The Power He Knows Not Is…

By: Tezza1502

Disclaimer: Ah, no, the Harry Potter Universe is not mine. I don't make any money off it, either. J.K. Rowling, and the corporations she is in partnership with, do. I just write Fanfiction on the subject in my spare time.

Notes: Finally, Harry and Co. are on that bloody train!

CHAPTER NINTEEN: Ticket to ride.

"Well that was a damn sight easier than arriving ten minutes before the departure time in a mad rush." Harry Potter muttered to himself as he apparated to the appropriate area on Platform 9¾, at King's Cross station, a good hour or so early.

"Quit mumbling like a deranged fool, Potter!" Draco scolded him as he steadied himself after his side-along apparition with Harry. "People will stare."

Harry rolled his eyes. "People will stare anyway, Draco. The-Boy-Who-Lived just appeared side by side with someone who has spent most of their Hogwarts career trying to one-up him. Unsuccessfully, too." He added, just to wind Draco up.

It worked. "Yeah, right. Like you ever got one over me, Scarhead!" Draco retorted hotly.

"It wasn't just one, Drakey-wakey. It was several. And any time you did manage to pull one over me, it was because you had either your father, dear professor Snivellus, or that bitch Umbridge holding your hand." Harry lobbed back.

"You…don't …when I…how dare you…"

Harry chuckled. "Very coherent there, Draco. Nice to see that all that pureblood training really stayed with you."

Draco huffed and crossed his arms, pointedly looking away from Harry. "I still don't see why my mother couldn't be here to see me off today."

Harry rolled his eyes. "It was an unacceptable risk on her part. We are both Lords of Ancient and Noble Houses. That'll keep most of the jackals at bay. It also gives us an incredible amount of leeway in defending ourselves in the event of an attack upon our persons. Furthermore, Death Eaters are supposed to be the champions of the wizarding class system. It wouldn't do to publicly try to kill the two heads of their respective Noble and Most Ancient Houses. Your mother, unfortunately, is merely the disgraced wife of an imprisoned Death Eater. If she showed her face, she would almost certainly be 'invited' in to the hands of your fathers fellow blood-heads. Or the Aurors."

Harry, surprisingly, was beginning to value Narcissa as something of an ally, and as a valuable source of information on how the wizarding government actually works. Between her and Augusta, he was starting to feel more confident about handling his responsibilities as a Head of House. He could honestly say, within himself, that he did not want her to suffer any further for her husband's mistakes.

"And there would be very little either of us could do about it, at least on the Auror side of things. Despite our status, neither of us have any real influence to barter within the Wizengamot, at least for the near future. And I am certainly not willing to put myself back under anyone's control, just to get her out of Azkaban."

"Stupid Auror's." Draco grumbled to himself. "Its not fair."

"Although, if you like, I could try to recreate that 'leaving for Hogwarts' experience your craving."

"What?" Draco looked up to see Harry licking the corner of a conjured white handkerchief before brandishing it at him. "Get away from me with that you nutter!"

"Oh, come on. You have a smudge on your cheek. Let me wipe it off for you!" Harry shouted gleefully as he moved in. "Come to papa Harry!"

"One more step and the hexes start flying, Potter!" Draco squealed.

"Oh fine ya big baby." The handkerchief vanished just as the first of the reporters approached the pair.

"Potter!"

"Miser Potter!"

"Why are you standing near a convicted Death Eater's son?"

"What's the real relationship between you and Draco Malfoy?"

"What was the relationship between you and the man who helped kill your parents, Sirius Black?"

"Are you going dark again?"

"Have you split from Dumbledore?"

"Three witches have publicly claimed that they are carrying your children. Is this true?"

"Is it true that you are now emancipated?"

"What can you tell us about the rumours that you are now a Lord?"

"There have been stories that you were involved with the attack on the Weasley home. Who's side were you on?"

Harry let the swarming reporters hurl their questions at him for a minute or so before raising his wand and shooting a loud cannon-blast out of it's tip. In the moment of silence that echoed through the station, he quickly conjured a box. Jumping on it, he was now a head higher that the adults crowding in on him and Draco.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press," He said loudly, with only the barest hint of sarcasm in his voice. "If you will all be quiet, I will make a statement. I will not be answering any questions, and I would ask that after I am done, if you could please leave the station. I am sure that the Aurors present here today would like it if you didn't disrupt today's very busy schedule any more than you have already." The press looked around to see the Aurors that had come over to see what the fuss was, were nodding in agreement while giving the fourth estate some hard glares.

Harry noticed that some of the students and their parents were either slowing down to gawk, or pushing past the gathering crowd to get deeper into the station. He also noted that while he had spotted the Longbottoms and the Lovegoods in the background, there were no Weasleys present yet. 'Good. The last thing I need right now, is mother Weasley trying to storm her way through this crowd and drag me away by my ear.'

