A Cloak & Dagger State of Affairs - Chapter 9

MISSION HOGWARTS

Chapter 2 - Settling In

After the feast concluded a sallow faced man, with malevolent black eyes and long oily wavy hair swooped down on him, his robes fluttering rapidly due to his threatening gait.

Harry blinked and was reminded of vampires in the pit.

"The headmaster is expecting you," he sneered, his voice cold and hard.

Harry had to stop himself from laughing. There had to be an evil professor in a school of magic and Severus Snape was well suited for the role. Harry chuckled and was not intimidated by the man who terrorized the students of Hogwarts.

"Are you going to escort me?" Harry asked politely and got a sneer and a nod in return to his manners. Severus Snape turned dramatically on his heel and his robe fluttered again.

Harry rolled his eyes once he was facing the man's back and wondered what life incident could turn a man into that.

On the way to the headmaster's office, Harry came across dozens of animated suits of armor and rude and hilarious living portraits. One knight had tried to challenge Harry to a duel but a single glare from the professor and all the portraits and armours scuttled.

Effective glare. Lots of hate had to be buried in Snape's memories to summon a look like that with ease, Harry mused. Snape's file was incomplete and didn't leave much for Harry to judge.

They stopped in front of two ugly gargoyles that had a squashed scowling face with a long tongue hanging out. It was quite an intimidating sight and Harry realized that any student sent to the headmaster would definitely be praying to god for mercy at the sight of those gargoyles.

Harry chuckled and Snape turned around to glare but its effectiveness was useless on him. It would take more than that to shake him.

"Sugar cubes," Snape said and the gargoyles jumped aside, revealing a silently moving circular staircase, leading to the highest point in the castle where the headmasters office and residence was situated.

A knock and an enter later, Harry, with undisguised fascination, was observing the lavishly decorated unique room. Crimson was the predominant color that dominated the curtains, carpet and cushions. The furniture on the other hand was of rugged black and the table behind which Dumbledore sat was large with a narrow line of strange runes around its corners. Half the walls in the office had full length portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses who were looking at him with open curiosity and disdain in some cases. The other half of the room was adorned with shelves that held ancient books and strange magical instruments that Harry had never seen in his life.

The most breathtaking thing in the room however, was the fiery Phoenix; a bird made entirely out of fire. It had a long fiery golden red plumage and Crimson orange folded wings, a long neck and a small head atop which a couple of burning feathers stuck out. Its tiny black marble eyes were fixed on Harry and it was perched on a metal stand beside the headmaster's high back chair.

Harry gazed at the Phoenix with awe for a moment before meeting eyes with the smiling headmaster.

"Have a seat Harry," he said warmly and nodded at Severus Snape, dismissing him.

"Nice office," Harry commented. "I'd like the same but sadly I've been relegated to a measly dorm which I have to share with snot nosed brats."

Dumbledore chuckled. "I assure you it was not my idea. Crouch floated the idea a couple of days ago and the Minister was quick to agree. He wanted it to be a surprise."

"Nasty surprise is what it was," grumbled Harry. Crouch again. Damn bastard. "So what did you call me here for?"

"Merely to discuss your schedule. Obviously you will not want to attend class as a fourth year," Dumbledore began.

"God no!" Harry laughed.

"So you can join the classes where you feel you could learn something," Dumbledore continued. "Besides that, I believe you would like to pursue your ministerial duties alongside and I'm sure you'd like to get right to it."

"Sounds good," Harry said neutrally. "Since you know what I need, do you have a schedule for me?"

"We need a schedule for what you want," Dumbledore stressed. "Do you have any subjects that pop to mind first?"

"Well, Transfiguration and Potions I suppose," Harry admitted. "Charms I can do myself, that's no problem. History is a breeze and I guess I'll do Defense too."

Dumbledore hummed and tapped his wand on a piece of parchment. Immediately blank lines began to spread on the parchment, quickly turning into words and numbers.

"Only three classes? What about Arithmancy, Ancient Runes or Divination?"

"Arithmancy is child's play and I have a fascination with runes so my knowledge about them is beyond the scope of school but divination is an interesting one." Harry looked into Dumbledore's eyes impassively, "Your divination professor did make a life altering prophecy after all."

"Unknown to her," Dumbledore said lightly. "Sybil is a remarkable person. Immersed in spirituality she is on a different plane of existence. Most of the time she is calm, perhaps a little too enthusiastic and sometimes she gets bursts of visions that she cannot remember. The vision comes at the right time and is said to the right person."

"Interesting," Harry murmured.

So the prophecy was always meant to be heard by him and overheard by Snape, is what he is saying. Words that were spoken at an opportune moment which would result in a series of human events becomes a prophecy. Harry chuckled mentally. The wizards assumed the words were important and thus reacted abnormally. If they had ignored the words then nothing would have happened and the world would proceed like it was always meant to. This is why prophecies are like riddles, they are just taunting you and twisting you to become something you shouldn't. Morons are the only ones who listen to meaningless riddles.

"Harry?"

"Sorry," Harry apologized. "My mind wandered. Put me down for those three and with the seventh years. Don't need anything else."

"And your minist..."

"You can assign me a classroom after four in the evening," interrupted Harry. "I’ll meet with the prefects and heads of the student body and talk with them about anything they would like. We can organize two hour sessions every other day for anyone who would like and if it gets interesting we’ll extend the time."

"... Alright," Dumbledore said and tapped the parchment one final time before rolling it and handing it to Harry.

Harry accepted with a polite thank you and put the parchment into his robes. "Was there anything else?"

"So many things," Dumbledore sighed. "But right now all I am seeing is your mother in you." He smiled kindly. "You look like your father, yes but you talk and act just like Lily. Although she was a tad more cheerful," he added drily.

Harry went still. He had never spoken with anyone about his mother. Ever. All he knew was that she worked for the Department of Mysteries where she discovered unknown runes, as a result of which Harry survived a curse that had a hundred percent kill rate. This however was unexpected. A strange yearning clawed inside him but Harry impatiently brushed past it and regained his mental balance.

"That's nice to know," he said with a smile. "It's not often I get to hear about my parents. Those who knew them never came looking for me."

The barb hurt and Dumbledore winced in his mind.

"If you'd like to hear about them I'm sure I can oblige," Dumbledore said softly. "I'm sure I can even arrange some pensieve memories from their close friends."

Harry shook his head. "No thanks. It's a chapter of my life long shut and I have no wish to revisit it right now."

