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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

"Once again, my request to join the Headless Hunt has been denied."

ROBBIE COLTRANE as Rubeus Hagrid

"Yer wizards, you two."

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 Quirinus 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

"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 Rolanda 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.

The man then 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." He said.

The cat then started to walk and transformed into an elderly woman in her late 50s, with a black pointy hat and black robes. 

"Good evening, Professor Dumbledore." She greeted him.

The two then started to walk down the street together. "Are the rumors true, Albus?" She asked.

"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?" She asked, unsure about this.

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

The two then heard the sound of an engine roaring behind them. The two professors turned around to look behind them, seeing 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 the elders.

The man started to step off the motorcycle, while having a wrapping over his shoulder on his chest.

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

"No sir." Hagrid replied. "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."

He walked to the elders with twin baby boys, who were only one year and three months old, wrapped inside the cloth. "Try not to wake them. There you go."

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." She continued. "There will be no child in our world who doesn't know their names."

"Exactly." He replied, as they stopped by the door of the house. "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."

They then lowered the twins in front of the door, while Hagrid sniffled a little, almost crying. Dumbledore and McGonagall then turned to look back at him. 

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

Hagrid nodded at the professor. Professor's then turn back to the twins, with Dumbledore lowering a parchment on the younger twin, which is addressed to Mr and Mrs Dursley who are living in number 4 Privet Drive, the very house they are standing in front of.

"Good luck... Jacob and Harry Potter." He tells the twins, who both have a lightning shaped scar on their foreheads.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Nine years and eight months later...

⚯ ͛ϟ

Underneath a small cupboard, nearly eleven year-old twin boys Jacob and Harry 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!" Petunia Dursley, the twins' aunt, ordered as she kept knocking on the door and then unlocked 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 of the cupboard, which was under the stairs to the second floor. the two are seen wearing clothes that are clearly larger size while they are more on the skinny side.

"Good morning." Harry tells his younger twin.

"Morning." Jacob said back to his older twin.

The two exchange looks before Jacob again starts 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, then 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 looks at his brother.

"If he jumps again, i might stick his head in the toilet again." He 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 all the while. Before getting into the kitchen however, he pushed Harry, who was just about to leave the cupboard, back in. This causes Harry to crash into Jacob, and Dudley then kicks the door back in before getting to 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." Petunia said happily.

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

Harry and Jacob walked into the kitchen and saw uncle Vernon 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." 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.

Harry and Jacob were those types of twins who could finish each other's sentences and say the same thing at the same time.

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

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

"Hurry up!" 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.

Petunia then uncovered Dudley's eyes and let him see all the different presents the two parents had gotten their son. Some were wrapped up, while others had not.

However, Dudley was looking at the gift with uncertain look in his eyes, which slowly turned into slightly angry one and turned towards his father. 

"How many are there?" He asked.

"36. I counted them myself." Vernon replied, looking quite proud.

"36?! But last year... last year i had 37!" Dudley started shouting at this point.

The twins meanwhile, after getting to the table, were looking at all of this, then turned to look at each other and rolled their eyes while they kept setting up the dinner.

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

"I don't care how big they are!"

Petunia then 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 of their birthday (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 10 years ago.

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

"38, popkin." Jacob said.

This caused Petunia to cuff Jacob on the head while she was on her way to the ringing telephone. 

"You just mind that bacon!" Petunia ordered.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia." Jacob said, rubbing his head, with Harry helping him.

Meanwhile, Dudley teared open a box of lead soldiers, which caused 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." 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 it closely. Meanwhile, Petunia hung up the phone and turned to look at her husband.

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

"We could phone Yvonne." Vernon suggested.

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

The twins glanced at each other before looking at their uncle and aunt. "You could just leave us here." They said together.

"And come back to find the house in ruins?" Vernon said.

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

"Now, precious, don't cry." 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 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.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later that day, the family exited their home, ready to leave for the zoo while Dudley is eating snacks. 

"It should be a lovely day the zoo." Aunt Petunia said happily while she was dusting Dudley's back with her hand.

They got to the passenger's seat on the front seats, while Dudley was getting to the back. "I'm really looking forward to it." Petunia added.

Harry was setting his glasses back on his face, while Jacob was dusting his hair off of any leftover dust that might still be in from Dudley's stair-jumping event that morning.

Before the twins could get into the car, uncle Vernon closed the passenger seat's door and turned towards the twins while pointing his car keys at them.

"I'm warning you now, boys." Uncle Vernon said, while mainly looking at Jacob. "Any funny business, any at all.." He switched his gaze between the twins. "...and you won't have any meals for a week. Get in."

Jacob looked at his older twin. 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 Harry. And so Jacob 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 were looking bored, except for Jacob 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 Vernon a little. 

"Move!" Dudley shouted louder than his father.

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

Meanwhile, Jacob, who was on his brothers left, 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 Jacob meanwhile stayed behind, shook their heads, and turned slightly to look at Dudley before turning back at the snake.

"Sorry about him." Harry said.

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

The snake then slowly lifts it's head towards the twins, and their eyes widen in surprise.

"Can you hear us?" They asked in unison.

The snake nods it's head, while raising it's head even higher to look at the twins.

"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 shook it's head as a way of saying no.

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

The snake turns it's head to it's left, and the twins turn to their right to see what the snake is pointing at, and they see a sign that says 'Bred in captivity'.

"I see." Jacob said as the brothers turn their gaze back at 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.

However, at that moment's 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 to the snake.

He ended up pushing Harry to his left, which cause Harry to crash into Jacob, and the two fell hard to the ground.

Dudley then put his hands on the glass to get a closer look at the snake. Jacob and Harry recovered from the fall, and while sitting down, they looked at their cousin angrily.

Suddenly, the glass Dudley was leaning on with his hands disappeared. Dudley started to lose his balance while the twins looked shocked, and Dudley fell straight into the waters of the exhibit.

Jacob and Harry then turned to look at each other and started chuckling at what had happened to their cousin.

While Dudley was recovering from the water, the snake started to make it's way out of the exhibit. Dudley froze to look at the snake and the twins stopped their chuckling to see the snake make it's way out.

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 with an uneasy smile on their faces.

Snake then started to sliver it's way out of the exhibit while hissing at the people around, causing a slight panic.

One of the people shouts while jumping up to avoid the snake. It then slivers outside, and kids and adults alike start to run away and scream in fear.

While Jacob and Harry are turning their heads at the people running away, Dudley tries to leave the exhibit, but when he raises his hand, it's touches the glass which has returned to it's place.

Starting to slam the glass, Dudley begins to panic. "Mum, mummy! Help me!" He cried.

Uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia who were making their way back, turn to see Dudley in the snake exhibit, with petunia screaming and running to her son. Putting her hands on the glass she starts panicking.

"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 sat on the floor and were smirking at what had happened. Uncle Vernon then turns to look at the twins with an eyebrow raised up, causing the two to quickly stop smirking and looking at their uncle nervously.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later that day, the family made their way back to Privet Drive, with Dudley wrapped up in cloths while shivering, and aunt Petunia was holding her son close to her to try and warm him up.

"It's all right, sweetheart." Aunt Petunia said as they made their way to the living room. "We'll get you out of these cold clothes."

Behind them, Jacob and Harry were pushed inside by uncle Vernon. Closing his door behind him, he turned back to the twins and angrily grabbed on to their hairs and the twins flinched in pain.

"What happened?" Uncle Vernon asked angrily.

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

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

Uncle Vernon then opened the door to the cupboard and pushed then twins inside. Closing the door, he then closed the lock into the cupboard before leaning his head closer to the small hatch.

"There is no such thing as magic!" Uncle Vernon said, before closing the hatch.

The twins were then left in the darkness of the cupboard, with only each other's company. Then, from his pocket, Harry removed the damaged toy soldier Dudley had discarded earlier. Reaching up, he placed it on a dark shelf, next to half a dozen others 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 living room of the Dursleys home, Dudley was posing in front of the fireplace in his new school uniform, while his parents stood in front of him, with aunt Petunia holding a camera in her hands.

"And smile." Aunt Petunia said happily while taking a photo of Dudley who was smiling and holding his thumb up."Vernon, just look at him, i can't believe it."

At that moment, Jacob and Harry walked in to see what their relatives were doing.

"In just a week, he'll be off to Smeltings."

"Caveat Smeltonia, proudest moment of my life." Uncle Vernon said.

The brothers looked at each other. "Will we have to wear that too?" Harry asked.

The Dursleys then turned to look at the brothers surprised. "What? You two, go to Smeltings?" Aunt Petunia asked with a scoff.

The brothers nodded at this, which caused the Dursleys to start laugh mockingly at the question.

"Don't be so stupid." Aunt Petunia walked to the kitchen, while the twins following her. "You're going to the state school, where you belong." She started to pick two sets of wet clothes from a bucket. "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 all the mail and started going through all of it, before he saw two letters, which were right at the bottom, and saw they were delivered to him and Harry, with jacob's letter saying:

'Mr J. Potter,
The Cupboard under the Stairs,
4, Privet Drive,
Little Whinging,
Surrey'

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

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Come here and look." Jacob whispers while nodding his hand as a way of telling Harry to come to him.

Next, the brothers are side by side as Jacob shows the letters to him. Harry was really surprised by this, and the two turned to each other with a slight smiles.

Jacob gives Harry his letter, and they then start walking back to the kitchen, where aunt Petunia had now started to make dinner. Jacob, who still has the rest of the letters in his right hand, gives them to uncle Vernon.

Still looking at the letters, the twins start to walking away from the table where Vernon and Dudley are sitting, unaware that Dudley is following their gaze at the letters.

"Ah, Marge is ill." Uncle Vernon said, looking over a letter from his sister. "Ate a funny whelk."

Before Jacob and Harry could open their letters, Dudley leaps from the chair and snatches the letters from them.

"Dad, look! Harry and Jacob got letters!" He shouts as he runs back to his father, and aunt Petunia walks to see what is happening.

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

"They're ours!" Harry finishes before they stop at the opposite end of the table across from the Dursleys.

"Yours?" Uncle Vernon chuckles while taking the letter, amused at the thought of the twins ever getting a letter. "Who'd ever be writing to you two?"

He starts to look at the letter with Dudley on his right and aunt Petunia on his left. Shocked to see the exact location of the twins room, he turned the letter around to see the seal and the name of the place letter came from, uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia look at each other in slight fear before turning back to look at the twins, who have no clue what is going on.

Moments later, The boys came flying into the hall. They then throw 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 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. As the letters were burning, Jacob and Harry were pounding on the door.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Sometime later on a rainy day, another owl is flying to 4 Privet Drive with another 2 letters in it's claws. Flying to the house, it drops the letters before landing on an antenna, which was housing 2 other owls, meaning there more letters delivered to the Potter twins.

3 letters addressed to Harry and Jacob were on the floor of Dursleys home by the front door, but were quickly picked up by uncle Vernon, who angrily started to rip them apart.

Meanwhile, inside the cupboard, the twins were playing with mini figures, which used to belong to Dudley, when they heard something being drilled.

"No more letter through this letterbox." Uncle Vernon said as he kept drilling.

The twins opened the door of the cupboard slightly to see what was happening and peeked, with Harry standing up while Jacob was crouching under him.

When they saw their uncle drilling the letter box shut completely, with a scowl on their faces, the twins closed the door.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, several owls could be seen sitting on top of Dursleys car when the door to their home opened.

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

However, they then heard the owls hooting at them. Uncle Vernon turned around and were shocked at seeing the owls sitting on their 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. Uncle Vernon followed her gaze, and saw 5 more letters addressed to the twins.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later that evening, uncle Vernon was placing more letters adressed to the twins in their fireplace Jacob and Harry came down to the living room and saw their uncle putting each letter one by one in the fire with a smile.

Uncle Vernon turned to the twins and with a smirk, threw the rest of the letters into the fire. The twins angrily looked at their uncle as the letters were burning.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Another time, aunt Petunia was in the kitchen making dinner. Right now she started to crack eggs on a bowl, but when she cracked one, instead of yolk, she found another letter for the twins inside it.

Aunt Petunia started shaking as she put it aside quickly and cracked another, only to find another letter. Shaking even more, she cracked a third egg, and again there was a letter.

Hearing an owl hooting coming from outside the kitchen window, aunt Petunia looked outside, 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.

⚯ ͛ϟ

On a Sunday, uncle Vernon was sitting with a happy, if not an uneasy, smile on his face, while moving his eyes around the living room.

"Fine day, Sunday." Uncle Vernon said. "In my opinion, best day of the week." He then turned to Dudley. "Why is that, Dudley?"

Jacob and Harry were both carrying a plate each with cookies on them, offering them to their aunt and uncle, while Dudley was kneeling next to his mother on the armchair. Dudley didn't know the answer so he just raised his shoulders with a questionable look on his face.

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

"Right you are, Jacob!" Uncle Vernon reached for the plate, taking a cookie in his hand. "No post on Sunday. Ha!"

Meanwhile, Harry heard another owl hooting right outside the living room window. Looking at it, he saw the owl fly right by the windo. Taking a hold of Jacob's sleeve, who turned to look at his brother, he nodded his head to the window.

"No blasted letters today! No sir."

Uncle Vernon kept going, but the twins ignored him and walked to the window, and removed the curtains slightly to look outside.

"Not one single bloody letter. Not one!"

4 Privet drive was surrounded with owls of different kind, on the ground as well as the roof of their home, while the surrounding houses were fine.

"No, sir, not one blasted, miserable--"

But suddenly, a letter addressed to one of the twins flew from the fireplace, right by uncle Vernon's face, who stopped his happy chanting immediately. The twins turned to see what happened and aunt Petunia and Dudley were surprised at what happened.

They then turned their heads towards the fireplace when a sudden rumbling could be heard coming from it. The noise kept getting louder, causing uncle Vernon to cover his ears, while the twins intensely looked at the fireplace.

A swarm of letters could be seen flying from inside the fireplace into the living room, and Dursleys began to panic.

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

Uncle Vernon meanwhile started covering his head, all the while Jacob and Harry looked at the letters with happy faces, while Dudley jumped on his mothers arms.

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

"Mummy, what's happening?!" Dudley kept screaming.

The twins then reached the small table and started standing on it, before they reach their arms high up and started jumping up to try and crab as many of the letters as they possibly could.

The twins managed to crab one each, but uncle Vernon angrily turned towards 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 tried to make their way inside the cupboard, before uncle Vernon to go them and took a hold of them.

"Get off!" Harry shouted.

Jacob, Harry and uncle Vernon were being covered in letters, which caused uncle Vernon to fall on a small armchair. Aunt Petunia and Dudley covered enough to follow Vernon, and standing just by the kitchen door, all they could do was watch the chaos unfold.

"They're our letters! Let go of us!" Jacob shouted.

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 then broke as even more letters started to pour into the house.

"That's it!" Uncle Vernon shouted, tightly holding on the twins. "We're going away! Far away, where they can't find us!"

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

Aunt Petunia couldn't reply to her son, all she could do was look on with her own scared look.

Chapter Text

Keeping true to his word, uncle Vernon had the entire family relocate from their home. They traveled to a remote rocky island in the sea with one house on it. It was raining hard that night, meaning no owls could reach the house now.

While uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia were sleeping on one bed upstairs soundly without any worries, the kids were downstairs. Dudley was sleeping on the couch, while Harry and Jacob were laying on the ground next to the couch, with only a small fire on the fireplace lighting the room slightly.

The twins were drawing a birthday cake on sand which was covering the floor slightly, with 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' written on it. The two finished it off with candle's on top of the cake. 

Harry turned to his left and checked the watch on Dudley's wrist, which then hit the midnight. It was 31 July, the twins' 11th birthday now.

"Make a wish, big brother." Jacob said looking at his brother.

"Same to you, little brother." Harry replied, looking at his brother with a smile.

The two then began to blow the 'candles' on the 'cake'. This was their way of celebrating their birthday. While their relatives had no intention of ever doing it, the twins knew they could celebrate it in each others company.

Suddenly the door to the old house got slammed by something outside, causing the twins to look up and wake Dudley up, who scrambled away from the couch. The second time door was slammed 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, with uncle Vernon holding on to a rifle, and aunt Petunia turned the lights on.

"Who's there?" Uncle Vernon asked. He tried to act brave but his voice came out squeaky.

Then the wooden door, which was hold up with a lock, came crashing down after another banging, causing the Dursleys to cover in fear while Dudley scream.

A giant man with shoulder-length black hair and beard, a brown jacket and a red umbrella walked inside, before he placed the umbrella inside his jacket.

"Sorry 'bout that." The man said. 

He then turned around and lifts the door up, placing it back in it's place. Turning around he saw uncle Vernon pointing his rifle at him and looked angry. 

"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 the couple. "Dry up, Dursley, yeh great prune."

 He grabbed on to the rifle, twisted it to the point that the pointy end was pointing at the roof of the house.

When uncle Vernon fired his gun, the bullet went 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 you 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, stuttering.

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

"I am." Harry said.

The man then looked even more happier than when he though Dudley was 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, but chose to trust the giant man, who didn't seem scary despite his giant size. 

"Yes, i am." He 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."

The brothers glanced at each other when the man reached into his pocked, pulling a small box wrapped up. He handed it to the kids, with Jacob taking a hold of it.

"Baked it meself, words an' all."

Dudley then tried to take a peak at what the giant man had given the twins, who together began to open the box. what they saw surprised them.

They saw a birthday cake, with writing on top of the cake reading 'HAPPEE BIRTHDAE HARRY AND JACOB'.

"Thank you." The twins said to the man.

"It's not ev'ry day yer young man turns 11, is it, eh?" The man chuckled. 

He then sat on the couch, while the Dursley couple was in the corner still shaking in fear. The man meanwhile pulled his umbrella from his jacket, pointed it towards the fireplace, which then shot 2 shots of fire into the woods, lighting the fireplace up.

The twins's widened in shock when they saw this, as well as wonder, while Dudley still said nothing, and 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 couch before facing the man again. "Excuse me, but who are you?" He asked the man.

"Rubeus Hagrid." Hagrid introduced himself, while moving the wood in the fireplace with his umbrella. "Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts." He turned back to the twins. "But of course, yeh know about Hogwarts."

The twins glanced at each other before turning back towards Hagrid. "Sorry, no." They said together.

Hagrid looked confused at this. "No? Blimey, boys, didn't you two ever wonder where your mum and dad learned it all?"

"Learned what?" Harry asked, as he and Jacob were even more confused.

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

Uncle Vernon stood mute. Hagrid simmered, then shook his head, before turning back to the boys and leaning closer.

"Yer wizards, you two."

The brothers eyes widened at what Hagrid said. 

"We're what?" Jacob asked.

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

Aunt Petunia continued to look with a worried face, while uncle Vernon continued to glare at what was happening.

"No, you've made a mistake." Harry said, not really believing what Hagrid told them, while glancing at his brother. "I mean... we can't be wizards."

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.

"I mean, we're just Harry and Jacob. Just Harry and Jacob."

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

The brothers then looked at each other, and as if sensing each other's thoughts, they both thought about how the glass disappeared at the snake exhibit, and the fact that they could talk to the snake that then left.

"Hm." Hagrid hummed, nodding his head.

He then got on his feet and faced the twins. Dudley began to shake in fear again, but Hagrid and the twins ignored him, as Hagrid reached into his pocket and gave the twins letters identical to the ones the owls tried to deliver to them for few days.

Jacob began to open his, and Harry leaned in to see what it read. Opening the letter fully, Jacob began to read. "'Dear Mr. Potter, we are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'"

However, at this point uncle Vernon had enough. Gathering what courage he could, he marched next to the twins. 

"They'll not be going, i tell you! We swore when we took them in we'd put a stop to all this rubbish!" Uncle Vernon said angrily.

Harry and Jacob looked at their uncle in shock, which turned into slight anger quickly. 

"You knew?" Jacob asked, then looked at aunt Petunia. "You knew all along and you never told us?"

Aunt Petunia's own face had also turned angry at this point. "Of course we knew. How could you not be?" She said, arms crossed.

She started to slowly walk towards her husband and continued. "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."

She continued to glare at the twins. "'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!"

She continuing to walk next to Vernon, who was also glaring at the twins and Hagrid. "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 she got herself blown up, and we got landed with you."

"Blown up?" Harry asked shocked. "You told us our parent's died in a car crash."

"A car crash?" Hagrid asked furiously. He was at this point fuming at what Dursleys were saying about the twins' parents, and the twins turned around to look at Hagrid. "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." Uncle Vernon repeated, this was something he and his wife had decided they would not back down from.

"Oho." Hagrid couldn't help but laugh, not taking them seriously. "An' i s'ppose a great Muggle like yerself is goin' ter stop them, are you?"

Confused by what he said, the twins turned towards Hagrid. "Muggle?" They asked together.

"Non-magic folk." Hagrid replied, before looking back at the couple again. "These boys' had their names down ever since they were born."

Meanwhile, Dudley continued to happily eat the birthday cake he had stolen.

"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 this proudly, the twins were smiling, excited about everything.

However, uncle Vernon wasn't done just yet. "I will not pay to have some crackpot old fool teach him magic tricks!" He said.

But this was the last straw for Hagrid, as he lifted his umbrella and pointed the other end, which held his wand, at uncle Vernon's face.

"Never... Insult Albus Dumbledore... In front of me." 

This caused aunt Petunia to cover behind her husband, who in return closed his eyes in fear. Hagrid at that moment looked at Dudley, who was bending slightly and eating the cake. 

Deciding to teach Dursleys a lesson, Hagrid then lifted the umbrella and pointed it right at Dudley. A spark flew at the boy's backside, and a pig tail suddenly came out of his pajama pants.

She continuing to walk next to Vernon, who was also glaring at the twins and Hagrid. "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 she got herself blown up, and we got landed with you."

"Blown up?" Harry asked shocked. "You told us our parent's died in a car crash."

"A car crash?" Hagrid asked furiously. He was at this point fuming at what Dursleys were saying about the twins' parents, and the twins turned around to look at Hagrid. "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." Uncle Vernon repeated, this was something he and his wife had decided they would not back down from.

"Oho." Hagrid couldn't help but laugh, not taking them seriously. "An' i s'ppose a great Muggle like yerself is goin' ter stop them, are you?"

Confused by what he said, the twins turned towards Hagrid. "Muggle?" They asked together.

"Non-magic folk." Hagrid replied, before looking back at the couple again. "These boys' had their names down ever since they were born."

Meanwhile, Dudley continued to happily eat the birthday cake he had stolen.

"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 this proudly, the twins were smiling, excited about everything.

However, uncle Vernon wasn't done just yet. "I will not pay to have some crackpot old fool teach him magic tricks!" He said.

But this was the last straw for Hagrid, as he lifted his umbrella and pointed the other end, which held his wand, at uncle Vernon's face.

"Never... Insult Albus Dumbledore... In front of me." 

This caused aunt Petunia to cover behind her husband, who in return closed his eyes in fear. Hagrid at that moment looked at Dudley, who was bending slightly and eating the cake. 

Deciding to teach Dursleys a lesson, Hagrid then lifted the umbrella and pointed it right at Dudley. A spark flew at the boy's backside, and a pig tail suddenly came out of his pajama pants.

Dudley felt the spark, looked behind and started screaming when he noticed the pig tail. Petunia reacted the same way, as did Vernon when the couple turned to look at their son.

Meanwhile, Harry watched with an open smiling mouth while Jacob started laughing at his cousin's misery, thinking that this is the ultimate punishment for all the bullying he's done.

Dursleys all began to panic. Dudley tried to touch the tail, Petunia looked at her husband trying to decide what to do, and then Vernon began to direct the two towards the second floor.

Briefly glancing at Hagrid, uncle Vernon began to run with his wife and son to the second floor, leaving amused Jacob and Harry behind. They looked at Hagrid who looked at them in return and chuckled silently.

Hagrid then turned towards the brothers. "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." He said awkwardly.

"Okay." Harry replied.

"My lips are sealed." Jacob said.

Hagrid nodded at them, before he picked up his small pocket watch and looked at the time. 

"Oh, uh, we're a bit behind schedule. Best be off." He said, putting his watch back in the pocket. 

Hagrid walked towards the door, removed it and let it fall on the floor again. He then turned back to the brothers before exiting. 

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

Hagrid then began to walk out of the house. Meanwhile, the twins were thinking, with Jacob looking briefly at the second floor where their relatives were still panicking about the pig tail.

He then turned to look at Harry. "We're definitely not staying." He said.

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

With smiles growing on the twins' faces, they then began to follow Hagrid outside, excited for the adventure they were about to embark on.

Chapter Text

That day following the encounter the twins had with Hagrid the previous night, the trio was riding a train to London, the twins sitting across from the giant. The brothers were going through their letters to check in on everything they were going to be needing for their new school.

"First-year students will require: Three sets of plain wardrobes, one wand--"  Jacob read his letter outloud before stopping and looking at Hagrid, along with Harry.

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

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

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

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

"Well, they don't mean a penguin, do they?" Hagrid said while 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 then 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.

⚯ ͛ϟ

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 into thinking mode. 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.

Harry, who was in the middle between his brother and Hagrid, was confused about what the list contained and thought if it was possible to get all of that in London, turned to his left towards the giant.

"Can we find all this in London?" He 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. Jacob especially thought the place looked too small for everything they needed.

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, who was walking behind the twins, guided them towards the bar, where few customers were enjoying their company as well as the bartender.

"Ah, Hagrid!" The bartened with grey hair greeted the half-giant. "The usual, i presume?"

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

However, Tom had a shocked look on his face when he heard the names and looked at the brothers faces, which turned into a smile.

"Good Lord. Is this? Can this be them? Bless my soul. It's the Potter twins!"

