Third Place - Action/Adventure

The Christmas holidays drew to a close and it was with anticipation and regret that Harry stood before his family once more at Kingscross station. He had enjoyed himself over the holidays, and it was only then that he realised just how much he had missed simply spending time with his two fathers. He embraced them warmly once again before he moved onto the train, his two guards following him along with Blaise and Terry.

The first carriage they came to found Hermione and Susan Bones together and Harry along with his two friends joined them as the guards stationed themselves outside. Like before, Harry walked straight up to the window and pressed his hand against the glass, smiling softly as his Da placed his over it too.

�I love you,� he mouthed slowly and Ivan�s smile widened as he returned the words with a simple look. Finally the train was moving and Harry sighed as he watched his family until they were out of sight before he turned and sat down in between Blaise and Terry.

"So, how was your Christmas then?" he asked Hermione and Susan, grinning as they both opened their mouths to reply at the same time. They all listened half-heartedly as Hermione rambled on about her trip to France and about how she would be returning their over the summer holidays. Of course, when she got to the part about how educational her trip was, they all tuned her out.

Harry turned his attention inward and concentrated on his thoughts instead. He wondered, as he did every day now, whether he should feel guilty about what he had done to that Corwin and Acheron but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn�t. The fact was, they deserved it and they should have known better than to attack a member of the Corvus family.

Matthew Janius couldn�t have known anything about the attack; otherwise he would have put a stop to it, knowing that the Corvus clan could crush him without much effort.

It didn�t really matter now anyway.

Janius himself had arrived at the Corvus manor the very same day the heads had been sent to him and he had had to apologise to the Ivan, Dante and Harry personally on bended knee before they believed that he hadn�t acted. They all knew what Matthew was like anyway, if he dared to do an attack, then he threw everything he had into said attack and therefore every member of the Janius clan would have been in that forest or at the game... but more importantly, Janius liked Harry even if he didn�t quite like Ivan and Dante, he wouldn�t attack for useless promises... that�s not to say that he wouldn�t attack if it wasn�t worth his while though. Vampires were like that.

"Harry? I asked how your holidays were." Hermione called sharply and Harry brought himself from his thoughts with a sheepish grin.

"Educational and enjoyable," he said simply and then smirked at the exasperated look Hermione sent his way. He shrugged and sat back in his seat, crossing his legs as he watched his four friends lazily. "Susan, you�re very quiet," he said gently after a minute when he noticed she kept looking at him before averting his eyes.

"I had a dream last night," she blurted suddenly and Harry quirked an eyebrow before he tilted his head to the side and waited for her to elaborate. "You were in a room with Quirrell. He was taunting you and you him and then he hurt you. I don�t really know what happened, but he was trying to get the stone and you were stopping him."

"Don�t worry hun; it�s probably just your subconscious or something. You know that we�ve been looking into this stone too much, and you know that I can�t stand Quirrell." He offered by way of reassurance and he noticed that she looked relieved a little. He sat back again and watched her as she got into an animated conversation with Hermione and he mulled over her words. His instincts told him that this was something to think over, and so he would do so.

The five friends settled back into life at Hogwarts quickly as the days went on and things became routine once more. Harry was actually invited to Quidditch practice, which he was positive Snape had something to do with, and so he went.

Nearly every night.

Flint was, surprisingly, a hard taskmaster. He worked them through the endless rain that appeared to have replaced the snow and through the almost gale force winds. Harry could understand his near-fanatic practices though, if they won this match against Hufflepuff, then the other three houses would be hard put to catch up with them in the Quidditch house cup and the Slytherins would win eight years in a row.

It wasn�t until a week after they had returned, and a day before the actual match, that Flint let them all know that Quirrell would be refereeing the game. Somehow Harry knew that he would make his next attempt during the actual game and so he would be prepared for it. Anticipation and irritation coursed through him as he walked through the halls, still dripping wet from the latest practice, and met his friends in the library.

"Quirrell�s refereeing the next match," he said as he sank back into a chair beside Terry, and watched with amusement as his four friends snapped their heads up and stared at him.

"Don�t play," Hermione said at once and Harry snorted, that was out of the question. "Say you�re ill."

"Vampires don�t get ill, Hermione. No, I�ll have to play, if just because I don�t want him to think he�s won one over on me," Harry replied with a smug grin and he smirked when Hermione threw her hands up with exasperation and glared at him.

