Chapter 12. Trick? Or Treat?

Anissa loved breakfast. Loved the smells and the many different choices to be had. It was the perfect way to start her day. Harry, on the other hand, had no thoughts about any meal. Harry was used to not eating and when he did, it was usually an unpleasant experience. Harry remembered his last meal at the Dursley's before coming to Hogwarts.

Harry had just finished the dinner dishes and was wondering if he was going to be allowed to eat anything that night. Sighing, Harry turned around to see his uncle standing by the table with a big grin on his face. Harry froze and shivered in fear. Nothing good ever came of his uncle's smile.

"I have your last supper, boy," Vernon laughed at his own wit. Harry saw nothing on the table and his heart sank.

"Come and eat. It was made especially for you."

Vernon gestured towards the table. His uncle never did anything for him, and Harry started shaking. Vernon saw this and grinned evilly. Harry approached apprehensively to see what looked like bits from dinner mixed with mud and dog poop smeared on the floor. Harry gulped, feeling sick. Vernon grabbed Harry's shirt and threw him down on the mess.

"Be grateful Freak and lick up your dinner," sneered Vernon.

He then put his foot on Harry's head and pushed it into the mess, smashing Harry's face onto the floor. Harry tried to push himself up, but Vernon just pushed harder, so Harry just lay there and prayed his glasses would not break and gouge him.

The foot disappeared from his head, but Harry knew better than to try and get up. Last time he tried, his uncle had stomped on his head, and he could not see straight for a week. Before his laughing uncle left, he gave Harry a solid kick to the side, cracking a rib, and told him to clean up his dinner or else.

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts when a beautiful Northern hawk-owl owl Harry did not recognize landed next to Anissa and held out its foot. As Anissa took the letter, Harry gave the owl a bit of toast, and with a thankful hoot, the owl flew off.

"Do you know this handwriting?" Anissa asked, handing the letter over. Harry took it, looked it over, shook his head, and gave it back. Anissa read it aloud as Harry reached for some pumpkin juice.

Harry and Anissa,

We've heard a lot about you and admired you from afar for too long. We would like to offer our friendship to a couple of colorful characters like you.

Anissa turned to Harry. "There's no sig–"

Anissa broke off and stared at Harry in shock, then burst out laughing. Great big belly laughs that Harry had not heard in a while. Those around them started to laugh as well. People were craning their necks to see what was so funny, then started laughing too.

"What?" Harry asked, then froze as he looked at Anissa. He started laughing hard as well, realizing that someone had played a prank on them. Harry was impressed.

"You two look ridiculous!" Laughed a brown haired Hufflepuff sitting right behind them. Anissa, thinking it had only been done to Harry, pulled her hair forward and gasped. She had bright orange hair!

"What color is mine?" asked Harry, still chuckling as he took another sip of his pumpkin juice.

"Pink." snickered Anissa. "I wonder who did this? It is very well done."

"That would be us and thank you for the compliment. We take that as high praise coming from you. One prankster knows another."

It was one of the Weasley twins (Fred), the other (George) was standing beside him with a wide grin. Ron had warned them about his twin brother's pranking ways. They had hoped to meet them eventually. Harry had some ideas he wanted to bounce off them. He and Anissa rarely pranked anyone but each other, but they had been there long enough to branch out to others.

"Let us introduce ourselves. Fred and George Weasley, masters of mayhem and mischief, at your service." The twins bowed.

Harry was still chuckling as he ran his fingers through his pink hair. "Ron's mentioned you."

Suddenly Ron was right there. "I told you not to prank my friends." he growled.

"And when do we ever –" said one twin.

"– listen to you, little brother," finished the other.

"I kind of like it. Everyone will want you to do theirs next. You could make a killing with this." Anissa admired her orange locks before using her wand to make a fancy braided hairdo that made the orange look amazing.

"I'd like to know how you did it," Harry added.

"Well, we charmed a word in the letter, so when you said it, it set off the charm and colored your hair." said Fred. Harry gave Anissa a pointed look while slightly tilting his head towards the twins, and she grinned.

"Genius really, to get it to only change ours. How did you do it?" asked Anissa, handing the letter to one of the twins, who took it with a grin, accepting the praise.

"You had to have touched the paper so the charm could get your magical signature, and you both did." George laughed, handing the letter off to Fred. They were excited to find another set of pranksters to share their love of jokes with.

