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Chapter Text

LIAM AIKEN as Jacob Potter

"Ever since i was little, i've liked to read books, usually at the library. And at our old school i tended to be quite studious."

DANIEL RADCLIFFE as Harry Potter

"I think we can tell the wrong sort for ourselves, thanks."

EMMA WATSON as Hermione Granger

"Now, if you two don't mind, i'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse... expelled."

RUPERT GRINT as Ron Weasley

"That was bloody brilliant!"

Starring

JOHN CLEESE as Nearly Headless Nick

"I would prefer Sir Nicholas, if you don't mind."

ROBBIE COLTRANE as Rubeus Hagrid

"Yer wizards, boys."

RICHARD GRIFFITHS as Vernon Dursley

"There is no such thing as magic!"

RICHARD HARRIS as Albus Dumbledore

"It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

IAN HART as Quirrell / Voldemort

"Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, s-stuttering Professor Quirrell?"

JOHN HURT as Ollivander

"The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter. It is not always clear why. But, i think it is clear... that we can expect great things from you two."

RIK MAYALL as Peeves

"Oooh! Ickle firsties! What fun!"

ALAN RICKMAN as Severus Snape

"However, for those select few... who possess the predisposition, i can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death."

FIONA SHAW as Petunia Dursley

"I was the only one to see her for what she was. A freak!"

MAGGIE SMITH as Minerva McGonagall

"Perhaps it would be more useful if i transfigured Mr. Potter and yourself into a pocket watch, that way one of you might be on time."

SEAN BIGGERSTAFF as Oliver Wood
DAVID BRETT as Dedalus Diggle

WARWICK DAVIS as Goblin Bank Teller / Filius Flitwick
PEYTON LIST as Penny Haywood

JULIE WALTERS as Molly Weasley
ZOË WANAMAKER as Hooch

DAVID BRADLEY as Argus Filch
TOM FELTON as Draco Malfoy

Chapter Text

It was a late autumn night in Privet Drive, with no person on the street as the night grew cold. An owl was sitting on a street sign before it flew off of it towards the nearby forest. Suddenly, there was one elderly man with long white hair and beard, dressed in a purple robes and a hat, who was slowly coming out of the said forest towards the streets of Privet Drive.

While the man walked to the street, he was being watched over by a small, grey cat with black stripes, which was sitting by the road. The man reached his hand into his pocket and took out a small device, no bigger than a drinking flask. He lifted it into the air and flicked a switch, causing the device to suck in the lights of the lamp posts around the street, leaving the road in a complete darkness.

As the last light flew into his device, the man heard cat meowing near him and looked down, seeing the cat sitting by a wall. He smiled knowingly.

"I should've known that you would be here, Professor McGonagall." The man said to the cat.

The cat then started to walk and transformed into a rather severe-looking old woman in an emerald robes and a black, pointy hat.

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore." McGonagall greeted the man. She joined Dumbledore as the two started walking down the street. "Are the rumors true, Albus?"

"I'm afraid so, Professor." Dumbledore replied, his smile fading. "The good... and the bad."

"And the boys?"

"Hagrid is bringing them."

"Is it... wise... to trust Hagrid with something so important?"

"Professor, i would trust Hagrid with my life." Dumbledore simply replied, as they stopped walking.

Just then, Dumbledore and McGonagall heard the sound of an engine roaring behind them. They turned around, looked up and saw lights coming towards them from the sky. Seeing it to be a flying motorcycle, it landed and stopped in front of them, with a large man with a shoulder length black hair and beard on the driver's seat.

The man removed the glasses from his eyes. "Professor Dumbledore, sir. Professor McGonagall." He greeted, and started to step off the motorcycle, while having a bundle of blankets against his chest over his shoulder.

"No problems, i trust, Hagrid?" Dumbledore asked.

"No sir. Little tyke fell ter sleep just as we was flyin' o'er Bristol, and the youn'er kept laughin' before fallin' asleep himself. Sounded like he was havin' a time of his life." Hagrid replied, approaching Dumbledore and McGonagall. "Try not to wake them. There you go."

Hagrid handed the twin baby boys wrapped in blankets, only one year and three months old. He handed the older twin with jet-black hair to Dumbledore, and then the younger twin with auburn hair to McGonagall. The two started walking to a nearby house with Hagrid following behind them.

"Albus, do you really think it's safe, leaving them with these people?" McGonagall asked. "I've watched them all day, they're the worst sort of Muggles imaginable. They really are --"

"The only family they have." Dumbledore softly interrupted her.

"These boys will be famous. There will be no child in our world who doesn't know their names..."

Dumbledore and McGonagall stopped by the front door of a house. "Exactly. It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before they can walk and talk. Famous for something they don't even remember. No. They're far better off growing up away from all of that. Until they're ready."

Dumbledore and McGonagall lowered the twins in front of the door, while all this caused Hagrid to sniff. Hearing this, Dumbledore and McGonagall turned back to Hagrid.

"There there, Hagrid. It's not really goodbye, after all."

Understanding, Hagrid nodded to Dumbledore. Dumbledore and McGonagall turned back to gaze at the twin boys, with Dumbledore lowering a parchment on the younger twin, which was addressed to Mr and Mrs. Dursley who were living in number four Privet Drive, the very house the three of them standing in front of.

"Good luck... Harry and Jacob Potter."

The two baby boys wrapped around the blankets had lightning-shaped scars on their foreheads...

Nine years and eight months later...

Underneath a small cupboard, nearly eleven year-old twin boys Harry and Jacob Potter were sleeping on their small bed soundly when they were woken up to the knocking on the door right next to them.

"Up! Get up!" A voice ordered.

Petunia Dursley, a thin woman with dark brown hair and the twins' aunt, continued knocking on the door harshly before unclocking it. 

"Now!" She gave the door one final knock before walking back to the kitchen.

Lifting himself up a little, Harry reached to the shelf for his glasses, which he then put on, while Jacob simply stared at the roof. Looking almost identical, one of the few things different between the boys was their hair, with Harry's being jet-black while Jacob's was auburn. Wearing clothes that were clearly larger than they were, the twins were small, which was lucky for them since their room isn't a room at all, but merely a cupboard under the stairs. of the cupboard, which was under the stairs to the second floor.

"Good morning." Harry said to his younger twin.

"Morning." Jacob said back to his older twin. The two exchanged looks before Jacob again started looking at the roof. "Looks like it's gonna be another fun day, huh, big brother?"

"You said it, little brother." Harry replied, also sarcastically, while they have small smiles on their faces.

The twins' cousin, Dudley, an enormous boy, came running down the stairs in a hurry, but stopped before reaching the floor. He turned around before stopping halfway into the stairs and begun jumping on the stairs hard.

"Wake up, cousins!" Dudley shouted at the twins. "We're going to the zoo!"

The twins looked up at the roof when Dudley started jumping, which caused the dust to start falling on them. They looked annoyed at this, while Jacob started rubbing his eyes and turned to his brother.

"If he jumps again, i might stick his head in the toilet again." Jacob said.

Harry chuckled and was about to exit the cupboard. Harry often gets bullied by Dudley, but Jacob would put an end to it, normally by giving Dudley wedgies. Dudley was stronger than Jacob, but he was much more creative in giving Dudley a lesson. Usually these would result in Jacob being punished by being locked in cupboard longer than usual, but to him it was worth it, as he was protecting his older brother.

Dudley stopped jumping on the stairs and resumed running down, laughing excitedly all the while. Before getting into the kitchen, however, he pushed Harry, who was just about to leave the cupboard, back inside the cupboard. This caused Harry to crash into Jacob, sending both of them back inside, and Dudley kicked the door before running into the kitchen.

'What i'd do to be at the library right now.' Jacob thought as he and Harry recovered from being shoved back in, rubbed their heads and left the cupboard. While Jacob might like to pull a harmless prank every now and then, deep down he loves to read books and likes to study different things. It's been his way of coping for years.

"Here he comes, the birthday boy." Aunt Petunia said happily.

"Happy birthday, son." Continued Vernon Dursley, Dudley's father and Harry and John's uncle.

Harry and Jacob walked into the kitchen and saw Uncle Vernon, a big man with graying hair and mustache, sitting on a dining chair while Aunt Petunia and Dudley rubbed their noses together. It was Dudley's 11th birthday, which the parents happily set up for their son.

"Don't you look smart for your trip to the zoo." Aunt Petunia said, as she stopped rubbing her nose with Dudley, before turning to the twins, scowling. "Why don't you two cook the breakfast. And try not to burn anything."

"Yes, Aunt Petunia." The twins said at the same time softly, being the type of twins who could finish each others sentences say the same thing at the same time.

Aunt Petunia then covered Dudley's eyes and started leading him to the living room. "I want everything to be perfect."

Harry and Jacob then started to prepare food for their relatives, with Harry bringing Uncle Vernon bacon while Jacob was preparing coffee.

"Hurry up!" Uncle Vernon ordered the twins, then turned to Jacob. "Bring my coffee, boy."

Yes, Uncle Vernon." Jacob said, though he couldn't help but roll his eyes while his back was turned to his uncle.

Aunt Petunia uncovered Dudley's eyes and let him see the monstrous pile of presents the two parents had gotten their son. Some were wrapped up, while others were not. However, Dudley was looking at the gift with uncertain look in his eyes, which slowly turned into slightly angry one, and he turned to his father.

"How many are there?" Dudley asked him.

"Thirty-six. I counted them myself." Uncle Vernon replied, looking quite proud.

"Thirty-six?! But last year... last year i had thirty-seven!"

The twins meanwhile, while putting food on the table, were looking at the interraction, then gave each other glances before rolling their eyes.

"Well, now, son, but some of them are bigger than last year's." Uncle Vernon said with a nervous chuckle.

"I DON'T CARE HOW BIG THEY ARE!"

Aunt Petunia turned her son towards her in an effort to calm him down. "Now now, here's what we'll do. Today, when we're out, we'll buy you two more presents. How's that, pumpkin?" She suggested.

All the while Jacob and Harry looked at the interaction with an angry, but also a slight sadness in their eyes. Their relatives never celebrated their birthdays, and the only reason they knew when their birthday was (which was on 31 July, one month after Dudley's, who's is on 23 June) is thanks to the letter which was left with them when they were dropped off at the doorstep of Dursley's home almost ten years ago.

"So then, i'll have... i'll have..." Dudley said, trying to count.

"Thirty-eight, popkin." Jacob answered.

This caused Aunt Petunia to cuff Jacob on the head while she was on her way to the telephone, which had just started ringing.

"You just mind that bacon!" Aunt Petunia ordered.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia." Jacob said, rubbing his head.

As Harry rubbed his brothers back in comfort, Dudley was tearing open a box of lead soldiers, which caused Uncle Vernon to ruffles his sons head.

"Want your money's worth, don't you, tiger. Well, look over. Aunt Marge's sent you the Fourth Battalion." Uncle Vernon said.

Dudley went through the present his aunt, and Vernon's sister, sent him. But he ended up twisting a head off from one of them.

"This one's lost it's head." Dudley said.

"Well now, son. Remember, we talked about this. They're not meant to move..."

As Dudley tossed the damaged soldier aside, The twins looked at each other and studied the toy soldier closely. Meanwhile, Aunt Petunia hung up the phone and turned to her husband.

"Bad news. Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take them." Aunt Petunia said, pointing at the twins.

"We could phone Yvonne." Uncle Vernon suggested.

"Don't be silly. She hates the boys."

The twins glanced at each other before turning back to their relatives. "You could just leave us here." They said together.

"And come back to find the house in ruins?" Uncle Vernon asked angrily.

"I... don't... want... them... to... come!" Dudley said angrily. "They... always... ruin... everything!"

"Now, precious, don't cry." Aunt Petunia said, crouching on her son's level. "They won't spoil anything. What if mummy buys you three more presents."

"Three?"

"As many as you want, sweetums."

As Aunt Petunia cuddled her son, Dudley shot Jacob and Harry a nasty grin through a gap between her mothers arms, while the twins slightly glared back at him.

A bit later that day, the family exited number four Privet Drive, approaching the car and ready to leave for the zoo while Dudley was eating snacks.

"It should be a lovely day the zoo." Aunt Petunia said happily, while she was dusting Dudley's back. Aunt Petunia got to the passenger's seat on the front seats, while Dudley was getting to one of the backseats.  "I'm really looking forward to it."

Harry was setting his glasses back on his face, while Jacob was dusting his hair off of any leftover dust that might have still be in his hair from Dudley's stair-jumping event that morning. Before the twins could get into the car, Uncle Vernon closed the passenger seat's door, standing in front of the twins.

"I'm warning you now, boys." Uncle Vernon said, pointing his car keys at them. "Any funny business, any at all, and you won't have any meals for a week. Get in."

Jacob glanced at his brother. He was used to going a week without a full meal, but he never liked it when Harry had to go a day without any food, so Jacob tended to share what food he got with him. So he decided that any potential 'funny business' could wait for another time.

Sometime later, the family arrived at the zoo and headed for the Reptile exhibit. The family was looking bored, except for John who was enjoying seeing all the different animals around him, and Harry, while slightly bored, looked at his brother with a slight smirk on his face. Jacob had been an animal lover since he was younger, earlier this year even saving an elderly couple's cat from a tree. Right now, the family was looking at a Burmese python, which was sleeping on it's display.

"Make it move." Dudley told his father, wanting to see the snake do something.

Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass. "Move!" He said.

Nothing happened. Dudley was getting impatient and started slamming the glass, scaring Uncle Vernon a little.

"Move!" Dudley shouted.

Harry turned his head to his cousin. "He's asleep!" He said.

Meanwhile, Jacob, who was on his brothers left side, simply rolled his eyes.

"He's boring." Dudley said grumpily.

Dudley and his parents waddled away, walking around exhibit to look for something else. Harry and John meanwhile stayed behind, shook their heads, and gave Dudley a quick glance before turning back towards the snake.

"Sorry about him." Harry said.

"He doesn't understand what it's like, lying there, day after day, watching people press their ugly faces in on you..." Jacob continued.

Suddenly, the snake slowly lifted it's head up, staring at the twins and causing their eyes to widen in surprise.

"Can you hear us?" The twins asked, whispering.

The snake nodded it's head, while raising it's head even higher.

"It's just..." Jacob decides to keep talking to the snake. "... i've never talked to a snake before. Neither has my brother."

"Do you... I mean, do you talk to people often?" Harry then asked.

The snake regarded Harry, before it shook it's head as a no.

"So... you're from Burma, aren't you? Was it nice there? Do you miss your family?"

The snake turned it's head to it's left, and the twins turned to their right to see what the snake was pointing at, seeing a sign that said 'Bred in captivity'.

"I see." Jacob said, as he and Harry turned their gazes back to the snake. "That's us as well. We never knew our parents either."

The twins had grown without any knowledge about their parents, beyond the little bits what Aunt Petunia would say about them, though Jacob couldn't help but feel that what she told them wasn't even the truth, which he few times shared with Harry.

At that moment, Dudley had turned back towards the twins and saw the snake awake. "MUMMY! DAD! You won't believe what this snake is doing!" Dudley said as he ran back.

Dudley jabbed Harry hard on the ribs, sending him and Jacob tumbling to the concrete floor. Dudley leaned against the glass to get a closer look at the snake, while Jacob and Harry sat back up and angrily looked at Dudley. Suddenly, the glass vanished. Dudley lost his balance, and, while the twins were looking stunned, he fell straight into the waters of the exhibit.

Jacob and Harry, still stunned, glanced at each other before they started chuckling. While Dudley was recovering, the snake started to make it's way out of the exhibit. Dudley froze while gazing at the snake, and the twins stopped chuckling when they saw the snake slithering out of the exhibit. Hitting the floor, snake raised it's head up and looked at the twins, who were staring right back at it.

"Thanks." The snake said to the twins.

"Anytime." The twins replied together, uneasy smiles on their faces.

The snake started to sliver it's way out of the exhibit, while the twins watched it leave. The snake started hissing at the people inside, causing a slight panic. One of the people shouted while jumping to get back from the snake. It slivers to the exit, causing kids and adults alike to start to run away and scream in fear.

While Jacob and Harry were turning their heads around the exhibit at the people running away, Dudley was getting back up, but when he raised his hand, it touched the glass which had reappeared, causing him to go pale in terror while slamming the glass.

"Mum! Mummy! Help me!" Dudley cried.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, who were walking around the exhibit, saw Dudley in the snake exhibit, which caused Aunt Petunia to start screaming in horror, while leaning against the glass.

"My darling boy!" Aunt Petunia screamed. "How did you get in there? Who did this? How did you get in there? Is there a snake?"

Jacob and Harry, meanwhile, still were sitting on the floor, though they were smirking at their cousin. Just then, Uncle Vernon turned towards the twins, an eyebrow raised up, which caused the twins to quickly stop smirking and look at their uncle nervously.

Later that day, the family made it back to the home, while Dudley, who was shivering, had several cloths wrapped around his shoulders, and Aunt Petunia was holding him close to her to try and warm him up.

"It's all right, sweetheart." Aunt Petunia said softly, leading Dudley to the living room. "We'll get you out of these cold clothes."

Back at the front door, Jacob and Harry were pushed inside the house by Uncle Vernon. Closing his door behind him, he turned back to the twins before he angrily grabbed on to their hairs, causing the twins to flinch in pain.

"What happened?" Uncle Vernon asked, face purple with anger.

"I swear we don't know!" Jacob said, holding on to Uncle Vernon's hand.

"One minute the glass was there and then it was gone. It was like magic!" Harry continued to explain.

This caused Uncle Vernon to open the cupboard door and hurl the twins inside. Closing the door, he closed the lock of the cupboard before leaning his head closer to the small hatch, staring hard at it.

"There is no such thing as magic!" Uncle Vernon growled.

As Jacob and Harry were leaning against the hatch, Uncle Vernon quickly closed it, leaving the twins in the complete darkness, with only each other's company. Then, from his pocket, Harry removed the damaged toy soldier Dudley had discarded earlier that day. Reaching up, he placed it on a dark shelf, next to half a dozen other toys he and Jacob owned.

Chapter Text

One month later, an owl was seen flying towards Privet Drive with two letters in it's claws. As it was gliding down to the house, it dropped the letters towards the door before landing on a chimney of the house.

In the sitting room of the Dursley's home, Dudley was posing in front of the fireplace in knickerbockers, tailcoat and straw boater with a smile and holding his thumb up, while his parents stood in front of him, with a happy aunt Petunia holding a camera up.

"And smile." Aunt Petunia said happily, taking a photo of her son. "Oh, Vernon, just look at him. I can't believe it. To think in just a week, he'll be off to Smeltings."

At that moment, Jacob and Harry walked into the sitting room to see what their relatives were doing, looking over Dudley's new school uniform.

"Caveat Smeltonia. Proudest moment of my life." Uncle Vernon said proudly.

The brothers gave each other glances before turning to their relatives. "Will we have to wear that too?" Harry asked with dread.

The Dursley's turned towards the brothers, surprised. "What? You two, go to Smeltings?" Aunt Petunia asked with a scoff.

The brothers gave her a nod, which caused the Dursley's to start laughing mockingly at them.

"Don't be so stupid." Aunt Petunia walked to the kitchen, while the twins were following her. "You're going to the state school, where you belong." She started to pick two sets of wet clothes from a bucket that was boiling on the stove. "This is what you're going to be wearing when i'm finished drying them."

"But that's Dudley's old uniforms." Jacob said while pointing at the over sized clothes, as he and Harry were already wearing another set of hand-me-downs. "They'll fit us like bits of old elephant skin."

"They'll fit you well enough. Now go get the post." Aunt Petunia nodded to Jacob, who started to make his way to the door before she uttered an angrier "Go!"

Leaving the kitchen, the younger Potter walked to the front door. Crouching down, Jacob took the mail and started going through all of it. He found a bill, a postcard, and two envelopes of yellow parchments. Stopping to stare at the envelopes, Jacob noticed they were adressed to him and Harry in emerald ink.

Mr. J. Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4 Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

Widening his eyes in shock, Jacob thought 'Letters? For us?' He turned his head back to the kitchen when he heard the door opening, and saw Harry coming towards him.

"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.

"Come over here." Jacob whispered, nodding his hand as a way of telling Harry to come to him.

Walking to stand next to his twin, Harry watched as Jacob showed him the two envelopes. He was surprised as Jacob turned his envelope over, where they found a purple wax seal. It was coat of arms, surrounding a large letter H. The twins exchanged exited looks.

Jacob gave Harry his letter, and the twins started walking back to the kitchen, where aunt Petunia had now started to make dinner. Jacob, who was still holding the rest of the mail, gave them to uncle Vernon, who was sitting on the table. About to walk away from the table, Jacob and Harry were staring in quiet wonderment at their envelopes, not noticing Dudley had noticed the envelopes.

"Ah, Marge's ill. Ate a funny whelk..." Uncle Vernon said, looking over a mail from his sister.

Before Jacob and Harry could open their envelopes, Dudley leaped from the chair and snatched them from the twins.

"Dad! Look! Harry and John got letters!" Dudley said, running back to his father, while Aunt Petunia walked up to them to see what was happening.

"Hey, give them back!" The twins shouted.

"They're ours!" Harry finished, stopping with John at the opposite end of the table across from the Dursley's.

"Yours?" Uncle Vernon asked with amusement, taking the envelopes. "Who'd ever be writing to you two --"

Uncle Vernon started to look over the envelopes with Dudley and aunt Petunia, when his face went pale. Shocked to see the exact location of the twins' room, he turned the letter around to see the wax seal. Uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia exchanged nervous look before turning back towards the twins. Jacob and Harry, though confused at the sudden quietness, became nervous.

Moments later, The three boys came flying into the hall. Quickly getting back up, they threw themselves against the door as it slammed shut.

"We want our letters!" The twins called.

"I want my stick!" Dudley called.

The twins and Dudley made a furious play for the keyhole, but Dudley's size proved too much for the boys. The twins, while Harry had his glasses dangling from one ear, settled for a crack between the door and the floor. 

The twins saw from the crack how Uncle Vernon's thick black shoes were pacing back and forth.

"Vernon." Aunt Petunia said, pointing at the address on one of the twins' letters. "Look at the address. How could they possibly know where they sleep? You don't think they're watching the house?"

"Watching. Spying. Following us." Uncle Vernon said. "We both know the dangerous nonsense your sister and her husband were mixed up in."

"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want --"

"No. We'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer... Yes, that's best. I'll burn them."

"NO! WE WANT OUR LETTERS!" The twins shouted.

Uncle Vernon walked up to the stove, and flipped on a gas jet before he threw the letters into the fire. As the letters were burning, John and Harry were pounding on the door.

The next morning on a rainy day, another owl was flying to four Privet Drive with another two sets of letters in it's claws. Flying to the house, it dropped the letters towards the door before landing on an antenna, which was housing two other owls, meaning there were more letters delivered to the Potter twins.

At the same time, a frowning Uncle Vernon was standing before the telly in the sitting room, struggling to unscramble a rugby match. He then heard the clicking of the mail slot before walking to the hall.

As Uncle Vernon walked to the front door, he saw three letters addressed to Harry and John laying on the mat by the front door. Snatching them up, Uncle Vernon angrily started ripping them to pieces.

Meanwhile, inside the cupboard, the twins were laying on their bed and playing with minifigures, which used to belong to Dudley, albeit sadly, when they heard something being drilled.

"No more letter through this letterbox." Uncle Vernon's voice said through the sound of drilling.

The twins eased the cupboard door open slightly, with Harry standing up while Jacob was on his knees. Down the hallway, they saw uncle Vernon standing by the front door, drilling the mail slot shut with wood and nails. Scowling, the twins closed the door.

The next morning, several owls were sitting on top of the Dursley family's Vauxhall, when the front door to the house opened, and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia came outside.

"Have a lovely day at the office, dear." Aunt Petunia said as she and her husband kissed each other on the cheek.

However, they heard the owls hooting at them, causing them to turn towards the car. Their eyes widened in shock when they saw the owls sitting on the car.

"Shoo! Go on!" Uncle Vernon shouted and waved his bag around to try and get the owls to leave.

Aunt Petunia turned her head to the ground, and while holding onto her husbands arm, she tapped it, getting his attention. Glancing at her, Uncle Vernon followed her gaze, and to his surprise he saw eight more letters on the ground, four each addressed to one of the twins.

Later that evening in the living room, the fireplace was blazing as Uncle Vernon was pitching a handful of letters into the flames. Jacob and Harry came to the living room and saw their uncle putting each letter one by one in the fire with a smile. Uncle Vernon then turned when he noticed the twins entering, and, giving the boys a nasty smirk, he continued pitching the letters into the flames. The twins angrily watched their letters burning.

At the same time, as the chimney of Number Four Privet Drive was smoking, five owls were sitting on the roof in black silhouette against a full moon.

The next morning, Aunt Petunia was in the kitchen making dinner. Cracking open an egg on a bowl, she found a letter inside instead of yolk. Confused, she opened it, only to find it to be another letter for the twins. Now shaking, Aunt Petunia quickly put it away cracked another egg. But she found another letter. Shaking even more, she cracked a third egge, and found a third letter.

Hearing an owl hooting coming from outside the kitchen window, Aunt Petunia looked out the window and saw four owls sitting on two chairs, staring directly at her. She put her hand on her head, started screaming and ran from the kitchen.

On a Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon was sitting in an armchair and smiling strangely as his eyes were moving back and forth around the living room.

"Fine day, Sunday. In my opinion, best day of the week." Uncle Vernon said, before he turned towards Dudley. "Why is that, Dudley?"

Dudley was kneeling on the floor, next to Aunt Petunia who was sitting on another armchair. Not knowing the answer, Dudley shrugged his shoulders. Jacob and Harry, meanwhile, were carrying a plate each with cookies on them, offering them to their aunt and uncle.

"Because there's no post on Sunday?" Jacob answered, offering the plate to his uncle.

"Right you are, John!" Brightly, Uncle Vernon took a cookie from the plate. "No post on Sunday. Ha!"

Meanwhile, Harry, standing near the window, heard another owl hooting right outside the window. His eyes turning to it, he saw the owl fly right by the window. Taking a hold of Jacob's sleeve, who turned to look at his brother, Harry nodded towards the window.

"No blasted letters today! No sir."

Uncle Vernon kept going, not noticing the owl on the window behind him. The twins walked up to the window, and removed the curtains slightly out of the way to look outside.

"Not one single bloody letter. Not one!"

Outside, Number Four Privet drive was surrounded with owls of different kinds, on the ground as well as the roof of the house, while the surrounding houses were completely free of owls.

"No sir. Not one blasted, miserable --"

Just then, a letter addressed to one of the twins whizzed down the chimney and flew right by Uncle Vernon's face, causing him to stop. The twins turned to see what happened and Aunt Petunia and Dudley were surprised. Suddenly, the chimney started rumbling, causing everyone to turn towards it. The noise kept getting louder, as Uncle Vernon dropped his cookie and covered his ears, while the twins were intensely gazing at the fireplace...

A swarm of letters started flying down the chimney inside, aflocking the living room with letters and causing the Dursley's to start panicking.

"Make it stop, please!" Dudley started screaming.

Uncle Vernon started shielding his head, all the while Jacob and Harry were looking at all of the letters adressed to them with happy faces and started trying to grab the letters, and Dudley jumped into his mothers arms scared.

"Stop it!" Uncle Vernon shouted, still covering his ears.

"Mummy, what's happening?!" Dudley screamed.

The twins, meanwhile, leaped onto a small table, reached their arms high up and started jumping up, trying to snag one letter each. The twins managed to grab one each, but Uncle Vernon angrily turned to the twins when he saw them reaching for the letters.

"Give me those! Give me those letters!" Uncle Vernon shouted.

Uncle Vernon tried to grab onto the twins, but they jumped over the sofa and ran into the hallway. They tried to open the cupboard door, when Uncle Vernon stumbled into the hallway and seized the twins by their waists.

"Get off!" Harry shouted.

Jacob and Harry started trying to wiggle out of their uncle's grasp, all the while the hallway was being swirled up and down with letters. All the struggling and the letters caused Uncle Vernon to stumble against a wall and slide down on his backside.

Jacob, Harry and Uncle Vernon were being covered in letters that were flying all over the house, which caused uncle Vernon to fall on a small armchair. Aunt Petunia and Dudley ran from the living room and stood by the kitchen door, watching the struggle unfold.

"They're our letters! Let go of us!" Jacob shouted, trying to free himself.

"Who on earth wants to write to you this badly!" Dudley asked the twins loudly.

The twins continued to struggle to get away from their uncle's hold, when the wood that had been drilled in to keep the letter box shut suddenly broke off from the force, as even more letters started to pour into the hallway.

"That's it!" Uncle Vernon suddenly shouted crazily, his eyes crazed while tightly holding onto the twins. "We're going away! Far away, where they can't find us! Where they can't get to us!"

"Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked his mother, scared.

Aunt Petunia couldn't reply to her son, looking both scared and concerned at the same time.

Chapter Text

Keeping true to his word, Uncle Vernon had the entire family relocated from the Privet Drive. They traveled to a very sad-looking hut, which was sitting perched upon a large rock far at sea. The wind was whistling, lightning was flashing and the sea was raging, meaning no owls could reach the house now.

While Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were sleeping on a lumpy bed in the hut's only bedroom on the second floor, the kids were downstairs. Dudley was snoring on a moth-eaten sofa, while Jacob and Harry were laying on the bare floor beneath a ragged blanket, with only a small fire from the fireplace lighting the room. The twins were etching a birthday cake on the dust that was layering the floor, writing 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY'on it. The twins put a finishing touch on it by etching candle's. Harry studied the lighted dial of Dudley's wrist watch, seeing it hitting towards midnight. It was officially 31 July, his and Jacob's eleventh birthday.

"Make a wish, little brother." Harry said to Jacob.

"You too, big brother." Jacob said back to Harry.

Closing their eyes, the twins blew into the dust, and the 'flames'of dust scattered. The twins knew they could always celebrate their birthday in each others company. Their eyes still closed, Jacob and Harry were holding a wish...

Suddenly, the door shuddered with a loud boom,it's hinges squealing. The twins look up in surprise while Dudley woke up, scrambling away from the couch. The door was slammed with another boom, and the twins got up and took cover behind the fireplace, with Harry standing in front of Jacob to protect him, though, like his brother, he was also shaking in fear.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia came downstairs in their pajamas, with Aunt Petunia covering behind her husband and switching the lights on, while Uncle Vernon had a rifle in his hands.

"Who's there? I'm warning you -- i'm armed!" Uncle Vernon called. He tried to act brave, but his voice came out squeaky.

Suddenly, with another boom, the door came off and fell on the floor with a slam, causing the Dursley's to cover in fear while Dudley screamed. An immense silhouette was standing against the raging storm outside. The silhouette stepped inside, revealing a giant man with shoulder-length black hair and beard, a brown jacket and a pink umbrella, before he placed the umbrella inside his jacket.

"Sorry 'bout that..." The man casually said.

Stepping into the clear, the man took the door and fit it back into it's frame. Turning around, he saw Uncle Vernon pointing his rifle at him.

"I demand that you leave at once! You are breaking and entering!" Uncle Vernon ordered.

Not phased by the threat, the man walked up to Uncle Vernon. "Dry up, Dursley, yeh great prune."

The man grabbed on to the rifle and twisted it like a piece of licorice, pointing the barrel towards the roof. Uncle Vernon fired his gun, causing the bullet to go straight through the roof. The man then turned his gaze towards the first kid he saw, who happened to be Dudley, with the boy still looking scared.

"Boy, i haven't seen yeh since you was a baby, Harry, but yeh're a bit more along than i expected, particularly in the middle. By the way, where's little Jacob hiding at?"

"I- I'm -- I'm not... Harry." Dudley said, terrified.

At that moment, both Harry and Jacob came from behind the fireplace into the light, standing next to each other.

"I am." Harry said.

The man looked even more happier at seeing the real Harry. "Well of course yeh are." He then looked at Jacob. "And yeh're Jacob, aren't yeh?"

Jacob was just as confused as his brother looked to be, but chose to trust the giant man, who didn't seem scary despite his giant size.

"Yes, i am." Jacob replied.

"I got yeh two summat. 'Fraid i mighta sat on it at some point, but i 'magine it'll taste fine jus' as the same... let's see now... got it here somewhere..."

The brothers glanced at each other when the man started rummaging his jacket. Finally, he pulled out a squashed paper box, giving it to the twins, which Jacob took.

"Baked it meself, words an' all."

Dudley was trying to take a peak at what the giant man had given the twins. Together, Jacob and Harry started to open the box, inside of which they found a chokolate cake with 'HAPPEE BIRTHDAY HARRY AN' JACOB' written on it, scrawled in green icing.

"Thank you." The twins said together.

"Well, it's not ev'ry day yer young mein turns 'leven, is it, eh?" The man chuckled.

The man sat on the sofa, while the Dursley couple was standing in the corner, still shaking in fear. Meanwhile, the man pulled out his umbrella from his jacket and pointed it at the fireplace, which shot two shots of fire into the woods, lighting the fireplace up. The twins's widened in shock, as well as wonder, while Dudley still said nothing. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon looked shocked, though Uncle Vernon's anger was slowly starting to rise up on his face.

Jacob then decided to place the cake on the sofa. "Excuse me, but who are you?" He asked the man, staring blankly at him.

"Rubeus Hagrid." Hagrid introduced himself, giving the embers several pokes with his umbrella. "Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." He turned towards the twins again. "But of course, yeh know about Hogwarts."

The twins gave each other glances. "Sorry, no." They said together.

Hagrid frowned at this. "No? Blimey, boys, didn't yeh two ever wonder where yer mum and dad learned it all?"

"Learned what?" Harry asked, confused.

"What?" Hagrid turned to Uncle Vernon. "DURSLEY!!! Do yeh mean ter tell me the boys know nothing?"

Uncle Vernon only stood mute. Hagrid simmered, before he shook his head and turned to the twins, leaning in closer.

"Yer wizards, boys."

For a moment, the hut was silent as the brothers eyes widened.

"We're what?" Jacob asked.

"Wizards. And good 'uns, i'd wager, once yeh've been trained up a bit."

Aunt Petunia continued to look with a worried face, while uncle Vernon was glare at Hagrid, his rage slowly rising more.

"No. You've made a mistake." Harry said, as he and John shared glances. "I mean... we can't be wizards. I mean... we're just... Harry and Jacob. Just Harry and Jacob."

Jacob, while somewhat not believing what Hagrid had just told them, was excited about the idea of being a wizard. He then suddenly started remembering all the weird things that happened around him and Harry when they were growing up that they couldn't explain.

Hagrid nodded his head slightly with a smile. "Well, Just Harry and Jacob, did you two 'ver make anythin' 'appen? Anythin' yeh couldn't explain, when yeh were angry or scared?"

The brothers looked to each other in recognition, both thinking about how the glass disappeared at the snake exhibit, and the fact that they could talk to the snake that then left. With a hum and a nod, Hagrid stood up, causing Dudley to shake in fear again. But Hagrid reached into his pocket and handed the twins envelopes identical to the ones the owls tried to deliver to them for few days. Jacob opened his envelope, with Harry leaning to see it for himself.

"'Dear Mr. Potter..." Jacob started reading outloud. "... we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'"

At this point, Uncle Vernon had enough, as he was marching to the sofa. "They'll not be going, i tell you! We swore when we took them in we'd put a stop to all this rubbish!" He said angrily.

"You knew?" Jacob asked shocked, before turning to Aunt Petunia. "You knew all along and you never told us?"

Aunt Petunia, looking furious, was crossing her arms. "Of course we knew! How could you not be?" She started to slowly walk towards her husband. "My perfect sister being who she was." She stopped walking next to the steps. "My mother and father were so proud the day she got the letter. 'We have a witch in the family. Isn't it wonderful?' I was the only one to see her for what she was... a freak!" Looking distasteful, she walked up to her husband. "Then she met that Potter, and then she had you two and i knew you would be the same. Just as strange, just as abnormal. And then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got landed with you --"

"Blown up?" Harry asked, cutting Aunt Petunia off. "You told us our parent's died in a car crash."

"A CAR CRASH!" Hagrid asked furiously, causing the twins to turn to him next. "A car crash killed Lilly and James Potter?"

While the argument kept going, Dudley was sneaking around past his parents and stole the twins' birthday cake, eager to eat it himself.

"We had to say something." Aunt Petunia said, not backing down.

"It's an outrage! It's a scandal!"

"THEY'LL NOT BE GOING, I TELL YOU!" Uncle Vernon repeated.

Hagrid laughed, not taking him seriously. "Oho. An' i s'ppose a great Muggle like yerself is goin' ter stop them, are yeh?"

"Muggle?" The twins asked Hagrid together, confused.

"Non-magic folk." Hagrid glanced at the boys before turning back to Uncle Vernon. "These boys' had their names down ever since they were born."

Meanwhile, Dudley glanced back at the argument before he started to eat the twins' birthday cake, his hands digging into the cake.

"They're going to the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world, and they'll be under the finest headmaster that Hogwarts has ever seen, Albus Dumbledore."

After Hagrid finished his piece proudly, the twins were smiling, looking excited about everything.

"I will not pay to have some crackpot old fool teach him magic tricks!" Uncle Vernon lashed out.

This was the last straw for Hagrid, as he pointed his umbrella at Uncle Vernon. "NEVER... INSULT ALBUS DUMBLEDORE.. IN FRONT OF ME."

Aunt Petunia covered behind her husband, while Uncle Vernon closed his eyes in fear. Hagrid then spied Dudley, who was bending slightly and eating the cake. Deciding to teach them a lesson, Hagrid raised the umbrella towards Dudley, and a flash of violet light hit Dudley square in the rump. Instantly, a pig's tail curled through the back of his trousers.

Dudley looked at his backside when he felt the spark, and the second he noticed the pig tail on him, he started screaming. Aunt Petunia reacted the same way, as did Uncle Vernon when the couple turned to their son. Meanwhile, Harry watched with an open smiling mouth, while Jacob started laughing. During the panic, Dudley tried to touch the tail while Aunt Petunia looked at her husband, trying to decide what to do, when Uncle Vernon started directing the family towards the second floor, shooting a scared glance at Hagrid along the way and leaving the twins behind. Hagrid gave the twins a silent chuckle, before leaning to them awkwardly.

"Oh, um, i'd appreciate it if yeh didn't tell anyone at Hogwarts about that. Strictly speakin', i'm not allowed ter do magic."

"Okay." Harry replied, nodding.

"My lips are sealed." Jacob said, zipping his lips.

Giving the twins a grateful nod, Hagrid pulled out a small pocket watch from his jacket, checking the time. "Oh, uh, we're a bit behind schedule. Best be off." He said, putting his watch back in the pocket.

Walking to the door, Hagrid pulled the door of and let it fall on the floor again, before turning towards the twins again.

"'Less yeh'd rather stay, o' course."

Hagrid exited the house, leaving Jacob and Harry to consider their sorry surroundings. Looking momentarily at a loss, Jacob shot a glance to the second floor, before turning to Harry.

"We're definitely not staying." Jacob said, making his mind up.

"No. I can't wait to see what Hogwarts is like." Harry said with agreement.

With smiles growing on the twins' faces, Jacob and Harry started to follow Hagrid outside, excited for the adventure they were about to embark on.

Chapter Text

The following dawn, after the twins had their encounter with Hagrid, the trio was walking down the streets of London, with Hagrid taking the twins somewhere where they could get their school supplies. Jacob was looking over his list of school supplies, with Harry looking over his shoulder while the twins were trailing Hagrid, who was drawing an eye or two from passing people -- as a giant in Central London would.

"'First year students will require three sets of plain wardrobes, one pointed hat for day wear...'" Jacob read the list outloud.

Meanwhile, Hagrid chuckled at a parking lot they passed by. "Things these Muggles dream up..."

Later, the twins and Hagrid were riding a train, with the twins sitting next to each other while Hagrid sat across from the boys. Jacob meanwhile continued to read his list outloud.

 "'... and the following Set Books: The Standard Book of Spells by Miranda Goshawk. One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore. One wand--'" Jacob then stopped and looked up at Hagrid, along with Harry.

"Essential bit of equipment, Jacob." Hagrid told him.

Jacob returned to his list. "'One pair of dragon-hide gloves...'"

The brothers glanced at each other before turning to Hagrid again.

"Hagrid, do they mean from a real dragon?" Harry asked.

"Well, they don't mean a penguin, do they?" Hagrid said, laughing lightly, before he started thinking. "Crickey, i'd love a dragon."

"You'd like a dragon?" The twins asked.

"Vastly misunderstood creatures, boys. Vastly misunderstood."

Hagrid turned towards an middle-aged woman who was sitting close on the brothers's side and nodded at her smiling. She simply returned to her paper.

Later, the twins and Hagrid were walking down a busy street of Charing Cross Road, with shops all over and people walking around.

"'All students must be equipped with..." Jacob said as he was reading his letter outloud again. "... one standard size 2 pewter cauldron and may bring, if they desire, either an owl, a cat, or a toad.'"

This got Jacob's brain thinking. While he liked flying animals, ever since he rescued the cat of the elderly couple, he thought the cat's were cute and started to secretly want one. Meanwhile, Harry was confused about what the list contained and thought if it was possible to get all of that in London, before looking up at Hagrid.

"Can we find all this in London?" Harry asked.

Hagrid leaned closer to the brothers. "If yeh know where to go." He told them.

Finally, the trio came to a stop outside a rundown pub called 'The Leaky Cauldron', with the sign seeming like it came out of nowhere. Hagrid opened the door for the brothers who then entered, and the moment they were inside, the twins were awestruck. The place looked more like an inn with an upstairs and a cellar, and the place was full of people. Hagrid guided the twins towards the bar, where few customers were enjoying their company as well as the bartender, who resembled a gummy walnut.

"Ah, Hagrid! The usual, i presume?" The Bartender asked.

"No thanks, Tom. I'm on an official Hogwarts business." Hagrid answered, placing his hands on the twins' shoulders. "Just helpin' youn' Harry and Jacob here buy their school supplies."

Tom had a shocked look on his face when he heard the names and saw the brothers faces. "Good Lord. Is this? Can this be them? Bless my soul. It's Harry and Jacob Potter!"

The twins' eyes widened in surprise, while the rest of the pub suddenly went quiet. The customers turned towards the twins when they heard the names, and Harry was approached by an old man with a long grey hair.

"Welcome back, Mr. Potters. Welcome back." The old man said, shaking Harry's hand.

On Harry's left, Jacob was just as confused like his brother on why the people were treating them with such gratitude, before he was being approached by an old woman.

"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter. I can't believe i'm meeting you and your brother at last." The woman said, taking Jacob's hand and shaking it.

Behind Crockford came a tiny, excitable looking man, who was wearing a purple top hat. He started to shake hands with the twins.

"Delighted, Mr. Potters, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle." The man introduced himself.

"I remember you." Harry said, recognizing the man. "You bowed to me once in a shop."

"He remembers! Did you hear that? He remembers me!"

All the while Hagrid was looking over the twins, beaming at them, when past Diggle a nervous young man dressed in purple cloak with even lighter purple turban made his way forward.

"Harry and Jacob P-P-Potter." The man stuttered. "C-Can't tell you how p-pleased i am to meet you two."

"'ello, Professor! I didn't see yeh there." Hagrid greeted the nervous man. While the twins glanced back at him, Hagrid introduced the man to the boys. "Harry, Jacob, this is Professor Quirrell. He'll be yer Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts."

The twins turned back to Quirrell, who smiled slightly. Jacob then reached his hand forward. "Oh, nice to meet you." He said.

However, Quirrell didn't shake hands with Jacob, instead holding his hands together. "F-F-Fearfully f-f-fascinating subject. Not that you n-n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" Quirrell said, his eyes fluttering nervously over the twins' scars.

"Yes, well, must be going now. Lots ter buy." Hagrid said to everyone in the inn, chuckling.

"Goodbye." The twins said to everyone.

The trio then started to make their way to the other end of the inn, while Jacob waved politely at everyone. Moments later, Hagrid lead the twins through a door to a back courtyard, where there were only few barrels and a bunch of wine bottles on the floor.

"See, boys? Yeh're famous." Hagrid said.

"But why are we famous, Hagrid?" Harry asked, while Jacob was following behind him. "All those people back there. How is it they know who we are?"

"From the way everyone kept thanking us, it sounded like we saved a town or something." Jacob said, throwing a small joke.

This got a chuckle out of Hagrid, who glanced down at them. "I'm not sure i'm exactly the right person ter tell yeh that, boys." He said.

Taking the umbrella from his jacket, Hagrid started tapping the tip of his umbrella at specific spots around an empty space on the brick wall. He gave one last tap, and the bricks started to quiver, wriggling and jiggling until an archway appeared, giving out on a cobblet street so long and twisting it seemed never to end. Jacob and Harry were staring jaws dropped, while Hagrid was grinning at them.

"Welcome, Jacob and Harry. To Diagon Alley."

The twins stepped through the archway, wondering smiles growing on their faces as they started looking all over the place, seeing many witches and wizards walking down the alley and seeing many different shops and restaurants everywhere they looked.

"Here's where you get yer quills and yer ink. And over there, all yer bits and bobs for doin' wizardry."

The twins kept looking everywhere, seeing giant scissors hanging on one of the shops, next to it they saw a robes shop titled 'Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions', they even saw a post office, and outside of it were different owls and bats on showcase. What caught Jacob's eye was a bookstore called 'Flourish and Blotts', seeing several books by the window. Ever since he began to read a lot in the library during his younger years, he'd took on a habit of becoming a really good student who liked to learn and study new things.

Harry was looking to their right and saw a large store, which had a group of children staring through the window and leaning against it staring at a broomstick, which also caught his brother's eye.

"It's a world-class racing broom." One of the boys said.

"Wow, look at it! The new Nimbus 2000!" Another boy said.

"It's the fastest model yet." A third boys said.

The trio passed the store, all the while the twins kept looking at the broomstick with amazement. 

"But Hagrid, how are we to pay for all this? We haven't any money." Harry commented.

"If we had any money, i think we'd gotten clothes that actually fit us." Jacob then said.

"Well, there's yer money, boys. Gringotts, the wizard bank." Hagrid said, gesturing towards a towering, snow-white building ahead. "There ain't no safer place, boys. Not one. 'Cept perhaps Hogwarts."

The trio walked inside the bank, which was filled with desks, all similar in shapes and sizes, as well as decorations on top. Around the room walked small creatures, smaller even than the twins, carrying gold on small carriages behind them or counting the gold down, or even looking through letters. The creatures had pointy ears and noses and long fingers.

"Um, Hagrid, what exactly are these things?" Harry asked, as he and Jacob nervously looked around at the creatures.

"They're goblins, Harry." Hagrid replied. "Clever as they come goblins, but they're not the most friendly of beasts. Best stay close."

"I'll take your word for it." Jacob replied, as he and Harry inched closer to Hagrid.

At the end of the hall was one singular desk, larger than the rest of the desks. On the desk sat a goblin who was writing down on a book with his quill. Hagrid cleared his throat, which got the Goblin's attention.

"Mornin'. Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Jacob Potter wishes to make a withdrawal." Hagrid told the Goblin.

Putting his quill down, the goblin leaned over the table to get a look at the twins. "Ah. And do Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Jacob Potter have their keys?" He asked.

Hagrid glanced at the twins before remembering where the keys were. "Oh, wait a minute. Got them 'ere somewhere."

Hagrid began rifling through his pockets, while the goblin turned disfavorably to him, sitting back on his chair.

"Ha! There's the li'l devils." Hagrid held up two keys, placing them on the desk before he leaned in closer. "Oh and there's something else as well." Hagrid pulled out a letter next. "Professor Dumbledore gave me this." He handed goblin the letter, whichwas listed as 'Top Secret'. "It's about You-Know-What in vault you-know-which."

The boys heard little about what Hagrid said, but were left confused, while glancing at each other.

"Very well." The head goblin said. "I'll have Griphook take you."

Hagrid gave the goblin a nod at this.

Later, the twins and Hagrid were sitting down on a small cart which was moving down a stone passageway lit with flaming torches. The cart was driven by another goblin named Griphook, a swarthy, slit-eyed Goblin, when the cart came whistling to a halt before a small door in the large vault.

"Vault Six Hundred Eighty Seven." Griphook announced to the three passengers. Getting off the cart, Griphook turned back to Hagrid. "Lamp, please."

Hagrid took hold of a lamp behind him and gave it to Griphook, who then walked to the vault they were at, while Hagrid and the twins got off the cart themselves.

"Key, please." 

Taking back the lamp, Hagrid gave Griphook the key to Harry's vault, as John and Harry had their own separate vaults. Opening a small hole, Griphook inserted the key into the lock and opened it. Hagrid then takes hold of the handle and opens the vault. When it was open, the twins' eyes widened in shock and were left speechless, as it was revealed that the vault was filled with great glittering pyramids of coin.

"Did' think yer mom and dad would leave yeh with nothin', now did ya?" Hagrid told the twins, then looked at Jacob. "Your vault is right next to Harry's, Jacob. And it 'as the same 'mount of money."

Jacob couldn't believe his eyes. He and his brother had actual money, and he asked in his mind 'Were our parents rich or something?' Now he knew getting everything necessary for the school wasn't a problem, and he knew he could buy few other things.

Few minutes later, the group was making it further into the vault, to the vault Hagrid had business in, while another cart carrying two goblins passed them by.

"Vault Seven Hundred Thirteen." Griphook announced.

"What's in there, Hagrid?" Harry asked.

"Something important?" Jacob added in.

"Can't tell yeh, boys. Hogwarts business. Very secret." Hagrid told them.

"So it is important." Jacob whispers to Harry, with the two chuckling quietly.

"Stand back." Griphook told the trio, who stepped behind the goblin while standing in front of the vault door.

Lifting his finger, Griphook touches the door with no keyhole with his pointy nail, which he then begins to lower closer to the ground while keeping finger in contact with the door, opening the lock.

"Anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door." Hagrid explained.

"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Jacob asked curiously.

"About once every ten years."

Once the vault door opened, the twins peered inside it, where they saw a grubby little package, leaving them confused. Hagrid stepped into the vault and took the package, stepping back to the twins. Glancing at them, he slipped the package into his chest pocket.

"Best not ter mention this to anyone, boys."

The boys glance at the item, then at each other before turning back to Hagrid and nodding their heads.

Later that day, the twins and Hagrid exited the Apothecary, each carrying several packages of school items the boys need. Jacob ended up spending a lot of time at 'Flourish and Blotts', going through other books besides the needed school books. One of the books Jacob picked was Hogwarts: A History, as he was interested in learning the history of the school he was about to go to. While Harry made fun of Jacob for going through so many books, he was genuinely glad to see his younger brother this excited about something.

"We still need... wands." Jacob said, studying his list in his hand again.

"Wands? Well, you want Ollivander's, there ain't no place better." Hagrid said, pointing towards a shop named 'Ollivander's', and on the sign that read: 'Makers of Fine Wands since 384 B.C'. "Why don't you run along there and wait. I got one more thing i've got to do, i won't be long." 

Hagrid then left to do whatever it was he needed to do, while the twins looked at the sign of the shop before walking into Ollivanders. The bell rang when the twins opened the door, and began to look around. The shop was very narrow, and there were thousands of slender boxes stacked up to the ceiling. The brothers set the packages they brought with them on the nearby shelf before approaching the desk.

"Hello?" Harry softly called out.

"Hellooooo?" Jacob called out with a slightly longer hello, while trying to get a good look at the second floor.

The brothers looked at each other before getting to the table. "Hello?" The boys called together a little louder.

A sound of a ladder sliding on the floor suddenly came from the right side of the shop near the table, which startled the twins little. Holding onto the ladder was a pale old man with white hair and eyes like silver moon, Ollivander. 

"I wondered when i'd be seeing you, Mr. Potters." Ollivander said smiling. Climbing down the ladder, he turned to the boxes and started searching. "It seems only yesterday that your mother and father were in here buying their first wands." 

Finding a right box, Ollivander muttered "Ah." before pulling the box out. "Here we are." He walked to the other end of the desk while opening the box, then pulled the wand out of it.

"You go and get your wand first." Jacob said to Harry.

"Thanks." Harry replied smiling.

Ollivander extended the wand to Harry, who took it. Looking briefly at the wand, Harry then glanced up to Ollivander.

"Well, give it a wave." Ollivander told Harry.

Feeling a bit stupid, Harry waved the wand to his right, which caused a bunch of wand boxes to start flying out of the shelves, scaring the twins a little. When they stopped, Harry put the wand back on the table, while Jacob moved his eyes back and forth between Harry and the boxes in shock.

Ollivander glanced at the flying boxes. "No. Apparently not."

Looking up to the boxes in the second floor, Ollivander lifted his finger up before walking to the steps and pulled out another small box. Walking down the steps, he opened it.

"Perhaps... this." 

Ollivander handed Harry the new wand. Harry took the wand slowly, and once again waved it. This time, he caused a crystal vase of black roses to shatter, spooking the twins again.

"No. No. Definitely not. No matter. After all... it's the wand that chooses the wizard."

Ollivander walked down the stairs and made his way to the back of the shop, while Harry slowly placed the wand on the table. Jacob was chuckling in the back while trying to cover his mouth with his hand. Harry looked at his brother with a raised eyebrow, causing Jacob to raise his free hand up.

"Sorry, sorry." Jacob said, managing to stop laughing but keeping the smile up. "Didn't think wands could be picky."

Harry simply shrugged his shoulders, while he chuckled a little. Meanwhile in the back of the shop, Ollivander was taking a box and sliding it out of it's place, though he stopped for a second and started thinking.

"I wonder..." Ollivander whispered, eyebrow raised.

The brothers tried to see what the shop keeper was doing, before Ollivander turned around and walked back to the brothers, opening the box at the same time and taking the wand out. Walking over the table and placing the box on it, Ollivander stood in front of Harry and handed him his third wand, which's length looked to be 11". Harry took the wand in his hand...

As soon as Harry had a hold onto the wand, the wind started to pick up around the shop and his hair feathered off his forehead, while Harry felt the power of the wand surge through him. Jacob was surprised and looked all over the shop to see the wind blow slightly and the lights on the lamps flicker. Ollivander was doing the same, before the breeze died down, with the shop returning to it's eerie calm.

"Curious. Very curious..." Ollivander said, glancing around the shop.

"Sorry, but what's curious?" Harry managed to ask.

"Yeah, doesn't the wand holding work like that?" Jacob then asked.

"I remember every wand i've ever sold, Mr. Potters." Ollivander said, slipping the wand from Harry's fingers. "It so happens, that the phoenix, whose tail feather resides in your wand, gave another feather. Just one other. It is curious that you should be destined for this wand, when it's brother..." His eyes shifted to the twin's scars, and he pointed at them. "... gave you those scars."

The twins' eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"And who owned that wand?" Jacob asked.

Ollivander looked surprised. "We do not speak his name. As i said, the wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter. It is not always clear why. But, i think it is clear..." Ollivander leaned closer to the twins. "... that we can expect great things from you two. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things. Terrible, yes. But great." He handed Harry his wand back before turning to Jaob. "Now, i believe you still need a wand, Mr. Potter."

Jacob, who had been laser focused on what Ollivander had been saying, shook his head. "Y-yes, sir." He smiled.

Ollivander turned back to the wand boxes and started to search once more on the back. Shortly, he came back with a box, and pulled a wand from it.

"Let's try this one." Ollivander said, giving the wand to John.

Jacob took the wand, before he gave it a firm wave. However, this time he got shocked on his wand-hand.

"Ouch!" Jacob yelped and dropped the wand.

"No, not at all." Ollivander said, going back to search again.

Harry started chuckling silently, while Jacob picked the wand up and placed it on the desk. He then turned back to Harry, who was still chuckling, and rolled his eyes at him.

"Hardy-har. I got the taste of my own medicine, i know." Jacob said sarcastically.

While harry stopped chuckling, the brothers smiled at each other, and gave each other their traditional fist pump.

Ollivander then came back with a new box. Opening it, he pulled out a new wand, which had the length of 12 ¾", and gave it to Jacob. Jacob didn't even have time to wave before he, just like Harry earlier, felt power surge through him.

"Yes. We've found you a right wand, Mr. Potter." Ollivander said smiling. "Elm wood, with a Dragon heartstring as a core, and quite bendy flexibility. May it serve you well, Mr. Potter."

The brothers smiled at each other and Ollivander walked to the back of the ship. Just then, the twins heard someone knocking on the window.

"Boys. Boys!" They turned to the window and saw Hagrid outside, looking towards them and smiling. "Happy birthday."

The twins looked down and saw Hagrid carrying a cage in one hand that held a snow white owl inside it. Harry was surprised at this. Meanwhile, Jacob was looking at another thing Hagrid had brought with a growing smile. There was another cage in his other hand, this time a cat cage, and peaking out of it was a cute looking female cat with gray fur and black stripes, which tilted it's head sideways.

Exiting out of the shop, Jacob and Harry joined Hagrid before they started looking at the owl and the cat.

"For us?... Really?... They're ours?..." Harry asked excitedly.

"Crikey, yeh'd think yeh hadn't gotten a birthday present before." Hagrid said.

"We haven't. Not really." Jacob replied.

Jacob then offered his hand for the cat. Sniffing at it curiously for a second, the cat started licking the boys hand, causing Jacob's smile to widen.

Later, the twins and Hagrid were back at the Leaky Cauldron, sitting by a large chair and eating food. Well, Hagrid was dipping his spoon into a huge bowl of soup, while the twins sat quietly, barely taking in any of their food.

"You all right, boys? Yer both seem very quiet." Hagrid said, after noticing the boys hadn't said much.

"He killed our parents, didn't he? The one who gave us these." Jacob asked, pointing to his scar.

This got Hagrid to stop eating, and he glanced at the twins uncomfortably.

"You know, Hagrid. We know you do." Harry said knowingly.

Hagrid studied the boys, looking conflicted, before he sighted, and set down his spoon and moved the bowl away, facing the twins fully.

"'Course i know, boys. 'Course i do." Hagrid said. "Who do yeh suppose it was that carried yeh out o' yer parents' house Halloween night ten years ago? Who do yeh think brought yeh ter Dumbledore an' watched him lay yeh on yer aunt an' uncle's doorstep? 'Course i know, boys." 

Hagrid leaned a little closer towards the twins. 

"Firs', and un'erstand this, boys, 'cause it's very important: Not all wizards are good. Some of them go bad. A few years ago, there was a wizard who went as bad as you can go. And his name was V--" Hagrid suddenly stopped, struggling to say the name. Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "His name was V--"

"You don't have to say it if you don't want to." Jacob said, noting the difficulty Hagrid had of saying it.

"Maybe if you wrote it down." Harry added, while Jacob nodded.

"Nah--i can' spell it." Relenting, Hagrid sighted. "All right..." He whispered the name. "...Voldemort."

"Voldemort?" The twins asked together, slightly loud.

Hagrid shivered and held up his hand, shushing at the boys. The twins glanced to the back of the pub before turning back to Hagrid.

"It was dark times, boys. Dark times." Hagrid said. "Voldemort started to gather some followers, brought them over to the Dark Side. Anyone that stood up to him, ended up dead. Yer parents fought against him. But nobody lived once he decided to kill 'em. Nobody, not one. 'Cept you two."

The twins' eyes were wide in shock, as Hagrid finished telling the story.

"We? Voldemort tried to kill us?" Harry asked.

"Yes. Now those ain't no ord'nary cuts on your foreheads, boys. A mark like that only comes from being touched by a curse, an evil curse at that."

Just then, a high, cackling voice pierced the silence in the pub. The twins turned to see an old woman laughing with the gummy bartender before turning back to Hagrid again.

"What happened to Vol...?" Jacob started saying, before stopping. "... to You-Know-Who?"

"Well, some say he died." Hagrid replied. However, he shook his head, looking up. "Codswallop, in my opinion. Nope, i reckon he's out there still, too tired to carry on." He returned his gaze to the twins. "But one thing's absolutely certain. Somethin' about you two stumped him that night. That's why you're famous. That's why e'rybody knows yer names."

The brothers glanced at each other before looking at Hagrid again, while Hagrid leaned closer, this time his voice was barely a whisper.

"You're the boys who lived."

The twins cast their eyes down, now with the knowledge of what had happened to their parents, but sad that they had been murdered.

Chapter Text

On September 1st, the Potter twins and Hagrid were walking on a bridge connecting the King's Cross train station. The twins had all of their school belongings on trolleys, with pushing their own trolley while Hagrid was walking next to them. Their pet animals were inside their cages, and the twins had already decided to name them. Harry named his owl Hedwig, while Jacob named his cat Millie.

"What are you looking at?" Hagrid asked a couple that was passing them, who were glancing up  at the giant. He then pulled out his watch, suddenly looking urgent. "Blimey, is that the time? Sorry, boys, i'm gonna 'ave ter leave yeh. Dumbledore will be wantin' his --"

Hagrid patted his left chest pocket, before catching himself. 

"... Well, he'll be wantin' ter see me. Now, um, your train leaves in 10 minutes. Here's yer tickets." He gave Jacob and Harry their separate train tickets. "Stick ter them, boys, that's very important, stick ter yeh tickets."

The boys started looking over their tickets, which read:

London to Hogwarts

for ONE WAY travel

Platform 9¾

And the tickets had a seal what the twins assumed to be Hogwarts' seal.

"Platform Nine and Three-Quarters?" The twins questioned at the same time.

"But Hagrid, there must be a mistake. This says Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. There's no such thing, is there?" Harry asked, looking up towards Hagrid.

"Unless there's a secret tunnel to a train we don't know about, this has to have been some kind of mistake." Jacob said, inspecting his ticket and turning it around. "Also, is that gold on the ticket?"

"Jacob?"

"Yeah?"

"Hagrid's gone."

Jacob stopped inspecting his ticket in surprise. "What?" 

Jacob turned to his right, and widened his eyes when he saw his brother was staring at an empty spot. Hagrid was gone. The boys looked around the bridge, seeing him nowhere in sight.

Jacob and Harry were making their way to the platforms, trying to find the one that was supposed to take them to Hogwarts. They kept going through platforms nine and ten, looking over the signs, when a dark-skinned man in a business suit rushed past the twins.

"Sorry." The man apologized, and ran ahead.

The boys then saw a station guard in front of them, who was helping a woman and her baby. "Excuse me. Excuse me." Harry called, approaching the guard. 

"On your left." The guard pointed to the woman's left, before turning to Harry as the woman left.

"Excuse me, sir. Can you tell me where me and my brother might find Platform Nine and Three-Quarters?"

"Oh boy." Jacob muttered, realizing what Harry was doing probably wasn't going to work.

"Nine and Three-Quarters? Think you're being funny, do you?" The guard asked, before grumbling off.

Jacob leaned closer to Harry and started whispering. "I don't think anybody other than a wizard can help us find the platform, big brother."

"Well it was worth the shot." Harry said back.

The brothers rolled their eyes at each other before they started to chuckle, when they heard...

"It's the same every year, packed with Muggles, of course. Come on." A woman's voice said.

The twins turned to Platform Ten and saw a plump woman hurrying along with four red-headed boys and their little, red-headed sister. The boys were all towing trunks identical to the twins'.

"Muggles?" The brothers questioned.

Jacob nodded his head towards the family, telling Harry they should follow them, with Harry nodding along.

"Platform Nine and Thee-Quarters, this way." The mother of the family, Molly Weasley, said.

The twins followed the red-haired family closely from behind, seeing the family coming to a stop between two dividing barriers between Platforms Nine and Ten.

"All right, Percy, you first." Mrs. Weasley said.

The twins watched the tallest boy walking in front of the barrier, before he started dashing towards it... going through it. Jacob and Harry widened their eyes in confusion, glancing around and seeing that nobody saw what happened. Next, Mrs. Weasley turned to a pair of cheeky-looking identical twins.

"Fred. You next."

"He's not Fred, i am." The brother on the right side protested.

"Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother?" The brother on the left side asked.

"Oh, i'm sorry, George." Mrs. Weasley apologised, waving to the boy.

'George' then walked towards the barrier, before he stopped and turned to his mother cheekily. "I'm only joking. I am Fred."

Quickly, Fred dashed off through the barrier, with George dashing right behind him, both vanishing. In the back, Jacob and Harry shook their heads.

"Excuse us." Harry called, approaching the family with Jacob, drawing the family's attention to the boys. He nodded to the barrier. "Could -- Could you tell us how to?..."

"How to get onto the platform?" Mrs. Weasley asked, getting a nod from the twins. "Not to worry, dears. It's Ron's first time to Hogwarts as well." 

Mrs. Weasley pointed to her youngest red-haired boy. He was tall and gangly, and he nodded to the twins, who nodded back to him.

"Now, all you've got to do is walk straight at the wall between Platforms Nine and Ten. Focus... but don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it either. Best to do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous."

"Good luck." The young girl, Ginny, said to the twins.

"I can go first." Jacob offered, before leaning closer to whisper to Harry. "If i break my bones, give me a nice funeral."

"Go on." Harry said, pushing his brother forward a bit.

Shrugging, Jacob moved to stand in front of the barrier. Taking a deep breath, he slowly started to sprint at full force, the barrier coming closer and closer. He closed his eyes at the last second and...

Running through the barrier, Jacob sled onto a different platform, opening his eyes in relief and glancing back at the barrier. He then moved to the side, when Harry came dashing sprinting through, his eyes also closed before he opened them in relief.

"I almost thought i was going to hit the wall." Harry said with a heavy breath.

"Me too." Jacob said, before he smiled and gave his brother a fist pump, which Harry returned. "Looks like you won't be giving me that funeral."

Harry shook his head. "You just had to joke about something like that."

Jacob shrugged his shoulders. "Couldn't help it. You know i always try to level my nervousness with a joke."

The brothers started to push their trolleys away from the barrier, seeing the new platform fully. They saw the platform milling with people, along with a scarlet steam engine of a train, causing them to start smiling. They saw the name of the train, 'HOGWARTS EXPRESS' on it, and above it was a sign, which read PLATFORM NINE AND THREE-QUARTERS.

Seconds later, Jacob and Harry were struggling with their heavy trunks, while all around them people were saying goodbye to their families.

"Gran! I've lost my toad again." A round-faced boy said, turning to his grandmother.

"Oh, Neville. Honestly. Not again..." The old woman said.

Further up, a dark-skinned boy in dreadlocks was holding a box.

"Go on, Lee. Give us a look." One student said.

As the boy named Lee Jordan lifted the lid, a long hairy leg produted from inside and students around him shrieked. Unimpressed, one of the Weasley twins spotted Jacob and Harry.

"Want a hand?" George asked the twins.

"Yes, please." The twins replied.

"Oy! C'mere, Fred! Take the other handle."

Few seconds later, Fred and George were heaving the younger twins' trunks atop other, similar looking trunks while Jacob set Millie with the cats and Harry set Hedwig with the owls. Harry ended up wiping his sweaty hair off his brow, revealing his scar.

"Thanks very much." Harry said to the twins.

The Weasley twins looked shocked when they saw the scar. "Blimey. You're..." George said.

"Harry Potter." Fred said, then looked at Jacob. "Then you're Jacob Potter."

"What?" The twins asked, glancing at each other.

"Oh, them. Yes. I mean, we are." Jacob managed to reply.

"Fred! George! Come say goodbye to Ginny." Mrs. Weasley suddenly shouted from further back.

Mrs. Weasley was waving at her sons, with Ginny clinging to her dress. After the Weasley twins took one last look at the Potter twins, they dashed off to their mother, while Jacob and Harry entered the train.

Seconds later inside the train, Jacob and Harry exited the crush of the aisle and entered an empty compartment. Sitting down in each others company, the twins peered out the window as Percy Weasley was striding forth in black robes.

"Have to go, Mother. The other Prefects are expecting me up front." Percy said.

"Mum! Guess who's on the train? Right now." Fred said.

"Harry and Jacob Potter!" Fred and George said together.

"Oh, Mum, can i go see them? Please." Ginny said excitedly.

"Certainly not. The boys aren't something you goggle at in a zoo." Mrs. Weasley said, when the Hogwarts Express' whistle started blowing. "All right, on you go, all of you." She looked to her youngest son. "Ron, what is that on your nose?"

Mrs. Weasley tried to take a handkerchief, but Ron spun away. She sighted, calling after the twins. 

"You two watch out for your brother. And behave yourselves this year. If i get one more owl telling me you've blown up a toilet or something --"

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet." Fred said.

"Great idea, though. Thanks, Mum!" George said.

Moments later, as the train moved out of the station, Ginny was chasing after it. Harry watched her from his window until she dropped back. With that, King's Cross, and the life the twins had known, drifted away.

Sometime later, the train was making it's way to Hogwarts, whipping past fields, while inside one of the compartments, the Potter twins were sitting quietly, with Harry looking at the scenery while Jacob was reading one of his books, Hogwarts. A History.

"Excuse me." The twins heard a hesitating voice calling from the doorway. Turning to it, the twins saw Ron from the station looking at them. "Do you mind? Everywhere else is full."

"Not at all." The twins said together, pointing at the empty seat in front of them.

Ron smiled and entered the compartment, sitting across from the twins. "I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley." He introduced himself.

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter." Harry introduced himself, then pointed to Jacob. "This is my little brother, Jacob."

"Hello." Jacob greeted, waving his hand.

Ron's eyes widened in surprise. "So it's true!" Ron said. He was unable to resist asking the twins something. "I mean, do you really have the... the..." He was pointing at his own forehead.

"The what?"

Ron leaned in, whispering. "The scars."

"Oh, yeah." The twins said and lifted their hairs up, showing their scars to Ron.

"Wicked!"

Chuckling slightly, the twins let their hair fall back down. "Are all your family wizards?" Harry asked Ron.

"Huh? Oh. I think so. Well, Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant. But we never talk about him. I heard you two went to live with Muggles. What are they like?"

"Horrible." Jacob said, before correcting himself. "Well, not all of them. Ours are, though. Trade them for three wizard brothers any day."

"Five. I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others. But if i do, it's no big deal because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes. Charlie's old wand. Even Scabbers used to be Percy's..."

Ron reached into his pocket, pulling out a fat, gray and seemingly unconcious rat.

"Hardly ever wakes up. He's useless basically. Percy got an owl for making Prefect, but Mum and Dad couldn't afford-- I mean, i got Scabbers instead." 

Ron was looking embarrassed by this. Just then, a dimpled woman came to the compartment, pushing a trolley with many different delicacies on it.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" The woman asked the boys.

"No thanks. I'm all set." Ron mumbled, showing a lumpy sandwitch before putting it down.

The twins were studying Ron, before glancing at each other and nodding slightly. Harry started to dig into his pockets, which were heavy with coins.

"We'll take the lot." Harry said to to the trolley lady.

He took out several gold coins from his pocket he and John had already pocketed.

"Whoa." Ron said amazed, looking at the coins.

Later that day, the brothers and Ron were enjoying the sweets the twins had gotten from the trolley lady. They had switched places a little bit, with Harry sitting in the same spot, while Ron was now sitting on the same seat as Harry with sweets in between them, and Jacob was sitting across from Ron. Scabbers was sitting on Ron's lap, it's head inside one of the bean boxes.

"'Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?'" Harry asked, marveling at the strange, wondrous candies in his hand.

"They mean every flavor." Ron replied, taking a bite from a realistic looking leg-candy. "There's chocolate and peppermint, and there's also spinach, liver and tripe."

The twins looked disgusted at what they heard, especially Jacob, who couldn't imagine what a liver-flavored bean would taste like.

"I never wanna taste those types of beans." Jacob said, trying not to gag at the thought while having a bean in his mouth.

"George sweared he got a booger-flavored one once."

This caused Harry to take the bean he was chewing out and put it away. Jacob thought of doing the same, but decided to power it down.

Jacob then reached for a package that said 'Chocolate frog'. "These aren't real frogs, are they? Never was a fan of frog's after what happened at our old school." He said.

"It's just a spell. Besides, it's the cards you want. Each pack's got a famous witch or wizard. I've got about 500 or so meself."

Jacob opened his package and inside of it was a chocolate frog. Letting out a croak, the frog jumped off the pack into the window, causing the boys to turn to it.

"Watch it!"

The frog climped up the open window, before it jumped out of the compartment.

"That's rotten luck. They've only got one good jump in them to begin with."

Jacob then glanced at the card in his hand. On it was a man with a long silver beard, and a half-moon glasses. Underneath the picture read his name, Albus Dumbledore.

"I've gotten Dumbledore!" Jacob said.

"Wow, you got so lucky." Harry said, feeling slightly jealous.

"I've got about six of him. Trade you Scabbers though, if you get Agrippa or Ptolemy..." Ron said.

Turning back to the card, Jacob turned it around and started reading the text on the back outloud. "'Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern time, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for his discovery of the 12 uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas. Approximately one hundred and fifty years old, Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music, tenpin bowling, and--'"

Jacob and Harry looked at Ron surprised. "One hundred and fifty years old?" They asked together.

"Thought he'd be older, did you?" Ron asked.

"No-- I --" Jacob said, looking at the card again, only to see it was now blank. "Hey, he's gone!"

"He can leave the card?" Harry asked.

"Well, you can't expect him ro hang around all day, can you?" Ron asked.

"It's just, in the Muggle world, people stay put in photos."

"Really? They don't move at all? Weird!" Just then, Scabbers, who still had it's head in a box, snorted before it fell back asleep. "Pathetic, isn't he?"

"Just a little bit." The twins replied together.

"Fred gave me a spell to turn him yellow. Want to see?"

"Yeah." Harry said eagerly, nodding.

"Of course." Jacob said next, equally eager to see magic.

Ron pulled out a battered wand from his robes. Clearing his throat against his fist, he was about to start chanting, when a girl with a bushy brown hair came into the compartment. She was already wearing her school robes and looked to be around the same age as the boys. The boys turned towards her, seeing her looking for something.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost his." The girl asked.

"No." Ron said, shrugging his shoulders, seemingly not pleased at being interrupted.

"No, sorry. Unless you count a chocolate frog that jumped out the window a while ago." Jacob said, jokingly.

The girl slightly laughed at Jacob's joke, when she saw Ron's wand. "Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see, then." She said.

Ron cleared his throat against his fist again. "Sunsine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." He chanted, poising his wand at Scabbers.

But while a light came out of the pack, the pack flew out, and Scabbers remained fat and grey, though it did wake up.

"Um..." Jacob mumbled, looking at Ron with a raised eyebrow.

Ron in return shrugged his shoulders at the twins, while Harry did the same.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" The girl asked, before she laughed slightly. "Well, it's not very good is it?"

"Yeah, i don't remember seeing any spells like that when i was going through the books, mate." Jacob said, with a small smirk. "I think your brother played a prank on you."

Ron turned towards Harry and nodded his head towards Jacob and the girl, though mostly at the girl, while Harry only glanced between all three of them.

"Of course, i've only tried a few simple ones myself, but they've all worked for me." The girl said, pulled out her wand and entered the compartment, sitting across from Harry. "For example..."

To Harry's surprise, the girl pointed her wand at Harry's face, his eyes widening, while Jacob looked on with interest.

"Oculus Reparo."

Instantly, the tape that was holding Harry's glasses together was removed, and the cracked bridge was mended.

"Cool." Jacob muttered, amazed.

Ron, who was eating a small cake, turned to look at the glasses, and widened his eyes in surprise.

"That's better, isn't it?" The girl asked.

Harry took his glasses of, looking surprised at them and turned towards his brother and Ron, before he put them back on. Suddenly, the girl noticed the scar on Harry's forehead.

"Holy cricket. You're Harry Potter!" She then turned towards Jacob. "Which means, you must be Jacob Potter, correct?"

"Y-Yes, i am." Jacob replied, taken aback slightly.

"I know all about you two, of course. I was doing a little recreational reading and you're in Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the 20th Century."

"We are?" The twins asked.

"Didn't you know? I'd have found out everything i could if it was me. I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione finally introduced herself, before she turned to Ron. "And you are...?"

"I'm... Ron Weasley." Ron introduced himself, though it sounded more muttering with all the sweets in his mouth.

Hermione looked slightly disgusted. "Pleasure. Do any of you know what house you'll be in? I'm hoping for Gryffindor -- I hear Dumbledore himself was in it -- but i think i might just die if they put me in Slytherin. That was You-Know-Who's house." Before the boys could answer, Hermione continued to talk. "Anyway, you three better change into robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon."

Harry glanced down at his oversized clothes, while Jacob seemed excited.

"We're almost there already? This is gonna be exciting." Jacob said.

Hermione got up from the seat, about to exit the compartment, before she stopped and turned towards Ron. "You've got dirt on your nose, by the way. Did you know? Just there." She said, pointing her finger to the right side of her nose.

Ron started rubbing his nose, thought the dirt didn't leave. With that, Hermione exited the compartment, leaving the boys staring at the door before they exchanged looks.

"Well, she seemed interesting." Jacob commented.

Chapter Text

That night, Hogwarts Express finally arrived to the Hogshead station. Hagrid was walking towards the train holding a giant lap, as he was coming to escort the first year students to the castle.

"Right, then! Firs' years, this way, please! Come on, now, firs' years, don't be shy! Come on now, hurry up!" Hagrid started calling, waving his hand.

The students started exiting the train, with an older student holding a door open for younger students. Harry came out of the train first, followed by Ron, and then by Jacob, with Hermione tagging along with the boys. Dressed in their robes, the twins' robes were shimmering gladly, while Ron's secondhand silks showed a bit too much sneaker. Jacob and Hermione were conversing with each other while following Harry and Ron, who were walking towards Hagrid.

"Hello, Harry."

"Hi, Hagrid." Harry greeted back.

"Whoa." Ron said dumbstruck at Hagrid's size.

Hagrid then looked down at Jacob. "Hello, Jacob." He greeted.

"Hello, Hagrid." Jacob greeted back.

"He's huge." Hermione muttered, surprised at Hagrid's size.

Jacob leaned closer to Hermione and whispered. "That's what i thought too when we met him."

"Right, then, this way to the boats! Come on now, follow me!" Hagrid said to the first year students, then started to walking towards a nearby lake, with the students following him.

Moments later, a fleet of tiny boats was gliding silently over a glassy water, which were all equipped with lamps and Hagrid was on the front boat. Jacob and Harry were riding with Ron and two other kids, while Hermione was on a different boat, and the twins were gazing at the dark trees of a forest that was surrounding them. Jacob saw a glint of silver flickering through the black trees like a dream, causing him to be transfixed, when...

"You there!" Hagrid called to one of the boats. "Don' be trailin' yer fingers in the water. Yeh might find yeh don' get 'em all back."

Jacob and Harry turned and saw Hagrid speaking to a pointy-faced boy with blonde hair, who started eyeing Hagrid darkly before whispering to a girl with lavender eyes and brown hair with an orange patch and a pair of thick-looking boys.

Jacob started peering into the black water, seeing his own pale face looking back at him, before a soft glitter of reflected light started dancing on the surface. Looking up, Jacob watched a magnificent castle at the end of the lake drifting into the view, Hogwarts. The kids were left awestruck as they gazed upon the castle.

"Wicked." Ron muttered in amazement.

Later, the first year students entered a grand entryway inside the castle that was lit with flaming torches. The students started making their way up the stairs to the next floor, looking around the castle while chatting in small groups. Reaching the end of the staircase, the students were met by Professor McGonagall, a rather severe-looking witch in an emerald and a black, pointy hat, who was standing before a towering doors. She lifted her chin and started surveying the new students.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall greeted the students. "Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates, but before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."

On the railing of the staircase, the blonde boy smirked as he nodded to the orange-patched girl next to him, while she returned the smirk and the nod.

"While you're here, your House will be like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points. Any rule-breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded with a house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you..."

Meanwhile, a rather large toad was croaking on the end of the staircase.

"Trevor!" The round-faced boy, Neville Longbottom, cried blisfully and relieved.

Neville ran towards Trevor and crouched down, gathering the toad in his palms. Neville then peered up at Professor McGonagall, who was glowering down at him, while some of the students were laughing amused at him.

"Sorry." Neville got up and awkwardly walked back to the student group.

"... will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily."

Professor McGonagall then exited, walking through the towering doors. As she left, there was a brief clamor of sounds coming from the students who were waiting in the Great Hall beyond.

"How exactly do they sort us?" Harry asked Ron.

"Some kind of test, i think. Fred says it hurts like hell, but i'm sure he was joking. At least... i think." Ron answered.

Jacob and Hermione glanced at each other, both having an eyebrow raised up. They could tell Fred had played another joke on Ron.

"It's true then, what they were saying on the train." The blonde haired boy said while staring at the twins, getting everyone's attention. "Harry and Jacob Potter have come to Hogwarts."

The students started to whisper amongst each other, with Neville whispering "Harry and Jacob Potter?" to a boy next to him. Jacob and Harry's eyes started sliding, appraising the girl and the two other boys with the blonde boy.

"Oh. This is Snyde, Crabbe and Goyle. And i'm Malfoy." The boy walked to stand in front of the twins, staring openly at their scars. "Draco Malfoy."

Ron coughed at this, making a snigger, which caused Malfoy's eyes to narrow at him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? I've no need to ask yours." Ron started looking uneasy as Malfoy was looking him over. "Red-hair, freckles and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley." Malfoy turned back to the twins. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are better than others, Potters. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort." He shot a last glare at Ron, who returned it, before facing the twins again. "I can help you there."

