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Chapter Text

Chaos reigned.

From where Harry stood, he could see and hear everything.

Noise had erupted around the Great Hall, as students from every house discussed his return. The Top Table was just as bad. Flitwick and Sprout were in disbelief, talking excitedly to Hagrid. Dumbledore had paled, clearly in shock at his arrival; Harry could see the trepidation in his eyes. Sitting toward the end of the table was a woman who looked strangely familiar, she was talking to Snape, who was the only one who looked bored at the proceedings, but then again, he was in on them.

At the Gryffindor table, Hermione and Ron excitedly called out his name while Neville eyed him up suspiciously. Harry flicked him a wink; he’d clearly felt Harry come through the wards.

Neville was not the only one looking at him that way; Susan Bones was also focused on him in a way that was disconcerting, considering he’d not had much to do with her the last time he was here. The blonde girl from the Ravenclaw table waved again and then conjured some bubbles, letting them drift along her table in the uproar.

At the Slytherin table, Harry saw, rather than heard Zabini wolf whistle at him while Draco, stared in shock, blonde hair gleaming in the candlelight; it was a bit longer than the last time he saw him, outside the kitchens all those years ago, and it had developed a bit of a curl. It suited him. Beside him Parkinson was eyeing Harry up appreciatively, from where he stood, he saw her mouth to the brown-haired boy opposite to her, “Draco is fucked.”

Beside him, Sirius was laughing while Remus groaned and rubbed his eyes. Minnie arched a brow and stated, “caused enough mischief yet?”

“Never Professor.”

She shook her head, “just like your parents.” Harry beamed.

“Thanks Minnie.”

She sighed, “none of that now that you’re back Harry.” She looked stern but the corners of her mouth had lifted, and Harry knew she was trying not to laugh.

Harry nodded, “it’s good to see you.”

She smiled at him, “it’s good to see you too.” She looked up at the other two, “all of you. You have been missed.” Sirius and Remus nodded.

She squeezed Harry’s shoulder and gave him another smile before she exhaled and shot a noise out of her wand. “Silence! We have one more Sorting to attend to.”

The noise in the Great Hall cut out suddenly, as people realised Harry was to be resorted.

“Mr Potter, if you could be seated.”

Harry shot her a grin, she knew he was Lord Potter, but they’d decided to keep that under wraps for now.

He sat down and she placed the Sorting Hat on his head. Unlike the first time, it didn’t fall to cover his face, so he could see the students craning to get a look at him. 

“Ahh Harry Potter. Third times a charm.”

“Hi Hat. Good to see you again.”

“Hmmm I see you’ve had quite the adventure…. How is Sal?”

“He’s good, he told me to say hi.”

Harry got the impression that the Hat nodded at that. “I see you have finally accepted your role in life, have finally understood who and what you are. Will you now let me place where you should have been all those years ago?”

“Yes, I don’t regret my time in Gryffindor, but I don’t think it suits anymore.”

“I agree, good to have you back, Lord SLYTHERIN!”

“Thanks Hat.”

Harry handed the Hat back to Professor McGonagall, he needed to remember to call her that now, and stood, the final word having been shouted to the Great Hall. He shot a look at his old house, he hoped that wouldn’t be a problem, he knew they were friendly with the other houses now. Hermione and Ginny were smiling at him, Neville looked all-knowing while Ron looked a bit shocked. He waved and then felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned.

“Harry, it was a pleasure having you in my house for all those years… Just because you’re no longer one of my lions, does not mean that my door won’t be open to you. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, I’ll be there.”

Harry nodded again, then surprised her with a quick hug. “Thanks Professor.”

He turned to Remus and Sirius who both hugged him then shooed him to his new house. “Off you go you bloody snake,” joked Sirius.

The three adults walked up to the Top Table as Harry turned and walked to the Slytherin table in silence. The Great Hall was in shock.

“What the fuck?” exclaimed Parkinson, breaking the silence.

“Language, Miss Parkinson,” said Professor McGonagall calmly as she took her seat next to Dumbledore.

“Sorry Professor.”

Professor McGonagall just nodded in her direction and then nudged Dumbledore with her elbow.

As Harry sat opposite Draco, Zabini, Parkinson, settling in next to the brown-haired boy, Dumbledore found his voice, “Ah yes, well, what an… exciting turn of events, best discussed over dinner, tuck in.”

With that, the food appeared on the table and the noise level crept up.

He looked around at his fellow Slytherins, “so… what’s up?”

“WHAT’S UP? WHAT’S UP?! That’s all you have to say?!” exclaimed Draco in a scandalised voice. “What are you doing back here? It’s not safe.”

Harry shrugged, “I just needed to come back.”

Draco seemed to have lost his voice at Harry’s answer and kept opening his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Harry was nervous at the blonde’s reaction and the butterflies in his stomach weren’t helping. It felt a bit weird being back in the Great Hall.

“You’ll have to forgive Draco,” said Zabini, leaning forward. “He never does well with shock. Heir Zabini at your service, call me Blaise.” He stretched out a hand. Harry shook it.

“Call me Harry.”

The boy next to him turned and shook his hand too, “Lord Nott, call me Theo.”

Harry went to respond but was cut off.

“Yes, yes, we’re all friends now, blah, blah, blah, what are you doing back here Potter?” interrupted Parkinson.

“Have things to do,” he answered, loading his plate up with roast beef, potatoes, and Yorkshire Puddings. He had missed the Hogwarts food, and you couldn’t beat a classic British roast sometimes.

“Things to do,” deadpanned Parkinson, leaning across Draco, who was now watching the proceedings with narrowed eyes.

“Yep,” said Harry, as he nibbled on a potato. “Heard you’re dating Ron. How’s that going?”

“Don’t try and change the subject,” she snapped, blushing slightly.

Harry smiled, “not the best time or place for this conversation Parkinson.” He looked around at the Great Hall, at the people trying to listen in on their conversation.

Her eyes narrowed as she took note of the would-be eavesdroppers, “would you look at that. Potter has learnt some discretion.”

Harry rolled his eyes, “well you live, and you learn…. It has been a while since I was last here. Plus, it’s not like you actually knew me during my first few years at Hogwarts.”

He watched as she stabbed the pumpkin rather aggressively with a fork and then exhaled. “Right, you’re right, of course, my apologies… And please, call me Pansy.”

Harry nodded and continued to eat, watching as the others now filled their plates.

“You might not be able to tell us why you’re back here, but can you tell us why you are here, at the Slytherin table specifically?” asked Theo.

Harry smirked, “I was always supposed to be in Slytherin.”

“What?!” they all exclaimed.

“But then I met this really annoying boy on the train and decided I didn’t want to be in the same house as him.”

“Please tell me you mean Draco?” said Blaise, as he snorted his pumpkin juice onto Pansy, who hit him in return.

Harry nodded, as the students started laughing around him.

“You didn’t want to be in Slytherin because of me?” asked Draco, speaking for the first time since Harry had sat down.

“You were a bit of a dick the first time we met, and then all the other times in between. Plus, you sort of reminded me of my cousin, and we do not get on. I wanted Hogwarts to a be fresh start, for it to be different from my other schools, I thought being in a different house would help,” answered Harry, trying to explain his thought process from so many years ago, when he and Draco had been vastly different people.

“Oh,” said Draco quietly. He started playing with his cup.

“We talked about this though, in our letters,” said Harry hastily. He didn’t like how small Draco looked. “I don’t think that now. We’re good.”

Draco looked up, face lit from within, “you’re sure?"

Harry smiled, “I’m sure. It’s a bit weird being back here but we’re good. I promise.”

Draco smiled softly at Harry and relaxed, “good, I’m… that’s good.”

Harry sighed in relief. The rest of dinner was spent making small talk, no one really wanting to delve into the deep stuff just yet and some awkwardness remained; Draco was quiet, watching what was going on but not really contributing.

Over the main course, he was re-introduced to Crabbe and Goyle, though he was now expected to call them Vince and Greg. Over the desserts he was introduced to Daphne Greengrass, who was Blaise’s girlfriend, and someone Harry had no recollection of from his previous stint at Hogwarts. He didn’t mention that.

Overall, his first dinner back at Hogwarts had gone well. The Slytherin’s, whilst still a bit confused at his presence at their table, had been friendly and welcoming, including him their chatter about their summers. The food was as a good as ever, and even with all the bad news from the summer, the atmosphere was one of excitement and anticipation.

However, Harry was happy that’d he sat next to Theo with his back to room. It was strange being back in the Great Hall. Even though he didn’t regret his decision to return, his previous stint at Hogwarts hadn’t ended well and being back here had dredged up some memories he’d thought he was over.

As he made his way through his treacle tart and glanced up at the Top Table towards Sirius and Remus. Remus was engrossed in a conversation with McGonagall, but Sirius was looking his way. When he caught Harry staring his eyes narrowed in concern. With a quick quirk of his eyebrow, Sirius mouthed “you ok?”

Harry nodded and raised his glass to him. Sirius flashed a smile back in return and was soon pulled into a conversation with Professor Babbling.

Harry put down his spoon and watched the dessert disappear as Dumbledore stood.

“Good evening. For those of you who have just arrived here for the first time, welcome. For the rest, welcome back.”

Dumbledore took a deep breath, and Harry felt the mood shift in the room.

“A few months ago, Hogwarts came under attack, and we lost one of our own... Professor Slughorn may have only taught you for a year but his history with the school was long, and many of your parents or grandparents would have known him, learnt from him, and admired him. His loss is one felt by many and the nature of his death has ramifications for us all. The Death Eaters that attacked the school were aided by a student, one who had been a valued member of the school community during her time here, and one who, when it came down to it, put her fellow students in danger. It is that aspect of the attack which I wish to address tonight.”

Harry looked around the Great Hall. The students at his table were tight lipped with narrowed eyes, and frowns. They were tense, upright, serious. Slughorn was one of their own and had been killed in their part of the castle.

The Ravenclaw students were huddled together, hunched up, looking guilty. Harry remembered that the student who’d helped the Death Eaters had been one of theirs.

The Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors were focused on the Headmaster. Hermione had a small frown, Neville looked worried, and Ron had a focused look on his face. Harry took a deep breath and focused back on the Top Table. He felt a bit out of place, not having known the man who’d been murdered in this very school.

“Unity is our greatest strength. In the past few years, the divides between houses have broken down and the school has enjoyed a level of harmony not seen in many centuries. We must not allow that division to creep back in. When we allow animosity and fear to fester, it creates chasms that are hard to bridge. Do not lose hope in one another. Remember, we are stronger, together and in the current climate that strength will be needed.”

Harry watched as his table mates nodded their heads in agreement. Harry knew from the letters that this group of students had been the determining factor in the breaking down of barriers between the houses. Them and his old Gryffindor friends.

Dumbledore continued. “We are on the brink of war; we all know this, and whilst we can take as many precautions as possible to ensure the security of the school, the fact remains that it is our choices that will determine said security. In times like these it is important to make decisions that will keep us all protected, but sometimes these come with a price and sometimes to make a choice is difficult. And so, soon we may all face the choice between what is right, and what is easy.”

Dumbledore paused and looked around the room, focusing in on Harry for just a second. Harry kept his face blank as he examined the Headmaster, making sure his thoughts about the man didn’t show; Reggie had spent months making sure Harry could control his expressions. Dumbledore moved on.

“To ensure your safety, Professor McGonagall has taken control of security. More wards have been added, including ones that detect any forms of harmful magic. In subjects where this type of magic may be required for lessons, the teacher has the capability to lower the sensitivity of the wards in their specific classrooms so as not to impinge on the practical elements of learning. Wards have been put in place on all entrances to the school that will scan the magic of items entering.” He cast another look at Harry with that sentence. Harry also saw Remus and Sirius nudge each other; they were clearly thinking of the Shack.

“I ask that if you have any suspicions that you inform your teachers, or your Head of House and steps will be taken to investigate. We take your security seriously and-”

Harry couldn’t help but snort at that. He caught Sirius’ eye and stifled a laugh as he rolled them.

“- so please bear that in mind. Now onto less serious matters. I’d like to announce some staffing arrangements. Professor Snape has returned to his position as Potions Master and remains the Slytherin Head of House and Professor Lupin has returned to take on the role of Defence Against the Dark Arts again and will be stepping in to assist Professor McGonagall in her role as the Gryffindor Head of House for the year as she has had an increase in responsibilities. Due to this, there is also some changes in the Transfiguration Department; Professor McGonagall will be teaching the fifth, sixth, and seventh-year students, whilst Professor Black will be taking the younger years. He will also be introducing two new classes, Basic Magical Theory for the first and second years, as well as Advanced Magical Theory to the Sixth and Seventh years.”

The older students around him started murmuring, no doubt wondering what this new course would entail. Harry smiled at that. He knew Sirius had been working with Whaea Marama to create a crash course in the key aspects of magical theory for the older students. It wouldn’t be as comprehensive as the course in NZ for the next few years, but the aim was to at least get the ball rolling.

“Now off to bed.”

Harry had missed the last part of the speech watching the Slytherins ponder the introduction of new a subject this late into their schooling. He shrugged, probably wasn’t important anyway. He stood and stretched and turned to leave.

“HARRY!”

Harry staggered backwards into the bench as Hermione flung herself into his arms, getting a mouthful of hair.

“Hey Hermione.”

She pulled back and punched him on the arm and then hugged him again.

“Ow, what was that for?”

“Running away, then waltzing back in with a ‘hey Hermione.’” She muttered into his shoulder. He laughed and she pulled back, a few tears glistening in her eyes, “I missed you, Harry. It’s good to have you back.” She looked him over, “you look good. Tall and no glasses. I’m sure there’s a story there.” Harry nodded.

“Let him breathe ‘Mione,” said Ron, wandering over with Ginny and Neville at a more sedate pace, a cautious look on his face.

Harry smiled and then winced as Ginny also punched him in the arm, “don’t run off like that again. You made mum cry.” She then pulled him into a hug. “It’s good to see you, Harry.”

“You too Gin.”

She pulled back and then Neville was upon him. “Harry, you saved my parents.”

“It was nothing Nev, you would have done the same thing.”

Neville smiled, “it’s good to see you, I’m glad you’re back.”  Harry smiled as Neville then muttered in his ear, “I think we need to talk about something else.” Harry nodded and let him go, “later.”

Neville nodded and then started talking to Daphne about something in the greenhouses, while Blaise nodded along beside her. Harry shook his head and turned to Ron, who was shuffling awkwardly from side to side, Pansy stood beside him, whispering in his ear.

Harry took a deep breath. He knew that this was going to be one of many awkward reunions. Deciding that their letters had been enough for now, he raised an eyebrow at Ron and spread his arms, beckoning him in for a hug. Ron sighed in relief and hugged him back, “mate, I am so sorry about everything. I was such a dick. I never wanted you to leave. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Harry let him go, “I know Ron, it’s fine. Your letters…”

Ron nodded, bright red, “still, I just, I needed to tell you in person. I’ve missed you.”

“Missed you too.”

“See,” said Pansy. “I told you it’d be fine. If he can forgive Blondie over here, he’d forgive you.”

Draco spluttered from behind Harry, “I did not agree to the nickname Pansy.”

She turned an evil grin his away, “you don’t have to agree.”

Harry laughed, it was good to see everyone again. He spent a few more minutes greeting everyone that he knew, promising to catch up with them all properly over the next few days.

As the Great Hall emptied out, Harry shot another look at the Top Table. Sirius twisted a butter knife into the table as he stared daggers at Dumbledore who was deep in thought. Remus, who was also glaring at Dumbledore, clearly noticed the hole that was appearing, and put his hand on Sirius’. Sirius shook his head and then caught Harry’s eye giving him a nod. Harry smiled and turned back to his new housemates.

“Shall we?” asked Blaise, reminding Harry strongly of Reggie. Harry nodded and followed them out of the Great Hall. 

They slowly made their way to the Slytherin common room in a slightly awkward silence.

“Ron told us about your excursion here in second year,” said Blaise, trying to break the tension that had been building. “Impressive.”

Harry smiled, “I still can’t believe he told you.”

“You should have seen everyone on the train,” said Pansy. “Everyone was shocked the three of you managed that potion at that age.”

Harry shrugged, “Hermione did most of the work.”

“We figured,” laughed Draco. “We’ve seen your attempts at Potions.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Harry. “I was alright at Potions! And it wasn’t my fault things kept going wrong! You guys kept sabotaging them and Snape hated me! Plus, I’m pretty good now!”

“Sure, sure,” drawled Draco while Pansy chuckled alongside him, and Blaise nodded along.

“Yes, well Snape is a lot better these days,” said Daphne. “He was really good as the DADA teacher last year, though I am looking forward to Lupin being back. He was great in third year-”

Harry nodded; he’d been in correspondence with Snape since December of 1994. He probably knew better than most what Snape had been dealing with. Suggestibility Charms making him hate every house except Slytherin, making him hate Harry, making him hate students. Harry was surprised that Snape hadn’t been worse, what with all the charms the goblins had found on him.

“What?!” exclaimed Blaise.

Harry, who had zoned out of the conversation, snapped his head around.

“Don’t you agree?”

“NO!” spluttered Blaise.

“What’s going on?” asked Harry, confused.

Pansy filled him in. “Daphne here thinks Professor Lupin is, what was it, oh yea…kinda dreamy.”

“What?” asked Harry confused, “you liked Remus?”

“Yea,” sighed Daphne. “He was so kind, and patient. And plus, he’s got that rumpled scholar vibe. But I watched him carry a second year to the hospital wing when they got too close to the Dementors that year and he didn’t even break a sweat, so you know he’s strong, he could definitely toss you around… and those sweaters.” She sighed.

“Ok, calm down, Daph,” laughed Draco, “you’re going to break Blaise.” He indicated the boy who was speechless and spluttering in the hallway.

Harry found the whole thing strange. He didn’t really want to think about students crushing on his parental figures, especially as he had a bad feeling that soon students would be crushing on both on them… and Sirius would probably be a nightmare; in his mind, only he was allowed to like Moony like that. 

Harry exhaled and looked at Daphne, “this is really weird for me… but you should talk to Sirius about the sweaters. He loves them too.”

Daphne smiled at Harry and then went to whisper to Blaise, while Pansy laughed at the look on his face.

From behind Theo piped up, “why are you still in the corridor?”

“Daphne is traumatising us with her crush on Lupin,” drawled Draco.

“Oh… right… that,” said Theo, “well we’re probably holding up Snape’s speech so we should get a move on.”

They all nodded and entered the common room, Harry following Draco through. Harry rubbed his stomach as he did so. He needed to write to Kaea, that weird fluttery feeling was back and this time he hadn’t even had any alcohol; what was going on?

Chapter Text

The Slytherin common room was a bit different to what Harry remembered. He was sure it had been darker and more dungeon like the last time he’d been here; then again, he hadn’t been of sound mind the last time he was here what with all the Charms on him.

He decided to take a more attentive look around the room he’d only seen once before.

Toward the front of the room were large round tables and chairs with lamps in the middle; these were clearly for studying. Some students had already sat down and pulled out their books for the year.

