The next morning Harry was walking down to breakfast. He was in a good mood even with Ron and Hermione trailing either side of him. They would not be able to ruin his good mood today. There was a double period of divination first thing that morning followed by history of magic, and muggle studies. Harry took neither divination or muggle studies so both were free periods for him, and history of magic was so abysmal that it was basically another free period. It was his easiest day by far with only charms and DADA after lunch. Hermione took both divination and muggle studies. Ron also took divination, which meant he was free from them for two hours. He was also excited for DADA. In the last timeline, today was the day Remus put them against a boggart and Harry was intrigued what it would turn into, dementors didn't hold the same fear they once did for him.

Walking into breakfast, the trio quickly noticed the silence that blanketed the hall. No one was talking, everyone was staring straight down at the table, and the only thing that could be heard was the quiet clatter of cutlery on plates. Quickly Harry sat next to Neville and looked for the reason for the silence. It didn't take him long. Snape sat with the most severe scowl he had ever seen from the man. It was made more menacing by the deep purple eye bags, and messy hair. He looked like he had been up all night. Sat next to him was an equally grumpy and exhausted looking Remus Lupin. Harry was pretty sure Remus was wearing the same robes as yesterday. It was the most disheveled anyone had ever seen Snape. The braver students were looking between the two professors with speculative glances and he wondered what the Hogwarts rumor mill would come up with this time.

Suddenly, Snape's utterly venomous glare fixed on him, and he shivered as the onyx eyes bore into him. Harry realized very abruptly that he would need to find a way for them to have access to the library if he ever wanted peace in this lifetime. He would have to ask Salazar and Rowena as soon as possible. The potions master looked away as another group of students entered the hall and Harry let out a breath. Knowing that this was technically his fault he decided to try and get the dour man to be less murderous. Leaning right down to the table he spoke.

"Would you please make the strongest coffee you can, add cinnamon, vanilla, half cream, and one sugar, for professor Snape. Please and thankyou." With the silence in the hall almost the entire table heard him as well as some from other tables and were all looking at him like he was insane. Harry ignored them and turned to look at the head table where a steaming mug of coffee had just appeared in front of Snape. Everyone around him turned and watched as the potions professor reached forward and wrapped his hands around the warm mug and took a sip, his scowl lessened ever so slightly and the hall released a collective breath. Harry noticed Moony making puppy eyes at the cup and asked the elves to get him one too. Soon enough both professors were happily drinking their coffees and slowly the noise came back to the hall.

"Malfoy keeps looking over here." he turned to Ron who was scowling across the room. looking over he locked eyes with the blond who looked at him in confusion then his eyes flicked to the ceiling where the post comes from and a scowl came across his features. Throughout the rest of breakfast Malfoy's eyes would flick between him and the ceiling. At this point it was obvious that Harry was supposed to receive something probably from the Malfoy patriarch. Hermione had noticed too and had a smug little smile on her face. If only she knew that Harry still received his mail despite the owl redirection ward Dumbles placed on him. When he had found out about it he asked the goblins to alter it slightly so all the redirected mail went to them to be sorted and sent to him via letter boxes.

Harry still wasn't sure how to deal with the Slytherins. He didn't hate them like he used to, he hadn't since the cleansing, but he wasn't sure how open they would be to him trying for anything more than civil. He would class his current feelings towards them as mild amusement, mostly because of their interactions with the idiots, but if he was honest with himself, he was intrigued by the people who could have been his house mates, if the coot hadn't interfered. He hadn't exactly made a good impression though, every time they had tried to talk to him, he had had to avoid them or act hostile. He expected they would wait for him to leave then follow, like they had been doing more recently. To his surprise they all got up and walked out the doors. Before he was even finished with his breakfast.

"I don't have Divination so I'm going to head to the library. I'll see you in History of Magic after break." Ron frowned, he was still angry that Harry didn't take divination with him, but there was no way he was going to sit through three more years of that. He stood and headed out the doors making his way to the library. In the corridor just before the library an arm shot out from behind a tapestry he was walking past and pulled him in. It caught him so off guard that he staggered and fell into someone, dropping the books he hadn't bothered putting back in his bag before leaving the hall. Looking up he saw a slightly shocked Theodore Nott. he went to push himself away and realized his wrist was still being held. He looked at the hand and followed the arm to Goyle, who quickly let go.

