Excuse me?" Quirrell answered.

"Well, the Prophecy says that Harry will be marked as equal; this might means that he is marked, the scar, or it might mean that they are equal in some other way. If You-know-who lost his parents early, killing Harry's parents might have marked them as equal," she said, throwing an apologizing glance towards Harry. Quirrell had meanwhile cast a privacy spell on his office. "The power may be the ability to reflect the Killing Curse. And the either must die could mean that had He used any other spell, or maybe a knife Harry would be dead, instead of him. While He is still around, he is vanquished, and probably as dead as a ghost. It doesn't say that Harry ends his existence."

"Interesting thought," Professor Quirrell said. "I however have recently learned some information that makes that unlikely. I will tell you once I've confirmed it, or at the end of the year. And if it were true, it would mean that there is another Prophecy around; possible, but unlikely. Anyways, I think you should sleep on it before you discuss it again. Whether you like it or not, the trials are more important to you for now. And for the teachers, too, so I'll really have to go now." With that he left them alone in his office.

After a few moments they decided without any spoken word that all of them would be more comfortable in their hideaway, and walked there. Before long they were all seated on the numerous couches.

"Let's see," Hermione said. "Dumbledore suggested we go and hear the Prophecy, so we went. We met up with Professor Quirrell and the others who were waiting for us near the room. Professor Quirrell then led us to the elevator and we went to the Department of Mysteries. An Unspeakable awaited us there and led us to the Hall of Prophecies. He found the orb and you proved that you are the subject of the Prophecy by lifting it; apparently they have developed a protection spell that allows only those mentioned in the Prophecy to take them. You remember the Prophecy, correct?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, Professor Quirrell suggested that you now knew it, and the Dark Lord was the only other person mentioned, the orb should be destroyed. You nodded, so the Unspeakable said he'd take care of that; of, in case you wondered, the Unspeakable did not hear the Prophecy, just the twelve of us, and Professor Quirrell. After that we went back to the court room. There were fifty members of the Wizengamot there, and Madam Bones acted as head judge. The charges against Dumbledore were pretty much what we had been told, and he admitted to have done all of it, though he claimed the best of motives. Because he admitted to the charges there was no need for witnesses or anything; Minister Fudge didn't look like he appreciated that. Probably wanted to be in the spotlight today. Anyway, the Wizengamot found Dumbledore guilty by his own admission, but decided not to pass a sentence for the moment. They'll announce their decision within the next couple days. Dumbledore looked really old and defeated at the trial, more so than when we met him before."

"Well, he did start looking that way after he saw Harry, I think," Padma said.

"That would make sense," Lisa said. "If he said the truth about just wanting Harry to be normal and have a normal childhood, informing him of the Prophecy, and seeing how he was all spaced out would be hard on him."

"Yes, but I don't pity him," Daphne said. "He had that and a lot more coming; normal childhood indeed! Merlin's beard, I don't think there has been a child of the Wizarding World with a less normal childhood in decades, if not centuries!"

"And that doesn't account for all the difficulties Harry would have in the future; can you imagine what would have happened to a Boy-Who-Lived without knowledge of the Wizarding World?" Tracy asked.

"I can imagine," Su said. "They would probably have ripped him apart before the year was over."

"Would we have done any different?" Padma asked, in response to the disdain in Su's voice. "Had we not learned what his life was like, what he knew and didn't know, would we have done any different?"

"We might," Parvati said. "Being in a house with him and all. Hermione would, since she knew as little as Harry."

"I have to agree," Sally-Ann said. "I still remember the opinion I had after the first few days."

"That most of us had," Megan added. "But I can't say that I didn't enjoy teaching him," she added with a sly smile.

"Who can?" Parvati said, and laughed, quickly joined by everyone else in the room.

"Yeah, our group is the best thing that could have happened to us," Lisa said after they had calmed down. "We all learned a lot that was missing, and we got a chance to practice our teachings, instead of forgetting them."

"As if that matters," Susan interrupted her uncharacteristically. Falling someone into the word was considered exceptionally rude by the customs of the Wizarding World. "Our, what did Hermione call it? Friendship with benefits?" Hermione nodded. "Our friendship with benefits is far more important than learning or practicing some obscure customs."

"I agree," Hannah said. "At least to a degree. Would we have ever danced without those lessons; would our friendship ever have become so strong, without them?"

"Probably not," Daphne said coolly. "And while we are on the topic, care for a dance, Harry?"