Scattered around toward the back of the room were green armchairs and couches with black fluffy blankets draped along the backs or arms, and black cushions embroidered in silver grouped at the ends. Wooden coffee tables, with different coloured coasters, and stacked with books accompanied each set of chairs.

Something caught his eye and Harry looked up. The ceiling was low, and dark, with inlaid lights to mimic the night sky. It reminded him of the entrance floor at Black Manor in France. Draco noticed what he was looking at and smiled, “look familiar?”

Harry nodded and continued his examination of the room.

Along the walls were flickering torches that gave the room a cosy atmosphere. There were noticeboards and old class photos in between them, showing the history of Slytherin House. There were some blank spaces where old photos had clearly been removed. Harry wondered if they’d been taken down due to the Death Eaters in them.

A large fireplace on the left-hand wall had a mantle carved with snakes and a large painting of the Forbidden Forest at sunrise above it; golden rays of sun filtered through the leaves. Harry smiled at the painting; he was sure that it was of the clearing Sal had built his house in. Harry had been tasked to find it. Sal just loved giving him things to do. His list kept getting longer.

And stood on the side of the room by the roaring fire was Snape. He looked the same; dressed in his usual black on black outfit, with dark hair hanging down to his chin, though Harry noted, it no longer looked greasy. He also looked a bit healthier than Harry remembered; he wondered if it was because Harry was seeing him with a clear mind for the first time or if it was something else. He’d have to figure it out later.

Harry stopped his musings about Snape as Theo, Pansy and Draco stepped up to stand next to the other prefects beside him.

“Now that we are all here… Welcome to Slytherin. During your time at Hogwarts this will be your home. The people around you, your family. As such there are a few rules you need to be aware of. Slytherins stick together. If you have a disagreement with another member of this house, you do it in private. Outside the walls of this common room, we are united. If I hear of infighting outside of the common room, I will intervene. If you feel the need for mediation for said disagreement you can utilise the prefects.” He indicated the students around him.

“The Head Boy.” He pointed to Theo, “or me. Failure to conduct yourselves as honourable members of this house will end in detention, so too, will missed homework, and nighttime wanderings.” He paused to look at Harry, who smiled to himself.

“As well as any other behaviour that will besmirch this fine house. If you are struggling academically, mentors will be assigned, and study sessions compulsory. If you have anything else you wish to speak to me about, my office hours are on the noticeboard. Questions? No? Good. Now off to bed, timetables will be distributed in the morning…. Potter, come with me, we need to talk.”

Harry nodded to the other students then followed Snape to his office just down the hall.

Settling into the chair opposite Snape’s desk, he waited. The man himself had sat down and appeared to be deep in thought. Harry didn’t want to interrupt him, as he was still unsure of where they were at now that he was here in person. 

While the silence lingered on Harry looked around the office. It wasn’t as austere as he imagined it to be. On the left-hand wall was a large bookcase crammed full of hefty tomes on Potions, the Dark Arts and Healing. To the right was a small sitting area, with two armchairs and a coffee table in front of a fireplace. There was a weird looking plant in the middle of said table, it was the only thing that could be considered decorative in the whole room and even then, Harry was sure it probably had other uses.

Behind his desk was a door that Harry knew led to his suite of private rooms. In one of their letters Draco had informed him that he and Theo had had to hide there when the Death Eaters attacked in June.

“Potter… “

Harry jumped and focused back on the man behind the desk.

“Call me Harry sir,” he replied.

Snape nodded and took a deep breath.

“Harry… before we discuss your re-enrolment, I think it is important we start anew. I know that during our correspondence over these last few years we have said our apologies and started to build a new understanding of each other; however, it would be remiss of me to think that carefully thought-out words on parchment would negate the years of tensions and spite that existed between us.”

Harry nodded again, not wanting to interrupt Snape but needing to acknowledge the words the man had said somehow.

He continued. “Harry… I am so very sorry about my treatment of you during your first few years at Hogwarts. I acted abhorrently and unprofessionally and whilst I am aware that the Charms on the both of us were a mitigating factor, the fact remains that I was the adult in the room, and I did not behave like one. I know we have discussed this at length in our letters, and you may feel that that is enough and that this discussion is not needed. But I am now your Head of House and in a unique position of power over you and I wanted to reassure you that I will not be reverting to the man that you once knew, and I promise to continue making amends for my earlier actions.”

“Sir, I’ve already forgiven you. We talked about this in our letters, and I have no issues with you being my Head of House. It may… take me a while to forget though, being back here is dredging up all sorts of feelings that I thought I had dealt with…” Harry trailed off and shook his head and then smiled up at Snape. “It’ll be ok… we’ll be ok.”

Snape nodded and tapped his index finger on his desk and sighed. “Thank you, Harry. I know that your mother had hoped our relationship would be one of Godfather and son. I know that that opportunity was taken from us and that you have been with Bl- Sirius for these past few years and that you are of age now and-”

Harry just sat watching as Snape rambled on. He’d never seen the man so nervous before.

“– and so, what I am trying to say is that even though we have a difficult past I would like to take this opportunity to get to know the real you and to potentially start to build the type of relationship that Lily hoped we might have?”

Harry watched as Snape fidgeted in his and smiled. “I’d like that too sir… mum’s portrait told me lots of stories about the two of you as children. It was clear that you were good friends before everything happened with Dumbledore and the spying… It would be nice to hear those stories, and others, from you, if that’s ok?”

“I would be happy to share those stories.”

Harry smiled at Snape, gaining a very small smile in response. Snape cleared his throat.

“Very well… now that we’ve cleared the air in that regard, we need to discuss your seventh year. I have your transcript from your school in NZ. I must say that I was initially surprised at the results you achieved but then you were always good at Defence, and it was clear that you could achieve an EE in most subjects even with everything else that was going on, so it makes sense that in a safe and stable environment you were able to excel.”

“Thank you, sir! I did try my hardest and my old school did things a bit differently. I think that helped,” replied Harry.

“Hmm, I did notice the subjects on your transcript… it seems that they’ve taken a more cross-curricular approach to their teaching of magic. It’s something I’ve not seen before. The European schools all do the OWLs like we do. Could you tell me about your classes there?”

Harry launched into a monologue about his time at Te Kura Mākutu o Aotearoa, making sure to explain how the classes worked, his assessments and the magic he’d learned. Afterwards, Snape asked a lot of questions, making sure he understood how everything weaved together to get a clearer idea of what Harry had covered during his absence.

“It seems as if you have covered much of the NEWT curriculum already. In fact, I think you could possibly sit your Charms, Transfigurations, DADA and Herbology NEWTs in the next few weeks if you wanted to.”

“That… had been suggested,” said Harry, thinking of Reggie. “There was talk of me skipping Hogwarts altogether and just doing my NEWTs at the Ministry, but I think I still have some things to learn from you and the other professors here, and I did sort of miss the place.”

“Really?” asked Snape, surprise showing on his face for a brief second. “Even after how everyone treated you in your fourth year?”

Harry nodded, “yea, even then.” He sighed. “That year was tough.” Snape snorted at his understatement.

“Ok, fair, it was a bit more than tough and I don’t regret leaving. Not with everything I found out and experienced while I was away… but Hogwarts always felt a bit like home and even though the Triwizard Tournament ruined it there for a while, I knew I’d always come back….” Harry exhaled.

“I know my grades are good, and I know that the way I was taught means that the NEWTs would probably be doable, but I do think I have more to learn, and I’d like to do that here.”

“Understood; however, this means that I will be informing your professors that there is a need to extend you in certain areas.”

“Sounds perfect,” answered Harry.

“Well then,” replied Snape. “In terms of subjects you have the pick of the lot. What would you like to do?”

“How many subjects can we do?”

“You can take either six, with an extra study period or seven, without a study period.”

“Potions, Charms, DADA, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Runes and History of Magic, if I’m allowed to pick it up?” Harry paused for a second. “Would I still be able to do the Divination, Herbology and Care NEWTs even if I don’t take the subject?”

“In terms of History, I’ll talk to Professor Rutherford for you, but there shouldn’t be too much of a problem. For the others, there would be an element of self-study required, and you would need to talk to Hagrid and Professor Sprout for the opportunity for some practical work in those subjects, but I don’t see why not. If you’d like I could investigate whether you could do them before Yule?”

“Yes, please sir, if you don’t mind?”

“Not at all Harry…. And what about Advanced Magical Theory?”

“I’ve already done it. Sirius has based the course off the one I did in NZ. When my teacher found out I was leaving she ran me through the rest of the course, and I did the exam before I left.”

“Ah yes, I think I did see that in your records.” Snape shuffled the paper around and pulled out Harry’s transcript. “Another Tremendous… nicely done. I must admit, I am looking forward to seeing how your classmates-”

Before Harry could learn about what Snape was looking forward to, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!”

Sirius opened the door, laden down with Harry’s numerous pets, and his shrunken trunk.

“Sorry for interrupting Snape, but I went looking for Harry in the Slytherin Common Room and was told I’d find him here sorting his timetable?”

Harry watched as Sirius kept his tone polite and friendly, making sure not to offend Snape in any way. Harry knew that Sirius and Remus both had plans to make amends to the man for their behaviour during their time at school. He also knew that Snape wanted to do the same in return. All of them had hurt the other during their stint at Hogwarts as students, and then again in Harry’s third year.

Snape stood behind his desk, tall, and proud, but without his customary sneer that was often present when dealing with one of the Marauders. Stiffly but politely, he answered. “That is quite alright Black. We have sorted out most of the start of year logistics.”

Sirius looked at Harry as he struggled to hold onto Sala, “no issues then pup?”

“Nope,” replied Harry happily, “it’s all good.” He wandered over, shoved his trunk in his pocket, and took Sala out of Sirius’ arms before she scratched him to pieces. She wiggled a bit before settling in his arms, purring up a storm.

“And who is this?” asked Snape.

“Sala,” replied Harry, filling him in on where and how they found her. A hissing noise filled the room, “oh and that’s Pep.”

“A snake, cat and an owl?” asked Snape. “That might be pushing it a bit regarding the limit on student pets.”

“Well, if we must, we can just say Sala is Sirius’. And Hedwig is in the Owlery or out and about. And Pep…” Harry patted her head and hissed a greeting before taking her onto his shoulders where she hid mostly under his robes. “Well Pep needs to be here… for reasons.”

“For reasons?” drawled Snape, sarcastically.

“Yep,” replied Harry brightly, “I promise I’ll explain eventually.”

“And will this explanation shed light on the fact that Pep looks like she may be a Basilisk?”

“Perhaps,” smirked Harry, giving Pep a kiss on the head, and Sala a pat.

Sirius’ cough didn’t hide his snort of laughter as Snape let out a long-suffering sigh. “I don’t know how I missed it the first time around, but you are clearly your mother’s son. Merlin, help us all.”

Harry laughed as Snape pinched the top of his nose.

“Is there anything else you need to sort here pup?” asked Sirius from the door. Harry looked at Snape who shook his head.

“Nope, I’ll head back now.”

Harry farewelled Snape and gave Sirius a quick hug. “Good luck,” he whispered, “and say goodnight to Remus for me.” Harry felt Sirius nod and give him a quick kiss on the head. “Enjoy your first night in the dungeons.”

Harry headed back to the Slytherin Common Room and made his way up down the corridor to the seventh-year dorms. He found everyone inside, sorting out their stuff.

“All sorted?” asked Blaise as Harry walked through the door.

“Yep, just had to have a chat about my subjects.”

“What are you doing?” asked Theo from the bed next to Blaise.

“Potions, Charms, DADA, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Runes, and History of Magic,” replied Harry.

“That’s a nice mix,” replied Theo. “Should be good.”

“Yea, I’m looking forward to it,” said Harry. He looked around the room. “Where’s Draco?”

“Shower,” replied Vince, from beside Theo.

“Ah right.”

Harry wandered to the other end of the room. He popped Sala down on the last empty bed, and put Pep’s enclosure on his new beside cabinet, letting her slither down his arm and into the warm space filled with rocks, sticks and plants.

Sitting down next to Sala, who’d curled up quite happily; he looked around. The beds were the same as the ones in Gryffindor but with green curtains instead of red, which was not surprising at all given the location.

“Who’s that?” asked Blaise from opposite Harry.

“Masala, we just call her Sala… She’s my kneazle; is anyone allergic?”

“Nah,” said Theo. “you’re good… She’s cute.” He wandered over and gave her a pat on the head.

“Yea she’s great,” said Harry, smiling as she started kneading the blanket on the end of the bed, purring up a storm as Theo continued to pat her.

Theo looked at the glass case, “and in there?”

“That’s Pep, my snake. She’s friendly.”

Blaise and Theo just nodded, while Vince and Greg talked quietly by the door.

Harry continued to check out the room he would be spending the next year in. The dorm itself was a lot bigger than his old one. Clearly there were some benefits to being in the dungeons. Gryffindor Tower only had so much space, even with Expansion Charms. The dorm was a long rectangular room with doors on either end. Along each side were three beds, and three sets of small dressers that also doubled as a bedside cabinet. At the far end of the room was a fireplace with two couches in front of it. On either side of the fireplace was a door.  One was shut and based on the noise of water coming out of it, was the bathroom. He wasn’t sure about the other door.

“That’s the wardrobe,” said Greg, who had noticed where he was looking from the left-hand side of the entrance where his bed was. “Each of us have our own section, though Draco often acts like everything in there is fair game, so be aware.”

“Thanks Greg,” said Harry, who sat up and started unpacking his trunk after he’d resized it. He placed some photos of his parents, and grandparents, and friends from NZ on the dresser. He also included a photo of his time skiing with Reggie, Remus and Sirius. Reggie’s face was obscured by sunglasses and a beanie, so his identity wasn’t at risk of being found out too soon.

“I’m guessing Draco’s is the bed between ours?”

Greg nodded and continued unpacking. Harry joined him, as quiet conversation filled the room. Theo gave Sala one last pat and wandered back to his bed.

Eventually Draco made his way out of the bathroom in a billow of steam, chest bare, pyjama bottoms slung low on his hips. Harry’s mind blanked.

“You’re back. Everything alright?” asked Draco as he walked past, drying his hair with a towel.

“Ah… what? Oh, yea, just getting reacquainted and sorting out my subjects,” stuttered Harry, face warming.

“Hmmm, he wasn’t rude to you, was he?”

“Uh… nah, we’re good.”

Draco nodded while Blaise started to tease him about his hair from the other side of the room.

“Shut up Blaise, you know Drying Charms make it fluffy,” snapped Draco, who turned his back on Harry, as he continued to fuss with his hair.  

“Oh,” breathed Harry.

Crisscrossing the bare skin of Draco’s back were long scars, the largest running from his right shoulder to his left hip. It looked like someone had tried to carve Draco up with a sword. Harry tried to get his eyes to stop from watering as he remembered the attack from his letters. He stumbled forward, only just reigning in his instinct to trace the largest scar with his fingers.

Draco stopped his banter with Blaise and turned to face Harry.

“Harry-” said Draco softly.

“You…. Ahem… You downplayed the damage in your letters.”

Draco smiled sadly, “I thought it best. I didn’t want to worry you.”

“I worried anyway,” replied Harry, faintly.                                                     

Draco shook his head slightly, “I knew you would… but there was nothing you could have done. And look… I’m fine. No lasting issues, just a few scars that are slowly fading due to Potions.”

“They were worse?” choked Harry.

“Just for a little while. They won’t fully disappear, but they will fade to almost nothing. Don’t worry about them, ok?”

Harry nodded, unable to speak. He knew coming back to Hogwarts was going to be a bit difficult but seeing evidence of the attack on Draco was not something he’d even considered. He knew that the attack had been bad; Sirius and Remus’ reaction at the spell that had been used had been enough to inform him of that, but knowing and seeing were two different things. 

Harry shook his head to try clear his mind, but the image of Draco bleeding out in a bathroom lingered.

From across the room Theo interrupted his downward spiral, “I get it Harry. When I saw them for the first time I had the same reaction. But he’s fine and she’s gone. Plus, Hermione and Snape made sure we knew how to do the counter. It won’t happen again.”

Harry exhaled. “Right, of course, sorry.”

“No need to apologise Harry,” said Blaise.

“It’s fine,” said Draco softly.  “Plus, it’s not even my worst scar, see?” He turned his arm to show Harry, a large, scar slashed across his arm.

“Is that from Buckbeak?” asked Harry, mind flashing back to third year.

“Yea, scars from magical creatures don’t really fade.”

“Tell me about it,” said Harry, showing a very faint scar on his right arm. “Even the goblins couldn’t get rid of the Basilisk scar.”

Draco frowned, “we saw that thing when we went down the Chamber in fifth year; you were lucky to survive.”

Harry sighed, “yea well… wasn’t the first or last time I almost died at Hogwarts. Trouble often just found me.”

“Do try to avoid it this time around please,” replied Theo. “I don’t know if I could handle the stress of it now that you’re in Slytherin.”

Harry smiled sadly, “I’ll try… it’s not like I really ever had a choice though.”

Theo sighed, “I know.” He grimaced and then shook his head. “Maybe Hermione has some hints on how to keep you out of trouble this time year… I’ll ask her tomorrow.”

Harry laughed, “doubtful, she’s often just as bad. Don’t know why everyone always thinks she’s perfectly behaved.”

Draco snorted and flipped down on his bed. “Tell me about. Ever since she cornered me on Christmas Eve in fourth year my life hasn’t been the same.”

“Didn’t you corner her at the Yule Ball?” asked Greg.

“Semantics Greg,” snapped Draco, waving his hand carelessly in the air.

Harry and the other Slytherin’s laughed as the two of them started arguing about the timeline of Draco and Hermione’s friendship. Harry smiled at their antics as he put the last of his things away and zoned out on the bed, patting Sala who’d snuggled up on his lap.

He was looking forward to seeing how these new interhouse friendships played out in real life; he’d heard a lot about them from the various letters he’d received over the years, and it would be fun to see in person. He was a little worried about how he supposed to fit in with them all, now that he was back. He knew he’d changed; that he wasn’t the same person who’d fled Hogwarts on his broom. And he was certain that the others had all changed too. They had to have, with everything that had happened here since he’d left.

He sighed.

What if he just didn’t fit anymore? He’d voiced his concerns to Reggie, after their final run this morning. Reggie had just ruffled his hair and told him to stop borrowing trouble. Then he’d made him a smoothie and reassured him that it’d be alright in the end. Harry had just nodded quietly, not wanting to ruin their last morning together for a while, but the thoughts had lingered.

So far, Reggie had been right. His fellow Slytherins had been friendlier than he’d anticipated. He’d been a bit apprehensive about his Sorting here. He knew it had been inevitable, but he wasn’t sure that they were ready for Harry Potter to be at their table and in their house. And even though his letters with everyone had confirmed to him that Hogwarts had changed for the better, reading it on parchment was different to seeing it in person. Sure, the Slytherins were fine now, but they’d yet to delve into anything too deep and only time would tell how things would truly play out.

He was also anxious about his relationships with his old Gryffindor friends. They’d seemed fine with him and his new house in the Great Hall, but that had been a fleeting catch up; there’d not been time for anything other than the basics. He really hoped they would be alright. He scratched Sala under her chin, deep in thought. Maybe a shower would help?

