HPGoA

-Seventh Dream-
Warpath

Harry frowned in concentration as he slowly chipped away at the stone, carefully etching a second line into it. Every now and then, he would glance at the book that lay open next to him, confirming his work before returning his attention to his carving. Once he finally finished, he let out a soft sigh and lifted a hand to wipe the sweat from his brow, despite the chill autumn air.

A throat cleared impatiently from the book beside Harry, where Emrys' card sat, tucked between the pages. "Well? Let me see how you did."

Harry smiled ruefully before picking up the stone and flipping it to silently show Emrys' the Laguz rune he had engraved on it. The pair sat alone beneath a tree next to the Black Lake. It was technically a free period, and still warm enough that some students ventured outside, but they were two weeks into October now and the cold of the Scottish Highlands was quickly making itself known.

Emrys simply studied it critically for a moment before stating, "You've got the line lengths and strokes right now, but your angle is still off."

Harry groaned and tossed the stone into the lake. "Couldn't we at least practice on parchment or something? It takes ages to carve a single rune just for practice."

"Carving something and drawing it are two very different skill sets, and you'll have to be capable of carving it when you do the real thing, Harry. So no, keep practicing on stones."

Harry grumbled under his breath, but smiled all the same. His etchings were getting better, so it was only a matter of time before Emrys let him move on to making an actual attempt at enchanting something. He stood and stretched out, glancing over the Lake, before casting a quick Tempus. "Dragon dung! Lunch is in less than five minutes, I'll have to run to get there on time."

"Well, don't let me hold you up," Emrys grinned and continued in a teasing tone, "We all know how much Professor Snape loathes to see his Slytherins running in the corridors."

"Yeah, don't remind me. I don't need a week cleaning cauldrons like Blaise got when he was late for Potions." Professor Snape had, of course, waited until Blaise was safely back in the Slytherin common room, away from prying Gryffindor eyes, before handing out the punishment. Most of the other Houses believed that Professor Snape favored the Slytherins, and while it was true to an extent - he often went out of his way to antagonize and take points off of Gryffindors while completely ignoring minor infractions from Slytherins unless they personally annoyed him or reflected poorly on the House - when he did decide to punish his wards, he tended to come down far more harshly than on the other Houses.

Harry hurriedly stuffed the book, Famous Wizard card and all, into his pack along with the etching tools he'd been using before rushing off for the Great Hall. Even with running it proved to be a close thing however, and he slipped into an open seat next to Daphne just before food began appearing on the table.

Daphne simply raised her eyebrow at his sudden appearance and said, "I was starting to wonder if you would make an appearance today."

"Well, I could hardly miss your smile, now could I?" Harry put on Emrys' seventh smile, supposedly capable of dazzling a girl to distract her from paying attention to details that were better left unknown (though he'd yet to see it work on Daphne), before swiping a bit of the steak and kidney pie for himself. "Have they gotten Draco yet today?"

"You don't seem to mind missing it too much with how scarce you've been lately," Daphne replied, a faint thread of irritation in her voice. "As for Draco, no, nothing yet. Blaise and Tracey are betting on it happening during Dinner."

"And what do you think?"

Before she could reply, Draco took a bite out of his meal, only for his hair to suddenly change into a great plume of feathers. The boy shouted in outrage, though it sounded more like a squawk. Daphne smiled and glanced back towards Harry. "Lunch, I should think."

Over the last month, Draco and Ron Weasley's back and forth insults had become a popular pastime to watch for most of Slytherin, even if Ron had made most of the students in the House lose a great deal of money on betting pools by not lashing out and punching Draco again. This didn't mean that the Weasley had not retaliated however. It seemed that Ron had taken advantage of those few weeks to learn from his older brothers, and now watching Draco run afoul of some new prank every day had become the new source of amusement for the student body. As for Draco, he had looked increasingly skittish, often checking over his shoulder just walking down the corridor - not that it served to actually shut him up whenever he ran into the Weasleys. However, with the great variety of pranks employed on the pale boy, everyone had a great deal of fun trying to guess what next trick would be employed.

"I do have to wonder how they keep managing to slip him things. I know for a fact that Draco's started checking his food."

"Well, it could be that whatever they're using simply slips past basic diagnostic spells. My bet is that the twin Weasleys are using Switching Charms, however."

"Sneaking it into his food after he checks it, huh?" Harry tapped a finger against his jaw. "Clever, though it wouldn't work once someone became sensitive enough to their surroundings. A spell that close to you has to be hard to miss."