"Fine, see if I�ll visit you in the hospital wing," she snapped and Harry pouted playfully and put a hand over his heart.

"So little faith you have in me," he sniffed "and you call yourself my friend!" he laughed along with the others at her disgruntled expression and then he glared as she hit him up the back of the head again.

"C�mon, let�s go down and get some dinner. We can do our homework later," Terry said as he stood up and pointedly ignored the look of irritation that Hermione sent his way as she snapped her book closed. They exited the library, after Harry had received another glare from Madame Pince from dripping all over her books, and headed down to the Great Hall.

When they reached the hall they immediately took their usual seats at the Ravenclaw table and the mortals of the group dug into their food happily. Blaise and Harry exchanged amused glances before picking up their goblets of specially prepared food. The crimson liquid was but an inch from their lips when both goblets were knocked from their hands by a frantic looking Susan Bones.

"What the f-" His angered exclamation, complete with heated glare at Susan was cut short when his ears caught the distinct sound of something burning and his nose caught the same smell. Both his and his companion�s eyes were drawn to the table where the blood from his goblet had spilled.

The table was burning wherever the blood had landed.

"Move away from the bloody table then you set of gawking idiots!" He snarled at the surrounding Ravenclaw�s that were just sat staring at the burning table. At his voice, they snapped their attention back to him and immediately took his advice. He made sure his friends were safe before turning his own attention up to the Headmaster who, by the looks of things, was looking quite shocked by the turn of events.

Harry fumed.

He was so angry that when he went to bite the pad of his thumb, he nearly tore the skin and the nail clean off. Not caring how he looked with blood dripping down his chin, he ran the bloodied thumb over his Corvus Mark and waited, glaring and furious.

In a matter of moments, his Fathers were at his side, his Aunt too and the guards were at theirs.

Ivan Corvus took one look at the table, the fallen Goblets and the two paler than usual and very angry Vampires and growled.

"What happened?" He demanded to know. His voice was low and cold. The Gryffindor�s behind him, save the twins, shrank back in fear, the Ravenclaw�s backed away too leaving the Vampires and Harry�s friends all stood around the burnt table. "What HAPPENED? " He shouted, causing everyone but those previously mentioned to flinch.

"S... sir?" A small voice spoke up. Ivan snapped his gaze to the girl who stood beside his son. She was obviously one of his friends... he would try not to take his anger out on her. The hand on his shoulder would help him in that respect.

"Yes?" His voice was much calmer now and the girl seemed slightly relieved by that fact. He noticed that around him, the children were being hoarded quietly out of the Great Hall. The girl too seemed to notice this because she waiting until the last student that was going to leave, left, before she spoke up again.

"I..." She began, but thought better of it. "The blood in their goblets was poison." She stated more confidently than she felt. "I�m not sure where it came from, but it�s obvious that it was..." She trailed off, her eyes downcast. Ivan was sure that the girl felt as though this was somehow her fault. He nodded to his sister as she took the girl aside for a moment, obviously sensing the same thing he sensed.

He then turned to Dumbledore who had made his way from the Head Table down to where the group had formed. "You claimed, that when my son could not hunt, he would be given blood that would sustain him until such as time that he could hunt!" Ivan said, his tone was back to its low and cold state. Dumbledore visibly winced. Never let it be said that Ivan Corvus wasn�t intimidating. "So if that is, indeed, the case, why in Gods name did it take a first year to notice that he had POSION in his cup instead of BLOOD?" He shouted again.

"Why did you not see it? Why was my son and his friend almost killed because one of your Professors became too smart for you, got past your detection and spiked his drink? Tell me, old man, WHY!" Dumbledore opened his mouth to defence his staff but was interrupted before he started speaking by Harry�s Aunt.

"Ivan!" Cerelias said sharply. "Calm yourself, Ivan! You are no good to your son a heated mess of anger and resentment. Dante, if you would." The husband of Ivan Corvus stepped forward when his partner took a step back. Of course, Dante himself was bordering on the level of fury his husband was currently riding.

"Explain to us all, how you failed to notice it was poison? Did you not give it to him personally like you agreed to do?" Unlike his hot-headed husband, Dante waited for an answer.

"I cannot tell you how the blood was spiked but I can assure you that it was not the fault of any of the Professors at Hogwarts." At this, Dante didn�t speak; he simply waited for the inevitable explosion.