“Is it alright if I use the bathroom?” he asked the room.

After a chorus of agreement and a quick run-down on the quirks of the bathroom, Harry stepped into the hot water and let it wash away his worries. For the time being.

“Harry,” whispered Draco, later that evening, as everyone else drifted off to sleep.

“Yea?” breathed Harry.

“How are you finding Slytherin so far? Do you wish you were back with your old house?” asked Draco quietly, concern lacing his voice.

Harry smiled into the darkness and watched Draco from the corner of his eye “nah, I’m good. It’s going better than I thought it would, to be honest. I knew I was going to end up here, and I’d made my peace with it. I was mostly just worried that Slytherin wouldn’t want me.”

Draco inhaled sharply and started frantically whispering.

“That makes sense. We weren’t good to you back then. You had every reason to dislike us. To dislike me. I know I was horrible to you, and I know we talked about it in our letters, and I have apologised repeatedly. But letters are… easier. There’s a distance to them. You’ve time to think about every word. You can revise them or toss them and start again. In person… it’s more difficult… And I just need you to know that I meant what I said, and I promise I’m not what I used to be… and neither is Slytherin,” Draco sighed. “And if the in-person thing takes some getting used to and you want to keep your distance I’d understand.”

In the low light it was obvious that Draco was stressed, worried, like he still wasn’t sure where he stood with Harry.

“Draco,” replied Harry in a whisper of his own, rolling on to his side to look Draco properly in the eye. “It’s fine. We’re fine. We’ve been over this. I’ve accepted your apologies, we’re good. And I know Slytherin changed while I was away. I knew before I even returned that the house divide had crumbled, that you were friends with everyone. And, yea, seeing it in person is a bit… different…. But the letters from everyone helped me prepare and the changes haven’t been as jarring as they could have been. Then again, it’s only the first night so I guess I’ll wait and see… I just hope everyone doesn’t turn on me again.”

Draco nodded, eyes focused on Harry. “I can’t even imagine what it must be like for you.”

Harry hummed. “Yea, … Being back here…” He shook his head and exhaled, “I hoped… but wasn’t sure I’d ever be back and it’s…Last time…” He trailed off, the ghost of his last time at Hogwarts hanging in the air between them.

“Harry… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. The whole school was horrid to you in fourth year... and the last time we saw each other outside the kitchens I was such a wanker, and I’ve always regretted it. I was horrible to you. I joked about you facing the dragons. I could tell you were struggling, and I made it worse. And sure, we’ve discussed it but it’s different now that you’re back in the castle. I just need you to know that I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”

Harry took a deep breath. They’d already talked this all over. He’d apologised and Harry had forgiven him. He even considered Draco to be one of his closest friends. He didn’t want to go backwards with Draco; he just wanted to move forward. He had enough things to worry about without rehashing the past he thought they’d put behind them. He needed to show Draco that they’d be fine. He thought back to where it all went wrong the first time around and smiled. He knew what to do.

He stretched out across the space between the beds, “Hi, I’m Harry Potter, and you are?”

Draco smiled and stretched out his hand, “I’m Malfoy. Draco Malfoy, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” said Harry, still shaking Draco’s hand. “I was wondering if maybe you’d like to be friends?”

Draco rolled his eyes, looking so much like Sirius. “I’d like that. I think we could be great friends.”

“Well, I do know how to tell the right sort for myself.” Draco laughed at that, clearly remembering their second interaction. They smiled at each other for a few more seconds before letting go of each other’s hands.

Harry felt Sala tucking in beside him and he watched as Draco gave her a pat with a small smile on his face.

“Night Potter.”

“Night Malfoy.”

“I’m glad you’re back,” murmured Draco.

“Me too,” whispered Harry as he closed his eyes.

Chapter Text

“Harry? What are you doing?” croaked Draco from his bed, sitting up.

“Going for a run,” said Harry quietly as he pulled on his trainers.

“Why?” Draco asked, incredulously, rubbing his eyes, he cast a quick Tempus. “It’s 6 am.”

“I know, habit, I guess… sorry for waking you.”

“It’s fine.” Draco yawned, laying back down and snuggling back into his blankets.

Harry smiled as a warm feeling flowed through him. “Here.”

He dumped a slightly indignant Sala onto Draco’s bed. With one last glare for disturbing her peace, she curled up on Draco’s pillow. Draco rolled over and gave her a kiss on the head and closed his eyes. “Have fun you weirdo,” he muttered quietly as Harry went to leave.

Harry made his way up the corridors toward the main entrance wondering where the best place to run would be. Definitely not the Forest; he’d run around that enough.

“Harry!”

“Argh! Remus! Don’t do that!”

Remus chuckled and fell into step beside Harry as they walked up the stairs to the doors. “Sorry. Though in my defence I tried to get your attention, and you just walked straight passed.”

“Sorry,” said Harry, shaking his head.

“It’s fine… everything ok?” asked Remus carefully. “Sleep alright? No issues in the dungeons?”

“I’m good Remus, slept well. Slytherin was fine. Had a chat to Snape and sorted my subjects out for the year.”

Remus nodded, “yea Sirius said. He stayed back and had a chat to Severus after you left.”

Harry spun around quickly, “are they ok? Did everything go alright?”

Remus shrugged, “as well as can be expected. According to Sirius there was no shouting or insults, but he thinks it still may take some time before it’s all water under the bridge.”

Harry nodded and sighed in relief; that made sense. He turned back to the doors and dragged them open, walking out into the crisp morning. Remus followed. “Where are we going Harry?”

“Run around the grounds. You don’t have to come with me you know?” Harry took a closer look at Remus. “Oh!” Remus was dressed in trainers, trackpants and a football jersey from somewhere.

Remus laughed, “Reggie woke us up with his Patronus, said one of us needed to join you on your run.”

“Oh, you didn’t need to,” said Harry softly. “I’ll be fine on my own.”

“I know. But you don’t need to be,” replied Remus, pulling Harry into a quick sideways hug. “I’m guessing the two of you planned this before school.”

Harry nodded, “we both thought it would be a good idea for me to continue with the good habits I picked up. This is one of them… I didn’t know he’d wake you.”

“Smart move Harry, and it’s fine. It’ll be good for me, though I doubt we’ll get Sirius out of bed early enough, especially as it gets colder.”

Harry laughed; he’d long gotten used to Sirius’ hatred of early mornings and the cold. “It’s fine. I might see if I can rope some of other students in eventually. Otherwise, I’m ok to go by myself.”

Remus nodded, “I’ll try join you a few times a week, if that’s ok?”

“I’d like that,” said Harry.

They took off in a light jog around the castle.

The early morning sun was starting to rise over the forest. The sky a pale blue with a few clouds scattered across, their fluffy white swirls edged in glowing pink; a burst of bright yellow and orange decorated the horizon, contrasting the with the dark green of the trees. Below them, the lake, crystal clear, and completely still, reflected the scene with such clarity that it was hard to see where the lake ended, and the sky began. It was a beautiful start to his first morning back at Hogwarts.

After a few laps of the castle and a quick chat to Hagrid who was heading off to feed his Hippogriffs, Harry and Remus made their way back to their respective rooms.

The Slytherin’s were still fast asleep when Harry got back. Sala was now curled up on Draco’s chest, and with every exhale his breath ruffled her fur. Greg and Vince were both snoring from their beds on either side of the door and Blaise’s wand was vibrating on the dresser next to his bed, while making weird chirping noises.

“Blaise!” groaned Theo, pillow shoved on his head.

Harry laughed quietly as Blaise snoozed his wand with a grumble.

Harry readied his gear for the day and showered quickly, only pausing to check out his new Slytherin uniform. It felt odd to be back in Hogwarts robes, though he had to admit the Slytherin colours suited him in a way the Gryffindor ones never did. He was glad that he’d gotten used to wearing green in NZ otherwise he was sure he’d be fretting a little bit.

As he fixed his hair, the other boys finally started to stir. Deciding to avoid the bedlam of the first morning back at school, which had always chaotic in Gryffindor, he grabbed his stuff and headed up to the Great Hall.

There were only a few students scattered around the various tables. It had just gone 7.15 and whilst breakfast had technically started most students didn’t drag themselves out of bed until about 7.45.

Harry made himself a cup of tea and some toast, while reminiscing about Reggie’s smoothies; he wondered if he could get the house elves to make him one.

Settling in, Harry opened his History of Magic textbook. He was hoping that he’d be allowed into the subject, and as NZ didn’t really teach British history, for obvious reasons, it was the one subject he was behind in. He wasn’t sure whether he’d even have the class today, but his time in New York had taught him that he functioned better in the morning and he intended on sticking to his new routine as closely as possible.

He'd just gotten through the introduction when the bench jostled beside him. Turning, he found himself smothered by a large bush of hair, as he was pulled into a hug.

“Morning Hermione.”

“Harry, it’s so good to see you. I thought I’d maybe dreamed it,” she said pulling away, with a smile.

“Nope,” he smiled. “It’s real, I’m back.”

“And reading?” she asked, curiously, “at breakfast, which you are early to?”

He lifted the cover to show her the title, “I’m hoping to pick up History, didn’t do much of it overseas, obviously.”

Hermione nodded, as she made herself a cup of coffee. “It’s a really good class,” she said. “Professor Rutherford is one of the best teachers we’ve ever had. She’s from NZ so she does things a bit differently, but it’s been good. I think I’m going to have to drop it for this new course that Sirius is starting. Why they would introduce a new course in our last year, I’ve no idea.”

Harry laughed, “you’ll love it Hermione. Trust me.”

“Hmmm?” She looked sceptical.

“Yea. It’s based off what I did at my old school and it’s so interesting, and magic makes so much more sense to me now. My old teacher actually helped Sirius adapt it for Hogwarts. In NZ it’s a seven-year course.”

“NZ? Is that where you were this whole time? I thought you were in the USA?” she asked as she piled eggs on to her plate.

“I was in a lot of places Hermione. I was gone a while,” replied Harry. “Some I probably shouldn’t talk about yet.”

“Right, of course, sorry,” she said.

“No need to apologise. I know you’re curious. And I’ll tell you eventually but…” he trailed off. He had so many things he wanted to tell her, but everyone had made him promise to be careful, especially Reggie, Sal, and Rodnok.

“Not yet?”

“Yea, not yet. Sorry.”

Hermione smiled up at him, “it’s ok. What can you tell me? Where are your glasses?”

“I’d like to know that too,” interjected Pansy, dropping into the seat opposite him. “I thought you were blind as a bat?”

Harry laughed, “you’re right, my eyesight wasn’t great. Got it fixed at Gringotts just after I left. I still need to wear glasses if I’m doing a lot of reading.”

“But you’re reading now?” asked Hermione, pointing at his book.

“One chapter at breakfast is fine Hermione. It’s more like if I’m spending the day in the library then I need them otherwise by the end of the day I’ll have a bad headache.”

Hermione nodded in understanding while Pansy peered at him, from over her glass of juice. “Please tell me you at least got new frames so you’re not in those ridiculous ones you used to wear.”

Harry laughed, “yes Pansy, I got new frames, and Sirius made sure they were fashionable.”

“Good,” she exclaimed.

“We picking on Potter already?” asked Blaise as he sat down beside Pansy. “Surely it’s too soon?”

“It’s never too soon to talk fashion Blaise,” said Daphne, from Pansy’s other side. Harry had no idea when she’d arrived.

He quickly looked around the Great Hall; it had filled up while he’d been reading. Greg and Vince were a few seats down, working their way through plates of what looked like Baked Beans on toast. Theo was sat at the end talking to Susan Bones, probably about Head Prefect stuff. Ginny was sat at the Ravenclaw table with the blonde he noticed last night. Neville was striding in the doors; Draco and Ron were nowhere to be seen.

“Where are Draco and Ron?” he asked.

Blaise snorted into his cup, while Pansy smacked him. He looked around at Hermione who had a small smile on her face. “You know what Ron is like Harry, he probably slept in.”

“He did,” said Neville, sitting down next to Hermione. “He’ll be here in 5.”

Harry nodded.

“Draco is doing his hair,” said Blaise, he rolled his eyes. “Apparently it’s not sitting right.”

“Ah…,” said Harry. He touched the quick bun he’d put his up into after his run this morning.

“Yours looks fine Harry,” said Pansy, making up two plates of food, and setting one to her left. She turned and arched an eyebrow at Blaise, who sighed and made his way over to Daphne, dropping a kiss onto her head as she smiled up at him.

Harry looked around confused, but everyone else seemed to think it was normal.

Ron soon stumbled in the door, tie askew, dropping into the now free seat by Pansy. “Thanks Pans, this looks great.” He said as he started in on the plate of food. “Mornin’ ‘Arry. Sleep well in the dungeons?” he asked around his toast.

“Ah, yea, pretty good,” replied Harry, looking around. He was finding the breakfast routine to be quite jarring.

“This lunatic was up at six am for a run,” drawled Draco from Harry’s right.

Harry jumped and turned, “when did you get here?”

“Just now,” smiled Draco, “everyone was distracted by that.” He pointed at Ron devouring his breakfast.

“Right,” swallowed Harry. He gave Draco a once over. His hair looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. Blaise had to have been wrong; surely, he couldn’t have spent that long on it.

“Run?” asked Hermione. “Why were you going for a run?”

“Oh,” said Harry, finishing the last of his breakfast. “I just got used to going for one in the morning when I was in New York. I go for one pretty much every morning.”

Everyone looked at him in shock.

“But why?” asked Daphne aghast.

“Oh… A few reasons, I guess. I enjoy it, it’s fun. Plus, it’s good for you, and it helps with Quidditch. It’s also useful if you’re in a fight.”

The table around him stilled at his last reason, everyone going quiet. They knew that Harry couldn’t avoid the fight forever.

“Of course, Harry,” said Hermione softly, “those are all perfect reasons for wanting to run. But are you sure you should be running around outside by yourself?”

“Remus was with me.”

“Oh, alright then.” Hermione looked much happier, knowing Remus had joined him.

“You can come with me if you want?” he said, addressing everyone around him. Most people shook their heads. Daphne actually looked like she’d be sick, but Neville looked intrigued. Before anyone could agree to join him, a voice cut in.

“Gryffindors, please return to your own tables to collect your timetables for the year,” said Snape.

“Sure Professor.” Hermione, Neville and Ron said their farewells and made their way over to where McGonagall was standing by the other seventh years.

“Harry, here is your timetable, as discussed last night. Professor Rutherford okayed your entry into History.”

“Thanks Professor.” Harry examined his timetable while Snape made changes to everyone else’s. A lot of them needed to drop a subject with the introduction of Advanced Magical Theory.

Harry had a busy day first day back. It was a Tuesday so that meant History of Magic, Runes, and Arithmancy, followed by Double Potions. It looked like his easiest day was going to be Monday: DADA, Transfiguration and Charms, along with a double study while everyone else was in AMT. He was going to enjoy those days. He quickly scanned the rest of it. His last lesson on Fridays was double DADA; he was excited to see what Remus was going to do with all that time. Harry hoped he’d copy what they’d been doing in Offensive and Defensive Magic back in NZ. He’d love to see how everyone here would handle it.  

Draco nudged him and they swapped timetables. They had a very similar timetable except Draco wasn’t taking Runes and had to take AMT.

“Snape let you into Potions?” asked Draco.

Harry laughed, “yea, told you I wasn’t that bad anymore.”

Draco nodded and looked up, “want to be partners, if we’re allowed to pick our own?”

“Sure, I’d like that,” said Harry, smiling at Draco.

“What are you two up to?” asked Pansy suspiciously from across the table.

“Just comparing timetables Pans, calm down,” replied Draco, swapping them back.  

Hermione, Ron, and Neville made their way back over.

“She wouldn’t let me take eight subjects! I wanted to take History as well!” exclaimed Hermione, working herself up into an academic rant. Harry smiled to himself a little bit, he had sort of missed these.

“Just ask if you can self-study,” replied Draco.

“What?” asked Hermione, pausing her rant.

“Self-study. You do all the reading in your own time and then sit the NEWT at the end of the year, with everyone else. I’m sure they’d let you do it,” said Blaise.

“You can do that?”

The Slytherin’s nodded.

“Yea, that’s what you should have done in third year to be honest. Would have made more sense than a timeturner,” said Ron. Harry hummed in agreement.

Hermione frowned at Harry and Ron, “but if I’d done that, we wouldn’t have been able to save Sirius.”

Harry snorted. “Yea, maybe Dumbledore could have done his job for a change. As the Supreme Mugwump of the Wizengamot he should have been able to call for a proper trial. You cannot tell me that two teenagers and a Hippogriff is the best plan he could come up. Fucking useless old man.”

Everyone stared at his outburst. Ron’s eyebrows were in his hair, Hermione was frowning, and Neville was nodding in agreement. The Slytherin’s were staring at Harry with mild shock on their face. Shit, he was supposed to be keeping his disdain for Dumbledore a bit quieter.

“Tell us how you really feel why don’t you,” joked Pansy, clearly trying to break the awkward silence that was lingering.

“Sorry,” said Harry rubbing his head, trying to figure out a way to salvage what he’d just done. “I just…” He trailed off, struggling to find the words.

“It’s fine Harry,” said Draco, quietly. Harry exhaled and then gave Draco a small smile. He turned back to the rest of the group who were still looking at him and went to open his mouth, not sure about what would come out when he was saved by his Godfather.

“Pup!” exclaimed Sirius, rushing over from the Top Table. “Happy first day of classes!! You need to swing by this afternoon after they’re done. Tell me all about your first day and I can tell you about mine. And then you can give me all the secrets of Slytherin.” He winked at Harry.

Harry relaxed a bit as everyone laughed around him and the tension broke. He stood up and gave Sirius a hug. “I think I’ll have to keep some things secret,” said Harry. “Can’t be spilling Slytherin secrets willy nilly.”

Sirius snorted at that. They were the ones keeping the biggest Slytherin secrets.

“Of course, of course.” He winked again and then looked around at the other seventh years. “I get to see all you tomorrow. You better be ready.” He turned to Harry. “Snape said he set up some tutoring with Professor Rutherford during AMT tomorrow. She thinks you’ll only need to do it until December but it’s just to help you catch up.”

“Hang on, why doesn’t Harry need to do Advanced Magical Theory with us?” asked Ron.

“I’ve already done it Ron. It’s based on what I did back in NZ.”

“Oh, right.” He frowned. “You were in NZ? I thought you said you were in New York?”

“Ah, yea, we spent time in both places. We got to NZ at the start of ’96, I was in New York for the summer of ’95,” replied Harry. He was struggling to keep track of who knew what.

“But you left here toward the end of ’94, where were you at the start and end of ‘95?” asked Ron.

Sirius laughed, “oh pup, you’ve so much still to tell them! Well, I best be off. I’ll see you all tomorrow. Harry, this afternoon. Bring Pep and Sala.” Sirius gave Harry another big hug and rushed off. Harry was happy he was so excited to be teaching.

“Pup?” whispered Daphne, “that’s so cute.”

Harry felt his face warm but didn’t say anything. He liked that Sirius called him pup.

