275Angel's Light
Chapter 14
AN: Hello all it's been a while. Firstly as always thanks to everyone who reviewed. This chapter is very Harry-centric as promised as it is mostly concerning his time at Hogwarts with the time compression active. I'm not going to focus on all of his classes at any point but I'll take you there at later points if I feel it makes sense for the story. With that said let me say now that I don't know how long I'll keep my focus on this story as it seems a majority of my ideas now are centered around it but I am trying to write updates for Legend of the Fox, A Foxes Tale and Smallville Redux as of right now.
Also once again I want to point out that this is a loose spin-off of my Immortal Naruto series, specifically Immortal Diaries and is a mass crossover with the focus on Harry Potter. Crossover elements as of now include the MCU, Smallville, X-Men Evolution, Charmed, Spawn, Naruto and assorted DC/Marvel characters with a cameo for one I haven't named outright in chapter 3 or 4. There will be elements from other things as well down the line that I already have planned. Some of those things will be minor appearances and others will be major. Naruto's appearances will be very few in number only a handful through out the entire story.
Also I look at this tale as I do the solo MCU movies that link into the Avenger's movies. Changes will of course be made that I feel make more sense. The story takes place after Captain America: Winter Soldier but neither Iron Man 3 or Thor Dark World have happened. Also fictionalized versions of real people do not reflect them or my opinion of them as I don't know them. With that I have nothing left to say so here is the new chapter.
Start Now:
Monday, September third found the students of the newly named Hogwarts Academy up bright and early as they went about their day. This year however things were already starting differently as the day was starting a full hour earlier than before with breakfast ranging from 6:00 until 6:45 in the morning with classes starting at 7:00. Due to the length of time it took for morning routines and to dress that meant people had to be up by at least 5:30 if they wanted to have a decent breakfast. This had all been covered in the House meeting that Sirius had called the previous day in his role of Head of Gryffindor. Sirius explained they'd hold the meetings once a week for the first month or so until they were all situated and once things were all worked out they would become bi-weekly. With that alone Sirius was already looked at as different from McGonagall who hadn't held house meetings due to the number of duties she held. It was also during this meeting that he explained why the Legacy Hogwarts students, those who attended previous years, had been separated from the newer students, which turned out to be due to scheduling.
Apparently the transfers and first years would be on the same schedule, but the Legacy students would be on a different track due to the number of things they have to make up for education wise. This meant that once the time magic went into effect they'd be running on a more accelerated schedule. Where the new Hogwarts students would only be effected in that their normal days seemed slightly longer the old Hogwarts students would be moving much faster until they were caught up with their peers. He explained that for every thirty days the new students experienced the legacy students would experience an entire year and they would run like that until they caught up with all of the schooling they had missed for their age group.
The looks the older Hogwarts students had received had been a mix of horror and pity, but his year mates were all thankful it was just mundane studies as magical studies were pretty much the same until third year when they began working in wandless magic. He also informed them that there would be overlaps which would be on the real days which would affect them all the same including the actual weekends as there would be no time magic used on weekends. Thankfully they'd been given their class schedules at breakfast the previous day so that was one less thing to worry about.
They'd also learned a bit more on exactly how the time magic employed was being worked, though Harry himself had already had a pretty good idea. The previous morning along with their schedules the students had all been given a set of rubber wristbands. The default bands were white so only the first years and the transfer students had gotten those. The Legacy Hogwarts students however had been assigned different colors light blue for second years, grey for third, fourth years got yellow, fifth years got purple, sixth years got orange and seventh years got red. They'd been given two but only needed to wear one everyday as they would help control how the wearer was affected by the time magic due to the usage of a runic array. Apparently the O.W.L through N.E.W.T level students instead of instead of doing 180 days in six weeks would do 360 as they had to make up anywhere from 4-6 years of work and still complete the work they'd need for the current year. Of course they knew it could all be done, and in less time as Hagrid had gone through it all himself and had been the first to do so but spreading it out in longer periods would apparently induce less stress.
Entering the Great Hall found the place full to bursting as the students and staff filed in. Finding his seat he was soon helping himself to a waffle breakfast with sausage and hash browns to go with it. Breakfast as usual was a mostly silent affair as far as talking went as most of the students occupied themselves with eating. Looking around he could see that his dorm-mates weren't the only ones that had to get used to this new early rise schedule as there were plenty people who looked like they'd rather still be in bed as well. The arrival of the owls for the morning mail drop was actually what caught the most attention and seemed to wake the student body. Hedwig arrived with a copy of The Quibbler as did many of the other owls. The headline of the issue was covering the previous days meeting of the Wizengamont the results of which saw the banning of Unforgivable Potions and a list of which potions were included in that category. As with the Unforgivable spells the potions on this list were subject to an automatic sentencing to Azkaban, though some of these at least came with an exception for use which would need prior approval for going forward from a certified Healer.
"Well that's one problem dealt with." said Hermione softly from her position beside him.
Looking around he could see that Ron looked incredibly relieved and as it was common knowledge in the castle he'd been under a few of the listed positions until the end of the previous year, not to mention his named mention as a victim in The Quibbler and apparently The Daily Prophet he received a few pats on the back and sympathetic looks. Ron was actually embarrassed by the attention as instead of basking in it he'd ducked his head down and had turned his focus back to his plate but had yet to take a bite.
"Good morning students." Came a voice breaking him from his observation. Looking up he was greeted to the sight of McGonagall standing at the podium.
"Now that everyone has eaten and we are set to begin our day I would like to make sure everyone is wearing their wristband or at least has one on their person. If you do not have one with you at this point it is extremely important that we know so please raise your hand now." Said the woman
Not a single hand was raised which wasn't much of a surprise for Harry. The prefects had checked them all before they could even leave the tower to make sure they were wearing theirs and he figured the other house prefects had done the same. Seeing this obviously filled McGonagall with a bit of relief as she seemed to relax just slightly.
