Chapter Text
"As you all know, this year is your OWL year," Professor McGonagall began. Harry rested his head on his hands, arms propped up on the desk so that he was still looking at McGonagall at the front of the room.
"This means that at the end of the school year you will be taking your Ordinary Wizarding Levels. These tests are extremely important to your future and I expect each and every one of you to get admirable results. You are all also expected to get at least an Acceptable in Transfiguration … yes, even you Mr. Longbottom." Harry tuned her out as she kept going on about OWLs and tried not to scowl at McGonagall's actions.
Neville was actually quite smart and powerful, especially now that he actually had his own wand, not his father's old one. He just had to dumb himself down, act like he was still using his dad's old wand and pretend that he still had 30% of his core blocked. Ron was in a similar situation, having to act like he didn't care about work and didn't want to try.
Harry tilted his head as he got lost in his thoughts. His situation was the same as Neville's too. His core had been blocked by 50% and, according to Hermione, he shouldn't have been able to cast any magic with only half his magic, let alone perform the feats that he managed, such as a corporeal Patronus. That small piece of information had made him very thankful that he had been entered in the Triwizard Tournament, even with everything that had happened because of the Tournament. Without the Tournament, he wouldn't have become emancipated, meaning he wouldn't have been able to claim his Potter Lordship. And without the Potter Lordship ring, all the spells on him wouldn't have been removed.
Neville had encouraged him to go to Gringotts and claim the ring as soon as possible, after Luna pointed out that, since the tournament rules said only those who were of age could compete, and he was being made to compete, he was being acknowledged as of age, and he was glad he had. The goblins had agreed with his reasoning, as had Lady Magic, and he had been emancipated. As soon as he had accepted responsibilities for House Potter and slid on the ring, the Potter Family Magic had stripped away every piece of magic that had been placed on him by someone who wasn't family and listed them all down. The one he had been most furious about had been the core block, as blocking magic also ended up messing with memory and other things to do with the mind as the magical core and mind are extremely interwoven. But the compulsions to be foolhardy, reckless, submissive to the Dursley's (and didn't that one make him want to scream), and the trust spells linked to Dumbledore and anything Gryffindor were just as bad, as well as the spells that made him suspicious and mistrustful about anything Slytherin.
After seeing all the magic that had been placed on him, and by Dumbledore no less, he had dragged his large friend group to Gringotts at the next chance he got so that they could be tested, as the goblins had a means to do that. The results were just as bad as his. Hermione had trust spells on her to trust authority and Dumbledore above all else and to act like a stuck-up know-it-all, while Ron had compulsions to be lazy in regard to school work and to only care about Quidditch, as well as to allow his jealousy of Harry to cloud his judgment about things.
Ginny had a mind block in place, which had caused all the memories of her first year to be suppressed and passed off as not very bad or traumatic. She also had a compulsion to obsess over Harry and try to make him fall for her, which was very concerning for both of them as they regarded each other as siblings. Neville's test had shown that he had spells causing his insecurities to be at the forefront of his mind and to be extremely shy, as well as a 30% core block. Luckily for the group, Fred, George, and Luna were clear, considering how long the rituals to remove all the spells on Ginny, Neville, Ron, and Hermione took, since none of them were old enough to claim any rings/didn't have any rings to claim.
It had been that moment that turned them all away from Dumbledore. None of them could believe what Dumbledore had done and none of them could work out why, even though they had begun to speculate. The only thing they could work out, was that it seemed to be centered around Harry. They had started working in the shadows to undermine Dumbledore, trying to work out what Dumbledore's end goal was, as well as trying to keep Harry alive throughout the Tournament.
Meanwhile, they kept acting like they had used to in classes, so as to not make anyone suspicious. Their only break from acting was when they relaxed together, either in the Chamber, which also helped Ginny process and work through the suppressed memories because she would have more and more positive memories associated with the Chamber than bad ones, and the Room of Requirement, which Luna had pointed them to.
