Tanya’s Hogwarts Adventures (Youjo Senki, Harry Potter)

[Half_Baked_cat]

Luna Lovegood

It was a lovely Tuesday. The sun streamed into Luna's room bright and early as Luna put the last of the items she would need for school into her trunk. She dragged it to the landing of the floor her room was on before going downstairs and pulled out the pot. She placed the pot on the stove and set it to begin heating next to a kettle of water.

Luna began to hum to herself. She was excited for school. So many people to meet, books to read, and things to learn. She was a bit sad that she would have to wait for Care of Magical Creatures, but she was patient. She could wait.

Luna added a bit of oil into the bottom of the pot, waiting till it shimmered before adding in oats. She liked it when the oats were toasty. She gently stirred the oats so they wouldn't burn till some of them were starting to turn brown. She had toasted them too far before and found that unpleasant, so she tended to under toast them so they would be still good, even if not as good. Once they were getting close to where she liked them, she poured in the hot water from the kettle and added a bit of salt.

Salt was a rock that made food taste good. What an interesting thing that was. No life harmed at all to make other things better. Luna would have preferred to be more like a plant and not need to eat anything living to survive, but that was not how humans worked. At the very least, she could choose what was hurt for her own continued life.

Luna took a few red stalks of rhubarb and chopped them into bite sized pieces. The pieces of rhubarb were added to the pot of oats gently bubbling on the stove.

Luna wondered if she would be in Ravenclaw like her parents had been. Her dad would not tell her how the sorting worked, but seemed sure that she would do well no matter where she went. Her dad had difficulty showing his love, but Luna knew he loved her.

Luna's mom was dead.

Luna missed her mom. Luna knew her dad missed her mom. No matter how long it had been, it still hurt to think about it. About how Luna's mom died.

Luna tried not to think about her mom too much, but hoped her mom would be proud of her.

Luna set the table for two. Spoons at the ready, a little basket filled with fresh blackberries and currants, a little honey jar, and a teapot that she filled with freshly boiled water from the kettle. Table set, she made her way upstairs to her dad's room and knocked.

"Daddy! Breakfast is ready," she called out. She heard a grunt in response. She entered his room and saw him sprawled out on his bed. She began pushing him to get him up. "Daddy, time to get up."

Xenophilius groaned as he opened an eye. "What time is it, Pumpkin?" He asked.

"I'm not a pumpkin," Luna said. "But it should be a quarter till seven."

Xenophilius groaned. "What are doing up so early?"

"I go to school today."

Xenophilius snapped his eyes open, rolled over, and sat up straight. "That's today?"

Luna nodded with a large smile. "Yes, but that is after breakfast."

Luna turned and headed down to serve herself a bowl of porridge, topping it with the fresh berries and a drizzle of honey. She liked the currants and blackberries fresh in her porridge and the rhubarb cooked. The flavor was much better in her opinion than the other way around.

Her dad came down as she was pouring herself a cup of tea dressed for the day in his red and yellow pinstripe pants and the wide collared shirt with large red and yellow paisleys.

Luna thought it looked good on him as the bright, warm colors brought out his warm personality.

"Do you have all your things packed?" Xenophilius asked as he ate his porridge.

"Yes. Everything is in my trunk. I even have the new edition on top for the ride."

Xenophilius frowned. "You already have the new edition?"

Luna nodded. "You left one on the printer last night."

Xenophilius smiled. "At least you have the copy I saved just for you."

The two ate their breakfast, enjoying the last meal they would be having together for months.

Xenophilius set the dishes into the sink after breakfast and joined his daughter on the landing to her room, taking her hand in his and her trunk with the other. With a loud crack, the two apparated to the station. Luna felt when the magic surrounding the station caught them and nudged them to a specific landing area. It was a subtle shift, but with her dad bringing both her and her trunk along, it made the bump more noticeable during the brief moment of not being in either place.

Luna and her dad were not the first ones to arrive at the platform. Other families were milling around the platform. The large scarlet engine was quietly sitting there as there was still time before it began to warm up its engine. Xenophilius helped Luna get her trunk onto the train and gave her a hug, saying his goodbyes softly into her ear.

With that, Luna began dragging her trunk behind her to find a good compartment to enjoy the ride in. The train was so empty that it was not difficult to find an empty compartment. With that done, Luna pulled out her copy of the Quibbler, setting it on one of the seats, and got set to lifting her luggage lifted up into the luggage rack above the seats.

This turned out to be more difficult than she initially expected. The trunk had lightening charms on it, making it light enough for Luna to lift it up. She was just too short and her trunk too awkwardly shaped to get it up by herself.

"Go find Lavender and Parvati. I'll get caught up with them later," a voice as serious as a graveyard said outside the compartment's door.

"You sure?" a voice as vibrant as a flowered meadow asked.

"Yes. I got your dad's book to keep me company and we've spent all break together."

"Ok! I'll see you at the feast?"

"Of course."

Quick footsteps left followed by the door opening, revealing a girl that was a little taller and maybe a year older than Luna. And eyes that saw things not of this world, piercing through the veil most people chose to keep over themselves.

"Sorry. I did not realize anyone had begun boarding yet," the girl said.

Luna gave her a smile. "It is perfectly alright. I do not mind the company."

"Alright," the girl said, stepping into the compartment. "Let me help."

With the girl's help, the two girls got their trunks into the racks and sat across from each other near the windows.

"I am Tanya Degurechaff, by the way," the girl said, holding out a hand that Luna shook.

Tanya's hand was firm and rough. "I am Luna Lovegood. It is nice to meet you, Tanya Degurechaff."

"This will be your first year, right?"

Luna nodded her head. "Yes. Are you a second year?"

Tanya nodded swiftly. "Yes. If you need any help, feel free to find me."

"Thank you."

The two of them slipped into companionable silence as they pulled out their reading material and took some time to quietly read. There was a fascinating article on the gulping plimpy in the Quibbler for this month. They were mostly just an annoyance and not particularly dangerous creatures. Bigger than normal plimpies and easily repelled by the Gurdyroot.

The train whistled an announcement that the train was starting to get ready to leave the station and a lot of commotion as students began to board the train in earnest. Many people checked in on Luna and Tanya's cabin with Tanya being greeted by many of the students by name. It was interesting watching the reactions people had to Tanya as even the older students seemed to know her. Some were respectful, plenty were friendly, and more than a few seemed cautious, almost fearful.

What an interesting person Tanya must be to be so popular after only a single year. Luna was not overly concerned about being popular, but she hoped she would make some friends and meet some like minded individuals.

Four girls in particular took a bit longer in saying their hellos. Two of them looked so much alike that Luna thought that one might be a doppelganger. Luna was introduced to them and it became clear that the doppelganger or the not doppelganger, whichever was first Luna supposed, was in Ravenclaw and all the other girls were Gryffindors like Tanya.

Another whistle rang out, alerting everyone it was getting close to the departure time. Another girl with bushy hair came by and joined Luna and Tanya in the compartment. Luna thought the new girl seemed wound up tightly like a coil in a clock.

Hermione was the new girl in the cabin, a friend of Tanya's. She was very curious about Luna's edition of the Quibbler, so Luna explained what it was. That it was the magazine her dad published and had articles about all sorts of fascinating topics.

Hermione seemed rather skeptical about the articles until Tanya stepped in to defend it as not everything was known yet. There are new discoveries being made all the time and that while it was fine to be skeptical, it was important to keep an open mind to new information. It was only a year prior that Hermione learned magic was even a real thing after all.

Luna decided that she rather liked Tanya. The older girl was more willing to be open than a lot of people that her dad talked to about his ideas.

