Harry Potter: Forging the Flame

[Emptiness]

Snape: "The child. The child is....listening to me?

 

[Xyl]

I really like this story, but this discussion in chapter 13 with McGonagall was bullshit. You made it sounds like half the year has passed when it is only less than a week. How can her argument be valid...

Edit after reading the whole thing:
This is good, really good. A breath of fresh air. You try not to fall into the pitfalls and cliché of HP's fanfic. You did it pretty well too. I like the interactions between everyone and you make it believable. But what I like most is the way you explain how magical stuff actually works.
Bravo

 

[certher]

At the time of posting this chapter, i am 11 chapters ahead. If you are interested in reading ahead, please check out my website. www certherverse com



By the second week of October, Harry had to admit it. He'd turned into a bit of a nerd.

Not like Hermione-level, obviously. But he had a schedule now. A rhythm. He got up, went to class, actually took notes, did his homework without someone yelling at him, and spent more than a few evenings testing potions ingredients with Daphne or trying to crack Joren's stupid coded journal. It was weirdly satisfying.

Charms had settled into something more normal after that wild dueling lesson with Flitwick. They weren't doing fiery golden birds or molten lava spells anymore, but there was still something cool about finally mastering things like Scourgify, the charm Daphne had first shown him weeks ago. Now he could cast it properly every time. They'd also gone through Tergeo, Orchideous, and most recently Depulso, which had sent Neville's wand flying straight into a window. Professor Flitwick had looked both proud and mildly alarmed.

It wasn't flashy stuff, but it still made Harry feel more in control of his magic than ever. Plus, Flitwick clearly knew they wanted more than just textbook spells. Every now and then, he'd sneak in something advanced, drop a hint, or tell a quick story about dueling tournaments and clever enchantments.

Defense Against the Dark Arts, though, was an entirely different story.

Moody didn't even pretend to follow a syllabus. He just came in, barked something half-insane like "You're all Aurors now. What's your plan if the Ministry's under siege?" and waited to see who panicked first. Every lesson was chaos in the best way. Sometimes they'd talk about curse breaking or old wand duels. Other times he'd dump a box of enchanted objects on the table and tell them to sort out which ones would try to kill them.

Harry had never seen Ron so into a class in his life. That Ministry siege lesson? Ron practically glowed the whole time, laying out strategies, arguing defense points, and even drawing diagrams on the blackboard while Moody nodded like a proud general. It was good. Really good, actually. Harry knew Ron had been kind of off lately, like he didn't quite know what to do with this new version of Harry who actually liked studying and took things seriously. He'd caught Ron staring at him a few times with that vaguely betrayed look that said, "Why are you turning into Hermione and leaving me behind?"

So yeah, seeing Ron totally in his element, nerding out over battle plans and magical countermeasures? That felt nice. Harry didn't know how to bring it up, didn't know how to say, "Hey, I know I've changed and it's weird, but I still want to figure this out with you," without sounding like a total sap. Ron was Ron. He'd rather wrestle a troll than talk about feelings. Still, Harry was glad he got to see him shine like that.

And then there was the journal.

Joren's journal had started as just another mystery to solve, something buried in cryptic ciphers and dramatic old wizard language. But over the past few weeks, it had slowly gotten under Harry's skin. With Hermione's help, he'd broken through more of the code and unlocked bigger chunks of the text. What he found wasn't some step-by-step potion recipe or a map to hidden magic. It was… something else entirely. Joren had been a wizard who lost his wife to a Cruciatus Curse, and the journal was his way of clawing through the unknown to get her back. He wrote like someone cracking apart his own brain, one sentence at a time.

The weird thing was, he never once used the words Occlumency or Legilimency. Harry had only found those later, by accident, flipping through an old index of magical disciplines in the library after hearing Snape mutter "mind arts." Sirius had winced at the mention of them, mumbled something about it being dangerous, and said he'd rather duel a basilisk than think about Snape and mental magic in the same sentence. So that had left Harry on his own, as usual. But when he read Joren's entries, it was obvious. The man didn't know the words for it, but he was describing the exact same thing.

Joren wrote about descending into his own thoughts, about walking through memories like they were real places, about the mind being a shifting thing you could get lost in if you weren't careful. He wrote about fear, about doors that wouldn't open, voices that didn't belong to him. And most haunting of all, he wrote about trying to find his wife inside that space. Not her body, not her spirit but her mind.

Harry had read that part twice. Then a third time.

"To reach her, I must first know the shape of mine own soul, for the door I seek doth not yield to wand nor word, but to will alone."

Click to shrink...

That was when something clicked. Joren wasn't just writing a diary. He was building a map of how to step inside your own head and not go mad doing it.

Harry hadn't told anyone, not yet. But late at night, when the tower was quiet, he'd started trying. Just a few minutes here and there. Sitting still, focusing in, not on spells or thoughts, but on… something deeper. Like trying to listen to silence, or feel his own magic breathing beneath the surface. It didn't work. Not really. But it didn't not work, either. Sometimes he thought he felt something, a tug, a weird feeling.

And that was enough to keep him trying.

Harry and Daphne were still stuck in the testing phase, working with a water base and a growing list of maybe-useful ingredients, all while waiting for the goblins to finish processing the basilisk venom. That part of the process was out of their hands, but it hadn't stopped them from experimenting with smaller combinations on their own. One thing at a time. Isolate the effects. Rule things out.

