This week... idk, its felt like ages since I last posted, and yet I checked and I'm still on schedule... weird. Still, many thanks to those who review, it brings me great pleasure to know that my work is so appreciated, and that people take an invested interest in the direction that it is going. Some comments I have make use of, and impacts to the story may come in the future, but by and large it gives me the fun knowledge that what I have planned will be a great surprise for everyone... hehehehehehe... enjoy! ~F

Chapter Ten

Yuletide Surprises

Nobu'tan wasn't certain what to expect with this 'Christmas' holiday that all the other children seemed so overly excited for. It's not like he knew anyone on this world to give or receive presents from, so what was the point? Still, the holiday came quickly, and soon the castle was all but empty, which suited the orc raised human immensely. Less people around meant that he had more time to go and practice his various arts on his own, as well as continue to make plans and scheme how best for him to slowly allow the study of the Arcane to leak into the Wizarding World.

These things had to be very delicately done. Dumbledore couldn't suspect that he actually wanted them to learn part of his secret powers, even less so how he intended to warp it later when he started teaching others the demonic powers of the Void in secret.

One morning shortly into the holiday, Nobu'tan woke alone in the Ravenclaw dormitory to find the grounds outside the tower window covered in several feet of snow. The lake was also frozen solid, very much resembling the icy area of the Alterac Mountains near Dalaran. Down at the morning meal, which saw the Great Hall significantly reduced with the lack of children, Nobu'tan received his invitation to the Malfoy Yule event, to which he was to be chaperoned by Severus Snape, who was also invited. This was unpleasant, but clearly not to be helped, with his being underage as far as these magic users were concerned.

He would endure it, there had been worse under the hand of Stormreaver warriors that had been tasked with training him like any of the other orc children while he lived and served Gul'dan, and those bouts had left him bloodied and bruised more times than he chose to recall.

On the appointed day, Christmas day, Nobu'tan awoke to a surprise. There was a small pile of brightly wrapped parcels at the foot of his bed, all addressed to him. There were only a select few, which he wasn't surprised to note, but the fact that there were any at all was more than enough for him to be content. A spell book from Hermione Granger, which wasn't remotely surprising given the girl's character, as well as several crystal vials from Theodore and Draco, filled with interesting potions that were described to have rather interesting or humorous effects when added to a person's food.

There was only one other parcel, it was light and cool to the touch as Nobu'tan removed the paper wrapping it. Before he had finished however, something fluid and silver gray slithered out of the wrappings and onto the floor where it lay in gleaming folds.

Picking the item up gingerly, Nobu'tan recognized that it was some sort of cloak, but the material was like nothing he had ever seen before. Walking casually to the mirror, he tossed it over his shoulders to see what it looked like, and nearly gasped when his body vanished from sight. The cloak made whatever it covered invisible.

Spinning in a tight circle to see if he was covered from all angles, Nobu'tan spotted a note fall from the folds of the cloth, and seized it. In narrow, loopy writing it simply said, 'Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well. A very merry Christmas to you."

There was no name attached to the letter, and no other indication of who had sent such a strange, and rather personal gift to him.

Unfortunately, Nobu'tan had little time to actually enjoy the gift, as his invitation had said that the festival would be a daylong event, and he was to meet Professor Snape outside the Great Hall in something other than his school robes to go.

That alone lead to some problems, as the young warlock didn't own anything but his school robes, aside from his old frostwolf fur clothing from Azeroth, and he doubted that they would be considered good enough for the Malfoy's standards. Perhaps he would just wear them anyway, and the Professor would transfigure them into something else for him.

Dashing toward the exit of the room at top speed, Nobu'tan almost bypassed another gift for him that would easily have gone unnoticed. Stopping and almost colliding with one of the beds, he turned back and bent low to pick up the small stone from just beside his trunk, where it had presumably fallen while he was opening the much larger presents.

It was a rune, very basic and used primarily for messages between Azerothian magic users, but this one sent chills up and down Nobu'tan's spine. It was written, neither in any language of these wizards, nor in a language native to Azeroth.

The lettering was the same as that of the Burning Legion.

'The Masters call for your allegiances, warlock. Find the standing stones and contact us, and your instructions regarding this world will become clear. Might of the Legion be with you…'

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Lucius Malfoy was not a man known for his patience, nor for giving in easily to outside influences, but naturally what those on the outside knew or did not know of a man was not always the same as what occurred within the walls of one's home.