It was just minutes before the train was about to depart that the compartment door opened up again with two heavy breathing boys came in.

"Tanya! Hermione!" The boy with black hair said with a grin. Luna saw the scar in his forehead and knew he had to be Harry Potter, but it would be rude to use names before being introduced. He might prefer going by another name like Moseley instead. Moseley was a nice sounding name. "Oh. I'm Harry."

Luna shook Harry's hand. "Hello Harry. I'm Luna Lovegood, but you can call me Luna if you want."

The cute boy next to Harry said, "Don't you live down the road in The Rook?"

That's right, Luna had seen the cute boy before. He was the youngest Weasley boy. "Yes. Along with my dad."

"Right, I'm Ron." Luna shook Ron's hand. Ron was likely short for Ronald. What a lovely name Ronald was.

Luna was happy when Ron decided to sit next to her. His body was radiantly warm as the five of them began talking, mostly the four second years talking about all the things Luna would be able to do at Hogwarts. The drama club sounded like fun, but Ron made the Dueling Club sound simply delightful.

A lady pushing a trolley stopped by around noon with a bunch of sweets. Everyone got some pumpkin pasties which Luna could tell from the smell were baked earlier that very day, the scent so delightfully fresh. It was sweet with big chunks of pumpkin in a sweet, spiced sauce. The crystals of sugar on the surface of the hand pie gave it a delightful crunch.

There was going to be a feast that evening after the sorting, so Luna didn't want to fill up too much to best enjoy the evening of eating, though she did get two extra pasties for later. Just in case.

Luna noticed that Hermione and Ron were the ones that talked the most with Harry occasionally popping in with some observation, but Tanya seemed to mostly just observe quietly, almost falling into the background, only speaking up to either answer a question or to correct something one of the others did. Luna tried to think of why someone would be that way. There were a few creatures her dad had told her about, but most of them focused their attention on teachers or the elderly.

How unusual.

Luna liked them. Maybe they could be friends. Hermione seemed to like knowledge, but didn't really seem open to new ideas that new knowledge can provide. Harry seemed to have a bit of a nervous air about him that he kept at bay behind a mask, yet he wore his emotions on his sleeves readily and saw little details more easily than most. Tanya seemed detached, as though she was not even fully in her own body. Luna had heard stories of ghosts possessing a body from some muggle kids, but she hadn't thought that a ghost could possess their own still living body. Was it her body? It was of no concern of Luna's if Tanya was possessing a body as long as she did not try to possess Luna's. Luna was rather attached to her body, thank you very much. Ron was cute.

"We should change," Tanya said, staring out of the window. It was starting to get close to the mid afternoon and the countryside was lovely and full of hills. Tanya looked at the boys who quickly got out of the compartment.

The three of them changed quickly before switching with the boys. Luna did not really like the school uniform. It was so plain, grey, and boring. Luna preferred brighter colors, especially warm pastel colors like yellow and orange. Though after joining the boys back in the compartment, Luna thought Ron made the uniform look good. She still didn't like the way it looked on her.

The conversations started up again with Tanya discussing their study group and how they would continue meeting regularly to go over the schoolwork.

"Would anyone be able to join?" Luna asked, staring at Tanya, who seemed to be the one who organized everything.

"This study group would be second years only as the lessons should be year appropriate, but I would be willing to help you organize something for your yearmates."

"That sounds nice," Luna said, giving Tanya a smile.

The rest of the train ride was rather enjoyable to Luna. She was excited to meet more of her year and housemates soon.

Luna watched the sun set as they got close to Hogsmeade Station. Streaks of clouds hanging in an orange sky that slowly turned to purples and then mostly void, partially stars. It was shortly after the stars began to shine as a sliver of moon drifted up into the sky that the train pulled into the station.

A voice had told everyone to leave their luggage on the train. Luna put her magazine on top of her trunk seeing as she would likely not be reading much during the feast. She followed the older students until a booming voice caught her attention.

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" A large man holding up a lantern at one end of the station called out.

"We'll see you at the feast," Harry said with a smile.

"I suppose you will," Luna said as she headed towards the large man along with her other yearmates. They were soon led down a dark path and shuffled onto some bobbing boats to be pulled along by an unseen force. In the distance was a grand castle of many towers and windows twinkling to a backdrop of stars. The moon was perched neatly over the highest tower.

If Luna had her paints, she would be tempted to try recreating the scene. Instead, she would have to store the site in her memories.

'Chunk.' A flash went off in one of the other boats, drawing Luna's attention to a boy putting down his camera.

They traveled smoothly across the surface of the lake surrounding the castle before slipping into an alcove under the castle where they were helped out of the boats and led to a large set of doors where they were handed off to a serious looking older woman that was introduced as Professor McGonagall. She led them to a hall and told them to straighten up while she headed on ahead and would be back for them shortly.

Speculation broke out about what the sorting could be. How would they sort all the students? So many of her fellow students were nervous about the coming sorting. Luna was not overly concerned. There was little she could do now about the sorting and being nervous never helped anyone. It only encouraged wrackspurts to infest the mind.

Positive thoughts could banish wrackspurts so Luna thought about Ron being her friend.

Ghosts entered the hall through the walls startling everyone. This was the first time Luna had seen a real ghost without a body. She looked at the ghosts carefully, comparing them to Tanya. They were not the same. The ghosts played at not noticing those around them, but they were not as detached from those around them. They were far more lively than Tanya seemed to be on the train.

Curious. Perhaps Tanya was some sort of new magical creature.

Professor McGonagall came back and shooed away the ghosts before bringing the first years into a large dining hall with a ceiling that matched the skies outside. They were lined up in front of the upper year students on display. Luna ended up between a nervous looking boy that had a scrape on his cheek and a dusky skinned girl.

Professor Mcgonagall set a stool down with an old hat in a rather prominent place in front of the school. Luna tilted her head as she looked at the hat, finding it rather interesting when a rip opened up near it's brim and it began to sing.

"Oh, gather 'round, both big and small,
The Sorting Hat is here to call.
For every soul, both near and far,
A house awaits beneath the star.

This old cap is ancient true,
But reliable as yew.
Place me on your bonnet,
And listen well to my sonnet.

Gryffindor, where courage gleams,
In lions' hearts, it's more than dreams.
For those who face their fears head-on,
Gryffindor is where you belong.

Hufflepuff, with loyalty strong,
In friendship's bonds, you'll all belong.
For those who value others' worth,
Hufflepuff will claim your berth.

Ravenclaw, where wisdom's song,
In minds so keen, you'll all belong.
Wit beyond measure,
A Ravenclaw's greatest treasure.

Slytherin, with ambition's fire,
In cunning hearts, your dreams aspire.
For those who dare to reach their goal,
Slytherin will make you whole.

So listen closely, one and all,
The Sorting Hat's about to call.
For in your heart, the truth lies true,
Hogwarts welcomes you, through and through!"

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," Professor Mcgonagall said after the cheering that erupted died down. "Baldwin, Erika!"

A taller, widely built girl was the first to go up and be sorted, the hat taking only a moment on her head before yelling out, "Hufflepuff!"

"Beaumont, Leahn!"

A rather pasty skinned girl was next, quickly being sorted into "Slytherin!" before she strode over to the applauding table, head held high.

"Buttonwood, Leilani!"

A good number of the girls were getting sorted early, Luna noted as Leilani was sorted into "Gryffindor!"

"Candlenut, Artie!"

The boy with the scrape on his cheek next to Luna was the next to be sorted into "Hufflepuff!"

"Creevy, Colin!"

The boy with the camera nearly tripped over himself rushing to the stool with the sorting hat on it. The hat took a moment to sort him into "Gryffindor!"

