"Let the games begin"
Those were the words that repeated on loop in his head as he sluggishly got ready for the day at 5 am. He packed an extra set of school robes, undergarments, hygiene products, a bottle of water, some books, and a towel. He exited the common room and headed to the Room of Requirement for his morning training session.
He paced in front of the entrance of the ROR asking for a training room resembling the one he was used to. As the door opened, he observed as the environment resembled the training room of the Chamber of Secrets back in his time plus a large green field for warm ups, and an obstacle course.
He removed his cloak to reveal a well toned chest, muscled legs, skin a beautiful tanned shade, enticing curves, and a seductive figure. He gave a few gentle stretches to loosen his ankles and prepare his legs for the laps. Once he considered his body prepared, he started at the large field in a quick paced walking, gradually working his way to a jog.
As he jogged around the field, he allowed his legs to carry out the actions mechanically, and his thoughts started to drift towards... Tommy bear. He was starting to become fond of the teenage Voldie and that was problematic. He knew that Tom Riddle was a charming and manipulative wizard, who was more likely to stab him in the back than return his feelings. No, he would need to keep his distance from him.
As his legs hit the one kilometer mark, he started to focus his magic to his legs, giving them a burst of power. He increased his pace as he sprinted the last 500 meters, legs burning from the exertion, sweat forming on his body. He pushed through til the finish line as he gradually came to a stop. He stood there as he ran through his Thursday morning workout in his mind.
He finished the rest of his stretches, drank a gulp of water and started on the rock climbing wall. He dusted his hands with some chalk and started to climb, disregarding the harness and helmet to simulate a possible real life situation. The wall appeared to be about 75 feet in height, made with stone, with sharp edges and hovering areas. As he got about 20 feet above ground, he focused his magic on strengthening his arms and climbed another 20 feet before focusing his magic to his legs as well. He climbed the rest of the wall with quite some difficulty, obtaining a few scrapes, bruises and cuts on his body.
His arms and legs were shaking by the time he reached the top of the wall, struggling to pull himself up. As he stood at the top of the wall looking down, he felt a sense of accomplishment. He looked at the clock placed on the wall facing him and saw that it was only 6:30 am, he still had 1.5 hours before he had to get down to business. After laying there for 15 minutes, he grabbed the rope laying off the side of the wall and carefully lowered himself, keeping a steady grip on the rough rope and proper balance against the wall.
He released a breath he was barely aware of holding as his feet landed on the hard ground. Deciding to skip the obstacle course for today, he headed towards the showers, towel around his neck, gorgeous body unashamedly displayed.
He froze his thoughts in an effort to calm his mind as the warm water rained down on him, just barely coating his skin, mind humming a Vivaldi piece. The pleasant thumps of the dripping water lulling his mind into a relaxing trance. He absentmindedly washed his hair and body, enjoying the airiness of the foam. When he stepped out of the shower, he grabbed his towel, preferring to have the water on his skin longer than a drying spell would allow, got dressed, and attached his various weapons to his body.
He asked the room to provide him with a cosy place for some reading and writing. Immediately, some books, parchments, quills, a table, and a seat appeared whilst the training room disappeared. Settling down at the comfy armchair, he grabbed Chemistry: Organic Reactions and General Chemistry, occasionally jotting notes on the properties of substances. They weren't the best he has read, but they were sufficient considering the era he was in.
He made predictions on how certain substances would react in common potions such as the pepper up, pain relief, headache reliever, and Skele gro- after all, the magic core restorative potion was a modification of the pepper up through the addition of epinephrine, hydrochloric acid and table salt. The epinephrine increased the heart rate and blood pressure, forcing the body to accelerate in the process of restoring the magic in the core; the table salt was also for blood pressure, and the hydrochloric acid was to balance the pH.
Once he had the theory firmly in his grasp, it was only a matter of the quantity of each chemical and ingredients, it was difficult at first and he had to take inspiration from the muggle epipens in his time.
