Harrison walked into the Potions classroom on Thursday and his eyes immediately landed on Neville. The Gryffindor was sitting by himself and looking around nervously. Harrison didn't know whether he was nervous about being his partner or because Snape would soon be in the classroom. He walked over to Neville and took the seat next to him, when his book landed on the table it made a thud and Neville jumped, head snapping towards him.

"H-Harrison," Neville said sounding slightly out of breath.

Harrison pushed down the urge to roll his eyes and mock his lack of Gryffindor courage. "Hello Neville." He put on a concerned look. "Are you alright?"

Neville gulped and nodded,Harrison sighed and looked directly into Neville's eyes. "I'm not going to sabotage you Neville,I promise that I'm only trying to be nice." Harrison saw Neville's eyes flicker over to Ron and back. Harrison felt like cursing the red head into oblivion, he should've known the idiot would say something to Neville about Harrison taking him to the hospital wing. "What did Ron say to you?"

"H-he didn't say anything," Neville stammered.

Harrison gave him a look of disbelief. "I'm not mad at you Neville. But, I highly doubt whatever Ron told you is the truth,he doesn't like me just because I'm in Slytherin. And like I said before, I genuinely do want to help you. However, if my presence makes you uncomfortable I can partner with someone else."

Harrison picked up his book, but Neville spoke stopping him mid-action. "No, it's okay," Neville said quietly. "I want you to be my partner."

Harrison grinned. "I'm glad."

Neville turned to the front of the classroom and Harrison looked over to Draco who had been watching the interaction. Harrison winked causing Draco to smirk. Gryffindors were so easy to manipulate is wasn't even funny. Harrison turned around when the door slammed open and Snape came walking in, he flicked his wand and directions appeared on the blackboard. He paused when he saw Harrison and Neville, but didn't comment on the pairing.

"Today you will pair up into groups of two," Snape said silkily. "Follow the directions on the board, you have the entire period. I don't want any accidents." His eyes flicked to the Gryffindors before lingering on Neville who paled. "Begin."

"Don't panic," Harrison said trying to sound soothing. "If you listen to what I say, you'll be fine." Neville nodded. "Go get the ingredients listed on the board and I'll prepare our work station. Try to get the good ingredients." Neville looked puzzled and Harrison internally groaned and looked at Daphne who was sitting across from him. "Daphne,will you show Neville how to pick out ingredients."

Daphne smiled. "Of course."

Harrison pulled out his scale and five minutes later Neville came back carrying the ingredients they'd need. He checked over the ingredients and found that they were all decent enough to make a good potion.

"Good job Neville," Harrison told him. He wanted to build up his confidence as much as he could.

Neville looked surprised. "Thanks,but Daphne helped me."

"I know," Harrison told him. "But I'm sure she didn't pick them all out, and now you'll know what to look for in quality ingredients."

Neville flushed under the light praise, to Harrison, it seemed like he wasn't used to getting compliments.

Half an hour later their potion was light blue, the color is was supposed to be. "Now, I want you to stir the potion counter clockwise seven times," Harrison said.

"Seven times," Neville repeated as he hesitantly took the stir stick. "One,two..."

Harrison began cutting on the wormwood while Neville stirred.

"Harrison," Neville began slowly and he looked up. "Thanks for helping me, I know I'm not very good at Potions."

"It's alright Neville," Harrison assured him. "Potions isn't easy for everyone and it makes it harder for you because you're afraid of the professor. So far, you've followed my directions and you did brilliantly. Our potion is the correct color and nothing has exploded."

"Orange Weasley?" Snape barked drawing the classes attention. "How did you manage to turn your potion orange? Never in all my years of teaching has a student ruined this particular potion this badly. Five points from Gryffindor." He turned to the rest of the class. "Bottle up your potions and turn them in, class dismissed."

Once Harrison was done packing up his supplies he turned to Neville. "Would you like to be my partner in Potions for now on?"

Neville looked a mixof relieved,happy, surprised, and shocked. "I'd like that, thanks."

"What are friends for?" Harrison asked with a shrug.

Neville stopped packing his bag and looked at Harrison with wide eyes. "Friends?"

"Why not?" Harrison asked. "You seem like a nice person and you can never have too many friends."

Neville's grin was all the answer Harrison needed.

Once out in the hall Draco asked the question everyone wanted answered. "Did Longbottom accept your offer to be friends?"

Harrison raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?"

"I think I'll be spending more time than I'd like with Gryffindors," Draco replied causing Harrison to smirk.

The next two weeks sped by in a blur for Harrison. His classes didn't get any harder for him, although the amount of homework he received increased. He continued to be number one in all of his classes and he was praised for his manners and willingness to help his fellow classmates. He was still partnering with Neville in Potions,the boy was still nervous around Snape but he was slowly building up confidence. He didn't think it was possible, but he was actually beginning to like Neville, the boy could be good company when he wasn't scared shitless. After Harrison paired with Hermione in Transfiguration the two became study partners much to his fellow Slytherins annoyance. Draco would glare daggers at her the whole time as though wishing for her to drop dead and Leo would answer all of her questions with a rude comment. It took him threatening them with bodily harm for them to finally be halfway decent to her, and by halfway decent, it meant they would usually ignore her entirely like Blaise had done from the beginning.

