Severus had thought the morning to be the worst part of his day, but he hadn't reckoned on the afternoon's misery making attempts.

It was in his last class of the day, with his seventh year N.E.W.T. Slytherin students that things went from the frying pan, and leaped headlong into the proverbial fire.

Bad enough he had to greet them in such a garish display of color. Like a bloody peacock!  He had thought. The color changing potion had utterly refused to be canceled, even by the antidote, which coupled with the fact that it had yet to even start to fade, led Severus to the conclusion it had obviously been tampered with. No first year potion would have that much strength, the student wouldn't be anywhere near developed enough magically to achieve it.

Fortunately for them, his students had had sense enough not to snicker; but it hadn't stopped them from staring at him.

It was when he turned around to begin the lecture; he found his afternoon had gone sour. There was a crisp snap as the door suddenly closed. He found himself faced with Mahalestro Ambervale, who was wearing an expression so grim; Severus was certain someone had died.

He had forgotten the Counselor's uncanny knack for guessing someone's thoughts without the aid of legilimancy. "No one is dead, though some may shortly wish they were." He swept forward and eyed the golden robes. "Vivid choice."

Severus just grunted. "Mishap in my first year Hufflepuff –Ravenclaw class."

Ambervale snorted. "And here's me thinking it was an attack of conscience." When Severus stared at him, the counselor's expression grew darker. With a wave of his wand, a silencing charm went up in front of the students. He stalked forward, cold fury radiating with every step. "Eighty points?! A month's worth of detentions?!"

The potions master steadily backed up as the man advanced. He was forced to a halt when the blackboard came into contact with his back, and he found himself staring into Ambervale's wand, which was sparking slightly.

"I know I taught you better than that!" Ambervale snapped. His accent had almost vanished, to be replaced by a coldness that bordered on blistering.

"The boy absolutely refuses to speak when-"

"He's mute you pig-headed son of a jackal! He can't speak! I mentioned it several times during the staff meetings!"

"He can't even tell time! He steadily-"

"He was raised by muggles, you know that! They don't have clocks like ours," He drew in a deep breath. "And if it were any other student, Gryffindor or not, you probably would have mentioned to him that wizard clocks run in the opposite direction."

"He attacked me!"

"With what? Stick? Aside from colors, appear to be unhurt."

Severus had no response, which was probably just as well. If the man was slipping back into his usual speech pattern, that meant he was starting to calm down, and the last thing he wanted was to aggravate him any further.

Ambervale stepped back at last and cancelled the silencing charm. "Well, no matter. It comes to a stop. Now."

Severus blinked. Then in a silky voice that made his students shiver he said, "I beg your pardon?"

Ambervale fixed him with a piercing glare. "Do not dare take that tone with me!" he said in a hiss that made Severus' blood run cold. "Your little reign of terror ends today!" he snapped. "The points have been returned, and the detentions have been voided. And don't think I didn't seriously consider having you serve them instead!"

Severus's mouth worked soundlessly for a moment as Ambervale continued speaking. "Furthermore, the base malignancy will cease! Immediately! All four houses come from ancient and venerable lines that are worthy of true respect!" He whirled when a disbelieving snort came from the midst of the class. "Yes Johnson! All of them! Including Gryffindor!"

The student he was addressing flinched and slipped lower into his seat. Turning back to Severus, Ambervale scowled. "If I catch any more students maligning other houses, there will be detentions and points involved!"

Behind him, nearly every student's jaw dropped open. "You can't do that!" One of them protested.

Ambervale rotated slowly on the spot, and fixed them with a glare that easily rivaled Severus' best. "I most certainly can. It is my prerogative as both a professor, and as the counselor of this school!" he said in a glacial tone that caused them to shudder.

Stalking to the door and wrenching it open, he scowled and turned to face them. "This house war has gone on far too long. It ends today!" He glared at all of them. "You have been warned. I will not stand for it any longer! The headmaster has long spoken of the need for house unity. It is high time his words were heeded! Regardless of appearances, we are all intelligent beings capable of existing alongside one another!"

He glared at Severus. "You have received your one and only warning! If I catch wind of any more behavior of that manner, I will have no choice but to recommend your suspension to the school board!"

