Back in Black

The first day of the term. Despite the excitement it usually brought, there was an undercurrent of tension in the castle. I completely blamed the war for it. The opening of the term feast was somewhat similar too. The welcoming feast did not feel so welcoming at all.

The atmosphere around the Gryffindor table was awkward. On one hand, everyone was trying to pump us for information. On the other, there were whispers breaking out about Hermione not being the prefect anymore. Loads of people had seen Lavender doing the rounds after all. The fact that I quit the team was not out yet. They must have assumed that Katie got the position since she's been on the team for years and is an excellent player. But soon enough, they would know, and I would have to put up with a belligerent house. Not like I cared. There were important things to do this year.

Dumbledore's speech followed his usual patterns. Although, most of the students were not paying attention to his words and were gawking at his bronze hand instead. He should have worn gloves, but in canon, the man displayed his blackened dead hand out proud for the world to see. So it made sense that he didn't hide this either. What a skewered sense of information management.

The true shocker for most of the school was Snape's new position. The fact that Snape became the DADA professor baffled a lot of people. Our group was not affected by it because we saw it coming. But by god, the face of the entire Gryffindor house was one worth watching at that moment.

Slytherin house on the other hand was uncharacteristically exuberant. Snape himself wore a proud smile on his face. Alas, all came down crashing when someone from our table set off a batch of Weasley toys. The same toys they made after I shared them the memory of Snape being ejected out of Grimmauld. It was interesting to see the wide range of emotions playing through Snape's face when his moment in the sun got thwarted by some snot nosed brats.

At that moment, he looked at me with pure hatred, as if I set off the toys myself. No sir, absolutely not. But I knew that Fred and George paid Collin and Dennis to do it during the feast. The lads had picked a banging timing for it as well. He would blame me for the toy regardless because of my involvement in its conception.

There was the usual point deduction and what not. Fortunately, McGonagall took charge on the disciplining front. Or else the feast would have dragged on.

Anyway, after the feast, I thought the dorm would be somewhat better. But that place was even more awkward. Ron had a sour face throughout and switched his bed because he did not want to be beside us. That did not stop there though. He had a problem with Dean as well because he was dating Ginny. Seamus was Dean's best friend. So now, Ron Weasley found himself in a sticky situation.

The funny thing was that he could have hung out with Dean and Seamus if he weren't so against Dean dating Ginny. Both the blokes didn't have anything against him despite his surly behavior. But Ron was Ron and he would take a while before he was amicable with Dean.

It worked out in my favor though as I was now next to Nev, making it easier for us to talk.

Before we knew it, we were down in the great hall once more, eating our breakfast.

"Thanks Winky," I said as I looked at my plate. It was definitely different from the regular Hogwarts cuisine. Moreover, Winky said that she will be the one feeding me as long as she was able to, so there was that. She definitely bossed around some Hogwarts elves and made her duties clear. In front of me was a plate stacked with a couple of omelettes and beside it was a steaming cup of tea.

As I dug into it, Hermione sat beside me with a huff and was provided with a plate of Winky's food as well.

"These girls, I swear," she muttered as she picked up her cutleries and started cutting into an omelette.

"What happened?"

"The usual. First they tried to get me to talk about why I got rid of my badge. By now though, they know enough about me that when I clam up, they won't be getting anything. Then they got to talking about their usual nonsense. Not an ounce of concern over the looming war or anything."

"You can't expect everyone to be as into it as we are. For many people, it hasn't affected them directly yet. Plus, I am sure that to many of us, the castle is an escape from the outside world. Although, with what we know, this year will break them of that notion won't it," said Neville after he stopped chugging his morning shake. He whispered the last part so that others around us won't hear it. It wouldn't matter much anyway because I had placed an auditory illusion around us. He knew it as well, but sometimes Nev still went back to his old skittishness.

"Too true," I agreed and continued to eat. Hermione shrugged in response and began to eat as well.

A flock of post owls entered at that moment and went to deliver their cargo to various students and staff. Hedwig soared in ahead of the pack and landed on my shoulder. I smiled at her and picked up a rasher of bacon from a nearby tray and fed it to her.

Ever since my purchase of the owl postal service, Hedwig had been very busy. She spent a lot of time listening to all the owls who reported to her the information they collected. Due to our shared connection via my sixth path, she easily sent out all the information to me that I needed. Then I often sent Dobby on recon missions to assess the scope of the information and see if anything could be done with it. Most of the times, I passed on the intel to Amelia as she was the one who needed to sort out a lot of stuff within the ministry. Other times, when the information was something I could act on, I did so.