"Brooks, Dime!"

A shorter girl rushed up to the stool. Luna almost thought she saw the hat chuckle before yelling out, "Hufflepuff!"

"Feather, Aqua!"

Luna looked out at the crowd as Ms. Feather was getting sorted into "Slytherin!" Spotting a group of red hair at the Gryffindor table, Luna was able to spot Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Tanya.

"Flynn, Claire!"

Tanya noticed Luna was looking at them and waved at her.

"Slytherin!"

"Gnats, Carson!"

Luna waved back before turning back to see a smaller boy in glasses taking his turn.

"Ravenclaw!"

It was nice that things seemed to be moving quickly. Luna was getting a bit hungry. Maybe she shouldn't have had such a light lunch.

"Gulls, Ira!"

Luna frowned as Ms. Gulls took a while under the hat. The hat seemed to be having difficulty with her.

"Slytherin!"

"Harlan, Diane!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Harper, Ephriam!"

"Slytherin!"

"Hawks, Sterling!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Hearth, Dusty!"

"Slytherin!"

"Horn, Newton!"

"Gryffindor!"

"Ibrahim, Susan!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Inkwell, Ryland!"

"Ravenclaw!"

"Karikiya, Kiki!"

"Hufflepuff!"

"Lovegood, Luna!"

Oh, it was Luna's turn now. She went over to the stool and had the hat placed on her head. It was large and fell over her eyes, putting her into the dark.

"Hmm, very interesting mind here," The hat muttered into Luna's ear. "Only one place a mind like this belongs. Ravenclaw!"

With the shout, the hat was pulled off her head and Luna headed towards the empty space set aside for the first years at the Ravenclaw table. Luna gave the other Ravenclaws a smile before turning to pay attention to the rest of the sorting. She watched the sorting occur, tracking faces to names to house.

"Mallard, Cecil!!" "Hufflepuff!"

"McDaniels, Rex!" "Slytherin!"

"Mulberry, Haven!" "Hufflepuff!"

"Palmer, Steve!" "Ravenclaw!"

"Patt, Harley!" "Slytherin!"

"Quartz, Joshua!" "Gryffindor!"

"Rivers, Stella!" "Gryffindor!"

"Smallflower, Elizabeth!" "Ravenclaw!"

The tables were filling up, there was getting to be little space left at each table for the remaining first years.

"Smith, Hiram!" "Ravenclaw!"

"Sweets, Neil!" "Ravenclaw!"

"Weasley, Ginny!"

Luna recognized Ginny. They had occasionally played together as neighbors over the years. It did not take long at all before the hat yelled, "Gryffindor!"

"Winchell, Maurine!" "Gryffindor!"

Only one boy was left, already moving towards the stool as Professor McGongall called out, "Yowie, Bob!"

He took a moment sitting under the hat before the hat called out, "Hufflepuff!"

With everyone sorted, Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll of names and took away the hat and its stool. As she did that, Albus Dumbledore, a face nearly everyone in the Wizarding World would recognize, stood up and clapped his hands together.

"Welcome! Welcome everyone to another year full of learning here at Hogwarts!" His voice carried easily through the hall. "Now, I'm sure everyone is rather hungry for the banquet, so I will not Dally! Tinker! Plod! And Trifle!"

With that, he sat back down and food appeared on the table. Luna frowned at the spread presented. There was an awful lot of different meats. The smell of the roasted flesh did awful things to Luna's stomach. Still, it would not be good to skip eating entirely and there were a few veggies on offer. Some peas, carrots, potatoes prepared a couple different ways, and a yorkshire pudding or two were put onto Luna's plate.

Those around her quickly noticed Luna was avoiding any of the meats and the conversation arose around that. Luna doing her best to explain she didn't like the thought of anything getting hurt for her sustenance. A couple of the older students, including one that had a badge with a large P pinned to her chest, began to debate the benefits of vegetarianism. It was a rather nice conversation, Luna thought, that lasted until dinner was finished, plates cleared, and everything was replaced with a load of desserts. Tarts, ice creams, and a whole manner of other sweet treats.

Luna got herself a nice slice of Manchester Tart and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Luna was feeling comfortably full and getting a bit sleepy as the tables cleared again and Dumbledore stood up again.

"Well, that was a rather lovely start of the year feast, I'm sure you all will agree. Now to the unfortunately boring part of the start of term announcements. To wit, first years, as well as a few older students, should note that the forest around the school is named the Forbidden Forest. For the reason that entering it is forbidden.

"Next, Mr. Filch, the caretaker, would like me to remind students magic in the halls is expressly not allowed outside of class time and that a list of forbidden objects can be found attached to his door.

"Finally, as many of the older students already know, we have a dragon on campus. A reminder to all students that approaching the enclosure that Rebecca is being kept in is highly dangerous and should only be done while accompanied by either Rubeus Hagrid, the Groundskeeper, or Silvanus Kettleburn, the Care of Magical Creatures professor. And that any student that does not follow their instructions while visiting Rebecca will be severely punished after they are healed in the hospital wing."

There was a dragon at the school? Luna leaned forwards a bit at learning that. They were very dangerous creatures and not one that Luna was particularly interested in compared to many of the ones mentioned in the Quibbler, but getting to see one up close was still an exciting prospect.

"And now, before I send you all off to bed, let us all sing the school's song."

Luna liked to sing, so she was happy to join in the cacophony of students singing in a host of different tunes, beats, and rhythms. It was rather a lot of fun being a voice lost in a sea of other voices.

With the song done, Dumbledore sent the students off to bed, the Prefect sitting with the first years gathering up all the first years and showing them the way to the Ravenclaw common room. It was a bit of a trek, going up several flights of stairs in a tower, reaching a door with no visible lock, knob, or handle. Only a brass knocker in the shape of an eagle.

"This is the entrance to the Ravenclaw Common Room. The way in requires answering a riddle to keep your mind constantly sharp."

The knocker chose that moment to speak up, "Glittering points that downward thrust, sparkling spears that never rust. What are they?"

"Well, do any of you have an answer?" the Prefect asked the gathered first years.

Several of the first years spoke up at once.

"Icicles!" "Lightning!"

Among a few others. Whatever the answer was, it was said as the door opened and the group filed into the Common Room. It was a large, airy and circular space filled with blues on the tapestries and detailing on the furnishings. Bookshelves were plentiful and there were large, arched windows looking out onto the darkened grounds. It was a very cozy space that Luna could see whiling away hours in with a good book or article from her dad's magazine.

The Prefect stood in front of a statue of a woman, likely Rowena Ravenclaw, that had a door on either side. "Boys are to the right, girls to the left. Do try to get to sleep quickly as classes start in the morning."

Luna and Elizabeth Smallflower went to the left. The only two first year girls in Ravenclaw. They were sharing a room with four poster beds with blue linens, their trunks at the foot of the beds, Luna's easily identified by her copy of the Quibbler sitting on top.

"So, just the two of us," Elizabeth said, a cheeky grin as she quickly changed for bed.

"Yes. It would seem so," Luna agreed, taking her time changing.

"I hope we get along well." Elizabeth took out a small black journal from her trunk and sat down at her desk in the room to write in.

Luna hoped so as well, pulling out an old journal of her own. Her dad told her it was always good to make good notes about both what she did during the day and anything she learned. You never knew when you needed to check your notes later.

