Chapter 9. Mission Failed

"How... unfortunate," muttered James grimly, staring at the big ancient pensieve on his desk. "And alarming, too. I guess we've been slacking for too long, huh. Yet still...," he bit his writing feather thoughtfully, rocking in his chair slowly, "So much effort, and just to ensure complete secrecy of an event of such large scale... There is something very wrong there, don't you think so?" He raised his eyes to look at the youngest Auror in the department who happened to be his son, Harry Potter.
The teen looked incredibly embarrassed and, actually, to say so would be a serious understatement.

Truth to be told, Harry'd never been so pissed before. Above anything else he could wish in general, right now, he wanted to go down the drain as soon as possible and for good. And there was a good reason to it; in fact, such utter humiliation made the young wizard so furious that he had to use all of his concentration to prevent his magic from going wild any second now.

Still, gathering the last bits of his willpower, he sighed and deadpanned:

"Yes. Yes, it is very suspicious. And disturbing, too."

James nodded thoughtfully, frowning and looking at the pensieve again.

"And you're saying that you weren't able to recognize the charm... is that correct?"

"Yes," the teen agreed, gritting his teeth. "There was no sign of any strong magic anywhere around. Well, aside from that strange fog. But you've already seen it yourself. That's where the blocked part takes its beginning, though. But I didn't think it was anything but a modified Revelio charm, because it dispelled the effects of Polyjuice and didn't do anything notable aside from that."

The older man chuckled, although there was anything but joy in his voice.

"You still have much to learn, Harry. You may be powerful, but you lack experience and attentiveness. That's why I've appointed you for this job so early to begin with. In this case, your confidence turned out to be your weak spot. You should have made sure to analyze this fog before entering it. Didn't you have your mirror to call me or Unspeakables to ask about it?"

"I understand," whispered the green eyed Auror, unable to bring himself to meet his father's compassionate gaze.

"It is good that you understand, if you really do. Anyway...," he touched the huge stone cup with his fingertips, which made barely notable ripples appear on the cold silver surface of the liquid inside of it. "All is not lost yet. Protean Charm is one of the strongest spells of secrecy out there, if not actually the strongest, but even this one has a weak spot we can abuse."

"Does it?" Harry squeezed out the question automatically, flinching in realization at the man's words in a couple seconds and looking up. "Really?"

"Yeah," James nodded, scratching his chin covered with a few-day stubble. "There isn't much we can do even if it works, but it's better than nothing anyway. You see, Protean Charm makes any memory that is under its protection very limited when it comes to recalling it. None of us can watch anything you've been through this night and, as we've just settled, you can reveal only so much information on the matter to us while you are still under its effect, whilst we have no idea when was it set to expire."

"Then what are we going to do about it?" asked Harry impatiently, crossing his arms. It would be impossible to describe the degree of disappointment and embarrassment he was feeling right now, because, thanks to Daphne, just a few hours ago he was dead sure that he'd uncovered something of immense importance. Something that would set his authority among other Aurors in stone, and for good. The case of the decade, without a doubt.

And now all of his ambitious plans turned in ashes, for he couldn't share any of his memories of that criminal party he'd attended last night. He got outplayed by his own arrogance, and at the moment, he loathed himself for it.

"Oh, not 'we'. You are going to do it. Hold on, she will explain. You may come in!" he added a bit more loudly, turning his head towards the entrance of his office.

The door opened the same second, letting the familiar young woman inside the room. She looked the same as a few hours ago when he'd talked to her through his mirror; she was wearing the standard Unspeakable's uniform that consisted of tight, brown leather pants, a pair of high heeled black boots that reached her knees, a marsh coloured dragon leather jacket that was unbuttoned, revealing a formal white shirt with a dark gray tie. Finally, there was a dark red formal mantle on her shoulders, and a short sword in the scabbard on her hip, looking more like a big dagger due to its rather small size – a standard magical weapon for the likes of her, albeit Harry had no idea what made it special and what was its purpose.

"Hey, Jay," the teen sighed heavily again, forcing out a polite smile which was returned right away.

