---

His eyes.

His eyes were the first things that Fred and George noticed had changed about Harry.

They were handing over the Marauders' map when they first noticed that Harry's eyes had changed. They were used to staring into irises of deep malachite green but the eyes they were looking into as they shifted the parchment from their hands and into his, were not malachite green. The new eyes staring back at them were a pale gemstone green with flecks of a golden-brown, blue, and an odd violet with a ring of silver around the left pupil. These were not the eyes of Harry from three years ago, they were beautiful, there was no doubt, but they were definitely not the eyes that the Twins were used to seeing.

It hadn't been until Harry had tipped his head down to study the map that George had noticed that the younger teen's hair had changed as well. In place of practically black, brown hair, was onyx black hair that was still as wild as ever. But instead of being straight and short, it was longer – almost six inches long, twice as long as he usually kept it – and beginning to turn into the wild curls that they were sure they'd seen somewhere else before ... but where, was the question.

After a long moment of them studying Harry as he studied the map, they decided that they'd wait it out and see what else had or would change about Harry before they said or did anything to the younger teen. They desperately hoped that it was only Magical puberty that was changing him to get some of the rare genes in his gene pool because if it was anything else, then there was a severe problem going on regarding Harry.

The next time they noticed anything different about Harry was during the Leaving Feast. They noticed that, unlike before, Harry was no longer as pale as snow – something they knew was from the fact that the Dursleys kept him in a cupboard until he got his letters and that he spent a lot of time inside during the summers (a good portion of his own volition spent at the little library near the Dursley home but also a lot of household chores that they knew he hated doing).

Now, as they settled down next to him, they noticed that he was beginning to get some color to his skin tone, getting closer to the skin tone that James Potter was shown to have in the various pictures of the Quidditch team from when he was a student, and the captain of said team, that had been posted up in the Trophy room as well as the few pictures they'd found hidden in the fifth-year boys’ dorm room at the beginning of the year.

They'd sent a letter to their father as well, and from him, the two of them found out that the Potter family were of Egyptian and East Indian descent which should have meant that Harry had a permanent skin tone darkened by the sun rather than the pale tone of Europe that remained year-round. They'd always been a bit surprised at how he looked – everyone always said that Harry was the mini-me of James Potter, but he was as pale as snow with Lily's green eyes and a plethora of Lily’s features.

George and Fred hadn't known much about genetics or the creation of children until they'd come to Hogwarts – there were bits and pieces, of course, they did have three older brothers after all, but even then, they hadn't known much about the processes of mixing genes.

Contrary to popular belief, most of the current purebloods did know and recognized the fact that keeping the bloodlines too pure would lead to their downfall, though there were some families, of course, that refused to acknowledge the correctness of the idea.

The two of them did spend time doing their homework and in the library, as much as most would refuse to believe that. They do their homework and go through the library to find things that interest them – of which genetics and children had been two topics – often enough that it wouldn't be odd to see them there. And stranger still that Madam Pince – the Hogwarts Librarian – occasionally went out of her way, to get them books that they’d asked for from her.  

After meeting Harry, they'd gone back through the books and had even delved into the yearbooks kept at the library to look up what James and Lily had looked like. And then after they saw him start to change, they went back through the yearbooks to study the people in hopes that they could figure out who – if anyone – was the reason for Harry's changes. They had a list that they hoped wouldn't have to be shared with him, but they had one none-the-less.

~

The train pulled into King's Cross station, and the students began to pile off in groups of friends. Fred and George followed Harry, Ron, and Hermione off the train after waving Lee off to his parents who they had seen out their compartment window. They searched around for Percy, Ginny, and their own parents upon stepping down from the train car where they’d all been sitting.

Ginny bounced over from her friends, coming to join them as Mrs. and Mr. Weasley pushed through the crowd to stand next to them. Mrs. Weasley immediately began to fuss over Ginny who'd gotten her hair trimmed by one of her dorm mates just before the Leaving Feast, while Mr. Weasley dragged Percy (who'd just come over from talking with fellow graduate Oliver Wood), Hermione and Ron into a discussion about their schoolwork.

Fred and George dragged Harry away from the rest of the group and over a few feet so no one could overhear, and after wrapping their arms around his shoulders and closing in around him, they leaned down to talk to him.

"We'll see you later in the summer, yeah?" Fred asked him, tugging lightly at the younger teen's hair. There was a single strand that just would not lay at the same height as everything else.

"Mm, Ron said something about the Quidditch World Cup," Harry replied, tugging at his jumper to straighten it out.

"Dad hopes to get a few tickets, but we're supposed to be getting you from the Dursleys' even if he doesn't," George told him, squeezing him lightly. "We'll see you even if we have to break you out again."

"Let us hope it doesn't have to come to that." He grinned up at the two of them before all three jumped when Mrs. Weasley called them back over to the group.

They went over and joined the rest of the group before they led Harry and Hermione out through the Barrier to the Muggle side where Hermione greeted her parents happily, and Harry sighed as he looked around the crowded station for his Uncle or whoever had come to get him from the station.

George spotted the overweight walrus first. Vernon Dursley had just arrived, rudely pushing through the gathered crowd on platform ten to get close enough. George didn't say anything though, hoping to give Harry a few more moments of happiness before it was destroyed by the arsehole who called himself a part of the other's family.

"We'll see you in a couple weeks, Har," George whispered into the shorter teen's hair as he and Fred wrapped him in a hug. They hoped that this hug would last until they saw the younger teenager again.

Harry leaned into their embrace, resting his head against Fred's chest for a moment before he pulled away. He grabbed his trunk, and after making sure that Hedwig's empty cage – he'd told the Snowy Owl to go back to the Burrow with Errol when the old bird had shown up the day before the Leaving Feast with a quick letter from Mrs. Weasley that Ron had told them had been sent the week before – was firmly tied down to the top of his trunk, he stepped over to the walrus' side. He waved to the family before disappearing after the man as he scurried away.

Fred and George stood still in the same spot, staring after the teen who had changed drastically their lives since coming into them three years ago. They could only hope that everything went well for the other until they came to get him. And they desperately wished that it wouldn't come to what Harry's second year had again for a few reasons: one, they no longer had the Angelina to drive there; two, they hoped the Dursleys would know better; and three, Fred and George didn't think they would be able to get away with doing that again.

They'd barely gotten away with it last time. If it hadn't been for their grandfather Septimus, the current Lord Weasley, they would have been expelled and had their wands snapped for showing Magic in a Mundane neighbourhood, but thankfully he had listened to their explanation about why they'd done what they did and had gone up against a good portion of the Wizengamot for them. Oddly enough, Lucius Malfoy – the Lord Malfoy – had agreed with him and that had turned the anti-Weasleys around to agree. Because of that, they really wished it wouldn't come to that again as they doubted that Lord Malfoy would help get them out of trouble again.

"Fred! George! Come on, it's time to go home!" Their mum called as the rest of their group started back through the Barrier so they could go home by the Floo.

"Coming Mum!" They called, turning away and following them back through the Barrier to Platform 9 3/4.

---

Thankfully Fred and George managed to talk their dad out of connecting the Dursley house to the Floo Network, even temporarily. Instead, Mr. Weasley made sure they had fare, and the four Weasley men ended up taking the Day Bus to Surrey.

George knocked on the door lightly, he and Fred standing at the front of the group on the step. Ron and Mr. Weasley stood on the lawn, looking around at the other houses around them, and noticing the prying occupants watching them.

The door opened and there stood the horse – or Petunia Dursley if you want to get technical – in all her glory. She stared down her nose at them before she spoke, "He's in his room."

Fred huffed at her before pushing past her and heading up the stairs. Thankfully the locks were all unlocked, but he wouldn't put it past the arseholes to have had him locked up until an hour ago. He knocked rapidly on the door and waited for Harry to open it.

The teenager that opened the door was obviously Harry, but he'd still changed a lot. His eyes had changed more; they were only faintly green, the right had a flare of golden-brown while the left had silver, and the flecks of violet and blue had spread to give his eyes an opalescent look to them. His hair was curlier and had grown long enough that he'd had to tie it back into a wild bun to keep it out of his eyes. His skin had darkened, and he looked like he'd seen a bit more sun than usual years.

"You ready to go, Harbor?" Fred questioned after a moment's shock at seeing how much he'd already changed.

"Yeah, let me just grab my trunk." Harry bounced past him after grabbing his trunk from the end of his bed. Fred snickered slightly before following him down the stairs.

"Ready to go boys?" Mr. Weasley questioned from the lawn.

"Yeah Dad," George told him as he and Fred gently pushed Harry away and grabbed each end of his trunk.

Mr. Weasley thrust his wand out, and a pale-yellow double-decker bus popped into the street before Number Four. Fred and George led the way onto the bus, pushing the trunk under one of the triple seats and strapping it in while Mr. Weasley paid the fare. Harry dropped into the seat between them while Ron sprawled himself out in the seats across from them. Mr. Weasley settled himself down next to Ron, and after the conductor made sure that everyone was seated, the bus took off with a jerk.

"Did you have a good summer so far, Harry?" Mr. Weasley questioned, gripping onto the armrest as the bus took a sharp turn to the right.

"It could have been worse," Harry told him, smiling slightly. He tapped his heels against his trunk and leaned against George as the bus turned a corner.

"Dad got the tickets for the QWC!" Ron crowed, clapping his hands together in delight.

The twins noticed that while Harry smiled it didn't exactly meet his eyes all the way, and they made a note to talk to him later once they could get him away from Ron, Hermione, and Ginny which could be difficult if they felt the need to cling to him like Gnomes to a garden.

The bus screeched to a halt in front of the Burrow, and the group bounded off the bus to the greetings of Ginny and Hermione who were waiting at the gate. Fred and George walked into the house with Harry's trunk while the younger teen stayed back with their younger siblings.

"Is that Harry's trunk?!" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen as they stepped into the living room.

"Yes, Mum!" George called back, rolling his eyes.

"Who else's trunk would it be?" Fred muttered, covering his eyes with his free hand. "Bill's? How about Charlie's?"

George – and their older brother Bill, who was sprawled out on the couch – snickered as Mrs. Weasley called again, "Take it to Ronnie's room, please!"

"Yes, Mum. Of course, Mum. Whatever you say, Mum." Fred muttered under his breath as they carefully walked the trunk up the stairs to the attic where Ron's room was one of two tucked up there.

Mrs. Weasley had finally relented on Ginny getting a different room, only expedited by the fact that both Bill and Charlie were home for the summer. With that decision and Bill's help, the attic was expanded so that both Ginny and Ron had larger rooms than the ones they started with.

Ron's room was now almost double the size it had been before, which Fred and George figured would make Harry happy as they knew that Ron snored, and now there was room for a shoji divider to be put up so they could silence the idiot.

They put Harry's trunk at the end of the free bed, making sure it was close enough to the bed so that it was still openable but out of tripping range. They would have to make sure that Harry got a new trunk soon, the second-hand trunk he was using now would not hold up much longer, and even now, the featherlight charms were fading out so that it was too hard for one person to carry it around alone. He would definitely need a new one after they graduated because they wouldn't be around to carry it for him.

Stomping up the stairs alerted them to someone coming, and the twins turned to the door just as Harry shoved through the door and slammed it behind him. He leaned back against it with a sigh, looking at the twins with a disgruntled look.

"They're all nutters," Harry told them before looking around the room. "Oh. I'll finally be able to sleep!" All three laughed at the joke before Harry spoke again, "So who's downstairs?"

"Ah, sorry Harbor," Fred told him, the two of them moving to stand next to him. "That's our older brother Bill. He works with the goblins as a Cursebreaker. Our other older brother Charlie should be here just before dinner."

Harry nodded slightly and leaned against the two of them when they settled against the door next to him. He hummed quietly when Fred's fingers rose to his head and began tugging lightly at his hair.

“What’s got you so annoyed?” Fred asked, pulling lightly at a knot in his hair.

“It’s just… They’re driving me bonkers! Between Hermione’s know-it-all, I’m-Better-Than-You attitude and Ron’s obsession with girls and Quidditch, neither Ginny or I got a word in!” Harry’s hands waved about as he spoke, emphasizing how annoyed he was with his best friends.

“Did you tell them to stop?” George asked, lightly rubbing his thumb over the side of Harry’s head. Harry shook his head, curls spilling around his head as he moved. “Well, you should have. Seriously, if they were annoying you, you should have told them off.”

Harry stared at him for a moment before nodding. He smirked slightly before commenting, “Ginny sure showed them. Bat-Bogey Hex to the backs as soon as we’d walked away.”

Fred and George both laughed, pressing against his sides and kissing the sides of his head lightly. They knew how well their baby sister could use that spell, and they could also imagine the looks on the others’ faces.

After a long time of the petting, George spoke, "You ready to go down now?"

"Yeah, I guess so." All three sighed quietly before getting up from where they were leaning and leaving the room.

Bill was the only one in the living room when they came down, even though lunch would probably be served soon. The eldest Weasley brother was sprawled across one of the couches, long red hair left unbound to frame his head like fire to a Fairy's. He looked up from the book he was reading when the three entered the room.

"I was sure that the picture Ronnie sent had you with shorter hair," was Bill's only comment when the twins pulled Harry down onto the other couch between the two of them.

"It's been growing like a weed since the beginning of June. Aunt Petunia cut it when I got back but as you can see..." Harry replied, motioning to the mess of his hair, which had been let loose by George when the twins started playing with it.

"Well, Charlie and I can show you a few spells that will help you deal with all that hair if you don't want to cut it all off again. Or we can show you some specialized hair cutting charms so you can do it yourself," Bill told him as he sat up and put his book down on the small table next to him.

"Really?!" Harry grinned when Bill nodded before getting up and going to sit down next to him as Bill dropped his wand from the plain black dragonhide wand holster on his left arm.

"Before you start to worry, you can use magic here. The Ministry can’t pick up on the magic here because of how many adults are staying here. Now, there are a few of each that we know, and most of them are in Latin, but there are a few from different languages as well. Let’s start with the easiest one." Bill waved his wand and changed a piece of parchment on the coffee table into a mannequin head with a wig nearly identical to Harry's hair, and after making sure that it would work appropriately, Bill began running Harry through the charms.

Soon Harry was a professional at the magic for several types of braids and different styling techniques. He turned to face Bill again as the older man spoke once more, "Alright, this is the last one. And it is the most difficult because similar to Transfiguration, you must have an image of what you want in your head. So, for example-"

Bill waved his wand in a small spiral before flicking his wand at the wig which began to do itself up. The magic finished its work and left behind the finished result that Bill had in mind.

Four braids – two from each side – pulled the hair from the front back out of the mannequin’s face before the four came together into a flat four-stranded plait. All five of the braids had charms and hoops clipped on in random places. The bottom portion of hair that was left free from the upper twists was curled carefully and pulled into a series of small loose three-strand braids. Each of the braids was held together by a small gold clip that looked a bit like the other charms but at closer inspection were simply just flat with a single circle imprinted on the surface. All the braids were then twisted up into a slightly wild bun which was then pinned in place by a simple wooden rod with a pair of charms hanging from the top end.

"It's how I usually wear my hair," Bill began to explain. "When I'm at the dig site, I usually work with a Norwegian witch named Alva, and she got annoyed with how often I was pushing my hair back, so she spelled it away and I just started doing it myself after a while."

"She sounds interesting," Harry replied absentmindedly, as he thought about how he would change the hairstyle using that new spell.

It took a couple tries, but soon Harry had changed the wig's hairstyle into what he wanted. In place of Bill's work, Harry had changed it so that a set of seven braids came from the front and met in the back as a messy bun before the remaining free hair was twisted and pinned up along the underside of the pulled back hair.

"Well done, Harry," Bill praised, patting the younger man on the shoulder lightly.

"Thanks, Bill." Harry flushed under the praise before using one of the new spells to pull his hair back into a simple five strand braid that was then twisted up into a neat bun and pinned in place with a simple silver hair stick.

"Lunch is ready!"

~

Later that night, the twins pulled Bill aside when everyone else had disappeared to their rooms or outside to take in the last of the day's heat.

"Harry's been changing." Fred was blunt as he opened their conversation with their eldest brother.

Bill and Charlie had, by the time that Ron was born, practically been raising the two of them. Their mother never seemed happy with them, and when she'd had Ron, she virtually ignored them for the baby and Percy – who had just as much a hand in their raising as the eldest two did.

"Has he had an inheritance test done?" Bill asked, a thoughtful look on his face.

George snorted, "I highly doubt it. He never gets to leave the muggles unless it's to go to school or come here and can you see Mum allowing him to go to Diagon without an armed escort and as many protection charms as possible?"

"No. No, I can't. She and the young ones smother him," Bill agreed, tapping a long finger on his chin lightly as he thought. "The only thing I can really tell you is that if he changes more, then you are going to have to take him to Gringotts and get an inheritance test done."

"Thank Merlin we know how to apparate then," Fred muttered, running a hand through his hair.

Bill studied the two of them carefully for a long time before he spoke again, "You two really care about him..."

"Of course, we do," Fred started, and George picked up where he’d left off, "He's our little brother."

"Try that again. I know you feel more for him than that." Bill gave them each an exasperated look that they knew quite well. It was Bill's 'I-know-you-are-hiding-something' look, and they saw it often enough that they knew he wouldn't stop until he got his answers. Usually, they only saw this look after pulling a prank on Ron, but this wouldn't be the first or last time they'd see it for something else.

Both spluttered before flushing as red as their hair. "That has- He'd never- We do but there's no chance, and we know that." They'd traded back and forth like they were so oft to do when annoying people but this wasn't about annoying anyone, this was about each of them getting their feelings out.

Bill merely hummed at them before patting them on the cheeks and leaving the room. He knew that there was something going on, but he wasn't going to tell them that.

---

Ireland versus Bulgaria.

Ireland is introduced with a dozen Leprechauns who spread their fake gold through the entire stadium. Bulgaria, on the other hand, is presented by a flock of Veela – ethereally beautiful bird-women.

Ron spends the whole of the Veela show being held down by the twins so that he doesn’t go plummeting over the railing of the top box where they were sitting. They all knew that he was girl-crazy but for the Veela to affect him that much? They were both embarrassed and impressed with how much he fought to get to the Veela below.

Hermione, on the other hand, spent the whole time trying to explain to anyone listening, the history of Veela colonies in the Mediterranean Ocean. The only one who seemed even mildly interested in her spiel was Percy, and only because she had been reading old and outdated material and he was correcting her. Almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief when that was over.

Ireland wins the game, but Krum gets the snitch.

The campground is attacked by people that are assumed to be Death Eaters, and Harry is almost arrested by Bartemius Crouch Senior before being saved by Amos Diggory, the father of one of their friends and the Hufflepuff House Team Seeker.

The twins were beyond grateful that Harry was alright when they joined the group that was interrogating the poor House-elf who'd seemingly stolen Harry's wand, not that Fred was entirely sure it was true, especially considering the shifty look on Crouch Senior's face as he interrogated and released Winky.

Once the ordeal was over, the twins bracketed Harry in as they headed to the Portkey area and took a portkey home. Once they were home, and after they'd all been smothered by their Mother, Fred grabbed Harry by the wrist, and after a shared look between himself and his brother, he dragged the younger teen up to their room.

With a few quick waves of his wand, their clothes were exchanged for pajamas, the bed was made to be the perfect temperature, and the blankets turned down before he shoved at Harry lightly until the younger teen settled himself in the center of the twins' combined bed. Fred dropped himself down on Harry's left side, leaving the other side open for George to join them when the younger twin was finished getting everything set up so no one would come looking for Harry until breakfast.

~

The next day they all stayed home, Mrs. Weasley worrying out of her mind about them being attacked if they went out to Diagon Alley but the day after that, they all gathered together – Bill and Charlie both included as they wouldn't be heading back to work until the end of the week – and Floo'd to the Leaky Cauldron.

George caught Harry as the younger teen fell out of the fireplace before spinning him back onto his feet in front of him. Fred came up on Harry's free side as they moved through the bar and out into the Alley, blocking people off from getting to the raven.

Harry tugged at their sleeves lightly, and when they turned to look at him, he whispered quietly, "Thank you for keeping them all away."

The twins merely grinned at him before wrapping their arms around his waist and shoulders and leading him away.

Harry didn't notice the look on the faces of the Goblins that they came into contact with while at Gringotts but George did and once they'd reached the trunk shop and Harry had been shuffled away by the trunkmaker to go through the available models and custom ideas, he turned to look at his brother.

"Did you see the goblins?" He questioned in a whisper as they followed after Harry so they could keep him in sight.

"The fact that they seemed to want to talk to him but between his obliviousness and Mum's overbearing ways they couldn't get a word in?"

"Yeah. What are we going to do about it?"

"First opportunity we bring him to Gringotts," George told him, and Fred only nodded his head in agreement while they watched Harry talk to the trunkmaker about a custom trunk.

Soon, Harry had finished speaking with the trunkmaker on the trunk he wanted and had handed over the first part of the trunk's payment. The twins then wrapped him back up in their arms after he'd paid for a new bottomless bag, and the three teens left to get their school books.

"Did you decide what you were going to do about your classes?" George questioned quietly, squeezing Harry's waist lightly.

"Yeah, I'm dropping Divination, and changing Care to self-study. I'm picking up arithmancy and runes as well," Harry answered, kicking a small stone down the way as they moved to Flourish and Blotts.

"Well, if you need any help, let us know. You'll remember that we took all three of those." Fred drew the younger teen closer to him as he spoke.

"I know." Harry shoved through the gathered crowd carefully before pulling his booklist from his pocket. He'd leave the standard books for last considering that Mr. Blotts would have them behind the counter already bundled, but decided that he'd head off for the Runes books he'd need.

Fred and George had already planned for practically the entire day so that they could keep an eye on him. Fred would go with Harry to get his books, while George would get their own. George would stay with Harry while he went to Scribblus Stationary and Fred would disappear into Rosa Lee Teabag to get Harry's birthday order. Fred would take Harry to Eeylops for Hedwig's things while George went to Gambol and Japes for joke supplies. After that, they were to meet everyone else at Madam Malkin's for fittings.

It didn't take them long to finish, and after they were sure they had everything they needed from everywhere else, George and Fred led Harry back to Madam Malkin's. Ron and Ginny were stood up on the tailor's stools as enchanted measuring tapes rolled out around them when the three opened the door and entered the shop.

Harry tipped his head to the side as he noticed Mrs. Weasley biting her lip and counting her coins. After making sure that Ron and Ginny were occupied he shuffled over to her side, "I'll pay for the twins and Ron. Ginny deserves to get something nice."

Molly beamed at him and hugged him tight before going over to help Ginny decide on her dress.

Harry jumped when arms wrapped around his waist, and he curled in on himself for a moment before he registered the heat and the scents that enveloped him. The twins hugged him carefully, giving him a gentle squeeze before they whispered into his ear, "Thank you for that." Fred pressed a kiss against the side of his head before the two of them grinned and added, "We need to go talk to Mum about Ronnie's robes."

Harry shook his head, knowing that they were planning a prank of some kind, before moving to take Ron's place so that Madam Malkin could measure him for a whole new wardrobe as he’d grown more over the summer.

---

"... we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event which has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year!" Professor Dumbledore announced, and while the twins noticed Harry shrink in on himself with a wild look in his eyes, Fred just couldn't contain the "You're joking!" that burst from his mouth.

After Dumbledore's assurances that he was not joking the twins both tuned him out to keep their focus on Harry. With every word from Dumbledore, Harry shrunk more and more until he'd practically disappeared under the table. George hated that the houses were divided by year for the Opening and Leaving Feasts, he – and he knew Fred did too – really wished that he could sit next to Harry and wrap him up in his arms, (Or a blanket. A blanket would work too.) and cuddle him to death. They had a feeling that Harry would be joining them in their bed again.

And they would be right.

Harry crept into their bed just after midnight, shivering like a leaf and clutching the blanket the twins had made him for his birthday the year before around his shoulders. He carefully climbed up into the bed between the twins who hadn't moved more than their heads when he opened the door.

Once he'd settled down, they wrapped their arms around his sides and shifted closer to him as he buried his face against Fred's chest.

"What's wrong, Harbor?" Fred questioned quietly, gently rubbing his hand over Harry's back.

"I'm going to end up in the tournament. I just know it. Something bad always happens. I know this year it will be that. I don't want to be in the tournament," Harry whispered frantically, as he pressed as close to Fred as possible.

"We'll take care of you, Harbor. We'll take care of everything," Fred whispered into Harry's hair as he cuddled the younger teen close to his chest. "If it does happen, we know exactly how to help." He pressed a light kiss to the top of Harry's wild hair before meeting his brother's eyes over the smaller boy's head.

George pushed close to Harry's back as he met Fred's eyes. He nodded carefully, making sure not to disturb Harry who was beginning to calm down as they petted him. They had people throughout the school who would be able to help if something does happen, and George had a feeling that Harry was right and something was going to happen, especially since the Headmaster had announced that the drawing of the names would occur after the Hallowe'en Feast.

"Relax, Harbor. Just put it out of your mind," George whispered into the raven's ear as he tugged a spare blanket up over the younger teen. "We'll take care of everything. We'll take care of you. You know we will."

"I do. I know you'll take care of me," Harry breathed, the tension in his body releasing as he burrowed down under the blankets and into the crook of Fred's neck. "You always ... do." He trailed off, and the twins knew that he'd fallen asleep in their arms.

"We'll meet the boys tomorrow." George grinned at Fred when they spoke the same words at the same time before he tucked his face against the back of Harry's head and settled in for sleep.

~

The next day was a Friday, but there were no classes until after the weekend - both for the staff's peace of mind and so that the new students would be able to go through the castle and find their classes - so Fred and George sent out the messages to the rest of their group.

Contrary to popular opinion about most Gryffindors, the Twins had friends in all the Houses. Of course, most of their public friends were Gryffindors, but there were friends from all the Houses that they met with. From Ravenclaw: Bradley Hunters, sixth year; Michael Burnside, the seventh year Head Boy; Jeremy Stretton, fifth year; and Takashi Noda, fifth year. From Hufflepuff: Cedric Diggory, sixth year; Tamsin Applebee, sixth year; Trace Applebee, seventh year; Apollo Burke, fifth year; Gabriel Tate, fifth year; and Haruka Endoh, fifth year. There were less from Slytherin, of course, but still, there were some: Adrian Pucey, sixth year; Marcus Flint, seventh year; Terrence Higgs, seventh year; Cassius Warrington, sixth year; Miles Bletchley, sixth year; Graham Montague, sixth year; and Auxley Urquhart, sixth year.

The group of them had a room in the Dungeons due to the amount of empty space, and extra warding put up down there that they used for their meet-ups, and it was well stocked with seating, and food - thanks to the House-Elves in the kitchens - so they met up at least once a week to go over homework or other problems.

Just after lunch, Fred and George grabbed Lee, Atlas Carmichael, Corvin Burke, and David Nolton – their free friends from Gryffindor - and they went to meet the others down in the dungeons. The twenty-three of them would have plenty to talk about.

