Friday, 1 November 1991
Harry woke up to the sight of a grinning house elf standing on his bed.
It was a sight he was used to.
Kreacher thought it was a great way to wake a person up, Harry had adjusted accordingly. He'd oddly missed being woken up like this when he'd come to Hogwarts.
That was about when his thoughts came to a screeching halt.
He was at Hogwarts. Kreacher was not a Hogwarts elf. Kreacher should not be able to be here right now.
"Good morning, Kreacher, care to explain how in Circe's name you're currently in my dorm?"
"Little Master Harry is the new Lord Gryffindor," Kreacher said, still grinning like a man (elf) possessed.
"And that means you can get through the wards?"
"Kreacher is the personal elf to a Lord of the Castle, Kreacher can do whatever he wants."
"Well," Harry said, sitting up and running his hands down his face, "that's not at all concerning."
"Does Young Master Harry need anything?"
Harry was about to say no and argue, likely ineffectually, once more that Kreacher needn't call him Master anything, but then remembered the whole troll situation and decided he should maybe alert an adult. Any of them would do honestly, it was just a matter of who he felt like subjecting the Hogwarts staff to. He tried to figure out who was the safest bet and rather quickly came to the realization that any of the four would quite literally kill anyone who'd dared put Harry in danger and decided he might as well write them all.
"I have a letter for you to deliver home, would you be able to wait around for me to write it?"
"Of course," he said, plopping down to sit at the foot of Harry's bed. "Kreacher has missed his friend. Kreacher will wait right here."
"I missed you too, Kreacher," Harry said, pulling the elf into a one armed hug as he leaned over to dig a sheet of parchment and a fountain pen out of the drawer of his bedside table.
Grandfather, Athair, Papa, and Dad,
Several things to mention. First, I'm Lord Gryffindor! Turns out the 'condition subsequent' was calling Gwaine's sword in defense of a friend. On a related note, a troll broke into the school and nearly killed Hermione.
It did not succeed seeing as I rather swiftly beheaded it. It was quite an impressive defeat, if I do say so myself. Also, on the Lord Gryffindor front, Kreacher can apparently come into the school or, in his words, 'Kreacher can do whatever he wants.' I'm not sure whether to warn the general Hogwarts population or simply sit back and wait for chaos to ensue.
Well, that's all for now, see you tomorrow.
Love always,
Bambi
Harry handed Kreacher the letter to read over and watched his eyes widen as he reached the bit about the troll before a proud smirk spread across his face at the news Harry had killed it.
"Well done," Kreacher said, smiling so wide every single one of his teeth was visible. Harry rather thought the expression should've sent him running, instead he just grinned right back.
* * *
Saturday, 2 November 1991
Hermione was in rare form at breakfast, rattling off facts she'd memorized from Quidditch Through the Ages like it'd somehow protect Harry from even the possibility of getting injured during that afternoon's game. Harry had learned that there were 700 ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473. He'd also learned that Seekers were the most often injured players which was sending Hermione into a bit of a tizzy. He tried to tell her that people rarely died, that, for some reason, didn't quite calm her down.
He let her chatter fade into the background as he looked around the hall. He'd noticed that Snape had been limping for the past couple of days and was starting to think he'd somehow crossed paths with the Cerberus that was being kept in the 3rd floor corridor. Harry had discovered Fluffy during the second week of school, the Death Magic had called to him and he'd spent a lovely afternoon chatting with the three headed dog before continuing on his merry way. He'd decided not to think too hard about whatever was below the trap door Fluffy was guarding. Snape was rather hot and cold in his behaviour toward Harry but he didn't think he was the sort of person who'd try to steal whatever was being guarded. It was more likely he was tasked with helping to protect it and had simply had the misfortune of getting too close to one of Fluffy's jaws.
Harry decided to head down to the field a bit early so he could take a moment to himself and, hopefully, find his family before the game started. Sirius had said they'd be there and Harry was pretty sure he was visibly vibrating with excitement.
"Harry," Seamus called as he stood to leave, "at least take this with you, you'll need your strength, Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team."
"Thanks, mate," Harry laughed, as he dutifully took the offered sandwich, a fried egg and a Lorne sausage between two pieces of toast, and clapped Seamus on the shoulder before heading for the door.
* * *
"I have so many questions," Remus said as they walked toward the school gates from Hogsmeade. "Most importantly, how the ever loving fuck did a troll get into the school. Secondly, why was our child in a position to be the one to kill it?"
