Harry awoke the next morning feeling as optimistic about life as he had since Sirius fell through the veil. He was by no means "fixed" or "better", just glad to be doing something more proactive than sitting in History of Magic class, half-listening to Professor Binns drone on and on about one of the many Goblin Rebellions or The Great Wizengamot Upheaval of 1852.

There was a tremendous amount of work to be done, sure, but Harry had decided it was infinitely better to be doing that work than just sitting idly by, watching it pile up. 'Especially when that work is paramount to your continued survival.'

Harry couldn't help but chastise himself for how little value he had placed on his education during his first five years at Hogwarts. 'I was an idiot,' Harry thought, 'I wasted so much time denying who I was and pretending I was normal.'

Some time between Dumbledore's welcoming feast speech and the conclusion of the First Engagement, Harry had come to the startling realisation that he shouldn't have needed to hear the Prophecy to know that he should take his magical training more seriously. Voldemort's re-emergence had all but been guaranteed since the conclusion of his first year at Hogwarts. The dark wizard's spirit had fled it's temporary host, but had clearly not been vanquished. It should have been clear at that point that it was only a matter of time before a wizard of Voldemort's skill and knowledge found a way to get his own body.

Even as a twelve year old boy, Harry reckoned he should have been more perceptive than he was at the time. 'Despite knowing what happened to my parents, despite having a physical reminder of their sacrifice etched into my forehead, I failed to teach myself how to fight.' In many ways, the predicament he currently found himself in was his own fault, and no amount of teen angst or childish whining was going to change anything. This... epiphany - for the lack of a better term - was the reason why he had decided to go through with the meeting with Daphne Greengrass and why he hoped the two could find a way to work together.

'The only way out of this mess is to go through it.'

After performing his morning ablutions and dressing in casual attire - he would return to the common room later to change into his school robes - Harry made his way down the dormitory stairs to the Gryffindor common room proper. Only three students appeared to have ventured downstairs before Harry. A couple of nervous looking second years were huddled by the fireplace and an older boy from either fourth or fifth year - Harry couldn't remember which - was reading a book by the window. None of the common room's occupants made any move to speak to Harry, and so he walked briskly across the room towards where he knew the Fat Lady's portrait crawlspace was.

Harry had not woken up with any particular agenda, but in the light of his newfound optimism, he had decided that it would be prudent to make the most of every spare moment he had. He had a few things that needed to be sorted out if he was to be able to focus on the task ahead.

First and foremost, he had been meaning to speak with Dumbledore since the welcoming speech and so he began on his journey towards the Headmaster's Office. Dumbledore had once told him, albeit indirectly, that his door was always open to any student who felt they needed to speak to him. For the first time in just over five years, Harry decided to test the limits of just how open that door was. Judging by the lack of light in the hallways , it could not be any later than 5:30 in the morning.

'Wakey, wakey, Professor Dumbledore.'

As weirdly excited Harry was at the prospect of catching his Headmaster unprepared, he was not surprised to find that Dumbledore was awake by the time he reached the statue outside his office. He was welcomed into the ornate room with no delay. Harry, feeling curious, asked the old man what time he usually woke up.

"At 4:04 am precisely," Dumbledore replied, "I am not exactly sure why, it has just always happened that way."

In the last few years, Harry had not seen as much of the kooky, charming Professor Dumbledore that he had first met when he came to Hogwarts five years ago. The circumstances of the last few years had evidently required him to be a little more in control than he had been in the years following Voldemort's disappearance. 'I'm glad to see the old, slightly unhinged, Dumbledore is still in there somewhere,' he thought, with a slight twinge of sadness.

The two talked for a while about this and that before Dumledore enquired as to the real nature of his visit.

"As nice as it is to see a friendly face first thing in the morning, I suspect you may have a deeper reason for being here..."

And so it was that Harry asked a loaded, open-ended question about how he could trust Dumbledore after having the Prophecy kept from him for so many years.

"There is no reason to lie to you now, Harry," Dumbledore answered simply.

"I had hoped to shelter you from the seriousness of the situation, but that was a mistake." Harry remained silent in the hope that Dumbledore would continue without needing to be prompted.

"I decided to introduce this new program to give the students of Hogwarts, yourself included, the best possible chance of surviving what is to come."

Harry considered this statement for a moment, then asked a question.

"How will working in pairs help us survive?"

Dumbledore appeared to hesitate for a moment while he considered how to word his explanation.

"You need to learn how to work together. The Death Eaters will band together and target individuals whenever possible. Some claim they do this because they are cowards and they might be right, but ultimately, I think the reason they attack in numbers is because it is the smart thing to do. There is no glory in dying on the battlefield because you are outnumbered."

An image of Sirius battling Bellatrix at the Ministry came to Harry's mind. He had fought several Death Eaters that night before he turned his wand on his cousin. Perhaps if he'd had one less opponent things would have turned out differently.

"Wouldn't we be better off in groups of three or four or five then?"

"Yes, you would, but learning to fight in groups takes far more time and skill than you might think. Curses cast by friends hurt as much as curses cast by enemies."

Harry could see Dumbledore's point, an uncoordinated group could be its own worst enemy in a combat situation, but something was still bothering him.

'But, why Greengrass?'

Either Dumbledore was able to intuit Harry's train of thought or he sensed it by using some sort of magic, because after a brief silence, Dumbledore answered Harry's unspoken question.

"She is the only student at this school capable of keeping up with you."

