Harry happily perused his owl post the day the day after Hogwarts opened. There was a letter from Mr. Higgs, their flying instructor, who had attended school at the same time as James Potter. He read the letter out loud for Dudley, Tom and Petunia. The tales were amusing and, as promised Mr. Higgs had not told any tales that would trouble Harry.

There was a brief note from the transfiguration professor at Hogwarts - a Professor McGonagall.

Dear Mr. Harry Potter,

I was most happy to hear from Severus that you are doing well.

It was my privilege to be your parents Head of House when they attended Hogwarts. I greatly miss both of them, and am most anxious to meet both you and your cousin when you attend next year. Severus has told me you would enjoy tales of the two of them, as your family did not know James well, and did not know much of their doings at school. I will try to send you letters with tales of your parents when I can., I'm afraid that school keeps us busy, but I promise I will send one soon.

Sincerely,

Professor Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

"She sounds nice." Harry said hesitantly.

"I remember Lily saying how much she liked her Head of House, I didn't recall her name." Petunia answered.

"I went to school with Minnie." Tom snickered, to their surprise. They had forgotten that Tom had skipped almost fifty years. "She was a bit of a know it all in her first year, and then she wised up a bit, and was quite popular. She was Head Girl in my sixth year - the last year I remember." Tom looked a bit thoughtful as he reminisced.

The last letter was from Severus. It was an unsurprising letter for Harry, who had known what House the twins were aiming for.

Dear Harry,

The twins caused dozens of Weasley and Prewett ancestors to spin in their graves. They did as they had told you and managed to weasel their way into the formerly honorable House of Hufflepuff. The stupefied look on Professor Sprouts' face (their horrified new Head of House) was only outdone by the look of intense relief on Professor McGonagall's (the Head of House for the Gryffindor's). Charlie Weasley got whacked by the above mentioned Gryffindor Head of House when he wouldn't stop complaining about Fred and George's sorting. It hasn't sunk in that they did it on purpose, apparently. Percy, however, gave me a rather Slytherin smirk - he was obviously not surprised at all.

Give my greetings to Petunia and let Dudley know that the twins will be writing both of you in the first detention I arrange for them - I'm sure they will be doing something detention-earning soon.

Let Tom know I will see if books can be lent to him from the library here for his numerous research projects.

Best Regards,

Your guardian,

Severus Snape

There was also a letter from Mafalda, but Harry pushed that into a pocket - he didn't need more teasing about his ‘girlfriend' from Dudley. He knew it was in fun, but teasing still made him uneasy at times.

All four of them chuckled happily. Tom smiled bemusedly, imagining Charlie's expression when hit by Minnie. He remembered her temper quite well. She would be in her sixties, now, he realized with a start. Now and then he had a sudden realization of how many years he'd been stuck in the diary.

Tom hastened to the library to grab his research on Horcruxes and the curses on the ring to work on while the boys studied. He would wait on the dagger until he heard from Percy or more books from Severus. He hoped to figure out how to free Harry from the Horcrux soon, or at least un-curse the ring before Christmas break.

Draco arrived with a bounce in his step, and they all marched to the sun-room that had been converted into a classroom.

"Okay, Severus, Lucius and I went over the subjects we wanted to cover, there is space for things you might wish to add, and you might think of things as we go along." Tom smiled at the gleeful faces. He hoped they kept their eagerness to learn after entering Hogwarts school.

"We'll do some book work before lunch, and then look for plants in the meadow and woods that are good for potions after lunch. The elves have been getting the garden area ready for us to plant things. It's much too late to plant seeds, but we can transplant adult plants. Severus and I planned a garden, and we'll look for those, but we can add plants we find, as well if we wish." Tom was relieved to see they still looked happy.

"Can we look for unicorns while we're out there?" Dudley asked enthusiastically.

Draco perked up excitedly, "There's unicorns?"

