Harry Potter and Beginning of the Future

Characters belonging to Harry Potter book series are sole property of JK Rowling. Other character appearances are purely fictional.

Here's another chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 8: New Lessons

Hogwarts:

Harry, Blaise, Tracey and Daphne made their way to the Quidditch grounds for their first ever official flying lessons with Hufflepuff. "This is going to be absolutely wicked" gushed out Harry as they made their way out of the castle to the grounds.

"Right" Daphne drawled in a sarcastic tone "because making a fool of myself on broom in front of Malfoy is just what I need to cheer up my day".

Harry cast a curious look at Daphne and said "How can you be so sure of that Daphne?"

"I've flown the broom before, Potter. And trust me when I say that a four year old kid can fly better than me". Harry looked like he wanted to say something but Blaise beat him to it and said "As much as I like to entertain myself by listening to you bickering like an old couple, we need to hurry up or dare miss flying for the rest of the school year"

"I can live with that" Daphne muttered to herself. Tracey snickered but choose to stay silent up on seeing the threatening glare on Daphne's face.

By the time Harry and his friends reached the ground there were already some students. The Slytherins stood on one side of the ground while the Hufflepuff students stood at a distance, sometimes shooting nervous glances at the Slytherin group.

Harry and his friends made their way to the Slytherins only to hear Draco Malfoy boasting loudly about his flying skills to anyone who would listen. Tired of the blonde ponce's strutting, Harry turned to the Hufflepuff group and caught sight of red haired girl who he recognized as the Heiress of the Most Ancient and Noble house of Bones and made his way to her.

As Harry made his way to the girl, the Hufflepuffs stopped their chattering and focused on him, giving him questioning looks. Ignoring their looks, he reached the Bones Heiress and said "Good Morning Heiress Bones. My name is Hadrian James Potter, heir to the Most Ancient and Noble house of Potter. A pleasure to meet you"

Susan maybe a timid Hufflepuff girl but her aunt made sure she knew how to respond to such formal greetings. In fact, her aunt drilled it into her head so that she doesn't tarnish the reputation of their family name. Her training immediately kicked in and Susan immediately said "The pleasure is mine Heir Potter. May I enquire as to why you are here?" In an after-thought, Susan immediately added "No offence Heir Potter. But in my experience, Slytherins tend to stick to themselves and you are here"

"Oh, none taken Heiress Bones. And please call me Hadrian. This formal greeting stuff is beginning to grate on my nerves" replied Harry

Susan giggled and said "Then you must call me Susan or Sue. All my friends call me that"

Harry flashed at charming smile at Susan making her flush a bit. "Thank you Susan. And you are right about most Slytherins sticking to themselves. But I'm not most Slytherins. I want to make as many friends as I can, if possible in all four houses and what better place to start making friends than the house of loyalty and hard work?"

"And her being the Heiress to a Most Ancient and Noble house and her aunt being the head of DMLE helps along, doesn't it" intervened a new voice. Harry found a dirty blonde haired girl with brown eyes to be the owner of the new voice. "Yes, that helps too, I guess. I believe we haven't met before. Hadrian James Potter, Heir to the Most Ancient and Noble house of Potter, at your service" he said with an exaggerated bow. "May I know the name of the beautiful lady before me?" he asked in the same charming voice.

Hannah flushed a bit at the sudden focus of attention on her but stammered out "H-hannah Abbott of the Ancient house of Abbott"

Harry took the hand of the blonde girl and pressed his lips to her knuckles lightly and said "Pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss Abbott. I believe that we could be great friends in the future"

"Now what do we have here. A charmer of young ladies hearts, eh? Be careful around him ladies. For, he can cause you severe heart breaks if you are not careful" came an amused voice from behind their back. Harry turned in the direction of voice, only to find their flying instructor standing in the entrance way to the grounds.

Susan and Hannah giggled and Harry looked a little flushed from the comment. Soon after that the rest of the class huddled closer to Madam Hooch to listen to her instructions.

Students piled in to two groups of Slytherin and Hufflepuff. The rest of the lesson went up reasonably well. The broom shot up into Harry's hand the moment he'd given the command to it 'up'. Looking around, he noticed that most of the students gotten their brooms in their hand, though Daphne looked like she had a live snake in her hand rather than a broom.