The door slammed shut behind him, leaving Severus feeling wilted, and a class that was equal parts horrified and shocked.

~**~

Professor Ambervale proved to be a man of his word. By dinnertime, three Slytherins, two Ravenclaws, and a Gryffindor had lost ten points apiece, and two more Slytherins had detentions with him, as did another Ravenclaw. The only house that appeared to have not suffered any casualties was Hufflepuff, though even that had changed by the start of breakfast the next day.

Severus thought ruefully that it didn't pay to forget that Ambervale supposedly had been a Gryffindor himself, however many years ago, however nonpartisan the man usually acted. It was a rumor that he could believe now; given the less than subtle ultimatums he had given to the classroom as a whole. He had to admit that the counselor was being fair about it however, and had targeted all the houses.

It also didn't pay to forget that he was the liaison to the board of school governors, something that Severus frequently did. He remembered vividly his first year as the head of Slytherin, also his first year teaching, when the Defense professor at the time had been particularly vicious towards the Slytherins, to the point that a sneeze cost them twenty points for interrupting.

His snakes had come to him with complaints almost at once, and Severus had been at a loss as to how to deal with it. He had mentioned something about the man being rather nasty towards his snakes as a passing comment to the counselor, who had almost immediately gained a rather sour expression.

Severus hadn't given it much thought at the time, nor had he paid much attention to the fact that Ambervale had been in the Slytherin common room that same evening, but he was astonished when the next morning Slytherin seemed to have mysteriously gained nearly four hundred points, finally bringing them out of the negatives. Then the Defense professor was nowhere to be seen at breakfast, a meal he had never missed. The only ones who didn’t appear mystified were the Headmaster and the counselor.

Then came the first defense class of the day, and the Slytherins had discovered Professor Ambervale behind the desk, with a positively enormous stack of parchment beside him. As the students had told him later, the counselor had proceeded to hand them back, saying that he'd re-graded them, and would be their Defense professor for the rest of the school year.

Severus found out from Minerva at dinner that night that the Defense professor had been sacked by a unanimous vote from the Headmaster, Professor Ambervale, and the Board of Governors. While she seemed somewhat pleased, apparently her Gryffindors had suffered under him as well, she also seemed entirely unsurprised. Apparently this wasn't the first time the Counselor had taken steps to get rid of someone unsavory.

The Transfiguration professor had recalled a previous occasion he'd done so, when he had gently retired Professor Sprout's predecessor, who had been getting on in years, after a particularly nasty incident in class injured twelve students.

A more recent occurrence, and by far the most disturbing occasion to date, in Severus opinion, had been to sack Professor Kettleburn's predecessor, who was discovered to be summoning dark creatures, and was teaching students to do the same. That was another occasion where he'd stepped in as acting teacher.

That had left Severus wondering if there was any class the counselor couldn't teach. He was beginning to doubt it. When Severus had been a student, the man had, on occasion, been a substitute for his predecessor, Horace Slughorn. Regardless of all this, Severus simply supposed he should be thankful that the man had merely threatened him with suspension. Having seen him in action before, he had no delusions about the counselor's ability to make things a living hell if he felt it necessary.

Then there were also the visiting Muggle children to consider. It wouldn't do to allow any anti-muggle sentiments get the best of his students. He could only begin to imagine what the counselor's reaction would be to that. 

Probably something just shy of a supernova level explosion, he thought grimly. Less than two weeks before they get here, and the man chooses now of all times to turn things on their heads. If I didn't know better, I'd swear he plans to throw a wrench in his own project.

Then there were the other oddities. While he generally did not make a habit of listening to his students gossip, his sixth year N.E.W.T. class had become loud enough that it was impossible to ignore. According to the lone Gryffindor in the class, a rarity in of itself in his N.E.W.T.'s, the Dark Maiden had spent the night in the Gryffindor Tower. This had surprised his partner, as the Dark Maiden was apparently generally considered to be a Slytherin ghost.

Severus couldn't validate this part, having never personally met the ghost in question, as far as he knew at any rate. But he had heard of her reputation as the most reclusive and anti-social being that ever existed. This was saying something considering his reputation.