"It would be my pleasure, my dear Ice Queen." Daphne smirked at the nickname.

---

Wednesday came too quickly for the twelve pre-teens and for the first time since their first ritual they staggered to breakfast still tired. But even a curtsey look around the Great Hall showed that they weren't the only ones. Given the amounts of homework they had to do recently it was hardly a wonder that most students had to sacrifice sleep to get their work done. It covered the aftereffects of their night long party well; probably better than any amount of actually studying would. With the Dursleys gone forever Harry felt incredibly relieved; he hadn't feared that he would be forced to return to the Dursleys, not after all the newspaper articles, but some part of his still hadn't wanted to believe that they were finally gone. But after seeing them in the courtroom, and the way the Aurors dealt with them, he knew he would never again meet them. Add the fact that it was Lisa's birthday and they had enough reason to spend all night having fun, only falling asleep in the morning, catching only an hour or so of sleep. Even with their improved sleep causing their bodies to recover thrice as fast, a single hour did leave them tired.

The Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were lucky that they had not only History of Magic first, but also did not have Professor McGonagall that day, the one teacher that would most likely object to their current state, and the only one that could cancel their current living arrangements.

As they started their breakfast the owls delivered The Daily Prophet and other regular mail. Harry just closed his eyes and concentrated on even breathing; it didn't take a genius to know what the headline of the newspaper would be. True enough, the headline screamed that Dumbledore had been found guilty, even if no sentence had as of yet been passed. The Dursleys sentencing was relegated to the second page and carried a lot of comments on how awful they behaved in court. Harry didn't like the implications from the article though; the reporter seemed to portray the Dursleys as typical for muggles.

Buried deep inside the paper they found a few other headlines that were interesting. The vote of no confidence against Fudge, the twenty-second vote of no confidence that is, had failed, again, even if it was by far the narrowest of all the votes. The Wizengamot had also decided that all criminals convicted without the use of Veritaserum should get another trial, this time with Veritaserum, with a large majority; a new trial for those found innocent, and at whose trials no Veritaserum had been used, was defeated by a single vote.

A quick look around showed that almost every student was throwing glances his way every now and then, while whispering with their friends. Harry knew if couldn't be helped and the group left the Great Hall as soon as they had finished their breakfast.

On the way out Malfoy came up to them, "Potter." He said with a miniscule inclination of his head.

"Malfoy," Harry answered, copying the gesture. Technically Malfoy had just insulted him by dealing with him like an equal even though he was the head of the Potter family, while Draco was merely the heir of his family, but he doubted that the blond was aware of that.

"You have done the Wizarding World a great favor with removing the muggle-loving fool from Hogwarts. For this I wish to thank you, in my and my family's name. I have also been charged by the Houses Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Avery, Dolohov, Jugson, Macnair, and Nott to relay our sympathies for your horrible treatment, and our hopes that we may forge a closer cooperation between our Families."

Harry was surprised. Daphne had told him that those houses should have sent at least a letter, but apparently they had decided that they wanted to do something more direct. "Thank you, Malfoy," Harry said evenly. "Please also express my thanks to your Head of Family, and the other Families." Then he stared Malfoy right into the eyes, "As for the ties between our Houses, I see the possibility of closer ties; I will require prove of the strength of any interested house though. The fact that your father and his associates were not able to fight of the Imperius during the years they were under it, forces me to doubt the strength of the bloodlines involved."

Malfoy flushed bright red, but managed to keep his temper under control. Harry was surprised at that. His comments weren't after all something new; they were based on well known facts. They had told everyone that would listen that they had been under the Imperius, and the available texts on the Imperius stressed the difficulty of keeping people under it for more than a few hours, stressing the importance of both the victim's willpower and magical power in throwing off the curse. After a few moments, far longer than appropriate, Malfoy said, "I shall convey your words to the Head of my family, and the other Houses. Thank you for your time." With an almost none-existent inclination of his head, Malfoy turned around and left, not bothering to wait for a reply.

"I don't think he liked your answer," Susan commented as they made their way to class.

"He wasn't supposed to," Harry answered brightly. "And he can't even claim I insulted him, or his family, since his father loudly claimed this course of events."

"I don't think anyone has called him on it like that, though," Parvati said. "Express their disbelieve about the course of events he claimed, yes. But calling the strength of his bloodline into question?"