Daphne furrowed her brow at Harry's analysis. "If you say so, Harry. You're almost certainly the top of our year, so maybe you've felt something the rest of haven't. I certainly don't feel when someone else casts a spell near me however."

"What?" Harry stared at Daphne. "But sensing your magic and the magic of your surroundings is the basics of the basics, isn't it?"

Daphne's lips thinned, a flash of anger and hurt pride in her eyes, though Harry couldn't imagine why that would be the case. "I'm sorry that we can't all be prodigies like you, Harry," she snapped before standing up. "I think I'll go to the library to study, I'm suddenly not very hungry."

"Daphne, what-?"

Harry made to get up to follow the blonde girl, only to suddenly be grabbed and jerked back by a feathered hand. An enraged Draco, who looked to have now grown feathers overs his entire body and looked a strange cross between bird and man, glared at Harry. "Wyllt! You were bragging about how your connections with other Houses would be useful, well now's the time! I want vengeance! I want to stomp Weasley into the dirt!"

Harry closed his eyes for a moment, adjusting his mask to better fit for a conversation with Draco. When he opened his eyes once again, it was with an easy smile. "Come on, Draco, he's a Weasley, he's practically already in the dirt, right? What exactly do you need me to do anyways?"

"Not. Now. I don't need to hear jokes about those pathetic Blood Traitors, I just need something to use against them. I've tried threatening them with my father's influence, with having Crabbe and Goyle corner them in a corridor, even with reporting them to Snape and they just laugh me off every time! Use Longbottom to get blackmail on them or lure them into a trap or something!"

Harry winced and put a hand on Draco's shoulder, gently urging the boy to sit down. "Alright, let's go over this. It sounds like you've been thinking about this the wrong way. You've just been trying to make them stop, when you should be trying to prove your superiority to them, right?"

Draco took several deep, shuddering breaths before answering, "Yes, I suppose. Yes, that does sound like something Father would say, I need to show I'm above them."

"Right, so let's think like a Gryffindor for a moment. To them, none of the methods you tried makes you superior to them - it makes them think you're weak, Draco, that you're incapable of standing up to them yourself. Every attempt you made to threaten them relied on someone else's authority. To a Lion, seeing that sort of weakness is the same as seeing prey."

"I'm not - I'm not weak! I am a Malfoy! Malfoy's bow to no one!"

"Of course you're not, Draco. You've just allowed the Lions to catch you off-guard. So it's time to show them that they picked the wrong fight. If you want to show them that you're superior to them, then you have to engage them on their terms. Creative, unconventional attacks coming at the least expected and most opportune moments should belong to the House of the Cunning, not the Bold, Draco. They wanted to fight using pranks so bad; show them that it's not just Lions who have fangs."

Draco slowly nodded, a smile spreading across his lips. "I'll need to talk to Uncle Severus, get some ideas. You're right, of course, if it's to be war then we should obviously be ready to strike back. You'll stand with me when the time comes, Harry?"

"Of course, Draco. Of course."

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

Two days later, the hair of Fred, George, and Ron Weasley all turned an emerald green with silver stripes in it during Dinner. The twins apparently took it in stride, laughing about how a new challenger had appeared, but Ron glared over at the Slytherin table, where Draco raised a goblet in acknowledgement. The battle had begun.

Fortunately for Harry, Draco had essentially painted a target on his back, so while he often roped Harry in for helping plan his pranks, Harry generally avoided any of the Weasleys' wrath. It was eating into more of Harry's time than he felt comfortable with though, particularly with his enchanting project on the side, so after awhile he decided to make a game of it for the Slytherin Common Room. Most of the first years, and even some of the upper years, joined in, taking turns coming up with new schemes for Draco to enact upon their rival House. Draco, of course, thrived on the attention, preening over his new status as the leader of this small war against Gryffindor.

As for Harry, once he'd freed himself from the planning process, he returned to secluding himself on the Grounds for the most part, working on his rune etchings. If there was one thing that was bothering him, it was that Daphne had apparently decided to stop talking to him altogether. He'd tried to talk to her a few times in the common room or at mealtimes, but she'd acted as if he hadn't said anything at all, and when they were supposed to pair up in class she consistently sought out either Tracey or Lily to partner with.

Harry wasn't so stupid that he couldn't realize that Daphne was mad at him for some reason, the only thing was that he couldn't fathom what that reason might be. He had tried asking her, only to be brushed off. He'd even tried writing Astoria about it after a week of this treatment, only for the girl to write back that both he and Daphne were stupid and that he had best fix things before Christmas or she would beat him up in Daphne's stead.