The pureblood families were raised by one strong value. Blood mattered, and by blood they meant family. True, purity of blood was important, and those that failed to live to that standard could be cast out and disowned, but even then it was a rarity, a public disgrace to throw out even a squib from the family home unless it was warranted by crimes against the family. Every member had duties and a purpose within a pureblood household, and Lucius was a man of tradition.

So when his sweet son, Draco, requested to invite his distant cousin, Harry Potter, to their Yuletide festival, Lucius could not in good conscious deny it, personal decisions or not. While there would be many Death Eaters gathered here as friends and indeed some family to the Malfoy's, they all knew the same ethics and responsibilities that Lucius would be under. If Potter was invited by any member of the family, than he was welcome in their home.

And so, the day of the festival, here he stood by the fireplace, waiting for his good ally Severus to arrive with the boy in tow from Hogwarts. Hopefully the half-blood child from his wife's family would at least be properly dressed, but Lucius had little hopes for that given what Draco had mentioned regarding the boy's rather abrupt arrival into their world. If that was indeed the case, it would be proper for him to assist in making sure a member of the family adequately represented them, especially as host of this event, and did not cause a scene with anything untoward.

The Floo flared emerald, and Lucius released a sigh he had not been aware that he was holding as Severus and the lad appeared. He did cringe inwardly however at the state of the boy's clothing: some sort of coarse linen robe with a fur cloak that would simply be out of place and inappropriate with the other guests.

Exchanging a glance with Severus that belayed all of the man's limited care about the situation, Lucius understood that it would be up to him to make the boy presentable before the joined the festivities. "Mr. Potter," he said smoothly, exchanging a short handshake with the lad and Severus, "how pleased we are that you've come. And Severus, it's been a long time, has it not?"

The sallow man gave a small jerk of the head, and Lucius communicated with his eyes to leave that pair of them alone for a short time. Even as Severus walked past them toward the entrance hall Lucius noticed that sharp observance of the green eyes to their subtle conversation, the boy was quick then.

"I apologize if my clothing does not meet the required etiquette, sir," Potter said coolly, "but I simply do not own anything else, and the invitation from your son specifically said not to wear my school robes."

Lucius hid the grimace well. This child was heir to one of the wealthiest families in Britain and Dumbledore had him in nothing but school robes and this animal skin? Although on closer inspection Lucius was impressed by the craftsmanship of the clothing, but it still was not the style that he or any of his guests would be wearing, and stick out like a sore muggle in Diagon Alley.

"Quite… understandable Mr. Potter," Lucius replied, catching himself from truly speaking his mind, "I think we may be able to do a few quick transfigurations for something decent for now, but in future I'd recommend you take your time in Diagon or Hogsmeade and actually get a full wardrobe of clothing for the whole year, rather than just school clothes."

"Of course, sir, thank you for the advice." Potter replied graciously, and the boy patiently waited, perfectly still while Lucius did a few basic transfigurations, changing the fur cloak to one that was a bit more seemly, and significantly less gamey, black silk with a bit of the original deep grey fur around the neck, while the linen robe transformed into an emerald green color with a sheen similar to satin or some other material that would be, while not overwhelmingly expensive, at least in line with what most wizards had purchased for their dress robes.

"There," Lucius said after he was finished, "that should last for at least the night, and change back by tomorrow."

"Thank you again very much sir," Potter said as Lucius led him toward the Ballroom, where well near a hundred of Lucius' guests, friends and distant family had gathered for the celebration of Yuletide. Draco appeared rather quickly, along with his best friend Theodore Nott, and the two boys quickly tore Potter away to the corner of the room that the older children had dominated for themselves to be away from their parents.

Lucius didn't mind, it would be better not only for Potter to be away from the other guests who'd want to pester him, but for Lucius so he did not need to explain over and over why the Boy-Who-Lived was in his home.

Glancing around, Lucius noted that Severus was lingering near the same section that Potter had just been all but dragged to, and quick taking up a pair of champaign glasses, Lucius maneuvered through the crowd to his old friend's side.

"Severus I know that these things are dull to you, but must you really make such a show of it?" Lucius said, only a slight edge of teasing in his voice as he handed the Potions Master one of the glasses.