"You can assure us, can you?" Ivan stepped up beside his partner. "Well we can assure you of a few things too, old man. We can assure you that one of your precious Professor�s was responsible for the attack on my son and his friend last term during a hunt. We can assure you that one of your Professor�s was responsible for the attack at the Quidditch match." Dumbledore looked mildly taken aback, but his expression was soon masked.

"You have no proof of that fact, Mr Corvus. You cannot come here and accuse my Professor�s of attempted murder without evidence." He sighed. "I think we should take this conversation to my office. Professors? I ask that only the Head�s of Houses accompany me at this time." There were a number of protests but Dumbledore batted them down with a polite raise of his hand. "Please, enjoy the rest of your evening. Now, ladies, Gentlemen? If you would follow me please?"

It took a grand total of ten minutes to get to the Headmaster�s office and when they arrived, the guards stepped back against the walls, but kept themselves visible, reassuring everyone of their presence. Ivan, Dante and Cerelias, the heads of houses and Harry�s friends sat down on conjured chairs. Harry was pulled onto his Pa�s lap, still furious that he had almost been killed... that Blaise had almost been killed, and that it had been Susan, a first year, who saved their lives.

"We have proof. We�ve had a confession. A Professor at Hogwarts, he said... before my son decapitated him." Ivan sneered. "All here, I sincerely hope, know who it is I am talking about because if you are this ignorant, I will be removing my son from this school and your world will not have your saviour." The Wizards present, save the children, paled. "I know what it is you are doing, Mugwump. But my son does not come under your laws. He is a Vampire. He is mine, my heir. And you have no hold on him save that of a school Headmaster. That man isn�t even human!" He got up, shrugging off his sister�s hand and started pacing while everyone else watched in silent trepidation.

"Mr. Corvus, would you please take a seat, you are giving me a migraine." Professor McGonagall snapped, meeting Ivan�s glare evenly when he turned to her. For a moment, she got the distinct impression he was amused at her audacity but she shook it off when he took her advice, and sat back down again.

"Professor Quirrell is being watched, Mr Corvus." Dumbledore spoke up. "It is the most we can do at this point in time. We do not know what resources he has with him, so we cannot make a move until he does. I am sorry that it has come to this but we can do nothing."

"No, mortal, you can do nothing, I can do something. No one tries to kill my son or members of my clan and gets off scot-free. I wouldn�t be where I am today if I let that happen each and every time some fool decided to make an attempt on a Corvus life." Dumbledore nodded his head in understanding.

"I am aware of this but you must see this from my point of view-"

"I must see this from mine and mine alone! And what I see is a Headmaster that cannot control his staff! What I see is a Professor that isn�t human and that wants my son�s head on a platter." He smacked his hand on the arm of his chair, splintering the wood with the sheer force of the blow.

"We cannot approach him at this time Mr Corvus! Understand what the Headmaster is telling you! Open your mind to something that isn�t your son!" Snape glared at the Vampire. When he was suddenly drawn forcefully from his seat and pinned against the wall behind it, he no longer glared, but looked on in fear as Ivan Corvus, Vampire leader of the near invincible Corvus Clan, moved so close to him that the pair were but an inch apart when he finally stopped.

"My son is my life." He said quietly but so cold and harsh was his tone that only those who knew him best did not wince. "My son is my entire mind, my body, my soul, my everything. Everything else is second to him. My husband feels exactly the same way. His sister and my sister feel exactly the same way. Do not presume to think anything else, mortal." He growled low in his throat before dropping the Potion�s master and returning to his seat.

"I ask you, Mr Corvus, if you would please, refrain from moving in at this time. What Professor Quirrell does from this point forth will prove crucial to possible developments elsewhere in the Wizarding world." Ivan looked at the Headmaster as if he had grown a second head.

"He means in the search for Voldemort." Harry suddenly spoke up for the first time since he called his fathers in the Great Hall. The room�s inhabitants looked at him in a mixture of horror (the Professors), confusion (his friends and the vampires), and some old fashioned disbelief (the Headmaster). Harry grinned ruefully at the looks. "You didn�t seriously think you could keep something from me, did you Headmaster?" He hadn�t moved his head from its position on his Pa�s shoulder. Dumbledore didn�t answer though.

"I got a present for Christmas by someone I didn�t know until I opened said gift. The initials on the note read, well, I wouldn�t want to be responsible for anyone getting into trouble now. Anyway, when I opened it, I found a small chest. It was a very nice chest, ornately carved, it even had the family crest of my father... my biological father, that is." It seemed to Harry, that Albus Dumbledore, at that precise moment in time, paled dramatically and a look of horror washed over his face.