"Now then we will be going under Time Compression beginning today. As most of you are on different time tracks many of you will disappear to the eyes of others that are not on your track at least until our next Real Day. It is imperative that you all take this opportunity seriously as this is the only time we will be using the time magic in this way for our regular students. For our upper level students this is an opportunity for you to improve on your O.W.L results as you will have to retake them. To all the rest of you do not take this for granted as this service would normally cost at 25,000 galleons per student." Said the woman causing a stunned silence to overtake the room.
"Now then we will be undergoing Time Compression in approximately three minutes. While we are under you cannot take of the wristbands even to bathe as doing so could cause you to begin aging at the accelerated rate you would be living at. I wish you all good luck in your studies and will see you all on our next Real Day."
When the Time Compression began the effects were immediately seen as more than three quarters of the people in the room seemed to just vanish faster than the blink of an eye. Looking around he could see only the Third Year Legacy Hogwarts students sitting at their respective house tables.
"So what's first?" questioned Kellah
"English with the Puffs." Said Lavender who was already looking at her schedule before Hermione could reply.
"Following that we have Math with the Claws, then electives after lunch." Said Lavender.
"Right let's get going then." Said Harry standing from his seat and stretching
The English class was on the 2nd Floor near the Eastern Staircase and thankfully it was rather close meaning they were arriving outside of the class with the Puffs in about 10 minutes. The door was already open so they proceeded inside, once inside they found that the shared desks they'd grown used to had been replaced be single person seats with a desktop attached. At the front of the class was the teacher a woman who looked to be in her mid-thirty though she could be older with the way magic worked. She was standing just in front of her desk and wore a black skirt with a blue blouse, her hair was cut short and honey brown in color though obviously died as her eyebrows were black. She had light brown skin and brown eyes and was perhaps was perhaps 5'9 or 5'10.
"Good morning class. My name is Aaliyah Bradley, you will call me Professor Bradley. So a little background I am Cherokee and Black, though one of my great-grandmother's was Welsh. I attended Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where I served as a Prefect until I graduated. After that I attended Howard University where I attained my Master of Arts Degree for Teaching. I actually came here to be with my husband who is currently stationed at RAF Alconbury as a member of the U.S Air Force. Now then why don't you all introduce yourselves."
The Pentagon, located in Arlington County, Virginia and spanning 28.7 acres and an additional 5.1 acres as a central courtyard is not only the worlds largest office building but the symbol of the U.S military. It continued almost 27,000 workers both military and civilian between it's five floors and two basement levels. It was on one of the upper level floors that Steve Rogers could be seen moving down the hall with several people stopping to look as he passed. His escort was a young man about 25 if he had to guess but carried himself with all the decorum of his rank. Eventually they reached an office and after a quick check with the occupant he was allowed to enter. The rooms occupant was General Roderick Elliot, who was obviously an older man with salt and pepper hair and as he stood to shake his hand revealed he had to be at least 6'4" and still cut an imposing figure in his uniform.
"Thank you for coming to see me Captain." Said the man inviting him to take a seat.
"Thank you for making the time sir." Said Steve.
"Let's get to it then. After Colonel Fury informed me of your survival I had your file quietly pulled and kept it here. We wanted to give you time to settle into life again before calling you in, we just never counted on the HYDRA threat." Said the man
"So I was always meant to come in?" questioned Steve.
"Indeed. As you know you signed your life to the Army before you took in the serum. You were officially declared K.I.A and your file was sealed as eyes only. When you began working with S.H.I.E.L.D I quietly reactivated your rank and commission then put in the paperwork for an honorary discharge and transfer to S.H.I.E.L.D" explained the man.
"I take it my initial benefits were discharged according to my wishes." Said Steve.
"Actually no. They were going to do so initially however Colonel Philips had them quietly rerouted to a Margaret Carter as spousal and dependent care." Said the General.
"Dependent?" questioned Steve suddenly pale.
"She had a son, Joseph born about six months after your plane went down. Colonel Philips stayed in contact and noted your son displayed none of the superhuman traits you did so the Army file was closed and deemed Top Secret.."
Steve nodded though somewhat shakily and made a mental note to go see Peggy today. Considering her Alzheimer's he couldn't blame her for not saying anything about that, but he still wanted to talk to her.
"Now Fury informed me the Avengers will be active going forward." Said the man breaking Steve from his thoughts.
"For the most part Thor is currently off world and Hulk will be a last resort." Said Steve
"Well before you can act on that there are a few things you should know. As Captain America you are a symbol of our country and have been for decades so anything you do will be under the microscope so to speak." Said the man getting a nod from Steve, he'd have to be extra careful going forward.
"After news that you'd passed came in you were posthumously promoted during the memorial service to Lt. Colonel but that is as Steve Rogers as quiet frankly Lt. Colonel America isn't quite as catchy. Because of this there are a number of things you need to know about before you personally can start moving about freely. My advice to you is keep the Avengers affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D and you only go in for high priority and dangerous targets." Said the General.
"Now Fury said you also had some information for me." Said the man.
"Yes, it pertains to a General Thaddeus Ross." Said Steve giving the other man pause.
"Tell me sir, what do you know regarding his interactions with the Hulk?"
Day 2 of time compression found Harry with a feeling of much more excitement than the previous day. He'd forgotten just how boring regular classes could be during his time at Hogwarts as for the most part he'd gotten used to his classes being both theoretical and practical. Today was a Magic class day however and as such should be much more enjoyable. The first class they sat today was one of the newer classes called Advanced Magic and this one they were taking with the Claws on the fourth floor. The teacher for this class was a young-looking woman with light brown skin who wore a pair of black jeans and a purple top, she wore her brown hair in long braids and had green eyes. If he had to guess Harry would say that she was at most 27. The class was full of single person desks and Harry found himself a spot in the middle of the class with Hermione and Neville on either side of him.
"Welcome everyone to Advanced Magic. My name is Rachel Green though I'm told you guys should just call me Professor Green. So little fact about me, I'm a Whitelighter and have been one for a 10 years now. For those of you who don't know what a Whitelighter is well in simple terms I'm an angel so I became a Whitelighter after I died." There was a bit of muttering at this which Harry could understand as this was the first teacher he'd met that was a Whitelighter so far.