“Whose Sala?” asked Hermione.

“Harry’s adorable kneazle,” replied Theo who’d wandered over. “She’s cute.”

Draco smirked, “I’m her favourite.”

Blaise rolled his eyes, as Pansy choked back a laugh.

“Sure Draco,” joked Harry.

“Ok, but who is Pep?” asked Neville.

“Ah, my snake,” replied Harry.

“You have a snake?!” exclaimed Hermione. “Isn’t that dangerous? How is that allowed?”

“She’s not dangerous,” replied Harry, ignoring the part where she was, in fact, a Basilisk. “Plus, I can talk to her, remember, so she’ll be fine. And Snape said it was ok.”

His ability to speak Parseltounge had clearly slipped all their minds as he watched the realisation dawn on all their faces.

“Right,” spluttered Hermione, clearly unsure of what to say next. Luckily the bell for first period went and they all stood.

“Is History of Magic still in the same place?” asked Harry.

“Yea it’s the same room,” said Ron. “Are you in History with us?” Harry nodded.

“I’ve a study now so I’m going to go speak to Professor McGonagall about this self-study thing,” said Hermione. “Who has Runes next?”

Harry, Theo, Pansy, and Susan all raised their hands.

“You’re in Runes Harry?” asked Neville. “No Herbology?”

“No sorry, Nev, but Snape said I could talk to Sprout about self-study, so I’ll need to do that at some point,” answered Harry. “Should probably also talk to Hagrid,” he muttered to himself.

Everyone just stared at him. He sighed, he hoped this wasn’t going to become the norm.

“We should probably go,” said Draco, cutting Hermione off before she could ask more questions. Harry threw him a grateful look. Hermione could be relentless with her questioning.

“Right of course, I’ll see you later.” Hermione turned and rushed up to the Top Table to catch McGonagall while the others made their way out of the Great Hall.

As the two groups spilt, Neville pulled Harry aside, “we need to talk. Tonight.”

Harry agreed, “kitchens at 9?”

Neville narrowed his eyes and then nodded.

“Tell the others,” whispered Harry.  

Neville nodded again and then turned toward the grounds, making his way to the greenhouses with Daphne and Blaise. Ahead of them were some Hufflepuffs Harry didn’t remember.

As the rest of them wandered down the corridor the others gave Harry a brief overview of what they’d covered in History since he’d left. They all had positive things to say about the teacher, and he was quite looking forward to meeting her.

As he entered the History of Magic classroom and spotted the professor, he froze.

“Whaea?”

“Where’s the fire?” asked Ron, from behind him. Harry ignored him.

The woman in front of him turned and smiled, “Ah, I haven’t been called that in a long time. Welcome Harry. My sister warned me you’d be back.”

“Sister?” asked Harry confused.

“Marama, my twin.” Ahh, that explained it. He thought he’d been hallucinating last night in the Great Hall.

“She told me you’d decided to return home. She was most upset; made me promise to keep an eye on you. I’m Professor Manaia Rutherford. You may call me Professor Rutherford like the others, or Whaea, if you’d prefer.”

“It’s lovely to meet you,” replied Harry shaking her hand.

She smiled. “Thank you, Harry. Now how are you holding up?” she asked as everyone settled into their seats.

Draco pulled Harry to sit in the seat next to him and Harry just followed along. “It’s going alright,” replied Harry. “It’s a bit different to Te Kura Mākutu o Aotearoa but I’ll get used to it again.”

“Hmmm,” she said, smiling. “I do miss that place.”

“Yea,” sighed Harry. “Me too.”

She nodded and turned her attention to the class. “Right, welcome back everybody. I hope you and your families had a safe summer. I know that it was a tense one at times.”

Harry looked around as everyone nodded in agreement. Harry sighed, summers were meant to be fun.

“Now, we will be starting this year with an examination of the rise of communism and the impact of the Cold War on the world after 1945 until 1990. We’ll start by examining what happened in the Muggle world, looking at the economic, social and political factors that created the opportunity for it flourish in places like Russia, China, Korea, Vietnam and Cuba, among others. We will then move on to analyse how this in turn had an impact on the Magical world. We will be focusing on the increased authoritarianism that became a common feature of the Magical government’s as they tried to crack down on dissent in the name of fighting this ideology as it spread into our world. We’ll then analyse the impact of the number of conflicts that spilled over from the Muggle world into our own during this time and what this had on international relations. This time in particular is a good case study in examining the connection between the two worlds. So, we will use it to evaluate the relationship between the two worlds and examine the interdependent nature of said relationship. Like always, there is the expectation that we will treat each other with mutual respect and kindness over the course of this topic. Any questions?”

Harry smiled to himself. She was so much like Whaea Marama, he knew he was going to like this class.

The rest of his day went well. Professors Babbling and Vector were excited to see him in their Runes and Arithmancy classes. He didn’t really remember them from his previous time at Hogwarts, as he’d not taken their subjects before. However, they, like Snape, had seen his transcripts and had many questions about his time in NZ. Harry tried to answer as many of them as possible, but both seemed to have a never-ending supply. Both had had to be reminded that they had lessons to teach and had extracted a promise from Harry that they’d talk later.

Another person with a never-ending supply of questions was Hermione.

She’d sat next to Harry in Runes, with the aim of giving him an overview of the previous four years but it had soon become clear to her that he hadn’t needed the help. This, in turn, had led to a lot of questions which Harry struggled to answer. By the end of the lesson, he could tell that Hermione was frustrated with his answers, especially as some of his knowledge had come from the goblins and he wasn’t allowed to talk about it.

Her questions had continued in Arithmancy, but at least in that class he also had Draco, who soon got sick of Hermione’s incessant questioning and had snapped at her. This had led to the two of them bickering over the top of Harry while he did his equations.

It was weirdly comforting. Hermione and Ron used to do the same thing in their earlier years, so, whilst it was annoying, it was also familiar. Admittedly, Draco was a bit sassier than Ron had ever been and Harry had had to stop himself laughing a few times. He hadn’t been subtle, and Hermione had glared at him at one point.

Eventually though Draco, got through to her and she apologised for bombarding Harry with questions. Harry accepted her apology, he knew she was just excited to have him back. He could easily forgive her curiosity. In the end he promised to sit down with everyone in the weekend and explain everything he could in one sitting. This placated Hermione, and meant that lunch was a much calmer affair, with everyone else joining them to compare their first lot of classes.

Harry still found it a bit weird to be sitting at the Slytherin table, weirder still, was the number of non-Slytherin’s sitting there. Everyone else acted like it was a normal day and Harry realised that for them it was. They’d had years to get used to it. Harry hadn’t even been back a day.

Potions was both familiar and different. Everything about the room was the same, everything about the flow of the lesson was also similar but Snape was so different that sometimes Harry couldn’t believe it was the same person. He gave demonstrations of how to prepare the ingredients on the Draught of the Living Death which they were recapping, answered any questions that students had and gave encouraging advice as he wandered around the room.

The first time Snape had appeared at Harry’s and Draco’s cauldron, Harry had tensed, waiting for a scathing comment, but it never came. Instead, Snape praised them on the colour of their potion and then explained the best way to prepare the Sopophorous Beans with a silver knife. As Snape walked away, Harry let out the breath he’d been holding and bent over the desk, head in his hands.

“You alright Harry?”

“Yea, I’m alright,” replied Harry, running his hands over his face and standing up again. “I knew he was better, we even talked about it last night, but there’s hearing about it in letters and then experiencing it in person. It’s a bit bizarre.”

Draco laughed quietly beside him, as he added the Beans to the cauldron. “I imagine this whole day has been quite bizarre for you?”

Harry snorted, “yea. Some sixth year Hufflepuff came up to me in the bathroom after Arithmancy and apologised for saying mean things about me to their friends back in fourth year. I didn’t even know them!”

Draco smiled sadly, “a lot of people probably still feel guilty about that Harry. I mean, we quite literally ran you out of the school with how we were behaving. And then it turned out you were telling the truth the whole time, and that there had an escaped Death Eater moonlighting as our Defence teacher.”  Draco shook his head at the memories. “There was a lot of soul searching during that time, and everyone started questioning everything we thought we knew about you. And the more we probed, the more questions we had. We didn’t know if you were even alive until a month later. It doesn’t surprise me that now that you’re back, people want to make amends. You should let them.”

“Ok, sure, but in the bathroom? Really?” replied Harry, as he stirred the potion clockwise.

Draco snorted, “ok, yea, that’s not the right location for those types of conversations.”

“Tell me about it,” mumbled Harry.

“It’ll get better Harry; it’s not even been a day.” Harry acknowledged Draco’s comment with a nod and focused back on their potion, trying not to get distracted by the boy beside him, and the noise in the classroom. One was easier than the other.

The dulcet tones of Pansy and Ron arguing over how many Beans they’d added, drifting over to their side of the room could be easily tuned out, whilst Hermione humming a Muggle pop song as she stirred her cauldron, was doing so, so quietly that Harry thought he might be imagining things.

Draco though, was right there, cutting, stirring and muttering the instructions under his breath, all the while, making sure to check in on Harry as he settled back into Hogwarts. It made focusing hard, and only the continual movement of Snape around the room helped him stay on task. But he managed it and the two of them were able to hand in a perfect Draught of the Living Death.

As they packed up their cauldron at the end of the lesson, Harry felt a fluttering in his stomach and checked the time; he hoped Sirius had snacks.

Chapter Text

“Oh, thank Merlin, you’ve biscuits. I’m starving.”

“Nice to see you too pup,” laughed Sirius, as Harry sat down on the couch next to him and grabbed a handful of chocolate chip cookies.

Sirius and Remus had been given a shared suite in the Transfiguration corridor as it was the most convenient for the two of them; Sirius would be close to Professor McGonagall for their shared subject, and Remus was close by if she needed help with the Gryffindor’s.

It was a bit bigger than Harry had expected, with a small kitchenette and dining area attached to a larger living room, with a large fireplace and some comfy looking orange couches. Harry wasn’t sure on the colour, but with Sirius’ dark purple fluffy blanket tossed along the arms and the white cushions piled on top of them, they didn’t look so bad. Remus had bought some books from NZ and the Manor and had filled up the bookcase on the wall adjacent to the fireplace. He’d also added some photos of them in various parts of the world to the walls. It gave the room a lived in and homely vibe and Harry felt himself relaxing properly for the first time all day. 

Off to one side were two doors slightly ajar: the bathroom and the bedroom. Harry had had a quick peak as he sat down. From his place on the couch, he could see into both. The bathroom was like the one his Slytherin dorm, albeit a lot bigger and nicer. The bedroom was to be expected, a large bed in the middle of the room done in greys and whites, with an extra blanket on the side Harry assumed was Sirius’.

He sighed and flopped back into the cushions, pulling one of the fluffy blankets to cover his lap.

“Tough day Harry?” asked Remus, setting down a cup of tea for Harry.

He exhaled, “no, not tough but like… a bit draining.”  He took a sip and tried to explain where his head was at. “My classes and professors are great and it’s great seeing everyone again and I’m so happy to be back but… It’s weird. Like so many things are the same and then others are so different and it’s hard wrapping my head around it all. Plus, Hermione keeps asking me all these questions about what we got up to while we were away, and I can tell the rest of them want to know too. And, I get it, I want to tell them, but not in the middle of class where everyone else can hear.”

“Hermione has always been curious Harry,” replied Remus gently, who handed Sirius his own tea and then settled down on the couch opposite Harry.

“I know, I know, and I knew she’d be like this, and I’d be doing the same thing if she was the one who’d run off but… it’s not unexpected but it’s a lot.”

“Hmmm, have you told her this?” asked Remus.

Harry nodded, “sort of. Draco snapped at her in Arithmancy and she got the point he was trying to make eventually. We’re going to talk about it all in the weekend.”

“That’ll be good,” said Sirius from beside Harry. “Be careful though pup, you can’t tell them everything yet.”

“I know,” sighed Harry, thinking of their plans. “I think most of them want to know what we’ve been up to, but Hermione mostly wants to talk about school. She was so surprised that I didn’t need help in Runes or Arithmancy and she wouldn’t let it go. Especially in Runes.”

Remus chuckled quietly, “I mean, I’m not surprised by that. She always took her schooling more seriously than you and Ron in your early years here, and she had to spend a lot of time trying to get the two of you to study or do your homework. Add in the fact that she’s been taking those subjects since her third year, and as far as she is aware, you’ve never been interested in them, of course she’s a bit confused.”

“I guess,” said Harry quietly.

“You just have to get used to each other again pup,” replied Sirius.  “And it’ll come. You just need time. Same as me and Remus. Same as me and Reggie.”

Harry nodded, that made sense. He’d seen how long it had taken them to sort themselves out. He hoped it wouldn’t take that long with his friends.

Sirius pulled him into a hug. “You’ll be alright. You’ll slot back in or carve a new space. Don’t worry about it. You’ve not even been here 24 hours; you’re in a new house, new classes, and you haven’t had a chance to really speak to Ron and Hermione. It’ll be fine.”

“Thanks Siri,” said Harry, appreciatively.

“Anytime pup.” Sirius pulled back a bit but left his arm draped over Harry. It was comforting.

“Is there anything else you worried about Harry?” asked Remus.

Harry thought about all the things they had going on: Dumbledore, his lordships, the Wizengamot, the goblins, Sal, Tom, the wards. There was so much they had planned, but they had it in hand.

“Not really, I mean apart from the usual amount of worry, with everything we’ve got in the works, no, no new worries.”

Remus nodded, “you’ll let us know if that changes?”

Harry smiled, it was nice having adults who loved and cared for him, “Yea, Remus, I will, promise.”

Sirius ruffled Harry’s hair and then sat up properly and finished his tea. “Want to hear about how I transformed into Padfoot and scared the first years in my very first lesson?”

Harry started laughing as Remus groaned loudly, “Sirius!”

“What?! I’m a Transfiguration professor Remus… that’s how we start our lessons! Don’t you remember Minnie did that with us when we started?”

“She did that with us too,” added Harry, through his laughter.

“Yes, but she’s a cute cat, not a giant grim!” exclaimed Remus.

“Well, at least I’m not changing into a massive, terrifying panther like Harry!” cried Sirius. “Plus, they loved it…. once they stopped screaming.”

Remus screamed into his hands as Harry high fived Sirius. “Do not encourage him, Harry!”

“Sorry,” sang Harry.

Remus looked up at him. “No, you’re not you cheeky shit, look at that grin!”

Harry laughed again, “it’s just… they’re so tiny Remus, and Pads is massive… It would have been hilarious to see.”

“Soooo tiny,” agreed Sirius, cackling away. “Soooo funny!”

Remus took a deep breath, “Minnie’s going to kill you.”

“Nah, she loves me,” said Sirius breathlessly, as he tried to regain his composure. “It’ll be fine.”

Remus just shook his head, a fond and exasperated smile on his face.

The two of them proceeded to tell Harry about the rest of their day. Remus had just wrapped up a story about how one of his third-year students had managed to glue themselves face first to their desk when there was a knock on the door.

“Come in!”

The door swung open revealing the person that Harry was not ready to see yet. He wiped his hands surreptitiously on his robes, hoping like hell that he wouldn’t linger.

“Oh, it’s you,” said Sirius, tone flat.

“Ah, Sirius my dear boy, and Remus… and Harry, hello, welcome back.” Dumbledore stood there in bright yellow robes covered with dark blue stars and a matching hat, a benign smile on his face. Harry didn’t trust him one bit.

“What do you want Albus?” asked Remus coolly, standing up and moving to the door, making sure Dumbledore couldn’t enter any further.

“I just wanted to see how you were all settling in now that-”

“We’re fine,” interjected Sirius. “You can go.”

“Well, I was also hoping-”

“GO Albus,” snapped Remus. “If there are any issues we’ll go to Minerva.”

“Well now I am the Headmaster.”

“For now,” muttered Sirius under his breath.

“Now, now, boys-”

“Albus, you need to leave now. I will not ask again,” said Remus, in a tone so icy, Harry shivered.

Albus went to interject but the look on Remus’ face was one that brooked no disagreement, after a long pause, Dumbledore nodded, “I shall see you at dinner.”

As the door closed Harry let out the breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“You alright pup?” asked Sirius softly, rubbing a hand along Harry’s shoulders. He’d tensed up during the visit.

“Yea, just… don’t want to talk to him just yet.”

“Don’t let him corner you,” said Remus.

Harry nodded, “I know. I’ve got the Map on me, and I check it before I go anywhere.”

The adults both nodded. “And your Cloak?” asked Sirius.

Harry nodded again, “yes that’s on me too, and so is my dagger from Rodnok.”

“What about Suksu’s blade?” asked Sirius.

“Don’t be ridiculous Sirius. He can’t carry around a bloody sword!” exclaimed Remus.

“It’s in my bag,” said Harry, pulling it out of the bag he’d had specially made for his return to Hogwarts; he didn’t mention the other two blades that Reggie and Sal had snuck him. Sirius nodded, a serious look on his face. It was surreal that Harry had to have such protections on him, but they all knew the reasons why.

“Oh Merlin,” muttered Remus.

“Only I can see it and draw it Remus. And I’ve been training. I’m not going to just whip it out in the Great Hall.”

“Please do,” laughed Sirius trying to ease the tension.

“Please don’t,” replied Remus dryly.

Harry smiled, “got it. No whipping in the Great Hall.”

Sirius snorted while Remus buried his face in his hands.

The three of them headed down to dinner a few minutes later. Harry watched from the Slytherin table as Remus and Sirius wandered to the front of the room and were greeted by Snape and Flitwick. Harry realised he’d forgotten to ask Sirius about his chat with Snape. He’d need to speak to him about it later, maybe once everything had settled a bit more.

“Hey Harry,” said Theo, sitting down next to him. “Good first day back?”

Harry smiled at Theo, “yea, it was pretty good. You?”

“It was nice, easy, ended on a double study. Got started on the Runes homework. Going to head to the library and finish it tonight.”

“Mind if I join you?” asked Harry.

“I’d like that,” replied Theo. “We should probably invite the girls as well.”

Harry nodded, “Yea I think Hermione would combust if we didn’t.”

“Hmmm, I think she’d be the least of our problems. Pansy and Susan would hunt us down. It wouldn’t be pretty.”

Harry shuddered at the thought. “Why are we hanging out with the most terrifying girls in the school?” he asked.

Theo just shrugged, “blame Draco and Blaise.”

“What have we done now?” asked Blaise indignantly, sidling up with Draco and the rest of the Slytherins.

“Draco befriended the Gryffindors and dragged the rest of the house along with him. You added the Hufflepuffs, specifically Susan. And now we’re stuck with dangerous and intimidating women telling us what to do all the time,” answered Theo.

“What was that?” asked Pansy sweetly from behind Theo, who froze and then swallowed, hard, “nothing Pans. You’re amazing.”

“Nice save,” she smirked. “I do like that you think I’m intimidating.”

Theo sighed and dropped his head to the table while everyone else around him laughed.

Soon Hannah, Susan, Hermione, Ron and Neville joined them and conversation flowed. Harry relaxed and watched as his old and new house mates exchanged stories of their new classes and professors over food; swapping anecdotes and favourite moments while also reminiscing about the past.

