Chapter 6: Traveling Through Shades of Gray

Weeks passed since the attack on Harry and the twins by Voldemort's parasitic Spirit, and Harry was preparing to go to Hogwarts. Things around the house returned somewhat back to normal, but there was still a darkness that had descended upon all who had been witness to that night. Since there was nothing they could do about it, they tried to act as if nothing had happened, during the day anyway. James and Lily spoke to Harry almost every night, asking if he felt anything from Voldemort.

Harry knew that since Voldemort had failed in his attempt to obtain the twins' magic he was currently too weak to try anything else. He probably had his eyes set on the Philosopher's Stone that was perhapsbeing moved to Hogwarts at that very moment. But Harry would worry more about the Stone later, right now someone needed his help.

Regulus was more worried then anyone about Voldemort's sudden return. Harry had heard Sirius mention that his brother spent most of the day in his own library. He only came downstairs to grab a bite to eat. And according to Sirius, Regulus looked terrible.

"I think I can guess what he's doing," thought Harry as he wrote a note to his still-sleeping parents, telling them that he would be going over to Uncle Padfoot's place. SinceRegulus and Sirius lived together, his parents wouldn't be suspicious as to why Harry went there.

Once he made his way to the Black brothers' house by the floo network. he walked quickly up to Regulus's private Library and found the door magically locked. But Harry knew better…. He concentrated on the door in front of him and carefully pulled apart the locking wards on it. When a click sounded a few seconds later, Harry walked inside.

He found Regulus surrounded by a mountain of books. From the looks of it, all of them were defence against the dark arts books. He pushed a stack of books out of the way to see Regulus reading or attempting to read the book in front of him.

Regulus looked up at the noise and was shocked to see Harry.

"Harry what are you doing here at this time at night? You have to prepare for Hogwarts in the morning." he asked gruffly. Clearly he hadn't been talking in days, and his voice was dry from lack of use.

Harry raised an eyebrow at him and said, "Actually it is already morning. It is 5: 30 a.m. to be exact. And I am already packed and ready to go to Hogwarts."

Regulus's eye went back to the book in front of him and said, "Oh, even so, Harry, 5: 30 is still very early. What brings you here? Everything is alright at home, I hope."

Harry looked at his uncle in worry. He was pale, unshaven, and had dark circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept for the past few days.

"Everything is fine at home, Uncle Reg, but I am very worried about someone important to me, and tomany other people." said Harry. He figured this was the only way to lure Regulus into the conversation.

Regulus looked up at Harry in concern. "What is the matter, Harry? Who are you worried about? What is wrong?" he asked. That was the question Harry had been waiting for.

" I am worried about you Uncle Reg," Harry said. "I am asking you what is wrong. Why have you locked yourself up in here? You look awful. Everyone wants to help you, but you won't let them. So I am asking you directly to let me help you. Tell me what has you so scared." Harry truly was worried about Regulus. He knew allowing old fears to take over could destroy you. That was a lesson he had learned long ago, well from his perspective anyway.

"I..I.. I can't tell you. You're too young; you wouldn't understand." Regulus said as he tried to resist Harry's shining green eyes. He knew better than everyone that Harry merely looked young. There was something about Harry that Regulus couldn't quite put a finger on, like when he explained his connection with Voldemort, Harry was speaking like a calm adult, not a confused and frightened child.

Harry looked right in to his eyes and said, "You don't really believe I won't understand, do you? It's Voldemort that has you spooked, doesn't he, Uncle Reg. I saw the look in your eyes when I told you that his spirit was still alive. You looked more panicked than all of the others, even Mum and Dad, when I said it. Why?"

"What are you trying to do here? I have never seen you so desperate before. Please, Uncle Reg, you have helped me so much. Let me assist you just this one time." Harry spoke with such sincerity Regulus could hardly bear it.

"Harry, I don't know how to tell you. It's part of my past that I am so ashamed of. My family forced it upon me, and made me do terrible things. " Regulus stopped he seemed to be drowning in regret. He then looked up at Harry as if he was about to tell what it was that he regretted so much.

