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Chapter Text

"I'll be back soon. I need to check out a book before we go on the train" Harry told his friends the day after the chamber debacle. Hermione hummed and gave him a thumbs-up from where she was reviewing some herbology material. 

"Oh, see you later mate. I'm probably going to check on Ginny soon anyways" Ron shrugged slightly and waved. Harry smiled and climbed through the portrait, wandering to the library. He slid to the back corner, looking for books on defense. Bypassing the lower level books, he found the highest available and pulled them down to scan over them. 

"Runes, how to strengthen a shield, c'mon where's the spells..." he mumbled, flipping rapidly through the selected books. He let out a quiet sound of victory when he found them, pulling out a notebook he'd begged off of Hermione (it turned out she had spares for all her classes. She had no problem handing over the second for Defense when he told her of his unease over a repeat of the chamber). He started writing out the incantations and descriptions as fast as he could. Once he was satisfied, he repeated it with the other three books before reshelving them and staring at them in thought. Runes sounded like they may be helpful, and he had seen something about a Potter pioneering more than one of the techniques. Maybe he should pick that up. After a few minutes of staring into space, he nodded decisively. Divination wasn't going to do anything to protect him, so he'd drop it and make space for Runes and maybe arithmancy. He set out to find McGonagall. He knocked on her door when he saw the indication she was in.

"Come in" She called after a second. She raised an eyebrow when she saw who it is was "Mr. Potter, is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes. I want to change my electives. I want to drop Divination for Runes and Arithmancy" He straightened at her eyebrow raise.

"Very well. I hope you know that those are two of the most difficult electives we offer" She noted something down. Harry pursed his lips as he held back his first response of anger.

"I'm aware professor. I still want to take them" He finally responded once he knew he could keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"Hm. Very well Mr. Potter. I suppose you'll do fine in Runes, since it is in your blood somewhat. I can still remember how your grandfather flew through his assignments to self-study" She sat back as she fondly recalled her own school days.

"You knew my Grandfather?" He approached cautiously, incredibly curious about what she was saying.

"Of course I did. I was a few years behind him in Gryffindor. I took Runes to OWLs, and his abilities were talked about at length by the professor at the time for what could happen if we advanced quickly. Euphemia, his wife after school, often complained that it was because his father was Henry Potter, known for being proficient in five different rune languages, so he had an advantage. She stopped complaining once he gave her the first courting gift, a dueling gown with enchantments I don't even truly know the extent of. She was a Slytherin through and through, and her father quickly agreed to allow her to marry Fleamont. He was so proud she was able to marry so well and be so deeply in love. It was just a shame they only could get one child in the form of your father. Both of them died of Dragonpox the year your mother became pregnant with you. Poor James was a wreck, torn between mourning his parents and being excited to have you" McGonagall trailed off as she stared into the distance, missing how eager her student was for information. 

"My Grandmother was a Slytherin?" Harry asked tentatively after a few minutes of silence.

"Oh yes. Your family has a scattering of all houses in their time. Charlus, your great-uncle, was a Ravenclaw. His wife Dorea nee Black was a Slytherin. Henry Potter was a Hufflepuff I believe. Either that or a Slytherin, I can never quite recall if the hat decided he was more ambitious or more hardworking. Monty was a Gryffindor, as was your father. Beyond that, I'm not quite familiar with the exact houses but I do know you come from a varied house sorting family. Teachers used to bet on where the next Potter would go, just a few sickles for fun. We didn't for you because...well. You didn't have your parents growing up and it seemed cruel to do that to you" She said softly. 

"I see. If you don't mind professor, I think I'd like to think this over" Harry left after receiving a nod of acceptance, slowly closing the door behind him. He immediately started for the hospital wing, hoping his friends were there so he could discuss this with them. When he arrived, only Ginny was there, sitting on a bed while staring out the window. 

"Oh, hi Ginny. Has your brother stopped by yet?" He asked, coming to sit in a chair by her. She turned to look at him with solemn eyes. 

"No. Was he going to?" She asked quietly. 

"He said he was going to soon when I left the common room about an hour ago. He may have gotten caught up.." Harry trailed off uncertainly. 

"Hmm. It's possible. I only recently woke up though, maybe he peeked in to see me asleep and pushed it off" She turned slightly away, eyes still distant.

"...Ginny, can I ask you a bit of an invasive question?" The black-haired boy asked awkwardly after a few seconds of silence. 

"I suppose. Why?"

"I wanted to ask about.. Riddle. Did you know who he became at any point?" 

"I did. But he forced me to forget until the diary was destroyed by the venom. It's disconcerting to still be missing chunks of time where I know he was using my body, but yet remember now the times when he forced me to forget something he let slip" She growled softly. "I just want to tear him to pieces for daring to use me like that". She paled when she realized what she said.

"I understand how you feel. This is the second time he tried to use me for something. Last year he wanted the Philosopher's stone and I was the easy way to get it out. I did get it out, then I killed his vessel by the protection in my blood from my Mum. Then he pulled me in with the diary, made me trust him. I knew he wasn't gone, I knew he'd be after me again. But I thought it'd be like last year where I'd just touch him and he'd die. Instead, I have to kill a really old basilisk before destroying that stupid diary. I wish I could track him down and end it once and for all so I wouldn't be in this stupid waiting pattern" Harry ranted as he drew his legs up to his chest. The younger girl reached out to lay a hand on his knee carefully. He contained his flinch for the most part. 

"He was persuasive. Dad used to tell us stories of his recruitments and how he charmed so many at first. And then he lead through fear...we're lucky he was trapped in the diary where we had to initiate contact for so long. I mean, I felt compelled to do so after he got his hooks into my magical core...but I also could fight it if I tried" She said softly. 

"Are you okay after so long with his influence on you?" Harry realized no one had asked her while he was around. 

"....no. Not really. I know he's gone, I mean you nearly died from the venom and you're living! But my mind, body, and magic no longer feel like mine. And I don't know what to do, I'm... I'm lost, and I don't want to be. How do I go on, Harry?" She begged, neither noticing she had said his name without hesitation or stammering. 

"I don't know Ginny. I think...I think you need to take back what makes you, well, you. Ron and the twins always said you were a fearsome little terror at home. Maybe look into spells that feel like that? Like, flame spells so you can set him on fire if you see him again" He suggested.

"...fire is good. He didn't like the memories attached to it. Incendio!" She cried out impulsively. Both jumped as she managed to wandlessly complete the spell. Harry watched in shock as it burned merrily on the blanket. 

"Uh...we may want to get Madame Pomphrey... I don't know how to extinguish that" Harry finally spoke up as it started to creep closer to Ginny's feet. 

"Yeah...cover your ears" Ginny nodded and Harry scrambled to clap his hands in place. "MADAME POMPHREY I ACCIDENTALLY SET MY BLANKET ON FIRE". The matron came hurrying out, wordlessly shooting water at the flames which spluttered and went out. Harry lowered his hands nervously. The matron began to wave her wand over the girl.

"Hmm. I didn't think you'd have magic outbursts...and your core seems stable.." she muttered after a couple seconds.

"Um...it wasn't actually an accident..? I wandlessly summoned it. I was anxious and it was reassuring" Ginny muttered awkwardly. Madame Pomphrey sighed heavily.

"Well, that's a relief that I didn't miss anything. You still need to be careful though young lady! You're meant to be allowing your core to rest, especially as you'll be headed home tomorrow for the summer!" The older woman scolded. Both children mumbled apologies as they ducked their heads. "Well, I see no harm in sending you back to the tower. Merlin knows Prefect Weasley will be able to keep you in line better than I can. I mean it though, no magic!" 

"Yes Madame Pomphrey, thank you!" The young girl climbed eagerly out of bed, heading to change into her own robes again. Harry waited for her before following her to the Fat Lady. After giving the password, they both climbed inside. 

"Gin! I thought you weren't going to be released until tonight!" Ron called, hurrying over excitedly. "I mean, you were asleep when I came to check on you.."

"Yeah, I woke up with a lot of energy and after causing some problems, Madame Pomphrey released me with the promise I won't do any magic till September" Ginny beamed, Harry slipping over to sit next to Hermione. Ron followed a minute later, pulling his sister to sit right next to him, holding her hand all the while. 

"Oh, before I forget. I swapped out Divination for Runes and Arithmancy because I don't....I don't want to be defenseless again, and as nice as it might be to have some idea of the future, I'm...I'm gonna be practical" Harry fiddled with his nails as he explained. Once he had said his piece, he lifted one hand to his mouth to go after the nails with his teeth. 

"Harry, no chewing your nails" Hermione scolded gently. Harry dropped his hand obediently. 

"I get it mate. I may also switch, you make a good point about feeling defenseless. I definitely felt helpless waiting with Lockhart. Maybe I could have cleared the rubble or protected you if I knew some runes. I'll talk to McGonagall after dinner" Ron gave a sad half smile, squeezing his sister in comfort. She allowed it with an eyeroll. 

"You're not mad that I didn't say anything before?" Harry asked quietly. 

"Nah, you're my best mate and I know you. You probably just decided a few hours ago and you told us as soon as you saw us again. And it gives me a kick in the pants to actually try and be my own person, separate from my brothers. Maybe having a more hands-on course will help me. Merlin knows I have trouble with our current subjects with all of the background studying. Divination would probably be the same" Ron shrugged.

"Proud of you Ron for recognizing that" Hermione gave him a soft smile. He returned it happily. 

Harry squared his shoulders and rolled his trunk through the wall to meet the Dursleys. Only Vernon and Dudley were there, both sneering when he made his way to stand by them. Harry's uncle gestured with his head, leading the way to the car in silence. Neither Dursley acknowledged the boy in the back seat, who was hoping privately that the charm Percy had placed on his school satchel would hold until Hedwig made it to reunite with him. If not, he trusted in his girl to handle it, she just might not be as fast. He'd rather be able to study over the summer. And his cloak would come in handy. Once the trio reached Number 4, Uncle Vernon finally addressed Harry.

"Your things will be going straight into the cupboard and you will go to your room. I've done you the...favor of leaving the bars off the window, if only so I don't have to deal with a repeat of your escapades. You will be locked in the room whenever you aren't doing your chores. Am I understood?" He growled to the small boy. 

"Yes Uncle Vernon. Are there any chores for today?" Harry asked respectfully.

"No. None of us want to see you tonight. You'll start tomorrow" The large man half-shoved his nephew through the door to comply with the instructions. Harry went along with it without protest. Once he was safely in his room, he wiggled open the window so he'd hear his wonderful owl when she came. He was happy to see the charm held when he welcomed the gorgeous bird, offering her some owl pellets from the bag once he had opened the flap and cancelled the charm. Once that was set up, he hid his bag under a loose floorboard just to be safe. 

"This summer will be better Hedwig. I promise, you'll be able to hunt as you please and I'll be able to slip out when needed. I hate that I may have to steal nonperishables from the store, but no one I care about their opinion can blame me. Might as well live up to my horrible reputation if it means I survive another summer to see them again" He whispered to her. She hooted softly in return, hopping to sit on his shoulder in support. He giggled, stroking her chest. They settled onto the bed together, Harry watching out the window thoughtfully. Hedwig eventually flew back to the chair where she settled down to doze. Her human scooted down so he was laying down and fell asleep. 

"BOY!" A shrill voice woke him up far too early. "Get out here and make breakfast!"

"Yes Aunt Petunia" He called, scrambling to find a pair of clothes he had left behind (he hated them, he hated them, he hated them). He winced as he looked at how loose the clothes were, rummaging to find the string that replaced a belt. Once he was sure that the pants wouldn't fall (without outside interference), he pulled open the door. His aunt just scrunched up her face before pointing her chin down the stairs. Once she was sure he was safely occupied with cooking, she disappeared upstairs to apply make-up. 

"Tame that mop you call hair boy! How it gets worse every time you return, I don't know" Vernon grumbled, dropping heavily in his normal chair after mocking his nephew. It was only the 20th of June, and Harry was already tired of his relatives. 

"Yes sir" Harry responded instead, shoving down the snark he wanted to respond with. He would keep his head down. He'd give no good reason for them to lash out, to reduce the punishments. Nothing could possibly cause a deviance from the routine that was familiar after eleven years. 

Harry was cursing his optimism when a month later, on his birthday, Vernon announced that he'd be leaving to pick up his bitch of a sister after eating.

"That gives plenty of time to make my Dudders extra presentable for Marge!" Aunt Petunia cooed, patting her son's cheek. Said son grinned meanly at his cousin when his parents were briefly distracted. Harry bit the inside of his cheek, internally chanting to leave it. He managed to by the literal skin of his teeth as the trio moved on to discussing 'outings' they wanted to participate in. 

"Boy, out of sight until she arrives. I don't want your...freakishness to pollute the house before Marge gets here. You will behave, do you understand?" Vernon growled, grabbing his nephew by the shoulder and shaking the 'troublemaker'. 

"Yes sir. If I behave, will you sign a form for me?" Harry asked hopefully, thinking of the Hogsmeade form upstairs in his room, along with the food he'd squirreled away from his theft from the local store and the pantry in the house. Along with his birthday gifts! He couldn't wait to read the book Hermione had given him, and he was so happy Ron had gotten a vacation. Plus, Ginny sounded like she was getting help!

"I will consider it. Only if you cause absolutely no problems or chaos" Vernon grumbled, shaking the boy a little more.

"Understood" Harry acknowledged, darting up to his room as soon as possible. He beelined for Hedwig. "Hi girl. I'm sorry, I'm going to have to ask you to complete a huge task for me. I know you're up to it, but I don't want you to take it on unless you want to".

Crk! Hedwig protested. 

"Alright, I know, I know. I love you so much girl, you're so strong. I want you to take my school bag and stash it somewhere safe, okay? My uncle's sister is coming and she's an absolutely bitch, who doesn't know of magic. I need my things safe, and I trust you'll be able to find somewhere and carry it. Be safe" Harry pulled out his bag, packing everything he absolutely couldn't part with before buckling it tightly and handing it to his owl. She gave a soft hoot in parting before sailing out the window. Harry shut it behind her with a sinking heart.

"NO! I'm leaving, and you can't stop me!" Harry roared as Marge started floating into the sky. The wizard watched as the cupboard door sprang open, and the few things left in his room whizzed down the stairs to sit on top. The boy immediately grabbed the handle of his trunk, wishing desperately it would light enough to drag it and run. To his relief, his magic obliged, and he took off while his Uncle finally decided to try and catch him to get the balloon-woman down. Harry ran until he absolutely couldn't anymore, stopping to pant in an alleyway in Wisteria Walk. The young wizard opened his trunk, placing the few items that were loose inside. ~Suppose I could try to fly to...somewhere. Where though, the Weasleys and Hermione are out of town. And I don't have my cloak or wand, just my Nimbus and trunk~ Harry hissed to himself, trying to figure out what to do next as he relocked his trunk.

Wrof! A deep bark caught the raven-haired boy off guard. He whirled to see a large, sickly black dog with silver eyes staring him down. Once their eyes connected, the dog wagged his tail and wiggled excitedly from where he was seated. Harry cautiously moved to the other side of his trunk, staring down his companion. The happy wiggles quickly turned into whining and flattening itself to the floor.

"You won't attack me?" Harry asked finally. More whining and scraping was his response. "...Okay. Well I don't think I can take you anywhere with me. I'm kinda on the run and you're just as noticeable as I am. I uh, have some jerky if you want before I leave..."

Arf! The dog said excitedly, waiting for Harry to place the meat on the ground before creeping forward to grab it. The dog dragged it back before rearing up and pawing at the air. 

"Is that meant as a thanks?" The boy asked confused. When the dog grumbled and repeated the action, Harry raised an eyebrow before lifting his right hand. A sudden bang caught him off guard, meaning he tripped over his trunk. When he climbed to his feet, the dog and jerky was gone and a violently purple bus was in front of him. 

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, transport for the stranded witch or wizard! My name is Stan Shunpike, how can I help you tonight?" A young man leaped out energetically. 

"I'm uh, Evan Longbot. Can I please get a ride to Diagon Alley?" Harry asked cautiously, inventing a name on the fly. 

"11 sickles for the basics but for 14 you can get hot chocolate!" Stan offered. Harry started to sag, about to deny, due to not having money, when a faint whine made him look down to see a small pile of sickles sitting on top of his trunk. He counted out eleven and handed them over silently. He hauled his still-light trunk onto the bus and sat on a bed before the bus banged out. A black dog wagged his tail proudly at getting his godson to safety. 