It was something that he would have never considered possible during his first few years at Hogwarts. The animosity between the houses, especially Gryffindor and Slytherin, had been too great and very few people had truly attempted to cross the house divide.

Harry was so thankful that this was no longer the case. Hogwarts seemed happier and lighter without all the infighting. And it couldn’t have happened at a more crucial time; they were going to need all the help they could get to stop the war before it got too bloody. He just hoped no one he cared about would be hurt in the upcoming fight.

When dinner ended the seventh years headed up to the library to get started on their homework.

“This is going to be worse than the OWL’s. HOW do I already have so much homework?!” exclaimed Ron as they found a table big enough for all of them.

Harry laughed, it was good to know that some things didn’t change.

“Didn’t you manage to get some done in your study?” asked Hermione.

Ron flushed a bright red, while Pansy smirked next to him. “Ahhhh, no… I… took a nap.” That was new.

“Is that what we’re calling it now?” asked Blaise.

“Oh, shut up Blaise, like you and Daph were doing homework.” snapped Pansy, while Ron hid is face behind an upside-down textbook.

Harry took pity on him as everyone laughed and flipped the book the right way up. “Thanks Harry.”

“You’re welcome, Ron,” said Harry, smiling. As Ron met his eyes, he gave his eyebrows a bit of a waggle.

Ron exhaled, “don’t.”

“Didn’t say a word,” replied Harry.

“Didn’t need to,” muttered Ron.

Harry laughed and opened his Runes textbook; he only had the last question to finish and then he could move on to the Arithmancy equations that had been set. He started reading, ‘Ancient Runes are often only studied in relation to their role in magical rituals. However, scholars have argued that this obsession with magic has ignored the practical application of runes as a way to make the unknown, known through written communication. Discuss this argument in relation to Schulz’s article on early Runic writing. To what extent was the transmission of the runes largely determined by sociolinguistic factors?’ Harry smiled to himself; they’d covered this in his Ritual class in March. He started writing while Theo groaned next to him as he read the same question. 

Around him the rest of the table settled down and everyone started on their homework. There was the occasional bit of chatter as people asked questions or compared answers but mostly everyone was focused on their own work.

Harry noticed that he got a few intrigued looks whenever he answered some of the questions, but he decided to put it out of his mind. Hermione and Ron looked the most confused when he answered one of Draco’s questions about Potions. He knew that it’d been one of his worst subjects when he was last here, but he’d worked hard on all his schooling, and he wasn’t going to hold back just so he could fit with their perception of the Harry that they once knew. He just hoped that it wasn’t going to become an issue.

As 9 o’clock got closer, Harry noticed Neville and Susan start packing up. Susan said she had Head Girl duties to attend to; Neville offered to walk with her because he wanted to talk to Sprout again. They said their farewells and took off.

After a few more minutes Harry feigned a yawn.

“You alright Harry?” asked Draco, from down the table.

“I’m alright. I think I might go for a walk around the castle; reacquaint myself with it,” said Harry, standing up and stretching. He’d managed to finish his Runes and Arithmancy homework; he just had some reading to do for History.

“Want me to join you mate?” asked Ron.

“Thanks Ron, but I think I want to be alone for a moment… Today’s been…” He shook his head.

Ron smiled up at Harry, “I get it. Have fun on your walk.”

“Be careful,” said Hermione.

He nodded as he packed up, pulling some things out of his bag to look for the Map.

“Harry. Where did you get that quill?” asked Hermione softly, picking up his green and black quill that he’d placed on the chair.

Harry looked up at Hermione, “I got it in NZ at this shop called Parchment Palace. You’d love it Hermione. Remus used to drag us there all the time. I’ll take you one day.”

“Hmmm,” said Hermione, eyes narrowed. “It’s a nice quill Harry.”

“Thanks, it’s my favourite.” He replied, shoving it back in his bag. “I can get one sent to you if you’d like?”

Hermione smiled, “don’t worry about Harry.”

Harry stood up, “you sure?”

Hermione nodded, “be safe wandering around the castle.”

“And don’t forget curfew,” called Draco quietly. “You’re in Slytherin now. We can’t have you losing us points because of your nighttime wanderings.”

Harry laughed, “I promise I won’t besmirch the name of Slytherin.”

Draco smirked at the reference to Snape’s speech, “good, otherwise I’ll steal Sala.”

“You would not!” grumbled Harry.

“Would too!”

“Just be back before 11 Harry and it’ll be fine,” snapped Theo, who was deep into the most complicated Arithmancy equation and was clearly annoyed at the noise.

“Right, will do, sorry Theo.” Harry waved farewell to the table and took off.

Theo just flapped his hand as he scribbled on a piece of parchment, while Draco looked over his shoulder shaking his head, “no Theo you need to carry the …”

Harry chuckled to himself as Theo started shouting at Draco. He made sure to move to aside as Madam Pince rushed over to shush the seventh years. As he exited the library, he could hear Madam Pince berating them about how they should know better while his friends pleaded with her to let them stay and not to kick them out. He hoped they were successful, he had places to be tonight, and he needed them distracted.

Chapter Text

Harry made his way down to the kitchens, making sure to keep an eye on the Map in order to avoid Dumbledore as well as the hordes of students who all wanted to talk to him about where he’d been. He noticed when Neville and Susan were joined in the kitchens by a dot labelled Luna; that must be the blonde from Ravenclaw.

He got to the kitchen with only a few detours; he’d had to duck behind a tapestry to avoid some excited second years who were talking about how amazing Sirius was. Harry smiled to himself and made a note to let Sirius know that he was already a favourite.

After tickling the pear, Harry entered the kitchen only to find himself rushed by the house elves.

“Harry Potter!” cried Dobby, from the front of the pack, clad in a bright pink jumper with blue trousers, green socks and a yellow beanie. “You is here!” He slammed into Harry and gave him a big hug. As Harry patted Dobby on the back some of the other house elves greeted him, “Lord Snakey! Is you wanting a cup of tea?”

“Oh, yes please,” replied Harry, slowly prying Dobby off him. Two of the house elves sped away while Harry dropped to his knees, “hey Dobby. It’s good to see you again.” Dobby beamed up at him, eyes bright. “Thanks for looking after my pets yesterday, and for helping me sneak out of the castle all those years ago.”

“You is very welcome Harry Potter.”

“Hang on,” exclaimed Susan, from the table behind him. “That’s how you snuck out during the Tournament?”

Harry stood and turned toward the others, “no, I flew actually.”

“Are you insane?” asked Neville. “That’s so dangerous!”

Harry laughed, “more dangerous than a dragon?”

Neville grimaced as he thought back to the first task, “well, no, probably not.”

Harry gave Dobby a pat and then sat down opposite Neville, “so you see why I left then?”

The others nodded.

“Harry, before we start, I have to apologise on behalf of Hufflepuff. I know that we made your life incredibly difficult during the Tournament, that we blamed you for taking away the glory from Cedric and didn’t believe you when you said you hadn’t done it. On behalf of my house, I am so sorry.”

It was obvious that Susan was a bit unsure about where she stood with Harry. They’d had a few conversations since his return to Hogwarts, mostly about schoolwork, but prior to his departure they’d not really had much to do with each other and the awkwardness of their early years still lingered.

“Thanks Susan, I appreciate it.”

“I never thought you’d entered Harry,” said Neville, “but I am sorry I didn’t intervene with the Gryffindors, especially the ones in our year.”

Harry smiled sadly, as he took his tea from one of the house elves. “It’s fine Neville. In some ways it was a blessing that Hogwarts was so horrid during that time. If it hadn’t been then I would have stayed, and Merlin knows what would have happened.”

“You’d have been taken,” replied the blonde girl Harry was sure was called Luna, in a dreamy voice. “His plan would have been successful, death would have come early to Hogwarts, and the world would be a vastly different place.”

“Oh, right… well I’m glad that didn’t happen then. Sorry, we’ve not been introduced, I’m Harry. Luna, right?”

“Yes, that’s me. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lord Slytherin. Or would you prefer Lord Potter?”

“Harry, is fine thanks.”

Luna nodded, a beatific smile on her face.

“I have so many questions about that,” said Neville.

“It’s a long story, and I can’t tell you parts of it,” replied Harry.

Susan nodded, “did you always know?”

Harry shook his head, “I’ll tell you what I can, but can we start with you guys?”

Neville nodded, “sounds good, Harry. I guess I can start. My family always knew we were related to Gryffindor. I think we’re descended from his eldest grandchild or something. I’m pretty sure the lines merged in the 13^th century, though I’m not certain of the specifics; there was a fire at the original Longbottom Manor in the 14^th century, and a lot of records were lost. Anyway, it was a secret we always managed to protect. My grandfather was the Lord Gryffindor prior to me. My father never got the chance to claim it, and he doesn’t want it now. Grandmother was just happy the family magics claimed me.”

Harry nodded, along with the others, “I think we’re originally descended from the same couple Nev, though I think my line is from the youngest grandchild.”

“Is that why you were in Gryffindor to start with Harry?” asked Susan, politely, clearly unsure if she could ask such a question.

“Nah, I was supposed to be in Slytherin, but Draco was such a prat on the train that I asked the Hat to put me anywhere else. Plus, I’d only heard bad things about Slytherin since I’d entered the Magical world and so was worried about what would happen if I ended up in that house.”

The reputation of Slytherin had only just begun to change. The others clearly understood.

“Do you regret it?” asked Susan, “not going into Slytherin straight away?”

Harry shook his head, “no. I loved my time in Gryffindor… well most of my time there. And it was good for me at the time. I don’t think it fits anymore though.”

Neville smiled, “you’ll always be a lion, Harry.”

“Thanks, Nev,” replied Harry. He took another sip of his tea, “what about you Susan?”

“My family always knew we were related to Hufflepuff,” answered Susan. “The Smiths carried the family magics initially and then they married into the MacMillians and then they married into the Bones family about 1750. They’ve been with us ever since. It was supposed to go to my uncle and then to my cousin, but they were both killed in the First Wizarding War. As the next in line, it came to me when I turned 17. My account manager at Gringotts told me to talk to Neville, so I got in touch with him over the summer. We’d been talking about what it means for Hogwarts and had planned on finding the other Heirs. Luna found us.”

“Mother always knew we were of Ravenclaw,” continued Luna softly. “The family magics skipped many generations in my family as they were not worthy, but my mother knew they’d come for me. ‘Hogwarts needs the Heirs to be unified’, that’s what she used to always say before she passed. And I have always felt the connection to the wards. It’s how we knew about you, Harry. We felt you pass through.”

Harry thought back to the wave of power he’d encountered the night before. “I’m not surprised you felt me cross them. It was intense.”

“Do you know why? It’s not normally like that for us,” asked Neville.

Harry sighed, “I was warned that that would probably happen. I think it’s due to a combination of things. Firstly, I didn’t know about my connection to Slytherin until I went to Gringotts after I left here during the Tournament. I didn’t even know about the Potter Lordship.”

At that, Neville choked on his tea. Luna patted his back softly while he coughed. Susan looked furious.

“What?!” exclaimed Susan. “How is that possible?”

Harry tapped his fingers on the table, “information about my past and my family, was kept from me on purpose, that’s all I can really say at the moment.”

Neville and Luna nodded, while Susan narrowed her eyes, “does my aunt know about this?”

“Your aunt, as in, the Minister of Magic?” asked Harry.

Susan nodded.

“She knows what she needs to at this point in time.”

“Understood,” she replied.

“So, yea, I didn’t know about the Slytherin connection. And once I found about it and had access to the family magics, I wasn’t here so I couldn’t get used to the wards. Then you add the fact that there has been no one who had truly claimed the Slytherin magics in 400 years… what you get in response is over excited wards that overwhelm you.”

“What did it feel like?” asked Neville.

“Lkie walking into an icy waterfall in the middle of a tornado. It was a lot,” answered Harry.

“Will it be like that every time you cross them?” asked Susan.

Harry shook his head, “I was informed it would probably only happen the first time I crossed.”

“Who told you that Harry?” asked Neville.

Harry sighed, “that’s one of the things I can’t tell you yet. Sorry Nev…”

“It’s fine, Harry… you’ll tell us one day?”

“Of course… I don’t mean to keep secrets.”

“It’s fine, really, don’t worry about it. I’m kind of used to it. You used to keep all sorts of secrets when you were younger,” laughed Neville.

“Right, sorry about that” replied Harry awkwardly. Neville wasn’t wrong there. He was trying to figure out what to say next when Luna interrupted.

“What did you need us to do tonight, Harry?” she asked lightly.

“We need to update the wards,” he answered.

“McGonagall already did that,” said Susan. “Didn’t you hear Dumbledore at the Sorting Feast?”

Harry nodded, “I know she’s updated the wards. I also know that the goblins have been in as well-”

“They have? How do you know that?” asked Neville. Harry just shot him a look. “Right, you can’t tell me, of course.”

Harry smiled apologetically at Neville and continued, “those wards are all additions to the blood wards initially laid down by the Founders. The wardstone needs the blood of all four families to strengthen it as it’s the foundation of all the other wards; they draw strength from it. It used to be that every time someone was added to the family magics, they updated the wards. But it’s been so long since all four Founders lines have been present that they’re it’s well overdue. If we increase the strength of the wardstone tonight, then we increase the strength of all the wards. And I did some research and it’s a New Moon tonight so it’s the perfect time to do so.”

“Ok, that sounds fair,” said Susan; the look on her face made it clear that she had many more questions. “How do we do that? Where even is the wardstone?”

“It’s here, right Harry? It’s why you asked us to meet in the kitchens,” said Luna.

“Yea, it’s here.”

“The kitchen?” asked Susan.

Neville answered, “it’s where our one is in Longbottom Manor. Easily defended and what not.”

Harry nodded in agreement, “I was told we just need to ask the house elves. Dobby?”

Dobby rushed over, “Yes Harry Potter? How can Dobby be helping?”

“The wardstone, how do we access it?”

Dobby nodded his head excitedly, “we house elves have been waiting for this. Come with me.”

Dobby led the four of them to the large fire at the back of the kitchen. “The wardstone is being in there, Harry Potter, Lord Snakey, Sir.”

“In the fire?” asked Harry incredulously.

“No, no, through the fire,” replied Dobby.

“So should we put the fire out?” asked Neville.

A wave of outrage washed over them as the house elves started shouting in fear.

“No, no! This fire is never going out!”

“It has been going since the founding of the school!”

“If the fire fails, the school falls!”

“Sorry,” said Neville sheepishly.

“Founders is being able to walk through the fire,” replied an older house elf. “You is just needing to walk.”

Harry looked at the others. Luna was smiling serenely; Harry was certain she already knew where the stone was. Sal was right when he said that the Heir of Ravenclaw would know too much. Neville looked a bit shaken but determined. Susan was pale and sweating, “you want us to just walk into that fire?” she asked.

The elves all nodded in agreement.

Harry sighed; 24 hours at Hogwarts and he was already walking into a fire. So much for the Slytherin sense of self-preservation that Reggie had tried to instil in him. “Right, well… I guess-”

“I’ll go first,” said Neville, cutting across him. “Harry, you come through last. The girls can slot in between us. That ok?”

Harry nodded, happy to be the last one through. Neville squared his shoulders and cast a quick Fire Protection Charm over the top of himself. The others followed suit while the house elves shook their heads and tutted, “Heirs are not needing that.”

Harry smiled down at them, “it’s just a precaution.” He watched as Neville, Susan and Luna walked into the fire. Harry followed.

The fire was hot, more so than when one travelled by Floo Powder, but not too hot as to leave a mark. Harry wiped his forehead and took another step forward; he found that the fire was a lot larger than it had seemed from the outside. He had just taken a few more steps when the flames started to whip around him, sparks of red, yellow, green, and blue joining the bright orange flames that overwhelmed his sight.

As Harry continued to walk through the fire, the crackling of the flames increased, until the noise was thunderous. A deluge of magic rushed through the flames, swamping Harry in a bright swirl of colours and noise. He fell to his knees as the magic whirled around him. Soon the noise coalesced into something discernible.

Voices.

Harry could make out the voices of all the Slytherins who’d come to this place before him. Each one offered their own message of strength and wisdom; individuals who’d given their magic, their love, and their blood to the school, in the aim of making it a refuge for all. The messages were hopeful, laced with care and compassion, clear in their yearning for the safety of Hogwarts.

Harry added his own message of hope, his own desire for a secure and unified school where students could grow and learn in a nurturing environment. He thought back to his time at Te Kura Mākutu o Aotearoa and how safe and respected he’d felt there and how he’d wished that Hogwarts had been that for him. The magics continued to swirl around him and he felt rather than saw a blinding bright light as he made his promises.

The magic changed.

There was anger there now. Anger that it had taken them so long to return. Fury that the school had been divided for so long. Rage that Tom had harmed the Slytherin magics and through them the school. Harry accepted their wrath and promised to do better.

Another wave of magic rushed over him. Binding him to his promise. The voices twisting and warping until clear message remained. ‘Unity is strength; division is weakness.’

Harry nodded, as he wiped sweat from his eyes. He stumbled to his feet as the noise slowly decreased in volume as he made his way through the last vestiges of the fire. He tripped, falling face first into someone’s arms.

“Easy Harry,” said Neville, wand raised in his hand, a Lumos showing at the end.

After the roar of the fire, the silence of the wardroom was deafening. Harry coughed, a jarring sound in the otherwise noiseless space. He grimaced at the echo and wiped his face once more and looked around.

The other three looked like he felt. Sweat pouring down their faces, soot smudged on their cheeks, and clothes, hair dishevelled like they’d just played Quidditch in a storm.

Both girls also had their wands lit. Dust drifted gently through the thin beams of light, which were unable to truly penetrate the darkness around them.

“Are you alright Harry?” asked Luna softly. “You were in there the longest.”

“I’m alright, thanks Luna. You?”

She nodded, silently.

“Now what?” asked Susan, keeping her voice low.

Harry pointed toward the stone in the middle of the room. It was the biggest wardstone Harry had ever seen. It was an irregular shape, measuring about 1.5 metres across, and was as tall as Harry. It was a deep black colour, so dark it seemed to consume all light, the surface shimmered in the dim lighting of the surrounding room; veins of bright reds, yellows, blues and green in varying shades carved their way through the stone, reflecting the light of their wands.

“What is that stone?” asked Neville quietly as he let Harry go and moved closer to have a look.

“I think it’s from a meteor,” replied Luna, voice echoing in the dark.

“It’s gorgeous,” whispered Susan awed by the stone.

“What now?” asked Neville, looking at Harry for guidance.

Harry lit his own wand and moved forward, “I was told that we need to cut across the palm of our wand hand and lay it on the stone. We need to stand at the four cardinal points. Susan, you need to be North; Luna, East; Neville, South; and I’ll be West.”

As they all shuffled around to the correct spots, Harry tried to take a closer look at the room they were in.

Room wasn’t really the right word; it was more a large underground cavern whose edges disappeared into the surrounding darkness. It was hard to judge its size; the shadows were so impenetrable, they felt like a solid wall. Harry couldn’t even see where they’d entered, the fire having disappeared as he stumbled out of it.