Harry decided to take that burden off him.

"You were a Death Eater, weren't you?" he asked softly.

Regulus looked up at him in shock, but didn't look him in the eye.

"Yes I was, but as soon as the Dark Lord died I was free. Harry. please believe me, I never believed in what they were fighting for. I didn't want to torture and kill defenceless muggles or frightened muggleborn children. But the moment I was marked, something inside me changed. It was like I was Imperioed. I couldn't disobey direct orders, even though I wanted to.

"You see, Harry, I was so relived when the Dark Lord died. With him dead, so was the monster that he made inside me. When you told me he was still alive I just didn't want to believe it. If he came back, the mark would control me again. He could make me hurt and kill the people I love this time. I can't let that happen." he said desperately as he looked hatefully at the dark mark on his arm.

"I won't blame you if change your mind about helping me, Harry. From what all these books say, I won't be able to undo the effect of the mark. It connects me to the Dark Lord's soul. If he becomes powerful again… I don't want to think of what I might do." said Regulus as he stared up at the ceiling, still avoiding Harry's gaze.

But he then heard Harry's voice speak in defiance, "You should know better then anyone that I don't judge people on their pasts, but how they act in the present. You are not a death eater anymore, and never will be again, not if I can help it. I know from personal experience that nothing is impossible. There has to be some way to remove the mark, and I will help find it if that is what you wish."

Regulus looked at him seriously this time and sighed. "I guess there is nothing I can say that will change mind about helping me?" he said. "This is dark magic, Harry, and very dangerous"

Harry rolled his eyes and said, "Uncle, I am already as deep as I can go. I doubt helping you breaking this spell will bring me any deeper."

Regulus shook his head. "Harry, you are far too wise for your age. You're only eleven; you don't need to do everything."

"I know. But I know it is my destiny to take responsibly. I may as well start now." Harry said. With that, he picked up one of the unopened books and started reading.

They looked for hours, and when Harry looked up at the clock he knew he should head back to his house. They would be leaving for Hogwarts soon. He was just going to put the book down when his scar started tingling as it usually did since he modified it to only to tingle when Voldemort was angry. He usually ignored it, but this time his scar gave him an idea. He decided he would look more into it at Hogwarts. There was no guarantee this idea would work yet; he wanted to make sure it worked before he told his Uncle.

"I should really be getting back home, before Mum comes hunting for me," said Harry as he put the books away. "Stop worrying. I will keep on looking at Hogwarts; Mum says the Library over there is endless"

"If you insist, Harry, but I will keep working here." said Regulus as he continued reading.

Harry sighed and said, "If that is what you want to do. But start taking better care of yourself. I am not the only one who is worried about you, you know. You won't be helping yourself or anyone if you work yourself to exhaustion. Trust me, I know how complete exhaustion feels, and it isn't good."

Regulus shook his head and nearly laughed at himself. His adoptive eleven-year-old nephew was acting like his mother used to when he was little. "Alright, Harry, why don't I take you back, I guess I should take the day off, and I want to see you off to Hogwarts. You will love it there." he said as he took his long black out door robe on put it on.

Harry smiled. Now there was the Regulus he knew and loved…..

-

When they arrived back at Potter Manor, Harry was immediately approached by a nervous Lily.

"There you are, Harry. I was afraid you might have fallen asleep over there or something. Come on. Your Father and I want to speak to you before you leave for Hogwarts…." she paused and seemed to notice Regulus standing beside Harry.

"I should have known…." she said, with a smile for Harry. "It's a relief to finally see you out and about, Reg. We were getting worried"

Regulus nodded to her and said, "Well, we all know Harry can be very persuasive," and he left it at that.

Lily led Harry to the living room, where James was waiting for them. Harry knew it was something serious judging by the look on his father's face.

"Mum, Dad, what is wrong? Why the glum faces?" he asked.

