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  This chapter was edited by Gdiusx. Check his works on HP and ASOIAF, I highly recommend them.

  Wednesday, June 9th, 1993.

  Dinner.

  In the bustling Great Hall of Hogwarts, the sun’s dwindling rays streamed through the towering windows, casting warm patches of light across the long tables. The aroma of hearty food filled the air as students chatted animatedly and helped themselves to a spread fit for royalty. At the Gryffindor table, Harry sat contentedly, the table in front of him having bore witness to a veritable gastronomical massacre as stacks of ptes towered in front of him.

  Having polished off his impressive meal, Harry leaned back in his seat with a satisfied sigh, his eyes wandering toward the dessert offerings at the end of the table. His attention settled on a delectable pte of treacle tart, its golden surface gleaming under the enchanted lights.

  Hermione, seated across from Harry, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his formidable appetite. She had chosen a banced meal in a pte of roast beef and a sad bowl. She was now enjoying her apple pie, the Daily Prophet she borrowed from Lavender temporarily forgotten as she observed her friend's impressively unending appetite. While he did expin, st week, about how his appetite had grown ridiculously from his ordeal in the Chamber, it was still staggering to see her friend eat so much food and barely gain any weight.

  On the contrary, she could have sworn he had grown taller, almost her height now, though not yet close. When she st hugged him, which brought a blush to her face, she could feel the hard and corded muscles that he hid underneath his clothes. Harry always had a wiry, hardy disposition, but now, he had begun to actually fill up. The frankly insane daily training and exercise regimen that he followed religiously and which she had joined occasionally was clearly showing results, albeit more quickly than she would have thought.

  “Harry,” she began, a mixture of amusement and disbelief in her voice, “I've seen you eat quite a lot, but please! Think of the poor elves forced to work so hard to make sure your endless pit of a stomach remains satisfied.”

  Harry grinned sheepishly, reaching for a fork and knife as he eyed the treacle tart. “You know as well as I do they love it, Hermione. Dobby had become a near-permanent member of the kitchen staff to make sure he cooks my own food, especially once we were done with our er…” He looked around knowingly, but over the past week, everyone had gotten used to seeing him pigging out like a starving man, so no one was paying him attention, nor did anyone sit close to them while he ate.

  Hermione flipped a page in the paper absent-mindedly as she took a bite from her pie. “Yes, yes. I know. Have you thought about your pns for the summer?”

  Harry hummed in delight as he devoured his next target. He might not be a fan of sweet drinks, but clearly, he had no problem with desserts and confectioneries.

  “I’ve been trying to meet with Professor Dumbledore for the past week regarding that, but he has rarely been in school.”

  She could scarcely begin to imagine the amount of work a sorcerer with three important positions had; let alone now when things seemed messy.

  Yet, Hermione couldn’t help but worry for her friend, “You did mention that, but won’t you need an adult to help you with what you pnned?”

  She was intentionally vague as Harry had drilled into her the importance of watching what was said between them, especially in a public setting. At least until either of them managed to learn some form of privacy spell.

  “Yes, I will. It can’t be just any adult – it has to be someone I trust. It’s why I was hoping to meet with Dumbledore, as he would have easily helped me, but as.” The boy shrugged carelessly before scooping a portion of pie, how did he already finish half his pte? “My second choice would be one of the eldest Weasley brothers, but they had already left abroad for their work. I would rather not bother Mr and Mrs Weasley right now, so I’m waiting for my st resort to reply before I would be sure.”

  “Is that whom you sent a letter to earlier? That elusive st resort?”

  Harry was finishing the st of the treacle tart, and it still shocked Hermione how quickly he could eat. She was only halfway through her meal!

  “One of them. I've been sending a lot of letters recently. It’s a bit of a gamble as I only met her once, but I have nothing to lose while she gets to prove to me her worth after promising her aid.” He shrugged as he washed down the st of his dessert with pumpkin juice.