"Now, first I must point out that the young man standing next to me is no longer Draco Malfoy, but Draco Black. The new Scion of the Ancient and Noble house of Black by right of inheritance."

A large ripple of curiosity swept through the assembled throng of people as they all looked at Draco, who was squirming slightly. Being gawked at by large groups of strangers was Potter's thing, not his.

"This happened during the reading of Sirius Black's will by the goblins. As you all well know," Harry raised his voice over the murmurings threatening to drown him out, "the head of an Ancient and Noble house can not allocate that house's contents, nor name an heir, if they are a convicted felon." Nods of agreement from all present greeted his statement. "As such, it came as a great surprise to pretty much everybody there when the goblins followed his will to the letter, and enforced it with both goblin and Wizarding magic behind them."

Now the murmurs swelled like an incoming tide. Sirius Black was a criminal and a Death Eater. The ministry has said so repeatedly, for over a decade.

However, the goblins were pretty much infallible in these matters. They had to be, otherwise wizarding kind wouldn't let them anywhere near their gold.

These two opposing facts were causing a great amount of confusion for those present. Who to believe? The Ministry of Magic, who spent most of their time running around acting like they couldn't find their buttocks with both hands and a locator spell? Or the goblins; non-human, shifty-looking, gold-clutching warriors who were oath bound by magical treaty to guard wizardingkind's galleons and other valuables?

Harry wasn't going to give them time to figure it out there and then. He had a statement to get through. "However, my godfather decided that he needed guidance until he is of age to take his place fully as Lord Black. So, he named myself as the Black Regent." Harry raised his left hand over his head to show off the Regency ring on his pinkie finger.

Gasps, and sounds of shock rolled through the assembled witches and wizards. Harry Potter, a Regent of an Ancient and Noble House? At his age? And one with such a dark reputation.

"As such, I was immediately emancipated under wizarding law. Which rather unexpectedly led to me gaining the Lordship of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Potter." Harry cancelled the disillusionment charm on his right hand, to reveal the lordship ring nestled there. This time, the exclamations of surprise sounded like a tribe of giants all taking a deep breath at the same time.

"Now, I would like to reassure everyone out there that I am not going to start rampaging through my family's holdings, selling it and spending it as quickly as possible in a fit of teenage exuberance." He wondered what colours Molly Weasley would turn when she finally heard that comment. "I realise that as the head of an Ancient and Noble House, I have responsibilities to those who are aligned with my family. I will not be making any changes without completely understanding those responsibilities first. In fact, I have already begun meeting with a few of those people and businesses." Some of the crowd nodded thoughtfully, reassessing their opinions slightly.

"I am still going through the family ledgers, sorting through everything and organising it into something manageable. I am being aided in this by several advisors, including Madam Augusta Longbottom. Someone who, I can assure you, knows how to run a household, as well as a House. And being the Longbottom Regent until her grandson, Neville, comes of age, she has also been invaluable to me with her advice about how to take care of the Black estate until Draco reaches his own majority."

Mentioning Augusta's name helped the crowd begin to relax. She possessed an incredibly formidable reputation with the magical public, both as the matriarch of House Longbottom, and as a member of the Wizengamot. She also did not suffer fools lightly. Which was why Harry had sought her permission to mention her in the first place. The wizarding world was going to have enough issues with him being the head of two Ancient and Noble Houses for most of the next decade. Naming her as one of his advisors would go a long way to combating the negative press he was sure to endure over this whole situation.

"For now, though, I am going to focus on getting through my sixth year at Hogwarts, while leaving the upkeep of my estates and responsibilities in the hands of adults who have my trust. They know how and where to find me if they need me." He grinned, drawing a ripple of laughter from the crowd. "However, I would ask that the members of the press respect the privacy of myself, my ward," He gestured to Draco, "and the rest of the school while I am in attendance there. Schoolwork is hard enough to wade through already, without any more distractions." More chuckles. "Thank you."

Harry turned to step down, before snapping his fingers, as if remembering something. "Oh yes. One more thing, if I may?" The reporters nodded eagerly. "While the Ministry of Magic has had it's issues with me this past year, we now have a new Minister for Magic: Madam Amelia Bones. We have met, and I know her niece, Susan, from Hogwarts, even though we are in different houses. It is my hope, that the unpleasantness I have had to endure, both from certain sections of the ministry, and certain sections of the press," Those reporters from the Daily Prophet squirmed uncomfortably, "will be tempered in the future by a stronger, more balanced leadership of our society. From what I have seen so far, Minister Bones will provide that leadership. It is my hope that our society will draw strength from her leadership. For all our sakes. There are still dark forces crawling about in the shadows of our world, and we will need that strength to stand against it. Good day." Harry finished, stepped down of his box and vanishing it. Then, ignoring the questions being thrown at him by the reporters that missed his subtle hints about not bothering him, dragged Draco over to where Madam Longbottom was standing.

