Harry shivered and drew the thin blanket closer. He knew he should probably be worried. He was on the dirt floor of a hut in the middle of a sea listening to Dudley snore after all. And during a huge storm no less. But as far as he was concerned this was still the same Dursleys, just a different location. Aunt Petunia had taken the time to find him a blanket though, which took him completely by surprise. Then again, they've been acting weird ever since those letters started showing up. Really though, it wasn't as if the Dursleys had shown any inclination to give up the chase they'd gotten started. Harry had the opinion that if they'd just given up and accepted one of them, they'd stop coming after them. They had started it by running after all. Not that he could have voiced this opinion.

"Kind hard to say anything when you can't talk. And it's not like they'd listen to me anyway." He'd come to terms with not being able to speak years ago. It had been gone for at least five or six years after all. Just after that disaster in the public library. It had been his refuge from the Dursleys until then. He'd even met his first (and only) friend there. True she was a lot older than him, but Pamela's interest and friendship had been genuine. She had even defended him when Dudley had found out where he went in his free time.

Dudley had come after him one day and started a fight, destroying a ton of books and making a huge mess. Pamela had intervened when Dudley had tried to place the blame on Harry. The end result had been that the librarians had listened to them and Dudley was banned from the library for the damage he had caused.

"Uncle Vernon didn't like that much. Especially when he couldn't get them to take it back." He had barely gotten back inside that day before his uncle had come looking for him. Apparently Dudley had come straight home and told his parents what had happened.

He couldn't really remember what had happened next. All he knew for certain was that he woke up some time later in a strange room. The time in between was rather fuzzy. He later discover by listening from his cupboard to an argument his aunt and uncle had that he had been taken to a hospital, apparently at the insistence of his aunt. His voice had been gone ever since. And Harry had been banned from ever setting foot in the library or else he'd get the worst beating of his life.

"It's not like I haven't had some bad ones anyway. Adults can't be trusted." A little voice in the back of his head told that wasn't quite true. "Well Pamela was practically an adult, she just dressed funny. She even remembered my birthday and meant it." His last gift from the Dursleys had been a moldy left sock two years ago. Pamela had hidden a small book away in the backyard. How and when she had done it he couldn't figure out. It had taken some work to smuggle it into his cupboard successfully, but in the end he achieved it. It had helped relieve the monotony when he was stuck inside it for displaying his freakishness. 

He hadn't seen Pamela since that fateful day in the library; she obviously realized she had gotten him in severe trouble. He reasoned she was still around somewhere though, or he would never have found the book. As to how he knew it was from her he couldn't explain, even to himself. He still found odd things outside on his birthday or days near it.. "Guess I won't find anything this year. There's no way she could possibly know what's going on." He shuffled uncomfortably. "Uncle Vernon says that freaks like me don't deserve presents anyway. It's not like I do weird stuff on purpose. It just happens!"

And not once in a while either. Strange things happened around him all the time. Once, when he somehow managed to make all of Aunt Petunia's plates vanish, which had netted him almost a week without meals, she had said in irritation that his one saving grace was that he looked as strange as he acted. "At least the normal people will know to avoid you."

Harry knew he looked strange. His skin was so pale that it was almost white; it had had the clerk in the Cokeworth hotel thinking he was wearing costume makeup. And his skin was always cold, almost freezing really. The skin color in particular always led to a lot a taunting from Dudley and his gang. And then there was that odd shaped scar of his. The result of the car crash that had killed his parents, Aunt Petunia had said. It was one of the few questions his aunt and uncle had ever answered.

A loud double beep broke him out of his thoughts. He turned his head to see Dudley's wristwatch blinking. Apparently it was five minutes to midnight. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and eased himself up. "Almost eleven."  Thunder rumbled in seeming agreement. He sighed to himself as he drew a crude looking cake into the dirt. He added candles and then flames. "This is gonna be the worst one yet." He surveyed the image before him before glancing at Dudley's watch again.

Less than a minute to midnight. "Make a wish Harry."  He frowned and leaned down. The watch beeped shrilly as the flames dissolved under the current of air. The second round of beeping was completely drowned out by the explosive crashes that came from the rickety door of the ramshackle hut. Harry jerked himself to his feet as Dudley sat bolt upright, sleepily (and stupidly) asking something about a cannon.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia appeared in the room as the door splintered and fell to the floor. Vernon was carrying a rifle in his hands. Harry took one look at the enormous shadow illuminated in the door frame and decided that enough was enough. He hid behind the sofa, having no great faith in his uncle's aim. He chanced a glance around the edge of the furniture.

The giant shadow resolved itself into a giant man. The man stepped over the door into the room. "Sorry about that." He reached down and hefted the door in a few fingers before slamming it into place. The sounds of the storm dropped sharply. He turned back around and Harry took the opportunity to examine him.

Most of him was covered by an overcoat that looked to be moleskin, but he had a rather large (and scruffy) black beard and long hair that looked just as scruffy going past his shoulders. He was also extraordinarily tall, easily filling the entire doorframe. He had beetle black eyes which were crinkled in apparent confusion. Harry found him fascinating. So much so that it took him a moment to notice the considerably more average sized man that must have slipped in behind the apparent giant. He cursed himself soundly inside his head when realized how badly he was slipping.

Vernon appeared not to have seen the other man at all. In fact Harry would bet money that his uncle was entirely hung up on the intruder's height. He brandished the rifle in a threatening manner. "You are breaking and entering! I demand you leave at once!" The giant man's eyes crinkled again, this time in what was unmistakably irritation.

"Dry up Dursley, you great prune!" He covered the distance between them in several steps and grabbing the end of the rifle barrel, actually bent it straight upward. Vernon and Petunia both jumped when the rifle fired abruptly, blasting a hole in the ceiling and consequently, the roof. He strode towards the sofa looking satisfied. Dudley squeaked and threw himself off it as he approached. The enormous man settled himself down on the sofa with a sigh. It creaked audibly under his weight.

He grunted when he caught sight of the shriveled chip bags in the grate, Vernon's failed attempt to start a fire. He reached into his overcoat and withdrew a flowery pink umbrella from it. Holding the umbrella out in front of him, he leaned over the grate muttering what sounded like, "Bloody muggles can't even make a proper fire." There was an odd whooshing sound, and when the man drew back there was a fire burning as if it had been going for hours. Harry only had enough time to let his jaw drop partway before he felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. He closed his mouth and whipped his head around to find the other man watching him.

Harry decided that his size was probably the only thing approaching normal. His hair was such a deep black that it looked faintly purple in the low light of the hut. It was cut so that it perfectly followed the outline of his shoulders. His clothing put Harry in mind of a medieval sorcerer. The upper half resembled a tee shirt, though the sleeves were so long that they covered his hands with plenty of fabric to spare. The collar was cut low enough that he could see a blue stone of some kind on a silver chain around his neck. Though the majority of the fabric was a shade of dark ruby, the sleeves and collar had a dark golden trim. He was wearing a belt the same color as the trim, and the lower half of his clothing was the same shade of dark ruby as the top, though a brighter swatch ran straight down the front of it. It was obviously some kind of robe, and was cut in an odd way that managed to convey somehow that it had been made with a male wearer in mind.

Harry abruptly realized that the man's clothing looked remarkably close to what he remembered Pamela wearing. The man raised an eyebrow at Harry's scrutiny of him. Then his lips quirked into a smile and he met Harry's gaze full-on.

Harry shivered. Aside from the fact that he had never seen anyone with purple colored eyes before, the man's gaze was quite intense. Harry attention snapped back to the giant man when he cleared his throat and addressed Dudley.

"Haven't seen you since you was a baby Harry. You're a bit more along than I expected, particularly round the middle." Harry grinned to himself when he saw his aunt and uncle stiffen at this last part. Dudley just shook his head.

"I...I'm not Harry." Dudley obviously had to strain himself to get this much out. He pointed suddenly at Harry's hiding spot. "That's him over there!" The giant man turned to stare at him, and very reluctantly Harry crawled out of his hiding place. The giant grinned broadly and stuck out a hand the size of a dishpan, acting for all the world as if he was an eleven year old himself.

"Rubeus Hagrid, but you can call me Hagrid. I'm keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts. You know all about Hogwarts of course." Feeling nonplussed, Harry shook Hagrid's hand even as he shook his head. Hagrid blinked. "You don't?" His eyes narrowed as he dropped Harry's hand and whirled to face the Dursleys. All three of them huddled together upon catching sight of his angry glare. He snapped his attention back to Harry. "Blimey! Haven't you ever wondered where you're parents learned it all?" When Harry's look of confusion only increased, Hagrid growled and rose up to his full height and pointed his umbrella at Harry's uncle.

"You mean to tell me he doesn't know nothing about anything?! You haven't told him nothing at all?!" In danger of being speared by a giant's umbrella, Vernon Dursley let out a sound like a mouse being trodden on.

"Rubeus!" Harry jumped violently at the sharp outburst; having completely forgotten about the man perched on sofa's threadbare armrest. He seemed to have a knack for fading into the background. Rubeus had forgotten him too it seemed, because he jumped almost as much. "Honestly! You're not being so clear yourself." He hopped off the armrest and moved around Hagrid. Upon catching sight of him, Harry's uncle seemed to regain some of his earlier bravado.

"What is this, the circus?! How many more of your lot are going to come traipsing in here?!" The man quirked an eyebrow.

"I arrived with Rubeus." He said coolly. "I simply didn't want you to notice me yet." He caught Harry's startled expression and smiled slightly.  "I am rather good at it, I'm told." He made a strange sort of bow from the waist at Harry. "Mahalestro Ambervale, at your service Mr. Potter." While Hagrid's accent sounded somewhat Cockney, Ambervale's was distinctly foreign, sounding something like a very thick Russian, though it was carefully enunciated. He too held out his hand for Harry to shake. After a few minutes of Harry staring at it, he withdrew it and cleared his throat. "I suppose you must be bursting with questions if you were never told about Hogwarts." Harry nodded warily. Ambervale spread his arms. "Then ask away. We have time to answer a few things."

Harry opened his mouth and without even thinking tried to speak. He realized his folly when absolutely no sound came out. He closed his mouth and turned away, feeling frustrated. "Figures. For once I'm allowed to ask something and I can't do it." He was embarrassed to feel tears trying to prickle behind his eyes. He dashed them away angrily. "Stop that! I should know better to than to expect something to go right by now. I know life isn't fair."  Ambervale looked at him in some concern.

"Mr. Potter, are you alright?" He turned his gaze back to the Dursleys when Petunia suddenly spoke up.

"You won't get anything out of him. The boy's mute, never said so much as a word." She squeaked when Ambervale's eyes narrowed at her.

"Really now." His gaze snapped back to Harry, who jumped slightly at the speed of it. "You can write, yes?" Harry nodded. Ambervale straightened and started fishing around in his sleeves. "Then we have way to communicate." He frowned after moment and suddenly snapped, "Scheda, pluteus, penicillus." This time Harry's jaw really did drop as the man withdrew a sheaf of paper from his sleeves along with a pencil and of all things, a clipboard. Harry supposed he could have hidden the first two up against his arm, but he had no possible explanation for the clipboard. Smiling indulgently at Harry's expression, the man passed the items over to him. "Ask your questions, Mr. Potter."

Feeling elated, Harry scribbled out, "What is Hogwarts?" Ambervale frowned slightly as he read it.

"For a proper answer to that, I do believe you will need to see your letter." He turned to the enormous man. "Rubeus, if you would?" Hagrid nodded and patted his pockets for a moment before producing one of the strange envelopes that had caused the Dursleys such alarm. Grinning like a loon, Hagrid passed it over to Harry.

He saw the address on the front read, Mr. H. Potter. The floor, Hut on the rock, The Sea. Opening it, he found a strange looking sheet of paper sitting on top. "Dear Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He promptly stopped reading and picked up the clipboard. "You're having me on. There's no such thing as magic." Hagrid was the first to see the message. He frowned.

"Course magic's real!" He gestured at the fire. "As real as you and me!" He grinned. "And I ain't exactly easy to miss, now am I?" Seeing that Harry was not even remotely convinced by this, Ambervale coughed to get his attention.

He reached into one sleeve and pulled out a long thin stick of wood. "Perhaps a demonstration would help." He twirled the stick thoughtfully before suddenly pointing it straight at Harry. He smiled slightly as the child's mouth opened in a soundless gasp as he was levitated into the air, dropping the clipboard. Still smiling he said, "This is a prime example of magic, Mr. Potter. It can do the most extraordinary things with the simplest of intents." He gently lowered Harry back down to the ground. Hagrid's smile had become infectious, at least towards Harry.

"Haven't you ever made things happen? When you're angry or scared?" Harry nodded. Hagrid leaned back looking satisfied. "You're a wizard Harry, and a thumping good one I'll wager, with a bit of training." Unfortunately, this sentence proved to have too much strain on Vernon Dursley's temper.

"He'll not be going there I tell you! We swore when we took him in that we'd put a stop to that nonsense!"

Ignoring Hagrid's snarl, Ambervale said, "So you did know. I was beginning to wonder."

"Knew?!" Petunia burst out suddenly. "Of course we knew! How could he not be, my dratted sister being what she was?! My parents were so proud, the day she got her letter. We have a witch in the family! Isn't it wonderful?" Petunia looked like she had swallowed a lemon whole. "I was the only one who saw her for what she was, a freak!" She stopped to draw a deep breath. It looked to Harry as though she had been dying to say this for years. "Then she went to that school and met that man and had him!" She stabbed a trembling finger towards Harry. "I knew you'd be the same, just as strange, just as abnormal!" She seemed to draw herself together. "Then if you please, she went and got herself blown up, and we got landed with you!"

By now, Harry's skin had lost what little color it had, making him look an odd ghostly white, and throwing his eyes and hair into sharp contrast. He grabbed the clipboard and scribbled out, "Blown up? They told me my parents died in a car crash!" Unfortunately, it was Hagrid who saw the message first. He whirled back on the Dursleys.

"A car crash! A car crash kill Lily and James Potter?!"

"We had to say something." Hagrid appeared to totally ignore this.

"It's an outrage!  A scandal!" Harry grabbed the clipboard again.

"Then what did happen?!"  He thrust the question towards Ambervale. The smaller man glanced at it and sighed slightly.

"Rubeus! Enough." He glanced at Harry. "This may take some time. You'd better let Albus know we've accomplished our goal for today." Hagrid clapped a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart.

"Gallopin' Gargoyles! I almost forgot!" He reached into his coat and shuffled around for a moment. Then to Harry's amazement, he pulled out a live, and somewhat ruffled looking, owl along with more of that strange paper, a battered looking quill of some kind, and an inkwell.

A sharp "Pluteus!" from Ambervale had him pulling another clipboard from his sleeves, though this one was considerably larger. Harry watched in fascination as the fabric stretched to accommodate it. Hagrid took it and sat down on the worn sofa with a thump. It creaked forbiddingly under his weight. He dipped the quill into the inkwell and started writing something, muttering quietly as the owl perched on the sofa-back and watched, preening itself.

"Now then." Harry's attention jumped back to Ambervale. The man let out a sigh and with complete disregard to the laws of physics, sank into a seated position on thin air, facing him. "We knew you were having difficulties receiving your letter..." He trailed off and sent the Dursleys a cutting look. "I must admit that I had no idea as to the extent of your unawareness of our world." He took a deep breath, surveying him intently. "First of all, know this Mr. Potter, because it's very important. Not all wizards and witches are good." He shifted slightly. "Some time ago, one wizard turned as dark as it can be possible to go."

Hagrid grunted and rose from his seat, taking whatever he had written and giving it to the owl before opening a window and throwing it along with its burden out into the storm. He dropped back down on the sofa as if he had done something as ordinary as take a letter to the mailbox. "They was dark times Harry, very dark. He called himself..." Hagrid trailed off before trying again. "He called himself Vol..."

Ambervale sighed slightly. "Perhaps if you wrote it down, Rubeus." Hagrid shook his head.

"Nah. I can't spell it." He wiped his brow before sighing in apparent defeat. "Oh all right. Voldemort." He shuddered. "Don't make me say it again." He visibly composed himself. "He called himself a dark lord. He did all kinds of horrible things."

"Many people came together to fight against him, Mr. Potter. Your parents included." Ambervale shook himself slightly. "They were very brave. Some of the bravest people I have ever known." He pursed his lips. "They were persuaded to go into hiding not long after you were born." He drew in a breath. "Unfortunately, few people lived once he decided to kill them."

"He started doin everything he could to find em' somehow." Hagrid looked utterly morose. "One night he finally did it. He came to the place they were hiding and killed em'." He met Harry's gaze head on. "And here's the mysterious part Harry, he tried to kill you too.

"Why?" The question was written across his face rather than written down, but Hagrid seemed to understand it just the same.

"Dunno why. Wanted to make a clean job of it, I suppose. But something happened when he tried to kill you that night. He failed that night Harry. You're the Boy Who Lived."

"Load of old tosh." Harry jolted, having completely forgotten the Dursleys were still in the room. Ambervale obviously hadn't.

"That is an appropriate description for the story you have given him! Car crash indeed!" He snapped, stressing the "you". He shook himself and appeared to regain his composure. Hagrid went on as if there had been no interruption.

"Some say he died. Codswallop in my opinion. Don't think there was enough human left in him to die." He shook his head. "I think he's out there somewhere still, biding his time, waitin' for a chance to come back." There was silence for a moment. Finally, Ambervale cleared his throat and rose from his non-existent seat.

"Well Mr. Potter, I must be returning to Hogwarts. Rubeus will escort you on an excursion tomorrow so that you may procure your school supplies." He shot Hagrid a look. "I need to confer with Severus on a few things." He paused and shot Harry a look. "That's Professor Snape to you. He teaches potions at Hogwarts." Noting Harry's look, he smiled. "Have you ever had chemistry?" Harry nodded.

"Yeah. It was one of my Favorite classes." Ambervale smiled.

"Then you may like potions. The work is rather close to being the same, though potions are much more volatile than chemicals. Much like Professer Snape himself really." He frowned here. "If you can get past his nasty exterior, you'll probably do just fine. Professer Snape is a rather...unique individual. I would advise you not to arouse his temper if I were you." This left Harry with a decidedly unpleasant impression in his mind. Ambervale dusted himself off briskly before striding towards the center of the room. Then he paused. "I will look into the matter of your voice."  He watched as Harry's eyes widened. "I promise I shall have a temporary solution at the very least by the time school begins." With these as his parting words, he turned stiffly on one heel and vanished with a loud crack.

Ringing silence was left in his wake. Hagrid's sudden sound a minute later made everyone jump. He rummaged in his coat for a moment before withdrawing a box and passing it to Harry. "Here we are. Not everyday a young man turns eleven!" He grinned. "Baked it myself, words and all."

Thoroughly confused by this proud statement, Harry opened the box to find a large cake with the words, Happee Birthday Harry in blue icing staring up at him. A rich chocolaty scent wafted up from the box. He snapped it shut in embarrassment when his stomach growled. Hagrid just chuckled.

"Suppose we could do with a bit of supper." He started rummaging around in his coat. He stopped briefly when Harry wrote out a question to him.

"Will I be able to do things like that?" He motioned at the fire. Hagrid just chuckled again.

"Course you will. Plenty more than that too. Fires are small things really." He started to say more, but Vernon Dursley's temper finally seemed to have overridden his common sense.

"I've had enough of you lot! We wrote back when the first of those blasted letters came. We have him down for Stonewall, and that's that!" Hagrid seemed to swell with anger as he rose to his feet.

 "He's been down for Hogwarts ever since he was born!"

"He'll not be going!" Hagrid pursed his lips.

"And I suppose a great muggle like yourself's going to stop him." He caught Harry's confused look. "It's what we call non-magic folk. It's your bad luck that you've had to grow up with the biggest bunch of muggles I've ever seen!" He gave Vernon Dursley a rather baleful glare. "He's going to the finest school of magic in Europe! And he'll be under the finest headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen, Albus Dumble-."

"I'm not paying for some crackpot old fool to teach him magic tricks!" But Vernon Dursley had finally gone too far.

Hagrid surged up to full and considerable height. "Never insult Albus Dumbledore in front of me." His voice was low and menacing. He whirled the umbrella abruptly and pointed it at Dudley. There was a flash of light accompanied by a loud bang. Then Dudley started screaming, clutching at his bottom. The cue was quickly taken up by Vernon and Petunia. Still screaming, they hurried Dudley up and bundled him through the door into the opposite room. Just before the door closed, Harry caught a glimpse of curly pig's tail poking out through the back of Dudley's pyjamas.

Hagrid lowered the umbrella as the door slammed shut. The clicking of a lock was audible in the sudden ringing silence. He looked a strange mixture of embarrassed and pleased. "Meant to turn him into a pig. Suppose there wasn't much left to do." He glanced at Harry. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything about that once you get to Hogwarts." He coughed. "Strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to do magic." Harry nodded eagerly. "Good. What do you say to some supper then?" The question was answered by Harry's loudly grumbling stomach. Hagrid chuckled loudly at Harry's accompanying embarrassed glance.

He proceeded to produce a package of what looked like sausages and promptly began to cook them over the roaring fire. It was much later, when he was bedded down beneath Hagrid's enormous coat that Harry thought things were finally starting to change.

"At least if I'm going insane it'll be a change of pace. And I'll be away from the Dursleys. Though it sounds like i'm not going to like this Professor Snape. He sounds like he's got as short a fuse as Uncle Vernon." He fell back onto the pillow Hagrid had given him. Just before sleep claimed him he thought, "I meant to ask Hagrid and that other guy about Pamela too. Maybe they've heard of her." He fell into the embrace of sleep before the train of thought could go any further.

Quite some distance away, Mahalestro Ambervale materialized in front of a gate flanked by a set of winged boars. He pushed the gate open and practically sailed up the pathway to the castle. As he entered, he was met by two adults. The taller and more elderly of the two politely took his cloak from him.

"Mahalestro." Ambervale nodded to her. "How did it go?" Ambervale sighed.

"Well enough I suppose Minerva." He frowned slightly. "He was like frightened rabbit towards me, but he took to Hagrid well enough." His frown became more pronounced. "Though he did seem to recognize something about me." He shook his head even as the shorter of the two witches laughed.

"That's just how Hagrid is. You know he can't pull off frightening." Ambervale shook his head again.

"To one who knows him, he can't. The muggles were rather afraid of him." He paused before fixing his gaze on the shorter witch. "Have you received his medical files yet Poppy?" The witch shook her head.

"Not yet. They should be in within the week. Apparently they proved rather difficult to find. How muggles can be so disorganized I shall never know." She sounded completely exasperated. Ambervale nodded to her.

"I should like to examine them when they do arrive, if you don't mind. I need a copy for his case-file." The medi-witch nodded.

"Of course." Minerva blinked rather owlishly.

"He actually has a case file?" Ambervale gave her a rather startled look.

"Of course he does. All orphans of the magical world do." Minerva shook her head as they set off across the entrance hall.

"I know that! It's just that...well, considering how fast Albus worked to transfer him, I thought..." She trailed off, waving a hand vaguely in the air. Ambervale gave her a crisp nod.

"Ah. He does have one. It is mostly just a collection of facts, since no one has been able to visit with him, but it does exist." None of them noticed when another person showed up, hanging back in the shadows to listen to their conversation. Poppy cleared her throat.

"How did he look to you?" Ambervale's expression soured.

"Far too pale and much too skinny." The person watching them let out a very soft growl and drifted closer. Ambervale took no notice. "His uncle met us with a shotgun and a great deal of bravado." He ignored the startled gasps from the two witches. "The muggles were rather unpleasant in general. Mr. Potter however, I discovered behind the sofa. As near as I can tell, he dived there when his uncle arrived in the room." He smiled slightly. "I think it was quite the prudent course of action. Especially if one considers how much control, or lack thereof, his uncle was displaying." His smile vanished like a burst soap bubble.

"He hadn't the faintest idea of just what he was. I had to levitate him before he'd even begin to believe in the existence of magic. He's in for quite a shock when he arrives in Diagon Alley with Hagrid tomorrow." Minerva stared at him.

"He didn't know anything about us?" Ambervale shook his head.

"Nothing. Rubeus and I had to tell him how his parents died. Apparently he was laboring under the impression that they were killed in a car crash." The person watching them let out a barely stifled oath, though it was drowned out the outraged sounds from Minerva and Poppy. Ambervale gave both of the witches a sharp nod. "He has much to learn about our world." He paused. "Is Severus in his lab?" Poppy nodded.

"He's brewing potions to restock my infirmary." Ambervale nodded.

"I need to consult him about a few new students." Minerva winced.

"Be careful what you say. You know he's been in a sour mood over this being Harry Potter's first year of school." Ambervale scowled.

"He'll have to get over it eventually, I suspect. I must go find him. Good evening ladies." He swept off towards the dungeons, the figure in the shadows following along behind him. His brisk pace brought him to the potions lab in minutes. He rapped sharply on the door and stepped back. A few minutes later it was opened by a sallow faced man dressed entirely in black. He sighed and waved him in.

"Mahalestro. Finished at last?" Ambervale swept in and perched himself on an empty counter."

"Would I be here otherwise Severus?" He watched the as the potion master returned to the cauldron he had been tending. Severus rolled his eyes.

"No, I suppose not." He dropped something into the cauldron and stirred it before sniffing the fumes appreciatively. As he stirred in another ingredient he said, "How many children did you identify this year?"

"Seven. One has a rather difficult problem, but the rest can be helped fairly easily. No learning disabled this year, as near as I can tell, but most of them will most likely have some need of my services." Severus began pouring the potion into flasks.

"You are the counselor. How severe a problem does this other child have?" Ambervale pursed his lips again.

"Very. I'm afraid it's going to take some doing to deal with it. At the moment I'm at a loss as to how to go about it."

"Potions are not a cure-all. If I make one it'd have to be specific to the cause." Severus felt his lips give a faint twitch as the counselor huffed.

"I've been working here since before the birth of Albus' great-grandfather! Think I don't know things like that?" Severus shook his head.

"No. But you do tend to forget things when you get caught up in something." Ambervale snorted.

"So it take my job seriously." He pointed a finger at the other man and shook it. "Just remember, you may be in same boat if you ever reach my age."

"Merlin forbid."

"Don't sass me." He frowned. "I do not think a potion would work in this particular instance anyway." He paused, and said carefully. "I went with Rubeus to give Harry Potter his letter." Severus sat the cauldron he was carrying down with stronger force than necessary.

"This is the part where you try to convince me of how normal he is. Perfect Potter, our saviour. The golden boy, or whatever else you want to call him. The boy must be spoiled rotten. I can hardly wait to see how he acts in class. He'll be every inch his father." Ambervale scowled at him.

"Severus Snape!" Severus flinched despite himself when Ambervale pinned him with a glare. "He is boy, not god, Severus!"

"Wouldn't know it from the way Albus talks." He muttered quietly.

It wasn't quiet enough. "Albus is Albus. All beard and riddles." He waved a hand dismissively in the air. "The man likes to be a mystery. Been that way since he was a child." The potion master snorted softly.

"You would know I suppose." Ambervale crossed his arms.

"And yet everyone forgets." Severus shook his head.

"That's probably because unlike Albus, you don't look your age." He scowled briefly. "Was there any particular reason you brought up Potter besides baiting me?" Ambervale scowled right back at him.

"You shouldn't be so harsh. The two of you may have more in common than you think." Severus actually snorted.

"I'll believe it when I see it." He set another cauldron forcefully under the table and pointedly busied himself lighting a fire beneath it. Lips pursed, Ambervale vacated his seat.

"You may regret that statement, mark me on that." He paused briefly at the door. "I think at least four of the students will end up under your care." Severus scowled over his cauldron.

"There's more every year." He set up another cauldron. "I'm taking my godson to Diagon Alley tomorrow. Do you need anything in particular?"

"Just my usual supply kit of potion ingredients, thank you." He passed through the door and turned. "And Severus, try to keep an open mind about Harry Potter. I think you'll be suprised."

Severus response floated out the door just before it snapped shut. "I'll take it under advisement." Ambervale snorted softly and swept off, heading out of the dungeons. As he turned a corner, the person watching him floated out into the middle of the hallway.

"So Harry's finally coming here." She smiled slightly. "Mahalestro said he was going to be in Diagon Alley tomorrow. I think I better set something up. Maybe at Flourish and Blotts?" She shook her head. "Better make it Madame Malkin's. He's always looked like some begger's child in those oversized clothes." Giggling slightly, the ghost faded until she was almost invisible and passed through the ceiling, heading for the owlry.

Harry hazed back into consciousness sometime later, hearing a loud tapping sound, "There's Aunt Petunia to get me up" When he didn't hear her voice however, he came more awake. "That's odd. She's never that nice. Why isn't she yelling yet?"  He sat up, causing Hagrid's enormous coat to fall off him in a heap. At the sight of it, the memories of the previous night came rushing back to him. He looked towards the source of the tapping to find an owl clutching a roll of oversized paper. It continued to tap at the window with one foot. It looked somewhere between resigned and impatient.

Hagrid had woken up too. "Go on, let him in." With a bit of a struggle, Harry forced the window open. The owl dropped the paper on top of Hagrid and proceeded to attack his coat. Hagrid just grunted. "He wants to be paid." He motioned at the coat. "Get some money out. It's in one of the pockets." The owl backed off at this, apparently having heard this.

Hagrid's coat seemed to be nothing but pockets. Harry found a large iron collar, what appeared to be some sort of oversized marble, and a bright green (and very much alive) mouse. Finally though, his fingers closed around what felt like coins. He pulled out a fistful of gold, silver, and bronze coins. Hagrid sat up rubbing his face.

"Give him three Knuts. They're the bronze ones." Harry counted out three of the little coins and deposited them in a pouch tied to the owl's outstretched leg. The bird dipped its head in a sort of nod and took off through the open window. Harry watched it go feeling a little deflated. He looked around and was relieved to find the clipboard he had used the night before laying in a corner, the pencil sitting neatly next to it. (Hagrid's oversized one had vanished not long after Ambervale had left.)

"How am I going to pay for my school things? You heard my uncle; he said he wouldn't pay anything." He held the clipboard out to Hagrid. He chuckled when he read it.

"Ah, don't worry about that. You don't think your parents left you with nothin' did ya?"  Harry had no answer, not that Hagrid gave him time to write one anyway. The oversized man surged to his feet. "Let's have some breakfast before we head out." He winked. "Though I wouldn't say no to a bit of your cake either, mind." After an enjoyable (if somewhat unusual) breakfast, Hagrid took Harry outside and led him towards the small boat the Dursleys had arrived in. Hagrid glanced at it. "Would you mind if I did a bit more magic? It'd get us there a lot faster." Harry shook his head, eager to see another display. Hagrid grinned.

He pointed his umbrella at the boat. It abruptly floated higher as the water inside of it drained away into thin air. Hagrid tapped the rear of the boat with the umbrella. It launched into the air and spun so it was facing the other direction. Harry could see frothing bubbles foaming up at the back of boat. The boat itself seemed to shivering in anticipation, somehow seeming eager to be off. Harry went stiff as a board when he felt Hagrid pick him up and put him in the boat. He forced himself to relax as Hagrid climbed in.

"Alright there Harry?" The boy could only nod. Hagrid didn't seem to have noticed his reaction to being picked up, or if he had, he pretended not to notice. He leaned over and still grinning, tapped the side of the boat with one finger. "Let's go." Instantly the boat shot into motion, rushing forward with a veritable roar. Harry couldn't tell if the sound was from the water or the boat.

Nearly ten minutes later they reached the shore. Harry had enjoyed the ride, but he got out quickly before Hagrid could attempt to pick him up again. It was one thing to be lifted into the air by some invisible force, but having a veritable mountain of a man do it was something else entirely. Once Hagrid was out of it, the boat rose into the air and flipped around, pointing itself in the direction of the shack. Unable to help himself, Harry leaned down and rubbed a hand along one side. The boat seemed to purr. Then it took off towards the shack, though going much more slowly.

"I've half a mind not to let it back." Harry looked up to see Hagrid scowling in the boat's direction. Then he grinned at Harry. "Course if I did that, I'd be hearing from Professor Ambervale a lot sooner than I'd like."

"What does he teach?"  Hagrid frowned slightly.

"He don't really teach one subject. Likes to be more of a tutor really." Harry blinked as he suddenly realized they were standing near a subway ticket counter. There wasn't a hint of sea air anywhere. Hagrid smiled at Harry's expression. "Professor Ambervale's been at Hogwarts longer than anyone else on the staff, even the headmaster."  He paid for their tickets and ushered them into an empty compartment, where he took up an entire seat on his own. His bulk alone was more than enough to deter anyone from joining them. As he started knitting what looked like a canary yellow circus tent he said, "He knows just about anything there is ter know bout Hogwarts." Harry filed this away.

"Do I really have money like yours?" Hagrid just chuckled.

"Like I said, don't be worrying about that. Your parents didn't leave ya' flat broke. You'll see soon enough." He glanced out the window. "Almost there. Better look over your school list." Harry pulled out the letter again and found a second sheet he hadn't seen the night before. He felt his eyebrows rise as he read the book list.

"Can we find all this in London?" Hagrid chuckled again.

"If you know where ter look." As it turned out, the place to look seemed to be a little pub bearing a sign reading, "The Leaky Cauldron" in large iron letters. The image beneath it was of a witch stirring a cauldron with a cracked side. Harry noticed that people kept going to the shops on either side of the pub. In fact, he had a funny feeling that he and Hagrid were the only ones who could see it at all. Hagrid steered him inside.

The inside was noisy and crowded. There was a woman several tables away smoking a pipe. The smoke changed color every few seconds. A man at a table next to her was reading a book with large doe-like eyes on the spine. The eyes seemed to be entranced by the color changing smoke, watching as it wafted upwards.

Unsurprisingly, Hagrid was spotted almost the instant he came in. From behind the bar a wizened looking toothless man shouted, "Ah, Hagrid! Your usual I presume?" Hagrid shook his head.

"Sorry Tom. I'm here on official Hogwarts business." He clapped a hand on Harry's shoulder, making him stumble. "I'm taking young Harry here to get his school supplies." Tom peered at Harry before suddenly dropping the glass he was polishing.