They weren't brewing anything real yet. Not technically. But they were getting closer to understanding what would work and what absolutely wouldn't. They'd already tested five base stabilizers and tossed three out. One turned the mix into a gray paste with the texture of porridge. Another reacted so aggressively it singed Daphne's sleeve and made Harry dive for the stopper. That one earned the name "Attempt 8C – You Absolute Moron."

They took notes on everything. Every reaction, every failed combination. And slowly, the list of unknowns started to shrink. Daphne was methodical, good at spotting inconsistencies, and absolutely ruthless when it came to throwing out Harry's worse ideas. Harry didn't mind. It made him sharper.

And maybe the biggest surprise of all was that he enjoyed it.

Like, properly enjoyed it.

Not the way Hermione enjoyed memorizing fourteen footnotes or the way Ron enjoyed a Quidditch win. But there was something solid about brewing. Something that made sense. Mix this with that. Heat it just enough. Stir counterclockwise. Wait. Watch. React. It wasn't easy, but it was satisfying.

And it made Harry wonder, more than once, what it would've been like if Snape had actually been a decent teacher. If he hadn't spent three years making Harry feel like an idiot the moment he walked into the dungeon, would Harry have liked Potions from the start? Because now, with space to think and someone like Daphne pushing him to take it seriously, it felt like something he could actually be good at.

Which was weird.

But also, kind of nice.

It had been a few nights back, sometime after midnight, when the mirror on Harry's nightstand lit up. He'd fumbled for it in the dark, knocked his Defense essay onto the floor, and muttered, "Sirius?" while trying not to wake anyone else up.

Sirius's face appeared, grinning like he'd just hexed a Slytherin's robes to sing Celestina Warbeck and legged it down three corridors without getting caught.

"Hey, kid. Remember when you said you wanted to learn more about your family? The sacred this, noble that, all that ridiculous pureblood nonsense?"

Harry had nodded, already suspicious.

"Well," Sirius said, sounding very pleased with himself, "I arranged something."

Harry blinked. "Arranged what?"

"A meeting with my cousin Andromeda. She's smart, sharp, terrifying when she's annoyed, and somehow still has more class than the rest of the Black family put together. She agreed to talk to you. Give you a crash course in surviving the wizarding upper crust without turning into a pompous git."

Harry had sat there blinking at him for a solid ten seconds.

Sirius just shrugged. "You've got two big names tied to your wand now, Harry. Potter and Black. People are watching. Might as well learn the rules before someone tries to use them against you."

And now Harry was walking through the castle, just him and the sound of his shoes on the stone floor. It was Wednesday evening and already dark outside.

Sirius had sorted it all out. Talked to Dumbledore, talked to McGonagall, talked to Andromeda. Now Harry was on his way to a meeting he wasn't entirely sure how to feel about.

The closer he got to McGonagall's office, the more his stomach started twisting.

He knocked on her door. Three taps.

"Enter," came McGonagall's voice.

Harry pushed it open. She was standing by the fireplace already, her usual expression unreadable but not unkind. The fire was lit, glowing red. She gave him a nod and stepped back to let him through.

Harry walked over, grabbed a pinch of Floo powder from the jar on the mantle, and stepped into the grate.

"Thank you, Professor," he said, glancing her way.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter," she replied, and for a second, her eyes softened just a little.

Harry threw down the powder and said clearly, "Three Broomsticks."

The flames shot up, swallowed him whole, and he was gone.

Harry stepped out of the fireplace and into the Three Broomsticks, brushing soot from his sleeves. The pub was dimly lit and mostly empty, just a few regulars hunched over their drinks, too wrapped up in their own conversations to pay him any attention. It smelled like firewhiskey and old wood, and the warmth of the hearth hit him all at once after the chill of the castle halls.

He straightened his robes and walked up to the bar, his heart thumping a bit harder than it should've.

Madam Rosmerta looked up from behind the counter, one eyebrow lifting. "Can I help you?"

Harry leaned in a little, lowering his voice. "I think someone's waiting for me. A meeting."

Rosmerta studied him for a second, then gave a single nod. "Room three. Up the stairs, first door on the right."

"Thanks,"

Room three was plain and quiet. White walls, one small window, a round table, and two chairs. No fireplace, no magical trinkets, nothing fancy at all. Just simple, clean, and oddly formal in its simplicity.

Andromeda Black was already seated.

She wasn't old, probably late thirties, if he had to guess. Her dark hair was swept back, pinned neatly, and there was something about her face that stopped him. Not the elegance, though she had that too. It was the shape of her eyes. The cheekbones.

She looked like Sirius. Or rather, Sirius if he were calmer, quieter, and maybe actually capable of sitting still for longer than five seconds. But the resemblance was there.

"Mr. Potter," she said, "Come in. Shut the door behind you."

Harry stepped inside, suddenly aware of how loud his footsteps sounded.

She didn't stand. Just studied him from her seat, one leg crossed, one hand resting lightly on the arm of the chair. Her robes were deep black with silver trim, clean lines and no fuss. Not a bit of jewelry on her.

He sat in the chair across from her, trying not to slouch.

