The Slytherin's walked into their common room, only to freeze when they saw Harry Potter casually sitting in one of their chairs. They collectively gulped as they recalled what happened the last time Harry had come here.
"What are you doing here?!" Malfoy demanded
"Waiting for someone" Harry answered, as he slowly looked around the room "Ah, there he is" Harry stood up and walked towards a portrait
"What are you on about?" Theodore Nott said
"Shush" Harry replied as he walked up to a portrait of Salazar Slytherin, the wizard in the portrait never talked to anyone and he was rarely found in his portrait. In fact he spent most of his time elsewhere, not that anybody knew where. The Slytherin's never really saw more than a few glimpses of him throughout the year. "Salazar Slytherin" Harry stopped in front of the potrait
"What makes you think he's going to talk to you?!" Malfoy sneered, any further reply was cut off by the sound of hissing. They blinked as they realised the hissing was coming from Harry and that Salazar looked like he could understand it
"He's a parslemouth!" One Slytherin blurted out as the rest paled, realising that this powerful wizard was not only capable of beating them at the age of eleven but he also possessed the great ability that made the dark lord and Salazar Slytherin famous
"It is a pleasure to meet you" Harry said in parsletounge
"Likewise" Salazar replied in the same language
"I saw you...last time I was here. I saw you out of the corner of my eye"
"I was watching you" Salazar admitted "I was very impressed. Power, speed, you have it all"
"I wanted to ask you something" Harry replied "do you have anywhere special where I can learn more magic?"
"Why?" Salazar didn't react beyond a slight raising of his eyebrow
"Because Voldemort is still alive and he will come after me sooner or later" Harry replied "I need to be ready for when he comes"
"The last boy I helped BECAME Voldemort and he never attacked a whole common room in his first year" Salazar replied
"He didn't need to be kept busy so he doesn't get rid of all of his boredom, frustration and anger on the nearest idiots" Harry argued "he was an ass who wanted to rule the world. Me, I just want two things."
"And those would be?"
"The first is to be left alone so I can have peace and quiet"
"And the second?"
"To be the best, that way I can protect the few I don't want to leave" Harry said seriously, Salazar remained silent for a few seconds
"Your face" He said after a while "does it hurt?"
"No, not anymore" Harry shook his head
"Can it be healed?"
"No, it can't" Harry shook his head again
"If you could, would you?"
"No" Harry answered immediately
"Why not?" Salazar's voice was curious
"I hate looking like this" Harry gestured to his face "I hate the judgment, the pity and the fear when they see me. I hate the fact that my face is ingrained into the heads of everyone when I want nothing more to stay in the background and not be noticed. But it helps, it lets me see people for who they are. It brings out the real them, I can see who is scared of me and I can see who isn't. This...is me now. I might get over other people judging me but I wouldn't change it. I am me, I will not be anyone else." The other students watched as both Harry and Salazar became quiet and stared at each other intensely, the Slytherin's were amazed to see the boy-who-lived engaging in a staring contest with one of the Hogwarts founders.
"Very well" Salazar sighed, being the first to break eye contact "I will help you, but if you make me regret this...then I will never forgive you"
"Thank you" Harry said sincerely, Harry and Salazar continued conversing for another minute or so before Harry gave Salazar a short bow and turned only to be greeted with gobsmacked members of Slytherin house. "What?" Harry challenged and most of them looked away
"W...What did he say?" Daphne Greengrass asked nervously
"That's between me and him" Harry replied "excuse me" Harry said as he began making his way past, most of the Slytherin's moved out of the way, except for Malfoy
"Hold it Potter, what did you and Salazar Slytherin talk about?!" He demanded
"None of your business, now move, I won't ask again" Harry replied with a warning in his voice, one that Malfoy didn't hear
"Don't talk to me like that! You're going to tell me Potter or I'll..." Harry waved his arm and Malfoy went flying before crashing into a wall
"Idiots like that are why Salazar is no longer impressed with his house" Harry added to the Slytherin's before walking out
"Ah Mr Potter" Professor Slughorn said as Harry and Delphi arrived in his class. Harry looked at Slughorn, he was the new potions teacher, he was definitely older than Snape. Harry had heard rumours saying that the man was a brilliant teacher who had originally taught Snape and his own mother "I am Professor Horace Slughorn, it's a pleasure to meet you"
"Thank you" Harry nodded, he wouldn't return the compliment until he was sure that the man deserved it.
"You are very welcome, I know this is unusual but could you see me after class? I have something I want to talk to you about" Slughorn asked hopefully
"Fine" Harry sighed, deciding to just deal with it now instead of later
"Thank you" Slughorn smiled and soon the class started.