"Alright" Madam Hooch called out. "Mount up! Right leg over the broom and grasp the handle firmly"

Madam Hooch surveyed the students. "Mr Macmillan, loosen your grip a bit and lean little back. It'll be easier to control"

"Mr Crabbe, stop eating the twigs of your broom or else I will ground you from flying for the rest of your Hogwarts stay"

"Mr Malfoy, your grip is all wrong. Your hands should be little flexible to manoeuvre the broom in your desired direction smoothly"

"What? I've been doing this way for years" exclaimed Malfoy

"Well, you've been doing it wrong for years then"

A few of the students sniggered at Malfoy's failed attempt to make Madam Hooch accept his way of gripping the broom, only to end up losing Slytherin points and her threatening to ground him from flying for the rest of his school life if he didn't correct his grip.

"Alright" she called out, blowing a whistle to get the students attention back to her. "When I blow whistle, you are to push off gently, rise up for about five feet, hover for few moments and then settle back on the ground. Ready? One….Two….Three…."

All the students did as instructed and landed after hovering in the air for a few minutes. "Alright everyone. That is a good first flight, all of you. Now I want you to do some manoeuvres. Nothing complicated. Just do a little loop around me starting at ten feet from the ground and rise gradually to twenty feet. If anyone feels giddy or sick, you can stay back. Can you all do that?"

All the students eagerly nodded and pushed off the ground and started to do a full loop around Madam Hooch and then settled back on the ground. "Good flying everyone. Now you can relax a bit or you can fly but I do not want to see any feints or stunts or I will make sure you are grounded from flying before you can even say 'Quidditch'".

Harry, Blaise, Tracey and after a lot of coaxing, Daphne, took off for a simple flight and they were joined by Susan and Hannah after a few rounds. They flew for a time, circling and criss-crossing the grounds about a good twenty feet from the ground and were having a good time until they were interrupted by Malfoy and his ilk.

"So Potter, been surrounding yourself with half-bloods and blood-traitors. Add mud-bloods and your group will be the epitome of shame for the noble house of Slytherin" sneered Draco. Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and a reluctant Theodore Nott followed Draco's lead and nodded their heads and sneered at him.

"Sod off, Malfoy. I'm not in the mood to entertain you. So kindly piss off before I knock you off your broom" snapped Harry.

"Oh, so now the pot-head thinks he is a big-shot and can show up on his betters? You know what? I think we should teach you a lesson. What do you say boys" and without warning rushed toward Harry. Harry simply maneuvered to his right and spun his broom one eighty degrees to face Malfoy and suddenly leaned forward, powering the broom towards a nervous Draco, who pulled up sharply, just barely rising enough to dodge Harry.

Harry thought he heard a shriek in the background but simply ignored it and focussed fully on Malfoy. From the corner of his eye, he caught Blaise and Crabbe bumping each other's shoulders. Nott looked nervous and Tracey hovered above him to keep an eye on him. Daphne and Pansy are eyeing each other, though Daphne looked a bit nervous but kept her ice-queen mask firmly in place. He noticed Susan staying just beside Daphne and Hannah flying towards ground, most probably to warn Madam Hooch. Just as he turned his attention back on a grinning Draco, he heard a very familiar shriek. He turned to see Daphne zooming towards him, probably lost her control of broom.

Harry took a sharp left to avoid her. She zoomed past Harry and directly towards the castle walls. Without thinking, Harry shot after her just as she dashed against the wall. In her state of fear, Daphne gripped the broom so tightly that even after colliding with the castle wall, she did not release her grip on broom and shot straight towards the ground.

Harry went after her and fifteen feet from the ground, he came level to her and tried to get a hold of her and shift her to his broom. But Daphne, in her panicked state closed her eyes firmly and refused to listen to anyone. Seeing no other option, Harry caught hold of her broom and in a pure lucky manoeuvre, he left his broom and leapt onto hers and took control of the broom. Harry tried to pull up but the distance between them and the ground is rapidly decreasing. He could sense the broom slowing down but he doubted that will be sufficient. He could feel the broom reach its limits and started vibrating violently. So in a last ditch of things, with one hand he pulled up the broom as hard as he can, and with other hand he gripped tightly around Daphne's waist and turned the broom one eighty degrees so that if they fall, Harry's back will impact the ground first and Daphne will cushion her fall by landing on Harry.

