Chapter 11 is out!

Scala ad Caelum

Chapter 11: The Weight of Actions

Harry Potter POV

Friday 29th December, 1991 (Hogwarts) – After breakfast

As soon as Harry stepped into the Great Hall he knew something was off. Maybe, it was because of the incredible silence; or maybe, because of how the few students who decided to stay at the school during the winter holidays had their heads down; their eyes not leaving their newspapers for one second.

Harry took a seat at one of the twins' side; whether it was George or Fred was something he would find out the moment they'd talk. "What's happening?" Harry asked, pouring himself some apple juice. "Why is everyone that interested in today's news?"

"Take a look yourself," George said, tossing him his copy of 'The Prophet'.

'The case of Peter Pettigrew: England's most recent scandal; by Rita Skeeter'

For ten long years, we had considered Peter Pettigrew to be one the most heroic figures our country had in its recent history; the story of a man who confronted one of the most dangerous Death Eaters to ever live to avenge his deceased friend.

But three days ago, we learned that his whole story was nothing but a rotten and cruel lie.

Even though the Ministry tried to keep it in secret until their release of an official statement, our wonderful and courageous team of reporters, led by myself, couldn't stand this; the people of England needed to know this.

As you are reading this, Peter Pettigrew now lies in a cell in Azkaban. Yes, you might be wondering if we had indeed turned mad; but no, we have not. It was the 26th of December when Peter was discovered as an unregistered animagus in Hogwarts, where he had been living safely during all this time; just under the nose of the great Albus Dumbledore himself; but unfortunately, we are not here today to comment on his most recent incompetence.

"This was a shock to us all; we still don't know what could have happened, but right now, our great Aurors are working in order to get as much information as we can," Cornelius Fudge told us, in exclusive.

From 'The Prophet', we applaud our great Minister's sincerity; he promised us that before the official trial, the people would know the truth behind Peter Pettigrew and how he managed to trick a whole country; and everything will be told here, in your trusted daily source of information!

"Wow," Harry whistled after reading the whole piece. "I don't really know this guy's story, but faking your death for ten years sounds like something crazy."

"You don't know who Peter Pettigrew is?" Fred asked, looking at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Of course he doesn't, you stupid," George piped in. "Have you forgotten that he had lived with muggles for his entire life?"

"Oh, my bad then; shouldn't we be kind souls and enlighten his young mind?"

"That is a great idea of yours, my dear brother."

"Oh, come on," Harry groaned. "Can you stop doing that? You freak people out."

"Don't be mean, Harry; we would never do that," Fred said. "But now talking more seriously; we don't really know much about that Peter Pettigrew guy. Mum doesn't like talking about those times at home."

"But from what we know, he was a member of the legendary 'Order of the Phoenix'," George added. "The Order was an organisation created and led by Professor Dumbledore himself to fight against You-Know-Who; our uncles were part of it, in fact."

"The thing is that this man confronted some dangerous Death Eater at some muggle village, and he died for it along with other thirteen muggles."

"But thanks to that, the Aurors were able to capture Sirius Black; who was said to be one of the most dangerous men at You-Know-Who's ranks."

Harry followed as best as he could the constant exchange of words from the twins; he found their way of talking by completing each other's sentences very weird, but the story they were telling was interesting enough to keep listening. "So, let me get this straight," Harry meddled in. "You are telling me that some guy, who was supposed to be a hero, has been faking his death for more than ten years?"

"Technically, we didn't tell you that; Rita Skeeter did," Fred answered.

"But why did he do that?" Harry asked, almost to himself. Why now? Could he be related somehow to Nicolas Flamel?

"That will be something we'll know when the trial takes place," Percy pointed out, taking a seat in front of Harry. "If I'm not mistaken, that will happen the second of January."

"Look who has decided to bless us with his presence," George gasped. "It's our prefect brother! I thought you had been eaten by some wild books, Perce; I was about to call the Aurors to denounce your kidnapping."

Percy started to nag the twins, and whoever was around, about how they should take their studies more seriously; so Harry disconnected his mind from the conversation to ponder about Peter Pettigrew and Nicolas Flamel. We've looked everywhere and we found nothing about Flamel; our only hope is for Hermione to do a miracle when she comes back. But meanwhile, neither me or Ron canreally do a thing. But.., why has this Pettigrew man gotten caught now, after all those years. Could it be related to that important package which Hagrid retrieved from Gringotts?

The day went on, and Harry didn't feel like doing anything at all; but everything changed when someone knocked at his bedroom's door. "Mr Potter," the stern voice of Professor McGonagall came from behind it. "The Headmaster wants to see you in his office."

Harry was quick to get up from his bed, almost sprinting to the door; when he opened it, he found a surprised McGonagall looking at him with a raised brow. "I wasn't expecting that much enthusiasm, Mr Potter."

"Sorry, Professor," he apologised. "But I was really bored, and what you said caught me off guard. What does the Headmaster want to talk to me about?" Harry didn't have any idea of what could be that important for Albus Dumbledore himself to call him to his office. I stopped visiting the Mirror of Erised, just like he told me...

"That is something he will tell you," the Professor told him. "He is already waiting for you; the gargoyle should let you pass without any passwords, but if it stops you, just knock on the door."

Harry nodded and made his way towards the Headmaster office; as soon as he was out of the Gryffindor tower, he practically started to run; the curiosity eating his mind.

Just as McGonagall had said, the stone gargoyle opened without giving him any trouble, and soon enough, Harry was at the circular staircase which led to the Headmaster's office.

As soon as he stepped into the office, the Headmaster was waiting for him with a kind smile and a mug of tea in his hands. "Harry!" He greeted. "Welcome to my office; take a seat."

"Thanks, Headmaster," Harry said. "Could I know why you were so eager to talk with me in private?"

Suddenly, the old sorcerer's smile banished from his face, making the wrinkles and his old age to get way more prominent. "I wanted to talk to you about something very serious, Harry," he sighed. "There have been some events in the past days that have changed lots of things; some of them involving you."

"Does it have to do with that Peter Pettigrew?"

"Sharp as always, Harry," the Headmaster said, his smile coming back faintly. "Yes, it has to do with him. Today, I want to tell you a story, Harry; one which talks about your parents, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black."

A long history later...