"Good morning, Harry. James, we're already aware of the situation, so no need in any briefing." She came close to the Head Auror's desk and sat on it, crossing her legs and taking another feather from its case, biting it thoughtfully in the exactly same manner James did, which made the youngest wizard in the room put some effort into suppressing the desire to wince at her. "You've done really well, I must admit. We didn't really hope for you to have any success in this mission, yet still, you have managed to surprise us," she eyed him up and down, as if studying him, which made it very hard for Harry not to roll his eyes. "However, it is still no good unless we find a way to extract your memories which is, according to all the known rules of magic, frankly impossible."

"We're aware of this. Could you please go down to business? We have important stuff to attend soon," said James quietly, and although it sounded perfectly polite, all the three of them realized that the woman wasn't really welcome in the room.

Still, she smiled, pretending not to notice anything, and nodded in agreement, keeping gazing at The Boy Who Lived.

"You're right, let us not waste time on cheap chat. I haven't slept this night yet either, you know. Anyway, Harry, listen up. Exactly as James told you, there are significant limitations on your memories right now, and it's impossible to deduce when will they go down, although it's safe to assume that, given all the other precautions they've taken to conceal their meeting, the date is set a while after their plans would get set in motion. In nutshell, it renders whatever you've seen or heard absolutely useless to us."

"Yeah, thanks, I'm aware of that," he nearly hissed, this time unable to stay calm. But the witch merely smiled at him, continuing:

"However, we can still try to make it work, at least to an extent. Or, to be precise, you can do it."

"Me?" Harry frowned at her as his irritation got replaced with confusion. "How?"

"Well, the spell prevents you from revealing any information as well as from getting the one you are not supposed to have due to not witnessing personally certain events and conversations that took part at that place, but you can still recall those things you have seen and heard, even if you didn't pay attention to them."

His eyes widened at first, but then he snorted.

"We've already tried this. I can't do it with a pensieve."

"And who said anything about a pensieve?" She grinned at him, shaking her head and sighing. "You should learn to listen before replying if you want to stick to this profession. It is indeed impossible to recall these memories by any magical mean. However, non-magical ways should still work."

"What are you implying?" the teen was still not following, too absorbed by his emotions and too exhausted to think straight.

"Meaning that by training your mind intensively in, let's say, Occlumency, you might be able to force the necessary memories to come back as many times as you want. In your dreams, for instance."

Harry moved his eyes to his father who nodded reassuringly, and then he returned his gaze to Jay, biting his lip.

"So, basically, I'm supposed to retrieve whatever I can... from a random dream? And then what? I'd still be unable to share any information with you, wouldn't I?"

She turned her head to met James' eyes for a few seconds, as if silently asking for his permission for something, before turning back to the man's son and smiling again.

"Well, that's where the most troublesome, at least for us, part comes up. If you remember anything important, you will have to act on your own for this exact reason you've just mentioned. In other words, if you find out that someone is a criminal, you'll have to arrest this person on your own. And to find some convincing evidence, too."

His eyes widened in awe and shock as he gasped.

"What? You aren't making any sense. How the hell am I supposed to arrest someone or investigate anything if I'm returning to Hogwarts today?"

"You will have the permission," suddenly said James, "We've discussed it and came to conclude that it is essential for you to keep your rune and hence to remain on duty even at Hogwarts, although I don't like this idea all that much myself. Still, this will not be your only mission while you're at school."

Way too shocked by the news to calm down, Harry stepped forward and asked:

"What's the mission? Is it about testing me out with some stuff I'll never get to finish anyway, again?"

"No, not exactly," said the woman while her annoying smile made Harry want to choke her right away. "And it's not like you'd never get to finish your current task. It is still up, seeing as you are going to retain your powers as an Auror. And that, in turn, means that you have three active missions to work on while you're at school."

"The first mission is to retrieve your memories. It has the highest priority right now as it needs to be done as soon as possible," said James, to which Harry nodded quickly.

"Yeah, I get it."

