Disclaimer: I do not own HP.

AN: I apologise for the very late update (Again) and hope to make it up to all of you.

AN2: You might notice a few changes in the changes in some characters and that is because there have been a few changes and in some aspects I want this to be a unique story and not merely another one of the cliched tropes.

EDITED.

Harry sat uncomfortably on his bed, trying not to remember the incident at the Hogwarts Express.

"Dementor, that's what that creature was. They are one of the foulest creatures on the planet , causing despair wherever they go" Harry remembered the new defense teacher Lupin say that after he drove it away.

Harry was shocked when he had seen the name R J Lupin on the suitcase. He had tried to convince himself that the person sitting across him wasn't one of his parents best friends, but knew he was only fooling himself. Not getting a chance to speak to him privately on the express or at the feast, Harry promised himself to meet him at the earliest.

Sighing, he took out his wand and began trying to concentrate on transfiguring the candles on the table to a glass of water.

Transfigurating an object becomes more difficult as you try to change the nature of the object. For instance, if you turn a cat, a living being, into a table, a non-living organic matter, it will be more difficult than turning it into a rat, a living being like the cat. However, if you try to convert it into an iron rod it will be even more difficult as it is a non-living inorganic substance. Thus it can be concluded that the similar the nature of the objects before and after the transfiguration, the easier it will be.

The transfiguration classes had covered the non-living aspect and he wondered if this year they would start on living beings. His musings were broken when he heard Ron head up the stairs along with Seamus and Dean. Not wanting to answer any more questions about the train incident, he quickly drew the curtains and pretended to sleep.

"I don't know what happened to Harry, one second we were just joking around and then that thing comes. The next thing we heard was Harry scream and then he collapsed" Ron said.

"Looks like he's asleep, can't get any answers from him now, I told you to get here earlier Weasley, but you just couldn't stop eating could you?" Seamus muttered darkly.

Harry listened to them speculate about the incident, all the while wondering about the scream he had heard.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Slytherin Common room seemed alive with students chatting excitedly over the start of the new year, the train incident not hampering the festive mood in the dungeons.

Draco Malfoy sat on the couch by the fireplace, across Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini and Richard Moon.

"Did you hear about Potter? Did he really faint?" Theodore Nott asked eagerly.

"Yes, I heard the weasel mention that after those dementors left the train" Malfoy replied, still a bit gloomy about the incident.

"Wasn't your father informed about this check?" Richard asked. "He is close with Fudge right? I am surprised he didn't inform your father about the check."

Malfoy cursed him silently as he gave a lame excuse of his father being busy and out of the country. Truth was, he was wondering the same thing. His father had played host to Fudge and his colleagues several times last year and Fudge not telling his father about this certainly made him question his fathers influence over the minister.

'Perhaps the way in which the previous term ended made him do this.'

It was true though, the Malfoy name had suffered some slander after it was revealed that his father had used some …. Questionable methods to oust Dumbledore from his office.

But couldn't they see that they were doing it for the better of the Wizarding World? The muggle-loving fool would only lead them to despair and ruin.

He snapped out of his thoughts when Blaise shook him by his shoulders.

"You alright there Draco? You spaced out there for a bit" Blaise said, a mild concern on his face.

"Yeah just tired. I think I'll go to bed, Goodnight guys."

Richard Moon sat by the fireplace long after the rest of his group had left for their dorms. His pale face illuminated by the now smouldering fire and the beginning of what was a long faint scar could be seen peeking out of the collar of his shirt.

After a long time, he sighed and finally removed a quill and some parchment from his bag and started writing a letter to his father.

He was still not convinced of his father's plan to return to England and knew that it would be a long time till before he would be a part of Malfoy's inner gang and learn anything of value.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Black Manor

Lord Arcturus Black was a proud man and always expected himself to be the best at whatever he did. So it was no surprise as he put his elves on many small but important tasks of gaining titbits of information of the families of the Wizarding World.

He was back and he would make everyone who had wronged his family pay for it.

Sending Sirius to France wasn't something he liked but knew it was necessary for him to get treatment before he could be revealed to the public.

A healthy Sirius would also be better for the blood-adoption he had been planning for the Potter Heir.

He had already started preparing for it and knew that the night of the Winter Solstice would be perfect for the ceremony.

'First, that boy needs to know more about the different fields of magic' he grumbled. He had been astounded with how little knowledge of magic the Harry had, and had already sent him a package of six books he expected Harry to finish before coming back for the winter holidays.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hogwarts

The next few days passed in a blur as everyone tried to familiarise themselves with their new schedule.

Harry continued his studies and practice rigorously and found many of his classes quite easy.

He had recently come across an empty classroom on the third floor which he used to practice what he had read from his family's book.

Last week's read had offered him some very useful insight into combat magic: Object manipulation.

"You will often find yourself in situations where you do not know what your opponent has cast and you will find yourself dodging more and more as your duel progresses. This puts you in the position of a disadvantage as you will find yourself unable to cast offensive spells. Hence the best way to deal with the opponent in such situations is to use object conjuration and manipulation.

Conjuration is the art of creating objects from nothing. The amount of skill and energy required is tremendous to use it on a daily basis or use it in a duel or a battle if you aren't trained to do so.

Focus on the intent to create the object, focus on the details.