"And that would be the story about how we imprisoned the wrong man," the Headmaster finished with a tired sigh. "I wanted to be transparent with you, Harry. I carried this secret with me for many years; but now that the truth is about to come out, I wanted you to hear it from me."

Harry stared at the Headmaster, neither of them blinking. Even though he wanted to say many things, the words were not coming out of his mouth. "So, this Peter Pettigrew guy was the only culprit for my parent's death, right?" He managed to say, his voice coming out hoarsely. "And my godfather was condemned for crimes he didn't commit; is that what you were telling me, Headmaster?"

"Yes, my boy; that it is."

"And… what is going to happen now? I mean, something has to happen… right?"

"We will try to do things right," the Headmaster sighed. "As soon as the trial takes place, the world will know about Sirius' innocence, and how we wronged him. He will need time to recover from his long stance in Azkaban, but I'm sure that meeting you is one of the things he desires most. He… he was like a brother to your father."

"I-I need time to think," he said before getting up.

The Headmaster didn't stop him; so Harry just left the office in a hurry, his eyes tearing up a bit; despite that, no tears came out. My parents died because they were betrayed by someone they considered a friend. Harry just let his feet do all the work; his mind too overwhelmed to do anything.

The next instant, the cold air of the winter hit him right in the face; and that's when he realised he had come outside. I still have some family left..., my godfather is alive. Could that mean that I won't have to live with the Dursleys anymore? There were many thoughts on his mind, but the mere prospect of getting out of that hell which had been his house for eleven years was the strongest one.

Soon enough, Harry found himself at the edge of the Black Lake. "Harry?" A voice called him from afar, almost shouting his name; Harry turned around to find Ron getting closer; his eyes looking at him with curiosity. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I just wanted to go for a walk."

"Are you..., sure?" The redhead inquired. "You don't look like your usual self; did something happen?"

Harry didn't know if he should tell the redhead everything; on the one hand, he really needed to relieve some stress, and telling him the whole thing could help; but on the other hand, he didn't really know if he wanted to tell him something that personal. In the end, he decided to do what he considered right.

So he started to tell him everything. "The Headmaster told me some truths I should know," Harry began. "It turned out that Peter Pettigrew was the Death Eater who sold my parents out; while Sirius Black, the one who was named culprit, was nothing but innocent; on top of that, he is also my godfather."

He knew that he had been way too honest and direct; but his mind didn't really want to elaborate the whole story. On the contrary, Ron was looking at him with open eyes; shock written all over his face. "T-That is just...," he tried to say. "Wow, I just don't know what to think; I could have never imagined something like that happened."

Silence surrounded the both, but the redhead tried to break it. "How…, are you?" He asked.

"How..., am I?" Harry echoed, as if he didn't understand the question. "Honestly, I don't know. Since I have memory, I've always wondered how my parents died; the day Hagrid told me I was a wizard and who my parents really were, everything made sense. I knew they were killed by a dark wizard; but I didn't know that it was because they had been betrayed by one of their best friends..."

"I still know almost nothing about them," he kept going. "I know how, and because of whom they died; but I still don't know the reason. I tried asking Professor Dumbledore, but he told me nothing. Everyone looks at my scar and points at me, muttering things about me; but I don't even know the damn reason why I got it."

It feels good to let everything out sometimes, Harry though. He looked at the redhead, who was looking at him with a weird face; probably, a bit freaked out by his sudden rambling. But he still placed his arm on Harry's shoulder, giving it a soft squeeze. "I don't know what to say mate," he started. "I also grew up hearing stories about you; but after these months, I now know that you aren't anything but a pretty normal guy. I mean, you can't even surpass me in most of the classes."

His joke came out a bit weirdly, but Harry still appreciated his try to soften the mood. The redhead advanced until he was right at the Lake's edge, and with a sudden movement, he threw some little rock towards the centre of it; making the rock rebound four or five times. "How did you do that?" Harry asked.

"The thing with the rock? Actually, it is pretty easy; you just have to look for a flat one and throw it with a sharp hit."

Harry grabbed some little rock from the ground, and he followed his advice. The rock managed to rebound two times before sinking. "Not bad," Ron whistled. "It took me many tries to do more than three; but you are quite a natural, just like my brother Charlie."

"It was pretty similar to throwing the quaffle from your hip," Harry explained. "I saw Angelina Johnson doing that shot before holidays; so I started practising it these days."

A more comfortable silence enveloped the two of them; the ambience way less awkward now. "Thank you," Harry managed to say, his eyes looking to the ground. "I..., kinda needed someone to talk with."

"You don't thank your friends for that," Ron answered, his ears turning redder each second. "Now we have to start all over again, you stupid; you just made everything so awkward again."

Harry couldn't help himself but to laugh loudly; it really felt good to have friends around you. "Are you up for some flying?" He asked. "If I remember correctly, I promised a flight on my Nimbus before Christmas; and I think it is about time for me to teach you how to really fly."

"Really? Like right now?"

"Yeah; why not?"

"Okay, let me drop something in my bedroom first. We meet at the Quidditch field in twenty minutes," with that, the redhead literally sprinted towards the castle; leaving behind a very amused Harry.

His mind was still racing because of the story the Headmaster had told him; but right now, he wanted none of that. Honestly, screw them all; the Mirror, Peter Pettigrew, and everything else. I will worry about it tomorrow; now I just want to have a good time for once.

Peter Pettigrew POV

Thursday 2nd January, 1992 (Azkaban, England) – Early morning

"Aren't you a lucky one, Pettigrew?" One of the Auror trainees commented ironically. "You got a second grade Auror like Gareth Marshall just for yourself; don't you think so, Jessie?"

The young girl just grunted in response, clearly not amused by his partner's jokes. So, today is the day, Peter thought. He didn't really know for how long he had been waiting. Even though they've put him at one of the best dementor proof cells of the whole prison, their influence was strong enough to turn him into a numb puppet.

Today was the day he would be judged under the Wizengamot's eyes; and the whole truth around what really happened that day at Godric's Hollow would come out to the world. He will be there... Sirius is going to kill me...

His thoughts were interrupted when someone else came into the room; the Auror tasked with his custody, Gareth Marshall, had come. He was a man in his forties, with short and curly, black hair; he was tall, which allowed him to look down at Peter with his cold eyes, just like he was doing right now. "Tommy, I don't want to see you joking right now," he chastised; half joking, half serious. "This is a very serious mission; be like our dear Jessie here."

