Harry Potter 1. Meeting the Voice

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N:I will continue writing this even if it gets flames, but I would prefer a more useful review. Please enjoy the story. I will probably not be updating frequently as my imagination tends to wax and wane. My grammar isn't fantastic so if you can easily spot grammar errors than expect to see a lot of them. If this sounds anything like another story than please tell and link me the other story so I can change mine so I can change it.

Harry and Paracelsus's Pearl

Chapter 1: Meeting the voice

Harry sat in his room thinking of the various events that had occurred throughout the last year at his school. Of course calling it a room was a definite stretch of his modest imagination. The reality of the matter was that his Uncle Vernon had not seen fit to allow him the use of the second bedroom upstairs after he learned he would not be able to avoid the "Freaks" abnormalities in his house. He had been immediately returned to the cupboard under the stairs and relegated back to his original house duties. As he sat there he nursed the bruise on his shoulder from Dudley having pushed him none to gently through the door. Uncle Vernon had taken away his trunk and stored it in Dudley's second bedroom.

'Huh, even my trunk gets more space than me.' Harry thought to himself, he reached into his pants and pulled out his wand. He had chosen to replace it with a stick of wood he had had one of the weasley twins transfigure into a copy of his wand. Although he had learned soon after that he would not be allowed to do magic outside of school he still felt comforted by the holly wand with phoenix feather core. He sometimes felt the wand warm up in his hand, although he had no idea why it did it always felt as though it were trying to warn him of something.

"Well partner, it seems I'm not allowed to use you this summer." Harry said while beginning to polish his wand with the excess cloth of his shirt.

"The end of the year was pretty rough huh? I hope Ron and Hermione are alright. Its too bad I won't be able to get any letters from them. As a matter of fact Harry wasn't even able to send out any letters to his friends. Upon meeting his relatives at Kings cross Harry had been told he could either "let the ruddy" bird go free or watch his Uncle wring its neck and cook it for dinner. Of course Harry would have been the one forced to cook, and it didn't even bear thinking about. Harry had immediately set Hedwig free from her cage and told her in a quite whisper to stay at Hogwarts for the summer. Harry did not want to leave Hedwig with his friends, not because he didn't trust them but because he worried that they might send Hedwig with a letter back to him. He couldn't bear to see Hedwig killed because she delivered a letter to him.

Later that night as Harry laid in his covers he thought about his encounter with Lord Voldemort and Professor Quirrell, he wondered what it was that had made him so very lethal to Voldemort. The headmaster had told him that it was love, but Harry had no idea what love was. He supposed that if his mother had done some magic that relied heavily on the emotion than her love for he could have continued to protect him after his first encounter with the dark lord. It seemed like such a dream though; did his parents really love him? He would like to think so, but was not so sure. After all who could love a "freak"? Furthermore Harry wasn't sure that Dumbledore was telling him the whole truth, he knew the man was keeping secrets and he suspected that his headmaster might have more than just a passing interest in him.

_"Stupid, annoying, crazy old coot. How the old man manages to not be embarrassed by what he wears I'll never know."_ He voiced out load, He was startled when he heard from behind him, "_Who speaks in our tongue, of the old man in lackadaisical robes?"_

"_Agh, who the hell, what the hell…"_

_ "Oh yes, that is such an articulate answer, I know all I need to know, thank you so much," _The voice intoned, its words dripping in sarcasm. Harry turned on the spot looking for the source of the voice, his wand pointing directly in front of him.

"_Careful boy, wouldn't want the ministry after you now would you?"_

_ "Show yourself or I'll b-b-blast you," _Harry tried to sound calmer then he felt but knew he had failed miserably, 'stupid, stupid, stupid, you fights down a famous dark lord in possession of another persons body but you afraid of a stupid voice.'

"_Perhaps some light would shed light upon this situation yes? I believe you should be able to get away with a small lumos spell here, what with all the ward magic around this house."_

_ "Ward magic?"_

_ "yes indeed, a lumos spell should be weak enough that the ministry will not differentiate the focused magic from the ambient."_

_ "Differentiate? Focused? Ambient?" _Harry repeating the strange terminology the voice used. He was getting more confused by the second, and was starting to panic.

"_Please cast the spell before you panic, though I suppose you'll probably panic afterwards, ah well what can you do eh?" _

_ "Lumos," _Harry whispered softly. His wand flared into a bright white light, blinding Harry and startling him so much he got some serious air time. "Nox," harry muttered, breathing a sigh of relief that the light was gone. He was still seeing mostly white, but slowly dark spots were appearing, eventually replacing the white, and Harry was once again in the dark. Harry heard a hissing sound coming from in front of him and as he focused in on the sound the voice returned.

"_Ah, you can understand me now yes? Perhaps using parselmagic was not the best idea yes?"_

_ "Parselmagic? Excuse me but I still don't know who you are."_

_ "Yes well, my name is Paraclesus, but you can call me Pearl, after all I suit the name well"_

_ "Pearl, how did you get here, and where are you?"_

_ "I'm right here boy, try focusing on a dim light from your wand and cast lumos again."_

After bracing himself, by covering his eyes with his arms and looking away, Harry focused on only a dim light from his wand and cast "_lumos". _The Cupboard was still dark but Harry could see that his wand had lit itself. Moving his arm and turning his head back to look in front of him Harry's was met with the head of a rather large snake, "AGH," Harry yelled, his hand immediately clamped to his mouth as he backed away from the creature.

"Boy, you had better shut up before I come down there and pound you." His Uncle Vernon yelled from the top of the stairs, with a rather loud stomp Vernon retreated back to his bedroom, congratulating himself on shutting up that freak and showing him whose boss.

_"Silly boy, don't be so startled, surely you realized you were talking to a snake?"_

_ "No Pearl, I didn't realize you were a snake, I thought, well I don't know what I thought," _Harry said helplessly. He was working past his fear, and slowly checked the snake out. Pearl was coiled around the entirety of the cupboard; Harry had about six inches between him and the snake in any given direction. Even considering how small the cupboard was Harry knew the snake had to be over twelve feet in length and probably more considering he couldn't find the tail. The body was probably three to five inches wide. Most amazing Pearl really was a fitting name for the snake; the body was a gleaming pearlescent color that reminded him of the Viper he had once seen driving past the house while he was working on the lawn. He remembered the subsequent trip to the library he had taken to learn about the color, though avoiding Dudley had been an added bonus. That fat slob would never enter a library. Pearl's emerald violet eyes met with Harry's and Harry felt as if his entire mind was open to those eyes.

"_Not far off there, your mind is indeed open to me, but I was only reading your surface thoughts and not your memories," _Pearl answered Harry's internal question.

"_So I can talk to snakes?"_

_ "Obviously," _Pearl drawled, his head swayed back and forth, his forked tongue flicking out every now and then.

"_How?"_

_ "I cannot be sure, usually the trait is passed down through dark families and while the potter line is connected to Salazar's line and thus the parseltongue ability; you would be the first potter to actually have the ability."_

_ "So it's a genetic trait then?"_

_ "I don't really get what you just said, but I'll say yes if it helps."_

_ "It doesn't"_

_ "Bummer"_

_ "So, how did you get here?"_

_ "Magic"_

_ "That's a lame response"_

_ "You know you liked it," _Pearl responded with obvious amusement.

"_How did you know I would be able to use lumos?"_

_ "That might take a bit of time to explain, and frankly we don't have much time left. You need to leave Harry, this place may be safe but it isn't going to provide you with what you need."_

_ "I know," _Harry sighed; he did realize that staying here wasn't beneficial to him. With Voldemort's soul floating around, he knew the creep wasn't dead yet, he couldn't afford to take it easy. Plus it wasn't exactly like he wanted to stick around number four privet drive anyway. The problem lied with getting away. He had no means of getting away even if he could get his trunk.

"_Escape is easier than you think; getting your trunk is merely a matter of some stealth."_

_ "I realize I can get to my trunk but how could I bring it with me, its not exactly light."_

_ "I suppose you are correct, I shall have to take the trunk for you then."_

_ "You're going to take my trunk?" _Harry asked in disbelief, "_I don't see how."_

_ "Simple, I shall swallow it and carry it around inside me."_

_ "Ew, you're going to swallow my trunk? Can you even open your jaw that wide?"_

_ "Yes and no, I will swallow your trunk using magic and no I can't open my mouth that wide." _Pearl response to my query with amusement, "_You will leave yes?"_

_ "I still have nowhere to go," _Harry replied despondently, he hung his head in despair and wrapped his arms around his knees, careful to keep the wand tip pointing at the snakes head.

"_If you can get to the forest outside the town in the next two hours I promise you'll have both a place to stay and food."_

_ "How can you promise that so easily?"_

_ "Simple my friend, magic," _Pearl responded. He left the cupboard leaving behind an echoing hiss that sounded eerily like laughter.


	2. Escape

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Alright here's the second chapter. Thanks to those who reviewed. I'm planning on keeping the chapters roughly around 2,000 words. Hope you enjoy this new chapter.

Chapter 2: Escape

For a moment Harry just sat there and considered the events of the last few minutes. Should he take the risk and leave his relatives. It was clear Dumbledore wanted him here for his safety, or so he claimed. Even though living at number four privet drive wasn't exactly desirable it was bearable, should he risk the unknown for the chance at freedom, for a chance away from the Dursleys. Another point to consider was the snake, Pearl. He didn't know very much about Pearl, hell he didn't even know if Pearl was a male or a female; something to consider the next time they met.

'I guess that means I'm going if I'm already mentally planning my next conversation with Pearl' Harry laughed to him self at the thought. He slowly worked his leg muscles trying to relieve his limbs of their numbness. After he was able to comfortable move his joints again he slowly attempted to open the door. For once he found his cupboard unlocked.

'Huh, I could've sworn this door was locked when Vernon went to bed.' Harry considered it likely that the snake and his "magic" had something to do with Harry's ability to leave the cupboard at this moment. Slowly opening the door, careful to avoid opening it to the squeak point, Harry slipped out of the Cupboard and headed towards the kitchen. As he entered the kitchen Harry noted that Dudley's book bag was sitting on the kitchen table. Praising his good luck Harry went over to the bag and slowly emptied it of all its contents. With some amusement Harry noted the bag contained very little of the things that a schoolboy might need. He counted one pencil, one notebook, no textbooks, a baton, tons of candy, a bag of chips, and various pockets of money. All in all it was a pretty good haul for Harry. He collected all the money and counted almost 18 pounds. Heading to the fridge Harry helped himself to some of the goods. He found a block of cheese, some leftover chicken, mustard, and a container of orange juice. Harry packed this into the bag and raided the pantry taking some bread, and some granola bars. Having secured some food for the next few days Harry felt a little better about his intention to leave the Dursleys. Harry took one last look around the kitchen and sighed.

'I seriously hope that snake has my trunk,' with that though Harry opened the door to the backyard and stepped outside. The snake had given Harry around two hours to get out of town, so to speak. Harry knew the forest lay generally in the north direction from his look at the maps at the school library. He had never been allowed to actually leave the community area however; except for on the rare occasions where no one was able to take care of him and the Dursleys were forced to bring "the freak" along.

'I mustn't think like that anymore, I'm not a freak,' Harry told himself adamantly. He headed towards the fence door and let himself out into the front yard. Walking across the immaculate lawn, this was only so due to his own efforts, Harry made his way up the street. For awhile the street signs were enough of a hint to keep him heading north, however after about a quarter of an hour Harry started to enter foreign territory. At this point Harry drew upon his astronomy experience and checked for the northern star.

'Kind of a good thing that star is so bright, Can't see many other stars with all the suburban lighting around here.' Harry's thoughts wandered as he made his way north. He wondered what kind of home the snake could provide. Would it just be a shack, perhaps even a cave? What kind of food would he bring him? Probably some dead animal; a magical one no doubt. It would probably even be smug about it. Harry was so lost in though he didn't even notice the blue flashing lights until the car pulled up beside him.

"Agh," 'gotta stop doing that,' Harry thought to himself, even as he turned towards the car with his wand pointing discreetly at the car.

"You lost sonny?" the policeman asked kindly.

"Looks lost to me," His partner replied.

"Ugh, no sir." Harry replied

'Oh no, how am I going to get out of this one, think Harry, think.'

As Harry tried to conceive of a way out of his current predicament the cops began an argument between them over what it was that Harry was doing out so early in the morning if he wasn't lost. It was in fact almost dawn; the sun would be rising in a little over an hour. Harry realized that he really needed to be at the forest entrance by dawn or Pearl might just leave him hanging.

"My Aunt and Uncle thought it would be good for me to take a walk over to the forest this morning. They think it will help to relieve some of the stress from school and allow me to sleep. You see I suffer from Insomnia and so that's why I'm out at this time in the morning." Harry said speaking fast, praying that his tale would sounds true enough for the cops to let it go.

"If you suffer from Insomnia, why don't you look tired?" The partner cop asked, his hands folding over his chest, which he puffed out in a manner that Harry supposed was meant to look intimidating. To him it looked like a rooster strutting around, not that he has seen many of those.

"He looks plenty tired to me," the other officer said in gentle tones.

Harry actually was pretty tired, he hadn't slept in over a day and the weight of the bag on his back was actually starting to get to him. Harry decided to play the rush card and see if he could get out of here before things got complicated.

"Well I gotta run, see you two around sometime right," with that Harry made to leave but was stopped almost immediately by the kind officer.

"Not so fast, we might as well give you a lift to the woods if you're going to be walking on those trails later. No reason to walk all the way there.

"Thank you for the offer, but walking will help me relax enough to sleep."

"But, surely it would be more beneficial to do most of your relaxing in the woods no?" The officer's partner asked.

"Well I suppose, Thanks for the offer, I graciously accept," Harry politely stated turning once again to face the officers in question. The rooster was still strutting and the kind one was smiling gently. They led me into the back seat of their car and began to relate to me stories about the arrest they've made and people they've stopped. It was another quarter of an hour when we arrived at the beginning of the forest trails. It was a really small forest, barely even worthy of the name, but was still around because the land owners refused to let it be used for development.

"Well here you are, the Black forest trails, be careful on your hike. Wouldn't want to see you get hurt and find you in a hospital or something." The rooster man said with relative kindness.

"Thanks for the lift officers, have a nice day, goodbye." Harry felt genuinely happy. For once adults had been nice and helped him without some ulterior motive. Perhaps things were looking up already.

'Alright I'm in this bloody forest now where is that snake. Bloody forgot to tell me where to bloody go after I got here.'

"_I didn't forget, I just had no reason to tell you." _Pearl replied, amused with the shriek Harry gave out at being caught from behind.

"_Bloody hell, trying to scare me to death?"_

_ "If you die in fright then I'm not going to regret my scaring you," _Pearl replied, leaning his head closer to Harry his tongue flicking in and didn't move, but did draw his wand pointing it at the head of the snake.

"_ah, still so cautious, though you took up my offer."_

_ "I haven't accepted anything from you yet. I agree that I needed to leave the Dursleys, However I have yet to decide if I will stay with you or try to find my own way," _Harry said in a much calmer voice than what he actually felt.

"_Good, good, never accept another's proposal until you've heard the whole deal. It seems you understand this concept instinctually. It will help me for when I am training you."_

Harry pondered that for a moment. Training him? Harry didn't think a snake would normally train a person in anything. He was also curious about the abilities of the snake. Harry was new to the world of magic, but he was fairly sure that snakes didn't go around casting spells and other forms of magic like wizards and witches. It suddenly came to him that the snake might be a puppet, possessed by some other wizard to drag Harry out into danger. With this thought Harry slowly backed away from the snake.

"_Bloody never going to be easy are you?" _Pearl said with a long sigh. It sounded odd coming from a snake, like a long silent hiss. "_I am prepared to explain everything you need to trust me and more if you will first follow me to a place in which you might feel more comfortable. While I admit I like it outside, I am guessing that this is not so much the case for you," _Pearl was happy to see that Harry considered this before he slowly nodded.

Harry could see the benefits of changing locations. A forest was no place to talk to a snake and the chill of the morning air was doing nothing to help Harry's mood. Harry followed after Pearl who had started to move after he had finished expressing his idea. Harry was forced to step fast in order to keep up with the large snakes head, though he wasn't terribly concerned with getting lost given how much snake he had to follow.

Pearl led Harry further into the forest until it was so dark Harry almost thought that sun had disappeared in favor of letting the night have a few more hours. A quarter of an hour passed before harry noted a small light up ahead on the path. Within a few minutes the light resolved itself into a window of a cabin. The cabin, if it could be called that was rather grandiose. It was easily two or three times bigger than a normal cabin. Harry though it looked similar to a lodge in a picture of one of the guidebooks in the library. The book had said that the lodge was used as meeting places for people in the area. Upon arriving at the lodge Harry realized it wasn't so much a cabin or lodge as a villa. He had felt a faint need to leave before something clicked into place and comforting warmth surrounded him. He looked to Pearl, but Pearl did not seem disturbed in anyway. Pearl slid right up to the house and the door slid open soundlessly and seemingly on its own. The snake slithered into the house, apparently assuming that Harry would follow without question. Since there was nothing to ask at this point Harry entered the house slowly. With some trepidation Harry looked around, that is until the door closed and a soft 'pop' was heard from directly in front of him. Harry looked down.

"Agh, what the bloody hell…" Harry jumped back his wand hand coming up, he had never let go of his wand since he had left the cops.

"I am so sorries sir, Islet has not has company for awhile, twas very rude of me to pop in front of yous withouts warning." The creature rambled.

"_I see you have met Islet, she will be your caretaker while you a here. She is a House-Elf, they are slaves to magic and they love to work."_

_ "Slaves_," Harry said indignantly, before Harry had a chance to get on his soapbox Pearl interrupted him.

"_Yes, they are slaves to magic. By binding themselves to a master, mainly a magic family they are able to tap into the families' ambient magic and feed."_

_ "Something like a drug addiction then?"_

_ "I suppose the term addiction fits, but not so much the term drug. Drug implies that it could impair them in some way. House-Elves need magic like humans need food. Something in their core magic is unstable and requires a balancer of sorts through a bond. The reason for why the bond is always a master and slave bond is unknown but also uncontested. It has been proven however that without a bond a House-Elf will slowly whither away. Even if they are bonded to a family they must interact with a member of the family at least semi-frequently in order to stay sane. This is probably why the servant role is so perfect for them and why they love their work." _Pearl lectured, this was already the longest the snake had talked and it had taken the whole lecture for the snake to finish curling itself around the fire. Harry found himself sitting in an armchair without realizing how he had gotten there.

"Snakey is quite right master, we are not liking not having works to do, and too much energy makes us goes crazy." The House-Elf said succinctly, "Can I gets you anything?"

"Ah, well if you could put this away somewhere and get me a glass of water I would be really grateful. Perhaps you could join me and Pearl afterwards, I have a lot of questions and you might be able to help." As Harry said this the house-elf's eyes watered and she nodded gratefully before popping out of existence.

"_I guess I don't need to worry about how you'll handle house-elves than." _Pearl said, clearly amused by my and the elf's talk.

_ "Yeah, you won't hear any complaints from me after what you just said. I am curious though, how did Islet know what you were saying? Can she speak parseltongue as well?" _

_ "No, she does not speak our language, but house-elves have a funny ability that allows them to understand anything that is said while in their presence, with the exception of those under wards that explicitly block house-elves. It is because of this that house-elves are required to be above question when it comes to the privacy of their master." _

_ "Alright, I guess that makes some sense. Next question, No offense but by your name I would guess your male but by your nickname I could guess either way, but would lean more towards female."_

_ "No offense is taken Harry; I am not really male or female. I suppose I am male dominant you could say. This is only in the sense that I am male for most of the year. During the winter months I go through a metamorphosis and by spring I am female. I become male again at the beginning of the summer months. As you can guess I am currently male." _

_ "So does your personality change or anything."_

_ "You'll have to wait and see."_

_ "Let me guess, it's magical?"_

_ "Perhaps"_

_ "Unggh," _Harry groaned out, dealing with Pearl was a bloody pain sometimes. As he thought about what questions to ask Pearl and Islet Harry let the heat from the fireplace sooth his muscles and relaxed into the armchair. Hopefully the answers wouldn't be to startling.


	3. Prepare for a long day

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: This is a pretty boring chapter but should help answer some questions, though most are still unanswered. Please enjoy and review.

Chapter 3: Prepare for a long day

"_Let me get this straight, house elves can understand any conversation, but cannot spy on anybody due to some magical contract stipulation. You are a sea serpent known as a leviathan. This house is unplottable and under a fidelius that if I understand correctly I am the secret keeper of. Last but not least I'm suppose to break out my godfather because he's in a wizards prison for a crime one of his ex-best friends committed, which involved the death of my parents. Have I got it all so far?" _Harry was far from pleased with all that he had learned. His world was being turned inside out and twisted around several voice was a pitch higher then normal and now his throat was getting a bit sore.

"_That sounds like the gist of it yes. As I told you earlier you are the secret keeper by right of conquest. By defeating Voldemort, Salazar's last remaining blood heir; you inherit any unclaimed inheritances from the Slytherin line. Of course this only happened because you are also a part of the Slytherin line. If you were not you would get the choice of one treasure from the Slytherin vaults. Oh and you should probably go to Gringotts to find out what you now have claim to. Tell them that Paraclesus sent you and they will listen." _As Pearl finished he twisted his head around and plopped it down onto the couch beside Harry's chest. Harry gently petted the scales above the great serpents' eyes. After a while harry fell asleep. Islet walked into the room and covered her new master with a blanket. She was glad that Voldemort had not seen fit to even remember this place. She was bound not only to the family line but also to this particular home. She could not leave the house for another unless ordered to do so. She would raise her Master and help him to be the best he could be.

When Harry awoke the next morning he just knew it was going to be a long day. Something about waking up on a couch with a head of a serpent tended to do that, granted this was the first time it had happened. Oddly it felt as though he knew that Pearl was awake. Deciding to roll with his instincts harry asked, "_Pearl, did you sleep ok?"_

_ "Yes Harry, your heartbeat is very soothing; I will miss it when you go back to Hogwarts."_

_ "Thanks…I think."_

"Oh that is a very nice compliment Snakey gives you Master, Snakey is very picky, sleeps poorly usually." Islets interruption startled Harry and he had is wand halfway out before realizing it was her.

"Sorry Islet I almost over reacted." Harry apologized, feeling shamed he had reacted to her so poorly.

"Not to worry Master, Islet is knowing you is not use to me yet. It is good to be wary Harry." This invoked laughter in Pearl, The eerie hissing laugh calmed his nerves. Though Harry had no idea what Pearl had found funny.

"_I think we should have breakfast Islet."_

_ "Of course Snakey, your breakfast has been quarantined in your territory for you already."_

_ "Thank you Islet, I shall leave you to your breakfast Harry, I think you will find your trunk in the bedroom should you finish before I return."_

_ "Ok, thank you Pearl."_

_ "_So, what's for breakfast Islet?"

"What is Master wanting?"

"Umm, how about French toast?"

"How many pieces would master like?"

"Three please, and could you make some hash as well?"

"Of course Master."

"I know you guys like serving your bonded and all, but I would still feel better if you called me Harry."

"If that is what you want Master Harry," at this Harry just sighed, it was close enough for now. "Breakfast will be ready in 15 minutes Master Harry, you might like to wash up, the bathroom is first door on the right in the hall.

