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Chapter Text

Grindelwald was possibly even more pathetic than before, the cell only a little harder to break into, but the man had aged like 50 years in the past few years.   

“Perhaps we’re doing him a favour,” Harrison said aloud, to Tom who was standing next to him, also looking at the man with an almost uneasy fascination into what went wrong.  

Grindelwald lifted his head, looking at them with an air of unease, “Still trying to find your answer about the mark?”  

“No, we’re past that.” Harrison said. He had partially forgotten about the mark, his power now as much part of him as it could be without explicitly knowing what it does. “We’re here to gift you something.”  

“And it’s not optional,” Tom added, speaking up for the first time.  

“Ah yes,” Grindelwald said, “ Voldemort.”  

“This isn’t about that,” Tom said and He forcefully grabbed Grindelwald’s hand, shoving the bracelet around the wrist, Harrison looked at the badly healed wound on the hand, where had once been a finger. “You’ll wear this for the rest of your existence.” He said, as he waved his hand, the bracelet tightening and getting stuck on the wrist.  

“Dumbledore?” Grindelwald ask and Tom smiled.  

“Very good, I knew you’d recognise his trade mark in a second.”  

“But why would you help him?” Grindelwald asked.  

Harrison scoffed, “We’re not helping him,” He said, “Your magic is quite fairly pathetic and won’t mix well with Dumbledore’s. However, he’ll recognise it and it’ll throw him off.”  

Grindelwald looked at him fully for the first time then, “You’re using me, to throw him off?”  

“Very well,” Tom said, “I knew you’d understand.”  

“But why do you need to throw him off?”  

“We’re not here to discuss politics with you, Grindelwald.” Harrison said, “So stop asking questions or we’ll take another finger.”  

“Something changed between you two.” Grindelwald muttered, “The whole power dynamic is off.” He looked between them, “You used to listen to him.” He said as he looked directly at Harrison. “Follow his command, even as he told you to take a finger.”  

“I still would.” Harrison said, defensively.  

“I guess you would.” Grindelwald admitted than snorted. “You’ve done what Dumbledore and I once did, decided to do this together? You’re all both of you need? Take over the world?”  

“You two were pathetic,” Harrison said, slowly. “It’s not even close to comparable.”  

“So you’re not an overly-powerful teenager who decides to help a dark-lord on his quest to power?” Grindelwald asked and Harrison snorted, as Tom raised an eyebrow.  

Both of them knowing full well this was the only source of entertainment the man would get and they wouldn’t even give him it.  

“Whatever you say, Grindel.” Harrison said, “I’m sure I’ll think back of this exact moment if I’ll ever regret it.”  

“Want me to obliviate it, darling?” Tom asked, all sweet and Harrison chuckled.  

“Might as well, no use in remembering.” He sighed, “Should we leave? We’ve done what we came here to do.”  

Tom nodded and Harrison made sure to walk just that much closer to Tom as Grindelwald watched them leave.  

~  

“I’d almost feel bad for him,” Harrison sighed, “Wishing our relationship would fail so he can justify his own failure in relationships.”  

“I suppose we have changed a lot, though.” Tom said, “He was right about that. I would’ve never let you stand there and take the lead back then.”  

“Now you love it,” Harrison chuckled as he sat down on a cozy armchair in one of the many sitting rooms of Slytherin Castle. “You changed, but we knew that, it’s why I gathered all the horcruxes.”  

“That you did.” Tom said, “Hopefully we can see if we threw Dumbledore off properly tomorrow at breakfast.” He said, as Harrison got a flash of Tom’s thoughts, something about Dumbledore maybe not showing up and having to ensure more Death Eater guards were installed on the posts that was in charge of Grindelwald.  

Harrison hummed, “Hopefully.” He agreed. He was still getting used of getting random flashes of Tom's thoughts and, although quite strange, it felt like a next step of sorts. Something he nor Tom should shy away from.  

Besides, Tom had become totally used to basically hearing all of his thoughts, so he could get used to catching a few thoughts most conversations.  

He didn't think before the words slipped out, “A year ago, did you think we'd be here?” He asked almost cautiously, he remembered the start of this school year, testing out the imperius cursed and being surprised how the bond between them was used while casting the spell on each other.   

However, now as Harrison looked at Tom it didn't surprise him, anything Tom asked of him was something that would be seen as a command he'd want to follow in his brain. The curse would only strengthen that.  

He also remembered the uncertainty at the start, afraid that Tom would think him to be too young at some point, not feeling like this was a good idea for well the entirety of the Wizarding World. He had known the story between Grindelwald and Dumbledore, of course, and somehow he had compared them to the older wizards before.  

Now, all of that seemed stupid, because nothing could even come close to separating them.  

Tom gave him a surprised look, followed immediately by a soft smile, “You know I didn't.” He said softly, approaching Harrison, kneeling in front of the chair he was sitting in and he grabbed one of Harrison's hands.   

“Back then, I never thought I could love.” Tom said, “I didn't expect to ever truly get here, all I could hope is that you would forgive me for never quite returning what you gave me. And I was going to make it right, by treating you exactly how you should be treated.” He kissed Harrison's hand, “Instead I did fall in love and I allowed someone in further than I ever thought I would allow myself. Yet, I feel this calm, knowing that it is you who can see straight through me.”  

Harrison didn't expect that, he had expected a straight forward answer, apparently Tom was feeling just as open to a conversation like this as he was.  

“I was sure you'd get over me at some point, either because I bored you with school drama or because the age gap freaked you out.” Harrison said.  

Tom raised an eyebrow at that, although Harrison could feel a wave of understanding, maybe even agreement. “ And now?” He asked.  

“Now I know that I shouldn't have ever feared such a thing,” He placed a careful hand on Tom's cheek, Tom leaning into his hand immediately, as Harrison smiled down at him. “Leaving you would feel like leaving a part of myself and I know you feel the same way.”  