—

AN: Don't do this too often, but this is useful for me. The following is a list of all the first years, their house, and relevant information as it comes up.
Student List:
Erika Baldwin - Hufflepuff - Girl - Tall (among the first years) and widely built.
Leahn Beaumont - Slytherin - Girl - Pasty skinned. French style aloofness.
Leilani Buttonwood - Gryffindor - Girl
Artie Candlenut - Hufflepuff - Boy - Had a scrape on cheek during sorting
Colin Creevy - Gryffindor - Boy - Has a camera
Brooks Dime - Hufflepuff - Girl - Short (among the first years)
Aqua Feather - Slytherin - Girl
Claire Flynn - Slytherin - Girl
Carson Gnats - Ravenclaw - Boy - Smaller and wears glasses
Ira Gulls - Slytherin - Girl - Hat stall.
Diane Harlan - Gryffindor - Girl
Ephriam Harper - Slytherin - Boy
Sterling Hawks - Ravenclaw - Boy
Dusty Hearth - Slytherin - Boy
Newton Horn - Gryffindor - Boy
Susan Ibrahim - Hufflepuff - Girl - Dusky skinned
Ryland Inkwell - Ravenclaw - Boy
Kiki Karikiya - Hufflepuff - Girl
Luna Lovegood - Ravenclaw - Girl - Got a chapter from POV. Father owns and prints a magazine. Has a crush on Ron Weasley. Owns a journal/diary.
Cecil Mallard - Hufflepuff - Boy
Rex McDaniels - Slytherin - Boy
Haven Mulberry - Hufflepuff - Girl
Steve Palmer - Ravenclaw - Boy
Harley Patt - Slytherin - Boy
Joshua Quartz - Gryffindor - Boy
Stella Rivers - Gryffindor - Girl
Elizabeth Smallflower - Ravenclaw - Girl - Luna's Roommate. Owns a black journal/diary.
Hiram Smith - Ravenclaw - Boy
Neil Sweets - Ravenclaw - Boy
Ginny Weasley - Gryffindor - Girl - Youngest of the Weasleys. Crush on Harry Potter.
Maurine Winchell - Gryffindor - Girl
Bob Yowie - Hufflepuff - Boy

One more thing. For total transparency the Sorting Hat song was devised with heavy AI assistance. I am not happy I had to go down to that level, but I did not want to take 6 months trying to craft a song or just brush over it entirely. There are a lot of moral questions around the use of AI. Here I used it as a tool to help with a 160ish words section in a chapter with several thousand words. The biggest reason I even did this has to do with Luna's canon introduction where she is introduced as a Ravenclaw and mentions "wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." And that just sounds like something ripped straight out of a Sorting Hat song. So I worked it into this one.

AN2 (SB and QQ exclusive AN):
There is poll going on on my Patreon. It is dead tied between this story and my Jedi story. Even $1 can get your voice heard on the poll and break that tie.

 

[Half_Baked_cat]

Tanya Degurechaff

First day of class, starting it off with some black coffee in the Great Hall while waiting for the schedules to be passed out. Lavender was complaining lightly about having to do yoga as soon as we got back to school, but she was alone in her complaints.

As I was enjoying the rich aroma and flavor of my coffee along with some eggs and toast, McGonagall came by with the schedules. Today was going to be a shorter day with herbology and transfiguration in the morning and only Defense Against the Dark Arts after lunch.

Looking around, I see Ron's younger sister nearby and ask to see her schedule.

"Why?" She asks as she hands it over.

"I told one of your yearmates that I would help her with setting up a study group for your year. I need to see when it would be best for us to meet."

As long as Luna did not have classes that went till dinner, I should be able to work with the first years to arrange a study schedule for them. Handing back the schedule, I look over to the Ravenclaw table and see that Luna is sitting next to the other Ravenclaw first year girl.

"Luna, mind if I take a quick look at your schedule?" I ask as I come over, Professor Flitwick having already gone by.

"I do not mind at all," Luna says with a smile, holding it out for me. A quick look over confirms she has the period before dinner free.

"There is a classroom not far from here, just a few doors down from the entrance," I tell her. "Meet me there when you are done with Transfiguration today and we'll work on the study schedule. Try to get as many of your classmates to come as well."

"What's going on?" asked the other Ravenclaw… Flower? That seems about right.

"I told Luna I would help her set up a study group for your year on the train. It is part of how Hogwarts is structured that we are supposed to help our fellow students do well in classes, but I'll go more into that once everyone is gathered. For now, just make sure as many of your fellow first years are there."

With my piece said, and everything arranged with two of the houses, I went back to the Gryffindor table to finish my breakfast before I would need to grab my things for Herbology.

—

With long engrained efficiency, I had set out towels on each of our beds for the double Herbology along with a change of clothes for myself in the dorm room, along with my toiletries, and was waiting outside the greenhouses for Professor Sprout along with the Hufflepuffs, giving me a chance to speak to a few of them. Knowing that I would likely be able to talk to Draco later about getting the Slytherin first years to join the meeting, it seemed only fitting that I should invite the Hufflepuff first years as well through an intermediary.

Susan Bones was the most outgoing of the Hufflepuffs from what I could tell and was the one I chose to talk to about it.

"Is that why Gryffindor did so well last year?" Susan asked me after I mentioned the study group. "We studied so hard for finals, but you all beat us pretty good in grades."

I nodded. "Yeah. We started our study group around the start of last year and had been working together the whole time. Draco, Greggory, and Vincent joined after the Winter Break and there was a noticeable improvement in their classwork as well."

"If it works so well, why are you letting other houses join in?" Justin asked.

"We may be competing for the House Cup, but we should all be helping each other do well academically," I answered easily enough. "I have not set a schedule for the second year study group, but we can meet up Saturday to figure out a schedule we can all work with."

A bit of discussion was had from the Hufflepuffs as the rest of my Gryffindor year mates began arriving.

"We'll join you," Susan said. "How does after lunch sound?"

I nodded my assent. "I have no problems with that."

With that, conversations moved into other topics until Professor Sprout's cheerfulness came up to us. "Alright deeries, it looks like everyone is here already. We will be working in Greenhouse Three for most of this year." A muttering of excitement came up from my classmates at that proclamation. "Now, I know you all have enjoyed Greenhouse One last year, but I must warn you all that Greenhouse Three is far more dangerous. Nothing that should kill any of you, so long as you follow all the proper safety, though there are a few things that can give you a nasty sting even if you are careful. Understand?"

With everyone voicing agreement, Professor Sprout waved at us to follow her. "Alright everyone, file in." With a flick of her wand once she was inside and everyone was lining up alongside the tables in the middle of the greenhouse, twenty one pairs of earmuffs in various colors lined themselves up onto the wood table she had for herself in the center of the greenhouse.

"We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"

Hermione's hand was the first to snap to attention.

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," answered Hermione. "It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state."

"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," said Professor Sprout. "The Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"

Hermione was about to shoot her hand up again, but I caught it before she could.

"Give someone else a chance," I said, trying to give her a reassuring smile. I think Professor Sprout might have noticed the interaction as she called on Neville who had timidly raised his own hand.

"Uh, isn't it that the cry of the Mandrake can be fatal to those that hear it?" Neville answered.

"Very good, another ten points to Gryffindor," Professor Sprout said with a clap. "Now the Mandrakes we will be dealing with are still very young, just sprouts really."

The professor indicated several plant trays with purplish green plants growing in neat little rows.

"Everyone, take an earmuff and wait for me to put them on," Professor Sprout said. There was a scramble by the other students over the earmuffs that I waited to subside before grabbing one of the last pair, a fuzzy pink pair.

"When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered," said Professor Sprout. "When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs up. Right! Earmuffs on."