"Anyway to business. The purpose of this course is pretty simple and that's to teach you about the advanced magics. Now this before I go too deep a question first, can anyone tell me what is magic?" said the woman getting a handful of hands to shoot up.
"You and give your name as well." Said the woman pointing to one of the Claws.
"My name is Anthony Goldstein and Magic is a supernatural force that changes aspects of the world at fundamental levels." Said the boy.
"Pretty good answer, basic but good. Take two points for Ravenclaw." Said Professor Green.
"Magic is in truth one of the Fundamental Forces of the Universe. True enough it is energy but it's much more than a supernatural force for it connects everyone and everything in the Universe, as such it binds it all together. When I say this I mean that everything possesses its own magic from the stars, to the air you breath and the grass beneath your feet, all of it has magic because all of it has life." Said the woman causing a hand to immediately shoot up.
"Yes."
"Padma Patil professor. Based on what you just said wouldn't that mean muggles also have magic" questioned Padma.
"Good question and yes. All life has magic, the difference however is that those you call muggles only really have enough personal magic for them to live. You all have enough magic that you can manipulate it." Said the woman shocking the group.
"Here's another question, how many of you have seen Star Wars?" questioned the woman getting a number of hands to shoot up though it equaled less than half.
"Right so what if I told you George Lucas is from a magical family, a rather old one at that. The Force is magic and the Jedi were witches and wizards." Said the Professor causing many of them to blink before eyes throughout the room went wide.
Nearly two hours later found the third year Gryffindor's leaving Advanced Magic on the way to their next class. The class itself had been interesting and they had actually spent that class in meditation as they were taught how to consciously reach their magical cores and draw magic out. Apparently this was one of the first lessons that any budding witch or wizard should have been taught as it was a key step in the learning process as not doing so could leave them operating at a fraction of their capacity and make learning other skills much harder. Thankfully he'd already been working on it over the summer so it hadn't been as hard for him as it was for others and he could tell Hermione had gone through the books he'd sent her during his time at the Clinic earlier in the summer as it hadn't taken her that long to accomplish either. As it was he was already looking forward to further classes in that particular subject as he was quite interested just based on the initial speech Professor Green gave them.
He pushed the thoughts away however as they arrived within the Transfiguration corridor on the third floor. While it had previously been on the ground floor it had been moved in favor of the science department which also included Potions labs now. The benefit of this was that now Transfiguration, Charms and the Library were all on the same floor. They'd only been standing in the corridor for a small bit of time before they were joined by the other House they were sharing the class with, in this case being Slytherin, which he could see had a bit of a new dynamic. Crabbe and Goyle were now shadowing Travis Avery while Draco was now with Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott.
Just a few months ago Draco dropping his goons for this particular pairing would have worried him, especially with the knowledge he now had of Slytherin and it's house politics. Now however he wasn't really concerned, Draco was no longer a threat to him and while he'd been more of an annoyance before the fact remained he was neutralized. Lucius had destroyed any influence that House Malfoy had possessed leaving Narcissa and Draco to flee to the House of Black as a result.
Draco had also done some growing over the summer and carried himself differently than he previously had as a result. Of course Theo Nott could easily set that progress back or even make him worse than he'd been before but with the inclusion of Blaise he doubted it. Unlike the lot of his housemates Blaise was Italian and had only moved to Britain around the time he was ten. While a pureblood his family had been among the many victims of Grindelwald and his forces and as such he had a very dim view of anyone who wore the mantle of Dark Lord. Of course he also wasn't an overly antagonistic sort and was far more likely do turn Draco and Theo against the pureblood supremacist ideology then fight them.
Such thoughts were brought to a halt as the doors of the class soon opened allowing them to enter. Stepping inside Harry was surprised to find that much like his muggle studies courses the room was full of single person desks and chairs while the two person desks they had used with McGonagall were gone. Sirius could be seen at the front of the room with a set up much like McGonagall used though he was currently standing in front of the desk and leaning back on it. He was dressed in a pair of tan pants with a matching vest under which was a white dress shirt though the tie was missing, and the top button was undone.
"Good morning." Called the man breaking him from his observations.
"Welcome to 3rd year Transfiguration or O.W.L prep as it has been called. My name is Sirius Black, I am the Head of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black, Duke of Durham however you shall address me as Professor Black. I hold Mastery's in both Transfiguration and Defense and I worked as a Hit Wizard during the last war and for those of you who do not know I personally took down the second highest number of Death Eaters during the war just under Alastor Moody. What this means is should any of you ever misuse the knowledge that I impart to you I will personally hunt you down."
The room was silent at this announcement and Harry could see a couple of people shifting rather nervously at these words. Sirius himself regarded the group with hard eyes for a few moments before he made a motion of his hand and a stack of parchment that had been sitting on his desk rose up before separating as they flew about the room to settle on the desk of the students.
"What you have just received is the syllabus for your class, these are all the things we will cover this year. For your class due to the time compression that list is for all three years and is separated to reflect that. Now if you though Transfiguration was hard before let me inform you it is twice as hard to perform wandlessly as such I expect you lot to give this your utmost focus and attention. Any questions?" finished the man only for Hermione's hand to shoot up before he'd even finished the sentence.
"Professor this says we'll be learning to become an Animagus. Isn't that rare?" questioned Hermione.
"That's year three. As to whether it is rare the answer is both yes and no. Yes it is rare in Magical Britain and most of Europe for the most part as it's not really taught. As for the wider world then no as it's a skill that is considered O.W.L level. The method you'll be learning by is harder than what people have used here. Traditionally we used a potion to induce the transformation however it has a drawback in that it forces you into the form that is closest to you at that time. Doing it this way however means that is the form you have period. Instead you all will be using the meditation method and while it may take longer you'll be able to transform into more than one form. There are two distinctive Animagus forms common and aggressive. The common form are things like cats, dogs and so on, regular animals for the most part. An aggressive form however are battle forms and can even be magical."