Their anger towards Dumbledore had only increased when Hermione discovered an old book about the Triwizard Tournament, from when anyone of any age could enter. Apparently, if a minor was selected to participate, their guardian, or magical guardian if their guardians were muggles, could deny their entry within 12 hours of them being selected, which would have caused the Goblet of Fire to relight and select someone else for that school. And Hermione had pointed out that Dumbledore had been Harry's magical guardian, as the Headmaster was for every muggle-born or muggle-raised student, and he had to have known about that. Meaning, Dumbledore wanted Harry in the Tournament.
They had also been working on extending themselves and their magical capabilities. They worked on their magic whenever they were in the Chamber or RoR, pushing their knowledge of spells and anything else to do with magic to the limits. While there, Neville and Luna taught the others how to act in pureblood society. They also taught them the traditions of the Olde Ways, including the rituals used on Samhain, Yule, Beltane, and the Solstice. Additionally, they also worked with each other on all the electives, with Fred, George, and Hermione helping the rest of the group with Arithmancy and Runes, while Harry and Hermione taught them about muggles and how to act in the muggle world.
Amid their extra-curricular learning, they had also started learning to become animagi. The process was sped up by the fact that they were able to meet with Sirius every other weekend during the Hogsmeade weekends; having an animagi teach you made it a lot easier. So far, they had all found both their forms, aerial and terrestrial, and had all at least mastered one of the transformations. While researching the process, Neville had found a book in the RoR that mentioned how everyone could have two forms, an aerial form, and a terrestrial form, as opposed to the normally believed single form. When he had discovered this, Sirius had begun working on finding his aerial form as well.
They had each gained a nickname/codename based on the form they had first mastered the change of. Harry was Shadow because he had mastered his shadow phoenix form before his king cobra form. Ron was Striker, for his gyrfalcon form which accompanied his shadow wolf form. Hermione was Streak for her tiger, while her aerial form was a knight raven.
Neville was Flit because of his vampire bat form, while his terrestrial form was a unicorn. Ginny was Flame, and even though the twins joked that it could be because of her hair, it was really for the phoenix that she managed to transform into, while her second form was that of a lioness. Luna was Flicker due to her magical chameleon that was able to change size as well as colour, her second form being that of a raven.
Fred and George were Chaos and Mayhem respectively, which suited them even without their Animagus forms. Their forms matched just like their normal appearances did, both of them having identical hyenas and thunderbirds. They referred to Sirius as Howler, for his Grim, while he had managed to find his second form to be that of a black owl. Remus had been pulled into the group as well, after having visited Gringotts at Harry's advice and finding a block between his wolf mind and his human mind, his name being Eclipse.
Sirius and Remus were mainly informants, letting them know of Dumbledore's movements when he was outside of school, as well as anything that they really need to know. They didn't know the full extent of what the rest of the group did; they had no clue the amount of times they had snuck out of school for one reason or another, often for a mission such as information collection that neither man could get or getting materials that aren't easy to acquire, such as information from the ministry. They mainly didn't tell them because they all knew how they would react. They wouldn't want them putting themselves in danger and would try to make them leave it to the adults; especially because Luna and Ginny were only 13 when they had started.
They had also given codenames to those that they worked against or needed to be discrete talking about, especially those that were in the school. Dumbledore was Lemons for the lemon drops that he offered anyone, which Hermione had worked out were laced with mild truth potion after Harry gotten one for her to examine. Voldemort was Basilisk, which Ginny had suggested because of the basilisk he had controlled through her and set on Harry. They referred to the Death Eaters as Ducklings, though none of them could quite remember who started it or why, just that one of them had called them Death Eater Ducklings and it had stuck. After that summer, when they had met the Order of the Phoenix, they dubbed the group the Order of Flaming Chickens, or just Chickens. The heads of house also had nicknames, based off their house animal, although they didn't often refer to them as such. McGonagall was Lion, Snape was Snake, Flitwick was Eagle, and Sprout was Badger.
They had all been surprised when their Animagus forms turned out to be magical, but a lot of digging had told them that it wasn't unheard of, or vastly uncommon. Most people who were animagi normally only found one form and those that found both often had some sense of magic surrounding their other form. But their magical forms had a lot of benefits because the magical traits of the animals had started to bleed through to their human forms, much like the animal instincts normally bled through.