"Bless my soul." He breathed. "It's Harry Potter." He said it quietly, but the pub went dead silent just the same. The next second literally everyone's eyes were on Harry. Even the book was staring at him. The witch kept puffing at her pipe, obviously not realizing it had gone out. Harry felt a second of foreboding. The next second every single person in the pub except for Tom was crowding around him. Hagrid reached into the throng and pulled out a tall nervous looking man wearing a purple turban.

"Didn't see you there at first, professor." He gestured at the man. "Harry, this is Professor Quirell. He teaches defense against the dark arts at Hogwarts." The man gave the boy a jerky nod.

"F-f-fearfully f-fascinating subject. N-not t-that you need it eh, P-Potter?" He turned to Hagrid. "I m-must be off. I h-have s-some r-rare supplies to p-pick up." He looked terrified at the very thought. The stuttering man was gone before either of them could reply. The crowd didn't give Harry time to dwell on the professor. They all pressed in, shaking his hand, slapping him on the back, their voices melting together into one indistinguishable mass. Harry couldn't help pressing himself back into Hagrid as they pushed closer, jostling each other out of the way. Fortunately, Hagrid seemed to understand.

"Alright, that's enough now!" He called out loudly. "Must be off. Lots ter do!" The crowd reluctantly parted as Hagrid strode forward, Harry hurrying along in his wake. They exited the pub and came out into an alley. Hagrid drew his umbrella from out of his coat and strode towards the brick wall at the back of the alley.

As he started counting bricks, Hagrid asked, "Are you alright Harry?" He looked relieved when Harry nodded. "Sorry bout' that. Didn't expect them to mob us like that. Ah, here it is." Harry watched as Hagrid tapped a particular brick three times with his umbrella. To his amazement, the bricks immediately began to shift and wiggle. Then they somehow curled themselves off to the sides, forming an archway. Hagrid waved one hand grandly at the packed sunlit street that was revealed. "Welcome Harry, to Diagon Alley."

Harry wished he had about six more pairs of eyes as they ambled down the street. He kept getting distracted by the different displays sitting outside the shops. He watched as a number of books with wings flew around in a cage sitting outside of the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts. Hagrid gently steered him forward.

"We'll be going there soon enough. First we have to get you some of your money. Fer that we'll need Gringotts, the wizard bank." He led Harry towards a white marble building. Harry thought that it looked as though it had been designed to catch the eye. It actually seemed to melt into the ground the farther back it went. Hagrid pushed open one of the mirrored doors and ushered Harry in. Harry couldn't help eyeing the poem that was etched on the inside of it. Hagrid saw the warning too.

"You'd be mad ter try and rob Gringotts. There ain't no place safer, except maybe Hogwarts." He leaned in conspiratorially and said in a stage whisper, "They say that some o' the vaults here is guarded by dragons." He chuckled as Harry's eyes went wide. "Dunno if it's true or not. Blimey though, I'd like a dragon." He sounded wistful. Harry blinked at him and followed him the rest of the way inside the building. What he saw inside made him forget all about dragons. There were long, very tall counters all through the room and broken up at regular intervals. They weren't what had Harry's attention though. That honor belonged to the creatures in fancy looking suits sitting at them.

They were all rather on the short side, though Harry supposed it may have just seemed that way since his most constant point of reference so far had been Hagrid. They all managed to be taller than he himself was, but so were nearly all kids his age. Their skin was colored normally enough, but it looked more leathery than smooth. Their ears were pointed like an elf's but they were slightly gnarled looking at the end. They were nearly bald, but he could see a few wisps of grayish white hair on their heads. One of them smiled. Harry saw it had long pointed teeth that reminded him of a bear trap. Another one picked something up off its counter. Harry saw it had long thin fingers and long, sharp looking fingernails. Hagrid caught him looking.

"Those are goblins Harry. Not the friendliest o' creatures, goblins. Wouldn't want to get on their bad side either, but when it comes to money and keeping your secrets, goblins are the best there is." Harry didn't know what to make of this assessment, but the goblins within earshot seemed to. Every last one of them smiled. Harry thought it was a combination of amusement and pride, but he couldn't be sure.

Hagrid led him to a large counter sitting up against the center of the far wall. The goblin sitting here was wearing a slightly fancier suit than the others. He was engaged in weighing what looked to be rubies as they approached. Hagrid gently cleared his throat. The goblin looked up and eyed him expectantly. Hagrid straightened up to his full height. "Mister Harry Potter wishes to make a withdrawal." The goblin gripped the edge of the counter and leaned over it until he could see Harry. He eyed him for a moment.

Finally, he said, "And does Mister Harry Potter have his key?" Its voice sounded surprisingly human, if a little throaty. Hagrid blinked.

"Oh. Hang on, got it here somewheres." The goblin looked at Hagrid for a moment and finally leaned back. Hagrid searched through his overcoat for several minutes, thumping the green mouse, (now in a cage) and a pile of what looked like moldy dog biscuits onto the counter as he did so. The goblin wrinkled his nose at the biscuits and a flicked a hand at the pile of rubies, which was dangerously close to them. The glittering mound sprouted several pairs of legs and feet and scuttled a safe distance away from the biscuits. Here it sank down, its extremities vanishing.

"Ah, here's the little devil!" Harry looked over to see Hagrid holding up a tiny gold key with a filigreed top. Hagrid set it on the counter and reached into his coat. "I have this as well." He pulled out a letter tied with string and handed it to the goblin. Harry saw that it was addressed, the head goblin, over all goblins, Gringotts, Diagon Alley. "It's from Headmaster Dumbledore. It's about the you-know-what, in vault you-know-which." The goblin eyed him for a moment before tapping the string with one long nail. The string disintegrated.

He read the letter for several minutes before finally putting it down. It promptly burst into flame. Neither the goblin nor Hagrid seemed remotely surprised by this. "Very well. I shall have Griphook take you to both vaults."

Griphook turned out to be another goblin, though he was by far the shortest one Harry had seen yet. He still managed to be an inch or two taller than Harry however, who was beginning to feel like the shortest step on a staircase. Griphook led them through a large archway. To Harry's astonishment, the polished marble floor gave way to cobblestone immediately after the archway. What appeared to be a mine cart was sitting on tracks a short distance away. Griphook took down an old looking lantern and gave it a shake. It burst into dazzling light, nearly blinding Harry, who had been the closest. Griphook quickly turned and put it in a slot in the front of the cart.

"Climb in please." His voice was higher than the other goblin's and a little reedy. Once the spots had cleared, Harry followed Hagrid into the cart. Griphook smiled now. "Hold on tight." Hagrid groaned. Harry found out very quickly why.

The cart exploded into motion, tearing down the track at breakneck speed. It made several hairpin turns at speeds that should have derailed it. He couldn't be sure, but at one point Harry thought they even turned upside down. At one intersection Harry saw what looked like a burst of fire, but it was gone by the time he turned around to look. Hagrid just groaned again and pulled him back down into his seat.

Eventually they slowed and came to a stop in front of a large, round metal door set in the stone. The stone outcropping just above it had, "Potter" carved into it. Harry, who had rather enjoyed the trip, hopped out of the cart. Hagrid on the other hand, stumbled out looking very green in the face.

Griphook ignored his plight entirely. He snapped his fingers. The lamp went out as torches flared up all around them, bathing the area in an orange glow. He took the key that the queasy Hagrid held out to him and slid a panel aside in the center of the door. He put the key into the revealed keyhole and turned it. The door instantly split down the middle and retracted into the wall. Harry felt his jaw drop at the sight that was revealed. Hagrid started chuckling as he accepted the key Griphook was holding out to him.

"Thanks." The goblin nodded. "You didn't really think your parents left you with nothin', now did you?"

Harry couldn't have formed a response if he wanted to. He simply felt too numb. Heaps of gold, piles of silver, and mounds of bronze. There were also a fair number of boxes and assorted objects scattered around the room. "Like a dragon's treasure hoard." He thought. The Dursleys couldn't have known about any of this or they'd have had it from him faster than he could blink. Hadn't they always said how much it cost them to raise him? Aunt Petunia certainly had often enough.

Hagrid didn't allow him to dwell on his thoughts for long. He produced a leather pouch from one of his innumerable coat pockets. "Right then. Let's get you set up." He started loading the pouch for him, explaining as he went. "Now the gold coins are called galleons, the silver ones are sickles, and the bronze ones are knuts." Harry listened carefully as Hagrid proceeded to explain the exchange rate. He felt like his head was going to burst by the time they left the vault, his pouch bulging.

"That'll be enough to get you some supplies fer the year, plus a little extra left over in case you see something you really want." He turned to the waiting goblin. "Next vault please, and could we go please go a little slower?" Griphook gave a thin smile.

"One speed only." Hagrid moaned but climbed in, and they were off, though Harry noticed they didn't seem to be moving as fast as they were. Perhaps it was because of the distance. In less than a minute, they rolled to a stop, Griphook proclaiming, "Vault seven hundred and thirteen." When they clambered out, Griphook marched up to the door and stroked a finger down it. A series of unlocking sounds came from the door. Griphook glanced over to Harry.

"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked inside with no way to get out." He correctly interpreted Harry's questioning look. "We check about once every ten years or so." This time his smile was decidedly nasty. Harry looked at the vault, wondering what on earth would need protections that strong. When the vault swung open, he leaned forward to get a better look.

He couldn't help being a little disappointed. There was nothing in the brightly lit vault except for a small object wrapped in brown paper and tied with plain string. Hagrid scooped it up and stuffed it into a coat pocket. "I'd appreciate if you'd keep this ter yourself Harry." He grinned when Harry nodded. "Right then. Let's get going. Lots ter buy after all." Harry nodded.

One harrowing cart ride later, and they were stumbling out into the bright sunlight. Hagrid looked decidedly green, but he shook it off quickly. "I'll be fine. Them carts just don't agree with me." He glanced around the street. "Let's get your wand first. I expect you're quite keen on that."

Harry was actually. "A wand!" This was what he had really been the most eager for. A chance to have something that he could say was his and no one else's.

"We'll need Ollivander's for that. There ain't no place better." Hagrid pointed to a shop near the end of the alley that had a very old looking wand sitting on top of a faded purple cushion. The inside of the building looked just as aged. Every inch of wall space was filled with thousands of small, thin, dusty boxes. There was an especially spindly looking chair sitting in one corner that Hagrid sank into. There was a counter in front of them. Like everything else, it had a rather thick layer of dust on it. Even the air seemed to be dusty.

"Good afternoon." The voice seemed to come from everywhere at once. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped as well, because the chair made a rather ominous cracking sound. He got out of it hastily. The owner of the voice emerged from the swirling dusty gloom behind the counter. With his pale eyes and shock of white hair, he looked just as old as his shop did. The man gave him a short bow. "I am Mister Ollivander." Upon catching sight of Harry's scar, he brightened noticeably. "I was wondering when I would be seeing you in here, Mister Potter." Harry was not given much time to dwell on this statement. The man immediately bustled out from behind the counter and started looking over boxes.

"Seems like only yesterday your mother and father were in here buying their first wands, Mister Potter." His fingers closed on a particular box and pulled it out. "Ah. Yew and dragon heartstring. Twelve inches." He handed the wand inside to Harry. After a moment of Harry standing there and feeling foolish, he said, "Well go on then. Give it a wave."

Harry waved it. The wand promptly reared back, looking rather like a snake about to strike, and let out a loud sneeze. The spindly chair broke collapsed into a heap of tiny wooden pieces. Mister Ollivander winced. He pulled his own wand out from somewhere and waved it, restoring the chair. "I think not." He perused the shelves for a moment. "How about this one? Willow and unicorn tail, ten inches." This time, waving the wand caused the entire room to be plunged into a solid blackness that took Ollivander several minutes to properly dispel.

The testing process continued onward, the rejects piling up on the chair. Harry wished he knew what Mister Ollivander was looking for. Ollivander appeared to be more and more delighted with each successive failure. Despite the continuing damage to his shop, the man continued to search for different wands, muttering things like, "Haven't had anyone this difficult in years. Splendid, simply splendid!"

After a half hour of successive failures, Harry was beginning to wonder if Hagrid and Ambervale had made some mistake about him after all. He waved his current test wand, "Elder wood and phoenix feather, twelve inches." Then he let out a soundless scream and leaped to the side as all the rejected wands rose into the air and hurled themselves at him like a cloud of tiny javelins. They embedded themselves into the wall of boxes behind him. Very shaken, Harry dropped the wand as though it were on fire.

As he took a calming drink of something from a flask Hagrid pulled out of his coat, Ollivander eyed the wall of wands and said quietly, "I wonder." He slipped off into the back and returned seconds later with yet another box. "Holly and phoenix feather, eleven and a half inches." He held it out for Harry to take.

He almost refused. That last failure had made him very wary of wands in general. In the end though, he took a deep breath and took it from the wand maker's grasp. Instantly warmth surged from the handle into his hand. He shivered slightly and waved it. A fountain of red and gold sparks erupted from the tip and drifted downward, sparkling onto the ground like glitter. Hagrid let out a whoop and Mister Ollivander applauded.

"Wonderful!" Ollivander took the wand back and put it back in the box. A flick of his own wand had the rejects pulling out of the wall and re-boxing themselves. Mister Ollivander meanwhile rang up Harry's wand on an extremely old looking register. "Curious. Most curious indeed." Hagrid looked at Harry, who shrugged.

"Sorry, but what's curious?" Ollivander looked up at them sharply as he counted out money from the bag Harry held out.

"Gentlemen, I remember every wand I've ever sold." He pushed the bag and wand over to Harry. "It just so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather resides in this wand gave one other feather, just one. It's curious that Mister Potter should be destined for this wand-" He paused for a moment and pointed at Harry's forehead. "When its brother gave him that scar." Neither Harry nor Hagrid had any response to make to this.

A cheery, "Have a good day!" from Ollivander followed them as they exited the dusty shop. Studiously ignoring this, Hagrid squinted down at Harry's list.

"Let's see. We still need books, robes, supplies, and potion ingredients. He glanced around before his gaze landed on a number of pet stores. Oh, yeah, and I still have to get you a birthday present." Harry's mouth dropped open and he started to write out a protest. Hagrid waved it off. "You ain't gonna change my mind. Can't get you a toad, you'll be laughed at, and cats make me sneeze. Tell you what; I'll get you an owl. Dead useful they are." He led a dumbstruck Harry into Eyelops Owl Emporium.

They emerged a short while later with an enormous snowy owl. Harry thought he must have scribbled thank you at least twenty times before he managed to make it look legible. Hagrid just chuckled. "Thank me by picking a good name for her." He said it gruffly, but Harry could tell he was amused. The gigantic man laughed outright when Harry gave an emphatic nod. "Alright then, next up is your books. We'll need to go to Flourish and Blotts for those."

The bookstore was as interesting as Ollivander's was dusty. It was wall-to-wall books, though considerably more organized than the wand maker's store. Harry ended up getting several books that were recommended as extras in addition to his textbooks. He had briefly considered getting some of the fiction variety of books too, but had abandoned that idea when Hagrid had told just how large the library was at Hogwarts. He did end up getting himself a journal though.

Their next stop was the apothecary. Harry found it so fascinating that he was almost able to ignore the horrible smell that permeated it. Hagrid stumped up to the counter and asked for the standard student potion kit. While this was being arranged, Harry let his gaze wander over the various ingredients piled around the store. Bicorn horn, beetle legs, fwooper feathers, billywig stings, and ruby dust. This was just what was in front of him. Harry was beginning to think that he might really enjoy potions.

They stopped for a snack at Florean Fortescue's. Florean himself was jovial man who seemed to laugh quite a lot. Harry didn't really think much about the ice-cream seller as he was more focused on the patently enormous sundae he had been served. He couldn't manage to eat more than half of it. When he finally pushed the bowl away, feeling fit to burst, a large sheet of parchment (As Harry had learned it was called.) appeared out of thin air and landed on top of the confection. Hagrid hurriedly rescued it from the clutches of the sundae and sat back reading it for a moment.

Finally he said, "It's from Professor Ambervale." He leaned over and said in a stage whisper, "He don't usually send messages this way. He tends to have the worst timing for it and he knows it. I saw one get eaten by ants once before anyone could read it. Don't know how that happened. Suppose he figured he could risk it this time." He grinned. "Don't think he reckoned on the ice cream though." Harry grinned too.  "He says that he'll be escorting you onto the train on the day it leaves." He shook some stray ice cream off and pulled something off the bottom of it. "This is your ticket. Make sure you don't lose it. Professor Ambervale says he'll meet you at the station." Harry nodded and tucked it into the journal he'd bought.

"Are you all finished?" Harry nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed. Hagrid grinned again. "He always gives people more'n they can eat. Cept fer me, I suppose." Harry grinned back. The ice cream vanished along with the dishes when they both got up. Hagrid consulted the list.

"We still need to get your potions equipment, robes, quills, ink, parchment, a trunk, -" He broke off and started laughing at the rather wide eyed look Harry was giving him. "Don't worry, most o' that falls under the basic supplies group." Harry wasn't very reassured.

Harry found the equipment to be just as fascinating as the ingredients. Hagrid wouldn't let him get a gold cauldron, "The potions in class are designed to work in pewter. Gold causes trouble with em." But he did let him buy a book on "fun and easy potions" that looked interesting to work with.

After that, Hagrid took him to find a proper trunk since, "It'll be needed sooner rather than later." This particular experience ended up being another of the more memorable ones from that day for Harry. He had been looking at a trunk that had been advertised as having, "extra room." He hadn't expected this to be literal. Someone had accidentally bumped into him from behind, causing him to trip and fall in. Instead of landing inside the trunk, he kept falling, landing hard on, of all things, a camp bed. He found he was inside a room. It had a makeshift dresser alongside the camp bed, and a small bathroom behind an open door near one corner. Looking up, he found not a ceiling but instead the top of the trunk, and the underside of the lid, which was fortunately not closed. Harry might have been more impressed with the whole thing if it weren't for the fact that he didn't have a clue as to how to get out.

Fortunately, Hagrid had turned around from another trunk just in time to see him fall in. There must have been more magic than just the room involved, because all Hagrid had to do was reach inside the trunk. He somehow managed to reach down and grasp Harry's arm, gently pulling him up. Harry experienced a strange twisting sensation, and then he was suddenly back on solid ground in front of the trunk.  He backed away from it hastily. Hagrid just chuckled. "We'll just avoid those eh?" Harry just nodded.

The trunk they left with had "extra room" too, though to in this case, the term meant that it could expand to hold more items, rather than having a bedroom attached. It quickly became useful as they visited several successive supply shops.  The quill shop, Scrivenshaft's, was as fascinating to Harry as the apothecary had been. Quills of more varieties than he knew existed took up almost every inch of available space. The little old man that ran the shop was bald on top but had two rather luxurious looking long tufts of hair on either side of his head, making it look like he had quills rather than hair on his head. On a whim, he bought a set of quills advertised as being of "sketching quality" along with some for regular school use. This piqued Hagrid's interest.

"You like to draw, Harry?" He shrugged.

"A bit. One of my teachers said I was pretty good at it, but it's mostly something I do when I'm bored."  This was usually when he was spending hours on end in his cupboard being punished for something, but he wasn't about let on about that. Regardless, it seemed to catch the shopkeeper's attention. The little old man bounced over to a section up against the far wall and started going over various types of special quills he could use.

By the time they left, Harry's head was spinning with all the things the excitable old man had been telling him. He also had at least three different quills that could draw in colors, and two that could correct misspelled words.

After that was another supply shop, this one for the more mundane (in Hagrid's opinion) things such as parchment and inks. Here the oversized man insisted on getting Harry a sketchpad to go along with the drawing quills. He refused to so much as read a word of Harry's protests. And as much as he protested, Harry couldn't hide how much he liked it. Finally they had only one stop left.

"Robes is all we still need." He led Harry towards another shop, this one flanked by mannequins.  "Madame Malkin's robes for all occasions." Hagrid said, though Harry thought this was a bit unnecessary, since there was a sign saying exactly this just over the entrance to the shop. He supposed Hagrid had just wanted to be grand. The oversized man stopped at the door and rubbed his head, looking a little sheepish. "You'll have ter go in alone. I won't fit." It was true. The door was simply too small to accommodate him. Hagrid frowned slightly at Harry's raised eyebrow. "As a rule you don't do magic that affects someone else's property without permission, and most o' the shops have spells set to prevent it anyway." Harry nodded and walked in alone.

The first people he saw were a man and a boy. He would have thought they were father and son, if it weren't for the fact that they looked as different as night and day. Almost literally. The man was tall, skinny, and dressed almost entirely in black. He was also wearing a rather flowing black cloak. Even his hair was black. He was also rather sallow skinned, and had a rather large, slightly hooked nose. In all he looked very much to Harry like a bat in human form.

The boy on the other hand, had rather pale skin, and an aristocratic face. His clothing was much more colorful than the man's, a deep green, and looked much more expensive. His hair was perhaps the biggest difference though. It was a brilliant shade of platinum blonde that bordered on unnatural, and Harry could have sworn it shone when the sunlight hit it. The boy was turning his head from side to side, and had an expression that he probably thought made him look superior. Harry thought privately that it just made his features look pinched.

The boy spotted him first. He peered at Harry as he turned to look at a selection of cloaks. Then in a rather loud, carrying whisper he said, "I say. That one looks like some little lost orphan child or something, doesn't he uncle Sev?" Harry went ramrod straight even as the man turned and gave his back a quick glance.

"Draco, mind your manners." Draco frowned.

"But he does!" He yelped slightly when the man pinched his ear.

"Then say it quietly. What would your mother say, after all her lessons in decorum?" Draco was spared from having to answer by a motherly looking woman who swept out from behind him.

"She'd give him the scolding of his life Severus Snape, and you too! Talking like that, honestly!" She shoved the dour looking man into a nearby chair. "There! Stay in that seat and stop looming about, you've been scaring my customers." If the look Snape gave her was anything to go by, Harry thought she was very brave indeed. She bustled over to Harry. "Here for Hogwarts robes dear?"

Harry nodded. The woman, whom he quickly found out was Madame Malkin herself, pulled her wand out of her sleeve and flicked it towards the pale boy. A stepstool instantly appeared next to him. "Up you get dear." Harry got on the stool. Almost before he finished straightening up, his vision was obscured by something thin and long. When Madame Malkin shooed it back, he saw that it was a tape measure. She whipped out a quill, ink, and parchment. Another flick of her wand set them floating. She raised her wand straight up. "Ready...go!" On the word "Go", she brought the wand swishing down, rather like a flagman at a race.

This was apparently the cue for the tape measure. It shot into motion at once. For a few confusing seconds it flitted around his head, tightening and loosening before zipping off to new point.   Finally it measured his neck, an action that made Harry more than a little nervous. After this it moved on to his arms, and he was able to get his bearings back.

The first thing he noticed was that the boy, Draco, he remembered, looked like he very much wanted to laugh at him, but didn't want to look silly doing it. The man, Snape, Professor Snape, he realized suddenly, had pulled a magazine from out of somewhere and was reading it, looking slightly bored. Madame Malkin seemed to have vanished into the back half of the shop. The boy spoke to him suddenly, jerking him out of his observations.

"It's just measuring you. Haven't you ever been fitted for robes before?" Harry shook his head. Draco's eyes widened. "And you're how old?!" The tape measure stopped its work on Harry's wrists long enough to give him a stinging slap on the nose. Apparently Madame Malkin's attitude towards behavior extended to her tools. Draco rubbed his nose as the tape measure resumed its work.

"I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." He said it with obvious pride. Harry heard a soft snort come from the direction of Professor Snape. When his pronouncement failed to produce anything more than a blink from Harry however, Draco seemed to deflate slightly. He frowned. "Don't you know who my parents are?" His frown increased when Harry shook his head again. Then he squinted at him. "What's your surname?"

Before Harry could even begin to think about a way to answer, Professor Snape spoke up. "Draco, it's quite obvious he's a muggleborn. I fail to see how his surname should interest you. Your father made it quite clear you should not associate with his type unless necessary." The sneer on his face was mimicked in his voice. Catching the implied insult, Harry turned and glared at him. Fortunately, Madame Malkin returned just then, carrying several bolts of fabric. She let them go and waved her wand idly, making them shoot up into the air, narrowly missing Snape's head. Madame Malkin hid a smile.

Snape however, appeared not to notice. He was staring straight into Harry's eyes, never once breaking eye contact. The dark obsidian gaze was very unnerving. He felt like sighing in relief when Madame Malkin moved in between them. She expertly caught the tape measure as it flitted aimlessly around Harry's body. She flicked it at the quill, which instantly shot into motion, scribbling down numbers at lightning speed.

"Let's see now." She leaned over to look at the measurements. "My goodness but you're small!" She frowned. "I don't think any of my regular school robes will fit you dear. I simply can't make them that small. They wouldn't hold together, not with all the spells you'll be doing over the year." She pursed her lips when Harry frowned. "Not to worry dear, I'll think of something." After a few minutes of thought her face lit up. "I've got it!" Her sudden exclamation made both Harry and Draco jump. She waved her wand at the bolts of fabric behind her. They shot off into the back of the shop, a different set appearing seconds later. This group looked to be much lighter. Madame Malkin confirmed this.

"It's a lighter fabric dear." She frowned again. "I can't make regular school robes out of this since the material can't handle that kind of needlework, but I can make a different style of them." She frowned and rummaged in a nearby drawer for a moment before taking out a rolled up piece of parchment. She unfurled it and held it out for him to see. "The style's a bit outdated, but once in a great while I get a student who wants to wear them, so you wouldn't be the first." Draco spoke before Harry could do anything.

"A bit outdated? They're positively archaic!" Harry had to admit that he did have a point. The outfit itself looked like a schoolboy's version of what Professor Ambervale had been wearing. The main difference was that it had a higher neckline and looked much more ornate in terms of embroidery. Harry suspected that Ambervale's looked so different because what he lacked in design, he seemed to make up for in sheer color. Still though, as a whole it could have looked a lot worse. He nodded to the seamstress. Draco stared at him.

"You're not serious?!" Madame Malkin turned to him.

"Well it's his choice Mister Malfoy. She paused as a slip of parchment zipped up to her. "Ah. Your robes are nearly ready. Just a few left Mister Malfoy." She pointed her wand at the bolts of fabric. Several different shades of black unwound from them. Another wave of her wand had a needle and a spool of thread at attention. Madame Malkin rolled up her sleeves. Then with a look of intense concentration, she began the work transforming them into a set of robes.

Throughout this, Professor Snape had remained more or less at the back of Harry's mind. When Madame Malkin moved out of the way and he was still staring at him, Harry began to get more than a little nervous. He wasn't given much time to dwell on it though. In practically no time, Madame Malkin was presenting him with a finished outfit. It bore a very strong resemblance to Ambervale's clothing indeed, though it wasn't anywhere near as bright. "Let's see how this fits dear."

She waved her wand at him. There was a very disorienting swirl of fabric, and suddenly she was holding his shirt and trousers and the robe was on him. She stepped back and eyed him critically. "I think the shoulders are a little too loose." A wave of her wand had the area in question changing slightly. "Now then, the sleeves are a bit long too. You don't want them to get in the way when you're casting spells or working on something delicate." Another wave of her wand had a small amount of fabric falling off the cuff like a potato peel. They almost, but not quite managed to cover the tips of his fingers. "There we go. You can tie the sleeves back if you need them to go back any farther. Anything else, I wonder?" Draco spoke suddenly.

"They need to be lighter colored. They make his eyes and skin stand out too much." He caught Harry eyeing him. "What? If you're determined to wear them, I have to do something to lessen the damage. Right now you look like someone you stepped out of an ink drawing."

"He does at that." Madame Malkin said amiably. She waved her wand again and the outfit lightened to a shade that was a dark enough gray to pass as black. The swirling embroidery running up the front from his waist remained jet black however. She nodded decisively. "There, that should do it." She jabbed her wand towards the back of the shop. There was a sudden flurry of activity as the bolts of fabric shot off. "Those shouldn't take long." She started browsing through bolts of fabric on the wall.

"Patterns won't do for you. Definitely solid colors only." She turned and eyed him critically for a moment. "Blue certainly. Green if it's the right shade..." She trailed off and eyed a swatch that was almost jade. After a moment she shook her head and put it back. "Much too dark. Emerald or bottle green most likely. Red and gold should be fine. White of course, and black sparingly..." She trailed off again, muttering to herself more quietly. By now all three of her customers were giving her their undivided attention. Finally, Draco seemed to be unable to hold himself back anymore.

"What are you on about?" Madame Malkin looked up from a wall of light gray fabrics.

"Oh he's getting a complete wardrobe dear." She leaned down to a surprised Harry and whispered, "I've had a letter about you. From someone by the name of Pamela. Says you're to get a complete wardrobe along with your robes. And she's paying for it. Says it's a birthday present." She straightened up and said more loudly, "So you're not to pay a cent for any of it my dear!" At this moment a wrapped package zoomed up to her and she grabbed it expertly out of the air. "Ah. Here are your robes Mister Malfoy. That'll be eighteen galleons and four sickles all told." Professor Snape rose and rather jerkily counted it out before passing the money off to the seamstress. Then after Draco collected his robes and left, he swept out of the shop, looking more bat like than ever. He gave Harry a baleful glare as the door slammed shut behind him.

Madame Malkin huffed. "Abominable man! How he got his position I shall never know." She turned to Harry. "Well, whatever. Let's get you squared away my dear." As she wandered about, picking up fabric swatches and holding them against his skin, Harry was left to ponder the revelation that Pamela clearly knew about the world of magic, and obviously hadn't forgotten his birthday. (And didn't that give him a funny feeling, even if it was good?) The biggest thing on his mind at that moment however, was the question of just what he had done to make the surly looking professor so angry with him.

Given the surprises of the day, Harry was quite glad that the seamstress was the final stop on the shopping excursion.  However, this was not to say that he didn't enjoy the rest of his time in Madame Malkin's shop. The woman was, for lack of a better description, a treat. About twenty minutes into the sampling process, Hagrid turned up outside the door. Madame Malkin spotted him when Harry waved back to him and upon discovering the man was Harry's escort, through judicious use of reasoning and a flurry of nods from Harry, she gave her wand a flick, causing the entrance to her shop to expand. "Do come in Rubeus. I would have done that the first time you came by if I had known why you were there."

The enormous man shrugged. "It's alright Madame. I knowed he was in good hands here."

The seamstress laughed. "Such high regard you have for me!" She shook her head. "Never mind that. You should either help or get comfortable, this could be a while."

Hagrid blinked. "Problems is there?"

Madame Malkin smirked. "Not exactly. I received a letter this morning giving orders to outfit Mister Potter, here, with a proper wardrobe. It had a withdrawal voucher with a Gringotts stamp, so it's already been approved at the bank, as one of the Goblins was kind enough to inform me no less than ten minutes after I received the letter."

Hagrid's eyebrows rose. "Now, who did that?"

She shrugged. "The letter was just signed Pamela. There wasn't a last name."

Harry seized his chance. Grabbing his pencil and clipboard he scribbled out, "When I was little I had a friend named Pamela. I think she must have been a witch. She dressed sorta like some of the people out in the alley. Do you know anyone called that?"

He was more than a little disappointed when Hagrid shook his head. "Sorry, but no." He denied. He looked a little unsure of himself though. "I remember hearing a name a lot like that, but I can't think where I heard it."

When Harry didn't respond, Hagrid gently pat him on the back. "Cheer up a bit there. If you're looking for someone, you should really be asking Professor Ambervale. If there's anyone who could find out, it's him." Harry nodded glumly.

Madame Malkin didn't let him stew for long. "Well, as Rubeus says, cheer up my dear! This is to be your wardrobe after all!" She dragged a pile of criminally bright, golden fabrics from somewhere out behind her. "What do you think of these?" She and Hagrid both roared with laughter at the expression that crept onto Harry's face. "I rather thought not." Still giggling slightly she shoved them away, pulling out pile of much more subdued colors. "Let's go through these instead, shall we?"

As this pile looked more promising, Harry nodded and started riffling through them. Hagrid removed a silver and white swatch before he could reach it however, saying that he would look like he was, "Half melted or summat."

It was much later that they were finally finished with all the details. Harry, who had been growing rather bored with standing as he was sized, snapped back to attention when the seamstress spoke to him. "It'll take me a while to finish everything. I may be a stitch witch, but I'm not that quick. They should be ready a few weeks after the start of term." She smiled sympathetically. "At least your robes are ready, though, dear."

Hagrid nodded vigorously. "Aye, and you look right smart in ‘em too!" He pulled out what looked to be an oversized pocket watch and jumped when he looked at it. "Blimey it's late!" Since the face of the watch only seemed to have swirling patterns of moons and suns, Harry simply took his word for it. "We need to be getting you back home Harry!"

After that, it was a flurry of activity. Things were stacked and packed into his trunk- a swift spell from Madame Malkin organized it all so that he could in her words, "Actually find some of it at some point"- and his owl was coaxed back into her cage. (Hagrid had let her out so she could stretch out.) Hagrid bid the seamstress a rather hasty goodbye, while Harry just settled for waving. Madam Malkin smiled and said, "Have fun at school dearie, and don't let anyone get you down!"

From there, it was a series of rides on the underground. Most of it passed in a blur for Harry. It seemed like one moment they were climbing out onto the station street, and the next, they were strolling up the path of number four, Privet Drive. As Hagrid gave a short, rather heavy knock, it occurred to Harry that this might be exactly what had happened. He came back to attention as he heard footsteps approaching the door.

To Harry's surprise, it was Petunia who opened the door. Lips pursed, she motioned them in. Hagrid hung back as Harry hefted the trunk and owl cage through the door. Harry thought that it was fortunate that the proprietor at the shop had enchanted it to be almost weightless. Petunia surveyed the items with apparent distaste. "Take that lot upstairs, then come straight back. And mind you don't wake your uncle or cousin." As he started up the stairs, Harry heard her mutter, "Well at least it's not a cat you came home with like my dratted sister." Harry was so startled that he nearly missed the next step. This was the first time he had ever heard Petunia say anything voluntarily about his mother; Usually she was very closed mouthed about the subject. Petunia made shooing motion. "Well? Get a move on!"