One fierce glare from her sent even the most persistent member of the press scurrying away with haste.

"Well spoken, Lord Potter." Augusta stated in an approving manner as the two teens stopped before the group. "Clear. Concise. You kept control of the situation firmly, and didn't allow anyone to take that from you. A fine first public statement."

"Thank you, Madam Longbottom." Harry squirmed slightly. He wasn't used to being praised by an adult, especially one who meant it.

"You know that they'll report that statement however they want, don't you Potter." Draco said. "Other than Lovegood here, I doubt any of them will print it in its entirety."

"Why thank you, Draco. That may be the sweetest thing you've ever said about my family." Luna curtsied at him.

"Indeed!" Her father, Xenophilius Lovegood, agreed cheerfully. "You might have been right about him after all, poppet. Lucius is usually much more ill-mannered when we happen to run into each other in public."

Draco coloured slightly, trying to figure out whether he had just been insulted or complimented by the Lovegoods.

"Black has a point, though." Neville agreed. "Promoting the idea that Sirius Black was innocent? Taking a swipe at how you were treated by the press and the ministry last year? That last bit might never see the light of day either, even if it was a vote of confidence towards the current administration."

"True." Harry agreed, grinning.

"Oh Merlin, what have you done now, Potter?" Draco asked, actually feeling a bit relieved. Normally, when he sees that expression on Harry's face, he's about to do something painful. Usually to Draco.

"Oh, nothing." Harry continued grinning, trying to look innocent at the same time. "I just found something of interest during my explorations of the Potter holdings."

"You certainly did." Madam Longbottom allowed herself a small smile. He had come to her about his idea weeks earlier, and she agreed that it was both an interesting use for an existing magical artefact, and a quite overdue application of it.

"And?" Draco, Neville and Luna all said at the same time.

"And, I think that I will have no trouble with the press manipulating my statement to serve their own agendas. The amount of egg on their faces if they tried would be quite funny to see. Not to mention the lawsuits I could level at them for misrepresenting my words if they try."

"Your not going to tell us, are you." Neville grumbled.

"Not yet. Maybe when we get to Hogwarts, if no-one figures it out before then." Harry continued to grin at his fellow students smugly. 'No wonder Albus keeps everything to himself all the time. It's kinda fun knowing something ahead of others!'

Frowning at the sudden thought of having something like that in common with Dumbledore, Harry shook away the thought. "Come on, lets get on board and stake out a cabin for ourselves."

The Hogwarts Express had gotten underway on time. Draco and Neville disappeared for half an hour soon after, to attend the Prefect's meeting, and had returned unscathed. Though both were scowling, for some reason. Harry was surprised that Hermione hadn't followed them back, but didn't ask why.

They had been underway for about an hour when a loud, familiar voice invaded the quiet of the compartment.

"-where is he? Dean said he'd been seen getting on, but we haven't found hide nor hair of him anywhere! Are you sure Neville didn't say where he was after the Prefect's meeting?"

Harry looked up from the leather bound book he was writing in, and towards the doorway. 'Ah well. So much for peace and quiet.' He was actually surprised that it took them this long to find him. He'd lost track of time while he was working on one of his little side projects. He sighed as he glanced around the compartment.

Neville was browsing through the Prefect's handbook again, still familiarising himself with his new role for that year. He was also looking for some peace and quiet to settle his nerves, still feeling a bit overwhelmed by the meeting. Luna was sitting next to Neville, flipping through this year's text on Runes, while Draco had been doing the same with a potions text.

"Looks like the weasels are about to invade, Potter. I'm going to escape while I can." Draco said in an annoyed tone as he put his book back in his trunk.

Harry nodded. "Fair enough. Remember the warnings Narcissa gave you about the other Slytherins. If anything too bad starts to happen, feel free to panic enthusiastically. I'll pick it up through the ring." He wiggled the Regency Ring in question as Draco waved over his shoulder as he exited the compartment.

"What are you doing in this part of the train, Malfoy?" A familiar voice sneered from the hallway as he walked through the door. "Snakes belong down the other end."

"Nice to see that your brains have continued to shrivel up over the holidays, Weasley." Draco sneered back. "The name's Black now, remember? Lord Black, to a jumped up blood-traitor like-"

Harry cleared his throat loudly without looking up from his writing.

Draco swallowed the rest of his sentence. He had found out, through trial and error, that Harry was willing to let him get away with some retorts. However, there were certain insults he would not tolerate. "Whatever. Your not worth my valuable time." With one last sniff, he vanished to another part of the train.

"Arrogant berk!" Ron Weasley spat as he turned to see who was in the compartment who could control Draco like that. "Harry? Harry!" He blinked, before leaning back out of the doorway. "Hey Ginny! Hermione! I found him!"

"Yay. So much for the quiet life." Neville grumbled. Luna smiled at him over her book and patted him on the knee in sympathy.

