"Human speak"

'private thought'

cat speech

$parseltongue$

Bird speech

Wolf/dog speech=

Professor Black, Lord of House Black, Former Hit wizard, Disgraced Auror and Professor of DADA. This year he is also Acting Head of Gryffindor and tutor in the Self Transfiguration Arts.

He and Hagrid are sitting at the end of the table, because last night the big guy put a fork through Flitwicks hand. He smirked into his goblet as Hagrid missed his mouth for the third time in a row.

The poor guy was enchanted by the Beauxbatons' Headmistress.

His eyes swept over the crowd of students. And he lost all joy.

He was missing his Pup. His Godson, by blood oath.

His mind was thrown back to that horrible night.

[Flashback]

He stepped over the dead James and ran for the crying child upstairs. As he stepped into the room, he noticed Lily's sprawled form, a smile on her lips. Her plan has worked.

His focus was drawn back to the fifteen month babe standing in the crib, clutching the rail in his chubby little hands. "Pahfoo!"

He swept the little guy into his arms, inspecting the most important thing to him in the World, now that Prongs and Lily were gone. He had just finished his inspection when he heard a scuffle behind him. He twisted about, his wand trained on the shabby wizard in a patched second hand trench coat.

"Your greatest regret." The werewolf snarled.

"Snape, the willow, in sixth year." The Animagus whispered. "And yours?"

"I never pursued your cousin." Lupin slid his wand into an inside coat pocket.

Black allowed his wand to snap back into his cuff. "Not my greatest, but in the top five." Black shifted the heavy happy babe to his left hip. "You realize that this means that the Rat turned on us. I will have to go after him, because your status prevents our Vengeance at your hands. I must trust what is now my greatest treasure into your hands." He passed the sleepy child to the smaller man. A flick of his wrist and his wand bloomed in his fingers. A flick of the wand and two wands jumped from the floor and he caught them in his off hand before catching a third coming over Remus's shoulder. He handed the three wands to the wolf-man and then removed the wand cuff from his wrist. "The wands are his legacy, the cuff is to ease in the protection of the Pup, and to be given to him on his eleventh birthday. If I find you within the week, take him and don't return until his fifteenth birthday. Teach him our ways."

The two men finished into the night.

Wormtail was lucky that night, and escaped into the sewers. He left only his finger, to make the Sheeple think Black had killed him.

Bart Crouch, in a bid for recognition, had Black drug before the entire Wizemgomot in a bid to 'rescue' the child.

It was November 3rd.

They threw him into the chair of the accused, and the chains snapped about him tightly. He had demanded Ted Tonks as his Defense Lawyer. Longbottom, thinking he was guilty, demanded Crouch summon the muggleborn, as to not give Black an out.

When the thinning haired wizard was at his side, Black demanded Vetrisearum.

Then Barty's plans fell apart.

"Mr Black." The Hitler mustached wizard pounded the table with his fist as he leaned forward. "Where is the Potter Heir?"

"I can not tell you." The drone of his drugged tone carried across the chamber.

"And can you not tell us? "

"Three reasons. One, I can not cause the Tike harm. I perceive this body is seeking the Heir as a form of harm. Two, I do not know where they went. I gave my Heir to my closest living friend, and told him to take little Harry to safety. I would find them in a week if it was safe to do so. And Three, I can not reveal any further information as I perceive those you send hunting them will harm him thinking they are rescuing him. In short, I do not trust you. The only reason I am sitting here and not locked away in Azkaban is Crouch wants to pad his bid for Minister."

Longbottom stood and glared down at the bound wizard. "And why can you not harm Heir Potter?" He gripped the rail before him. "And why did you call him your Heir?"

"You should know, Longbottom. You were there when I swore the blood oath over Baby Harry, Same time Lily and Alice exchanged vows over Harry and Neville." Even drugged the Accused seemed to snarl. "As of their last birthdays, I named Harry as my Heir. Considering that I was in a profession with a high mortality rate, I signed nearly everything I own to go to him. I left ten percent and a cottage to my most trusted brother."

