"There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." — Oscar Wilde

The handsome, harrowing, hero. / The Foolish, fraudulent, philanderer.

September 1st, 1992

Hogsmeade, Scottland

The Hogwarts express came to a stop at the Hogsmeade station and soon the platform filled with eager students. Among the students Harry spotted Hagrid who was calling out to corral the new first years. Waving to Hagrid, Harry walked over to the half giant. "Hey Hagrid. How's it going?"

"Arry, it's good to see ya. Ervrytings ahlrigh'."

"How's Fluffy? What ever happened to him?"

"Fluffy's a good boy, was gettin a bit big though. I moved em to the forest. Right chuffed he was."

"Fluffy's in the forest, eh? Good to know. Anyway, I'll see you around."

Waving him off, Hagrid turned to his charges. "Ahlrigh' you lot, follow me."

Harry walked back over to his friends who were waiting in line for a carriage.

"What are those things pulling the carriages?"

Terry, Padma, Neville and Hermione all looked to the carriages. Noticing that there was nothing attached to the front of them, Hermione turned back to Harry and said; "Harry, there's nothing pulling the carriages. I read that they are moved by magic."

"What? You guys can't see the zombie-horse?" Looking at his friends Harry rolled his eyes and said; "look, I'll show you there's something there." He proceeded to walk up to the animal and started to pet it. This, of course, proved nothing. To the others, it just looked as if Harry was moving his hand about in the air. Seeing that his demonstration was not convincing anyone, Harry huffed and took his wand out, intending to cast water over the animal to reveal it's silhouette. Before he could cast the charm his wand started to vibrate. He looked between his wand and the animal who seemed to be excited by the site of the wand. "Hey Hermione. What do thestrals look like?"

Taking a moment to recollect what she knew about them she replied; "Thestrals are, perhaps undeservedly, known as omens of misfortune by many wizards because they are only visible to those who have witnessed and understood death. They are a breed of horse that have wings and a skeletal body. Their face has reptilian features, and their wings are wide and leathery, like a bat has. Not much is known about their magical abilities besides the way they camouflage themselves. It is suspected that they have an excellent sense of direction, and that they have some connection with the afterlife. Again, that is only conjecture and superstition. Why do you ask?"

"My wand is acting weird, and its core is made from thestral tail hair. I think the animal and my wand recognize each other." Harry looked at the animal and asked; "are you a thestral?" The animal neighed while bobbing its head. "Wicked" Harry breathed out. He then held his wand out to the newly identified thestral for inspection. Doing so caused his wand to vibrate even more violently. It launched a plethora of coloured sparks that shot over the thestrals head and towards an adjacent carriage. "That's a bit embarrassing." Harry chuckled to the thestral. "I swear that never happens."

Draco Malfoy was waiting to enter a carriage with his friend Pansy when she suddenly threw herself to the ground. Looking up from the now prone girl, he had just enough time to shield his eyebrows from a flurry of multi-coloured sparks. He stumbled forward while shielding his face with the only thing he had in his hand, his diary. When the sparks died off, he quickly checked to see if any damage was done. Breathing a sigh of relief, he saw that the book was still intact. Turning around, he started to berate Pansy for not warning him about the danger only to have his diary snatched from his hands. About-facing once more, he was flabbergasted to see it floating in the air. Standing there stunned; it took him a few seconds to act. He leapt forward and tried to grab it out of the air only to be sent flying backward. It felt like he had been hit by the knight bus. Looking up from where he collapsed, he witnessed a page being ripped from the diary and saw, to his horror, it disappear. In desperation he took out his wand and started sending hexes towards whatever had his book. He didn't know many spells, his father refused to teach him anything that could be traced back to him. Having no other option, he just fired off stinging jinxes. Clearly, his aim was accurate because he saw the diary fall to the ground. This apparent victory, however, had an unforeseen consequence; the remaining carriage shot forward towards the castle at a blistering pace, carrying with it a screaming Pansy Parkinson. Not caring, or perhaps, not aware of the fact that there were no more carriages, He hurried to pick up the now damaged book. Frantically he dug into his pocket and retrieved a self-inking quill. Opening the battered book he quickly scribbled a question; "Tom! Are you okay?" He didn't have to wait long before a reply appeared.

"What the fuck just happened? It felt like my hand was bitten off! That shouldn't be possible!"

Hogwarts Great Hall

Entering the great hall Harry, Padma, and Terry split off from the Gryffindor trio and headed to the Ravenclaw table. Looking up at the staff table Harry noticed that there was a new teacher sitting beside Snape.

"Who's the new guy?" Harry asked the table. Getting an incredulous stare from most of the female students surrounding him, he just shrugged and said; "what? I don't really pay attention to current events. You could tell me that he's a member of the royal family and I wouldn't know if you were lying."