"The second mission requires a short briefing. See, the Triwizard Tournament is going to be held at Hogwarts this year," he made a pause, expecting some kind of an expressive reaction from his son, but none followed – Harry'd already figured out this part, so he wasn't surprised by this revelation. "You are not to put your name in the Goblet of Fire under any circumstances. But whoever the goblet chooses as the champion of Hogwarts, this person is your job. You need to protect him or her no matter what. There will be tasks of potentially deadly danger level, and beside that, we possess some intel which implies that there might be an attempt to set up a death of some champion in order to worsen the relationships between our countries."

"I see," Harry nodded. "But, does it mean that I have to protect other Champions as well? I mean, if they die at Hogwarts, it won't be any good for said relationships either."

"No, they are none of your concern and neither of ours. They will have protection from their ministries," replied Jay. "Your third mission remains the same. No matter how much time it takes, you are to find the murderer of Narcissa Malfoy as well as his or her other supposed victims. Any questions?"

"Yeah. Can I call you sometime maybe? To hang out together or something," muttered Harry venomously in an attempt to mock her, to which she chuckled, throwing a short glance at James who frowned at his son's behavior.

"I'm afraid James won't approve of this idea, Harry. But you can still call me whenever you feel like discussing anything important." She got up, walking towards the door and winking at the teen as she passed him by, stopping for a second. "Don't disappoint us. We have high hopes for you." She left the room then, shutting the door behind her back and leaving Harry and his father alone.

"Well... do you really have any relevant questions now?" asked the older wizard, to which The Boy Who Lived smirked and shook his head.

"Nah, dad. It's all clear."

"Are you sure you can make it, though? Let's not forget that your training is your primary goal that must not be postponed."

Harry's eyebrow cocked skeptically. As pissed as he'd been just a few minutes ago, now he already didn't feel completely lost and defeated, so his usual insolence and pride were rapidly returning to him.

"Of course. I'd rather die than disappoint you again."

The man sighed heavily, getting up from his desk and draping his mantle over his shoulders before coming to Harry and hugging him with one hand.

"You better don't die no matter what, son. Let's go home now. I took a day off today to say goodbyes to you and Gwen. Your mom has cooked your favourite cake, by the way!"

"Oh, nice! Sure, dad! Let's go!" The teen grinned in amusement, following his old man toward the fireplace.

Maybe this day wasn't necessarily doomed to be so bad, after all.

A couple hours later, Harry, who hadn't slept since the previous day, yawned sweetly, leaning against the stone column on Platform 9¾ as he watched Lily and James Potter hugging his crying younger sister Gwen and trying to calm her down. The girl, despite the fact that she'd been very happy and excited about going to Hogwarts for the first time in her life just an hour ago, now felt overly stressed as she'd finally realized that she was leaving her home for a few months, which she'd never done before. The fact that she'd probably not get to see her father until Christmas didn't make the situation any better, of course.

Although in Harry's humble opinion, she was overreacting given that he and their mother would be there, at Hogwarts, so it wasn't like she would be cut off from her family completely. Not that he minded this little spectacle, of course. He didn't really care. Girls were a big enigma to him, so the teen was fine with whatever they did unless it crossed his interests in any way which was obviously no the case at the moment. He'd spent more than ample time with his father in the morning, and, well... although he'd missed his mother throughout the last few weeks as he'd been living separately from his family as his part time job required it, however, unlike Gwen, he did realize that they'd have more than ample time to chat at Hogwarts, and he wasn't in any rush.

"Oh, hello. It's been a while, I guess," suddenly muttered the familiar tired voice from his left, making Harry and James turn their heads in the direction of its owner.

Malfoy hadn't changed much during summer, although his hair was a bit longer and slightly wilder (if that was even possible for someone like Draco, but in his case even a few messy strands could be called 'wild') now and he'd also gained some suntan, from what Harry could notice. Beside that, he'd become an inch taller, surpassing Harry himself in this aspect to his displeasure, but it didn't matter all that much at the end of the day, so he just smirked, greeting his best friend with a hug.