"I want to be clear," she said finally, "this isn't a lesson. Not yet. Just a conversation. I'm here because Sirius asked. But I don't take students on someone else's word alone. Especially not when it comes from someone who used to enchant the dining room chandelier to drop soup on our aunt's head"

"So this is like… an interview?"

She tilted her head, amused. "More like a briefing. I need to know what you want from this. Not him."

Harry shifted in his seat, already starting to feel awkward.

Andromeda watched the movement, then spoke.

"Straighten your back. Lower your shoulders. Chin up."

Harry did it automatically, then blinked. "Sorry?"

"How you sit changes how you feel. How you feel changes how you act. And how you act is how people judge you. If you want to carry a name like yours, you need to learn how to do it without flinching."

He didn't answer right away.

"So," she said, sitting back, eyes never leaving his face. "Tell me, Harry. Why are you here?"

Harry hesitated. "I guess I'm here because… I want to understand it. All of it. The name. What it means. What people see when they hear 'Potter' or 'Black.'"

He paused, then added, "And I don't want to be the last one to figure things out anymore."

Andromeda watched him for a long moment. Then she gave a quiet, almost amused hum, like she'd been expecting something different and was glad she didn't get it.

"That's not etiquette," she said. "Not really."

Harry blinked. "No?"

"No," she said, sitting back. "That's identity. That's you trying to understand who you are and what you're standing in the middle of. Which is much harder, and a lot more interesting, than learning how to make polite conversation at a garden party."

He didn't say anything. But he felt it land.

"I could teach you the rules, sure," she went on. "I can teach you how to walk, talk, eat, nod, vanish from a room without looking like you're running. All of that. But none of it means a thing unless you understand the story you've walked into."

Harry's brows pulled together. "So where do we start?"

Andromeda gave him a look that was equal parts challenge and invitation. "Where we always start. History."

She stood up then, just to stretch her legs, walking a slow circle around the table.

"Sacred Families. Old names. Everyone throws that phrase around like it means something clean. But it's not clean. It's not noble, either. It's power. That's what it is. A web of it. Threaded through favors and bloodlines and debts going back centuries. Magic built on legacy. Influence passed down like heirlooms. It's not about being the best. It's about making sure your name stays louder than the rest."

Harry leaned in a little, listening.

"And the Blacks?" she continued. "We were at the center of it. For a long time. Still are, in some ways. Even after the wars, even after the disgrace. That name still opens doors, and closes others. You carry it now, through Sirius. Whether you want it or not."

Harry looked down at the table, then back up. "I didn't ask for any of this."

"No one ever does," she said softly. "But the world doesn't care. You've got two powerful names tied to you. People are already watching. Deciding what kind of man they think you'll be."

"So what do I do?" Harry asked. "Just play along?"

Andromeda stopped walking and looked at him, really looked at him. "No," she said. "You learn how to walk into a room like you belong there. And then you decide what to do with that power. Not because they told you to but because you understand it."

Andromeda pulled out her chair and sat again.

"All right," she said, almost to herself. "Let's start with the basics."

"You hear 'Sacred Twenty-Eight,' and it sounds official, right? Like some ancient decree. It's not. It's barely over a hundred years old. Some pompous idiot named Cantankerus Nott sat down, got out a quill, and made a list of the families he thought were still 'pure' enough to count. That's it. That's the whole origin story."

She gave a small snort, like she couldn't believe people still took it seriously.

"But people did. Because people love categories. They love feeling chosen. 'We're on the list, so we must be important.' 'They're not, so they're beneath us.' Easy. Clean. Completely made-up."

Harry didn't say anything. He just watched her. You could tell she really cared about this stuff.

"It wasn't about who had the most magic. Or who did the most for the world. It was about blood. Lineage. Who your great-great-grandfather married. Who he didn't marry. The Potters? Left off the list. Too many ties to Muggle-borns. Too many friends in the wrong places."

She looked at him now, like she was weighing something.

"You probably think that's a bad thing. Being left off."

He shrugged. "I dunno. I didn't know there was a list at all until like… a month ago."

Andromeda huffed a quiet laugh, shook her head. "Better that way."

"My family the Blacks went the other direction. Full speed. Obsessed over the list. Over bloodlines, marriages, heirs. It wasn't about love. It was about strategy. Power. My parents raised us like chess pieces. Bellatrix believed every word of it. Narcissa learned to survive it. And me?" She shrugged. "I married a Muggle-born and got burned off the family tree for it."

Harry blinked. "Wait, literally burned off?"

"Have you seen that tapestry at Grimmauld Place?" she asked dryly. "It's not metaphorical."

Harry winced.

"Anyway," she went on, "that's the real history of it. Not noble, not sacred. Just… ego. Codified. Wrapped in pretty language. It gave people a sense of identity, something to hold onto when the world was changing too fast. But the longer you let that kind of thinking simmer, the uglier it gets."

She tapped a finger against the table once, then again.

"First, it's 'We're better than them.' Then it's, 'They don't belong.' Then it's, 'They're the reason everything's going wrong.' That's how it spreads. That's how you end up with someone like Voldemort spreading blood purity nonsense."

Harry looked down at his hands. "And people believed him."