"So, somewhere out there is a blue or green owl? He must be quite colorful." said Harry.

The hall burst into laughter again. Confused, the twins looked at each other, their jaws dropped, then they too burst into laughter. One had yellow hair and the other purple. They realized that Anissa had stealthily gotten them both to touch the letter. They bowed to her with deference.

"Well done, Miss King. We'll have to watch out for you two. Friends?"

Hands were shaken, and true to Anissa's words, the twins were bombarded with requests to change many students' hair color. By lunch time, there were brightly colored heads all over Hogwarts, much to the professor's chagrin.

After a quick lunch, Harry went out to the Quidditch Pitch, he was to meet James Alexander, the Ravenclaw Quidditch Captain. Harry had received a letter from Professor Flitwick saying he had been chosen to be the team's new Seeker, along with a new broom.

Ron had been ecstatic, "Seeker! Wow Harry, first years never – you must be the youngest House player in a century. And is that a Nimbus Two Thousand? Can I have a go? After you, of course."

Now, walking onto the field, Harry was nervous. He had never even seen Quidditch, let alone played in a game. He had never played any game of any kind really, and Harry Hunting did not count in his book. He only hoped it would be an easy game to understand. Harry looked around himself and felt so small.

The field was enormous, with hundreds of seats raised high so people could see what was going on. At either end of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end. Harry imagined blowing gigantic bubbles through them like he had seen Dudley do with the little plastic Muggle ones. Hmm, that is a prank for later, maybe during the practice of another team.

Harry saw Alexander standing a few meters into the field and walked up to him. Alexander wasted no time and sent Harry up in the air to do some drills. He wanted to see if Professor Flitwick was right. If Harry was as good as the professor had said, then they were sure to win the Cup this year.

Harry mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. He loved this feeling, it felt so right. Harry swooped around the goalposts, sped up and down the field and zig zagged back and forth. Alexander was happy with what he saw. Potter was a natural. They were definitely going to win the Quidditch Cup this year, maybe even the House Cup.

"Alright Potter, I can see you're going to make a great addition to the team. Today, I'm just going to go over the rules, we do still have classes to attend, and you'll now be joining practice three times a week." said Alexander. He opened a beaten brown crate and inside were four different sized balls. He picked up a red one.

"Okay, Quidditch is easy to understand. There are seven players on a team. Three are called Chasers, they handle the Quaffle."

Alexander handed the red ball to Harry. The ball had indented sides for easy gripping and catching. Harry moved it in his hands, getting a feel for it, while Alexander moved on.

"The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try to throw it through one of those three hoops. Ten points earned each time. With me?"

Harry nodded. "Three Chasers throw the Quaffle through the hoops to score ten points, got it."

"The next player is the Keeper, that's me. I defend the hoops, to not let the other team score."

Again, Harry nodded and threw the Quaffle back to Alexander. He put the ball back then reached in to grab a little bat, which he handed to Harry. Harry looked at the little bat curiously. It had a bit of weight to it, but was not too heavy to swing.

"You'll need this. The next ball is the Bludger. Two of them rocket around trying to knock players off their brooms, hence the bat in your hand. There are two Beaters that keep the Bludgers away from our team and try to unseat the other team." said Alexander. Alexander freed a Bludger, it rocketed up high into the air, then pelted straight at Harry. "Careful now, it's coming back," Surprised, Harry swung the bat and sent it towards the hoops with a nice sounding 'THWAK!'. Alexander gave Harry an appreciative look. "Not bad, Potter. You'd make a fair Beater."

Harry smiled as he watched the Bludger circle a hoop then dart right at them again. This time Harry could tell it was going for Alexander. Harry reached out to hand him the bat, but Alexander shook his head and Harry watched on in confusion. Instead, Alexander caught it (Harry winced just thinking of what that had to have felt like) and wrestled the ball back into the crate.

"Nasty little buggers," Alexander panted.

"Er, Alexander? Has anyone ever died from a Bludger?" asked Harry.

This game just got a lot scarier. Harry hoped there was nothing else that was going to try and maim him. He had enough scars without adding to them by getting pummeled by a vicious black ball. Not to mention falling off his broom from the height of those hoops.