His father spoke first, "Well Harry I will be blunt. We are worried that Voldemort may find a way to come back. Even in Hogwarts, you are not entirely safe from him, especially with that scar he gave you. So just in case something happens, your mother and I want to give you this." said James as he handed Harry a small gem.

As soon as Harry touched it, he could feel a port key ward on it. He looked to his parents questioningly.

"Place the stone on the pendent the twins gave you," Sais Lily. "I spelled it to fuse with it. If you are ever transported into a dangerous situation, the port key will get you out and bring you here no matter what wards are in place. That is a special port key, it has the ability to transport through any ward. It is the only one of its kind, so there is no worry of everyone being able to do it.

"It can also monitor your life signs. If you are every seriously injured, and are in danger of dying, you will also be transported to Saint Mungo's.

Harry sighed and looked down at the Green stone in his hand. "Well, I can't say I blame you, with what has already happened," he said as he placed the stone into the chest of the gold Phoenix. If glowed brightly for a moment and then faded.

(Hogwarts, Headmaster's Office)

Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape stood in the office talking, or maybe arguing would be the better term for it.

"Headmaster I simply do not believe it is possible. Why should I be the one to start yet another crazy plan of yours? I already have my hands full with having to protect that kid, or maybe you forgot you gave that little assignment to me. Of the entire staff you see me as the right candidate to play guardian angel to the child." said Snape in frustration. He was the most feared and hated Professor at Hogwarts for a reason. How was he supposed to protect a student from harm when he was supposed to stare at them in hatred?

"Severus, this child is different from any child you have ever met before. Besides, I believe you two could help each other." said Dumbledore as he took another sherbet lemon from the candy dish on his desk..

"And how may I ask, headmaster, did you jump to that conclusion?" asked Severus in defeat.

"You will find out soon enough, my boy," said Dumbledore, his eyes sparkling brighter than ever. "But I am afraid I must ask you to keep an eye on that person we suspected through out the year. I want you to leave him clues. Lead him around all you want, Severus, but keep a constant watch."

(At Kings Cross Station)

It was 10:45; the Hogwarts Express would be leaving in 15 minutes. It was an emotional experience for every one. The twins begged to be allowed to go with Harry. It even came to the point where Lily and James had to peel the twins off of Harry's legs. Lily and James still weren't happy that Harry had insisted on going to Hogwarts. They had mentioned on more then one occasion that Hogwarts wasn't the only wizarding School that he could go to. But Harry had managed to convince them that he was as safe from Voldemort at Hogwarts, as he could be any place on Earth.

"Good luck Harry. If your scar gives you any trouble, you be sure to owl us right away." said Lily.

"Don't worry Mum, You guys have put so much protections on me, I don'tbelieve Voldemort would be able to touch a hair on my head." Harry said with a smile.

Then the 10 Minute warning whistle sounded, signalling that students should say their good-byes and board the train.

Harry ran over to Sirius and Remus, promising to study his animgus book.

Then he turned to Regulus and hugged him. While doing so he whispered, "I will keep on looking at Hogwarts. I'll owl you when I find something. Don't worry".

Regulus smiled at and said back, "Harry, you are the most Noble wizard I have ever met. I hope you take Hogwarts by storm."

Smiling Harry at last turned to the twins. They ran over to him, and said their good-byes between their sobs.

Harry sighed at his crying sisters and knelt down to their level. He said to them quietly, "Listen to me, you two, I won't be going away forever, you know. And I will write to you any time I can, alright?"

"But we want to go with you!" they cried.

Harry sighed and shook his head, he then bent down further and whispered into their ears, "What do I always say about pouters?"

The twins stopped crying, pulled in their bottom lips and said, "That birds will poop on their lips."

'That's right. Now I don't want to hear that either of you have been pouting. And I will hear about it, so watch out! Alright?" Harry said to them playfully as he tickled them both on their sides.

They twins giggled as Harry stood up gave one last good by to his parents and then, at long last, climbed aboard the train, just as the 5 minute warning whistle blew.