For example, the Death Eater raids that I thwarted after my birthday were all thanks to the information I gained through this way. Heck, one owl delivering the Daily Prophet to Snape managed to point Hedwig to the exact location of his house. I waited until one of the daily couriers could confirm whether the rat was there or not. Once I got the confirmation, I waited for Snape to be busy at an order meeting and razed that place to the ground.

There was no letter for me since we just finalized a lot of our tasks and one day couldn't change a lot with the kind of goals we had.

Also, I knew that Amelia and Augusta preferred to use Noddy, Jasky or Dobby to pass information due to them being able to defend themselves and being faster. It was something that ticked Hedwig off, but she was content with her current responsibilities. Although, she would know when I needed a letter sent and would immediately come to me if she was in the vicinity. Ever so eager and proud of her duties.

To be fair though, she had been getting scarily fast throughout the summer. The bond had continued to fuel her intrinsic magic and boost it to capabilities unseen hitherto in an owl. I wondered if it was some sort of physical enhancement or whether she was manipulating the wind itself to shoot herself through the skies. I couldn't exactly understand it even through our connection because it was some esoteric magic that did not seem to be compatible with humans. In the same vein as owls knowing how to locate someone instinctively.

"When is your paper releasing?" Hermione asked as she opened up her copy of the prophet.

"Next week," I said after taking a sip of tea. My paper was for spreading useful information and facts during this messed up war. The office was heavily protected and the employees were all muggleborns, so I could rest easy with regards to their willingness to write the truth. Of course, if Riddle took over the Ministry, he will try to get rid of it. But by that time, I hoped to find a way to deliver the paper without using owls. Mainly to protect my owl business. Because if he couldn't stop the paper itself, he would put pressure on the owl post to stop delivering the papers. For now though, the paper would be delivered by my owls.

The prophet was there to spread propaganda. My paper on the other hand was there to sell facts. Moreover, I had other plans to use the paper itself for my clandestine operations. Either ways, I got paid for the papers themselves and at the same time, kept the masses informed about the true state of things. Even if one more person found it in themselves to fight for the right cause, the paper would serve one of its purposes.

"So, Hermione, looking forward to classes?" I asked once we were done with our meal.

"Not all of them," she snorted. Neville and I gasped as one upon this.

"Who are you and what have you done to Hermione Granger?" I asked.

"Oh shush you prat. You know how it is," she smiled. That smile disappeared the next instant as Ron made his way towards the house table. He sat well away from us, attacking the food with gusto. A few seconds later, Lavender and Parvati came inside the great hall, giggling. Lavender immediately took a seat next to Ron, surprising a lot of people around him.

"Ah yeah, I forgot to tell you. Apparently, Lavender finds Ron to be incredibly attractive. Not sure what she sees in him honestly," Hermione said with a grimace.

I snickered at the irony, considering the canon timeline.

"What?" she asked with furrowed eyebrows. I caught sight of McGonagall rising from the staff table in my peripheral vision and knew that it was time.

"Nothing," I said as I dropped the auditory illusion around us. McGonagall was almost upon us with the class schedules.

The discussion about our NEWT subjects went somewhat similar to canon. Nev had the least amount of classes because of his poor showing in both transfiguration and potions. He was clear for herbology, DADA and charms. I was clear for charms, DADA, transfiguration, herbology and potions, due to Slughorn accepting students with Exceeds Expectations grade. She told me that I could borrow a book and equipment from the school while I placed an order for my own supplies. All good, I wanted to take a look at Snape's personal book after all. That's why I hadn't mentioned potions to her beforehand.

There was a part of me that wanted to redo the exams and show them what my current level was. But I suppose it really didn't matter for now. I had the knowledge I needed already. It was just an accreditation. I could get that later on when the shit show was over. Also, if things escalated as they were supposed to, we wouldn't be here next year.

Hermione, the overachiever was cleared for the same subjects I was, with the addition of runes and arithmancy. Apparently she had runes first thing in the morning, so she bid us goodbye and went to her class.

Nev and I returned to the common room since we had a free period. It was relatively empty. Only fellow sixth years and some of the seventh years were there. NEWT years had lesser subjects but a heavy workload in said subjects. It made sense that we had more free periods in order to work on the advanced stuff.

"Harry," Katie called out. I looked over and saw that she was seated alone in a sofa. I nodded at Nev and walked towards her alone.

Katie and I were the only members from the original team still at school now. Angelina and Alicia had graduated, and the twins had dropped out. I suppose I should be feeling bad about leaving her all on her lonesome with regards to the team. If only things weren't so much at stake.

"Congratulations Katie," I said as I sat beside her.