"Yes, sir!"

Both of the trainees moved to Peter's sides, and with a strong pull from his arms, they made him stand; his weak knees trembling. Marshall led the way; the other three following him. "This is going to be very easy, Peter," the Auror started. "We are going to take you to the Ministry by floo; there, you will be judged for your crimes, and your destiny will be decided. There are two options for you right now; the first one is the dementor's kiss; and the second, life sentence in Azkaban."

Peter cried meekly, but he knew there was no way out from this; he had already confessed all, both to the Ministry's officials, and to Albus Dumbledore. That stupid kid set me off..., I'm sure of it. But how did he know it? And what was that blue spirit which accompanied him? The next moment, he found himself landing with his face at some cold floor, the dementor's presence dissipating each second.

"Welcome to my office," Marshall said, opening his arms in a dramatic way without looking at them. "We've came a few minutes earlier; but Minister Fudge wanted you to walk under all the reporters eyes; he wants to show you off to the world-"

Before he could finish what he was saying, a red light hit him right in back of his neck; his body fell with a loud thud to the floor. "What the hell?" The male trainee managed to spurt. He tried to draw his wand, but before he could make it, the female trainee elbowed him right in his jaw, just as the same time as she disarmed him with her other arm.

Without saying any words, the girl sent him a stunner right into his face.

What the hell is going on? The girl, Jessie, looked at him with cold and dead eyes, sending shivers down his spine. Peter tried to crawl back, but the girl just walked towards him and kicked him in the chin, making the world spin.

"Please, don't kill me," Peter begged as best as he could.

In response, the trainee just grabbed him by the neck of his prison's robes, and dragged him along the whole office. Peter managed to look at her just when she tossed something into the floo, making it roar with life in a dance of green flames. The floo..., she has connected it to somewhere. Could it be that...? Peter hugged her knees, trying to get her attention. "Are you really saving me?" He asked.

The girl's green eyes looked at him from above, completely devoid of any emotions; instead, she just grabbed him once again by the neck, but this time, she threw him to the floo. The world spun once again, but this time, Peter landed at some grassy floor, a soft wind caressing his face. Jessie appeared just at his left the next second, and stood there, doing nothing.

"Very well done, Jessie," a voice said.

Peter turned his head towards it, just to find some hooded figure getting closer. When he was only at some feet from them, he revealed his face. He was some shady looking wizard, with not very long hair combed backwards thanks to some generous amount of gel; his eyes were of a deep maroon, and they were currently looking at him with a dark mirth which Peter didn't like a bit.

"Hello, Peter Pettigrew," the man greeted with a cold smile. "I'm your saviour; but you can call me Ashram," the wizard kept walking until she was in front of the blonde girl. "And this is Jessie, a close friend of mine," he said while caressing her face with the back of his hand. "She isn't a talkative one, but she's been of great help to us; you should thank her, my new friend."

Then, the man pointed his wand at her head to stun her; the girl's unconscious body fell to the ground, but Ashram kneeled just to drop some note at her forehead. "That will do," he commented. "It is really a shame that our beautiful Jessie can't come with us, but we have to go now. We can't afford ourselves to chat here; the Aurors should be starting to question why aren't you walking through the Ministry right now."

"Who are you?" Peter managed to ask. "What do you want from me?"

"I just wanted to meet you, that is all," he said before grabbing his arm.

The next second, Peter found himself apparating once again after ten years. He landed with his arse, in a very similar forest to the one they were seconds ago. Ashram sat at some log in front of him, and with a move of his hand, he ignited some campfire that was between them.

"It is funny how poor their security is," Ashram commented. "But I gotta say that it was sheer luck. I'm quite skilled with the Imperius curse, so I decided that having some insider at the Aurors' ranks would be a wise move; that is how I met Jessie a few months ago. The poor girl was doing some routine patrol at Knockturn Alley when she had the good fortune of meeting me; it is really a shame that I won't be able to enjoy her company anymore..."

The man shook his head, as if he was telling himself to focus on the monologue. "The thing is," he continued. "That her Auror tutor, Gareth Marshall, was tasked with your custody; that was how I ended up knowing everything that mattered about your trial and imprisonment. I gotta tell you that you managed to pull some very big move out, Peter; you can't imagine what my face was when I learned that you were alive."

"W-What do you want from me?" Peter managed to ask, taking a seat in front of his saviour.

"Well, that is some easy question to answer," he smiled once again. "The Dark Lord is alive, Peter; to be honest, he never died like everyone said. The thing is that right now, he is at Hogwarts, doing something in disguise; I can imagine his face when he learned of your stunt; it is a shame you two weren't able to meet at the castle, isn't it?"

No..., this can't be happening; that monster can't be alive. He died that night... Peter grabbed his head with his hands; he might have been saved by this stranger, but if He was still alive, he wouldn't ever live safely once again. "What's with that face of yours?" Ashram smirked. "I thought you would be rather happy to hear about your master; don't worry my friend, if everything goes as it should, by this summer we should be enjoying our master's company and favour."

So this is it..., this is going to be my life from now on... I guess it is better than an eternity on Azkaban. Peter looked at the shady man once again, this time eye to eye. "O-Okay, I'm in," Peter said. "Whatever it is, I don't care; but if our master is at Hogwarts, what are we supposed to do meanwhile?"

Ashram let out a loud laugh and clapped his hands vigorously. "That is what I wanted to hear, Peter," he laughed. "We, my new friend, are going to be working towards the Death Eater's restoration. It is a shame that those who really stood by his side are all locked in at Azkaban; but here is where you are going to be very valuable. When the news about your abduction comes out, those wizards who share our beliefs might start to wonder who was the responsible for it. I know that those filthy rats of Malfoy, Yaxley, and company won't move a finger; but there are way more people who think like us than those cowards; especially in the Eastern Europe."

Thank Merlin; this man just wants to use me as a symbol of hope for now. Peter tried to warm his hands on the fire, his body still shivering after the day's events. "I understand your plan," he started. "But how are we going to do it?"

"Don't worry about that," Ashram answered. "You'll have to do nothing; I've already started to pull the strings out. Now, our main objective will be remaining in the dark; because I assure you they will come after us with everything they have," the man smiled at him with that cold smile of his once again. "Welcome to your new life, Peter. Let's make the Dark Lord's name great once again."