Just as Harry found an empty compartment and sat down, the train began to move. He sat close to the window and waved farewell to his family as they all ran alongside the train waving and yelling good-bye until the train pulled fully out of the station.

"Here we go again," thought Harry as he leaned back in his seat and watched the country side fly by.

About 15 minutes passed before someone else joined Harry in the compartment. To his great enjoyment it was Ron Weasley.

"Umm... Hi, can sit in here too?" he asked. "Everywhere else is full."

"Yes, of course, lots of room," said Harry, excited finally to see his old best mate once again.

"Thanks, so - umm, what's your name?" asked Ron.

Harry smiled. It was still weird that he wasn't famous in this time and was considered a normal kid.

"Harry Potter. What is yours?" he asked.

"Ron Weasley. You wouldn't happen to be James and Lily Potter's son would you?" he asked, looking a little nervous for some reason.

Harry looked at him sceptically, but said , "Yeah, why?"

"Oh, it's nothing. It must pretty cool to be their son, huh?" he asked awkwardly.

Harry sighed. He should have known that Ron would just look at him as the son of a rich and powerful family.

"They are my family, and I love them. That's all that I need." said Harry as he looked away, trying get Ron to clue in that this wasn't the best way to make friends.

Ron turned red, knowing that he had messed up. "Yes of course"

They were very quiet for a few minutes, and Harry started to feel the tension build in the small compartment, so he decided to change to a more neutral topic.

"So, umm.. Do you like Quidditch?" he asked.

Well that did it. Ron rambled on and on for nearly an hour about everything he knew about all the Quidditch teams. Then, just like last time, the candy lady came and Harry bought a whole lot of candy. As they talked about Quidditch and ate candy, they were interrupted when someone slid the door opened. Before looking Harry thought it might have been Hermione, like last time, but it wasn't.

Standing by the doorway was the girl he'd met at Madam Malkin's. She was already in her Hogwarts robes, and her dark brown hair was tied back in a loose pony tail. Her icy blue eyes seemed to bore into him. Harry quickly tore his eyes from her. He didn't know what, but there was something about her that he wanted to figure out. He didn't know what he was trying to figure out. There was something about her aura; it looked familiar, yet he had never seen it before.

"There is something strange about that girl," he thought.

"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville Longbottom lost one." she asked, staring at the two boys in the compartment.

Ron sat there with his mouth full, but shook his head in a negative. Harry quietly said, "No, we haven't seen one. But if I find it, I will let you know."

"Thanks," she said, and was just about to leave. But then she seemed to change her mind and turned back to Harry.

"Aren't you the boy from Madam Malkin's?" she asked.

Harry turned red once again and avoided looking at her before nodding his head.

"What is your name?" she asked.

Harry stared at her; whatever he had expected her to say that wasn't it. However, he answered anyway, "Harry Potter."

She smiled and something weird happened. Harry felt a tingling sensation all over his body, and then he heard a voice in his head that wasn't his:

"Be careful"

Then the girl left, and so did the tingling feeling. It was the most bizarre feeling Harry had ever felt. For once he didn't know if what just happened was good or bad.

Ron looked thoroughly confused and asked, "What the hell was that all about?"

"Ron, I honestly don't have a clue," said Harry as he stared at the spot where the mysterious girl had stood.

Minutes passed and Ron started talking about Quidditch once again, but Harry only half listened to him, giving a nod every once in a while.

"What was that? Did she talk to me in my mind? How did she do that?…. Who the hell is she?" he asked himself, but no answers came to his head.

As Ron droned on and on, he finally ran out of stuff about Quidditch. He switched the discussion to the main reason they were all there, Hogwarts.

"So, what house do think you will be in Harry? I will probably be in Gryffindor. My entire family has been in Gryffindor for ages." said Ron in a proud voice.

"Yes, so have mine," said Harry, "though I can't be sure which house I will be sorted into. My parents say it might be a toss up between any of the Houses, even Slytherin."