Frank grabbed his head, screamed as he feinted, bleeding from his nose.

[Flashback ends]

Sirius was shaken from his memories as the lights dropped around the Great Hall.

'Albus was in fine form tonight.' Padfoot smirked as the bearded wizard pranced up to the Goblet. Only because he watched Prongs move after the change, could he spot the goat gaite on the ancient wizard.

The Goblet flashed Red… a scarp of singed parchment fluttered down.

"Victor Krum! Champion for Drumstrom!"

The Hall exploded with applause, the Red Robed war wizards roared and thumped their chests.

"Fleur Declure! Champion for Beauxbatons!"

All the males hooted for her, a side effect of her allure. The witches politely applauded.

"Cedric Diggory! Champion for Hogwarts!"

The wave of black robes surged to their feet, the yellow and black trimmed were hooting and slapping the back of a broad chested male as he made his way to the High Table.

He was turning away to return to his chair…

The Goblet flared a third time, and a scrap of parchment fell into Dumbledore's hand.

"Harry Potter!"

Dead silence.

Then the whispering began.

Sirius stood, vaulting over the table, he strode to Albus's side and ripped the scrap from the old fool's hand. "If this your…"

The Goblet roared a bloom of white flame that measured easily ten feet up…

And two figures dressed in leathers, rolled out of the air above the goblet, landed on the stone floor and continued to roll across the flagstones, grappling in an act of wrestling when the older man froze, before sniffing the air.

"You Damn Dirty Dog!" The older man disengaged from the Lad he had pinned. He surged to his feet, and sprang at the DADA, catching the lanky wizard in a bear hug that carried them over and to the ground.

"Moonrunner!" The Lad commanded, "Remember where we are!"

The reaction was instantaneous. The leather clad man was on his feet, squatting in a fighting pose, before he relaxed. "No need, Alpha. This is Deathbreath. You should know him from our stories."

"Deathbreath." The smaller male approached the man, still on the floor. He offered his hand to the man on the floor. Clasping his forearm, he heaved Black to his feet. "Silvereye, a pleasure to meet you."

Black looked the lad over. He looked like James would have if he was a muggleborn laborer. With Lily's green eyes. Only now they were ringed with silver. Above his right eye was a lightning bolt scar and a brand of a bastardized Omega rune.

"Harry Potter?" Albus had found his tongue. But not his wits…

HATM

A dark shadow emerged into the light of the campfire. As the light covered its thick matte three shades of gray coat the Garrison Cat krackle-purred. The two tusks of its lower jaw were impaled through three saber toothed horned rabbits.

The man sitting at the fire just shook his head. "You were to hunt as a human."

As the rabbits were thrown to the ground, the cat shimmered into a well muscled youth with shining green eyes. "So… you don't want a rabbit."

"I never said that, you were to hunt only as a Human." The man frowned at the boy, "How will you learn to hunt as human if you must keep shifting to your animal form?"

"Oh I tracked them as a human, but I shifted to the Garrison Cat for the kill. Something about the taste of the life blood on your tongue as the heart slows and stops." He drew a small knife from his boot, and started to skin and clear the carcasses. Working the teeth and horns from the skull on one rabbit, he tossed the head of the other two into the pot of water that was to be stew for the morning.

Uncle Moony preferred the head on his roasted rabbit, and cooking the heads decreased the magic of the teeth and horns. Harry had a need for the two saber fangs and horn undamaged and the flesh stripped skulls, which is why he had hunted three of them. Most of the entrails went into the stew pot. Only the intestines were sealed in a ceramic jar under a stasis charm. The jar was dropped into his hip pouch. He wiped the knife off on his boot, before he rolled the first up, and set them to dry by the fire. On a stone over the fire the three rabbits were laid out and dusted with salt and sage. The stone was slanted to drain the grease into the stew pot.

