Chapter 2

-Liam-

He was already regretting his choice. 

The mission to leave this world was to destroy three of Voldemort's horcruxes, one of which could be found in Hogwarts so he accepted the offer on one condition. 

He wouldn't be starting out as a first year student. 

There was no way he was going to do that. Apparently, that was less of a problem than he thought seeing as how easily Dumbledore agreed. 

The problem, however, came with his request. While Dumbledore was willing to allow him start as a fifth year student, he wanted to start out as a sixth year student. 

That was a problem seeing as how sixth year courses were determined by the grades scored in the students' fifth year O.W.L. exams…which he had not taken. 

The fact that Dumbledore was even entertaining his suggestions meant that there was more to his sudden enrollment that meets the eye. That or the headmaster was bored, which he really doubted. 

'For Dumbledore himself to come to deliver the letter…something is going on. Something important enough for him to want me in Hogwarts so badly.' Liam pondered. 

At the moment, Liam was getting groceries to stock up the fridge as well as make dinner. The grocery bags weighed down on his hands as he collected a rather lengthy receipt. 

'Well it's not my money.' He thought with a half shrug as he lugged the bags out with him.

As he exited, he paused as his eyes caught a building up ahead; a bookstore. While he enjoyed a hedonistic lifestyle, books were also another source of pleasure for him.

Inconspicuously making his into an empty alley to the side, he cast the shrinking charm on the bags, making them small enough to fit comfortably into his pocket. 

As he did that, he heard a gasp of shock from behind him. Quickly turning around, he found a rather ragged looking man staring at him, mouth agape. 

"Oh shit." Liam muttered under his breath as the man raised a finger at him. 

"How did you do that?! Ho-" he wasn't allowed to complete that sentence as a green light hit him, causing his eyes to glaze over. 

'A memory charm to remove this particular sight.' He thought as he made his way out of the alley, leaving a confused man behind. 

Just because he had magic didn't mean he had forgotten about the statute of secrecy and what breaking it entailed. 

He wasn't confident in being able to fend off the aurors the ministry could possibly send. Not quite yet.

-Dumbledore-

He was put in a precarious situation. His impression of Liam Ross was a bit complicated. While the boy was apparently sensitive to magic, he was also crude and stubborn. 

He could count the students who had been offered a late admission in this manner on one hand and still have fingers to spare. The selling point was the fact that each of them were capable of sensing and performing ancient magic. 

If that wasn't enough for him to consider Liam's 'offer', Sybil's prophecy was. Despite his offer to have Liam start in his fifth year, the boy was insistent on skipping straight into the sixth year. 

He'd tried to peek into his mind to inquire into his reasoning only to be repelled, harder than he'd ever been before and the boy didn't flinch or acknowledge it.

'A natural Occlumens!'

It threw him off guard but that only gave more credence to Sybil's prophecy. If he wanted Liam in Hogwarts and within his reach, he would have to relent to the young man's 'request'. 

The O.W.L. exams were difficult exams which were taken once a year by fifth year students. It was impossible to advance to the sixth year without taking the exams. 

In his long life, he'd made connections to different sorts of people. This situation called for him to make use of one of such connections by the name of Griselda Marchbanks, the head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority. 

He let out a tired sigh as he prepared for his trip to the Ministry.

-Hermione-

It would soon be time for her to begin her preparations for her next session at Hogwarts…not that she hadn't started preparing. 

Being a muggleborn witch, she lacked the advantage of being able to practice magic outside of Hogwarts without risk. Thus, she stuck to methods such as studying as many of the books as she could in advance. 

The return of Voldemort didn't exactly make things better. Sirius was dead, the ministry was scrambling around to fix their many mistakes and reenact measures against the dark lord and his death eaters. 

Not even muggles were spared as many incidents began to spread as of late. Incidents that were clearly not normal. The ministry was no doubt trying to cover it up and keep its society a secret from muggles. 

She needed a distraction from all of it. 

While she enjoyed studying magic, she was a muggle at heart. She still enjoyed normal literature and educational books that weren't related to magic. 

It was why she found herself in a local bookstore, browsing for a book to take her mind off things, even if for a moment.

Seeing a book that looked interesting, she reached out to it, only for another hand to reach for it at the same time, brushing against her own. 

Immediately turning, she saw a boy around her age whose hand was in contact with hers. Her words froze in her throat, her mind entranced by his appearance. 

Short and silky black hair that fell over his face in a way that still looked absolutely wonderful, porcelain skin that was free of blemishes and alluring dark blue eyes.

Judging from the way his hand felt against hers, his skin was as soft and delicate as it looked. Her eyes landed on his lips, wondering how it would feel.

It was only when she felt it press against her own did she realize that she had leaned forward and kissed him. 

'It feels as good as I thought. Sweet too…' she thought, her heart fluttering as his hand reached up to grab her face in a gentle caress. 

She felt his tongue prod at her lips, barely pausing as she granted him entry, his tongue wrestling with hers. 

'This is wonderful…' her mind whispered to her. 

Only after a few moments of passion did her eyes widen as she caught herself, realizing what she just did. 

Immediately pulling back, she gasped in shock. "I-I'm so sorry! I don't know what came over me. I-I-" she sputtered apologies, fighting against the part of her that wanted another taste. 

She felt her face heat up in embarrassment as the boy let out a small chuckle. 

"It's alright. Nobody's greeted me like that before but I can't say I didn't enjoy it." He said, his voice sounding harmoniously in her ears. 

Her throat dried up as she prepared to run out of the store in embarrassment. 