  It was in times like these that Hermione would be reminded that her friend had truly changed, and not just physically. Sure, there were the obvious signs, such as the ck of gsses, his better physique and that sheer magnetism he unconsciously emitted. And there was this sense of purpose, of an ironcd surety that Harry carried himself with now; all the previous signs of hesitation or shyness had fully melted away. He had always been the centre of attention due to his past, but the st week had many girls around them blushing furiously or looking at her friend with undisguised interest, or worse; like he was some cute toy, which rankled her greatly. There were quite a few even from the upper years. Harry’s charisma was almost animalistic in nature; even Hermione wasn’t immune to it. She had always liked her friend, but to her mortification, her mind had begun to stray to new pces that made her seem like a lovestruck schoolgirl.

  “Hermione? Are you alright?”

  She shook her head and quickly finished the st of her dinner, trying to push down her embarrassment and ignore Harry’s lopsided smile that made her insides twist.

  “I’m fine. Just… thinking of how much Ron would take it as a challenge to outeat you.” Hermione apologised to her deceased friend for using him like this, but she was sure he was ughing his head off at this current situation. Moreover, why was Harry so perceptive?

  “Heh, he can try, but I’m sure I could still eat another serving.” Hermione gawked at him as he actually reached out for a special pte of sausages and bacon that he had kept aside.

  “Really, Harry? Would you eat poor Hedwig’s food? Isn’t it enough that you expect her to come at night instead of the usual morning post? You should at least eat some fruits for a change.”

  He chuckled amusedly, and Merlin, his happy ugh did things to her spine.

  “Nah, protein all the way. But not so much that I would eat your food, would I, sweetie?”

  Hermione blushed heavily at the way he teased her, only for a shadow to nd next to her and a bark of agreement to cause her to freeze up.

  Again?!

  She banged her head on the table in absolute shame and embarrassment at the fact she thought he was speaking to her. Goddammit, Hermione felt stupid worrying over Harry falling for other girls when he was clearly cimed by the most important one. And to think she was worried about the owl’s food earlier. She gred balefully at the snow-white owl who had just delivered Harry a letter only to see her raise an eyebrow…the owl didn’t even have eyebrows; how did she do that?

  Hermione perked up when Harry finished reading the letter and hummed in thought before elucidating her on the contents of the letter.

  “Well, she agreed to help me and is free for the entire day after we return to London.”

  “Oh? That’s good, right?”

  “Indeed. Are you sure you can’t join me, Hermione?”

  She felt ecstatic that he cared and wanted her to be with him, “I wish I could, Harry. But I’m travelling to France that evening with my parents for the holidays. My grandparents live in Caen, and if I wish to discover more about my magical ancestry, then my grandfather is the best clue I have.”

  Harry nodded genially, “I wish you good fortune. Just know that regardless of what you discover or fail to discover, you will always be my friend and have a pce by my side.”

  In vain, she tried suppressing the heat rising to her cheeks and cursed Harry’s newfound silver tongue.

  .

  .

  .

  Harry stared amusedly at his friend, whose face had got so red that her pale skin looked like a cooked lobster. Should he tone down on the teasing and flirting? Looking at how the girl had hidden her face behind the newspaper in a poor attempt to hide how his words affected her, it was easy for him to decide.

  After the years Jon spent on the Wall with no women in sight? I think not.

  It would be a cold day in the seven hells if he ever considered swearing vows of celibacy again. He stroked his owl’s feathers and scratched her on the cheeks. Owls normally would not appreciate that, but Hedwig was different, as evident by how she shook in pleasure and made a squeaking chirp instead of her usual barks.

  “You like that, don’t you, Hed?” Another delighted squeak and Harry chuckled as he brought out a letter he had prepared.

  “I know you’ve had a long trip, but I need this delivered before Friday. If you need to rest, I can send you tomorrow. Which would you prefer, girl?”

  Hedwig, the smart owl she was, considered the matter seriously before barking in a challenging tone and gring at the letter. She hopped closer and offered her leg imperiously.