As far as I'm concerned I was reborn when I turned four.

"I'm sorry for bringing it up," Dumbledore acknowledged. "I am curious though, as to how long you've known you were a Metamorphmagus."

Harry's eyes widened and that little comment caught him off guard. How the bloody hell did Dumbledore know?!

"Where did you hear such an absurd notion," Harry laughed out loud. "I hope you're not confusing me with Auror Tonks, Chief Warlock."

"Perhaps I was mistaken," Dumbledore said lightly. His tone said he wasn't.

Harry's mind raced. Somehow Dumbledore had found out about his hidden ability and if he knew that what else did he know and how?

"We do train together sometimes and perhaps your informant saw Auror Tonks change into me. She does that sometimes, it's quite annoying."

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, perhaps that is it."

"Although it makes me curious as to why he was watching me in the first place." Harry tried not to sound accusing but there was no other way to put it.

"He also informed me about your lack of appearance at the Savage household," Dumbledore added lightly. "Something I find quite curious when the Auror department has a sworn statement saying you are in the care of the Savage's."

Dumbledore sounded perfectly casual, as calm as you like and watched Harry scowl.

"Where I live and what I do is none of your business Professor Dumbledore," Harry said politely. "I am emancipated minor as of today so no one has a claim over me."

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up. He hadn't been aware of that fact.

Harry smirked. It was his idea and Hugo had agreed with it. Although it was highly irregular, having his OWLs allowed him to apply for emancipation and after pulling a few strings in the shadows, Hugo had arranged for Harry's emancipation to be authorized in the afternoon of the day Harry came to Hogwarts. Emancipation meant Dumbledore could not guide him as per the laws pertaining to Hogwarts as its headmaster.

"Congratulations," Dumbledore said with a warm smile but Harry saw beyond the facade. He imagined he had shattered a lot of schemes Dumbledore had planned for him.

"Was there anything else sir?" Harry asked politely.

Dumbledore closed his eyes and sighed heavily. Upon opening his eyes he looked at Harry calculatingly. "No Mr. Potter. I think we're done for today," he said sadly.

Harry stood up to leave but then hesitated.

"What is it?" Dumbledore asked.

"Why did the hat put me in Gryffindor?" he asked, puzzled. "I was asking for Slytherin and I know it takes choice into account."

"You stink so much of Gryffindor that it hurts Mr. Potter," the Hat said lazily, drawing their attention to the sentient inanimate creation.

"What? Of course not! I've read about the houses I know Slytherin is the only place for me," Harry argued. "I'm ambitious, focused, have no qualms about stepping over people if they're asking for it... I could go on but you've already been in my head."

Dumbledore watched with interest.

The Hat sighed. "Yes you are everything Salazar would cherish but you have one quality that would make Godric duel to death to have you."

"What?" Harry asked scowling. There was no way he was a Gryffindor, he thought adamantly.

"Unbreakable resolve Mr. Potter," the Hat said soberly. "Your mind is naked before me the moment I am above your head. It takes me a second to sift through all your memories and you, Mr. Potter, haven't broken despite what you call a life. That is a trait dominant in rare Gryffindors. Slytherin would not have lasted that long."

Harry was stunned. In a few words the Hat had disarmed him.

"You would do well not to play games with Mr. Potter, Albus," the Hat said. "Your little tussle with Mr. Potter will only get worse if you persist." The Hat grumbled indecipherable words. "Now don't disturb me till next year or else I'll convince Peeves to haunt you for the rest of your miserable existence."

Harry and Dumbledore stared at the Hat for a moment and oddly both of them felt a little cowed and shocked. They turned to each other at the same moment, eyes blank and empty and they knew neither was going to back down.

Harry had a job to do and Dumbledore was a liability in his eyes. As far as he was concerned, he was going to ignore the headmaster, allow his words to breeze over his head and unravel this plot to do annoying things to him. But Harry knew Dumbledore was never going to let up. It was in his nature to control and just like how Voldemort spent nearly a decade coaxing and manipulating young purebloods to his side, Dumbledore did the same in the security of Hogwarts. The goal was complete control over Wizengamot to further their own interests regardless of society's definitions of good or bad.

To prevent the majority from tipping towards Voldemort and his Death Eaters, Dumbledore planned to use him to elevate his own station and portray him as his protégée. Oh, how awry those plans must have gone when Harry was whisked away by the DOI under Dumbledore's nose.

"I will expect to see you after your first day Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said finally. "Your timetable might have to be adjusted after your meeting with the student body."

Harry nodded his head in acknowledgement and quietly slipped out of the room.

So Dumbledore knows or at least suspects something else is up in the DoM. He has someone watching me who managed to get a glimpse of me changing form. Dammit I didn't need this stress! Now regardless of the fact that Dumbledore might not be out to kill or kidnap me, I still have to watch out for his goddamn spies.

It was when Harry stepped out into the corridor that he realized that he didn't know the way to the Gryffindor common room. He cursed and thought about going up and asking Dumbledore to show him the way before dismissing the thought immediately. He'd find it himself.

One hour later he found his way to a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress who reminded Harry of Madame Castafiore from Tintin.

He had first gotten lost when a mischievous painting sent him the wrong way. Then he found a nice suit of armor which showed him the right way and on the way, the staircase he was on began to move like a massive gear in a weapons factory and attached itself to the wrong side and wrong floor of the castle.

Swearing loudly Harry kicked the staircase in anger but nothing happened. All he got was a slight gust of wind over which a tickling laughter rang. Harry looked around suspiciously and for some inexplicable reason he felt it was the castle herself who was playing with him. Thirty minutes later, he thought himself on the right track but then ran into a poltergeist. Peeves, it called itself and pelted Harry with coloured chalk until Harry drew out his wand and attempted a banishing hex.

Another thirty minutes later Harry was threatening the fat lady. "Listen lady, I feel like I just ran through the battlefield you call Hogwarts and finally made it here. I don't care if there's supposed to be a password but if you don't let me enter this instant, I will burn you to the ground."

"HELP HELP! SOMEONE HELP!"

Harry groaned when the portrait began to shriek and gave it a resigned look. "Please stop," he tired but she kept shrieking until finally the portrait opened outward and a head peaked out curiously.

"Hello," Harry said politely.

"HELP HELP!"

"Will you shut it, fat lady! You can't be hurt! You're a portrait!"

Apparently this was an old thing then, Harry thought drily.

"He wants to burn me!"

"I didn't know the password," Harry apologized.