There were a few more questions following that before class got underway and of course the first thing to do was turn a match into a needle, only this time wandlessly. Sirius or rather Professor Black was right in that it was definitely harder, so much so that not even Hermione managed it this time. After leaving the class the hall was filled with discussion as they talked about the experience and the new teacher specifically. People had definitely enjoyed the class and his teaching method, Harry having previous experience with Sirius as a teacher had already figured that they would. The next class was Charms with Professor Flitwick and the Puffs where they spent the time trying to get a feather to float for the same resulting success as their previous class meaning none at all.
Following that was Potions which they shared with Hufflepuff taught by Professor Cunningham, though there was no brewing and was really just a lecture period. Just from the beginning of the class he could tell it would be different as the Professor had wasted no time in openly mocking their previous lessons stating they were lucky as the time compression would give them the chance to actually learn the subject as they should have initially. The very first thing she had done was go over lab safety and as such inform them what was to be expected when working on actual potions. Following that she pointed out the periodic table in the back of the book, something that upset many of them as they had no idea it was even there in the first place. She explained her class would be split in two parts lecture and lab and that they would be split between days.
Day 3 was another muggle day. They started the day with History, and the teacher for this class was so pretty he wouldn't be surprised to learn she'd been a model at some point. She was quite tall, in fact he would say she would be a match to Professor McGonagall in height, though she looked much younger. She had long light brown hair and blue eyes and cut a trim figure in her blue top and black skirt with legs that seemed to go on forever. Speaking in a voice that revealed her French heritage she had introduced herself as none other than Perenelle Flamel, wife to the famed Alchemist Nicholas Flamel. That had been quite the surprise yet also explained why Hermione had been so giddy about the class on the way over. The class started with a course overview and what they would be covering for their first year under time compression, before diving right in beginning with the Prehistoric Era and consequently Dinosaurs.
The class had seemed to fly by and before he knew it the bell was ringing signaling the end of the lesson. After class he had been asked to stay back so that she could speak with him regarding the philosopher's stone incident in two years ago. Apparently McGonagall had told her about it when she was interviewing for the job, she thanked him for the effort then informed him that though he didn't know it the stone they'd given to Dumbledore had been a fake but asked him not to tell anyone as everyone now believed that it had been destroyed and they wanted to keep it that way.
After History was the Foreign Language class and out of the list of options he had been given he'd selected Italian. Unlike a muggle course however it wouldn't take them long to learn the language as apparently magical's picked up languages pretty easily and they should be able to speak, read and write the language by the end of the year. He'd been surprised to find Daphne, Tracey, Zatanna, Su Li from Ravenclaw and Justin from Huffepuff attending the class as well. Neville and Dean had been the only ones to join him from Gryffindor. The class however was bigger in that there were a number of the transfer students taking the class as well, which if nothing else would at least give them a chance to get to know each other somewhat.
The next class of the day was Science which they shared with Ravenclaw. This one was taught by a man by the name of Myles Collins. Professor Collins was an American black man and stood tall, nearly a height to Remus who he knew was 6'5" with a broad frame. Apparently his three children were all attending Hogwarts now as they'd been transferred in. He himself had taken the post so that he could be closer to them, which Harry understood as it was the same case for Sirius, Remus and Narcissa. The highlight of this class was being witness to pureblood minds being blown by the knowledge that was imparted and this was only the first day. As it was he was wishing he could sit the Non-Magical Life course with them if only to see the reactions.
Leaving that class they'd gone to their final class of the day which had been physical education. For that their entire year of Legacy Hogwarts students had been gathered and led to the Training Grounds by Penelope Clearwater who apparently had a free period. Once there they found not far from the Greenhouses were a trio new buildings had been placed. The buildings were all similar in design in that they were rectangular in shape and with about twenty feet between them.
"Good afternoon all of you." Said Dr. Millard once they arrived
"My name is Dr. Sybil Millard and I will be your physical education instructor. Furthermore I am now the Director of the schools new Sports Department which for this year will include Quiddich, broom racing and dueling for magical sports. Non-Magical sports will include Tennis, football (soccer), basketball, ice hockey, track and swimming. All of these sports can be played professionally in most of the world if you are good enough. These sports will include both a House team and a School team. The School team will travel and play against other schools magical and muggle. You can find more information on that in both the Main Hall and your common rooms." Said the woman much to the surprise of the group who were already getting excited.
"We are currently in what we call the Sports Center and behind me are three gyms. Inside Gym A to the left are both the basketball courts and the Hockey Rink. Gym B in the center is for tennis and football. Next Gym C holds a running track, general exercise and workout rooms for our use. Further out you'll find another building within which is our new pool area. Past that as you know is the Quiddich pitch and if you go further is a small golf course for those of you who are interested." Explained the woman.
Heading into Gym C the gathered students were soon directed to the looker rooms where they were met by a House Elf that gave them all several sets of gym cloths along with a slip containing a locker and its combination, which of course was a tab sequence with the wand. The clothes themselves consisted of a grey sweat suit with a house crest on the top over the heart while the crest and the name went down one of the legs of the pants. There was a white t-shirt with the house crest and a pair of shorts in the house colors, Gryffindor's being red with a gold trim with the crest on the front of the left leg and the house name running along the side. After changing into the shorts and the t-shirt, he stashed his things in his locker before heading out to the exercise room. Upon entering the room he felt his eyes widen in surprise at seeing the girls outfits. Like him they were mostly in shorts and the t-shirts only their shorts were much shorter. Where the guys shorts stretched just bast the knee the girls stopped in the upper thigh area. While he'd seen girls dressed similarly and in less over the summer he was now seeing his year mates in an entirely new light and was once again coming to the conclusions that the Hogwarts robes should be done away with.
"Merlin" breathed Ron beside him in surprise.
Before more could be said or done Dr. Millard made her appearance and the class was soon started where they were put through what she called a bit of light exercise. First was several rounds of stretching, followed by push-ups, sit-ups and jumping jacks. They only did sets of fifteen and while he, Neville, Hermione and Kellah were fine he could see most of the rest of the class struggled through it. Following that they went through a set of pull ups on some bars hanging at the back of the room on the side of a monkey bar set, also a set of fifteen and then had to swing across the monkey bars themselves. Following that they'd gone to the track room and were told to complete two laps. By the end of the class Harry had seen the definite need of the class considering how out of shape most of the class was and wondered if he'd looked so pathetic when he'd first started.