After he had eaten his rabbits, scraped the meat off the heads pulled from the skull in the stew, and put them and the skins into his hip pouch. Then he began to stretch as Moony pulled a cloth wrapped bundle from his hip pouch, and unwrapped a selection of cookies. Taking one, he placed it on the stone beside him, before rewrapping the bundle and putting it back in his pouch.

The two of them stood off to the side, looking at one another, before they lunged at each other.

Harry went low, aiming for the legs of his opponent, but Lupin caught him in a reverse headlock.

As the they struggled they failed to notice the campfire bloom into a white flame the burned the very space and air above the stones…

Even when they were pulled into the flame and dumped on the stone floor inside a castle. You could tell by the energy of the place.

Lupin had just pinned the lad, when he caught a sent he had almost forgotten. He froze, sniffing the air.

"You Damn Dirty Dog!" Lupin disengaged from the Lad. He surged to his feet, and sprang at the DADA, catching the lanky wizard in a bear hug that carried them over and to the ground.

"Moonrunner!" Harry commanded, as he stood slowly. "Remember where we are!"

The reaction was instantaneous. The leather clad man was on his feet, squatting in a fighting pose, before he relaxed. "No need, Alpha. This is Deathbreath. You should know him from our stories."

"Deathbreath." The smaller male approached the man, still on the floor. He offered his hand to the man on the floor. Clasping his forearm, he heaved Black to his feet. "Silvereye, a pleasure to meet you."

Black looked the lad over. He looked like James would have if he was a muggleborn laborer. With Lily's green eyes. Only now they were ringed with silver. Above his right eye was a lightning bolt scar and a brand of a bastardized Omega rune.

"Harry Potter?"

All eyes were on the greybeard, as he poked Harry with his boney finger.

"Sir!" Harry turned to face the man, "who are you and what gives you the right to touch me?"

"Potter!" A dark greasy haired man with a hooked nose drifted out of the shadows. His cloak fluttering in his wake! "Just like your slacker father!"

Harry twisted to look at the man approaching him, ""Vampyre!" A silver bolt flashed from his hand towards the greasy haired male.

The man was hit in the shoulder and crumpled.

Everyone else went still.

"Pup." Padfoot, a wizard that Harry only knew by stories told around the campfire, dropped a hand on his shoulder, "That was the Potion Master of the School. While he is a dick, he was a friend of your mother's and a rival for her hand in James's eyes. He gave as good as he got. While we started it, I have lost track of who had the last laugh."

"What was that spell you cast at Snape?" A short man asked. Short as in only waist high.

Harry sniffed at the little man, before he answered, "Silver bolt." He worked his hand, "An all purpose spell that can give you a few seconds to aim better or find a bigger spell. It is a stop gap only, as the Bolt will dissipate in five minutes."

"Harry Potter." Albus smiled, "We have been waiting for you."

"Not now, Albus." Black snapped. "You try anything or fail to stop your puppets from doing anything, and I will walk away and take my Godson with me."

Lupin looked around at the assembled faces, noticing the different coloured robes among the students. "Ah, Padfoot… what's going on?"

"Oh that. Our illustrious Headmaster brought back the Triwizard Tournament." He turned to glare at the Headmaster. "Albus just called Harry as a fourth Champion."

"I did not." Albus protested weakly, "The Goblet did. I just read the scrap of parchment."

"What is this!" A skinny wizard in a fur hat charged the group around the goblet. "I was told there were to be only three schools in this circus. And then you pull a fourth out of thin air!"

Harry was moving before anyone noticed, and the yelling wizard was face down on the stones, a leather boot in the middle of his back.

The red robes students roared to their feet in protest.