"Wake up the boy, we're bout to arrive" The driver told the conductor a little while later. 

"Leaky Cauldron for you Mr. Longbot!" Stan called excitedly, jolting the boy from his light doze. 

"Thank you" Harry told the pair gratefully as he tugged his luggage to the door. 

"Let me help you Mr. Potter" A jovial voice called, the trunk levitating to come sit next to a pinstripe leg. 

"Minister!" Stan inadvertently gave Harry a reason to call the man before him by the title he held. 

"Minister?" Harry played dumb just to be safe.

"Indeed Mr. Potter, I am Minister Cornelius Fudge, Minster for Magic of course. We've been trying to find you after getting Marjorie Dursley down and well, sorted out. Your relatives were, quite eager, to let you stay elsewhere for the rest of the summer. Which works out perfectly for protecting you, I've already asked Tom to provide you a room so you can stay right here!" Fudge beamed at the tired boy. 

"Oh. Is it against Black?" Harry rubbed at one eye.

"Ah, I'm afraid so. Can't have him getting to someone as important as you! Best you stay here, where there's plenty of eyes on you. I just ask you stay on the magical side, of course. Best protection there" The old man gave a winning smile.

"Yes sir. May I go to my room so I can get some sleep? The past day or so has been a lot" Harry agreed absentmindedly. 

"Of course, of course. Thank you Mr. Shunpike and Ern, for getting him here safe. Right this way Mr. Potter, I'll levitate your trunk for you" The minister led the way to meet up with Tom to be let into room eleven. 

"Hedwig!" Harry cried out happily when he saw the snowy plumage of his owl.

"Aye, you gotta good familiar in her. Showed up the moment the Minister finished arrangements for yeh" Tom told the excited boy. Neither adult noticed the bag the owl had brought her wizard, who on the other hand had spotted the familiar shape. 

"Thank you both. And good night" The boy finally said after petting his owl for a minute. Both men nodded and left with their own partings. Harry waited a few minutes before going over to his bag and taking stock of what was in it. He counted out the money he had, double checked his cloak and wand, and pulled out some of the chocolate he'd stashed away. After eating one, he pulled out his owl's bowls and filled the food up as much as possible. "Here you go girl. I think I need to talk to the goblins in the morning and then I can gather books and supplies for what I'm planning" Harry whispered to her. 

Tk-tk Hedwig clacked her beak in support. 

"I love you girl. I'll see you in the morning" He put aside his things so he could climb into bed. His owl cooed.

"Mr. Potter, Mintsy has food for you" A crisp feminine voice woke him in the morning. Harry grumbled, flipping over blearily. 

"Thank you" He finally mumbled, sitting up and searching for his glasses. A click and he was blinking as his glasses were suddenly in place. He noticed the small elf standing by the desk with a neutral expression. A steaming plate of eggs and ham were sitting nearby with some water. 

"My pleasure. I gave your owl some water as well. You may summon me if you require assistance, otherwise I must take others their food" She bowed before popping out of sight. Harry climbed out of bed, starting on breakfast eagerly. When he was finished, the plate disappeared, assumedly to be washed. The boy stood, stretching before crossing to his trunk to find new clothes for the day. When he placed his dirty clothes in the hamper, they similarly vanished. He sat down at the desk again, pulling out parchment and writing letters to his friends. 

Hermione/Ron (and your siblings if they stole this)

I'm safe, don't worry! Just wanted to start with that, since I ran away from the Dursleys after blowing up my other Aunt, Marge. She was insulting Mum and Dad, and I just lost my temper. I'm at the Leaky Cauldron until school starts, so I don't need to worry about being unprotected. 

See you soon, 

Harry

"Can you take this to Hermione? I'm going to send the one to Ron by another owl so you're not gone from me for too long" He asked his owl. She tilted her head before offering one leg and allowing him to tie the letter to it. She took off with a soft chirp once the window was open. Harry watched her until she was out of sight, picking up his school bag to carry what he'd purchase after getting more money. He slipped out of the pub with a wave, going straight to the mail office to send his letter to Ron. After ensuring his friends would be informed, he headed for the bank. The two goblins on either side of the doors, gave a slight incline of their heads. He returned a full nod. He fished out his vault key from his money bag as he joined the line, putting it in one pocket. 

"Next!" An old goblin barked when it was his turn, so Harry approached as confidently as possible.

"Harry Potter, here to get money from my vault. Here's my key" Harry offered the object, standing on his tiptoes to reach far enough. The goblin took it, examining it shrewdly. 

"We require blood to ensure you're who you say you are. Silverring, take him to Goldtooth" A younger goblin was called forward, being handed the key. The new goblin beckoned Harry after them, trotting quickly down a hallway. They walked for a while until Harry spoke up.

"Uh, Mr. Silverring, are there many Dragon heads in this hall?" 

"Hm. No. And I'm female, for your reference" She answered. "Here you are. Goldtooth, may this visit grow your wealth, Mr. Potter is here for you".

"Silverring, much thanks. May your next race see you gain more prestige" Goldtooth answered, receiving a short bow after the key was handed over. "Mr. Potter. I was hoping to see you after you reentered the magical world on your 11th birthday. However, you are here now."

"Why would you want to see me? Is there a problem with my vault?" Harry asked nervously. 

"Not as I know it. Your trust vault has seen little activity, and your family vaults only growth from the investments your parents made prior to their deaths, may Death treat them well" The goblin waved the young boy to a seat. 

"I thought it was only one vault?" Harry was confused. 

"No, you have at least two family vaults. The Potter one and Fleamont heritage one. However, you may have more. Hand, and I will see" The goblin extended one hand, beckoning the boy's. Harry offered his right hand. It was guided to hover over a pale gem before one finger was pricked with a needle. A couple drops fell onto the crystal before his hand was released and healed. A surprised hum came from the goblin once whatever results were transferred to parchment in a language Harry couldn't read.

"Well, congratulations on being able to claim the Peverell and Slytherin vaults. In addition to the Heir Black vault, it appears. I will send someone to get you more gold if you relinquish your money pouch. Unfortunately, I must take you to one of our healer ritualists to get the Kryhia'nocro out of you. I assume it's not yours as you otherwise register as magically whole. Come, Mr. Potter" Goldtooth stood. Harry numbly handed over his money pouch before following. He didn't understand what they were removing from him, but it sounded bad based on the anger behind the word.

"Goldtooth" A young goblin greeted the vault manager, continuing in Gobbledygook. The manager replied in the same language, leading to the younger goblin barking something out before hurrying to grab a staff as well as other materials. Two other goblins emerged, getting a summary as the first new goblin hurried around. 

"Mr. Potter, I will leave you with Snarlbite. Obey her and that abomination will be removed. Once you are done, someone will be waiting to take you back to the surface and give you back your key and money. Fight Harm" Goldtooth began to leave. 

"Wait, before you go. Would your Nation be interested in a massive dead Basilisk?" Harry called, snapping out of his shock. 

"A basilisk? Where did you encounter a corpse of the serpent king?" 

"I killed it a month ago, with the Sword of Gryffindor. It's sitting in the Chamber of Secrets in Hogwarts, and I don't want it to go to waste" Harry shrugged. 

"I see. Well, little warrior, I will have someone reach out to you tomorrow or the day after to organize profit from it. First, you must recover from your next fight" Goldtooth finally bowed before leaving the room. 

"Little warrior, I must insist we get on with this. I'm Snarlbite, and these are the other ritual healers Tearsick and Soothesoul. I need you to strip as much as possible and then lay on the bed. We will cast magic to keep you in place before beginning. Do not move if the magic fails. We get one good chance to succeed before the Kryhia'nocro adapts to resist. Understand?" Snarlbite directed in a rough timber. 

"Yes" Harry nodded before doing as asked and laying on the bed. He felt the magic settle upon his skin after a couple seconds. Then the chanting started. A burning pain erupted behind his scar. He tried to clamp down on a scream as the pain increased, his back attempting to arch. Then his magic began to react, lashing out at source of the pain, leading to half of his scar to stop hurting. But the other half tripled in pain, a thrashing feeling occurring. Harry panicked as he felt the spell keeping him in place break under the force of his distressed magic. He screeched, focusing on not leaving the bed as parts of the squirming thing released. It tore free finally, and he let out a massive scream, his magic lashing out at the floating cloud. It similarly screamed as it was torn to pieces by his magic, that dissolved as he sagged in place panting. 

"Congratulations Mr. Potter. You are now free of the Kryhia'nocro, though it's a surprise that your magic destroyed it once it came free from your core" Snarlbite spoke after a minute of recovery on both sides. 

"Why is it a surprise?" Harry rasped. 

"Every other recorded time that one was removed from a live container, it had to be contained once more else it would flee to either reunite or possess another. But when it came loose from you, neither occurred. We hadn't even moved to contain it when your magic destroyed it so utterly" One of the other two goblins spoke up. "It seems like your soul is only bruised from the parasite, which is fortunate. I still insist you rest until tomorrow, but I am grateful you are suffering little ill effects post-removal." 

"Okay. I'll likely stop for a book on the way back, else I'll likely strain myself" Harry staggered to his feet to redress after receiving a nod of permission. He was tired as he took back his money pouch and key and followed a goblin back to the surface. He missed the murmurs of little warrior as he passed various goblins under his own power. 

"May your healing progress well Mr. Potter" His guide bowed as he reached the doors. 

"Thanks" The boy whispered, gingerly walking out into the sunlight and down the stairs. He missed the two guards banging their weapons once at his reappearance. He did exactly what he'd said though, entering Flourish & Botts to find an interesting book. He ended up grabbing Defense Against Omens by Ursa Black. Once he paid for it, he beelined eagerly for the pub at the opposite end of the street from the bank. He hurried to his room, placing his new book on the desk before collapsing on the bed and falling into a dead sleep.

An unfamiliar screech woke him up. He sat up, idly noticing his glasses were still on. An elegant screech owl sat on the windowsill with a few letters tied around its leg. Once it had seen that Harry was awake, it flapped over to land on his knee before offering its leg. 

"Are all of these for me?" Harry asked hoarsely. The owl bobbed its head in agreement. The boy took off the three letters and pointed the owl to where Hedwig's bowls sat so it could get some food and water before leaving. It only drank some water before flying back out the window. Harry opened the first letter curiously. 

Harry, 

I don't know if you know me, but my name is William Weasley. My family likely call me Bill around you. I received word from my bosses about your presence in our hall of healing so I could let my brother know that you're healing. As I write, your letter has reached Ron and I wanted to make sure he knew you did seek healing and are released. He asked me to send a reply through my channels so he can scold you himself. May your healing progress well. 

Bill.

HARRY!!!

Bill's allowed me to add to this. I want you to promise me you'll be careful. If Sirius Black comes after you, I want you to show him no mercy. I'm glad you got healed from whatever was necessary.

Love, Ron

Harry snorted. That was indeed Ron. He wasn't sure why Bill was reaching out as well though. He put it out of his head for now, opening the second one.

Mr. Potter-Peverell-Slytherin,

My congratulations for claiming three prestigious houses on top of your own birth one. We have looked into why you have access to the Heir Black vault, as your nearest grandparental relative was too many generations back to have blood claim. We found the current Lord Presumptive named you his heir in everything, due to the Godparent claim. Please notify us as soon as possible as to how to refer to you, and come claim family protections. 

As for the basilisk corpse, we ask for memory of the encounter to ensure you have full claim to it. We would be happy to negotiate profit from it once that has occurred. We tentatively offer the 3rd of August at 10am to meet to put these affairs in order. If this does not work, owl or come to the bank immediately.

May your health continue to improve,

Poisonblood

Harry immediately opened the third letter to just get it over with.

Our dearest Harry,

We have asked that this letter be sent when it's guaranteed to reach you. If Sirius or Alice have raised you, then you'll get this when you get ready to go to Hogwarts. Anywhere to learn magic, we're not tying him to Hogwarts James. Sorry flower, I'm just used to planning for his entrance there. Sorry, this is being dictated to a quill, we're a bit of a mess with you being just over a year old, and a little menace. I swear, you turned James' hair green the other day for insulting your new snake friend. Your grandmother Mia's portrait laughed herself silly when she realized. We also wanted you to have something that had our loving bickering in it, so you can feel you have a part of us back. 

New paragraph, thank you quill. You may be wondering why we're so convinced that you will lose us sometime soon. You see, Dumbledore came to us a couple months ago telling us a prophecy about well, you or Neville Longbottom your godbrother. If you don't know Dumbledore, we count you lucky. He keeps trying to get our family invisibility cloak and we keep telling him no, it's family only. James, calm down, you can make a separate letter to hand over with the cloak. Yes Lils, sorry. Where were we? Oh, yes. The exact wording wasn't shared, just that it speaks of You-Know-Who having someone who can vanquish him, who is born at the end of the seventh month to ones who defied him thrice. That's either me and your mum, or your godmother Alice and her husband Frank. We entered hiding a week ago, just after your birthday party, under the Fidelis charm. It hides us from everyone other than who the Secretkeeper told our location. Peter Pettigrew is ours. For now, neither of you boys are the equal the prophecy speaks of, since he hasn't 'marked you'. We won't risk your safety though, so we're hiding. Gives us time to complete our masteries and give you a good childhood separate from the war. And gives us time to warn you that Dumbledore is not to be fully trusted. He hoards information that could save lives. We're lucky since James has practice in pretending to believe something whole-heartedly while truly not trusting it. And Lily is too fiery to have her mind read sneakily! Thank you James, we do need to tell him of Legilimency. Dumbledore and Severus Snape use it freely. Do not meet their eyes unless you have nothing to hide or have strong occlumency barriers. The manor should have books on it, once the war wards are lowered. You may be wondering why we went with Sirius' Auntie Cassie's Godric Hallow house rather than the manor. That's because of the Potter Family secrets, and the things we've hidden away over the years. Those books are just one minor example. The portraits there will explain more if we couldn't. 

New paragraph. For the happier things to end this, since this is to make sure you know how much we love you. You are our little boy Harry. When we found out you were coming, James was over the moon. It hurt since Mia and Monty had died not long before, so they'd never get to meet you. We made sure to move a portrait of them into the house, so they'd at least have some presence. Henry certainly helped when James was little, to raise him like a true Potter. We went back and forth trying to decide your full name, since Harrison would be the logical one since we planned from the beginning to call you Harry as a nickname. But James wanted to honor his grandfather. We ended up going with Henry in the end of course, since then you could have a friend nickname and a family nickname. Allie and Siri of course did the full godparent ritual, since we were at war and we wanted you to be protected. I'm also Neville's godmother by full ritual. We wanted both of you to have someone to fall back on regardless of anything. We wanted to give you everything we could, Dark Lord or no. And if we died, then know that we died fighting to keep you safe, our little fawn.

Your loving parents,

James and Lily Potter, Papa and Mama

"Oh" Harry breathed out as he finished, reaching up to find tears on his face. He placed his parents' letter in a place of honor on the desk. His parents had always been just a concept to him. As a kid, he mostly believed his aunt's lies since he didn't know of the war before he was eleven. Then it was clear they were fighting against Voldemort to their last breaths. And now he was proof that it wasn't just defiance driving their actions. They were protecting him, their son. Who they loved more than life. And there were details he had never known, like Neville being his godbrother. And where they had lived prior to that night, which wasn't even their actual home! He took a deep breath to refocus on the second letter, about his new accounts. Poisonblood had asked what he wanted to be called. He could do the 3rd though, he'd send a letter soon to tell them that. 

"Harry Potter-Slytherin, no I don't like to be associated with him. Harry Peverell? No, it feels wrong to leave out Potter...Harry Potter-Peverell? I..I like that. Hello, I'm Har-Henry Potter-Peverell. No, you cannot call me Harry, just Potter-Peverell or Henry. Who would I like to call me Harry? Ron and Hermione for sure. They're my best friends. Maybe Neville, since we're godbrothers. Yeah, that sounds good. The rest of the Weasleys can call me Henry, or Ry. Same with the team. Now what's the date...tempus!" He cast wandlessly after finishing his pacing and muttering. "It's already the 2nd?! Holy Merlin I slept all of yesterday...so, first order of business is to respond that tomorrow at 10 works. And then I can spend the afternoon getting new things." First things first was new clothes, and a new trunk. Secondhand was fine, but he was going to need a more elaborate one. 