“I was then told we just need to whisper the following: ‘Aequilibrium restituitur. Tenebrae et Lux. Terra et Aer. Ignis et Aqua.’ It’s Latin, something about balance being restored.”

“On three then?” asked Neville.

The others nodded. 

“1…2…3.”

Harry sliced his hand using his wand and laid it on the stone and whispered the incantation. Next to him, Susan and Neville did the same.

Immediately, he felt a tugging sensation as blood was sucked out of the cut and into the stone. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling; it reminded him of the only time the Dursley’s took him to the doctor, and he needed a blood test. He hoped there was a different outcome this time around; last time he’d fainted.

Across from him, Luna was swaying slightly, her face even paler in the dim light. Harry could hear Neville shuffling nervously from side to side as the wardstone continued to take blood.

Just as Harry felt like he could take no more, the wardstone started to glow a bright white. A pulse of energy shot through him and Harry felt a searing burn across the palm of his hand. He pulled it away from the stone, only to see a faint white scar where his cut had been. He noticed the others around the stone doing the same thing.

Another pulse surged through the room and above the stone appeared three figures.

“Children, it has been too long since the wards were fed. Thank you,” said a tall, thin lady with blonde hair in blue robes.

Harry looked over at Neville who was staring at the figures in shock.

“Do we bow?” he mouthed at Harry.

Harry just shrugged. Sal hadn’t mentioned this.

The woman with auburn hair in pale yellow robes laughed, “don’t be silly child. There is no need to bow.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t mind if you did,” stated the brown-haired man in red.

“Ric,” chided the lady in blue.

Ric rolled his eyes, “my apologies.”

“You’re the Founders,” whispered Susan in awe.

“Yes, my Heir,” replied Helga, the badger now clear on her pale-yellow robes. “We always speak to the new Heirs when they renew the wards. We’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

“Why are there only three of you?” asked Neville. “Where is Slytherin?”

“Harry’s already spoken to Sal,” replied Godric, with a wink. “Tell him I say hi!”

The other three whipped their heads around to look at Harry.

“How?” asked Susan, suspiciously.

Harry exhaled, “it’s a-”

“Long story” chimed Neville and Luna in unison. Susan rolled her eyes.

Ric laughed, “I’m glad our families are friendly again. It’s been too long since the houses have been unified. Hogwarts and the Magical world have suffered as a result.”

“Now that the houses are unified, you must unify the magical world. For too long have magical beings been pushed to the fringes of society. You must right this wrong and restore balance to the world,” said Rowena.

“Harry, you have begun this journey, and I ask you to continue on the path that Sal has put you on. You must treat with the merpeople and centaurs on the night of the full moon. The others must go with you. Do this, and Hogwarts will be secure again,” said Helga.

Harry nodded, “do I need to send them a note or something?”

Helga laughed, “no child, you just need to find the glade where the stars are brightest, and the river runs clear. They will be waiting.”

“Ok, we can do that,” said Harry.

“What else would you like us to do?” asked Susan.

“Maintain the course you are on,” replied Ric. “And when confused, seek the answers in each other.”

“Right,” said Susan, eyes narrowed. Harry could see her frustration leaking through at the vague answer. The Founders saw it too and chuckled.

“We cannot see the future, dear child. We can only advise based on what we have seen,” said Rowena.

“Your generation has done well,” said Helga. “Stick together and you’ll be stronger for it.” She sighed, “now sorry Harry dear, but we must speak with our Heirs, you understand?”

Harry nodded and waited patiently while the Founders had a quick chat to their respective Heirs. Harry had never been happier that Sal was just an owl away. He started composing the letter he was going to send him in his mind.

After a few minutes the Founders drifted back to above the wardstone.

“You have done well children,” said Rowena. “Now you must be off. A third pulse will soon send you to your respective dormitories.”

“If you have any questions for us, let Harry know. He can get in touch with Sal,” said Ric.

“Farewell and good luck,” said Helga.

With one last flare of bright white light, the wardstone pulsed again. This one was the largest so far and Harry was sure everyone in Hogwarts felt it, even if they didn’t know what it was.

As the light engulfed him, he saw the three Founders blink out of existence. With a lurch and a twist, Harry found himself in the middle of his dorm. He blinked the light out of his eyes as noise erupted around him.

“What the fuck Potter?” yelled Blaise, from his bed.

“Where did you come from?” exclaimed Theo, rubbing his eyes.

“Did you just Apparate inside the school?” asked Greg.

Harry spread his arms wide, “ta daaaa!! Magic!... OUCH!” Harry rubbed his face where Draco’s pillow had hit him, “what was that for?”

“It’s 11.30, you just appeared out of nowhere, with a bright light surrounding you! Also, you missed curfew, and we had to tell Snape you were in the shower because he came looking for you not long ago. Where’ve you been? You left the library at 9!!” snapped Draco.

“I’ve been around,” replied Harry.

“Around?” deadpanned Theo. “Doing what may I ask?”

“Things. Stuff…Hmppf! Stop throwing pillows at me!”

“24 hours! It only took 24 hours before you started causing trouble,” cried Draco.

Harry sighed and sat down on his bed.  “I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t realise I’d been gone that long. It felt like I’d only been gone an hour.”

“Can you tell us what you were doing?” asked Blaise, curiously. “You’re covered in soot.”

Harry shook his head, “not yet, but soon.”

Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry. “You promise?”

Harry nodded. “Ok then,” said Draco. “Go shower, you’re a mess!”

Harry gave one more round of apologies as he readied his pyjamas. As he entered the bathroom, he heard Vince exclaim, “at least I’m not going to be the problematic one this year.”

“SHUT UP VINCE!”

Chapter Text

Harry crept his way out of the dorm for his morning run. The last thing he wanted to do was wake his fellow Slytherins after his blinding arrival the night before.

As he exited the common room he stifled a yawn. Six hours sleep was not enough. He needed an early night.

“You alright Harry?”

He jumped and spun, wand raised. “Remus, Merlin, don’t do that.” He exhaled.

“Bit tired there?”

“Yea, late night.”

Remus frowned at Harry. “Me too, got called to an emergency staff meeting about 11.30pm… Don’t suppose you had anything to do with the pulse of magic that went through the school?”

Harry sighed and pulled out the Map to make sure they were alone. When he saw there was no one around him, he answered Remus, “yea that was me and the other Hogwarts Heirs. Sal told me we needed to update the blood wards.”

“Ah, well that makes sense then,” replied Remus, though it was clear he had more to say. “You gave Albus quite a shock. He woke us all thinking Tom was attacking and that the wards had fallen.” Remus shook his head with a laugh, “he got into quite a row with Minerva about it, especially when it turned out the wards were fine and it was a false alarm.”

“Whoops.”

Remus chuckled, “a little warning next time would be nice. I take it you were successful?”

Harry nodded, “yep, just need to let him know.” He pulled out the letter he’d written last night after his shower. He’d written one for Reggie as well.

“I thought we were going for a run?” asked Remus.

“We are but we’re going to run up the stairs of the Owlery first.”

Remus laughed, “you’re on your own with that one. I’ll follow behind at a sedate pace, but I am not running up those stairs.”

“Suit yourself,” laughed Harry as they made it to the entrance to the tower. With a quick wink at Remus, Harry took off up the stairs.

When he finally stumbled into the Owlery his lungs and legs were burning. Bent over, he tried to catch his breath as the owls stirred around him. With a gentle hoot, a rustle of wings, a weight landed on his shoulders.

Harry stood, “hey Hedwig.” He gave her a pat on the head. It’d only been two days, but he’d missed his faithful companion.

“Is it good to be back?” She hooted and then nipped his finger lightly. With a smile he set her down on the table so he could attach the letters. “This is for Reggie, and this one is for Sal. I’ve told him to send one of the Manor owls to Greece, so you don’t have to go so far.” Hedwig hooted again.

“You’ve a friend for life there Harry,” said Remus, from the door.

“I know,” said Harry, carrying Hedwig to the window. “She’s the best. Be safe girl.” With a gentle nip, Hedwig took off out the window, into the crisp autumn morning.

“Right, shall we?” asked Harry.

“Please don’t run down the stairs Harry,” sighed Remus.

Harry and Remus made it safely down the stairs of the Owlery and on to the grounds. After half an hour they headed inside to get ready for the day.

Harry stumbled into the Slytherin dorm as Draco got out of bed.

“Is this going to be a thing?” asked Draco, eyeing Harry’s sweaty face and messy hair. Harry wiped his face quickly.

Harry laughed, “ah, yea, want to join me?”

Draco looked thoughtful, “maybe next week. Might get the team to join you actually?”

“Team?”

“The Slytherin Quidditch team.” Draco gave Harry a look, “you are going out for the team, right?”

“I wasn’t planning on it. You’re the Captain and the Seeker.”

“Exactly, and as the Captain, I need to make the best decision for the team. Which means you will be trialling and if you’re any good I can move to Chaser.”

“Are you sure?” asked Harry. He loved the idea of playing Quidditch again but had read too many of Draco’s letters about his love of the sport to even contemplate going out for the same position as him. But if Draco didn’t mind, well then Harry would definitely be trialling.

“Absolutely,” replied Draco. “I want to watch the Gryffindor’s cry into their brooms as their former Seeker leads Slytherin to the biggest win in Hogwarts history. It’ll be glorious.”

“Ah, of course, sounds reasonable,” joked Harry.

From a bed behind them, Theo groaned. “How are you already talking about Quidditch?! The seasons not even started!”

“I’m trying to go for three championships in a row Theodore. You should be supportive of my goals as a Slytherin and the Head Boy.”

“It’s too early for this!” he retorted.

Harry left the two of them arguing in the room to go shower. After getting ready for the day and giving Sala some treats and a brief chat to Pep, Harry headed to the Great Hall with Draco.

Hermione was sitting at the Gryffindor table when they entered so Draco steered them that way.

“Morning ‘Mione,” said Harry as he sat down opposite her.

“Good morning, Harry, Draco.”

Draco nodded her way as he fixed himself a cup of tea. Harry followed suit.

Over breakfast the three of them talked about their classes for the day, with Hermione grilling Harry on everything he knew about AMT. Draco soon remembered that Harry had already completed the course and joined Hermione in interrogating him.

Harry had tried to answer their questions without potentially ruining Sirius’ lessons and only the arrival of Seamus and Dean had shut them up.

Soon the rest of the seventh year Gryffindor’s had arrived and with that the interrogation ended.

Breakfast became a rowdy affair. Ron and Pansy had wandered over and were soon joined by Luna and Ginny. Blaise and Daphne were down one end of the table arguing about some plant with Neville, with Hannah chiming in occasionally. Pavarti, Padma, and Lavendar wandered over at one point to say hi to Harry.  So too did Justin, Anthony and Ernie, all of whom offered their apologies for their behaviour during his fourth year. The sheer number of people trying to talk to him before 8 o’clock was overwhelming him.

Luckily the arrival of the morning post ended the impromptu get together, however, the front page of the Daily Prophet soon had the Hall up in arms.

Harry Potter Returns to Hogwarts!

Is here to help us or harm us?

By Rita Skeeter

The Boy Who Lived has finally decided to grace us with his presence after his unusual disappearance during the beginning stages of the Triwizard Tournament.

If you remember rightly, a few years ago, the Goblet of Fire declared Harry Potter the fourth Triwizard Champion. Now, this poor boy spent the first month trying to convince everyone that he was innocent, that he’d never entered. Alas, the pressure of the Tournament made him crack, and he disappeared. A Ministry investigation into the disappearance found that Potter’s name had been entered by escaped Death Eater Barty Crouch Junior. After admitting his role in the ruse, Crouch was sentenced to the Kiss.

Since then, no one has seen hide nor hair of Harry Potter, that is until the first of September, where after a late and grandiose entrance, Harry Potter was readmitted to Hogwarts. In a shocking twist none of us saw coming, Harry Potter was re-Sorted into Slytherin. One wonders what he got up to…

“Ugh, can’t say I missed this,” said Harry, as the tossed the paper onto the table.

He glanced up at the Top Table. Sirius and Remus were both watching him carefully. He shot them a quick smile, and a thumbs up. Rita Skeeter hadn’t got any less annoying in the time he’d been gone, but they’d planned on the Prophet announcing his return, it had just been a matter of when they announced it. Now they just had to wait and see what would happen next.

Around him, the Gryffindor’s and Slytherins were ranting about the article. Harry laughed as Daphne and Hermione joined together to lambast Rita; Daphne was admittedly more worried about her fashion sense than her writing, at least she was consistent.

The lampooning of Rita Skeeter continued until it was time for the first lesson. The rest of the seventh years said goodbye to Harry and headed down to the Transfiguration corridor where Sirius’ classroom was based.

Harry took off in the opposite direction. He was meeting Professor Rutherford for some History of Magic tutoring.

His session had been interesting. Professor Rutherford had given him a quick overview of everything that had been covered since Harry had left Hogwarts. He was happy to note that some of the bigger historical events such as World War Two and Grindelwald’s reign of terror, were things he’d covered with Remus during their lessons in New York. He had his work cut out for him when it came to some of the more specific British history, but Professor Rutherford gave him a detailed timeline as well as key texts to read to help get him up to speed. Toward the end of the lesson, the two of them compared notes on their time at Te Kura Mākutu o Aotearoa. It was a nice way to end the session, and Harry was thankful that Snape had set these up for him.

Harry met the rest of his class outside of the DADA classroom. They were all chatting excitedly about their first AMT class.

“How was it?” he asked.

“Harry! It was so good!” enthused Ron. “It’s so interesting. Sirius gave us a really quick rundown on the evolution of magic across time and then he launched into this lecture on the nature of magic. It got a bit confusing at one point because he started drawing equations on the board, but Hermione understood it so she said she can help. He’s such a good teacher Harry, you’re missing out.”

Harry smiled, “you should tell him that Ron, he’ll appreciate it.”

“Already did mate, already did!”

“And if you want some help with the equations and stuff, let me know, and I can help. I did the course back in NZ.”

Ron stared at him, “that’s… going to take some getting used to.” Ron chuckled. “I’m glad you’re back Harry. Even if you did turn into Hermione while you were gone.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Harry. “I’m not that bad.”

“Sure mate!” laughed Ron. “What’s your timetable again? Runes? Arithmancy? No AMT because you’ve already finished it? Face it, you’re a nerd now Harry.”

Harry exhaled, “Ron…”

“I don’t mean it like it’s a bad thing Harry,” he rushed out. He was clearly worried about what he could and couldn’t say to Harry.

“I have spent my fair share of time in the library since you’ve been gone, and I did the extra reading for Defence over the summer. Plus, between Pansy and Hermione I’ve not been allowed to slack off since you left. I even managed to get eight OWLs’; got an O in Defence and everything, though that was probably due to Bill. When you left, I realised that I’d been a bad friend to you and Hermione and that it was about time I started taking my schooling seriously and I know that-”

“Ron,” sighed Harry. He hadn’t wanted this conversation to get so serious.

“Harry. I know. We’re good. It’s fine. But I don’t want you thinking I’m mocking you when I call you a nerd. And I just… it’s… we’re different, but we’re also not. You’re still one of my best friends-”

“Ron.”

“Yes?”

“Shut up.”

Ron started laughing. “Yea, sorry mate. Got a bit carried away.”

“You think? It’s fine Ron. I won’t get offended if you call me a nerd…. Sirius calls me that all the time.”

Ron exhaled, “oh. Alright. I was worried that I’d overstepped.”

“I’ll tell you if that happens.”

Ron beamed at Harry. “Want to team up?”

“Sure!” Harry and Ron made their way into the DADA classroom. Draco settled in beside Pansy just behind them. Neville and Hermione were teamed up together at the front.

“Welcome class. It’s good to be back here and see so many familiar faces. Now before we start, I’d like to address the end of my previous tenure here. You will no doubt remember the news about my Lycanthropy, correct?”

Harry watched as the class nodded, clearly unsure of where this was going to go. He shot Remus a supportive smile, Remus responded with a wink.

“Now, I would like to assure you that you are not in any danger. You are completely safe in my classroom and there is no risk as it is no longer an issue.”

At this statement, the classroom erupted into questions. Remus called for order.

“Settle down. Settle down. Now I cannot go into details, but what I can tell you that I spent some time with the goblins in South America and as a result my Lycanthropy has reverted back to what magic always intended it to be. I am in complete control. There is nothing to worry about.”

He sighed, “now I may regret this, but any questions?”

Hermione’s hand shot straight up into the air. Remus smiled. “Miss Granger?”

“Can you still transmit the Lycanthropy sir?”

“No, not anymore.”

Harry watched the class reel back at that announcement. So many students were in shock; centuries of knowledge had just been made irrelevant.  

Hermione sounded shocked, “how?”

“What do you know about Lycanthropy?” asked Remus.

“It is a magical condition that forces people to shapeshift into a wolf under the influence of a full moon. If a person is bitten by a werewolf during this time, the condition is passed on. There is no known cure,” said Hermione, in a tone that indicated she was reciting a textbook from memory.

“You are correct in the basics Miss Granger. What I, and many others, did not know is that Lycanthropy was initially a gift from Magic. Only certain people were supposed to have access to it. However, Lycanthropy makes you stronger, and those without the gift, wanted it. Some wolves found that they could spread it through a bite on the full moon and proceeded to bite those who wanted it. However, soon they lost control, so the gift was corrupted. This is the reason why the transformations are so painful are because the human soul is fighting for control with the soul of the wolf inside. Nevertheless, whilst this knowledge was lost to us, it was not lost to the goblins. They have been able to create a ritual that merges the two and removes the ability to spread it further.”

“And you underwent this ritual?” asked Draco, who was leaning forward in his chair, eyes focused as he tried cataloguing all the changes he’d clearly noticed on Remus.

“Yes, Lord Malfoy.” Draco jumped back, clearly not expecting Remus to address him as such.

“Please call me Draco sir.”

“Very well Draco. Yes, I did undergo the ritual. No, I will not say anything else about it. If you wish to learn more, you will have to visit the goblins in South America.”

Harry snorted. It had taken an entire year and the intervention of Sal to get them into the Andean Goblin Nation and whilst they’d parted on good terms, Harry doubted they’d be happy to have a bunch of Hogwarts students descend on them with questions about Lycanthropy and rituals.

“You don’t mean the Andean Goblin Nation, do you?” asked Blaise, incredulously.

“Yes, I do Mr Zabini.”

“But… they’re isolationists,” replied Theo.

Remus smiled, “yes that is correct, they are indeed.”

“What the hell did you get up to Harry?” whispered Ron.

Harry just raised an eyebrow, “who says I was there?”

“You’re always there,” snorted Ron.

Harry just elbowed him, and turned his attention back to Remus, who’d somehow managed to reign the discussion back in.