Harry looked around the room; he had not really looked at it last night, due to his nerves and exhaustion. The living room he was in was simple in that it was just a room with a long couch in front of a large fireplace, on either side of the couch was a armchair angled towards the fireplace. There was no coffee table, though based on the marks on the hardwood floor Harry guessed it had probably been moved to save it from Pearl. The walls and floor were all wood and if harry had to guess he would say it was oak. Even though everything looked almost new the house gave off the feeling of being centuries old. The hallway that Islet was speaking of was probably around two feet wide and stretched across the entire house. Harry opened the first door on the right and found it was indeed the bathroom. Harry got ready for the day quickly, though he still spent some time trying to flatten his hair after his shower, he was annoying unsuccessful in the endeavor. He made his way back to the living room where he was then led by Islet to the dinging room. He had the feeling that unless he explicitly searched for it, he wasn't about to find the kitchen any time soon. He ate his meal quickly, delighting in the taste of maple syrup which was a first for him. He decided then and there he would be trying many things with the delicious syrup from now on.

Harry finished his breakfast, but Pearl was still not present so Harry decided to check on his trunk. After talking to Islet and figuring out which room was his, Harry spent the next few minutes walking down to the end of the hall where the master bedroom was located.

'I'm gonna have to find a shortcut to the master bedroom,' Harry entered the room and was amazed. The bed took up around a fifth of the room and sat directly in the middle of the room. He guessed it would fit around 20 full sized adults fairly easily. There was a setup similar to the living room off to the right side of the room, though the fireplace wasn't nearly so big. On the left side wall were two doors. The first door led to a huge bathroom, the tub in the center looked like it could hold 10 or 12 people. There were shower stalls set up along the right side of the wall, and three doors that upon inspection revealed toilets. Everything in the bathroom, with the exception of the doors was made of marble or had marble tiling. He wondered how much it had cost to have this place built. Harry left the bathroom and went to the next door. The room inside was empty but contained shelves and bars so Harry assumed this was the walk in closet. Re-entering the main room Harry found his trunk at the foot of the bed. He opened it up and pulled out all his possessions. The invisibility cloak his father had owned, and a family album with pictures of his parents were his two most prized possessions in his trunk. Harry picked up his clothes and started to head to the closet when Pearl interrupted.

"_I don't think those will be necessary after today Harry," _Pearl said, voice filled with couldn't tell if Pearl was upset, sad, or excited.

_ "What do you mean?_" Harry asked bewildered.

"_you will be going shopping with Islet today, just remember that you must be careful when buying clothes. Islet may carry the bags for you but don't hand her any clothes unless they are bagged or packaged."_

_ "I'll be careful Pearl…Wait I'm going shopping with Islet?" _Harry exclaimed, he started ranting that he would be found and taken away and was about to go into a full blown panic attack when Islet saved him.

"I will not let them take Master Harry," she spoke with such determination and certainty that Harry truly believed he would be alright with her.

"_Well even if she can protect you the whole time, perhaps it will be best if she disguises you so that you do not draw as much attention to yourself yes." _Pearl suggestion was met with great thanks and praise. Harry could've sworn the snake blushed under all the praise, and he new for a fact that Pearl was preening, Hedwig had the same tendency whenever he praised her.

Harry stood looking at the mirror looking to see what Islet had done to him. His hair was no longer his messy black and now had a golden brown look. She had elongated his hair so it hanged down to his shoulder; the bangs were long enough to cover the scar but still didn't block his eyes. For some reason she had been unable to change the color of his eyes so they stayed their normal piercing emerald green, his glasses had been transfigured by the elf so they were stylish and actually had the proper prescription. Her final idea was to change what Harry was wearing. She provided him with an old robe that she fitted to him quickly, and transfigured his shoes so they raised him up another few inches. She had said this way no one would recognize Harry because they would be looking for a malnourished small child and not a normal weight wizard bred child. While Harry agreed he still felt put out at her remarks. He didn't want to make her feel bad so he refrained from commenting on them. Pearl spent the entire hour laughing uproariously at the antics the house elf and Harry were getting up to.

"You're all set Master Harry," Islet beamed with pride as she looked up at him.

"Thank you very much Islet," Harry said, surprised a bit that he meant it, even though he had not enjoyed the last hour so much.

"_You two should head out, I will lead you through the forest so you exit as close as possible to the leaky cauldron. It should only be about an hours walk," _Pearl finished with a look at me.

"_Well sorry for not being in shape and being small, not exactly like I had a choice was there," _Harry said a bit snappish, he had not meant it though,_ "Sorry Pearl, I am just angry at myself."_

_ "There is no reason to be angry Harry; I had not meant to imply that it would take an hour because you were not fit. While it might be faster if you were I doubt you could lessen the time any time soon. As you age you will grow and your stride will lengthen allowing you to travel farther faster than you can now," _Pearl said in a lecturing tone.

_ "Thank you for stating the obvious," _Harry drawled.

_ "Let us go then."_

_ "Lead on Pearl."_

As they walked out the door Harry was immediately attacked by a white owl, calling it an attack might have been an exaggeration, but Harry at least felt assaulted. Eventually the owl calmed down and Harry petted Hedwig and let her in on the secret location. He wasn't sure if she hadn't already known or what but it seemed a nice thing to do. Pearl was finally starting to recover from his laughter at Hedwig's attack so Harry introduced the two. He was worried they wouldn't get along but apparently Hedwig's attack on Harry earned her instant friendship in Pearls eyes and Hedwig just accepted that some huge snake had decided to stay with Harry. Islet popped away briefly and when she came back informed Harry that she had set up the perch for Hedwig in Harry's room and laid out some food and water for her. Harry handed Hedwig an owl treat he had in his pants and after she took it she flew off to the house. Harry and the rest continued on into the forest.


	4. Inheritance and Pearl's old job

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Hopefully some of your questions are answered in this chapter; I also hope I created some more questions that need answering. I'm not sure I portrayed the goblins well; I've always had a hard time working out how to write civil tongue with mean demeanor. Hopefully it isn't too bad. Hope you enjoy this chapter, Please review.

Chapter 4: Inheritance and Pearls old job

Gringotts wasn't exactly the nicest place in Diagon Alley. It was clean, efficient, and busy as hell. Even in the shortest line Harry and Islet had to wait almost 15 minutes before the goblins were ready to serve them.

"What do you need?" The Goblin asked, his tone was business like and told Harry that he was best off not trying to start any sort of conversation.

"My name is Harry Potter, and I would like to access my vault." He said in a whisper.

"Which vault would you like to access today?"

"Wait, you mean I have more than one vault?" Harry was pretty sure everyone had heard him since everyone in the lobby was looking at them. He felt himself blush and quickly looked back to the goblin. Islet gave his hand a reassuring squeeze; it helped him relax a little.

"Yes, the Potters were an Ancient and Noble house, and therefore have their own family vault."

"I wasn't informed of that vault, can I visit it?"

"I'm afraid you can't access that vault until you're of age."

"That's ok, I think I'm about to come into some other vaults anyway."

"Might I ask to which vaults you are referring."

"I'm not sure yet, Pearl told me I should request an Inheritance ritual."

"Pearl?" the goblin was clearly surprised. He jumped off his chair and headed to a door behind the counter. In a short time he was back and got back on the chair. "Mr. Slipknot wants to see you in his office. Please follow Griphook."

'Griphook, I'm pretty sure he was the one who showed me to my vault last time. Wish these Goblins were easier to differentiate.'

"It's a pleasure to meet you again Mr. Griphook." Harry observed the goblins surprised and assumed he was right.

Slipknots office was basically what Harry had thought it would be it was a simple room with a huge desk on the opposite side from the doors. Between the desk and the highchairs the goblins sat at while working Harry was starting to wonder if they were trying to compensate for their height. Granted it probably helped business to be able to look their customers in the eyes.

"Please take a seat Mr. Potter," He gestured towards the straight back chairs in front of him. Harry's took a seat and wasn't really impressed, though he suspected that making him uncomfortable was the goal of this goblin. Slipknots face was doing nothing to change Harry's mind.

"I hear you wish to do an inheritance ritual."

"Yes, I was told that I might have the rite to some unclaimed assets."

"Well this ritual isn't for the faint of heart, it will require some blood, and magic."

"How much blood exactly, and how will I supply the magic?"

"Just a few drops, and for the magic all you need to do is touch you wand to a specific rune for a few seconds. The rune will take the magic from you, I hear it isn't pleasant." Slipknots smile was frightening to say the least. Harry was starting to doubt the wisdom of this course of action. Steeling himself Harry nodded at Slipknot to start the ritual. Slipknot got down from his chair and walked over to a wardrobe, from the wardrobe he pulled out a silver bowl, the rim of the bowl was inscribed in what looked like golden runes. He went back to his desk and set the bowl down. From the rim of the bowl he pulled out a silver needle.

"Are you ready Mr. Potter?" Slipknot asks seriously.

"Yes, let's get this over with." Harry watched as Slipknot laid the needle against a rune and whispered a few words in a strange language. He guessed it was the goblins native language. The needle started to glow blood red. Slipknot handed Harry the needle and he placed his hand over the bowl. He pricked his finger and let several drops of blood drop until Slipknot indicated with a nod once there was enough blood in the bowl. Once harry had withdrawn his hand he pulled his wand. Slipknot pointed to a particular rune on the bowl and Harry touched his wand to the rune.

The sensation was nothing like Harry had ever experienced before. It wasn't bad, like the time the spirit of Voldemort had flown through him, unfortunately it wasn't pleasant either. It felt like something was stealing a part of him. He felt what he supposed was his magic flowing through his body and out from his wand arm.

'Might be important to remember this feeling.' Harry thought, he forced himself to feel the sensation even more, and tried to force it into his memory. Eventually the feeling stopped and Harry refocused on what was going on around him. He heard Slipknot talking, but only caught the last bit.

"Sorry, my mind was elsewhere. What were you saying Mr. Slipknot?"

"Ah yes well, as I was saying, the bowl will create a list of any potential inheritances you might have. This list will be displayed in a specialized memory, which will only be accessible through a special pensieve which can only be found at Gringotts. At this point Slipknot had pulled out another bowl, this one was marble and was inlaid with silver runes around the rim. Placing his fingers on specific runes and speaking in his native tongue again Slipknot accessed the magic of the inheritance bowl, as Harry had decided to call it, and the blood changed into a silver color. When Slipknot touched his finger to the liquid it changed into a glimmering liquid cloud and followed his finger out of the bowl and into the pensieve.

"When you are ready, touch your wand to the memory and it will display your inheritance to all of us." At this Harry touched his wand to the memory, sat back, and waited for something to happen. In a few short moments words started to float out from the pensieve. Slipknot pulled out a piece of paper and began to jot down the words that floated out. The list was quite long, and took a full five minutes to finish.

"Well, lets see here, it seems most of the claims can be bundled. Shall I summarize this for you?"

"Yes, but I'd like a list of it all available to me at any time."

"Of course, not a problem. Now to summarize what you have claim to." Slipknot stopped for a moment and made a few notes on the paper before continuing. "Most of this is a part of the Slytherin line, you have gained a few properties and businesses, but the Slytherin vault has long been plundered."

"Wait, plundered, I thought goblins provided the safest place to put your gold. Should I be worried about the Potter vaults?"

"Only if your ministry plans on breaking the treaty, the four founders of Hogwarts lost most of their vault assets during the first goblin wars. Luckily for them once a new treaty was established they were able to take the rest of their gold and move it to a combined Hogwarts vault. Luckily for them goblins don't steal from kids and this protected the vault from further plundering during the future worlds." The goblin smiled, which was only slightly less frightening than before.

"Alright, so is there anything else?"

"Of course there is; a line this ancient is going to take awhile to go through. Most of the other vaults related to the Slytherin line are claimed through other families. You have the right to claim three vaults and family lines. The first is the Helmsguard line, the second is the Armstrong line, and the final line is the fedora line. Would you like to go over these vault assets now?"

"Yes please."

"Shall I summarize them or tell you each one."

"Just summarize it; I was wondering if you could put it all into a single vault anyway,"

"Of course, it would be no problem at all to movie it all to a single vault. As to the total assets of the new vault, the total liquid assets are 1,234,241 Galleons, 86,231 Sickles, and 1242 Knuts. The new vault will contain a total of 5212 books of varying levels of rarity and many rare potions ingredients. There are many pieces of armor and weapons that will be moved into the vault as well, unless you would like the goblins to buy them from you."

"No, that won't be necessary; you never know when you need to gear and army."

"Indeed, Mr. Potter."

"Anything else I should know about?"

"Just that you have received various other family homes and properties from lines that have died out over time, I shall make you a list so you can look at these estates when you get the chance."

"That would be fine Mr. Slipknot. I was wondering if you could tell me how exactly the potters are related to the Slytherin line, and perhaps why Pearl is so well known around here. I half thought I was going to see a goblin go into shock for a second."

"I would have killed him myself if he had." Slipknot said with a feral grin.

"Yes well, lucky for him then that he did not. Can you answer my questions?"

"I shall endeavor to answer them as best I can Mr. Potter."

"Please, you have been kind to me today, I insist you call my Harry."

"Of course Harry, you may call me Argus."

"Very well Argus, I will listen attentively so you will not have to repeat anything."

"A man who knows efficiency, excellent; the closest connection to the Slytherin line is marriage of Cassandra Black to Leopold Potter, this happened roughly 100 years ago. The Blacks are connected to Slytherin much earlier, but I'm afraid I cannot tell you to whom and when. You will have to find a Black family tree or hope that the Potters have it recorded somewhere. In any case this is the only known connection to Slytherin in the Potter line. Of course only the one connection was needed for you to make the claim. Still you are lucky that you are from that branch of Potters. All other branches would have no such connection."

"Are there any other Potters alive?"

"None that are on record; Most of the other lines died out, either during the first war against you-know-who or through normal means. Some lines were thrown out, most likely due to the line becoming all Squibs."

"Squibs?"

"Non-magical children born from magical families."

"So they just threw them to the dogs?" Harry was getting mad at this point and jumped up from his chair. He was upset to hear that his own family had potentially thrown out relatives because they didn't have magic.

"It is the wizards' way, Harry." Argus said, not unkindly.

"Well, they won't be hearing me telling them I like it any time soon." Harry grunted sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms across his chest.

"I suspect not."

"Alright let's move on. What about Pearl or Paracelsus?" Harry asked trying to calm himself down.

"Paracelsus, not a name we goblins have heard in a long time; almost 12 years ago now to be exact. He used to guard a gateway that lays beneath the vaults of Gringotts."

"A gateway beneath Gringotts? I assume that means there is a lake of sorts near the lowest level of Gringotts since Pearl is a sea serpent."

"Indeed, you are correct. It is unknown how old Paracelsus is, but it is believed that he was born sometime in the 16th century. He shares a name with a well known alchemist. Some think that Paracelsus gave the leviathan his name and gave him an item to guard, a pearl. Unfortunately a lot of this is speculation from goblin historians, though it is probably closer to the truth than anything you humans could come up with." Argus said, with a toothy smile. This time the smile wasn't frightening at all.

"Indeed Argus." Harry said with a laugh. "Perhaps I can ask Pearl himself. I believe I have spent enough of your day my friend. If I could be given access to my trust vault, Hagrid never gave me my key; I shall withdraw some of my monies and leave you to your business."

"Of course, if you will wait just a moment Griphook will lead you to your vaults. He will have your key already." With that Argus rang a bell on his desk and Griphook appeared shortly. After a brief conversation between the two, Griphook turned to me.

"If you would follow me please Mr. Potter."

"Of course Griphook, lead on."

The ride down to the vault wasn't very long, since it was very fast. Islet seemed to enjoy it almost as much as Harry did, which is probably why Griphook was prompted to make the cart go faster.

'Hagrid would die if we had gone that fast the first time around.' Harry thought with a grin plastered on his face. He looked down to Islet who was smiling just as widely as he was.

"Fun ride Islet?" Harry said as he exited the cart, he stood to the side as Griphook made his way to the vault door and Islet exited the cart.

"Yes Master Harry, the cart rides is always a pleasure for Islet."

Griphook opened his vault with the key and handed over several keys to Harry. He explained that he had summoned the key to his trust vault, and any other vault back to Gringotts. Harry figured he could just pretend the goblins had mailed it to him after they had noticed he didn't have his key. He would tell Dumbledore that he suspected the goblins were suspicious of Hagrid carrying around another person's key. He doubted he would be asked about it though.

"I'll never get used to this." Harry said as he entered his trust vault. He grabbed a money bag and began to fill it with Galleons. He filled two bags with Galleons, and one with Sickles. He ignored the Knuts since they were the lowest denomination and would not likely be needed. He left the vault and nodded to Griphook to notify him he was done with the vault. They headed back up to the lobby with Harry and Islet enjoying the ride immensely.

As Harry left Gringotts he considered all that had happened. He had received a few answers, but not nearly enough. Many more mysteries surrounded his new friends but he now had something to look forward to this summer, the folder he was carrying contained all the information on his new assets that he would need to go over, and he had to start training according to Pearl. Pearl had a lot to answer for and Harry was determined he would learn all he could about him before school started. For now though it was time to go shopping.


	5. Shopping and girls

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: I suppose it might be a little cliché to have him shopping, but it was important for him to do so (at least that's what he told me). Anyway I couldn't write the twins speech the way I wanted to separately so I decided to use "—"these slashes as an indication of when they switch talking. As usual let me know what you think by reviewing the story and thank you for taking the time to read it. Oh and sorry about the delay on this chapter. I had to leave town for a job interview and I was struggling with how this chapter would go.

Chapter 5: Shopping and girls

"First step, get some clothes." Harry announced turning abruptly. The motion brought him face to face with a girl, mere inches away from one another. They both took a step back; Harry blushing like mad was turning red enough to match Ron's hair.

"Usually people walk out of Gringotts when they're looking to buy clothes. You might try Madam Malkin's." The girl said her voice betrayed her humor. Harry was speechless, the girl was beautiful. Her honey blonde hair surrounded a delicate face. What really caught Harry's attention however were her eyes. If they had been a shade or two darker they would match his eyes perfectly.

"I see, well I'm sorry about almost running into you. I only intended to speak directly to my house-elf. Speaking of which, I don't see Islet anywhere."

"Islet is here Master. Islet went feed Pearl his lunch."

"Is it that time already? Would you care to join me miss…?" Harry asked leaning his head to the side to look at the girl.

"Daphne Greengrass, I'm afraid I'll have to pass on your offer of lunch, my parents are waiting for me, Mr.…?"

"That's too bad; my name is Ha…uh, Hadrian um Oxley. I think I should go now." Harry said, looking for an escape route.

"Uh, sure, clearly that's not your name but that's alright. I'll see you later, if you actually look like you currently do that is."

"Um, yeah sorry about this, it's important for my safety that I'm not who I say I am." Harry told her in a whisper. Harry took his leave and headed to Madam Malkin's. The store wasn't very busy and Madam Malkin walked over to him immediately.

"Can I help you dear?"

"Yes, actually I find I'm in need of some clothes."

"Master is needing more than some. Master needs a whole wardrobe." Islet said looking at Harry as if he had failed to point out the severity of his needs. He supposed in a way he had.

"Indeed that is the case, Islet if you would please help Madam Malkin I would appreciate it."

"That's very kind of you dear. Perhaps we should start with the measurements. Please come this way." She said leading him from the front of the store to a separate room. Harry had never been in another room in the store before. Each wall of the room had three doors. Harry guessed they were dressing rooms. In the middle of the room was a stage of sorts. It had three tall mirrors set up so one could see their front and sides. He guessed this would be where he would be fitted. Madam Malkin led him over to the stage. She then started to measure him. It was a lot more personal then his first experience at Madam Malkin's and more awkward then when Islet had done it. In short order she was finished.

"So you need a new wardrobe. I take it you'll be wanting school robes; perhaps some dress robes as well? Plus you'll want some muggle clothing as well I suppose. I'll have Islet get your essentials."

"Islet is not to touch any clothing unless they are wrapped."

"No problem all of those come prepackaged in various sizes, I assure you its safe for house-elves to handle." Madam Malkin said politely. Harry nodded and Islet popped out. Madam Malkin turned to her assistants, which until now Harry hadn't noticed. They all talked quietly for a few moments and then walked out of the room. Harry was left alone in the room. He felt a little foolish just standing there but couldn't think of anything else to do. He had to wait for what felt like an hour. It was most likely only a few minutes at the most when the assistants came back in. Islet popped in not long after. For the next few hours he tried on shirts, pants, and robes. In the end most of his clothes were various shades of green, black, red, and white. His favorite by far was the black dress robes trimmed in dark green and silver striped. It was a little Slytherin if he though about it but he figured the red and gold phoenix made up for it. Another one he figured that Pearl would like was a deep green robe trimmed with red and gold stripes and had a white snake coiling around the robe. The head rested at the shoulder of the robe.

Now that he was done what he was starting to think was the most irritating chore ever. He considered what to do next. He decided that lunch was good idea and headed back to the leaky cauldron. There he told Tom to bring him two plates of lunch. He enjoyed a delicious meal with Islet, though people looked at him strangely. Finally someone got up and walked over to him.

"Hey what do you think you are doing eating with a house-elf? It's not proper." The boy's voice was eerily familiar to Harry and he hoped he was wrong. Finally he looked up to meet the eyes of a red haired boy. Harry could hardly believe his friend Ron.

"Leave the boy alone Ronniekins," Fred said.

"Wouldn't want him to set his house-elf on you would we, Forge,"

"Oh I dunno Gred, it might give us some ideas. Elves are crafty creatures they are."

"Oh yeah, remember that time in second year."

"Of course Gred."

"Well I'm confused. Your names are Forge and Gred?" Harry asked. He had to play the part of a stranger or else the twins might get suspicious and they were too good at sniffing out facts for Harry's liking.

"These are my brothers Fred and George, you never answered my question." Ron's face was anything but kind. He was practically glowering at him. The twins on the other hand looked the same as always, all smiles and evident glee.

"Well I don't know how house-elves are commonly treated in Europe, but in my homeland we treat our servants with at least a modicum of respect. Although I suppose I take it further than most would."

"No problem mate, I think it cool."

"He means we think it its cool. Ron—will likely have a hard—time accepting it since—he seems to have a problem with everything but Harry."

"Harry is a boy's name, is it not? I think he's a little young but is he, well you know?"

"Batting for the other team?"

"We don't know, yet."

"Hey, I am not obsessed with Harry, he's my best friend. It's not my fault that people want to know about him."

"Yeah because bragging—about being friends—with a boy who hates fame—is so obviously what people want to hear." The twins' speech was as usual slightly disturbing. Harry would always wonder how they manage to do it so perfectly.

"I take it you mean Harry Potter? You guys know him?" Harry asked. He was interested in seeing how the three would respond to that question. He was careful to make it sound like he was just interested and not spellbound.

"Of course, He's my best friend he is. Me and him was hanging out all year long we was. Of course we did get into a spot of trouble towards the end of the year. We saved the philosophers stone. I even beat a giant game of wizards' chess." Ron rambled; he was clearly excited about the prospect of telling Harry all about his encounter with the chess set and his life as Harry's best friend.

"Wow, the philosopher's stone? As in the stone that can turn anything into gold and contains the elixir of life? How in the world did it get into a school, and why did you go after it. It seems Harry Potter is a rather dangerous fellow." Harry asked. He of course already knew all of this but he was playing the part of a foreign kid visiting and anyone would be interested in the stone if they knew of it. Harry almost commented on Ron's lack of proper grammar but decided to ignore it for now considering how Ron usually handled people questioning his skills.