Summer vacations were gone through, the opinions on this year's Firsties and the issues arising in each house that would need to be watched were mentioned, and then it came to the reason the meeting was called.

"It's about Harry," Fred started, shifting around on the couch where he and George were sprawled out together.

The two then endured the five minutes of teasing from the others as they all knew about the crush the Twins had on the young Savior. They both flushed red but settled in to wait them out until they could speak.

"He joined you in your bed, didn't he?" Lee questioned from his seat across the room between Takashi and Haruka who had been helping him with his Japanese language books that he’d started over the summer. "I heard the door open, but I didn't look."

"Yes, he did," George answered, pulling Fred's feet up into his lap as the other teen continued, "He almost had a panic attack last night."

"The tournament freaked him out that much," George added.

"Of course, it did. Merlin only knows the shit that he goes through," Cedric agreed, flipping himself around in his armchair until his head nearly touched the ground. "The rumors of him being attacked by Professor Quirrell, the monster from two years ago, and Sirius Black last year. What else could happen?! Someone from one of the other schools attacking him?"

The other boys began to throw out ways that something could happen to Harry and the twins only shook their heads before settling in.

---

Sunday, October 30th, seemed to come quicker than they expected and soon they were waiting for their foreign visitors to arrive. The entire school was lined up in the courtyard, house-by-house in neat rows. The twins stood behind Harry, bracketing him in with the rest of the Quidditch team around them.

They'd been waiting for almost half-an-hour when someone shouted, "Up there! In the sky!"

Everyone looked up to watch as a group of seven large winged horses descended from the sky pulling a large carriage like the ones from the children's fairy tales about Cinderella. Hagrid was nearly run over as the carriage bounced to the ground.

The door on the side opened, and a young man in a pastel blue uniform jumped down before pulling out a set of stairs. He stood next to the stairs, helping the dozen-and-a-half girls and three children down from the carriage with three other young men lining the way after their own descents. Eventually, only the Head of Beauxbatons was left to exit.

Whispers broke out among the Hogwarts population as a thin and very tall, almost-eight-feet tall, woman descended the stairs to join her students. She led the way across the grounds as the group of just over two dozen went to meet Headmaster Dumbledore who had stepped down from his place at the head of the stairs.

"Olympe, welcome. Welcome to the Beauxbatons Contingent!" He exchanged double kisses with the tall woman before asking her, "Would you all like to go inside or would you rather wait for Igor?"

"We will wait. Igor should not take long," She told him, her accent thick but still understandable.

The sound of water being violently moved sounded, and the attention of both schools turned to the lake, just in time to see a large wooden ship burst out from under the water. Dark oak wood made up the entirety, and the white cotton sails had the Durmstrang red double eagle emblazoned across them.

The ship moored against the beach with a harsh sounding thud and a few calls went up in a language the twins assumed to be Bulgarian before a wide slated gangplank was pushed down over the side to slam against the soft soil of the beach next to the boat. Sixteen muscular and well-packed young men descended after which nine active young women followed. All were dressed in the thick furred red cloaks of the Durmstrang uniform.

"Igor," Dumbledore greeted simply, dipping his head to the bearded man who stepped down after his students.

"Albus," The thin dark-haired man, greeted in return as he clasped arms with the elder man. He bowed his head to the rest of the Hogwarts Staff before turning back to face Dumbledore as the man moved back up the stairs.

"Lunch will be served in half-an-hour, but refreshments have been provided to warm and welcome our guests." Dumbledore smiled before with a sweeping motion of his arm, motioned to the doors. "Please join us in the Great Hall."

All three schools turned and disappeared inside; Beauxbatons first, Durmstrang second, and Hogwarts in order of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin as the rear. The Hogwarts students split off to return their uniform cloaks to their dorms, while the students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons disappeared through the full oak doors of the Great Hall.

It didn't take long for the entire population to be congregated in the Great Hall with the Beauxbatons students sitting at the end of the Ravenclaw table and the Durmstrang students at the end of the Slytherin table.

Lunch was eaten mostly in silence, as the Hogwarts students spent most of their time studying or in the cases of Ravenclaw and Slytherin, attempting to get the other schools engaged in conversation.

Soon, the dishes were removed, and Headmaster Dumbledore was standing to give his announcements about the tournament. The twins tuned him out however as none of it had to do with them, due to the fact that they wouldn't come of age until April unlike Lee and Angelina, October and August babies respectively.

They only tuned back in when a side door opened and a small group of Ministry officials entered with Mr. Filch in the center holding a wooden cup carved with ornate leaves and vines all over the outside of the bowl and down the stem before it met with a carving of several animals – an eagle, a doe, and a long-bodied slender dragon. An unknown liquid could be heard sloshing around inside with every step of the group, and Mr. Filch looked like he was hard-pressed to keep it all inside.

The cup was set down on the stone pedestal that had been coaxed from the floor of the castle by Professor Flitwick that morning. Once it had settled on the stand, a blue flame popped into existence from the liquid, and after a broad sweeping motion from the Headmaster, a circle of blue and purple magic appeared around the pedestal; an age line.

This would be the perfect time to test their new potion.

~

The next day – and the next week would be as well – was limited to core classes only, and a good portion of the seventh years, as well as the few of-age sixth years all, took the chance between classes to put their names into the cup. It was nearing lunchtime when the twins attempted to test their new potion.

They each took a single drop - which should age them enough physically (and possibly magically but that was an unknown) for them to be past their seventeenth birthday - before attempting to step over the age line, the results of which were known as three muggleborn Ravenclaw firsties had stepped over it that morning before class and after a moment had sprouted some wicked beards before being ejected from the line.

It seemed to work for a moment before they too sprouted a pair of wicked beards and were playfully ejected from the circle by its magic.

"Success!" Fred crowed before turning to look at George. He almost immediately broke down into laughter at the mass of hair sprouting from the other's face. George took one look at him in return, and nearly passed out he was laughing so much.

"Hospital wing, Messrs. Weasley," A stern voice called from the doors, and they turned to watch as Professor McGonagall entered the room from the hallway.

"Of course, Professor." They got to their feet, and after sharing a grin with Lee who had dropped onto a bench at the Gryffindor table in gales of laughter, they departed from the Great Hall and headed to the infirmary to get Madam Pomphrey to remove the beards.

That night, after dinner had been eaten, Headmaster Dumbledore stood from his seat and moved to stand next to the goblet. "We will now draw the names of our champions. From Beauxbatons..." The goblet's fire flared purple as it spat out a circular piece of blue paper. "Fleur Delacour!"

The young blonde woman rose from the Ravenclaw table, curtsied to Madame Maxime before disappearing into the side room where the Tournament officials were waiting to explain what would happen next. A few of the others from Beauxbatons looked like they were about to cry as she headed off, but she paid them no mind as she did so.

"From Durmstrang..." A piece of dark red paper was spat out by the goblet and Dumbledore had to turn it over to read it. "Viktor Krum!"

The young Professional Quidditch Player stood from his place at the very end of the Slytherin table to applause from all three schools. He pulled his red jacket close to his body as he moved to stand in front of the Head table. Krum snapped his arms to his sides as he clicked his heels together before he bowed to the table. After a moment in the dip, he rose back up and then disappeared into the same room where Fleur had gone just before him.

"And finally, the Champion for Hogwarts..." The fire flared again, and a clean piece of white parchment popped out into the Headmaster's hands. "Cedric Diggory!"

The Hufflepuff rose from his table, his brown hair falling over his eyes as he tugged lightly at his tie, straightening the black and yellow fabric down the center of his chest. He dipped his head to the Head table before joining the other champions in the side room.

"Congratulations to-" Dumbledore began but was interrupted by the Goblet spitting out another paper and then going out. He swiftly caught it before reading it out, "Harry Potter."

Silence.

"Harry Potter, please join the other champions. Harry Potter."

The twins watched as Harry was elbowed by Hermione until he rose from his seat and stiffly moved to enter the other room.

~

Harry barely heard as Fleur asked him a question, but he noticed the searching look from Cedric and the confused frown on Viktor's face. He didn't say anything as Mr. Bagman - one of the Ministry Officials - blathered on about him being an extraordinary case.

"Harry," He turned to look at the Headmaster as the old man stepped close and looked down over the top of his glasses at him calmly. "Did you put your name into the Goblet?"

"No." He was numb, and that reflected in the flat tone of his voice.

"Did you get someone of age to do it for you?"

"No."

Harry tuned out the rest of the conversation, at least until Professor Moody spoke.

"Well, it's obvious, ain't it?" Moody had just entered the room and was clunking his way over to stand in front of the fire.

"What is?" Headmaster Karkoff questioned, shifting uneasily as the ex-Auror's glass eye trained right on him.

"Someone's entered Potter, knowing that he'd have to compete."

Harry could feel a weight settling on his shoulders, and he rolled them in hopes of removing it, though it was a failed attempt. He tuned back into the discussion when the ex-Auror practically growled at Fleur.

"Perhaps someone is hoping that Potter will die for it."

Harry ignored the rest of the conversation, at least until he noticed that they were discussing the First Task.

"... designed to test your daring. ... take place on November twenty-fourth in front of the other students and the panel of judges. ... not permitted to ask for help of any kind from their teachers ... only permitted their wands ..."

Harry kept his eyes trained on the ground as he walked back to the Common Room. It went unnoticed to him that the Fat Lady's portrait swung open on its own or that the common room went silent upon his entry.

"So? How'd you do it?" Ron questioned, stepping forward from the crowd.

"I didn't," Harry replied flatly, raising his head to look up at the entire group who was congregated in the common room. He held up a hand when it looked like the room’s occupants were about to break out in protests. "I couldn't give less of a toss if you don't believe me. It's obvious that you were never my friends if you are standing here. Seeing as the only ones not here, are the fifth and sixth-year boys, the majority of the Quidditch team, and Neville, then I have no choice but to assume that they are the only real friends I have in this Merlin-cursed House." He glared until a path was opened and then moved through to the stairs.

He didn't even bother turning to look at the group as he spoke again, "I will be moving out of the fourth-year boys’ dorm, and I will not speak to any of you until you apologize, and get some brain cells of your own rather than the two House shared ones." He stomped his way up to the fourth-year dorm and slammed the door open.

Neville was sitting on his bed, reading a book, and he looked up when Harry entered the room. "I don't think you did it."

"I know."

Neville merely nodded before returning to his book.

Harry stood in the center of the room before calling, “Dobby.”

The tiny house-elf appeared in front of him, dressed in a pair of black slacks, a green shirt, a pair of blue ballet shoes, and the tiara that Luna had given him the year before.

“Harry Potter called for Dobby.” He bounced in place in excitement at being called by the one who’d freed him.

“Yes, could you gather all my things and put them in my trunk, please? I’m going to move into the sixth-year dorms.”

Dobby eagerly nodded and began gathering all of Harry’s things. It didn’t take long, and only a few things were returned from the others in the room. The books that he’d lent Neville were left with him, but the others from Dean were returned, the few quills that had been parcelled out between Ron and Seamus, and one of Harry’s cloaks was dragged out from under Ron’s bed. With everything packed, Dobby snapped his fingers, and the trunk disappeared.

“Thank you, Dobby,” Harry praised as he turned to exit the room. He didn’t say a word to the few people standing in the hallway as he started up the stairs and disappeared into the sixth-year dorm.

~

“Harbor, are you alright?” George questioned from where he was lying on the bed.

Harry shook his head as he began to pace back and forth next to the end of the twins’ bed. He kept rolling his shoulders back and twisting slightly, which worried the occupants of the room.

“Harry, are you feeling okay?” Lee questioned from his seat at his desk.

“I-” Harry croaked out before his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed to the floor.

“Hold it!” Michael Quinn, the eldest of their year and their dorm-speaker, shouted as the others in the room moved to get close to the younger teen. “Eli, check him over before we move him. We don’t want to hurt him too much if at all.”

Jordan Ellis, the youngest of the eight of them, who was a Healing spell fiend moved over to Harry’s side and began casting a few spells on him. “There’s something here. Something not the binding of the Goblet, but I don’t know what it is. A Healer could find out, or the Goblins could.”

“Anything else?” Fred questioned, wanting to know if he could pick up the smaller teen and move him to their bed now. “I won’t hurt him if I pick him up, will I?”

“No, other than a bit of stress and being a few stone underweight, which makes sense based on what we know, he’s perfectly fine.”

Fred stepped close and after making sure that he had a firm grip on the smaller teenager, lifted him up and moved to the bed, where he carefully deposited Harry in the center. He waved his wand a few times, changing Harry in pajamas and summoning his blanket from his trunk before tucking him in and turning to the other boys in the room.

“We need to come up with some way to get Harry out tomorrow to Gringotts.”

And so, the eight sixteen and seventeen-year-olds settled in to make up a plan that would involve the whole school.

---

The next morning, the twins woke up at dawn and disappeared down to the kitchens. The house-elves were already awake and working on breakfast, but they all look up at the door when they opened the portrait.

“Masters Fire! What can we be doing for you this morning?” The Head Elf, an Elder with pale brown skin and big amber eyes, named Daisy asked as she brushed her hands off on the little apron around her waist.

“We’ll need breakfast in the Hive, please. And we need to speak to Coriander, Bunny, Viper, and Tabby, as well please,” Fred told her, as he and George settled at the counter where she was kneading dough.

The four House-Elves in question were the Heads for the Dorms, and would be the perfect ones to get their friends down to the Hive – their room – on such short notice. The four House-elves – three male and one female – appeared from wherever they had been working and stopped before them.

“What can we be doing for Masters Fire?” Tabby asked, his silver eyes observing the twins.

“We need for you to bring some students from their dorms to the Hive.” George held up a hand calmly when they exchanged uncomfortable glances. “I know it’s not normally how things are done, but time is of the essence. We need to make sure that Master Lightning is not blamed for what happened last night, and we need to get him out of the castle and to the Goblins.”

“Dobby can be taking Masters Fire and Master Lightning outside the wards!” A young House-Elf chirped from where he was topping a big tray of sticky buns with frosting.

“We can be getting who you wants,” Viper told him, her green eyes meeting George’s for a moment. “We just be needing a list.”

The twins handed over the list they’d made last night, dipped their heads to the House-Elves and then disappeared out the portrait and away to the Hive.

They didn’t have to wait long before the friends they’d asked for were popped out onto the set of mattresses that were laid out in the corner for naps during exam time. With a snap and wave of George’s wand, the twins started blasting out different beeping and bell noises to wake the others.

“Bloody Hell!” Being shouted seemed to be the unanimous decision of all the boys that had been dropped into the room.

“We’re really sorry about the time and the wake-up call, but we need your help getting Harry out of the school and to the Goblins.” George gave them a sheepish grin as clothes for each of them popped into the room.

“Why should we help that little cheater?” Gabriel Tate asked moodily, arms crossed over his chest once he’d changed his pajama top into a soft blue jumper.

Noises of agreement sounded from several of the others, and the twins sighed.

“Harry didn’t put his name into the Goblet,” Fred began, and he gave a glare at the ones who opened their mouths to protest. “He locked himself in our room between classes. And he only knows four people who are of age well enough to ask, and all of them would have refused had he done so.”

“Who?” Gabriel asked, biting his lip as he looked at the two of them.

“Ced, who would have refused as it would get Harry hurt, and we know that Ced sees him as a little brother.” George began.

“Lee, for the same reasons,” Fred added.

“Mike Quinn, who wouldn’t do it because he didn’t even want to enter himself.”

“And Angelina, who is the Gryff team’s Mother, and that’s about all we have to say for that.”

Their friends stared at them for a long time before Cedric spoke, “What did you have in mind?”

“We need the whole school, and our guests involved,” Fred began their explanation, and he grinned when the others perked up at the words. “We thought that a school-wide scavenger hunt would work wonders on attitudes today. The elves helped set everything up already, we talked to them when they popped you here. You simply have to get everyone to participate. Michael, we figured that you could set up a system to award the tin of cookies the Elves baked, something like the points and every time someone brings you proof of finding an item, then points are awarded.”

“Good idea,” Michael agreed, straightening out his tie – he wasn’t dressed in his uniform but a pale blue dress shirt with a thin black tie and black slacks. “How are you getting out?”

“Dobby, one of the House-Elves, will get us to outside the wards, then we’ll apparate to the Elgin Branch of Gringotts,” George responded, standing from his seat to moving one of the long tables to eat breakfast. “Thanks to Bill, we know that the branches all connect, so we should be able to get to the Diagon Alley Branch.”

“Will you be able to make it that far?” Tamsin Applebee questioned, biting his lip as he settled down at the table.

“We’re very powerful together,” was Fred’s only reply as he settled next to his brother and began dishing out breakfast.

The others just nodded and settled around the table. They had plenty to do today.

The twins went back up to their room and woke up Harry. The younger teen groaned quietly but opened his eyes to look at them. A small smile bloomed on his face, and he sleepily sat up to look at them. He looked different again, and they now knew for certain that something wrong was going on.

“Get dressed, Harbor. Dobby will bring you something to eat, but we have to leave in an hour,” Fred told him, pressing a light kiss to his forehead before he and George went to his trunk and began digging through it for appropriate clothes. They pulled out a pair of soft gray slacks, a light blue button up, one of the pairs of ankle boots with the raised heels, and a warm gray cashmere sweater that had been a present from Mike last Christmas.

Harry watched them for a moment before he nodded and disappeared out the side door to the showers.

The older years – Fourth year and above – have separate year showers, unlike the younger years who have a communal shower for each gender so there would be no leaving the room to go down the hallway to the bathroom.

The twins carefully set out the outfit before calling for Dobby to bring Harry something to eat. The little elf brought out a small plate with a toasted tomato sandwich and set it down on the nightstand next to the bed.

Harry took only ten minutes in the shower before he was coming out with a towel wrapped around his waist, and a partially closed bathrobe around his shoulders. He headed over to the bed and after a moment staring at the twins, they huffed and climbed up onto Lee’s bed before drawing the curtains so he couldn’t be seen.

They knew it was because he didn’t want his scars to be seen by the two of them, and they respected that. He was a private and scared person, and they knew that he needed both time and their patience before he’d ever think about showing them to anyone. They often hoped that he would be comfortable enough to show them, but they could wait years for that day to come.

“You can come out now!”

The twins pushed themselves out of bed and grinned at him when they saw how he looked. He was gorgeous, dressed up the way they wanted with his hair done up in a wild curled bun.

“Are Masters ready to be going?” Dobby questioned.

“Take us as close to Elgin as you can,” George answered as they each grabbed one of Harry’s hands.

Dobby nodded, and the four of them disappeared from the room with a pop.

---

They appeared in a dark alley with another pop, and the three students turned to look at the little Elf.

“Where are we?” Fred questioned, peeking out of the alleyway.

“Auchinroath,” Dobby answered, and after the twins thanked him, he disappeared.

“Where are we going?” Harry asked when the twins wrapped their arms around his waist and shoulders.

“We need to go to Gringotts, and Elgin is the closest place with a Branch,” George answered before the two of them focused on the image of the Elgin Gringotts Branch steps and disapparated with a loud crack.

They appeared on the steps with another crack, though it was muffled by the spells put up around the Apparition point they’d appeared in. George grabbed Harry’s hand as they led the younger man up the steps and into the building. They joined one of the teller lines and settled in to wait for their turn.

Fred stayed back with Harry while George talked to the clerk. The clerk looked between George and Harry as he spoke with George before, after a lengthy discussion, another Goblin was called over, and George waved over Harry and Fred from where they were standing.

The three teenagers followed the short brown-haired goblin back behind the teller’s desk and back through a door. It didn’t seem to be a long walk, but the twins knew that they could be covering kilometers above ground while they walk only a few meters underground. Soon they reached another door, which the goblin knocked on and they were called in after a few seconds.

The Goblin that greeted them from behind the desk was one of strong stature and salted black hair. He took one look at Harry before speaking, “Finally a chance to talk to you, Heir Potter. I am Ironclaw, the Potter family account manager. However, I’m sure that there was another reason for you coming in here, especially while school is in session.”

The three teenagers settled down into the three chairs before the desk, the twins on each side of Harry and Harry tailor-style in the deep armchair in the center.

“What did you initially come here for?” Ironclaw questioned, tapping a bundle of papers together as he looked at the three of them. “I have reasons for calling you in, of course, since you are fourteen years old and have not come to see me in the four years that you have been over eleven.”

“My name was drawn from the Goblet of Fire last night.” Harry shifted in his seat as he began his explanation. “According to a friend of ours, who wrote out a note for you-” He handed the note over to Ironclaw, be continuing, “after I collapsed last night, he took some scans and found something he couldn’t explain. The twins dragged me here to see if you could explain. Everything. Because I get the constant feeling that I am missing something.”

“First, you will have to take a Bloodline test.” When Harry shifted in his seat, Ironclaw spoke again, “All three of you can take one if that would make you feel better?”

Harry turned to the twins, but they’d already begun to nod and roll up their sleeves. Harry rolled up his own sleeves as Ironclaw pulled three small blades and a set of different parchments from the topmost drawer of his desk.

A knife and parchment were set before the three of them, and in order of birth, Fred then George then Harry cut their wrists and after ten drops of blood hit the parchments, took the offered kerchiefs to stem the blood flow until their magic healed the tiny cuts.

Ironclaw raised the papers and gave each one a little shake before setting them back down. The twins and Ironclaw looked to Fred’s paper first, after the three teens decided that they would share at the end, once they’d seen their results on their own.

~Bloodline / Inheritance Test~

Birth Name: Fregeodrrigiancus Castor Pollux Weasley-Prewett

Acknowledged Name: Fredricus Castor Weasley

Age: 16

Magical Core Level: Combined Level – 196, Solo Level - 98

Oddities: Half-Soul Carrier due to Ritual Circle

Parents: Carrier – Arcturus Weasley [Status: Living], Father(s) – Gideon Prewett (Biological) [Status: Living – Ward-Hidden], Fabian Prewett (Magical Donor) [Status: Living – Ward-Hidden]

Godparents: Andromeda Tonks nee Black (Godmother) [Status: Living], Caradoc Dearborn (Godfather) [Status: Living], Jacques Delacour (Godfather) [Status: Living]

Soul’s Hearts: Harthizik Potter, Draconis Malfoy

Familiar(s): Shared - One Unknown Feline, Single – One Unknown Marsupial

Bloodlines / Titles:

• Scion Black – 1 seat, 3 votes
• Heir Prewett – 1 seat, 2 votes
• Scion Weasley – 1 seat, 1 vote

Magical Abilities:

• Combination
• Pyromancy
• Animagus

Blocks / Binds / Contracts:

• Soul’s Hearts Block – Partially broken through contact (1991), cast by Margaret Prewett
• Loyalty Bind to Margaret Prewett – Broken through magical explosion (1987), cast by Margaret Prewett
• Control Bind – Broken through magical explosion (1987), cast by Margaret Prewett

The twins were confused by the oddity and their listed parents, which didn’t make any sense. The name listed didn’t make any sense either. None of this made any sense, so with that, they turned to look at George’s parchment.

~Bloodline / Inheritance Test~

Birth Name: Fregeodrrigiancus Castor Pollux Weasley-Prewett

Acknowledged Name: Georgian Pollux Weasley

Age: 16

Magical Core Level: Combined Level – 196, Solo Level – 98

Oddities: Half-Soul Carrier due to Ritual Circle

Parents: Carrier – Arcturus Weasley [Status: Living], Father(s) – Gideon Prewett (Biological) [Status: Living – Ward-Hidden], Fabian Prewett (Magical Donor) [Status: Living – Ward-Hidden]

Godparents: Andromeda Tonks nee Black (Godmother) [Status: Living], Caradoc Dearborn (Godfather) [Status: Living], Jacques Delacour (Godfather) [Status: Living]

Soul’s Hearts: Harthizik Potter, Draconis Malfoy

Familiar(s): Shared - One Unknown Feline, Single – One Unknown Marsupial

Bloodlines / Titles:

• Scion Black – 1 seat, 3 votes
• Heir Prewett – 1 seat, 2 votes
• Scion Weasley – 1 seat, 1 vote

Magical Abilities:

• Combination
• Pyromancy
• Animagus

Blocks / Binds / Contracts:

• Soul’s Hearts Block – Partially broken through contact (1991), cast by Margaret Prewett
• Loyalty Bind to Margaret Prewett – Broken through magical explosion (1987), cast by Margaret Prewett
• Control Bind – Broken through magical explosion (1987), cast by Margaret Prewett

And it was basically exactly the same, the only difference being their names on the page. The twins were left to discuss their pages as Harry and Ironclaw looked to his parchment.

~Bloodline / Inheritance Test~

Birth Name: Harthizik Ophiuchus Potter

Acknowledged Name: Harry James Potter

Age: 14

Magical Core Level: 259

Oddities: Soul Carrier for Thomas Marvolo Riddle III.

Parents: Carrier – Regulus Arcturus Black [Status: Living – Ward-Hidden], Father(s) – James Potter (Biological) [Status: Living – Ward-Hidden], Rabastan Lestrange (Blood and Magical Donor) [Status: Living]

Godparents: Sirius Black III (Godfather) [Status: Living], Narcissa Malfoy nee Black (Godmother) [Status: Living], Lilian Evans (Godmother) [Status: Living – Ward-Hidden], Remus Lupin II (Godfather) [Status: Living], Rudolphus Lestrange (Godfather) [Status: Living], Violet Greengrass (Godmother) [Status: Living], Bartemius Crouch Junior (Godfather) [Status: Living], Severus Prince-Snape (Godfather) [Status: Living]

Soul’s Hearts: Fredricus Weasley, Georgian Weasley, Draconis Malfoy

Familiar(s): Two Unknown Serpents, One Owl (Hedwig – Snowy Owl)

Bloodlines / Titles:

• Heir-Apparent Black – 1 seat, 3 votes
• Heir Blishwick – 1 seat, 1 vote
• Heir-Lord Emrys – 2 seats, 10 votes
• Heir Fleamont – 1 seat, 1 vote
• Heir-Apparent Gaunt – No seats, no votes
• Heir Gryffindor – 1 seat, 6 votes
• Heir-Lord Le Fae – 1 seat, 6 votes
• Heir Lestrange – 1 seat, 2 votes
• Heir-Apparent Lupin – 1 seats, 1 votes
• Heir-Lord Pendragon – 2 seats, 10 votes
• Heir-Apparent Peverell – 1 seat, 6 votes
• Heir Potter – 1 seat, 3 votes
• Heir-Apparent Prince – 1 seat, 3 votes
• Heir-Apparent Slytherin – 1 seat, 6 votes
• Heir Thanatos – 1 seat, 6 votes

Magical Abilities:

• Natural Carrier
• Mage Sight
• Pyromancy
• Parselmouth
• Metamorphmagus
• Animagus
• Holder of the Hallows
• Necromancy
• Control
• Omnilingualism

Blocks / Binds / Contracts:

• 3 Binds of Magical Power equal to 50% – Partially Broken through accidental magic (1985, 1987, 1990), cast by Albus Dumbledore
• 16 Blocks of Learning – Partially Broken by accidental magic (1985, 1987, 1990), cast by Albus Dumbledore
• Blood Glamours – Partially Broken through contact with blood relation (1993) and a superficial Magical Contract (1994), Cast by James Potter and Lilian Evans
• Incomplete Bonding Contract to Ginevra Weasley and One Unknown – Created by Albus Dumbledore and Margaret Prewett
• Soul’s Heart Block – Partial Broken through contact (1991), Cast by Albus Dumbledore
• Loyalty Bind to Albus Dumbledore, Margaret Prewett – Partially Broken through magical overload (1992), cast by Albus Dumbledore
• Control Bind – Partially Broken through magical overload (1992), cast by Albus Dumbledore

~

Harry couldn’t believe it… Everything he knew had been a lie. A well-kept lie, but a lie none-the-less. He wasn’t the son of Lily Evans, and he was in no way shape or form, a half-blood. In truth, he was the son of the Houses of Black, Lestrange, and Potter, and the epitome of being a pureblood. There were no non-magicals in his direct line for almost a thousand years.

