Echoes of Time (Harry Potter)

November 13, 1943

Friday Morning

"Get inside the classroom, Peverell." Daphne told him from her spot beside the door, the girl had taken him far enough away from the Great Hall that there were only a handful of students about.

That fact made him feel more secure the further they'd walked from the main body of their peers, as Harry was thrown completely off his balance from the 'cousin' comment and lack of hostile remarks during the journey.

"Why not speak in the courtyard or someplace else that isn't so out of the way?" Harry stood where he was, that being a few feet from Daphne - all the while he watched her hand for any sign of movement on the off chance she attempted to force him into the classroom.

"Speaking where you'll feel safer will only increase the chances that our conversation is overheard and I'd rather that didn't happen," Daphne took a step closer to the door and motioned with her arm towards the open door, "I'll enter first and in full view of you if that makes you feel more secure, and I'll even leave my wand on the front desk."

Harry felt conflicted; on the one hand, he desperately wanted to know the reason she'd called him her cousin and was going to such lengths to speak with him, but on the other hand, what if it were all a ruse that Riddle had orchestrated… he sounded paranoid even to himself, but he wouldn't mind if it kept him safe.

Looking at Daphne closely, he saw impatience and annoyance at the forefront of her face. While usually unreadable, her slightly narrowed eyes, tongue running under her upper lip and impatient tapping of her fingers were easy giveaways.

Was it because her topic of discussion was actually important or did she simply dislike being in his presence this much?

"Take too much longer and we'll not have the time needed to discuss what I'd like."

Daphne said that with an impatient twitch towards the door.

"Why?" Harry asked as he took a hesitant step forward, his curiosity showing itself.

"Riddle - she'll expect me to meet with her before the start of the first period."

Leave it to Riddle to be a problem without being in the area, that was Harry's first thought. His second was that he'd need to make his decision within the next minute if he didn't want to wait for whatever she had to speak with him about… he had no doubt his making her wait would lead to unpleasant circumstances in the future.

"Fine, go in first and lay your wand down like you said you would, then I'll go in," Harry finally agreed to speak with her in the abandoned classroom, later amending his words when she'd gone halfway in to include, "Tell me if anybody's inside too, I'll leave if there's a surprise."

Harry wasn't sure if she'd take him seriously by saying that, especially considering her response was a simple wave at his remark while she said 'no'.

A few seconds later and once she'd finally done as promised, Harry took a few steps until he was right at the door.

Rather than entering in straight away, Harry leaned forward to look within the room - he saw nothing but desks, pillars, cabinets and bookshelves. That didn't necessarily mean the room was empty, just that anybody within was disillusioned or wearing an invisibility cloak similar to the one he had. However tempting the idea of firing stunners at dark corners or causing the wind to gust throughout the small class was(or even showing that he knew more spells than he'd shown), Harry withheld the urge to do so and stepped inside.

Immediately, the door behind him was shut with a wave of Daphne's hand, the act of wandless magic from anyone but Riddle was surprising to say the least.

He hated that he showed the surprise too, as Daphne's usually already arrogant features only grew before she spoke to him.

"Grab a seat, the closer the better, for privacy's sake."

"Didn't you put up any privacy spells?" He wouldn't get nearer than necessary to speak with her, calling out the ruse for what it was.

Rolling her eyes, Daphne responded.

"Yes, along with wards and other means of keeping anything said within this room, still, I'd prefer not speaking loudly on the topic at hand if it's all the same to you."

Harry wasn't incredibly comfortable with the words she'd said… what 'other means' of keeping anything said within the room had she done? A ward scheme that silenced the sound to any prying ears or something more malicious to ensure his silence?

"Harry, we've a very limited amount of time and as much as I enjoy the nervousness you're exhibiting, I'd much prefer getting this over with."

Daphne's tone was sharp but less hostile; her outward disliking of him being covered by a layer of annoyance at his continued caution.

He wouldn't grace her less than friendly tone or words with a response, choosing to seat himself in silence and near enough that only one empty seat separated them.

