This chapter was edited by Gladiusx.


Harry opened his eyes and found himself in the Godswood of his mind. Ghost was already by his side, nudging his head playfully. Harry grinned as he rubbed the direwolf's snout, only now noticing he was at his full height of two metres.

"Hello, Ghost." The direwolf chuffed silently, and Harry enjoyed the simple act of pampering his companion. His mind always made him feel safe and serene, whether it was the nostalgia of being in Winterfell or simply the effect of the godswood. It especially helped him now more than ever as he stewed over the events of the past few hours.

The dementor attack…there were so many things that he nearly fucked up. Harry did manage to beat them, but it was mostly due to luck and Cinder's help. After a few minutes of playing with Ghost some more, he moved towards the Heart Tree, placed his hand over the carved face, and focused on the memories of last night before moving to the pool and sinking his face in it.

Within a heartbeat, he found himself watching the memories from when he first noticed the dementors all the way to Dumbledore's arrival. Several things stood out for him. First was his overreliance on Gryffindor over his wand, culminating in losing it so embarrassingly. He needed more wand training with his off-hand, curses and hexes, transfiguration and charms. He needed to be able to use his left hand just as well as his right; otherwise, wielding Gryffindor and his wand simultaneously would simply not be plausible.

The combination of enchanted sword and magic was too devastating to give up on. At least until he advanced enough in magic to use his wand even a fraction of the way Dumbledore did.

He shuddered at the thought he could have forever lost his wand if not for Hedwig. Harry could have used her to scout ahead or watch his flank; if he had done so, he could have avoided that third dementor blindsiding him. Looking at the memory, Harry noticed that she had been soaring above the train and had tried to nudge him for orders, yet the dementor's screeching had greatly distracted him. For once, his senses backfired on him; perhaps he should research a method to dampen sound.

Muffliato did not work on body parts, sadly.

The second issue was the disadvantage of the Patronus Charm. Ghost could not be in two places at once, and neither could Harry cast the charm twice.

Third was the dementors themselves. They resisted Basilisk venom, yet as Harry watched them regenerate from his Incendio, he noted that the stab wounds were much slower to regenerate. That meant the wraiths were not as indestructible as people said, yet they were still far sturdier than he expected. Coupled with the rapid regeneration, it made them nearly invulnerable.

Finally, and most importantly, Cinder's flames. Harry had no way of permanently destroying the dementors as the Patronus merely banished them–aside from attempting to cut them to pieces, though he got the feeling it still would not work. An image of the dementor's decapitated head and separated limbs crawling to each other and fusing back to their monstrous forms sprang into his mind.

Gods, if abominations existed in this world, the dementors were it!

Perhaps there were other ways to destroy them that none had discovered before, but the Fae's fire made short work of them, even if he did not particularly like the side effects.

"You're welcome, honey."

Harry removed his head from the pool and turned to the tree, noticing Cinder crawling out of the carved face's mouth. "I didn't think we could communicate so far apart."

"Normally, that would be true." The fae, still the size of a fairy, squeezed herself out of the mouth with a groan as the narrow lips held onto her hips for a moment before floating towards him and landing on his outstretched hand. "But the Weirwoods work strangely indeed. This is the first time we've been apart for so long that I did not notice, but it seems like this tree is more like my own than I thought."

"How so?" Cinder climbed to sit on his shoulder and leaned her warm head to his cheek. "You make it sound like this is more than just an illusion in my mind."

"Oh, I am certain this is far more real than you think. This is just a theory, but I feel that we are connected through both trees. I believe we can communicate when you're asleep, or if you somehow manage to access this, Er, what do you call it?" The Fae placed a finger on her chin in thought, and Harry couldn't help but smile; she was utterly adorable when she was pint-sized. "Ah, a Godswood. So, yeah, now that I am inhabiting my own Heart Tree, we should be able to communicate or help each other out once you are here."

"Heh, it's like you're the goddess in the woods then." Harry chuckled, only for the Fae to cringe heavily. "What's wrong? I thought you would like to be the goddess of your godswood."

"By heavens, no! Perhaps when I was young and foolish, I could have arrogantly proclaimed myself a goddess to you gullible mortals, but after I've seen an Ascended One first-hand? If he says there are far more powerful beings than him, and he still refuses to claim himself a god? I would rather not tempt fate like that or else risk divine retribution or something."