A witch in a plaid skirt and a 'deerhunter' conical hat, swept from the side of the table. "Mr Black! Please don't antagonize the Headmasters. Mr. Lupin, Welcome back. Mr. Potter, please stop attacking everyone. Albus, stop prompting these outcries. Students to your Dorms!" She welded her authority with the precision of a needle and the force of a mace. Almost every student in black stood and tromped out of the hall.

Two redheads, twins remained, their eyes glued on Black and Lupin.

The blue students huddled together and slipped away.

The red students stood, but waited for their Headmaster.

A witch in an apron and a hat with a red cross on it approached the fallen Snape.

"Cub." Lupin spoke softly, "Come meet Auntie Minnie. She was your Father's Godmother."

Harry stepped away from Karkaroff and approached Lupin. Greetings Hearth Queen. This Tom seeks shelter for the coming storm.

McGonagall's neck stiffened. "Mr. Potter. As impertinent as your Father I see. We are not amused."

Harry smirked. She might speak that she was not amused, but he could taste her amusement and her pride. The grace with which she moved was that of Mouser in her Prime. A true Queen in every way.

The Witch turned her iron gaze on the Headmasters. "Albus, Igor. You have students waiting for you in the other room. Lupin, Black, Potter, join us please." It was not a request.

Two of the red hide and fur robed students, helped their Headmaster to his feet, and returned to their ranks.

The five wizards followed the witch into the next room where two wizards, two witches and a massive Matron were waiting.

Taking his social cues from Lupin, Harry assumed a stance of Parade At Ease.

Two wizards, that just screamed 'Church' to Harry's mind, stepped forward and spoke of the three tasks and that it was supposed to be a fear of the unknown so their only clue was 'fire and air'.

Then everyone broke away, the two wizards from the Ministry were the first to leave. Then the two in fur. The young witch with platinum blonde hair and the very tall woman exited next, as the second youngest wizard huddled with a witch with a squashed conical hat tied to her head.

Albus approached Harry, "Shall we adjourn to my Office." A gentle smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eyes. "We talk about where to House you."

What are up to you old goat?Minnie glared at the old man.

The trio of the pack followed the old man and the woman through the maze of hallways and stairs to a gargoyle perched on a bench. A word from the Headmaster and the bench slid to the side, to reveal a spiral staircase that carried the Headmaster and Headmistress upwards.

Placing his palm on the chiseled muscles of the gargoyle. "Thank you for your service." He bowed his head, "Please let me know if you need anything." Harry then bounded up the stairs, with Lupin and Black on his heels.

A purring trill calling his attention, Harry found himself locking gazes with a red bird with jeweled eyes. There you are chick. The buzzard was beginning to get desperate. He needed to find you to remain in power. Beware, he hoards secrets like a niffler does shiny.

Harry nodded as he slowly turned to scan the office.

"First things first, let's get you sorted." Albus waved his hand and a hat dropped from a high shelf to land on the desk.

"And why would he need to be sorted?" Lupin snarled.

"So we know which House he will call home while he is here at Hogwarts." Albus stated as if he was explaining alchemy to Nick.

"When he becomes a student here, yes. He will sit under the Hat. Until then, he is a free agent." Black snarled."First offense."

Minnie frowned, "Are you saying that Harry won't be a student here?"

"Maybe next year." Sirius sorted as he spoke to McGonagall, "I had planned to reclaim him within a week of that night, and failing that, for him to return on his fifteenth birthday. Knowing what I know now, I am glad that I failed to reclaim him thirteen years ago." He glared at Albus, "You think that Alice Longbottom is a thorn in your ass, don't make me bring House Black to bear."

"There are three schools not represented here that I can take him to, and that is if he doesn't choose to go to one of your rivals here." Lupin sneered. "I am beginning to feel that we don't want to have the Potter House linked to Hogwarts as long as Dumbledore is here."

"Careful, boy, that is the Headmaster you are talking to." A stren Headmistress from the paintings above them spoke up.

"We know." Black turned to look up at them, locking eyes with a sour looking man in black robes, "Where House Potter goes, House Black follows."