The students were all rather pleased with Slughorns lesson, the man seemed to take a joy in teaching. He didn't discriminate between others, he'd gladly helped and unlike Snape he was intelligent enough to teach the potions safety and basics first before even suggesting they start on potions that could explode. Harry was rather pleased that the man was a competent teacher who could actually teach. At the end of the lesson Delphi walked outside and waited for Harry as he walked towards Slughorn.
"You wanted to talk to me sir?" Harry said
"Yes, there are a few things I wanted to talk to you about" Slughorn nodded "Firstly I am sorry about that incident you had with Severus Snape, I used to teach him. He was never who I intended to take over. That was actually your mother, she was my best student and taken away long before she deserved."
"Thank you" Harry nodded appreciatively
"The second thing I wanted to talk about is...well, if you don't mind, I'd like to be a bit blunt"
"I'd encourage it if anything" Harry replied "it's much simpler for me than listening to people dance around subjects"
"Yes, well firstly, I know you're likely tired of this but I wanted to ask about your face. Firstly, does it hurt? Because if it does then I can supply pain relief potions"
"No, it's fine" Harry said
"If you're sure, secondly I wanted to admit that I've not much experience with this sort of thing, therefore I'd like to ask you what you would prefer. Is this something you don't mind discussing? Do you wish me to ignore it and never speak of it? Each person is different and I really would rather hear your thoughts on it"
"I can forgive an occasional mention like once every few months but it's not something I'd like to hear everyday" Harry replied
"Very well, the last thing I wanted to talk to you about was your mother and your class performance" Slughorn let out a short sigh "your mother was one of the best students I've ever had the pleasure of teaching. A muggleborn she might have been in the eyes of the uneducated but for those who knew her, she was not only a brilliant person but someone you would be delighted to call your friend. Her intelligence made Ravenclaw's envious, I am not expecting you to live up to her and become exactly like her. However, all I do request is that you try your best in class.
I've talked with Professor Flitwick and he recommended me to see how well you do and if I feel you are doing suitably then I should promote you to harder and more advanced work. Will that interest you?"
"Yes" Harry barely managed to keep the shock off of his face "thank you sir" he added sincerely
"You are very welcome, now off you go" Slughorn gestured to the door
"Bye sir" Harry gave him a short nod before walking out "what did he say?" Delphi asked
"Well...I don't dislike him" Harry admitted before walking off
"Are we there yet?" Delphi asked as they sat on the Hogwarts express, Harry and her had both chosen to leave Hogwarts for Christmas
"Dell" Harry said as he turned a page on his book while Shadow rested on his shoulder "you've asked me that twice already, do it a third time and Shadow will build a nest in your hair"
"But I'm bored" Delphi whined
"Read a book" Harry suggested as he read his own
"Books are boring and you keep looking at me like I'm an idiot every time I read my story books"
"Really? We're counting those wasted pieces of paper as books?" Harry looked at her with mild disbelief
"What do you mean?!" Delphi demanded
"I mean they're horrible, if a book is not supposed to be educational then it should at the very least be entertaining. The books you read fail at both"
"Just because you can't appreciate good romance" Delphi huffed and crossed her arms
"I'd appreciate something written by someone who's competent" Harry countered "and if you can't read a book then do something else"
"Like what?" Delphi asked
"I don't know" Harry sighed "get on the floor and do push ups"
"No"
"Then get on the floor and do sit ups"
"No"
"Draw something"
"I don't have anything to do that with"
"Look out the window and appreciate the scenery"
"That got boring an hour ago"
"Just close your eyes and day dream about something"
"Like what?"
"How am I supposed to know? They're your damn dreams"
"Oh, hi guys" Fay opened the compartment door
"Fay!" Delphi squealed and jumped up, pulling the girl into a hug "Are you sitting with someone?"
"Not really" Fay said
"Then you're sitting with us" Delphi declared "I am bored and I need someone to talk to"
"Oh but I..." Fay was about to object when Harry interrupted
"Don't bother arguing" He said as he turned the page on his book "she'll get what she wants one way or another. Now please go and get your things, come back and settle here. If you don't then I'll either have to get them or we'll both go to your compartment and I don't have the required effort for either of those options"
"Fine" Fay agreed "I'll get my stuff and I'll be back"
"Glad I have someone to talk to" Delphi sat down, giving Harry a pointed look
"You already had someone else to talk to" Harry responded
"Who?" Delphi blinked
"Shadow isn't on my shoulder for decoration" Harry replied
"Yes but unlike you I can't understand Shadow, no offence Shadow" She added the last part to the bird who seemed to be trying to channel Harry as he seemed rather unbothered
"True, but surely you have more friends than me and Fay. What about that Ginger girl?"