With that, we all put on our earmuffs. The earmuffs must have some sort of silencing charm over them to remove as much sound as they did as soon after confirming we were all wearing our earmuffs, Professor Sprout pulled one of the Mandrakes out of its spot in a tray, revealing a root that looked a lot like a screaming baby, even moving in a way similar to a upset baby.

I did not have to deal with babies often in my previous lives until I was in a retirement home and one of the other residents would have their grandchild or great grandchild visit with their baby to show to 'grand nona' or something. Thinking on it, most of my experience dealing with babies was having to help the nuns with babies at the orphanages I've lived in. Both times being thankfully short experiences of dealing with fussy babies.

With swift efficiency, the Mandrake was shoved into a pot full of soft compost, getting fully buried. After clapping most of the dirt off of her hands, Professor Sprout gave us the thumbs up to remove the earmuffs before taking off her own.

"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," she said with a calm smile. "However, they will knock you out for several hours, and as I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it is time to pack up. Four to a tray - there is a large supply of pots here, compost in the sacks over there, and be careful of the Venomous Tentacula. It's teething."

Professor Sprout gave a dark red plant that had been slowly reaching out towards her a sharp slap, causing the plant to recoil back to its pot.

Gathering supplies, I was partnered up with Ron, Harry, and Hermione in repotting a tray of these Mandrakes. With earmuffs firmly in place, we got to work and found out that much like real babies, Mandrakes were messy, uncooperative, and incredibly fussy. One that Harry tried dealing with was particularly fat and looked heavier than the rest, so I hopped over to help him wrestle the bastard into its new home.

By the end of class, everyone was sweaty, dirt covered, and ready to get in a hot shower and feel clean again. I had to rush Lavender and Paravati a bit so we would not be late for Transfiguration.

Professor McGonagall had us go over what we learned last year. A day of checking who forgot what. Thankfully, a steady program of studying over the entirety of last year seemed to have helped us retain the lessons. That, or Professor McGonagall gives the same praise of 'this class has done the best at remembering everything I've taught that I've had' every year. She did seem to have a bit of a soft side to her that she kept under control most of the time.

With the class in high spirits after having successfully turned several beetles into buttons each, though Lily's seemed to still have legs, we went down to lunch where I was able to talk to Draco about him getting the Slytherin first years to join the study group I was setting up. He promised to try, which was all I was looking for, though the fact that it would be only Slytherin missing out seemed to perk him up a bit in being able to accomplish gathering all the first years.

With arrangements made, I found myself rejoining the rest of the Gryffindor second years in a shaded courtyard just outside. A first year was talking with a decidedly uncomfortable looking Harry.

"Creevey, right?" I asked the boy holding a camera.

"Yes," he said, nodding as he turned his attention to me.

"You like taking photographs?"

"Yeah," he said. I cut him off before he could continue by gently placing a hand on his shoulder and starting to move him away from Harry.

"That's great. I noticed last year that this school didn't have a yearbook. How would you like to help me start one up as the official photographer of the yearbook?" I was making things up, but I believe Luna mentioned her dad was in publishing, so if I could use that connection I could get Colin busy enough to not bother Harry about his apparent fame until Colin could control himself and see Harry as the child he was.

I let him know we would likely need to get Professor McGonagall's approval to have a yearbook committee started up before sending him on his way.

"Thank you," Harry said softly when we met back up.

"No problem," I said, waving him off. Keeping your acquaintances happy was an important aspect of building and maintaining a social network. Harry was rather simple. He was a humble boy who wanted friends that just saw him for who he is and not some story built up around him. "Let's get to class."

The classroom for Defense Against the Dark Arts was decorated with silky curtains, portraits of Professor Lockhart, and a rather gaudy looking chandelier for the year. Certainly more personality than last year, but it was… not to my tastes.

Soon after the class was seated, Lockhart swept into the room, smiling grandly as he used one of Neville's books to introduce himself with. It was a reasonably well rehearsed speech that would have played a lot better at a fan meetup instead of in a classroom.

Then he had us do a quiz based upon his books. We hadn't been assigned to read them yet, so I imagine more than a few of us got all the answers wrong. And I would have applauded the man for which questions he chose to ask as a way of testing how much attention we were paying to small details. It was a tactic I remember employing during the war to build up a force of Elite Aerial Mages, though my test was to see through an illusion I had cast.

Lockhart's test was all about little tidbits about himself sprinkled throughout the books. So far, he was leaving me with the feeling that he was a narcissistic person too puffed up on his own accomplishments to be reasonable, but it was only the first day of class.

After grading the quiz and noting Hermione had gotten all the questions correct, Lockhart moved to to a covered cage.

"Now, be warned!" Lockhart started, showing off some rather excellent showmanship. "It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."

I found myself joining in the excitement building in the classroom as I leaned forwards.

"I must ask you not to scream. It might provoke them."

With a flourish, Lockhart removed the covering to reveal a cage full of little blue creatures that could only be described as-

"Yes! Freshly caught Cornish Pixies!"

Seamus snorted a laugh as I raised a hand. Lockhart chose to ignore Seamus's laughing snort to address me.

"Yes, you. What was your name?"

"Degurechaff. Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't they an unintelligent pest?" I believe that was mentioned in one of the books I read last year.

"Yes, and devilishly tricky little blighters they can be!"

With a theatrical flourish that would make Professor Snape proud, Lockhart placed his hand onto the door to the cage.

"How about we see what you make of them!" He rhetorically asked as he threw the door open.

Instantly they flew out to cause chaos and destruction around the classroom, two of them smashing through the window and escaping early while the rest began messing up the decorations, grabbing at our supplies, and trying to be a general nuisance.

Tried being the operative word.

"Sn-crack!"

The sound of ribs cracking as I snapped a neck of the tiny pest briefly got the pixies' attention. I slowly stood up, tossing the carcass onto the floor. Pulling out my wand, I took aim at a cluster of the pests and sent a torrent of flames to burn them to death.

I estimate that there were about eighteen in the cage. Two escaped, one neck snapped, six burned. Nine bogeys left.

The pixies began chittering and moving swiftly. Concentrated shot to a pair moving after Neville. Seven left. One moving to hide in the chandelier. Flame, redirect flamethrowing to get two more moving to the back of the class. Four remain.

Scanning, I spot one peeking out behind Lavender's books. I gesture with my off hand to move the books aside and blast it with a freeze charm before it can react.

Three to account for. I spot one hiding one the teacher's desk behind a picture of Lockhart. I blast it with concentrated force, 'accidentally' smashing the picture while crushing the pixie.

The last two show a bit of intelligence and throw themselves back into the cage which Lockhart locks the door to quickly.

"Blimey, remind me never to get on your bad side," Ron said looking up at me from where he had fallen to the floor.

"Yes, uh ten points to Gryffindor," Lockhart said from the front of the class, eying me up as I sat back down. "Perhaps a bit on the rough side, but very good."

"Pests should be dealt with swiftly, before they start infesting the place," I reply, giving Professor Lockhart my best smile.

 

[Half_Baked_cat]

Daily Degurechaff is doing Halloween themed Tanyii this month and today was 'Witch'.

Close enough for me to share!

If you are unfamiliar with them:

https://dailydegurechaff.tumblr.com/

 

[Half_Baked_cat]

Albus Dumbledore

Albus was rubbing his temples as he felt a migraine coming on. He could easily allow Minerva to handle discussing with young Ms. Degurechaff her actions in Defense Against the Dark Arts class on the first day of school, but the situation both felt like something he should personally handle and left him wanting to ask some delving questions about the girl's history. And the only way to be sure he got what he wanted was to use Legilimency on her.