She seemed happy enough with his actions and finally got to the point of why she'd brought him where she had.

"I called you cousin because we're related, you should know as much by your family tree and you likely do." Her look turned hostile once again, the annoyance settling back behind it, "That begs the question of why you'd not seek me out considering, to the best of my knowledge, my family is the only close one still around in Wizarding Britain."

Harry knew he'd messed up and rushed for an excuse, coming up with one almost instantly that he hoped would work while the agitated older girl stared him down.

"My family hasn't permitted me to see the wall of relatives, nor have they included me in most other familial matters. I wasn't meaning any disrespect by not conversing with you, in fact, now that I know we're cousins I'd like to hopefully bridge the hostilities between us." He did want to, not that he thought it was possible.

Mainly he hoped that Daphne would cease being so against him if he'd butter her up a bit.

Evidently, she doubted his response by the raised eyebrow and shake of her head; her follow up words copied her body language.

"You expect me to believe the Heir of House Peverell is kept from important matters?"

Harry shrugged, "I can't make you believe anything, I really didn't know we were related. If I had, I would've tried to speak with you a lot sooner, probably when we were at Abraxas' home.

Daphne examined him critically, her eyes roaming his face and body for any signs of deceit. Very luckily, Harry had nothing to hide in this regard and his body language relayed as much.

"While I don't completely believe you considering how you're playing Riddle" she spoke over him when he made a noise of disagreement, "I'll allow it to slide for now. My family does, however, expect contact from House Peverell before too much longer. I hope you can relay that to your family considering the lack of Owls sent home."

Harry nodded along, figuring that he could do something about it during Yule break - he'd also need to find that family tree too, but maybe she'd be forthcoming with what made them relatives.

"Could I ask you how we're related?"

Daphne looked away from him and sighed, "If I find out that you knew and were simply asking me this as a sign of your deception, I'll be very, very cross with you," she warned.

Harry subconsciously swallowed, the act being caused by nerves as he knew very well that Daphne was dangerous even while Riddle had her leashed.

"Cherie Gaunt," Daphne said, causing his interest to peak with the familiar family name, "Does she sound familiar, Heir Peverell?"

Shaking his head 'no', Daphne sighed, "I suppose I'll give you a history lesson - be warned, I'll not omit anything from my parents that we discuss, that includes the failings of your family in teaching you a history that's almost exclusive to House Peverell."

Harry fought the urge to respond negatively, not liking the manner in which Daphne was speaking in the slightest but realizing her words could help fact check information from Walburga's book once he opened it. Well, that 'once' was more likely an 'ever' considering the crippling lack of advancements he's made with it.

"Roughly a century ago and during the waning power of House Gaunt, Cherie Gaunt graduated Hogwarts to find out her parents had betrothed her. While that's not at all unheard of in Pureblood culture, the age gap and too close of incestuous ties were; you see, while most Purebloods are related to a degree, they tend to avoid too close a relative because of the increased chances of squibbing out your line." Daphne saw the questioning look on Harry's face and after sighing, allowed him to ask it.

"I, uh, I heard the marriages are enforced by magic… is that true or?" Harry had heard all kinds of stories back in Gryffindor tower when the girls were louder than usual in their gossiping. One that he'd heard the most was a Pureblood beauty being betrothed to an old, fat man; their contract was written with a blood quill and enforced by magic itself unless one of the two died. Long story short, the woman's lover had rescued her and the 'marriage contract' was left void.

Daphne looked at him for a long while, her eyes narrowing while her face looked as if she'd bitten a lemon.

Finally, she composed herself enough to ask if he were serious and when he nodded, she gave her response.

"Magic doesn't 'enforce' the forcible bonding of two souls, Heir Peverell - I'd suggest you quit reading those overly romantic stories and focus on your academics."

Harry nearly winced at her answer (though he still blushed at the sheer embarrassment he felt), Merlin did he feel stupid… but at least now he knew that there wasn't such a thing as being trapped in a marriage with the fear of death looming overhead.