Surprisingly, Harry could truly detect fear and apprehension from the fae as she shivered on his shoulder, her fiery red hair dimming to a subdued yellow. He was still unsure about the matter of gods and divinity in this world; in Westeros, it was far simpler; the gods observed but did not overtly interfere beyond the occasional vague omen.

Aside from perhaps Melisandre's Red God.

"So, what other abilities can we get from this connection?"

"Hmm, I don't know yet. There's still so much more for me to discover, but the possibilities are endless!" Cinder perked up as she jumped and floated to Ghost's head. The direwolf narrowed his eyes but allowed her to roost on his head. "I wonder if more trees were spread all over the isles, would we discover more abilities?"

Harry stilled. "What are you suggesting?"

"Oh, I'm not suggesting anything~" The little minx grinned cheekily as she swung her feet on Ghost's head, only to squeak when the direwolf shook his head, causing her to float away with a pout. "Bad doggy! Anyway, why don't you figure it out yourself?"

Harry sighed, realising the fae won't make it easy, turned to the Heart Tree and placed his palm on it. Instantly, memories of last night's feast roamed his mind, but he ignored them for now, only for a different yet familiar set of memories to flood his mind.

It was Ghost when he left him on the train. He could see from his eyes the common room and the worried faces of the students. Susan and Hannah had joined Hermione and the rest, along with other students of his year. The prefects were arguing with a couple of older years who were playing Exploding Snap next to the windows, only for the dementor's screams to shatter the glass in their faces.

Huh, so he could warg into Ghost even as a Patronus? That was neat, though the Patronus was too eye-catching to act as a scout. This gave Harry ideas, but just as he was about to withdraw from the memory, something else nudged his mind, and suddenly, he found himself in a completely different set of memories.

Memories flowed so fast and so alien, it instantly gave him a migraine, yet Harry managed to glimpse a few things. A court of flames adorned with precious stones in a myriad of colours. So rich and opulent that it would make a Lannister look like a pauper.

Beautiful yet alien creatures that Harry realised were Fae laughed and sang and danced and frolicked, though he was distracted by several humanoid creatures forced to perform or play or serve the creatures like slaves. Humans in different varieties, some short, some tall, some pointy-eared while others had too big and round ears, ethereal-looking women with pale hair and feathery arms, vampires and even succubi and incubi akin to what Tonks had shown him. All of them were beautiful or handsome. Most of them appeared to be in their teens, yet all of them catered to whatever whims the Fae desired, whether it was as simple as board games or even watching movies (how the heck did they have a TV?!) or more humiliating things like juggling or dancing like a fool.

Yet there were far more debaucherous things happening.

Two boys a few years older than him were coupling with a rather sensual fae, while a girl's head was between the legs of another fae. Another boy was feeding grapes to a younger looking fae though he seemed far happier than the rest as he visibly joked and bantered with his mistress. In fact, Harry noticed that most of the mortals seemed willing or happy to be here, though it could very well be the effects of some unknown magic.

Yet there were more things happening that he just could not fathom were possible.

Did that fae just swallow that girl whole?! Why did this other, clearly female fae with massive teats have a penis?!

Harry shook his head violently, feeling a severe migraine as he attempted to banish what must have been an illusion. He turned around the massive court that looked like it was built underground, finding all kinds of fae everywhere doing all kinds of debaucherous acts, yet his gaze settled on an elevated platform overlooking the massive courtyard.

Notably, on a familiar red-skinned girl seated on a small throne next to several others, with girls of different colours giggling and chatting with others while the servants served food and drink. Harry focused on the girl, instantly recognising Cinder but noticing she was different. Far more stoic and a lot more serious, dressed in a rich and elaborate dress while occasionally glancing at the other seated fae in apprehension–her fiery hair a subdued yellow, while her eyes shifted everywhere as if afraid of an attack.

Standing behind the circle of thrones were several fully transformed werewolves, different from Chiara, who turned into a full wolf. Those stood upright on their hind legs, were dressed in armour and wielded halberds. They were clearly lucid, and Harry noticed many similar creatures around the hall, some with bullheads, others with lions, but the majority were wolves. Two particularly savage ones stood guard behind a figure that, even in this memory, radiated power and authority.

It was also a Fae, clearly the queen, considering her garish dress, two sets of fiery wings, a golden crown inlaid with a multitude of gems that…Harry's eyes widened as he realised those were not normal gems.