"Hey, Draco. How was your summer?" asked James, shaking the blond's hand and grinning while Lily just nodded in a greeting, smiling at the young Malfoy apologetically as she was still whispering something quietly to the still sobbing Gwen.

"Well, it was... eventful," the shortest pause he made was noticed by Harry who frowned at it. Draco had told him exactly the opposite during their conversations via their magical mirrors, so why would he lie to James now? Or had he lied to him instead...? On top of that, the blond looked quite tired, too...

"Harry! Draco!" the brown haired girl nearly knocked The Boy Who Lived down, hugging him so tightly that he found it hard to breath and pecking his cheek quickly before turning her attention to Draco, hugging him as well. "I'm so happy to see you guys, at last! And... Oh, sorry, Professor Potter! And Mr. Potter, of course!"

"Yeah... hey, Hermione," mumbled Harry, readjusting his glasses and rubbing his slightly reddened cheek, gritting his teeth the next second at the very quiet giggle that didn't slip away from his ear. Their mother wasn't able to see Gwen's face right now, so, of course, she never noticed how the girl stuck her tongue out, teasing her brother who clenched his fists and looked away, preferring to ignore the little nuisance.

"Hello, Ms. Granger. It's been a while," James smiled at another friend of his son, greeting her with a nod. "I've heard a lot about your achievements last year from my wife and my son. Very impressive, I must say."

"Oh... thank you very much!" The girl blushed a bit, lowering her eyes timidly and, as if to hide her face, deciding to take a look at her watch. "There are only two minutes left, by the way, so I suppose we should hurry up! Ron and Neville are already inside, so..."

"Yes, you guys should get going. We wouldn't want you to be late to the feast, would we?" James winked at Hermione as Lily finally got up, fixing Gwen's long, straight and messy black hair before pushing her in the back lightly towards Harry whom the girl hugged immediately, peeking at Draco sullenly as the blond made an inviting gesture to Hermione with his hand, letting her enter Hogwarts Express first.

"See ya, dad," Harry smirked, receiving a goofy grin in return.

"See you, son. Make sure to be careful."

"Yeah, as always. Mom, until evening," he waved at the red haired witch who smiled back, nodding.

"Don't be overprotective, please! Let your sister make some friends, too!"

"Sure," he muttered, grabbing Gwen's hand and pulling her into the train before levitating their trunks with his magic inside as well while his sister gasped and yelped, whimpering pretendedly.

The door closed, and he turned to his sibling, wanting to say something, but she beat him to it.

"Well, you heard mom, didn't you? I'll go and find someone to befriend now! I'm not interested in watching your silly Malfoy chasing after stupid girls anyway!" Snapping her head pridefully, the girl grasped the handle of her trunk and pulled it towards one of the compartments located in the direction opposite to the one where Draco and Hermione went, leaving Harry stunned completely by her sudden bravado, standing there with his mouth open as the train was slowly beginning to start moving.

"Does she... oh my, she has a crush on Malfoy!" he muttered to himself in disbelief, laughing and shaking his head the next second.

He didn't really mind her leaving their bunch at all. Their company was hardly suitable for someone as young as her anyway, and besides, their mother was right. She needed to find friends as soon as possible, especially if she was to end up in a House different from Gryffindor.

Keeping chuckling at the ridiculous revelation, Harry walked slowly toward the compartment which his friend had entered a minute ago, and just as he was merely a few yards away from it he felt a heavy blow on his back which sent him on the floor right away. Barely managing to fall on his hands instead of his face in the last second as someone's long hair covered his face completely while multiple books fell around them, making very loud noise, Harry cursed quietly. Naturally, a few people looked out of their compartments and laughed at them, but, after noticing who exactly got knocked down, they all decided to make haste to retire before he would notice them.

Whoever had knocked him down was more lucky than Harry himself, though, resting on his back now which was certainly softer, cleaner and more comfortable than the cold surface of the floor. That alone was enough for the teen to feel angered, but the fact that this person didn't even apologize right away made him furious, so he hissed venomously:

"Maybe you'll get the fuck up already? You are too heavy, my bones might crush any second now." He didn't know any long haired blokes at Hogwarts, so he was positive that it was a girl which made her a perfect target for such insult, especially as he felt that she wasn't really heavy at all.