"They wanted to believe him," she said. "Because he told them they were special. That's all it takes, sometimes."



~~~~~~~~



"…she's not what I expected," Harry said, chewing a piece of bread. "Not even close."

Ron raised an eyebrow. "What, no dark velvet robes and evil laugh?"

Harry smirked. "I dunno. I thought she'd be proper, at least. Polished. All 'pureblood manners' and weird tea."

Hermione perked up. "And?"

"She's smart," Harry said. "Talks like she sees straight through you. But not in a mean way. She just… knows stuff. About people."

Ron grunted. "That's a Black thing. They're all mental in their own ways, but most of 'em are clever. Even Bellatrix. Just… scary clever."

"She talked about the Sacred Twenty-Eight," Harry said. "Said it was basically made up. Some guy named Nott scribbled down a list of families he thought were 'pure' enough and that was it."

Ron nodded. "Cantankerus Nott. Total berk. Dad says he used to write angry letters to the Prophet anytime a Muggle-born got a Ministry job. Half the time under a fake name."

Hermione looked disgusted. "So just a big list of self-important families."

Harry nodded. "Yeah. And people bought into it. Like, really bought into it. If you're on the list, you're special. If not, too bad."

Ron rolled his eyes. "It's not just that. It's power stuff. Marriages, alliances, politics. Being on the list meant you had connections. Whole families planned their kids' futures around it. Still do."

Harry stabbed a potato with his fork. "She said the Potters got left off."

"Yeah," Ron said. "You lot were always kind of the rebels. Not blood-traitor level like us, but close. Fought in the goblin rebellions, funded weird causes, stuff like that."

Hermione blinked. "That actually sounds sort of good right?"

"Yeah, well, it wasn't popular with the snobs," Ron cut in. "They liked quiet families who followed the rules."

Harry let out a small huff of laughter. "She said the Blacks went the opposite way. All in on the list. Obsessed with bloodlines. Treated their kids like… chess pieces."

Ron made a face. "Sounds about right. Bet Sirius hated it."

"She said Bellatrix believed in it completely. Narcissa learned to live with it. And Andromeda…" Harry trailed off, then looked at the table. "She married a Muggle-born and they burned her off the family tree."

"Literally," Ron muttered. "Grimmauld Place has that massive tapestry. Big black scorch mark where her name used to be. Right between her sisters. My mom told me. "

Hermione shivered. "That's so…"

"Yeah," Harry said. "I think she made peace with it. But you could tell it still meant something. Like, even if she doesn't regret it, she knows what it cost her."

Hermione was quiet for a beat, then said softly, "It's kind of amazing, actually. To choose that. To walk away from your whole family just because it's the right thing."

Ron tilted his head. "So, is this a one-time thing? Or are you gonna keep seeing her?"

Harry stabbed another bit of potato. "Every Sunday morning. We're meeting in Hogsmeade. Just me and her, no one else."

Ron raised his eyebrows. "You're doing extra lessons? "

"Not lessons like school," Harry said. "More like… life stuff, I guess. She's going to help me figure it out."

Hermione smiled, almost proud. "That sounds like a very good idea, Harry."

Before he could reply, something swooped low over the Gryffindor table. A flash of bronze feathers and a heavy envelope dropped right onto his mashed peas. Harry blinked, wiped a bit of gravy off the wax seal, and turned it over.

It had the Gringotts emblem stamped in gold.



Gringotts Wizarding Bank

Assets Recovery & Special Claims Division

To: Mr. H. J. Potter

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry



Dear Mr. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that preliminary processing of the basilisk carcass recovered from the Chamber of Secrets beneath Hogwarts School has been completed. In accordance with Gringotts' Asset Discovery Protocols (Goblin Code Revision 1317, Clause XIII), our teams have conducted a full materials audit and secured all viable resources under your name.

The following assets have been extracted and are currently held in reserve pending your decisions regarding dispersal or retention:

1. Basilisk Venom (Stabilized)

• Quantity: 11 vials (Grade-A, Potent)
• Market Value: 14,000 Galleons per vial (subject to fluctuation; highly restricted due to dark magic classification)
• Notes: Viable for use in advanced cursebreaking, dark artifact destruction, and high-tier potioneering
• Storage: Vaulted under Category 3 Hazardous Substances

2. Basilisk Hide (Cured)

• Usable Sections: 8.5 square meters
• Market Value: Approx. 3,000 Galleons per square meter
• Notes: Potion-resistant, durable, and highly sought after for protective equipment and specialty enchantment applications

3. Basilisk Fangs (Uncharmed)

• Quantity: 17 intact fangs
• Market Value: 900 Galleons per fang
• Notes: Suitable for potion work, carving, and enchantment. One fang has been marked for historical archiving unless otherwise instructed.

4. Skeletal Material

• Marketable Bone Segments: 5.7 meters (spinal arc, ribs, jawbone)
• Estimated Value: 6,000–8,000 Galleons total
• Notes: Nontraditional wand core material; valuable for alchemical or artisan crafting purposes

5. Magical Residue Collection

• Harvested: Crystallized latent magic collected from Chamber surfaces
• Appraised Value: Pending final purity analysis; estimated between 2,000–4,000 Galleons

Total Estimated Asset Value: 190,000–210,000 Galleons

You are hereby invited to attend a formal consultation regarding the handling of these assets. The meeting will take place this Saturday at 11:30 a.m., within the Assets & Legacy Wing of Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley. A senior goblin from our Salvage & Legacy Division will oversee the proceedings, along with your assigned Claims Liaison, Ragnok.

Should you wish to invest, enchant, barter, or liquidate any portion of the materials, you may present your intentions at this time. If legal or magical counsel is desired, please arrange their attendance in advance.

Please confirm your availability by owl no later than Friday evening.