The twins' eyes widened when they heard this, realizing that the bartender knew of them. The other customers also turned their heads to look at the twins when they heard the names. Harry was then approached by an old man with a long grey hair. 

"Welcome back, Mr. Potters. Welcome back." He 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 turning to his left and facing a woman, who took a hold of Jacob's hand and shook it.

"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter. I can't believe i'm meeting you and your brother at last." The woman said, awestruck.

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 as he recognized the man. "You bowed to me once in a shop."

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

Then from behind Diggle came a man dressed in purple cloak with even lighter purple turban.

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

"Hello, Professor! I didn't see yeh there." Hagrid greeted him. 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 towards the stuttering professor who smiled slightly at them.

"Oh, nice to meet you." Jacob said, reaching his hand for a shake.

But Quirrell didn't take the young Potter's hand, instead held both of his own together while looking at his hand. 

"F-F-Fearfully f-f-fascinating subject. Not that you n-n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" Quirrell said, his eyes flyttering nervously over the twins' scars.

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

"Goodbye." The twins said to the professor and everyone.

The trio then started to make their way to the other end of the inn, while Jacob waved politely at everyone, noticing Diggle talking to someone about his wave.

They exited through a door which seemed to lead them to a dead end, with only few barrels and a bunch of wine bottles on the floor.

"See, boys? Yeh're famous." Hagrid said as he exited the inn first, with the boys right behind him.

"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 while throwing a small joke.

This got a chuckle out of Hagrid, who was in the middle of taking his umbrella out of his pocket, while glancing down at them. "I'm not sure i'm exactly the right person ter tell yeh that, boys." He said.

Hagrid then began to tap the end of his umbrella at specific spots around an empty space on the brick wall. This caused the bricks to start moving in and out and in a second, they all began to move and spin more wildly, opening up a pathway to an ally, all the while twins looked in the amazement.

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

With an awestruck smiles, the twins began to walk into the alley with Hagrid behind them, 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." Hagrid told them as they kept walking, and then pointed to their left side. "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 bunch of children staring through the window and leaning against it 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, while they were still walking across Diagon Alley.

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

"Well, there's yer money, boys. Gringotts, the wizard bank." Hagrid said, pointing towards a large building they were walking towards. "There ain't no safer place, not one. 'Cept perhaps Hogwarts."

⚯ ͛ϟ

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 them 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.

"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 good look at the brothers.

"Ah. And do Mr. Harry Potter and Mr. Jacob Potter have their keys?" He asked.

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

He began to go through his pockets while the Goblin turned to look at Hagrid, sitting back on his chair.

"Ha! There's the li'l devils." Hagrid lifted his hand up, holding 2 keys.

He then placed the keys on the table, but then started to slightly whisper at the head Goblin.

"Oh and there's something else as well." Hagrid then took a letter from his pocket. "Professor Dumbledore gave me this."

He handed the letter, which the head Goblin took and begun to inspect it himself. The letter was listed as 'Top Secret'.

"It's about You-Know-What in vault you-know-which." Hagrid whispered, while making sure the twins don't hear too much.

The boys heard little but are only left confused, while glancing at each other.

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

Later, the twins and Hagrid were sitting down on a cart which was moving on what looked like a race track/roller coaster. The cart was driven by another Goblin named Griphook, who stopped the cart in front of one of the vaults, and there were vaults on both sides.

"Vault 687." Griphook announced to the 3 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 Harry's key, as Jacob and Harry had their own separate vaults.

Opening a small hole, Griphook inserts the key into the lock and opens it. Hagrid then takes hold of the handle and opens the vault. When it's open, the twins' eyes widen in shock. Harry's vault was filled with piles of gold coins.

"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, 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.

The group then made it further into the bank, to the vault Hagrid had business in, while another cart carrying to goblins passed them by.

"Vault 713." 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 tells the trio, who step behind the Goblin while in front of the vault door.

Lifting his finger, Griphook touches the door with his pointy nail, which he then begins to lower closer to the ground while keeping finger in contact with the door. Using the magic, the lock on the door is opened.

Inside the vault is a small rock-looking item that is wrapped tightly inside a small paper. The twins see this but don't really know what to think. Hagrid then walks inside, grabbed the paper and turned back to the boys.

"Best not ter mention this to anyone, boys." He said while pocketing the item in pocket inside his jacket.

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

⚯ ͛ϟ

Sometime later, the twins and Hagrid are seen exiting a shop, 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 ended up picking 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 older brother this excited about something now that they were out of the Dursley home.

"We still need wands." Jacob said looking up at Hagrid, as he was going through the list again.

"Wands? Well, you want Ollivander's, there ain't no place better." Hagrid pointed them at the direction of 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 his thing.

The twins looked at the sign of Ollivander's shop, then started to enter the shop. The bell began to ring when the twins entered, and began to look around.

The room was filled with thousands of narrow long boxes, piled neatly right up to the ceiling. The brothers set the packages they brought with them on the nearby shelf before approaching the table.

"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, as they looked to their right. Holding on to the ladder was an old man with white hair, Ollivander, the owner of the shop. 

Ollivander smiled at the twins. "I wondered when i'd be seeing you, Mr. Potters." He said.

Ollivander climbed down his ladder before turning to a series of boxes behind him and began searching for a right one. 

"It seems only yesterday that your mother and father were in here buying their first wands."

Finding a right box, he muttered "Ah." before pulling the box out. "Here we are." 

He walked to the other end of the table 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 with a smile.

Ollivander handed the wand to Harry who took it in his hand. Looking briefly at the wand, Harry then turned to look back at Mr. Ollivander.

"Well, give it a wave." Ollivander said.

Harry then waved the wand to his right, and a bunch of wand boxes began to fly out of their boxes, 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.

Ollivander glanced at the flying boxes. "Apparently not."

Looking close 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." He handed Harry the new wand.

Harry took the wand slowly, and once again waved it. This time a vase in the back shattered, and it scared the boys again.

"No, no, definitely not. No matter." 

Ollivander walked down the stairs and made his way to the back of the shop. Meanwhile, 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 the hand that wasn't covering his mouth in the air.

"Sorry, sorry." Jacob said, stopping the chuckling 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, 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 up.

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 it in his hand.

Before Harry could wave the wand, suddenly the wind started to pick around the room, while he 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.

 "Curious. Very curious." Ollivander said, while looking around the shop.

"Sorry, but what's curious?" Harry asked after recovering.

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

"I remember every wand i've ever sold, Mr. Potters." Ollivander said and took the wand back. "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 ave you those scars."

He pointed at the lightning-shaped scars on the twins' foreheads, with the twins' eyes widening.

"And who owned that wand?" Jacob asked.

"We do not speak his name" Ollivander replied with a slight terror in his voice, before continuing with a more normal voice. "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter."

This surprised Jacob, he though he was only joking earlier with Harry's failed attempts to pick a wand, but now he thought 'I guess wands are even more magical than i thought.'

"It is not always clear why. But, i think it is clear..." Ollivander leaned more towards 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 then handed Harry his wand back before looking at Jacob. "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 and focused on the task at hand. 

"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." He said and gave the wand to Jacob.

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

"Ouch!" He yelped and dropped the wand.

"No, not at all." Ollivander walked back to start searching again.

Harry started chuckling silently, while Jacob picked the wand up and put it on the table. He then looked back at Harry, and rolled his eyes. 

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

Though the two soon started smiling, and did their traditional fist pump to each other.

Ollivander then came back with a new wand, which had the length of 12 ¾", and gave it to Jacob. He 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."

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

"Boys. Boys!" They looked back and saw Hagrid outside the window. "Happy birthday." He said to them. 

The twins looked down and saw Hagrid carrying a cage in one hand that held an owl with white feathers. Harry was surprised at this.

Meanwhile, Jacob was looking at another thing Hagrid had brought with a growing smile. There was another cage, this time a cat cage, and peaking out of it was a cute looking female cat, which tilted it's head sideways.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, the twins and Hagrid were back at the Leaky Cauldron, sitting by a large chair and eating food. Well, Hagrid was eating his food, while the twins sat quietly, barely taking in any of theirs.

"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, while pointing at 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 then sighted, and moved his plate further away, before looking at the twins again.

"'Course i know, boys. 'Course i do." He said. "Who do yeh suppose it was that carried yeh out o' yer parents' house Halloween night 10 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 then leaned a little closer. "Firs', and un'erstand this, boys, 'cause it's very important: Not all wizards are good. Some of them go bad."

The brothers began to closely listen what Hagrid was about to tell them.

"A few years ago, there was a wizard who went as bad as you can go. And his name was V--" Hagrid then stopped suddenly, took a deep breath and tried again. "His name was V--" It sounded like he, much like Ollivander, didn't want to say the name.

"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 Jaden nodded.

"No, i can' spell it." Hagrid said, before sighting. "All right..." He whispered the name. "...Voldemort."

"Voldemort?" The twins said in unison a little louder.

Hagrid shushed for them to be quieter, with twins turning around to see if anybody was listening. When it seemed like that wasn't the case, they looked at Hagrid again.

"It was dark times, boys. Dark times. 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 widened at the end once 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."

"What happened to V--?" Jacob was about to say before stopping. "To You-Know-Who?"

Jacob felt it was weird to not call Voldemort by his name, as unlike people around them, the brothers grew up not knowing anything about him and didn't feel any fear towards the name.

"Well, some say he died." Hagrid, however, shook his head, looking up. "Codswallop, in my opinion. Nope, i reckon he's out there still, too tired to carry on."

He looked back at the twins again. "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 are the boys who lived."

Twins then started to look 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 also 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 by who had turned to look at the half-giant. 

He then reach to his pocket for his pocket and looked at the time. "Blimey, is that the time? Sorry, boys, i'm gonna 'ave ter leave yeh. Dumbledore will be wantin' his--" 

Hagrid started to tap into the pocket he had placed the paper package he got from Gringotts before stopping.

"... 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 to look at the tickets, which read:

'London to Hogwarts

for ONE WAY travel

Platform 9¾'

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

But the twins were confused about something in their tickets.

"Platform 9¾?" The twins questioned at the same time.

"But Hagrid, there must be a mistake. This says platform 9¾."Harry said. "There's no such thing, is there?" He turned to look at the half-giant.

"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 ticked and flipping it around his fingers. "Also, is that gold on the ticket?"

"Jacob?" Harry interrupted him.

"Yes?"

"Hagrid's gone."

"What?" Jacob turned to his right, and widened his eyes when he saw his brother was right. 

Hagrid had disappeared without a sound. The boys tried to look around them in an effort to spot the half-giant, but were not successful.

Jacob and Harry were making their way to the platforms, trying to find the one that was supposed to take them to Hogwarts. They going through platforms 9 and 10 when a dark-skinned man in a business suit rushed past the twins.

"Sorry." He apologized, and disappeared 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 said as he approached the guard. 

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

"Excuse me, sir, can you tell me where me and my brother might find platform 9¾?"

"Oh boy." Jacob muttered, as he realized what his brother was trying to do probably wasn't going to work.

"9¾? Think you're being funny do you?" The guard asked, before leaving.

Jacob meanwhile walked closer to Harry. "I don't think anybody other than a wizard can help us find the platform, big brother." He whispered.

"Well it was worth the shot." Harry said back, with the brothers rolling their eyes at each other before starting to laugh.

"It's the same every year, packed with Muggles, of course. Come on." The brothers suddenly heard someone say the word 'Muggle', meaning there was someone magical approaching.

They looked to platform 10 and saw a family of red heads walking by.

"Muggles?" The brothers said.

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

"Platform 9¾, this way." The middle-aged woman, who looked to be the mother of the family, said, as she was leading the children.

She was holding hands with a young girl, while following them were 4 sons. One looked to be the oldest, two were identicals, and a younger boy who looked to be around the same age as Jacob and Harry.

The boys were all pushing their own trolleys with packages of their own. Following the family close behind, the Potter twins saw them stop at one of barriers between platforms 9 and 10.

"All right, Percy, you first." The mother named Molly Weasley said.

The oldest son got in front of the barrier with his trolley, before starting to push harder and going through the barrier.

The twins widened their eyes at this before Harry looked behind him, seeing that nobody else saw what had happened.

"Fred, you next." Mrs. Weasley said to one of the two identical twins, who could hardly be told apartment from.

"He's not Fred, i am." The brother on the right side said while pointing at his brother on the left.

"Honestly woman, you call yourself our mother?" The other brother joked.

"Oh, i'm sorry, George." Mrs. Weasley said and waved at the boy again.

'George' then walked in front of the barrier with his trolley, before stopping and looking at his mother.

"I'm only joking. I am Fred."

With a smile, Fred ran through the barrier, with George right behind him. 

Meanwhile, the Potter twins shook their heads, while Jacob thought he was happy that he and Harry had enough differences to tell them apart.

"Excuse us." Harry called, deciding to approach the family, while Jacob followed behind.

The remaining members of the family turned to face the twins, while Mrs. Weasley approached the boys.

"Could - Could you tell us how to?..." Harry nodded at the pillar.

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

She pointed at her last son who smiled and nodded at the twins, who nodded back at him.

"Now, all you've got to do is walk straight at the wall between platforms 9 and 10. 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 girl named Ginny said to the boys.

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

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

Jacob moved to stand in front of the pillar. Taking a deep breath, slowly begun to run towards the wall, and at the last second he closed his eyes. He almost expected to hit a hard wall, but he ran straight through it. 

He opened his eyes in surprise, and turned to look back at the wall. He then moved to side a little, and when he did, Harry came running through, eyes also closed before he opened them.

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

"Me too." Jacob said, but then started to smile and gave his brother a fist pump, which Harry returned. "Looks like you won't be giving me that funeral, after all."

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

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

The brothers began to push their trolleys away from the barrier, seeing the new platform. They then saw something that took their breath away.

They stared amazed at a red train, and people that were gathering around it. They began to smile. They saw the name of the train, 'Hogwarts Express' on it, and turned up to see the sign for it, which also included 9¾ which they had tried to find earlier.

With wide smiles, they started pushing their trunks forward, seeing people saying goodbyes 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." One student said. "Give us a look."

As the boy named Lee Jordan lifted the lid, a long hairy leg produted and students shrieked. Unimpressed, one of the 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 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 said, glancing at each other.

"Oh, them. Yes. I mean, we are." Jacob replied.

"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.

Jacob and Harry exited the aisle after entering the train, entering an empty compartment. They sat down, peering out the window as Percy Weasley strided 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.

The Hogwarts Express' whistle then started blowing.

"All right, on you go, all of you." She looked at her youngest son. "Ron, what is that on your nose?"

She 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.

Little later, as the train moved out of the station, Ginny chased after it. Harry watched her from his window until she dropped back. With that, King's Cross, and the life the twins've known, drifts away.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Sometime later, the train was making it's way to Hogwarts, while inside one of the compartments, the Potters were sitting alone, just looking through the window in the scenery. Well, Harry was.

Jacob had stopped a little while ago, now he was going through one of the books he had bought when they visited the Diagon Alley, Hogwarts: A History. He had wanted to start reading about Hogwarts while on the train.

"Excuse me." They heard someone call from the doorway and turned to see the red haired boy they met at King's Cross station. "Do you mind? Everywhere else is full."

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

The boy smiled and entered the compartment, sitting across from the twins.

"I'm Ron, by the way. Ron Weasley." Ron introduced himself.

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

"Hello." Jacob greeted while waving his hand.

Ron's eyes widened in amazement at meeting the Potter twins. 

"So it's true!" Ron said, then 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?" Jacob asked.

"The scars." Ron whispered.

"Oh, yeah." the twins said and removed their hair that was covering the scars, letting Ron see them.

"Wicked!"

Laughing a little, the twins let their hair fall back in their places. 

"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, 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. Just then, a dimpled woman came to the compartment, pushing a trolley with many different delicacies on it.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" She asked the boys.

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

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

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

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

"Whoa." Ron said amazed, as he looked at the coins.

Sometime later, the brothers and Ron were enjoying the sweets the twins had gotten from the trolley lady. They had switched places a little bit. Harry was still sitting in the same spot, while Ron was now sitting on the same seat as Harry with sweets in between them, while 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 Ron while holding a box of beans in his hand.

"They mean every flavor." Ron replied, mouth full of sweets. "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.

"Please, 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." Ron continued.

This caused Harry to slowly to take the bean he was chewing out and placing it down. 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 frog's, are they? Never was a fan of frog's after what happened at our old school."

"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.

"Watch it!" Ron said, as he and Harry also looked at the frog. 

The frog climped up the window before reaching the opening of it. It jumped out of the window.

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

Jacob then started to look at the card in his hand. On it, there was a man with a long silver beard, and a half-moon glasses. Underneath was his name: Albus Dumbledore.

"I've got Dumbledore!" Jacob said.

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

"I've got about 6 of him." Ron said. "Trade you Scabbers though, if you get Agrippa or Ptolemy..."

Jacob had lifted his head to look at the two, before he turned the card around and started to read it 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 susprised. "One hundred and fifty years old?" They asked together.

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

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

"He can leave a card?" Harry asked.

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

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

"Really? They don't move at all? Weird!"

The twins then looked at Scabbers when it snorted, falling back asleep and it's head still inside the box.

"Pathetic, isn't he?"

"Just a little bit." The twins said.

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

"Yeah." Harry said looking excited.

"Of course." Jacob followed, his eyes now focused on the rat.

Ron then took out his wand. Clearing his throat against his fist, he got ready to show the spell. Just as he was about to, however, a girl with a bushy-brown hair came into the compartment. She was already wearing her Hogwarts uniform and looked to be around the same age as the boys. Boys turned to look at her, and she looked like she was looking for something.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost his." She asked the boys.

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

While Harry shook his head, Jacob decided to give a proper answer. "No, sorry. Unless you count a chocolate frog that jumped out the window a while ago." He joked.

The girl lightly giggled at Jacob's joke, while Harry noticed his brother had a slight blush on his face, while he was staring at the girl.

While they were growing up, Jacob always had little difficulties talking to girls at their old school, but with the attempt at a joke and blush on top of it, Harry thought his brother just got his first-ever crush.

'She's... cute.' Jacob thought.

He realized he was staring and lowered his gaze slightly to the floor, still blushing just a little before it disappeared. The girl, meanwhile, noticed Ron had his wand out and got interested. 

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see, then." She said.

Ron cleared his throat against his fist again and started to chant the spell. 

"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.' Finishing the spell, Ron pointed the wand at Scabbers.

But while a light could be seen coming out of the pack, it simply flew out, and Scabbers was no different, other than it had woken up.

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

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

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" The girl asked, then 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 smirk of his own. "I think your brother played a prank on you."

Ron turned to look at Harry and nodded his head towards the two, though mainly at the girl, while Harry didn't really react.

"Of course..." The girl continued, while the boys turned to look back at her. "... i've only tried a few simple ones myself, but they've all worked for me."

She then took out her wand from her pocket inside her robe, walked inside the compartment and sat next to Jacob.

"For example:" She pointed her wand at Harry's face, who's eyes widened, all the while Jacob looked on with interest. "Oculus Reparo."

Suddenly, the tape that was holding Harry's glasses together was removed and the glasses themselves where fixed.

"Cool." Jacob muttered in amazement. 

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

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

Harry took his glasses of, looking surprised at them and turned to look at his brother and Ron, before he put them back on.

"Holy cricket, you're Harry Potter!" She noticed the scar on Harry's forehead. She then turned to look at Jacob. "Which means, you must be Jacob Potter, correct?"

Jacob's blush returned, as he realized the girl he earlier thought was cute knew his name.

"Y-y-yes, i a-am." He said, stuttering little while trying to smile.

"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." She finally introduced herself. Hermione then turned to look at Ron. "And you are...?"

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

"Pleasure." Hermione said with a slightly disgusted look.

"I'm Jacob Potter." Jacob introduced himself. Then suddenly realizing his mistake, blushed a bit more and tried to save himself. 

"Except, you know it already since... you know, you said my name... and you know-- I'll just shut up now." He finished his rambling and lowered his head a bit.

Hermione, however, found it funny. She chuckled a bit. "Well, it's nice to meet you too, Jacob." 

She then looked between all three. "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 looked at his clothes, while Jacob seemed excited.

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

Hermione rose from the seat and was about to leave the compartment, before she turned around and looked at Ron. 

"You've got dirt on your nose, by the way. Did you know? Just there." She pointed her finger to the right side of her nose.

Ron started to rub his nose, thought the dirt didn't leave. Hermione lowered her hand and exited the compartment, leaving the boys. They looked at the door before looking at each other.

"Well, she seemed interesting." Jacob commented.

Chapter Text

That evening, Hogwarts Express finally arrived to the station, and the sky was covered in darkness. Hagrid was walking to the train with a giant lamp lighting his way as he was coming to escort the first-year students to the school.

"Right, then. First years, this way, please!" Hagrid began calling while waving his hand to his direction. "Come on, now, first years, don't be shy. Come on now, hurry up!"

The students begun to exit the train, with an older student holding a door open for younger studnets. Harry exited the said door first, followed by Ron, and then by Jacob, with Hermione tagging along, while the boys were now dressed in their Hogwarts robes.

Jacob and Hermione were chatting a bit, talking about how they were both interested to learn about magic. Jacob had gotten little over his embarrassing introduction earlier and was interested to know what Hermione was like.

Harry and Ron were ahead and Harry approached the giant first.

"Hello, Harry." The giant greeted the younger Potter.

"Hi, Hagrid." Harry greeted back.

"Whoa." Ron meanwhile was amazed at Hagrid's size.

"Hello, Jacob." Hagrid then greeted Jacob, who got behind the other two.

"Hey, Hagrid." Jacob greeted while waving his hand.

"He's huge." Hermione muttered amazed.

Jacob then leaned closer to her, whispering. "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-years, then started to walking towards a nearby lake, with the students following him.

Hagrid and the students were all sitting on small boats, which were moving on their own and had lamps on them to light their way. In front of them everybody could see a massive castle at the end of the lake they were getting closer to.

The Potter twins and Ron looked on with wonder. Jacob was sitting at the edge of the boat, while Harry and Ron sat in the middle, and they were joined by two other boys on the back. Hermione, meanwhile, was sitting with a group of other kids on another boat.

"Wicked." was all Ron could say smiling.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Moments later, the first-years were making their way up the stairs of the castle, with different groups chatting with. The Potter twins chatted with Ron, though Jacob also kept close to Hermione at the same time so that the two could talk.

Once reaching the end of the staircase, they were met by Professor McGonagall, a rather severe looking witch in an emerald cloak and a dark, pointy hat.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." McGonagall greeted the students. "Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates." She pointed at the door behind her. 

"But before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin."

This got several reactions from few students, especially from a blonde boy, who was leaning on the railing of the stairs, as he smirked and nodded at his friend behind him, who 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."

On the floor between McGonagall and students, a toad was croaking.

"Trevor!" A boy suddenly shouted relieved and ran up to pick the toad up. This was Neville Longbottom, the boy Hermione had mentioned earlier who had lost his toad.

McGonagall looked down when Neville took Trevor in his hands, while some students laughed. Neville uneasily looked at the professor, while the Potters and Ron were smiling.

"Sorry." Neville apologized and made his way back to the group.

"The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily." She finished, and then walked through the door to the hall.

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

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

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're saying on the train." The blonde haired boy said as he looked at the twins, getting everyone's attention. "The Potter twins have come to Hogwarts."

The students started to whisper among each other, with Neville even whispering "Potter twins?" to a boy next to him.

"This is Snyde, Crabbe and Goyle." The boy introduced a girl with lavender eyes and a brown hair with an orange patch, and two boys who looked more like bodyguards than anything. "And i'm Malfoy." He walked in front of the twins. "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 to look uneasy as Malfoy started to look him over.

"Red-hair, freckles and a hand-me-down robe? You must be a Weasley."

The twins were not liking the tone Malfoy was talking to their first friend with.

Malfoy turned to look back at 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 glared at Ron, who glared right back, before looking back at the twins. "I can help you there." Malfoy extended his hand for a shake.

"He's rather disagreeable, isn't he?" Hermione said to Ron.

However, the twins had already decided who was the 'wrong sort' in their minds, as he put it, and Malfoy reminded them of Dudley. Looking at the hand before turning to look at each other, the brothers slightly nodded before turning to look at Malfoy.

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

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

Malfoy looked with a slight surprise before he was tapped on the shoulder behind him, he turned and saw the head mistress behind him. He turned to glare at the twins before making his way back to Sayles, Crabbe and Goyle.

"We're ready for you now. Follow me." McGonagall told the students, and begun to lead them to the Great Hall.

The great hall was massive, with 4 long tables that reached from one end of the hall to the steps at where almost at the edge of the other side, and the tables were filled with so many older students. There were candles floating above everyone, and on the other end of the hall there was another table, at the end of which the teachers and the rest of the staff was sitting.

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 was happy to hear that someone else was also reading the book. 

"I might've read it few times already." Hermione said.

McGonagall lead the students at the edge of the steps, where there was a stool placed, and sitting on it was an hold pointy hat.

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

As she finished, the elderly professor with glasses, purple robes and long, silver beard and hair rose from his seat in the middle of the High Table.

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

The Great Hall thundered with applause, though some of the first-years looked confused.

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

As the applause subsided, the hat twitched. At the brim, 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.

"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." McGonagall said, while lifting the old hat off the stool.

Some of the kids started to look scared, not knowing which house they would end up in. McGonagall began to consult her list.

"Hermione Granger!"

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

"Hey, don't worry." Jacob said to her. Hermione turned to him, seeing Jacob smiling at her. "You got this."

"Thank you." She smiled back, and started to walk up the steps.