"325 mg of acetaminophen, 60 mg of acetylsalicylic acid, along with calcium citrate, and an extra gram of fluxweed added to the Skele gro should accelerate the bone growth and relieve the pain associated with bone growth" he muttered to himself as he scribbled the notes onto the parchment. It was only then that he realized he wasn't alone. He looked up to see Tom reading an identical book on organic reactions, though he didn't look to be understanding it.
Tom sneered at the array of complicated words, mixed up combinations of letters, and messy diagrams of flasks with substances. "What is this?" Tom asked, sneer still clear in his voice. He frowned when Harry didn't flinch, finding it mildly unsatisfying.
Harry stared Tom straight in the eyes, occlumency shields up, not even flinching when he felt another presence in his mind. "Chemistry" he stated simply, then just to irritate the teenage Voldie more, he went back to jotting down notes.
Tom, unable to accept defeat that easily schooled his features into blankness as he answered "I know that, it says so in the title, and for your information I can read."
Harry, still jotting down theories didn't even bother looking up as he replied "I'd be concerned if you couldn't."
Riddle remained undeterred as he continued the build up to the upcoming argument "what I want to know is, why are you, a wizard of your calibre, reading such abomination?"
Harry looked up with an amused tilt of his lips, eyes blank with innocence "are you calling this an abomination because you can't understand it Professor Riddle?" he asked, using the name for the sake of his amusement.
As the Slytherin he was, he refused to show any weakness because it can always be exploited. "Of course I understand it, muggle subjects are hardly difficult to understand" he stated calmly, face showing slight emotion, knowing that a vehement denial would garner suspicion and a blank mask would equal lying to someone who knew him as well as Harry did.
Harry titled his head to the side, amusement still clear in his expression as he studied his opponent's reaction all the while contemplating how he wanted to play this. Deciding that it was best to allow Tom to think he bought the lie he changed tactics "please excuse the change in topic Tom but how did you get in here?" he asked politely, putting his book down and seemingly giving Tom his undivided attention. He knew Tom was arrogant and that was something that can be used against him in verbal sparring.
Tom's eyes narrowed, acknowledging the topic change "I asked for a room with you in it, how did you find it? I doubt that France has anything half as interesting as this room. Did the room acknowledge your request when you thought about it in French?" Tom asked, mildly curious and slightly desperate for some source of entertainment. He knew Harry Potter wasn't from France and he needed some excitement now that he got himself stuck in the 1940's with his mortal enemy.
Harry leaned forward slightly, highlighting his cheekbones, silky hair, and broad shoulders, face gleaming with excitement. "I'm a Hufflepuff Riddle, surely you can figure out how I got into this room" he said in his daunting voice, taking in Tom's renewed blank look as encouragement to plough on. "After all a great wizard like you shouldn't limit themselves to just studying wizarding magic. As for whether the room acknowledges requests in French, I wouldn't know but at the same time, why shouldn't it?" he finished with a smirk at Tom's expression. It was a mix between offense, excitement, and contemplation, all of which were thinly masked.
Tom stared, completely undeterred by Harry's smirk, or that's what he was telling himself. Again, how was he growing fond of this brat? "You tossed me a vial and told me to figure it out with my genius mind" he stated flatly, using the same, simple tactic that Harry employed earlier in their conversation.
Harry straightened in his seat, posture showing every bit the gentleman he was, though the picture of his face when he leaned forward was seared into Tom's memory. He could reminisce on how gorgeous his opponent looked later. "And what about it?" the voice, as flat as his, brought him out of his musings.
"Scans of the sample you have given me indicated that it was a pepper up potion," Tom drawled distastefully, causing Harry's smirk to widen. "But considering that I was treated with it, I can tell that that was incorrect" Tom finished coldly, dangerously, slightly angry at himself for being weak and vulnerable in front of an opponent. It would have been the perfect opportunity for Harry to poison him.
"If you think it's poison, you can rest assured that it isn't, or at least not in your mind" he muttered to himself at the end but Tom still caught on if the narrowing of the eyes and the pursed lips were any indication.
"And what?" Tom asked firmly as he stood up and placed his arms on the armrests of Harry's chair, looming over him. "Is your definition of poison?"