"Sure, but only if you help me gather my stuff. It is your fault that we fell anyway, after all. You were walking too slowly."

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew this voice too damn well. And oh, how much he hated her for such things she pulled from time to time...
The girl let him go then, and both of them got up, wiping dust of their clothes without looking at each other. He didn't turn around to face her, only slightly turning his head to the left before saying:

"Are you incapable of doing this on your own? I didn't know you were a squib. Besides, it is your fault. You were running way too fast. To meet your dear boyfriend, I presume?" He nearly gasped at the strong push he felt on his back once again, nearly tripping as his foot sprained at one of the heavy tomes on the floor while he ran a few steps forward reflexively before finally turning around, meeting Daphne's gloomy gaze.

"Oh, Potter. So it is you. I should have expected such awful behavior from an unmannered bloke like you."

He rolled his eyes. She was a talented actress, he could give her so much credit. The way she pretended to despise him in public was always absolutely flawless.

As a compliment to her talent, he decided to keep up as good as he could.

"With this coming from you, I suppose I should be flattered," drawled the teen, putting his hands into his pockets and yawning while the girl crossed her arms on her chest.

They stood like that for a few seconds, dueling with their eyes. It was clear that nobody was going to bow down to collect the books first, so they kept staring at each other stubbornly until the door behind Harry's back slid open and Hermione walked out of the compartment, spotting Daphne instantly and putting her palm on his back reassuringly.

"Harry? Is everything alright?" the Gryffindor witch asked softly, frowning at the Slytherin who gave her a short hateful glance before returning her blue eyes to Harry's face.

"Yeah. Just a small misunderstanding here, nothing else. Go back to the guys, I'll join you shortly"

"Okay." Hermione gave him a strange smile and blew him a kiss, and although The Boy Who Lived couldn't see what she was doing behind his back, Daphne clearly did, and it made her narrow her eyes at the brown haired girl who paused for a moment, smirking victoriously before doing as her friend'd told her by walking back into the compartment, closing the door behind her back and leaving them alone.

The awkward silence fell upon the two teens again as the train began picking up speed. Looking around himself to make sure that nobody was watching them anymore, Harry frowned at Daphne.

The way she radiated anger was genuine now, he could feel it with his magic even though he wasn't a good sensor normally. And it was very weird. Much unlike her, too. He couldn't recall her being angry very often. And given that he couldn't even talk to her normally now, afraid to be overheard by other students, the black haired wizard felt quite frustrated as he really wanted to ask her what was wrong.

"The books. Will you be polite enough to at least help me gather them?" she asked, and her tone only confirmed his impression. She was clearly pissed... but why...?

"Uh... sure," he shrugged, giving her a baffled look before they bowed down simultaneously, quickly collecting a few tomes from the floor. "Here, the last one," he handed the heavy book to her, which she accepted, nodding calmly and touching his hand under the book before he would let go of it.

Oh, so that's what it is about..., he thought, blaming himself for being so dumb this morning as the piece of parchment slid into his fingers.

"Let me go now, you're on the way," she snapped, pushing him to the side after she'd put the books back into her trunk and storming forward. But then she stopped, turning around for a second and giving him a deadpan look. "Just for your information, I didn't really hurry to get to my boyfriend. Unlike you, I don't daydream about whoever my partner is." Daphne turned away again, proceeding towards the next wagon while he just stood there, feeling completely confused once again for what seemed like the tenth time this morning.

"What the hell is going on with all the women today...?" he muttered to himself, wiping dust off his palms and fixing the clip of his mantle before walking ahead to join his friends, making sure to hide Daphne's note in his pocket to read it later.

"Hey, guys," he sat down next to Ron who was eating a chocolate bar, reading some very old looking tome covered with strange drawings and ancient runes. Harry wasn't interested in such literature himself, but it was a passion Ron and Hermione shared in common, being able to spend hours on discussing various kinds of magic which were deviant in the young Potter's opinion.