Malfoy extended his hand towards the twins for a shake.

However, the twins' gazes remained leveled, as Malfoy remind them of Dudley. They glanced at the hand before nodding to each other, turning their gazes back to Malfoy.

"I think we can tell the wrong sort for ourselves, thanks." Harry said.

"Yeah, we kind of have experience in that." Jacob said lastly.

Malfoy was looking slightly surprised before his eyes glittered with rage. Just then, Professor McGonagall returned, tapping Malfoy's shoulder with a parchment. Glancing back at her, Malfoy dropped his hand and, with a last glare to the twins, walked back to Snyde, Crabbe and Goyle.

"We're ready for you now. Follow me." Professor McGonagall said to the first years.

"He's rather disagreable, isn't he?" Hermione said to the boys.

Jacob, Harry and Ron turned to Hermione, with Jacob smiling towards her.

The towering doors opened, and Professor McGonagall led the first year students in a line into the Great Hall. It was a strangely splendid place lit by thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables that were lined with older students. At the other end of the hall was another table, where the teachers and the rest of the school staff was seated at.

The students started looking up at the ceiling, seeing it looking like the night sky, with glorious starts and an icy blue moon. Hermione was walking next to a girl with a long blonde hair and two thick braids over her shoulders.

"It's not a real ceiling." Hermione said to the girl. "It's just bewitched to look like the night sky. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

Jacob glanced back at Hermione, overhearing what she said. "Really? I hadn't reached that part of the book yet." He said.

Hermione shrugged her shoulders slightly, with a small smile. "I might've read it few times already."

Professor McGonagall lead the students to the end of the hall on the edge of the steps, where there was a wizard's hat, patched and frayed, sitting on a stool.

"Will you wait along here, please?" Professor McGonagall told the students, who stopped once they were standing by the steps. "Now, before we begin, Professor Dumbledore would like to say a few words."

The first year students watched with great interest as the great wizard himself stood up from his seat at the High Table.

"Yes, and here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" Dumbledore said.

The Great Hall thundered with applause, though some of the first year students looked confused.

"I hear he's a great wizard." Hermione said.

As the applause subsided, the hat suddenly twitched. At the brim of the hat, a rip opened up wide, and the hat started to talk.

"Oh, you may not think i'm pretty
But don't judge on what you see
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see
So try me on and i will tell you
Where you ought to be..."

The Sorting Hat stopped it's singing, and as the students applauded again, the Hat took a bow and Professor McGonagall stepped forward with a roll of parchment, causing the applauding to quiet down.

"When i call your name, you will come forth. I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses." Professor McGonagall said, lifting the old hat off the stool.

Some of the first year students started looking scared, not knowing which house they would end up in. Professor McGonagall began to consult her list.

"Hermione Granger!"

Hermione started feeling nervous. "Oh no. Okay, relax." She mumbled to herself, stepping forward.

"Mental, that one. I'm telling you." Ron whispered to the twins, getting a nod from Harry.

"Come on, Ron. She's just nervous." Jacob said defensively.

The boys watched Hermione sitting down on the stool, and Professor McGonagall lowered the Sorting Hat on her head.

"Ah, right then." The Hat said. It then started to give out few "Hm's" and "Ah's", before it decided. "Okay. Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindors students started cheering and, as Professor McGonagall removed the Hat off of her, Hermione jumped off the stool with a smile. Ron was looking grumpy and Harry was looking neutral, while Jacob was clapping for her. Hermione made her way to the Gryffindor table, sitting next to Percy.

"Penny Haywood!" Professor McGonagall called next.

The blonde haired girl stepped towards the stool next, sitting down as Professor McGonagall lowered the Hat on her head. The hat started thinking for a few seconds...

"Hufflepuff!" The Hat called.

The Hufflepuff students started to cheer and clap, and as Professor McGonagall removed the Hat, Penny happily ran to the table to join her new classmates. When she sat down, Penny waved happily at Hermione, who waved back with a smile.

"Draco Malfoy!" Professor McGonagall called next.

"Slytherin." Ron said quietly.

Malfoy stepped forward and sat on the stool, looking slightly nervous. But the Hat barely touched his head when...

"Slytherin!" The Hat called.

A satisfied smirk rose on Malfoy's face as as the Slytherin students started cheering. Professor McGonagall removed the Hat, and Malfoy walked to the Slytherin table.

"There's not a witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin." Ron said to the twins, who looking amazed at how well Ron got his guess right. "Draco's father was one of the first to join You-Know-Who when he got power. And one of the first to come back when he lost it."

"Susan Bones!" Professor McGonagall called next.

Susan Bones, a girl who's hair was in a long plait down her back, stepped the stool nervously, while Jacob and Harry started glancing towards the High Table. Dumbledore was watching the proceedings placidly, while they saw Professor Quirrell talking to a man with greasy black hair and sallow skin, dressed in black cloak. Slowly, as if he could feel the twins' gaze on him, the man turned to them, looking straight into John and Harry's eyes. Instantly, a sharp, hot pain shot across the twins' scars.

"Ouch!" The twins said, placing their hands on their scars.

This caused Ron to turn towards the twins. "Harry? Jacob? What is it?" He asked.

"N-nothing. Nothing, i'm fine." Harry replied, looking at the man.

"Yeah. Just an itch." Jacob said, his eyes also on the man.

The man, meanwhile, turned his eyes away from the twins back towards Professor Quirrell.

"Let's see..." The Hat continued to mutter before shouting. "I know! Hufflepuff!"

The Hufflepuff students begun to clap and cheer, and, as Professor McGonagall removed the Hat, Susan ran off to the table. Professor McGonagall looked into her parchment again. 

"Ronald Weasley!" Professor McGonagall called next.

Ron's mouth widened, and glanced at the twins before he stepped towards the stool nervously. John and Harry glanced back to the High Table, where they saw the man having returned to the conversation. Ron sat on the stool and Professor McGonagall lowered the Hat on his head.

"Ha!" the Hat suddenly said, startling Ron. "Another Weasley! I know just what to do with you. Gryffindor!"

Ron sighed in relief, while Fred and George whooped loudly and the Gryffindor students cheered. Once the Hat was removed, Ron ran to the Gryffindor table, while Jacob and Harry were clapping for him...

"Harry Potter!" Professor McGonagall called next.

Dumbledore leaned closer to see, and as Ron sat at the Gryffindor table, the older students started to whisper among each other when they heard Harry's name. Harry slowly and nervously walked towards the stool, glancing back at Jacob, who gave him a little nod. Once Harry sat down, Professor McGonagall lowered the Hat on his head.

Jacob watched as the Hat seemed to take it's time with Harry, trying to decide which House to place him in, while Harry was muttering something. After about half a minute...

"Gryffindor!" The Hat called.

Harry opened his eyes with a relieved smile and the Gryffindor students rose up and started clapping and cheering. Jacob happily clapped for his brother, while Professor McGonagall removed the Hat and Harry jumped off the stool, running to the Gryffindor table. He sat next to Ron, and shook hands with Ron's brothers who introduced themselves to him.

"Jacob Potter!" Professor McGonagall called next.

Older student again started to whisper, and Harry turned towards his brother, all the while Jacob began to slowly make his way to the stool. He was avoiding the eyes of many students who were staring at him and still whispering.

"If you will, Mr. Potter."

Finally, Jacob sat down, and Professor McGonagall lowered the hat on his head. Jacob started waiting, when the Hat started speaking.

"Hm. Difficult, very difficult, like your brother." The hat said. "Plenty of courage, i see. Quite a good mind too. There's talent, oh yes. And a thirst to prove yourself. But where to put you...?"

"Not Slytherin, not Slytherin!" Jacob started whispering, eyes closed.

"Not Slytherin, eh?" This caused Jacob open his eyes. "You want to be with your brother and friends, huh? Are you sure? You could be great, you know. It's all here, in your head. And Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that..."

Jacob again closed his eyes and started quietly saying the same thing. "Please, no. Not Slytherin. Not Slytherin."

"No? Well, if you're sure. Better be... Gryffindor!"

A roar erupted from the Gryffindor table as Jacob opened his eyes and smiled wildly, with even the Weasley twins starting to cheer "We got the Potters!" Jacob ran to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Hermione, giving Harry a fist pump while shaking hands with Ron's brothers, all welcoming him. Jacob and Harry turned towards the High Table, where Dumbledore, meeting the twins' eyes, lifted his goblet for them and nodded exchanging a slight nods to him, the twins sat down.

Later following the Sorting Ceremony, the students were making noise while conversing amongst each other, when Professor McGonagall, who was sitting next to Dumbledore on the High Table, tapped her glass to get the students attention.

"Your attention, please." Professor McGonagall called.

As the Great Hall quieted down, Dumbledore rose from his seat again. "Let the feast begin!" He said, raising his hands slightly.

Suddenly, freshly sorted and seated, the first year students watched in amazement as the empty plates before them suddenly... were filled with food. Jacob and Harry were amazed while letting out a "Wow!", as there was roast beef, chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausages, bacon, steak -- the feast of all feasts. The students started to eat, with Ron eating two chicken legs with both hands, stuffing his mouth. A rather wild-looking boy named Seamus Finnigan was talking with Neville and a dark-skinned boy, Dean Thomas.

"I'm half and half. Me dad's a Muggle, Mam's a witch. Bit of a nasty shock for him when he found out." Seamus said with an Irish accent.

Jacob was sitting between Hermione and Harry, and as Percy leaned over to pour a strange liquid into Harry's goblet, Harry nodded towards the High Table, to the greasy-haired man.

"Say, Percy. Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" Harry asked.

"Hm? Oh. That's Professor Snape. Head of Slytherin house." Percy answered.

"What's he teach?" Jacob asked next.

"Potions. But everyone knows it's the Dark Arts he fancies. He's been after Quirrell's job for years." 

As Percy returned to his food, the twins shot a last glance at Snape. Ron, meanwhile, was about to grab another chicken leg after finishing one, when he suddenly shrieked as a ghostly head poked through the table, looking over the new students.

"Ah! Hello! How are you? Welcome to Gryffindor." The ghost said.

Then, more ghosts started flowting through the walls into the hall. One ghost, named Fat Friar, came through the floor while making ghostly noises and wawing his arms around. Another, horrific blood-stained ghost came flying through a wall, swinging his sword while flying over Slytherin table, laughing.

"Look, it's the Bloody Baron!" One of the Slytherin students said.

All the ghosts started floating around all over the hall, while some others started to talk with the older students or with other ghosts.

"Hello, Sir Nicholas. Have a nice summer?" Percy asked the ghost.

"Dismal. Once again, my request to join the Headless Hunt has been denied. What's more, with Slytherin winning the House Cup six years in a row, the Bloody Baron's become unbearable." Nicholas replied.

Nicholas nodded his head in the direction of the Slytherin table, where Bloody Baron was hovering imperiously.

"Then again, he's always been unbearable."

Nicholas started floating away from the Gryffindor table, while twisting his head around weirdly, suddenly hitting Ron with realization.

"I know you. You're Nearly Headless Nick!" Ron said.

Nick stopped and turned back to Ron. "I would prefer Sir Nicholas, if you don't mind."

"'Nearly' headless? How can you be nearly headless?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. Unless your head is... you know..." Jacob said, before he started moving his hand around his head awkwardly.

"Like this." Nick simply said.

Grabbing his hair with his right hand, Nick swung his entire head off his neck and onto his shoulder, as if it were on a hinge. Ron yelped in surprise, Hermione closed her eyes and moaned in disgust, Harry was looking uncomfortable, while Jacob covered his mouth.

"I think i'm done eating." Jacob said blancing, pushing his plate away.

Nick swung his head back in it's place and floated away from the table. Meanwhile, Dumbledore rose up at the High Table, and everyone stopped talking as they turned to him.

"If i may, i have a few start-of-term notices i wish to announce. The first years, please note that the Dark Forest is strickly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that..." Dumbledore said, pointing to the doors.

Filch, a sour-looking old man was standing by the exit, while a cat with glittering red eyes, Mrs. Norris, was sitting by his feet.

"... no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. And finally, please note this year, that the third-floor corridor on the right hand side is out of pounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you."

Hearing this, Ron stopped chewing for the first time, as he and Harry glanced at each other, while Jacob and Hermione shared their own glances. But before any of them could speak...

"And now, let us sing the school song! Everyone pick their favorite tune and off we go!"

Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes slightly as Dumbledore wielded his wand. Consulting the parchment of lyrics placed besides their tables, John, Harry and their fellow first years joined a rousing, but rather dischordant, chorus of voices.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts
Teach us things worth knowing
Bring back what we've forgot
Just do your best, we'll do the rest
And learn until our brains all rot..."

Later after the feast, the House Prefects were leading the first years to their common rooms, with Percy leading the Gryffindor first years towards Marble staircase.

"Gryffindors, follow me, please. Thank you." Percy told everyone.

"Ravenclaw, follow me. This way." The Ravenclaw Prefect lead the Ravenclaws down the stairs.

"This is the most direct path to the dormitories, except on Friday's, of course..."

Percy and the first years stopped by the staircase. Jacob, Harry, Hermione and Ron were staring in wonderment for many staircases and entrances they lead to.

"Oh, and keep an eye on the staircases. They like to change."

The first years saw many of the staircases moving around and reaching all the way to the top up the tall tower.

"Keep up, please, and follow me." Percy started walking the stairs before turning around. "Quickly now, come on. Come on."

The first years quickly followed Percy up the stairs. They were passing by many different paintings and pictures, which the kids noticed where moving.

"That picture's moving. Look at that." Ron said, pointing at a picture of a girl white dress and flowers.

"I think she fancies you." Jacob said teasingly.

This got a chuckle out of Harry, while Hermione rolled her eyes with a small smile. The girl in the white dress bowed to the first years passing by, then started waving at them.

"Look." One girl said.

"Who's that girl?" Another girl asked.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." A man in a painting who was holding a book in his hand said.

"Who's that?" A third girl asked, pointing at the man.

Walking down the 7th floor corridor, Percy continued leading the first years down the corridor, when suddenly everyone noticed a bundle of walking sticks floating in mid-air. Without warning, the walking sticks came flying forth, causing the first years to duck and dodge them, while Percy sighted in annoyance.

"Gryffindors, i give you Peeves, Hogwarts resident poltergeist." Percy introduced the perpetrator.

There was a pop, and a tiny translucent man with wicked eyes and wide mouth appeared, clutching the last walking stick. He was Peeves.

"Oooh! Ickle firsties! What fun!" Peeves said with an evil cackle.

With that, Peeves swooped off, wagging his tongue at the first years and bouncing a walking stick off Neville's head. After this, Percy continued to lead the first years down the corridor.

"Rather a nuisance, i'm afraid. Ah, here we are." Percy said.

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a woman in a pink silky dress. She was known as 'the Fat Lady'. She was looking at Percy.

"Password?" The Fat Lady asked.

"Caput Draconis."

The portrait of the Fat Lady swung forward like a door, revealing a round hole in the wall beyond it the Gryffindor Common Room. Percy walked through the hole, with the first years following.

"Follow me, everyone. Keep up. Quickly, come on."

Harry and Jacob were ahead of the group, with Hermione right behind them and the rest of the first years following along Percy stopped in the middle of the room as the students started gathering around.

"Gather around here. Welcome to the Gryffindor Common Room."

The students started looking around the common room, seeing it to be a cozy, round room, filled with squashy armchairs. At the top of a spiral staircase, were two doors.

"Boys' dormitory is upstairs to the left. Girls, the same to your right. You'll find all your belongings have already been brought up. Any question?" No one said anything. "Then, goodnight all. Oh, and don't forget. Before retiring, please place all living potion ingredients in your cupboards. This includes slugs, fire beetles and cutworms. Sweet dreams..."

Later that night, moonlight fell through the tower windows of the boys tower dormitory as Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean were sleeping. Meanwhile, Jacob and Harry, accompanied by Hedwig, were sitting down next to the window, looking outside wide awake, while Millie was sleeping on Jacob's bed. Harry was petting Hedwig on it's right cheek, and the owl closed it's eyes in enjoyment. Exchanging glances at each other, the twins smiled before they continued to look down at the scenery...

Chapter Text

The next morning, the Great Hall was filled with students who had come down for breakfast. On the Gryffindor table, Jacob and Hermione were sitting next to each other, going through their timetables after deciding to walk to the Great Hall together. 

"Say, Jacob. Do you like to read and study?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Kind of. Why do you ask?" Jacob replied.

"I noticed on the train you mentioned how you went through some of your books, so i thought you liked to read."

Jacob gave her a small nod. "Yeah. Ever since i was little, i've liked to read books, usually at the library. And at our old school i tended to be quite studious."

Hermione smiled at him. "I'm glad there is someone else besides me who is this interested to learn about magic. It was such a surprise when i got my letter, but i was so pleased, of course. I've learned all our course books by heart. I just hope it will be enough..."

Jacob tapped her on the shoulder slightly. "Believe me, with how much you know already, Hermione, i think you'll be just fine. I just hope i'll do good enough."

"Well, i'm willing to help out with anything, if you want." Just then, Hermione noticed Millie walking towards them before she jumped on Jacob's lap. "Aw, this that your kitten?"

Jacob started rubbing Millie's back, which caused her to start purring in enjoyment. "She is. This is Millie. I got her on my birthday when i visited the Diagon Alley."

"She is cute."

Hermione started scratching Millie under her chin, causing the cat to purr even more. Meanwhile, Jacob quickly decided to take an extra plate from the table, and put some sausage on it. Placing the plate next to his, he tapped it, getting Millie's attention who jumped on the table and started eating from the plate.

Just then, the blonde-haired girl Hermione had been talking with the previous day ran up to the Gryffindor table, approaching Jacob and Hermione.

"Hi, Hermione!" The girl said cheerfully.

"Hello, Penny. How is the Hufflepuff House? is it to your liking?" Hermione asked.

"It is. And the house is a lot of fun. Older students were really supportive on us the First Years." Penny then turned towards John. "Oh, right. It's nice to meet you. I'm Penny Haywood."

"Oh, hello. I'm Jacob Potter." Jacob introduced himself, lifting his hand for a shake.

Penny shook hands with John. "Yeah, i know. My Mum told me about you and your brother when i was little." She noticed Jacob's face becoming slightly uncomfortable, so she lifted her hand up reasuringly. "Hey, you don't need to worry, Jacob. I'm not going to treat you and your brother like some celebrities."

Jacob sighted and smiled at Penny gratefully. "Well, that's good to hear. Thanks, Penny."

A bit later that morning, the stairway was bustling with students as Harry and Ron were making their way around the castle. They were clearly lost, as Ron was consulting his timetable.

"This is Staircase Twelwe North, which should take us to Backward Staircases Seven-- no wait a minute, we're on Backward Staircase Seven..." Ron said.

"How many staircases are there?" Harry asked.

"One hundred fourty-four, though, in A History of Magic, Bathilda Bagshot makes unattributed to three others." Hermione's voice suddenly said.

Harry and Ron turned and watched as Hermione passed by them, followed by Jacob and Penny.

"It doesn't hurt to read every now and then." Jacob said cheekily.

"He's got a point, you know." Penny said next, giggling.

Harry and Ron watched as the trio walked on ahead, noticing that Hermione was apparently holding every single First Year course book in her arms.

"I hate her." Ron said once they were out of earshot, referring to Hermione.

As John, Hermione and Penny found the Transfiguration classroom and entered, they noticed they were the first ones there, besides a tabby cat that was sitting on the teacher's table. Jacob noticed the cat, his eyes shifting to the cat's markings around it's eyes, making him think they looked somewhat familiar.

"Where's Professor McGonagall? Wouldn't she be here early?" Hermione asked, looking around the classroom.

While Penny was also looking around the classroom, Jacob realized what was so special about the car. Smiling, he turned towards the girls.

"I think she is here, Hermione." Jacob said.

Both Hermione and Penny glanced confused at John before giving the classroom one final look.

"Don't be silly, Jacob. I don't see the Professor anywhere." Hermione said with a slightly bossy tone.

Just as the trio turned towards the desk, the cat leaped up off of it. Midway into the jump, it turned upright and transformed into Professor McGonagall herself. Hermione and Penny's mouths opened in amazement, and Jacob, while surprised he was right, felt proud.

"See?" Jacob asked, smirking.

He was rewarded for his cheek with a hit to his side by Hermione's elbow. Though she gave him a small smile. Professor McGonagall walked towards the students, looking impressed at Jacob.

"Rather astute observation, Mr. Potter. Could you perhaps tell me how you recognized me?" Professor McGonagall asked curiously.

"I read little about Animagi having some traits from when they are human. Your cat form had markings that matched your glasses, Professor." Jacob answered, pointing to his eyes.

"Very good. You have earned five points for Gryffindor for your observation, Mr. Potter. You, Miss Granger and Miss Sweeting may take your seats."

Professor McGonagall returned to her desk, while Hermione was beaming as she took the seat near the front on their right, with Erica sitting behind her. Jacob just stood in place, looking for a good seat, which Hermione noticed.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked. When Jacob turned to her, she started tapping the seat next to her. "Come sit down."

"Oh. S-Sorry. I wasn't sure if you wanted me to sit here." Jacob replied awkwardly, sitting next to her.

"Don't be silly, Jacob. I don't mind if we sit together."

A small smile rose on Jacob's face. "Well... thanks, Hermione."

Not too long after this, most of the rest of the first years started entering the classroom. But as the room was almost filled up, Jacob noticed that Harry and Ron hadn't arrived yet, leaving him to wonder where they were...

A little while later that morning, Harry and Ron were running down the hall towards Transfiguration classroom. Opening the door, they saw Jacob, Hermione and the rest of the students attentively, writing down into their books, while the tabby cat was sitting on teachers desk again. Hearing the door opening and closing, Malfoy and Snyde glanced back, as did Jacob and Hermione. Hermione then turned back, rolled her eyes and shook her head while getting back to writing down notes, while Jacob had an uneasy smile on his face. Harry and Ron ran further into the classroom, glancing around.

"Whew! We made it! Can you imagine the look on old McGonagall's face if we were late first day out..." Ron asked Harry.

Hearing this, Jacob gave himself a small facepalm, while the cat narrowed it's eyes and leaped up, transforming into old McGonagall herself. She stood in front of Harry and Ron, who's mouths had dropped open in amazement.

"That was bloody brilliant!"

"Thank you for that assessment, Mr. Weasley. Perhaps it would be more useful if i were to transfigure Mr. Potter and yourself into a pocket watch. That way one of you might be on time." Professor McGonagall said.

"We got lost." Harry replied.

"Then perhaps a map? I trust you don't need one to find your seats?"

McGonagall walked back to her desk, while Harry and Ron sat on empty seats next to them on the front row center.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex, dangerous and valuable magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Use it skillfully and it may, one day, save your life. Make a mistake and you could find yourself with a toad's head and a monkey tail." Professor McGonagall opened her textbook. "All right, then. Shall we?"

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, and whipped open their books. Jacob and Hermione also exchanged their own glances, readying themselves.

As the day went on, it was time for the students to go the Charms class with Professor Flitwick, where the students spend the entire lesson practicing wand movements for the levitation spell, which got Jacob excited.

Later was Defense Against the Dark Arts, though the kids weren't all that impressed. Quirrell's classroom smelled strongly of garlic that was apparently used to repel a vampire he had met while on his travels. He told the students that his turban was gifted to him by an African prince as thanks for getting rid of a troublesome zombie.

There was also Herbology, which was taught by Professor Sprout, who was the head of Hufflepuff House. In this class, the students learned how to take care of all the plants and fungi and learn what they were used for, such as making Potions.

Next, the students were sitting in a Potions classroom, which was located in a dungeon, and was lined with tons of jars filled with blood and pickled animals, as well as other various ingredients. The students were chatting among each other while gazing at the jars, when suddenly the door to the room burst open, with Professor Snape entering imperiously.

"There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class." Snape said, turning to face the class. "As such, i don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion making. However, for those select few..." He glanced at Malfoy, who started smirking slightly. "... who possess the predisposition, i can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death." Snape then saw Harry writing down notes, which was what Snape was discribing. "Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to... not. Pay. Attention."

Jacob, sitting between his brother and Hermione, noticed Snape was looking at Harry. He nudged his brother, who turned to him. Jacob nodded towards Snape, and so Harry put his quill down, while Snape was looking at both of the twins.

"Mr. Potters. Our new... celebrities." Snape turned his gaze towards Harry. "Tell me, older Potter, what would i get if i added root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Instantly, Hermione's hand shot into the air, eager to answer. Jacob raised his own hesitantly, while Harry was looking like he was lost. The three kids exchanged glances before Harry shook his head to Snape.

"You don't know. Well, let's try again. Where, Mr. Potter, would you look if i asked you to find a bezoar?"

Hermione's hand again shot in the air, while Jacob raised his slightly before lowering it down.

"I don't know, sir." Harry answered.

"And what is a difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

Hermione continued to keep her hand high in the air, while Jacob was glancing between his brother, Hermione and Snape.

"I don't know, sir." Harry answered again.

Hermione glanced at Harry, keeping her hand in the air.

"Pity. Clearly fame isn't everything, is it, Mr. Potter." Snape said.

John saw how Malfoy, Rivers, Crabbe and Goyle were sniggering at Harry.

"Clearly, Jacob and Hermione know. It seems a pity not to ask them." Harry said cheekily.

This got Neville, Seamus and a few other Gryffindors to laugh.

"Silence!" Snape ordered, and the class went quiet. Snape started walking towards their table. "Put your hand down, you silly girl!" 

Hermione wilted as she lowered her hand. Approaching the twins' table, Snape grabbed a chair and set it in front of the twins, before sitting down and staring at Jacob.

"Younger Potter. Same questions."

Jacob gulped nervously, glancing at his brother. "Y-yes, sir. Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of the Living Dead. A bezoar is a stone taken from a stomach of a goat, and it will save you from most poisons. And..." Jacob answered before stopping, realizing he didn't know the last answer. "... I don't know the answer to the last question, sir."

Snape raised one of his eyebrows slightly, as if he was impressed at Jacob's ability to answer him. Though he quickly lowered it.

"Congratulations, Mr. Potter. It seems one of you decided to open a book. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite." Snape said, as he and the twins were staring intently at each other, before Snape's eyes moved around the classroom. "Well... why aren't you all copying this down?"

Quickly, the students started scrambling for their quills and parchments and started writing down the notes. Snape meanwhile made his way back to his desk.

"And Gryffindors. Note that five points will be taken from your House for your classmate's cheek."

As Snape started writing into his textbook after glancing at Harry, Malfoy, Rivers and their gang started sniggering again. The twins glanced at each other again before looking at Snape again, who stopped writing to briefly glance at the twins before getting back to writing.

Couple days later, the students were gathered in the Great Hall, sitting on their House tables and eating breakfast, while others were working on their homeworks. Harry was staring glumly at the four hourglasses by the High Table that determined how many points each House had, as the precious gems dropped in Gryffindors, and rose in Slytherins. Down the table, Seamus was waving his wand at the cup.

"'Eye of rabbit, harp string hum. Turn this water into a rum.'" Looking at the cup, Seamus saw nothing had changed, so he tried again. "'Eye of rabbit--'"

"What's Seamus trying to do to that glass of water?" Harry asked Ron.

"Turn it to rum. Actually managed a weak tea yesterday before it..." Ron started explaining.

Suddenly, there was a flash and an explosion, and the two, along with Hermione and Jacob, who sat across from them with Jacob sitting right next to Seamus, jumped in surprise. Everyone saw the spell had blown blown on Seamus' face, his hair was all messed up and eyebrows were burned.

Nearby students started laughing at Seamus, while Hermione waved her hand to blow the smoke awa. Jacob, meanwhile, started coughing, having been hit with the explosion slightly.

"You all right?" Hermione asked Jacob.

"Yeah. Peachy. Didn't think i'd be hit with an explosion when i came to Hogwarts." Jacob said sarcastically.

This got another laugh from the students who were already laughing at Seamus, including Harry and Ron.

"Two knuts says he loses his eyebrows by weeks end." Ron said. Owl screeching then came from above, causing Ron to look up. "Mail's here."

The twins and everybody else looked up to see dozens of owls flying inside the hall from the ceiling. Swooping down to the House tables, the owls started dropping parcels from homes for the students. Hedwig flew towards Jacob and dropped a small parcel into his hands, while Ron caught letters and the copy of Daily Prophet newspaper, before putting the paper down while going through the letters.

"Can i borrow this?" Harry asked, taking the paper.

After Ron gave him a nod, Harry started to read the paper. Meanwhile, Neville opened his package, pulling out a glass ball that was filled with white smoke.

"Hey look! Neville's got a Remembrall!" Dean said.

"A what?" Jacob asked.

"I've read about those. When the smoke turns red, it means you've forgotten something." Hermione explained.

'Is there anything she doesn't read about?' Jacob though, chuckling slightly.

Just like Hermione said, the smoke inside the glass ball slowly turned started to turn a deep scarlet.

"The only problem is... i can't remember what i've forgotten." Neville said to others.

Harry, still reading the Daily Prophet, suddenly nudged Ron. "Hey, Ron, Jacob. Somebody broke into Gringotts. Listen." As Jacob and Ron, along with Hermione, started listening, Harry read the article outloud. "'Believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown, Gringotts goblins, while acknowledging the breach, insist nothing was taken. The vault in question, number seven hundred thirteen, had, in fact, been emptied earlier that very same day.'"

"That's odd." Jacob commented.

"It's mad. Dad says there are dragons guarding some of the vaults." Ron said.

"No, it's just odd... That's the vault Hagrid and we went to."

The four kids started glancing at each other, not knowing what to think about the news.

Chapter Text

On September 12, the school's second term had started and the first years were gathered on the training grounds for their first flying lesson. Jacob and Harry were excited to try flying on broomsticks after they saw few kids admiring the fast broom they saw at Diagon Alley. The students were lined up in two lines, with two long lines of broomsticks on the ground. Madame Hooch, a rangy witch with short grey hair and hawk-like eyes, was walking between the lines.

"Good afternoon, class." Madame Hooch greeted the students.

"Good afternoon, Madame Hooch." The class greeted back.

"Good afternoon, Mandy. Good afternoon." Madame Hooch greeted a Ravenclaw girl Mandy Brocklehurst while walking to the end of the line, before facing the first years. "Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, what are you all waiting for? Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick. Come on now. Hurry up."

The students followed Madame Hooch's instructions, stepping up to their brooms' left side.

 Madame Hooch raised her right hand up. "Stick your right hand over the broom and say "Up"!"

The students raised their hands up, and shouts of "Up!" started ringing on the cold afternoon air. As soon as they said "Up!", Jacob and Harry's brooms snapped smartly into their hands. Hermione and Penny glanced at the twins, looking surprised.

"Wow." The twins said together in amazement, smiling to each other.

"Up!" Malfoy said, after few times.

The broom finally snapped into Malfoy's hand, causing him to smirk in satisfaction and glance around the lines.

"Up! Up!" Ron ordered, but the broom didn't move.

"With feeling." Madame Hooch told the class.

Some broomsticks were slowly shooting up, while others stayed on the ground, or were just hovering just above it.

"Up. Up. Up! Up!" Hermione kept ordering.

Hermione's broomstick was simply rolling over, barely off the ground.

"Hermione." Penny suddenly said.

Hermione turned towards Penny, seeing her holding her broomstick in her hand. Penny put the broomstick back on the ground before turning to Hermione.

"Try to clear your mind and close your eyes. Focus on the broomstick."

Hermione did as told, closing her eyes while sticking her hand over the broom again, starting to focus more. After a moment of concentration, Hermione shouted. "Up!", and the broomstick snapped into her hand.

Hermione turned to Penny happily. "Thanks, Erica!"

Penny smiled back at her. "No problem, Hermione." She then laughed slightly. "You should've seen my Dad when Mum took him flying once. It scared him too much to try again."

"Up!" Ron kept ordering.

Just then, Ron's broomstick flew up past his hand and cracked him in the nose, causing the others around him to start laughing at him, including the twins.

"Shut up, guys!"

"Now, once you've got hold of your broom, i want you ro mount it." Madame Hooch said, walking down the row. Everyone started mounting their brooms. "Grip it tight. You don't wanna be sliding off the end." She walked by Seamus. "Your other right hand, Mr. Finnigan. Goodness, boy, what have you done with your eyebrows?"

"Lost 'em, ma'am." Seamus replied.

"Excuse me, Madam Hooch. Given that a few of us have been on sticks for years, would it not make sense to separate the expert flyers from..." Malfoy said, glancing at the twins. "... the neophytes?"

"Thank, you, Mr. Malfoy, but i'm sure even an expert flyer such as yourself can appreciate the benefits of reacquainting oneself with the basics. Your grip, for example. It's thumb in, not out." Madame Hooch replied.

As Malfoy's face reddened, Jacob, Harry and Ron shared a grin.

"Very well. Now, when i blow my whistle, i want each of you to kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle..." Madame Hooch grabbed her whistle. "Three... Two..."

Madame Hooch blew the whistle, but suddenly Neville's broom started to float in the air on it's own, causing Neville to grow nervous and everyone else to turn to him.

"Mr. Longbottom."

Clutching to his broom, Neville wasn't able to control it, as it started to move around before shooting higher into the air.

"Mr. Longbottom!"

"Down, down!" Neville ordered, but the broom didn't listen.

"Neville!" Jacob and Harry shouted, while Ron covered his eyes.

"Mr. Longbottom! Exactly where do you think you're going?" Madame Hooch questioned harshly.

The broom started to really float higher in the air, causing Neville to start wobbling around while crying in fear, while everyone else was watching.

"Come back down this instant!"

The broom looked like it was trying to kick Neville off of it, as it was starting to spin, and then it flew to a nearby tower, hitting it's front and back to the tower few times before flying back low crazily towards Madame Hooch and students, causing Madame Hooch to draw her wand.

"Mr. Longbottom!"

Madame Hooch had to duck out of the way, along with the other students who were behind her, when Neville shot right through the crowd. The broom flew Neville through a gate before shooting high in the air again, spiraling. It then flew right past a statue with a sharp spear, causing Neville's cloak to get caught in the spear, leaving him dangling in the air.

"Whoa!" Neville shouted in fear, as he looked down at the pitch.

Suddenly, Neville felt his weight shift. Looking up, he saw his cloak started to tear from his weight, before it tore and he started falling. During the mid-drop, Neville's robe was caught by a torch, but he ended up slipping off of his robes, dropping on the pitch with a giant THUD and a nasty CRACK.

"Everyone, out of the way!" Madame Hooch ordered.

The students scattered out of the way as Madame Hooch rushed over to Neville, who was laying on the ground and holding his left arm in pain.

"Is he alright?" Hermione asked.

"Doesn't look like it." Penny replied, flinching.

"I think he hurt himself pretty badly." Talbott Winger said, wincing. He was a dark-skinned Ravenclaw boy with an angular face and brown ombré straight hair.

"Ow ow ow." Neville kept saying in pain, while Madame Hooch helped him to sit up.

"Oh, dear. It's a broken wrist. Poor boy. Come on now, dear. Up you get." Madame Hooch said.

Meanwhile, Malfoy, Snyde, Crabbe and Goyle saw Neville's Remembrall on the ground, having fallen off his pocket during the fall. Smirking, Malfoy crouched down and scooped it up. Madame Hooch started leading Neville off the pitch back to the castle.

"Everyone's to keep their feet firmly on the ground while i take Mr. Longbottom to the Hospital Wing. Understand? If i see a single broom in the air, the one riding it will find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say 'Quidditch.'"

As Madame Hooch and Neville went off, Malfoy faced his fellow Slytherins and held up the Remembrall for them to see it.

"Did you see his face? Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he'd have remembered to fall on his fat arse." Malfoy said, cackling.

The Slytherin students started laughing, while an angry Jacob walked up to Malfoy.

"Oh, snuff it, Malfoy." Jacob said, glowering.

Suddenly, Jacob was pushed down by Goyle, which caused the package in his pocket to fly on the ground. Quickly, Harry and Hermione helped Jacob back on his feet, but he noticed Snyde scooping up his package while smirking.

"What do we have here?" Snyde asked, inspecting the package.

"Hey! Give it back!"

Harry and John walked up towards Malfoy and Snyde, standing behind Malfoy.

"Give it here, Malfoy." Harry ordered.

Malfoy, dropping his smirk, turned to face the twins. "No, i think i'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find." Malfoy slung his leg over his broom and started hovering around, flying through the crowd. "How about on the roof?"

Malfoy kicked higher into the air, with Snyde mounting her broom and following after him, all the while fiddling with Jacob's package.

"What's the matter, Potters? Bit beyond your reach?"

"You don't wanna see me rip this thing open, do you, Potter?" Snyde asked tauntingly.

The twins were glowering up at Malfoy and Snyde, before they gave each other a nod. They mounted their brooms, just as Hermione and Penny walked up to them.

"Jacob, Harry! No way! You heard what Madame Hooch said. Besides, you don't know how to fly..." Hermione said, shaking her head.

Harry, so angry at this point, just ignored Hermione and kicked off the ground.

"Sorry, Hermione, but this is something i can't ignore." Jacob said, before following his brother.

"What idiots." Hermione said, seeing the twins fly off.

"You said it, sister." Penny said, an eyebrow raised.

"But i have to admit. They're both natural with the brooms." Talbott said, commenting what others were thinking.

Wobbling just slightly before they regained their balance, the twins flew up to Malfoy and Snyde, hovering right in front of them.

"Give it here, Malfoy. Or i'll knock you off your broom." Harry ordered.

"Hand it back right now, Snyde. Or i'll send you flying." Jacob ordered.

"Is that so?" Malfoy asked, fiddling with the Remembrall.

Both Jacob and Harry shot forward like a javelin, but Malfoy and Snyde just managed to slip by the twins' charge. As the twins whipped around, they saw the Slytherins glancing back at them.

"Have it your way, then!"

Then, Malfoy and Snyde hurled the items ahead like Muggle baseballs. Shocked for a second, Jacob and Harry narrowed theirs eyes and shot right past the Slytherins. The items were flying fast towards a tower, where inside one of the rooms Professor McGonagall was doing some paperwork. The twins rocketed themselves recklessly forward, and before the items made an impact... the twins extended their hands and snatched them only a feet away from the wall, with Harry even doing a flip.

Professor McGonagall the entire thing. Giving each other a fist pump, the twins started flying back to the pitch. Floating back to the gorund, the twins held up the items for everyone to see, causing the Gryffindors, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws to start cheering. Landing, the twins ran up to everyone grinning as students started surrounding them.

"Nice going, you two!" One student said.

"That was wicket, you two!" Another student said next.

Then, Professor McGonagall walked to the pitch. "Harry and Jacob Potter! She called, causing the twins' stomachs to drop. "Follow me."

As the twins started following Professor McGonagall away from the pitch, Malfoy and his gang started laughing.

"Chin up, Potters. They might let you stay on as Hagrid's assistants." Malfoy called tauntingly.

Moments later, Harry and John were following Professor McGonagall down a corridor, both silent.

"Professor, the only reason we were on the brooms is because--" Jacob started to try and explain.

Professor McGonagall interrupted Jacob by facing him, looking calm. "Potter, i will hear your explanation later. Right now, i think this is something you and your brother will want to hear." She told him, before walking on ahead.

Moments later, Professor McGonagall and the twins reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, when Professor McGonagall stopped and turned to the twins.

"You wait here."

As the twins stayed in place, Professor McGonagall entered the classroom, where Professor Quirrell was in the middle of a lesson for fifth-year students, holding a giant lizard in his arms.

"Professor Quirrell, excuse me. Could i borrow Wood for a moment, please?"

"Y-yes, of course." Professor Quirrell answered, startled.

Oliver Wood, a burly fifth-year teen, got up and followed Professor McGonagall outside the classroom, glancing curiously at the twins.

"Potters, this is Oliver Wood. Wood... I have found you a Seeker, and a substitute Seeker." Professor McGonagall said, looking exited.

Jacob and Harry glanced at each other confused, though both looked interested on what McGonagall was planning.

Later that evening, the nearby corridor by the courtyard was filled with students who were heading for dinner, when Nearly Headless Nick, accompinied by the Grey Lady, floated through a wall, in the middle of a conversation.

"Have you heard? Harry and Jacob Potter's the new Gryffindor Seekers. I always knew they'd do well." Nick said, sounding impressed.

The twins, along with Ron, were walking down the corridor by the stream of students. The twins had explained to Ron what Professor McGonagall had proposed to the twins: She allowed them to join the Gryffindor Quidditch Team as Seekers.

"Seekers! But first years never make the house teams. You guys must be the youngest Quidditch players in--" Ron said amazed.

"-- a century. According to McGonagall." Harry said.

"Harry's the main Seeker,  and i was put in as a substitute if he's unable to play." Jacob then said.

Just then, Fred and George descended from behind the boys.

"Hey, well done, guys! Wood's just told us." Fred said.

"Fred and George are on the team, too. Beaters." Ron explained.

"Our job is to make sure that you two don't get bloodied up too bad. Can't make any promises, of course. Rough game, Quidditch." George said.

"Brutal! But no one's died in years. Someone will vanish occasionally..." Fred said.

While the Weasley twins continued to walk ahead in the corridor, the Potter twins and Ron turned to their right into the courtyard.

"But they'll turn up in a month or two." George then shouted.

As Fred and George dashed off to the corridor, Ron started to read on the twins' troubled faces.

"Oh go on, guys. Quidditch is great. Best game there is. And you'll be great too." Ron said.

Meanwhile, Hermione, who was sitting in a bench doing her homework, noticed the boys. Putting her things down, she ran to them.

"But we've never even played Quidditch. What if we make a fool of myself?" Harry asked.

"I don't want to look even more bloody fool by swinging myself off the broom." Jacob added.

"You won't make a fool of yourselves." Hermione said, causing the boys to turn to her surprised, having not noticed her. "It's in your blood."

"It is? How?"

Moments later, Hermione led the boys to the trophy staircase to a display case. Inside it was a history of Quidditch at Hogwarts, with ancient brooms, strange equipments, and various trophies. She pointed to the plaque of Quidditch players, causing the boys to widen their eyes in shock. Etched on a silver tray, bellow a Gryffindor lion, one name caught the trio's attention: James Potter. Seeker.

"Whoa. Guys... you never told me your father was a Seeker too." Ron said surprised.

"We... didn't know." Harry said, just as surprised.

The brothers glanced at each others, amazed to know something new about their father.

Moments later, the twins, along with Ron and Hermione, were walking up to the Marble staircases back towards the Common Room.

"I'm telling you, it's spooky. She knows more about you two than you do." Ron whispered to the twins.

"Who doesn't?" Harry replied.

"We thought we were regular kids until our birthday." Jacob said.

Just then, the stairscase the kids were walking up on started to move from the wall to it's left. This caused the kids to stumble a bit, before they got a hold of on the railings to steady themselves.

"What's happening?" Harry asked shocked.

"The staircases change, remember?" Hermione replied.

As the kids glanced around themselves, the stairs turned to the floor on their left side, at the end of which stood a door.

"Let's go this way." Harry said, quickly running towards the door.

"Before the staircase moves again." Ron then said, following Harry.

"Guys, shouldn't we--" Jacob tried to say, but Harry and Ron kept running to the door, not hearing him and causing him to sigh. "Oh bloody hell." 

Jacob quickly ran after them, with Hermione following after him. Harry opened the door to the corridor and stepped inside, followed by the others. The corridor was dark, very creepy looking, and there were spider webs covering several corners of the corridor.

"Does anybody feel like... we shouldn't be here?" Ron asked, nervously.

"We're not supposed to be here. This is the Third Floor. It's forbidden." Hermione said.

"Why, though?" Harry asked intrigued.

"Because Dumbledore said so."

"I tried suggesting maybe wait for the staircase to move. I'm starting to feel nervous myself." Jacob said, glancing around the corridor.

Suddenly, a pillar next to the kids light up with flames, spooking them. Just then, a cat walked inside the corridor.

"Let's go."

The group turned to leave, before they froze as they saw the cat sitting in front of them, watching them before letting out a meow.

"It's Filch's cat!" Hermione said shocked.

"Run!" Harry then said.

The kids started running away, dashing to the opposite direction. Running further into the corridor, more flames on pillars kept lighting on, before they saw a door at the end of the corridor.

"Quick! Let's hide through that door!"

Reaching the door, Jacob quickly gripped the knob and started twisting it. Finding it to be locked, Jacob slammed the knob down.

"It's locked!" Jacob said.

"That's it. We're done for." Ron said, looking behind them scared.

"Oh, move over." Hermione said, pushing both Jacob  and Harry out of the way. She drew her wand and pointed it at the lock. "Alohomora!"

With the swish, the lock opened and Hermione started opening the door.

"Get in."

Hermione entered the room first, followed by Jacob, Harry and Ron. Ron closed the door once everyone was in, before he started staring at Hermione incredulously.

"Alohomora?" Ron asked.

"Isn't that the Unlocking Spell?" Jacob asked next.

"Yes, John. Standard Book of Spells. Chapter Seven." Hermione explained.

On the opposite side of the corridor, Filch entered the corridor, walking up to his cat.

"Anyone here, my sweet?" Filch asked, looking around the corridor, but found nothing out of the ordinary. "Come on.

Filch exited the corridor, followed by Mrs. Norris. Meanwhile, Hermione was pressing her ear on the door, listening in on Filch's movements, before she heard the door closing.

"Chapter Seven?" Ron asked.

"Shh! Filch is... gone." Hermione said.

"I thought we were done for a second." Jacob said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"He thinks this door's locked." Ron said, walking away from the door with Jacob and Hermione.

"It was locked." Jacob and Hermione said together.

"And for good reason." Harry suddenly said, eyes wide open.

Jacob, Hermione and Ron saw Harry staring at something, before their own eyes widened. Few feet away from the kids laying on the floor was a large dog... only this one had three heads. It was sleeping, just when it started waking up and noticed the kids. Wide-eyed and scared, te kids watched as the dog stood up, it's three pairs of mad eyes narrowing at the twins and growling at them.

All four kids started screaming in terror, before dashing back to the door, with Jacob, who was in the back, pushing Hermione to go faster. Harry flung the door open and the kids pushed themselves out, before they started closing the door. The dog threw itself against the door, trying to push one of it's head through, before the kids managed to close the door enough for Jacob to put the lock back in place. They exchanged glances before dashing off the corridor.

Moments later that night, the Fat Lady frowned as Jacob, Harry, Hermione and Ron spilled inside the common room.

"What do they think they're doing keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron asked, gasping.

"You don't use your eyes, do you? Didn't you see what it was standing on?" Hermione asked.

"I wasn't looking at it's feet. I was a bit preoccupied with it's heads. Or maybe you didn't notice. there were three."

"Yeah. Seeing a giant three-headed dog does that to you." Jacob said, as they were walking up the spiral staircase to the dormitories.

"It was standing on a trapdoor, which means-it wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something." Hermione said.

"Guarding something?" Harry asked, once everyone stood between the dormitory doors.

"That's right. Now, if you two don't mind, i'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse... expelled."

Jacob noticed Hermione only mentioned 'two', which got him hoping she wasn't including him, since he hadn't dashed off into the corridor blindly. Meanwhile, Hermione turned towards Jacob.

"Goodnight, Jacob."

"O-Oh. Goodnight, Hermione." Jacob replied.

Hermione then walked inside the girls' dormitory, cast the boys final look and closed the door behind her.

Just then, Jacob titled his head sideways. "Wait. Is expelled worse than getting killed?"

"She needs to sort out her priorities." Ron said, shaking his head.

With Harry nodding his head, he and Ron started walking inside the boys' dormitory for the night, while Jacob, standing in place, placed a hand on his pocket, checking if his package was still there. Giving the girls' dormitory a final glance, he entered the boys' dormitory.

One week later on September 19th, Jacob was walking down the spiral staircases to the common room, dressed in regular clothes. Seeing it was 7:30 AM, Jacob saw the common room was mostly empty as hardly anyone was up this early in the morning, except one armchair was occupied by Hermione, also dressed in regular clothes and a textbook on her lap while she was going through her homework. Smirking, Jacob started tiptoing towards her, seeing her focused on the textbook to the point that she didn't notice him.

"Expecting someone?" Jacob asked cheekily.

Hermione gave a sharp yelp at the voice, closed her eyes and suddenly punched her fist at the direction the voice came from.

"Ow! Snuff!"

Hermione opened her eyes and saw Jacob clutching his right arm, though he gave her a slight chuckle.

"You know you punch really hard!"

Hermione covered her mouth in shock. "Oh gosh! I'm so sorry. Are you all right?" She asked, taking a gentle hold on Jacob's arm.

"Yeah, yeah. It's nothing too bad. See?" Jacob started slightly moving his arm, though he did flinch just a bit. "I can swing it just fine. Though, you have a better punch than Dudley."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "So you decided to give me a scare this morning? We're you feeling cheeky or did you have a good reason?"

"Well, not at first. But that wasn't why i got up this early."

Curiosity crossed on Hermione's face. "Oh? And why's that?"

Jacob gave her a teasing smile. "Do you know what today is? Ring any bells?"

Hermione started thinking for a second, but came up empty. "I don't know. I've been so focused on our studies to keep up with what day it might be."

"Well, do i have a surprise for you." Jacob pulled out a box from his pocket and presented it to her. "Happy birthday, Hermione."

Hermione gasped. Couple days after their studies had started, Hermione told Jacob, after he had asked, that her birthday was on September 19th (Also telling him it would be her 12th birthday, meaning she was almost ten months older than him), but with all the studies going on she had forgotten about it. With a gentle look, Hermione took the box. 

"Thank you, Jacob. Really. But you didn't have to get me anything." Hermione said, smiling at him.

Jacob only shook his head. "Nonsense. Of course i had to get you something. And i wanted to give you a proper birthday."

Hermione started opening the box, and inside she found a new set of ink and a quill to help her write. The quill was magically enchanted to no break under pressure, and the ink were to last longer than normal, meaning she could use one ink for months before it went out.

"Wait. Was this the parchment you got defensive about at the flying lesson?" Hermione asked.

Jacob nodded. "Yeah. After you told me when your birthday was, i asked Harry if i could borrow Hedwig for a bit. I bought the gift and had Hedwig deliver it to me." He then started scratching his right cheek with a finger, slightly embarrassed. "I... I didn't really know what to give you, since we haven't known each other that long. At first, i wanted to gift you a book but i don't know what kind of books you read. I hope you like it."

Small smile rising on her lips at the thought, Hermione pulled Jacob in a hug, which made him freeze for a moment, feeling her arms wrapped around his back and her head on his shoulder. Before, he had ever only exchanged normal hugs with Harry, so Hermione giving him a new hug caused him to blush slightly, before he cautiously returned it.

"Thank you. I definitely like the gift." Hermione said quietly.

Chapter Text

The next day, Jacob and Harry were walking with Wood to the empty practice field for their first Quidditch lesson. Harry and Wood were carrying a crate with different Quidditch equipment, while Wood had two small clubs under his left arm.

"Quidditch is easy enough to understand. Each team has seven players: Three Chasers, two Beaters, one Captain and a Seeker. That's you." Wood explained, before they placed the crate down. Crouching down, Wood opened the box and took out a large red ball. "There are three kinds of balls. This one's called the Quaffle." Wood tossed the Quaffle at Jacob, who caught it. "Now, the Chasers handle the Quaffle and try to put it through one of those three hoops." He pointed towards the Quidditch Pitch, where there were three hoops on each side. "The Keeper-that's me-defends the hoops. With me so far?"

"I think so." Harry replied, nodding.

Jacob also nodded and tossed the Quaffle back to Wood, before looking at the two black balls in the box, which were rocking it.

"What are those?" Jacob asked.

Putting the Quaffle back in the box, Wood took both clubs, handing them to the twins. "You two better take these." He said.

The twins took the clubs, while Wood kneeled down before the crate and unlashed the leather strap. Instantly, one of the black balls rocketed into the sky. Jacob, Harry and Wood watched it stop mid-air, then, without warning, started plummeting straight down at them.

"Careful now, it's coming back."

Harry jumped aside and, purely on instinct, clubbed the ball, sending it flying between two swords held up by a statue.

Wood was looking impressed. "Huh, not bad, Harry. You'd make a fair Beater."

Harry started smiling, and Jacob tapped his brother on the shoulder. "That's my brother for you." He said proudly.

The ball suddenly screamed back towards them the same way it flew by.

"Uh-oh." Wood muttered.

The twins ducked down, while Wood managed to catch the ball, though he was falling on the ground. The twins watched as the ball was really struggling to get off from Wood's grasp, while Wood was struggling on the ground, crawling to the crate before he managed to leash the ball back in the crate.

"What was that?" The twins asked.

"Bludger." Wood replied, catching his breath. "Nasty little buggers. But you two are Seekers." Wood opened a small locket shaped like the Hogwarts crest, taking a small, bright gold ball the size of a walnut, with fluttering wings wrapped around it. "The only thing i want you two to worry about is this. The Golden Snitch."

Wood held the ball for the twins, with Jacob taking it in his fingers, and he started to inspect it.

"I like this ball." Jacob said chuckling.

"You like it now. Just wait. It's wicked fast and damn near impossible to see."

"What do we do with it?" Harry asked.

"You catch it. Before the other teams' Seeker. You catch this, the game's over. You catch this, Potters... and we win."

"That is a lot of pressure for one player." Jacob said, opening his palm.

"It really is."

The Snitch then sprung it's wings and started to fly above John, Harry and Wood. The twins managed to keep their eyes on it, while Wood took a second to find it again.

"Wow." The twins said together.

The snitch then flew away fast before the twins started chasing it.

Over a month later, it was October 31st, meaning it was Halloween. The first year students were all in Charms class. Professor Flitwick, a very tiny, gnome-like wizard in green robes, was standing on a pile of books as he oversaw the class.

"One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation, or the ability to make objects fly. Do you have your feathers?" Professor Flitwick asked.

Hermione held up her feather for the professor. Students were placed in pairs so they could work on spells together. Hermione was paired with Ron, Erica sat behind them with Susan, Harry was with Seamus and Jacob was with Talbott. 

Professor Flitwick drew his wand out. "Good. Now, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing. The swish and flick." He was moving his hand with the same movement. "Everyone."

The first years took their wands and copied Professor Flitwick's movements. "The swish and flick." They all said.

"Good. Oh, and enunciate. Wingardium Leviosa. Off you go then."

With the instructions over, the kids took their wands again, swished and flicked them at the feathers while saying the incantation 'Wingardium Leviosa', with each student saying it differently.

Jacob posed his wand over the feather before him and started to swish and flick. "Wingardium Levious." He chanted.

The feather fluttered, but didn't leave the table.

"And enunciate! Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest." Professor Flitwick instructed.

Jacob was about to try again before he noticed what Ron was doing next to him.

"WINGARDIUM LEVIOSAR!" Ron chanted.

Ron started swinging his wand up and down at the feather, while nothing happened, causing Hermione to frown and place her hand over Ron's wand to stop him.

"No, stop, stop, stop! You're going to take someone's eye out. Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's Levi-ohhhh-sa. ot Levi-o-saaah." Hermione said.

"You do it then, if you're so clever. Go on. Go on." Ron said, feeling offended.

Giving a side-glance at Ron, Hermione straightened herself before swishing and flicking her wand at the feather.

"Wingardium Leviosa." Hermione chanted.

Instantly, the feather started to slowly rise as Hermione kept her wand pointed at it. Following her example, Jacob swished and flicked his wand at his feather.

"Wingardium Leviosa." Jacob chanted.

Like with Hermione, Jacob's feather started to float, while the rest of the students stopped what they were doing, as they turned to watch Jacob and Hermione's feathers floating. Professor Flitwick was proudly watching the feathers floating.

"Oh, well done! See here, everyone. Miss Granger and Mr. Potter's done it!" Professor Flitwick said.

Ron, looking dejected, let his head fall on his books, while Jacob and Hermione exchanged smiles at each other.

"Well done, Potter. With a head like that head, you could have been in Ravenclaw." Talbott said impressed.

"Thanks, Bem. Actually, the Sorting Hat did say i had a good mind." Jacob said chuckling.

Seamus, meanwhile, began swishing his wand toward his feather. "Wingard Levosa." He started saying couple times.

"Well done, you two." Professor Flitwick said proudly.

PFFFT! Everyone suddenly turned towards Seamus, who was smoking a little and his feather was smoldering to ash. Harry and Jacob were also hit with the explosion as they were sitting next to Seamus.

"I think we're going to need another feather over here, Professor." Harry said.

"Why is it i'm always next to Seamus when things explode?" Jacob asked annoyed, blowing smoke from his face.

"Maybe you need a better sitting spot. That might help for starters." Talbott replied sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Hermione and Erica covered their mouths, trying not to laugh at Jacob. Though they were getting close to it.

Later that day, Jacob, Harry and Ron were walking cross the courtyard, joined by Seamus and Dean. Ron was still sour about what happened at the Charms class, as he was mimicing Hermione.

"'It's Levi-ohhh-sa. Not Levi-i-saaah.'" Ron said mimicing, while Harry, Seamus and Dean were laughing. Jacob, however, wasn't amused. "She's a nightmare, honestly. No wonder she hasn't got any friends."

Just then, Hermione pushed herself past Ron and Jacob, dashing past them and hugging her books tightly as the boys watched her go. Jacob was the only one to notice that her eyes were glittering with tears, evidently she heard Ron.

"I think she heard you." Harry said.

"What the snuff was that, Ron?" Jacob suddenly hissed at Ron, causing others to turn to him surprised. "You should be thankful for her. She went out of her way to help you with the spell."

Not waiting for others to reply, Jacob walked away from them, about to go after Hermione. Before he got too far, however, he stopped to give them a final glance.

"And for the record: I've been talking with Hermione ever since the train. So she does have a friend. Me."

Once again not bothering to wait for a response, Jacob sprinted after Hermione, leaving the others behind.

Later that night, Jacob was walking down the girls' bathroom corridor. After running to look for Hermione, he checked every room he could, every broom closet and every available school ground. He even asked anyone if they'd seen her, but he came up empty. Hermione didn't turn up for the next class, or all afternoon. Feeling exchausted, Jacob rubbed the back of his head as he was walking back to the Great Hall, where everyone was gathered for Hallowe'en feast, to get at least some food before the feast was over.

Walking down the corridor, Jacob passed by the girls' bathroom, giving the door a side-glance. Suddenly, he stopped, realizing the girls' bathroom was the only place he hadn't checked yet. Walking to the door, Jacob glanced left and right before entering the bathroom.

Closing the door behind him, Jacob saw one of the bathroom stalls was closed, while the others were open. He moved quietly to the closed door, before he heard crying, sniffing and whimpering coming from inside. Knowing he'd found her, Jacob softly knocked on the door.

"Go away!" Hermione's voice came from the other side, crying.

"Hermione? It's me." Jacob called.

Hermione's sniffing came to a stop. "J... Jacob?" She asked surprised, though reluctantly.

"Yeah, it's me. You know? Short, skinny, messy auburn hair, green eyes, a scar on the forehead?"

"Go away. I want to be alone."

As Hermione's weeping resumed, Jacob shook his head. 

"No. I searched the whole castle all day for you, Hermione." Jacob said. "I've been worried about you all day, and i'm not leaving you. Ron doesn't know what's he's talking about. You're not a nightmare. You're smart. You're fun to hang around with."

While Jacob continued to speak, Hermione's crying softened as she continued to listen to him.

"And besides, no matter what he said, you do have friends. Harry might have laughed, but i think he considers you a friend. You hang out with Erica a lot. And... i'm your friend. I really mean it."

Jacob stopped talking, and while he couldn't hear Hermione crying anymore, he did hear her sniff. Just then, the stall door started slowly opening, so he backed away. Exiting the stall, Hermione closed the door and faced Jacob. Seeing Hermione's teared-up face saddened him, while she was wiping her eyes.

"Why are you doing this? Why do you want to be my friend?" Hermione asked quietly.

"Because you are my friend. Because you're worth it."

Hermione sniffed. "Really?"

Jacob started smiling slightly. "Of course you are. I meant every word."

Feeling that Hermione wanted to hug him, Jacob opened his arms up slightly. Hermione walked to him for a hug, placing her head on his shoulder, while they wrapped their arms around each other. While Hermione was still sniffing, she started smiling at everyhing Jacob said to her, feeling glad that she met someone like him.

Several minutes earlier...

Meanwhile in the Great Hall, the Halloween feast was on full swing. Candlelit pumpkins were flickering throughout the hall, while Harry, who was sitting quietly, saw Professor McGonagall and standing across the way with Hagrid, with both looking at him. Professor McGonagall said something to Hagrid, who nodded, before she stepped away, approaching Harry.

"How are you, Potter? All right?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Yes, Professor. Fine." Harry replied.

"I know... that is... we know... the members of the staff... that this is perhaps a difficult night for you and your brother. Halloween. Your parents..."

Realizing what she meant, Harry nodded. "I'm all right, Professor."

"Very well." She turned around and started to leave.

"Professor..." Harry suddenly said, and Professor McGonagall turned back to him. "... Thank you."

"You're welcome, Potter. Give my condolences to your brother, as well."

As she left, Harry turned and studied two empty seats next to him.

"W-Where's Jacob and Hermione?" Harry asked the Weasley brothers in front of him.

Neville, sitting next to the two empty spots, leaned towards Harry. "Parvati Patil said she wouldn't come out of the girls' bathroom. She said that she'd been in there all afternoon, crying." He said.

Erica, sitting on the Hufflepuff table behind the Weasleys, turned towards Harry. "Lavender Brown told me she saw Jacob running a while ago near the Transfiguration class. She said he looked like he was looking for something." She said.

Erica gave a disapproving look towards Ron, having overheard what he said. Harry turned towards Ron with his own disapproving look, knowing his brother had come to consider Hermione his friend. Ron, looking uneasy, shrugged his shoulders, when suddenly, Professor Quirrell burst into the hall.

"TROLL IN THE DUNGEON! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" Quirrell cried, coming to a stop and causing everyone to stop eating, while Dumbledore stood up. "Thought you ought to know..."

Quirrell then fainted, planting face first on the floor. There was a brief silence, before an utter pandemonium broke out: Students started screaming, placing the food back on the tables and started running out of the hall.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore suddenly shouted.

The hall went silent quickly,  with everyone stopping in their places and turning towards Dumbledore.

"Everyone will please not panic. Now, Prefects will lead their House back to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

Each Prefect from each House started leading students back to their dormitories, while teachers started to follow Dumbledore. At the same time, Professor Snape left through the back door.

Moments later, Percy was leading the Gryffindor students down a corridor towards the common room.

"Gryffindors, keep up, please, and stay alert!" Percy ordered.

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked Ron.

"Not on its own. Trolls are really stupid. Probably Peeves playing jokes." Ron said. Suddenly, Harry seized Ron by his arm, pulling him to a side with a horrified look. "What?

"Jacob and Hermione. They don't know!"

Harry started running in the opposite direction to try and find the two, with Ron running after him, slipping away from the Gryffindors. Running down the deserted hallway, they suddenly stopped when they heard footsteps ringing. Ducking behind a stone griffin, they saw Snape hurrying past them.

"That's the third-floor he's going to. Teachers were supposed to go to the dungeons..." Harry said confused.

Pushing that aside, Harry and Ron ran towards the girl's bathroom corridor. Just then, they stopped when they heard stumping and growling, before seeing a large shadow cast on the wall from the lighting at the end of the hallway.

"I think the troll's left the dungeon." Ron said nervously.

Harry quickly pulled Ron with him behind a pillar. Lumpering at the end of the hallway they saw a troll with an enormous club. As it came into a patch of moonlight, Harry and Ron watched the troll carrying a club in it's hand, while it was making it's way to the other side of the corridor.

"It's going to the girl's bathroom." Harry said.

"Ugh. It smells like Fred's socks. Only... worse." Ron said disgusted, covering his nose.

"Come on."

The two got out of their hiding spot, and ran after the troll.

Inside the girl's bathroom, Jacob and Hermione were hugging, when a weird smell hit the boys' nose, causing him to wrinkle his nose.

"Um, Hermione? Please don't take this the wrong way, but what's that weird smell?" Jacob asked.

Jacob opened her eyes and saw giant feet in front of her. Eyes widening, she lifted her head slowly and saw a giant troll in front of her, which was staring down at her and John. Gasping, Hermione let go of Jacob and started backing away, confusing John.

"J-Jacob..." Hermione said, trembling.

"Hermione?" John asked.

"B-B-Behind you."

Confused, Jacob slowly turned his head to look behind him, before his eyes widened at seeing the troll. Quickly turning around, Jacob pulled Hermione behind him with his left arm, while reaching into his pocket for his wand with his right. However, realizing he touched nothing, he quickly glanced at the pocket, remembering he dropped his wand off with his school stuff in the boys dormitory.

Jacob kept Hermione behind him and she held tightly onto his robes, as they started backing away. Troll started advancing directly towards them, raising it's club. Hermione's back hit the stall, before she quickly opened the door and pulled Jacob with her inside, bolting the door. Hermione was trembling while Jacob kept her close to him, before they peared up'ward... just as the troll's face appeared over the top, looking in. 

Panicking, Hermione dropped on the floor, and the troll, angered, swung it's club. Jacob quickly got on top of Hermione, as the troll shattered some of the stalls, including the one the kids were in, sending wood raining down in jagged, splintered pieces. As Jacob stayed on top of Hermione to shield her, she started screaming.

Just then, Harry and Ron rushed inside, staring in horror at the troll. Hearing the door burst open, Jacob moved some of the wood off of them, as he and Hermione saw the two standing by the door.

"Jacob, Hermione, move!" Harry shouted.

Jacob and Hermione started shimmying into the next stall, but the troll raised it's club and swung again, shattering few more stalls. Jacob quickly got back on top of Hermione, shielding her from the flying wood again.

"Help! Help!" Hermione screamed.

"Do something!" Jacob shouted.

"What do we do?" Ron asked Harry.

Harry started looking around frantically. "Confuse it!" He said.

Harry and Ron started grabbing anything they could, and began to hurl wood pieces at the troll, but they might as well be throwing marshmallows, as the troll ignored them and started reaching for Jacob and Hermione.

"Hey, pea brain!" Ron shouted.

Ron threw a wood piece at the trolls head, which caused the troll to finally turn it's head towards them. Quickly, Jacob scrambled up and pulled Hermione with him, pulling her with him to the sinks and placing her under one of them.

"Stay here." Jacob said to her.

Hermione nodded, and Jacob ran towards the troll, running around it and wave his hands around, trying to pull it's attention to him. However, the troll saw Hermione under the sink. Advancing towards her, it raised it's club. Screaming, Hermione quickly moved under nother sink as the troll brought it's club down, destroying the sink and causing water to start spraying.

This caused Jacob to stop, as he, Harry, who just drew out his wand, and Ron turned towards Hermione with wide-eyes.

"Help!" Hermione screamed.

Jacob, thinking fast, grabbed Harry's wand and rushed forward, leaping upon the troll's rising club, rising himself with it... before dropping onto the troll's neck, causing the troll to miss Hermione. The troll blinked dimly as it tried turning it's head while the trio was shocked. The troll then stated shaking it's head all over, trying to shake Jacob off. However, this caused Jacob, while shaking wildly, to shove Harry's wand straight up the troll's nose.

While the kids made disgusted faces, the troll sneezed before shaking it's head more wildly. Raging, it grabbed Jacob by his leg and peeled him off it's body. As he held Jacob up high, suspended by one leg, Hermioned gasped and covered her mouth.

"Do something!" Jacob shouted.

The troll swung it's club at Jacob, who quickly pulled his upper body up, avoiding the hit from the club. Harry and Ron started looking around for something, but came up empty.

"What?!" Ron said, lifting his arms up.

"You took my wand, remember!" Harry then said.

Jacob lowered his body. "Anything! I'm going to die!" He shouted.

Jacob again lifted his body up, as the troll swung it's club at him. Ron, meanwhile, drew his wand out of his robes, an idea flickering across his face as he glanced at the club before raising his wand.

"Hurry up!"

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron chanted.

Nothing happened. Harry was watching with dread, while Ron looked at Hermione, who was still under the sink.

"Swish and flick." Hermione said, swishing her hand.

Ron took a deep breath, and this time, employed the correct pronunciation. "Wingardium LEVI-OHHHH-SA!"

With that, the club stayed in the air, slipping from the troll's hand as it swung at Jacob again. The troll looked confused when it noticed it missed him, looking at it's empty hand. The club stayed floating in the air, hanging in the magical suspension. Just as the troll looked up... the club dropped smack on the troll's head with a THUNK.

"Cool." Harry and Ron said together.

Wobbling, the troll released it's grip on Jacob's leg and dropped him hard on the floor. Lifting himself up with his elbows, Jacob watched as the troll started wobbling towards him, causing him to crawl backwards. With a final wobble, the troll fell on the floor, inches away from Jacob.

All was quiet for a moment, as Harry helped Jacob up, while Hermione got up from under the sinks and stepped towards the boys.

"Is it... dead?" Hermione asked, looking over the troll.

"I don't think so. Just knocked out." Harry replied.

Hermione turned to Jacob, who looked little shaken. "Are you all right?"

Jacob turned to her, and smiled. "I am. Are you?" He asked back.

Hermione nodded, offering a smile back. "I am, thanks to you."

"No need to kill it, after all." Ron said, looking over the troll.

"Yes, well, that was big of you." Harry said, before extracting his wand from Troll's nose, covered in Troll boogers. He and Ron groaned. "Ugh. Troll boogers." He then glanced at Jacob. "Thanks a lot."

"What else was i going to grab? It was in the heat of the moment." Jacob said, defending himself.

As Harry wiped his wand off the boogers, a sudden volley of footsteps announced the arrival of Professors McGonagall, Snape, and a still queasy Quirrell. Professor McGonagall placed her hand on her chest, shocked when she saw the troll.

"Oh, my goodness!" Professor McGonagall said, before turning to the boys. "Explain yourselves! The three of you."

"Well, what it is--" Harry started speaking.

"Professor, the thing is--" Jacob started speaking.

"It's my fault, Professor McGonagall." Hermione suddenly said.

The teachers and the boys turned to Hermione surprised, with the boys even sharing a surprised glances at each other.

"Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked, as if she had just realized she was there.

"I went looking for the troll. I read about them, and i thought i could handle it." Professor McGonagall briefly glanced at the boys before returning to Hermione. "But i was wrong. If Jacob, Harry and Ron hadn't come and found me... i'd probably be dead."

Ron looked down, while Jacob was stunned at Hermione for lying so they wouldn't be in any trouble. Meanwhile, Harry noticed a bloodied cut on Snape's leg. Noticing Harry's gaze, Snape shifted his cloak to cover it, as he and Harry started staring at each other.

"Be that as it may, it was an extremely foolish thing to do. I had expected more rational behavior on your part and i am very disappointed in you, Miss Granger." Professor McGonagall said, while Hermione closed her eyes and looked down. "Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgement." She then turned to to the boys. "As for you three gentlemen, i just hope you realize how fortunate you are" The boys started to look down as well. "Not many First Year students could take on a fully grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale."

The boys looked at the troll before Jacob tried something "Well, i guess there is first for everything." He joked with an uneasy smile. The teacher didn't look amused, causing Jacob to look down again. "Sorry, Professor. I always try to ease a serious thing with a joke. Guess now wasn't the time."

While Snape and Quirrell's faces didn't change, Harry and Ron smiled slightly, Hermione had a small smile, and while Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes, she wasn't mad at the boy for the attempt.

"Well, your attempt was commendable, Mr. Potter. Five points... will be rewarded to each of you..." Jacob, Harry and Ron's head shot up, smiling wildly at each other, while Hermione smiled at them.  "... for sheer dumb luck."

Professor McGonagall left the bathroom, followed by Snape, though he and Quirrell shared a quick look. Quirrell turned towards the kids.

"P-Perhaps you ought to go. It m-might wake up." Quirrell stuttered.

Once the kids were out of the bathroom, Quirrell glanced at the troll. The troll left out a growl in it's sleep, which spooked Quirrell a little before he collected himself.

Moments later, the kids were walking down the seventh floor corridor, with Hermione being silent next to Jacob, Harry and Ron.

"Good for you to get us out of trouble like that." Harry said to Hermione.

"I'm just surprised you'd lie to the teachers like that." Jacob said to Hermione, still stunned.

"Mind you, we did save her life." Ron commented.

"Mind you, she and John might have not needed saving if you hadn't insulted her." Harry said back.

Jacob and Hermione nodded, while Ron glanced at the two.

"What are friends for?" Ron said.

Jacob and Hermione turned to Ron and offered him smiles. Hermione then stopped for a second and took a hold of Jacob's sleeve, causing him to stop and look at her confused, while Harry and Ron kept walking.

"Everything okay, Hermione?" Jacob asked.

"Yes. Thank you for coming to find me. And, you know, for saving me." Hermione said, smiling.

Jacob started rubbing the back of his neck. "You know... I was just doing what i could..." He said, chuckling awkwardly.

"Yes. You did plenty. More than anyone would have ever done for me in there." Hermione glanced back at Harry and Ron. "Come on. We need to get ready for tomorrow."

Jacob nodded and gave her a small smile. "Yeah."

Together, Jacob and Hermione started running after Harry and Ron. With this small adventure behind them, a Golden Quartet was born between Jacob and Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

Chapter Text

As November came in, Jacob, Harry, Hermione and Ron were sitting together in the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry was poking his food, feeling nervous. The Quidditch season was here, and Gryffindors were playing against the Slytherins. Ron, as usual, was stuffing his face, while John was feeling bad for his brother. The twins had made a deal to swtich around playing for the team.

"Take a bit of toast, mate. Go on." Ron said.

"Ron's right, Harry. You'll need your strength today." Hermione said.

"You wanna stick it to Malfoy and Snyde, right, big brother?" Jacob asked.

Harry glanced up at the others. "I'm not hungry." He said.

Just then, Snape appeared from the side. "Good luck today, Potter." He said to Harry, causing the quartet to look up at him surprised. "Then again, now that your brother's proven himself against a troll, a little game of Quidditch should be easy work for the two of you. Even if it is against Slytherin."

Harry glanced quickly at Snape's leg before looking up at him again.

"Um... Thank you, sir." Jacob said, little confused.

Snape, after glancing at Jacob briefly, smiled slightly before walking away. The quartet watched him limping away.

"That was... disturbing." Hermione said.

"I tell you what's disturbing. Snape smiling." Ron said.

"You said it, Ron." Jacob then said.

"That explains the blood..." Harry said.

"Blood?" Hermione asked.

Harry leaned closer to Jacob and Hermione. "Listen. Last night, Ron and i saw Snape heading for the third floor. i'm guessing he let the troll in as a diversion, so he could get past that three-headed dog. But he got himself bitten, that's why he's limping."

"But why would anyone go near that dog?"

"The day we were at Gringotts, Hagrid took something out of one of the vaults. Said it was Hogwarts business, very secret."

Jacob started thinking about the vault. "That's right. And the package wasn't all that big, probably a size of a fist-sized rock." He said.

"So you're saying..." Hermione started saying.

"What you mean is..."

Harry slammed his hand on the table. "That's what the dog's guarding. That's what Snape's after." He said.

"But what's safer than Gringotts?" Ron asked.

"One place, according to Hagrid. Hogwarts." Jacob answered.

"Well, whatever it is, it must be really valuable." Hermione said.

"Or really dangerous."

Just then, two owls flew into the hall, screeching. The students looked up, and saw one of them was Hedwig, with both flying towards the quartet.

"That's Hedwig." Harry said.

Everyone watched as Hedwig and the other owl swooped down with long, thin packages. The owls dropped the packages, with John and Harry catching the packages before placing them on the table.

"Bit early for mail, isn't it?" Hermione asked.

"But we never get mail." Harry said.

"Unless you count all the Hogwarts letters we kept getting." Jacob added cheekily.

"Let's open one of them." Ron said excitedly.

The quartet started stripping open Jacob's parchel, finding inside a sleek mahogany broomstick.

"It's a broomstick." The twins said together.

"That's not just a broomstick, guys. It's a Nimbus 2000." Ron said even more amazed, seeing the name of the broom on the stick.

"Wait, does this mean--?" Jacob was about to say.

As if sensing what Jacob was thinking, the quartet started stripping Harry's parchel, before finding another Nimbus 2000 inside.

"But who..?" Harry was about to ask.

"I think i know, Harry." Jacob said.

Harry glanced at his brother, and saw he was looking towards the High Table. Following his gaze, the brothers saw Professor McGonagall scratching Hedwig and the other owl. She turned towards the twins, giving them a smile, who smiled and nodded a thank you.

Later that day, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was marching towards their entrance point, led by the team's Captain, Keeper and fifth year student Wood, followed by the Seeker Harry, and then by the second year Chaser Katie Bell, the third year Beaters Fred and George, and lastly the third year Chasers Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet. As the team walked up the stairs and stood in front of the wooden door, Harry got next to Wood, really starting to feel nervous about his first Quidditch match. Wood noticed this.

"I know what you're thinking, Harry. I'm playing my first game of Quidditch, the entire school's watching me and, worst of all, it's against the Slytherin. Am i right?" Wood asked.

"Pretty close." Harry replied.

"It's all right. I felt the same way before my first game."

Harry looked up at Wood. "What happened?"

"Uh... I don't really remember. I took a Bludger to the head two minutes in. Woke up in a hospital a week later."

Harry, wide eyed, gulped. Then, the door opened and the team was greeted with the sunlight. The team then mounted their brooms and kicked into the air, starting to fly around the Quidditch field and they were joined by the Slytherin Quidditch team. The stadium was full with students from all four Houses who cheered on, although Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were cheering for Gryffindor to win.

In one of the stands, Lee Jordan, a third year Gryffindor, was doing the commentary.

"Hello and welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch match of the season! Today's game, Slytherin versus Gryffindor!" Jordan said.

The Gryffindor students and Slytherin students were all cheering and waiving the flags that the colors of their respective Houses for their own teams. Harry saw on Gryffindor side of the stadium Jacob, Hermione and Ron having joined Dean, Seamus and Neville. All six kids unfurled a banner which read POTTER FOR PRESIDENT.

Penny was with the other Hufflepuffs cheering for the Gryffindor team, as was Talbott with the rest of the Ravenclaws, while Malfoy, Snyde, Crabbe and Goyle had taken front places on Slytherin front. Harry was flying around, marveling at the sight of the Quidditch field, the audience and the players flying. All the players then flew in the middle of the field and formed a circle, with Harry flying above them, and in front of him was the Seeker for the Slytherin team, Terence Higgs.

"The players take their positions as Madame Hooch steps onto the field to begin the game!"

Madame Hooch, clad in referee robes, was walking underneath the players, next to her own broomstick and a box which contained the Golden Snitch, Bludgers and Quaffle.

"Now, i want a nice, clean game. From all of you!" Madame Hooch said sternly.

Madame Hooch was glancing tellingly at the Slytherin team, while the Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint raised an eyebrow to one of his teammates.

Harry lowered himself towards Angelina. "Who's he, Angelina?" He asked, pointing at Flint.

"Marcus Flint. Slytherin Captain. They say he's got troll blood in him." Angelina replied.

Harry swalloed as Flint glared at him murderously. Meanwhile, Madame Hooch kicked the box open, releasing the two screaming Bludgers and the Snitch, with the Snitch flying around Harry and Higgs before flying higher.

"The Bludgers are up, followed by the Golden Snitch." Jordan commented. "Remember, the Snitch is worth 150 points. The Seeker who catches the Snitch ends the game." Jordan commented.

Madame Hooch then took the Quaffle from the box, and tossed it into the air.

"The Quaffle is released and the game begins!"

The players all started to move to try and grab the Quaffle, with Angelina grabbing on to it first. Wrapping the Quaffle under her arm, she flew off.

"Quaffle's straight off taken by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor. What an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive too, i might add..."

Professor McGonagall casted a disapproving glance at Jordan, then turned to watch the action bellow.

Angelina started to close in on Slytherin hoops, while the opposite team players tried to either grab the Quaffle from underneath her arm or push her around. With two Slytherins behind her, Angelina throws the Quaffle through one of the hoops. One Slytherin player reached for the Quaffle, but wasn't able to catch it in time. Angelina scores the first set of of points, with Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs cheering. Angelina flew to one of the Weasley twins and high fives them.

"Angelina Johnson scores! Ten points to Gryffindor!"

As Professor McGonagall applauds for her House, Jordan places ten points to Gryffindor on the scoreboard.

Harry was applauding at this, even swinging his arm and shouting "Yes--" before a Bludger flew right past him. "Whoa!" Harry lost his balance for a moment before regaining it.

As the Gryffindors cheers filled the air, Hagrid made his way up the stands, scattering students in his wake.

"Budge up there. Clear the way. How's Harry holdin' up?" Hagrid asked.

"He hasn't had much to do yet." Jacob replied.

"First game. He stays outta trouble, that'll be doin' enough."

"Slytherin takes the possession on the Quaffle. Bletchley passes to Captain Marcus Flint." Jordan commented.

The Slytherin's Keeper tossed the Quaffle to Flint, who then dodged the attempts from Alicia and Katie to take it. He also ducked his head to avoid a Bludger before kicking Angelina away. Harry also tries to stop Flint but Flint dodges, before throwing the Quaffle at the highest Gryffindor hoop. But then Wood flies up, throwing the Quaffle at one of his teammates with the back of his broomstick. Flint glares at him, while Wood simply smirks back.