"Nah, we reckon he felt he had to rescue the stone from Professor Quirrell, or so the rumors go. Dumbledore wasn't around apparently, though he did carry Harry to the hospital wing after the events." Fred said. It was the longest Harry had ever heard one of the twins talk without the other cutting in midsentence. He also wondered that they had only chosen to answer the part about Harry being dangerous. From what Fred had said it was clear he at least didn't think Harry was in the wrong from whatever events had taken place. Harry thought it might be a good idea to get to know the twins better.

"Well, he might be a little dangerous to be around, but he is my best mate." Ron said. Harry could jump for joy if Ron had stopped there.

"Besides Dumbledore can handle any problems Harry gets us into."

"What do you mean? Dumbledore is the headmaster of Hogwarts right?"

"Yeah, I have his confidence. He and me mum talk sometimes and they asked me to become Harry's best friend. I keep him up to date on Harry's actions and he gives me a couple of Sickles see?" At this Ron shows Harry a bag full of the silver Sickles. Harry felt like throwing up.

"Are you serious?" George asked, looking at the bag as if for confirmation. No wonder you wanted us to bring you along today.

"That's just low Ron—how can you—possibly do that—to a friend like Harry" the twins said in their usual manner.

Harry wasn't sure what to think, and boy did he need to think. Islet tugged at his sleeve and indicated the alley. Harry nodded slightly and looked back to the boys. Ron looked oblivious as was usual but it seemed the twins had caught on that Harry wanted to leave.

"Well I must be going; it was very interesting meeting you three. Especially you two Forge and Gred or is it Gred and Forge?" Harry said looking at the twins directly. He avoided the look that Ron was trying to give him completely. Harry got up as the twins bowed to him smiling. He turned and walked back to the back door of the pub. He paused at the entrance to Diagon alley, looking at the alley.

"I suppose we should just work our way up one side and back down the other, is that alright with you Islet?"

"It sounds like a fine idea Master."

"Glad you like it," Harry said with some sarcasm. He headed for the Apothecary, inside he decided to buy some extra ingredients that weren't on the list, but he thought he might need. After making his rather large purchase he headed to Flourish and Blott's. He was pretty sure that he had a rather extensive library considering his family vaults, but he figured it would be full of old books, and besides he couldn't access them all right now anyway. He bought a lot of books on defense against the dark arts, charms, and transfiguration. He had found a rather useful looking book for potions that reminded him of those how to for dummy books that were prevalent in the muggle world.

"Only half way down the first side of the alley and I'm already running out of hands." Harry said jokingly as he tried to open the door to exit with his load. Just as he went to push the door open, it opened on its own. Harry came tumbling down, and judging by the feeling he was on top of someone.

"We really should try meeting on better circumstances." The familiar girls' voice announced. Harry was looking down at her, their face parallel one another. He felt her breath tickly his lips as she spoke and felt a blush creep up onto his face.

"I'm so sorry, I was just trying to get the door when it suddenly opened on its own and…" Harry said quickly while moving away from Daphne. He disentangled himself and his purchases and stood up. Daphne took her time straightening herself up, before speaking.

"It's okay, it's my fault really. I should've noticed you on the other side."

"Still I apologize."

"That's very sweet of you. You should introduce us to your friend Daphne." A man said. He was clearly her father as he shared her eyes.

"Of course father, this is Hadrian Oxley, I venture he is from America but he has yet to tell me. We just met today. Hadrian this is my father Adrian Greengrass and my mother Persephone Greengrass." Daphne announced politely. Her tone gave Harry a hint that her family was a rather formal bunch. He was glad for the hint.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass, I am afraid I don't know your customs here but I assure you I am honored to meet you both. It seems your daughter and I keep running into one another. Perhaps if it occurs a third time I shall have to see if fate is not trying to tell me something." Harry said smoothly. He wasn't sure if his words would be taken offensively or not but he hoped they would find it humorous.

"Ha Ha, it seems well get along fine kid, no offense is taken for the greeting. After all I would hardly be honorable if I claimed disrespect when you are merely ignorant of the customs."

"It would seem my dear Daphne is planning next how to encounter you so that you shall think that fate has played her hand." Daphne's mother announced. Her voice was silky and smooth, pleasant on the ears and calming to the soul.

"Mother" Daphne exclaimed. Turning to Harry she said in a soft voice, "Though it might not be a bad idea."

They exchanged goodbyes with Harry and then went into the store. Daphne's father had been kind enough to point out that since Harry had an elf he could just have Islet pop the stuff back to his house as he bought it. Harry could have hit himself over the head for not having thought of it and apologized to Islet for not utilizing her more. It seemed that she had been fidgeting the whole time without him noticing and she was extremely grateful to finally be doing what she felt she should have been doing all along. The rest of the shopping trip went well. Harry walked away with a new permanent perch for Hedwig, some owl treats, various odds and ends that could be useful later on and a new trunk. It had multiple compartments and would shrink at the touch of his wand. He also had had it secured against any unwanted visitors, it would now deliver a nasty shock to anyone who tried to open it without his express permission.

The walk home was dull but Harry enjoyed the freedom of it completely. He was whistling a tune as he entered the forest and met back up with Pearl.

"_How did it go?"_

_ "Fine, it was mostly boring. I met a wonderful person though."_

_ "Good you will be needing friends soon enough I fear."_

_ "I don't even want to know, I just want to eat dinner and sleep."  
>"Islet is preparing your supper even as we speak."<em> Pearl said. Harry looked around and noticed that indeed the elf had already disappeared from his side. He wondered when she had gone. He hadn't really been paying her all that much attention, which he felt a little bad about, until he remembered that it was probably the way she preferred it.

"_Good let's get on home then."_


	6. Learning can be painful and boring

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Here's the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed all the previous chapters. I like reading them and they make me want to write so the more I get the faster I'll update…probably. I'll try to get out at least one chapter a week but I guarantee nothing. As usual please read, review and enjoy.

Chapter 6: Learning can be painful and boring

As soon as Harry got home he was introduced to a lovely dinner, which he devoured with many thanks to its creator Islet. He promptly passed out in his room afterwards. When next he opened his eyes it was dawn of the next day.

"_Quickly now, we have much to do today."_

_ "I'm up" _Harry responded with a yawn. He pushed Pearls' head off his stomach and sat up as he reached for his glasses. Able to see, he got out of bed and prepared for the day.

"_Alright so what are we doing today?" _Harry asked, wondering what Pearl had in mind.

"_Physical training for one, even here you must be careful of using magic, your wand amplifies spells so it's easier for you to cast. This also means that it is easier for the ministry to detect the spells."_

_ "Well what about accidental magic?"_

_ "Accidental magic is a large burst of uncontrolled magic. Even if the effect is small the amount of magic used is not. This wasted energy is what the ministry detects."_

_ "Alright so, I'll have to be careful with magic, what will I be doing for physical training."_

_ "I think you'll rather like it actually, all you have to do is catch me. I guarantee you'll be fit in no time. We will go to till lunch." _With that said Pearl moved out the front door. Harry made for the door but was stopped by Islet.

"It would be best if Master Harry changed to his exercise clothes."

"Oh, right of course." Harry said feeling silly. Heading back into his room he quickly changed into his sweat pants and t-shirt. He then made his way outside. Pearl did not give Harry any time to think or ask him a question. As soon as Harry appeared he took off. Harry reacted immediately chasing after Pearl. Harry immediately ran into a simple problem when it came to catching up to Pearl. He found he couldn't run anywhere. Tree roots kept getting in the way, bushes tugged at his clothes, branches and whole trees made it impossible to follow Pearl. It soon became obvious that Pearl was not trying to lose Harry since Harry was able to keep him in sight, giving him advice every now and then.

"_Slow down Harry; observe where you are and where you want to go. Search for a path to that point. You'll eventually get used to the terrain and will be able to move to your desired goal faster."_ Pearl instructed in a gentle hissing voice. Harry heard him but he was quickly becoming irritated by not being able to keep up with Pearl. By the end of the first hour Harry was completely exhausted.

"_I can't go on Pearl."_

_ "Come on Harry, you'll get use to the effort soon enough, just another hour okay?" _Pearl said in a pleading tone. Harry didn't want to disappoint Pearl, who had helped him gather the courage to escape from his life at the Dursleys. He had thought he was in pretty good shape from all the running he did when Dudley was playing Harry hunting, not to mention playing Quidditch.

As Harry considered his lack of stamina he dodged around another tree and rolled under a large branch, only to find he had to jump over a log. He paused for a minute to look around for Pearl. He spotted his tail slithering away about fifteen feet to the west. In order to get to him Harry would have to find his way past a wall of brush in order to reach him and their appeared to be no immediate way around it. His only option appeared to be over it. Now all he had to do was figure out how. It came to him when he spotted the vine.

'This is insane,' Harry thought as he climbed a tree near the brush wall. Once he reached a high enough branch he checked it to make sure it was sturdy. Moving along the branch he looked for the vine he would jump to. Spotting the vine he made the leap for the vine, he just barely managed to grab it. His momentum brought him well over the brush, but he was quickly heading into a tree.

"Oh, shit." Harry said, he dropped from the vine and hit the ground. He tucked into a roll hoping to prevent any serious injuries. The breath was struck from his lungs as his chest hit the ground and he felt his ankle twist into pain. He had managed to avoid killing himself but when he tried to stand he couldn't stay upright.

"_You okay, boy?" _Pearl asked gently.

"_I'm alive, I think I sprained my ankle, it doesn't feel broken." _Harry replied breathing hard and rubbing his ankle gently.

"_Dropping 10 feet from a moving vine onto a forest floor can do that. We'll need to work on your techniques as well. It was pretty good thinking to use the vine but its clear you forgot to consider all aspects of your plan before going through with it. You need to stop being so instinctive."_

_ "Sorry Pearl, I'll try."_

_ "No more for today, go inside and Islet will fix you up as needed. Think about what you've learned today and consider how magic could have helped you in your practice today."_

_ "Yes Pearl."_ Harry said in response to the snakes lecture. Harry and Pearl made their way back to the house. When they arrived Harry asked Islet what time it was while she looked him over. He discovered they had been out there for little more than an hour and that it was barely past nine o'clock.

"So how is it Islet?"

"Not too bad Master Harry, it's best to just let it heal on its own, your ambient magic will heal it quickly."

"Alright thanks Islet."

"_If you are fine, I suggest you get to reading some of your books."_ Pearl suggested

_ "Oh yeah, I bought a lot of new books, I suppose I should check them out."_

_ "Actually I think it might be wiser for you to re-read your first year books again. I get the feeling you probably never finished them."_

_ "I have to read all of them?"_

_ "You can ignore your history and astronomy texts." _

_ "Well thank god for the little things."_ Harry said getting up from his chair in the living room and heading to his bedroom. Pearl followed him into the room, settling his head in Harry's lap once Harry sat down at his chair with his books. Harry decided to start with his defense against the dark arts book, figuring that it would be the most interesting and useful of his books. He was in fact, completely wrong; not to say he knew whether or not it was the least interesting of the lot, he just knew that this book was boring. Their were few spells of real interest and most of it just discussed general dangers like getting into a fight with another wizard or defending against various creatures. He reached a good part in the book just before lunch.

"_Oh, find something interesting"_ Pearl asked sleepily. He had fallen asleep on Harry's moved the book and looked down at the snake.

"_Yes, but how did you know?"_

_ "Snakes are extremely sensitive to vibrations, so it's easy for me to sense any changes in your heart rate. It increased a tiny bit when you got excited." _Pearl explained calmly.

"Come get your lunch Master Harry. I have put out Pearls lunch as well."

"_Thank you Islet, I shall be heading out now Harry."_

_ "Alright, I'll see you after lunch right?"_

_ "Of course Harry."_ Pearl said as he slithered out of the room. Harry got up and headed to the dining room. Lunch was sandwiches and Harry didn't take long to devour a few of them. After lunch he headed back into his room. Sitting in his chair; he had a feeling that it would be his reading chair soon enough. He started reading the chapter in the defense book which dealt with dueling stance. He was quickly disappointed when he found out that it didn't teach anything about dueling, just the initial stances for dueling. He scanned through the rest of book quickly to see if it discussed anymore dueling stuff, but other than the shield charm it didn't. He practiced the stances until Pearl returned.

"_Hey Pearl, I looked through this book, but it seems pointless. Most of the chapters we covered in class, and the ones we didn't basically just reiterate what previous chapters have already made apparent. The only chapter of value was the dueling stance chapter. I would say it was odd we never learned all of them in class but with Voldemort as a teacher I can't say I'm surprised either." _Harry said it all in pretty quickly. He was curious to see how Pearl would react. Admittedly he was also worried that Pearl would think he was complaining.

"_Well I must admit I haven't exactly kept up with the wizarding worlds books. If you think it will do you no good than move on to another book. To be honest you won't be able to do much magic here so theoretical work is going to be most of the workload." _Pearl said apologetically.

"_It's ok Pearl, I like to read, and at least here I can try my hardest to learn without feeling like I'm going to upset someone."_ Harry said sad at the thought that he would not be casting spells all summer and that he had to hold back even at Hogwarts. He was reminded of his time in defense class. He was top of class for DADA and it had taken Hermione quite a while to accept it without being a little testy. He had always held back in school, so much so that it was actually a habit now.

"_Yes, try your hardest please. It will help you to remove any bad habits you may have. Speaking of which, Islet will be teaching you some things after dinner. So be prepared."_ With that said Pearl settled down on the floor and set his head on Harry's lap. Harry immediately started petting the scales above his eyes and with one hand opened his charms textbook. He quickly skimmed over the chapters and decided on which chapters he wanted to read. He settled in to read until dinner. Hours later Islet popped in to inform him that supper was ready. Harry bopped Pearl on the head lightly and Pearl moved his head to lie on the floor. Harry made his way to the dining room wondering what Islet would have prepared. Whatever it was it smelled amazing.

"So what have you prepared Islet?" Harry asked.

"It is just a simple stew Master Harry. Did Pearl tell you about after supper?"

"Yes, I'm looking forward to learning from you Islet. I am surprised though that you would come to this decision without me though."

"We is sorry Master Harry, Pearl is the one who suggested it, he assured me he would tell you about it."

"He did, no worries, like I said I look forward to it." Harry said as he sat down at the table, Islet set a bowl of the stew in front of him and Harry immediately dug into it. He managed to finish off two bowls, which for him was actually moderately surprising. He wasn't use to eating a lot. Sitting back in the chair he asked, "So what am I learning today?"

"I am going to teach you to write properly Master Harry." Islet announced with pride.

"I can write properly." Harry said defensively.

"Of course you can, but have you ever learned how to formally write an essay?"

"Ugh, I can't say I have actually."

"This is what I will be teaching you, as well as estate management, and politics."

"Where did you learn it all?"

"I've learned them invariably through my Masters over the years."

"You're one smart elf Islet."

"Most elves are smart, it helps us serve are masters better if we understand what they are doing," Islet responded as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Well I guess that makes sense."

"Shall we begin Master Harry?"

"Yes." Harry said settling in to work. Islet brought in some writing supplies and started to lecture Harry on how to write an essay. Harry was immediately stunned by how some simple things he didn't know made writing essays easier. He wondered why Hermione or the professors had never pointed any of this out to him. He hoped it was just because they just assumed he was bad at writing essays. He shook the thought from his mind and went to work, thinking that this summer was going to mark a drastic change in his life.


	7. The end of summer

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Chapter 7 at last. For those interested, I pronounce Islet as is-let. A lot of questions will be answered when Harry gets to Hogwarts which I promise is going to occur in either the next chapter or the one afterwards. As to why he closed the vaults, it was simple a matter of ease, Harry never considered keeping them separate, having all the assets in one vault meant one folder to deal with instead of many. Anyway I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, please read and review at your leisure.

Chapter 7: The end of summer

"_Come on Harry you've almost got me." _Pearl teased slithering his head just out of Harry's grasp.

_ "Don't kid yourself Pearl if I was trying to catch anything but that annoying head of yours I would have won already." _Harry said playfully. Harry dodged the branch that appeared in front of him sliding through the much until he could catch his footing again; he jumped over a log and reached out to catch Pearl. He felt his hands enclose on Pearls head and held on tight. Pearl immediately reacted to Harry by throwing his head back and speeding up. Harry held on tight as he rolled all around Pearl barely managing to hold on. The sticking charm was helping a bit but Pearl's ambient magic was strong and had a tendency of weakening spells cast around him. After a minute or two, Harry wasn't sure, Pearl slowed down.

"_Good job Harry, you're finally fit and your magic is much stronger than when we first found you." _

_ "Thanks Pearl I hadn't realized how much better I would feel. Even all the theoretical work makes me feel better about magic in general and even with the limitations I still managed to learn a few spells."_

_ "Your welcome, but you did most of the work Harry, I wasn't the one to read those books and I wasn't even a teacher, if anything Islet did more work for you than I."_

_ "Ah don't say that Pearl, if it weren't for you I would still be unfit. I don't think I could maintain a normal exercise schedule, your method works well for me." _Harry said nicely.

Harry and Pearl moved into the house, they had taken about three steps into the home when Islet popped into the room.

"Master Harry, I have purchased all your items for your second year." Islet told Harry while placing his lunch on the table. The food looked as amazing as always.

"Islet have you looked into getting more shares of the daily prophet?"

"Yes Master Harry, by working with the goblins we've managed to obtain 8% of the daily prophet shares."

"So with what I already had we're at 48% ownership, if we can get another 3% well have majority shares and control of the company." Harry said smilingly devilishly. It was a simple plan to be sure; he would take control of the daily prophet and force it to stop reporting about him. Simple but he had no idea what he would do once he had control, and he wasn't looking forward to people finding out.

"And the other investments?" Harry asked Islet taking a couple bites of his lunch.

"All is done as requested Master Harry, the goblins were surprised at your choices, pleasantly I should add; which for goblins is saying something Master Harry." Islet said smiling happily at Harry. At Harry's nod Islet left to clean up whatever needed to cleaned, not that Harry imagined there was much to clean, he was just glad that Islet let it look like the place was lived in. He finished his lunch and headed into the office. He had found the room a few days after his shopping trip in Diagon Alley. He moved behind the large mahogany desk and sat down, swinging his feet up onto the desk. Islet didn't like it when he did it, but it was comfortable. He grabbed one of the folders containing his current estate information. The folder was charmed to update automatically when changes were made to the account, and indeed he noticed that his total shares for the daily prophet were now at 48%. After looking at the folder for a few more minutes Harry set it down. He grabbed for a book off the shelf and opened it up. It was his new potions book, not exactly his favorite read, but it would be worth it if he could shock Snape next time he saw him.

"Master Harry, it is time for dinner." Islet informed Harry, tugging on his pant legs.

"You don't need to pull my pants Islet." Harry said with irritation.

"This is the third time I tried to tell you Master Harry." Islet said with some sadness. Her eyes started to water and she started shaking. Before she went off on him Harry got up and knelt down on the floor to pull Islet into a hug.

"If that's the case I'm sorry Islet, I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings and blamed you for it. Please accept my apology Islet." Harry said feeling bad about how he had reacted. Islet cheered up almost immediately, and Harry was glad that the elf's mood changed quickly, as he hadn't run across many people crying and had quickly learned not to cry himself. Crying was something he didn't know how to handle. He held Islets hand and they made their way to the table. By the time they reached the table Islet was back to her old self and happier then Harry had ever seen her before. She popped away and popped back in with his dinner as he sat down. Pearl came into the room just as he started in on his dinner.

"_Hey Pearl, haven't seen you much this afternoon."_

"_I was preparing something special for you Harry."_

"_Somehow I don't think it's going to be happy surprise."_ Harry said with a hint of question. He lowered the spoon that was halfway to his mouth back to the bowl.

"_Well I don't know if you'll be happy but I think you'll like it at least."_ Pearl said, his voice dripping with pleasure and self evident pride. It didn't ease Harry's mind very much.

_"When will I be receiving this something special?" _Harry asked. He began eating again and Pearl slithered over to him. Pearl placed his head in Harry's lap and Harry moved his chair out enough to put his hand on top of Pearl's head. Pearl really liked being petted, which Harry didn't mind since he had few friends. His familiar Hedwig on the other hand didn't like it. She had a habit of landing on his shoulder a little more sharply then usual whenever she caught Harry petting Pearl, which was becoming more frequent as his time at his Black forest home was coming to a close. Even as he thought about it, Hedwig flew into the room and landed on his shoulder. Her claws dug into his shoulder a bit as she beat her wings. She settled down and rubbed her head against his. He put down his spoon with a content sigh and began petting her with his now free hand. These moments of his day were his favorite, he felt whole at these moments.

_"We need to get going if were going to get any sleep tonight." _Pearl informed Harry quietly.

_"Going where?" _Harry asked with suspicion.

"_You'll see when we get there."_

_ "This is that something special isn't it."_

_ "Yes." _Pearl said moving off of Harry and heading for the exit. Harry got up and followed him outside. They walked for a few minutes until they reached a clearing.

"_We're here." _Pearl said slithering to a series of markings on the ground. Harry saw what appeared to be runes dug into the ground in a perfect circle. Harry wondered what ritual he would be taking part in, he was positive it was a ritual since the runes weren't permanent.

"_Alright what are the runes for?"_

_ "They're required for the familiar ritual."_

_ "Never heard of it." _Harry said with confusion.

"_It's a ritual that is used when a creature wishes to bond with a wizard or witch. It was rumored that Albus Dumbledore had bonded a Phoenix, to do that they would have used this ritual."_ Pearl told Harry, moving around the runes, checking them. Harry was having a hard time seeing the details of the runes in the dark but he knew that to Pearl it would all be clear as day.

"_Wait who's bonding who, and I would have thought familiars were a natural process." _

_ "A natural bond can form if the wizard or witch saves the creature or takes part in the birthing process and takes care of the creature from that point on. Saving the creature can form a familiar bond instantly, but raising it forms the bond slowly."_

_ "Alright so this ritual is a way to bond with matured creatures without having to save them or raise them."_

_ "Correct, it also has additional advantages over a natural bond. When wizards created the ritual they wanted to make it so that the bond that formed was complete as soon as the ritual was completed. Part of the bond is being able to understand your familiar, not that you have any problem with that since you're a parseltongue. In order to speed this process up they tied in the runes for understanding and language. This understanding comes in the form of thought. Unfortunately the downside to the instant understanding is that depending on the creature it has varying levels of success. In the natural form the familiar will eventually be able to communicate with its master as if they were both speaking the same language."_

_ "Well that explains why Dumbles and Fawkes don't seem to communicate perfectly, but if the communication skills grow with the natural bond how come they don't with the ritual."_

_ "No one really knows why, it is speculated that since the ritual forms a complete bond it locks in the level of mental speak the two bonded can share. Others say it's because the bond isn't as powerful as a natural bond."_

_ "Well I don't understand magic that well but it seems silly that a bond couldn't grow."_

_ "They are only theories, although the most likely in my opinion is that the magic of the ritual creates a permanent bond that cannot grow or decrease."_

_ "Alright, you still haven't told me who is being bonded tonight."_

_ "I thought that was obvious." _Pearl said faking hurt. Harry realized at that moment what Pearl was thinking. Thinking back he realized he should have noticed this much earlier, around the time he found out about the ritual. He was amazed that Pearl would want to do this. Harry felt his hands starting to sweat even in the chill of the night. With a subtle clearing of his throat he asked in a slightly shaky voice, "_You want to become my familiar?_" He was worried about if Pearl said no, he wasn't sure if he would be disappointed or not. He guessed he might be sad if he didn't want to, it sounded fantastic, like making a blood brother pact. He had seen a movie scene in which two guys had done it while in jail. He hadn't seen much more than that before Dudley chased him out of the house.