"Sorry. You are small." Harry blinked at him. He called him small. He knew he was, but that was just rude. Crabbe facepalmed next to him, and started saying something to the other boy in a language Harry didn't recognize. But Goyles eyes widened and he turned back to harry. "Sorry. You are light." Goyles words were heavily accented and he wondered why he had never noticed before. Crabbe rubbed at his temples and continued.

"He meant, you were lighter than he thought you would be and over compensated. He is sorry for pulling you so hard."He felt a slight shifting and realized he was still leaning against Nott. he quickly pushed himself away and looked around the space. All of the Slytherin third years were there and most looked like they were suppressing giggles. Another boy stepped in front of him holding out his books, and oh Merlin why were they all so bloody tall. Nott was the tallest and was at least a head taller than Harry; all the other boys were only an inch or two shorter than that. It wasn't fair.

"We know it wasn't the best way, but you said we couldn't be seen together and this is what we could think of." The boy, Zabini, his mind supplied, was looking at him nervously and Harry realized he still hadn't taken the books, and was glaring at them for daring to be so tall. He snatched the books back and looked them over; they were some of the parselscript books he had copied from Salizar. He didn't mind having these out for people to see since no one could read them anyway and almost no one knew that parseltongue had a written language. Just because they were copies though didn't mean they weren't fragile. They were exact copies. He went to pull the first book open and the cover came off in his hand. It was fine. It was fine. It's just a copy you can make a new one. He felt tears sting his eyes and he didn't know why but it wouldn't stop. It was just a copy and he knew that, but all he could think of was Salazar telling him to be careful, and that even though they were copies, they were precious. This was stupid, he could fix this. He placed the book with its cover back on top of it onto the floor, and knelt down.

"I would like it put on record that I think this is a bad idea." Theo couldn't help but agree with her.

"Well Daphne if you have a better idea I would love to hear it. He told us that we basically couldn't approach him ever, and at this point after the dementor on the train we probably all owe him a life debt that goes double for me, and Blaise outright insulted him. We aren't doing too well, and my father was all cryptic this summer, asking me to watch him, and that he wasn't what he seemed." They were currently walking through one of the secret passages that led to the library.

"You're being a little dramatic there, Dray." pansy cut in pulling his attention away from her friend.

"I'm just saying that ambushing him and pulling him into an alcove where he is clearly outnumbered, isn't the best idea." Before Draco could start again Blaise spoke up.

"That's not everything though is it Draco? You were going to be careful, but you just threw that plan out the window. So what happened during breakfast that made you decide to rush everything?" Everyone stopped and looked at Draco, who was biting his lip. Zabini was the only one who noticed that something had happened. No one considered that there was an actual reason, they just assumed he was being impulsive.

"I think someone might be tampering with his mail. At first I thought it was just a normal mail ward. You know? He's famous. Getting mail from fans every day would get annoying, but my father sent him something. Something that should have arrived this morning. Having formal correspondence from a high ranking lord be blocked by a mail ward. It seems malicious. Not to mention when I looked at Granger, she smirked at me like she knew." they continued walking and stopped at the entrance waiting for Potter.

"I get why, but there must be a better way than yanking him through a tapestry." again he couldn't help but agree.

"Yes or no he close." Goyles accented English cut any response that would have been given, and Draco nodded at him. Potter was pulled roughly through the tapestry and straight into his chest. He looked down into bright green eyes blinking up at him. He seemed to register their position and went to move but turned his head. Goyle still hadn't let go of Potter's wrist.

"Sorry. You are small." Theo saw Crabbe facepalm, and started saying something to Goyle in Cornish before Goyles eyes widened and he turned back to harry. "Sorry. You are light." He was trying his very hardest not to laugh and only now did he realize Potter hadn't moved, and was still leaning on him. He noticed Zabini collecting books off the floor. Potter must have been holding them when he was pulled. The poor books.