"Mental, that one, i'm telling you." Ron said leaning closer to the twins, getting a nod from Harry.

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

The boys watched Hermione sitting down on the stool, and McGonagall placed the sorting hat on her head.

"Ah, right then." The hat said, then started to give few "Hm's" and "Ah's", before deciding. "Okay. GRYFFINDOR!"

The other Gryffindors cheered as Hermione jumped off the stool with a smile and made her way to the table to join the other Gryffindors.

McGonagall then called for the next name. "Penny Haywood!"

The girl Hermione had been talking with earlier walked to the stool next, sat down and McGonagall placed the hat on her head. The hat started to think again before shouting.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

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

"Draco Malfoy!" McGonagall called next.

"Slytherin." Ron said quietly.

Malfoy walked forward and sat on the stool, looking slightly nervous, but the hat barely touched his head when...

"SLYTHERIN!" The Hat declaired.

Malfoy then left for the Slytherin table with a smirk, as the Slytherin students cheered.

"There's no witch or wizard who went bad that wasn't in Slytherin." Ron said to the twins, who looked surprised 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!" McGonagall called.

The girl walked nervously towards the stool, while the brothers turned to their left to look towards the High Table. They noticed one professor with greasy black hair, sallow skin and dressed in black robes staring at them, while Professor Quirrell seemed to be talking to him, the back of his head towards the kids.

Suddenly, the twins' scars gave them sort of a sharp pinch. They flinched and hissed at the feeling and started to touch their scars, before they looked at each other surprised.

"Harry? Jacob? What is it?" Ron asked.

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

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

The man, meanwhile, turned back to look towards Quirrell, returning to his conversation.

"Let's see..." The hat continued to mutter before shouting. "I know! HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Hufflepuff students begun to clap and cheer and Susan left the stool to join them. McGonagall looked into her parchment again. 

"Merula Snyde!" McGonagall called.

The orange-patched girl walked up to the chair. Sitting on it, McGonagall placed the hat on her head. Only few seconds later and the hat made it's decision.

"SLYTHERIN!"

Snyde smirked as the Slytherin house started cheering. Jacob raised his eyebrow at her as Snyde walked to the Slytherin table and sat next to Malfoy.

"Ronald Weasley!" McGonagall called next.

Ron's mouth widened, and glanced at the twins before the started to make his way to the stool nervously. McGonagall placed 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, and his brothers, who were also in Gryffindor, clapped and cheered for him with the rest of their house, while the Potter twins smiled at him.

"Talbott Winger!" McGonagall called next.

A dark-skinned boy with brown ombré hair that was slicked back walked forward next. Talbott sat on the stool and McGonagall placed the hat on his head. The hat was silent for few seconds before it shouted.

"RAVENCLAW!"

The students sitting by the Ravenclaw table started cheering and clapping, while McGonagall took the hat back and Talbott walked to the table.

"Harry Potter!" McGonagall called.

Professor Dumbledore leaned closer to see, and as Ron sat at the Gryffindor table, the older students started to whisper among each other, realizing that the famous Potter twins were now at Hogwarts.

Harry slowly and nervously made his way towards the stool, and while he glanced at his brother, Jacob slowly nodded at him. Sitting down, McGonagall placed the hat on Harry's head.

Meanwhile, Jacob was starting to get nervous himself. He had read a little about the Houses at the train, and he was really liking what Gryffindor was like. Now that both Hermione and Ron had been sorted there, he wanted to be with them, though he started to think there might be a chance he could be sorted in another House.

'While Harry could be sorted in Gryffindor, we could still be separated if i'm placed somewhere else, and i really don't want that.' He thought.

The hat seemed to take it's time with Harry, trying to decide which House to place him in, while Harry was muttering something, and the hat seemed to be having a small conversation with him, before it shouted.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry opened his eyes with a wide smile and the students at the Gryffindor table rose in claps and cheers. Jacob then happily clapped for his brother, though he realized the chances of them being separated was high now.

Harry jumped off the chair and ran to the Gryffindor table and sat next to Ron, and shook hands with Ron's older brothers who introduced themselves.

"Jacob Potter!" McGonagall once again called.

Older student again started to whisper, all the while Jacob began to slowly make his way to the stool. Both Harry and Hermione were laser focused on him, and without realizing it, both were crossing their fingers in hopes of Jacob being sorted in the same House as they.

Jacob sat on the stool, and McGonagall placed the hat on his head.

"Hm. Difficult, very difficult, like your brother-" The hat started to talk. "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 said quietly, while closing his eyes.

"Not Slytherin, eh?" What the hat asked caused Jacob to 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."

Jacob started to move his head a little, eyes looking up at the hat. 

"And Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that."

Jacob once 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!"

Jacob opened his eyes and smiled wildly at this. Gryffindor students rose again to clap and cheer, with even the Weasley twins starting to cheer "We got the Potters!" Both Harry and Hermione were really happy at this, with even Hagrid starting to clap happily for the brothers.

Jacob ran to the table and sat next to Hermione, and gave his brother a fist pump, while shaking hands with the older Weasley brothers to greet them.

The Potter twins then turned to see Dumbledore lift his cup to them while nodding, and the brothers sat back in their seats.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Following the Sorting Ceremony, McGonagall, who was sitting on her seat in the teachers table, tapped her glass to get the students attention. 

"Your attention, please." She called.

As the Great Hall quieted down, Dumbledore then rose to stand up. 

"Let the feast begin!" He said, raising his hands a little.

Suddenly, all the empty plates and glasses that had been placed on the House tables were filled with food and drinks out of nowhere.

The twins were amazed at so many different foods, with Harry even muttering a "Wow."

The kids started to eat, with Ron eating two chicken legs with both hands, stuffing his mouth with food. Some of the students started to introduce themselves to each other. A rather wild-looking boy, Seamus Finnigan, was talking with Neville and a dark-skinned boy, Dean Thomas.

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

Jacob was sitting between Hermione and his brother, and the twins turned to look at the teachers table, before Harry turned towards Percy next to him.

"Say, Percy, who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" He asked, pointng at the black robed teacher.

"Oh, that's Professor Snape. Head of Slytherin house." Percy replied.

"What's he teach?" Jacob asked.

"Potions, but everyone knows it's the Dark Arts he fancies. He's been after Quirrell's job for years." Percy returned to his food.

Meanwhile, Ron started to take another chicken leg after finishing one, before a head came through the plate, scaring Ron as well as the other younger students around him.

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

Then, more ghosts started to flow into the hall, with each doing different things. One ghost, named Fat Friar, came through the floor while making noises, and another, blood-stained ghost came flying through a wall, swinging a sword while flying over Slytherin table.

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

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

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

"Dismal." Nicholas replied. "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 nodded his head to the Slytherin table, where the ghost was hovering imperiously.

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

He then started to float away while twisting his head around for some reason.

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

Nick turned back around and looked at Ron. "I would prefer Sir Nicholas, if you don't mind."

"'Nearly' headless?" Hermione questioned, with Jacob turning to look at her. "How can you be nearly headless?"

"Yeah." Jacob said. "Unless your head is... you know..." He then moved his hand around his head little awkwardly.

"Like this." Nick said.

He grabbed his head from his right side and pulled it to the side. His head was hanging by the skin of his neck, showing the insides of his neck and the neck bone.

Ron yelped in surprise, while Hermione closed her eyes and moaned in disgust. Harry was making an uncomfortable face and Jacob closed his eyes, trying not vomit, though he did start coughing. Hermione then started to pat his back to help him recover.

"Thanks." Jacob said, before whispering. "Maybe we shouldn't have asked."

"Yeah, maybe." Hermione whispered back.

Nick then placed his head back in place and floated away. Just then, Dumbledore rose up at the High Table, and everyone stopped talking.

"If i may, i have a few start-of-term notices i wish to announce." Dumbledore addressed. "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..."

He pointed to the Great Hall entrance, where Argus Filch, a sour-looking old man stood by, while a cat with glittering red eyes, Mrs. Norris, sat 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 glanced at each other. But before any of them could speak...

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

McGonagall rolled her eyes slightly as Dumbledore wielded his wand. Consulting the parchment of lyrics placed besides their tables, the 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..."

⚯ ͛ϟ

After feast ended, the House Prefects started to take the first years to their common rooms, with Percy leading the Gryffindor first years.

"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 explained as they stopped by the staircases.

Harry, Ron, Jacob and Hermione began to look around for many staircases and entrances they lead to, with some stairs even moving around.

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

The kids saw that the staircases reached all the way to the top, up the tall tower, looking awestruck.

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

The kids then started to follow him up the stairs. They were passing by many different paintings and pictures, which the kids noticed where moving.

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

"I think she fancies you." Jacob teased him.

This got a chuckle out of Harry, while Hermione rolled her eyes smiling. The girl in the white dress bowed to the students 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 corridor, Percy led the students to more corridors, when suddenly everyone noticed a bundle of walking floating in mid-air. Without warning, the walking sticks came flying forth, causing the first years to duck and dodge.

"Gryffindors, i give you Peeves, Hogwarts resident poltergeist." Percy sighted in annoyance.

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

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

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

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

At the end of the corridor hung a portrait which also looked like a door. A woman was standing in it. She was known as 'the Fat Lady'. She looked at Percy.

"Password?" The Fat Lady asked.

"Caput Draconis."

She then moved like opening a door, and behind her was the Gryffindor Common Room. Percy walked inside, with the kids following.

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

Harry and Jacob were ahead of the group, with Hermione right behind them. They stopped right next to a couch, and the fireplace had been lit up.

"Gather around here." Percy said as the students were making their way inside. "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..."

As the kids were getting ready to leave, Jacob was one of the few who had stayed behind to look around the Common Room. As he was about to follow the rest of the boys to the dormitory, Hermione tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Jacob." She said.

"Yeah, Hermione?" He asked.

"I just wanted to say goodnight. Hope you sleep well."

Jacob blushed slightly, but smiled either way. "Thank you. Sweet dreams."

He then made his way to boys' dormitory, where he saw the other boys already fast asleep, except for Harry who was sitting down next to the window looking outside, accompanied by Hegwid. Jacob saw Millie sleep soundly on his bed, and smiling at this, he made his way to his brother.

Harry was petting Hedwig on it's right cheek, and the owl closed it's eyes in enjoyment. He then turned to look up his brother, who was leaning on the stone wall. They smiled at each other before Jacob joined Harry in looking at the scenery.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Jacob and Hermione had been among the first students to arrive in the Great Hall for breakfast. The two new friends were eating while at the same time going through their timetaples professor McGonagall had given them a while back. Hermione decided to ask something that had caught her attention on the train.

"Say, Jacob..." Hermione asked, getting the boy's attention. "... do you like to read and study?" This was something that had caught her attention back on the Hogwarts Express.

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

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

Jacob nodded at her. "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..."

"Believe me, with how much you know so far, i think you will be just fine." Jacob tapped her on her left shoulder. "I just hope i'll do good enough."

"Well, i'm willing to help out with anything, if you want." 

Hermione then noticed a cat coming towards them and jumping on Jacob's lap. 

"Awe, this that your kitten?"

Jacob started to rub Millie's back, who purred in enjoyment. "She is. This is Millie. I got her on my birthday when i visited the Diagon Alley."

"She is cute." 

Hermione herself started to scratch Millie under her chin, causing the cat to purr even more. Jacob then 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, and Millie jumped on the table, starting to eat the food. 

Just then, the blonde-haired girl ran up to the Gryffindor table, approaching Jacob and Hermione.

"Hi, Hermione!" The girl said cheerfully.

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

"It is, and a lot of fun. Older students were really supportive on us the first-years." Penny then turned towards Jacob. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Penny Haywood."

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

"Yeah, i know. My mum told me about you and your brother when i was small." Penny noticed Jacob's face becoming slightly uncomfortable at this, so she lifted her hand up reasuredly. "Hey, you don't need to worry. I'm not going to treat you like some celebrity."

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

⚯ ͛ϟ

A little while later, the stairway was bustling with students as Harry and Ron were making their way. They were clearly lost, as Ron was consulting his timetable.

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

"How many staircases are there?" Harry asked.

"One hundred fourty-four..." Hermione said as she, Jacob and Penny suddenly passed by. "... though, in A History of Magic, Bathilda Bagshot makes unattributed to three others."

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

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

Harry and Ron watched as the trio passed by, with Hermione apparently holding every single First Year course book in her hands.

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

As Jacob and the girls found the Transfiguration classroom and entered, they noticed they were the first ones there, besides a tabby cat on the teacher's table.

Jacob noticed the cat and noticed something weird about it and started to think. 'Wait a minute...?'

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

While Penny was doing the same, Jacob realized what was weird about the cat and started smiling, having read about this in a book. 

Jacob leaned closer to Hermione. "I think she is here, Hermione." He said.

Hermione and Penny looked confused as they looked at Jacob.

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

When the kids looked at the table again, the cat jumped off it, and midway into the jump, it turned upright and turned into Professor McGonagall. Hermione and Penny looked amazed, and Jacob was surprised he was right.

"See?" Jacob said smirking. 

This got Hermione give him a playful elbow.

"Rather astute observation, Mr. Potter." McGonagall said impressed. "Could you perhaps tell me how you recognized me?"

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

"Very good, then. You have earned 5 points for Gryffindor. You three may take your seats."

While McGonagall returned to her desk, Hermione beamed at this and took the seat near the front on their right, with Penny sitting behind her. Jacob just stood there and looked for a seat, which Hermione noticed.

"What are you doing?" She asked, got up and pulled Jacob to her seat.

This action caused Jacob to blush. "Oh, s-sorry, i wasn't sure if you wanted me to sit here." He said, stuttering slightly.

"It's alright, you don't have to be sorry. I don't mind if we sit together." She smiled at him.

"Then, i'll sit here." He replied and smiled back at her.

Not too long after, the classroom was filled with the rest of the first-years, though Jacob noticed that his brother and Ron were absent.

'Where are those two at?' Jacob thought.

⚯ ͛ϟ

A little while later, Harry and Ron could be seen running down the hall into the Transfiguration class. Opening the door, they saw Jacob, Hermione and everyone else already writing notes down, with the cat sitting on the desk.

Hearing the door opening and closing, Malfoy and Snyde turned to look behind them, as did Jacob and Hermione. When they saw who had entered, Hermione turned back to her book, rolled her eyes and shook her head, while Jacob had an uneasy smile.

Harry and Ron kept running until they stopped once they reached the front of the desks.

"Whew, we made it!" Ron said with a heavy breath. "Can you imagine the look on old McGonagall's face if we were late?"

Jacob could be seen facepalming himself softly, and then the tabby cat jumped off the table and turned into Professor McGonagall. As she turned back to a human, she stared at the two with a straight face.

'Well, i guess that's the face she would be making.' Harry thought as he and Ron looked mouths open.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron said.

"Thank you for that assessment, Mr. Weasley." McGonagall said. "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."

"We got lost." Harry said.

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

McGonagall then walked back to her desk, while Harry and Ron sat on empty seats next to them.

"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."

McGonagall then 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.

⚯ ͛ϟ

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 Severus Snape marching in.

"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class." Snape said while making his way to his desk. He then faced 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 smirked slightly at this and glanced at Goyle next to him.

"... 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 notes down on everything Snape was saying. 

"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, who was sitting between his brother and Hermione, noticed Snape was looking at Harry and nudged at his brother. Harry stopped writing and looked up to Snape, putting his quill down.

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

At this, Hermione quickly raised her arm as she knew the answer, Jacob raised his own hand hesitantly, while Harry looked confused. Jacob and Hermione looked at each other while Harry glanced at them, and shook his head at the teacher.

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

Hermione again raised her arm up, while Jacob raised his slightly before lowering it down again.

"I don't know sir." Harry said.

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

All the while Hermione kept her arm in the air wanting to answer and Jacob kept glancing between Hermione, his brother and Snape.

"I don't know sir." Harry said again.

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

At this, both Malfoy and Snyde smirked at Harry.

"Clearly, Jacob and Hermione know." Jacob remarked sarcastically. "It seems a pity not to ask them."

This got few Gryffindors to chuckle at Harry's remark. 

"Silence." Snape ordered.

After this, the classroom fell into a silence again. Now staring at the younger brother, Snape approached their table. 

"Put your hand down, you silly girl."

Hermione lowered her arm, and while Jacob didn't like this, he kept quiet. Snape then grabbed a chair, set it down in front of the twins and sat on it before focusing again on Jacob.

"Younger Potter. Same questions."

Jacob swallowed. He quickly glanced at his brother before turning back to Snape. "Y-yes, sir. Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of the Living Dead." He answered.

Ron, who was sitting next to Penny and Susan Bones, looked nervously at Jacob from nearby.

"A bezoar is a stone taken from a stomach of a goat, and it will save you from most poisons." This answer came out more as a question, as Jacob had only briefly heard it before. "And..." Jacob then stopped, not knowing the answer to the last question. "... I don't know the last answer, sir."

Snape raised one of his eyebrows slightly, as if he was impressed at Jacob's ability to answer one of his questions. Though it quickly lowered and his face stayed as stern as it ever was.

"Congratulations, Mr. Potter." Snape said. "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."

The brothers continued to look at Snape, who did the same to the twins, before he moved his eyes around the room.

"Well... why aren't you all copying this down?"

At this, everyone started to quickly write down everything Jacob and Snape said on their books. Snape meanwhile got off the chair and made his way back to his desk.

"And, Gryffindors, note that five points will be taken from your house for your classmates cheek." He started writing into his textbook after glancing at Harry.

Malfoy, Snyde and their gang started to snigger. Jacob looked like he wanted to say something, but a quick look from Hermione told him to keep quiet and not make any trouble. The brothers glanced at each other again before looking at Snape again, who stopped writing to briefly look at the brothers before resuming his work.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Couple days later, the students were all sitting in their house desks having lunch while working on their home works. Harry started glumly at the four hourglasses by the High Table as the precious gems dropped in Gryffindors, and rose in Slytherins. 

Seamus, meanwhile, was waving his wand towards his cup trying to cast a spell.

"'Eye of rabbit, harp string hum. Turn this water into a rum.'" Seamus finished the spell, though as he looked into the cup, nothing had changed. He then started again. "'Eye of rabbit--'"

"What's Seamus trying to do to that glass of water?" Harry asked Ron as they were sitting close by while doing their own homework.

"Turn it to rum." Ron explained. "Actually managed a weak tea yesterday, before--"

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

Nearby students started to laugh, and Hermione was waving her hand to wave the smoke away. Meanwhile, Jacob coughed at it, as he was hit with the explosion a little.

"You all right?" Hermione asked him.

"Yeah, peachy." Jacob replied, before continuing sarcastically. "Didn't think i'd be hit with an explosion when i came to Hogwarts."

This got a laugh from the students already laughing at Seamus, including his brother 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 a bunch of owls flying to the House tables, carrying small packages and letters with their claws or peaks. They then started to drop the packages and letters to the ones they were mailed to.

Hedwig flew down to Jacob and dropped a small package in his hands, while Ron caught the copy of Daily Prophet newspaper before putting it down and starting to go through his letters.

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

After Ron gave him a nod, Harry started to read it. Neville, meanwhile, opened his package, from which he took out something that looked like a glass ball.

"Hey, look. Neville's got a Remembrall." Dean said when noticed the ball.

"A what?" Jacob asked.

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

'Is there anything she doesn't read about?' Jacob though with a slight chuckle.

As Neville inspected the ball, smoke started to appear inside it, which in turn turned red.

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

Harry was reading the paper before something caught his eye. He then nudged at Ron. "Hey, Ron, Jacob. Somebody broke into Gringotts. Listen." He said.

Jacob and Ron stopped what they were doing and leaned closer to listen, along with Hermione, while Harry started to read 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 713, had, in fact, been emptied earlier that very same day.'"

"That's odd." Jacob said.

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

"No, it's just odd... that's the vault Hagrid and we went to."

The kids then were looking 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 ever flying lesson. Both 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 all lined up in two different lines with broomsticks on the ground next to them for everyone. Madame Hooch, a rangy witch with short  grey hair and hawk-like eyes, walked between the lines.

"Good afternoon, class." Hooch greeted the students.

"Good afternoon, Madam Hooch." The class greeted back.

"Good afternoon, Mandy. Good afternoon." Hooch greeted a Ravenclaw girl Mandy Brocklehurst while walking past her.

Walking to the other end of the line, Hooch faced the first-years. "Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick. Come on now, hurry up."

The students followed Madam Hooch's instructions, stepping up to their brooms' left side. She then raised her hand in mid-air.  "Stick your right hand over the broom and say 'Up'."

The kids did as she said, and everyone started saying "Up!" 

Jacob and Harry's broomsticks flew into their hands right away, and fast. Hermione and Penny, who were next to Jacob, looked surprised at the twins.

"Wow." The twins said in amazement, and smiled at each other.

"Up." Malfoy said, after few times.

Then the broom shot up into his hand, and he smirked in satisfaction, glancing around the lines.

"Up. Up!" Ron ordered, but the broom didn't move.

"With feeling." Madam 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.

Her broomstick kept hovering in the air, barely off the ground, and she was starting to get frustrated at this.

"Hermione." Penny suddenly said.

Hermione turned to her left, and saw Penny holding her broomstick in her hand. Penny then placed the broomstick back on the ground, 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. After a moment of concentration, Hermione shouted. "Up!" The broom flew into her hand. 

Hermione turned to Penny happily. "Thanks, Penny."

Penny smiled back at her. "No problem." She then let out a small laugh. "You should've seen my dad when mum took him flying once. It scared him too much to try again."

"Up." Ron repeated again.

But suddenly, instead of flying into his hand, the broomstick whacked Ron right on the nose. The twins and the other kids started to laugh at him.

"Shut up, guys." Ron said to the twins after recovering from the blow.

"Now, once you've got hold of your broom, i want you ro mount it." Hooch said to everyone while walking down the row.

The kids started to mount 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." Malfoy said. "Given that a few of us have been on sticks for years, would it not make sense to separate the expert flyers from..." He glanced at Jacob and Harry. "... 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."

As Malfoy's face reddened, Jacob, Harry and Ron shared a grin.

"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."

Hooch took her whistle, which was hanging on her neck, in her hand and got ready to blow. "Three, two..."

Hooch blew the whistle, but then suddenly Neville's broom started to float in the air on it's own.

"Mr. Longbottom." Hooch turned her attention to Neville.

Neville wasn't able to control his broom, which started to move around before it started to move highter.

"Mr. Longbottom!"

"Down, down!" Neville ordered, but the broom didn't listen.

"Neville!" Jacob and Harry shouted, while Ron covered his eyes. 

The broom started to really move higher in the air, wobbling, while Neville kept crying in fear.

"Come back down this instant!" Hooch ordered.

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 towards Madam Hooch and students.

"Mr. Longbottom!" Hooch pulled out her wand.

However, she 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 high again before flying past a statue with a sharp spear, which caught his cloak and causing him to flip off the broom.

"Whoa!" Neville shouted in fear, as he looked down, now dangling from the spear.

With Neville now stuck, he suddenly felt a weight shift. Looking up, he saw his cloak started to tear from the weight. 

His cloak tore, causing him to fall down, before being caught by a torch. Neville then slid off of his robe, falling on the pitch with a giant THUD and a nasty CRACK.

"Everyone, out of the way!" Madam Hooch shouted.

The students scattered as Hooch ran to Neville, who was laying on the ground while holding his left arm.

"Is he alright?" Hermione asked.

"Doesn't look like it." Penny replied, flinching.

"I think he hurt himself quite badly." Talbott said.

"Ow ow ow." Neville kept repeating, holding his wrist.

"Oh, dear. It's a broken wrist. Poor boy. Come on now, up you get." Hooch said as she helped Neville up.

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 picked it up.

"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 Hooch was escorting Neville out of the pitch to the Hospital Wing, Malfoy faced his fellow Slytherins, holding up the Remembrall. 

"Did you see his face?" Malfoy asked.

"Oh, snuff it, Malfoy." Talbott said angrily.

"Exactly." Jacob continued. "Can you just snuff it for once, you ferret?"

But suddenly, Jacob was pushed down by Goyle, which caused the package in his pocket to fly on the ground. Hermione and Harry got to Jacob to help him up, while he noticed Snyde taking the package with a smirk.

"What do we have here?" Snyde asked, inspecting the package.

"Hey, give it back!"

Malfoy, meanwhile, continued as if he had not heard what Jacob, Penny and Talbott said, holding the Remembrall up to the other Slytherins. "Maybe if the fat lump had given this a squeeze, he'd have remembered to fall on his fat arse." He said.

The Slytherin students started to laugh, while angry Harry and Jacob walked up beind Malfoy and Snyde.

"Give it here, Malfoy!" Harry ordered.

The smirk on Malfoy's face fell down as he turned to face the Potters, along with Saxon.

"No." Malfoy said. "I think i'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find."

Mounting his broom, Malfoy started to hover around before flying through the crowd.

"How about on the roof?"

He then started to fly higher in the air, followed up Snyde, who kept twiddling with Jacob's package in her hand.

"What's the matter, Potters? Bit beyond your reach?"

"Certainly don't want me to rip this thing open, do you?" Snyde taunted Jacob.

The brothers glared at the two, and with a nod at each other, mounted their brooms. Before they could kick off, Hermione and Cora quickly walked up to them.

"Jacob, Harry, no way!" Hermione said. "You heard what Madame Hooch said. Besides, you don't know how to fly."

Harry, however, ignored her and kicked off. 

"Sorry, Hermione, but this is something i can't ignore." Jacob said, before following his brother.

"What idiots." Hermione said as she looked at the twins fly off.

"You said it, sister." Penny said with a raised eyebrow.

"But i have to admit..." Talbott said, commenting what others were noticing. "... they are both natural with the brooms."