“Now Professor Snape and Professor Weasley have both been in touch to let me know what you have covered in the last two years. I’d like to see what you are all capable of so on Friday you’ll all be participating in a duel… but you will only be allowed to use ten spells, though these can be non-verbal, or wandless; I’ve been informed you have had some experience in the former. For today’s lesson what I’d like you to do is to figure out the ten spells that you’ll be using on Friday; you’ll need to write your choices down and hand them in at the end so I can check over them. You may work in pairs to do so but remember to think out of the box when it comes to your chosen spells, as the duelling partners will be assigned, at random. Please remember that this is a classroom and to choose your spells accordingly. This is not a real fight. Off you go.”

Harry turned to Ron, “want to work together?”

“Absolutely.”

DADA had been a blast. Ron and Harry slipped right back into their old ways, with jokes flying between the two of them. Ron filled Harry in on what the Weasley family had been up to and informed him to expect a letter from Mrs Weasley, as Ron had sent Pig to the Burrow on the night of Harry’s return. Harry, in turn, told Ron everything he’d learnt about Quidditch during his time in NZ, promising him that he’d tell Ron everything else in the weekend; Harry only wanted to tell the story once.

Draco had repeatedly cleared his throat loudly during their Quidditch conversation and told Harry to “stop helping the enemy,” at one point; Ron just flipped him off. This had led to Draco trying to rope Pansy in to “control her man,” but Pansy had just rolled her eyes and ignored the two of them.

By the end of the lesson Harry and Ron had chosen seven spells between them. They decided to keep the other three secret just in case they got paired up against each other in the duel on Friday, if that was to happen there needed to be some element of surprise.

Harry was happy with their list. They’d chosen Protego, Aguamenti, Petrificus Totalus, Rictusempra, Stupefy, Flipendo and the classic Stinging Jinx. Harry had added Ventus Duo, Expecto Patronum and a new spell he’d found that made the victim sneeze uncontrollably until the spell was ended. In a real fight, he’d have chosen more destructive spells, but he didn’t want to break the DADA classroom in the first week.

Harry was interested to see what everyone was capable. He knew that his friends had had good teachers in Snape and Bill, but he’d learnt a lot on his travels, and it was going to be fun to see how his knowledge compared to the rest of his class.

At one point during the class, he’d done a quick headcount and noticed that there were 31 students present, which meant someone was going to be left on their own. He hoped that this would mean that he’d get to duel Remus again. Harry had duelled him, Sirius, and Reggie more times than he could count in the past and more often than not would beat Remus and Sirius in a one-on-one duel; he stood no chance if they were teamed up against him.

Reggie was another story; he was ruthless and unlike the others, who panicked if Harry got injured, Reggie would have him end the duel a bleeding mess if that’s what he had to do to win. If Harry was duelling Reggie, there was a more than 70-30 chance that Harry would need healing afterwards.

Harry knew that whilst all of them were training him to survive a fight against Tom and his Death Eaters, Reggie was the one with insider knowledge; he knew what they were capable of and he wanted Harry to be at his best. He’d even suggested getting Snape to help with the training now that they were back in the UK, as he was a formidable dueller. Harry figured he’d ask him once he’d settled in a bit more.

Harry shook his head and finished writing his list, making sure he was the last person hand it to Remus.

“Harry, swing by our rooms again tonight,” said Remus, quietly as he perused the lists in front of him, frowning every now and then at the choices some of his classmates had made. Harry tried to read the lists but Remus moved them so he couldn’t see.

“Will do… Hey Remus?”

“Yes, Harry?”

“You know there are 31 students, right?”

“I can count,” smirked Remus.

Harry raised an eyebrow, while Remus chuckled to himself, “away with you. Go have some lunch.” He pretended to whack Harry with the stack of parchment.

Harry cackled as he danced out of the way, “Just saying Moony… it could be fun!”

“Sirius has been a bad influence on you. Off you go!”

Harry giggled as he ran to catch up with his friends.

“You alright Harry?” asked Hermione, turning to check on him.

“Yea, I’m good ‘Hermione. Friday should be awesome.”

“You know what’s going to be awesome?” asked Blaise. “Lunch. My brain needs food after the surprise Arithmancy this morning. Why would someone choose to do Arithmancy when they don’t have to, I’ll never know.”

Harry watched as Draco, Hermione and Theo tried to defend their subject choice while Ron, Blaise and Pansy wound them all up. It was clear from the tone of their argument that this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. Daphne just shook her head as they entered the Great Hall, “you’ll get used to it.”

Lunch was another lively affair as the argument spread and then suddenly it was time for Transfiguration.

Harry was excited to see Professor McGonagall again. They’d not had much time to catch up since he’d arrived back in the UK, but they’d exchanged many letters while he’d been away and over time these had morphed into conversations about Transfiguration. Harry had a new respect for the field and was ready to see what else he could learn from her.

“Settle down class, and welcome to your final year. I hope your first few days are going well. Now, last year we focused on transfiguring live animals into objects, and conversely, objects into animals. We also started on Conjuring Spells as they are a key component of the NEWT curriculum. We will be continuing with these areas of study, but we will also be adding three additional aspects. Firstly, we will be looking at mass transfiguration, where you transfigure a multitude of objects in one spell. Secondly, we will be examining how one can transfigure the elements.”

“Like rain and wind?” asked Hermione.

“No, Miss Granger, like Oxygen, Iron, and Copper. If one can create the building blocks of our world, then the world is endless. Now, I must let you know that this will only be an introduction into this type of Transfiguration as that is all that is required for the NEWTs. Otherwise, this branch of Transfiguration requires a higher level of knowledge and power. I do not wish to dissuade you if this is an area you enjoy, however, I would suggest going for your Mastery if you want to study this area further.”

She paused for questions and then continued. “Thirdly, we will be learning how to duel using only Transfiguration.”

Harry watched as the class perked up at that announcement. He smiled to himself, using Transfiguration in a duel was something he’d learnt in Offensive and Defensive Magic. This was right up his alley.

“Now I know that Professor Lupin is your Defence Professor and I have spoken to him about this aspect of the course, and we are in agreement that what you learn in this class you will be able to use in his. So, I suggest you pay attention. Today we will be starting off with a recap from the previous years but with a twist. On the desk in front of you is a small box, please open them now.”

Harry opened the small wooden box he’d been wondering about since his arrival. Inside it was a small pile of buttons. He leaned over and looked at what the others had. Ron had some teacups, Draco some feathers, Hermione some pins. Everyone had something from that they’d learnt to transfigure in their earlier years.

Professor McGonagall called for their attention, “Now the aim of today’s lesson is to transfigure all the items in your box in one swoop of the wand. There are two parts to this, you’ll need to use the original spell for the transformation and then add the phrase Ut Unus; it must be said as if it is one incantation. You must visualise all objects transforming as well as the original incantation. This will take some concentration. You may begin.”

Harry had done a similar type of transfiguration in New Zealand, but they’d focused on inanimate objects that could be used in a duel: sand into rocks, grass into glass; they’d not done inanimate objects into living beings. He took a deep breath and centred himself using the meditation techniques he’d learned in his Natural Magic class. He tipped the buttons on to his desk and imagined each of them as a beetle. He did a quick spell to turn one into a beetle and back again, just to get a sense of what he was doing. He turned it back again and then focused, imaging each button scuttling around on the desk.

His first few attempts were a mess. One time some of the buttons grew legs, but the rest just stayed as buttons, another time had three of them turning into beetles, and the rest changed colour. His third attempt was the worst, as all the buttons changed, but only to bits of beetles. It was a bit disconcerting to see the scattered remains of beetles all over his desk.

Harry managed to change them all on his fourth attempt. With a deep sigh of relief, he turned the beetles back into buttons to prevent them running away. Once he was certain he could repeat the performance, he called Professor McGonagall over.

“Let’s see Mr Potter… well done. 10 points to Gry… Sorry, I mean Slytherin.”

“How did you do that?” asked Hermione, whose desk was covered in bleeding pincushions. Draco who was sat next to her, also wasn’t having a good time; he had half a ferret on his desk.

Harry moved to try and help them, explaining his initial approach. Both Hermione and Draco tried his approach, but it didn’t seem to be working.

“I think you had it a bit easy with the beetles, Harry,” said Hermione. “Let’s swap.”

Harry bit his tongue but swapped seats with Hermione, moving to sit next to Draco. He focused on the pins in front of them and waved his wand, five hedgehogs appeared on the desk in front of him.

Hermione frowned and tried again, this time with the buttons. Like Harry, she ended up with bits of beetles all over her desk. Ron, who’d been trying to turn his teacups into tortoises had managed to transform one of them; the rest of the teacups had just ended up with a tortoise shell pattern. 

“I think it’s because you’re saying it in two distinct parts, you need to make them one complete phrase,” advised Harry.

After a few more attempts, Draco was the next person to succeed, followed soon after by Hermione. By the end of the class, most of the students had managed to transfigure most of the original items and Professor McGonagall was pleased. “Next lesson, you will be expected to do the same thing, but non-verbally. Your homework is to read the chapter on Mass Transfiguration and explain how the incantation Ut Unus works on existing spells.”

The class groaned.

Charms was his last class of the day. Just like his very first lesson, Professor Flitwick called his name, checked to make sure he was present and then proceeded to fall off his chair. Harry raised his eyebrows at Pansy, as Daphne helped him up; he wasn’t sure what that was about.

Charms continued in a similar vein as Transfiguration as Flitwick had them working on the Sunlight Charm. Harry had learnt this back in NZ and Neville was also skilled at this charm, as he’d taught himself it for Herbology. So, once they’d demonstrated their competence, Flitwick had them helping other members of the class. Hermione was the first to succeed, followed closely by Draco, Ron, and Theo.

“Harry is that a new wand?” asked Hermione, as Harry was demonstrating the spell once more to Daphne and Blaise. Ron was helping Pansy, and Theo had teamed up with Draco to help Susan.

Harry looked at his Rimu wand. He’d forgotten that it was relatively new; he’d only had it for 18 months, but it felt like an extension of his magic in a way his old Holly wand hadn’t, especially after his time in the Andes.

“Ah yea got it in NZ. The Holly one wasn’t compatible with my magic anymore. It’s a 12-inch Rimu wand with a core from the feather of a Pouakai; that’s a giant magical bird found only in NZ.”

Harry handed it over for Hermione to examine. It was beautiful wand, the wood a rich reddish brown, the handle a slightly lighter shade, with carvings representing the wings of the Pouakai etched into the handle. 

“It’s lovely Harry. Where do you get wands in NZ?”

Harry laughed, “same place as here. There’s a branch of the Ollivander’s in NZ; they set up shop in Nelson.”

“Oh, that is surprising,” replied Hermione. She paused, frowning a bit as she handed Harry back his wand. “How did your old wand end up incompatible?”

Harry sighed, “my magic changed so it wasn’t channelling it the way it was supposed to.”

“How does your magic just change?” asked Ron, who’d wandered over with Pansy, now that she’d figured out the spell.

Harry tapped the table and looked around; only Ron, Hermione, and Pansy were focused on him; Blaise and Daphne had drifted off, and the rest were distracted. He thought about what he could say, he was sick of saying it was a long story.

“When I went to Gringotts after I left, they helped cleanse and heal me. It’s why my eyesight improved.”

The others nodded at that.

“Well turns out there was some other stuff going on. My magic changed afterwards.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but it would have to do. He wasn’t ready to talk about the horcruxes and even if he was, Charms class was definitely not the right place to do so.

Hermione and Ron shared a look. Harry knew that they’d been charmed and that after a conversation with Rodnok and Professor McGonagall, Bill had had the whole family cleansed. He was guessing they’d realised he’d been impacted by charms too.

His just nodded when they looked at him. Hermione had let out a deep breath while Ron clenched his fists. It was all they could really do surrounded by their classmates.

As the lesson finished up, Flitwick called out, “Mr Potter, do you mind staying behind?”

“What have you done now Harry?” asked Draco as he packed up his bag.

“Nothing!”

“Sure, sure,” drawled Draco as he grabbed his bag and headed out. “I’ll save you a seat at dinner!”

Harry’s cheeks warmed, “thanks Draco.”

Harry walked toward the desk, while Flitwick settled into his chair.

“Mr Potter, welcome back to Hogwarts. It is good to see you again.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Please, sit.”

As Harry sat down, he felt Flitwick’s eyes surveying him. “Ah is everything alright sir?”

Flitwick shook his head as if to regain focus. “Yes, yes, sorry. Now, firstly Professor Snape has indicated that you may need to be extended in this subject as you have completed a lot of the NEWT course at your previous school. I must admit that even with your transcripts I was doubtful, but your Sunlight Charm was perfect. I will be setting you extension readings, harder homework and more challenging spells for you to do when you encounter charms you already know, is that acceptable?”

Harry nodded, “yes sir, that would be much appreciated.”

“Good, now both Sirius and Remus have suggested that I also help with some extra duelling practice as I was trained differently to most witches and wizards.”

Harry leant forward in his excitement, voice rising, “yes sir, absolutely. That would be amazing.”

Flitwick nodded, eyes focused on Harry’s chest. Harry looked down. His silver chain was dangling, both pendants from Rodnok and King Qori visible. Harry sat back and tucked them back into his robes.

“Mr Potter… Harry…” Flitwick sighed, like all his fears had been confirmed. “I know what those represent. I know who they are from. Should I be worried?”

Harry had forgotten about Flitwick’s goblin heritage; when most people saw his necklace, they just thought it was pretty.

“No sir. There is nothing to be worried about.” He made a snap decision and pulled them out again. “Can I trust your discretion?”

Flitwick narrowed his eyes, sat back in his and steepled his fingers together, “if that is your way of asking if I am compromised by charms, then I’d have to reassure you that Severus, Poppy and my own brethren have cleared me. And no one can hear us in here.”

Harry nodded, weighing up his options. Remus and Sirius had discussed bringing in other staff members, both Snape and McGonagall had advised caution. All of them had forgotten about Flitwick’s goblin ancestry and the knowledge that would come with it. Harry decided to trust him

“I… worked, am working I guess you could say, closely with the British goblins. This was given as a gift.” He fingered the pendant stamped with the black and white Magpie. Harry watched Flitwick’s face as it showed his surprise.

Choosing his words carefully, he continued. “I requested and was granted an audience with the Andean Goblin Nation. We parted as friends. This too was a gift.” He showed Flitwick the pendant with the black and orange Tunki.

Flitwick’s eyebrows were in his hair and his mouth agape. He looked to be in shock.

Harry carried on. “I am aware of the honour I have been given by both respective goblin nations. I know what it means to be a friend to them, and I will do my best to live up to their expectations of me. I will not fail them.”

“Harry…” choked Flitwick. “This is unprecedented. You understand?”

Harry nodded. He was aware of what had happened, what this meant. Sal had impressed upon him the magnitude of the expectations upon him. 

Flitwick ran his hands over his face and then exhaled. “Well then, if you are ever in need of aid, please let me know.”

“Much obliged Professor.”

Flitwick smiled, “Until next time Harry.”

Chapter Text

Things were settling down.

Harry had popped in to see Remus and Sirius on Wednesday evening and had informed them in more detail about the updated wards. He’d also let them know about his chat with Flitwick. They’d both agreed that he’d handled that situation well and were happy to have another ally on the staff. They’d also given him more details about the emergency staff meeting that had come about because of the pulse of magic that had come out of the update wards.

Apparently, Dumbledore had sent a panicked Patronus to every staff member, ordering them to meet in the staff room immediately. He’d then launched into battle tactics, including plans to get the seventh years to fight, before Minnie had stepped in and asked him, “what the hell was he up to?” He’d explained that Tom had attacked the wards and was here for Harry, and that this was it, which had set Remus and Sirius off in a rage, and had led to Professor Burbage fainting, and Trelawney predicting everyone’s doom. Snape had asked for his proof, which had led to more arguing, until Minnie had checked in with the house elves and been informed that the pulse was just the wards reaching full strength and that Dumbledore should have known this as Headmaster. This had led to more shouting as she wanted to know why he’d hadn’t checked them immediately, and “what was the bloody point of being connected to the wards if he wasn’t going to do his job?!” Harry had laughed at that, imagining Minnie in her tartan dressing gown shouting at Dumbledore. He’d experienced that in his first year after she caught him when they got rid of Norbert.

They’d also managed to talk to Reggie through two-way mirrors. Reggie had been happy to hear from them. They’d managed to catch him while he was at the Manor. He’d sent Harry’s letter off to Sal and had been in contact with Rodnok and Madam Bones; things were moving along nicely. Otherwise, Reggie had been moving between the two houses whilst researching horcruxes and scheming to end the war before it truly began. In other words, he was in his element and assured them that he didn’t miss them too much, even though it was obvious that he did.

Harry had ended his Wednesday night in the library, completing his Transfiguration and Charms homework, as well as getting ahead on his History of Magic reading.

On Thursday Harry managed to talk to Hagrid about some practical time for his study of Care of Magical Creatures. He’d had bumped into him toward the end of his morning run and had ended up flattened by Fang as the excited dog slobbered all over him.

“Fang! Fang, Gerroff him you silly dog!”

Harry just covered his face as he tried to avoid getting dog slobber in his mouth. Eventually the weight of Fang was lifted, and Harry was able to sit up. He laughed. Fang was wriggling around in Hagrid’s arms while he tried to calm him down. Eventually Fang had calmed enough to be let down, and after one last lick of Harry, he took off after a duck that had landed on the lake. Hagrid just shook his head at the antics of his dog. 

After being pulled up, they had ended up talking about his time in NZ as they wandered back to the castle. Hagrid wanted to know if Harry had managed to see an Antipodean Opaleye in the wild, which did not surprise Harry at all. After explaining that the NZ Ministry took their conservation efforts very seriously, they’d moved onto a discussion about Harry’s Natural Magic course. Hagrid had been most intrigued about how it’d been taught and had questioned Harry about the possibility of teaching Care the same way. Once Harry mentioned that there was an element of Divination in it and that he’d probably need to consult with Trelawney, Hagrid had decided he’d find another way. The two of them parted ways in the Entrance Hall, so that Harry could get ready for his classes.

At breakfast, Pig had crash landed into Harry’s plate, depositing two letters into the middle of his scrambled eggs. With a sigh, he gave Pig a pat and popped him to the side, making sure to clean off the letters before he opened them, while Hermione giggled opposite him.

Ginny had seen the whole thing happen and wandered over the tell the tiny owl off, but Pig had just hooted happily at her and then snuggled into her hair.

“This owl, honestly. Where did Sirius find him?” asked Ginny, as Pig got comfy on top of her head.

“No idea,” laughed Harry. “Clearly none of the training stuck.”

Ginny sighed, “I think we all gave up. He’s a menace.”

“He’s sweet,” replied Luna, dropping down next to Ginny. She gave Pig a pat and kissed Ginny on the cheek. “Morning love… hi Harry.”

“Hey babe,” said Ginny, flushing red.

“Hi Luna,” said Harry.

After a brief conversation about their classes, Harry turned his attention to the letters that had been unceremoniously dumped in his eggs. He opened the smaller one first.

Harrikins!

 You’re back. Welcome home! Don’t know if that was the wisest move but I suppose you have your reasons. You best be staying safe! We need to chat business soon. We will be in Hogsmeade for the first visit (Fred is missing Hermione) so we’ll see you there! Keep in touch.

George.