They were souls!

For some reason, Harry struggled to process the rest of the queen's features, and the more he stared, the stronger the migraine became. The Fae Queen was discussing something with another fae before suddenly turned to Cinder with a frown. She called out to her in a completely alien tongue, but Harry noticed that his companion looked terrified.

"NO!"

Before he could see more, he felt something yanking him hard from the back of his neck, and Harry was back in the godswood of his mind; Cinder was back to her adult form and breathing harshly as she lifted herself off his chest.

"It's not nice to spy on a maiden's memories, Harry."

Despite her joking tone and cheeky grin, Harry could tell she was very disturbed. The smile did not reach her eyes, which were wide with nervousness–sweat poured down her brow, and Harry never realised the fiery fae could even sweat. She shook slightly as Harry gazed at her, looking deep into her eyes and understanding her better than any discussion.

Not now, please.

And yet, his curiosity could not be stifled.

"Was that–"

"Not entirely real!" Cinder blurted, her eyes wide in worry. "Remember what I said about Fae not being entirely there in the material world? Yeah, just…keep an open mind."

"Fine, not my fault you left your mind open like that." Harry grinned before slapping the Fae's arse, causing her to squeak. Her thin black dress was practically glued to her body, giving him a truly enticing view that if this wasn't his mind, where his emotions were subdued with the absence of his body, he most likely would have done more. "Now, get off me and stop beating around the bush. You mentioned something about having more Weirwoods planted."

Cinder floated away awkwardly, shrinking down to pint-sized and landed on his shoulder when he stood. Harry noticed Ghost lying on the ground, observing them in boredom, clearly disinterested in anything aside from getting some petting.

"As the spirit inhabiting my own Heart Tree, I can direct where the roots go to an extent. The tree has its own instinct to spread everywhere, and a new one would normally grow from the roots and upwards." Cinder explained as Harry sat beside Ghost and idly rubbed his furry head–he raised an eyebrow when Cinder grew to the size of a small child and hopped on his lap with a grin. "Not fair that Ghostie would get all the love. Pamper me more!"

Harry shrugged and hugged her close to his chest, causing the girl to give a surprisingly innocent giggle. She looked no different from a petite thirteen-year-old and was far too endearing not to console her a little, especially after he unintentionally peeked through her memories.

"Alright, I already knew that. What do you do differently now that you are inhabiting it? Can you directly control it?"

"Control, no. But I can coax the tree to give me a fertile seed, and you can plant it somewhere close. It would follow its instincts and grow independently of my tree, but you would have to feed it your blood regularly to imprint your will in it. Unless you want someone to claim it as their own?"

"Naturally, all the Weirwoods shall be mine. But what's the benefit of planting it here? That's what you were leading to, right?"

"My tree is spreading its roots towards the Wildland. If you plant another in the Forbidden Forest, perhaps in my old cave, I have a feeling I would be able to more easily connect to it and, thus, reach you better if you need help."

Harry felt that the Fae had ulterior motives but trusted her loyalty to him enough to allow her some leeway. After all, he did owe her his life for her help last night.

"I will see what I can do. Now, regarding last night, how come your flames worked so well against the dementors?"

"Cuz I'm just that awesome!" Harry gazed impassively at the hyperactive Fae as he paused his petting, smiling innocently up at him until she pouted and folded her arms. "Oh, fine! You're no fun, just don't stop pampering me!" He smirked before obliging as he tickled her sides and rested his chin over her fiery head, causing her to give a dopey grin. "As for why, I have a theory, but I've never actually met beings like those wraiths before."

"Just tell me what you know."

"Dementors having the power to steal souls from humans is unnatural. Fae may take souls through deals or tricks, but no matter what, it has to be willing and consensual. For those abominations to steal someone's soul by sucking it from their mouth? So unfair!"

"Uh-huh, yet from what I've seen, they seemed utterly incapable of using those souls for anything aside from maybe regenerating themselves. How's your progress with Lucy's soul, by the way? What are you even using it for anyway?"

Cinder grinned as she patted her stomach, "The soul is a great source of power, but it still loses juice if used extensively without a chance to rest. Aside from spilling all his secrets to me as I dive into his mind, Lucy here has been very useful in my attempts to refine Weirwood sap."

"So you use him for making wine?"