"He meant, you were lighter than he thought you would be and over compensated. He is sorry for pulling you so hard." Theo was trying his best not to laugh at that, but it was hard. Potter's head snapped back to him and realizing the position they were in quickly pushed himself away. Blaise stepped forward holding the books out to the other boy. Potter didn't even look at them, just stood scowling. Blaise shifted uncomfortably.

"We know it wasn't the best way, but you said we couldn't be seen together and this is what we could think of." Potter's glare stopped immediately and his eyes lowered to the books, he snatched them from Blaise and began looking them over carefully. Theo hadn't known Potter cared for his books so much. He pulled the first book open and the cover came off in his hand. Theo watched the boy's face fall as he looked between the book and its ripped off cover. If he wasn't mistaken it looked like he was about to cry. All of them turned to him with faces full of panic, and Pansy spoke.

"Theo, please tell us that that book isn't some rare tome." he leaned forward slightly and winced.

"The writing looks like a very ancient language. I don't know what it is. I haven't seen it before, it's also entirely handwritten. The style of binding is something only seen in very old tomes and would explain why it's so fragile." Pansy was getting impatient and snapped.

"And?"

"It's more than likely one of a kind and from his ancestral library." all of their faces went ashen as they looked at Potter who was still looking between the cover and the rest of the book. Because of them a probably ancient and irreplaceable tome had been damaged. Suddenly Potter dropped to his knees and placed the book gently in front of him, his hand held over the cover before closing his eyes, and starting to… Growl? Hum? He didn't know, but it was deep, melodic, and beautiful. The humming stopped abruptly and Potter's hand glowed with a yellow light. When he pulled it away he inspected the book again only for it to be fixed. That wasn't possible. repairing magic cast on ancient tomes just caused more damage. It interacted poorly with the preservation charms causing them to deteriorate and damage the tome.

Harry was happy that had worked he wasn't sure it would but good to know it wouldn't react poorly with the preservation spells. He quickly and carefully put the books away into his bag and stood. Looking up he remembered that he wasn't alone and that performing Draconic magic in front of them wasn't his best idea. They were all looking at him like he had declared that Snape was his father.

"So… are we just going to talk in this passageway or did you have somewhere more comfortable in mind?" a girl, Parkinson he believed, stepped forward and linked their arms, pulling him down the passageway and passed the other still frozen Slytherins.

"Of course, there's this abandoned classroom we turned into a study room. it's just at the end of this passageway. We made it there so we had easy access to the library." They continued at a fast pace until they reached an outcove with a statue hiding the entrance to the passage. They slipped around it and into the door right in front of the statue.

This was not a classroom. He was pretty sure it was some kind of hall, and now that he thought about it that did make sense. You wouldn't have a great hall if there weren't other not so great halls. It was still beautiful though the, floor was some kind of polished stone with large pillars leading to high arched ceilings. The pillars were covered in deep green satin curtains that pooled on the floor where it was tied back to reveal the intricately carved stonework beneath, a large marble fireplace was in the center of one wall, and many floor to ceiling windows looking out over the grounds. To the far end of the room was a large dining table that would comfortably seat ten and in the center was a cluster of sofas all in different, but still complimenting, shades of green. Parkinson pulled on his arm and led him to one of the seats. It wasn't long before the others joined and Nott spoke.

"What the hell was that back there?" Harry just smiled knowing exactly how to derail that line of questioning.

"Your Nott? Right? Theodore Nott, Heir to the Noble and Ancient House of Nott. Your father is Theodorus Nott, Earl of Norhaven?" Notts face went pink and he stood quickly, the others rushing to join him.

"I apologize for my rudeness. Yes, I am Theodore Nott, Heir to the Noble and Ancient House of Nott. it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He held his hands at his sides, palms out and bowed in a traditional wizarding greeting of a lower ranking family. A girl with long dark brown hair and brown eyes was next to step forward. She looked extremely nervous.

"My Name is Tracey Davis, my mother was a daughter of the indirect line of the Selwyn family. It's a pleasure to meet you." She bowed in the same way Nott had, but much deeper, and held it slightly longer. The other girls looked at her with encouraging smiles after she was done and Harry assumed they had taught her etiquette as she wasn't raised into a noble family.