Coo Hedwig announced her arrival. Harry brightened. 

"Hey girl. You're just in time, think you can take a letter to the goblins for me?" He asked, crossing over to stroke her and relieve her of the letter from Hermione. The owl bobbed twice in agreement, so Harry wrote out a quick letter. He sealed it and tied it to his owl, who sailed out of the window. Harry changed, tossing his dirty clothes in a basket labelled laundry. Then he called out "Mintsy, can I get something light to eat before I go into the Alley?" Moments later, some crackers and small sandwiches popped on the desk. Nodding, harry finally opened the letter from his best friend.

Harry James Potter!

That was extremely dangerous, though I am glad you're safe. Do not go wandering where no one can watch your back! I'll see you in a few weeks and you BETTER be in decent health by then (since I know your relatives won't have helped keep you well). 

Hermione Granger. 

Harry shook his head, placing the letter on top of the one from the Weasleys. He loved his friends, but sometimes they were a lot. He finished eating and grabbed his satchel again. Nodding a greeting at Tom the Barkeep (too alive to be the other Tom), he let himself into the Alley. Immediately, some people waved at him. He gave a slight smile and power walked to a nearby clothes store. He browsed for a bit, finding some more casual wear, pajamas, underclothes, and some more formal robes. Most fit, so he kept them. He paid for them, and ducked into a changing room with permission to look more put together. Once he felt more comfortable, he balanced his bags on one arm, darting into a wizarding equipment store to get his new trunk and an expanded satchel for non-school things. He made a pit stop in his room, where Hedwig was napping. After dropping off his purchases, he went to the bookstore. Just inside, he scooped up a bottomless basket to carry books in. He then went searching for the Runes section, immediately placing Spellman's Syllabary in the basket. He then added the extended versions, covering the older language and the more modern advancements to be safe. He also happily added basics on different runic formulas since he knew from overhearing older students in the common room that they only covered ones from the British Isles. Glimpsing a book mentioning Henry Potter (his namesake!!), he added that too before wondering over to the Arithmancy section. He began with Numerology and Grammatica and picked up a book on how "Muggle" math translated over. He then popped over to the next section on laws and government, getting all the basics and complex ones. Next was The Essential Defense Against the Dark Arts and other defense texts that looked interesting. Finally, he went to the history section, finding some on everything before OWLs. Then he found any marked 'Potter'. He made a mental note to ask tomorrow about getting to his ancestorial home. He finally carried the basket to line up. 

"Next. Did you find everything okay?" The cashier called him up distractedly, typing in each book's total as he went. 

"Yes sir" Harry nodded, finishing placing the books on the counter. 

"Good. Your total will be 26 Galleons, 14 sickles, and 15 knuts" They started packing away his purchases as he counted out the money. "Thank you, have a good day."

"Thank you!" Harry called as he took the two bags and left for the pub. Once he had put away his new books in the library compartment in his new trunk, he opened Potters and England by Tristan Potter. Looking at the author dedication, Harry discovered Tristan was Henry Potter's father. He excitedly started with Linfred of Stinchcombe and the potions he pioneered and the origin of their last name. 

The next day, he rose early to get ready for his appointment. He pulled on one of his new robes after showering and trying to get his hair to lie flat. After half an hour of frustrating adjustments with a comb, he gave up and left it as close as he could. After reading the book by Ursa Black to keep calm until he left. Finally, he stood and headed over so he arrived fifteen minutes early. 

"Good morning, I have an appointment with Poisonblood at 10" Harry told the teller once he was called over. 

"Very well. Please follow Obsidianeye" They instructed, waving at the goblin who approached at their name. Bowing slightly, Harry followed. 

"May your next hunt bring prestige Poisonblood, I bring your appointment" Obsidianeye announced once they reached the office. 

"Thank you Obsidianeye, I hope your next flinting is just as fine. It's nice to see you Mr. Potter-Peverell-Slytherin" Poisonblood waved Harry to a seat. 

"Thank you. I'd prefer if you call me Henry Potter-Peverell in our dealings, Slytherin holds some...negative meaning to me" Harry told him. 

"Very well. Let's start with your fight with the basilisk. Hold the memory in your mind's eye and I'll draw it out to view" The goblin leaned forward at the nod, crooking a finger to draw a silvery thread from the human boy's head. Then he dropped it in a shallow bowl, and double tapped the side. The pair watched in silence as the battle occurred, Harry marveling at how small he was. The bowl was double tapped again once memory-Harry sat up after Fawkes cried on the wound. "It appears your claim is legitimate. My congratulations on accomplishing killing a basilisk that old. Perhaps, you should share my English name now that the venom is neutralized and part of your blood. Now, that looks like a 20 meter snake, so rendering it should take 100 galleons per day. We will create something from the fang that broke off for you as well as some battle robes from the skin. Standard contracts set Gringotts' percentage of profit as 25%. Is that acceptable to you?"

"I...yes. Yes, you can take 100 galleons per day, though I'd negotiate for you to take 30% as I have multiple vaults now under my control. My one ask is part of my percentage go to the victims. Argus Filch for his cat, Myrtle Warren's remaining family for her death, Justin Finch-Fletchly, Colin Creevey, Penelope Clearwater, and Hermione Granger. Otherwise any money for my portion should go to the Slytherin vault as it was his once" Harry straightened his shoulders as he listed his requests. Poisonblood tapped one finger on his desk for a moment in thought. 

"The additional five will be from meat for us. Your other requests are doable as well. What percentages go to each person?" He nodded.

"5% each, I think. I know it won't be a lot, but that way 40% still goes to the family vault" Harry decided. A contract was drawn up with those specifications, and Harry signed it with a blood quill. Once two copies had been made, Harry tucking his into one of his expanded pockets, the next order of business was brought up.

"Now, rings. To start, your Potter ring. It's the one with a ruby gem. Then, the Peverell one, which is the darkest silver with the sapphire with the triangle symbol. The Slytherin has the emerald, and the Black Heir one is onyx on the bright silver band carved with stars. Each offers slightly different protections. All will offer protections from love potions, control potions, and many strong poisons. Though, with the basilisk venom, poison won't be a problem for you. They will offer a barrier for your mind. The Slytherin ring will offer you protections from other serpents, they'll be more inclined to listen to you over other Parselmouths. The Potter ring will make secrets harder to overhear by having an area muffling effect. Black rings all provide a defensive protection from spells, conjuring a shield that will reflect many mild and moderate level spells. Finally, the Peverell ring makes Dementors and other creatures entwinned with Death avoid or listen to you. They'll also have a limited effect on you. Each ring will remain hidden to all but you if you so choose" Poisonblood listed out as each ring was placed on Harry's hand.

"That reminds me. Do you know how I can go to the Potter family house? I got the letter written from my parents and I want to learn some of what is there" Harry perked up slightly as he remembered his goal. 

"You can call any of the Potter house elves, which are symbiotes if you didn't know, and they'll take you to the edge of the wards so you can enter. From there, you'll be able to lower the War wards if you want. I recommend you keep them up, as I know from the reports from the Head Elf that Dumbledore tries every so often to enter the Pottery, your manor. Anything of importance and value left in the Godric Hallow haven house was moved there as well, as people regularly visit and trespass there. We were unable to do anything to stop it being made a memorial to your parents' sacrifice by your Ministry" The goblin waved one hand as he explained. 

"Thank you. I think I will keep up the wards as they are. I want the safety they offer until You-Know-Who is defeated fully. And it sounds like Dumbledore is also against me. He held my family cloak for ten years, which he should never have gotten his hands on" Harry's eyes burned brightly at the thought. "And he has maneuvered certain events so I had no choice but to step up to do adult jobs. I just had to pretend to be ignorant, but he seemed far too pleased at my rule breaking to do so. Do you know if there was anything else like what was in my scar?" 

"Unfortunately, there are. The diary you encountered was one. From how young the apparition appeared, likely the first. We also found another here in our facility. We have taken care of it and the stolen property was returned to its proper place" Poisonblood nodded.

"My thanks for that then. I had one more question about the rings. Do they come with any responsibilities?" 

"They do. Once you have reached adulthood, you will represent each family in the Wizengamot, other than the Blacks where you remain the heir alone. I'm not sure of the current responsibilities of the body, beyond approving laws and judging criminals. Until then, they just show that you are Head of those houses, which is expected as the last of those lines. Any other questions?" Poisonblood raised an eyebrow.

"No sir. Thank you for your help" Harry stood, bowing as both said their goodbyes. He was led back to the surface, where he went to get some ice cream. After enjoying his treat, he retreated back to his room. After a couple minutes of staring into space, he called out softly "I wish to speak to a Potter House Elf so that I may visit the Pottery".

"Blackberry at your service young Henry" A stately elf popped into being, bowing slightly when she saw her master. 

"Hello Blackberry. Can you take me to the edge of the wards?" Harry offered a hand, which was taken with a nod. A pop and he was standing next to a shimmering wall of red. He stared at it for a minute before obeying the pulses from his ring and cutting his hand on a nearby bush to offer the barrier. Once contact was made, it pulsed once, twice, thrice and then faded slightly so he could see the house beyond. He stepped through, taking in the well-maintained grounds and simple manor. Four pops rang out as more elves appeared in front of him.

"Master Henry, This is Clay and Mulch who maintain the grounds. Then there's Pepper who's the cook. Finally the housekeeper is Skater. I am Head Elf" Blackberry introduced each of the five elves. 

"It's nice to meet all of you. I'm grateful that you've maintained this place so well. Is there anything you need me to do?" Harry made sure to give each a smile. 

"We'd like if you could take control of the wardstone. We also need your signature to continue to draw funds from your vault" Skater fidgeted with his shirt, not meeting Harry's eyes.

"Of course. Can you take me there and then give me a tour later? I'll sign the papers as soon as I have the quill" Harry nodded. The little elf brightened and beckoned for the human to follow him into the house. They entered a hall of portraits, passing them all the way to a still one at the end of the hall where a man with Harry's hair and smile was caught in the middle of brewing.

"Declare yourself and this will open to the ward room. I will wait out here to take you on a tour" Skater took a few steps back to allow Harry to do what he needed to. 

"I, Henry James Potter, son of James Potter and Lily Potter nee Evans ask to see the wardstone, so I may take on the wards of my family home" He stated. A click echoed out, the portrait swinging open. He climbed in to find a ruby sitting in the center of a room full of runes. He carefully walked over, taking care to step where foot outlines were drawn. Once he was inside, he rested his hand on the gemstone. A pulse of magic reached out to him, almost scanning him. It soon wrapped around his shoulders and settled onto his skin. Suddenly, he could feel the wards humming in the back of his mind. He turned and exited the room carefully. Once he stepped out, Blackberry offered a form to sign for the vault, which he did immediately. 

"This way Master Henry" Skater showed him around through the portrait hall, the library, bedrooms, and other parts of the houses. They ended at the dining hall where Pepper had made a soup for dinner. Harry enjoyed it before asking Blackberry to take him back to his room at the Leaky. He made plans to send some of his things over to the Pottery the next day so he could split time between where he was expected to be and his home. He had made the decision to move there for summers as soon as possible. The Dursleys didn't want him, and he hated them. The wards would be more than enough to protect him, Evans blood-based or not. Happily, he pulled out a book on occlumency to begin to protect himself. After trying the exercise listed, he scrunched his face in frustration. How was he to 'clear his mind'? The best he could do was try and focus on one thought or picture. After trying for another twenty minutes with no success, he gave up. He'd see if there was another method in the Pottery library. He ended up working on some of his essays, figuring out how to structure them. 

"Good morning Blackberry. Did you and the others sleep well?" Harry asked the next morning when his elf popped in.

"We did Master Harry. Are you ready to go?" She nodded. 

"I am, yes. I have my trunk in my pocket with my homework assignments" He took her hand as he confirmed, the two popping into the entrance hall. Harry immediately beelined for the library, working on his essays. When he got frustrated, he wandered to find Occlumency books to hopefully find a different method. When that got frustrating, he returned to his essays. Finally, he happened upon Protecting the Busy Mind by his grandfather, Fleamont. He eagerly opened it to see the exact problem he was having described. He devoured the recommended starting points. He then flipped back to the first step. It instructed him to imagine a protector that you could reliably trust to lash out at intruders. He pictured Norbert, watching him puff fire in Hagrid's cabin in his Mind's eye. Then he coaxed that version of the dragon to stand outside of the memory, offering a soft resting point just on the edge of where he envisioned the edges of his mind. He glanced down at the book again, advancing to the next step which was to add some detail to the construct. You had to know it deeply enough that it was reflex to call upon it when needed. He went back to Norbert, picturing how the fire had made his eyes glow, and how as the dragon grew, the flames changed colors. Harry also decided to add the Basilisk coiled around his inner thoughts. Norbert would be the first line, making any attacker stumble back at the obvious predator. If they managed to slip past that, Harry would have his thoughts and feelings behind the broad coils. He pictured having the crest raise enough from where the head would be inside, so anyone who had any sense would immediately release. If not, they could face the deadly gaze and venom. It wouldn't be the true effects, but Harry knew enough to simulate it if pushed. He bounced excitedly as he worked between the two defenses, making the snake as detailed as he saw the day before in his memory. He raised a hand to the coil closest, and pushed an imprint into it. That way, he could allow others in if he wanted. But no one could find that spot to make an opening, since it would never leave its position. 

"Master Henry should come down for lunch" a voice interrupted Harry's thought process. He startled out of his mind, making sure the snake coiled back around his thoughts as he took in....Mulch he thought. 

"Thank you. I'll be down shortly" Harry stood up, shaking his head slightly to keep himself from slipping back into the peace of his inner thoughts. Mulch, because he was right it was him, nodded and popped away again. Harry softly descended the stairs, smiling at the portraits who waved from their positions crowding each other to see him. He found roast beef sandwiches and salad sitting on the table. He sat down, moving a full sandwich (split in half) and some salad onto the plate set out for him. 

"Hello Harry" a young man greeted from a portrait hanging on the opposing wall. He was sitting with three others, all sharing some facial features with the living boy. The one who spoke was a near copy of immediate features.

"Hi Papa" Harry greeted who could only be his father. "And Mama. I'm guessing you're Papa's parents?" 

"We are. I'm Fleamont, though you can call me Grandad. And this is your Granma Euphemia. We're so glad to finally see you again" Grandad nodded regally before breaking out in a massive grin. His son flashed an identical one briefly before pulling his wife close. 

~You get your talent for parsel from me. I'll have to make sure you find our collection on the magic associated with it~ Granma hissed amused. ~I still remember witnessing you turn Jamie's hair green for insulting Hissser.~

~I did not name it Hissser, did I?~ Harry groaned in realization. 

~Oh you did for sure. And when you tried to tell your dad, he told you to put the snake back in the garden. He wouldn't listen when he insisted he was your new friend. I could hear you getting upset from the house, and loud. My, the lungs on you!~ Euphemia bent over giggling at the memory. 

"Mamaaaa, Granma is being mean" Harry whined slightly, not realizing how easily he slipped into calling them that.

"Oh no. I'll scold her for you baby" Lily told her son, a soft smile gracing her features. Harry moodily ate his lunch before getting up and standing as close as he could to the portrait while still seeing the occupants. He studied them, finding the features they shared. All four studied him in return, comparing the young man before them with the giggling baby they had known twelve years before.

"So, I see you're not with Sirius. So, tell us about your life" James asked after a few minutes. 

"Sirius Black? The mass murderer who escaped a few weeks ago?" Harry was surprised. 

"Siri?! Did he get in trouble for his part in fighting You-Know-Who? I know he has the Black name, but he's one of the best I've ever met!" James started to rant.

"James. Let our son speak" Lily stopped him before he could go too far.

"Thanks Mama. I uh. Don't actually know why he was in prison. Beyond what the Prophet is saying. No one's exactly...told me anything. All I know is he's dangerous enough to end up on both Muggle and Wizarding news. I mean, Aunt Petunia did seem like she recognized him somewhat when she heard his name at first. But I never really know with her. She reacts to the strangest things" Harry shrugged. 

"Petunia...as in, my sister who hates magic after being rejected from our world? That Petunia?" Lily asked dangerously soft. All three of the other Portrait occupants edged away from her. 