As he hurried up the stairs, Harry heard Hagrid rumble, "Now an owl's a fine creature for a young lad like him." He sounded disapproving at her tone. Harry didn't hear his most of his aunt's response, but he did hear something about permits for birds and neighborhood associations. He put his trunk by his bed and hung the cage from a convenient plant hook in one ceiling corner. The owl thankfully stayed quiet.

When Harry came back, he found his aunt sitting in a chair in the living room. Hagrid had apparently left. Petunia was massaging her forehead when she caught sight of him. "Well?! Get in here boy!" his aunt snapped. She sighed when Harry scurried into the room and pointed at the couch across from her seat "Sit."

Petunia sighed again when Harry perched himself on the edge of the cushions. "Vernon's in a right foul mood I'll have you know" she said, making it sound like it was Harry's fault. Petunia sat up straight and brandished a largish sheet of parchment "As soon as we got in the door, this showed up!" She waved it around rather wildly, making Harry think she looked a little manic. "Exploding out of the hall light no less! Glass everywhere!" Petunia took a deep breath "It's from that rail thin freak in red. Amberwhatsis."

Harry leaned back a little at the venom in her tone. "She sound's like she's gone round the twist." he thought.

Petunia didn't allow him to dwell on it. "Says we're to take you to King's Cross Station on September the first. He'll meet you there." She drew in another deep breath, muttering something about freaks who couldn't keep their noses out of normal people's lives. "Vernon and I will take you, but only because we need to go to London anyway. We need to get that blasted pig tail removed before Dudley starts Smeltings."

She stared when her nephew grabbed a pen and pad of paper from the table and scribbled something out before handing the pad to her. "Why don't you just ask Professor Ambervale to get rid of it?"

Petunia turned a rather blotchy white as she read it. "I think YOUR kind has caused enough trouble already!" she sniffed. "Professor is he? Doesn't make him any better in my eyes." She shook her head and threw the pad of paper back at him. "Funny way to get to school, the train. Magic carpets all have holes?"

Harry shrugged. "All I know is that my ticket says to board it on platform nine and three quarters."

His aunt's eyebrows rose into her hairline. "Platform nine and three quarters? What kind of nonsense is that?" She narrowed her eyes when Harry shrugged. "Suit yourself boy. We'll take you there, but after that you're on your own." She pointed upstairs. "Now get upstairs and get to bed." Harry shot off the cushion and hurried towards the staircase. A sharp "Boy!" made freeze with one foot on the steps. "If you absolutely have to keep that bloody owl, I don't want to hear a sound from it."

The owl, which Harry named Hedwig after seeing it in his History of Magic textbook, was, by and large, a rather quiet creature. The first time Harry heard any sort of sound out of her at all was when he showed Hedwig her name. She had hooted as though she understood. Perhaps she had, he remembered Hagrid saying that owls from the wizarding world were very smart animals. Hedwig had only made any sort of racket once, and that happened to coincide with his uncle's discovery of her. Vernon Dursley's shouts could have easily woken the entire neighborhood. It certainly woke the house. Harry supposed the only reason Hedwig was even still alive was because his aunt was still under the impression they were being watched. After that little event, Harry was locked in his room, though he was let out three times a day for the bathroom and a shower.

Harry wasn't really bothered by this, he was perfectly content to sit on his bed and read from his textbooks while Hedwig swooped in and out, bringing him a variety of dead animals. He was careful to dispose of these quickly, not wanting to risk his aunt or uncle's temper any worse than he already had (Petunia still came in to vacuum after all), Harry knew he'd had enough of that over this summer as it was. He idly turned another page in potions textbook, wondering what the class would be like. Maybe Professor Snape had simply been having a bad day.

Severus Snape swept into the staff room for the start of term teachers' meeting, looking for all the world like some kind of overwrought bat. The closer it came to the start of term, the worse his mood became. By this point, speaking to him was rather like dealing with an unstable potion; You never knew when it would explode in your face. Not that he was the only one who hated losing the peace and quite the castle afforded in the summer months.

Lately, Minerva's drinks had been laced with something that was most definitely not cream or sugar. Filius had been practicing numerous spells over increasing amounts of time. In fact, aside from Albus, himself, there were most likely only two professors who weren't bothered by the start of term. Three if one counted Binns, not that anyone did; The ghost hardly ever even paid attention to his classes, much less the start of term. It was a wonder no one had ever died of boredom.

 One of those unaffected was Charity Burbage, the Muggle Studies Professor. She actively welcomed it, since she actually enjoyed teaching students. (She was also undeniably a morning person. Severus made certain never to sit near the woman during breakfast. She was far too chipper for that early in the morning.) With a sigh and a glower, Severus sank into a chair, looking more bat-like than ever. Most of the staff took this as a cue to stay as far as possible from him.

Mahalestro Ambervale was not one of them. He sat down into the empty seat next to Severus and eyed him for a moment. "Oh, who spit in your potion?" he snapped out. When he only received a grunt in reply, the counselor rolled his eyes. "Fine, be that way." Very little fazed the man, no doubt something gained from his years of teaching. Ambervale, of course, was the one professor that liked the start of term even more than Charity. "Are you in the betting pool or not?"

This brought the Potions Master out of his foul mood "Possibly." The Counselor was of course referring to the running bet the staff made each year as to which candy the headmaster would offer at the start of term meeting. The tradition had apparently been going ever since Albus had become headmaster.

Ambervale snorted. "Possibly, my arse. You've made bet every year. Pick a sweet and get on with it."

Severus gave him a rather sour look. "You have no appreciation for mystery. Very well. Five galleons on sherbet lemon. What have the others bet?"

The other man smirked. "Rubeus put five on ‘Drooble's', Pomona has six on ‘Fizzing Whizbees', Poppy has four on ‘Honeyduke's chocolate', and Minerva has ten on ‘Sugar Quills'."

"And you?"

Ambervale smirked again. "Five on ‘Bertie Botts'."

Severus quirked an eyebrow at him. "He doesn't like those. Something about a vomit flavored one looking like a caramel."

The Counselor shrugged. "It hasn't stopped him before. He's like that and you know it."

The arrival of the Headmaster prevented a response to this entirely correct statement. Dumbledore seated himself at the front of the table and pulled a large bowl out of one of his sleeves. "Before we begin, would anyone like-" He paused for apparent dramatic effect. "A sugar quill?" Albus lifted the lid off with a flourish. Minerva smirked as Severus passed her five galleons under the table. Severus tried to scowl but found he couldn't quite pull it off.

"Should have known she had an in when she bet ten." Ambervale looked a mix of amused and faintly annoyed. Severus nodded in agreement and the two of them sat back as the Headmaster began the meeting. Some of it actually managed to catch Severus undivided attention for the first time since his trip to Diagon Alley.

Which may well have been Ambervale's intention when he made his announcement. "After some serious debate and quite a bit of work, The Ministry of Magic and I have finally managed to come to agreement on project proposal I have been spearheading. At the start of October until the end of February, our school will be hosting a small group of muggle children." Rapid murmurs flew around the room, but ceased as soon as Ambervale started speaking again. "This is an attempt to integrate and hopefully create a lasting compromise between muggle and wizarding world. There will be several students each from various private boarding schools around the country. They will all be chaperoned. If this attempt works out, we will be allowing for longer stays each successive year. The students will be sitting in on several classes to see how our world works." He paused and said dryly, "I think it goes without saying how certain members of the board of governors resisted this."

Severus didn't doubt that for second. "I assume Lucius is fuming?"

Ambervale nodded. "Oh yes, of course. Very much so actually. But he was quite heavily outvoted. It is most likely the only time the board was united against him." His lips quirked "Personally, I think they mainly did it because they knew it would infuriate him." The Counselor shook his head. "At any rate, this entire attempt is merely a trial. I myself can't wait to see how it works out."

Personally, Severus thought he could wait until the headmaster made Ambervale's announcement known to the students; His Slytherins were going to be practically unmanageable when they found out. To say nothing of Severus' godson. At the very least, it would be an interesting start of term. "As if Potter coming wasn't bad enough."  

The night before Harry was due to leave for school was the first time in a long while that he actually dreamed. Shouting filling the air, a strange sense of sheer panic intertwining with it. Malevolent green and orange flames roaring down a stone corridor, someone or something running, the sounds replaced by an explosion of sound and heat. Powerful winds and sleeting rain, creatures prowling through it, eyes red, a flash of gold, silhouetted by flashes of lightning, a white-gloved hand shooting out from nowhere.

Harry awoke with a start, sweating profusely and gasping for breath and, for the first time, fervently glad that he couldn't speak. If he could, he was sure he would have woken up screaming, which would of course, have set the Dursleys off. Harry strongly suspected that the only reason they had been leaving him alone was because they were afraid he was going to turn them into minnows or something similar. Fortunately, it had yet to occur to them that he had no idea how to do something like that.

Noticing the clock sitting by his bed, (broken by Dudley, and fixed by Harry,) he found it was only a few hours until dawn. Deciding he might as well make the most of it, Harry started packing his things away in preparation for leaving. He had a feeling that his uncle would want him out of there as soon as possible.

For the most part, packing his belongings was rather straightforward. Harry didn't exactly have many to his name after all. When it came to Hedwig and her cage though, he ran into a problem. She was certainly there, looking alert though a little ruffled about something. That something was fairly obvious. Her cage had an extra occupant.

Harry supposed it must have flown in at some point during the night, since he had never closed the window; leaving it open so that Hedwig could come and go freely. It was tiny, looking ridiculously small next to the owl; its body was round as a tennis ball with a rather small head and a long thin beak. Looking closely, Harry could barely make out the frail looking wings. Every last one of the bird's feathers was a warm gold. In all, it reminded him of rather of a hummingbird. Apparently sensing his scrutiny, the bird cracked open one jewel bright black eye and gave him an obvious once over.

What it was looking for, Harry couldn't tell. The bird however, was apparently satisfied. It gave an almost inaudible chirp and sidled closer to Hedwig on the perch, fluffed out its feathers and settled into a rather deep sleep. Hedwig let out a quiet hoot and settled down herself, though not before giving Harry a look that said she rather thought he should do the same.

Harry shook his head and shut the door to the cage. Neither bird reacted. Sighing, he pulled the cover over their cage and resolved to ask Professor Ambervale about the new avian. Assuming he had another way to communicate with the man. His clipboard and pencil had long since disappeared.

Less than two hours later, Harry was awoken from a sound sleep by a loud banging on his door accompanied by a shout of "Boy!" Judging by the sudden shuffling from the cage, both the birds had been startled awake as well. It was fortunate they didn't make any sound as the next second Vernon Dursley burst into the room, looking like some sort of enraged walrus. "Get up and get dressed! We're leaving in ten minutes" Saying this, he snatched Harry's trunk and dragged it out. Harry was rather glad he had kept his wand on him. He wouldn't put it past his uncle to try and snap it.

The ride to King's Cross was unremarkable. Unless one counted Dudley; He had refused to even get in the car with Harry until his father had forced him to. Dudley had spent the rest of the ride sitting as far as possible from Harry, sniffling a little and staying more or less smashed up against the window. Harry could only imagine what it must look like from the outside, but judging from the number of motorists giving them double takes, it wasn't pretty. Harry found he rather enjoyed the car ride for once.

All too soon it was over and they were pulling into the station. Harry started looking around for Professor Ambervale, but it was actually his aunt who spotted him first. "There's the freak who's to meet to the boy. I'd recognize that ridiculous eye color anywhere." Harry looked to where she was pointing and immediately understood why he hadn't seen the man sooner.

Mahalestro Ambervale may have stood out somewhat in wizarding clothing, but he was evidently quite skilled at dressing like a muggle. He was wearing some sort of pinstriped suit, along with a rather expensive looking pair of loafers, making him look like a well-off businessman. The only thing detracting from the image was the fact that his hair was up in a rather short ponytail. Harry could see his uncle revising his opinion of the man on the spot.

If the scrutiny bothered him, Ambervale didn't show it. "Ah Mr. And Mrs. Dursley. Pleasure to see you again." Vernon gave a low growl. Petunia just sniffed. Now that the pleasantries were out of the way however, Ambervale seemed to decide to ignore them entirely. He turned to Harry. "You have your things?" Harry held up the cage. "Excellent. And your trunk?"

Vernon let out a grunt. "In the back of the car." He threw open the rear of the vehicle. Ambervale eyed him strangely before reaching out and touching the trunk. It promptly shrank to the size of a matchbox. He slipped it into a pocket.

He strode back over to Harry. "It appears that everything is in order then. Come along Mister Potter, we have a train to catch." He steered Harry into the station, throwing a cheery, "Good day!" over his shoulder to the Dursleys.

As soon as they were out of their hearing range however, his cheerful expression dropped off his face faster than Harry could blink. "They're certainly unlikable. Let's get you onto the train. We can converse freely there."  Saying this Ambervale brought Harry to a halt at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. "Now to get to train, you must go straight through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop once you start, and don't be afraid you'll crash, that part's very important." He made a shooing motion with his hands. "Go on then, while it's still clear. Might be easier if you close your eyes."

Harry eyed the very solid looking barrier before taking a deep breath. "Well, it sounds nuts, but so has everything else so far." With this in mind, he let out his breath in a great rush and closed his eyes, then ran straight at the wall. He didn't hit anything solid, but he felt a strange sensation, rather like he was running through water. Then there was an audible pop, and the feeling vanished. Harry opened his eyes to find a humongous red steam-engine puffing away at one end of the platform, the words ‘Hogwarts Express' emblazoned across the side. Turning around, he found a brick wall with a large metal arch that had the words, ‘Platform Nine and Three Quarters' in wrought iron at the top. As Harry watched, the bricks shimmered and Mahalestro Ambervale strode through.

The minute he was free of the bricks, he pulled his wand out of thin air and gave it flick. There was loud bang that made a nearby family of three flinch, accompanied by a flash of light. When it cleared, Ambervale was back in wizarding robes. He slid the wand up one sleeve, smiling slightly "Much better. I much prefer my robes to muggle style clothing, but sometimes subterfuge is necessity." He frowned. "Not that I did it for your muggle relations. When it comes to them, I find myself strangely unaccommodating."

Harry grinned. "I think I really do like this guy."

Ambervale smiled too. "Let's board the train while the good compartments are still free.  We can let your owl out for the trip once we do." He whipped around as someone stepped up behind him.

It was the man from the family that Ambervale had startled. He had an aristocratic face and rather fancy robes. One hand held a cane topped with a silver snakehead. He also had oddly familiar pale blond hair. It was pin straight and stopped at his shoulders. The man eyed first Harry, then Ambervale himself. Finally, he spoke. "Counselor Ambervale. I wasn't aware you had a ward."

It was his rather snobbish tone that allowed Harry to suddenly place him. "That has to be Draco Malfoy's father. Their hair looks almost exactly alike."  He blinked when Ambervale slid in front of him.

The Counselor had a reproving expression on his face. "To quote one of Alastor's favorites, I suspect what you're unaware of would fill several volumes." He paused for a moment. "And having graded some of your school essays Lucius Malfoy, I can't say I completely disagree." The other man bristled slightly. Ambervale just laughed. "In this instance however you are not misinformed. Watch your grammar Lucius. Once a teacher always a teacher, after all." This brought a thin, but genuine, smile from the blonde. Ambervale looked briefly down at Harry. "Run along and find a compartment. I shall be there shortly."  Harry nodded and hefted his owl cage.

He clambered onto the train and hurried to the first empty compartment he could find that looked out onto the platform. Harry didn't want to miss what looked like quite a show. He looked out the window just in time to see Draco's mother sending him off towards the train.

Out on the platform, Lucius and Mahalestro were staring at each other. Finally though, Ambervale broke the silence. "If you are attempting to frighten me, it is most certainly not working Lucius. I've seen more frightening essays, some of them yours."

The blonde man bristled again, gripping the snakehead on his cane tightly. "Gloat while you can Counselor. Your little project will only end in disaster."

Ambervale snorted softly. "Who's gloating? And who says it'll be disaster? Or do you have plan to ensure it?"

Lucius smiled as his wife swept up to stand next to him. "Oh, it's not as if I need to do anything. Muggle and wizardkind simply can't mix. It will fail all of its own accord."

Ambervale rolled his eyes. "Believe what you will, Lucius. You were raised that way and there's naught that can change it. I'm afraid you and I will simply have to agree to disagree." Lucius blinked, looking startled before schooling his expression. Mahalestro laughed outright. "I have no particular desire to get into a debate, Lucius. I have my concerns over this venture, as does everyone involved." He glanced back towards the train. "If you don't mind, I have a student to care for. Good day Lucius, Narcissa." He strode off towards the train when they gave curt nods in reply.

Harry jumped when the compartment door flew open. He whirled away from the window to find Draco Malfoy standing in the doorway. The other boy looked a mix of surprised and apologetic.

"Er, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." He peered at Harry closely. "You must be someone important. Mother says that the Counselor doesn't usually bring anyone to the train, much less ride with them."  Seeing Harry's confused expression, he said, "Professor Ambervale. He's the councilor at Hogwarts." He frowned "Didn't he tell you?"

"Topic has hardly been given the chance to come up." This time, Harry and Draco jumped. Ambervale swept over to Harry's seat and sat down with a sigh. He drew his wand from seemingly out of nowhere and flicked it at Harry's trunk, causing it to fly up and settle into the luggage rack over their heads.

Draco colored slightly. "I...I'll just be going then."

Ambervale burst out laughing. "Scared?"

Draco grimaced. "Of you? A little."

Ambervale snorted. "A healthy sense of caution never hurt anybody. In fact, helped many." Still grinning, he waved a hand airily "You can stay. I'm not about to attack." Ambervale turned to Harry as Draco sat down, looking relieved and slightly embarrassed.  "Now then, I am still at a loss for enabling physical speech, but I have at least managed to devise a method for communication."

This got Draco's full attention. "Enabling physical speech?"

Ambervale ignored him. He reached into a sleeve and rummaged around. After a moment, he withdrew a silver colored quill that was reminiscent of an ostrich feather. The tip was dripping with what appeared to be some kind of metallic shaded, gold ink. "This is dictaquill. As name implies, they usually write down the dictation they hear from the user." He smiled slightly. "Obviously, the usual method won't apply here. Therefore, this one has had several modifications."

Harry blinked and nodded. "That doesn't sound too bad. It looks awfully bright though."

Apparently, the counselor was also capable of reading minds. Or he was a very good guesser. "Looks flashy yes, but that's a side effects of the spells used to modify it. Hold it for just a moment." He had Harry grasp it by the shaft with one hand. Then once he was assured Harry was holding it properly, he drew his wand out of one sleeve. He tapped the plume of the quill with it, then the back of both of Harry's hands, leaving behind tiny droplets of silver. Then he touched the center of Harry's forehead and said sharply, "Verax, finxi, cogitatio, enthymema, haudquaquam, mens mentis!" There was a noise like a whip crack, followed by an odd thrumming sensation that made Harry's teeth hurt.

Ambervale lowered the wand. "You can release it now." Harry let go of the quill. It promptly zoomed into the air and floated above his head, quivering slightly. Ambervale smiled. "Let's give it a test run." When both boys looked at him, Ambervale sighed roughly. "Introduce yourselves to each other." He rubbed his forehead, looking slightly exasperated.

Draco recovered first. After casting a wary eye at the councilor, he stuck out a hand. "I'm Draco Malfoy." Harry shook it gingerly. "And you are?"

Harry frowned and looked at Ambervale. The man waved a hand dismissively. "Think your response at him, the quill should pick it up." When he saw the expression on Harry's face he coughed slightly. "Sorry. Say it in your head would probably be a better description."

This helped. Harry looked back at Draco. He drew in a breath, then thought, "My name is Harry Potter." There was a sudden whooshing noise over his head. Harry looked up to find the quill had written out his thought in a uniform, if slightly fuzzy, print that looked like it had come from a typewriter.

Ambervale eyed the floating script critically. "Hmph. Seems to work well enough." He waved a hand. "That fuzz around the print should fade soon. The quill needs time to get used to connection. Just remember that you need to want something thought to be written. The quill will ignore personal thoughts."

Draco on the other hand, was staring at the floating letters in shock. His mouth worked soundlessly for a moment before he looked down to stare at Harry. "You...You're, Harry Potter?"

Ambervale raised an eyebrow. "His full name is Harrison James Potter, if that's what you're asking."

Harry blinked. "It is?"

Draco arched an eyebrow. "How can you not know your own name?"

"He probably hasn't been called by it since he was around a year old!" Ambervale snapped. His tone was downright icy. He drew in a deep breath and said much more calmly, "That name is on his birth certificate. To my knowledge though, only the Potters ever called him by his full first name." 

Harry jumped on this. "You knew my parents?"

Ambervale laughed. "I knew and know a lot of people. I have taught here for quite some time." He frowned slightly. "I am perhaps not the best person to ask about your parent's school careers, though. I rarely crossed paths with either of them outside of occasional substitute class. Other teachers would know more." Seeing the crestfallen look on Harry's face, he said quickly, "Perhaps I can help with something else though?"

Harry frowned. He brightened when he heard a shuffling sound from Hedwig's cage. "How much do you know about birds, Professor?"

Ambervale blinked, obviously caught off guard. "Depends entirely on what you want you want to know."

Harry grinned and grabbed Hedwig's cage, hauling it over in front of the professor. "I usually left the cage open so Hedwig could come and go. When I woke up this morning, there was another bird in the cage with her. I don't think she appreciated it, but I couldn't really get it to leave. It just sort of looked at me and went to sleep. It's still there, but I don't even know what kind of bird it is."

"And it let you lock it up?" Draco sounded disbelieving.

"Well it was asleep."  Interesting to see that the quill emphasized words by putting them in bold print. Draco reddened.

Obviously scenting the possibility of an impending argument, Ambervale intervened. He gently took the cage from Harry and slowly opened the cover. Hedwig blinked up at him, then shuffled slowly sideways on her perch, revealing the veritable ball of golden feathers that had been hidden by her wings. Woken by Hedwig's movements, the much smaller creature let out a soft chirp and rose into the air, wings whirring like a hummingbird's.

Ambervale let out a quiet breath. "Merlin's beard!" He cautiously opened the cage and gently lifted the tiny bird out. It let out an indignant sounding chirp, gave his hand a cursory peck, and flew over to Harry's shoulder. It landed and gave a rather defiant flick of its wings and settled down, looking content.

Draco stared at it. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Certainly is." Professor Ambervale sounded more than a little surprised.

"There aren't any sanctuaries around here are there?"

Ambervale shook his head. "None I'm aware of."

"WHAT IS IT?!" Both of them blinked as the quill shot between them with the question.

Finally Ambervale smiled. "That, Mister Potter, is called a Golden Snidget. An extremely rare bird. They hold an important connection to wizarding history, and have been on the wizarding world's endangered species list for many centuries now." The man had obviously switched into teaching mode. "Because of their importance and rarity, the Golden Snidget is one of the most heavily protected magical creatures in all wizardom." He frowned slightly. "There are a number of special sanctuaries around the country that exist for the breeding and raising of them."

Harry blinked. "And here I thought he was a man of few words. And I think that's the most I've heard him speak in complete sentences. He must make an effort not to chop out words when he's teaching."  There had been an exchange student back in Harry's primary school that had done the same thing if she wasn't paying attention. It always seemed to give her trouble when she needed to make the extra effort for a report. Thankful the quill didn't print thoughts, he shook himself. He looked over at the professor. "So there's a sanctuary near here then?"

Ambervale shook his head, looking troubled. "No. They are only in large areas such as open plains and dense woods and forests. It would be impossible to find a place large enough for one in the city regions, much less effectively spell it against muggles and mortals." He crossed his arms. "Which leads us to question of the hour. Where did this one come from?"

Draco eyed the snidget from his seat across from Harry. "Maybe it escaped from a sanctuary?"

Ambervale shook his head. "Not possible. The closest sanctuary is well over sixty miles away. A snidget is far too small for that kind of journey. Besides, all sanctuaries mark their birds with unbreakable image pattern spell on the wings, and this one has none." He drew in a deep breath. "Which means, impossible as it seems, this one is wild."

"But there aren't any wild snidgets!" Draco burst out.

Ambervale pursed his lips. "There are rumors however." He drew his wand and gave it a flick. "Tempus!" A spectral clock of sorts shimmered into existence. After giving it a brief glance, he waved a hand through it, causing it to dissipate like so much smoke. The train should be leaving soon. I promised Headmaster I would help ensure everyone boarded." He flicked his wand at Harry's trunk, causing one of his new sets of robes to slide out. Then he pointed it at Harry. "Arms up straight please." He made a shooing motion towards the snidget. "Off that shoulder unless you want to be caught up in the spell." The snidget cocked its head at him before giving out a rather loud chirp and flying up to perch on Harry's trunk.

The Counselor muttered something about it, but gave his wand a sort of fluid wave at Harry. Instantly there was disorienting swirl of fabric, color, and sound. It eventually cleared away to reveal Harry's old clothes floating in front of him, the robes now firmly in their place. A single flick of Ambervale's wand had the clothing packing itself away in Harry's trunk.

The Professor slid the wand back into his sleeve. "Well now, those look good on you." He glanced out the window at the crowd that was covering the platform. "I shall be back once the train sets off. We'll discuss the snidget more then." He paused as the little bird flew down from its perch back to Harry's shoulder. Then he smiled slightly. "I don't know how much there still is to discuss though. It seems quite determined to remain with you." With this, he swept out of the compartment, a light, "Play nice now" floating behind him. 

Draco stared after him. Then he blinked. "He's...different."

Harry shrugged and started rummaging through his trunk, eventually pulling out his sketchpad and quills. "Well I like him."

Draco shook his head. "That's not what I mean. He just...isn't like anyone I've ever seen." Harry couldn't dispute this, nor did he attempt to. Draco went on. "Besides, even my father genuinely likes him, and that has to count for something since the only other person on the school staff he likes is my godfather. Mother says he supposedly was teaching when the Headmaster was a student." Harry just nodded his head absently, keeping one ear on the other boy's chatter. "He must be fairly powerful too. Mother says that when it comes to magic, you've got to put your galleons where you're mouth is." Harry thought wryly that Draco could definitely be a chatterbox when it suited him. "Say, what house do you think we'll be in?"

Harry glanced up. "House?"

Draco nodded. "Yeah. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. They're the four houses at Hogwarts. I'm hoping for Slytherin, but Mother and Father said they don't mind which house I go to, as long as it isn't Hufflepuff." He gave a theatrical shudder. "Merlin I'd rather die than go in Hufflepuff!"

"What's wrong with Hufflepuff?"

Draco shuddered again. "They're wimps! All emotional and whiny!" He frowned at the look Harry was giving him. "What? They are! At least the other houses have something going for them! Gryffindor has courage, Ravenclaw has brains, and Slytherin has ambition! Hufflepuff doesn't have anything!"

Harry privately thought that Hufflepuff was starting to sound like the house he'd be in. He didn't think he really had any noticeable skills, except maybe hiding. And he could hardly pull that off at the Dursleys. How he would manage it at a school filled with magic users was beyond him.

Draco obviously wasn't going to let him sit in silence though. "What's that you're drawing anyway?"

"It's..." He looked down at the sketchpad and blinked when he saw what was on it. He hadn't really been paying attention to what he was drawing while listening to Draco, and the result surprised him. "It's something from a dream I had."

Draco leaned over to look and snorted. "You had a dream about a woman's elbow glove?" He sounded like he wanted to laugh.

"It's not the only thing in the dream!"  Harry frowned. "It's just the part I remember best. Usually I can't remember my dreams at all."  He only remembered flashes of it, but that was more than he usually did.

Draco let out a chuckle. "You have some weird dreams."

Harry grinned in spite of himself. "Yeah, I guess I do." He traced the outline of the image idly. "Makes me wonder what's next sometimes, though. I didn't know magic was even real until about a month ago."

Draco looked scandalized at this. "A month ago!" Harry nodded.

"My relatives aren't exactly fond of magic." That had to be the closest he'd ever come to telling anyone about the mad flight to escape the letters.

Draco shook his head. "Only a month! We need to get you caught up! Let's start with Quidditch." And with that, he launched into an explanation of some kind of sport played on brooms. The ensuing conversation lasted them all the way until the final boarding whistle of the train.

Ambervale returned as Draco was explaining other wizarding games. After listening silently for a moment, he said, "If you wish to play Exploding Snap with any sort of regularity, you should try to find a set of cards with a docile disposition. The more temperamental ones can explode prematurely or bite if you continuously try to put them somewhere they don't wish to go." He smirked when both boys jumped. "Having fun?"

Draco shuffled his feet. "I...I was just trying to teach him about wizard games. That's all."

Ambervale's smirk widened. "So I heard."

Harry glanced up at the counselor. "He just explained Quidditch to me. It sounds...neat."

Ambervale snorted and sat down across from them. "Ah yes, Quidditch. No other game has love of flight, joy of the chase, and thrill of victory all rolled into one." He settled back into the seat. "And no other game lets you cheer for ball to hit player you don't like." His voice was tart. Over Draco's snickering, he said, "It's dangerous game, never forget that, no matter how fun it is." Harry nodded. "Good." He watched quietly as the snidget zipped through the air above their heads. "That bird presents unique situation."

Harry blinked at him, watching the snidget too. The little bird darted through the air a few more times before it suddenly dived down to land on Harry's shoulder. "What do you mean, sir?

The counselor frowned minutely. "It makes for difficult problem." He straightened up. "Because of the rarity of the golden snidget, its numbers are very closely monitored as are its habitats. You see, it is so rare because wizardkind hunted it almost to the point of extinction. Many muggles and mortals did too, and many will still kill it if given a chance. Not to mention the fact that it has a blatantly magical look to it." His frown deepened. "Because of this, ownership of them is strictly prohibited, and all sanctuary snidgets are fitted with unbreakable and unalterable identification and tracking spells. If one got out, it would be the work of moments for any sanctuary owner or government employee to capture it."

Draco snorted. "Father would disagree."

Ambervale rolled his eyes. "Not everyone in the Ministry of Magic is incompetent." He waved a hand. "The strange thing is that this snidget has no spells of any kind on it, which leads to inescapable conclusion that somewhere, there are wild snidgets thriving. The Ministry will want to know where it came from, but I doubt you have any more idea than we do." Harry nodded in agreement. Ambervale drew his wand and aimed it at the bird.  "In dubium nodus."

Looking like a thread, a thin gold line appeared, connecting Harry and the snidget. Ambervale put his wand away, looking satisfied. Harry just felt confused, and Draco looked mystified. The snidget, however, looked mildly affronted, or at least as much as it was possible for a bird to look.

The professor leaned back. "I suspected as much." Both boys stared at him. "The snidget has chosen to be your familiar. As the spell shows, you have already begun a bond."

Harry blinked. "But I'm only allowed one pet. What am I going to do?"

The counselor laughed. "Hogwarts has provisions for special circumstances. This qualifies. For now, let matter rest. I will contact a Ministry representative once we arrive at the school and go from there." He waved a hand airily. "Make yourself comfortable. It will be a long ride." Harry nodded and settled back in his seat with his sketchpad.

Draco hopped up next to him. "What are you going to name it?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know if I can keep it. Didn't he say ownership was strictly prohibited?"

Draco grinned. "Well, usually yeah. But Father once told me that the Ministry doesn't interfere with things like familiar bonds."

"Correct." Ambervale was smirking again. "Which puts snidget in legal gray area. Ownership is prohibited, but so is bond interference." His smirk broadened. "My guess, bond will win over ownership prohibition."

"Why?" Harry stroked the snidget's back. The little bird let out a soft trill.

Ambervale's smirk dropped faster than thought. "When a witch or wizard bonds with a familiar, they tie them into their magic. Damaging the bond can harm the witch or wizard's magic and/or the owner's health. The effects can be life long. It's not something that should be tampered with."

Harry shivered as he felt a chill run through him. Beside him, Draco asked, "But that hardly ever happens right? I mean, no one's dumb enough to mess with a bond, are they?"

Ambervale scowled. "One would think, but sadly no. There was a case about two hundred years back. One wizard wanted another's familiar for himself, so he severed the bond. The resulting magical backlash killed the familiar and seriously injured its wizard and the caster of the spell. After that, tampering with a bond by anyone but a trained professional became punishable by death."

Harry shivered again. Spoken in Ambervale's peculiar accent, it sounded even more ominous. That's definitely not something I needed to hear.

As if reading his thoughts, Ambervale shook his head. "If it comes to that, it won't be a problem. At this stage, the bond is still tenuous enough that breaking it won't make a difference. It's really better not to worry about it until the time comes." He leaned back into his seat as the train finally shuddered into motion. He reached into his sleeves and muttered something, eventually pulling out a book. Handing it to Harry, he said, "This will be of some use to you, I think."

The book itself was very thick. It had an odd shield emblem, on which were four animals: a lion, a snake, a raven, and a badger. Underneath the shield were the words, "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus." Above the shield was the book's title, "Hogwarts: A History."

Harry looked up when the counselor spoke again. "Not perfect unfortunately, but it's one of the few sources that documents back to the school's beginning. No book exists that tells everything about Hogwarts." He watched as Harry squinted at the words beneath the shield. "That is the school's motto. When translated, it reads ‘Never tickle a sleeping dragon." He burst out laughing at the expression on Harry and Draco's faces. "I believe one of the founders said it from experience."

Draco snorted. "They didn't really?"

Ambervale's smile turned a little wry. "He certainly did. From what I understand, it was in reference to a cousin's actions rather than his own, however. How it managed to become the school's motto...well, world may never know." He made a dismissive gesture and stood. "Read it, and don't let cover fool you." He opened the door and peered out. "Seems alright, but looks can deceive." Stepping through the door, he said. "I'm going to check to make sure everyone settled alright. Will bring lunch when I return." He stepped out, shutting the door with a snap.

After a few minutes, Draco said, "I still think he's a little odd."