"I am Gregory Goyle, Son of the Noble House of Goyle. My father is Barron of Temadura. it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." His accent was thick and Harry was now sure that English was not his first language.

"Millicent Bulstrode, Daughter of the Noble and Ancient House of Bulstrode. My father is the Count of Nastile. it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Pansy Parkinson, Daughter of the Noble and Ancient House of Parkinson. My father is the Earl of Embercain. it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Vincent Crabbe, Heir of the Noble House of Crabbe. My father is Barron of Direscar. it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He had the same accent as Goyle but seemed more comfortable with the English language than the other boy.

"Blaise Zabini, Heir to the Noble and Distinguished House of Zabini and the Noble House of Wilkes. My Mother is the Viscountess of Sencia and Baroness of Narveil. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I am Daphne Greengrass, Heiress to the Noble and Ancient House of Greengrass. My father is the Count of Perrybell. it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Draconis Malfoy, Heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Malfoy, My father is Marquess of Ithnion, and I believe we have met." he sent a small smirk to him which Harry returned.

"I am Hadrian Potter, Lord of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter, Margrave of Thornfair. It's a pleasure to make all of your acquaintances." he allowed the potter lord ring to be visible as they all looked to his hand with slightly wide eyes at his declaration. It was a bit of a risk to tell them about the Lordship but the whole house had proven themselves to be tight-lipped when they wanted to be. Parkinson and Zabini stepped forward, Zabini giveing a deep bow and Parkinson a Deep curtsey, with a low 'My Lord' spoken in unison. Harry was a little stunned but was quickly going through the etiquette and genealogy books he had read, and realized that the Zabini's and Parkinson's held lands in the Potter territories, making him their active lord. Technically he was also Greengrass's Lord, as their lands were in Ravenclaws territories, but she didn't know that, and he wasn't about to say anything. They all retook their seats and Harry spoke.

"So what is it you yanked me through a tapestry for?" They all turned to Malfoy, so Harry looked to him for an answer also.

"We had decided to keep our distance until we found a suitable way of communicating with you, however this morning worried me. I believe you might have a mail ward placed on you by someone with malicious intentions." Harry raised an eyebrow. So they weren't just trying to be neutral with him, they were actively helping. This was unexpected but not unwelcome.

"I am aware." Malfoy looked at him in shock.

"I apologize Lord Potter, but I don't think you are. This ward stopped a formal missive from another Lord of equal standing to yourself." Harry sighed, he would have to give them more. He supposes it doesn't really matter as Lucius already knows he's not in Dumbledore's pocket after telling him about Dobby.

"First please call me Potter, or if we are in private, you can call me Hadrian. I would rather not be called Harry as I don't particularly like it." they all looked slightly shocked at that revelation. "Next, Heir Malfoy, I am aware of the ward, who placed it, and have already counteracted it without any visible indication of doing so. I will check your fathers missive as soon as I am able. I appreciate your concern on the matter though." The tension in Malfoys shoulders dissipated after he found out Harry would still receive his mail.

"If you are aware of who cast it, why have you not done something about it?" Harry looked into Malfoy's eyes before doing the same to all the others, but the only thing he found was curiosity. He really hoped this wouldn't be a mistake. If they really wanted to be allies he was sure it wouldn't be.

"The person who placed it is not someone to go against with something as minor as a mail ward, and until a time comes where their reputation won't save them, it is something that is best ignored."

"Lord Potter," His eye twitched as he realized he had only given Malfoy leave to address him informally, but waited for Greengrass to finish before rectifying that. "As much as I understand the need for discretion and reluctance to divulge potentially sensitive information, I do believe it would be best if we all spoke openly." Hadrian Raised an eyebrow at her and smirked.

"How very Gryffindor of you Heiress Greengrass, and please call me Potter or Hadrian, I extend that to all of you." he looked around the others, hoping he wouldn't have to say it again. They all murmured something along the same lines, that he could call them simply by first or last name. He looked back to Greengrass and spoke.

"What do you want out of this conversation?" He sat back in his seat. if they wanted him to drop pretenses they would have to as well.