"Everything is a poison Tom," and the daunting tone was back and the green eyes flashed. "It's the quantity that matters."
Tom refused to feel foolish or flush in embarrassment for not foreseeing such an answer. Harry cast another tempus and his eyes widened when it read 7:55. Had their discussion really been that interesting?
"Anymore questions on the mysterious potion?" he drawled teasingly.
Tom swallowed, to ask another question would be to admit to having a weakness, to not ask would keep him in the dark, potentially becoming a lethal point. Deciding that he could play another round and watch his moves more carefully he replied "no, that's all. Thank you for your unhelpful and unfulfilling answers."
Harry smiled warmly this time and Tom was taken aback at how different this Harry looked compared to the one he was staring at moments ago. The both of them packed up and as Harry was arranging his scrolls of research in his bag, he heard a teasing tone saying "oh and Tom? You should look into the basics of chemistry for a clue. After all, the potion I gave you last night was associated with what you called an abomination."
With that, Harry was gone, leaving Tom to do the catching up. Considering he meant that as a clear dismissal, he was surprised to find Tom falling into step with him. He wandlessly spelled a privacy ward around them so none could hear the conversation and timed it so that it dispelled when they got to the Great Hall.
"If I find that it's poisoned-" Tom threatened and Harry wasn't going to let him ruin his good mood from having spread a branch of magic he founded to an influential wizard.
"Lo and behold Riddle, the world does not revolve around you!" Harry interrupted and grinned when he noted Riddle's gritted teeth.
Tom wanted to believe that Harry wouldn't poison him, but given their history or future, having him at his most vulnerable would have been the perfect time for an assasination attempt. Unbeknownst to him, Harry held a secret that he himself struggles to acknowledge but knows enough to not kill him. And it wasn't the horcruxes. "That doesn't answer my question."
"It wasn't meant to, it was meant to deflate your ego" Harry retorted, looking straight ahead, still aware of his surroundings.
Tom faked a hurt gasp which earned him an almost laugh from Harry, "oh dear, and I thought it was because of your huge ego that was making it difficult to walk around!"
Harry gave a slight chuckle "nope all yours!"
"Are you sure that it's just mine?"
"With your arrogance and your excessively strong belief in your good looks and intelligence, of course it's yours!" Harry exclaimed, the chuckle becoming more pronounced.
"My arrogance is well warranted, if I do say so myself."
"Then I'm pretty sure you have judgement issues, why, I believe you would look better if you had a pig's snout rather than your nose."
"And you were saying I have issues."
"You do, I never said I didn't"
Harry nearly missed his ward dispelling as they reached the Great Hall and at that point, he was wearing Tom's face with a pig's snout.
"You know what? If you are so confident that I look better with a pig's snout, then I believe you would as well."
With that, Tom glamoured his face to look like Harry's and transfigured his nose into a pig's snout before walking away smirking, leaving a spluttering Harry behind much to the amusement of the other students.
Later that day found a group of sixth years students from mixed houses in the Potions lab attending their first class of the year.
Professor Slughorn walked in with a welcoming smile and patient strides, greeting his favoured students here and there; a sharp contrast to Snape's preferred method of entry. He turned towards Harry to address him "Mr. Noir, welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor Slughorn and as you may already know, I will be teaching you and a selected handful of others potions. Do you have anyone in mind that you would like to work with?" he asked, tone friendly, eyes calculating as if measuring up his potential. Given Harry's still existing pig snout on Tom's face, he was not exactly sure how to feel about that.
"No" he lied rather convincingly. Truthfully, he wouldn't mind working with Abraxas, as long as it was anyone other than the teenage Voldie. Actually, if he were to think about it, it would be a great opportunity to assess mini Voldie's skills in something other than talking, music, and dueling.
So lost in his thoughts, he only absentmindedly caught on to Slughorn saying "well, I believe it would be beneficial for you to partner up with Mr. Riddle over there. He is an outstanding student and seeing as you two seem to get along well, he will help you flourish."
