Harry stalked the three Gryffindors who were harassing Hermione, they wandered around listlessly together, they only walked together because they knew no one else could stand to be close to them; they even kept a healthy distance away from each other. Ron was in the middle, on his left was Seamus Finnigan, and on his right was a boy called Dean Thomas. Harry was pretty annoyed he had to deal with this situation, especially considering what they had tried to do to Hermione, but he didn't wanna get in trouble if they killed themselves so he would have to reduce the strength of the revulsion rune and remove the effects that still cling to them. 

Shooting three stunning charms at them while they were in an unused corridor he strolled up to them. "Such a mess eh boys?" He said rhetorically as he knelt next to them. He pulled open Seamus' sleeves saw various self-inflicted wounds and sighed again.

'Do you think it was wise to do such a thing to them?' 

Harry frowned at the familiar voice ringing inside of his head 'Merlin?' He called out. 

'Indeed I am,' he replied. 

Harry almost slumped forward 'You've been able to do this the entire time?' 

'Yes,' he replied. 

'Why haven't you before then?' Harry asked. 

'Haven't had much to say,' he replied in the most Dumbledore answer he had ever heard. 

Harry ignored it and continued to lessen the strength of the rune when he was interrupted again 'Do you not think they have learned their lesson, wouldn't it be kinder to lift the tune entirely?" Merlin asked as he worked. 

'If they had learnt their lesson the rune wouldn't keep getting applied,' Harry replied. 

'If there is a lesson to learn then perhaps a teacher needs to give it, you dished out a punishment without telling them what it was for,' Merlin said sagely. 

Harry snickered 'Don't try and force your way into a woman's room, seems like a pretty standard lesson to me,' he said before standing up again, he had reduced the strength of the rune so they would now hopefully stop cutting themselves and would not try to commit suicide. 'A few months in and I'm already dealing with annoying stuff like this,' he said with a huff before stepping on their bodies and leaving them in the corridor. 

'I've noticed you've not been training Harry, you should be close to mastering your connection with Aries by now and yet it's remained the same,' Merlin said sternly. 

Harry shrugged 'I have all the time in the world to do that I don't need to focus so much on studying when I'm barely two months in,' he replied, not at all interested in the kind of intense training he was suggesting. Even the sessions with Bellatrix were a drag, he just wanted to learn magic at his own pace and do fun things with his friend, but that wasn't so much to ask for. 

'You can't be so idle Harry, the world you live in is a dangerous and most terrible one, you need to be ready,' Merlin tried to advise.

"Jeez you sound like Dumbledore," Harry said rolling his eyes. He then took the red stone he was given out of his pocket and began throwing it up in the air as he looked at it. It was incredible, such a dense piece of magic confined to a single stone, of course, he knew that because he had looked at it with his six eyes. Whoever had created it was a genius, what he didn't understand was why Dumbledore had given it to him. He had tried to look at the stone and gain this 'vision of how things really are' but he didn't, it was just a stone that held a lot of magic within. 

'I urge you to reconsider,' Merlin said before going silent. 

Harry didn't get why he was being pressured this much, he was already pretty talented and strong. If anything Dumbledore should be pressuring the weaker ones to try harder, why does he need to while the others have fun and relax. Harry sighed before putting his wand away and heading back to the hall for dinner, potions had been an interesting class, at first, he wasn't sure if he'd go back but he decided he might give it a chance. As he walked to the hall he felt someone grab his shoulder, he turned around and saw Tonks who had a catlike grin on her face "A little someone told me that Harrykins had a date," she said as her smile spread even wider. 

"Jealous?" Harry said with a smile of his own. 

"Pffft sure firstie, you couldn't handle all of this," she said gesturing down to herself. 

Harry rolled his eyes before he continued walking "So what I asked Hannah out, is there a rule against that 'Prefect Tonks',' he said sarcastically making Tonks stick her tongue out at him. 

"No, I just want to make sure my little Harry knows what he's doing," Tonks said as she put an arm around him. 

"How do you know I haven't had girlfriends before?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Your idea of a fun time was a trip to the forbidden forest," Tonks said with a shake of her head. 