That night the main Gryffindor common room was packed as the students sat around talking. Over the last few days people had actually been using the new common rooms on their respective floors as it was easier to do homework if everyone was working on the same things, at least that's what his year was doing. For their magical classes there really hadn't been much homework so far aside from Advanced Magic which at the moment was strictly focused on meditation and expressing their magic without a wand. Hermione was surprisingly enough having the most difficulty with the exercise, apparently she couldn't relax her mind enough and would need to learn to calm her thoughts. The non-magical classes however hadn't been shy about handing out assignments which mostly consisting of reading through chapters and completing exercises in the workbooks at this point.
Tonight however they were once again in the main room as Sirius had scheduled a house meeting which appeared on all the calendars they had been given. As if the thought of him was a summons Sirius chose just that moment to come through the entrance and was surprisingly accompanied by McGonagall.
"Thanks for coming everyone. I know you've all got work to do so I'll try and make this quick." Said Sirius to the now silent room.
"Firstly regarding the new sports program. Tryouts for the teams will begin next week and spots for all house teams are up for grabs. Gryffindor is the reigning House Quidditch champion however so you will be competing against the current position holders for those spots. There is also a full reserve team with spots available as well. The tryouts for the school teams will be held in two weeks, that said if you make or miss a spot on the house team has no effect on the school team. Also there is no limit to the number of teams you can be on. For instance you can play Quidditch and Hockey or any other combination as long as you are good enough to make the team. That said students who participate in sports must maintain an E average amongst your classes which translates to a B for muggle studies. No then with the exception of quidditch, racing and dueling all teams are split by gender so there are boys and girls teams. That said I am very much looking forward to all of the sports cups that we will be able to display." Said the man ending with a grin.
Sirius spent the next few minutes answering questions before dismissing the group. Before he could leave Professor McGonagall called for him and sharing a look with Hermione he shrugged and stood to his feet. Following them outside of the portrait hole Harry found himself standing with not just Sirius and McGonagall, but with Remus and the new Professor Wong.
"Mr. Potter I'd like to introduce you to Professor Wong."
"How can I help you Professor." said Harry cutting straight to the point, he still had some work to get through.
"Actually Harry we were speaking with Slytherin's portrait and he said you should be able to move the entrance to the Chamber." Said Sirius
"Maybe a few hundred years ago I could have. Alone I don't have the power to do such a thing anymore." Said Harry.
"So it's something all the heirs need to do?" questioned Sirius
"No, our access to the castle is limited. Apparently a prank war between the heirs got out of hand so the Heads banded together to limit their power over the castle. Since the two of you are here though and want this to happen Kaci should allow it." Said Harry frowning thoughtfully.
"Kaci?" questioned Professor Wong.
"Kaci is the spirit of Hogwarts. She's what is called a genius loci." Said Harry.
"So when people say the castle is alive…" started Professor Wong.
"She is. Our school moto never tickle a sleeping dragon is talking about her." Revealed the boy shocking the lot of them.
The bar was a dingy little thing, tucked away within an alley with only a small sign to mark it. Its interior was dark as the lightning provided was dim and shined in small pockets around the room. Its patrons sat scattered about some at the bar and others in booths engaged in their own conversations as music played in the background. He found his quarry at the back seated alone in a booth sipping on a glass of brandy judging by the smell.
"The fuck do you want?" grunted the man as he sat himself across from him in the booth.
"I'm a transporter simply here to deliver a message."
At this the man narrowed his eyes but said nothing opting instead to take a sip of his drink. Transporters were a known part of the wizarding underworld and were known to deliver anything from packages to messages. They operated under a set of simple yet strict rules and all were expected to abide by them. Faces were ignored as all of them were under Polyjuice which explained why to one with enhanced senses their sent was off as the potion could be smelt through the skin masking their natural scent.
Placing down his drink the man accepted the message and watched as the man removed a small metal cylinder removing the cap from which he revealed a rolled-up slip of parchment. Accepting the parchment he watched the man secure and stash the cylinder before leaving the booth and following that leaving the bar altogether. Opening the parchment the man read through it and by the end a small, yet sinister smile could be seen across his lips before he set the parchment on fire and dropped it in the ash tray to watch it burn. Downing the last of his drink the man soon stood to his feet and left the bar, the sinister smile never leaving his face.
Day 4 in time compression found Harry awake with a bit of energy. At this point he'd found himself enjoying his classes for the first time that he could remember. Today was another magic day and his class schedule for the day was definitely one that looked enjoyable. The first class of the day was Defense with Remus which they shared with Slytherin. Already there were stories flying around the school about the classes and teachers and both Sirius and Remus were very popular subjects with the legacy Hogwarts students. Arriving at the class the group of students found the door already open and Remus inside sitting on the edge of the desk.
"Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. My name is Remus Lupin but you can call me Professor Lupin. I'll be frank the level of education you guys have been provided has been extremely lackluster not helped at all by the rotating door of teachers. So we will be covering not only spells, but creatures and magical races. By now you should know that due to time compression we will be starting with what you should have learned in your first year, so let's start with Gremlins…"
The class went just as Harry expected it to. Remus as a teacher was both informative and engaging easily making both Quirrell and Lockhart look dumb in the process. By the time the class was over Remus had the collection of students eating out of the palm of his hand, once again as expected.
The next class he had was Care of Magical Creatures with Hagrid and Hufflepuff. When they arrived at his teaching area Hagrid sat them all down on benches and proceeded to give a lecture on the creature he was covering. For today the creature in question was the Hippogriff. After the lesson he actually allowed a couple of them to interact with the few Hippogriffs that he had been using as a visual aid. Harry himself had gotten on with one by the name of Buckbeak and had even been given a ride much to his amazement. Thankfully after Hagrid's lesson no one decided to badmouth any of the creatures as they well knew what they could do to those they took offense to.