Then there were the things that were just plain unusual; Professor Trelawney actually joining the rest of the professors for breakfast certainly counted in that category. The divination professor rarely took her meals with the school, even on holidays.

Severus took another long draft of his coffee. This is shaping up to be one hell of a year, he thought grimly. He swept out of the great hall and towards his classroom to prepare for his first class, and the fact that he'd have to be seeing Potter again already.

~**~

Or not. The brat wasn't even in the class. Madame Pomfrey, however, was there. She was already in the classroom before the students turned up. When he made his usual entrance, Snape found his class watching her with a measure of well warranted curiosity. Poppy rarely left her infirmary, aside from meals.

The mediwitch was not one to mince words. She informed him that Potter was on bed rest until she said otherwise, and had come to collect his homework assignments. She left promptly, though she spared enough time to give him a glare that could have curdled water as she left.

This minor interruption over with, Severus turned to the class and began his lesson on minor bruise potions, thankful that the effects of the color change potion had at last begun to fade. He looked as though someone had incorrectly adjusted the tint on their television now, rather than someone who had been dunked in red and gold paint.

The words on the chalkboard were still up however, and had even defeated a unified effort from several house elves to remove them, something which Severus was forced to be impressed by. House elf magic was not something one could easily beat. At this point he had settled for conjuring a patch over the words, rather than transforming them. He would have to get Filius or Albus to look at them later; it was obviously a high end spell of some sort if it was able to defeat house elf magic.

~**~

"What's a house elf?"

"Crazy little critters that thoroughly enjoy being consummate yes-men."

Seeing the expression that appeared in response to Silverius explanation, Pamela laughed. "They're magical creatures that serve witches and wizards Harry. Fiercely powerful they are, and loyal to the core if you treat them well. Wonderful creatures."

"They like being servants?"

Silverius snorted. "Like? No. They love it! Nothing makes them happier! Weird little varmints."

Pamela smiled briefly and wagged a finger at the mirror. "Maybe so, but you'd do well to never arouse their ire. They'll go to almost any lengths to protect their masters. And the elves that dwell within the school are honor bound to protect students who find themselves in dire straits." She frowned. "Granted, they should have come to your aid back there in the sealed portion of the castle, but the spells can even keep them out. And that takes some doing."

Silverius grunted. "True. And they're powerful enough by themselves, but when they work together, then its curtains for you."

"How come I haven't seen any?"

Pamela shook her head. "Oh I'd be surprised if you saw one when it didn't want to be seen. They're very good at being subtle. Generally you'll only see them when it's intentional."

There was sudden noise like a whip crack, and one of the strangest creatures Harry had ever seen materialized in front of the Dark Maiden. About three feet tall and clad in what appeared to be tea towels emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest, it had large tennis ball like eyes and long floppy bat like ears.

Pamela blinked. "Such as now, for example." She bent down so that she was at eye level with the diminutive creature. "What's the matter?"

The little creature threw its long spindly fingers into a salute and said in a squeaky voice, "Mistress Pince sent me to find you Mistress! She says she has located several of the missing books, but they're putting up a tremendous fight. Mistress Pince says she needs help subduing them."

Pamela rose from her seat. "Understood. I'll catch up to you later Harry." She turned to the house elf. "Take me there at once, if you don't mind."

The elf bowed. "Yes mistress!" it snapped its fingers, and with another whip crack of noise, they were gone.

Silverius grinned. "Told you they were crazy little buggers. But they're still one of the most loyal friends you could ever have," Then his grin widened. "But from the sound of it, you already have a couple of good ones."

Harry grinned too. "Yeah, I guess I do." And wasn't that a strange feeling?

~**~

"What the heck got Professor Ambervale so mad?!"

Though the question was asked to the Slytherin common room at large, the majority of them simply looked confused.

One of the sixth years shrugged. "Who knows?" He frowned. "I haven't seen him that ticked off since that duel in the one of the dungeons four years ago."

Several of his year-mates snickered at the memory. "Remember when he turned that other bloke into an orange rabbit?" One of them said.

His girlfriend giggled. "And made it tap dance." She started laughing at the memory.