"Yes, there are several herds, but we must be careful not to annoy them. They will approach if they wish, but if there are foals, they get especially protective. Now, pull out the beginning Charms book, we'll start with - studying the simplest charms and the wand movements that are most commonly used in spells. The easier the movements are for you, the better." Tom sat on the front of his desk to demonstrate.

The swish and flick was actually not easy to do correctly, and it would likely take several days of repetition to do correctly. He showed them all the basic moves, and then demonstrated some spells that used them. The boys all tried the swish and flick and Tom stood behind them, sometimes guiding an arm in the correct movement. It didn't take more than an hour to tire of that, so they studied about unicorns and he had them cross-reference uses of their parts in potions, wands and weapons. They had their first experience in writing an essay with never-out quills regarding this.

Draco was quite gleeful that his wand had unicorn hair in his wand, and his essay consisted mostly of wandlore regarding unicorns. Dudley had concentrated on the uses in weaponry, and Harry had gone into detail on potion uses.

The three took turns reading their essays to each other before lunch, and they critiqued them, praising some areas, suggesting more balance - as each of them had tended to dwell on what interested them.

Tom was a bit annoyed at their narrow view.

"Remember, they haven't done this before, and praise works best for beginners." Yvane chided.

Tom thought that over quickly and told the boys they were fine essays - likely better than many first years, and they would do well as long as they remembered to check their facts and keep the essay balanced.

Lunch was jovial, and Petunia was given the essays to read. Tom was sure that none of the boys could have said what they ate; they were too busy looking at the lists of plants they were to find, either for transplant or for gathering. Tom had proposed an ongoing competition. Each day they would look for plants and the one who found the most would get to name the desert at supper that night. At the end of the week the overall winner could pick an outing - within reason.

The group of four left on their foraging mission, and Petunia went to talk to Tinker and Dobby. Nymphadora and her mother would be here at noon tomorrow and she wanted lunch to be especially nice. Tinker was thrilled at her interest, and Dobby watched her carefully and wrung his hands.

The group moved slowly through the meadow, stopping to show the boys plants that they normally just walked obliviously on. He had a colorfully illustrated Herbology text of plants with him. Somehow looking at the text was different from looking at plain-looking weeds in the meadow. They soon had identified some scurvygrass, fluxweed, knotgrass and lovage. Nettles were easy enough to identify. They carefully dug up some of the fluxweed and lovage, and called Tinker to take the plants to their garden.

They also gathered up some of the scurvygrass and knotgrass. Tom rejected the nettle, saying the nettle from Queerditch marsh was far superior, and they would get it from there, or not at all. As they filled a bag, Tom would banish it back to the potions lab. They approached the woods then and found some flitterbloom, dittany and mallowsweet, but they only found a few plants worth transplanting to the boys relief. The careful digging was more tiring than they the boys had thought, and all but Harry were quite unused to getting their hands so dirty.

When Tinker fetched away those plants, they entered the woods. Draco and Dudley were almost hoping to not find any more plants for awhile. Tom walked slowly, realizing that his students were tiring. They found a stream, and he had them wash off the dirt, and pull their trainers and socks off to soak their feet.

Tom looked around and decided to wind up the afternoon lesson by just pointing out the trees around them. Luckily there were several interesting ones. He was soon pointing out the Oak and listing its qualities as a wand tree and the parts useful in potions. Dudley was beaming - that was what his wand was made of. There was also a Holly tree nearby and Harry listened, rapt, as Tom listed the tree's qualities and uses. Draco pouted a bit as they left, and Tom promised they would find a Hawthorne tree for him.

The boys looked rested and eager again, and they got their trainers back on. They took a different path back to the house and Tom kept pointing out trees, and by chance found a Hawthorne tree to Draco's glee. The walk back was leisurely, as Tom didn't want to burn them out on the first day.

To no ones surprise it turned out that Tom had gathered and dug most of the plants, so his favorite dessert of bananas foster was served - not that anyone minded. Draco went home, clutching his essay gleefully. Dudley and Harry fell into bed happily exhausted. Tom hoped that the days would all be so easy.