Thankfully the girls were more willing to cooperate with Hermione than the boys. They would give her polite smiles and answer her questions without being rude although her lack of knowledge when it came to wizarding culture annoyed them. Pansy finally got sick of her not knowing anything about it and owled her parents, the next morning she received a book on wizarding society which she gave to Hermione. The Ravenclaw happily accepted the book and read it in three days. She had many questions which she asked nonstop. Blaise lost his temper and went to pull out his wand, but Harrison grabbed his wrist before he could do anything. Harrison had to agree, however, that Hermione went too far in saying that she believed house elves should be free. They spent three hours debating the topic until Daphne finally called one of her house elves and offered him clothes. The house elf broke down and Hermione looked horrified, she finally admitted that she might be wrong.

He had also begun speaking to Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot whenever they had classes together. They would say hi to each other in the corridors and Great Hall much to the surprise of the student body. He didn't have to pretend to like Susan and Hannah, they both reminded him of Jenna in a way. And unlike Neville and Hermione, he didn't have to convince his friends to play nice, they all knew having the niece of Amelia Bones on their side would be a plus.

During classes he would also talk to his other classmates from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The other first year Slytherins would join the conversations and they were slowly learning what they could about everyone and building the foundations for friendships. However, there were a few first years who wanted nothing to do with Harrison and his friends. Ron, Seamus, and Dean had it in their heads that all of Slytherins were evil and that Harrison and his friends were the worst of them all. Ron would spend all of the classes that Slytherin and Gryffindor shared together glaring at them, especially Harrison, Draco, Leo, and Blaise. Ron normally didn't glare at Theo since he was the least vocal of the group.

Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Zacharias Smith also seemed to have a problem with the Slytherins. Harrison didn't know why, but the three boys did their best to avoid them like the plague. Tracey said Ernie didn't like them because most of them had better grades and Justin just followed his best friends lead. Zacharias Smith didn't appear to like anyone according to Hannah who let slip that he was rude to most of the Hufflepuffs.

One morning Harrison walked down into the common room and saw his friends standing around the notice board.

"What are you all looking at?" Harrison asked as he slung his book bag over his shoulder.

"A notice announcing flying lessons," Draco told him.

"We're with the bloody Gryffindors," Blaise sneered. "Shouldn't that old fool of a headmaster know that having Slytherin and Gryffindor together learning how to fly is a mistake?"

"He wants us to have inter house unity," Pansy said rolling her eyes.

Tracey snorted. "That will never happen between Slytherin and Gryffindor."

"We can always have some fun," Leo said, his eyes taking on a gleam. "We can push Weasley off his broom and watch as his head cracks open and shatters the other Gryffindors with his blood."

Jenna wrinkled her nose. "That's disgusting."

Leo smiled evilly, the look would've made most Hufflepuffs wet themselves. "I know."

As Leo and Blaise discussed ways to make Ron fall off his broom, Harrison read the notice.

Slytherin First Years

All Slytherin first years will report to the Quidditch pitch at 5:30 PM for your first flying lesson. Lessons will be every day for the entire week. This is not optional and you are not required to wear your uniform to lessons. Gryffindor House will join Slytherin on the pitch.

Signed,

Severus Snape Head of Slytherin House Potions Master

Lessons seemed to go by slower than normal, and at five o' clock, the Slytherins made their way to the quidditch pitch. Marcus had showed them the way the first weekend of the school year. It was a clear, breezy day and the grass rippled under their feet. They marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the Forbidden Forest whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance. Harrison wondered what was in there that caused it to be forbidden, but the image of his fathers face if he found out he went in there as a first year entered his mind squashing the idea to find out ...At least for a year or two.

The Gryffindors were already there along with twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harrison had heard from Marcus and Terrence Higgs that the school brooms were horrible saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high or always flew slightly to the left. Of course the Gryffindors took the better brooms leaving the Slytherins with the truly horrible ones. Harrison ended up with a broom that was obviously old and had twigs sticking out at odd angles. He sneered at the worthless pile of wood.

"My father will hear about the state of these brooms," Draco said disdainfully. "These are a safety hazard."

"Lestrange's don't fly on such horrid things," Leo added haughtily.

Harrison looked at Madam Hooch who had just arrived, her expression was almost as stern as McGonagall's. "I don't think we have a choice," he said reluctantly. He wasn't looking forward to flying on a school broom, they were an accident waiting to happen.

"Everybody have a broom? Good," Madam Hooch said. "Now stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!'"

"UP!" Everyone shouted.

Harrison's broom jumped into his hand out once, he, of course, knew it would. Looking around he saw that all of the Slytherins, sans Crabbe, Goyle, and Abigail's brooms had instantly jumped into their hands. Harrison smirked to himself, and father says all of the time we spent playing Quidditch was a waste. He looked over at the Gryffindors just in time to see Ron's whack him in the nose causing the Slytherins to laugh; Harrison, however, just smirked and moved his gaze over to Neville whose broom hadn't moved at all.

"Try not to sound so nervous Neville," Harrison said to the jumpy boy. "If you sound afraid the broom will be able to tell, and right now, your voice is saying that you want to stay on the ground. Inject some confidence into your voice and it should work."

Neville looked at his broom and shouted with more confidence than Harrison thought he possessed. "Up!" The broom shot into his hand and Neville looked flabbergasted. "It worked!" He grinned and looked up at Harrison. "Thanks!"