Tracey Davis POV

Tuesday 4th January, 1992 (Greengrass Manor, England) – Mid afternoon

"Welcome, my dear," Anna Greengrass smiled at her. "It has been a long time, Tracey."

"Thank you for having me, Lady Greengrass," Tracey answered.

"Come on, child; you know there is no need for that," the older woman told her. "Grab my arm, Tracey; the others are already waiting for you at Daphne's hall."

Tracey intertwined her arms with Daphne's mother and followed her; it didn't matter how many times she looked at her, for the brunette, there wasn't any woman more beautiful than Anna Greengrass in this world; none but her own mother, of course. "From what Daphne has told me," Anna commented. "You are doing quite well at school, right? Your parents couldn't stop talking about how proud they were of you the last time we met."

Tracey blushed, even though she already knew that fact; her mother had been quite vocal about that when she came back home for the holidays. "I'm just trying my best," Tracey answered. "Besides, it's not like I'm doing all by myself; we all help each other in our group."

"Oh, yeah; that group of yours. I'm not going to lie; I was rather surprised when Daphne told us about how the group got divided. My husband isn't precisely happy about our daughter allying herself with a Weasley; but between you and me, I rather prefer him than Malfoy and Nott. I never liked them, and the way they try to look after their fathers."

Their pleasant chat ended when they came to the hall's door. "Here we are," Anna hummed. "They are all inside; go in."

Tracey gulped before knocking on the door; it had been years since the last time she had been invited to one of these pureblood socialization events. "Come in," Daphne answered from inside.

The brunette did that; when she stepped into the big hall, she couldn't help herself but to be impressed once again of the Greengrass family's money. I know that we also have tons of gold, but Merlin, this Hall must cost more than my entire manor. Blaise was the one to see her first; he nodded at her with his usual indifference from one of the leather sofas, but Tracey knew him well enough to recognise his greeting.

Meanwhile, Daphne was sitting on a little sofa in front of a mirror, brushing her hair with some golden brush. "Hello, Tracey," the blonde smiled at her. "I want you to know someone."

She pointed her head at the other two figures in the room. The first one was a very beautiful girl with long, curly hair which fell down in a curtain to her low back; she had kind, green eyes that were looking at her with kindness. "Hello, my name is Catherine Dupond," she greeted with a smile. She was wearing some kind of white, muggle sweater and some light blue jeans; which surprised Tracey a lot.

"Hey there," the other boy greeted, a bored tone lacing his voice. He was sitting at some table, wearing full wizard robes; a golden phoenix embedded on his chest over the light blue robes. The boy had short and somehow curly hair, which was a mix between Tracey's brunette and Daphne's blond; but his most prominent feature by far were his eyes, which were of an azure tone that almost shone. From what I know about the European Houses; the girl must be the daughter of Lord Dupond; and the boy should be Alexander Shawn, Daphne's friend, and the one who Nott hates.

"Nice to meet you," Tracey also greeted. "My name is Tracey Davis."

"Tracey, can you come here and braid my hair, please?" Daphne asked.

"Of course!"

Tracey started to braid Daphne's hair, but she could still listen to the conversation the other three were having. "It doesn't matter how many times I come here," Blaise started. "I always get surprised at how much money your family has, Daphne."

"You should see Dupond's manor," Shawn piped in. "Thomas Greengrass might eat gold if he wanted; but Lord Antoine Dupond is in a different league."

"Really?" Tracey asked; a bit louder that she would have wanted. "It is just that..., well, my family doesn't associate with other Houses from other countries; it is just hard to imagine someone who has that much gold."

"It is not that big of a deal," the French girl tried to shrug it off; her cheeks turning a bit red. "Alex just likes to talk a lot; don't ever take him seriously when he talks about these kinds of things."

"That really was the best you could come with?" The American snorted. "Tell me something, Davies; have you realised how perfect Cath's English is? If this was the first time I ever heard her speaking, I would have believed her to be English."

Now that he has mentioned it..., it's true; she is so fluent and clean that I didn't even give it a second thought. After finishing Daphne's braid, Tracey turned to look at the American boy; and nodded her head at him in agreement.

"Do you know what is this?" He asked, showing her some kind of black strap on his left wrist. "This is called a 'Translator Bracelet'; this little thing allows you to speak any language of your choice as if it was your native one. These straps are some of the most expensive shit you can buy; and the Great House of Dupond has the complete monopoly of them. No one else in the world knows the secret about how they are done, nor how they work; the head of the Dupond House from some centuries ago was the first one to develop one; and since then, they have been carrying that secret with them to their graves."

Now that I look at it closely..., it is very similar to the one I've seen my father wearing sometimes. The French girl started to talk in French to Shawn, probably cursing at him; or so did Tracey think. "Don't mind them," Daphne told her. "Alex can be very infuriating when he wants to; it is one of his great talents. How were your holidays, Tracey?"

"Oh, pretty normal I guess," Tracey answered, a bit surprised with her question. "It was nice to be back at home for some weeks; but I kinda miss being in Hogwarts."

"Me too; but I think things are going to be a bit..., wild, when we come back."

"Why is that?"

"Come on, you can't tell me that you haven't heard about Pettigrew's abduction?" Daphne asked her.

"Oh, of course I have; it is just that I didn't give it much of a thought."

"You should," the blond girl said. "Father told me that even Headmaster Dubledore is out there, looking for Pettigrew; the whole country has been shaken to the core after it happened."

"Are you talking about Pettigrew?" Blaise piped in a louder voice; making the French girl stop talking and the American to look at them with renewed interest.

"Yes," Daphne answered. "I was just telling Tracey that the Headmaster has joined the tracking team. My father was quite vocal about how disappointed he was with both Professor Dumbledore and the Ministry."

"Now that you talk about it, I have some questions for you guys," Shawn piped in. "Apart from this whole mess; have you noticed something weird going on at Hogwarts?"

"Something weird like what?" Blaise raised his brow at the American. "Do you know something that we don't, Shawn?"

"Nah, not really; I was just curious."

Tracey looked at Daphne, who was biting her lip like she always did when she was having doubts about something. "I wanted to ask you something, Alex," she said; her face now showing her usual features. "Do you happen to know something about the name Nicolas Flamel?"

All the children looked at her at the same time; some with raised brows, and others with quizzical looks. "It doesn't ring a bell," he answered, the words coming out slowly from his mouth. "Should I… know something about it?"