"Hey mate, how've you been…ulf!" Ron grunted as he was shunted violently aside by Ginny, who was then pushed after him by Hermione. Ginny managed to keep on her feet, while Ron made it all the way to the floor.

"HARRY!" Both girls shouted gleefully as they tried to enter through the doorway at the same time, trying to be the first to pounce on him.

Harry manfully tried to keep a straight face as the two girls got wedged together within the too small opening. If either of them caught him laughing at their situation openly, well, the results wouldn't be pretty. At least for him.

Neville and Luna, however, had no such reservations, and started sniggering openly straight away at the sight.

"Not helping guys." Harry rolled his eyes at them as he rose to his feet. Grabbing a hand each, he pulled the two stuck girls in the door. As they popped free, he then pulled them into a loose hug to keep them from falling on their faces.

"Hello. Fancy meeting you two here like this." He whispered in their ears. Both girls flushed, mostly with embarrassment. "Where's your trunks?"

"In the hall." Came the muffled response from his left shoulder.

"Okay. Sit." He guided Hermione down on a seat first. "And sit." Ginny went next to her. Both girls kept their bright red faces hidden in their hair. Harry then poked his head out the door.

"Ron? Give us a hand with these trunks, will ya." He asked as he extended a hand to get the red-head up off the floor. "Oh, and good to see you." He clapped Ron on the shoulder, before turning to get the trunks.

"Ow. Yeah. Good to see you too, mate." Ron replied as he brushed himself off. In short order, they had the three trunks hoisted up above their seats, and everyone once again comfortable. Crookshanks was freed from her travel cage, and was busily sizing up the lap most likely to not move around too much for the duration of the trip. Enthusiastic and continuous scratching behind ears and under chin was also a priority. (Luna was eventually graced with his august presence.)

"And what the heck was that for, you two?" Ron frowned from where he was sitting, opposite his sister and Hermione and next to Luna.

"What?"

"Oh."

"Nothing."

"Yeah, nothing. Sorry."

"Sorry."

Ron looked from one to the other, then snorted. "Barmy, all of 'em." He declared. "What time did you get here, Harry? We almost didn't make it on to the train, we spent so much time looking for you on the station."

"Ron, the Longbottoms, the Lovegoods, Draco and I were here over an hour before the train left."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because I wanted to be here early, for once. No offence to your family, but getting here at the last minute gets old after a while." Harry shrugged. "I didn't want to rush."

"Oh."

"Plus, it allowed us to score a pretty good compartment without having to wander the length of the train for an hour first."

"Fair enough." Ron shrugged, letting it go.

"Harry, where's Hedwig?" Hermione asked after finally getting her emotions under control enough to hold an intelligent conversation.

"Oh, I let her loose before I left Grimmauld Place this morning." Harry replied. "It didn't seem fair to keep her cooped up in that cage for the whole trip. Heck, she'll probably beat us to Hogwarts by several hours. I had a letter I needed delivered today, anyway."

"Ah." Hermione fell silent for a minute, before remembering that two other teens were in the compartment with them. Neville and Luna were soon filling in the others on what they had been up to over the summer break. Both Neville and Harry were vague about what Madam Longbottom had been teaching them, not wanting to give Ron cause to start an argument about their eventual status in wizarding society.

Harry, when prompted by Ron and Ginny, explained why he had not stayed for dinner after the attack on the Burrow. He then had to fend off an irate Hermione for a few minutes while she berated him about looking for trouble, after the two Weasleys had gleefully reported on his actions during said attack.

Neville confirmed that he had accepted the sixth year's Prefect badge, along with Hermione, while Ginny showed off her own fifth year Prefect's badge.

Ron grumbled a bit, but was eventually forced to admit that he was slightly grateful that it wasn't him wearing it this year. Too much responsibility for him to deal with. Plus, it got in the way of more important things, like Quiddich, chess and meals.

Harry was internally surprised that Ron didn't make a comment about the quality of his new clothes yet. Usually the red-head can't help himself when he sees Harry 'getting' something he can't afford himself. 'Hermione or Ginny must have pinned his ears back on the subject.' He mused. He didn't consider that Ron might have actually matured somewhat over the summer, mostly because the other teen's nostrils had flared noticeably while the tips of his ears had turned bright pink as soon as he had gotten a good look at Harry's attire.

Before they knew, a couple of hours had passed. They were just getting around to discussing what the next year would bring, when Harry jumped slightly.

"Damnit." He grumbled to himself as he started to get up.

"Harry? What's up?" Ginny asked.

"Hm? Oh, nothing. Back in a minute."

"Where are you going?" Hermione piped up. "Do you need a hand?"

"mmmmno." Harry replied. "Just nipping out to the loo. But, if you really want to help…" He raised an eyebrow at her slightly.