"Can I continue or is there anything else you'd like to waste our time on?"

Harry didn't say anything, causing Daphne to take that as being good to speak again.

"Cherie Gaunt found herself being forcibly betrothed to her Uncle, obviously with the relation and age gap of forty years between them, it was far from favourable for her. In response to that, she left to visit a relative of mine she'd met from vacationing in France with a family that was kind to her, the Avery's I believe. A few years passed by after her coming to House Oleander and during that time, her friendship with my ancestor grew into something more intimate." Daphne then motioned between herself and Harry, "thus, our relation is created."

How did that make him related unless the Gaunts were related to the Peverells? He wouldn't be foolish enough to ask that and nodded his head as if he understood, asking a few seconds after why the girl disliked him so much if they were relatives as she'd said.

Daphne responded that it'd started off with disliking him for ignoring her, then it morphed into a dislike from how easily he'd made it into Riddle's inner circle, and finally, how he'd gone about playing her in recent times. When he asked for her to elaborate on the final piece, she wouldn't, leaving them awkwardly looking at one another in a silent room after Daphne enlightened him about their shared lineage.

Thankfully, that staring only lasted so long until she stood up from her seat, "My family expects an owl from House Peverell during Yule, if not sooner. If none is received, we'll take that as House Peverell's stance on getting to know their last living relatives."

"Wait."

Harry only said one word in response, not wanting Daphne to grab her wand and dash out after saying what she had.

She disregarded his request, heading towards the exit to the classroom and only once she had her hand on the door did she signal that she was listening to him.

"Can we talk about this again sometime? I know it may seem boring or pointless to you but it'd help me in convincing my parents."

Harry figured after acknowledging his parents to so many people that he'd have to impersonate or otherwise find out a way to make use of them, at least until he came up with some convoluted way to get them out of the picture… maybe he could get polyjuice and use charms on himself?

Daphne sighed, her facial features being unreadable considering the girl hadn't turned around to face him during his question.

"I suppose I could do that for you - not for free, obviously. There's much I'd like to learn about the Heir to House Peverell free from the constraints that our mutual friend's seen fit to put around me" she held her left hand over her shoulder and wiggled her fingers, "Good day, Peverell."

She'd ended the conversation, leaving the room and closing the door behind her so it'd delay his exit in the case of any students seeing them together; he knew as much considering she'd told him that too much time spent together would arouse suspicions.

It didn't matter all that much to him, so what if his 'relative' - though not actually, unless Magic had done something to his body during the transfer - didn't care for him all that much? Daphne was far from a primary goal, well off from being a secondary and only potentially a tertiary.

Her power and influence wasn't the question, it was her seemingly deep loyalty to Riddle; why bother with somebody who'd have an almost zero percent chance of joining you, regardless of how strong they are? Harry was stricken with a quote he'd heard from Muggle school, 'Every one of us is poor and powerless. And yet together, we can overthrow an empire.'

Enough wizards and witches that were good enough could beat any single magical user, in his mind that meant Aster, Reinhard and he could take on Daphne with victory not improbable.

Shaking himself from his thoughts and taking his turn to leave the desolate classroom, Harry made up his mind for the evening after the conversation with Daphne - it was time to start his course, and there'd be no going back once initiated.

Slytherin's Journal and Study would provide him with knowledge long lost to the public, House Peverell's library could do the very same once he'd returned to Peverell Manor and spoke with the house-elf in charge of it. With enough knowledge and power built up, he could begin showcasing it, gaining followers as Riddle had and showing the members of Slytherin there was an alternative to both her and Walburga.

Hopefully, Aster and Reinhard would side with him without needing too much of a push. Corene too; if he could get just those three from Riddle's influence, he'd have a powerful core to a group that'd only expand.