"What are you on about Harry? McGonagall told me that you were supposed to be the captain," she said with a low voice. She knew that quidditch was a big deal to most of the people in the house and she didn't want to bring the heat on me so soon. What a considerate girl.

"I'm really sorry Katie. I was kinda looking forward to playing after the ban Umbridge put on me got removed. But… things happened. I am not in a place right now where I can do justice to our team. Would you want a half assed captain or a teammate for that matter?"

She was quiet for a moment and ruffled the hair on my head.

"You stupid boy. You have been like a little brother to all of us when you joined the team way back in your first year. But it seems like you grew up way before all of us did. Heck, you even taught us older students in the DA," she paused for a moment and continued, "I read the obituary about your godfather last term. I can't claim to know what that kind of loss feels like, so I can't tell you what to do or what not to do. But are you sure about your decision? The field and the sky above it can put your mind off things. It has always been that way with you hasn't it? When you get on your broom, you forget the world. Maybe you need some of that to alleviate whatever it is that you are going through."

"It's not just that… I did not make this decision out of grief. But Katie, he won't stop coming after me. I saw them fighting- him and Dumbeldore. The things they could do with their magic, unbelievable. It was like they were commanding reality to their whims."

"So you plan on spending the rest of your life training and fighting and not doing the things you love? He wins that way Harry. The more you separate yourself from the things that make you Harry Potter, the more you lose yourself."

I smiled at that. Even though this was a fresh start to my life, it seemed that I was blessed with some pretty good friends. She was more worried about me doing things out of some misplaced notion and not mad about quitting the team like Ron would have been.

"I agree Katie. I am not giving up on the sport or flying in itself. I will play some pickup games, I will fly around often. I just don't have the time or energy to spend so much time on a team. It would not be fair to the team."

She took a long breath and shook her head, "I hear you. I cannot understand, but I can respect your choice. If you're playing any pickup games, sign me up. And if there is anything that I can do for you, let me know."

"For sure, captain," I smiled.

"Ugh. A part of me wants to smack you across your head and drag you into the team. We were on a roll for a hat trick too. But that's not fair to you. I will manage. If at all you change your decision, make it to the tryouts. After that, I can't do anything. Can't be showing blatant favoritism like that," she grumbled.

"I will think about it. Although, don't get your hopes up. I'm really sorry about this," I said.

"It's fine. The rest of the house won't be as easy going though," she warned.

"Bah, as if that's anything new. They'll come around as usual," I said and left to join with Nev.

##################

After an hour, Nev and I joined Hermione outside the DADA classroom. First class of the year, with Snape. Peachy. It ought to be fun. I had been poking at him all summer. Snape may have had his reasons for doing things. None of it gave him the right to torment children and make his classes a living hell for Nev and I.

If he just did it for maintaining his cover as a light hating Death Eater, then sure. But the man held real malice towards the both of us. Sure, he disliked Gryffindors, but the both of were special. I was obvious, son of James Potter, what's not to hate? Nev on the other hand, it was most likely the fact that he was not the child of prophecy. Because if Nev was, then my mum would be alive. Albeit, chances were high that my parents would have undergone the same torture that the Longbottoms did. I didn't know if Snape even thought about that possibility.

Alan Rickman did a splendid job of portraying him in the movies. Added a layer of charisma and humanity to him as a character.

But when I stood here, in front of the real Snape, it was hard to put behind the memories of the kind of bullshit he regularly perpetrated. There was no charisma, just oozing malice and derision. At least that's how it seemed from my perspective.

We got into the classroom, and lo and behold, it was dark and dour. I tuned out as he began his speech about the dark arts. About how they were flexible and eternal. On the inside, I was waiting for the trope of him being loose and free with his legilimency. Surprisingly, it didn't come so far.

I stopped with my train of thought when I realized that he was staring at me. Within a split second, I ran back the speech through my head and he was apparently telling the class about the intricacies of non-verbal casting. And how many of us lacked the concentration for it. Ah, sure, the old me lacked concentration during his shitty occlumency classes. My current self was a different beast altogether though.

Once he was done, he split the class into pairs. The objective was for us to cast and defend without casting verbal spells. So far, everything was just like it was in canon. With the events of the summer though, I was sure that this class too will be affected by the butterflies soon enough.

Everyone shuffled around, pairing up. Nev was about to join me, but I nodded towards Hermione. Only either of us two would be able to defend against her because by now, all three of us had enough skill to cast non-verbally. And having us both together was a top tier bait for Snape, and I did not want that.

This lead to the unpleasant situation of being partnered with Ron. We didn't exchange any words and I just took a defensive stance while he attempted to cast non-verbally.