Then it was full agreement from Tom's side of the link, as the man sat there, his hand still holding onto Harrison's. “And that is why we couldn't ever be like Grindelwald and Dumbledore.” Tom said, “They had to make a blood bond to have any sort of bond, meanwhile the deities took care of that for us.”  

“That they did,” Harrison agreed.  

Harrison's hand travelled upwards towards Tom's hair then, slowly stroking it backwards before playing with the slight curls he tried to hide by magically styling. He loved how the man allowed it in moments like this, as he was just looking at Harrison with this sense of love and adoration that Harrison was unsure he would ever get used to.  

He heard some of Tom's thoughts, something about loving these moments and then something unclear that Harrison wish he could've understood fully, but he was glad that Tom agreed with him on moments such as these, though.  

“We have to go back to Hogwarts at some point.” Harrison muttered, “You have a class to teach tomorrow morning and I have a class.”  

“I'm teaching your class?” Tom said, not sure if Harrison realised that.  

“Exactly,” Harrison said.  

“We can just stay here and go back early tomorrow.”  

“You and I both know we're not ‘going back early’ then.” Harrison argued, “As much as I don't mind coming late, you can't your way too known for punctuality and caring about that shit.”  

“How my reputation ruins fun once more.” Tom said sadly and Harrison snickered.  

“You've done that to yourself, Tommy.” He said and Tom shot him a glare before getting up, pulling Harrison up with him.  

“Let's go back to Hogwarts then, darlin’.”  

~  

Harrison woke up the next morning feeling like annoying Tom, maybe to prove a point of what he meant with the whole ‘coming late’ thing. As much as he wanted to make a point by not showing up at breakfast, so that he could truly ‘oversleep’. He kind of wanted to see how Dumbledore looked after the bracelet ordeal.  

As he walked into the great hall he met Tom's eyes across the hall.  

And Harrison could feel that Tom knew exactly what he was up to, what he was going to do later and the man just rolled his eyes.  

He sat down next to Terence, immediately getting pulled into a conversation about a Transfiguration assignment.   

“She told us that we had to turn a rat into a mirror.” Terence said, “But we had to use real rats and catch them ourselves? Like does she want us to hunt?”  

“Probably joking,” Harrison said, “Although it's not April yet.”  

Terence snorted, “I sure as hell hope it is a joke, I mean I didn't even try to get a rat.”  

“You're ruining the joke for her.” Harrison said and Terence sent a stinging hex his way, Harrison could've easily shielded himself, they both knew that, but he didn't, instead allowing it to hit.  

It was then Dumbledore walked in and Harrison could feel the entire atmosphere shift. Dumbledore had definitely noticed; he looked like he hadn't slept for a minute last night.  

But there was something else in the way he looked around, almost searching as his eyes swooped around the hall before he sat down at his usual spot at the teacher's table.  

It seemed like more people noticed Dumbledore's state, people whispered in confusion, curiosity and some in worry.  

The people around Harrison just looked at him, though. He shrugged, not ready to fully give that away yet.  

I think we can clearly say he is in an unstable state now. Tom's voice echoed through his mind and Harrison tried to reply.  

Hopefully enough so to keep him on his toes till the end of the last task, when Voldemort returns.  

Tom's eyes met his and he knew the man heard what he had said through their link, a slight nod of agreement before he turned back to McGonagall.  

Harrison in turn turned back to his friends to see Fred and George staring at him, a look on their faces that basically said ‘We know you're full of shit and did do this.’  

Harrison supposed his brothers did truly know him to well.  

The rest of breakfast passed relatively quickly as usual on a class day and Fred and George asked him if he was joining them when they left for DADA.  

He shook his head no, he would still try to annoy Tom.  

~  

He stumbled into the classroom and managed to look somewhat apologetic.  

“Mr Black deciding to grace us with your presence even after missing the first 40 minutes of class?” Tom raised an unimpressed and Harrison smiled at him.   

“Sorry professor-” Harrison looked around the classroom, “I accidently planned a meeting the first thirty minutes of your class.”  

Tom raised an eyebrow, knowing he was full of shit.  

“Quite frankly, you should have planned that better.” Tom said, although Harrison could hear the amusement, see the quite uplifting of his lips. “Now what do I do with you?”  

“I mean it would help your class if you just let me in and then we discuss this after class, would you wish so.” Harrison advised and Tom snorted.  

“Smart arse,” Tom said, “Sit down, Harrison. I just knew you weren't going to show up this morning. Don't make it a habit.”  

Harrison rolled his eyes, “Of course not, professor, Marv, whatever.”  

“  

Harrison did stay after class at the request of Tom.  

“I had to otherwise they could fire me for ‘favouring students.”  

“Everyone here favours me.” Harrison said and Tom raised an eyebrow.  

“You know it's different because we had a prior connection.” Tom argued, “And don't even mention Sirius and Remus, because I feel like they're better at being neutral to you than I am.”  

Harrison smiled at that, “I guess, sir.” He said, “So what now, detention? An extra essay?”  

“I'll give you a forty-minute detention to make up for the forty minutes you were late.” Tom said, “Tonight?”  

“Whatever you want, professor.” Harrison sighed, as if it was a hardship. As if he and Tom didn't already have plans tonight.  

“You should rush to your next class,” Tom said, amused, “And I should let the second years come in for their class.”  

“Right,” Harrison said, “Fuck, you did this on purpose.” He muttered, “I'm going to be late for History class.”  

“Have fun with Remus!” Tom shouted after him as he ran out of the classroom.  

Luckily, Remus was more forgiving than Tom was, using the argument that Harrison had taught one of the highest scoring years in Hogwarts in the History subject himself, so he should be allowed to miss a part of the class.  

Even the students in his year who would want to argue it was unfair, couldn't really, because even Dumbledore would admit the man had a point.  

So Harrison sat down quietly next to Cedric and listened to Remus telling the stories he told the sixth years last year, secretly he doubted that last year would stay the highest scoring year, because Remus’ explanation sounded a lot clearer to him.  

~  

Harrison and the other students got summoned to the quidditch field, apparently they would get an actual explanation for the next task.  