"Never at Hogwarts. We've only had minor injuries; broken jaws or arms, but nothing worse than that. Now, the Seeker, that's you, all I want you to worry about is this." Alexander took out a tiny gold ball that had fluttering silver wings. It was about the size of a walnut and was shiny.

"This is the Golden Snitch, and it is the most important ball of the game. The Seeker's job is to catch the Snitch to end the game. The problem is that the Snitch is wicked fast and damn near impossible to see. You'll also have to dodge Bludgers, weave in and out of Chasers and catch it before the other team's Seeker does. The Snitch awards that team a hundred and fifty points, so it is imperative that you catch it first." Alexander finished.

Harry ran everything through his head, it sounded easy enough, almost like basketball but up in the air and without the dribbling. Harry nodded to show he understood the positions. He hoped that some practice would ease his mind on how to play.

"We have a bit of time before we need to head back inside. Let's practice with a couple of golf balls." said Alexander.

Alexander launched a ball straight up into the air and Harry kicked off, entirely focused on the little white speck. He watched the ball as it fell past him, then twisted backwards into a spectacular dive.

He hurtled downwards, snatching the ball from the air, and pulled up straight just before the ground, circling around and landing gently next to a gobsmacked Alexander. The wolfish grin Harry received, once Alexander got over his initial shock, made Harry very nervous.

For another fifteen minutes Alexander threw golf balls in every direction. Harry caught each one, some with more amazing moves, and Alexander was delighted. They left the pitch with high hopes for this year's chances for the Quidditch Cup.

Once again, Potter and King were in his Potions classroom on Friday evening. Severus held a Potions study group to allow students to practice brewing outside of class time, but very few used it. Usually only his N.E.W.T. students.

These two had not missed a day, except for that short stint when Potter had hidden himself away in fear of his powers. At first Severus was suspicious about their reasons for coming, but after watching them, he realized they were very serious about perfecting the art.

"Hello, sir," Anissa smiled cheerily at Snape.

"Good evening, Professor Snape," added Harry.

Severus scowled at their greetings but gave them a curt nod. He had to admit he was beginning to like these two. He liked their no-nonsense dedication to his craft, and occasionally their banter would make him chuckle. Who would have thought he would come to like James Potter's brat? But he is Lily's child too, a voice in his mind said.

One time he had asked them why they came here every week when they were at the top of their class. They answered that they wanted to be prepared for anything that might come their way. Commendable, Severus had thought.

When he asked them about their preparation techniques, he was shocked to learn that they had read an advanced book usually given to beginning apprentices and had practiced on whatever they could find. They had learned well for not having an instructor. Severus had only to adjust Miss King once on how she was slicing a rat spleen.

During these study times, Severus watched the duo practice every potion until they could brew them perfectly and by memory alone. Last week they had asked if they could come and practice brewing beyond the normal study time, maybe on another day. Severus told them he would think about it.

"Potter, King, what are you two working on today?" asked Severus, looking down at their cauldron.

"The Antidote to Common Poisons, sir." Anissa said respectfully.

Though Snape could be absolutely horrid, and despite the atrocious way he still treated Harry in class, Snape was great during this time. Here, he seemed to really try to help them understand. Things had been a lot better since they kept practicing there each week.

Snape was not nice, per se, but he was not as vicious anymore. Snape seemed to enjoy listening to them banter about Potions, and occasionally threw in his own quip or suggestion. It about knocked them off their stools the first time he did it.

"Indeed, a good one to know. You never know when one or both of you might annoy me enough with your constant chatter. You may need to keep it handy." drawled Severus.

Harry and Anissa laughed and shook their heads good naturedly, well used to his acerbic wit. That would never happen. Severus then reached over to pick up one of their ingredients and Harry stiffened and leaned back.

Severus had noticed this before, from both of them at times, and wondered if he should talk to them, if they would even be willing to talk to the most hated professor at Hogwarts. He knew what the students called him, a greasy dungeon bat, and he smirked. He had worked hard to achieve that feared persona.

"I have considered your request for more study time," Severus now had their complete attention, and he smirked. "I have found, despite my already full schedule, that I do have some spare time on Tuesdays to allow you to further your education. But be warned, any foolishness and you will be tossed out on your ears."

Their expectant faces turned ecstatic. "Thank you, sir," said Harry.