One of the seventh years frowned. "Yeah but that guy broke in. Usually Professor Ambervale runs a pretty low key flame. And I've never seen him erupt at anyone like he did yesterday, let alone Professor Snape."

One of the other seventh years blinked. "What about Professor Snape?"

"Oh, that's right, you don't take that class." He waved a hand about. "Professor Ambervale kind of exploded at him yesterday."

One of his friends snorted. "Jonis. You're understating again. A pack of boggarts would have been less terrifying." He scowled. "He showed up right before the lesson and put up a silencing charm, so I don't know everything he said, but he backed Professor Snape into a wall, yelling at him the whole time. Then there's what he yelled at him when he left.

Jonis nodded. In an uncanny impersonation of the counselor he said, "You have received your one and only warning! If I catch wind of any more behavior of that manner, I will have no choice but to recommend your suspension to the school board!" He nodded when the common room as a whole gasped. "He was furious."

"He can't do that!" someone shouted.

"Yeah! Only the headmaster can do that!"

Their housemate shook his head at them, looking grim. "Oh yes he can! He's the liaison to the school board! He has the authority to suspend, or even sack a professor if he deems it necessary!" He pursed his lips. "He sacked Professor Adminton, remember?"

"Who?"

"Professor Kettleburn's predecessor. One of the ghosts told me about it; it was about seven years ago."

"I heard he made the Herbology professor before Sprout retire too." One of the other students said.

Jonis shrugged. "Yeah, but she had hurt a bunch of students in class, and Adminton was summoning dark monsters. It doesn't sound like he ever goes that far without having a good reason."

"Well what did Professor Snape do?! Ambervale's never gone after him before!"

"Yeah! And he's never been so uptight about the houses before either!"

"Umm…" When everyone looked at her, the first year squeaked and flushed. "I think it might have been from what happened in our first class. He was kind of mean to one of the Gryffindors…" She bit her lip as the entire common room stared at her. "And Madame Pomfrey was waiting for him this morning. She looked pretty angry with him too."

The seventh year waved a hand dismissively. "Professor Snape's hard on the Gryffindors, is all."

Draco Malfoy let out an audible snort. "No. He was vicious."

"I'm sure you're exaggerating. He wouldn't be that bad to anyone in his first class."

Draco's scowl deepened. "No. I'm not exaggerating." One of his year mates nodded.

The seventh year scowled. "I think you're imagining things."

Draco pursed his lips and was about to respond when one of the Seventh year prefects finally spoke up. "All right you two; let's not degenerate into petty squabbles. I'm sure you both know better." Both of them flushed.  Tapping her lips she said, "From the way he's acting, Professor Ambervale must have been planning this for a while anyway."

"You think he was planning to put Professor Snape on suspension?"

She winced. "Well . . . no. I don't know why he was that ticked off. Usually he's the one who gets along the most with Professor Snape. And he hasn't actually suspended him you know."

"Ambervale usually gets along with everyone better than anyone else."

"Well, yes. It's his job to really."

"I still think he's overreacting."

"I never said he wasn't."

"I did," Draco muttered. The others either didn't hear, or chose to ignore it. Giving it up as a bad job, he scowled and left the dormitory for bed.

Watching as he left, Pansy Parkinson sniffed daintily. "I'm pretty sure I know why Professor Ambervale's in a snit."

Her lips twitched ever so slightly as the entire common room focused on her.

~**~

"Good morning Mister Potter."

Harry jolted up from his pillow to find Professor Ambervale holding what appeared to be a cauldron and an armload of ingredients. "Good morning sir. Umm, what's going on?"

Ambervale grinned and let go of the load of items in his arms. Halfway to the floor, they froze, before gently drifted down to the ground. "As Madame Pomfrey has released you from bed rest, we will spend today getting you caught up on your classes." He was obviously in teaching mode. "Starting with potions. We will work on other subjects while it is in the simmering stage."

In short order, the cauldron was set up and the ingredients were laid out. When asked to light a fire, Harry bit his lip and retrieved the sphere that Pamela had given him. It was much better behaved this time, and lit up the underside of the cauldron with little effort on his part. Though he quirked an eyebrow at the colors, all Ambervale said was, "Add a little more. Mage fire doesn't burn quite as hot as normal flame, and needs to be adjusted accordingly."