"I'm guessing the wards were adjusted at some point to allow a creature into the forest or in for the Care of Magical Creatures class to study and they were never re-adjusted," Merlin said, though he didn't quite look like he believed his own answer. "As to your second question, have you met your child?"
"Oh so he kills a troll and all the sudden he's my child?" Remus teased.
"He has always been your child Remus," Arcturus said, rolling his eyes. "Though I will admit that either seeking out the troll with the goal of killing it or simply happening upon its path both sound more like something Merlin would do."
"How are we explaining my presence again?" Merlin asked, remembering that he needed to use an alternative identity when he heard Arcturus say his name, and choosing to ignore his rather accurate observation.
"You're Melania's nephew. She was from the secondary branch of the MacMillan family and only had one brother who moved away immediately after Hogwarts and who's since passed away, there's no one who'd know any different because their tapestry only tracks the main branch unless the magic is forced to jump to another branch. You're Matthew MacMillan, you were homeschooled but then started working at Gringotts in Paris, met Archer, and bonded over the fact that he's your cousin even though you'd never known each other as children."
"You're weirdly good at coming up with fake identities," Remus decided, eyeing Arcturus critically.
"What are you asking me, Lupin?" he said, raising an eyebrow in challenge though his nose crinkled as he bit back a smile.
"Oh nothing, simply trying to figure out when we'll finally discover how many skeletons are in your closet, old man."
Arcturus let out a loud laugh and shoved Remus' shoulder slightly just as they approached the gates where they found the rest of their family (bar Lucius who was being kept on the edges until someone, anyone could figure out his actual motivations in life) waiting to watch the young Heir's game. It was quite the sight; the entire House of Black at the Gryffindor v. Slytherin match cheering for Gryffindor. Sirius couldn't help but grin. Part of him wished he'd had this support when he'd sorted Gryffindor but a larger part of him knew that changing that one thing might've changed the person he became. He liked who he was, despite the general horrors he'd had to go through to get here.
They were met at the gates by McGonagall who only looked surprised by the sheer volume of people for a half second before she let what passed for a smile pull at her lips, "well," she said, "I rather think Mr. Potter is going to be glad he decided to hyphenate his name on his jersey."
"I should think so," Sirius quipped. "My son is a Black after all."
"Of course," she agreed, finally turning her head to face Sirius head on, a distinct glint in her eye that Sirius knew meant she was laughing in her head. He'd seen that expression on several occasions in his years as a student. "I don't believe we've had the pleasure of meeting, Lord Black, though your son speaks very highly of you."
"His ego doesn't need that sort of boost," Andromeda teased, linking her arm with Sirius' as she smiled over at their former professor.
"Quite right," Narcissa added, coming to his other side as they walked through the grounds. "If his head gets much bigger we may have to expand the gate to get him back out."
Before Sirius got a chance to respond they heard bright laughter coming from the other side of the hill and three voices shouting back and forth.
"Lion!" Draco yelled, to seemingly no avail. "Harrison! Harry! Listen to me, stop running!"
"Never!" Harry yelled back. He hadn't spotted them yet and Sirius was rather happy to watch this display continue.
"Leo!" another voice called that Sirius didn't recognize though Andromeda perking up made him think it must be Nymphadora.
"Dora!" Harry shouted back, tone mocking.
"Harry James!" Draco cried as he crested the hill, slamming straight into Harry who'd stopped, looking around like he could sense something nearby but hadn't quite figured it out yet. At Draco's impact, they hit the ground in a tangle of limbs where Nymphadora quickly joined them, not having seen them fall and immediately tripping over Harry's leg.
"You've got me, you've got me," Harry laughed. Just by the pitch of it, Sirius could tell he was being tickled. "What do you want?"
"Just wanted to wish you luck," Nymphadora chirped. "I'll be cheering for Gryffindor even if our darling Dragon refuses."
"Hey I said I'd cheer for Harry, I simply refuse to cheer for Gryffindor."
"Whyever not?" Narcissa called. Sirius had to bite his tongue to stop from laughing at the way all three heads immediately shot up, looking rather uncannily like a pack of prairie dogs.
"Mother!" Draco cheered, a bright grin on his face as he disentangled himself from his cousins and darted down the hill, abandoning all sense of decorum once he'd realized his father was nowhere to be seen.