For someone who didn't know her very well, they might not have been able to see the doubt in Daphne's eyes; but for Tracey, who had both envied and admired her since they were little, it was easy to appreciate it. "It is just that I heard Weasley talking about it before holidays; it seemed quite important to him, and I was just curious."

"Wasn't that Weasley boy the one to knock a troll out with the help of Harry Potter?" Shawn asked.

"Yes," Tracey was quick to answer. "He is also one of the best students of our year; and he's quite amazing doing magic."

"Weren't the Weasleys one of your twenty-eight pureblood families?" Dupond asked. "From the little I know about them; their kind doesn't strike me as the ones to be sorted in Slytherin."

"He is different," Blaise also defended him. "He actually put Malfoy in his place after he insulted Tracey; he didn't even doubt facing Crabbe and Goyle after they jumped in to defend their leader."

"So he's your shining knight, eh?" Shawn smirked at Tracey; what made the Dupond girl to smack him in the back of his neck. But the damage was already done; the brunette half-blood was already reddening.

"You lot don't need to be like that," he sighed, scratching his neck. "It was just a little joke. I didn't know he taught Malfoy a lesson; but he doesn't need to do anything more to win my everlasting friendship. That blond ferret must have said something about your blood's purity in front of him, right? And being the temperamental lot his kind is, he probably snapped after it."

"Something like that," Tracey muttered.

"Yeah, looking down at half-bloods can be a little flaw of us purebloods," Shawn commented like nothing.

What the hell is going on in his head? Tracey raised a brow at him; she didn't know what to think of the boy anymore. Just from what she had heard of him and from the little she had seen of him in these minutes, the brunette was starting to consider him like a less disgusting version of Malfoy; but actually, Shawn's attitude resembled Blaise's a lot; and that was something okay for her, or so she thought.

"Then, you don't have any problems with us having less purity in our blood?" Tracey asked, half challenging, half interested.

"Nah, not really," he answered. "My point is that we will always be better than muggle-born wizards. It is rather easy to understand; while they learn that magic exists at the age of eleven, we've already had all those years to see it in action; and if you are a member of some pureblood family with enough influence, you can really do whatever you want. There is no way for a muggle-born to be born with enough talent to reduce those eleven years; not if we work in our magic."

"So, you just admitted that talent is limited by blood purity."

"Of course; in a long race in which a muggle-born and a pureblood work and study with the same intensity, us purebloods will always win. After all, magic has been flowing through our veins for centuries; of course it would have more affinity towards us."

"Do you know that a muggle-born witch is Hogwarts' top student in our year?"

"Didn't say they couldn't also be good," Shawn raised a brow at her. "If I weren't at Ilvermorny, and if he took everything a little more seriously, a muggle-born wizard would also be the top student."

The other three couldn't do anything but spectating the constant exchange of words between the two implicates. Come on, Tracey; Ron wouldn't back down right now. She was about to keep fuelling the argument, but a loud sound came from the door; as if someone was trying to break in by force. They all set their gazes on it, and suddenly, it opened; revealing a smiling Astoria Greengrass with some kind of rubber ball on her hand.

"Ups," she started. "Sorry about that; he couldn't really control his speed."

What the heck is she talking about? But Tracey's questions were quickly answered when a big dog came into the room. Oh, he's so beautiful! It is one of those huskies I saw when we went to the snow! Not long after that, another little girl came into the room.

She had sharp, but cute, features, which were adorned pretty well by her dark, grey eyes; the girl had blonde hair braided in two long pigtails, which was of a darker side when comparing it to the Greengrass sisters'. "I told you not to throw it that far away!" She chastised the other girl; but then, she realised where they had ended up. "Oh; hey everyone!"

"That is sure a way to interrupt some conversation, Sophie," Shawn sighed; then, he tapped the table where he was sitting. "Come here, Ray!"

He must have been talking to the dog, because it barked back at him, not following his command. "Oh, come on," the American let out an exasperated sigh. "The day in which you follow what I say will come, and you know it; you are just in your rebellious phase."

Is he..., talking to the dog? The blonde girl, the one Tracey didn't know who she was, let out a loud laugh. "Just give up, brother," she mocked. "Ray doesn't like you; he prefers me way more!"

Wait..., she called him brother? Daphne must have seen Tracey's confused face during the exchange, because she decided to help her. "That girl's name is Sophie Dorian," she whispered in her ear. "They don't share the same surname, but they are brother and sister. They look a bit alike, but she resembles way more after their father; while Alex has their mother's face."

"What were you doing?" Astoria piped in.

"We were just having some..., interesting conversation," Blaise answered; his voice adorned with the same indifference as always.

The Dorian girl looked up with that; she stared at his brother, and then, she sent some questioning looks to Tracey. "You said that I interrupted some conversation," she started. "And by the way this girl is looking at you..., you weren't causing her any trouble; were you, Alex?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you are way too clever for your own good?" Shawn said, sending her sister a sour look. "I was just having some very interesting conversation with my new friend here; by the way, her name is Tracey Davies; in the case you were wondering who she was."

"Ah, you must be the daughter of Lord Marc Davies," she greeted; then, she bowed down a little, as if she was apologising for something. "I apologise on behalf of my daft brother; I don't know what were you both talking about, but he has the bad habit of getting into other people's heads."

She is so cute! I can't believe those two are brothers, Tracey though; now smiling at the little girl. "Don't worry," she smiled. "It was just some chit chat."

"You didn't have to do me like that, Sophie," Shawn commented. "Sorry if I did upset you, Davies; it wasn't what I wanted. I was really enjoying our discussion. I hope we can continue it in the future."

Oh, I didn't expect him to apologise; I also got a bit carried away, but I have to start fighting for myself; Ron won't always be there to defend me; that's not what I want. Now that they all were on the same page, the conversation flowed towards more mundane themes, and they all had a pretty good time.

Tracey realised that maybe, not all the notable pureblood heirs were as disgusting as those she had met; at least, Dupond and Shawn weren't; but she wasn't sure if the American boy would have ended up respecting, and apologising to her, if she hadn't confronted him like she did. I followed your advice, Ron; I didn't let those purebloods step on me. Today was the first time I confronted one of them.