"That's Gilderoy Lockhart!" Penny the prefect said. "You should know him if for no other reason than the fact that all seven of our textbooks were written by him."

Harry laughed. "Those are textbooks? I saw them on the list, and I just thought they were supplemental reading, you know, like an example of what not to do."

Penny looked strangely at him and replied; "You thought that the school would require you to spend 65 Galleons for seven books that you wouldn't even be using?"

Shrugging Harry said; "well I've probably spent three times that amount on ice cream from Fortescue's over 2 summers. I swear that madman just changes the names of them every year. I've eaten almost 200 different flavours. I can't even remember them all, and I'm betting that is what he's counting on. The mans a business god."

Before he could continue, Professor McGonagall entered the hall followed by the new first year students. With a stern look she quieted the hall and began the sorting. Harry tuned her out since he didn't know anyone younger than him, but he was soon brought back to reality when a freshly sorted girl sat down across from him. She had waist-length, dirty blonde hair, and protuberant blue eyes that gave her a permanently surprised look. He recognized her but couldn't recall from where.

"Hello Harry Potter. Has anyone ever told you that you look like a confused Aquavirius Maggot when you're thinking?"

Taken aback Harry asked; "what's an Aquavirius Maggot?"

"Oh, they're harmless creatures that live near iguana's and consume nutrients found in their droppings. Curious little beings they are. They look perpetually confused, as if they can't remember why they are there but that there isn't anywhere else that they should be.

Not sure how to respond to that revelation, Harry just said; "No, no one has ever mentioned that to me before. I was just trying to figure out where I knew you from. You look very familiar, but I just can't remember from where."

"Well, my daddy runs the Quibbler, maybe you know me from some of the articles I've written? I'm Luna Lovegood. I also saw you at Ollivander's when I went to get my wand."

Snapping his fingers Harry said; "that's it! I remember you now. Was that your mom that got arrested? I didn't see her in the store until she started screaming and running around like her pants were on fire."

Luna smirked and dropped her dazed look. "No. Her name is Rita Skeeter. Shes a reporter for the Daily Prophet. I suspect she followed you into the store hoping to get a juicy story that she could then twist into something ridiculous. Also, I think she was running around like that because her hair was on fire, not her pants."

Blinking slowly, he asked; "Why would she set her hair on fire?"

Giggling Luna replied; "Who knows. Her mind is infested by Wrackspurts."

Before Harry could question Luna about these creatures Dumbledore stood and cleared his throat. In a clear voice he stated; "Before we feast, I wish to impart my wisdom on you all. Life is like a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. One day you might get your favourite flavour, for me that would be lemon, and the next you can get horseshit. Just remember these words; Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That's why they call it the present. You may now be seated."

Looking around the hall, Harry was confused. Were they supposed to be standing? Well Malfoy was, but Harry didn't think that that counted since he had never sat down. Infact, he had missed the sorting and only just entered the hall when Dumbledore ended his speech. He probably should have been sitting, he looked exhausted.

Acio-ing the plate of chicken Harry carried on his conversation with Luna. It was while he was asking about the Quibbler that Micheal Corner interrupted their conversation by insulting the magazine. Calling it a "load of rubbish" and calling Luna, "Loony." Distracted mid cast, Harry accidentally acio'd Micheals tie, causing the rude boy to faceplant into a bowl of mashed potatoes. Not bothering to apologize, Harry just glared his housemate into silence.

Turning back to Luna they continued their conversation. Harry learned that there were a lot of magical creatures he never knew about. Aquavirius Maggots, Blibbering Humdingers, Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, Heliopaths, Moon Frogs, Nargles, Umgubular Slashkilters, and Wrackspurts just to name a few. He was starting to get concerned.

"Luna, how do you defend yourself from all of these things?"

"There are ways Harry Potter. Cork is a natural repellent to mind altering creatures like wrackspurts and nargles. Blibbering Humdingers are terrified by the smell of butterscotch. I use cork earrings and a butterbeer cap necklace, but you don't wear earing so you would need to find another way to wear it. Moon frogs are harmless unless you lick them, then you'll start to see things and you'll be gripped with a sudden urge to jump off a cliff. It's best to just avoid hilly areas. I don't have another necklace to give you though. I made mine with my mother shortly before she died."

Thankful for the advice and not wanting the girl to start feeling sad, Harry decided to write a list of what he needed to get. Writing on the back of his napkin, his now dirty napkin, Harry got Lunas' input on what things he should get. Deciding to send it off before he went to bed, Harry left the great hall and headed for the owlery. The only person he knew outside of school was Tonks so after he called Hedwig down, he told her to deliver the letter to Tonks.