"Um. Yeah. I grew up with her. I slept in the cupboard until my Hogwarts letter came and now we're in a tentative truce! Or were, until I blew up Uncle Vernon's sister for insulting you guys. But I've decided that I'm moving here once I'm not expected to be at the Leaky Cauldron until school. Dumbledore can preach all he wants about family and that I'm exaggerating but no Blood wards are worth the crap I deal with under the Dursley's roof! If no one but me and the Dursleys know I'm here, then I'm safer. Plus, these wards are so much stronger than one layer!" Harry word vomited quickly. 

"Fawn, I'm glad you've decided that. Because just that small glimpse means I wish I could tear through the veil and go after my in-laws" James gently told his son. "You're right though, these wards are designed to last against sieges."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need to focus on other things to allow Lily to calm down. You already are diving into Occlumency books, yes?" Grandad interrupted. 

"Yes. I established two layers based on the book you wrote. The first is a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon, based off Norbert the baby I met first year. Then my second is encircling my mind and it's the basilisk I killed two months ago!" Harry preened at his success. 

"Honey, back up. You met a baby dragon and killed a basilisk? As in the snake that kills with a look?" Granma asked. 

"Oh, yeah. Hagrid got a dragon egg 'cause Voldemort was trying to sneak under Fluffy to get the Stone. And the Basilisk wasn't just me! I got the Sword of Gryffindor from the sorting hat and Fawkes pecked out its eyes! Then I stabbed it. And now I sold it to the goblins" Harry nodded.

"Prongslet, I can hear the capitals from the dragon thing plus Voldemort?" James blinked in shock. 

"Mhm. He was the one setting the basilisk loose, and he was possessing my defense teacher first year to get the Philosopher's Stone. Goblins know how he was there a few months ago, cause they removed something similar from my scar. But now I'm free of that thing! And they found one more that they took care of!" The boy perked up in excitement at having something to reassure his parents with. Lily disappeared with a trail of swears. "...is it a bad idea to tell you I know his full name?" 

"You do?" Fleamont bolted upright, eyes shining in interest. 

"Yeah, Tom Marvolo Riddle! Rearrange the letters to get 'I am Lord Voldemort'! He told me it himself" Harry beamed. 

"Huh. I did wonder where Riddle got to. Well, I'm glad I never was close to him then, as it would make sense why so many of his old....group... turned into the original Death Eaters. It's worrying why he was so twisted afterwards though. Perhaps we'll need to lead you to the section we keep solely to make sure no one else gets ideas about cheating Death. Most of us may never use the Peverell name, but that doesn't mean we won't continue their focus on making sure people don't extend their lives by nefarious means" Fleamont gazed in the direction of the library thoughtfully. 

"Oh. I can claim it, and I liked how it sounded to say Henry Potter-Peverell. Should I not use Peverell?" Harry shrank again. The two oldest Potters present exchanged a look. 

"We won't tell you no, Harry. But you must understand why only the cadet branches remain. The family was associated with artifacts known as the Deathly Hallows. It's based on a wizarding children's story. Three brothers come to an uncrossable river, where all others died trying to cross. They manage to do so using magic. However, Death appears to them. For their success in crossing, he offers each a boon. All but one go on to doom the brother who receives it. The oldest gets an unbeatable wand, the Elder Wand. He's killed in his sleep after bragging about it. The second gets the Resurrection Stone, which can call upon shades of those passed. He goes mad when he's unable to keep his deceased lover. The third asks for an invisibility cloak. The cloak allows him to live out his full life hidden from death. Once old, he passes the cloak to his next oldest and greets Death like an old friend. Thing is, all three things do exist, and the Peverells were hunted for their secrets on them. But those items are one of a kind. The cloak is the one we have kept secret since we became a cadet branch, passing it to the oldest in each generation. The stone was lost when two of the other cadet branches got into a fight over it. One certainly squirrelled it away somewhere but all those who knew for sure are dead. And the wand...well. We know who has it. It's safe enough for now, so don't worry about tracking it down" Granma explained. Harry pondered it for a moment. 

"The part of me that's proud of my heritage wants to use it. I'm the last of our family, and so I wouldn't necessarily know that background since I'm muggle-raised. But the larger part of myself says to stay Potter alone to the public. Maybe use it in Gringotts so anyone trying to intercept mail by using just my one last name won't be able to get those letters. Which could happen since I didn't even know my full name was Henry, not Harry. But I don't want to ignore it.." Harry debated out loud.

"That bloviating, manipulative piece of sh-"

"James!" Grandad interrupted quickly. "Harry, I'm upset to hear that you didn't even know your name but unsurprised. With the myth surrounding you, it was likely a ploy to make you seem more approachable. And it won't be dishonoring any part of your family to keep it quiet for now. You're still underage, and won't be able to defend yourself magically for some time. Best hold off until then. Though using both last names within Gringotts is clever."

"Thanks Grandad. It's also Slytherin so I might as well live up to that side of my heritage as well, even if using the name doesn't sit right with me. Especially since I was supposed to sort there if I didn't ask for anywhere else" Harry perked up again at the praise. 

"Then it sounds like you have a plan. Now, let's find you some defense books that may skirt some lines. I won't lose you just because Hogwarts no longer teaches such things!" Euphemia led the way back to the library. She sternly instructed her grandson to pick out books to leave for the next day. Their time for the day was drawing to a close, since Harry needed to make an appearance to the wider world so no one suspected his adventures so far from the Alley. She approved the burning of old clothes though on the day before he departed for school. 

"Bye Mama, Papa, Granma, Grandad, Pepper, Mulch, Clay, and Skater!" Harry called before he was popped to an isolated corner in Diagon to wander back to the pub and pretend he had just slipped out earlier unnoticed. 

The next weeks were spent like that. Most days, Harry would go to his home (a concept he was still wrapping his head around!) to read and do homework as well as speak to his family's portraits. Some days, Hedwig would come and spend the day hunting in the nearby forest. One day, he had been led to a room tucked in the back of the house where the Ministry couldn't trace his wand use. He tested many spells that he was told to tell no one about. Sectumsempra was one he got from his mum, who said it was invented by her childhood best friend. She warned him that any time it was used on people, the wounds would not respond to anything but the counterspell. Once he saw it in action on a test dummy, he understood the severity of it. Great-Grandad Henry taught him basics of some of the runic languages that weren't taught at Hogwarts. He also recommended a family diary on how the ones taught at Hogwarts could be refined further and the risks associated with each one. He flourished under the individual attention, improving in a few weeks what would have taken months if not a year. He snuck into Hogwarts on a Saturday when it was empty beyond Filch, to let the goblin rendering team into the Chamber. They found some books from Slytherin's time that they'd translate for him. He was very excited to see what was contained within! And it had come along with the initial contract.

"Your friends are coming tomorrow, are you excited to see them?" Uncle Charlus asked as Harry watched the last of his old clothes burn merrily in the fireplace on the 30th of August. It had been allowed a day early since the Weasleys and Hermione would be meeting up with Harry the next day. 

"I am. But I'm also scared. What if they don't like how I've changed since discovering that I have a home and never have to return to the Dursleys? They're my first friends, and I don't want them to hate me just because I decided to actually go looking into all the things I was missing" The boy admitted.

"Well, knowing what I do from your stories, they'll most likely be ecstatic that you got something like this. I do recall you saying Ms. Granger had threatened that you better be in good health when she saw you" The old man said drily. Harry chuckled, nodding in acknowledgment. 

"Logically, I know that. Emotionally I'm scared that I'll have to choose" Harry shrugged. 

"Understandable. I think you should take a calming draft and then go to sleep so you don't wear a hole in your brain." 

"It is time for Master Harry to return anyways" Blackberry announced. Harry had told the elves that they could use Harry instead of Henry since they were family the second week he was there. 

"Alright. I'll see you in a couple months Uncle Charlus. Make sure you give my love to all the others as well!" Harry beamed at his Great-Uncle.

"I will. Have a good semester, and make sure you find time to practice your meditation and building up your barriers. Do us proud by trying your best at school work" The portrait waved him off. 

"Call us if you need anything, we'll come" Blackberry told her only living master sternly after popping his new trunk almost fully packed at the end of the bed. 

"I will. Thank you for acting as transportation for me this summer. It's been wonderful to be able to go home without people suspecting" Harry bent down to offer a quick hug. After the embrace, his Head Elf was gone. "Well Hedwig, looks like it's just another day and then we're off to Hogwarts again! Though I'll miss them."

Coo-oo The Snowy owl nuzzled into her person, pulling gently on some of his hair to get it to settle. He chuckled and allowed her to do so. When she was satisfied, she glided silently into the night to find something to eat. Harry laid down to sleep. 

"Harry!" A pounding on the door woke the boy within. He grunted, stumbling to stand and made his way over. 

"...Ron?" He asked once he had opened the door and squinted at the blurry figure there.

"Mate, you could have put on your glasses first!" His best friend laughed, gently pushing him back into the room to get said item. "You're looking really good. Did you have a good summer after the whole aunt thing?"

"Mmmm? Oh, yeah. The goblin healing did a lot to help my magic work better. And I got more rounded meals, which made sure I grew a bit! See! I gained three inches!" Harry bounced excitedly on his toes when he showed off. 

"Good for you! I'm going to start shopping, I just wanted to say hello before Mum drags us around to get it done. Hermione may already be at it. Meet you at Fortescue's?" Ron ruffled his mate's hair.

"Sounds good!" Harry beamed, starting to get ready once the door was closed again. He went with some of his new jeans and a tee featuring a snitch. He grabbed his bag and went to order a sundae to wait for his friends. While there, he pulled out a book on defense more geared towards recognizing spellfire in the moment. It prefaced it with the advice to always dodge if it sounds or appears unfamiliar. But he wanted to be able to recognize what was being thrown, even if he dodged it. 

"Harry!" Hermione called, hurrying over and waving for him to stand. "Let me see, Ron said you looked fine but I need to be sure for myself!"

"Alright, alright!" Harry laughed as he complied, earning a proud nod when his other best friend saw that he was doing more than fine. 

"Good. Now, how are you?" She asked, setting down her bags and plopping into the chair next to him. 

"I'm good. This summer has gone much better after leaving my relatives. Though, there's something I need to talk to you and the Weasleys about when we're more in private. Nothing bad, just a change" Harry rushed out the end. 

"We can use one of our rooms after shopping" Ron announced his presence. 

"Thanks Ron. You're amazing" Harry smiled gratefully. The three caught up, both Harry and Hermione expressing concern when they heard how sick Scabbers was acting. Ron whispered that he wasn't that bummed after tucking the rat away again (who was fast asleep, again). They ended up going to the pet store, Ron and Harry waiting outside while Hermione got herself a cat named Crookshanks. The cat squinted suspiciously at the lump in the red-head's pocket but left it alone when he got pets from all three kids. Finally, they managed to gather all the others together after dinner so Harry could speak to them.

"So, I found out a few weeks ago that my legal name isn't Harry. My parents left a letter for me that I found when I was picking up more coins at the beginning of the summer. And I think with the exception of Hermione and Ron, I'd like you all to call me Henry or Ry. Harry is only for family and my best friends I've decided" Harry declared, trying to not let his voice shake. 

"Alright Henry. I'm happy that you felt comfortable enough to tell us straight up" Mr. Weasley smiled gently at the nervous teenager.

"Good showing Ry!" Fred spoke up next, George just nodding and giving a thumbs-up. 

"Very well" Percy shrugged, not intending to call the youngest boy anything but his last name at the moment. Ginny gave a sharp smile before hiding it behind a nervous giggle. 

"Oh, are you certain? I mean, it sounds like Harry is essentially your name now.." Mrs. Weasley twisted her hands nervously. 

"No, Mrs. Weasley. My name is Henry. Harry was never meant to be anything but a family nickname. I have prepared a statement for the Prophet tomorrow, which they must publish in its entirety unchanged, to say that unless told otherwise, I am to be referred to as Henry Potter. That is the name my parents gave me" Harry narrowed his eyes angrily. His two best friends came and squeezed his hands, which made him take a deep breath and move his emotions away for the time being. "I like you and your family, which is why you may call me just Henry or Ry as a nickname. The same will go for the Quidditch team. But you need to respect my desire to go by the name my parents left me!"

"He's right Molly. Henry has every right to decide he wants to go by his legal name, and we should respect it. He's not doing it maliciously" Mr. Weasley backed him up. "It sounds like he just wants that piece of his parents back".

"I do" Harry confirmed when they looked at him. 

"Very well. All of you should go pack then!" She ordered the children out. 

"One moment Ha-Henry. I want you to know Black is after you. He was heard muttering 'He's at Hogwarts' before breaking out" Mr. Weasley rushed out.

"Oh. Thank you Mr. Weasley" Harry nodded and hurried back to his own room to think and process the emotions he had put aside so he didn't explode. The biggest was anger, he could feel it bubbling under his skin. Anger that someone he held in high esteem didn't respect his request. Then disappointment at her under that. The fear was minimal, and easy enough to slide away as it was already fading. He sat studying the remaining emotions for a time, before letting them slip away. No use holding them anymore. He used the remaining tendrils of anger to tighten the shields around Norbert's area. He knew Dumbledore would likely be looking for anger whenever he skimmed the surface, so Harry made sure it was woven into the outer defenses. He was also looking for confusion, so there were various repeated thoughts stuck on the surface to simulate it, at the recommendation of Harry's Papa. Harry moved to pack the few things he still had laying around, leaving out a set of clothes for the morning. He left a pair of robes in his expanded satchel, to put on once they reached the castle. Otherwise he could get away with wearing the other parts of the uniform. He was toying with the idea of sneaking away for one more visit to his family when Ron and Hermione slid into the room. 

"Alright, time to spill. I know you didn't have a letter in your vault last year. So, come on" Hermione raised a single eyebrow in challenge, herding the two boys to sit on the bed together. 

"I was going to tell you as soon as we were alone!" Harry hurriedly insisted.

"I'm sure you were mate. But we're here now" Ron soothed. 

"Oh, well, as long as you know. So, I went to get more gold like I said. I just left out that I first had something removed from me that caused me to sleep all day after. Then an owl delivered the letter from my parents, alongside the one from you Ron. Turns out, they named me Henry after Papa's grandfather and my parseltongue abilities come from Granma! I also uh. visited my ancestorial home on and off" Harry mumbled.

"I thought you just had the one in Godric's Hallow?" Hermione cocked her head confused at the last part.

"Um. Apparently not. It's actually not even a Potter house...it was Sirius' Aunt something? And we hid there because of well...Papa and Grandad said I need to say just 'Potter secrets'. It's too risky with everything going on for anyone but a Potter to know details. I only learned them cause I made pretty decent occlumency barriers in the time since I ran away. Grandad guided me through it!" Harry smiled slightly.

"Judging by you calling someone Papa, your parents had magical portraits made?" Ron asked interestedly.

"Yeah. They had it made shortly after I was born, but the more recent knowledge they have is a secret I haven't been given yet. They said it's an adult one, so I'll have to wait" Harry shrugged. "Mama and Papa were very upset when they heard of my life so far. And, it turns out, my Grandad also knew Riddle in school. They were extremely concerned now that the connection was made and they showed me some things that skirt the line as a result. So I can get him with some nasty curses and run!"

"Isn't your family like, as light as they come?" Hermione asked, likely thinking of the Wizengamot. 

"Actually, no. The Potters are a grey family. Harry's dad just followed Dumbledore closely so the seat was moved" Ron answered with a shrug. 

"Papa actually didn't follow Dumbledore that closely. He was trying to balance out the numbers so someone who would care about fighting against Voldemort would become Chief Warlock. He still voted the same, since we're neutral and proud of it. But it was either move to the Light section so someone like Lord Malfoy wouldn't end up essentially in charge. Especially as a lot of old lines started to be killed off. I'm sure there's a muggle-born or half-blood heir to almost all of them somewhere. But testing to determine where was phased out by Grandad's time. Which my family thinks is a shame since it introduced new ideas and ways to do things into the body. Wouldn't be surprised if that's why it was covered up, means Purebloods and the occasional half-blood are going over the same issues repeatedly with the same arguments" Harry sighed.

"Do you think I have any inheritances?" Hermione asked.

