Hello everyone! I apologize for the delay between chapters. Life got hectic there, and it was challenging to find time to write. So, without further ado, I present chapter 3!

/\ - represents the end of a vision or dream

I do not own Harry Potter. All rights belong to the respective owners. Please support the official release.


Malfoy Manor stood tall amongst the gorgeous backdrop of the land it sat upon. Winged horses pranced through the pastures. Flowers grew across the lawns despite the coming cold of fall. House elves worked tirelessly to keep everything looking spiff and span. To most looking in, the manor was that of a fairytale land.

But not every fairytale held heroes in their lands. Some, like Malfoy Manor, harboured secrets that cast shadows over its picturesque facade. Cries of agony echoed through the ancient manor walls. Blood stained the floors, and tears were shed in unabashed quantity, a stark contrast to the beauty that surrounded the manor.

"I admit, I am disappointed, Lucius," Voldemort whispered as he turned away from the now still body of a man formerly employed by the ministry. "Back in our heyday, my mere presence would have had this man trembling before the power of Lord Voldemort. But now..." the dark lord grew silent as he seemed to think on his words. "I am nothing but a nightmare to keep children still in the day and quiet at night."

Turning with a flourish, Voldemort flashed before Lucius Malfoy in the blink of an eye, "Why is this, Lucius?" Malfoy gulped and averted his gaze, but Voldemort reached out and grasped him roughly by the chin, his long nails digging into the flesh, "Look me in the eyes when I speak to you."

"M-my lord, I do not know," Lucius admitted with a shiver as he gazed into the madness buried deep in those glowing red eyes.

"You do not know?" Voldemort asked mockingly. Shoving the head of the Malfoy family away roughly, he demanded, "Bring me your wife, Nott, and Crabbe."

"Narcissa?" Malfoy asked as he held his chin, blood seeping from where his lord's nails dug into him.

"Yes, now fetch them!"

Voldemort could only sigh as Lucius scrambled away to get his wife. Nagini slithered up, wrapping herself around his legs as she sensed his disappointment. Reaching down to stroke her head, Voldemort whispered, "I have much work to do, my dear. Much work indeed."

/\

Harry's eyes snapped open, and he gasped for air. Sweat stained his pyjamas, and he was shaking but not cold. He knew he wasn't getting a decent night's sleep now. Not with the image of blood and pain still there when he closed his eyes.


September 27th. Friday.


It wasn't a good couple of weeks for Harry. With no sleep from the visions he'd been having, Harry had little to no control over his temper. The glares and whispers from fellow students made his blood boil. The pitying looks from the Professors made his teeth clench. His wand almost came out during potions with the antics of Malfoy and Snape bringing him close to the breaking point.

Now that the day was over, he still had more things to do. Namely a tutoring session with Davis. Although, Harry wasn't really dreading it. In fact, Harry thought that the three tutoring sessions the two had were a raging success.

They all started and ended the exact same way. Harry would arrive first under his invisibility cloak. Davis would show up with either Greengrass or the Hufflepuff boy. Davis would enter the classroom, her friend would leave, and Harry would join her.

They would make small talk like, "Evening Davis," "Evening Potter," then Harry would suggest a new spell to practise, and they would get to it for about an hour. So far, Harry had shown her Expelliarmus, Stupefy, and Locomotor Wibbly. Tonight, he thought a shielding charm would be appropriate. You could produce a decent shielding charm to get a good grade on your OWLs.

Harry had also gotten her sturdy, prickly walls to come down ever so slightly in the past two weeks. Now, she smiled more, was a bit more open, and was less likely to curse him if he offended her.

That said, Harry thought he might switch it up tonight. Instead of waiting for Davis to arrive under the cover of his cloak in the hallway, he decided to forgo the cloak entirely. Instead, he waited in the front of the classroom. He didn't have to wait long until the door creaked open, and the brunette Slytherin entered.

"Well, seems I was the one late today," Davis quipped with a smirk as she sauntered to the front.

"I didn't realize we had a set time to be here," Harry returned with a crinkled frown. Was that something they had set? Harry didn't remember if they talked about it.

Davis shook her head with a deep sigh. "I was teasing you, Potter." Harry blinked owlishly at the girl, causing her to look away. The surprise in his eyes made her feel uneasy. "Slytherins can joke around, you know. We all aren't Draco Malfoy."

Her comment snapped Harry from his staring, and he coughed as he reached up to rub the back of his neck, "Right, right, course. Well, um, shall we get started?"

"Yes, let's," Davis agreed as she plopped her bag beside his. "What shall we work on today?"

"Do you know how to cast Protego? It is a shielding charm," Harry asked as he drew his wand and stepped away from the desks.

"That's a sixth-year spell, so why would I know it?" Davis frowned as she followed his lead. Stepping up opposite him like they have done for the past week.

"Just because it is a spell used by the older years doesn't mean you can't read up on it," Harry defended. "Now, there is the standard way of casting it, but I think I found a simpler way."