Katie and Alicia were flying between the towers while tossing the Quaffle back and forth to each other, while Slytherin players were hot on their trail. Katie took a hold of the Quaffle and flew towards the hoops. She ended up circling them before tossing it at Angelina who then threw it through the highest hoop, while the Slytherin Keeper failed to catch it in time. Gryffindors started cheered again.

"Yes!" Harry applauded.

"Another ten points to Gryffindor!" Jordan announces, placing the points for the team again.

The Slytherin's Chaser Adrian Pucey had gotten the Quaffle, and after kicking Angelina away, he threw it towards the hoop, which Wood stopped by simply catching it in his hands before tossing it back at his team.

At this point, Flint decided to play dirty.

"Give me that!" Flint ordered as he took a bat from his Beater.

Taking a club from his Beater, Flint smacked the Bludger that was coming to him at Wood. Wood wasn't able to avoid it in time, as he got hit in the chest. This knocked Wood unconscious and he dropped off his broom to the ground. While the Slytherin's all laughed and cheered for this, the rest of the Houses boo'd. Harry glared at Flint, who only smirked and tossed the bat back to his teammate, while Professor McGonagall was looking worried.

George glanced behind him and saw Flint with another player approach him from behind, tossing the Quaffle back and forth. Jumping over one of the Weasley twins, Flint took the Quaffle and threw it through one of the Gryffindor hoops, scoring the Slytherin it's first ten points and the Slytherins to start cheering, while Harry was looking frustrated.

"Take that side!" Flint ordered his teammate.

The two Slytherins closed in on Angelina, who had the Quaffle, from both sides. they started to push her from both sides, pinning her down and causing her to crash into one of the towers. The other three houses boo'd again at this, even most of the teachers rose up from their seats in worry when Angelina slid on the sand.

The Slytherin Beater had Quaffle under him. He tossed it in the air before spinning, hitting the Quaffle with the back of his broomstick. The Quaffle flew towards the Gryffindor hoops, and nobody was able to catch it. The Slytherins scored another ten points, now with twenty points and tied with Gryffindor's score.

Harry, meanwhile, was still higher in the air, keeping an eye on the game while still trying to spot the Snitch. At that moment the Snitch flew in front of him, and the moment it started to fly away, Harry took off after it. Ducking to avoid an incoming Bludger, Harry's broomstick suddenly stopped in it's tracks and started spinning and jumping, almost like it was trying to toss him off of it.

"What's goin' on with Harry's broomstick?" Hagrid asked confused.

As Hagrid and the Gryffindors noticed what was happening with Harry, Hermione was looking at Harry through Hagrid's binoculars, before her eyes drifted to the tower with some of the teachers. Snape was sitting muttering in the opposite stands, staring at Harry.

"It's Snape! He's jinxing his broom!" Hermione whispered to Jacob and Ron.

"What?!" Jacob said shoked, glancing towards the stands.

"Jinxing the broom? What do we do?" Ron then asked.

"Leave it to me." Hermione said.

Handing Jacob the binoculars, Hermione dashed off, while Jacob turned the binoculars back to the sky. Harry kept holding on to the broom for dear life as it kept trying to drop him, before the broom did a front flip, and while Harry fell off, he managed to hold on to the broom with his right hand. Hagrid and Gryffindors looked in horror, while Malfoy and the the Slytherins laughed at him, all the while Snape kept his gaze at Harry and muttered. Harry managed to grab on to his broom with his left arm, while Fred hovered nearby and George circled about ten feet below.

"What's George doing?" Harry asked.

"Just in case you fall, George will..." Fred said, though he wasn't sure himself. "... catch you."

On the stadium, Jacob and Ron were keeping a close eye on Harry.

"Come on, Hermione..." Ron said panicking.

"Oh, i knew we should've gone out for football..." Jacob said jokingly, nervous.

Ron glanced at Jacob confused. "What's football?"

Hermione had gotten into the wooden stairs of the tower the teachers were at, and while running up, she finally made it underneath the teachers seats. Taking her wand out, she got close to Snape's robes, and pointed the wand at it.

"Lacarnum Inflamarae." Hermione chanted quietly.

A fireball shot from Hemrione's wand into Snape's robes, before she quickly dashed off. Snape's robe started to light little more on fire as the smoke started to rise up, all the while Snape continued to mutter and stare skyward.

A teacher on Snape's left noticed the fire and got up. "Fire! You're on fire!" He said panicking.

This got everyone's attention, and noticing the fire on his robes, Snape got up and started to stump on it to put it out. This caused him to knock down a teacher behind him, who in turn knocked Quirrell down. 

Instantly, Harry's broom stopped jerking. Noticing this, Harry kicked himself on it before taking off, going after the Snitch which was being chased by Higgs.

"Go, go, go, go!" Hagrid shouted, while the Gryffindors cheered.

Higgs was hot on Snitch's trail, but then Harry got next to him, and the two started to push each other. When Higgs did a more powerful push at Harry, he flew further but quickly got back on the trail. With the Snitch making a nosedive to the ground, the Seekers followed it while still pushing each other.

The closer the Snitch got to the ground, more nervous the Seekers were getting. Higgs then decided to lift his broom up, while Harry waited a second longer before lifting his. Now he and Snitch were hovering on the edge of the ground. 

Harry started to get on his feet, balancing himself on his broom while reaching for the Snitch with his hand. Stepping on the edge of the broom to catch the Snitch, this caused the broom to hit the ground, and Harry swung himself on the sand.

Flipping over, Harry got on his feet, but then he started to clutch his stomach, as if he was about to throw up. The teachers were now looking at Harry, and as Hermione was making her way back, she noticed what was happening to Harry as well. Penny was leaning more on the railing to see what was going on with Harry, as was Talbott with a confused look. Jacob and Ron, along with the other Gryffindors, looked confused at what was happening, while Hagrid put down his binoculars.

"Looks like he's gonna be sick." Hagrid said.

Then suddenly, Harry spit the Snitch from his mouth into his hands. Turned out he had caught it with his mouth while flying face first to the ground.

"He's got the Snitch! Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the Snitch!" Jordan announced.

Madame Hooch flew over, blowing her whistle. "Gryffindor wins!" She announced.

Jacob, Ron, Dean, Neville and Seamus begin to celebrate with their House, along with Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Penny was putting her arms around the shoulders of two of her classmates while jumping up and down, while Talbott clapped and cheered. The Slytherins only groaned and boo'd.

"No." Malfoy groaned, covering his face with his hands.

"Yes!" Hagrid cheered.

"Wohoo!" Hermione shouted while clapping.

The professors are also cheering, especially Professor McGonagall, who looked proud at Harry's victory, while Snape's face switches between that of relief and disappointment. Harry then starts smiling and raises the Snitch in the air with his hand, while the Gryffindor players circle him and start cheering for him as well, with Harry basking in on the victory.

Later that day, the quartet was walking to the Hogwarts grounds with Hagrid. Hermione had a while ago told Harry what she had seen Snape do to the broom, and the kids were now explaining it to Hagrid.

"Nonsense! Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?" Hagrid asked, not believing it.

"Who knows? Why was he trying to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween?" Harry asked next.

"Who told you about Fluffy?"

"Fluffy?" Ron asked.

"That thing has a name?" Hermione also asked.

"Huh. Not the first name i'd thought of." Jacob commented, eyebrow raised.

"'Course he's got a name. He's mine. I bought him off an Irish fellow i met at a pub las' year. Then i lent him to Dumbledore to guard the--" Hagrid said, before suddenly stopping.

"Yes?" Jacob and Harry asked together.

"Shouldn't have said that. No more questions! Don' ask anymore questions! That's top-secret, that is."

"But Hagrid, whatever Fluffy's guarding, Snape's trying to steal it." Jacob said.

The group stopped walking, while Hagrid turned to the quartet. "Codswallop! Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher."

"Hogwarts teacher or not, i know a spell when i see one. I've read all about them. You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking." Hermione said.

"Exactly" Jacob said.

Hagrid sighted. "Now, you listen to me, all four of yeh--yer meddlin' in things that ought not to be meddled in. It's dangerous. What that dog is guardin' is strictly betw'n Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel--" He said.

"Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked.

The quartet glanced at each other, while Hagrid made a face, realizing he spoke too much. 

"I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that." Hagrid said, repeating.

Hagrid turned away from the quartet and walked back to his hut, while the twins were looking at Hagrid.

"Nicolas Flamel. Who's Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked.

Ron glanced at Hermione. "I don't know." Hermione said, shaking her head.

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Jacob muttered, still looking at Hagrid.

Chapter Text

November went by in a flick of an eye, and now it was Christmas time at Hogwarts. Snow was falling down, and Hagrid was dragging a giant Christas tree towards the castle. Ever since Hagrid has let the name Nicolas Flamel slip out of his mouth, Hermione spend a lot of time at the library trying to find anything on the person, taking Jacob, Harry and Ron with her, but they kept coming out of it with nothing.

Inside the castle, students were carrying suitcases with them as they were leaving to get to the Hogwarts Express, and the ghosts were singing "Merry Christmas" while floating in the halls. Hermione, huge trunk on tow, was coming to the Great Hall, where she saw Nearly Headless Nick swooping about one of the trees, running garland over the limbs, while Peeves plucked ornaments fro the branches, hurling them on the floor.

Professor Flitwick placed decorations on the towering Christmas tree with his wand, and on the far end of the Gryffindor table Harry and Ron were playing Wizard's Chess, while Jacob, sitting next to Harry, was reading a book, trying to find something on Flamel. Smiling when she saw him, Hermione started walking towards the boys.

Jacob and Harry chose to stay at the castle for the holidays, as they knew the Dursleys didn't want to see them, and they preferred the castle either way. Ron was also staying with his brothers, as the Weasley's parents were in Romania visiting Ron's older brother Charlie.

"Knight to E-5." Harry said, making his move.

The knight chess piece moved to it's spot. Unlike Muggle chess, these figures were alive. Hermione got to the boys, while Jacob stopped reading and turned to the game.

Ron looked at Harry with a smirk. "Queen to E-5." He said.

The queen piece moved, and, getting up from it's throne, whacked the knight into small pieces with it. Jacob had a surprised look at how the game ended, while Hermione looked shocked.

"Oh my God! That's totally barbaric!" Hermione said.

"Didn't know chess evolved this much." Jacob said cheekily, eyebrow raised.

"That's wizard's chess." Ron said, before noticing Hermione's trunk. "I see you've packed."

"I see you haven't." Hermione said back.

"Change of plans. My parents decided to go to Romania to visit my brother Charlie. He's studying dragons there."

"Dragons? That's so cool." Jacob said.

Jacob had been reading a lot of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them written by Newt Scamander and had gotten really interested in magical creatures.

"Good. You can help Jacob and Harry, then." Hermione said. "They're going to look in the library for information on Nicolas Flamel."

"We've looked a hundred times." Ron said, whining.

While the twins nodded slightly, Hermione leaned closer to the boys. "Not in the restricted section. Happy Christmas." Hermione took her trunk and started to leave.

"I think we've had a bad influence on her." Ron said to the twins.

"I don't know. I think she's just determined." Jacob said, impressed at Hermione, before he remembered something. "Be right back."

Standing up, Jacob jogged after Hermione, who had gotten to the door.

"Hermione!" Hermione turned and stopped, seeing Jacob coming towards her. "You don't have to worry. I'll keep looking on Flamel while you're gone."

"Thank you, Jacob. Somehow i knew i could count on you." Hermione said, smiling.

"Definitely." Jacob then smirked slightly. "And i might have Christmas present delivered to you later. Don't worry, it's much better than the quill and the ink."

"Please, Jacob. Your birthday present was lovely." Growing her own smirk, Hermione continued. "And i also might have something for you. I hoped i could use Hedwig to deliver it."

"I'll ask Harry, but i think you can, as she'll be delivering mine to yours."

Suddenly Hermione pulled Jacob in for a hug, who was surprised but quickly returned it.

"Happy Christmas, best friend." Hermione muttered smiling.

Jacob's eyes widened a little, before he smiled wildly. "Happy Christmas, best friend."

Jacob and Hermione let go of each, and Hermione started to make her way to the exit. Stopping by the door, she turned back to look at Jacob for a final time and waved at him, who waved back at her.

Next morning, it was Christmas. In the boys' dormitory, Hedwig was sitting on a chair while Millie was gazing outside through the window.

"Harry, John, wake up! Come on, guys, wake up!" Ron shouted from the Common Room.

The twins had still been sleeping when they woke up to Ron's shouting. Harry put his glasses on while Jacob was fixing his hair, which was a mess, and the brothers run out of the dormitory in their pajamas. Looking down to the Common Room, they saw Ron standing by the Christmas tree in his pajamas, and there had been few gifts placed under the tree.

"Happy Christmas, guys."

"Happy Christmas, Ron." The twins said back, smiling.

"What are you wearing?" Harry asked, noticing the sweater Ron was wearing.

Ron glanced down at the sweater. "Oh, my Mum made it. Looks like you've both got one too." He said, pointing at the presents.

The twins looked wide-eyed at each other. "We've got presents?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah."

The twins ran down the stairs to see what they had gotten, while Ron took a box of sweets and started to eat.

"There they are."

The twins picked up the presents given to them by Ron's mother. Opening them, they found sweaters. Harry's sweater was the same as Ron's but had an 'H' written on it, while Jacob's had a 'J' and was colored blue.

Jacob found a carefully wrapped present for him in red colors. Looking over the card, he saw it was from Hermione. Peeling back the parchment, he found a book titled Quidditch through the Ages. Finding another card on the front, he started to read it.

'Jacob.

Since you're a Seeker, with this, you can get help when it comes to Quidditch. And thank you for the journal. It was amazing. Now i'm going to write down anything important happening at Hogwarts. Have a happy Christmas with Harry and Ron.

Your best friend, Hermione.'

Harry, meanwhile, opened another present, this time one from Hagrid, and found a wooden flute. As he blew it, Hedwig cocked her head, and the sounds was like an owls. He then took up another parchel, which was very light. Sitting down on an armchair, he found a note attached to it, which had been addressed to both him and Jacob.

"'Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well.'" Harry read the card outloud.

He looked at Jacob and Ron, and while Ron shrugged his shoulders and Jacob burrowed his eyebrows, Harry started to open up the parcel. Inside it he found a cloak, looking shiny and translucent as Harry took it, standing up.

"What is it?" Ron asked.

"Some kind of cloak?" Jacob said with a question mark.

"Looks like it." Harry said.

"Well, let's see then. Put it on." Ron said.

Jacob nodded, and Harry threw the cloak over his shoulders and wrapped it around himself. Suddenly, his body disappeared, leaving his head floating in midair.

"Whoa!" Ron said surprised, putting the box down.

"Um... Harry." Jacob said, pointing at Harry's body.

Harry looked down, before his eyes widened. "My body's gone!" He exclaimed.

"I know what that is. That's an invisibility cloak!" Ron said as he stood up.

"I'm invisible?" Harry spun his body around.

"That's incredible." Jacob said, standing up himself.

"They're really rare." Ron said, walking to the armchair and taking the card, looking over it. "I wonder who gave it to you."

"There was no name. It just said 'Use it well.'" Harry said.

Jacob, placing his hand on his chin, started thinking, before he got an idea. "I know what we can use the cloak for." He said.

Later that night, the twins were walking in the library, covered in their invisibility cloak, while Jacob was holding a lantern in his hand. They came to the gate to the restricted section. Harry opened the lock to the gate, and they entered inside. Walking to the shelf on their left side, the brothers started to look through different books.

"Famous Fire-Eaters. Fifteenth-Century Fiends." Harry whispered, reading the titles of the books.

"Flamel. Nicolas Flamel. Where are you?" Jacob whispered.

The brothers dropped the cloak and John placed the lantern on a seat, which made a small sound. They glanced around, making sure no one was coming, to make sure nobody was coming, before Jacob started reading through book titles. Meanwhile, Harry took a large book from the shelf with a chain on it. He opened it... when a face came through a page and started shrieking. Harry, after a moment of struggling, managed to slam the book shut and put it back in the shelf, while Jacob quickly walked up to him.

"Nice one, Harry!" Jacob whisper-shouted at him.

"Shhh!" Harry hushed at him.

"You 'shhh'!"

"Who's there!?" Filch's voice came from outside the library.

"Shhh!" The brothers hushed at each other.

Turning to where Filch's voice came from, Jacob took the cloak and he and Harry quickly left, tipping the lamp down. They started running but stopped when they saw light from the end of the library and a shadow approaching.

"I know you're in there. You can't hide." Filch called.

Jacob quickly threw the cloak around him and Harry, disappearing out of sight. Just then, Filch entered the library, carrying a lantern, and he started looking around.

"Who is it? Show yourself."

Wide-eyed Filch started slowly walking further into the library, while the twins walked to the side as Filch walked past them. They silently hushed to each other again, before walking towards the exit...

Exiting the library, the twins entered the library corridor, before they saw Mrs. Norris standing close to them, before she started getting close to them. The twins started backing away, but suddenly from the corner they came face to face with... Snape and Quirrell. Snape pinned Quirrell against a pillar, in the midst of a heated conversation.

"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's, yet?" Snape asked.

"B-b-but Severus, i-i--" Quirrell stuttered.

"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell."

"I d-d-don't know what you m-mean."

"You know perfectly well what i mean. Your perfectly little hocus pocus..."

The twins were walking slowly and carefully around them, trying not to be heard. Suddenly, Snape stopped, as if he felt a small breeze, before... he turned, seeing soft feathers of vapor. The twins started breathing heavier, but put their hands on each others mouths to stop their breething. As they backed away, Snape reached out to touch them... but found nothing in front of him. Snape glanced at his hand for a second, before he turned back to Quirrell.

"We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decide where your loyalties lie."

Around the corner, Filch appeared from the library with Mrs Norris right behind him, holding the broken lamp in his hand, walking up to Snape and Quirrell.

"Professors." Filch greeted them, before holding the lamp up. "I found this in the restricted section. It's still hot. That means there's a student out of bed."

"Then they can't be far." Snape said.

Snape, Quirrell and Filch exited the corner. Meanwhile, Jacob and Harry, still under the invisibility cloak, opened the door to an empty classroom, and got inside.

Closing the door behind them, the twins dropped the cloak, glanced back at the door and exhaled. Starting to look around,  they noticed a magnificent mirror near a corner of the room. Walking down the steps, they approached it. Though Jacob stopped to glance around the classroom, Harry approached the mirror. Standing in front of it, Harry looked up at the frame, where there was ain inscription: Erised stra ehru oyt ube afru oyt on wohsi. 

Just then, Harry started seeing two figures standing next to him. Walking closer, he saw a man and a woman. Harry turned, as if expecting to see someone besides Jacob, but found no one else, before turning back, while Jacob was slowly walking up to him. 

"Mum?" Harry whispered, and the woman smiled at him. "Dad?" Harry looked at the man, who nodded and smiled.

"Harry? Are you okay?" Jacob asked, worried.

Harry turned to John. "Jacob. Do you see them?"

Jacob gained a confused look. "See who?"

"Mum and Dad."

Jacob's eyes suddenly widened. "W-what?"

"Look."

Harry took a hold of jacob's arm and pulled him in front of the mirror next to him. At first, Jacob didn't see anything else besides him and Harry, before the images of a young adult woman and a man appeared in front of him.

"Mum? Dad?" John whispered, and the two smiled at their youngest son.

As his parents smiled at him, Jacob slowly placed his hand against the mirror, while Lily placed her hand on John's shoulder, and James his on Harry's. The twins placed their hands on the shoulders their parents were holding, though they didn't feel the hands. Glancing at their shoulders, they returned to the mirror, and the family smiled happily at each other.

Moments later, the twins ran back to the boys tower dormitory, under their cloak again.

"Ron, you've really gotta see this! Ron, you've gotta see this!" Harry shouted, pulling the blanket from Ron.

"Ron, come on, get out of bed!" Jacob said, taking the cloak from him and Harry.

"Why?" Ron asked, squinting in confusion.

"There's something you've got to see! Now come on!" The twins said.

Few minutes later, John, Harry and Ron, under the cloak, entered the empty classroom. Removing the cloak, they ran up to the mirror.

"Come on! Come! Come look! It's our parents." Harry said.

"I only see us." Ron said.

"Look in properly. Go on, stand there" Jacob said, pulling Ron to a better spot and he and Harry got to the side, when Ron suddenly froze. "There. You see them, don't you?"

Harry was about to point at the mirror and say something, when...

"That's me! Only, i'm Head Boy." Ron said surprised. The twins glanced at each other, surprised. "And i'm holding the Quidditch Cup. And bloody hell! I'm Quidditch Captain too!" The twins glanced at the mirror, while Ron was looking impressed. "I look good. Guys, do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How can it? Both our parents are dead." Harry said, troubled.

"Also, a Head Boy? You know how you get to be a Head Boy, right?" Jacob asked, eyebrow raised, while Ron shrugged his shoulders. "By being good at your studies and being a good example. Sorry, mate, but with your study habits, i don't think you'd ever be selected a Head Boy."

"You, on the other hand, would make a good one." Harry said smirking. "You take every good opportunity to work on your homework and make it as good as you can."

Jacob started rubbing the back of his head. "Oh come on, surely there are better choices than me"

"Mate, Hermione might be the top student in our year, but you're not that far off from her. You're almost as bad as she is." Ron said, laughing.

Jacob playfully pushed Ron slightly, while laughing. "Oh, shut it, Weasley."

The next morning, the Great Hall looked deserted as the students who remained were eating breakfest. The Weasleys were chattering amongst themselves, laughing, when Ron looked away and saw Jacob and Harry sitting together, staring at the fireplace.

"How do you like yours, Ron?" George asked him. Ron didn't answer.

"Ron?" Fred asked, which got Ron's attention.

"I'll be right back." Ron said, and he put down his fork and walked to the twins, standing behind them. "Want to play chess?"

"No" Harry replied.

"Want to go visit Hagrid?"

"No" Jacob replied.

Ron lowered his head slightly. "Guys, i know what you're thinking, but don't. There's something not right about that mirror."

The twins nodded slightly, and Ron walked back to his family. Jacob and Harry briefly glanced at each other.

Later that same night, the twins were back in the empty classroom, sitting before the mirror and looking transfixed. Jacob was playing with his hair a little, while looking at their mothers hair.

"I always wondered why we had such a different hair colors. Now i know." Jacob said, smiling slightly.

"You definitely got Mum's hair." Harry said.

"I think i also got the good looks."

"We look almost identical."

The twins chuckled slightly before turning back to the mirror.

"Back again, Harry and Jacob?" A voice asked from the back.

The twins quickly turned and saw Dumbledore standing behind them, before they stood up.

"I see that you, like so many before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised. I trust by now you realize what it does, especially you, Jacob."

"It shows us our family." Jacob replied.

"And it showed your friend Ron himself as a Head Boy."

The twins looked surprised, while Dumbledore smiled. 

"I don't need cloak to become invisible, boys." Dumbledore started walking towards the twins. "Let me give you a clue. The happiest man on earth would look in the mirror and see only himself, exactly as he is."

"So, then, it shows us what we want... Whatever we want..." Harry said.

"Yes. And no. It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest and most desperate desires of our hearts."

"So, it shows us our desire to see our family. Is that right?" Jacob asked.

Dumbledore smiled. "Indeed, Jacob. You and Harry, who have never known your family, you see them standing beside you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his family, sees himself standing alone. But remember this, though, boys. This mirror gives us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away in front of it. Even gone mad. That is why tomorrow, it will be moved to a new home." The twins turned to Dumbledore, surprised. "And i must ask you not to go looking for it again. It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

The twins briefly glanced at the mirror again before nodding, and Dumbledore started walking away.

"Can i ask you something, professor?" Jacob asked.

Dumbledore stopped and faced him. "Yes."

"What do you see when you look in the Mirror?"

"I?" Dumbledore was silent for a moment as he looked in the Mirror. "I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks. One can never have enough socks, Jacob. You'll do well to remember that as well."

Few days later in the schoolcourtyard, Jacob and Harry--burdened by heavy thoughts--were walking in an empty courtyard covered in snow. Harry, who was having Hedwig on his right arm, raised the arm higher to let the owl go flying, while Jacob had Millie on his shoulders. As Hedwig flew high in the sky, the boys kept their gaze on the owl.

Chapter Text

It was spring time. The Great Hall was filled with students, as they were studying for their first-year exams. After she returned from her holidays, Jacob had told Hermione he wasn't able to find anything on Flamel, while also telling her about the invisibility cloak he and Harry had received, and how they had found the Mirror of Erised, and seen their parents in it. Hermione, while feeling sad for Jacob, advised him not to go looking for the mirror, with Jacob assuring her he wouldn't, even joking he wouldn't even be able to find it anymore.

The quartet was sitting in the Gryffindor table. Hermione kept studying, and while Jacob was doing the same, he was getting slightly distracted by Millie, who was sitting on his lap, as was Harry, while Ron seemed more interested in the pack of Chocolate Frogs in his hands. They were also joined by Penny, sitting next to Hermione on her left. Hedwig then flew on the table.

"Hi, Hedwig." Harry said.

Milly got off from Jacob's lap and jumped on the table, and she and Hedwig started talking to each other. Jacob, glancing at the animals, smiled at them before returning to his studies.

"Look at you, playing with your cards." Hermione said as she looked at Ron, and the others looked at her. "Pathetic. We've got final exams coming up soon."

"Yeah, Ron. You don't wan to fail your first year, do you?" Penny asked.

"I'm ready. Ask me any question." Ron said confidently, while Jacob, Harry and Penny smiled.

"All right. What are the three most crucial ingredients in a Forgetfulness Potion?" Hermione asked.

Ron pondered, before looking down. "I forgot."

Jacob scoffed. "Might as well have taken the potion itself, mate." He said, getting Harry and Penny to chuckle.

"And what, may i ask, do you plan to do if this comes up in the final exams?" Hermione then asked.

"Copy off you?" Ron suggested.

"No you won't. Besides, according to Professor McGonagall, we're to be given special quills bewitched with an anti-cheating spell."

"Professor Sprout told us the same thing." Penny said. "Besides, you would never catch me using a cheating spell."

"That's insulting! It's as if they don't trust us." Ron said, glancing at Harry, who looked confused. Ron then frowned and tossed a wizard card on the table. "Dumbledore again."

"I don't know about you lot, but i think the professors have a good reason to use the anti-cheating spell." Jacob said, cheekily.

Hermione rolled her eyes at John. Just then, Neville came hopping like a bunny into the hall, his legs stuck together. The students started laughing when they saw him.

"Leg-Locker Curse?" Ron asked.

"Malfoy." Harry said, while Ron nodded.

"Of course. Who else would it be?" Penny asked, glaring.

"Well, there's always Rivers." Jacob answered.

Neville, breathing hard, reached the Gryffindor table, standing between Jacob and Dean and trying to keep his balance.

"You've got to start standing up to people, Neville." Ron said.

"How? I can barely stand at all." Neville said, almost losing his balance.

Seamus, sitting on Ron's right, stood up excited and took out his wand. "I'll do the counter-curse!" He said.

"No, that's all i need, you to set my bloody kneecaps on fire."

"Have to agree with Neville there, Seamus." John said, suddenly inching away from Neville. "We don't want another explosion, especially me."

Seamus looked offended, slamming his wand on the table. "I don't appreciate the insinuation, Longbottom, Potter. Besides, if anyone cares to notice, my eyebrows have completely grown back." He said, pointing at his eyebrows.

Taking his wand, Seamus turned away, and the others saw a curious bald spot on the back of his head. Jacob covered his mouth, while the girls almost laughed. Meanwhile, Ron took out his wand.

"All right then, Neville, who shall it be? Me, Hermione, Jacob..." Ron started saying.

"I found him!" Harry said, holding up Dumbledore's wizard card.

Ron stopped and took the card. "He's bowling. So what? He's always bowling."

Harry rolled his eyes and turned the card over for Ron to read.

"'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945.'"

"Go on."

"'For his discovery of the 12 uses of dragon blood... and his work on alchemy... with his partner, Nicolas Flamel!'"

Jacob suddenly gasped, causing the others to turn to him. "I knew the name sounded familiar. I read it in the train the day we came here!" He said.

Excited, Hermione quickly placed her books back in her bag. "Follow me!" She said beaming.

Hermione ran out of the Great Hall, while Jacob quickly placed his books underneath his arm and ran after her, followed by Harry and Ron. Penny looked confused at the quartet, as did Neville.

"Hey, wait! Where are you goin?" Neville called, when he started to lose his balance. "What about the counter-curse?" 

Neville fell backwards, causing the students to start laughing at him, while Penny kneeled next to Neville.

"I got it, Neville." Penny said.

Penny took out her wand, pointed it at Neville's legs, and his legs pulled apart from each other, letting him move his legs freely.

"Thanks, Penny." Neville said relieved.

Penny tapped Neville on the shoulder, smiling. "No problem."

Then looking at the entrance door, Penny ran after the quartet, her curiosity on what they were talking about getting the better of her.

Moments later, the quartet was in the library. Jacob, Harry and Ron were sitting on a table, each reading a book, when Hermione walked to them, carrying a book of Alchemy.

"I had you looking in the wrong section. How could i be so stupid?" Hermione said frustrated.

Hermione hit the book on the table with a loud thud, and Jacob, Harry and Ron quickly pulled their books away. Hermione sat next to Jacob and started opening the book.

"I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

"This is light?" Ron asked sarcastically.

Hermione started glaring at Ron.

"Um... What he means is that because you love reading, this might just feel light to you?" Jacob said, trying to ease the tension.

"Not now, Jacob." Hermione said, glancing at him.

Jacob quickly avoided Hermione's look. "Yes, ma'am."

Hermione read through a page before finding something. "Of course! Here it is!" The boys leaned in closer, while Penny was by a nearby shelf, listening in, and Hermione started whispering dramatically. "Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone."

"The what?" Harry and Ron asked confused.

"Seriously? You guys don't know?" Jacob asked.

"Oh, honestly, don't you two read?" Hermione asked, before turning back to the book. "'The Philosopher's Stone is a legendary substance with astonishing powers. It'll transform any metal into pure gold and produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.'"

"Immortal?" Ron asked.

"It means you'll never die." Jacob replied.

"Thank you, John." Hermione said.

"I know what it means --" Ron said, slightly loudly.

Harry shushed at Ron, while Jacob and Hermione looked at him before she returned to the book.

"'The only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist who last year celebrated his 665th birthday.'" Hermione read, while the boys' eyes widened. Hermione looked up from the book. "That's what Fluffy's guarding on the Third Floor. That's what under the trapdoor. The Philosopher's Stone!"

"So Flamel knows knows someone's after the stone..." Harry said. "... gives it to Dumbledore to keep safe at Hogwarts... not realizing the one who's after it is--"

"Teaches at Hogwarts."

"So Snape wants piles of gold and to live forever. Who wouldn't?" Ron said.

Jacob then noticed Hermione closing the book, looking troubled. "What is it, Hermione?" He asked.

"I don't want to scare you, Jacob, Harry." Hermione said. "It's just... if all Snape wants is the Philosopher's Stone... why did he try to kill Harry that day on the Quidditch pitch?"

Jacob started pondering this, but didn't have an answer.

"What are you guys talking about?" A voice suddenly asked.

The quartet turned sharply and saw Penny standing right at the table, before turning to each other with wide eyes.

"Why were you guys looking up this Flamel person? Also, what's this about a trapdoor?"

"Um... It's nothing, Penny." Harry said, as he was starting to get up with the others. "Just a bit of light reading. We should head off."

As the quartet started to leave, Penny quickly took a hold on Hermione's arm to stop them.

"Hermione, wait. What's going on?" Penny asked.

"It's nothing. It's nothing important, don't worry, Penny." Hermione said, trying to give Erica a reassuring smile.

Penny started looking at Hermione with pleading eyes. "Hermione, please. You know you can tell me anything. We're friends, right?"

This caused Hermione to stop, and think what she should do. Jacob, meanwhile, was also doing the same, before coming to a conclusion.

"I think we can tell her, guys." Jacob said, causing others to turn to him surprised. "At least to her. Besides, Penny is Hermione's friend, and i wouldn't want to leave her out of anything important."

Jacob smiled at Penny, who smiled back in gratitude. This caused Hermione to smile back, as she started to agree with Jacob, and Harry and Ron followed suite, before the quartet started telling Penny everything...

Later that night, the quartet, joined by Penny, was running towards Hagrid's hut. After the quartet had explained everything to her, Penny was shocked at what the quartet suspected about Snape, though she didn't have reason to doubt the quartet.

Reaching the hut, Jacob knocked on the door. The door rattled open, and Hagrid peered out.

"Hagrid--" Jacob started saying.

"Oh, hullo. Sorry, don't wish ter be rude, but i'm in no fit state ter entertain." Hagrid said, about to close the door.

"We know about the Philosopher's Stone!" The quartet said together.

Hagrid opened the door again. "Oh."

Opening the door further, Hagrid allowed the kids to walk inside the hut. Everything in the hut was oversized to fit in with Hagrid, and in the corner was sitting Hagrid's dog, Fang. The kids started removing their cloaks, while Hagrid was walking to the fireplace.

"We think Snape's trying to steal it." Harry said.

"Snape? Blimey, are ye still on abou' him?"

"Hagrid, we know he's after the Stone, we just don't know why." Jacob said, as the kids sat down on chairs.

"Jacob, Harry, Snape is one o' the teachers protectin' the Stone. He's not abou' ter steal it."

The kids looked confused at each other. "What?" The twins asked together.

"Yeh heard: Snape is one o' the teachers protectin' the Stone. Come on, i'm a bit preoccupied today--"

"Wait a minute. One of the teachers?" Harry asked.

"Of course!" Hermione said, and everybody turned to her. "There are other things defending the Stone, aren't there? Spells, enchantments..."

"That's right. Waste o' bloody time, if yeh ask me." Hagrid said.

Fang, meanwhile, was getting closer to Ron's head, trying to sniff him, while Ron looked a little uncomfortable at this.

"Ain't no one gonna get past Fluffy." Hagrid chuckled proudly. "Ain't a soul knows how 'cept for me an' Dumbledore."

Hagrid then started to realize he spoke too much again. 

"I shouldn't have told yeh. I should not have told yeh that." Hagrid then turned towards Penny. "I don't think i've seen yeh before."

"Oh, i'm Penny Haywood, a Hufflepuff." Penny introduced herself. "I've been friends with Hermione ever since we were sorted."

"Well, it's nice ter meet yeh too, Penny. I hope you're making the rest o' the Hufflepuffs proud." Hagrid chuckled.

The quartet smiled at Penny, who blushed at the compliment and started scratching her right cheek with a finger. Suddenly they heard rattling from Hagrid's cauldron in the fireplace and turned towards it. Hagrid took something that looked like a giant egg from the cauldron, and started blowing it to cool it down, walking to his table and placing the egg on it, with the kids following him.

"Um, Hagrid... what exactly is that?" Harry asked nervously.

"That? It's... It's, um..."

"I know what it is! But Hagrid. How did you get one?" Ron asked.

"I won it. Off a stranger i met down at the pub. Seemed quite glad ter be rid of it, as a matter o' fact. Blimey"

The egg started to rattle again, and the kids backed off a little bit before pieces from the egg flew by them, causing the kids to cover themselves. When they looked back at the cracked egg, they saw a baby dragon coming out of it, which started to shake the egg pieces off of it.

"Is that... a dragon?" Hermione asked.

"That's not just a dragon! That's a Norwegian Ridgeback! My brother Charlie works with these in Romania." Ron said amazed.

"I see someone knows their dragons." Penny said, looking at Ron.

"Isn't he beautiful? Oh, bless 'im. Look, he knows 'is mummy. Hallo, Norbert." Hagrid said.

Jacob, meanwhile, was solely focusing on the baby dragon. While it looked at Hagrid, the dragon turned to where Jacob, Hermione and Penny were standing at. Jacob stepped a little closer and reached it's hand out to the dragon.

"Wait, Penny. Don't go near 'im."

"Jacob, don't." Hermione said, starting to slightly panic.

Everyone else looked little worried, but then the dragon started rubbing it's head on Jacob's finger, who in return started scratching it, while smiling. The others were looking closely, and started smiling as well.

"All right, laddie, that was a bit reckless. But it looks like yer good with magical creatures, aren't yeh?" Hagrid said.

"I guess. I've been reading about them and been interested to know about them." Jacob said.

The dragon then removed itself from Jacob's hand and approached Hagrid, who started tickling the dragon's stomach.

"Also, Norbert?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, well, he's gotta have a name, don't he?" Hagrid replied, causing Ron to snort. "Don't you, Norbert?"

As Hagrid kept tickling Norbert's stomach, it suddenly hiccuped, before sneezed. It spewed fire on Hagrid's beard, who quickly started patting out the fire, while the kids looked surprised.

"Well, he'll have ter be trained up a bit, o' course." The kids glanced at each other, while Hagrid's eyes suddenly turned to the window "Who's that?"

The kids turned, seeing a blonde-haired boy and orange-patched girl peering inside. Panicking, they raced back towards the Castle.

"Malfoy." Harry said, glaring at the window.

"And Snyde." Jacob said, mirroring Harry's look.

"Oh dear." Hagrid said, now looking really worried.

Moments later, the quartet and Penny were walking back to the castle. After seeing Malfoy and Snyde peeking inside the hut and seeing Norbert, couple of them knew that Hagrid was probably going to be in trouble now. Walking down a corridor, they were discussing what to do, knowing Malfoy and Snyde were going to cause trouble.

"Hagrid always wanted a dragon. Told us so the first day we met him." Harry said.

"He said they were misunderstood creatures, at least in his eyes." Jacob said.

"It's crazy. And worse, Malfoy and Rivers knows." Ron said.

"Of all the people, it had to be those two who'll cause trouble." Penny said.

"I don't understand. Is that bad?" Harry asked.

"It's bad." Ron said, looking ahead nervously.

Looking ahead as well, the others saw Professor McGonagall with a candle in her hand, and Hermione let out a little gasp.

"Good evening." Professor McGonagall said sternly.

Malfoy and Snyde stepped forward from behind Professor McGonagall, grinning arrogantly.

"G-g-good evening, Professor." Jacob said, swallowing nervously.

Chapter Text

Moments later, everyone was at Transfiguration classroom, with the quartet and Penny facing a displeasing McGonagall by her desk, while Malfoy and Roper were sitting on a desk in a side, practically quivering with pleasure.

"As every schoolchild knows, dragon-breeding is against our laws, has been ever since the Warlock's convention 1709. And for good reason. It's hard to keep the Muggles from noticing us if we've got a thirty-foot Unkarian Ironbelly running around the backgarden." Professor McGonagall said sternly.

"Norwegian Ridgeback." Ron corrected.

Professor McGonagall eyes shifted and narrowed towards Ron.

"I just meant... in this case... sorry."

"Personally, i don't care if Hagrid has a Chinese Fireball sitting in his kitchen, Mr. Weasley. He answers to Dumbledore. You, on the other hand, answer to me. Nothing, i repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night. Therefore, as punishment for your actions, fifty points will be taken."

The quartet and Penny gasped at each other.

"Fifty?" Jacob asked, whispering loudly.

Malfoy and Snyde, eyes glimmering with cruel ecstasy, nodded to each other.

"Each. And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all seven of you will receive detention." Professor McGonagall said.

This confused Malfoy and Snyde, and they approached Professor McGonagall.

"Excuse me, professor. Perhaps we heard you wrong. I thought you said the seven of you." Malfoy asked politely.

'This might be the last time he'll be this polite to a teacher that's not Snape.' Jacob though amused.

"No, you heard me correctly, Mr. Malfoy. You see, honorable as your and Miss Snyde's intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours." Professor McGonagall said, while Jacob and Harry started smirking. "You two will join your classmates in detention."

Malfoy and Snyde turned to glare at the quartet and Penny , who simply ignored them and smiled at each other. They may not be happy about losing points and the detention, they were satisfied that the Slytherin suffered for their actions as well.

The next morning, the quartet was eating breakfast in the Great Hall. They looked at the hourglasses by the High Table, which told the tale of what happened last night: Gryffindor had slipped to last place. Just then, Fred and George passed by the quartet.

"Don't worry, you four. This'll all blow over." Fred said.

"It may take a year or two, but eventually people will start talking to you again." George said.

Hermione sniffed defensively at this. "Well, i for one, see nothing wrong with a reduced social life. It'll give us more time to revise for finals." She said.

"Why bother? Even with Malfoy and Snyde losing points, Slytherin's a lock for the House Cup. And look, they know it." Ron said.

All four peered at Malfoy and Snyde by the Slytherin table. They raised their goblets in the quartet's direction, cackling with Crabbe and Goyle.

"They won't be smiling tonight." Hermione said, causing Harry and Ron to give her looks. "Haven't you heard? For detention they're taking us into the Dark Forest."

Jacob had a knowing smirk of his own. "I have a feeling this'll be the last time those two will try anything like this. I may not like us losing points and being in detention, but it'll be worth it to see their scared faces." He said.

The following night, Filch, carrying a lantern, was leading Jacob, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Penny, Malfoy and Snyde across Hogwarts grounds for their detention.

"A pity they let the old punishments die. Was a time detention found you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons. God, i miss the screaming..." Filch said, smirking.

Harry, Ron, Malfoy and Snyde gulped in fear, Penny looked like she was disgusted, and Hermione was absolutely scared at the punishments, and gripped Jacob's wrist tightly. Jacob, gulping in fear, felt Hermione's tight grip and placed his free hand over hers.

"You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight. He's got a little job to do inside the Dark Forest."

As Filch and the kids reached the hut, they found Hagrid exiting the hut, carrying a lantern in one hand and a crossbow in the other.

"A sorry lot, this, Hagrid."

Hagrid didn't reply, as he was sniffing and looking sad.

"Good god, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you?"

Hagrid ignored Filch and turned to John, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Penny. "Norbert's gone. Dumbledore's sent 'im off ter Romania ter live in a colony." He said, loading his crossbow.

"Well that's good, isn't it? He's with his own kind. Better all around, don't you think? Especially for Fang." Hermione said.

"Yeah, but what if he don't like Romania? What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby, after all."

"A baby that breaths fire." Ron said.

Suddenly, Harry elbowed Ron, silencing him.

"Charlie studies dragons there, so he would know what to do if that happens, right?" Penny asked.

Filch rolled his eyes. "Oh, for god's sake, pull yourself together, man. You're going into the Forest, after all. Got to have your wits about you." He said.

"The Forest? I thought that was a joke. We can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are... werewolves." Malfoy asked, scared.

A wolf was howling somewhere in the forest.

"There's more than werewolves in those trees, lad. You can be sure o' that. Nighty night." Filch said, smirking before turning back to the castle.

"Right. Let's go." Hagrid said, and he started to lead the kids and his dog into the Forest.

Snyde leaned closer to Malfoy. "You said following them was a good idea. Now look where it got us." She whispered angrily.

"Maybe next time you'll think twice about going along with Malfoy's ideas." Jacob said smirking, while getting a glare from Snyde.

Later, Jacob, Harry and the others were trailing Hagrid down a skinny path through the dark forest. While Fang was leading the group, Hagrid turned to the twins.

"Sorry abou' this, boys. Know it's me that deserves punishin', not you. By all rights i should be sittin' in a cell in Azkaban." Hagrid said, speaking lowly.

"It's all right, Hagrid." Harry said.

"Besides, it's not your fault we were out after hours. If we hadn't come knocking on your door in the middle of the night--" Jacob continued.

Reaching a fallen tree, Jacob stopped talking as Hagrid put his crossbow down. Hagrid crouched down and put his fingers on a weird silver-looking liquid on the ground before starting to examine it.

"Hagrid, what is that?" Harry asked, a bit warily.

"What we're here for." Hagrid replied, rising up and showing the liquid. "See that? That's unicorn blood, that is. I found one dead a few weeks ago and two before that first tearm." The quartet and Penny looked shocked. "Now, this one's been hurt bad by summat."

Jacob and Harry turned to their right towards the forest, where they saw a sillhouette of a dark cloaked figure walking in the darkness, before it disappeared behind a tree. Hagrid glanced to the forest before turning back to the kids.

"So, it's our job to go and find the poor beast. Only one way ter get that done and that's ter split inter two groups. Ron, Hermione, Penny -- yeh'll come with me."

"Okay." Ron managed to stutter, while the girls quickly nodded.

"And, Harry and John, yeh'll go with Malfoy and Snyde."

Though they didn't like it, the twins nodded.

"Okay, but i get Fang!" Malfoy said confidently.

"Fine. Jus' so yeh know. He's a bloody coward."

This shattered Malfoys confidence, and he, the twins and Snyde all looked at Fang, who whined.

Later, Jacob, Harry, Malfoy, Snyde and Fang were walking further into the Forest. It would've been quiet, but Malfoy couldn't help but complain more about the situation.

"Wait till my father hears about this. This is servant's stuff. We should be writing lines or... something." Malfoy said.

"Oh for spark's sake, don't you ever get tired of complaining?" Jacob asked, annoyed. "It's because of you we're in this detention, so snuff it up and get it over with. The rest of us aren't complaining." Jacob then pointed at Snyde. "Don't know about her, though."

"For your information, Potter..." Snyde sneered. "... i'm not complaining, but i am blaming Draco for where i am now. I could've easily been sleeping soundly right about now."

"If we didn't know better, Draco, i'd say you were scared." Harry mocked Malfoy.

"You're too stupid to be scared, Potters, growing up with Muggles." Malfoy said scoffing. "If you were from a real wizard family, you wouldn't be laughing. Besides, I'm not scared."

Suddenly, the kids heard a weird sound coming from behind them, causing Malfoy to turn around, shook.

"Did you hear that?" The twins didn't respond, while Snyde raised an eyebrow. Malfoy shook his head slightly. "Come on, Merula, Fang! Scared."

Malfoy walked ahead, and Snyde and Fang followed him. Though Snyde rolled her eyes, used to her 'friends' all-talk-but-no-bite attitude.

"Yep. Definitely scared." Jacob whispered to Harry, smirking while they followed.

Making their way further into the Forest, Jacob, Harry, Malfoy, Snyde and Fang stopped between few trees, when suddenly Fang started growling.

"What is it, Fang?" Harry asked.

Malfoy and Snyde were looking ahead, scared. The twins in turn looked forward, where they saw the broken body of a unicorn lying in a small clearing. A hooded figure was hovering over it, it's head dropped over the leering wound on the unicorn's side... drinking it's blood. Just then, the twins' winced as they touched their scars, when the figure lifted up and started staring at the twins, silver dribbling down it's mouth.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Malfoy and Snyde started screaming.

Malfoy and Snyde bolted away, slipping and sliding as Fang whimpered after them. The twins glanced back, before turning back towards the figure, who started slithering towards them before rising on it's feet and walking towards the twins slowly.

Woozy from the pain, the twins started staggering back, before Harry hit a log and fell. Jacob quickly got between Harry and the figure, and he and Harry kept backing away before Harry hit a dirt wall.

Jacob pulled out his wand. "You won't lay a finger on my big brother!" He said defiantly.

"Jacob, don't!" Harry shouted, worried.

Just then, some thing leeped clear over the twins, flickering past the moon above and charged at the hooded figure. It started kicking at the figure with it's front legs, driving the figure back before it started flying back into the forest, disappearing.

Jacob was helping Harry up, before they slowly approached the one that saved them. It was a centaur with eyes like pale sapphire, named Firenze.

"Harry and Jacob Potter." Firenze said. "You must leave. You are known to many creatures here. The Forest is not safe at this time. Especially for you two."

"But what was that thing you saved us from?" Harry asked.

"A monstrous creature. It is a terrible crime to slay a unicorn." Firenze glanced at the dead unicorn. "Drinking the blood of the unicorn will keep you alive even if you are an inch from dead. But at a terrible price. For you to have slain something so pure that the moment the blood touches your lips, you will have a half-life. A cursed life."

"Who would choose such a life?" Jacob asked.

"Can you think of no one?"

"Do you mean to say that that thing that killed the unicorn..." Harry started saying.

"... that was drinking it's blood, that was Voldemort?" Jacob finished saying.

Firenze leaned down to the twins' level. "Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment, Mr. Potters?" He asked.

"The Philosopher's Stone..." The twins said together, glancing at each other.

The commotion was then heard, and Hagrid and the others came slashing through the trees.

"Jacob! Harry!" Hermione said.

As the twins turned to them, Hagrid had his crossbow raised before he lowered it.

"'ello there, Firenze. See yeh've met our young Mr. Potters." Hagrid said, before looking at the twins.. "Yeh all right, boys?"

Jacob and Harry nodded, but they looked anything but all right.

"Harry and Jacob Potter." Firenze said, and the twins turned to him. "This is where i leave you. You're safe now. Good luck."

Firenze turned away and walked further into the forest. Everyone then turned towards at the dead unicorn, who was still laying on the ground.

Later, the quartet was in the common room. Harry was pacing before the fireplace, while Jacob and Ron sat on the couch and Hermione on the armchair. The twins had explained what happened when they found the unicorn.

"You mean... You-Know-Who is out there right now in the Forest?" Ron asked, shocked.

"But he's weak." Harry said. "He's living off the unicorns. Don't you see? We had it wrong. Snape doesn't want the Stone for himself. He wants the Stone for Voldemort."

"With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will be strong again." Jacob then said, while Harry sat down on the other armchair. "He'll... he'll come back."

"But if he comes back, you don't think he'll try to... kill you two, do you?" Ron asked, scared.

"I think if he'd had the chance, he might have tried to kill us tonight." Harry said.

Ron was looking vaguely sick. "And to think i've been worried about my Potions final."

"I mean, we didn't know Voldemort was out there in the Forest." Jacob said. "Otherwise, i don't think any of us had gotten anything done."

"Hang on a minute." Hermione then said. "We're forgetting one thing. Who's the one wizard Voldemort always feared?" The boys glanced at each other. "Dumbledore. As long as Dumbledore is around, guys, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore is around... you can't be touched."

The twins smiled at Hermione, and with this bit of hope in their mind, the kids eventually left for their dormitories to get some sleep.

Chapter Text

It had been a while since the quartet's detention in the Forbidden Forest, and the students had been getting ready for the final exams of the year. Professor Flitwick called them to see if the kids could make a pineapple dance across the desk, Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuffbox and Snape watched them try to make a Forgetfulness potion. The quartet was walking outside, coming from the exams.

"I'd heard Hogwarts' yearly final exams were frightful. But i found that rather enjoyable." Hermione said.

"I thought they were a bit challenging, to be honest." Jacob said. "Hopefully i did decently, at least."

"I'm sure you did, Jacob. You're one of the best in our year. You need to have more faith in yourself."

Jacob gave Hermione a smile. "Thanks, Hermione. Were you stunned too you weren't asked about Eflric the Eagle?"

"Speak for yourselves." Ron said, not wanting to hear anything else about the exams. "I'm stunned my head didn't explode." Suddenly, the twins winced, and they started rubbing their scars. "Alright there, Harry?"

"What is it, Jacob?" Hermione asked.

"My scar. It keeps... burning." Harry said, rubbing his scar.

"Mine too." Jacob said, also rubbing his scar.

"It's happened before..." Hermione said.

"Not like this..." Harry said.

"Perhaps you should see the nurse." Ron said.

"I think it's a warning. It means danger's coming." Jacob said.

As the quartet walked to the grounds, they saw Hagrid sitting on the doorsteps of his hut, playing a harp. Suddenly, Jacob and Harry glanced at each other.

"Of course!" The twins said together.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

The twins started walking fast across the grounds, towards Hagrid's hut. Hermione and Ron glanced at one another before they rushed after the twins.

"Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon?" Jacob asked. "And a strangers turns up who just happens to have one?"

" We mean..." Harry continued. "... how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pockets?"

Jacob facepalmed himself. "Why didn't we notice it before?"

The quartet started running to the hut, and Hagrid stopped playing the harp when the kids ran up to him.

"Hagrid, who gave you the egg? What did he look like?" Harry asked.

"I dunno. I ne'er saw his face. He kept his hood up." Hagrid replied.

"And this this why you should never accept anything from strangers." Jacob muttered. "Didn't that strike you as unusual?"

"Yeh meet a lot o' unusual types in the village. Ain't 'xactly usual meself."

"This stranger. You and him must have talked..." Harry said.

"Well, he wanted to know what sorta creatures i looked after. I told 'im i said 'After Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem.'"

"Did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Jacob asked nervously.

"Well, o' course he was interested in Fluffy. How often do yeh come across a three-headed dog, even if yeh're in Hogwarts?"

Jacob leaned closer to the others, whispering. "He's got a point there, actually."

"But i told 'im, i said, 'The trick with any beast is ter know how to calm 'im,' Take Fluffy, fer example. Jus' play 'im a bit o' music an' he falls straight ter sleep--"

The quartet looked at each other quickly, while Hagrid stopped, horrified by his slip.

"I shouldn't have tol' yeh that. Forget i said it!" The quartet quickly started running back to the castle. "Where are yeh goin'?!"

Penny was walking into the grounds, when she saw the quartet running towards her.

"Hey guys, how did you do with --" Penny started saying, when the quartet ran past her. "Guys, wait! Where are you --"

The quartet, not hearing her, kept running. Penny glanced towards Hagrid's hut, before she started running after the quartet.

Moments later, John, Harry, Hermione and Ron ran to the Transfiguration classroom, where Professor McGonagall was on her desk working. The Grey Lady was sitting on one of the student desks, writing something down, when the quartet ran to Professor McGonagall, who looked up at them.

"We have to see Professor Dumbledore. Immediately." Harry said.

"I see. Well, i'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here." Professor McGonagall said, surprised.

The quarted looked surprised.

"Where is he, Professor?" Jacob asked.

"Only moments ago, he received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for London."

"He's gone? But this is important! This is about... the Philosopher's Stone."

Professor McGonagall looked shocked. "How do you know--?"

"Someone's going to try and steal it." Harry said.

"I don't know how you four found out about the Stone, but i assure you it is perfectly well protected. Now, would you go back to your dormitories? Quietly."

Disappointed, the quartet walked out of the classroom, while Professor McGonagall kept her eyes on them. The quartet exited the classroom and re-entered a corridor, turning to each other.

"That was no stranger Hagrid met. It was Snape. Which means he knows how to get past Fluffy." Harry said.

"And with Dumbledore gone --" Hermione started saying.

"Good afternoon." Snape suddenly said, standing behind the quartet.

The quartet froze, before nervously turning to Snape, who was studying them.

"Now what would four young Gryffindors such as yourselves be doing inside on a day like this?"

"W-uh..." Hermione started stuttering. "... we-we were just..."

"We were just asking Professor McGonagall something about the next year." Jacob said, managing to keep a straigh face.

"I see." Snape replied, looking over Jacob. "You ought to be careful. People will think you're..." Snape turned to Harry, seeing him narrowing his eyes at him. "... up to something."

Harry and Snape kept eyeing each other, before Snape turned away from the quartet.

"Now what do we do?" Hermione asked the others.

"We go down the trap door. Tonight." Jacob said.

"I'm coming with you." A voice from close by said.

The quartet turned and saw Penny coming from behind one of the pillars, walking up to them.

"I want to help you guys."

The quartet exchanged glances, before nodding in agreement.

Later that night in the Gryffindor common room, the dormitory doors eased open. Hermione slipped out of the girls side, and Jacob, Harry and Ron from the boys side, while Jacob was carrying the Invisibility Cloak. Walking down the stairs, the quartet stopped when they noticed a toad sitting on an armchair.

"Trevor." The twins said.

"Trevor! Shh! Go! You shouldn't be here." Ron whisper-shouted at the toad.

"Neither should you." Neville said, rising from the armchair, still in his teddy bear pyjamas. "You're sneaking out again, aren't you?"

"Neville, listen. We were --" Harry tried to explain.

"No, i won't let you! You'll get Gryffindor into trouble again. I-i-i'll fight you." Neville raised his fists. "You were the ones who told me i had to stand up to people."

"To people. Not us." Ron said.

"Nevile, i'm really, really sorry about this." Hermione said, before she raised her wand. "Petrificus Totalus!"

Instantly, Neville's arms and legs snapped to his sides. He started swaying, before... he fell flat on his back. Only Neville's eyes were moving, staring at the ceiling. Jacob, Harry and Ron looked little horrified, while Hermione put her wand back in her pocket.

"You're a little scary sometimes, you know that?" Ron asked nervously. "Brilliant. But scary."

"Remind me to never get on your bad side, Hermione." Jacob said.

Hermione cast Jacob a small smile. "As long as you don't give me a reason to." She said.

"Let's go." Harry said, the quartet walked past Neville.

"Sorry." The twins and Hermione said to Neville.

"It's for your own good, you know." Ron said to Neville, following his friends.

Moments later, the quartet was inside the cloak, walking down the corridor towards the Hufflepuff common room door. Getting close to it, they saw the door slowly opening, before Penny walked outside and started looking around.

"Guys?" Penny whispered.

Hermione peeked her head out of the cloak. "Here." She whispered.

Penny got inside the cloak, looking surprised. "Wow. You guys have an Invisibility Cloak?"

"It was our dads." Jacob said.

Moments later, the group was walking down the third floor corridor, when Ron accidentally stepped on Hermione's foot.

"Ouch! You stepped on my foot!" Hermione whispered angrily.

"Sorry." Ron apologized.

The group rounded a corner, but to their surprise, Peeves came around the corner, mumbling to himself while juggling a trio of apples. Suddenly he stopped, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Who's there?" Peeves asked. "Know you're there, even if can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or we student beastie?"

Nothing. Peeves started smiling slyly, reaching back, and hurling one of the apples. It streaked through the air, and then... disappeared in mid-flight. Peeves' smile faded.

"Never mind."

He backpedals frantically, turned and swooped off the way he came. Inside the cloak. Harry tossed the apple in his hand to Ron.

"That was close." Hermione said.

As the kids get closer to the door, they heard music playing inside. Suddenly they heard a crunching sound. Jacob, Harry, Hermione and Penny jumped in fright and turned, seeing Ron chewing on the apple.

"Sorry." Ron said awkwardly. "I get hungry when i'm nervous."

"Do your trick." Jacob whispered to Hermione.

Hermione, being on the front, raised her wand at the lock. "Alohomora." She chanted.

The lock opened, and the group entered the chamber before them. They saw Fluffy sleeping soundly, while there was a harp playing itself.

"Wait a minute. He's --" Ron started to say.

Suddenly, Fluffy's snoring, which felt like a huge wind, blew the cloak off from the kids.

"Snoring." Jacob finished.

Harry took out a flute from his pocket. "Suppose we won't be needing this now. Snape's already been here. He's put a spell on the harp." He said.

"Ugh. It's got horrible smell." Ron said disgusted.

"This is what you guys found earlier?" Penny asked shocked, getting nods from the quartet.

Jacob turned towards Hermione, Ron and Penny. "If you three want to go back--" He started saying.

"Don't be stupid." Ron interrupted.

"We're coming." Hermione said.

"We'll all go together." Penny finished.

Jacob was quiet before nodding. "Right then." He looked at the trapdoor underneath Fluffy's massive paw. "We have to move it's paw."

"What?" Ron asked.

"Come on!"

The group got next to the paw and put their hands on it, ready to push it out of the way.

"Okay. Push." Harry said.

The group started pushing, managing to move the paw off the trapdoor without waking fluffy. Backing away slightly, they got hit with another gust of wind. Once they were done, the kids flung the trapdoor open, revealing only darkness, and a faint whistling wind.

"I'll go first. Don't follow me until i give the signal." Harry said, while the group didn't notice the harp stopped playing, waking up Fluffy. "If something bad happens, get yourselves out." Suddenly, Harry stopped, noticing it was quiet. "Does it seem a bit... quiet... to you?"

"The harp." Hermione said, and everyone turned towards the harp. "It stopped playing."

Jacob started realizing what this meant. "Wait. If the harp's not playing, doesn't this mean--" He started saying.

Suddenly, something wet and sticky hit Ron's shoulder.

"Ugh. Yuck!" Ron said, touching the saliva. "What's this ruddy stuff--"

Slowly, the group looked up, and they saw Fluffy wide awake, growling at them. Their eyes widened at this.

"Jump!" Jacob shouted.

Harry jumped first into the trapdoor, followed up Penny . Fluffy bit into the door and ripped it off, before tossing it at the wall. Hermione jumped right after, followed up Ron, and lastly Jacob, managing to avoid Fluffy's teeth...

Seconds later, Jacob plummeted down a glittering shaft, tumbling down head over heels, until he landed in something soft and yamlike, seeing everyone else lying on it. Harry adjusted his glasses, as the twins looked up and saw a tiny square of light--the trapdoor--glimmering far above.

"That was... cool." Jacob said.

"We must be miles under the school." Penny said.

"Whew. Lucky this plant thing's here, really." Ron said.

Harry turned towards Ron, and saw some plant vines moving towards them.

"Whoa!" Harry shouted.

The kids tried to back away, but the vines wrapped themselves around them. While John, Harry, Ron and Penny started struggling, Hermione started to calm herself. 

"Stop moving, you four! This is Devil's Snare! You have to relax." Hermione said.

"Um, Hermione, it's a bit difficult to relax..." Jacob said as a vine encircled his neck. "... given the circumstances."

"I know, Jacob. But you must. If you don't, it will only kill you faster."

"Kill us faster?" Ron asked sarcastically. "Oh, now i can relax!"

Suddenly Jacob, along with Penny, remembered what to do with Devil's Snare, and like Hermione, started to relax. Suddenly, the three of them were sucked beneath the surface, vanishing.

"Guys!" Harry and Ron shouted.

Panicking, Harry and Ron began to struggle anew, but the vines only wrapped more tightly around them.

"Now what are we gonna do!" Ron asked, continuing to struggle.

"Just relax!" Penny's voice suddenly shouted.

"Guys, where are you?" Harry asked, glancing about.

"Harry, do what Hermione said! Trust me." Jacob shouted.

Turned out Jacob and the girls were right underneath the Devil's Snare, all good. Harry closed his eyes and relaxed, before he vines drew him beneath the surface.

"Ah! Harry!" Ron shouted, doing anything but relax.

Harry dropped through the ceiling, twisting through the webby undergrowth of Devil's Snare and onto the ground next to Jacob, Hermione and Penny. Jacob and Penny helped him up, while Hermione was rubbing her wrist.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, i'm fine." Harry said, as he was helped up.

Above them, Ron could be heard screaming for help, while the others looked up.

"He's not relaxing, is he?" Hermione asked.

"Apparently not." The twins said.

"We've gotta do something." Penny said urgently.

"What?" Harry asked.

"I remember reading something in Herbology." Jacob said, trying to think.

The vines started to cover Ron's mouth, silencing him completely. By this point, Ron was wrapped tightly like a mummy. Jacob, meanwhile, was thinking aloud in a sing-song.

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare. Dances in the dark, delights in the damp. It's deadly fun..."

"But will sulk in the sun!" Hermione said remembering, beaming at Jacob. "That's it, Jacob! Devil's Snare hates the sun!"

Hermione whipped out her wand and pointed at the vines hanging from the ceiling.

"Lumos Solem!"

Hermione send forth a bright burst of light, which burned through the vines. The plant started withering, and an opening started forming. The vines snapped free of Ron, before he dropped through, landing heavily. Harry and Penny quickly helped him up.

"Ron, you okay?" Harry asked.

"Yeah." Ron replied as he got up. "Whew! Lucky we didn't panic."

Ron turned to the others, seeing them not looking amused.

"Lucky Jacob and Hermione pay attention in Herbology." Harry said.

"Unlike someone." Penny finished.

Ron looked uneasy, before everyone heard rustling and clinking. Turning around, they saw the sound coming behind a door.

"What is that?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know... sounds like wings." Harry said.

"Let's find out, shall we?" Jacob asked, approaching the door.

Opening the door, Jacob, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Penny entered a briliantly lit chamber, and, looking up, saw hundreds of jewel bright birds fluttering below a high arching ceiling. The group began gazing in wonder at the strangely beautiful creatures overhead.

"Curious. I've never seen birds like these." Hermione said.

"They're not birds. They're keys" Jacob said, then looked at the opposite side, where there was a heavy wooden door. "And i'll bet one of them fits that door."

The group then saw a single broomstick floating in the center of the chamber.

"What's this all about?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know." Harry replied.

Ron pulled out his wand and walked towards the door, followed by the girls, while the twins stayed back, standing by the floating broomstick.

"Strange." Harry said, lifting his hand at the broom.

Penny started testing the doorknob. "Locked." She said.

"Alohomora!" Ron chanted.

Hermione and Penny turned and saw Ron waving his wand at the doorknob. It was no good, still locked. Ron shrugged his shoulders to the girls.

"Well, it was worth a try."

"Urgh, what are we going to do?" Hermione said frustrated, peering up. "There must be a thousand keys..."

Ron started examining the lock. "We're looking for an big, old-fashioned one. Probably rusty."

The twins were looking up at the keys, trying to spot a right type of key.

"There! I see it!" Harry said, pointing up. "The one with the broken wing!"

The brothers saw the old key that was flying slower compared to others due to it's broken wing.

"Nice eye, big brother." Jacob said, tapping Harry's shoulder.

"Thanks."

"What's wrong with it's wing?" Penny asked.

"The feather's pinched." Jacob said. "Propably from Snape catching it before us."

Hermione nodded, before she saw the twins were staring at the broom again.

"What's wrong, guys?" Hermione asked.

"Did you guys notice something?" Penny asked next.

"It's too simple." Harry said, looking at them.

"No way can we just fly up there and grab the key like it's nothing." Jacob then said.

"Oh, go on, guys." Ron said. "If Snape could catch it on that old broomstick, you can. You're the youngest Seekers in a Century."

The Twins nodded uncertainly--still troubled, at them.

"I'll fly up there and catch the key." Jacob suddenly said, turning to Harry.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

Jacob nodded. "I am."

After giving the broom one last glance, Harry nodded and backed away a little. Jacob slowly reached out for the broomstick, and just as his fingers closed around it...

... they heard wings fluttering faster. Looking up, the twins saw the keys explode in a frenzy, hissing like wasps and swarming in great, glittering clouds, flying at them. Harry backed away to others, while Jacob mounted the broom, before he was surrounded by the keys. He started waving his hands, trying to shoo them off.

"This complicates things a bit." Ron said, his smile dropping.

"You think?" Penny asked.

"He'll be torn to pieces." Hermione said worriedly.

Jacob kicked himself into the air, a seething cluster of keys falling like hard rain, chattering at his arms and legs, slicing at his skin and shredding his sweather. Horrified, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Penny watched Jacob soar higher, fending off the keys with his free hand, until...

Through a mad clattering and cluster of keys, Jacob spied the larger, old key fluttering only a feet beyond his grasp. The old key flew higher before Jacob got more speed and was away from the keys chasing him, while he was extending his hand at the key. The key whipped downward in a wide, dizzling circle, but John closed in and snatched it.

"Nice catch!" Harry shouted.

"Catch the key!" Jacob shouted. 

Jacob, still trying to outrun the furious keys who were shadowing his every move, threw the broom into a reckless dive and, steering with one hand, flung the key to Hermione. The key tried to fly away, but Hermione caught it before dashing to the door.

"Hurry up!" Ron said.

While Hermione tried to open the lock, Jacob soared back up, taking the raging keys with him, before circling back, when Hermione opened the door. She, Harry, Ron and Penny quickly scurried inside, while Harry turned back to the chamber.

"It's open! Come on!" Harry shouted.

Jacob rocketed straight after them, the keys gaining once again at him. Jacob gave one last burst of speed and... soared through the open door. Together, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Penny flung the door shut... just before the keys rained down on it like bullets.

Walking away from the door, the group, the group saw they were in a large room covered in darkness, as they walked further in.

"I don't like this. I don't like this at all." Hermione said.

"I'm really starting to feel creep'd out here." Penny said, shivering.

"Where are we? A graveyard?" Harry asked, as everyone stopped.

"This is no graveyard..." Ron said, walking to the center of the room. "It's a chessboard."

One by one, tourches around the room started lighting up with fire. Sure enough, as the chamber started glowing with light, a kind of battlefield was revealed studded with faceless soldiers. There were many broken chess pieces on the side, as Jacob, Harry, Hermione and Penny joined Ron.

"What exactly is this for?" John asked, looking around.

Meanwhile, Harry noticed a door on the opposite side. "There's the door." He said, pointing at it.

The group started walking towards the door, when suddenly the white pawns drew their stone swords, barring their way. The kids backed away, and the pawns put their swords down.

"Now what do we do?" Hermione asked.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Ron asked, stepping forward. "We've got to play our way across the room. Excuse me... are we meant to join you?" Ron glanced at the soldiers, who nodded. "Brilliant. He turned back to Jacob, Harry, Hermione and Penny. "Now don't be offended, but none of you are particularly good at chess--"

"None taken." Jacob said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Just tell us what to do." Harry said next.

"Alright." Ron said. "Harry, you take empty bishop's square. Hermione, you'll be the queen side-castle. jacob, you take the king's. As for me and Penny, we'll be the knights."

Following Ron's instructions, everyone got into their chess places, with Ron and Penny mounting the knights horses.

"What happens now?" Hermione asked.

"Well, white moves first. And then, we play." Ron said.

Across the board, a white pawn piece moved forward two squares. As Ron was contemplating his own move, Penny was glancing apprehensively at the fierce pieces across the board.

"Ron, you don't suppose this is going to be like... real wizard's chess, do you?" Penny asked.

Ron, contemplating something, didn't answer Penny immediately, instead gestured to his own pawn.

"You there... d5." Ron ordered.

Ron's black pawn obliged, moving next to the white pawn. Suddenly, the white pawn drew it's sword and slashed the black pawn to pieces, it's rubble raining to the ground and scaring the kids.

"Yes, Penny. I think this is going to be exactly like wizard's chess."

Jacob, Harry, Hermione and Penny glanced at Ron, wide-eyed.

The chess board was a real battlefield now, littered on both sides with fallen pieces. Ron, drained but looking intense, was surveying the board, muttering to himself.

"Think... Think..." Ron then decided. "Castle to... c3."

The Black Castle advanced forward. Instantly, the White Queen sweeped forward and, with cruel indifference, shattered the rook with it's sword. The twins were staring in horror.

Unnerved, they glanced up at Ron, but his eyes were only focusing on the board. Harry turned and took a look at it himself... before blinking.

"Wait a minute." Harry said, pointing at the Queen. "She's made the same mistake i always make. If i go there, she has to take me, and the King is exposed!"

"You understand right, Harry?" Ron said, not sharing Harry's enthusiasm. "Once i make my move, the Queen will take me. Then you're free to check the king."

"No. Ron, no!"

"What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked.

"He's going to sacrifice himself."

Jacob looked shocked. "What? Are you serious?" He asked.

Penny gasped and turned to Ron. "No, you can't! The must be another way!" She said.

"Do you wanna stop Snape from getting that Stone or not!" Ron said, before turning back to the twins. "Jacob, Harry, it's you two who has to go on. I know it. Not me. Not Hermione. Not Penny. You two."

The twins were staring at Ron, an understanding between them, before they simply nodded. Then, Ron gripped the reins and braced himself.

"Knight to H-3."

Ron drove his horse forward, before moving to it's left. The others were nervously looking at Ron.

"Check."

Ron turned towards the Queen, which started spinning before moving towards him, while the twins were glaring at it. Ron was growing nervous, before the Queen stopped next to him. Instantly, the Queen stabbed it's weapon at the horse, sending Ron flying and hitting the floor.

"Ron!" Harry shouted.

Jacob and the girls were watching shocked, when Penny started to leave her horse to go to Ron. Quickly, Harry held up his hand.

"No! Don't move!" Penny instantly froze. "Don't forget, we're still playing."

Reluctantly, Penny nodded and seated herself back on the horse, staring at Ron.

"Finish this game, Harry." Jacob muttered.

Harry started walking towards the King, while the others looked, before he stood in front of the King, looking up at it.

"Checkmate." Harry said.

The King dropped it's sword, which started clattering on the board before coming to a rest. Glancing one last time at the King, Harry bolted towards Ron, followed by Jacob and the girls. Crouching next to him, the group saw was unconcious, before the twins looked up at the girls.

"Take care of Ron." Jacob said. "Then go to the owlery. Send a message to Dumbledore. Ron's right. We have to go on."

"You and Harry'll be okay, Jacob." Hermione said. "You're great wizards. You really are."

"Not as good as you." Harry said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'm just following your examples." Jacob said, embarrassed.

"Me?" Hermione asked, chuckling. "Books and cleverness. There are more important things. Friendship and bravery. And, Jacob, Harry, just be careful."

Looking at Hermione, Jacob nodded. "I would be a lousy brother if i let my big brother have all the fun." He said, joking.

Harry, Hermione and Penny chuckled slightly, before the twins got up and walked to the remaining chessmen, who bowed to them and parted the way to the next door. Glancing at each other, Jacob and Harry stepped forward...

Chapter Text

Moments later, alone, Jacob and Harry were making their way through a corridor that was dropping down like a tunnel. Up ahead, a chamber was glimmering.

The twins were descending down a staircase, when they winced and rubbed their scars. As the chamber below came to a view, they saw a figure standing before the Mirror of Erised, but not the figure they were expecting to see.

"You?" The twins asked.

The figure turned to face them, revealing himself to be Professor Quirrell.

"No. It can't be." Jacob said. "Snape he-he was the one--"

"Mm, yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he?" Quirrell asked, and the twins noticed he wasn't stuttering. "So useful Snape. Swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, s-stuttering Professor Quirrell?"

"But that day, during the Quidditch match..." Harry said. "... Snape tried to kill me."

"No, dear boy. I tried to kill you. And trust me, if Snape's cloak hadn't caught fire and broken my eye contact, i would have succeeded. Even with Snape muttering his little countercurse."

Jacob's eyes widened. "Snape was trying to save Harry?" He asked.

"Oh, don't misunderstand. He hates him, just as he hated your father when they were at Hogwarts together. But he never wanted your brother dead." Quirrell pointed at Jacob. "As for you, he seems to have grown to tollerate you a bit. Your father, after all, saved his life once, long ago."

The twins looked stunned, while Quirrell was looking amused.

"Didn't know? Surprising, given how curious you are, Potters. I knew you two were a danger to me right from the off, especially after Halloween."

"The-Then you let the troll in!" Harry said.

"Very good, Potter, yes. I have a gift with trolls, you saw it in the bathroom. Snape, unfortunately, wasn't fooled. While everyone else was running about the dungeon, he went to the Third Floor to head me off. That three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly. He, of course, never trusted me again."

Quirrell turned back to the mirror, when suddenly the twins' scars started hurting again, causing them to start rubbing them again.

"He rarely left me alone. But he doesn't understand. I'm never alone. Never..." Quirrell fully faced the mirror. "Now, what does this mirror do? I see what i desire, i see myself holding the Stone. But how do i get it?"

"Use the boys."

Jacob and Harry glanced about in horror as the dark voice echoed in the chamber. Quirrell turned, eyeing Jacob.

"Come here, younger Potter! Now!" Quirrell ordered.

Glancing at Harry, Jacob stepped down, while Harry stayed in place. Quirrell stepped to the side when Jacob stood in front of the mirror.

"Tell me. what do you see?"

Jacob saw himself, looking pale and scared. Then, slowly, his reflection started smiling, before putting his hand in his pocket and pulling out a blood-red stone. Jacob's own eyes widened, in a mixture of stunned disbelief and fear. Struggling to control his expression, he shut his eyes briefly... as if he was making a wish... let out a breath, and opened them once again. His expression winked and returned the Stone to it's pocket, and, to Jacob's amazement...

... it dropped heavily into his own, causing Jacob to reach into his pocket before gasping slightly. He had gotten the Stone. Quirrell, studying him, noticed this.

"What is it? What do you see?"

"I... I saw our parents." Jacob replied, quickly thinking up a lie. "They said they were proud of me and Harry."

"Ugh, pathetic." Quirrell grumbled before turning to Harry. "Now you, older Potter! Come!"

As Harry stepped down in front of the Mirror, he glanced at Jacob. Jacob shifted his eyes down, and when Harry did the same, Jacob tapped his pocket slightly with his fingers. Harry realized he had the Stone. He then turned back to the Mirror.

"Well, Potter. What do you see?"

"I... I'm shaking hands with Dumbledore." Harry said, lying. "I... I've won the House Cup."

"They lie." The voice said.

"Tell the truth!" Quirrell yelled at the twins. "What do you see?!"

"Let me speak to them."

The twins backed away, while Quirrell started speaking to the voice. "Master, you are not strong enough."

"I have strength enough for this."

The twins kept backing as Quirrell faced them, before reaching up and unfurling his turban. The twins glanced back at the stairs, before Quirrel removed the turban. In the mirror, the twins watched as a face appeared... on the back of Quirrell's head. It was hideous, constantly changing and struggling to become whole.

"Harry and Jacob Potter. We meet again."

Petrified, the twins stared at the face. "Voldemort." They said together.

"Yes. Do you see what i've become? See what i must do to survive? Live off another. A mere parasite. Unicorn blood can sustain me, but it cannot give me a body of my own. But there is something that can. Something that, conveniently enough... lies in your pocket, John."

The twins' eyes widened, before they both dashed towards the staircase.

"Stop them!"

Cooly, Quirrell snapped his fingers and, just as Jacob and Harry reached the threshold, flames shot from the floor, barring their way. The twins started looking around, but saw the flames surrounding the room.

"Don't be fools, boys. Why suffer a horrific death, when you can join me... and live?"

"Never!" Harry shouted.

"Did you tell our parents that before you killed them?!" Jacob then shouted.

Voldemort laughed. "Ah. Bravery. Your parents had it too. Tell me, boys... would you like to see your mother and father again?" He asked.

Jacob and Harry stopped, before looking up. Quirrell stepped aside, with Voldemort's face sliding from the glass, before revealing... the twins' parents.

"Together, we can bring them back. All i ask... is for something in return."

Slowly, as if involuntarily, Jacob removed the Stone from his pocket, while Harry looked on.

"That's it, Jacob. There is no good and evil. There is only power, and those too weak to seek it. Together, we'll do extraordinary things. Just give me the Stone."

Jacob and Harry studied their parents' faces, drifting to their mothers, when... they disappear. Instantly, Jacob was clutching the Stone against his chest.

"No." jacob said, defiantly.

"You liar!" Harry shouted.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "Kill them!" He ordered.

Instantly, Quirrell flew across the room, before knocking Jacob and Harry clean off their feet, causing Jacob to let go of the Stone.

Quirrell dropped, his hands closing on the twins' necks. The twins winced at the touch, their faces creased in pain while Jacob tried to reach for the Stone. The twins were gasping and struggling, when Harry grabbed Quirrell's hand to try free himself. Suddenly, Quirrell's hand started smoking. Not only did he loosen the grip, but his hand started hardening. 

Screaming, Quirrell let go of the twins and backed away, and the twins, rising, watched in horror as his hand was turning to dust, glancing at their own hands.

"W--What is this magic?!" Quirrell asked, horrified.

"Fool! Get the Stone!" Voldemort yelled.

Jacob quickly glanced at the Stone, before rising up. As Quirrell started to move, Jacob, in the flash of a second, bolted forward, reached up with both hands and pressed them to Quirrell's face. Acting fast, Harry followed suite.

Quirrell started screaming, but Jacob and Harry held tight, growing weaker as the face under their fingers started to dissolve until, finally, just when the twins looked ready to pass out, Quirrell's face dropped.

Quirrell staggered back, touching his face, while the twins glanced at each other in shock, before seeing Quirrell's entire body burning up. Quirrell's body stepped forward, blindly lurching towards the twins, before... it dropped on the floor, crumbling to dust.

Jacob and Harry stood still, just staring, before they turned wearily, with Jacob picking up the Stone. The twins smiled at each other, when... an apparition, bearing Voldemort's devilish face, swooped up behind them. Hearing the noise, the twins spun around, watching in terror, as...

In a violent rush, Voldemort returned to dust and whistled forward. Harry got in front of Jacob, but Voldemort passed through him and Jacob, blasting them back through the air and onto the stone floor. Voldemort flew out of the chamber, and all was quiet...

As Jacob and Harry were lying on the floor, and the Stone was glimmering dully in Jacob's palm.

Few days later, Jacob awakened, noticing he was on a hospital bed in the Hospital Wing. Turning to his left, he saw Harry asleep on the bed next to him, before he saw treats piled high on the table at the foot of his and Harry's beds. Jacob then heard footsteps coming, turned towards the entrance and saw Dumbledore walking to him.

"Good afternoon, Jacob." Dumbledore said, before gesturing to the treats. "Ah. Tokens from your admirers?

"Admirers?" Jacob asked.

"What happened in the dungeons between you, Harry and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret. So, naturally, the whole school knows." Dumbledore took an opened Chocolate Frogs backage. "I see that your friend Ronald has saved you the trouble of opening your Chocolate Frogs. Though one suspects Agrippa and Ptolemy still elude him."

"Ron was here? Is he all right? What about Hermione and Penny --"

Dumbledore raised his hand. "Fine. They're all just fine. Madame Pomfrey has explicitly forbidden visitors. But i think--with the help of a certain cloak--they've managed to monitor your and Harry's progress."