"Merlin's saggy balls! It's Harry Potter!" gasped the boy, jumping out to greet him. "I'm Percy, Percy Weasley. Perhaps you've heard of me? I'm the head boy of Hogwarts," he said proudly.

"I have now," Harry said politely, sticking out his palm for a handshake. Percy shook it vigorously before beckoning him inside.

"The password is Dragon. Usually the Fat Lady is supposed to inform us if someone doesn't have the password. There's a sort of voice box which allows us to hear her and she finds it amusing to shriek and cry wolf to annoy us," he said in one breath.

"Kinda like a bell with an annoying tune," Harry joked.

Percy gave him a strange look which was quickly replaced by awe. When Harry stepped into the surprisingly large and luxurious common room, he sighed internally when all eyes turned to him.

It was going to be a while before he could get to bed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

2nd November 1994

The next day began early for Harry. He slipped out of bed at six in the morning and quickly washed up and got dressed. Breakfast was to start at 7:30 and Harry had a potions class at 11.30. Until then he spent his time getting acquainted with the castle. The labyrinth that was the Devil's Cauldron was far more complex than the mazes of Hogwarts and it didn't take him long to memorize most of the common routes.

Some more students came to him during breakfast to introduce themselves and Harry had a charming conversation with Susan Bones; a lovely redhead whose aunt was a ruthless Auror right beside Mad Eye Moody. Susan was very inspired by her aunt and she and Harry had an interesting chat about Auror policies and politics. Harry hadn't expected anyone in Hogwarts to be very knowledgeable about the Ministry and he was glad to have met her.

Draco Malfoy and a few more Slytherin students came to him and Harry exchanged polite greetings with them and inquired about the health of their parents. He would have carried conversation for longer but then most of the Gryffindors started pouring into the great hall and they quietly retreated back to their own table.

Harry found the dynamics of the school fascinating. There was no other school like this one, that was for sure.

By 11:00 Harry and the sixth year Gryffindors were heading down to the dungeons for Potions and Lee Jordan, a boy with dark skin and snake-like dreadlocks, was explaining the points system and the who's who of Hogwarts. Angelina Johnson was on his other side and kept interjecting inputs about Quidditch and other clubs in the school.

By the time they reached the damp and dreary classroom Harry felt like he was quite well informed about the current state of affairs in Hogwarts. Simply put everything revolved around the tournament and things were particularly exciting because of the sudden influx of culturally different students. Hogsmeade weekends were now held at random and in the middle of the week as well to allow more time for foreign interactions. And his own appearance had put the excitement level of Hogwarts at an all time high.

There were many cauldrons lined up in rows with a small table and two wooden chairs behind them. All the cauldrons and desks faced the blackboard and teachers desk behind which Professor Severus Snape was watching the students crawl in lazily.

His dark eyes flickered with an unreadable expression when they found Harry and he looked away when Harry tried to make eye contact with him.

"Come on, sit with me," said Angelina suddenly and dragged him to the spot in the middle of the classroom.

He missed the glares Angelina got from the rest of the girls in the class.

The bell rang signaling the start of the lesson and Snape stood up. The entire class fell silent and a sense of caution rained down on them.

Harry marveled at the control this man held over the class. He would have paid him a compliment if he didn't know what a traitor or turncoat or the redeemed murderer he actually was. But graduated students had a mixed variety of responses about Snape and Harry held back his judgements. The gist of Snape's file indicated that he was a nasty man with decent teaching skills and no lack of talent. His recommendations flew a long way in the Potions world.

"Tell me, Mr. Potter," he drawled snidely. "How proficient are you in the Art of Potions?"

"Proficient enough to take this class, Professor."

"Then I'm sure one glance at the potion on my table should tell you what we're working on today."

Harry looked at the large vial on the table and began to dissect its visible properties. "Dark green," he said out loud, though not intentionally. "Very viscous with strains of red." He ran over the possibilities with a frown. "It should be an artery strengthening potion or a poison to induce a heart attack but it lacks the faint yellow strain for that," Harry said thoughtfully.

From the sour expression on Snape's face Harry figured he had said right but what he didn’t know Snape was having a painful flashback of a young Lily doing the same thing. Speaking out loud unknowingly. 

"Very astute," he said stiffly. "This is a potion, that in times of terror and torture of the human body, is delightfully useful in preventing your blood vessels from bursting. So all you dunderheads who wish to become Aurors, remember it well. It'll be forced down your throat quite often," he said nastily.

Nervous muttering broke out at some tables where those who wanted to become Aurors sat. Harry, on the other hand, looked coolly at the potions master.

Snape banged his hand on the table and the nervous mutterings ceased and was replaced with mild terror as Snape's eyes swept through the classroom. "The main ingredient in this potion is mokan seeds, harvested on the night of the half moon with a silver sickle and you'd do well to crush the seeds in a stone bowl with..."

As Snape's lecture droned on Harry tuned him out and chuckled in his mind. Snape is a classic evil teacher. It'll be interesting to break into his office tonight and see what exactly lies behind his mask.

By the end of the class Harry placed a perfect potion on his desk and gave him a cheeky smile before leaving the class.

"You coming to lunch Harry?" asked Angelina and her posse.

Harry had completely forgotten about them. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he had breezed past one and a half hours of mild flirting and potion stirring.

"Sorry Angie," he apologized. "I've got to make arrangements for the student body meeting after the second task."

"So we'll see you for the task?" she asked hopefully. "It's by the lake this time. Krum's in the lead but we're hoping Diggory will show who's boss this time around."

"Of course," Harry lied. "I'll see you at two."

Angelina gave him a brilliant smile and before Harry could walk far enough he heard the beginnings of Ooooo, Angie! and stifled giggles which made him walk away faster. He had had enough of that in the States.

He was alone now and his expression turned dark. Fake Harry Potter took a side seat and Harry came out to work.

"Snape, Bixlow, Karkaroff and Crouch are the main suspects," he murmured to himself as he made his way to the sixth floor where Dumbledore had been kind enough to allot him an unused classroom. "A few Slytherin and Ravenclaw students have motives but I'll get to them later. The task will be a perfect opportunity to sift through their belongings but I'll have to be at the bloody task," he groused. "They'll expect me to be there so I can't miss it."

"Talking to oneself is a sign of madness dear," a portrait called out kindly.

"Oh shut up," Harry snapped, much to the Portraits amusement. But he did continue the quandary in this mind.