"Not just wine, you know. I'm still discovering so many uses for it; even your werewolf was interested in a refined sample for her potions."

Chiara had indeed mentioned it to him, but there had yet to be any progress as far as he knew. Nevertheless, Chiara was not the type to update him on every little thing; if she discovered an important use for the sap, she would tell him.

"Alright, so dementors are cheaters, probably some kind of dark abomination, considering Dumbledore mentioned only sentient beings can create dark magic." Harry stared seriously down at the fae on his lap; that worried feeling in the back of his mind would not leave him. "Could they be a creation of some Fae? Perhaps…a Fae of Winter?"

"Definitely not." Cinder hastily elaborated, "If the court of winter could create such monstrosities, they would have kept them as their pets and attacked the mortal realms with impunity to steal souls. The fact is, we Fae are bound by the laws of our existence. We enjoy a great deal of power and a very long lifespan, yet in return, we can never trick the laws. We can never lie or renege on an agreement, no matter how distasteful or disadvantageous it is. Our word is our very being. Even if we could create such creatures, the laws would punish us, for they aren't some err, what do you call them? That muggle thing that Dobby listens to."

"Football betting predictions?"

"Something like that. The laws don't have loopholes, glitches, or exploits. A fae cannot seize an unwilling soul, and I really mean cannot even force ourselves to do it. It has to be through a deal, willingly given, or other methods."

"Like finding one lying around in a tree?" Harry grinned, causing the fae to snicker, even as he filed away Dumbledore's theory–a Fae might not have created the dementors, but humans have an extreme talent for corrupting the pure into something monstrous. "So what's so special about your fire that destroyed them?"

"Honestly? I have no idea. I mean, I know I'm hot and awesome, but I didn't think my fire would make that big of a difference. Do you think it has something to do with our connection to the Weirwood?"

Harry wondered about that. Cinder's flames that he doused the dementors in were far more powerful and hotter than what Cinder had used against him back when he ambushed her in her cave.

"Perhaps you're onto something, but there's simply too little we know about the Weirwoods." Harry lifted her off his lap and set her on the ground before standing up and stretching. "Anyway, I think I've been here long enough. I got a few things I want to check about the feast and afterwards, but I will need to wake up soon."

"Great, I'll let you know when I manage to get a seed for the tree. Bye, Harry, bye, Ghostie."

With that, Cinder popped away, though Harry could still feel her through their connection. He sighed at the troublesome fae girl…or princess, considering what he saw. He had a lot of questions about that, but perhaps she was right. Now was not the time, and he was in no rush to learn more about the Court of Summer.

Cinder would tell him when she was ready, and if a situation arose that he needed to know, he would press her to tell him what she knew. In the meantime, Harry inspected the rest of his evening, from the sorting to the Minister barging in and screaming about Narcissa Black destroying the atrium to Dumbledore sending everyone to their common rooms and leaving with the Minister.

Harry shook his head at the foolish gaffe the Minister did. No matter what, he should never have aired out the Ministry's incompetence like that. His heart felt for Narcissa, and the Ministry ought to know the consequences of blatantly provoking people who had the power to fight back.

It's like the Targaryens and their dragons; none dared provoke them, or else they suffered Fire and Blood.

But mere dragons and the terror they brought paled in comparison to the power of wizardry, which turned even the kings of the sky into nothing more than cattle.

A*L*S*M

Thursday morning, 2nd of September, 1993

The Great Hall

"Good morning, Harry."

"Good morning, Hermione. You missed our morning runs." Harry raised his cup of tea in greeting as Hermione slumped across him with a yawn.

He had already finished his morning exercises and was among the first to arrive for breakfast, having just devoured his last slice of bacon and was now enjoying his first cup of tea before dessert. Usually, Hermione and Neville would join him, but he couldn't wake Neville up, and Hermione never showed. Looking at her now, she looked like she hardly slept at all.

"Sorry, Harry. I had to meet with Professor McGonagall early today. I was supposed to meet her before the sorting, but…"

"For obvious reasons, everyone was distracted yesterday." Harry nodded solemnly. "So what was it about?"

Hermione grimaced, "I can't say."

Harry raised his eyebrow, "Can't or won't?"

His friend bit her lips as she looked around and whispered, "I'm not supposed to say, but you already know."

Harry raised his eyebrow as she mimed checking her watch, and his other eyebrow followed the first in surprise. He did not actually expect Hermione to tell him, as there was no doubt McGonagall had extracted a promise from her never to mention the Time Turner.