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Fred and George were turned loose by Cedric the next morning - after the others had fled to the showers with giggles.

"I hear you want to be pranksters?" Cedric said with a smile, and noted the twin's wary nods. "Well, we don't mind that as long as it's the other houses you prank." Cedric lost his smile. He'd talked about this with Professor Sprout very early this morning and they had decided ground rules would be taken better from him. "And...you are not to do anything to people simply because they are different or not popular. There are many who are just shy or poor or have problems you don't know about or couldn't understand if you tried. We might even help, if you have good reasons for pranking them."

"Maybe we should have a pranking committee?" Fred quipped with a smirk.

Cedric grinned. "Maybe we should - I'm sure there are a lot of Hufflepuffs that could use some payback on others. Besides - no one ever suspects Hufflepuffs, but they might suspect you. So having help is in your interests. But...we won't help if you are making us miserable as well."

The brothers were surprised at the answer and looked at each other. "Well, we could..." Fred started.

"...always use assistance. You never know..." George continued.

"...when you'll need an alibi or someone..." Fred continued.

"...to watch your back." George finally finished.

"Stop, stop...you're making me dizzy. Hit the showers and come to breakfast." Cedric laughed as he left. He smiled to himself, satisfied that the twins had been aimed away from their fellow badgers.

The other first years were waiting for him in the common room and he reassured them that Fred and George would not be targeting them. "Give them another chance - but let me know if they need reminding of their house loyalty. They'd like to start a pranking club, though, so if anyone has someone in another house needing a comeuppance, let them know."

The rest of the common room looked up at that and many got thoughtful looks.

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Molly chopped at herbs she had been drying so she could store them. She had finally perfected her technique in casting preservation spells on jars for herbs. Learning the ones for fruits, vegetables and meat had been more important. She could keep herbs for months without charms, but they stopped being fresh long before the next crop. They could still be used, but they simply weren't - fresh.

The trick of the freshness and preservation charms had eluded her until this summer. To her surprise Percy -of all people- had looked up the charms at Hogwarts and consulted with Professor Flitwick about them and had perfected his technique while at school. He'd endless ‘tutored' her in them until she had it cold during summer. Bless his heart; he'd taken a lot of heat from his brothers for it, of course.

Arthur had been curiously protective of Percy this summer, after Harry's visit and then the twins had become buddies with him the remainder of the time. Molly fretted a bit; she loved Percy but didn't understand how his mind worked.

Bill was grown and mostly gone - but he had been a boisterous Gryffindor and easily understood. Charlie would be gone after this school year - he was open and unabashedly Gryffindor. The twins were just like her own - now dead - brothers, sneaky and a bit wild - but in there own way easily understood. Ron was an open book, a Gryffindor from his cradle.

But, Percy - she sometimes wondered if the fae didn't sometimes leave changelings with wizard families as well as muggle ones. She had been sure that he would end up in Ravenclaw, as quiet and studious as he had been. She wondered if he hadn't argued for the house all his brothers were in, because he wanted to fit in - much of that would have been her fault, she knew. All the times she had told him to be more like his brothers crowded into her mind, causing her to sigh.

Molly looked over at Ginny - taking the stems and leaves off strawberries and craftily popping a few in her mouth. They'd have to watch it or the family would have a Slytherin in their midst.

"Mum, Ron said that the Malfoy boy said it was easy to get a variance for wizard children to do magic when you're not near any muggles - is that true?" Ginny tried to ask casually.

"Quite true, dear. If one lives away from where muggles could possibly see, and the parents or guardians are careful to monitor them, it's easy enough to get." Molly said curiously.

"Can you get one for me, then?" Ginny asked eagerly. "I want to be brilliant by the time I get to Hogwarts, and he'll...um ... they'll all be very impressed with my grades." She felt a blush creep up her neck and fought it down. Luckily her stupid brother distracted their mum.