"Prat." She scowled at him, fighting the urge to blush and grin. "Go! And don't get in to trouble."

"Yes ma'am." Harry saluted sloppily as he shut the door, just before a scrunched-up bit of parchment hit the glass. Pointing the Regency ring up and down the hallway, he sighed and started following the direction it was leading him in. "Damnit, Draco! You couldn't keep out of trouble for even a few hours, could you…"

Draco, right then, was wishing he had stayed in the compartment with Potter and company. Upon reflection, walking out in a huff, just to avoid the Weasleys and the know-it-all, was not the smartest idea he'd had.

At first, it had not been too bad. He just sneered at anyone from the other Hogwarts houses who dared to look at him twice as he wandered the train. While news of his father's incarceration had spread around fairly quickly at the end of the last school year, he still had a reputation for having powerful and dangerous allies behind him.

Then he had strolled in to the Slytherin-dominated carriages. He'd done it out of habit more than anything.

At first, no-one had really paid attention to him. The lower grades stayed clear of him, mostly because he had a habit of bullying those younger and smaller than himself. The neutrals in the years around his eyed him warily. He was a loud and proud proponent of the Death Eater philosophy. They all feared the day when his clique would begin to put more pressure on them or their families to join the hard core pure-blood movement.

Getting tired of all the cautious and fearful stares directed at him, Draco headed away from the more populated parts of the carriages, towards the back of the train.

There, he ran into the other children of Death Eaters. The ones he had been in charge of, up until recently.

The one's who had replied to his letters with booby traps and poison.

"Well well well. Look at this." Came a cruel, amused voice from behind him. "Are you lost, Malfoy?" Draco spun around to see Theodore Nott, with Pansy Parkinson next to him. "Oh wait, that's right. Your not a Malfoy any more, are you? You're a Black, now."

"And a poor one, at that." Blaize Zabini said from behind him, causing Draco to spin around again. Behind Blaize was Crabbe and Goyle. More Slytherins appeared on both sides. "At least, that's what my mother heard when you shrieked out loud at Gringotts."

"What's the matter? Living with mudbloods and blood traitors make you soft and dumb. Well, dumber." Theo Nott sniggered, watching Draco's eyes as the idiot realised that he was surrounded and trapped.

"What's going on? Why are you doing this?" Draco asked, starting to sweat now. He was in a narrow corridor, in a part of the train that was only really travelled by Slytherins, surrounded by at least ten Death Eaters in training, all alone. 'Crapcakes! I hope you were right about that ring, Potter.' He thought as he let the panic he was feeling inside him well up.

"Merlin, you really have gotten dumber, haven't you." Blaize commented. "Bet your glad now that the betrothal contract between you and him was dissolved the minute he gave up his daddy's name, Parkinson."

"Oh yeah. No more listening to him whining about Potter and that Mudblood cow, Granger, kicking his arse all the time. No putting up with his pathetic groping any more." Pansy agreed.

"What?!" Draco shrieked indignantly. "You said-"

"Exactly what it took to keep you from making my life a bigger hell than it was becoming already." She shot back. "And oh yeah, four inches isn't average, Drakey-poo!" She laughed as she wiggled her pinkie finger at him.

"You bitch!" Draco shouted as he tried to reach for her.

"Incarcerous!" Ropes coiled around Draco, binding him tight. He thumped onto the floor with a grunt.

"Now now, Draco. You're the Scion of an Ancient and Noble House. You should have better control of yourself than that." Adrian Pucey mocked as he lowered his wand. "How do you expect to get the Wizengamot to pay attention to you when you carry on like that? I mean, its not like you have mountains of gold to throw about to get people to listen to you anymore." The other Slytherins present laughed cruelly.

"What are you going to do with me?" Draco asked fearfully, getting to the heart of the matter.

"Well, that's the question, isn't it." Theo replied as he moved in closer. "The Dark Lord's inner circle was rather upset when you failed to gain complete control of the Black Estate. Our parents bore the brunt of that." Hatred and loathing burned in the eyes of almost every Slytherin present, all directed at Draco. "Your bitch of a mother raising the wards of Malfoy Manor, sealing it off and forcing them out, didn't help either."

"Don't you talk about my mother like that." Draco surged against his bonds.

"Shut it, ferret!" Someone slapped him in the back of the head, hard enough to make his eyes go out of focus.

"So, we are going to take out our annoyance over our parent's punishment on you for a little while." Cruel grins sprouted up and down the hall. "Then, once we've vented our anger enough, we are going to attach a Portkey to you, and send you into the loving arms of your aunt, Bellatrix." Theo moved in closer. "She so wants to talk with you, little Drakey-wakey."

"Sadly, while I'm all for families spending quality time together, as Draco's legal guardian I have some issues with that plan." A loud voice announced from the end of the carriage that led back to the Slytherin area of the train.