Jacob looked relieved, before remembering the Stone. "But what happened to the--?"

"Relax, dear boy. The Stone has been destroyed."

"Destroyed? But your friend--Nicolas Flamel..."

"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" Dumbledore sounded quite ecstatic. "You did the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and i had a little chat, and agreed it was best all around."

"But then, Flamel, he'll die, won't he?"

Dumbledore looked down and sat down on Jacob's bed. "He has enough Elixir to set his affairs in order. But yes, he will die. To one as young as you, i'm sure it seems incredible. But to the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure."

"But to destroy such a remarkable thing..."

"Yes, yes. As much money and life as one could ever want--the two things most human beings would choose above all else. Unfortunately, humans do have a knack for choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."

"How is it i got the Stone, sir? One minute i was staring in the mirror and--"

"Ah. You see, only a person, who wanted to find the Stone, find it, but not use it, would be able to get it. That is one of my more brilliant ideas. And between you and me, that is saying something."

Jacob and Dumbledore laughed little at this, before they heard groaning from next to them. Turning towards Harry's bed, they saw Harry waking up.

"Hey, big brother." Jacob said smiling. "How are you feeling?"

Harry reached for his glasses before putting them on. "I'm feeling okay." He replied, before noticing Dumbledore. "Oh, Professor Dumbledore."

"Good afternoon, Harry." Dumbledore said, smiling at Harry.

Harry then noticed all the different presents and sweets on the foot of his and Jacob's . "What happened?"

A moment passed, during which Dumbledore explaining everything to Harry what he had already explained to Jacob.

"Does that mean, with the Stone gone that is, that Voldemort can never come back?"

"I'm afraid there are ways in which he can return." Dumbledore said, with a heavy heart. "And when--if--he does, it will take someone willling to fight a losing battle to stop him again. Someone like your parents. Someone like you two."

Harry looked troubled. "Professor Dumbledore. Voldemort said... if Jacob gave him the Stone, he could bring back our... family. Could he have, sir? Really?"

"Some people are like mirrors, Harry. They reflect our most desperate desires. We see what they want us to see. As painful as it was..." Dumbledore turned towards Jacob. "... your brother made the right choice."

Jacob nodded, while Dumbledore started to study the boys thoughtfully.

"Jacob, Harry. Do you know why Professor Quirrell couldn't bear to have you touch him?" The twins shook their heads. "It was because of your mother. She sacrificed herself for you two. And that kind of act leaves a mark."

The twins reached for their scars, before Dumbledore stopped them.

"No, no, this kind of mark cannot be seen. It lives in your very skins. It is the very thing someone like Professor Quirrell--full of hatred and greed--cannot understand. Or bear to touch."

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Love, Harry. Love."

Dumbledore tapped the twins on their heads gently, before rising up from Jacob's bed and turning to his treats.

"Ah. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans." Dumbledore took the said box. "I was most unfortunate in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one." The twins cringed at this. "And since then, i've lost my liking for them. But i think i could be safe with a nice toffee."

"I like the way you think, Professor." Jacob said, chuckling.

Dumbledore smiled and, reaching into the box, popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth.

"Alas! Earwax!" Dumbledore said.

The twins smiled, and Dumbledore left the Hospital Wing to let the twins recover, and the boys turned to each other.

"We did it." Jacob said.

"Yeah, we did." Harry replied, before getting a smug look. "Although i think i was doing a good job on my own, little brother."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "In your dreams, big brother."

Later that night, Jacob and Harry were walking down a corridor, when they saw Hermione, Ron and Penny talking in an upper floor. The twins stopped and started suddying them, smiling, before the trio noticed the twins and turned to them, smiling in return. Nobody said a word for a moment, as everyone was beyond words.

"All right there, Ron, Penny?" Harry asked.

"All right." Ron replied.

"Doing good." Penny replied. "You two?"

The twins shrugged their shoulders. "All right." They said together.

Jacob turned to Hermione. "Hermione?" He asked.

Hermione smiled. "Never better." She replied.

The twins smiled before Jacob wrapped his arm over Harry's shoulder.

Later, the Great Hall was bedecked with green and silver banners, Slytherin colors, in honor of their winning the House Cup. The quartet was sitting together, with Jacob, Harry and Hermione on one side and Ron opposite from them, as the twins were explaining their friends what Dumbledore told them.

"D'you think Dumbledore meant for it all to happen?" Ron asked the twins. "And for you to do it? Sending you your father's cloak and all?"

"Well, if he did--" Hermione said. "-- I mean-- that's terrible. You both could have been killed. Come to think of it, i could have been killed..."

Jacob smiled and nudged Hermione slightly. "Come on, Hermione. Don't tell me you didn't have just little faith in us, huh?" He asked, playfully.

Hermione rolled her eyes, though she smiled and nudged him back. "Be quiet, you."

"I think Dumbledore knows pretty much everything that goes on here." Harry said. "The only thing i don't understand is Snape..."

"Professor Snape, Potter." A voice said.

The quartet looked up, and saw Professor McGonagall standing by them.

"Yes, of course." Jacob said. "We were just wondering. Is it true? Did he hate our father?"

"They were not compatible personalities, if that's what you mean. And then, of course, your father did something Severus could never forgive."

"What was that?" Harry asked.

"He saved his life."

Asthonished, the twins glanced at Snape, who was sitting at the High Table.

"I suppose he felt it his obligation... to look after you two this year."

"Of course!" Ron said. "And now that he's squared things, he can hate Harry in peace, right, Professor?"

"Hogwarts teachers do not hate their students, Mr. Weasley..." Professor McGonagall said pointedly as she exited. "... no matter how taxing they may be."

"I think she's warming up to me."

Once Professor McGonagall sat down, she clicked her glass with a spoon to get the students attention. When everyone quieted down, Dumbledore rose from his seat.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said to everyone. "And now as i understand it, the House Cup needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with 312 points."

The Gryffindors started slowly clapping, while Percy turned and glared at Ron.

"You'd think saving the bloody school from a Dark Lord would count for something." Ron muttered.

"Third place, Ravenclaw, with 352 points." Dumbledore said, and Ravenclaws started clapping. "In second place, Hufflepuff, with 476 points." The Hufflepuff started clapping, though Penny was looking sad at her Gryffindor friends. "And in first place, 522 points... Slytherin House."

The Slytherin table erupted with cheers, while the rest of the houses remained quiet. Snape was clapping for his house with a straight face.

"Nice one, mate." Malfoy said to his goons.

Malfoy and Snyde both then casted smirks at Jacob, Harry, Hermione and Ron, who glared back at them.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin. Well done, Slytherin." Dumbledore said. "However, recent events must be taken into account. And i have a few last-minutes points to award."

The Hall went very still.

"First, to Miss Penny Haywood..." Penny looked surprised, along with her House. "... for showing unwavering loyalty to her classmates from another house... fifty points."

The Hufflepuffs started cheer for Penny, who was speechless. The quartet smiled and clapped for her, as did the rest of the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws.

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the cool use of intellect while others were in grave peril... fifty point."

Gryffindors cheered and Hermione smiled while looking down. Harry placed his hand on her shoulder saying "Good job", while Jacob pulled her in for a side-hug. Malfoy and his gang were looking confused, while the quartet saw Hagrid looking proudly at them.

"Third, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess that Hogwarts has seen these many years... fifty points."

Gryffindors cheered and clapped again, while Ron smiled and was amazed while the others looked proudly at him.

"My youngest brother, you know!" Percy said proudly, changing his tune.

"Fourthly, to Mr. Jacob Potter, for facing evil head on and never faltering in it's way... fifty points."

The Gryffindors cheered even more, and Hermione pulled Jacob in for a side-hug, while Harry took his hat off and ruffled his hair into a mess.

"And fifthly, to Mr. Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage, i award Gryffindor House... sixty points."

The House cheered once again, and Jacob gave Harry a fist-pump, while Professor McGonagall smiled at the quartet while clapping.

"Oh my goodness." Hermione said, making the calculations. "We're tied with Slytherin!"

"And finally... it takes a great deal of bravery to to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. I award ten points... to Neville Longbottom."

The Gryffindors exploded with joy, as a stunned Neville accepted wild slaps on the back. Dumbledore was smiling the entire time.

"Assuming that my calculations are correct, i believe that a change of decoration is in order."

Dumbledore clapped his hands and, instantly, the green and silver of Slytherin on the banners became the scarlet red and gold of Gryffindors.

"Gryffindor wins the House Cup!"

Gryffindor students rose up and started celebrating. Hagrid even shouted "Yes!" before he collected himself. The Gryffindors then took their hats and threw them in the air, with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws joining and doing the same. The Slytherins, meanwhile, were looking down at their loss, and Malfoy tossed his hat on the table, angry. Snape, with a horrible, forced smile, shook Professor McGonagall's hand, then caught the twins' eyes. Jacob and Harry were considering the cheering faces around them, glancing at Hagrid before they also joined the others, their faces saying all of it...

This was a long way of from the cupboard under the stairs.

The next day at Hogsmeade station, the Hogwarts Express was standing streaming, ready to depart as the students were boarding the train, while Hagrid was also helping the students. As everyone had gotten their exam results, Jacob, to his surprise, had passed every class with really good or great grades, which inspired him to improve in the future, while Hermione got the best grades for all the first years, and Harry and Ron passed with good marks.

"Come on, now. Hurry up, yeh'll be late. Train's leaving. Go on. Come on. Hurry up." Hagrid called to the students.

Jacob and Harry handed Millie and Hedwig's cages to the train conducter, before walking to the door with Hermione and Ron. Hagrid waved at the quartet, before the twins stopped by the door.

"Come on, John, Harry." Hermione said.

"One minute." Harry said, walking to Hagrid.

"We still need to do one more thing." Jacob then said.

Jacob followed Harry, with the twins walking up to Hagrid.

"Thought yeh two were leavin' without sayin' goodbye, did yeh?" Hagrid asked, smiling, before he handed them a leather-covered book. "This is for the both of you."

Jacob took the book and opened it, with Harry leaning to get a look. On the first page they saw a moving picture of their family. Baby Jacob was being held in Lily's arms, while James held Harry, everyone looking ahead and waving. The twins started smiling, before looking up at Hagrid.

"Thanks, Hagrid." Jacob said.

Hagrid nodded, and gave his hand for the twins for a shake. But when they both took it, the twins closed in for a hug, which Hagrid returned. Hagrid was starting to feel emotional before he let go of the boys.

"Go on. On with yeh two. On with you now." Hagrid said, quickly collecting himself. "Oh, listen, boys. If tha' dolt of a cousin o' yers, Dudley, gives yeh any grief, yeh could always, um... threaten 'im with a nice pair o' ears ter go with 'is tail."

"But Hagrid, we're not allowed to do magic away from Hogwarts." Harry said. "You know that."

"I do." Hagrid leaned in closer, winking. "But yer cousin don't, do 'e?"

The brothers smiled at each other.

"I think i'm going to like this summer more than the previous ones." Jacob said.

"Couldn't agree with you more." Harry replied.

With Hagrid nodding at the boys to get on the train, the twins left him and got to the door, where Hermione and Ron were waiting for them.

"Feels strange to be going home, doesn't it?" Hermione asked the twins.

"We're not going home." Jacob said, looking at the Hogwarts Castle. "Not really."

With this, the quartet entered the train, and when they found an empty compartment, the twins leaned out of the window and waved at Hagrid for the final time. Hagrid waved at the twins himself, and as the trains started to move, he continued to wave at the other studends, before Hagrid started to leave the station back to his hut, while the Hogwarts Express made it's way back to the Muggle world...

Cast in Order of Appearance

Albus Dumbledore ... RICHARD HARRIS
Professor McGonagall ... MAGGIE SMITH
Hagrid ... ROBBIE COLTRANE
Baby Jacob Potter ... SAUNDERS TRIPLETS
Baby Harry Potter ... SAUNDERS TRIPLETS
John Potter ... LIAM AIKEN
Harry Potter ... DANIEL RADCLIFFE
Aunt Petunia Dursley ... FIONA SHAW
Dudley Dursley ... HARRY MELLING
Uncle Vernon Dursley ... RICHARD GRIFFITHS
Bartender in Leaky Cauldron ... DEREK DEADMAN
Doris Crockford ... NINA YOUNG
Dedalus Diggle ... DAVID BRETT
Professor Quirrell ... IAN HART
Diagon Alley Boy ... BEN BOROWIECKI
Goblin Bank Teller ... WARWICK DAVIS
Griphook ... VERN TROYER
Mr Ollivander ... JOHN HURT
"He Who Must Not Be Named" ... RICHARD BREMMER
Lily Potter ... GERALDINE SOMERVILLE
Station Guard ... HARRY TAYLOR
Mrs Weasley ... JULIE WALTERS
Ginny Weasley ... BONNIE WRIGHT
Percy Weasley ... CHRIS RANKIN
Fred Weasley ... JAMES PHELPS
George Weasley ... OLIVER PHELPS
Ron Weasley ... RUPERT GRINT
Neville Longbottom ... MATTHEW LEWIS
Gran ... LEILA HOFFMAN
Lee Jordan ... LUKE YOUNGBLOOD
Dimpled Woman on Train ... JEAN SOUTHERN
Hermione Granger ... EMMA WATSON
Draco Malfoy ... TOM FELTON
Merula Snyde ... CAMREN BICONDOVA
Crabbe ... JAMIE WAYLETT
Goyle ... JOSH HERDMAN
Penny Haywood ... PEYTON LIST
Seamus Finnigan ... DEVON MURRAY
Dean Thomas ... ALFRED ENOCH
The Sorting Hat ... LESLIE PHILLIPS
Susan Bones ... ELEANOR COLUMBUS
Talbott Winger ... JACOB ANDERSON
Nearly Headless Nick ... JOHN CLEESE
The Bloody Baron ... TERENCE BAYLER
Fat Friar ... SIMON FISHER BECKER
The Grey Lady... NINA YOUNG
Mr Filch ... DAVID BRADLEY
Professor Snape ... ALAN RICKMAN
Madame Hooch ... ZOË WANAMAKER
Professor Flitwick ... WARWICK DAVIS
Professor Vector ... HAZEL SHOWHAM
Oliver Wood ... SEAN BIGGERSTAFF
Terry Boot ... KEVIN LEE YI
Girl with Flowers ... VIOLET COLUMBUS
Peeves ... RIK MAYALL
Fat Lady ... ELIZABETH SPRIGGS
Mandy Brocklehurst ... CHRISTINA PETROU
Angelina Johnson ... DANIELLE TAYLOR
Alicia Spinnet ... LEILAH SUTHERLAND
Katie Bell ... EMILY DALE
Adrian Pucey ... SCOTT FEARN
Marcus Flint ... JAMIE YEATES
Terence Higgs ... WILL THEAKSTON
Miles Bletchley ... AMY PUGLIA
James Potter ... ADRIAN RAWLINS
Boy in Study Hall ... ROBERT AYRES
Firenze ... RAY FEARON
Voldemort ... IAN HART

Chapter Text

LIAM AIKEN as Jacob Potter

"Just because you were born into a non-magical family doesn't make you a lesser witch or wizard."

DANIEL RADCLIFFE as Harry Potter

"He'll never be gone! Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!"

EMMA WATSON as Hermione Granger

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. They got in on a pure talent."

RUPERT GRINT as Ron Weasley

"And risk being sent another Howler? No thanks."

KENNETH BRANAGH as Gilderoy Lockhart

"Let me introduce you to your new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Me!"

JOHN CLEESE as Nearly Headless Nick

"Good evening."

ROBBIE COLTRANE as Rubeus Hagrid

"Like Jacob said, don't yeh think on it, Hermione. Don't yeh think on it fer one minute."

WARWICK DAVIS as Filius Flitwick

RICHARD GRIFFITHS as Vernon Dursley

"You're never going back to that school. You're never going to see those freaky friends of yours again. Never!"

RICHARD HARRIS as Albus Dumbledore

"It is not our abilities that show us what we truly are, it is our choises."

JASON ISAACS as Lucius Malfoy

"What's the use in being a disgrace to the name of wizard, if they don't even pay you well for it?"

ALAN RICKMAN as Severus Snape

"I assure you that were you in Slytherin, and your fate rested with me, the both of you would be on the train home tonight."

FIONA SHAW as Petunia Dursley

"Not now. It's for when Masons arrive."

MAGGIE SMIGHT as Minerva McGonagall

"I should tell you this: Unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught... it is likely the school will be closed."

JULIE WALTERS as Molly Weasley

"No need to thank me, dear. I can see you're just as polite as your mother was."

DAVID BRADLEY as Argus Filch
TOM FELTON as Draco Malfoy

SEAN BIGGERSTAFF as Oliver Wood
ROBERT HARDY as Cornelius Fudge

SHIRLEY HENDERSON as Moaning Myrtle
GEMMA JONES as Poppy Pomfrey

PEYTON LIST as Penny Haywood
MIRIAM MARGOLYES as Pomona Sprout
ZOË WANAMAKER as Hooch
MARK WILLIAMS as Arthur Weasley

Chapter Text

It was late night in the town of Little Whinging, and inside of an upstairs room of 4 Privet Drive home, the twins Harry and Jacob Potter, sitting by the window of their second floor bedroom, were paging through their scrapbook. Looking at the picture of their family, the twins turned a page, where they saw the moving picture of them with their two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

It had been around a month since the twins returned to live with the Dursleys for the summer. The one good side was that the twins hadn't let their relatives know they couldn't use magic outside of Hogwarts, reason being so they would be left alone if the Dursleys thought the twins would hit them with a spell like Hagrid had with their son Dudley, giving him a pig tail. Their Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia had given them Dudley's old bedroom for the boys to sleep in properly and have room for their school stuff.

The twins heard a noise, and when they turned, they saw Hedwig pecking at her cage, while Millie was sleeping on the bed.

"I can't let you out, Hedwig." Harry said. "We're not allowed to use magic outside of school."

"If only we could." Jacob said, glancing at the door. "It'd make things easier, making sure Dudley won't cause any trouble."

"Besides, if Uncle Vernon--"

"Harry Potter!" Uncle Vernon shouted.

"Now you've done it." Harry closed the book and walked out of the room.

"Why can't you be like Millie and behave, Hedwig?" Jacob asked, before also leaving the room.

This caused Millie to wake up and raise it's head.

In the kitchen, Aunt Petunia was putting together a cake, when the kitchen door opened and the twins entered.

"He's in there." Aunt Petunia said, nodding to the living room. "Vernon?"

The twins walked in, and saw Uncle Vernon struggling to put a bow tie on Dudley.

"I'm warning you." Uncle Vernon said, glowering at Harry. "If you can't control that bloody bird, it'll have to go. At least the cat knows how to behave in a house."

"But she's bored." Harry said, while John was leaning against a wall. "If i could only let her out for an hour or two."

"So you can send secret messages to you freak little friends? No, sir." Uncle Vernon turned Dudley towards the mirror.

"But we haven't had any messages from any of our friends. Not one. All summer."

"I'm sure something's just come up, Harry." Jacob said assuredly. "No way they wouldn't want to message us while were out of school."

Uncle Vernon finished with Dudley's suit, who started glaring at the twins.

"Who'd want to be friends with you two?" Dudley asked.

Dudley was about to push Harry with his shoulder, when Jacob got between them, glaring at Dudley.

"Careful, Dudley. If you ever had to go to a dentist appointment for the Grangers, you wouldn't want to insult their daughter, would you?" Jacob asked.

This caused Dudley to flinch a little, and carefully moved around the twins, while Uncle Vernon faced them.

"I should think you boys'd be a little more grateful." Uncle Vernon said, glaring. "We've raised you since you were babies, given you the food off our table, even let you have Dudley's second bedroom... purely out of the goodness of our hearts."

"If you call being placed in a cupboard for ten years and giving barely any food to survive a day raising..." Jacob muttered, rolling his eyes.

"You have something to say, boy?"

"Actually, a snuffing lot."

Harry quickly put his hand on Jacob's shoulder, shaking his head. Jacob remained quiet, though he glared slightly at Uncle Vernon.

"I thought they got the second bedroom because Mum was afraid they'd turn us into dung beetles if you put them back in the cupboard under the stairs." Dudley said, complaining.

Aunt Petunia stopped cold and exchanged a dark look with Uncle Vernon, before she saw Dudley extending a finger for the cake.

"Not now." Aunt Petunia said, slapping Dudley's hand away from the cake. "It's for when Masons arrive."

"Which should be any minute." Uncle Vernon said, before nodding to his wife and son to come to the living room. "Now, let's go over our schedule once again, shall we? Petunia, when the Masons arrive, you will be...?"

"In the lounge, waiting to welcome them graciously to our home."

"Good. And Dudley, you will be...?"

"I'll be waiting to open the door." Dudley said with a proud voice.

Jacob, meanwhile, rolled his eyes.

"Excellent." Uncle Vernon said, before the Dursleys turned to the twins. "And you two?"

"We'll be in our bedroom, making no noise and pretending that we don't exist." Harry said, while Jacob nodded.

"Too right you will. With any luck, this could be the day that i make the biggest deal of my career, and you two will not mess it up."

The Dursleys kept glaring at the twins who glared back before the doorbell rang. Instantly, Uncle Vernon shoved the twins out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"Upstairs! hurry!"

While walking up the stairs, Jacob and Harry heard the doorbell go off, and Uncle Vernon welcoming the Masons inside.

"If i could, i'd try to make contact with Ron or Hermione and try ask if we could come visit them, just to get away from here." Jacob said, placing his hands behind his back.

"You and me both." Harry said, opening their bedroom door.

Just as the twins entered the bedroom, they stopped dead: A tiny creature with bat-like ears and bulging green eyes was jumping on their shared bed as if it were a trampoline. The creature stopped bouncing when it noticed the twins.

"Harry and Jacob Potter. Such an honor it is." The creature said.

Jacob and Harry glanced at each other, before Jacob closed the door behind them. "Um... who are you?" He asked.

"Dobby, sir. Dobby the house-elf."

"I see." Harry said. "Not to be rude or anything, but this isn't a great time for us to have a house-elf in our bedroom."

"Especially when our relatives hate anything to do with magic." Jacob then said. "Who knows what they'd do if they found you here."

"Oh, yes, sir. Dobby understand." Dobby said. "It's just that, Dobby has come to tell you... It is difficult, sir... Dobby wonders where to begin."

"Well, why don't you sit down and start from the beginning?"

"S-s-sit down? Sit down?"

Dobby looked surprised, before he got off the bed and burst into tears, causing the twins to panic.

"D-Dobby, i'm sorry." Jacob lifted his finger to his mouth, trying to calm Dobby down. "I didn't mean to offend you or anything --"

"Offend Dobby?" Dobby calmed down before he turned towards the twins. "Dobby has heard of the Potter twins' greatness, sir, but never has he been asked to sit down by a wizard, like an equal..."

Jacob started rubbing his neck. "Really?"

"You can't have met many decent wizards then." Harry said.

"No, i haven't." Dobby said, laughing slightly before he stopped. "That was an awful thing to say."

Dobby walked to the cabinet on the wall and started banging his head furiously against it. 

"Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"Stop, Dobby. Dobby, shush." Harry said, trying to stop the elf from smashing anything.

"If you make noise, our relatives will hear it, and we'll be in trouble." Jacob said. "So please, stop."

In the living room, Uncle Vernon was pouring champagne for Mr and Mrs Mason, everyone heard Dobby's head banging coming from above. Everyone's eyes shifted to the ceilling.

"Oh, don't mind that. It's just the cat." Uncle Vernon said, chuckling nervously.

"Cat? What cat?" Dudley asked confused.

"Our cat, tiger."

In the twins' bedroom, Dobby kept banging his head on the cabinet.

"Bad Dobby." Dobby repeated.

"Stop!" Harry kept trying to stop the house-elf. "Stop, Dobby. Please, be quiet."

Jacob finally pulled Dobby away from the cabinet, who started wobbling and his eyes were spinning dizzily. John and Harry were regarding with a mixture of concern... and wariness.

"Are you... all right? Why'd you smash your head like that?" Jacob asked.

"Dobby had to punish himself, sir." Dobby said recovering, before it pushed a chair close to the twins and jumped on it. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir."

"Your... family?" Harry asked, as he and Jacob sat on the bed.

"The wizard family Dobby serves, sir. Dobby is bound to serve one family forever. If they ever knew Dobby was here..."

"... You'd be in trouble?" Jacob asked.

Dobby nodded at this, shuddering in fear before he looked up at the twins, and whispered urgently.

"But Dobby had to come. Dobby has to protect Harry and Jacob Potter. To warn them." Dobby started whispering fiercely. "Harry and Jacob Potter must not go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year."

The twins burrowed their eyes and glanced at each other. "Not go back? But... we have to." Harry said.

"There is a plot, a plot to make most terrible things happen. If Harry and Jacob Potter goes back to school, they will be in great danger."

"What terrible things?" Harry asked.

"Who's plotting them?" Jacob asked next.

Dobby started making faces and grinding his teeth together. "Can't say." He said.

Jacob raised his hands little. "Okay! I understand. You can't say --"

"Don't make me talk. I --" Dobby grabbed the bedside lamp and started beating himself about the head and yelping loudly. "Bad Dobby!"

"Dobby. Dobby, put the lamp down." Harry said as he and John glanced between Dobby and the door.

In the living room, Uncle Vernon was in the middle of telling a joke to the Masons.

"So when they arrive at the ninth hole --" Uncle Vernon said.

Dobby's yelping interrupted him, ringing out from above. Everybody looked up at the ceiling again, while Uncle Vernon started glaring.

"Sounds as if that cat of yours has dragged something in with it, Dursley." Mr. Mason said.

"Not to worry. I'll sort it out." Uncle Vernon started leaving the living room.

In the bedroom, Jacob was trying to wrestle the lamp away from Dobby.

"Give me the lamp." Jacob said.

Harry heard the footsteps approaching their room. He turned to his brother and nodded at the door, making Jacob realize Uncle Vernon was coming.

"Dobby, stop!"

Jacob finally was able to take the lamp off from Dobby, before grabbing him by his pillowcase and dragged him towards the wardrobe.

"Let me go." Dobby said, trying to get away.

"Get in there and keep quiet."

Jacob quickly pitched Dobby inside the wardrobe, and just as he closed it, the door flung open.

"What the devil are you two doing up here?" Uncle Vernon asked angrily.

"We were just --" Harry started saying.

Jacob noticed the wardrobe door opening slightly, before quickly closing it back.

"You just ruined the punch line of my Japanese golfer joke." Uncle Vernon said.

"Was it the one when they arrive at the ninth hole --" Jacob started saying.

"Yes!"

"Sorry." Harry said.

Jacob again closed the wardrobe door when he noticed it opening. door when he noticed it opening a little. Uncle Vernon glanced at the door before turning back to the twins.

"One more sound and you'll wish you'd never been born, boys! And fix that door!" Uncle Vernon said.

"Yes, sir." The twins said, as Jacob again closed the wardrobe door.

Uncle Vernon stomped flat-footed from the room and slammed the door. The second he was gone, Jacob let Dobby out of the wardrobe, who had a sock on his right ear.

"See why we've got to go back?" Harry asked Dobby. "We don't belong here. We belong in your world -- at Hogwarts."

"Besides..." Jacob then said, pointing at the door. "... if you lived with the Dursleys for ten years and were treated the same way we were, you'd be thinking the same way we are."

Dobby walked out of the closet before removing the sock from his ear, which he sniffed at before throwing it away.

"Hogwarts' the only place we've got friends." Harry then said.

"Friends who don't even write to Harry and Jacob Potter?" Dobby asked, smiling slightly.

"Well, i expect they've been --"

Jacob suddenly lifted his hand up, stopping Harry. "Wait. Hang on, how do you know our friends haven't been writing to us?" He asked.

Harry then also focused on Dobby for what he had said, while Dobby widened his eyes, backing away.

"Harry and Jacob Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby." Dobby said, before starting to reach to his back for something. "Dobby hoped if Harry and Jacob Potter thought their friends had forgotten them... Harry and Jacob Potter might not want to go back to school, sir..."

Dobby was holding a stack of letters in his hands, causing the twins to get angry.

"Give us those. Now." Harry said.

"No!"

Quickly putting the letters back inside his cloth, Dobby dashed out of the room, panicking, while the twins flew after him. Dobby was bouncing like a ping-pong ball down the stairs into the kitchen door. As the twins raced in, they saw Dobby eyeing Aunt Petunia's masterpiece of a cake. Getting an idea, Dobby glanced at the twins, who stood back few steps.

"Dobby, get back here." Jacob ordered.

Dobby shook his head, before turning back to the cake. He snapped his fingers, and the cake started floating. The twins, wide-eyed, realized what Dobby was going to do.

"Dobby... please... no." Harry pleaded.

"Harry and Jacob Potter must say they're not going back to Hogwarts." Dobby said.

"We can't. Hogwarts is our home." Jacob said.

Dobby then made a tragic expression. "Then Dobby must do it, sir. For Harry and John Potter's own good."

Dobby snapped his fingers again, and the cake started floating into the living room. Harry dashed into the kitchen, with Jacob following him and pushing Dobby out of the way. Leaning over the wall, the twins peered into the living room.

"It spread as far as the eye could see, all over the floor of this building." Uncle Vernon said, telling a joke to the Masons. "One plumber said 'Look at all that water.' The second plumber said, 'Yes, and that's just the top of it.'"

The Dursleys started laughing, but the Masons stayed quiet.

"Mr. Mason..." Aunt Petunia started saying, before she noticed the floating cake approaching Mrs. Mason. "Vernon tells me that you're a wonderful golfer."

"I play. Occasionally." Mr. Mason replied.

Aunt Petunia nodded. "Mrs. Mason." Aunt Petunia's voice cracked a bit, while Uncle Vernon also noticed the cake. "Where do you get your beautiful suits?"

"Oh. All of my suits are tailor-made." Mrs. Mason replied.

Harry was walking into the living room, arms raised to try and grab the floating cake, which was now floating above Mrs Mason's head, while Jacob was staying back. Just then, Dobby snapped his fingers... and the cake plummeted straight onto Mrs. Masons head.

The Masons sat blinking, as Mrs Mason's head was covered with whipped cream and sugara violets.

"I'm so sorry." Uncle Vernon tried to apologize, while shedding fake tears. "It's my nephew. He's very disturbed. Meeting strangers upsets him, and his brother doesn't say a thing. That's why i kept them upstairs."

The twins quickly turned towards Dobby, who was smiling before flinching back when he saw the twins glaring at him.

"Next time i see you, i will strangle you." Jacob whispered.

Dobby snapped his fingers again, and disappeared out of sight.

A while later, the Masons were racing out of the house, while the Dursleys were racing after them.

"We have ice-cream..." Aunt Petunia tried to say.

The Masons got into their car and drove off, just as a shrieking sound split the sky. An owl swooped down, and dropped a letter at Uncle Vernon's feet. He picked up the letter and opened it. As Uncle Vernon read the letter, a mad gleam started dancing in his eyes before he turned and raced back inside the house, with Aunt Petunia following him.

Running back into the living room, Uncle Vernon marched to the twins and extended the letter to them.

"Go on. Read it." Uncle Vernon ordered.

Harry took the letter and started reading it. "'Dear Mr. Potter. We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence at twelwe minutes past seven this evening. As you know, underage wizards--'"

"'Are not permited to perform spells outside school.'" Uncle Vernon snatched the letter back, while the twins glanced nervously at each other. "You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic at home. Slipped your minds, didn't it?"

The next day, Uncle Vernon was standing on a ladder against the twins' bedroom window, drilling iron bars on the inside of the window, locking the twins in their bedroom. making sure the bars were screwed in tight, he cast Jacob and Harry nasty grin, who were in the room glaring back at him.

"I've got news for you, boys. I'm locking you up! And if you try to magic yourselves out, they'll expel you! You're never going back to that school! You're never going to see those freaky friends of yours again! Never!"

Later that night in the twins' bedroom, Jacob and Harry were staring gloomily out the window. The metal flap Uncle Vernon build on their door rattled as Dudley's pudgy hand slid a bowl of tinned soup onto the floor.

"I know what day it is." Dudley said, grinning cruelly through the opening.

"Well done, Dudley." Harry sassed back. "Finally learned the days of the week, have you."

"Today's your birthdays. And nobody cares."

Dudley snapped the flap shut, as the twins sighted. Jacob took the soup and a bit of stale bread, and crossed to Millie and Hedwig.

"It's no good turning your head up. It's all we've got." Jacob said to Millie.

Jacob gave a piece of bread to Millie, while Harry fed Hedwig her own piece. Both were thinking what a miserable birthday this was.

Chapter Text

Later that night, the twins were asleep in their now locked-up bedroom, when the sound of a car engine was coming from somewhere far away. Harry woke up first to the sound and put his glasses on, before he started shaking Jacob's shoulder.

"Jacob. Wake up." Harry whispered.

Jacob woke up slowly, and started rubbing his eyes. "Wh- wha time iz it?" He asked groggily.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear wha --?"

Harry put his hand on Jacob's mouth and placed his finger against his own mouth to shush him. The twins started listening and heard the sound of the car engine coming closer.

"Is that a car?"

"Sounds like it."

The twins got off from their bed before looking outside the window. The sky was clear and the stars were up, and they saw a weird light flying closer to the Dursleys home, all the while the sound was coming even closer.

"What the spark...?" Jacob muttered.

When the light and the sound were close enough, the brothers noticed it was an old turquoise-colored Ford Anglia, floating towards the house. The car started to slow down as it was approaching the twins' bedroom window. The twins backed towards the door, Hedwig lowered it's and Millie started hissing, before stopping. Ron Weasley was staring through the car window.

"Hiya, Harry and Jacob." Ron said.

Ron was sitting on the front passenger seat, while his brother Fred was sitting on the driver's seat, and Fred's twin brother George was in the passenger seat, all smiling at Jacob and Harry.

"Ron? Fred? George? What are you all doing here?" Harry asked.

"It's so good to see you guys." Jacob said.

"Rescuing you two, of course." Ron said. "And it's good to see you, too. Now, come on get your trunks."

Jacob nodded. "All right. Let's hurry, Harry."

Moments later, stuffed with clothes and spellbooks, Jacob and Harry snapped their trunks shut and dragged them to the windowsill, before they watched Ron place a hook against the bar on the window, while also connected to the car.

"You two better stand back." Ron said.

The twins stepped back from the window, while Ron turned to Fred.

"Let's go."

Fred started driving the car away from the window, and with the hook in it's place, he easily ripped the bars from the window, which fell into the bush on the Dursley's front yard.

Inside Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia's bedroom, the sound of the bars crashing woke the Dursleys up.

"What was that?" Uncle Vernon asked with a tired and scared voice.

"What is it?" Aunt Petunia asked, equally scared.

The car backed up against the window, and Jacob and Harry pushed their trunks over the sill into the Anglia's boot.

"Potters!" Uncle Vernon shouted.

This caused the twins to glance back at the door.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia exited their bedroom and approached the twins' room, while Dudley got out of his room.

"Dad, what's going on?" Dudley asked, scared.

Aunt Petunia put her arms around Dudley, while Uncle Vernon angrily started to open the locks on the twins' bedroom.

The twins quickly put their trunks in, and George quickly said "Go go go." and Fred started to turn the car so the doors could face the window.

"Dad, hurry up." Dudley kept urging his father who was still trying to open the locks quickly.

Harry took Hedwig's cage while Jacob took Millie's, and the twins gave them to Ron and George.

"Come on." Fred urged.

"Come on, guys, hurry up." Ron kept going.

George opened the backseat door and let Harry in, when at that moment... the bedroom door crashed open. Uncle Vernon watched wide-eyed, while Jacob glance back, shocked.

"Petunia! They're escaping!" Uncle Vernon shouted.

Jacob quickly leaped over the windowsill, while Uncle Vernon charged forward and snatched Jacob's ankle. Jacob was left dangling from the window, while Harry, Ron, Fred and George grabbed Jacob and tried pulling him inside the car.

Uncle Vernon put both of his hands on Jacob's ankle, trying to pull him harder back, while Jacob kept hanging, stretched high over the lawn, directly above the mangled bars. Hedwig was pecking fevereshly at her lock, while Millie was biting into hers.

"We've got you, Jacob!" Ron said, panicking.

"Come here!" Uncle Vernon shouted, still trying to pull Jacob back inside.

"Let go of me!" Jacob shouted.

"No, boy! You, your brother and those bloody animals aren't going anywhere!"

"Get off of him!" Harry shouted.

Millie and Hedwig kept biting and pecking their locks harder... when the cages finally opened. Millie charged past the children and Hedwig swooped into the sky and wheeled back, before the pets started hammering their claws and beak into Uncle Vernon's hand. This caused Uncle Vernon to roar and stumble back.

"Drive!" Ron shouted to Fred.

"Right!" Fred and George shouted together.

Fred started to drive away from the house. This caused Uncle Vernon to let go of Jacob's foot and fall from the window due to most of his weight being outside of the window.

"No! No! No! No!" Uncle Vernon shouted.

Uncle Vernon flipped on his back on the bush. Aunt Petunia and Dudley shouted in panic and ran to the window, from where they saw Uncle Vernon trying to lift himself up.

"Dad!" Dudley cried.

Harry, Ron, Fred and George were able to pull Jacob inside the car, and they all smirked at the Dursleys before Jacob closed the door and Fred drove the car away from the neighborhood. Uncle Vernon managed to get back on his feet, before he watched the car disappear into the sky. As Hedwig was soaring just beyond the car window and Millie happily pushed her head against Jacob's, Ron turned to the twins.

"By the way, guys. Happy birthday." Ron said.

Jacob and Harry smiled at Ron, and the trio gave each other fist pumps as they flew away from Privot Drive, with the twins happy that they could now celebrate their 12th birthday properly.

Early next morning, the Anglia dropped through a pink sky towards a haphazard mess of a house, which was built around a towering central chimney. By the road, a lopsided sing read "THE BURROW". The car touched down the ground in a whirling cone of dust, and as they drove into the yard, the car scarreted a group of chickens before fishtailing to a halt. The five boys spilled quickly out of the car.

"Hurry!" Fred whispered urgently. "Let's nip inside before Mum wakes up!"

Moments later, the boys sneaked to the house.

"Come on."

Fred opened the window on the kitchen door, before reaching over and opening the door from the inside.

"Okay, come on."

Waving his hand, Fred let Jacob, Harry, Ron and George inside, before gently closing the door. Jacob and Harry started to look around, with the dishes being enchanted to make it so they cleaned themselves.

"The magic never seizes to amaze me." Jacob said, and he and Harry walked further into the house, noticing an old clock.

"Think'd it'd be all right if we had some of this?" Ron asked as he held up a sweet.

"Yeah, Mum will never know." George said, as he and Fred also then took the sweets, and the three brothers started eating them.

Jacob and Harry saw there was a picture on a wall with multiple spots written for 'home', and spoons that lifted themselves on one of the spots, with pictures of Ron, Fred and George placed on them. Making their way further into the living room, the twins saw a cloth knitting itself together on an armchair.

"It's not much, but it's home." Ron said shrugging, mouth full of sweet.

"We think it's brilliant." Jacob and Harry said together, smiling.

Ron looked up and saw the twins' mesmerized faces, before he slowly started grinning. Just then, footsteps came running down the stairs. The kids turned, when they saw Mrs. Weasley coming down and staring at her children hard Suddenly they heard footsteps coming down the stairs really quickly. The kids turned towards the stairs, and they saw their mother, Molly Weasley, coming down and now staring at them.

"WHERE... HAVE... YOU... BEEN?!" Mrs. Weasley yelled.

The boys nearly jumped jumped out of their skins, with the Weasleys glancing at the sweets in their hands before hiding them behind their backs. Meanwhile, Mrs. Weasley smiled sweetly at Jacob and Harry, walking up to them.

"Harry, Jacob! How wonderful to see you, dears." She turned back to her children, placing her hands on her hips. "Beds empty! No note! Car gone! You could have died! You could have been seen!" She turned back to Jacob and Harry. "Of course, i don't blame you, Harry and Jaob, dears."

"They were starving them, Mum!" Ron said, while the others nodded. "There were bars on their window!"

Mrs. Weasley pointed a finger at Ron. "Well, you best hope i don't put bars on your window, Ronald Weasley!" This caused Ron to widen his eyes in shock.

"He's not wrong, Mrs. Weasley." Jacob said. "We're glad to at least be out of there finally."

Mrs. Weasley softened instantly. "And we're glad to have you boys here. Come on, boys, time for a spot of breakfast."

The Weasleys and the twins were next in the kitchen getting ready for the breakfast, when a small, red-headed came running down the stairs. By this point they had been joined by the Weasley boys older brother Percy.

"Here we are, Harry and Jacob. Now, tuck in." Mrs. Weasley said as she gave the boys their food. "That's it. There we go."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley." Jacob said.

Mrs. Weasley smiled at Jacob softly. "No need to thank me, dear. I can see you're just as polite as your mother was."

At that moment, the girl ran into the kitchen. "Mum, Mummy, have you seen my jumper?" She asked.

"Yes, dear, it was on the cat."

Just then, the girl saw Jacob and Harry, her eyes widening in shock.

"Hello." Harry greeted.

"Hi." Jacob greeted lastly.

The girl said nothing as she was staring at the twins wide-eyed. She backed away before she dashed back up the stairs. Fred and George chuckled, while Jacob and Harry were confused.

"W-what did we do?" Harry asked.

"Was it something we said?" Jacob asked, turning to Ron.

"Ginny." Ron said, frowning. "She's been talking about you both all summer. A bit annoying, really."

"Dad's home!" George suddenly said.

The kitchen door then opened, and Arthur Weasley entered the house. A tall man with red hair, his robes looked dusty and travel-torn, while he was carrying a case under his arm.

"Morning, Weasleys." Mr. Weasley greeted his family.

"Morning, dad." The kids greeted back.

Mr. Weasley went to remove his cloak and hat. "What a night! Nine raids! Nine!"

"Raids?" Harry asked Ron.

"What does your dad do?" Jacob asked next.

"Dad works in the Ministry of Magic. In the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office." Ron explained.

"The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts...?" Jacob asked.

"That's when wizards bewitch something to drive Muggles mad. Shrinking door keys, that kind of thing. Dad loves Muggles. Thinks they're fascinating."

Mr. Weasley walked back to the kitchen, kissed Mrs. Weasley on the cheek and sat on the kitchen table.

"Well now." Mr. Weasley said, looking around the table before he noticed Jacob and Harry, blinking confused. "And who are you boys?"

"Oh, sorry, sir. I'm Harry, sir. Harry Potter." Harry introduced himself, then pointed to his brother. "And this is my brother Jacob."

"Hello." Jacob greeted. "Nice to meet you, sir."

"Good lord. Are you really?" Mr. Weasley said amazed. "You boys look just like your father. Though i have to admit, you, Jacob, have a little bit of your mother in you."

This got the twins to glance at each other.

"Well, Ron has told us all about you, of course. When did they get here?" Mr. Weasley got ready to eat.

"This morning." Mrs. Weasley said darkly, turned around and placed her hands on her hips. "Your sons flew that enchanted car of yours to Surrey and back last night."

"Did you really! How did it go?" Mr. Weasley looked exitedly at the boys, before Mrs. Weasley smacked him on the shoulder, causing the kids to try and not laugh. "I mean -- That was very wrong indeed, boys. Very wrong of you."

"I mean, if you think about it, if they hadn't done that, we wouldn't be here now." Jacob added cheekily, while the others nodded.

"Well... i suppose you're right about that." Mrs. Weasley said, relenting, before she got back to work.

"Now, Harry and Jacob. You two must know all about Muggles." Mr. Weasley said.

"Well, we technically lived like Muggles before coming to Hogwarts." Jacob said, and Harry nodded.

"Right. Tell me, what exactly is the function of a rubber duck?"

"Oh, um --" Harry was about to answer.

Before Harry could answer, everyone heard owl screeching and turned to the living room window.

"Well, that'll be Errol with the post." Mrs. Weasley said.

They then saw Errol, an old owl owned by the Weasley family, flying towards them with the mail in it's peak, but instead of flying through the open window, it crashed face first into window next to it that was closed and fell down. The twins and the Weasley cringed.

"Fetch it, will you, Percy, please?"

Percy stood up and walked to the window, when Errol jumped through the open window.

"Errol." Percy said, taking the mail from the old owl.

"He's always doing that." Ron said.

Percy started going through all the letters. "Oh look, it's our Hogwarts letters. And they've sent Harry's and Jacob's as well." Percy walked back to the table and started handing everyone their Hogwarts letters.

"Dumbledore must know you're here, boys." Mr. Weasley said. "Doesn't miss a trick, that man."

"And there's another letter for Jacob." Percy said, causing Jacob to raise his head up again, seeing Percy holding another letter to him. "It's from Hermione."

Harry, Ron, Fred and George smirked slightly, though Jacob ignored them and took the letter. He started opening it before reading the letter quietly.

'Dear Jacob, if you're there.

I hope this letter reaches you. I've sent you maybe five letters, but you haven't answered any of them. I've been worried something has happened to you and Harry. If you're at the Weasleys, will you please let me know you're all right soon?

From, Hermione.'

Jacob started frowning, feeling guilty since he hadn't gotten any of Hermione's letters thanks to Dobby. He knew he'd have to make up for it, before remembering getting an idea for her birthday.

"What did she say?" Harry asked.

Jacob shook his head slightly, coming back to reality. "She said she's been worried and asked to let her know if we're okay. I think we should do it soon." He said.

"Oh, no." Mrs. Weasley said, as she was going through Harry's list of books needed for the next year.

"This lot won't come cheap, Mum." George said, going through his own list. "The spell books alone are very expensive."

"We'll manage."

Jacob started reading through his list, which read:

The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Gilderoy Lockhart

Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart

Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart

Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart

Wandering with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart

Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart

Seeing all of the books being written by the same person confused Jacob.

Mrs. Weasley looked up at the twins and her family. "Right then. There's only one place we're going to get all of this. Diagon Alley." She said.

Later that day, everyone was gathered in the living room, standing in front of the large fireplace, while wearing cloaks. Mrs. Weasley took a flowerpot hanging on the fireplace, at the bottom of which was a layer of very soft dust.

"Right." Mrs. Weasley said, walking to Jacob and Harry. "Here we are, boys. You go first, Harry dear."

"But Harry and Jacob's never traveled by Floo powder before, Mum." Ron said.

"Floo powder?" Harry asked confused.

"I think i read about it one time last year." Jacob said.

"Of course you did." Harry and Ron said together, smirking.

Jacob simply shrugged his shoulders and smiled at them.

"Well, you go first, Ron, so that the boys can see how it's done. Yes." Mrs. Weasley said, and Ron walked inside the fireplace. "In you go."

Mrs. Weasley reached the pot for Ron, who took a fist full of power. Mrs. Weasley backed away along with her family and twins, as Jacob and Harry kept their focus on Ron on what he was doing.

"Diagon Alley!" Ron said.

Ron pitched the powder into the fireplace, and bright green flames roared high. Ron was consumed by the flames, while the twins watched in amazement as the fire died down, and Ron had vanished.

"Is that how wizards travel?" Jacob asked.

"Yes, we do." Fred and George said together.

"You see?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she got in front of the fireplace again. "It's quite easy, dears." She then pointed to Harry. "Don't be afraid. Come on."

Harry stood still, looking unsure, before Jacob pushed him forwards slightly.

"Be brave, brother." Jacob whispered.

Harry walked inside the fireplace slowly.

"In you go." Mrs. Weasley encouraged. "That's it. Mind your head." When Harry was standing inside the fireplace , Mrs. Weasley reached the pot to Harry. "That's right. Now, that your Floo powder." Tentatively, Harry reached into the pot and took a fist full of powder. "That's it, very good. Now, don't forget to speak very, very clearly." 

Harry nodded and braced himself, while Mrs. Weasley backed away to the others.

"Diagonally!" Harry said.

Harry dropped the powder and the green fire consumed him. Everybody backed away a little when the fire shot up, and few second later after it died down, Harry had vanished. But they also noticed Harry said something weird.

"What did he say, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Diagonally." Mrs. Weasley replied, and everybody else nodded.

"I thought he did."

Suddenly, Jacob got an idea. A stupid idea. "I'll go after him." He said.

The others watched surprised as Jacob walked inside the fireplace, while Mrs. Weasley got next to him.

"Are you sure about this, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked, worried.

"You could end up who-knows-where." Percy said.

"Well, i got to try, don't i?" Jacob said. "Besides, i can't leave Harry alone. I'm sure we'll end up somewhere in Diagon Alley."

Reluctantly, Mrs. Weasley reached the pot for Jacob who took a fist full of powder. As Mrs. Weasley once again backed away, Jacob braced himself.

"Diagonally!" Jacob said with a straight face.

Jacob quickly dropped the powder on the fireplace before green fire soared high, consuming him...

Chapter Text

Few seconds earlier before Jacob used the Floo powder, Harry came sliding on his back and feet first from a fireplace in a store he didn't recognize. He coughed as he was now covered in dust. He noticed his glasses had fallen off of his face, as they were now laying next to him on the floor.

He took them and put them back on, though now the left side of the glasses were cracked. He got himself up and was about start looking around before Jacob came sliding into the room on his stomach.

"Why--" 'cough' "Why is it so dusty?" Jacob asked, while starting to cough.

"Jacob?" Harry asked, kneel'd down and helped his brother up. "What are you doing here?"

"Helping your sorry arse, of course." 

Once Jacob was up, he suddenly slapped Harry on the back of his head.

"Ouch!" Harry cried.

"What part of "speak very, very clearly" did you not get?" Jacob asked sarcastically.

Harry started rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry. My voice cracked at that moment. Also, was the slap really necessary?"

"Yes. Just because i'm younger doesn't mean i can't punish you." Jacob then looked where they were, feeling a shiver rise on the back of his head.  "Where are we, anyway?"

"I don't know."

They noticed that there were bottles and shelves that had skulls placed inside them, and this creep'd the twins quite a bit, with Jacob even tapping one of the jars few times with his finger.

"What kind of shop sells real-looking skulls?" Harry asked quietly.

"I don't think the good kind." Jacob also said quietly.

Harry then noticed a creepy looking rotting hand, a Hand of Glory, on a table and got close to it. He started to put his hand around the hand before the hand quickly closed it's fingers around Harry's and slammed itself against the table, trapping Harry.

Jacob heard Harry struggling and, turning around, quickly got to his brother, trying to rip the fingers off from Harry's. Harry turned to look at the store's large window and noticed Draco Malfoy and Merula Snyde peaking inside.

"Jacob." Harry said quickly.

Jacob looked at Harry, who nodded towards the window. He turned around and saw Malfoy and Snyde, who were slowly closing in on the door to the store. The brothers finally managed to rip the fingers off.

"Hide in that chest." Harry said, nodding to a huge chest.

While Jacob quickly went inside the chest, Harry opened a large coffin next to it and got inside.

Malfoy and Snyde opened the door and got inside the same store the twins were in, known as Borgin and Burkes, starting to look around. Malfoy noticed a small statue and placed his hand on it, before an end of a cane with a head of a snake on it hit the statue, causing Malfoy to remove his hand quickly.

"Don't touch anything, Draco." The man ordered.

He was wearing a black uniform, and like Draco, his hair was blond, although it reached the middle of his back. This was Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father.

"Yes, father." Draco replied nervously.

Lucius then walked further inside the shop, while Draco and Merula started to follow him.

"Why couldn't you have just done what he told you earlier?" Merula hissed.

"I was curious, okay?" Draco hissed back.

The father, son and the Sayles girl walked further inside, looking around before reaching the table, which from the other side was approached by the shop's owner, a stooped man named Mr. Borgin.

"Master Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again." Mr. Borgin greeted Lucius while holding his hands together. "And young Master Malfoy and Mistress Snyde too. Delighted. I must show you, just in today and very reasonable priced--" 

"I'm not buying today, Borgin. I'm selling." Lucius interrupted him.

"Selling?"

"Draco." Lucius called his son.

Draco walked to the table, carrying a chest under his arm and placed it on the desk, before walking away to look around the store with Merula.

"You are aware, no doubt, that the Ministry of Magic is conducting more raids on private houses." Lucius placed his hand on the chest, then said with a hint of disgust. "There's even rumors of a new Muggle Protection Act."

"Pure wizard blood is counting for less everywhere, i'm afraid." Mr. Borgin said.

"Not with me." Lucius sounded deadly. 

Draco and Merula were drifting to the Hand of Glory. He was eyeing the hand with a malicious glee.

"Can i have this?" Draco asked.

"Ah, the Hand of Glory." Mr. Borgin said. "Insert a candle and it gives light only to the holder. Best friends of thieves and plunderers. Your son has fine taste, sir."

"Hopefully my son will amount to more than a thief, Mr. Borgin." Lucius said. "Though if his marks don't pick up--"

"It's not my fault the teachers have favorites." Draco said. "That Hermione Granger--"

"I would have thought you'd be ashamed that a girl of no wizarding family beat you in every exam."

"It's not just her, Mr. Malfoy." Merula said, sneering. "That Potter boy is almost as good as Granger."

Lucius, meanwhile, faced Mr. Borgin again and opened the chest for him, allowing Borgin to start going through all the items that were inside it.

"Anyway, i brought a few items from home that might prove, ahem, embarrassing were the Ministry to call. Just poisons and like." Lucius said.

While going through the items, Mr. Borgin widened his eyes when he saw something that peaked his interest.

"Look at that." Mr. Borgin said.

Mr. Borgin took the item in his hands, but suddenly Lucius took it back.

"That particular item, is not for sale."

"I understand. It has unique qualities. One wouldn't want to see it falling into the wrong hands."

Mr. Borgin continued to go through the rest of the items in the chest, while Draco and Ivey were still exploring everything in the store.

Draco approached the coffin Harry was hiding in while Ivey crouched down to look at the chest Jacob was in. While Merula was smart enough to know not to touch anything, Draco placed his fingers on the eye places of the coffin.

Lucius meanwhile took several coins and placed them on the desk, while Mr. Borgin kept watching. 

"You can keep the box." Lucius said.

Mr. Borgin smiled. Lucius then turned to his left and saw Draco about to open the coffin, before quickly placing his cane against it, closing the coffin.

"What did i say?"

Draco quickly turned his head to face his father, while Merula rolled her eyes at Draco. While Lucius was now focusing on his son, Mr. Borgin took one coin back and placed it in his pocket.

"Touch nothing." Draco said, quoting his father from earlier.

"Exactly." Lucius said.

"Sorry, father." Draco apologized sarcastically, and there was a slight glare in his look.

"Sometimes, i hope you'd be more like dear Merula." Lucius took his cane away from the coffin. He ended up giving a side-glance towards Ivey. "Come on, we're going."

"It's a pleasure to do business with you, Mr. Malfoy. Always a pleasure." Mr. Borgin said.

The Malfoys and Merula then exited the shop, while Mr. Borgin bowed his head to them and went to the back of the store. Jacob and Harry, once the coast was clear, got out of their hiding spots. 

"That was too close." Harry said.

"You're telling me." Jacob said.

"We should get out of here, the coast seems clear."

"I agree. The others must be worried sick about us."

The brothers exited the Borgin and Burkes, and found out the alley they were in was very dark looking, known as Knockturn Alley, with equally dark looking and unpleasant people walking around.

The brothers attempted to find a road that might lead them to a more familiar place before a creepy looking aged witch placed her hand on Jacob's shoulder, and the twins flinched.

"Not lost, are you, my dears?" The witch asked.

"We're fine, thank you." Jacob said, as Harry started to pull him with him somewhere. "We were just goin..."

But when they tried to walk up a set of stairs, more creepy looking people came down from it, stopping the twins, and the witch took a hold of Harry's shoulder next.

"Come with us. We'll help you find your way back."

"No, please--" Harry started to plead.

"Harry? Jacob?"

The twins turned to their left when they heard a familiar voice, and the creepy witches and wizards backed away when they saw Rubeus Hagrid standing by the steps.

"Hagrid!" The brothers said happily.

"What d'yer two think yer doin' down 'ere? Come on."

The twins ran to Hagrid, who then started to escort them away from Knockturn Alley. As the trio kept walking back to the Diagon Alley, the brother were getting rid of all the dust in their cloaks.

"Yer a mess, yeh two! Sulkin' 'round Knockturn Alley? Dodgy place. Don't want no one ter see yeh there. People will think yer up ter no good."

"We were lost. We--" Harry tried to explain.

"No." Jacob interrupted him. "This genius messed up with Floo powder and said 'Diagonally' instead of 'Diagon Alley'. I had to say the same thing to go after him."

"Well it was my first time, and -- Hang on. Hagrid, what were you doing down there then?"

"Me?" Hagrid asked. "Oh i was um... I was lookin' fer Fresh-Eatin' Slug Repellent. They're ruinin' all the school cabbages."

Hermione Granger then could be seen exiting Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment shop, also wearing her own cloak. She started to look around when she turned to her right and saw Jacob, Harry and Hagrid coming her way. She smiled wildly when she saw them and ran to them.

"Jacob! Harry!" She called.

Jacob, who was still looking at Hagrid as he had asked about the school cabbages, heard the voice, but when he turned his head, he was hit with a body slamming against him and arms wrapping around his neck, while his face was now covered in bushy hair, though he knew full well who it was.

"Hello, Hermione." He replied smiling and hugged her back.

Hermione then hugged Harry as well before noticing Hagrid. "Hagrid." She said smiling.

"Hello, Hermione." Hagrid greeted happily.

"It's so good to see you two." She said to the twins.

"It's good to see you too." Harry said.

She then turned to Jacob with a worried look. "Why didn't you reply to any of my letters i sent you?"

"We actually never got them." Jacob told her. "Someone made sure we didn't get yours or Ron's letters all summer."

Before Hermione could ask more, she noticed Harry's cracked glasses. "What did you do to your glasses, Harry?"

"This genius messed with Floo powder and came sliding from a fireplace, cracking the glasses." Jacob pointed his thumb towards Harry.

"You're never gonna let that one go, are you?" Harry asked, rolling his eyes.

Jacob pretended to think for a second. "Nope. Because it's too much fun. And you said 'Diagonally'."

"Always the jokester." Hermione chuckled, before taking her wand from the cloak and pointed it at the glasses."Oculus Reparo."

The cracks on Harry's glasses suddenly were fixed. Hermione looked proud while Jacob smirked as Harry inspected his glasses before putting them back on.

"I definitely need to remember that one." Harry said.

"Yeah, you do." Jacob said before turning to Hermione. "Have i mentioned how brilliant you are?"

"You might have mentioned it once or twice." She said with a little smile while blushing slightly.

"Yeh'll be all right now then, yeh two?" Hagrid asked and the twins nodded at this. "Right. I'll leave yeh ter it." And Hagrid started to walk away from the kids.

"Okay, bye." Hermione said.

"Thank you. Bye." The twins said together.

Hermione then quickly took a hold of Jacob's hand. "Come on, everyone's been so worried." She said.

Hermione then  started to pull Jacob with her down the Diagon Alley towards Flourish and Blotts, with Harry running right behind them.

When the kids got to the shop, it was full of people making up a line to the end of the shop. They went past the line to the front where they saw the Weasley family, when Mrs. Weasley turned around and saw the trio coming. 

"Oh, Harry, Jacob. Thank goodness." Mrs. Weasley said relieved and started to fix the boys' cloaks from the remaining dust. "We'd hoped you'd only gone grate too far."

Jacob meanwhile noticed Hermione had turned to their right and was focusing on aa married couple in their 30s who were talking with Mr. Weasley, giving them a hug. 

'They must be Hermione's Mum and Dad.' Jacob thought.

Everybody then stopped what they were doing when they heard a voice coming from the other side of the desk. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart."

"Here he is." Molly said as she turned around and everybody started clapping.

From the back room at the end of the shop came a man with short blond hair, dressed in a blue uniform and blue cape, giving out a smile at everyone present.

"Mum fancies him." Ron said to the twins.

For this, Mr.s Weasley gave Ron a jab on the shoulder before turning back to Lockhart. The twins saw the women and the girls were most excited to see Lockhart.

'Is this the guy who's books we're getting this year?' Jacob thought confused. 'His face seems too smug to my liking.'

"Make way there, please." A short man with a camer named Bozo came from behind everyone. "Let my by, madam. Thank you. Excuse me, little girl. "He said to Hermione when he got in front of everybody. "This is for the Daily Prophet."

He then took a picture of Lockhart, who posed while smiling before he looked to the crowd again and the noticed the lightning-shaped scars on the twins' foreheads.

"It's can't be. Harry and Jacob Potter?" Lockhart asked.

Everybody turned to look at the Potter twins, who widened their eyes while Jacob thought 'O-ou.'

"The Potter twins!" Bozo said before taking a hold of Harry's shoulder and pulled him towards Lockhart, then did the same to Jacob. "Excuse me, Madam."

The boys were now in front of the crowd, and before they could leave, Lockhart put his arms over their shoulders and pulled them against him.

"Nice big smiles, boys. Together, you and i rate the front page." Lockhart said.

Bozo took a picture of the trio, but while Lockhart smiled proudly, all the twins had were shocked faces.

"Should've covered these bloody scars." Jacob whispered quickly to Harry, while his brother nodded in agreement.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what an extraordinary moment this is." Lockhart said to the crowd of people. "When young Harry and Jacob stepped into Flourish and Blotts this morning to purchase my autobiography, Magical Me..."

'No, we didn't. What the spark are you talking about?' Jacob thought.

The crowd then started to clap except for Ron, who felt bad for the twins. Jacob noticed that Hermione seemed to be swooned by Lockhart as she had a dreamy look on her face, and he felt his heart clench uncomfortably, which confused him.

"... which, incidentally, is currently celebrating it's 27th week atop the Daily Prophet bestsellers list..."

Meanwhile, Lockhart and the twins were looked down upon from the second floor by Draco and Merula, with both having slight glares towards the twins.

"They had no idea that they would, in fact, be leaving..." Lockhart nodded to his assistance, who walked to them with a series of books in his arms. "... with my entire collected works..." Lockhart took the piles of books in both his hands and placed them on twins' chests, who backed slightly before taking them in their hands. "... free of charge."

Bozo took one last photo before exiting the shop, and people started to clap at the trio again. The twins then left Lockhart's side, while Lockhart sat down on the chair.

"Now, ladies?"

"First meeting this guy, and i already don't like him." Jacob whispered.

"Me too." Harry whispered back. "Where did he get the idea of us wanting to buy his autobiography?"

"Harry, Jacob..." Mrs. Weasley said to the twins as they made it back to the group and took the books from the twins. "... now give me those, and i'll get them signed. All of you wait outside. That's it."

As the kids started to make their way outside, Jacob turned back towards Molly. 

"Mrs. Weasley, you don't need--" Jacob was about to say, but she was already making her way up the line. "And there she goes." He then quickly turned back to his friends.

Near the front door, Fred and George were reading one of the books, while Percy only stood with the crowd. Draco was also looking at a book on the stairs while Ivey was leading on the wall. 

When the Slytherins noticed the twins and the Weasley's coming through the crowd, Draco ripped a piece out of the book, and, along with Merula, got in front of the group, causing everyone to glare at them.

"I'll bet you loved that, didn't you, Potters?" Draco said glaring. "Famous Harry and Jacob Potter. Can't even go into a bookshop without making a front page."

"Leave them alone." Ginny said, glaring back. "They didn't want that."

"Oh look, Potter. You've got yourself a girlfriend."

"Jacob of course already has one." Merula said mockingly. "I'm not all that surprised, considering who their mother was."

Suddenly, a snake cane hit into Draco's shoulder, and he and Merula, after glancing back, moved out of the away, as Lucius Malfoy entered the shop.

"Now, now, Draco and Merula, play nice." Lucius said, before looking at the twins. "Mr. Potters. Lucius Malfoy." Lucius lifted his hand up, which Jacob took. "We meet at last. Forgive me." 

Lucius suddenly pulled Jacob closer to him. Harry placed his hand on Jacob's shoulder in case anything happened, while Lucius moved Jacob's hair away from his scar, which was on the left side while Harry's was on the right side.

"Your and your brothers scars are legends. As, of course, is the wizard who gave them to you."

"Voldemort killed our parents." Jacob said, glaring at Lucius before backing away, while the group was then joined by Hermione.

"He was nothing more than a murdered." Harry finished while also glaring.

Lucius had a surprised look on his face. "You two must be very brave to mention his name. Or very foolish."

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Hermione said defiantly. 

As everyone turned to look at her, Jacob felt glad that Hermione had gotten over being afraid to call Voldemort by his name, no doubt thanks to him.

"And you must be Miss Granger."  Lucius said, looking at Draco and Merula, who nodded.  "Yes, Draco has told me all about you. And your parents."

Hermione looked behind the group, and saw Mr. Weasley in the back, talking with her parents.

"Muggles, aren't they?" 

Lucius could barely disguise his distase for them. He then started to look at the Weasley children. 

"Let me see. Red hair, vacant expressions..." He took Ginny's copy of A Beginners Guide to Transfiguration from her cauldron. "... tatty, second handed book. You must be the Weasleys."

Mr. Weasley and the Granger parents then joined the group. While they glanced at Lucius for a moment, Mr. Weasley directed his focus to the kids. 

"Children, it's mad in here. Let's go outside." Mr. Weasley said.

"Well, well, well. Weasley senior."

Mr. Weasley turned to Lucius. "Lucius."

Mr. Weasley now started intensely looking at Lucius, who was directing the same look at him.

"Busy time at the Ministry, Arthur, all those extra raids?" Lucius said. "I do hope they're paying you overtime, but judging by the state of this..." Lucius spun Ginny's book in his hand. "... i'd say not. What's the use in being a disgrace to the name of wizard, if they don't even pay you well for it?"

"We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of a wizard, Malfoy." Mr. Weasley said.

"Clearly." Lucius glanced at the Granger parents, shaking his head. "Associating with Muggles."

"I believe Muggles and Muggle-born witches and wizards have a place in here." Jacob said.

Everyone then turned to look at Jacob, who was intensely glaring at Lucius.

"Just because you were born into a non-magical family doesn't make you a lesser witch or wizard."

Everyone, from Harry to Weasleys were all looking at Jacob proudly for what he said, Hermione also was looking at him gratefully, while the Granger parents looked like they were suddenly interested in the boy. Meanwhile, the Malfoys and Sayles were glaring at him.

"You sound just like your father when you say that." Lucius said.

He then walked to Ginny and put her book back into her cauldron, thought the twins noticed there seemed to be an extra black book inside now.

"And i thought your family could sink no lower." Lucius looked at Mr. Weasley, before looking down at Jacob. "And yet i'm not surprised about your family's behavior."

Mr. Weasley and Jacob kept glaring at Lucius, before he turned back to Mr. Weasley. "I'll see you at work." 

With that, Lucius exited the shop. Draco and Merula were about to follow him before they faced the twins again.

"See you at school." Draco said, glared at the Weasleys and left.

"Have a fun summer." Snyde said smirking.

As Malfoys and Snyde left the shop, the twins and Ron kept glaring at their direction.

⚯ ͛ϟ

One moment later, everyone was then exiting the Flourish and Blotts, when suddenly Jacob was stopped by Hermione who took a hold of his sleeve, letting others walk on ahead.

"What is it?" Jacob asked.

"Thank you." Hermione said, smiling.

"For what?"

"For what you said back there, for defending my parents."

"I mean..." Jacob started scratching his cheek. "Anyone could have said that, i just went with the flow."

"Flow or not, that was admirable of you, young man." A voice said.

Jacob quickly lifted his head to his right and saw Hermione's parent's, Wendell and Monica Granger, joining them. The married couple was smiling at Jacob. 

"O-oh." Jacob started stuttering, trying to introduce himself. "Nice to m-m-meet you, Mr and Mrs Granger. I'm--"

"Jacob Potter, we know." Mrs. Granger said smiling, while lifting her hand for a shake, which Jacob took. "It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Monica Granger."

"And i'm Wendell Granger." Mr. Granger said, shaking hands with Jacob next. "Our dear Hermione told us about you during the holidays. We were happy to hear she had made a friend in school."

Mrs. Granger looked at Jacob proudly. "Not to mention saved her from a Troll."

This earned a blush from Jacob and he started to scratch his neck. "I-- I don't deserve such credit, ma'am. It was Hermione who approached me first." He said.

"Doesn't matter which one of you approached the other first..." Mr. Granger said, placing his hand on Jacob's shoulder. "... we're glad she made someone as good hearted as you as a friend."

"Th--thank you, sir." Jacob smiled and bowed his head a little.

"Hey, dad." Hermione suddenly said. "Could we perhaps invite Jacob for a visit or two sometimes?"

Jacob widened his eyes at this and though. 'Visit Hermione outside of school? That would be great!'

"I think that's a great idea." Mrs. Granger said, liking the idea. "How about you, dear?"

"I agree." Mr. Granger said to his family, then turned to Jacob. "Personally, i'd like to get to know my daughters best friend and who believes so fiercely in Muggle-borns right to be a witch."

At that moment, Jacob's more humble side started to kick in. "I-- I wouldn't want to intrude..." He said awkwardly.

"Nonsense, dear." Mrs. Granger said. "We would love it if you could visit us from time to time."

"T--then..." Jacob looked at the family before smiled. "... i would be happy if i could visit your home."

Mrs. Granger then leaned closer to Hermione. "Good hearted and well mannered." She whispered, before she got a teasing look. "I like him already."

"Mum..." Hermione groaned, embarrassed.

This got Mr. Granger to laugh and side-hug his daughter. Jacob looked at the family and let out a chuckle. He couldn't wait to visit Hermione and her parents in the future.

Chapter Text

The summer went by, and now it was September 1st, the day students would be starting their next school year at Hogwarts. King's Cross station was full of people who were getting ready to travel on trains. Jacob, Harry and the Weasleys had arrived at the station a while back on Ford Anglia without flying, but were unfortunately running late.

"10:58! Come on!" Mr. Weasley said as his family and the Potter twins were quickly making their way to the barrier.

"Oh dear! The train will be leaving any moment!" Mrs. Weasley said.

"Fred, George, Percy, you first!" Mr. Weasley then said, and the Weasley's oldests ran through the barrier.

"Okay." Mrs. Weasley said, and allowed Ginny to go through the barrier next, then Jacob followed her.

Mr and Mrs. Weasley then followed Jacob. "After you, my dear." Mr. Weasley said to his wife, and the couple walked through the gate.

When they came on the other side, they saw Ginny was waiting with Jacob.

"Come on, Ginny, we'll get you a seat. Hurry." Mrs. Weasley said, and she, her husband and Jacob then hurried for the train.

"Jacob, could you help Ginny settle in?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Of course." Jacob said. "I'm sure Hermione will help too, if we find her." And with that, the kids got inside the train.

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were still on the other side of the barrier.

"Let's go." Harry said, and the two started to run to the barrier, pushing their trolleys.

But then suddenly, instead of going through, Harry crashed into the wall, and fell down. Ron didn't have time to stop himself from crashing into Harry's trolley, falling down as well.

The people around them turned to see what the crashing sound was and saw the boys on the ground. The Station Guard approached the boys who were getting up while rubbing their arms to ease the pain.

"Oi!" The Station Guard called. "What do you two think you're doing?"

"Sorry." Harry said, still rubbing his left arm. "L-Lost control of the trolley."

The guard shook his head at the boys and walked away.

"Why can't we get through?" Harry then whispered to Ron.

"I don't know." Ron said, as he placed his hand on the barrier, trying to put his hand through. "The gateway has sealed itself for some reason."

They then heard the clock hit 11:00 and turned their heads to look at it.

"The train leaves at exactly 11:00. We've missed it." Harry said.

Ron then had a thought and started to look scared.

"Harry, if we can't get through, maybe Mum and Dad can't get back.

"Maybe we should just go and wait by the car." Harry then suggested.

This gave Ron an idea.

"The car."

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, the boys were pushing their trolleys madly before them, dashing to the car. They loaded their belongings into the Anglia's boot.

"This is mad." Harry said. "We can't drive to Hogwarts."

"Who says we're driving?" Ron asked.

"You don't mean--Ron, no."

"Look, who knows when Mum and Dad will get back. And we've got to get to school, haven't we? And even underage wizards are allowed to use magic if it's an absolute emergency. Least that's what Fred and George always said..."

"Something tells me we're going to regret this."

Once Harry and Ron were in the front seats, with Ron on the drivers seat, the car started to rise into the air. Though it seemed like Ron was having a bit of trouble.

"There we go." Ron said, as the car wobbled a bit. "Now, all we need to do is find the Hogwarts Express."

"Ron, are you sure you know how to fly this?" Harry asked, as he kept looking to the streets.

"No problem." Ron shrugged his shoulders, though his voice cracked a bit, and he had a nervous look on his face.

On the street, a taxi driver suddenly looked up and saw the flying car, moving his head outside his window to get a look at the car.

Ford Anglia kept wobbling left and right, and now it was flying straight to a clock tower.

"Look out!" Harry shouted.

"Aah!" Ron also shouted, and he managed to steer the car away from crashing into the tower. When the car was stable, Harry turned to look at Ron.

"Ron, i should tell you, most Muggles aren't accustomed to seeing a flying car."

"Uh, right." Ron said, and after pressing a button, the car turned invisible and the boys were now flying higher in the air, trying to find the train.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Few moments later on the train, Jacob was walking inside with Millie on his shoulders. After helping Ginny settle in, he had started to look for Hermione, though he also had noticed he hadn't come across his brother and Ron at all.

As he was walking past a compartment, he noticed Hermione sitting inside, reading a book and joined by Penny Haywood, who was sitting opposite from her. He then opened the door and Hermione and Penny lifted their heads from their books, smiling when they saw him.

"All right if i come in?" Jacob asked with a small smirk.

"Of course." Hermione said, and tapped a seat next to her.

Jacob then got inside and sat next to Hermione, before she turned to Penny. "It's good to see you, Penny." He then pointed at the Potions textbook on her lap. "I see you have your nose deep into the Potions."

"Good to see you too, Jacob." Penny replied cheerfully. "And yes, i'm preparing myself for this years Potions classes."

"That's good to hear..." Hermione said. "... since you're really skillfull when making different Potions. Especially when you brewed the Sleeping Draught."

Penny nodded her head. "I want to stay on top shape when studying Potions."

Millie jumped off of Jacob's shoulder, sitting between him and Hermione and started to push her head against Hermione's hand.

"Hi, Millie." Hermione cooed at the cat and started to rub her head, who then started to purr. "Did you have fun at the Weasleys this summer?"

Millie then meow'd, as if giving Hermione an answer, and Jacob chuckled.

"She sure did." Jacob said while putting his hands behind his head. "After being stuck inside Dursleys house for so long, she kept running all over the Burrow, exploring everything."

"That's good to hear." 

Meanwhile, Penny looked outside the compartment. "By the way, where's Harry and Ron?" She asked Jacob.

"I don't know." Jacob replied. "I haven't seen them since i ran through the barrier. Though i'm sure they are in some other compartment."

The girls nodded at this, and Hermione returned to the book she had on her lap. Jacob leaned in closer to see and noticed it was one of the books written by Lockhart.

"You, um... you like Lockhart's books?"

"Of course." Hermione said, and that dreamy look returned to her face. "He has such an amazing accomplishments. He's written all of his experiences in the books, and he has ambitions for what he still wants to do. Everything he's done sounds so amazing."

Jacob's voice became quieter. "If... if you say so."

Jacob turned his head to his right and placed his hand underneath it, while spinning his wand in his other hand. There was this weird feeling in his stomach when he listened Hermione talk about Lockhart in such a way, but he wasn't able to explain what it was, which caused him to start frowning.

Penny, meanwhile, was following Jacob's sudden behavior with great interest...

⚯ ͛ϟ

Few hours later, Harry and Ron were now flying over the mountains, when suddenly the invisibility mode on the car turned off.

"Oh no!" Ron said, as he tried to push the button again few times, with nothing happening. "The Invisibility Booster must be faulty."

"Come on, then." Harry then said. "Let's go lower. We need to find the train."

"Okay." 

Ron then started to lower the car towards the railway, and now were driving on it to the direction of Hogwarts.

"Now..." Harry then said. "... all we need to do is catch up with the train."

"We can't be far behind." Ron said.

They then heard the sound of the train engine nearby.

"Do you hear that?" Harry asked.

"We must be getting close." Ron said smiling.

But the boys' smiles started to drop when they noticed the sound of the train was getting closer, but they couldn't see it anywhere in front of them. They realized the sound was closing in on them from behind.

"Hold on." Harry said.

He turned to look at Ron, who did the same and he now had a scared look. Hedwig, who was in it's cage on the backseat, turned it's head to look behind the car when it's eyes widened. The boys did the same and saw Hogwarts Express right behind them, about to hit the car.

The boys started to scream before Ron turned the wheel of the car to their left, getting the car off from the railway, though Ron lost control of the car, and it started to fly underneath the railway bridge while spinning.

The car was getting higher while spinning, and suddenly Harry's door opened and he went flying out, though he managed to get a hold of the doorknob before falling off, all the while the car was now leaning to it's left, leaving Harry to dangle.

"Harry!" Ron shouted.

Harry kept trying to get a hold of the door with his other hand, while the car was now flying over the train.

"Take my hand!" 

Ron leaned towards Harry and raised his hand towards him. Harry reached and took a hold of it, but only a little, as the hand slipped away.

"Hold on!"

"I'm trying! Your hand's all sweaty!" Harry shouted, while he kept trying to reach for Ron's hand.

Harry tried again, and this time the boys got a better grip on each others hands. Ron then started to pull Harry back inside, and once Harry was in, Ron steadied the car while Harry closed the door.

"I think we found the train." Harry said out of breath.

"Yeah." Ron said, also out of breath.

"I don't even want to know what Jacob might say about this, let alone Hermione."

"Me neither."

The boys then kept driving, now close to the train, as they were approaching their school.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Couple hours later, now with it being dark, the car was flying over the river and Harry and Ron now saw that they had finally arrived to Hogwarts, though the train had managed to get to it's destination before them.

"Welcome home, Harry." Ron said with a smile.

Harry smiled in return, as he and his brother had now returned to the place they called their real home. Suddenly, the car started to groan and stall. 

"Just out of interest, Ron. Have you ever landed a car before?" Harry asked nervously.

"Well... no. But, until a few hours ago, i'd never taken off in one either."

Ron tried to get control over it, but the car started to lurch, before it did a nose dive as it flew past the Great Hall, approaching a courtyard.

"Up! Up!" Harry shouted.

Ron tried to hit the pedals multiple times, but nothing was working. 

"It's not working!"

The two then tried to the gear stick together, but the car kept lowering.

"Up! Ron, mind that tree!"

The car was now going to crash into Hogwarts' old tree, the Whomping Willow. Ron meanwhile took his wand out and started to hit the wheel with it.

"Stop! Stop! Stop!" He kept shouting.

This did nothing, except Ron's wand snapped in half with the third hit, and the upper half was now dangling by few pieces still stuck attached.

The boys could do nothing when the car finally crashed into the tree, and now the car was stuck in one of it's huge branches. Harry started to look outside, while Ron's attention was drawn to his wand, shocked.

"My wand. Look at my wand." Ron said, his voice cracking.

"Be thankful it's not your neck." Harry replied.

THWUNMP! Suddenly, something heavy hit the car. The boys looked to their left where the hit came from, and were now scared.

"What's happening?" Ron asked with a squeaky voice.

"I don't know." Harry replied.

They then heard a weird sound. They looked in front of them and saw one of the branches the size of a huge rock hitting the car. The tree itself was now attacking them The front of the car kept being hit to the point the window cracked, while boys screamed in terror.

Another branch then stuck itself through the back window, going right between the boys, before retreating. The back of the car was being hit next, and then the top branches started to hit the car's roof, and this caused the windows to break.

The branches hit the roof of the car again and the roof now dented, but when the car was hit from the back, it caused the car to lean forward enough to the point that it finally fell off the tree. Hitting few branches caused the car to be stable and land on it's wheels. 

"What kind of tree is this?" Ron asked.

Harry then looked at the tree and saw it getting ready to drop itself on the car.

"Come on, go! Fast!" He shouted.

Ron then was able to turn the car on and started to drive away from the tree. As they drove away, the tree kept trying to hit it's branches on the car, but all it hit was the ground.

The boys were finally clear, as they stopped the car, while the tree assumed it's natural position. They let out a sigh of relief, before the doors on the car opened and it basically spat the boys outside, who fell on their backs.

It then opened the cockpit and spat the trunks out, before it then spat the pet cages from the backseats. Harry caught Hedwig's cage, while Ron caught Scabbers'.

"Scabbers, you're okay." Ron said relieved as he looked at his pet rat, which squeaked at it's owner.

The car doors all then closed, and the car itself started to drive away.

"The car!" 

As the car drove away, Harry and Ron tried to run after it. When they were on the front gate of the school, they stopped running and saw the car leaving them.

"Dad's gonna kill me."

Ford Anglia drove past Hagrid's Hut and disappeared deep into the Forbidden Forest.

The boys were later carrying their trunks and pet cages in a hall where the rest of the student's trunks were waiting, as they knew the Sorting Ceremony was currently underway, or it was already done and the feast was going.

"See you, Hedwig." Harry said to his owl.