As opposed to canon, where Hermione cast a non-verbal shield ten minutes into the class, it was instantaneous over here. Nev and Hermione were trading spells without opening their mouths, putting up a show. The entire class stopped for a moment and looked at them with astonishment. Even Snape paused, especially looking at Neville incredulously. He then ignored them completely and barked at everyone to get casting.

I grinned and once again took my stance, facing Ron. It was for naught as he never gave me an opportunity to defend. He did try hard, but he couldn't get a single spell out without uttering the incantation. As Ron's frustration built up to a peak, Snape apparently thought that it would be a perfect moment to add oil to the fire.

"Pathetic. It seems like you need a demonstration," he said, as if Hermione and Nev hadn't been doing exactly that.

The next instant, I flicked my wand and shot back Snape's surprise spell right at his face. Canon Harry had to resolve to a verbal shield at this juncture. He did manage to push him off balance towards the desk. But I always nitpick on my own performance. So, if you're doing something, do it right. Snape flew backwards and hit the desk. The momentum toppled him and he went over the desk and fell on the other side. Once again, the class was silenced.

"So you are not as much of a dunderhead as Weasley over there," stated Snape as he slowly got up, dusting his robes and walking towards me.

"Apparently," I smirked. I wondered if Snape would fall for the bait and get into the whole, 'No need to call me sir, professor' situation.

"Let's put it to the test shall we," he said and snapped off another spell. I suppose we were foregoing the verbal spar.

I shielded myself and looked at him as if asking if that was it. Without wasting time, he shot two consecutive spells. Once more, I shielded myself. This time though, after the second spell splashed against the shield, I shot off a flipendo silently. No need to escalate just yet.

He blocked it with a spell of his own and quirked an eyebrow.

"I do not recall instructing you to cast at me Potter," he said.

"I recall being instructed to cast at my partner. Since you volunteered, I figured…" I shrugged.

His eyes narrowed as he cast a stunner at me. It did not seem like he was holding back much. Yet, this couldn't escalate into a proper duel because there were too many students around. I knew it, Snape knew it. So this was veering towards a slugfest. A test of our shields. Well, I wasn't one to back out that easily.

My shield held under his spell and once it was my turn, I sent a strong knockback jinx towards him. His shield held, but there was a resounding sound on impact. Before it could escalate though, the bell rang and signaled the end of the class.

"Oh and Potter, twenty points off for your cheek," he said as we walked out. Talk about being a sore loser.

##################

After another break, we were gathered outside the potions classroom. In our case, it was an extended break. Hermione on the other hand had a small break and then her arithmancy class. By now, the rest of the year knew that there was something off about her. The withdrawal from her post was one thing, but it didn't stop there. She hadn't raised her hand once in Snape's class and it had thrown him off. It had thrown almost everyone off. She would not respect the teachers who were full-fledged order members. I couldn't wait to see McGonagall's face when the same thing would inevitably happen in her class.

Potions class was mixed because the number of NEWT students were so less. Learning under Snape would put off people from the subject for sure. Even if he favored his house, it just doesn't create interest in most cases. Despite Slughorn's relaxed criteria, the number still wasn't great. Heck, if he had enforced the same cutoff as Snape, the number would have been abysmal.

From Slytherin, Malfoy, Parkinson, Zabini and Nott were present. The others either didn't make it, or didn't want to continue with NEWT levels for potions. Amelia once told me that the Greengrass family was looking to flee the country so it might even be a possibility that they did not want to associate much with the Death Munchers. Would explain why Greengrass and Davis weren't here for this class, if they were lessening the amount of time spent with people like Malfoy and Nott. It's not like one couldn't hit up the ministry later and sit for their NEWTs. Still made me wonder why Astoria would grow up to marry the git though. Well, canon didn't help much in that regard and my inherited memories also didn't say much about them because of minimal interactions with Slytherins.

The Ravenclaw bunch consisted of Padma, Michael Corner, Terry Boot and Mandy Brocklehurst. Hufflepuff on the other hand had only one representative, Ernie. I asked Susan why she didn't opt for potions. Because if she wanted to follow her aunt's footsteps, she would need to have a NEWT in potions. Apparently I was right in my assumptions. Snape had soured the subject for a lot of people and people didn't want to sit through it even despite someone else teaching it.

As for being an auror, contrary to popular belief, Susan didn't want to be one. She had seen Amelia work herself to the bone and still not get the recognition she deserved from many people. Some looked down on her for being a woman, and others were just murderous psychopaths who had gotten off scot-free and were still in high standing, looking down on her because she was their enemy. Another nail in the coffin was that despite all her hard work, law and order was still in the sewers where the wizarding world was concerned. Susan did not want to do that, and apparently Amelia supported that decision wholeheartedly due to her own experience.