“I thought we'd go blindly into this one again,” Cedric said as he caught up to Harrison on his way to the quidditch field. “Merlin, I miss quidditch.”  

Harrison scrunched his nose up at the use of ‘Merlin’ in such a way, it was not often people slipped around him. Cedric's embarrassed face said he'd noticed it as well. It wasn't that Harrison really minded, but it always felt a bit.. Awkward. He hummed in agreement, though. “I didn't think I'd actually miss it this much,” he admitted. “Thought I'd be busy enough either way.”  

Cedric nodded, “Maybe you'll be just that much worse at playing when you return.” He joked.   

Harrison snorted softly, “Yeah right.”  

When they arrived at the field, Bagman was there to explain that they would grow a maze with different creatures in it, the middle of the field would hold a cup, whoever got there first would win the tournament.  

“That's it? You just win?” Harrison asked and Bagman looked at him.  

“Complaints?”  

“No I just thought that it would be-” Harder? More dangerous? Almost life-threatening?  

“You have to understand, Mr. Black, that the creatures in the maze will not be friendly.” Bagman said, “And there will only be one winner.”  

Harrison nodded slowly, “Right.” He said.  

“Any questions?” Bagman asked, looking around the group.  

“Anything particular we should prepare for?” Cedric asked.  

“I'm afraid I can't say.” The man answered and Cedric nodded.  

“Then none.” Cedric said.  

The man nodded, “Good, I'm excited to see which one of you will claim the prize.”  

“We leave?” Viktor asked with a heavy accent and Bagman nodded.  

“Except-” Barty Crouch Sr. said, Harrison hadn't seen him standing behind Bagman until now. He supposed it made sense, they were direct colleagues, both trying to make the tournament go as smoothly as possible. “Harrison, would you mind coming with me and taking a walk?”  

Harrison gave the man a surprised look, but slowly nodded. Cedric gave him a curious look, the other two already turning and walking away.  

“Just go back to the common room,” Harrison said to the Hufflepuff, “Tell the others I'll be back in a bit.”  

Cedric nodded, nobody seemed to ever really deny a direct request from Harrison.  

“Remember the,” He mentioned to where his tattoo was hidden under his clothing, a reminder that the link he had given everyone was two ways, would he get into any trouble.  

He nodded, “I will, don't worry about it.” He answered.  

Crouch motioned for him to follow, splitting up with the rest, walking the other direction towards the black forest.  

“The Hufflepuff- Cedric, he's a good one.” Crouch said, “You've surrounded yourself with good people, Black.”  

Harrison hummed in agreement.  

“That's why this conversation pains me.” Crouch said, “You remind me of my son, Harrison, actually he was quite good friends with your uncle I believe.”  

And Harrison had heard that Regulus and Barty had been friends in Hogwarts, he swore he had even seen them around Malfoy Manor together sometime.  

“It's sad to see good, strong forces leave towards the wrong side of the Wizarding World.” Barty Crouch mumbled. “You could've been all we needed against- How do you call him? Marvolo Gaunt?”  

“What are you on about?” Harrison asked, making it sound more threatening than he meant to.  

“I mean that Voldemort manipulated my son into going to the wrong side, the only reason he didn't die was because I ensured he would stay out of Azkaban.” His eyes flared dangerously and Harrison took a step away from the man. “I protected him, but then he escaped and I know it has to do with Marvolo Gaunt and you.”  

Harrison breathed in deeply, “I understand you've lost your son, Crouch.” He said, “But I wouldn't go around threatening and accusing people, it's not how you gain allies.”  

“Dumbledore accuses you.” Crouch said, “I've never known the man to be wrong.”  

“Then perhaps you haven't been listening.” Harrison muttered, softly.  

It was all so sudden, Crouch wand was under his chin, he was trapped against a tree and he hadn't even noticed they were at the edge of the forbidden forest yet.  

“I could kill you right now,” The man said, lowly. “Or use the Imperius Curse, I've never known anyone who fought it properly yet.”  

“There's a lot of people who would go to the end of the world looking for me if I disappeared.” Harrison said, calmly.  

“And so, you wouldn't disappear.” Crouch said, whispering an imperio afterwards. “You'll be following my command, we'll take them out from the inside. And when I find my son he'll be right back where he's supposed to be.”  

“Acting like your house elf?” Harrison questioned, through gritted teeth, the curse was hard to fight he would give the man that much, but it was as if something in the back of his mind willed him to not listen.  

“So you do know.” Crouch said, smiling slightly. It was a scary smile, promising no good. His wand left Harrison's throat and he turned around, back to Harrison, apparently trusting his imperius curse enough to turn his back like that. “Now what to do with you, who do you want to betray first? The Hufflepuff?”  

Harrison willed his magic to curse the man, one controlled spell to take him out.  

But the force of the curse stopped him.  

The man was gifted at casting Imperio's he'd give him that much.  

“You wouldn't fucking dare.” Harrison whispered.  

Crouch turned towards him, “Or- We start big? Take Marvolo himself out? Everyone knows about his.. Soft spot.”  

“Does Dumbledore know you're doing this?” Harrison asked softly.  

“Dumbledore?” The man laughed, “He was the one who asked me to get you back in line to start with. He's tried everything to get you to work with him, yet you never obey. He told me to do whatever it takes.”  

Somehow Harrison doubted that was what the man said, but at the same time he could never be too sure.  

He tried to reach out via the tattoos, but even that felt hopeless, it was a long way to the castle and he didn't know how much longer he could fight all this.  

So he did the last thing he could think of, the only thing only he could control, always. He released all his magic at once, it lashed out. The man flew back with the force of it.  

Harrison felt some of the restraints on his control loosen, allowing him to twitch his wrist, a simple binding spell would do for now.  

“You're smart.” Harrison said, “Everyone knows you were taking a walk with me, making you disappear would be suspicious.”  

The man's look of anger turned into fear slowly, as Harrison felt his control almost fully return, the shock of the situation allowing the curse to loosen up enough to hand him back the reigns.  