"As terrifying as it is to picture you sitting on the 'Gamot, there's a possibility you're from the Dagworth-Granger line. Squibs often get similar enough last names to their original ones so a memory charm won't strain to cover much" Ron theorized. Harry nodded rapidly. 

"Ralston Potter was instrumental in organizing the Statute, and his portrait was very open about the practices surrounding it. Unfortunately, that meant casting out squibs and making them forget about magic. My family's stopped doing that though. By the time you really know, that's a member of your family and it's cruel to take that away. Instead we make sure they get the best muggle education and know what little magical things they can do. Hogwarts and most of the magical world may not be an option, but that doesn't mean they're useless. The Pottery will always welcome them if they need a home" Harry blinked when he saw his friends' looks "What?"

"It's just nice to hear you say 'we' and 'our' in reference to your family" Ron said fondly. "You always had a distance between you and them since you knew so little about even your parents. These few weeks have been good for you. I'm glad you had the chance."

"Me too" Hermione nudged his arm affectionately.

"...I don't think I'll go back to the Dursleys next summer to be honest" Harry whispered. "My family home has war wards up, that not even the headmaster can get through. I know, since he's tried a few different times over the years since my parents died. And even if he did, I'd have plenty of warning since I hold the wards. I can feel them humming contently even from this far away. My relatives just have the blood ward and I have to put up with so much to maintain it" Harry leaned against Ron, closing his eyes.

"It'll make me feel better about letting you out of my sight" Hermione sniffed. "I won't be able to call I suppose, but owls will get to you, yes?" 

"Yes. I've already made sure that your letters are allowed through unless they come with some harmful spell or potion. I trust you both, but I need to be cautious" Harry waved one hand.

"No offense taken mate. Only reason I haven't mentioned the possibility to you before was cause no one could get letters to you. And I forgot last summer once we rescued you. From the description of the bundle Dobby had, it doesn't seem like it was actually an issue since you said you saw my handwriting, Hermione's, your own, and Hagrid's" Ron apologized. 

"How do you remember that and not essay topics?" Hermione asked.

"Uh...don't laugh?" Ron sounded sheepish. "But I kind of fixated on Harry's health and wellbeing... especially after the last school year we had. So I remembered.."

"I certainly won't argue with an extra set of eyes on this danger magnet" Hermione patted said danger magnet's shoulder carefully. Harry grunted in protest. "Speaking of, we probably should sneak back to our rooms. Ginny said she could only guarantee an hour and I don't want to push it"

"What's Ginny doing that would guarantee you that much time?" Harry opened his eyes in confusion.

"She somehow got her hands on so many matches. Pretty sure Bill was the supplier, and he built a secret pocket for her because Mum took like, three boxes of them already. And I know they were separate boxes because I watched her open new ones" Ron gave a long sigh. "Once heard her cackling something about, and I quote, 'Riddle me this fuckface. Fire reminds you of the war and now you can't get me because I have so much fire'. At this point, we're just hoping that when she's allowed magic again tomorrow she'll calm again. Not holding my breath though."

"Oh. Oops? I sort of encouraged that when we talked in the hospital wing...my bad?" Harry gave a sheepish grin.

"You're lucky you're cute" Ron sighed deeply again. 

"Anyways, Ginny. Room. Sleep time" Hermione emphasized. 

"Yes Hermione" The two boys chorused, Ron getting up to leave alongside Hermione. Harry settled into his bed.

"Have a good year! Be careful of Black!" Mrs. Weasley called after the children, who all waved and said they would. 

"Kay, Gin, you're staying with either us or the twins. I know Mum tried to take all of your matches, but I do not doubt you have more. So, choose which older brother or brothers you want to spend the train ride with" Ron pointed at his baby sister.

"I'm coming with you, I want to ask Ry about the basilisk and his plans for it" Ginny shrugged, pulling her trunk after the trio. The clattering muffled their conversation.

"Oh, well it's been taken care of. I'm surprised the Goblins didn't say anything to Hermione when she went to get gold" Harry shrugged. 

"what" Hermione hissed.

"Hey, look! A compartment with just one person and he's asleep!" Harry quickly entered the compartment and lifted his trunk into the rack. He plopped down next to the vaguely familiar man with an innocent smile.

"Henry James Potter why would they have said anything to me" Hermione insisted, hands on her hips as the two Weasleys took care of their trunks as well as hers. None of them noticed the minute twitch that came from the man when he heard the name. 

"Soooo remember that basilisk I killed? And the fact that I went to get healed by the goblins? Which, Poisonblood now that I think about it implied he also killed a basilisk so that's neat. Anywayssss I sold them the corpse and got money sent to all the victims other than the Weasleys. Sorry guys but I figured it would draw too much attention to what Ginny went through. I can pay you out of Slytherin vault though" Harry scratched his head. 

"That's fair. I demand 100 galleons next year for Hogsmeade" Ginny shrugged, flopping on the opposite bench by the window. 

"Done" Harry shrugged in return.

"You have access to the Slytherin vault?" Ron asked as he sat by the door. 

"Oh, uh. Yeah. That and one other that I was cautioned not to share cause of the notoriety of it. Oh, and the Heir Black vault" Harry picked at a loose thread.

"That's something we're circling back to when we're able to silence the area and no one can wander in" Hermione wagged a finger as she sat next to Harry opposite the dozing man. Harry shrugged again and nodded in acknowledgement. "Do you know any good ones by the way?"

"Oh, yeah, a couple. One actually muffles the area as well, Mama helped make that one. But then her friend did something horrible so they stopped talking. She found the finished spell along with a bunch of other useful ones in his potion's book that she briefly swiped. Another shield I know is rune-based, so Great-Grandad said I need to be supervised the first few times I do it. There's also another one where instead of muting or muffling you, it turns what you're saying to nonsense in another language! Papa said that one may still be out of my skill level though, but how much magic I have may make it so I can brute force it" Harry eyed the man next to him suspiciously as he felt the twitching at some of what he was saying. "Who is this anyway? He looks familiar"

"R. J. Lupin" Ginny said, pointing at the briefcase resting above him.

"So probably our new DADA professor. He doesn't look too bad, but neither did Quirrell or Lockhart" Ron sighed. Then all three of the third years shivered in thought of their first year 'challenge'. 

"I reserve the right to set him on fire if he tries anything like Quirrell" Hermione stated grouchily. 

"I'll help!" Ginny chimed in happily, sparking a match. Ron just sighed tiredly, and reached over to pinch the flame out. 

"Can you at least wait till Hogwarts when I can't be scolded by Mum for any problems you cause? Perce knows you came with us" The older brother begged tiredly. The red-haired girl just cackled. 

"Oh, do either of you know anything about the Care for Magical Creatures book? I bound it because it wouldn't stop snapping at me" Harry interrupted before the pair could get too far into bickering.

"Bill laughed when he saw the title, told me to ask Charlie if I still can't figure it out by the end of the week" Ron shook his head apologetically.

"Store keeper didn't know, so not me either" Hermione grumbled. "You two excited for runes?"

"Yeah, I asked Bill about the class and he said it seemed much more up my alley than divination. He said the Prewitts occasionally get premonitions but any talent can't be honed further. Merlin knows the twins and I have made some jokes or off hand remarks that came true more than once. Like the troll first year" Ron smiled as he remembered his oldest brother's encouragement to pursue the class. 

"I definitely am excited. I was learning some other runic languages from my great-Grandad Henry's portrait when I was able to go over and I loved it. I'm hoping the classwork is the same" Harry bounced slightly in his seat. "What about you Ginny? Excited to advance to the next level in your classes?"

"Eh, I guess. I'll probably get jumpy again at being back in the castle where most of my interactions with Tom happened. But I have matches so I'll get through it" She shrugged. 

"That's the spirit...?" Harry tried to sound supporting. 

"Hopefully not!" Ginny cheerfully said, relighting the match she was holding.

"No, Gin" Ron put it out again. The two started to get into bickering again. Ginny would light the match and Ron would put it out repeatedly. They were jolted from their arguments when the door slid open.

"I-is now a bad time?" Neville asked from the doorway. 

"Not at all, I was hoping to talk to you at some point actually Neville! Come sit if you want" Harry invited him in. "By the way, I found some things out over the summer. Like the fact my family is well... important. And that my name is legally Henry, not Harry. I also found out we're godbrothers so you automatically get to call me Harry!"

"Oh, uh, okay" The other boy stammered, stumbling to sit between the two Weasleys who separated to either side at a glare from Hermione. "I wasn't sure you actually wanted..."

"He does, he's just very inexperienced at social interactions and Ron and I enable him to do stupid stuff that now has us bonded through shared experience just as much as being friends. Plus, we put up with his brooding, making sure he doesn't shove us away. He tried first year with the end of year thing" Hermione explained, turning to reading a book. 

"Oh. Well, I'd be glad to be godbrothers then!" Neville smiled tremulously. 

"Oh? Potty has discovered the near-squib is more than just a classmate?" A passing Draco Malfoy couldn't resist adding.

"Leave us be, Malfoy. Though, for your information, Neville is not anywhere near a squib. I found a letter about his first accidental magic, from when he was seven months old. Apparently he wanted to hear the singing daisies right then, when they were still too cold to sing. Aunt Alice wrote that the entire area became almost sauna-like and Neville got the song he wanted" Harry drawled boredly. 

"I...I did?" Neville blinked in surprise. 

"Yeah. You did. You also summoned a snake from your play garden on a different day, which was just muggle flowers since you wanted to plant and replant them like your parents did. I was visiting that day I guess, and I objected loudly when you took it from where I was watching it move. Your mum apparently had to put me in another room I was distressing you so much with my angry magic" Harry nodded.

"I....do kinda remember that garden. I was so proud of it" Neville said softly. 

"Well, where is it now then!" Malfoy spluttered, unsure how to regain the upper hand.

"Probably still there and his wand won't allow him to use it properly" Harry shrugged. All of the kids looked at the wand which let out sparks as if in agreement. 

"I mean, it is my dad's wand...." Neville said nervously.

"We'll go to Professor McGonagall once classes start, wands are very picky about their users so if that one didn't bond with you, that would explain your trouble" Hermione turned a page in her book. 

"Well it doesn't matter! I'll still beat you anytime!" The blond Slytherin yelled.

"Is that a Wizard's Duel challenge?" Harry cocked his head. 

"No! It wasn't! Just, just fact!" Malfoy ran after that. Hermione casually reached up and closed the door without looking up from her book as all of the other kids burst out laughing. 

"Anyways, how was your summer Neville?" Harry asked.

"It was alright. Gran wouldn't let me go anywhere after the whole Black escape thing, even to visit my parents. Said it was too risky, since Black knew them and I'd be an easy target as a 13-year old near-squib" Neville easily stated what everyone believed him to be, far too used to being known as that. 

"Nev, you're not a squib. You're just as powerful as me, you just don't have a well matched wand" Harry gently reminded him. "Did you do anything interesting at home at least?"

"Yeah! Gran allowed me to tend to most of the greenhouse myself, with supervision of course. Before it was always Lavender, our garden elf" Neville beamed. 

"Is Lavender a House Elf?" Hermione asked, looking up from her book.

"Mione, House Elves are symbiotic. In exchange for magic to feed off of and shelter, they do things for wizards. Think of the old tales of brownies, that's close to what they do" Harry butted in. "I can bring you a book on them, including their structure of power and history in their own words. Don't go after Neville for having some in his home."

"They aren't enslaved?" She asked.

"Some are, yes. Dobby was one who was. Most elves are regarded as hired laborers. They get time off when needed or wanted, and they feed off of magic so they don't need meal breaks. I have elves and they were over the moon when I returned to my family home so they could look after me. I also heard them discussing taking on a type of foster program participant, who was taken from a bad situation. I didn't press since they didn't know I was listening, and they are their own beings. If they need me to do something to help, they'll let me know" Harry told her. 

"What is the Ministry's thoughts on them?" She switched tracks. 

"They regard them as property. So if you want to help, work on that part. That and making sure various beings aren't considered creatures, like centaurs. You met one, would you say they're just a creature? And goblins are in a grey area where they're treated as creatures but classified as beings" Ron explained.

"I did. He was very knowledgeable of the night sky. Plus, he's sentient so I'd say he's a being" She nodded. 

"My point exactly. I'm not saying ignore it entirely, but don't step on what's already set up to help" Ron waved one hand. 

"I get it. Sorry Neville for jumping on you for that" Hermione apologized. 

"It's okay" Neville murmured, looking down awkwardly. 

"Anyways, wanna see me light a match without my wand Neville?" Ginny interrupted the potential spiral. 

"W-what?" Neville looked up, blinking surprised. 

"Gin, no" Ron groaned. His disagreement came too late as Ginny raised her match and lit it again. "Lean back for a second Neville so I can put out the match again"

"We're stopping. We're far too early for that" Hermione craned her head to look out the window as the train breaks screeched, the two Weasleys stopping their argument immediately. When the train lurched to a stop, she climbed to her feet to see more. "There's people getting on!"

"That's unusual..." Ginny said before trailing off as lights started to flicker and the temperature dropped.

"It's him!" Harry faintly heard as the lights completely gave out. He tilted his head to figure out if someone down the train had seen something. And then he heard a rattling breath. He blinked slowly as he suddenly felt like he was covered in molasses. Faintly, he noted the cloaked figure that stopped at their compartment, the door sliding open by one rotting hand. Another rattling breath came. Suddenly, feminine screams and begging filled his head. He collapsed to the ground, fighting off unconsciousness and whatever was echoing through his mind. A light suddenly danced into being.

"We're not hiding Sirius Black here" A raspy voice came from behind him. He twisted to see Lupin holding his wand in one hand, with the other cupping a handful of blue-green fire. "Leave"

"Go AWAY!" Ginny roared when the figure didn't move fast enough, removing one hand from over her ears to cast fire of her own. A screech as the creature batted it away, some fire catching its sleeve. Rather than fleeing, it moved closer. Which caused both Ginny and Harry to moan in distress, the other three children shrieking. 

"Expecto Patronum" Lupin cast, a canine shape racing at the creature. It shrieked again, fleeing from the glowing animal. All of the children sagged at the sudden rush of positive emotion. The adult reached into his pocket, pulling out a chocolate bar that he broke into pieces. 

"Here, this will help" He offered the biggest piece to Harry who took it. He noticed how small the other pieces were. He broke his own part in half and divided that further to give more to his friends. 

"Thanks" Hermione said, nibbling on a corner. Once the others saw she was fine, they all bit into their own.

"Did you hear anyone screaming?" Harry asked quietly.

"No" Ron shook his head. Meanwhile, Neville and Ginny nodded. 

"Sir, do you have more chocolate? I think Neville and Ginny need it" Harry turned to Lupin who was standing there awkwardly. The older man nodded, pulling out a second bar of chocolate. He handed it to Neville, who broke it up into pieces for anyone who wanted more.

"Why was a dementor here?" Ginny demanded once she had eaten the extra chocolate.

"Likely looking for Black" Lupin answered softly. "I will need to go speak with the driver. I will see you all at school."

"They shouldn't have stopped here. One of my rings should have prevented it" Harry whispered after closing the door. "It was meant to make them listen or avoid me!"

"It wouldn't surprise me if they were ordered by their keepers to check here. That or all of our trauma made this compartment too good to resist even with the magic surrounding you" Neville explained lowly. "I'm surprised none of us fainted."

"I nearly did. I felt a separation between the effects and me but it still almost overwhelmed me" Harry admitted.

"I was also fighting it off by sheer spite and stubbornness" Ginny muttered. 

"We should be at the castle in half an hour" Hermione said after glancing outside again. "We should put our robes on". The other kids nodded and got out their robes to put on over the rest of their uniform. Neville excused himself to get his own. 

"Crookshanks and Scabbers okay?" Harry asked.

"Scabbers is curled up in my pocket, shaking. He woke up when the temperature dropped" Ron opened back up his robe to show the trembling rat's spot. He patted the rodent once before closing it again.

"Crookshanks appears okay, just weary" Hermione straightened up after checking on her cat in his carrier. 

"Good. I'm glad" Harry nodded. The four were silent the rest of the journey, lost in their memories. It was only when they were getting off the train when anything jolted them free. 

"Hey! Potter! I heard you were ill from the dementors!" Malfoy jeered, his bookends of Crabbe and Goyle back at his sides. 

"No? I mean, they weren't pleasant but I didn't get ill" Harry tilted his head in confusion. 