The boys dropped their trunks and pet cages by the entrance with everyone else's trunks, and started to run towards the Great Hall up the stairs.

"So a House-elf shows up in our bedroom, we can't get through the barrier to platform 9¾, we almost get killed by a tree. Clearly, someone doesn't want me and Jacob here this year. Luckily Jacob went through the gate before it closed."

The boys then stopped at the end of the staircase, where they saw Argus Filch waiting for them, with Mrs Norris in his arms.

"Well, take a good look, lads." Filch said. "This night might well be the last you spend in this castle."

The boys looked at each other worriedly.

"Oh, dear, we are in trouble." Filch sirked.

Later, the boys were now in the office of the Potions master after being escorted by Filch to there. Harry and Ron were standing in front of Severus Snape, who was sitting by his desk, not happy about what had happened.

"You were seen by no less than seven Muggles." Snape angrily said.

Snape was showing the boys a Daily Prophet paper, and on the front page Ford Anglia was shown flying above London, before he threw the paper away.

"Do you have any idea how serious this is? You have risked the exposure of our world. Not to mention the damage you inflicted on a Whomping Willow that's been on these grounds since before you were born."

"Honestly, Professor Snape..." Ron tried to say. "... i think it did more damage to us."

"Silence!"

This caused Ron to quiet down while Harry said nothing. Snape stood up and closed in on the boys on the other side of the desk.

"I assure you that were you in Slytherin, and your fate rested with me, the both of you would be on the train home tonight. As it is--"

"They are not." 

Everybody then turned to look at the entrance and saw they were now joined by Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall. McGonagall in particularly looked annoyed.

"Professor Dumbledore. Professor McGonagall." Harry said.

"Headmaster..." Snape said, as Dumbledore and McGonagall walked forward. "... these boys have flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry. As such--"

"I am well aware of our bylaws, Severus..." Dumbledore interrupted the Potions master. "... having written quite a few of them myself. However, as head of Gryffindor house, it is for Professor McGonagall to determine the appropriate action."

"We'll go and get our stuff, then." Ron said, looking gloomy.

"What are you talking about, Mr. Weasley?" McGonagall asked confused.

"You're going to expel us, aren't you?"

"Not today, Mr. Weasley."

The boys looked relieved at this as they glance at each other, before McGonagall continued.

"But i must impress on both of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to your families tonight, and you will both receive detention."

Harry and Ron looked at Snape briefly, who glared at them.

"Splendid." Dumbledore said. "Now, i suggest we return to the feast. There's a delicious-looking custard tart i want to sample."

As the professor exited the office, the boys were about to do the same. However, Harry spied an envelope on the floor. Taking it, he read the back: "KWIKSPELL. A CORRESPONDENCE COURSE IN BEGINNER'S MAGIC." It was addressed to "MR. ARGUS FILCH."

"Um, Mr. Filch, you dropped this." Harry said and handed the envelope to Filch.

Filch's eyes widened before he quickly took the envelope back and placed it in his pocked, embarrassed. The boys then left the office themselves, while Filch stayed behind in the classroom.

Chapter Text

The following day, the second-year students were gathered in the Greenhouse Three for the Herbology class on their first day in the school. Harry and Ron entered the classroom, being the last ones to walk in, where Jacob and Hermione were already waiting for them, when Seamus Finnigan and Neville Longbottom walked up to them, with Talbott Winger not far behind.

"Detention. On the first day?" Neville asked.

"That must be some kind of record." Seamus said.

"Your brothers must have been impressed." Talbott said wittily to Ron.

"I should think you'd count yourself lucky that's all you got." Hermione said.

"I should think you'd mind your own business." Ron said back.

The two glared at each other from across the table before Jacob decided to calm things down. 

"All right, you two. Stop it." Jacob said, then looked at Hermione. "At least they're not hurt." But he got a mischievious look and quickly said to Ron. "But you should have seriously waited for your parents."

Both Harry and Ron groaned at this. Then the Herbology teacher, Professor Pomona Sprout, who is a squat short witch, entered the classroom.

"Morning, everyone." She greeted the students. She then tapped her wand on the table to get their attention. "Good morning, everyone."

"Good morning, Professor Sprout." The students greeted back after turning towards the teacher.

"Welcome to Greenhouse Three, second years. Gather around everyone."

The students now stood closer to the large table, and everyone had a pot in front of them as well.

"Today we're going to re-pot Mandrakes." Sprout took a large pot from behind her and placed it on the table. "Who here can tell me the properties of the Mandrake root?"

Hermione lifted her arm up to answer, as did Jacob.

"Yes, Miss Granger and Mr Potter?"

"Mandrake, or Mandragora..." Hermione began to answer. "... is used to return those who have been Petrified to their original state."

"It's also quite dangerous." Jacob then finished. "The Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it."

"Excellent." Sprout beamed. "Ten points to Gryffindor for each."

Harry and Ron, who were on the opposite side looked happy, as did Neville, Seamus and Dean, while Penny smiled happily at them. Malfoy, Snyde, Crabbe and Goyle were glaring at them, instead.

"Nicely done with the finisher." Hermione whispered to Jacob.

"I had a good teacher." He whispered back.

"Now..." Sprout continued. "... as our Mandrakes are still only seedlings, their cries won't kill you yet. But they could knock you out for several hours, which is why i've given each of you earmuffs for auditory protection. So if you could please put them on right away? Quickly."

With this, the students took the earmuffs that were also laying on the table and started to put them over their ears.

"Flaps tight down, and watch me closely." 

Sprout flapped the earmuffs tightly against her ears, as did the kids. She then took a hold of a Mandrake in her pot.

"You grasp your Mandrake firmly. You pull it sharply up out of the pot." 

She pulled the Mandrake from the pot, which then started to cry sharply. This caused some of the students to put their hands over their earmuffs to cover them more.

"Got it? And..." Sprout then quickly placed the Mandrake in other pot and started to cover it with soil. "... now you duck it down into the other pot and pour a little sprinkling of soil to keep him warm."

Meanwhile, Neville, despite having put the earmuffs on, passed out and everyone turned to look down at him surprised.

"Mhm, Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs."

The Slytherins, meanwhile, chuckled at Neville.

Seamus, standing next to Neville, checked on him. "No, ma'am, he's just fainted." He said.

"Yes, well, just leave him there." Sprout said.

Both Seamus and Dean glanced at Neville before getting back on their places.

"Right, on we go. Plenty of pots to go around. Grasp your Mandrake and pull it up."

Everyone grasped their Mandrakes and pulled them up, and all of them started to cry. The quartet, along with Penny, looked uncomfortable.

Malfoy started to tickle his Mandrake while smirking, when the Mandrake suddenly bit his finger, which caused Snyde to laugh at him. Malfoy managed to pull his finger away and started to glare at the Mandrake.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, during the lunch break, Nearly-Headless Nick was floating in the hallway to the Great Hall, when he was passing by Percy and Penelope Clearwater, a sixth-year Ravenclaw Prefect and his girlfriend.

"Look, there's Nearly Headless Nick." Penelope said.

"Hello, Percy, Miss Clearwater." Nick greeted, moving his head from his neck a little.

"Hello, Sir Nicholas." Percy greeted back.

While Percy and Penelope continued further to the corridor, Nick floated to the Great Hall, which was filled with students who were having lunch at the moment. 

Jacob was in the middle of doing homework, Harry was eating, and Hermione had her nose burried in Lockhart's Travels with Trolls. Ron, however, was not eating. He was fixing his broken wand with a tape, but while he managed to cover it, the wand was now crooked. The others knew that unless Ron got a new wand, he wouldn't be able to do magic properly.

"Say it. I'm doomed." Ron said to Harry next to him.

"You're doomed." Harry said nodding back.

"I mean, what did you expect would happen if you hit it hard against a car wheel?" Jacob said from the other side.

He was leaning his head against his right hand, while Hermione shook her head next to him.

"I don't know. We were about to hit a tree and i panicked."

"Sounds about right." Jacob shrugged his shoulders and got back to his homework.

"Hi, Harry." The quartet then heard a voice next to them.

When Harry turned to look forward, he was hit with a flash of light.

"Hi, Jacob." The voice said quickly and Jacob was also hit with the light.

"Um... wha?" Jacob muttered confused.

They saw a small boy with a mousy-colored hair standing next to Jacob, holding a camera, having taken pictures of the twins.

"I'm Colin Creevey. I'm in Gryffindor too." The boy introduced himself, while talking in both excited and shy voice.

"Hi, Colin. Nice to meet you." Harry greeted the younger boy.

"You're a first-year student, right?" Jacob then asked.

"I am." Colin replied. He then pointed to Ron. "Say, do you think your friend here could take a photo of me and you standing together? You know, to prove i've met you."

Ron glanced at Harry and Hermione glanced at Jacob, both weirded out by this.

"It's for my dad. He's a milkman, you know. A Muggle, like all our family's been until me. No one knew the stuff i could do was magic till we got letters from Hogwarts. Everyone just thought i was mental."

Colin looked homicidal as he spoke so fast that the quartet had a hard time keeping up with what he was saying.

"Imagine that." Ron joked.

"I'm confused, what just happened?" Jacob asked with a confused look. Hermione patted him on the shoulder.

"Ron, is that your owl?" Dean then asked from close by when they heard owl screeching coming in.

Everyone turned to look up and saw Errol coming in fast to the Gryffindor table to where Ron was sitting. It was carrying a letter in it's peak before it crashed against a bowl, landing on it's back, while Colin quickly took a picture of it.

The Gryffindors flinched back while the Slytherins started to laugh.

"Bloody bird's a menace." Ron said as he took the red-colored letter from Errol's peak.

Errol suddenly got up, flapped it's wings and flew out of the hall. Ron meanwhile now had a look of terror in his face when he realized what the letter was. 

"Oh, no."

"Look, everyone." Seamus said to other Gryffindors. "Weasley's got himself a Howler."

This got some of the students, mostly Slytherins, to laugh again.

"Go on, Ron." Neville then said. "I ignored one from my gran once. It was horrible."

"What's a Howler?" Jacob whispered to Hermione.

"I read about it. It's something you never want to get." She whispered back.

Ron the started to open the seal on the letter, and the moment he did so, the letter started to scream at him.

"Ronald Weasley!"

This caused Ron to drop the letter in fear while the rest of the quartet flinched back. The letter then turned itself to look like a mouth, as it spoke in the voice of Molly Weasley.

"How dare you steal that car! I am absolutely disgusted! Your father's now facing an inquiry at work and it's entirely your fault!" The howler at this point flew right at Ron's face. "If you put another toe out of line, we'll bring you straight home!"

The howler then backed away little, and with a softer voice, turned to look at Ginny. "Oh, and, Ginny, dear, congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and i are so proud."

Everyone turned to look at Ginny, who looked down a little shyly. She then returned to the small black book she was scribbling in. The howler then blew it's paper tongue at Ron before it ripped itself apart.

"Look at it this way." Harry said, looking sympathetically at Ron. "How much worse can things get?"

"Mate, you might not want to hear this, but--" Jacob was about to say.

"Don't say i deserved this." Ron interrupted him, still in shock.

Jacob then raised his arms up in surrender, before he smirked a little. "You kinda deserved it." 

Hermione pushed Jacob's shoulder playfully, which caused the boy to fall of from the chair while letting out a "Whoa!" and the other students laughed at this.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, the second-year students were sitting in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, though Jacob and Harry were less excited to be there due to the fact that who was this years teacher for the class.

The room itself was filled with pictures of Gilderoy Lockhart on the side-tables, and there was a larger one behind Lockharts desk. The said professor entered the classroom from above his office.

"Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Me!" Lockhart said.

This only got few people like Ron to raise their eyebrows, while Lockhart started to walk down the stairs.

"Gilderoy Lockhart. Order of Merlin, Third Class, honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five times winner..."

He then winked at the large picture of himself, who in the painting was painting a picture of himself and winked back at the real man. 

"... of Witch Weekly's Most-Charmin-Smile Award."

He smiled at the students, which got Hermione and Susan, who were sitting next to each other on the middle-front seats, to be swooned by him.

Jacob, who was sitting left to the girls, kept glancing between them and Lockhart while leaning his head on his right hand, and Penny, who was sitting next to Jacob, only looked with a neutral face.

Lockhart, meanwhile, got to his desk. "But i don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at him."

He laughed at his own joke, waiting laughter from the students. Only few of them smiled weakly. Lockhart quickly decided to move on.

"I see you've bought a complete set of my books. Well done. Now i thought we'd start today with a little quiz." 

Lockhart took a set of papers in his hands. Some kids like Malfoy and Crabbe looked confused, and Harry and Ron, who were sitting behind Hermione glanced at each other and looked at Jacob who looked back at them.

"Nothing to worry about." Lockhart walked to the students and started handing them the papers. "Just to check how well you've read them."

"Thank you." Hermione said quietly when she was handed her and Susan's papers.

 When Lockhart started to walk forward, the girls turned to each other excited and started going through the papers.

"How much you've taken in." Lockhart then gave Ron his and Harry's papers.

Ron gave a fake smile to the man before it dropped when he looked back at Harry and shook his head. the boys then started to go through the quiz, but noticed that all the questions were all about Lockhart.

"Look at these questions. They're all about him." Ron whispered.

"What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?" Harry read one of the questions.

"What is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?"

"When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?" Jacob whispered to Penny, and the two looked at each other.

Once he was finished handing the papers, Lockhart walked back to his desk and faced the students. 

"You have 30 minutes. Start..." Lockhart said.

The students then took their quills and got ready to start writing.

"Now!"

And with that, everyone began to write.

30 minutes later, Lockhart was going through the parchments to see what everyone had answered, and for most part, he was not impressed.

"Tut-tut." Lockhart said. "Hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color was lilac." He then flipped to another paper and his impressed look returned. "But Miss Hermione Granger..."

This got Hermione to start beaming.

"... knew that my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil, and market my own range of hair-care potions. Good girl." Lockhart winked at the girl.

"Thanks." Hermione thanked with a small voice.

Jacob, who was again leaning his head against his hand and looking at Lockhart and Hermione, felt that weird feeling in his stomach return.

"Can't snuffing believe this." Jacob whispered, frowning. "She's had that look for him ever since we met the guy in Diagon Alley. What is so great about Lockhart anyway that has most girls swooning all over him?"

Penny, meanwhile, looked back and forth between Jacob and Hermione. Getting an idea, she leaned closer to him with sparkling eyes. 

"I think someone's jealous." Penny whispered to Jacob.

At this, Jacob's eyes widened and he turned to look at Penny, who's smile didn't drop for a second.

"W-w-what are you t-t-talking about?" Jacob said, blushing and stuttering, trying to laugh it off. "I-im not jealous. He just feels too much like he's full of himself. You're imagining things." He then returned to look at Hermione.

"♪If you say so♪" Penny whispered with a singing tone, while she still smiled.

Penny knew Jacob had developed a real crush on Hermione, which he hadn't even realized, and was now feeling jealous.

"Now, be warned." Lockhart said darkly, while taking his wand out. "It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures know to wizardkind."

He made his way around the desk, standing next to something that was covered in cloth. He tapped it with his wand, which caused it to start rattling, and the kids were now focusing on it.

"You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. Know only that no harm can befall you whilst i am hear. I must ask not to scream." Lockhart put his right hand over the cloth, ready to reveal what was underneath it. "It might provoke them!"

Removing the cloth, Lockhart revealed a cloth was a cage, and inside the cage were many small blue creatures with wings known as Cornish Pixies.

"Cornish pixies?" Seamus asked amused.

"Freshly caught Cornish pixies."

Unable to control himself, Seamus snorted in laughter.

"Laugh if you will, Mr. Finnigan, but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters. Let's see what you make of them."

Lockhart the opened the lock and let the pixies free on the classroom. They started to fly everywhere while the students started to panic.

"Come on now, round the up. They're only pixies."

Some of the pixies then started to rip apart some of Lockharts books, while to others took a hold of Neville's ears and started to pull him up, while Neville grunted in pain. They pulled him all the way to the chandelier, before dropping him and Neville was hanging on the chandelier from his robes.

"You just stay here!" One of the pixies laughed at the boy.

"Please, get me down!" Neville started shouting.

Every student except for the quartet and Penny then started to run away from the class. While the boys and Penny tried to hit them with their wands or books, one pixie started to pull on Hermione's hair.

"Get off me!" Hermione shouted.

"Stop! Hold still!" Jacob shouted to Hermione who stopped moving. "You do not pull on her hair!" He then whacked the pixie with a book.

Lockhart then tried to hit the pixies with a spell. "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" He chanted.

But nothing happened, and a pixie took his wand away. It flew up to a skeleton which was hanging from a ceiling and hit the chain with a wand and dropped it to the floor.

Lockhart then himself started to panic and ran up the stairs to his office. He also tried to gab on to a picture of him which a pixie had taken, but failed. He then looked down at the kids. 

"I'll ask you five to just nip the rest of them back into their cage." 

Lockhart quickly got inside his office and slammed the door, while the five kids looked at each other.

"What do we do now?" Ron asked as he kept swapping the air with two books.

Hermione then had enough, pulled out her wand and pointed it in the air.

"Immobulus!" She chanted.

A light shot out to the pixies and they all froze up in the air. All they could still do was blink and move their eyes around while now hovering in the air.

"Nice one." Jacob whispered.

"Why is it always me?" Neville asked, still stuck in the chandelier.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Little later, after helping Neville get down from the chandelier, the quartet and Penny were walking in the seventh-floor corridor, and all but Hermione were fuming at what happened with the Pixies.

"Can you believe him?" Ron asked.

"I'm sure professor Lockhart just wanted to give us some hands-on experience." Hermione said defensively.

"Hands-on?" Harry asked. "Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing--"

"Rubbish. Read his books. You'll see all the amazing things he's done."

"He says he's done." Ron commented.

"Amazing things?" Jacob then stopped as did Hermione as they faced each other, while Harry, Ron and Penny were a little ahead of them. "Hermione, he brags more about everything he's done than he knows what he's doing."

"Yeah well..." She then pushed Jacob on the chest with her finger. "... you sound more jealous than anything, wishing you could all those things."

"Jealous?" Jacob scoffed while turning to look to his left. "Sounds to me you're just incredibly sensitive and swoon just about at anything, while at the same time coming to tears easily."

Jacob then widened his eyes, and slowly turned to look at Hermione, who was now glaring at him.

"You did not just say that." Hermione said, before she pushed him on the shoulder, causing Jacob to stumble back slightly. "You insensitive arse." 

Hermione then walked in the opposite direction from the four.

"Hermione, wait--" Jacob tried to call while reaching his hand to her.

However, Hermione quickly disappeared around a corner. This left Jacob feeling regret over what he said to her. Frowning, his eyes fell to the floor as Harry got to him and placed his hand on his brothers shoulder, while Penny did the same to his right.

Chapter Text

Few days later, Jacob and Harry were walking by a courtyard with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team which consisted of Oliver Wood, the Weasley twins, Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet, for training. Though this time, Jacob wasn't exited about the training, and Harry could see it.

After their fight following Lockhart's disastrous lesson, Jacob and Hermione had not talked to each other at all, and the younger Potter really was starting to regret about the things he said to her. Harry tried to remain supportive, but didn't know what exactly to say, he could only hope that the two would make up soon.

'I shouldn't have gotten angry, and i shouldn't have said those things to her.' Jacob thought sadly. 'Jacob, you absolute snuffing moron.'

Harry meanwhile kept a close eye on his brother. It felt weird to him to see Jacob and Hermione this far apart, as ever since they had become friends they had been together most of the time.

"I spend the summer devising a whole new Quidditch program." Wood said, explaining his plan for the next Quidditch games. "We're gonna train earlier, harder and longer."

Harry nodded at this, though he saw his brother was not in on the moment.

"What---?" I don't believe it?" Wood squinted his eyes to the other side of the courtyard.

The Gryffindor team came across the Slytherin Quidditch team, all the while Ron, Hermione and Penny were sitting on one of the benches. Hermione could be seen looking down sadly while Penny was telling her something.

"Where do you think you're going, Flint?" Wood asked Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain.

"Quidditch practice." Flint replied.

"Clear out. I booked the pitch for Gryffindor today."

"Easy, Wood. I got a note." 

Flint handed Wood the note, which the Gryffindor captain took and started opening up.

"O-ou, i smell trouble." Ron said as he got up and started to jog towards the teams.

The girls got up and were about to follow him, but when Hermione saw Jacob, she stopped and started looking down. Penny noticed this, and after looking back and forth between her and Jacob, she walked back to Hermione, taking her hand in hers.

"Come on." Penny said softly.

"But... he doesn't want to see me." Hermione said sadly.

"Of course he does. He regrets what he said to you. All you two have to do is apologize to each other." 

Penny then started to pull Hermione with her to the two teams.

"'I, Professor Severus Snape, do hereby give the Slytherin team permission to practice today, owing to the need to train their new Seeker.'" Wood read the note.

Hermione, Ron and Penny then got to the teams, which caused Jacob to look at them. When he and Hermione looked at each other, they looked to the side sadly. 

Wood, meanwhile, put the note down. "You've got a new Seeker. Who?"

The Slytherins moved to the side, and between them walked Draco in Quidditch unform, while looking smug.

"Malfoy?" The Potter twins asked, while the other Gryffindors weren't all that impressed.

"That's right." Malfoy said smugly. "And that's not all that's new this year."

The Slytherins then showcased their new brooms, which were colored black, and even fancier looking than the twins' Nimbus 2000s.

"Those are Nimbus 2001s." Ron said, looking over the brooms. "How did you get those?"

"A gift from Draco's father." Flint said.

This got Ron and the girls to glare at the Slytherins.

"You see, Weasley, unlike some, my father can afford the best." Malfoy bragged.

"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in." Hermione said with a snarky voice. "They got in on a pure talent."

This caused Jacob to look at Hermione properly again after few days, and smile a little, which was noticed by Harry and Penny. Draco didn't like this, and walked right to Hermione.

"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood." He sneered at her.

Everyone reacted as if Malfoy said something horrific -- everyone save Harry, who looked puzzled. Instantly, Fred and George were about to fly to Malfoy's throat, but Wood held them back.

"Save it for the match." Wood told the twins.

Meanwhile, Jacob saw Hermione's face and noticed that her eyes looked like they were getting slightly red. Having already heard what the term meant, he suddenly forgot all about the fight the two had. Jacob walked in front of Malfoy and took a hold of the neck sleeve of his Quidditch outfit and pulled Malfoy slightly closer to him.

"You take that back, ferret." Jacob said angrily to Malfoy.

Everyone looked surprised. Malfoy, started to glare back at the younger Potter, while Hermione was now looking at the back of Jacob's head, surprised at his sudden defense on her.

"You'll pay for that one Malfoy." Ron said as he pulled his wand out, pointing it at Malfoy. "Eat slugs!" 

Malfoy attempted to back away, but couldn't as Jacob kept a firm grip on his uniform. But because the wand was faulty, the spell bounced back at Ron, which caused him to fly backwards on his back. 

This caused Jacob to drop his focus on Malfoy and turn to look at Ron, as did others. He let go of Malfoy and, with the other Gryffindors and Penny, ran to Ron, while Malfoy and the Slytherins started to laugh at Ron.

Ron looked like he was gonna be sick as everyone gathered around him.

"You okay, Ron?" Penny asked as she was on her knees next to Ron with Hermione, while Jacob and Harry were on other side. "Say something!"

Ron got on his hands and knees while saying nothing but making noises from his mouth while keeping it shut.

Then suddenly, Ron threw up a slug, evidently being hit by his own jinx.

Everyone let out "Ew" when they saw the slug. Colin had joined them, pushing himself between older students. Fascinated, he took a picture of it and others looked at him.

"Wow! Can you turn him around, Harry?" Colin asked.

"No, Colin, get out of the way!" Harry said as he and Jacob each took Ron's arm and pulled him up. "Let's take him to Hagrid."

Ron threw up another slug.

"He'll know what to do."

And with that, the twins and the girls started to take Ron to Hagrid's, and while passing the Slytherins, Harry pushed Malfoy's shoulder, who just kept laughing with the rest of his team.

⚯ ͛ϟ

The kids were now inside Hagrid's hut and had explained what happened. While Jacob and Hermione were standing next to the huge chair, Harry and Penny were sitting down on it and Ron was in the middle of them, wobbling back and forth, trying to keep the slug from coming out.

"This calls fer a specialist's equipment." Hagrid said as he walked to the kids with a big bucket in his hand. He gave it to Ron before sitting down on an armchair. "Nothin' ter do but wait till it stops, i'm afraid."

Ron then threw out another slug and everyone looked uncomfortable.

"Okay." Harry said while patting Ron on his back.

"Better out than in." Hagrid said. "Who was Ron tryin' ter curse, anyway?"

"Malfoy. He called Hermione... Well i don't know exactly what it means. All i know is that everyone else got angry, and Jacob even took Malfoy's outfit in his hand and got real close."

Hermione started to walk to look outside a window, while Jacob looked down angrily, then at Hermione. Not only was he still mad at Malfoy, but he was still beating himself for the things he said to her few days ago.

"He called me a Mudblood." Hermione said while crossing her arms.

This shocked Hagrid. "He did not!" He said disbelieved.

"What's a Mudblood?" Harry asked.

Hermione turned around, and it looked like she was about to cry. "It means 'dirty blood.'" She said. "Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who's Muggle-born. Someone with non-magical parents. Someone like me. It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation."

"See the thing is, Harry..." Hagrid said. "...there are some wizards, like Malfoy family, who think they're better than everyone else 'cause they're what people call pure-blood."

"That's horrible." Harry said shocked.

Ron then threw up another slug while Penny patted his back. "It's disgusting!" Ron said.

"An' it's codswallop ter boot." Hagrid said, before looking disgusted. "Dirty blood. Why, there isn't a wizard alive today that's not half-blood or less."

"Besides..." Penny then said. "... the wizard population would have become extinct had they not inter-married with Muggles and Muggle-born. Me and my younger sister wouldn't be around had our Muggle-born mum not married out Muggle dad."

Hermione kept looking down, trying to keep her tears from falling, before she gasped slightly as she was taken by Jacob into a hug, placing her head on his shoulder while rubbing her back and head.

"You don't deserve it." Jacob said quietly. "You're one of the brightest witches in the school. Don't you ever listen to what that ferret says."

This finally caused Hermione's tears to drop, and she hugged Jacob tightly. In their heads, the two also knew they needed to talk about the fight soon and finally make up.

"More to the point, they've yet to think of a spell that our Hermione can't do." Hagrid said, looking at the two.

This caused Jacob and Hermione to let go of each other and look at Hagrid smiling a little.

"Come here."

Hermione walked to the giant while Jacob stayed by her side, and Hagrid took Hermione's hand in both of his.

"Like Jacob said, don't yeh think on it, Hermione. Don't yeh think on it fer one minute."

Hermione finally let out a genuine smile.

⚯ ͛ϟ

As the quartet was walking back to the castle and Penny had departed from them to join her friends in her House after Ron had recovered. Harry and Ron were walking ahead while Jacob and Hermione walked on a slower pace behind next to each other. 

Both tried to come up with something to say to each other, but didn't know how to approach the issue. In a spur of the moment, Jacob and Hermione turned to each other and started talking.

"I'm sorry--" They stopped when they spoke at the same time.

"No, i'm so--" They stopped again and tried to talk over each other for a third time.

"Wait, why are--"

They stopped again, and after a small pause, a smile broke on to their faces and the two laughed at each other a little, before they focused on each other again.

"Can i speak first?" Jacob asked. As Hermione nodded, Jacob took a deep breath. "I'm sorry about what i said. I didn't mean to say you're sensitive and cry easily, because that's not what i think about you at all." 

He started scratching the back of his head. "You're my best friend, you're one of the greatest people i've ever met, i like that you take your studies seriously, and i like that i can talk to you about the school stuff compared to everyone else we know. I guess, i was annoyed at how you were into Lockhart's books so much."

Hermione smiled softly at Jacob, and then took him in for a hug in return, and the two placed their heads on each other shoulders while hugging each other tightly.

"I'm sorry about what i said to you too." Hermione said against his shoulder. "I don't think you were jealous, and i definitely know you hate fame because of your scar. You're just a boy who enjoys a simple life where you can read books and have fun... and maybe joke around every now and then."

This got Jacob to laugh a little.

"I admit, i've been really into Lockhart and his books this year, and i promise i'll tone it down." And the two let go of each other. "But you have to promise to at least give him a chance, okay?"

"I promise. If he is as good as his books say, i'll give him a chance." Jacob then got a a glint in his eyes. "Tag! You're it!" 

Jacob quickly tapped Hermione on her shoulder and started to run away from the towards the castle while laughing. Hermione looked confused for two seconds before she smirked and started running after him. 

"Oh, you did not just do that. Come here, you!" Hermione called.

The two kids laughed together as they started to play tag together while running to the castle, happy that they now had made up and could be together again.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Over a week after the Quidditch incident and after Jacob and Hermione made up, it was September 19th, Hermione's 13th birthday. It was also Saturday, so there were no classes.

Hermione woke up a little later than she usually did, put on some casual clothes and left the girls' dormitory. Walking down the stairs to the Common Room, she noticed Jacob sitting on the couch while playing with Millie who was laying on his lap.

She remembered how he basically scared her last year, and while smirking started to tip toe behind him. When she was close enough, she quickly placed her hands on Jacob's shoulders and leaned right to his ear. 

"Gotcha." She whispered.

This got Jacob to scream and fall off from the couch on his stomach, while Millie let out a hiss and ran underneath the couch. Jacob groaned as he got himself back on his knees when he heard laughing behind him. He turned around and saw Hermione cluthing her stomach while laughing.

"Hahaha! I-i've never he-heard you scream like that!" She said.

Jacob only raised his eyebrow at her. 

"So, this is your way of greeting me on your birthday? Scaring the ever living snuff out of me?" He said.

Hermione finally calmed herself down and smirked a little. 

"Think of it as a payback for scaring me last year."

Jacob remembered how he himself has sneaked behind her and scared her when she was reading, but he recalled there was something else that happened.

"Wait, didn't you also punch me after--"

"Hush. That doesn't count."

Jacob kept his eyebrow raised while Hermione smirked and the two kept looking at each other before they laughed.

"Alright, you win." Jacob said while getting up and raising his hands up.

They then walked to each other and pulled each other for a hug.

"Happy birthday, Hermione."

"Thank you."

The two then let go of each other before Jacob started to reach for something in his pocket. 

"And i got a special gift for a special girl." Jacob said.

"Jacob, you didn't need to--"

Jacob shook his head and smiled at her. "No. We're going to celebrate each of your birthday with a gift, and you're gonna like it."

Hermione simply shook her head and smiled. Jacob then took a small wrapped box out of his pocked and handed it to Hermione, who took it and started to unwrap it before opening the box, and what was inside amazed her.

What she found inside the box looked to be a self-made silver bracelet, which Hermione took in her fingers.

"Did you make this yourself?" Hermione asked.

"I did. I thought that this could be a way for me to apologize for the lack of communication we had this summer." He then placed his fingers against the bracelet. "May i?"

Hermione nodded, and Jacob started to put the bracelet on her wrist. When it was in place, she lifted her hand up to inspect it.

"It's lovely. Thank you so much." Hermione said.

The two hugged each other again, and by this point Millie had gotten out of underneath the couch and started pushing herself against Hermione's leg, who lifted the cat up in her arms. She then started to think she couldn't wait for her future birthdays.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Over a month later on Halloween, Harry was in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom late at night. McGonagall had given Harry his detention, as Lockhart had personally requested that he serve Harry his, while Ron had to be cleaning the trophy room.

Jacob felt sorry for his brother and said if only he could convince McGonagall otherwise, but Harry assured him it was okay, even saying that he's glad that Jacob had gotten past the barrier at King's Cross before it closed on him, otherwise he would also probably be in detention right now.

Bleary-eyed, Harry was addressing envelopes, while a cheery Lockhart was was putting his signature to the stack of glossy photos bearing his image.

"Harry, Harry, Harry." Lockhart said. "Can you possibly imagine for a better way to serve detention than by helping me to answer my fan mail?"

"Not really." Harry said, forcing a smile.

"Fame is a fickle friend, Harry. Celebrity is as celebrity does. Remember that. And i'm sure your brother feels the same way."

Harry nodded, while Lockhart took another fan mail and started to sign it. Harry glanced gloomily at the towering stacks of envelopets that remained. Dipping his quill, he started to write.

"Come."

Harry stopped when he heard a chilly voice. He lifted his head to try and see where the voice came from, and it started to get louder.

"Come... to me."

"What?" Harry whispered.

"Sorry?" Lockhart asked as he lifted his head up from the mail and looked at Harry.

"That voice."

"Voice?" 

Lockhart then moved his eyes all over the classroom before looking at Harry again. Harry meanwhile looked at the ceiling.

"Didn't you hear it?"

"What are you talking about, Harry?" Lockhart then started to smile. "I think you're getting a bit drowsy." He then looked at the clock on his desk. 

"And great Scott, no wonder. Look at the time. We've been here nearly four hours. Dinner's nearly done. If you hurry, you might make pudding. Spooky how the time flies when one is having fun."

Lockhart put his quill down, while taking a quick look around the classroom.

"Spooky." Harry said back, as he looked at the ceiling again.

Chapter Text

Few moments later, Harry was walking down the corridor back to the Common Room, after he had finished his detention with Lockhart. He had forgotten all about the weird voice he heard in the classroom, when he suddenly started to hear it again and stopped walking.

"Blood. I smell blood. Let me rip you."

Harry then started to look at the wall on his left, noticing the noise was coming from there and got to it, placing his hand on the wall.

"Let me kill you."

Harry then started to move forward while still leaning to the wall, trying to see where the voice was going.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"Harry!"

Harry stopped in his place, when he saw Jacob, Hermione and Ron coming from the other side of the hall. Jacob looked spooked compared to the other two.

"Did you hear that?" Harry asked.

"Hear what?" Ron asked.

"That voice." Harry started to look around.

"Voice? What voice?" Hermione asked.

"I heard it." Jacob replied.

The other three then turned to look at Jacob, who was also looking around. 

"I heard it a little while ago when we were at the dinner."

"I heard it first in Lockhart's office." Harry said. "And then again just--"

Harry then stopped, and he and Jacob again heard the hissing sound while Hermione and Ron looked at them worried.

"It's time."

"It's moving." Jacob said. "I think it's going to kill."

He then started to run back to the direction he came from with Hermione and Ron, followed by Harry.

"Kill?" Ron asked as he ran after the twins.

"Jacob, Harry, wait! Not so fast!" Hermione shouted as she followed the boys.

The twins got into a different corridor but when they got to there, they noticed there was water on the floor. They started to walk to the right side of the corridor when they were finally joined by Hermione and Ron.

But the twins stopped when they noticed something on the floor and placed their arms over their friends to stop them from walking. The two then also saw was on the floor.

They noticed a line of spiders was walking on the floor, then walking up a wall and going through a crack in a window.

"Strange." Harry said. "I've never seen spiders act like that."

"I don't think we've ever seen any animal act like that." Jacob said.

"I don't like spiders." Ron said with a scared voice.

When they were still looking on the floor, they noticed something in the reflection of the water.

"What's that?" Ron asked.

"Writing?" Jacob asked.

Everyone lifted their eyes to look at the wall and saw writing on the wall which looked to be like blood.

"'The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the Heir, beware.'" Hermione read the writing out loud. "It's written in blood."

"I know this is only our second year here..." Jacob started to talk and others turned to him. "... but why can't we have a normal year for once?"

Nobody laughed at this, though Jacob wasn't trying to really make a joke at this point, feeling freaked out himself. Hermione felt so creep'd out that she got closer to Jacob and took a hold of his sleeve just in case.

"Oh no." Harry said as he turned to look at the left side of the writing and was shocked at what he saw.

Hermione gasped when she, Jacob and Ron saw what Harry was saying as he started to approach it, and at that moment other students started to come from both sides.

"It's Filch's cat. It's Mrs Norris." Harry said, as Mrs Norris was hanging from a torch bracket by her tail, not moving and looking like she was dead.

The kids then turned to look at the other students who stopped what they were doing and now were looking shocked at the wall. Colin even tried to take a picture before someone placed their hand over the camera, and the boy put it down. They were also joined by Poppy Pomfrey, healer at Hogwarts, and Irma Pince, the librarian.

"Enemies of the Heir, beware." Malfoy read the writing out loud. "You'll be next, Mudbloods."

Malfoy's eyes found Hermione. While she and Ron glared at Malfoy, Jacob got in front of her, glaring back at Malfoy. 

"You better take that back, ferret." Jacob said.

"Ooh, and what are you going to do, Potter?" Snyde taunted while smirking.

Before Jacob could say or do anything else, someone else joined the students.

"What's going on here?" Filch came in, walking through the crowd of students. "Go on. Make way, make way."

After coming from behind Fred and George, Filch stopped dead as he looked at Harry who had stayed in the same spot the entire time. 

"Potter? What are you...?"

He then finally noticed Mrs Norris hanging from the torch bracket, and was shocked.

"Mrs. Norris?" He then glared at the older Potter. "You've murdered my cat."

"No. No." Harry said shaking his head.

Malfoy and his gang were smirking at Harry all the while.

"I'll kill you." Filch said with a crazy look before taking a hold of Harry's robes. "I'll kill you!"

Jacob then ran to his brother and took a hold of Filch's wrist. "He didn't do it!" He said.

"Argus!"

Everyone then turned around and students moved out of the way as they were joined by Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Lockhart, Snape, Flitwick, Sprout and Hooch.

"Argus, i..." Dumbledore was saying be he too noticed the writing on the wall. "Everyone will proceed to their dormitories immediately."

Everyone started to leave before the Headmaster spoke again. "Everyone except... you four." He said, pointing to the quartet.

The quartet then stopped and turned towards the teachers while, looking uneasy.

"Ravenclaws, follow me." A Ravenclaw Prefect boy said, leading the Ravenclaws away.

While the corridor was getting emptier from students, Lockhart walked to Mrs. Norris to inspect her.

"It was definitely a curse that killed her -- propably the Transmogrifian Torture." Lockhart said. "Encountered it myself once, in Ouagadougou. The full story's in my autobiography..."

"She's not dead, Argus." Dumbledore said. "But she has been Petrified."

"Ah, thought so." Lockhart suddenly said. "So unlucky i wasn't there. I know exactly the countercurse that could've spared her."

The other Professors simply looked at him, and by their looks they were annoyed at him.

"But how she has been Petrified, i cannot say." Dumbledore said.

"Ask him." Filch said, pointing to Harry. "It's him that's done it. You saw what he wrote on the wall. Besides, he knows i'm-- i'm a Squib!"

"It's not true, sir, i swear." Harry said. "I never touched Mrs. Norris. And i don't even know what a Squib is."

"Besides..." Jacob said while looking at Filch. "... you didn't even see Harry writing anything, only staying still and surprised."

"Rubbish." Filch angrily said. "He saw my Kwiskpell letter!"

"If i might, headmaster?" Snape then spoke and everyone looked at him. "Perhaps Potter, his brother and friends were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The were surprised at what Snape suggested and looked at each other, with Jacob thinking 'Is he defending us? I know Snape seems to tolerate me more than Harry, but actually defend him?'

"However..." Snape walked to the quartet. "... the circumstances are suspicious. I, for one, don't recall seeing older Potter at dinner."

"I'm afraid that's my doing, Severus." Lockhart said, and Snape looked at him. "You see, Harry was helping me answer my fan mail."

Snape's lip curled in disgust.

"That's why Jacob, Ron and i went looking for him, professor." Hermione said, and Snape turned to look at her next. "We'd just found him when he said..."

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Snape asked.

"When i said i wasn't hungry." Harry said. "We were heading back to the common room when we found Mrs. Norris."

Jacob, Ron and Hermione nodded at this. Snape only raised one of his eyebrows at the boy, as if he was doubting him, and turned to look at the headmaster, who had been studying Harry.

"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus." Dumbledore said.

Snape nodded, deciding not to say anything else.

"My cat has been Petrified." Filch said. "I want to see some punishment!"

"We will be able to cure her, Argus. As i understand it, Madam Sprout has a very healthy growth of Mandrake. When matured, a potion will be made which will revive Mrs. Norris."

Professor Sprout nodded her head in reassurance while Filch looked he was about to cry in relief.

"And in the meantime..." Dumbledore addressed everyone around him. "... i strongly recommend caution, to all." 

A bit later, the quartet is walking down a corridor, heading back towards the common room, talking about what happened.

"A Squib's someone who's born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any powers of their own." Ron said to Harry, explaining to him about Squibs. "It's why Filch is trying to learn magic from the Kwikspell course. It's also why he hates students so much. He's bitter."

Hermione's only been half-listening, looking like she's trying to unravel something in her mind, which Jacob noticed.

"What are you thinking?" He asked her.

"Harry." She said, and looked at Harry. "This voice. You said you heard it the first time in Lockhart's office?"

"Yes." Harry replied

"And did he hear it?"

"He said he didn't hear it."

She then turned to Jacob. "And Jacob. You said you heard it at the dinner, right?"

"I did." Jacob said, nodding.

"Maybe Lockhart was lying." Ron tried to suggest.

"I hardly think someone with Gilderoy Lockhart's credentials would lie to one of his students, Ronald." Hermione said. "Besides, if you recall, we were with Jacob, and we didn't hear anything either."

The quartet finally reached the moving staircases and started to walk up a staircase. 

"You do believe us, don't you?" Jacob asked Hermione and Ron.

"'Course we believe you." Hermione said reassuringly. "It's just... it's a bit strange, isn't it?"

"Strange?" Harry asked.

Everyone stopped walking by the staircase when Hermione stopped and faced the boys.

"You and Jacob hear this voice, a voice only you two can hear, and then Mrs. Norris turns up Petrified. It's just strange."

"Yeah." Jacob said. "When i heard it the first time, i thought i was just hearing things. But when it got louder, i was sure i wasn't delirious. Spark's sake..."

"Do you think we should have told them?" Harry then asked and nodded to Jacob. "Dumbledore and the others, i mean?"

"Are you mad?" Ron questioned.

"No, Harry." Hermione said. "Even in the wizarding world, hearing voices isn't a good sign."

"I agree." Jacob said. "I don't think we should talk about this to anyone, for now at least."

And with that, Jacob and Hermione walked ahead of the two up the steps to the common room.

"They're right, you know." A man in a small painting said next to Harry and Ron, surprising the two.

But the boys gave the painting a look, and followed Jacob and Hermione back to the common room.

⚯ ͛ϟ

The next morning, the second-year students were in the Transfiguration class, where McGonagall was going to teach the students something new.

"Could i have your attention, please?" McGonagall called to the students from her desk. When students looked at her, McGonagall got up from he seat. 

"Right. Now, today, we will be transforming animals into water goblets. Like so."

McGonagall then took her wand and pointed it to a bird resting on a post next to her, tapping it with her wand three times

"One, two, three. Vera Verto."

A stream came out of her wand and the bird turned into a perfect-looking goblet. While the students looked amazed, McGonagall walked to the students desks next.

"Now it's your turn. Who would like to go first?" Her eyes landed on Ron. "Ah, Mr. Weasley. 'One, two, three. Vera Verto.'"

Ron cleared his throat into his fist and started tapping his wand on Scabbers.

"Vera Verto." He chanted.

Scabbers turned into a goblet shape. However, it now had a fur as it's skin. It also had a tail and was squeaking. The class started to chuckle as Ron took the goblet-scabbers in his hand, inspecting it with a surprised look.

"That wand needs replacing, Mr. Weasley." McGonagall said.

Ron nodded sheepily, looking at his broken wand. Hermione then raised her hand in the air, getting McGonagall's attention.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"

"Professor, i was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets." Hermione said.

The class quieted down at this, and started looking at the deputy headmistress, wanting to know too.

"My subject is Transfiguration, Miss Granger." McGonagall said.

"Yes, Professor. But there seems to be very little written about the Chamber of Secrets. For those of us, with personal interest in the subject, that is... disturbing."

Malfoy and Snyde regarded Hermione with chilly amusement. MocGonagall considered Hermione's question for a moment, then nodded.

"Very well. You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Now, three of the founders coexisted quite harmoniously. One did not."

"Three guesses who." Ron said to Harry.

"Not hard to guess who it was." Jacob told Hermione.

McGonagall continued. "Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. In other words, pure-bloods."

Malfoy at that moment turned to give a mean look towards Hermione, who, along with Jacob, glared back at him.

"Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school. Now, according to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle known as the Chamber of Secrets. Though, shortly before departing, he sealed it, until that time when his own true Heir returned to the school. The Heir alone would be able to open the Chamber, and unleash the horror within, and by so doing, purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic."

"Muggle-borns." Hermione said.

Jacob placed his hand on her back, rubbing it and to give her reassurance, while McGonagall nodded at her. 

"Well, naturally, the school has been searched many times. No such chamber has ever been found." 

Jacob started thinking. 'If the teachers have searched the school many times, it much be hidden so well that only the Heir knows where it is and how to open it.'

"Professor?" He asked McGonagall, who turned towards the younger Potter. "What exactly does the legend tell us lies within the Chamber?"

"The Chamber is said to be home to something that only the Heir of Slytherin can control. It is said to be the home... of a monster."

Ron then turned to look at Malfoy behind him. Malfoy was sitting calmly, smiling to himself.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, the quartet was walking in a corridor by a courtyard after everyone left the Transfiguration class. They were discussing on what McGonagall told everyone about the Chamber of Secrets.

"Do you think it's true?" Ron asked. "Do you think there really is a Chamber of Secrets?"

"Yes." Hermione said. "Couldn't you tell? McGonagall's worried. All the teachers are."

"Yeah." Jacob said. "Even Dumbledore looked shocked when they saw the writing on the wall. They knew what was going on."

"But if there really is a Chamber of Secrets, and it really has been opened, that means--" Harry said.

"The Heir of Slytherin has returned to Hogwarts." Hermione said. "The question is, who is it?"

"Let's think." Ron said with mock puzzlement, glancing at Malfoy and his gang who walked past them. "Who do we know who thinks all Muggle-borns are scum?"

"If you're talking about Malfoy--" Hermione eyed Malfoy ahead of them.

"Of course. You heard him. 'You'll be next, Mudbloods.'"

"I heard him. But Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?"

"Well, maybe Ron's right, Hermione." Harry said. "I mean, look at his family. The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin for centuries."

"Just because your family's been in Slytherin for centuries doesn't necessarily make you the Heir." Jacob said. "Malfoy feels more talk then action, if you ask me."

"What about Snyde? Do you think she could be one?"

"Hard to tell, she could be anything, really. I can't really get a good read on her."

"Crabbe and Goyle must know." Ron suggested. "Maybe we could trick them into telling."

"Even they aren't that thick." Hermione said with a snicker. Then she stopped walking after getting an idea "But there might be another way. Mind you, it would be difficult. Not to mention we'd be breaking about 50 school rules, and it'll be dangerous. Very dangerous."

"... Just how difficult and dangerous are we talking here, Hermione?" Jacob asked, as he was starting to get chills.

Chapter Text

Later, the quartet was in the library, with Hermione looking for a book in a specific section before she found a book she was looking for, entitled MOSTE POTENTE POTIONS. She took it from the shelf and opened it while making her way back to the boys, who were in a corner of another book section by a window.

"Here it is. The Polyjuice Potion." She said when she reached them.

She then started to read the description for the potion. "'Properly brewed, the Polyjuice Potion allows the drinker to transform himself temporarily into the physical form of another.'"

"You mean if Harry, Jacob and i drink that stuff, we'll turn into Crabbe, Goyle and someone else?" Ron asked.

"Yes."

"Wow, that takes movie acting to a whole another level." Jacob said, smiling a little.

"Wicked! Malfoy will tell us anything." Ron said.

"Exactly." Hermione agreed. But then she got a worried look. "But it's tricky. I've never seen a more complicated potion. Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed. And, of course, we'll need a bit of whoever we want to change into too."

As she was going through the ingredients for the potion, Jacob leaned in to get a look at the potion. 

"They really expect you to take this many steps to brew a potion, huh?" He said.

"Hang on now." Ron said. "I'm drinking nothing with Crabbe's toenails in them."

"Well, mate, looks like you've got no choice."

"How long will it take to make?" Harry asked.

"A month." Hermione replied.

"A month?" Harry asked shocked. "But, Hermione, if Malfoy is the Heir of Slytherin, he could attack half the Muggle-borns in the school by then."

"I know. You didn't have to tell me that. But it's the only plan we've got."

"Then i'll help you brew it." Jacob said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "After all, two heads are better than one."

"Thank you." She started smiling at him.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Few days later, a crowd was roaring as everyone was gathered in the Hogwarts' Quidditch Stadium, watching a match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. In the middle of the game, the Slytherin Chaser Pucey had the Quaffle in under his arm and was flying towards the Gryffindor hoops.

He throws it in the air and punches it towards the hoops, but it's kicked away by Wood, who then gives the Quaffle to Johnson. Johnson then flies to Slytherin's side but the Quaffle is punched from her arm by the Slytherin player.

Before Fred can catch it in mid-air, Flint catches the Quaffle and throws it to his team mate. Jacob then flies after them before the Slytherin player gets away and throws Quaffle through a hoop, scoring again for the team, getting cheers from his House.

"Another goal for Slytherin!" Lee Jordan announced from one of the stances while the teacher around him applauded, other less excited like McGonagall. Slytherin was currenly on the lead, with 90 points against Gryffindors 30 points. "They lead Gryffindor 90 to 30!"

"Yeah!" The Slytherin team cheered as they united and started to fly around the pitch.

When the Slytherin team was about to fly over Jacob, one of the players tried to hit him on the head with a quaffle, though the younger Potter managed to lower his head in time, and he glared at the teams direction.

"Gallopin' Gorgons!" Hagrid said. "Slytherin's flyin' like they got dragon fire in their brooms..."

Ron was fuming, looking as though he was taking Slytherin's dominance personally. Taking Hagrid's giant binoculars, he trained them on the faculty box, where many teachers were sitting -- and where Lucius Malfoy was sitting next to Snape.

Jacob flew higher in the air to get a look at the game while trying to catch the glimpse of the Snitch so that he could win the game for his team, before he was joined by Malfoy who flew close to him.

"All right there, Scarhead?" Malfoy asked, though Jacob said nothing and only gave him a glare.

Jacob then noticed a Bludger coming straight to him, and he lowered his head quickly to not get hit. Wood then flew close to him to make sure Jacob was okay.

"Watch yourself, Jacob!" Wood called.

Jacob then noticed that the Bludger had turned around and was coming back straight back at them, about to hit Wood.

"Wood, look out!" Jacob cried out.

But he was too late. Wood turned his head around, and he didn't have time to avoid the Bludger hitting his broom, which broke it and send Wood to spin away. The Bludger almost hit Jacob again, and while he was able to dodge it, it started to chase him, causing Jacob to start flying away.

As Jacob kept avoiding the Bludger, this action was noticed by Hagrid who was keeping an eye on him with his binoculars.

"Blimey!" He exclaimed as he put the binoculars down. "Jacob's got 'imself a rogue Bludger! That's bin tampered with, that has!"

"I'll stop it." Ron said as he took his wand and pointed towards the Bludger.

"No!" Hermione said and quickly put Ron's hand down. "Even with a proper wand, it's too risky. You could hit Jacob."

"What are we supposed to do, then?" Harry asked worriedly.

"We can't really do anything, except wait."

Jacob, meanwhile, kept flying around the stances while the Bludger flew right through them, while Malfoy looked on amused. Jacob finally managed to to lose the Bludger when he flew towards a stance and at the last second flew up it, while the Bludger crashed inside.

Jacob then got back to the game, while glaring at Malfoy.

"Training for the ballet, Potter?" Malfoy attempted to mock.

"Yeah, and was wondering if you could be my training partner." Jacob sarcastically said.

But at that moment, he noticed the Snitch came to view, flying right next to Malfoy's head, who didn't notice anything.

The Bludger then came back, and Jacob lowered his head when he heard it closing in, causing Malfoy to also lower his head in fear to avoid it.

Jacob then started to chase the Snitch, and Malfoy was confused until he noticed the Snitch himself. Turning his broom around, he flew after the younger Potter.

Malfoy pushed Jacob out of the way and got in the front. Now the two got underneath the pitch, still following the Snitch, while being chased by the rogue Bludger, and avoiding all the planks at the same time.

"You'll never catch me, Potter!" Malfoy shouted and speed' away.

Though Jacob didn't give up. He lowered his body further against his broom, gaining more speed and getting ahead of Malfoy.

The were next flying side by side when they flew past Colin who took a picture of them, before he noticed the coming Bludger and ducked.

The Bludger meanwhile hit the walls of the pitch before it flew outside, meaning the two were safe from it, for now.

The Bludger then came in front of them, and while was quick to get out of the way, Malfoy wasn't as fast. Though he didn't get hit, he lost control of his broom and the tip of it hit a plank, causing him to go flying in the air before landing on the ground, doing a split, and now was holding on to his privates in pain.

While the teachers flinched at this when they saw what happened to Malfoy, Lucius looked more disappointed in his son than anything else.

Jacob kept his chase for the Snitch, and raised his right arm to try and catch it, but at that moment, the Bludger came crashing against his arm, breaking and causing Jacob to clutch it against his chest.

He didn't give up though. Lifting himself further to his broom he raised his left arm up and caught the Snitch. He lost control though, and flew on the sand on his back. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Hagrid noticed this.

"Let's go." Hermione said to her friends.

Hermione, Harry, Ron and Hagrid then started to make their way to the pitch quickly, as was Cora on the Hufflepuff side.

"Jacob Potter has caught the Snitch. Gryffindor wins!" Jordan announced.

Jacob was holding on to the Snitch with his good arm, and smiled. Suddenly, he noticed the bludger coming straight for his head. He avoided it, but the Bludger kept crashing on the sand trying to hit him again.

By this point, his friends had made it to the pitch when Hermione took her wand out and quickly pointed it at the bludger.

"Finite Incantatem!" She chanted.

A lightning spark shot at the Bludger, destroying it completely before it could shoot itself at Jacob again. As the sparks flew over Jacob, they started running to him, along with Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.

"Thank you." Jacob said, holding onto his broken arm.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked as she got on her knees next to Jacob, with Harry on the other side.

"No. I think my arm is broken."

"Not to worry, Jacob." Lockhart said as he came next to the boy. "I will fix that arm of yours straightaway."

"No. Not you." Jacob shook his head.

"We should go to Madam Pomfrey instead." Harry said, trying to lift his brother up.

"Boys don't know what they're saying." Lockhart said has he lifted Jacob's arm up. "This won't hurt a bit."

He then took his wand out and pointed it at Jacob's broken arm. 

"Brackium Emendo!"

A light shot at Jacob's arm, but when Lockhart lifted his arm up to show it had been fixed, it was anything but. In fact, the spell had removed the bones from his arm, and everyone widened they're eyes.

"Yes, well..." Lockhart nervously tried to explain. "... that can sometimes happen, um... but... um... the point is..." 

He then ended up twisting Jacob's arm, while the poor boys eyes widened while was looking at his arm, which looked like an empty rubber glove. 

"... you can no longer feel any pain, and, very clearly, the bones are not broken."

"Brok'n?" Hagrid exclaimed angrily. "There's no bones left!"

Jacob's arm then twisted back forward with a very rubbery noise.

"Much more flexible though." Lockhart then took his wand out again. "Let me try something else."

But then Hermione got in front of Jacob, while looking angry. She by this point realized what Jacob had said earlier that year about Lockhart was right, that Lockhart didn't know what he was doing, and she lost much admiration she had towards him.

"No. You clearly don't know what you're doing." She said.

"Miss Granger is right, Gilderoy." McGonagall said. "Who knows what the next spell you tried would do to the poor boy."

She then turned to look at Hermione. "Miss Granger, could you help Mr Potter to the Hospital Wing?"

"Of course, Professor."

And Hermione, with the help of Harry, lifted Jacob up and the two started to take the younger Potter back to the castle.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later in the Hospital Wing, Malfoy was laying on one of the beds, surrounded by Sayles, Crabbe and Goyle, when Madam Poppy Pomfrey ran to the room. He was groaning, though Pomfrey dismissed it.

"Oh, Mr. Malfoy, stop making such a fuss. You can go." She told the boy.

Pomfrey was making her way to the bed Jacob was laying on, which was surrounded by Gryffindors and Cora.

"Out of the way, out of the way." Pomfrey ordered everyone, before getting next to the boy. "Should have been brought straight to me. I can mend bones in a heartbeat, but growing them back..."

"We tried, Madam Pomfrey, but Lockhart wouldn't let us go." Harry said.

"You will be able to grow them back, won't you?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Oh i'll be able to, certainly." Pomfrey said. "But it'll be painful. You'll be in for a rough night, Potter. Regrowing bones is a nasty business."

She then poured the medicine into a glass before giving it to Jacob.

"Well, in the future for any injuries i might get, i promise to come straight here, Madam Pomfrey." Jacob said.

He started drinking it, but then he spit it out, not liking the taste of it, causing others to back away.

"Well, what do you expect? Pumpkin Juice?" Pomfrey asked sarcastically as she took the glass back.

"Maybe not Pumpkin Juice." Jacob wiped his mouth. "Just not something that tasted like... that." 

This earned him a chuckle from Fred and George.

"You just never run out of jokes to say, do you?" Harry asked.

"You know me. Always ease things out with a joke."

Suddenly there was a flash. Jacob blinked, and saw Colin standing in front of him, camera pointed at him.

"That was brilliant today, Jacob! Brilliant!" Colin said.

"Out! All of you! This boy's got thirty-three bones to regrow!" Pomfrey ordered.

As everyone started to leave the Hospital Wing, Hermione was the last one to stay behind.

"Madam Pomfrey, could i stay for few minutes, please?" She asked.

Pomfrey thought for a second, before sighting and nodding. "Very well, Miss Granger. But only few minutes."

As Pomfrey left Jacob's bed, Jacob himself turned to look at Hermione. He noticed she was quiet and was looking down, which worried him a bit.

"You okay, Hermione?" Jacob asked.

Hermione was quiet for a second. "... I'm sorry." She said.

"Sorry? What do you mean?"

Hermione then sat on the bed while facing her best friend, looking little guilty. 

"I'm sorry i didn't believe you when you said Lockhart didn't know what he was doing. I feel like such a moron for not listening to you when he let the Pixies out and didn't manage to stop them."

Jacob only smiled and took Hermione's hand in his good hand. 

"Hey. We already got over that hurdle. As far we're concerned, there's nothing to apologize for."

She smiled and the two then leaned in for a hug.

"See you tomorrow, Jacob." She said.

Hermione let go of him and started walking towards the exit. At the door she turned around and waved her hand at Jacob, who waved back.

⚯ ͛ϟ

The following night, Jacob was sleeping in the Hospital Wing, whe he suddenly woke up to hear the voice he and Harry heard during the Halloween.

"Kill. Kill!"

Jacob opened his eyes and started to look around the room to try and pin point where the voice is coming from, and he started to look up the ceiling.

"It's time."

Jacob then looked straight a head of him and the House-elf Dobby standing on the bed in front of him.

"Hello." Dobby said.

"Dobby?" Jacob asked and glanced at the door.

"Jacob and Harry Potter came back to school. Dobby warned them. Jacob and Harry Potter should have listened to Dobby. Harry Potter should have gone home when he missed the train."

"It was you. You stopped the barrier from letting my brother and Ron through." Jacob started to feel angry.

"Indeed. Yes, sir. Dobby his and watched for Harry Potter and sealed the gateway."

"You nearly got Harry and Ron expelled."

"At least Harry Potter would be away from here. Jacob and Harry Potter must go home." At this, Dobby got closer to Jacob. "Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to make Jacob Potter see--"

"Your Bludger? You made that Bludger chase after me?"

"Dobby feels most aggrieved, sir. Dobby had to iron his hands." 

Dobby then showed his bandaged hands and fingers, wiggling his fingers a little. While Jacob felt a little sorry for the House-elf, he was still angry. 

"You better clear off before my bones come back, Dobby, or i might strangle you, like i promised."

At this, Dobby let out a whimper and jumped off the bed, while Jacob got up himself.

"Dobby is used to death threats, sir." Dobby said while backing away a little. "Dobby gets them five times a day at home."

"I don't suppose you could tell me why you tried to get Harry expelled and why you're trying to kill me?"

Jacob was walking slowly towards Dobby, who kept backing away around the bed.

"Not kill you, sir. Never kill you. Dobby remembers how it was before Jacob and Harry Potter triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. We house-elves were treated like vermin, sir. Of course, Dobby is still treated like vermin..."

Dobby then started to cry before he blew his nose with his cloth. At this point, after what Dobby said about the house-elves and how they were treated, Jacob's anger started to go down.

"Why do you wear that thing, Dobby?" He asked, noting the cloth that barely fit him.

"This, sir? It is a mark of the house-elf's enslavement. Dobby can only be freed if his master presents him with clothes. The family is careful not to pass Dobby so much as a sock, sir, for then he would be free to leave their house forever."

They then heard a clanking noise coming from outside the Hospital Wing.

"Listen. Listen!" Dobby whispered and jumped on the bed, with Jacob leaning closer to hear. "Terrible things are about to happen at Hogwarts. Jacob and Harry Potter must not stay here, now that the history is to repeat itself."

This got Jacob's brain into action. "Repeat itself?" He asked wide-eyed. "You mean this has happened before?"

Dobby gasped. "I souldn't have said that." 

Dobby started looking around before seeing a bottle on the table. Grabbing it, he started to hit his head with it. 

"Bad Dobby! Bad!"

"Dobby, stop it! Stop hurting yourself!" Jacob whispered.

He managed to yank the bottle from Dobby's grip, before grabbing onto his shoulder.

"Tell me. When did this happen before? Who's doing it?"

"Dobby cannot say, sir. Dobby only wants Jacob and Harry Potter to be safe."

"No, Dobby. Me and my brother are not leaving this school. Hogwarts' been more home to us than the Dursleys have ever been. Besides, my best friend is a Muggle-born and she could be in danger because of this, so please, tell me. Who is it?" Jacob voice started to get desperate with each word.

Before Dobby said anything else, they heard the noise again, and with a snap of his fingers, Dobby disappeared.

Looking at his hand, Jacob then turned to look at the door and saw few shadows approaching. He then quickly got back on the bed and had his back turned towards the door, but chose to listen in.

"Put him here." Madam Pomfrey said.

Pomfrey, along with McGonagall, Dumbledore and two assistants were bringing Colin, who was Petrified with his camera covering his face, before placing him on the bed. 

"What happened?"

"There's been another attack." Dumbledore said.

"I think he's been Petrified, Madam Pomfrey." McGonagall said.

Jacob started to feel nervous as he kept listening.

"Look. Perhaps he managed to take a picture of his attacker."

Dumbledore then took Colin's camera from his hands, as it was covering his face. He opened the camera, only for the film to explode.

"What can this mean, Albus?"

"It means, that our students are in great danger." Dumbledore said with a heavy breath. "Mr. Creevey was fortunate. If not for this..." He held up the camera. "... he would surely be dead."

"What should i tell the staff?"

"The truth. Tell them Hogwarts is no longer safe. It is as we feared, Minerva. The Chamber of Secrets has indeed been opened again."

Meanwhile, Jacob kept his eyes wide open, as he felt like he wasn't going to be able to get any sleep for the rest of the night.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Jacob had been released from the Hospital Wing. The quartet had gone to the girls' lavatory to work on the Polyjuice potion, and Jacob had finished explaining what he had learned from Dobby and what happened to Colin last night.

Jacob and Hermione were sitting on the floor, a small, bubbling cauldron in front of them as they were working on the Polyjuice Potion. Harry was sitting against a wall while Ron stood opposite from Harry, back against a stall door and arms crossed.

"Again?" Hermione asked. "You mean the Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?"

"Of course." Ron said. "Don't you see? Lucius Malfoy must have opened it when he was at school here. Now he's taught Draco how to do it."

"Maybe." Jacob said, though he still wasn't convinced. "But i still have my doubts about the Malfoys."

"Me too." Hermione said as she shook a jar and put the ingredient in the cauldron. "We'll have to wait for the Polyjuice Potion to know for sure."

"Enlighten me." Ron said. "Why are we brewing this potion in broad daylight, in the middle of the girl's lavatory? Don't you think we'll get caught?"

"Ron's right, you know." Jacob said and gave Hermione another jar. "Isn't this a bit too risky?"

"No." Hermione shook her head laughed a little. "No one ever comes in here."

"Why?" The boys asked together.

"Moaning Myrtle."

"Who?" Ron asked.

Suddenly, a ghost of a 14 year-old girl floated in from one of the stalls behind Ron, who didn't notice the ghosts presence.

"Moaning Myrtle." Hermione said again, nodding behind Ron, and Jacob and Harry turned to look behind Ron and saw the ghost.

"Who's Moaning Myrtle?"

"I'm Moaning Myrtle!" The ghost suddenly said, which got a scare from Ron.

Myrtle then floated above them while the quartet turned to look at her. "I wouldn't expect you to know me. Who would ever talk about ugly, miserable, moping Moaning Myrtle?"

"Well..." Jacob attempted to sooth the ghost. "... i don't think you're ugly."

Hermione had a quick glance at Jacob before lowering her eyes, before she got a little confused at her action.

"Well, thank you." Myrtle said sweetly.

Then she suddenly let out a cry before floating into one of the toilets, causing all the water to come bursting out of it.

"She's a little sensitive." Hermione told the boys.

"You don't say." Jacob could only muttered.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Couple days later, the quartet, along with every other student from all the Houses was gathered in the Great Hall, surrounding a large platform in the middle of the hall. The teachers had put together a Dueling Club. 

Lockhart was strutting atop the platform, a cape over his shoulder, while Jacob, Harry, Hermione, Ron and a good number of students watched him.

"Gather around! Gather round. Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me?" Lockhart asked.

"Unfortunately." Jacob muttered.

This got Harry and Ron covered their mouths to try and not laugh, while Hermione nudged Jacob a little.

"Be nice." She whispered.

"I thought you got over him." Jacob whispered back.

"I did, it doesn't mean you should still insult him."

"Excellent." Lockhart said. "In light of the dark events of recent weeks, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Dueling Club to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves, as i myself have done on countless occasions. For full details, see my published works."

Lockhart then removed his cloak and threw it to Katie, Angelina and Alicia, who were standing in the back and caught it exitedly.

"That Lockhart's something, isn't he?" A second-year Hufflepuff boy next to Harry said to the twins. "Awfully brave chap." He lifted his hand up for a shake. "Justin Finch-Fletchery. Hufflepuff."

"Nice to meet you." Harry said, shaking his hand. "I'm--"

"I know who you are. We all do, even us Muggle-borns."

Jacob only rolled his eyes while thinking 'Great, more unwanted fame.'

"Not to mention Penny's been hanging out with you a lot."

"Let me introduce my assistant..." Lockhart said while rolling his sleeves, and then pointing to the other end of the platform. "... Professor Snape."

Everyone leaned in to see Snape getting on the platform.

"He has sportingly agreed to help with a short demonstration. Now, i don't want any of you youngsters to worry. You'll still have your Potions master when i'm through with him. Never fear."

"What's the fun in that?" Ron asked quietly.

"If the Pixies and my bones have anything to say, they'd say you won't do anything." Jacob muttered.

Jacob again got a nudge from Hermione, but when he turned to look at her, he noticed she was smirking a little.

Lockhart then took his wand out and walked to Snape, and the two faced each other, getting ready to demonstrate the duel. The two lifted their wand up before lowering them down, and the bowing to each other.

They then turned around started walking towards the opposite ends of the platform. They then faced each other and had their wands ready.

"As you can see..." Lockhart said. "... we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position. On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."

"I wouldn't bet on that." Harry said, eyeing Snape.

"One. Two. Three!"

"Expelliarmus!" Snape chanted.

The spell shot straight and fast at Lockhart, who flew back on his back, all the while the quartet, Penny and Talbott chuckled in amusement. Though Hermione looked only little worried.

"Do you think he's all right?" She asked.

"Who cares?" Ron said.

"He is, Hermione." Jacob said. "He might be all talk, but he's not made of glass."

Lockhart then got himself up, though unsteadily, and started to walk up to Snape.

"An excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape..." Lockhart said. "... but if you don't mind me saying, it was pretty obvious what you were about to do. And if i had wanted to stop you, it would have been only too easy."

"He just never runs out of excuses, does he...?" Jacob muttered, rolling his eyes.

Snape also looked like he wasn't amused on what Lockhart said, though he didn't let it show.

"But enough demonstrating! I'm going to put you in pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me--"

Snape then walked over to where the quartet was standing at, eyeing them. 

"Miss Snyde, you will partner with the younger Potter." Snape said. "Malfoy, let's see what you make of young Miss Haywood. And Miss Granger... you can partner with Miss Bulstrode."

Hermione then looked at Millicent Bulstrode, a large Slytherin girl from their year who looked very unpleasent. And the kids partnered up.

"Face your partners!" Lockhart called, back on the platform. "And bow!"

"Ready to get your arse whooped, Potter?" Snyde said smirking.

"The only arse whooping that'll be happening is with you." Jacob shot back, narrowing his eyes.

Jacob and Snyde started walking away from each other before facing each other again, but before Snyde could do anything, Jacob was faster to say a spell.

"Expelliarmus!" He chanted.

The spell hit Snyde in the chest, sending her flying backwards before landing on her back.

"Ah, snuff." Snyde grunted, before getting up and looking at Jacob. "You got lucky, Potter."

"That's what they all say when they lose."

"Hate to break it to you, junior, but you might want to check on Granger." Snyde pointed her wand to where Hermione was.

When Jacob looked, he saw that Millicent Bulstrode had put Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain, both wands forgotten on the floor. Jacob then ran to the two girls while Snyde stayed behind, laughing.

Jacob then got to the girls, took a hold of Bulstrode's robes and pulled her away from Hermione before turning back to the said girl.

"Are you all right?" He asked as he placed his hand on her arm.

"I am now, thanks. "She said smiling while rubbing her neck.

"Perhaps now would be a good time to teach the students to block unfriendly spells, Gilderoy." Snape then said once everything calmed down.

"An excellent idea, Professor Snape." Lockhart said, and started to look at the students. "Let's have a volunteer pair. Um..." He then saw the Potters and Ron. "Harry, Weasley, how about you?"

Harry started to get up on the platform, but before Ron could join him, Snape stopped him.

"Weasley's wand causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be spending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox."

Ron looked uneasy at this, looking down.

"Why don't you just write to you parents and ask for a new wand?" Jacob whispered to him.

"And risk being sent another Howler? No thanks." Ron hissed.

"Might i suggest someone from my own house? Malfoy, perhaps?" Snape suggested. 

He then turned to face the Slytherins before lifting his hand up, signaling for Malfoy to get on the platform, which the boy did.

While Malfoy got on the platform, Lockhart walked to the opposite side of it, walking past Harry.

"Good luck, Potter." Lockhart said to him.

"Thank you, sir." Harry said.

Eyeing each other malevolently, Harry and Malfoy took their places onstage. Grudginly, they bowed to each other.

"Wands at the ready!" Lockhart said.

The boys raised their wands againts their faces.

"Scared, Potter?" Draco taunted.

"You wish."

The Gryffindors were getting excited, while Jacob whispered "Get him, brother."

Draco only glared and the two lowered their wands again, and started to walk to the opposite ends before turning to face each other and pointing their wands.

"On the count of three..." Lockhart said . "... cast your charms to disarm your opponent. Only to disarm. We don't want any accidents here. One. Two."

But Malfoy didn't wait. "Everte Statum!"

He shot a different spell quickly at Harry, who went flying in the air once he got hit, flipping few times before landing on his side.

This got few Slytherin students laugh, and Snape even let out a small smile. Jacob meanwhile glared at Malfoy and was about to get on the platform before Hermione put her hand against his chest to stop him.

Harry was now angry and quickly got up before pointing his wand at Malfoy, and Malfoy's smirk dropped.

"Rictusempra!" Harry chanted.

The spell shot at Malfoy quickly, and he went flying and spinning in the air before landing on his butt, facing Snape, and the other houses laughed.

Snape glared at Malfoy slightly, before lifting him up by his robes and pushing him to face Harry again. Malfoy was really angry as he got ready to cast another spell.

"I said disarm only!" Lockhart ordered.

"Serpensortia!" Malfoy chanted angrily, not listening.

Malfoy shot another spell, which created a snake, which then landed on the platform. The students backed away as it started to slither around the table, hissing at everyone, while Harry lowered his wand.

"Don't move, Potter. I'll get rid of it for you." Snape said as he started to walk towards the snake.

"Allow me, Professor Snape." Lockhart said, pointing his wand at the snake. "Alarte Ascendare!"

The spell hit the snake, but it only caused the snake to fly to the air before it landed back on the platform, unharmed.

Harry then narrowed his eyes at the snake and started to walk towards it. He then started to tlak to snake, but to everyone else except for Jacob  it sounded like a snake hissing sounds.

The snake then faced Justin Finch-Fletcher, who looked scared, and everyone else looked on shocked, while Jacob glanced back and forth between his brother and the snake, all the while Harry kept making noises.

When it looked like the snake was about to attack Justin, Harry let out a higher hiss, which finally caused the snake to face him and hiss back.

"Vipera Evanesca." Snape chanted, then shot a spell at snake which caused the snake to be incinerated alive.

"What are you playing at?" Justin then asked Harry harshly.

Harry, meanwhile, looked at Justin confused before looking at the teachers, all the while Jacob looked confused as well. Ginny bolted out of the room, while everyone else looked at Harry either with shock or fear.

"Come on. Move. Now." Ron said, taking Harry's arm, and the quartet ran out of the Great Hall.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, the quartet was quickly making it's way to the Common Room. Once they were in the room Harry glanced up and saw Ginny staring down at him from the top of the stairs. As their eyes met, she turned to the girls' dormitory.

"You're a parselmouth?" Ron asked. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I'm a what?" Harry asked as he faced the other three.

"You can talk to snakes." Hermione said.

"Yeah, i know."

"Me too." Jacob then said, and Hermione and Ron looked surprised at him. "I mean, we accidentally set a python on our cousin Dudley at the zoo once. Once."

"But so what?" Harry then asked. "We bet loads of people here can do it."

"No, they can't." Hermione said while Ron shook his head. "It's not a very common gift, you two. This is bad."

"What's bad? If i hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin--"

"That's what you said to it?" Ron asked.

"You were there." Jacob then said. "I heard him, you heard him."

"I just heard him speaking Parseltongue. Snake language."

"I spoke a different language?" Harry asked. "But i didn't realize-- How can i speak a language without knowing i can?"

"And how is it i was the only one who understood what Harry said?" Jacob then followed.

"I don't know..." Hermione said before looking at Harry. "... but it sounded like you were egging the snake on or something. It was... creepy."

"Are we just going to ignore the fact that the snake stopped facing Justin on the last second and hissed at Harry?" Jacob asked.

"I don't think anyone else understood what that meant, mate." Ron said.

As Gryffindors streamed into the room, they eye'd Harry warily, and even glanced briefly at Jacob. Even Seamus, Neville, and Dean walked by without a word.

"Guys, listen to me." Hermione said to the twins. "There's a reason the symbol of Slytherin house is a serpent. Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth. He could talk to snakes too."

"Exactly." Ron said. "Now the whole school's gonna think you two're his great-great-great grandson or something."

"But were not." Jacob then tried to argue, though he was starting not to believe his own words. "We can't be."

"He lived a thousand years ago." Hermione said with a symphatetic voice. "For all we know, you could be." And the brother looked at each other nervously.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Sometime later, the brothers were sitting on a mountainous area, looking over the lake with the Hogwarts castle on the other. Millie was laying down on Jacob's lap when they were joined by Hedwig, who flew on the rock next to Harry.

"Who are we, Hedwig? What are we?" Harry asked his owl while looking at the lake.

"I don't believe it." Jacob said.

Harry then looked to his left to his younger brother, who had a fierce look on his face.

"There's no way we are Slytherin's descendents."

While the idea scared Jacob, he refused to believe it to be true. He knew he could never hurt his friends like that, and he refused to believe he'd do anything like Petrify his best friend.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Much later, the quartet was in a study hall working on their homeworks, and there were many other students who had joined them, along with the librarian Irma Pince who was helping a student on her desk.

However, Jacob and Harry could feel someone staring at them from behind, so they turned around to look. They saw few Ravenclaws behind them, looking at them before turning back to their books. Talbott gave the twins an apologetic shrug before getting back to his book. The twins then turned back towards Hermione and Ron who gave them symphatetic looks.

Looking at the Hufflepuffs, the brothers saw them giving them a look, before turning back to their books, with only Penny giving them an apologedic look. Ginny was also looking at them from the other end of the table before scribbling furiously in a small black book.

At this point, Harry had enough and started to pack his things.

"I'll see you back in the common room." He said and placed his book underneath his arm and got up.

"I'm gonna go, too. See you, guys." Jacob said, packing his things up.

"Jacob--" Hermione was about to say.

But she didn't get to say antyhing else, as Jacob got up, causing her to look down in sorrow, while Ron and Penny looked at each other, not knowing what to do, and Talbott sighted in the back.

As the twins walked out of the study hall, students glanced up at them. Even Madam Pince eyed the brothers from her desk. Before they could get far, they heard someone talking in the hall and eavesdropped.

"So anyway, i told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if the Potters have marked him down as their next victim, it's best to keep a low profile for a while."

Jacob and Harry leaned over a corner to look and saw Ernie Macmillan, a Hufflepuff from their year, talking quietly to another Hufflepuff of their year, Hannah Abbott.

"But why would they want to attack Justin?" Hannah asked.

"Well, Justin let it slip to Potters that he was Muggle-born."

"And you definitely think the twins are the Heirs of Slytherin?"

"Hannah, the older Potter is a Parselmouth, and it's safe to say his brother is too. Everyone knows that's the mark of a dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Slytherin himself 'Serpent-tongue'."

He then whispered darkly. "Remember what was written on the wall: Enemies of the Heir beware. Older Potter had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch's cat's attacked. That first-year Creevey's been annoying Potters. Then Creevey's attacked."

"Jacob and Harry always seemed so nice though. And after all, they are the ones who made You-Know-Who disappear."

"That's probably why You-Know-Who wanted to kill them in the first place. Didn't want two more Dark Lords competing with him."

The brothers meanwhile were about to walk away, frustrated at the theory, before they stopped when they heard a familiar voice interrupt Ernie.

"Do you realize how snuffing stupid you sound just now?"

The twins peaked out of the corner again and saw Penny glaring at Ernie, while the Hufflepuffs looked surprised at her.

"Jacob and Harry, the Heirs of Slytherin? You must have a wild imaginagion if you jumped to that conclusion, Macmillan." Penny said.

"Penny, be realistic--" Ernie tried to say.

"No. for sparks sake, you be realistic. Did you just so happen to forget that Jacob's best friend is a Muggle-born who is sitting on the other table behind you?"

Penny pointed towards Hermione. She then got up from her seat and was about to go to her Gryffindor friends before looking at Ernie again.

"Jacob and Harry are nothing like what you think they are. I suggest you think long and hard before you start throwing insane theories around."

The other Hufflepuffs kept looking surprised at Penny as she walked away and joined Hermione and Ron on the other table. Jacob and Harry looked gratefully at her before leaving.

When walking to the moving staircases, the brothers almost hit Hagrid, who came from the corner with a dead rooster in his hand.

"Hello, Harry and Jacob." Hagrid greeted the brothers. "You all righ'?"

"Hagrid... What are you doing here?" Jacob asked while looking at the rooster.

Hagrid helt the rooster higher. "Second one killed this term. Now, i reckon it's either a fox or a Blood-Suckin' Bugbear, so i've just been up at Dumbledore's getting permission ter put a little charm round the old hen coop."

Hagrid then noticed the boys looked a little spooked, as they were glancing around. "Yeh sure you two're all righ'? Yeh're awful hot an' bothered."

"It's nothing." Harry said. "Look, we'd better get going. We've got a lot of studying to..." He stopped talking and started to walk up the stairs.

"Sorry about him, Hagrid. See you." Jacob said before he started to follow Harry.

Hagrid looked at where the boys were going before he himself started to walk away.

"It's a good thing few people at least don't believe the rumor." Harry said as they were walking down a corridor.

"You said it. I could tell Penny didn't believe them from the start." Jacob said.

The two then suddenly stopped when they heard the voice again.

"I want blood."

"There it is again." Jacob whispered while Harry was getting closer to a wall.

"They all must die."

"Why is it coming from the walls though...?" Jacob muttered to himself as he and Harry started to follow the voice.

"Kill. Kill. Kill. Time to kill."

Then the voice quieted down until the boys couldn't hear it anymore.

"Jacob, you don't think...?" Harry asked.

"I really hope not..." Jacob said and the two resumed walking down the corridor.

Chapter Text

While Jacob and Harry came around a corner to another corridor while making their way back to the common room, they noticed water on the floor before looking up, and what they saw shocked them.

They saw Nearly-Headless Nick, floating in the air, almost like he had been hanged and not moving. His head was hanging from his neck, while the hole on his neck was smoking.

When they looked next to Nick, they then saw Justin on the floor, and realized the two had been Petrified. Harry crouched next to Justin to check on him. Just then, Filch walked to the scene. 