Harry bit his lip and did so. "Is that why Professor Snape doesn't allow them in class?"

Ambervale drew in a deep breath, evidently holding something back. "Far be it for me to speak ill of others, but in this case, Professor Snape was being an utter ass. The only reason he isn't here right now doing this is that he has a two class potion he is teaching." He drew in another breath and said more calmly, "They are allowed, if that's what is necessary. And while we're in the general vicinity of the subject, your detentions have been voided, and the points returned."

"Th-thank you sir!"

The counselor waved a hand dismissively. "You did nothing to deserve them. It was nothing."

In short order the potion was started. When Harry began to stir however, Ambervale gently stopped his hand. "Other way, unless specifically stated otherwise, recipes call for the Wizarding clockwise, which is the opposite direction of the Muggle one."

Harry did so, and the potion immediately turned the shade of ruby it was supposed to be. "Professor Snape never said anything about this! Neither did my book!"

Ambervale grimaced. "Unfortunately, the potions text books are generally written by and for wizard raised children. It is a small fact that is rarely mentioned in most of them, aside from perhaps an occasional reference image, which few potion texts will have." He drew in a deep breath. "As for Professor Snape, like most wizards, He tends to often forget the fact."

When the potion was simmering lightly, Professor Ambervale reached into a sleeve and withdrew another of those strange objects that Harry assumed was a wizard clock. "While the potion is brewing, I will teach you how to read one of these buggers." At the unexpected slang word, Harry stared at him.

 Ambervale grinned. "Now see these rings of symbols? They tell time inward. The largest ring is for the seconds." He pointed at one. "This one is the start of the sequence. The next ring has the minutes, and the next has the hours. It's important to remember the two move in opposite directions, as some potions recipes will tell you to stir minute-wise, or hour-wise , rather than clockwise or anti-clockwise. He pointed at two more symbols. "Both of these start off their respective sequences, at one mind you." Then pointed at the center, where there was a circular image split in two halves. One had a sun, while the other had a moon. "This is simply the equivalent to the muggle am and pm."

Harry shook his head. That's really confusing.”

Ambervale smiled indulgently. "It is at first, until you know that you read them from the middle, and go straight up." He gestured at the clock. "With that in mind, can you tell me what time it is?"

The explanation helped. Harry stared at it hesitantly for a moment. "Umm, Three thirty two in the afternoon?"

"Close. Three thirty four." He smiled. "Extremely good for a first attempt." Putting the device down, he snapped his fingers. A ladle flew into his hand. He dipped it in the potion and ladled some of the liquid out watching it splash back into the cauldron. Harry saw that it had turned a beautiful sapphire blue. "Your potion is ready for the next stage."

By the time the counselor called a stop for lunch, Harry had successfully brewed the potion that had been in class, done the written assignment, and finished several other essays.

Ambervale was rather pleased. Enough that he was willing to deviate from doing more lessons, and instead teach Harry something that the first year found rather interesting.

Looking at his sketchbook, Ambervale grinned suddenly. "Have you ever wanted your drawings to move?"

Harry blinked. "They can do that? I knew the portraits could, but drawings can too?"

The counselor laughed. "Well it's not quite the same all through. Portraits are only able to move about once their occupants have passed on in the physical world. Until then, they are as inanimate as any normal drawing. Another catch is that they only remember events in their lives that are current with their most recent painting. Anything after that, the portrait occupants will not know unless told later."

He smiled. "Drawings however, are a bit of a different matter." He grabbed a piece of drawing paper and sketched out what appeared to be a seven sided die. Then he added a square border and a few faint streaks here and there around the die to signify depth. "The box." He said offhandedly. Then he smiled. "Watch this." Placing the quill in one corner, he drew an odd looking group of symbols, concentrating hard.

Harry blinked as he felt a thrum of energy which quickly subsided. "What was that?"

The counselor smirked and held out the drawing. "See for yourself."

Harry took it and was startled to hear a clattering noise come from it. Looking at it more closely, his mouth dropped open as the die rolled across the paper, landing noisily. It sounded just like a die rolling across wood. "How?!"

