Chapter 2

Harry slightly dreaded the upcoming meeting as he strolled towards the Head Boy and Girls compartment on the Hogwarts express. The inevitable meeting with this year's Head Girl was approaching faster than he had time to mentally prepare for. The young man knew he could not delay it any longer.

Harry could say that he had made very few friends during his time at school. He could probably count the number on one hand in fact. He was friendly with most of his house and the Hufflepuffs for that matter as well, but when he walked into the head students compartment he knew the closest thing he had to a best friend was quite cross with him. Her arms were already crossed, and she seemed to have been impatiently tapping her foot on the floor.

Penelope or Penny sometimes had the girl next door look to her. Harry could probably count the number of times he had seen the girl wear makeup on two hands, and she also had an innocent streak ten miles wide. When she found out what had gone down between Pettigrew and the young man she definitely thought of as her best friend, she cried… a lot. It was slightly funny that Harry had to comfort the girl after he had taken a life, but Penelope was just like that, and it probably kept Harry on a more straight and narrow path than anything else had.

Her brown hair was in curls, and her light blue eyes showed her displeasure, "I thought we agreed to meet five minutes before the train took off so we could compare reports prior to the rest of the prefect's arrival?"

"Sorry, Clearwater, I was speaking with my parents." Harry said nonchalantly.

Harry had just unbalanced the girl in multiple ways. First of all Penelope hated it when he called her by her last name. She claimed they were way too close for that. Secondly Penny knew that Harry did not have a good relationship with his parents until recently. She softly said, "So summer went okay then? You hardly wrote back to me at all."

Harry gave her an apologetic smile, "I was really busy trying to finish up some projects, and then I am sure you heard about what happened at the Quidditch World Cup."

"I did." The girl said softly.

The boy shrugged, "I really did mean to write to you more. I think I had even started a few times, but then got scatterbrained working on a million different things."

Ignoring his last comment she asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Taking a deep breath Harry sighed, "Not really. I have talked about it more with Amelia Bones than I ever wanted to talk about it with anyone. I promise though if I was to talk to anyone outside of an Auror's uniform it would be you."

It seemed like Penny wanted to say more about this topic, but Cedric Diggory, the only other person who could possibly qualify as Harry's best friend came in, "Harry, Penny, how are you two? Congratulations on making Head Boy and Girl, I had little doubt."

Harry grinned at the strapping Hufflepuff Prefect, "Glad you aren't jealous."

Cedric laughed, "Oh I am, but I knew you deserved it. Thinking I will have to beat you in Quidditch this year to make up for it."

"Train as much as you want, Diggory, you will never beat natural talent. Besides you will have to get through my brother this year too. We probably have the greatest Seeker lineup in Hogwarts history seeing the three of us could probably all go pro next year if we wanted to." Harry said with a cocky grin.

Penny rolled her eyes, "You two are impossible. Though I admit I am curious to see if Harry can beat his brother this year. It was so close last year, and I know your little brother worked hard in the off season."

"Keeping tabs on my little brother, Penny? Should I tell Susan she has competition?"

This caused the girl to blush and the two boys to chuckle, but before she could retort the red headed step child walked in. Percy Weasley, the Gryffindor 7th year prefect, looked around pompously (as he usually did), when he spoke with his chest puffed out to a point Harry wasn't quite sure how he was breathing, "Hello Penny, Potter, Diggory."

Cedric and Harry said nothing, and Penny smiled slightly, taking the kiss on the cheek the boy offered. The two had been dating for almost two years and Harry along with Cedric did not approve of the pretentious boy. When they finished their greeting Percy offered his hand to Harry, "Congratulations on becoming Head Boy. I am sure it was a toss up between you and I."

Cedric tried to withhold his snort, but hardly succeeded as Harry took the offered hand, "Yeah sorry about that, Percy. Have an alright summer?"

"Just busy interning with Mr. Crouch in the Department of International Cooperation. Heard lots of good things about this tournament coming up. I am sure the three of you are aware of it with your dad being so busy, Cedric, and of course you two being Head Boy and Girl."

Cedric nodded, "Yeah, we know about the tournament. They've been trying to keep it a big secret, but honestly, I don't know how they planned to do that. Think it would've been better to let us all know at the end of the year. Maybe some would've tried to work on French or Bulgarian over the summer so that way we could be more cordial to our foreign guests."