"I personally would like to know where you stand politically." he would admit he did not expect her to be that blunt. "You slipped at the end of last year, allowing others to see through your carefully constructed mask of the golden boy. This year it's back in place as impenetrable as it was before. I don't wish to insult you, but that is not in the skill set of a lion. Not to mention having Draco's father ask us to observe you because he had doubts about your allegiances." he was shocked she had offered him more direct information in that one answer than Dumbledore had in his entire time knowing the man. He was not the only one shocked; most of the others were scowling at her. Daphne however wasn't looking at them, keeping her cool steady gaze firmly on Hadrian.

"Honestly my views are more dark leaning Grey. I believe muggleborn and muggle raised magicals should be properly educated about wizarding tradition and holidays, and yes I mean the old holidays that are now considered illegal. The anti dark magic mentality is a slight against lady magic and the anti creature laws is blatant aggression against the Seligen court. The statute of secrecy should be more heavily enforced, and there should be a much greater divide between muggles and wixen."

"If your values are the same as ours, why did you snub me in first year?" Draco was looking at him curiously but Harry couldn't miss the small amount of hurt in the blonds eyes. He scrubbed his hands over his face, rubbing the heels of his palms into his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Honestly because I didn't know any better. you were the first person I had properly met in the magical world and no offense but you acted like a git. You insulted Hagrid, who was one of the first people to show me kindness. Later you insulted Ron, someone I thought of as my first friend. You reminded me of my cousin, so not a very good first impression."

"Hold on, are you saying you hadn't met any magicals before your trip to Diagon? also why would Hagrid take you, and not your guardians?"

"After my parents died I was sent to live with my mothers sister and her family in the muggle world. I grew up without knowing that magic existed. My aunt hates magic and the 'freaks' who took her sister. When my letter came they took it, every time more would come they would destroy them. Hagrid was sent a week after the first letter, so he could take me to go get my school supplies."He looked up to see nine furious faces staring back at him.

"You didn't know about magic, at all?" Malfoy questioned, looking a mix of horrified and furious. Harry shook his head.

"No I didn't, Dumbledore made sure of that." The bitterness in his voice was clear to all of them and slowly the pieces were slotting together in their minds. "Last year is when I started to notice things going on around me. I had never been able to read much of anything about the wizarding world before then Ron and Hermione would always distract me and stop me from looking into anything regarding our world. This last summer is actually when I found out I was a noble. I spent most of the summer reading about nobility, etiquette, and anything else I needed to know, so it's safe to say my knowledge is patchy at best. Weasley and Granger are basically my guard dogs. They are there to stop me from learning too much or getting too close to other people. My life as well as the lives of those around me are being controlled by the old goat."

"There Are things that you are purposely leaving out," Greengrass Pointed out, and Harry nodded.

"There is a lot I am not telling you at the moment, but maybe in the future you might find out. Currently all you need to know is that we cant be seen together and that no one should ever trust Dumbledore." they all nodded and pansy sat forward.

"You said your knowledge on noble education was patchy right?" he nodded wondering what she was getting at. "Well every Thursday you have a two hour period where every one of your lions is preoccupied. We could use the time to teach you all the things you should have been taught growing up." to his surprise they all looked excited by the proposal. Draco scooted forward, his mercury eyes gleaming as he looked Hadrian over.

"Can I finally fix his hair? I've wanted to fix it since the first time I laid eyes on it." Blaise moved forward the same sparkle present in his own deep brown eyes.

"Oh and his clothes. They're atrocious." Malfoy nodded along and began an in depth conversation about colors and cuts that would suit him. He looked over to the girls who were having their own discussion about etiquette and other things he needed to learn, appearing like they were making lesson plans. He quietly got up and moved to the furthest sofa away from them. He pulled out the parcelscript book and settled in, only for the cushion to dip next to him. He looked up and saw Nott looking curiously at the book he was holding.

"What language is that? I haven't seen it before." Hadrian scrutinized him for a minute before deciding to tell the other boy.

"It's Parcelscript. Most people don't know it exists. They think parseltongue is just the snake language not realizing it also belonged to the Nagas." Theos eyes gleamed at the knowledge presented to him. They spent the next two hours talking about lost magics and languages and how the ministry was responsible for most of it being removed from common knowledge. Around them the others planned future lessons and styling choices for Hadrian.