‘Invictus', Harry muttered miserably as he stood in front of the entrance to the Gryffindor common room and gave the current password.

The Fat Lady gave him a teasing smile. ‘You don't exactly look it, my dear', she said and swung open.

Harry felt too depressed to care about replying, and just mutely climbed through. Inside, he started looking for Ron. Although he wasn't so keen on meeting Hermione, he felt it would be good to share what had happened to him with Ron. His best friend would without any doubt be an interested and compassionate listener. He spotted Ron almost at once, he was watching a wizard's chess match between Seamus and Dean. Hermione was studying at a table nearby. Hesitantly Harry approached the table with the chess-board. When Ron saw him, he opened his mouth to ask the obvious question but Harry mutely motioned with his head to a group of deserted armchairs further away from Hermione.

‘You were caught,' Ron said immediately after they had settled down. Harry nodded miserably.

‘So what happened? Did they beat you up when they discovered you?'

‘Yeah, a bit', Harry admitted and unconciously rubbed the place where Flint had punched him. ‘Well, not all of them, mainly Malfoy and Flint.'

‘Gits', said Ron vehemently. ‘So, are you still hurting?'

Harry shook his head. ‘The prefect stopped them pretty soon, and he called Snape as well. Boy, Snape was livid. I'm in so much trouble.'

‘Well, I told you so.' Both boys flinched when they heard the self-satisfied voice behind them. Hermione was standing behind them with the hands on her hips, her school things lying abandoned at the table she had just left. ‘It serves you right.'

‘Well, thank you so much', snapped Harry. ‘This is just what I need right now.'

Hermione was about to snap back, but Ron, trying to ease the athmosphere, quickly interrupted. ‘What about your cloak, have you still got it?'

Harry nodded. ‘Well, that's something,' said Ron bracingly.

‘Yeah, but McGonagall said it might still be confiscated.'

‘Why McGonagall?' asked Ron confusedly. ‘Did Snape drag you over to her?'

‘Yes, and then he left in order to speak with Dumbledore. I still don't know what's going to happen to me.' Harry felt rather sick when he said that.

Hermione couldn't hold back any longer. ‘Well, what do you expect? I told you right from the beginning that you shouldn't do it! Why can't you ever listen to me?'

‘Will you finally leave him alone?' asked Ron angrily. ‘What are you, our Mum or what? Yes, Harry got caught, I hope you're happy! But do you really think that after Snape dragged him off to McGonagall Harry needs you to lecture him some more?'

‘Oho!' exclaimed two voices simultaneously and Harry groaned when he saw that Fred and George had been attracted by Ron's heated exclamation.

‘What do mine ears detect?'asked Fred interestedly. ‘Has Harry landed himself into trouble involving both Snape and our esteemed Head of House? Do enlighten us! What did you do?'

‘Just leave me alone,' muttered Harry.

‘Oh come one, Harry. Don't be such a kill-joy, you can tell us!' said George. ‘You probably should have told us beforehand in order to benefit from our vast experience, maybe you wouldn't have got caught then!'

Harry sighed. He could see that they were not going to leave him alone so easily. ‘Okay, if you have to know... I sneaked into the Slytherin Common room, invisible... and I was caught.'

‘How did you make yourself invisible?' asked Fred interestedly.

Harry hesitated. He hadn't spoken about his cloak except to Ron and Hermione so far, but seeing that all the Slytherins now knew that he had one there seemed nothing to lose by telling Fred and George. ‘I have an Invisibility Cloak', he said.

Georg whistled. ‘Bloody hell,' he said, obviously impressed. ‘Well, I have to say it's too bad you got caught, but it's still an inspired idea!'

‘Wicked!' Fred agreed.

Harry drew a grimace. For the twins it was all fun to talk like that, it wasn't they who had been caught. Still their demeanour made him feel a bit better. He was still in as much trouble as before, but seeing that the Weasley twins obviously thought of what he did as a brilliant prank made him feel much less ashamed than he had in McGonagalls office.

‘Any chance we might borrow that cloak of yours once in a while?' asked George, his eyes gleaming.