Harry let out a huff of silent laughter. "Okay so maybe he is a little strange. But I still think he's pretty cool." He blinked as he remembered something Pamela had said to him once. "A friend of mine told me once that all the best people are a little strange. I think she was right."  He frowned and resolved to ask Professor Ambervale about her the instant he came back.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Draco pull a pack of cards from his trunk, and start shuffling them.

Draco looked up after a minute. "Um...do you want to play?" He flipped down an armrest. "I can make it two players, if you want."

Harry frowned minutely and shook his head. "You'll probably cream me."

Draco frowned back. "Not if I teach you!" He reddened. "Well, not after a few games anyway."

Harry let out another silent laugh and set the book aside. "Oh, all right then. I suppose you've convinced me."  Draco grinned.

They were halfway through their second game of exploding snap when they were interrupted. By this point, both of them had had at least one explosion. The fringe of Harry's bangs was still smoking slightly. They both looked up to find a girl with a face that reminded Harry of a pug. She was flanked by two muscular looking boys. Upon seeing them, Draco calmly licked his fingers and pinched the still burning cinder in Harry's hair, dousing it.

The girl wrinkled her nose, probably trying to look haughty. All it really did was enhance her resemblance to a pug. "Draco! Darling! We've been looking everywhere for you!" She seemed not to have noticed Harry. "Why in Merlin's name didn't you come and sit with us?"

Draco coughed with his face slightly reddening. "I...um." He didn't sound as though he was going to come up with an answer any time soon.

The girl evidently thought so too. "You what?" She put her hands on her hips and looked at him accusingly. Then she looked around and spotted Harry. "And just who is this?" She sounded utterly scornful.

Draco straightened up. "Harry, this is Pansy Parkinson." He pointed to the girl. Then he pointed to the boys on either side of her. "That's Crabbe, and that's Goyle." Both boys nodded at him. Pansy just gave a disdainful sniff. "Everyone, this is Harry-"

Pansy cut him off before he could finish. "You needn't bother, Draco dear. I can see his standing already." She sniffed. "But it was decent of you to point out his betters to him. At least he won't have to find out himself." She flinched when Hedwig hissed at her from the luggage rack. The snowy owl had obviously taken offense on behalf of her owner. After a moment, the girl regained her composure. "Forget the Mudblood, Draco, and come sit with us."

The red in Draco's face became much more pronounced, scaling towards a nasty brick color. "He's not a mudblood!" he snapped.

Pansy blinked, looking rather startled. Then she scrutinized Harry a little more closely. "Half blood then, but still not worth our time."

Draco let out a low growl. "If you must know, Pansy, this is Professor Ambervale's compartment, and Mother wanted me to ride with him." He made a gesture at Harry behind his back that Harry understood to mean he was lying through his teeth.

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Fine then, we'll just sit here."

"I'm afraid that is not possible." Everyone jumped as Ambervale made his presence known. Harry wondered how long he'd been there. "Have important personal matters to discuss with them, so off you go." He breezed in carrying three trays of food. He set them down before rounding on the trio and making a shooing gesture with his hands.

Evidently recognizing that it wouldn't be wise to disobey, they left, looking somewhat sullen. Harry looked at Draco. "Are all your friends like that?"

Draco shook his head. "Pansy's not usually that bad. And Crabbe and Goyle are better conversation pieces than conversationalists." He frowned. "It's just that they're all...well-"

Fortunately, Professor Ambervale apparently decided to rescue him. "Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and indeed Mister Malfoy himself are what our world calls Purebloods." He said the word with a strange sneering emphasis that seemed rather out of character for him, which told Harry only too clearly what he thought of the idea. "This means that they have no muggle or mortal ancestors anywhere within their family tree." He waved a hand airily. "At least none that they can find." He frowned. "Most of the pureblood families are rich in land, money, or both. This and the fact that they are purely magical makes the majority of them proud and prone to look down on those of mixed blood or muggle birth." He paused. "Though some families are better than others."

Harry frowned and looked at Draco again. "So I'm supposed to be beneath you or something?"

Twin patches of scarlet appeared on Draco cheeks. "You're not!" He coughed. "I mean, half bloods and mud-muggleborns are supposed to be, but-"

Ambervale took up where he left off. "In pureblood society, there is much emphasis placed on blood and social status. As a half-blood, that is someone with only one magical parent, you would therefore be lower in status than them, but above one who was a muggleborn, which is someone born to two non-magical parents." He grinned slightly. "You, however, fall in different category. Both because of your actual bloodline and because of your role in the events surrounding the end of the last wizarding war." He started chuckling when he caught sight of the utterly confused look on Harry's face. "My advice is not to worry about it. Worry instead about which house you want to go in."

Draco grinned. "I'm hoping for Slytherin."

Ambervale's lips quirked. "Slytherin is the house of the cunning and ambitious. It's not as bad as many make it out to be, but it gets bad reputation." He scowled. "Unfortunately, is true that a remarkable number of dark wizards have come from there, Voldemort himself included." He huffed. "House also attracts extraordinary number of purebloods."

Harry frowned. Slytherin was starting to sound less and less like a place he'd want to be.

Ambervale shook his head. "Regardless, all houses have something to recommend, so can't say one is better than another." He gave Harry and Draco a once over. "Well? It's not poisoned. Eat your lunch." Both boys grinned and tucked in.

It was sometime later that Harry found himself being shaken awake. Draco was looking at him worriedly. "Are you all right?" Harry flinched away from Draco's hand before he could stop himself. The dream had felt far too real.

This time he had actually gotten a good look at the red-eyed creatures. He shuddered again. "Skeletons." He could still see their eerie faces leering out at him, bony smiles firmly in place.

Ambervale frowned at the seemingly nonsensical answer. Then his expression cleared. "Ah, a nightmare."

Harry shook his head. "Didn't feel like one, at least not there at the end"

Ambervale smiled as he produced a handkerchief from one sleeve and wiped Harry's forehead with it. "Oh? What makes you say that?"

Harry frowned. "There was a lady. She was smiling at me. She got rid of the skeletons too. I think...she saved me."  Thinking very hard, he managed to recall a little bit of her. She had been tall; a good six foot something, had blue eyes framed by a heart shaped face, and along with the glove, or gloves rather, had twin blue spheres hanging from her ears. He vaguely remembered something gold. Hair perhaps? Unfortunately, there his memory of her appearance failed him.  He huffed a little, frustrated that he couldn't remember more of her.  Her victory over the skeletons, however, he remembered very clearly. She had clasped her hands together before making some sort of flinging motion. This had resulted in a cloud of sparkles of light that had enveloped the creatures. They had instantly fallen apart amongst gouts of thick gray smoke, letting out unearthly howls and terrifying screams.

Then she turned to him and smiled. After a moment, she spoke. That too he remembered clearly. "That was quite a close call, dearie." She reached down and held out a hand to him. "I can imagine how frightening this must be, and it's okay to be afraid sometimes. But I promise you that you're safe with me and everything will be ok. Just have courage." Her smile had widened. "No matter how nasty they are, even the worst of creatures respect true courage. So have a little of that, and remember that you aren't alone here. I promise I'll get you back safely." Looking back at it, Harry realized she meant every word. It was...strange to hear someone making a promise like that to him of all people.

Ambervale was eyeing him rather strangely. "Often times a dream or nightmare tries to make us realize something we need to know."

Harry frowned. "She told me that no matter how nasty they are, even the worst of creatures respect true courage."

This time the counselor grinned. "Very true. The most powerful man in the world would be next to inconsequential if he lacked the courage to use it." He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Amazing what one can do when they have courage to try it." He frowned. "Just remember, courage is not a patch for common sense, so have a care."

Harry nodded, looking and feeling slightly perplexed. He cast about for a moment before asking, "How much longer will it be?"

To his consternation, the counselor burst out laughing. "You mean you haven't noticed?" He gestured at the window. "The train's already arrived at station. That's why we woke you up. Been asleep for hours, but just as well because you looked like you needed it."

Harry hauled himself up and peered out the window. They had indeed arrived at a station. Steam billowed around the compartments, and the station lights gave it a strange unreal look. Then there was a mighty hiss, followed by a loud, piercing whistle.

Ambervale clapped his hands together. "And there's the signal. Time to get off." He suddenly had his wand in his hand and gave it a flick. There was a sudden maelstrom of activity as both boys' belongings repacked themselves into the trunks, and the remains of their lunch vanished away. Harry heard Hedwig give an indignant and rather undignified squawk of surprise as she found herself returned to the cage. The snidget, however, landed on Harry's head, looking defiant.

Ambervale let out a snort. "Fine, be that way." He glanced at Harry. "Keep him in a pocket until you're alone. Let's not cause any more problems than we need to." Harry nodded and reached a hand out tentatively towards the bird. To his surprise, the little avian hopped instantly into his outstretched hand. It didn't make so much as a sound as Harry put it into an inside pocket of his robe. After shuffling around for a moment, it went still, apparently going to sleep. Ambervale smiled slightly at the look of surprise on Harry's face. "I have always believed that most animals are more intelligent than they let on."  Harry grinned.

The three of them were among the first to disembark. A rather enormous shadow was at one end of the train station, partially obscured by the steam from the engine. Ambervale steered them towards it. As they drew near, a faint rattling sound came from it. A lantern was suddenly blazing, throwing light in all directions and causing the shadow to reveal itself as Hagrid.

The groundskeeper must not have noticed them. He checked the lantern before straightening up and giving a booming shout of, "First years over here!" Then he looked down. "Harry!" His voice was mercifully quieter.

Ambervale chuckled. "I shall leave them in your hands, Rubeus."

Hagrid nodded. As the professor made to leave though, he snapped his fingers. "Oh! Professor!" Ambervale turned back around.

"Yes, Rubeus?"

Hagrid looked a little sheepish. "Sorry. I just remembered. Can you go and see Madame Pince? Apparently the Restricted section is having problems."

Ambervale frowned. "Problems? How? Usually the Dark Maiden keeps it well in hand." He glanced over at Harry and Draco. "Dark Maiden is ghost that usually haunts restricted section of the library. It's not her real name, but very few know what that is."

Hagrid nodded. "Aye, and a right secretive ghost she is too." To Ambervale, he said, "I said the same thing, but Pince tol' me she's not seen her for close on a week. Matter o' fact, last any of the other ghosts saw her was at their annual meeting night before last. Madame Pince's ready to go spare. A bunch o' the more dangerous books got into a brawl last night.

Ambervale's eyes widened. "How long did that last?"

Hagrid shrugged. "Dunno. Neither does Pince." He broke off for a moment to let out another shout of, "First years over here! First years this way!" Then he turned back to Ambervale. "Pince said she broke it up when she came in this morning. Apparently, it spilled out into the rest o' the books. The place was in a right state last time I saw with papers and binding everywhere."

Ambervale shook his head. "Whichever one started it was obviously waiting to be sure Dark Maiden wasn't around."

Hagrid nodded. "Pince was hoping you could help her get things fixed, or at the very least track down the Dark Maiden."

"I shall do both. I just have to send a message to the Ministry first. Was there anything else?" Hagrid shook his head. "Very well then, I shall see you all at the feast. Until then, gentlemen." With that, he turned on his heel and disappeared with a loud crack.

By now, Hagrid had quite a crowd of first year students gathered around him. Although if it was from the shouts or Hagrid's enormous frame, no one was certain. Regardless, it only took a few more renditions before Hagrid determined everyone was there. "All right then, you lot, follow me!" He led them off the platform and down a path that seemed to go on forever. Finally, though, they reached the edge of what appeared to be a gigantic lake. There was a small fleet of boats tethered to the ground near them. Hagrid led them there. "Everybody, in now. No more'n three to a boat."

Pansy Parkinson chose this moment to appear and latch onto Draco. "Come on, Draco! Everyone's been wanting to talk to you!" With this, she tightened her hold and more or less dragged the pouting boy over to a knot of students.

Hagrid chuckled. "I don't think he much wanted ter do that." He turned to Harry. "Harry, you're with me." Then he reached down and scooped something out of a boat. "Oi! Somebody lost a toad?"

"Trevor!" A trembling round faced boy shot forward out of the throng of students and scooped up the toad.

Hagrid put his hands on his hips. "You'll be wanting to keep a good eye on your pets at Hogwarts," he said this to the crowd in general, but it was mostly directed towards the boy. "They can wander as they please, but if they get in trouble, they're your responsibility." The boy nodded. Hagrid grinned. "All right then. Everybody, inter the boats now! Wouldn't do ter keep the whole castle waiting."

He watched as the students climbed into the fleet of boats. Harry was unsurprised to see that Draco ended up with Pansy Parkinson. The third occupant was either Crabbe or Goyle. Harry didn't remember which one was which. The two boys were for the most part utterly unremarkable. They're like Tweedledee and Tweedledum.  Harry flinched when Hagrid lifted him up into the boat before climbing in himself.

As before, Hagrid either didn't notice Harry's reaction, or he politely ignored it. Instead, he pointed a finger in the general direction of the lake ahead of them. "Let's be off!" Instantly, the entire flotilla of boats started moving. It was nowhere near the manic pace that had been taken by the boat that driven them from the hut on the rock. This was much more sedate, almost leisurely in fact.

Harry blinked. "It's almost like they do this every year."

It wasn't until Hagrid answered him that Harry realized the quill had written it as a statement. "Aye, that they do. It's tradition to bring the first years to Hogwarts by boat, been doing that ever since the school first opened. It's our way of reminding ourselves of our roots." He grinned. "Professor Ambervale found a way to help you speak after all eh?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. It'll take me while to get used to it, but it works great!"

Hagrid nodded. "Knew he would, of course. When Professor Ambervale sets his mind to it, there ain't much he can't do. And he's been acting as counselor for as long as anyone can remember. A good man he is." He suddenly raised his voice. "Eyes up front now! You'll be getting your first view of the castle in a few minutes!" To Harry, he said, "Wait'll you see it. It's always a beautiful sight at night."

They rounded a bend, and Harry found himself in complete agreement with Hagrid. There a short distance away, an enormous castle rose from out of the darkness, every window blazing with warm light. The entire structure shone like a beacon, casting a pale orange glow across the rippling water, and giving the castle itself a faint glowing nimbus of light.

Hagrid grinned. "I've always said that there's no place better'n Hogwarts."

Harry nodded. "It looks wonderful." 

Hagrid's grin widened. "Knew you'd say that. Said the same thing myself the first I saw it." A few minutes later, they arrived at a small dock. This time Harry made certain to get out of the boat before he was picked up again. Hagrid led the knot of children up to a large door and gave several booming knocks. It opened almost immediately to reveal a rather stern looking woman. Hagrid coughed. "The first years, Professor McGonagall."

Harry's first thought was that this was a person whom it wouldn't be wise to cross. She didn't do anything to dispel the impression either. "Thank you, Hagrid. I'll take them from here." Hagrid nodded and trudged away through a side entrance. As soon as the door had shut behind him, Professor McGonagall turned to face them. Without preamble, she said, "While you are here at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule breaking, and you will lose them. I expect all of you to be on your best behavior." She strode towards a door and opened it. "This way please."

She led them into an enormous hall and between several tables lined with students. When they reached a clear area in front of what appeared to be the head table, the professor stopped them and accepted a battered three legged stool and a tattered looking wizard's hat from Hagrid and set them down in front of them. The hat looked particularly forlorn. Harry knew that Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it within ten feet of her front yard.

Then to Harry's surprise, the hat quite suddenly straightened up, opened a rip near the brim, and burst into song.

  "Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can top them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you've a steady mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

Harry applauded with the rest of the hall, thinking that the hat sounded somewhat airy, which he supposed made sense considering its condition.

Professor McGonagall soon regained order. She unrolled a rather large scroll and called out crisply, "When I call your name, you will put the hat on your head and be sorted into your house after which you will join your housemates at your table." She cleared her throat before calling, "Abbott, Hannah!"

A trembling girl hesitantly came up and sat down on the stool. McGonagall gently placed the hat on her head and stepped back. The front of the hat immediately contorted into a rough approximation of a smile. Then it started mumbling. Finally, it shouted, "Hufflepuff!" A table underneath a banner with a badger on it started cheering.

Harry glanced around the hall as the sorting continued. The other three tables, bearing banners of a lion, snake, and raven, were watching the hat intently. When a sudden shout of "Slytherin!" rent the air, the table underneath the snake banner started applauding.

Harry frowned. They certainly look full of themselves.  The majority of the occupants of the table were either sneering at the unsorted first years, or scowling and looking bored.

"Granger, Hermione!" Harry looked back up front as a girl with bushy brown hair came up and sat down on the stool. She looked a mix of determined and terrified.

The hat took longer to decide with her than the others. Finally, though it shouted, "Gryffindor!" The table with the lion banner started cheering. This table actually looked a sight more welcoming than the Slytherin table, and not just because they all looked interested in the sorting.

The last table he assumed to be Ravenclaw. This was confirmed a moment later when a student was sorted into the house. They too looked more welcoming, if a bit more formal about it.

After a particularly long sorting for "Longbottom, Neville," who accidentally left with the hat and had to run back amid copious amounts of laughter, came "Malfoy, Draco!" The boy sauntered up to the stool, looking only slightly nervous.

As it turned out, he needn't have been. The hat's decision was almost immediate. "Slytherin!" Harry suddenly noticed Professor Snape was actually clapping along with everyone else, something he hadn't done for any other student so far.

"Parkinson, Pansy!" The hat took even less time with her than it had for Draco.

"Slytherin!" She sashayed over to the clapping table and sat down, latching onto Draco's arm and giving a rather haughty looking smile.

Finally, after "Patil, Padma!" and "Patil, Parvati!", who went to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor respectively, came "Potter, Harry!"

As he walked up to the stool, he heard loud whispers flying around the hall. "Potter, did she say?" "The Harry Potter?!" Then the hat went over his head, and all the sounds were cut off as the brim covered his eyes.

~Measurements~

Professor Snape sneered slightly as the Headmaster leaned forward in his seat. "Headmaster, you're like a little child."

Albus turned away from the brat on the stool just long enough to give him a reproachful look. "Now, Severus, the sorting is quite a special event."

Severus snorted. "Really? I haven't seen you show this much interest in any of the other students." He let his lips turn up slightly as the Headmaster coughed and sat back in his seat.

~Measurements~

Harry flinched slightly when a voice suddenly started talking in his ear. "Hmm...difficult, very difficult. Now let's see... There's courage, plenty of courage, and a thirst, a thirst to prove yourself. But where to put you? You'd do well in Slytherin."

Harry gripped the stool. Unbidden, the voice of the woman from his dream rang through his mind. "Even the worst creatures respect true courage."

He steeled himself and gripped the stool harder. Not Slytherin, he thought.

The hat evidently heard him. "Not Slytherin, eh?" Harry got the impression that it had been caught somewhat off guard. "What's the matter? Got something against Slytherin?"

Harry grimaced slightly. I should ask you that.  His frown deepened. ‘Or perhaps in Slytherin, you'll make your real friends, those cunning folk use any means to achieve their ends,' he quoted. You don't exactly paint them so well yourself.

~Measurements~

Severus felt his brow dip in puzzlement as the sorting hat suddenly went ramrod straight, looking more like a muggle imitation of a witches hat than its usual tattered self. Then it burst out into a loud bellowing laugh that was quite unlike its usual voice. The Potter whelp flinched so hard he almost fell off the stool.

Poppy snorted from her seat next to him. "It's finally gone mad. I always knew it would go round the twist."

Mahalestro, who was sitting next to her, quirked an eyebrow. "Why is that?"

Poppy's answering snort was even less elegant than the previous one. "It uses some strange form of legilimency to read students and sort them. And I'm given to understand that it remembers all of them too. It had to cause problems sooner or later."

Mahalestro tapped his chin. "Fair point, I suppose." Poppy smirked. "Except for the fact that it only remembers those it wants to remember." Her smirk dropped like a rock to be replaced with surprise. "It usually employs some sort of memory spell that lets it forget others unless it needs to recall them for something." Then he turned back to the hat, leaving a thoughtful looking matron.

~Measurements~

The hat meanwhile had finally calmed down, or at least enough to talk to Harry again. "Well, now. In all my years, no one's ever dared quote my own song against me! That takes courage!" It sounded highly amused and a touch impressed. "But honestly, do you have something against Slytherin?"

Harry sighed gustily, making the brim ripple slightly. "Let's just say I've seen enough. Draco might not be so bad, but..."

"But it would take more than that for it to be bearable for you." The hat finished. It let out a mental sigh. "Very well. That being the case, and after a show of daring like that, I suppose it better be...Gryffindor!" Harry realized the last word had been shouted out to the hall at large.

~Measurements~

Severus scowled at the cacophony of noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table. The Weasley twins were jumping up and down shouting, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" He made a mental note to deduct points the first class he had them in.

Then he frowned as he saw the sorting hat. "Is it...disappointed?"  It looked strangely limp and wilted in Minerva's hand.

Ambervale evidently agreed with him. "Hat looks remarkably unhappy," he commented. "Looks like it was denied great treat."

Severus snorted. "What could it possibly have to be dejected about?" he snapped. "It's put the boy where he belongs." Ambervale merely quirked an eyebrow and turned back to the sorting. Severus shook his head and leaned back in his seat. He didn't notice that the hat wasn't the only one that looked rather disappointed. One of his own first years felt the same. However, the young boy kept his expression schooled.

~Measurements~

Harry quickly found himself wedged into a gaggle of redheads with the bushy haired Granger girl sitting across from him. The redheads were particularly boisterous, shooting questions at him faster than he could follow. It made it even more difficult because of the fact they were speaking in loud whispers. This was because Professor McGonagall had sent the table a look that could have curdled water at the racket they were making.

The rest of the sorting went by without much fuss with the exception of another redhead, "Weasley, Ronald!" being sorted to the Gryffindor table. It seemed the whole family was in the house.

The Headmaster's speech was also similarly uneventful. Other than saying that the third floor corridor on the right hand side was out of bounds to anyone who didn't wish to "Die a most painful death," and his few words, "Nitwit, oddment, blubber, tweak," there wasn't much to take note of. Until the Headmaster sat down, that was. As soon as he was seated, the golden plates and platters suddenly became loaded down with every sort of food imaginable. The newest Weasley attacked them as if he hadn't eaten in days.

~Measurements~

Severus sneered at the Gryffindor table before he leaned over to the Headmaster. "I was under the impression the students were going to be informed of Mahalestro's project."

Dumbledore smiled and waved a hand airily. "Yes, of course, Severus, but not today. I didn't think it particularly wise to drop an announcement like that before our new students had even had a night to settle in."

Severus nodded and sat back, noting the somewhat disturbed look on the Potter brat's face. Given the obscene table display occurring next to him, though, the potions master supposed it was understandable. The new Weasley child is going to be a nightmare. Then he pushed the Gryffindors out of his mind and tucked into his own meal.

~Measurements~

All too soon, the feast was over. It was the most Harry had ever eaten. The Dursleys were never keen on feeding him much. That is if they did at all. As the students started to file out of the hall, one of the red heads stood up. "First year Gryffindors, over here please." He sounded rather pompous. When the small knot of students had gathered around him, he said, "I will show you how to find the Gryffindor common room. Make sure you pay close attention, particularly when you're on the stairs. They like to move about." With this rather cryptic statement, he turned and led them through a large set of doors at the end of the hall.

About halfway up one of the staircases, Harry understood what he meant. A low rumbling came from farther up, and he watched as a stairway suddenly started moving, coming to a halt when it connected with the staircase they were on. The tall redhead, whom Harry later found out was named Percy, said, "They're behaving today because you're all new. Next week they start following their own patterns, so learn the way now while you have the chance."

As they rounded a corridor a few minutes later, they came across what appeared to be a large pile of walking sticks floating in midair. Percy made motion to the first years to stop and strode forward. "Peeves! Show yourself!"

The pile of walking sticks blew what was unmistakably a raspberry. Then one of the sticks detached from the pile and arced lazily towards the group.

Percy caught it and scowled. "I mean it Peeves! Show yourself and be gone! Or else I'll send for the Bloody Baron and the Dark Maiden!"

That had an immediate effect. The air around the walking sticks shimmered for a moment and resolved into a scowling little man in a suit. "You're nothing but a spoilsport." His voice was high and rather nasal. He turned his attention to the first years. "Watch out, ickle firsties! Peevesies watching you!" Then he threw the walking sticks in the air and zoomed away, cackling madly.

In the ringing silence that followed, Percy started to gather up walking sticks and said, "That was Peeves. He's a poltergeist. Best just to keep out of his way if you can. The only ones that can really control him are the Bloody Baron and the Dark Maiden. He doesn't usually mess around if there's a professor nearby, though." He finished picking up the walking sticks and handed them to a nearby suit of armor, which accepted them and gave him a salute before going still again.

One of the first years towards the back piped up. "Who are the Bloody Baron and the Dark Maiden?"

As they set off again, Percy said, "The Bloody Baron is the official house ghost of Slytherin. I'm not sure exactly why Peeves obeys him, well, other than the fact that the baron is stronger than the average ghost."

"And the Dark Maiden?"

"She's another ghost, and she primarily haunts the restricted section of the library. She's perhaps the most anti-social inhabitant in the castle. I only ever see her at certain important meetings. She comes and goes where she wants, but she's the first ghost the castle ever had, and she's very powerful. She doesn't even look much like a ghost. Peeves is terrified of her and won't even go near the library." He frowned. "Regardless, if you need either of them, they will respond in their own way. Though, the baron is far more likely to appear in person."

They rounded another corner and came upon an enormous portrait of a rather large woman. Several students jumped when she smiled and turned to face them fully. "New Gryffindors?" When Percy nodded, her smile widened and she clapped her hands together. "Splendid!" She spread her arms and gestured behind her, which somehow gave her painting a very odd perspective "I guard the Gryffindor common room, dears. As with all portrait-guarded rooms, there are emergency methods of entry, but they only show up in extreme situations. Most of the time, you'll need to have a student inside let you in or give me the password." She looked at Percy. "Speaking of which..." She trailed of inquiringly.

Percy nodded. "Caput Draconis."

She nodded. "Quite right." The painting inside the frame swung inwards. "Come in."

Percy nodded, but held them back for a moment. "As she said, the Fat Lady will not let you in without the password, so make sure you don't forget it. You'll get your class timetables in the morning. For now, I suggest you take the time to get settled in and get some sleep. Boys, your dormitories are the staircase on the right. Girls, the same on your left. You'll find your things have already been brought up. Look for your name on the door to find your dormitory."  With that, he led them inside.

Harry, who was at the back of the group, thought he heard a huff from the portrait at the start of Percy's explanation. As soon as he was inside, it shut with a rather forcible snap. I don't think she liked that much.  His attention was drawn back up front when Percy suddenly drew in a sharp breath.

"Mister Weasley, are you always that long winded? You really need to learn to make things succinct. I've been waiting quite some time now." Harry's head snapped towards the front of the group almost of its own accord. That voice was one he knew and remembered very well.

Percy flushed slightly and turned to face the group. "Everyone, this is the Dark Maiden." He turned back. "We actually would have been here sooner, but we encountered Peeves along the way, Madame." He paused. "Was there something you needed from me?"

The Dark Maiden snorted. "Peeves, I might have known. He always goes for the Gryffindors." Then she let out a quiet laugh. "Need something from you? Well, yes, in a manner of speaking." She let out another quiet laugh. "I came to see a student you're escorting." Harry abruptly realized that the common room was full of students of all ages, all of whom were whispering with each other. From what he could gather, this was the first time the Dark Maiden had ever entered the common room.

The Dark Maiden ignored them entirely. A strange breeze blew through the group, making several people stumble. "Budge up, and spread out everyone." They finally did, revealing the speaker and making it so that Harry's useless straining was no longer needed.

He was not disappointed either. There, floating in midair in front of them was Pamela. She was almost exactly as Harry remembered her. She was wearing a gown reminiscent of a princess, jet black with silver trimmings. Embroidered around her right sleeve was a silver snake with the head resting just in front of her hand. Her hair cascaded freely down her back, clouding away like smoke as it reached her feet. The almost white blond hair still shone with the faint green tint that he remembered from before, and to a lesser extent, so did her pale skin.

She squinted around at them for a moment before she spotted what she was looking for. When she found the student she was looking for, her bluish-purple eyes instantly widened in satisfaction. "Kiddo!" She flew over to Harry, and before he knew what was happening, she had swept him up in a hug. "You're finally here! I don't mind telling you it's been quite dull without you around." She backed up a pace or two. "And don't you look smart! Muggle clothing never did suit you." Then she laughed and hugged him again.

Harry hugged her back. The entirety of Gryffindor house was staring at him, but he didn't care. He had his first real friend back.

Pamela remained with him for a time. Though she shooed the other Gryffindors away first. "Alright now, enough gawking with your mouths open." She put her hands on her hips, giving them a look that reminded Harry forcibly of Professor Mcgonagall. "You'll be doing plenty of that come class time tomorrow, I'm sure." She narrowed her eyes. There was a burst of wind that seemed to come from nowhere, making most of the students shiver, and causing the fire to flicker wildly. "Off with you now!"

Unsurprisingly, the common room emptied fairly quickly. Pamela evidently wasn't particularly bothered when it came to scaring students away. She turned back to him, all smiles again. "Now that's taken care of, let's-" She broke off suddenly and pointed a finger at one of the stairwells. "Shoo!" A spark of something zipped out of her fingertip and landed in the stairwell, where it seemed to burst into dazzling light.  The sound of hurried footsteps emanated from the stairwell briefly, then vanished. Pamela just huffed. "Nosy little tetches, they are."

Harry blinked. "They seem alright to me." 

Pamela rolled her eyes. "You've only just met them kiddo. Hang around the house for a while and then tell me that." She shook her head. "Never mind that. I'm sure you'll learn plenty about Gryffindor without my help." Then she turned again. "Leave now or I brick it up! And I guarantee you won't be getting out of it in a hurry!" Someone shot back up the staircase, causing Pamela to sigh. "See what I mean?"

Harry couldn't help laughing. Soundless though it was, it still brought an answering grin to her face. "So the first thing I learn about my house is that they're nosey?"

Pamela's smile widened. "All right, I'll grant you it isn't exactly a great trait, but forewarned is forearmed no?" Her smile faltered a little. "I'm glad to see Mahalestro found something for you."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, it works great!" Then he frowned. "I don't know how much use it'll be with casting spells though. All my books have words you have to say."

Pamela's next statement was a bit more encouraging. "Not all spells are spoken. And none of them actually have to be." She frowned slightly. "Mind, it's a difficult thing for even the best of wizards to pull off usually, but if you could do it..." She trailed off meaningfully.

Harry nodded. "If I could, it'd be great!" He frowned. "But wouldn't it be really hard for me to learn?"

Pamela pursed her lips. "I suppose so. But anything worth knowing takes effort. Very little means anything when it's easy to do." She frowned and looked more closely at him. "What's that in your robe?"

"Oh!" Harry carefully reached into his robes, gently picking up the snidget. It let out a sleepy sounding chirp as it came out into the open air.

Pamela blinked and drifted in closer. "Well would you look at that! Where did he come from?"

Harry shrugged. "Dunno. It was in my owl's cage when I woke up this morning. Professor Ambervale doesn't have any idea either."

Pamela frowned. "What are you going to name it?"

Harry shrugged again. "I don't know if I should. Professor Ambervale says there's a familiar bond already, but he needs to check it out with the ministry first. I might not be able to keep it." He grinned as the snidget chirped again and flew up to perch on his shoulder. "I really hope I can though."

Pamela's lips twitched. "Well...with Mahalestro on the case, I think there's a fairly good chance." The snidget chirped at her. Pamela grinned. "He's certainly a cute little guy." She reached out with a finger and gently rubbed at the top of the bird's head. The snidget closed its eyes and let out a little trill. Pamela giggled.

Harry tried to stifle a yawn, but it didn't fool Pamela in the slightest. "Time for you to get to bed, I think. Let's face it, you've had quite a day." She gestured at the staircase. "Go on up. Your dormitory has your name on it." Then she grinned. "Don't worry. I'll come by tomorrow and help you find your way to breakfast. Wouldn't want you to get hopelessly lost on your first day here would we?"

Harry grinned and held up a hand to the snidget. It promptly hopped on and allowed him to return it to his pocket. "Thanks, Pamela. You know for the clothes and...well, everything."

For her part, Pamela just grinned. "There's nothing you need to thank me for kiddo. You're worth it." And with that, she melted like smoke and vanished through a wall.

Harry swallowed hard and stood there for a moment. Finally though, he turned and went up the stairs. Finding the door with his name on it, he pushed the door open and entered. All conversation ceased the instant he entered. Harry wondered idly if he was going to get stared at by everyone he met.

Finally, a red head in one corner said, "So...you're him then?" He swallowed a little. "Harry Potter."

Harry couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Yes, he's me."  He spotted Hedwig sitting on the headboard of the only unoccupied bed and went over to it. "Hey girl." The owl fluttered down to land on his shoulder and nibbled at his ear affectionately. He stroked her head. "We've had some day, haven't we?" The owl gave a low hoot in reply.

The other boys watched them for a moment. Eventually the redhead broke the silence. "So what's with the fancy quill? Too good to just talk to us?"

Harry glared at him. "Hardly. It's more a matter of can, than will." The letters that sprung from the quill were an odd cold blue color. They hung there for a few seconds then cracked apart with a sound that made the other boys flinch. "Good Night." With that he slid back on the bed and snapped the curtains shut. The quill barely managed to make it inside in time.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, then one of the boys said sullenly, "Way to go Weasley."

The redhead shrugged. "If he's too stuck up to talk, it's not my fault." He said loftily.

Harry clasped his hands together angrily. I will not hit him on my first night here. I will not hit him on my first night here. I will not-

Weasley however, wasn't finished. "Mind, an attitude like that isn't going to go well around Gryffindor. No one really likes a snob anyway."

Clasping his hands tighter, Harry saw red. In that one instant, he felt a wave of something zip through him. There was sound rather like breaking glass, though there was a hollow ring to it. He heard a thudding sound and a loud, "OW!" from Weasley. From the sound of it, his bed hangings had fallen on him, along with several drawers from a nearby armoire.

Harry heard some very colorful words coming from the bed next to him. They were followed by a loud, "Let me go!" and the sounds of a struggle.