Congratulations on your successful recovery, Mr. Potter. This claim is among the most significant of its kind in recent Gringotts history.

Yours in gold and stone,

Griphook Ironquill

Senior Account Handler

Gringotts Assets Recovery Division



Harry reread the letter, eyes darting over lines like "11 vials (Grade-A, Potent)" and "pending your decisions regarding dispersal or retention." It didn't feel real.

He slid the parchment across the table, nudging it toward Ron and Hermione. "Here. Just read it."

Ron's eyebrows shot up the second he hit the venom line. "Bloody hell. That's… that's a fortune."

Hermione didn't even blink. "Over two hundred thousand Galleons, easy."

"Yeah," Harry muttered. "And I don't want to sell most of it."

Ron glanced up, confused. "You don't?"

Harry shook his head. "The venom's the reason I filed the claim in the first place. Me and Daphne, we've been waiting on it. For the project."

Hermione gave a quick nod. "Right. The potion. You said the formula needed a magical toxin to stabilize it."

"Exactly. We've tested everything else that might even come close. But this… this is what we need."

"And the hide?" she asked.

Harry shrugged. "Could be useful. For shielding, maybe. Or ritual work. Dunno yet."

Ron leaned back a bit. "So what about the rest of it? The bones and crystals and stuff?"

"That's what I need to figure out," Harry said. "I want to talk to Sirius first. See what the smart move is."

Hermione folded the letter neatly, like it was a contract she was tempted to edit. "Well. You've got a few days. Meeting's not until Saturday. Plenty of time to think it through."

Harry nodded, though his fingers were drumming the table now. "Yeah. I just didn't expect it to feel this… big."

Ron stabbed his roast potato with unnecessary force. "Mate, it's a basilisk. It was always gonna be big. "

Hermione tilted her head. "Maybe there's someone you could talk to? I don't know… someone who works with magical ingredients or rare stuff. Gringotts probably has people like that, right?"

Harry frowned. "You think there's actually a job for that?"

Ron shrugged. "Dunno, but sounds right. I mean, Dad works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, and that's like, half his day spent dealing with cursed toasters. So if there are people paid to sort out flying kettles, there's definitely someone out there getting paid to figure out what to do with a giant murder snake."

Hermione nodded slowly. "That's kind of what I meant. Not just bankers. Like… magical craftsmen. People who know how to use this stuff properly."

Harry leaned back in his seat, thinking. "Yeah. Might be worth asking. I'll talk to Sirius first, see what he thinks."

Ron forked another bite of stew. "He probably knows someone. "

Harry glanced back at the letter. "Still feels mad. Like one minute I'm just trying to get through Potions without blowing something up, and now I've got a vault full of basilisk bits and goblins inviting me to meetings."

"Well," Hermione said gently, "that's kind of been your whole life, hasn't it?"

Ron raised his goblet in mock salute. "To Harry. Always neck-deep in chaos."

Harry snorted. "Cheers. To chaos."



For those who read my stories; i am working on new web novel named Aura Breaker. My other project VIRGIN DESTROYER failed so i am starting once again. I plan to start publishing it here once i write 40 chapters.


here is the short description of the whole series:

A lifer turned fugitive swordsman must carve a personal Dao and close world-splitting dungeons after a cosmic "System Trial" shatters Earth into three deadly sectors.

 

[Xyl]

Awesome chapter. It's great seeing the characters evolving, their thought pattern etc. Keep up the amazing work!

 

[certher]

Harry pushed open the classroom door with his elbow, arms full of Honeydukes loot.

"Truce offering," he announced, stepping inside.

She was already at the worktable, sleeves rolled and wand balanced between two fingers as she stirred their latest trial base. Her school robes hung open over her blouse and skirt, her tie barely done up and loose at the collar. Her legs were tucked under the stool, socks folded neat at the ankle, and Harry looked for a second longer than he meant to before dragging his eyes up like he hadn't.

Totally normal. Just legs. She had legs. Moving on.

He dropped the bag onto the table with a dramatic thud. "Two packs of Fizzing Whizzbees, one box of Sugar Quills, and a raspberry Chocobomb, which, for the record, I almost had to fight a third year for."

Daphne glanced up, and for a second, Harry blanked. Her lashes looked darker, eyes sharper. Her lips were red. Not just "ate-a-strawberry" red but actual lipstick red. It didn't look like something she'd done for class.

"You're forgiven," she said easily, plucking the Chocobomb from the pile.

He rolled up his sleeves, and joined her at the workbench.

Yeah, things had changed.

Somewhere between Attempt 6A (The Porridge Disaster) and that time she'd nearly singed off his eyebrows with a miscalculated stirring charm, they'd stopped being awkward study partners and just… started working. Like properly working. Talking without the weird pauses, calling each other out without the eggshells. And Harry had figured out something important: Daphne Greengrass had a serious sweet tooth and very little patience for dramatics unless she was the one causing them.

"You run the test with silverroot yet?" he asked, grabbing a clean vial.

"Tried it last night. Stabilized for twenty-three seconds before it started to spike. Nearly blew a hole through my desk."

"So… not the winner."

"No," she said, tossing him a pinch of dried valerian. "But it ruled out cross-reaction with fluxweed, which is useful."

They moved easily now, ingredients passed back and forth without needing to ask. Stir, check the color, write it down. The rhythm of it had become familiar. Predictable, but not boring.

Harry slid a few finished vials onto the cooling rack and finally said, "Got the Gringotts letter."

Daphne didn't look up. "And?"

"Eleven vials of basilisk venom."

That made her pause mid-stir.

"You're joking."

"I wish. That's not even the half of it." He pulled the folded parchment from his pocket, already a little wrinkled, and spread it out on the table. "Hide, bones, fangs. Some weird crystallized magic they scraped off the Chamber walls. Total value's over two hundred thousand."