“Are you okay?” Fred questioned quietly, gently resting an arm on his shoulders from the left side where the older Twin had knelt down next to his chair. He leaned into the touch gratefully.

“No, I’m not. Everything I knew… Everything I’d been told or learned about my family… About my blood! Everything was a lie perpetrated by Albus Too-Many-Fucking-Names-And-Titles Dumbledore.” Harry pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes. “I am not the son of James Potter and Lily Evans. I am not a half-blood. I am not the Champion of the Light. I am not even functioning at the fullest of my capabilities because the Headmaster decided to block off most of my magic and lock up everything else to only be usable when he deemed it time.”

“Who are you then?” George asked, not wanting to look at the parchment and invade Harry’s privacy.

“I am not Harry James Potter, Son of Lily Evans and James Potter; Half-blood. I am Harthizik Ophiuchus Potter, Son of Rabastan Lestrange, Regulus Black, and James Potter. I am the Pureblood Heir of the Darkness.”

Ironclaw left the room so they could calm down as he went to dig up the information that would be needed to explain everything that is going on. He’d need books and information pamphlets.

When he returned ten minutes later with everything he’d need, he found the three teens in an entirely different tableau than he’d left them. Fred and George had changed the armchair into a wider seat, and they were squished into it with Harry sprawled over their laps, his head tucked under one twin’s chin and his legs tucked up into the other’s lap.

Ironclaw settled down behind his desk, dropping the bag he’d put everything into on the desktop.

“Now there are a few matters that we have to settle before you are returned to school. First, your brother William has been called so we can give him this news, he will arrive in a few moments,” Ironclaw told them, setting his arms on the desktop. “Second, the matter of the purges you will need to undergo to remove the blocks, binds, and any other contaminants out of your bodies and magic. Third, there is the matter of your titles and whether you would like to take them up at current or if you’d rather wait and do so later on. Lastly, there is the matter of any questions you may have that I can answer.”

The twins knew that Bill deserved to know about what they’d found out. They also had a multitude of questions, but it would be best to start at the easiest places.

“How long would the purges take?” Fred asked, curling his fingers tightly around Harry’s – they should really get used to calling him Harthizik … – calf and clutching the other hand against the side of his ankle.

“About an hour in total and that includes the recovery time.” Ironclaw was in the process of writing up requests for the ritual spaces needed for the purges as he answered the question.

“Is it possible to take up our titles without anyone knowing who has done so?” George asked, tucking his head down over Harthizik’s hair and lightly petting down the younger teen’s spine.

“Yes, it is. We, at Gringotts, simply hand over an altered version of the announcement sheets that we are supposed to give up before Announcement Meetings. The next Announcement Meeting is not until the new year, so for now, all of your titles will be kept off unless you feel it necessary to add them,” Ironclaw answered. “If you don’t want anyone to see your rings there are specially made chains for them, which can be retrieved in a few short moments.”

“We might as well then, but only the Heir rings.” George sighed quietly as he lightly kissed Harthizik’s head.

Ironclaw nodded and begun digging ring boxes with the family crests of each family embossed on the top of the case from inside the top drawer of his desk.

While he was busy doing that, the door was opened, and Bill slipped inside before closing the door behind him. He was dressed up in his office-work uniform; a pair of skin-tight brown breeches, an equally skin-tight gray tunic, a black vest, a thick belt of plain brown leather and a pair of black calf-high dragonhide boots. His hair was pulled back into a simple bun, and he started when he saw the three teenagers.

“Hi, Bill,” Harthizik croaked from his place curled up in the twins’ laps.

“What in Merlin’s name are you three doing here?!” Bill questioned as he came over and knelt down in front of them. He rested a hand to their foreheads lightly before turning to look at the parchments that Ironclaw gave up when Harthizik pointed to the desk. He read them over quickly before standing up, and sighing, “It would probably be best if I took one as well to make sure that this isn’t limited to the twins.”

“Of course,” Ironclaw agreed, finishing his pulling of the ring boxes from the desk before he dug out another test sheet. “I’m sure you have a blade.”

Bill nodded and reached down to his left boot and pulled a short straight blade from inside. He cut across the palm of his right hand and let the blood drip away before he cleaned both his hand and the blade with a piece of fabric from one of the pockets sewn onto his belt.

Ironclaw shook the parchment before handing it over so Bill could read it. The older redhead read it over quickly before with a sigh, he turned and handed the paper over so the teens could read it.

~Bloodline / Inheritance Test~

Birth Name: William Primus Arcturus Weasley-Prewett

Acknowledged Name: Bill Arthur Weasley

Age: 24

Magical Core Level: 225

Oddities: None Applicable

Parents: Carrier – Arcturus Weasley [Status: Living], Father(s) – Gideon Prewett (Biological) [Status: Living – Ward-Hidden], Fabian Prewett (Magical Donor) [Status: Living – Ward-Hidden]

Godparents: Bilius Weasley (Godfather) [Status: Deceased], Alexandra Longbottom (Godmother) [Status: Living], Ian Marchbanks (Godfather) [Status: Living]

Soul’s Hearts: Fleur Delacour, Dmitri Krosia

Familiar(s): One Unknown Canine

Bloodlines / Titles:

• Scion Black
• Scion Prewett
• Heir Weasley

Magical Abilities:

• Pyromancy
• Animagus
• Mage Sight
• Onmilingualism

Blocks / Binds / Contracts:

• Soul’s Hearts Block – Broken through Magical Maturity (1987), cast by Margaret Prewett
• Loyalty Bind to Margaret Prewett – Broken through Magical Maturity (1987), cast by Margaret Prewett
• Control Bind – Broken through Magical Maturity (1987), cast by Margaret Prewett

“We can assume that Charlie and Percy are the same. I’ll send for them later, and see for sure,” Bill told them, settling into one of the free chairs.

“Why didn’t Dad ever say anything?” Fred asked, both hurt and worried that he’d never said anything.

“Arcturus Weasley is suspected by Gringotts to be under a mess of potions, brewed and administered by Margaret Prewett. This is due to the fact that several pieces of paperwork regarding vaults have been denied due to tampering,” Ironclaw explained before Bill could answer.

“Merlin’s beard.” George pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is all a mess.”

A knock sounded on the door, and Ironclaw looked to it. “That would be the Healer come to collect you three for your purges.”

Fred and George gently pushed Harthizik to his feet before rising to their feet after him. The twins dipped their heads to the goblin before they led Harthizik out.

If Ironclaw hadn’t known that Harthizik hadn’t had any tutoring about how this world worked, he would have been slightly offended by the youngest’s non-compliance with the greetings, but he knew that Harthizik would catch on quickly to everything he’d missed.

---

When the three teenagers returned from their purges almost an hour and a half later, the Healer came first, and if Bill hadn’t known that it was his brothers and Harthizik that had left, he would have suspected that they’d been replaced.

The twins hadn’t changed too much, most of it simply bone structure and slight changes to coloring. Their cheekbones had sharpened some, giving them a more aristocratic look. Their hair had darkened to a copper color, and their eyes had also darkened to an almost cobalt blue. They also appeared to be taller, but that could simply be the way they were standing. They’d filled out a bit more, making them a bit bulkier and Bill could see the power in their bodies as they moved.

Harthizik, on the other hand, had changed so much from the pictures that Bill had been sent that he would have had a hard time believing that was the same boy if he hadn’t already seen how much he’d changed in the past year.

His hair had been left loose after the purge, and the slightly wavy curls that had been a part of his hair had changed to a wild mass of curls that Bill recognized as a Black Family trait. He could also see the Potter hair in there, which made the mass of curls even worse to tame. The color of his hair had been shifted so that instead of being a single color, it faded from black to a dark chocolate brown. Harthizik soon straightened it enough to pull it back into a bun that would keep it out of his face.

Bill noticed that Harthizik’s eyes hadn’t changed too much again, other than a small ring of black around the outside edge of the irises. He didn’t seem to need glasses anymore either, as they were hanging loosely from his hand.

His skin had changed to match the rest of the Potter Family, though slightly lighter as both his other parents were of European – Briton and Frank – descent, it was also flawless – excluding the few scars he’d picked up since returning to the magical world, due to the magic that had permeated them when he’d received them and while they were healing.

Harthizik was taller now, his sight line coming up to Fred and George’s shoulders – making him about five feet four inches which was three inches taller than he had been when he left the room. He’d also filled out a bit more but was still within the fit for being a Seeker.

“We might as well get all the Heir Rings gone through,” Fred commented as he and George settled back down into the still enlarged chair with Harthizik in their laps.

Ironclaw dug through his desk for a moment before pulling out a thin shadowbox with a set of short chain lengths pinned inside with their names pinned above the sample pieces. There were eleven types of chain with a minimum of two sizes and a maximum of six sizes and about six different metals.

“Each of you have the option of picking one of these.” Ironclaw set the shadowbox down on the desktop. “It would probably be the best idea, due to your job–” He pointed to Bill. “–and your need to keep this visit and knowledge hidden.” He looked to the three teens.

They rose from the chair carefully, the twins keeping a hand on Hathizik at all times as they moved to stand before the desk so they could see.

It didn’t take long for the four of them to make their decisions, but Bill had a question, “Will transferring my ID to this chain effect anything?”

“No, your Gringotts Identification Tag will not be affected or affect the magic of the chain and rings,” Ironclaw answered.

Bill nodded before the four of them pointed to the chains they wanted. Bill picked a 25in 2.5mm silver steel (a goblin favorite metal) ball chain, which he explained to the teens would come to house both his Heir rings and his Gringotts ID tag which as he understood it was much like a Muggle Military Dog-tag. The twins each chose a 20in 3mm tungsten snake chain, citing that they didn’t want anyone else to find a way of telling them apart. Harthizik picked out a delicate 20in 3mm titanium wheat chain, figuring that it would be the easiest to hide under his clothes.

Ironclaw handed over three of the boxes to Bill, “These are the Heir and Scion rings for the Houses of Weasley, Prewett, and Black. You’ll have to put them on first before transferring them to the chain.”

Bill nodded quietly before, starting with the Black Scion ring, he began putting the rings onto their appropriate fingers. The two Scion rings went onto his right ring finger, where they combined so that the lower portion of the shield held the three ravens of the Black family crest as well as the double lions of the Prewett family which had been shifted to the bottom, and the upper portion was made up of a pair of twin hands each holding a differently shaped wand, the two sections split by a vertically striped chevron. The Heir ring went onto his left index finger, the double weasels surrounded by a pattern of stars.

For the twins, it was almost identical except the Weasley and Prewett rings were switched around, so the lions were replaced by weasels in the Scion ring, and the Lions were set on a chevroned background in the Heir ring.

With the number of Heir rings that Harthizik was handed, the final conjoined ring ended up being a silver setting holding a black stone with the word ‘HOPE’ engraved on it.

Another goblin entered with a tray in his hands. He came over to each, allowing them to take their chains from the tray before, once the plate was empty, he disappeared back out the door.

“All that must be done to get the rings onto the chain is you must touch it and order them to go,” Ironclaw explained.

It didn’t take the four too long before they succeeded in bringing the rings from their fingers to the chains around their necks where they split once again.

“Excellent. Now, if you need them, you must only call for them.” Ironclaw clapped his hands happily before they all settled again. “Now do you have any questions about your tests?”

“How is it that I am a soul carrier for the Dark Lord?” Harthizik asked, settling himself in the twins’ laps.

“You must understand, Harth, that while Soul Magic is outlawed here in England, it is not in other places of the world,” Bill began, shifting on his chair. “In Egypt and China, Soul Magic is used mainly by Priests and Monks. An Elder will split off a section of their soul and tie it to an object so that they can live long enough to pass on their knowledge. Those Soul Containers will keep them alive, even if they should have died, until the Soul is whole again or the container has been destroyed by Fiendfyre, Basilisk venom, or the Killing Curse. How you came to be one, is a question only the Dark Lord can answer.”

Harthizik nodded, before asking the other question that was on his mind, “What does it mean by Soul’s Hearts?”

“It means you’re ours,” The twins growled out, clutching him tightly to them.

Bill shook his head in amusement at the two of them before explaining for Harthizik what was going on, “Soul’s Hearts is simply the magical term for soulmates. I’m sure you understand how soulmates work.” At Harthizik’s nod, he continued, “Well, the twins and Heir Malfoy are your soulmates. Of course, we’ll have to discuss how you are going to go about getting him to agree, but that can wait until we’ve gone through the rest of your questions.”

“I think my biggest question now is how to find my parents…” Harthizik murmured, tugging lightly at his chain.

The room fell silent as they all thought about the possibilities.

Bill was the first to speak, “Ironclaw, you wouldn’t happen to know if there are any House-Elves remaining for any of Harthizik’s Houses, would you?”

Ironclaw looked at him for a moment before he put his finger to a rune carved on the desk. A quick conversation with whoever was on the other side and Ironclaw removed his finger before turning to the door.

It didn’t take long before the door opened and another goblin entered, a stack of leather folders in his arms. He carefully deposited them onto the desktop before he disappeared from the room.

“Please keep in mind this is a rough estimate, as the last time these values were updated was at least thirteen years ago for some, and a few hundred for others.” Ironclaw began with the topmost folder. “The House of Black has twenty-seven House-Elves. The House of Emrys has six. The House of Fleamont has three. There are none for the House of Gaunt. The House of Gryffindor is recorded to have fifty-five total but sixteen personal House-Elves. House Le Fae has a single House-Elf. House Lestrange has ten. House Lupin has none. House Pendragon has sixteen. House Peverell has three. House Potter has twelve. House Prince has seven. And House Slytherin has sixty-three total but eighteen personal House-Elves.”

“Harth, call for the Head Elves of the Potter, Black, and Lestrange Families, they should be able to find your Dads,” Bill told him, twisting in his seat to look at the youngest.

Harthizik nodded silently, having no words, before he turned to look at the empty space between their chair and the desk. “I, Harthizik Potter, Heir to the Houses of Potter, Black, and Lestrange call to the Head Elves of my families for assistance.”

Three nearly silent pops sounded and three House-Elves appeared, each looking and dressed differently. The first was an old pale gray being with a hunched back, dressed in a simple black pillowcase with a white belt holding it close to her skin. The second was equally as old as the first, but the dark green skinned being stood straight, his gray jumpsuit clean and proper with his name tag delicately sewn onto the breast. The final being was younger than the other two, her red skin taut and her simple cream dress cleanly pressed.

“Master Heart!” The young Elf squeaked happily, bouncing on her toes. “Keri is being so excited to see you! Keri and other Potter elves not be seeing you since you wee little babe and Master James be taking you away to Lion Cottage in Godric’s Hollow.”

“It's nice to see you, Keri,” Harthizik greeted as he rolled to his feet before moving to crouch before the three elves.

“You is being Master Reggie’s son,” The gray-skinned Elf croaked. “Oleander be wondering why Master Heart be calling Elves from Potter, Black, Lestrange homes if he not be living there…”

“Hush, Oleander. Thunder be knowing that Master Heart be soon explaining.” The male Elf lightly cuffed the older Elf’s arm before turning his attention to Harthizik.

“I have a question for all of you. I need to know who of the family is still living,” Harthizik told them. “Thunder, I’ll begin with you.”

“Living members of House Lestrange be limited to Master Xerxes, Master Bastan, and Master Rodo’s grandfather; Rhadamanthus, Master Bastan and Master Rodo’s father, who be disavowed; Master Rodo, who be in Azkaban; Master Bastan, who also be in Azkaban; Missus Trixi, who be Master Rodo’s wife but not Bonded, who also be in Azkaban; … Master Reggie, who be Master Bastan’s Bonded, who be somewhere, I feels him, but I not know exactly where; … Master James, who be Master Bastan’s other Bonded, who be somewhere else too…; and you, Master Heart,” Thunder got visibly confused by the end of his statement, shifting around on his feet as he looked seemingly through the walls.

“Oleander.” Harthizik turned to the oldest of the three House-Elves.

“House Black be having many living members,” Oleander croaked. “Lord Arcturus be yous Great-Grandfather, and he be getting very old; Master Pollux also be yous Great-Grandfather, he be younger but still old; Missus Cassi be in France, and she need young Elves to keep close; Master Marius be in Germany, he be Coinníollach; Missus Calli be in Ireland, she be old now too; Missus Cedrella be the Masters Fire’s Grandmother, and she be living with her Bonded Septimus; Master Alphard be in Italy with his Bondeds Julian and Markos; Master Cygnus be yous, Great-Uncle, and he be living with Lord Arcturus and Master Pollux at Blackhaven Manor; Master Siri be yous Uncle, and he be in Jamaica; Master Reggie be hidden but somewhere; Missus Trixi already told; Missus Andy be living with her Bondeds Theodore and Devin; Missus Narcissa be living with one of her Bondeds Lucius Malfoy while the other be hidden, she also be living with her son Draco; Missus Vidette be Master Marius’ daughter, and she be residing in Russia with her Bondeds Franklin and Anatoly; Master Alin be Vidette’s son, and he be living in the Colonies with his son Corvus who be ten winters; Master Arty be living with the Nasty Lady and his kiddies and hers; Missus Andy’s daughter Dora be going to Auror Academy; Masters Tricks be hidden somewhere too; Master Frank and Missus Alice be in St. Mungo’s and their Bonded Missus Lily be hidden away too; Madame Augusta be living with Master Neville, but he be at Hogwarts; Masters Barty be alive somewhere but hard to pin, and you Master Heart be here.”

“Keri, it’s just me and Dad, isn’t it?” Harthizik asked, settling on his heels.

“… No, Master Heart. Master Charlus’ son Liam disappeared during the war and we not be knowing where he is.” Keri tugged a picture from the pocket of her dress before she handed it over. “The last photo of the Old Family before everyone died and Potter Maison be burned down.”

Harthizik looked down at the picture. Six people stood on a grassy hill with a large home in the background behind them. The two older men were obviously siblings, possibly even twins with the similarities between them – the same wild black hair he’d had as a child, hazel eyes, darkened skin, glasses. The woman standing on the left behind his father was a dark-shaded blonde, her violet eyes shining as she looked down at the laughing form of his father. The woman on the right was also dark-haired, but her hair was a dark brown instead of black and her gray eyes were trained on the other young man as he and James fooled around. The other young man had darker brown hair than his mother, but the same gray eyes, though there was a different shading to the center that Harthizik couldn’t make out the color of. His skin matched that of the other Potter men, but his bone structure and body shape matched his mother and the rest of the Black family.

“I have a request for the three of you,” Harthizik choked out as he moved to hand the photo back to Keri. She shook her head at him before pressing a finger to the picture, it copied, and she grabbed the copy before putting it in her pocket. “I’d like for the Elves of your Houses to search for my parents and the rest of the missing family members. Rabastan is not necessary to find, he’ll be dealt with eventually. I’m sure.”

“We can be doing that!” Keri crowed, wiggling excitedly.

“Thank you,” Harthizik told them, and the three Elves nodded before they disappeared. He got back to his feet and moved back to the chair with the twins. They pulled him back up into their laps before settling their arms around his waist.

The twins had a few questions of their own. “How are we half-soul carriers by a ritual circle?” They questioned.

“There isn’t exact certainty, of course, without asking your father, but there is a pretty good theory.” Ironclaw pulled a book from his desk, he searched for a page before setting it open on the desktop. A tap of his finger on the page, and a misty-seeming image of several different ritual circles – some made up of large trees, some made of stones, some directly carved into the stone of rooms – floated up over the pages. “At one point in British Magical History, having twins was considered lucky, and it boosted the social status of the family, so a ritual was created to ensure the birth of twins. However, if the ceremony was performed or activated on someone who was already pregnant it split the already existing fetus into identical twins, which made them half-soul carriers.

“We suspect that your father stumbled into either the Prewett or Weasley circles, which have been laying inactive since the early part of the seventeenth century, while he was pregnant with the singular of you.”

“What is Combination and how does it work?” George asked, shifting slightly to get Harthizik settled better in his lap.

“The two of you have the ability to meld into a single entity, but there is no documentation of how that occurs, so you will have to figure it out on your own,” Ironclaw reported. “Now there are few things I would like to address.”

The four humans nodded and waited for the Goblin to begin.

“Let’s start with the easiest matter.” Ironclaw pointed to the bag on the corner of the desk, “Everything you will need to know about your titles and the proper procedures pertaining to them can be found in the books and pamphlets in the bag.

“Next, as to Harthizik being drawn from the Goblet of Fire, you have two choices, but they depend on whether you want to use your birth name or not. You see, the only way that the Binding Contract can be made is if the person’s name and their magical signature match, so if you choose to take your Birth name then you won’t have to participate because your magical signature and that name won’t match, but if you continue to publicly go by Harry Potter than you will have to compete, even if the Contract doesn’t synchronize. If you do go through with the tournament, you will be emancipated by the magic of the tournament even if the Contract doesn’t go through.”

Harthizik took a moment to take in the words before sighing, “Looks like I’ll be competing.”

“A living of age family member could also have you removed from the Tournament but only within the first twenty-four hours after the names are pulled, and I don’t think that Sirius can get his refusal here fast enough for it to work,” Ironclaw added.

“I have a question,” Harthizik remarked, looking at the three Weasleys. “Why do the Weasleys and Malfoys hate each other so much?”

“Oh boy, always with the difficult questions, don’t ya,” Bill complained jokingly. “At this point in time, the Feud between our families is based on a number of things, but it all started about a hundred-and-twenty years ago with our Ancestors, Silas Malfoy and Antonia Weasley. They were Bound into a marriage Contract as children and then they grew up together. By the time came for them to fulfill the Contract, they’d figured out that they were not suited for each other romantically, so they disappeared to the continent to find their own Lovers. Silas married a Veela from France, and Antonia married a Muggleborn from Italy. Their parents, having not listened when they were told that the marriage wouldn’t turn out, turned on each other, which started the Feud. Since then, our families just to seem to be on opposite sides of practically everything.”

“How do we end it?” Fred questioned. “I mean, we’re obviously going to have to deal with it otherwise we won’t be getting Draco.”

“I’ll have to talk to Grandfather first,” Bill answered, “but the place to start would be with a public and formal apology from the House of Weasley to the House of Malfoy. Then it will be dependant on House Malfoy’s response.”

The three teens nodded, they had some planning to do once they return to school. Speaking of returning, “Bloody hell,” Harthizik grumbled, and when the others look at him he continued, “I look different again, and no matter how blind people were before they will definitely notice something different about me now!”

“That’s easily fixed,” Ironclaw told him, getting up from his desk and moving to a small multi-compartment storage unit. He pulled open one of the drawers and rifled through it for a moment before he pulled out a flat black stone that had a hole in the middle, white-filled runes carved around the edges, and a thick leather cord tied around the top edge. “William if you would.”

Bill rose from his chair and motioned for Harthizik to stand as well. “I’ll cast a glamour charm to make you look like the beginning of the year, then we’ll set the glamour into the stone, and it will be permanent until you remove the stone,” He explained as he began waving his wand over Harthizik’s body.

The twins stood to look over the glamour, and after a few pointers from them, the glamour was set and then the magic tied to the powering stone that Ironclaw had chosen. The stone was then hung around Harthizik’s neck.

“If that is everything, I think it is now time for you three to return to school,” Ironclaw remarked as he settled back down in his chair.

The three teens nodded, Fred grabbing the bag with their books before – after some coaching for Harthizik – they said their proper good-byes to Ironclaw and Bill and then moved to leave the room.

Harthizik paused just before the door and turning to look at Bill, he added, “Oh, I just about forgot. Fleur is also a Champion, she was chosen for Beauxbatons.” And with that, the three teens disappeared down the hall after the goblin who’d been called to take them back to the Elgin branch, leaving Bill to blink after them as he tried to wrap his head around the words.

---

That night, Harthizik lay between the twins, sandwiched nicely between their bodies with blankets thrown over them into a heaping pile. He was on his back, staring up at the red fabric above their heads which cut them off from the rest of the room.

“What’s on your mind, Harbor?” Fred asked quietly, brushing a loose strand of hair out of the younger teen’s face.

“What do I do now?” Harthizik asked, turning on his side slightly to look at Fred.

“What do you mean?” The twins pushed themselves up onto their elbows so they could both see him as George asked his question.

“Two of my parents, as far as I know, were Death Eaters. And from what Neville has told me, the Potters were historically a Gray family.” Harthizik dug his hands into his hair before letting them fall and sprawl over the twins’ chests.

“Well, what do you want to do?” Fred asked, his outside hand coming up to clasp with Harthizik’s, fingers curling around the soft skin of the back of the younger teen’s hand.

“I want to find out what the Dark Sect is really about. And I mean really about, not just what is spewed by Dumbledore. I don’t have enough information to make an informed decision.”

“Your best bet would be to write either Lord Malfoy or Professor Snape’s grandfather, Lord Prince with your questions,” George answered after a moment of thought, settling back down against the bed. “Lord Malfoy is the Party Leader, and Lord Prince is his second, so it would stand to reason they would know best.

Harthizik nodded after some thought. “I’ll send Lord Prince a letter in the morning.” With that, he shuffled over until he was pressed against George and settled in for sleep.

---

It took just over a week before the twins got word about whether their apology was a go or not. During that time, Fred and George spent as much time as they possibly could, between classes and homework, helping Harthizik train for the tournament and get caught up on the etiquettes and knowledge he should have had if he’d grown up in the Magical World.

The answer came in the mail on Wednesday morning. A large barn owl swooped down from the ceiling to land on the table between the twins’ plates as they sat down for breakfast.

“Here you go, Archimedes.” George traded the giant owl three pieces of bacon for the letter before the twins and Lee watched as the owl disappeared into the rafters to eat his treat. The twins then turned to the letter.

Little Fires,

The reactions to your plans to apologize for the folly of our ancestors are sure to be entertaining, so I, Lord Septimus Weasley, give you, Fredricus and Georgian Weasley, permission to apologize to the House of Malfoy in my name.

