Loren had no idea what the experimental-subject trio was up to for the moment, because something else had pulled his attention away—the upcoming Quidditch match.
Gryffindor's team had gone a bit jumpy ever since the news that Snape would referee. Oliver Wood in particular had privately sought out Loren and the Weasley twins to hatch a foolproof plan for this match. Wood's idea was that, if things looked bad, one of the twins would deliberately crash into a Bludger, take a fall off the broom, and then Loren would sub in.
When George and Fred heard Wood's plan, they gave him a strange look and muttered, "Classic—rules for us but not for him. When we suggested that before, he shot it down. Now he's proposing it himself."
Caught by their whispered jab, Wood flushed and explained, "It's just a contingency. With Snape as referee he'll target us—we need a countermeasure."
He then turned hopeful eyes to Loren, wanting him to say a few kind words. "In principle I'm not against it," Loren said. "I'll stay on the bench." Loren also knew Snape was taking the whistle mainly to protect Harry, to keep him from being hexed like last time.
As the match drew near, the team's tension mounted, yet the thought of beating Slytherin in the House Cup sent a thrill through everyone. For nearly seven years, no one had taken them down; now Gryffindor had a real shot at it—just as Slytherin's Head of House stepped in to referee, which didn't exactly help people think the best of him.
Lately Harry felt uneasy too, because no matter where he went he kept running into Professor Snape. Because of this, he stopped attending the recent Potions classes as Harrie (non-canon temporary form of Harry), which only made Snape even harsher—at least in Harry's eyes, far worse than at the start. He even suspected Snape could see through people and had realized that Harry had uncovered the Philosopher's Stone secret.
Time flew, and match day came anyway.
With the tragic grandeur of a warrior going forth never to return, Harry walked out under the cheers of Ron and Neville. In the locker room, Loren, already dressed, glanced at Harry and, for a moment, could almost hear a bard's line in his head—wind over a cold river, a warrior gone into tiger dens and dragon palaces. He shook the thought away, left the players who were already sharing Harry's mood, and headed alone for the reserves bench.
At the doorway, Loren seemed to notice something. He turned and shouted back toward the locker room, "Don't crowd—Professor Dumbledore isn't young anymore!"
The others didn't catch on at first, but Fred reacted fast, trotted to the entrance, and peeked outside. He came sprinting back, yelling, "Dumbledore's here to watch!" The room's mood lightened at once.
Loren didn't bother to linger on their excitement. He went straight to the bench, ready to enjoy the match. It began quickly; after watching a moment, he lost interest. Professor Snape's biased calls were so clumsy that even Loren, his favored Potions pupil, couldn't stand it. He turned his attention to the stands, trying to spot Draco. In Loren's memory, Draco was supposed to bet Ron over this match. With Loren's sharp eyes sweeping the crowd, there was no trace of him. He recalled hearing a Slytherin say Draco was lying low at home after that Daily Prophet exclusive laid bare certain unspoken rules among the pure-blood families.
Looks like I'll have to teach Draco not to stick his head up just to get shot, Loren thought. He's far too high-spirited.
While he was planning how to straighten Draco out after the boy returned to school, a sudden roar erupted on the pitch—Harrie (non-canon temporary form of Harry) had caught the Golden Snitch and ended the match.
You heard right: Harrie (non-canon temporary form of Harry), not Harry. Some time ago Harry had noticed that, when in his female form, a flying broom handled with finer control. So, to end the match faster, he had to swallow his pride, admit "fine, it's actually great," and play this one as Harrie (non-canon temporary form of Harry). The match wrapped up minutes sooner than in the original timeline; the opposing Seeker hadn't even processed what happened before Harrie (non-canon temporary form of Harry) already had the Snitch.
The reason was simple enough. Male wizards tended to have more raw magical power and, because of that, their control could be a bit rough. Female magic ran finer, making for subtler control.
Watching Harrie (non-canon temporary form of Harry), still in female form, celebrating with the team, Loren stroked his chin. Looks like he's no longer resisting transforming in public. Would this shift his romantic tastes? No—that wouldn't do. I should help him. In the original, Harry ends up with Ginny. Maybe I should craft a gender-switch bracelet for Ginny—give the two of them some common ground. Then they'd never argue over children again. Worst case, one carries each. What would the kids call their parents, though… hm. Bridge to cross later; Harry can decide.
Out on the pitch, Harrie (non-canon temporary form of Harry) suddenly felt a chill of foreboding. Instinctively, he twisted his wrist, switched back to male form, and scanned the stands until his gaze landed on Loren, who was clearly lost in dubious thoughts. Before he could go confront Loren, his teammates swept him off the field in triumph.
Seeing the whole squad leave, Loren had no desire to head back to the locker room to change. A tap of his wand turned his red uniform into black robes. He met up with Hermione, who had been waiting, and they left the pitch together.
Next morning during training, Loren heard a bit of news from Neville: Professor Snape seemed to be forcing Professor Quirrell to help him get to that Stone. Neville passed this on hoping Loren or Hermione could advise him. Gran had warned him before returning to school—if you face something you can't handle, go to Loren or Hermione.
What Neville didn't expect was that Loren and Hermione showed almost no reaction to the Stone being targeted by teachers. Neville knew very well that Loren understood what the Stone was and did, yet he ignored a professor's attempt to steal it. It baffled him. On the way back to the castle he finally couldn't help asking, "Loren, why aren't you surprised Snape wants to steal the Philosopher's Stone?"
Without looking back, Loren answered, "I know every detail. But it's Harry's adventure. I'm forbidden to take part. Hermione listened to me and won't join either. You and Ron, however, are allowed. To keep the trial worthy of the name, I won't give you any intel."
Neville froze at this info-rich answer. By the time he thought of more questions, Loren and Hermione had already vanished from sight. Over the next few mornings, Neville kept trying to pry more from Loren, and was refused each time, which left him disheartened. In the end he wrote to his grandmother, hoping for advice. Her reply was brief but enough to soothe him: if Gran said there was no danger, then he would set Loren's words aside and help Harry.
Weeks slipped by. Loren lived on his usual schedule, carefree—until a certain Transfiguration class. After class, as he and Professor McGonagall discussed refinements to the Transfiguration grading standards as usual, she asked offhand, "Loren, how goes your work on the magical extract of catnip? I know a werewolf who might be able to help."
That single line reminded Loren: he'd told Peter to bring a few werewolves into the small world.
He trusted Peter's capability. The newly brainwashed Peter was loyal to the core and would finish any assignment with speed. With the storeroom's alchemical tools and potions at their disposal, if they couldn't complete the task, then their only remaining value truly would be to serve as experimental materials.
Ending his talk with Professor McGonagall, Loren couldn't wait; his consciousness dipped into the small world to contact Peter and ask for a status update—only for the sights within to leave him utterly stunned…
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810