Ronald Weasley POV

Thursday 16th January, 1992 (Slytherin common room, Hogwarts) - Past dinner

What have I done? Ron thought for the millionth time.

It had been two entire weeks since the country was shaken to its core by Pettigrew's disappearance, and there wasn't any information about his whereabouts yet. On the one hand, Ron knew about the importance of finally revealing the imposter's existence to the world; but on the other hand, the only thing they did was to set free a very dangerous Death Eater, who was now on the loose.

And the fact that everyone talked about it at every single hour wasn't helping him at all to divert his mind a bit. The good part was that Dumbledore had kept his promise about protecting the redhead's identity; just as the Headmaster told him, 'The Prophet's' version talked about how Professor McGonagall had discovered Peter posing as a rat by accident, just when she was preparing some practical lessons about animagus. That turned her into the main spotlight these days, but thanks to her stern looks and her reputation, the students tried to avoid discussing the topic unless they knew they were safe, at someplace in which the gossip wouldn't reach the old Professor's ears.

"Honestly, it should be illegal to have this much homework," Tracey loudly complained.

"Maybe, if you had worked a bit harder on holidays, you wouldn't be this stressed right now," Blaise told her, as dull as always.

Unfortunately for them, all the events of the past weeks didn't really change anything in the school, so the Professors were still bombing them with an absurd amount of essays. At least, Ron didn't have to worry much about it, mainly because he had managed to do almost everything on holidays. That had been a side-effect of being too exhausted from the whole mess with Scabbers; of not finding anything at all about Nicolas Flamel; and especially, because Harry had been so obsessed with that damned mirror that they couldn't really hang out properly.

"It has come to my mind that you don't go that much to the library anymore," Daphne whispered into his ear, from her spot at the redhead's side. "If you already know something about that Nicolas Flamel guy you told me about; care to enlighten me? It would be very a very dirty thing to let me out of the loop once you've already asked for my help."

"We haven't found anything yet," Ron whispered back. The lie came easy since his gaze was set on the Herbology's essay, and not on the blonde girl.

The truth was that not even Hermione had been able to find a thing about Flamel; but just when they were starting to surrender, Harry found his name in one of the cards from the 'Chocolate Frogs'. With that came a very important piece of information, one which managed to astonish Gerd herself; that madman's greatest achievement was the creation of some kind of stone which made you immortal.

That definitely opened a world of possibilities; and none of them were good. Who in his sane mind wouldn't want a stone like that? Well, much to Ron's disagreement, the Gryffindor trio were very confident about their theory in which Professor Snape was the main villain of the story. Sure, the man was scary; but there were many steps from that, to what they were assuming. They don't know what you do, Ron thought.

Out of nowhere, a pair of fingers snapped in front of him. "Hello there," Daphne called him as she raised her brows. "I asked you how your holidays were and you zoned out for a minute."

"Oh, sorry," Ron apologised. "It's just that I'm really tired; it's been a long day, you know?"

"Aha."

"In fact, I think it is time for me to sleep a bit," he said, faking a yawning. "Goodbye you lot; see you tomorrow!"

He didn't look back to his friends, but only two goodbyes came back. Shit, she is gonna be mad at me for a full week... But I don't have time for essays right now; today it's been a long day, and I need to rest for tomorrow. I need to find whothe Headmaster is hiding the stone from...

The next morning came, just as cold as all the others. The air ruffled Ron's hair with a soft motion as he tried to calm his breathing. Just as every other morning since Pettigrew escaped, he would wake up to practise his magic before classes. If I look back, it's incredible how the things that seemed difficult are now as easy as creating some sparks...

He had never considered himself a very patient person, in fact, Ron didn't believe if any Weasley could ever be considered as one; that had caused him many insecurities and frustration in the first two months of training, but now, he could clearly see his progress when looking back; and that was something which only fuelled him forward.

"There you are once again," a voice said from behind.

"Nott," Ron replied without turning back. "What do you want?"

"Many things," he shrugged it off. "But none of them have anything to do with you. It is just that every morning I see you coming here all alone, I can't help but wonder; why does he really do it?"

"Why would you care?"

"Fair point," Nott smirked. "I'm just bored here. Since we are in the first year, magic isn't very interesting at all; and after you took away the most interesting members of our group, I don't really have much to do here. If I try to stand those bastards for a full day, I would end up losing my shit."

"You still didn't answer my first question."

"I came here for a rematch."

"A rematch?" Ron asked; now turning back to look at him.

"Yes, that is what I said. It has been a few months since we duelled, and lots of things have happened since then. For starters, you and Potter managed to take down a mountain troll; and much to my surprise, you still are at the top five of first year students."

This could be a good way to measure how much better I've gotten; but, at the same time, I don't want this weirdo to believe he can come out of nowhere to ask me for a duel... Ron looked at the weedy boy for some seconds, who looked back at him with a raised brow. "Sooo?" Nott asked, tapping his foot against the ground.

"Fuck it," Ron sighed. "Let's go."

Nott smirked at him before taking a stance in front of him; the same one he took months ago. Ron just imitated him. Remember, you can't start firing curses at him like a madman if you don't want to eat dirt...

"You've gotten better," Nott said as he circled the redhead. "Let's see what you got."

"Glacius!" Ron chanted, pointing his wand at the other boy's feet.

Nott just stepped back with a precise jump to avoid the spell, and when the ice started to spread he laughed aloud. "Using one of my tricks, eh, Weasley?" He started. "Not bad at all; but that is not enough. Finite!" From the tip of his wand, some little and white spell got launched towards where Ron's had made impact; putting an end to the ice's spreading.

Shit..., just like that... The redhead managed to jump away from the two severing charms that came as a counterattack. Ron could hear Nott chanting one spell after the other, but for the moment, they all were the same. He is just toying with me... he forgot to tell me that I wasn't the only one who got better! When Nott's offence started to overwhelm him, the redhead started to throw some severing and fire-making spells back at him; some of the lights clashing in the middle of the air, creating a rain of bright sparks.

All the fighting and moving were starting to tire Ron out; while on the contrary, Nott was still maintaining a calm and relaxed face. I have to change plans... all this didn't work the first time; there is no way it is working now. Ron threw a rapid succession of three severing charms, followed by some fire-making spell directed at Nott's robes. The last one made contact, making the weedy boy roll out in the ground, trying to extinguish the flames and dodging any more spells at the same time.