"Well the Ministry decided it would be best otherwise." Percy said candidly.

Before Cedric or Harry could retort, more prefects began arriving, effectively ending the conversation before it could turn into an argument. As they all arrived Penny sat up straight and pulled a few papers out of her bag as the group was conversing openly and taking seats to start the first prefect meeting of the year. Once the final stragglers rolled in Penny began her speech, "I am going to be blunt with all of you, and I ask that you do the same for Harry and I as we roll into the new year. We are facing security problems unlike Hogwarts has ever seen. After what happened at the end of last year, which will go down as the largest security breach in Hogwarts History, I am determined to prevent something like that from happening again on my watch. Adding to that, if you aren't aware, Hogwarts will be hosting an international tournament that will be bringing dozens of foreign guests from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. So like I said, after what happened last year I want to make sure if anything happens we can get people to assist you, or relieve you from something you aren't sure how to handle. For that reason I came up with these over the summer."

Penny pulled a small box out of her bag, and enlarged it, "These are fake galleons enchanted with the Protean and Caterwauling Charm. They are essentially panic devices for all of you. If something is happening in your common room, or while you are on patrol, and you think you need help please don't hesitate to snap the fake galleon in half. It will alert everyone that something is going on, and that you need help. On the rest of our galleons your name will appear along with a five second message that you can record. In those five seconds we only want your location. Don't panic and try to explain yourself because you only have a few seconds from the time the galleon breaks. Just give us the location and we will come running. The fake galleons are pretty tough, and you shouldn't be able to break them by accident. You can thank Lily Potter for her help on this project with me."

Harry looked impressed at the girl. He heard from his mom that Penny had reached out to her and asked for help on a project she was working on. Penny had briefly explained to Harry that she wanted to design a panic device for everyone, and he had given her some ideas on where to start looking, but this went far beyond what he thought she could come up with, and wondered just how many letters or possibly even meetings she'd had with his mother over the Summer.

Lily Potter was a fairly high ranking Unspeakable for the Ministry, and Harry was beginning to see the signs that his mother might just be trying to recruit Penny to join the group as well. All the students were clearly impressed with the girl's charm work, and Percy seemed flabbergasted by what his girlfriend had likely been working on all summer. Cedric said, "This better get you an Outstanding in Charms on your NEWT, even if you bombed the theoretical, which we all know you won't. This was some serious magic, Penny. Color me impressed."

The girl beamed at the compliments from Cedric, and many of the group added their agreement.

"I just want everyone to feel as safe as possible, and give you every resource we can put together to make you all feel comfortable in your day to day tasks. With foreigners in the school we must remain vigilant and ready. As Harry always tells me, prepare for the worst, but expect the best case scenario, so hopefully these coins won't be used at all this year."

Harry nodded and flipped the coin through his fingers several times, examining the layers of magic by expanding his senses while Penny began distributing the schedules for patrols. He noticed that Cedric and himself had lots of after hours together as did Penny and Percy. Of course he also noticed that Penny and himself had a few late night shifts together, and he briefly wondered how Percy felt about that.

Percy had always felt that he was in competition with Harry, and academically the boy was always trying to compete with the green-eyed young man. Honestly it wasn't much of a competition, particularly once you brought practical work into the equation. Harry was far beyond NEWT theory, and was approaching Mastery level on almost all of the core subjects. The young man was a student that would have caused Rowena Ravenclaw to beam with pride, and of course his skill with a wand would've made any of the founders desire to have him in their house.

As the meeting was winding down, Penny asked if Harry had any words to say to everyone and he nodded as he stood to address the group, "Look I am sure you have all heard what happened at the Quidditch World Cup, and I want you all to use it as the example of something going horribly wrong on an average evening. I don't want everyone to be paranoid or in constant fear of attack, but everyone does need to remain constantly vigilant through this school year. If nothing else, just know that if you activate your panic Galleon I will be coming as fast as I can to assist you. You are not alone out there this year, and as per tradition if any of you have a problem or need help balancing your schedule, Penny and I will be available to help in any way we can. Let's just have a safe and productive year. You are all dismissed."

This started the light chatter as the groups began making their way out, and as the room began to clear the four who started the group remained behind. Cedric whistled, "That might be the friendliest I have ever seen Harry towards any group of people. Should we be checking to see if Penny spiked his drink with a cheering charm?"