Harry bit his lip. ‘Erm..., sorry but I'd rather not... You see, if it gets confiscated... well, it probably will be now, anyway...' He swallowed audibly before he added softly,'You know, it was my dad's... ‘

An uncomfortable silence followed, then George muttered, ‘Sure Harry, no problem, I understand. Never mind, we've been doing fine so far without it, haven't we, Fred?'

Fred nodded, grinning. ‘Anyway, you obviously need to work a bit on your technique, Harry, in order not to get caught, but we have high hopes for you! Well done!'

Both of them hit him on his shoulder. Half pleased, half exasperated Harry tried to catch Ron's eye and didn't miss the slightly strained look on his best friend's face.

‘Ron helped me to get in,' he blurted out.

‘Good on you, little brother!' said Fred and George together and hit Ron on the shoulder as well. ‘Glad to see you follow in our footsteps!'

Ron looked pleased, Hermione irritated. With a last angry look at the four boys she went back to her table and ostentatiously put a book in front of her face.

Fred and George left as well and joined Lee Jordan in a corner. Harry had no doubt that they couldn't wait to fill him in.

Ron looked at Harry uncertainly. ‘Did the Slytheins guess that I helped you and tell Snape?' he asked worriedly.

‘No, not yet at least', said Harry. ‘Don't worry, I won't tell.'

Ron nodded and muttered, ‘It's a bit unfair though, if only you get into trouble even though I helped you.'

Harry shrugged. Then a thought came to him. ‘Snape set them all an essay, on how it was possible that I could enter undetected.... I wonder if your name will come up in one of those essays...'

Both looked at one another helplessly. ‘Well, we'll have to see what happens, won't we?' said Ron at last. ‘Come on, let's find someone for Exploding Snap, so that we get to think about something else.'

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‘Mr Potter, a moment please.'

It was the next morning, a Saturday. Harry, just having finished his breakfast looked up resignedly and, as he had expected, found his Head of House looking at him. To his surprise, McGonagall looked more sad than angry.

‘Yes, Professor? he said.

‘You are to report to Professor Dumbledore in half an hour', she said and Harry felt his stomach contract.

‘Please, Professor, can you tell me, what did he say yesterday? What is he going to do to me?' he asked nervously.

McGonagall's mouth was a thin line. ‘I'll leave it up to him to tell you, Mr Potter. The password is "marshmallow".' She gave him a curt nod and hurried off.

Harry looked nervously at Ron and Hermione. Hermione seemed to have forgiven them their prank and now seemed intent of avoiding a quarrel like the evening before. She tried to show a bit of moral support.

‘It won't be so bad, Harry,' she said. ‘I mean, he will certainly punish you, he has to after all, since Snape went to see him about you, but I'm sure he won't be unreasonable.'

Ron nodded encouraging. ‘Yeah mate, I mean, he likes you, doesn't he? It can't be that bad.'

Harry nodded and tried to tell himself that his friends were right. Still his heart was beating like mad when he, after giving the password, went up in the spiral staircase and knocked at the headmaster's door.

‘Enter,' he heard Dumbledore's voice from inside. Gathering all his courage he opened the door.

‘Harry,' the headmaster greeted him, ‘come in and take a seat.'

‘Thank you, sir,' Harry muttered and sat on a wooden chair in front of Dumbledore's desk, looking intently at the polished wooden surfaced desk's pattern, as though fascinated by it. He hated showing such weakness, but looking at Dumbledore proved even harder than anticipated.The old wizard settled behind his desk and leaned back comfortably. ‘From what I've heard, you had a little adventure involving Slytherin house last night', he stated simply. Harry wiped his moist hands on his thighs and glanced at Dumbledore's face, relieved to find that it didn't look too stern.

‘Yes, sir. I'm sorry.'

‘I take it that the Slytherin students weren't too pleased to discover you hiding in their common room, listening to their conversations.'

‘No, sir', Harry whispered.

‘Would you care to tell me what motivitated you to carry out such a scheme?'

‘Well....' Somehow, sitting there in front of Dumbledore the plan didn't seem as logical as it had the day before. ‘I just wanted to find out... things.' He didn't want to go into details about Sirius Black; he didn't want Dumbledore to think that he was scared. After all, he had heard from Mr Weasley that a lot of grown up wizards - and Harry suspected Dumbledore to be among them -  did not want him to know that Black was after him.

‘Could you be a bit more specific?'