"No! It's your own fault anyway!" Whoever it was was almost panting with effort. There was a loud grunt and a thud. Weasley had apparently been forced back onto his bed. "You're the one what insulted him."

Weasley growled. "Gryffindor doesn't need a snob lording his family's money over us! One in the school's bad enough!" Then he lunged past them into Harry's bed.

His head had just made it past the curtains when Hedwig, puffed up to twice her size in outrage, dived at him from the headboard with a screech of fury. Weasley flailed back as she gave him a sharp peck on the forehead and raked her talons across his face, leaving several deep cuts. 

Between Weasley's screams, Hedwig's screeches, and the other boys shouts as they tried to get her off him, Harry was surprised the entire castle didn't wake up.

He was less surprised that the racket brought someone at a run. The door to the dormitory burst open as a voice thundered, "What in the name of Merlin is going on up here?!" It was the female Gryffindor prefect, looking very irritated. She took in the situation at a glance. Then she pointed her wand at Weasley and muttered something, sending out a rush of strange reddish sparks. Hedwig left off her attack at once, flying back to perch on the top of Harry's bed.

She lowered the wand, and glanced around at the boys. Then she narrowed her eyes at the owl. "What happened?" Weasley started yelling about how it had attacked him, but she cut him off with a gesture. "Not you. Someone less biased." She pointed at one of the boys. "Name?"

He gulped. "Seamus Finnigan." She gave him an expectant look. He swallowed and said. "I think it was just protecting Potter, really." He gestured at the curtains.

The prefect quirked an eyebrow. "Explain."

Seamus gulped. "Weasley insulted him, and Potter, well...I think he just got angry is all. I didn't hear him say any spell, but..." he gestured to the mess on Weasley's bed. "Weasley got mad and tried to go after him, and Potter's owl attacked."

The prefect surveyed the damage for a moment, then gave her wand a flick. "Reparo." The hangings mended themselves in a trice. Another flick of her wand and a muttered spell had the drawers returning to the armoire. Then she pointed it at Weasley and jabbed at the door. "Let's go. Hospital Wing."

Weasley opened his mouth angrily and pointed at Harry's bed. The prefect cut him off before he could speak. "We'll discuss it in the morning, when there's professors about. For now, you need to see the mediwitch, before those cuts have a chance to scar." Weasley paled and finally allowed her to lead him out. She came back a few minutes later, alone. "Now then, Professor Mcgonagall has been informed. She says she will see you three first thing after breakfast, for your side of the story." She stepped over to Harry's bed and knocked lightly on one of the posts. "Potter?"

Harry shuffled over and parted the curtains. "Yes ma'am?"

The prefect blinked at the sight of the quill, but recovered quickly. "Professor Mcgonagall says that you're to see Professor Ambervale as well as her after breakfast." Then her eyes narrowed and she put her hands on her hips. "And make sure you eat a proper meal! You look skinny as a rake!"

Harry almost blushed. "Yes ma'am."

She gave him a sharp nod and said, "Now all of you, bed! It's far too late to be up and about." She watched as they scrambled to obey, and then once they were all in their beds, swept out and shut the door firmly behind her.

Harry leaned back onto his pillows with a sigh, watching as Hedwig fluttered through the curtains to settle on the headboard again. Then he reached into his robes and pulled out the snidget, which trilled softly and flew over to nestle down next to the owl. Hedwig simply watched it settle for a moment before giving her wings a small flap, the owl equivalent of a shrug he supposed, and looking back at Harry.

Harry grinned. "You don't really mind all that much, do you girl?"

He felt like laughing when she gave him a look that quite clearly said, "What do you think?"

He settled for a grin. "Alright then. I really hope we can keep him." She gave a low hoot in response. "Goodnight girl." She hooted again and tucked her head under her wing. Harry grinned again and settled back. He was asleep almost instantly.

---

In what felt like no time at all, he was awakened by Pamela. She was hovering about a foot from the bed, and holding what appeared to be a ball of light that was giving off a quiet but insistent ringing. Once she saw he was properly awake she tossed it into the air, where it imploded with a faint popping sound. After a moment, Harry realized that except for Weasley, everyone else was still there, though obviously getting dressed. One of them had their tie in a bad knot, and another of them was struggling to get his robes to cooperate.

"We'll have to get you in the habit of setting an alarm, kiddo. Wouldn't do to miss breakfast, or be late for class for that matter." At the sound of her voice, everyone else jumped, having apparently not noticed her until now. Pamela put her hands on her hips and surveyed them. "Oh for Merlin's sake!" She pointed a finger at them. A flash of light burst from the tip. The tie promptly undid itself and re-tied into a proper knot. The robes suddenly shifted to hang properly. "Much better." Both boys flushed slightly.

Harry yawned. "I didn't think they looked that bad."

Pamela frowned. "Well no...but it's not as though they have all day. Besides, these uniforms are simple as pie compared to what we wore in my day. The boys at least had it somewhat easy. Theirs just slipped on in pieces for the most part. The girls on the other hand..." She frowned. "I still don't understand why it took Estella Grinderson half an hour to get dressed, even with magic to help her." She paused and tapped her lips for a moment, looking thoughtful. "Mind you, she was a rather vain little thing, so that probably had something to do with it." She surveyed Harry from top to bottom. "Not bad, but it's missing something."

Harry lifted the sleeves, looking over the outfit. "It looks alright to me. What's it missing?"

Pamela grinned. "Oh that's easy. You need your house colors." She put her hands together and started rubbing them the way a baker rolls a ball of dough, spreading them apart as she did so. A ball of red and gold materialized and slowly expanded. When it was roughly half the size of Harry's head, she stopped rubbing and transferred it somehow to one palm. Then she took aim. "Hold still now." Over her shoulder she said, "You lot should cover your eyes or something, the backwash can be a trifle bothersome otherwise." Then she threw it, paying no attention as the boys scrambled to cover their faces.

For a few seconds, it seemed like the dormitory was housing the sun itself. When it finally faded, even the dust seemed to glow red and gold. Harry watched the trails in the air for a moment. Then he sneezed, sending a cloud of shining colors roiling away from him. Pamela frowned and moved her hand in a short twirling motion. A miniature cyclone kicked up in the middle of the room, sucking all the excess colors into it. Then at a shooing motion from Pamela, it swept over to the window and out into the open air, dissipating and leaving the red and gold to be swept away with the wind.

Pamela gave Harry a sheepish smile. "Sorry kiddo, I guess I overdid it a bit." Harry let out a silent chuckle. "But you look much better now, don't you think?"

Harry looked down and grinned. "Yeah. I do." The once dark robes now blazed with color. The sleeves, neck, and hem were now a warm red. The color fanned out a few inches from the edge before fading out. The previously dim embroidery was now a brilliant gold that stood out vividly against the mostly dark fabric.

Pamela gave him a nod. "We'll have to do that with whatever else needs it, but that'll have to be later. Right now, we need to get going, or you might end up missing breakfast." She gestured to the room at large. "Everyone else seems to have gone already." She paused. "Though I think that was mostly because of me." She waved a hand airily. "No matter. Are you ready?" Harry nodded. "Good, let's get a move on." She stopped for a moment. "And Mahalestro said to bring the snidget with you."

At this, the bird in question rose from its perch next to Hedwig, and flew over to Harry's shoulder. It settled there, looking quite pleased with itself. Harry grinned. "Smart bird." The snidget let out a trill.

Pamela's lips twitched into a half smile. "Yes it is. But until everything is all legalized, it would probably be even smarter to keep it out of sight." She wagged a finger at it. "Better not cause a fuss any sooner than we need to." The snidget looked at her for a moment. Then it let out a chirp and zipped into the air and hovered for a moment before settling on Harry's hand. Harry blinked and carefully slipped it into a pocket in his robes. It shifted a bit and then apparently settled down to sleep.

Pamela's eyebrows looked as though they wanted to fly off her forehead. "Definitely a smart bird." Then she shook herself. "Let's go Kiddo. Don't forget your things."

Harry nodded and grabbed his bag. As an afterthought, he stuck in his sketchbook and a few of the drawing quills. Then he followed Pamela out the door.

"Out of the way now! You're holding people up!" a knot of students blocking the open portrait hole hurried through at the shout from Pamela.

Harry could hear them muttering at each other as they left. One of them said, "It's not as if the Fat Lady minds all that much, why should she?" The portrait's occupant harrumphed as they walked out of earshot.

Reminded of something, Harry stopped. "Can we wait just a second?" Pamela raised an eyebrow, but nodded, gliding off to hover at the top of the stairs. Harry turned back around as the portrait closed with a snap. "Excuse me, ma'am?"

It took a moment for her to notice the writing. Upon seeing it however, the portrait's occupant glanced about before finally looking down. "Yes Dearie? Did you forget something in the common room?" She frowned. "Mind, you're supposed to use the password, but I suppose I can let it slide this once."

Harry shook his head. "No ma'am. I just..well...-"

The woman leaned down, throwing her perspective off entirely. "Yes?"

Harry swallowed. "Well, it's just...I was wondering what I should call you is all." The portrait blinked. "Well it's a bit mean to be calling you "The Fat Lady". And I just was just-" The woman cut him off with a wave of her hand and stood.

An odd expression was on her face. "I am Lady Valeria." She paused, the strange expression intensifying. "You may call me Valeria, or simply Val If you prefer."

Harry grinned and nodded. "Thanks Miss Valeria!" He jumped at a small sound from Pamela. "Oh! I'm sorry, I have to go now! It was nice meeting you!"

 She nodded. "Likewise." Then she smiled. "Well go on, get a move on! Breakfast is an important meal you know!" She waved as Harry hurried off to rejoin Pamela.

As they descended the stairs, Pamela said quietly, "That was very good of you Harry. I think you may well be the first student to ever ask her of her name."

Harry blinked and looked up at her. "You mean everyone just calls her "the Fat Lady"? That's just wrong!"

Pamela's lips twitched into a wry sort of smile. "From the minds of the innocent." She murmured quietly. Then she sobered. "You're right, it is." She said. "But I'm afraid that she's been called that for so long that most people, even the teachers call her that. I don't know when it started. It may have even been because of whomever painted her."

"And no one ever bothers to try to fix it?"

Pamela frowned. "I think it's mostly because she's never worked herself up enough to make a fuss about it. So most people simply take it at face value I suppose."

Harry scowled. "It's still wrong!"  They turned onto another staircase. "It shouldn't matter if she makes a fuss over it or not!"

Pamela's frown increased.  "No it shouldn't. But I'm afraid that sometimes, what's really needed is someone who cares enough to make a difference, and doesn't care for the norm." She smiled at Harry, looking rather proud. "This time that was you. Everything has to start somewhere, and here's hoping that she starts getting the respect she deserves."

Pamela flung an arm out suddenly. "Watch out for this staircase, by the way. It likes to move about when someone's gone too far to get off where they need to be." She made a strange sweeping motion. There was a low grinding sound from the steps, and Harry felt them vibrate.

He blinked as he watched them shift back into the correct direction. "I didn't even feel them moving!"

Pamela nodded, looking somewhat irritated. "Yes, all the staircases like to be subtle about it. Most people don't even notice until it's too late." There was a low thunk as the as the steps reconnected with the lower floor. "It's actually rather simple to make them move back once you know how, but it does take some practice to do it right." She grinned. "And it's not normally taught to students, but that goes without saying."  Harry gave out a silent laugh.

On the floor below, Pamela stopped and held her arm out straight in front of her, facing the staircase. "It's all about how you do it. The arm motion has nothing to do with it, it's all in the gestures." She spread her fingers wide. "Focus on the staircase, and the place you want it to be. Reach out and feel for the power inside the staircase, it's easier if you do it physically at first. Then just make a motion that implies movement, it doesn't matter which direction."

She made a sharp sideways flick with her hand. The staircase immediately slid into motion, quiet as a whisper. She grinned. "There, you see?" Harry nodded. "Now keep in mind that it's easier when you're trying to get them to go somewhere they already want to go. But if it's an emergency, and they can sense it, they'll cooperate as much as they can, unless someone overrides them."

 They reached the next landing, which was leading to open air. They leaned over, and spotting the staircase, Pamela said, "You try this one. Just focus on it going towards the Great Hall, since that's where we're headed. This one obviously can't get there by itself, but it can get in the right direction. Just remember that you only need to focus on where you're going, the stairs will home in on you automatically."

Harry nodded and reached out, splaying his fingers like Pamela had. "Right, the Great Hall." He paused. "How exactly do I reach out and feel for the magic?"

Pamela blinked, then her eyes widened. "Oh! I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you! Use your magic to feel for the magic in the staircase. Push out with it and feel it connect with the staircase's magic. As for finding your own magic, you just need to feel around for it inside you. I can't really explain better than that."

Harry frowned but concentrated all the same. Wondering how one "felt" their magic, he started wandering around inside his head. Just when he was ready to give up in frustration, he became aware of a faint buzzing from somewhere in the back of his mind. Honing in on it, the sound becoming stronger as he came closer, he felt something that seemed to be both alien, and comfortable at the same time.

As he came right up on it, he felt the same sensation he had felt when he had first picked up his wand, this time shooting throughout his body. It was then that he realized he had found it. Shooting back to the present, he pushed with the magic, a physical motion accompanying it. He felt an odd stretching sensation, before it suddenly stopped, to be replaced by a deep, heavy humming that seemed to penetrate to his bones.

Right...Great Hall. Focusing hard, he made the same sideways slash Pamela had. Though it wasn't as quiet, the staircase slid into motion, connecting with the landing they were on. Harry grinned and turned to face Pamela. "I did it!"

Pamela wore a strange expression. It looked a mix of pride, pleasure, and something like satisfaction. "Indeed you did. Very well done!" Her expression morphed into what was unmistakably a delighted grin. "Very well done indeed! But we'd better hurry if we want to get to the great hall while they're still serving breakfast!" She made a strange pass with her hand, then grabbed his shoulder. "Brace yourself kiddo!"

Harry had no time to ask why, nor did he need to. The floor suddenly seemed to drop out from under him. After a few terrified seconds, he realized he was sliding down the stairs, which seemed to have morphed into a kind of chute. Just as he was beginning to relax however, he saw the floor of the entrance hall coming up fast. He let out a soundless scream.

He needn't have bothered. Just as they were about to hit, the last section of stairs suddenly arced upwards, sending them careening into free space and breaking their forward momentum. Pamela grabbed his shoulder tightly as they started to come down, and they were suddenly much lighter, causing them to float to the ground, landing softly as a feather.

Pamela shook herself and let out a giggle. "My! Wasn't that fun?" She looked entirely too pleased with herself.

Harry shuddered and slowly straightened up. "Y-yeah, f-fun...s-sure."

At the sight of the shaky lettering, Pamela frowned and took a closer look at Harry's face. "Merlin, you look paler than usual!" Her frown deepened. "Just take a few deep breaths. You'll feel better soon."

Harry did so, and was gratified to find his breathing slowly return to normal. It was then that he noticed the matronly woman standing a few feet away, staring at him.

After a long moment, during which she gave him an unnerving once-over, she spoke. "Goodness, you look far too thin!" She swept up to him, and proceeded to look him over more closely. "Right then!" She said it so suddenly that Harry jumped. "You're to come for a full check-up!"

Harry blinked. "I-s-sorry?"

She frowned. "You're to come to the Hospital wing for a check-up. Not today though, as I'm still getting it stocked. I want to see you first thing after breakfast this weekend." With that, she swept off through the doors into the Great Hall, leaving Harry feeling rather like he had just dodged a bullet.

Pamela giggled at the expression on Harry's face. "Forcible, isn't she?" She sobered a bit. "That was Madame Pomfrey, the school Medi-witch. She's like a better version of a muggle school nurse." She flat out frowned. "You'd better do what she says. She's not opposed to hunting students down to get them in there." With that, she turned and made a gesture, causing the doors to fly open. Harry just gulped.

---

Severus frowned and looked up as the doors opened again. His frown morphed into a worse expression as he saw the Potter brat come gliding into the room, followed by one of the castle ghosts. While Potter seemed oblivious to his glare, the ghost was most certainly not. She gave him a frosty look that easily matched his and gave a dismissive flick of her hand.

His attention was diverted to his Snakes a moment later, when a loud cackling and chorus of shouts sprang from the table. A moment later, the cackle sounded again, and Peeves rose from the center of the table, plates and food whirling like a cyclone around him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Severus saw the headmaster rise from his chair. To his slight surprise Minerva had risen as well, though with far more speed than Albus. She had her wand trained on the poltergeist in the blink of an eye. The headmaster was not far behind, though his speed seemed less from age, and more from deliberation.

Neither of them had a chance to cast however.  "Peeves!" The hall seemed to rock on its very foundations under the force of the shout. "What do you think you are doing?!" Severus blinked as he saw that the ghost behind Potter seemed to have tripled in size in her anger, looking as though she were melded with a roiling thundercloud.

Peeves froze mid cackle, the plates and food dropping like stones, and his expression swiftly changing from delight to mortified terror.  "M-Madame!" He stammered. "I-I was j-just-"

The ghost cut him off, looking outright furious. "What have I told you about messing with the meals?" Her voice sounded closer to thunder than anything else at this point, and Severus was certain he saw dust fall from the rafters.

The poltergeist shrank back, hands behind his back. "Err...not to?"

Her voice scaled down into something resembling a hiss as she towered over him. "Precisely. What then were you doing?"

Peeves shrank back. "Um...leaving?"

A rather feral smile slid over the female ghost's face. "Good boy."

The poltergeist fled the Great Hall at high speed. Severus blinked in astonishment. He had never seen Peeves so thoroughly cowed before, even when he was facing the Bloody Baron at his angriest, a sight which could terrify the bravest of men.

The ghost's smile morphed into a far more pleasant example of it's kind, and she seemed to collapse in on herself, shrinking back down to a more normal size, and glided over to the Slytherin table. Stopping in front of the fiasco left by Peeves, she twirled one hand in an upwards spiral. The food and plates spun up into the air, detaching gently from students clothes and hair. They coalesced into a large ball high over their heads. The ghost snapped her fingers, and the object vanished completely. Then she flicked her fingers at the table, and what Severus recognized as a variation of  one of the more potent cleaning spells washed over the students, removing stains from clothing and restoring hair and hairstyles to full muster.

Pamela's smile widened slightly. "Much better." With that, she rose and floated back to Harry, settling down next him at the Gryffindor table, several of the students hastily shuffling over to make room. "That was, of course, Peeves. Pesty little devil."

Harry surveyed the table for a moment, unable to do much more than stare. It was piled high with food, some stacks almost as big as he. It looked a bit daunting.

Pamela saw him staring. She snagged his plate and set it so that it was balanced perfectly on its edge. She grinned at the confused look Harry gave her. "Watch this." She gave the plate a small flick, making it spin like a top. Harry thought he heard a few quiet pops coming from around him, but he couldn't be sure. The plate eventually slowed and stopped, still on its edge, but it was now piled with food. Harry stared at it. Pamela let out a giggle. "Balanced breakfast! There's nothing quite like one, you can believe that!"

Harry grinned as she set the plate down properly in front of him. Then he couldn't help a soundless laugh as she pointed her fingers like a gun and said, "Bang." A silver fork, spoon, and knife seemed to shoot out of them, then as they approached the table, turned into a perfect somersault. They straightened up and bowed before falling to the tabletop, completely inert.

Harry poked one. "They're not really alive, are they?"

Pamela laughed. "Not really, no. They were just temporarily animated. They're perfectly safe." With this assurance, Harry finally picked up the fork and began to eat.

"Severus, I have yet to discover spell that allows one to bore hole in the back of another's head." Snape jerked his attention away from the odd duo at the Gryffindor table, and focused on Professor Ambervale. The counselor smirked. "If you have unearthed one, please do share."

Severus just rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you know one, Mahalestro, or you wouldn't have suggested it." Next to him, Charity Burbage snorted into her tea.

The counselor simply blinked. "Of course I do. Rather painful and grisly however. Wouldn't recommend it. I remember the last time I saw it in action, poor man-"

Madame Pomfrey raised a hand gently to cut him off, causing both men to grin into their food, though Severus's was less pronounced. "Not at the table if you please, Mahalestro. I'd like to retain an appetite, thank you all the same." She calmly stabbed a sausage with her fork and munched on it for a moment. Reaching for her goblet she said, "I have been meaning to speak with you however."

The counselor blinked. "Oh? About what?"

The Mediwitch snorted before taking a drink. "You did request Mister Potter's files, didn't you?" Without waiting for a response, she passed two sheets of what appeared to be muggle paper to the counselor. "Just came in yesterday evening."

Ambervale took them and glanced them over. He started to set them down, saying, "The rest still in transit, I presume?"

Poppy frowned and took another sip. "No. That's all there is."

The hand froze. "Pardon? This?!"

Severus glanced up at the counselor. It had to be one of the first times he'd ever seen the man looking stunned.

For her part, the mediwitch simply nodded. "Yes. That." She said, mimicking Ambervale's stilted speech and accent nearly flawlessly. "I spent all this morning in contact with his primary school. That really is all they have on him. There's almost no medical history on him at all."

Overhearing this, Charity blinked. "What, not even birth records?"

Poppy shook her head. "No, but then they wouldn't. I have those. He was born in my infirmary after all."

Charity stared at her. "Really? Why?"

Ambervale answered her instead of the mediwitch. "At the time, Voldemort was searching for Potter's everywhere. No muggle hospital could be warded covertly, and Saint Mungo's always under heavy scrutiny. Hogwarts was only viable option."

Madame Pomfrey nodded. "I'm not sure who came to that conclusion first, but I was told about it roughly fifteen minutes before his mother went into labor." She smiled slightly. "Talk about a last minute preparation." She counted her fingers, evidently thinking hard. "That makes him the...sixth child to be born in the castle, I think. I know he's the first in close to a century at least. Well, on the record anyway."

Charity scoffed. "I should think it'd be a bit hard to hide any "unofficial" births."

Ambervale nodded absently, reading the papers more thoroughly. "Yes, one would think so." Charity and Severus stared at him. When he appeared to lose himself in the scant information on the sheets, Madame Pomfrey elbowed him sharply in the side. He blinked. "Hmm? Oh! One would be quite correct too." He paused and took a drink from his goblet. Setting it down he said, "Hogwarts knows when someone is born inside it."

Poppy nodded. "And my predecessor told me her predecessor would end up with a mysterious new file on her desk when it happened." She shrugged. "I never saw it happen until Mister Potter though."

Ambervale pushed his plate away. "Thank you for the files Poppy. I need to get to my office and head off Ministry representatives before they arrive."

Severus barely restrained a groan. "Please, no more secrets Mahalestro. I think you've done enough as it is."

Ambervale grinned. "Where's sense of adventure, Severus?"

"In the Slytherin common room." He said flatly. "Where I will undoubtedly be after classes. You do realize the ruckus this muggle visit is going to stir up amongst the students, don't you?"

The grin didn't so much as twitch. If anything, it grew larger. "Certainly." With that, he was heading down into the throng of students below, papers in hand.

Madame Pomfrey huffed. "I swear, sometimes he's almost as bad as Albus!"

Severus glanced at the headmaster, who was animatedly telling a story to Hagrid that seemed to involve an apple and a biscuit as visual aids. "Now that's impossible." He said.

Beside him, Charity nodded.

---

It was a short time later that Harry was standing outside the Great Hall, feeling properly full for the first time in a long while.

Pamela, who was floating somewhere in the general vicinity of his head, clicked her fingers decisively. "Right then! First things first, we need to get to Professor Mcgonagall's office." She smiled. "That'll be easy. She's just off the Great Hall."

She was in fact rather easy to find. Mostly because they narrowly missed walking straight into her when they turned a corner.

She jumped slightly and adjusted her glasses. "Ah, Mister Potter. I was just coming to fetch you." Then she smiled slightly. "It's nice to see some initiative. Normally getting students to come to my office is like pulling teeth." With that, she pushed a nearby door open, and motioned him inside.

The first thing Harry noticed was that Professor Ambervale was sitting in an armchair near the fire. He was studying a thick folder embossed with some sort of symbol. He closed it when they entered. "Good morning Mister Potter. Shall we get down to business?"

Pamela gave Harry an encouraging smile. "Don't worry about it kiddo. I'll be back after your first class. Can't have you getting lost, can we?" She smiled again and vanished through a wall.

Professor Ambervale watched her go. "Cagey creature." He muttered. Then he rose from his seat and swept over to stand near Professor Mcgonagall's desk, neatly sliding the folder into his sleeves as he did so. Clasping his hands behind his back he said, "I understand there was small altercation last night."

Professor Mcgonagall indicated he should take a seat. Harry did so. "Um . . .I guess that's one way to put it."

Professor Mcgonagall snorted. "Rather one-sided, from the looks of things." She smiled. Harry got the feeling he was seeing a rare event. "I've already heard from the others, and Mister Weasley himself. It's perfectly clear to me what happened." She leaned forward. "Mister Weasley has been healed and the only lasting damage is to his pride."

Ambervale spoke up suddenly. "Accidental magic is not something we are prone to punishing people for. Aside from the fact that it is difficult for eleven year olds to control all the time, it can happen to the best of us." He frowned briefly. "Control is important to learn though. After all, your magic grows with you. Just remember that."

Harry nodded. "Yes sir."

Mcgonagall suddenly became sterner. "Your owl on the other hand, is another matter. Do try to keep her from attacking others." She held up a hand when Ambervale started to say something. "By all accounts she was defending you, an admirable trait in a familiar. But she must be taught the difference between a truly dangerous situation and a schoolboy tussle. Otherwise I'm afraid I'll have to ban her from the dorms when others are about."

Harry nodded. "Yes ma'am."

Ambervale snorted. "By all accounts, Mister Weasley was making full body lunge. Just as well the owl intervened."

Professor Mcgonagall gave a funny little cough, which sounded as though it might have been hiding a laugh. "Yes, well . . . " She trailed off.

Ambervale rolled his eyes. "Benefit of the doubt is best applied here." He glanced at an odd looking device on the wall. It had no visible numbers, but instead had a number of images at random intervals. It must have made sense to him however, because he said, "We should be moving on. The representatives should be at my office any moment."

Professor Mcgonagall blinked. "Representatives? What are you up to now, Mahalestro?"

Ambervale just smiled as he held the door open for Harry. "You shall see soon enough Minerva."

The deputy Headmistress shook her head. "It better not be something that throws the student body for a loop again. The visiting muggles was enough."

As he stepped out the door, Ambervale raised an eyebrow. "That is up to them, not me. But while is a rather special surprise, it's not on that scale."

"If you say so." She said. The door closed behind them by itself.

Harry looked up at the counselor as they walked. "Visiting muggles sir?"

The man blinked. "Well, yes. I made the announcement before breakfast." He shook his head. "Caused quite a stir actually."

"We got there a little late. Pamela was showing me how to make the stairs behave."

Ambervale's eyebrows rose towards his hairline. "Really now? And how did you do?" He looked quite interested.

"I managed to get one to turn. Not as quiet as she could, though."

The eyebrows went higher. "Noise control simply requires practice. Stairs are tricky at the best of times." They rounded a corner and came across a bright red door.

Ambervale made a gesture at it, causing it to open with a gentle click. "This is my office." He smiled slightly. "Finding it's easy enough, but finding everything else . . ." He stifled a laugh at the slightly worried expression Harry's face. "Never fear, I'll walk to your first class." When Harry looked relieved, he really did laugh.

---

Nearly twenty minutes later however, the counselor was looking decidedly less jovial. "Walking you to first class, assuming representatives show up in time for it."

Harry had been taking the opportunity to look around the office. It was filled with some of the most interesting things he'd seen yet. There was another one of the odd devices on the wall; Harry assumed it was a clock of some kind, though it was larger than the one in Professor Mcgonagall's office.

Ambervale confirmed his assumption. Looking at it, he said, "Unless clock is wrong, they should have arrived twenty minutes ago."

Harry blinked as he spotted a rather large and odd-looking battleaxe hanging by a chair near the door. Then he looked at the professor. "How can you tell sir?"

The counselor blinked at him and glanced back at the clock. Just as he opened his mouth, there was a knock at the door. "I'll show you later." He said. Raising his voice he said, "Come in!"

A tall and skinny wizard came into the office, followed by a short and somewhat stumpy witch. The man had a face that reminded Harry very strongly of a fish. The oversized glasses he wore didn't help the impression. The witch on the other hand, resembled nothing so much as a toad.

Ambervale raised an eyebrow at them. "Let the department fit the looks." He muttered it so quietly; Harry was the only one who heard it. Harry decided it was just as well he couldn't speak, as he wasn't sure he'd have been able to keep from laughing.

The wizard smiled rather widely, somewhat enhancing the resemblance to a fish. "Professor Ambervale, It's good to see you again. I apologize for the delay, the Floo system rerouted us to Albania for some reason. I believe you contacted us in regards to a certain special animal?" He had a surprisingly deep voice for someone so thin.

Ambervale nodded. "Have a seat Elmis, Dolores." He gestured the wizard into the seat next to Harry.

The witch however, simply shook her head. "I'm afraid I'm here to observe." She had a high girlish voice that took Harry by surprise. He had been expecting a croak. "This is supposed to be my first field visit."

The wizard, Elmis, nodded. "She recently joined the department. This is one of her training visits."

Ambervale shrugged. "All the same, take seat. This could take some time."

She nodded and gingerly sat in the seat near the door, casting a wary look at the battleaxe. Harry suddenly noticed that there didn't seem to be anything holding it up.

He was distracted from her as the wizard held out a hand to Harry. "Good Morning. You must be Mister Potter. Professor Ambervale mentioned you in his message to us last night. My name is Elmis Servadore. I am the head of the Department for the regulation and control of magical creatures."

Harry shook the proffered hand. "Pleased to meet you sir."

The man blinked at the sudden appearance of the quill. Then he shook it off. Indicating the woman in the chair near the door, he said, "That's my new junior head, Dolores Umbridge." The witch inclined her head. Harry gave her a return nod.

Servadore clapped his hands. "Now then, Professor Ambervale said that you encountered a very rare creature recently."

Harry nodded. "Yes sir. Or well, they said it's rare. I had no idea."

All three of the adults smiled. Servadore nodded. "No, I don't doubt that. Did you bring it with you then?"

Harry nodded. "Yes sir. It's in here." He reached into his robes and gently touched the snidget. It promptly hopped out of the pocket and into his palm. The little golden bird trilled as it came into the air.

Servadore leaned forward, looking awestruck. "Great Merlin!" he breathed. "It really is a golden snidget!" He held out his hand. "May I?"

Harry nodded and held out the bird to him.

He took it gently and started examining it. "Thank you."

Umbridge was looking decidedly less awestruck. "Just how did you come across this Snidget, Mister Potter?" She sounded remarkably clinical.

Harry decided immediately that he didn't like her. "I didn't come across it really. It came across me, more or less."

"More or less?" Her eyes had narrowed, making her look more toad-like than ever.

Harry shrugged. "I'd been leaving my window open for my owl to hunt, and when I woke up the day before yesterday, it was sitting in the cage with her."

Umbridge was looking more and more suspicious. "Owls are very territorial over their owners, Mister Potter. I rather doubt she'd simply allow it to roost in her cage."

Harry shrugged, feeling slightly annoyed. "I don't think Hedwig minds it all that much actually. She let it sleep right next to her on the headboard last night."

Umbridge blinked. Before she could respond however, Servadore spoke. "Oh stop fussing Delores! It's not as though he could have stolen it! The closest snidget sanctuary is miles from any well-inhabited neighborhood. He'd have had to travel quite a distance."

Umbridge subsided, looking rather mutinous. Then she flinched and cast a badly concealed look upwards. Harry noticed suddenly that the battle-axe seemed to be hanging lower down than he remembered it. Umbridge blanched slightly and surreptitiously moved her chair a few inches away from it. To Harry's astonishment, the battle-axe soundlessly slid along the wall with it.

Umbridge whimpered. Harry thought he saw a smirk on Professor Ambervale's face, but it was gone before he could be sure. Servadore either didn't notice anything amiss, or he pretended not to.

Instead, he held the snidget in front of Harry and drew his wand. He gave it a flourishing swish. A thin, bright golden line appeared between boy and bird. Harry realized abruptly that the man had cast the same spell Professor Ambervale had on the train, or a variant at least.

"Stronger than yesterday." Ambervale commented.

Umbridge stopped trying to slide along the wall for a moment. "What?"

Ambervale jerked his head at the line still glowing in midair. "I cast familiar recognition spell when it was first shown to me yesterday. Bond is already stronger."

Servadore held the snidget out to Harry, who accepted it. They all watched the little bird hop up the sleeve of Harry's robes to perch on his shoulder. Finally he said, "I think that settles it."

Everyone looked at him. The wizard looked strangely solemn. Then he broke into a grin. "Stand up straight please, and try not to flinch, or the bonding spell may not take properly."

Umbridge gasped, inadvertently scooting the chair again. The axe promptly moved with it. Still attempting to move away from it, she gave a rather fake sounding cough, and said, "You can't be serious!"

"Either take a cough drop or be silent!" Ambervale snapped. "And stop scooting about! The axe is anchored to the chair. Wherever one goes, the other does too."

Without turning around, and completely ignoring Ambervale's outburst, Servadore said, "I'm quite serious Dolores. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We have no idea what effects could be caused by having a snidget as a familiar. It's the chance for a fascinating learning experience, and I for one am not about to pass it up."

Umbridge flushed. It was not a pleasant image. "What in Merlin's name do you plan to say the Minister of Magic about all this?!"

Tracing his wand in a strange pattern in the air, Servadore smiled. "Well for one, I have no desire to cause trouble with a familiar bond that's obviously so well attuned. And what I just told you. There's plenty we don't know about these creatures, and we finally have a chance to find out some of it. " He frowned for a moment. "Though I doubt it'll come to him. He has enough to deal with."

To Harry, he said, "Hold as still as you can please." When Harry nodded, he waved the wand in another strange pattern. What followed was a long string of convoluted sounding words. Harry gave up trying to understand them after what he thought might have been the fifth word.