Harry's senses sharpened at the name of his potions partner for this year and once Slughorn looked at him expectantly, he moved towards a smirking Tom Riddle. Harry was very tempted to grit his teeth in irritation, but as a Hufflepuff, he gave a warm smile as he morphed his face back to normal, making it look as if he were dispelling a glamour. "Well that happened" he muttered to himself.
"Indeed." Both pretended not to notice Abraxas' horrified look from where the blonde sat with Avery.
Harry spent the next part of the class observing the students, wanting to know which students are more knowledgeable in the subject. They could be fun to take under his wing . The major problem is, Tom seemed to catch onto his train of thoughts and have been answering the questions instead. So, all he had to go on were the students who put up their hands to answer the questions. He wanted to scream in frustration but he held it back, that would benefit no one.
They were soon instructed to make the Draught of Living and as Harry was stirring the potion clockwise once, a random idea suddenly popped in his head. It was rather absurd but he wanted to know the answer anyway. Seeing as Tom was his lab partner, he decided that he may as well annoy him with the question.
"I wonder what would happen if you put a chicken egg in an aging potion. Would the egg shells decay from the aging process or would the fertilized chick somehow absorb the potion and turn into an adult chicken?" he asked as he added synthesized melatonin to his potion to act as a catalyst.
Tom looked at him through his peripheral vision for a moment, enough to catch the unknown addition into the cauldron. "Where are you getting these ideas from?" Tom asked exasperated and that seemed to catch the attention of the Slytherins including Slughorn because none of them have ever seen Tom lose any little bit of control. Truly, he was proud of himself for his ability to drive Tom up the wall, figuratively. "And what did you just add, I don't ever recall seeing that ingredient."
"I told you Tom, you must start from the basics of what you called the abomination in order to understand. And you didn't answer my question, what would happen if you put a fertilized chicken egg in an aging potion?" Harry asked, a little frustrated because he wanted the answer. He knew he was having one of his bouts of insanity at this point.
"Tell me anyway."
"Why would I tell you if you wouldn't even understand it?" Harry asked rhetorically as he removed his catalyst from the potion.
"Because I want to know."
"The world doesn't revolve around you."
"I know that."
"Good."
"How about a deal?" Tom proposed straightforwardly.
Harry stared at him for a moment as he placed his potion in a clean vial. "How about a deal?" Harry parroted, tone almost mocking.
"I'll perform the experiment for the egg in an aging potion and give you the answer if you tell me what you added" was stated flatly, all business-like.
Harry appeared to accept that as he answered "I added synthesized melatonin as a catalyst for the potion."
Tom didn't understand half of that statement but no way was he going to tell Harry that. Harry seemed to notice his train of thought but before a smirk could form, a jovial voice said. 'My, this draught of living death looks absolutely gorgeous." Professor Slughorn lifted the vial til the meniscus was at eye level. Then he checked his watch, "and you completed the task in record time." Now m'boy, what did you mean by catalyst? And what is melontonen?"
"A catalyst sir, is a substance that causes the ingredients in the potions to react quicker which results in the potion forming quicker as well. However, the substance itself would remain unaffected, meaning I would be able to remove the substance from the potion and it would be useable at another time once purified" Harry explained politely. "For example, in this potion, I added melatonin, a hormone your body produces for sleep. The melatonin accelerated the reactions, creating this potion in records time."
Everyone stared at Harry as if he'd grown a second head, but Harry didn't care, he was used to it. Tom was just frustrated at his lack of knowledge in chemistry and resolved to fix that.
Transfigurations class came after lunch. As he was heading there with Walter Diggory, he came up with a brilliant idea to annoy Dumbledore as payback for so many of his manipulation attempts. If it annoyed Tom as well, that was just a bonus. Now, he needed to scheme and then execute said scheme.
"I wonder if it's possible to transfigure a pumpkin into a carriage?" Harry asked Walter as they turned another corner.
"As far as I know, there isn't a spell that does so directly, but it might be possible through a series of spells" Walter answered with a weird look on his face, he looked at Harry through his peripheral vision. "What brought this on?"