Harry and Ginny, both having a type of phoenix as their form, had gained extremely quick natural healing, which everyone considered was a good thing, considering everything that Harry got into. Luna had started to develop the chameleons ability to blend in and sometimes found herself actually fading from view; it was a skill she was still getting the hang of controlling though. They were sure that the others would all find advantages from their magical animagi forms eventually.
All their under-the-radar endeavors were made much easier by the fact that Hermione had 'forgotten' to give back the time turner at the end of third year, and McGonagall had never actually asked for it back, meaning they were able to do days twice over, sometimes more depending on any missions they had outside of the school, spending one day in classes and public eye and the other out of sight, working on their magic or animagi transformations, or even sneaking out so that they had an alibi.
Harry was shaken out of his thoughts about their group when McGonagall stopped going on about the OWLs and how important they were.
"As it is your OWL year, there is also a test that you have to take. It was a school policy that was implemented in the times of the founders but died out and has been brought back into use within the last few years. The test will tell you any gifts, affinities, or inclinations that you have, and which parent you inherited it from if it is an inherited gift. It will also tell you of any lines you are in line for in case there are any that you are unaware of, such as if any of the Muggle-born are descended from a squib line. If you would follow me to the hospital wing, all the fifth years are getting tested there. Bring your things, it will take the whole period."
Harry stood, shouldering his bag, and following McGonagall out of the classroom. He dropped back a bit to the back of the group, and was soon joined by Neville, Ron, and Hermione.
"Any clue about this Streak?" Harry asked.
"No clue at all, Shadow. It's not mentioned in any of the books I've read," Hermione replied.
"I might have something. Chaos and Mayhem mentioned having to take the test, but Percy didn't. It was re-introduced in their year, I'm pretty sure; it's how they know they hold the Prewett Lordship."
"Do you reckon Lemons knows? I can't imagine him wanting any muggle-born to find out they hold more power."
"I don't think he does Shadow. Gran mentioned it a few years ago. The examination department in the Ministry decided that it needed to be brought back so that they could take into account any gifts, affinities, or inclinations that students have when taking their OWLs. Apparently, certain affinities and inclinations clash with other subjects so they take that into account when testing you. They took it to the Board of Governors, and they all voted for it to be brought back. I doubt Lemons even knows it happens." Neville shrugged.
"I didn't know your Gran was on the board Flit."
"She's not. But she's friends with Madam Marchbanks, one of the head examiners and I heard them talking when they were having tea." They couldn't continue their conversation as they had reached the hospital wing and were being directed to form a line. The Hufflepuffs were already there, as were the Slytherins, and the Ravenclaws arrived right after the Gryffindors.
Five students were already sat on beds, while another five were sitting on chairs on the other side of the room, parchment in each of their hands. Madame Pomphrey was walking between the students on the beds, handing them a potion, needle, and sheet of parchment. Harry watched each student drink about half of the potion and shudder, before pouring the remaining potion on the parchment. The parchment gained a slight sheen and then the students each used the needle to prick their finger, letting seven drops of blood hit the parchment. Five minutes after they had each drunk the potion, they moved off their beds and to the chairs on the other side of the room, and the next five students in line moved to the bed. It seemed to be a very smooth procedure.
"Why do you think we have to do it here?" Harry asked Hermione, was standing in front of him. Hermione laughed lightly at his tone of voice; the whole group knew his dislike for the hospital wing, mainly because of how often he ended up there.
"There's a potion involved, so I would guess it's so that Madame Pomphrey can monitor any negative reactions to the potion. And before you ask, she can't leave the wing unattended so, no, we couldn't do it in the Great Hall with her there." Harry sighed. Why did Hermione have to make sense.
"I hate that you're probably right," he grumbled. The next group were called, and Harry moved to one of the free beds. Hermione took the bed on his right, while Ron was on his left. Neville was on Ron's other side, while the other bed next to Hermione held Lavender Brown. Madame Pomphrey approached each of them one at a time, handing over the needed equipment and explaining what they needed to do.