The last word however, was quite clear. "Yeowa!" A downward slash of the wand accompanied the shout. The air shimmered for a moment, then seemed to wrap around Harry and the snidget. An unseen weight pressed on them for a moment. Then the air around them flashed a shimmering gold, and the weight vanished.

Servadore wiped his forehead and stood back. "That should do it." He flicked his wand and the gold line appeared again, though this time there was noticeable streak of silver shot through it. Servadore nodded. "And it did. Congratulations Mister Potter. You are now its true and proper owner." He paused and glanced at him. "Have you thought of a name for him?"

Harry started to shake his head. Then something came into his head. He grinned. "Yes actually. Whimsy. After all, he came to me on his own whim."

Servadore laughed. "Rather appropriate!" He leaned down and gave Harry a firm handshake. "Very well, Whimsy it is. I'll be sure to put it on the records of ownership. You'll get a copy of those in a few day's time." Ushering a sputtering Dolores Umbridge out the door, he said, "Congratulations once again, and I hope you do well with him." With that, he was gone.

Ambervale raised an eyebrow. Little woman, big complex." He muttered. Then he turned to Harry. "Whimsy eh?" Harry nodded. Ambervale regarded him for a moment. Then he smiled. "Appropriate indeed. All creatures are bound by their whims, and theirs alone. Only they may truly affect their lives." Then he folded his arms. "That said, it is my whim that we get you to first class. Professor Flitwick should forgive you, twenty minutes late or not."

Professor Flitwick was without a doubt the smallest person Harry had ever laid eyes on. He had nearly toppled off the stack of books he was using as a stool when Professor Ambervale introduced Harry to the class. Ambervale closed the door, smiling.

His smile froze slightly when he turned around and came face to face with Madame Pince, the school librarian, who was wearing an expression of utmost apprehension. On The librarian, such a look never boded well.

Ambervale gave her a nod. "Madame Pince."

The librarian nodded in return. "Professor Ambervale." She drew in a deep breath. "The Dark Maiden has catalogued the books in the restricted section. She has determined that at least two managed to escape the confines of the library itself during the scuffle two nights ago."

Ambervale went ramrod straight. "At least two?"

Madame Pince's lips thinned. "All the ones yet to be found are ones that are well known for scuttling about the library most of the time anyway." She crossed her arms. "The Dark Maiden only discovered these were missing because another book told her."

Ambervale grimaced. "I see. Which ones?"

Madame Pince frowned. "Silentium Aevum, and Hopes of the Damned."

Ambervale's eyes widened. "Are there any clues as to where they went?"

Madame Pince shook her head. "Only that they went left when they got out the door." She shrugged. "To be honest, I'm really only concerned about the latter of the two. Silentium Aevum is essentially harmless."

Ambervale nodded. "It's just a lexicon for nonverbal casting is it not?"

Madame Pince frowned. "For the most part, yes. As I understand it, it went into the restricted section mainly due to the difficulty of its spells." Her frown deepened. "Hopes of the Damned however…" She trailed off.

Ambervale's expression was grim. "Book has some of darkest spells known to wizardkind."

Madame Pince's lips thinned. "Precisely. Not to mention the curses that are on the book itself. I've yet to manage to properly break them. Right now the best I can do is to suspend them temporarily. The sooner it's back in safe hands, the better."

Ambervale nodded curtly. "I shall start search at once."

Madame Pince thanked him and swept away. The counselor drew his wand from a sleeve and said quietly, "Point me, Hopes of the Damned." The wand spun like a top in his hand. After nearly a minute of this Ambervale sighed. "Finite." After it stopped twirling he placed it back into his sleeve. "That would have been too easy of course."

"And far too lucky where that book's concerned." Pamela appeared from the shadows, carrying a large leathery looking tome that sported what appeared to be a set of bat like wings. "Vampyre's call." She said, indicating the book. "It tends to run around with Hopes the majority of the time. I was hoping it might draw it out." She sighed. "Nothing doing I'm afraid. Hopes is obviously determined not to let itself get caught without a fight."

"What about Silentium Aevum?"

Pamela snorted. Releasing the book in her hands so that it was forced to flap its wings to stay aloft, she pointed down a hallway. "Back to the Library please, and no detours!" She paused. "Unless you spot your little running friend, in which case you come find me pronto! I want you to patrol the halls outside the library. If you catch even a glimpse of Hopes come tell me at once."

The book threw her a salute with one wing, then flew off down the hall.

Turning back to the counselor, she said, "I'm not sure exactly where it is now, but from what I understand it spent most of last night footling about near the Gryffindor portrait entrance. Their guardian told me it ran off somewhere this morning."

Ambervale sniffed. "Well, fairly benign by all accounts, so not much harm if it runs about for a while."

She nodded. "True. And to be fair, it's gone off and come back on its own before, so it may well do it this time. Hopes of the Damned is another matter entirely. I've put all the portraits on alert, but I'm running out of places to search. I'm starting to suspect it managed to get out into the grounds."

Ambervale pursed his lips. "I planned to start divining spell. Sounds as though I may need something stronger. I'll check my spells for anything useful. I'll keep you informed."

She nodded. As he turned to go, she frowned. "Mahalestro!"

He stopped. "Yes?"

"I don't know what it is, but nearly every last book in the library is acting jumpy, even the most docile ones. Whatever's going on, it's got them absolutely terrified." Pamela's frown deepened. "The only ones that aren't scared are the ones I have yet to find and Vampyre's Call. Silentium Aevum and Hopes of the Damned aren't the only ones missing. By my count there's at least seven more, and they're all books with powerful spells on and in them."

Ambervale drew in a breath. "I shall speak with the Headmaster about it. He may have some idea of where to find them."

Pamela shook her head. "Maybe so, but if you find them, let them be. Nine of the ten most powerful spell books in the open area of the restricted section don't run off without reason."

Ambervale's expression was grave. "Do you think they will cause trouble unattended?"

She shook her head. "No. If they were going to cause trouble, they'd have already started doing it." She paused. "I don't know if this makes any difference, but all the missing books have wings, now that I think about it."

Ambervale frowned. "May well mean something. Though what is not something I can answer." He shook his head. "Well, if nothing else, must locate Hopes of the Damned. Far too dangerous to let run about unnoticed."

She nodded and watched him go. "I wish him luck." She muttered. "I've yet to see the spell that could find that book when it doesn't want to be found." She gave a scowl at the thought and turned sharply, fading from sight and phasing silently through the classroom wall.

 ~~~

"Now class, for our first lesson, we'll be learning how to conjure fire. It's an invaluable spell for any witch or wizard, and not just because you'll be using it in your first Potions class."

He waited for the class to quiet down, then took his wand out and aimed it at a pile of tinder on his desk. "Incendio!" There was quiet hissing noise, and several orange bundles of light surged from the tip of the professor's wand. The tinder exploded into a blazing fire.

Turning around, the tiny man clasped his hands together. "Now then, you all have your targets in front of you. Be very careful where you aim! Remember the incantation, Incendio."

In very short order, there were numerous bundles of flame crackling all around the room. Harry sat there feeling somewhat depressed. How was he supposed to speak an incantation?

He had somehow ended up sitting next to Draco Malfoy, who was watching him with a strange expression on his face. Grabbing a sheet of parchment, he scribbled something down and slid it towards Harry.

It said, Why make you come to a class like this when you can't say the words?

Harry frowned. Grabbing his own quill, he scribbled back, I dunno. Maybe they want me to learn the theory?

Draco scowled when he read the response. Maybe. But it's still unfair to make you come to a class for something you can't do. All it does is make you look bad!

Harry's frown deepened. Yeah, but there's nothing else I can do! I mean, Pamela said she might be able to help me, but I'm not even sure it'll be any good!

Draco looked confused. He started to write a response, glancing up when a strange singed smell began to make itself known. Then he jerked upright. "Harry!" It was more of a scream than anything else.

Harry felt a horrible heat, and abruptly realized that his hair was on fire.

Accordingly, his primary reaction was to panic. A swift, and rather squeaky, "Aguamenti!" from Professor Flitwick sent a blast of water towards him, dousing the flame, and thoroughly soaking him in the process.

Harry gingerly raised a hand and felt a rather large area of singed hair. He, along with the entire classroom, flinched when Pamela appeared out of thin air with a rather loud bang, looking furious.

"Now who did that? There's no way that was unintentional!" She directed a glare that could have made water curdle towards the room at large. Unsurprisingly, no one answered her. After nearly a minute of silence, she snorted and turned back to Harry.

Muttering something that was probably uncomplimentary at best under her breath, she raised her arms and held her hands straight above Harry's head. "This might sting a bit kiddo." She spread her fingers and chanted something. Harry suddenly felt as though someone were giving him an exceptionally strong pinch on his scalp. The feeling intensified until it almost had him in tears. Then it vanished suddenly, an odd rushing sensation taking its place.

"There we are!" She sounded pleased. Harry opened his eyes to find that his hair now sat at roughly shoulder length. She frowned. "I'm not very good at short hair I'm afraid, so I thought it better not to risk it. Besides, it'll be much more manageable now." She snapped her fingers, and Harry was literally steaming as he dried out in a pocket of sudden warmth. She gave a nod of satisfaction as the steam stopped.

"Much better, if I do say so myself." She floated up to sit in midair in a corner near the ceiling, looking rather like a hawk watching its prey as she surveyed the class. "Do carry on now. Don't mind me."

Professor Flitwick eyed her for a moment. Then he seemed to decide to ignore her, as he waved his wand, causing his stack of books to levitate and float over to Harry. Coming to a stop at eye level with him, the Professor said quietly, "Now I know it's rather unfair to you to be in this class, but we still need you to get an idea of the proper method to be casting basic spells like this. Professor Ambervale made a point to apprise us of your situation, so I'll find alternative methods to make sure you're keeping up with your peers. I still want you practice and attempt the spells though, alright?"

Harry nodded. "Yes sir." Then he frowned. "But what am I supposed to do when I need to use magic in a class?"

Professor Flitwick smiled slightly. "Don't worry about that too much right now. Most of your classes won't require any magic beyond the spell that's being taught for quite some time. The only one that will is Potions, and that just involves lighting the fire under your cauldron."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

A flash of something streaked between them, smashing into his pile of tinder and setting it ablaze. Pamela dropped back into Harry's range of vision, one hand glowing with a writhing mass of magenta and green tendrils of fire.

She smirked. "That won't be a problem. There's more than one way to start a blaze." She shrugged, the flames dissipating from her hand. "If nothing else, if he's any kind of teacher, Professor Snape should have some good old fashioned flint handy. Some potions react badly to any excess magic, including the magic used to light a fire."

"But those would be way more advanced than anything I'm learning, wouldn't they?"

Professor Flitwick shook his head. "Not all of them are. If I remember correctly, there are at least five like that in the first year texts." He waved a hand idly. "But that's beside the point. In lieu of casting the spell, I'd like you to write me a short essay on the invention of the spell, and its various applications. Twelve inches of parchment please. We'll keep that the standard assignment until you can cast the spells. Does that sound alright with you?"

When Harry nodded, the professor smiled. "Splendid! I think you'll find the history behind some of the charms to very interesting! The levitation charm is particularly intriguing. The reason it was invented may seem quite odd nowadays, but it wasn't back then."

Pamela frowned. "I thought it was originally designed as a cleaning spell. For lifting furniture and dust and whatnot."

Professor Flitwick shook his head. "No, that's what the hover charm was originally invented for. The levitation spell was a cleaning spell though, and the two are often considered, incorrectly I might add, to be one and the same."

Harry blinked. "What's the difference?"

"The levitation charm actually lets you move things about." Draco said, breaking into the conversation. "The hover charm makes things float a set distance from the surface under them, and it's actually more advanced magic than the levitation charm, since it requires a more specialized casting to make it last."

Professor Flitwick nodded, looking rather impressed. "Quite right Mister Malfoy. Five points to Slytherin." Draco beamed.

"Why use the hover charm at all then, if the levitation charm is so much better?"

Pamela smiled. "The reason is in the spells. You can control the direction and height with the levitation charm, but it requires continuous concentration from the caster. The hover charm is more of what muggles call a "Set it and forget it" type of spell. It uses a set amount of magic to cause the target to hover, and more or less keeps it there until the magic runs out, or you cancel it." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "You can still push it in a different direction if you want, though if it drops off whatever's under it, it'll fall until it hits the right height again. It's more like a sort of magical table really, since it falls at a perfectly normal speed."

Professor Flitwick was looking impressed again. "You sound like you've had a lot of experience with it."

She nodded. "It's remarkably handy. I use it rather often in the library. Quite useful when someone knocks over a bookshelf." Then she frowned. "It doesn't seem to last very long on the ones in the restricted section though. I think the magic from the books interferes with it."

Professor Flitwick nodded. "That seems the most likely reason. It's been documented to have less effectiveness on magic imbued objects. Apparently the different magical signatures will clash with each other."

Pamela shrugged. "Personally I think it's more because the books don't like being restrained, but that sounds about right all the same."

She glanced up as a deep booming knell echoed through the room. "Ah, there's the bell!"

Professor Flitwick nodded. "Dismissed everyone! I want fourteen inches on proper casting and usage safety by next class!" He glanced at Harry and said quietly, "Except for you Mister Potter. You already have your assignment."

Over the groans from the students Pamela asked, "What's your next class kiddo?"

Harry hunted out the timetable he had received from Professor McGonagall at breakfast. "Transfiguration."

"You're with the Slytherins again then." Draco said. Then he frowned and pulled out his timetable too. Looking between his and Harry's he said, "You've got Potions, History of Magic, and Defense against the Dark Arts with us as well." He blinked. "Astronomy too. Who makes these?"

Pamela snorted. "The headmaster I believe. He groups the first year Gryffindors and Slytherin classes together every time. Usually against the express wishes of one or more professors. You'll see a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs in some of the classes though, so it's not all Gryffindor and Slytherin."

She held the door open for them. As it snapped shut behind them, Draco said, "It's still not fair making Harry go to classes where he can't cast anything. It just makes him look bad."

Pamela scowled. "I know, but Professor Ambervale says he needs a thorough understanding of the wand movements and enunciations, which he's only going to get in a classroom." Her scowl twitched into a smile for a moment as she looked at Harry. "Though I think it has more to do with him wanting you to see the kinds of mistakes that are possible from a miscast."

Harry grinned and fingered his hair.

~~~

Professor Mcgonagall was, as Harry had earlier suspected, most definitely not a person to cross. She started off the class with a stern lecture about the safety of magic, then she turned a desk into a pig and back. This caused a great deal of excitement, but the class quickly realized it would be a long time before they would be doing anything like that.

This action was followed up by an announcement that Gryffindor had lost twenty points, and that, "Mister Weasley has detention."

Said Weasley immediately protested. "What did I do?"

Professor Mcgonagall gave him a stern look. "You intentionally miscast your incendiary spell in Charms Class, and could have caused grave harm to another student." She smiled thinly. "We have ways to find out what the students are up to."

Weasley was silent, which was probably a good thing for him. The Transfiguration professor gave a hearty sniff, and went back to the lesson, which was about how to transfigure matchsticks into needles.

Her assignment for Harry was similar to Professor Flitwick's, but was, in Harry's eyes anyway, entirely different in intent. "Think of it as an ongoing research paper." The professor said. She looked pleased by Harry's interest. "Every spell you learn, whatever the subject, comes from a certain branch of magic. Most of these branches have at most, one or two categories branching from it. Transfiguration is unique in that it not only has more branches than most, but that those branches are sorted by a class and category, rather than just one or the other."

She paused for breath, then started in again. Harry realized she was enjoying the lecture. "The catch to the sorting process is that one takes precedence over the other, with precedence being placed on the more obvious application, which is usually the class. There are some spells that require a category, though spell family would probably be a more accurate term." She drew her wand and conjured up a large sheet of parchment.

Setting it down between them, she tapped the surface of it with her wand. Ink immediately spread from the point of contact, spider webbing out until it formed a skeleton of a tree with the words "Families of Magic". There were a number of large branches on it, labeled Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Charms, Divination, Runes, and oddly, Potions.

Harry pointed at the last one. "How does this one qualify as a magic family? It isn't really about wands is it?"

Professor Mcgonagall sniffed, looking a cross between amused and thoughtful. "If Severus could have heard that." She muttered. More loudly she said, "You're right that it doesn't normally have much to do with wands, but there are certain spells that have been invented solely for use with potion making, so they get lumped in with it, rather than their respective classes. Consequently, there aren't that many branches, but what is there is fairly well defined."

She took another breath. "What I'd like for you to do, is instead of writing me an essay about the spell, is put down what off-shoot of transfiguration the spell belongs to, and then write it in any other branch of magic where you think it will have a practical application. Make sure you put it under the category you think it best fits when you do that though." She brandished her wand again. "I'll start you off." With that, she gave it a wave, and a number of smaller branches sprouted out of the categories in front of him. "There are other branches of magic of course, so feel free to add one if you should come across it and feel it should be there. The parchment will make room, though you'll need to add the categories for it on your own."

Harry examined the parchment for a moment, then looked back up. "Are you able to control what kind of material you make the needle into when you change it from a matchstick?"

Professor McGonagall blinked. "Well, yes, although it's much easier when you're converting from wood to metal, rather than from wood to wood."

Harry blinked. "Why? Is it because it would be counted as a different class of spell?" When Professor McGonagall stared at him, he pointed at the classes on the "Transfiguration" branch. "Because it looks like it would normally be a trans-elemental spell, but if you aren't changing the actual element it's made of, it'd technically be a shape changing class wouldn't it? Since changing from one type of wood to another isn't really changing the element, just the shape of it?"

Professor McGonagall looked rather startled. "Technically, yes. This is one of the rare spells that could conceivably go into more than one class or category. In this case, it's generally more convenient to keep it in the trans-elemental category, since that has the broader range of uses to it."

"So it would go in the "Ingredient" category for Potions, and the . . . "Dueling" category for Dark Arts I guess?"

Draco, who was sitting next to him again, tapped the parchment. "That's not really all that practical, though. You'd still have to have the matchsticks in the first place, wouldn't you?" He waved a hand flippantly. "And you'd have to use a spell that would actually make them do something." He frowned. "Really I don't think there's that many non-dueling spells that are particularly useful in one. Most duels don't give you enough time to set up a bunch of spells to make one thing work. Usually it's all act and react."

Professor McGonagall watched them, looking somewhat bemused.

Ignoring her for the most part, Draco said, "Now there's some transfiguration spells that could be used in a duel, but they're pretty advanced, since they involve transfiguring a person rather than an object."

By the end of the lesson, Hermione Granger was the only one who had made any significant headway in transfiguring her matchsticks. Professor McGonagall showed them how it had gone silvery and pointed at one end, and awarded ten points to Gryffindor. She was the only one excused from Homework, apart from Harry, who had technically already done his.

~~~

Defense against the Dark Arts, which Harry had rather been looking forward too, turned out to be a bit of a joke. True, Professor Quirrell did teach them the Lumos spell, which made light, but other than that, the class was very dry and boring. And aside from the fact that he stuttered worse than anything Harry had ever seen, there was something about Quirrell that seemed distinctly off. Harry had yet to pin it down.

Harry felt that the award for most boring class went to History of Magic, hands down. The subject matter might have actually been interesting, if it weren't for Professor Binns, the ghost teacher. He seemed to have the power to put the entire class to sleep with just a few sentences, and the most exciting thing he ever did was enter through a wall. The only thing that kept Harry awake during the class was Pamela's color commentary. It was much easier to remember the names of important people such as the Sorceress Fiora, when he was told that, "She had a pretty enough face, but a nose that could make a clock scream and run backwards to get away."

Astronomy, Like History of Magic, was one of the classes that had students from other houses with the Slytherins and Gryffindors. Harry rather liked it, and not just because it was one of the few classes he could actually do something in. He could have easily done without the staring from the other students, though Professor Sinistra seemed to be quite adept at spotting that particular occurrence and making the students focus.

Potions was the one class that Harry found himself truly looking forward to. He had always liked Chemistry in primary school, and he didn't mind cooking when it wasn't for one of the Dursley's big parties. Harry had been leafing through the potions textbook the night before class, and had found a few that were truly interesting.

The day of his first potions class was actually an important day for a different reason. It was the first day Harry was able to find his way to the Great Hall without assistance. Pamela had turned up at his dormitory briefly to hand him a small sphere, which was filled with the same magenta-green flames she had used in Charms.

When asked what it was, she said, "It's a portable flame. You can carry it around and let them out as needed. Just hold it like so, and focus on where you the flames to go, and do more or less the same thing to bring them back. Make sure you feed them if you aren't going to use them for a while though. You just need to push some twigs through every once in a while, it won't hurt the sphere."

With the problem of a cauldron heat source solved, Harry managed to find his way downstairs for breakfast. After the meal, Draco caught him in the entrance hall and more or less insisted on showing him how to get to the dungeon classroom. Harry was beginning to think he was definitely going to have to count Draco as friend, despite the airs and graces he sometimes put on.

Finding the classroom was easy enough, with Draco guiding him. They went in, and Draco quickly led them to a table, studiously ignoring the gaze of Pansy Parkinson, who was looking rather miffed. Harry noticed that Professor Snape was nowhere in sight.

It did not take him long to appear however. Harry felt a sudden rush of something he couldn't describe, and turned to look at the door. As a result, he was the only one aside from Draco (Who had turned when he saw Harry doing so) that didn't flinch when it burst open a few seconds later.

Professor Snape blazed into the room, looking for all the world like a bat flying straight from the bowels of the underworld. Without breaking stride, he swept up to the front of the classroom and flicked his wand. The door shut with a resounding bang. Without so much as a glance at the students, he pulled a sheet of parchment from the desk and proceeded to rap out names at high speed. Upon reaching, "Potter" and receiving no response, his lip began to curl. Again he called the name, and again he received no response.

Finally he snapped his gaze upwards, easily spotting the student in question sitting next to his godson, who was looking at him as if he were a three footed kangaroo. Eyes narrowed, the professor marked a check next to the name, muttering audibly, "Our newest celebrity."

Harry exchanged a glance with Draco at this. Looking both annoyed and confused, Draco whispered, "What's he playing at?" Harry just shrugged.

Dropping the list on his desk, Snape faced the class. "There will be no silly wand waving or foolish incantations in this class. It requires discipline and focus. As such I do not expect many of you to possess the necessary skill for the subtle science and exact art that is potion making. For those select few that show the predisposition however-" He gave Draco a look, and went on. "I can teach you to brew glory, bottle fame, and even put a stopper in death."

Then his eyes landed on Harry, who was (making an attempt at) copying his speech. He had his head down in order to concentrate on writing with the quill, which he found to be rather trying, as the ink would spatter everywhere when he wrote.

The eyes narrowed. "Then again, perhaps some of you already feel proficient enough to not pay attention!" The whelp's head snapped up at the last part, eyes wide at finding the professor less than a foot away from him. "Tell me Potter-" He practically spat the surname, "where would you find a bezoar?" Beside him, Hermione Granger's hand shot into the air.

Harry vaguely remembered something from his textbook, something about, "A goat?"

Professor Snape's lip curled at the sight of the flying quill. "Inadequate. Let's try again shall we?" Harry could tell it wasn't a request. "What would I get if I made an infusion of asphodel and wormwood?"

Harry couldn't even begin to remember where he'd seen that. True he'd leafed through the books a bit, but he hadn't managed to memorize it. Beside him, Hermione stretched a bit, her hand still in the air. "I don't know sir."

The Professor smiled rather nastily. "Tell me, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Harry shook his head, even as Hermione nearly fell out of her seat in eagerness. "I have no idea sir."

"Tut tut, Mister Potter. Clearly fame isn't everything. Thought you could enter this classroom without cracking open a book did you?" Then he glared at Hermione. "Sit down Granger!" When she complied he said, "For you information, a bezoar is found in the stomach of a goat, and infusion of asphodel and wormwood creates a sleeping draught so powerful it is known as the Draught of Sleeping Death, and as for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same thing."

He glared around the silent room. "Well? Why aren't any of you writing this down?" There was instant flurry of activity as students scrambled for quills and parchment.

Harry hadn't thought the class could get much worse after that. He had failed to reckon on Snape however. It was with some difficulty that he managed to get Pamela's portable flame to cooperate. Just as Draco was quietly offering to light a flame for him, it finally shot a jet out and lit up the underside of the cauldron, blazing merrily. Unfortunately, the unusually colored flame had Snape's attention quick as lightning.

Appearing from nowhere, Snape growled, "Mister Potter, I do not allow portable mage flames in my classroom." He waved his wand, in what Harry guessed was an attempt to extinguish the magenta and green flames. They stayed put however, and stubbornly resisted several more wand waves. Finally he snarled, "Extinguish them! Now!"

Fortunately, there was no difficulty in getting the flame to return to the sphere. As soon as they were gone, Snape waved his wand, causing a more ordinary flame to sprout underneath the cauldron. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for your insolence Potter."

The potion itself was the worst part. Despite the fact that he was having a hard time seeing the blackboard through the haze of potion fumes permeating the classroom, Harry was certain he was supposed to be stirring his potion clockwise. Therefore he couldn't help but wonder why doing so only seemed to make the liquid look more like sludge with every turn.

Snape suddenly materialized just as the cauldron let out a gurgle and a plume of magenta smoke. "Tell me Potter, can you read?" He gestured at the board. "What direction do the instructions say to stir the potion?"

Harry frowned. "Clockwise sir?"

Professor Snape crossed his arms. "Indeed." He scowled. "Why then, are you stirring anticlockwise?"

Harry blinked. "What?"

Professor Snape's scowl deepened. "You are stirring anticlockwise, you dunderhead! What in Merlin's name possessed you to think you can ignore such basic directions?" Then something seemed to flash through his eyes. "Or do you not know anti from clockwise?" He jabbed his wand towards the blackboard. The haze swept apart like a curtain to reveal another of those peculiar clocks hanging just above the instructions.

Eyes narrowed, he said, "Tell me Potter, just what time is it?"

Harry watched for a moment as the outer circle of symbols steadily spun while the inner circles gently slipped into a different pattern. Then he swallowed. "I don't-" He got no further however, because Snape's wand was suddenly arcing through the air. There was a bang, and the magic quill fluttered to the desk, looking wilted.

"You will speak when spoken to!" The man roared.

Hermione granger raised her hand tentatively. "Please sir, He-"

"Be silent Miss Granger!" He snapped. Then he turned to glare at Harry. Leaning in close to his face, he snarled. "I will not tolerate any further insolence from you, is that clear?" He leaned closer.

This was evidently too close. Whimsy, whom up till now Harry had completely forgotten, suddenly darted from his hidden pocket and fast as lighting, gave the man a very sharp peck in the face, shooting back to his hiding place almost before Harry registered it.

Snape launched backwards with a roar, clutching his nose as the sound of the bell echoed through the room. "That's sixty points from Gryffindor, and a months detention Potter! And be thankful it isn't more! Now get out of my sight!"

Scooping up the feather and his bag, Harry ran. Draco and Hermione were after him the instant Snape had snarled a dismissal. The two of them skidded around a corner to see Harry a short ways ahead, running through a high stone archway.

Draco winced. "That's the wrong way!" He shouted. He and Hermione chased after him. Upon reaching the archway however, all they found was a very solid expanse of wall filling the space in the archway.

Draco slammed a palm against the wall. "Bloody hell!"

"Watch your language!" someone snapped. The Dark Maiden materialized suddenly, gliding through a wall behind them. "What's the matter?"

Hermione pointed at the wall in front of them. "Harry got upset and he ran off! But now there's a wall here!"

Draco growled. "He just went through here! I know this wall wasn't here a second ago! I know it wasn't!"

Pamela looked to where Hermione was pointing. Then she froze. Neither student had known a ghost could pale, but it was evidently so, as what little green color in her skin seemed to leech away. "He went through there?" She sounded slightly hysterical.

Draco nodded vigorously. "Yeah! Just now!"

The Dark Maiden's eyes were wide. "Oh bloody fucking shite!" Both students stepped back in surprise at the expletives. Then she whirled to face Hermione. "Quickly! Fetch Professor Ambervale! Tell him a student is inside the sealed quadrant! Get him and any other Professors you can find! Go!"

Hermione didn't need telling twice. She was off like a shot.

Watching her go, Draco said weakly, "The sealed quadrant?"

The Dark Maiden seemed to draw in a breath. "There is not supposed to be an opening here. Like all the other entrances to this portion of the castle, it was sealed to protect the school."

Draco blinked. "Protect it? From what?"

The Dark Maiden gave him a level look. "From a monster. One that was too powerful to be outright destroyed. It was trapped in this section of the school over three centuries ago behind powerful magics."

Draco gulped. "What kind of monster?"

Pamela's expression was utterly calm. "The kind that eats humans. The kind that can easily go over three centuries without a meal."

Draco went white. "You mean it's still there?!"

The Dark Maiden clenched her fist, causing white light to arc across it like electricity. "Oh yes. We'd know if it was gone. If it were, the seal would come undone permanently. It's undoubtedly much weaker than it was back then, it'd have to be, being trapped for so long, but it's very much alive." She growled, the light giving an audible crackle as her fist clenched tighter. "Except now it has an easy meal wandering through its lair."

To Granger's credit, the only professors to arrive before the counselor were the Headmaster and his deputy. Ambervale himself appeared as the Dark Maiden was explaining the situation, skidding around the corner at high speed. He was carrying the battle-axe that had been hanging on his wall in one hand. Close on his heels were professors Flitwick, Burbage, Vector, and Sinistra. Hagrid was lumbering a short distance behind, puffing slightly from exertion. All of them came to halt behind the counselor, being careful to give the battle-axe a rather wide berth.

Pamela wasted little time. "The seal somehow weakened enough that a student accidentally entered. If we don't act fast, he will die. He's no match for the monster trapped inside."

Professor Sinistra stared at the Dark Maiden. "What kind of monster is it? One that will repel spells?"

Pamela just shook her head. "Oh no, it's quite possible to harm it with magic. Unfortunately except for a few weaknesses, the effort required to do that is somewhat on par with subduing a Nundu. It's extremely resilient. And what's worse, the student inside doesn't have a single spell that could hurt it at his disposal. He needs to be found. Fast."

~~~

Harry first realized that something wasn't right when he noticed how dirty the halls looked. By that time, he had calmed down enough to actually start noticing his surroundings. Looking closer at one wall, he saw that it was spattered with what looked like scorch marks.

What was more, he could hear a faint, but consistent, scratching noise, the sort an animal would make when it was trapped behind a door. The sound seemed to be coming from everywhere at once, but there was no sign of anything that could be making it.

The most obvious sign of wrongness however, showed itself farther down the hallway. Though the open space seemed to be covered by some kind of odd waxy sheen, it didn't prevent the window from letting through a beam of radiant sunlight. Less odd, and far more disturbing, was the message that someone seemed to have gouged into the wall below the window, and from the looks of it, it had been done in a great hurry.

Harry knelt to read it, feeling the warm sun shining on his back. "You who read this, know this. What stalks these halls is neither of this world, nor of this realm. It is not of the kind of we who walk in the sun. Ye sunwalker…thou must use true courage to defend thyself.

Unbidden the words of the woman in Harry's dreams flashed through his mind. "Even the worst creatures respect true courage." She had said.

Below the message was a crude drawing, along with another string of words. "Draw thy wand and allow thine magic to flow, feel the music grow from within thy soul. Spirits of death and darkness wander where they do not belong, bring them calm through the power of the solar song."

Drawing his wand and wondering if he was crazy, Harry stood. Then he drew in a deep breath, and felt for his magic the way he had when Pamela had shown him how to move the staircases.

It came much more easily this time, rushing through him into his wand, which seemed to glow. Drawing in another breath, Harry waved the wand in the pattern the drawing seemed to show.

Instantly, it felt as though every fiber of his body was basking in warm sunlight. A strange golden glow spiraled out of him, arcing to fill the room with shifting waves of gold, a lilting melody accompanying it from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

Then there was an earsplitting screech of pain from above. Shocked, Harry looked straight up. Then he was sure his heart stopped.

It was like nothing he had ever seen. There were eight legs like a spider, but any similarity to one ended there. The body looked as if it might have been somewhat bloated at one point, though now it seemed almost concave. He could see at least six rows of sharp teeth, all looking very long, and seeming to take up the majority of its face. There were three blood red eyes, all oversized and all with snake-like pupils. The skin was the same color as the stone around it, though leathery. There were even arms and hands, which looked much like a human's, but with wickedly sharp claws.

Most alarming however, was the fact that it was glaring him without blinking.

The golden waves of light swirling through the room spun together suddenly, and blasted into the creature with amazing speed. It let out another screech of pain as the golden light swept over it, and then froze, falling off the ceiling to smash onto the ground with a crash, body twitching slightly.

A ray of the light spun off to collide with a section of wall, which instantly slid away to reveal a staircase. Harry wasted no time in running for it. The instant his foot touched the first step, the wall slid closed. A few seconds later there was another earsplitting screech, though this one was distinctly muffled, and the sound of furious scratching. After nearly a minute, the monstrosity let out what was clearly a howl of rage.

Harry shuddered and backed up the steps as the scratching started up again.

"Don't worry."

Had he a voice, Harry would have most definitely screamed. He whirled to find the speaker a short way up the steps.

It, he rather, for it was most definitely human and male in appearance, glided down the steps. Harry was tempted to call it a ghost, except he had already seen some of the ghosts that called the castle home, and this being didn't look much like them. But then again neither did Pamela, whom Harry was starting to suspect was the general exception to the rule.

The being, whatever it was, laid a luminescent golden hand on his shoulder. "This staircase and the rooms it leads to are well guarded. The power of the sun protects it. The sunwalkers alone may enter here.

Harry blinked at the word. "Did you write that message on the wall?" Belatedly, he remembered that Snape had done something to disable the quill. It therefore came as a surprise to him when there was a small pop, and the quill suddenly appeared out of thin air in a flash of silver light.

It still looked rather wilted and bedraggled, and the letters were shaky, but to Harry's heartfelt relief, it wrote out the words all the same.