"Well Pansy overheard someone telling the driver that you collapsed at least" Malfoy put his nose in the air. 

"I challenge you to not react to them. Actually, why don't you three ride with us? That way both sides can get an answer. We'll see if you can avoid a reaction, and you'll see that Harry's reaction isn't all that bad" Hermione raised one eyebrow challengingly, hand perched on her hip. The Slytherin looked at his two bodyguards before snorting.

"Fine. Lead the way then."

"Ginny, no fire" Harry hissed to the youngest in the group quietly as the group moved to one of the thestral pulled carriages (Harry was so glad his family had warned him that he'd likely see the animals). Ginny glared but nodded in acceptance. The four Gryffindors took one side of the carriage, Harry and Ginny being small enough to squish in between lanky Ron and Hermione. The Slytherins took the opposite with the normal configuration with Malfoy in the center. The two sides watched in icy silence as the thestral lumbered forward. Finally, Harry could feel the first creeping edges of the dementor's effect. However, Harry was prepared this time so he pulled his occlumency shields tight and pulled upon the Peverell ring's ability to resist the effects. He stared down the blond on the opposite bench, face blank. Said blond rubbed his arms aggressively as he shivered at the effects. Finally the Hogwarts wards washed over them, negating the worst of the chill. Ginny sagged slightly against her brother, eyes not fully seeing what was in front of her again.

"Well. I suppose my information was wrong then. Enjoy the feast" Malfoy stood once the carriage had stopped, making his way out with dignity. His two bodyguards followed with slight nods of parting. 

"Alright Ginny, time to eat something. Your second Start of Term feast will be better than your first, take it from me. Mum's food is great but it just doesn't compare" Ron carefully steered his sister out, being a bit loud on purpose to break her out of her thoughts. 

"You didn't even eat your second Start of Term feast, you had crashed Dad's car and no one wanted you in the Hall" Ginny grumbled, elbowing her brother in the ribs. Neither Weasley noticed their companions rolling their eyes behind the siblings. 

"Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger, with me" Professor McGonagall called to the pair, who exchanged baffled looks as they headed over from where they were about to enter the Hall. "Before the sorting begins, I must speak with you both. Mr. Potter, I heard from Professor Lupin that you collapsed on the train. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, professor. I had some chocolate after, and now I just want to go eat the feast" Harry said shortly. 

"Very well then Potter. You may proceed in then" The older woman waved him off.

"Excuse me professor but I'm not leaving Hermione alone. I'm willing to stand outside a silencing bubble, but I want to see her at all times" Harry crossed his arms, giving a stern look to his professor.

"Mr. Potter, that's hardly appropriate!" McGonagall protested. 

"With all due respect professor, Harry's right to be worried. Neither of us know what's so urgent for me to be pulled aside the moment I enter. Actually, why are you pulling Harry alone aside? He had a bad reaction, but in our compartment alone, so did Ginny and Neville. Why did Professor Lupin only mention the one person?" Hermione rapid fired turned the tables. "Also, in singling him out, you singlehandedly will reignite the rumors we just put to rest about Harry's reaction. Malfoy was civil with us not even five minutes ago because we proved Harry wasn't that bad off! And, why in Merlin's name are there so many of those creatures here!"

"Ms. Granger, I just wanted to give you a device that will allow you to go to all of your classes. Some are at conflicting time, that's all. And I do not presume to know why Professor Lupin only talked about Potter. And I'm sure there will be no problems from me pulling you aside" The professor tried to soothe. Both teenagers snorted, not believing her claims of no problems in the slightest.

"Well, what is it?" Hermione asked impatiently. 

"I cannot give it to you now. You must never tell anyone not in the know that you have it, so Mr. Potter's presence makes it so you'll need to wait" McGonagall sniffed. 

"Great. I'll drop Muggle Studies and Divination. Keep your device, I don't need it anymore" Hermione turned around, reaching obviously to take Harry's wrist to pull him along with her into the Great Hall. 

"You sure Mione? You were eager to take those courses.." Harry whispered as they moved to sit next to Ron.

"I'm sure. If whatever it was couldn't be given to me with you standing there, you even offered to be unable to hear what exactly it was, then I don't want it. I don't need Muggle Studies or Divination, they were idle curiosities" Hermione plopped herself down with that proclamation, face angry.

"What happened?" Ron whispered, looking between the two. 

"McGonagall wanted to know if I was okay, since it seems Lupin sent word ahead about my reaction alone. And she was going to give Hermione something to take multiple classes at the same time until I refused to let her out of my sight. And Hermione got mad when McGonagall said she had to wait then, since Mione was supposed to keep it an absolute secret. So our best friend here dropped the two classes neither of us are in" Harry explained.

"Professor McGonagall, for all she deserves the title currently!" Hermione glared at the witch entering with the first years.

"You know, good for you Hermione. Whatever it is, isn't worth whatever that was" Ron affirmed before they were interrupted by the Sorting Hat's song. The Gryffindors put it out of their minds, believing that the problem was laid to rest. All were distracted fully when Hagrid was announced as the new Care professor.

However, the next morning at breakfast, the problem came back up. 

"Are you sure you want to drop Divination and Muggle Studies? They're first thing Ms. Granger" McGonagall cajoled. 

"I'm sure" Hermione said firmly, not looking up from her breakfast. The Transfiguration professor sighed but tapped an empty schedule with her wand and handed it over. She moved on to Ron and Harry, not asking either if they were sure. All three children exchanged loaded looks at that. 

"Looks like you have a free period Ron, while Mione and I have Arithmancy" Harry pointed out, comparing the two schedules. "Oh, then we have a double of potions, then transfiguration. And then Care!"

"Wooo Snape on the first day back" Ron cheered sarcastically. Both of the others snorted, finishing up their breakfast and standing. 

"Want to come with us to the classroom?" Hermione offered, double checking she had her books. Ron nodded and grabbed a few pieces of toast to go. 

"It's so weird not to be in classes together all the time" Ron mused out loud as they climbed to the seventh floor.

"Yeah, it is. I would say you could join us, but this stuff doesn't seem like your type of study" Harry bumped shoulders with the other boy. 

"Maybe I would! I won't though, you're right that I'd drive myself mad trying" The redhead shrugged.

"Glad you realize that" Hermione patted his arm. "We're here though. See you at Potions?"

"Yup. I'm going to see if I can do some flying before that" Ron waved as he left. The two remaining Gryffindors leaned against the wall to wait. Each greeted the classmates they knew as the others joined them. They were discussing what they'd talk about that day when the door opened to show a younger woman in red robes. She waved them all in. Hermione and Harry took a pair of desks together, pulling out their materials. Once everyone was seated, the professor tapped her glass of water twice to gain attention.

"Good morning third years. For those who have yet to meet me, My name is Professor Septima Vector. I have a mastery in Arithmancy, and I regularly attend summer sessions on advancements in the field to make sure my knowledge remains up to date. Some of you may have heard that this is one of the most difficult classes we offer here at Hogwarts. I will not deny this, but that is due to what this field can be used for. Most outside of the field believe it is mostly predicting the future based on mathematical constants and repeating numbers. I will not deny that is part of it. But the majority of what I will teach you is basis for spells and creating them, ritual bases, as well as explaining why certain numbers are important in magic. Because of this, I need to fit something that should ideally be a seven-year or more study into three. Some of you have an advantage in that you learned complicated maths in primary school. But your advantage will only last until October. After that, you all will be on the same ground and will advance together. My assignments will be dense and long, but that's because I want you to understand what I'm teaching before I let you do anything more than theory" Professor Vector sat on her chair at the end of her speech. "Now, roll call, raise your hand when I call you. Susan Bones, Terry Boot, Millicent Bulstrode, Tracey Davis, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Padma Patil, Henry Potter, Dean Thomas, and Blaise Zabini. Glad to see you all here. Now, we will first cover the order of operations in solving an equation. There is a memory tool called PEMDAS you can use until you memorize it..."

"That was great! Oh, my parents will be so excited to learn I'm doing math again, even if it isn't for muggle things!" Hermione rambled as she and Harry descended into the dungeons. They originally were going to walk with the Slytherins present, but Hermione was far too excited. Her best friend was happy to listen to her go over it. 

"Good lesson then?" Ron asked when he saw them. 

"Oh, excellent! I'm really looking forward to the next one. We were reviewing background concepts we need to start, like what order do you solve an equation" Hermione bounced in place.

"Sounds like you found your new favorite subject. Did you like it Harry?"

"I did. It likely won't be my favorite since it's a lot of tedious work, but I like it so far" The short boy shrugged. 

"If it works, it works. Ready for Snape now?" Ron laughed as both faces fell. 

"Mama was giving me tips. I'm sure I can improve if no one sabotages" Harry tried for confidence. Ron and Hermione tried to look supportive and failed as they lined up behind Neville and Seamus. Neville was describing what his teacup had shown in Divination when the door to the Potions classroom banged open. 

"In" Snape barked, sneering at the assembled Gryffindors filed past him. They all set up their cauldrons in silence, watching him. "We will be reviewing the Wiggenweld potion today. Instructions are on the board. Begin" 

"Neville, remember to wait until the color is consistent to do the next steps" Harry whispered as he gathered ingredients beside his godbrother. 

"Got it" His godbrother nodded, face firm. "I'm ready to talk to McGonagall about my wand later, so I refuse to let this go wrong by my hand"

"Wise idea. I'll watch for flying ingredients when I can" The two parted ways after Harry reassured the older boy. They began with no interruptions. 

"Mr. Potter. I hear you decided to change your name" Snape oozed as he stopped by the boy's cauldron.

"No sir. Just wanted to make sure my family nickname stayed among family. Neither I nor my parents gave permission for so many to call me by anything but Henry" Harry continued to stir steadily. He watched as the color changed, waited a few seconds, and added more salamander blood.

"Oh? You're telling you that you were named Henry?" The professor continued to try and get a rise as Harry resumed stirring. 

"I was, professor. I don't know why I was listed as Harry for everything when my name is Henry legally" Internally, Harry crowed at how many weird looks his teacher was getting for pressing him about going by his full name. He made the mistake of looking up to try and judge when a good point to add yet more blood was. In doing so, Snape was able to dart in front so their eyes met. Harry immediately pulled his occlumency shields tight, the slight pinch of legilimency at his temple. He was surprised when Snape retreated with suspicion in his eyes. 

"Longbottom! Is that yellow!" Snape barked, passing the boy's cauldron. 

"Not entirely s-sure sir. So I'm adding another full stir just in case" Neville held his ground despite the trembling he started doing at the bat's interruption. 

"Make it two and maybe it'll be passable" With that, the professor swooped onwards. All of the Gryffindors gasped, but after exchanging nervous glances, didn't actually say anything. The rest of class went as expected other than no one trying to sabotage anyone else's cauldron. Harry theorized it was because most of the ingredients weren't conducive to throwing across a room. The Gryffindors all trooped upstairs to their head of house's classroom.

Chapter Text

"Welcome back" McGonagall greeted the third years as they filed into the room. "Please find a seat and have your homework out on your desks for me to summon."

"Professor, before class starts I have a question. My wand isn't bonded properly to me, and I need to get a new one" Neville beelined for their teacher immediately.

"Indeed? Well, there's not much I can do for you for now. I'll ask your grandmother if she can take you this weekend" The professor nodded.

"No! She'll tell me to keep using the same one because it's my father's, and she thinks I should be honoring him. I need my own wand as soon as someone can take me" Neville growled, eyes flashing. For a moment it almost seemed like he was reaching for a sword before the old woman in front of him sighed heavily and nodded.

"Very well. I'll take you as soon as I can. Now, everyone sit down so I may start class. We'll be discussing the teacup to tortoise spell starting today since that is an easier to picture animal. In a few weeks near the first few weeks of October we'll be covering lapifors to transfigure objects into rabbits. From there..."

"Hermione, do you think the library would have a book that shows steps to make what we're transfiguring actually breathe and stuff? McGonagall's description just did not make sense" Ron asked as they headed for lunch. 

"I'm not certain. Most of what I look for is the opposite, all theory based. Can't hurt to look though?" She looked thoughtful. 

"Can it wait till after dinner? We need to eat lunch before our afternoon classes" Harry chimed in. 

"Of course Harry" Ron agreed while Hermione nodded, muttering under her breath in both French and English. Both boys left her to it, unable to keep up with the fast pace. When she showed signs of wandering off, Ron snagged her arm and guided her to the table. She started loading all three plates automatically, plopping two in front of the boys who went to sit opposite. 

"Mione, focus on eating" Harry gently reminded her. She sighed before complying. Both of the boys picked at their plates. Harry finally put words to what had been gnawing at him after finishing half his plate. "I don't know what's bothering me so much about Snape's behavior to me in class. It's just..."

"He's always been vicious to you and Neville and this was something he could easily go after. But he didn't other than that weird moment of eye contact" Hermione chimed in when it was clear Harry was at a loss.

"Legilimency" both Harry and nearby Neville said in sync. Then they turned to blink at each other. 

"You probably know more than I do, so you can explain" Harry said after a minute of silence. Neville hummed and nodded before turning back to Hermione. 

"Snape is proficient in the art of being able to enter someone else's mind, which is called legilimency. It's really complicated and requires eye contact alongside a strong mental will. The incantation is usually said out loud for less experienced practitioners, but Snape is well... skilled enough at it to not need it said out loud. Unfortunately he's also good enough at covering his tracks that the only way to know he's done it for certain is if you practice the opposite art, occlumency, which is protecting your own mind from intrusions. I have shields, though they're not strong enough to stand up against full assault. Requirement of my duties as Heir Longbottom" Neville shrugged at the end. 

"I remember you mentioning occlumency shields when we saw you the day before yesterday, Harry, now that Neville brings it up again" Ron realized out loud. Harry hummed.

"I did, yes. I learned over the summer that Snape and Dumbledore both are proficient in legilimency, as is Voldemort. It's how he knew I lied about having the stone first year, Grandad thinks after I told him the story. Snape tried to use it on me today in class, which is the weird eye contact 'Mione commented on. I felt the pinch in my temple and immediately closed both layers of my shield tight. And I can't report it since it'd be my word against his and I don't want to reveal my hand so soon". 

"That's fair. Keep some surprises in your back pocket just in case" Hermione nodded slowly. "Like today, Snape didn't expect you to be able to protect your mind."

"Exactly. I'm tired of being behind the ball in everything, and hiding some of my abilities to seem less..." Harry waved a hand trying to think of the right word. 

"Cutthroat?" Ginny suggested from where she had just sat down. "Or just less like Voldemort in general, after the whole Parseltongue thing?"

"Yeah. Less like Voldemort. I think it helped to hear some more about my family this past month. To know that everyone is only giving me part of the picture about them. I mean, Papa straight up told me he was a bully until after OWLs and the only reason he changed is because of...well. A lot of things but mostly an incident with Snape, Sirius Black, and a friend of his. And Mama admitted that she was just as vindictive when she wanted to be. But no one told me that we're a historically neutral family or that I even have a place on the Wizengamot when I'm older. I'm lucky Papa put our seat in stasis right before my first birthday party so I don't have to review any proxy votes when I take it after OWLs" Harry ran a hand through his hair as he stood up to go to Care of Magical Creatures. His three friends took after his lead, standing up as they gathered their bags. 

"I thought you had to be 17 to take your seat?" Hermione asked. 

"Usually, yeah. But Last of Line clause activates in my case. Since for two of the four houses I hold a title in have no other members, I'm able to ascend early. Technically, I could even take on partial responsibilities now, since I have no Head of Household in three of them and this is around the time that betrothals and other older contracts would start to be negotiated. However, not being technically Head yet but having claimed the rings puts me in a legal grey spot that I can take advantage of. I have the ability to override decisions made by my guardians if I so choose, such as the Harry Potter Adventure series which will be printing all future editions with the disclaimer that it's fiction. But I also can enjoy protection from interviews and contractual obligations because I'm under someone's custody. They need permission to print anything beyond the absolute facts about me from here on, which the lawyer team I had on retainer will take great glee in holding them to. They did their best before since my parents made sure their contract would cover until my majority unless told otherwise, but couldn't go full might until I got in contact and asked for their services officially. I have them working on other things as well, such as Black's trial. Papa and Mama were confused on why he was sent away, so I agreed to have the barristers look into it" Harry explained as they headed towards the forest and Hagrid's hut. 