"No problem Nev," Harrison assured him.

The Gryffindors and Madam Hooch were looking at Harrison in shock until Madam Hooch shook herself. "Good job Mr. Longbottom and very good job to you Mr. Riddle for helping a classmate, five points to Slytherin." After she said this, the other Gryffindors shook themselves too and they smiled at Harrison, except for Ron, Seamus, and Dean.

"Teachers pet," Harrison heard Ron grumble.

Leo narrowed his eyes and Harrison knew that his best friend heard it too. A second later Ron let out a strangled yell and fell face first into the grass. As he landed, everyone heard a crunching sound like he had broken something. Ron let out whimper and Madam Hooch, Dean, and Seamus immediately helped him up. There were gasps from Parvati and Lavender, purple circles were forming under Ron's eyes, his nose was crooked, and blood was gushing from his nostrils. Ron's normally pale skin was even paler and Harrison could see the pain in his watery eyes. He had to resist the urge to smile or burst into insane laughter at the sight. He saw Leo's wand shoot back up into his wrist holder and made a mental note to thank his friend later.

"A broken nose..." Madam Hooch pointed out the obvious. "Come on Mr. Weasley," she gestured for him to follow,"I'll take you to the hospital wing." She looked at the students. "You're all dismissed,we'll resume your lessons tomorrow."

The Slytherins quickly made their way to the castle, when they reached the entrance hall, they burst into laughter. Leo looked smug as he watched everyone laugh at Ron's 'accident'.

"Who did that?" Jenna asked as she leaned on Pansy for support.

"Me," Leo said as though it should be obvious.

"Of course," Blaise grinned. "That was brilliant mate, I thought he was going to break down into tears."

"He deserved it," Leo said. "Besides, I've been wanting to hurt someone for days."

"Has anyone ever told you that you spend too much time with your mum?" Jenna asked seriously.

"Says the girl who just cried tears of amusement at someone breaking their nose," Cass dead panned.

"She's got you there," Blaise pointed out. "And you're supposed to be the nice one."

"I am nice," Jenna said indignantly.

After dinner the Slytherins were walking back to their common room when Ron and his two best friends stepped in front of them.

"Did you need something?" Pansy asked as she made a show of checking her nails.

"Which one of you did it?" Ron asked through gritted teeth.

"Which one of us did what? Answer the most questions last week in Transfiguration? I think that would be Cass," Harrison said looking thoughtful. "Or did you mean who got the highest grade on the essay Flitwick assigned us last week? That answer would be me."

Ron's face turned redder and redder the more Harrison talked. "You bloody well know what I meant Riddle!"

Harrison feigned ignorance. "No, Ronald, I really don't."

"Which one of you made me trip and break my nose?" Ron demanded.

"None of us," Theo answered with a straight face. "It's not our fault you're a klutz."

"I didn't trip myself," Ron said his voice raising.

"Well none of us tripped you," Harrison told him. "If it was one of us you would've seen our wand. Did you see a wand?"

Ron spluttered. "No! But that doesn't mean anything! You could've put it away right after casting the spell!"

Harrison rolled his eyes. "None of us tripped you, now if you'll move I'd appreciate it. Some of us actually do our homework." Harrison pushed past him and his friends followed.

"I challenge you to a wizards duel!" Ron yelled from behind them.

Harrison spun around. "You're on." He smirked at the surprised look on Ron's face. "Midnight in the Trophy Room, it's always unlocked."

"Fine," Ron ground out. "Seamus is my second, who's yours?"

"I am," Leo answered.

Ron glared at them before spinning around and walking out of the dungeons.

"You aren't really going, are you?" Jenna asked frowning. "I know you can beat him but..."

"No, I'm not going," Harrison told her. "But Filch will be."

Leo smirked. "You're going to tip Filch off and let them get caught? Brilliant."

"How many points do you think they'll lose Gryffindor?" Blaise asked as they continued to their common room.

"It depends on what professor Filch finds first," Tracey answered.

"Then let's pray it's Sev," Draco said with a grin.

The next morning, Harrison and his friends walked into the Great Hall and the first thing that came to all of their minds was that Filch took the Gryffindors to Snape. The Gryffindor hour glass had a hundred less points than it had the day before. Harrison was surprised, normally only ten to twenty points were taken for being out past curfew and a detention or two. Harrison saw Ron and Seamus sitting with their heads down as they stabbed their food moodily. Dean was sending them worried looks and the other Gryffindors were glaring at them.

"Does anyone know why Gryffindor is down so many points?" Harrison asked as though he didn't know.

"Two first years were caught in the Trophy Room last night," Ophelia Warrington told him. "Apparently Filch ran into Professor Snape on the way to McGonagall's office and he deducted fifty points from each of them and they both have a weeks worth of detention."

"All of that for only being out past curfew?" Theo inquired as the other first years tried to cover smirks.

"They told Professor Snape they were meeting there for a duel," Odette answered for her twin.

Blaise snorted. "They actually told him that?" Odette nodded and Blaise let out a low whistle. "Weasley is more of an idiot than I thought."

Harrison had to agree with Blaise,he didn't think anyone would be foolish enough to tell a teacher they snuck out at midnight for a duel. For idiocy alone they deserve the loss of points.