"_Do you see any other wizards here?"_ Pearl asked sarcastically. It was so like Pearl that Harry started laughing. He was relieved and feeling really giddy with excitement.

"_No, I guess not. I don't know what to say Pearl." _Harry said in a strained voice. Thinking back on this was going to be one of the most embarrassing moments of his life. He was acting like such a girl.

"_You need to put some blood in each of these runes in order to activate them. Seven drops in total, one for each rune. Then you will speak the thirteen stanza of the ritual with your wand held pointed up to the sky. Since the familiar needs to be in contact with the wizard or witch I will be coiled around you. You'll know what to do at the end."_

"_What stanza, I haven't memorized anything like that."_

"_No worries, you can just read it, the stanzas are short and fit on a large page. You can hold it with your free hand; it won't interrupt with the ritual."_ Pearl said. Islet showed up and scolded them about taking to long. Harry and Pearl set up to start the ritual so as not to upset Islet. Harry was ready to begin but Hedwig refused to leave his shoulder.

"Come on girl, you know I love you. Pearl is a member of the family; he just wants to be initiated. You're already my familiar in my eyes Hedwig; we've been through a lot together you and I." Harry said gently to her. She looked directly at him with a fierce stare that seemed to say "I love you, you better not abandon me," and flew off to a nearby branch. Pearl coiled carefully around Harry leaving Harry able to move his hands. He settled his head on Harry's left shoulder. With everything ready harry began the ritual. The stanza might have been short but Harry felt he had to speak slowly with a clear and loud voice so it took some time.

"...and with ritual we meld ourselves, mind to mind," At this Harry pointed his wand first at his forehead and then at Pearls forehead, "soul to soul," Harry pointed his wand at his eyes and then at Pearl's eyes, "magic to magic" Harry pointed his want upwards between the them and two strands of magic came from the two of them to swirl around the wand. The strand from Pearl settled into Harry and vice versa for Pearl. Harry felt something in his mind, as if a foreign presence had just arrived. He thought he head a thought from Pearl, "Family for life." Harry echoed the sentiment and dropped to the ground, Pearl catching him gently.


	8. Friends

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: I realize this may not be the norm for the train ride but I hope you all like it. Daphne will be making an appearance soon; it just didn't fit in with what happens on the train. Luna may be OOC, I'm not really sure if I caught the personality that most recognize her for. As usual I hope you all enjoy this chapter, please read and review.

Chapter 8: Friends

"_Are you ready to go?" _Pearl asked knocking his head against Harry's chest.

"_I'm up, I'm up." _Harry yelled out tiredly. Harry reached over for his glasses and settled them on his nose. Sitting up Harry patted Pearl on the head; then he got up and prepared for the day. As he entered the dining room Islet came in with his breakfast.

"Can you pack everything up for me Islet?" Harry asked her as he dug into his breakfast.

"It's already packed Master Harry, I did it yesterday when I got your textbooks."

"Well your on the ball Islet, thank you." Harry said gratefully.

"_You've got to go Harry, it's already ten."_

_ "Alright I'll be out the door before you know it." _Harry said finishing up his breakfast. He and Pearl made their way out the door with Islet promising Harry that his trunk would make it to the school without his help. He wondered how he would explain his lack of a trunk while on the train but then again he wasn't even sure how he was supposed to act around his friends. He didn't feel any need to stay friends with Ron but he also didn't want him to know that he was Hadrian. That meant he had to stay friends with Ron until Ron gave him a reason to push him away.

Their arrival at Kings Cross station went unnoticed by everyone and they split up with Harry heading towards platform nine and three quarters. The platform was packed with students and Harry didn't see any of his friends. He made his way to the train and went to find an empty room. He eventually picked one in the back. He took a book out of his pocket and re-enlarged it so he could read. Just as he was getting settled in he was interrupted.

"That's not a second year spell." A dreamy voice said. He turned to see a girl with blonde hair and silver-gray eyes standing at the door. She was wearing some odd jewelry, her earrings had radishes hanging from them and her necklace appeared too made of bottle caps. She was already wearing her school robes so Harry guessed she was probably raised in a magic family.

"Indeed, its amazing how simple spells are once you understands how they work." Harry said with a smirk. "Would you like to join me?" Harry asked her kindly, gesturing to a seat opposite him. The girl didn't respond but moved to sit down. When she settled down she pulled out a magazine called the "Quibbler", though Harry had a hard time figuring that out at first as it was upside down.

"So I'm Harry Potter." Harry said introducing himself. She looked at him over her magazine her eyes seeming to sparkle.

"Oh I know; I'm Luna Lovegood."

"Luna? You were named after the moon. It's a pretty name." Harry said kindly. He was glad for the conversation because he was worried about Pearl. He had told him that he would be there by the time the train arrived but it was a long way and Harry didn't see how Pearl would manage it. His best guess was that Islet would pop him over. He was knocked out of his thoughts by Luna.

"Thank you, that's the kindest thing anyone's ever said to me." Luna said blushing slightly. Harry thought she looked cute. She was clearly younger then him so he guessed she was a first year.

"So you're just starting at Hogwarts right? Do you have any idea what house you'll be in?" Harry asked looking her in the eye.

"Oh I suppose I'll be in Ravenclaw." She replied dreamily looking down to her magazine. Harry got the feeling that they were probably a lot a like, lonely, and lacking in social surety. He also assumed that her dreamy tone was probably just her normal way of talking.

"Your friends should be here soon."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, the Wrackspurts in the area are increasing."

"How does that tell you anything?" Harry didn't know what Wrackspurts were but at the moment he was more interested in her declaration. Especially since he could now see Ron and Hermione on the platform looking around.

"Oh Ron has a lot of them around him." Luna said. She looked out the window and smiled as she saw his friends.

"How do you know Ron, and what are Wrackspurts?"

"The Weasley's are neighbors." Luna said, seemingly forgetting about the latter part of the question. Harry was about to repeat the question when Luna answered.

"Wrackspurts are invisible and infest the mind making it fuzzy."

"Ah, well I guess that makes sense then." Harry said genuinely laughing. His friends walked in to find Harry on the floor laughing hysterically. Harry himself wasn't even sure why it was funny, but he was happy to hear Luna giggling lightly. He considered the embarrassment worth it. Harry got up off the floor when he noticed Hermione's feet. Once he was on his feet he looked at his friends. He was a little disconcerted to find Hermione with her arms crossed and Ron looking angry.

"Hey guys what's up?" Harry asked them, sitting back down, this time next to Luna.

"What do you think was so funny?" Hermione questioned.

"Luna was just telling me about Wrackspurts."

"Oh, so she told you about those non-existent creatures too." Ginny said smiling, "Hey Luna."

"If they're invisible it would be pretty hard to prove them either way." Harry said looking directly at Luna. He was rewarded with another blush, which caused him to blush a bit himself.

He thought he was getting pretty good about talking to people though if his openness with Luna was any indication. The thought caused him to smile a bit.

"Yes, well that still doesn't explain why you were laughing so hard."

"I told him that Ron has a lot of Wrackspurts, and when I told him that they make the brain fuzzy harry started laughing. Perhaps some of the Wrackspurts found their way to Harry." Luna said bluntly in her dreamy tone. Harry was now waiting for a blow up from Ron and he was not disappointed.

"Hey, I do not have a fuzzy brain, and I don't have Wrackspurts." Ron yelled out.

"Of course you don't Ron, they don't exist." Hermione said doggedly.

"I thought we just agreed they could exist, even if there is no proof." Harry said looking at Hermione disapprovingly.

"Oh come on Harry, no one's ever found evidence of them."

"I don't know Hermione, Ron is pretty good proof." Harry said laughing at Ron's look. He wondered why he had never noticed the similarity of Ron's anger to his Uncle Vernon's. They both changed colors and yelled a lot.

"That wasn't nice." Ginny said pointedly to Harry.

"I don't know why you would take anything Loony Lovegood has to say seriously." Ron said meanly. It was just what Harry needed to get away from Ron, unfortunately he had a feeling he would be pushing Hermione away as well, but that might be for the best given his intention to try his best this year.

"Don't talk ill about my friend Ron." Harry said defensively.

"Hey, I'm your best friend." Ron said angrily.

"Perhaps I was too hasty in making that decision." Harry said thoughtfully.

"What are you saying Potter?" Ron said his voice dropping dangerously low.

"I'm saying you're not my best friend Ron, you're my friend for the moment but not my best. I suggest you try adjusting your attitude." Harry said coldly. He thought he might be laying it on a bit thick, but he didn't really care. He figured that with Ron as dumb as he is it might actually mean an end to his relationship with Harry altogether even though Harry had only reduced him to a friend. Unsurprisingly Ron put a finish to the fight.

"Fine, who would want to be friends with someone like you anyway? You put us all in danger last year." Ron yelled loudly turning to storm out of the room. The door slamming shut rang loudly in the quiet room. Finally Luna spoke up.

"I would be your friend, if that's alright." she said quietly.

"You can't be my friend, because you already are." Harry said adamantly. He was pleased to see Luna smile brilliantly. It looked like Ginny was less then pleased but Harry wasn't sure because it only lasted a second. Hermione looked like she was about to blow a gasket.

"I…I don't understand what happened." Hermione said completely frustrated. She stomped her feet and sat down with a huff. Harry didn't really want to say anything, since he figured it would just irritate her more, so he stayed silent. He leaned over to look at the magazine that Luna was reading. The article was actually pretty interesting, and Harry finished it before Luna flipped the page. Thankfully Ginny was playing decoy and Hermione didn't bother Harry. Harry leaned back and closed his eyes. He eventually fell asleep to the vibration and sound of the train.

"Time to wake up Harry." Luna said quietly, gently nudging his cheek with her shoulder. Harry woke up to the strange sensation pressing against his cheek. He opened his eyes and even though his vision was blurry he could see that he was leaning against Luna. He quickly righted himself blushing hard.

"Sorry, I fell asleep."

"Oh, it's no problem. I quite liked it actually." Luna said smiling at Harry causing him to blush even more. He went to the restrooms in order to change into his school robes. When he got back everyone was ready to get off the train. A few minutes later the train slowed and then came to a stop. Harry led the way off the train and looked for Hagrid. Finally he heard him yelling for the first years. Harry said goodbye to Luna and Ginny and then left with Hermione to find a carriage for the ride up to Hogwarts. Harry spotted Ron sitting with Seamus and Dean.

"Hey I have a carriage here if you want to join me." Neville voice was quiet and tentative.

"Hey Neville, how was your vacation?" Harry asked politely.

"It was pretty good; Gram got me a new plant and increased the size of the greenhouse on our estate."

"Oh really? I was reading up and I found that a lot of family estates have amazing greenhouses holding rare plants. It's impressive that your gram lets you run the greenhouse."

"Well our greenhouses aren't very big, the Longbottom's were not exactly known for our herbology." Neville replied with humility. Harry was sure that the greenhouse was probably an impressive sight. They talked a bit longer about various things, oddly Hermione was staying silent. Harry was worried about what would happen when she got him alone or just exploded from not being able to figure it out. The carriage rolled to a stop and they exited in time to watch the entrance doors open up. They joined the crowd heading towards the great hall and quickly made their way to the Gryffindor table. They all sat down at the table and waited through the sorting and speech before the feast began. Like Luna had predicted she was in Ravenclaw. Ginny joined the group at the Gryffindor table completing the Weasley Gryffindor run for awhile. As Harry dug in to the feast Neville finally got up the courage to ask him something that had been bothering him for awhile.

"So what's with Ron? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Ron was being his old self and made fun of a new friend of mine. I defended her, and me and Ron got into a fight. The fight escalated and now he's decided to stay away from me. I have no intention of resolving our current predicament as I am finding it refreshing." Harry said, adding the last part mainly for Hermione. When she heard that she gasped and clearly wanted to talk, but she held her tongue. Harry was starting to get suspicious now; this wasn't something that she should have had to hold her tongue on. As Dessert finished Albus stood up to give his after feast speech. It was all the same except this year he wasn't hiding something extremely dangerous on the third floor. After the speech everyone started to pile out of the great hall. Harry got as far as the door when he was blocked from proceeding by the headmaster. He looked around him to see that Hermione had abandoned him and Neville left as soon as his eyes met Harry's. The last person he say looking his way was Luna, who gave a smile of encouragement and skipped out of the great hall.

"Something you need headmaster?"

"I would like to speak with you in my office Harry, it will only be a few minutes and then I will return you to your dorm and bed." Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling.

"Very well headmaster. Please, lead the way." Harry said kindly, in reality he was nervous. If this went the wrong way he could wind up being under Dumbles palm again. They arrived at the headmaster's office after a few minutes of walking.

"Please sit down, would you care for a lemon drop?" Albus asked politely. Harry took a seat and refused the candy. Harry watched the swirling silver devices waiting for Dumbledore to begin.


	9. Dumbles vs Harry

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Chapter 9 for those who want it. Thanks goes out to all those who send me reviews, I had decided I would finish this story no matter how the reviews went but I must admit that all the good reviews make writing this much more enjoyable. This is the first of many confrontations so it won't cover everything that Dumbles feels needs to be solved or corrected. It definitely won't cover all that Harry feels needs to be said. I admit that I had a difficult time with this one, I almost got too philosophical at some parts, but I must remember that Harry is only twelve at the moment. Per usual please read, enjoy, and review.

Chapter 9: Dumbles vs. Harry

"Harry, I would like to say I'm glad to see you doing well, we missed you this summer." Dumbledore said after a few minutes wait. Harry considered not answering the headmaster for a while but decided that he would be here all night if he took that route.

"Sorry headmaster I felt I had to get away from them."

"Why is that Harry?"

"Oh, I don't know, perhaps it's because I've seen the light?" Harry said sarcastically.

"Now Harry, that's not nice. I'm sure your relatives were delighted to see you again after so long, and for you to just run off on them. They must have worried." Dumbledore said in his grandfatherly voice. Harry nearly fell off the chair from laughing so hard. It wasn't really funny but the idea that the Dursleys would actually worry about him made him laugh. Dumbledore got up from his seat to see that Harry was alright. Eventually Harry recovered enough to ensure Dumbles that he was indeed alright.

"What was so funny Harry?" Dumbledore asked confused by Harry's laughter.

"The idea that Dursleys would worry about me is unthinkable. As soon as I got back I was placed in my cupboard." Harry told Dumbledore. He hoped that in the shock of his situation Dumbledore would let something slip.

"Now Harry, I'm sure that your room is larger then a cupboard." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes and a small smile. Harry was confused until he fully processed what he had just said.

"You don't believe me? I can't believe you, last year I came here as little more than sticks and bones. Hagrid clearly saw that I knew nothing of our world, my world. To make matters even more obvious one could have just looked at my clothes, they were freaking blankets headmaster. Frankly I'm curious to know why Mdm. Pomfrey never had anything to say about my health. Must be that the wizarding world doesn't care as much about children." Harry ranted, pacing in front of the desk. His voice started out loud but quickly died to one of a person in thought. He was thinking so deeply he almost missed Dumbledore's reply.

"Harry, I saw no reason to upset you by having Mdm. Pomfrey inform you of your state of being, we have been regularly adjusting your meals with potions to improve your appetite and health. I believed it was the best method. As to your placement with the Dursleys, I must tell you that it was for the greater good. I wanted to protect you from the still present Death Eaters; they would do anything to get to you. I am afraid you must go back their next summer to replenish the blood wards, you left them were unable to full charge them since you left so early last summer." Dumbledore informed Harry. Somehow what Dumbles was saying didn't line up with what he was saying. Harry was sure that a normal person would have at least been offended by his accusations; Dumbledore had brushed them off as if they meant nothing. Furthermore Dumbledore claimed that he and Pomfrey had been slipping him potions. Harry was enraged, and the news that Dumbles thought he was going to go back next summer made him angry to a point of extreme focus. He was so angry that he didn't even register the objects that were flying all over the office and being smashed to oblivion. He did notice when a particularly intricate looking bowl floated between Dumbledore and Harry and slowly started to crumple. Harry noticed because Dumbledore looked shocked and was yelling something. Harry strained to hear it through his anger.

"Not my pensieve." Dumbledore moaned his hands reaching out to try to grab the floating pensieve. The bowl was too high to reach and looked to be beyond repair now. It was mostly a ball. Seeing Dumbledore reaching out to a crushed bowl ball was funny enough to calm Harry down. With his anger under control, his magic soon followed. The objects in the room came crashing to the floor. Harry was glad to note that the phoenix was not present, both because he would not have been able to stay angry while hearing the phoenix song and because he didn't want to hurt Fawkes.

"Dumbledore, I telling you this once and only once, I will never ever go back to the Dursleys. If you force me back through magic I promise on my own magic that I will see you incur the same treatment I have received throughout these last ten years of my life." Harry said, he felt his magic echo the finality in his tone.

"Do you know what you have done?" Dumbledore said angrily. Harry had never seen the headmaster angry but now he knew why people didn't like being on his bad side. He was not happy that he was on the wrong end of this mans anger at the moment but Harry was still angry enough that his courage held out over the headmasters glare.

"I'm sorry I destroyed your office, and your bowl thing." Harry said, with only a trace of repentance. He was sorry he had lost control of his magic, but he was not sorry about the overall destruction.

"It is not just the bowl I am angry about Harry." Dumbledore said sternly, "Oh no, I'm not completely mad about that, I am however extremely disappointed in you Harry. You not only destroyed several very rare and expensive items, but you have also made a stupid promise, which your magic accepted as binding." Dumbledore informed him as if he was a child who didn't know anything. He supposed to the old man he was just a child. After all Harry was only twelve.

"So professor, that pensieve thing, it wasn't very well protected, you would think it would have an indestructible rune on it or something. It certainly had enough runes to merit one more."

"Unfortunately that rune cannot be added to the pensieve without destroying its purpose, the pensieve is incredible in its purpose but the bowl is still just a bowl." Dumbledore said, sitting back down in his chair, he waved his wand and some of the stuff started to repair itself. Dumbles took a deep sigh and reached for a lemon drop, the bowl of them somehow untouched in the chaos. Harry chose to stay standing for the moment after having given thought to running out the door.

"You know I could expel you for what you've done." Dumbledore informed him; somehow already back to his grandfather tone.

"Somehow I don't think you want that to happen." Harry said without pause.

"I believe in second chances Harry, shall we start this conversation over?"

"I have a feeling I don't have a choice in this matter."

"You always have a choice Harry." Dumbledore said wisely. Harry gave a harrumph at that classic line; he had heard it multiple times from the TV when he was able to listen in without the Dursleys noticing, so the line was lost on him.

"Now Harry, I must insist that you tell me what you have been up to this summer, and who helped you hide from us."

"Why do you think anyone helped me at all?" Harry asked hoping to avoid the first question altogether if possible. Dumbledore ran his hands through his beard for a moment before responding.

"Harry, you're a young boy, with a lot of magical talent for which I can attest, however you do not have the knowledge that would be required to hide yourself so fully for such and extended period of time."

"Who's to say I was hiding, maybe I was constantly on the move."

"Owl post would still have been able to track you and ministry charms would have been able to locate you anytime you used magic."

"I never did magic." Harry said carefully.

"The Ministry says differently Harry, they wanted to reprimand you, but were unable to, apparently you used an unlocking charm the day you disappeared." Dumbledore said calmly the way he said it though made Harry want to speak. He was about to when he heard a voice in his head.

'_Don't say another word Harry' _Pearls voice said hissing through Harry's mind. Harry received a mental image of Pearl coiled on a rock outside looking over the black lake.

'_Pearl' _Harry said ecstatically in his mind, they had worked on their mind speak a little as they had made their way to the station but when they had split up they had quickly lost contact with each other. Harry was glad to hear from his familiar and friend.

'_Islet has already infiltrated the Hogwarts kitchen staff. Apparently it wasn't hard.' _Pearl said with a hissing laugh that echoed through Harry's mind.

'_I think your professor is starting to wonder what's up, tell him that left and found a quiet hut that had no one in it, tell him the cupboards kept refilling with food and when no one ever showed up you decided to stay awhile. I don't know that he'll buy it but its close enough to the truth that you should be able to get out of anymore conversation for tonight.'_

_ 'Alright thanks Pearl.'_

"I might have, I don't remember casting anything with my wand though, I just remember wanting out and the locks clicking open, I left that night and found a hut, the hut was awesome, it wasn't big, but it was bigger then my cupboard. The small kitchen had food in the cabinets so I decided to stay there. Somehow the food kept reappearing everyday no matter how much I took, since no one ever showed up I just decided to stay there. It wasn't very far from where the Dursleys live either." Harry said in a rush, he had somehow extracted enough childlike essence to make it sound like he thought it all an extravagant adventure. Though he figured if Dumbles fell for it then he was dumber then he looked considering Harry's previous attitude and maturity level.

"That explains a lot Harry, the home was likely a magical home hidden from muggles and magic tracking. It doesn't explain why owl post couldn't reach you, except of course the Hogwarts letter owl, but that is a mystery for another time. I believe you are tired from your ordeal and adventure. A good nights rest should do you good. One more question before you go though Harry. Who were you talking to just now?" Dumbledore asked his eyes full blown twinkling and peering into Harry as if to divine the answer before Harry even answered. As he thought of Pearl he saw the professors smile widen just a little, enough that Harry was suspicious.

"Likely just a conversation of thought right Harry?"

"Umm, yeah headmaster, something like that." Harry answered as he was led out the door by Dumbledore's hand on his back. When he reached the gargoyle he sighed with a bit of relief and ran almost all the way back to the Gryffindor dorms. It was late and curfew had already set but Hermione was waiting in a chair in the common room, or at least she had been waiting. She had fallen asleep. Harry took pity and woke her up; he informed her that he would tell her what happened tomorrow and that she should head on up to bed. She gave him a brief hug before walking up the girls stairs. Harry was still confused by Hermione but saw no reason to push her away if he could avoid it. He smiled briefly thinking of his one old friend and his two new ones. Walking up to his dorm he opened the door silently and looked around to let his eyes adjust to the dark. When he could see again he made his way to his bed, the rest of his roommates were already asleep, and Ron was already snoring up a storm. Harry quietly cast a silencing charm on Ron's bed curtains, immediately reducing the sound in the room by several decibels. He amusingly noted that several of his roommates seemed to sigh in relief in their sleep. He changed into his pajamas and settled into his bed. He was too tired to even consider visiting Pearl now, but he wasn't worried since Pearl quickly assured him that it was better if he slept for now anyway. Harry couldn't sleep though even as tired as he was. His conversation with Dumbles kept rolling through his mind, especially his outburst and Dumbles last words. Why did it seem that Dumbles had figured out the answer to his question when Harry had not even answered him? Harry hated the idea of pulling a Hermione but decided he just might have to relegate himself to the library for a few days to figure out this mystery that was if he could figure it out at all. He didn't even know where to start.

'_Start with sleep Harry; it will help you more than you know.' _Pearl said. Suddenly Harry's mind was flooded with the peaceful sound of Pearl moving along the grounds, it made him sleepy and soon he was nodding off. His last thoughts were broadcasted to his familiar.

'_I don't know where that sounds coming from but its so soothing, goodnight Pearl."_


	10. Excitement in Potions

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Hey everyone, finally chapter 10 is done. Sorry it took so amazingly long. A lot of things have happened that I hadn't planned specifically for. I've got a co-op (which is just a fancy way of saying I got a job I only get for ~3 months), and it isn't in the same state where I've been living so I'm traveling back and forth on weekends, which is a pain. In any case enough about the authors troubles. This chapter is my longest yet, not by any plan of my own. I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and since it's been so long since my last chapter I hope it's still up to par. As usual please enjoy, read, and review.