"Well, considering the blossoming muggle culture in Britain, I decided to explore some of the muggle fairytales. I don't the transition but if I'm going to be living here, I'd better get to know more and I couldn't stand reading only non-fiction" Harry lied but he wasn't going to say he wanted to cause some chaos so that had to do.
"That's reasonable. I'll ask Professor Dumbledore once I get the chance."
"Do you think bibbidi-bobbidi-boo was a spell lost in time?" Harry blurted out, internally laughing at Walter's incredulous expression.
"I'll ask."
They entered the Transfiguration and Dumbledore was already there to greet them. Harry and Walter sat in the middle of the classroom with some other Hufflepuffs, the Slytherins on Harry's right. Walter didn't get a chance to ask until they were practicing conjuring birds.
"Yes Mr. Diggory?" Dumbledore asked with twinkling blue eyes and a gentle smile, the grandfatherly persona that has succeeded in manipulating so many.
"Is it possible to transfigure a pumpkin into a carriage?" Walter asked.
The twinkling in Dumbledore's eyes increased as he thought about the question. "I suppose it is possible through a series of spells."
"And-"
"I got an idea!" Harry interrupted, he sent an apologetic look to Walter before he turned to Dumbledore. "If I may Professor."
Dumbledore nodded and gestured towards the platform at the front of the classroom. Harry asked a house elf to provide a big pumpkin and moments later, a large pumpkin sat on the platform. The class was staring at Harry as if he's grown a second head and Tom was both anticipating and dreading what would happen next. It would give him an idea of Harry's magical strength, but he had a feeling that he was going to get roped into it.
"This needs to be a bit bigger" he murmured as he took out his wand and non-verbally enlarged the pumpkin. "Much better."
The class was still staring at Harry with various degrees of incredulity and amusement but Harry didn't care as he carried on. "Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!" he chanted as he waved his wand around and willed his magic to transfigure the pumpkin into a carriage.
There was a loud pop sound as the pumpkin turned into a beautiful carriage, with four wheels, a front for the horses and coachman, a railing at the back for the footman, a beautifully designed door, and the whole carriage a luscious shade between platinum and gold. The class looked gazed at the carriage in awe. "Well Walter, I'm pretty sure that bibbidi-bobbidi-boo was a long lost spell!" Harry declared before muttering the next part to himself. "I wonder how the muggles got a hold of something so unusual."
"Now, what am I missing?" Harry mused quietly but the class heard anyways.
"Horses" one of the muggle-born Hufflepuffs said.
"Footman."
"Coachman."
"Cinderella and her Prince Charming" Tom stated with a charming smile which caused half the class to ogle and coo.
"You're right" with that Harry transfigured some mice hiding in a corner into horses. "Now who would like to be the footman?"
"Now Mr. Noir, I think that's quite enough-" Dumbledore was interrupted by Harry.
"Cameron Parker" Harry chose. Multiple people had volunteered but Harry decided to choose one of the Gryffindor muggleborns because he could. The chosen footman walked to the front of the platform and faced Harry. "I trust that you can transfigure your robes into that of a footman's?"
Parker nodded and he waved his wand over his robes and the plain school robes became a royal blue tailcoat with gold linings as well as a cute bowtie. His shoes became those of stylish boots and his messy brown hair was slicked back. "How do I look?" he asked politely with a raised eyebrow and an excited grin.
"You look absolutely gorgeous" Harry complimented truthfully and Parker blushed slightly at the compliment. He turned back to the class. "Now, who would like to be the coachman?"
Some more hands went up, amongst them was Riddle and Dumbledore seemed both resigned and amused. "No Tom, you're not going to be a coachman, I have something even better for you" Harry said casually and Tom's eyes widened in horror, he did NOT want to be Prince Charming. He may act like a charming person but he would rather not be known as handsome but brainless and picking people at first sight. Being a charming person and being Prince Charming were different. "How about James Macmillan as the coachman?"