"You mean Hermione 'Granger'?" Delphi asked "Well I think she wanted to be friends but I told her that I would be hanging out with you a lot, she said she'd eventually try and talk to you but evidently she hasn't done that yet. I don't know how Fay feels about her"
"Feels about who?" Fay asked as she returned with all of her stuff
"Hermione" Delphi answered
"Oh...well...she's alright" Fay said slowly while putting her stuff away, her hesitation was a rather big indicator that Hermione Granger was not actually 'alright'
"Define 'alright'" Harry ordered without looking away from his book "and do it honestly or I'll hit you with my shoe"
"I mean, she's smart and all but she's not exactly the easiest person to get along with. After the troll incident me and a few other Gryffindor's tried getting along with her, we really did. But she has this problem of criticising us whenever we do anything she doesn't like or if we do it differently even if it works. Like she just wants us to spend all of our time studying, now that might work for her but she doesn't understand that it doesn't work for us. I mean whenever someone talks about quidditch or make up or something like that then she looks at us like we're idiots. She'll scoff, say it's a waste of time and tell us to study"
"She can't be that bad" Delphi said
"Oh yeah?" Fay raised an eyebrow "last month a few Gryffindor boys were doing their homework, they had finished and was about to put it away. I was nearly done too. Hermione saw us, she snatched the boys homework without asking so she could see how well they did and then did the same with me. She then basically demanded that we copy out her work as it was obviously much better. I mean, I know she's smarter than us but she doesn't have to keep looking at us like we're dumb and ordering us about. We've all been trying, we really have but she just isn't changing. Some of the girls even told her to her face what the problem was but she got emotional halfway through and ran off, she came back later and the next day she goes back to exactly before, it's like she's hoping to prove us wrong or something. I really don't know what to do to her"
"Punch her in the face" Harry suggested
"Harry, don't suggest stupid things" Delphi said
"Punch her in the face twice" Harry amended "add a kick for good luck"
"That's not better" Delphi glared at him
"Well" Harry shrugged "I tried"
"Yeah, very helpful" Fay said sarcastically
"Look" Harry sighed in annoyance "she'll either grow up and realise that other people are different to her or she'll be left alone. You can only do so much, you've tried and if she'd not going to do the same then stop wasting your time. I mean look at me, I despise social activity yet here I am attempting to help you with your problems. Tell her to compromise and stop acting like everyone else is below her or tell her to shove off, it's really rather simple"
"That...is...rather simple" Fay reluctantly admitted "but we don't want to hurt her feelings"
"With what you're describing, I can predict that they're going to get hurt sooner or later" Harry turned the book page again "either put up with her behaviour for the next seven years or make things clear now and work from there. If you do the first then sooner or later someone's going to hit their breaking point, if you do the second then she'll be more understanding and less bossy or she can enjoy life with just books for company"
"A little hypocritical, don't you think?" Delphi gestured to Harry who was still looking at his book
"Nope" Harry said "I have a raven, that gives me a friend and makes me a lot more cooler than her. Besides I look like I've been attacked by a dragon AND have social issues, if I can make a friend then she doesn't have much of an excuse."
Soon they arrived at the train station, Harry reluctantly left his mask in his trunk. He and Delphi said their goodbyes to Fay before walking out. Harry had chosen to wear a black hoodie with the hood up, to cover as much of his face as he could. They got out when they were greeted by Bellatrix Lestrange and Kreatcher the house elf.
Kreatcher was quite an old elf but he was still very capable of working, he held Bellatrix, Harry and Delphi in high regard. Bellatrix had a very thin face along with pale skin, her hair was black, curly and shoulder length. She stood whilst wearing a black jacket that covered most of her buddy but still allowed people to be able to see her black high heels.
"Harry! Delphi!" She smiled as she pulled them both into hugs
"Hi mum!" Delphi hugged her back while Harry responded with a one armed hug while Shadow flew up and landed on Kreatcher to avoid being crushed
"Look at you both, you've grown" Bellatrix happily noted "oh and Harry, no mask?"
"Had to take it off sooner or later" Harry tried to act casual even though he had his head kept down and his shoulders slumped as his hands were in his pockets
"Well" Bellatrix said "Kreatcher will take your things back to my house. We'll go there and then we'll take our portkey in an hour"
"You still haven't told us where we're going" Delphi complained
"It's a surprise" Bellatrix smiled "so don't think you're going to find out, now grab my hands and follow me to the apparition point"
A little while later the trio had been portkeyed into what appeared to be a Gringotts bank. Though Harry immediately noticed that it wasn't an English bank.