"Slytherin? Why would you be in the snakes' house?" asked Ron with a slightly nervous voice.

"Well, why else would I be in Slytherin? I have some of their house traits, Just like I have traits from all the other Houses." explained Harry.

"Well, I hope you're not in Slytherin. I can't be friends with any of them" said Ron matter of factly.

Harry shook his head and said, "You know, just because Voldemort…" Harry paused at Ron's gasp, then continued, "…was in Slytherin, doesn't mean that every witch or wizard that comes out of it becomes a dark lord".

Ron objected, "But there wasn't a witch or wizard that went bad who wasn't in Slytherin."

"Not True. The other houses produced dark wizards too, you know, even Gryffindor." said Harry.

"That is just silly. I haven't heard of any dark wizards from Gryffindor. I admit there may have been a few from Ravenclaw, and I think Hufflpuff would have been too scared to join You-know-who." said Ron.

"Scared? You're right, Ron. They were scared, which made them perfect candidates to become his followers. Fear can drive people to do things that they wouldn't normally do." said Harry.

Ron folded his arms together and said, "and how would you know that?"

Harry looked like he was about to answer when he was interrupted by someone sliding the door open It was Hermione, she looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Excuse me, may I sit here, please?" she asked.

"Hermione? What's wrong?" asked Harry in concern.

She looked up from the floor in surprise. "Harry? Oh I have been looking for you ever since that day in the book store, but since I forgot to ask what your address was, I couldn't owl you." she said as she sat down next to him.

"Oh, yeah," said Harry. "You know, the Owls are magic. They can find a person without knowing his address. Just tell them who the letter is for. Oh, and write it on the letter, too."

Hermione and Harry talked for a few minutes, the tense conversation between him and Ron momentarily forgotten. Until Ron interrupted them by clearing his throat .

Harry immediately made the introduction. "Hermione, this is Ron Weasley. Ron, this is Hermione Granger".

"Hi," said Ron.

"It is a pleasure," replied Hermione.

After the awkward introduction Harry started making chit chat with Hermione and soon Ron joined in. They told each other about themselves and how their summers were. The argument about the supposed dark Slytherin house was seemingly forgotten. Hours passed, and they soon discovered that Hogwarts was approaching fast, and quickly got their robes on.

The arrival at Hogsmeade Station was very much like the last time for Harry, they were led to the boats and given their grand view of Hogwarts by Hagrid.

"I'll have to try and be his friend again. Oh, Hagrid, you have no idea how much I have missed you." thought Harry as Hagrid led them through the entrance of Hogwarts.

Once they got to the main chamber before the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall took Hagrid's place and stared over the sea of nervous First Years.

"Welcome to Hogwarts. Soon all of you will be entering through these doors and be sorted, but before that, I will allow all of you to clean you selves up before joining your class mates." She said the last part to Ron, whose shirt was untucked and whose hair was very messy.

After she left, everyone began making themselves more presentable. Harry picked up bits of nervous speculations about the sorting ceremony. From what he heard the most popular theory was that they had to fight a mountain troll and the heads of houses picked them if they liked how they fought.

Harry smiled and shook his head as he heard Ron talking nervously with another boy about what house he would be in.

Just then he heard Malfoy's voice speaking behind him.

"You spoke with that girl on the train, didn't you, Potter?" he asked.

Harry turned his head slightly towards him and said, "Why would you care who talks to me, Malfoy?"

Malfoy glared at him and said, "Don't think I am taking any interest in your social life, Potter, but that girl is... Cursed." He looked like he might say more, but he stopped when McGonagall walked back into the room and said,

" The sorting is about to begin. Line up in two lines please, quickly."

Everyone quickly formed the two lines and McGonagall led the way into the Great Hall.

Once the first years were all in the front of the Hall, McGonagall began the ceremony. She unrolled a long roll of parchment and began calling names.

"Abbot, Hannah"…..

Harry let the names go in one ear and out the other as he waited for his name to be called. He admitted he was nervous about the sorting. Would the Sorting Hat keep his deepest secret? He certainly hoped so. Suddenly he heard a name that he didn't expect to hear.