"Auntie Amelia will love the story when I tell her!" Susan said.

"Glad to provide your amusement," Harry said. "I've planned this answer since the day I learned about his father's trial. I'm just happy I could use it before I forgot it." He frowned for a moment, "Given my role in the demise of Voldemort, could I have ignored it?"

"Everyone else did," Tracy said. "But I guess you could argue that technically you couldn't. I don't know how many people will listen, though."

---

The rest of the week passed quickly, though the constant speculations in the Daily Prophet about Dumbledore's sentence prevented the issue from settling. In compliance with Headmistress McGonagall's wishes Harry and co ate with the other students in the Great Hall, and spent some time in the library, but mostly enjoyed their time alone in their hideaway. It was Monday that they overheard a rather interesting conversation before their Arcane Arts class.

"I don't think it is a good thing if they isolate themselves like they do," they heard Professor Sprout say, as they were about to enter their classroom.

"None of us does, Pomona," Professor Flitwick said. "But even my Ravenclaws are distracted whenever Mr. Potter or his friends are close. They need about twice as long to do the same amount of work; it's worse for students from other houses."

"I have to agree with Filius," Professor Snape sneered (and yes, that sneer was audible). "My Slytherins don't get any work done when he is nearby." He sighed, "It's not his fault, but he does disturb the other students. His friends do so, too, but to a lesser degree." A short pause. "It doesn't help that they are more advanced than the rest of the first years. Merlin, I have them working on a Potion problem that would be a challenge for a Potion Master, and I'm half afraid that they will solve it!"

"Ah, I had wondered about that," Professor Quirrell said. "They did seem unusually frustrated with their Potion assignment. At least you didn't nearly accidentally kill them."

"Oh? What happened?" Professor Snape asked.

"Minerva asked me if I could come up with an extra assignment for them; I thought it would give them the Patronus Charm to study. I conjured the assignment and got distracted; instead of studying the Patronus it instructed them to master it. I certainly did not want them to try and cast it; and by Merlin, I certainly did not expect them to succeed in creating a corporeal Patronus."

"They succeeded?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Mr. Potter was magically near exhaustion, but he managed it. The others tried until they were almost dangerously exhausted, too, and were further than the seventh years that I asked to study the charm!"

After a while Professor McGonagall sighed, "As much as I would like to remove them from classes completely for the time being, I think it would send the wrong message. As would advancing them a year. So unless someone has another idea, we will continue to work the students into exhaustion until the current situation settles down." Another sigh. "Hopefully things will normalize after the holidays."

"Will Mr. Potter stay here for winter holidays?" Professor Quirrell asked.

"Merlin, I hope not," Professor McGonagall muttered. Then she answered, "Legally he can stay with whoever he wants, until the mess with his parents will is sorted out, at which time he will either be placed with Sirius Black, Amelia Bones, or given the choice where to stay."

"Please not Black," Professor Snape muttered.

"I think you don't need to worry about that, Severus," Professor Quirrell said. "After his stay in Azkaban he is not ready to take care of a child. I would think that he will stay with the family of one of his friends; probably Bones or Granger. Maybe the Patils."

"I don't think his friends would let him choose the Grangers," Professor Flitwick said. "The reaction to him choosing muggles."

"Well, we should finish here," Professor Quirrell said, after a short pause. "My students should arrive any second."

They quickly distanced themselves from the door and acted as though they were coming from the Great Hall, trying to act surprised as they greeted the Professors when they left the room. If Professor Quirrell knew that they had listened, he didn't comment on it. After Arcane Arts, they fled to their secret rooms.

"So what do you make of that conversation?" Harry asked, as they stripped and headed into the sauna. It was clear to all that they wouldn't get much done, either mail or homework, until they had talked about the conversation they had listened in to.

"Nothing too surprising," Daphne said. "And it did explain why we had such problems with the Potion assignment."

"What about the staying at Hogwarts though? Why would Professor McGonagall be bothered by that?" Hermione asked.

"Yule celebration, or Christmas, are times usually spent with ones family," Padma said. "After ten years without family, they would probably face a lot of public scrutiny about what kind of experience they provide for him."

"That leaves the question where I do go," Harry said. Susan, Hannah, Megan, Padma, Parvati, Lisa, and Hermione offered immediately. After a moment, Harry decided, "If her parents agree, I will go with Hermione, if possible without the public learning of it. Nothing against your parents, but they are purebloods and they do play political games to at least some degree. I'd like to stay out of those games for as long as possible. And going with Hermione will allow me to pick out more books for us, too."