"It said in the note that apparently, only a member of the Potter family could open it and that its sender only knew a few of the contents of it, but knew they would belong to me, so gave them and the chest to me. It must have been a hard chore to do; I could smell the distinct odour of tears on the note. They must have loved my parents very much not to want to give the chest away but really deciding that it would be for the best to do so. I must really thank them when I see them. And I will see them." He sent a pointed look towards the Headmaster.

"Inside this chest was three letters. Two were for me from my Mother and Father. They told me that they love me and that they would always be proud of me. My mother, apparently, had been a Seer when she was alive." Dumbledore�s eyes widened. "She saw that I would be well looked after should her and my father die; which she knew they would. She saw that I would be accepted into the home I am in now, but she also saw you put me on that door step." The old man sighed. "But she saw my Aunt and Uncle, pick me up and take me away to happiness and a home I�d love. So she let you go on thinking you were doing the right thing.

"The letter from my father, James Potter, told me of how much he loved me, how much he was proud of me, and who my family were. My Uncle Moony and Uncle Padfoot." He smiled a thin smile. "He�s innocent you know." He added and watched as Dumbledore�s eyes now narrowed.

"Who is innocent, Harry?" The man asked.

"I�ve read the records for around the time my parents were killed and I found out that no trial was given to one Sirius Black before he was sent to Azkaban."

"That man is responsible for Voldemort killing the Potters, Harry. He is not innocent-"

"So you are telling me that my parents would lie? To me? Their son and heir? The third letter was addressed to all it may concern. I have it here... should I read it out?" Tensely and already fearing the worst, Dumbledore nodded his head. Harry reached into the pocket of his robes and fished out a piece of parchment. He then cleared his throat and began to read;

To Whom It May Concern:

Our names are written here in our blood, binding this document to be void of all untruths. What we are about to write will be the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We are James Orion Potter and Lily Marie Potter (nee Evans).

On October 28th, 1981, we went into hiding with our son, Harry James Potter, and we did so under the Fidelius Charm. Our secret Keeper, let it be written here, for if you are reading this then he has betrayed us, is Peter Bartholomew Pettigrew.

Sirius Adrian Black was to be the focus of the attention when we went into hiding. Using Peter for such a task seemed to be the perfect plan.

People would expect us to use Sirius; after all, he was our best friend along with Remus Lupin, and Alice and Frank Longbottom. But the Longbottom�s had a child of their own, young Neville, and Remus, though we are loath to admit our error, was thought to be the spy due to his curse.

If you are reading this, we are dead and we have made a great error in judgement; Peter Bartholomew Pettigrew is the spy, Sirius Adrian Black was not our Secret Keeper and Remus John Lupin... we are forever wishing for your forgiveness. Never did we want to believe you were the spy, we simply had little choice. It was the safety of our son we thought of. Forgive us.

To all, truthfully ours,
James Orion Potter and Lily Marie Potter (nee Evans)

The room was silent five minutes after Harry had finished reading the letter out loud.

"He�s in Azkaban!" Susan suddenly exclaimed, causing everyone to look at her. "Azkaban without trial! My Aunt would have kittens! Take the letter! Get him out of there! Ten years! Azkaban... I need to sit down." Still on his Pa�s lap, Harry smiled an amused smile.

"You are sat down Precious." Susan nodded numbly.

"Good... good." And she fell silent.

"He needs to be released. Remus Lupin must be notified, for I am sure he will want to know about this. As sorry as I am to say it, that can wait for a few minutes." Susan glared at him but sighed, realising that she would have to wait. "In my father�s letter, he had enclosed another piece of parchment, on it, a Prophecy was written." He locked eyes with Dumbledore. "That prophecy is exactly why you will heed my Father�s words... Ivan�s." He added as an after thought, thinking it might be a little confusing after what he had just been talking about.

"He will leave you to your Quirrell watching," he pointedly ignored the look Ivan was sending him, "but I want it heard that if that man makes another attempt on my life or the lives of any student in this school... as I�m sure the Professors can take perfect care of themselves, I�ll kill him. And no Ministry of Magic and no Supreme Mugwump will stop me. Under our laws I already have sufficient evidence to warrant his death; but I�m going to give you the benefit of the doubt. You watch him, and when it�s time, I�ll kill him."