"Dumbledore, Casey"

"Did she just say Dumbledore? " thought Harry. He watched in shock as people around him started whispering and pointing as the girl sat down on the stool.

Then Harry saw her face. It was the mysterious girl who had spoken with him on the train and at Madam Malkin's. As the minutes passed and the hat had yet to yell out a house name, Harry noticed by the look on her face she was arguing with the Hat. Finally after a total of ten minutes, the Hat finally called out a name.

"Slytherin!"

Harry observed the girl again and deduced that Slytherin wasn't her first choice. He could see the anger and frustration clearly in the girl's eyes as she roughly took the hat off and flung it at McGonagall.

She stomped over to the Slytherin table, grumbling all the way. Harry glanced over to the headmaster and notice he looked disappointed.

"Maybe he expected her to he sorted into Slytherin, but hoped she would be somewhere else" thought Harry.

The names continued as student after student got sorted into houses. He cheered just as much as the Gryffindors when Hermione was sorted. He had known how nervous she had been about it. She had whispered to him on the train that she was afraid of being sorted into Slytherin because everyone would hate her because of her muggle bloodline.

Then, of course, just like last time, Draco Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin as soon as the hat touched his head.

Then, the moment he had been waiting for...

"Harry Potter."

Harry walked up the stool and put on the Hat. He soon felt the Hat going through his mind, and then he heard the familiar deep wise voice speaking to him.

"You are very interesting, Mr. Potter, and very difficult indeed. OH! What is this? You are from the future? Well, I must say you are the most complicated student I have ever met." The Hat said to him

"Yeah, you're not the only one to say that ," thought Harry, as Olivander, the wand maker, came to mind.

"Hmmm... I see I placed you in Gryffindor last time, but I would have placed you in Slytherin if you hadn't had fear inside yourself," thought the Hat.

"Yeah well a lot of things have happened since then," thought Harry.

"Yes, I can see that. You are different now, you no longer have that fear of being placed in Slytherin, which makes you able to fit in any if the houses." said the Hat.

Harry felt the Hat delve further into his mind, and the Hat seemed to find something interesting.

"Ah! I see you have a plan to unite all the houses. It would be tricky, but it might work if you play it right." said the Hat.

"You mean you are going to try and help me?" asked Harry He wasn't exactly sure what the Hat was getting at.

"Yes, Harry Potter I wish you luck in Gryffindor and Slytherin!" the Hat yelled out the house names loudly for everyone to hear.

"What? Two houses? How can I work that?" thought Harry frantically to the Hat.

But McGonagall took the Hat off him before he got an answer.

By now everyone was confused; was he in Gryffindor or Slytherin? Everyone began whispering to each other. No one in the history of Hogwarts had been sorted into more than one house before. McGonagall tried to silence the students, but she was just as confused as they. Then the Headmaster stood up and yelled….

"Silence!"

Once everyone stopped talking the Headmaster said, "Mr. Potter, I think it best if you would sit at Gryffindor table for now. We will sort this out after the feast".

Harry quickly moved to the Gryffindor table and soon discovered that many of the other students avoided eye contact with him, all except Hermione who kept on rambling on how in Merlin's name could he get into two Houses. Harry sat there thinking that this would either work and he would be the bridge between Gryffindor and Slytherin, or he would end up alienating both houses.

After the feast was over and Dumbledore had given hisspeech about the third floor corridor being out of bounds, Harry was led to the Headmaster's office by McGonagall. He supposed they were goingto discuss how the double-house thing was going to work.

When Harry walked into Dumbledore's office, he could feel the sharp feeling of magic building up in the air. There was the mysterious girl whose name he had just figured out from the sorting was Casey. She was glaring angrily at Dumbledore. Her anger was so strong that Harry suspected she was giving off a lot of magical energy, and maybe not even realizing it.