"Who-?" As everyone turned to see who was interrupting, several loud bangs, with accompanying painfully bright lights and lots of smoke, went off the entire length of the carriage.

When the spots had cleared from everyone's eyes, they saw Harry Potter standing next to an unbound Draco Black with his wand out, the tip of which was pressed deeply into Theodore Nott's neck. "Hello everyone." Harry said brightly. "I was kinda hoping that you would hold off on this type of stupidity until I'd had a chance to talk to all of Slytherin in your common room. But," He sighed, "I guess you lot are getting a special preview."

"Potter!" Came several shouts.

"Lord Potter, to you wannabe Death Eaters." Harry growled.

"What are you waiting for?" Pansy shouted to the others. "Get him!"

"The first person that draws their wand will cause me to get nervous." Harry shot back. "And if I get nervous, Theo here will lose his head. Literally." He dug his wand tip a bit deeper into Nott's neck.

Theo gulped. "You…you wouldn't dare?" He gasped.

"Really?" Harry retorted, sounding honestly curious. "Why not?"

The Slytherin's looked at each other uncomfortably. Potter was supposed to be Dumbledore's apprentice, according to rumour. A light wizard. They didn't do stuff like that, did they? It was the reason they kept losing.

"Because… you're the Boy-Who-Lived. Dumbledore's golden child. The Chosen One."

"So?"

"If…if you kill Nott, you'll go to Azkaban." Blaize stated more confidently than he felt.

Harry smirked. "Actually…I wouldn't."

"What?" Even Draco shouted at him in shock.

"Quick-quill notes version: I am the Regent of House Black. Draco is my ward. Most Regency contracts allow for a lot of laws to be bent in defence of their wards. It's a pure-blood thing." He shrugged. "The Black Regency contract however, having been created by an incredibly vicious and dark House, allows me with full Wizengamot approval to use anything short of the Unforgivables in defence of my Ward." Harry looked everyone there in the eye.

"Anything."

A heavy pause followed that statement.

"How do we know your telling the truth?" Someone dared.

"You don't." Harry thought about that for a moment. "Tell you what. Why don't we try an experiment? I'll hit Nott with a Reducto under the chin. Then, we'll see if I'm still out of prison by the end of the week. Okay?" Harry didn't wait for an answer, just started to allow the power of the curse to build and become visible at the tip of his wand.

"NO!" Several of the closest Slytherins all shouted at once, while the ones towards the back threw their arms over their faces to protect themselves from the gore they felt certain was about to coat the hallway.

"You sure? I don't mind." Harry smiled internally. He'd been using passive Legillimancy on everyone the whole time, and what he found backed up what he had seen inside Draco's mind on and off over the past couple of months;

They were all just childish bullies.

Despite how they like to strut around and harass people, despite how they parroted their parents warped views, none of them really had any idea what it meant to be a Death Eater. Both what they would have to do, and what would be done to them if they refused.

Harry was actually somewhat jealous of that 'innocence', for lack of a better word. Most of them had no idea of what monstrous things lurked in the darker parts of their world, whereas Harry had faced more than a few of them in his time, and managed to survive. And that was before the memory dump from Voldemort.

It gave him quite the upper hand in this situation. He knew that they were less than willing to push him, especially after he had incapacitated their new leader in a disgustingly easy manner. While he was willing and legally able to carry out his threat if he had to.

They were trainee Death Eaters, after all. Draco was enough of a handful on his own, he couldn't save everyone.

"Please, let him go." Harry refocused and saw Pansy Parkinson almost on the verge of tears. His eyes flicked between her and Theodore.

"My oh my, she didn't wait long to move on, did she?" Harry commented softly, before pushing Nott into Pansy and raising his wand above his head.

"Accio wands!" He called out as he extended his other hand. Ten wands landed in his left palm, resulting in much indignant shouting from the now-unarmed Slytherins. "Okay, Draco and I are going to walk out of here now. Anyone who tries to rush us will find that their wand, along with everyone else's, will become so much snapped kindling."

The trainee Death Eaters reluctantly cleared a path for them to leave.

"Good. Now remember, I will be dropping in on the Slytherin common room some time soon, after Snape gives his usual 'Everyone at Hogwarts will hate you for simply being in Slytherin, so make sure you hate them first' speech. So I'll see you then, kids. Toodles!" He waved as the two of them exited the carriage.

"Wait! When will you give us our wands back?" One of them shouted.

"Get them from the Head Boy later." Harry said over his shoulder.

Draco waited until they had walked through two carriages before letting out a long, shaky breath.

"Merlin, you can be scary when you want to be, Potter."

Harry ignored his comment, and looked him up and down. "I arrived just before they wrapped you up in ropes. Did I miss anything before that?"

"No. Not really. Just some posturing." Draco replied.

"Hm." Harry continued to stare at him, long enough for the other teen to start squirming. "Your mother's going to throw a fit when she hears about this. I think it might be better if you stayed in our compartment for the rest of the trip. No arguments."

