Harry had fallen asleep still thinking about Ron and Malfoy. It had been a loong day, after all.

He rose before the sun, in the falsedawn that he'd always loved, before coming to Hogwarts. It had taken him days, every year, to adjust to Gryffindor's late timetable.

No reason he had to do that here, Harry thought. The Slytherins seemed much more punctual, and always had. Probably would offend their honor or some such dross if they missed an appointment.

Harry showered and dressed.

So, all his plans were shot to... well now.

Nothing new there.

Time to get started making new ones.

His first order of business, now that he was at Hogwarts, was to figure out exactly what his capabilities were.

Stepping out into the Slytherin Common Room, he looked at the dark elegance - for it was graceful and calming, even as it looked strict. A tall young lady with dull-brown hair looked up from her book, at him.

"Early riser?" she asked.

"Always," Harry said with a grin.

She smiled back, and said, "There's plenty of chairs, so sit on the floor!"

Harry nodded, executed an overly-affected bow, and said, "Thank you, milady, but I have business about the castle at large. I dare not tarry."

She frowned, setting her book down. "Where are you headed, before your first class, even?"

"Exploring," Harry said, as it would make sense that a firstie would want to explore the castle.

"Wonderful!" She said, and Harry detected a thread of 'couldn't you just stay here.' But there was the essence of practicality, and not hostility, in the next sentence: "You'll get it done in a tenth of the time with an indiginous guide."

"Huh?" Harry asked. Did all Slytherins pick up Snape's tendency to use excessively long words?

"I'll join you, and give you a proper tour." She said, and then continued, "I'm Cecilia."

Harry nodded, and waited until they were outside the common room door. "You don't seem to care... about my history?" He found himself asking.

"My name's Cecilia, and it means blind."

"Who would name their child blind?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"My parents, obviously." She said with a giggly smile. "I'll treat you as if you didn't mean to do any of that - you were barely a year old, for goodness sakes!"

Harry smiled back, "True enough."

"Be warned, you won't like it if you get on my bad side," Cecilia said.

"Justice is blind," Harry agreed.

"I knew you had something in that mind of yours!" Cecilia smiled.

"It's why I'm not in Gryffindor." Harry smirked back.

Cecilia ground to a halt. Then she grabbed for Harry's robe, and pulled him close to her side. "Not so loud with that. In fact, don't mention that to anyone, ever."

Harry strove to look innocent, "Why not?"

"It's the sort of thing that someone might use against you, of course." Cecilia said, "Never give knowledge of yourself away for free." Cecilia pinned him with her dark brown eyes. "That's the sort of knowledge some might kill for."

Harry nodded, keeping up a steady stream of questions about mundane bits of the castle (most of which he already knew the answer to from Hermione.) That was well and good, though, because it just meant he had more time to plan an escape.

The Library! Harry thought, almost as they'd reached it. There were several small exits from the library - one with what looked like badger-moles around the edges - that no one except Harry had ever found. Harry supposed most people didn't have a Hermione insisting that they go to the library and study. Still, this was the perfect opportunity.

And hadn't Cecilia been reading when he'd interrupted?

Entering the Library, Harry made his eyes big and round. "Can I stay here until breakfast?" He asked excitedly.

"Sure," Cecilia said, seeing nothing wrong with this, "But take care where you step. There's a forbidden section that is not for First Years."

Harry nodded firmly. He knew all about that section.

Perhaps not so oddly, there were Ravenclaws in the library, and so Harry had to take a circuitous path to the badger-mole entrance. He exited quietly and stepped into a nearby classroom.

How powerful am I? Harry asked himself, and then began to cast.

He quickly found that he'd forgotten the exact twist of a third of the first year spells, but also that a few that he was certain of, he just couldn't pull off. That's to say, the spell just went wrong. Counterspells, luckily, weren't a problem. He could manage a few of the second year spells, but they were the ones that he'd used most often in his previous life.

It definitely wouldn't be enough to save him from a seventh year.

Not that he'd expected that to work, anyway. But it was worth a try.

[a/n: Review? I'm not sure how overprotective the Slytherins are going to be of First Years. Thoughts?]