Chapter 10: Excitement in Potions

Harry woke up instantly sober thanks to his training. He was still trying to figure out what Pearl was thinking in teaching him it. He supposed that it would help if he was ever captured or something. He went and showered then prepared for the rest of the day. He ended up reading his advanced defense book for a few hours before people started coming down for breakfast. At about a quarter after eight, breakfast started at eight, Hermione came down stairs.

"Hey Hermione, how'd you sleep?"

"Not bad Harry, I did take a while though, I have a hard time sleeping when there's a mystery to solve." Hermione said, evidently asking Harry to tell her about what happened this summer. Harry decided to give her a nugget.

"If you're curious about my summer you should have sent me a letter and asked." Harry said feeling slightly angry at his best friend. Hermione gave him a confused look and covered the rest of the distance to Harry.

"I did, you never got them?" she asked.

"Clearly, or I wouldn't have said otherwise." Harry said feeling awkward now that he knew he was wrong to be angry at her.

"That's odd, owls don't lose letters, they deliver them or they return them." Hermione said crossing her arms and biting her tongue, which Harry knew was a sign that she was thinking. Finally she seemed to come to a conclusion.

"Care to share Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Well the only possibility I can think of is someone took your mail." Hermione said, as soon as she said that a house-elf popped up. Hermione flinched, but Harry noticed that the house-elf looked distressed.

"Can I help you?" Harry asked kindly. The elf looked at Harry and burst into an indecipherable babble.

"Hey come one now, calm down." Harry said gently. This seemed to make the elf even crazier, but eventually Harry and Hermione managed to calm the elf down.

"You ok? Can you tell us why you're here?" Harry asked.

"Dobby is fine, Dobby here to tell Harry he must leave Hogwarts. Dobby heard Harry's conversation and has come to tell him Dobby has his mail." At this point the elf produces a package of mail from his pillowcase and hands it to Harry; Harry checks it out quickly and sees that all of the mail has his name on them.

"Why did you take the letters Dobby and why must I leave Hogwarts? You don't have to tell me anything you can't" Harry asked while assuring the elf that he doesn't have to say anything that would go against his master.

"Dobby has heard things, Harry is in danger this year, Dobby thought if Harry did not receive mail from friends he might not want to go back to Hogwarts." Dobby said fretfully.

"Well Dobby, I promise you I'll be careful, but I can't leave now. Would it be acceptable to you if I promised to tell the Headmaster about our meeting?" Harry asked thinking he would probably talk to Dumbles about it later anyway.

"Harry is such a smart kind wizard, Dobby is so grateful that Harry would make Dobby such an offer. Dobby will accept kind Harry's words." After which Dobby disappeared with a small pop. Harry turned to Hermione, who seemed a little flustered even though she had helped the creature without a thought.

"Well now that we've dealt with the house-elf how about we get breakfast." Harry said happily, he got up, grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her towards the entrance way.

"Hey Harry, Hermione, you're here early Harry." Neville said as they sat down at the table.

"I've been getting up early this summer for exercise." Harry said plainly as he prepared a plate of eggs and sausage.

"Look like its helping out a bit mate."

"Yeah Nev, I feel loads better than last year."

"I'm impressed Harry, exercise takes a lot of self motivation. Most people fail to keep a consistent schedule."

"Well boredom can be a good motivator." Harry said, choosing to end the conversation and eat. They ate quietly for a few minutes until Ginny and Ron came down.

"Good morning Ron." Hermione said kindly as she waved to him. Ron came up to them and stopped just behind Harry. Harry didn't turn around, but he could practically feel the waves of nervous energy pouring off of Ron.

"Uh, hey mate listen. I was thinking we could just forget about what happened on the train. You know? Be best mates again and all that." Ron said in his usual dribble. Harry barely knew how to react to that statement. If it weren't for Pearl telling him to calm down he probably would have yelled at Ron already.

'_Yelling at him might make you feel better about his treachery, but you should remember that he doesn't know you know. However, I bet it wouldn't take much to piss him off. Just remind him that fights can be resolved, forgiveness given, but rarely forgotten.'_

"Ron, forgetting might have been a habit of mine last year, but I'm not going to forget anymore."

"Uh, so that means?" Ron asked stupidly.

"It means you should leave Ron." Hermione said pointedly. Harry jumped in surprise, turning to look back at Hermione. After a moment Harry turned back, just in time to see Ron stomp off, he turned back to Hermione.

"What the…? I didn't expect that."

"Well, I might not know why you're so mad at him, but I'm capable enough to know me and Ron don't get along as well as me and you."

"Well I'm glad to hear it." Harry said and then went back to eating his breakfast. Soon enough Professor McGonagall came up to them.

"You're schedules."

"Thank you Professor McGonagall." They all said once they had their schedules. Hermione was easily the most excited of the bunch. Harry checked out his schedule, and almost smiled.

"Double potions first thing, I hope you and Professor Snape can get along this year Harry."

"I don't think that'll happen; he hates me and Harry."

"Neville, he doesn't hate you. You're just bad at dealing with him." Hermione said kindly.

"Seriously Nev, the largest part of potions is the ingredients from which the potion is created, and I'm pretty sure most ingredients come from plants. Which if I'm not mistaken is your specialty, hell if it weren't for Snape I'd bet you would be really good at it" Harry added standing up; his friends joined him as he made his way down to the dungeons.

As usual all the Slytherins were already in the room and at their desks. The Gryffindor's all waited the last minute before entering the room. Harry and his friends entered the room last and seated just in time as Snape walked in only a minute later.

"Turn to page 224, you will read it, understand it, and make it. You have the rest of this class to complete it." Snape said in his usual snide tone. Harry decided to do as directed this time and turned to page 224. He noticed that this was a potion he had already covered and began gather everything together that he would need. Hermione looked over at him strangely, before turning back to her book when professor Snape walked by. When he reached Harry he stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"It appears Mr. Potter here believes he is better than everyone else and already has a grasp on this potion, perhaps a test is in order Mr. Potter." Snape said evilly.

"Sure Professor, ask away." Harry said politely enough, but with a definite edge in his tone.

'_Careful Harry, he might try to trick you, stick to what's in the book.' _Pearl warned him. Harry remembered that for this potion the book instructions dictated stirring the potion 12 times clockwise for every 3 counter-clockwise. Harry, with some help from Pearl learned that if one stirred the potion 2 times in an infinity pattern starting from the left side of the cauldron going clockwise, and reversing this pattern 3 times with a total of 5 repetitions the potion would come out stronger and last much longer.

"Tell me the stirring directions for the potion after you have added in the lacewing flies." Snape demanded Harry had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from laughing. The step that Snape was referring to was the step that he had just been thinking about. Harry not thinking replied, "After you have added the lacewing flies stir the potion in an infinity pattern starting from the left side of the cauldron going in a clockwise direction, repeat this twice before reversing the pattern 3 times with a total of 5 repetitions." Harry could have slapped himself after he finished, Pearl had just warned him to give only the answer in the book and here he was giving the better directions.

"Well, well, clearly someone didn't read the directions that well after all. Perhaps you should start reading now?" Snape said sarcastically. He glided up to the front of the room and fixed his gaze on the rest of the class. Harry was worried, there was no way Snape would just let him off this easily. Just as he pulled his book closer to start reading the potion he was proven correct.

"I've changed my mind Mr. Potter, clearly reading the text will not be enough for you. Perhaps one of my best students will be able to cram something into that big head of yours. Miss. Davis if you would please switch places with Mr. Potter." Snape said the class burst with whispered words from both houses. Harry heard people saying "what's he thinking, mixing Slytherin with Gryffindor", "Feel bad for Harry, he doesn't deserve this", "Snapes' gone bonkers". Harry looked to see who he would be working with now; he was surprised to find he would be working with Daphne. She looked just as beautiful in her uniform as she did in casual robes. He wondered if he should say anything, Snape had unknowingly helped Harry and Harry had to smile at his new fortune.

'_I don't think you should say anything too soon Harry, she may not take it the way you expect.' _Pearl warned him. Harry ignored Pearl, what could go wrong; she had already figured out that Hadrian was a disguise.

"Hey Daphne…" was all Harry got out before she interrupted him sharply.

"Don't talk to me Potter, Snape's already in a fit and I'm not going to entice him further by talking to you. The last thing you or I need right now is him hovering over us." She said in a flash, Harry barely even heard it all. He sat down stunned by her barrage. He had thought she would at least talk to him; she had seemed so nice at the alley.

'_Perhaps she understands the value of subtlety?' _Pearl said contemplatively. Harry suspected Pearl was just trying to make him feel better and he had to admit that it did a little bit. Since he was not allowed to read the potion he decided to continue his prep. He was finished before he knew it; though it had taken him longer then he normally would take as he kept finding his attention diverting to the girl beside him. He wasn't sure what it was about her but she seemed to have this aura about her. He noticed that she had a habit of licking the tips of her finger before flipping a page; he also noticed that she took her time reading. It was nearing the time limit for the reading portion of the class and most had already started there prep, but she just kept reading and making a few notes about the potion every minute or so. Harry decided to offer an olive branch of sorts and began prepping another batch of the potion. He finished just as she set the book aside. Harry would have thought it was more than a coincidence if she had seemed to even notice him at all. When she started to gather her ingredients Harry gently touched her shoulder. She looked him squarely in the eyes. If she was talking Harry was sure she would be telling him off for daring to touch her, however she wasn't talking so Harry just moved his hand to point at the two batches of prepared ingredients. He saw her eyes widen in surprise before she looked back at him suspiciously. He made a small sign of peace, to which she just shook her head. Harry was disappointed, his plan had failed. He was so lost he didn't even notice Snape walk by him.

"Finally, he's on the other side of the classroom." Daphne said in a whisper. Harry barely heard her, she was not even looking at him and Harry was impressed that she managed to make her voice seem directed at him. He slowly pieced together what she had said, or rather that she had talked at all.

'_Pearl, she talked, she talked to me.' _Harry said excitedly. He felt like doing a little jig, and proceeded to send Pearl an image of him doing so.

'_Ah love, and at so young an age.' _Pearl said with hissing laughter. Harry just ignored him and returned his attention back to Daphne.

"…what I don't get is why you prepared ingredients for me." Daphne said, finishing with a huff. She began to gather the ingredients he had prepared for her and began adding them as instructed into the cauldron.

"I thought you were mad at me, it's a peace offering." Harry said more calmly then he felt.

"I wasn't mad, I was surprised, and a little disturbed. I mean you called me by my first name, until today I didn't even know you knew I was in your class." Daphne said blushing slightly. When Harry noticed he blushed as well, though he didn't know why he felt embarrassed.

"In either case you had better start preparing your potion or you won't finish in time."

"Oh, bloody hell." Harry exclaimed loudly, the rest of the class looked at him and Daphne gave him a cold stare, though he thought he recognized the hint of a smile. Harry truly blushed this time embarrassed by all the attention.

"Enough Mr. Potter, I believe you should be working on your potion making and not your vocal skills." Snape said with a smirk. Harry thought it was a tame compared to his usual but started his potion quickly.

'_Pearl, I need a way to speed up this potion, there's no way I can finish it now.' _Harry said to Pearl.

'_You can skip steps five through ten if you add the ingredients all at once and stir counter-clockwise ten times taking no more than 5 seconds for each rotation.' _Pearl said him; Harry could feel the tension in the message and had to ask, '_What happens if I fail?' _

_ 'Boom' _Pearl hissed out, including an image of a bomb going off.

'_Lovely, well I guess I'll just be careful then.' _

'_A good idea'_

_ 'Thanks'_

_ 'Of course'_

_ "_Harry…Harry…come on you stupid lug pay attention, you don't want to fail do you?" Daphne asked him in a hissing tone. Harry came back to himself; he supposed he wasn't used to talking to Pearl and paying attention at the same time yet. He started his potion and was quickly at step 5.

"Hey Daphne, whatever happens don't say a word to Snape about what I'm going to do ok?" Harry asked pleadingly, turning to look her in the eyes.

"Don't keep turning to face me Potter, people might get the wrong idea." She said in a normal voice. The change in volume was enough to cause him to look around the room. He noticed some of the Slytherins looking at him suspiciously, especially Malfoy.

"Sorry" Harry mumbled, he was pleased to see her smile slightly and then she quietly told him she would tell Snape nothing.

Three stirs in and Harry was really regretting his decision, the last fifteen seconds of his life were really up there in the list of the worst moments of his life. His potion was black as night and as he had learned after the first rotation the viscosity of the potion was thickening rapidly. It already felt like he was dragging his spoon through honey. He sped up his efforts and managed to stir it four more times before he was noticeable grunting with the effort to stir the potion. It felt like he was stirring concrete, or perhaps tar. When Harry reached the final rotation Harry was flabbergasted, he knew magic, but watching a potion go from super too thick to thin as water as he reached the halfway point in the rotation was amazing to behold. He finished the turn and quickly finished the potion off in the next 15 minutes. At the end of class Daphne patted him on the shoulder as she walked past with her vial.

"Good job, Harry."

"Thanks"


	11. Two Stumped Professors

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Ha, new chapter and this time you didn't have to wait nearly 2 months. Hope you enjoy it and review as always. I'm impressed that I'm getting on average 11 reviews per chapter…on average mind you. Keep it up readers; it's an amazing motivator good or bad. New addition btw, **bold** words will be spells…it does not mean they are screaming the spells, just that they are being casted. Somehow my chapters are getting longer without my notice but I hope that acceptable for everyone. The second years schedule will be posted on my profile page if anyone is curious.

Chapter 11: Two Stumped Professors

"Mr. Potter." Snape roared just as Harry reached the door. Harry and Hermione turned back to face the professor.

"I don't believe I called your name Miss. Granger" Snape said snidely. Hermione gave Harry an apologetic look her eyes filled with sympathy for Harry. Harry just shrugged and waved her off; trying to indicate that it was not a big deal. She went off looking as if she was trying to solve a puzzle; he supposed it would be to her.

"Can I help you with something professor?" Harry asked kindly, trying to figure out why Snape had called him. Snape looked at him incredulously before striding over to Harry with a vial in hand, "Do you know what this is? Do you know what you did? How risky it was?" Snape questioned angrily. If Harry didn't know any better he would have thought their might have been some real concern for student safety coming out in his tone.

"I knew what I was doing." Harry replied simply, deciding that it answered all of Snape's questions and that there was no need to elaborate. Harry stared up at his potion vial, still held in Snape's clenched fist. He hoped Snape didn't break it, the potion wasn't effective unless swallowed but it had a nasty habit of exploding at the slightest provocation.

"I don't think you did Potter, I'll have you expelled for this." Snape said triumphantly.

"At the most I'll be reprimanded, possible have a lot of detentions with you, but being Dumbledore's bosom buddy has to have some benefits right?"

"From what I hear, you two are hardly that."

"Why Snape I never knew you cared" Harry said in a simpering voice. He almost laughed at the look Snape had, he looked like he was about to lose a battle with his stomach. He slowly came back from the brink his nauseous look fading to an angry snarl.

"You will leave now." Snape said in a cold monotone. Harry flinched, even with all his new found confidence he thought perhaps he had gone too far. Snape utter hatred of him in first year should have told Harry that even the slightest mention that Snape might care for him was akin to blasphemy in the man's eyes. Harry darted out of the room so fast he almost gave Hermione whiplash; she had been waiting for him out in the hall. Harry didn't bother to stop; he just grabbed her arm and dragged her along until she managed to get her feet under herself enough to run along beside him, all the while asking what had happened. Harry didn't stop until they entered the hall where there history class was being held.

"I don't think I've ever gotten from the dungeons to here so fast before." Hermione said panting and leaning against Harry. Harry was barely out of breath thanks to his training; he turned to Hermione and blushed when he noticed he still held her hand in his.

"Sorry, I wasn't thinking." Harry said apologetically. He managed a weak smile and continued, "I followed some shortcuts from the maps I found at the house where I stayed this summer." It only took Hermione the span of two breaths to figure out that Harry had just revealed a small secret to her; she was tempted to pester him until she got the answer but Harry's next words stunned her to silence.

"Wouldn't it be more interesting to solve the mystery of my summer without my help? Knowing you I bet you solve it before Christmas." Harry said with a smile and let out a small laugh as he imagined the triumph in Hermione's eye as she told him about his summer. He knew she took his bait when he saw the spark in her eye change from inquisitor mode to investigation mode. Hermione blushed a bit at his confidence in her, and nodded to herself. She was resolved to figuring out his secret without his help, at least his conscious help. She would not avoid any slips of information he let out.

They entered the classroom and Harry related his meeting with Snape to her quietly. He wished he was able to write what he heard without thinking like she could but didn't bother to ponder it for long. Pearl had duly informed him that although Occlumency would help his mind it was more about recall than anything else and thus no use to him at the moment. He ended up reading through a large chunk of his defense text before the class ended. He and Hermione met Neville at the door and they all made their way down to lunch. Lunch was a sordid affair, what with Ron acting the put off jerk that he was. Harry and his friends ate lunch quickly and made their way out of the great hall hastily. Taking the group on a small journey Harry brought them to the DADA classroom just as class was about to start, even with almost being late Hermione was ecstatic at having learned so much about the castle in their brief half hour journey. As they entered the classroom Harry didn't fail to notice Hermione's gaze searching around. He wondered what she was looking for so fanatically and finally decided to just ask her.

"Hermione, what are you looking for."

"The professor Harry, the professor this year is none other than Gilderoy Lockhart." Hermione said with almost fanatical glee. Harry almost flipped over backwards at hearing Hermione. While he didn't do anything that extravagant he did fumble his footing and manage to rather painfully fall into a nearby seat. He made to get up, but Hermione sat down beside him with a smile and looked him in the eye. He would have to figure out how to make that look; Islet had gotten him to let her do all the chores around the house within a week of his being there with that look. He sighed and settled back into the chair pulling out his defense text as he did so. Hermione looked at him sharply before speaking.

"I'm not one to criticize a person reading Harry but that not our textbook for this class." Hermione said definitely sounding like she was indeed criticizing him.

"Well it would be if we didn't have this buffoon for a professor." Harry muttered. Hermione looked at him sharply, "What was that?" she demanded.

"Oh nothing, I just said I forgot to buy his books after I learned we weren't using this text this year." Harry said quickly trying to calm her down before she erupted on him.

"That's not what it sounded like." She sniffed before turning back to her own bag to pull out one of the book Gilderoy had assigned them. Harry ignored her and continued reading what he considered to be actual DADA material. It had only taken him a minute of browsing through the books Gilderoy had put on the list before he had thrown it to the floor disgustedly.

"Good afternoon students, I am Gilderoy Lockhart…" Harry droned out the rest as Gilderoy recited his successes, listing them off like Dumbles had a tendency to do for his titles in his letters. Harry thought he heard mention of a quiz but was still surprised to find Hermione handing him a pile of parchments. He grabbed one and passed the rest on using a levitation charm without though.

"What an excellent display of the levitation charm Harry, though perhaps you ought to be more humble. I don't think you're ready yet for a fandom of the level upon which I have to live with." Gilderoy said, making almost no sense Harry. Not knowing how to reply he just shrugged as Neville grabbed the stack out of the air. He hadn't meant to do that, he was glad that everyone seemed to assume he had used his wand. He had found himself having a hard time controlling his accidental magic, unleashing it at the oddest times for the most mundane tasks. Hermione was giving him an odd look and he decided to look at the parchment on his desk. He had learned to use a quill properly this summer and he delicately inked it as he began to read the first question. It didn't take long for him to figure out this quiz was a joke. He wrote his name on the top of the paper neatly while he decided what to do with the parchment now that he knew the quiz was pointless. Suddenly the mirror of Erised popped into mind, or rather the quote over the top of it; laughingly quietly Harry began to answer the questions on the paper. About half way through class Gilderoy collected the paper and began to go through them. He immediately awarded points to some of the girls for answering the questions correctly and gave Hermione ten points and a small bow for getting full marks. When he reached Harry's paper he looked startled then a small smile grew on his face.

"Nice trick Harry, but I'm afraid a simple cipher of this level will not be enough to stump the magnificent Gilderoy Lockhart, I can easily tell that you have without a doubt managed to answer every question right like Miss Granger, and thus I award you ten points to Gryffindor." Gilderoy said in his most charming voice. He sounded like a poof to Harry. Nevertheless Harry stood and made a bow to his professor and said, "Of course professor, I was merely hoping to glimpse some of your genius." Harry said congenially. The other boys in the class looked at him askance, but Neville was practically hiding under his desk laughing, his body was shaking so hard Harry thought he might explode, and in a very real sense he did. Suddenly the class's attention was off of Harry and directed at Neville as he laughed, every time he seemed ready to stop he would burst into more laughter. Harry knew it was because Neville had seen some of the things Harry had written on that quiz and none of what he had written were even nearing kind to Gilderoy. In fact on the question, "what is Gilderoy Lockhart's dream?" Harry had written,

".flah tsrif eht tsael ta ro ,tebahpla eht rebmemer yad eno ot si maerd s'yoredliG"

Eventually Gilderoy finished either admonishing people for forgetting his favorite color or not remember what cloak he had worn in year of the yeti and other such nonsense. He finally got to the main part of the class and possibly the only interesting thing in the whole room by Harry's mind. It was clearly a large birdcage, covered with a sheet at the moment. Gilderoy slowly walked over to the cage while speaking to the class, "Now do not be alarmed, what I am about to reveal to you may shock and amaze you but you need not fear with me around. I present to you the fearsome, the devilish, Cornish pixies." He announced loudly grabbing the sheet and throwing it off in a grandiose flourish.

"The fool" Harry shouted jumping to his feet as the cage door ripped open with the jostling of the cage and with no small amount of help from the pixies. Harry took aim with his wand "**Immobulus**, **Colloportus**"Harry said in a commanding tone**. **The first spell slammed into the pixie just exiting the cage and the second slammed the cage door in the face of the second. Harry had reacted to fast that only the first pixie had managed to escape from the cage. The first thing Harry noticed after coming down from the adrenaline high was Gilderoy sitting on the floor gaping at Harry. Turing his head to warily scan the rest of the class he saw they all were gaping at him.

"What hasn't anyone read 'Fantastic beasts and where to find them' yet? The book clearly states that Cornish Pixies, while not deadly are more than just a mere nuisance, they will attempt to steal any magical artifact they can get their hands on, including wands. Be damn sure they aren't getting mind." Harry said grumpily when they all just continued to stare at him.

"Yes well, that was quite a good job there Harry, though I would have taken care of it myself if you had just waited another moment. You must learn 'dramatic effect' if you're ever going to maintain your popularity Harry." Gilderoy said putting on his charming smile, though it looked a trifle unsteady. Harry just sighed and got back into his seat. Gilderoy pointed his wand at the still immobile pixie and tried to quietly cast the levitation charm, Harry smiled noticing that the man had to mouth it though wizards and witches could cast simple spells silently by the time they graduated. Gilderoy must have very little sense for magic, it simply affirmed Harry's suspicion that Gilderoy could not be responsible for all the acts he claimed. Nevertheless the Pixie floated to the cage and Gilderoy reached to open the cage door. Harry smirked as the man pulled on the door only to find it locked. The fool hadn't even thought to undo Harry's spell first. Gilderoy realized his mistake and aimed his wand at the door, after a few moments of mumbling however he looked around the room, his eyes cautious. Harry turned to look at the rest of the students and was pleased to see their confused glances. He heard Hermione mumbling to herself, "He's probably just pretending, yes he'll probably teach us the unlocking spell now." It was Harry's turn to look askance at his friend. She was willing to believe the man was pretending to cast a simple Alohomora spell? He was tempted to tell her she should get a cat scan as soon as possible, surely they'd have a magical version of that here. He thought perhaps his friend might have a bit of divination skills when the next thing out of Gilderoy's mouth was, "Ha, well of course I could just open this myself, I was merely scanning the spell you see; to verify that one of you besides Harry here could undo it." Harry knew it was a lie but he had to admit that he enjoyed the praise even if it came from a poof. Finally Hermione was given the task of unlocking the cage door, after being told quite kindly by Blondie, he would never call the man a professor, that she should cast the Alohamora spell. It was only one letter but it still sent Harry into a fit of giggles when Hermione looked at Blondie incredulously. In a small voice she said, "You do mean the Alohomora spell right professor?"