"…fine." Draco answered, secretly relieved.

They walked in silence for a moment.

"Just out of curiosity; were you actually contractually betrothed to Pansy Parkinson. And if so, were there any penalty clauses attached to the betrothal contract between House Malfoy and the Noble and Ancient House of Parkinson? Specifically about the breaking of it for any reason."

Draco blinked, having never given it any thought. "Yes, we were betrothed. Just after we were born, in fact. More than a few of my father's associates created such contracts between their families, to keep things 'in-house', as it were." He'd been told by both his parents since he was old enough to understand the concept of marriage, that he and Pansy were going to be together. It was, to him, an accepted fact of life. Which was why he was feeling so numb at the moment. He and Pansy had been tied together by that betrothal their entire lives, and she had moven on without any obvious sign of hesitation, or regret. To Theo Nott, of all people! How could she do that? He hadn't treate her that badly.

Had he?

Dragging his mind away from those painful thoughts, he continued answering Potter's question. "As to penalty clauses…I don't actually know. I've never even seen the contract. Why?"

Harry stopped walking. "Well, I just had the thought, when I saw Pansy standing with Nott, and the comments she made." Draco paled. "And I am taking her comments towards you with a grain of salt, seeing as I now know her to be a woman scorned." Draco opened his mouth. "And I will not mention it again, to anyone. That's just too mean." Draco finally sighed with relief.

"Anyway, with you now a Black, that means the contract is either in abeyance until the next generation of Malfoy's and Parkinson's come along, or its broken. Ergo, what, if any, penalty clauses have been activated?"

Draco thought about that for a moment. "Bugger!"

"Indeed." Harry nodded. "However, I don't think that you will be penalised, or House Black. The Malfoy vaults might take a hit, though."

"What!" Draco blurted. "My mother-"

"Will be fine, I think." Harry stated firmly.

"How can you be sure?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Because she's a Black by birth. She would have been planning for the worst since day one, and making plans ever since. Odds are that she's been siphoning galleons and such away from your father's family since they got married." He smirked. "So while the Malfoy finances will probably be penalised over this, she will most likely have hidden enough savings somewhere to see out her days in comfort, with or without access to the Malfoy vaults. Don't worry about her."

Draco eyed Harry for a moment, before deciding that he was probably right. "I will ask her in my next letter."

"Give it to me when you write it, and I'll send it with Kreacher. Owls still aren't safe enough for contacting her, right now."

"Okay." The matter closed for the moment, they continued on in silence.

With one brief stop to hand over the wands he had confiscated to the Head Boy and a brief explanation as to how they came to be in his possession, Harry and Draco arrived back at the compartment his friends had commandeered for the trip. As they were about to open the compartment door, a call came from behind them.

"Hi Harry!" The boys turned to see where the dual greetings had come from.

"Susan. Hannah. How are you?"

The Hufflepuffs both shrugged. "Getting along. Yourself?"

"The usual, Hannah. Busy as a bee." Harry shrugged.

"You know these two, Potter?" Draco asked, annoyed at being ignored.

"They were both in the D.A. last year, Draco. And, we've run into each other once or twice over the break."

"When?" This was demanded by Ginny, who had spotted Harry through the glass of the compartment door, and had come out to greet him before the others.

"Oh, some time." Harry replied blithely.

Ginny growled at Harry's evasiveness. "That wasn't an answer, Potter."

"It's the best you'll get, Weasley." He retorted.

"Actually Harry, We were wondering if you could do us a small favour." Susan interjected. She wasn't sure why these two being short with each other, but she didn't want it escalating either.

Harry turned away from Ginny. "What's the problem?"

"Apparently, we have a new professor starting again this year, and he's on the train. Professor Slughorn."

Harry blinked. "I'm familiar with the name."

Ginny went a bit further. "Slughorn? As in Horace Slughorn?" Susan nodded. The red-head turned to Harry. "Isn't he the one-" She got no further before the Unbreakable Vow she had taken that day at Grimmauld Place kicked in, silencing her.

"Yes, he is." Harry said sharply. "Sorry Susan. You were saying?"

"Uhm, yeah. He's invited some students up to compartment C for a gathering of some sort. We were wondering…?"

"If I could come along and act as a decoy for the Minister of Magic's niece?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"…um, yeah." Susan blushed at being caught out so easily. "Auntie Am has told me a bit about this guy, and how he likes to 'collect' students."

"'Collect?'" Draco and Ginny said at the same time, then turned and frowned at each other.

"Slughorn likes to ingratiate himself with people he feels have the potential to be great in the future. Don't worry, there's nothing sinister about it." Harry reassured them. "He just likes being on the edge of greatness, introducing his former students to his newest ones, and being fondly remembered for doing so. Creating opportunities for others."

"Sounds too good to be true. What's he get out of it?" Draco asked.