The being smiled slightly. "Yes. I also placed an enchantment on the window. Whether it be day or night, real sunlight will always shine through. It is a barrier the monster cannot withstand or break. You see, it comes from a place that has no such thing as sunlight, and therefore is greatly weakened by it. Light itself is akin to an allergy for it."

He frowned now, looking grim. "The fact that you are here is most troubling however. The seal protecting this portion of the castle should not have failed." He stopped and seemed to look beyond the wall. Then he leaned down so that he was at eye level with Harry. "There are others here now. They are searching for you even as we speak. It would be best if you wait in this pathway for them. The monstrosity cannot reach you here."

"Are you sure it can't get in?"

He smiled again. "I am. I gave my last to protect this path. It will hold against the darkness, and no evil may penetrate here." He stood and glided past him down the stairs. Over one shoulder he said, "Lady Peace would have my head were it any other way." He stopped briefly. "Remember the Solar Song, it has great power over those who are here beyond their time. There are other soul melodies hidden within the walls of the castle. I would advise that they be sought out." Then he turned away, and with a faint chiming sound, vanished.

~~~

"Keep your wands ready at all times!" Ambervale snapped out as he made gesture with one hand. The blank wall before them rippled as though it were puddle, and become faint and misty. "Be warned, if we encounter the beast, it will take a concentrated effort for almost any spell to damage it." He turned to Draco and Hermione. "Mister Malfoy, Miss Granger, please go to the hospital wing at once and alert Madame Pomfrey to be prepared for our arrival, and wait there for our return." They both nodded and dashed away.

As she sighted down her wand, Charity frowned. "Why are they waiting for us?"

Ambervale scowled. "I'd prefer that they assure themselves of their friend's safety. Less hassle on all parts." He hefted the axe. "Be alert. The beast is very adept at stealth. And stay in pairs of two minimum."

The Dark Maiden gave a rather dangerous looking smile. "I'll go it alone, thanks all the same. There's not much it could do to me as I am. And I can go through walls." She floated up above their heads, looking around. "If I spot Harry, I'll let you know."

She started to fly off, but paused when Ambervale spoke. "Harry? As in Harry Potter?!" he snapped.

She nodded. "Yes. Apparently he was upset about something, and ran off after his class. Straight into here somehow. I have yet to get the full story."

Ambervale's expression was unreadable. "I see." His tone was clipped and cold, and upon hearing it, Professor Burbage carefully edged away from him. He hefted his axe and scowled. "Go then. Hurry."

Pamela was gone through a wall before he finished speaking.

~~~

The problem with being in the dark, Harry found, was that it was too dark for his liking. Without the being, whatever he was, there was nothing to keep the darkness at bay. And after what he'd just seen, Harry found he had no desire for the pitch-blackness. Then there was a faint chirp from his robes. Whimsy rose from his pocket, seeming to shiver as he did so.

The tiny creature twitched in midair. Harry blinked as he felt a strange pressure seem to build around them. Then he heard a faint chiming sound. As it faded, so did the pressure. However, Whimsy, or his feathers at any rate, began to glow.

In a few seconds, the tiny avian was shining like a beacon, bathing the hall in a small, but tangible pool of light.

Harry felt his jaw trying to drop. Reaching a finger out to stroke Whimsy's head, he thought. "You're amazing, you know that?" The snidget let out a rather smug sounding chirp.

They both froze when the faint sound of a door creaking open came from farther down the hall, Whimsy dropping to land on Harry's shoulder. Harry bit his lip, waiting for something to happen.

Something did. Though not from where he expected. There was an earsplitting shriek of some kind from behind them, followed by the sound of a muffled impact.

Deciding that whatever was up ahead could hardly be as bad as what was behind them, Harry ran for it. As weird as it was, the being had said, "Evil cannot penetrate here." Harry was willing to take his chances with that.

~~~

Once the Dark Maiden was gone, they split up into groups. Ambervale himself was with Professor Burbage and Hagrid, who had been afraid of the possibility of him trampling poor Professor Flitwick.

Though she wouldn't say it out loud, Charity was glad the giant man was with them. His very presence was reassuring to have. Instead she asked, "What can actually hurt this thing?"

Ambervale scowled. "Not much." He whispered. "It's naturally resistant to magic itself, so it's generally better to cast at something other than the beast." He hefted his weapon. "My axe however, can wound it rather easily. It is the sort of monstrosity it was designed to combat." After stopping to peer around a corner he said, "However, it absolutely detests light, sunlight in particular. Almost any light spell can deter it, so long as it's sufficiently bright."

Hagrid let out a low growl. "And Harry can't cast any magic! He's a goner in here for sure!"

~~~

The room obviously hadn't seen any use for a very long time. The dust lay so thick that everything looked dull and gray. It reminded Harry very strongly of Ollivander's shop. Whimsy darted into the room, dust trails sparkling around the tiny glowing wings.

Harry followed the bird, trying very hard not to sneeze, and nearly went head over heels when he tripped on something lying on the floor. He saw a moldy looking curtain hanging on one wall. There was evidently a window behind it, as the fabric was glowing slightly with what looked like ordinary sunlight.

Making his way over to it, Harry grasped the aged silken fabric and yanked it aside. Sunlight streamed into the room, mixing with the billowing cloud of dust that escaped from the sheet.

As the cloud finally settled, Whimsy stopped glowing, and started flying about the room, inspecting things now that they were properly lit. Harry glanced around and found the object that had tripped him. Now that he could see it properly, he discovered it to be a broken table. The top was propped up against one leg. He flinched when a muffled explosion came from somewhere underneath the room, followed by a roar. Thankfully, it sounded far away.

~~~

Professor Ambervale peered around another corner. "Be as quiet as possible." He whispered. "The creature makes nary a sound when it doesn't want to, and it can move at ridiculous speeds."

All three of the flinched when a seeming war-cry erupted from behind them, and they turned just in time to catch the Dark Maiden tearing down the corridor, fists blazing with mage flame. She hurtled around the corner at breakneck speed. "Chew on this, you misbegotten nightmare!" There was a wash of heat as an explosion ripped through the halls, shaking dust and grime from the stones.

As a hideous shrieking roar sounded, Ambervale shook his head. "So much for stealth." He muttered. Then, hefting his axe, he dashed forward to join the fight, Charity and Hagrid right behind him.

~~~

Harry leaned back against the table leg, accidentally knocking into the table top. He managed to catch it before it fell over. To his surprise, some of the dust wiped away to reveal a shiny surface. Curious, he flipped a sleeve over one hand and started rubbing at the table top in earnest.

He had cleared a patch the size of his fist in the center when the table top suddenly said, "Well! It's about damn time!" Harry nearly dropped the object when he found the cleared space was no longer empty. Instead, an enormous eye was staring at him, looking rather peeved.

Charity nearly shrieked when she caught her first glimpse of the beast. Then she rallied herself. "Lumos Solem!"

As radiant sunlight poured from the wandtip, the creature backed steadily away. Then it hooked a leg into nearby door, and with a swift motion, jerked it from its hinges and sent it flying at her. Charity barely managed to duck underneath it. Hagrid caught it mid-flight and flung it back with all the force he could muster. It flew with astonishing speed, and impacted with the creature, splintering to pieces and sending it tumbling back.

Something white and vaguely blade shaped zipped overhead, impacting with the nightmarish face. It let out a shrill squeal, sounding rather like a pig. It clawed at its face as jet black liquid oozed from the cut.

Mahelestro Ambervale deftly stepped around Hagrid, gripping his axe, the blade of which was still glowing. He smiled rather darkly. "Ill met, old foe."

The beast went silent at that, staring at the man unblinkingly.

~~~

The iris of the eye was an orange that bordered on neon. The eye itself also showed no sign of remaining silent. Its voice was a deep bass tenor, though it sounded remarkably grumpy. "Honestly! Do you have any idea just how…" It trailed off suddenly, looking Harry over. "Oh. You're not him." It sounded disappointed.

Harry bit his lip. "Umm…I'm sorry?"

The eye blinked. "For what? Being here?" Then it glanced around. "Speaking of which, this place looks like its seen better days." Its gaze snapped back to Harry. "Hey much as I appreciate what you've already done, would you mind finishing what you started? Monocular vision leaves a lot to be desired."

Harry blinked, then nodded. "Sure." He pulled the object forward and started rubbing in earnest.

The eye crinkled slightly. "Thanks kid." It said.

~~~

The beast was staring at the man in unabashed shock, totally heedless of the blood streaming down its face. Then it hissed, picking itself up off the ground.

Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sinistra, Vector, and Flitwick arrived then, looking slightly winded.

The monster paid them absolutely no attention, its gaze fixed on Ambervale's. It hissed again, sliding into what was definitely a fighting stance.

Ambervale simply smiled and slid into a stance of his own, axe blade glowing white.

~~~

As it turned out, the talking eye was not one at all. Or rather it was an eye, but it was attached to a face and head. Aside from having a distinctly male face, the head was fairly androgynous. The eyes were the only thing that had color; the rest of it was in various shades of milky white. It was rather like being stared down by a bird of prey.

The head made a rolling motion, looking for all the world like someone stretching. Then it looked around the room again. "Eesh! From the looks of it, I've been here a while." It glanced at Harry. "What year is it anyway?"

"Nineteen ninety one."

The head blinked. "Oh. Longer than I thought. A lot longer. Well…you're here, and wearing student robes, so the castle must still be going as a school." Harry stared at it. "I don't suppose you're here because they finally managed to off that psychopathic spider demon?" It didn't sound very hopeful.

"You mean that thing prowling the halls?"

The head sighed. "I'll take that as a no." Then it brightened. "But you still got here, so that's something."

"I don't know how I got here actually. I just read some message and made some kind of music with it, and escaped into here."

"Music?" The head asked sharply. "You mean you cast the Solar Song?"

Harry blinked. "That's what that guy called it too! What is it?"

The head spun like a top and vanished. In its place an image of the sun appeared. From somewhere within the depths of the mirror, the head's voice spoke. "The Solar Song is ancient spell from the soul class of magic. Its music is a celebration of life, growth, and the joy felt by all beings that walk in its warmth." The image vanished as the head returned. "Because of its nature, the dead who are beyond their time can't withstand it, because it reminds them of what they've lost."

The head frowned. "The Solar Song is one of the few things that can cause any significant trouble for the demon." Its frown deepened. "But how did you even find it? This whole portion of the castle was locked away centuries ago to trap it. "

Harry shook his head. "I don't know how I got in here. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going, and the next thing I know, there was a message carved into a wall." He shrugged. "I don't even know how I'm going to get out of here!"

The head grunted. "Oh I can help with that. There's just one thing you gotta do."

Harry stared at it "What's that?"

"Spring me."

Harry blinked. "What?"

"Did I stutter?" The head looked grouchy again. "I want out of this dirt trap. I've been stuck here for centuries, and enough's enough!" It looked at him. "Get me out of here, and I'll help you however I can. And that's an open ended contract you can count on."

Harry felt his eyebrows raise. "Um, alright." He looked the mirror up and down. It was taller than he was. "Erm…how?"

The head blinked. "Well…" It trailed off. After a moment of silence however, it brightened. "I know! I've got a shrinking spell built into me for just such an occasion! It doesn't last very long, but it shouldn't have to"

Harry frowned. "How do I activate it?"

The head grinned. "Easy as pie! Tap the top of me with your wand twice."

Harry did so, and had to scramble to catch the mirror as it abruptly shrank to the size of his fist. "Where to now Mister?"

The tiny head contorted into a brief expression of disgust. "Don't call me mister! My name is Silverius, and that's what I'd prefer, thank you very much." Upon seeing Harry's expression however, Silverius's softened somewhat. "Mister makes me sound like someone more sociable that's all." He grinned. "I'm a grouch, and proud of it"

At this, Harry couldn't help smiling too. "All right then, Silverius it is. My name's Harry."

Silverius grin stayed in place. "Nice to meet ya' kid."

Harry glanced around as Whimsy settled onto his shoulder. "So how do we get out of here?"

The mirror let out a curious humming sound that made Harry's ears throb. Then it seemed to flash. As the humming noise faded, Silverius said triumphantly, "Got it!" He looked inordinately pleased with himself. "Thanks to you, my powers are starting to come back on. We should get going while the coast is clear." He frowned in concentration. "It looks like that psychopathic man-eater's run smack into a group of about nine. And they look like they'll actually be able to give it something to fuss about!"

~~~

Ambervale tightened his grip as the monster before him stared him down.

Then demon creature let out a roar and swiped one of its clawed hands back, then flung it forward, releasing something that was black as night and sending it flying towards the counselor.

Ambervale brought the axe up fast as lightning. The dark mass impacted on the blade and exploded in a mass of shadow and noise. Behind him, the Dark Maiden lobbed some kind of golden yellow spell through the faint haze. It collided with a second projectile from the demon and caused it to implode with a horrid squelching sound. "Fight it with light and nature!"

The monster hissed and swung a leg into a nearby wall, neatly breaking a chunk of stone several feet wide out of it and sending it flying towards them. A quick spell from Septima Vector caused it to explode mid-flight. Professor Flitwick was already casting a charm, and before the rubble made it to the ground, it began to glow.

The glowing chunks of stone pulled out of their free-fall and took off back towards the monster, harrying its head like a pack of oversized fireflies. The beast let out a sound of annoyance and swiped at them.

It was effectively distracted from them when Professor Sinistra fired off a spell that shot straight into its open mouth and exploded with a muffled whump. It reared back with a scream, several teeth falling to the ground.

Professor Sinistra looked rather pleased. "Not so spell-proof on the inside I see!" They could all see a definite gap in the beast's teeth where the spell had blown them out.

She was forced to dodge away when the demon set its sights squarely on her and charged. Fast as she was, it still managed to put a deep gash into one leg. As it turned to strike at her again, a ridiculously overpowered expulsion spell from the headmaster caught it square in the chest, sending it flying backwards to smack hard into a wall.

Professor McGonagall sent some kind of spell towards the flying stones, and they morphed into what appeared to be gargoyles, though they still glowed. With a sharp swipe of her wand, they launched themselves at the demon.

For its part, the demon proved to be more than capable of brawling at close range. One of the gargoyles was sliced in half. A second one lost its head.

While it was distracted with the remaining creatures, Professor Vector raised her wand and drew a shining symbol in midair. The symbol rose above her head and pulsed. Then brilliant light started pouring out of it.

This was evidently the last straw. The demon hissed and spread its arms. A wall of solid black shot towards them, obliterating the gargoyles as it went.

Ambervale leaped in front of them, axe blade glowing again. There was a metallic screeching sound as the wall collided with the blade. The counselor grunted as he was forced back several steps, the walls cracking and dust falling from the ceiling. Professor Vector drew another rune in midair. This one let out what looked to be a stream of magenta energy which hit the wall and spread, like water over a floor.

Professor Ambervale smiled grimly and drew back before making a mighty chop with the axe. The glowing blade cleaved through the wall as if it were so much tissue paper. There was a rushing sound, and the blackness disintegrated in a blast of air.

Down the hall, the demon hissed. It hunched in on itself and a vortex of shadows sprouted up around it. There was another blast of air, and it vanished, the shadows spinning away to dissolve into nothingness.

In the sudden ringing silence, Charity swallowed. "Is it…dead?"

Ambervale shook his head. "Doubt it. Far too resilient for that. More likely gone to lick wounds somewhere." He turned to Professor Vector. "Thank you for assistance. What was the second rune?"

Professor Vector's lips twitched. "Believe it or not, it was an anti-dementor seal." She shrugged when the others stared at her. "It's supposed to seal areas against dark influences. That or seal the dark influences in. I don't know what made me think of it."

Ambervale tapped his lips. "Hmm. Seems like downgraded version of castle seal." Behind him, Hagrid finished bandaging Professor Sinistra's leg and stood.

Helping her to her feet he said, "Tha's best I can do fessor'."

The astronomy professor smiled. "Thank you Hagrid. I think I'll be fine now."

Ambervale frowned. "Nevertheless, should still see Poppy about it. Creature's claws are highly dangerous. Anyone else hurt?"

Charity shrugged. "Just a few scrapes and bruises from the rubble and whatnot."

When there was a general murmur of assent Ambervale said, "Good. Only leaves us with finding Mister Potter now."

Professor McGonagall dusted her hands. "You don't think that thing will attack again?"

The counselor shook his head. "Unless inadvertently run across hiding place, no. It's outmatched against all of us at once, and knows it."

The Dark Maiden frowned. "That's all well and good, but we still have no idea where Harry is."

"He is in the hidden halls beyond the enchanted window." Everyone whipped around to face the golden apparition standing near one wall. "Though for how long is debatable. He seems to be on the move again."

A brief smile lit the counselor's face. "Drear."

The apparition smiled faintly in return. "Mahalestro. Still among the bodied I see." Spotting the Dark Maiden, He gave her a short bow. "My lady."

Giving him a nod, she said, "It's good to see your face again Drear." She frowned. "You said he's in the halls guarded by the enchanted window?"

The golden being inclined his head. "Yes. He may not be there much longer however; I can feel his magical signature moving."

Pamela clapped her hands decisively. "Then we'd better get moving! I'll meet you lot inside!" With that, she darted up through the ceiling.

Professor Ambervale sighed. "As the rest of us cannot do that, I suggest we walk to the nearest entrance. Quickly."

~~~

"This is the spot?" He held up the mirror so it could see.

After a moment it said, "Yup. That's it alright." The head spun in place for a moment. "Ok, once this thing is open, you'll have a straight shot at the nearest seal." Silverius spun again. "Alright, see those four red bricks? You need to tap them with your wand in a certain pattern."

The mirror suddenly began shining with a brilliant ruby red light. "Hold it!" Silverius shouted. Harry jumped so badly he almost dropped him. Silverius winced. "Er, sorry. That demon is just on the other side, and boy is it ticked!" He sounded pleased. "Seems your little rescue party gave it what for!"

"Is it dying?"

Harry felt his hopes drop when Silverius snorted. Loudly. "Fat chance I'm afraid. It's pretty resilient." Then the face blinked. "But maybe not as much as I thought."

Harry frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

Silverius glowed. "I think one of your professors missed their calling. One of them managed to a blow a hole in its teeth. Here's me thinking something like that was impossible."

Then he seemed to shake himself. "But that's beside the point. An animal's never more dangerous than when it's wounded, and the same principle applies here. We need to go a different way. Head back through the door and hang a left."

Harry turned to do so. Then he froze as something rocketed into the hall.

It crashed into a dust ridden torch sconce and exploded with a whump of displaced air, sending centuries of accumulated gray powder flying, and setting the sconce ablaze with writhing magenta and green flames.

Harry felt something seeming to well up inside him. Another projectile came rocketing down the hall, lighting another sconce. This time it was accompanied by a faint shout. "Harry? If you can hear me, make some noise!"

The feeling seemed to explode inside his chest, burning brighter than the torches. Doing the only thing he could think of, he put his fingers to his lips and whistled as hard as he could.

Instantly a flurry of the fireballs came zooming down the halls, homing in on the unlit braziers and sconces, and bathing the hallway in multicolored warmth. Then something much larger than the fireballs came haring towards the little group. It was Pamela, seeming to be going faster than the fireballs she had thrown.

She stopped so suddenly that she appeared to almost turn inside out, her body nothing but misty fog from the waist down. "Thank goodness!" She looked intensely relieved. "And you look like you're in one piece thankfully! Are you hurt?"

Harry shook his head. "Just a few scratches really."

Pamela frowned upon seeing the bedraggled looking quill. "Well, we'll still take you to see Madame Pomfrey anyway, being as we need to take Professor Sinistra too. But what in Merlin's name happened to your quill?"

"Professor Snape did something to it. I thought it was busted, but it came back when I needed it."

Pamela's lips quirked, her hands on her misty hips. "Well of course it did! Mahalestro's magic doesn't go down without a fight! It'll take more than some simple little spell to fry one of his enchantments!" Then she glanced at the wall behind him. "I see you found one of the exits. Mahalestro and the rest are on their way, but perhaps we can meet up with them."

"Not that way! That thing is just on the other side!"

Pamela frowned and cautiously stuck her head through the wall. Drawing it back she said, "So it is. But how did you know that?"

"Silverius told me."

Pamela blinked. "Silverius told you?" She frowned. "I think you'd better tell me everything from the beginning."

Silverius himself interrupted before Harry could respond. "Ain't got time for that! The shrink spell isn't gonna last much longer, and it can't be re-activated for another twenty four hours. Best we be outta here before that happens, as I can guarantee it won't be fun lugging my overweight self around."

Pamela took a look at the mirror in Harry's hand. Then a flash of something darted across her face. All she did however, was smile broadly. "Nonsense! You've never heard of a hover charm?"

Silverius grimaced. "Heard of it? Yes. Approve of it? No. Most spells cast on me give out pretty quick anyway."

Pamela frowned. "Probably from magical interference." She muttered. More loudly she said, "Alright then, can you tell us the fastest route to meet up with the others?"

Silverius grunted. "Without running into old psycho spidey? Hang a left and then go through the third door on the right."

Pamela smiled again. "Excellent! Let's go kiddo!" With that she grabbed his free hand and charged forward, Whimsy trailing in their wake.

Professor Ambervale stopped them in front of a seemingly empty stretch of wall. "This is nearest entrance. This portion was placed under different protection than the rest." He drew his wand. "Let's see, was two taps east, then three west, one north, and five south I think."

He had gotten no further than the second tap when there was a sudden rumbling from the bricks. He stepped back quickly as the wall split in two and began to swing outward.

"See kiddo? Two east, three west, one north, and five south." She frowned as the wall came to stop. "It's a bit of a skeleton key thing really. The same combo will override all of the trick doors and stairs, and a fair majority of the regular doors too. Very handy if you get caught in one of them and they don't want to let you go."

"It does not work on the main staircases, however." Professor McGonagall said crisply.

"It does for the one that touches down on the entrance hall landing." The Headmaster said. "I was forced to put it in place in July, when it developed a nasty habit of trying to throw people towards their destination. It gave me a rather vigorous flight up to the fifth floor." He looked down at Harry and winked. "But I doubt many others would appreciate the method of travel." He smiled lightly as Harry grinned. "It's good to see you in one piece Harry."

Harry, for his part, was trying to take in the large number of people grouped in the little hall. As before, Hagrid, looming up in the back of the group, looked far too large to be allowed.

Professor Sinistra limped out from behind the Headmaster. Harry could see a rather large bandage wrapped around one leg. "What do you say we get out of this place and down to the infirmary before anything else happens?" She grimaced. "I don't really fancy another fight with that nightmare reject, and we've been in here all night. I for one could do with something to eat and a nap."

Professor Ambervale actually laughed. "Agreed." He glanced at Harry. "You should come too. Have two friends waiting to make sure you're alright." When Harry nodded, he smiled. "This way."

He led them down a side corridor and stopped in front of a wall. The bricks were glowing a faint white. He made a gesture with his wand and the bricks vanished. "Quickly, before they return." The group hustled through the archway. Ambervale, who was the last, turned and made another gesture. The brick wall returned with a crunch and a loud bang. Then he drew a deep breath. "Now for more dangerous part of the day." His lips twitched at the glances he was receiving. "Now we enter Poppy's domain."

Harry couldn't' help feeling apprehensive when every single adult, with the exception of Pamela, gulped.

~~~

Madame Pomfrey was every bit as stern as Professor McGonagall, but she seemed to take it in a different direction.

"You're to keep this wrapped for the next three days, and if I catch you walking on it, I'll stick you to a broom." She told Professor Sinistra. The astronomy professor simply rolled her eyes, looking bored.

Having already declared the rest of the professors as perfectly healthy, and subsequently dismissed them from her infirmary to eat breakfast, the only ones left aside from Harry and Professor Sinistra were Pamela and Professor Ambervale. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry could see the two of them talking with Draco and Hermione, whom the matron had yet to allow near him.

His thoughts were interrupted by Silverius. "Oy! Spell's wearing off! Get me down on something big, quick!"

Harry hurriedly put the mirror onto the empty bed next to him. He was just in time. No sooner had the mirror touched the bed, than it gave off a blinding flash of light and reverted to its original height of nearly five feet.

Silverius grunted. "Little help please? Ceiling's lovely, but it's not much to look at." Harry nodded and with some assistance from an intrigued Professor Sinistra, propped the mirror up against the headboard. "Thanks."

"He what?!" They all looked over to see Pamela, floating in midair, and looking ready to breathe fire. "That tears it!" She whirled around. "I'll be back soon." she snapped, and blazed through the doors in a billow of roiling fog, looking rather like a thundercloud set to unleash its electric fury.

Madame Pomfrey clucked disapprovingly. "Such a temper on that creature." She said.

"But well warranted this time." Professor Ambervale said as he joined them. He had a rather strange expression on his face, and it was a few moments before Harry realized it was anger. It vanished as he looked at them. "How is he?"

The mediwitch folded her arms. "To be honest, I don't really know. He's more or less immune to most of my diagnostic spells for some reason. The only thing I can say for certain is that his magical levels are severely depleted."

"Direct result of using the Solar Song." Silverius said suddenly. "Soul magic of that magnitude doesn't exactly roll off the wand you know."

Harry found himself forced down on the hospital bed. "Soul magic?" Madame Pomfrey's wand was out and glowing, running up and down his body at high speed.

When it finally stopped, Harry found himself quite unable to get up. Professor Sinistra snorted. "Really Poppy, was a sticking charm necessary?"

The mediwitch huffed. "You don't know the students like I do! Turn your back for a second and they'll be gallivanting all over creation!"

Professor Sinistra merely shook her head and drew her wand. "I think you can trust him not to gallivant about. Finite"

Harry sat up in relief. Being flat on his back was not a position he liked.

Madame Pomfrey looked as though she were about to re-apply the spell when Professor Ambervale calmly held up a hand. "Injuries not that severe. No need to make things uncomfortable."

The mediwitch huffed, but put her wand away. "Oh all right." She grumbled. "But he's to be on bed rest for today and tomorrow!" She frowned. "We'll have to put off your check-up for a bit I'm afraid." She told Harry. "You're one of those rare cases who're immune to the majority of standard testing charms. I'll need to get some specialized equipment in. I'll send you a notice when it's ready."

Harry nodded. "Erm, do I have to stay here, Professor Pomfrey?"

She actually laughed in response. "I'm Madame Pomfrey, Mister Potter. I don't really teach classes." She frowned slightly. "In answer to your question however…" She rubbed her chin. "You don't seem to be seriously injured, and you don't hurt anywhere do you?" When Harry shook his head she sighed slightly. "Well…alright. I suppose you can return to your tower, provided that you stay in bed. Your magical energy has been severely depleted, and too much more stress could cause it to burn out. In most cases, your magic would eventually return, but there are some who were so badly damaged they were rendered powerless."

Upon seeing Harry's somewhat frightened expression, she shook her head. "Don't worry, you aren't anywhere near that stage. Your magic levels just took a nosedive that's all."

Professor Ambervale muttered something and jabbed his wand at a chair, which promptly transformed into a rather plush looking armchair and trundled over to Professor Sinistra, allowing her to clamber into it.

She nodded her thanks and swished her wand, Causing the chair to turn towards the entrance. Over one shoulder she said to Harry, "Considering the circumstances, I think I can let you safely skip out of tonight's class. Just make sure you read up on the phases of the moon before our next one."

Harry nodded. "Yes ma'am."

She smiled and left, the sound of the chair's wooden feet echoing behind her.

Professor Ambervale helped Harry to his feet. "Come. I shall escort you to tower. Can have breakfast there."

"Can you bring Silverius?" He indicated the mirror. "Or am I not allowed to have a magic mirror?"

The counselor's lips twitched. "There's nothing in rules against owning a mirror, magic or otherwise." He said. Then he looked closer. "Appears to be quite an antique."

"Watch who you're calling an antique bub!" Silverius snapped. "I'm just as good as any of your newer models!"

"A good antique, I meant." The man said soothingly. To Harry he said, "There's very few mirrors of his age still around, and perhaps none in as fine a condition."

"Got that right." Silverius sounded smug. "You'd be surprised what I can do too."