November 13, 1943

Friday Evening

Harry carefully walked through the entrance to the classroom that hid Slytherin's study, the journey and appearance being something he was intimately familiar with after having done it more than half a dozen times. As he usually did for the sake of his security or paranoia, whichever you'd prefer to call it, he checked for any signs of activity during his absence.

Nothing stood out when his search was complete, a 'Homenum Revelio' even being cast when he'd thought he heard a noise - it was something he'd not used earlier when in the presence of Daphne in hopes of showcasing continued incompetence.

Continued being because of his well known less than satisfactory performance in Ancient Runes, Arithmancy and to some degree, Potions. His DADA, Charms and Transfiguration had him towards the top, but he'd explained it away by saying his family had him focus on those three subjects alone during his entire life.

Besides, he had to be bad at something, didn't he? If he'd suddenly shown up, became the best student and had a mind for the more political matters, that'd have him on the radar of dozens of people across varying social groups in Wizarding Britain; that's at least what he'd told himself after failing another set of runes more recently.

Sighing in relief at the lack of interference thus far, Harry made his way over to the door and put his hand to the handle. As usual, it went slightly ajar signifying that he could enter in, and he did just that.

Unlike every other time, however, the portrait of Slytherin immediately greeted him as if it'd been waiting all this time for him to show up… Harry supposed the founder could do that considering his lack of life requirements.

"Good evening, son of House Peverell, I see you've come again to my study - have you finally found the answers you'd sought?"

Shutting the door behind him and bringing his satchel over to the desk in the corner of the room, Harry responded while Slytherin shifted to the previously empty portrait that sat directly above the beautifully made desk.

"Some, yes. Others, no." Harry withdrew the journal that he'd liberated from Slytherin's study, setting it on the desk carefully, "I've found myself unable to read from it, but I suspect I know how to fix that. To do so I needed to be in a place that made my doing so almost completely without risk."

Slytherin smiled, "Hogwarts could be considered one of the most dangerous places in all of Europe, son of House Peverell. Still, I find myself impressed with your knowledge regarding my supposed secret chambers at Hogwarts - are you sure a family member hasn't told you of them, or anything relating to me?"

Harry shook his head in the negative, in no world regardless of the era would he tell Salazar Slytherin that he was a mistaken time-traveller sent here by a higher being with an agreement he couldn't remember for the life of him.

"No, not a member of my family or those not bearing my last name gave me any information about the Chamber or this Study." Harry then looked back down at the desk, or more accurately, Slytherin's journal that he'd placed on it.

Seeing as the man in the portrait had woken himself up and wasn't likely to go back into whatever slumber the portrait usually had him in until Harry was gone, the boy figured he'd go about guessing the magic words to the journal in plain view of the man in which it belonged. Who knows, if he failed to open it, maybe Slytherin would help - there was also the chance that it'd annoy the long-deceased founder, and considering what he'd been like according to the history books, that too was an agreeable conclusion with Harry.

"Open." nothing happened with the word he'd grown used to using while speaking Parseltongue, but the fact that it'd failed made sense considering the context.

Next, Harry tried, "View." again nothing happened, the ink of the first page remaining impossible to make out any words.

Seeing the second failure, Slytherin spoke up, the slightest of grins on his face while doing so.

"Perhaps you should sign the book currently within the drawer, though I suppose you'll refuse the help I could offer once you do so." the man gave a theatrical sigh, "If only you weren't so stubborn, son of House Peverell; the process of improving upon the already remarkable base you provide could be well underway."

Harry ignored the man out of wanting to avoid getting drawn into an argument with something that wasn't even alive, but he was feeling the willpower to do so fade away with every word Slytherin spoke. His referencing of Harry as 'stubborn' and the belittling that followed only made the boy want to solve it all the more, but how could he go about doing so unless he tried every word that made a modicum of sense?

That was when the thought struck him - he'd heard a younger Voldemort say them years ago while they were within the chamber… when awakening the Basilisk.

Half of Harry desperately wanted to repeat the words on the chance that they'd work. His other half, the side that contained the majority of his morals, didn't on the off chance that he'd awaken the Basilisk which only recently would've been put back to rest.