"Pa!" was all the warning Sirius got before he had his arms full of his kid. He hugged him back hard. It'd been two entire months without Harry constantly within reach and it had been complete and utter hell. He missed his boy desperately. He missed listening to him putter about the library, he missed hearing him happily chatting with whatever creature had wandered into the courtyard, he missed waking up to his sleepy little boy crawling into bed and nestling his way in between him and Moony. He missed every little piece of this kid more than he ever thought possible.
"What about me?" Remus asked with a soft smile, coming up next to Sirius now that Andromeda and Narcissa had moved away to greet their children.
"Dad!" Harry said excitedly, wriggling out of Sirius' grasp to wrap his arms around Remus' waist. Sirius smiled softly as he watched Harry press his ear against Remus' chest, taking comfort in the sound of his steady heartbeat. It seemed some habits never changed. "I missed you so much."
Merlin, apparently getting impatient, simply joined Harry and Remus' hug, twining his fingers in Harry's darkening curls. Sirius wasn't sure if it was age taking away his baby blonde or months separated from the summer sun. "Hello, rí beag," Merlin said softly, "I missed you dearly."
"I missed you too, athair," Harry responded, sliding out of Remus' grasp to hold onto Merlin.
"Now," Arcturus said, pulling Harry away from Merlin for a hug of his own. "Care to tell your dear old grandfather how you happened upon a troll?"
"A troll?" Druella asked from where she'd finally pried her grandson away from his mother. "What troll?"
"Ah yes," McGonagall said, looking almost proud if Sirius was reading her right. "Heir Black here rather thoroughly defeated a troll on Samhain. We're looking into how it got through the wards and will figure out how to stop it from happening again at whatever cost, but whoever trained him to fight should be quite proud. I daresay no one on staff could've done it so efficiently."
Sirius couldn't help but ruffle Harry's hair with a proud smile on his face, "alright, mon soleil, before you go to the locker room, let me introduce you to some people."
He could see Harry was slightly overwhelmed by the number of people standing around but he, Draco, and Nymphadora each put on bright smiles and accepted the hugs and pinched cheeks from every one of their various family members. Sirius felt an odd sort of pride when he watched Nymphadora and Draco share a look before closing ranks and blocking the group's view of Harry so he could slink away. He spotted two identical red heads making their way down the hill and watched as they beelined for Harry who immediately jumped onto the back of the one on the right, letting out a bright laugh as the twin took off at a sprint, followed by his brother at a more sedate pace.
"Oh, that doesn't look at all familiar," Remus teased and Sirius felt his cheeks go bright red. He'd sort of hoped everyone had conveniently forgotten about his hopeless crush on Fabian Prewett. It appears he wasn't so lucky.
"Shut it," he whispered back, knowing there was no way he'd be taken seriously.
"No, I don't think I will," Remus laughed, wrapping his arm around Sirius' shoulders and pressing a consolatory kiss to his temple. "It was cute," he whispered, "I was, however, horrifically jealous."
"Hey, remember when you were hopelessly in love with Fabian Prewett?" Andromeda said, sidling up to Sirius with a wicked grin on her face. "I think those are his nephews."
"Make it stop," Sirius grumbled, covering his face with both hands.
"Wait were those my grandsons?" Cedrella asked, "Frederick Gideon and George Fabian Weasley! Where do you think you're going, young men?"
Sirius couldn't help but laugh as the pair whipped around, immediately looking like they'd been caught doing something they shouldn't before twin grins broke out on their faces and they came running back up the hill, Harry still securely on who he now knew to be George's back.
"Mémé!" Fred shouted, darting ahead of George and Harry to wrap his grandmother in a hug, "what are you doing here?"
"Not excited to see me?" Cedrella laughed, hugging Fred back as tight as she could.
"Of course we're excited to see you," George said, joining their hug after he'd finally deposited Harry back on the ground.
"Everyone," Cedrella said, turning back to the gathered members of the House of Black, "these are my grandsons, Frederick and George Weasley, they're Molly and Arthur's boys."
"Oh!" Lucretia said, a massive smile on her face as she rushed forward, "I'm your Great Aunt Lucretia, it's so nice to meet you boys."
"Nice to meet you too," Fred said, holding out his hand for her to shake and barely covering up his squawk of surprise when she tugged him into a hug instead.