Severus nodded sharply, wondering why he was doing this to himself, then moved off to check another student's progress. He just felt the need to help and be near Potter and he did not understand why. Harry and Anissa exchanged grins. They will be able to learn so much more now.

It was a long enough while after the shared hair coloring prank with the Weasley twins, enough to make it an afterthought, that Harry and Anissa finally enacted a prank of their own on the twins. They just needed to get Peeves' help. He was the best prankster in the school, and they wanted to stay on his good side.

Anissa found out where Peeves liked to hang out and so they headed there. They could hear clanging coming from the empty corridor and knew he was there, even though they could not see him. Once they entered the corridor it went eerily silent.

"I wonder where Peeves could be," Anissa said loud enough to be heard down the hall.

"I don't know, but we sure could use his expert help with this prank we have planned," Harry added.

"Prank?" a wicked disembodied voice echoed down the hall. "You's have a prank for ol' Peevesey?" Peeves appeared right in front of them, a wicked look on his wide face. "Peeves knew he liked you two. No one ever wants to play with Peevesey."

"We would love to play, Mr. Peeves. We already have a prank for the Weasley twins and would love to have your help, your Pranksterness," Harry said with a slight bow.

Peeves cackled and did a flip in the air. "Oooo, Peevesey would be delighted. Whisper to ol Peevesey the plan."

Classes had just been released and Fred and George Weasley were hurrying to the courtyard. Harry and Anissa wanted to meet with them about a prank they wanted to do. Something about bubbles and the Quidditch Pitch.

The twins had known they were going to like them. Harry and Anissa had a wild streak in them behind their serious studious personas, and Fred and George were just the two people to help them bring that out.

Fred saw Harry and Anissa sitting on the fountain and pointed them out to George. They hurried over, unaware of the anticipation on the other two faces, with big smiles on their own faces. Just as they reached the edge of the fountain, they were doused with slime.

The twins froze in shock, slime oozing down their faces and into their uniforms, before slowly looking up. They saw Peeves floating there with a big bucket in his hands. Peeves was cackling merrily, holding his stomach and rolling in the air. The other students in the courtyard were laughing along with him.

"Thanks Peeves, that was masterfully done," said Anissa.

Peeves bowed elegantly to Anissa then zoomed away still laughing. The twins were looking at Anissa in shock. They could not believe they had just gotten pranked. And what a prank it was too. No one had ever used Peeves before, and they were quite impressed that they had gotten the old poltergeist to help.

"Don't worry boys, it will wash out. In a day or two," assured Harry.

Anissa and Harry laughed as they left the twins in a puddle of slime, surrounded by laughing students. The twins looked at each other with wide eyes before an identical excited smile graced their faces, the game was on.

Harry and Anissa took an out of the way path back to their common room. Ever since they had pranked the Weasley twins with Peeves' help, they have had to watch their backs. Twice now they had barely missed being pranked. Poor Ron and Hermione got the last one which made their teeth grow past their chins.

Anissa did get the twins again with itching powder that she levitated and sprinkled into their hair. It was funny to watch them scratch like monkeys. How they did not see it coming, with them constantly watching his and Anissa's every move, Harry had no idea.

They were discussing the lesson they had just left when they heard a soft meow. Thinking it was another prank set up by the twins, they slowed to a stop and cautiously looked around. There was no one around, but that did not mean anything.

Sitting a meter in front of them was a cat with lamp-like ruby eyes. It just sat there, staring at them with an intelligent look in its eyes. It made Harry feel like he was in trouble, even though they were doing nothing wrong. Anissa, who had always loved cats, could not help but want to pet this one.

"Hello, kitty. Who do you belong to?" Anissa cooed towards the cat.

Anissa squatted and reached out a hand for the cat to sniff. The cat just sat there, creepily still, staring at her. Harry was beginning to think this was another prank. He put a hand on Anissa's shoulder in case he had to pull her away quickly.

"It's okay, kitty," Anissa sat on the ground, much to Harry's dismay. He looked around once more. "You are so beautiful. Come on, kitty, can I pet you?"

Anissa still had her hand out, hoping the cat would allow her to pet it. The cat looked from Anissa to Harry then took a step forward and sniffed Anissa's hand. No one moved until the cat rubbed its head into Anissa's hand and started to purr.

Anissa had a huge smile on her face as she began to pet the cat. She motioned to Harry to sit down as well. Harry slowly moved, so as not to scare the cat away, and sat next to Anissa. He was still thinking this could be a prank and was keeping himself prepared to act.