"Ron doesn't look very happy with us," Leo said in an undertone. The amusement he felt for the entire situation was obvious.

Harrison looked over at the Gryffindor table and smirked at Ron who was glaring daggers at them. His smirk seemed to anger the red head whose face went bright red. His attention was diverted when the morning owl post came and a large black owl landed on his plate. He untied the letter and quickly unfolded it.

Dear Harrison,

I know that you are trying out for the quidditch team so I've sent you your broom. I decided it would be best not to send it through the owl post, instead, I sent it to Severus and he should've placed it in your room by the time this reaches you. Good luck with your tryouts, even though I know you won't need it.

Continue to make me proud with your school work.

Love,

Father

Harrison crumpled up the note and instantly the letter burst into flames, ashes falling onto the table. He looked up and noticed that everyone with a Daily Prophet subscription was staring at the front page, he grabbed his copy and smoothed out the paper. He fought down the urge to grin when he saw the headline and accompanying picture. The photo was of a burning house, the dark mark could be seen floating above it.

Death Eaters Attack Muggle Villages

By Rita Skeeter

Last night a muggle village in England was attacked and the dark mark was found hanging above the scene. The once peaceful town of Little Brighton was destroyed last night by more than fifty death eaters. Aurors arrived on the scene just as a group of death eaters wearing black robes and white masks were apparating away. The entire village was destroyed; houses were burning, cars (a muggle means of transportation) were over turned, and dead bodies were littering the streets. Unfortunately, there were no survivors; the muggle police are still investigating, but the Ministry is working to cover up the attack by claiming some form of an explosion.

Over fifty miles away another muggle village was attacked, this one resulting in over half of the village being burnt to the ground. Once again aurors didn't arrive on the scene until the attack was over. There were, thankfully, survivors and Ministry obliviators were called to the scene.

"There hasn't been a death eater attack of this scale in years," Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, stated. "We weren't prepared for such an attack. I will be working over time to assure that next time we're prepared."

"I was horrified when I heard the news," Samuel Nott, member of the Wizengamot, said. "My thoughts go out to the poor muggles who lost their lives."

News is scarce at the moment, but the muggle death toll was reported to be over four hundred. I will let you know as soon as more details arise.

Harrison folded his newspaper and glanced at Theo who's ocular amusement was betraying his solemn face. Harrison loved the irony of Samuel Nott making a statement about an attack claiming to be saddened when he had most likely participated in the attack. He looked up at the staff table and saw that every professor except for Snape looked sad. He wanted to go up and laugh in Dumbledore's face, but he knew that wouldn't go down well.

After breakfast they walked to Potions where Ron immediately walked up to them. Before they could enter the room, his wand was held out in front of him. He pointed his wand at Harrison while Dean pointed his at Leo and Seamus' at Draco. None of the Slytherins pulled theirs out, instead they all just stared at the three Gryffindors as if they were merely flies. Harrison knew none of his friends pulled them out for the same reason he hadn't, Snape would be here soon, and even if he wasn't, the three didn't know any spells to hurt them.

"May I inquire as to why your wand is in my face?" Harrison asked sounding bored.

"I lost fifty points and have a weeks worth of detention because of you," Ron snarled.

"So you decided to point your wand at me?" Harrison asked incredulously. "You're a first year,what spells do you even know?"

"Stupefy!" Ron shouted surprising the Slytherins.

"Protego!" An angry female voice yelled. A huge shimmery shield appeared in front of all the first year Slytherins. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" A furious looking Anastasia Zabini demanded.

Ron turned red. "Paying them back for getting me detention."

Anastasia's eyes hardened and the first year Slytherins were inwardly grinning, no one messed with a Zabini woman when they were angry. Blaise shot Ron a smug look and Leo looked like Christmas had come early.

"You attempted to curse them when they didn't have wands," Anastasia said in a soft, but deadly voice. "I should hex your hands off." The Gryffindors paled when they saw the serious look in her eyes. "And I will if I ever see you attempt to curse my brother and his friends when they don't have wands again." Her eyes narrowed into slits and Harrison could feel power radiating off of her. "Do you understand me?"

The three Gryffindors nodded their heads before running into the Potions classroom. Once they were out of sight Anastasia rounded on the Slytherins.

"Why didn't you pull your wands out?" She demanded.

"He couldn't have hurt us," Blaise told her.

Harrison internally groaned, by the look in Anastasia's eyes that was obviously the wrong thing to say.

"He sent a stunner at Harrison's head," Anastasia said angrily.

"We didn't know he knew how to do that," Theo admitted.

Once again Harrison knew that was the wrong thing to say. He was just about to say something to get Anastasia to disease lecturing them when she began to speak.

"Never underestimate your enemy," Anastasia said quietly, but sternly. "Even one as stupid as a Weasley." She cast a tempus and cursed when she saw the time. "I'm going to be late. Now get your asses into the classroom and don't underestimate that fool again." She glared at them all in turn, lingering on her brother before she stormed off.

Blaise muttered something incomprehensible under his breath as he walked into the classroom.

Soon it was mid-October and it was time for quidditch try outs. Harrison stood in between two sixth years as Marcus Flint walked in front of everyone trying out for the team.

