Harry opened his his eyes and found himself in an empty corridor. Severus was right beside him. Together, they walked towards Dubmbledore's office. Severus tapped the gargoyle's shoulders three times and it jumped aside.

Walking in, they found a slightly younger versioun of Albus Dumbledore, doing paperwork. When he saw them, he smiled and said, "Welcome, I've been expecting you."

Harry felt slightly disconcerted as he handed over the letter.

Dumbledore read through the letter quickly, then said, "Professor Darkice, I suppose you will be teaching Potions with Professor Rosethorn. To my understanding, there will be more of you coming. From what my future self says, you would like to form a dueling club?"

Severus gave a curt nod while Harry just looked stunned.

"I will introduce you to the rest of the school at dinner, which will be in half and hour. Harry, you can go to the Gryffindor dorms and settle down. I expect you back here in 30 minutes. Your friends should be here by then."

Harry nodded and left the room, going towards th Gryffindor Common Room. There were many curious glances shot his way.

As he reached the Fat Lady, he whispered the password. As he walked in, many people looked up.

"Who are you?" asked a boy with messy black hair. The boy approached him, along with three others.

Harry's heart skipped a beat as he looked at the boy who was so obviously James Potter.

"I'm Harry. Harry Darkice. I'm an exchange student from North America."

"I'm James Potter," James introduced himself. "These are my friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew."

Harry smiled and exchanged greetings with Sirius and Remus, but he treated Peter with icy coldness and sarcasm. James noticed this, but didn't mention anything.

Just then, a girl with rich, red hair approached them. "This is James' girlfriend, Lily Evans," Sirius said, a mischievious grin on his face.

After the introductions were all done and Harry had unpacked, he said, "I'm supposed to meet Dumbledore in his office. See ya at dinner!" With that, Harry disappeared down the corridor.

The Gryffindor approached the Headmaster's office, slightly nervous. He flung open the door and walked in to find Ron and Hermione clustered on one side of the office. Draco was standing on the other side. Remus Lupin and Severus Snape stood in the middle, each standing protectively over their own group. Dumbledore was sitting at this desk, an amused look on his face.

"Hey, guys!" Harry said as he approached the large group. He realized that this was going to be interesting, considering the looks of shock plastered on Remus, Ron, Hermione, and Draco's faces.

"Um... Harry, is that you?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"Yes."

"Hey, nice disguise, mate!" Ron said, slapping him on the back. "No way anyone will recognize you!"

"Um...." Harry looked helplessly towards Severus. "Could I get a few minutes with my friends?"

"Of course." Severus replied.

Ron and Hermione walked towards the door. Harry waited for them to go, then looked expectantly at Draco. "Come on!" Draco looked shocked. "Me?"

"You need to know this too." He turned to Severus. "Could you explain to Remus?"

Severus nodded as Harry dragged Draco out the door.

"What's he doing here?" Ron asked. "Dumbledore insisted he come, though I don't see why." The redhead glared at the blond, clearing expecting a retort. He looked slightly stunned when Draco turned to him, a neutral expression his face.

"Will you stop picking on Draco?" Harry asked impatiently.

"What--- What's going on here?" Ron said, looking at Harry with disbelief in his eyes.

"Draco's my friend, I'll tell you about it later, but will you listen to ME right now?"

"Of course, go ahead," Hermione interrupted, urging Harry. "What's going on?"

"I-I---Oh, I don't know where to start."

"Start at the beginning," Ron retorted.

"Easy for YOU to say," Harry sneered, lips curling. His words were dripping with sarcasm.

Ron backed away from him.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked him.

"You-- No offense, but you sound EXACTLY like Snape."

"Who can blame me? After all, he's my father." The looks on Ron's and Hermione's faces were priceless. For once in her life, Hermione seemed to be in a loss for words.

"You mean they didn't know?" Draco's voice asked.

"No. I only told you, Severus, and Dumbledore."