"I'll owl my parents, but I don't think there'll be a problem," Hermione said.

"You can get away with that this time," Daphne said. "But you will have to choose by the end of the year. The most neutral would be Black or Bones, as those were your parents choices."

"And Black might be a mental basked case," Hermione commented, and then explained the phrase to the uncomprehending purebloods. Once she realized that they apparently had no understanding of psychology she simply settled with explaining that he might be mad, and decided to bring some basic books on human psychology along from home.

---

The week passed quickly afterwards, but the tensions resulting from the suspense about Professor Dumbledore's sentence grew worse. Even the prospect of a snowball fight and assorted winter fun wasn't attractive enough to entice them to leave their sanctuary. On the next Monday, the sixteenth, they received the notification that they were invited to the ministry for the sentencing. They arrived in the courtroom without complications. After the Wizengamot filled in, and everyone had taken place, Madam Bones stood up, "The Wizengamot has deliberated over the sentence for some time now; we now ask any interested party to comment, before we announce the sentence."

Susan quickly leaned over, "This is a rarely used custom in Britain. It's used to break ties or something. I can remember Auntie Amelia mentioning something about that a few years ago, but I haven't heard of it since."

The first to rise was a scarred man with a wooden leg. Since he sat to their left and front, Harry didn't get a good look at him.

"The court recognized retired Master Auror Moody."

"I have fought beside Dumbledore for a long time. Grindlewald. Voldemort. Other, lesser, Dark Lords. He is a good man that fucked up royally this time. But he is also an old man that has done a lot of good during his long life. He has been a hero, and we have never turned our back on heroes, even if they made a mistake. The problem in this case is that Potter is a hero, too, and as such Dumbledore can't be allowed to go unpunished. Let him live out his life in the family estate, with an oath never to leave unless requested to do so by the Minister, with contact to the outside regulated by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Knowing him, taking him away from Hogwarts is a severe punishment for him, even though the sentence might seem light to those that don't know him well." Master Auror Moody sat down heavily, after his speech.

Harry half listened to the remaining speeches. The only thing that struck him as odd was that someone commented about how Dumbledore had destroyed not only his childhood but also his cousin Dudley's life, since he grew up being encouraged to hurt people; It stuck out badly since the man obviously didn't care about Dudley, or muggles in general. Harry figured it was just a ploy to get Professor Dumbledore sentenced to a harsher punishment. That caused Harry to snap to a spontaneous decision and stand up, too.

"The court recognizes Harry Potter."

"Thank you, Madam Bones," Harry responded, trying to keep his voice steady, trying to ignore the reaction he was drawing from the audience and most judges. "Professor Dumbledore; well I guess it is Mr. Dumbledore now," he corrected himself absently. "Anyway, he made a huge mess of my life, but I believe that he did not do so deliberately. A part of me wants him sentenced as hard as the law allows, but he is too powerful, too knowledgeable, to waste his life in Azkaban for in the end, minor reasons. Master Auror Moody has proposed what I believe is a balanced sentence. It will keep him isolated where he can't do any further harm, yet gives him the option to pass on his knowledge to an apprentice or other scholars. And it gives the Ministry the option to call for his assistance when something requires a wizard of enormous power." He thought for a moment, and then added, "You might want to add some restrictions to that, though. Otherwise there might be a temptation to sell Mr. Dumbledore's services, which would effectively annul his house arrest." Harry sat down deliberately, knowing that almost everyone in the courtroom was watching him. He tried to appear completely calm, but he wasn't sure how far he succeeded.

After Harry, no other rose, and the Wizengamot raised a privacy spell, as they apparently discussed what to do next. Those were probably the longest twenty minutes in Harry's life, as he remained the center of attention until the privacy spell was lifted.

"After long discussions the Wizengamot has decided that house arrest in the Dumbledore estate would be the preferable sentence. We do however agree with Mr. Potter's proposal; Mr. Dumbledore shall be given the option to teach an apprentice or assist scholars with his knowledge. The exact terms for allowing Mr. Dumbledore to leave the estate and assist the Ministry shall be discussed in the regular Wizengamot; the court only mandates that the terms have to pass with three quarters of the votes cast in support. Until terms are agreed upon by the Wizengamot, temporary terms shall be proposed by the Department for Magical Law Enforcement; Mr. Potter shall act as final authority both for the temporary terms as well as their interpretation. Case closed."