By the time he reached his assigned classroom he made a simple decision. He would go for the start of the task and slip away before coming back for the end. It was a two hour long program, plenty of time to snoop.

The classroom was quite dusty and wrinkling his nose, he swept his wand in a long arc, gathering all the dust into a tiny ball and banished it out of the window.

That's a little better.

Frowning and thinking about the logistics for his meeting he started to summon and transfigure the wooden chairs and tables into something more suitable.

If Professor McGonagall had seen him transfigure with such ease, she would have been shocked and perhaps proud.

By the time he was done, he had changed the entire room into a sort of lounge with a single short legged long table and cushions all around instead of chairs. A quality woolen carpet draped the floor to produce a warm toe curling experience in the chilly December. Two fireplaces were installed on either ends of the room and two more smaller tables were placed beside the hearth.

Have to talk to Dumbledore about refreshments.

Satisfied with the arrangement Harry sat crossed legged on the comfortable carpet. The room was meant to get the students to drop their guard, make them comfortable and ensure they had a good time.

Harry scowled, dreading the evening already and he quickly focused back on topic. It was now one and he had to be down by the lake by two. There he had to show his face to a lot of people and he hoped Bagman wouldn't drag him to the commentary box and make him talk. That would ruin all his plans but it was a risk he had to take. Maxime and Karkaroff would want to give their personal welcome to him and he might even have to greet Crouch and Dumbledore too. They were on the judges panel after all.

Harry sighed at the thought of slipping out under Dumbledore's nose and realized he would have to recruit a student or two into his escape route. His mind floated to Ron Weasley. He thought about it for a moment and concluded it was a good plan. Weasley was easy to distract.

His real schedule now fixed, Harry left for the great hall. The students would be getting ready to leave the castle and there was sure to be a huge rush for last minute lunch. Harry's stomach rumbled and he quickly got out, locked the room securely and hurried to the great hall.

He was in luck. Ron Weasley and his troops were wolfing down left overs and Harry went to join them.

"O 'arry! You joifin ug?"

"Speak English Ron," Harry laughed. "Not troll."

Ron blushed and swallowed his food whole. "You joining us for the task?" He said eagerly.

"Yea. Saw you here so thought I'd join you guys."

"Oh come on then let's go!"

Harry opened his mouth to say he wanted to eat but Ron and Seamus had already dragged him along. He glanced balefully at the rice before turning in sidestep with them.

On the way he was snagged by Bagman just as he suspected and he told his companions he would join them later.

"Harry!" he boomed as if they were old friends. It was in fact the first time Harry was laying eyes on the former beater.

"Mr. Bagman," Harry replied politely. "What can I do for you?"

Bagman laughed. "It's more like what I am doing for you, Harry!"

Harry wasn't amused and he fixed Bagman with a level stare. If he let Bagman drag him into his schemes he was going to be stuck with him forever.

"Oh well," Bagman coughed. "I thought you'd like to meet the champions before they took the dive."

Harry was interested in that and he gestured at Bagman to lead the way.

Bagman led him straight down a shed next to the lake jetty besides which huge temporary stands had been put up. The crowd roared when they saw him enter the shed with Bagman and Harry waved back like he was expected to.

Inside he came face to face with a beautiful girl with silver blonde hair and a single piece swimsuit tightly hugging her curves. Harry's mind went from holy shit what a babe to smile politely, look in her eyes and say hello.

"Lovely to meet you Miss Delacour," Harry said charmingly, holding contact with her startled eyes. "Is your father doing well?"

"What? Oh! 'Arry Potter!" She was flustered for a moment, caught completely off guard but she quickly regained her wits and smiled back.

"You surprised me," she said, her voice laced with a French accent. "My father is doing well. He spoke very highly of you when he visited your Miniztary."

"Nice to know," Harry grinned. His eyes darted around the room and he introduced himself to the other two occupants, namely Cedric Diggory and Viktor Krum, while his mind wandered to the shady Mr. Delacour. As France had long disconnected ties with the ICW, their influence in countries outside of the ICW's radar was immense. And Mr. Delacour was the Head of France's international magical cooperation department. Fleur was his secondary prey for now.

"You are da one who survived da killing curse correct?" Asked Krum, his voice as German as it gets.

"That's what they tell me," Harry joked.

He was saved from talking further with the Bulgarian seeker when Bagman swooped over them like the interfering wasp that he was and asked the Champions if they knew what the task was.

All three replied in affirmative and Harry bid them good luck as they exited the shed to be confronted by thundering cheers. Harry waited in the shed and watched as they one by one dived into the lake and a giant smoke screen rose above the lake which showed the champions in action.

He figured now that Bagman was busy commenting he could finish with the judges before going back into the crowd and slipping away.

As it turned out Maxime was disinterested in him and Karkaroff exchanged some snide comments much to Crouch's displeasure. Nonetheless Harry was polite and firm and finally he exchanged a nod with Dumbledore before announcing he was going to join the Weasley's in the stands.

Just as Harry suspected, Dumbledore's eyes watched him carefully as did the eyes of Snape and Bixlow. This did not go unnoticed by Harry and he carefully maneuvered his way under the giant badger that was floating above the Hogwarts students. He found Ron with a lot of Gryffindors who were cheering for Diggory as he out swam and burst through a nest of Grindylows.

"Hey Ron! Have you seen Angelina?" Harry shouted over the screaming and cheering. A side glance told him shark face Krum was wrestling with a two faced platypus.

"Yea! She's over there!" Ron shouted back pointing in a vague direction.

It was good enough for Harry and he quietly slid into the exit and made his way back to the castle completely unnoticed.

He heard another roar and wondered if it was Fleur doing something cool but it didn't concern him now. He swept through the castle in a hurry and stopped only when he was in the Defence against Dark Arts classroom. The professors resided in a room behind the classroom so that it was easy for them to engage classes without having to travel around too much. There was a separate teachers lounge on the third floor and from what Harry had read about the castle, there was a meeting every weekend. It was a meeting Harry intended to eavesdrop on.

Bixlow's room was locked but Harry knew how to work around the wards without disturbing them. Harry drew his wand and whispered a spell. A blue light pulsed out and was sucked into the keyhole. A second later the door clicked and opened wide with an invisible force.

Harry casually stepped into the professor's personal chamber. It was quite nice. A well furnished sitting room and a well stocked bar connected adjacent to a small but well spaced, stocked kitchen.