Using Legilimency to read surface emotions to determine if someone was being truthful was not too onerous even without verbally casting the spell, but the focus required to cast it silently and without the other individual aware of any intrusion at all to get more than the most surface level information always gave Dumbledore such a headache. Even thinking about the task was enough to start a migraine forming.

Albus became aware of Ms. Degurechaff's arrival and straightened himself up. "Come in," he called at her knock on the door.

In stepped a young girl. Small, delicate features on a pale face under a messy mop of blonde hair growing out of the style created with her last haircut and surrounding large, piercing, bright blue eyes. There had been several individuals who had passed through the illustrious halls of Hogwarts that could be described as doll-like and Ms. Degurechaff was possibly the one who could most easily be mistaken as just a large porcelain doll if she was to sit on a shelf.

"You wanted to see me, Headmaster?" Ms. Degurechaff asked as she entered the room, eyes quickly scanning over the furnishings, never lingering as she stepped towards the chairs across from Albus's desk, nothing having really changed in the couple of months since her last visit to his office.

"Yes Ms. Degurechaff," Albus agreed, giving her a gentle smile. There was no reason to be stern with the girl yet, no matter how worrying her actions may have been. This was not the first time Ms. Degurechaff has come to his office after having killed some creature, though the number of witnesses to her methods and her methods in question left Albus with little choice but to have this discussion. "Have a seat."

Ms. Degurechaff held his gaze easily, making the task of attempting to read her mind much easier. The eyes were the windows into a person's inner self, making the connection easier. "How was your first day back?" Albus asked as he attempted to enter her mind to see how she saw her day.

Attempted to enter her mind, only to hit the brick wall of her mental defense. Without decades of experience, Albus may have let something show on his face about his attempt to enter her mind, but she simply answered without seeming to have noticed the attempt at all.

"It was good sir," she answered with a smile that did not reach her eyes. "Actually, I was just helping the first years set up a study group when I got your summons and wanted to discuss starting a Yearbook Committee for the students."

Ms. Degurechaff wore her emotions and honesty openly on the surface of her mind, as dull as her emotions often were. Albus had failed to realize the strength of her mental defenses previously as he had only skimmed the most surface layer of her mind in the past, but to find the majority of her mind locked down so hard was interesting. Even many skilled Occlumencers would have had difficulty creating a defense that allowed emotions and honesty to sit on the surface while keeping everything else hidden.

"Really? And what prompted this?" Albus asked.

Thinking on it, Albus supposed it could be that the reason separating part of one's mental self out of the defenses erected around the mind could be that the goal most Occlumencers sought out was to keep others from gaining any information. Severus would probably be a good person to discuss Ms. Degurechaff's mental defenses as he used a style of mental defense centered around misdirecting mental attacks. Leaving out crumbs the intruder would latch onto and be trapped by without giving away anything of value.

"One of the first years brought a camera with him and I was worried about the problems he could cause in his enthusiasm if left to his own devices. By putting him on a yearbook committee as the official photographer, I was hoping his energies could be directed in a more productive manner."

No emotion attached to that honest statement.

There was no serious issue with a yearbook committee. One sticking point was ensuring that such a book would not upset any parents and cause Albus or Minerva unneeded hassle trying to soothe the rustled feathers of a prudish individual.

"I'll bring it up at the next staff meeting," Albus promised. "Certain measures will need to be put in place, overseen by a member of staff, but I do not have any objections to you starting the committee."

Looking closely, there was a lack of warmth to the polite smile Ms. Degurechaff put on. Hardly any emotion other than a dull satisfaction.

"That isn't why I called for you though. Do you know why I called you in?"

Tanya leaned back, pursing her lips as she thought about it. "While I'm sure it could be to arrange for the language lessons to continue, you would likely have waited for the weekend to set a meeting for that. So I'm guessing it has something to do with my conduct today. Was it perhaps my actions during Professor Lockhart's lesson?"

Albus nodded his head. "Correct. Why don't we start with you explaining what happened and I can determine how to go from there?"

"Certainly. The class began with a surprise test, that in the hand of a competent instructor would show which students are capable of noticing small details within the texts for the class. Unfortunately, as I only had about a week between getting the books and the class, I had not gotten around to reading them at all so I have no doubt I failed said test horribly and had to improvise answers."

No emotion either on her mind or tone. Tanya was just drolly stating facts.

"After that, Professor Lockhart," a small spark of irritation that was quickly quashed, "brought out a cage of Cornish Pixies. Before he released them, I confirmed that they are considered unintelligent pests. As he released them, he told us to deal with them. If he is as competent an instructor as he is portraying himself, then that is a clever way of gauging how we react in a crisis and how to teach us going forwards.

"I then dealt with the pests."

No elevation of voice. No other emotional response. Just words calmly and carefully said.

"And in dealing with these pests, did you perhaps threaten the teacher?"

Surprise. A tilting of the head as a flurry of emotions quickly goes through Tanya's mind. The emotions slow down as Tanya thinks back to the lesson and tries to find what could possibly result in such a question.

"No sir." Honesty. Not a hint of deception. "I can't imagine what would give the impression that I threatened Professor Lockhart. Well…"

Tanya paused as she thought a bit more. "My methods of dealing with the pixies may have seemed threatening to someone not familiar with the control I have."

Albus nodded and allowed a smile to grace his lips as he thought back to several displays of both power and control young Ms. Degurechaff had over her magic.

"Would you mind demonstrating what magic you performed?" Albus asked.

"Of course not," Ms. Degurechaff said as she stood up, pushing aside her robe to reveal her wand holstered securely to her side. With a practiced ease, she pulled out her wand, pointed it at the fireplace, and sent a gout of flames barreling out.

The flames were hot, but kept to a tight, incredibly straight stream that ended precisely at the entrance to the fireplace. Not entering and not igniting, showing the extremely tight control Ms. Degurechaff had as even a little slip in control would see Albus having a cozy fire going.

But what was far more notable to Albus was the silence. There was no crack of the spell going off, no roar of the flames, no sizzle in the air. And no spell spoken aloud. Ms. Degurechaff simply willed the flames into being and it was done.

Albus was incredibly familiar with fire spells, even having invented a couple. In this familiarity, Albus was aware of the full scope of what he was seeing. Ms. Degurechaff likely had many ways to deal with the pixies. That she chose to burn them said she wanted to impart a message.

For who and what the message was, Albus had a few guesses, but the important thing is that she had not put any of her fellow students in danger. At least, not for now.

That she resorts to such strong violence so quickly was very concerning and the root of Albus's frustration with the situation. By nearly every metric, the girl across from him was a perfect student. Popular among her peers, studious, polite, and helpful.

But there was another student very similar to her many years ago, that Albus suspected killed another student, before going on to be one of the worst Dark Lords of all time and the worst one in living memory.

Was young Tanya Degurechaff another Tom Riddle? A bright mind bent towards horrible ends that will go on to be the next Lord Voldemort? Was she already a killer?

Or was Albus seeing ghosts in the youth that are not there?

These were the thoughts pounding his head as he tried his hardest to read her, but unlike young Tom Riddle, her mind was not nearly as open a book as his was when they first met.

Dumbledore carefully put one arm below the desk and slid his wand into his hand, watching as Ms. Degurechaff slipped back into the seat.

"Very impressive," Albus complimented. "I must admit curiosity where you learned to do that."

"Fire was possibly the first human invention. Creating fire magically is an incredibly simple thing to do."

Deception through deflection. Albus did not need to read the avoidance coming off of Ms. Degurechaff to see this. His political acumen made the maneuver as obvious as water being wet.

Albus sighed, his headache increasing. It was a risky move he was about to take, but confirmation would help so much one way or another.