But Harry hadn't been a Gryffindor for nothing. He had bravery and courage, traits that he'd grab hold of while he made quite possibly the most important decision since his being sent back in time.

"Speak to me, Slytherin, greatest of the Hogwarts Four."

As soon as he'd said those words, any sounds from the portrait were silenced - whether from his concentration on the effects he was watching or if Slytherin had been too surprised with Harry's knowledge of the words, he didn't know - while the ink moved itself all about, sliding down the outside of the book as it went from page to page.

Harry flipped through page after page, the ink blobs forming themselves into words or runes in front of his very eyes. It reminded him of Voldemort's journal in the way it worked, but no flashbacks took him in, nor was anybody else having a conversation with him.

All that happened were words or symbols being formed.

That single occurrence made the journal infinitely more valuable than any other event Harry had yet witnessed in all the time he'd seen pass by while living his new life.

Seeing that the words had finally made themselves readable, Harry looked up to see the look on Slytherin's face. He was expecting some sort of visual representation of the emotions going through the imitation of the man, but he was given nothing.

Slytherin stood stock still, watching Harry with a look that the boy had seen when his name was pulled from the Goblet. Only this time, Harry wasn't sure if such a look was nearly as safe coming from Salazar Slytherin as it'd been from Dumbledore.

Finally, the silence was broken when Slytherin sneered out, "You lied to me, in no other way would you know the words I'd only used thrice."

Harry shook his head in the negative, smirking at the portrait to convey far more confidence than he felt internally, "I didn't lie to you, I've never been told those words for the purpose of using them at Hogwarts or anything concerning your family."

Technically, that was the truth.

Slytherin sneered a second time and walked towards the border of the portrait, vanishing from sight momentarily until he entered back into the formerly empty painting above the entrance. When he settled back into the chair that it contained, he went as still as Harry had seen when he'd first found the place.

Waiting for a few minutes proved fruitless, the founder appearing to have shut himself off just as he'd turned himself on.

Seeing that Slytherin wouldn't be speaking with him again, at least for the time being, Harry peeled the pages back until he was once again on the very front one. There wasn't a table of contents, chapter outline or any other way of keeping track of where he was or the topic at hand; none of that bothered the boy, for Harry planned on going page by page until he'd finished.

Once he'd finish it, he'd read through it a second time too, he'd already come to make that choice.

Looking one last time in the direction of the nonmoving Slytherin portrait and seeing it still inactive, Harry started on the very first page after verifying that no signatures were in the journal as they'd been in the other book.

"Greetings, Heir of Slytherin,

Congratulations on discovering one of the many secrets your heritage has hidden throughout the magical world; in doing so, you've completed the first of many steps in your journey.

While unsure of your age or level of proficiency with magic, rest assured that you'll be among the best in magical history should you stay true to every word I've written within the confines of these pages, as well as the other works in which I'll reference as you progress. I feel I must stress how imperative it is that you avoid skipping forward, regardless of how ambitious or proficient you are. Failure to heed this warning will result in far worse a fate than simply losing your life."

Harry took an involuntary breath when he'd read the last sentence, the words being so straight to the point and horrible in their meaning that just reading them had him questioning if he wished to continue… but surely simply reading the words couldn't cause him harm, right?

Maybe he should play it safe and drop the book before getting too invested in the contents.

He snorted at his own thinking - doing that would only allow Riddle to continue with nobody to stop her, it'd also have meant he'd wasted the trip that may very well have clued her in to his abilities.

Harry dove back in the book, skimming the introductory pages that only continued speaking about how important it was that he stayed the course once he'd begun reading and how powerful his doing so could make him. From the look of things at a mostly unbiased level, it looked as if Slytherin was truly aiming to bring his family back to the prominence it'd once been at. That begged the question of how Riddle had failed, as well as any who'd come before her if any had.

While some had found the study, there wasn't any way to tell if they'd found the Chamber of Secrets too.