"Now, drink half that potion, see the mark on the bottle? Half the potion is there, a little more or less won't have any negative effects on the procedure. Once you've drunk the potion, pour the other half on the parchment. Let the potion fully soak into the parchment and settle, before using the needle to draw blood. Let seven drops of blood hit the parchment, no more, no less. I'll come back and heal your finger so don't worry about that.
"The potion takes five minutes to fully analyze the blood and for any reactions to appear. After that, I will ask you to move over to the chairs where the other students are. The test results will appear shortly after that. You are free to share your results with others, but they are private, so you don't have to. Your head of house will come around shortly to make a note of any gifts, affinities, or inclinations."
They all nodded and, at Madame Pomphrey's nod, drank about half the potion, leaving roughly the other half in the bottle, which settled around the marking that Madame Pomphrey had indicated. Harry grimaced at the taste - it was about as bad as Skelegrow - and the feeling was extremely weird. It was like having the disillusionment charm put on him, expect inside him. He tipped the other half of the potion onto the parchment, watching as the liquid slowly sank into the parchment, leaving a pale blue, sparkly sheen over the parchment. He grabbed the needle and stuck it in his thumb. He pulled it out and a drop of blood beaded on his skin.
He held his thumb over the parchment, shaking his hand slightly to get the drop to hit the parchment. He squeezed his thumb, coaxing out another six drops of blood with difficulty; a pin really wasn't the best way to draw blood, especially with his phoenix ability; he had to re-prick himself twice to get the required blood. Once the seventh drop had hit, he stopped squeezing and moved his hand away from the parchment. He dropped the parchment, letting it rest on his knees. Madame Pomphrey came back over, healing his thumb with a flick of her wand, even though it wasn't bleeding, or painful at all, and was already healed due to his phoenix.
He watched his blood on the parchment, watching it swirl and spread as the potion interacted with it and manipulated it. Soon enough, Madame Pomphrey was making them get up and move over to the chairs. Hermione claimed a chair off to the far side and he, Ron, and Neville followed her. He watched his parchment as the blood finally fully sunk into the potion and the sheen over the parchment disappeared. As the sheen disappeared, seeming to sink into the parchment, words began appearing on the page. He looked up, not bothering to watch the words as they wrote, instead happy to converse with his friends.
"So, most surprising thing? Anything surprising at all?" he asked.
"Nothing surprising. Just like I thought, I have an earth affinity, which is accompanied by an inclination towards Herbology from my mum."
"Actually, this is surprising," Hermione murmured, as her eyes drifted down to the section that told her of any families she was in line for.
"What is it Streak?" Harry asked.
"Apparently, I'm the McKinnon heir."
"The McKinnon family. They only died out during the last war. The McKinnon Massacre wiped out the whole McKinnon family. It was the first open attack against purebloods," Neville noted.
"It is a surprise. Apparently, it's from my grandmother's line on my mother's side. I'm guessing she was a Squib and put up for adoption, but not actually disowned. I mean, I knew she was adopted, considering she's white, compared to the rest of my mum's family, but that was unexpected. I knew that a Muggle-born could inherit through Squib lines, I just didn't think I would be one. Anything surprising Striker?"
"Surprising? Try earth-shaking. Life-changing. Bloody hell," Ron exclaimed.
"What did you find out Striker? It can't be that bad," Harry commented.
"Oh, it's not bad," he replied faintly.
"Are you going to tell us, or let us keep guessing?" Hermione asked in a playful tone.
"I'm in line for the Gryffindor line. The family magic selected me as first in line, as apparently I have the blood from a close enough line, through mum's side, and qualified." The three of them blinked at him in shock.
"Ok, I agree with your original statement. Bloody hell," Harry finally said.
"Well, that's not bad. Definitely a surprise, but not bad," Hermione agreed.
"What about you Shadow. You haven't looked at yours yet," Neville commented. Harry looked down at his parchment and stared at the first line, not fully comprehending what it said.
"Shadow?" He could hear his friends trying to get his attention, but he didn't look away from the first lines on the parchment. His mind was reeling.
Name:
Adopted Name (magic-blessed adoption): Harry James Potter.
Birth Name: Hadrian Rigel Slytherin-Lestrange.