James Macmillan, a fellow Hufflepuff sixth year walked up to the platform and transfigured his clothes into white trousers and a simple suit with a prominent bowtie and a nice tophat. To make things better, he added a bold mustache and slipped into the role flawlessly.
Harry rubbed his hands together and an evil grin appeared on his face, he resisted the urge to cackle as Hufflepuffs were supposed to be mild. "Now, who would like to be Cinderella?" he asked, though he already had someone in mind. No hands went up and Harry guessed that it had something to do with embarrassment. "I'll make Tom Riddle be Prince Charming" he offered and Tom wanted to scream, he didn't ask for this. At that statement though, about half of the class volunteered. "I would have thought the whole class would have their hands up" Harry murmured to Parker who sniggered.
"Actually, many are disappointed that you wouldn't be Prince Charming. You're rather handsome yourself" Parker replied and Harry gave a smooth chuckle.
"Hey Tom! I guess you're no longer the only handsome one" Harry exclaimed and Tom gave a smirk as per his persona.
"Oh the horror!" Tom said dramatically, pretending to faint.
He looked at the person that he would like to turn into Cinderella and made eye contact. He watched in glee as those silver eyes widened in horror. Harry then gave a truly evil smirk. "Abraxas Malfoy, how nice of you to volunteer" said Harry and the class burst into snickers, not even the Slytherins were able to restrain themselves now.
Abraxas was escorted onto the platform by a Tom that looked resigned but was inwardly caught between relief and terror. He was relieved that he wasn't going to be Cinderella and that as Prince Charming, he wouldn't have to dance with some giggling girl that believed in love at first dance.
Abraxas had his eyes squeezed shut as Harry transfigured his robes into a fluffy, blue, and sparkly dress. He transfigured some chalk into jewelry that he put on Abraxas and applied some cosmetic charms. Once he felt brave enough, those silver eyes opened and noticed the cause of the sudden weight on his body. Merlin, the dress was heavy.
"Now Prince Charming" Harry said to Tom as he transfigured Tom's clothes into that of a muggle royal prince. "Do you accept Cinderella as your lovely-"
"I'd rather accept you as my princess but since you so kindly asked for me to dance with Cinderella that I must say, looks absolutely dazzling, then I accept the offer" Tom said with a smirk and when Harry didn't seem the least bit affected, he started to worry behind the smirk.
"Henry, you cannot take your own father as your princess," Harry said firmly. "Speaking of which, I have yet to choose a queen."
"Well father, since you so kindly chose my princess, I should have the right to choose my stepmother."
"Oh dear, how the tables have turned."
"Cyrille Lestrange" Tom said and a handsome man with chestnut hair, blue eyes, straight nose, and strong jaw stepped onto the platform. Harry internally frowned because the man reminded him so much of Rabastan Lestrange, one of his mentors, his friend, someone who taught him and cared for him so much. He missed the Lestranges and Bellatrix. They hadn't gotten along at first but through lots of convincing and quality time, they have become close, him and Rabastan especially. He had refused to acknowledge much of anything between him and Rabastan since he arrived in this era (or in his own time) and was glad that nothing had reminded him of Rabastan... until now. Had Cyrille Lestrange remained out of his notice, his memories with Rabastan would have stayed locked away.
Tom carefully observed Harry's expression and was shocked as well as enraged to see masked longing and sadness in those green eyes. Had Harry secretly been in an affair with one of his elites? This meant that there was much more hidden behind the picture than he had anticipated. Lestrange stood in front of Harry, dreading the response.
Harry swallowed past a heavy lump in his throat, now wasn't the time to dwell on his past memories. "You will stand by my side." Cyrille sneered but did as told anyways. At least Rabastan was unlike his father, he wouldn't replace Rabastan with his father, that would be disrespectful. Harry's smile, though strained, still remained as he made a few commands here and there.
The class somehow found themselves in the Great Hall, having all joined Cinderella in the magically expanded interior of the carriage whilst leaving a dumbstruck Dumbledore behind. Harry was impressed that they didn't crash especially with Macmillian, a pureblood who had no experience with muggle contraptions or horse riding, driving the carriage.
