The doors to the Great Hall opened with a bang showing one Henri Regulus Noir walking briskly towards the stool and sorting hat. On his way there, he spotted a few appreciative looks and blushes, some speculative murmurs but he didn't deign them worthy of a response. He sat down on the stool and allowed the hat to fall onto his head. He didn't even startle or flinch at the voice at the voice that entered his mind.
"Hello Mr. Noir, or should I say," the hat paused for dramatic effect even if his only audience was Harry. "Potter?"
"Don't call me Potter!" Harry snapped cruelly. "I may have taken up the Lordship in my time, but that was to ensure no one else in my biological family would have power over me."
"Oh yes, even then, you went by Black amongst your friends whilst the world still thought you a Potter. You had them all fooled" the hat began to laugh rather loudly in his mind that Harry was surprised the Great Hall hadn't heard it as well.
"Sorry hat, but I can't be in Slytherin at this point in time either."
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes"
"Humour me with a good reason then."
"Albus Dumbledore" Harry stated plainly.
"How is that a reason?"
"How is that not a reason?"
"Explain to me how that is a reason."
"Explain to me how that is not a reason."
"That doesn't make sense."
"You asked for a reason, I gave you a reason."
"How?"
"The answer is in my mind you old man."
"Respect your elders child" the hat said with no malice.
"And care for the young, old sir."
"I may be old but I am wise."
"You remind me of the old man wearing nastily decorated robes pretending to be everyone's grandfather" Harry said as he conjured an image of Dumbledore doing all sorts of odd things in his mind. The actions ranged from eating lemon drops to doing the chicken dance for Fawkes.
"That was absolutely vile."
"I know, that's why I showed it."
"Vindictive Slytherin"
"I'm the heir of Gryffindor in this time" Harry pointed out.
"So you want to go into Gryffindor again?" the hat asked exasperated.
"Do I need to get Salazar Slytherin to renew the enchantment on you old sir? You're losing the Slytherin brand of intelligence" Harry commented drily.
"No, don't you dare"
"I could get the heir of Slytherin to do it."
"Considering who he became in your time, I find myself somewhat sceptical of your ability to do so."
'Wanna bet?" Harry asked.
"Did you just try and make a bet with an old hat?"
"Yes, are you daft?"
"Respect your elders, young man."
"And care for the young, old man. I'm telling you now though, Gryffindor wouldn't do me any good."
"Then what house would you like to be sorted into, child?"
"Hufflepuff"
"The House where everyone would underestimate you. Hmm I do see the merits of such."
"Great, how much more persuasion do you need?"
"I could be swayed. Humor this old hat by giving it another reason" the hat drawled.
Harry really wanted to scowl but the hat was the one with the power here, he had to do this right. "Tom Riddle"
"Once again young man, names do not equal reason."
"Wow, never knew you could do math so well."
"You know, I'm very tempted to put you in Slytherin just to spite you."
"That would be the Slytherin side of you talking. Now will you let your dear Hufflepuff side take over? She wished for the safety of the students and with such a dangerous wizard in Slytherin, I could very much die whilst he frames someone else."
"Child, we both know that you wouldn't really be in danger considering your skillset and power. He'd rather have you on his side."
"How can you be so sure though? He's very intelligent and manipulative."
"I know, to this day, his mind was one of the most memorable throughout my career."
"People change"
"True, but I was only offering my opinion."
"Please? I have some plans in place that wouldn't come to prosper in Slytherin. I'd be faced with too much suspicion."
"Alright child, I'll allow you to go this time but you better stick to your plans."
"Thank you sir!"
"Very well, HUFFLEPUFF!"
The hat was removed from Harry's head and he stood to give a polite bow after his the Hufflepuff crest appeared on his robes. He gave a seemingly warm grin as expected of him and in a show of house loyalty, he gave himself spiky black hair with yellow tips. The smile remained on his face as he made his way over to the Hufflepuff table, but to those looking closely, they would notice that the smile didn't reach his eyes at all. Even as a metamorphmagus, he wasn't able to hide his pain at the emptiness of the Great Hall without his siblings.
Arriving at Hogwarts was basically testing his occlumency abilities. Everywhere he looked in the Great Hall, he would be reminded of his friends. He avoided looking at the Gryffindors, knowing he would only be caught up in memories of light chatter amongst Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. He couldn't even bring himself to look at the Slytherin table where the Blacks and Malfoys were trying to catch his eyes. He would be too tempted into reliving the memories of his times with Draco- their taunting sessions and glaring contests from across the hall were always the highlight of his mornings. He wouldn't look at the Ravenclaw table as he would choke on his tears if he reminisced about the times he chatted about everything and nothing with his dear sister Luna. He swallowed the lump in his throat, forcing himself to breath through the pain in his chest. At least in Hufflepuff, he wouldn't have too many memories to deal with, too many complex emotions to neutralize, too much of anything. It was the perfect place for him to rest.