"Caught in the act." He said, and the twins turned around towards him. "I'll have you out this time, older Potter. Mark my words." And after saying that, he disappeared.

"No. Mr. Filch! You don't understand--" Harry tried to explain but couldn't as Filch was already gone.

"Harry." Jacob said.

Harry looked to his brother, who had been standing next to him, and saw him pointing to a group of spiders, walking in line outside.

"This is the second time we've seen this happen." Jacob said. "No way is this a coincidence."

"You're right." Harry said.

Out of the corner they then saw Filch return, with McGonagall behind him, who gasped when she saw Nick and Justin Petrified before looking at the twins.

"Professor. I swear we didn't do this." Jacob tried to explain.

"This is out of my hands, Potters." McGonagall said, before she turned to Filch. "Mr. Filch, will you take care of this, please?"

As Filch stepped forward, McGonagall started to lead the Potters away. Filch stared at Justin and Nick, then turned.

"Dark Magic." Filch said. "That's what you've got, Potter. Even the air you breath comes out poison. You're evil. Evil as they come..."

Moments later, McGonagall was marching the twins down a corridor to a doorway that had a huge statue of a hawk inside it. They stopped in front of it.

"Professor Dumbledore will be waiting for you two." She nodded to the statue.

The brothers were about to walk to stand underneath the statue.

"Potter." McGonagall suddenly said, causing the brothers to turn to her, seeing looking at Jacob. "I just want you to know, that i don't believe you and your brother are the Heirs of Slytherin."

A look of relief shot on the brothers' faces. "Thank you, Professor." Jacob said gratefully.

McGonagall nodded, and the twins go went underneath the hawk.

"Sherbet Lemon." McGonagall said, waving her hands at the statue.

The hawk statue started to rise up while spinning a little, creating a staircase to Dumbledore's office, and the two started to rise up with the stairs.

The stairs kept rising before coming to a stop at a platform, and at the end of a corridor there was a door, which the brothers approached and then opened.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry called as he and Jacob got inside the office.

Dumbledore's office was huge, with many different paintings of people placed on the walls and gears on tables. The two approached his desk, while Jacob noticed the Sorting Hat resting on one of the shelves.

"Bee in your bonnet, Potters?" The Hat asked.

"I-I was just wondering if you put us in the right house." Harry asked.

"Yes. You two were particularly difficult to place. But i stand by what i said last year. You would have done well in Slytherin."

"You're wrong."

"Gryffindor suited us just fine, just like it did with out parents." Jacob said.

The two then noticed a huge, old-looking bird resting on a table next to Dumbledore's desk. The two approached the bird, and the bird could be seen looking curiously at the brothers, particularly at Jacob.

Jacob then raised his hand slowly towards the bird before it caught on fire, causing it's ashes to fall down and the brothers backed away in shock.

"What just ha--" Jacob started to say.

"Jacob? Harry?" 

The brothers looked up and saw Dumbledore looking down at them.

"Professor." Harry said, trying to make sense of what happened. "Your bird... there was nothing we could do. He just caught fire."

"Ah, and about time too." Dumbledore shook his head. "He's been looking dreadful for days. Pity you had to see him on a burning day. He's really very handsome most of the time."

"Burning day, sir?" Jacob asked before he realized what Dumbledore meant. "Do you mean--?"

"Indeed, Jacob." Dumbledore smiled while walking down the steps. "Fawkes is a Phoenix. They burst into flame when it is time for them to die, and then they are reborn from their ashes."

"I'd read about the phoenixes in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and they sounded amazing."

The three then looked to the ashes and saw a head of a baby Phoenix lift itself up, while it started looking around. Dumbledore and the brothers leaned closer to look at it.

"Fascinating creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads. And their tears have healing powers, and they make highly faithful pets."

Just then, the door to Dumbledore's office burst open, with Hagrid -- still clutching the rooster -- entered quickly.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir! Wait! Listen!" Hagrid said, walking up to them. "Professor Dumbledore, sir. It wasn't Harry and Jacob."

"Hagrid--"

"I was talking to them just before that kid was found. It can't have been them!"

"Hagrid--"

"I'd be prepared to swear it in front of the Ministry of Magic."

"Hagrid! Relax." Dumbledore placed his hands on the twins' shoulders. "I do not believe that Jacob and Harry attacked anyone."

"Of course you don't--" Hagrid stopped when what Dumbledore said clicked with him. "Oh. Right. Well, i'll... i'll just wait outside, then."

"Yes."

As Hagrid exited the office, the twins looked hopefully at Dumbledore.

"You don't think it was us, professor?" Harry asked.

"No, Harry. I do not think it was you two."

The brothers nodded gratefully at the professor.

"But i must ask you, is there something you wish to tell me?"

The brothers stayed quiet for a little bit and looked at each other briefly, like debating something, before looking at Dumbledore again. 

"No, sir. Nothing." They said together.

"Very well, then. Off you go." 

The twins walked to the door, while Dumbledore kept his eyes on them.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Well over a month later, it was almost time for Christmas. Many students were making their way outside the school as they were leaving to spend the holidays with their families. Only several students, including the quartet, were staying at the school.

"Hey look, everyone. It's the Heirs of Slytherin." Fred joked while addressing the people around them.

While the Weasley twins didn't believe Jacob and Harry were the Heirs, they decided to play jokes on the rumors.

"Be careful." George said. "They're a seriously evil wizards."

The quartet was leaning against the railings as Jacob, Hermione and Ron looked at the twins and laughed a little, while Harry only looked forward, not amused.

"Oh come on, Harry." Ron said. "Fred and George were just having a a laugh."

"They're the only ones." Harry said.

"Hey, it's better than nothing." Jacob said while shrugging his shoulder. "Besides, i appreciate it when they lighten a mood for something like this."

"He's right. Half the school thinks you're nipping off to the Chamber of Secrets every night. Who cares?"

"Maybe they're right." Harry said while he started to walk back inside the castle.

"Harry. Harry!" Jacob called as he, Hermione and Ron followed Harry.

"Oh, come on." Hermione started to say.

Harry sharply turned to face the three, frustrated.

"Look, i didn't know we could speak Parseltongue. What else don't i know about ourselves? And why are you so casual about this, Jacob?"

"It's been over a month since the last attack, so right now we don't need to worry about it." He said seriously, before his look softened up. "And besides, i like it when we can just have fun, so of course i'm gonna try and lighten something up."

At this, Harry calmed himself down. "Look, maybe you can do something, even something horrible, and not know you did it."

"You don't believe that, Harry." Hermione said. "I know you don't. And i especially know Jacob doesn't believe it."

"Thanks, Hermione." Jacob thanked the girl.

Hermione smiled back at him. "And it if makes you feel better, Malfoy's staying for the holidays too."

"Why would that make anyone fell better?" Ron asked confused.

"Because in a few days, the Polyjuice Potion will be ready. In a few days, we may truly know who is the Heir of Slytherin."

⚯ ͛ϟ

Few days later, the quartet were in the Great Hall for the Christmas Feast, along with everyone else who had stayed behind in the school. The hall was glimmering grandly as snowflakes were tumbling from the ceiling. Harry and Ron were already on their seats eating when they were joined by Jacob and Hermione, carrying their food with them.

"Everything's set." Hermione said as she and Jacob sat down. "We just need a bit of who you're changing into."

"Crabbe and Goyle." Harry said.

"What about you, Jacob?" Ron asked.

"I'm changing into Snyde." Jacob replied.

"We also need to make sure that the real Snyde, Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating Malfoy." Hermione said.

"How?" Ron asked.

"I've got it all worked out." Hermione reached into her bag, pulling out two small cakes. "I filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. Simple, but powerful." 

Hermione put them on the table. Ron glanced at Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who presently presently were eating everything in front of them, while Snyde wasn't with them.

"You know how greedy Crabbe and Goyle are." Jacob said. "They won't leave the Christmas Feast until every last drop of trifle is gone."

"What about Snyde?" Harry asked his brother. "She's not going to be fooled as easily as Crabbe and Goyle."

Jacob smirked and took a vile from his pocket and held it between his fingers. "I'm gonna slip this vile full of Sleeping Draught into her drink while under the Invisibility cloak. I've seen her in an empty spot in the castle a lot with a cup of drink, so that'll be the perfect spot to slip this in."

"Brilliant." Harry and Ron said as Jacob placed the vile on the table.

"Now, once they're all asleep..." Hermione said. "... hide them in the broomstick cupboard and pull out a few of their hairs, and put on their uniforms."

"Who's hair are you ripping out then?" Ron asked.

"I've already got mine." 

Hermione pulled a small vile full of hair from her pocket. 

"Millicent Bulstrode. Slytherin. I got this off her robes when she was choking me. I'm going to go check on the Polyjuice Potion." She gave Harry and Ron the cupcakes. "Make sure Crabbe and Goyle find these."

"And i'll handle Snyde with this." Jacob said, moving his vile between his fingers.

As Hermione rose up and left the hall, Ron looked at Jacob and Harry.

"Have you guys ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?" He asked.

"Good thing we don't have such a plan, then." Jacob said, sounding confident.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, Jacob was under his and Harry Invisibility cloak walking to the empty corridor, and when he came from a corner, he saw Snyde sitting in a corner, writing on a textbook, and she had a cup next to her on the floor.

Looking in every direction to make sure the place was empty and no one was coming, Jacob then walked to the Slytherin girl, opened the viled and dropped the Draught into her drink before backing away a little.

Snyde took her cup and started to drink from it. When she drank the whole cup, she noticed she started to feel weird.

"Wha--" Was all Snyde got out, before she quickly passed out, falling to her left side.

"It was even more powerful when she drank the whole thing." Jacob said quietly.

Jacob then started to pull Snyde against him, and after making sure she was under the cloak and no one saw them, he started to walk to the meeting spot, while making sure she didn't fall off.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were just outside the Great Hall, standing behind a statue which was holding Hogwarts castle in it's hand. Ron had his wand out, and he cleared his throat into his hand before getting ready to use a spell.

"Ron, maybe i should do it." Harry quickly said, pointing to the ducktape that was holding Ron's wand together.

"Yeah. Right." Ron agreed and put his wand away.

"Wingardium Leviosa." Harry swished and flicked his wand towards the cupcakes, which were laying on the floor next to the Great Hall entrance, and they started to float.

The two then heard noise coming from the hall and hid behind the statue. At that moment, Crabbe and Goyle came from the hall, sweets in the arms when they noticed the cupcakes.

"Cool." Crabbe said and the two walked to the cupcakes.

They emptied their hands and took the cupcakes, which they then started to eat. After munching happily on the cakes for a moment, they stopped eating when they started to feel weird. Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other before they passed out.

"How thick could you get?" Ron asked, amazed how stupid the boys were.

"Come on, let's get them and wait for Jacob." Harry said and the two ran to the passed out Slytherins.

When they got to Crabe and Goyle, Jacob then announced his arrival by coming from a corner and pulling the cloak off of him and Snyde, while still pulling her against his chest.

"Had fun coming here, little brother?" Harry asked cheekily.

"Not as much as you might imagine." Jacob grunted.

As the trio dragged the Slytherins into the cupboard, Jacob placed Snyde on the floor to lean against a wall while Harry and Ron had Crabbe and Goyle just laying on their backs on the floor.

The boys then ran to the girls' bathroom, where Hermione was sitting on the floor, finishing the last bit of the Potion.

"Well, did you get the hairs?" She asked.

The boys showed her the viles in each of their hands, all full of hair.

"What are those?" Ron asked as he noticed the clothes on the floor.

"Slytherin robes. I had to sneak them from the laundry."

The boys then looked at the potion, and didn't like how it looked as it was bubbling.

"Are we going to drink that?" Harry asked disgusted.

"Mm." Hermione nodded, also disgusted. "I'm sure me and Jacob's done everything right. It looks like the book said it should. Once we've drunk it, we'll have exactly one hour before we change back into ourselves."

"I'm so not looking forward to drinking this stuff." Jacob said, and the other three nodded in agreement.

A bit later, the quartet had changed into Slytherin robes. Hermione had started to pour the potion into four glass cups, before she started to hand each one to the boys their cups before taking hers.

"Add the hairs." Hermione said, and the quartet dropped the hairs into the drinks.

"Ugh." Ron groaned. "Essence of Crabbe."

"Have fun for the next hour, everyone." Jacob groaned back.

"Cheers." Hermione said.

The quartet clinked their cups before starting to drink. Once they stopped drinking, everyone looked like they were gonna throw up.

"I think i'm gonna be sick." Ron said.

He drop the cup and quickly ran inside one of the stalls. Hermione tried to keep it in but couldn't. 

"Me too." She said and ran inside one too.

"Power through. Power through." Jacob muttered for few seconds before stopping. "Nope." He quickly said and ran inside one as well.

Harry only stayed still before dropping the cup and started groaning. He then put his hands on the sink before he noticed his hands started to bubble up. He then looked into the sink mirror in front of him and saw how his face started to morph and looked like Goyle's.

He then turned to look at the stall and saw Jacob and Ron coming outside, looking exactly like Snyde and Crabbe, with Jacob even sporting the orange patch of hair.

"Harry? Jacob?" Ron asked as he looked at the two.

"Ron." Harry then said as the trio looked back and forth between each other.

"Bloody hell."

"We still sound like ourselves. You need to sound more like Crabbe."

"Um..." Ron adjusted his voice. "Bloody hell."

"Lower." 

Ron lowered his voice again. "Bloody hell."

"Less intelligent." Jacob said.

Ron dumbed his voice down. "Bloody hell."

"Excellent." Harry said satisfied.

"I think you guys are safe." Jacob said, as he played with the orange patch while trying out a girlier voice. "Crabbe and Goyle barely even talk. It's me who needs to worry, since Snyde snarks quite a bit."

He then noticed they were missing one. "But wait, where's Hermione?"

"I..." Hermione let out, still inside the stall. "... I don't think i'm going. You go without me."

"Hermione, are you okay?" Jacob asked.

"Just go! You're wasting time."

"Come on." Harry said, and the trio left the bathroom.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Moments later, the trio was walking in the dungeons. After coming through a small tunnel, they started looking left and right, trying to figure out which way the Slytherin common room was.

"I think the Slytherin common room's this way." Harry said, pointing to their left.

"Okay." Ron said.

"Let's do this." Jacob said.

As the trio started to walk to the direction of Slytherin common room, Percy came to a view from a corner, as he was on a patrol.

"Excuse me." Percy called, and the trio stopped walking as Percy started to approach them.

"What are you--" Ron started to say. 

But Jacob quickly elbowed him, causing Ron to adjust his voice again. 

"I mean, what are you doing here?"

"I happen to be a school Prefect." Percy said as he now stood in front of the trio. "You, on the other, hand, have no business wandering the corridors at this time of night. It's not safe these days."

"Well..." Jacob said with a snarky voice. "... we had some important things to do here."

Harry and Ron nodded their heads, afraid to speak.

"What's your names again?" Percy asked, squinting his eyes.

"I'm..." Harry started to say.

"Merula, Crabbe, Goyle, where have you three been?" They turned and saw Malfoy approaching them. "Pigging out in the Great Hall all this time?"

"Just to let you know, Draco..." Jacob said, crossing his arms. "... I went looking for these two and got distracted on the way."

"Alright, i got it."

'This is weird, i'm having a normal convertation with Malfoy.' Jacob thought.

"Why are you wearing glasses?" Malfoy asked looking at Harry.

This caused Harry to take his glasses off quickly. "Um... reading." He said.

"Reading? I didn't know you could read."

"I was pretty surprised too." Jacob whispered to Malfoy, trying to help out Harry.

Draco glanced at Jacob/Merula, and ended up shrugging his shoulders, before looking at Percy.

"And what are you doing down here, Weasley?" He asked.

"Mind your attitude, Malfoy." Percy said. "You want to show a little bit of respect to a school Prefect!"

"Come on, guys. Weasley thinks he's going to catch the Slytherin's heir single-handed."

Percy steamed, while Malfoy sneered at him. He then started walking off to the Slytherin's common room with Jacob, Harry and Ron.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, Draco and the trio were in the Slytherin Common Room, when Draco jumped to lay on a couch, when Jacob sat down on the opposite end. The two then looked at Harry and Ron, who were still standing.

"Well, sit down." Draco said. 

The two sat down on the other couch opposite from the other, while they, and Jacob, glanced around warily.

"Listen to this..." 

Draco grabbed a Daily Prophet paper, and started to read the front page. 

"... 'Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car. "Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute," said Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts. "He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately."'"

Grinning, Draco then glanced over the paper at Jacob, Harry and Ron. 

"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go join them. You'd never know the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave. They're an embarrasment to the wizarding world. All of them."

This got Ron to clench his fist in slight anger, which caught Draco's attention.

"What's wrong with you, Crabbe?" Draco asked.

This got Jacob to nudge his head towards Ron, while Harry elbowed Ron. Ron released his hand while grunting.

"Stomachache." Ron said, low voice.

"Well, go to the Hospital Wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick in the arse for me! You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't done a report on all these attacks. I suppose Dumbledore is trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father always said Dumbledore was the worst thing that ever happened to this place."

"You're wrong!" Harry suddenly said angrily.

This got Malfoy looked at him, before Jacob narrowed his eyes and nodded his head. Harry realized he messed up. Malfoy stood up from the couch.

"What? Did you say i was wrong? You think there's someone here who's worse than Dumbledore?"

Ron only shook his head while Harry stayed quiet, while Jacob looked worried.

"Well? Do you?"

"Harry and Jacob Potter?" Harry quickly suggested as a question.

Ron nodded his head while Jacob shrugged his shoulders. Malfoy kept staring at Harry before letting out a grin and a snicker.

"Good one, Goyle. You're absolutely right. Saint Potters. They're another ones with no proper wizard feeling, or the younger Potter wouldn't be going around with that Mudblood Granger. And people actually think that they're the Heirs of Slytherin?"

What Malfoy said caused Jacob to sneer at him unnoticed, while Harry and Ron exchanged glances.

"But then you must have some idea who's behind it all." Harry said, leaning closer.

"You know i don't, Goyle." Malfoy walked to a desk, and sat on it, while taking a small wrapped box on it, tossing it between his hands. "I told you yesterday. How many times do i have to tell you?"

"Apparently a lot." Jacob said while rolling his eyes, doing his best Snyde-impression.

"Yeah, you're right, Merula." Malfoy shook the box next to his ear before looking at Harry. "Is this yours?"

Harry shook his head, and Malfoy decided to put the box in his robe pocket before looking back at the trio.

"But my father did say this: It's been 50 years since the Chamber was opened. He wouldn't tell me who opened it. Only that they were expelled. The last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So it's only a matter of time before one of them is killed this time." He then started smirking little. "As for me... i hope it's Granger."

When Jacob heard this, he suddenly got really angry. He rose up from his seat, but before he could really approach Malfoy, Harry put his arm around him to stop him.

"What's the matter with you three? You're acting very odd. Even you, Merula."

"Weasley from earlier got to her really good." Harry gave an excuse. 

Jacob managed to calm himself. Ron rose up and got to the brothers, while Harry faced his brother.

"Calm down." He whispered.

Meanwhile, Malfoy took the box from his pocket. Glancing at the students on another table, he started to open the box.

"Scars." Ron suddenly whispered to the twins.

Jacob and Harry widened their eyes when they touched their foreheads, realizing the hour on the effect of the potion had ran out.

"Hair." Harry whispered, pointing to Ron's hair which was starting to turn back to red.

"We need to go, now." Jacob whispered, and the trio quickly exit the Common Room.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Draco called, but was ignored.

While the trio was running back to the girls' bathroom, Snyde, Crabbe and Goyle exited the cupboard, groaning and rubbing their necks. They were about to walk around a corner when Jacob, Harry and Ron came across them mid-transformation, with their hairs back to normal.

The six kids stared at each other shocked before the twins and Ron ran away, while the Slytherins looked at them confused.

"... What did i drink again?" Snyde asked confused.

The trio then ran inside the bathroom, now fully transformed back to how they really looked.

"That was close." Ron said.

"Too close, with those three walking in on us." Harry said.

"Hermione, come out." Jacob called as they approached the stalls. "We've got loads to tell you."

"Go away." Hermione said quickly.

The trio exchanged puzzled looks, when Jacob faced the stalls again.

"Hermione, are you sure you're okay?"

Moaning Myrtle then spiraled into view, looking disturbingly... happy.

"Wait till you see. It's awful." She said giggling a little, getting behind the boys.

"Hermione?" Jacob asked as he slowly started to open the stall door.

When the door was open, Jacob's eyes widened in shock, Ron didn't know what to say, Myrtle looked like she was about to laugh, and Harry got his glasses back on before his eyes widened in surprise.

"Do you remember me telling you..." Hermione said with a quiet voice. "... that the Polyjuice Potion was only for human transformation? It was cat hair i plucked off Millicent Bulstrode's robes."

Hermione turned to face the boys, and she had been transformed to look like a cat, with cat ears, cat tail and everything, while her bushy hair was in place.

"Look at my face."

"Look at your tail." Ron said smiling.

Myrtle started to laugh. Jacob only gave them a look before he walked up to the girl and gave her a hug.

"Don't listen to them." He told her. "You're still the same Hermione we know."

"Thank you, Jacob." She said and hugged the boy back.

"Besides, it could've been worse."

"What do you mean?"

"You could've looked like Millicent Bulstrode."

The quartet laughed at this. Jacob then decided to take Hermione to the Hospital Wing. Thankfully for the kids, Madam Pomfrey believed in patient confidentiality and didn't ask why she looked like a cat.

When Hermione was settled in a bed, Harry and Ron left to leave for the Common Room, while Jacob stayed behind for a little longer to talk with her. After a little bit of talking, Jacob noticed that Hermione had gotten a worried look.

"Hermione, what is it?" He asked.

She was quite for a few seconds before she looked at the beds in front of her. 

"You know what happened to Justin and Colin, right?" Hermione asked, nodding to the beds the two students were laying on. "They got Petrified. What if it happens to me?"

Jacob's eyes widened and he felt like his heart stopped beating for a few seconds before looking at Hermione again, who in turn was looking down. Earlier he knew the risk of the monster getting to her was high, but to hear it coming from her really hit the nail for him. He managed to collect himself and took Hermione's right hand in both of his. 

"I promise, Hermione, i will do everything i can to protect you." Jacob said.

Hermione let out a small smile and looked at the boy. "That's very noble of you, Jacob. But i don't want to see you get hurt because of me."

Chapter Text

Few weeks passed after the Polyjuice Potion incident, and the students were back in the school. Hermione had to stay in the Hospital Wing for a little while. By this point she had turned back to looking like herself, though she still coughed furballs and had a cat tail.

Jacob was entering the Hospital Wing, carrying library books in his arms as he was making his way to Hermione's bed, which was covered in books. He had visited Hermione every day, and made it his personal mission to help Hermione in making sure she wasn't left behind in her studies.

"Oh, good." Hermione said and smiled when she saw Jacob coming. "Put those anywhere."

Jacob looked around the bed, and in his mind there was no anywhere, so he simply placed the books on top of other books before sitting down on a chair next to her bed.

"Madam Pince asked that i relay a message to you, Hermione." Jacob said, before laughing. "She'd appreciate it if you'd leave a few books for the school."

"I've got to keep up, haven't i?" She said.

Just then, Hermione's tail came into view, twitching.

'That tail looks cute on her.' Jacob though as he looked at the tail.

Realizing what he thought, he blushed slightly and shook his head slightly. 

"How long until your tail goes away?"

"Any day now, according to Madam Pomfrey. I'm just thankful i've stopped coughing up fur balls."

"So am i, believe me."

"Now, what about the Chamber of Secrets. Any new leads?"

"Nothing."

"And has it gotten any better? I mean... is anyone speaking to you and Harry?"

"Neville asked to borrow a tubeworm in Potions yesterday. I suppose that's something."

Jacob then noticed a card from under Hermione's pillow. Taking it, he saw it was a GET-WELL card, and started to read it outloud.

"'To Miss Granger, wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher Gilderoy Lockhart.'" That jealousy feeling started to come back. "He sent you a GET-WELL card?"

"Yes." Hermione replied, but there was no admiring tone in her voice. "I don't know how that got there. I've realized he's not as great as he claimed he was."

Jacob felt really relieved when he heard her say this.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Moments later, Jacob had joined Harry and Ron, and the boys were walking towards the moving stairscases. 

"Have you spoken to Hermione?" Ron asked Jacob.

"She should be out of hospital in a few days, once her cat tail goes away." Jacob replied.

"That's good to hear." Harry said relieved.

When the boys got on a platform, they stopped walking and noticed there was water coming on to it from a corridor.

"What's this?" Jacob asked.

The three then started to run to where the water was coming from, and came to the corridor where the girls bathroom was, and noticed the entire corridor was flooded.

"Yuck!" Ron said.

"This whole place's flooded, what happened?" Jacob said, looking everywhere.

"Looks like Moaning Myrtle's flooded the bathroom." Harry said.

The boys went inside the bathroom, and saw how all the sinks were overflowing with water as the taps had been turned on, the water leaking on the floor. 

The boys heard whimpering and moaning. Jacob pointed his finger towards the window where Myrtle was sitting. Myrtle stopped her whimpering and moaning when she noticed the boys.

"Come to throw something else at me?" She asked.

"Why would we throw something at you?" Jacob asked.

"Don't ask me." Myrtle got up and started floating. "Here i am, minding my own business, and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me."

"But it can't hurt if someone throws something at you. I mean, it'll juts go right through you." Ron said.

"That's little insensitive, don't you think..." Jacob muttered.

Harry nodded at this, when Myrtle, now angry, suddenly flew right to Ron's face, who was now scared.

"Sure!" She said. "Let's all throw books at Myrtle because she can't feel it. Ten points if you get it through her stomach!" She then punched Ron through his stomach and he flinched back. "Fifty points if it goes through her head!" She then punched him through his head.

"But who threw it at you, anyway?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. I didn't see them. I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death, and it fell through the top of my head. Uh-huh."

Myrtle then started wailing and floated away. The boys meanwhile noticed a black diary on the floor by the stalls. Jacob walked up to it and picked it up.

"Fifty points if you can get it through her nose." Ron said, pointing towards Myrtle.

"I HEARD THAT!" She yelled.

Myrtle's shout suddenly caused the boys to dash out of the bathroom.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Moments later, the boys were walking in the corridor, heading towards the Hospital Wing to let Hermione know about the diary they found, while Jacob was examining it.

"This is a diary." He said. "And it's old..."

"It's a diary, it's old..." Ron repeated. "... and was most recently in a toilet, Jacob."

Jacob then started to open the diary, when Ron suddenly grabbed his hand.

"Are you mad? That could be cursed. Dad once told me about a book the Ministry confiscated that burned the eyes out of anyone who tried to read it."

"I'll take my chances." Jacob said, rolling his eyes. He opened the diary before he suddenly started shouting and covering his eyes. "Ahhh! MY EYES! MY EYES!"

Ron froze terrified. However, Harry remained oddly calm, and few seconds later it was revealed why. Jacob started grinning, before he snickered, showing that he pulled a prank on Ron.

Harry couldn't help but snort out a laugh as well. The trio then noticed Ginny standing at the end of the corridor, looking from the diary to Jacob-- utter terror on her face -- then dashed off.

"Ginny! I was only joking --" Jacob tried to explain before she disappeared. "Brilliant. Even your sister thinks i'm a monster now."

"Who doesn't?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, you did that to yourself." Harry remarked smirking, while taking the diary in his hands. He then started to fan the pages, noticing they were empty. "That's odd. They're empty."

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, the boys were in the Hospital Wing visiting Hermione, and the twins showed her the diary, who was inspecting the cover. Harry and Ron were sitting on Hermione's right side on chairs, while Jacob was sitting on her left on the bed.

"There's a name in this diary. Tom Marvolo Riddle." Hermione said, reading the name from the back.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle?" Ron asked and took the diary, looking at the name. "Hang on. I know that name. Why do i know that name?" 

He thought for a second. "Of course. That night i had detention. My job was to polish the silver in the trophy room. I remember... because i kept burping up slugs over Tom Riddle's trophy. I must have wiped slime off his name for an hour."

"What was the trophy for?" Harry asked.

"He won an award fifty years ago. Special service to the school or something."

Hermione then narrowed her eyes while Ron gave the diary to Jacob. "Fifty years ago? Are you sure?" She asked Ron.

"Yeah, why?"

"Don't you remember what Malfoy told you?"

"The last time Chamber of Secrets was opened was--" Jacob started talking.

"--Fifty years ago." Harry then finished, and Hermione nodded. "That means--"

"Tom Riddle was here at Hogwarts when it happened." She said. "What if he wrote about what he saw? It's possible he knew where the Chamber was. How to open it. Even what sort of creature lives in it. If so, whoever's behind these attacks wouldn't want this diary lying around, would they?"

"It's a brilliant theory, Hermione..." Jacob said. "... it could even work, but there's just one flaw. There's nothing written in this diary." He opened the diary, showing all the empty pages inside it. "Makes you question why keep a diary and not write anything in it..."

"It might be invisible ink." Hermione pulled out her wand and pointed it at the diary. "Aparecium!"

She tapped the diary three times, but nothing happened, as the pages remained blank. She frowned as she put her wand away.

"I don't know, Jacob. But i think you and Harry should be careful with this. Something tells me Ron might be right. It could be dangerous."

"You don't think i'm dangerous, do you, Hermione?" He asked, frowning a little. "I mean, you're not scared. Of us."

"I'm scared, Jacob. But not of you."

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later that night, Jacob and Harry were in the Common Room, sitting on a table. Harry was flipping the diary pages, while Jacob was reading Hogwarts. A History, trying to find anything important from fifty years ago. The Grey Lady was also sitting on the same table, softly humming while reading her own book.

"Do you mind?" Harry suddenly said to the ghost.

Jacob lifted his head up from the book and looked between his brother and the ghost. 

"Sorry about him. We've been on the edge lately." he said to her.

The Grey Lady nodded to him, and floated away, leaving the brothers alone.

"Sorry about that." Harry said, sighting a little.

"It's all right." Jacob said.

As Jacob got back to the book, Harry flipped the diary around, reading Riddle's name. He then thought for a second, before he got an idea, and took a quill in his hand and dipping it into a bottle of ink.

"What are you doing?" Jacob asked.

Harry let an ink drop on the page, while Jacob leaned in closer to see, and the two saw how the spilled ink vanished, as if it was sucked into the page.

"... That's why there's nothing written in the pages." Jacob said, realizing that the writing simply disappeares.

Harry then started to think what to write before taking more inq and started writing. "Our names are Harry and Jacob Potter." He said outloud while writing.

Once Harry was done writing, the writing disappeared. Slowly, oozing out of the page, came a response. Hello Harry and Jacob Potter. My name is Tom Riddle.

The words then vanished. The boys looked at each other, excited, before Harry took more ink and started writing again.

"Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?"

The text vanished again, and they got an answer. "Yes."

"Can you tell us?"

"No."

The brothers frowned at this.

"Why is it so hard to find--" Jacob started speaking.

But when they glanced at the page again, slowly new words oozed to the surface.

"But i can show you."

The brothers looked at each and thought 'How?'

"Let me take you back fifty years ago."

Suddenly pages started to flip before stopping on another empty page, and on the right corner appeared '13th June'.

The brothers together took the diary in their hands before it started to glow. Jacob and Harry were surrounded by a light, and the next thing they knew, the boys were sucked into the light, leaving the diary closed on the table.

Next thing the brothers knew, the light teleported them underneath the staircases leading to the Great Hall. They started to look around before walking further into the corridor, and they saw a 16 year-old boy up the stairs, looking up.

"Excuse us." Harry said as he aproached the boy. "Could you tell us what's going on?"

The boy said nothing as he kept looking up the steps.

"Are you Tom Riddle? Hello, can you hear me?"

"Harry." Jacob said as he got next to his brother. "The diary said it would take us fifty years into the past. I think we're seeing what happened then, so people can't see or hear us."

"Ah, right."

Jacob then looked up the stairs where Riddle was looking at. "Harry, look."

Harry looked and the brothers saw a group of elder witches and wizards -- Hogwarts professors -- talking to themselves by the Entrance Hall, when younger wizards came down, bearing a stretcher. Over it was a cloth, and hanging out of it the twins saw a limp arm.

"Riddle!"

The brothers, along with Riddle, turned back to look up the stairs, and saw a fifty years younger professor Dumbledore.

"Come." Dumbledore waved his hands to Riddle, signaling for the boy to come to him.

"Professor Dumbledore." Riddle said and started to walk to the elder professor.

"Dumbledore?" Harry asked.

"Of course." Jacob said. "He would by this point be a teacher at Hogwarts."

The brothers then started to follow Riddle, before everyone stopped in front of Dumbledore.

"It is not wise to be wandering around this late hour, Tom." Dumbledore said.

"Yes, professor." Riddle said, stuttering a little while putting his arms behind his back. "I suppose i... i had to see for myself if the rumors were true."

"I'm afraid they are, Tom. They are true."

"About the school as well? I don't have a home to go to. They wouldn't really close Hogwarts, would they, professor?"

"I understand, Tom, but i'm afraid... that Headmaster Dippet may have no choice."

"Sir, if it all stopped, if the person responsible was caught..."

Dumbledore then looked at Riddle with a hint of suspicion. "Is there something... you wish to tell us?"

Dumbledore studied Riddle for a moment, while the brothers looked back and forth between the two. Dumbledore finally nodded at the boy.

"Very well, then. Off you go."

"Good night, sir."

Riddle then started to walk away from Dumbledore and the rest of the teachers. Jacob then looked at Harry and nodded his head towards Riddle, and the two started to follow him.

They followed Riddle past the Great Hall down the stairs to the dungeons leading to the Slytherin common room, before coming to a door. Riddle took out his wand and looked back making sure no one was coming, before quickly opening it.

"Come on, Aragog. Let's get yeh out of here... Come on now... in the box..." The voice said.

The twins saw a second, smaller room. Crouched by a box, was a huge boy, while a strange clicking sound came from the box.

"Evening, Hagrid." Riddle said.

Young Hagrid turned sharply around, shutting the box behind him. Riddle walked inside the room while pointing his wand at Hagrid, all the while the brothers kept looking shocked.

"I'm going to have to turn you in. I don't think you meant to kill anyone, but --"

"Yeh can't!" Hagrid said. "Yeh don' understand!"

"Hagrid. The dead girl's parents will be here tomorrow. The least Hogwarts can do is make sure the thing that killed their daughter is slaughtered."

"It wasn' him! Aragog never killed no one! Never!"

"Monsters don't make good pets, Hagrid. Now, stand aside."

"No!"

"Stand aside, Hagrid."

"No!"

"Cistem Aperio!" 

Riddle shot a spell to the box, which caused it to burst open, and a large spider came crawling out of it quickly before crawling out of the room, right past the twins.

"Arania Exumia!" 

Riddle shot another spell, but missed the spider and it disappeared into a corner.

"Aragog! Aragog!" Hagrid shouted.

He tried to run after the spider, but was stopped when Riddle faced him again, wand held up.

"I can't let you go. They'll have your wand for this, Hagrid. You'll be expelled."

"Hagrid!" Jacob tried shouting, reaching his hand forward.

Suddenly, he and Harry noticed the school around them started to move, when they saw the door closed. Then the light from before came back behind the twins and pulled them in.

The next thing they knew, the diary opened and the light pulled back into the present time. Harry landed back on his seat, while Jacob flew backwards a little.

"Whoa." Harry said before running to boys' dormitory.

"Harry, wait." Jacob said as he ran after his brother. 

The two ran inside their dormitory and got to Ron's bed. Harry started shaking him.

"Ron. Ron, wake up." Harry said urgently.

"What? What happened?" Ron asked groggily as he was slowly waking up.

"It was Hagrid. Hagrid opened the Chamber of Secrets fifty years ago."

Chapter Text

Few days later, the quartet was walking outside in the courtyard. Jacob and Harry had explained to Hermione, who now was released from the Hospital Wing, what they had seen from the diary, but while Harry seemed convinced on what they'd seen, Jacob wasn't so sure himself.

"It can't be Hagrid. It just can't be." Hermione said, not convinced herself.

"We don't even know this Tom Riddle." Ron said, carrying few books. "He sounds like a dirty, rotten snitch to me."

"Ron's right." Jacob said. "There was something about Riddle that didn't sit right with me. Hagrid cares for magical creatures, he wouldn't want to set them on people."

"The monster had killed somebody, guys." Harry tried to argue. "What would any of us have done?"

"Maybe kill it ourselves?"

"Look, Hagrid's our friend." Hermione said. "Why don't we just go and ask him about it?

"That would be a cheerful visit." Ron exclaimed. "'Hello, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?'"

"Mad an' hairy?" The quartet suddenly turned around and saw Hagrid looking down at them. "Yeh wouldn' be talkin' 'bout me, now, would yeh?"

"No!" The quartet said in unison, instantly looking guilty.

Things got awkward for a moment, as everyone fell to a silence, while Hagrid was looking at the kids curiously.

"What's that you got there, Hagrid?" Jacob asked, pointing at a small tank in Hagrid's right hand.

"Oh, it's Flesh-Eatin' Slug Repellent. Fer the Mandrakes, yeh know. Now, accordin' ter Professor Sprout, they've still got a bit o' growin' up ter do, but once their acne's cleared up, we'll chop 'em up and stew 'em, an' then we'll get those people down at the hospital un-Petrified."

The quartet nodded in relief.

"In the meantime, though, you four, had best be looking after yerselves. All right?" The quartet nodded. "Hm."

 Satisfied, Hagrid turned around and walked away. Just then, Neville came running into the courtyard.

"Hello, Neville." Hagrid greeted.

However, Neville ran straight past Hagrid, running up to the quartet, looking pale and with fright.

"Jacob, Harry, i don't know who did it, you'd better come. Come on!" He said.

Glancing at each other quickly, the quartet quickly ran after Neville back inside the castle. Neville ended up taking them back to the Gryffindor common room, straight to the boys' dormitory. 

They saw the whole place was a disaster. The twins' beds were torn open, springs laying on the floor. Cabinets were thrown open and tipped over, contents strewn across the floor. Clothes were ripped and scattered on the remains of the bed.

Harry then made his way to his bed and going through his books, looking for something.

"It had to be a Gryffindor." Hermione said. "Nobody else knows our passwords. Unless it wasn't a student."

"Whoever it was, they must have been looking for something." Ron said.

"And they found it." Harry said, stopping his search. "Tom Riddle's diary is gone."

"What?" Jacob said shocked.

Jacob started to go through his stuff as well, whatever was left, but found no diary anywhere, just like Harry said.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Few months passed by, and during that time, the voice the twins had heard before the attacks had kept quiet, and there had been no attacks since Justin and Nick. The rumors about the Potter twins being the Heirs of Slytherin had quieted down thanks to it.

During the Easter Holidays, the second-year students had to choose what subjects they would be studying for their third year on top of everything else and the rest of the years, which were Care for the Magical Creatures, Divination, Study of Ancient Runes, Muggle Studies and Arithmancy. 

Hermione had decided to take every subject, ignoring anyone who told her she'd done so. Jacob had chosen Care for the Magical Creatures, Divination and Study of Ancient Runes, while Harry and Ron took Divination and Care for the Magical Creatures, since they didn't have a clue what to choose.

Now was the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. It was Jacob's turn to play a match once again. On Hogwarts ground, students were steaming into the Quidditch pitch. On the staircases, Jacob, dressed in his Quidditch robes, was dashing down with Harry, Hermione and Ron. Down bellow, Ron spied Ginny.

"Hey, Ginny!" Ron said. "Going to the match?"

However, Ginny looks startled when she looks up at her brother. Shaking her head, she quickly leaves.

"I tell you, she gets weirder and weirder byt he day..."

"Kill this time. Let me rip. Tear."

Suddenly, Jacob and Harry freeze up, as they start hearing the hissing noise again. Hermione and Ron also stopped when they saw this.

"No, don't tell me..." Ron said.

Jacob turned to where he heard the sound from, and starts touching his fingers on the wall as he glances around, trying to identify where it's going.

Hermione is studying his fingers with interest, but then Jacob turned away, shaking his head. The voice is gone. Hermione keeps looking Jacob the eyes, her mind racing.

"Jacob, i think i just understood something!" She exclaimed. "I've got to go to the library!"

"Wait!" Jacob suddenly said, making her stop. "Everytime we've heard the voice, someone or something turns up petrified. I don't want you to go alone."

"I can take care of myself. Besides, you have a match to go to."

"But--" 

Before Jacob could say anything else, Hermione pulled him in for a hug.

"I'll be all right." Hermione said quietly.

She let go of him, and sprinted towards the library, disappearing out of the boys' sight. 

"The library?" Harry asked puzzled.

"That's Hermione." Ron said. "When in doubt, go to the library."

Jacob didn't say anything, the pit in his stomach not leaving once. He could only pray Hermione would be all right.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, Jacob was with the Gryffindor Quidditch team getting a prep talk from Wood before they started the match.

"All right, listen up." Wood said. "We play our game, Hufflepuff doesn't stand a chance." The team took their brooms and started to leave for the pitch. "We're stronger, quicker, and smarter."

"And not to mention they're dead scared that Jacob or Harry will Petrify them if they fly anywhere near them." Fred joked.

"Well, that too."

They were about to walk up the stairs to the pitch before professor McGonagall exited the pitch and walked up to the team.

"Professor McGonagall."

"This match has been canceled." McGonagall said, shocking everyone.

"Cancelled! We can't cancel Quidditch."

"Silence, Wood! You and your teammates will go to Gryffindor Tower. Now." While the rest of the team start to leave, McGonagall turned to Jacob. "Potter, you and i will find your brother and Mr. Weasley. There's something the three of you have to see."

⚯ ͛ϟ

Moments later, McGonagall was leading the Potter twins and Ron to the Hospital Wing. There was a pit in Jacob's stomach that was growing when he noticed McGonagall had looked specifically at him with symphathy.

"I warn you." She said to the boys as they got inside. "This could be a wee bit of a shock."

She then looked towards one of the beds, and the boys followed her gaze. They saw Madame Pomfey near it, as well as Penny, who was sitting on a chair and had tears in her eyes. 

But then the boys widened their eyes when they saw Hermione on the bed, eyes open and her right arm reaching slightly up, Petrified.

"Hermione!" Jacob said shocked and leaned his hands against the bed.

"Miss Haywood found her near the library, along with this." McGonagall said as she took a mirror from a table and showed it to the boys. "Does this mean anything to you?"

"No." Harry could only mutter while Ron shook his head.

Jacob said nothing. He couldn't even speak. He only placed his hand against Hermione's reaching one.

"Let's give them a moment alone." McGonagall said quietly to Harry, Ron and Penny.

While Harry and Ron gave a symphathetic looks to Jacob and walked out, Penny stayed sitting down. She then looked at McGonagall.

"Professor." Penny spoke with a small voice. "Is it all right if i stayed as well?"

McGonagall looked at Jacob. Noticing that Jacob didn't give a negative response, she nodded at her.

"Very well." McGonagall then walked to Jacob and placed her hand on his shoulder, rubbing it. "I'm so sorry, Jacob."

Jacob blinked a few times, surprised to hear McGonagall addressing him with his first name and not by his family name.

"I know you care about Miss Granger a great deal."

"Thank you, Professor." Jacob whispered.

As McGonagall left the wing with Pomfrey, Penny then got up from her seat and walked next to Jacob, who by now was sitting down himself.

"... It's my fault."

"Huh?" Penny asked confused.

As Penny looked at Jacob, she saw tears were threatening to fall from his eyes, as he was trying not to cry.

"I promised her i'd protect her from the monster. And i couldn't even do that. I failed her."

"Jacob." Penny said, causing him to slowly turn to look at her. "It's not your fault. Even i wasn't able to do anything. You shouldn't blame yourself for what happened to her. I know she wouldn't."

The tears finally started to fall down Jacob's cheek. When Penny pulled him in for a hug, Jacob finally started crying quietly, laying his head against her shoulder. Penny rubbed his hair with he left hand, while letting her own tears fall down her cheeks.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, all the Gryffindor students were gathered in the common room. While most were downstairs, others were upstairs between the two dormitories. Harry and Ron stood by the spiral staircase and noticed Jacob sat alone by one of the windows. 

Jacob was looking outside with a blank expression, having said nothing after he came back from the Hospital Wing. McGonagall entered the common room, carrying a parchel in her hand.

"Could i have your attention, please?" McGonagall said, and the students all focused on her. "Because of recent events, these new rules will be put into effect immediately:"

She rolled open the parchel. and started to read. "'All students will return to their house common rooms by 6:00 every evening. All students will be escortet to each lesson by a teacher. No exceptions.'"

Once she was done, McGonagall rolled the parchel closed. "I should tell you this: Unless the culprit behind these attacks is caught... it is likely the school will be closed."

McGonagall left the common room, leaving the students to look at each other and start talking amongst themselves.

"Haven't any of the teachers noticed that the Slytherins are all safe?" Neville asked. "Isn't it obvious all this stuff's coming from Slytherin? The Heir of Slytherin, the monster of Slytherin-- Why don't they just chuck all the Slytherins out?"

"They can't close Hogwarts." Seamus said. "Where would we all go?"

"I don't care what anyone says." Dean said. "As long as Dumbledore's here, Hogwarts will be safe."

Harry meanwhile turned to look at Ron. "We've got to talk to Hagrid, Ron." He whispered. "I can't believe it's him, and i know Jacob doesn't either, but if he did set the monster loose last time, he'll know how to get inside the Chamber of Secrets. That's a start."

"But you heard McGonagall." Ron said. "We're not allowed to leave the tower except for classes."

Harry narrowed his eyes before turning to his brother and walked to him. Jacob didn't notice him until Harry placed his hand on his shoulder.

"Jacob." Harry said.

"What?" Jacob said, though his voice lacked any emotion.

"We need to go and talk to Hagrid. I know you don't believe he's the culprit, but talking to him about what happened fifty years ago is a start. The sooner we get to solving this, the sooner Hermione and others will be saved."

Jacob was quiet for a moment before standing up and facing his brother and Ron. His eyes were still red from earlier, but what Harry told him inspired him to get back into solving the mystery.

"You're right." Jacob said, now laser focused. "We need to solve this."

"Good to have you back, mate." Ron said, and gave Jacob a hug.

"Sorry about giving the cold shoulder there, guys." Jacob looked down a little.

"We get it, don't worry." Harry said, and the brothers hugged before letting go.

"I think it's time to get our dad's old cloak out again."

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later that same night, the boys were walking to Hagrid's hut under the brother's invisibility cloak. When they knocked on the door, they heard Hagrid ask "Who's there?" and he then kicked his door open. Hagrid had a crossbow pointed ahead of him.

"Hello? Hello?"

The boys then removed the invisibility cloak, also shocked when they saw the crossbow, causing Harry to lower his crossbow.

"What's that for?" Harry asked.

"You weren't expecting a blood-sucking creature to come knocking on your door, were you?" Jacob asked.

"Nothin', and no." Hagrid said, putting the crossbow down. "I was expectin', uh.. It doesn't matter. Come on in. I just made a pot of tea."

Hagrid and the boys got inside, and the giant started to pour tea on the cups, though he ended up spilling a little, and Jacob noticed he seemed nervous.

"Hagrid, are you okay?" Jacob asked.

"I'm fine. I'm all right." Hagrid said.

"Did you hear about Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Oh yeah." Hagrid took a deep breath, and looked at Jacob. "I heard about that, all righ'." He then walked to Jacob, who looked up to him. "I'm so sorry about that. But i want yeh to know, Jacob, yeh shouldn' blame yerself for what happene'. I know bloody well she wouldn'."

"Thanks." Jacob said, nodding his head a little.

"Look, we have to aske you something." Harry said, taking a brief look at his brother and Ron. "Do you know who's opened the Chamber of Secrets?"

Hagrid then took a deep breath. "What yeh had to understan' about that is--"

But he stopped when there was knocking on the door, which cause Fang to start barking, and everyone looked at the door.

"Quick, under the cloak. Don't say a word. Be quiet, all three of yeh." 

The boys quickly ran to a corner of the hut, with Ron throwing the cloak over him and the brothers, making them disappear completely. Hagrid opened the door, crossbow armed again, but lowered it when he saw Dumbledore at the door, joined by a portly man in a pin-stripe suite and bowler.

"Professor Dumbledore, sir."

"Good evening, Hagrid." Dumbledore greeted. "I wonder, could we...?"

"Of course. Come in. Come in." 

Hagrid walked back further inside, letting Dumbledore and the man to enter.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Jacob whispered, before looking at the other man. "And who is he?"

"That's dad's boss." Ron whispered surprised. "Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic."

"Bad business, Hagrid, very bad business." Fudge said. "Three attacks on Muggle-borns. Things have gone far enough. The Ministry's got to act."

"But i never--" Hagrid said and then turned to Dumbledore. "You know i never, professor."

"I want it understood, Cornelius..." Dumbledore said. "... that Hagrid, has my full confidence."

"Albus, look, Hagrid's record is against him." Fudge argued back. "I've got to take him."

"Take me?" Hagrid asked. "Take me where? Not Azkaban prison."

"I'm afraid we have no choice, Hagrid. For a short stretch only. Not a punishment. More a precaution. If someone else is caught, you'll be released with a full apology."

The door to Hagrid's hut suddenly opened, and everyone turned to look and saw Lucius Malfoy standing by the door.

"Already here, Fudge? Good." Lucius said, walking inside.

"What are yeh doin' here?" Hagrid said, now angry. "Get outta my house!"

"My dear man, believe me, i take absolutely no pleasure being inside your..." 

Lucius walked further into the house, causing the twins and Ron to back away quickly as Lucius was getting close to them.

"You call this a house?" Lucius asked disgusted. "No." He then turned towards Dumbledore. "I simply called up the school and was told the headmaster was here."

"Well, what exactly is it that you want with me?" Dumbledore asked, a little amused.

"The other governors and i have decided it's time for you to step aside. This is an order of suspension. You'll find all 12 signatures on it."

He then took out a letter, which he was about to hand to Dumbledore. Fudge was surprised and tried to take it, before Dumbledore stopped him, and took the letter.

"I'm afraid we feel you've rather lost your touch. Well, what with all these attacks, there'll be no Muggle-borns left at Hogwarts. I can only imagine what an awful loss that would be to the school."

"Now, see here, Lucius." Fudge said. "Dumbledore suspended. No, no... last thing we want right now... If Dumbledore can't stop these attacks... who can?"

"That remains to be seen, but as all twelwe governers have voted --"

"An' how many did yeh have ter threaten before they agreed!" Hagrid shouted.

"I would advise you not to shout at the Azkaban guards like that."

"Yeh can't take Professor Dumbledore away. Take him away an' the Muggle-borns won' stand a chance. You mark my words, there'll be killin's next!"

Malfoy wasn't looking concerned in the slightest. "You think so?"

"Calm yourself, Hagrid." Dumbledore said, having finished reading the letter. "If the governors desire my removal, i will, of course, step aside."

Lucius nodded at this, but then Dumbledore walked up to him. "However, you will find that i will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who... ask for it."

Dumbledore's eyes drifted behind Lucius, and the twins and Ron realized that the headmaster knew they were there. Lucius looked behind him confused before looking at Dumbledore again.

"Admirable sentiments." Lucius said. "We shall all miss your high individual way of running things, and only hope your successor will manage to prevent any more, um, killings. Shall we?"

Lucius strode back to the door and opened it, waiting for Dumbledore to join him. Dumbledore was eyeing the boys again, before leaving the hut with Malfoy.

"Fudge." Malfoy nodded to Fudge before leaving.

Fudge, who had been fiddling with his bowler, then turned to Hagrid.

"Come, Hagrid. Well?" He said.

Instead, Hagrid stood his ground and took a deep breath.

"If, um..." Hagrid started to say carefully. "... if anybody was looking for some stuff, then all they'd have ter do would be to follow the spiders. Yep. That would lead 'em right! Tha's all i have ter say."

Hagrid started to walk to his door, all the while Fudge looked at him in amazement.

"Oh, and someone will need ter feed Fang while i'm away." 

As Hagrid walked out of the hut, Fang made a little growl towards Fudge.

"Good boy." He said to the dog.

Fudge then followed Hagrid, closing the door behind him. Once the coast was clear, the boys removed the cloak off of them.

"Hagrid's right." Ron said. "With Dumbledore gone, there'll be an attack a day."

"Look." Harry said, looking past Ron.

At the windowsill, the boys saw a trail of spiders escaping through a crack in the glass.

"Come on." Jacob said.

 As he and Harry started to go outside, Harry took a lantern with him.

"Come on, Fang." Jacob said to Fang, and the dog followed the boys, as everyone exited the hut.

Chapter Text

When Jacob, Harry, Ron and Fang got outside Hagrid's hut, they saw the spiders, who's movements they followed closely, crawling out the window towards the Forbidden Forest.

"Come on." Harry said.

"What?" Ron squeaked scared.

"You heard what Hagrid said. 'Follow the spiders'." Jacob said.

"They're heading to the Dark Forest." Ron's voice kept cracking, due to his fear of spiders.

"Suck it up, and let's go." Jacob said.

Jacob and Harry started to follow the spiders, with Harry leading the way with the lantern in his hand, while Ron nervously followed them.

"Why spiders?" Ron complained. "Why couldn't it be 'follow the butterflies'?"

"You're just giving me more material to work with for later, mate." Jacob said.

The boys and Fang walked further into the Forbidden Forest, following the spiders closely.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Sometime had passed, and the boys and Fang were walking far into the forest, following the spiders, who's numbers had grown large the further they walked in. Suddenly the trio heard a roaring sound coming from close by, and they turned to look to where it came from.

"There's something moving over there. Listen." Harry said.

"It sounds like something big." Jacob commented.

"Big?" Ron managed to ask with a scared voice.

Suddenly the lights turned on from where the voice came from, blinding the twins for a moment, though Ron had a surprised look on his face when he recognized what it was.

"Guys! Guys, it's our car!" Ron said, walking ahead a little.

Jacob and Harry squinted their eyes a little, and saw that Ron was right. The Weasley's blue car, Ford Anglia, was standing in front of them.

"It must've been here all the time. And, look, the forest hast turned it wild."

Ford Anglia kept roaring at the boys a little, and they saw how it was covered in forest leafs, before it shut it's lights.

"Come on." Harry said. "We don't want to lose the trail."

"Yeah." Jacob said. "We need to get to the bottom of this."

With Harry leading the way with the lantern, the trio continued to follow the spiders. They had been following the spiders for sometime now. Jacob and Harry were able to keep their calm while Ron's breathing was getting heavier, due to his fear of spiders, all the while boys stepped around the spiders to not step on them.

"Guys, i don't like this." Ron said, his voice cracking.

The twins didn't say anything.

"Guys, i don't like this at all."

"Shush!" Harry shushed.

Jacob pointed forward, and he and Harry saw the spiders were going inside a tunnel that went under a huge tree.

"Can we go back now?" Ron asked.

"We're not backing away now." Jacob said, and started to walk into the tunnel.

"Come on." Harry said, following his brother, and Ron followed them in return.

The trio and Fang walked further into the tunnel while looking nervously at the spiders that were crawling around them.

"Forget what i said earlier this year, i've never seen this many spiders ever in my life..." Jacob muttered.

The trio and Fang finally walked out of the tunnel and saw they were surrounded by large trees and tree roots from every direction. They then stopped when they heard a cracking sound in front of them.

"Who is it?" A voice from a large hole in the ground asked.

"I don't have a good feeling about this, guys --" Ron squeaked.

"Don't panic." Harry whispered to the two.

"Doing my best not to." Jacob whispered back.

"You do not come from the forest." The voice said. "Your hearts beat like... men. Hagrid? Is that you?"

"We're friends of Hagrid." Harry said.

"We followed his instructions after he said to follow the spiders." Jacob said.

The creature then came from the hole, and to boys' shock it was a giant spider, a size of an elephant. Hagrid's pet spider Aragog from fifty years ago.

"And you? You're Aragog, aren't you?" Harry asked nervously.

"Hagrid took care of you when he was in school." Jacob said, also nervous now.

"Yes." Aragog replied. "Hagrid has never sent men into our hollow before."

"He's in trouble." Jacob said. "Up at the school, there have been attacks."

Ron meanwhile turned to his right and to his horror he saw big spiders crawling around, circling the kids, and Ron started to look around them, getting more and more scared.

"They think it's Hagrid." Harry said. "They think he opened the Chamber of Secrets. Like before."

"That's a lie." Aragog said, angrily. "Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets"

"I knew it." Jacob whispered. "Hagrid is not the type of person to do it."

"But if Hagrid never..." Harry said. "... that means... you're not the monster?"

"No." Aragog said. "The monster was born in the castle. I came to Hagrid from a distant land in the pocket of a traveler.

"Harry, Jacob." Ron let out a little squeak, taking a hold of Jacob's sleeve.

"Shush." The brothers said to Ron.

"But if you're not the monster, then what did kill that girl 50 years ago?" Harry asked.

"We do not speak of it." Aragog replied, now with a scared voice. "It is an ancient creature we spiders fear above all others."

"But have you seen it?" Harry asked.

"I never saw any part of the castle but the box in which Hagrid kept me."

Ron meanwhile turned to look above them, getting more scared by the second.

"The girl was discovered in a bathroom. When i was accused, Hagrid brought me here."

"Guys." Ron squeaked again.

"What?" The twins asked annoyed, finally turning to look at him.

Ron let out a whimper and pointed above them, the twins following where he was pointing, and to their shock they saw hunders of spiders coming down upon them, climbing down their webs as well as the trees around them.

"Guys." Jacob whispered. "I think it's time for us to go."

"Well, thank you." Harry said politely, though nervously, to Aragog, and the boys started to back away slowly. "We'll just go."

"Go?" Aragog asked.

Ron nodded his head quickly.

"I think not. My sons and daughters do not harm Hagrid on my command."

More spiders then crawled from behind Aragog, while the boys looked at each other nervously, as they stopped backing away.

"But i cannot deny them fresh meat when it wanders so willingly into our midst. Goodbye, friend of Hagrid."

"Can we panic now?" Ron asked.

"Yes." Jacob squeaked.

Suddenly a spider landed behind them. Jacob and Ron took out their wands while Harry started to swing the lamp to knock the spiders away from them before the light in it died.

He then dropped the lamp and took out his wand, and the boys now stood back to back, pointing their wands at the spiders who were circling them.

"Know any spells?" Ron asked.

"One, but it's not powerful enough for all of them." Harry said.

"Where's Hermione when you need her?"

"Excuse me." Jacob said, offended a little. "I know a few spells thanks to her and studying."

Suddenly they heard a car enging roaring and lights coming towards them, which caused the spiders to back away. To their surprise it was the Weasley's family car, which opened it's doors to the kids.

"It's your dad's car!" Jacob said surprised.

"Let's go!" Harry shouted, and the trio ran inside the car.

"Arania Exumai!" Jacob shot a charm to a spider, which blasted it away.

He thene got in the backseat of the car with Fang, with Harry and Ron on the front seats. The spiders then started to jump on the car.

"Go!" Ron shouted and the car started to back away.

The car backed away through the tunnel the kids came through before finally coming out of the tunnel.

"Glad we're out of there." Ron said relieved.

A spider suddenly burst through the window on Ron's side and took a hold of his neck. Harry then took out his wand, and pointed it towards the two, with Ron moving his head out of the way.

"Arania Exumai!" Harry chanted.

The wand shot the light charm at the spider, causing it to let go of Ron and fly backwards away from the car.

"Thanks for that." Ron thanked.

"Don't mention it." Harry said.

"Guys." Jacob said nervously, and the two looked at him. "I don't think we're safe just yet."

He pointed to the hole, and the boys saw dozens of spiders coming towards them.

"Get us out of here." Harry said to Ron who was holding on to the wheel. "Now!"

Ron quickly turned the car on and started to drive backwards.

"Come on! Come on, move, faster!"

"Turn this thing around!" Jacob shouted.

Ron managed to turn the car around when it was clearer.

"Come on! Go!"

Ron blasted ahead, while hundreds of spiders were now chasing them across the forest.

"Get us in the air." Harry said.

As told, Ron tried to use the flying gear, but it was jammed.

"The flying gear's jammed!" Ron shouted.

"Oh great, now of all times!" Jacob shouted.

They then saw hundreds of spiders in front of them, blocking their way along with a fallen tree, while they were still driving forward.

"Come on! Pull!" Harry shouted.

"I'm trying!" Ron shouted back, trying to pull the gear.

"Try harder!" Jacob shouted.

They were crashing into few spiders, when finally Harry and Ron managed to pull the gear, and the car started flying, just missing the tree and sending some of the spiders flying.

They managed to finally fly out of the forest and had a rough landing outside Hagrid's hut, and the boys exited the car, with Fang barking while getting out.

"Follow the spiders. Follow the spider." Ron complained. "If Hagrid ever gets put of Azkaban i'll kill him."

They then saw the car turn itself on again before it drove back into the forest, while the kids continued watching it disappear.

"I mean, what was the point of sending us in there? What have we found out?"

"We know one thing." Harry said. "Hagrid never opened the Chamber of Secrets. He was innocent."

"I knew it wasn't Hagrid." Jacob then said. "But we still don't know who opened it, and what the monster is."

Chapter Text

One month passed following the boys' encounter with the spiders. Jacob, Harry and Ron were on their way to the Hospital Wing to visit Hermione, joined by Penny. Jacob had decided to tell her everything that they had been doing when it came to trying to find out about the Chamber of Secrets. 

The kids were about to enter the Hospital Wing, when Madam Pomfrey was barring at the door, frowing at the kids.

"There's no point in talking to a petrified person." She told them. "She won't hear a word you're saying."

This caused Penny to shift uncomfortably. "We know that, Madam Pomfrey." She said. "It's just, well, you see, we though, maybe, we could... be with her for a bit. She's our friend, you see, and... even if she can't hear us... it can't hurt, can it?"

Pomfrey then looked specifically at Jacob, who was carrying a new set of flowers for the pot on the table next to Hermione's bed, sympathetically, before answering.

"Very well, then. But be quick about it."

As Pomfrey left, the kids walked up to Hermione's bed. Absently, Ron picked up Hermione's mirror that was laying on the nightstand, then eyed Lockhart's GET WELL card.

"You don't think Lockhart could be the Heir of Slytherin, do you?" He asked.

Harry ended up nudging his elbow agains Ron, nodding towards Jacob, who had been silent the entire time.

"Right. Forget i said that."

Jacob started to take out the old flowers from the pot on the table and putting new ones in. He then sat next to her on the bed and took a hold of her hand, while Harry, Ron and Penny sat on her right side.

"Wish you were here, Hermione." Jacob said quietly. "We need you. Now more than ever. I wish i could figure out where the Chamber is or what the monster is. I know i'm not as smart as you, but i wish i could do something."

Penny was looking down while taking a deep breath, which caused Ron to put his hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her. Jacob was rubbing his thumb on the back of Hermione's hand when he felt something in her hand.

Confused, he moved his hand away, and he saw she was clutching a ripped parchel. He then took it, opened it up and started to read it, causing the others to notice it.

"What's that?" Ron asked.

"Was it in Hermione's hand?" Harry asked.

Jacob nodded, while still reading. While reading it, the missing pieces were finally falling into place in his head.

"Guys..." Jacob said. "... this is why Hermione was in the library the day she was attacked. Come on."

He then left the Hospital Wing, with others following behind him. While walking down a corridor, Jacob started to read the ripperd paper outloud while others leaned in closer.

"'Of the many fearsome beasts that roam our land, none is more deadly than the basilisk. Capable of living for hundreds of years, instant death awaits any who meet this giant serpent's eye. Spiders flee before it.'"

He then turned to others and they stopped walking. "Guys, this is it. The monster in the Chamber of Secrets is a basilisk."

"That's why we can hear it speak." Harry said, catching on. "It's a snake."

"But if it kills by looking people in the eye, why is it no one's dead?" Ron asked.

"There's got to be a reason why everyone managed to avoid death..." Penny said, trying to think.

Jacob then started to think about how everyone was Petrified before looking at a mirror in front of them.

"Are you thinking what i'm thinking?" Harry asked.

Jacob nodded. "Because no one did look it in the eyes. Not directly at least."

The group started to walk forward again.

"Colin saw it through his camera. Justin--"

"Justin must have seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick." Harry continued.

Jacob nodded. "Nick got the full blast of it. But he's a ghost, he couldn't die again."

"And Hermione had the mirror." Penny then added.

"Yes. I bet you anything she was using it to look around the corners in case it came along."

"And Mrs. Norris?" Ron asked. "I'm pretty sure she didn't have a camera or a mirror, Jacob."

"Great thinking, Ron." Penny sarcastically said.

Jacob and Harry started to think about the day they found Mrs. Norris, and there was one weird detail that got their attention.

"The water." The twins said together.

"There was water on the floor that night. She only saw the basilisk's reflection." Harry said.

"Exactly." Jacob said, and walked to a nearby firetorch to get some light so he could continue reading the paper. "'Spiders flee before it.' It all fits."

"But how's the basilisk been getting around?" Ron asked. "A dirty, great snake. Someone would have seen it."

"Hermione's answered that too." Jacob then showed the paper and showed them handwriting at the bottom of the paper.

"Pipes?" Ron and Penny asked aghast.

"It's using the plumbing." Penny said, looking around the corridor.

"Remember what Aragog said about that girl 50 years ago?" Harry asked. "She died in a bathroom? What if she never left?"

"She could be hunting it to this day, and we could have seen her." Jacob then suggested.

"Moaning Myrtle." Ron and Penny said together, catching on.

Jacob nodded. "You're brilliant, Hermione." He said quietly. "Truly brilliant."

"It's also thanks to you we were able to solve the mystery." Penny said to Jacob smiling, and Harry and Ron nodded in agreement. "You pieced together what she was thinking."

Jacob started rubbing the back of his head. "All i did was pick up the pieces."

"Hey." Harry then said and put his hand on his brothers shoulder. "You might think you're not as smart as Hermione, but i think you're really close. You're brilliant as well."

This caused Jacob to smile little. "Thanks."

Suddenly, there was a loud announcement. "All students are to return to their dormitories at once." McGonagall announced. "All teacher's to the second-floor corridor immediately."

"Oh no, not again." Jacob muttered as the group ran to the second-floor corridor.

All of the teacher, which included McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, Hooch, and they were joined by Pomfrey, Filch and the librarian Pince, all ran to the second-floor corridor.

"As you can see, the Heir of Slytherin has left another message." McGonagall said, pointing to the wall with the writing on it as they stopped running. "Our worst fear has been realized."

Jacob, Harry, Ron and Penny then came from the other side of the corridor and were leaning in through a corner to see the writing and listening in.

"A student had been taken by the monster into the Chamber itself." McGonagall sounded horrified. "The students must be sent home. I'm afraid this is the end of Hogwarts."

Then Lockhart finally caught up, waltzing proudly to the other teachers. 

"So sorry, dozed off. What have i missed?" He asked.

"Just a man." Snape said. "A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Your moment has finally come."

"My m-moment?"

"Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?"

Jacob could detect a hint of sacrasm in Snape's voice, and thought 'I think Snape earned my respect just a little bit there.'

"Yes." Madam Hooch then said. "You also told me you were sure you knew what was inside it."

"D-did i?" Lockhart stuttered. "I don't recall..."

"That's settled." McGonagall agreed. "We'll leave you to deal with the monster. Gilderoy. Your skills, after all, are legend."

Lockhart looked nervous for a moment before collecting himself. "Very well. I'll just be in my office getting... Getting ready." 

"The rest of us should go and inform the students what has happened."

He then started to head to the Defence Against the Dark Arts office, while Pomfrey walked to McGonagall.

"Who is it that the monster's taken, Minerva?" Pomfrey asked.

"Ginny Weasley." McGonagall confirmed.

The kids' eyes widened at this. As the teachers left, the kids were now looking at the writing on the wall, which read 'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever', written in blood.

"'Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever'." Ron read the message outloud, voice quivering. "Ginny." His voice broke a little.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Moments later, the kids were walking in a corridor, with Ron looking very upset.

"She knew something, guys." Ron said. "She'd found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That's why she was taken. I mean, she was -- is -- a pure-blood. There can't be any other reason."

"We need to do something." Penny said.

Harry suddenly started pulling his brother and Ron away, with Penny following them closely.

"C'mon, let's go see Lockhart." Harry said.

This caused Jacob to let out a groan. "You can't be serious about talking to him."

"Lockhart's maybe useless, i know, but he's going to try and get into the Chamber. At least we can tell him what we know."

Jacob pondered for a moment, before nodding. He glanced over to Ron, studying his tortured eyes.

"We'll find her." Jacob said. "Ginny's gonna be fine."

Ron nodded, smiling shakily, before looking away. As he did, Jacob's face changed as he looked at Harry and Penny, looking troubled with them.

Even he didn't believe what he just said.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Moments later, the kids dashed into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, running straight to Lockhart's office.

"Professor, we have some informtation for you." Harry said.

But the kids stopped dead, while Lockhart quickly closed his suitcase, facing the kids. The four noticed the office was stripped to the shelves, with two large trunks full of Lockhart's belongings.

"Are you going somewhere?" Penny asked, raising her left eyebrow.

"Um..." Lockhart stuttered. "... well, yes. Urgent call. Unavoidable. Got to go."

"What about my sister?" Ron asked urgently.

"Well, um..." Lockhart then closed another suitcase. "... as to that, most unfortunate. No one regrets more than i."

Jacob meanwhile, stayed silent, as the gears in his brain were turning.

"You're the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." Ron angrily said. "You can't go now."

"Well i must say, when i took the job, there was nothing in the description--"

"You're running away?" Harry asked, blocking Lockhart as he tried to leave. "After all that stuff you did in your books?"

"Books can be mislieading."

"You wrote them!"

"My dear boy, use your common sense! My books wouldn't have sold as well if people didn't think i'd done those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all..."

"You're a fraud." Jacob said, who was angrily looking at Lockhart, and he walked up to the man. "You never did any of the things you wrote happened in the books. It's no wonder nothing you tried to teach us ended up working, be it the Pixies, trying to heal my arm or try to duel against Snape. You've just been taking credit for what other wizards have done."

"Jacob, Jacob, Jacob. There was work involved. I had to track these people down and ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. No, it's not all book signing and publicity photos. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long, hard slog."

"Is there anything you can do?" Penny asked, also angry.

"Yes, now you mention it. I'm rather gifted with Memory Charms. Otherwise, you see, all those wizards would have gone blabbing, and i'd never have sold another book."

Lockhart started to walk back to his desk, while Jacob nodded to his friends, and they took out ther wands slowly.

"In fact, i'm going to have to do the same to you." 

Lockhart took his wand from his desk and quickly turned around, but found four wands pointed at his face.

"Don't even think about it." Harry said, glaring at him.

Jacob swished his wand a little, signaling to Lockhart to drop his wand, which the man was forced to do.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, the kids were leading Lockhart to the girls' bathroom, everyone having their wands pointed at him, where they found Moaning Myrtle floating and whimpering around.

"Who's there?" Myrtle asked, turning around to face the group. She smiled and started to sound flirty when she noticed the twins. "Hello, Harry. Hello, Jacob. What do you want?"

"To ask you how you died." Harry asked.

Myrtle looked flattered. "Oh, it was dreadful. It happened right here in this very cubicle. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. I was crying, and then i heard somebody come in."

"Who was it, Myrtle?" Jacob asked. 

The situation almost reminded him of how Hermione was crying in the bathroom back in their first year when he found her.

"I don't know. I was distraught!" Shen whimpered and started to float to the boys. "But they said something funny, a kind of made-up language. And i realized it was aboy, so i unlocked the door to tell him to go away and... I died."

"Just like that? How?"

"No idea. I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes, over there by that sink."

Myrtle pointed to the set of sinks in the middle of the bathroom on a column before floating away. The twins walked nest to the sink, and started to feel out the column.

"The entrance's gotta be here somewhere." Jacob said, trying to turn the sink on before noticing a snake mark on it, feeling it with his finger. "Yes, this is it. I think this is the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets."

The others looked at the entrance in shock.

"Brilliant detective work, little brother." Harry said proudly.

"Say something, you two." Ron said. "Say something in parseltongue."

Harry started to focus, and then started hissing, speaking in parseltongue. They then heard a clicking sound, and the top of the column moved before the other sinks separated from each other, as everyone started backing away. 

The sink that had the snake symbol on it lowered to the floor before it disappeared, and the group saw a large hole leading underground, deep beneath the castle. Lockhart leaned in to see before backing away with a heavy breath. 

"Excellent, Harry and Jacob. Good work." He said. "Well, then, i'll just be... There's no need for me to stay."

Lockhart tried to run away, but the kids quickly grabbed a hold of him and started to push him back.

"Oh yes, there is." Jacob grunted.

The kids managed to push lockhart against the entrance before pointing their wands at him again.

"You first." Harry ordered.

"Now, kids, what good will it do?" Lockhart asked.

"Better you than us." Ron said, glaring.

"I'm gonna enjoy this after the abysmal glasses you put us through." Penny said, with a small smirk rising in her mouth.

"But--" Lockhart said before stopping. "Obviously, yes." He turned around and looked down at the hole again, before looking back at the kids. "Sure you don't want to test it first?"

By this point, Jacob had enough, and he kicked Lockhart down the hole. Lockhart started screaming as he kept falling, until several second later they heard a crashing sound, and the screaming stopped.

"That felt good." Jacob said.

"I could tell you had wanted to do something like that for a while." Penny said.

"You have no idea, Cara." He said and the two exchanged smiles.

"It's really quite filthy down here." Lockhart called from bellow.

"All right. Let's go." Harry said, getting himself ready and others nodded their heads.

"Oh, Harry, Jacob?" Myrtle said, causing the kids to look up at her. "If you die down there, you're welcoe to share my toiled." 

She giggled, while the kids looked uneasy at the suggestion.

"Um... thanks, Myrtle." Harry said, before he jumped down the hole first.

"Here goes nothing." Jacob said, and followed his brother.

Right away behind Jacob jumped Ron and Penny as well. Next thing they knew, the kids were now sliding down a tunnel while screaming in terror.

"Any other time i'd be having fun, but this is too much!" Jacob shouted.

The kids then finally landed on top of many bones, and saw Lockhart standing up, dirty and dusting himself before they rose up and quickly pointed their wands to him.

"Ugh." Ron groaned when he looked at the bones they were standing on, which seemed to be fish bones.

"Now, remember:" Harry said. "Any sign of movement, close your eyes straightaway."

"You don't want to be snake food." Jacob said, and he jumped over to one of the tunnels, followed by his brother.

"Go on." Ron said to Lockhart.

"We're waiting for you." Penny finished.

Lockhart followed after the twins, and Ron and Penny then came after him, still having their wands pointed at his back.

The group kept going through the tunnel before Jacob noticed another way. He then waved his hand saying "This way." and he started to run to a small cave, where the group came across a giant set of skin on the ground.

"What's this?" Ron asked.

"It looks like a snake." Lockhart said.

"It's a snakeskin." Harry said.

"And there's so much of it." Jacob said, and he and Harry started to follow it.

"Bloody hell." Ron said.

"You said it." Penny said. "Whatever shed this must be 60 feet long. Or more."

Lockhart then suddenly fell down, looking like he fainted, and the kids looked at him.

"Heart of a lion, this is." Ron said, lowering his wand.

"Why am i not surprised..." Jacob muttered.

But then suddenly Lockhart rose up and grabbed Ron's wand from his hand and pointed back and forward between the kids. Penny, while surprised, quickly raised her wand at the man, while the twins got on their feet.

"The adventure ends here, kids." Lockhart gloated. "But don't fret. The world will know our story. How i was too late to save the girl. How you four tragically lost your minds at the sight of her mangled body. I'll even bind a limited edition in this snake skin."

Jacob took a note of the tape wrapped on Ron's wand, and looked quickly at Penny who looked back at him. Jacob slightly nodded his head to the wand, and when she noticed the tape and caught on what Jacob was thinking, Penny slowly lowered her wand down.

"Wise choice, dear." Lockhart then turned to the twins before pointing his wand at them, specifically at Jacob. "So... you first, Mr. Potter. Say goodbye to your memories."

Harry at that moment got in front of Jacob to shield him.

"Obliviate!"

But just like Jacob suspected, as it was a damaged wand, the spell backfired on Lockhart. Hitting hims on the chest, it blasted Lockhart backwards to the rock ceiling above them, before Lockhart fell on the ground on his side.

"I knew it." Jacob said with a small smirk.

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound heard, and the cave started to crumble due to the crash Lockhart made. Rocks then started to fall between the two groups, with the twins on the other side and Ron, Penny and Lockhart on the side they came from.

Jacob and Harry backed away from the falling rocks before falling on the ground, while Ron quickly pulled Penny away from the rocks. Ron and Penny started coughing at the dust.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked.

"I am, thanks." Penny replied smiling, before looking at the rocks. "Jacob! Harry!"

"Are you two okay?!"

On the other side, the twins recovered themselves, with Harry helping Jacob up.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked.

"I am. How about you?" Jacob said, dusting himself off.

"Yes."

"Harry! Jacob!" They heard Ron shouting.

"Say something, you two!" Penny shouted next.

The twins then ran on top of the rocks, peaking through a small gap at their friends.

"Ron, Penny! Guys, are you okay?" Jacob shouted.

"We're okay." Ron confirmed.

"It was a close one, though." Penny said.

Ron and Penny then heard groaning next to them, and when they turned, they saw Lockhart waking up, lifting himself slowly to sit up.

"We're lucky you hadn't gotten a new wand yet." Penny said.

Lockhart then looked at the two, with a dizzy look. "Hello. Who are you two?" He asked.

"Um... Ron Weasley." Ron said confused.

"And i'm... Penny Haywood." Penny said, looking between Ron and Lockhart.

"Really?" Lockhart asked as he looked around. "And uh... who-who am i?"

"Lockhart's Memory Charm backfired." Ron said to the twins. "He hasn't got a clue who he is."

"I know i said another earlier in the year, but i'm glad you didn't get a new wand yet, mate." Jacob said gratefully.

"It's an odd sort of place, isn't it?" Lockhart asked, with a happy look as he took a rock. "Do you live here?"

Ron then took the rock from him. "No." He said.

"Really?"

Ron then hit Lockhart in the back of the head with the rock, knocking him unconcious. The twins grinched at this a little.

"Thanks. He deserved that one." Penny said.

"What do we do now?" Ron asked the twins.

"You guys wait here..." Harry said. "... and try and shift some of this rock so we can get back through."

"Wait, what are you two gonna do?" Penny asked.

"We'll go and find Ginny." Jacob said.

"But what about--"

"Penny, we don't have much time. Who knows what's happened to her and we need to hurry before the basilisk actually kills her."

Penny looked uneasy at this, before relenting and nodded at the twins.

"Okay." Ron said

Jacob and Harry then took their wands out again and started to walk forward. They took only few steps before they came across a circle-shaped door with multiple snape-shapes on it. The brothers walked closer to it.

"We must be close by now." Jacob said. He then attempted to speak in parseltongue, but to his surprised nothing happened, leaving him confused.

"Why didn't it open?"

"It didn't sound like you spoke parseltongue." Harry said.

"What? You're telling me i can understand it but not speak it?"

Harry nodded before looking at the door. He then spoke parseltongue. The snake heads then started to move slightly back like locks when another snake started to slither around the edge of the door. They then heard a clicking sound and the door started to open.

"I need to look how this thing works." Jacob said to himself.

The boys then walked towards the door, and as they entered the doorway, they were about to enter the Chamber of Secrets.

Chapter Text

The twins walked through the small tunnel before coming to a ladder. Climbing down the latter, the saw they were in a huge chamber, stretching ahead. Along the path were rows of stone serpents. The serpents rested in pools of black water. Ahead at the end of the chamber was an enormous statue, Jacob realizing it was depicting Salazar Slytherin.

"Snakes, creepy cave..." Jacob muttered. "Yes, fits Slytherins perfectly."

The boys kept walking deeper into the chamber, when they noticed at the end they noticed several feet in front of the statue, a motionless body of Ginnylaying on the floor.

"Ginny." Harry said, starting to dash to her.

"Harry!" Jacob shouted and ran after his brother.

The two then got next to Ginny and knelt down, and Jacob put his wand on the floor. They saw her pale hand cluthing Tom Riddle's diary against her chest.

"Ginny!" Harry said. "Ginny, please don't be dead. Wake up, wake up."

"What do we do, what do we do?" Jacob said, trying to come up with something.

"Please wake up."

"She won't wake." Someone suddenly said.

The boys turned to their left, and saw Tom Riddle standing by an entrance to a tunnel, seeing how he was strangely blurred around the edges. Riddle walked up to the boys.

"Tom. Tom Riddle. How are you here?" Jacob asked.

"What do you mean, she won't wake up?" Harry asked. "She's not...?"

"She's still alive, but only just." Riddle said.

"Are you a ghost?" Jacob asked.

"A memory, preserved in a for diary 50 years."

The boys looked at the diary in Ginny's hand, then Harry placed his fingers against Ginny's wrist, feeling she was cold. 

"She's cold as ice." He said. "Ginny, please don't be dead. Wake up."

Riddle, meanwhile, reached for the floor and took Jacob's wand without it's owner noticing it.