"It's not that only this time I'm afraid," Severus replied, turning momentarily to glance at Lucius and accept the glass, "but my charge is one that I was tasked with keeping an extremely close eye on."

Somehow, Lucius was not terribly surprised by this, "What does the old meddler want with the boy, then? He asked, wondering how much Severus would be willing or able to reveal.

"I'm not sure," the man replied, typically, but Lucius waited. There usually was at least an opinion that garnered some level of accuracy from the esteemed Professor. "But there is something strange about the boy... that much is for certain."

"How so, old friend?" Lucius pushed a bit, handing off his own, now empty, glass to a floating tray as it passed.

"The boy does not speak English naturally, at least not yet, for one thing. He has to use a combination of charms to understand and communicate with those around him, not that any of the dunderheads at the school aside from the other Professors know this, but that alone implies that he has not grown up in or remotely near to Britain. Adding to that his quite mysterious reappearance, and determined reluctance to so much as hint as to where that may have been or who had raised him leads me to suspect some rather, darker, things took place." Severus was very grim as he spoke, and his cold eye never left Potter as he sat on some of the cushioned furniture and listened to the Slytherin children as they played their little games of schoolyard politics.

Lucius also found himself closely considering the boy at that moment, sensing something that ought to have been unusual about the boy, but because of a long familiarity to it Lucius had simply overlooked the sensation. The boy smelled of Dark Magic. Severus would have had to use a spell to notice, being a half blood himself, but most pureblood families still retained the ability to literally smell the magic of an individual, and Potter definitely had the scent of a dark wizard.

Suddenly it explained why his son and the Nott boy were so readily accepting of him, he smelled like one of them, but they were too young to realize what that smell meant. Potter himself was probably unaware, but that still lead to very interesting questions.

"I see," Lucius said slowly, considering his options. The Dark Lord may be gone for good, it was the common consensus between the remaining Death Eaters that were free, and in his absence many were looking to Lucius for leadership.

While it had long been understood that Dumbledore wanted to undermine their ancient heritage by opening their world to all things muggle, and blending the two worlds until there was nothing left that made wizards so great, this information that his supposed golden child Potter wasn't on board with the same ideas, then perhaps the one who defeated the Dark Lord may be the answer they needed.

But for now they would have to wait and watch, because the boy was still young, and spending so much time in the castle controlled by Dumbledore meant that the boy would be exposed to the old man's ideas at an alarming rate.

Walking away to mingle with the rest of his guests, Lucius spared a final glance back at the three eleven year olds. Draco would leap at the chance to spend more time with Potter; perhaps he would be the perfect go between for watching what happened for them over the next several years.

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Draco smirked at his two closest friends, even as they relaxed in the small corner of the Ballroom that had been sectioned off by plush couches and chairs for the older children to be separated from their parents and mingle with people their own age. He and Theo had been watching for Harry Potter's arrival, knowing that many of the adults would want to waste his time with talk and other boring activities, and had dragged him away as fast as they could.

Harry was most appreciative when they explained their reasoning, and sat quietly to listen as they discussed their Christmases and the presents they had received. Afterward they had sampled some of the refreshments that had been delayed indefinitely to their side of the room, and spent time identifying the others, primarily the current and former Slytherins, that were at the festival.

The other teens, having mostly seen Harry already at Hogwarts, simply nodded in his direction, with a select few from the nearer years coming to shaking his hand, but otherwise the three eleven year olds were left well enough alone.

"You home is quite nice, Draco," Harry said after a short time, glancing around the Ballroom, yet seeming to refer to something other than just the architecture. Regardless Draco appreciated the proper respect the statement carried.

"Yes, it is rather amazing, quite old as well, owned by the Malfoy's since they built it in the late middle ages."

"And on top of a lay line as well, that must assist handsomely with powering the wards," Harry commented, stunning Draco.

"How did you know that?" he asked, lowering his voice dangerously, "that's a family secret that very few know…"

The boy looked at him curiously, "a secret? How could it be, you can simply feel it in the ambient magic of the building…"

"Theo, I think we three need to have a few words in private," Draco announced for the others around them, and together they subtly frog marched Harry toward the exit. Draco spotted his godfather, Professor Snape, nearby, but the man made no move to intercept or hinder them, so he must have felt that they were safe if they stayed together.