"I have to go and thank the Goblins for letting us portkey here" Bellatrix said "just go and wait outside" She told the kids "I'll be with you soon, stay by the doors and don't go anywhere till I'm out"
"Okay mum" Delphi nodded, she and Harry walked out and stopped outside. They were in a market place, much like Diagon alley except this one was cleaner. The buildings looked more impressive and didn't look like they were going to fall over. The people weren't as ugly and everything seemed more organised than the mess that was Diagon alley. Overall Harry liked it.
"EW!" A voice exclaimed, Delphi and Harry found a small girl a short distance away pointing at Harry's face "Mama! Papa!" She called and her parents came over and the girl pointed at Harry again, the parents looked at the direction of her fingers and suddenly became very uncomfortable, as evidenced by their short whispering and hurry in taking the girl away.
Delphi was tempted to go and give them a piece of her mind, she looked towards Harry and her heart broke when she saw that he had turned away and was trying not to look in the direction of the incident. His head was lowered as if he was trying to hide from the world.
"Harry" She said softly
"Let it go Dell" Harry replied, equally as soft
"Harry, that's not fair. You shouldn't be judged for something that's not you fault"
"She was just a kid" Harry shrugged
"But her parents weren't" Delphi argued "they didn't tell her off or apologise or do anything"
"They pulled their child away from an uncomfortable situation and a potential danger" Harry said "there are worse ways to look after your kids"
"That doesn't mean it was nice!"
"What wasn't nice?" Bellatrix asked as she came out
"Some girl looked at Harry and screamed" Delphi said before Harry could reply "her parents didn't say anything, they just looked at Harry and left"
"It's done, might as well stop complaining" Harry replied
"Harry" Bellatrix sighed "as the woman who is currently supposed to be the dark lord's right hand woman who managed to avoid justice, I like to think that I understand what you're going through or at least better than most. I'm going to make you talk about it but if you ever want to then I am here"
"Thank you" Harry said quietly, Bellatrix patted his shoulder and gave him a one armed hug before walking off with the two children following
"Harry, how come you didn't bring Shadow?" Bellatrix asked, hoping to lighten the atmosphere, plus it was a valid question as Harry rarely went anywhere without the bird
"He didn't want to come on a portkey, so he's flying here. Should be here by sometime tomorrow as he will probably be spending some time eating and sight seeing" Harry answered
"Okay. So, are you two excited about spending your Christmas in France?" Bellatrix asked
"Hold on a sec, did you say France?!" Delphi asked as she looked around
"Oh yeah, hadn't told you yet" Bellatrix smiled sheepishly
"We're in France by the way" Harry added to Delphi who glared at Harry and shoved him.
She ended up shoving him a little too hard as Harry ended up going a few steps sideways and someone ended up running into him. He and that person fell to the floor and ended up landing right next to Harry who barely heard Bellatrix scolding Delphi for pushing him. Harry was about to get up when he heard a gasp, he tensed and moved his head, trying not to look at the person.
She was walking, with her family, enjoying her time away from school. She and her parents were shopping, her father holding her little sister in his arms while her mother had placed herself in charge of the shopping. She had to admit that her mother knew what she was doing, at least much more than her father. She loved her dad but he was rather miserable at choosing clothes. Her mother and just told her that they were going to an ice cream store, admittedly that may have been what caused her to walk faster than normal.
It was then that she crashed into someone and fell to the floor, she had just gotten up and was about to apologise to the boy. When she gasped, the boy was wearing muggle clothes which included a black hoodie that he was using to try and cover us his face. She was very shocked to see that the boy had a burnt face along with claw marks across his face. But that wasn't what made her gasp.
As he moved her hand brushed against his own, she felt a tingle, the same tingle her mother had always described when she talked about meeting her father. This tingle was something she didn't expect, perhaps later when she was older but not now. Her gasp came from realising what happened and what that tingle meant.
"Sorry" The boy's voice came, it was low and quiet, it also told her that the boy was English. That made things difficult as she hadn't learnt much English yet.
"It's fine" She got out, hoping her English was good enough "what...name?" She asked, once again hoping he understood her
"Harry" He grunted as he stood up, he seemed to be arguing with himself for a few seconds, before he extended a hand and helped her up. His face surprised her, it was one that told her he expected rejection, judgement and she could tell that his offer was reluctantly. She wanted to feel a bit hurt but she guessed that the boy had probably suffered enough judgment from others thanks to his face
"Merci beaucoup" She thanked him as she took his hand and stood up as her parents arrived, she took the opportunity to introduce herself, it would've gone a lot better if she was more confident with her English "I...am...Fleur Delacour"