Leaning forwards, and establishing a hard eye lock with Ms. Degurechaff, Albus asked a simple question. "Have you ever hurt someone?"

Surprise briefly flickered before being snuffed out. Nothing replaced that surprise. Not anger as Albus would have expected nor confusion if she was truly innocent of what he thought.

"Sir, I do not think this is an appropriate conversation."

"Please, Ms. Degurechaff, just tell the truth," Albus tried his best to give as friendly a smile as he could give.

Ms. Degurechaff closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. Opening her brilliantly blue eyes and locking them to his own, Albus saw a history there. An age long gone. He still was unable to delve into her mind, though if he just cast Legilimens fully he could probably push past her defenses and look at her memories directly.

"I had no other options." Ms. Degurechaff said, honestly. "Or, at least, at the time I did not think I did. It was my life or theirs. Kill or be killed."

Albus saw the weight of that statement. The truth of it. He leaned back in his seat, his grip tightening around his wand. "Do you regret it?"

"I regret a great many things, sir."

Albus was able to keep a neutral face towards Ms. Degurechaff even as he deeply frowned in his mind. She was being honest, but there were things she was hiding. He could tell so easily that the chambers of her mind held many secrets.

"Would you tell me about it?" Albus asked, pushing for more information.

"No."

Albus had expected her to dance around the issue, try to avoid it. Not flatly deny his request. It looked like this meeting was coming to an end soon.

Gilderoy's concerns about Ms. Degurechaff were cleared. She was not threatening a teacher. At least, not directly, but whether or not she was a threat was left unanswered.

Albus set both hands on the desk, releasing his hold on his wand. Ms. Degurechaff's eyes honed in on the wand.

"That is an interesting design," she commented about the wand.

"It is an old wand, from before anyone alive now was born," Albus admitted.

"I thought that wands were paired specifically to the user."

Albus nodded with a smile. "Indeed that is how most wizards and witches come to find their wand, but there are a few wands that have been passed down. This one fell into my hands many years ago and has been a most adept companion."

"If you don't mind sir, I would like to get some dinner."

"Of course, Ms. Degurechaff. And know that my doors are always open if you ever want to talk about anything."

"I will keep that in mind, sir," she said with a nod as she turned and left the room.

Albus collapsed into his seat with a sigh.

"If I didn't know better, I would think she was from my family," Phineas Black said from his portrait.

"I dare say she certainly would appear to fit in," Albus agreed as he turned to his long time feathered companion. "What do you think, Fawkes?"

He got a trilling song in response that soothed Albus's headache and relieved some tension he had been feeling.

"I do hope you are right, old friend."


---

AN:
Patreon! Where you can vote on future chapters!
TV Tropes! Which has been filled out nicely, but seems mostly focused on Book 1 and hasn't really delved into some of the newer things.
Discord! Where not much happens, but I would love to see it get more traction!
Unrelated Discord! Firefly the Game is a great board game and I want to share the love.
Shoutout! They don't know I'm doing this, but shoutout to a different fic I've been enjoying reading.

I need to get better at these self promotion thingies. Anyways, todays title is in reference to:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bESGLojNYSo

I think that is everything. Side note: Is Tanya clinically depressed?

 

[Half_Baked_cat]

Harry Potter

The first week of school was rather nice was Harry's thought when he was going to bed Friday night. Snape was almost his least favorite teacher still, though something about Professor Lockhart bothered Harry greatly resulting in the Potions Professor sitting only near the bottom. His friends were great to spend time with, even when there were large stretches of time focused on their studies.

That cheer ended quickly when Oliver Wood woke Harry up far too early on Saturday for a Quidditch Practice he did not have the decency to let anyone know about ahead of time. Harry knew for sure Wood told no one considering the scowl on Tanya's face as they came down to the Common Room and her making them go back and get Ron since he was supposed to be training to be the next Team Captain once Wood left school.

Then there was the long debate Wood and Tanya had all the way down to the pitch about how no matter how good the previous year's team may have been, they should still hold trials for new players and reserves before diving into practice.

If Harry was not so tired from just being woken up, he may have found Woods blustering against a girl barely above his waist level funny, but, as it was, he and Ron were in agreement that they just wanted to be back in bed, wrapped in those warm sheets.

Marching into the locker room, Harry joined Fred and George in changing into the uniforms before having to listen to Wood discussing strategies he had spent all summer drawing up. Fred fell asleep on Alicia's shoulder as the explanation of the first diagram was given. Harry fell into a stupor imagining what he could have been eating for breakfast up at the castle instead of listening to Wood drone on and on for an hour about strategies.

"So," Wood said, waking up Harry out of the stupor as he looked around at his teammates. Fred and George both yawned loudly, Alicia, Angelina, and Katie looking drowsy, Tanya looking mildly annoyed. About the only two that looked at all awake were Wood and Ron. Though, even Ron still looked a bit tired, but he had a notebook that he was closing up. "Is that clear? Any questions?"

"I got a question, Oliver," George said testily. "Why couldn't you have told us all this stuff yesterday when we were awake?"

"Oh, I've already given him a thorough telling off," Tanya said, giving Wood a glare.

Why Tanya was so annoyed was a bit of a mystery to Harry considering she was already awake when they were informed of Wood's plan. Regardless, Harry appreciated her voicing the team's annoyance at getting up so early.

"Yes, anyways, we did well last year, but the other teams know that and if we want to win again this year, we will have to increase our practice. Do even better than we did last year!" Wood said, trying to encourage everyone. "Now let's get out there!"

They made their way into the field, but before anyone could mount their broom, Tanya brought up, again, that they really should be holding tryouts instead. "I'm the only reserve player since Ron isn't officially part of the team yet. We should hold tryouts, get Ron either to be another reserve player or maybe he'll even be good enough to make it into the starting lineup."

Wood was clearly not happy about his authority being questioned. "We have a great team already. I don't see why we need to mess with what works."

"Just because it worked last year doesn't mean it will keep working. And limiting ourselves to just slightly over the minimum team size leaves the team vulnerable to injuries and even broom malfunctions. Or do I need to remind you about how Harry's broom lost control in the first game last year?"

Wood was looking rather uncomfortable when another voice popped in.

"Having trouble with your team, Wood?" The nasally voice of Flint, the captain of the Slytherin team called out.

"What are you doing here? I booked the field. I made sure I booked it first."

"Ah, but I got a special note," Flint said, pulling out the note in question. "Signed by Professor Snape. 'I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field, owing to needing to train their new Seeker.'"

"New Seeker?" Wood asked, thrown a little. "Where?"

From behind the large forms of the six other members of the Slytherin team came Draco Malfoy.

"Congrats Draco," Tanya spoke while barely giving Draco any real attention before turning back to the two team captains. "Well, if the two of you are so adamant about training today, the first Saturday morning of the school year, it seems there is only one solution."

"Oh? And what is that?" Flint asked with a cruel smile.

"A pickup game. There are two full teams here, just break out the balls and play a game. Everyone gets to dust off their skills, you get to give your new Seeker to experience a game, and you all get to have your fun."

"But I booked the field, they should shove off," Wood tried to argue.

"They have a note from a teacher, you have the field booked. There is plenty of space and this fulfilled everyone's needs. Now either just play the game or I'll get McGonagall to resolve this issue."

It was after a tense stare down between the two captains that ended with a nod that they agreed to just play. While everyone else was getting into position, Harry noticing Tanya managed to slip away, Harry sidled up to Draco.

"So, you managed to get on the team?" Harry asked, looking at Draco's broom.

"Yeah. My father got me the new Nimbus 2001 and donated a set of 2000s to the team," Draco said, puffing up his chest as though spending a bunch of money was a skillful thing to do.