"Give it here, Malfoy, or i'll knock you off your broom!" Harry shouted at Malfoy after getting close to him.

"How about you hand that back before i kick your arse, Snyde!" Jacob shouted.

"Is that so?" Saxon asked tauntingly.

Harry flew and tried to catch the Remembrall from Malfoy's hand, while Jacob tried the same with his package, but Malfoy and Snyde simply dodged out of the way, and the twins were now behind them.

"Have it your way then!" Malfoy said.

Then Malfoy and Snyde chucked the items ahead like a Muggle baseballs.

Looking shocked before narrowing their eyes, the twins flew past the two bullies after the items. The items were flying fast towards a tower, where inside one of the rooms Professor McGonagall was doing some paper work.

The twins put more speed into their brooms, and before the items could hit the window, Jacob and Harry caught them with one hand, with Harry even doing a flip while doing it.

McGonagall saw what happened, and after giving each other a fist pump, the brothers made their way back to the group. McGonagall, meanwhile, surprised at the twins' handling of the brooms, quickly exited her office.

Making their way to the students, they waved the items to show they caught them, and the Gryffindor students cheered while running to the twins, surrounding them.

"Nice going, you two!" One student said.

"That was wicket, you two!" Another then said.

By now, McGonagall had entered the pitch and was approaching the students.

"Jacob and Harry Potter!" She called, and when the twins looked at her, they looked nervous. "Follow me." 

As the twins started to follow McGonagall out of the pitch, Malfoy, Snyde and their goons chuckled, thinking the two were in trouble.

"Chin up, Potters." Snyde called. "They might let you stay on as Hagrid's assistants."

Moments later, Harry and Jacob were following McGonagall down a corridor, both silent.

"Professor..." Jacob tried to explain. "... the only reason we were on the brooms is because--"

McGonagall interrupted him by facing him with a calm look. "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.

Reaching the door to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. she stopped the boys.

"You wait here."

As the boys stood still, McGonagall entered the classroom, where professor Quirrell was in the middle of a lesson for fifth-year students.

"Professor Quirrell, excuse me. Could i borrow Wood for a moment, please?"

"Y-yes, of course." Quirrell, holding a giant lizard in his arms, stuttered.

Oliver Wood, a burly fifth-year teen, followed McGonagall outside the classroom, walking back up to the twins.

"Potters, this is Oliver Wood." McGonagall said, introducing the boy, before looking excited. "Wood... I have found you a Seeker, and a substitute Seeker."

Jacob and Harry looked at each other confused, though interested on what McGonagall was planning.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Sometime later, the nearby corridor by the courtyard was filled with students walking around, when Nearly Headless Nick, accompinied by the Grey Lady, floated through a wall, as the two we're in a middle of an conversation.

"Have you heard? Harry and Jacob Potter's the new Gryffindor Seekers. I always knew they'd do well." Nick said to her, sounding impressed.

Then, the twins, along with Ron, made it to the corridor after explaining what McGonagall had proposed to the brothers, which was that she'd allow the twins to start playing Quidditch where they can play as the Seekers for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

"Seekers? But first years never make the house teams." Ron said, amazed. "You two must be the youngest Quidditch players in--"

"A century, according to McGonagall." Harry said.

"Harry's the main Seeker..." Jacob said. "... and i was put in as a substitute if he's unable to play."

Just then, Fred and George descended from behind the boys.

"Hey, well done, you two! 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." George said. "Can't make any promises, of course. Rough game, Quidditch."

"Brutal!" Fred said. "But no one's died in years. Someone will vanish occasionally..."

While the Weasley twins continued to walk ahead in the corridor, the Potter twins and Ron turned to their right, walking into the courtyard.

"But they'll turn up in a month or two." George then shouted as he and Fred dashed off.

After this, Ron started to read on the twins' troubled faces.

"Oh go on, guys." Ron said. "Quidditch is great. Best game there is, and you'll be great too."

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 next to Jacob, causing the boys to turn to her surprised. "It's in your blood."

"It is? How?"

Hermione led the boys to the trophy case and pointed to the plaque of Quidditch players. As they saw what her finger pointed at, they were shocked. On one of the plaques read the name of the twins' father, James Potter, showing he was a Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"Whoa." Ron said surprised. "Guys, you never told me your father was a Seeker, too."

"We... didn't know." Harry said, just as surprised.

The brothers looked at each other, amazed to know something new about their father.

⚯ ͛ϟ

After the twins found out about their father being a Seeker too, they, along with Ron and Hermione, were getting to the moving stairs while making their way back to the Common Room.

"I'm telling you, it's spooky." Ron said to the twins. "She knows more about you two than you do."

"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. The kids stumbled a little before they got a hold of on the railings.

"What's happening?" Harry asked shocked.

"The staircases change, remember?" Hermione said behind the boys.

As the kids kept looking around, the stairs turned to the floor on their left which had a door to a corridor.

"Let's go this way." Harry said  and started walking to the door.

"Before the staircase moves again." Ron continued, following Harry.

"Guys, shouldn't we--" Jacob tried to say. 

But before he could finish what he was saying, he saw his brother and Ron going straight to the door, not hearing him. 

"Oh bloody hell." Jacob sighted and followed them, with Hermione behind him.

Harry opened the door to the corridor and stepped inside, followed by the others, The corridor was dark, creepy looking, and was covered in many spider webs.

"Does anybody feel like we shouldn't be here?" Ron asked with fear in his voice.

"We're not supposed to be here." Hermione said. "This is the third floor. It's forbidden."

"I tried to suggest waiting on the staircase for it to move again." Jacob said, starting to feel nervous himself.

"Why, though?" Harry asked intrigued.

"Because Dumbledore said so." Hermione said.

Suddenly, a flame on a pillar next to the kids light up, which spooked the kids, while a cat walked inside the corridor.

"Let's go." Jacob said. 

As everyone turned to leave, they looked down and saw the cat staring at them, before meowing at them.

"It's Filch's cat!" Hermione said shocked.

"Run!" Harry said.

The kids started to run in the opposite direction. As they all dashed off of a corner, the flames on the pillars kept lighting on as they ran further into the corridor.

"Quick! Let's hide through that door!"

Reaching a door at the end of the corridor, Jacob took a hold of the handle. He tried to open the door, but it's locked. He slammed the handle down.

"It's locked!" Jacob said.

"That's it, we're done for!" Ron said, looking behind them.

"Move over!" Hermione said. 

Pushing both Harry and Jaden away from the door, Hermione pulled her wand out and pointed it at the lock.

"Alohomora!"

The lock then moved, and Hermione started opening the door. 

"Get in." 

As she entered the room, Jacob was right behind her, followed by Harry and Ron. Ron closed the door once everyone was in, when he looked at Hermione.

"Alohomora?" He asked, quoting the spell.

"Isn't that the Unlocking Spell?" Jacob asked.

"Yes, Jacob. Standard Book of Spells, chapter seven." Hermione explained.

At the other side of the corridor, Mr. Filch entered the corridor, walking up to his cat.

"Anyone here, my sweet?" He asked.

Filch started to look around the corridor, but he saw nothing out of ordinary.

"Come on." 

Filch exited the corridor, followed by Mrs. Norris. The kids meanwhile were listening in and heard Filch leave the corridor, closing the door behind him.

"Filch is gone." Hermione said.

"I thought we were done for a second." Jacob said, swiping the sweat off of his forehead.

"He thinks this door's locked" Ron said as he, Jacob and Hermione started to move away from the door.

"It was locked." Jacob and Hermione said together.

"And for good reason." Harry said, staring wide-eyed at something.

The other three looked where Harry was looking before their eyes also widened. What was lying on the floor was a giant three-headed dog that was sleeping, before it started to wake up and noticed the four kids. Wide-eyed, the kids followed it's heads as the dog rose up and started growling at the kids.

The kids then started to scream in terror and ran back to the door, with Harry, followed up Ron, followed by Hermione, and lastly Jacob who was pushing Hermione faster, getting to the other side and tried to close it while the dog approached and tried to push against the door.

The kids managed to push the door closed enough and Jacob quickly placed the lock back in. They then dashed back to the Common Room.

⚯ ͛ϟ

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron asked, shocked as they entered the common room.

"You don't use your eyes, do you?" Hermione asked out of breath. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"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 the kids were walking up the spiral staircase to their dormitories.

"It was standing on a trap door. Which means it wasn't there by accident." Hermione said, once their reached the dormitories. "It's guarding something."

"Guarding something?" Harry asked.

"That's right." Hermione looked at Harry and Ron. "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, who was standing closest to Hermione, noticed she only mentioned 'two', and it got him hoping she didn't include him as one of them.

Hermione then turned to Jacob. "Goodnight, Jacob."

"O-oh, goodnight, Hermione." Jacob replied.

Hermione then walked inside the girls' dormitory, closing the door behind her. Just then, Jacob thought of something, causing him to tilt 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, the two started to make their way to the boys' dormitory. Jacob turned to look at them, and then tapped his pocket to check that his package was still with him. With a final glance at the girls' door, he also walked inside the boys' dormitory.

⚯ ͛ϟ

One week later, it was September 19th, and Jacob woke up early in the morning. Noticing it was 7:30, he had a feeling that Hermione was awake at this point and was going through her homework like she tends to do. 

He then dug underneath his pillow and took a small box, smiled at it and started to make his way down to the Common Room. Walking down the stairs, he noticed Hermione on one of the armchairs with a book in her hand. 

Smirking, Jacob started to sneak closer to the girl, wanting to give her a small scare before the real thing. She was so focused on the book she didn't notice the boy sneaking close.

"Expecting someone?" He asked.

Hermione gave a sharp yelp at the voice, closed her eyes and suddenly punched at where the voice came from her left.

"Ow!" 

Hermione opened her eyes and saw Jacob clutching his right arm, though he chuckled slightly.

"You know you punch really hard!"

"Oh gosh!" Hermione said, covering her mouth with her hands. "I'm so sorry. Are you all right?" She took a hold of the arm she punched.

"Yeah, yeah, it's nothing too bad, see?" Jacob slightly started to move his arm, though he did flinch just a little bit. "I can swing it just fine."

Hermione raised her eyebrow, but chose to believe him. "So you decided to give me a scare this morning?"

"Well, not at first. But that wasn't why i got up this early."

Now Hermione was feeling curious. "Oh? And why's that?"

Jaden smirked slightly. "Do you know what today is?"

Hermione then put on her 'thinking face' as Jaden liked to call it, but she couldn't think of anything. 

"I don't know." Hermione replied. "I've been really focused on our studies to keep up with what day it might be."

"Well, do i have a surprise for you." Jacob took a box out of his pocked and handed it to the girl. "Happy birthday, Hermione."

Hermione gasped and her eyes widened at this. Couple days after they had started their studies, Hermione had told Jacob, after he had asked, her birthday was on September 19th (Also telling him that it would be her 12th birthday, meaning she was almost 10 months older than him), but with all the studies going on she had forgotten about it.

With soft eyes, she took the box from Jacob's hand and smiled at him. "Thank you. But you didn't have to get me anything."

Jacob only shook his head. "Nonsense. Of course i had to get you something, and i wanted to."

Hermione started to open the box, and inside she found a new set of ink and a quill to help her write.

Jacob started to scratch his right cheek with his finger in slight embarrasment. "I... i didn't really know what to give you, since we haven't known each other that long. I hope you like it."

Small smile rising on her lips, Hermione pulled Jacob in a hug, which got him to blush before the returned the hug.

"Thank you." Hermione said. "I definitely like the gift." 

They then separated, when suddenly a thought hit Hermione as she looked over her gift again, before looking at Jacob.

"Wait. Was this the package you got defensive about at the flying lesson?"

"Yeah. After you told me when your birthday was, i asked Harry if i could borrow Hedwig for a bit. I bought quill and ink and had Hedwig deliver it to me."

"That was really thoughtful of you. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jacob then smirked a little. "Also, remind me to never get on your bad side with a right-hook like that."

Deciding to play along, Hermione smirked herself. "As long as you don't give me a reason to."

Chapter Text

The next day, Jacob and Harry were walking with Oliver Wood to the field for their first Quidditch lesson. Harry and Wood were carrying a box with different Quidditch equipment, while Wood had two bats under his left arm.

"Quidditch is easy enough to understand." Wood said, explaining the Quidditch. "Each team has seven players: Three Chasers, two Beaters, one Captain and a Seeker. That's you."

They then lowered the box on the ground. Wood crouched down and opened the box, while taking out a large red ball from it. 

"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." 

Wood pointed behind him at the Quidditch field, 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.

Jacob, meanwhile, nodded and tossed the Quaffle back to Wood. He then looked at the other two balls in the box, which were rocking the box.

"What are those?" Jacob asked.

Putting the Quaffle back in the box, Wood then took a bat in each hand before handing them to the brothers. 

"You two better take these." Wood said.

The brothers took the bats, while Wood let the chain that holding one of the balls inside loose. The ball suddenly flew in the air. All three looked at it, before it stopped mid-air and started to come back down.

"Careful now, it's coming back."

Harry meanwhile got ready. As the ball came falling down at him, Harry swung the bat and hit the ball, which blew between two swords held up by a statue on a roof.

Wood looked impressed. "Huh, not bad, Harry. You'd make a fair Beater."

Harry smiled at this, and Jacob tapped his brother on the shoulder. "That's my brother for you." He said proudly.

The ball suddenly flew back the same way it came from. It was flying straight at Wood.

"Uh-oh." Wood muttered.

While the twins ducked down out of reflex, Wood managed to catch the ball, though the impact caused him to fall on the ground.

The ball started to struggle to get away from his grasp, while sounding like it was screaming. While struggling on the ground, Wood crawled back to the box and locked the ball back in it's place.

"What was that?" The brothers asked.

"Bludger." Wood said, catching his breath. "Nasty little buggers. But you two are Seekers."

He then opened a small locket that looked like the Hogwarts crest, and took a small golden ball that was a size of a small nut, 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 to the brothers, 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 quite a lot of pressure for one player." Jacob said while opening his palm, looking at the Snitch.

"It really is."

The Snitch then sprung wings and started to fly above them, all the while the brothers kept their eyes on it.

"Wow." They said together.

The snitch then flew away fast before the twins started to chase it.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Over a month later, it was October 31st, meaning it was now 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." Flitwick explained. "Do you have your feathers? Good."

Hermione was holding her feather to show it to the professor. Students had been placed in pairs so they could work on spells together. Hermione was paired with Ron, Penny sat above them, Harry was with Seamus and Jacob was with Talbott. Flitwick pulled his wand out of his robes.

"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."

Everyone then took their wands and copied the professor with their hands. "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 Leviosa." He chanted.

The feather fluttered, but didn't leave the table.

"And enunciate!" Flitwick repeated. "Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Jacob was about to try for a second time before he noticed what Ron was doing on his left.

"Wingardium Leviosar!" Ron chanted.

However, Ron started to swing his wand up and down violently, trying to get the feather to float. Both Jacob and Hermione flinched at what Ron was doing, though Hermione was faster to stop Ron.

"No, stop, stop, stop!" She said, putting her hand over Ron's wand. "You're going to take someone's eye out. Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's LeviosA, not LeviosAR."

"You do it then, if you're so clever. Go on, go on." Ron said, feeling offended.

'She is clever you know.' Jacob thought.

Giving a side-glance at Ron, Hermione straightened herself and did the movement exactly like Professor Flitwick showed them.

"Wingardium Leviosa." She chanted.

Swishing and flicking the wand at the feather, she slowly started to float it in the air.

Deciding to follow her example, Jacob then swished and flicked his wand like she did 

"Wingardium Leviosa." He chanted.

And like with Hermione, his feather started to float, with the rest of the students stopping what they were doing to see Jacob and Hermione's work. Professor Flitwick was proudly watching the feather floating, before looking at the kids. 

"Oh, well done! See here, everyone, Miss Granger and Mr. Potter's done it!" He said.

Ron, looking dejected, let his head fall on his books, while Jacob and Hermione glanced at each other proudly.

"Well done, Potter." Talbott said impressed. "With that head, you could have been in Ravenclaw."

"Actually..." Jacob replied with a chuckle. "... the Sorting Hat did say i had a good mind."

Seamus, meanwhile, began swishing his wand toward his feather. "Wingard Levosa." He started saying couple times.

"Well done, you two." Flitwick said proudly.

PFFFT! Everyone suddenly turned to look at Seamus, and saw he was smoking a little and his feather's 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 while blowing smoke away from his face.

"Maybe you need a better spot." Talbott replied sarcastically.

Meanwhile, Hermione and Penny covered their mouths, trying not to laugh at Jacob.

The rest of the class went smoothly, and later the kids were walking outside. Jacob, Harry and Ron were walking together, and they were joined by Seamus and Dean, though Ron was still dejected at what happened at the Charms class.

"'It's LeviosA, not LeviosAR.'" Ron said as he was mimicking Hermione

Harry, Seamus and Dean were laughing at this, though Jacob looked like wasn't amused by this.

"She's a nightmare, honestly! No wonder she hasn't got any friends."

Hermione, who was walking behind them, heard this. She hugged her books tighter as she started to tear up. She walked right between Jacob and Ron, pushing them and walking faster so she could get away from the boys.

"I think she heard you." Harry said as the boys watched her walk away.

"What the snuff was that, Ron?" The rest of the boys suddenly turned to look at Jacob who was staring furiously at Ron. "She was only trying to help you."

He then started to walk ahead quickly, about to go after Hermione. But before that, he turned to the group final time. 

"And for the record, i'm her friend." 

After saying this, he sprinted after Hermione, trying to find her.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, it was Halloween night, and students were getting ready to leave for the Great Hall to celebrate, except for Jacob. He had lost the sight of Hermione after he turned his attention back to Ron for brief second, and since then he had been running all over the castle trying to find her, with no luck.

With it being late now, Jacob was starting to fell exhausted. Scratching the back of his head, he started to walk back towards the Great Hall and at least get a little bit of food before the celebration was over, while trying to avoid Ron for the rest of the night.

While he was walking down the hall, he was passing by the girl's bathroom. Glancing at the door briefly before continuing to walk forward, Jacob then realized that the girl's bathroom was the only place he had not looked for Hermione from yet.

Turning around towards the door, Jacob took brief glances left and right to make sure nobody was coming, he entered the bathroom.

Once he was inside and he closed the door behind him, heheard crying from one of the stalls. Slowly approaching them, he leaned against the stall the crying was coming from.

"Hermione? It's me." Jacob called.

"Go away, Jacob." Hermione said quietly, weeping. "I want to be alone."

But Jacob refused to leave her now, shaking his head. "No. I searched the whole castle all day for you. Ron doesn't know what's he's saying. 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.

"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 around with Penny a lot. And... i'm your friend."

Jacob stopped talking, and while he couldn't hear Hermione crying anymore, he did hear her sniff. He noticed the stall door was opening slowly, so he backed away a little.

Coming out of the stall, Hermione closed the door and turned to face Jacob, and what he saw saddened him. He saw Hermione's teared-up face while she was rubbing her eyes.

"Really?" Hermione asked with a small voice, still sniffing.

Jacob started smiling slightly. "Of course you are."

Getting a feeling that Hermione was going to hug him, Jacob opened his arms a little. She walked to him for a hug, placing her head on his shoulder, and he did the same on hers, while they wrapped their arms around each other.

While she was still sniffing a little, Hermione smiled softly at everything that Jacob said to her. She felt that, by this point, she was considering him to be her best friend.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Several minutes earlier...

⚯ ͛ϟ

Meanwhile in the Great Hall, the Halloween celebration was on full swing. The pumpkins that were light up were floating in the air in the place of the candles, and the teachers and students alike were all digging to their food, with the House tables filled with different cakes, waffles, apples and all sorts of food.

Harry, who was sitting quietly, saw professor McGonagall and standing across the way with Hagrid, with both looking at him. McGonagall said something to Hagrid, who nodded, then she stepped away, approaching Harry.

"How are you, Potter? All right?" She 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 McGonagall turned back. "... thank you."

"You're welcome, Potter. Give my condolences to your brother, as well."

As she left, Harry turned to his right and saw two still-empty spots next to him.

"W-Where's Jacob and Hermione?" He asked, looking at Ron, Fred and George in front of him.

Neville, who was 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.

Penny, sitting on the Hufflepuff table behind the Weasleys, turned around and look at 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.

Penny gave a disapproving look towards Ron, having overheard what he had said. Harry turned to look at Ron with his own disapproving look, knowing that this far into the school year his brother had come to consider Hermione his friend. He had even learned about the birthday present Jacob had gotten for her. 

Ron, with an uneasy look, simply gave a shrug with his shoulders. Suddenly, the doors to the Great Hall burst open, and Professor Quirrell came running inside, looking panicked, and everybody turned to look at him.

"Troll in the dungeon! Troll in the dungeon!" He screamed, before stopping in the middle of the hall.

Everyone stopped eating at Quirrell's sudden announcement. Dumbledore rose up from his seat, while everyone else looked at Quirrell.

"Thought you ought to know." 

Quirrell then passed out, falling face first on the floor.

The students everywhere then started to panic, quickly placing what food they had down and started to get up from the seats, about to run out of the Great Hall.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore suddenly shouted.

This got everyone to stop in their place, turning to look at him.

"Everyone will please not panic! Now, Prefects will lead their House back to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

With this order given, each Prefect from each House started to lead their houses back to their dormitories, while teachers started to follow Dumbledore. At the same time, Professor Snape left through the back door.

"Gryffindors, keep up, please, and stay alert!" Percy ordered while leading the students.

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked Ron as they kept walking.

"Not on its own." Ron replied. "Trolls are really stupid. Probably Peeves playing jokes."

Suddenly, Harry realized that two people were missing from the lineup, and grabbed Ron by his arm, pulling him to the side.

"What?"

"Jacob and Hermione! They don't know!" Harry said panicking.

He then started to run in the opposite direction to try and find the two, with Ron running after him.

Running in a corridor close to the girls bathroom, the boys suddenly stopped when they heard stumping and growling. They saw a large shadow cast on the wall from the lightning in front of them.

"I think the troll's left the dungeon." Ron said.

Harry quickly pulled himself and Ron to the side so the troll wouldn't see them. They 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 girls' bathroom." Harry said.

"Ugh." Ron covered his nose. "It smells like Fred's socks. Only worse."

"Come on."

The two got out of their hiding spot, and ran after the troll.

Inside the bathroom, Jacob and Hermione were hugging, when a weird smell hit the boys' nose, causing him to wrinkle his nose.

"Um, Hermione..." Jacob said. "... please don't take this the wrong way, but what is that weird smell?"

Hermione 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 right at the kids. 

With a small gasp, Hermione slowly let go of Jacob, and started to slowly back away. Meanwhile, Jacob looked little confused at her.

"J-Jacob..." Hermione said, trembling.

"Hermione?" Jacob asked.

"B-B-Behind you."

Burrowing his eyes, Jacob slowly turned his head to look at what spooked Hermione, before lifting it up. With eyes now wide open, he also was looking at the troll now. Quickly turning around, Jacob pulled Hermione behind him with his left arm, while reaching to his pocket for the wand with his right.

However, his hand touched nothing. Jacob quickly glanced at his pocket, remembering he had dropped his wand off with the rest of his school stuff a while ago in the boys dormitory.

Continuing to keep her behind him with his left arm, who in return was holding a tight grip on his robes, Jacob and Hermione started to back away from the door, while the troll closed in on them, raising it's club. Hermione's back hit the stall, so she opened a door and pulled herself and Jacob inside.

The troll swung it's club, destroying some of the stalls. Luckily the kids had ducked down to avoid the swing, with Jacob over Hermione to shield her. As wood pieces fell on them, Hermione screamed in terror.

Harry and Ron at that moment burst inside the bathroom, and looked at the troll. Hearing the door bursting open, Jacob removed some of the wood off of them to see what happened, with Hermione also looking.

"Jacob, Hermione, move!" Harry shouted.

The two started to crawl to a safer place, but the troll swung again, destroying more stalls. Jacob again got on top of Hermione to shield her from the flying wood.

"Help! Help!" Hermione screamed.

"Do something!" Jacob shouted at the two.

Harry and Ron started to pick up wood pieces and throw them at the troll to get it's attention, though it wasn't working. The troll then started to reach for Jacob and Hermione.

"Hey, pea brain!" Ron shouted.

He threw a wood piece at the trolls head, which finally turned to look at them after it got hit. 

Jacob used that opportunity to pull Hermione with him, and the two crawled quickly towards the sinks. Though Jacob quickly placed Hermione under one of them.

"Stay here." Jacob said.

Hermione nodded, and Jacob ran to the troll and started to run around it and wave his hands around, trying to get it's attention.

But the troll saw Hermione out of the corner of it's eye, and raised it's club up. She screamed while quickly moving underneath another sink, and the troll destroyed the sink she was underneath a second ago.

This got Jacob's attention, who stopped running and, with Harry and Ron, looked towards Hermione with wide eyes.

"Help!" Hermione screamed.

Narrowing his eyes at the troll and mustering his courage, Jacob took Harry's wand, who had it in his hand, and ran to the troll, who at that moment started to swing it's club at Hermione again. 

Jacob grabbed on to the club and was lifted with it in the air, before landing on the troll's shoulders. This distracted the troll enough for it to miss Hermione.

The troll tried to look behind it's head while Hermione, Harry and Ron looked shocked. The troll then started to move it's head left, right, up and down to shake Jacob off. 

However, as Jacob was swinging wildly, this caused him to accidentally stab Harry's wand up the trolls nose. The kids all looked disgusted at this.

The troll sneezed before it started to swing it's head around more wildly, before getting a hold of Jacob's leg and holding him in front of him. Hermione gasped at this and placed her hands over her mouth.