"Terror Twins! Harry!" a young man with the Captain's band on his robes called from the base of the hill, "let's go!"
"Coming!" Harry called back, grabbing the sleeve of George's jersey before turning his sunshine smile on the gathered family, "thank you all for coming, it was really great to meet all of you."
The boys darted down the hill followed by a chorus of nice to meet yous and good lucks.
"I think my grandson likes your grandson," Cedrella whispered to Arcturus in a sing-song voice as they watched George sling Harry over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes just before disappearing into the locker room.
* * *
Harry pulled on his robe and then took the spot Fred and George had saved him on the bench to buckle on his shin and arm guards just as Wood cleared his throat for silence.
"Okay, men," he started.
"And women," Angelina Johnson interrupted.
"And women," Wood corrected. "This is it."
"The big one," Fred said, leaning down to whisper right in Harry's ear.
"The one we've all been waiting for," George added, slinging an arm around Harry's shoulder.
"We know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred said, "we were on the team last year."
"Shut up, you two," Wood scolded, levelling them with a glare that made them straighten their spines even as Harry tried not to laugh. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."
The look in his eye said win, or else.
"Right, it's time. Good luck, all of you."
Harry picked up his broom and followed the team out of the locker room as they fell into formation. Wood in the lead, followed by Fred and George, the Chasers – Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, and Alicia Spinnet – behind them, and finally Harry at the back. They walked onto the field to deafening cheers and Harry couldn't help but grin.
Madam Hooch stood in the middle of the field, broom in hand, waiting for the two teams.
"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, seeming to be speaking directly to the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint. Harry avoided looking at Flint and instead looked up to the stands. He saw his family in a crowd in the teacher's box and laughed when he saw how confused the staff looked, whether by seeing the entire Black family for the first time in decades or by the sight of Arcturus Black wearing a Gryffindor scarf and a maroon jumper, he wasn't sure. His eyes scanned the crowd and his grin got wider as he spotted his year mates at the top of the Gryffindor stand with a massive sign that read Potter for President. He was rather certain Dean was responsible for the lion drawn at the bottom of the banner.
"Mount your brooms, please!" Hooch called and Harry swung his leg over his brand new Nimbus, running his thumb over the constellation etched into the grip as Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle.
He tried to tune out Lee Jordan's commentary, the theme of which appeared to be how attractive Angelina looked while also being an excellent Chaser. Harry wished him luck, he'd seen the way Angelina smiled at Fred and was pretty sure Lee wasn't the roommate she was aiming for. He flew higher until he could see the entire pitch, keeping an eye out for the Snitch. He knew it likely wouldn't show itself this early in the game but it wouldn't do to get distracted and miss it.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, he spotted a flash of gold near Adrian Pucey's ear. He took off at break neck speed, followed closely by Terrence Higgs, but just as he was about to reach out something slammed into him, throwing both him and Higgs off course. It took Harry a moment to realize the force had been Marcus Flint, throwing his entire body into Harry's path and sending his broom spinning off course. Harry sort of wanted to stab him but assumed that'd be frowned upon. He'd settle for getting Kreacher to put colour changing potions in all of his drinks for the next week.
The entire crowd, except the Slytherin stand, was screaming FOUL! As the snitch disappeared from sight. Harry let out an annoyed huff and flew up above the pitch once again.
"So, after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating," Lee announced.
"Jordan!" McGonagall hissed.
"I mean, after that open and revolting foul -"
"Jordan, I'm warning you."
"Alright, alright, Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession.
Just as Harry dodged another bludger, which had spun dangerously close to his head, he felt his broom twitch. He brushed it off as him catching the wind weird which lasted for all of a second before his broom suddenly jolted, lurching dangerously and nearly unseating him. He held on tightly and began scanning the crowd. He knew immediately it wasn't an issue with the broom, its magic felt as it always did, this was something external.
He looked to the professors' stand first, knowing it'd take someone powerful and knowledgeable to override the charms on a broom. Several people were staring at him intently, his entire family had watched him lurch and all of them looked like they didn't believe for a second it'd been his mistake. Sirius was scanning the crowd, also trying to sort out who, exactly, had decided to attack Harry.
He saw a blur of brown curls followed by bright red hair leaving the Gryffindor stands and assumed Ron and Hermione were about to do something reckless, he grinned at the thought.