September 1st, 1992

#12 Grimmauld Place, London, England

Tonks wasn't happy. In truth, she hadn't been happy since she graduated. Currently she was sitting at the dining room table at Grimmauld place with her great grandfather and the newly exonerated ex-mass murderer, Sirius Black. She had been arguing with them for over an hour. To be more accurate, she was arguing mostly with the lord Black. Sirius was just sitting there howling with laughter. He was clearly enjoying their circular argument and the barbs that were flying between them.

She had been reviewing her family's latest investments when her great grandfather came home. Sirius was trailing behind him looking like he wished to be anywhere else. She was then called to the dining room to have a family meeting where they discussed what was to happen in the coming days. Arcturus was plotting his revenge on Malfoy who he believed was trying to have Sirius thrown back in prison. Lucius knew the black heirship would fall to his son if he could get Sirius out of the way and discredit whoever was the new heir. Arcturus had not yet announced her ascension to the role, but he did reveal that a new heir had been chosen.

Sirius had argued that it was Barty crouch's fault that he was there in the first place but didn't argue against dealing with the Malfoys. He actually seemed giddy at the thought of knocking Lucius down a few pegs. Arcturus had also informed Sirius that Barty Crouch was already in ministry custody, although he wasn't sure why. After about half an hour Tonks became bored with the "Loony-Tune" revenge plans and that's when she brought up her plan to change her name. Arcturus immediately vetoed her plan saying, that every member of the black family would follow tradition by having a name from a constellation. Tonks argued that her middle name would still be Cassiopeia. Arcturus then ranted about "that crazy bint," and how she betrayed her family by siding with Grindelwald. He then demanded that she change her middle name. She then started arguing against changing her name. The argument for, and against, changing her name became rather confused with both sides having abandoned their initial stance on the matter. They were now just flinging insults back and forth.

The argument came to an end when they heard tapping from the window. Sirius got up to let the snowy owl in. The owl headed towards Tonks and deposited a dirty napkin in front of her before taking off and flying back through the open window. "That was Harry's owl. Why would he send me a used napkin?"

A suspicious Arcturus said; "what's that boy up to? Check it for curses! You never know what that delinquent will do next."

"That's from Harry? What does it say?" Sirius picked up the napkin. After he finished reading, he turned to Tonks. With a shit-eating grin he said; "I knew he would be a prankster, just like his father! This must be some prank too. I don't know what he is planning to do with a case of butterbeer, a tube of toothpaste, a roll of aluminium foil, and a pack of Werther's Original. The last request had a side note that said; steal some from the old man if you don't know where to get some. All old people have a dish of them somewhere.

Looking at the note Tonks shook her head. Looking at Arcturus she asked; "do you have a pack of something called Werther's original?"

A concerned Arcturus replied; "Why? What did the welp say? I'm not giving him my candy. Kreacher was the only way I had to get more and I'm almost out. He was supposed to get more but the damned elf got torn to pieces before he was able to."

Hearing this Sirius perked up. "Kreacher's dead? Tell me everything! I hope he suffered."

"Oh, he suffered. 20 pissed off kneazles pounced on him when I had him go outside to shoo them away. I watched from the doorway, there was nothing left of him. He can't even be put on the wall of house elf wall of honour because the damned cats took his head! Poor bastard."

"Why were there 20 kneazles outside your house?"

"They had been following me for over a week, ever since I made a deal with that demon child!"

Looking to Tonks, Sirius raised an eyebrow.

Without missing a beat, she said; "he burnt down their house."

Arcturus grumbled; "the boy gives terrible directions."

September 2nd, 1992

Harry awoke bright and early the following day and began his morning routine. Once he was ready, he waved to a still half-asleep Terry, saying that he would wait for him in the common room. Entering the Ravenclaw common room he spotted Padma sitting with Luna and went to join them. After greeting each other and discussing which class they wanted to have first, they saw Terry stumbling down the steps into the common room. Now that they were all together, they made their way to the great hall.

Finding a seat at the Ravenclaw table they waited for their head of house to come down from the teachers table and hand out this year's schedule. First up they had transfiguration, followed by potions, then a break for lunch, ending the day with a double period of history. Luna had charms, followed by herbology, lunch, defence against the dark arts, and astronomy later in the evening.

Seeing that they had transfiguration first thing, Harry voiced a question; "How hard would it be to become an Animagus?"

Terry just shrugged, while Padma said; "I don't know. Not many people are registered so that either means it's an expensive process or its very hard to do. Either way it would be worth asking Professor McGonagall." Agreeing, the group, minus Luna, headed off to class

Getting to class, Harry chose to sit next to Daphne. Nodding to each other he said; "hey Daph, how's it going?"

"Potter, it's going well."

"What happened to Malfoy last night? He looked rather angry."