“Now I want you to talk,” Harrison said as he mentally sent Tom another come quickly, please message. “What did Dumbledore say exactly?”  

“It- it was after he heard you and Marvolo talk with Regulus in the break. He said that you would never willingly agree with us, not with the groups you’re in. He suggested I take the measures I did with my son.”  

“You took Barty's life away.”  

“He did that himself.” The man spat.  

“Why today?” Harrison asked.  

“A couple of days Dumbledore was panicked and said we had to act soon if we wanted any chance of getting it done.” Crouch said, “I should've known better than going up against you.” He said. “But I can't regret it.”  

“You shouldn't have.” Harrison agreed, “The most beautiful part is, you were right.” He said, sure that whatever happened Crouch wouldn't leave here with enough of a consciousness to truly expose them.  

“My son-” Crouch changed the subject, “Is he okay?”  

“He is now, without you.” Harrison said, as he sat down opposite of where Crouch was slumped and bound to a tree. “You know you're not doing the whole ‘parenting’ thing well if your son feels safer with the Dark Lord than with you.”  

“I never meant to-”  

“Don't give me that shit,” Harrison said, “That's what my biological parents would say.” He muttered. “You did mean to, otherwise you wouldn't have.”  

“Harrison?” Someone shouted from just outside the forest.   

“I'm here!” He shouted back and just a couple seconds later an entire group of people were there, apparently the tattoo thing had worked.  

He looked sheepish, “Sorry thought I was going to you know- die for a bit, but I'm good now.” He said to his friends, he truly was surrounded by good people.  

“What happened?” Tom asked as he sat down in front of Harrison, inspecting him for injuries.  

“Barty Crouch Sr. Is really fucking good with casting Imperio's.” Harrison muttered. “Apparently Dumbledore is trying anything to get me to help them.”  

Tom's eyes narrowed on the man bound to the tree, “Dumbledore used Barty Crouch Sr?” He asked, the man's eyes widened.  

“He- well-”   

“He lets you do his dirty work?” Tom asked and the man nodded after a bit.  

“It started after-” Crouch wanted to say, but Tom just silenced him with a spell before looking at the group of students watching and he sighed.   

“You're a lucky man, Crouch.” He muttered.  

“ Give him to Barty for revenge.” Harrison hissed and Tom looked back.  

“ We can't use a Ministry member disappearance now.”  

“Or can we?” Harrison asked, “ If we want people to think Voldemort returned it is only logical now the escaped Death Eaters would do something.”  

Tom nodded slowly, “Alright here's what's happening,” He announced. “Fred, George you're with me. Diggory, Higgs, you pretend you went to look for Harrison and found him here passed out. The rest return to the castle now, if anyone asks you all went for a walk around the lake or something, alright?”  

Everyone but the four left slowly, not questioning anything Tom said.  

“Hit me with a curse.” Harrison said, “Something not too harsh, but still believable.”  

“What?” Tom asked, “I'm not going to fucking curse you.” He said. “If Dumbledore is behind this we don't need anyone to convince.”  

“Until Crouch turns up dead.” Harrison said harshly, “Make me look like a victim rather than a murderer.”  

Tom sighed, but hit him with some easy cutting jinxes. Enough to make him look like he had truly been attacked, yet nothing that would scar. “Why not let your friends do that?”  

“They wouldn't.” Harrison said. “Maybe Fred and George, but you would try to kill them for it.”  

Tom shrugged, “Make them believe you.”  

“I'm a brilliant actor, Tom.” He said softly, he felt a drip of blood on his temple.  

Tom motioned for Fred and George to help him and even though Harrison was curious about what the man would make them do, he really wanted to get back inside and just forget all about this.   

“The cut looks painful,” Terence said sympathetically and Harrison shrugged.  

“It stings.” He said, “But I asked for it.”  

“You're making yourself sound like a victim of domestic abuse.” Cedric said, “I knew we couldn't trust fucking Crouch.”  

“You made me remember the tattoos, though.” Harrison said, “Although perhaps a bit unnecessary.”  

“We were shocked to say the least.” Terence admitted and Harrison nodded in understanding.  

“Wait Harrison,” Cedric said as he stopped fully, “Turn to me.”  

Harrison did as he was told and Cedric managed to cast some shit healing spells, making the cuts look like they were ‘bad wounds that were tried to be healed by an average wizard without any supplies.’ according to Terence.  

“It would be unrealistic that we found you bleeding and just took you with us without trying to fix a part ourselves first.”  

And Harrison supposed that was fair, so he allowed the magic to wash over him- not that he had much of a choice anymore, since the spells were already cast- before they continued walking. Cedric and Terence both making quite a show of escorting him to the hospital wing.  

Madam Pomfrey rushed him to a bed and quickly properly cleaned his cuts, having to sadly reopen them to do so, before properly closing them.  

“This is the first time I've seen you in here without a magical exhaustion, I think, Heir Black.” She said as he quietly thanked her. “Honestly, I don't know how you do it with a core the size of yours.”  

“It's a talent, Madam.” He said and she chuckled.  

“Not one you should practice often.”   

He smiled at her, “I'd agree with that.”  

“Well, for what it's worth,” She said, “I'm glad that for this once I could truly help you without just sitting around waiting for you to wake.” Then she smiled at him, “Some of the effects of the spell should wear off in about five minutes, it might itch, but you're free to leave when it does. However, I do believe Dumbledore had some questions about the incident.”  

He smiled back at her and she turned around to treat some second year with a broken arm.  

“Does my face look okay?” Harrison asked as he noticed Cedric and Terence staring.  

Cedric was the first to nod, “Yeah, I just wish I didn't have to see that reopening, it was brutal.” He muttered, “Especially because she thought the cuts were deeper than they actually were.”  

“You're as good as new, though.” Terence said, “Blaise shouldn't have a reason to complain.” And Harrison could hear the unspoken Tom doesn't have to feel too sorry.  

“Where is he?” Harrison asked, honestly it was funny that Tom had skipped over Blaise, maybe some buried jealousy on Tom's side. Or possessiveness as Tom would say.   