"Listen up," Marcus yelled,a serious expression on his face. "We've won the quidditch cup for the past five years and this year we're going to win it for the sixth." He gave them a look that said or else. "We'll be practicing three times a week and if we happen to lose a game, which he won't," His eyes held a fanatical gleam. "Then we'll begin to have practices five to six times a week. If any of you can't handle that then leave now." Two seventh years shook their heads and walked off towards the castle. "Now that everyone who's left is serious about playing we're going to begin the tryouts." He got onto his broom and hovered three feet in the air. "All of those trying out for chaser get in the air now!"

Harrison hovered on his broom as he watched the potential chasers pass the ball back and forth. He knew that last years chasers had been Marcus, Abraham Montague, and Alexander Dolohov. The three flew in the air and worked so well together it was as if they shared the same mind. It's like they knew exactly where the others would be and who they'd throw the ball too. Harrison would be shocked if Marcus chose anyone to replace Abraham or Alexander.

The beaters went next and Harrison saw that what everyone said was true, Slytherins played dirty. The potential beaters swung their bats and hit the bludgers with such force that Harrison didn't believe it was possible. One of the bludgers hit by Peregrine Derrick, a tall and extremely muscular blonde third year, smacked into another player and he went flying face first into the ground. Harrison saw another potential beater, Lucian Bole, a third year of average height with black hair, hit a bludger into a sixth years broom causing the player to spin out and barely regain control of his broom.

Finally Marcus called the seekers and Harrison flew into the middle of the pitch along with the others trying out for the position.

"There's three of you trying out for seeker," Marcus told them. "Our seeker and reserve seeker from last year graduated so, you won't be going up against veteran players." He held up a snitch in each hand. "I'll release both snitches and you'll wait a minute before flying after them. The first one to catch a snitch is on the team, whoever catches the second snitch is our reserve seeker." He released both snitches and a minute later yelled for them to go.

Harrison had been watching one of the snitches since Marcus released them. He played quidditch a lot growing up and had perfect vision so it was easy for him to spot the tiny ball. He immediately shot off after it and one of the other boys followed him. He reached his hand out for the snitch, but before he could catch it the ball zoomed in the opposite direction. Harrison mentally cursed and quickly spun his broom around. He shot off like a rocket in the direction the snitch went and his eyes searched for any sign of the ball. He saw a glint of gold out of the corner of his eye and he changed directions. He saw the ball fluttering twenty feet in front of him, one of the boys came up next to him and they both reached their hands out. Harrison put on an extra burst of speed and his hand closed around the golden snitch. The other boy cursed and quickly left to find the other snitch.

Harrison smirked and flew down to the ground, he could hear his friends cheering from the stands. He landed next to Marcus who clapped him on the back.

"Good job Harrison," Marcus said. "You're our seeker, youngest in a century. You'll be a great addition to the team." He accepted the snitch from Harrison. "You don't have to stick around anymore."

"Thanks Marcus." Harrison said as he rested his Nimbus 2000 on his shoulder.

"Congratulations!" Daphne yelled as she flung her arms around him,knocking his broom to the ground.

"Thanks Daph," Harrison told her sincerely accepting the hug.

"You did brilliantly," Blaise told him. "The other seekers weren't anywhere near as good as you."

"Good job," a quiet voice said. Harrison looked up and saw Hermione standing away from the rest of the group, Neville next to her.

Harrison gave Hermione a lopsided smile. Over the past couple of weeks, Harrison had grown to actually like the nervous Gryffindor and the know-it-all Ravenclaw. He didn't understand it at all, he had only talked to them at first because of his dad, but he had grown fond of them and that fondness had turned into an unlikely friendship. He couldn't help, but enjoy Neville's company and he felt a need to protect Hermione the same way he wanted to protect Jenna and his other girl friends. He had told his dad about his feelings and Tom had been surprised, but he didn't discourage it, he just told him not to get his hopes up that they would stay his friends once they found out the truth of his parentage. He wasn't happy about Hermione being a muggleborn, but upon learning she was extremely intelligent and that Harrison could sense a great deal of power coming from her he gave the friendship his approval. His Aunt Bellatrix had been a different story entirely, she said Hermione was a worthless mudblood who needed to learn her place. Harrison had shot a stinging hex at Leo when the boy admitted to telling his parents about their friendship.

He wrote back saying that if his father could see the use in some muggleborns that they all couldn't be too bad. They debated over letters for a week until Bella finally told him that she knew Tom was willing to allow the more intelligent and powerful muggleborns to live, but she didn't have to like it. She also informed him that Hermione would never be allowed in Lestrange Manor unless Tom ordered her to allow it. Harrison had been slightly disappointed, after all, if his father could see that some muggleborns weren't worthless than shouldn't she be able, too?

"Thanks Hermione," Harrison told her. "Not that I'm not happy to see you two, but why are you here? These are the Slytherin tryouts, I don't think all of the Slytherins would be accepting you two being here."

Hermione grimaced. "Not all of them were, but Daphne and Tracey yelled at a group of third years who were giving us a hard time."

"And then Jenna said that we were here as friends of yours and they stopped saying stuff to us," Neville said sounding confused as to why that'd make them stop.

Harrison and the other Slytherins exchanged looks.

"Well I'm glad you two are okay," Harrison said before picking his broom up. "Now come on, I told Susan and Hannah we'd meet them at the lake after tryouts."