"Diffindo!" Ron chanted, his wand pointed upwards. Just as he planned, a big branch of a tree was cut from it, and just when it started to fall, the redhead stopped it with the levitation charm. Now it's time to drop it with energy, just like you did with the troll. Still levitating the branch, Ron directed it towards his rival with all the intention he could; stopping the flow of magic he was using to make it float, and redirecting it towards the new attack.

"What the hell is that...," Nott let out, a bit surprised. The branch came at him at a very fast speed, but he was still able to cut it in two halves with a precise severing charm. At the same time, he sprinted towards Ron, grabbing one of the branch's remaining just to throw it at the redhead at the next second.

Even with his astonishment, Ron was able to jump away from the improvised weapon, but just when he was starting to recover from the effort, Nott appeared just right in front of him. The fist connected with his face before he knew what was happening; an elbow in the chin came after that; and to finish him, Nott made him fall to the floor by kicking the back of both of his legs.

"What the hell is wrong with you," Ron groaned from the ground. "Are you barmy or what?"

"Hand to hand combat… is a basic…," Nott replied, trying to regain his breath. "I gotta give it to you, Weasley; you made me sweat here, but you still lack repertory."

With that being said, much to Ron's surprise, the weedy boy helped him to get on his feet. The two of them stood there, saying nothing and trying to regain their composure. "You did much better today," he kept going. "Maybe, against a creature like the troll, your firepower could be enough; but, when fighting another wizard, you have to be smarter. That trick of yours with the branch was quite nasty, and the fact that you tried to copy what I did to you last time with Glacius was also good thinking. But that is not enough to win a duel against someone better."

"Oh, really? I didn't notice it…"

"Come on, don't be like that; I'm just trying to help you become better."

"And why would you want something like that to happen?" Ron asked, really curious about the boy's response.

"Because I'm stuck here for nine months. If I have someone competent enough to fight me, I can use that to get better, which is my real objective. So far, you are the only one who seems to share my ambition and drive. That is why I keep observing you."

Oh, I see now. It was about time for me to get an honest answer from him. Even though Nott still managed to freak him out, Ron could see the clear benefits from this kind of rivalry they had. "I see," Ron ended up saying. "You keep talking about upgrading my repertory; do you have any direct suggestions about that?"

"Well, since we still are nothing but beginners, it's not like we can do much about it; but, if I were you, I would start with the basics. Those are: the disarming charm; maybe some body binding curses; the knockback jinx, which you should already know about; and… I don't know, some other spells which you find interesting."

Well, at least he gave me direct indications this time. Now that he mentions it, the disarming charm should be one of my priorities. Thanks to his almost daily training, he was already finishing all the first year content, which included some interesting things; but just as Nott had proved in their duel, it clearly wasn't enough.

"Well, I better go back to my room," Nott told him. "Classes are about to start and I want to have a shower first. Don't forget to apply what I told you; someday, I will come for another rematch once again."

With that being said, Nott left the clearing, leaving him alone. Normally, he would talk about his daily session with Gerd, but since the Essentia had left him to fly with the birds for the morning, he decided to follow Nott and take a shower before classes. Just what I wanted; two exciting hours of History of Magic with my favourite professor…

The effects of his fight with Nott started to manifest in the afternoon, after all the classes and right before dinner. Ron had ditched his friends as soon as they entered the common room; he didn't have enough energy to stay active until dinner, so was planning on taking a little nap before it.

Unfortunately for him, someone wasn't thinking the same. "Come in!" Ron said after hearing the knock in his door. Who the hell it is? I thought they were going to work on the Charms' essay.

The door opened, and Daphne, with her arms crossed under her chest, came into the room. "I know you are tired," she started. "But I think it was about time for us to have a little talk, don't you think so?"

Merlin… this woman is relentless. This conversation had been one of things Ron had been avoiding the most since the blonde came back to the castle; and so far, he had been successful, but things had to change for the worse, of course.

"Do we?" He answered, putting on the best acting he could. "I'm sorry if I forgot something; but, I can't really recall what I did wrong this time."

"Don't play dumb with me, Ronald Weasley," she shut him up. "I don't know what it is, but you and those lions definitely know something. For starters, you four don't go to the library that often anymore; and if that wasn't enough, there hasn't been a single day in which you don't find each other in the corridors just to start whispering whatever thing you know as soon as you meet."

Well damn; she has us by the balls. I have clearly underestimated her skills of being nosey. Even though he was angry with the blond for keeping that much of a close eye on him, Ron knew this was something he asked for the moment he tried to use her to gather information about Flamel. "You sure like to keep an eye on others," Ron grunted.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She shouted, her high-pitched voice reaching a new all time high. "First, you try to use me just for gathering some information about some man because you couldn't find a thing. Did you really think I wasn't going to realize it? I just looked the other way and went along with everything, spending many hours of my free time doing something for you; because I thought it was important to you!"

"Do you know how I realised you were lying to me?" She kept going. "Because you didn't even ask me about whether I did find something or not. I played dumb for two weeks; but, when I asked you about it yesterday, you had the guts to lie to me in my face and telling me that you still know nothing! I wouldn't have minded that much if you had decided to keep me out of the loop, because I can understand that it involves other people; but the fact that you lied to me that blatantly..."

"Eh… ah… wow…" Ron splurted. "I-I don't know what to say."

"You could start with an apology. Then, you could finally tell me what is going on."

"Eh… I'm sorry? I wasn't expecting you to explode on me like that; to be honest, I didn't know you could get that emotional in front of others."

"Really?" Daphne raised a brow. "Do you think this is the right moment to say that?"

"Okay; I'm actually sorry now. It is just that… well, you caught me out of guard."

"That is way better. Now, you can keep going."

"Wait a moment," Ron paused. "Looking back at it now, you are right. I tried to use you for something, and I didn't even consider the possibility of telling you what we were doing; and that totally sucks. I've already apologised for that, and I will even do it once again. But all this… thing we are doing is… well, quite complicated."

"Then, aren't we lucky to have some free hours until dinner?" She said, clapping her hands in front of her and smiling brightly at him.

"Wait a moment," Ron paused, his ears turning redder each second with anger and embarrassment.. "Was this whole thing you just pulled out an...act?"

"No, it wasn't," she replied, way more serious now. "I really felt all I said. But, that doesn't mean I can't exaggerate everything to cause a bigger impression. I would say it worked out pretty well."