He continued reading, taking in information that spewed out a fully biased viewing of the Slytherin family while only occasionally offering up information that Harry didn't know all that much about. Most surprising when considering how early in the journal Harry was reading from, were the specifics of wandless casting.

Allegedly, the more you used a spell and mastered it, eventually doing away with the wand motion or incantation, this meant you could begin doing it without a wand to act as your focus. It would take time, practice and a clear mind; Slytherin referred to a forceful clearing of the latter-most piece of information, losing Harry in the process as his relatively weak Occlumency skills could only keep people out.

Back on thinking about wandless magic, Harry had seen Daphne close a door with a flick of her wrist, or Riddle moving a chair with the same motion. As such, he begrudgingly admitted that Slytherin's journal was something he'd have to study far more in-depth rather than it being the ramblings of a mad man that'd allow him to read at pace - he still questioned how reading this would allow him the understanding of the Study rather than the Chamber though, considering all it seemed to be was a guide to power with the risk of death.

Eventually, Harry got past the warnings, background and piece of information on wandless magic (something that the man promised to go more in-depth in later on in his writing) and made it to a point where Slytherin began explaining the first of many spells that were promised to be within the man's journal exclusively; this particular one didn't appear dark in nature, moreover, it seemed to be something that could be used almost exclusively for minor quality of life improvements.

'Ne audirent' was the incantation for the spell, the literal meaning when translated from Latin being 'lest they should hear'. Its description when Harry read it was that it'd make anything you say aloud turn into a jumbled mess unless you cast the charm on somebody. Anyone paying attention would realize fairly easily what the person using the spell was up to, but as far as the book conveyed, there was no way around it short of the caster cancelling it.

While the incantation wasn't anything too difficult, the wand movement was convoluted in the sense of wasteful and repetitive motions; Harry could only groan at the thought of every other spell in the book being equally as annoying to learn.

After reading the privacy spell that acted significantly different than the one already known to him, Harry continued onwards another few pages until he realised that for the most part, they were offering tips and insight towards the successful usage of the previously taught spell. He was thankful they were given, but unless he were with somebody, how would he know if it worked?

A thought struck him to test it out with Slytherin in the portrait; he turned it down a few seconds after, because it was an incredibly stupid idea.

Harry decided instead to practice the incantation and motion repeatedly for the next thirty minutes, only leaving once he'd cast a tempus - time had gotten away from him as it tended to do without Hermione managing it so effectively. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if he'd stay a little longer, past curfew?

No, he shouldn't do that, the slightest chance of getting caught wasn't worth it; that train of thought also led to him not choosing to use the spell he'd hopefully just gotten proficient with until a week or two had passed, or after he'd returned from Yule. Learning forgotten or little heard of magic while with an equally forgotten, presumed dead family was an incredibly convenient excuse.

One that he'd start using going forward, whenever he'd learn a spell that he couldn't explain away as being found in the Hogwarts library.

November 13, 1943

Friday Late Evening

He'd had success with Slytherin's journal… finally.

Harry could tell from the dozen or so pages he'd read before getting distracted by the new spell with its incantation and wand movement described that the contents hidden within the journal would be well worth the read. So much so that he'd almost decided against sleeping altogether, but he couldn't do that; Riddle would find out and she'd follow him, the last thing he needed was the girl finding that he possessed the book as well as another hideout that she'd not discovered.

"Going to bed already, Pev? Figured we could get a game of chess going before you let sleep take you." Aster looked hopefully at him, the pieces already set up on a table in the very back of the boys' dorms.

"I'll play if you'd like." Yaxley spoke up, entering just as late in the evening as Harry had - none of the boys tended to go to bed all that early on Friday nights, taking the day off Saturday provided for granted.

"Wicked!" Aster replied, seemingly forgetting the offer he'd extended towards Harry as he grabbed Yaxley by the shoulder and led him off in the direction of the chess set.

Thanking Yaxley with a nod, Harry made it the last of the few steps towards his wardrobe and withdrew his pyjamas, changing into them in short order before sliding under the warm sheets of his bed.