"You have mispronounced it dear, follow along now class." Gilderoy said. The rest of the class pulled out their wands and waited.

"Aloha-mora" Gilderoy said clearly pointing his wand at nothing in particular. The rest of the class followed him, though most of the boys were doing so only half heartedly. Harry assumed most of the girls had either not heard the spells before or else were trying very hard to forget they had. Hermione on the other hand looked like her hopes were being dashed across the floor quite viciously. Harry almost felt sorry for her, almost. He smiled gleefully as Hermione in a fit of intellectual rage turned to the cage and practically screamed, "**Alohomora**", being sure to pronounce every syllable loud enough for the entire class to hear the difference. The boys all burst into laughter as the lock sprung open and the girls all crumpled into long sighs as their dreams of the handsome, intelligent Gilderoy were dashed quite succinctly. Gilderoy did not look happy now, and in fact almost seemed on the point of attacking Hermione, Harry aimed his wand at Gilderoy and raised an eyebrow when he caught the man's eye. Gilderoy gulped and dropped his wand arm.

That evening at dinner the second year Gryffindor's were still talking about DADA, the Herbology class had done nothing to lessen the enthusiasm in which his classmates spread rumors about him. The tale had already turned tail from accurate and went from extravagant to downright unbelievable.

"Hey Harry, seems like Gilderoy never made it to dinner" Neville told him after swallowing the last of his pudding. Gilderoy had indeed not been present the entire evening at the head table, but what really interested Harry were the looks on Snape and Dumbles face. They both looked like they were hard at work solving a puzzle, he only hoped Snape succeeded in getting the right answer and Dumbles, well he had no idea what Dumbles was thinking at the moment so he let that slide for now. As he left he told Pearl, "_I'll meet you at that two headed stump you showed me, say around midnight?_"

"_Very well Harry, see you then."_


	12. Harry vs The Marauders Map

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Alright here's Chapter 12, it's shorter compared to the last two chapters but I think everyone will enjoy it. If you're good at Latin please don't criticize my rather crude use of it. Feel free to correct it though. I don't plan on learning Latin while writing this story and as such I don't need lectures on it (I did try to learn it in high school to rather disastrous effects on my gpa). As usually please read, review, and most of all enjoy.

Chapter 12: Harry vs. The Marauders Map

It had all sounded so easy to him when he had first come up with his plan to see Pearl. He would don his invisibility cloak once everyone had gone to bed; cast the locking spell on his bed curtains to prevent anyone from getting to his empty bed and a silencing charm on his shoes. He would then make his way out from the common room to the halls and through a shortcut to reach the moving staircase, utilizing a spell he had learned in Salazar's book he would make the staircase go to where he wished and leisurely make his way to the castle entrance. From there it would be a free run to the forest and Pearl. However that was not to be, someone was following him he was sure of it. He thought it was two people though if it was there footsteps were so in sync that he had a hard time telling. He had already detoured down three or four secret passages but apparently hadn't lost them. He now stood at the foot of one of the moving staircases.

"**Subsisto Actus**_"_ Harry said quietly pointing his wand at the stairs. The stairs under him no longer made to move to the next level. Harry had to wonder that it had worked, but took a sure step onto the staircase and when it didn't move quickly made his way down to the bottom level. When he reached the main floor he stopped and turned around to face the stairs again.

"**Persevero Actus" **Harry said and with that the stairs seemed to come to life once more. From above he heard a yelp from two voices, confirming his suspicions about multiple followers. He hoped that would throw them off and he turned to make his way more leisurely to the entrance. He didn't get far. He wasn't sure how the two had managed to catch up to him, perhaps a secret passage that he didn't know about, Salazar claimed that the castle was nearly sentient and would continue to grow new rooms and passages. Salazar's books didn't say why but Pearl seemed to think it stemmed from the excess magic that the wards couldn't use for strengthening. Magic as he pointed out contained residue that could and would be collected by most materials as a sort of strengthening element. Magic being what it was; things like creating a new room wasn't that unreasonable. Focusing back on the current problem Harry turned abruptly down a hall away from where he had heard the footsteps. He moved down a hall near the great hall and reached a picture of a bowl of fruit. He tickled the pear and turned it once it was a doorknob. He opened the door but only stayed long enough to ask the elves to leave it open and not say a word to anyone about his presence. They agreed and he quickly fled the hall turning at the nearest junction. He slammed himself against the wall and slowed his breathing. He may be in shape but all this sprinting was getting to him. When he heard footsteps again he looked down the hall. He managed to make out two shapes a little taller then him. Oddly the two were nearly identical, so much so that unless his brain was addled he would say without a doubt that they were the Weasley twins. He managed to confirm this when he saw their faces in the light coming out of the portrait hole of the kitchens. They seemed to be holding a piece of paper though harry didn't know what it could be. When they stopped at the kitchen Harry gave a small sigh of relief and walked away. Surely the two would decide to get something to eat and then leave. Even if they didn't there was no way they were following him. It must have just been random chance that they were following him. They had been heading the same general direction after all.

Harry was strongly disabused of this thought when not a scant five minutes later on his way to another unknown sealed entrance to Hogwarts he heard the steps again. Now he was getting annoyed, he decided to surprise the two of them if they were going to keep coming up on him like this. He hid in an alcove completely hidden from the light and waited. The twins approached slowly until one of them lit his wand. They both looked at a piece of paper before closing it back up and strolling nonchalantly up the hall. Harry waited with a smile, playing a prank on pranksters might not be a good idea but it would be fun. As they passed him Harry jumped down and walked up to them slowly. Just as he was about to touch their shoulders and scream at them, they turned. They both had wide grins on their faces, looking a lot like a cat that had just eaten the canary.

"Why, hello Harry. Having a pleasant stroll?" Fred asked him jovially, taking a side step and giving Harry room as if to join them.

"Were not impeding are we?" George asked just as Fred finished. He tilted his head looking at Fred as if asking him.

"I can't see how, plenty of room down here. Right, Harry?" Fred said clapping Harry on the back. Harry just stood there stunned. How had they gotten by him? He had thought he was silent. Finally he cleared his throat to speak.

"Ah George look, I think it plans to speak."

"It can speak? Dear handsome twin of mine I believe this must be reported to the press."

"Indeed."

Harry just waited until they were down before saying, "How the bloody hell did you guys know I was about to scare you. I had a silencing charm on my feet and I'm bloody invisible for god sakes." Harry was not the least bit pleased with how this was turning out and was about ready to take it out on the twins.

"Well lesson one, being invisible and silent does not mean you can't be caught." Fred said, his brother started as soon as he finished, "Lesson two, even if your shoes are silent cloth still makes noise."

Harry gave a start at that. He had never considered placing a silencing charm on his clothes or cloak. He would need to remember that one. He was thinking about what else he could do to make stealth easier so he almost missed the third lesson as the twins were calling them.

"Lesson three, it's impossible to sneak around Hogwarts without us knowing about it."

"Yeah, even Dumbledore can't hide from the ma…."

"Shut up fool." Fred interrupted clamping a hand around George's mouth. The two wrestled for a bit turning all around the hall so much that Harry couldn't begin to guess which was which anymore.

"You're the fool, calling yourself a fool Fred."

"My twin is dumb Harry; he doesn't know what he says."

Suddenly it clicked in Harry's mind. The paper, what George, or perhaps Fred, had been about to say. The paper was a map, and apparently one that showed not only the castle but everyone in it.

"A map," Harry said suddenly, "That's how you managed to follow me. You have a map that shows you where everyone is in Hogwarts. It explains so much, like why you guys are never late for a class despite leaving later then everyone else, why you guys are never caught in a prank. Can I see it?"

"Look what you've done."

"Not me, you've done this twin of mine." At this point the twins both laughed, at least until Harry impatiently demanded to see the map. They had him agree to never tell anyone about it before they showed him the map. It had all sorts of information on it; Harry was properly amazed by it. When he asked the twins if it could close in on places they showed him the first year dormitory zoomed up. Harry was amazed by the map, but stunned to silence by something else.

"Who the hell is Peter Pettigrew?"

"What?"

"There's a Peter Pettigrew right next to Ron. If I had to guess they would be sharing the same bed, assuming the map scales correctly. They all shuddered at that, but the twins told him about Peter being killed by Sirius, though they didn't say why, before going on to say that perhaps the map was broken. Harry wasn't sure but nodded agreement with them anyway.

"Look guys, I'm impressed you follow me and even more impressed by the map. If you'll let me I'd like to look at it again sometime but if you could just move along and stop following me I'm planning on meeting a friend that would not be happy to see the two of you."

"You're not going anywhere with a shoddy excuse like that."

"It is not an excuse." Harry yelled exasperated. He sighed and calmed himself before speaking again, "I can't tell you anymore then I already have yet, but if you let me see the map again perhaps I can let you meet him someday."

"You promise he's not dangerous?" The twins said simultaneously their voices surprisingly serious.

"I'll be as safe as a babe in his mother's arms." Harry replied seriously. The twins looked him in the eye, which was disconcerting coming from two pranksters, and then their faces changed to one of mischief again.

"Well we ought to be off right Gred? Loads of mischief to do and all that," George said looking to his twin.

"Yeah, we can't be stopping our star pupil in rule breaking from breaking more rules Forge." Fred said entwining an arm with his twin and before they skipped off together. They were whistling a funny tune that made Harry laugh. Just before they reached the end of the hall they turned and spoke up. "You know were gonna have to prank you for the attempt right?" they said at the same time. It really was creepy. Harry smiled evilly and replied, "As long as you don't mind the boy who lived coming at you with all he's got in retaliation." The twins both seemed to shiver before turning around and skipping way as before without another word. Harry noted they had not said whether they would prank him or not. Those two would bear watching from now on.

'_I'll be there a bit late, had a run in with the twins and a bloody suspicious map.'_

_ 'Very well' _Pearl sighed

Harry finally made his way out of the castle and onto the grounds. After all the time it took him to get out of the castle the trip to the forest seemed incredibly short. He met Pearl at the edge and hugged the huge snake head to his chest.

"_It's good to see you again Pearl, talking to you in my mind is cool but seeing you is much better." _Harry said.

"_Well I'm glad to hear it. Come, we have much to discuss Harry and not a whole lot of time." _Pearl said with seriousness lacing his voice. Harry turned back to the castle, and for the first time Harry actually felt fear of castle. Or perhaps something in the castle Harry thought blandly, after all his first year hadn't gone so well in that castle.

"_This isn't going to be a smooth year is it Pearl?"_

_ "I don't know Harry. We can hope, but only fools let that go too far." _


	13. Conference in the Forbidden Forest

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Wow, quite a long time has passed since I last updated this story. Sorry for the delay, major writers block. This chapter is mainly dialogue and sets up the story for later events. It's around 2.9k words so it's fairly short but I hope you enjoy it all the same. As usually let me know what you think by writing a review.

P.S: I may or may not go and correct some of my previous chapters as there are a few grammatical errors even I can see and in the last chapter with the map I mistakenly said the first year dorms when I meant to say the second year dorms.

Chapter 13: Conference in the Forest

They did not have far to travel before they reached a clearing that Pearl said would not be disturbed while they talked. Harry moved to a stump and cast a warming charm and a cushioning charm on the stump. He settled himself down for a potentially long conversation. He doubted he would get much sleep tonight. Pearl settled himself in coils around Harry before setting his head in Harry's lap.

"_So do you think Voldemort is going to try to kill me this year to?" _Harry said in mock dryness. Pearl could tell that Harry was actually worried about the possibility however.

"_I cannot say if Voldemort is involved or not, but some ancient power is stirring from its slumber. I fear you're not in for an easy year Harry. After all you have a tendency to get yourself into trouble."_ Pearl took pity on Harry and kept quiet until Harry calmed his heart.

"_Perl, what do you mean by its slumber? It almost sounds like you're talking about something that is alive."_

_ "Very perceptive Harry, magic is present everywhere at Hogwarts and as I'm sure you can guess Hogwarts is full of magical creatures, though most of them reside in the forbidden forest they can be found everywhere."_

_ "Including the castle you mean?"_

_ "Yes Harry, potentially even the castle itself." _Perl said moving to face Harry.

_"Well whatever is stirring isn't awake yet and I think we have a more pressing problem to be concerned with." _Harry said with finality. Pearl sighed and placed his head back in the boy's lap. Harry as usual immediately began to pet his familiar. They were quiet for a moment just relaxing and enjoying each other's presence until Pearl finally asked, _"So what's the problem?"_

_ "I think I found my parents killer. Remember I told you I ran across the twins trying to get out here and that they had a map?"_

_ "Go on."_

_ "Well I asked them to show it to me once I figured out they were using a map to follow me. They showed me the second year dormitories, and a man named Peter Pettigrew was listed as sleeping with Ron. At first I just thought it was odd but the twins informed me that Peter was the one who was "supposedly" killed by Sirius. Since I knew Sirius was betrayed by a friend I think it is reasonable to assume Peter is the right person."_

_ "Ah, I never did mention much about that problem, did I?" _Pearl said apologetically feeling slightly shamed and guilty that he had forgotten about Harry's godfather. His eyes looked up at Harry and the boy just shrugged, "_I can't say I blame you Pearl, you helped me a lot over the summer and besides even if I had known about Peter before I would not have been able to do anything about it."_ Harry said as he restarted his petting. The two once again fell quiet and just enjoyed listening to the sound of the forest around them. Harry noted with amusement that even the sounds of predators claiming their kills didn't bother him now after having lived in a villa that was surrounded by a forest. He felt safe in the forest, or more accurately he felt safe with Pearl. After an hour of just sitting and relaxing in each other's comfort Islet appeared. She carried a tray that had two mugs and a bowl on it. Setting the tray down Islet looked at the two of them with a small smile.

"Master Harry, I thought you might enjoy a cup of cocoa, it is a fair night for fall but it is still chilly." Islet said offering the mug to Harry. He took it gratefully and watched as Islet gave Pearl a bowl of what appeared to be blood. Islet settled down onto ground and sipped her own mug.

"Thanks Islet, it's remarkable that you always seem to know what I need just when I need it, sometimes before I'm even aware that I want or need it. I also want to compliment you on your elocution."

_"Do you even know what that means?" _Pearl asked with some amusement. Harry looked offended for all of a second before simply and eloquently saying, _"The art of speaking clearly and effectively." _

_ "hmm, well in any case perhaps we should apprise our mother of the situation." _Pearl said glancing up at Harry who just laughed and shrugged at the snake's word choice. Harry sipped his cocoa as Pearl informed Islet of what harry and he had discovered and thought. Just as he was finishing Hedwig flew in and landed on his shoulder. She gave him a reproachful look as if to say she didn't think he should be in the forbidden forest or out so late. When Harry tried to point out the fact that Pearl would protect him she nipped him on the ear, rather hard if he were to be honest.

"_So how should we approach the situation Harry?" _Pearl asked him calmly. Harry smiled as he looked over his family. He was glad Pearl had asked him what he wanted to do first and even happier that even though Islet, Hedwig, and Pearl weren't human they would worry about him and considered what he had to say important.

"_I'm not too sure, the map said Peter was with Ron but I doubt Ron could be sharing a bed with a man presumed dead."_

_ "Actually it is possible, does Ron have a pet?"_

_ "Yeah he has a pet rat."_

_ "It could be that the rat is actually Peter."_

_ "Like professor McGonagall?"_

_ "Yeah like her."_

"Master Harry, it was said that Peter's only remains were a finger. If this rat is missing his pinky finger then we can be reasonably assured that the rat is Peter."

"Brilliant Islet, _now we just need a way to trap the rat to check. Too bad Ron has already distanced himself from me completely. It would be easier to check the rat without being obvious if we were still friends."_

_ "Perhaps the twins could help?"_

_ "That could be dangerous though."_

_ "Knowing the twins, its safe to say they probably tried some potions and other things on Ron's pet. If it is Peter the twins might be able to grab him without spooking him into running away."_

_ "That could put the twins in danger though, I'd rather have a surefire way to get the rat, if it is Peter I don't want him to transform into a human until were ready." _

_ "So we need to find a way to confine an animagus."_

_ "I'll start searching the library for wards or charms that can hold a person in their animagus form, but we also have another problem."_

_ "Oh?"_

_ "We can't move until we know how Dumbles will respond to the discovery. As chief of the Wizengamot he has the power to call for a trial. He would also have access to the information that proves Sirius was never given a trial, or at least a fair trial."_

"Oh that man, I ought to turn all his robes gray for the way he treats Master Harry." Islet said angrily. Harry smiled and patted the elf on the shoulder gratefully. Hedwig hooted agreement and Pearl was laughing. Once they all calmed down Harry suggested that Islet actually go through with her plan, he admitted that it sounded like a good prank and would be great for a laugh.

"_If we want to go over Dumbles on this were going to need to find some trustworthy adults that would be willing to help you without going to Dumbledore first."_ Pearl said sounding more like he was thinking aloud then actually talking to the group. Harry and Islet both sighed realizing how difficult that would be. Hedwig hooted softly and Harry turned to look at her. She just nuzzled his cheek and Harry realized how cold his face was in comparison to Hedwig.

"I think I should head back inside before I catch a chill, I also need some sleep." Harry said, petting Hedwig as thanks for reminding him of the real world for the moment.

"Master Harry I will keep an eye on the rat if I can."

"_Perhaps we should find a tracking spell Harry; I remember goblins used them to keep track of treasures when they move them from one vault to the next in order to insure that nothing disappears during transport."_

_ "Yeah that's a good idea Pearl, I'll see if I can find a spell for that library as well as the stuff for animaguses._ I'll trust you to keep an eye on the rat whenever you have a chance, but don't ruin your cover here at Hogwarts."

"Yes Master Harry, it will be as you say." Islet said before disappearing with a pop. Harry looked up at Hedwig who nuzzled against him once again before taking off and heading back to the Hogwarts roost.

"_Would you like to come with me to the castle?" _Harry asked Pearl with some trepidation. He really wanted Pearl with him, but he didn't want to sound whiny.

"_I'd love to, I can stay hidden easily enough, I'll join you in your dormitory; make sure you close your curtains when you get into bed." _Pearl said as he uncoiled. Harry got up and stretched briefly. They both set out together through the forest a little ways until the they reached the forest line.

"_I will meet you there, the front entrance is a little to open for my taste, but the only other entrance I know is too small for you. Besides you have the invisibility cloak, you should be fine."_ Pearl told him before slithering away. Harry threw on his cloak and made his way slowly towards the entrance. Remembering what the twins had told him he cast silencio on both his shoes and his clothes. He didn't feel the need to cast it on the cloak since he had never heard the cloak make a sound before anyway. As he walked in silence he thought about the cloak with interest, it was incredible and from what Pearl had told him it was also an ancient heirloom from the Peverell brothers. Reaching the entrance to the castle Harry noted with relief that the door was still open, he made his way quickly through the opening and continued on his way back to the dorms. His way back took him through a hallway that intersected the hallway leading to the kitchens and Harry was too lost in thought to realize he was on a collision course with someone. The two hit each other causing the girl, as harry guessed from the yelp, to fall down. She was quickly joined by harry who, caught off balance, tripped on the edge of his cloak. He fell onto the girl but realized he was still miraculously covered by the cloak.

"Excuse me whoever you are, but would you mind getting off me." The girl demanded. Harry instantly recognized the voice.

"It seems fate is trying to tell me something; although why she chooses to make me fall on you all the time I can't begin to guess." Harry said altering his voice as best he could to match his Hadrian Oxley persona. It was hard to do both because before Islet had magicked his voice to sound that way and because he was having a hard time forming the words around the smile plastered on his face. Daphne for her part blushed prettily at the words and said quietly, "Well perhaps Harry that is because you insist on hiding yourself in front of me."

"Crap, I thought I had managed to match Hadrians voice pretty well." Harry said feeling a little put off at failing to maintain his disguise, even though he was happy that she didn't seem mad at him for hiding.

"Oh, I wouldn't say you did too badly, but I know you're the only student with an invisibility cloak and since I can feel it I know you're not just disillusioned." Daphne said with a grin.

"How did you know I have an invisibility cloak?" Harry asked startled that someone other than a few Gryffindors knew about his cloak. He shifted the cloak until it no longer covered him. Daphne blushed when she realized she could see Harry now.

"Pretty much the whole school knows about it, Ron isn't exactly the best secret keeper." Daphne said as calmly as she could.

"I'll kill him." Harry growled. He slammed his fist into the ground hard and was surprised when the floor cracked a bit. Daphne was startled by the sudden aura around Harry and the fist coming at her and she yelped when the fist connected with the floor by her head. Harry heard her and immediately regretted his action.

"I'm so sorry Daphne, I didn't mean to startle you, I was just so mad at Ron. I didn't hurt you did I?" Harry said as he lowered his face towards her to see her face better, His hand came up to her cheek to check for wetness, a sign of blood, and finding her face incredibly smooth he sighed in relief.

"I'm fine Harry, are you; you hit your hand pretty hard." She asked taking a chance to glance up at him. His face was mere inches away from her. She blushed and Harry realizing his position over her blushed wildly and moved off of her to sit against the wall. She got up and joined him they sat there together quietly. Finally Harry answered her previous question and assured her his hand was fine.

"You really hit the floor hard." Daphne said looking at the crack in the floor that had yet to repair itself.

"Yeah I learned over the summer that magic helps to strengthen a wizards body, which is why we live longer, and I probably subconsciously strengthened my muscles because I wanted to break something. I'm sorry I scared you; I hope you can forgive me. I'd like to be your friend, after all fate seems to have something in store for us." Harry said ending with a small smile. Daphne couldn't help but grin at Harry's boyish grin and said, "Well mom will be pleased, she didn't know Hadrian but figured he was a nice boy, I wonder how she'll react when I tell her that it was Harry Potter."

"You're welcome to tell them if you want, it's only fair after I nearly trampled you and scared you so. I hope you say nice things about me." Harry said shyly looking over at Daphne briefly. He noticed she avoided eye contact but couldn't say why. He could understand if she didn't want to look at him though, he had scared her when he punched the floor so close to her head.

"I'll only tell them if you say it's okay Harry, they won't say anything to anyone about meeting you in Diagon alley; They like to stay neutral and that means doing small things like not tattling on other people just because you can. Also I wouldn't say anything bad about you, I like you a lot." Daphne admitted the last with a blush. Harry sighed with relief and got up; he helped Daphne get up and asked her if she was going to her dorm. With her affirmation of her intentions Harry decided to escort her under his cloak to the Slytherin dorms. When they reached the dorms He said goodnight to Daphne and was about to turn to leave when professor Snape appeared in the doorway Daphne had just entered.