"WHAT! You want to start school work two years early? Are you mad?" Ron asked in appalled tones.

Molly thumped a jar filled with rosemary down onto the counter rather hard. "Ron - don't talk that way to your sister. If she wishes to study ahead, there is nothing wrong with that. You need to brush up on a few things as well." Molly decided to get started on their home-schooling immediately, and she would be talking to Arthur about those variances.

A Hogwarts owl arrived looking a bit harried and left the moment the letter was removed. "Aah, a letter from Charlie, already. I hope the twins haven't blown anything up already." Molly smiled and opened the letter. It was short and to the point, and she sat down hastily to read it again.

"HUFFLEPUFF! Fred and George are in Hufflepuff?" Molly shrieked. She ran to firecall Arthur's office, something she never did.

Ron was shocked silent, and Ginny just snickered - those two, leave it to them.

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Severus got to the breakfast table early, hoping he didn't miss out on any fireworks - and to keep an extra eye on his little snakes. He had done an extra good job on his welcome circle with the first years, even going so far as to have cocoa ready for them. They knew who to go to with personal troubles or school problems. His prefects earned their badges, or they didn't keep them.

He'd also talked at length with the prefects, making sure they knew he was watching them. The general welcome speech had made clear to them that the ‘rumors' of his adoption of Harry Potter and Lucius Malfoys backing of them was all true.

"If you have any questions regarding this, my office is open to you." Severus knew which Slytherins would be availing themselves of that, and if not - he could always assign detention and talk to them, then.

Severus looked out over the only half-full hall; Fred and George were already there, with a circle of Hufflepuffs around them, talking earnestly. He smiled at them, and they waved - making several Hufflepuffs speechless for several minutes. Minerva sat by Severus at that moment and smirked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Imitating me, Minerva? It is the sincerest form of flattery." Severus said a bit snidely.

Minerva huffed in aggravation. "I know you somehow got the twins in Hufflepuff, so I suppose I owe you?"

Severus eyed her speculatively; it was tempting to have Minerva believe she owed him. On the other hand, admitting that he'd urged the twins to consider other houses could have complications if it got out. So, he just smirked at her and started eating his bacon and basted eggs.

She sighed and rolled her eyes - just in time to see Charlie Weasley storm into the hall and over to the Hufflepuff table, stopping in front of Fred and George.

"I sent an owl to our parents; do you know how upset they're going to be? Our families have been in Gryffindor for generations. I think you did this on purpose." Charlie fumed at them.

Minerva gasped at Charlie's horrid remarks - didn't he realize how insulting they were to Hufflepuff? Severus just sneered - it had taken the idiot this long to figure out it was planned?

Percy arrived to the hall just in time to hear Charlie, and he marched over as well. "Charlie, are you crazy? That's no way to talk, Hufflepuffs are loyal and hardworking - you could learn something from them - loyalty perhaps?"

Fred and George and several Hufflepuffs applauded, making Charlie flush. Charlie shoved Percy back, hard. "Stay out of this, nerd." There was soon a lot of scuffling involving Weasley's and several first and second year Hufflepuffs.

Minerva and Severus broke it up immediately and Severus gleefully took points and assigned detentions. This was one of the best first days ever.

Fred and George left to get their books and headed for their dorm. Professor Snape waylaid them just outside the hall. "Mr. & Mr. Weasley." They looked at him apathetically. They were the only ones that got detention with him. "I can see you are already developing a following in your house. I suggest a little prank for your brother Charlie. I can help you with that - I'll show you tonight in ‘detention'. However it must be our secret or it will be the only prank I'll ever show you." Severus lifted an eyebrow and swept away.

Fred and George gaped after him and then looked at each other.

"Brilliant, we'll..." Fred said as they high-fived.

"...have the perfect prank for him, I know it." George finished, and they went to tell their housemates that they would be coming up with a wonderful prank and carefully not telling them where it would be coming from.