Once he'd done that and layed looking upwards at the canopy, he began thinking about the journal as well as house-elves - the latter thought being spontaneous, his mind drifting to the diminutive creatures from time to time after seeing Corene summon hers while on the school grounds. If she could do that, he hoped that meant he could do the same, and if he could that would mean so many options were available.

He could get any items from Peverell Manor or his Gringotts vault without a problem, give items for safe-keeping if they were valuable (such as the book Walburga had given him or Slytherin's journal), calling his house-elves only when he'd need them.

Really, his options would be limitless and the idea alone made him restless to the point of throwing off the covers.

Aster saw him open the curtains to his bed, and as soon as Harry's feet hit the ground, so did Aster's question hit his ears.

"Decided you want in, mate? I reckon I still got another hour in me."

"No, no." Harry said, raising his hands in surrender, "I'm going to the loo, no chance I can beat you if Reinhard and Yaxley don't even come close." obviously the two boys had played it far more than Harry, thus it was natural that they'd be better than him; although neither was close to Aster's skill level.

Wiping at a tear that didn't exist, Aster said in a far too dramatic voice that he only wished to play a game with his pals.

Yaxley's check on Aster's Queen quickly tore him away from the teasing the he was giving Harry, making him focus on the board while Harry quietly slipped out of the room with the slightest of laughs at Aster's changed expression. You'd almost think he'd lost a loved one with the look he'd given at hearing Yaxley say 'check.'

Harry made the small walk to the boys bathroom in the Slytherin dungeons and after verifying it was empty, he called out to the house-elf he'd interacted with the most upon his initial arrival in this time.

"Laddey."

He expected the overly energetic elf that reminded him of Dobby to pop up with his ears flapping out while answering… that didn't happen. No popping that signified the elf was heard, no rambunctious voice greeted him, all that he heard was his voice reverberate around the large room.

Why hadn't it worked? Was it something exclusive to the Slytherin boys' wing, the Slytherin quarters in general or had Corene known something that he didn't?

Harry was determined to find out, and once he'd entered back into the fifth year dorms, he did just that.

"Hey Aster, Yaxley, got a minute to answer something for me?"

Yaxley nodded once in response, while Aster responded verbally with a 'Yeah mate?', moving about another piece on the board almost thoughtlessly as he did so.

"Is anyone able to summon a house-elf, or only certain people? I'd like to have mine granted access if possible."

Yaxley looked at Aster, the latter boy shrugging while the former sighed, taking the question from his opponent who either didn't know or didn't want to get any more distracted than he'd already been despite offering help.

"Only board members' families can summon house-elves while on Hogwarts grounds - Staff can summon school elves too, but students can't."

Ah, that was why Corene could and he couldn't; her family was on the board while his wouldn't ever achieve that considering he was the sole living member of it.

"Who has family on the board, or rather, which families make up the board?"

Harry knew the powerful families in regards to politics in Wizarding Britain, but he hadn't thought to ask Corene - the person who'd informed him about the political information - anything about the Hogwarts Board of Governors; truthfully and simply, it'd escaped his mind. Then again, he hadn't thought it'd be as important as the Wizengamot or Directorships in the Ministry.

Maybe he'd have to go about seeing if Corene's family could grant his elves access, but then the question would be what they'd want in return.

Harry wasn't fool enough to think that any family with such Slytherin roots would do him a favour from the kindness of their heart… unless they were very specific people like Aster or Reinhard, even then they'd likely only do the basics that wouldn't give them more than a modicum of risk.

Yaxley looked about ready to respond, but Aster whooped loudly, drawing both the former boys and Harry's attention to the board.

As usual, Aster had won and they'd witnessed the capturing of Yaxley's Queen.