She whistled low. "Alright, Potter. You're officially a one-man potion cartel."

Harry snorted. "Yeah, well. I don't want to sell most of it. Especially not the venom. That's for this."

"Obviously," she said, already scanning the list. "We built this formula assuming we'd get it. That's the whole point of the third phase. Water base was just to keep things safe until we knew how the venom might interact," she said.

"Which we don't," Harry pointed out.

"Not exactly," Daphne admitted. She tapped the side of the cauldron with her wand. "But dragon's blood is the closest thing we can get. Similar volatility, similar magical weight. If we can get this stable with that, we've got a real shot when the venom comes in."

Harry leaned forward, brow furrowed. "Isn't that insanely expensive?"

Daphne smirked, already stepping closer. "Then we should be glad that you're so riiiich… right?"

She gave his arm a little squeeze and Harry felt his brain do a full stop.

He blinked at her. "Oh my god. I cannot believe you just did that."

She grinned like she'd just won something, biting the inside of her cheek. "What? I'm just appreciating our generous financier."

Harry tried to look unimpressed but couldn't stop the stupid smile tugging at his mouth. "Fine. I'll get the dragon's blood."

"Thank you, Harry," she said, almost sing-song, and gave his bicep another smug little pat before going right back to stirring the potion like nothing happened.

Harry shook his head as he reached for the jar of powdered hellebore. "You weren't even mad."

Daphne didn't look up. "Sure I was."

"You cornered me like I'd kicked your cat. Accused me of ditching you for 'fame and butterbeer.'"

"I stand by that phrasing," she said sweetly.

Harry rolled his eyes, scooped the powder, then paused. "Seriously though. You gonna tell me what that was really about?"

She didn't answer. Just tossed a pinch of something into the cauldron and gave it a sharp clockwise stir. The potion hissed, then settled again.

Harry set the spoon down, circled the bench, and leaned forward, hands braced on either side of her notes. Close enough that she had to glance up.

"You can tell me," he said, and this time his voice wasn't teasing. "Whatever it was. I'm not a mind reader."

Daphne met his eyes, her mouth tightening like she wasn't sure if she wanted to say it or make another joke.

Then she sighed. "It was stupid."

"Let me decide that."

She gave him a look. "I just… didn't like not knowing where you were."

Harry blinked. "I was just hanging out with Ron and Hermione."

"I know," she said quickly. "It's not that. You're allowed to have other friends. Obviously. It's just.. this thing we're doing? It matters to me. More than I expected. And when you vanished for a few days without saying anything, I… I don't know. Thought maybe you were done."

He stared at her for a beat. "Daphne, I skipped three afternoons. Not the rest of my life."

"I said it was stupid," she muttered.

"It's not," Harry said. "It's actually kind of… not."

She tilted her head at him, wary. "Are you making fun of me right now?"

"No. I'm saying you could've just said something. You didn't need to go full dramatic monologue outside the Great Hall."

She narrowed her eyes. "Wouldn't have gotten me candy though."

"Ah," Harry said. "So that was the goal."

"A partial goal."

Harry snorted. "You're ridiculous."

"I know," she said, tossing her hair over one shoulder.

Harry let out a breath and looked down at the mess of parchment spread across the table. Half her notes were neat and underlined, the other half looked like a chicken with inked feet had run a marathon across the page.

"This is ridiculous," he muttered, dragging one clean sheet toward him. "Alright. Let's actually figure out where we are, because on my end? It's a pile of maybe-this and probably-not."

He grabbed his quill, dipped it, and started scribbling.

"Okay… stable base with sage, valerian, and knotgrass. Fluxweed's fine. Silverroot's a nope. Stirring pattern works best at four-count, counterclockwise. Hellebore still moody. Dragon's blood next, since it's the closest thing to the venom."

He paused to shake ink off his fingers and kept going.

"If that holds, we test it with the current base. If it doesn't try to kill us, we move to micro doses of the real thing once it arrives. No more than three ingredients at a time until we know what reacts how."

He sat back a little, scanned what he'd written, then looked over at her.

"Anything to add?"

Daphne leaned on one elbow, totally smug. "No, Professor Potter. That was spleeeendid."

Harry rolled his eyes and grabbed the last couple of filled vials. "Professor Potter," he muttered under his breath. "Right."

He crossed the room, nudging the cabinet door open with his foot. The hinges squeaked like they hadn't been oiled since the seventies. Inside, their work was lined up in uneven rows. Clear glass marked with uneven handwriting, a mix of Daphne's perfect script and Harry's half-legible scrawl.

He slotted the new ones into place, reading off labels as he went. "Nine-A, stable. Nine-B, the one that fizzed. Nine-C, still smells like burned socks. Nine-D… probably cursed, honestly."

Behind him, he heard Daphne snort.

He smiled without turning around. Something about the sound always caught him off guard lately.

When he turned back around, she was watching him. Elbow on the table, chin in her hand, the faintest smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

At the beginning, Daphne had been all tight shoulders and measured words, like she was always two seconds from deciding this wasn't worth her time. Now? Now she leaned into him when she talked. Rolled her eyes at his jokes. Threw sugar quills at him when he got something wrong and told stories like she forgot to be guarded.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," Harry said before he could talk himself out of it.

Daphne blinked like she hadn't expected him to say anything serious. Then she smiled, softer this time. "Yeah. I am."

She nudged her Sugar Quill aside and leaned in slightly, voice dropping like she couldn't hold it in another second.

"But wait, I didn't tell you what happened last night… So, Pansy really acted nasty against Millicent…"