  Smiling at his reliable owl, Harry tied the letter around her leg, and she nibbled his fingers and flew off, silent except for one st bark that he transted to, ‘see you tomorrow.’

  Gods, he wished he had Hedwig in Westeros.

  “Galloping Gargoyles!”

  He flinched at the sudden cursing from Hermione, who smmed her paper down on the table, attracting the attention of half of the Gryffindors still supping. His question died on his tongue as his eyes went over the paper, where a rge picture took half the page.

  It’s a pce Harry remembered, and the setting was familiar too, with all the wizards and witches garbed in mourning robes – it was Ron’s funeral. And as with all magic photos, it was moving – the loop ending when him in the picture looked directly at the camera lens. There was a smaller picture right next to it of a hideous-looking woman in pink clothing.

  “Those foul gargoyles! How could they invade the privacy of a funeral?”

  Harry calmly inspected the article as he ignored Hermione’s indignant outrage, and how some of their fellow Lions had moved closer in interest. The picture seemed to be provided by an anonymous source, and he checked with other articles in the paper and found all the pictures in it had a name associated with it. The article itself was nothing to speak of, just specution and drivel on Hogwarts’ protections and a weak attempt to bme it on Dumbledore.

  He chuckled mirthlessly, causing Hermione to stare at him.

  “You would ugh over this?”

  “Of course, I would ugh. Whoever wrote the article is an utter ckwit and only gives patronising condolences before going on a tangent about an entirely different matter. Who’s the author?” He checked the author to find Antoine Fenetre, which rang no bell.

  “Anyone know this bloke?” Might as well make use of the surrounding crowd. All he got were shrugs or shakes from the head.

  Hermione still looked a bit lost, causing Harry to sigh.

  “It’s obvious the Prophet wanted to capitalise on Ron’s death, yet they would not dare write an article that might be seen to be attacking the Weasleys. Then there’s the matter of the hidden photographer who is obviously connected to the Daily Prophet somehow.”

  “So they had the picture but didn’t know how to use it because of circumstance?”

  “Mostly,” Harry nodded. “I recall there being multiple ministry officials in attendance. They would have known about the creep and reported it to their superiors. Mayhaps the ministry intervened with the Daily Prophet to prevent them from accidentally attacking the Weasleys.”

  “I see,” Hermione bit her lip as she stared at the picture of the funeral. “How do you think this would benefit them?”

  “Probably nothing material, but it seems they are aiming to make a soft show of force.” Harry pointed at the picture of Pinky, “There was a guest speaker from the ministry, some woman called Dolores Jane Umbridge. Her opening statement basically says as much: The ministry ments the death of a pureblood, murder in Hogwarts, confirmation that the Weasley family had received indemnity, I should check with Colin if he got his share actually, how amazing the ministry is, yada-yada-yada, but here is the crux of the article.”

  He moved his finger to a part in the paragraph, “Dolorous believed that even if Dumbledore were in the school, it would not have changed anything. She also pretty much cimed that the ministry should provide the school with protection and handle its security as clearly, the teachers have failed in their duty in protecting the students.”

  “But that’s ridiculous! It was them who arrested the wrong man and did nothing when Dumbledore was driven out of school.” Hermione’s indignant shout followed murmurs of agreement from their housemates, Harry noticing his Quidditch teammates listening in interest.

  “It's politics,” Harry shrugged. “I have no idea who this Umbridge is, aside from being…” He checked the article again and huffed in amusement, “Senior Undersecretary to the Minister.”

  Hermione frowned, “I think I’ve heard of her, actually, but I can’t recall where.” She gave him a coy grin, “Since when were you so observant and know so much about politics?”

  “What do you mean, Hermione?” He grinned back, “I’ve always been a fountain of knowledge.”

  He shrugged as she squinted her eyes. “Then again, knowing that I will have to interact with society sooner or ter with my status doesn’t really give me a choice.”

  “That’s true, I guess.” Hermione bit her lip and cmmed up. Harry thought he had an idea why, but he would rather not start that topic now.