Harrison did feel his skin start to slightly prickle almost then, the start of an itch that he wouldn't be able to get rid of for a bit.  

He took that as a sign that he could leave, shouting his goodbye and thanks once more to Madam Pomfrey, who was busy with another student now, before leaving with Terence and Cedric.  

They walked with him until they arrived at Dumbledores office, Harrison thought he could better get it over with.  

He walked up the spiral staircase to Dumbledore's office with a slight curiosity of what the man would try to tell him now, or what questions he already knew the answer to he would ask.  

“Come in!” The man shouted as Harrison knocked on the door, Harrison slowly walked into the office.  

“Ah, Harrison! Good as new, I see?”  

“Heir Black,” Harrison corrected, “And it itches, but I'm fine indeed.”  

“I'm afraid I must ask some questions to understand the situation.”  

Harrison sat down in the chair opposite of Dumbledore and nodded, “Go on, but do it shortly, I want to go rest. I didn't exactly expect to get attacked In the safest school in the Wizarding World.”  

“ You were talking to Barty Crouch Sr when it happened, correct?” Dumbledore asked and Harrison nodded. “The man didn't show up to my scheduled meeting with him, I am deeply worried.”  

“He didn't do anything when I got attacked.”  

“Did you see the attackers face?” Dumbledore asked and Harrison shook his head no, he couldn't tell Dumbledore it was Crouch, not if Dumbledore had indeed asked the man to do it. They were both lying here, but breaking the lies and being honest would in this situation cause a bigger mess.  

“I don't remember seeing a face, to be fair, he did hit me with a cutting spell on my face twice, there was quite a lot of blood.”  

Dumbledore winced, “That must've been very painful for you.”  

“Although, this isn't the first attack this year, so you might have to start looking for the one attacker.”  

“You think this is the same attacker?” He asked.  

Harrison nodded then sighed, “Can I go?” He asked and Dumbledore tried to stop him.  

“No- I have more-”  

“Headmaster, I'd like to lay down for a bit if that's okay with you.”  

He could see the disappointment on Dumbledore's face as the man slowly nodded, letting him go.  

~  

“Manage to deal with the old bastard?” Harrison asked as he walked into Tom's office at Slytherin Castle. He only paused in the doorway as he noticed Tom wasn't alone, but was currently with Barty and the Lestrange twins. “Um, hi?” He said awkwardly as he realised he had been talking about Barty's dad when he said that.  

“You're face looks good,” Tom said as a greeting.   

Harrison snorted, “That's one way of welcoming me, Madam Pomfrey patched me up quite nicely.”  

“The old bastard is in the dungeons.” Barty chimed in, it wasn't often a Death Eater dared to do so. “Quite a nice present.”  

Harrison nodded, he genuinely liked Barty. “Tom's nothing if not fair in moments such as these.”  

“You needed something?” Tom asked, looking at him entirely bored, but Harrison could feel the concern under the question. The man had quite harshly hit him with some cutting spells on his face, to be fair.  

“I'm okay, I just wanted to-” He cut himself off and smiled, “All good.” He decided before sitting down on the couch in Tom's office. Tom smiled at him slightly before telling Barty that he needed the man out of his dungeon before the end of the third task, preferably dead. He then told the Lestrange brothers to help Barty with anything concerning his dad.  

It didn't take long before Tom hurriedly dismissed them and Harrison gave him a questioning look, Tom just approached him and when he was standing in front of Harrison, Harrison looking up to see the man properly. He moved his hand to hover just above the skin he had cut earlier, the skin Harrison could still feel itching almost unstoppable. “Can I?” He asked and Harrison didn't think he'd ever said no or Tom had ever outright asked for a confirmation.  

But maybe it felt different now, now that Tom had caused it.   

“Always.” Harrison answered and Tom looked relief as magic flowed between them the itch lifting for the first time in an hour as Tom's magic washed over the places Madam Pomfrey had healed. When Tom seemed satisfied he put his hand on Harrison's cheek, Harrison kissed the skin of his palm. “Thanks, love.”  

“I hated doing that.” Tom said as he sat down next to Harrison.  

“It was necessary.” Harrison said, “I told Dumbledore there was a third person there, who cursed me and apparently attacked Crouch. Or that's what I tried to explain vaguely.”  

“Did he believe you?”   

“Does it matter?” Harrison asked, “It's all about the story, about others believing us. I don't think Dumbledore ever truly believes us.”  

“That's true,” Tom allowed. “Shit, I never want to hurt you ever. Don't make me do that again.”  

“You know I can't promise that,” Harrison smiled sadly. “Besides it barely hurt, the healing from Madam Pomfrey, though, that stung.”  

Tom actually managed a smile at that, “She did always have her own methods of healing.”  

“I think we should spread the story of the attackers on you and Terence, connect that to this.” Harrison said, “It's the only way to make people thing Crouch would've just disappeared by an already existing problem, which is already something the aurors are investigating.”  

“Everyone thinks that was a Death Eater attack,” Tom said, “You got a lot of shit for letting them get away already.”  

“It works, though, and disconnects both of us from Voldemort.”  

“You can use Rita, publish another article about the general problem more so than the specifics of your attack, pose the question of it being the same attacker.”  

Harrison nodded, “I suppose she wants to interview me anyways, because of the whole final task thing.”  

Tom nodded and Harrison leant his head on Tom's shoulder then, he could feel the wave of uncertainty still and he just put his hand on top of Tom's. “I promise, I'm fine, you didn't hurt me any more than during our duels.” He then quickly added, “And don't start refusing to duel me now.”  

Tom chuckled at that, “I'll trust your judgement about being fine.” He said, “I'm just glad I didn't scar your face.”  

Harrison noticed Tom's hand tracing his own scar through his clothing and Harrison sighed, “I think your scar is badarse.” He muttered, “Now stop being self-conscious it doesn't fit the whole Dark Lord act.”  

Tom managed to look shocked at that, even as Harrison shot him an innocent look before laughing.  