I will discuss with Lucius about the exact reparations, but your apology will do to start.

Amusedly and Eternally Yours,

Grandfather

The twins grinned at each before looking to Harthizik who was seated at the very end of the table with a book spread out on the table next to his plate. They whistled to get his attention, and when he turned to look at them, they gave him a thumbs-up. The answering grin on his face made a heat flare in their chests, but they settled in to make some last-minute plans before class.

At lunch, the twins put their plan into action. After eating, they made sure that they were properly dressed; everything in its proper place – ties straight and perfectly knotted, uniforms clean and carefully pressed, hair pushed back out of their faces, shoes as clean as possible, etc. After a thorough check, they rose from their places at the Gryffindor table and started down towards the staff table.

Fred ran his fingers over Harthizik’s shoulders as they passed him and circled the corner of the table. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Harthizik raised his head from his book and kept his attention on them as they neared the Slytherin table.

“Heir Malfoy–”

“A word if you please.”

They’d come to a stop just behind the blond who’d been in the middle of a heated conversation – well, a lively conversation for Slytherin anyways – with his friends.

Several of Slytherin House looked about to protest, and Professor Snape had risen from his seat at the Staff table, but Draco only turned in his seat and gave them his full attention, having heard the formality in their tones.

“We, Fredricus–”

“–and Georgian, Scions of the House of Weasley–”

“–with permission from our Head of Family–”

“–formally apologize to the House of Malfoy–”

“–for the actions of Antonia, Herbert, Marshall–”

“–Nora, and Charles the Third of House Weasley–”

“–actions which offended the House of Malfoy–”

“–and caused a rift between our families.”

The whole room went silent … for about five minutes before a thud sounded and the entire room turned to find Ron sprawled out unconscious on the floor. Amused noises began to spring up around the Hall as both the apology and Ron fainting registered in people’s minds.

“The House of Malfoy acknowledges the House of Weasley’s apology, and will reply in due time,” Draco replied formally before turning back to his friends.

The twins knew that was the end of it and headed away to their next class.

Similarly, at Lunch on Saturday, Draco approached the twins who were sitting with Harthizik, going through one of the pamphlets that Ironclaw had left them.

“Scions Weasley. I, Draco, Heir to the House of Malfoy, with permission from my Head of Family, return the apology for the actions of Silas, Demetrius, Hyperion, Sabina, and Marcus of House Malfoy, actions which offended the House of Weasley and caused a rift between our families.” Draco stood just behind them, hands clasped behind his back as he locked piercing silver eyes with each of them as he spoke.

“House Weasley accepts House Malfoy’s apology. House Weasley will open negotiations with House Malfoy through Owl.” The twins dipped their head to the Slytherin then watched as he disappeared back to his day.

The twins received another letter from their grandfather on the following Wednesday, but with a different Owl. The new owl was a small red-brown thing with mottled feathers and distinctive brown markings around its eyes. It gave a little bark before trading its letter for the piece of bacon that Fred held out to it. It hopped up onto George’s shoulder as they opened the letter.

Little Fires,

Negotiations between the Houses Weasley and Malfoy have come to their close. Each House will return the heirlooms taken over the years to their proper families, while House Malfoy will pay back half the sum of the money taken in the past century – which comes to 1,000,000 galleons (none of which your Aunt can touch).

Because of your hand in the peace between our families, your Grandmother and I decided that we would gift you with the little Cloud-forest Screech Owl that delivered the letter. As of yet, he doesn’t have a name, so that will be up to the two of you.

Yours in affection,

Grandfather (+Grandmother)

P.S. Your brothers had a good laugh at Ronald’s expense, so thank you for that note.

The twins snickered before looking at the little Owl.

“What do you think, Georgie?”

“How about–”

“No, but how about–”

“No, that doesn’t fit either… How about–”

They shared a look before looking at the little Owl who was almost tipped over his head was so tilted. They shared another look before agreeing, “Char.” The little Owl barked at them again before taking wing after Hedwig who’d dropped a note for Harthizik and stolen some of Ron’s bacon while the other hadn’t been paying attention. The twins then returned to their breakfasts.

---

“Can we borrow the Map, Har?” George asked, looking up from the parchment that he and Fred were working on while sprawled on the floor.

They’d been attempting to make their own version of the Marauders’ Map, but it was slow going, especially since they wanted to change and add several features. However, they were still in the middle of making sure that they had an identical copy of the Marauders’ Map of which they could fuss with, without destroying the original.  

“Yeah, it’s in my trunk.” The younger teen motioned to the dark wood chest between theirs at the base of the bed where he was laying with one of the etiquette books and a muggle notebook that he was taking notes into.

Fred pushed himself up from the floor and moved over to the trunk. He caught the keys from Harthizik and after turning the key to the right section, whispered the password and waited for the trunk to recognize his magical signature before pushing the top open. He dug around carefully through the drawers where Harthizik kept his valuable items before pulling the Map out of the first drawer. He closed the trunk back up before tossing the keys back up onto the bed. He settled back down next to George and spread out the Map before them.

“Let’s start with the grounds, it’s the largest space and the most difficult to do.” George motioned to the portion of the Marauders’ Map where the grounds were visible as Fred tapped his wand against the top left-hand corner of their own attempt at the map.

“Erm, Freddie…” George murmured, nudging his twin lightly before pointing to the Forbidden Forest. A pair of footprints with the name ‘Charles Weasley’ floating overtop were wandering around in the forest with several others they recognized, and there could be only one explanation for that. Dragons.

“We need to go to the library. I knew there was a charm missing, maybe that cartography book has it,” Fred remarked, pushing himself to his feet and beginning to clean up their mess. He shared a pointed look with George before both twins exited the room and rushed down to the Common Room. They shared a quick word about what they were doing with Eli who was sprawled out on one of the couches by the fireplace closest to the door with his twin sister, Jessica before they exited the tower and headed down to the library.

They went to their usual table and dropped off their bags before Fred disappeared into the shelves to find the books they’d need. It didn’t take him long to find the books they’d need; ‘101 Spells for Paperfolding and Origami from Around the World’ by Nitsi Kagora, ‘Spells for Mapmaking of Magical Buildings’ by Wilhelm von Dunz, ‘Charms for Parents and Other Guardians’ by Indina Margrove, and ‘Protection Charms and Curses from Around the World’ by Romulus Felis.

George took the paper-folding book and quickly began searching the table of contents for dragon shapes. There were several, but he chose the one that was both simple and visibly a dragon. After practicing the spell to create it on a few bits of spare parchment, he cut out four equal sized pieces of parchment before, with a quick color-changing charm, he changed the four parts to red, yellow, green, and blue paper. A quick motion and four identically shaped dragons sat in front of him.

“We’ll have to go to the owlery before dinner,” Fred commented, eyeing the dragons that had begun flapping their wings. “And we’ll have to stun them until delivery.”

George nodded, waving his wand and stunning the four dragons. They immediately went stiff, and he carefully placed them into his bag before he pulled the Marauders’ Map out and they settled in to get some work on their own map finished before dinner.

At dinner, the twins settled down on either side of Harthizik and began engaging the younger teen in a conversation on what he thought the first task would require. They were just finishing their list of spells when one of the four School Owls they’d bribed into taking the dragons, dropped the green dragon off in front of Harthizik as the other three spiraled away to the other tables with the other dragons. Fleur ended up with the blue one, Viktor the red, and Cedric the yellow.

The twins had pinned a tiny note with the words ‘First Task’ onto the side of each with a temporary sticking charm that made the sign easy to remove if they pulled at it.

Harthizik stared at the dragon in silence for a long time before he spoke, “Do you think Dragons understand Parseltongue?”

Fred shared a thoughtful look with George before they answered together, “No idea, only one way to find out though.”

“Better still keep the other plan as a backup,” Harthizik admitted after a moment of thought.

“Good idea.”

~

The twins woke Harthizik up on November 24^th with a pair of soft kisses to his cheeks and light rubs down his sides. He’d always been a light enough sleeper that they knew the touches would wake him up, and they were right. He opened his eyes sleepily to look at them, nearly purring at their touches.

“Time to get up, Harbor.” The twins nearly cooed at the resulting whine and pout that came from their soulmate but kept it in check.

Harthizik shifted around until he could sit up and attempted to get out of bed. “If I make it out of this, I wanna know why you two call me that.”

“Deal. Incentive for you to live,” Fred agreed as they also got up out of bed and went to shower and get ready for the day.

Harthizik, having showered the night before, moved to grab the Tournament Uniform from on top of his trunk where Dobby had left it the night before. He dressed quickly, humming quietly to himself before calling Dobby to change the red in the uniform to green.

When the twins came out of the bathroom to see him all dressed up in green, they immediately knew what he was thinking. Beauxbatons represented Ravenclaw, Ced covered Hufflepuff, and Viktor covered their own house, leaving Slytherin out again if Harthizik had left the uniform the same color it had been.

The twins moved and stood on each side of Harthizik as they headed down for breakfast before the First Task.

“Mr. Potter!” Professor McGonagall sounded scandalized as she took in his clothes. “Change those back this instant!”

“No.” The professor made a sound of disbelief and Harthizik continued to speak as if she hadn’t, “I will not allow for Slytherin to be left out anymore. Ravenclaw is represented by Fleur as a member of Beauxbatons because of their colors, Cedric is a Hufflepuff, Viktor is our House’s representative, but Slytherin has no representation so I will stand for Slytherin where no one else has.”

Her mouth opened and closed for a few moments before she nodded and headed up to the staff table.

Harthizik turned to look at the Slytherin table and gave returning nods to the polite, thankful ones from that side of the room before moving on to his own table. When he noticed the Gryffindors’ horrified looks, he rolled his eyes and huffed out an annoyed breath before proceeding to the end of the Gryffindor table, and his new seat, and settling down for breakfast.

Soon, breakfast was over, and Harthizik was being led down to the Tournament grounds with the other three while everyone else was led out to the seating around the grounds.

Numbers and Dragons were quickly drawn: Cedric with number 1 and the Swedish Short-snout; Fleur with number 2 and the Welsh Green; Viktor with number 3 and the Chinese Fireball; and Harthizik with number 4 and the Hungarian Horntail.

They were left alone together for five minutes while Mr. Bagman made the announcements. Cedric and Harthizik shared a look between them before they turned together to look at the other two.

“We’ll need to speak with you after this is over,” Cedric told them, just before the gong sounded and he was called out of the tent.

Harthizik could only listen as the others went before him. There was cheering and verbal winces, but he had no idea what was going on. He listened as the congratulations for Viktor sounded before the gong sounded again and he exited the tent.

He immediately ducked behind one of the large rocks to hide from the dragon and calm his racing heart. After a moment to calm himself, he got back to his feet and moved out from behind the boulder.

§Greetings, Ancient One,§ He hissed, holding his hands out flat at his sides.

The Dragon before him was enormous. Her head easily cleared the stands, she was that tall. Her wings were pinned to her sides by thick magically-enforced ropes to keep her from taking flight or knocking anything over. She had to be at least three stories tall at the shoulder and with another story of neck, she was at least forty or fifty feet tall. The tallest spike on her tail had to be at least the same height as him, if not taller. A single dark gray scale looked to be about the same size as his head.

-Ƨ-You speak…-Ƨ- The Dragon seemed surprised that he could talk to her and he was surprised by the accent in her tone.

§I do. I did not know that you or your kin spoke.§

-Ƨ-We were the first to speak the Serpent Tongue, but many, many, many moons ago. Now, why am I here, Little Speaker?-Ƨ-

§This is a strength game. I am supposed to get a false egg from your nest.§

-Ƨ-False egg?-Ƨ- She began looking through her nest, counting out the eggs. She made a disgusted noise before shoving the false golden egg out of her nest. -Ƨ-Take the fake egg, Little Speaker.-Ƨ-

§Thank you, Ancient One.§ He scurried forwards and grabbed the egg. He grinned up at her when she tapped the top of his head with her tail. §I will try to visit before you leave, Ancient One.§

-Ƨ-I would like that, Little Speaker.-Ƨ-

Harthizik waved to the dark Dragon before heading away to the exit.

Madam Pomphrey was waiting for him in the First Aid Tent when he exited. She was pacing around the mouth of the entrance, mumbling under her breath about ‘idiot men,' ‘senile headmasters’ and ‘unnecessary dangers for young people’ as she moved between one point and another.

“Mr. Potter! Are you hurt? Wait, why am I asking? You won’t give me the truth.” She fluttered around him for a moment before she gave him a gentle shove towards the free bed. “Up on the bed with you, and I’ll check for myself.”

Harthizik merely sighed and got up on the bed, knowing that she wouldn’t let him leave unless she’d checked him over. He kept quiet as she ran her diagnostic tests, studying the egg curiously as he waited for her to be finished. He wondered what was so important about the damn thing – other than it’s a clue for the next task – that it couldn’t have been handed over in some other way that wouldn’t have necessitated the moving of four dragons from Romania through International borders. For that matter, how in the fires of Hell had they gotten permission to move four nesting mother dragons from Romania to Scotland, weren’t there any Reserves closer?

“Alright, Mr. Potter,” Madam Pomphrey speaking drew him out of his thoughts and he turned his full attention to her. “You are fine, you may go out and get your scores now.”

Harthizik nodded quietly, taking a moment to look around the tent. Fleur was laying on her back on one of the beds, her leg held aloft by a charm and he could see a burn salve spread across the back of it. Viktor was in the bed next to her, his shirt removed and his skin flushed pink from what Harthizik assumed were a mass of healing charms. Cedric was in the bed next to his, the older teen laying down on his stomach and a covering of gauze on his back.

“Ced?”

The older teen hummed in acknowledgement and turned his head to look at him. “What’s the matter, Harry?”

“You okay?”

“I’ll be right as rain in a bit. This was an accident,” The older teen replied, a sheepish grin on his face. “Distracted the dragon with a transfigured dog, but I got hit by its tail on the way out, and with the way the scales on Short-snouts lay, I got cut up a bit.”

“What happened to the others?”

“Fleur’s part Veela, you know, so she soothed the dragon to sleep with her Allure, but it snored and lit her trousers on fire as she left. She’ll be good as new in a couple of minutes between her healing and the salve.” Cedric moved to get more comfortable before continuing, “Viktor blinded his, but in her panic, she stomped around, crushed a couple of eggs and smacked him with her tail into the stands. Cut him up pretty good with the feathering on her tail. Gave him a concussion too, which is why he’s still here.”

“Ouch.”

“Eh, nothing more painful than we get playing Quidditch.”

Harthizik laughed and got up off the bed. “I’ll be back with the twins. Gotta get my scores.”

“Alright, see you in a bit.”

Harthizik hummed to himself before he exited the tent and moved to stand in front of the Judges’ table. Both Mr. Crouch and Dumbledore were giving him disappointed looks, Mr. Bagman just looked sad, and the foreign Heads were looking at him in curiosity.

“Now the scores for our fourth and youngest Champion!” Mr. Bagman announced before with a flourish he waved his wand and gave Harthizik a seven.

Harthizik didn’t care to listen to the reasons and so he quietly watched as the rest of his scores were given. Mr. Crouch and Dumbledore both gave him fours, Madame Maxime gave him another seven, and Headmaster Karkoff gave him an eight, bringing his score to 30.

“And that means that Mr. Potter brings up the rear with thirty points. In the lead is Viktor Krum with forty points. Cedric Diggory comes up next with thirty-eight. And Fleur Delacour falls in the middle with thirty-five points. Congratulations to the Champions on their survival, and this is a reminder that the next Task takes place on February twenty-fourth!”

Harthizik sighed quietly to himself before looking up into the stands for the twins. They were sitting amongst the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team with the other Quidditch teams around them, watching as the younger years below them siphoned out of the stands. When he caught their eyes, they grinned at him before motioning that they would meet him as soon as they were free, so he turned and went back into the First Aid tent to wait with Cedric.

The Hufflepuff was being checked over by Madam Pomphrey when he returned, the older teen curled into the tailor position with his back to the Mediwitch. She was very intently poking at the newly healed flesh of his back and questioning him about pain levels.

Harthizik jumped up onto his bed, humming quietly to himself, as he waited for the twins and watched as Madam Pomphrey took care of the other three Champions. Fleur seemed to be alright, her legs returned back down to the bed. Viktor looked like he was asleep, and knowing Concussion Potions, he probably was. Cedric was all right, and he’d pulled his fixed shirt back down over his head.

The flaps of the tent parted, and Harthizik looked to see who it was. He grinned when the twins stepped through, their hair charmed blonde and green. They were dressed up in preparation for Scottish Winters in identical gray jackets and comfortable jeans with high-top trainers on their feet to keep out the light sprinkling of frost that still remained on the grass. They came over to his side, climbing up onto the bed next to him.

“It would probably be best if we met after dinner,” Cedric told them, looking to the other two who were both asleep.

“Mm, yeah, it would probably be the best idea. We’ll send a note with the place later,” Fred replied quietly, wrapping an arm around Harthizik’s shoulders.

“Madam Pomphrey, may I leave now?” Cedric asked, turning to look at the Mediwitch who was casting a diagnostic over Fleur.

“Yes, you may go, but if there is any bleeding or pain, immediately come to the infirmary.” She wagged her finger at the Hufflepuff before turning back to the Veela in her care.

Cedric agreed, and the four Hogwarts students got up from the beds and left the tent.

After dinner, and after sending a letter with the directions to the Hive, the four Champions and their family members met together to discuss what was going on.

Fleur had brought her younger sister, Gabrielle, with her. Viktor had brought his two brothers with him. Harthizik had the twins, and Cedric had his younger siblings, Cadlyn and Cierrah – third year Slytherins, join them as well.

“What is it that you wanted to talk about?” Fleur questioned, settling primly on one of the sofas across from the one where Harthizik was sitting with the twins on each side of him and Cedric with his siblings around them. She’d dropped the ridiculously overexaggerated accent she’d been heard using for the past few weeks for a barely noticeable accent that was easily understood.

“I should start by formally introducing myself,” Harthizik began, getting to his feet. “Mademoiselle Delacour, Erbherr Krum, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Heir-Lord Harthizik Potter, of the Houses of Potter, Black, and Lestrange. Welcome to Scotland.”

“So then, you weren’t actually drawn from the Goblet,” Viktor remarked, his head tipped to the side.

“No, but because of who hid my identity I have to compete.” Harthizik dropped back down onto the couch and settled in next to the twins again. “And as my only remaining family member who is eligible to remove me from the tournament was in Jamaica at the time of the drawing, I would have been forced to compete anyways even if my True Name had been drawn from the Goblet.”

“Who would want you to compete?” Fleur questioned, looking at him in alarm. Harthizik understood where she was coming from; she had a little sister after all, and the idea that someone would voluntarily enter an underage youth into a tournament was causing her protective instincts – both her Human and Veela ones – to roll full-force through her mind.  

“There are a number of people who would want me to compete, but we have no proof of any one particular person who would have the access and the motive to do so.”

“Can you think of why?” One of Viktor’s brothers questioned, his accent thick but still understandable. “Ah, apologies, I am Herr Paskal Krum, Viktor’s younger brother.”

Introductions went up all around. Fleur had brought her younger sister Gabrielle. Viktor had brought his younger brothers Paskal and Ivan. Harthizik and Cedric both introduced their guests to the Visiting Champions before they returned to their conversation.

“There are several reasons we can think of,” Fred admitted, running a hand through his hair. “But they all depend on the person or people involved. Most of them have to do with either testing Hart or getting him killed.”

“Killed?” Cierrah asked, her head tipped to the side, throwing auburn hair around as she moved.

“The Dark Lord Voldemort is unaware that I am of his Sect, and has been trying to kill me since I was a baby,” Harthizik answered, sighing quietly and rubbing his forehead lightly.

“His Sect?” Gabrielle questioned, bouncing slightly in her seat as she looked around the room.

“Two of my fathers are Dark Wizards, and the Third is from a traditionally Gray family, though he occasionally fought on the side of the Light during the last war, at least until I was born,” Harthizik explained, turning slightly to sprawl over the twins’ laps.

“Hmm, we’ll have to come up with a list of people to watch,” Cedric commented.

And that was the end of that topic. Soon the conversation turned to life at Beauxbatons and Durmstrang and the differences between those places and Hogwarts.

The Hogwarts students were surprised to find out that Beauxbatons only had one Quidditch team which played in the National French School League while Durmstrang had six! Six teams – the Dragons, the Eagles, the Thestrals, the Occamys, the Stags, and the Wolves – all of which were based on competency rather than just what year or House you were in or who your family was.

The Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students were appalled that the Hogwarts school system didn’t allow for students who were advanced to skip course levels. The Hogwarts students were surprised that Beauxbatons and Durmstrang did have advanced placements.

The Hogwarts students were interested to know that Beauxbatons celebrated both Muggle Holidays and the Old Traditions in equal measure by switching off which held majority each year – one year would be Samhain, Christmas, Imbolc, Mabon, etc.; while the next year would be Hallowe’en, Yule, Easter, etc. The Durmstrang students explained that everyone celebrated their own holidays and the entire school was only ever decorated for major events or visiting groups’ celebrations while each individual wing and classroom was decorated by those who used them.

The group talked until just before curfew. Cedric, as a prefect, led the two visiting groups out of the castle as the Hogwarts students returned to their Common Rooms for the night.

~

Harthizik showered and dressed in his new warm gray flannel pajamas before leaving the bathroom and joining the twins in their bed. The twins were dressed in their identical red sweaters and soft black and white tartan flannel pants.

He curled up between them, tugging the red and gold lion blanket the two had made for him up over them. Fred drew the curtains as he got comfortable and after a quick Lumos from George, the three teens settled in for their talk.

“Before you, no one other than our older brothers could tell us apart. Lee has moments, but no one could tell every time who was who. Until you.” Fred began, reaching up to pet his fingers through Harthizik’s free hair. “You immediately knew that we were lying when we first met in King’s Cross.”

“And we could see the amusement in your eyes every time we switched back and forth,” George added, a small smile on his face. “You became our safe space, our safety in the craziness that is the House of Gryffindor’s Students. You became our safe harbor. Hence, the reason we call you Harbor.”

“You two are my safe space too,” Harthizik whispered into George’s skin as he pressed himself close to the younger twin and nudged his head into the crook of the other’s neck.

“We know, Little Spark, and we’re glad for it.” The twins pressed up as close as they could get while keeping to their word of not touching Harthizik or Draco until they were of age in two and a half years. “Go to sleep, Harbor. We’ll talk some more in the morning.”

Harthizik hummed quietly in reply, tucking one hand against each of them before relaxing into Morpheus’ arms.

---

“We’ve done it!” Fred crowed, startling everyone in the Common Room.

“Hold it! Check first.” George replied, pointing to the map.

“Okay,” Fred replied, rubbing his forehead. “Find Jacob Brunt the Third, he’s a Slytherin.”

George nodded before double tapping his wand on their map. “Find Jacob Brunt the Third.”

The map’s surface seemed to shiver before the fourth floor appeared and one of the several footprints around began to shimmer green instead of black. The name over the green prints – ‘Jacob Brunt III’ – bobbed for a moment as he watched.

“Okay, now find Davie.”

“Find David Boorman the Second.” The map shivered again before the grounds appeared and a pair of footprints next to the Black Lake shimmered red.

“Hmm… Ced?”

A pair of footprints in Greenhouse 6 flared yellow.

“The Little Moon?”

The map shivered again before the 7^th floor appeared, where a pair of blue footprints were pacing back and forth.

“Alright, let’s see if the list function works.” George hummed for a moment, tapping his wand against his chin while he decided what to ask.

“List Ravenclaw Staff members.”

• Alastor Moody
• Bartemius Crouch Jr.
• Cuthbert Binns
• Filius Flitwick
• Septima Vector
• Sybill Trelawney

“Erm, Georgie?” Fred questioned poking at the second name on the list.

“Let’s go see.”

The twins packed up their things before with the map in hand, they left to find Barty Crouch Jr.

What they found instead is Mad-Eye Moody bouncing a weasel around with his wand while Harthizik and Draco – along with the Slytherin’s little gang – watched on.

“P-Professor Moody! What are you doing?” Professor McGonagall questioned as she came over, several students behind her.

“Teaching!” was the grisly Ex-Auror’s reply as he continued bouncing it up and down.

“Is that a- Is that a student?!” The look on her face was one of appalment.

“Currently it’s a weasel.” The DADA Professor tossed the weasel high into the air before slowing down its descent with a quick spell.

Professor McGonagall turned the weasel back, and the twins were not surprised to find their brother as the poor sod who’d been changed by the mad Ex-Auror.

“Alastor! We never use Transfiguration as a punishment. Surely, Dumbledore told you that.”

“He might have mentioned it.”

“Well!” She huffed. “You will do well to remember it.” She turned and began herding her students away.

The twins watched as Moody stalked off before they came out from the courtyard hall.

“Count yourself lucky,” Fred hissed as he and George passed Ron.

“We should tell Dad,” George added flippantly, tapping his wand against his thigh.

“Or deal with him ourselves.” Fred hummed, an evil smirk on his face.

Ron paled before spinning around and disappearing into the school. The twins huffed before stepping up to Harthizik’s side.

“You alright?” Fred questioned, raising a hand to feel his forehead with the back of it.

“We’re okay,” Harthizik replied, batting at his hand lightly. “Ronald was just voicing his opinion on your making nice with House Malfoy, and the fact that I was also apologizing to Heir Malfoy for my actions since our first introduction didn’t help things.”

“Mm, the weasel attempted to hex us, but Mad-Eye stopped him,” Draco added.

“Good. We’ll definitely be dealing with him later.” Fred bused a kiss against the side of Harthizik’s head. “Now, we need to steal you away, Harbor.”

“Of course. Goodbye, Heir Malfoy.” Harthizik dipped his head to the other Slytherins before following after the twins as the two of them started back inside.

“What’s up?” Harthizik questioned, once they were far enough away that no one would overhear.

“Have you decided what you’re going to do about your Godfather?” George asked quietly, arm coming up to wrap around Harthizik’s waist.

“I will have to confront him soon, I suppose.”

“Let us know when you do, we have something that needs to be discussed with you both,” Fred told him, his arm coming up to cross with George’s around the younger teen’s back.

“Of course. It’s just that I worry about how he will take this…”

Fred pulled the two into an alcove behind a tapestry, and the twins wrapped Harthizik in a tight hug, pressing their foreheads to his temples.

“He will be mad. He will yell and get angry, but it won’t be at you. It will be at himself and those who stole you from him,” The twins whispered into his hair, clutching him close as he began to shiver.

~

It would take until the next Tuesday before Harthizik worked up the courage to talk to Severus. They had Potions last that day, and he purposely made sure to take as long as possible to clean up so that he would be the last one in the room.

Once the room was emptied, so they were the only ones left, Harthizik quickly finished his cleaning up and threw his satchel around his shoulders. He came to a stop just before the Professor’s desk and watched for a moment as the man manually cleaned the board.