Davis would admit she was impressed. Harry Potter definitely knew his DADA. After demonstrating the charm, showing her the proper way to cast it, and then his own, the Slytherin girl would admit Potter was a good teacher. After she got the basics down, they traded practising the spell as the other cast a low-level Expelliarmus. It was kinda fun, in Davis's opinion.

After about five minutes of trading spells, Harry grew tired of the silence between them (saying the spells out loud doesn't count as conversation). "You are a quick learner," Harry said after casting a spell for her to shield from. "Why did you need tutoring if you picked it up this well?"

"What is this, twenty questions?" Davis asked as she cast at him, trying not to show how surprised she was at the power of his shield charm. It was like her spell did nothing to it.

"I don't know. I'm just making conversation, I guess," Harry muttered, looking downcast momentarily. Feeling bad, Davis sighed.

"Fine, I'll answer if I get to ask a question afterwards."

Perking right up, Harry smiled, "Deal!"

'Oh, what a naive boy, making deals with a Slytherin,' Davis thought with a smirk. Whatever would his fellow Gryffindors say if they heard him. "So, I don't know if you know this, but our DADA Professors have been a little varied in their educational standards."

"Really, I wouldn't have guessed," he deadpanned.

"Quiet, or I'm not telling you!" He made a zipping motion across his lips. Shaking her head, Davis sighed, "I don't take well with classes that aren't hands-on. If they want me to study theory, great, I can do that. But unless someone shows me how to actually do the spell, I'm hopeless. I have tried learning spells independently, but it never works out."

"Any idea why?" Harry asked once she finished speaking. The girl just shrugged.

"No clue. Probably some reason that is way easier to figure out than I am probably making it out to be, but I just never bothered trying." With a smile that greatly reminded Harry of last year's Hungarian Horntail, Davis said, "My turn now, no?"

"Um, yeah, sure, shoot," Harry agreed nervously, sweat forming on his brow. Harry didn't know if it was from the constant spell-casting or the girl's intense stare. 'Perhaps I should have thought this through more.'

"Did you actually get raised by muggles?"

That stopped Harry short, and he didn't cast Protego in time. His wand flew from his hand and clattered on the floor. Davis was speechless, but before she could offer any apology, Harry asked, "Why do you want to know?"

Davis looked distinctly uncomfortable now, and she bit her lip, "It was the rumour in Slytherin during first year, and I was curious, is all. I'm sorry if that's too personal-"

"No, no, it's fine," Harry said quickly, cutting her off. "Yes, I was raised by muggles. I didn't know about magic until I turned eleven." Tracey blinked at him before nodding ever so slowly as if working out what he said.

"You didn't know at all?"

Harry laughed bitterly as he retrieved his wand from the floor. "Nope, not at all. And if my relatives had their way, I would have never known." He heard Davis gasp and glanced at her confusedly.

Then it clicked.

Harry said too much. The wide eyes from the Slytherin told him all he needed to. He never should have said that. Harry never should have said that! No one, absolutely no one, could know about the Dursleys, and yet here he was, spouting off to a girl he was just now talking to normally.

Grabbing his bag, Harry began to move briskly towards the door to make his escape before Davis could question him.

"H-Hey, wait! Where are you going?" Davis asked as she broke from her stupor.

"I'm done for tonight," he told her crisply, his tone booking no room for argument. "I'll see you around, Davis-"

"-Tracey!" Harry froze, and Davis—no, Tracey—bit her lip and clenched her hands into fists as she fidgeted. "Call me Tracey, please. It is the least I can do since you are tutoring me."

Harry turned to face her, a small smile replacing his haunted frown as he said, "Call me Harry."


Tracey took her time heading back down to the dungeons. She wasn't in the mood to be questioned by Daphne because she was back so soon. Ritchie was off doing quidditch practice, and Tracey didn't have any other friends in Slytherin due to being a half-blood.

So she walked the castle corridors alone.

It would have been a pleasant walk if her mind wasn't in a whirlwind of thought. Potter-no, Harry was an enigma of a person. Tracey had heard numerous things about Harry during their time at Hogwarts, which seemed bogus, exaggerated, and hogwash now that she had talked to the boy numerous times. But then there were nights like tonight.

Harry Potter was powerful and skilled, even if he didn't know it, but he was also mysterious. Producing a shield charm was impressive, but to find a way to cast it that worked better for himself was downright unheard of for a fifth year. 'Not unless he was dabbling in spell creation and theory.' Tracey snorted at the thought. 'If his relief when I told him I only needed practical tutoring was any indication, then he isn't the best at theory.'

Yet, for such a remarkable feat, Harry was nonplussed about it. Mentioning it like it was some hidden trick anyone could do if they figured it out. Although, maybe he had a point? Harry's technique of casting Protego was more based on emotion than raw power. And many people have theorized that intent is the most crucial part of successful magic.

Shaking her head with a sigh, Tracey moved on from that headache-inducing train of thought. The last thing she needed was to be thinking about the boy who lived once she entered the snake pit.