~~~



The stairs up to the Owlery were as drafty and uneven as always, but Harry barely noticed. He had the letter clutched in one hand, fingers still slightly smudged with ink from rewriting it twice. The other hand stayed stuffed in the pocket of his dark green jumper one of the few nice things he actually liked wearing, even if he still wasn't sure how to stop feeling weird about it. Jeans, boots, nothing fancy. Just enough to feel like himself.

Percy had scribbled the name of the shop on a scrap of parchment a few days ago when Harry cornered him near the Prefects' bathroom.

"If you're looking for regulated alchemical suppliers, Breccius & Co. is the one most of the Ministry people use," Percy had said, all puffed up like he was giving top-secret advice. "Reliable. Boring. The goblins respect their paperwork."

Harry hadn't told him what it was for, just nodded, thanked him, and walked off before Percy could ask more questions. Now the letter was sealed, addressed neatly to Breccius & Co., with all the official wording he could manage. A small request, dragon's blood, certified pure, for academic use under Hogwarts supervision. He'd even asked McGonagall about using the school's delivery registry to avoid delays. She'd raised an eyebrow but signed off when he added that it was just for a potion project.

It was pricey stuff seventeen Galleons for a vial but apparently not rare. Turns out, dragon blood was used in enough advanced potions that the shop kept small amounts in stock for research buyers.

The Owlery door creaked open under his push. It smelled like straw and feathers and that strange musty scent that never quite left. The rafters were full of owls, tucked into beams or perched along the edges, silent and watchful. A few rustled when he entered. One large barn owl looked at him like he was late. Which was good because he couldn't find Hedwig.

"You'll do," Harry muttered, stepping forward. The owl tilted its head as he tied the letter to its leg with careful fingers.

"Diagon Alley. Breccius & Co. Don't drop it, yeah?"

The owl gave him a dry look and launched off the perch, wings flapping hard before it caught the wind and vanished into the clouds.

Harry adjusted the strap of his bag as he made his way back down the path from the Owlery, boots crunching over scattered leaves. The castle loomed in the distance, all grey stone and warm windows against the dull October sky, but his thoughts weren't on the weather. They circled back, again and again, to the journal.

The first few times he tried, it was useless. His brain wouldn't shut up, just constant noise. Random memories, half-finished thoughts, stuff he hadn't even realized he was carrying around. It made him realize how loud his mind actually was, all the time.

But last night was different.

For the first time, he'd managed a stretch of real quiet. Not perfect, but minutes passed without any thoughts barging in. No drifting off. No sudden flashes of anxiety or his brain dragging him back to something he forgot to do. Just stillness.

And in that stillness, he felt it.

Not a thought. Not even a feeling. More like… pressure. The surface was calm but that calm only made it clearer how much was moving underneath.

Something old. Something waiting.

And now that he'd touched it, even for a second, he knew the hard part wasn't clearing his mind.

It was what came after.

He rounded the corner by the greenhouses, absently dragging his hand along the cold stone wall. He wasn't in a rush to go anywhere.

"Harry," said a voice beside him.

He nearly jumped. Luna Lovegood was walking just a few steps behind him, no sound of footsteps, as usual.

"Oh. Hey, Luna."

She smiled like always, soft and far-off, and matched his pace without asking. Her arms were wrapped around a dog-eared Quibbler, like it was some kind of pillow she'd forgotten to put down. They walked a few steps in silence.

"I wanted to ask you something," she said eventually.

Harry glanced at her. Luna didn't usually ask. She just said things, and you either caught up or you didn't.

"Sure," he said. "What's up?"

"Professor Flitwick said you asked about me."

That caught him off guard. "Oh yeah. I just… I dunno, you seemed a bit off lately."

She nodded like she'd already expected that answer. "He thought maybe I was upset about something."

Harry scratched the back of his neck. "It wasn't just me. Ginny mentioned it too. Said you'd been kind of… quiet. Not in your usual way. More like pulled back."

Luna looked thoughtful. "I didn't notice."

"You've just been different," Harry said carefully. "That's all. Not bad. Just… different."

"I've been thinking more," she said, her eyes fixed ahead. "Spending time with new people."

"Anyone I know?"

"Caleb Selwyn."

Harry stopped walking.

"I like talking to him," she said simply, almost to herself. "He listens."