"Now Casey, I know you didn't want to be placed in Slytherin, but I assure you measures will be taken. Your secret will remain just that, a secret." said Dumbledore trying to calm the angry child down.

Casey glared even harder at him and said, "For your sake, Grandfather, I certainly hope you will. You and I both know what will happen if the school finds out who I really am."

Then Dumbledore seemed to notice Harry standing there and he sighed before he said, "Casey, we can talk about this in the morning. You know as well as I do that the Hogwarts Houses contracts are irreversible. If things don't work out, Professor Snape will work out different arrangements."

But this seemed only to anger Casey even more and she yelled, "You knew that!….."

Dumbledore halted her rant and pointed to Harry, who was still standing, staring by the doorway.

Casey's expression suddenly changed as she looked at Harry, and he felt the same tingling feeling all over him again. This time he saw an image of her. She was holding a snake in her hand, and the strange thing was she was smiling sadly at him. Then she brought her finger up to her lips as if telling him to keep quiet.

The image faded away and the girl walked out of the office and down the stairs.

"Strange," Harry thought as the girl walked away.

"Harry, please come and sit down. We have some things to discuss." said Dumbledore as he conjured another seat beside McGonagall and, to Harry's disgust, Snape.

Once Harry sat down, Dumbledore began talking again.

"Alright now, Harry, I would like you the meet your Heads of Houses, Minerva McGonagall of Gryffindor House and Severus Snape of Slytherin House." said Dumbledore.

Harry greeted McGonagall with a smile, but sent a glare at Snape. He still remembered that Snape was the one who stopped him from getting away the night they had been kidnapped. He trusted Snape as much as he trusted Dumbledore, not very much at all.

"Now, Harry, since you were put in both houses, you can sleep in either Gryffindor or the Slytherin dorms, and you can eat at either table during breakfast and dinner. As for classes, your time table will be made so that you will sometimes go to class with your Gryffindor classmates and in other times you will go to class with you Slytherin classmates." explained Dumbledore.

"What about house points? Which house will gain or loose points if I succeed or fail?" asked Harry.

"Ahh, yes. Good question, Both houses will loose or gain points by you, Mr. Potter, since you are in both." said Dumbledore.

Harry sighed and nodded his head. This was going to be very difficult. He only hoped this whole thing wouldn't backfire on him. When he first thought of this plan, he never thought the Sorting Hat would actually agree to it.

"Do you have any other Questions, Harry?" asked Dumbledore.

"Who is that girl who was in here when I got here? At the sorting I heard her name was Casey Dumbledore. She is related to you, isn't she?" Harry asked.

Snape looked like he was going to intervene, but Dumbledore held up his hand.

"Yes, Harry, if you must know she is my Great Granddaughter. Her mother died recently, so she was sent to live here with me from Canada. Now, Harry, do you have any questions concerning you new houses?" he said.

Harry shook his head and said, "No. If you wouldn't mind, Headmaster, I would like to sleep in Gryffindor tower tonight. I have already made some friends with some of the kids who were sorted into Gryffindor, and I am very tired. It has been a very long day."

"Very well, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Minerva, could you escort Mr. Potter to Gryffindor tower and fill him in on the rules, and the password of course."

By the time Harry got to Gryffindor Tower, all his dorm mates were already asleep. Harry quietly wrote a letter home explaining the situation with his two houses and that he would write again soon. Then he crawled into bed and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

(Somewhere deep within the Forbidden Forrest)

Two black-clad figures were chanting an ancient, complicated spell. Somewhere among the old latin two words could be recognized: "Founder" and "Bloodline."

Just as the two figures ended the spell, Professor Quirrell/Voldemort screamed as magical energy coursed through them. Then, to Quirrell's shock and confusion, Voldemort disappeared from the back of his head with one finalscreech.

Voldemort had found a new host, and this one, unfortunately, was a lot more compatible with his spirit…

Harry screamed as he awoke that night. His scar felt like it was being poked with a red hot dagger. He felt a warm sticky liquid run down his face and realized that it was blood.