He finally looked at his Da and saw the elder Corvus looking at him with pride. Stopping Ivan Corvus from killing something is something to be proud of but Harry suspected that wasn�t the reason his Da was proud of him. His Aunt too had the same look and he wasn�t sure, but he guessed his Pa wore the same look.

"I want my Godfather freed." He stopped speaking and once again, rested his head on his Pa�s shoulder.

The conversation in the Headmaster�s office after that point didn�t really take very long at all. It was established that the Headmaster was not to give Harry anymore chicken�s blood but keep up the illusion that he was doing so. Harry was to hunt twice a day; once when he woke up directly after his morn practise session. For this one he would be joined with his shadow guards. Then he would hunt again in the evening and be joined with Blaise and a guard, his Fathers or his Aunt. Should he be with his Aunt, two guards would not be far behind.

When the group broke up, Harry�s friends were escorted to their common rooms, Blaise went to hunt with a couple of the guards, Harry�s Aunt left to go back to the Manor to keep an eye on things while his Fathers stayed with him. Then with assurances that Remus Lupin would be contacted and that the current housing situation with his Godfather would be sorted out, Harry and hid Fathers left the Headmaster alone.

He smiled as he thought of what his Da said to Professor McGonagall as she was leaving with the others.

Ivan rose from his seat when the other stood up to leave, as etiquette demands one does when another rises. Dante rose also but instead of Harry wrapping his legs around his Pa�s waist, he planted his feet firmly on the floor. He wasn�t completely without manners himself.

"And you, my Lord Corvus, need to keep a hold on your temper." She smiled at his mock-affronted look before bowing her head only a fraction of the bow Ivan graced her with. "I respect the love you hold for your son and your clan." With those words said, the woman left a completely baffled Ivan Corvus to suffer the quiet snickers of his husband and son.

The father, father and son trio headed out onto the grounds of Hogwarts and walked to the Lake, taking the seats they took at their last visit when they arrived at the waters edge. Harry sat himself down on his Pa�s lap as he did in Dumbledore�s office and sighed.

"What troubles you, my son?" Ivan asked from where he sat beside his husband, Harry�s legs in his own lap.

"I know he has no legal hold on me, but I want to know him. I want him to be the Godfather Lily and James Potter made him. I also wish to know Remus Lupin. He is cursed, but I think no less of him, in fact, for bearing such a curse through his life, I commend him for his resilience. Cursed with the second soul of primal instinct..." He trailed off, staring out onto the moon-lit lake.

"A Werewolf." Dante breathed and Harry wrinkled his nose in distaste.

"It�s not a pleasant name. Uncle Moony sounds much better." He grinned. "I want to know them both, but I can�t do it with you lot fighting over me." He heard them both sigh and snorted. "It won�t be a battle of who loves who the most... I know my place with you two. I know I�m a Corvus and I know that you�ll always be Da and Pa. They�ll always be Padfoot and Moony. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. My father, in his letter, said Sirius would do anything for me, do anything to keep me safe. He�ll be happy to know that I�ve grown up with a family that took care of me."

"We will... accept them both." Ivan said reluctantly and Harry glared. The Corvus leader broke out into a wide grin at the glare and laughed at the scathing look his son sent him. "Of course we will accept them. We could never refuse you anything... within reason." He added as Harry opened his mouth. The latter closed his speaking organ with a �snap� and glared at his Da.

"You understand Prophecy�s Da; I know you�ve read some of them yourself. The prophecy which revolves around me states that Voldemort will come back. We have to let him, because, as you know, it�s impossible to kill something that doesn�t have a body. If, to let him return, we have to leave Quirrell alone for a while, then so be it. It doesn�t necessarily mean that he will get away with it for long, don�t worry," Harry said after a while, leaning his head against his Pa�s shoulder.

"I know son, I know. I have no doubt that you will know when the time is right and take care of things, it just irritates me that he is walking around, believing himself clever to outsmart three vampires. You will watch yourself more carefully though my son, you will not accept any food, of any kind, unless you have prepared it yourself... the same with drinks." He said sternly and Harry grinned as he pressed a kiss to both of his father�s cheeks.

"I will, but right now I need to go and talk with a distressed friend and the Supreme Mugwump. I like the headmaster, he amuses me, so I think I�ll go and put things right with him." He said as he climbed to his feet, he embraced them both again, nodded, and then walked back to the castle as he wrapped the shadows around him.