Sometimes he wasn't sure which sister was scarier.

Astoria's unhelpfulness aside, there wasn't much he could do if Daphne wouldn't even speak to him. So, he decided to simply set the issue aside for the time being. When Daphne was ready to talk, then he would ask her what was wrong.

It was with this on his mind that Harry settled down by the lake to work once again, shivering lightly even with having set bluebell flames into a jar to warm himself. "It's going to be hard to keep doing this soon. We might have to find an empty classroom to work indoors, Emrys." He bit down on his lip, focusing on getting the angle of the line right this time, but glanced at Emrys' card when no response came - only to find it empty. He scowled for a moment. The man had probably ducked out to grab snacks again, leaving Harry alone out in the cold.

Well, there was no helping it. He closed the book he'd been working from with a sigh and began putting away his tools. Honestly, he wasn't sure how Quidditch players stood it, with two matches played in November and a third in February. To be fair, he supposed that the cold had come rather early this year.

"You know, I've heard that a bit of happiness escapes a person when they sigh."

Harry jumped at the sudden voice and looked over his shoulder at the redheaded girl who had approached. "Hey there, Susan. What brings you out here?"

"Oh, just taking a walk." The girl sat down next to him and peered curiously at the chisel at Harry's side. "Is this where you've been disappearing to lately? No one seems to know what you've been up to, even in your own House."

Harry scratched at the back of his neck and gave a rueful smile. "It's nothing that mysterious. I've just been interested in Ancient Runes a bit, so I've been studying ahead on the subject."

"Don't we start that in third year? That's quite a bit ahead. Though, with how you perform in Transfiguration, perhaps I shouldn't be too surprised."

"I suppose, but…" Harry paused, searching for an excuse. "Well, it's not like the actual basics of the material are that much more difficult than what we're learning now. It's essentially just learning the alphabet for another language. The school probably just delays electives until third year because they think it's more important to focus on building the fundamentals early on."

"Oh," Susan smiled and leaned forward slightly. "Maybe you can teach me sometime, then."

"Mm…" Harry hemmed. If he was being honest, he didn't really want to teach Susan. She was nice enough, but he already felt like he was wasting a lot of his time helping tutor students from his House in the core classes, and he wouldn't be able to talk with Emrys if Susan was there as well. For whatever reason, the man didn't want anyone to know they had the card to communicate with, and Harry kind of liked having that shared secret with Emrys. "Maybe later, Susan. I'm still learning the basics myself, after all, I don't think I could teach it to anyone just yet."

"Later then. It's a promise, Harry," Susan beamed and Harry could only smile weakly in return. It seemed like he would be unable to avoid it, at least not without hurting Susan's feelings.

The two lingered there by the lakeside for awhile longer, quiet for the most part, before the cold finally drove them back to the castle. Feeling a bit awkward, Harry ventured, "So how have things been over in Hufflepuff? We don't seem to see each other outside of classes and mealtimes very often."

"Yeah, the homework's not too bad, but it seems like everyone just goes to the library or back to their common rooms once classes are done. Everyone in Hufflepuff's been really welcoming though. The prefects always have time to help if you need it and our Quidditch players have been talking about letting us First Years practice with them so that we have a better shot of making the team next year."

"Oh, that's rather nice of them. I don't think there's going to be much room on the Slytherin team for the next couple of years. There's quite a few third years on it, and even the captain is only a fifth year."

"That's a shame. Blaise seems to think that you'd singlehandedly win the Cup for your House if you were on the team."

Harry raised an eyebrow and commented, "I didn't know you were friends with Blaise. Regardless, I don't think it'd be anything that dramatic, no matter how good I was. It is a team game, after all."

"I wouldn't say friends, exactly… We get along well enough when we have occasion to talk, but I can't say that we go out of our way to spend time together."

"How come? He's generally a pretty good guy all around."

Susan let out a small snort. "He is when he wants to be. Catch him when he's in a bad mood and he can be downright spiteful. He's usually pretty good about not acting that way in public, but some impressions don't go away."

Harry hummed lightly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. He had yet to see that side of Blaise himself, and he lived in the same dorm as the boy, but he didn't think Susan was the sort to lie either. A pause grew between the two of them before Susan asked, "So what's been going on with you and Daphne, Harry?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," Harry replied warily, leaving Susan to roll her eyes in response.