"Yes, well…" Ambervale drew his wand again. "Suspensus." The mirror promptly rose off the bed. Gesturing towards the door, he said, "Ready when you are, Mister Potter." When Harry nodded, he flicked his wand at the mirror. "Moto." Guiding it in front of him, the strange trio left the hospital wing, Hermione and Draco badgering Harry with questions as they went.

~~~

It was in the middle of his class of first year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws that Severus felt his day had begun to go south. It started when an alarm went off on his desk, signifying an intrusion in his office.

Given that worst the color changing potion could do when it was bollixed up was smell like bad eggs, he placed a monitoring charm on them and left to catch the miscreant.

The intruder was nowhere to be seen, but the office was a madhouse. Papers were scattered everywhere, and ink dripped from practically every surface. Most of his books were stuck to the ceiling, and his desk appeared to have suffered from the special attentions of what appeared to be a hexed hand axe. The sharp implement was currently hacking away at one of his bookcases, evidently feeling it had exhausted all its available options where the desk was concerned.

Severus had to admit it had done a fairly thorough job, as the desk looked like nothing so much as a pile of kindling. He glanced up at a sharp creaking sound, and had just enough time to glimpse a bucket before something wet and sticky cascaded over him. As he sputtered, there was a whump of displaced air, and a positively enormous pile of assorted feathers smacked down on him.

Then there was a brilliant flash of light. He opened his eyes to find a camera not more than twenty feet away from him. Before he could do more than draw his wand, it hurtled past him at breakneck speed and zoomed down the hallway.

Feeling some of his self-control slip, Severus vanished the feathers and liquid with an angry wave of his wand. Then he whirled and reduced the hand axe to tiny pieces with a blasting curse.

Before he had time to do anything else, the monitoring charm he had left in place went off, signifying trouble in his classroom.

With an explosive growl, Severus stalked from the office and subjected the door to the strongest locking spells he knew.

The first thing he saw was that the classroom was largely unchanged, aside from a peculiar looking fog that spanned the ceiling. The students appeared not to notice him at first, and after following their gaze, Severus understood why.

Up on the board a piece of chalk was calmly adding a sentence to his name. It had left the "Professor Snape" part alone, but it had thus far added, "is a temperamental, gargoyle nosed, bat faced, slimy son of a b –" He growled and blasted the chalk before it could finish the sentence.

"Back to work!" he snapped. Then he turned his attention to the ceiling. The first two spells had absolutely no effect, and the third simply bounced. The fog finally faded away on the fourth attempt. He turned back to the board to find that another stick of chalk had taken over for the first.

It had taken finished the first sentence, and proceeded to write a long paragraph that mused about his uncanny resemblance to a troll's backside. He growled and sent it to join its fellow in the oblivion of dust. Then he was infuriated to discover that absolutely no spell would remove anything either one had written, and refused to respond to the eraser either.

Then there was a shriek from one of the Hufflepuffs. He whirled around to find the ladle from her cauldron had risen and was calmly flicking excess potion at the ceiling. Then it turned and focused unerringly on him.

Not wishing to risk a blasting spell that close to a student, Severus was forced to grab an unused ladle from his desk and bring it up in a hasty block. The apparently vindictive ladle proceeded to attack with a ferocity he hadn't seen since the last wizarding war.

Within seconds, he found himself engrossed in a fierce fencing match. The opposing instrument gave no quarter and fought fiercely, driving him into the center of the room. Finally spotting an opening, Severus swung as hard as he could, sending the possessed object flying. He sighed and set his own ladle down, drawing his wand.

This proved to be a mistake. One of the Ravenclaw's behind him gasped. He turned to find her cauldron had now risen into the air. Before he could attempt to vanish it, the cauldron drew back and let fly with its contents, students shrieking and scrambling to get out of its way.

The ladle reappeared suddenly, sending his wand flying out of his hand, and smacking him sharply on the nose. The potion hit him head on, drenching him thoroughly from head to toe. There was a flash of light, and an almighty bang as the potion took effect.

His once black robes were now a brilliant gold, the cloak a deep red. His shoes too, he saw. His hair had turned gold as well, and from what he could see, his skin had changed to a brilliant shade of ruby.

Severus Snape had just become a Gryffindor.

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.

"Let's get you back on solid ground dear." The woman said. With that she reached her other hand down and gently hauled him back up.

Setting him down beside her, she turned to face the skeletons. Harry was surprised to see them standing at attention, like soldiers in an army.

The woman seemed to understand their behavior. Clasping her hands together, she said, "You've done your duty and done it well for so long. This one is no threat." Pink light began to pulse from her clasped hands. Then she flung her arms wide apart, sending the light flying towards them. "Please, you have earned your rest. Be free of your bindings!"

The light exploded in a cloud of pink sparkles, swirling about the creatures like a vortex. As smoke began rising from their bones, the skeletons made no move to escape. If anything, they stood a little straighter. Then as the glow began to fade to from their eyes, the leader rapped its spear against the ground.

As one, the entire squadron dropped to one knee and saluted the woman. Then they rose and drew their swords. They pointed them at her, before holding them up in the air. Then the blades were swung together, colliding with a loud and distinct clash of metal, and forming into an odd sort of fan shape, the leader's spear held aloft in the exact center.

The light intensified, as did the smoke. The skeletons held their pose as they dissolved away into nothing, their weapons falling to the ground, and fading away as they did so.

The woman smiled down at Harry and put an arm on his shoulder. Harry suddenly realized she was holding a large umbrella, though where she had gotten it from, and when, he had no idea. "What do you say we get out of this rain dearie? The others are over there." She pointed to a cave like opening a short way off where a group of people were standing, apparently watching them.

The woman turned, and kneeling down, held out a hand to him. "I know you must be scared right now. But I promise you, I'll make sure you're alright. You just need to have a little courage. Even the worst of creatures respect courage when they know it's true."

Okay, so this isn't exactly like my dream. Harry thought. But I think she's probably the best chance I have. He nodded and took her hand.

She beamed sunnily at him and rose, gently steering him towards the others, stopping briefly to pick something up from the spot the skeleton leader had disappeared.

As they walked, Harry took the opportunity to examine her. She was ridiculously tall, perhaps even taller than the headmaster, who was the tallest Harry had seen thus far, Hagrid notwithstanding. She had white gloves that went all the way to her elbows, and her outfit was the most unusual he had seen yet. She was wearing a gown that was in varying shades of pink. The top had rather large puffed sleeves, and a sapphire blue brooch of some kind was set in the center, outlined by what was perhaps gold. The bottom half of the gown flared out rather like a bell as it passed her hips. It was mainly the same shade as the top half, but there was a wide band of much deeper pink that came a good ways up from the hem. He even managed to catch a glimpse of pink high heeled shoes. The gown was cinched at the waist with a belt of fabric that was nearly purple, though this was mostly hidden by what looked like nothing so much as an ammunition belt.

The woman giggled suddenly. "Gracious, I bet I'm quite the sight to you!" When he nodded carefully, she laughed outright, a merry but refined sound. Just hearing it made Harry feel a little better. "Well, I won't deny that I'm a bit out of place dear, but probably no more than you yourself are."

They reached the mouth of the cave, and the woman closed the umbrella with a snap and gave it a shake before pushing it into a pocket of her belt around her west. Harry watched as it shrank to fit.

"Another stray you've picked up Madame?" Harry's attention snapped to the speaker. He was a tall man with short, wiry looking brown hair. He was wearing a rather fancy vest, and the pants were much the same. He passed a hand through his hair, and Harry saw that he wore a number of rings, as well as a gun of some kind on his hip. He sighed. "Really, haven't you learned your lesson yet?"

The woman gave him a look. "Oh, do stow it Balthier. I couldn't let him plummet to his doom could I?"

"Yes."

She fixed him with a rather stern look. "No, I couldn't. And you know that you couldn't have either." When Balthier muttered something and looked away, she gave a decisive nod. "I didn't think so." As a strange black spherical creature bounced over and sniffed at Harry, she said mildly, "Easy now Ironfang, he's no threat." The creature gave a strange metallic sounding bark and bounced away to rest at her side. The woman smiled at it. Then she glanced up and stepped back slightly to make room as someone behind Balthier stepped forward.

Harry found himself looking at what appeared to be a seven foot, white haired humanoid rabbit wearing what looked like nothing so much as a metal bikini. He supposed he could call it armor, except he had never seen anything that covered so little. There was even a veil of sorts attached to the chest region.

The rabbit creature eyed him for a moment, then kneeled in front of him. "Are you alright?" She, for the voice, while high and somewhat nasal, was undoubtedly female, looked him over, before meeting his eyes.

Noting the massive bow hanging on her back, Harry wasn't sure whether a yes or no was in order. His body felt alright, but his brain had obviously been damaged. Finally he settled for, "Probably."

Professor Ambervale's magic quill was still working, to Harry's great relief, but it was obviously on its last legs, or fletches rather. Whatever had brought him here had apparently damaged it beyond anything Professor Snape could have done. The quill was bent and mutilated looking, and the words it wrote were shaky and crumpled looking.

The entire group eyed the floating letters. The woman tapped her lips thoughtfully. Then she spotted the dismayed expression on Harry's face. "I'm going to make a wild guess that you can't speak, and that device is what allows you to communicate."

Harry nodded, feeling forlorn. "If the quill stops working, I don't know what I'm gonna do."

The woman pursed her lips in thought. After a moment she said, "I may have a solution, but we need to get out of the open before we can try it. I'd rather we didn't attract any more attention. One set of those undead soldiers were enough."

"You mean there's more?"

One of the others laughed, a rather tall blonde man with a scraggly beard. "There's plenty of the undead roaming these mines, I'm afraid."

The other man, Balthier snorted. "Fortunately, the Madame's magic seems to be uniquely qualified for use here."

An enormous thunderclap drowned out whatever the woman said in response. Glancing up at the rapidly darkening sky, she frowned. "I don't know how strong the barrier is, but I doubt it'll be able to hold out much longer. If that hurricane breaks through, then Bhujerba is doomed." A blast of lightning arced down. There was a high pitched screeching sound, like metal against metal, and the electricity arced away in in strange jumping loops across the sky. "At this rate, we won't even be able to get away from the island."

"Is there anything we can do?" This came from a teenager that appeared to be about the same age as the woman, and with rather similar looks.

The woman frowned for a moment. Then she brightened. "I have an idea." She looked at a younger looking boy with jet black hair standing off to one side. "You said there was a paling of some kind that prevents monsters and natural disasters from affecting the miners right?" When he nodded, she smiled. "Then perhaps we can use it to disrupt the storm enough to make it dissipate."

The boy blinked at her, looking startled. Then in an oddly cultured voice he said, "I never even considered that." He grinned. "It would mean we risk unleashing some dangerous creatures into the mines, but it might just work."

"I think it is a risk that may well have to be taken." The rabbit woman said. She drew her bow. "Where can we find the source of the paling?"

"It's not far from here. Unfortunately, if what I've been hearing from the locals is true, then some unusual and dangerous creatures have been making their homes along the route. We'd best be prepared for them."

The others nodded and as one, began trekking off. As they walked, the woman glanced down at Harry. "I suppose a good round of introductions are in order dearie. What's your name?"

"Harrison Potter ma'am. But please call me Harry"

She smiled. Well then Harry, we'll go from the top. That fellow over there with the gun is Balthier, and the Viera is Fran. She indicated the rabbit like woman. The two of them are Sky Pirates apparently." She pointed to the blonde bearded man. "That gentleman is Basch von Rosenburg. He's also known as Kingslayer, or some nonsense like that."

The blonde teenager next to her grinned. "I'm Vaan. And over there is Lamont." He pointed to the raven haired boy. Then he pointed at an odd little man Harry hadn't seen. He stood about five feet tall and had white hair that had an occasional strange red spot in it. "That's Tundry." The little man gave a wave.

The woman smiled. "My name is Peach Toadstool." She pointed a hand at the little black creature bouncing along beside her. "This is Ironfang. He's a Chain Chomp." Her smile morphed into a grin. "And I have the dubious honor of having the strangest name, I assure you."

Harry couldn't help it, he grinned back.

Peach nodded in what seemed to be satisfaction. "That's much better dear. I find troubles are much easier to handle if you can meet them with a smile on your face." She glanced at the tunnels ahead. "I can tell you've got plenty of magic in you, though it seems twisted about somehow in a way it shouldn't. Can you cast any offensive spells?"

Harry frowned. "Just one that's any good, and I don't think it works on anything that's umm…natural."

Peach tilted her head at him. "What do you mean by natural?"

Harry shrugged. "The description when I found it just said, "Spirits of death and darkness wander where they do not belong. Bring them calm through the power of the Solar Song." I think it's not meant for anything that's already living."

To his surprise, Peach nodded in agreement. "I think you're right. It sounds like a special magical song that a warrior friend of mine can play, the Sun's Song. If they are similar, then it won't do anything to living creatures, except perhaps blind them for a moment. Undead though, are another story. The Sun's Song can paralyze them, or even destroy them if they're weak enough. Maybe your Solar Song can do the same, though it sounds as if it may have a bit more range of effect."

Harry shrugged again. "I don't know, I couldn't really try it on anything. I just know that casting it takes a lot out of me."

Peach pursed her lips. "Well, we'll find out when we find out, I suppose." She drew what looked like a gold stick topped with a sparkling pink jewel from a loop at her waist. "Until we can figure something out, stick with me dear." She gave the stick a sharp flick, and a pink light of some kind started crackling over the jewel. "I won't be letting anything get at you without dealing with me first."

With that, she pushed a rather startled Harry behind her and set off. Harry blinked and tried to swallow the strange feeling that rose up inside him, and followed her.

They had only gone a short way when Harry heard a rather sibilant voice. "Intrudersss!" It rasped. Harry whipped around. Peach must have heard the voice as well, because she snapped something out to the others ahead of her and ran towards Harry.

Harry felt frozen. In front of him was the largest snake he had ever seen. It reminded him of a cobra, though he had never seen one that was sapphire blue. Nor had he ever seen a snake that appeared to have a hood such as this one. It hissed, then rasped out, "Interlopersss! Nessst hunterssss!"

"Nest hunters?" He and the snake both froze as the quill swooped about, producing a very peculiar hissing noise, accompanied by the strangest writing Harry had ever seen.

The snake creature regarded Harry curiously for a moment. Then it gave a strange jerk of the head. "Not nessst huntersss?"

"I don't think so. Unless your nest is in the middle of the tunnel, we don't plan to bother it."

The snake creature regarded him for another moment, then jerked its head. "Fine. Leave me in peace, I leave you." It paused and gave a strange bob of its head. " Apologiesss for my hassstinesss. Farewell." It cocked its head at him. "Your accccent isss terrible, by the way." Then it turned and left, vanishing down some hidden tunnel.

Behind him, Peach lowered her wand, looking suspicious. "Just like that, it's gone?"

"It said, Leave me in peace, I leave you. I think it was just trying to keep its nest safe."

Peach stared at him. "You mean you could understand it?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. It called us intruders, interlopers, and nest hunters. Then it apologized and left."

Peach frowned. "All I heard was a good deal of hissing." She shrugged. "All the same, that's quite the handy device you have there."

Harry made a face. "I don't think that's supposed to happen. From what I was told, it's supposed to write out what I say in my head. It never translated or made sound before." Granted, it was another thing he had yet to practice, but he was sure Professor Ambervale would have mentioned it.

Peach grinned. "Then I suppose it's your own little talent dear. I'm pretty sure the rest of us just heard a lot of hissing." Harry jumped as she abruptly gave the stick in her hand a sharp flick, sending pink light rocketing out. It shot over his head, close enough to make his hair move. There was a loud bang, followed by a shrill squeal from just behind him.

Startled, Harry turned to find a strange, furry bat-like creature slumped on the ground. "What was that?"

Peach twirled the stick. "Projectile spell." She blinked as Harry shook his head and pointed at the creature. "Oh you meant the monster!" Frowning slightly, she said, "I'm not sure. I think it's a Streeler, or some variant of one. They aren't all that dangerous though, as long as you keep your wits about you." She shrugged eloquently. "Really, I think they're just overgrown bloodsucking bats." She suddenly launched another spell. As another of the beasts squealed, she said, "They are also persistent and annoying. Best we keep going dear."

Harry nodded and slipped up closer to her. The chain chomp, Ironfang, sniffed at him before giving a soft bark and bouncing around to take up the rear. Peach smiled slightly. "I do believe he likes you. He's decided to watch your back. Let's move."

As they caught up with the others the teenager, Vaan, dropped back to match pace with them. "Hey Peach, what were those skeletons doing when you freed them?"

Peach blinked at him. "You mean the thing with their weapons?" When he nodded, she grinned slightly. "A very old salute by Ivalice's standards. Rather a current one by my kingdom's though." She glanced at Harry and bit her lip. Then she sighed. To Vaan she said, "I see no point in trying to hide it from him." She indicated Harry. "Tundry said he wasn't from Ivalice either, and I rather doubt anyone here would believe him anyway."

Then she turned and faced Harry properly. Somewhat formally she said, "My full title is Princess Peach Toadstool, ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. I came here to Ivalice because my own kingdom is in grave danger, and this land holds the key to saving it." She paused to let Harry take this in.

After a moment, Harry bowed to her. The Princess laughed. "No need for that dear. I never insist on such things, and around here it's better if you don't anyway." She leaned closer and said in a stage whisper, "I'm pretty sure they already think I'm crazy as it is."

Vaan laughed. "Only a little Peach." To Harry he said, "Ivalice lost contact with the Mushroom Kingdom over four thousand years ago. The place is just a fairy tale to most people. I' the only one in our group that knows where she's from, aside from Tundry I guess." Then he frowned. "What kingdom do you come from anyway?"

Harry blinked. "Oh, um, England."

Vaan shrugged. "Never heard of it."

To Harry's great surprise, the Princess said, "I'd be astonished if you had Vaan. It's part of a world called Earth, specifically their continent of Europe. The entire place is more or less unaware of our existence."

Harry stared at her. "How did you know that?"

Peach smiled. "This isn't the first time my kingdom's been in danger. I once traveled all over with three of my friends in a quest to liberate it, and we went to Earth on several occasions. Our adventures there are something of an open secret in some places."

She broke off as the chain chomp growled at something up ahead. Seeing where it was staring, she went white. "Balthier! Fran! Stop! Now!"

The two of them, who were in front of the group, skidded to a halt, the man looking slightly annoyed. "What is it, Madame?" he asked, arms crossed.

The princess hurried towards them. "First, call me Peach. Second, get back. Now!" Looking rather nonplussed, the two of them did so. Peach stooped and picked up a large rock. "Watch."

Aiming carefully she tossed it forward. The rock hit the ground and bounced a few times, before landing underneath a row of gray spiky rocks that almost lined the tunnel ceiling. Instantly, the rocks shook and came down with incredible speed, revealing themselves to actually be the bottom of some kind of spiked stone slab. The slab crashed into the ground with a loud grunt and enough force to make the tunnel shake.

As the ground finally ceased shaking, Harry was shocked to see a rather angry looking face glaring at them from the stone.

Balthier had gone a ghastly pale color. "What. Is. That?"

Peach's lips were pursed. "That is a Thwomp. It's also the biggest one I've ever seen. This tunnel has to be nearly thirty feet across."

Basch grunted and drew his sword. "How do you propose we defeat it?"

"Not with a sword, I can tell you that. Thwomps are nearly impervious to almost all weapons."

Balthier put his gun away in disgust. "Then just how are we supposed to get rid of it?"

Peach grinned. "Oh that's easy." She fished about in a pocket of her ammunition belt for a moment. Then she withdrew a shining, flat yellow star with large black eyes. Holding it up she said, "Alright little Starman! It's your time to shine!"

The little object, which Harry guessed was a Starman, began glowing and floated into the air as Peach released it. The glow intensified and the little star swept around her.

For a moment, Peach seemed to flash as though she were under a strobe light. Then it abruptly stopped. Harry was startled to see that the Princess' gown had changed colors. The top was now a brilliant red, the belt and majority of the skirt was now white, and the band of dark pink had become blue. She was also glowing with a faint rainbow colored nimbus.

Peach grinned and cracked her knuckles. "Alright folks, it's time for you to see just what a starman can do!" Her voice had a slight echo to it. Then she charged straight at the brick like creature.

The thwomp's eyes widened as she darted towards it. Then it seemed to struggle to rise, but it had evidently wedged itself in too deep. Peach jumped into the air as she got close and dropped towards it, foot extended in a downward kick. Yellow energy seemed to gather at the edge of her heel, which Harry noticed had changed to a red color.

The kick connected dead in the middle of the thwomp. There was a flash of yellow light as the energy discharged, and a gravelly, grunting roar, accompanied by a cloud of dust. When it finally thinned out, Peach was standing in the midst of a small mountain of rubble.

She grinned. "That's how you get rid of a thwomp!" There was a strange thrumming sound, and she seemed to flash, before fading back into her pink colors.

"Effective." Balthier remarked. "Though a tad short lived."

Peach frowned slightly. "Well it usually lasts much longer. I put all the energy it gave me into that attack though, I wasn't sure a regular strength one would cut it. That thing was massive. It must have been growing undisturbed for decades."

"You don't suppose it's an effect of the magicite in the mines?" Vaan wondered.

Peach pursed her lips. "That's possible I suppose, but it'd take quite a bit. The average thwomp is usually only about as tall as myself. You see, their diet is mainly gravel and metal they grind up from their pounding. Magic doesn't usually factor in. They're a bit like fish in a tank really, they tend to only grow as large as the area they inhabit can support. They're pretty much impervious to magic of all types too, Starmen notwithstanding. It would take quite a powerful spell to make one grow that large."

Balthier sighed as a skeleton suddenly arose from the ground and yattered at them. "I think we have more to fear from the undead roaming the mines than from those behemoths."

The skeleton fell apart in a cloud of smoke as Peach hit it from behind with some kind of light green spell that sparkled. "Cura. It's a healing spell." She said to Harry. To Balthier she said, "I think you're right. Though I can't help but be curious."

"About what?"

Peach glanced at Fran. "The undead wandering this mine. There shouldn't be so many, I don't think."

"What do you mean?"

Peach started climbing over the rubble, gesturing for the others to follow her. Over her shoulder she said, "Well look at it logically. Bhujerba, or the city portion at least, doesn't seem to be more than a few decades old, maybe a century at the most."

"It was founded about ninety years ago." Lamont said suddenly.

Peach nodded emphatically as she landed on the other side of the pile with a sharp click of her heels. "Exactly! But these skeletons seem to be much older, and from what I could tell, the population out there is about one for every three or so skeletons. The discrepancy is too large."

Three skeletons erupted from the ground in front of her, spears and swords waving. They were quickly dispatched by Fran, Basch, and Balthier. Watching them fall apart she said, "And that's another thing. I know they all look pretty much identical, but I could swear I've seen some of them before." She blinked and looked down when Harry tugged on her gown. "Yes dear?"

"Um, do you think they might be getting recycled or something? I mean be getting used again?"

To Harry's alarm, Peach went white. Wordlessly she looked around at the others, eyes wide. Most of them looked much the same, comprehension seeming to dawn on all their faces. Very quietly she said, "You know dear, I think you may have just hit the nail on the head." She clenched one hand into a fist. "No wonder their numbers seem so overwhelming! It's so obvious now! Whenever one is defeated it isn't set free, it's forced to fight again!"

Vaan said slowly, "And whenever anyone dies in the mines, or maybe anywhere in Bhujerba…" He trailed off, eyes widening.

"They likely get caught up by the spell and forced into the same situation as the rest!" Fran finished. The rabbit like woman's face twisted into a mixture of disgust and fury. "It is an unacceptable cruelty, and an abomination to the cycles of life and magic."

Harry shuddered. "I don't like this place. These caves feel like…despair and hatred."

Peach nodded and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know what you mean dear. It's like a mountain of shadow pushing down on you." When Harry nodded she tightened her grip on his shoulder. "Well, don't worry. Now we know what's causing it, thanks to you. And maybe, just maybe, we can put a stop to it."

Balthier snorted as he reloaded his gun. "And how do you propose to do that? Granted, I'm all for it, especially if it rids us of these persistent foes. But I don't exactly see how it's possible."

"I think its close by. The source I mean."

Everyone stared at Harry. After a moment, Lamont said curiously, "What makes you sure?"

Harry shuddered despite himself. "Everything starts feeling colder and darker the farther in we get." He pointed to the route ahead. "It's really bad up there." He shuddered again.

Peach eyed the passage contemplatively. After a moment she said, "Well, I think we can add sensitivity to evil magic to your list of abilities, dear." She drew her odd golden wand. "You stay behind me, Iron Fang, take up the rear." The chain chomp gave a short bark and bounced around to situate itself behind them.

They started off up the tunnel again, Peach out in front. They passed through several caves in quick succession, oddly encountering nothing more than dirt and stone.

As they passed through another cave, Harry felt a strange tingling sensation wash over him. It was not unlike the response he had gotten when he had chosen his wand. Looking ahead, he saw a strange golden light shining out of the other end of the cavern. "What is that?"

"The source of the paling I suspect." Peach said. She eyed the light for a moment. "If it's what I think it is, we may have a better chance than I thought."

Wand poised and ready, she led them towards the source of the light. Harry shuddered as they drew closer. While the tingling grew stronger, and felt warmer, there was another sensation that grew. It felt like a knot of ice, growing stronger as he got nearer.

Then they were suddenly outside in the rain again, though it was more of a drizzle here. He could see a strange shimmering dome of some kind out in the middle of the plateau, covering what looked like a number of glowing objects. They were spread out in a circular pattern that ringed the dome. As they got closer, Harry saw that there was a second ring inside the first and at the very center of the dome was a cluster of much larger objects.

Peach clasped her hands. "I knew it! Power stars, Shine Sprites, and there's even Grand Stars! This is just what we need!" She hurried forward, forcing the others to sprint to keep up with her.

They were nearly halfway to the dome when Harry suddenly felt as though he had been dunked in freezing water. The sensation was so abrupt and alarming that he threw out a hand and caught onto to Peach's dress to keep from falling.

Feeling the tug, the princess stopped. "Are you alright, dear?" She leaned down to look more closely at him.

Harry winced as the cold sensation grew so that he was practically numb, and he was having trouble breathing. He did the only thing he could think of and pulled her forward as hard as he could.

Caught off guard, Peach stumbled forward a few steps, just as a wave of sickly looking black energy roiled up from the ground like smoke with an audible crackle, just where she had been. The Princess whipped around and took one glance at the wall of darkness before scooping Harry up and darting nimbly backwards.

About ten feet back, Harry felt sensation return to his body and signaled to be put down. After a moment of looking as though she'd rather not, Peach set him down. "Are you alright now Harry?"

He nodded shakily. "I think so. It just . . . came on really strong I guess."

Peach frowned. "No surprises there. This must be the source of the spell keeping those souls trapped here." She eyed him speculatively for a moment. "Do you think your sun spell might be able to do something?"

"I-I don't know. I've only used it the once. And that thing's massive!"

Peach smiled. "Half the battle is mustering the courage to try." She eyed the wall of seeming smoke. "And you won't be alone. Do you see that golden light?"

Harry nodded. Despite the thick blackness, an occasional ray of gold burst through, shining like liquid sunlight.

The princess smiled. "That's coming from the Shine Sprites, Power Stars and Grand Stars. They're all special magical items that abhor corruption and its attendant darkness, and will try to remove it the instant they sense it. They're trying to banish this. . . thing, but they need help to do it. They need something to guide them, to tell them how they should focus."

Lightning crashed above them. Harry looked up to see the energy bouncing away in arcs as before, but now there were strange floating cracks in the air, looking for all the world like broken glass.

"The paling's starting to fail!" Harry wasn't sure who spoke, his attention was focused on the cloud in front of him.

Then he jumped when Fran suddenly laid a hand on his shoulder. The rabbit like woman gave him a faint smile, and Harry got the impression he was seeing a very rare sight indeed. "Think of it more in terms of what you have yet to try." She said quietly. "Think of it more as testing your boundaries. And remember that you are never alone. We will be here to support you."

Harry looked around. With the exception of Balthier, who was eyeing the floating cracks in the sky uneasily, everyone was watching him, smiling too. He swallowed hard before nodding. "Alright. I'll try it."

Fran nodded solemnly and stepped back. Harry held up his wand and aimed it at the roiling darkness. As if it could sense what was about to be attempted, it seemed to grow thicker and darker. Harry felt the feeling of ice start creeping back into his chest. It grew steadily worse and he felt his arm shake.

Then hands clapped down on his shoulders. Startled, Harry looked up to find Peach standing behind him, grinning down at him. "Don't let it get to you dear. It's only trying to scare you."

And doing a darn good job. He thought. But he swallowed and nodded, raising his wand again. The icy feeling started again, but this time he could also feel the Peach's firm grip on his shoulders. The tingling from before washed over him, forcing the icy feeling to shrink back. He drew a breath and swung his wand in the upwards skirling motion that he had used before.

A warm sensation blossomed in his chest and exploded outwards. He opened his eyes as he heard the lilting melody from before. Curtains of warm yellow and orange light were sweeping about Peach and himself, shining brighter every second. Then as another ray of golden light shone from the dark cloud, it touched the curtains of light. There was a dull thrumming sensation, and the melody suddenly amplified, becoming more intricate and intense.

Then the curtains swept together and blasted towards the wall of darkness, spiraling into something resembling a corkscrew. It impacted with the wall, sending shining sparks flying.

The wall bent inwards under the force of the blast, and then with a high pitched screech like metal against metal, it splintered and burst open, allowing a veritable nova of gold to blaze through.

A tidal wave of light seemed to crash over him, submerging him in a pleasant, tingling warmth. There was a strange humming sound that scaled up into a veritable orchestra of voices, and numerous shining objects blazed out of the hole in the cloud and began circling around it. Harry could make out large shining stars and what appeared to be circular objects with three spikes coming out of them, the spikes topped with large round knobs.

There was a much louder hum and truly massive stars flew out to hover above the ring of spiked objects and smaller stars. Harry was startled to see that all the objects and stars had large black eyes that were blinking and seemed to be glancing around them.

Then the melody of the solar song increased in volume, and the large ring of stars and objects began to glow brighter and spin about the cloud of dark smoke. They moved faster and faster, seeming to blur into a continuous ring of light. Then small spheres suddenly appeared, spreading up and down the wall before darting inwards, trailing light behind them.

There was a crackle and the smoke was forced into a spherical cage of light. The giant stars began moving now, spinning about the cage, turning slowly as they did so. There was a chiming sound, and the cage became too bright to look at. Then it stretched skyward, morphing into a pillar of light. Over the sounds of the solar song, Harry could hear something that sounded like a chorus of screams. As the light pillar expanded however, he realized they were cheers, hundreds of joyful shouts overlapping each other.

A sound like splintering glass and wood rose up, and the dark smoke exploded, dissipating into the air.

The silence was so abrupt that for a moment Harry wondered if he had gone deaf. The light scaled back down, leaving the area looking almost dim after the extended brightness.

Peach clapped her hands. "Wonderful! That certainly seemed to take care of that! Are you feeling alright Harry?" He nodded, then jumped as lightning smashed down with a tremendous bang, a loud splintering sound accompanying it. Peach squared her shoulders determinedly and drew herself up to her full height. "Good. Now let's see what we can do about this hurricane."

She clasped her hands and closed her eyes in concentration, ignoring the next crash of lightning. Everyone else however, was looking skyward. Looking up, Harry saw that the floating cracks in the sky were much more numerous, and were spread out in a dome shape, arching away in all directions.

Then a sound that reminded him of a harp made him look at Peach. The princess seemed to be glowing very faintly, the stars and objects spiraling around her. She raised her arms skyward and shouted, "Shine Sprites bring us a clear day, end the hurricane that threatens our way!" The strange looking objects, which Harry supposed must have been Shine Sprites, launched themselves upwards, blazing with golden energy. "Power Stars and Grand Stars I beseech thee, protect the city and keep its people free!" This time the stars rocketed upwards, spreading out in all directions as they went.

A deafening blast sounded and the dome above them exploded into glimmering pieces that quickly faded away as another lightning burst hit it. The storm clouds crackled, another blast imminent.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. The lightning discharged just as one of the smaller stars was directly overhead. The star glowed brightly. There was a sound like a hundred candles being blown out at once, and the lightning seemed to freeze, and then dissipated as though it were no more than fog.

Then there was a high pitched whining sound, and one of the giant stars pin wheeled across the sky, trailing faint yellow light like a curtain. It stopped dead overhead, causing the curtain to spiral outwards, growing larger as it did so. There was a faint whooshing sound as the curtain edges touched and promptly sealed together, creating a pale yellow dome of energy over their heads.

More yellow energy spread towards it from all directions, connecting with a faint hiss and significantly expanding the dome. The enormous star dropped down and spun around the group, creating a second shield. Harry, who was more or less in the center, found the star floating directly overhead, oddly expressive black eyes staring at him, blinking slowly.

Harry's first impression was of a starfish, though the similarity ended at the shape. While largely the same as the smaller stars, which Harry supposed must have been the power stars, this one had round spheres at the ends of its points. Aside from this and its truly massive size, they looked the same. Harry gathered this had to be a Grand Star, as nothing could be a more accurate description.

He was distracted from the floating star by a soft white glow to his left. He turned to find Vaan holding some kind of crystal that was pulsing faintly. The glow intensified and the white energy rose and unfolded like a screen. There was a faint crackle, and Harry was suddenly being treated to a cinematic sweeping view of the mines. As he watched, the view swept up a long row of steps and exploded out into open air, and into what could only be described as mass chaos.

People were running in all directions, screaming and covering their heads as massive hailstones pelted down. Several people were trying to herd the rest into a more orderly retreat, but were having a very difficult time.

Harry watched as one of the people, a rather tall looking man, finished shepherding a group into what must have been an underground shelter. Then he turned abruptly and darted out into the open, just in time to grab a child that had actually been lifted by the wind.

The man said something to the child, but all the little girl did was point at the sky. When the man looked, his mouth dropped open.

Obligingly, whatever was giving them their image turned in that direction as well. Harry found himself looking at the mine entrance. A golden glow appeared from behind it, looking like a sunrise. It grew brighter, then fractured into numerous rays. A moment later, Harry realized they were stars, rocketing towards the town like comets.

As they reached the city, the Power Stars scattered in all directions. One blasted down and flew to keep pace with a running group. It twirled and darted down to float ahead of them, filling large gaps in the street with gold, and even levitating a shattered bridge back into place. As the hailstones grew in both size and frequency however, it spun around the group, encasing them in a glimmering yellow bubble.

Another star encased itself in a sphere of golden energy and looking remarkably like a pinball, began actively ricocheting about, knocking away large pieces of debris as they blew through the air.

Then a Grand Star was suddenly overhead, generating a shield over the entire city. While the view was small, Harry was just able to make out another of them in the distance, generating another shield dome.

Beside him, Vaan made a gesture, and the view suddenly pulled back in a rather disorienting jerk, giving them a breathtaking aerial view. From this distance, Harry could see that the mines were actually on an island floating high up in the sky, surrounded on all sides by a truly massive storm.

He could also see the Grand Stars locations. They were spread out in all directions, each generating a barrier that interconnected with the others, effectively encasing the island in an enormous shield.

Then rays of light began to peek through the wall of storm cloud like beacons. The rays touched the shield and instantly grew brighter. They widened, and with an almighty bang from overhead, and the wall of clouds began to disintegrate.

The Shine Sprites emerged from the clouds and still glowing, began to sweep away at them, effectively clearing them away from the sky, allowing natural sunlight to filter through at last.

"And that takes care of that!" Peach said. Squinting up at the orange glow, she said, "Hmm…It's later than I thought, nearly sunset." She turned to the others. "I really don't think we should attempt to go any farther at night. It'd be too easy to miss a foothold or something and go plummeting down."

Vaan made some kind of motion, but stopped halfway through. "I-Yeah, you're right."

Peach smiled at him. "I know you're worried about Penelo, but I think she'll be fine. Her captors are obviously using her as bait, and they're not likely to hurt her until they're certain they have us where they want us. They won't want to take any chances."

Vaan nodded, though he looked a little dubious. Balthier however, clapped a hand on his shoulder. "She's entirely correct. Ba'gamnan is ruthless, but he's not stupid either. He won't chance anything. And I for one could use a breather. If my understanding is correct, neither the storm nor the undead number among our worries now."

Peach frowned. "Well, there's likely a few of the undead still left." She warned. "Harry blew out whatever spell was reanimating them, but that still leaves us to mop up the rest."

"At least now the supply of them is finite, which is a major step forward." Lamont said suddenly. "It certainly makes it a little easier knowing there won't be any more once they're gone." Harry rather thought he wanted to add, "I hope."

Peach smiled. "True enough." She glanced around. "We should set up camp here. It probably has the best protection on the whole island. Even with just the one Grand star here right now, nothing will be able to break through without some effort. We'll make sure we restore the paling to full muster tomorrow morning. Right now it'll probably be best if we leave the rest of them to get things cleaned up and under control in the city."

A short while later, as she sat in front of a small campfire mixing something in a kettle that smelled absolutely delicious, the princess said to Harry, "I imagine you're quite anxious to get home."

Harry made a face. "Depends on which home you're talking about."

Peach raised an eyebrow as she produced a bowl from somewhere and ladled some of the kettle's contents into it. Passing the bowl to him along with a spoon and napkin, she said, "What do you mean?"

Looking down at what turned out to be some kind of stew, Harry shrugged. "Well, I mean, I like Hogwarts loads better than I do the Dursley's, but I guess that's not saying much, anything's better than them. I won't be happy to go back there in a hurry, I can tell you!" He shrugged and tried a spoonful, finding it to be every bit as good as it smelled. "As for Hogwarts, well, I've only been there a few weeks, and I've already been chased by some kind of bloodthirsty psychopathic monster, been attacked by a pack of students, had someone try to set me on fire, and had a teacher take it out of me for not reading and memorizing a book that has to be at least a thousand pages!"

Peach frowned as she dipped a cup in a large basin of sparkling water and passed it to him. "If you'll pardon my frankness dear, neither seems all that appealing."

Harry grinned and set down the now empty bowl. "I know it doesn't sound that good, but I actually have friends at Hogwarts. I think I just have really bad luck."

The princess laughed. "Now that feeling I know all too well!" She grinned. "Well, if nothing else, we need to make sure you get home safe and sound. That's a promise I intend to keep!" Seeing him yawn however, she laughed again. "Though right now, I think we should see that you get to bed safe and sound!"

And without a another word, she fished around in one of the innumerable pouches on her belt an pulled out a sleeping bag, followed shortly by a pillow." Her grin widened at his stunned expression. "Spatial compression spell, very handy. Though most generally refer to it as Hammerspace, I think."

Harry just nodded tiredly as she tucked him into the bedroll. She smiled. "Don't worry; we'll all be right here. You need some rest. From the looks of things, you've had quite a day!"

As he drifted off, surrounded by a faint flowery scent he couldn't identify, Harry's mind drifted towards thoughts about Hogwarts. His last conscious thought was to wonder what Professor Ambervale or Pamela would have thought about this whole mess.

~***~

Severus noted idly that the common room was unusually noisy that night.

He was sitting at his usual desk in the corner, marking down grades while the students chattered and generally made fools of themselves. Dipping his quill in the inkpot he drew another essay towards him for perusal.

He had just begun writing a comment when a sound similar in volume and application to sonic boom erupted near the entrance to the common room. He jumped, causing a large blotch of ink spread across the parchment. Scowling, he looked up to find the same ghost that had so thoroughly cowed Peeves in the great hall floating in front of the entrance, which was wide open.

She glided forward, the entrance shutting with a crisp snap behind her. Without preamble, she said icily. "All of you shut those gaping wastes of space you call mouths!" She looked about them. "I am here to, in part, deliver a message." Her eyes narrowed. "The first thing you should all know, is that Slytherin house points have been reduced to zero."

As the students burst out into outraged yells, and Severus himself rose to his feet in fury, the ghost clicked her fingers, causing another blast of sound to assault their ears. In the ringing silence that followed, she snapped, "The second thing you should all know is that the dung is officially in the fire."

Then she glided to one side to reveal an absolutely furious Mahalestro Ambervale.

Severus suddenly felt as though the ghost had been understating things.