He allowed others to introduce themselves to him- he met Pomona Sprout who is currently a fourth year, Lacerous Smith, a second year who just wanted to say hello, Penelope Bones, a seventh year, Harold Abbott, a fifth year, Eurydice Smith, another fifth year, Olivia Jones, a cute fourth year, and Walter Diggory, the sixth year version of Cedric's grandfather.
It was a little disconcerting at first to see the grandparents of his classmates in their teenage years but he made do. He answered the few questions posed to him about his life and he gave them his made up story. He lies perfectly through his smile and welcoming eyes, but he still feels lost. He pushed away Dumbledore's attempt of getting him under his thumb politely. It's all too much and not enough at the same time. Hogwarts just isn't home without his family nor without his godfather's marks of mischief all over the place.
That night as he laid down, away from all the chaos, he contemplated his decision to go to Hufflepuff. Was it really a necessity? Didn't he promise himself that he wouldn't hide his real self anymore? He has gotten into the habit of hanging around Slytherins that fitting into Hufflepuff is more difficult than pretending to be the Gryffindor Golden Boy, Dumbledore's man. Who was he really? Was he really Dumbledore's boy? Sometimes, he had to fool his subconscious in order to act a certain way. Was he the Slytherin he portrayed himself as during the summer?
Challenges are challenges and the least he could do about this obstacle is overcome it, that he knows. He was someone who had different masks, each accentuating a certain attribute of his, that he knows as well. Maybe he was bound to question his true identity at times? He was a person who calculated every move he made, manipulated situations when possible, capitalized on his resources, and analyzed other actions. Catching onto his train of thought, he sighed and rubbed his eyes anxiously. It wasn't the first time he questioned his identity, and it certainly won't be the last.
Perhaps he should pay a visit to the Slytherin common room sometime in the month, if only to piss Tom off by 'invading' his territory and enjoy the company of his friends. He needed an outlet and though no one could replace his family, they wouldn't want him to suffer in silence.
He also needed to recreate the Marauder's map of Hogwarts considering he hadn't been clever enough to take it with him to the Department of Mysteries. He would need to cast a series of spells based on his knowledge of magical theory as he couldn't remember the network of spells and runes weren't his specialty. Next, he should create an interactive map of Hogsmeade as well. At the very least, he hadn't been careless enough to leave the map of Diagon Alley in Noir Mansion. He could also use the map as spying devices, he would need to install a listening, watching, and recording function. There were so many things he needed to do.
A dozen of ideas popped into his head as to how to go about the task and he groaned as he cursed his restless mind. He needed to bounce ideas off of someone, but only mini-Voldie matched his level of understanding of magical and muggle topics at the present time. He needed to meditate and strengthen his occlumency before he could go to sleep.
Maybe he should just pay the Slytherins a visit now. It's not like his mind is even remotely steady enough to meditate.
Yes, he was going to have some fun with the Slytherins. He ripped the wards, made a small note on how similar they would be in the future, then apparated out.
In the Slytherin Common Room
Orion and Lucretia stumbled through the entrance of Slytherin Common room and immediately sought out the comfortable chairs and in a corner. They were both silent as they waited for the others to arrive. The prefects made their announcements, the Slytherin King said a few kind words until finally, their group of friends rejoined.
The Knights of Walpurgis, consisting of the heirs of many dark pureblood families and the few occasional half bloods were the only ones left in the common room. They still sat in silence until Orion spoke.
"So he wasn't joking was he? He was serious. I didn't even think he had it in him" he muttered, almost too quiet for anyone to hear.
"No, he wasn't joking" Tom confirmed. He supposed Harry had a reason for doing what he did. To the Slytherins, he may have said it was because of Dumbledore, but given both his and Harry's actions prior to their time travel, he was pretty sure Harry would be more likely to side with Dumbles. Yes, Harry wasn't what he expected him to be, but how much of that was due to the time travel?
"What do we do then? Do we just stop talking to him?" Orion asked worriedly. He liked Harry but Hufflepuffs weren't exactly respected amongst the Slytherins.
"Hope not, I like Harry" Abraxas muttered, much to Tom's exasperation. If they figured out who Harry had been prior to his arrival to this time, they would wish they've never said that.
"Now why should we do that?" Tom asked the two with a sharp smile, decision made. "Wouldn't you like to figure him out?"
Just then, a pop sounded in the middle of the Slytherin common room announcing the arrival of a person by apparition. The other occupants looked at the figure stunned, until one of them had enough sense to throw a stupefy.
Harry watched the incoming spell with amusement as he dodged then searched for the one responsible. "It worked" he said with a smirk.
"Speak of the devil" Lucretia muttered under her breath.
"What worked?" Orion asked.
"I was testing out my heir of Gryffindor privileges" Harry lied as Tom shot another spell at him. He dodged out of the way with a laugh as a few other spells whizzed past him. He avoided what he could and threw up a shield when he couldn't.