"Show me?"

Hermione mouthed later as she smiled shyly, and he nodded gratefully. Harry smiled inwardly; he was glad that Hermione trusted him so easily. Having access to a Time Turner would be beyond useful; already, he could imagine a dozen ways it would benefit him and Hermione.

It would be their own special secret. While he would like to bring more friends into the scheme, it would not be wise. Too many people in the know did not make a secret, and there was no way he would risk getting his best friend in trouble over something selfish. He would pay her back on her birthday in a couple of weeks; Harry had already discussed with Henry and Chiara about helping Hermione, and though it would be a year late, there was no rule about the Coming of Age ritual having to be done on someone's thirteenth birthday. It was preferable, but better late than never as long as she was still in her teens. It helped that Hermione's birthday was on a Friday, making it easier for him to prepare a ritual room for her.

Suddenly, a plate of treacle tart appeared in front of him.

"More tart, Harry? You do realise this is terrible for your teeth, right?"

Harry hummed in delight as he ate his first slice, grinning at his friend as she grabbed a plate of cheese omelette.

"Good thing we're not in the muggle world anymore. What dentists spend months to fix, a mediwitch can fix with a wave of her wand. Isn't that how you fixed your teeth?"

Hermione blushed and struggled not to smile, but Harry could see her front teeth were now perfectly aligned with the rest of her teeth. "T-That's irrelevant. Too much sugar is still bad for your health. Also, my teeth were fine. I did not fix them."

"Yeah, she just went to Saint Mungo's after your party to get the magical equivalent of braces." Mafalda sat beside Hermione and grabbed some buttered toast. Harry had noticed her entering the Hall and made a beeline for them. "Definitely not a fix, more of an adjustment, isn't that right, Hermione?"

"Maddie! You shouldn't spill my secrets like that!"

"That was a secret?" Maddie shrugged as she bit into her toast. "What about that thing you discussed with–"

Hermione blushed heavily as she slapped her palm at the other girl's mouth, silencing her. Mafalda narrowed her eyes while the bushy-haired Gryffindor whispered urgently in her ear, causing her to sigh and nod. Harry smirked inwardly as he heard everything she said. It seemed his friend was already in touch with Ted Tonks regarding her project.

Having had enough fun at the expense of Hermione, Harry switched tracks. "So, how's Slytherin House treating you, Maddie?"

Mafalda glanced behind her at the surprisingly subdued snakes before returning to her toast. "They're alright, I suppose. At least, as long as they keep thinking I'm pureblood. Tracey and Daphne helped out last night by purposely greeting me in the common room. That was nice of them. Although, are they always such a gloomy bunch?"

"No, it probably has to do with the notable absentees."

"Ah, that would do it." Mafalda nodded solemnly, while Hermione's eyes suddenly widened.

"Mafalda!"

"What?" Maddie looked weirdly at Hermione's sudden shout, a piece of toast hanging from her mouth as she grabbed a plate of pancakes.

"You're in Slytherin!"

"Yes? Well spotted, Hermione. I'm glad the green and silver are obvious." Harry smirked at the sassy girl while Hermione frowned.

"You're not supposed to sit at other house tables."

"What?" This time, Maddie looked confused and turned to him questioningly, but Harry simply finished the last of his pie and waved over two more Slytherins that just entered the hall.

"Hey, guys and gals." Daphne slumped next to Hermione with a massive yawn while Tracey sat beside Mafalda.

"What's causing your hair to frazzle, Hermione? More than normal, I mean." Daphne unapologetically smirked as she grabbed a buttered croissant with melted cheese, while Tracey groggily groaned as Hermione's face gained a reddish hue that was most assuredly not a blush.

"Why is no one talking about the obvious?! You're Slytherins! You're not supposed to sit at other house tables!"

By now, the hall was beginning to fill up with latecomers. Many of the students did not look like they slept a wink last night, which was expected after the excitement on the train and the Minister's show at the end of the feast. Several students glared at Hermione's loud voice, one of them muttering it was too early for her to start worrying about exams.

Something that Hermione clearly heard and had her lower her head in embarrassment. Feeling sorry for his friend and glaring at the older Ravenclaw girl for her needless comment so hard she shrank away, Harry reassured Hermione.