"Harry!" Ron complained. "You have to be kidding. If this is some sick joke, it's not funny."

So Harry ended up explaining about his mother's diary and what he had found out. When he finished the story, everyone was standing, gaping at him in utter disbelief.

"We better go for dinner now," Harry said. "What are your new names? I'm Harry Darkice."

"I'm Hermione Grant and he's Ron Westerly." Hermione said.

"Draco Darkice," Draco responded. "I'm supposed to be your cousin."

Ron burst into laughter.

"What?" Draco glared at him.

"You? His cousin? You two don't resemble each other at all!"

"Stop arguing, will you?" Harry cut in. "We have to go for dinner."

"All right, all right..." The group followed Harry back into Dumbledore's office. Remus was staring at him with a slightly stunned.

"We must go to dinner now," Dumbledore said. "Let's go."

They trouped down to the Great Hall, Dumbledore leading the way. When they entered, many people flashed them curious looks.

"It is my pleasure," Dumbledore began. "To introduce several exchange students and new professors. These are Harry Darkice, Ron Westerly, Hermione Grant, and Draco Darkice. They are exchange students from North America and they will be staying with us until further notice. Our new professors are Professor Severus Darkice and Remus Longnight. Professor Darkice will be teaching Potions with Professor Rosethorn, and Professor Longnight will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Lakewood. Also, these two professors will be forming a dueling club in order to teach you self-defense and new spells. All members interested in joining must meet the professors for the first session in the spare classroom on the third floor today, right after dinner. These students have been sorted into houses already. They are all in Gryffindor."

Claps exploded from the Gryffindor table as Harry and his friends joined the rest of the Gryffindors. Draco looked slightly stunned at being put in Gryffindor.

"Hey guys!" Harry greeted James, Sirius, Lily, and Remus. "These are my friends, Ron, Hermione, and Draco." Turning to his friends, he said, "These are James Potter, Sirius Black, Lily Evans, and Remus Lupin. Oh, and this," he said, his voice suddenly icy cold. "Is Peter Pettigrew."

Ron and Hermione greeted the Mauraders cheerfully, but when they turned to Peter, they both became extremely cold and unwelcome. James wondered what this was about; it seemed as if they hated Peter at first sight.

While eating, Sirius asked, "Hey, Harry, are you and Draco and Professor Darkice related?"

Harry nodded. "Draco's my cousin, and Professor Darkice is my father."

There was silence for a moment. "Oh, okay," James said cheerfully, thinking that it would be nice to have a teacher on their side. "Who's Professor Longnight?"

"He's our friend," Ron cut in while stuffing himself with mashed potatos. Hermione looked at him disdainfully.

James was cheerfully chattering when he suddenly stopped and looked at someone behind Harry. "What are you doing here, Snape?" His voice was unfriendly.

Harry and his friends all whirled around to find a younger Severus Snape standing behind them. There was a stunned gasp from Ron. Harry knew why; he looked stunningly like this younger Snape. They were about the same height, though Harry was slightly taller. They were both pale and had long, black hair. The only difference was that Harry's eyes were a burning emerald while Snape's were icy black.

"None of your business, Potter," The voice that Harry had come to know so well shot back. Harry smirked; this was going to be interesting. "Snape," he said, his voice neutral. He stared into those cold, black orbs. While James and the others sneered and teased, Harry did not respond. He just looked at Snape with an expressionless face. They held each other's gaze for a few minutes until finally, Snape (from now on, I'll call the younger Snape 'Snape' and the older one 'Severus' or 'Professor Darkice', so not to cause any confusions) turned away. Harry allowed a thin smile to grace his lips. "Nice to meet you," he said. "I'll see you around. I trust you'll be at the dueling club meeting tonight." With that, he turned back to his friends, whom were staring at this strange exchange.

"Let's go," Harry said. "We don't want to be late for the first dueling lesson. You're all coming?"

Everyone nodded and they left the Great Hall.