Once out of the Ballroom, the Slytherin boys turned and proceeded up the stairs toward Draco's bedroom, the most private location that Draco knew they could go for a short time. Harry made no protest as they guided him, just neutrally glancing at the art and décor as they passed. Once inside the blue and grey furnishings of Draco's bedroom, he closed and locked the door before turning on Harry.

"It's rather obvious that you don't understand the importance of what you said down there, and thankfully there weren't anyone that were unaware of the secret to overhear us," Draco started.

"I still don't understand why that's a secret, I mean Hogwarts is sitting on top of multiple ley lines, and aside from the fact that they're rather important and useful it's not like wizards here actually use them for much…" Harry protested.

"That's not the point, Harry," Theo said, allowing Draco to continue.

"It's about the prestige of owning the land here, on a powerful conduit of magic, and keeping that knowledge safe is powerful, as there are wards that were created to give the family strength based on the particular line they lived on." he explained, not liking how the Ravenclaw's eyes danced with the information.

"So you wizards do use the power of ley lines directly, for some things…" he said slowly, eyes darting as he thought about something.

"Of course we do, what would be the point of coming near them if we didn't have a use for them?" Theo asked.

"Oh, but your society has barely scratched the surface, and I doubt that they've even thought about the possibilities… I may indeed be the only one. This gives us a terrible and wonderful advantage…" Harry was muttering to himself.

"Hello, Harry, come back to earth now please," Draco tried, waving his hand in front of the other boy's almost dazed face.

"Yes, it's perfect!" Harry suddenly said, as his eyes started to gleam with excitement, "but we'll have to work fast and subtly, hopefully you Slytherins can keep up on that part…"

"Mind informing the rest of us what madness you're scheming?" Theodore said, his voice showing a bit of concern that Draco knew all too well. Theodore was a careful sort, never wanted to try and do anything secret without guarantees that he wouldn't be blamed for it, and Draco understood why. With just he and his father left at home, he had one sole disciplinarian taking care of him during the summer, and Nott Sr. wasn't known to be the most forgiving of people when it came to punishments.

He'd never done more than yell when Draco had been present, but he felt that it sometimes went farther than that when Theodore was younger, so the boy was extra hesitant to do anything that would be too far out of line.

But Harry wasn't listening. Rather, the boy was already chanting some language that neither Draco nor Theodore understood, his hands glowing a malevolent purple as symbols formed out of magic at his feet.

The spell reached a crescendo, and thin purple jets of light snaked upward, forming an oblong orb above Harry's head, and a small rift opened before him. Draco's eye shot up when a creature emerged, skipping in delight as it approached Harry.

It looked somewhat like a House Elf, tiny and barely clothed, but that was where the similarities ended. Apart of the long ears and horns jutting from the thing's head, its tail that snapped around as the creature eyed its surroundings menacingly, strangely the thing Draco focused on most was the stench of brimstone and the magical fire that seemed to be generated by the little thing continually.

"Wha-what is that?!" Theodore said, shrinking back slightly.

"Quzkol," Harry said, the word obviously being the creature's name, as the little thing turned and looked up at the other wizard, "These two speak a language quite unlike the common or orcish of Azeroth, play nice and introduce yourself…"

If anything, the pouting of the little beast was only about as humorous as it was frightening, as the thing revealed that its mouth was filled with tiny sharp fangs. It started speaking in another language, harsh sounding and quite unpleasant, before Harry flicked his wand at it once.

"…an imp, and if you think you're gonna mess with me I'll rip you ap… Hey! What did you do to me just now?" the creature said, its voice quite high and irritating. The creature, an imp Draco thought he heard it say, turned back to glare at Harry, who only smirked in response.

"Simply made it so that they could understand what you were babbling about, threats are quite useless unless the hearer actually knows which body part you want to break off of them…" Harry replied, clearly more amused than serious.

"Oh, well warn a guy next time, I don't like foreign magic being cast on me without my permission…" the imp complained, dancing around on its tiny feet.

"Harry, what this about?" Draco asked, ignoring the imp now, as it seemed little more than a servant to the Ravenclaw.