Harry understood that crashing on to the ground to be inevitable and took solace in at least saving Daphne and resigned for his fate. Just as they closed five feet from the ground, a black blur shot towards them horizontally and took hold of the two first years by the scurf of their robes and tackled them to the ground. They rolled for a good five feet before coming to a stop with Madam Hooch sprawled on the ground and Harry and Daphne firmly placed on her chest and her arms protectively placed on their shoulders, therefore minimizing any damage they would have gained from the fall.

Hospital Wing:

"Never seen anything like it in all my years of service in this school! What were you thinking Mr Potter, diving after Ms Greengrass in the way you did?" Madam Hooch was ranting, arms flailing wildly in exasperation. She was pacing back and forth in front of Harry's bed in Hospital Wing. The said person is sitting on the bed while Madam Pomfrey is running a diagnostic test to check if anything has escaped her notice. Daphne clung to Harry's hand, while still trembling from the shock of the fall.

"You wished to see me, Rolanda?" Snape drawled from behind a ranting Madam Hooch along with a seventh year Slytherin in tow.

"Professor Snape, Mr Flint. You are here. Good. I've heard that you are looking for a seeker for your Quidditch team. Am I correct?"

"We are not actively looking for a seeker since we already have one. But his snitch catching skills are nothing to be desired for. Do you have anyone in mind, Madam Hooch?" asked the Quidditch captain.

"Of course", Hooch exclaimed and pointed to Harry. "I believe Mr Potter here has a remarkable skill of flying with a broom. I saw it with my own eyes. He dashed after Ms Greengrass and then went into a vertical corkscrew dive from around thirty feet above ground and then jumped onto Mrs Greengrass's broom in the middle of a vertical corkscrew and then turned the broom to a hundred and eighty degrees and performed a sloth grip roll with Ms Greengrass firmly in his hand. And he did all this without battling an eye"

Flint listened to her with rapt attention. It has been fifteen years since Slytherin last won the Hogwarts Quidditch cup and if they want to have any chance at holding the cup this year, a new seeker is definitely needed. "He's got the build for it. He's medium height and lean and if what you said is true, then we could definitely take him on to the team. But there's one problem. Quidditch trails are already finished and if we take him in now, then it may disrupt our team dynamics"

"Madam Pomfrey, when will Mr Potter be discharged?" questioned Snape

"Other than some minor scrapes, Mr Potter and Ms Greengrass do not have anything to be concerned with. Thanks to Rolanda here, they survived with nothing more than few scratches. I believe then can leave right now, if they want. I will give a calming draught to Ms Greengrass to soothe her anxiety" replied the medi-witch.

Snape nodded to Pomfrey and then turned to Flint and said "We still have three weeks for the Quidditch season to start. Tomorrow you can test Mr Potter's skills on broom and if he is acceptable, then I will speak to Professor Dumbledore about relaxing the rule regarding first years playing Quidditch"

Harry for the most part tuned out what his head of house and the Quidditch captain are talking about other than his supposed flying test tomorrow and instead asked the girl beside him "Are you feeling okay, Daphne"

"I'll live, Harry" she said and looked at him with her blue eyes. But this time, instead of her usual coldness, they were filled with a mixed emotion. Fear, Happiness..? Then she once again pulled his hand closer to her and whispered "I've never been so scared before. Not even during that zoo fiasco. Not even when my brother….."

She immediately cut-off whatever she was saying and immediately left his hand, her ice queen mask firmly held in place. She then stood from the bed and turned to Harry and said "Thank you for saving my life, Heir Potter. House Greengrass acknowledges its debt to House Potter. I will write a letter to Lord Greengrass regarding the debt and will ask him to arrange a meeting with you to settle the terms of the debt. Good night".