Harry flinched and decided to tell a part of the truth. ‘Well, Sir, yesterday Malfoy was bragging about how people in Slytherin know about lots of things we Gryffindors have no clue about so I guess I was just curious and wanted to find out more... I'm sorry. I know now it wasn't a good idea.'

‘And was your curiosity satisfied?'

Harry mutely shook his head.

‘Too bad, isn't it?' said Dumbledore with a small smile. ‘I can imagine you are a little disappointed. But you should get a little comfort by the thought that Professor Snape's timely arrival prevented you from suffering some painful ... retribution from some of the more, let's say hot-headed, Slytherins.' His blue eyes twinkled. ‘And I, of course, am very glad about that as well,' he added, his smile widening.

Harry was perplexed. Up to now, he hadn't heard a single word of reprimand. ‘But, sir, aren't you angry with me?' he stammered.

‘No, Harry. From what I understand you were curious about your Slytherin classmates. Curiosity is not a sin, Harry, however, we all need to learn to master it, and not let it master us. If we let the latter happen, and violate other people's privacy, we mustn't be surprised if those other people feel hurt and angry. The common rooms are supposed to be places where people can feel at ease and secure - in other words, at home. Naturally a violation of that privacy as you committed yesterday destroys that sense of security. I don't have to tell you, I think, that the Slytherins are more than a little angry and that Professor Snape has demanded a fairly severe consequence.'

Harry swallowed. Of course he hadn't expected anything else from the man, given their mutual dislike, but to hear the Headmaster casually talk about it was much more unsettling. He wanted to ask Dumbledore what they had decided but couldn't bring himself to get out more than a timid, ‘Sir?'

‘As I said, Harry, I am not really upset with you. In fact, I find your desire to learn more about your Slytherin schoolmates to be something positive. The means you chose left a bit to be desired, but I'm certain you have realized that yourself by now. So I have decided on doing something unorthodox, entirely unprecedented in fact, but something that will both satisfy your unquenched curiosity and Professor Snape's desire for, as he put it, "a tighter rein over you".'

Harry's heart was hammering. A tighter rein, that didn't sound good at all. Why couldn't Dumbledore just get on with it?

‘So, Harry, I have decided that from Sunday night onwards, you will, for a limited time, be a member of Slytherin house.'

‘What!' Harry didn't even notice that he had jumped up from his chair and had yelled out in his shock. ‘You can't do that!"

‘Harry!'

The Headmaster's voice finally penetrated his shouting, and Harry blinked, noticing that Dumbledore had conjured a pair of large and fuzzy earmuffs for himself.

‘Please take your seat again and try to calm down,' Dumbledore twinkled at him, removing the brightly coloured earmuffs.

A bit shamefaced (and quite relieved that the headmaster seemed to view his outburst as amusing rather than insulting), Harry sat down. In fact he rather let himself fall on the seat even as he repeated in a softer voice, ‘Please, sir - you can't do this!'

‘Why not?' asked Dumbledore calmly.

'The sorting hat put me in Gryffindor!' Harry insisted. 

‘Only after it tried to put you in Slytherin. It felt you would have done well there - you told me so yourself.'

‘But - but you said that our choices define what we are far more than our abilities do. You said that to me only just before the holidays!' Harry couldn't believe what was happening.

‘Yes, Harry, I know I said that, and I have to say that I am glad to hear that you remember my words so well.  Yes, Harry, our choices define us, but our choices depend on what information we have. If we don't know what our options imply, it is hard to make a wise choice. Your choice not to go to Slytherin was based on what knowledge, Harry?'

Harry forced himself to think. ‘I knew that Voldemort had been there, and all the other dark wizards.'

‘You see? That information is only partly true. Voldemort indeed was a Slytherin, but not all dark wizards come from Slytherin. And the reverse is even less true: you cannot say that every Slytherin is a Dark Wizard in the making. If it were like this, Harry, wouldn't that mean we should just expel all the Slytherins right after the sorting, thereby barring Dark wizards from further education and solving all our problems?'

Harry blinked. He had to admit to himself that this wouldn't make sense. But he wouldn't give in so easily.  'But you said last year that I was a true Gryffindor, or I couldn't have pulled Gryffindor's sword out of the hat!'