The man laughed and pointed at the strange symbol he had drawn in the corner. "This is how. See the four symbols inside the main one? Each one has a function. This one allows movement, this one sound, this one thought where applicable, and this last allows them to move to other drawings of them,” he said pointing at each of them in turn. “There is a special linking symbol that needs to be placed on both before the transport symbol can actually be utilized however. There are other energizing symbols for other functions, but these are the most basic."

Harry traced the symbol surrounding them idly. "Does this thing they're inside of need to be done special?"

Ambervale blinked. "The Containment Matrix? No. So long as it holds enough separate spaces for the energizer symbols, it is entirely up to the artists design.

Harry nodded. "So they can act like the portraits do? If they give them the right symbols I mean?"

Ambervale's smile was a little sad. "Yes and no. Portraits are a special kind of magic. They allow one to have a conversation with a true representation of the witch or wizard at that point in their life." Upon seeing Harry's confused expression he said, "It's a part of the spell. When someone sits for their portrait, they aren't just painted; they're painted into the picture."

"Oh." Harry bit his lip and looked down at the drawing. "Do-do you think there's one of my parents anywhere?"

Ambervale was silent for a long while. Finally when he couldn't stand it any longer, Harry looked up to find him regarding him with an expression that was equal parts thoughtful and understanding. Finally however he spoke. "I do not know." He said slowly. "But I can certainly try to find out. Perhaps we should check your vault."

Harry shook his head. "There's nothing in there but a great big load of gold."  He flushed. "Erm, I mean. . ."

He stopped when the counselor started laughing. "Do not worry. I am not bothered by large amounts of money."

"Weasley sounded like he was."

The man sobered at once. "Young Mister Weasley comes from a less well-off family. And he is also the youngest of six brothers. I think a little sensitivity is understandable. He should still have not have attacked you, nor made silly assumptions." Then he drew a deep breath. "At any rate, the vault you refer to is your trust vault. It is solely for your schooling. Once you come of age, its contents will be added to your family vaults."

Harry blinked as he tried to take this in. "Oh . . ."

The counselor waved a hand. Some weekend we shall make a trip to Gringotts so you can see your family vaults. Perhaps sometime next month."

Harry grinned. "Thank you sir!" He looked down at the drawing. "I just want to know about them! But no one really seems to know anything!"

The counselor drew in a deep breath. "Your professors would be a good start. Professor McGonagall babysat you on several occasions." He started chuckling at the expression that crossed Harry's face at this. "As did I." he added. "Professor Snape was a schoolmate of theirs as well, though the amount of contact he had with them is perhaps questionable."

Then his eyes widened and he stood abruptly. "However it occurs to me that there is in fact one thing about your mother that I can tell you." He grinned. "Come with me."

~**~

Harry couldn't help but be confused as the counselor led him through a veritable maze of hallways. They finally stopped just short of a door with a large gold pattern emblazoned on it.

As he opened it, the counselor said, "This is actually near the potions classrooms, and Professor Snape's office. It may not seem like it, but we have come quite a ways down." He gestured him inside.

The room inside was lined with a variety of objects, in a wide range of sizes. The counselor led him to a spot halfway down that was free of any displays.

Ambervale grinned and gestured at the large portrait in front of them. "As you can see, your mother was quite the artist herself."

Unlike the others Harry had seen, this portrait didn't move. It depicted a woman with hair white as snow, which scaled into a fierce red at the ends. She was wearing a silver circlet with a bright green stone in the center. Her eyes were like liquid gold. Harry saw that she had been painted sitting on a bench of some kind, though her gown hid most of it.

"My mother did this?" he reached out and touched the face in front of him. Ambervale simply nodded. "She was amazing." The counselor's lips twitched. Who was she? The woman in the picture I mean?"

Ambervale smiled outright this time. "Princess Crystal the Liberator. She's also known as Lady Peace, The Peacebringer, and the Maiden of Freedom."

Harry blinked. "That guy back with that monster thing said something about her! He told me the place I was in would hold against it, and that Lady Peace would have his head if it were any other way."