It was a slightly cryptic statement and before Harry knew it, he had started to protest, "but Hermione..."

Dumbledore cut him off before he could finish his thought.

"Ms Granger is an excellent student, a potentially great politician, but she is also limited in a lot of ways. It is my hope that this program will also help her break down her barriers and reach her full potential."

This explanation didn't quite add up. As far as Harry could tell, she had always pushed her friends to be better, not hindered them .

"Let me be clear, you are not more knowledgeable than I am. You are not more magically gifted than Tom Riddle. If you were in the unfortunate position of being in a one on one duel with Bellatrix Lestrange right now, she would easily best you."

Harry knew the truth of these statements but he would be lying if he said that hearing his Headmaster so plainly lay them out as facts didn't hurt his pride at all.

"Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout and I agreed that whilst Ms Granger would be a reasonable choice of partner for you, Ms Greengrass made far more sense based on your personalities and skill sets. She also happens to be a Slytherin who's family has, to my knowledge at least, never had any ties with Voldemort or any other dark wizard for that matter. On paper you two make for the strongest pairing in the entire school, seventh years included. If you two are able to work together, it may convince others not to view their fellow students from other houses as enemies."

"She seems a bit aloof, sir," Harry said for no particular reason other than to challenge Dumbledore's reasoning.

"More aloof than a young man who spent the majority of the last two years locking his friends out of his life because he decided it was best for them?"

Harry tried to remain calm.

"I have good reason to be a little cagey when it comes to my friends," he said, a little more bitterness came through his voice than he had intended. Evidently, Dumbledore noted this.

"I love you Harry. I have never wanted anything but the best for you, but you need to stop this woe-is-me act before you have no friends left."

"Well at least they'd be safe then!"

"No, they'd be targeted just like you. Do you really think the Death Eaters, a group that is devoted to ensuring the blood purity of the magical world would suddenly decide to leave Ms Granger alone because she was no longer your friend?"

Dumbledore's tone was firm but even.

Harry supposed he had a point where Hermione was concerned, but the Weasleys would surely be okay, at least for a while.

Dumbledore let out a long sigh.

"I've seen this very thing happen twice before, and so I can say with absolute certainty that every student at this school is in grave danger. Some are in danger because of their blood status, some are in danger because of their family history, some are in danger because they are easy targets. Don't fool yourself into thinking you are the only one this effects."

Harry calmed somewhat at the stern rebuke.

"But surely they are more likely to be hurt if they are associated with me."

"Yes and no... You are forgetting who Voldemort is, or rather, you don't know who he is."

"Tom Riddle is the half-blood heir of a very old pureblood family - the Gaunts - who came into being when his mother, Merope hoodwinked a high born muggle named Tom Riddle Sr."

Harry couldn't believe his ears. He sat there in Dumbledore's office, mouth agape.

'Voldemort is not a pureblood.'

'You see Harry, Tom Riddle Jr, at his core, is a contradiction. In that sense, his values don't matter. The reality is that he likes to murder and torture and feel like he is in control. The pureblood agenda he spouted when he first came on the scene was the most convenient way for him to get others to support him. That's not to say he wont go after muggleborns and half-bloods first; after all his followers expect that from him and he can ill afford to have them abandon him. Just know that he's not adverse to killing anyone no matter their blood status. You witnessed this firsthand in the cemetery when Mr Diggory was dispatched with no consideration whatsoever."

Harry felt somewhat dazed when he left Dumbledore's office twenty or so minutes later.

They had continued to talk about what Dumbledore called Voldemort's, "contradictory nature." Harry's concern for his friends was amplified by the conversation. For the first time though, Harry wasn't able to take comfort in the thought that everyone would be just fine if he was no longer in the picture. Overall, he was more anxious now than he had been when he entered Dumbledore's office but his sense of resolve was at an all time high. 'Voldemort has to die.'

There was no way around that. And Harry knew he had to be the one to do it. Somehow, someway.

Deciding he needed to collect his thoughts for a moment before he headed down to breakfast, Harry chose to sit down in a classroom on the second floor.

This year, just a few weeks old, was turning out to be the most complicated year of his life by far. He had been presented with a seemingly impossible task, then presented with a means to learn how to accomplish it within a few months. In the process, his way of thinking had shifted immensely. There was a clear way forward, even though the final outcome was uncertain to say the least.

Towards the end of his impromptu meeting with Dumbledore, he had said something that resonated with Harry. "If you take proper care when you are undertaking small tasks, more often than not, the big tasks will take care of themselves."

'In the spirit of taking care of the small tasks, it is time to get Greengrass on board.'

As soon as the words entered his mind, Harry knew that "small task" was easier said than done. He did not know Daphne at all well, but he knew her well enough to know she kept her cards close to her chest.

'We need to open up to each other on a more personal level so that we can leave behind all this Hogwarts house loyalty nonsense. Maybe if she can stop seeing me as the Gryffindor golden boy and more as a guy just doing what he can to get by, she'd be more receptive to working with me.'

An idea came to Harry. The two teens had spoken to each other and decided that it would be best if they could find some way to speak to each other without having to be in direct contact with each other. Maybe if he could find a solution to their conundrum she'd be impressed enough to realise worthy of her respect. He briefly considered enlisting Hermione's help, but then thought better of it. 'No, this has to be something I do myself otherwise her suspicion that I am a clueless Gryffindor will be proven correct.' Besides, Dumbledore himself had all but said his reliance on Hermione was causing him more harm than good.

'I suppose I better get working then.'