~  

Harrison did do an interview pretty quickly afterwards, Rita had indeed wanted to interview him as well as the other Champions anyways.  

“So, Harrison Black,” She said, “It is almost the third task and you're still in the lead.”  

“Surprisingly, no?” Harrison asked, with a smile. “It is truly unlike I imagined, as from the start my goal was simply to get through the Triwizard tournament.”  

“Ah yes, the mystery of your entry.” Rita said, “I would say you're faring quite well so far.”  

“I am,” Harrison admitted, “Of course, I am lucky with all my past experiences and therefore think I am quite ready for the third task as well, but I still feel weirdly bad about it. Somebody wanted me to compete in a deathly championship.”  

“If you put it like that, I can see why it would be nerve wrecking for you.” Rita said. “Talking about weird experiences or anything like that, I wanted to ask- if you want to share- about your attack. I think we all heard about it somewhere.”  

“It was truly terrifying,” Harrison said, “Of course, a couple of months ago my mentor, Marvolo, got attacked with a cutting spell. Then my friend and now I got hit, luckily by weaker spells. The attacker seemed surprise by Crouch Sr. Presence. He managed to knock me out, when Cedric found me- he had been waiting for me to finish my conversation with Crouch- Both Crouch and the attacker were gone.”  

“I heard the spells were quickly healed,” Rita said, “You were lucky to have no scarring.”  

“Indeed,” Harrison agreed, “I do have to give my thanks to Madam Pomfrey for acting so quickly, the woman absolutely helped me in every way possible. Healing me in truly record time.”  

Rita listened patiently and nodded, “Well, let us move back to happier subjects.” She said afterwards. “How do you feel going into the third task with such support from the people around you, compared to the first task?”  

“I think I look at the whole situation more optimistic now, of course being forced into a tournament like this wasn't easy, but then people started blaming me for pulling the spotlight from the Hufflepuffs, which I truly had no intent in doing so.” Harrison said, “I think now all of that cleared up, everybody realised that I wasn't doing this for more fame and, if anything, it only added quite some extra stress. So now, with the support of people and less misunderstanding, it definitely feels more positive, even if I of course, would rather sit in the crowd cheering on Cedric than compete, still.”  

“For what it's worth, I think we're all looking forward to seeing you compete again.” Rita said and it felt definitive. The end of this entire mess, almost. “Do you have anything you'd like to say to my readers?”  

“Just to stay safe, help each other, whether it's with facing a bully or something bigger. I probably wouldn't be sitting here right now had Cedric not found me.”  

Rita nodded, a serious expression on her face. “Thank you, heir Black.”  

~  

His interview with Rita didn't front page, instead there was an article about the break in at Grindelwald, which Harrison thought was weird because last time they took a finger and if there was an article written about that break in, it hadn't been front page.  

But apparently the Ministry was concerned about the safety of our high security prisons, as there had been three break in/break outs in the past few years.  

Harrison almost felt bad for scaring the entirety of the Wizarding world, he would have thought so had it not been absolutely hilarious Tom and he were the cause of all three of them. The same people the entirety of the very same Wizarding world seemed to trust so fully.  

“How does it feel to have something more important happening than your interview?” Blaise asked as he sat down next to Harrison in the great hall, sitting just a bit closer to him than others would. “I suppose this is about you as well, though.” He muttered then and Harrison snorted.  

“I think it means that someone is finally sorting out their priorities and a teenager's life isn't one.” Harrison said, “It's a good thing.”  

Blaise scanned the article and then put it away, “I suppose it makes your life easier, even if just for a bit.”  

“I guess, although, we still have someone actively trying to curse me and my friends, as well as Dumbledore apparently still trying to turn me into a mindless slave almost.”  

“Like Lily did last year.” Blaise said.  

“Like-” Harrison said, “You think Lily and Dumbledore both might have been working with Peter? Even after Dumbledore carelessly gave her job to me?”  

“Maybe not so much working together as Dumbledore being inspired by her work.” Blaise said, “Whatever, it doesn't matter, we just need to ensure you stay you. Otherwise we're all fucked.”  

“I'm not like some atomic weapon, you know.” Harrison said.  

“You could be,” Blaise answered, “The only person I know who could possibly overpower you, would surrender the moment you're taken, out of pure misery.”  

“Tom wouldn't give up.” Harrison said, twitching his wrist to cast a privacy charm.  

“He wouldn't give up on you.” Blaise agreed. “When that part is gone, he'll either slip back into madness or give up on everything.”  

Harrison shrugged, “He's willing to do a lot for the Wizarding World, that's one of the reasons I managed to get his mind right again.”  

“He'd burn us all to the ground for you.”   

“That's true,” He sighed, “I won't lose my mind, though, I'll be more careful and now I have a whole group of people who I can alert if I have control over my core. They can take my mind, but not my core.”  

“Lily tried.” Blaise said.  

“She tried to steal my magic.” Harrison said, “That's a whole different problem. Whatever, don't get too scared, Blaise. Tom and I got it covered.”  

“I'm not scared for me.” Blaise muttered and Harrison nodded, Blaise had always been just that much more protective over him, it came naturally to the boy, taking an almost parent-like position in their friend group.  

Fred and George sat down opposite of them and with one look at Blaise, Harrison cancelled the privacy charm.  

“There's no way it will stick, Freddie.” George said, “We would have to add this charm extra,” He handed Fred a paper with messy handwriting on it. “But I think that would cancel out Tom's spell.”  

“Tom helped you, again?” Harrison asked almost afraid for what this team up could mean for the Wizarding World.  

“He's such a great pranking partner.” Fred said, “Created his own spell and everything when we told him our plan.”  

“And your plan is..?” Harrison asked.  

“Well, we're a bit too late for our valentine days prank-” George said.  

“- But the time is perfect to plan a birthday prank!” Fred finished his sentence for him.  

“A first of April prank? You're planning almost a month ahead?” Harrison asked, almost afraid for what this could be.  

“Sirius and Remus gave us some tips.” Fred waved him off.  

“So Tom is in on this, Sirius and Remus are as well.” Harrison started, “But I'm not?”  