Everyone in the group, including Percy, chuckled at this, but Harry said, "It's our final year. I think it's time to finally relax. We have prepared for our NEWTs so hard, and it's all falling into place. Let's finish the year so we can all move on to bigger and better things."

Cedric clapped his hands together, "Here here!"

As the group began to walk out, Harry saw the new seventh year Ravenclaw male prefect who had been assigned to replace Harry after he took the Head Boy position, Roger Davies, "Hello, Potter. Surprised they are letting you walk free after the fiasco at the cup. Thought they would have a cell in Azkaban with your name on it."

The group said nothing as they all watched Harry who clearly twitched in agitation, "Davies, if you have something you want to say you better say it before I remove your ability to speak permanently. I hope I didn't kill mum or dad at the World Cup did I?"

This caused the boy to go red, and took one step towards Harry, but Cedric was already moving forward with his wand subtly already drawn, "Don't even think about it. Don't think I forgot what you did to Hannah Abbot last year."

Harry was impressed that the boy moved so fast in his defense, but Penelope hissed out, "Wands away now or I will have you both in detention. Davies, if you wish to hold your prefect position I suggest you get out of my sight before I lodge a complaint with Professor Dumbledore. I assure you I could have your badge before the night is over."

Davies merely glared at the girl, and stared at Harry, "How powerful you must feel, Potter. How many lives have you taken now? How many families have you broken, and destroyed? How do you sleep at night?"

Harry stared coldly at the boys retreating back as he said, "I am not unwilling to add one more to the list, Davies. Don't think I don't notice the darkness around your arm. You should tread carefully because that mark makes you my enemy."

Penny, Cedric, and Percy all immediately began staring at Roger's arm, and the boy instinctively went to cover it, and glared angrily at Harry as he swept away. When the boy got out of earshot Cedric asked coldly, "Was that a threat, or did you actually see something?"

Harry continued to stare in the direction the boy went, "It wasn't a threat. I could sense the mark. I think his reaction was proof enough even if I couldn't."

Penny shuddered, "We should tell Professor Dumbledore."

"He already knows. Dumbledore is kept well informed on Death Eater recruitment. Besides, no one could know how he got his mark. More than likely it would be chalked up as someone who shares sentiment with the Pureblood Supremacy movement. He was their champion after all." Harry said darkly.

They all knew he was speaking of the Dark Lord, and Cedric stormed off needing to find his girlfriend and cool down from his anger at the possibility of a Hogwarts student aligning themselves with the Death Eaters. Percy sighed and took Penny away as well, and the girl shot one last concerned look at Harry as no more words were said between the group.

The time passed as Harry patrolled the train cars alone trying to keep a clear head and not going after Davies and blasting his head off. He thought of his many Hogwarts adventures, and just how the series of unfortunate events led him to be where he was today. It was Harry's thirst for knowledge that landed him in Ravenclaw in his first year at Hogwarts, and for his first two years he pretty much kept to himself. He landed himself the top spot in his class each year, and had a spell repertoire that was a mile wide by the end of his third year. In his fourth year his brother joined him, and with the help of a few friends in Hufflepuff and his own house they discovered a thief that was attempting to steal the Sorcerer's Stone to resurrect the Dark Lord. Harry managed to stop his Defense professor that year from bringing the monster back from beyond the grave, but he definitely couldn't have gotten to the man alone, and he would never have claimed to have been able to. He had the backing of headstrong Cedric Diggory, and brilliant Penelope Clearwater. The traps that the Professors had set were no match for them, and they were shocked to find Professor Quirrell at the end of the tunnel dueling with a first year Justin Potter. Justin was unconscious by the time Harry had arrived alone, and what had followed was a series of strange occurrences. Quirrell had defeated Harry in the duel by the narrowest of margins, but as a last resort Harry had tackled the man when he was disarmed. The man then went into a convulsive fit, and dissolved into some sort of magical dust. This led to the expelling of the wraith of the Dark Lord who had latched himself on to the psychotic defense teacher.

After that Harry began making a few friends, and had attracted the attention of his parents for the first time in years, but he blew them off at every turn. He continued to stay with Sirius through the summer holidays, and kept up with his training, staying well away from his family. It was also a turning point in his popularity, as he began opening up more and more to the few friends he had, but still kept his walls up to most people, and did not allow people to get close to him.