"I seem to recall you loving the idea," Harry replied. 

"I'm not like other girls," Tonks said proudly. 

"More annoying for one," Harry said casually. 

"I don't need a lesson in annoyance from you thank you," Tonks said shoving him away. 

"Are we still talking or can I leave, cause I tried walking faster but you wouldn't let me go," Harry said as he tried to walk away. 

"Tell me your date plan, what're you wearing, when's it happening, I might even give you some advice," Tonks said with a smirk. 

"Advice from someone who has never had a boyfriend, I think I'm good," Harry said as he held up his hands. 

"Never had a boyfriend! Who said that!" Tonks shouted incredulously. 

"Dumbledore if you'd believe it," Harry replied. 

Tonks sighed "Sadly I do... damn old goat," she muttered leaning on Harry's shoulder as she did. 

"So what's that stone you got there?" Tonks asked referring to the one in Harry's hand. Harry looked down at it and shrugged "No clue, Dumbledore gave it to me and said it would awaken me to the way the world is," he said mockingly. 

"Seems like a bunch of crap though," Harry said. 

"I wouldn't be so sure, Dumbledore usually has meaning behind his actions no matter how stupid," Tonks explained. 

"Well I can't say I care too much, I can't even get rid of the stone," Harry said as he threw it as hard as he could down a hallway only for it to reappear back in his pocket. 

"That is pretty strange... oh well," she said with a shrug before she continued walking to the hall. 

"Yeah, I didn't bother asking you what it might be... I already know the answer," Harry said mostly to himself. 

"How the bloody hell would I know!" Tonks said incredulously. 

"How the bloody hell would I know!" Harry said at the exact same time, making Tonks scowl at him. 

"I'm gonna give you an arse kicking pretty soon," Tonks said with narrowed eyes. 

"Pfft sure, we both know I'd beat you," Harry said arrogantly. 

They continued to bicker as they walked down the corridors making their way to the Great Hall. However as they turned a corner they ran into a familiar face, Draco Malfoy and his hired goons were heading his way. Harry almost yawned, as if his body already knew the sheer boredom the boy in front of him was about to subject him to. "Potter! You can't keep ignoring me!" Draco said as he marched towards him. 

"I don't wanna join your boy band just leave me alone," Harry said with exasperation. 

"Your family are all blood traitors, I gave you a chance to rectify that mistake, you're an idiot potter!" Draco said with a scowl. 

Tonks rolled her eyes "Still as dramatic as ever eh cousin?" She said. 

"Don't speak to me you filthy half-blood, makes me sick that I share the same blood as you, you'll get yours one day," he spat out. A normal person might get angry at this, but Tonks had heard it so often from pureblood houses that she didn't much care. 

"Draco... I hope you're not causing any problems." A voice echoed out from the end of the hallway. Both Harry and Draco paled as they recognised the voice. 

The sound of Professor Black's heels echoed throughout the corridor. Harry and Draco both felt like leaving at this moment, albeit for completely different reasons. 

"No Aunt Bella..." he said in a quiet voice as she stepped up next to him with a stern expression on her face. 

Her eyes then moved to Harry "I didn't see you for your detention last night Harry, I assume you have a good excuse," she said, her stern expression still on her face. 

Harry laughed nervously, he looked to Tonks for any support she might offer but instead only got a wide grin that made him want to cast a stinging hex on her. He even looked over to Draco, but his eyes were firmly fixated on the floor; Dumb and Dumber looked around aimlessly as if not understanding what was happening. "Well, you see, the thing about that is..." he then turned around and channelled magic through his body and shot off down the corridor, he laughed as he dodged all the spells Bellatrix shot at him and then jumped out an open window and making his great escape. 

'That would've been cool,' he thought to himself as he was face down on the stone floor being dragged away by Bellatrix. As soon as he tried to run away she whipped her wand out and petrified him, now he was being dragged off for remedial classes instead of going to eat. 

...

Harry was dropped to the floor once they entered the classroom. "Honestly Harry, this teaching is for your own benefit," Bellatrix said with a huff as she turned around to see him brushing himself off. 