"Really?"

"Don't look at me like that; do I have to remind you that I did it all because you lied to me in the first place?"

"It isn't necessary… Merlin, what a mess," the redhead groaned.

"Come on, I'm sure you are taking things to an extreme. But, if that thing you four are into turns out to be as complicated as you say, wouldn't be better to have some extra help?"

This has to be my punishment for being that bloody stupid back then… Ron groaned with exhaustion, but deep inside him, he knew Daphne was right. In the state things were, they already knew almost everything; but, the one thing they were lacking, and disagreeing, was to find who's the one going after the stone, and for that, they might need the blonde, whose parents would tell her if something important happened in the Wizarding World without any haste. To hell with everything; right now, we are in a dead point, maybe she is right and everything we need is another mind. Harry and Hermione are going to be so pissed… whatever, I'll deal with them when the moment comes.

"Listen to me carefully," Ron started. "Because this is going to blow your mind."

"I'm all ears," the blonde said just as she took seat at Blaise's bed.

"Nicolas Flamel is a friend of the Headmaster, and he's an alchemist. What's really important about him is not who he is, but what he created."

"And that is?"

"If you let me talk, you might hear it," Ron sent her a sour look. "More than six hundred years ago, that man created something known as the Philosopher's Stone; whose properties allow whoever drinks the elixir produced by it full immortality."

"You are joking, right?"

"I told you this was rather mind blowing; it's your fault for not believing me."

"Okay, let me settle all this," she said, her fingers massaging her head's sides. "Even if it impressed me, I can understand something like that stone existing; sure, it sounds rather incredible, but it isn't like I've never heard of other things as incredible as that. What I am wondering right now, is why are you four that bothered by it? What does it have to do with you?"

"Well, that is pretty easy to answer; that stone is being kept here, at Hogwarts."

"Wait what? How do you know that?"

"Do you remember that robbery at Gringotts back at the start of the year?" Ron asked. "Well, they were trying to get the stone; and they would have gotten it, if it wasn't because Hagrid retrieved it the day before."

"Okay… that is something indeed; but… I don't know, if that is the only thing you have, why are you four that sure of the stone being kept here?"

"That ain't all," the redhead sighed. "Do you remember the Headmaster's speech back on the first day? He warned us against going to some forbidden corridor at the third plant ; the thing is that we ended up there by mistake one night. When we realised where we were, a giant three-headed dog was in front of us, and not very happy to see us I have to say."

"And then, another day, Hagrid slipped the name of Nicolas Flamel," he kept going. "He also told us that the beast's name was Fluffy, but that isn't important at all. From that day onwards, we started to look everywhere for some information about Flamel, and we found nothing. That was when, and why, I told you about it. I was getting quite infuriated with the lack of results, and didn't think straight. But, when we learned everything I've just told you, I regretted being that stupid that day; this was far more dangerous than what we thought at first, and now, you also knew about it."

"D-Dangerous? Why would you say that? It is really…?" She asked in a hurry, biting her lip as she always did when she was either nervous or worried.

"Because we know that someone, who is in the castle, is after it," Ron explained. "That is what we are trying to know now. Harry and the others are sure that Professor Snape is the one after the stone-"

"Wait a moment; Professor Snape? Did I hear you right?"

"That is what they believe, and I don't agree with them. I know the man is scary and a bit… rude towards them, but there are quite a few steps from that, to what they say," Ron let her a moment to assimilate everything before going on. "Despite what I just said, it is true that they have reasons to believe it. For example, the night the troll got into the castle, Snape was the only professor who didn't go to the dungeons, in fact, he went to the third floor, where he encountered Fluffy; and the other day, after the Quidditch game, Harry eavesdropped Snape threatening Quirrell because he didn't want to help him with something related to the stone."

"I… I don't believe that Professor Snape could do something like that," Daphne muttered. "I mean… he's been working here for ten years or so, right under the Headmaster's nose. If everything I've heard from him since I was little is true… I don't think anyone could fool him like that."

"Yep, that is my main argument; but it is not enough. Just as theirs aren't."

"So… you kinda are on a dead point right now, aren't you?"

"Pretty much," Ron sighed. "But, now you know what we've been up to for all this time. I've told you everything we know. I hope you understand that what started like some funny thing to discover a mystery, has possibly turned out into something not that funny. The only thing I'm going to ask you is for… try to keep this a secret, please."

"Don't worry," she smiled softly. "I really appreciate your sincerity; to be honest, I wasn't expecting you to be that… well, to tell me everything. I know that you like doing things alone sometimes, and that is totally fine, but… you know you can tell us three anything if you need it, right?"

"Come on," Ron complained, his ears completely hot and red from embarrassment. "I don't get why you people always need to end the conversations with something awkward."

"Oh," she smirked. "Did you turn all red because of what I said? Who would have thought that you could be a bit cute under all that grumpy temperament?"

"Shut up."

"Nevermind; I take back my words."

The both of them were enveloped by a comfortable silence, but there still was something in Ron's mind that needed an answer; so he was the first one to talk. "What… are you going to do now?" He asked. "I mean, you know everything now; both the interesting and the bad parts. But, what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing really," Daphne answered. "I was pissed off because you used me for something, in which I would have probably helped you if you had asked me, without telling me a thing. Now that I know what you are doing, unlike you four, I have no interest to keep going; not when it could turn out to be something dangerous."

"Thank Merlin," Ron sighed, relieved.

"I will keep your secret only because you asked me; but, I have to say that if you really think it could be dangerous in any way, you should tell everything to the professors."

With that being said, the blonde girl stood up from the bed she was sitting at and started to walk towards the door. Just when her hand touched the knob, she turned around to look at him. "I was totally serious when I said that you could come at me if you needed any help," she stated. "I want no part on it; but, that doesn't mean I won't help a friend of mine if he needs help; even if it is a stupid friend who ignored me when I told him to stay away from trouble."

Ron couldn't even thank her; because as soon as she finished, she got out of the room without waiting for a response. "Thanks…" Ron whispered to the air.

With this, it has been two times in this month I've deeply regretted something I did, he thought. First, it all began with Pettigrew's abduction; and now, bless Merlin that everything went alright, because I couldt have dragged Daphne to something dangerous. I need to start being more careful with what I do, and with whom I involve in it...