Following that rather successful first class was Magical Life with Madam Longbottom. That class consisted of a mix of students from all houses in their year including a few of the transferred students. As it turns out this wasn't Madam Longbottom's first-time teaching at Hogwarts as she'd once taught Charms before Professor Flitwick took over. Unlike the rest of his teachers Professor Longbottom started the class with a question and answer segment allowing them to voice whatever questions they had about the world they now found themselves in.
"So today we'll be focusing on social norms, things that you as young ladies and gentlemen would already know and practice if you'd been raised in our system and circles." Said Professor Longbottom after the Q&A had seemingly wrapped itself up.
"As with most of Europe and our muggle counterpart we operate on a class system. Our system takes on a multitude of factors that when taken together contribute to the level you as a person could be placed on. What affects you now as students is the level of your house or family. The structure in this instance is as follows Most Ancient and Most Noble House, Most Ancient and Noble House, Most Ancient House, Ancient House, Most Noble, Noble House and Magical House. A 1st generation wizard is the beginning of a Magical House, this does not take effect however until that wizard marries and has a child. A 1st generation witch on the other hand starts a Magical House if she marries someone not of magical blood and has a son.
The title of Noble is gifted to a house if a member of that house does something significant on a wide scale and is recognized for it. For example the person who created the Blood-Replenishing potion if not already a member of this class would have immediately been elevated to the Noble class or conversely elevated to Most Noble. The Ancient title only comes when a house reaches the age of 1,000 without the magic dying out."
That produced some stunned looks around the room but it was something that Harry had already known from his house lessons with Sirius over the summer. Of course there hadn't really been time for them to cover everything but he remembered having house status explained to him before. It explained why a house like Malfoy could hold so much sway despite only having been a Noble before the rank was stripped from it as it was much easier to become a Noble House than an Ancient one.
"Now amongst these rankings you will in time here people speak about another group known as the Sacred 28. These are the 28 families that were consider True Pureblood's in 1930's documented in the Pure Blood Directory. While they have built about a bit of esteem behind it I'm here to tell you it means absolutely nothing. It was a ploy created by a group of Minor houses to make themselves seem more important. The true power lies with The Eleven, these are the remaining Houses that hold the title of Most Ancient and Most Noble or Ancient and Most Noble, the key here is Most Noble. These were the Houses either started or led by the Knights of the Round Table and charged by King Arthur himself with the duty of guarding the Realm. These are the Houses of Bones, Black, Constantine, Diggory, Greengrass, Kale, Longbottom, Parkinson, Potter, Prewett and Zatara. Before the last war there were a few more but these Nine are all that have survived to date." Explained Professor Longbottom.
"Over the years Hogwarts has also played host to foreign nobility and considering the number of transfers this year we may well be doing so now. Currently the only recognized nobility from outside of other territories in Magical Britain are the Chang's of China and the houses of Patil and Patel of India. The Venerable House of Chang is the Chinese equivalent to a Most Ancient and Most Noble House and as such should be treated with the same level of respect. Now for the most part here at school this won't really play that big of a role however this is knowledge you need for more formal situations. So let's start with greetings."
Nearly two hours later after a very informative first class and Harry found himself moving towards his next class. Beside him Hermione was silent but he'd known her long enough and well enough that he recognized it as an introspective one as she went over everything they learned in her mind. What threw her off the most was most likely that there were no books that she could read on the subject to satisfy her innate curiosity and as such she'd have to wait for the next class like everyone else and couldn't study ahead as she was known to do. Apparently the traditions of Wizarding UK were passed down orally as no one had wanted to risk them being either discovered or destroyed. There were copies of course but these records were found only in the libraries of the Most Ancient and Most Nobles families, much like copies of numerous charters for the territory.
Their next class was actually Mystic Arts and would be the last of the day. Before the class however they'd had to troop back to their dorms to change out of their uniform to the one specific for this class. He now wore a dull grey martial arts outfit the top of which was able made to be pulled over the head instead of belted shut though for some reason he still had to wore a small rope belt around his waist. Under the top he wore a white undershirt that was put on more like a robe as could be seen from the crossed section over his neck. On his feet he wore a pair of lightweight black low top shoes that were apparently made of synthetic leather. This had not been one of the outfits he'd purchased in Diagon Alley instead he'd received a parcel containing the outfit and five more just like it, and a pair of white shoes in the mail near the end of the summer.
The style of dress had told him early on this would be a more physical class, which was a good thing as he felt they did a bit too much sitting around. On the plus side The Marauders had actually told him a bit about the subject when he was picking his classes over the summer as with the exception of Pettigrew they'd all gone to study at the temple in Kamar-Taj after leaving Hogwarts so they knew a fair bit about it. He had also received a note from McGonagall over the summer strongly urging him to take he class and with the number of Gryffindor's surrounding him he hadn't been the only one. As it was his entire year, which including the transfers were actually together numbering twenty people.
Arriving down in the Main Hall they found themselves meeting up with a large group of people dressed similarly to them. Walking through the crowd he spotted Daphne, Tracy, Blaise, Draco, Susan, Hannah, Justin, Prince Harry, Zatanna and Padma just to name the people he knew in 3rd year. This however was proven to be a mix of years as he spotted Katie, Fred, George, Angelina and Alicia, so it was apparently an O.W.L level class. The group of kids which had been talking amongst themselves when his group arrived was soon silenced when the figure that was Professor Wong arrived.
"Good afternoon. My name is Wong and I will be one of your instructors in this course. Now the reason you have all been gathered here is due to the venue where you will be taught. Mr. Potter has graciously allowed us the usage of the Chamber of Secrets for this course and as such had the entrance moved for our usage."
At this Harry found himself on the receiving end of several looks but did his best to ignore them all but was thankful all the same when his dormmates closed ranks around him basically blocking him from view.
"I will show you to the entrance however going forward you would all do well to find your own way."
After this they large group followed after the Professor as he moved passed the doors of the Great Hall. As they walked they passed the Trophy Room which had apparently been moved from the Third Floor until they neared the end of the hall were a new stairway could be seen going down. Upon reaching this point he stopped and turned to face them once more
"A word of warning before we go any further. Despite the appearance these are not regular stairs but an escalator meaning they move on their own. Unlike the counterpart in the mundane world these are moved by magic much as the staircases in the Grand Stairway only it is the steps that move not the entire stairway. It is quite a long trip and estimates to about five flights of stairs so remember that for when you make your journey here in the future."