‘And I am not denying it now,' the headmaster replied calmly. ‘However, the sorting hat is never wrong. If it told you you would do well in Slytherin, too, then I have no reason to doubt it and I think you will benefit from the experience - and not only you but the Slytherins as well. And isn't this what you wanted? A closer look at the Slytherin House?' Dumbledore asked with a wicked twinkle in his eye.

Harry gulped. That's what came from telling the headmaster half-truths.

It was clear to Harry that he wouldn't manage to talk the older wizard out of his idea by citing the sorting hat's authourity. So he tried another tactic.

‘But Professor McGonagall...' He trailed off uncertainly. He had meant to say that she wouldn't allow him to leave her house, but then realized that she surely had already spoken with the headmaster. But if that was the case, where was she? Why wasn't she there, arguing? Did her absence mean that she agreed with the decision and didn't consider herself his Head of House any more? Didn't she want to have anything more to do with him now? Her words "Unworthy of Gryffindor" rang in his mind.  ‘Never mind,' he whispered and lowered his head. He could feel tears building at the back of his eyes and didn't want Dumbledore to see them.

‘Professor McGonagall is not in favour of my plan,' Dumbledore said gently and Harry raised his head, feeling hope flickering up again. ‘However I am the headmaster and thus she has to put up with my decision.' Harry‘s hope that McGonagall might somehow prevent Dumbledore's plan from being put into action disappeared, however it was good to know that she was still on his side. 

The old wizard continued, ‘Your head of house is very upset to lose you, even if it is for only a limited period of time. And', he smiled at Harry, ‘I am sure that it is not just because Gryffindor will temporarily lose a brilliant Quidditch player.'

Harry bit his lip. He had been so shocked about this mad plan that it hadn't even occured to him that this would mean that he couldn't play Quidditch in the near future. After all, the Slytherins would never let him play on their team - not that he would do so, even if they begged him, he told himself hastily. This was all so awful and he cursed Dumbledore for his horrible idea. He even wished that Snape hadn't arrived in the Slytherin Common Room so soon. Yes, the Slytherins might have beaten him mercilessly, but he was sure that if he had turned up full of bruises, nobody, not even the Headmaster, would have ever considered throwing him back into the snakepit. Yes, this was the worst punishment ever and he was pretty sure he couldn't get out of it.

He briefly considered arguing that Professor Snape would be even more upset than Professor McGonagall and surely wouldn't welcome him into his house, but if McGonagall had had to cave in to the headmaster, Snape would too. And, would he even want to object, Harry asked himself. Maybe Snape was pleased at the thought of having more control over Harry now, and that much more opportunity to make him miserable. Harry swallowed hard. This was going to be hell.

‘Erm, how long is this going to be for?' he asked tentatively.

‘To be honest, I don't know yet, Harry. Maybe for a month, maybe for the rest of the school year, I will decide on that later.'

Harry stared at him openmouthed. For the rest of the school year? He groaned aloud. "Please sir, can't you just tell me what I need to do to earn back my position as a Gryffindor?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Harry, being a Gryffindor is no better than being a Slytherin - it is merely different. And now you will have something no one else in the history of Hogwarts has had: the opportunity to experience life as a member of two Houses."

Harry just looked at him. Dumbledore could say whatever he wanted, but Harry knew perfectly well that his life was as good as over.

The headmaster shook his head. ‘I know you will need some time to get used to the thought. You may go now. You will receive a note from me shortly which shall give some more detail.'

Harry nodded mutely and stood up. Should he plead with Dumbledore, beg him not to do this, promise to...? A look into the old man's face showed he needn't even try. The headmaster's expression was friendly yet determined. Sighing, Harry made his way to the door.

‘And Harry,' Dumbledore added, his voice kind, ‘please try to see this not as a punishment, but as a challenge and as an experience.'

‘A challenge,' Harry repeated tonelessly and muttered, ‘It will definitely be a challenge to get out of this alive.' When he realized that he had spoken his thoughts aloud, his eyes nervously sought Dumbledore's, and he was relieved when he found that the old wizard was chuckling.

Dumbledore gave him a smile that was probably meant to be reassuring. ‘You will see, Harry. It won't be as bad as you think.'

Harry dubiously shook his head and left without a further word.