Harry looked around for things that were of potential interest. The room was quite clean and the sitting room had leather couches of black around a short wooden table. On the table was a half full ashtray and a couple of magazines about Quidditch. The couches themselves were clean and the walls were bare. The bar table was well stocked with fire whisky and muggle single malts as well.

Smoker, drinker and teacher.

Not quite ideal teacher material, Harry mused as he walked into the kitchen, unconcerned about staying quiet. A few pots, pans and kettles lay neatly on the granite slab and a shelf was fixed to the opposite wall, full of spices and herbs but there was mostly tea and coffee.

Caffeine addict.

Harry added staying awake for long periods to his profile. He opened the door to his bedroom and felt a rush of warmth when he stepped in along with an odd smell of an animal. He sniffed the air and figured it was a dog or a cat. His instinct told him it was a dog but he saw no pet around. The room was sealed shut, the windows closed and curtains drawn, allowing no light except for the brightly burning fire in the hearth. A queen size bed, covered in white sheets and a gray comfort folded neatly at the foot of the bed. A large cupboard was embedded in the wall and a small study was pressed against one corner. The bathroom door was adjacent to the bed and a dressing table was adjacent to the bathroom door.

There was no carpet covering the stone floor and Harry was careful not to leave footprints. He took his time poking in the cupboard and cataloging Professor Bixlow's wardrobe. His dressing table had just a hand brush and some perfumes. Nothing out of the ordinary and Bixlow looked very clean so far. There was nothing to suggest he was anything more than a teacher with some past issues.

Harry pursed his lips and looked under the bed where he found a trunk. It was unlocked and Harry opened it to find some junk instruments. There were a couple of broken sneak-o-scopes, a few foe glasses, many eye monocles which were charmed to see wards and a single envelope at the bottom of the trunk.

Harry shamelessly opened it and stumbled back with shock when he saw what was inside. There were two photographs; one of a young couple cuddling up to a new born baby at the porch of a snow covered cottage. Harry would not have realized the significance of the photograph until he saw the other - of him, wearing Ministry robes and a bored mask leaning against the wall in the Auror's department. Harry remembered the moment. He had been waiting for Savage to finish his paper and escort him to the training room to meet some of the newly inducted Aurors. There shouldn't have been any photographs of him inside the department and yet, at the bottom of Bixlow's truck, he and his parents lay hidden.

Suspicion rose like a cloud of poison and suddenly he was beginning to doubt his assertion that Professor Bixlow was a DOI plant. It was highly likely that he was working for the kidnappers and he was the one who took the tournament as an opportunity to bring him to Hogwarts, where he could easily kidnap him at any time. The theory made sense and Harry red flagged Bixlow. The photo didn't mean much. It could also be possible that Bixlow was a fan or somehow connected to his parents but Harry doubted it.

Time was short so he deftly closed the trunk and made rounds of his bathroom and the rest of the corners of his residence. Nothing else was out of the ordinary so Harry slipped out and shut the door, allowing the ward to fall back into place.

Bixlow was certainly going to be watched and Harry hurried back to the lakeside stands. He had spent an hour looking through the professor's classroom and bedroom and there was no time to get to Snape's chambers.

Harry sneaked in the way he left and was welcomed back by the hysterical screaming and cheering of the three schools. Grimacing, he looked for Ron and squeezed past the jumping bodies.

"Cedric's in the lead?" Harry shouted, startling Ron from his wide eyes gaze towards the screens.

"Mate! Where have you been?! Fleur just dueled with a Water Sprite and it was awesome!"

"I know, I saw!" Harry returned enthusiastically. "I went looking for Angelina but didn't find her."

But Ron was not listening, Krum had just reached the Mervillage and found his school flag beside the Beauxbaton flag. Fleur was catching up, a look of strain on her face as she poured all her magic into her transfigured webbed feet but Cedric was far ahead. His head burst out of the lake and he raised the flag with a look of pride.

Hogwarts went nuts and Harry had to cover his ears or risk deafness.

Ten minutes later, it was all over and a very sour Krum and Fleur congratulated Cedric. Harry's eyes were fixed on the French Champions' perfectly shaped assets. Her beauty was making his loins stir and her light blue swimsuit was missing in Harry's mental image of her.

"Bloody hell that was awesome!" gushed Ron.

"Did you see Krum's spells?!" asked Ginny excitedly. "He ripped through the Grindylows like they were paper!" Ginny had a glazed look in her eye and Harry knew she was fantasizing about Krum just as he and all the males in the vicinity did with Fleur.

Harry's eyes raked over her long silver hair and he wondered how best to approach the beauty.

"Harry!" shouted a flushed and annoyed Angelina. "Where were you?"

"I looked all over but I couldn't find you," Harry apologized. He had no intention of taking this further. Angelina Johnson was irrelevant to his mission in all forms. "I'm sure I'll meet you tomorrow for breakfast but now I have to organize the meeting. It starts in an hour."

Harry was gone before she could formulate a reply or protest.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

16:00, Harry's Classroom.

Everyone was seated comfortably and Harry observed the group of prefects, heads and champions. To his surprise Krum and Delacour had invited themselves, no doubt at the behest of their masters. He was glad to have Fleur and was vaguely interested in Krum; the rags to riches phenomenon of the Magical world.

Eight prefects: Alicia Spinnet and Cromac McLaggen - Gryffindor. Daphne Greengrass and Marcus Flint - Slytherin. Cho Chang and Roger Davis - Ravenclaw. Cedric Diggory and Astoria Greengrass; the elder and kinder - Hufflepuff. Percy Weasley - head boy, Penelope Clearwater - head girl.

Daphne Greengrass is the only one of use. Her older sister on the other hand is average and unimportant. Macgallen's dad has some pull but the rest are useless. Flint is the only suspect here.

"Let's cut right to the chase shall we?" Harry announced.

"Why did your name come out of the Goblet," Daphne asked immediately. The others looked at her, startled at her boldness but she just shrugged. "He did say cut to the chase," she said defensively.

"It's a mystery that I hope shall be solved sooner rather than later," Harry replied. He was glad someone asked him that. It opened the floodgates to the more awkward questions.

"Is it true you've been dueling with dark wizards your whole life?" asked Percy Weasley, trying not to look too eager.

"It is not," Harry replied with the hint of a smile. "My parents died when I was one and I grew up with the Savage’s."

"Oh," said the head boy, suddenly feeling very embarrassed and his neck began to flush.