Harthizik flicked his fingers at the door, grinning when it closed. He then pulled the Glamour stone off over his head. “Tad bedydd,” He commented, grasping the strap of his satchel in his hands.

“There are only two children in the world-” Severus growled as he spun around. “… Who should call me that.” His eyes widened as he took in Harthizik’s True Looks. “Harthizik Ophiuchus Potter.”

“Yes.”

Severus rounded the desk and came to a stop in front of him. He raised long-fingered hands and cupped the teen’s face between them. After a moment, the man pulled the teen against his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around his back.

“How have you been hiding?” Harthizik pulled the Stone from the pocket of his pants and held it up so the man could see. “Ah. How did you find out?”

“The twins took me to Gringotts. They noticed that I started changing after seeing Snuffles last year. I collapsed as the Glamours fully broke when the Goblet tried to connect to my magic, so they snuck me out with the scavenger hunt, and we went to Gringotts.”

“I was so angry for years that you’d been left with Petunia. James, Regulus, and Rabastan agreed that hiding you would be best, so James and Lily faked getting married and passed you off as theirs. We all made a pact that we – James, Lily, Regulus, Rabastan, myself, Sirius, or Remus – would explain when you turned sixteen or if the Glamours fell.”

“Does that mean you’ll explain now?”

“Mm, but we should probably let your twins in first.” Harthizik pulled away and blinked at the man, who smirked at him before adding, “Did you think I didn’t notice them clinging to you?”

Harthizik flushed red before pulling out of his arms and moving to open the door for the twins to join them. Fred and George grinned at him before stepping into the room.

“Professor.” Fred greeted, a small smile on each twin’s face.

“Demon twins.” Severus raised an eyebrow at the two of them before settling down on the top of his desk.

“James started dating Regulus when they were sixteen and fifteen respectively. They did it in secret because even though their parents wouldn’t care, there were several people – the Headmaster most notably – that would care enough to keep them apart.

“When James turned seventeen, his parents took him to Gringotts for an Inheritance test as is custom. And as you now know, the test will show a person’s soulmates. Regulus happened to be one of James’ while Rabastan Lestrange was the other. Secretly, James explained to the other two and Bonding Contracts were written up for the three of them.

“Regulus got pregnant with you just after he graduated from Hogwarts in nineteen-seventy-eight, but because of the way that Paternus pregnancies function, you weren’t born until July of nineteen-eighty. Your parents knew that if your true parentage came out that there would be trouble, so James planned with your godmother to stage them marrying and having you.

“Shortly after you were born, Regulus disappeared. James and Rabastan searched relentlessly with no luck.

“Then October came, and James died or disappeared, and Rabastan was sent to Azkaban with his brother, sister-in-law, and Barty Crouch Junior for attacking Frank and Alice Longbottom, which I have always doubted the authenticity of, as Rodolphus and Frank were friends since childhood.”

“About that – Barty Crouch Junior – we mean,” George commented, biting his lip as he dug through his school bag. He pulled out their new map and set it down next to the Professor on the desk.

“We solemnly swear the castle has a good view.” He tapped his wand against the parchment, and they all watched as ink spread across the page.

Messrs. Forge and Gred,

With Aid from the Marauders of Old and a Little Spark,

Proudly Present

~The Revolving Hogwarts Map~

“Find Bartemius Crouch Junior.” George tapped the parchment again, and the map changed to show the third floor where the DADA classroom was kept.

“Merlin’s beard!” Severus cursed, facepalming. “Barty may have been a Ravenclaw, but he was always too impulsive! Such a Gryffindor.” He sighed before rubbing his face with his hands. “Let’s go talk to the idiot.” He stood from where he was sitting before moving to the door.

George grabbed the map, deactivated it with a quick “what a beautiful view,” and stuffed it back into his bag. He watched as Harthizik pulled the Stone back over his head before the three teens followed after the dour Professor.

They made it up to the DADA classroom with no one seeing them due to the fact that Severus led them up several hidden shortcuts that were on the map but hadn’t opened when the twins had tried them.

Harthizik bounced over to the open door and stepped inside, tipping his head to the side as he watched ‘Mad-Eye Moody’ wander around the room cleaning up.

“You’ve been a shitty godparent,” Harthizik commented, jumping up on one of the desks quietly as the others entered the room with Severus closing the door behind him.

“Excuse me?” Fake-Moody grumbled.

“Bartemius Crouch Junior is one of seven Godparents for Harthizik Ophiuchus Potter, which is me.” Harthizik tugged the Stone off over his head and stared at the Fake-Moody.

Severus dug through one of the inner pockets of his robes before setting a Potion vial on the Teacher’s desk. “Drink it.” He ordered pointing at the bottle.

“You knew about this‽” ‘Moody’ growled out as he grabbed the bottle from the table top.  He uncorked it and then quickly downed the contents. The teenagers were left to watch as the Fake-Moody’s body shuddered and shook before that visage disappeared, leaving a thin, lanky, sandy-brown haired man in its place.

A hasty silencing ward was drawn up around the two men, and the three teens could only watch for a few minutes as Severus was shouted at by Barty. Severus, to his credit, waited the younger man out before with a wave of his wand, dropped the ward again.

“Now, what in the name of Hades are you doing here, Barty?” Severus questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Our Lord is trying to resurrect himself. He sent me here with orders to get Harry Potter into the tournament and make sure that he succeeded in getting the cup, which would take him to the Dark Lord’s current residence.” Barty shifted on his feet at the dark look from the Potions Master.

“What ritual is he trying to use?” Severus bit out as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“The Resurrexit Vivus Hostis ritual.”

“The Resurrected … enemy ritual?” The twins questioned hesitantly, trying to figure out the Latin name.

“Yes, that’s right,” Severus replied, turning to look at the three teens as they leaned their heads together and began discussing quietly.

Severus settled back against the Teacher’s desk to watch as they talked. Barty settled in next to him, mirroring his pose after fixing his clothes, so they fit properly.

“That ritual won’t work,” Harthizik announced tapping his fingers against George’s arm. “Not unless you have enough access to Dumbledore to get him to do in Harry Potter’s place.”

“Harthizik is related to the Dark Lord … and a member of the Dark Sect,” Fred explained when the men looked at them in confusion. “So they aren’t enemies, and Dumbledore is the only other Magical powerful enough for their usage to be helpful.”

“So, what other options do we have?” George asked, tipping his head to the side.

“Well, it would depend on whether the plan for the Tournament would be an amiable idea,” Severus said slowly, thinking over the few rituals he’d been studying during the last war.

Harthizik’s nose wrinkled as he delved into his thoughts. “I guess, it would be okay. I mean, I already have to participate, so it wouldn’t really matter. We’d have to discuss it with the others of course, but it should be fine.”

“In that case, the Familia Resurrexerit Ritual should work, its basically the same except the wording is different.” Barty and Severus then settled in to explain what Harthizik would need to do, and the entire group settled in to make plans on what they were going to do in the upcoming months.

~

A week later, the Champions all gathered in the Hive to discuss the eggs.

They all seemed to be at a loss, at least until Viktor knocked his to the floor which cracked it open to let out the most horrible screeching noise.

When they could finally move to get the damn thing to shut up, the boys looked between themselves before looking at Fleur who was frozen in her seat.

“Fleur? Are you alright?” Harthizik asked, sitting down next to her and resting a light hand on her arm.

“Mermaids,” Fleur muttered, absentmindedly pulling her wand from the bun in her hair before conjuring up a pool of water. She cast a quick impervious charm to her hair before sticking her egg and her head under the water.

The three young men watched her worriedly, unsure of what she was doing exactly.

Just when they were about to get worried about her having her head underwater, she fell back from the pool with a gasp before she spoke in a soft toned voice.

‘Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you’re searching ponder this;

We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss,

An hour long you’ll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour, the prospect’s black,

Too late, it’s gone, it won’t come back.’

“Fleur?” Cedric questioned.

She blinked at him before asking, “Are there Mermaids here?”

Harthizik shared a frowning look with Cedric before he called, “Viper.”

The House-Elf popped into the room, straightening her dress as she looked between the four. “Yes, Master Lightning, how can Viper be helping you?”

“Can you bring one of our Slytherins here, please? We have a few questions, and they would be the best to answer.”

“Viper can be doing that.” She snapped her fingers and disappeared. It took a few minutes before she returned with Adrian, who had his satchel around his shoulders.

“Thank you, Viper.” Harthizik dipped his head to the House-Elf who flushed slightly before disappearing with another snap.

“Rian, are there Mers in the Black Lake?” Cedric asked, turning to look at the Slytherin curiously as the other teen dropped his satchel to the floor and dropped down next to him.

“Yeah, there’s a whole clan down there with this huge city that surrounds a huge stone statue of one their Chieftesses. Why?” The dark-haired Slytherin sprawled himself over the Hufflepuff’s lap and looked up at him.

“The second task has something to do with Mers, so it would make sense for it to be the Black Lake as that is the only body of water large enough.” Cedric dropped a hand and began running his fingers through the Slytherin’s usually immaculate hair.

“Bollocks!” Harthizik cursed. When the others turned to look at him, he pinched the bridge of his nose and spoke, “We need to come up with a plan to help Fleur. Veela are beings of Air and Fire, not Water and Cold.” He turned to look at the young woman in question. “You most likely won’t complete the Task, so we need to come up with a plan for if that happens. And come up with a list of things or people – I wouldn’t put it past them to use people close to us – that we would miss.”

“Alright, I can agree with that.” Fleur nodded, and the group settled in to make up a list.

---

After Professor McGonagall gave out the announcement that there would be a Ball held for Christmas, Harthizik pulled the twins away to their room.

“I want to take both of you, but I highly doubt I’ll be allowed to take you as an opening partner.” He curled himself up into Fred’s arms once they’d settled down on their bed.

“Why don’t you take someone who wouldn’t otherwise be going as your opening partner?” George suggested, lightly pulling his fingers through Harthizik’s hair.

“Do you think Gabbi would like to go?” The three teens had gotten close to the two Quarter-Veela, but Harthizik seemed to enjoy the company of eight-year-old Gabrielle especially.

“You’d have to ask, but I think she would.” George grinned at him, lightly tapping his cheek.

“I’ll ask tomorrow.” Harthizik shifted around on their laps for a moment before he turned to look up at them. “Teach me to dance?”

“Of course,” Fred replied, wiggling until Harthizik got out of his lap and got up before he followed after the younger man.

George smiled at the sight of his twin carefully running Harthizik through the steps of several smooth dances. Soon the twins were switching out who was dancing with their youngest soulmate.

Harthizik rounded the tables and headed over to the Slytherin table. He came to a stop just behind Draco, folding his hands together in front of him.

“Heir Malfoy,” He started, waiting until the other turned to face him. “I find myself in need of a tutor, perhaps you can help?”

Draco stared at him for a long moment before he dipped his head. “Before dinner, in the secondary Potions classroom. We’ll talk then.”

“Thank you, Heir Malfoy,” Harthizik gave the older teen a smile before turning away and heading back to his place next to the twins.

Later that day, he met with Draco in the other Potions classroom. He sheepishly asked for the other’s help in learning more dances. The twins knew only a few, but they’d told him that as a Society Pureblood, Draco would know more, so they’d come up with the idea for Harthizik to ask Draco to teach him some more.

An amused smile had spread across Draco’s face, but the blond had agreed, carefully setting his wand to play a specific set of songs while he taught Harthizik some more.

Harthizik asked Gabrielle if she would like to go to the Yule Ball with him, the next day during the meeting between the Champions to come up with ideas for the next two tasks and everything in between. The tiny blonde had grinned at him before hugging him tightly and turning to Fleur and babbling at her in French excitedly.

Fleur smiled at him in gratitude before answering Gabrielle in French.

The day of the Yule Ball, Harthizik spent most of the day with the twins, subtly setting things up for the next morning when their group – as well as a few others that had come to their senses and apologies to Harthizik (Ron not included.) – would hand out presents and spend Christmas Day together.

A room just down the hall from the Hive was decorated in violet and white with a tree for each Hogwarts House, and each of the visiting schools. The Hogwarts trees were carefully pushed into the corners while the visiting trees were nicely settled against the center of the walls. A multitude of purple couches had been placed around the room by the house-elves, and several plush white carpets had also been found and placed around the chamber, but between the couches and the fireplace in particular .

Once the former classroom was finished being set up, the three returned to the Gryffindor common room to settle in and relax before they had to get ready for the ball. The other boys were around; talking with other members of their house, doing their homework, catching up on reading, or a number of other things. The three of them, however, settled down in their bed and took a nap instead.

An hour before the ball was to start, they were awoken by an alarm set on George’s wand and began moving about to get ready.

Harthizik showered before dressing in a pair of silver-toned black dress robes that would match with the silver dress that Gabrielle had been sent by Madame Delacour once Fleur had written her with the news. He tapped his wand against his lip, trying to decide an appropriate gift for her as his opening partner.

It didn’t take him long to notice the little dragon figurine which was curled up in the small nest that the twins had made for her that had been set on the twins’ desk. He grinned when the appropriate idea came to mind, but he knew that he would need the twins’ help.

The twins were taking Alicia and Angelina as platonic partners as the girls hadn’t had anyone else ask them, and they didn’t want to look like fools by going on their own to the ball, so they’d asked the twins to take them.

The twins came out of the bathroom, dressed in identical dark gray dress robes but Harthizik could still tell the difference between them. George’s lips were slightly redder than Fred’s as he’d been chewing on them as he made sure that he was dressed appropriately, and Fred had a small cut on the side of his hand from his quill knife from this morning when he’d set it down on the desk and then accidentally set his hand on it.

“I need your help,” Harthizik told them.

“What are you trying to do, Little Spark?” Fred asked, coming over to stand next to him.

Harthizik held out one of the little cubes of wood he’d bought to practice his transfiguration on. “I want to make Gabbi a phoenix, but I’m not sure that I can get it permanent or correct. You two are good at transfiguration, so I figured it would be better for you two to do it.”

Fred watched him for a moment before with a soft smile, he took the block from the younger teen. It only took a few minutes before Fred had changed the block of ash wood into a silver and sapphire brooch of a phoenix with its wings spread for flight.

Harthizik took the pin, slipped it into the pocket of his robes before pressing a kiss to each of their cheeks and disappearing out the door to go to the carriage where he would be picking up Gabrielle.

There were several others waiting outside the carriage, but he ignored them, focused on the door as he waited for Gabrielle and Fleur to exit.

Gabrielle bounced down the carriage steps first. Her beautiful blonde hair was artfully pinned up in a crown of braids and waves. A mid-calf length cloak hid her dress, but Harthizik knew that it was a pastel blue to silver fade sheath dress with a lace illusion neckline that she’d worn to her aunt’s wedding last Yule.

Harthizik smiled at her, pulling the brooch from his pocket. “This is for you,” He told her, holding it out so she could see before gently pinning it to the fuzzy edging of her cloak.

Gabrielle grinned at him. “Thank you, Hart!” She giggled and took his arm when he held it out for her.

“You’ll have to thank the twins too,” Harthizik added, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “They had to help ‘cause I wasn’t sure I could get it to stay right.”

Gabrielle giggled and leaned against his side as they entered the castle. Harthizik handed over their cloaks to one of several House-Elves around to collect them. He gently led her over to the doors to the Great Hall, and they settled in to wait for the ball to begin.

The other Champions were soon to join them. Fleur was being escorted by Ravenclaw Roger Davies, and all of the others could see that he was only there because of Fleur’s Allure. Cedric was taking Ravenclaw Seeker Cho Chang; the Hufflepuff Seeker had explained that they were friends from childhood and she was engaged already to a member of a Chinese Pureblood family. Viktor had brought Hermione of all people, but Harthizik had a feeling that something else was going on.

 As for the others, a good portion of their friends had brought each other to the dance. Neville had brought Luna Lovegood. Lee was taking Katie Bell. Michael Burnside – the Head Boy – was taking Head Girl Melissa Lorcan whose fiancé – Michael’s cousin – was away in Egypt. Bradley Hunters, Jeremy Stretton, and Takashi Noda were going together. Tamsin and Trace Applebee were taking their younger sisters, Tori and Tanya, who had turned eleven that morning and wanted to see Hogwarts. Apollo Burke and his siblings – Corvin, Artemis, and Ser – were going together. Gabriel Tate had been cajoled into taking his younger brother Joriel by their mother, but he was meeting up with his girlfriend, Marina Tori. Haruka was going with the Ravenclaw Stag group. Adrian Pucey was Ced’s actual date. Marcus Flint was going on his own. Terrence Higgs was taking his fiancé Louisa Garcia, a Spanish Pureblood a year older than him. Cassius was taking his baby sister Theodora. Miles Bletchley was taking his girlfriend, Tabitha Bainbridge. Graham Montague and Auxley Urquhart were going together, as boyfriends.

Ron had been forced to take Ginny by Margaret Prewett. The teenage boy had waited too long to find a date, and so he’d been compelled to take his sister, which she didn’t seem so happy about either.

When the doors opened, and the Champions filed in to begin the dance, Harthizik led Gabrielle to the center of the dancefloor. The four champions and their dates wait until the music starts before the eight began to dance a slow and careful waltz.

Once the first two dances were completed, Harthizik traded Gabrielle over to Fred while he and George danced around. They kept switching around and around until just after ten o’clock when the three young men led Gabrielle back out to the carriage.

Gabrielle gave each a kiss on the cheek before she disappeared inside with the other children from the Beauxbatons contingent. They would see her in the morning for presents.

They then returned to the dance, making sure to keep well out of the way of Dumbledore and the few reporters who’d been allowed inside.

They spent the remaining two hours of the night just hanging out with their friends and dancing around between them. They returned to the dorm after the Ball is over, tiredly removing their robes and getting ready for bed.

The twins flopped out on the bed, closing their eyes and sighing in pleasure. Harthizik grinned sleepily before crawling up on top of them and cuddling against their chests.

“Good night, Hart.” The twins curled around him, arms around his waist and heads tucked against each side of his neck.

~

The next morning their entire group met in their Christmas room to exchange gifts and hang around for a good portion of the day.

Everyone had exchanged at least a small gift between themselves. Mostly things like little trinkets or handmade gifts. And because of this, everyone racked in a haul of gifts almost too large to see around when everything is said and done.

Harthizik received his first Courting gift from the Twins, a lovely dragon wrap earring that Harthizik would have to get his ear pierced for – of course, not until Summer as doing it now was liable to get it removed or ripped out by some ‘well-meaning’ other – which had been spelled with several dozen protection spells.

The rest of the day was spent just hanging out together until dinner. A dinner where most of the school was still around. They’d just have to deal with the idiots.

---

“Welcome to this, the five-hundred-and-eighth Winter Announcement Meeting for the Wizengamot of January eleventh, nineteen-ninety-five. Our announcer is the High and Honourable Lord Tiberius Ogden. I, Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore, stand presiding.”

The Old Coot was dressed in horrible pale blue robes with bright green swirls on them, and most of the Wizengamot had cast subtle blinding charms on themselves to keep the glare out. He always wore gaudy robes, so it was a habit for the blinding charms to be cast.

“Lord Ogden if you would.” Dumbledore sat back down in his seat as the other man rose.

“We have two new Lords being confirmed, the confirmation of several Heirs, and several in-House changes to be made.” Tiberius began. He was a tall, thin man with paling sandy blond hair and almond-shaped gray eyes, and he thankfully was dressed in the simple burgundy robes of the Wizengamot, though his rank was shown by the crest on the left breast.

“First, I would like to welcome our new Lords. Michael Travers takes the place of his Father, Henrik Travers.” A young dark-haired pale-skinned man bowed to the heads of the Wizengamot before settling down in the Travers seat, the crest of which flared gold to show the acceptance of his claim. “We have a family returning to these hallowed halls, Dennis Shafiq returns our missing brethren to us.” A red-haired dark-skinned young man bowed to the Heads before dropping into the newly updated seat for the Shafiq family, the gold flare almost eye scorching in its power.

“Gringotts has submitted a list of claimed Heirships from the past six months, most of which have no registered claimant as is law when dealing with minors. The following Houses will be rejoining us in time: Emrys, Grae, Gryffindor, Le Fae, Pendragon, Peverell, Slytherin, Thanatos, Thomas, and Von Wix.” The seats for the names called flared with a white light, leaving updated and cleaned chairs behind.

“In-house changes are now to be announced. Lord Burke if you would.” Lord Ogden motioned to a man even older than him.

The old blond man pushed himself to his feet with his cane and carefully spoke, “This is the announcement that my Grandson Corvin will be Lord after my time.”

“Lord Parkinson.”

A middle-aged dark-haired Asian man rose from his seat. He cleared his throat before speaking, “This is the announcement of the engagement between my son Marcel and Antoinette Perdu.”

“Lady Sayre if you would?”

An older lady stood carefully, leaning heavily on the arms of her chair. She brushed a strand of white hair from her face with one hand before beginning to speak, “This is the announcement that my daughter Leanna and her husband Carlton have had a daughter, who they named Giselle. She was born on December thirty-first.”

“Lord Weasley?”

The ginger-haired Patriarch of the Weasley family stood from his seat and smoothed the front of his robes. “This is the announcement that my grandson William has taken up his Heirship.”

Lord Ogden then set his clipboard down before looking around the room, “Does anyone have any unlisted business?” When no one answered, he nodded and clapped his hands, “Well, then, meeting over.”

---

“I still think this is a horrible idea,” Cedric complained, tugging his jacket closer to his body as they stared down at the dark water of the Black Lake.

Cedric, Fleur, and Harthizik looked at the water like they would freeze their extremities off if they went into it. Viktor on the other hand, seemed quite happy to be outside in just a jumper while the others were wrapped up in winter cloaks and covered with Warming Charms. That made sense though, Durmstrang was farther north than both Beauxbatons and Hogwarts, so it didn’t surprise the other three that Viktor looked excited. (And there was the fact that they’d seen him swimming in the Black Lake since Durmstrang arrived.)

None of them were happy with what had been taken from them. It took only through breakfast before they realized who was missing. Draco was missing. Gabrielle was missing. Hermione was missing. Adrian was missing.

They ignored Mr. Bagman as he made the announcements and when the cue was given, coats were shed, and they waited for the gong to signal the start.

The bell sounded. Viktor immediately dived into the water. Fleur took a moment to cast several more Warming charms, and a Bubblehead Charm before she jumped into the water. Cedric jumped in before casting the same charms. Harthizik stood on the pier for long enough to scarf down some Gillyweed he’d ordered before he dropped into the water.

It took a minute to take effect but he then immediately began to swim down to the bottom of the lake.

As he was swimming past a little forest of kelp, an odd little green-skinned octopus thing reached out and grabbed him. He glared down at the slimy little thing before reaching for his wand which was pinned to his thigh along with the knife from Sirius. With a shot of hot water because of a Revulsion charm, the stupid little thing disappeared back into the kelp. He tucked his wand back away before returning on his progress to the city.

It didn’t take long for him to reach the city. He seemed to be the first one, as all four Hostages were still tied to the Mermaid statue. So, he settled down against the base of the statue to rest a moment.

Shortly after Viktor came up, his head and neck transfigured into the head of a shark. He gave Harthizik a toothy grin before settling down next to him.

The plan that the four of them made was that they would exit the water together as a protest for the Officials taking things that were theirs. If Fleur didn’t join them while there were still ten minutes left, then the boys would cut all four loose and head to the surface.

Cedric joined the other boys while there was still fifteen minutes left according to Harthizik’s watch. His hands clenched at his sides as he took in the almost lifeless appearance of Adrian as he floated next to the other three. He settled down next to the other Champions after a moment of simply staring at the other teen.

Harthizik kept watch of the time on his watch as they waited to see if Fleur had made it. At the ten-minute mark, he tapped the older teens on the arms before showing them the time.

The three boys pushed themselves up from the statue base and towards the ropes tying up the Hostages. Viktor easily bit through the rope holding down Hermione. Cedric had no issues using wordless magic to cast a severing charm.

Harthizik had zero problems when he released Draco, but when he went for Gabrielle, the issues started.

The Mermaid guards who had been swimming around lowered their weapons and hissed at them.

~Only one~

Harthizik made a little rumbling noise. His eyes began to turn entirely black, and he hissed back at them.

The Mermaids looked at him in fear, a raucous of squeaking, ~Death, Death~ went up among the Mers.

Harthizik turned away to focus on Gabrielle. He cut her rope before nodding to the other Champions, eyes returning to normal.

The two other boys seemed to understand a bit of what had happened, but they still looked confused. However, instead of asking right now they knew they would have to wait, so the three of them shot to the surface under the power of several Ascendio spells.

As soon as they breached the water, the four Hostages took a deep breath and opened their eyes. Adrian and Hermione spluttered as they pushed their hair back from their faces. Draco coughed and shook his head to get the water off his face. Gabrielle shrieked quietly and clung to Harthizik’s neck, tucking her face against the wet fabric at his shoulder.

“Come, Gabbi, Fleur’s waiting.” Harthizik nudged her head lightly with his cheek before rolling to his back and kicking off towards the pier.

“Heir Potter, we will need to talk,” Draco told him as he swam after them.

“Of course, Heir Malfoy. After check-ups?” Harthizik replied, keeping one arm around Gabrielle as he swam back to the pier.

“Sure.” The blond nodded at him and dipped his head before disappearing up onto the pier’s deck and into the group of Slytherin’s crowded around for Draco and Adrian.

Harthizik helped Gabrielle up onto the dock and into Fleur’s arms before allowing himself to be pulled up by the twins. He pressed himself into the blankets and robes wrapped around him by the twins before allowing himself to be led away to the First Aid Tent.

It took them almost two hours before Madam Pomphrey let them go after making sure that there wasn’t any potential for hypothermia or pneumonia.

Harthizik lightly grabbed Draco’s arm as the blond walked past him. When the other fourth-year turned to look at him, he spoke quietly, “Bring your parents if you like. We’ll meet in Professor Snape’s rooms.”

The blond nodded before disappearing from the tent. Harthizik sighed quietly before leaving the shelter himself to find his twins.

It only took him another half-an-hour, with changing his clothes again in between finding them and going to the dungeons taking up some time. The twins had also changed into one of the outfits they’d been sent for Christmas from their grandparents.  

Harthizik pulled the twins to a stop in front of the portrait that hid his godfather’s private rooms. He smiled slightly at the man in the painting.

§Hello Grandfather. Let Severus know we’re here please?§

§Hello Grandson. I’ll be right back.§ Salazar flashed a grin at the sight of the twins behind Harthizik who had shuddered at the sound of Parseltongue from their youngest mate but hadn’t done anything before he turned and disappeared from the painting. He returned after a minute and gave the three teenagers a smile just before the portrait swung open.

Harthizik led the way inside, stepping through carefully to make sure he didn’t knock over or stumble into either of the grabby ivy plants that Severus had on either side of the doorway to block out unwanted visitors. He did have to swat at a vine that reached out towards the twins but other than that were no issues with the creepy little plants.