"I didn't catch your name. I'm Liam." He said, stretching his hand for a handshake which seemed rather bland considering the passionate moment they just shared. 

"Hermione. Again, I'm really sorry about…that." She couldn't even say it without feeling embarrassed. 

"Like I said, it's fine. Really." He said, waving off her embarrassment. "The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It's a nice read, read it over the summer last year." He said, referring to the book they both reached for. 

"You can have it if you want. I'm just looking for something to take my mind off things." She admitted. 

"What kind of things?" Liam asked with unmasked curiosity. 

"Just some…personal things. Things have been really hectic lately." She said with a non answer. Muggles weren't supposed to know anything about the wizarding society and she would keep it so.

"That's not healthy. Come on, I know a few books that should help you relax." Liam said with a hint of concern, gesturing for her to follow him. 

In a brief moment, she weighed her options of leaving or staying. Despite herself, one look at the smile on his lips made her choice for her as she allowed him to lead her further into the store. 

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she didn't have friends outside those she met at Hogwarts. Being a muggleborn witch limited her options in the wizarding society and being a 'nerd' or bookworm limited her options in both societies. 

She wasn't blind to what others thought of her. 

There was also the fact that she couldn't discuss magic or the existence of Hogwarts which made making friends quite difficult. 

For some reason, none of that was on her mind as he showed her through the bookstore that she had visited numerous times, recommending books and just talking generally.

At some point, her embarrassment had been pushed aside as she found herself happily engrossed in discussions with him about the different books that they both had read, amongst other things. 

She truly felt relaxed. It wasn't what she had in mind when she left home today but it was definitely much better. 

-Liam-

'Well that was eventful.' He thought as he made his way home. 

While in the bookstore, he'd idly thought of an aspect of magic that he hadn't considered; Veela magic. He recalled veelas being able to use fire magic in a way different from wizards.

There was also the 'allure' ability which he tested out…quite a bit. He didn't use it at full power but it had quite an effect. While it was arguably dumb to test it on a fellow witch/wizard on his first try, he simply didn't think of it at the time. 

Rather, he was thinking with his lower head when he saw Hermione. He would be lying if he said he didn't want her, he did.

Ron could go and suck a cock for all he cared.

It didn't take him time to get back home where his father was nowhere to be seen, probably out somewhere. Unshrinking the grocery bags with an enlargement charm, he placed them on the kitchen counter and made his way to Evan's room. 

Rummaging around the older boy's belongings, he quickly found what he was looking for. A worn out book lay in his hands labeled 'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration'. 

While he had charms and potions covered, transfiguration magic was the missing link. While some charms overlapped with transfiguration spells, it didn't decrease his proficiency in casting them. 

Rather, it provided him with some knowledge on how transfiguration worked. Combined with his affinity for the art which made learning it far easier, he could confidently say that he had it covered. 

Another thing he had considered was his slight miscalculation in picking his perks and skills. It turned out that curses, hexes and jinxes fell under the same category; dark charms which fell under charms magic. 

Dark charms were simply charms that had connotations of dark magic. Had he known that, he would have used his points elsewhere to give himself more advantages. 

"Can't cry over spilled milk at this point I guess." He muttered with a sigh as he took a seat and began reading. 

While he wouldn't be throwing around unforgivables like handouts, it was still a tool in his arsenal.

-Xx-Xx-Xx-

The next few days were uneventful. It was mostly spent studying the transfigurations textbook and practicing the few basic spells it had. 

Of the branches of magic, transfiguration was the most scientific of them all. He theorized that the reason why transfiguration seemed difficult to some wizards and witches was due to their lack of proper education on the sciences of the world. 

To his knowledge, Hogwarts didn't offer mundane subjects such as physics, biology or chemistry which Liam was quite proficient in. 

Dumbledore hadn't reached out to him since then so he couldn't assume anything. Rather, he racked his brain to find a way into Hogwarts to destroy the Horcrux hidden in the room of requirements. 

'I don't know how to apparate so that's out.' He thought, considering the options he'd thought of before as he flipped through the pages of a book. Creation of portkeys was heavily monitored and restricted by the ministry but given the multiple holes in ministry security, he didn't know how effective it was.

Creating a portkey was a rather simple job for a charms master. He was quickly coming to realize that wizarding society more often than not relied on charms for a lot of things. 

He had an idea he was working on for fun. He'd dug out an old trunk from the attic, a few cleaning charms tidying it up.

After clearing it of the junk within, he'd began continuously casting the undetectable extension charm on it, inconspicuously increasing the space within it. 

He'd been doing so for the past hour until he was somewhat satisfied. At the moment, he was inside the trunk, the interior now being big enough for him to stand upright and move around with ease. It was as spacious as his own room. 

"I'll say it again, magic is awesome." He said with a grin as he looked around the empty room. 

He planned to have it as his own private room space known to only him but it would take some time before he filled it with the basic necessities to make it livable.

With one final glance around the 'room', he nodded to himself as he climbed out of the trunk using a ladder from a children's toy that he enlarged with magic. 

As he got out of the trunk and shrunk it down to fit in his pocket, he was startled as the door suddenly flew open, his father walking in. 

"Bloody hell! Ever heard of knocking?" Liam asked, disgruntled. 

"I don't need to remind you that this is my house." William said, dismissing his complaint. "Anyways, come on out. We have a visitor."

"Oh joy." Liam muttered sarcastically as they left the room, going to the living room. 

As they made their way through the house, finally getting to the living room, Liam froze upon seeing who it was.

"Oh fuck." He mumbled quietly but he was heard by the entire room. 

"Language!" Professor McGonagall scolded sternly.