Harry didn't respond. His feet eventually moved again, but his mind was already spinning. Something didn't feel right. Not at all.

She hadn't drifted off mid-sentence once. No strange metaphors about nargles or shimmering doorways to alternate realities. Just Caleb Selwyn, and "he listens."

Harry glanced at her again, more curious than anything. "So… what do you two talk about?"

Luna shrugged. "Lots of things. He's quiet, but not in a boring way. Just… careful. And kind. People don't expect that from him."

Harry hummed. "Yeah, I guess I don't really know him."

"You don't," she said, like that settled it.

That made Harry look at her properly. She still wasn't looking back, but he could see the way her fingers tightened a little around the Quibbler, just for a second.

He didn't push. He didn't want to interrogate her. Whatever this was, Luna wasn't being cagey. If anything, she was more direct than usual.

"You know," Harry said, "it was Ginny who asked me to talk to Flitwick. She's been worried about you."

Luna didn't stop walking, didn't even slow down. But something changed. Her face didn't move much, just this tiny change in how she was holding it. Like she was trying not to let something show.

It looked like fear.

Just for a second. Gone before Harry could be sure he'd even seen it.

Then she smiled again, all soft and dreamy like always. "I know," she said. "That's why I asked you."

Harry frowned a little, watching her closer now.

He waited for her to say something else. One of her usual Luna things. Something about moon beetles or lost ghosts that hum at sunrise. But she just kept walking.

"I'm going to the library," she said over her shoulder. "Thanks, Harry."

And that was it.

He left the corridor and Luna behind, still feeling that strange unease curling in the back of his head. But there wasn't anything he could do right now, not really. He didn't even know what to name the feeling. So he shoved his hands into his pockets and headed for the common room.



The Fat Lady barely had time to fully open entrance before Ron's voice hit Harry like a Bludger to the ear.

"Harry! Help me!"

He stepped into the common room and spotted Ron by the fireplace, looking like he was either going to hex something or throw himself into the flames. Hermione was standing across from him, arms folded so tightly her knuckles had gone white.

"I told her we went to the kitchens to get some cake between classes," Ron said, jabbing a thumb at Hermione, "and she started asking questions and now she's lost the plot!"

"I am not losing the plot," Hermione said, glaring. "I'm just thinking critically. You should try it sometime."

Harry dropped his bag on the nearest chair. "Okay. What exactly did you say to her?"

"I said the house-elves made everything," Ron said. "Because they do! And then she started grilling me like I've personally enslaved them."

"I asked one question," Hermione said. "Then three more. And then it spiraled because apparently no one's ever thought about how awful it is."

Harry sat down and leaned back like he was bracing for impact. "Alright. Let's hear it."

Hermione turned to him, eyes blazing. "Did you know they don't get paid?"

Harry gave a small nod. "Yeah. I figured."

"No breaks. No time off. No wands. No rights. They cook, they clean, they handle every inch of this castle and no one even says thank you."

"I said thank you!" Ron cut in, voice high with frustration. "I thanked them, Hermione. I told them the tart was excellent."

Hermione looked like she wanted to throw something at him.

"That's not the point, Ron! You thanked them for doing something they never agreed to do in the first place! They're born into it! They've never been given a choice. And you're acting like it's all fine because the tart was warm."

"I'm not saying it's fine!" Ron said. "I'm saying I didn't think about it! We've been eating their food since first year! What, now I'm the villain for liking snacks?"

Harry scratched the back of his head. "No one's saying you're a villain."

Hermione shot him a look like she might be saying it, just not out loud yet.

Ron threw his hands up. "It's not like I invented house-elf labor, Hermione! I just wanted cake!"

"That's exactly the problem!" Hermione said. "You didn't even stop to think about it! You just took what they gave you and walked off like that was normal!"

"Because it is normal!" Ron shouted, and a few first-years near the window flinched. "It's always been like that! At home, at Hogwarts, everywhere!"

"Then maybe it shouldn't be," Hermione snapped.

Ron turned to Harry, clearly hoping for backup. "Come on. You knew about it too, right? You didn't think it was some kind of crime ring."

Harry held up both hands. "I knew. I just didn't… think about it much. I mean, they've always been there. I didn't know what the rules were."

Hermione looked like she was two seconds from exploding. "That's the thing! There aren't any rules! No one talks about it! They're treated like background furniture that happens to breathe!"

"Okay, calm down," Ron said, which was the wrong thing to say and he realized it immediately.

Hermione's voice turned cold. "Don't you dare tell me to calm down."

Ron sat down slowly, like backing away from a triggered magical trap.

"I'm just saying," he said carefully, "you might want to do a little more research before you burn the whole castle down."

Hermione let out a breath through her nose. "Oh, don't worry. I plan to."

Harry sat down next to him. "Yeah… but you know how Hermione is."

Ron looked over. "I wasn't trying to start a debate. I just said the house-elves were nice. They were nice."

"They were," Harry said. "But I think she's looking at it from a different angle."

Ron groaned. "Of course she is."

"I mean… I don't really know much about house-elves. Do you?"

Ron didn't answer, just rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the floor.

Harry leaned back. "Same."

They sat like that for a bit.

Ron finally muttered, "She's definitely gonna make it a thing, isn't she."

Harry grinned. "Oh yeah. Big thing."

Ron sighed. "Brilliant."