"Students only need to stick to their House tables during feasts or special announcements. I'm sure if the teachers objected, they would have mentioned it." Harry glanced at the staff table, noticing the conspicuous absence of Dumbledore, who probably never made it back since last night from the chaos. Snape was also missing. He wondered who would cover the duties of Head of Slytherin with Snape indisposed. "Now, how about you greet our friends properly and make them feel welcome?"

Hermione nodded in shame, "I'm sorry, Maddie. I didn't mean anything by it."

Mafalda shrugged, "Don't worry about it. We're friends. It's just like you to shout at an injustice, Hermione. I like that about you."

Hermione beamed before looking past Maddie towards Tracey, who shrugged as she ate her porridge silently. Grimacing slightly, the bushy-haired girl turned to Daphne, sitting beside her and finding the vivacious girl grinning toothily.

"Yeah, while I wouldn't invite you to the Slytherin table unless you want to risk one of the morons there hexing you, I think I like your side of the hall better." A meow came from under the table, causing them to glance below and find two cats eating grilled fish. "And it helps that Sooty likes your cat."

Harry was distracted by two more figures entering the hall and making a beeline for him, both of them sitting on each side of him. "Morning, Harry."

"Morning, Hestia. Morning, Flora." Harry hugged both girls tightly, kissing both of their brows, much to Hestia's chagrin and Flora's giddiness–as well as plenty of raised eyebrows in the hall. "How are my two favourite cousins doing this fine morning?"

"We're your only cousins, you berk. Now get off!" Hestia protested, but Harry only grinned because she had not actually pushed him away. Still, he let her and Flora go as he spied the rest of his year entering the hall. His dorm mates took one look at him and shook their heads before making their way to an empty spot on the table.

Harry could have sworn Seamus muttered something about a chick magnet.

Lavender and the rest of the girls sat nearby, though they gave weird looks at Daphne and Tracey, the former grinning challengingly, only for Lavender to smirk back. Harry felt like he was missing something between the girls but was distracted by Susan and the rest of the Hufflepuffs entering the hall. His girlfriend looked at him in confusion, and Harry could tell she wanted to talk, but after a few heartbeats of hesitation, she followed Hannah to their table.

He sighed in relief; for a moment, he had a terrible feeling that she was going to make a fuss about the twins sitting so close to him. Deep down, Harry knew that Susan wasn't some harridan woman who would jump on his throat every time he spoke to a girl, but he could not help but have this unnatural fear.

Women were just so confusing.

"Trouble with love, Harry?" He turned to Daphne, the girl having one of her usual shit-eating grins. Wisdom dictated not to play the hellion's game and avoid giving her fuel for mischief. Sadly, she took his silence as agreement, which caused her grin to grow even wider. "Now, I really shouldn't be helping you out with this for obvious reasons." She not-so-subtly winked sideways, and while Harry knew she was aiming that wink at her sister, Hermione was in the way, which caused her to have the funniest look of confusion yet. "But take this hint for free since I'm such a great gal. Tomorrow is Susan's birthday, and while Hogsmeade weekends don't start until next week, I'm sure you can figure out some kind of date for her, yeah?"

Harry cringed inwardly; he had forgotten about Susan's birthday. Thankfully, he did remember it was sometime in September and had already bought a present beforehand.

"Why, thank you, Daphne. That was surprisingly helpful of you." Harry narrowed his eyes, "Now, what's the catch? No way you would give freebies and expect nothing in return."

"Why, Harry! How dare you accuse me of such selfish motives?" Daphne gasped loudly and held her heart dramatically as she fell sideways on Hermione's shoulder, grabbing the bushy-haired girl like a life raft. "Do you hear his cruel words, Hermione? Is this what I get for trying to be nice? Help me, oh sister, did we not swear oaths of eternal friendship over glasses of warm milk as our cats fought over treats?!"

"Er, yeah, how could you, Harry?" Hermione was initially confused but quickly caught on, and both girls gave him their best cheshire grins.

Sadly for them, he was not born yesterday, and a simple raised eyebrow, along with folding his arms as he glared at them, was the only response they would get from him. Their smiles quickly turned stiff until Tracey sighed loudly.

"My sister is too much of a troublemaker to ask politely, but she would like it if we could make our duelling practice a common thing here. I'm sure one of the teachers could point us to a room for us to practice, or maybe we could convince Professor Flitwick to reactivate the duelling club."