The counselor laughed. "So you did meet Drear. That certainly sounds like him. He stayed behind to help ensure the barrier protecting the castle would hold. He was also one of Princess Crystal's Guardian Knights." He waved a wand and conjured up two chairs. "Sit, this will take a while."

Once they were seated the counselor drew a deep breath. "Many centuries ago, there was a monstrous creature that arose. It was nothing like the one you encountered in the sealed quadrant. This monster was far more dangerous. It possessed intelligence on a level of you and I. It wanted nothing less than total domination and destruction of this world."

"Where did it come from?"

"No one is quite certain, save that it comes from somewhere that is not Earth." He waved his wand, conjuring up a map. "In a matter of months it defeated and captured the continent of Asia, and was making inroads towards Europe and North America." Harry watched as the aforementioned continent went black. "Whole armies fought and fell before it and its underlings. The future for the world looked bleak."

He smiled and gave the wand another wave. "Then came Princess Crystal. In those months that had caused Asia to fall, she had been studying the monster and its creatures. When the beast turned its eyes towards her people, she was ready. She personally led a small army of skilled witches and wizards, accompanied by her seven knights in a pre-emptive strike against the monster and its creatures. Wielding special magical artifacts and spells the princess had suggested, the witches and wizards did battle with the monster's armies while the princess and her knights took their fight directly to the monster itself.

He paused for a moment, looking at Harry. "It may interest you to know that the founders themselves also took part in that battle against the beast."

"Really?!"

Ambervale nodded. "Oh yes. The battle took place not far from the castle. Hogwarts was almost brand new in those days, but it was not any weaker because of it. The castle itself rose to guard its inhabitants against the danger it sensed. You see, the castle will always do all in its power to protect those that truly call it home. It is part of the enchantments that were woven into its very foundations."

"What happened then?"

The counselor smiled. "The witches and wizards weren't alone, a number of muggles and mortals joined the fight wielding weapons of their own. Working together, they overpowered the army of dark creatures and managed to destroy most of them, driving the rest into retreat. Princess Crystal, her knights, and the four founders did battle with beast itself.

The dark section of the map exploded into thousands of glistening fragments, shimmering in a crystalline cloud. "They defeated the demon and sealed it away, trapping it in the realm that it had created for itself. It was too strong for them to destroy you see, so they removed most of its powers and hid them away."

The counselor glanced at the portrait. "After the defeat of the beast, Princess Crystal officially formed her knights in the Order of the Guardian Knights, a group dedicated to preserving and protecting peace and safety for all. To that end, the princess personally led the charge to rid the world of the last of the beast's followers." He smiled at Harry. "In this manner, she became known as the Peacebringer, somewhat similar to how you became known to be the Boy Who Lived."

"Wow." Ambervale grinned again. "You said it happened close to Hogwarts?" The counselor nodded. "How close?"

Professor Ambervale rose. "After the battle, the fighters filled the site with water. It is now in fact, the lake."

"Seriously?"

The counselor smiled and steered him towards the door. "Quite. Water is one of the few things proven to be capable of erasing and or suppressing the effects of dark and evil magic." Opening the door, he started leading them back to Gryffindor tower. "Come along, you may visit here again whenever you wish during your free time. Right now, we need to get back to your schoolwork."

 Harry cast a wistful look back at the painting as the door shut behind them. "Did-did my mum make any other portraits?"

"It is quite possible. I happened to know about that one because it was commissioned by the school during your mother's final year." He smiled down at Harry as they headed through the twisting passages. "If you continue to hone your skill, then who knows? Perhaps we will one day have some of your artwork in here as well."

The notion was certainly appealing, Harry thought. As Professor Ambervale gave Lady Valeria the password, Harry resolved to find the gallery room and look it over more thoroughly as soon as he could.

~**~

The next day, Harry was finally cleared to go back to classes. Apparently Madame Pomfrey had actually given permission the day before, but Professor Ambervale had wanted to get him caught up on his classes first.

After greeting Lady Valeria, he headed down the stairs, Whimsy snoozing happily in his pocket. He was halfway down the first flight when a strange heat whizzed past him, slightly singeing his hair as it passed. He just managed to see a sapphire blue bolt of something before it impacted into a wall with enough force to make the stones there buckle.