"I don't need it, I have two years before I even need to start taking my studying seriously," Harry said rolling his eyes. 

"That's not the way things work Harry, you are not at Hogwarts to learn to graduate, you are here to learn how to fight and exorcise curses, how to fight dark wizards and subdue magical beasts," she said firmly. 

"But mostly it is the former, a cursed spirit can show up anywhere that's not properly warded, if you can't defend yourself you'll find that it doesn't matter what year in Hogwarts you're in, a cursed spirit won't wait for you so you can have fun," she continued. 

Harry sighed, he didn't agree but nodded regardless. "Have you been working on the Bombarda spell like I asked you to?" She asked and Harry gave a shaky nod. 

"I can do it perfectly," he said with a sheepish smile. 

"But..." she asked as she stepped closer. 

"I haven't tried to alter the spell, I got distracted," he said with a chuckle. 

Bellatrix sighed "At least you've improved your Bombarda spell." She knew Harry had already known the spell from before he came to Hogwarts but his proficiency in it was mediocre, to say the least, the fact he had only copied it meant he had limited himself. If he had mastered the spell in only a few weeks then she would be impressed, truthfully she didn't even expect him to be able to alter the spell, which was very advanced and delved into the realm of spell crafting. She flicked her wand and conjured a cup in her hand "I want you to fire a Bombarda strong enough to break the cup, but nothing more," she said hoping to pressure him. 

Harry raised an eyebrow before shrugging and drawing his wand "Bombarda!" He shouted and the white jet of energy left his wand and hit the duo where it shattered and fell to the ground. 

"Now silently," she said as she summoned another cup. Harry fired off a nonverbal Bombarda and the same result occurred. 

"I told you I've mastered it," he said before shooting a much larger one at the wall and blowing a big hole through it. 

Bellatrix nodded "So you have... now we will start working on your shield charms, they are the most important defence in your arsenal," she started. 

She then drew out her wand and smirked at Harry "Are you ready to begin?"

———————————————————-

(Nurmengard)

Grindelwald stood in his office looking out across the Alps from the top of his castle. Halloween was coming up and soon they would launch their attack on Hogwarts, he knew he'd lose a lot of men in the process —his foot soldiers simply couldn't measure up to Hogwarts professors— but they had a few magical creatures at their disposal courtesy of 'Professor Quirrell'. 

He couldn't spare much of his inner court as most were pushing forward into France and securing a place for them to operate from. France would lose sooner or later, but Grindelwald had heard talks of Poland and Belgium joining France and launching an offensive against Germany. That was something he simply couldn't allow. 

Once he had Harry on his side he would train the boy and in a few years he would become the weapon he needed to end the war and secure Europe. Dumbledore was content to stay in Britain in his ivory tower, but soon Grindelwald would bring the war to him and he'd finally defeat his old friend. It has been half a century but he would finally cast down the Invincible Dumbledore. 

Grindelwald turned as he heard a crack sound out in his office. He already knew who it was as there was only one person who had permission to apparate into his office. "Lord Voldemort," Gellert said cordially as he turned around to greet the man. 

Professor Quirrells eyes once again took a shade of yellow and his skin turned white as Voldemort took over his body. "I have found the ward stone, when the time comes you will be granted access to Hogwarts," he stated almost emotionlessly. 

"Good, once you've done it you will have held up your end of the bargain," he said. 

"Do not forget yours," Voldemort warned. 

"Of course not, you'll have the stone, but you must be patient, you know how tricky Albus can be," he said. 

"Indeed," Voldemort said. 

"I'll give you the signal through your necklace of when the attack will begin, once I've secured Harry and brought him over to our side I will give you the stone," Gellert said. 

Voldemort was not happy about that arrangement but considering the position he was in he had little room to argue. So he swallowed his pride and nodded, with a crack he quickly apparated out of his office leaving him alone once more. 

"Soon my final victory will be at hand..."

(AN: A bit shorter than usual, but tbh it's just setting up Halloween which will be a big event in the story and where canon diverge by a lot and it's also when Harry will realise his error. I've put a lot of effort into developing characters which is why I've delayed Halloween so much. You'll understand why when it happens. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.)

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