"You've got to help us, Tom. There's a basilisk." Jacob said and turned to Riddle, and saw his wand in his hands.

"It won't come until it's called." Riddle said.

"Harry." Jacob said, and Harry saw the same thing his brother did, and two stood up, with Jacob reach his hand for the wand. "Give me my wand, Tom."

"You won't be needing it. Neither would your brother."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked. "Listen, we've got to go. We've got to save her."

"I'm afraid i can't do that, Harry. You see, as poor Ginny grows weaker, i grow stronger." 

The brothers gave a confused looks to each other. "But she's dying!" Harry said.

"Yes. I'm afraid so. But then, she's been in so much pain, poor Ginny. She's been writing to me for months, telling me all her pitiful worries and woes. Ginny poured her soul out to me. I grew stronger on a diet of her deepest fears, her darkest secrets. I grew powerful enough to start feeding Ginny a few secrets, to start pouring a bit of my soul back into her."

Riddle, growing less vaporous by the second, grinned cruelly. "Yes, boys, it was Ginny Weasley who opened the Chamber of Secrets."

"No." Harry tried to argue. "She couldn't. She wouldn't."

"There's no way she's the Heir of Slytherin." Jacob denied.

"You're right, Jacob. She's not. But it was Ginny who set the basilisk on the Mudbloods and the Squib's cat. Ginny who wrote the threatening messages on the walls."

"But why?" Harry asked.

But by this point, Jacob was starting to figure out where Riddle was going with all of this.

"Because i told her to. You'll find i can be very persuasive. Not that she knew what she what she was doing. She was, shall we say, in a kind of trance."

"You charmed her, didn't you?" Jacob said glaring.

"I did. Still, the power of the diary began to scare her. She tried to dispose of it in the girls' bathroom. And then, who should find it but you two?" Riddle began to circle the twins. "The very people i was most anxious to meet."

"And why did you want to meet us?" Harry asked, getting angry.

"Ginny told me all about you both. I knew i had to talk to you two, meet you if i could. So i decided to show you my capture of that brainless oaf Hagrid to gain your trust."

"Hagrid's our friend. And you framed him, didn't you?"

"I didn't trust you for a second when you showed us you catching Hagrid." Jacob said angrily. "Hagrid may love magical creatures, but he doesn't unleash them upon students."

"Still, it was my word against Hagrid's." Riddle said. "Only Dumbledore seemed to think he was innocent."

Jacob let out a small smirk. "I'll bet Dumbledore saw right through you."

"He certainly kept an annoyingly close watch on me after that. I knew it wouldn't be safe to open the Chamber again while i was at school, so i decided to leave behind a diary preserving my 16-year-old self in its pages so that one day i would be able to lead another to finish Salazar Slytherin's noble work."

"Noble work, my arse. All Slytherin was was a maniac who wanted to limit magic and murder people who in his mind didn't deserve magic. He was nothing more than a murdering lunatic."

"Besides..." Harry said. "... you haven't finished it this time. Nobody has been killed this time. In a few hours, the Mandrake Draught will be ready. And everyone who was Petrified will be all right again."

"Haven't i told you?" Riddle asked. "Killing Mudbloods doesn't matter to me anymore. For many months now, my new target has been you two, specifically you, Harry." He started grinning. "Imagine my disappointment when i learned Ginny had stolen the diary back from you."

"Ginny stole the diary from our room?" Jacob asked. "But why?"

"She was afraid. Afraid you two'd learn how to work the diary. Afraid i'd tell you just who it was that had been strangling all those roosters."

The twins looked horified as they glanced at Ginny, who was growing more pale, then looked back at Riddle, who was growing more solid.

"Come now, you two. Don't look so disappointed. Had Ginny succeeded in destroying the diary, she would have destroyed me. And we couldn't be having this little talk. And i have so many questions for you."

"Like what?" Harry asked.

"How is it that a baby with no extraordinary magical talent, was able to defeat the greatest wizard of all time?" Riddle moved a little bit of hair from Harry's forehead, revealing his scar. "How did you and your brother escape with nothing but scars, while Lord Voldemort's powers were destroyed?"

"Why do you care how we escaped?" Harry asked. "Voldemort was after your time."

Riddle only smirked at this. "Voldemort is my past, present and future."

Riddle then turned away from the boys, and using Jacob's wand, he started to write his full name 'Tom Marvolo Riddle' in fiery letters. He then swished the wand over them and the letters started to switch places.

To boys' shock, what the newly arranged letters now said was 'I am Lord Voldemort'.

"You." Jacob asked shocked. "You're the Heir of Slytherin."

Riddle turned to face the boys again, and they could see a hint of red in his eyes.

"You're Voldemort."

"Surely you didn't think i was going to keep my filthy Muggle father's name?" Riddle asked angrily. "No. I fashioned myself a new name, a name i knew wizards everywhere would one day fear to speak when i became the greatest sorcerer in the world."

"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest sorcerer in the world!" Harry said.

"Dumbledore's been driven out of this castle by the mere memory of me."

"He'll never be gone! Not as long as those who remain are loyal to him!"

"And we will take you down in his name." Jacob said.

The boys glared at Riddle who glared back at them, but they stopped when they heard bird cries coming from the entrance. They turned to look and saw Fawkes the phoenix flying to them, carrying something.

"Fawkes?" The twins asked.

Fawkes flew to Jacob, and dropped what it was carrying in it's claws before flying back, as the twins and Riddle looked back at it. Jacob then opened up the wrapping and they saw what Fawkes brought was the Sorting Hat.

"So this is what Dumbledore sends his greatest defenders?" Riddle asked, not impressed. "A songbird and an old hat."

Riddle then faced the head statue of Slytherin while the boys were confused why the Sorting Hat was sent to them. Riddle then started to speak in Parseltongue.

"Get behind me." Harry said to Jacob and got in front of him.

Riddle then faced the twins again while the mouth of the statue started to open. 

"Let's match the power of Lord Voldemort, Heir of Salazar Slytherin against the famous Harry and Jacob Potter, shall we?"

When the mouth finished lowering down, the boys heard screeching sounds and saw the head of the basilisk coming out of it.

"Run!" Jacob shouted.

Jacob tossed the hat on the floor, while he and Harry started running to the direction they came from. Meanwhile, Riddle spoke in Parseltongue again, giving the basilisk an order to kill the boys.

"Parseltongue won't save you now, Potters. It only obeys me." Riddle said, and the basilisk started to slither towards the boys.

The twins kept running until Harry tripped, which also caused his glasses to fall of.

"Harry!" Jacob shouted but stopped himself from turning around.

Harry was lying on his stomach and managed to get his glasses back on, but the basilisk was about to bite into Harry.

Then they heard Fawkes' cries again and looked up. Fawkes attacked the basilisk, and while the boys couldn't turn around look, they saw what Fawkes was doing through their shadows. Fawkes was tearing it's beak into basilisk's eyes, blinding it.

"No!" Riddle shouted. "Your bird may have blinded the basilisk, but it can still hear you."

The brothers finally turned around and saw basilisk now had closed it's bloody eyes, while Fawkes flew back again. While basilisk was wailing it's head in pain, Harry got up and started to back away, but then he stepped on water, which made noise and caused basilisk to stop and look at where the brothers were.

Harry then took a hold of Jacob's arm and pulled him with him to a cave entrance on their right when basilisk tried to bite into them. They then got into a tunnel when basilisk again attacked to bite, only to crash into some rocks.

Running down the tunnel, they then turned to their left but their way was blocked by iron bars. They tried to turn back but then basilisk was really close to them. They backed away against the bars but the basilisk now was coming towards them, hissing and opening it's mouth.

Jacob looked down and he saw a rock next to him. He quietly took it and threw it past the basilisk. It made noise when it landed, causing the basilisk to stop and turn it's head slightly. The basilisk then backed away and started to slither to where the sound came from further into the tunnel.

When the basilisk was far enough, the brothers followed it and saw it going further away into another tunnel, so the run in the other tunnel next to it, which lead back to the hall. They got back next to Ginny, while Riddle stood over them.

"Yes, Potters. The process is nearly complete." Riddle said.

They saw how Ginny looked even more paler then earlier, while Harry put his hand against Ginny's.

"In a few minutes, Ginny Weasley will be dead, and i will cease to be a memory."

The brothers turned to glare at Riddle.

"Lord Voldemort will return, very much alive."

"Ginny?" Harry whispered.

But then suddenly the basilisk returned, raising it's head from the water behind them.

Jacob then heard a weird sound coming from behind him. Turning around, he saw the sound was coming from the Sorting Hat, and he saw something materializing inside it, which looked like a hilt of a sword.

He quickly got to the hat, took a hold of the hilt, and pulled the sword out of the hat, which he then pointed towards the basilisk.

"Harry!" Jacob shouted. "You still have your wand, right?"

Harry then pulled his wand out. "Yes." He replied.

"Let's kill this snake."

Jacob then started to run towards the head statue and started to climb up, while Harry started to shoot different jinxes at the basilisk, though they seemed to do minimal amount of damage to it. Basilisk ignored Harry as it approached Jacob, who kept climbing the statue.

Jacob then started to swing the sword at the aproaching basilisk. Basilisk then charged it's head to bite, but Jacob managed to avoid the hit, and started to climb again, while the blind basilisk kept trying to bite into the boy.

Jacob kept climbing until he was finally standing on the head, while the basilisk was now standing tall in front of him. Jacob got himself into fighting position.

"You're going to regret going after Hermione." He said angrily.

Jacob then started to swing the sword at the basilisk as it tried to attack, while Harry, who had stopped throwing hexes at the basilisk, and Riddle kept watching. Jacob kept hitting the basilisk while backing away before he tripped and fell backwards, letting go of the sword.

When he recovered and turned to look, he saw the sword barely hanging on the head while it started to slip.

"Quickly, the sword!" Harry shouted.

Jacob quickly crawled to the sword, and at that moment the basilisk charged in to bite Jacob. Just before the sword slipped, Jacob grabbed onto the hilt, got on his feet and stabbed basilisk through it's mouth through it's head.

"This is for Hermione and every Muggle-born." Jacob said with a heavy breath.

The basilik let out a painful screetch, and Jacob pulled the sword out. But he also noticed one of basilisk's teeth had sunk into his arm, and he pullet the teeth out of his arm.

The basilisk was wailing it's head in pain and started to lower to the floor, before dropping it's head dead on the floor.

"He did it." Harry said relieved.

Riddle meanwhile looked shocked at the dead basilisk, before he started to collect himself and looked at Jacob. Harry also turned to look at his brother, but when he saw his brother clutching his arm with the other hand that held the basilisk fang, he saw it was bloody.

"No." Harry muttered shocked.

Jacob was limping towards his brother while taking heavy breaths. "Did i do good, or what?" Jacob tried to joke and smile, before he fell to his knees and Harry ran to his brother to try and help.

"No. Jacob, what happened? It wasn't that bad, was it?" Harry asked, starting to panic a little.

"Remarkable, isn't it..." Riddle asked while gloating. "... How quickly the venom of the basilisk penetrates the body?"

"The venom?" Harry asked.

"Yes. If you have any final words, Potter, you'd best speak them now. I'd guess your brother has little more than a minute to live."

Jacob blinked heavily. He saw how the skin of his forearm was turning was turning to a troubling gray.

"So ends the famous Jacob Potter. On his knees in the Chamber of Secrets. Defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. He will be with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry, and you will follow suite soon."

"Don't you... dare..." Jacob tried to speak while still holding his arm. "... speak of her... like that..."

Harry then placed his left hand against Ginny's while still holding onto his brother, trying to keep himself together.

"Funny, isn't it?" Riddle asked. "The damage a silly little book can do, especially in the hands of a silly little girl."

Harry then got an idea, and took the book which was under Ginny's arm, placed it on the floor and opened it up.

"What are you doing?"

Harry then took the basilisk fang from Jacob's hand and lifted it up while glaring at Riddle. Riddle realized too late what Harry was going to do.

"Stop. No!"

Riddle tried to get to Harry, but he quickly stapped one side of the pages with the fang, which caused blood to start coming out of the book, while Riddle stopped his attack and saw a light hole come into his chest.

Harry kept stabbing further, causing the hole in Riddle's chest to widen and back away in pain. Harry then removed the fang, and when Riddle tried to attack again, Harry stapped the other side of the pages, causing the same thing to happen, and this time Riddle's face started to break.

Riddle now held his face as his form started to break apart. The brothers looked, and Harry then closed the book and stabbed the book one final time, which caused Riddle's form to be destroyed.

Ginny then suddenly woke up with wide eyes. She looked around before sitting up.

"Ginny." Harry said.

Ginny then turned around and saw the twins, while Jacob was still holding his wound. She turned to face the twins fully.

"Harry. Jacob." Ginny said. "It was me. But i swear, i didn't mean to. Riddle made me. He wrote to me... took me over... I didn't even know whose diary it was. I found it inside my cauldron. The day we all went to Diagon Alley, and--"

"We know Ginny. But..." Harry said before quieting.

Harry turned to his brother, who looked even paler than before, while he lying on his right side. Ginny's eyes widened when she saw him.

"Jacob, you're hurt." Ginny said.

"Don't worry... about me." Jacob managed to say. "Harry, Ginny, you need to get out of here. Follow Harry down the Chamber and you'll find Ron and Penny."

"No." Harry said, shaking his head, while trying not to cry. "We're not leaving you here to die."

"Harry, you heard what Riddle said. I don't have much time." Jacob then took a few deep breath. "Just... please, promise me something."

"What?"

"Tell Hermione i'm sorry... i wasn't able to protect her."

"You tell her yourself."

By this point, Harry let a tear drop from his eye. They then heard Fawkes crying, and saw it flying down to them, landing next to Jacob.

"You were brilliant, Fawkes." Jacob said. "I just wasn't quick enough." Jacob's eyes were starting to lose focus at that point.

"No, no. Jacob, stay with me. Who's gonna tell stupid jokes if you're not here? Who's gonna try and lighten the mood? Who's gonna..." Harry couldn't say anything anymore and let out a small sob.

While Ginny looked down and let her own tears drop, Fawkes lowered it's head above Jacob's wound, and the kids saw it dropping tears on his wound. The wound started to close, and with a final teardop, the wound closed and the venom was removed, healing Jacob completely.

Harry and Ginny looked surprised, though Harry realized what Fawkes did.

"Of course." Jacob muttered. "Phoenix tears have healing powers." Jacob managed to lift himself up to sit down before looking at Fawkes. "Thanks."

Fawkes started pushing it's head against Jacob's cheek, while Jacob turned to look at his brother. "Looks like you won't be rid of me that easily, big brother."

Harry only pulled his brother in for a strong hug.

"It's all right, Ginny." Harry said to her, once the brothers pulled apart. "It's over. It's just a memory."

"A memory which i'd gladly forget about." Jacob said.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, with Fawkes flying ahead of them, Jacob, Harry and Ginny were making their way back. Once they reach the tunnel, the rocks that blocked the way earlier were shifting away, and a jagged fissure of light glimmered, and Ron's head appeared.

"Ginny!" Ron cried, wriggling through the rocks. He rushed over to Ginny and hugged her. "You're alive. I can't believe it."

Ron was quickly followed by Penny . "I'm so glad you're all okay." She said as she pulled both Jacob and Harry into a hug. She then looked at Ginny. "Nice to see you're all right too, Ginny."

"Thanks, Penny." Ginny replied, but she had a sad tone. "But i'm going to be expelled, i just know it!"

"Remind you of anyone?" Ron asked the twins.

"Where's Lockhart?" Harry asked.

Jacob pointed to where he noticed Lockhart was sitting at, all by himself and humming placidly.

"His Memory Charm backfired." Ron said. "Hasn't got a clue who he is. We keep having to stop him from wandering off." He was pointing between him and Cora. "He's a danger to himself."

"He kind of deserved that, after everything he did." Jacob said, somewhat proudly.

Jacob then looked upward, noticing there was an opening above them, hundreds of feet up. Just then, Fawkes circled back, fluttering in front of Jacob.

"What's with the bird?" Ron asked.

"I think..." Jacob sort of understood what Fawkes wanted to do. "... i think he's telling me he can take us out of here."

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, Fawkes was flying through the opening, pulling Lockhart with it's claws, while Ron was holding on to his legs. Penny was also holding on to Ron's legs, Jacob was holding onto hers, Harry holding Jacob's and Ginny had a firm grip in Harry's waist.

"Amazing!" Lockhart shouted amazed. "This is just like magic!"

The group exited through a large tunnel, and were now outside Hogwarts, where the moon greeted them.

Chapter Text

Few hours later, Jacob, Harry, Ron, Penny and Ginny were now in the headmasters office, with Fawkes sitting on it's usual pedestal, and Dumbledore had returned to castle. They were also joined by McGonagall, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Dumbledore was sitting on his desk while examining the diary, before looking gravely at the kids.

"Ingenious. Simply... ingernious." Dumbledore said. "Of course, Tom Riddle was probably the most briliant student Hogwarts has ever seen. I taught him myself fifty years ago. After he left, i would occasionally hear stories of his activities-- Dark rumors.-- but after a while, even the rumors stopped. When he finally resurfaced as Lord Voldemort, most people had completely forgotten the clever Head Boy he'd once been."

"I didn't know who's diary it was, sir." Ginny tried to explain. "I swear. I found it inside my cauldron." She then looked at the others. "The day we all went to Diagon Alley."

When Jacob heard this, he started frowing and recollecting what happened there.

"But i understand if... given the trouble i've caused... if you--!"

"Wiser wizards than you have been hoodwinked by Lord Voldemort, Miss Weasley." Dumbledore interrupted Ginny gently. "No, i think you've endured enough. I would suggest a bit of bed rest, however. And perhaps a large mug of hot chocolate. I always find that cheers me up. Minerva, will you show Arthur and Molly up to the Hospital Wing?"

"Certainly, Albus." McGonagall replied.

As McGonagall took Arthur, Molly and Ginny with her, Jacob, Harry, Ron and Penny watched them go, while Mrs. Weasley's voice carried.

"A diary that writes back to you!" Mrs. Weasley said. "Honestly, Ginny! What were you thinking? Haven't i always told you? Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps it's brain!"

The kids meanwhile turned back to face Dumbledore, who started to regard them gravely. "You four realize, of course, that in the past few hours, you have broken perhaps a dozen school rules."

"Yes, sir." Jacob whispered, looking down a little just like his friends and brother.

"There is sufficient evidence to have you all expelled."

"Yes, sir." The four said together.

"Therefore, it is only fitting, that you four receive..."

The kids looked nervously at Dumbledore, who slowly started to smile. "... Special Awards for Services to the School."

The kids looked at each other surprised before they started smiled.

"And -- let me see -- yes, i think 200 points apiece, which, i believe, should be more than enough to secure Gryffindor the House Cup."

"Thanks, sir." Ron said grinning.

Dumbledore happily nodded before getting on his feet. "Now, Mr. Weasley, Miss Haywood, if you two would have an owl deliver these release papers to Azkaban." He gave Ron a letter. "I believe we want our gamekeeper back."

Nodding, Ron and Penny left the office, while the twins stayed behind. Dumbledore thurned back to face the twins.

"Harry. Jacob. First, i want to thank you, you two. You must have shown me real loyalty down in the Chamber. Nothing but that could have called Fawkes to you." He then looked at Fawkes. "And i believe he has become fond of you, Jacob."

Jacob smiled while looking at the phoenix.

"And second, i sense that something is troubling you. Am i right, boys?"

The brothers glanced at each other before looking back at Dumbledore.

"It's just..." Harry spoke. "You see, sir, i couldn't help but notice certain things, certain... Certain similarities between Tom Riddle and us."

"I see. Well, you can speak Parseltongue, Harry, and Jacob can understand it. Why? Because Lord Voldemort can speak Parseltongue. If i'm not mistaken, boys, he transferred some of his powers to you the night he gave you those scars."

"Voldemort transferred some of his powers to us?" Jacob asked.

"Uh-huh." Dumbledore then made his way back to his chair. "Not intentionally, but yes. But because Harry was his primary target and not you, Jacob, You only got small amount of his power, which is why you can only understand Parseltongue and not speak it."

"So, the Sorting Hat was right. We should be in Slytherin."

"It's true, Jacob. You both possess many of the qualities that Voldemort himself prizes. Determination, resourscefulness, and if i may say so, a certain disregard for the rules."

He then lifted his hand towards the hat. "Why, then, did the Sorting Hat place you two in Gryffindor?"

The boys then looked at the hat, and knew the answer right away.

"Because we asked it to." Harry said while Jacob nodded.

"Exactly, Harry. Exactly. Which makes you two different from Voldemort. It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices."

The two nodded slightly at this.

"If you want proof why you both belong in Gryffindor, then i suggest you look more closely at this."

He then lifted the sword from his table and handed it to the brothers. Jacob took it while Dumbledore said "Be careful."

The brothers looked at the edge of the sword at the hilt, where they noticed there was a name carved into it.

"Godric Gryffindor." The twins said together.

"It would take a true Gryffindor to pull that out of the hat." Dumbledore said. "And i believe if the roles were switched, you, Harry, would have pulled the sword out, as well."

The brothers took a heavy breath and smiled at each other. Then the door to Dumbledore's office opened with a slam and everyone turned to look and saw Lucius Malfoy entering, with a scowl. Behind him was Dobby.

"Dobby." Harry said surprised.

"So this is your master." Jacob then said. "The family you serve is the Malfoys."

Dobby let out a whimper and looked at Lucius, who was glaring down at the House-elf.

"I'll deal with you later." Malfoy said.

Malfoy then walked up to the desk followed by Dobby. He pushed the twins away with his cane. "Out of my way, Potters." He faced Dumbledore. "So it's true. You have returned."

"Yes. When the governors learned that Arthur Weasley's daughter was taken into the Chamber, they saw fit to summon me back." Dumbledore said.

"Ridiculous." Malfoy muttered.

"Curiously, Lucius, several of them were under the impression that you would curse their families if they did not agree to suspend me in the first place."

"How dare you!"

"Beg your pardon?"

"My sole concern has always been and will always be the welfare of this school, and, of course, it's students." Malfoy glanced at the twins.

'You couldn't tell a better lie even if you tried to, Malfoy.' Jacob thought.

"The culprit has been identified, i pressume?"

"Oh, yes." Dumbledore nodded.

"And? Who was it?"

Dumbledore took a look at the twins who looked back at him before he looked at Lucius again. "The same person as last time. Voldemort."

Malfoy started looking slightly nervous. "Ah."

"Only this time he chose to act through somebody else, by means of this." He lifted Riddle's diary up to show it to Lucius.

"I see."

Dobby then took a hold of Jacob's sleeve, and when the twins looked at the House-elf, he nodded his head towards Lucius.

"Fortunately, our young Mr. Potters discovered this. One hopes that no more of Lord Voldemort's old school things should find their way into innocent hands. The consequences for the one responsible would be... severe."

Jacob's brain was making it's magic as this conversation was happening, and he remembered he saw a black book with Ginny's books when Lucius put them back in her cauldron that summer they visited Diagon Alley, realizing that Lucius had place Voldemort's diary in it.

"Well..." Lucius said, and turned to look at the twins. "... let us hope that Mr. Potters will always be around to save the day."

"Don't worry." Harry said. "We will be."

"You can count on it." Jacob said.

Dumbledore smiled proudly at the boys, while Lucius turned to Dumbledore again. "Dumbledore." He nodded at the headmaster. "Come, Dobby. We're leaving." 

Dobby was about to walk down the steps when Lucius kicked him down the steps. As Dobby got on his feet whimpering, Lucius hit Dobby with his cane and the two exited the office. 

The twins kept looking angrily at Malfoy, especially Jacob who hated the idea there being House-elves like Dobby who were slaves to people like the Malfoys. Jacob then got an idea and placed the Gryffindor's sword back on the table. 

"Sir?" He asked Dumbledore while nodding at the diary. "I wonder if i could have that?"

Harry meanwhile was starting to understand what his brother was thinking.

Only moments later, Lucius and Dobby had exited the spiraling staircase to Dumbledore's office when they were followed by Jacob and Harry.

"Mr. Malfoy. Mr. Malfoy!" Jacob called out, and Lucius turned around. "We have something of yours." He gave the diary to Lucius.

"Mine?" Lucius pretended to not know. "I don't know what youre talking about."

"Oh, we think you do, sir." Harry said. "We think you slipped the diary into Ginny Weasley's cauldron that day at Diagon Alley."

"In fact, we know you did." Jacob said. "Because Ginny never had a black book with her things, until you took them out of the cauldron and then a bit later put them back, and the cauldron seemed suspiciously heavier."

"You do, do you?" Lucius glared and gave the diary to Dobby before walking up to the twins. "Why don't you prove it?"

The twins only stayed silent as they knew they couldn't prove it, but knowing it was enough for now.

Lucius snickered and turned to Dobby. "Come, Dobby." And the started to walk away.

"Open it." Jacob whispered to Dobby.

Dobby then opened the diary and he found a sock inside it. This started to make Dobby happy.

"Dobby!" Lucius called again.

"Master has given Dobby a sock." Dobby said.

"What?" Lucius asked confused, and turned around. "I didn't give--" He stopped talking when he saw it.

"Master has presented Dobby with clothes." Dobby said happily while taking the sock out. "Dobby is free."

Lucius was shocked and looked at the Potter twins. Jacob, while smirking, then lifted his pants a little, showing he had taken his own sock out.

"You lost me my servant!" Malfoy said angrily.

Malfoy pulled his wand out of his cane, before raising it at Jacob. The boys had surprised looks, and Harry then quickly got in front of his brother while Lucius approached them. Dobby then also got in front of the twins.

"You shall not harm Harry and Jacob Potter!" Dobby said

Lucius raised his wand up. "Avada--!" He was about to curse the twins.

However, Dobby quickly hit Lucius with his own magic, blasting the man a few feet away from them, until Lucius landed on his back.

"Hm." Dobby said, crossing his arms.

"Wow. Elf magic is something else." Jacob mutered.

Lucius got himself up while still glaring at the brothers. "Your parents were meddlesome fools too." He said before pointing his finger at them. "Mark my words, Potters. One day soon, you both are going to meet the same sticky end."

"I'd like to see you try, Malfoy." Jacob said, glaring back. "Unless you want to get yourself into trouble you can't save yourself from."

Lucius, still looking angry, finally exited the school, and the twins and Dobby could finally relax.

"Harry and Jacob Potter freed Dobby." Dobby said to the two. "How can Dobby ever repay them?"

"Just promise us something." Harry said.

"Anything, sir."

"Never try to save our lives again." Jacob said.

As the brothers smiled at the house-elf, Dobby smiled back at them.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later that evening, everyone was gathered in the Great Hall. The students were finally being joined by everyone who had been Petrified, having finally woken up. Jacob, Harry and Ron were sitting in the Gryffindor table, and Penny sat behind them on the Hufflepuff table, though Jacob was anciously waiting for certain someone.

"Welcome back, Sir Nicholas." A Hufflepuff student called out as she noticed Nearly Headless Nick floating past her.

"Thank you." Nick said happily.

"Good evening, Sir Nicholas." Another Hufflepuff girl called out.

"Good evening."

"Good to see you, Sir Nicholas." A Gryffindor boy called.

"Thank you." Nick floated to the Great Hall entrance door, next to which Mr. Filch could be seen hugging Mrs. Norris happily. "Hello." Nick greeted a student before Hermione walked inside.

"Hermione! Welcome back."

"Thanks, Sir Nicholas." Hermione said happily.

Nick floated away, she turned to face the Gryffindor table, trying to spot her friends, especially a specific someone she wanted to see again.

Jacob, Harry and Ron were chatting with Neville and Seamus when Neville turned to look to the entrance and saw Hermione.

"Jacob." Neville said excited. "It's Hermione."

Jacob let out a gasp and looked towards the entrance with Harry and Ron, as did Penny who overheard them. They saw Hermione standing there. Everyone had smiled growing on their faces, and Hermione, with a wide smile, started to run towards them.

Jacob was the first to get up and ran towards the girl as well. When they were close enough, Hermione literally jumped at Jacob, who managed to catch her in a hug. He spun her around and the two best friends laughed joyfully.

Jacob and Hermione held on to each other for few second, eyes closed, before they let go. The first to get to them was Penny who almost tackled Hermione to the floor.

"I missed you so much, Hermione." Penny said, crying little.

"I missed you too, Penny." Hermione said softly.

After letting go of Penny, Hermione then gave Harry and Ron a hug at the same time.

"Welcome back, Hermione." Ron said happily.

"It's good to be back. Congratulations. I can't believe you solved it."

"Well, we had loads of help from you." Harry said, then pointed at Jacob. "And Jacob was able to solve it once he found the ripped parchel. We couldn't have done it without you two."

"Thanks." Hermione then turned towards Jacob who was behind her. "I knew you could do it, Jacob."

Jacob let out a small smile before it dropped and he looked down. This caused Hermione to gain a confused look.

"What is it?"

The other three decided to let the two have their moment by backing away a little.

"I promised you i'd protect you from the basilisk, and i couldn't even do that." Jacob said, then looked directly at Hermione. "Can you ever forgive me?"

Hermione only smiled at him. "Jacob, i don't blame you over what happened. I rushed to the library on my own. Do you know what my last thought was when i saw the basilisk in my mirror?"

Jacob shook his head, giving her a no as an answer.

"I though 'Jacob will solve this. I know he will, because he will give his all.' And i was right to believe in you." 

Hermione placed her right hand on Jacob's shoulder and kissed him softly on his left cheek. Jacob felt like a heavy load was lifted from his heart with Hermione assuring him she didn't blame him, though the kiss got him to blush a little. This earned him few cat calls from the Weasley twins and a happy look from Penny.

On the teachers table, McGonagall then tapped her glass with her spoon, getting everyone's attention. 

"Could i have your attention, please?" McGonagall called.

This got the quartet and Penny to sit back on their seats, with Harry sitting next to Ron again, and Jacob next to Ron while Hermione next to Jacob, and Penny sat back on her place. Dumbledore then rose from his seat. 

"Before we begin the feast..." Dumbledore said. "... let us have a round of applause for Professor Sprout, Madam Pomfrey, who's Mandrake juice has been so successfully so administered to all who had been Petrified."

Everyone, students and teacher alike, started to give the applause for the to elder ladies. Only few Slytherin's were applauding, and Malfoy and Snyde were not among them, only giving out glares.

"Also, in light of the recent events, as a school treat, all exams have been canceled."

Most of the students happily applauded at this, with the exception of Hermione who said "Oh, no." quietly.

Jacob, while happy that he could take it easier now, felt bad that he wasn't able to see how much he had improved from last year. Also feeling bad for Hermione, he rubbed her back.

Dumbledore then sat down, and then suddenly the Great Hall doors opened, and everyone quieted down to see who was coming, and to most students joy it was Hagrid. The quartet looked really happy, as did the teachers.

"Sorry i'm late." Hagrid said, then started to walk further to the hall. "The owl that delivered my release papers got all lost n' confused. Some ruddy bird called Errol."

Ron widened his eyes, and uneasily looked at Dumbledore, who nodded at him. Hermione had raised her eyebrow while smirking at Ron, and Jacob did the same thing.

Hagrid then stopped walking at the space where the quartet and Penny were sitting, and looked down at them.

"And i'd jus' like to say... that if it hadn't been fer yeh, Jacob, Harry, and Ron... and Hermione of course..." He then turned to Penny, all the while getting emotional. "... and can't forget about you, Penny, i would still be you-know-where, so i'd jus' like to say... thanks."

The quartet looked at each other before Jacob and Harry rose to stand up on the chairs, looking up at Hagrid.

"There's no Hogwarts without you, Hagrid." Harry said.

"It's thanks to you we're here in the first place." Jacob then said.

The twins then hugged Hagrid who hugged them back happily, while Ron smiled, and Hermione and Penny looked like they were going to cry. Dumbledore then rose to stand up again, and started to applaude. He was followed by McGonagall, and when Hagrid looked at them, the rest of the teachers were also applauding.

Jacob and Harry then let go of Hagrid and joined in applauding, followed by Hermione, Ron and Penny, and then everyone else joined in to stand and applaud Hogwarts' gamekeeper. While there were a lot of Slytherin's who did join in, Malfoy, Snyde and Goyle stayed silent. Crabbe was about to stand before Malfoy grabbed his robes and pulled him down.

It was literally a party, as more students started to gather around Hagrid. Colin was taking pictures, and Hagrid started to cry with tears of joy. At this point Hermione was crying as well, and Jacob decided to pull her in for a side-hug, and the two best friends laughed happily as everyone enjoyed the feast.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Cast in Order of Appearance

Jacob Potter ... LIAM AIKEN
Harry Potter ... DANIEL RADCLIFFE
Ron Weasley ... RUPERT GRINT
Hermione Granger ... EMMA WATSON
Uncle Vernon ... RICHARD GRIFFITHS
Aunt Petunia ... FIONA SHAW
Dudley Dursley ... HARRY MELLING
Dobby ... TOBY JONES
Mr Mason ... JIM NORTON
Mrs Mason ... VERONICA CLIFFORD
Fred Weasley ... JAMES PHELPS
George Weasley ... OLIVER PHELPS
Mrs Weasley ... JULIE WALTERS
Ginny Weasley ... BONNIE WRIGHT
Mr Weasley ... MARK WILLIAMS
Percy Weasley ... CHRIS RANKIN
Draco Malfoy ... TOM FELTON
Merula Snyde ... CAMREN BICONDOVA
Lucius Malfoy ... JASON ISAACS
Mr Borgin ... EDWARD TUDOR-POLE
Aged Witch ... JENNY TARREN
Hagrid the Giant ... ROBBIE COLTRANE
Mr Granger ... TOM KNIGHT
Mrs Granger ... HEATHER BLEASDALE
Girl in Bookstore ... ISABELLA COLUMBUS
Gilderoy Lockhart ... KENNETH BRANAGH
Short Man - Daily Prophet ... PETER O'FARRELL
Angus (Diagon Boy) ... BEN BOROWIECKI
Station Guard ... HARRY TAYLOR
Neville Longbottom ... MATTHEW LEWIS
Seamus Finnigan ... DEVON MURRAY
Penny Haywood ... PEYTON LIST
Argus Filch ... DAVID BRADLEY
Professor Snape ... ALAN RICKMAN
Albus Dumbledore ... RICHARD HARRIS
Professor McGonagall ... MAGGIE SMITH
Talbott Winger ... JACOB ANDERSON
Crabbe ... JAMIE WAYLETT
Goyle ... JOSH HERDMAN
Professor Sprout ... MIRIAM MARGOLYES
Penelope Clearwater ... GEMMA PADLEY
Nearly Headless Nick ... JOHN CLEESE
Colin Creevey ... HUGH MITCHELL
Dean Thomas ... ALFRED ENOCH
Susan Bones ... ELEANOR COLUMBUS
Oliver Wood ... SEAN BIGGERSTAFF
Alicia Spinnet ... ROCHELLE DOUGLAS
Katie Bell ... EMILY DALE
Angelina Johnson ... DANIELLE TABOR
Marcus Flint ... JAMIE YEATES
Professor Flitwick ... WARWICK DAVIS
Madam Hooch ... ZOË WANAMAKER
Girl with Flowers ... VIOLET COLUMBUS
Man - Moving Picture ... PETER TAYLOR
Lee Jordan ... LUKE YOUNGBLOOD
Adrian Pucey ... SCOTT FEARN
Slyth Beater No 1 ... DAVID HOLMES
Slyth Beater No 2 ... DAVID MASSAM
Slyth Beater No 3 ... TONY CHRISTIAN
Miles Bletchley ... DAVID CHURCHYARD
Madam Pomfrey ... GEMMA JONES
Moaning Myrtle ... SHIRLEY HENDERSON
Justin Finch-Fletchery ... EDWARD RANDELL
Madam Pince ... SALLY MORTEMORE
Ernie Macmillan ... LOUIS DOYLE
Hannah Abbott ... CHARLOTTE SKEOCH
Boy in Study Hall 1 ... BRENDAN COLUMBUS
Boy in Study Hall 2 ... ROBERT AYRES
Professor Dippet ... ALFRED BURKE
The Sorting Hat ... LESLIE PHILLIPS
Millicent Bulstrode ... HELEN STUART
Brunette Lady - Moving Picture ... DAISY BATES
Count - Moving Picture ... DAVID TYSALL
The Grey Lady ... NINA YOUNG
Tom Riddle ... CHRISTIAN COULSON
Young Hagrid ... MARTIN BAYFIELD
Cornelius Fudge ... ROBERT HARDY
Aragog ... JULIAN GLOVER
Reader ... LES BUBB

⚯ ͛ϟ

Few days later, the Diagon Alley was bustling with people walking in and out of different shops. On the window of the Flourish and Blotts, there was a new novel from Gilderoy Lockhart on display, titled Who Am I?. The front cover of the book shows Lockhart wearing a straightjacket, still suffering from amnesia and who has been locked in a mental care ward.

Chapter Text

LIAM AIKEN as Jacob Potter

"Yes. I guess one of us had to inherit our Mum's brains."

DANIEL RADCLIFFE as Harry Potter

"I hope he finds us. Because when he does, i'm gonna be ready! When he does, i'm gonna kill him!"

EMMA WATSON as Hermione Granger

"Thank you, Jacob. For coming for me and for this."

RUPERT GRINT as Ron Weasley

"Of course you'd defend her. And maybe it was your bloody cat that ate Scabbers, too."

JULIE CHRISTIE as Rosmerta

"It'd be a lot better if the Ministry wasn't sending dementors into my pub every other night!"

ROBBIE COLTRANE as Rubeus Hagrid

"Firs' thing yeh wanna know about Hippogriffs is they're very proud creatures. Very easily offended. Yeh do not want ter insult a Hippogriff. It may be the last thing yeh ever do."

MICHAEL GAMBON as Albus Dumbledore

"But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times... but only if one remembers to turn on the light."

RICHARD GRIFFITHS as Vernon Dursley

"They won't let you back now. You've nowhere to go."

GARY OLDMAN as Sirius Black

"The ones that love us never really leave us. And you can always find them... in here."

ALAN RICKMAN as Severus Snape

"How extraordinarily like your father you are, Potter. He, too, was exceedingly arrogant, strutting about the castle."

FIONA SHAW as Petunia Dursley

"Nothing. That is... he didn't work. He was unemployed."

MAGGIE SMITH as Minerva McGonagall

"No permission form signed, no visiting the village. That's the rule, Potter. Your brother already knows that."

TIMOTHY SPALL as Peter Pettigrew

"The Dark Lord. You have no idea the weapons he possesses!"

DAVID THEWLIS as Remus Lupin

"They lived. Every moment of every day. You should know that. That's how they'd want to be remembered."

EMMA THOMPSON as Sybill Trelawney

"In this room, you shall explore the noble art of Divination. In this room, you shall discover if you possess the Sight."

SEAN BIGGERSTAFF as Oliver Wood
DAVID BRADLEY as Argus Filch
TOM FELTON as Draco Malfoy

PAM FERRIS as Marge Dursley
DAWN FRENCH as the Fat Lady

ROBERT HARDY as Cornelius Fudge
PEYTON LIST as Penny Haywood

JULIE WALTERS as Molly Weasley
MARK WILLIAMS as Arthur Weasley

Chapter Text

In a dark night during the summer, a light could be seen flickering in and out of a bedroom in Number 4 Privot Drive, belonging to the twins Jacob and Harry Potter. The twins were supposed to be sleeping, but instead they were wide-awake in their shared bed, sitting under their planket with Harry trying out Lumos Maxima spell with Jacob's help.

"Lumos Maxima." Harry kept chanting and the light kept coming through the planket.

When the twins heard faint sound of footsteps coming close to their bedroom, they quickly laid on the bed, pretending to be asleep. Their uncle Vernon Dursley opened the door, yawning, and turned the lights on, looking around the room.

 When he saw the twins were 'sleeping', he turned the lights off again and left the room. When the twins heard the door clicking close, they lifted their heads up a little and chuckled quietly before sitting up again and covering themselves with the planket.

"Lumos Maxima." Harry chanted again and light flickered from his wand.

Turned out the twins had a book laying between their laps, with the page turned on the Extreme Incantation. Jacob had already studied enough to know so he was willing to help his brother study magic, but they had to do so without being caught.

"Lumos Maxima." Harry chanted again and light flickered for a moment from his wand again. "Lumos Maxima!" He whisper-shouted and a stronger light came out, momentarily blinding the two.

"Sheesh, Harry..." Jacob whispered while covering his eyes. "... chant a bit strongly, why don't ya?"

The two again heard footsteps closing in, and quickly laid back on the bed to pretend they were sleeping. Vernon almost came marching into the room as he opened the door and turned to lights on to check around. He only looked confused as he glanced at the twins before turning the lights off again and walked out of the room.

When everything was clear, the twins looked at the door. They then looked at each other before laughing a little, and decided to get some proper sleep finally.

⚯ ͛ϟ

The rainy day was covering the Privot Drive during that same summer. The twins and the Dursleys were inside the Dursleys home when the doorbell to the house rang.

"Harry! Harry!" Aunt Petunia called.

Jacob and Harry both bound down the stairs and into the front hall, where Aunt Petunia and Dudley stood stiffly. Petunia flicked a bit of fluff from Dudley's sweater, before glowering crossly at Harry, and jerked her head towards the door.

"Harry, open the door."

Harry opened the door, revealing on the other side a large, waddling woman, Marge Dursley, Vernon's older sister, and a large waddling bulldog, Ripper. Once they entered, Marge handed her umbrella to Jacob. Vernon was close behind, an enormous suitcase in hand, which he also dropped on Jacob.

"Marge, how lovely to see you! How was the train?" Petunia asked.

Suddenly, Ripper barked at her, scaring Petunia a little.

"Wretched." Marge answered. "Ripper got sick."

"Ah. How... unfortunate."

"I would've left him with the others, but he pines so when i'm away. Don't you, darling?"

Marge puckered her lips at Ripper as she lead him down the hall to the living room, followed by Petunia. The twins and Vernon were still in the hall, as Vernon was removing his jacket. The twins pulled out to sets of parchments.

"Uncle Vernon, we need you to sign this form." Harry said.

"What are they?" Vernon asked.

"Nothing, just school stuff." Jacob said.

Vernon eyed the parchments in the boys' hands suspiciously, before walking to the living room, with the twins following him.

"Later perhaps, if you both behave." Vernon said.

"We will if she does." Harry said while Jacob rolled his eyes.

In the living room, Marge turned and started eyeing the boys. "Oh, you two're still here, are you?" She asked.

"Yes." The twins said together.

"Don't say yes in that ungrateful way. Damn good for my brother to keep you two." Marge gave her dog leash to Petunia and turned to Vernon. "They'd have been straight to an orphanage if they'd been dumbed on my doorstep."

"I think the orphanafe would've been a better option, if you asked me." Jacob whispered to Harry quietly, who nodded, agreeing with him.

Just then, Dudley -- who was sitting comatose before the TV -- emited a hollow, brain-dead chuckle.

"Is that my Dudders?" Marge said happily and hugged the twins' cousin from behind and started giving him kisses. "Is that my little neffy-pooh? Give us a kiss come on. Up, up."

She then tapped the couch and Ripper jumped on it, while Vernon faced the twins.

"Take Marge's suitcase upstairs." He ordered.

"Okay." The twins said and started to take Marge's stuff upstairs.

Later that day, the Dursleys were sitting on the table enjoying dinner, while Jacob and Harry served them food, and cleaned the plates.

"Finish that off for Mommy." She said to Ripper while giving him her plate, and the dog started to lick it. "Good boy, rippy-pooh."

Dudley meanwhile, was still watching TV while eating.

"Can i tempt you, Marge?" Vernon asked while a little drunk, carrying a few glasses with him as well as a brandy wine bottle.

"Just a small one." She said. "Excellent nosh, Petunia."

While the twins collected the finished plates, Marge then snapped her fingers, signaling one of the twins to take the plate from Ripper, which Jacob did. Vernon started pouring a glass of vine for Marge.

"A bit more." Marge said to Vernon. "Usually just a fry-up for me, what with 12 dogs."

She then looked at Vernon who was still pouring little wine for her glass. "That's a boy." She took the glass and started drinking. "Ah! You wanna try a little drop of brandy?" She asked her dog.

Jacob and Harry stopped what they were doing and looked confused at Marge as she gave her glass to Ripper who started drinking.

"You shouldn't give a dog wine, right?" Jacob whispered.

"I don't think so." Harry whispered back.

"A little drop of brandy-brandy windy-wandy for Rippy-pippy-pooh?" She asked before looking at the twins. "What are you two staring at?"

The twins only shrugged their shoulders before getting back to work, while Marge turned back to Vernon.

"Where did you send the boys, Vernon?"

"St. Brutus'. It's a fine institution for hopeless cases." Vernon replied.

Marge turned towards the twins again. "Do they use a cane at St. Brutus', boys?"

The twins again stopped and looked at their uncle, who raised his eyebrows at the boys, telling them to say something.

"Oh yeah." Harry said, deciding to go along with it. "Yeah. We've been beaten loads of times."

"You wouldn't believe the bruises they give there." Jacob said with a sarcastic voice while pointing at his left shoulder.

"Excellent." Marge said. "I won't have this namby-pamby wishy washi nonsense about not beating people who deserve it."

The twins only smiled and turned their backs on their relatives.

"You shouldn't blame yourself about how these two turned out. It's all to do with blood. Bad blood will out."

This got the twins to glance at each other when they heard this.

"What is it the boys' father did, Petunia?"

"Nothing." Petunia said. "That is... he didn't work. He was unemployed."

"Of course. And a drunk too, no doubt?"

"That's a lie." Harry said little angry.

This got the Dursleys to look at Harry, and Jacob widened his eyes a little.

"What did you say?" Marge asked.

"Um..." Jacob quickly tried to calm things down while turning to Marge. "What he meant was that our dad wasn't a drunk."

Harry's anger didn't let out out, however, and suddenly the lights in the kitchen and the living room flickered, and the glass Marge was holding shattered, and the Dursley's gasped in shock.

"Oh my goodness! Marge!" Petunia cried.

"Don't worry. Don't fuss, Petunia. I have a very firm grip." Marge said while waving her hands in assurance she was all right.

Vernon glared at the boys, who shook their heads. Jacob then hit Harry on the shoulder a little.

"Calm down, big brother." He said quietly.

"You heard what he said about dad." Harry said, equally quiet.

"I did, but you need to keep your cool if you want his signing for the paper."

"I think it's time you went to bed." Vernon said to the boys.

"Quiet, Vernon." Marge ordered while cleaning herself up, before she snapped her fingers at Harry. "You, clean this up."

Harry then took a rag and walked to the table while Jacob stayed at the kitchen, cleaning the plates.

"Actually, it's nothing to do with the father." Marge continued to talk. "It's all to do with the mother. You see it all the time with the dogs."

Harry finally finished cleaning and walked back to his brother, and while Jacob was doing his best not to snap at Marge, Harry was close to a breaking point.

"If something's wrong with the bitch, then something's wrong with the pup."

"Shut up! Shut up!" Harry shouted while throwing the rag on the floor.

Marge turned towards Harry and started eyeing him again, while having a small smirk. Jacob then walked to his brother and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"What did i just sa--" He started to say.

But he stopped when a wind picked up in the room. Jacob noticed that Harry's angry look hadn't gone down, while the plates started to rattle and lights started to flicker again around the house.

"Right." Marge said and lifted her right index finger up. "Let me tell you..."

But she stopped when she noticed her finger started to inflate like a balloon. Jacob then turned to look at Marge and was shocked before looking back and forth between his brother and Marge, all the while Harry kept his glare.

The rest of ther body then started to follow suite and her body was inflating, since Harry was unintentionally using magic on her.

"Oh..." Vernon muttered shocked.

Marge started groaning, still inflating, and her pearl necklace started to break a little, with one pearl flying and hitting a clock on the wall.

"Vernon!" Marge tried to speak. "Vernon! Vernon, do something!"

Vernon got up, but before he could do anything, Ripper attacked and started to bite his leg.

"Ow! Ripper! Ow..." Vernon said in pain.

While all this was happening all Dudley was doing was still watching TV not reacting to anything that was happening around him.

By now Marge was starting to hover in the air like an actual balloon, and her pearl necklace finally broke. The pieces flew everywhere, few even hitting Dudley, who finally noticed his aunt was inflating and started to back away in fear.

As Marge started to float, a button from her suite then broke away, hitting Dudley square in the forehead and he fell on the floor, while Petunia backed away and Vernon was still trying to get Ripper off of his leg. When Dudley tried to get up, another button broke away and hit Dudley again in the forehead and he fell on the floor again. 

Marge started to scream as she was now hitting the ceiling. While Jacob and Harry backed away to the door as Harry had finally calmed down, Jacob covered his mouth while trying not to laugh. Marge's inflated form then started to spin upside down, and she started to float outside the house while hitting the glass seiling.

"Stop!" Vernon shouted as he tried to get to Marge, with Ripper still biting his foot.

Marge then was about to start floating into the sky when Vernon finally got a hold of her hands.

"Don't worry! I've got you, Marge. I've got you." He said.

Vernon started trying to pull Marge back on the ground, but her body was inflated so much that she started to pull Vernon and Ripper with her in the air.

"Hold on, hold on." Marge said.

"Get off." Vernon said to Ripper, before he looked at his hister.

"Vernon! Don't you dare!"

"Sorry."

And Vernon let go and fell on the ground, as Marge started screaming and started floating higher.

"Oh, Vernon." Petunia said.

Petunia walked to her husband, helping him up, as Vernon was now on his knees. The two then looked up at Marge.

"Marge!" Vernon shouted.

The couple, with Ripper, looked on as Marge floated further into the sky, while she kept on screaming.

Dudley had gotten outside to look at the chaos, but then turned to look at the TV where there were people dancing, and he started to eat the cake, while Vernon kept shouting for his sister.

Harry then quickly ran back to his and Jacob's room, with Jacob following him behind. Harry made it into the room first and slammed the door on Jacob's face who backed away before opening it and saw his brother now kicking the shelf in anger, before sitting on the bed.

"Harry?" Jacob asked quietly as he approached Harry. "Are you okay?"

"No, i'm not." Harry said angrily as he took deep breaths, then looked at the moving picture of the twins' parents, James and Lily. "I don't know how you were able to keep your cool when she said that about mom."

Jacob by this point sat next to Harry and wrapped his right arm around his brothers shoulders.

"Trust me. I was getting really close to snapping myself when she said that." Jacob then looked at their suitcases. "I think it's time for us to get out of here."

"I agree."

A little later, the brothers were quickly walking down the stairs, pulling their suitcases with them, as they had packed all of their stuff with them and were about to leave the Dursleys. Vernon then quickly blocked the brothers when they got down, while Petunia and Dudley stayed by the kitchen door.

"You bring her back!" He ordered Harry. "You bring her back now. You put her right!"

"No." Harry said. "She deserved what she got."

"That's what happens when you insult someone's parents." Jacob said.

Vernon then screamed and reached his hand for Jacob, but Harry quickly pulled his wand out and pointed it at their uncle, who started to back away from the twins in fear.

"Keep away from him." Harry ordered.

The twins slowly backed towards the front door, with Harry still keeping Vernon back with his wand.

"You can't do magic outside school." Vernon said, shaking his head.

"Yeah?" Jacob said while putting his hand in his pocket, as if he was going to pull his wand out. "Try us."

"They won't let you back now. You've nowhere to go."

"I don't care." Harry said. "Anywhere is better than here."

"Maybe we will find an orphanage like she suggested." Jacob said, and the twins quickly exited the house.

Chapter Text

Jacob and Harry had just exited their relatives home, and were now walking down the street of Little Whinging in the middle of the night. They also saw how aunt Marge was floating in the air while screaming, still inflated like a balloon, but they paid no mind to her.

The two had been walking for sometime when they reached a playground. Seeing the road splitting to two directions in front of them, they decided to sit down on the side road, trying to decide what to do next.

"So..." Jacob started to speak. "... Where do we go now?"

"No idea." Harry said. "If only we could go to Weasleys, or even Grangers."

"Too bad Ron and his family are at Egypt, and Hermione is with her parents in France."

Harry started to slightly smirk at his brother. "And yet you managed to visit her before they left."

"Oh shut up." Jacob pushed Harry's shoulder a little. "It was just a hangout, nothing more."

The light bulb above the brothers then started to flicker, and when they looked up at it, it shut down completely.

"I thought your magic had calmed down by now." Jacob said, eyeing the street light.

"I don't think that was me." Harry replied.

The wind was starting to pick up, and the brothers heard the swings at the playground behind them start squeaking. Suddenly they heard a sound of a twigs snapping and turned to look foward.

They then saw a large black dog coming from the bushes on the other side of the road. The brothers rose on their feet, then the dog barked at them. The boys pulled out their wands but ended up tripping on their feet, and fell backwards.

Then there was a sound of a horn honking coming from their right. When the brothers turned to look, they saw a large, thriple-decker purple bus coming from out of nowhere, since it literally appeared after driving from a turn, before it stopped in front of them. Gold letters glimmered above the windscreen: The Knight Bus.

On the back entrance there was someone waiting. Stan Shunpike, an 18-year-old boy in a wrinkled conductors uniform, with pasty face and raccoon eyes. Stan looked like he hadn't seen the sun in years.

Stan started reading a note, while sounding dreary and weary. "'Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. My name is Stan Shunpike, and i will be your conductor for this evening.'" 

While the boys looked confused, Stan put the note back in his pocket before peering at the brothers. "What are you two doing down there?"

"We fell over?" The twins said together.

"What you fall over for?"

"We didn't do it on purpose." Jacob said as the brothers got up.

"Well, come on then. Let's not wait for the grass to grow."

Instead of getting on the bus, the brothers looked behind the bus to the other end of the road, and saw the dog was gone.

Stan then looked at where they were looking. "What you looking at?"

"Nothing." The brothers said, as they glanced at each other.

"Well, come on, then. In." The two were about to take their cases before Stan stopped them. "No, no, no. I'll get these. You get in."

The two then entered the bus while Stan started to lift Harry's case inside and then Jacob's, grunting all the while lifting both of them in. The two saw how there were no seats in the bus, only beds. Looking up at the two other floors, they saw the same thing. In one bed, a disheveled wizard was grunting and turning over in his sleep.

"Not now..." The wizards said in his sleep. "... i'm picking slugs..."

"Come on. Move on. Move on." Stan urged the twins.

As the boys walked to the front of the bus before sitting down on an empty bed, Stan gave the two their tickes before knocking on the window. 

"Take her away, Ern."

"Yeah, take it away, Ernie." A shrunked head that was hanging from the ceiling named Dre Head said. "It's going to be a pumpy ride."

Ernie Prang, the older man with white hair and large glasses, who was the bus driver, suddenly woke up, took a bite off from his sandwitch. The head started to laugh as Ernie turned the bus on and it blasted forward. This caused the twins to fall back on the bed and the beds themselves to start moving, while the one passenger on the bed didn't wake up.

"What did you two say your names were?" Stan asked after looking at the twins' faces.

"We didn't." Harry said, and then said the first name that came to his mind. "I'm Neville Longbottom."

"And i'm Seamus Longbottom." Jacob then said.

"Whereabouts are you headed?" Stan asked.

"The Leaky Cauldron." Harry said. "That's in London."

"You hear that, Ern? 'The Leaky Cauldron. That's in London.'"

"The Leaky Cauldron." Dre Head said. "If you have pea soup, make sure you eat it before it eats you." The head started laughing again

Meanwhile, the bus kept driving the road as Ernie navigated it through the traffic, passing by cars incredibly fast The twins peered out the windscreen, and watched London careening by.

"Isn't this a bit... dangerous?" Jacob asked.

"Nah." Stan replied. "Haven't had an accident in -- what? -- a week, is it, Ern?"

"The Muggles. Can't they see us?" Harry asked.

"Muggles? They don't see nothing, do they?"

"If you jab them with a fork, they feel." The head said, and then laughed.

The bus made a turn to a corner before the head started to panic.

"Heads up! Ernie, little old lady at 12 o'clock!"

On the road an old lady was walking slowly over the read, and Ernie quickly stopped the bus. This caused Harry to crash into the window with a scream. He was followed by Jacob who crashed into Harry, causing the brothers to groan.

"Ten, nine, eight..." The head started to count as the lady was still slowly walking over the read, while the brothers looked after recovering.

"... seven, six, five, four, three, three and a half, two, one and three quarters..."

Ernie meanwhile took a bite off from his sandwitch.

"Yes!"

And when the lady was clear, the bus blasted off. The brothers flew back on the bed again when they noticed the Daily Prophet paper Stan was reading, and on the front page there was a picture of an insane looking prisoner.

"Who is that? That man." Jacob asked.

Ernie turned the paper to look at the front page before looking at the brothers again "Who is that?" He repeated. "Who is--?" He then pointed the page at the two again. "That is Sirius Black, that is. Don't tell me you've never been hearing of Sirius Black."

"I mean, i wouldn't have asked if we knew." Jacob said.

Lowering the paper, Stan leaned closer to the twins. "He's a murderer. Got himself locked up in Azkaban for it."

"How did he escape?" Harry asked.

"Well, that's the question, isn't it? He's the first one that done it. Gives me the collywobles thinking he's out there, though, i'll tell you. He was a big supporter of... You-Know-Who. I reckon you've heard of him."

"Yeah." Harry said, looking to the side. "We've heard of him, all right."

The Knight Bus was now speeding through the London bridge.

"Ernie, two double-deckers at 12 o'clock." The head warned. "They're getting closer, Ernie."

As Stan and the twins looked forward, they saw two red double-decker busses coming towards them, driving next to each other.

"Shouldn't we do something?" Jacob asked, starting to get nervous.

"Ernie, they're right on top of us!" The head shouted.

Ernie then hit the breaks before moving the switch, which caused everything to slow down around them. He then pulled a switch above him.

"Mind your head." The head said and started laughing again.

The bus started to squeeze itself between the two busses, causing the bus and everyone inside to stretch upwards.

"Hey, guys? Guys? Why the long faces?" The head asked, before it laughed at it's own joke.

The bus made it through between them, and the bus returned to normal before blasting forward again while avoiding the oncoming cars.

"Ernie, you're missing the turn, you're missing the turn!" The head shouted.

They were about to miss when Ernie started to spin the carwheel to his left, which caused the entire bus to start spinning in one spot. Jacob and Harry were about to go flying when they grabbed a hold of a pole and started screaming for dear life, all the while Stan stood still and read the paper.

"Look, Ernie, no hands! Ha ha ha!" The head joked again.

The bus finally stopped spinning before driving to the street corner where the Leaky Cauldron was.

"Yeah, yeah. Nearly there. Nearly there."

Ernie drove the bus to a parking spot and stopped it. The sudden stop caused the twins to fly against the window again, while the bus nudged the car in front of it, causing the car alarm to turn on.

"The Leaky Cauldron." Stan announced their arrival.

"Next stop, Knockturn Alley." The head then announced.

When the brothers turned to leave, they were greeted by Tom, the inkeeper of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Ah. Mr. Potters, at last." Tom said.

The brothers exited the bus followed by Tom, and they looked at the sign for the Leaky Cauldron.

"Take it away Ern." Stan said.

"Yeah, take it away!" The head then said.

The bus then blased away before it turned invisible. The brothers then got inside the inn while Tom waved his wand at the car to turn off the alarm.

Jacob and Harry entered inside the Leaky Cauldron, and inside there were several people having their own drinks, while the staff was cleaning up the tables. Tom then nodded for the two to walk up the starts, which the twins did after dropping their suitcases.

"Room 11." Tom said to the worker. 

As the worker began to take the twins' suitcases to the room the brothers were going to be staying, Tom followed the twins upstairs. Once up on the next floor, Tom opened a door for the twins to a room, and to their surprise they saw their pets, Millie and Hedwig, sitting on a table.

"Hedwig." Harry said happily, walking to his owl.

"Millie." Jacob then said, and followed Harry's example.

"Right smart pets you got there, Mr. Potters." Tom said from behind. "They arrived here just five minutes before yourselves."

There was a throat clearing sound coming from the other end of the room, and the three saw the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, looking out the window, his back facing the three. Tom started pulling the twins on two empty seats by the fireplace.

"As the Minister for Magic, it is my duty to inform you, Mr. Potter..." Fudge said to Harry. "... that earlier this evening your uncle's sister was located a little south of Sheffield, circling a chimney stack."

When the twins sat down, Tom started to offer them anything to drink and eat, and while Harry wasn't hungry and declined, Jacob decided to be polite and accept the drink and food, as he himself was feeling hungry.

"The Accidental Magic Reversal Department was dispatched immediately. She has been properly punctured and her memory modified. She will have no recollection of the incident whatsoever." 

The boys waited, when Fudge turned away from the window and walked to the twins, smiling. "So that's that, and no harm done."

The twins then turned to face Tom when they heard a cracking sound, and saw he had cracked few nuts in his hand.

"Pea soup?" Fudge asked.

"Um, no, thank you." Harry said.

"I think the few breads were enough for me, Minister." Jacob said.

"Minister?" Harry then asked.

"Yes?" Fudge answered.

"I don't understand."

"Understand?"

"I broke the law. Underage wizards can't use magic at home."

"Oh, come now." Fudge waved his hands. "The Ministry doesn't send people to Azkaban for blowing up their aunts."

Tom started to laugh at this, but when Fudge glared at him, Tom quickly quieted down and looked down.

"On the other hand..." Fudge started walking behind the twins. "... running away like that, given the state of things, was very, very irresponsible."

"'The state of things', sir?" Jacob asked.

"We have a killer on the loose."

"Sirius Black, you mean?"

Fudge nodded, and Jacob started to think. "To be fair, we only learned about Black at the bus. And besides, you would have ran away from your relatives too if they badmouthed your parents like aunt Marge did."

"I suppose you have a point, Jacob." Fudge relented. "Nevertheless, it is good you two are safe now."

"But about Black, what's he got to do with us?"

Fudge tried to laugh it off, smiling nervously. "Nothing, of course. You two're safe. And that's all that matters. And for the rest of the summer you'll be staying in the Leaky Cauldron. Now Tom will show you to your room."

Tom then pulled the two up and they started to follow him, before they stopped and called their pets to them. Hedwig flew to Harry's arm, while Jacob lowered his left arm down and let Millie walk on his shoulders.

"Oh, by the way, Harry and Jacob..." Fudge said. "... whilst you're here, it would be best if you two didn't... wander." 

After saying this, Fudge pulled out his quill and got back to his paperwork.

Chapter Text

About a week had passed after Jacob and Harry had arrived to the Leaky Cauldron. During that time, the twins once again enjoyed their freedom from the Dursleys, and they had gone and gotten all of their new books for the year. Jacob had gotten a little more as he was going to have three extra lessons compared to Harry, who had only selected two.

Harry was inside their room just looking outside while Jacob was visiting the Diagon Alley. He then heard groaning behind him and saw the Monster Book of Monsters, which was placed on a seat, making growling noises. 

Harry walked up to it and opened the belt that was locking the book in it's place, before lifting it up and starting to inspect it. The book started to snarl while Harry was looking at the teeth on the book.

The book then suddenly started to try and bite at Harry. Harry struggled with the book for a moment, before dropping it and backing away and getting up on his and Jacob's shared bed. The book couldn't get up so it just got under the bed.

Harry leaned down to look under the bed and saw the book glaring at him before it charged at him again to try and bite, but Harry lifted his head up. Now standing next to the bed, the book looked around for Harry before sliding back under the bed.

The bed started to rattle while a train was passing by the inn, and Harry then decided to take his shoe off. He dangled it in the air for a few seconds before dropping it at the edge of the bed, and the book then attacked and started to bite on the shoe. Harry then suddenly jumped on the book which took it down.

At that moment, Jacob entered their room. 

"So i saw this cool new broom, and--" Jacob said, but stopped when he saw Harry standing on the book, and ripped page pieces everywhere. "What happened here?"

"I don't know, the book suddenly attacked me when i opened the lock." Harry replied, still standing on the book.

Jacob only let out a sigh. "Didn't you learn anything from the first year when we went to the restricted section?"

Jacob then walked to his brother while Harry finally got off the book. He crouched down to quickly put the lock back around the book, making sure the book couldn't attack again and picked it up.

"With the Monster Book of Monsters, you're meant to stroke the spine on it's back, so it will lay flat on your hand."

"Oh, i see." Harry then decided to tease him. "Did Hermione tell you that too?"

"No."

Harry was confused. "How did you learn then?"

"The hard way." Jacob walked up to his bag and pulled his copy of the book. "Made the same mistake as you, and the thing almost bit my hand off. Good thing i had read about the book a while back to remember what to do, so i quickly snapped the belt close."

Outside the twins' room, a young witch in maid robes was walking in the hall, pulling a cart with her and checking on rooms to clean, before walking to a door and knocking on it. 

"Housekeeping." She called.

The door opened, and a huge roar came from the room, blowing a wind right at the maid, before the door closed again.

The witch looked unperturbed. "I'll come back later." 

The witch started walking into another hall. As Jacob and Harry exited their room, they noticed two animals, a rather ragged-looking rat pursued by an orange cat, dashing past the twins' legs to the downstairs.

"Is it just me, or was that Scabbers running past us?" Jacob asked.

"I think it was." Harry replied.

Moments later, the twins were moving to the lobby, when they heard voices coming from downstairs.

"I'm warning you, Hermione!" Ron's voice said. "Keep that bloody beast away from Scabbers, or i'll turn it into a tea cozy."

"It's a cat, Ronald!" Hermione's voice said. "What do you expect? It's in his nature. Besides, you've seen Millie chasing rats all the time in your home and school."

Jacob and Harry smiled, as they peaked down, seeing Ron and Hermione downstairs. Ron was cradling Scabbers protectively, while Hermione was doing her best to restrain a hissing cat.

"A cat?" Ron asked. "Is that what they told you? Looks more like a pig with hair if you ask me."

"That's rich..." Hermione said. "... coming from the owner of that smelly old shoe brush." She started cooing for the cat. "It's all right, Crookshanks. You just ignore the mean little boy."

By now, Jacob and Harry were standing on the final steps of the stairs, smiling at their best friends. Ron was the first to notice the twins.

"Harry. Jacob." Ron said.

Hermione quickly turned around when she heard the names, facing the twins.

"Jacob, Harry." She said happily.

"Hey, guys." The twins said together.

As Jacob was the first to face the two, he hugged Hermione, who hugged him back, while Harry and Ron gave each other a small hug.

"It's so good to see you again." Hermione said softly.

"Same here." Jacob said back.

The two let go of each other, and the second they did, Jacob's eyes landed on the cat in Hermione's arms.

"And who's this big guy?"

"Oh, this is Crookshanks." Hermione replied, as she continued to scratch Crookshanks' furr. "I just bought him from the Magical Menagerie as an early birthday present." She looked down at Crookshanks. "Crookshanks, this is Jacob, my best friend."

"It's nice to meet you, Crookshanks." Jacob started scratching Crookshanks from his chin, which caused the cat to start purring at him. Jacob chuckled little. "I guess he approves of me. I thought it should be the other way around, since i've known you longer."

"You know how the pets are with their owners."

"Yeah, and apparently more than that." Ron grumbled.

Harry looked at Ron confused. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked.

"That furball almost ate Scabbers when she showed it to me."

Jacob rolled his eyes at this. "Again, it's in cats nature to chase rats. You've seen Millie do it plenty of times. What are you going to do? ban every cat from Hogwarts suddenly?" He said.

Moments later, the quartet was sitting down by the large table in the lobby, with Jacob and Hermione on one side and Harry and Ron on the other. Ron was showing the others a Daily Prophet artickle, it's headline screaming: 'GRAND PRICE WINNER VISITS EGYPT!' The accompying photo showed the entire Weasley family standing before the great pyramids. Smack in the middle was Ron, with Scabbers perched on his shoulder. Hermione had also told her and her parents' visit to France.

"Egypt and France." Harry said. "What're they like?"

"Brilliant." Ron said. "Loads of old stuff, like mummies, death masks, tombs, even Scabbers enjoyed himself."

"You know..." Hermione said. "... the ancient Egyptians used to worship cats."

"Yeah, along with the dung beetle."

Jacob smirked a little. "Tell that to the cat goddess Bast the Egyptians worshiped." He said.

Ron glared stonily at Jacob and Hermione, before turning back to Harry. He reached into his pocket, showing his new wand.

"I also got a new wand." Ron said.

"France is lovely." Hermione said. "Lots of couples were on the streets of Paris. They don't call it the city of love for nothing."

Without anyone noticing, Hermione took a quick glance at Jacob before looking away, blushing slightly. She had gotten an image in her head of the two of them walking in the Paris together, though she didn't exactly know where it had come from. Jacob also had gotten the same image in his head, and started scratching his right cheek with a finger while looking away from Hermione.

Hermione turned back to Jacob. "I didn't get to tell you this before we left, Jacob, but my parents really liked you during your visit. They suggested about inviting you again sometime."

Jacob smiled at this. "That sounds brilliant. I'd love to visit you guys more regularly."

Just then, a commotion was heard from nearby. The Weasleys -- Percy, Fred, George, Ginny, Arthur and Molly -- arrived en masse, ladden with purchases from Diagon Alley.

"Not flashing that clipping again, are you Ron?" George asked.

"I haven't shown any." Ron said.

George then quickly snatched the newspaper from the table.

"No, not a soul." Fred said. "Not unless you count Tom."

"The day maid." George said.

"The night maid."

"Cook."

"The bloke who fixed the toilet."

"The wizard from Belgium."

Mrs. Weasley walked up to the twins, happy to see the boys, causing the twins to stand up and face her.

"Jacob, Harry." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Mrs. Weasley." Jacob greeted, as he and Harry got up from their chairs.

Mrs. Weasley put her hands on the boys' cheeks. "Good to see you, dears."

"Good to see you." Harry said back.

"Got everything you need?"

"Yes." The twins said together.

"Yes? All your books?"

"It's all upstairs." Jacob said.

"All of your clothes?"

"Everything." Harry said.

"Good boys." She smiled and tapped their cheeks.

"Thank you." Jacob said smiling.

"Harry and Jacob Potter." Mr. Weasley greeted the boys from behind his wife.

"Mr. Weasley." Harry greeted and shook his hand.

"Boys, mind if i might have a word?"

"Yeah, sure." Jacob said.

"Hermione." Mr. Weasley greeted Hermione as they passed her and he lead the boys away.

"Good morning, Mr. Weasley." Hermione greeted back, before she started to talk with Ginny.

Mr. Weasley looked back at the twins. "Looking forward to a new term?"

"Yeah. It should be great." Harry replied.

"And you, Jacob. I've heard you're taking three extra classes."

"Yes." Jacob replied. "Care for the Magical Creatures, Study of Ancient Runes and Divination. They all seem interesting to me."

"You're just like Hermione, always studying as much as you can." Harry teased.

"Hey, at least i didn't take all the extra lessons. I've no clue how she's going to manage them and Muggle Studies and Arithmancy."

"Well, with the way you study, i'm sure you'll manage, Jacob." Mr. Weasley said. He then stopped and leaned against a pillar, turning towards the twins. "Boys, there are some within the Ministry would strongly discourage me fro divulging what i'm about to reveal to you."

He then continued walking and the twins followed. "But i think that you both need to know the facts. You are in danger. Grave danger."

The boys looked at the wanted poster of Sirius Black next to them.

"Has this anything to do with Sirius Black, sir?" Harry asked.

"Gotta be, right?" Jacob said. "We recently read he managed to escape from Azkaban."

Mr. Weasley leaned against a wall. "You're right, Jacob. What do you know about Sirius Black, boys?" He asked.

"All we really know is that he's a murderer, he escaped from Azkaban, and that he's the only one to do it."

"Right. Do you know why?" The boys shook their heads. "Twelwe years ago, when you stopped..."

"Voldemort." The boys said in unison.

"Don't say his--"

"Sorry, Mr. Weasley..." Jacob interrupted him. "... but we don't get the point of being scared of a name. Hermione isn't anymore, and neither should most of the people."

Mr. Weasley decided not to argue with that, as deep down he knew Jacob was right. 

"When you stopped... Voldemort..." Mr. Weasley managed to say and guided the boys to walk forward. "... Black lost everything. But to this day, he still remains a faithful servant."

They stopped walking again, as Mr. Weasley looked around a little. "And in his mind, you both are the only ones that stands in the way of Voldemort returning to power. And that is why he has escaped from Azkaban. To find you."

"And kill us." Harry said.

"Especially you, Harry. As you may know, you were his primary target the night he lost his powers, but Black sees both you and Jacob as the reason for his Masters defeat. Boys, swear to me that whatever you might hear, you won't go looking for Black."

"Mr. Weasley..." Harry was about to say. "... why would we go looking for someone who wants to kill us?"

"Yeah. We wouldn't risk our necks if we knew a person was actually trying to kill us." Jacob then said.

Mr. Weasley nodded at the boys, then clapped them on their shoulders.

"Just watch yourselves, will you boys?" He asked.

Chapter Text

The last few days of the summer holiday went by as the quartet enjoyed their time at the Leaky Cauldron, despite the tension between Hermione and Ron about Crookshanks and Scabbers. The students and their families had arrived at King's Cross station and were boarding the Hogwarts Express.

Just as the train was about to leave, Mrs. Weasley was running to a window from where Ron was leaning over, carrying Scabbers in her hands as Ron had almost forgotten him.

"Quick. Quick." Molly kept repeating as she jogged to Ron. "Ron, Ron!"

She finally managed to get to Ron as the train was about to depart, and gave the rat to Ron.

"Oh, for goodness' sake! Don't lose him!"

Ron awkwardly waved his hand at his mom and rejoined his friends. Jacob and Harry had decided to explain to Hermione and Ron why they stayed the rest of the holidays at the Leaky Cauldron and why they weren't at the Dursleys, with Harry ended up being lectured by Hermione.

"I didn't mean to blow her up." Harry looked troubled by the memory. "I just-- I lost control."

"Brilliant." Ron said.

"Honestly, Ron, it's not funny." Hermione said. "Harry was lucky enough not to be expelled."

"I think i was lucky enough not to be arrested." Harry continued.

"I still think it was brilliant." Ron kept saying.

"At least Jacob wasn't in any trouble. You managed to keep yourself together." Hermione said, directing her attention to the younger Potter next.

"Trust me, Hermione..." Jacob somewhat awkwardly replied. "... even though i tried to keep Harry from losing control, i was getting close to snapping myself when she insulted our Mum."

Hermione frowned when she heard this and took Jacob's hand in hers to comfort him. "I'm sorry she said that about your mom. I just really hate your relatives sometimes."

"Thanks." He thanked smiling.

They kept walking before from the opposite side came Penny Haywood, holding her copy of a Monster Book of Monsters tightly against her chest while it was letting out few snarls.

"Hi, Jacob. Hermione. Ron. Harry." Penny said cheerfully, waving her hand at them while walking past.

"Hi, Penny." The quartet said together.

As Penny walked past them, the quartet came to an mostly empty compartment, where there was only one person inside, sleeping by the window and covered in their jacket.

"Come on." Hermione said as she was about to enter. "Everywhere else is full."

The teenagers got inside, with Harry sitting on the seat next to the stranger, while Jacob, Hermione and Ron sat on the other seat, with Jacob by the door, Ron by the window and Hermione in the middle, while Jacob and Hermione placed their cat cages above them.

"Who do you think that is?" Ron asked as he looked at the man.

"Professor R. J. Lupin." Hermione answered.

"Do you know everything?" Ron asked, then turned to the twins. "How is it she knows everything?"

Jacob only smirked and pointed at a suitcase above them. "It's on his suitcase, Ron." He said.

"Oh."

"Do you think he's really asleep?" Harry asked, looking at the man.

"Seems to be." Hermione replied. "Why?"

"We gotta tell you something." Harry then got back up and closed the compartment door to make sure they weren't listened on.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later that night, the thunder was booming and it was raining as the Hogwarts Express was passing by a lake. By now, Jacob and Harry had finished explaining to Hermione and Ron what Mr. Weasley had told them.

"Let me get this straight." Ron said. "Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban to come after you two?"

"Yeah." The twins said.

"But they'll catch Black, won't they?" Hermione asked, now nervous for both of them. "I mean, everyone's looking for him."

"Sure." Ron said. "Except no one's ever broken out of Azkaban before and he's a murderous, raving lunatic."

"Thanks, Ron." Jacob said sarcastically. "That's surely going to make things easier for us."

Hermione frowned and took Jacob's hand in hers, rubbing her thumb against his knuckle to try and assure him things will be all right.

Suddenly, the train screeched, and everyone noticed it was starting to slow down.

"Why are we stopping?" Hermione asked. "We can't be there yet."

"No way." Jacob agreed. "Something's up."

He then got up and opened the compartment door and leaned to look outside, and he saw many others were doing the same as he.

Harry was about to get up, but the train then suddenly moved violently, which caused him to sit back on the seat. Jacob literally flew back, and he pumped against Hermione, while the door slid closed.

"What's going on?" Ron asked, starting to feel scared.

"I don't know." Harry said. "Maybe we've broken down."

"If that's the case, they'd need to check the train more--" Jacob was about to joke as he was recovering.

However, he stopped when he looked and noticed him stumbling back had caused him to lean against Hermione, his right arm over her waist and their faces were inches away from each other.

The two sat silently for few second, looking at each others eyes before they realized what happened. Jacob let go and sat properly, and the two blushed heavily.

"S-sorry about that." Jacob said awkwardly.

"It... It's alright." Hermione voice came out more as a soft whisper, and she bit her lip.

Jacob was glad that Harry and Ron were distracted by the trains sudden stop, otherwise he'd be teased relentlessly about this later. Suddenly the light in the train cut of.

"Ouch, Ron. That was my foot." Hermione said as Ron leaned towards the window to look outside, which caused him to kick Hermione.

"There's something moving out there." Ron said, and the lights kept flickering, before they all shut down completely. "I think someone's coming aboard."

"It can't be Black, can it?" Jacob asked nervously.

The train rattled again, and the teenagers we're really starting to get scared. They noticed they could see their breaths, as the air was getting colder. The twins kept looking outside while Hermione was now leaning against Jacob, taking a hold of his arm with both hands.

Ron then noticed that the compartments window was starting to freeze up, as did the bottle on the table. Harry was rubbing his hands together, and they saw the rest of the windows were also freezing.

"Is it just me..." Jacob started to speak. "... or did it suddenly get really cold in here?"

He didn't get an answer as the train rattled again.

"Bloody hell!" Ron shouted. "What's happening?"

Harry took a look at Professor Lupin, who still seemed to be sleeping, while Jacob thought 'How can someone sleep during this?'

The quartet then looked to the corridor, and through the windows they saw two cloaked figures floating just outside their compartment. Waving it's boney fingers, one of them opened the compartment door slowly.

The figures then floated inside the compartment, and the quartet saw that both figures were fully covered in black cloaks, even their heads, while a spot over their mouths was open.

Hermione gasped and got behind Jacob, who in turn pulled the girl behind him with his left arm. Millie and Crookshanks both hissed at the intruders and Scabbers took cover under Ron's jacket, who was backing against the window.

The two figures seemed to be more interest on Jacob and Harry, as suddenly they started to make sucking sound. They seemed to start sucking something from the twins' faces, who weren't able to do anything.

Hermione, meanwhile, noticed that Jacob was becoming rigid, and his eyes seemed to be closing slowly.

"Jacob." Hermione tried to call for Jacob, but the boy didn't hear anything. "Jacob!"

Suddenly, Lupin opened his eyes and got up, evidently he had been awake for sometime now. Pulling his wand out quickly, he shot light from his wand towards the figures, who stopped what they were doing and backed away in pain.

Jacob and Harry meanwhile heard what sounded like a woman screaming before they lost conciousness.

⚯ ͛ϟ

"Are you two okay?"

Harry woke up when he heard a voice calling. Opening his eyes, he saw he saw laying on the seat he was sitting earlier. He noticed professor Lupin next to him, and then he saw his brother unconcious on the other seat, while Hermione was on her knees on the floor, trying to wake Jacob up.

"Jacob. Jacob, please, wake up." Hermione tried to wake him up. But when he wasn't making any movements, she was becoming more nervous, and she placed her hands on the sides of his face. "Please, answer me."

Jacob then let out a groan and slowly opened his eyes. He looked really pale and cold. "He-Hermione?" He whispered.

Hermione let out a small whimper and pulled the boy in to a tight hug, placing his head on her shoulder and kissing his cheek a few times.

"You really scared me there." She whispered. "You felt so cold and you weren't answering me."

Jacob didn't say anything, only basking in Hermione's warmth, as well as the fact that Millie was purring and pushing against him.

Ron meanwhile gave Harry his glasses, which had fallen on the floor. Harry took them and started putting them back on.

"Thank you." Harry said.

"Here, eat these. They'll help." Lupin said as he handed chocolate pieces for the twins. "It's all right. It's chocolate."

As the twins managed to sit back down, they took the chocolate pieces, before looking at the compartment door. They saw how the lights on the train were back on, and the creatures were gone.

"Wh-What were those things that came?" Harry whispered.

"They were dementors." Lupin answered. "One of the guards of Azkaban. They're gone now. They were searching the train for Sirius Black."

Lupin then started to get up and was about to exit the compartment. "If you'll excuse me, i need to have a little word with the driver."