He put his hand out slowly for the cat to sniff and after giving it a good whiff, the cat started to purr louder and leaned into Harry's hand as well. It was relaxing, petting a purring cat. Harry had never had the privilege, and he enjoyed the sensation. He could see why Anissa loved doing it.

"You are so soft, kitty. I like you." praised Anissa. The cat curled up on Anissa's lap and purred as she was pet by two eager students.

"What have you done to Mrs. Norris? Get away from her you monstrous children!" cried Filch.

Filch had come around the corner to see two students sitting in the middle of the corridor. He was about to tell them off when he noticed they were hovering over Mrs. Norris. Her tail was hanging off the girl's lap. At his shout, the students jumped, they were not expecting anyone, and the cat moved off Anissa's lap to stand between them. She stood there and stared at Filch.

"Mrs. Norris? Oh, is this your cat?" asked Anissa. "She is very beautiful and soft. Such a sweet kitty."

Anissa reached down and pet Mrs. Norris again. The sound of purring filled the corridor once again. Filch's jaw dropped at the scene. Mrs. Norris did not like children, just like he did not. Feeling a bit betrayed, Filch became angry and stomped over to Harry and Anissa.

Filch roughly grabbed Harry's shirt and dragged him up to his feet. Harry froze, his body starting to tremble, as his mind flashed back to all the last times Vernon had choked him with his shirt. Anissa scrambled to her feet to get to Harry, knowing that Filch's actions would cause Harry tremendous emotional pain.

Filch roughly pushed Harry down the corridor, Anissa catching him and both stumbling back. Telling them to scat before he hung them from the ceiling in chains. Not sure if he could really do that, Anissa grabbed a frozen Harry and ran down the corridor.

They slowed to a walk when they could not see Filch any longer, and Harry started to come back to himself, when they heard a loud crash a little way further down the corridor. They shared a look before they cautiously moved closer to the door where the noise came from and pulled on the handle, it was locked.

Hearing another crash, Harry pulled out his wand and said, "Alohomora!" and the lock clicked. Harry quickly opened the door, and they rushed in, only to skid to a stop at the sight that met their eyes. Inside the room was not a trapped person but a monstrous dog. The dog filled the whole room from floor to ceiling, and it had three heads! Three! Heads!

The dog was standing still, staring at them, no doubt surprised by the sudden intrusion. That gave Anissa enough time to grab Harry and pull him out of the room. Slamming the door, they booked it back to their common room. Harry could not believe what they had seen.

"What are they thinking, keeping something like that in a school?" panted Harry.

"Didn't you see what it was standing on?" asked Anissa.

"Uh no, I was too busy staring at its three heads,"

"It was standing on a trap door. It's guarding something." stated Anissa.

"Hmm, I wonder what it's guarding." Harry was speaking to himself, but Anissa answered.

"I bet it's that thing between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel. Someone did try to steal whatever it was from Gringotts. What if Dumbledore hid it here to keep it safe? And I know I've heard of Flamel." reasoned Anissa, she was racking her brain trying to remember who Flamel was and what he was famous for.

"That's something to search for later. Right now I'm knackered, and I–"

"Wait! I've just remembered. The Philosopher's Stone!" Anissa said excitedly, she loved solving a good mystery.

Harry blinked in confusion. "The what?" he asked.

"The Philosopher's Stone. It can turn any metal into gold and produces the Elixir of Life. There is also only one known in existence and it is owned by Nicolas Flamel." Anissa was bouncing up and down in her excitement at figuring it out. "I bet that is what was almost stolen from Gringotts and is now being guarded by that three headed dog."

Harry smiled at Anissa. She was so cute when she was excited. She always enjoyed a good mystery, and this promised to be a really good one. He was willing to help her in any way he could. Anything to make her happy.

"Well done. Now that we know what it is, we'll have to keep an eye out for who's trying to get it. I'm always happy to help you solve a mystery. But now, we'd best be getting to bed. I'll see you in the morning. Sleep tight, sis."

Harry hugged Anissa and she squeezed him back. "Good night, brother." echoed Anissa.

It would be a while before either of them fell asleep that night. Both were thinking of that three-headed dog and who could possibly be after the Philosopher's Stone.