On Halloween Harrison and his friends walked to the Great Hall for the feast. He could smell pumpkin wafting through the hall mixed with the strong scent of caramel. The Great Hall was decorated for the occasion, it looked like the staff went all out. A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low, black clouds making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

Harrison was helping himself to a caramel apple when Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table,and gasped, "Trolls, TROLLS —in the dungeons —thought you ought to know." He then sunk to the floor in a dead faint.

There was an instant uproar. The older students who knew what damage a troll could cause looked worried and the first years looked terrified. Harrison saw several Hufflepuffs second years burst into tears. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he announced loudly,"lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

"First years over here!" Marcus yelled over all the screaming. "Stay close to me and you'll be fine. We need to go to the library,it must have slipped our headmasters mind that the Slytherin dormitory is in the dungeons." He sneered.

"Come on," Violet said as she rounded up the second years,"follow me."

Geneva gathered the third years and Anthony rounded up the fourth years. The fifth, sixth, and seventh years followed behind Evan and Gracelyn.

Evan and Gracelyn led the students out of the Great Hall and towards the library. They reached the second floor when all of a sudden a horrible stench filled the air causing everyone to freeze in their tracks. All of a sudden a horrible sight met their eyes as two trolls stepped around a corner and into a patch of moonlight. Twelve feet tall, their skin was dull, granite gray, their great lumpy bodies like boulders with their small bald heads perched on top like coconuts. They had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from them was incredible. They were holding huge wooden clubs, which dragged along the floor because their arms were so long. Harrison heard Daphne gasp and he quickly grabbed her hand. He could see the older students drawing their wands and he did the same.

"Everyone slowly walk backwards," Evan said, trying to sound calm.

One of the trolls ran forward causing several of the students to yell in fright. The troll swung its club and Harrison heard a thud as it smacked into several of the older students sending them backwards into the students behind them. Harrison saw blood trickling into Casper Rowle's blonde hair from a gash on his forehead and Micah Galahad had been knocked unconscious. That act caused pandemonium,Gracelyn had managed to get out of the path of the club and jets of red light were flying from her wand. The younger students were trying to run awhile while the older ones tried to block them from the trolls sight.

"Marcus, Violet, take the younger students and run!" Evan shouted as he shot spells at the troll.

The spells flying caused both of the trolls to go berserk. The older students were now shooting lethal curses at the trolls, but their skin was too thick, all it did was annoy them. Both of them were running towards the students, their clubs flying back and forth smacking into students. Harrison felt Daphne try to pull him away and he was about to go with her until one of the trolls clubs hit Violet and sent her flying into a suit of armor. He saw blood trickling down her chin from her mouth and her skin had gone pale.

Harrison felt his blood boil as he saw the troll go for the unconscious Violet. He released Daphne's hand and without thinking ran forward.

"Harrison no!" Daphne yelled, fear evident in her voice.

He thought back to a lesson Snape had given him on trolls and used the spell he was told would break through their skin. "Sectumsempra!" Harrison yelled with as much feeling as he could muster. A jet of bright light shot from his wand and hit the troll in the leg,a loud roar came from the troll and he stumbled forward into the wall. The ceiling shook and a chandelier fell on top of the creature. Harrison was about to thank whatever deity was listening for that stroke of dumb luck when he heard a loud blood curdling scream. He spun around and saw Ophelia shrinking back into a wall as one of the trolls advanced on her.

"Ophelia!" Odette was screaming as Lucy Bole and Preston Higgs held her back. Her face was anguished and he could see tears streaming down her cheeks. "Ophelia!"

He saw Cameron Warrington running towards his younger sister like he was being chased by the devil himself.

"Bombarda!" Sixth years Morgan Chambers and Callum Warren were shouting. Jets of red light shot at the troll that was advancing on Ophelia. When the spells connected the troll turn around and let out a loud roar that shook the pillars. It advanced towards the two sixth years while other sixth years began firing off Dark Arts spells that wouldn't be allowed at Hogwarts. Cameron Warrington grabbed his crying sister and dragged her away from the corner she had been backed into.

The troll advanced on the first years and Blaise dodged out of the way just in time to avoid being hit by the club. Leo had pushed Cass out of the way and Harrison had grabbed both Daphne and Tracey.

"Sectumsempra!" Anastasia yelled,a jet of light hit the last standing troll and he stumbled backwards. "On the count of three everyone who knows that spell perform it!"

Over a dozen wands were pointed at the troll, Harrison was surprised. He thought Severus had only taught the first years and Anastasia the spell, she must've taught some friends.

"One, two, three!" Anastasia yelled.

Almost twenty people people yelled the curse including Harrison, Draco, Leo, Theo, and Blaise. The troll went flying into a wall causing three pillars to crash to the ground. A loud rumbling echoed in the corridor and everything went silent with the exception of crying. Harrison looked around and saw that over a dozen students were knocked out, their friends surrounding them trying to stop the bleeding. He saw Guinevere Dagworth throw up and looked at what caused her reaction. A seventh year named Adam Rivers was laying on the ground, his face was bashed in so badly it looked as if it was made from raw meat. Blood was puddled around his head and his arms were twisted oddly underneath his body. One of his legs was at an angle and the bone was poking out of his skin.

He wrapped an arm around Daphne who was pale and shaking. He looked around and saw that almost a dozen pillars were nothing more than rubble, two chandeliers were laying broken on the ground, and there were pools of blood from both students and trolls. He heard several gaps and his head snapped up. McGonagall, Sprout, Flitwick Madam Pomfrey, and Snape were standing in the entrance to the hall with a fourth year who must've gone for help.