Harry didn't want him to retreat. He needed these questions. It built his alibi to talk about it so he pushed on, smiling warmly at the nervous boy. "But I did excel in my academics and convinced them to start teaching me more advanced magic. I didn't come to Hogwarts because I preferred private tutors and thanks to that I was well prepared for the OWLs by the time I was twelve."

"And you scored all outstanding as well," said Astoria in slight awe.

"To be honest, up to OWL standards, magic is easy but the course hardens drastically after the fifth year. I did my OWLs at 12 but I daren't take the NEWTs yet."

The sixth and seventh years nodded sagely. "We're slaves to the books," said Roger solemnly. "Flint here has been enslaved for three years."

Flint yawned. "Disturb me when you talk Quidditch," he said rudely and pulled out a dirty magazine from his robes.

Fleur gave a very disgusted look and the others gasped in shock and amusement.

"Let Mr. Flint enjoy his two dimensional fantasies," Harry said, bringing their attention back to him. "I'm sure the rest of you prefer the real thing."

Apparently it was the right thing to say. The girls dissolved into giggles and the boys looked at each other with knowing looks.

Harry kept his eyes on Fleur and smiled winningly when she turned her amused eyes on him. He kept contact for a second and then broke away to address his crowd.

"Back to topic. The reason the Minister wants me here is to sing glorious praise about the Ministry that he has built on the ashes of war."

The prefects weren't sure if Harry was being serious or joking but listened to him with rapt attention.

"Instead I decided to give you a more personal look into the workings of our government and talk to you about things you wouldn't feel comfortable telling an adult. A career guide if you wished for a term."

"We've already had career guidance," said McLaggen, not at all enthused by the proposition. "We thought you were going to show us some cool Auror tricks."

Harry resisted the urge to grimace and reminded himself these were kids. He ignored his supposed age.

"Dueling sounds good," Cedric added quickly and agreement from the rest followed. Astoria and Alicia looked thrilled by the idea.

"We'll add that to the list," Harry allowed reluctantly.

"How about regular meetings with the Politics club and we prefects would invite those who stand to gain from meeting Harry," Daphne suggested.

"Right," snorted Astoria. "A club whose president you are and have a grand total of five members."

Perfect.

"Small numbers means easy to coordinate," Harry mused, surprising everyone, even Daphne. She was being sarcastic.

"And instead of you passing along the invitation, you could get your houses to write a bunch of essays or we could make an objective questionnaire based on which we could select students."

"Good idea," said Percy, starting to feel left out.

"And the dueling?" Penelope asked, trying not to look interested and pass off as cool. Harry saw right through it. She was crushing on him and her boyfriend was oblivious. She was quite pretty, the head girl badge gleaming on her prim robes. Her brown hair was tied back neatly as per the Hogwarts uniform rules and it helped accentuate her soft solemn face.

"I believe you have an operational dueling club?"

"Yes," Cho said, finally adding her two cents. "But it's a monthly affair and the next meeting won't be until February. Are you going to stay that long?"

"My schedule puts me here till the end of term. But should the need arise, I could leave earlier," Harry admitted.

If I complete my assignment I'm out of here.

"So what about the Politics club?" Daphne asked impatiently. She had no interest in something as base as dueling.

"Doing it with the Lions club would be better," started Alicia but Astoria snorted derisively. "What?!" Alicia demanded.

"Your Lions club hosts Gryffindors only. What do you even do in that club? Roar?"

Alicia and McGallegan opened their mouths to argue heatedly but Harry broke it up by clearing his throat loudly.

The instant abashed and embarrassed looks gave Harry a strange sense of power. Suddenly he felt like he could tell them whatever he wanted and they would obey. He crushed that feeling as soon as it rose. Tyson was trying to cause trouble.

"I like the sound of the politics club," Harry affirmed. "I'll have a chat with Daphne about their timings and frequency of meet and I'm sure we can have something arranged by tomorrow. Regarding the dueling, tell me what is your schedule like up to the winter break."

Krum raised an impressed eyebrow at the boy he considered inferior. Suddenly his interest in this Boy Who Lived piqued.

"Well it's only a fortnight to the hols," Astoria said. "We'll be too saddled with school work to get enough participation."

"And yet the politics club manages to meet three times a week," Daphne smoothed in. "We'll be delighted to host Mr. Potter for his time in our prestigious school."

Astoria looked at her younger sister exasperatedly. She was too influenced by their fathers business and dealings.

Harry couldn't keep the smile off his face as he locked eyes with the younger Greengrass. Dark eyes glittered through a mask of polite innocence and Harry got a good look at the real girl behind those mascara eyes. The girl was excited.

Liar by choice and vicious by nature. A yet to bloom fifteen year old flower but considered a thorn bush amidst children.

Harry hid his amusement and gave daphne a level look. "Unless someone has a better idea of course. Miss. Delacour? Mr. Krum?"

"Madame Maxime has invited you to join her and the Beauxbaton champion for dinner," she said formally.

Harry wasn't expecting that. "Er... That is quite sudden but may I give my answer after we conclude this meeting?"

Fleur acquiesced. She was finding this boy to be quite the show off but he had a natural leader-like quality and she felt curious enough to stay and listen.

"I like Duelling," said Krum. "My friends and I shall be gladly dueling with Hogwarts. Dueling has respect."

Daphne grimaced. She was unimpressed by the uncouth brute.

"More than a Triwizard Champion?" Harry asked, interested in hearing the Bulgarians' opinion.

"Much more," said Krum. The others were surprised. Drumstrang had made quite the show and paraded Krum like a king.

"Triwizard glory is political glory. Dueling is personal."

"Our hearts lie side by side Mr. Krum," grunted Flint, announcing his heartfelt agreement with the Drumstrang champion.

"The Triwizard Champion enjoys personal glory too," interjected Fleur icily. She was not pleased with the implication that she was risking her life for someone else's profit.

"For a while," agreed Krum. "Then it ezz all political connections."

"Daphne would be delighted to have you join her club I'm sure," Harry interrupted drily. Another fight averted. Merlin, these guys are short tempered.

"We do have limited seats of course," Daphne amended. "We can only host so many and the members have permanent seats of course."

Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff rounded on Slytherin, not looking pleased at all.

"But with the frequency of our meets I'm sure almost everyone will get a chance to meet Auror trainee Potter before the holidays," she amended again and this time a little quickly. It wasn't good to piss off classmates with a good arsenal of spells for public amusement after all.

"And then we'll take up dueling and try to get some inter school participation as well," Harry said looking at Krum.

The Seeker nodded and the excitement levels rose, the ire against Daphne forgotten.