Harry blinked owlishly at the sudden turn of events and looked to Tracey for explanations. She simply mouthed 'later' and then went after Daphne. Blaise simply shrugged his shoulders and said 'girls'.

"He's coming. Be silent and just follow my lead" said a whispered voice from behind a gargoyle statue.

Harry trudged down the corridors leading to the Slytherin common rooms. After exiting the Hospital Wing, Harry and Blaise separated as Blaise wanted to do his Charms homework and Harry went to kitchens to look for some snacks.

Just as Harry turned the corridor, a spell hit him and all of a sudden, he went rigid. His arms struck by his side and his entire body became stiff. Slowly Malfoy and his two over-weight body guards came into view and Harry cursed himself for not being cautions enough.

"Thought you can show up on me and get away with it, Potter?" Draco kicked Harry in his mid-section and ordered his two buffoons to hold him straight and punched his in the face and then punched him in the stomach.

"This ought to teach you a lesson about disrespecting your betters, you filthy half-blood" and punched him again in his ribs. "I will be expecting your apology by tonight. I will wait for you in our common room. Don't make me wait, Potter" With that they left Harry in a partially petrified state and locked him in a broom cupboard.

Harry was filled with rage, not because of the beating he took. No. He suffered worse at the hands of the Dursleys and his training sessions with his uncle were not exactly all sunshine and daises. Harry felt rage fill him because he let someone like Malfoy blindside him. He should have stayed vigilant of his surroundings and now because of his lax attitude, he suffering the consequences. He stayed locked in that broom closet for what he thought to be at least two hours when he heard some voices outside.

"I believe he is in there, brother mine" said one voice

"Are you sure, brother dearest? This broom closet looks to be locked from the outside" replied another voice

"Of course, brother mine. The map has never lied to us before"

"Well, in that case, we better open it. 'Alohomora'"

Harry squinted his eyes a few times to adjust to the light. He observed it is dark outside. 'Probably missed the dinner' Harry thought to himself. Just then two red haired boys, probably twins entered in to the closet. By the looks of their school robes, they looked to be Gryffindors which made Harry groan internally, just what he needed on top of everything to end his day, a petty house rivalry. And the worst part is that, he cannot even defend himself.

"What do we have here, brother dearest. A slimy snake, petrified by a spell and left behind in a broom closet" replied one of the twins.

The other twin came a little closer to take a look at Harry's face and then exclaimed "And it is Hadrian Potter, the-boy-who-lived no less. Oh how the Wizarding public will be scandalized if this got out"

The other twin scratched his chin. "What do we do with you, slimy snake? Do we revive you or do we leave you behind for Filch to find you?"

"Come on, brother dearest. We cannot obviously leave the Wizarding world saviour, the-boy-who-lived, petrified in a closed cupboard"

"Huh…you raise a good point, brother mine. So, we should rescue him from this deplorable place for his services to the Wizarding world"

"Of course, brother dearest. Do you want to do the honors?"

"Sure, brother mine. 'Finite' "

Harry felt the stiffened limbs coming back to life. He craned his neck which became stiff from staying in the same position for a long time. He flexed his hands and legs, working out the kinks from them. Harry then turned to the twins and said "Thank you for helping me. It was wrong of me to jump to conclusions when I saw you house robes and for that I apologize. May I know your names?"

"Lookie here, brother mine. A slimy snake who apologize for something he thought in his mind. Will the wonders never seize?" exclaimed the first twin

"Indeed, brother dearest. Don't worry about that, oh great saviour of the world. We don't much care about house rivalry. And this is Fred" said the second twin, pointing to the other one

"And this is George" replied the other twin, pointing to the first one.

"And we are the infamous Weasley twins" both said in unison.