"This," Harry said, gesturing at the imp, "is a creature not native to this world… that through the magic I know I have been able to summon and bind to my will…"

"Hey" the imp said, annoyed, "I resent that."

"And," Harry continued, also ignoring the imp, "I can teach you both how to summon and control ones like him, and more powerful creatures from the Void. Granted I'll need assurances of secrecy, and help in some of my other plans from you both."

Draco exchanged a glance with Theodore. "What can this little one do?" Theo asked, his eyes never leaving the imp.

"Little! The nerve of some people!" the being protested, before fire started to inch up its arms, forming a small ball in its clawed hand.

"Quzkol… out the window with it, we don't want unnecessary damages. There will time enough for destruction later." Harry rebuked it, before flicking his wand to open the window. The imp spun, and launched a sizeable green fireball out the window, which soared out to the ward line of the manor and exploded into a relatively small burst of flame.

The creature was already winding up with another when Harry called for it to stop. "You may return to the Twisted Nether for the time being Quz, I'll call you when you're needed again."

Grumbling as it went, the imp vanished through a small hole that it quickly punched into time and space, vanishing with less than a pop of sound. Theodore watched where it had gone for several moments, before looking at Harry again, "And you say there are other things you can summon like that as well?"

"Yes," Harry affirmed, "but they are much larger and more dangerous than the little imp, so they'd best be summoned in a more secure location."

"Well, I'm willing to learn this," Draco said, "and I can give you a wizard's oath to its secrecy, Slytherins understand the importance of subtly."

"I… need time to think about this, can I give you an answer when term restarts?" Theodore asked, looking nervous. Harry glanced at Draco, who nodded his vouch for Theo's honesty. "I'll need an explanation as to why you delay at some other time, but I will allow you time to think, so long as you keep this as it is meant to be, a secret."

Theo nodded, subdued. Draco checked on the time, "I think we need to go back down before we're missed…"

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Severus glared angrily around the ballroom as the festival continued. He had not originally wanted to attend, as per his usual, but Dumbledore insisted that he chaperone Harry bloody Potter to this event, a task that he now doubly hated.

At least the boy was not causing any more chaos, aside from the ridicules choice of apparel that he had selected, which Lucius had had to correct. Although where the boy was after going upstairs with Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott, Severus could not say.

The sooner they could leave the better as far as he was concerned, more so before anyone from the Death Eaters or Ministry realized that the boy was present. How Lucius alone had realized that the boy had the taint of Dark Magic on him so quickly, Severus did not understand, but what was done was done, and Albus would just have to deal with it.

Soon enough, the three boys reappeared, and Severus started to make his way toward them, when the worst occurred.

"I say, it's Harry Potter!" someone in the crowd said, very loudly, and all heads turned. Potter froze like a deer in wandlight at all the sudden attention, eyes wide as though he had been up to something. Draco and Theodore flanked him instant as many from the crowd pressed forward to speak with Potter or merely shake his hand.

Severus hung back slightly, as did many of the Death Eaters that were still free, along with Lucius who had already known the boy was here. But as the minutes dragged on, Severus sighed as he decided to go in and rescue the boy from being smothered to death.

Circling around the far side of the crowd, closer to where Potter had been, Severus pushed in through the gathered people, many making way for the illustrious potions master. When he finally could see the boy clearly, Severus had to admit he was impressed with what he saw.

Malfoy and Nott were funneling people through one at a time to be with Potter, and the boy was taking everything in stride, introducing himself to person after person, and having brief moments of idle chatter with them before they were ushered on by the other two boys.

"I believe Mr. Potter has had quite enough introductions today," Severus announced, parting the last of the people in his way to the boys. The three visibly relaxed upon seeing him, which made Severus inwardly cringe. Only his Slytherins were supposed to be happy to see him.

Walking up to and placing a hand on Potter's shoulder to emphasize his point, Severus spoke to the crowd again. "I believe there are many other parts of this festival to attend to, and Mr. Potter has to be returning to Hogwarts now, will everyone please clear a path."

Smirking to himself as he was instantly obeyed, Severus guided Potter out of the mass of people, with Draco and Theodore trailing behind to ward off people from following.

"Thank you, Professor," Potter said quietly, so that only Severus heard. Nodding once in acknowledgement of the thanks, Severus steered the boy out of the ballroom altogether, they stepped quickly to the Floo fireplace.