With that said the man turned and stepped onto the escalator placing his hand on the railing as it began to move him down. The group was soon following after him forced into a single file line as they went. He could tell that a fair few of the purebloods were rather impressed with it while those with experience in the mundane world were mostly amused by their reactions. Upon reaching the bottom they were led down a stone hall illuminated on both sides with torches every few feet until they reached the large ornate doors of the Chamber which were already open. As the group passed through the doors they found Professor Gordon and Professor Mordo already inside.
Professor Gordon was a woman with short cut black hair that was one of the taller women he'd met as she stood around 5'10. Like the other two professor's she wore robes but where Mordo's robes were green and Wong's red hers were a deep blue.
"Now that you are here let's begin." Said Professor Mordo catching the attention of the room.
"As you all should know by now there are several different types of Magic. Thus far you have focused solely on the manipulation of your personal energy. Not everyone is gifted with the ability to wield personal magic as you all know. Among the Masters of the Mystic Arts many were not born with the ability and circumstance drove them to where they are now. Even the current Sorcerer Supreme was not born with magic in his veins nor was he particularly gifted in the arts in the beginning. You will find however that hard work and dedication to the craft can take you far as it did for him and many others." Said Professor Mordo surprising all of them.
"With that in mind I will say this once and only once. This discipline has no room for slackers, those who do not take this seriously and put in their upmost effort will be expelled from this course. Furthermore if I find that any of you have misused these teachings at any point in the future even after you have left this school, I will personally hunt you down and strip the ability from you." Said the man his words carrying with them a weight that forced a deadly silence in their wake for several long moments before he nodded and took a step back and Professor Gordon stepped forward.
"As Master Mordo has stated the Mystic Arts that we practice are different than the magic you all have practiced. In fact you will find that there are many forms of practical magic that are different the world over. That said the Mystic Arts focuses on two aspects tapping into and channeling the Ambient Magical of the Universe as well as tapping and channel Extra-dimensional Magical Energy. In this course you will learn how to do both as well as the dangers of pushing too far." Stated the woman calmly as she looked over the room.
"In time you will be given access to the library of Kamar-Taj and taken to view the Sanctums we have hidden around the world. The time magic currently in play however prevents us from leaving the grounds of the castle and as such that and much of the theoretical work will have to wait. Until that time we will teach you more practical lessons among which is the fighting styles that have been developed to help us utilize this power." Finished the woman before the students were broken up from their grouping and told to step into specific places forming lines amongst themselves.
By the time their 2nd real day of school came upon them the students had settled well into their routine of classes. At breakfast that day the arrival of the owls with the morning mail brought with it a bit of shock amongst the students as they realized all they had done in the timeframe of a single 24 hour period. After all for them it had already been several weeks, nearly a month and to the outside would this was only their second day of class. When Hedwig came it was with a copy of the Daily Mail, The Quibbler and a few letters. Setting his load down in order to tend to Hedwig who after a bit of affectionate nudging was quick to accept her strips of bacon before taking flight back to the owlery. Picking up the Daily Mail he found the front of the paper graced with a headline 'A Royal Move'. The article went on to detail the announcement that Prince William had been withdrawn from Eton College and Prince Harry who was set to begin attending this year as well had also been moved to another school.
While the Queen had nothing against the staff of Eton and in fact only had positive thoughts for the institution the decision was made to move her grandchildren after her original choice had a staffing change. The school in question was Hogwarts Academy, the same school the Queen herself had attended in her youth and currently attended by the newly discovered Heir of Asgard Hadrian Potter. The new Headmistress of the Hogwarts Academy was a dorm-mate of the Queen in her youth and to this day still a close friend. While she had been serving as Deputy Headmistress over the last few decades the Queen had decided against placing her children and later her grandchildren within it's walls as she didn't agree with the previous Headmaster and was hesitant to trust her family to him.
The article went on to explain further details about Hogwarts such as the age of the school and that it had been an isolated hidden institution since it's inception and students were accepted via invitation only. It went on to explain how most of its students were children of previous students but that others had also been invited to attend over the centuries as well. After that it was explained that they'd been scrambling to discover more information about the institution but that any information including its location was impossible to find, only a list of alias's that the school had gone by previously was available. After seeing the article Harry knew it was only a matter of time until the secret of magic was released to the general population and by that point he was seriously hoping they were ready for what that would entail.
Placing down the Daily Mail he moved his focus to the Quibbler which was covering Sunday's Wizengamont session and the trial of Delores Umbridge the former Undersecretary to ex-Minister Fudge. The first bit covered the ruling of the Wizengamont that Behavioral Modification potions would now be considered unforgivable with only a few circumstantial exceptions and the reasoning behind the move. That was definitely something of a relief and he knew his circle of friends that had attended the meeting in the Room of Requirements what felt so long ago would definitely be relieved as well.
Turning to the next article of interest for him was the trial of Umbridge who had been arrested for setting the Dementors on the Express. The trail revealed that the attack had been purposeful and even worse an assassination attempt on the Heir of House Potter in revenge for him setting into motion the series of events that led to the arrests of Cornelius Fudge and Lucius Malfoy who in her opinion were fine upstanding pureblood citizens. Her veritiserum testimony went on to reveal several other crimes she'd committed such as delaying the response of the auror team responding to the attack on the Express and blackmailing a St. Mungo's Healer into forcing potions into Lord and Lady Longbottom to keep them trapped in their minds for over a decade among numerous other crimes. For all of this the woman had earned herself her own stay in Azkaban and would be serving her own life sentence for nearly killing their heirs of several prominent houses.