Pomfrey immediately ran to the nearest student and began running diagnostic spells.

"Is anyone severely injured?" Snape asked loudly. He looked worried, something Harrison had only seen a few times before.

"He is professor!" A sixth year near Adam Rivers yelled. "He's losing a lot of blood."

Snape swept over and began a spell to stop the bleeding.

"Everyone who isn't hurt come to me," Sprout ordered.

Harrison led Daphne to Professor Sprout passed bleeding students and crying classmates. He saw both Odette and Ophelia hugging each other like they hadn't seen each other in years while Cameron rubbed circles on both of their backs. Anastasia surprised everyone by grabbing Blaise in a tight hug. She wasn't normally one to hug her brother in public,Harrison could tell her brother nearly being killed by a troll had shaken her up. Harrison couldn't help but notice everyone was showing more emotion outside of the Slytherin common room than he'd ever seen before.

"You're all okay?" Sprout asked the students gathered away from the injured students. Everyone nodded, some more slowly than others. "Then come with me, I'll take you all to your common room. The students are finishing the feasts in their respective common rooms."

"I don't want to continue the feast after that," Jenna muttered as she leaned into Theo's side.

The students followed Sprout reluctantly to their common room. They had all wanted to wait to see how their friends were doing but Sprout for once acted the part of the strict professor. Harrison kept his arm around Daphne the entire way to the dungeons. He could hear Odette and Ophelia sniffing and some of the other students were shaking.

"You should go shower and get some sleep," Harrison said gently to his girl friends. "It was a long night."

After saying their goodbyes Harrison and the other first year boys went into their dorm. Harrison took a shower to get all of the grime and blood, none of it his, off of his body. Once he was done he said goodnight to his friends and pulled out his mirror. Before he could say his dads name, his mirror heated up.

"Dad," Harrison said and Tom's face appeared in the mirror.

"Are you okay?" Tom asked quickly,worry etched into his face.

Harrison grimaced. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Don't lie to me," Tom said seriously. "Severus told me that he was informed by a seventh year that you ran at a troll?" His tone said that if what he heard was the truth, he wasn't happy.

"I didn't run at it," Harrison said slowly.

Tom's eyes narrowed. "Elaborate."

Harrison sighed, he wasn't in the mood to be interrogated. "I ran towards it to cast a spell when it ran towards Violet, she was unconscious and it would've killed her. I didn't have a choice."

"You're a Slytherin not a bloody Gryffindor!" Tom snapped, his blue eyes flashing red.

Harrison repressed the urge to flinch. He knew that his father had made horcruxes and he knew that whenever he got extremely angry his eyes would flash red because of it. His eyes turning red was usually followed by death and crucio's being thrown at the prisoners.

"I couldn't just let her die," Harrison said stubbornly.

He felt like a little kid for whining to his father, but he was only eleven. Normally he felt much older than eleven since he was raised to be a pure blood heir, not to mention the heir to the Dark Lord. He loved his childhood, but it had been different than most kids. It caused him to feel and act much older than eleven, but he was still a kid and it showed when he was really stressed like he was now.

Tom took a deep breath and his glare lessened slightly when he saw Harrison's desperate look. "I understand the need to protect your friends, however, you are an eleven year old first year. You shouldn't have ran at a troll ,a troll that could have and would have killed you without a second thought. Do you know how worried I was when Severus contacted me?"

"I'm sorry for worrying you," Harrison said honestly. "But I'm not sorry for saving Violet."

Tom pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm glad I no longer have to worry about Quirinus."

Harrison looked confused for a moment before realization hit him. "Quirrell let the trolls in,didn't he?" Tom nodded stiffly. "You told him to let trolls in?" Harrison looked at his father in shock.

"No," Tom told him. "However, I told him to do what he needed to do in order to cause a distraction,and it worked albeit too well."

Harrison's mind was processing what his father just told him. Why would he need a distraction? Why would... His mind trailed off and he mentally cursed himself for being so stupid.

"Is this because of what you tried to steal from Gringotts?" Harrison asked quickly.

Tom looked startled at the question. Harrison didn't smile like he normally did when he managed to catch his dad off guard, which rarely ever happened. As far as he knew, Harrison was the only one who ever managed to shock his father. Harrison always wondered if it was because he never used legilimency on him like he did everyone else. He pushed his thoughts away; now wasn't the time to think of that.

"I'm not even going to ask how you know about that," Tom said as he appraised his son. "Yes, it has everything to do with what I attempted to steal from Gringotts." He paused. "Do you know what the Philosopher's Stone is?"

"Yeah," Harrison answered. "It turns any metal into pure gold and creates the elixir of life. Nicolas Flamel is the only person who's ever successfully created one." Harrison froze before his eyes involuntarily widened. "Are you telling me that the Philosopher's Stone was being kept in Gringotts?"