In Justin's second year at Hogwarts he was attacked by Marcus Flint, Draco Malfoy and a few other Slytherins but unluckily for them Harry came upon the situation with the help of the Marauder's map and unleashed hell upon them. That was the beginning of the brothers' new relationship, and after that they had become ever so slightly closer each year.

In the same year his friends came back together and discovered that a basilisk had been petrifying students. After the group informed Dumbledore, he assured them that the situation was well in hand, and that was the day that Harry knew his mentor had been right about the old man. Nothing came from the news that a basilisk was wandering the halls of Hogwarts through the pipes, and when the announcement was made that all students were to return to their dormitories immediately, Harry pulled out the Marauders Map and discovered that Ron, his brother, and Gilderoy Lockhart were roaming the castle together. Figuring his brother was having delusions of grandeur with that idiot Lockhart beside him, he moved to intercept the trio. Once he discovered Ginny Weasley had been taken into the chamber and left to die he decided to help. It would mark the first time Justin Potter had earned his brother's respect as a wizard. The boy proved to be worthy of the house of Godric Gryffindor, and as cunning as any Slytheirn when he found out how he convinced Lockhart to be bait for Slytherin's Monster, and how he didn't back down when the cave-in happened and cut the world off from the Potter brothers. The battle that followed would be legendary. Harry had taken on the seventeen year old shade of Tom Riddle who was mere seconds from assuming his former power, and Justin himself had pulled the blade of Godric Gryffindor and defeated Slytherin's Monster while also destroying the diary that ended the rapidly deteriorating fight between Harry and the Dark Lord. It was the turning point of their relationship, and for the first time in many years Harry saw the boy as his brother when he nearly lost him to the basilisk venom. From that moment on Harry was very protective of his little brother.

Then in his sixth year, Peter Pettigrew had attempted to come to Hogwarts and kill his brother, which resulted in a short duel where Harry killed for the first time in his life. It was a ruthless battle, but it was the third time Harry had saved his brother from a situation like this, and when he saw the rat that nearly cost him everything he had in his family, he struck fast and furious, leaving hellfire and brimstone in his wake.

Harry's relationship with his brother had jumped after this. The boy was attached to his hip more often than not for what little was left of his sixth year, and even spent most of the previous summer training with him no longer wanting his fancy tutors. It was at this point his family realized just how advanced he became at magic, and was honestly surprised no one had questioned him on how. No one could become as powerful as he was without a proper mentor, but he was thankful for the first time of their negligence in the details.

Now this was Harry's last year, and he couldn't wait to get out and begin his mastery level objectives with the possibly of his potions master. Severus Snape had taken the boy under his wing after he caught him brewing Polyjuice on his own in his second year for experimental purposes. It was nothing short of fate that the potion had finished that fateful afternoon, and that he had managed to impress his potions master.

Harry had also become quite the inventor with a little bit of coaching from his own head of house, Filius Flitwick, who was a brilliant charms master. Harry had been told many times that he had a bright future out of Hogwarts, and hoped to gain two mastery's in just a few short years, and possibly make his own fortune!

The train came to its stop as they pulled into Hogsmeade station, and Harry shook off the remains of the funk that Roger Davies had left him in. It was his time to make the best of all of this, and he wouldn't back down in his final year.

(A/N) Hello everyone, and thank you all for coming to chapter 2! The show of support from the first chapter has been amazing, and I really appreciate everyone who took time to favorite, leave a comment, or joined discord to chat with me about the story. You guys are what drives me to keep publishing fanfics, and I really can't wait to share this story with you all.

Speaking of discord. If you hop in today you will get an opportunity to read Chapter 3, because I will be dropping advanced content starting January 11, 2022. My plan for this story is to give you guys an extra chapter every month on Discord, so that means 3 updates a month instead of 2! I hope that provides a little incentive, and I hope to see more new faces in discord. If you want to join that page just copy the link below, and delete the spaces. Thanks, and cheers!

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Also a huge shoutout to my beta team! Lots of hand are on this project, because we want to bring the best story possible to all of you. Shoutout to James Marx, Brian64, and Bobkey. You guys are what will make this story great, thanks for all your help.