Allowing a little time for gossip Harry observed the fifth year Slytherin. She was very slender and very pretty without the innocence that accompanied other girls of her age.

Her parents were solicitors for most of the prominent pureblood names. Without their expertise, the high living families would be in a towering pile of financial dung. Astoria - the elder, basked in the wealth her parents provided. Her parents raised her well and she was a model student of the Hufflepuff house. Daphne on the other hand was fascinated by how her parents brought wealth by talking smart. She loved the wealth she swam in and she wanted more by doing what her parents did better. Harry had no doubt Daphne had quite the chokehold over some of her housemates.

But still a child and a novice. Keeping in touch with her after Hogwarts will provide the best source for money trails.

His attention was attracted by Roger and Cedric who seemed to have had a thrilling idea. "We could get the Quidditch season reinstated if Potter agrees to play!"

Flint threw away his magazine and snapped to attention. "We could make it a miniature season," he said, cracking his knuckles menacingly.

"Sounds interesting," Harry said slowly. He wasn't sure if it was a good idea. He had hardly even seen the sport let alone play it. "I'll speak with Professor Dumbledore about it."

"So we now have ministry stuff with Daphne's club for now and dueling and Quidditch after the hols," Cedric said to confirm.

"Succinctly put Mr. Diggory," Harry said drily. "If there's nothing else then all that remains is to make a schedule with Daphne and decide who gets to come first."

Flint snorted and Harry looked at him pointedly. "Send the studious first," he declared. "The fun stuff is gonna happen after Christmas."

Harry felt a little put out with the complete lack of interest in his Career guidance plan. What else did they expect from a guy raised to be a bloody Auror, he grumbled deep inside his mind.

"January it is Potter," McLaggen said brightly, looking at Harry as if they were old buddies. "We've waited four years for you to come to Hogwarts and I'm sure we can wait another month."

Harry smiled back acidly. "Until then I get to meet the cultured Hogwarts. How nice," he said sarcastically.

Everyone had a good laugh at that except for Percy who was scowling at McLaggen. He saw nothing wrong with being cultured. His brothers would never understand and he was very pleased that Harry Potter agreed with him.

"I'm all books and spells," Harry joked. "Unlike you cool guys and gals of Hogwarts."

Daphne rolled her eyes. Was she the only one who saw through his charade?

Twenty more minutes were wasted as they spent time joking and poking fun at each other. By the end all in the room, except for Fleur and Krum, felt like Harry had been with them forever and he was a pretty cool guy.

Headache over, was all Harry thought as they slowly filed out of the room. Fleur and Daphne remained behind expectantly and Harry immediately did mental calculations about the time it would take to deal with Daphne, have dinner with Fleur and poke his nose into Snape's locked room.

"Miss Delacour," Harry said formally, returning the courtesy she showed him. "I accept your invitation but I am very tired today and would be grateful if you could reschedule for tomorrow night."

Daphne stifled a giggle at the formality and then berated herself for her immature slip.

"Madame Maxime will be glad," Fleur said, smiling beautifully. "She knew your parents."

Harry's eyes showed surprise and Fleur left with a goodbye. He was left to ponder over the Beauxbaton headmistress and his parents' connection later as he focused on the still sitting Daphne Greengrass.

"Who all are there in your club?" Harry asked, sitting opposite her. He summoned a parchment and quill and ink to get done with the whole meeting the students headache quicker.

"Only three actually," Daphne admitted blushing faintly. She had started the club with great enthusiasm in her second year but to her horror not a single student had shown up on the official first day. "There's just me, Susan Bones and Luna Lovegood."

"You think you'll survive with ten more to join?" Harry asked, dipping the quill in the pot.

"No way! We're discussing economics and those idiots know nothing about it!"

"You think I know a lot about it?"

"I've seen your OWLs scores Mr. Potter," she said drily. "You scored an O in Cultural studies."

"Alright, fine. I know it's an elective no one takes but you agreed to merge the meetings I had in mind."

"You and I both know they're all idiots," she scoffed. "They're children, all they care about is cool spells and broom moves."

"You're all attending a school for children aren't you? Or did I miss something?" Harry said dryly.

"You're my age too," she shot back. "Younger even."

"True," Harry admitted. "But that's not what we're talking about. If I don't keep it at ten, three times a week, it will be problematic for me."

"Not my problem. We like our club to be without idle chatter and anything more than five is barbaric to our ears," she said adamantly.

Harry could have easily turned her down and tied up with another club or started his own meetings like he planned before. But having Daphne and Susan in the same place and prime for pushing in the right direction, more accurately his direction, was an opportunity too good to pass up. So he led Daphne on and played her game.

"How about an odd seven," Harry bargained. "That makes three of you plus me and seven others totalling to eleven. I'll also allow you to pick the students you'd like to meet out of the list the prefects provide."

Daphne pursed her lips. "Alright," she allowed. "We have a range of topics that we like to discuss but I suppose we can make a collective decision during the club meet."

"Sounds good," Harry said, clapping his hands. "When and where is the next meeting?"

Daphne blushed, embarrassed. "Well I had a classroom assigned at first but it takes a minimum ten members to keep it. Now we meet in the library but Madam Pince will not entertain a group of more than five at a table. If you don't mind we could use this classroom itself. You've done a marvelous job preparing it and if those other idiots had half a brain they'd realize you're the one who did all the transfiguration."

Harry was impressed. "Can you feel the magic?" he asked curiously.

"A little bit," she said.

"Nice," Harry complimented. "It's easy enough but not many bother learning it."

The sun was sinking and an orange hue was cast over the room through the open windows.

"I guess I better leave," Daphne said, losing interest now that her demands were achieved, "The elves will be serving evening tea and I'd hate to miss it."

She rose to her feet delicately and gave him a polite and neutral smile. "It's really exciting to have you here at Hogwarts," she said, moving to leave. "I for one am really eager to discuss your role in the Auror department. So far it's all been very ambiguous and it would be refreshing to have a direct answer."

Harry chuckled. "Susan would like to differ," he said.

"Susan and I differ a lot," she huffed. "The girl's brain is wired the wrong way and one day she's going to realize it, mark my words."

Harry decided it was too soon to leave Miss Greengrass' company. "Come on," he said, following her swiftly. "I'll join you for tea and maybe meet some of your housemates."

"Alright," she shrugged and stepped aside while Harry shut and locked the classroom.

"I didn't recognise that locking spell," she said curiously as they walked down the stairs to the great hall. "Is it something the Aurors use?"