"Hi, Harry," Neville smiled at him, waving at him with a Quidditch related magazine.

"What's up, Harry? You look like shit," commented his red haired friend, to which the green eyed teen only sighed, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Meh. I haven't slept at all this night. And also some bitch decided to ride me, so–"

"And who was she?" asked Draco politely, sipping some Butterbeer from the bottle he was holding.

"Eh? Who was who?" asked Harry in response, making Neville, Ron and Hermione chuckle at the same time while Draco remained as impassive.

"Well, the one who decided to ride you and thus didn't let you sleep last night."

This time, everyone laughed loudly as he blushed a little bit, but the wizard took the hit stoically.

"I wish I remembered. You should have attended that party, by the way. So many interesting people were there. Notts, Greengrass... even your brother Percy, Ron," Harry's didn't visibly react, but he made a mental note that talking about the event itself as well as the names of those he'd seen there wasn't prohibited by the spell of secrecy he was under. But what made him even more wary was Draco's strange reaction to his words. By the way his friend narrowed his gray eye at his reply, it became clear that Malfoy knew what exact party Harry was referring to.

"Percy? Gee, I wonder. That jerk has left our home in late June, shortly after we returned from Hogwarts. What was he doing there anyway?" asked Weasley phlegmatically, not looking away from his book.

"I dunno," Harry shrugged, making another silent note – in fact, he'd wanted to tell Ron the truth about Percy, but instead, his mouth made him lie against his will. "I saw him there talking to Nott, that's all. I had more important business than spying on them, you know."

"Like what?" Draco gave him a sly smirk while Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes, looking out the window at the beautiful landscapes that swept past them quickly.

"Like the reason why I didn't sleep this night," parried Harry, yawning. "Anyway, I'll go buy us something to chew, otherwise I'll actually fall asleep right here. Any orders?"

"Nah. I'll pass. I'll be right back, need to visit the toilet," Malfoy got up suddenly, walking out of the compartment without looking back, followed by the perplexed gaze of Hermione who looked at Harry then, saying:

"I'll pass, too. Thanks, though, Harry. Me and Ron will grab something for ourselves after we're done with the prefects' duties. We'll be going in ten minutes, by the way, so we might be absent by the time you return."

"Got it. Well, suit yourselves," Harry shrugged. "Neville?"

"Uh... I don't know, just something to drink, I guess. Malfoy is one greedy bastard, didn't even let me take a sip, and it's so hot outside," the boy complained half-jokingly, making young Potter smirk.

"Fair enough." He walked out, closing the door and making only a few steps before noticing Draco who was standing in the vestibule between two wagons, inviting his friend to join him with a nod of his head.

Harry frowned, but followed nonetheless, entering the empty at the moment room – one of the very few places within the train where they could discuss things privately on their way to school.

"So, what's up?" asked the black haired wizard, leaning against the closed entrance door of the train.

"You tell me," Malfoy looked unusually serious which was a bit confusing and anxious to Harry at the same time. "How the hell did you happen to attend that 'party'? They would never have let you anywhere close to the place."

"Uh...," The Boy Who Lived looked away shamefully, "That... Well, I'm not allowed to tell anyone."

"Oh, really? Is that it? Because it's always been such a great obstacle to you," replied the blond sarcastically, to which his friend sighed sadly.

"Man, I really can't tell you. I'm under a spell that prevents me from revealing it."

Malfoy's eyes widened as he reached out for his pocket. His hand slid inside of it, but he hesitated for some reason, not taking anything out yet and saying instead,

"Well, that's understandable. But still, what in Merlin's name were you doing there? I mean, why did you even go to that place to begin with?"

"Eh... Well, long story short, I was doing some business in London while I stumbled upon Greengrass and the Notts. I was cloaked, so they couldn't see me. I followed them and ended up at that party, but there was Protean Cham casted upon everyone who entered the place. Hence why I can't talk about whatever happened there."

Draco narrowed his eyes at him again, this time with uncovered suspicion.