Just as he looked back at the professors, his broom lurched again. He'd tried to stabilize it wandlessly but he wasn't sure what spell was being cast so it was difficult to figure out how to counter it while also soaring 50 meters off the ground on a jinxed broom. He saw Fred and George move to fly below him, positioning themselves so they could catch him in the event he fell. Finally, his eyes zeroed in on Snape, which was odd, but magic coming off of Snape was distinctly protective. He was countering the jinx. Harry started his scan once more and paused at the oddly malicious look on his Defense professor's face.
Turns out he was right not to trust the man.
He barely even noticed the bench at the centre of the staff section go up in flames as he raised a hand and shot several silent stinging hexes in Quirrell's direction. Between the hexes and the encroaching flames, Quirrell lost his focus and ended the jinx.
Harry decided he'd deal with that later as he twisted his Potter ring, activating the embedded shield that'd protect him and whatever was in his immediate vicinity from just about anything other than the Unforgivables for a short period of time, nodded toward Fred and George to let them know he was alright, and then took off after the flash of gold he spotted near the centre of the field.
Everyone had been so distracted by the commotion that he was mere feet from the Snitch by the time Higgs even started moving. He reached out a hand and wrapped his fingers around the Snitch, its wings beating against his palm. His toes brushed the grass as he levelled out, pumping his fist in the air in victory as he flew back up.
Fred slammed into him first, followed quickly by George, and next thing he knew he was at the centre of a mid-air dog pile of laughing, cheering Gryffindors.
"HE'S DONE IT!" Lee shouted over the noise of the crowd, "POTTER-BLACK'S GOT THE SNITCH, GRYFFINDOR WIN!"
"What happened there, sunshine?" George asked, leaning close so only Harry could hear him as they hit the ground.
"It was Quirrell," Harry told him. "Haven't the foggiest clue why, though."
"We should have someone look at your broom," he suggested, "make sure he didn't cast anything permanent."
"Smart," Harry agreed, leaning into George's side as they made their way toward the locker room.
"I try," George laughed, slinging his arm around Harry's shoulders with a soft smile on his face. Harry was rather certain there was something magical about George's smile, every time he saw it, he couldn't help but smile back. He spotted a flash out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Sirius holding a camera and Remus standing behind him with a massive grin.
Harry grinned back, grabbing the front of George's jersey and yanking him toward his parents, Fred following behind the pair with windswept hair and a bright smile on his face.
"Well done," Remus cheered, picking Harry up and spinning him around, much to Harry's delight.
"That was quite the catch, Bambi," Sirius added, pinching Harry's cheek once Remus had finally set him down.
"Bambi?" Fred asked, eyes lit up with unholy glee at the new nickname.
Harry buried his face in his hands with a huff as Sirius laughed brightly, "his da was an animagus, see, a big 'ol stag. We called him Prongs."
Only Harry, who was able to read the twins expressions after so many hours spent with them over the past few months, saw their eyes widen before they schooled their features and sent each other a quick glance. He was going to have to ask about that later.
"I'll see you up in the tower," Harry said as Fred and George said their goodbyes and made their way back toward where their grandmother and great aunt were standing at the edge of the pitch, heads together and whispering furiously.
"Well done, Harrison," Arcturus said, pulling Harry into a hug the moment he stepped out of the stadium. "That was quite the catch," he added before his voice dropped to a whisper, "were you able to figure out who was jinxing your broom?"
"I'm nearly certain it was Quirrell, I don't know why though. He's been perfectly normal in class but there's just something about him that puts my instincts on alert."
Harry had spent a good portion of his Defense lessons studying Quirrell and his magic. There was something dark wrapped around his core but it was almost like Remus' magic, like he'd been infected or turned by some creature. Harry knew the rumours of Quirrell's run in with Vampires in Albania and wondered if maybe everyone had gotten it wrong and he hadn't escaped in time.
"Well, I'm not sure we'd be successful in getting him removed. This school has quite the history with Defense professors. Just keep an eye out and never, ever go anywhere alone with him, alright?"
"Alright," Harry agreed, hugging his grandfather a little tighter before stepping away to greet everyone else. He wasn't exactly sure where Merlin had gone but logic told him it was somewhere in the vicinity of the ward stone.
"Thank you all for coming," Harry said with a bright smile. He'd never met any of these people before today, yet here they all were, happily cheering for him on a bitterly cold November day. He wasn't sure what his grandfather had done to re-unite the House of Black, but he was glad it'd happened.