"Come off it, Harry. A blind person could see that you two had some sort of fight. So what happened?"

Harry let out a frustrated sigh and threw up his hands. "Bollocks if I know, Susan. One minute we're having a conversation about how the Weasleys were pranking Draco and the next she's storming off in a huff!"

"I doubt it was that simple, Harry. Why don't you tell me exactly what you said, and I'll see if I can help."

Harry ran a hand through his hair and played back the conversation with Daphne to the best of his ability. When he finished, he looked back at Susan who wore a rather exasperated expression on her face. "For someone so bright, Harry, you sure can be an idiot sometimes."

"What?" Harry blinked.

"Look, Daphne outright stated that she couldn't sense magic the way you were describing and then you said it was the 'basics of the basics,' right? In other words, you just said that she was so incompetent that she couldn't even manage the basics of magic, Harry."

"What? But Daphne isn't incompetent, she does great in class. That's why it's so weird that she doesn't know how to sense the magic around her, it was one of the first things that my guardian taught me."

"You're doing it again, Harry," Susan chided. "Most of our parents don't actually do much to teach us magic, they leave that up to Hogwarts. Yes, Flitwick's emphasized feeling your own magic flowing when casting Charms, but that's about all we've learned on the subject. Nothing about feeling your surroundings or other people casting yet. I get that you didn't mean anything bad by it, but for someone with as much pride as Daphne has, I'm sure like it felt like you were looking down at her."

"Ugh," Harry groaned. "That's bloody ridiculous. How am I supposed to apologize to her then? She won't even talk to me lately."

"It's not ridiculous, Harry, she just has a different perspective than you do. Anyways, if you want to apologize, then I'll try to see if I can help arrange something. For now though, it looks like Malfoy wants you." She nodded up towards doors to the Great Hall, where the pale-faced boy shuffled, occasionally glancing over his shoulder, while waiting for the two of them to come closer.

Harry frowned slightly, but gave Susan a small nod. "Alright, I suppose I had best see what he wants then. Thanks for the help, Susan."

"Anytime, Harry," she smiled and waved him off.

Harry watched Susan leave for a moment before shaking his head and heading up to deal with Draco. He raised his hand in greeting, but the boy didn't wait for him to speak before grabbing his arm and beginning to tug him down the hallway. "Finally. I didn't want to interrupt your conversation with Bones, but I swear the two of you couldn't walk any slower. Anyways, come on, we're planning Stage Two and we need you down in the common room."

"Stage Two of what, Draco? What's this about?"

"The War, what else, Harry? Come on, we don't want to get caught out in the halls by the Weasley's."

Harry blinked and let himself be dragged down to the dungeons. Since when had there been a Stage Two to this stupid prank war of Draco's? Either way, Draco seemed to practically fly along the corridors as he dragged Harry in his wake, until they came to the blank stretch of wall that hid the Slytherin dorms. He looked both ways before leaning in to mutter the password, Argent, and hurried them through the door that slid open.

Inside, Harry found that all of the first year boys had gathered (and some third years, he recognized Warrington and Pucey from the House Quidditch team) and had drawn up chairs around a table. Harry lowered himself into a sofa nearby, but Draco strode to the head of the table and announced, "Gentlemen, thank you for gathering. As you know, we've been engaged in combat with the lowly Gryffindors. Do not fear, however, for we will be victorious in the end."

Harry tilted his head, listening for a moment. It seemed like Draco had been practicing whatever speech he had cooked up. The boy delivered his words smoothly and the others gathered around the table nodded in time with what he said. After a moment's pause, Draco continued, "Thus far we've been reactionary. The Gryffindors began this war and we've responded in kind to their attacks. However, if we are to win this, then we cannot simply use the same tactics that they do. We must go above and beyond and do something that they have no hope of competing with."

"Alright, so what did you have in mind?" Blaise asked as he kicked his feet up onto the table and leaned back in his chair.

Draco eyed the Italian boy in distaste for a moment before answering, "Halloween. We need to plan a spectacle, make it known that we're planning a prank so big that it will blow the Gryffindor's out of the water and make it clear that even with advanced notice they won't be able to stop us."

"That is why I brought -" Draco was suddenly interrupted as a feminine scream came from the girls' washroom, and a moment later frogs began hopping their way down the hallway, in enough numbers that there soon was hardly anywhere left to stand. Draco stared, unable to say anything for a long while, before bursting out, "How the bloody hell did they get into the Slytherin dorms?! Who told them how to get in?!" Draco tugged at his hair and glared at everyone present before finally turning to look at Harry. "Wyllt, you're our chief strategist. It's up to you to make sure that the Weasleys do not get away with this!"