"How nice of you to escort our lost snake to our dorms, however you are out after curfew, I'm afraid I have to give you a week's detention and 30 points from Gryffindor." Snape said not at all sorry about giving Harry a week's detention and removing even more points. Harry just sighed and asked to leave. The professor frowned slightly since he couldn't get a rise from the potter boy and let him go. Harry made his way back to Gryffindor tower practically skipping once he was out of sight of Snape. Taking a few shortcuts and using the charm to stop the stairs he made his way to the tower quickly. Once he was in his room he changed into his night clothes and got into the bed, he remembered Pearls warning about the curtains and he sat and read his transfiguration text until Pearl showed up. Pearl curled himself at the end of Harry's bed and snaked his head out to reach Harry's chest once Harry lay down. The bed was barely big enough for the both of them, something that Harry figured he'd have to find a way to deal with later. He locked the curtains in place with colloportus and cast a notice me not charm on Pearl.

"_Pearl?"_

_ "What's up Harry?"_

_ "I ran into Daphne again down by the kitchens. She agreed to be my friend." _Harry told Pearl happily.

"_Good to hear Harry, you need some human friends." _Pearl said happy for Harry.

"_She said she liked me a lot, even though we've only met a few times. I like her a lot to." _Harry admitted.

"_Did you tell her that?"_

_ "No, does it matter?"_

_ "Perhaps not now, but in time who can say." _Pearl said wisely before cracking up into a hissing laugh.

_ "Goodnight Pearl."_ Harry said closing his eyes to sleep. He was almost asleep and barely heard Pearls reply.

_ "Good night Harry." _


	14. Realizations and Truths

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Well Hello again everyone, here's another update. Sorry for all of you out there hoping for a more active chapter after my last update but I wanted to lay down a few more details, this chapter primarily sets up the later years of Harry's school years so I hope you'll bare with me even knowing I may never get around to writing all of his years (at the moment it is my intention to do so). Hope everyone likes or at least is okay with Neville, at the moment he's on a precipice, so let me know what you think in your reviews. As always please enjoy my story.

Chapter 14: Realizations and Truths

"Harry are you okay, you look like you haven't slept at all." Daphne asked him in a quiet whisper while professor Snape was on the other side of the room checking Neville's sad excuse for a potion. Harry in his tired state glanced at Daphne before looking to see where Snape was, he sighed sadly when he saw Snape whip out his wand and clean out Neville's cauldron. Harry admitted that Neville really didn't seem good at potions but it was odd considering how good Neville was with Herbology, he'd have to bring it up with Neville at some point in the near future. Turning back to Daphne he caught her glare and stopped abruptly.

"What, did I do something wrong with the potion?" Harry whispered.

"What? No…no, it's nothing to do with the potion Harry. Are you alright? You seem…distracted."

"I'm fine, I was just thinking about Neville"

"Oh really? Batting for the other team?" Daphne said teasing her new friend. They didn't get a chance to talk except for in potions or during random meetings in the halls, but they enjoyed their time together and both were relaxed in the others presence now.

"Of course not." Harry said vehemently, "I was just wondering why he's so bad with potions when the main ingredients are commonly found in magical gardens."

"Well excusing professors Snape's taunting, I would think his problem is mostly due to lack of confidence. He pays so much attention to his potion that he forgets his ingredients."

"Really?"

"Well that's what it seems like to me. In any case, care to tell me why you look like you're going to fall asleep in your cauldron?"

"Professor Snape has me cleaning the damn things; guess their starting to look mighty comfortable right now." Harry said eyeing the cauldron suspiciously. He was rewarded with Daphne trying to cover her amusement.

"Something amusing Miss. Greengrass?" Snape asked only semi coldly, Daphne and Harry both turned to see the professor directly behind them.

"Sorry professor, Potter was about to fall asleep in his cauldron and it just looked so funny I couldn't help myself." Daphne said, glaring at Harry, as if the entire incident was his fault.

"Yes, well then Mr. Potter perhaps you are too tired to brew today's potion. Clear your cauldron and see Madame Pomfrey." Snape said with a gleam in his eye.

"I'm fine professor; I'm almost done with the potion anyway." Harry replied, turning to glance at his potion briefly. He considered warding it against being vanished but decided that losing his potion was inevitably better then another night of detention with Snape.

"Nonsense can't have a student exploding my classroom because they fell asleep during potions. Have Useless over there bring you to the infirmary." Snape said with a wicked grin, and with that he whipped out his wand and cleared Harry's potion.

"Very well professor, if you'll excuse me I'll just pack my things and go now." Harry said in a genial manner that he didn't feel at all. He slowly began to pack up his things and saw briefly that Neville was throwing away his newly prepared ingredients. Harry sighed sadly; he'd have to apologize to Neville, although he wasn't really at fault.

"I'm so sorry Harry; I didn't think he'd do that. Or perhaps more appropriately I didn't think at all." She admonished herself. Her words were so sharp they actually startled Harry. He turned to her and while pretending to reach for one of his utensils he ran his hand over her forearm gently before squeezing her hand gently.

"It's not your fault; Snape looks for any chance he can get to give me a zero or make me lose points." Harry told her calmly. If fate existed it provided his proof not one minute later when Snape remarked, "It shouldn't take you this long to pack up boy, 10 points from Gryffindor for your laziness, and another 5 points from Gryffindor for delaying your housemate."

Harry sighed grabbed his bag and with a quick look into Daphne's brilliant eyes he turned and walked to the door. Neville joined him and they made their way to the infirmary as required.

"I'm sorry Neville, I didn't mean for you to have to come here."

"It's alright"

"I…I don't want you to think its Daphne's fault either…" Harry said trying to decide how to inform his friend Neville about his circumstances.

"Don't worry about it Harry, I don't blame her, after all you two are friends right?"

"Wha...yes, but how did you?"

"Oh come on Harry, I may not be very smart or a powerful wizard but I'm not blind, and working with dangerous plants gave me a fairly keen sense of awareness."

"Is that so? I wouldn't have guessed with how generally negative you are about yourself Neville."

"I only state the truth" Neville said looking put upon. The two walked in silence for a while until they were almost at the Infirmary.

"I think you don't think enough of yourself Neville. If you really have an amazing sense of awareness then mistaking potions ingredients shouldn't happen, but if that's just because your letting your fear of Snape get in the way perhaps there's a way we can get you over your fear."

"You'd really help me?" Neville asked in a quiet voice.

"Of course, we're friends." Harry said with a tone of finality.

"Thanks Harry." Neville said simply. Entering the hospital wing Harry shuddered in remembrance of the last time he was here.

"Not you again, well what you have done to yourself this time Mr. Potter. Not even a month into the year and you're already in my care again."

"It's nothing Madame Pomfrey, I am a little tired and Snape suggested I come up here to see you." Harry said emphasizing suggested.

"I'll go get you some pepper up potion, but I expect you to get a goodnight sleep tonight alright?" with that Madame Pomfrey began to walk away before turning once again to Harry, "And Harry? It's professor Snape dear; he is a professor and deserves your respect."

"_Respect? That sad excuse for a potions professor deserves nothing more than to be locked in a room with a load of potions ingredients without a wand or cauldron."_

_ "That's really devious; do you think we could pull it off?"_ Harry said with a smile, thinking of how Snape would look knowing that he can't brew anything with tons of ingredients within hands reach.

_ "Crap, I'm giving you ideas." _Pearl said tiredly, but the humor came across loud and clear.

Madame Pomfrey came back a few moments later carrying a red looking potion. Harry sighed knowing it would taste terrible.

"Alright here you go Harry, now make sure you drink all of it. Now what are you here for Mr. Longbottom?"

"He was asked to escort me here Madame Pomfrey. Probably a good think to, after a week with almost no sleep I was prepared to pass out just about anywhere." Harry said, both to put out there that he had been up most of the week and to help Neville since he was clearly unprepared for any onslaught by the nurse.

"It's only your second week here Mr. Potter, why have you not been sleeping."

"He's been serving detentions with Snape all week, I was with him on Wednesday and all we did was clean cauldrons. I was let go before Harry though." Neville said weakly.

"That's a pretty standard detention for the potions professors, what did you do Harry?" The nurse asked nicely, Harry was shocked, she had never asked him why something that landed him here happened before.  
>"I was out past curfew and helped a Slytherin back to their common room. Snape caught us at the common room door and gave me detention for a week. Thankfully professor McGonagall was kind enough to have the detentions postponed till next week, well this week now."<p>

"Tell her how long your detentions lasted Harry." Neville told him quietly. Apparently he did not talk quietly enough because Pomfrey immediately demanded to know the answer. Harry sighed before responding, "I was usually cleaning pots from nine till midnight. Snape said that if I was going to be up so late I might as well make myself useful." Harry didn't mention that he also went training with Pearl afterwards and so never actually got to bed until two in the morning. Neville glanced at him briefly and Harry suspected he knew exactly when Harry came into their dorm room. Neville was turning out to be a mystery and Harry couldn't decide if it would be a good or bad thing yet.

_"I'm sure it will be fine Harry, remember what we talked about."_

_ "Yeah Pearl, don't abandon people just because you don't know them."_

_ "Exactly, look how talking to the nurse turned out, better then you expected yes?"_

_ "You were right and I was wrong" _Harry admitted.

"Why that man making a twelve year old work so late." Pomfrey said outrage clearly in her voice. She mumbled what sounds like a series of insults and then surprisingly a few things that caught Harry's attention "boys no longer malnourished, but he still should be taking potions, nowhere near the height of his father, nor the energy of his mother."

"Excuse me Madame Pomfrey but you mentioned me taking potions, is there something I should know?"

"_You've been taking potions since you joined us Harry. Islet must have forgotten to mention it, don't get to mad at her. After all I forgot to mention it as well."_

_ "What have you been giving me?" _Harry asked with a slightly irritated and worried tone.

"_During your summer we gave you potions for appetite, growth, concentration, energy, and magical fortitude. Once you started school we dropped the magical fortitude, and appetite potions and reduced the growth potion to a level where no one will notice it unless they checked for it after you ate."_

_ "Oh is that it? What does the magical fortitude do?"_

_ "It helps your body absorb magic from its surroundings; you needed it to help you power the wards around the home. I promise you that that's all we've given you and we'll stop if you want us to."_

_ "Alright Pearl, we'll talk about this more when I can talk to islet as well. For now let's wait and see what the nurse decides to reveal." _

"I'm sorry Mr. Potter but your guardian told me not to inform you of this matter."

"Look, I don't care if you don't tell me who my guardian is, I can guess anyway, but I need to know what you were mumbling about. If you don't tell me I'll send an owl to the healers at St. Mungo's and request they send someone else who can give me a full check-up and tell me what I want to know."

"Do you have any idea the effect that could have on my career?" She asked startled by Harry's determination.

"No clue, but then again unless you tell me what I want to know I won't really care." Harry said forcefully. Truthfully he would probably feel bad taking that route, and would only do it to cover the effects of the potions he had already taken and would take from now on regardless. Madame Pomfrey looked distressed but she finally sighed and asked Harry to follow her to her office. Neville said goodbye to Harry and promised to inform Hermione that Harry was ok.

The nurse's office was nothing like he would have imagined. Books lined the walls, a tall oak desk sat at the far end of the room with the fireplace resting on the opposite end of the room. Other then that the room was rather plain if well lit. Madame Pomfrey made her way to her desk and opened a drawer. She seemed to look through it for a bit before pulling out five different folders of varying size. She looked at Harry sadly before motioning for him to sit down. Not mad at her now that she was going to tell him what he wanted to know he politely accepted her offer in the same manner purebloods would have and waited until she sat down before he took the offered chair. Pomfrey was startled Harry was glad to note, remember what Islet had told him about getting information from startled people. He decided to attack before she got any barriers up.

"Alright so why so many files?" Harry demanded calmly.

"Well…these are your files" She said hesitantly.

"So many, for one student who has only been here one year?"

"Well, this one," she pointed at the smallest file, "Is the public record of your first year. This one," this time she pointed to a slightly thicker file to the left of the first, "contains your real first year analysis and medical details of the attack on you at the end of the year. These two files," she said pointing to the two biggest files to the left of the last file, "contain your years with the Dursleys. The final file is from when you were a baby." She added sadly. The last file was almost as small as his public record.

"I'll need a copy of all of them, or a space in your office to go over them. I notice you have a lot of medical texts, perhaps a medical dictionary would be helpful for me to figure out any words I might not understand, but I'll be sure to ask you for clarification on anything I'm not sure of. I'm sure your aware of possible consequences my actions could have should I chose to act on false information." Harry said, aware for the first time that Pomfrey actually looked a little intimidated by him. He marveled at that, he would have to thank Islet later for all the lessons.

"I can't make a copy of the files, they would disappear as soon as you left the room, but I suppose I can add a desk in here for you. You would be welcome to come to my office at any time Harry. I'll tell the staff that any detentions you receive should be assigned to me. However if you deserve the punishment be sure I'll make sure you are punished."

"I can agree to that Madame Pomfrey." Harry said amazed at the turnaround of the situation.

"I only hope you can forgive me for what I have done to you." She said sadly. At the ring of a tiny bell on her desk she got up and walked out without another word. Harry walked over to her desk and picked up all the files. He decided to start with the smallest file which was his public record. At a glance Harry realized this record basically just said he was healthy, but had received some questionable injuries at the end of his first year. It also noted that he disappeared during the last summer. At the bottom of the last page was a note by Pomfrey stating he had returned. Since he didn't want to remember the Dursleys he decided to go over his actual first year records. In the basic info he found only a few discrepancies, apparently he was severely underweight, and his magical core strength was significantly decreased in the public report. Harry wasn't sure what to think of that. However the real interesting information was the rest of the pages. He hadn't realized how bad his own body was in comparison to normal wizards or witches his age.

**The patient shows signs of long term recovery of one's magical core strength. Current agreed hypothesis, by Albus Dumbledore, is that the reflection of the killing curse by Harry Potter depleted his core to such a degree that it reverted back to the fetal state. It is also agreed that Harry Potter shows a significant drop in potential ability then when he was first observed at birth. More information can be found in the documents pertaining to his birth. **

**-Documented by Poppy Pomfrey**

Harry was shocked and honestly was feeling more than a little upset at what he read. Apparently he had lost not just his parents but most of his natural ability when he was attacked by Voldemort. Harry set down the file and took a few deep breaths.

"_Pearl, do you have any ideas? I could really use you right now." _Harry said sadly.

"_I'm right here; I think the important thing here is that Dumbles influence is present even in your actual file."_ Pearl said sliding into the room from a corner of the room. Harry still had no idea how Pearl managed that, but was grateful to see his familiar right now. Pearl moved close to Harry and settled his head in Harry's lap. Harry immediately began to pet Pearl and both let out a contented sigh, even though Harry was not in a comfortable chair. They sat like that for a while in peace until Harry responded to Pearl's earlier statement.

_ "That true I suppose I shouldn't get so worked up about some Dumbles says about me."_

_ "If you're feeling better you had best head off, you have herbology in a few minutes." _Pearl said quietly, moving away from Harry and making his way to the shadows.

_ "Don't remind me, thank god it's Friday at least."_ Harry said causing Pearl to chuckle as he disappeared.

Not a moment later Madame Pomfrey walked in. Harry wasn't surprised that Pearl had left just before she arrived. He would have sensed her the entire time she was in the other room.

"You should get going you're going to miss your next class. You don't have to go to your detention with professor Snape tonight. I will speak with him about my decision regarding your detentions from now on later as well."

"Thank you Madame Pomfrey." Harry said sincerely.

"Please Harry, in my office you may call me Poppy, it's only fair after all I've done."

"Very well Poppy, if you could have my desk set up for me tomorrow I'd be grateful." Harry stated kindly. She nodded her acceptance of the task and promised it would be completed. Harry walked out of the room feeling both grateful towards the nurse and disturbed by her demeanor. He wasn't sure what she was up to, or if she was up to something at all, but he would get down to the bottom of it.


	15. A Legend Awakes

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Here's another chapter for everyone still reading this. All I can really say with this chapter was that it didn't turn out quite as I expected when I started it. I do however like the way it did turn out and hope everyone agrees. Let me know what you think in your reviews, thanks to those who have reviewed my previous chapters by the way, and I hope you all continue to enjoy this story.

Chapter 15: A Legend Awakes

"Harry, would you mind helping me with my homework for a minute, you did promise after all." Daphne said with a smile as she noticed Harry was once again lost in the books on his desk. Harry was glad she never asked how he had managed to get an office next to the infirmary, she also never told anyone. It had come as a surprise one day when Poppy had brought Daphne into the room with her. Harry only made a token protest to letting Daphne stay and to tutoring her in defense against the dark arts.

"Sure where are you struggling?"

"It's this section on werewolves." Daphne said pointing to a paragraph in the book on her lap. Harry moved behind her and leaned over her placing a hand on her shoulder to read the text near the bottom of the page.

"Ah, this section describes the changes the person can expect to experience immediately after being infected by Lycanthropy depending on the level of exposure, where you're attacked, and the strength of your magic. For example the average witch or wizard when bitten turns into a werewolf right?"

"Of course." Daphne said tilting her head up to see Harry. Harry gave her a smile before continuing.

"Now if someone like Albus were to be bit do you think he would become a werewolf?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't he."

"In a way you're completely right, he would indeed be a werewolf but if the one who bit him was strong enough he could become a Lycan. That is, a werewolf with the ability to transform on any night when the moon shines, at will. They would also be able to prevent the transformation if their will was strong enough."

"So how come I've never heard of Lycans before?" Daphne asked curiously.

"They're incredibly rare Daphne, the last known one was over 400 years ago."

"How do you know all this then?" Daphne said bewildered.

"Let's just say I have a very excellent book collection available to me." Harry said sneakily. He watched her make some notes on what he just explained and pointed out that his example of Lycans probably wouldn't go over well with the professor. She proceeded to point out that in all likelihood their paper would never get graded anyway, to which Harry could only laugh. Once over his fit he moved to the chair opposite hers. He picked up a book and played with it for a few minutes before setting it down.

"Daphne? Would you like to go on a midnight stroll with me on Halloween?" Harry asked in a quiet whisper. Daphne had to strain to hear it but she smiled and blushed when she recognized what he had asked her.

"I'd love to, but we'll be caught if we walk around the black lake." Daphne said worriedly.

"I was thinking The Forbidden Forest." Harry said calmly, "I've been meaning to introduce you to someone for a while now anyway. He doesn't like that he can't come here when you're here."

"Harry the Forbidden Forest is called that for a reason."

"Daphne I promise you that Pearl can protect us from anything that wanders the forest including the Acromantula's." Harry said seriously.

"Fine when do I meet him?" Daphne said with a smile. Harry could only think about how radiant she looked, and it took a few moments before he was able to collect himself.

"You'll meet him three days from now." Harry said getting up to look out the window. He had an excellent view of the Quidditch Pitch, though it was just a charmed window, and he watched for a few minutes as the Gryffindor team tried desperately to train up their new seeker. Harry had gathered the team at the beginning of October and informed them that he would be concentrating on his studies and would no longer be able to go to practices. He pointed out that should there be any need he would be available to play during a match but only if the other seeker on the team was injured or they had not found a seeker before the first game. The team had not responded well to that and now Harry was ostracized by most Gryffindors. It didn't bother him much since he was used to such behavior from his childhood.

"Harry, I'm going to head down to lunch now. I'll see you in potions."

"Sure thing Daphne." Harry said waving goodbye to her. He waited quietly for a few minutes settling down in the recliner Daphne had just vacated. He could still smell her in the air. Pearl showed up soon enough and slithered over to Harry.

"_So you're finally ready to dump your big secret on her?" _Pearl said in a playfully hurt tone.

"_Well there's no denying you're big."_ Harry said smiling.

"_Yes well, in any case how's our candidate doing?"_

_ "Poppy is fine, I would trust her with the information right now if I didn't think she might talk to professor McGonagall about it."_

_ "So what do you want to do?"_

_ "Islet is observing professor McGonagall now, when she finds out how trustworthy the woman is we can decide whether or not to tell Poppy. Besides we managed to place a phoenix tracker on him, even a fidelius won't help him now."_ Harry said with an almost evil chuckle. Pearl laughed a bit as well, but took the time to compliment his familiar as well.

_ "That was a very impressive bit of spell work for a twelve year old."_

_ "Thanks, but you know as well as I do that the largest majority of that spell is essentially just activating the potion."_

_ "Have you gone over those files yet?" _

_ "Not really Pearl, I'm afraid of what's in them." _Harry admitted with a sigh. The sat in the accompanying silence for a few minutes content to just let the emotions hang in the air for a while. Eventually Harry pushed Pearl off his lap and gathered his things to head to the great hall for lunch.

When he reached the great hall people were already getting ready to leave. He sat down quietly next to his only Gryffindor friends. Hermione and Neville had been surprised at the change in Harry. He had started a regimen of potions under the care of Madame Pomfrey that had caused him to grow two and half inches in just a month. She also kept him on magic fortitude potions pointing out that it would help him to heal from his long term loss of most of his magical strength.

"Harry, where were you?" Hermione asked politely. That was another change Harry was glad for, Hermione had restrained most of her inquisitiveness around him. Probably because of the challenge he had set her at the beginning of the year.

"Doing some research in private." Harry said giving his standard response to the question asked at every meal. She just sighed and went back to reading her book.

"So Neville, have you got any ideas of curing your fear of Snape?" Harry asked seriously. He had done some research and had a few ideas in mind but most required finding something that he wasn't sure would be easy to get.

"Sorry Harry, the only thing I found that looks like it could work would be a Boggart but I don't know how we're supposed to get one. Plus I don't even know if it would change into Snape."

"Oh, I think it would." Hermione added without any apparent pause in her reading.

"Leave that to me." Harry said deciding that getting a Boggart really was the only easy way to get results fast.

"So Harry how is Luna?" Hermione asked politely. This was another common question and would probably be followed up with a question about Daphne. Luna always seemed occupied with something or other but she and Harry would have delightful conversations while walking down the hall searching for lost Nargles or more commonly a lost item of hers. Harry was pretty sure she was being bullied but had yet to find a way to bring it up with the first year. "You know how she is Hermione. She's just as charming as ever, I just wish other people would see that instead of bullying her."

"We can't know that they are until we have proof though Harry." Hermione said sternly.

"When we get that proof Harry and I are going to have to do some damage." Neville said with false bravado.

"By that you mean telling a professor right Neville?" Hermione asked sweetly. Neville gulped and nodded. He was oddly terrified by Hermione though Harry suspected it had to do with the events of last year.

"As long as a professor does something about it I don't mind telling them." Harry informed his friends. He didn't bother to point out that if they did nothing he would.

"Enough about Luna; how's Daphne?" Hermione asked eagerly. Both she and Neville leaned in knowing Harry wouldn't speak much above a whisper about Daphne at the Gryffindor table. He updated them on his planned date with Daphne and promised that he would introduce Pearl to them sometime after Halloween.

"I can't believe you two, you're basically a couple and your only twelve." Hermione said shaking her head softly.

"It's okay; somehow I don't think they'll break up." Neville said kindly.

"Oh come on, we're not even a couple yet." Harry said once again trying desperately to get them to believe him on this.

"Well you asked her out on a date and she said yes right?" Hermione asked, at which Harry could only nod. Smiling she nodded and said, "Therefore the logical conclusion is that she likes you and you two are a couple."

"Fine, fine, from Halloween on, assuming the date goes alright, I won't make any more comments about us not being a couple."

"Whatever Harry it doesn't bother us, right Neville?"

"Quite the contrary Hermione, I find it dashing good fun." Neville said letting his aristocratic voice out. Harry could only sigh and laugh along with his friends for a few minutes until Hermione informed them they needed to make their way to potions.