Harry just smiled. "Well, good luck."

—-

Hermione Granger

Hermione was by herself at the Great Hall, a book propped open as she had a light breakfast, when Tanya dropped into the seat next to her.

"Morning. Harry and Ron haven't come down yet," Hermione started.

"They're at the Quidditch Pitch playing against the Slytherins in a pickup game because Wood has no idea how to schedule things with people."

"What do you mean?"

Tanya was loading up a plate with eggs and toast as she explained. "Wood booked the field, but didn't bother letting any of the team know about it until this morning and may not have even bothered actually letting any of the staff know if the booking is just making a note in some calendar."

"You seem unusually upset about this," Hermione said.

Tanya's face flushed. "I am having a heavy month and am a bit irritable right now."

It took a moment for Hermione to understand what Tanya meant when school had just started, but then the knut dropped and she realized it was not related to school at all. "Oh. I think I may have something in my bag," Hermione started, grabbing her school bag that she had with her… on a Saturday without classes.

"It's fine," Tanya said, grabbing Hermione's wrist. "I just need some food and to spend the rest of the day curled up in bed. That was what I was planning on doing until a certain captain decided at the last minute that we were going to have practice."

"You sure?" Hermione asked.

"If you want to help someone, grab a few things and bring them out to the field. I doubt anyone in the Gryffindor team got a chance to have any breakfast. Just do me one little favor if you do."

Hermione was unsure about agreeing considering the rather vicious smile on Tanya's lips, but nodded her head anyways.

"Make sure Wood gets nothing."

—-

???

Halloween. Halloween had occurred. In the addled mind of a man under the Imperius curse, he knew that much. His family's house elf told him and has managed to convince his father to give him a treat. A Halloween meal. Halloween had always been one of his favorite holidays and the house elf knew this.

This Halloween was different though. This Halloween was special.

Master returned. Master was back. The mark showed it. The mark proved it. He had to return to his Master. The fog over his mind was being pushed back. For the first time in over a decade, his head was his own.

—-

Albus Dumbledore

It had been two months since the start of the school year and there had been thankfully no other crisis that popped up in that time. The Sunday language club was in full swing with Harry doing his best to pass on his knowledge of Parseltongue, though it seemed there was an active magical component to the language that Harry was subconsciously using and was hard for even Albus to learn.

That was the good news. The unfortunate news was that while leaving Nearly Headless Nick's 500th Deathday Party, a rather special opportunity for anyone living to get to attend, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Tanya came across a rather unfortunate scene.

Argus's cat has been petrified and hung from a torch in the hall across from a message scrawled in blood. 'Enemies of the heir, beware.'

Rather melodramatic in Albus's opinion, but highly concerning. Getting that cleaned up would be a pain, rumors were beginning to spread among the students already on what it could mean, and Argus was distraught. The man was not the best caretaker of the school, but he was still part of the school and it saddened Albus to see him in such a state.

So Albus was working away in his office trying to organize things and figure out what his next step was when Severus barged in.

"He's back."

"Who's back?" Albus asked, befuddled as he was not aware of anyone having left recently.

Severus pulled up his sleeve to show a dark, black tattoo of a snake intertwined with a skull on his left forearm. Albus shot up to his feet. "When was this?"

"Minutes ago."

Albus looked over at the clock. It was just past 6 in the morning. What ritual would be done at this early of an hour that could see the return of him?

It was late for Albus, and Severus too judging by the bags under his eyes, but that was from them dealing with the events of last night. What was happening? How has he returned?

—-

Lord Voldemort

It had been a long journey across the Colonies to get to the God forsaken swamps that held the secrets to Voldemort's revival. Trusting strangers was not high on Voldemort's list of things to do in order to return to the flesh, but he had only limited time before his current host's body crumbled apart fully.

Immortality gave Voldemort the comfort of knowing he could take his time, but that time had to be balanced against current needs. So Voldemort and his loyal, but doomed, servant found themselves standing in a shack with macabre decorations hanging all over the place with a woman swaying in place under the Imperius curse and a lanky man examining the silvery unicorn's blood carefully held in glass vials.

"Hmm, yes," the man said, giving a toothy grin. "Dis will do. Dough I mus' warn you the Loa are na ta be trifled wid. You make your request, give them what dey want, and pray dey like you enough."

"That will not be a problem," Voldemort hissed from the back of Quirrell's head.

"Den you both kneel here," the man said, grabbing a staff that has been leaning against a wall. "And we begin now."

Voldemort scowled as Quirrell motioned for the woman to kneel down, head bowed before joining shortly after.

The staff met the ground with a thudding crack, a rhythmic pounding beginning as the man began circling Quirrell and the woman. Incense began smoking throughout the shack and the already dark shack became even darker.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

The man began to chant as he circled, pouring out a circle of cornmeal around the kneeling pair.

Thunkthunkthunk.

The pounding grew faster. The man dipping his hand into a bucket of ashes that he swiped down his face, creating a skull-like visage.

Thnkthnkthnk.

Faster the pounding went, the chant turned to song. A wind began whipping through the shack.

Total darkness. Silence. It came as a shocking stop to the frenzy building to a crescendo.

"Now, what the fuck do we have here?" A voice said. It sounded similar to the man Voldemort had come to, but there was a difference to it. A change in cadence.

Fwsh.

A match was struck, causing the candles around the shack to come alight with purple flames. The man was in a different outfit. A purple suit with tails and a top hat. The man leaned over to look Quirrell over as he lit a fat cigar.

"Well, aren't you a bag of shit?"

"I take it you are the spirit I seek," Voldemort said, causing the figure of the man to step around Quirrell to get a closer look. Glowing purple eyes meeting red.

A cloud of smoke was blown into Voldemort's face. "A bastard on the back of a cunt?"

Voldemort scowled. "Give him the gift," Voldemort demanded of Quirrell.

"Y-yes, master." Quirrell barely revealed the bottle before it was plucked out of his hand.

"Well, you got good tastes it seems," the man said, kneeling in front of the woman and lifting her chin. "Good fucking tastes indeed."

Without further ado, the bottle of rhum was cracked open and the man took a large swig. "You have the attention of Bawon Samdi. Now tell me, who the fuck are you?"

"I am Lord Voldemort."

Samdi chuckled. "I see. I see. The bitch anchored their soul to the living world. And now you want me to return you to life?"

Voldemort would have liked to spit out his demands, but held his tongue. He had done his research, delved into the mysteries of the Dark Arts. He was well aware of what he was dealing with. "Yes. I seek to return to the flesh and regain my rightful place."

"Well, my dear bouzen koulèv, I believe I can help you. But! A stipulation."

"Of course. What is your demand?" Voldemort asked, knowing that it would not be so simple.

"First, we will party together. Second, to maintain your new body, you will have to treat it right." Bawon Samdi had a wide grin that made it clear he did not mean that Voldemort was to live a healthy lifestyle with plenty of veggies. "You will wear purples, blacks, and whites. None of your silly greens. And you will drink rum."

Voldemort narrowed his eyes as he stared at the Bawon. He didn't trust Bawon Samdi, but the deal was clear cut and not too out of line with what Voldemort was willing to do.

"Is that all?"

Bawon spread his hands out wide. "Do I seem like a guy that needs to lie? I will keep you out of the grave so long as you do as I asked."

"Agreed."

Laughter began to fill the shack along with thick clouds of smoke.

—

Harry Potter

With a start, Harry sat upright clutching his forehead as his scar pounded in pain. His head swam with lingering images of debaucherous activities that left him blushing hard even thinking back to the dream.

AN: I'm on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/halfbakedcat.bsky.social