Chuckling she replied; "He wouldn't say what happened, but Pansy was pretty loud when she was telling Professor snape that someone had attacked "her Draco." She was adamant that someone fired a hex at them. I guess she took shelter in the carriage and when she tried to wave Draco over, she saw him crumple to the ground. She then said that he "valiantly fought through the pain" and started to shoot spells at their "cowardly invisible attacker." She didn't see what happened next since the carriage shot off towards the school, leaving her "Dragon" behind."

Blinking slowly Harry said; "Huh, weird."

"Indeed."

Before he could ask any further questions Professor McGonagall entered the classroom in her cat form. Changing back, she started the lesson.

Rabbit Slippers. The wizarding world was a cruel place. Today's lesson was changing rabbits into slippers, not slippers into rabbits, but real, live, traumatised, rabbits. Harry felt particularly bad for Crabbe and Goyle's test subject. Harry couldn't blame the poor creature for trembling. He could smell Crabbe's feet halfway across the room.

Clearly, he had taken too long pondering how the S.P.C.A would react if they knew the depths of depravity he was witnessing. He took so long in fact, that McGonagall snuck up on him.

"Mr. Potter. Why are you not completing your assigned work?"

"Sorry professor. I'll get right on it."

Nodding, she turned around and resumed checking on students. Harry's conscious wouldn't allow him to put his rabbit through such an endeavour. Picking up his rabbit harry made his way over to the window. The sound of the window opening got the professors attention.

"Mr. Potter. What are you doing?"

"Freeing my rabbit. I refuse to torture him!"

"Potter, we're on the 4th floor." Daphne rolled her eyes when Harry glanced out the window and sagged in defeat.

"Bugger." Before he could close the window, there was a commotion from the Slytherin desks. Seeing their chance for salvation, Crabbe and Goyle's rabbits made a break for the window. Without hesitation, they both jumped through the window. The class went silent, and Harry chanced a look outside. Wincing, he closed the window. "Rest in peace little guys. You're in a better place now."

"Detention Mr. Potter."

Ravenclaw common room, Hogwarts.

Harry had just finished his detention with Filch and was now entering the common room. Padma, noticing his entrance, waved him over to the group.

"How did it go?"

Shrugging, Harry said; "it was fine. I just polished trophies for two hours. Did you know my dad played quidditch?"

Terry nodded. "Yeah, my dad said he was a brilliant chaser."

"Cool." Harry took a seat next to Luna and asked; "So I'm guessing no one got to ask McGonagall about becoming an animagus?"

Padma shook her head in the negative. "No Harry. After your stunt, she didn't look very approachable."

"Mate. She had a wicked eye twitch for the remainder of class." Terry added. "I was too scared to even make eye contact with her."

"It's fine though." Padma held a book out to Him. "We found this book on it last year in the room of requirement."

Opening it, Harry read the steps out loud:

"You need to keep a single Mandrake leaf in your mouth for an entire month. If the leaf is removed or swallowed, the witch or wizard must then start over again. During the following full moon, the wizard must place the saliva-filled leaf into a small crystal phial. The phial must then be placed somewhere that the moon's light can directly interact with it. The now moonlit phial then needs the wizard or witch to add one of their own hairs, a teaspoon of dew taken from a place that has not seen sunlight or been touched by human feet for a full week, and the wings from a Death's-head Hawk Moth. The resulting mixture then needs to be put in a quiet, dark place, and left undisturbed for at least one full month.

The next step has the witch or wizard waiting for the next electrical storm. During this waiting period the witch or wizard needs to, at sunrise and sundown every day without fail, chant the incantation 'Amato Animo Animato Animagus' with the tip of their wand placed over their heart. When the next lightning storm hits, the witch or wizard must then retrieve the phial. If everything was done right, it should contain a blood-red potion. The witch or wizard then needs to immediately move to a large and secure place. To complete the ritual, they must point their wand at their heart and recite the incantation one final time. Finally, the potion must be drunk. The ritual, now complete, will see the participant turn into their Animagus form."

Looking up from the book, Harry said; "Well that's a lot, but it seems do-able."

Padma nodded. "We can get most of the ingredients by owl order, but they may not sell us everything. It says that the ministry keeps a close eye on anyone attempting to complete the ritual."

Smiling Harry said; "don't worry. I know a guy... well I know a girl."

Slytherin common room, Hogwarts.

Dear Tom:

I was unable to retrieve the missing pages. They just disappeared. I'm not even sure where to look for them. I tried to cast a repairing charm, but nothing happened. Please don't be mad but the diary is still leaking ink. It's down to a drop or two every once in a while. To keep my stuff clean I can't sleep with the diary under my pillow anymore. I will have to wrap you in a sock as well. I can't have ink getting on my school supplies... or my clothes. That is why I procured a sock from Goyle. He doesn't care if his clothes are stained, especially since he's already worn these.

It is time for me to go to bed now. I will write to you tomorrow.

Sincerely:

Draco Lucius Malfoy

Heir Malfoy