And there was the catch. Harry had a feeling that things were moving in that direction, but he had hoped that Draco might try to make things a group effort instead. Well, at least this way he could pawn the actual work of implementing things off to the others. He tapped idly on the arm of his chair, considering for a long moment, before finally nodding. "Alright, Draco. Give me some time to think things over and I'll make sure that this is a Halloween that everyone remembers."

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

Daphne tapped her foot irritably as she made another attempt at changing her quill into a candle only let out a vexed noise as she noted the candle had a sharp wick and plumage sticking out of the wax. She glanced across the room to where Harry was showing the same spell to Susan and watched as the quill turned seamlessly into a perfect candle. Susan even picked it up and sniffed at it, before cooing over the scent.

"You could just talk to him, you know."

Daphne pressed her lips together and turned to glare at Tracey. "I have nothing to talk with him about. If he wants to spend his time with Bones hanging off of him, that's fine by me. In the meantime, I'm going to get good enough to cast a spell before he can."

Tracey rolled her eyes. "You do know that this is the stupidest reason ever to get competitive over, right? Or that you can try to beat him while still talking to him?"

"Lucernifors." She attempted the spell once again, opting to ignore Tracey.

"Ignoring me won't make me go away," Tracey said teasingly as she drew a feather along the back of Daphne's neck. Daphne bit down to keep herself from squealing and shot a hand out to catch Tracey's wrist, scowling at the girl who simply smiled back without a hint of guilt. "But it might make Harry go away. You should at least give him the chance to apologize."

Daphne let out a slow breath before releasing Tracey's wrist. "He has nothing to apologize for, really," she said softly. "Anyone can tell at a glance that he's gifted in magic. Just - I refuse to be looked down on. So I have to be better, to keep up with him."

"Merlin, you're such a pain sometimes - He's not looking down at you, Daphne. He made one careless comment and you got your knickers in a twist. Just let it go."

Daphne nearly growled in response before suppressing the reaction. "I'll let it go when you start wearing your hat again, Tracey," she snapped.

Tracey flinched back, a hand rising to her bare hair before lowering again. "You know why I can't do that, Daphne. Pansy would just make a scene over my 'muggle nonsense' again."

"Then get good enough with your wand that you can hex her if she tries, Tracey. Weakness is not a virtue - you shouldn't let Pansy push you around."

"Yes and if it were just Pansy, I would push right back," Tracey scoffed. "But when it's Pansy and Millicent and the Carrow twins and Elnora Rubis, what exactly do you expect me to do? Unless you plan to stand next to me and help hex them, you can shove that 'weakness is not a virtue' bunk up your arse, Daphne."

"I thought… Wait, wasn't Elnora a half-blood as well?"

"Yes, which just makes her all the worse. Like she has to prove that she's just as worthy of being in Slytherin as the purebloods by putting down anything Muggle," Tracey spat out.

"Why didn't you tell me before that Pansy was getting second and third years to help her?"

"What would you have even done? No, for now I'm keeping my head low until I can get back at Pansy quietly. That's what it means to be Slytherin, Daphne - Pansy might have me outnumbered in a direct confrontation, but that doesn't mean I can't find other ways to get to her - and the same goes for you. So what if Harry has you beat in learning spells at the moment? Find other ways to beat him if you need to satisfy your competitive streak so badly."

Daphne gave Tracey a small frown before sighing and giving a small nod. "Fine. You win, Tracey. So how do I go about beating him without competing directly with him?"

Tracey's lips quirked up into a little smirk that Daphne recognized from all the other times Tracey had suggested something to shock her. "Well, you know he doesn't have a girlfriend yet-"

"No."

"You'll want to be quick though, or Bones might beat you to it."

"I said no, Tracey. Do you have any useful advice to give?"

Tracey let out a loud laugh only to slap a hand over her mouth when Professor McGonagall glared at her. Once McGonagall turned her attention back away Tracey whispered, "Unfortunately, that was my only suggestion. If you don't want to follow my idea, then you'll have to find one of your own. Besides, you would just get frustrated if I gave you all the answers."

Daphne grimaced, but acknowledged that Tracey was right. She would never have been completely satisfied with a solution that she hadn't come up with herself. She sighed and gave another half-hearted attempt at changing a quill. She doubted she could set her desire to better herself aside completely, nor should she, but perhaps Tracey was right that it didn't require her to isolate herself from Harry.