"Wait a minute. I thought I was George and you are Fred" said the second twin

"No Fred. Today is Saturday. So today I am George and you are Fred. Or is it the other way around?" replied the first twin, rubbing his chin

The second twin shrugged non-committedly. "Beats me. Since we do not know our names, maybe today I should be Gred and you should be Forge"

"Why do you get to be Gred? I want to be Gred today. You can be Forge"

"No. I get to be Gred because. . . . "

Harry stood there in the broom closet, looking at the twins bickering amongst themselves, no knowing to be irritated or feel amused by them. "Guys. . . . guys. . . as much as I would like to continue listening your bantering, I have a lesson to teach to a blonde ferret. I once again thank you for helping me. In the future, if you need any help, you can count on me"

"Oh lookie here, brother mine. The slimy snake is offering a helping hand to us"

"Yes, brother dearest" The second twin continued "Would you help us if we are going to pull a prank on Slytherins?"

"As long as it isn't anything lethal, I don't see why not. And just so you know, just like you, there are people in Slytherin house who don't care about house rivalries and I would appreciate it if you don't involve them in your pranks" replied Harry, as a matter of factly.

"Oh brother mine, looks like we found an honourable snake"

"Indeed, brother dearest. Do you think he is telling the truth?"

"He seems genuine to me, brother mine. He did apologise to us at the very beginning for what thought about us, didn't he"

"Right you are, brother dearest. Do you think we should do it?"

"I think we should, brother mine"

"We, Weasley twins, the resident pranksters, hereby swear on our honour of pranksters that we will not involve any honourable Slytherins in our pranks" said both the twins in unison.

Harry looked a little floored by the sudden oath from the twins but immediately recovered. "I appreciate it, even thought, it was not needed. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a blonde ferret to skin alive. Good night". The twins said their goodbye and Harry left for the Slytherin common room with a single agenda on his mind involving a certain blonde ponce and his two over-weight gorillas.

"Did you find him? I just checked the kitchens and the house elves said that he left almost three hours ago and I couldn't find him anywhere else. Did you have any luck?"

"No. I checked the library. Madam Pince said that she did not see Hadrian in library the whole day. Curfew is approaching and he is nowhere to be seen. I'm worried about him, Blaise" replied a concerned Tracey.

"Don't worry about him, Tracey. He is not a small kid. Probably gone seeking more fame like he always does" interjected Daphne in a clipped tone.

Tracey whirled around to Daphne, her eyes filled with fury. "How can you say that, Daphne? He saved your life today. Shouldn't you be even a little grateful for that?"

Daphne just huffed and turned other side. Just then Draco along with his cohorts and a few older years entered the room and strode towards the fireplace. Draco cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. "Listen here Slytherins. From today on, I will be taking the leadership of first, second and third years. From here on, you will listen to me. Anyone who disobeys me will be shown their place. The Slytherin house has fallen from grace from the last time my father was a student here. Filthy half-bloods and mudbloods are running all over the place and some of the pure bloods are consorting with them, disgracing our pureblood heritage. This will not be tolerated anymore"

Just as Draco finished his little speech, the statue to the entrance way opened and in strode a bloodied faced and livid looking Hadrian Potter. He strode towards the common room like a Basilisk moving towards its prey, silent and ruthless. Not observing the furious look on Harry's face, Draco smirked and said "Ah, Potter. You came. I told you not to keep me waiting, didn't i?"

Harry slowly made his way to the blonde haired first year, observing who is on his side. "I'm apologize for keeping you waiting you, Malfoy"

Draco's smirk increased on hearing Harry apology and thought to further humiliate him. "A simple apology is not sufficient for wasting my precious time, Potter. We will discuss your punishment later. Now I believe you have something to say"

Draco then turned to the rest of the students in the common room and said "I want no one to interrupt what is about to happen. Observe carefully what Potter is going to do and then I want you all to follow him next. Anyone who dares to interrupt will face the wrath of my father"

The entire common room stood silent at what just happened. Never in their life they thought that Hadrian Potter, the boy-who-lived, the one who defeated he-who-must-not-be-named at, the age of one, the one who stood up to the Albus Dumbledore, the so called leader of light for a simple misspell of his name, to apologize to a simple blonde ponce who rides on the cocktails of his father.

Blaise, Tracey and even Daphne temporarily forgot their masks and showed expressions of utmost surprise on their faces not knowing what just happened and what is going to happen. Harry moved to the centre of the common room to stand in front of Draco and took a deep breath. The entire Slytherin house became eerily silent and watched on what is going to happen.