P.S: Don’t run away again. Also make sure you drag our heroes along to our meeting. We need to meet them!

Harry frowned at the short missive he’d received from George. He wasn’t surprised that they’d want to meet in Hogsmeade; he was surprised that the school was allowing them to leave the castle in the current climate.

Reggie had said the same thing during their conversation the night before, concerned that Hogwarts students running around the village would be a perfect target. Remus had informed them that Dumbledore had put his foot down, stating that until there was a clear threat, the visits would continue. Harry had questioned that logic; Ron had been poisoned in Hogsmeade and the castle attacked, surely the threat was clear. Sirius had nodded along, the teachers all believed it was an unnecessary risk and had plans for extra security. The hope was that they’d convince Dumbledore to see reason. Reggie’s eye roll had taken up the entire mirror.

Harry sighed and put the letter from George aside and picked up the second one.

Harry, dear.

Ron has just informed us that you have returned to Hogwarts.

Welcome home! 

I am so very happy that you have returned safe and sound. You have been sorely missed! I do wish you were returning to a country that was at peace but that is not to be and even though we are on the brink of war it is nice to know that all my children are back in one country.

Ron has told us that you have been Sorted into Slytherin. Congratulations! Please do not be worried about your new house. I know that in the past our opinion of that house has been quite negative, but these last few years have proven the current members of that house to be loyal, protective and intelligent people who will do what it takes to keep their loved ones safe. That is something to be proud of and I am sure you will be a valued member of that house. I know that we are proud of you regardless of where you have been Sorted.

I do wish to pass on our sincerest apologies. Whilst we could tell that something was not right with those Muggles we did not intervene as we should have. You are aware that we had been charmed to ignore certain signs, but that does not excuse the fact that we let you down. Arthur and I will never forgive ourselves for letting you return to that house at the end of your second year. Not after the twins and Ron had to rescue you the summer prior. Rest assured that steps have been taken to ensure that that never happens again. We are so sorry, and I hope you can forgive us for our negligence. We have always viewed you as family but did not always act as such and I do hope that we can repair what we broke. The Weasley household will always be a place of refuge if you need it and if you ever need us, just let us know.

Otherwise, Harry, I am so relieved to hear that you have returned happy and healthy. I have worried about you since you left. I know that you have been truly cared for whilst you have been off travelling, and I look forward to seeing you at some point in the holidays so we can hear all about it.

Welcome home dear. And stay safe.

 Love Molly Weasley.

Harry surreptitiously wiped his eyes as he finished reading. It was so good to hear from Mrs Weasley.

“You alright Harry?” asked Ginny.

“Yea, just… a letter from your mum.”

“Oh, yea she’ll be so happy you’re back. You’ve been missed,” replied Ginny.

“I missed you guys too,” said Harry.

Ginny smiled and nodded but before she could say anything else Ron slumped down opposite them. “Oi, what’s Pig doing in your hair Gin?”

“What do you think Ron? The little bugger has built a nest!” snapped Ginny, as she tried to dislodge the bird for a fourth time.

Pig hooted happily, while Harry and Ron looked on, laughing.

Eventually Luna took pity on Ginny and slowly extracted the tiny owl from the mess he’d made of her red hair. She’d had to steal bacon from Seamus’ plate to do so, and the Irish lad had been quite indignant, even if he’d not made a move to stop her. Pig had munched down the bacon quickly and then with one more hoot had taken off, but not before he left a little gift behind for Ginny, specifically a white streak down the back of her robes.

“PIGWIDGEON!!!!” she shouted as she chased the owl out of the Great Hall while the Gryffindor table howled with laughter.

Soon it was time for classes, Harry stood and met the Slytherins at the doors to the Great Hall.

“Morning!” he called.

“Hey Harry,” replied Draco. “Good breakfast?”

“It looked eventful,” said Pansy.

“Yea Pig was stirring up trouble,” laughed Harry.

“Sounds about right,” muttered Pansy.

“You’re not being mean about my owl are you, Pans?” asked Ron, as he wandered over with Neville and Hermione.

“That’s not an owl Ron, that is chaos in bird form,” countered Pansy.

“But your mum loves him!” said Ron, a cheeky smile on his face.

Pansy sighed, “yes well, to each their own, I suppose. Mother can’t always have impeccable taste.”

Ron laughed, “your mum thinks he’s cute.” He kissed her cheek, “and so do you.” Pansy looked like she was fighting a smile. Harry rolled his eyes at their flirting; it was too early for this.

“Why didn’t you guys come sit with us this morning?” asked Harry, as he watched the two of them bicker on the way out of the Hall, Neville and Hermione chiming in occasionally.

Draco smiled kindly, “I thought maybe you’d want some alone time with your old house. You haven’t really had a chance to spend any time with them.”

“Oh, that was nice of you Draco, but you didn’t have to do that,” said Harry.

Draco blushed, “I know I didn’t but…” he indicated the other Slytherins, “we know that it must feel a bit strange being back here especially with a new house and all the changes. We just wanted to make sure you had a chance to spend time with your old friends without us getting in the way.”

“You’re not getting in the way,” said Harry, softly.

Draco smiled and looked at down at his shoes, “still, we just wanted to make sure you were comfortable... But if you desperately need me to sit with you at breakfast then I guess I can accommodate your wishes.”

Harry rolled his eyes and nudged him in the side. “I can eat breakfast just fine without you Draco.”

“Hmmm, but clearly I bring a level of sophistication to the meal that the Gryffindor’s can’t match,” he replied haughtily. “For example, no owls landed on my plate this morning.”

Harry laughed, “shut up Draco.”

“Oh, the audacity Potter!”

Harry’s laughter carried echoed down the corridor, as did Draco’s yelp of pain.

The rest of the morning was spent in Potions. Snape had them working on the theory of the Wolfsbane Potion. The aim was to eventually make their own, but the ingredients were so expensive, Snape wouldn’t let them touch them without a thorough understanding of how the potion worked. He also informed them that there had been some breakthroughs with the potion and that once they had a handle on the original, they’d be attempting the new and improved version. Harry smiled when he heard that; his mother had been the one to work on that and Harry was happy that her research was being utilised.

The rest of the day went smoothly.

In History Professor Rutherford had them reading the Communist Manifesto to ensure they understood the origins of the ideology they’d be investigating over the course of the year. Harry had imagined the look on Vernon’s face had he seen his new reading material. Vernon had loved to shout about “dirty Commie’s ruining the country,” whenever someone said anything he disagreed with on the news.

In Runes, they’d worked on more complex Rune structures that Harry had already covered in his Ritual Class in NZ. Hermione only interrogated Harry three times about his knowledge and instead had followed his lead as he explained it to her.  She still checked everything with Professor Babbling to make sure it was correct, but at least she was listening.

Professor Vector had them doing the Arithmancy for the Wolfsbane Potion so that they could break down the magical reactions happening within it. The plan was to then do the breakdown of the new version of the potion so they could evaluate the two of them.

There was more homework, so after a quick dinner, the seventh years made their way to the library, again. Harry stayed for a few hours before turning in for an early night.

Snuggling into his bed, he pulled the curtains, blocking out the rest of the room, and kissed Sala on the head. He was out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Friday morning dawned and Harry made light work of his run. After getting ready in the dorms, he decided to sit and wait for his fellow Slytherins. While they rushed around getting dressed and arguing over the bathroom mirror, Harry checked in with Pep.

“Little one, you settling in alright?”

“Very much so. The house elves keep bringing me the best little insects.”

“Is there anything you need me to get you?”

“No, no, my enclosure is perfect for now. And I’ve been exploring. I quite like this part of the castle.”

Harry nodded, that made sense. “Have you left the dungeons at all?”

Pep shook her head, “No, I am not an idiot. I’ll wait until I’m bigger.”

 “Ok, just let me know if there is anything else you need, ok Pep?”

Harry snorted, he wasn’t sure if snakes could roll their eyes, but that’s definitely the vibe Pep gave him as she answered him, “sure, sure. Now put me back on my warm rock.”

Harry did as he was told and soon, he was ready to go. “You guys done yet?”

“Yea, let’s go,” said Theo, opening the door.

Vince and Greg went ahead without saying anything, while Blaise and Draco argued over who used the last of the clean towels, as the hurried along behind them. “Are they like this every morning?” asked Harry, as they wandered up to the Great Hall. Theo just nodded, with a grimace.

As soon as Harry entered the Great Hall, every head turned in his direction, and the conversations stopped. Some of the students looked scared, others had their heads bowed.

Harry sighed, that was never a good sign. Draco and Blaise went silent behind him, while Theo stood rigidly by his side.

There was a scraping noise as Sirius pushed back his chair at the Top Table and rushed toward Harry, Remus close behind him. At the Gryffindor table, Ron and Hermione had also stood and were making their way toward Harry.

“Harry,” said Sirius, his voice ringing in the Great Hall.

He took a deep breath, “what happened?”

“Not here.” Sirius grabbed him by the arm and walked him out of the Hall. Remus and the others followed as they made their way to the Transfiguration corridor.

“Can you just tell me what’s going on?” asked Harry, as they walked up the stairs. His stomach was churning. What if something had happened to Reggie?

Sirius shook his head, “wait.”

Soon they were at Sirius and Remus’ room. Harry sat down on one of the orange couches, Sirius right next to him. Remus was sat opposite him whilst Ron, Hermione, and Draco were squished onto the third couch. Clearly Theo and Blaise had stayed in the Great Hall.

Harry closed his eyes and clenched his fists. “Tell me.”

He heard Sirius swallow. “There was a Death Eater attack last night. The Dark Mark was left at the scene, which was destroyed by Fiendfyre. We only just found out, I’m so sorry. It was in the Prophet this morning, we’d have told you if we’d-” 

His stomach dropped. Harry opened his eyes, “Sirius. Who? Where? Is…”

Sirius took a deep breath, “Harry… Your aunt and uncle-”

“What?” choked Harry, feeling nauseous.

“The attack,” said Remus, softly. “It was on number 4 Privet Drive. The house is gone Harry. We think your cousin was at boarding school, so he should be fine, but… the remains of Vernon and Petunia Dursley were found.”

“Oh.” Harry eyes burned. He swallowed and looked around the room.

Ron had his arms around Hermione who had covered her mouth in shock, tears dripping down her face. Draco was crammed in next to Ron, face pale, arms shaking; he looked like he was going to be sick.

Harry felt Sirius’ arms wrap around him. He took a deep breath and glanced at Remus who was looking at him sadly.

Harry felt his tears spill over, so he wiped his face quickly. He shook his head to try and clear it; was he even allowed to be sad? He didn’t like the Dursley’s; they’d tormented him for years. Shoved him a cupboard, neglected him, starved him, punished him for his existence. He’d worked through his abusive childhood with his Mind Healer and had planned on never seeing them again… so why was he crying? Why did he feel sick? His breath quickened as he tried to wrestle with the thoughts inside his head.

“Pup… breathe” said Sirius gently, as he squeezed Harry.

Harry nodded and took a deep breath, coughing as he did so. “Sirius… What? Why?”

Sirius sighed and kissed Harry on the top of head. “It looks like it’s a message to you Harry. It happened just after the Prophet announced your return. At least that’s what the paper is saying, it’s still being investigated by the DMLE.”

Harry nodded and closed his eyes. “Dudley?”

“He wasn’t at the house. Minnie said she’s going to get into touch with Amelia. They’ll find him and keep him safe.”

Harry nodded. Visions of his time at Privet Drive were running through his head. A frying pan flying through the air, the darkness of the cupboard under the stairs, the endless chores, the constant shouting, the wind rustling through the flowers in the garden, the laughter of a young Dudley in the kitchen with Petunia as they made cookies, the proud look on Vernon’s face when Dudley got into Smeltings. Harry swallowed hard. Dudley was an orphan now too.

“Can you let me know when they find him?” asked Harry.

“We can do that Harry,” replied Remus softly.

Harry felt his eyes well up again. He wiped them on his sleeve. “I don’t even know why I’m crying,” he choked. “They were horrible to me.” He sniffed.

“Harry,” said Remus sadly. “Even though your relationship with them wasn’t a good one, you’re allowed to be sad; you are allowed to mourn. I know you planned on never seeing them again, but that was a choice you made, and it was one that you could have changed at any point in the future, if you wanted to. That choice has now been taken from you forever. You’ll never get the chance to speak to them again, to ask them why they did the things they did. Your aunt and uncle were in your life for over a decade and even though they weren’t good people… they were still people. You’re not heartless.”

Harry nodded and sniffed again, as tears ran silently down his face. He was a mess; feelings swirled around in a kaleidoscope of guilt, relief, confusion, and sadness. Through it all, Sirius held him tight; a solid presence beside Harry, grounding him in a way nothing else could. Around him the conversation continued but it was distorted, like it was being muffled through layers of glass.

“What are they telling the Muggles?” asked Ron, quietly.

“Gas leak,” replied Remus.

“But the Dark Mark?” asked Hermione.

“The DMLE will Obliviate the Muggles that saw it,” replied Draco.

“I imagine so,” replied Remus.

“And Harry’s cousin?” asked Ron.

“The Muggles would have informed him by now. He’ll stay with someone while they figure out the legal side of things and the DMLE will keep an eye on him. Make sure he’s safe,” answered Remus.

Harry was silent as he tried to make sense of what was going on in his head.

He was saddened by the deaths of his aunt and uncle. What happened to them was awful. Their deaths had been sudden and horrific, and he felt so incredibly sorry for Dudley, who’d lost everything he’d ever known. He’d never wanted anything like this to happen to the Dursleys, because even though they made his childhood a living hell, they didn’t deserve to die like that.

They were casualties in a war that they had no part in, and Dudley would never even know. That made him angry; Tom and his Death Eaters had no respect for life and would continue to wage their war of terror unless they were stopped.

He also felt a bit guilty. Should they have warned the Dursleys when they got back to the UK? He shook his head, no, they couldn’t have known that this would have happened. He reminded himself of the exercises his Mind Healer had taught him about culpability. This attack was not Harry’s fault, even if it was a message for him.

He sighed. “I don’t know what to feel,” he whispered to Sirius.

“That’s ok, you had a complicated relationship with them and even though they’re gone, that still remains. Feel what you need to feel and you’ll get there. It’ll just take time,” replied Sirius quietly. “But you’ll be alright.”

Harry nodded and wiped his eyes, “yea, I know I’ll be ok. It’s just… I can’t believe they’re gone. It’s such a shock.”

Harry felt Sirius nod. “It’s hard, mourning the people who were supposed to love you but didn’t. It’s confusing.”

Harry looked up at Sirius, who smiled sadly down at him. “My mother. She died while I was in Azkaban. The guards passed on the news. It was… strange. I was sad but I hated her.” Sirius sighed. “I guess in the end what I really mourned was the relationship we could have had, the potential for closure.” He shrugged.

Harry nodded and closed his eyes; he understood. “I think… I’m mostly sad for mum and Dudley. Mum … She would never have wanted this. I know she loved Petunia; always hoped that they’d reconcile… I… we… Too much had happened there for me to ever want to return but… Dudley, he’s lost everything. They weren’t good to me, but they loved him. He’ll be devastated. I didn’t want this for Dudley”

“I know pup. You’re a good kid.” Sirius dropped a kiss into his hair.

“Can you get Rodnok to make sure he’ll be ok? Financially? Legally?”

Sirius looked down, “you sure pup?”

Harry smiled sadly, “yea, I know I don’t owe him anything, and… I know, logically, that it’s not my fault that the Death Eaters attacked… but I just, I feel like I need to know he’s going to be alright.”

“I’ll send a letter this afternoon.”

“Thanks Pads.”

Remus looked over at the two of them, “Is there anything I can do to help Harry?”

“I don’t think so Moony, thank you though.”

Remus nodded and looked at the other students in the room, “Snape cleared you and Draco for classes, and Ron and Hermione are cleared too, if you want to stay here for the day.”

Harry shook his head, “no, no. I… I think I need the distraction. But I’m pretty sure we’ve missed Transfiguration though.”

Hemione nodded, “we have, it’s almost finished but Professor McGonagall will understand.”

Remus nodded, “she does. You are more than welcome to stay here. Sirius can stay with you as well if you’d like?”

Harry chewed on his bottom lip. He could stay here and dwell on the death of his aunt and uncle, mourning them and then feeling weird for doing so… or he could go to class, where his classmates would be watching him, and people might ask questions. Both options sounded terrible. His thoughts on the situation were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Remus stood and opened the door, then slammed it shut immediately.

“Nope, GO AWAY! You of all people are not wanted here right now,” he yelled through the door.

“Come now, Remus, I just wanted to check on-”

Harry tensed up as the voice of the Headmaster drifted through. He was the last person he wanted to see right now. Draco and Ron had both stood and were standing in front of Harry, Hermione was leaning over the back of the couch and Sirius had pulled his wand out.

There was a thud as Dumbledore was cut off and then McGonagall started shouting. “I WARNED YOU TO LEAVE THEM ALONE!”

“Minerva, you-”

“NO! LEAVE NOW! THERE IS NO NEED FOR YOU TO BE HERE!”

“Probably best to leave now Albus,” drawled Snape. “Before she draws her wand again.”

There was a scrambling noise and the rustling of robes, followed by footsteps.

“You know you could have just Silenced him you know,” said Snape, sardonically

“Oh, shut up Severus… He’s gone now Remus.”

Remus opened the door onto McGonagall and Snape. “Thank you.”

McGonagall nodded and then looked over at Harry. “I am so sorry Harry. If we’d known earlier, we would have been able to warn you, but the Prophet got there first.”

“It’s ok Professor. It’s not your fault,” replied Harry. “Sorry for missing Transfiguration.”

“Don’t apologise for that Harry. You are welcome to take the day if you need it.”

“Thank you… I think I want to go to class though.”

“Are you sure Harry?” asked Snape, quietly.

Harry looked at Draco, Ron and Hermione, who smiled sympathetically at him.

“Yea, I think I’ll be ok… It’ll be a good distraction.”

The adults in the room nodded, as Harry and Sirius stood. “Pup, if it gets too much though, you find one of us, ok?”

“Yes Siri.” He wiped his eyes and looked at Draco. “Do I look ok?”

Draco smiled gently, “eh, you’ll do.”

Harry snorted, while Ron rolled his eyes, and Hermione elbowed Draco, “You look fine Harry.”

He nodded and then turned to give Sirius a hug who gripped him tightly. “Thank you.”

“You are very welcome pup.”

Harry moved to give Remus a hug, “you know what would make me feel better?”

Remus sighed, “fine…. But only if you’re feeling up it at the end of the day.”

Harry nodded, “the whole situation is weird… but I’ll be ok.”

McGonagall pulled him into a quick hug while Snape gave him an awkward pat on the shoulder. Ron, Hermione and Draco then pulled him into a group hug, promising to be there for him if he needed anything.

A wave of gratitude washed over him. These people were his family. Petunia and Vernon may have been his relatives, but they didn’t love him and care for him the way the people in this room did. The way they treated him was not the way one was supposed to treat family. So, whilst Harry was a bit sad and very confused about their deaths, he knew that he’d be ok, because he had his family with him.