“Good afternoon, Lady and Lord Malfoy. Heir Malfoy,” Harthizik greeted, stepping through the room to settle on the free couch.

“Heir Potter.” Draco dipped his head. “What are Scions Weasley doing here?”

“They are a part of what we have to discuss.” Harthizik sprawled himself over the twins’ laps and grabbed one of the cups of tea that were set out on the coffee table before them.

“I have a question first,” Draco started, staring at the three of them.

“What is it?” Harthizik turned to look at them, tipping his head to the side.

“Why in all of the Hells do your looks keep changing‽” Draco sounded indignant, and he had that cute little annoyed look on his face where his nose scrunched up and his eyebrows furrowed.

Harthizik shared a look with the twins before turning back to face him, “What do you mean?”

“Sometimes you seem like the little kid that started here, and sometimes you look like the pictures of Uncle Regulus from when he was a kid, and sometimes you look like a mixture of all sorts of Lines.”

Harthizik stared at him for a long moment before digging his glamour stone from under his shirt and pulling it over his head. He sat up and blinked at the three blonds across from them.

“Harthizik Ophiuchus Potter. It is a pleasure to meet you in person Aunt Narcissa.” He tugged his hair back from his face with a quick spell that put it into a bun.

Narcissa gasped and pushed herself to her feet. She stepped over and crouched before him, cupping his face between her hands. “Oh, little Nephew.” She brushed her thumbs against the sun-freckles on his cheeks.

The portrait hole opened, and they all turned to look at who had entered. ‘Mad-Eye’ came inside, batting lightly at the wandering vines of the ivy before heading over to stand next to Severus who was leaning against the doorway of the kitchen. Severus immediately handed over the Polyjuice antidote.

“Barty‽” Lucius tapped his cane against the floor as the younger man was revealed.

“Lucius.” Barty used a switching spell to change his clothes into something more comfortable.

“Now why could Draconis see through your glamours?” Narcissa asked, gently rubbing at the space where the famous scar used to sit.

“About that… Draco is our soulmate.” Harthizik bit his lip and motioned between himself and the twins.

“How is that possible for the four of you?” Lucius asked.

“It has to do with a ritual circle that dates back to the sixteen-hundreds,” Fred answered, making a vague motion.

“Ah,” Lucius seemed to get what they were talking about, which didn’t surprise the three of them as they were sure that the Malfoy family must have had one too, after all, most Pureblood families did. “What are your plans for this?” He turned to look at the twins critically.

“We plan to Court Harthizik and Draco properly, and wait until they’ve made majority before making our moves,” Fred began, digging through the pocket of his robes. “As a matter of fact, …” He pulled a small wrapped box out of his pocket and tossed it over to Draco, who quickly caught it. “That’s for you.”

Harthizik knew what it was. The twins had gotten Draco a delicate rose-gold ear cuff with several runes for protection carved into the metal. He’d helped cast the enchantments on the little ring; enchantments that would protect him from everything except the Forbidden Curses – the Unforgivables and Black Magix. He’d also slipped on a general Healing enchantment, one which heal almost anything.

A small smile bloomed on Draco’s face once he’d opened the box and gotten a look at the small split ring. He plucked the little piece of jewelry from the velvet lining of the box before he came over to the couch where the other teens were sitting. He held it out calmly to Harthizik who smiled at him before taking it from his palm.

Harthizik gently brushed soft strands of white-blond hair back behind Draco’s left ear. Having to stop himself from petting the older teen’s hair, Harthizik turned his attention to putting the cuff around the apex of the other’s ear. He shook his hand to drop his wand before tapping lightly at the cuff to seal it so that no one other than the four of them could remove it.

Draco pressed light kisses to their cheeks before going back to the other couch and settling down next to his parents.

Harthizik, with help from the Twins, Barty, and Severus, then began to explain everything that had happened since the summer of the year before. There were questions of course, like where Sirius was, or what they were planning now.

It took almost until dinner, and as they were finished with the actual reason for the meeting, Harthizik brought up something he’d been thinking about.

“Uncle Luke, I have a question,” Harthizik told him, twisting a strand of Fred’s hair between his fingers.

“What is it, Hart?” Lucius asked, turning to look at him instead of looking at Severus who had captured his attention beforehand.

“How would I go about filing a complaint against the Tournament officials?” He pulled a small knot in Fred’s hair until it released before raising his head to look up at his uncle.

“Well, it would have to go through a Lord or Lady and be brought before the Wizengamot,” Lucius answered. “What would the complaint be?”

“How about the endangerment of a child, and attempted coercion of two warring parties into the same space without neutrality being declared or whatever the equivalent is.” Harthizik gave a tight smile as he spoke. “If the Mermaids had known that Gabrielle was Veela they would have torn her apart. Not to mention what the cold water did or could have done to her. And I highly doubt that her parents did or would have agreed to let her participate if they’d known about what her participation would have required.”

“I understand, and I had been thinking that. Your worry helps because it gives more force behind the charges which could be brought if there are more complaints than just one.”

A bell tolled in the distance, a call from the boat as a reminder for the Durmstrang students to return to change for dinner.

“Well, Narcissa and I should be off, we have a reservation with Lady and Lord Greengrass for dinner.” Lucius stood, helped Narcissa to her feet before with each dropping a kiss on the top of their son’s head, they disappeared through the Floo.

The teens were shooed out as Barty and Severus settled in to speak some more.

~

The morning after the Second Task, Harthizik was surprised to see Hedwig winging her way down to him as he settled himself at the end of the Gryffindor table for breakfast. She had a small box clutched in her talons, and she dropped it before him before flying off to steal some bacon from one of the several plates floating around the Gryffindor table.

He plucked the piece of parchment with his name on it off the top of the box and opened it first.

Harthizik,

I had my parents send this book over. I thought you might find it interesting.

DO NOT open the package here. This book is outlawed in England, so unless you find it in one of the Old Family libraries, you have to go to the continent.

-Viktor

Harthizik turned in his seat, searching for Viktor’s eyes before raising an eyebrow at the man when their eyes did meet. Viktor merely tipped his head to the book in response and Harthizik sighed before shrinking the box down and stuffing it into his pocket. He’d look it over after breakfast.

After he was finished with breakfast, he went down to the Hive, and after greeting the few people who were in there, threw himself down into one of the plush squish-chairs that were scattered around.

He pulled his box out of his pocket, unshrunk it and then stared at it for a moment. He wasn’t sure about this book. What could the topic be if it was banned in England?

After a moment staring at it, Harthizik tore open the box and pulled out the book. It was old, but still in fantastic shape. The cover was a simple black leather with a pure gold-embossed scythe printed on the front. He opened the cover, and the title stared up at him from the first page: Avatars of Death and You: A Comprehensive Guide to Reapers and Other Mortēs.

Harthizik hummed in curiosity before opening the book to the first place and beginning to read.

The next thing he knows, the twins are throwing themselves onto the chair, curling their larger bodies around him and tucking their temples against his shoulders.

“Good book?” Fred asked, sneaking his arm under the book and wrapping it around Harthizik’s waist.

“Mm, Viktor sent it.” He shifted around, dropping on hand from the book to tuck into George’s elbow while the other moved around behind the book so he could grasp the spine and keep reading. “Did you know that as an Heir to Death, I control Dementors and Lethifolds?”

“No, but that might be useful.” George rubbed his cheek against Harthizik’s shoulder, eyes slipping shut as he listened to his brother and Soulmate continue talking.

---

“Does anyone have any unlisted business?” Lord Ogden asked, tucking away the list of business for the meeting of March 9^th.

Lucius tapped his wand against the small crest before him, signaling that he wished to speak.

“Lord Malfoy, you have the floor.” Lord Ogden sat with a sweeping motion and Lucius rose to speak.

“I come to file several charges against the Tournament officials. There are several complainants, myself included.” Lucius waved his wand, sending a copy of his charges to every member of the Wizengamot. “Charges of endangerment of minors, crimes against peace, and attempted murder of several Heirs and Heiresses.”

Gasps sounded around the room, and Dowager Longbottom stood from her place in the Longbottom seat. “Explain,” She ordered sharply, having taken a cursory glance through the list.

“Where would you like me to start?” He questioned in return.

“Let’s start with the attempted murder charge.” She tapped the relevant page, staring at him with hardened eyes. Most of the members had children or grandchildren going to Hogwarts and the others that didn’t had other family members – cousins, siblings, younger aunts, and uncles, etc. – that did.

“Of the four champions, only Erbherr Krum was prepared to swim in water that had been frozen over until that morning. The other three would never have willingly swum in that lake. That doesn’t include what the cold water could have done to the four Hostages, especially Mademoiselle Delacour.”

“Why especially Mademoiselle Delacour?” Dame Muriel Prewett questioned, and almost the entire room turned deadpan eyes on her.

“Gabrielle is a Quarter Veela,” Lucius responded simply. “Which brings us to the next points. By forcing her participation in the tournament, the officials willingly put a little girl of eight-years-old into the path of aggressive warrior Mers who would have torn her to bits if they had known that they had an enemy, no matter her age, in their territory. An action which would have had the entire Veela council – including Queen Esmeralda – here to declare war against not only the Mers of the Black Lake but all those who had disregarded Gabrielle’s safety. The Mers and Veela have been in relative peace for twenty years, and this might have just ruined that.”

The gathered who were old enough to remember, winced. The War of Air and Water had been going on for centuries with numerous casualties of all species – Mers, Veela, Wizards who attempted to step in, the Harpies (who were now practically extinct because of the War), Nereids, etc. – on all sides. It had been bloody and gruesome, and no one wanted a repeat of that.

“I understand that charges cannot be laid out on the officials until the Tournament is over, but I thought it pertinent to bring the charges up now while the Task is still fresh in our minds.” Lucius rapped his cane against the floor, keeping his mask in place though he was seething on the inside that justice would have to wait another five months.

Lord Ogden stood again, “Any against?” No one raised their wands, what the Tournament officials had done was barbaric and cruel and absolutely revolting. “Feel free to add your weight behind these charges, or bring more. Meeting adjourned.”

---

“Our poor Quidditch pitch,” Cedric moaned as the four of them stood before the Maze on June 24^th.

Harthizik laughed slightly and patted his arm soothingly, “It’ll be chopped down and returned to normal. And if it isn’t, you know that we’ll all magic it away.”

Mr. Bagman let out a pop of noise with his wand before he announced, “Welcome, students, facility, family, guests, and others, to the Final Task of the nineteen-ninety-four-ninety-five Triwizard Tournament. In first place is Viktor Krum of Durmstrang with eighty-three points. In second place, Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts with seventy-nine points. Tied for last place, Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons and Harry Potter of Hogwarts, with seventy-five points. As they have the least amount of points, Mr. Potter and Miss. Delacour will be the first to enter the maze, followed by Mr. Diggory, and then Mr. Krum. At the sound of the bell, Mr. Potter, Miss. Delacour.”

The bell sounded, and Harthizik motioned Fleur in first. She patted his hand before disappearing into the maze. He gave her a few seconds before following her inside.

It was only a couple of turns before he felt the bone-chill of Dementor magic. He closed his eyes for a moment, casting out his senses to see if he could detect it. When he couldn’t, he knew that it wasn’t a real Dementor.

When he opened his eyes again, he appeared to be staring up at the ground.

“What the hells?” He muttered, twisting his head and noting that he was surrounded by a strange gold mist. He sighed quietly, trying to think with all the blood rushing to his brain. “Protego!” A shield appeared around him and he ‘dropped’ to the ground.

The ‘Dementor’ finally made its way around the corner, and he smirked slightly before speaking, “Riddikulus!” The Dementor fizzled out like water on a hot rock before disappearing with a pop. “Nice try. The Dark Shrouds follow my command.” He huffed before moving and going down another corridor.

He was about to turn down the right side of a path when a horrible smell wafted over to him. He knew that scent, the twins always complained about the smell of Hagrid’s Blast-Ended Skrewts, so with that he about-faced and turned down the left side instead.

It turned out the left was just where he wanted to go. His path was blocked, however, by a giant Sphinx. Her feline body was not one of a lioness but one of a tiger, the long stripes of black standing out of bright ginger fur, even in the dark. A pair of dark mottled wings were folded against her back, and her dark hair was braided so that the end fell between them.

“You are very near your goal,” She purred, pushing herself up until she was sitting on her hind-quarters. “The quickest way is beyond my path.”

“Alright, dear lady. May I have the riddle please?” Harthizik kept his wand out, just in case something came up behind him, but turned his attention to the Sphinx before him.

“Of course, young Death!” She seemed quite excited, and Harthizik got the feeling that she was probably a young Sphinx.

“First think of the person who lives in disguise,

Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies.

Next, tell me what’s always the last thing to mend

The middle of middle, and end of the end?

And finally, give me the sound often heard

During the search for a hard-to-find word.

Now string them together, and answer me this,

Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?”

Harthizik stared at her for a long moment, “Can I have each part slower please?”

“Of course,” She then started repeating the riddle to him, and he nodded slowly as he figured it out.

“The person in disguise is a spy. Mend ends with a ‘d,' it’s also the middle of middle and the end of end. Most people would say ‘um,' but it is actually ‘er.' So, the answer is a spider.”

“Well done, young Death. You may pass.” She bowed to him before moving herself off to the side. He bowed to her in return before running past her.

The cup was sitting right in front of him. The eerie blue glow casting light on the whole clearing and he was just about to touch it when Cedric came crashing through the hedges cursing up a blue streak.

“Of all the gods-damned shite!” Cedric shouted, waving his wand and dragging the bushes closed for long enough for him to get away from it. “An acromantula! Whose bright idea was that‽.”

“We’re going to have to deal with it!” Harthizik shouted, already hearing the chittering of the spider’s pincers as it came up to the wall of the hedge.

“Dad said to go for the legs!”

“Blasting and cutting‽” Harthizik called back.

“On three!”

The hedge rustled as the spider forced itself through. Cedric stood to the left, and Harthizik to the right.

“One!”

Wands were pointed towards each side of the spider as it got its bearings back after being grabbed by the hedge.

“Two.”

Magic was gathered in their chests.

“Three!”

“Bombarda!”

“Diffindo!”

With an awful screech, three legs slopped off, two on the right and one on the left. The spider tilted backwards before attempting again to come at the teenagers.

Harthizik grumbled before shooting an incendio at it and watching as the fur that covered the spider caught fire. Both teens wrinkled their noses at the smell but remained on guard as the spider burned to death.

“Gonna have to talk to your Dad about the nest in the Forest,” Harthizik commented tiredly, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“There’s a nest‽” Cedric cried out, whipping around to stare at him.

“Yeah, starts with Hagrid, but don’t tell anyone that.”

Cedric wrinkled his nose before motioning Harthizik to the cup. “See you on the flip side.” The older teen grinned, and Harthizik just saw the red sparks of Cedric getting himself out before he was whisked away by the portkey.

~

The portkey landed amongst a carefully packed group of headstones, and Harthizik immediately scurried away from the light of the cup and hid himself behind the base of a large headstone.

“Master the boy isn’t here.” He heard Peter whine, and he counted to three before stepping out and stunning the rat in the back. He quietly levitated the frozen rodent into the air and stepped out into the moonlit part of the graveyard, tugging his glamour stone off at the same time.

“My apologies for my tardiness, Uncle, but we had a bit of a spider problem,” Harthizik remarked, unceremoniously dropping Pettigrew to the ground and casting a silencing spell over the bundle of the Dark Lord.

Harthizik didn’t look at the tiny form of the Dark Lord, much busier getting everything he’d need for the ritual. He pulled a small knife from his pocket, sticking it to his sleeve before he moved to begin.

“Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son.” He summoned one of Tom Riddle the Second’s bones and dumped it into the cauldron. He headed over to Pettigrew and a vicious smirk crossed his face as he severed the rat’s hand from the arm. “Flesh of the betrayer, forcibly taken, you will revive your master.” Into the cauldron, it went a soft plop the only sound. Next, he pulled the knife from his sleeve and made a cut across the length of his palm, letting the blood run into the cauldron. “Blood of the Heir, willingly given, you will resurrect your Lord.” He closed his eyes for a moment, reaching into himself and prodding lightly at the connection between his magic and the soul-tie. The soul-tie unraveled and he opened his eyes again, moving to pick up the bundle that was the Dark Lord. He gave it a weak smile before dumping it into the cauldron.

The opalescent potion hissed as soon as it touched the Dark Lord’s skin and Harthizik watched as it began to boil, worrying him that something had gone wrong until the potion exploded in a flash of light and gray smoke. He covered his eyes and listened.

“Nephew…” A voice rumbled, and Harthizik turned back to the cauldron, a grin crossing his features as he saw the newly resurrected form of the Dark Lord.

He looked much like the sixteen-year-old Diary had, though he had to be at least thirty. Dark hair sat tousled on the top of his head, a few strands falling into piercing red eyes as the Dark Lord stretched out his neck. A small tattoo of a snake curled around his upper arm, just above his elbow, with the dark colors quite evident against the paleness of his skin.

“Pass my robes, Nephew. And my wand.” The Dark Lord’s voice was like dark chocolate, smooth but with just a tiny bit of bite.

Harthizik bent and picked up the other bundle that Pettigrew had brought, having come to stand next to it once he was finished with the ritual. He stepped over daintily and handed it over, turning his back to give the man privacy.

“Will you be calling your Faithful, Uncle?” Harthizik questioned, staring at the tombstone of the Dark Lord’s father, watching the Reaper as it seemed to keep an eye on him.

The Dark Lord hummed in response, “I will.” Harthizik heard movement and turned to watch as the Dark Lord stepped over to Pettigrew’s side. “It would not do for you to die just yet if I am to get the Blacks back under my banner.” He waved his wand, and the open wound sealed itself shut. He then reached down and pressed his wand to Pettigrew’s Mark, a silent smirk on his face as the stunned man whined.

Harthizik could only watch as the Dark Lord then proceeded to re-write Pettigrew’s memories before forcing him into his Animagus form. He took the rat from the man, carelessly stuffing the stunned rat into his robe pocket and sealing it so that the rat couldn’t escape.

Plumes of dark smoke whirled in the sky, headed right for them, and this was the first time that Harthizik had seen Apparition used this way. He settled in next to the Dark Lord to watch as the smokes landed and parted to reveal the Death Eaters who had been called.

“Welcome my friends.” The Dark Lord seemed to purr as he walked between his Death Eaters. “Thirteen years it had been, but yet, you stand here before me as if it were only yesterday. I find myself disappointed –” He spun pointing his wand at one of the Death Eaters who had moved towards him. “No. Macnair, stay on your feet. The time for groveling at my robe hems is over. You have my nephew to thank for that.” The mask on the man’s face disappeared with a single wave of the Dark Lord’s wand. “As I was saying, I find myself disappointed in myself for the extremes I took, but those have been rectified now. Soon, we will turn to a better approach for returning our world to glory, but tests must be conducted, and things changed first. Soon, I will call all my Death Eaters, my Elite, and tests will be given, but for now, return to your families, spread the word that I have returned. Wait for my instructions.”

Most of the Death Eaters disappeared, all except one, and Harthizik grinned at Lucius when the man removed his robes. “Milord, will you be staying here?”

“No, I am going to see the Goblins about returning to Slytherin Castle.”

“What about a new identity?” Harthizik questioned, summoning the cup to his feet.

“What do you mean, Hart?” Lucius asked, turning his attention from the Dark Lord.

“Well, that would be the easiest way to discredit Dumbledore, if Uncle were to join the Wizengamot and take up his titles. You know that Dumbledore will accuse him of being the Dark Lord, but then he can prove that he isn’t and everyone will begin to think that Dumbledore is getting too old to be doing everything that he’s doing.”

“Ah, what a brilliant idea! The only question… Hmm, Lucius, does your mother have a portrait?” The Dark Lord tipped his head to the side, thoughts already running through his mind. “Hmm, perhaps Walburga…”

“She does, it is held in the Hall of Ancestors. Would you like to come converse with her?”

“I’ve changed my mind, Lucius. Does Narcissa have access to a portrait of Walburga?”

Lucius’ eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember, “I would assume so. You would have to ask her.”

Harthizik checked his watch, “I need to get back before they start searching too hard. Uncle Luke, if you would.”

Lucius crouched down to look at the cup, poking it lightly with his wand in certain locations before stepping back. “Alright, it should take you into the Forest now.”

“Alright. Goodbye Uncles!” Harthizik then reached down and picked up the cup, allowing it to portkey him away again.

He couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him when he noticed where he’d landed. He landed in the clearing where he’d found the Wraith of his Uncle feeding on Unicorn blood in his first year. The irony of that. He had to sit down for a minute to get himself together before he pushed himself up and started towards where he figured the outer edge of the Forest was.

It took another ten minutes before he got himself out of the forest and by the time he made it back down to the pitch, another ten minutes had passed.

“Whoever made the portkey had to have been taking the piss,” He commented, coming up behind the arguing officials with the cup held between his hands.

“Mr. Potter!” Several cries of his fake name sprang up, and Harthizik allowed himself to be drawn into the questions of those gathered around.

---

When the end of the year came, Harthizik was prepared to return to the Dursleys for a least a few weeks until the goblins could go over the wards and tell him whether he would be allowed to leave, but he was not prepared to get off the train and see two of his godfathers waiting for him – though Siri was in his Animagus form, which reminded him, he needed to give over his letter to Madam Bones to the Twins.

He dug around in his rucksack, pulling out the box with attached note. He handed it over to George as he pressed his forehead against the younger twin’s jawline. He nearly purred when Fred’s fingers came up and cupped the back of his neck, petting through his curls as the older twin pressed against his back, pushing the three of them together.

“We’ll see you soon, Love,” Fred whispered into his ear, squeezing Harthizik lightly before the twins pulled away, leaving Harthizik to his godparents and disappearing into the crowds around them.

Remus raised an eyebrow at him, and he flushed red before shaking his head to tell him that he wouldn’t explain here.

“Got everything?” Remus questioned, keeping a hold of Sirius’ leash. The two men had apparently come to an agreement on how the Animagus would be getting around while still a wanted man.

Harthizik patted his rucksack, and replied, “S’all in here.”

“Excellent. Let’s get going, we still have to take Snuffles for a walk before we drop you at your relatives’.” Remus then dropped his hand to Sirius’ head and ruffled his ears before letting the Animagus lead the three of them out of the building.

They stopped off at an animal-friendly coffee shop to get tea and biscuits before heading for Remus’ car. Sirius flopped himself out in the back of the car, changing to human form and sprawling out over the back seat where no one would be able to see him. Harthizik climbed up into the passenger seat, settling down next to Remus and waiting for the journey to start.

“You wanna tell us what that was about back at the station?” Remus asked once he’d pulled the car out onto the freeway.

“What was what about?” Harthizik asked in faux innocence.

“The box and the twins calling you ‘love,'” Sirius replied bluntly, licking some chocolate from his biscuit off his fingers.

“Well, the box is a parcel to Madame Bones, and I’m dating the twins, so…”

“Since when‽” Remus and Sirius questioned at the same time.

“Mm, the early part of November? Just after the tournament draw, but it’s been a long time coming.” He didn’t bother adding that they were also dating Draco, he felt like that would be too much for one conversation, especially with what would come next.

Silence filled the space as the two men digested the fact that their Cub was dating two men two-and-a-half years older than him, who happened to be twins and two of the biggest pranksters since the Marauders. Harthizik, on the other hand, was debating with himself on the best way to break the news that his fathers were all alive.

“Did you know Dad is alive?” He blurted out, not being able to take the silence any longer.

“What did you just say?” Sirius asked, blinking at him.

Harthizik picked at a thread on his sweater. “Freddy and Georgie took me to Gringotts after my name was drawn. We found out that all of our parents are alive, but that Regulus, James, Fabian, and Gideon are hidden by wards.” He pulled out the copy of the Inheritance test that he’d kept for this purpose and handed it over to Sirius when the man’s arm shoved between the passenger and driver’s seats.

“A glamour stone then?” Remus asked. “Considering you look nothing like Bastan or Reggie.”

“Yeah, Bill helped put it together.” Harthizik pulled the stone from under his shirt and held it up so that Remus could see it out of the corner of his eye.

“Well, shit,” Sirius muttered looking down at the page before him. “How the hells are we going to find everyone?”

“I asked the House-Elves,” Harthizik told him. “Which reminds me, I should see how they’re doing.”

“Wait until we get to Number Four.” Remus reached over and patted his knee lightly before turning his full attention back to the road.

The three then sat in silence as they each took in the information that had been shared between them.

~

Elsewhere, in an odd Manor house, an older gentleman pushed open the door to the kitchens of his home and dropped into one of several stools around a table. He looked around, glad to be home after another long trip out of the country, only to notice that two of the younger House-Elves seemed to be missing.

“Thunder, where are Mist and Creek?” He questioned, accepting the mug of warm cider from the House-Elf in question.

Thunder looked down at the table top, his long fingers plucking at a mark on the table from when Rabastan and Rodolphus were children. “We be looking for Master Regulus and Master James, Master Xerxes,” He admitted quietly, tugging lightly at a pocket on his jumpsuit. “Mist and Creek be looking now.”

“James and Regulus are dead, Thunder. Who told you they weren’t?” Xerxes asked, staring into the cup and watching the golden-brown liquid slosh around as he tapped his fingers on the edge of the mug.

“We be getting a call from Gringotts,” Thunder started to explain. “Thunder goes and finds Elves from House of Potter and House of Black waiting. We be finding Master Harthizik. He be taking a test with the Goblins, test that says Master Regulus and Master James live but hidden behind magic. He asks Elves to look.”

“Harthizik knows?” Xerxes had not expected that news. He had thought that they would be waiting for him to find out for another two or three years.

“Yes. Thunder knows not why Harthizik was at Gringotts during school, but he knows now.”

“Excuse me, Thunder, I need to go speak with Arcturus now.” Xerxes rose from his seat and gripping the mug of cider, moved to the door to go Floo Lord Black. He paused in the doorway and turned to look back at the Elf, “When the time comes, you’ll guide us to Harthizik, won’t you?”

“Yes, Thunder would be happy to, Master Xerxes.” The Elf smiled as his Master disappeared from the room. ‘Soon, Master Harthizik will be home,’ he thought. With that thought he returned to his work, directing the other Elves to portions of the house which would need to be cleaned.

---

Madam Amelia Bones;

I’m sure you have questions as to why I have written you this, as well as questions about the enchantments on the parchment, and I will do my best to answer them.

The enchantments would be the most appropriate place to start. I’m sure you’ve already tested the parchment and found several spells, including several that you won’t recognize, but be rest assured they are for both of our protections. Foremost, I drenched this parchment in both veritaserum and truth spells, with those you will know that everything that’s written is the truth as I know it. Secondly, one of the charms is an illusion – only you or I will be able to see the real contents of this page. The remaining charms are secrecy charms set to only allow you to speak of the details that won’t give away too much or to someone who could bring harm upon our homes.