So, Hupplepuff only had Ernie. As for Gryffindor, there were only the two of us. Since Hermione was not speaking sense to Ron, and I was not there to accompany or persuade him, he did not take up potions. Well, not my problem.

As Slughorn lead us all inside the classroom, the Slytherins took up a table while the Ravenclaws took up another. Hermione and I teamed up with Ernie and took a table of our own.

"Sir, I don't have the equipment and the book yet. I wasn't sure if I made the cutoff…" I accosted Slughorn before he could start the class and spoke to him in a low voice.

"Oh yes. I did hear from Professor McGonagall. No worries my boy, you can borrow the ingredients and equipment and return them later," he said as he lead me towards the storage cupboard.

Thankfully, I didn't have to resort to illusions or any other hijinks and was able to grab the copy of The Half Blood Prince's potion book. The tattered book was on top of the pile and I plucked it without a word, moving onto my desk.

##################

As we walked back, I slipped the vial of Felix Felicis into my inner pocket. Boosted luck, who would say no to that? I wondered if I should shell out cash to get more of this liquid luck. It was damn expensive, rare, regulated, time consuming to make, and also had nasty side effects if overused. But for tight situations, a sparing amount couldn't hurt. One more thing to go up the planning board, I suppose.

Unlike canon, Hermione didn't have a meltdown about the fact that I was using a different set of instructions. She didn't care at all. All she cared about was whether the contents were credible or not.

"We must research everything written over here before actually implementing it. Don't dive in headfirst again Harry," she said as she flipped through the book. That suited me just fine. It had a few nifty spells and potions shortcuts which would come in handy.

"Such a shame, a good quality potion wasted on a half-blood like you," sniped Malfoy as he walked past.

Poor Draco thought that the potion would help him with his task. Made me question why he did not get a dosage through external means. But packages were being scanned for safety reasons and this potion was damn rare after all. Still, he could have asked Snape to brew it. Ah but he was prideful, trying to do it all alone wasn't he.

"Still in better hands than murderous scum like your father and aunt, I reckon," I returned fire.

He stopped in his tracks and turned around with a furious look on his face. I was inside the cretin's head on the train. I knew what buttons to push. Moreover, I did not see how he could be redeemed at this point.

He was a coward under all that bluster. Right now, he was confident that he had enough time to do what needed to be done. But there was a part of him that was shit scared of getting caught between Dumbledore and Voldemort. He doesn't care about others. He wouldn't develop a sudden pity for muggles and muggleborns. What he cared about was his family and himself. Right now, both of them were threatened. He was not a killer, but at the same time, he had no qualms about letting others do the dirty work. Case in point, when he brought in Greyback of all people inside the castle. Greyback, who had the habit of biting children and turning them.

Sure, he was caught between a rock and a hard place. A creature of his circumstances. But, this was war. He was on the other side, actively trying to doom us all. It was not as if Narcissa was in a cell, not like this brat was in one. Nobody was stopping them from running away. But they were so sure that Voldemort would win. So sure that he wouldn't let them live if they didn't listen to him. It was high time that these fools learnt to fear me. Not Dumbledore, not Riddle, but Harry Potter. The time would come, I swear.

"What are you going to do?" I taunted him as Nev and Hermione already had their wands trained on him. "No Crabbe and Goyle here to back you up. No Snape here to bail you out. For all your talk, you seem to forget that I am the one who has fought off grown wizards like your father and came out winning. I have dueled Voldemort and came out with my life intact, multiple times. And you somehow find it amusing to pick a fight with me when your highest accomplishment in life is... what exactly? I tend to forget."

He grit his teeth and walked away furiously. I snorted in response and shook my head. This year will not be fun for Draco. His magnum opus will backfire on his face, I would make sure of that. No attacking force will invade this castle.

##################

A.N: Merry Christmas dear readers! I had a busy week, but managed to wrap this chapter up somehow. So, some of you might have qualms about a lot of this chapter being canon rehash. I agree. The issue was that most of the changes wouldn't affect the content of the lessons themselves. Also, I feel uncomfortable writing canon events. That's why you might have seen a lot of descriptions just breezing through the canon events.

Fret not, I am not going to stick to canon, as I have already established. There have been many changes. Some visible, some not so. We will be exploring them gradually.

As for the newspaper, I have plans for it. Some serious plans. There has been a foreshadowing in a previous chapter, but it is not so obvious. That's all I want to talk about right now. Don't want to spoil the surprise after all.

Thank you all for your continued support. Wish you all a Happy New Year in advance!