He could feel the eyes of his shadow guards on him and he nodded to them as he hurried through the corridors, hoping to catch the headmaster before he went off to contact the ministry and this Remus Lupin chap. He gave the password and climbed the stairs, taking them two at a time and had knocked before he even paused to catch his breath.

When the old man called for him to enter, Harry slipped into the room and shut the door behind him, unsurprised to see he was alone and writing several official looking letters. When Dumbledore saw who it was, he looked up and offered a small smile, obviously wondering if he was going to be given an earful again.

"Evening headmaster," he said, bowing his head slightly. He took up the seat opposite the old man without waiting for permission and he tilted his head to the side, studying him intently. "I had thought it best to come and clear a few things up. I would like to apologise for being short with you, and for my father�s tempers too. I would also like to assure you that it is not in your personal direction where our anger was aimed."

"It�s alright Harry; I understand the reason for your father�s anger, and even your own. I have promised to keep you safe here, and I appear to have been looking in the wrong direction for attacks." Dumbledore said softly, placing his quill down for a minute and Harry could smell the guilt he felt.

"Really headmaster, there are attacks coming at me from all directions and so you cannot be blamed for missing one or two of them. My shadow guards have undoubtedly stopped more than you and I could imagine. I am used to said attacks; I was merely annoyed at myself for not checking the blood myself." He said and then smiled wryly and tilted his head to the side.

"As for your not explaining this prophecy to me, I can forgive you for that too. My fathers have been telling me for years that I will bring about changes in all three worlds but have never told me how. Wizards and vampires are alike in the fact that we both rely on the words of seers when we come across them. The Corvus clan has its own, and she has predicted many things that I am not yet privy to. Voldemort will return, we both know that, and if Voldemort is to return then we must leave Quirrell to do what he has to do to help that along," he said and then arched an eyebrow at the surprised look he received in return for his words.

"Come now, we both know that that is the only reason you have not yet done something about this wayward professor of yours. You�re not a stupid man, but that�s not the only reason I came here now. I wanted to know, since I am obviously expected to defeat Voldemort whenever he gets a body that can be defeated, if I could ask for extra training in the magical area."

"Harry, you�re eleven years old. I mean, of course if you wish for extra training then it will be given... but nobody expects you to defeat Voldemort now... you shouldn�t even have to put up with the constant attacks." Dumbledore replied with more than a little sorrow, Harry smiled and stood up, shrugging indifferently.

"I am the heir to the Corvus throne. I will take over from my Da when the time comes and I need to be prepared for that. And like I said, I am used to the attacks, and I enjoy sparring, but I do know how to have a good time. Now, I have to find the Hufflepuff common room so that I can offer a little comfort to my friend. Good day to you sir, thank you for your time."

Harry strolled through the corridors without really looking where he was going. He knew exactly where the Hufflepuff common room was, considering he had followed Cedric back here one night after training, before he had met Susan, and had been down here to meet his friend for breakfast on a few occasions.

He turned his thoughts inward, his suspicions were now clear, ever since Susan battered that drink away from his hands. She was a seer. Really, he didn�t know why that should surprise him considering no one in his little group of friends was normal. Seers, once they�ve had a vision, sometimes forget what it was they dreamed, but they get a strong sense of familiarity when said vision starts to occur and they remember almost immediately.

That must be what had happened this morning.

It seemed he had a little friend to thank for saving his life. He grinned at the thought as he came to a stop in front of the portrait that led to the Hufflepuff common room. It wouldn�t take long to sweet talk his way into here if he gave a little Corvus charm to the woman in the portrait.

"Good evening, my fine Lady." Harry smiled charmingly at the portrait in guarding Hufflepuff common room. The woman inside it was young, her robes were a sky blue colour and her golden hair was bound in ringlets. She eyed Harry with her sky blue eyes shrewdly, taking in his Slytherin robes and frowning.

"You are not of my house." Harry nodded once, waiting. She eyed his pale complexion and her eyes widened. "You are not even human!" She exclaimed and the vampire sighed, but nodded.

"Yes, you are, of course, correct. But that is neither here nor there and as a Hufflepuff guardian, you should not be one to judge another." He grinned triumphantly at her affronted look. "Anyway, I�m here for a reason, obviously." The woman nodded. "I need to get inside."

"And I, my good sir, am in need of a certain Password." Harry scowled.