I should start by saying that everything the Magical World knows about both me and my life is a lie. You may know me as Harry James Potter, but my actual name is Harthizik Ophiuchus Potter. I am not the Son of the Dyad couple James and Lily Potter, but of the Triad made up of James Potter, Regulus Black, and Rabastan Lestrange.

From what I understand, Regulus – through Paternus pregnancy – had me in July of 1980, and then promptly disappeared. James and Rabastan searched for him, James having ‘married’ Lillian Longbottom – the former Lily Evans – in an attempt to hide my true identity, but found nothing. October of 1981 and someone attacked the summer home that James and Lily had been living in, and I doubt it was only Lord Voldemort.

I found out after my name was drawn from the Goblet of Fire, and the Weasley twins took me to Gringotts, that James and Lily are still alive, as is Regulus. I know where my father is, but I don’t know where Baba or Moda are hidden. Currently, House-Elves from all three of my main Houses dutifully search, and I hope that once they are found, I can have the help of your department to bring them home.

There are others missing of course. The Prewett twins were revealed to be alive as well, and the House-Elves search for them too.

Finally, I’m sure you wonder about the box. It contains both a copy of my Inheritance Test as well as evidence for another case. I’m sure you’ll understand if you cast humanity revealing spells.

Yours in hope,

Heir-Lord Harthizik Ophiuchus Potter

Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter,

Most Ancient and Noble House of Black,

Ancient and Fierce House of Lestrange

---

 “Welcome to this the five-hundred-and-ninth Summer Announcement Meeting for the Wizengamot of July twelfth, nineteen-ninety-five. Our announcer is the High and Honourable Lord Tiberius Ogden. I, Chief Warlock Albus Dumbledore stand presiding.”

The old Bumblebee was dressed up in fire red robes with little blue dragons all over them, and just the looking at them made their eyes hurt. It was like looking at a baby jumper but not as cute, more gross than cute.

“Lord Ogden, if you would.”

Tiberius nodded, clipboard in hand. He flipped over several pages before standing, “We have three new Lords and the confirmation of two Heirs.” He waves his wand and smiles slightly as he reads out the names. “First, Marcus Flint is taking up the mantle from his Father, so please help me welcome the new Lord Flint.”

The doors opened, and a young man with wide shoulders and a heavy build stepped inside, his dark hair pushed back from his face and just barely hanging to his jawline. He smoothed his robes before settling himself into his seat. He lazily twirled his wand between his fingers, staring around the room. He’s got several rings on his fingers, and no one could be sure what exactly they were.

“We also welcome Lady Grace Sayre to take her rightful place in her seat.”

The doors opened again, a petite redhead bounced her away inside. Her red curls bounced as she took her place next to Lord Nott. Grace settled in comfortably, tapping her fingers against the arms of her chair.

“And finally, from one of the Oldest families, may we please welcome Lord Thomas Riddle the Fourth, Lord Slytherin.”

The lips of every member of the Dark Sect all twitched up at the look on Dumbledore’s face as the younger version of the Dark Lord stepped inside the room. He looked both gobsmacked and horrified.

“He cannot be admitted!” Dumbledore cried out, pushing himself to his feet.

“And just why not?” Tiberius questioned, raising an eyebrow.

They all knew where the hell this was going. Tiberius also knew that the man before him actually was who Dumbledore was about to accuse him of being, but like most of the rest of the Wizengamot, no matter the side, he was tired of Dumbledore’s bullshit.

“That is the Dark Lord!” Dumbledore replied, aghast.

“You would be referring to my father, not myself.” The Dark Lord remarked, hands at his sides as he looked at his rival.

“…Father?” Dumbledore looked confused at the word.

“Thomas Riddle the Third was my father. I was born forty years ago, and like my father, Magic has fascinated me, hence my looks after several failed rituals.” He motioned to his eyes and the few odd marks on his visible skin.

Dumbledore’s mouth opened and closed, and when the Dark Lord questioned, “May I sit down now?”

“Yes, Lord Slytherin, please sit down.” Tiberius motioned to the empty Slytherin Lord seat. The Dark Lord dipped his head before moving up to the High Box and sitting down in the green and silver chair.

“Now, on to the confirmations. Lord Flint, you wanted to begin.” Tiberius motioned to the new young Lord.

Marcus stood from his seat, tapping his left hand on the railing before him. “As of now, my Heir is to be my little cousin Killian.”

Tiberius noted it down, carefully writing out the information next to Marcus’ name on the register. “And now Lady Lowe, you wished to change something?”

A woman of middle age with blue-black hair cut into a pixie bob stood from her seat. She brushed down her robes before speaking, “My daughter Elizabeth does not want to take up the title when she reaches majority, so in her place, my son Edmund will take up the title instead.”

“Anyone else?” Tiberius questioned, searching the room’s occupants for anyone.

No one else moved, and after a long moment Tiberius only nodded his head and with a smile dismissed the gathering.

---

Harthizik received a letter from the Goblins on the state of the wards a week before his birthday. He’d spent the last three weeks smirking at the Dursleys and waiting for anything that would get him out of there. Now he was ecstatic to read what they’d found.

The letter was simple and to the point; there are no wards here. At least, none that would keep him there. He could leave at any time he wanted.

Knowing that Harthizik just wasn’t sure where to go… He couldn’t go to the Burrow, who knows what could happen to him there? He could go to the Malfoys, but he feared someone taking him away or making a fuss. He could go to one of the empty homes he supposed, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to spend the remaining part of the summer on his own.

With a sigh, he set the letter down on the desk and moved to his bed, climbing into it and curling up facing the wall. He’d deal with the decision in the morning.

The next morning, shortly after Harthizik had finished eating the breakfast that Keri brought him while she updated him on the progress of the search, a knock sounded at the door. Curious, he got up and left his room, stopping at the head of the stairs as he heard the Horse open the door.

“Yes?” She remarked, there was a silence as she listened to whoever was at the door before she screeched, “Boy! Get down here!”

Harthizik rolled his eyes before making his way downstairs. He huffed quietly, shuffling himself around her build.

“Hell-o?” Harthizik pulled short at the sight of the two men in front of him. “Grandfathers?”

“Grandfathers‽” The Horse screeched, and Harthizik smirked at her before waving his fingers and summoning his things from upstairs in his room.

“Shall we?” Harthizik questioned, a soft grin on his face as he stuffed his shrunken down trunk into his pocket.

He followed after his Great-Grandfathers as they started away from the house.

Harthizik studied them as they walked.

Arcturus Black was a handsome man, even for almost one-hundred. His curly hair was mostly white now, only a single portion of his hair at the front of his head still black. He was wrinkled but not too much. To be honest, the man looked like he could pass for someone in their seventies rather than their nineties. He had a cane in his hand, one with a silver panther for a top which he was leaning on.

Xerxes Lestrange was also a handsome man, but he was also thirty years Arcturus’ junior. His dark brown hair was pulled back from his face, revealing brown eyes that flickered around the area, staring at the houses around them.

“Where will I be staying?” Harthizik blurted out, the silence unnerving him a bit.

That drew the two men to a stop. They apparently hadn’t discussed where he was staying.

“Where would you prefer to stay?” Grandfather Xerxes asked him, hands in the pocket of his long coat.

“I’ve read about the wards on both Blackraven Manor and Lestrange Hall, and I must admit that both have extraordinary wards schemes.” Harthizik smiled sheepishly when the older men gave him amused looks. “But as I’m sure that Dumbledore will be looking for me, it would be best to stay in Lestrange Hall where I have plenty of hiding spaces.”

Unlike Blackraven Manor which was built in the early 1400s and followed the general style of the time, Lestrange Hall was a maze. Like the Winchester Mystery House, Lestrange Hall was full of random rooms, doors that seemingly lead to nowhere (there are actually secret rooms and passageways all throughout the house), or hallways that lead to dead ends. He’d have plenty of hiding spaces in Lestrange Hall.

“Alright, then that is where you will stay.” Xerxes reached out and ruffled his hair lightly, much to Harthizik’s chagrin. Xerxes then led the three of them into a deserted alley, and after holding out his arm to Harthizik, nodded to Arcturus before with a pop, he apparated the two of them away to Lestrange Hall.

Harthizik was going home.

---

Dear Nephew,

Hart, your idea was quite brilliant, and it went exactly how you thought it would.

I entered the Wizengamot Chamber to the immediate protests of Dumbledore. It was obvious that the others of the Chamber had some idea that Dumbledore was actually correct, not that anyone would have said anything.

The ones that didn’t know thought that Dumbledore was losing his mind so it won’t be hard to foist him out.

Please be careful during the school year, Nephew. With the wards on the Dursley home gone, and myself in the political game, it will make him crazy, and I don’t want any of you hurt.

Remember, be careful.

Your Uncle,

TJR, LS.

---

Harthizik hummed happily when he stepped out of the Floo without falling and only a small stumble on September 1^st at 9:30 AM. He’d spent a good portion of the summer going between Lestrange Hall and Blackraven Manor, and after some tutoring from his Great-Grandmother Melania, he was able to use the Floo without falling on his face.

He looked around the platform, studying the purebloods and few muggle-raised that had already arrived. Most were those whose parents had work early or were of age who had come on their own.

Several of the students greeted him, and he answered in kind before disappearing into the train. It didn’t take him long to find an empty compartment that was out of the way – and even better it was in the Slytherin car, so only those actively looking for him would find him – and after settling his things into the overhead basket, he pulled his new wand – a lovely 10-inch snakewood, Occamy feather and Thestral hair wand with snakes carved into it – and began to cast several wards which would hide him further from everyone except those who were specifically looking for him.

With a sigh, he settled down on the seat, pressing his back to the wall next to the window so he could keep his eyes on the door. He pulled a book from his rucksack and settled down to wait for the train to leave.

It was five minutes to the train leaving the station when the door opened to admit his friends. The twins came into the compartment first, their trunk carried between the two of them even though they didn’t need to. Neville followed along behind them, his trunk slightly shrunken down and a small potted tree set on top. Luna Lovegood came after Neville, no trunk in sight but satchel over her shoulder and a plump little pastel blue puffskein in her arms.

“Hello, little Moon,” Harthizik greeted, reaching over to pet the puffskein lightly.

“Hello, my Prince.”

Harthizik blinked up at her, smiling slightly after a moment before returning to his petting of her tiny pet.

Hedwig hooted at him from her perch on Fred’s shoulder, and he looked up at her, stopping to hold out an arm for her. She swooped down from the other’s shoulder and settled down on his forearm, talons clasping around his wrist and just barely poking through his robe-sleeve.

“Hello, Heddy. Did you have a good time at the Burrow?” He cooed, raising his other hand to scratch at her chest-feathers. She hooted at him before fluffing up her feathers and hopping up to his shoulder.

“Hello, my demon twins. How was your summer?” Harthizik accepted the hands reaching for his head, leaning into their touches like a cuddly kitten.

“It was alright, Harbor.”

“You know how our ‘Mother’ is.”

The twins shuffled him over on the bench, settling down on either side of him with arms thrown over his shoulders. He settled back against them, Hedwig hopping up to stand on the rack’s railing above their head.

“This is for you,” Neville remarked upon setting his trunk away. Harthizik looked up to see the tree being held out to him. “It’s a Freeonia Tree; they change with their environment, so no matter what you do to it, it’ll live.”

“That’s great Nev. Thanks!” Harthizik grinned up at his god-brother, taking the tiny tree from him. It reached out to him as soon as it was in his hands and he raised one from clutching the pot to pet a finger over a soft fuzzy leaf. “You’ll have to give me an info pack about them. They seem really interesting.”

Neville smiled at him and settled down next to Luna on the seat across from them. He reached over, grabbing his book from Luna’s grasp before the two of them settled in for the trip.

The twins had leaned over to look at the tiny tree, and Harthizik smiled at the curious looks on their faces. The tree seemed to enjoy their attention, its little limbs waving about towards each of them.

The train jerked forwards, and the five teens settled in for the journey from London to Hogsmeade.

They’d taken the time to comment on their summers, and as they were turning their attention to their thoughts on who the new DADA professor would be, the compartment door slid open. Thankfully their visitor was only Draco with a few of his friends, so there were no worries about being bothered by Ronald or anyone else.

Draco dropped himself down next George, settling himself down, so they were pressed shoulder to shoulder. Draco had broadened out a bit over the summer, his shoulders wider and his previously lanky limbs had been grown into more.

Draco’s friends, Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass, settled themselves on the other bench; Daphne next to the door and Blaise pressed up against Neville’s side.

Objectively, Harthizik could see that almost all of the Slytherins were model-worthy, but he would only ever look at his twins and Draco in true. Daphne, a buxom blonde with long limbs and golden skin, would make any unattached person’s head turn, and even some attached people would turn to watch her move about just because of how graceful she was. Blaise as well would make anyone take a second look; with his smooth dark skin and aristocratic features, he looked like one of the Classical Greek sculptures brought to life.

“What was being discussed before we joined you?” Draco questioned, leaning over George to hand Harthizik a stack of parchment.

“Our thoughts on who’s going to be the new DADA professor,” Harthizik replied absently as he searched through the letters for anything important.

“Father said something about this one being Ministry appointed because Dumbledore couldn’t find someone to take it.” Draco and Harthizik both muttered annoyed remarks at the Headmaster under their breath, they each knew how much their godfather wanted that position.

“Following the previous years, something will go wrong, and we’ll get rid of them,” Neville assured them, a small smirk on his face at the grumpiness of the other two.

“We can only hope so, if they’re Ministry appointed,” Harthizik muttered, finished going through his letters and stuffing them into his bag to read later.

Of the sixty-two first years, twenty went to Gryffindor, and twenty-three went to Slytherin, leaving the remaining to be split between Hufflepuff (who got the extra) and Ravenclaw. They were all suitably blinded by the Fashion Disaster’s robes, as well as the bright pink outfit of the woman who they presumed was the new DADA professor.

It didn’t take long into her speech before Harthizik was sharing a dark look with the twins, Neville, Luna, and the Slytherins. There was no way in any of the Hells that they were letting this toad teach for long. The question was how to get rid of her.

---

“Keri and Fai have done it!” Keri announced upon her arrival in the seventh-year boys’ dorm.

Harthizik and Fred looked up from their textbooks at the sound of her voice. Harthizik’s eyes widen, and he spoke, “You found them‽”

Keri nodded her head rapidly, “They being hidden on an old Prewett property. Visibly there be no buildings, but Elves feel Stone Magic. There be a house there, and everyone be hidden inside.”

Harthizik had to pinch himself to make sure that this wasn’t a dream. When his skin reddened, he turned his attention back to the little elf.

“Tell Madam Bones.”

Keri nodded, and with a snap of her fingers, she disappeared from sight.

“They’re coming home,” was Harthizik’s whispered comment after a long silence between himself and Fred. “They’re coming home, Freddie.”

Fred rolled onto his side, tucking the younger teen against his chest. “They’re coming home, Hart. They’re indeed coming home,” He agreed, pressing a kiss to the mess of dark curls on the smaller teen’s head.

Soon, families would be renewed, and everything would come to light.

The next morning, Harthizik could hardly sit still. He was practically vibrating as he waited for the Daily Prophet to be delivered. He hoped that there would be some mention in the paper of what happened the day before.

And there it was; front page and one of the largest headlines he’d ever seen.

MEMBERS OF PROMINENT FAMILIES FOUND ON WARDED PREWETT PROPERTY AFTER AUROR RAID

By: Rita Skeeter

Late last night, Madam Amelia Bones – Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement – herself led an invasion of the warded property after an anonymous tip suggested that there were members of our community being held unlawfully within a hidden home.

After two hours of diligent work to dispel the wards, the raiding team, upon entering and searching the building, were surprised to find several members of prominent families being kept within the halls of the old hunting Hold.

Those members are as follows, and are correctly reported as according to Gringotts’ registry information:

James Potter, Lord Potter (Reported deceased October 31, 1981)

Lilian Evans, Fiancée to Lady and Lord Longbottom (Reported dead October 31, 1981)

Regulus Black, Heir Black (Reported dead August 21, 1980)

Gideon and Fabian Prewett, Lords Prewett (Reported dead September 15, 1978)

Liam Potter, Cousin to James Potter (Reported dead August 9, 1979)

Vivienne-Faye Gamp, Daughter of House Gamp (Reported dead January 12, 1980)

Anastasia Dolohov, Sister to Lord Dolohov (Reported missing February 5, 1979)

Melody Nott, Sister of Lord Nott (Reported missing November 3, 1978)

Persephone Lovegood, Consort Lovegood (Reported missing November 21, 1989)

Cienna Dearborn, Sister of Caradoc Dearborn (Reported missing March 15, 1979)

Evan Rosier, Lord Rosier/Consort Malfoy (Reported deceased January 16, 1980)

No comments have been made by the Aurors or the Healers in charge on their condition, which leaves this reporter to wonder, just how bad off, are they? And what happens now?

Further news as its released.

Harthizik couldn’t help the grin that crossed his face. Take that Dumbledore, he thought, handing the paper over to George who had been waiting for another section. He squirmed in his seat, excited by the idea that his fathers and his uncle, his uncle, were still living and were coming home.

~

A set of oak swinging doors to a heavily guarded hospital ward were pushed open by a pair of middle-aged women – one in a long maroon jacket and the other in soft gray robes tied closed by a lime sash – after them came almost a dozen teenagers and several adults.

“Students, you’ll have an hour in the ward for today,” The Healer told the gathered group as she came to a stop in the middle of the hallway between cordoned off sections of the wing. “Madam Bones will remain at the door to escort you out. Further visits can happen later on in the week, once we’ve gotten them settled, but they refused to rest until you’d visited. For the adults, you’ll have an additional hour.” She smoothed out her robes before motioning to the different ‘rooms’ – room being a relative term when the walls and door were made up by folding partitions – around them. “Where you’ll find whoever is up in the air. After their time together, they prefer to be together, so don’t hesitate to look in any of the rooms. Now if you’d excuse me, I have a set of twins to check on.” She dipped her head before disappearing back out the doors.

Madam Bones took up guard at the right of the door, leaving the gathered group to split and go looking for their family members. Several had to try different rooms before finding who they were looking for but most found their family within the rooms they’d been assigned by the Healers.

Harthizik knocked lightly on the door to the chamber that his magic had drawn him to. A soft croaking voice called him in, and he pushed the folding wall back enough for his body to fit through. It had been agreed upon by the entire family that he would go first, and see his parents without interference.

He pulled the door closed behind him, reaching into the collar of his shirt for his Glamour stone and pulling it over his head. He shoved it into his pocket, sticking his hands inside.

“Baba. Père.” He couldn’t help but whisper when he saw the state his parents were in.

James was laid up in the bed, thin and weak looking. A large bruise around his neck was just beginning to yellow, and several more about his wrists were still a brilliant purple. His hair had been cropped close to his head, short fuzz just barely coming back around fading scar tissue. A scar crossed through his eyebrow and over his eye while leaving the organ itself untouched. His skin had lost much of its color.

Regulus looked much the same, but he was at least healthy enough to be curled up in the chair next to the bed. His hair had also been chopped short, only a few inches long, leaving ample room for the bruises and scars around his neck to be visible.

They turned from each other to look at Harthizik, and if it hadn’t been for Regulus holding James down to the bed, the older man would have jumped out of bed to get to him.

“Harthizik.” James made a grabby motion at the teen, motioning him over to their sides.

Harthizik stepped carefully around the end of the bed, coming to a stop in front Regulus and stepping into James’ reach. “It’s nice to meet you, Baba, Père,” He whispered, leaning into the hands his fathers set on his shoulder and cheek.

“It’s nice to meet you too, baby,” James choked out, weakly pulling the teen down into a hug. He held his son close once Harthizik had climbed up onto the bed next to him.

“Shh, Jamie.” Regulus pet over the older man’s head as he dissolved into sobs. “We’ve got him back now. We’re not letting him go.”

They settled into silence, just taking in the closeness after so long apart.

Time was nearly up when a knock sounded at the door. “Harbor? Harbor, it’s almost time to go,” A voice called from outside the room.

Harthizik sat up and faced the door, “Freddie, come in.” He wiped his face with the cuff of his sleeve, waiting to see if his Mates would come inside as he could sense both of the twins on the other side of the door.

The partition opened to admit the twins and Harthizik scooted himself down to the end of the bed, pushing his head into George’s chest when the younger twin came to a stop at the end of the bed while Fred closed the partition again.

“Harthizik. Introductions, please?” Regulus requested, and Harthizik flushed red as he turned to face his fathers.

“Baba, Père, two of my soulmates, Fred and George Weasley-Prewett. Fred, George, two of my parents, James Potter and Regulus Black.”

Fred and George dipped their heads, “Fregeodrrigiancus Weasley-Prewett, at your service.”

Harthizik gave a longsuffering sigh, poking both twins in the solar plexus before turning his attention back to his parents.

“Please don’t mind them, Dads,” Harthizik told them, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They’re kind of crazy.”

“Oi!” The twins both poked Harthizik in the sides, grinning when he giggled and squirmed slightly.

“You said two… How many are there in your famille?” Regulus asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“Technically three, but physically four,” Fred answered, tugging lightly at a free hanging curl of Harthizik’s hair.

James and Regulus frowned at him for a moment before they watched in awe as the twins clasped hands and seemed to shimmer like someone changing into their Animagus form for the first couple of times.

After a moment, the shimmering stopped and in the place of the twins was a single. This was the first time that Harthizik had seen the twins Merge, and he was not surprised that they had finally figured it out.

The twins’ Merged form looked much like the twins on their own but at the same time slightly different. Their auburn hair was now streaked with bright red. Their freckles had doubled and had spread over more of their skin. Their eyes were different colors, one a dark blue and the other like light through glacier ice. They were taller even, only a few inches but taller none-the-less.

“Fredgian,” Harthizik murmured, reaching out to touch his fingers to the center of the Merged form’s chest.

The grin on the Merged form’s face was wicked and a mix of both twins. Fredgian leaned down to press a light kiss to Harthizik’s forehead, reaching a hand up to tug at his hair lightly when xe pulled away.

Their body shimmered again before splitting, leaving the twins clutching to the end of the bed to keep their footing.

“Still haven’t got that part down,” Fred commented, shaking his head to resettle his newly cut hair.

Both twins had chopped their hair short again, leaving it to just barely brush their ears, even though it was traditional for Heirs and Lords to have long hair. After one too many close calls, while the twins were working on their pranking supplies, they’d finally just lopped it all off, leaving it to curl around their tops of their ears and slightly into their eyes.

Harthizik giggled quietly, leaning up onto his knees to press kisses to their cheeks before he slithered off the end of the bed.

“I need to talk to your Dads, give me five minutes,” Harthizik told the twins, dragging his glamour stone from his pocket and pulling it back over his head. He gave them each another cheek-kiss before disappearing from the room, leaving his twins to the grilling of his fathers.

Fred shared a look with George before they turned to James and Regulus.

“Lord Potter,”

“Sire Black,”

“We know that traditionally,”

“Harthizik should be the one to–”

“–make his intentions clear, but as the oldest–”

“–in our Match, we thought it prudent to come to–”

“–you as well as Lady Malfoy for Draco, and declare–”

“–our Intentions to Court and eventually marry Harthizik.”

“This isn’t just because you are Soulmates, is it?” James asked softly, studying the two of them carefully. When they flushed under his gaze, he grinned at them, “So much like your fathers. We will agree, but with the term that you wait to marry until Harthizik is twenty. He needs time to get himself settled in having parents again.”

The twins nodded eagerly, they too would need a chance to get used to having their fathers back, so if they had to wait, well then, they’d damn well wait.

A clock gong sounded outside the room, letting out the first warning for the students who would need to return to the school.

“We’ll leave you to rest,” George remarked, the twins dipping their heads to them before exiting the room, leaving the men to their peace.

---

“This is the hearing for case number nine-nine-seven-six-eight-three-one-six; Fabian and Gideon Prewett versus Margaret Prewett. Charges of line theft, Bond interference, child abuse, and unlawful confinement have been brought forth. This hearing is to decide whether charges are correct and punishment can be brought to pass.”

The courtroom was nearly silent, only the shuffling of clothes and feet to be heard as Lord Ogden spoke. He shuffled through his paperwork before speaking again.

“We’ll start in the simplest place. Lords Prewett have brought forth charges of unlawful confinement, which have been added to by the other members of our community found within the halls of Lionguard Hall. We’ll hear from them in a moment. Following after will be the charges of both line theft and Bond interference. To close we will speak to the children raised under Margaret’s care.”

He turned to the Witness’ Booth, motioning to the first in the booth. “Fabian, if you would.”

The younger of the Prewett twins rose from his seat in the Witness’ Booth before making his way down to the Examination Chair which was settled into a recess of the floor at the center of the main hollow of the room.

“Would you prefer veritaserum or no?” Lord Ogden asked, motioning to an Auror just off to the side of the room.

“Yes, it would be a good idea.”

The Auror stepped over, lightly dropping three drops to the man’s tongue. She waited for a moment to make sure that it was working before returning to her post.

“Interrogators are Madam Amelia Bones, Lord Thasidius Nott, and Minister Fudge.” Lord Ogden turned several pages on his clipboard. “First, the baseline questions. Your birth name?”

“Fabian Apollo Prewett.”

“The names of your Bonded?”

“Gideon Artemis Prewett and Arcturus Septimus Regus Weasley.”

“The names of your children?”

Here Fabian couldn’t seem to answer. His eyebrows furrowed and his mouth opened and closed. It was evident that he had no idea which of the seven Weasley children were his.

“Let me be clearer then; what is the name of your oldest child?”

“William Primus Arcturus Weasley-Prewett.”

Lord Ogden nodded his head to the interrogators before sitting down to leave them to speak.

The interrogators began with the day that Fabian and Gideon had disappeared. Fabian easily explained what happened.

They’d been out for the day, just getting some errands done. They were attacked by five wizards in black robes, and they blacked out, only to come to in Lionguard Hall.

Fabian explained that they’d woken up a few days after the fight in a room of Lionguard with the magic suppression collars and warded bracelets. Their only visitors for the first couple of days were the House-Elves tasked with taking care of the home by their Aunt, who had at the time been the keeper of the finances while they were busy working.

After a week or two, they’d gotten their first human visitors. It was early in the morning when their relative peace was destroyed by the entrance of Albus Dumbledore and their sister, Margaret. She was the only person – other than themselves and their Aunt Muriel – who had access or the ability to give Dumbledore the use of the Hall.

As he spoke about this part, Fabian turned cold blue eyes on their sister, a sneer working its way onto his face, even through the forced blandness of the veritaserum. His contempt was so great that even magic couldn’t keep it at bay.

It was with a slight smirk that Fabian added, “Even with magic suppressors and warded bracelets, we nearly escaped several times.” The grin dropped from his face, as he continued, “We stopped when we were no longer the only ones being kept there.”

He explained how they went to sleep one night and woke up the next morning to Melody Nott’s crying. She had been only twenty, so it was no surprise.