Once everyone got off, Harry asked Hogwarts to dim the lights and set up an orchestra plus a magically enhanced microphone. He charmed the instruments to play a jazz swing tune. He knew that this style of music wasn't played at balls in the Cinderella time, but he needed some distraction. He walked towards the microphone, no longer playing as the king but instead as a singer.
He hummed to the tune, allowing the magic of the music to sooth the ache he felt in his chest, giving him an easier way to breathe. Thinking of the lyrics of a song he's written.
He sang "L is for the way you look at me" as he conjured a blood red rose.
"O is for the only one I see" someone else sang and Harry looked to the side to see Walter standing with a microphone.
"V is very very extraordinary" both harmonized at the last word, Walter singing the baritone whilst Harry sang the melody.
"E is even more than anyone that you adore can" Harry sang, throwing the rose into the air.
As the song continued, both singing different lines with the occasional harmonization. The magic in the room was simply gorgeous, with silver and red hues. Harry had succeeded in turning music into a branch of magic, but he never thought that it could be so intense and soothing at the same time. Once the song ended, it was to many couples dancing in the middle and Harry looked away, the ache in his chest returning. He cast a tempus and noticed that it was almost the end of class which equals the end of the day.
"Ladies and Gentlemen" Harry said into the microphone, transfiguring his robes into that of the King's, snatching everyone's attention all at once. "It is nearing the end of the day which unfortunately means that the ball is over and whether Prince charming has chosen his princess or not, we must clean up but leave the carriage. I timed the spell so that it would turn back into a pumpkin at midnight. The horses as well."
With that said, he asked Hogwarts to banish the instruments and to accommodate the carriage as the magic of Hogwarts righted the Great Hall. He stalked past his fellow classmates, Tom joining him halfway. "That has got to be the strangest transfigurations class I've ever been in" Tom stated bewildered and annoyed. In all his years, never had a class been so bizarre.
"Indeed" Harry replied blandly and Tom frowned behind his mask. Harry turned and walked away heading to the room of requirement. He needed to sort out his emotions lest he explodes in an inconvenient moment.
He walked in front of the door three times, asking for a room with flowing water. He cast an impervious charm on his possessions before he stepped in as the door opened. Now he needed to think.
Tom Riddle was confused. Harry has just played a nice prank that had nice results, he should be happy. And since when did he care about what Harry Bloody Potter felt? Why does it matter what the brat felt when both maintained a distance between them? Then he remembered those green eyes filled with longing and sadness when he brought up Cyrille Lestrange. But they haven't even met before, so who did Cyrille remind Harry of. He had assumed that it was one of his inner circle death eaters. Which meant that he had been betrayed by one of his most loyal, possibly some more. There was a feeling, itching at his chest, burning his throat, something ugly, and even if he knew what it was, he would refuse to acknowledge it. He stepped into the Slytherin common room and left those thoughts behind.
When he arrived at the Great Hall for dinner with Walter, it was to the applause of many. Apparently news of the stunt he pulled during transfiguration has spread like wildfire.
Conversations that evening were all about the Cinderella stunt with the occasional talk about potions and quidditch. Near the end of dinner, he sensed Tom's presence approaching him and heard "Slytherin common room, meet me outside of the Great Hall". He gave a small nod and Walter who happened to have heard decided to go so Harry wouldn't die with the snakes.
"I won't get bitten by the snakes Walter, you don't have to come if you aren't comfortable."
"Nonsense, you're fresh meat so you'd probably not only get bitten but eaten as well."
"If that was the case, you'd probably get bitten as well. One human wouldn't be enough for the group of snakes."
"Still, I insist on going. Besides, I'm curious as to what's inside the Slytherin Common room, non-Slytherins haven't been allowed in there for decades."
Harry resisted the urge the rub his temples or pinch the bridge of his nose. Unlike a Slytherin, you couldn't argue your way out of a decision with a Hufflepuff. The two exited the Great Hall, the clicking of their boots echoing throughout the entire Hall.