"I have told the Headmaster I needed to get into the Hufflepuff common room! He knows! My friend is in there and I have to speak to her. Please?" He blinked innocently and gave her his mastered pleading wide-eyed puppy dog look. She wasn�t buying.

"Password." She repeated. Harry sighed.

No, was the result of his little experiment. No, you couldn�t sweet talk your way into a common room that wasn�t your own. Even if you were a Corvus.

"Equality." He muttered and the woman in the portrait looked smugly at him before swinging open. Harry stuck his tongue out and stepped through the portrait hole.

He blinked.

Yellow.

Too much bloody yellow.

"I think... I�m glad, I wasn�t in this house." He said to no one in particular. But everyone in the common room heard and narrowed their eyes at him, Cedric Diggory and Susan Bones excluded. The pair simply looked amused. "Nothing against you all, I assure you." He waved a dismissive hand at the students. "I mean, I think I�d be blind within minutes of entering." Susan snorted and rose from her seat by the fire place.

"You aren�t allowed to be in here." One of the fifth year Prefects stepped in front of Harry, his hands folded over his chest. Harry raised an eyebrow at him.

"I have permission from the Headmaster, to come here and collect my saviour so I can corrupt her and defile her at my amusement." He grinned as the Prefect paled and turned sharply to the approaching first year Hufflepuff.

"You can�t leave with him!" He grasped her arm tightly, stopping her from moving and causing her to wince. Harry growled. Susan glared at the Prefect.

"Release me, or the angry Vampire behind you will be the least of your worries." But the Prefect didn�t let go of her arm.

"You can�t leave!" He ground out. "It�s after curfe-AH" A hand curled itself around the Prefect�s wrist and tightened its grip.

"The Lady asked you to release her... I suggest you do it." He tightened his hold and the Prefect released Susan�s arm. Harry bared his teeth and snarled angrily. He yanked the older student hard, causing him to fall to his knees in front of the Corvus heir. "Remember this position, down on your knees in front of me." He leaned closer to the Hufflepuff only stopped when he was but an inch away from the other�s face.

He couldn�t help but think he�d been in this position on more than one occasion.

"The next time you touch her or anyone else, on my word as a Corvus, I�ll make your life a living hell... Got it?" The Prefect nodded and Harry pushed him away, sending him sprawling onto the floor on his back. The Slytherin looked up to the room�s wide-eyed occupants and grinned. "The same goes for all of you. I can corrupt and defile your housemate all I want." His words kind of lost their meaning as Susan slapped him upside the head. "Hey! I was being menacing and scary!" He stuck out his bottom lip and pouted.

The girl raised an eyebrow. He growled and hoisted her up onto his shoulder not for the first, second or third time since they�d met. And like always, she demanded to be let down.

"Harry James Potter-Corvus! Let me down this instant! Harry! Let me DOWN! You son of a-" she cut herself off, gathered her thoughts, and proceeded to hit his back with her fists. "Harry!" She yelled as he carried her from the common room.

Despite having only just picked her up in the common room, Harry put his charge back on her feet once the Portrait had closed behind them.

"Must you do that?" Susan asked, exasperated as she straightened her robes. She winced slightly as her arm jarred and the grin that was working its way over Harry�s face soon disappeared and in its place sat a worried frown. Seeing the look on her friend�s face, Susan smiled. "I�m fine. He didn�t hurt me too badly, just a bruise probably." She suddenly snickered. "I don�t think he�ll come near me again any time soon." Despite himself, Harry chuckled also.

"You sure you�re alright?" He sobered up and she nodded. "Good. Now, we need to talk." He said softly, he nodded for her to follow him and he led her silently through the corridors of the school until they came out on the grounds. The shadow guards made themselves known but stayed back, close enough to intervene but not close enough to listen to the conversation unless they strained to hear.

"I assume you know that you are a seer?" he asked eventually, and Susan nodded hesitantly.

"I guessed, I didn�t know for sure, but I just started having these dreams a few weeks before I started here at Hogwarts. Most of these dreams were about you, and about your friends... and I was in some of them, so I knew you would offer me your friendship."

"That�s good. If you like, I could help you research the subject; I could even introduce you to the seer of the Corvus clan so that you can speak to another similar to yourself." He offered and Susan looked at him with a grin.

"Really? You could do that? I would really love to meet another true seer, so I can know what life will be like and stuff..." she said and Harry nodded with a grin, cutting off her blabbering.