When the bell rang and signaled the end of class, Daphne murmured, "Thank you, Tracey. Let me know if you need any help dealing with Pansy."

"Anytime, Daph." Tracey winked and Daphne glowered back at her. Tracey knew full well that Daphne hated to have her name shortened and she was abusing the good-will she had just earned.

"Watch it, Tracey, you might not be on thin ice, but that doesn't mean it won't break if you start jumping."

"Yeah, yeah." Tracey waved her hand and headed for the exit, Daphne following in her wake, only to stop as they noticed Susan waiting there for the two of them. Tracey spoke up first. "Susan? What's up?"

"Hey Tracey, mind if I borrow Daphne here for a bit?"

Tracey tapped her jaw in mock contemplation. "Hmm… Only if you promise to return her in as good a condition as she is now. No joy rides, you hear?"

Daphne cleared her throat. "I'm right here, you know, and I'm not some broom to be lent out," she chided. "I would be happy to accompany you, Susan. What is it that you needed?"

"You'll see when we get there," Susan said enigmatically before leading Daphne out of the classroom.

The two walked down a maze of twisting paths and corridors, which was admittedly, fairly typical for trying to get anywhere in Hogwarts, no matter how mundane, and eventually came to a stop in front of one of the abandoned classrooms one floor up. Daphne looked back at Susan and raised her eyebrows, but the Hufflepuff simply motioned her to go inside. She hesitated a moment before opening the door with no small amount of trepidation. She didn't think Susan was the type to pull pranks or do anything nefarious, but this whole situation was just odd.

Inside the room stood Hadrian Wyllt.

He looked up with a hesitant smile. "Daphne, you came - When Susan said she'd get you to hear me out, I wasn't sure you would. Um, thanks for giving me this chance."

Daphne glanced back at the door that Susan had shut behind her. She had a feeling that the redhead had likely locked her in as well. All in all, the whole thing was much more devious than she'd given Susan credit for. She turned to face Harry once again and dryly responded, "I wasn't informed that you would be here."

Harry's smile faltered and his face fell for a brief second before he schooled it once more, an easy, confident smile crossing his lips. It was one that Daphne had begun to recognize as being the expression Harry put on whenever he thought he was in trouble. It annoyed her to no end that it still worked on her, even despite being aware of it.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, Daphne. Susan explained to me how some of the things I said could have come off, but - You're a brilliant witch, Daphne. I would never think otherwise. I'm really truly sorry if I ever made you think that I thought less of you."

What a strange coincidence that this should come so soon after her conversation with Tracey. Daphne shook her head and said, "No, it's not your fault, Harry. Well, it is, but I overreacted."

"No, I mean, what I said was really stupid. I would have apologized sooner if you had let me."

She sighed softly and stepped in close, pulling the boy into a hug. He stiffened in her arms, as though unsure what to do and Daphne frowned slightly at the reaction before continuing, "I'll forgive you your words, if you'll forgive me for acting distant?"

Harry let out a small laugh. "Sure. So - friends again?"

"Friends again, you berk."

She released him and stepped back away and Harry ran a hand through his messy hair, a grin plastered on his face. He hesitated and then said, "So, I was thinking - I mean, if you're interested - Susan pointed out that Emrys might have taught me a few things that haven't been taught here at Hogwarts yet, and we have a lot of friends in other Houses that we hardly ever see. So I was thinking we could start a study group of sorts. A way for everyone to meet up and spend time together after classes."

Daphne raised her eyebrows. "I didn't realize you enjoyed tutoring Vincent and Gregory so much that you wished to do so for the rest of us."

"Ha ha. Very funny. Seriously though, Daphne, is it something you'd be interested in?"

"It sounds like a great idea, Harry. We'll need to find a place to meet though."

"Oh, don't worry, I have an idea for that. It might take some cleaning though."

"Did you find another old abandoned classroom or something?" Daphne asked.

"Or something." Harry grinned and added, "I'm sure you'll love it."

Author's Note

Hello everyone and welcome once again to this strange hint corner.

Pre-teens are never known to be the most level headed of people when it comes to arguments, though, in my experience at that age, a lot of the anger centered around those arguments seems to blow over as quickly as they come and is oft forgotten by the next day. It's still easy to get stuck in one's head however. Fortunately, Susan makes a good Hufflepuff.

There's not much else to say, other than next chapter is Halloween, and we all know Harry's track record with that particular holiday.

Until next time.