Halloween was soon upon them and Harry was starting to get nervous. His friends found him in the common room glancing out a window watching the setting sun. Harry had given up reading when he realized that he kept reading the same sentence over and over, barely registering what the sentence even said.

"You okay there Harry?" Neville asked knowing his friend was probably nervous about tonight.

"I'm fine Neville…well as fine as I can be." Harry added when he noticed Neville didn't believe him. He turned to look at Neville and briefly made contact with his old friend Ron. Ron still hadn't said he was sorry and frankly Harry was happy about it, he had been worried for a while that Dumbles would force Ron to apologize in order to get him back in Harry's good grace. The moment passed quickly and his gaze soon wandered to the chair he always found Hermione in. Indeed she was there and for a few moments both boys just watched her read.

"Hermione's quite a girl." Neville said with a flush. This caught Harry by surprise, mostly because he didn't think Neville could be so bold. Harry decided to test the waters, curious as to the thought process Neville had to come to that conclusion.

"I'd trust her with my life." Harry admitted thinking Neville most likely was talking about how smart Hermione was. Heaven knew how many times she had helped him out in first year, not that he needed any help academically this year.

"True, but…" Neville cut off without finishing what he was going to say, but Harry now knew that his new friend was at least attracted to Hermione. He smiled as he considered how the two might work out. He was brought out of his reverie when the girl he was thinking about came over.

"Hey you two ready to head down for the feast?" Hermione asked. The boys both nodded and made their way to the portrait door. Harry noted that Ron had already disappeared and suspected that Ron would be on thirds before he got his first bite of food.

The great hall had been decorated to match the festive mood of Halloween. Giant pumpkins sat in the corners providing a majority of the lighting for the hall. Candles were floating as usual but they burned colored flames of red, black, and deep orange. The walls had what looked to be blood dripping from them but Harry thought it was unlikely they'd use real blood. Truthfully some of the first years actually seemed a little scared at first and even Harry and his group gave pause at the look of the room. In the end the feast seemed to go fairly well, at least until Harry decided to leave early in order to prepare for later that night.

Having finished his preparations in the kitchen with the aid of some of the house elves Harry decided to head back to the common rooms. He knew the feast would end in a few minutes and wanted to beat the rush. As he made his way up he heard a peculiar sound. It reminded him of Pearl, but it sounded louder and less benign. Harry backtracked and followed the noise until her heard it clearly.

"_Rip, tear, kill, must kill, eats, rip, tear, kill, kill, kill..."_ The voice hissed out. Even to Harry who was use to speaking with snakes this was barely understandable hissing. The words were unmistakable though, whatever snake or person that was saying that wanted to kill something or someone. Harry couldn't catch up to the voice but he managed to follow it to the second floor corridor before he lost it completely. Making his way carefully down the corridor he was surprised to find a large puddle on the floor. Looking up from the puddle he saw a strange scene. Before him stood Mrs. Norris nailed to the wall unmoving; just above her was a message:

**Enemy of Heir Beware. The Chamber of Secrets has been opened.**

As was typical of Harry's luck the whole school decided to arrive just in time to see Harry checking out Mrs. Norris. He was only trying to confirm if she was alive or not but Filch took it the wrong way, and Malfoy only made it worse spouting nonsense about mudbloods being next. Albus of course saw this as a great opportunity to once again manipulate Harry. Harry was forced to follow him to the Gilderoy's office, since it had been so kindly offered by the man, likely in the hopes that he would gain some of his respect and fame back. The office was crowded when everyone who saw the need to be there was shoved inside. The portraits were being nosy until Harry and Dumbledore oddly teamed up to silence the lot of them. Harry didn't miss the silent muting spell sent at the true Gilderoy either and has to raise an eyebrow to Dumbles for the obvious casting. Dumbledore only shrugged lightly and marked that Harry had noticed his nearly nonexistent wand movements on that spell.

"Now I believe we all know that Harry didn't do anything." The Headmaster said kindly, his eyes twinkling as he observed the boy. Harry didn't look him in the eye but willingly admitted he had nothing to do with Mrs. Norris.

"I just found her that way, I was checking to see if she's alive."

"Look at her, you done gone killed her you little miscreant. I'll have you upside down by your ankles for this boy." Filch yelled making to grab Harry.

"Now really Filch, as if a second year could fully petrify a cat." Professor McGonagall pointed out.

"Do you think Mrs. Norris will be alright?" another professor asked. Dumbledore waved his wand a few times over the body of the cat and eventually nodded slowly.

"It is just as Minerva suggests, the cat has been petrified, thankfully Pomona has a group of excellent young mandrakes, when they are old enough we can create a potion for Mrs. Norris." Dumbledore said finally. He turned to Harry, and Harry briefly felt something in his head before he quickly looked away. Judging by Dumbles frown he suspected the man didn't see much. Filch looked flustered, seeming to realize there would be no justice for his cat today.

"I'll make you regret this boy." Filch said dangerously before grabbing Mrs. Norris and heading out the door. Harry just stared before he turned to the group of adults left in the room.

"Since I have nothing to do with any of this can I go now?" Harry asked making sure to look at professor McGonagall.

"I'm sorry but we still need to know why you were there first, I noticed you left the feast early." Dumbledore said in a grandfatherly tone. Harry sighed and made his way to one of the walls of the office. He leaned against it before looking up to his head of house.

"I left the feast early because I wanted to think. After all Halloween was when my parents died, it's also when all my troubles began last year. In any case I was just wandering around aimlessly when I thought I heard something. I tried to follow the noise but I lost it when I reached the second floor corridor. I decided to check it out and…well you know the rest." Harry told them only really leaving out the fact that he had actually understood the noise. Dumbledore didn't really seem to believe him and Snape just looked like he wanted to rip his head off as usual. Thankfully most of the group did believe him and he was finally dismissed and told to make his way to his common room with no detours.

Once in the common room Hermione and Neville found him, he relayed what happened and told them he stilled planned on heading out later that night. Deciding to make sure Daphne was still coming, he and Neville made their way to the Owlery. Using a school owl that Harry had Neville prepare, since Hedwig would kill him otherwise, they sent a brief note telling her that Harry wasn't in any trouble and that he still intended to pick her up for their stroll. They made their way back talking about inconsequential things and joined Hermione in doing their homework once they reached the common room. Finishing up his homework quickly Harry gathered himself into his chair and let his mind wander out to Pearl.

"_Hey, you busy?"_

_ "I always have time for you Harry." _Pearl told him seriously. Harry felt incredibly happy about that and thanked Pearl.

"_Now what is it you wanted to talk about Harry?"_

_ "I heard another snake tonight, it was speaking of killing."_

_ "Are you sure it wasn't just an average snake after a rat?"_

_ "I don't know, but it seemed, I don't know…more malicious then that. Does that make any sense?" _Harry said trying, rather badly he thought, to put how he felt about the event into words.

_ "You're suggesting that whatever it was didn't see whatever it was chasing as just prey." _Pearl said trying to understand what Harry was thinking.

_"Something like that Pearl, I could be wrong but I think whatever it was ended up petrifying Mrs. Norris. Do you know any snakes that could do that?" _

_ "I'm sorry Harry, there isn't any snake that can petrify it's foe that I'm aware of. Some snakes can fully paralyze their foe and the basilisk is well known for its killer glare." _

_ "Well, it could have been a person speaking Parseltongue, but it just doesn't feel right. I'll have to think some more about this." _Harry decided. Harry and Pearl talked about the upcoming stroll/picnic Harry had setup and Pearl agreed to wait at the edge of the forest for Harry. With that Harry went up to his dorm to wait until the others fell asleep.


	16. Midnight Picnic Panic

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter or anything else I could be sued for and I am poor as hell.

A.N: Another chapter for you all to read. I'm currently visiting a friend so this was done using my laptop. From what I can tell this chapter should be no worse grammatically then the others but let me know what you all think.I want to thank everyone that's sent me a review so far, I know I don't point it out as much as some might but I am grateful for them all, even the simple ones. As usual, please read and review; I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Chapter 16: Midnight Picnic Panic

Harry was starting to worry that Daphne might have changed her mind about coming with him. It was already quarter after eleven and Harry was reluctant to leave, but he also didn't want to stand outside the Slytherin common room all night. A few more minutes passed and Harry was about to give it up for a bad night all around when the Slytherin entrance opened up. He watched Daphne slip out and immediately threw his cloak over her. She startled for a minute until she recognized Harry and calmed down.

"Sorry Harry, professor Snape was keeping a better eye on us tonight then he usually would."

"I was worried for a while there." Harry admitted, letting his relief show.

"Don't worry Harry I would never stand you up, without good reason anyway." Daphne assured him before linking their arms and leading Harry away from the Slytherin dungeons. Harry was content to follow her for now, curious to see if she had found any of the passage ways he had found on his way down here. She used a few and they were quickly at the entrance hall. Harry led her to a statue off to the side that he knew opened just at the beginning of the Forbidden forest. The tunnel was dark and once the statue closed Harry cast a lumos spell to light their way.

"Well this is pleasant." Daphne said sarcastically noting the tunnel was a part of the castle but had clearly not been maintained in centuries. This was confirmed for her when she heard the crunch of bones under her feet.

"Sorry Daphne, but this is the only way out of the castle that leads to the Forbidden forest that I know of. If we had gone out the main doors we would probably both be in detention right now." Harry apologized trying to explain his reasoning to Daphne. He was worried that she might want to turn back as he was looking forward to showing her his family.

"It's alright, what's life without a bit of adventure." Daphne tried to say bravely, but Harry could hear the hesitance in her voice. He had been looking for it and could only sigh when his fears were confirmed. He was delighted when his wand illuminated a door just down the way. Walking over to it quickly he opened it up and Harry and Daphne made their way out of the tunnel. The tunnel came out on the side of the castle and just at the forest line, so they could see a line of trees to their right of them going off into the distance.

"Well it's certainly an interesting perspective." Harry said trying to point out the uniqueness of their position. Daphne agreed and gave a small smile to Harry who could only smile in return.

"Come on." Harry said excitedly, grabbing her hand lightly and turning her to walk into the forest on a small path. They quickly reached a clearing only a little ways into the forest and Harry pulled out his wand to cast a cushioning charm and heating charm on a stump for Daphne. She thanked him and took a seat wondering when she would get to meet Harry's friend.

"Alright so where is he?"

"He's around; I wanted to make sure you wouldn't flip out when you meet him first." Harry said nervously.

"Harry, unless it's Nickolas Flamel I don't think I'll flip out." Daphne said with exasperation.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Harry said with a small half grin, which Daphne thought was too suspicious by half.

"_Pearl, are you ready to meet Daphne?" _Harry asked him, hoping Pearl didn't scare her too much.

"_Oh please, I've been waiting here for hours already."_ Pearl answered slowly appearing from behind Daphne. Harry sat next to her and put an arm around her shoulder to prevent her from doing anything drastic just in case as he noted Pearl start to come around from her side silently. He felt Daphne freeze up as she saw the huge snake and she let out a startled gasp. Before Daphne could act or turn to Harry to point out the danger they were apparently in Harry spoke up.

"Daphne, meet Pearl. Pearl this is Daphne, she can't understand you but I'll translate." Harry said, more for the benefit of Daphne then Pearl. After a few moments Daphne began to calm down as noticed the snake didn't move or do anything after it appeared.

"You're Harry's friend?" Daphne asked hesitantly. She was somewhat startled to actually get a nodded reply from the huge snake and finally she blew out a shaky breath.

"You'd think with me being a Slytherin I wouldn't fear snakes."

"You should have seen how I reacted the first time I saw him."

"When did you meet?" Daphne asked curiously.

"We met in the beginning of summer, it's a long story." Harry told her. He was reluctant to tell her anymore about the summer but she managed to drag the rest of his summer out of him over the next half hour through seemingly simple questions. Harry had to admit she really fit the bill for Slytherins.

"Do you always get what you want?" Harry asked Daphne when she finished getting the last of the story out of him.

"Usually if it's something I really want I tend to get it." Daphne admitted with a smile.

"You're more of a snake then Pearl." Harry said with a laugh, his tone of voice telling Daphne it was a simple jest and not meant as an insult. Not that she thought Harry would ever insult her anyway; he just wasn't that type of person. Harry translated for Pearl whenever he had something to add and they chatted for another half hour before Harry decided to bring out his surprise for Daphne. As he undid the shrinking charm of the picnic basket Daphne smiled as said, "That's awfully thoughtful of you to prepare snacks Harry."

"You almost make it sound as if I'm dense." Harry asked in faked hurt tones causing Daphne to laugh and bump her shoulder against him slightly.

"Perhaps I am?" She said playfully.

"Perhaps I am dense, I'll have you know that this was mostly Pearls idea…the picnic that is, not the walk, that was all me." Harry said with a mixture of humor and smugness.

"Thank you Pearl." Daphne said with a laugh and she tentatively patted the giant snake on the head.

"He really likes it if you rub just behind the ridges of his eyes." Harry told her noting that Pearl had finally moved close enough for Daphne to actually reach him. He had been moving steadily closer to her as she grew more comfortable in his presence. Harry admitted to himself that had he not been running on overdrive and able to talk to snakes he probably would not be half as calm around Pearl as Daphne was right now. He observed and heard the sigh in Pearl's hiss as Daphne did as Harry suggested. Harry finished prepping the picnic Daphne got up to sit down with Harry on the blanket.

"I have to admit Harry; I'm impressed you know the cushioning charm so well." Daphne told him when she noted that the ground under the blanket didn't feel hard.

"It's a very useful charm." Harry said bluntly, "So is this one." Harry said summoning Daphne's goblet so he could pour her a drink from the pitcher. Daphne was suitably impressed with his feat and told him so, much to his embarrassment and pride.

Things were going good for the two and they finished up their meal quickly. Pearl coiled around the blanket and placed his head in Harry's lap, which he immediately began to pet softly, as he talked to Daphne about every day things going on in the school and their common rooms. It was interesting to hear that there was specific hierarchy in the Slytherin common room that Harry knew would not be found in any of the other houses.

"So the leaders basically rule the common room?"

"Pretty much, they usually just set specific times that specific years may use the room or what parts of the room certain years have access too. It isn't really a problem, but it was kind of annoying to be stuck in my dorm the whole time the fifth and seventh year took their OWLs or NEWTs." Daphne explained to Harry, surprised a little that Harry really found any of this interesting.

"Wow, we Gryffindor's just use the common room as if a pack of zoo animals were unleashed. It's a damn good thing house elves like to clean or we'd get in trouble a lot more than we do." Harry said somewhat dismayed by the level of order to the Slytherins had in their lives while in their own common room, especially when compared to his own houses common room.

He felt like he was riding on cloud nine being able to just talk to Daphne without thinking about anything else. He had Pearl and Daphne with him, and it was an amazing night out, life was perfect. Or it was until he saw a pure white owl flying low overhead, an owl that was clearly injured and was also clearly Hedwig.

Harry jumped to his feet and gave a wave to Hedwig unsure for some reason if Hedwig would be able to find him in her current state. He really should have known better as she was already angling her descent directly at him, about half way to him her wings crumbled and Harry jumped to catch her, not even realizing that at worse she would have landed on Pearl at the time. He ended up sprawled across Pearls coiled body, which caused Pearl to hiss in minor annoyance at the sudden pressure to his body in various places, with Hedwig in his hands. He was relieved to note she was still alive, but she looked weak and she was missing several feathers.

_"Harry a large group of Acromantula's are headed this way, too large for us to dodge." _Pearl told him, the tone of his voice telling Harry he was getting ready to fight as fleeing was apparently not an option. Harry ignored Pearl for a minute while he cast some minor healing spells on Hedwig but he couldn't do much more then stop most of the bleeding from her various cuts. Finally what Pearl said registered with Harry and he turned to look at Pearl as he handed Hedwig off to Daphne.

"_I thought you said Acromantula would avoid you Pearl?" _Harry asked feeling minor annoyance at his familiar for his apparent lie.

_"They do, or so I would have thought before today, whatever is with these spiders they are making it clear they have no intention of going around, we have a few seconds at best Harry. Stay within my coils, I will protect you and Daphne as best as I can." _Pearl said somewhat annoyed himself at their current predicament, but he started sending as much confidence to Harry through their mental connection as he could manage to help calm Harry down. Pearl moved and recoiled himself around the blanket, he managed to provide a wall for Harry and Daphne by coiling his body on top of itself, though it only came up to Harry's thigh.

"What's going on Harry?" Daphne said looking over Hedwig straightening out feathers as best she could, hoping that it would help the poor owl in some way at least. She managed to cast a minor pain relieving spell but it was nothing special and she didn't know any other healing spells.

"Well, remember how I said Pearl could protect us from Acromantula's?" Harry said sighing at the apparent inevitability of this moment ruining his relationship with Daphne.

"Yeah?" Daphne said, her voicing shaking slightly as her mind began to piece together what Harry had just said meant.

"Apparently the Acromantula have decided they no longer fear snakes of his caliber, and theirs basically a whole nest coming at us from what Pearl can tell" Harry said with a grim tone.

"Oh god, we need to get out of here." Daphne explained picking up Hedwig and beginning to look left and right, her mind looking for the best possible escape route.

"We can't Daphne, there's too many, the line runs for hundreds of yards in each directions, we would have to run further into the forest at a full sprint, maintaining a diagonal line just to maintain our distance from them as we moved to get around them." Harry explained, trying to nicely state they could only die by trying to run.

"What are we going to do then?" Daphne yelled frustrated.

"Pearl will protect us, and I'll protect you." Harry said simply. He stated it with such confidence and pure courage that Daphne was able to calm down enough for her mind to begin to process what was occurring in a more Slytherin manner. Eventually she turned to Harry, who looked to be observing the outlying trees. It was hard to believe that only a few minutes had passed since Hedwig had landed.

"Only a Gryffindor…" She said watching as Harry began to stretch and practice wand movements.

"What was that?"

"Nothing Harry." Daphne said beginning to copy Harry's stretches and practice all the more dangerous spells she knew.

A minute later Pearl twitched and Harry caught a glimpse of something behind one of the trees.

"_There here, stay inside the area of the blankets, and remember, aim for their eyes their skin is too tough for your level of spells to penetrate."_

_ "Eyes it is then."_ Harry said before translating everything Pearl said to Daphne who only nodded in confirmation. Suddenly Pearl was striking at the first spider to get in range, Harry watched in fascination as Pearls fangs cut through the Acromantula like it wasn't even there. He had never seen Pearl feed, but he doubted the snake was this vicious, for the first time he realized how dangerous Pearl really was. Harry quickly discovered that Pearl was able to handle the front end of the attack on his one, striking out a speed that defied common logic and at which Harry could only attribute to Pearls internal magic. He and Daphne were quickly sent to work when spiders tried to climb over pearls coils from the sides. Harry first copied Daphne and used the simple flipping hex to send the smaller spiders away, the large ones appeared to be mainly a part of the frontal assault leaving the smaller spiders to attack Pearl from the side and rear.

"Diffindo" Harry yelled casting his first and only sure fire offensive spell against the spiders. He doubted he'd ever forget what happened next. His spell aimed true and severed the nearest spider's eyes. Harry was disgusted as the spider wailed in agony blood pouring rapidly from eye sockets that still had dangling pieces of eye flesh attached to it, the spider thrashed around biting into its own kin causing what Harry could only describe as a horrific wash of bloodshed and violence as the younger spiders lost in madness of the night and the pain filled screams of their brothers and sisters, as each new spider was injured, attacked and killed each other. As suddenly as it started, it was over. Harry looked over to see Daphne staring wide eyed in his direction, he felt a sudden sadness wash over him as he realized Daphne had just witnessed the same massacre he had witnessed. It was only the spider coming up behind Daphne and Pearls muffled, "_Harry this is no time for laziness, the bigger ones are coming in fast."_

_ "What" _Harry practically yelled, casting flippendo on the spider behind Daphne sending it flying before turning to see what Pearl was talking about. He didn't even notice the look Daphne had given him as he had seemingly casted directly at her. When she realized what he had done she got back to work at casting banishing charms at the spiders, which she knew thanks to her father, and at the same time wondering if she would ever be able to get that sight out of her mind ever again.

Harry did not like what he saw when he looked to where Pearl was. What Pearl meant by bigger spiders was one big spider that was easily eight feet tall followed by more than just a few spiders around 4 feet tall. Considering he had thought the two feet ones attack Pearl before were big he was about ready to faint at the sight before him.

"_Please tell me this isn't a big problem Pearl" _Harry said feeling a little desperate for some reassurance right about now.

"_I would be lying if I said it wasn't a problem, and it certainly is big isn't it Harry." _Pearl said jokingly. Harry almost snapped at him before he realized that the joke was meant to calm him down and reassure him; which, once he thought about it, did.

"_Remember Harry attack the eyes, banishing them will only be a reprieve, unless you think you can hold them off until I kill the leader." _Pearl said. This time Harry caught the joke but didn't really think it funny considering their situation. He told himself he could do it for Daphne, no he would do if for Daphne. His resolved strengthened Harry took the time to look around, while only a few seconds had passed during their conversation he could see that taller, bigger spiders had already surrounded Pearl. Daphne was doing a good job keeping the remains of the now tiny, in Harry's mind, spiders away from pearl. She had yet to cast any serious spells though and Harry was worried she wouldn't be able to stomach it if the spiders attacked each other again. He walked up to her and began helping her banish the smaller spiders, which was somewhat hard for him as he hadn't actually learned the banishing charm until tonight, though he knew of it before.

"Are you ok Daphne?" Harry asked, he noted she was getting tired but he could do nothing for her at the moment.

"Despite not being known for their stupid bravery like Gryffindor's, Slytherins are more than capable in a fight. I admit I was surprised by what we saw just a moment ago, but I assure you I won't hold you back." Daphne snapped at him. Harry had to admit that the barb stung and he couldn't bring himself to say anything more to Daphne. Daphne's comment did enable him to focus on the oncoming spiders as he didn't want to think any more on the pain he felt inside at her words. He poured all his frustration into his spells and cast the severing charm with a vengeance at the taller spiders that were now charging at them. Likely due to his fury at the spiders for ruining his night and at his apparent loss of his relationship with Daphne he let his magic run wild within him. He thought back to the day he took the inheritance test, the feeling of the magic being drawn from him; he let that feeling flow through him, pouring his magic out his wand arm. He was no longer aware of what he was casting, nor was he aware that Daphne had stopped casting to watch as Harry unleashed near unheard levels of magic for his age. His spells ripped through the spiders like a deadly wind yet Pearl and Daphne remained untouched by the spells, as if magic itself was answering Harry's subconscious desire to protect them both. Daphne only barely noticed the epic battle going on between the giant snake and the giant spider, as she only had eyes for Harry. She didn't know what was going on and her brain could not process it, Harry was glowing with the level of magic pouring out of him. A small part of her realized she might be going into shock, but she was unable to do anything about herself as the largest portion of her brain focused acutely on the boy in front of her.

Harry's conscious was only aware of one thing; the world was very, very bright. So bright he could no longer see. He could however feel, he felt everything acutely, he could feel the cloth of his pants and shirt, he could feel every fray of the fabric, he felt the prickles of grass on his feet, having taken off his shoes before eating, he felt the sweat on his brow running down his face, joining with his tears. Tears of wonder and joy of the feeling flowing through him, tears of sadness at what his subconscious knew it was doing to both him and to the spiders. Eventually blackness developed around the white and Harry's subconscious mind urged him towards that darkness. Harry welcomed it knowing somehow it was the key to his survival.


End file.

Harry Potter, Adventure, Drama