Lupin opened the door, but before leaving, he turned back to look at the twins, and was looking fondly at Jacob before he pointed at the chocolate pieces.

"Eat. You'll both feel better." 

As Lupin left the compartment, Harry started to eat his chocolate piece. Hermione took Millie and Crookshanks in her arms and pulled Jacob towards her, and the two sat on the opposite end from Harry and Ron. Jacob, however, was still oddly quiet and didn't eat his piece.

"What happened to us?" Harry asked.

"Well, you two sort of went rigid." Ron said. "We thought maybe you were having a fit or something.

"And... and did either of you two... you know... pass out?"

"No. I felt weird, though. Like i'd never be cheerful again. But--- no."

Harry turned to look at Hermione, who shook her head. "I was trembling. Cold. But then... Professor Lupin made it go away..." She said.

"But someone was screaming. A woman."

Hermione and Ron glanced nervously at each other.

"No one was screaming, Harry." Hermione said, shaking her head.

The trio then noticed that Jacob still hadn't say a word and turned to look at him. He still looked pale, and he was looking down.

"You all right, little brother?" Harry asked worriedly.

Jacob was quiet for a few seconds. "I don't want to feel like that ever again." He whispered.

Hermione frowned, and pulled Jacob in a side-hug, putting his head back on her right shoulder. Harry leaned in and took a hold of his brothers hand, while Millie got on Jacob's lap and pushed her head against his chest.

⚯ ͛ϟ

For the rest of the trip, the quartet tried to forget the events that had happened and bought a lot of sweets. Ron had bought Every-Flavor Jelly Beans, Harry bought some Cauldron Cakes, and Jacob had bought some Chocolate Frogs for himself as well as Pumpkin Pasties for Hermione.

Once the train arrived, the quartet followed everyone to the carriages which took everyone to the Hogwarts, while the rain continued to pour down. By this point, Jacob was starting to feel like his normal self, cracking jokes whenever he could and chatting away, which made both Harry and Hermione happy.

Now, everyone was gathered in the Great Hall. By this point, the Sorting Ceremony was over for the first years, and Professor Filius Flitwick was conducting a Frog Choir orchestra for the students. The performance ended when one of the frogs let out a croak, and everyone applauded. As the choir left to go back for their seats, Albus Dumbledore stepped forward and started his speech.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts." Dumbledore said, arms raised before lowering them down. "Now, i'd like to say a few words before we all become too befuddled by our excellent feast. I myself am particularly looking forward to the flaming kiwi cups, which, while somewhat treacherous for those of us with facial hair--"

Dumbledore was suddenly interrupted when Minerva McGonagall cleared her throat.

"Mm. Yes. First, i'm pleased to welcome Professor R. J. Lupin, who's kindly consented to fill the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Good luck, professor."

Dumbledore pointed to Lupin behind him by the High Table, and as everyone started to applaud him, Lupin rose up and bowed to everyone. Only Severus Snape, who sat next to Lupin, gave few small claps before stopping.

"Of course." Hermione said to the twins. "That's why he knew to give you two the chocolate."

"Psst. Potters. Potters." A voice said from behind Harry and Ron.

The two turned their heads to look behind them, where Draco Malfoy sat, looking smug as ever.

"Is it true that you both fainted? I mean, you actually fainted?" He asked.

Malfoy's gang, which included Merula Snyde, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle and another third-year Pansy Parkinson then started to make few fainting sounds, mocking the brothers.

"Shove off, Malfoy." Ron glared, and pulled Harry to face the other way.

"How did he find out?" Harry asked.

"Just forget it." Hermione said.

Malfoy wouldn't let up though, and targeted Jacob next. "Did the younger Potter need his Mudblood girlfiend to wake him up?"

"I'm sure he did." Snyde said smirking. "Those two are gloo'd to each other all the time."

"Oi." Jacob said, deciding to fight fire with fire. "Is it true that you soiled your pants, ferret?"

Malfoy and Snyde quieted down and started glaring at him. Hermione, meanwhile, put her hand on top of Jacob's. 

"Just ignore them, please." Hermione whispered.

Jacob thought for a moment before looking at Hermione. "All right." He said.

Dumbledore, meanwhile, continued his speech. "As some of you may know, Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher for many years, has decided to retire in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs. Fortunately, i'm delighted to announce that his place will be taken by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid."

Dumbledore the pointed to his right to Hagrid, who sat between McGonagall and Flitwick. Everyone started to applaud at the half-giant, who rose up moving the table in the process.

The applaus Hagrid got from the Gryffindors were especially huge, and the quartet especially was happy. Harry and Ron smiled, Hermione cheered and Jacob joined Fred and George in whistling at him. Penny on the Hufflepuff side also gave huge applaus along with her friends, as did Talbott Winger on the Ravenclaw table.

McGonagall then pulled Hagrid to sit back down.

Dumbledore's voice then turned more grave. "Finally, on a more disquieting note, at the request of the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts will, until further notice, play host to the dementors of Azkaban, until such a time as Sirius Black is captured."

This announcement got all the students to start whispering apprehensively among each other.

"The dementors will be stationed at every entrance to the grounds. Now whilst i've been assured that their precence will not disrupt our day-to-day activities, a word of caution. Dementors are vicious creatures. They'll not distinguish between the one they hunt and the one who gets in their way. Therefore i must warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. It is not in the nature of a dementor to be forgiving."

The hall stayed quiet as Dumbledore gave his warning, especially the twins, after their experience with the dementors. Dumbledore then calmed everything with what he said next.

"But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times..." He waved his hand over one of the candles next to him, shutting the flame off from it. "... but only if one remembers to turn on the light." 

Dumbledore waved his hand over the same candle again, and the flame returned to it.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Sometime later, the students were now walking out of the Great Hall, making their way up to the moving stairscases to their respective Common Rooms, guided by each houses Prefects. The third-year Gryffindors just got to a moving staircase, with Seamus Finnigan leading them.

When he got to the Gryffindor common room painting door, the Fat Lady was singing, trying to break the glass she was holding with her singing voice, while other paintings around her looked on.

"Fortuna Major." Seamus said, giving the password to Fat Lady.

"Upupup." Fat Lady said, lifting her hand up to silence the boy before starting to sing again.

"Here, listen." Seamus said, turning to quartet, as well as Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. "She just won't let me in."

"Fortuna Major." Harry tried.

"No, no. Wait, wait. Watch this." Fat Lady kept insisting.

As the Fat Lady started singing again, reaching the highest note, she suddenly started to scream. Everyone around her, the students and paintings alike, covered their ears in pain. When this didn't work, the Fat Lady finally broke the glass by hitting it on the wall behind her.

The Fat Lady gasped in fake amazement. "Amazing. Just with my voice."

"Fortuna Major." Jacob finally said annoyed.

"Yes, all right." The Fat Lady sighted and opened the door. "Go in."

"Thank you." Jacob was the first to enter the common room, with others following him.

"She's still doing that after two years." Harry said to Seamus as the third-years entered the common room. "She can't even sing."

"Exactly." Seamus agreed.

"Hey, man." Harry said to a ghost that passed by him and Seamus.

"Hey, man." Seamus also greeted the ghost.

The said ghost then walked straight through Dean, who flinched when this happened.

"Oh, God." Parvati said a little spooked.

"That's awful." Hermione said.

As the other third years walked up the spiral staircases to go inside their dormitories, Hermione noticed at the steps that Jacob stayed behind, looking outside. She walked to the boy and now stood behind him.

"You okay, Jacob?" She asked.

Jacob then gave Hermione a laugh, though he didn't turn to face her, and she could tell his laugh was little forced. 

"Yeah, yeah." Jacob managed to say.

When he turned his head, he saw Hermione giving him a knowing look. Jacob's smile dropped and he looked outside the window again.

"I guess that dementor messed with me more than i thought."

Hermione then walked up to Jacob and hugged him tightly from behind, while putting her chin on his shoulder.

"You're okay now, though." She said to him smiling. "The dementors won't be attacking us here."

Jacob then hummed a 'yes' for an answer.

"Good night." She said to him, and kissed his cheek.

"Good night, Hermione." Jacob said back.

Once Hermione left the common room to go to the girls' dormitory, Jacob stayed down for a moment before leaving himself. When he got to the boys' dormitory, he saw the other boys gathered around, trying out sereval beans that allowed the one to eat one immitate an animal sound.

"You guys having fun?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah." Harry said. "Come on, join us."

Little later, the boys were all having fun while trying beans.

"Oh, green. That's a monkey." Ron said.

Seamus then bit on the green bean, and he started to make monkey noises while trying to move like on, and others laughed.

"What is that?"

"You call that a monkey?" Dean asked.

"Do not give him one again. Hey, Neville, try an elephant."

Ron then threw a bean for Neville, who ate it and started to make elephant sounds.

"Ron, catch." Seamus said, throwing a bean for Ron.

Ron ate it, and the one he got gave him the ability to imitate a lion, and everyone applauded.

"I think we have a winner." Seamus said.

"We bow before the king of the jungle." Jacob joked while making a false bow.

Ron then noticed Harry taking a bean. "Oh, don't try one of them." He tried to warn Harry.

But Harry ignored him, and put it in his mouth, starting to bite into it.

"Oh, no." Seamus said.

"And three, two, one..." Jacob started counting with his fingers.

As Harry kept biting the bean, he suddenly closed his eyes and steam started to come out of his ears, while the other boys started laughing at him.

The boys then started to throw everything at each other as they continued to play, unaware that the dementors around the castle were looking at the school while the storm was still raining down.

Chapter Text

The next morning, as the Hogwarts bell started to toll, a small bird was flying around the Hogwarts' Clock Tower Courtyard, chirping, before it flew to the wooden bridge. Flying out of it, the bird flew to the Hogwarts Grounds, past the Stone Circle and down to Hagrid's hut.

Hagrid was just outside his hut, about to walk inside, when the bird flew past hiis head, it's chirping making gasp suddenly. The bird started to circle around his head, causing Hagrid to start swipe at it.

"Ah! Birdie!" Hagrid said, still swiping his hands around.

He then tapped his hands together, but the bird avoided Hagrid's hands, before it flew away from him. The bird flew away from the hut, towards the Whomping Willow. 

The tree was lowering one of it's tree branches, and when the bird was right next to it's branch, the tree hit the bird with hit, killing it and causing it's feathers to fly around before falling to the ground. The Whomping Willow resumed it's original shape.

⚯ ͛ϟ

During that morning, Jacob, Harry and Ron were in the Divination classroom for their first Divination class, along with all other Gryffindors form their year, as well as some of the other third-years, like Talbott, who had selected to study Divination. 

By this point, Jacob had already gone to his first extra lesson, Study of Ancient Runes, with Hermione, and found it really interesting, with Hermione even commenting that she was happy he chose to take the class with her.

By a small desk sat Professor Sybill Trelawney, the Divination professor, eyes huge and bug-like behind enormous glasses.

"Welcome, my children." Trelawney said dramatically. "In this room, you shall explore the noble art of Divination. In this room, you shall discover if you possess the Sight."

Trelawney stood up, but ended up hitting her table with her leg, which got few girls to giggle, while the boys in the quartet chuckled.

"Hello. I am Professor Trelawney. Together we shall cast ourselves into the future." She continued with excited voice.

"But know this. One either has the Gift or not. It cannot be divined from the pages of a book. Books only cloud one's Inner Eye. This term, we'll focus on Tasseomancy, the art of reading tea leaves. So please, take the cup of the person sitting opposite you."

The students started to do this, but while Harry and Ron took each others cups, Jacob, who sat between the two, didn't have anyone with him to exchange cups, and he glanced left and right, confused on what to do.

"What do you see?" Trelawney started to walk from student table to the next. "The truth lies buried like a sentence deep within a book, waiting to be read."

She then got in front of Seamus, grasping his head. "But first, you must broaden your mind. First, you must look beyond." Trelawney waved her right hand up and everyone looked up.

"What a load of rubbish." A voice said next to the three boys.

The boys jumped in surprise, and when they turned, they saw Hermione sitting on Jacob's right. Jacob in return noticed she was putting what looked like a necklace under her robes.

"Where did you come from?" Ron asked rashly.

"Me?" Hermione asked. "I've been here all this time."

"Wait, no you weren't." Jacob said, trying to make sense of what happened. "That spot was empty a second ago."

"Don't be silly, Jacob." Hermione said with a teasing tone. "Maybe you've been reading so much you're starting to lose it."

"You, boy..." Trelawney said to Neville. "... is your grandmother well?"

"I... i think so." Neville replied.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. Give me the cup."

Dean gave Neville's cup to her, and when the professor looked into it, she hummed, put the cup down and looked at Neville sadly. 

"Pity." Trelawney said.

She then walked away, and Neville quickly took the cup and looked into it.

"The first term will be devoted to reading of tea leaves. If all goes well, we will proceed to palmistry, fire omens, and finally... the crystal ball." Trelawney then eyed Parvati. "By the way dear, beware a red-haired man."

Parvati eyed Ron dubiously, before inching her pouffe away from him.

"Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And in late spring, two of our number will... leave us forever."

As the class exhanges uneasy glances, Trelawney smiled brightly. "Look at your cups! Tell me what you see."

Hermione and Jacob nodded at each other and exchanged teacups. Hermione started first, looking into his cup.

"According to this..." She said as she looked into her book next. "... you have a skull, which means you'll have some danger in your path."

Jacob rolled his eyes and thought 'Wonderful.' He thought.

"But there is also a sun, which means great happiness will come in your life."

This surprised Jacob little. 'Great happiness? What could that mean?'

"Let me look at yours." Jacob then said and looked between her cup his book. "Wow. If i'm right about this, it looks like we have the exact same signs and everything."

"Really?" Hermione asked and looked at her cup when Jacob pointed it to her. "Strange."

Before the two could think more about it, Trelawney walked up to the quartet's table humming, before gasping, which scared the teens a little.

"Your aura is pulsing, dear." Trelawney said to Ron. "Are you in the beyond? I think you are."

"Sure." Ron said unsurely.

"Look at the cup. Tell me what you see."

While Ron started to look between the cup and the book and Trelawney hummed in excitement, Jacob and Hermione were smirking at Ron in amusement, before glancing at each other.

"Yeah. Um, well..." Ron said. "... Harry's got sort of a wonky cross. That's trials and suffering. And that there could be the sun and that's happiness." He turned to look at Harry. "So, you're gonna suffer, but you're gonna be happy about it."

'How did he come to that conclusion?' Jacob thought.

Jacob dropped his head down a little, which almost got Hermione and Harry to laugh when they saw him do that.

"Give me the cup." Trelawney said.

Ron then gave the teacup to her, but when Trelawney looked into it, she screamed and dropped the cup back on the table before backing away in fear, which confused everyone.

"What is it, Professor?" Parvati asked.

Trelawney began to regard Harry with a mixture of pity and fear, as she slowly walked to him.

"Oh, my dear boy." Trewalney said. "My dear, you have the Grim."

Few students gasped when they heard this, while Trelawney backed away from Harry again, trembling.

"The Grin?" Seamus asked. "What's the Grin?"

"Not the Grin, you idiot. The Grim." Parvati said, correcting him.

"But what does it mean, Professor?" Dean asked.

"'The Grim...'" Lavender's voice said.

Everyone turns to see Lavender bent over her textbook. 

"'Taking form of a giant spectral dog. It's among the darkest omens in our world. It's an omen... of death.'"

Harry meanwhile had taken his cup back and was now looking into it, seeing what looked like the black dog Lavender had described.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later that same day, following the Divination class, the quartet was now walking by the school ground down the steps, towards Hagrid's hut for their first Care for the Magical Creatures lesson. Ron was at the front, followed by Harry, Jacob, and lastly Hermione, while also talking about the Divination class.

"You don't think that Grim thing's got anything to do with Sirius Black, do you?" Ron asked.

"Oh, honestly, Ron." Hermione replied. "Death omens. If you ask me, Divination's a wooly discipline. Now, Ancient Runes, that's a fascinating subject. Right, Jacob?"

"Agreed." Jacob said, nodding. "It's been really interesting and fun to learn about ancient writing from hundreds of years ago."

While Jacob did agree with Hermione about Divination feeling wooly, he couldn't help but feel intrigued about the sun that had been on his cup, and the fact that he and Hermione had the same signs.

"Ancient Runes?" Ron asked. "Exactly how many classes are you two taking this term?"

"I'm taking the Divination, Care for the Magical Creatures and Study of Ancient Runes." Jacob answered.

"I'm taking all of them, and Muggle Studies and Arthimancy." Hermione answered next.

"Hang on." Ron said, stopping in his tracks and looked at Hermione. "That's not possible. Muggle Studies and Arthimancy are in the same time as Divination. You have to be in three classes at once."

While Jacob and Hermione walked past Harry and Ron, Jacob also realised Ron had a point. How exactly was she going to get through all the classes?

"I know you're good, Hermione, but no one's that good." Jacob said to her. "How exactly are you able to do all three classes at once?"

"Don't be silly, you two." Hermione said. "How could anyone be in three classes at once?"

Jacob realized that she directed the question more to him, and could tell she was having too much fun teasing him about not knowing something.

"'Broaden your minds.'" Hermione started mimicking Trelawney. "'Use your Inner Eye to see the future.'"

"'The truth lies beneath a buried book!'" Jacob mimicked as well, waiving his arms around, and the two best friends laughed at this.

Moments later, students were gathered around Hagrid by his hut as the quartet arrived. 

"That's it." Hagrid said from the steps to his door. "C'mon, now. C'mon closer. Less talking, if yeh don't mind. I got a real treat for yeh today. A great lesson. So follow me."

Hagrid then began to lead the students to the forest. Jacob felt really excited as he found the magical creatures fascinating. Hermione and Penny noticed his excited look and giggled at him, which got Jacob to blush and scratch the back of his neck.

Walking over a cracked stone fence when they reached a small paddock in the Forbidden Forest, Hagrid turned to the students, which were lead by the quartet and Penny, and everyone chattered with each other while carrying the Monster Book of Monsters under their arms.

"Right, yeh lot." Hagrid said. "Less chattering. Form a group over there. And open yer books ter page 49."

"Exactly how do we do that?" Malfoy beckoned while dangling his book from it's strap.

"Just stroke the spine, of course. Goodness me."

As Hagrid walked ahead to do something, Malfoy and Snyde started to stroke the books spines, and their books started to moan, before they looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders at each other.

As the students walked to the spot Hagrid pointed at, lead by the quartet, Neville opened the strap on his book, but because he didn't stroke the spine, the book started to snarl and try to bite him. This got Neville to fall down and others laughed at him.

"Don't be such a wimp." Malfoy said, walking past Neville.

"Such an embarrasment." Snyde commented, coming behind Malfoy with their gang.

"I'm okay. Okay." Neville said before the book attacked him again.

The students made it to the spot, with the quartet and Penny walking next to a huge rock, while Hermione put her book on it.

"I think they're funny." Hermione said to her friends.

"They were." Penny replied.

"Oh yeah. Terribly funny." Malfoy said leading against the stone fence where the other Slytherins in his year also were, and the quartet turned to look at him. "Witty. God, this place has gone to the dogs. Wait till my father hears Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes."

"He certainly won't be happy about it." Snyde commented, as she and the gang started laughing.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Harry said and walked closer to the Slytherins.

"You really wanna go through another humiliation, Snyde?" Jacob asked, glaring at Snyde.

"Ooh..." Malfoy, Snyde, Crabbe and Goyle said together, pretending to be afraid.

Malfoy then gave his back to Crabbe, while Snyde gave hers to Parkinson, and the two walked up to the twins, before they looked up and were putting on a scared face.

"Dementor, dementor!" Malfoy shouted, pointing behind the Gryffindors.

All the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, and even few Slytherins, turned to look behind them, but saw nothing, and Malfoy, Snyde and their gang laughed, and everyone realized they were tricked. The twins turned to glare at the gang, who had all put on hoods and were making ghostly noise at the others.

Harry walked back, though Jacob stayed put, glaring at his rival, all the while Snyde kept her smirk up towards him. Hermione then walked up to Jacob and took a hold of his arm. Jacob kept his glare up, but let Hermione pull him back to the group, though Hermione turned her head and gave a snarling face directed at the gang.

"Just ignore them." She said to him.

"You should listen to her." Penny said. "Malfoy and Snyde aren't worth it."

"You're supposed to stroke it." Ron said to Neville, laughing a little.

Neville had gotten back up, but his robes were ripped from the books bites, and he put the book on the rock.

"Yeah." Neville replied with a cracked voice.

Hagrid then cleared his throat and everyone turned towards him. "Tah-tah-dah-dah!" Hagrid announced arms wide.

Everyone got little scared when they saw the creature that was next to Hagrid in the paddock was a Hippogriff, which was making small snarling noises. Though the only one who wasn't scared was Jacob.

"Isn't he beau'iful?" Hagrid asked grinning before throwing food at the hippogriff, which caught it mid-air. "Say hello to Buckbeak."

"Hagrid, exactly what is that?" Ron asked.

"That's a Hippogriff, Ron." Jacob replied, and the quartet and Penny could see his eyes were sparkling.

"That's right, Jacob." Hagrid said, walking towars the students. "I believe Gryffindor has earned ten points fer that."

This got Harry and Ron to tap Jacob on his shoulders and Hermione looked proudly at him.

"Firs' thing yeh wanna know about Hippogriffs is they're very proud creatures. Very easily offended. Yeh do not want ter insult a Hippogriff. It may be the last thing yeh ever do." He clapped his hands together. "Now, who'd like ter come and say hello?"

When Hagrid turned to glance at Buckbeak, everyone except Jacob backed away a little, while Neville ducked down. Hagrid turned back and saw Jacob be the only one on the front.

"Well done, Jacob. Well done."

Jacob got confused by this, and when he looked behind him, he saw his brother, friends and everyone else had backed away from him.

"Come on now."

Jacob gathered his courage up and started walking ahead, while Hermione seemed to get more nervous. Harry then leaned closer to her.

"He will be all right, Hermione." Harry whispered.

"Harry's right." Penny whispered next. "Jacob's been excited about this class, he'll know what to do."

"Now..." Hagrid started to explain as Jacob walked slowly. "... yeh have ter let him make the firs' move. It's only polite. So, step up. Give 'im a nice bow. Then yeh wait and see if he bows back. If he does, yeh can go and touch him. If not-- Well, we'll get to that later."

The other students then walked a little ahead to get a better look, all the while Hermione began to play with her hands to try and calm herself.

"Just make yer bow. Nice and low."

Jacob then started to bow before Buckbeak, while keeping eye contact with the hippogriff. Buckbeak then saw Jacob, and then flapped it's wings, which got Hagrid nervous.

"Back off, Jacob! Back off!" Hagrid whispered.

Jacob started to back off while still keeping eye contact before he stepped on a twig, which snapped and he stopped. Hermione let out a gasp and she grasped onto Harry's robes.

"Keep still. Keep still." Hagrid slowly said.

Jacob made no movements, only keeping his bow and eye contact with Buckbeak, all the while doing his best to remain calm. Buckbeak then seemed to calm down, before it slowly started to bow at the boy.

"Oh, well done, Jacob! Well done. Here, yeh big brute, you." 

Hagrid threw another dead ferret at Buckbeak, which caught the animal mid-air again with it's beak. Jacob stood straight, relieved and smiling.

"Right. I think yeh can go and pat 'im now. Go on. Don't be shy."

Jacob was feeling both giddy and nervous at the thought of going to pat Buckbeak, but he started to approach him slowly. Meanwhile, Malfoy and his gang pushed few students out of the way to see if Jacob will get hurt, while Malfoy was eating an apple.

"Nice and slow, now." Hagrid said. "Nice and slow. Slow."

While walking slowly, Jacob also started to raise his arm up slowly to pet Buckbeak.

"Good, Jacob. Nice and slow."

Buckbeak suddenly bit forward with it's peak, which scared Penny and she grabbed onto Ron's wrist. Ron felt this and looked at his wrist, before the two looked at each other. Penny let go and the two looked away from each other awkwardly.

"Please be okay, please be okay..." Hermione kept muttering as she held her hands.

"Slow down, Jacob. That's it..." Hagrid continued instructing. "Nice and slow. Now let him come to yeh."

Jacob stopped walking, and Buckbeak then started to slowly walk towards him, all the while Jacob kept his arm up, and Buckbeak started to sniff.

"Slowly, now, slowly, slowly... that's it..."

Buckbeak then got it's head to Jacob's hand, and started to rub it's head against the hand. Jacob then started to smile wildly and rub Buckbeak's head.

"Yes!" Hagrid started to clap. "Well done! Well done, Jacob, well done!"

The students started to clap as well, Harry and Hermione being the most excited, and Hermione felt relieved the tension was over, and that Jacob was all right.

"Does he get to fly?" Parvati could be heard asking.

"I think so." Talbott replied. "I feel slightly jealous at that."

"I think he may let yeh ride 'im now." Hagrid said as he walked up to Jacob.

"What?" Jacob asked shocked.

"Come on." Hagrid then lifted Jacob on Buckbeak's back.

"Wait, Hagrid, i-- I don't think i'm ready."

"Yeh will be all right, Jacob. Remember, don' pull out any of his feathers, because he won' thank yeh for that."

Hagrid then hit Buckbeak on it's backside, which caused the hippogriff to raise on it's back legs. Jacob grapped a hold of on Buckbeaks neck, and Buckbeak then started run ahead before starting to flap it's wings and raising in the air.

"Whoa!" Jacob shouted as they were now flying in the air.

Jacob kept holding on to Buckbeaks neck, but then started to look around in wonder as Buckbeak flew over Hogwarts before flying towards the lake. The hippogriff was now howering just above the water and Jacob looked into the water, seeing the reflection of the two on it.

Buckbeak lowered one of it's talons on the water while keeping a good distance from the water. Jacob then started to slowly sit up straight while raising his arms up. He then started to smile wildly before cheering, loving every minute of the flight.

Buckbeak then flew higher up before it started to fly back towards the forest. When Hagrid was them coming, he whistled, and Buckbeak started to lower itself back to the field, while the students rose up and started to chatter and clap.

"Well done, Jacob, and well done, Buckbeak." Hagrid said proudly.

"That was wicket, Jacob!" Harry shouted proudly.

"Oh please." Malfoy groaned and got up.

"Well done, well done." Hagrid said as he lifted Jacob off from Buckbeack's back, then whispered. "How am i doin' me firs' day?"

"Brilliant, Professor." Jacob said.

They both grinned, while Malfoy pushed few students out of the way and marched confidentally towards Buckbeak.

"Give me a go at it." Malfoy said. "If Potter can do it, it must be easy. You're not dangerous at all, are you, you great ugly brute!"

Buckbeak turned to Malfoy, and it was starting to to feel insulted, and angry.

"Malfoy, no..." Hagrid tried to warn.

But it was too late. Buckbeak then screeched and rose on it's back legs while raising it's wings. The students started to scream in terror.

"No!" Hagrid shouted.

Malfoy froze in fear. Buckbeak rose on it's backlegs, while alfoy raised his right arm up. Buckbeak slashed his arm with its claws, ripping his uniform and causing Malfoy to fall over and clutch his arm in pain.

"Buckbeak!" Hagrid ran between Buckbeak and Malfoy. "Whoa, whoa whoa..." He kept repeating while waving his arms to calm the hippogriff down. "Whoa! Buckbeak!"

Hagrid then threw another dead animal, this time further away, which Buckbeak followed and started to eat. "Away, yeh silly creature..."

Malfoy was sitll laying on the ground, clutching onto his arm, which had a deep gash glistening in it.

"It's killed me! It's killed me!" Malfoy moaned in pain.

"Calm down. It's jus' a scratch." Hagrid said, shaken.

"If Buckbeak killed you, we wouldn't be hearing you crying right now." Jacob said, glaring and crossing his arms.

"Hagrid!" Hermione shouted, walking to them and having removed her cloak. "He has to be taken to the hospital."

"I'm the teacher. I'll do it." Hagrid said.

And with that, Hagrid -- looking shaken -- swooped up Malfoy in his arms, and started marching back towards the castle.

"You're gonna regret this." Malfoy promised.

"Class dismissed." Hagrid shouted.

"You and your bloody chicken."

As Hagrid and Malfoy disappeared, Jacob just kept glaring at Malfoy while thinking 'He just had to go and ruin everything, didn't he?' Meanwhile, Hermione walked up to him. 

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah." He replied while smiling. "It was amazing riding Buckbeak." He then leaned closer to whisper. "Don't tell Harry this, but i think it was even better than riding on a broomstick."

Hermione giggled at this. "I could tell. You were loving every minute of it."

Buckbeak suddenly pushed it's head against Jacob's, who flinched at the contact before realizing who it was. Jacob put his hand on Buckbeak's peak, rubbing it. Jacob looked back at Hermione, seeing how she seemed to grow little nervous with Buckbeak being this close to her.

"It's okay." He said reassuringly, and raised his hand towards Hermione.

She then put her hand on his, which Jacob then slowly put on Buckbeak. Buckbeak seemed to trust Hermione thanks to Jacob, and the two started to pet the hippogriff, with Hermione's nervousness going away.

Chapter Text

Later that evening, by the entrance to the Great Hall, two ghosts riding horses came flying through a window and rode into the Great Hall where many students were busy with their homeworks or just hanging out. Malfoy's arm had been wrapped up in a sling during his stay at the Hospital Wing, and he was sitting with his gang.

"Does it hurt terribly, Draco?" Parkinson asked, pointing at his arm.

"It comes and it goes." Malfoy said, sounding a tad theatrical. "Still, i consider myself lucky. Madam Pomfrey said another minute or two and i could've lost my arm. I can't possibly do homework for weeks."

On the Gryffindor table, the quartet was listening in on Malfoy's complains and glaring at him.

"Listen to the idiot." Ron said. "He's really laying it on thick, isn't he?"

"At least Hagrid didn't get fired." Harry said.

"Yeah, but i hear Draco's father's furious." Hermione said. "We haven't heard the end of this."

"Yeah, this is not going to end well, i can feel it." Jacob said.

"He's been sighted! He's been sighted!" Seamus's voice came shouting.

The quartet turned and saw Seamus running to the Gryffindor table before getting to a spot between Neville and Parvati, slamming a copy of the Daily Prophet on the table.

"Who?" Ron asked.

"Sirius Black!"

This got the quartet to join the other Gryffindors on the table, as well as Penny and Talbott from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, and everyone started reading the paper. They saw Black's mugshot on the front page.

"Dufftown?" Hermione asked. "That's not far from here."

"You don't think he'd come to Hogwarts, do you?" Neville asked.

"With dementors at every entrance?" Lavender asked.

"Dementors?" Seamus asked. "He's already slipped past them once. Who's to say he won't do it again?"

"That's right." Talbott said, staring grimly at the grainy image of Black. "Black could be anywhere. It's like trying to catch smoke. Like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands."

The students gathered then nervously looked at the paper, which showed the picture of Black being held down by Aurors while screaming. This especially got Jacob and Harry nervous, knowing that Black was coming after them.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Eventually, it was time for the Defence Against the Dark Arts class. The students were standing in the middle of the room, looking at a wardrobe which kept rattling a little, which was spooking them a bit.

"Intriguing, isn't it?" Remus Lupin asked from behind the students before walking in front of them. "Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what is inside?"

"That's a boggart, that is." Dean answered.

"Very good, Mr. Thomas."

The wardrobe rattled violently, and the students flinched in fear.

"Now, can anybody tell me what a boggart looks like?"

"No one knows." A voice said.

Jacob and Ron jumped, and when they turned to their right, they saw Hermione standing next to Jacob, a spot that a while ago was empty.

"When did she get here?" Ron asked the Potter twins.

Jacob and Harry, however, were just as confused and shook their heads at him.

"Boggarts are shape-shifters." Hermione continued with her answer. "They take the shape of whatever a person fears the most. That's what makes them so--"

"So terrifying, yes, yes, yes..." Lupin finished.

"You know, one day i'll figure out how you keep popping into the classes without anyone noticing." Jacob whispered to Hermione.

Hermione only smirked at Jacob's declaration, clearly having fun with this back-and-forth between them. She gave him her own challenging look.

"I'm looking forward to it, Jacob." She whispered.

"Luckily..." Lupin meanwhile continued explaining. "... a very simple charm exists to repel a boggart."

The wardrobe rattled again behind Lupin.

"Let's practise it now. Without wands, please. After me. Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" The students repeated after Lupin.

"Very good."

The wardrobe rattled again and the students backed away a little.

"A little louder and very clear. Listen: Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!"

Meanwhile, Malfoy, his gang and some of the Slytherins were standing by a wall, away from the other students.

"This class is ridiculous." Malfoy muttered to his gang.

"You don't say." Snyde muttered back. "Some teachers they hire for this school..."

"Very good." Lupin said. "So much for the easy part. You see, the incantation alone is not enough. What really finishes a boggart is laughter. You need to force it to assume a shape you find truly amusing. Let me explain. Neville, could you join me, please?"

This got few students to turn and look at Neville, who was standing between Harry and Dean.

"Come on, don't be shy. Come on. Come on."

Neville finally started to walk towards Lupin.

"Hello. Neville, what frightens you most of all?"

"Professor Snape." Neville barely whispered.

"Sorry?"

"Professor Snape." Neville replied with a more clear voice.

The other students laughed good-naturedly at this, and Jacob though 'Yeah, he can be terrifying at times.'

"Professor Snape." Lupin commented while laughing. "Yes, frightens all. And i believe you live with your grandmother."

"Yes, but i don't want the boggart to turn into her, either."

The students laughed again, while Lupin shook his head and said "No..." and the wardrobe rattled again. "... it won't. I want you to picture her clothes. Only her clothes, very clearly, in your mind."

Neville closed his eyes. "She carries a red handbag--" Neville started to imagine.

"That's fine. We don't need to hear. As long as you see it, we'll see it. Now, when i open that wardrobe, here's what i want you to do. Excuse me."

Lupin walked next to Neville and whispered into his ear. "Imagine Professor Snape in your grandmothers clothes."

Neville's eyes widened in shock.

"Can you do that?" Lupin asked.

The wardrobe rattle again, and before Neville could answer, Lupin pulled his wand from his cloak.

"Yes. Wand at the ready."

Neville then took his wand out as well.

"One, two, three." Lupin counted, and tapped his wand to the wardrobe's handle, which then opened.

The door started to creak open while Lupin walked behind Neville. The boggart peaked out of the wardrobe, looking like Snape.

"Think, Neville, think."

Boggart then started to approach Neville before the boy pointed his wand at it.

"Riddikulus!" Neville chanted.

The Snape-looking boggart then changed form. Still with Snape's face, it now was wearing Neville's grandmother's clothes, green dress, red handbag and a hat with a dead bird on it, and boggart looked confused.

The students burst into laughter when this happened, including Neville and Lupin.

"Wonderful, Neville, wonderful! Incredible! Okay, to the back Neville. Everyone, form a line."

The students then started to form a huge line, though the Malfoy and his gang pushed the other students out of the way and pushed the line further. The first in line was Ron, before everyone backed away a little.

"Form a line!" Lupin was walking to a record player by a window. "I want everyone to picture the thing they fear the very most, and turn it into something funny." He turned the player on, and music started to play. "Next! Ron!"

Ron walked forward with a slight scared face, while the boggart gathered itself when Ron stood in front of it.

"Concentrate. Face your fear. Be brave!"

The boggart then started to shapeshift in the air before it landed on the ground again, this time looking like a giant spider.

Ron began to whimper when he saw the spider. He then slowly put his hand inside his robes while the boggart approached him.

"Wand at the ready, Ron. Wand at the ready."

Ron finally managed to pull his wand out and pointed it at the spider. "Riddikulus!" Ron chanted.

Ron ended up making rollerskates appear on the spiders legs, causing it to start slipping and sliding on the floor, and the students laughed again.

"Yes!" Lupin shouted laughing. "You see? Very good, very good!"

The spider kept sliding on the floor before it landed on it's stomach.

"Marvelous! Absolutely, very, very enjoyable! Penny! next!"

Ron then walked behind the line, and gave Harry and Jacob high-fives when he passed them, while Hermione laughed behind Jacob. Penny was next in front of the boggart.

As Penny was now facing the boggart, it started spinning faster and faster in a dizzying blur, before reappearing as a werewolf.

Penny froze for a second, but just as the boggart started growling at her, Penny quickly pointed her wand at it. "Riddikulus!"

Suddenly, the werewolf was dressed like Carmen Miranda, causing Penny and the rest of the class to start laughing. As the boggart started to shimmy about, against it's will, the class started clapping.

"Parvati!" Lupin said, and Parvati stepped forward while Penny walked back, giving high-fives to Jacob and Hermione. "Show us what you see."

The boggart again started to shapeshift in the air before taking a form of a giant snake, which started hissing at Parvati.

"Keep your nerve. Steady."

"Riddikulus!" Parvati chanted.

Parvati turned snake into a giant Jack-in-the-box, and while others laughed, Jacob thought it looked even freakier.

"And next! Step up, step up!" Lupin said. "Wonderful, wonderful!"

Next up was Harry, and Jacob gave his brother a playful push. As Harry now faced the boggart, Lupin was actually starting to feel nervous. Harry's own faced changed from joy to frightful, and boggart started to shapeshift, and it's next form was a dementor, which was about to charge at Harry.

"Here!" Lupin shouted and got between the two.

The boggart shapeshifted again, and this time it changed into a full moon, which confused some of the students, especially Jacob and Hermione. Lupin quickly pointed his wand at the boggart.

"Riddikulus!"

The boggart then turned into a balloon, which started to fly over some of the students, as if it was losing air. As the boggart kept flying around, Lupin opened the wardrobe and boggart flew inside it, and he quickly closed the door.

"Right, right. Sorry about that. That's enough for today. Collect your books from the back. That's the end of the lesson. Thank you! Sorry! Sorry, you can have too much of a good thing."

Harry meanwhile kept looking at the wardrobe. Jacob walked up to his brother when the other students started to leave, while Lupin was now looking at the twins.

"Are you all right?" Jacob asked while placing his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I... i don't know." Harry replied.

⚯ ͛ϟ

On September 19th, Jacob woke up again early in the morning. Reaching under his pillow, Jacob pulled out a small black beaded handbag. He started to dress up in a more casual clothes, putting on jeans and a T-shit, and when he was done, he looked around the dormitory to see that everyone else was still asleep before he looked at Millie, who was looking at him.

"You stay here for a little bit, i'm gonna go and see Hermione first, okay?" He asked his pet cat while scratching her ear.

Millie gave a meow, as if answering him with a 'yes', and Jacob left the boys' dormity and walked down the spiral stairs. When Jacob reached the common room, he saw the place was still empty. He then checked his wristwatch and saw the time was 6:29 AM.

'Good. Just in time.'

The previous day Jacob had slipped a note into Hermione's Arithmancy textbook, instructing her to meet in the common room by 6:30 AM the next morning. Just when his watch hits 6:30, Jacob heard the padding of bare feet coming down the stairs, and he quickly hides behind the wall separating the stairs from the rest of the room.

Jacob waits for a moment until he sees Hermione coming down the stairs, and just like him, she's in a more casual clothes, wearing a pink hoodie and jeans. She then walks to the couch and opens her book when she sits down.

'Hope this pays off...' Jacob think as he starts to tip toe his way to the girl.

Once he is at the back of the couch, Jacob looks over Hermione's shoulder to see she's opened her Arithmancy textbook and is looking over his note, which is still wedged between pages.

"I'm sure this was Jacob's handwriting..." Hermione whispers to herself. "... i thought for sure he'd be here by now."

Jacob was doing his best to hold in a laugh, before leaning to her ear. "Boo." He whispered.

This caused Hermione to squeal as she jumped up about 10 feet in the air. She holds her chest as she quickly turns around and sees Jacob's slightly smirking face.

"Jacob Evans Potter, you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days!" Hermione scolded.

Jacob suddenly felt color leave his face. 'Oh spark, she full-named me.' He thought as he sheepishly pulled his collar and looks at a glaring girl. 

"Um, well... Sorry about that." He said sheepishly.

Jacob attempted to smooth the tension by jumping over the couch, but then his shin hit the arm of the couch.

"Oh snuff--!" He cried.

Jacob clumsily went forwards and fell on his face. Hermione covered her mouth in shock as she looks down at Jacob's groaning in discomfort, his face planted on the floor.

"Jacob! Oh my..." She gasps as she goes over to the boy and helps him up. "A-Are you all right?"

Jacob stands up and blinks a few times to clear his vision while rubbing his head. "Uh... well, that was not my proudest moment."

"No kidding." Hermione giggles and sits him down besides her on the couch. 

He then turns to face her and starts smiling. "Happy birthday, Hermione."

"Thank you, Jacob." She beams and wraps her arms around his neck, hugging him. "Although, i will be slightly disappointed if that trick you just did was my present."

Jacob laughed a little. "Come on. Give me some credit here." 

Once they let go, Jacob ended up looking at the fireplace in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. Noticing this, Hermione wrapped her left arm around his shoulders. 

"Good thing i was the only one watching and not the entire house." Hermione said, before she started looking little playful. "Although... i wouldn't mind seeing you falling off the couch every now and then."

"Haha." Jacob rolled his eyes. Remembering why he was here, he then reached for his pocket. "Speaking of presents, i did get you something."

Hermione started pouting a little. "Please tell me you didn't get me anything too expensive or--"

"No, no." Jacob says as he now holds the gift in his hand, and then puts it in her hand. "Here you go. Something small, useful, and NOT expensive."

Hermione looked at the little black handbag, and Jacob could tell from the look on her face she was thinking it's too small for anything useful. Hermione glanced at him confused.

"Open it." He said.

As Hermione did so, her eyes widen. Inside, the bag is humongous, you could fit dozens of books inside. She looked at Jacob, seeing him smiling.

"Wow..." Hermione breathed out. "Ho-- How...?"

"Remember how you helped me learn the Engorgement Charm last year?" He asks, and the girl nods. "I used that same charm on the bag. With this, you can carry all of your things anywhere you go if you need to."

Hermione kept looking at the gift in amazement before smiling wildly at the boy. "Thank you Jacob. I love it."

The two giggle before they face the fireplace, letting the silence in. Jacob then decides to ask her something.

"So... What do we do now? We've got few hours before everyone else wakes up."

Hermione thinks for a few seconds, tapping her right index finger on her chin. "Maybe... maybe we can just stay here perhaps?"

"And do what?"

Hermione only shrugs her shoulders. "Just talk, i suppose."

Chapter Text

A month later, it was time for the third years' first visit to Hogsmeade, a village not that far off from Hogwarts the students can go visiting. However, you needed a parents or guardians signing in order to be able to visit, and because of what happened that summer, Jacob and Harry were the only ones who weren't able to get theirs signed from uncle Vernon.

Lavender and Parvati ran out to the Clock Tower Courtyard, joined by Parvati's twin sister, Padma from Ravenclaw. They joined a group of third-years, who were given instruction by McGonagall, while Filch was reading through the permission notes.

"Now, remember, these visits to Hogsmeade village are a privilage." McGonagall said. "Should your behavior reflect poorly on the school, that privilage shall not be extended again."

After Lavender, Padma and Parvati gave their permission notes, Harry ran up to McGonagall with the parchment in his hand, but before he could utter a syllable, McGonagall interrupted him.

"No permission form signed, no visiting the village. That's the rule, Potter. Your brother already knows that."

"Those with permission. follow me. Those without, stay put." Filch said to everyone.

"Professor..." Harry said. "... i thought if you signed them, then we could--"

"I can't. Only a parent or a guardian can sign. Since i am neither, it would be inappropriate."

Harry looked frustrated at this, while Jacob walked up to his brother. Hermione, Ron and Cora were staying behind, looking down disappointed.

"I told you that wasn't going to work, Harry." Jacob said, disappointed himself.

McGonagall turned back to look at the twins with a flicker of pity, before placing her hand on Jacob's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Potters." McGonagall said. "That's my final word. Believe me, i wish i could let you visit."

With that, McGonagall left to follow Filch and the other students, while the twins faced their friends with disappointed faces.

"Forget about it, guys." Jacob said to others, trying to put up a smile. "See you later." 

As the twins walked back inside, Hermione, Ron and Penny went to follow the group. Though Hermione stopped for a second to look back at the twins. She had been excited to visit Hogsmeade, but had wanted to explore it with Jacob. Looking down sadly, she waved at Jacob who waved back at her, before following everyone.

"Maybe we can convince uncle Vernon to sign the permission papers next summer." Jacob said.

"Maybe." Harry said. "Though i think he'll come up with something so he won't need to."

"You don't know that. Maybe things will be different next time. Gotta stay a bit positive."

⚯ ͛ϟ

"So, no Hogsmeade, huh?"

Sometime later, Jacob and Harry were now on the Hogwarts' wooden bridge, where they were joined by Lupin, who wanted to try and downplay the Hogsmeade for the twins to try and make them feel better.

"Well, don't feel too bad." Lupin said. "I was roundly disappointed the first time i went there."

"Really?" Harry asked.

Jacob raised his eyebrow, not really believing him. "... Seriously?" He asked.

This caused Lupin chuckle lightly. "I see nothing gets past you, Jacob. No. I was just trying to make you feel better. Honeydukes' sweets are the best in the world. Their Pepper Imps are so strong you smoke at the ears. And Zonko's Joke shop may be dangerous, but you can't beat their Stink Pellets."

The twins nodded glumly at this. 

"Not to mention the Shrieking Shack..." Jacob said. "... which, according to Hermione, is the most severely haunted building in Britain."

This really made Jacob feel sad, as after Hermione described the building to him, he really had wanted to see it, especially with the said girl.

"Yeah, that too..." Lupin said.

"Professor, can i ask you something?" Harry asked.

"You want to know why i stopped you facing that boggart, yes?" Lupin replied. "And why i didn't let Jacob go after you? I thought it'd be obvious. I assumed it would take the shape of Lord Voldemort."

Jacob and Harry frowned at this, while Lupin studied them curiously.

"But clearly... i was wrong."

"I did think of Voldemort at first." Harry replied. "But then i remembered that night on the train, and the dementor."

"Same with me." Jacob said. "I thought Voldemort would be my boggart, but that dementor has been on my mind ever since what happened on the train."

"I'm very impressed." Lupin said. "That suggests what you two fear the most is fear itself. This is very wise."

"Before we fainted... we heard something. A woman, screaming."

"Dementors force us to relieve our very worst memories. Our pain becomes their power."

"I think it was our mother..." Harry said. "... the night she was murdered."

"You know, the very first time i saw you two, i recognized you immediately. Not by your scars, by your eyes. They're your mother, Lily's. Though i have to admit, when Hermione screamed your name, Jacob, i reacted almost on an instinct."

The twins looked at Lupin when he said this, but Jacob was more curious on why his name caused Lupin to act quickly. Lupin walked to the other side of the bridge.

"Yes. Oh yes. I knew her. Your mother was there for me at a time when no one else was. We used to talk for hours. Not only was she a singularly gifted witch, she was also an uncommonly kind woman. You are just like her that way, Jacob. She had a way of seeing the beauty in others even, and perhaps most especially, when that person could not see it in themselves."

The twins smiled a little when they heard Lupin telling them about their mum like that.

"Which perhaps explains her affection for your father. James, on the other hand, he..." Lupin chuckled a bit. "... he had a certain, shall we say, talent for trouble."

The twins smiled at this, while Lupin walked to stand next to the twins again.

"A talent, rumor has it, he passed on to you, Harry. You're both more like them than you know, boys. In time, you'll come to see just how much."

Lupin looked at the boys affectionaly, who in return smiled vaguely. 

"I could tell you stories -- and there are many about your parents, boys -- but know this..." He eyed the boys intensely. "They lived. Every moment of every day. You should know that."

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later that day, the students had returned from their visit to Hogsmeade and many were hanging out in the Great Hall, including Hermione and Ron, who were telling Jacob and Harry about their visit, while the twins were going through the souveniers their best friends had brought them.

"And the post office is 200 owls sitting on color-coded shelves, depending on how fast you want your letter to go." Hermione said.

"Honeyduke's Sweetshop is brilliant! Sugar Quills, Flaming Whizbeez -- and blood-flavored lollipops for Halloween, but nothing beats Zonko's Joke Shop." Ron said.

"Only you would get this excited about eating sweets, Ron." Jacob said rolling his eyes and smirking.

He had just rolled a scarf around his neck that Hermione had gotten him, which had his initials on it and colors blue and scarlet red.

"We never got to go to the Shrieking Shack." Hermione said. "You heard it's the most--" 

"Haunted building in Britain. I know." Harry interrupted.

Harry had been picking quietly on through the spray of brilliantly colored sweets on the table. Hermione noticed the downer looks on the twins.

"But, i mean, after a while it got a bit boring. Don't you think, Ron?"

"What?" Ron asked with disbelief. "No. Boring?"

Hermione then nudged her elbow against him, and when Ron looked at the twins, he realized what Hermione meant. 

"Oh, yeah. Dead depressing. Oh, hang on. Almost forgot. I got you something wicked at Dervish and Banges, Harry. It's a Pocket Sneakoscope."

Ron reached his hand into a blue box on the table. He gave Harry a type of dark detector which looked like a glass spinning top.

"If there's anyone untrusworthy around, it's meant to light up and spin. Mind you, Fred and George say it's rubbish, sold for wizard tourists, but i thought, you know, it can't hurt, given that..."

"Sirius Black's trying to kill us." Harry said, rolling the Sneakoscope in his hand. "I'm really glad you had a good time. Honestly. And thanks for this. You're right. It can't hurt."

With that, Harry put the Sneakoscope on the table before taking a pepper imp and putting it in his mouth.

"Oh, be careful of those." Ron tried to warn him. "They'll make you--"

"Whoa!" Harry said as his mouth felt like it was burning.

"Never mind."

Jacob chuckled at this before he looked and Hermione. He noticed she was looking at him while smiling. 

"What is it?" He asked.

"Nothing." She replied. "That scarf looks good on you."

"Oh yeah." He then started to roll the end of it between his fingers. "Thanks for it, by the way. I love it. Did they have my initials in it already?"

"No. I actually asked if they could write them, since i wanted it to be specially for you."

"That's nice of you."

Hermione kept smiling before it dropped and she looked down. This caused Jacob to look at her in concern.

"Are you okay?" Jacob asked.

"I just really wish you could've been able to come with us. There's so many places in Hogsmeade i know you'd love to have visited."

Jacob leaned forward and put his hand on top of hers, smiling at her a little.

"Hey. As long as you had a good time there, i'm happy. Next year i'll be sure to get the permission to go there, and then we'll explore the whole Hogsmeade together."

Hermione looked into Jacob's eyes and smiled at his promise. She knew he'd do anything go fulfill that promise and she already couldn't wait for when they walked around Hogsmeade together.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, the quartet, along with the rest of the Gryffindor third years, were walking up the moving stairs to the common room, when they noticed a huge group of students in front of their common room entrance.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

Jacob was standing on his toes, trying to get a better look. "Why's everyone just standing in front of the entrance?" He asked.

"Probably Neville forgot the password again." Ron said.

"Hey." Neville said offended behind the quartet who turned to look at him.

"Oh, you're there."

"I saw him walking with us a while ago, what were you doing?" Jacob asked Ron.

"Let me through, please." Percy said, pushing through students from higher level. "Excuse me! I'm the Head Boy!" He stopped dead in front of the door, looking shocked. "Get back, all of you. No one is to enter this dormitory until it's been searched."

Everyone saw that the portrait had been clawed. Jacob, Harry, Hermione and Ron exchanged dark glances, when Ginny emerged from the crowd, her face looking ashen.

"The Fat Lady! She's gone!" Ginny said.

The quartet looked shocked, and Hermione gasped, grabbing a hold of Jacob's arm. They saw how the Fat Lady's portrait had been slashed viciously, great strips of canvas hanging from the frame.

"Serves her right." Ron said. "She was a terrible singer."

"It's not funny, Ron." Hermione scolded.

"My question is what exactly attacked her..." Jacob said.

"Keep calm, everyone." Percy ordered. "Break into fours. Back to your common room."

The other people in paintings around the Gryffindor common room were crying at the loss of the Fat Lady, including few babies. Just then, Dumbledore appeared, following Filch, who was carrying Mrs. Norris in his arms.

"Be quiet. The headmaster's here."

"Come on, move." Filch ordered, walking through the crowd.

"You heard, move!" Percy shouted.

Dumbledore now faced the Fat Lady's painting. While he started to inspect the scratch marks, Filch started to look around the moving staircases at the portraits.

"Mr. Filch?" Dumbledore said. "Round up the ghosts. Tell them to search every painting in the castle to find the Fat Lady."

"There's no need for ghosts, professor." Filch said, looking up. "The Fat Lady's there."

Everyone was Filch pointing to a higher level at one of the portraits. The students let out a gasp and everyone started to run up to where Filch pointed at. Percy was being pinned to a wall as the students ran past him.

"Mind where your going! Slow down!" Percy ordered. "You listen! I'm Head Boy! Come back here!"

"Keep moving!" Dumbledore said as he and everyone got to the portair that had hippos in it. "Dear lady, who did this to you?"

The Fat Lady peaked from behind the hippo, whimpering in fear. "Eyes like the devil, he's got..." She said. "... and a soul as dark as his name. It's him, headmaster. The one they all talk about. He's here, somewhere in the castle! Sirius Black!"

The Fat Lady whimpered again and hid behind the hippo, and the students started to murmur amongst each other, scared.

"Secure the castle, Mr. Filch." Dumbledore ordered. "The rest of you, to the Great Hall."

The students started to walk down the stairs towards the Great Hall, while Jacob and Harry stayed put in shock, still looking at the portrait. Hermione took a hold of Jacob's hand and started to pull him with her to the Great Hall.

"Come on, let's go." She said nervously.

Jacob didn't say anything, only nodded, and he and Harry followed everyone.

⚯ ͛ϟ

As the night fell, McGonagall and Filch made sure to close off every exit to the castle, before placing every single lock in place on it. Outside, the lights around the castle went out one by one, while the Dementors looked on, eager to get inside.

In the Great Hall, Dumbledore was circling the hall, waiting on reports from the staff. The hall had been removed of it's usual tables and chairs, and the floor was full of sleeping students. Filch then walked up to him carrying a lantern, joined by Flitwick, while Snape walked behind them.

"I searched the Astronomy Tower and the Owlery. There's nothing there." Filch said.

"Thank you." Dumbledore said.

"The floor's clear." Flitwick reported.

"Good.

"I've done the dungeons, headmaster." Snape said. "No sign of Black, nor anywhere else in the castle."

Dumbledore nodded. "I didn't really expect him to linger."

Dumbledore then started to walk further to the hall slowly, joined by Snape, while Flitwick and Filch started to make sure students were asleep.

"Remarkable feat, don't you think?" Snape asked. "To enter Hogwarts Castle on one's own completely undetected?"

"Quite remarkable."

"Any theories on how he might have managed it?"

"Many. Each as unlikely as the next."

"You may recall, prior to the start of term i expressed concerns about your appointment of Professor--"

"i do not believe a single professor inside this castle would help Sirius Black enter it, Severus."

As Snape's eyes glittered darkly, Dumbledore gazed out over the slumbering students. Jacob and Harry, meanwhile, were wide awake, pretending to sleep while listening in on the conversation.

"No... i feel quite the castle is safe. And i'm more than willing to send the students back to their houses. But tomorrow."

"What about Potters? Should they be warned?" Snape asked.

"Perhaps. But for now, let them sleep."

As Dumbledore and Snape stood close to the twins, Dumbledore's gaze found Jacob's and Harry's, who shut their eyes, feigning sleep.

"For in dreams, we enter a world that's entirely our own. Let them swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud."

Chapter Text

Few days passed after Black's attack, though everyone felt like the attack didn't happen, since there hadn't been any signs of Black. Right now, the Gryffindor third years, joined by Ginny, were in front of their common room door. The Fat Lady had been replaced with a new guard, though everyone thought he was much worse.

The new painting guard was Sir Cadogan, a knight who would always try to pick fights with other Gryffindors in duels. He also made a habbit of constantly changing the passwords, which annoyed everyone, as Cadogan came up with several ridiculously complex passwords that he would change at least three times a day. Neville even had to write down a notebook of passwords everytime this happened.

"What villains are these that tresspass upon my private lands?" Cadogan asked and started to swing his sword. "Who dares challenge Sir Cadogan? Back you scurvy braggarts, you--" Suddenly, he fell backwards. "Whoa!"

"He's barking mad." Seamus said.

"I don't know what you expect." Dean replied. "After what happened to the Fat Lady, none of the other pictures will take the job."

"He keeps changing the password." Neville said. "That's twice already this morning. I've taken to keeping a list."

Jacob and Harry, who were in the back, started to walk away, and others started to follow them. Meanwhile, Cadogan had recovered and stood proudly again.

"Farewell, comrades." Cadogan said. "If ever you have need of a noble heart and steely sinew, clal upon Sir--" When Cadogan hit his chest armor, his helmet fell on his face, and he quickly removed it. "-- Cadogan."

"Yeah, we'll call you." Ron said. "If we ever need anyone mental."

Everyone laughed at what Ron said, and finally walked away from the portrait.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Another few days later, the third-year students were sitting in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class, waiting for Lupin. But when the door behind them opened, everyone was surprised who entered the classroom. It was Severus Snape.

Snape pointed his wand at the windows one by one as he marched to the teachers desk and closed the windows. He then pulled a screen down over the blackboard, before turning to the students.

"Turn to page 394." Snape ordered.

Everyone looked confused before they started to open their books, while Snape walked slowly to the back. Jacob, sitting alone in the middle desk, while Ron sat on his left next to Talbott and Harry in front of him with Penny, leaned forward.

"Excuse me, sir..." Jacob asked, getting Snape's attention. "... Where's Professor Lupin?"

"That's not really your concern, is it, Potter? Suffice it to say your professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the present time. Turn to page 394."

Once Snape reached the back, he tapped his wand against a record player, and pictures started to play on the screen he pulled down. An ancient woodcut of a horrific beast flickered on the screen.

Ron meanwhile was lazily turning pages before Snape pointed his wand at Ron's book. The pages turned quickly to page 394, and Ron was now looking at a page talking about werewolves.

"Werewolves?" He asked.

"But sir, we just learned about red caps and hinkypunks. We're not meant to start that for weeks." A voice said next to Jacob suddenly.

Jacob quickly looked next to him, and he saw Hermione sitting on the previously empty seat, looking at Snape behind them.

"Quiet." Snape ordered.

"When did she come in?" Ron whispered to Jacob. "Did you see her come in?"

Jacob was just as confused as Ron, and only shook his head while lifting his shoulders up.

"Now..." Snape said, walking back to the front of the room. "... which one of you can tell me the difference between an Animagus and a werewolf?"

Hermione and Jacob were the only ones who lifted their hands up to answer. However, Snape ignored them, as he turned to face the class again.

"No one? How disappointing."

"Please, sir." Hermione said. "An Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf has no choice. With each full moon when he transforms he no longer remembers who he is. He'd kill his best friend if he crossed paths. Furthermore, the werewolf only responds to the call of it's own kind."

On their right side ahead, Malfoy and Snyde whistled like wolfs, earning a laugh from Crabbe and Goyle behind them.

"Thank you, Mr. Malfoy and Miss Snyde." Snape said before walking up to Hermione. "That is the second time you've spoken out of turn, Miss Granger. Are you incapable of restraining yourself or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?"

"He's got a point, you know." Ron whispered to Jacob.

Jacob only gave Ron a look, causing him to back away a little.

"Five points from Gryffindor." Snape said.

This got groans from Gryffindors, and Jacob decided to stand up for Hermione.

"She raised her hand and you ignored it, 'sir'." Jacob said, retorting at Snape.

"Do you want me to take more points off from your house, Mr. Potter?" Jacob didn't say anything else, he only kept looking at Snape angrily. "Good, didn't think so."

As Snape turned around, Jacob kept his gaze towards Snape, but stopped when he felt something on his right hand. Looking down, he saw Hermione's hand on top of his, rubbing her thumb against his knuckle. When he looked at the girl, she smiled softly at the boy to calm him.

"It's not worth it, let it go." Hermione whispered. While Hermione was happy to see Jacob defend her, she didn't want to see him get into trouble.

Malfoy meanwhile had taken a paper and made it look like a bird. He blew it out of his hands and it flew to Harry who caught it.

"As an antidote to your ignorance..." Snape said to the class. "... and on my desk, by Monday morning, two rolls of parchment of the werewolf, with particular emphasis on recognizing it."

The entire class groaned once again.

"Sir, it's Quidditch tomorrow." Harry protested.

Snape got close to Harry, leaning right at Harry's face. "Then i suggest you take extra care, Mr. Potter. Loss of limb will not excuse you. Page 394." He noticed the note Malfoy sent to Harry. "Passing notes, Potter?"

Before Harry could respond, Snape snatched the note from under Harry's nose, and started eyeing it.

"Not exactly picasso, are you? I hope you demonstrate more talent on the Quidditch pitch then you do as an artist. If not, i fear you'll perish, given the forecast. Until that time, however, you'll forgive me if i don't let you off homework. Should you die, i assure you... you need not hand it in."

Snape put the note back on the table and walked back to the player behind everyone, while Malfoy sniggered with Snyde, Crabbe and Goyle. Jacob and Hermione turned to the page, while Harry started opening the paper.

"The term "werewolf, is a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon word "wer", which means "man" and "wolf". Werewolf, man-wolf."

When Harry looked at the note, he turned to glare at Malfoy, who only lifted his eyebrows up and sneered at Harry.

"There are several ways to become a werewolf. They include being given the power of shape-shifting, being bitten by a werewolf..."

Harry looked at the paper again, and what Malfoy had drawin in it was tomorrow's Quidditch game. It showed Harry and Malfoy riding their brooms, Harry being hit my a Bludger in the head that Malfoy throws at him and then hit by a lightning and Malfoy laughing at him.

⚯ ͛ϟ

The next day was the Gryffindor's first Quidditch match of the year. Before the Gryffindor team went down, Oliver Wood gathered the team in the common room. It was his last year at Hogwarts, and he was determined to win this match.

"This is our last chance-- my last chance-- to win the Quidditch Cup." Wood said. "I'll be leaving at the end of this year. I'll never get another shot at it. Gryffindor hasn't won in 7 years now. Okay, so we've had the worst luck in the world, but we also know we've got the best -- ruddy -- team -- in -- the -- school. We've got three superb Chasers."

Wood pointed at Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson.

"Two unbeatable Beaters." He said to the Weasley twins.

"Stop it, Oliver, you're embarrasing us." Fred and George joked.

"And we've got two Seekers who have never failed to win us a match!" Wood put his attention on the Potter twins with loads of pride.

"We think you're very good too, Oliver." George said.

"Spanking good Keeper." Fred said.

"We'll do it, Oliver!" Angelina said.

"Definitely!" Jacob and Harry added.

As the team was on it's way to the pitch, Jacob was getting ready to go a separate way, as this was Harry's match, before Hermione ran up to them.

"Hey, Hermione." Jacob said.

"Hey, Jacob." She said before turning to Harry. "I just wanted to wish good luck to you. Oh, and another thing, can i see your glasses, Harry?"

"Yeah, sure." Harry said.

As Harry gave his glasses to Hermione, she pulled her wand out and pointed it at them.

"Impervius." She muttered.

This made Harry's glasses repel water.

"There, that should do it." Hermione said, giving the glasses back to Harry.

"Oh, thanks for that, Hermione. That's brilliant." He said.

"All right, big brother..." Jacob said, lifting his fist up. "... win this match for us."

"I will."

The twins gave each other fist pumps before Harry ran back up to their team, while Jacob and Hermione ran to join their housemates.

⚯ ͛ϟ

It turned out the Gryffindors weren't playing against Slytherin this time, since Malfoy's arm is still "broken", though everyone could tell he was faking it to avoid playing in a stormy weather. Instead they were playing against Hufflepuff, who had a new Captain, A fifth-year Cedric Diggory, who was also the Seeker for the team.

The Gryffindors in stadium were all dressed in rain coats while some were holding umbrellas in their hands, while also cheering for their team.

"Go, Harry! Go, Harry!" Hermione shouted.

"Get that Snitch!" Jacob joined in shouting as Harry flew past him, Hermione and Ron.

As the Quaffle was being tossed back and forth between players and the players themselves were flying everywhere, they also had to avoid being stuck by a random lightning.

Katie's broom was then hit by a lightning, which she lost control of and was flying at Harry, who managed to avoid her just in time.

Harry then flew after Diggory, who himself had noticed the Snitch, and the two flew high into the clouds, while Dumbledore and McGonagall kept their eyes on them until the two disappeared.

Diggory had is arm reaching for the Snitch when Harry flew next to him. Diggory kept getting closer, when suddenly his reaching arm was hit with a lightning.

The electricity shot all over Diggory, causing him to lose the control over the broom and fall down past Harry. When Harry stopped flying to look down, it looked like Diggory managed to recover, as he was flying steadily now.

Harry then started to look around for the Snitch after seeing it had disappeared. While looking at the clouds, he saw one massive cloud almost looked like the Grim when the lightning flashed over it.

Suddenly, the Snitch flew right in front of him. Harry tried to reach for it, but it flew away, and Harry flew after it. The two flew higher into the sky, and Harry reached his arm up to try and catch the Snitch, until he noticed his Nimbus 2000 started to freeze, as did his glasses.

Harry still tried to reach for the Snitch before an umbrella flew past him, distracting him and causing him to lose the sight of the Snitch. When he started to look around. Harry noticed there were few dementors starting to fly around him, and so he started to try and escape them.

Harry looked behind him to see one dementor coming towards him, but when he looked ahead, another one was coming straight at him, and he managed to dodge it. He the flew higher in the air, and the two dementors followed him.

Harry continued to fly higher for a moment before he stopped, and dropped down, flying right past the two dementors. He was about to fly back to the Quidditch pitch before he noticed even more dementors on his way.

Then one dementor got right up his face and started to breath in Harry's soul. This caused Harry to hear his mother's scream again.

When this happened, Harry lost conciousness and fell off his broom. He started to spin violently as he came falling down to the Quidditch pitch.

Everyone saw Harry coming down violently and started screaming, Hermione and Penny could be seen covering their mouths in shock.

"Harry!" Jacob screamed in shock.

As Harry got closer and closer to the ground, the Hogwarts staff stood up in shock. Dumbledore, meanwhile, pointed his hand at Harry.

"Aresto Momentum!" Dumbledore chanted.

⚯ ͛ϟ

The next moment, everyone was gathered in the Hospital Wing, where Harry had been brought after Dumbledore saved him two other beds were filled up, with Katie laying on one and joined by Oliver, Alicia and Angelina, and another filled with Hufflepuff players. Harry was laying on his bed as he was slowly waking up.

"He looks a bit peaky, doesn't he?" Ron asked.

"Peaky?" Fred quoted. "What do you expect? He fell over 100 feet."

"Yeah, come on, Ron." George said. "Let's walk you off a tower and see what you look like."

As Harry barely opened his eyes, he saw Jacob, Hermione, Ron, Penny, Fred, George, Seamus and Neville were all leaning close to him.

"Probably a right sight better than he normally does." Harry muttered.

Everyone gasped in relief when they saw Harry waking up. Harry himself smiled a little before opening his eyes fully. Jacob sat on the bed, while Hermione stood next to him.

"Harry." Jacob said relieved. "Thank God you're okay."

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, brilliant." Harry said sarcastically, as he sat up.

"You gave us a right good scare there, mate." George said, sitting on one of the chairs.

Jacob then gave Harry his glasses, who put them on.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"Well, you fell off your broom." Ron said, while he was carrying something.

"Really?" Harry asked sarcastically. "I meant the match. Who won?"

Everyone then looked at each other, no knowing what to say, before Jacob stood up.

"Hufflepuff did." Jacob said. "Cedric Diggory caught the Snitch while you were falling down. He wanted to have a rematch since you were distracted by the dementors, but Wood wouldn't have it, said he caught it fair and square. Nice chap, by the way."

"Um, no one blames you, Harry." Hermione said next. "The dementors aren't supposed to come inside the grounds. Dumbledore was furious. As soon as he saved you, he sent them straight off."

Harry nodded grimly, looking like he was disappointed himself, before he started at the rain lashing the window.

"There's something else you should know too, Harry." Ron said, getting Harry to focus on what he was carrying. "When you fell, your broom sort of blew into the Whomping Willow, and... well..."

Penny then removed the Gryffindor cloth that was covering the thing Ron was carrying, and to Harry's shock it was his Nimbus 2000, broken to pieces.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Few days later, Lupin had returned to teach Defence Against the Dark Arts from wherever he had been to Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws delight. Lupin was walking with Jacob and Harry in the forest, just at the edge of the Black Lake. Hedwig was flying around and Jacob had Millie resting on his shoulders.

Right now, the twins had finished explaining Lupin what had happened at the Quidditch match with the dementors.

"I'm sorry to hear about your broomstick, Harry." Lupin said. "Is there no chance of fixing it?"

"No." Harry sighted, shaking his head..

"You can always borrow mine." Jacob offered. "I'm sure my Nimbus 2000 works the same way as yours did. With it, we'll be sure to win the Quidditch Cup."

"That's nice of you to share your broomstick, Jacob." Lupin said smiling.

"Can't leave my brother hanging without one, now, can i?"

"Thanks." Harry said to his brother, before looking at Lupin. "Professor, why do the dementors affect me, and pressumably Jacob, so? I mean, more than everyone else?"

"Listen." Lupin said, stopping his walking and faced the twins. "Dementors are amongst the foulest creatures to walk this earth. They feed on every good feeling, every happy memory..." He started walking again and twins followed. "... until a person is left with absolutely nothing but his worst experiences. You are not weak, boys. Dementors affect you two most of all because there are true horrors in your past. Horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm scared, professor."

"Me as well." Jacob said.

"Well, i'd consider you two fools if you weren't." Lupin said.

Jacob thought for a second before coming up with something. "We need to know how to fight them. You could teach us."

"Jacob's right." Harry said. "You made the ones on the train go away."

"There were only two that night." Lupin said.

"But you made it go away." Jacob insisted.

The three had now reached a rock where Hedwig was sitting on, whom Harry started to scratch, and they now looked at the small island on the lake.

"I don't pretend to be an expert, Jacob." Lupin said. "But as the dementors seem to have developed a particular interest in you two, perhaps i should teach you. But after the holidays. For now, i need to rest."

The trio watched as Hedwig flew off the rock high into the air over the Black Lake.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Sometime later, after Jacob and Harry had returned from their walk with Lupin, Jacob met up with Hermione near the library. The girl then quickly pulled him to the side where no one could see or hear them.

"Hermione? What is it?" Jacob asked.

Hermione started to look around to make sure they really were alone. When no one was around, she turned back to him. 

Hermione leaned in and whispered. "I figured something out about professor Lupin, and i wanted to let you know. But you have to promise me you won't say anything to anyone."

Noticing how serious she was, Jacob nodded his head. 

"Okay, i promise i won't say anything."

Smiling at this, Hermione then took a deep breath before whispering again. "I think professor Lupin is a werewolf."

Jacob's eyes widened when she said that. "Wait, you thought that too?"

"Yeah -- Wait, you too?"

Jacob nodded. "Mhm. I started thinking it back when Snape had us do the essay on the werewolves. I thought it was suspicious he had us study them when Lupin wasn't around."

"Remember when we had that boggart lesson?" 

Jacob nodded again.

"Back then, i thought it was weird that his boggart was a full moon. But the essay seemed to confirm my suspicion."

"I thought it was weird too. And like you said, let's not tell anyone about this. Professor Lupin's a good person."

"Agreed." She smiled and then hugged Jacob. "Sometimes i'm amazed how our thoughts align so well."

"Well, you're still better than me in that department, and few steps ahead." Jacob smirked and hugged her back before letting go. "Let's get back to others before they grow suspicious."

Hermione nodded, and the two ran back up to the common room.

Chapter Text

Month later, and it was time for a second visit to Hogsmeade of the year. The snow was coming down as it was getting closer and closer to Christmas holidays. As the students were getting ready to leave, Jacob and Harry were looking down at them from the clock tower.

"Last call for Hogsmeade! Come on, now!" Filch shouted.

Filch started to escort students to Hogsmeade, while some of them were throwing snowballs at each other. Jacob focused his eyes on Hermione, Ron and Penny.

"I know i said i was happy for them, but this is bollocks." Jacob muttered. "Us being the only ones not able to go to Hogsmeade, just because we don't have the permissions written."

"I know." Harry muttered back. "Everything sounds amazing from what they've described what they've seen." Harry then thought of something. "I think i got an idea, Jacob."

Jacob turned to Harry, interested on what his brother thought of.

Later, the twins were walking outside, however they were under their shared Invisibility cloak. Harry's idea had been to sneak into the Hogsmeade under their cloak. However, they were leaving their footprints on the snow, which was noticed by Fred and George who were making a snowman.

The Weasley twins started to walk next to the Potter twins slowly before wrapping their arms on them and pulling them away.

"Guys, let us go!" Harry said.

"What do you think you're doing?" Jacob asked, and the twins tried to free themselves.

"Clever, guys." Fred said.

"But not clever enough." George said.

"Besides, we've got a better way."

"We're trying to get to Hogsmeade." Harry said.

"We know." Fred and George said together.

"Don't worry, we'll get you there." Fred said.

"We'll show you a quicker way." George said.

"If you pipe down. Bless them."

Fred and George brought Jacob and Harry back inside the castle, over to a staircase by a window.

"Let us go! Come on, guys. Don't--" Jacob tried to say.

"Now, you two." Fred said.

"Come and join the big boys." George said.

The Weasley twins set the Potter twins on the staircase before pulling the cloak off of them. Jacob and Harry looked cross.

"What are you doing?!" Jacob and Harry shouted.

"Shh!" George shushed them.

While George looked behind them to make sure no one was nearby, Fred quickly slapped a worn roll of parchment into Jacob's hands. Jacob unfurled it, and frowned, seeing it to be blank.

"What's this rubbish?" He asked.

"'What's this rubbish?' he says." Fred quoted. "That there is the secret to our success."

"It's a wrench giving to you, believe me--" George said.

"But we've decided your needs are greater than ours. George, if you will."

George took his wand out. "I solemnly swear that i am up to no good." 

George pressed his wand to the parchment, and suddenly the map came to life, springing up names and what looked like the drawing of the Hogwarts Castle in the middle. Above the drawing, the map produced words.

"Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder's Map." Harry read the text outloud.

Both Jacob and Harry looked at Fred and George confused.

"Ah... Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs." George said. "We owe them so much."

Jacob opened up the map, and the twins saw the drawings of Hogwarts' multiple corridors and classrooms, with their names on top of them, as well as names of people walking around.

"Hang on." Jacob said. "This is Hogwarts. And that-- No. Is that really--?"

"Dumbledore." Fred said.

"In his study." George said.

"Pacing."

"Does that a lot."

And indeed, they saw the nametag of Dumbledore, as well as what were his footprints, pacing around his study.

"So you mean this map shows--" Harry said.

"Everyone." Fred said.

"Everyone?" Jacob and Harry asked.

"Everyone." George said.

"Where they are." Fred said.

"What they're doing."

"Every minute."

"Of every day."

"Brilliant!" Harry said. "Where did you get it?"

"Nicked it from Filch's office, of course." Fred said, leaning against the wall. "First year."

"Now listen, there are seven secret passageways out of the castle." George said. "We'd recommend--"

"This one." Fred and George said together, pointing at one of the passageways on the map.

"The One-Eyed Witch passageway." Fred said.

"It will lead you straight to Honeyduke's." George said.

"You'd best hurry." Fred pointed at a spot on the map. "Filch is heading this way."

"Oh, and guys, don't forget. When you're done, just give it at tap and say--"

"Michief managed." They said together.

George tapped his wand on the map, and the twins saw how the ink on the parchment disappeared.

"Otherwise, anyone can read it." Fred said.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, Jacob and Harry were walking in the Divination stairwell, approaching a statue of a hump-backed, one-eyed witch. Jacob is tracing his finger on the Marauder's Map, on the ink figure labeled 'Jacob Potter' and 'Harry Potter'. He noticed a tiny speech bubble appear on the map, reading 'Dissendium'.

"Dissendium?" Jacob read the speech bubble outloud.

Suddenly, the witch's eye opened with a click, and the statue pivoted, revealing a dark opening in the floor. Harry crouched down, squinting. The twins look at each other and nod.

Making their way through the passageway while following the map, the twins were finally right underneath the Honeyduke's. Jacob tapped his wand on the map.

"Mischief managed."

After he said this, the ink on the map disappeared, just like how Fred and George had told them. Harry then lifted a piece of rock up, but quickly lowered it when the bottle that was on top of the rock slid off and hit a wall.

He lifted it up again and saw the owner of the shop wlak up the stairs, and when the coast was clear, he removed the rock and got up, quickly followed by Jacob, who was carrying their cloak. The brother walked to the stairs.

"I guess we're in the cellar." Jacob said.

Jacob then quickly wrapped the invisibility cloak over him and Harry. Making their way up out of the cellar, they were now standing inside the main room of Honeyduke's. The shop was filled with students selecting sweets for themselves.

They also saw their classmates, Neville and Seamus, sitting by the door, with Neville about to take a bite out of a lollipop when Harry snatched it and the twins exited the shop and started to look for their friends.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Meanwhile, Hermione, Ron and Penny were outside of Hogsmeade at the edge of a forest, gazing at the Shrieking Shack, which was still little further away. They were standing right by the barbed wire.

"It's meant to be the most haunted building in Britain." Hermione said. "Did i mention that?"

"Twice." Ron said.

"Oh." Hermione looked back at the Shrieking Shack. "I know Jacob would've wanted to see this."

"I think we all know you would've wanted to see the Shrieking Shack with him." Penny said, casting a teasing look at Hermione.

Hermione started blushing at this, while looking down. "Sh-shut up, Penny. Do you guys want to move a bit closer?"

"Huh?" Ron asked.

"To the Shrieking Shack?"

"Seriously?" Penny asked.

"Oh. Actually, i'm fine here." Ron said.

"Well, well. Look who's here." A voice suddenly from behind the trio.

The trio turned around, and saw Malfoy, Snyde, Crabbe and Goyle coming down the hill at them, all four with smirks.

"You three shopping for your new dream home? Or perhaps just Weasle-Bee and Hay-Ray?" Malfoy asked. "Bit grand for you, isn't it, Weasle-Bee? Don't your family sleep in one room?"

"Nah, he couldn't afford it." Snyde remarked. "If anything, i think Granger here was thinking about sharing it with the younger Potter. You two disgust me so much."

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy." Ron said.

"How about you go and fall off a broomstick, Snyde." Penny said glaring.

"Ooh, not very friendly." Malfoy said, clucking his tongue. "Guys, i think it's time we teach Weasle-Bee and Hay-Ray how to respect their superiors."

"Now that the Potters aren't here, i quite agree with you." Snyde said, rolling up her sleeves. 

While Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles, Hermione gave a harsh chuckle and got in front of Ron and Penny. 

"Hope you don't mean yourselves." Hermione said taunting.

"How dare you talk to me!" Malfoy yelled. "You filthy little Mudblood!"

'You're gonna regret that now, ferret.'

Malfoy was suddenly hit with a snowball, and he and his gang turned to their left, while the other three turned to their right, to see where the snowball had come from, though they saw no one.

"Who's there?" Malfoy shouted.

Suddenly, up from the hill, another snowball came flying at them, hitting Snyde square in the face, and another came at Malfoy, which caused them to start backing away, as they kept being hit with snowballs. Hermione, Ron and Penny looked confused on what was happening.

"Well, don't stand there! Do something!" Malfoy shouted at Crabbe and pushed him.

"What?" Goyle asked confused.

"Anything!" Snyde shouted.

Suddenly, Goyle's snowhat was pushed over his eyes, while Crabbe's pants were quickly lowered. While Goyle got his hat back on, Crabbe tried to raise his pants up, but was suddenly pushed forward and he fell down. Hermione, Ron and Penny started laughing at the chaos.

Goyle's scarf was suddenly lifted up and he started to spin around, while Malfoy looked like he tripped over something, then followed up Snyde. Something that was holding on to Goyle's scarf then let go and he fell over.

Malfoy, who was on his back, then noticed that his legs were lifted up and was now being dragged past the gate closer towards the Shrieking Shack, and he started to scream, while the same was happening to Snyde, who was being dragged by her scarf, and she tried to fight against it, but was still being dragged.

"What's up, Malfoy? Lost your skis?" Ron asked mockingly.

"Is that a new way of slowly sliding down a mountain, Snyde?" Penny asked.

When Malfoy's legs were finally lowered on the ground, he started the scramble away, and Snyde followed after him, scared for her life.

"Get out of the way!" Malfoy shouted as he pushed Crabbe out of the way and ran over the hill.

"This place is really haunted!" Snyde screamed, running over the hill herself and pushing Goyle out of the way.

"Malfoy, Snyde, wait! Wait!" Crabbe shouted as he finally got his pants up and ran after the two, followed up Goyle.

The three meanwhile continued to laugh at the humiliation the Slytherins went through. Suddenly, Ron's hat was being lifted up and down and Penny's scarf was moved in circles. When they saw this, they started feeling scared. Hermione felt her hair being lifted up and down, though she realized who was doing it.