"The occasional favour. Some help, here and there. The special treat every now and again." Harry shrugged. "Nothing illegal, or anything. Just enough to let him enjoy his life without too many hardships."

"How very Slytherin of him." Draco was somewhat impressed.

"Well, he was the Slytherin Head of House from the early nineteen-twenties through to the late nineteen-seventies, as well as being the Potions Master of Hogwarts."

Silence greeted that statement.

"Should we be worried?" Hannah asked.

"Nah. Slytherin didn't start to gain it's current reputation until after he'd retired, for the most part." Harry shrugged. "While they were snobs even back then, blood-purity and violence were looked down upon with the same amount of distain by them as by the other houses. Slughorn was all about ability and influence, not the supposed inherent 'superiority' of being a pure-blood."

"How… progressive." Draco said.

"Actually, it was more about Slughorn not wanting to confine his ability to ingratiate himself to within just Slytherin house." Susan replied. "According to auntie Am, four houses worth of potential favours were better than just one."

"An attitude that has, sadly, been lost and ignored by recent generations of Slytherins." Harry added.

"Good riddance to it! Why would we need to ingratiate ourselves with the lesser houses, anyway?" Draco sneered.

Harry held up a hand to quiet the others who had bristled at Draco's comments. "Draco? How much time does Slytherin House spend arguing, fighting, pranking, belittling, etcetera, with the other three houses?"

The Slytherin shrugged, not seeing any harm in answering honestly. "A lot."

"And how much time do you all spend, doing exactly the same things to each other, in the Slytherin dorms?"

Draco thought about that for a moment. "…a lot."

"So, the house of cunning and ambition spends pretty much all of its time fighting not only with itself, but with everyone else in the school. Would that be correct?"

Draco nodded reluctantly.

"And I'll bet you all wonder why none of you can get anything worthwhile done, both in Hogwarts, and out in the real world." Harry smirked. "All you've done, with all that fighting, is pretty much neutralised yourself. The other three houses cooperate, make alliances, intermarry, and whatnot, and get on with shaping our society. Your lot are so busy seeing enemies everywhere, and fighting everything, that all they can do is hide behind their wards and snarl at everyone else like angry hedgehogs."

The others looked at Harry in surprise at his theory, and found themselves nodding a little.

"Heck, the only reason the darker houses have gotten any power in recent years, is that they have a sociopath who has bound them together by enslaving them to himself."

"Huh?" Susan started.

"Think about it. From what I've learnt in my lessons with Madam Longbottom and Mrs. Malfoy about wizarding politics, the darker families are usually pretty fragmented because none of them trust each other to really do any coherent politicking against the agenda's of the neutral and light alliances in the Wizengamot. It took Voldemort," Harry paused and smirked at the shudders that ran through some of those present, "binding them to his will to get them working together."

Susan and Hannah, who were the only ones present who had enough experience with politics to really understand what Harry was getting at, nodded. "You may have a point there, Harry." Susan said slowly.

"Really?" Ginny exclaimed.

"Uh-huh." Hannah agreed. "My grandfather has told me about what it was like in the Wizengamot when he was younger. He's also said that the darker houses usually don't get along with each other that well, and that they only started becoming a proper voting block in the last thirty years or so."

"So? That's a good thing, as far as I'm concerned." Draco stated.

"Really?" Harry drawled. "And the fact that Voldemort has caused the complete extinction of more pure-blood families through his policies, than for any other reason in wizarding history doesn't bother you, a confirmed blood-purist?"

"So a few of the lesser families have been-"

"Draco, shut up before you get hexed." Harry sighed, hoping that he doesn't have to defend the idiot from his friends, all of whom have lost family to Voldemort. "I can name at least twenty ancient and noble houses that have been extinguished since Voldemort started his campaign. Light, neutral and dark. And triple that number that have been pushed to the brink of extinction, including the Potters, Blacks and Bones."

He paused and shook his head. "And now you've got me making speeches again." Taking a deep breath, Harry let it out slowly. "Okay, I'm going to hop off my soapbox now." Ignoring the giggles at his statement, he turned to Susan. "Miss Susan, I would be delighted to accompany you to our new professor's gathering." He extended an arm to her. "Lead on."

"Thank you, my lord." Looping her arm through his, they walked off.

Draco, deciding that ingratiating himself with the new professor would be time better spent than in a compartment filled with Weasley's, squibs, loony's and know-it-alls, extended his own arm to Hannah Abbott. "My lady." He offered in his least condescending tone.

Hannah looked at the arm for a long moment, before shrugging. "My lord." She accepted, following her best friend and Harry down the train.

Ginny looked stunned at the abrupt termination of the conversation, before growling and returning to their compartment.

-END OF CHAPTER-

More Notes: I'm reasonably sure Sluggy was head of Slytherin house back during Tom's time in canon. If he wasn't, he is here. So there!