"It's actually a ward," Harry said.

"Difference being?"

"A ward is like an enchantment," Harry explained. "You draw words and runes even in the area of your target and these words give power to magic and keep unwanted things out."

Harry could see Daphne struggling to understand so he broke it down further.

"A locking spell will prevent you from opening the door but a ward will keep you away from it. You will have difficulty focusing on your task depending on how strong the wards are and how strong your connection to magic is."

"Sounds complicated," Daphne drawled, losing interest.

"Very complicated," Harry stressed dryly. "Putting up wards around a property requires enchanting every inch of the area around it. It takes a dozen wizards and a couple of weeks at least to ward a four bedroom and two floor house."

"You're interested in wards?" Daphne asked curiously. She lightly grabbed his arm and guided him away from a trick step and continued their conversation.

"To an extent," Harry admitted. "If I had to, I'd probably apprentice under a Ward Master after my NEWTs."

"I'm going to become a Solicitor like my parents," Daphne said, leaving no room for a change of mind. "You might have seen them at the Wizengamot gatherings. I've heard you turn up to observe at times."

"I've seen them, yes. They saved Lucius Malfoy a lot of gold when he was indicted on charges of corruption and child endangerment."

"It's just business," Daphne said with a noncommittal shrug. "He lost a lot of respect though and that's worse than losing a mountain of coin."

They arrived in the Great hall and Daphne quickly excused herself when Harry turned towards her Slytherin peers.

"Draco Malfoy, nice to see you again."

The pale blonde was disturbed from his idle chat with the dark and solemn Zabini heir. Draco's lips tilted into a superior smirk and he rose to his feet and stuck out his hand.

"It's a pleasure to see you at our table, Potter," he drawled.

Nothing had changed, Harry thought. The urge he had to slap that smirk off his face the first time they had met in the ministry was still there and it was still strong.

"Is your father recovering well?" Harry inquired politely. "I heard he was terribly shaken after his week-long stint in Azkaban."

Draco's jaws tightened and his gray eyes grew hard.

Harry was glad to note the smirk was gone.

"He's recovered well, Potter. He's aiming to regain his place on the Wizengamot by the end of the year."

Lucius trying to grab his power back eh? Well a letter to Alan will change all that.

"Very glad to hear it, Draco," Harry said and he meant it. "I don't believe we'd had the pleasure," Harry said, turning towards Blaise.

"Blaise Zabini," he said reluctantly. "How was meeting with our prefects?"

"They voted for a Duelling tournament," Harry revealed.

Excited buzzing pierced his ears and one by one the rest of the Slytherin's at the table began to introduce themselves and slowly open up to him. They quickly decided that the Boy Who Lived didn't come under the rivalry code and were soon deeply immersed in conversations about how well their fathers were connected and whose mother said what in a letter.

Harry found it very fascinating and started making parallels with the American and British schools. Magic might be absent from the American school but personalities and characters were mostly the same. Harry concluded that most of the friends he had made in the private school would be in Slytherin. Gryffindors would be the football team as they were all testosterone junkies. Harry wasn't sure how to classify the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs yet, not that it was important.

"Did you hear about Pansy's mum?" Tracey Davis asked him brightly. "She got the Designer of the year award."

Pansy blushed but seemed to like all the attention. "Mother does her best," she said importantly. Pansy Parkinson was raised in a family of seamstresses. Her mother and her mother's mother and she herself were all weavers of silk and gold. Their family had been crafting the finest robes in England for five generations and wealthy purebloods purchased their robes exclusively from the Parkinsons. Half bloods and mud bloods were turned away from their store.

"A great honor I'm sure," Harry said mildly, his mind getting distracted by the incoming Gryffindors. They didn't look very pleased to see Harry at the Slytherin table and a bunch of them were cautiously approaching.

"Hey Harry," they said cheerfully and subtly exchanged dark glares with their silver tie classmates. "We were going to the ground to have a bit of a fly. You want to join? It'll be fun."

Harry almost laughed at the fake sincerity in Ron's smile. With him were Angelina; much to his regret, Ginny Weasley and Lee Jordan. The ever present twins were missing and Harry assumed they had gone on. It was almost six and the sun would go down by eight. He planned on profiling Snape after ten so there was no conflict of time.

"Alright," he said and they beamed. "Daphne will update you about the next meeting and I suppose you could ask Flint too, but I doubt he remembers much," Harry said, turning to the Slytherins.

"Looking forward to it," some of them said and Harry left.

The flying it turned out was to dodge the Weasley's and Harry spent the rest of the evening dodging bludgers and racing across the lake. Ginny took the opportunity to dive bomb a couple of her classmates with mud and a lot of angry words were exchanged.

The Weasley girl had plenty of spunk but no sense of tact, Harry thought observing her mad dashes through the scattered students. The game had changed to get it past Ollie and Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch captain, was performing marvelously.

By the time Hagrid started to yell at them to beat it, the sun was almost gone and darkness came upon them.

Harry's eyes gleamed with anticipation of night.

-x-x-

At last, a very long day was over and Harry stared at his unmasked image in the full length mirror he had silently conjured and suspended behind closed doors in the washroom. The bathrooms were unlike any other he had had a dump in. There were no white tiles or polished basins. Everything was cut out of a single piece of dark gray rock and the high wall and cold floor felt coarse against his skin. The wash basins and toilets were the only ceramic in the huge washroom and were charmed to remain perfectly clean. Muggles would save a lot of money if they had access to these charms.

As was ritual before any excursion, Harry stood naked before his mirror, observing his body in detail. He had let go of his tailored personalities and let the boy behind them all appear. He was almost six feet tall, dark green eyes that shone green only when the light hit them a certain way, a strong jaw and little sprouts of hair under his chin and above his lips. His arms were moderately muscled and strong as were his legs and abdomen packed. His skin was tanned. It made him wonder why his skin was tanned when this was his appearance with his metamorph powers released. He figured it was because he liked the sun but he was never quite sure and he didn't dwell on it.

A good fifteen minutes passed by as he swam with his thoughts before he took a short breath, held it for a couple of seconds, closed his eyes and exhaled his troubles.

When his eyes opened, they were clear and full of purpose. They were also devoid of emotion.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

A/N: Few changes to mention: Percy and Penelope are a year younger. Astoria Greengrass is the older sister. Timeline of the tournament has been changed. First and Second tasks are completed before the Yule Ball.

Cheers, Raul.