Putting the paper down he turned his attention to the letters. One of them was a letter from Gringotts with his account manager informing him that they'd managed to recover all of the money that had been funneled to the Dursley's over the years though they had to seize both Privet Drive and the residence of Margery Dursley to do so and would be selling both. Apparently Marge's house had been purchased by Vernon and was still in his name which made it eligible for the seizure. While a portion of the sale for Privet Drive would be set aside for Dudley as he was still a child and the Nation would not hold a child responsible for the actions of their parents Harry would receive all of proceeds from the sale of Marge's house. If Harry's smile was a bit more malicious than normal he couldn't help it, after all it couldn't have happened to nicer people. The other letters were much more formal judging from the wax crest seals on them. While he didn't recognize some of them the Parkinson one he recognized he'd have to go see Sirius with these later in the day as something told him these were incredibly important. Tucking the letters he looked up just in time to see everyone else exiting the hall on the way to class with only his friends that had class with him still lingering. Commotion at the back of the room had him looking to the teachers area just in time to see Professor Trelawney seize up in her seat before her gaze snapped to him before she began to speak in a voice that was full of power and clearly not her own.
"It will happen tonight. The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers, that which anchors him being destroyed. A Hand shall seek him, and a deal will be struck, with the Hand's aid the Dark Lord will rise again, greater and more terrible than ever he was. Tonight… before midnight… the Hand…will set out…to recruit."
When she stopped she pitched forward out of her chair and was luckily caught by the quick reflexes of one of the Professors. While most of the hall was confused he could see many of the professors especially those who were whitelighters had gone pale. Looking up at Sirius and Remus both appeared to be in a state of shock and both of them looking at him with wide eyes.
Within the lower levels of Gringotts within the deeper caves that made up their home Ragnok V sat before a pool of water as he set about cleaning the blood from his axe. The axe itself was one he'd made in his youth and he'd put his all into crafting. With a blade shaped like a crescent moon the axe featured two golden protrusions, one larger than the other, with the white tips of a spear, the longer one is in the middle at the top of the axe and the smaller one is on the opposite of the blade of the axe. The handle is dark blue, with a golden semicircular guard with four golden spikes on it. He didn't usually have reason to remove it from its mantle in his office but today had given him one in the execution of a rogue goblin. It had started with the Potter Account Manager Sharpclaw who noticed some discrepancies when reviewing the accounts after the Potter Heir's first visit. Apparently an alarm had raised with him when the inventory was revealed to have been flawed by the boy having possession of the invisibility cloak when the records showed otherwise.
Once the boy had left Sharpclaw had brought the matter to his attention and together they'd set about investigating the matter. It had taken them months to figure out and the one account had led to several others that had been compromised. In the end it had revealed that nearly fifty million galleons had been stolen along with several artifacts. Once it was all done he'd sent out teams to recover whatever artifacts weren't still in the bank and had the stolen galleons returned to their proper vaults. As it was the Potter Heir was lucky it had only been his trust vault and not the family or business vaults as the limit on that one had protected him. Others hadn't been so lucky and had been financially crushed. The fact that these had been among the Most Ancient and Most Noble houses made the situation even worse as despite the belief of the wizards all of the houses still had living heirs even if all of them weren't currently in the UK.
As it was the situation could have easily led to another war with the wizards which was why he'd just executed every male member of that clan that was considered an adult. The women and children however would be split up amongst the other clans. Luckily unlike with humans no stigma would be placed onto them as they didn't hold people accountable for the actions of others especially if they were not involved. Considering only males worked in the banks or with the vaults that cleared the women of any responsibility. He hadn't even given them the honor of a proper battle instead he'd had them seized from their homes and executed them one by one for all to witness before having their remains fed to the dragons just to set an example amongst the rest of the horde as this was something that couldn't be tolerated. Standing to his feet after ensuring the blade was sufficiently clean the goblin chieftain began making his way back to his office, hopefully next time he took up his axe it would be for a battle.
That night in the darkened forest of Albania the wraith-like figure that was all that remained of Voldemort could be seen feasting on the carcass of a bear. While it couldn't be seen physically the wraith was in a horrible shape as it could feel itself weakening. It could tell several of its prized horcrux's had been destroyed and as a result had left his grasp on the mortal plain severely weakened. Considering the number of times he'd been wracked by pain over the last few months he knew four of them had been destroyed. Leaving him with only two left, though how a shard of his soul would up in the Potter brat he had no idea. Still that meant he only had two left which meant he needed to restore himself before anymore were destroyed.
"Well aren't you the pathetic sight."
The voice had him stopping in his thoughts and turning to face it revealed a face he recognized from his youth. His first instinct to attack was immediately halted upon his recognizing of the figure.
"Zadicus." Said the wraith.
"You've fallen low. I'd have thought by now one of your minions would have revived you." Said Zadicus.
"Useless the lot of them. My most faithful are unfortunately locked away in Azkaban otherwise I'd not be stuck in this form." Said the wraith.
"Luckily for you I've been awakened, and I can help you return to a physical form." Said Zadicus.
"In return for what?" questioned Voldemort.
"Nothing much, just your humanity. We'll even let you keep your plans for Europe." Stated Zadicus.
"Generous, sounds as if you need me just as I need you." Said Voldemort causing the demon to scowl.
"Our needs are different, do not confuse our situations. I have a hole in my ranks that needs filing and you fit the criteria that is all. You on the other hand are in mortal jeopardy, your horcrux's have been discovered even now The Elders have the goblins tracking them down for destruction and they are closing in. The choice is yours, but it is a final offer and there is a time limit that expires once I take my leave of you." Said Zadicus.
The wraith froze at the ultimatum issued for that is what it was. This was why he hated dealing with demons, as despite their power they never came to you without already having the upper hand and as such bargaining with one was always a losing effort. While not one of the Nine Lords such as Malebolgia or Mephisto, Zadicus was not one to be trifled with as a Hand to the Source, another of the Nine Lords. Zadicus was at least up front in his desires and didn't try and trick you in the deal.
"Very well then, let us speak terms."
AN: That's it the chapter's done. That one actually took me all weekend just to write the last few scenes. That said I wanted to show that just because things are good with Harry it doesn't mean that other things aren't happening. The next chapter will have a bit of a time skip so be ready for that. Also I don't know when the next one will come out as I want to update some other works but if the muse hits me again it might come sooner rather than later. That said thanks for reading and please leave a review. Till next time, LATER.