'CRACK' (breaking of a nose)

'POW' (punch to ribs)

'POW' (punch to ribs)

'CRACK' (breaking of a hand)

'TRRRKKKKKKKK' (sound of cloth tearing)

'OMPHFFF' (punch to stomach)

'THUD' (body falling to floor)

'OMPHFFFF' (kick to stomach)

These are the sounds heard throughout the Slytherin common room after one Draco Malfoy said not to interfere between him and Hadrian Potter. Currently we find Harry staring down at the downed body of Draco Malfoy with his right foot on the downed boy's chest. The murderous expression on Harry's face would have scared even the most hardened criminals. So it is no surprise that we find Draco wetting himself from fear.

"You thought that attacking me when my back is turned is going to make me fear you? You thought that a few punches with you lady hands will be enough to bend me to your will? You thought that petrifying and locking me up in a broom closet is going to make me fear you? Well, you know what Malfoy, you are sorely mistaken. I suffered worse in my life than anything your puny pureblood brain can possible imagine. I've had worse, worse than your father had when he failed any task given to him by the snake-faced Dark Lord. This is my final warning to you, Draco Lucius Malfoy, heir to the Ancient house of Malfoy. Leave me and my friends alone and do not antagonise me. Or you will regret the day you were born". He then turned to the blonde ponce's body-guards and said "The same warning applies to you both. Try anything against me or my friends and you will have first-hand experience of my wrath. Now, take him to Madam Pomfrey"

Both of them scurried to Malfoy's side and placing hands under his shoulder, they lifted him off-ground and took him to Hospital Wing. As they went outside the common room, Snape strode in, in his usual fashion of billowing cloak. "Mr Potter! What have you done this time?"

Harry cocked an eyebrow at Snape wondering how he got here so quickly. "Nothing out of our house rules, professor. I just settled a dispute with my fellow Slytherin inside the Slytherin walls, outside from the prying eyes of other houses. That was one of our house rules, isn't it? Present a united front outside the common room and beat the shit out of each other inside the common room"

Snape pursued his lips in to a thin line on hearing this. "Be that as may be, Mr Potter. Headmaster Dumbledore wishes to speak to you on your behaviour this evening. Right now"

"Very well, professor. I will just freshen up and change my clothes and meet you in ten minutes. Then you can take me to our 'esteemed' Headmaster". Snape nodded his consent.

"You wished to see me, Headmaster?" Harry asked not bothering with any pleasantries. Snape just stood in a corner silently; ready to interject if Dumbledore tried to make any trouble for his potions protégée.

"Ah! Harry, my boy. Good evening to you" said Dumbledore in a jovial tone

"My name is Hadrian Potter, Headmaster. I already made it clear to you on the evening of our sorting ceremony". Harry knew what Dumbledore is trying to do. Undermine him by using a name he explicitly forbids anyone who he did not give permission to use but present a grandfather face on the outside.

"Ah forgive this old fool, my boy. I seem to forget things in now-a-days. It seems old age is catching up to me after all" Dumbledore chuckled at his own joke.

"Then maybe you should plan on your retirement soon, professor. Professor McGonagall may be your best option, seeing as she is the next most experienced person on our school staff"

All sings of jovial expression vanished from Dumbledore's face on hearing what Harry said. "We are straying away from the topic, Mr Potter. You've been called here to receive your punishment for your assault on Mr Malfoy. Do you have anything to say?"

"Besides from the fact that you did not bother to ask me for my account of the story? As a matter of fact, I do Headmaster. You see, Heir Malfoy attacked and paralysed me when I was walking towards Slytherin common room and locked me up in a broom closet for close to three hours and then he expected me to bow down to him and accept his punishment to me for 'making him wait', where he is the who locked me up in the first place. Without my rescuers, whom I will not be naming, by the way, who knows how much longer I would have been struck in that broom-closet for god knows how long"

Dumbledore merely dismissed Harry's words "I'm sure you are exaggerating Mr Potter. For your transgression against Mr Malfoy, you will be serving detention with Mr Filch for the rest of the term and you will not be allowed to fly on broom for the rest of school year"

Harry was livid on hearing Dumbledore's words. How dare the old man dismiss his words without even enquiring what really happened. "I will not be attending any detentions, Headmaster. As for the flying, I will be attending the rest of the flying lessons as usual. I refuse to accept punishment for something not of my fault"

Dumbledore face hardened and said "You see here, Mr Potter. You will accept your punishments and will attend detentions or else I will….."