In silent mutual agreement they left the court quickly, and portkeyed away from the reporters at the first opportunity; thankfully the reporters seemed to have been caught by surprise by their fast exit and several Aurors had delayed them just enough for Harry and co to escape. Internally Harry was furious that he had been placed in the spotlight again.

Anticipating the headlines and the most likely reactions by the students they disappeared to their rooms at once, and only left for classes the next day. Nothing beat House House-elf room service!

They were even more right than they expected; the Daily Prophet no longer harped on Dumbledore but was lauding Harry's selflessness, eloquence in spite of his upbringing, and whatever other positive adjective they could somehow justify attaching to his title. Harry didn't think he made a mistake when he spoke in court, but he truly wished the press hadn't blown it up beyond all reasonable proportions.

In the afternoon a letter from Madam Bones arrived in which she apologized for putting him on the spot proposed the temporary, or probably not so temporary, terms of Dumbledore's new living arrangements. It was short enough to read through quickly, and it didn't take half an hour before Harry had send the owl back with his agreement. They weren't certain it was needed, but better save than sorry.

"I've found it!" Susan said, as she joined the others in the Great Hall that evening for dinner.

"Found what?" Tracy asked.

"I told you that Auntie Amelia had mentioned something like what happened at Dumbledore's trial. Whenever someone with special skills is found guilty of a major unlawful action that the Wizengamot believes wasn't the result of malevolence, they can opt for any punishment that they feel would benefit society the most. It's not used often, usually only if the guilty party has some very rare or valuable skills. According to tradition they have to ask the parties with personal interest in the case for recommendations; while they don't need to follow the victim's wishes, its tradition not to differ too much from it."

"So Harry really did set Dumbledore's punishment?" Hermione asked in a whisper, hoping they wouldn't be overheard.

Susan nodded, "Yes, he did."

"I don't know," Daphne commented. "I think they pretty much planned on something like this before, and Master Auror Moody gave them the official blessing they needed to enact it; the sentence would have been almost the same had Harry not said anything. Well, apart from Harry acting as temporary custodian."

"Possible," Susan agreed. "Still, he did speak, and as such will always be remembered as the person that set Dumbledore's punishment. Nothing will be able to change that."

Harry just buried his face in his hands.

The week dragged on as the students seemed to be unable to do anything but stare at Harry whenever he was present. Thankfully there only four more days of classes left before end of term. He really hoped things would settle down before the beginning of the next term. With the holidays coming up, the amount of homework they were given dropped sharply, and the other students once more looked like they had actually slept recently.

Professor Snape had told them they had done good work on their Potion problem, but Hermione and Tracy had set their teeth in it, and were not willing to back off until they had found something; Tracy because she was dreaming of being a Potion Mistress, Hermione on the other hand was going on about scientific methods and how it could help them understand why Potions work – Hermione had already asked Professors Vector and Snape for a spell to determine the potency of the potion for quick comparison. While Professor Vector had seemed doubtful, Harry thought that Professor Snape was amused.

They didn't have much time for that at the moment, though, since they had to prepare for the Potions test, and Professor Quirrell was working them harder than ever in preparation for their next ritual. Harry didn't know if there was a benefit in increasing their mental maturity, but Professor Quirrell insisted that they needed to mature their mind before they performed the other rituals, learn Occlumency, or master any of their abilities now, rather than in a couple years. It pretty much sold Harry and the others on the idea.

The Potion test came on the last day of term, and it was a lot simpler than they had feared. Still, a lot of students had trouble to complete the test, and Professor Snape seemed to draw intense satisfaction from humiliating the Gryffindors, especially Ronald Weasley and Neville Longbottom, though not all Slytherins escaped his sharp tongue.

As they left the potions class Harry couldn't help but smile. The first term at Hogwarts was over, and his life had changed more than he ever thought possible. He was free from the Dursleys, he was rich, he had over a dozen great friends, and he was acing in school. Life was good. Now there was only the ritual on Sunday left, and then he would take the train back to London and celebrate his first Christmas; maybe not with family of blood, but family of choice. He was really looking forward to actually eat a Christmas dinner for once, instead of just smelling it. And to get presents for the first time, ever. He brightened even more. Maybe he would even meet a couple of his parents friends personally; he hoped they would write him at least. Yes, everything was looking up for once.