  The muggle world was different from the magical world and Westeros – he knew that well enough, but it was not without its own problems. Hermione had yet to understand the reality of her position and he was not in the mood to start anything with her. Harry figured he was the wrong person to tell her so anyway, since he was muggle-raised himself.

  “Anyway,” changing the topic was always an option, he figured, as he pointed at another line in the article. “In response to the danger and unpredictability of the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts, as well as the fact that the previous two teachers turned out to be secret dark lords,” He chuckled at Hermione’s giggle. “Dory here announced that she had drafted legistion allowing the ministry to intervene in Hogwarts when the school is unable to find a teacher.”

  He again looked at his eavesdroppers, “Anyone know a broad called Umbridge?”

  “Talking about her toadiness?”

  Apparently, Umbridge was better known than some nameless paper pusher from the Daily Prophet as Alicia, Angelina, and Katie approached them.

  “Hey, girls.” Harry smiled, “Thanks for the Quidditch game earlier.”

  “Anytime, you sure do enjoy running us ragged, Harry.” Angelina gave him a wide grin that showed her white teeth, contrasting prettily with her teak skin, as she sat beside Hermione.

  “He’s not that bad, you know? At least not as bad as Oliver.” Katie settled on his left while Alicia took his right, leaning over to look at the article, giving Harry a view of her fair neck. A whiff of the air told him that her recently showered blonde hair had a pleasant smell. He did not mind the teasing flirts, they were nothing new really, but now Harry could actually catch the underlying meanings that evaded him before.

  The chaser trio had always been like older sisters to him, and the two older girls made it a game to tease him whenever they had the chance. What boy in his right mind would deny such fun games? It just irked him how much taller they were than him, and he was gd Angelina wasn’t sitting next to him; the girl was an entire head taller than him.

  Katie was a bit of a prude, though.

  “Anyway, Umbridge was the head of the Improper Use of Magic Office before getting promoted to her current position when Fudge became minister st year. Daddy used to work for her, and he tells me she’s a real piece of work who irrationally detests any manner of magical being that is not human, and scorns anyone with unclean blood, as she calls it. She tried to get my Dad fired multiple times because he’s muggle-born.” Alicia’s bck eyes narrowed in disgust. “Thankfully, my mom’s family put pressure on the bitch and she had to back off.”

  “I also heard that she was recently responsible for the passing of an Anti-Werewolf legistion that really made life even more difficult for werewolves in Britain.” Katie chimed in as she grabbed a banana from a newly appeared fruit ptter.

  “And someone like that is essentially the right-hand woman of our Minister?” Hermione frowned, eyeing a tangerine for a second before grabbing it, “That doesn’t really make me hopeful for my future.”

  “I can’t say I know much about werewolves, but aren’t they technically a threat to society?” Harry asked cautiously, idly grabbing an apple.

  “Not really. My mother works in the Department for the Regution and Control of Magical Creatures and has to deal with many werewolves.” Angelina shook her head as she also grabbed a tangerine, “She tells me most of them are the sweetest people who only need a few hours every full moon to themselves.” She sighed sadly, “It’s just a sickness, and many werewolves just want to live their lives normally.”

  “It's not all sunshine and rainbows, though. My uncle tells me that You-Know-Who employed plenty of werewolves who were happy to do his dirty work and terrorise both muggles and magicals.” Katie shrugged unapologetically, ignoring the frown thrown at her by Angelina. “You know I’m right, Angie. Even today, Fenrir Greyback, the worst of the werewolves, is somewhere out there, killing and turning folks into werewolves.”

  “Hang on, spread the curse?” Hermione interjected. “As in, willingly?”

  “Yes. Willingly.” Katie gave his friend a serious look, “That monster is insane and believes that werewolves are superior to humans. He bites them young, you see, turns them against their parents and then kidnaps them to raise them as he sees fit.”

  A foreboding silence fell on the table. “How do you know this, Katie?”