"Mr. Malfoy, it was a pleasant evening," Severus said politely as Lucius came in after them, "but we shall bid you goodnight."

"Goodnight, sir. Draco, Theo…" Potter said, shaking all three of their hands before entering the emerald fire that Severus had prepared for him. Nodding curtly at Lucius one final time, Severus took the channel back to Hogwarts castle.

The boy was already gone when Severus arrived, but he couldn't care less at this point, instead going straight up to the Headmaster's office, bypassing the silly gargoyle with its candy-based password.

"Ah, Severus, back from the Malfoy's festival are you? Did Harry enjoy himself?" the old man asked as Severus entered his office.

"I wouldn't know, nor do I care," Severus replied, "it was mostly uneventful until some idiot announced to the room that Potter was there, and the boy got swarmed by his fans."

"Oh," Albus said dismissively, "no worse for wear though. Well, no matter, no matter, anything else that happened that I should be aware of?"

"Lucius Malfoy was able to instantly know that Potter had the taint of Dark Magic on him, I'm not exactly sure how, but I deflected his attention about it for the moment,"

"I thought that might happen," the Headmaster replied, looking pensive as he stared off to the side, at a bookshelf. "So other purebloods will be able to sense Harry's power and probably be attracted to the subtle darkness of his magic. This could either prove to be extremely problematic, or work to our advantage, depending on how compliant Harry will be regarding this Arcane magic business. Thank you Severus."

Understanding that he was being dismissed, Severus turned and left, deciding that what he needed after this excursion was a large firewhisky and perhaps a nap.

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Albus waited for Severus to depart before running over everything he had learned, directly and indirectly from the man in his mind. Standing and striding out to the center of his office, the Headmaster of Hogwarts began to pace, as he was wont to do when deep in thought.

He had not told his true feelings or thoughts to Severus, because whether the man was good with his Occlumency or not, he was still somewhat of an open book with his emotions, showing it through his anger or displeasure at those who he felt threatened or offended by, and this was sure to lead to an outpouring of dislike for Harry that would neither be helpful or wanted.

Harry was dark, there was no denying it, the taint had slowly grown, as Albus had only felt it as a brief touch at first, and only when he was actively looking for it. For another, less powerful pureblood, or more, to sense it passively through their natural affinities, meant that it had intensified between the beginning of the year and now.

Albus had to quickly find out how the boy was practicing Dark Magic under his own nose, and how it was related to the information that the boy had already been forced to reveal, about his possible knowledge of the Old Ways, the system of magic that predated wandlore.

The book that Albus had found was not something from the Hogwarts library, but an antique book from his family's personal library, dating magical events all the way back to the ancient druids of Britain long before the Roman invasion. It explained that sorcerers and druids alike practiced an art that bent the very elements to their command, empowered by the presence of the ley lines and manifesting as pure magic.

It only served to enforce his shaky idea that some long forgotten mage, like Merlin or some other immortal from ages past, had found and took Harry in, training him in the magic of their times, before returning him to his family home.

But even if this was the case, nothing in the old tome spoke of whether the Old Ways would be considered light or dark magic, quite honestly it seemed that the magic of old was above such labels and simply was, the intent of the wielder changing the magic's purpose as it was directed.

Perhaps it was therefore something other than his newfound magic that gave off the intensifying taint of evil on the boy? Hard to say, but thankfully, even with his father's invisibility cloak, Albus would be able to find the boy through this radiated aura, as there was little that could mask that from those who knew what to look for.

Hopefully Harry found his way to the Mirror of Erised soon, and Albus might glean some information from him before moving the mirror to the third floor corridor to complete his trap for Quirrell and Voldemort.

After that, well, Albus hadn't put much thought into what to do with Harry after the year was out, so focused he was on the trap with Voldemort and figuring out the boy while he was here in the castle. The option to keep him at Hogwarts was out of the question, there was too much that the boy would get into, the library least of all. Too much unrestrained learning in one that was unpredictable at best was not to be allowed. The same went for any of the boy's Slytherin friends, and Albus dared not impose on any of his ally's families as Harry did not know their children directly.