"I�ll owl my fathers as soon as I return to the dorm, they�ll bring her with them the next time they come hunting with me I assume. I�ll let you know for sure when she will arrive though. Another thing I wanted to talk about, you saved my life today, along with the life of Blaise." He said and then held up his hand to still her protests.

"A Corvus never lets something like this go lightly, I am bound to you by honour until I can return the favour, I also would like to ask if there is anything I can get you in way of thanks. I was foolish not to check for poison myself, thanks to you I will make sure never to let my guard down again." He said as he stopped by the lake and Susan smiled shyly.

"You have already repaid me the minute you offered me your hand in friendship. I would ask for nothing more than I have already. I, like Hermione and Terry, have your friendship, your loyalty and your protection, its only fair that we can do something to repay the favour."

Well, this was it. Harry looked out across the pitch and let his eyes rest on Quirrell, the professor looked decidedly irritated to have agreed to do this now and Harry could easily guess why. The man wouldn't be stupid enough to attack now, not when every teacher was watching him, along with Harry, Blaise and the guards.

He looked over his shoulder at the rest of the team and when he saw that they were finally ready; he grabbed his broom from the bench of the changing rooms and stepped out, following Flint across to the pitch.

"K-k... keep it c-clean b-b-boys." Quirrell stuttered. "C-captains sh-shake ha-h-hands." Harry kept his eyes locked on Quirrell the entire time he was talking and waved cheerfully when the Professor looked at him.

The man looked away quickly and Harry rolled his eyes. He turned to Cedric, the Hufflepuff Seeker, and grinned, holding his hand out to the other player, completely ignoring the glares that were being sent his way by the rest of his team. "Good luck." Harry smirked and Cedric laughed, taking the hand and shaking it.

"You too."

"M-mount yo-your b-br-brooms." The Referee stuttered and blew the starting whistle, released the balls, including the snitch, and proceeded to watch the game carefully.

In retrospect, the defeat of Hufflepuff was a rather short affair; as exactly five minutes into the game, Harry�s hand closed around the winged golden ball that was, the Snitch. He waved merrily at Cedric who in turn, shook his head and chuckled before heading back to the Hufflepuff changing rooms with the rest of his sulking team.

No goals had been scored or players injured. Quirrell had dismounted his broom and stalked off towards the castle almost immediately after blowing the final whistle.

Harry smirked as his four friends rushed up to � and congratulated him.

"Five minutes!" Terry exclaimed gleefully. "Five minutes! I don�t think I would have believed it if I hadn�t of seen it." Harry laughed at his friend. He was just about to guide them back in the general direction of the castle when he heard an argument coming from inside the Hufflepuff changing rooms.

Frowning, he started to walk over in that direction, straining to hear what was being said. He only managed to catch bits of it however.

�...them our plays...�

�...�ay away... Diggory... nothing... trouble...�

Harry�s eyes narrowed and he stalked over to the changing rooms, throwing the door open wide. He glared at each and every player in there save Cedric, who was stood wrapped in a towel glaring at his Captain.

"What the hell is going on?" Harry demanded to know, looking straight at the Captain. Said Captain sneered at him in a very un-Hufflepuff-ish manner. The Slytherin couldn�t help but raise an eyebrow. He wondered what the hell had gotten into this guy to be earning a glare from Cedric, of all people. "Well? Answer me!" He commanded, meeting the glare head on and levelling one of his own.

The Captain looked away first.

"This traitor has been telling you all out plays!" The 6th year Captain declared and Harry gaped. "Don�t act like you don�t know what I�m bloody on about Potter. You know every one of our plays and you�ve told your little pack of Snakes!" By now, Terry, Hermione, Susan and Blaise were all behind him and they too were gaping.

"You complete, and utter, prick." Harry spat, glaring forcefully at the teen. "You�re plays are so open a blind man could see through them! Get a grip on yourself and get a fucking grip on your team! Your chasers have no coordination and your beaters... well; let us not even go there. Diggory is about the only half decent player on your team and he hasn�t been divulging any of your precious, or not so � as it would seem, plays!" He levelled the now pale captain with another glare before turning to the rest of the Hufflepuff team.

"My advice, whether you want it or not, I don�t really give a shit, get a new Captain. From an outsider�s perspective, I recommend Diggory. And get this wanker out of commission." With that said, he turned on his heel and stalked out of the now silent changing room.



The Heir of Corvus I: The Philosopher�s Stone - Chapter 18

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