"Really?" The sour faced Headmaster inquired.

"Heir Potter is also Heir Black. The only reason I took this post is so Albus would be barreled when my Heir returns next year. My Cousin's sprog thinks he is going to inherit the Title and in the name of the Heir, has been tarnishing our good name."

"Yes, your Grandfather sent the House into a tizzy when he declared you his Heir. Your Mother is spinning in her grave with what you are doing to the House." Headmaster Black smirked. "If our Heir goes anywhere other than Hogwarts, make sure We are among their elite." And he settled back and froze.

"If anyone wants my two cents," the rumpled hat on Albus's desk spoke up, "Do we even want a werewolf hunter as an alumni?"

That brought everyone not wearing leathers to first look at the hat then the boy, then the older man.

"Hey. The lad needed a profession. It was either that or Vampire hunter. And they breed their own replacements. As a Wolf hunter, he only had to hunt those who hunted outside of the Pack grounds and those who preyed on the Sheeple." He tucked his thumbs into his belt."They taught me how to become one with my wolf. And then the church burned the curse out of me. Now I am not a threat to humans that are not a threat to me. I am still bound to the moon… when is the full moon here?"

"Three nights out." Minerva spoke softly.

Lupin nodded, before refocusing on Albus.

"So, where were you for the past thirteen years?" Albus asked.

"Traveling." Harry spoke softly, with an edge. "I spent the first five years running with the human children in a farming village in Kissig, before I was put to work in the fields. I spent the next five years learning every trick of the trade from the foresters, and the hunters. Then I spent a year in Ravnica, learning from the Houses of Boros and Selesnya. I then returned to Kissig to put everything I learned to use." He looked over his shoulder at Lupin, "Every evening I learned something new from Moony about the arts of my father and mother. The only thing I was not taught was how the stars affect my magic because everywhere I traveled, the stars were different. Instead I was taught a spell that would alter or adjust my potion recipe to account for Astrological deverance."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow. "Vector would kill for that Arithmetic Scheme."

"We are getting off topic." Lupin smiled, showing his fangs, "Where are The Cub and I staying?"

"The Apartments across from mine." Black sneered, "I said I was including a few provisos to my employment. This is one."

"And that is one." Albus hummed to himself. "Okay that leaves you two. Mr Lupin, I will need to ask you to depart…"

"And Lord Black has his favor returned, and you lose your Professor." Harry smirked. "Where I go, my Pack goes. You have a problem with that, and I will treat you like a rival Alpha." Now Harry showed his fangs, "And you are far over the hill, you are two valleys away."

Fawks flew from his perch and landed on Harry's shoulder. Old Goat, you will lose this one and I am siding with the chick.

Harry blinked before his grin grew bigger. "Four to one, and that is before the Queen weighs in."

"Queen? Albus looked confused, "What Queen?"

Minerva sighed and slapped Albus on the head as she led the way out of the office. Lupin broke away first, pulling Black along. Once they were out the door, Harry moved to follow, the bird on his shoulder. As the door boomed shut, the stairs carried Harry to the hallway were the gargoyle, four wizards and a witch were waiting for him.

"Misters Weasley. I thought I said everyone was to return to their dorms." Again, Minerva was not asking.

"Yes Professor…"

"You did say that."

"But we had a "

"Pressing question…"

" Professor Black." They had ping-ponged the first two lines between them, and chorused 'Professor Black'.

The witch looked between the two groups of troublemakers from her House, "Oh Hell No!" And the shadows darkened in the hall as she seemed to grow larger. "This stops right here, right now!"

Lupin flick a thumb at the twins for Harry to see.

Harry nodded, and looped his arms through theirs, drawing them along. "My uncle thinks I need a friend or two to help me learn the social ins and outs of your people. I can't just go about stabbing everyone who says boo."

"We could help…"

"You with that."

McGonagall's groan was heard from the twenty foot lead she had on them.

TBC