"How could you miss?!" Someone snarled above him. "He's right there!"

"Cut me some slack!" Someone else snapped back. "He's a tiny little target!"

Harry didn't wait to hear anymore. He bolted down the stairs as fast as he could.

Another spell shot down at him, just barely missing him and causing him to stumble and nearly fall. He reached the landing and was horrified to discover that the staircase to the next floor wasn't connected to it. He jumped and dodged to one side as another spell rocketed down, this one making a strange ratcheting noise. Harry gulped. He was trapped.

Then Lady Valeria suddenly appeared. The Gryffindor portrait guardian forcibly elbowed a staid looking old judge out of a full size portrait. Ignoring the man's sputters, she made a gesture of some kind. The portrait let out a loud click and swung open. "Quick! Before they make it down here!"

Harry gave her a grateful nod and ran through the portrait hole. It snapped shut behind him. He barely had time to breathe however, before the portrait started rattling.

Lady Valeria's face appeared in a much smaller frame next to him. "Those rotten hooligans!" She seemed to twitch, and a pool of light opened a short ways off. "There! Everything after that is just guarded by regular doors! Keep moving! I'm going to find a professor!" Harry nodded and watched her vanish. Then he bolted for the other portrait opening.

He had just reached it when a loud clattering and ripping sound came from behind him as the other portrait fell to pieces. Hoping its occupant was alright, Harry ran.

A short ways ahead, one of the doors suddenly started glowing with red, blue, yellow, and green light and swung open. The four colors ran around the edges of the door, similar to the aisle lights he had once seen in a movie theater during a field trip.

As if it they were a rope, part of the colors seemed to slide off the door, hitting the ground and slithering through the door frame. It shot down the hall, and upon reaching another door, climbed up it, causing it to open as well. Then the light continued through the doorway and out of sight.

Harry didn't think he really had any other option but to take the most obvious route. He doubted he'd have time to get any other doors open. A bright red jet of magic impacted overhead as he made it through the first doorway.

The strange little string of colors led him through a veritable maze of halls, a mad chase that had Harry quite sure that if he did make it out of this mess, he'd have a very hard time finding his way back.

Then the light opened a very familiar door. It was leading him through the art room. Unfortunately, once it went into the room, Harry found it quite impossible to follow. The art room was absolutely covered in what looked like paint, the colors covering every available surface.

Then he saw that the portrait of Princess Crystal was glowing. Evidently the string had gone for it. The first thing he discovered was that princess was no longer there. The canvas was now a blank expanse, even the bench she had been sitting on was gone.

Secondly, the canvas itself was heaving and bubbling in a way that seemed quite unnatural. As he got closer, the canvas stretched mightily. Then it seemed to burst, the white splashing outward with alarming speed and catching him up in the rush.

As he seemed to become wrapped in liquid canvas, he saw what must have been a professor burst in through the other door. She arrived just in time to deflect a jet of light away from Harry.

Then his senses became lost in a wash of swirling white and sound.

~**~

The first thing Harry registered was water. Rain was gushing down, spraying over everything, himself included.

Then he stood and looked up, and promptly wished he hadn't. Standing over him was a number of skeletons. They all had their glowing red eye sockets trained on him.

They stared at each other for a moment. Then one with a strange looking helmet, evidently the leader, hefted a large spear coated with what appeared to be dried blood.

It brought it smashing down, with enough force to make the air whistle. Harry stumbled backwards just in time. It smashed into the ground, digging up chips of stone. The skull yattered at him, and apparently taking this as a cue, the other skeletons hefted weapons and closed in him.

Harry took a few steps back as they marched forward. Then he suddenly felt his footing vanish from beneath him.

As he started to fall, he thought he saw something yellow flash by. He closed his eyes as his face passed the ledge.

Then he abruptly jerked to a halt. "Star Spirits above! Now that was a close call dear!"

Startled, he looked up. There was a pretty blonde woman with brilliant sapphire blue eyes smiling at him. Glancing to the side, he found his arm being held by a white gloved hand.

His stomach dropped. His dream was real.