“We thought you'd be too busy,” Fred admitted.  

George nodded, “You're not exactly known for your free time.”   

“That's true,” Blaise muttered and Harrison elbowed him in his side.  

“But if you want to help-” Fred said, “You're more than welcome to, I think Tom would be more than happy to have someone to work with without having to explain every second word he uses.”  

“I swore I heard him hiss under his breath,” George shivered and Harrison snorted.  

“I'll talk to him.” He answered, “Now what's the plan?”  

Fred and George looked at each other and then around the great hall, “Nice try, Harrikins.” Fred said.  

“Not here.” George said.  

Harrison chuckled, “Even if I cast a privacy charm?”  

Fred and George looked at each other than shook their heads. “No way.”  

“Alright,” Harrison sighed. “Later, then.”  

~  

Later, apparently was right after their Defense class, the three of them staying longer as well as Tom. Fred and George started drawing something on the board and only once they moved away did Harrison see a pillar of sorts, created by their drawings.  

“This is a lot easier with you here Harrison, we dragged Tom into this because we needed someone connected to Hogwarts.” Fred said.  

“Don't worry, it's not anything damaging, or even that much of a prank.” George said.  

Harrison glanced at Tom who nodded in agreement, “I'll think you'll be amazed.” He said quietly.  

“This pillar will have runes as well as charms to make the projection of the sky in the Great hall expand to the floor as well. It will feel as though we're walking in space.” Fred explained, “Thus, the problem we ran to today, we don't want to accidentally cancel out the century old spell in the great hall. Instead, we want it to add onto it. Tom created a spell close to Rowena's, but temporary, yet with that charm the charms would kind of.. Merge.”  

“Besides that,” George then said, “We're using one of Sirius and Remus’ old pranks,” He handed Harrison a book full of Remus’ familiar handwriting, there were some notes in James, Sirius and one other person's writing. “It will make us float.”  

“You want to create an experience of space.. In the great hall?”  

“It would be an epic birthday stunt, wouldn't it?”  

“And almost impossible,” Harrison breathed out, kind of amazed. “I'm not surprised you managed to pull Tom into this.”  

Tom muttered a ‘hey,’ while Fred and George looked at him curiously.  

“Why do you need someone connected to Hogwarts?” Harrison asked.  

“The pillar would be connected to Hogwarts in such a way- only a Heir could change the runes like that, we knew Tom did it before-”  

“-But this big of a change could do a lot.” Tom said, “I quickly noticed it would be hard for me, as a distant relative to Sal.”  

“You, however have a connection to all of them.” Fred said.  

“It's not dangerous in any way?”  

“It's adding onto an already existing rune pattern in the very foundation of Hogwarts.” Tom said, “It's the first thing I checked, the only danger it has is that people will actually put one and one together and realise the heir of all four houses is indeed wandering through the halls.”  

“I haven't tried to hide that in years.”  

“It's a hard fact to accept.” Tom muttered.  

Harrison looked at Fred and George, “You guys never do celebrations halfway do you?”  

Fred and George just smirked in victory.  

“Did you guys start creating the pillar?” Harrison asked and Fred and George nodded. “Can I see?”  

After they got their creation, Harrison wondered how they would add the rune in such a way that the pillar could become part of the very foundation of the great hall, appearing only at their command. When asking this aloud, George announced loudly that they should get the founder portrait- the one with all four of them.  

Tom sighed as he looked at his mess of a classroom, but nodded and not an hour later they had caught the founders up to their plan. Harrison could see the excitement in Rowena's eyes when talking about such a challenging task.  

“It's easy little snake,” Salazar said. “Hogwarts isn't just a castle, it's a magical being- well sort of, think of it like that.”  

“You have to connect its magic, the elves have been doing it for years, how do you think the food just appears?” Helga asked.  

“Okay,” Harrison said, “Show me the charms you were thinking of using.” He said, as he sat down behind Tom's desk, the man not even batting an eye.  

Fred handed him a notebook and Harrison quickly read over the quite large amount of spells such a trick would need. He read over Tom's spell creation, while Tom went over the spell in his head, a soft hum in the back of Harrison's mind.  

“It's the runes in the pillar.” Harrison said, “The spells would cancel each other out because you didn't account for the new spell in the runes.” He said.  

“But wouldn't the third sequence allow the charm to attach either way?” Tom asked.  

“It should,” Harrison agreed. “But it also goes against the mixture of the other runes, the magic will latch into it, but it will not activate the right way.”  

“It's repetitive?” Tom asked as he took a closer look at the pillar.  

“What if-” Harrison said and he looked at Rowena. “We temporarily overlap the runes, while casting the spells?”  

“It could explode,” Rowena muttered, in her usual interested tone. “But if it works it could be extraordinary.”  

“I'm sorry-” Fred said, “We're not following-”  

“This is exactly what we talked about, they understand each other.” George muttered.  

“We could add an anti-gravitational mode to the whole castle, without draining the magic.” Tom said, as if he realised something. “It would be so much bigger.”  

“You want to expand over the whole castle?” Fred asked.  

“It could be a switch.” Harrison said. “We could bring the Astronomy classes to a new level if we reflect the sky.”  

“Look at our son becoming an inventor!” Helga cried suddenly and Godric nodded in agreement.  

“What is happening?” George asked.  

“You two just started something that could change Hogwarts forever.” Harrison explained calmly. “A new era of runic magic and Astronomy, as you will.” He said.  “The spells Tom created need a specific rune code that could potentially be overlapped with the other runes, if we can do that, it could be a permanent switch, one charged by energy rather than atmospheric magic, if you will. It could be the start of Astronomy classes by walking around the stars and experiencing things rather than reading. It could be the start of a more.. Economical era for magic, if you will.”  

“The stone,” Harrison said suddenly, looking at Tom. “We could try and create magic- help magic more directly than the rituals.”  

“Sent it to her- Energy to Magic?” Tom asked and Harrison shrugged.  