"Or else you will what? Expel me? Because I dare you do that Headmaster. Because if you do that, I will make sure to drag you in front of the Wizengamot and Board of Governors. Wizengamot because how you ignored a complaint of assault from the heir of a Most Ancient and Noble house and Board of Governors because how you did not want to hear my side of the story. And also how you summoned me to your office to hand me punishment within five minutes of the incident while you did not respond to me being locked in a broom closet for nearly three hours"

Dumbledore started to say something but Harry beat him to it and continued "And before you say how you did not know anything about me being locked up, I know how the portraits in the castle report to you about any happenings in the castle. And there is a portrait of a knight there in the corridor where Draco locked me up in the broom closet. So, I dare you Headmaster. Dare you to expel me"

Dumbledore looked murderous on hearing the defying words of an eleven year old against him. He knew what Harry said to be true. While he could get away from the Board of governors and Wizengamot relatively unscathed, the resources and favours he would have to use would not be worth the cause and if he expelled him, he could not mould Harry in to the way he needed. So, Dumbledore just put his best 'I'm disappointed in you' look and said "You know Harry, if your parents are here to hear you talk, they would have been vastly disappointed in you"

Harry felt utterly enraged on hearing about the headmaster's remark about his parents but he knew that the old fool is trying to goad him in to doing something the he could use against him later. So he coolly replied "Maybe they will, maybe they won't. We won't know now. Do we, Headmaster? And maybe you forgot, they died under a 'fidelious charm' cast by you, Headmaster. So, I'm sure that if they are here right now, they will have matters other than me to be disappointed at"

Dumbledore looked absolutely stricken by the Harry's words. Whatever he was expecting to hear as a reply, that was not it. Therefore, before he lost anymore face in front of the eleven year old, Dumbledore quickly amended "We will be discussing about your punishments at a later time, Mr Potter. Till then you can attend your classes as usual"

"I knew you would see it my way, Head Master. If that is all, Good Night" said Harry and made his way outside the headmaster's office when he heard "I'm afraid that you are straying towards the dark, my boy"

Harry just replied over his shoulder "I was never in the light to begin with, Headmaster" and left the room, with professor Snape following him.

As they stepped down the Gargoyle, Snape turned to Harry and said "You handled that beautifully, Harry. I thought you would lose your temper in the middle when he mentioned your parents. But you turned tables on him most excellently. Even I would have had trouble with that"

Harry preened under the rain of compliments from his potions professor. "Thank you, professor. And I almost did lose my temper there but managed to rein it in at the last possible moment. It is all thanks to the training uncle Raj and the portrait of my grandfather gave me"

"Yes, yes, that is all well and good. But 10 points from Slytherin for assaulting a fellow Slytherin" said Snape before continuing "10 points for promoting inter-house unity and 20 points to Slytherin for saving the students of other house and another 20 points for exterminating the ferret infestation in our house"

A frown marred Harry's face on hearing Snape taking points for the beating he gave Draco but it soon turned in to a full blown laugh on hearing Snape award him points for ferret extermination.

"But you will be serving detentions with me on every Monday, for your transgressions" Snape added the last part in an afterthought.

Both Snape and Harry shared a smile. "But of course I have to be punished. I will be there for the detention, professor"

Knockturn Alley:

Jonathan Burke, grandson of Caractacus Burke is a miserable man. During the last Wizarding War, his father, being the coward he is, took his family from Magical Britain and went into hiding. After the Dark Lord has mysteriously disappeared, they came back to their homeland, only to find that their shop had been taken over by Hepidias Borgin, co-owner of Borgin and Burkes.

His father tried to fight it over but since they fled from the war, no one wanted to help them. Finally, his father made a deal with Hepidias. They would sell thirty of the fifty percent of Burke's family share in Borgin and Burkes and in exchange, a job will always be open for one family member of Burke's family and for good or worse, Jonathan has been apprenticed to Hepidias Borgin.