"Do something!" Jacob shouted again at his brother and Ron.

The troll swung it's club at Jacob, who quickly pulled his upper body up to avoid the hit. Harry and Ron tried to look everywhere for something, but came up empty.

"What?!" Ron said while lifting his arms up.

"You took my wand, remember!" Harry said.

Jacob lowered his body. "Anything! I'm going to die!" He shouted.

He again had to lift his body up to avoid another swing. Ron, meanwhile, took his wand out of his robes.

"Hurry up!"

"Swish and flick." Hermione, still under the sink, instructed Ron, swishing her hand.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron said the levitation spell while flicking his wand at the club.

This caused the club to stay in the air, and it slopped 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 troll then looked up, when suddenly the spell ended. The club fell down, hitting the troll in it's head.

"Cool." Harry and Ron said together.

With it now dazed, the troll let go of Jacob, who fell on his side before turning around. The troll started to lose it's conciousness and stumble, causing Jacob to start crawl backwards to the other boys. The troll then fell on it's face, almost hitting Jacob.

The kids recovered, with Harry helping Jacob up while Hermione got up from under the sink and slowly approached the boys.

"Is it dead?" Hermione asked as she looked over the troll.

"I don't think so. Just knocked out." Harry replied.

Hermione then looked over to Jacob, who looked little shaken. "Are you all right?"

This got Jacob to look at her, and smile. "I am. What about you?" He asked back.

Hermione nodde. "I am, thanks to you."

Harry, meanwhile, reached for his wand and pulled it out of the troll's nose. The wand was covered in troll boogers, and he and Ron looked disgusted.

"Ugh. Troll boogers." Harry said, before he looked at Jacob. "Thanks a lot."

"What else was i going to grab?" Jacob defended, before a side-smile broke on his face. "If it makes you feel better, i didn't mean to stick your wand up it's nose."

At that moment, professors McGonagall, Quirrell and Snape came running into the bathroom. McGonagall placed her hand on her chest when she saw the troll, shocked.

"Oh, my goodness!" McGonagall said, before turning to the boys, including Jacob. "Explain yourselves, the three of you!"

"Well, what it is--" Harry started.

"Professor, the thing is--" Jacob started speaking with his brother.

"It's my fault, Professor McGonagall." Hermione suddenly said.

The teachers and the boys then turned at her surprised, with the boys even sharing a surprised glance at each other.

"Miss Granger?" 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."

McGonagall briefly looked at the boys, and the twins at her before they all looked back at Hermione.

"But i was wrong. If Jacob, Harry and Ron hadn't come and found me, i'd probably be dead."

Ron looked down at this, while Jacob was surprised she lied to the teachers so that they wouldn't be in any potential trouble.

Harry, meanwhile, looked at the teachers, but when he looked at Snape, he saw a bloodied cut on his right left. Snape quickly covered the cut with his cloak, and the two started staring at each other.

"Be that as it may, it was an extremely foolish thing to do." McGonagall said, disappointed at Hermione. "I had expected more rational behavior on your part and i am very disappointed in you, Miss Granger."

At this, Hermione closed her eyes and looked down.

"Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgement." 

McGonagall then turned 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 teachers, however, didn't look amused at this, causing Jacob to look down a little.

"Sorry, professor. I always try to ease a serious thing with a joke. Guess now wasn't the time."

This did get few reactions. While Snape and Quirrell's faces didn't change, Harry and Ron smiled slightly, Hermione had a small smile, and while McGonagall rolled her eyes, she wasn't mad at the boy for the attempt.

"Well, your attempt was commendable, Mr. Potter." She the focused on all three boys again. "Five points... will be rewarded to each of you..."

At this, Jacob, Harry and Ron's heads shot up. Harry and Ron smiled wildly at each other and Jacob looked surprised, while Hermione smiled at them.

"... for sheer dumb luck." 

McGonagall then exited the bathroom, followed by Snape, though he and Quirrell shared a quick look. Quirrell turned his attention back to the kids.

"P-Perhaps you ought to go. It m-might wake up." Quirrell stuttered.

Once the kids were out of the bathroom, Quirrell looked at the troll. The troll left out a growl in it's sleep, which spooked Quirrell a little before he collected himself.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Outside the bathrooms, the kids were walking down the corridor to the Gryffindor Common Room, having small talks. 

"Good for you to get us out of trouble like that." Harry said.

"I'm just surprised you'd lie to the teachers like that." Jacob said, still surprised.

"Mind you, we did save her life." Ron commented.

"Mind YOU, she and Jacob might have not needed saving if you hadn't insulted her." Harry said.

Jacob and Hermione nodded at this, while Ron turned his head to look at them.

"What are friends for?" Ron said.

This got Jacob and Hermione to look at Ron and smile at him, who smiled back. While Harry and Ron kept going, Hermione stopped for a second and took a hold of Jacob's sleeve, causing him to stop and look at her confused.

"Everything okay, Hermione?" He asked.

"Yes." Hermione said, while a small blush creep'd on her cheeks. "Thank you for coming to find me. And, you know, for saving me."

Jacob himself started to blush slightly. With an awkward chuckle, he looked down and started to scratch the back of his head. 

"Oh, come on. I didn't really do anything." Jacob said.

"No. You did plenty." 

Hermione looked at him softly, then put her right hand on his shoulder and kissed him on the left cheek, causing Jacob's eyes to widen slightly. 

While Hermione turned around to walk ahead, Jacob put his hand on the cheek she kissed. Hermione stopped and looked back at Jacob.

"Come on, you. Let's go after those two."

"Y-yeah. Yeah."

He then smiled and the two ran 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

The next morning rolled in, and everyone was sitting at the Gryffindor table, eating breakfast. Today starts the first Quidditch match of the year, with the first match being between Gryffindor and Slytherin. 

Speaking of which, the star Seeker himself wasn't doing much to get himself ready, with Harry only playing with his food with the fork, feeling nervous. He was sitting next to Hermione, while Jacob and Ron sat on the other side.

"Take a bit of toast, mate. Go on." Ron said while he was eating his food.

Jacob, who was also eating, was feeling sympathy towards his brother, as they made a deal to switch around playing for their team.

"Ron's right, Harry. You'll need your strength today." Hermione said.

"Surely you want to stick it to Malfoy, big brother." Jacob said, trying to ease his brothers tension.

Harry simply raised his head to look at the other three. 

"I'm not hungry." He told them.

That moment, Snape approached the quartet, and was now standing on Harry's left. 

"Good luck today, Potter." Snape said.

The quartet turned to look at Snape, surprised to see him.

"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, meanwhile, glanced quickly at Snape's leg before looking up at him again.

"Um... thank you, sir." Jacob said, little confused.

Snape didn't react beyond glancing at the other three students before walking away from them. The quartet followed his movements, noticing he was limping because of his right leg.

"That explains the blood." Harry said.

"Blood? What blood?" Jacob asked, as he had not seen the cut on Snape's leg.

"Listen." Harry leaned closer to the others, who did the same. "Last night, i'm guessing Snape 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?" Hermione then asked.

"The day we were at Gringotts, Hagrid took something out of one of the vaults. Said it was Hogwarts business, very secret."

"That's right..." Jacob then said, as he remember what happened at the vault. "... and the package wasn't all that big, probably a size of a fist-sized rock."

"So you're saying--" Hermione started.

"What you mean is--" Jacob said at the same time.

"That's what the dog's guarding." Harry said, slamming his hand on the table. "That's what Snape's after."

Then, owl screeching was heard coming in. The students lifted their heads up to look, and saw not only Hedwig, but another owl fly towards the quartet, with what looked to be brooms wrapped up in parchments. 

Flying over the quartet, the owls dropped the packages towards the table, with Jacob catching the unknown owls package, while Harry caught Hedwig's, before they lowered 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. 

The other three chuckled at the younger Potter's cheek.

"Let's open one of them." Ron said excited.

The kids then started to open the wrapping on Jacob's mail, and it was indeed a broomstick, and a new model from the looks of it.

"It's a broomstick." The twins said, looking awestruck.

"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, they all started to open Harry's mail, and it turned out to be another Nimbus 2000.

"But who--?" Harry was about to ask.

"I think i know, brother." Jacob interrupted him.

Harry looked 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 to look at the twins and smiled at them, who smiled and nodded a thank you to her.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, the Gryffindor Quidditch team was marching towards their entrance point, led by the team's Captain and Keeper and fifth-year student Oliver Wood, and followed by 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 they 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 meanwhile noticed this.

"I know what you're thinking, Harry." Wood said. "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?"

"Pretty close." Harry replied.

"It's all right. I felt the same way before my first game."

"What happened?" Harry turned to look at the Captain.

"Uh... I don't really remember. I took a Bludger to the head two minutes in. Woke up in a hospital a week later."

This didn't really ease Harry in, as he looked wide eyed, and swallowed his spit. 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.

Tthe stadium was full with students from all four Houses who cheered on, although Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were cheering for Gryffindor to win.

"Hello and welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch match of the season!" A voice of Lee Jordan, a third-year Gryffindor and the Quidditch commentator, boomed over the field. He was sitting in one of the towers with the teachers. "Today's game, Slytherin versus Gryffindor!"

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 6 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 Madam Hooch steps onto the field to begin the game!" Jordan announced.

Just like he said, Madam Hooch 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!" Madam Hooch said sternly to the players.

Hooch was directing the last part more towards the Slytherin team. This got the team's captain to simply raise his eyebrow at one of his teammates next to him.

Harry lowered himself towards Angelina a little. "Who's he, Angelina?" He asked, pointing at the captain.

"Marcus Flint, Slytherin Captain. They say he's got troll blood in him." She replied.

Harry swalloed as Flint glared at him murderously. Meanwhile, Hooch kicked the box open, upon which the two Bludgers and Snitch took of, with the Snitch flying around the two Seekers 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."

Madam Hooch then took the Quaffle from the box, and tossed it into the air.

"The Quaffle is released and the game begins!"

At this, 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 reaches for the Quaffle but isn't able to catch it in time. Angelina scores the first set of of points, with Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs cheering. She flew to one of the Weasley twins and high fives them.

"Angelina Johnson scores! Ten points to Gryffindor!" 

As 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." Hagrid said. "Clear the way. How's Harry holdin' up?"

"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 cheered at this again.

"Yes!" Harry applauded.

"Another 10 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!" He ordered as he took a bat from his Beater.

As a Bludger came right at him, Flint hit it towards 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 tossed the bat back at his teammate, while McGonagall could be seen with a worried face.

George looked 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 hoops, scoring the Slytherin it's first 10 points.

This got Malfoy, Snyde and the rest of their house to cheer, while Harry was starting to get frustrated.

"Take that side!" Flint ordered his teammate.

The two 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 catchit. The Slytherin scored another 10 points, now being with 20 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 as he and the Gryffindors had noticed what was happening to Harry.

Hermione was looking at Harry through Hagrid's binoculars, and when he got close to the tower the teachers were sitting at, she noticed what while most of the teachers were confused and worried, Snape was staring at Harry without blinking his eyes, while muttering something, and Quirrell was staring at him with a straight face, though she focused on Snape.

"It's Snape! He's jinxing his broom!" Hermione said to Jacob and Ron.

"What?!" Jacob said with a shocked voice and tried to get a good look at Snape.

"Jinxing the broom? What do we do?" Ron then asked.

"Leave it to me." Hermione said, handed the binoculars to Jacob and took off.

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.

Meanwhile, Hagrid and Gryffindors looked in horror while Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins laughed at him, all the while Snape kept his gaze at Harry and kept muttering. 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. Jacob was looking at Harry through the binoculars.

"Come on, Hermione!" Ron said panicking.

"Oh, i knew we should've gone out for football." Jacob tried joking nervously.

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." She chanted quietly.

A fireball shot from the wand into Snape's robe, and with that, she started to run away. Snape's robe started to light little more on fire as the smoke started to rise up.

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.

When this happened, Harry's broom stopped moving. 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 shouting while the students cheered Harry on.

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 it got to the ground, more nervous the Seekers were getting, though Higgs was getting more nervous compared to Harry. 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 teacher were now focusing on 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 kids looked confused at what was happening. 

"Looks like he's gonna be sick." Hagrid said, lowering his binoculars.

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!" Jordan announced. "Harry Potter receives 150 points for catching the Snitch!"

Madam Hooch flies 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 said, covering his face with his hands.

"Yes!" Hagrid cheered.

"Wohoo!" Hermione shouted while clapping.

The professors are also cheering, especially McGonagall who looks 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.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, the Quartet are walking outside 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, though he didn't believe it.

"Nonsense. Why would Snape put a curse on Harry's broom?" Hagrid said.

"Who knows?" Harry asked, before asking Hagrid the big question. "Why was he trying to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween?"

"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 said with eyebrows raised.

"'Course he's got a name. He's mine." Hagrid said. "I bought him off an Irish fellow i met at a pub las' year. Then i lent him to Dumbledore to guard the--" He suddenly stopped talking.

"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.

At this point, the group stopped walking, with Hagrid facing the kids fully. "Codswallop! Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher."

"Hogwarts teacher or not..." Hermione said. "... 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."

"Exactly" Jacob said.

Hagrid sighted at this. "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--"

"Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked.

The kids started glancing at each other when they heard the name, while Hagrid made a face, realizing he was talking too much. 

"I shouldn't have said that. I should not have said that."

He kept repeating this as he started to walk away from the quartet back to his hut, and the twins kept looking at Hagrid's retreating form.

"Nicolas Flamel. Who's Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked.

Ron took a look at Hermione, who in turn slightly shook her head.

"I don't know." She said.

While Harry turned back to look at Hagrid, Jacob looked like he was deep in thought while looking at the ground. 

'Why does that name sound familiar? Where have i heard of it before?' He thought, while Hermione took a look at the boy.

Chapter Text

November went by in a flick of an eye, and now it was Christmas time at Hogwarts. Snow was falling down, and some of the students were staying at the Castle for the holiday, while others were going to visit their families. Hagrid was pulling a huge Christmas tree with him to the Great Hall so that it could be decorated.

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 was coming to the Great Hall pulling a suitcase with her, as she was also heading home for the holidays.

In the hall, Nearly Headless Nick was swooping about one of the trees, running garland over the limbs, while Peevs plucked ornaments fro the branches, hurling them on the floor. 

Professor Flitwick place 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, no doubt trying to find something on Flamel. Smiling when she saw him, Hermione approached the boys.

Jacob and Harry chose to stay at the castle for the holidays, as they knew their relatives 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 to look at the game. 

Ron looked at Harry with a smirk. "Queen to E-5." Ron 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.

"That's totally barbaric!" Hermione said.

"Didn't know chess evolved this much." Jacob cheekily said with raised eyebrows.

"That's wizard's chess." Ron said. He then looked at Hermione's suitcase. "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?" Jacob said. "That's so cool."

He 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 whined. 

While the twins nodded slightly, Hermione leaned closer to them. "Not in the restricted section. Happy Christmas."

She took a hold of her suitcase and started to leave, while Ron turned back to the twins.

"I think we've had a bad influence on her." Ron said.

"I don't know. I think she's just determined." Jacob said, impressed at her. Remembering something, he stood up. "Be right back." 

Jacob ran after Hermione. Hermione had gotten to the door when she heard Jacob calling for her.

"Hermione!" 

She turned around and saw him jogging towards her before stopping, panting a little.

"You don't have to worry. I'll keep looking on Flamel while you're gone."

"Thank you." She said smiling. "Somehow i knew i could count on you."

"Definitely." He smirked a little. "And i might have Christmas present delivered to you later. Don't worry, it's better than the quill and the ink."

"Please, Jacob. Your birthday present was lovely." Growing her own smirk she added. "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." She muttered smiling.

Jacob's eyes widened a little at this, before he smiled wildly. 

"Happy Christmas, best friend." 

Jacob had also by this point started to see and treat Hermione as his best friend. With this, the two let each other go, 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.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Next morning, it was Christmas. In the boys' dormitory, Hedwig was sitting on a chair while Millie was gazing outside through the window.

"Harry, Jacob, 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 when he noticed 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 two 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 then found Hermione's gift for him, which turned out to be a book called Quidditch through the Ages. Reading the card Hermione had left in, she thanked him for the gift he had gotten her (He had gotten a journal for her to write down anything important happening), while saying that she thought the book could help Jacob (and maybe Harry as well) with Quidditch.

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 Joni burrowed his eyebrows, Harry started to open up the parchel. Inside it seemed to be a cloak, which Harry took a hold of while getting back on his feet.

"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 nodding in agreement. Harry threw the cloak over his shoulders and wrapped it around him. When he did, his body disappeared completely, leaving Jacob and Ron to look surprised.

"Whoa!" Ron said while putting the box down.

"Um... Harry." Jacob said while pointing at Harry's body.

Harry looked down and 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 had then placed his hand on his chin and started thinking. Then, getting an idea, he turned to the two.

"I know what we can use the cloak for." Jacob said.

⚯ ͛ϟ

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 as he was reading the names of the books they were passing by.

"Flamel. Nicolas Flamel. Where are you?" Jacob said.

The brothers then removed the cloak and Jacob placed the lantern on a seat, which made a small sound. The two looked around to make sure nobody was coming, and Jacob started to read through different titles.

Meanwhile, Harry took a book from the shelf with a chain on it. He opened it, and suddenly a face came through a page and started shrieking at him. 

Harry started to struggle with the book, until he managed to close it and put it back in the shelf. while Jacob turned 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 and turned towards where Filch's voice came from.

Jacob took the cloak and they started to quickly leave, while also knocking down the lantern accidentally.

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 out.

Jacob then quickly wrapped the cloak around him and his brother, and they disappeared out of sight. Filch entered the library, carrying a lantern, and he started looking around.

"Who is it? Show yourself."

He started to search, as the brothers avoided him, letting the caretaker walk past them. The brothers silently hushed at each other again before they started to leave the library.

When they got out of the library, they saw that Mrs. Norris was keeping watch, and and if sensing the brothers, it started to get close to them.

The twins started to back away from it, but then suddenly from the corner came Snape and Quirrell, with Snape pinning Quirrell against a pillar, causing the boys to stop walking for a moment. The teachers seemed like they were in 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 behind Snape, when Quirrell seemed to look at Snape's right, right at where the twins where. Snape turned his gaze slowly to his right. The brothers started to breath heavier but covered each other's mouths.

Starting to back away, Snape slowly reached with his hand to try and touch something, but didn't reach anything, as the twins kept backing up. Looking at his hand for a moment, Snape turned back to Quirrell.

"We'll have another little chat soon. When you've had time to decide where your loyalties lie."

Filch then walked down the corridor with Mrs Norris right behind him, holding the broken lantern in his hand, causing the professors to turn to him.

"Professors." Filch greeted them, then lifted the broken lantern up. "I found this in the restricted section. It's still hot. That means there's a student out of bed."

The professors and the caretaker then left the corner to look for the student. Meanwhile, Jacob and Harry, still under the invisibility cloak, open the door on the end of the corridor and got inside.

Once they closed the door behind them, they removed the cloak off of them. Glancing back at the door, and exhaled. Starting to look around, they saw they were in a large, empty room, but then they noticed a huge mirror near a corner of the room.

Walking down the steps, they approached it. Though Jacob stopped to look around the room a little more, while Harry approached the mirror. Standing in front of the mirror, Harry looked at the top of it and saw writing on it.

Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.

Looking into the mirror again, Harry started to see two figures come into the view on both of his sides, and he approached the mirror again The figures were that of a young woman and a man. 

He then turned around to look behind him, but saw no one else other than Jacob. He turned back to look at the mirror, while Jacob turned to look at Harry.

"Mum?" Harry whispered, looking at the woman, who smiled at him. "Dad?" He whispered again, looking at the man, who nodded and smiled at him.

"Harry? Are you okay?" Jacob asked, as he slowly walked to his brother.

Harry turned to his brother. "Jacob, do you see them?"

By now, Jacob was really confused. "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 he didn't see anything else besides himself and Harry, but then the images of young adult woman and man appeared in front of him.

"Mum? Dad?" Jacob also whispered, and the two smiled at their youngest son.

Jacob then slowly placed his hand against the mirror, while Lily placed her hand on Jacob's shoulder and James his on Harry's.

The brothers then placed their hands on the shoulders their parents were holding, though they only touched the shoulders, and they looked at the shoulders before looking back at the mirror. The family smiled happily at each other.

⚯ ͛ϟ

The brothers ran back to the common room, having covered themselves in their invisibility cloak again. They quickly opened the door to the boys' dormitory.

"Ron, you've really gotta see this! Ron, you've gotta see this!" Harry shouted as he removed the blanket from Ron.

"Ron, come on, get out of bed!" Jacob said as he removed the cloak from him and Harry.

"Why?" Ron asked, still half-asleep.

"There's something you've got to see, now come on!" The twins said.

All three got inside the invisibility cloak, and the brothers lead Ron to the room where the mysterious mirror was. Removing the cloak, they started to approach the mirror.

"Come on! Come! Come look, it's our parents!" Harry said.

"I only see us." Ron said confused.

"Look in properly. Go on, stand there" Jacob said, pulling Ron to a better spot and he and Harry got to the side. "There. You see them, don't you?" He asked as Ron's eyes widened.

Harry pointed at the mirror and was about to say something,  before he was interrupted .

"That's me! Only, i'm Head Boy." Ron said surprised.

The brothers looked at each other confused before looking back at Ron.

"And i'm holding the Quidditch Cup. And bloody hell! I'm Quidditch Captain too!"

The brothers looked at the mirror for this.

"I look good." Ron looked impressed at himself. He then leaned towards the twins. "Guys, do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How can it? Both our parents are dead." Harry said, looking down.

"Also, a Head Boy?" Jacob asked eyebrow raised. "You know how you get to be a Head Boy, right?"

Ron simply 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 make it to becoming 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."

"Oh come on, surely there are better choices than me" Jacob started to scratch the back of his head.

"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 her." Ron said, smirking slightly.

"Oh snuff it, Weasley." Jacob pushed Ron a little while smiling.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Couple days later, Some students and teacher were having dinner at the Great Hall. Ron was sitting with all three of his older brothers, but he looked to his left and saw Jacob and Harry sitting together, looking at the fire place.

"How do you like yours, Ron?" George asked him. Ron didn't answer.

"Ron?" Fred then asked, which got Ron's attention.

"I'll be right back." Ron said, and he put down his fork and walked to the twins. "Wanna play chess?" He asked them, standing behind them.

"No" Harry replied.

"Wanna go visit Hagrid?"

"No" Jacob replied.

Lowering his head a little, Ron then said. "Guys, i know what you're thinking, but don't. There's something not right about that mirror."

The brothers nodded their heads slightly, and with that, Ron returned to his brothers. Jacob and Harry briefly glanced at each other.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later that same night, the twins were back in the room sitting in front of the mirror, again looking at the faces of their parents, while Jacob was playing with his hair a little.

"I always wondered why we had such a different hair colors." Jacob said, looking at the auburn-colored hair of his mother, smiling a little. "Now i know."

"You definitely got mum's hair." Harry said.

"I think i also got the good looks." Jacob added cheekily.

"We look almost identical."

The twins looked at each other before chuckling slightly. Suddenly, they were joined by a person behind them.

"Back again, Harry and Jacob?" 

The twins quickly turned around and saw Professor 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." 

He started walking to the brothers. "Let me give you a clue. The happiest man on earth would look in the mirror and see only himself exactly as he is."

Jacob then looked at the writing on the mirror.

"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 suggested.

Dumbledore smiled at this. 

"Indeed, Jacob. You two, 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, 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 brothers quickly turned back to look at the elderly headmaster, surprised at this.

"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 brothers briefly looked at the mirror again before nodding. 

"Can i ask you something, professor?" Jacob asked. 

Dumbledore nodded at him. 

"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."

⚯ ͛ϟ

Few days later, 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

Couple months passed by, and 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 let Hermione know he hadn't been 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 was simply playing with the wizard cards. They were also joined by Penny, sitting next to Hermione on her left, studying as well.

At that moment, Hedwig flew to the table on top of few books, between the quartet.

"Hi, Hedwig." Harry said.

Millie then got off from Jacob's lap and jumped on the table, and the two animals turned to each other and started making noises, like they were talking to each other.  Jacob smiled at this as he glanced at them briefly 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." Penny said. "You don't wan to fail your first year, do you?"

"I'm ready. Ask me any question." Ron said confidently.

Jacob, Harry and Penny just smiled at him, all three shaking their heads.

"All right." Hermione said. "What are the three most crucial ingredients in a Forgetfulness Potion?"

Ron pondered, before looking down. "I forgot." He said.

Jacob scoffed a little. "Might as well have taken the potion itself, mate." He said, getting Harry and Penny to chuckle a little.

"And what, may i ask..." Hermione then asked. "... do you plan to do if this comes up in the final exams?"

"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!" Ron said as he looked at Harry. "It's as if they don't trust us."

Harry didn't know what to do besides look at the other four and lift his arms up. Ron looked at one his cards when he flipped it. 

"Dumbledore again." He frowned as he put it down.

"I don't know about you lot, but i think the professors have a good reason to use the anti-cheating spell." Jacob cheekily said.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him while smiling. Just then, Neville came hopping into the hall while his legs were stuck together. The other students started to laugh when they saw him, and the five kids turned to see him.

"Leg-Locker Curse?" Ron asked.

"Malfoy." Harry stated the obvious.

"Of course, who else." Penny said, glaring.

"Well, there's always Snyde." Jacob answered.

Neville kept hopping until he got to the empty space between Jacob and Dean, while also trying to balance himself.

"You have got to start standing up to people, Neville." Ron said.