“Perhaps.” Harrison muttered, then he smiled at Fred and George. “But let's start by ensuring this is done by the time your birthday is.”  

~  

As Harrison looked around Tom's classroom, Harrison was both glad Tom was actually really good at cleaning charms and wondered why they didn't think of doing this in the Room of Requirement.  

“In my defence, I didn't expect it to actually explode that time.” Harrison muttered and Tom snorted.  

“It's fine,” He said. Word had already spread about the new addition of a portrait of the founders in Tom's classroom, it wasn't unusual for a teacher to have portraits in their classroom, even talking ones. But no one had ever dared to claim a founder portrait and having it accepted by the founders, before Marvolo.  

(Not for the lack of trying on the professors' sides, the founders just tended to leave their portraits and not return, when claimed by one single professor.)  

“Fuck, you're bleeding.” Harrison said as he saw the stain in Tom's robes, he approached Tom, being careful around the pillar with the runes.  

Tom glanced at his arm, shrugging it off, “It's fine, did you see how close we were that time?” He asked, an excited glint in his eyes and Harrison laughed.  

“Really fucking close,” Harrison admitted, as he- not so carefully- sat down in Tom's lap and grabbed his arm to properly look at the wound. He lifted Tom's sleeve, muttering some words and slowly saw the wound close. “Next time will be it, I swear I saw the sky flickering around us already.”  

“Move the other rune just slightly back and power the spell just a little less.” Salazar instructed from where he sat in the founders’ portrait. “I think it should do the trick.”  

Harrison wrote Salazar's instructions in his notebook before he and Tom got to work again.  

~  

He wasn't exactly sure how much time he and Tom spent in Tom's classroom, all he did know was the amazement as the spell worked. He saw Tom's eyes light up as the stars surrounded them.  

“This shouldn't cancel Rowena's spell, right?” Tom asked as he inspected what they had done one more time. “We should be fine, right?”  

“It's a projection.” Harrison said, “We should be fully okay.”  

Tom smiled then so genuine and happy and Harrison couldn't help but mirror the expression as he looked at what could possibly be the first magical creation that used energy instead of magic.  

It felt like the biggest step either of them had ever taken, even if for now it was only for something that Fred and George decided could be cool.  

“Do you think Sirius and Remus’ spell will impact it in anyway?”  

“We need to add a layer of protection for other spells.” Tom agreed, “Hogwarts could use some more of those, either way.”  

As the spells faded around them, the air seemed to hum, the hairs on Harrison's arm stood upwards. He hadn't felt actual goosebumps due to magic in a while. But the air around them right now felt like progression and health for magic as a whole.  

And it was everything Harrison and Tom dreamed of for a long time. Only, they had thought they would need a lot of people and even more rituals.  

Harrison rushed to find Fred and George then, who had the spell Sirius and Remus created, so they could test it all together. They needed to be sure before they made changes to the very foundation of Hogwarts.  

Tom seemed a lot less nervous about that than Harrison was, but then again the man had done so before- to place a curse on the very position he had right now, ironically.  

When Fred and George were there they basically told them that it could feel very weird the first time you had an anti-gravity spell casted on you and then Tom activated the charms, leaving them speechless as they quietly casted the spells.  

Harrison would be lying if he said this wasn't one of the best experiences he ever had.  

It felt weightless, literally, of course. But, it also made everything they had to deal with on a daily basis feel less.. Dramatic.  

It felt freeing in a way.  

However, that might also be because Tom and Harrison both had barely seen the world outside of Tom's classroom, besides when there were classes. It was kind of bad, Harrison had to admit that much.  

“And you two are sure you can cast this spell on the whole great hall?” George asked once they lowered to the ground and Tom cancelled the rest of the charms.  

“It won't be too hard,” Harrison admitted, enjoying the magic-rich air once more. It reminded him of his time at the founders.  

Never before had he noticed how big the difference in magic was between back then and now.  

“Once we merge it, at least.” Tom added for him and Fred and George nodded.  

“Our birthday trick turned into a whole lot more this year, didn't it?” Fred asked. “The future of the Wizarding World and all?”  

“It is quite amazing what we could potentially do with this.” Harrison said, “But with people like Dumbledore around it will never fix the whole issue. It might strengthen magic enough until we properly turned everything around.”  

“It's enough for us to make her that much stronger,” Tom said, “If we can turn this to something transferrable.”  

“For what it's worth,” George said, “Thanks for helping us.”  

“If this is the result of every time you ask for our help, we would be more than happy to help more often.” Harrison joked.  

“And if not?” George raised an eyebrow.  

Harrison looked at Tom and then back at George, “I suppose it has been a while since I toyed around with Magic like this.”  

“You've done things like this before?” Tom asked.  

“I'm Rowena's child, Tommy boy.”  

“Hey!” Rowena shouted from their portrait, she was sitting reading a book and Harrison giggled.  

“That was a compliment.”  

“Sure it was,” She muttered.  

“Point being,” Harrison said then, “The things you two come up with are quite amazing and if there's anything that you feel is worth the attention such as this, I'm sure we could find time to help.”  

“You make us sound much more busy than we actually are,” Tom spoke.  

“Speak for yourself,” Harrison said, “The tournament is taking up more time than I expected and we did both skip the last few Wizengamot meetings.”  

Tom nodded, “I suppose you have a point there.” He said. “We'll attend the next one then, just to make sure the country hasn't gone to shit.”  

“You're so lucky we can skip meetings because according to them we're both ‘stuck’ here and have to ask for permission to leave.”  

“Even teachers?” George asked.  

“If it's within school hours,” Tom said, “But Dumbledore has yet to say anything to us about it.”  

“Perhaps ‘cause he thinks your Voldemort,” Harrison said, “Waiting for you to make a move outside of Hogwarts so he can gather the evidence to prove it.”  

“Should we try it out one more time,” Fred said then, totally interrupting their conversation. “Just to ensure it works?” Harrison could hear the because it's fun. The excuse was weak, but yet no one said no and not minutes later they were once again floating through the Defense classroom.  

Flitwick would be so proud of them.