"What business could you possibly have in London so late at night? You're not an Auror, are you?" Harry chuckled at Draco's question nervously, but then his face darkened as he noticed that the blond wasn't laughing or smiling.

There was a long, oppressive silence before both of them finally sighed.

"On three?" asked The Chosen One.

"Please. We're not some silly brats."

"Alright."

Both of them took similarly looking small pieces of parchment out of their pockets, with identical shining runes on them.

"Woah. That's... unexpected," finally muttered Harry.

"Yeah..."

"You should've told me!"

"Well, you too!"

"Damn you, bastard!"

Both of them smirked as they took their certificates away.

"So, they made you spend the entire summer chasing my mother's murderer, too?"

"Yep. But how come you happened to be doing the same thing all along?"

"Every rookie did it this summer, as far as I heard. I guess they wanted to see if there is anyone really talented among us. I was told that it was approved by the Minister of Magic himself and by the Unspeakables, too, so there should be some serious reason behind it." Draco shrugged, looking out the small window in the door and licking his lips thoughtfully.

"Every rookie? Damn, and here I thought I was unique. Damn my old man for not telling me..."

Malfoy nodded.

"Yeah. I wonder how many guys like us are currently among those who are going to Hogwarts this year. I wasn't told that there were others of our age, although I kinda figured that you wouldn't be left outside this boat. Actually, I wasn't supposed to be a part of this, but Mr. Potter offered me a way to chase the murderer officially so that I wouldn't have to go to Azkaban if I find the bastard and deal with him accordingly. Very kind of your father to make such an offer to me, I must say, especially since I'm neither nearly as power as you nor, let's say, as talented as Hermione."

Harry scratched his chin, looking away.

"Well, if that's the case, there might actually be no more guys of our age at all. Was it my dad who told you that all the rookies were thrown onto this case?" Draco nodded. "He was probably talking about all those graduates who became Aurors this summer, didn't necessarily mean our peers. But, to be fair, dad has told me that he were going to expand my unit at some point, although he never went into any specifics, and I didn't feel like asking either. Therefore, I suppose we can assume that there are only two of us for now. But... just to be safe, have you checked Ron, Neville and Hermione?"

"Yes. None of them has been working on this case this summer, that's for sure. Unlike us, they have a lot to tell about their holidays." Both if them smiled ironically, recalling the memories of last summer that certainly wasn't the most pleasant in their lives.

"Hm. Figured as much. Well, in this case, I think we are really the only two. Unless we are seriously assuming that they also hired some weaklings or Slytherins like Theo," said Harry, making Draco smirk jovially.

"To be honest, knowing your father, I wouldn't be surprised."

"Bollocks! He'd never allow someone of those snakes anywhere near his office."

"Well, he has let a lazy arse like you, so why the hell not?"

"Oh, screw you, Malfoy!"

Harry, Draco, Ron, Hermione and Neville were sitting at Gryffindor's table while the entire hall burst into loud applause as the sorting hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables becoming quiet and still as it'd been before while Professor McGonagall invited the first kid to the the stool.

"Hey, Harry, is that your sister out there?" Seamus Finnegan pointed at Gwen who was standing at the left end of the line of first years, staring at the floor under her feet and looking quite nervous, being so pale and almost shaking.

"Yeah," the teen nodded, smiling at the girl warmly. He knew that she had nothing to worry about. No matter where she would end up, he would protect her from any danger, of that he was dead sure.

"Ready to get pissed when she gets sorted into Slytherin?" the boy smirked jokingly, receiving a deadly glare from his classmate.

"Yeah, fuck off." That would still be a rather unfortunate and certainly unwanted occasion.

"Oh, relax, Harry. We all know where she's going to end up," Hermione rolled her eyes, smiling at her friend's unusual nervousness.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you need to put on the hat and sit on the stool in order to get sorted," she said as she did every year, turning to the first years. "Blackrook, John!"

Draco propped his chin with his hand, watching the ceremony with a bored expression and muttering:

"Damn, I just wanna go sleep already, this is such a pain to sit and wait through this every year."