"Yes," Tom said. "On your birthday I attempted to steal it, unfortunately it had been removed that morning by the oaf Hagrid by order of Dumbledore." He sneered. "Dumbledore thought it would be a good idea to put a priceless magical artifact in a school filled with children. That's the reason why I had Quirinus apply for the Defense job, I knew that the old professor quit and it was the perfect opportunity to steal it. I needed to acquire it this year because, come the summer, it might be moved. I sent in someone who had never been suspected of being a Death Eater and someone who would never be suspected. I told him to try stealing it once he figured out all of the protections and that he was authorized to do whatever it took to distract Dumbledore. He thought it would be a good idea to release two trolls into the school." He scowled and his eyes once more flashed red.

"While the professors were searching for the trolls he went after the stone," Tom continued. "He obtained the stone and brought it to me just moments before Severus contacted me. When I learned about the injuries that were sustained I was less than pleased. He harmed many of my followers children, that will not make my Death Eaters happy. I was even more furious when I found out that you were almost injured."

"Is Quirrell still alive?" Harrison asked. He had the feeling his dad had flipped out upon learning what happened if his mood now was anything to go by.

"No," Tom answered simply. "Nagini was hungry."

Harrison raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. He was used to hearing about prisoners and useless Death Eaters being fed to his fathers familiar. He covered his mouth when a yawn escaped his lips.

Tom frowned. "You should go to bed, you need your sleep." Harrison nodded as he yawned again. "I love you Harrison."

"I love you too," Harrison said before breaking the connection.

Harrison was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

The next morning Harrison was woken up by a loud bang, he threw his curtains open and pointed his wand at the door. He lowered it when he saw that Cameron was standing in the doorway.

"What the bloody hell did you wake us up for?" Blaise demanded.

"Professor Snape wants everyone down in the common room right now," Cameron told them. "And he looks angry, so I would hurry."

Harrison and his friends got up,some more grudgingly than others, and walked up to the common room. Harrison was instantly pulled into a seat in between Daphne and Cass.

"What's going on?" Harrison whispered.

"No one knows," Daphne quietly answered. "But I think it's about last night."

Snape held up a hand and everyone went silent. "As you all know last night many of your fellow housemates were injured courtesy of two trolls. Everyone is now in stable a condition, however, Mr. Rivers was taken to St. Mungos." There were a few gasps, they knew it was bad if Madam Pomfrey couldn't heal them. "He will be okay,his injuries were serious and Madam Pomfrey thought it would best for him to be taken to a hospital. His parents and younger brother are with him now. The healers say he should be able to return in a week, give or take several days." There were sighs of relief. As Harrison saw the worried faces he couldn't believe that people thought Slytherins were heartless. "Those who had minor injuries are being kept in the hospital wing for the rest of the day, they should be rejoining you tomorrow."

Snape paused before continuing. "You're all probably wondering how the trolls got in. The answer is we don't know." Harrison knew that Snape knew the truth, he wondered if Dumbledore did as well. "There is an ongoing auror investigation." Murmurs broke out until Snape rose his hand for silence. "It has also come to the headmasters attention that Professor Quirrell is missing. The headmaster is in the process of hiring a new Defense professor,until then Defense Against the Dark Arts is canceled. You have two hours until breakfast, you're free to do what you wish, however, I will inform you now that the hospital wing is off limits." He spun around and left the common room, his black cloak billowing behind him.

When Harrison and his friends walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, everyone stared. Every time any Slytherin walked into the Great Hall everyone stared; it didn't matter who it was. Most of the looks were of a sympathetic or worried nature. However Ron,Seamus and Dean looked at every Slytherin like they deserved what happened. It made Harrison's blood boil, and if it wasn't for the fact that Dumbledore was in the room, he would've sent a bludgeoning hex at all of their heads.

The owl post came and there were four times as many owls as normal, every Slytherin received at least one letter. Harrison pushed his letters aside and unfolded the Daily Prophet, he wanted to see what it would say about the troll attack.

Terror at Hogwarts

By Rita Skeeter

Last night horror struck Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Two trolls somehow found their way into the school and attacked the entirety of Slytherin house. I did some digging and found out that two dozen Slytherins had been sent to the infirmary to be treated for injuries while one students injuries were so severe that he was sent to St Mungos. Adam Rivers was repeatedly hit with a club from one of the trolls and sustained major injuries. Healers at St Mungos and the Rivers family refused to comment.

"When I heard about the attack I immediately contacted my friend Severus Snape, Potions master and head of Slytherin house," Lucius Malfoy answered when asked for a comment. "I was worried about my eleven year old son Draco and my godson Harrison Riddle, not to mention the countless other students. I was relieved to hear that they were alright, however, my joy was short lived when I learned of the other students injuries."

"It's a travesty," Rodolphus Lestrange said,"that something like that could happen at a school. Albus Dumbledore has a lot to answer for."

Speaking of Albus Dumbledore,where was he during the attack? According to my sources, the trolls weren't subdued by professors or the esteemed headmaster, they were instead brought down by students. The same students who were being attacked by two monstrous trolls. Both trolls were knocked out thanks to the combined efforts of the students of Slytherin house. These students should be commended for such a brilliant job well done. While the professors should be investigated for negligence. What's the world coming to when students have to defend themselves because their professors are nowhere to be found?

An investigation led by Head of the Auror Department Rufus Scrimgeour is underway.

Harrison looked up from the paper and saw that McGonagall's lips were in a thin line and Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen. All of the professors looked like they hadn't slept the night before, they probably hadn't.

"What do you think will happen to Dumbledore?" Jenna asked after reading the article.

Leo wore a sour expression. "Nothing."