  The older girl unpeeled her banana as she hesitated to answer him. “My uncle… knows a werewolf who was bitten by Greyback.”

  “I see.” The conversation had clearly gone into a tangent, “So what does that have to do with Umbridge?”

  “The problem is that many people thought that ws against werewolves would be eased after You-Know-Who’s defeat, not the opposite.” Alicia grabbed an orange, peeling it as she talked. “It was already difficult for them to find work in Britain, but with that legistion, it's become nearly impossible.”

  “It was already shown in the st war that the more you push a group away from society, the more resentful and easier to subvert they become.” Katie sagely remarked as she finished her banana.

  Harry idly bit on his apple as he frowned in thought. So someone like that had decided to use his friend’s death for her own benefit? That would not do, not at all.

  A*L*S*M

  Thursday morning, 10th of June. Last day of school.

  Harry took a deep breath as he focused intently on this memory, specifically, a memory of Jon’s where he and his family were having a private outing in the godswood. Arya and Bran were throwing mud at Sansa, who for once abandoned her dy-like demeanour and viciously threw more at them. He and Robb were getting scolded by their father for some inane prank they did on one of the sleeping guardsmen. Lady Stark had just taken young Rickon to sleep, and Lord Stark waited until his wife left before he sighed in amused exasperation.

  It was a happy memory that had nothing but pure love and a feeling of home in it. It can be summarised into one word that Harry dearly desired.

  Family.

  “Expecto Patronum.”

  A thick white mist bsted out of his wand, and Harry could see a massive head forming in the mist. He continued channelling magic as the spell took form and more mist billowed out, shining brilliantly over the dark and damp Chamber. Harry had been trying this spell for over a week now, with limited success, and this was his st chance to succeed in casting it before he left school.

  The drain on his magic was severe from casting the powerful spell. He had read intensively about it in the library, and understood that even adult wizards failed in casting it due to the power requirements. Yet, he persevered; Jon kept that memory in the foreground, thinking about sweet Sansa as she decred him the knight for that day’s ‘come to my castle’.

  He thought of Arya and Bran, the two hellions who combined could keep the entire castle on their toes. He thought of his lordly father and his warm smile and encouraging words. Jon thought of Robb and the many antics and mischief they caused.

  And suddenly… the mist solidified, and a massive canine figure trotted into the chamber, looking for danger. Finding none, it returned to Harry. Its eyes, the colour of blood, would strike fear into his enemies, yet he felt nothing but love and warmth at seeing him.

  “Ghost,” He croaked out as he caught his breath. The gigantic direwolf, even bigger than he remembered, nodded its head and nuzzled its nose on his forehead. Harry ughed merrily as he patted his companion, only for his hand to pass through its head. The Patronus had the texture of clouds or vapour.

  “Right, intangible. I guess you really are a ghost now, eh boy?”

  Ghost huffed silently, while his tail wagged furiously behind him. It tried to nudge him with its snout again, only to pass through him before it snorted and stared at his eyes.

  “It’s okay, boy. We will find a way to make you tangible. Magic is limitless, after all.”

  The direwolf nodded its massive head before it dissipated to nothing. Harry felt a bit of his strength return as he sheathed his Holly wand and noticed Dobby’s rge eyes shining with respect and awe.

  “You did it, Master Harry!”

  Harry chuckled, “Let’s just hope any dementor I meet would be polite enough to wait for me to cast it.”

  The elf nodded his head from where he was busy making sure all of the Basilisk parts were neatly packed and piled. Harry had made a tentative deal with Reginald Carrow regarding the parts he wouldn’t need, but the issue of transporting them would always be a problem. Basilisks were highly illegal creatures, after all.

  “Are you sure you will be able to transport the parts from here to Diagon when I call you, Dobby?”

  The elf bobbed his head furiously, and Harry nearly burst out ughing at his scowl. “Of course Dobby can, Master Harry. You be a powerful wizard, very more powerful than bad old masters. Dobby can do it!”

  “Alright, alright. As we agreed, you will stay here and clean up the chamber as much as possible until I call for you. It should be either tomorrow or the day after.”