"How? I can barely stand at all." Neville said, almost losing his balance.

Seamus, who was 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." Jacob said, suddenly inching away from Neville. "We don't want another explosion."

Seamus looked offended at this, and slammed his wand back on the table. "I don't appreciate the insinuation, Longbottom, Potter." He said, before pointing at his eyebrows. "Besides, if anyone cares to notice, my eyebrows have completely grown back."

Taking his wand, Seamus turned to leave. But he ended up revealing a spot on the back of his head which had absolutely no hair.

This almost got Hermione and Penny to laugh out loud, while Jacob covered his mouth. Harry had taken the Dumbledore card Ron had gotten, and when he started to read it, something caught his eye.

"I found him!" Harry said, tapping Ron on his shoulder and giving him the card.

"Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945." Ron started to read the card out loud.

"Go on."

"For his discovery of the 12 uses of dragon blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel!"

This caused Jacob to gasp out loud, and the others turned at him. "I knew the name sounded familiar. I read it in the train the day we came here!" He said.

Hermione then got excited, and quickly placed her books back in her bag. "Follow me!" She beamed at the boys.

Hermione started to run towards the library, while Jacob quickly placed his books underneath his arm and ran right after her, followed by Harry and Ron. Penny looked confused at the quartet, and Neville hopped to look at where they were going.

"Hey, wait! Where are you goin?" Neville called, when he started to lose his balance. "What about the counter-curse?" 

Neville then fell backwards, which got other students in the Great Hallstarted to laugh at him.

"I got it, Neville." Penny said, kneeling next to Neville.

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.

"No problem." Penny tapped the boy on the shoulder, smiling.

Then looking at the entrance door, Penny ran after the quartet, her curiosity on what they were talking about getting the better of her.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Moments later, the quartet was in the library, with Jacob, Harry and Ron sitting on a table each reading a book, when Hermione walked to them, carrying a huge book.

"I had you looking in the wrong section. How could i be so stupid?" She said frustrated.

Hermione ended up slaming the book on the table, spooking the boys a little.

"I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading." Hermione sat down next to Jacob and started to open the book.

"This is light?" Ron asked sarcastically.

This caused Hermione to give him a look.

"Um..." Jacob tried to ease the tension. "... what he means is that because you love reading, this might just feel light to you?"

"Not now, Jacob." Hermione said.

"Yes, ma'am." 

Jacob quickly avoided Hermione's gaze. He really didn't want to be on Hermione's bad side when she was frustrated at something. She then returned to the book, going through a page before finding what she was looking for. 

"Of course! Here it is!" Hermione said.

The boys then leaned in closer to see what she was pointing at. Penny was now by a nearby bookshelf, listening in.

"Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone."

"The what?" Harry and Ron asked confused.

Jacob and Hermione lifted their heads up to look at them.

"Seriously? You guys don't know?" Jacob asked.

"Honestly, don't you two read?" Hermione asked. She then started to read the text outloud. "'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, Jacob." Hermione said, nodding at him.

"I know what it means!" Ron said with a slightly loud voice.

Harry then 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.'" She read.

The boys looked wide eyed at this, with Jacob even letting out a large breath.

"That's what Fluffy's guarding on the third-floor. That's what under the trap door. 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." She 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, but didn't have an answer. Suddenly, a new voice joined the kids.

"What are you guys talking about?" The voice suddenly said.

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 they were about to leave, Penny took a hold on Hermione's arm to stop them. "Hermione, wait. What's going on?"

"It's nothing." Hermione tried to reply with a smile. "It's nothing important, don't worry."

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 simple conclusion.

"I think we can tell her, guys." He said.

The others turned to look at him confused.

"At least to her. Besides, she 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. 

The quartet then started to explain everything to Penny, from Fluffy to the trap door, to Snape's involvement with the broom and lastly the Philosopher's Stone.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later that night, the quartet, now joined by Penny, were making their way to Hagrid's hut. After explaining 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 kocked on the door, and few seconds later, Hagrid opened it.

"Hagrid--" Jacob was about to say.

"Oh, hullo." Hagrid quickly interrupted him. "Sorry, don't wish ter be rude, but i'm in no fit state ter entertain." He started to close the door.

"We know about the Philosopher's Stone!" All five kids said together.

This caused Hagrid to stop closing the door. He opened it again looked at the kids.

"Oh." 

He decided to open the door wider to let the kids in. Everything in the hut was oversized to fit in with Hagrid, and in the corner was sitting Hagrid's dog, Fang.

"We think Snape's trying to steal it." Harry said as they removed their cloaks.

"Snape? Blimey, are ye still on abou' him?" Hagrid was walking to his cauldron by his fireplace.

"Hagrid, we know he's after the Stone, we just don't know why." Jacob said as the kids sat down on chairs.

"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 then 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." Hagrid replied. "Waste o' bloody time, if yeh ask me."

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 and 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 to look at 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 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 other kids smiled at Penny, who blushed at the compliment and started to scratch her right cheek with a finger.  Suddenly they heard rattling from Hagrid's cauldron in the fireplace and turned to look at it. Hagrid then took something that looked like a giant egg from the cauldron. 

He started to blow on it to cool it down as he was walking to his table, placing the egg on it, with the kids following him.

"Um, Hagrid, what exactly is that?" Harry asked nervously.

"That? It's..." Hagrid started to stutter. "It's um..."

"I know what it is!" Ron exclaimed. "But, Hagrid, how did you get one?"

"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."

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." Ron replied amazed.

"I see someone knows their dragons." Penny said, looking at Ron.

"My brother Charlie works with these in Romania."

"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid asked "Oh, bless 'im. Look, he knows 'is mummy. Hallo, Norbert."

Jacob meanwhile was solely focusing on the baby dragon. While it looked at Hagrid, it then turned to look at where Jacob, Hermione and Penny were standing at. Jacob stepped a little closer and reached it's hand out to the dragon.

"Wait, Jacob. Don't go near 'im." Hagrid tried to warn.

"Jacob, don't." Hermione said, starting to slightly panic.

Everyone else looked little worride, 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." Hagrid said. "But it looks like yer good with magical creatures, aren't yeh?"

"I guess." Jacob said. "I've been reading about them and been interested to know about them."

The dragon then removed itself from Jacob's hand and approached Hagrid, who started to rub it on it's stomach.

"Also, Norbert?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, well, he's gotta have a name, don't he?" Hagrid replied. 

Ron snorted at this, and Hermione could be seen looking proudly at Jacob. 

"Don't you, Norbert?"

As Hagrid kept tickling Norbert' stomach, it suddenly hiccuped, before sneezed. This caused a little bit of fire to shoot out of it's mouth on Hagrid's beard, who started to quickly pat out the fire, while the kids looked surprised.

"Well, he'll have ter be trained up a bit, o' course."

The kids looked at each other. While Hagrid managed to put out the small fire in his beard, he then looked at his window when he noticed something. 

"Who's that?"

The kids then turned and saw a familiar blonde-haired boy and orange-patched girl panic when they noticed they were spotted, before booking it back to the castle.

"Malfoy." Harry said, glaring at the window.

"And Snyde." Jacob said, mirroring his brothers look.

"Oh dear." Hagrid said, now looking really worried.

⚯ ͛ϟ

A little while later, the quartet and Penny were now making their back to the castle once they left Hagrid's hut. 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.

The kids were now making their back to the castle, walking down a hall, discussing what to do now that Malfoy and Snyde had seen the dragon, no doubt the two would try and cause problems.

"Hagrid always wanted a dragon. Told us so the first day we met him." Harry told the other three.

"He said they were misunderstood creatures, at least in his eyes." Jacob then finished.

"It's crazy." Ron said. "And worse, Malfoy and Snyde knows."

"Of all the people, it just 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 kids saw Professor McGonagall with a candle in her hand, and Hermione let out a little gasp.

"Good evening." McGonagall said sternly.

The kids then saw Malfoy and Snyde coming from behind her, smirking at them slightly.

"G-g-good evening, professor." Jacob said, while swallowing nervously.

Chapter Text

Moments later, everyone was at Transfiguration classroom, with the quartet and Penny facing McGonagall by her desk, while Malfoy and Snyde 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." McGonagall said sternly. "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."

"Norwegian Ridgeback." Ron corrected her.

This got McGonagall's eyes to shift and narrow 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, 50 points will be taken."

The five kids looked shocked at this, as they glanced at each other.

"50?" Jacob asked with a loud whisper.

Both Malfoy and Snyde glanced at each other and smirked in satisfaction.

"Each. And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all seven of you will receive detention."

This got the two bullies attention, and, looking confused, they walked up to McGonagall.

"Excuse me, professor." Malfoy said in a polite tone. "Perhaps we heard you wrong. I thought you said the seven of you."

'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." McGonagall said with a straight face. "You see, honorable as your and Miss Snyde' intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours."

At this, Jacob and Harry started to smirk at their rivals.

"You two will join your classmates in detention."

Malfoy and Snyde turned to glare at the Gryffindors and the Hufflepuff, who simply ignored them and smiled at each other. While they weren't happy about losing so many points and about the detention, they were satisfied that Malfoy and Snyde suffered for their actions as well.

⚯ ͛ϟ

The next morning, the quartet was in the Great Hall eating breakfast. 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." Fred said. "This'll all blow over."

"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."

"Why bother?" Ron asked. "Even with Malfoy and Snyde losing points, Slytherin's a lock for the House Cup. And look, they know it."

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.

This got Harry and Ron to give her looks, while Jacob had a knowing smirk of his own.

"Haven't you heard? For detention they're taking us into the Dark Forest."

"I have a feeling this'll be the last time those two will try anything like this." Jacob said. "I may not like us losing points and being in detention, but it'll be worth it to see their scared faces."

⚯ ͛ϟ

The following night, the quartet, Penny, Malfoy and Snyde were to their way to their detention, with Filch taking them to it. He was taking them to Hagrid's hut, and Hagrid would be handling their detention. Filch, carrying a lantern, walked outside of the castle with the kids.

"A pity they let the old punishments die." Filch complained. "Was a time detention found you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeons. God, i miss the screaming."

As Filch smirked, Harry, Ron, Malfoy and Snyde gulped in fear, Penny looked like she was disgusted, and Hermione was absolutely scared at the punishments. Hermione hadn't noticed she had gripped onto Jacob's wrist tightly. Jacob, who had also gulped in fear, stopped when he felt Hermione's grip. He placed his other hand over hers and started rubbing it, trying to calm her nerves.

"You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight." Filch said as they walked to the hut. "He's got a little job to do inside the Dark Forest."

As the group got to Hagrid, the half-giant had gotten outside himself by this point, carrying a lantern in one hand, and a crossbow in another.

"A sorry lot, this, Hagrid."

Hagrid, however, didn't answer, as he was sniffing, looking sad. 

"Good God, you're not still on about that bloody dragon, are you?"

Hagrid ignored Filch and looked at the quartet and Penny. "Norbert's gone. Dumbledore sent 'im off ter Romania ter live in a colony." He said, loading his crossbow.

"Well that's good, isn't it?" Hermione asked. "He's with his own kind. Better all around, don't you think? Especially for Fang."

"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 simply rolled his eyes at all this.  "Oh for God's sake, pull yourself together, man." He said. "You're going into the Forest, after all. Got to have your wits about you."

"The Forest?" Malfoy suddenly asked scared. "I thought that was a joke. We can't go in there. Students aren't allowed. And there are... werewolves."

A wolf could be heard howling somewhere in the forest.

"There's more than werewolves in those trees, lad." Filch said. "You can be sure of that. Nighty night."  He smirked and walked away from the group to go back to the castle.

"Right. Let's go." Hagrid said, and he started to lead the kids and his dog into the Forest.

"You said following them was a good idea." Snyde muttered angrily to Malfoy. "Now look where it got us."

"Maybe next time you'll think twice about going along with Malfoy's ideas." Jacob said smirking, while getting a glare from Snyde.

⚯ ͛ϟ

A little while later, the group was walking further into the Forest. Fang was leading the group, with Hagrid right behind it with a crossbow in his hands, while the kids were right behind him. Hagrid turned to the twins.

"Sorry abou' this, boys." Hagrid said with a low voice. "Know it's me that deserves punishin', not you. By all rights i should be sittin' in a cell in Azkaban."

"It's all right, Hagrid." Harry said.

"Besides, it's not your fault we were out after hours." Jacob continued. "If we hadn't come knocking on your door in the middle of the night--"

Reaching a fallen tree, Jacob stopped talking as Hagrid put his crossbow down. He then crouched down and put his fingers on a weird silver-looking liquid on the ground before starting to examine it.

"Hagrid, what is that?" Jacob asked warily.

"What were here for." Hagrid replied, showing the liquid on his fingers to the kids. "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 all looked shocked at this.

"Now, this one's been hurt bad by summat."

Jacob and Harry started to look to their right, more towards the forest. They then saw a silhouette of a dark cloaked figure walking in the darkness before it disappeared when walking behind a tree.

Hagrid looked to where the twins were looking 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 come with me."

"Okay." Ron managed to stutter, while the girls quickly nodded.

"And, Harry and Jacob, yeh'll go with Malfoy and Snyde."

Though they didn't like this, the twins nodded at him.

"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, the Potter twins, 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, really starting to get tired of Malfoy. "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 towards 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, they heard some sort of sound behind them, causing Malfoy to look behind them, shook. 

"Did you hear that?" He asked, as he looked at the others. 

The twins didn't respond, though, and Snyde raised her eyebrow at him. Malfoy shook his head slightly.

"Come on, Merula, Fang! Scared." Malfoy scoffed, as they kept on walking.

While both Snyde and Fang followed him, Snyde couldn't help but roll her eyes, used to her 'friends' all-talk-but-no-bite attitude.

"Yep, definitely scared." Jacob whispered to his brother smirking.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Making their way further into the Forest, Potters, Malfoy, Snyde and Fang stopped between few trees, when suddenly Fang started growling.

"What is it, Fang?" Harry asked.

Malfoy was looking ahead with a scared face, along with Snyde, and the twins turned to look in front of them. They saw a unicorn dead on the ground, and someone in a dark cloak hovering over it.

Suddenly, the scars on twins' foreheads began to hurt. They touched it, and at that moment, the figure lifted it's head from the unicorn. It had been sucking it's blood, with the Unicorn blood leaking from it's mouth, and was now glaring at the boys.

Malfoy and Snyde then started to scream, and both of them, as well as Fang, quickly ran away, leaving the twins behind who glanced back at them. They turned back to look at the figure, who started to slowly float towards them on the ground. Jacob got in front of Harry, and then the figure was standing in front of them. 

"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, they heard some sort of sound behind them, causing Malfoy to look behind them, shook. 

"Did you hear that?" He asked, as he looked at the others. 

The twins didn't respond, though, and Snyde raised her eyebrow at him. Malfoy shook his head slightly.

"Come on, Merula, Fang! Scared." Malfoy scoffed, as they kept on walking.

While both Snyde and Fang followed him, Snyde couldn't help but roll her eyes, used to her 'friends' all-talk-but-no-bite attitude.

"Yep, definitely scared." Jacob whispered to his brother smirking.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Making their way further into the Forest, Potters, Malfoy, Snyde and Fang stopped between few trees, when suddenly Fang started growling.

"What is it, Fang?" Harry asked.

Malfoy was looking ahead with a scared face, along with Snyde, and the twins turned to look in front of them. They saw a unicorn dead on the ground, and someone in a dark cloak hovering over it.

Suddenly, the scars on twins' foreheads began to hurt. They touched it, and at that moment, the figure lifted it's head from the unicorn. It had been sucking it's blood, with the Unicorn blood leaking from it's mouth, and was now glaring at the boys.

Malfoy and Snyde then started to scream, and both of them, as well as Fang, quickly ran away, leaving the twins behind who glanced back at them. They turned back to look at the figure, who started to slowly float towards them on the ground. Jacob got in front of Harry, and then the figure was standing in front of them.

The figure started walking towards them slowly, and the brothers started to back away, before Harry fell down as he hit a log. Jacob quickly looked behind him when he heard Harry falling down, before looking back at the figure. 

The two kept backing up, with Harry crawling backwards before he hit a dirt wall. Jacob then took out his wand and glared at the figure. 

"You won't lay a finger on my big brother!" Jacob said defiantly.

"Jacob, don't!" Harry shouted.

But before either the figure or Jacob could do anything, they heard footsteps coming from behind the twins. Looking up, the twins saw a centaur jump over them, now standing between them and the figure.

With it's front legs, the centaur started to kick at the figure, who was forced to back away, before it started floating deeper into the darkness of the forest, disappearing completely.

Jacob helped Harry up, and they slowly started to approach the centaur.

"Harry and Jacob Potter." the centaur named Firenze greeted the brothers. "You two 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 was looking sadly 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?" Firenze said as he was approached the brothers again.

"Do you mean to say that that thing that killed the unicorn..." Harry started, as he then realized who the cloaked figure could be.

"... that was drinking it's blood, that was Voldemort?" Jacob finished, thinking exactly the same thing as his brother.

"Do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment, Mr. Potters?" Firenze asked as he got close to the brothers.

"The Philosopher's Stone." The twins said together with wide eyes and looked at each other.

At that moment, the others got to their location.

"Jacob! Harry!" Hermione shouted.

As the twins turned to look at them, Hermione sprinted at them, jumping at Jacob and hugging him tight, who returned it.

"Are you all right?" She asked Jacob worriedly.

"We are." Jacob replied, smiling.

"Hello there Firenze." Hagrid greeted the centaur. "See yeh've met our young Mr. Potters." He then looked at the brothers. "Yeh all right, boys?"

Both Jacob and Harry nodded at Hagrid.

"Harry and Jacob Potter." Firenze said, and the twins, along with Hermione, turned toward the centaur. "This is where i leave you. You're safe now. Good luck." 

After saying this, Firenze walked further into the forest. Everybody then turned to look at the dead unicorn, who was still laying on the ground.

"What happened?" Hermione asked Jacob.

"We'll tell you about it at the Common Room." He replied to her.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, the quartet was now back at the Common Room, sitting by the fireplace. When they had reached the castle, the quartet had said goodbye to Penny who left to go back for the Hufflepuff Common Room. 

Hermione was sitting in an armchair, Jacob and Ron sat on the couch while Harry was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace. The twins had filled their friends in on what happened when they found the unicorn.

"You mean, You-Know-Who is out there right now in the Forest?" Ron asked with a shocked voice.

"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."

This caused Ron to flinch at the name. "Say You-Know-Who!"

Jacob simply rolled his eyes at what Ron said. He didn't understand how people could be afraid of saying a name.

"With the Elixir of Life, Voldemort will be strong again." Jacob 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?"

"I think if he'd had the chance, he might have tried to kill us tonight." Harry said.

Ron gulped at this. "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 looked at each other. Ron shrugged his shoulders, and Harry didn't know the answer. However, the answer dawned on Jacob.

"Dumbledore." He answered, looking at Hermione.

"Exactly. As long as Dumbledore is around, you two, you're safe. As long as Dumbledore is around, you can't be touched."

The brothers smiled at her, 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. True to Hermione's words, they were given Anti-Cheating quills. 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.

Right now, the quartet was walking outside, having just come from completing all of the exams, some having more trouble than others.

"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."

This caused Jacob to give Hermione a smile. "Thanks, Hermione. Were you stunned too you weren't asked about Eflric the Eagle?"

"Speak for yourselves." Ron said, as he didn't want to hear another word on the exams. "I'm stunned my head didn't explode."

At that moment, the twins' scars started to hurt, as they put their hands against them. 

"All right there, Harry?" Ron asked.

"What is it, Jacob?" Hermione asked.

"My scar. It keeps burning." Harry said while rubbing his scar.

"Mine too." Jacob said while also rubbing his scar.

"It's happened before." Hermione said.

"Not like this." Harry said.

"Yeah." Jacob said. "It's usually been like a sharp pinch, but only after we came to Hogwarts."

"Perhaps you should see the nurse." Ron said.

"I think it's a warning. It means danger's coming." Harry said.

As the quartet made their way outside the castle, they saw Hagrid sitting on the doorsteps of his hut, playing with a harp. Jacob and Harry were now looking at him, and getting the same idea, they suddenly looked at each other.

"Of course!" The twins said together.

"What is it?" Hermione asked as the twins started to walk faster to Hagrid, with Hermione and Ron right behind them.

Jacob then started to explain. "Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a strangers turns up who just happens to have one?"

" We mean..." Harry then continued. "... how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pockets?"

"Why didn't we notice it before?" Jacob said as he facepalmed himself.

He did start to calm down a little when Hermione started to rub his back, while the quartet continued to run to Hagrid.

Once the kids reached the hut, Hagrid stopped playing the harp when he saw the kids were now standing in front of 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?"

"He's got a point there, actually." Jacob whispered to the others, who nodded.

"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--"

At this, the kids looked at each other quickly, and Hagrid again realized he talked too much, looking horrified.

"I shouldn't have tol' yeh that. Forget i said it!" The kids quickly turned around and ran back to the castle, leaving Hagrid to shout at them. "Where are yeh goin'?!"

Penny was walking out of the gate when she saw the quartet running towards her. 

"Hey guys, how did you do with--" Penny started to say, when the group ran right past her. "Guys, wait! Where are you--" She tried to call, but they didn't hear her.

Penny turned to see they had come from Hagrid's hut, and thinking this had something to do with the Stone, she started to follow them.

⚯ ͛ϟ

The quartet ran straight 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. McGonagall lifted her head up when she heard the kids running to her.

"We have to see Professor Dumbledore, immediately!" Harry said.

"I see. Well, i'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here." McGonagall said with a surprise voice.

The quarted looked surprised at this.

"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!"

McGonagall then looked surprised when she heard what Jacob said. 

"How do you know--?"

"Someone's going to try and steal it." Harry then said.

McGonagall started looking at the quartet with a shocked face, similar to the one she had during the troll incident, before she regained her voice.

"I don't know how you three 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 kids turned to leave the classroom, while McGonagall kept her eyes on them. When the kids were outside the classroom, they turned to each other. 

"That was no stranger Hagrid met. It was Snape. Which means he knows how to get past Fluffy." Harry said.

"And he could be trying to get to the Stone any day now for all we know, maybe even today." Jacob then continued.

"And with Dumbledore gone--" Hermione then started, but she stopped when the kids heard a low voice behind them.

"Good afternoon." The kids turned around slowly and nervously, and saw Snape right behind them. "Now what would three young Gryffindors such as yourselves be doing inside on a day like this?" He asked.

"W-uh..." Hermione started to stutter as Snaped lifted his eyebrows. "... we-we were just--"

"We were just asking Professor McGonagall something about the next year." Jacob said, managing to say this with, mostly, a straight face.

"I see." Snape said as he looked at the younger Potter. "You ought to be careful. People will think you're..."

He then turned to look at Harry, who was narrowing his eyes at the black-robed teacher. 

"... up to something."

The older Potter and Snape kept looking at each other for few seconds before Snape started to turn around and walk away from the quartet, while the kids kept looking at his retreating figure.

"Now what do we do?" Hermione asked the others.

"We go down the trap door. Tonight." Harry said.

"I'm coming with you." A voice from close by said.

They turned around and saw Penny coming from behind one of the pillars, and she walked to the quartet, evidently having listened in.

"I want to help you guys." Penny said.

The quartet looked at each other before nodded in agreement to let Penny come with them. It wouldn't hurt to have a little more help, after all.

⚯ ͛ϟ

That night, the quartet was making their way down the stairs to the Common Room, while Jacob was carrying his and Harry's invisibility cloak so they all could sneak into the trapdoor room without Filch noticing them. When they reached the room, they saw a familiar-looking 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 as he raised himself from the same armchair, still dressed in his teddy-bear pajamas. "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 up. "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 as she took out her wand. "Petrificus Totalus." She chanted and pointed her wand at the boy. 

Neville froze in place before he slowly started to fall backwards on his back. Hermione then placed her wand back in her pocket, while both Jacob and Ron gulped, feeling slightly scared.

"You're a little scary sometimes, you know that?" Ron said nervously. "Brilliant, but scary."

"Remind me to never get on your bad side, Hermione." Jacob then said.

She turned to her best friend and slightly smirked at him.

"Like i said on my birthday, as long as you don't give me a reason to." Hermione said.

Jacob smiled slightly. "I think you're amazing."

"Let's go." Harry said and 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 as he followed his friends.

With all four of them inside the cloak, they made their way to the Hufflepuff Common Room door, which then opened and Penny walked outside, who started to look 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.

The group started to make their way to the third-floor corridor. When they were walking on the corridor, Ron accidentally stepped on Hermione's foot.

"Ouch! You stepped on my foot!" Hermione whispered angrily.

"Sorry." Ron apologized.

They were now rounding a corner, but to their surprise Peeves came from the corner, mumbling to himself while hurling apples. Suddenly he stopped, eyes narrowing surspiciously.

"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 of the group, took out her wand and pointed it at the lock. 

"Alohomora." She chanted.

The lock opened, and the kids got inside the room. They saw Fluffy sleeping soundly while a harp was playing.

"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.

"Suppose we won't be needing this now." Harry said as he took a flute from his pocket. "Snape's already been here. He's put a spell on the harp."

"Ugh. It's got horrible smell." Ron said disgusted.

"This is what you guys found earlier?" Penny asked, getting a nod from the quartet. She had a shocked look ever since she laid her eyes on Fluffy.

"If you three want to go back--" Jacob was about to say to the other three.

"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 right underneath Fluffy's paw. "We have to move it's paw."

"What?" Ron asked.

"Come on!"

They got next to the paw and put their hands on it, ready to push it out of the way.

"Okay. Push." Harry said, and they started to push the paw off the trapdoor.