As he kept dodging, he noticed the spells were getting darker in nature so he decided that it was now his turn to play. He flicked his wrist and the wand slipped into his hand, and he gripped it the way it was ingrained in his memory. He wandlessly cast a sticking charm on his hand to ensure the wand didn't escape from his grasp if he fell and to cancel any disarming and summoning spells.
He threw his barrage of offensive spells, each meeting his target with deadly accuracy, eyes on his opponent and any potential opponents as he took in the pattern and nature of the spells. He came to the conclusion that they were random- Tom would shoot a spell meant to distract, another to disable his senses, a few to maim, several to trap, then one meant to disarm or stun randomly. After a little more analyzing, he realized that it was a complicated sequence, one that would take months, even years to hone into reflexes, but he supposed mini-Voldie was an exception. Just like him, an exception to many laws of logic and magic.
As intense as the duel was, Harry couldn't help the laugh that came bubbling from his mouth- it was just what he needed to calm his overactive mind and uneasy thoughts. He racked his brain for spells that would catch Riddle off guard but found none. He cast a patronus, hoping he wouldn't be the only one blinded by the brightness. When it dimmed, he was surprised to see Tom looking pale and sweaty, close to fainting. He flicked his wrist and his wand disappeared back into his hoster and held his hands above his head in surrender. He watched as Tom nodded and lowered his wand ever so slightly.
Harry strided towards Tom, simultaneously raising his right hand to cast a privacy ward and managed to catch Tom as his opponent collapsed. He placed a cushioning charm before laying the wizard down.
"What the hell?" he murmured as he cast a diagnostic spell. It showed the unhealed damage caused by malnutrition, the rough treatment at the orphanage, and a few magical experimentations. He would have thought living with the Malfoys this summer would have fixed the physical damage. "Why haven't you gotten this healed before? This is ridiculous!"
He lifted Tom so the teenage Voldie's back was leaning against his right knee.
Harry waved his wand above a cut on Tom's arm, murmuring an incantation under his breath. He then drew an arch in the air with his wand, picturing the outline of Tom's physical form. Appearing before their eyes was a simulation of Tom's body and internal organs in red outlines, including the broken bones, yellowing skin, overworked kidneys, exhausted liver, and the magic coursing through the blood stream from the core of the body in blue hues. His body was running on his magic. The blue was dimming and as much as he didn't want to do this, he had to give him the magic core restorative potion he invented whilst studying blood magic.
He fished out a vial with clear liquid from his potions belt, checking to make sure it was clear of any blood or contaminants. He withdrew three drops of blood from the same cut, magically filtered it, put them in the vial, swirling the liquid until the red disappeared and the potion became clear again. He kept his eyes on the simulation as one hand gripped Tom's jaw to keep it open, and the other tipped ¼ of the vial into Tom's mouth. He watched as the level of magic in the simulated Tom increased to the halfway point. He tipped another ⅛ of the vial and watched as the magic level increased to the three quarters mark. He tipped a few more drops of the potion into Tom's mouth before sealing the vial and placing it on the ground. He knew he couldn't give too much of the potion to Tom as it would cause Tom's magical core to destruct the body and that would help no one, not even Harry.
"Arighty, I have your magical core stabilised, you should be able to heal the damage done to your body yourself or get a healer to do it for you" Harry said professionally, as he laid Tom back on the cushioned area. He hummed a random tune and watched the simulation of Tom's body as he waited for his patient to right himself.
"What is that?" a voice asked from behind him and he followed Tom's gaze to the simulation of his own body in childlike fascination.
"You" Harry simply replied. Tom rolled his eyes.
"I know that, but it looks different"
"It's a physical simulation of your body" Harry briefly elaborated and Tom nearly huffed in exasperation that was surprisingly fond. No, he couldn't be fond of Harry Potter, he needs to fight this.
"Obviously" Tom drawled once his mind has calmed down.
"It allowed me to stabilise your core without accidentally exploding it."
"I don't believe you" Tom stated dangerously, voice echoing throughout the boundaries of the privacy ward. "Why couldn't you have just used a simple diagnostic spell?"
"Why would I simultaneously cast the diagnostic spell when one spell could do the job much more efficiently" Harry reasoned calmly, outwardly unaffected by Tom's dangerous tones but inwardly excited at having another debate.
"If it was so efficient, then why would other healers stick to a simple diagnostic spell?" Tom asked, now curious as to what the answer would be.
"Some do"
"Why only some?"
"Why can't it only be some?"
"Answer the question"
"Others don't necessarily like the spell"
"Why not?" Tom asked, dangerous tone back again.
Harry merely gave a cheeky grin in response as he partially dispelled the privacy ward. "Why don't you figure that out yourself?" He picked up the vial of magic core restorative potion keyed to Tom and handed it over to him. "It's keyed to you, I'm sure you can figure out what's in it with your genius mind."
He fully dispelled the privacy ward taking one last glance at Tom's masked confusion, just barely able to hear the muttered "fine, let the games begin."
He turned back and answered back with his own viscous grin that went unnoticed "let the games begin." And then he apparated out leaving a confused crowd behind.