It left really one choice. Lily's sister's family still lived, and they were the closest relatives that Harry had that Albus could remotely trust. The boy would have to stay with them, and Albus would bind blood wards if he could to ensure their mutual protection from outside attackers. Vernon and Petunia Dursley would not like the arrangement one bit, if Lily's stories were even remotely true, but Albus was not going to give them a choice, as there were no other options. They'd take in Harry Potter, even if only for the summers, and that would be it.

Albus pitied the poor Muggles if they thought that they'd enforce any of their hatred of the magical world onto Harry, as it was not only part of him, but quite literally in the boy's blood, and would rebel against that sort of tyranny very quickly. Albus would have to make absolutely certain that they understood that they were only to provide room and board for Harry, but otherwise leave him to his own devices, with the promise that Harry would leave them alone as well. Love may come, if they bothered to get to know one another, but Albus severely doubted it, with how bitter Petunia Evans had become after her sister came to Hogwarts all those years ago.

Albus was brought out of his thoughts by the small magical alarm that he had placed over the room where the Mirror of Erised was kept. "Well, that was fast," he commented aloud, before disillusioning himself and making his way down to the room where it was kept, just off the library.

Sure enough, Harry had wasted no time in using his father's old cloak, and had found the mirror almost immediately. Currently the boy was staring into its depths, a look of great longing on his face while the silvery cloak lay at his feet.

Taking a good long moment to study the boy without being observed, Albus took note of the thin, yet well toned body, a clear indication of much hard work early on in the boy's life, and the weathered look in the boy's eyes that spoke of a long time of seeing the worst of the world. What possible war or devastation had the boy been through, Albus wondered, to have grown up so young?

The boy was desperate, almost remorseful as he put his hands on the glassy surface of the mirror, as though hoping to jump through it into the vision that it placed before his eyes, and his alone.

Hopefully the boy wouldn't realize that just yet and Albus would learn what the boy wanted so badly. "So," Albus said as he cancelled the invisibility spell and the boy jumped in surprise, "you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised."

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Nobu'tan felt a strange new aura in the castle from the moment he and Snape returned from the Malfoy's manor. It also seemed, strangely of all, to be calling for him specifically. Curious, and feeling no commitment to wait for the Potions Master to arrive, Nobu'tan had departed immediately for Ravenclaw tower, to collect his father's old invisibility cloak, as it would prove most useful in avoiding anything if the area turned out to be off limits.

It turned out not to be the case, but it was still good to be able to bypass anyone or anything that might have interrupted his course, such as the poltergeist that had been bouncing off the walls several corridors before the location, which was a room nearby the library. Seeing little reason to remain after investigating, Nobu'tan decided after he had a look at what the new aura was being created by, he would go on to continue looking through the many varied and detailed tomes about magical transportation, hoping to find something similar to the portals of Azeroth for himself to base off of.

But seeing the mirror, standing alone in the empty classroom had halted such thoughts, and with curiosity gripping him fully, Nobu'tan found himself standing before the golden framed glass, staring deeply into it. Long grasslands stretched out behind his reflection, showing the highlands of Azeroth, just as he remembered them from what felt like ages ago. What was more, on his left side was his master, Gul'dan, looking down at him with approval, while other members of the Horde that he had viewed favorably were present as well.

Kil'rogg Deadeye, Zul'jin the forest troll that Nobu'tan had highly respected, even Teron Gorefiend and Cho'gall were all there, standing around him like an extremely bizarre family, among what appeared to be the start of a great city on an Azeroth controlled by the Horde. It was perfect, each detail exactly as he remembered. Reaching a hand forward to touch his old master, Nobu'tan suppressed a cry of despair when he met solid glass.

The longing grew painful to return to the place that he called home, where he felt comfortable and understood what was going on. Hope that he would find a clue here as to how he might get back to Azeroth started to dwindle as he forlornly gazed at that which he desired most.

"So," a voice said behind him, causing Nobu'tan to jump, and distracting him from the mirror's reflection. Whirling, he spotted Dumbledore, and a small amount of panic rose in his chest. What had the man seen? "You, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised…" the old man said, casually walking into the room as though he had done this dozens of times.

Nobu'tan attempted to shift himself to block whatever the mirror may have been continuing to show from Dumbledore's view. The last thing he wanted was the man to know his secret wish of escaping back to Azeroth, or the nature of Gul'dan and the magic that he had taught Nobu'tan.