Looking only slightly disgruntled at his loss, Yaxley turned back to Harry, "Currently on the board of Governors are the Lord's or representatives for the Lord's belong to; Houses Avery, Abbott, Carrow, Flint, Greengrass - following the removal of House Gaunt a few decades ago - Lestrange, Longbottom, Malfoy, Prewett, Rowle, Selwyn and… "

"Yaxley!" Aster said loudly, drawing the attention of the two others in the room once more back to him, and by extension, the chessboard.

"You ruined my suspense, Rosier." Yaxley calmly returned, "But yes, my family, the Yaxley's, are the twelfth and final member on the current Board of Governor's for Hogwarts."

"Must be wicked, er, what can they do?" Harry remembered they removed Dumbledore at one point, but other than that happening he didn't know what powers those Wizards had; he wasn't foolish enough to think they didn't have any, they were Purebloods after all.

Yaxley chuckled, "Whatever they'd like to, so long as the majority - or supermajority in some cases - agree with them. From removing Hogwarts Staff, replacing them with someone of their choice rather than the Headmasters or far more serious objectives such as dealing with any international inquiries the school receives. You've probably not heard of the Triwizard Tournament; when it used to occur, the Board would take a more active role than those of other schools."

"Reckon that's one of the reason's it was cancelled." Aster said, butting in and indicating none too subtly at the newly set up chessboard.

"A fair point to make, Aster, though I'm keener on following those which point to the mindless danger presented during the many tournaments." Yaxley put a hand to his chin in thought, thinking aloud for the benefit of Harry once he'd remembered what he wanted to, "There was the 1499 incident involving a Werewolf, the massacre of the crowd by a horde of Acromantula in 1634 and shortly before the final tournament, the 1709 fire in the Forbidden Forest."

All those incidents had occurred because of a pointless tournament? Harry knew Wizards could be thick - something they shared with Muggles - but to think that incident after incident spanning hundreds of years hadn't shut the whole thing down earlier? It was absurd.

Going back to the topic he'd brought up in regards to the Governor's, Harry asked one final question.

"Is there any way that students or staff can get personal house-elves permission to enter at will or when summoned?"

"Yes; it'd require a great deal of work, though it's doable… you'd need friends and Galleons plenty before you think about trying it, Peverell." Yaxley correctly guessed his intentions with the question. Harry wasn't surprised in the slightest that his housemate had done so either, the boy showed more intelligence than a good portion of the school.

"Thank you, Yaxley, and sorry Aster - I'll play with you tomorrow, I promise."

Having spoken his farewell for the night, Harry followed it up with a 'goodnight' to the two boys and once more, made his way back to his bed.

More information had been gathered and progress made this night than what felt like his entire time since coming here.

Maybe that'd be the new norm going forward.

November 14, 1943

Saturday Morning

Today was going to be as busy a day as yesterday had been, Harry knew that as soon as he woke up.

Not only did he finally have a meeting with Professor Slughorn, along with all the other chosen students of the man. He also planned to spend a great deal of time in the early morning and Afternoon with Sarah. His reason for doing so was to make use of the girls wonderfully people-oriented personality for his benefit; getting to know his peers outside of Slytherin could prove just as decisive and important as those within his new house.

And everyone seemingly knew that if there was anybody who was able to change one's feelings or knew how to speak with opposing sides, it was the Goldhorn girl.

Harry made his way over towards the Great Hall first, knowing the girl usually took her time to eat regardless of the day being the socialite that she was. When that proved fruitless, he went over to Marcus Potter, the boy telling him she'd gone to the library only a couple of minutes before Harry arrived.

Unfortunately, by going to his ancestor Marcus, Harry had to spend some amount of time for propriety's sake; dashing would be disrespectful.

Once enough time had passed that he wouldn't be considered a right mug, he said his goodbyes and went to the aforementioned place - low and behold, Sarah was at one of the centre tables with a number of Hufflepuffs around her.

Slughorn's party, information hunting with Sarah and Slytherin's journal; he had his time at Hogwarts well taken up even without counting his lessons with Riddle, duelling with Avery or any unforeseen events that always seemed to happen when they were least helpful.