Start with a simple object- a flower. Determine which flower you want to conjure, visualize its appearance, texture, colour and size. Imagine that there is already a flower placed in front of you, of the exact same description and try to replicate it, I always find this easier to do than to think of creating it from the void- the space."

It had been four days since Harry started trying to conjure a rose, and after a lot of gruelling work had finally managed to create one!

But it had taken him a total of five minutes to conjure it and it was obvious that it would be of no use if he wasn't able to conjure it instantly.

He opened the door and was surprised when a feminine voice greeted him, a familiar voice.

"Hey Harry, long time no see?" Daphne Greengrass said, twirling her wand as she sat on a chair with her legs crossed.

"Daphne! What the hell are you doing here?!"

"Tsk Tsk Potter; is this any way to treat a lady? Surely Lord Black must've taught you better?" Daphne said haughtily.

Harry was shocked beyond belief. He had told no one about his meeting with Lord Black and had no idea how she knew about it.

He stammered for a bit and finally managed to croak out "Are you spying on me, Greengrass?"

Daphne laughed, an amused expression on her face.

"No, I am not spying on you. It was Lord Black who contacted my father about a business deal which happens to involve you."

"Woah" Harry said. It was a lot of information to deal with, and he zoned out till he was brought back to reality by Daphne's chuckle.

"Come on Harry, you can't honestly believe that someone like Lord Black would actually keep you updated on everything or anything he does."

"Yeah, it's just that I didn't really think he would tell this to anybody else so soon."

A look of empathy crossed Daphne's face as she saw his crestfallen face.

She said softly "Its what he needs to do Harry, he is healthy now and he sees an opportunity to regain his lost glory.

If you think I know whatever happened between the two of you, you are wrong. My father is the owner of businesses which deal with many exotic and rare potion ingredients, and the potion which Lord Black requested for are so rare that even my Father has been hassled by the work. Even then he hasn't told me what ingredients he is looking for, he didn't even tell me it concerned you. He just asked me if I knew you and when I said yes, just told me to keep being in your good graces." She said with a shrug.

"Oh." He said still unsure about the whole incident. Soon a huge grin replaced the frown on his face as he added with a wink "So you are trying to be in my good graces?"

Daphne pointed her wand at him challengingly and said: "Don't get any funny ideas Potter, or you'll find your arse on the floor."

"Is that so?" Harry asked in a mischievous tone, clearly not buying into her threat.

The next thing he remembered was searching for his wand as he tried to lift himself up from the floor.

He heard another chuckle from Daphne, as she handed him his wand and helped him get up.

"How did you even manage to do that?" Harry asked bewildered. He had never seen anyone so fast with a wand.

"It's not just you who likes to train Harry, some of us like that just as much."

"So you were spying on me" Harry said with a tone of satisfaction. He chuckled as he saw Daphne squirm under his gaze.

Daphne sputtered for a second before saying hastily "I wasn't spying… I just wanted to speak to you and couldn't find you."

Harry dropped his grin as he said seriously "Is this about what you wanted to talk about in the letters?"

Daphne took a deep breath and composed herself before saying "I do not believe that Lord Black is the only client my father is selling rare and expensive potion ingredient to. My father often trains me about the duty I have as the heiress to the family name and business and tells me about finances and clients and such. This summer i often saw Lucius Malfoy's name across huge transactions of money. I looked up the ingredients and they are extremely rare… almost unheard of… and looks dangerous."

Harry motioned her to continue as Daphne stopped suddenly, unsure if Harry would mock her. Sure, they had communicated a lot through letters and had gradually become friends over the span of summers, but she had never communicated much in person.

Harry gave a genuine smile as he sensed Daphne's hesitation and motioned her to continue.

"It's just that ever since you told me that Lucius Malfoy was behind the whole incident with the Chamber of Secrets I have been a bit paranoid about him" She said biting her lip, still unsure if what she had done was right.

Harry scooted closer to her, took her hand in his and said softly "You did the correct thing, Daphne, one can never be too sure where Malfoy is concerned. We can't know for sure if Malfoy is up to something or not, but knowing that he is doing something suspicious doesn't leave us in the dark."

"Thanks Harry"

"Blimey its almost curfew already, we have to leave. I don't want Snape to catch me after hours with you" Harry said in a hurry, not believing it was already so late.

Daphne chuckled as she tried her best to imitate Snape and said "Potter! What do you think you are doing up so late! If I find that you've done anything to Miss. Greengrass, you'll wish you were never born."

They both laughed hard at that and then Harry said "That was so accurate! That's what he would've said if he had caught me"

Daphne chuckled lightly and then hugged Harry as she said "Goodnight Harry"

"Goodnight Daphne"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Somewhere in a dark, desolate mansion

A high pitched raspy voice came from a small bundle of clothes as the creature said "Is it done? Has he responded?"

A croaky voice replied "Yes my lord, he has responded well. I am holding the first of the many packages that he has agreed to send us."

"Very well then, our plan has been set in motion."

AN: That's it for this chapter, I know it is a relatively short chapter but know that I haven't abandoned this story and I've made some changes in the plot so that it'll be a bit more unique.

REVIEW and tell me your thoughts! Also, feel free to suggest some suggestions if there's something specific you want me to include!

Constructive Criticism is always appreciated!

SEE YOU SOON!

~purebloodpeverell.