His master is currently in the backyard doing god knows what and said that they will be visited by a customer and he is to take that customer to him. He is so deep in his musings that he did not observe someone entering their shop.

A clocked figure entered the most infamous antique shop in Knockturn alley. The shop is rather large, dusty and dimly lit with a fire place at one of the shop which is often frequented by some of the shady and dodgy characters of the Wizarding world in Britain.

He saw a man at the counter who looked to be around in his early twenties, who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts and strode straight to the counter and banged on the desk to alert him of his presence.

Jonathan jumped out of his chair from the sudden bang and shakily pointed his wand at the sudden intruder.

The cloaked figure barked out "You master is expecting me boy. Take me to him"

Jonathan flinched back at the man voice and nodded hastily before taking him to the back yard to his master.

"Master, the customer you are expecting has arrived" said Jonathan, putting out as much respect as he can for the cunning man in front of him.

A stooping man rose out from an iron trunk on hearing Jonathan's voice and snarled out "Get out of here, boy. Close the shop and have the rest of the day off"

Jonathan nodded his head hastily and scurried off to the front of the shop. A greasy haired man stepped out the iron trunk completely and stooped a little with both his hands in front of him and said in a voice dripping full of false "Good day, Sir. Do you want any refre…"

"Cut the chase Borgin. Did you or did you not get what I wanted?" snarled the cloaked man.

The man stopped once again and said "Straight to the business I see. Of course, of course. This way please". He led them to a room full of boxes and several items ranging from some iron jewellery to skeletal hands.

"Have a seat, Sir. I will bring the items you requested and then we will conclude our business" said Borgin gesturing to the chair in the middle of the room, in the same silky voice. The cloaked figure sat on the chair only to find himself bound by iron chains. The bound man struggled against the chains and snarled out "What is the meaning of this, Borgin? I will kill you when I get out of these chains"

The said man bowed his head low and strutted out "I'm terribly sorry for doing this to you, Sir. They threatened to lock me up in Azkaban if I didn't sell you out"

The cloaked man struggled even harder against the chains and bellowed out "When I get out of this, I will make you curse the day you were even born, Borgin"

Hepidias opened his mouth to say something but was cut-off by a red stunner to his back and collapsed on the floor in a heap. Two men wearing brown cloaks entered the room and dragged the unconscious Borgin out of the room and another man wearing a black hood came into the room and gently closed the door.

He strode toward the chained man and sat on a conjured a chair. "An obscurer cloak eh? A precaution most likely, so that no one can see your face or recognise your voice"

The chained man said nothing and so the other one continued "My men tried to locate your real identity but to no avail. We are the best in what we do in the realm and you managed to elope from us. That is saying something. So, let us see who you really are"

The cloak opened to reveal a black haired man with brown eyes, who looked to be in his mid-thirties. The black cloaked man barked out a laugh and said "Look who it is! Mr Raja Choudary, one of the emissaries to our realm. What a pleasant surprise"

Raj knew that the moment he saw the black cloaked figure taking a seat in front of him that he is busted. So he tried to buy some time and look for any window of opportunity. So he said "You do know that it is rude not to introduce yourself before getting into a conversation, don't you?"

"Don't flatter yourself Mr Choudary. It will only get you so far. But since we are going to be here for quite some time, I might as well introduce myself. My name is Crocker. But I bet you already know that, didn't you"

"Well, I can't say I know about you. Just a few bits and pieces about the infamous Director Crocker of the Department of Mysteries. So, Director, may I know why you have chained an emissary of the kingdom of Magical India without any reason?"

Crocker let out a soft chuckle and suddenly leaned forward and said in a hard voice "Cut the chase Mr Choudary. Did you really think that placing an order for the blue-prints of Azkaban in the underground black market will go un-noticed by us?"

A/U: There it is. I know this chapter is a bit shorter than my other chapters and I promise to lengthen my next chapters. As usual, please read and review.

Also, please read my new story 'The King who Conquered' and give me your opinions on that story. Thank you all.