"Uh, Harry, I hate to break it to you..." Neville started to say. 

"One of the reasons my mother's cousin was locked away is because he betrayed your parent's location" Malfoy's voice interrupted from behind them. All four Gryffindors jumped slightly, not having realized the blond had been in earshot. They turned to look at the small group of Slytherins who slowed to a stop as they reached a fenced in area that Hagrid was working at the opposite end of. 

"Oh, my thanks for explaining Malfoy. And, he didn't actually. I have written proof that my parents used a different one of their friends, Peter Pettigrew, as their secret keeper. In fact, the house we were in belonged to the Black family" Harry said, tilting his head politely.

"And how did your parents come across a Black property?" 

"It was given to them, by Sirius Black. After one of his aunts gave it to him, for what reason I do not know. However, my parents decided it would be easier to set up a protection there since the Fidelius would have something more defined to latch onto. Unfortunately, we were betrayed within months" Harry shrugged. He tried to ignore the additional listeners as the rest of the class caught up just before the bell rang up at the castle. Before any more questions could be asked, Hagrid began class. Harry was still riding the high of his flight with Buckbeak when he saw Malfoy approach the steel-colored animal. 

"You're not that dangerous are you? After all, Dumbledore's yes-man let Potter ride you like a simple horse. I bet you're so proud to have gotten such a famous person to ride you and you can die happy you dumb brute" The blond whispered. Before anyone could approach, Buckbeak was rearing up to strike and Harry drew his wand. 

"Protego!" He bellowed, focusing on the area between the two, rushing after the spell the moment the light left his wand. He breathed a sigh as the talons that had been about to slice through the arm Malfoy had raised got caught on the half formed shield, causing the animal to stumble. He shoved his wand back into a pocket, shoving Malfoy back into Crabbe and raising both hands to Buckbeak. "Easy! Easy! Hey! Buckbeak, look at me. I will not be bowing, that's just dumb. But you will not be approaching either. Stay where you are!"

"Henry!" Hagrid bellowed, rushing over with a collar in one giant hand. Buckbeak cocked his head, making full eye contact with Harry while lowering his wings slightly. After a few seconds, Harry drew his wand again and recast a shield, backing up without breaking eye contact. Hagrid took the chance to snap the collar back around the proud animal, and started to pull him away towards the opposite fence. Once the lead was secured, Hagrid let out a piercing whistle and began to gather the rest of the herd while the students started to drift together. 

"What the hell were you thinking Draco Malfoy?" Harry whirled around, eyes alight with fury. "I mean it! You have grown up in this world, so even if none of us could get into those books, the moment Hagrid said it's a triple-x threat you should have known to listen carefully! I also refuse to believe that you have never heard of or met a hippogryph prior to this class, since you grew up in this world! Did you think it was funny to put yours and everyone else's lives at risk? To provoke an animal that is known to live in groups and was currently with said group?? Even if they weren't nearby enough to touch, they were still easily in earshot. You are goddamn lucky that only Buckbeak took offense to your comment so the only one who would have been injured was you if I hadn't intervened when I did! What sort of cunning was that, Malfoy? What sort of self-preservation? Your sorting took less than thirty seconds so I would have thought you'd be quite the model of Slytherin values, but no! You're a reckless fool! For fuck's sake Malfoy, use your brain!" 

"As...spirited and crude as that was. I find myself agreeing Malfoy" one of the Slytherin girls, who Harry thought was Greengrass, spoke up after it was clear that Harry's rant was done. 

"Aye. 25 points from Slytherin, and a week's worth of detention for endangering yourself and your classmates. I will be speaking with Snape tonight about your behavior as well. I believe it may be best if you were to drop my class, Mr. Malfoy" Hagrid added, his eyes dark with anger. "Now. Dismissed. I want a foot and a half from all of you on the proper safety when approaching an unknown animal."

"Hey, uh, Greengrass, right?" Harry stopped the girl after they were out of earshot of Hagrid. 

"Yes. Only took you three years to remember my name" she said lightly, one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, sorry. I'll admit, I've been very concerned with making sure to project what people want to see from me in the past. Working on changing that this year. Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you. I didn't expect anyone from your house to say anything which is probably stereotyping since the only ones who really do anything are Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and sometimes Parkinson. Off track, sorry. What I wanted to say was, thank you for backing me up" Harry tried for a smile. 

"I appreciate your apologies. And why wouldn't I agree? You were right, Malfoy was an exceptionally quick sorting which should mean that he matches our values closely. However, you must take into account both sides of his family being Slytherin nearly entirely" She hummed thoughtfully. "Such things do have an impact".

"Yes, but part of that is the nature versus nurture debate that you hear a lot in muggle child's psychology" Hermione pointed out carefully. 

"Psychology?" Greengrass asked. 

"Study of how our brain and thoughts work. It's quite interesting, I sometimes wonder if maybe some of the concepts would improve our understanding of magic. Anyways, the nature and nurture debate boils down to the question of what has the biggest impact on how a person turns out. The personality and nature they're born with and develop through their life or nurture of their parents. Like, would Harry still be a Gryffindor if his parents were alive? Is his personality just more Gryffindor-leaning or did his choice not to want to go to the hat's first choice change how he will turn out" Hermione brightened a bit at the chance to explain something she found fascinating. 

"So following that line of thought, Malfoy may have ended up elsewhere if his parents raised him differently, valuing something like...good grades over connections?" Greengrass continued. 

"Exactly! There's a lot of nuance and complexity to the whole theory, but that's the basic premise. And we'll likely never know the answer, since neither exist in a vacuum" the small group paused at that, the Slytherins who had been listening in looking thoughtful at the new information. 

"Well, it was nice talking to you. See you in class" Greengrass nodded before leading the Slytherins down the dungeon corridor as the third years stepped inside the front hall. 

"We have a few minutes before Runes. Want to find an empty classroom and I can show you the letter I got over the summer?" Harry offered. "You too Nev, it does pertain partially to you."

"Sure" Ron shrugged, leading the way up the main staircase. "Do you need to run and grab it?"

"No, I've been carrying it around. It may seem stupid but it's helped with...things." Harry glanced around, rubbing his invisible rings in a newer nervous tic. 

"Here's a good classroom" Neville pointed at a dusty room at the end of the third floor corridor. The four filed in, Harry immediately drawing his wand and casting a Muffliato. He then hissed an area listening spell cancellation parsel spell before relaxing his shoulders. 

"Sorry for the awkward half explanation Neville. I learned a lot of things over the summer, and it's safe to say I'm a bit on edge because of it. I'll start from the beginning since Ron and Hermione only know the bare bones. So, I went to the goblins to get some more gold after I left my muggle aunt's house, and they discovered I can lay claim to four houses. I claimed the Lord's rings for Potter, Peverell, and Slytherin houses. I also am Heir Black, tentatively since the Lord Presumptive named me his heir but he's not...actually lord yet. They removed something nasty from my scar, and the next morning I got this letter from my parents. I returned to Gringotts the day after, claimed the rings and found out that I could return to my ancestral home, by way of my Head Elf which I did later as well. I also learned that my family keeps many secrets, including the fact that my parents' portraits remember up until Death greeted them as companions. Due to that, my parents hid outside the protection of our home, in a house given to them by Black. Our war wards remain up, and I intend to keep them that way until Voldemort is dead and gone, and until I know Dumbledore will stop trying to enter my land" Harry pulled out the letter, handing it first to Hermione. He then sat on one of the desks as he explained to the other two. 

"You're adjusting to not having your parents again?" Ron asked insightfully. 

"Yeah. I had them nearly every day to talk to for weeks and now I'm back to..." Harry waved a hand. 

"It's been many years since I've heard the Peverell family Head being claimed" Neville mused out loud as he finished the letter. "But if it would be anyone, it does not surprise me that it's you. Er, no offense, Harry. But you were startlingly ready to die to protect the stone first year. Peverells have the reputation of not fearing death and all."

"I was, and we do. Even Potters don't have the same relationship with Death, Great-Grandad explained. We're raised in a typical generation to understand that it's just part of life. Only difference between a Potter and a Peverell is that Peverells greet Death as an old friend rather than simply a companion is the long running joke. In fact, Papa told me one of our side businesses used to be raising Thestrals which meant allowing them to do what they naturally do, which is keep unicorn herds in balance with the rest of the environment. So Hagrid lied first year when he said nothing hunts unicorns. Thestrals do, but only on occasion. Though if the opportunity presents itself, they will eat a dead or dying unicorn, just circle of life and all" Harry happily shared what he had learned from one of his for-pleasure reading books. 

"Is that why Thestrals are cursed?!" Hermione burst out before she could think better of it. Harry and Neville immediately shook their heads.

"Thestrals aren't cursed, just heavily entwined with Death. They can't be widely seen because of how their natural magic interacts with the world" Neville added. 

"They're also known as Death Steeds, Peverell Companions, and various other names. Loyal to a fault, though hard to maintain a herd since they require a herd of unicorns to share land with else they will be sickly. Trainable to act as a typical horse would, needing less feed though. It was theorized in the early days that the reason they needed unicorns was to balance out the death magic, which isn't the case. They're secretive and most of the time will happily share space with unicorns. It wasn't until...I want to say it was one of Hardwin Potter and Ianthe Peverell's children or grandchildren was raising a herd to sell that they witnessed that the two species keep each other from overrunning their ecosystem. An older unicorn was taken down by three juvenile thestrals in front of them, which is when he compared it to wolves and deer. But the same herds often had young play tag together, so" Harry recited from memory. "Anyways, I got interested when I found out the descendants from the original herds still lived in the woods near my home and my family's portraits didn't want me to spend all summer on school and defense related books."

"I didn't even think of the fact that your grandparents had died before we were even born. It was always just...James and Lily Potter were in Godric's Hallow when they were found and killed by You-Know-Who. Never did it occur to me to wonder why you weren't hiding in your ancestral lands" Neville said quietly. "And Gran never mentioned that Mum was your godmother, even though she could argue that you should have come to us as one of the first choices would be your godparents. No offense to your muggle aunt, but she doesn't know the duties of an heir in our world."

"Oh no, I vote for full offense to your aunt, Harry. They're a garbage family" Ron said bluntly. Neville shot a look over to Hermione, expecting her to comment in defense of the adults. When she caught the look, she just shook her head with a grimace. 

"I'm wondering if that was on purpose though. I've spent some time thinking, and discussing with Granma, Mama, Papa, Grandad, and the rest about my childhood. They filed very specific procedures of who would get me at the Ministry's Child Services and put in their will the same just in case one was read before the other immediately following their death. They wanted to leave nothing to chance, yet I ended up not even going through the proper channels to end up in a shitty environment. They didn't want me going to the Dursleys, and the Dursleys didn't want me either. And, suspiciously Dumbledore was pressuring Papa to loan out a family heirloom that could have saved mine and my mother's lives. And somehow, between when they wrote that letter and that night, the cloak was quote-unquote given to Dumbledore who gives it back to me ten years later. And I know it had to be before their deaths, because everything of value was moved the moment...the moment I was farther than 50 yards from the wards with my parents dead. And in the years between then and now, several times Dumbledore has attempted to breach my war wards. There is no reason to do so, as he could have petitioned Gringotts or my Head Elf to retrieve anything for me. But only for me" Harry stood up and began to pace as he explained, waving his hands in agitation. 

"Blimey mate. You really had a busy month didn't you" Ron whistled as he processed everything. 

"You could say that. Fortunately, I also enjoyed that time. It was...really nice to get to know my family in all the good and bad. Like how my Parseltongue actually comes from Granma, which is why she laughed at my accidental magic turning Papa's hair green. I did not want to put Hissser back in the garden and was angry Papa wasn't allowing me to keep the snake. Or how Mum believed the best in Snape for so long until he called her the rude term for muggleborns despite him participating in not so nice things to others of the same origins. Doesn't mean what Papa did back then was okay, he was a bully and he admitted it himself. But he also made the choice in the years following to become a man I'm proud to call my father" 

"What strikes me as interesting, is that this is written proof as you said, that Black never betrayed your parents' location. He couldn't have" Hermione mused, looking again at the letter. "Unless Pettigrew died making everyone Secret Keepers?"

"No, I can remember the news article of his death. He died in the incident that resulted in the arrest of Black, having shouted at him in a busy street about betraying the Potters. I only remember because it was...the day before my parents were...weretorturedbytheLestranges" Neville blurted out.

"Oh. Oh, Neville I forgot" Ron breathed immediately after. 

"I didn't know. Is that the screaming you heard with the dementors, you think?" Harry asked quietly, moving to hug his godbrother. The taller boy shuddered and nodded before bursting into tears. Harry just held Neville as the older boy curled up slightly in the hug, soaking Harry's shoulder with heaving sobs. He could hear Ron in the background catching Hermione up on basic details.

"I'm, I'm sorry Harry" Neville said as he finally cried himself dry. 

"It's no problem Nev. It seems like you needed that, and I can easily clean my robe. I'm just glad to have been able to be supportive and that it was just us" Harry was quick to soothe, giving a soft reassuring smile when Neville looked up. Hermione immediately performed the necessary spells that hid the evidence from Harry's clothes before offering a wet wipe to the emotional Neville. 

"For your face. I always keep some on me just in case I get my period and can't run back to the common room to clean up between classes" She stated matter-of-factly. "And don't worry, Maman made sure they're the single use ones so you can just throw the wrapper and towelette out."

"Thanks" Neville murmured, taking the package and opening it. 

"Anything else you wanted to ask me while I have the area clear of any ability to overhear?" Harry asked to give time for Neville to clean up without the trio staring at him. 

"Not exactly ask but admit" Ron raised his hand, scrunching up his face before a golden ring with a red diamond appeared there. "When I went to Gringotts, I was pulled aside to claim this. Apparently, accompanying you to the chamber with the intention of fighting the Basilisk qualified me to inherit the Gryffindor line, which apparently has long since been dormant in the Weasley family. Only Dad knows, since Mum was a bit preoccupied, and I asked him to sort out the accounts for me. None of us can enter the vault until I'm 17 unfortunately, as with living adult family I'm unable to claim the Lordship, just the Heir position. But the manager is willing to move the investments around to get gold flowing in the mean time!"

"Wow. Now all we need is for Neville to admit he's Heir Hufflepuff too, and Hermione to find some link to Ravenclaw and we'll have all four" Harry giggled at the thought. Hermione looked thoughtful though. Before she could share her thoughts, the bell ending the previous class period rang. "Oh, shoot, we have to get to Runes. Nev, will you be good to head back to the tower by yourself?" Harry asked worriedly, scanning over his godbrother's newly cleaned face.

"I'll be fine. Go, I'm sure you're excited to learn" Neville waved them off. Harry smiled sheepishly, as he had begun to bounce a bit on his toes with eagerness. He took down his spells, before half jogging out of the room, waving over his shoulder to the departing Gryffindor. Hermione and Ron hurried to catch up, Ron clearly projecting his move to take the shorter boy's hand. Once they were linked, he subtly tugged Harry back to a walk. They arrived before too long, waiting for the stragglers from the previous class to leave. Katie Bell lit up a bit as she passed her teammate, stopping to pat his head quickly before hurrying to her next class. The trio then entered the classroom, taking seats at the front and pulling out their books and parchment. The teacher looked up from where she was putting her desk back to rights, offering them a quiet smile. Over the next five minutes, the rest of the class trickled in and took seats. 

"Welcome class, to Ancient Runes! My name is Bathsheda Babbling, I'll be your teacher for however long you take this course. Let me take attendance and then I'll explain expectations and how your first few months will be structured. Let's see.. Hannah Abbot, Susan Bones, Terry Boot, Millicent Bullstrode, Anthony Goldstein... that's everyone! Lovely, I always enjoy seeing who's interested. Now, we will spend time going through each rune as their separate meanings to start, before talking about the more simple basic configurations. I want to make it clear that any rune work must be approved by me before you add any magic to activate it. You all are novices and I have a record of being one of the safest Runes teachers because of this policy. I have posted extra office hours on my door so you know when you can come to me for any questions or double checking work. I promise I'm not scary, I'm here to make sure you learn safely and effectively. Now, we'll be starting with the numbers since they're considered the most simple. Demiguise is the common name for zero's symbol..." Professor Babbling began her lesson.

"We've lost him" Ron commented in amusement after class ended and Harry was off chattering a mile a minute with the professor. 