They managed to do it without waking Fluffy. Backing away slightly, they got hit with another gust of wind, which almost knocked Jacob over, though Penny managed to balance him by pushing him from the back.

"Thanks." Jacob said to her.

"No problem." Penny replied back.

The kids then started to lift the trapdoor open. Once it was open, they knelt down looking deep inside the trapdoor.

"I'll go first." Harry said. "Don't follow me until i give the signal."

But the kids didn't notice the harp had stopped playing, and Fluffy opened it's eyes and started to look at the intruders.

"If something bad happens, get yourselves out."

At that moment, Jacob noticed it had gotten awfully quiet, and looked at the others. 

"Does it seem a bit quiet to you?" He asked.

"The harp." Hermione said, and they looked at the harp. "It stopped playing."

Jacob was slowly starting to realize what this meant. "Wait, if the harp's not playing, doesn't this mean--"

Before he could finished, saliva fell down on Ron's shoulder. 

"Ugh. Yuck." Ron said as when he looked at the saliva and touched it a little.

They then slowly lifted their heads up and saw Fluffy wide awake, snarling at them. Their eyes widened at this.

"Jump!" Jacob shouted.

Harry jumped first into the trapdoor, followed up Penny. Fluffy took the door in it's mouth and rip it off before throwing it towards the wall. Meanwhile, Hermione jumped right after, followed up Ron, and lastly Jacob, who managed to jump just in time to avoid Fluffy's teeth.

As Jacob finally landed on something, he noticed he and everyone else had landed on something that looked like a giant plant. They 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 then looked towards Ron, and noticed some plant vines starting to move towards them. 

"Whoa!" He shouted, and the others saw what he was seeing.

They tried to get away but the vines wrapped themselves around the kids. While Jacob, Harry, Ron and Penny started struggling to free themselves, Hermione started to calm herself. 

"Stop moving, you four. This is Devil's Snare." Hermione told them. "You have to relax."

"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 thanks to Hermione, and like her, started to relax, and then the three of them were pulled down.

"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 while struggling.

"Just relax!" Penny's voice suddenly shouted.

"Guys, where are you?" Harry shouted at the three, glancing around.

"Harry, do what Hermione said! Trust me." Jacob shouted.

Turned out that Jacob and the girls were right underneath the Devil's Snare, all good. Harry instantly did as his brother instructed, and relaxed. And like the other three, he was pulled underneath the plant.

"Ah! Harry!" Ron shouted, doing anything but relax.

Harry fell down on the floor, and Jacob and Penny got to him to help 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, still not relaxing himself.

"He's not relaxing, is he?" Hermione asked as everyone looked up at Ron.

"Apparently not." The twins said.

"We've gotta do something." Penny said urgently.

"What?" Harry asked.

"I remember reading something in Herbology." Jacob said as he started to move his hands around, trying to think.

The vines then started to cover Ron's mouth, silencing him completely By this point Ron was wrapped tightly like a mummy.

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare. It's deadly fun..."

"But will sulk in the sun!" Hermione said, beaming at Jacob. "That's it, Jacob! Devil's Snare hates the sun!" She whipped out her wand and pointed at the vines. "Lumos Solem."

A bright light shot from the wand towards the vines. The vines packed away, letting go of Ron who fell on the floor. Harry and Penny quickly got to him to help him up.

"Ron, you okay?" Harry asked.

"Yeah." Ron replied as he got up. "Whew! Lucky we didn't panic." 

He looked at the other four, though they didn't look amused.

"Lucky Hermione and Jacob pays attention in Herbology." Harry said.

"Unlike someone." Penny finished.

Ron looked uneasy before the other four turned around to look behind them as they heard a weird sound coming from behind them.

"What is that?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. Sounds like wings." Harry said.

"Let's find out, shall we?" Jacob said as he started to approach the door with others behind him.

Opening it, the group made it to a large room. The kids started to look up and saw there were objects flying above them.

"Curious. I've never seen birds like these." Hermione said.

"They're not birds. They're keys" Jacob said, then looked towards the other end of the room, where there was a door. "And i'll bet one of them fits that door."

They then saw an old broomstick floating in front of them.

"What's this all about?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know." Harry said.

"A broom and a bunch of keys..." Penny could be seeing muttering.

Ron then took his wand and walked to the door, followed by the girls, while the twins stayed behind, with Jacob looking at the trio and Harry becoming more curious about the broomstick.

"Strange." Harry said as he started to lift his hand at the broom.

"Alohomora." Ron chanted the spell, trying to open the lock, but nothing happened. "Well, it was worth the try" He said to the girls.

"Urgh, what are we going to do?" Hermione said frustrated. "There must be a thousand keys."

"You think the key could be similar to this lock?" Penny asked, pointing at the lock, which looked old-fashioned.

"Yeah." Ron said, starting to inspect the lock. "We're looking for an big, old-fashioned one. Probably rusty."

The twins meanwhile were looking at the keys, trying to spot a right type of key, before Harry noticed it.

"There! I see it!" He 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 smiling while tapping him on the shoulder.

"Thanks."

"What's wrong with it's wing?" Hermione asked.

"The feather's pinched." Jacob said. "Propably from Snape catching it before us."

Hermione nodded. She then noticed the twins started staring at the broom.

"What's wrong, guys?" Hermione asked.

"Did you realize something?" Penny asked.

"It's too simple." Harry said, looking at them.

"No way can we just fly up there and grab it just like that." Jacob finished.

"Oh go on, you two!" Ron then said. "If Snape could catch it on that old broomstick, you can. You're the youngest Seekers in a century."

The brothers nodded uncertainly--still troubled, at them.

"I'll fly up there and catch the key." Jacob suddenly said.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

"I am."

After Harry looked at the broom final time, he gave a nod to Jacob and backed away a little. Jacob closed his hand on the broomstick, and then suddenly they heard wings fluttering even faster.

Looking up, they saw the keys fly to them. Harry backed away to others while Jacob mounted on the broom, and he was surrounded by the flying keys, while waving his hands to try and shoo them off.

"This complicates things a bit." Ron said.

"You think?" Penny asked.

"He'll be torn to pieces." Hermione said worriedly.

Jacob started to kick himself into the air while the keys flew around him and kept slashing at him a little. The old key flew higher into the air before Jacob got more speed and was away from the keys chasing him. The key turned to fly towards the ground, but Jacob closed in and caught it.

"Nice catch!" Harry shouted.

"Catch the key!" Jacob then shouted. 

Flying close to the four, he tossed the key at Hermione. The key tried to fly away, but Hermione caught it and got to the lock to try and open it.

"Hurry up!" Ron tried to hurry the girl.

Jacob kept flying, dodging and getting away from the keys that were still chasing him. Hermione got the door open and the four kids got inside.

"It's open! Come on!" Harry shouted at his brother.

Jacob flew at the open door, and when he got inside, the others pushed the door close, causing most of the keys to get jammed into the door as they crashed into it, while others fell on the floor.

⚯ ͛ϟ

As the kids now walked away from the closed door, they noticed they had entered a large room where there were huge chess pieces all over the floor, some were destroyed and laying on the floor, while most had been set up like a chess match.

"I don't like this. I don't like this at all." Hermione said as they kept walking.

"I'm really starting to feel creep'd out here." Penny said, shivering.

"Where are we? A graveyard?" Harry asked as they stopped walking.

"This is no graveyard." Ron said, and he started to walk to the middle of the room, realizing what it was. "It's a chessboard."

The light in the room was then light up, and the kids saw they were standing on a huge chessboard with giant chess pieces. Jacob, Harry, Hermione and Penny then walked to Ron.

"What exactly is this for?" Jacob asked as he looked around.

Meanwhile, Harry noticed another door on the other side. "There's the door." He said, pointing at it.

The kids then started to walk forward at the door, but the soldier pieces drew their swords, stopping the kids in their tracks, who then started to back away. The soldiers placed their swords down.

"Now what do we do?" Hermione asked.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Ron said, getting in front of the group. "We've got to play our way across the room." He looked at Jacob, Harry and Hermione. "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.

"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, everybody got into their chess places, with Ron and Penny mounting the knights horses.

"What happens now?" Hermione asked.

"Well, white moves first." Ron said. "And then, we play."

The first white soldier piece began to move few spaces forward before stopping, and Ron started to think how to proceed.

"Ron..." Penny started asking. "... you don't suppose this is going to be like... real wizard's chess, do you?"

Ron started to contemplate on something, before looking at one of his pawns.

"You there, D-5." He gestured for it.

The black pawn piece started to move, and got next to the white piece. The white pawn suddenly drew it's swords and slashed the black piece into pieces, scaring the kids.

"Yes, Penny." Ron said, after he recovered his breath. "I think this is gonna be exactly like wizard's chess."

The other kids looked at him wide eyed.

The game then moved forward, and the time went on, more and more chess pieces were destroyed on both sides. Later, the white queen drew it's sword and destroy another one of kids' chess pieces. 

By this point, there were few black pieces left besides the horses Ron and Penny were on. Jacob then started to look at the spaces before he realized something. 

"Wait a minute." Jacob said.

"You understand right, Jacob?" Ron said and the others turned to look at him. "Once i make my move, the queen will take me. Then Harry's free to check the king."

"No. Ron, no!" Harry shouted.

"What is it you two?" Hermione asked.

"He's going to sacrifice himself." Jacob said.

At this, 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 snapped before turning 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 reluctantly nodded at this. Ron, meanwhile, braced himself and made his move. 

"Knight to H-3."

The knight then moved spaces forward and stopped before moving to it's left. The kids were nervously looking at what was happening.

"Check."

Ron turned to look at the queen, which started to turn to it's right while the twins were glaring at it, and it was approaching Ron, who now was getting scared.

The queen now stood on a space next to Ron. It then took it's weapon and stabbed the horse, breaking it and causing Ron to fall off it and fall unconscious when he hit his head on a rock.

"Ron!" Harry shouted.

While Jacob and the girls looked on shocked, Penny tried to get off the horse piece to go check on him, before Harry stopped her. 

"No, don't move! Don't forget, we're still playing."

Reluctantly, Penny nodded and seated herself back on the horse properly.

"Finish this game, Harry." Jacob muttered.

Harry then started to walk to the king as the others looked on, before standing in front of it.

"Checkmate." He declared.

With this, the game ended. The king dropped it's sword. And when Harry looked up to the king again to make sure it wasn't moving, he bolted straight to Ron, followed by his brother and the girls. After making sure Ron was okay, the twins turned to 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 two'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, slightly embarrassed.

"Me?" Hermione said, chuckling. "Books and cleverness. There are more important things. Friendship and bravery. And, Jacob, Harry, just be careful."

Looking at Hermione's eyes, Jacob nodded. "I would be a lousy brother if i let my big brother have all the fun." He cracked a joke.

This got the others to lightly laugh at him. 

"Is this what it's like with Jacob around?" Penny asked Harry and Hermione.

"Most of the time, yes." Harry said while smiling at his brother.

The twins then got up and started to walk towards the door, while the girls looked at them, with Hermione thinking 'Come back in one piece, Jacob.'

Chapter Text

Jacob and Harry were walking down the long stairs into a small room side by side. Suddenly their scars hurt, causing them to hiss and rub them. In the middle of the room they saw the Mirror of Erised, and looking at it was the person that was after the Stone, though it turned out to be one person the kids hadn't suspected, which confused the twins.

"You?" The twins asked.

The person turned around to look at them, who turned out to be Professor Quirrell.

"No, it can't be." Jacob kept going, trying to understand what was going on. "Snape he-he was the one--"

"Yes, he does seem the type, doesn't he?" Quirrell replied.

The twins noticed he was like a completely different person, more confident and there was no stuttering in his voice.

"So useful Snape. Swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, s-stuttering Professor Quirrell?" Quirrell used his stuttering voice.

"But that day, during the Quidditch match, Snape tried to kill me." Harry then said as he and Jacob continued walking down.

Quirrell only smiled at this. "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 at this. "Snape was trying to save Harry?"

"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. As for you..."

Quirrell pointed at Jacob. "... he seems to have grown to tollerate you a bit. Your father, after all, saved his life once, long ago."

The twins looked stunned as they looked at each other before looking at Quirrell again, while the man himself looked 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 Quirrell kept explaining, Jacob was starting to feel angry. Because of Quirrell, Hermione had almost been killed by the troll in the girls' bathroom. Harry noticed this and placed his hand on his left arm to calm him down.

"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 then turned to look at the mirror again, and suddenly the twins' scars started to hurt for some reason, and they started to rub them to ease the pain.

"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?"

Quirrell was quiet for a moment. "I see what i desire. I see myself holding the Stone. But how do i get it?"

"Use the boys."

Jacob and Harry suddenly heard a voice, and tried to look around the room to see where it had come from, but found nobody else nearby.

Quirrell then turned towards the twins and pointed at Jacob. "Come here, younger Potter! Now!"

Jacob took a small glance at Harry, and then started to slowly walk down the stairs again, while his brother kept looking nervously. Quirrell stepped aside a little and let Jacob stand in front of the mirror.

"Tell me." Quirrell said. "what do you see?"

Jacob looked in the mirror, and what he saw surprised him. His reflection started to smile and reach into his pocket. When he raised his hand back out, he was holding the Philosopher's Stone in his hand, and Jacob's eyes widened at this. The reflection winked at him and placed the Stone back in it's pocket.

Jacob then felt something fall in his right pocket. Touching it a little bit, he felt the Stone inside it, and flinched a little. Harry noticed this, as did Quirrell.

"What is it? What do you see? Quirrell asked quickly.

Jacob looked at Quirrell before quickly looking back at the mirror. "I saw our parents." He said, quickly thinking about a lie. "They said they were proud of me and Harry."

Jacob had thought back to when he and Harry had seen the mirror the last time, and his father had said the same thing then.

"Ugh, pathetic." Quirrell grumbled before turning to Harry "Now you, older Potter! Come!"

As Harry started to walk in front of the mirror, he looked at Jacob, who with his eyes nodded down. Following his brothers eyes, Harry saw Jacob tapping his pocket with his finger ever so slightly, and Harry realized that the Stone was inside it. Harry then turned to look at the mirror for a little bit, thinking about what he should say to Quirrell.

"Well, Potter. What do you see?" Quirrell asked impatiently.

"I-I'm shaking hands with Dumbledore." Harry lied. "I've won the House cup."

"They lie." The voice boomed again.

"Tell the truth!" Quirrell then yelled at the brothers. "What do you see?!"

"Let me speak to them."

Jacob and Harry packed away as Quirrell started to speak to the voice. "Master, you are not strong enough."

"I have strength enough for this."

The brothers kept backing as Quirrell faced them while letting his back face the mirror, and the started to slowly unwrap his turban from his head. The brothers looked at each other and behind them at the stairs before looking back at Quirrell.

Eventually, the turban was unwrapped, and when he removed it from the back of his head, a pale, chalky white face with blood-red eyes revealed itself from the back of Quirrell's head, and it started to look at the twins through the reflection.

"Harry and Jacob Potter." The face said with a low, hissing voice. "We meet again."

"Voldemort." The twins said in unison, shocked that the dark wizard had been this close to them all year.

"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, Jacob."

Jacob's eyes widened and after looking at his pocket quickly, turned to Harry.

"Run." He quickly said, and the brothers tried to make their escape.

"Stop them!"

Quirrel then snapped his fingers, and the walls of fire blocked the walls and the exit, trapping the brothers with Quirrell and Voldemort. The brothers tried to look around for another exit, but there was none.

"Don't be fools, boys. Why suffer a horrific death, when you can join me and live?"

"Never!" Harry shouted.

"Was that what you told our parents when you killed them?!" Jacob then shouted.

Voldemort simply laughed at this. "Bravery. Your parents had it too. Tell me, boys. Would you like to see your mother and father again?"

Jacob and Harry then looked more to the right side of the mirror, and saw their parents in the reflection again.

"Together, we can bring them back. All i ask is for something in return."

Jacob then looked down and put his hand in his pocket, pulling the Philosopher's Stone out of it, while Harry looked at it.

"That's it, Jacob." 

The brothers then looked at the mirror and the faces of their parents again.

"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!"

James and Lily faded away from the mirror, and Harry was looking at Joni who was still holding the stone. In an instant, Jacob put his other arm in front of Harry in a protective manner while clutching the stone against his chest.

"No." He angrily said.

"You liar!" Harry then shouted.

"Kill them!" Voldemort ordered, narrowing his eyes.

In an instant, Quirrell shot himself in the air towards the brothers, and before they could react, they were pushed against the stairs and Quirrell started to strangle them. The Stone flew from Jacob's hand, who tried to reach for it while being strangled.

Harry then took a hold of Quirrell's hand that was strangling him to try and loosen his grip, and suddenly it started to smoke. Quirrell's hand not only loosened it's grip, but it started to harden before it started to crumble.

"Ahh! AAH!" Quirrell shouted and let go of the twins, backing away.

Harry started to look at his hands, before both he and Jacob looked back at Quirrell, and saw his hand started disintegraded from the touch.

"What is this magic?!"

"Fool!" Voldemort yelled. "Get the Stone!"

Jacob quickly looked at the Stone which was still on the step before getting up. Quirrell raised his remaining hand and started to walk to the twins, but Jacob got in front of him and put his hands on Quirrell's face.

Harry got up and followed Jacob's example, and Quirrell's face started to smoke and he started to scream in pain while Voldemort winced in pain. He packed away and touched his face which was now burned.

The brothers looked at their hands in shock before at each other, and turned back to Quirrell and saw that his entire body was now burning up and started crumble down. He started to walk towards them, reaching his hand before his body fell on the ground, breaking apart and turning to dust.

"How--?" Jacob asked while looking at his hands. "How did we do that?"

"I... i don't know." Harry said, just as much at loss for words while also looking at his own hands.

The brothers turned to see the Stone was still in the same place, before Jacob took it in his hand. They looked at it before smiling at each other, but they didn't notice the smoke started to rise from Quirrell's crumbled body.

It wasn't until they heard hissing from behind that they started to turn around and saw the dust cloud had formed a form for itself. It shot towards the brothers, with Voldemort's face screaming at them.

Jacob got in front of Harry to shield him, but the dust cloud went through both of them, and the impact caused the brothers to fall backwards on the floor, falling unconscious. 

The dust cloud that was Voldemort flew out of the chamber to make his escape, all the while now-unconscious Jacob kept his grip on the Stone.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Couple days later, Jacob started to finally wake up. When he opened his eyes and started to regain his awareness, he noticed he was laying on a hospital bed. Turning to his left, he saw Harry also on a hospital bed, resting peacefully.

He also saw in front of them lots of presents and candy from several people, smiling a little. Jacob then turned to his right when he heard footsteps coming in, and inside the Hospital Wing was Professor Dumbledore, who was approaching his bed.

"Good afternoon, Jacob." Dumbledore greeted.

Jacob stared at the professor for few seconds before he looked again at the presents on the foot of his bed, which Dumbledore also gestured at.

"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 in his hand. "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?" Jacob asked. "Is he all right? What about Hermione and Penny?"

Dumbledore raised his hand up. "Fine. They're all just fine. Madam 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 felt relieved to hear his friends were all right, but he was still curious about 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?"

At this, Dumbledore looked down and sat down on the bed Jacob was laying on. 

"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."

Both of them laughed little at this before they heard groaning coming from Harry's bed. Turning to look, they saw Harry waking up.

"Hey, big brother." Jacob said smiling. "How are you feeling?"

Harry reached for his glasses and looked his brother and Dumbledore. "I'm feeling okay." He then realized the headmaster was here with them. "Oh, Professor Dumbledore."

"Good afternoon, Harry." Dumbledore smiled at Harry.

Harry then noticed all the different presents and sweets on the foot of their beds and a smile grew on his face. "What happened?"

With this, Dumbledore started to explain to Harry what he had already told Jacob.

"Does that mean, with the Stone gone that is, that Voldemort can never come back?" Harry asked after the explanation.

"I'm afraid..." Dumbledore started with a heavy heart. "... there are ways in which he can return. 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."

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..." He turned to look at Jacob. "... your brother did the right choice."

Jacob nodded, then Dumbledore started to study the boys thoughtfully.

"Jacob, Harry. Do you know why Professor Quirrell couldn't bear to have you touch him?"

The brothers shook their heads.

"It was because of your mother. She sacrificed herself for you two. And that kind of act leaves a mark."

The brothers reached to touch their forehead 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 said smiling and tapped them on their heads before lifting himself off the bed.

"Ah. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans." He exclaimed as he looked at the sweets for Jacob, taking the said box. "I was most unfortunate in my youth to come across a vomit-flavored one."

The brothers cringed at this.

"And since then, i've lost my liking for them. But i think i could be safe with a nice toffee." He reached inside the box.

"I like the way you think, Professor." Jacob said, chuckling a little.

Dumbledore smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. He the started chewing on the bean.

"Alas! Earwax!" Dumbledore said.

The twins smiled, and Dumbledore then 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. "Although i think i was doing a good job on my own." He said with a smug tone.

"In your dreams, big brother." Jacob rolled his eyes while smiling.

Jacob and Harry were able to leave the wing later that day. Walking in a hallway, they saw Hermione, Ron and Penny talking in an upper floor. The two smiled at them, and the three then turned and saw the brothers and smiled at seeing them all right.

"All right there, Ron, Penny?" Harry asked.

"All right." Ron replied.

"Doing good." Penny replied. "You?"

The brothers shrugged their shoulders. "All right." They said together.

Jacob then turned to Hermione. "Hermione?" He asked.

"Never better." Hermione smiled at him.

The twins smiled before Jacob put his arm over Harry's shoulder.

⚯ ͛ϟ

The next evening, all the students were gathered in the Great Hall as the feast for the end of the school year was happening. The Hogwarts banners had been made to bear the Slytherin mark with the color green, as they had the most points compared to the other houses.

The quartet was sitting together again, Jacob, Harry and Hermione on one said and Ron on the opposite side from them, while the twins had finished explaining to the other two what Dumbledore told them.

"Do 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..."

"Come on, Hermione." Jacob said, smiling and nudging her. "Don't tell me you didn't have just little faith in us, huh?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, but smiled back and nudged him in return. "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."

The kids looked up, and saw professor McGonagall looking at 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." McGonagall continued.

"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..." She said pointedly as she exited. "... no matter how taxing they may be."

"I think she's warming up to me." Ron said once McGonagall was gone.

Once McGonagall sat down, she clicked her glass with a spoon to get the students attention who were chatting with each other. 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."

Everyone at the Gryffindor table slowly clapped, and a medium applause came from the table.

"Third place, Ravenclaw, with 352 points."

The applause for Ravenclaw was little louder, with Talbott clapping along with his house.

"In second place, Hufflepuff, with 476 points."

Hufflepuffs started to clap for their second place. The quartet was happy for Penny's place, though she looked worried for her friends in the other house.

"And in first place, 522 points, Slytherin house."

At this, Slytherin started to cheer for themselves, while the other houses remained quiet, only few clapped for them, while Snape clapped for his house with a straight face.

"Nice one, mate." Malfoy said to his goons.

Turning to look towards the Gryffindor table, Malfoy and Snyde shot smug looks at the quartet, who glared back at them.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin. Well done, Slytherin." Dumbledore said. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

Snape then slowly turned his head to look at the headmaster.

"And i have a few last-minutes points to award."

At this, the crowd fell completely silent as they were curious what points the headmaster was going to give to whom.

"To Miss Penny Haywood." Penny looked surprised as did her house. "For showing unwavering loyalty to her classmates from another house, fifty points."

The Hufflepuffs started to clap and cheer for Penny, who was speechless, and she was pulled in for a side-hug by Susan. The quartet smiled and clapped for her, as did the rest of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger...." Dumbledore continued, and the rest of the quartet smiled at her as she turned to look at them. "... for the cool use of intellect while others were in grave peril, fifty point."

Gryffindors cheered and Hermione smiled while looking down a little. Harry placed his hand on her shoulder saying "Good job." while Jacob pulled her in for a side-hug.

Malfoy, Snyde, Crabbe and Goyle looked confused, while the quartet then looked at the High Table, from where they 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, with Jacob even giving him a fist-pump.

"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 like he had done to her, 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 60 points."

The House cheered once again, and Jacob gave Harry a fist-pump, while McGonagall smiled at the quartet while clapping.

"We're tied with Slytherin!" Hermione said excited, after making calculations.

"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 10 points... to Neville Longbottom."

The Gryffindors exploded with joy as Neville froze in shock, while Dumbledore was smiling at them. 

"Assuming that my calculations are correct, i believe that a change of decoration is in order."

He then clapped his hands and the banner changed color from Slytherin green to Gryffindor red.

"Gryffindor wins the House Cup!"

Gryffindor students lifted themselves from their seats and started to celebrate their victory. Hagrid even shouted "Yes!" before he collected himself.

All the Gryffindors then took their hats and threw them in the air, with Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw joining and doing the same with only Slytherin doing nothing but look down at their loss. 

The quartet started celebrating with their classmated. Gryffindor had won the House Cup, with Hufflepuff in second place.

⚯ ͛ϟ

The next day, the exam results came in. Hermione had the best grades for all the first years, and to Jacob's surprise, he had passed every class with either really good or great grades, and with this in mind, he resolved to keep doing well with his studies in the future, while Harry and Ron passed with good marks.

Soon enough, the students had emptied their closets and their trunks were packed with all their belongings as everybody was getting ready to leave for their homes for the summer holiday. Students were getting on the Hogwarts Express, with Hagrid helping some of them.

"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 had handed Millie and Hedwig, who sat in their cages, to the train man and they neared the train door with Hermione and Ron. Hermione waved at Hagrid who waved back, but the twins stopped for a moment.