Next had come seventeen-year-old Anastasia. From what Fabian had understood was that she’d gone to Diagon with a friend, and was on her way home when she’d been snatched by someone she hadn’t seen.

Cienna had ended up in Lionguard under similar circumstances, though she’d been out with a Suitor rather than a friend. Unlike her year-mate, Anastasia, Cienna had gotten angry and tried to escape as well. Not that anything other than tighter wards had come of it.

After Cienna had come Liam Potter, who’d been snatched from his burning home after an attack by Death Eaters. He’d nearly died when his magic exploded while suppressed by the collar, after getting the news that his parents had been killed. He’d been thrilled that James had been away from home for that week.

Vivienne-Faye had been a baby of only a few weeks when she came to them. The way Fabian figured it, her parents had been murdered by the Order during a raid, and she’d been stolen by Dumbledore and declared dead so that the Gamp seat would be reassigned, but they had no proof of that.

Regulus was the only Marked Death Eater, and from what he’d explained, he’d been saving people from a burning building when he’d been knocked unconscious and brought to Lionguard. He didn’t explain further than that, at least not until it was his turn to take the stand.

Evan on the other hand, while a Death Eater was not Marked, had come to join their group after a visit to his ailing mother. He had been angry for almost a month before settling.

James and Lily’s story was similar to the tale told about that Halloween, excluding the fact that it hadn’t been the Dark Lord, but Dumbledore who’d first come to their home. James was stunned at the door, and then Dumbledore had followed Lily upstairs to the nursery. She’d been in the process of trying to distract Dumbledore when the Dark Lord came in. The Dark Lord and Dumbledore dueled and accidentally ‘killed’ Lily and almost killed Harry.

In almost identical circumstances to the ones that brought the twins to Lionguard, Persephone had been attacked and grabbed while she was out shopping. Her disappearance had driven her Bonded to desperation, which had caused Xenophilius to have a mental breakdown and killed Pandora.

Each of the others came up to add on to their stories, but that was the gist of it.

A break had to be called after all that information was brought forth – both so that Dumbledore could be arrested for his part, and so that the speakers could take a bit to save face. But soon, the court was recalled, with a goblin brought in for the next portion.

“For the charges of Line theft, and Bond interference, we have called in High Warrior and Honorable Manager Ironclaw to administer the tests and bring forth the data.” Lord Ogden happily bowed to the goblin, this would be the end of a lot of unfortunate circumstances in the Magical World.

Ironclaw bowed back to the Favoured son of their Clan, before setting out the information and necessary materials onto a desk set up for him.

“Margaret Prewett has embezzled several hundred thousand galleons from both the Weasley and Prewett vaults since her coming of age. Most of that currency is sitting dormant in several vaults under her name, but a good portion has been used to buy frivolous items and fund the so-called Order of the Phoenix.” He waved his hand, projecting the financial figures so everyone could see. “Arcturus Weasley if you would.”

Arthur stepped down from the viewing stand, coming to stand meekly next to the goblin. He bled for the inheritance test, and the entire gallery watched in anticipation for what was to come.

~Bloodline / Inheritance Test~

Birth Name: Arcturus Septimus Regus Weasley

Acknowledged Name: Arthur Septimus Weasley

Age: 46

Magical Core Level: 175

Oddities: None applicable. 

Parents: Mother – Cedrella Weasley nee Black [Status: Living], Father(s) – Septimus Weasley (Biological) [Status: Living], Jasper Harper (Blood and Magic) [Status: Deceased]

Godparents: Elvira Harper (Godmother) [Status: Living], Octavian Weasley (Godfather) [Status: Deceased]

Soul’s Hearts: Fabian and Gideon Prewett

Familiar(s):  One Cat (Harmony)

Bloodlines / Titles:

• Scion Black – 1 seat, 3 votes
• Scion Weasley – 1 seat, 1 vote

Magical Abilities:

• Pyromancy

Blocks / Binds / Contracts:

• Soul’s Hearts Block – Partially broken (1993), cast by Margaret Prewett
• Loyalty Bind to Margaret Prewett – Partially broken (1993), cast by Margaret Prewett
• Control Bind – Partially broken (1993), cast by Margaret Prewett
• Love Potion – Administered, Brewed, and Bound by Margaret Prewett

Arthur – and the rest of the Gallery – blinked in shock at the news (the boys hadn’t figured out a way to get their Father to go to Gringotts yet) and he had to sit down in the chair conjured for him by the Interrogators.

“That answers that question,” Fabian muttered to Gideon, leaning against his brother’s side. They’d wondered for years about what was keeping Arthur away, and that certainly answered their questions.

Arthur was led to another seat by the door by Ironclaw so they could go to Gringotts and get a purge done after the Inheritance tests on the children. As they passed Bill, who was on his way down to the stand, the Weasley Heir lightly patted his father’s shoulder.

“Would you like veritaserum, Heir Weasley?” Lord Ogden asked.

“No. Thank you though, Lord Ogden.” Bill settled himself into the chair, shifting around. “I will speak truthfully.”

The Interrogators waited for him to settle in before beginning their questions.

“How would you describe your childhood, Heir Weasley?” Madam Bones questioned, staring down at him from her place at the left of Minister Fudge.

“It started alright, I suppose. We had everything we needed, even if it wasn’t new. Dad took time with us when he could.”

“What changed?” Lord Nott asked, all three taking notes while Percy – the court scribe – kept an eye on the Dicta-Quill.

“Career counseling.”

“How so?”

“Margaret expected all of us to go into a career at the Ministry – in the departments or as an Auror. However, after listening to a lecture by Professor Marcus, the Runes teacher during my time at Hogwarts, I became fascinated with Wards and Curses. In my fifth year, I set myself up to become a Cursebreaker, and Margaret – pardon my language – lost her shit. She always ragged at me to find another job. I wasn’t going to give up something that interested me for something that would bore me out of my mind, hence the reason that once I was certified, I got myself shipped to Egypt.”

“Did she ever hit you?” Minister Fudge asked the first question he’d asked all day.

“Mm me? Usually only for punishment, but occasionally during one of her rants where her hands start to fly. The others, excluding the twins, are the same, but with the twins, she used physicality as a ‘deterrent’ for their behaviour.”

“How did she do that?” Madam Bones turned narrowed eyes to Margaret.

“Grab their ears, break their stuff, smack them, paddle them with spoons, etcetera.”

Dark looks from the entire room were set on Margaret as Bill got to his feet and moved back to his place in the stands. 

“Inheritance tests for the following have been ordered: Perseus Weasley, Charles Weasley, Ronald Weasley, and Ginevra Weasley. Tests for William Weasley-Prewett, Fredricus, and Georgian Weasley-Prewett have already been administered.” Lord Ogden announced, after getting to his feet. When it looked like Ronald was going to protest, he added, “You will take it, whether we have to hold you down and bleed you for it.”

The significant portions of the tests were projected for the gallery to see.

~Bloodline / Inheritance Test~

Birth Name: Charlton Ignis Weasley-Prewett

Acknowledged Name: Charlie Ignis Weasley

Age: 22

Magical Core Level: 196

Oddities: None applicable. 

Parents: Carrier – Arcturus Weasley [Status: Living], Father(s) – Gideon Prewett (Biological) [Status: Living], Fabian Prewett (Magical Donor) [Status: Living]

~Bloodline / Inheritance Test~

Birth Name: Perseus Ignatius Weasley-Prewett

Acknowledged Name: Percy Ignatius Weasley

Age: 19

Magical Core Level: 180

Oddities: None applicable. 

Parents: Carrier – Arcturus Weasley [Status: Living], Father(s) – Gideon Prewett (Biological) [Status: Living], Fabian Prewett (Magical Donor) [Status: Living]

~Bloodline / Inheritance Test~

Birth Name: Ronald Bryan Dumbledore-Prewett

Acknowledged Name: Ron Bilius Weasley

Age: 15

Magical Core Level: 100

Oddities: None applicable. 

Parents: Mother – Margaret Prewett [Status: Living], Father(s) – Albus Dumbledore [Status: Living]

~Bloodline / Inheritance Test~

Birth Name: Ginerva Antonia Prima Weasley-Prewett

Acknowledged Name: Ginny Molly Weasley

Age: 14

Magical Core Level: 185

Oddities: None applicable. 

Parents: Carrier – Arcturus Weasley [Status: Living], Father(s) – Gideon Prewett (Biological) [Status: Living], Fabian Prewett (Magical Donor) [Status: Living]

“Hmpf.” Fred huffed, staring at the blinking words that marked out who was family and not.

“With that concluded, a break will be taken to decide the punishment of Margaret Prewett.”

“This governing body finds you, Margaret Prewett, guilty of all charges laid against you. Your sentence is magic-removal, ten years in Azkaban maximum security, and then exile. Aurors.”

Margaret’s sobbing form was dragged away by two Aurors, to the chatter of the gathered community and the yelling protests of Ronald.

---

Harthizik didn’t attend Dumbledore’s trial as it was during the school week but according to the Daily Prophet, he’d been charged for things from the last fifty years, charges which racked up into the hundreds.

Listed in the Daily Prophet, the charges ended up being as follows:

1. Contempt of Court: 5 counts
2. Arson: 10 counts
3. Murder: 18 counts
4. Kidnapping: 25 counts
5. Larceny: 28 counts
6. Line theft: 28 counts
7. False Proxy: 30 counts
8. False Imprisonment: 31 counts
9. Extortion: 40 counts
10. Bribery: 75 counts
11. Trespassing: 107 counts
12. Use of Unforgivables: 150 counts
13. Mayhem: 185 counts
14. Affray: 200 counts
15. Forcible Entry: 224 counts
16. Accessory to child abuse: 238 counts
17. Bond Interference: 293 counts
18. Assault with Magics: 350 counts
19. Conspiracy: 468 counts
20. Fabrication of False Evidence: 538 counts
21. Unlawful Assembly: 658 counts
22. Forgery: 985 counts
23. Mind Rape: 1007 counts
24. Misappropriation of Funds: 1624 counts
25. Abuse of Authority: 9919 counts
26. Child endangerment: 24899 counts

And that was only from fifty years of Dumbledore’s life, Harthizik could only imagine how much more there would be if they went through his entire history. It would probably be at least six times that.

Harthizik couldn’t help the grin that spread on his face when he saw the sentence that the former Headmaster received: magic-removal, twenty years of virtually constant Dementor guard, and then if he was still alive, exile to an island asylum run by the Australian Ministry. A fitting end to a psychotic old man who thought himself more powerful and all-knowing that he really was.

---

After Dumbledore’s trial, it was decided by the Wizengamot that they would go through each and every trial for the prisoners still alive in Azkaban. And the most logical place to start was giving a trial to a man who’d never gotten one in the first place.

Sirius eagerly turned himself in to the Aurors at the Ministry when the announcement of his trial was published in the paper with a guarantee of safe passage for him. He was even happier when he was declared innocent of all crimes – including being an unregistered Animagus (for which he’d been fined 100 galleons – much lower than the actual fine but as Madam Bones put it: “He’d more than paid for being unregistered by being in Azkaban for twelve years unnecessarily.”).

Of the 300 prisoners in Azkaban at the time, 50 went free – including the Lestranges. All of the newly released prisoners were sent to a mandatory Mind-Healing resort, no matter how long they’d been in there.

And after almost a year, Rabastan and Rodolphus were released into the watchful care of their family. They weren’t one-hundred percent, but they were getting there.

Bellatrix had to stay in the care of the Healers at St. Hedwin’s for another year and a half after them so that the Healers could be sure that the Madness was gone. When she was released into the care of her sisters, the entire family breathed a sigh of relief that they’d gotten back their Bella, not the monster she’d turned into.

Six months into their stay at St. Hedwin’s, Rabastan and Rodolphus told the Healers how to break the seal on the Longbottoms, so after another month – the time necessary to gather the ingredients for the potion and get Severus to brew it – Frank and Alice were free. They, of course, had to remain at St. Mungo’s for another few weeks to make sure that there were no lingering effects or new developments but they did achieve freedom before the year was out, returning home to their family.

With Dumbledore foisted from his positions, the entire world began to change.

The Supreme Mugwump position was filled by 25-year-old Babajide Akingbade of Nigeria, the youngest to take the job. He immediately set out to bring the magical communities together, which not only balanced magic back out, but brought the birthrate for Magicals back up to a proper level.

He had Grindelwald released from Nurmengard after finding a closet of pensieve memories of Dumbledore’s about how the entire thing had been staged – Grindelwald’s crimes had been committed while the Dark wizard was under the effects of the Imperious, which had been cast by Dumbledore in the first place. He like the prisoners of Azkaban who’d been released was admitted to St. Hedwin’s and there he would remain for almost three years before he returned to his native Germany and the lands of his family – where his nephew and grand-niece were living and waiting for him.

Professor McGonagall took over as Headmistress of Hogwarts, and the school flourished under her care. Previously banned classes – Wizarding Law, Wizard Studies, Warding, and Healing for example – were returned. More staff was hired – not just for the new classes but to take up some of the pressures of the teachers already around. Binns was exorcised and replaced by Remus – who was quite happy to take the job. The DADA position was being taught by both Sirius and a rotating staff of Junior and Senior Aurors. Divination was dropped from the curriculum but still offered on a needed basis to those who tested with abilities in it to be taught by a member of the Centaur Herd. Two Healers – one General, and the other a Mind-Healer – and another Mediwitch were put on retainer. The Forbidden Forest was cleared out: Aragog and his spawn – the little blighters culled to a manageable number – were moved to a deserted island off the coast of Wales, Fluffy sent to a Cerberus breeder in Greece, and the unicorn herd herded away into a web-free section of the forest.

And all of this done without raising tuition, thanks to the funds confiscated from Dumbledore’s vaults and returned to the upkeep of the school.

The Chief Warlock position went to Lord Malfoy, but the Wizengamot had to have daily meetings to sort through all of the laws put forth during Dumbledore’s time there, so they could do a preliminary revote. They did have to go through all of the laws, but they held bi-weekly meetings to go through them in more detail if it was necessary. This process meant that it took almost a year in full – as in time spent in the chambers adding up to a year – for the Lords and Ladies to go through everything.

Several laws were immediately thrown out, even after just the first point was announced. The Werewolf Registration Act for example. Several members of the assembly had given excellent short arguments that had turned the majority’s hand.

A multitude of new laws had also been put into place. For example, it was now mandatory for those turning 17 to get an Inheritance test done with the goblins even going to Hogwarts twice a school year to do testing.

To sum it all up, with Dumbledore gone, everyone was much happier, and Magic seemed to sing.

---

Epilogue

Our story ends here, in the future of this timeline. In the happy future of our Hero and his family.

James, Regulus, and Rabastan settled down in Lestrange Hall with Xerxes, Rodolphus, and Bellatrix. James, who had unknowingly been gathering magic for pregnancy before his capture, had a baby boy only a year after being returned home. Quinn Stephanux Lestrange was born on November 1^st of 1996. Three years following, Calliope Destinae Black was born on February 14^th, being welcomed by her family eagerly.

Each of the remaining Young Lestranges (Bellatrix and Rodolphus) finally found their Mates after years of feeling the suppressed Pulls. Bellatrix found herself easily slotted into the pairing of Victoria Avery and Euphemia Rowle, both women eagerly greeting her and lamenting the lost years where they could only watch and not touch. Rodolphus had found himself ambushed by two of his closest friends: Antonin Dolohov and Thorfinn Rowle had come for a visit shortly after Rodo was released from St. Hedwin’s and they’d barely made it through introductions and greetings before they were dragging the Elder Lestrange out of the room and disappearing for the following three days.

Each of those triads produced two children: Asterope Jillian Avery-Black, and Regulus “Lis” Markus Black-Rowle, from the Avery-Black-Rowle trinity; and from the Lestrange-Dolohov-Rowle trinity came Huntyr Aleksandr Dolohov-Lestrange, and Lokin Grae Lestrange-Rowle.

Lucius and Narcissa having gotten their Third Evan Rosier back settled into Malfoy Manor so he could heal. Draco was almost twenty when his mother found herself pregnant again. She had a little girl, one that the family named Mira Demetria Rosier.

Arthur – after intensive Mind Healing for the things that Margaret had done to him – settled back into his place in Gemini Range at Fabian and Gideon’s side. They didn’t add to their brood, quite happy with the six they already had.

Bill Courted Fleur for a year before during a week-long vacation to Berlin for their first anniversary, the two of them formally met Dmitri Krosia – who had been at Hogwarts during the Triwizard tournament but had been around his schoolmates too often for either to approach him – during a showing at an Art Gallery where the younger man had been showing a few of his pieces. The way the three always told it, it was love at first sight – and not because of Fleur’s Allure (of which the whole point is to find who isn’t affected by it) – and they were all sad to part. It wasn’t until months later that Bill would remember what his Inheritance test said. Dmitri went in for his own Inheritance test at Bill’s cajoling, and with the reveal, moved himself to England to be closer to his Mates.

From their grouping, came another half-dozen children. First came Victoire Cedar Weasley, named for the non-family Champions. She was followed by twins Louis Henri and Dominque Gabi Weasley. Another set of twins followed them: Ivanka Marsie and Gretchen Kinzy Krosia. And finally came baby Juniper Nora, who while an accidental conception was not unwanted.

As for Gabrielle, she found her Matches in two of her classmates – Joshua Marcelini and Reagan Pauline – and the three settled down near Paris on a small Vineyard that had been in the Delacour family for years. She gave them three children – Juliet Wynonna, Rosalina Stora, and Timothy Nealan.

Charlie, whose Mates were two of Harthizik’s year-mates had to wait for them, had himself transferred to the Welsh Reserve for Scaled Animals and Beings shortly after the trials. There he waited for Blaise and Neville to come of age and approach him. Blaise came first as he was a year older than the average of their year like Hermione. Neville followed in the summer after that.

Their joining produced only one child, a son named Vin Raegan Longbottom-Zabini. He was a bubbly boy, much like his older fathers, but with the same love of plants that his youngest father took for a job.

Percy, having found his Mates in school, settled into one of the smaller Flint homes with Marcus and Oliver. He remained in the Ministry, though working for the new Department of Magical Family Records, while Oliver went to play for Puddlemere United and Marcus settled into his enchantment job.

They waited to have children, not wanting to do it while Oliver was travelling, but once Oliver retired to work at Hogwarts as a Quidditch coach, they settled down and had a brood of their own. Five little squirts were the product of the Wood-Flint-Weasley triad. Sasha Elijah and Wisteria Jade Flint-Wood came first. They were followed by Dae Carly and Jennifer Lynn Flint-Wood – though they weren’t twins like the first. The last of the Wood-Flint brood was Caston Robert Flint-Wood.

Ginny was also a part of an odd grouping. Due to the experiment that killed her mother, Luna’s biology and magic were changed at a molecular level, basically erasing her bonds. When her magic restructured itself at eleven, it latched onto three of her classmates, Ginny being only one of them. The rest of their Quad was made up by Astoria Greengrass and Colin Creevey-Dearborn (his father ended up being found to be an amnesiac, Caradoc Dearborn).

Their union added seven to the widely expanded family tree. The first three – Pandera Loraine, Cassandra Tanya, and Antonio Michael Creevey-Dearborn – were accidental conceptions from the graduation party of the Class of 1999 where the four had gotten drunk and slept together – before they actually got together. Colin always joked that he was fortunate not to have lost a limb during that time with all three pregnant at the same time. Luna had twins almost a year later, naming them Lorcan Hart and Lysander Isiah Creevey-Dearborn. Ginny and Astoria only had one more each – their children born three and five years after the twins – and named them Bailey Corina and Estelle Regina.

Spreading out to the farther branches of their families, Mafalda Prewett – the daughter of the Accountant cousin – ended up Matched with Dennis Creevey-Dearborn and Zacharias Smith. She had two daughters for her husbands, Clara Michelle Creevey-Dearborn and Elle Paige Smith.

Harthizik’s Uncle Liam met his Matches shortly after he was released from St. Mungo’s. Jakob Niehaus had just started working at St. Mungo’s when Liam left and had been one of the several Healers that had checked the kept group over. Melanie Ambrosia, on the other hand, was working at Gringotts and Liam, in the staple clumsiness of sleep-deprived Potters, had tripped into her while walking through the Gringotts lobby. They had three children: Charles Daren Potter, Declan Lucien Niehaus, and Harmonia Ambrosia Potter-Niehaus.

With the three of them working and living at Hogwarts, Severus, Sirius, and Remus had decided to wait until their assistants had settled into their roles. Against their wishes, Sirius got pregnant only six months after the changes began. In the end, the three had four children: Polaris Altair and Pyxis Jovian Black, Faolan Connor Lupin, and Vestia Aspasia Prince.

Tonks finally got herself tested, only to find out that she works with both her mates. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Augustus Rookwood were surprised to find notes with her Inheritance test included in their inboxes the morning after. It took them several months afterwards before they finally get together and settled out all their problems. Tonks ended up giving Heirs to both her Matches (not that Kingsley needed an Heir as Blaise was his nephew), Heirs named in line with the family traditions of their fathers’ families: Kyan Stephan Shacklebolt and Julius Theodore Rookwood.

Frank, Alice, and Lily finally got married a year after the trials, with James and the rest standing with them at their Bonding. It took them another five years after that before they gave Neville a sister, Nora Marie Longbottom. They didn’t stop with Nora either, adding three more (Nina Louise, Nigel Loren, and Nadine Elenor) to their family in the decade following Nora’s birth.

Barty had gone to Gringotts and got himself a new Inheritance test because between the Dementors and his father’s Imperious he’d forgotten a fair amount of the life before Azkaban that had been happy or non-specific. So, his surprise at the names on the test could be understood. Fenrir Greyback and Thomas Riddle IV. Fenrir, having been checked over by a Healer and found to have been under the influence of the Argentum Luna Curse (a werewolf-specific curse that makes a ‘wolf nearly feral at the constant feeling of the moon and silver being driven through their veins), was the first that Barty approached with the information. Fenrir had been waiting for one of them to approach him, so he was quite happy to help Barty with his plan to get their Third, both unknowing that their Third was the Dark Lord. Tom ruined said plans when they came to see him, and he simply grabbed them and dragged them off to his rooms. In the end, their union added four to the magical community: Weylyn Marshall Greyback, Solaris Braden Riddle-Slytherin, and twins Kiran Jaden and Meia Jordan Crouch.

Looking to their friends, Cedric, now a member of the Department of Care and Regulation of Magical Creatures, and Adrian, a member of the Law Department, who had been dating since their days in school were tested and found that they were Matched with Lee Jordan, who had trained as a commentator for Quidditch matches, like he had been in school. The Hufflepuff-Slytherin pairing had ended up taking some very underhanded methods (read: The Twins) to get Lee to agree to date them. Their family eventually grew to add three more: Janessa Morgan Diggory-Jordan, Hadrian Graham Diggory-Pucey, and Caralina Gail Diggory-Pucey joined their family three, six, and eight years after they were married in 2000.

Alicia, Angelina, and Katie married the year after Katie graduated from Hogwarts. They had only one child: Teresa Ilana Bell-Johnson-Spinnet.

Hermione had apologized to Harthizik for her attitude during their fourth year, they weren’t as close as before, but she had apologized. Her relationship with Viktor continued through mail after the Bulgarian went home and she kept in contact with several of the other visitors, including a witch from Beauxbatons named Anastasia Chatelaine. Hermione and Viktor ended up testing within the same time period as Bulgarian custom was Inheritance tests at 21 rather than 17, to find that they were Matched together and with Anastasia. Since their marriage in 2001, Viktor has gifted his wives with three children each. For Hermione: Rose Lynn Krum, Hugo Evan Krum, and Lenora Antola Krum. For Anastasia: Henri Markos Krum, Vivienne Marie Krum, and Juno Lyndzy Krum.

The youngest of the Slytherin court, Theodore Nott ended up Matched and married to Paskal Krum and a French Wizard named Étienne Bordeaux. Together the three had three children: Xavier Ash Nott-Bordeaux, Thierry David Nott-Bordeaux, and Mikaela Paulina Nott-Krum.

The younger girls of the Slytherin Court ended up being together. They went for their tests together after Tracy’s birthday, only to find out they were Matched together. Through generous donations from their friends, they had a child each: Lilac Morrigan Parkinson, Phoebe Xana Greengrass, and Sophia Nya Davis.

The remaining portion of the Slytherin Court, Greg, Vince, and Millicent found themselves drawn to each other months before they were tested and when they did get tested it was revealed why. They would have continued to have children after their six, but Millicent had an accident that cut them off with their six: Nigel Liam, Jason Robert, and Vincent Dylan Crabbe, and Kayla Ginger, Arlise Lyla, and Jackson Erik Goyle.

Harthizik always got a good laugh whenever anyone brought up Ronald’s name. Ronald who had started dating Lavender Brown during their fifth year started dating Megan Jones on the side once they’d graduated. The funny part of it was that the two women fell pregnant at the same time, and after threats – loud, public threats – of castration by their fathers, he married both of them – with the added bonus of Gringotts sending out a comment that he should have been marrying them anyway as they were his Matches.

His parents weren’t much help though were they. What with Margaret having gone through her prison sentence with grace and then being forced from the British Wizarding World, and no one was sure whether Ronald had contact with her or not. Dumbledore had gone through his prison sentence with as much grace as an elephant in a locked china shop with a swarm of bees. He tried escaping six times in the first year alone, and by the end of his time in Azkaban, he was lucky to still have his soul (He didn’t have the magic to change into his Animagus form, so there he was stuck). The old man’s death was publicly announced in 2005, and the celebrations that came after almost gave the ones on November 1^st, 1981 a run for their money.

As for our Hero and his lovers…

Harthizik and Draco forced Fred and George to finish their final year at Hogwarts, not that it was that much of a hardship when the twins had parents who fully supported them. The twins went on to be apprentices to Severus after they graduated so that they could still be around their Mates during the school year as they were used to. Harthizik and Draco returned to school for their final two years, taking on apprenticeships under Dennis Dixxon (Defence Master) and Lilian Clayburn (Potions Mistress) respectively upon graduation. The four had a private Bonding ceremony in 2001, and on their Consummation Night, Harry fell pregnant with what would be the first of nine children, their eldest son, James Sirius Potter-Malfoy. James was born on his grandfather’s birthday, in 2003, and his next siblings were born three years later. Alphard Severus and Scorpius Hyperion Potter Malfoy were born the 19^th of July 2006. James was nine when the next four were born: Lilladora Hope and Kalipso Faith Potter-Prewett, and Aurelius Samuel and Aquila Elix Malfoy-Prewett. James was almost eighteen when the final pair of their family joined them: Harper William and Isaac Xavier Potter-Prewett were the results of a steamy month-long vacation that the four Lords had taken in the summer of 2019.

There were days where Harthizik could only stand in front of one of the windows of Potter Manor and stare out at the grounds in thought. He was constantly grateful that his Twins had seen what no one else had, and helped him to find the truth that changed everything.

They had seen him, and they had set him free.