"Yeah, but can you really be mad? I've never seen him so excited for a class, even back in first year" Hermione pointed out.

"No, he was excited that first week. It was just overshadowed by everyone staring because he's Harry Potter, and his skittishness over the adjustment. And then he saw how things were going to go and he lost that excitement. So by the time we were friends, he was hiding his interest in everything but Defense. Couldn't be seen as not good at that, and he picks up those spells much faster so hiding it would be extra difficult. I'm glad he knows now, about his family and he's showing his excitement" Ron explained. Hermione hummed softly. 

"I was so focused on getting my work perfect that I never noticed that he started getting it not long after me at first before dropping off to hover closer to the middle" She sighed. "I hope I didn't accidentally encourage it by placing so much of my self-worth on being the one who knows everything..."

"You didn't. It felt safer to hide in the middle after seeing how much scorn you attracted at the time. I already was getting nasty looks from some people and I didn't want to give them more against me" Harry told her as he rejoined them. "Plus, if I thought if I showed myself as average, people would stop staring at me like I'm the next coming of Merlin."

"And how did that work?" Hermione cocked one eyebrow as they left the classroom. 

"It didn't which you very well know. Colin is one extreme example, but far from the only one. And...now that I know I have people to make proud, I feel less inclined to coast along. Mama and Papa certainly didn't, nor did Grandad. And I promised Uncle Charlus I'd do my best..." Harry admitted softly. 

"We should get going, we have Defense now" Ron reminded, speeding up to get to class. After exchanging glances, the other two hurried after him as fast as they could. They were just in time to line up with the rest of the Gryffindor third years. All were excited to find out it would be another practical lesson, though Harry was quick to tug Neville to stand between him and Hermione. When Professor Lupin stood up to Snape for the nervous boy and then asked him to start the boggart off, the trio reluctantly let him go to the front. Ron was shortly behind, making sure he was prepared to step in if Neville got too nervous. All of the students were excited when Neville proved up to the challenge, all cheering and those nearest clapping him on the back. Ron was quick to dispatch his acromantula, barely allowing it to form before sending it skating. Hermione, taking inspiration when it came to her turn, set the papers that had massive T's written in red on fire before they could bunch into more than vague shapes. At the end, Lupin was about to step in front of Harry, but the short boy ignored it and strode forward with determination. The boggart shivered before morphing into a familiar Slytherin Prefect and Head Boy, but where his stomach would be in his torso was the propped open door of a cupboard. 

"You have no hold on me. Riddikulus!" Harry snarled. The boggart let out an earsplitting wail, collapsing inward to form a black hole. None of the children laughed, but the boggart retreated all the same from the boy staring it down. The cabinet slammed shut and went silent. 

"Well...I suppose 5 points to all of you for facing the boggart. And...Mr. Potter if you could stay behind, I'd like to ask you about that" Professor Lupin spoke into the silence. He froze when the boy turned his familiar green eyes on him. 

"With all due respect, professor, I don't think you are in any position to ask about that" Parvati told him, going to stand next to the youngest in their year.

"She's right. The only one you were going to step in for was Harry, and that's before you knew his greatest fear. And mine was a professor at this school" Neville spoke up, taking courage from his easy success even with his father's wand. 

"If you must know, both of those are my greatest fears. Tom Riddle and that room. Unfortunately for the boggart, neither seems to have won out. If you'll excuse me, I think we all need something sweet after facing our fears with no preparation" Harry said coldly. All of his classmates nodded, folding him into the center of a mass of black robes. They moved to leave without dismissal. 

"Harry-" Lupin started.

"What right have you to use that nickname? I can count on one hand the number of people he has allowed that to! And almost all of them are in this room" Ron snarled, turning on a heel to face the new professor. 

"I...I was a friend of his parents. I'm sorry, I didn't realize-" 

"Then where were you professor? It would have been nice to know anything about them prior to coming to Hogwarts. I didn't even know their names until I received my Hogwarts letter, Aunt Petunia didn't want me to think they were anything worth remembering. Of course, I know better now. But if you call yourself one of their friends, I'm sure you know that already. Perhaps I will be willing to come another time to ask about them, but don't count on it. I know if Ron or Hermione had been the ones with a kid and they died protecting them, I'd fight tooth and nail to be in that kid's life even as a weird uncle" Harry's voice went even colder, and deadly sharp. 

"There were circumstances that kept me from doing that, and I did send letters..." Lupin tried. 

"I see. Thank you, professor for that attempt at least. But I never received any mail. Anyways, we have somewhere to be. Have a good day" Harry inclined his head before starting out the door again. His classmates followed, each giving the professor a brief assessing look as they passed. 

"Are you okay?" Lavender asked quietly. Harry dropped his shoulders with a massive sigh.

"No. I'm not. He managed to find one of the areas I'm sensitive about without even trying. And I really wasn't prepared to face my fears. Didn't even know what it would be until I stepped forward. And I didn't want to tell him those things but I wanted to reverse the hurt back onto him. I didn't even know what my parents looked like until Christmas first year, everyone said I looked like Papa with Mama's eyes but that's not true. I have her nose and cheekbones and if I spend enough time outside I get freckles like her. I also have her more slight build, though that may be because of my muggle family. People just see the hair and glasses and immediately think James Potter lookalike. But my knees are like Grandad's and my Parseltongue comes from Granma!" Harry rambled. 

"Henry.... were you abused?" Dean asked quietly. 

"I....yes. Yes, I was. But I found a way out over the summer. I won't give you more details for safety reasons, but I swear that I have a safe place to go now and I'm not returning" Harry admitted in a near whisper. 

"Stop me if you don't want it, but I'm hugging you now" Parvati told him, giving plenty of time for him to stop her. When he didn't, she wrapped him gently in her arms. He shuddered slightly, hiding his face in her shoulder. "I'm glad you had the courage to admit that to us. I know most of us haven't been super close with you, but I think it's time we change that. You sound like you need more people in your corner, and we're more than happy to be that."

"I want to change it. I want more friends, I just..." Harry tried to explain. 

"He needs people to meet him more than halfway" Ron finished for him. "I was the first friend he ever had. And I've been extremely jealous and possessive of him because of that. I think it's time I grow up a bit and realize that he deserves more than two friends who are ride or die. Not that I expect any of you to be ride or die as well, just normal friendship is fine!"

"It's okay, we understood Ron" Lavender said with a fond head shake.

"Blackberry" Harry called after dinner, seated on his bed with the hangings closed. The elf popped into being almost immediately.

"Master Harry? Is there something wrong?" She glanced around.

"Yes? No? I don't know. I just want to come home and talk to Mama and Papa if possible" 

"Very well, allow me to speak with the head here so they know you're not being kidnapped. I will return soon" She popped away, coming back five minutes later with left over pastries. "Let us be on our way. Take my hand."

"Harry?" Lily was surprised when her son popped in front of her portrait. "James, Harry's here!" 

"Hi Mama, hi Papa. I needed to talk to you about a friend of yours, Lupin and it couldn't wait until break or the weekend. I may have let slip some things and I need an idea of how he'll react" Harry explained, taking the seat that Skater brought over for him. 

"Remus? I thought he was abroad or something, since you never mentioned him" James perched on the painted chair's arm. 

"Is that his first name? And he's the Defense teacher this year. He seems to know his stuff, I had a lesson with him earlier. And he chased off the Dementor on the train" Harry explained. "He found a boggart and thought it would be a good idea for my class to face it without any preparation beyond a quick lecture and showing us the spell. Nev went first and absolutely killed it, I'm so proud of him. He tried to stop me from going, but I was on a mission so I didn't leave a chance. Boggart got confused, none of us laughed at the weird hybrid of fears it turned into for me, yet it went back into the wardrobe. Then Lupin tried to talk to me in private about what my fears are, and my classmates stopped him. He used Harry even though....I know he's a friend of yours but the most he tried to talk to me before was sending letters. I know it's petty and childish but he needs to choose a side. Either I'm his friend's kid and he calls me Henry or I'm a student. I can't be both!"

"It is childish, yes. But Harry, you are a child. And you owe him nothing. If he has chosen to stop attempting to see you so quickly, then it's more than fair to keep the distance. And I don't blame your classmates for closing ranks around you, even if it would be good for you to be checked on after something like that. None of you know him, and your teachers for Defense have been....morons. And that's the politest word I can think to call them. I don't like that he threw you all in without preparation" Lily frowned. 

"What I don't like is that there was a dementor that got close enough to you that someone needed to use a Patronus, the spell that drives them away. And Remus should know better. His fears even back then were....gruesome. I have no doubt he would be able to force the boggart into something of a tamer representation of his biggest fear, so stepping in wouldn't be a problem" James added. 

"They were allowed on the train briefly to search for Sirius Black. And I found out that he's believed to have been the Secretkeeper for the house in Godric's Hallow. Plus, he killed Pettigrew right before his arrest. Dunno what the team will make of that one, but it isn't my problem. I told Neville afterwards that it was weird the Dementor tried to feed off us because of my ring. He pointed out that between me, him, and Ginny Weasley, our compartment was too good to resist. Or the handler ordered them to check mine in particular since I'm supposedly the target. Anyways, after he made the misstep of using my family nickname, I snapped a bit. Told him that Aunt Petunia made me think you guys were not great. And that I didn't know your names until I got my letter. My classmates asked afterwards, and I admitted that she abused me. And that I didn't know your appearance until first year. They want to be my friends though!" Harry perked up at the ending thought. 

"I'm glad you're branching out more. Unfortunately, Neville's probably right about the Dementor. So, how Remus would react depends heavily on Dumbledore I think. Can the old man convince Rem that you're better off where you are, or that you were lying to hurt him? If he does, then expect a very frosty treatment. If Dumbles can't, then you'll probably be getting a lot of sad looks and apologies. Trying to prove he wants to be there for you" James shrugged. 

"Remus has shit self-worth and he thinks the sun shines out of Dumbledore's ass because he allowed a werewolf to come to Hogwarts" Lily added bluntly. 

"Ohhhhhh Lupin is your werewolf friend. That explains the mentioned 'complications' about being in my life. Still, I would try harder if it were me and Ron or Mione's kid. But I've always been ride or die."

"You get that from both of them" Fleamont chimed in from a nearby portrait fondly. 

"Dad!" 

"Monty!" The couple chorused indignantly. 

"Look me in the eye and tell me you both aren't as stubborn as mules when you make your minds up. Go on, you can't" The older Potter told them. 

"Well you don't have to say it" James sulked. 

"Grandad, what do you think?" Harry turned to face the other frame. The occupant heaved a heavy sigh before answering.

"James and Lily covered the majority of what my thoughts are. I knew Remus only for a few years before life got in the way. He went straight to being an ambassador for Albus with the packs, since the war was reaching new heights with so many of the Wizengamot Heirs coming of age. I was busy trying to do what I could from the side lines. I certainly was not up to facing the Death Eaters like I did with Grindelwald's forces. So I did what I could politically. And then we fell ill, and all thoughts of having visitors ended. Dragonpox is a nasty disease, and I was lucky to have gotten a strain that allowed me enough strength to straighten my affairs from my home office. All James had to do was 'rubber stamp' them" Fleamont explained. "From what I remember of the young man, he valued little more than paying back the kindness and opportunity he was given. I can't tell you if your likely position as a pack member's pup will override his loyalty to Albus, though it's more likely for you than anyone else. From what little I understood a different werewolf's explanation, many many years ago now, a werewolf's pack is...not exactly taming, but it is calming. It makes them less on edge, since they have someone to watch their back. They're still feral at the full, but they're also easier to redirect and have more risk assessment like an actual wolf does."

"We observed as much with Remus, after our animagus transformations began joining him regularly. The first two or three moons, Siri and I struggled to keep him in line. Peter didn't even come until halfway through the first year, since he would be easy prey to satiate the need to hunt. Once Sirius and I were established as pack, Moony as we nicknamed his wolf form, wasn't aggressive to us and we could easily get him to move on from a target. He became more playful, which was a relief. Don't get me wrong, Prongs was forever skittish when he began to get a bit rougher but it was manageable" James added his own insight. 

"Children of pack are also fiercely protected. Very, very few werewolves will go after children at all with the intention to turn. The one who bit Remus is one of the few ever recorded. Most of the time, children's attacks are wrong place, wrong time, and often much swifter kills from what's left behind. Scholars have debated why the wolf-form does it, but for normal everyday it's because werewolves struggle to conceive any children of their own. Women can't carry to term, even if in later months she physically does not transform. It's, unfortunately, one of the ways a female werewolf is told to deal with her shifts is to get pregnant so there's a few months break. For men, it's just the fact that their bodies don't know what kind of sperm to make at times" Lily shrugged. "Does it follow the more wolf-ish genes or the human ones? There's no research on the concept beyond observational studies though, and a few muggleborn's curiosities after being bitten and turned." 

"I didn't realize that it was that complex" Harry mused. 

"It is and it isn't. Our explanations make it seem more in-depth than most view it. After all, recent laws made it so that being bitten essentially ends any sort of decent life. And at the end of the day, the so called inner wolf is just another wolf that happens to be tied to a person's magical core. Which is why women don't transform when pregnant past a certain stage. Their magic physically represses the wolf. Means the transformations afterwards are hell, especially if the child isn't a werewolf and thus can't be within sight of their mother. She will go berserk trying to find her pup" Fleamont looked sad "It's how I lost my friend. She had a baby and gave up the wee lad because she was a... ahem, the best way to phrase it is she sold her body. She could barely support herself, much less a child. Her next moon, she was killed because she escaped her restraints and went searching for his scent and couldn't find any trace. A wizard recognized that she wasn't a true wolf, and took matters into his own hands. I only found out because she had left me something in her will, which triggered that next morning..."

"Oh, I'm sorry Grandad for bringing it up."

"It's not your fault Harry. Antonia was a good friend, but she was very proud. I tried to help, but she wouldn't accept it much like Remus. Unlike Remus, she was turned after school and was fiercely loyal to those she was close to and put no one above them. It makes trying to predict Remus' actions all that much harder since I don't know what is a werewolf loyalty and what was her." Fleamont accepted the hug his wife came to give. 

"I recommend you let it play out. Worst comes to worst, you just keep out of his way and your friends make sure classes are professional between the pair of you. I hope that Remus will make up for his absence somehow, but like I said before, you owe him nothing. You needed an adult who could keep the Dursleys in line at the very least if not removed you entirely" Lily reminded her son sternly. 

"It's getting late Harry. Why don't you have Blackberry take you back to the castle so you can get some sleep for tomorrow. As happy as I am to see you so soon, you need to focus on school and part of that is getting enough sleep" James added. 

"Yes Papa. Blackberry, can you?" Harry sighed in resignation. 

"Of course Master Harry" She took his hand and popped him back to his dorm bed, where he drew back the curtains to go to the bathroom.

"Harry! Look, McGonagall managed to get me into Ollivander's!" Neville noticed him emerging and excitedly told of his fast trip. 

"That's great Nev! What kind is it, if you don't mind me asking?" Harry perked up.

"Cherry with unicorn hair! And he said he'd take care of sending my Dad's wand back to Gran, since he wants to tell her off for sending me with a mismatched wand. Not to mention the fact that its owner is still alive if...if unable to use it" Neville blinked back a few tears.

"She'd probably get the message best from him" Harry politely ignored the tears, knowing his godbrother was still raw from earlier. 

"Yeah, we can only hope. But I can't wait to figure out if I'm good at things other than Herbology as much as I love it. I'm waiting until classes though, just for safety's sake."

"Probably for the best, if Ron's wand work difference between first year and this year is any indication...at least Charlie's old wand liked Ron well enough to go along with things. Your Dad's was a very picky one it seems?" Harry trailed off hesitantly.

"Yeah, it's ash, which is known to bond with only one person. Even if won in battle, it will be reluctant to do what the victor wants it to. The only reason it tolerated my use as well as it did was because I'm the son of its bonded, and I obviously wasn't trying to replace Dad. I just wasn't given much of a choice in my use of it" Neville shrugged. 

"You'd think your grandmother would know that. Oh well, I'm going to head to bed after I pee I think. It's been a long day" Harry waved one hand. 

"Sounds like a good idea. See you in the morning Harry" Neville went to his own bed to prepare to go to sleep as well. 

"Yeah, sleep well Nev."