Hestia, Flora, and Mafalda perked up, and before Harry could speak, they all stared intently at him with large, pleading eyes. "You will teach us too, right?"

Several students looked very interested in the matter as well, and while Harry had no issue practising duelling with his friends, he did not wish to invite the entire school to it. "Sure, I will speak to McGonagall about it."

As the girls rejoiced and high-fived each other, Harry noticed the Great Hall had filled up. The Ravenclaw table was the most crowded as they received the bulk of this year's first years. Many of them chatted excitedly about the coming lessons, though the younger students still seemed subdued and wary, especially the first years. Harry did not blame them; an attack on the most important day of their lives and learning someone on the same train they were on was killed would make anyone afraid.

The mood on the Slytherin table was distinctly grim. It was like a shroud had dropped over their usually stoically arrogant facade, and an imminent doom awaited them all. He could now understand why Mafalda and Daphne opted to join them for breakfast rather than stay with the rest of their housemates. Harry could almost smell the gloominess coming from their table.

McGonagall arrived through the double doors together with a drowsy Professor Sinistra, discussing something seemingly important in hushed tones. Harry did not interact a lot with the strict Astronomy teacher, but she treated everyone fairly and never gave him a hard time unless he deserved it.

Still, her deathly pale skin, long knee-length black hair that seemed to float by itself without a breeze, blood-red eyes and tall frame gave her a formidable appearance that discouraged any students from acting out in her lessons. As the woman accepted several reams of paper from the deputy headmistress, she joined her along with Flitwick and Sprout as they approached the Hogwarts tables. Looks like they found Snape's replacement as Head of House Slytherin.

"Hey, Daph, I think you should take your fellow snakes back to your table. They're giving out the schedules now."

Daphne, Tracey, and Mafalda turned around to find Sinistra handing out reams of papers to the prefects as they helped her give out the schedules. "Shoot, let's go, girls. Don't worry, we'll be back and compare schedules."

As the girls hurried back to their table, Harry spied Astoria and Luna at the Ravenclaw table, receiving their schedules from a Ravenclaw prefect, one of the fifth years he did not recognise. Sprout was also handing her students their schedules, while strangely, McGonagall had given their schedules to the Weasley twins, of all people.

"How the hell did you convince McGonagall to give you our schedules?" Harry muttered as he accepted his schedule from George while Fred handed Hermione hers.

"Naturally, because we are the perfect example of studious students. Don't you know?"

"Sure you are. Hestia, Flora? Did you get your schedules?"

"Yes, Harry." The twins showed their timetables, having accepted them from another passing prefect. "We have Charms in half an hour, but we don't know where the classroom is."

"Don't worry, I'll show you the way. You can get some brownie points with the rest of the first years by claiming you have Harry Potter as your personal escort." Flora giggled while Hestia grumbled, like usual, yet Harry could tell she was pleased. "Hermione? I got Arithmancy first, Transfiguration, then lunch break. After that is double Care of Magical Creatures then Charms. Will I see you there?"

Hermione seemed to be rethinking her life choices as her eyes glazed over her no doubt insane schedule of twelve different subjects, but she shook her head in determination. "Yes, Harry. I will see you at Arithmancy."

Daphne chose this moment to drop back in, though Tracey and Maddie were conspicuously absent. "So what do you have? The first class should be an elective. I got Arithmancy, even though I really wanted to take Divination. Too bad, Tracey tattled to Daddy, and he made it clear that, under no circumstances will I take Divination or Muggle Studies."

"Bummed out that you can't bum out on the classes?" Harry chortled, and the girl blew a raspberry before coughing as a strand of her hair got stuck in her mouth.

"Don't remind me. Herbology is next, then break, then double Care of Magical Creatures before ending the day with Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Mhm, looks like Gryffindor will share Arithmancy and COMC with the Slytherins, then. I still got time, so I will help the firsties find their way to their class."

"Isn't that a prefect's job?"

"Do you see any nearby?"

True enough, there was a conspicuous absence of the prefects. "Point, Tracey is doing the same with our first years. I doubt any of the others will bother helping them with Snape not around to hound their butts to get to work."

"Is Professor Sinistra not helping out?" Hermione asked.