"Come on, Jacob, Harry." Hermione said.

"One minute." Harry said as he started walking to Hagrid.

"Just need one more goodbye." Jacob said, following his brother while Hermione waited by the door.

"Thought yeh two were leavin' without sayin' goodbye, did yeh?" Hagrid said as the brothers got to him. He then reached into his pocked. "This is for the both of you."

Hagrid pulled out a leather-covered book and gave it to the boys. Taking it, Jacob started to open it, and 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. 

This made the twins feel happy, as now they had something from their family.

"Thanks, Hagrid." Jacob said.

Hagrid nodded, and gave his hand for the twins for a shake. But when they both took it, they closed in for a hug, which the giant returned.

Hagrid was starting to get emotional before he let go. "Go on. On with yeh two. On with you now." Hagrid quickly collected himself. "Oh, listen, yeh two. 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 them 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. Not really." Jacob replied to her, as he and Harry looked back at the castle.

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 other studends as well, before the half giant started to leave the station, back to his hut.

⚯ ͛ϟ

Cast in Order of Appearance

Albus Dumbledore ... RICHARD HARRIS
Professor McGonagall ... MAGGIE SMITH
Hagrid ... ROBBIE COLTRANE
Baby Jacob... SAUNDERS TRIPLETS
Baby Harry ... SAUNDERS TRIPLETS
Jacob Potter ... LIAM AIKEN
Harry Potter ... DANIEL RADCLIFFE
Aunt Petunia Dursley ... FIONA SHAW
Dudley Dursley ... HARRY MELLING
Uncle Vernon Dursley ... RICHARD GRIFFHTS
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
Madam 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
Miles Bletchley ... AMY PUGLIA
Terence Higgs ... WILL THEAKSTON
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 Rolanda 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 were going through their family book they had gotten from Hagrid when they were leaving Hogwarts.

They were looking at a moving photo of their family, with baby Jacob being held by their mother Lily and Harry being held up by their father James. Switching to the next page, they saw a picture of themselves, joined by their two best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all smiling in the photo.

It has been around a month since the twins had returned to live with their unpleasant relatives, 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 that 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 noise coming from their left and saw Hedwig, Harry's pet owl, inside it's cage, trying to bite into it to free itself, all the while Millie, Jacob's cat, was sleeping on the bed.

"I can't let you out, Hedwig." Harry told the owl. "We're not allowed to use magic outside of school."

"If only we could." Jacob then said, glancing at the door. "It'd make things easier, making sure Dudley won't cause any trouble."

"Besides, if Uncle Vernon--"

"Harry Potter!" They then heard their uncle calling the older twin downstairs.

"Now you've done it." Harry said, closed the book and started to make his way downstairs.

"Why can't you be like Millie and behave?" Jacob then asked and also got up and made his way downstairs.

What Jacob said caused Millie to wake up and raise it's head.

In the kitchen, Petunia was putting together a cake, when she noticed the kitchen door opening and the twins coming inside.

"He's in there." She told the twins, nodding to the living room. "Vernon?"

The twins walked in, and saw their uncle putting a suit on Dudley, while he was now also focusing on the twins.

"I'm warning you, if you can't control that bloody bird, it'll have to go. At least the cat knows how to behave in a house." Vernon told Harry while he was tying up the tie for Dudley.

"But she's bored." Harry said, while Jacob started to lean 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. "Vernon made Dudley face 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."

"Who'd want to be friends with you two?" Dudley said, glaring at the twins as his father finished with his suit.

He was about to push Harry with his shoulder before Jacob got in front of him, glaring back at him.

"Careful, Dudley." Jacob said, then decided to say something that could scare Dudley. "If you ever had to go to a dentist appointment for the Grangers, you wouldn't want to insult their daughter, would you?"

During their second half of the school year, Jacob and his best friend/secret hidden crush Hermione had learned more about each other, with Hermione telling Jacob that her parents worked as dentists.

This caused Dudley to flinch a little, and carefully moved around the twins to walk away, while Vernon faced the twins.

"I should think you two'd be a little more grateful." Vernon said while glaring at the boys. "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 10 years and giving barely any food to survive a day raising..." Jacob muttered while rolling his eyes.

"You have something to say, boy?"

"Actually a snuffing lot."

Harry then placed his hand on his brothers shoulder and shook his head, which caused Jacob to stop, though he didn't lower his glare.

"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.

This got Petunia to stop cold, exchanging a dark look with Vernon, before seeing Dudley extending a finger for the cake.

"Not now." Petunia said while slapping Dudley's hand away from the cake. "It's for when Masons arrive."

"Which should be any minute." Vernon then said, raising his hands up. 

He then nodded at his wife and and son to come to the living room, which they did.

"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." She replied.

"Good. And, Dudley, you will be...?"

"I'll be waiting to open the door." Dudley said with a proud voice.

This got an eye roll from Jacob.

"Excellent." The Dursleys then turned their gazes at 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 only 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 brothers out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"Upstairs! hurry!"

While walking up the stairs, they heard the doorbell go off, and heard Uncle Vernon welcoming the Masons inside.

"If i could, i'd try to make contact with Ron or Hermione and try to 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 as he opened the door to their bedroom.

But when they got inside, they widened their eyes as there was a small creature with bat-like ears and bulging green eyes jumping up and down on the twins' shared bed before it turned around and saw the twins.

"Harry and Jacob Potter. Such an honor it is." The creature greeted them.

Jacob and Harry glanced at each other before the younger Potter closed the door behind them.

"Um... who are you?" Jacob 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 related to magic." Jacob then continued. "Who knows what they'd do if they found you here."

"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?"

"Sit down? Sit down?" 

Dobby sounded surprised. He then got off the bed and started to cry, and the twins panicked a little.

"D-Dobby, i'm sorry." Jacob lifted his finger to his mouth to try and quiet Dobby down. "I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

"Offend Dobby?" Dobby turned to face 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."

"Really?" Jacob started scratching the back of his head.

"You can't have met many decent wizards then." Harry said.

"No, i haven't." Dobby said, laughing a little before he stopped. "That was an awful thing to say."

Dobby then walked to the cabinet on the wall, put his hands on it, and suddenly started smashing his head 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."

As the Dursleys were serving Mr and Mrs Mason drinks, which Vernon had poured, they could hear small, barely heard banging noise coming from upstairs. Everyone's eyes shifted to the ceiling.

"Oh, don't mind that. It's just the cat." Vernon said, chuckling nervously.

"Cat? What cat?" Dudley asked confused.

"Our cat, tiger."

"Bad Dobby." Dobby kept repeating as he kept banging his head against the cabinet.

"Stop!" Harry kept trying to stop the elf. "Stop, Dobby. Please, be quiet."

At this point Jacob decided to pull the elf away from the cabinet. Dobby stopped, but was now feeling a little dizzy after banging his head so much.

"Are you all right? Why'd you smash your head like that?" Jacob asked.

"Dobby had to punish himself, sir." Dobby said once it recovered. 

It then walked to one of the twins' chairs, pushed it closer to the kids before jumping on it. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir."

"Your family?" Harry asked, as he and Joni 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. He then looked up at the boys and whispered urgently.

"But Dobby had to come. Dobby has to protect Harry and Jacob Potter. To warn them. 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 before looking back at Dobby.

"Not go back?" Harry asked. "But... we have to."

"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 then started making faces and grinded his teeth together. 

"Can't say." He said.

"Okay, i understand." Jacob raised his hands a little to calm Dobby down. "You can't say."

"Don't make me talk. I--" Dobby said before noticing the lamp, taking it and starting to hit his head with it. "Bad Dobby!"

"Dobby. Dobby, put the lamp down." Harry said as he and Jacob glanced between Dobby and their door.

"So when they arrive at the ninth hole..." Vernon said, as he wasin the middle of a telling a joke to the Mason couple.

Dobby's yelping interrupted him. Everybody looked up at the ceiling again, while Vernon started to glare.

"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." Vernon started to leave the living room.

"Give me the lamp." Jacob said, while he was trying to get the lamp off from Dobby's hands.

Meanwhile, Harry heard the footsteps approaching their room. He turned to his brother and nodded at the door, and Jacob realized their uncle was coming.

"Dobby, stop!"

Jacob finally was able to take the lamp off from Dobby, and then he lifted the elf up with his shirt.

"Let me go." Dobby said while trying to get away.

"Get in there and keep quiet." 

Jacob quickly put Dobby inside the closet. He managed to close the door before the bedroom door flung open, with Vernon coming inside.

"What the devil are you two doing up here?" He angrily asked.

"We were just--" Harry was about to say.

Meanwhile, Jacob noticed the closet door opening slightly before he pushed it back closed.

"You just ruined the punch line of my Japanese golfer joke."

"Was it the one when they arrive at the ninth hole--" Jacob started to say.

"Yes!"

"Sorry." Harry said.

Jacob again closed the door when he noticed it opening a little, which Vernon also noticed, all the while Jacob thought 'It's not even that funny'.

"One more sound and you'll wish you'd never been born, boys." Vernon lifted his finger up, before glancing at the closet door. "And fix that door."

"Yes, sir." The twins said, as Jacob again had to close the door.

Vernon stomped flat-footed from the room and slammed the door. The second the bedroom door was closed, Jacob opened the closet door, where Dobby was standing up and 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."

"Beside, if you lived with the Dursleys for 10 years and were treated the same way we were, you'd be thinking the same way we are." Jacob said, pointing at the door.

Dobby got 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 finished.

"Friends who don't even write to Harry and Jacob Potter?" Dobby asked with a slight smile.

"Well, i expect they've been--"

"Wait." Jacob said, lifting his hand up to stop Harry, as he realized what Dobby said felt off. "Hang on. How do you know our friends haven't been writing to us?"

Harry then also focused on Dobby for what he had said, while Dobby widened his eyes as he realized he just exposed himself.

"Harry and Jacob Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby." He said as he backed away a little, before starting to reach to his back for something.

"Dobby hoped if Harry and Jacob Potter thought their friends had forgotten him, Harry and Jacob Potter might not want to go back to school, sir."

What Dobby now held in his hands were a series of letters from both Hermione and Ron, and the twins started to get angry.

"Give us those. Now." Harry said.

"No!" 

Quickly putting the letters back inside his cloth, Dobby ran out of the room, followed by the twins. They ran downstairs, and Dobby stopped at the door to the kitchen, where it saw the cake Petunia had made. Getting an idea, Dobby turned to look back at the twins, who stood back a few steps.

"Dobby, get back here." Jacob ordered.

Dobby shook his head. Looking at the cake again, he snapped his fingers, and the cake started to float in the air. 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. 

It was clear Dobby was hellbent on keeping the boys away from the school, no matter what.

"We can't. Hogwarts is our home." Jacob said.

"Then Dobby must do it, sir, for Harry and Jacob Potter's own good."

Snapping his fingers again, the cake started to slowly float to the living room. Harry then ran past Dobby to the edge of the room, and Jacob did the same, though he pushed Dobby out of the way.

"It spread as far as the eye could see, all over the floor of this building." Vernon was in the middle of telling a another joke to Masons. "One plumber said 'Look at all that water.' The second plumber said, 'Yes, and that's just the top of it.'"

The Dursleys laughed at Vernon's joke, though The Mason couple stayed quiet and their faces didn't change.

"Mr. Mason..." Petunia started to talk, before she noticed the floating cake approaching Mrs. Mason, and she focused back to Mr Mason. "Vernon tells me that you're a wonderful golfer."

"I play. Occasionally." Mr. Mason replied.

"Mrs. Mason." Petunia then directed the question to the wife, though her voice cracked a bit. Vernon then also noticed the floating cake. "Where do you get your beautiful suits?"

"Oh. All of my suits are tailor-made." Mrs. Mason replied.

Harry had started to walk forward, raising his arms up to try and catch the floating cake which was now floating above Mrs Masons head, while Jacob stayed behind.

But before anybody could do anything, and Harry could get a hold of the cake, Dobby snapped his fingers again, and the cake fell on Mrs. Mason's head, and the Masons were shocked.

"I'm so sorry." 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 then quickly turned to look at Dobby, who was smiling before flinching back when he saw the brothers glare at him.

"Next time i see you, i will strangle you." Jacob whispered to Dobby.

And with that, Dobby snapped his fingers again, and disappeared out of sight.

A while later, the Masons are racing out of the house, while the Dursleys are following them.

"We have ice-cream..." Petunia tried to say.

The Masons quickly get into their car and drive off, when an owl swoops down, and drops a letter at Vernon's feet. He picks up the letter and opens it. As he reads it, a mad gleam dances in his eyes. He then turns and races back inside the house, with Petunia following him.

Getting back into the living room, Vernon marches to the twins and extends the letter to them, and Harry takes it. The twins look at him.

"Go on. Read it." Vernon ordered.

"'Dear Mr. Potter..." Harry starts to read the letter. "... 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'." 

Vernon snatched the letter back as the twins look nervously at each other.

"You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic at home. Slipped your minds, didn't it?"

⚯ ͛ϟ

The next day, Vernon was standing on a ladder that was against the twins' bedroom window, drilling iron bars on the inside of the window, locking the twins in their bedroom. 

After screwing the bars in and making sure they screwed in tightly, he glared at the twins, who were inside the room and glared back at him.

"I've got news for you, boys." Vernon said to them. "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 day, close to a night, Jacob and Harry are staring out of the window gloomily. The metal flap Vernon build on their door rattles as Dudley's hand slides 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 sigh. Jacob took the soup and a bit of stale bread, and walked to their pets.

"It's no good turning your head up. It's all we've got." He said to Millie.

Jacob then gives a piece of bread to Millie, while Harry feeds Hedwig her own piece. Both were thinking what a miserable birthday this was.

Chapter Text

Later that same night, the twins were sleeping soundly in their now-locked up room, when there was a sound of a car engine 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 said quietly.

"Wh- wha time iz it?" Jacob asked groggily, rubbing his eyes.

"Do you hear that?"

"Hear wha--?"

Harry then put his hand on Jacob's mouth and placed his finger against his own mouth to shush him. The brothers started to listen and heard the car engine, which sounded like it was coming closer.

"Is that a car?" Jacob asked.

"Sounds like it." Harry replied.

The two then got off their bed and looked outside the window. The sky was clear and the stars were up, and they saw a weird light flying closer to the Dursleys home.

"What the spark?" Jacob muttered as he and Harry kept looking at the light, and the sound of the car was coming ever closer.

When the light and the sound were close enough, the brothers noticed that it was an old turquoise-colored car that was flying towards the house. The car started to slow down, floating slowly it's way to the window of the brothers room. 

The twins backed to the door. Hedwig lowered it's head and Millie started to hiss when it stopped as it recognized who was inside the car.

"Hiya, Harry and Jacob." 

The brothers saw Ron Weasley sitting on the front passenger seat, with his older brother Fred driving the car and George on the back, all smiling at them.

"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 as well. Now, come on get your trunks."

"All right. Let's hurry, Harry."

And with that, the brothers began to pack their stuff into their trunks quickly and quietly to not wake up their relatives. While they closed their trunks once they were ready, Ron placed a hook against the bar.

"You two better stand back." Ron said to the twins.

The brothers then backed away from the window and Ron turned to Fred.

"Let's go."

Fred then started to drive the car away from the window, and with the hook int's place, he easily ripped the bar from the window, which fell into the bush on the Dursley's front yard.

The sound woke Vernon and Petunia up.

"What was that?" Vernon asked with a tired and scared voice.

"What is it?" Petunia asked equally scared.

The car backed up against the window, and Jacob and Harry started to place their trunks on the car trunk when they heard their uncle shout "Potters!"

Vernon and Petunia got to the bedroom door, while Dudley got out of his room.

"Dad, what's going on?" Dudley asked, scared.

Petunia put her arms around her son while 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 as Jacob took Millie's and they 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, and at that moment, their bedroom door opened and Vernon stood there wide eyed, as Jacob turned around shocked.

"Petunia, they're escaping!" Vernon shouted.

Jacob then made a sprint for the front seat with Vernon right behind him. Before he could get himself entirely inside, Vernon got a hold of Jacob's left leg, and was now dangling from the window, trying to pull the youngest brother back inside.

"We've got you, Jacob." Ron said as he, Harry, Fred and George were now trying to pull Jacob inside.

"Come here!" Vernon shouted, still trying to pull Jacob back, though he had more of a hold on Jacob's shoe than his foot.

"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 as he started to put more force in to pull his brother in.

"Drive!" Ron shouted at Fred.

"Right!" Fred and George shouted together.

Fred started to drive away from the house. This caused 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!" He shouted as he flipped on his back on the bush.

Petunia and Dudley shouted in panic and got on the window to see Vernon trying to lift himself off from the bush.

The kids were able to pull Jacob inside, and they all smirked at the Dursleys before Jacob closed the door and Fred started to drive the car away from what the twins called 'prison'. Vernon got himself up from the bush and all he could do was stare at the retreating flying car.

"By the way, you two, happy birthday." Ron said to the twins.

The Potter twins 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.

⚯ ͛ϟ

The next morning, the Weasley kids drove their car, Ford Anglia, to the Weasley's interesting looking home, the Burrow. The house itself looked interesting. It looked like there were multiple houses built on top of each other, making it look huge. Made sense, as the Weasleys were a huge family.

The kids drove the car into the yard, scattering a group of chickens, and fishtails to a halt. Everyone started to get out of the car and made their way inside the house.

"Come on." Fred said quietly.

Fred opened the window on the kitchen door and then reached his arm over, opened the lock on the door.

"Okay, come on. Let's nip inside before Mum wakes up." 

Waving his hand, he let the twins, then Ron and George inside. The twins 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 continued 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 to eat them.

The twins 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, mouth full of sweet.

"We think it's brilliant." Jacob and Harry said together smiling.

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?!" She yelled at her children.

The Weasley kids widened their eyes. They glanced at the sweets they picked up and put them behind their backs, while the Potter twins looked surprised. Mrs. Weasley then looked at the Potter twins, smiled at them and walked to them. 

"Harry, Jacob, how wonderful to see you, dears."

She then turned to look at her kids again, placed her hands on her hips and her stern look returned. 

"Beds empty. No note. Car gone. You could have died. You could have been seen!"

She again turned to look at the twins and her warm look returned. 

"Of course, i don't blame you, Harry and Jacob, dears."

All Jacob could think of was 'Wow, her mood changes so easily.'

"They were starving them, mum." Ron tried to explain, while the other nodded at this. "There were bars on their window."

"Well, you best hope i don't put bars on your window, Ronald Weasley." Molly said, pointing a finger at Ron, who's eyes widened in shock.

"He's not wrong." Jacob said. "We're glad to at least be out of there finally."

"And we're glad to have you boys here." Molly replied warmly. "Come on, you two, time for a spot of breakfast."

The Weasleys and the twins were next in the kitchen getting ready for the breakfast, when the youngest child of the family was coming down the stairs in a hurry. By this point they had been joined by the kids' older brother Percy, who was going for his sixth year for Hogwarts.

"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 thanked as he was sitting between Harry and Ron.

"No need to thank me, dear." She said smiling. "I can see you're just as polite as your mother was." Mrs. Weasley smiled at him.

Jacob then thought 'She knew our mother?' He then shook his head a little and thought 'Actually, a lot of people did know her, so...'

The girl, who looked to be younger than the twins and Ron, then got into the kitchen. "Mum, mummy, have you seen my jumper?"

"Yes, dear, it was on the cat." Molly said.

At that moment, the girl noticed the two boys and her eyes widened, while the boys took notice of her.

"Hello." Harry greeted.

"Hi." Jacob greeted lastly.

The girl said nothing, only stared at the boys with wide eyes. She started to back away a little before bolting away. This got Fred and George to chuckle while Jacob and Harry were left confused.

"W-what did we do?" Harry asked.

"Was it something we said?" Jacob asked as he looked at Ron.

"Ginny." Ron said, introducing his younger sister. "She's been talking about you both all summer. A bit annoying, really."

Jacob then got a thought in his head. 'Actually, i need to let Hermione know soon that me and Harry are okay, and are staying at Weasleys for the rest of the summer.'

The kitchen door then opened and inside entered Arthur Weasley. A tall man with red hair, his robes looked dusty and travel-torn, while 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!"

Harry turned to Ron. "Raids?" He asked.

"What does your dad do?" Jacob then asked.

"Dad works in the Ministry of Magic, in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office." Ron explained.

"The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts...?" Harry 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 then made his way back to the kitchen, kissed his wife on the cheek and sat down on the kitchen table to get ready for breakfast. 

"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 and then pointed to his brother. "And this is my brother Jacob."

"Hello." Jacob greeted. "Nice to meet you."

"Good lord. Are you really?" Mr. Weasley said impressed. "You boys look just like your father, though i have to admit, you, Jacob, have a little bit of your mother in you."

The boys looked at each other. 'Definitely knew our parents.' They thought.

"Well, Ron has told us all about you, of course. When did they get here?"

As Mr. Weasley started to eat, Mrs. Weasley turned around to face her husband and placed her hands on her waist.

"This morning." She said darkly. "Your sons flew that enchanted car of yours to Surrey and back last night."

"Did you really?" Mr. Weasley looked at the kids excited. "How did it go?" This earned him a smack on the shoulder from his wife, while the kids tried not to laugh. "I mean-- That was very wrong indeed, boys. Very wrong of you." He tried again with a more stern voice.

"I mean, if you think about it, if they hadn't done that, we wouldn't be here now." Jacob added cheekily, and the other kids agreed.

"Well... i suppose you're right about that." Mrs. Weasley said, then got back to work.

"Now, Harry and Jacob, you two must know all about Muggles." Mr. Weasley said to the boys.

"Well, we technically lived like Muggles before coming to Hogwarts." Jacob said while Harry nodded.

"Right. Tell me, what exactly is the function of a rubber duck?"

"Oh, um--" Harry was about to answer.

But before he could, they turned to the living room window when they heard owl screeching noise closing in.

"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 Potters and the Weasley cringed when they saw the owl smacking on the window.

"Fetch it, will you, Percy, please?" 

Percy stood up from his seat and walked to the window, when Errol jumped through the open window.

"Errol." Percy said as he took the mail from the old owl.

"He's always doing that." Ron said.

"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.

Jacob raised his head as everybody looked at Percy again, seeing him holding another letter in his hand.

"It's from Hermione."

Harry, Ron, Fred and George smirked slightly at this, though Jacob ignored them and took the letter.

'Did she know we'd be here already?' Jacob though as he opened the letter and started to read it quietly.

"Dear Jacob, if you're there,

I hope this letter reaches you. I've sent you maybe 5 letters but you haven't answered any of them. I've been worried something's happened to you and Harry. If you're at Weasleys, will you please let me know you're okay soon?

From, Hermione."

This got Jacob to feel really bad as he hadn't gotten any letters from his best friend because of Dobby and not been able to communicate with her.

'I really need to make up for this mess soon.' He thought. Jacob then got an idea and smiled slightly. 'Maybe something special for her birthday. Yeah, that'll do it.'

"What'd she say?" Harry asked his brother.

"She said she's been worried and asked to let her know if we're okay. And i think we should do it soon."

"Oh, no." Molly could be heard saying as she was going through Harry's list of books needed for the next school 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." She said.

Jacob had also started to look through the list before he got to the book list.

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

Jacob burrowed his eyebrows as he was confused by the list.

'Wait, were getting each book from the same guy?' He thought. 'And who is this Gilderoy Lockhart, anyway?'

Molly then looked at her family and the twins once she finished reading Harry's list. "There's only one place we're going to get all of this. Diagon Alley."

⚯ ͛ϟ

Later, the Potter twins and the Weasley family were lined up in front of the Weasley's fireplace, wearing cloaks, getting ready to travel to Diagon Alley. Mrs. Weasley took a cup that was hanging on the fireplace with powder inside it.

"Right." Mrs. Weasley said as she walked to the twins. "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.

"I think i read about it one time last year." Jacob said.

"Of course you did." Harry and Ron said together while 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 then got inside the fireplace. 

"In you go." She gave the cup to Ron. 

Ron took a fist full of powder into his hand. Mrs. Weasley then 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 with a clear voice.

He then dropped the powder down, and suddenly he was consumed by a green fire. 

The twins' eyes widened at this, and the next thing they knew, the fire died down and Ron was gone.

"Is that how wizards travel?" Jacob asked shocked.

"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 before Jacob pushed him a little. 

"Be brave, brother." He whispered. 

Harry walked inside the fireplace slowly.

"In you go." Mrs. Weasley encouraged. "That's it. Mind your head."

When Harry was fully standing inside, Molly then gave the cup to Harry.

"That's right. Now, that your Floo powder." 

And like Ron had done before, Harry took a fist full of powder into his hand.

"That's it, very good. Now, don't forget to speak very, very clearly." She instructed last time before backing away again, and Harry got himself ready.

"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, everyone saw Harry was gone. But they also noticed Harry said something weird.

"What did he say, dear?" Molly asked Arthur as she turned to look at her family and Jacob.

"Diagonally." Arthur replied, and everybody else nodded in agreement.

"I thought he did."

Jacob then got an idea. A stupid idea, he thought, but an idea either way. 

"I'll go after him." He said.

He walked inside the fireplace and Molly got next to him, worried. 

"Are you sure, dear?"

"You could end up who-knows-where." Percy said.

"Well, i got to try, don't i?" Jacob said. "Besides, i can't leave my brother alone. I'm sure we'll end up somewhere in Diagon Alley."

With this, Molly gave Jacob the cup, who took a fist full of Floo powder, and got himself ready, as Molly once again backed away.

"Diagonally!" Jacob said with a straight face.

Jacob quickly dropped the powder and let the green fire consume 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.