  “Of course, Master Harry.”

  A*L*S*M

  Afternoon of the same day, Hogwarts grounds.

  “Alright, that’s good enough for today.”

  Neville sighed in relief as he leaned on his knees, while Hermione had her hands on her sides, taking deep breaths.

  “Good job, Neville. You remained on your feet to the very end, that’s progress.”

  “Yeah…” The boy breathed heavily, yet Harry was proud of him. Just a week ago, he was unable to finish a single p. Now, he managed to complete all three ps. It didn’t matter that he needed to rest midway or that it took him a lot longer than either he or Hermione. What mattered was he persevered and stuck through to the end.

  “Keep up the routine I told you over the summer, and I’m sure by next semester you will feel like a new man.” Neville gave a wan smile, and Harry turned to Hermione.

  “I’ll be visiting Hagrid ter, are you coming?”

  “Pass,” Hermione took a deep breath before she stood upright and grabbed her bag. “I want to check something with Professor McGonagall before we leave tomorrow.”

  She was about to leave, before seemingly remembering something. “You did pick your electives, right?”

  “Yeah.” Harry nodded, “Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. It took some work, but I managed to convince McGonagall to allow me three electives. What about you, Neville.”

  The blonde boy took another breath, “I’ll be taking CoMC as well, along with Divination.”

  “Divination?”

  “I know, it doesn’t have a good reputation, but it wasn’t always like that. Gram even approved.” Neville hurriedly expined at Harry’s askance look, “She took it as well in her time and occasionally manages to predict some things.”

  At Harry’s increasingly disbelieving look, Neville wilted. “Okay, so maybe she hadn’t managed to predict anything in a long time and Uncle Algie tells me the st time she did manage it, it was a prank from him and my gramps that she never realised it to this day.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Neville. Harry is just being obtuse.” Hermione mock-gred at him, causing him to chuckle.

  “Hey, I’m not judging. What about you, Hermione? What electives did you take.”

  The girl suddenly cmmed up and started moving towards the castle, “Sorry! Gotta go. Tell Hagrid I said hi!”

  They watched as the girl ran off as if she hadn’t just completed a long training session. Harry chortled at his friend’s awkward attempt to avoid discussing how she would probably take all five electives.

  “What was that all about?”

  “Don’t worry about it, Neville.” Harry stifled his ughter as he looked at the other boy, “I’ll see you ter, aye?”

  “Cheers, Harry.”

  They went their separate ways. Neville followed Hermione’s steps to the castle, while Harry walked to Hagrid’s hut where he could see smoke billowing out of the chimney.

  He stopped by a tree overlooking the ke and held out his arm for Hedwig to swoop in and nd on it.

  “Hey, girl. How was your trip?”

  The owl shivered theatrically, “That bad, huh? I guess they didn’t appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night?” A nod from the owl and Harry stroked her feathers. “Good girl. What’s important is they received and read the letter. Anything afterwards is on them, as we shall never meet again. They didn’t try to harm you, did they?”

  Hedwig nodded, and Harry nearly scowled in anger before the owl made a barking sound that suspiciously sounded like ughter.

  “Oh? What did you do?”

  The owl looked into his eyes and he found himself looking through her own for an event that happened earlier in the day. It was before dawn and the residents of Privet Drive were still asleep. A fat man was trying to throw cutlery at him, leading him to fly away. He then gathered other owls and commenced a dive-bomb on the man’s brand-new Mercedes, drowning it in bird poop.

  The spell ended and Harry shook his head before roaring in ughter, Hedwig chirped along, “Was that the new company car he just got? That was brilliant, Hed. I didn’t know you could share memories, though.”

  The owl shuffled and the boy and his owl headed to Hagrid’s hut through the pumpkin patch and knocked on the door.

  Everyone’s favourite toad makes an appearance! Kinda.

  Harry finally nails the Patronus. It remains to be seen how he will fare against an actual dementor with its demoralizing effects.