"Sleep? You mean eat." Ron smirked, looking quite hungry as he watched the young wizard going to the stool and putting the hat on his head.

"SLYTHERIN!" shouted the hat immediately.

The Houses' table cheered and clapped as he went to sit down alongside his new family. Harry watched him impassively before muttering:

"Isn't it meant to be an unlucky year if the first one goes to Slytherin?"

"Nah, mate, these are just prejudices." Neville grinned at him, although he wasn't that sure himself. So far, this sign'd always worked.

"Maybe...," muttered the black haired wizard in response, finding Daphne at her table in a moment. She wasn't looking at him, peering into the line of the first years instead with a deadpan expression which indicated how nervous she really was to everyone who knew her well enough, and Harry was certainly among these people.

He frowned, scanning the line visually as well. Was her younger sister going to get sorted this year, too? He didn't really remember her mentioning it, so he wasn't sure.

"Greengrass, Astoria!" He flinched the next moment, spotting the brown haired girl who walked nervously toward the hat.

So there she was. The child appeared to be too slim even for her age, but other than that, the resemblance between her and her older sibling was clear.

Oh well, here we go. Another Sly–

"GRYFFINDOR!"

There was the short, yet still quite notable pause before his table burst into loud applause, including himself. Harry watched the girl walk towards them timidly, sitting next to a few second years and apparently not believing what had just happened to her, still too shocked to greet anyone properly.

The teen turned his head to Daphne then. She looked displeased, but once she met his gaze compassionate, he was sure that she gave him the tiniest smile, to his surprise, before lowering her eyes to the table while Theo looked quite furious with his hands crossed on his chest, peering at his betrothed's sister hatefully from his spot.

"Ha, look at him. He seems to be about to shit his pants right here and now," Ron smirked, nodding at the enraged Slytherin. "Greengrass doesn't look pleased, either."

"Yeah... no wonder," muttered Harry thoughtfully, returning his gaze to other first years and not noticing Hermione and Draco's concerned gazes directed at him.

After some time, McGonagall finally said,

"Potter, Gwendolen!"

Fortunately it hadn't taken too long for the queue to come to her who was the only person The Boy Who Lived was interested in among those who remained. That's why he let out a sigh of relief when she came to the stool and put the hat on without any sign hesitation. Strangely enough, she hadn't looked any nervous for a while by now. He wondered why, but then the hat shouted:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Their table burst in the loudest applause so far, Harry himself included, of course. He smiled cheerfully as he watched the happy looking girl run towards them, sitting down next to Astoria and...

His eyes widened.

Daphne's sister who'd looked pretty sullen and nervous until now suddenly smiled at Gwen, beginning to chat to her quietly and casually, as if they were–

Harry slapped his forehead, ashamed of being so stupid this day. That's why both of them had looked so nervous! Apparently the'd met each other back on the train and thus had wanted to get sorted into the same House...
He found their mother sitting at the teacher's table, smiling happily at the girls as well and replying something quietly to her friend Professor Sinistra who sat next to her as usual. He would need to discuss this with her later, that's for sure...

"Well, what can I say? It sure brings back memories," said Hermione quietly, making Harry and Draco turn to her and frown at her mischievous smile directed at them.

"We've been friends long before sorting, though," said Draco, making it clear that he'd realized what all the four of his friends were thinking about at the moment.

"Still, a win is a win. We should be glad that your sister hasn't ended up in Slytherin and that there will be no stupid rivalry between them, Harry," reasoned Neville.

"Indeed. The snakes won't just swallow it, though. We gotta expect some retaliation from them in the upcoming days," added Ron grimly, to which Hermione nodded.

"Don't worry, guys," Harry smiled carelessly, meeting Dumbledore's calm gaze directed right at him. "I'm pretty sure that they will be the least of our concerns this year."

A/N: First of all, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!

Secondly, an important note - Astoria Greengrass is a few years younger in this timeline, because she happened to be born a bit later due to the problems James' investigation caused to the Greengrass family.
And finally, the next chapter is going to be out shortly after the Orthodox Christmas!

Enjoy!