"She's alright, but she hasn't a clue how to run a house, especially as she never expected to take over so suddenly. She's a bit of a recluse, in fact. I think this is the first time I've seen her during breakfast." Harry raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze to the tall and pale witch sitting on the staff table; now that Daphne mentioned it, this was the first time he saw the Astronomy professor so early. The witch looked uncomfortable and stifled a yawn before squinting as the morning sun shined down on her face.

Daphne looked up at the sound of a few owls flying in. "Oh dear, here comes the mail…and the news. You reckon there'll be some howlers in there?"

"Hopefully not. I wonder if the Daily Prophet will mention what happened in the Ministry." Harry frowned as he noticed that not a single owl had a letter; it was only newspapers. He accepted his copy of the newspaper and quickly spread the front page on the table, allowing everyone to see it.

MURDER ON THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS

HOGSMEADE RESIDENTS OUTRAGED AGAINST DEMENTOR DEPLOYMENT

By Rita Skeeter

Harry skimmed through the article and was not surprised to find a good deal of missing information. The DMLE never did interview him last night, and he hoped they would remain busy dealing with the fiasco in the Ministry to bother with him. He would prefer to keep his ability to destroy dementors a secret for now.

"Well, I knew there was no way they would not report the attack, but it's strange there's nothing about Narcissa's presumed rampage in the Ministry." Harry hummed.

"True, this doesn't say anything that we already knew." Hermione scrunched her nose. "Draco is dead and Professor Snape is in Saint Mungo's, though I wonder about the wording — the article didn't mention Draco by name nor explain how Professor Snape was injured. Still, Rita Skeeter focused more on the DMLE banishing the dementors back to Azkaban after several hours of struggle with the monsters as well as the residents' complaining about the ensuing racket. Nothing about what actually happened on the train, let alone what happened in the Ministry, aside from speculation that the Minister and his Senior Undersecretary might lose their jobs."

"I'm sure they have far greater concerns than their jobs." Daphne snorted. "You recall what Fudge called Mrs Malfoy yesterday? Narcissa Black. Those guys are real nutters, and now we have two of them on the loose!"

"Any idea why it hasn't made it to the papers yet?"

"Not sure, but I'm certain Fudge is busy keeping things tight-lipped as he struggles to establish a suitable narrative," Daphne muttered, her gaze on the headmaster's conspicuously empty throne. "The headmaster hasn't returned yet since then, but I'm willing to bet a year's allowance that all kinds of backroom deals are going on, so Fudge keeps his job. No matter what Mrs Malfoy did, Daddy says a good politician knows how to twist any incident to their benefit, and Fudge has been in the Ministry for decades–he might not be an impressive wizard, but he's certainly a political animal."

Harry looked at Daphne as if he had never seen her before. He always knew she was a lot more than some hedonistic slacker, as she liked to claim. The Greengrass Heiress had wits and charm in spades, even if she preferred not to use them–Harry was certain it was due to laziness rather than any attempt to hide her abilities. Still, she was far more perceptive than he assumed, and Harry decided to keep a closer eye on her; they were friends now, but none knew what the future held.

"Regardless," Harry folded the paper and stood up. "None of this is of any concern to us. It's time for us to get on with our classes."

Within a few minutes, they were outside the Great Hall, Hermione excusing herself for the lavatory while Harry led several first years to the Charms class. Daphne joined him out of boredom, only for them to bump into Tracey, leading Mafalda and several Slytherin firsties to the same class. After awkwardly leaving the firsties in their class, they went to their first class; a frazzled Hermione joined them as they walked past an alcove.

Arithmancy with Professor Septima Vector should be fun.


This chapter might be jarring after the previous action-packed ones, but that's school for you. Chaos and more are happening behind the scenes, yet Harry will have to worry about school more than anything for now.

I think I will stick to Harry's pov over the next few chapters. It will follow his classes and interactions with teachers and students alike. Narcissa's story is not done yet, but it can wait as those in power scramble to clean up after her mess. Politics be like that.

As for the Fae…well, this is my take on how otherworldly and alien they are. Now some of you may recollect the Ascended One claimed that Fae are pure, yet a glance at their antics makes you wonder what drugs he's on and whether he is willing to share. By pure, I meant pure in magic. As Cinder explained, they cannot trick the laws of magic; in other words, they cannot corrupt magic like humans can.

One can even argue that they do not have free will like humans do.

If you would like to support me, or read five chapters ahead (total of twenty across all of my stories), join me on my Patr(eo)n under the same penname.