Draco and Corvus knew something was wrong. There was a harsh pull at their core, prompting them to their feet.

And then it disappeared.

Almost as quickly as the almost overwhelming sense of urgency thrummed through their bodies it had just as quickly dissipated.

"Are you guys alright?" Pansy scooted closer to the edge of her seat, worry coating her tone.

Draco and Corvus exchanged looks. They had no idea what the sensation had been.

"Yea," Draco slowly drawled, sinking back into his seat. "Yea, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Caelum questioned further as Corvus took his seat next to him.

Corvus paused, feeling his magic, agitated as it was, begin to settle. "I think so."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was dinner when things began to escalate.

At the Slytherin table, the stoic faces were nothing new. But if one were to look closely, you'd see a change at the table. All first through third years were sitting clustered in the middle of the table, barricaded in by the fifth, then sixth, and finally the seventh years. The lower classmen court, with Alexander at the head, was dispensed amongst the younger years. Alexander, in particular, had sat amongst the first year boys. The upperclassmen court flanked the ends of the table, Terence sitting near the end closest to the main doors. Each student was tense, and while the table was normally quiet, there was an eerie silence that seemed to echo around each of them.

Terence was particularly pissed off.

Three of his firsties were missing and no one could find them. He had been expecting Corvus and Nicholas to ask for help regarding one of their classes, not for them to be flanked by an equally nervous Cayden and Caelum and inform him that Astoria, Lysandra, and Cassiopeia had never returned from the greenhouses.

Code Green went into effect immediately. And wasn't that a sad reality? They had procedures and an entire set up created amongst the court and prefects for students going missing – because it was that often of an occurrence.

Terence had quickly sought out Professor Snape, whose face had turned stone-cold. "Continue with the Code. I'll ask the other Professors. Perhaps Pomona has kept them back, Miss Greengrass does have a particular liking for the subject." Even the King could see the doubt in his Professor's words.

It had been hours since anyone had seen the three girls.

The only reasoning could be due to an attack and Terence once again cursed the stupidity of the students in the castle. While he still hated for any of his snakes to be targeted, attacking first and even second years made his blood boil because there was only so much they had learnt in that time to protect themselves. It was unfair and cowardly.

And hours later, they still had no word as to the whereabouts or status of his firsties.

A clenched jaw and shake of the head was all the signal Terence had gotten from the Professor at dinner when the House appeared as a group for the meal. There was no way he would allow his House to wander freely at the moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harry was on edge, though he wasn't sure why. Wait. He did know. He couldn't find Cassiopeia. This was their night to have dinner together and he knew Cassiopeia was looking forward to it as much as he was.

Despite what Ron teased him about, Cassiopeia was just as eager to bask in his attention as he was for hers. So where is she?

Looking closely, Harry noticed that Astoria and Lysandra were also missing from the table. Could they still be in the dorms? But no, because the first year boys were still there and none of them looked too happy. They were pushing their food around on their plates. Did one of the girls get sick? A cold shudder ran down his back. Is Cassiopeia ok?

"You've got to eat more, mate," Ron rolled his eyes, piling more vegetables and another chicken wing onto the ravenette's plate, breaking him out of thought.

Harry glowered at the red-head. "I eat enough!"

A snort was his reply. I eat more than enough! I'm already full! Harry glanced mournfully at his, yet again, full plate. He's not going to let me leave without eating some of this. The expectant raise of a red-haired eyebrow confirmed that.

"-I heard they're in the hospital wing!" a loud voice rang down the table, catching Harry, and his dorm mates' attention.

"No way! All three?" another voice, feminine continued.

"Serves them right, no good snakes!" another voice chipped in.

Harry wasn't aware of standing from the table. Nor was he aware of striding over to the obviously bigger, fourth years. No, and he certainly wasn't aware of the erratic thrumming of his magic rising and reacting to his emotions.

"Wha – Potter" Harry was small, tiny even amongst the new first years, but his eyes were a piercing Avada green and the older Gryffindor gulped as Harry yanked on his shirt, drawing them to the same height.

"Who?" It wasn't exactly a growl. But it was a growl.

"W-we don't know." The female stuttered, eyes wide as she started at the enraged Boy-Who-Lived. He's scary!

"Who?!" Harry screamed, silencing the Lion's table. Percy, the twins, and Ron stood up, eyes wide, as they approached. Hermione was only a second behind them, mouth pursed for a lecture that no one would hear.

"Some Slytherins," the student in Harry's grasp answered, eyeing the Golden Boy cautiously.

"What's wrong with Harry?"

"Why's he upset?"

Whispers were carted along the table, catching the attention of the Raven's nearby.

"Three first years," the other male spoke up, yanking his friend from Harry's surprisingly strong grip. "Cassidy and Warner have been bragging about it."

Fred and George's jaws were tense, and had it not been for the claw-like grip Percy had on his brothers, they would've been off searching the Hall for the two.

The Prefect wasn't faring much better himself. Nothing repulsed him more than finding a bunch of older students picking on innocent children just for the sake of a War that many of them hadn't even been alive to witness.

"Harry," Ron gently tried to approach his little brother, an eye catching Ginny's own, silently telling her to stay put near her friends.

But it was the hand on his shoulder that shook Harry out of his stupor. Eyes hard and flaming, Harry whirled around to Percy. "Who are they?"

Before Percy could attempt to mediate the situation, even if he didn't want to, someone had to be responsible and make sure his wayward brothers didn't end up in Azkaban, a nosey Ravenclaw interjected.

"Tiana Cassidy, she's the redhead just down there," a brunette helpfully pointed out the other fourth year seated at the table on the other side of the Gryffindor table. "Her friend, Kenzie Warner, is the dirty blonde girl and the boy next to them is Ellington Warner, a third year Claw."

Harry was a second year student.

This was true.

Harry was ignorant of magic and the limitations it held due to living in the muggle world.

This was also true.

Harry would never hit a girl.

Very true.

Harry never threw the first 'punch'.

Wrong.

Harry used magic instinctively, as if it was second nature.

True in all aspects. Simple as breathing.

Harry was angry.

Wrong.

Hadrian James Potter was enraged.

His magic flared, wisps of green tendrils emitting from his arms. He stomped over to the Hufflepuff table, not caring, nor noticing, the silence that once more surrounded the Hall due to his actions.

"They were obviously up to no good, we ha- Hey!"

Ellington Warner was not a girl.

Harry yanked him out of his seat, turning him to face him, poisonous, hatred filled green eyes meeting scared, frantic blue ones.

"What do you think –" His sister too, joined her brother, voice silenced.

"You attacked three first years." Harry's voice was quiet, factual, and cold. It was glacial, hard, and unrelenting.

"We had no choice!" Cassidy stood from her seat, wand withdrawn.

"Put."

"The."

"Wand."

"Down."

Fred and George flanked Harry's side. Wands held tightly at their side as they stared their classmates down. There was no trace of humor on their faces.

Ron was held in place by Percy, struggling to keep him and Ginny, who had caught onto the situation, from trying to join the fray. Oliver had taken pity on his dorm mate and cast a sticking charm to Granger, preventing her from moving from the table. A silencing charm aided the no doubt relentless tirade the girl would have certainly been on.

"You attacked three first years. Three defenseless first years." Again, Harry's tone was soft, contradicting his magic that visibly coiled around the two and circled the feet of Cassidy, tightening around the two siblings making them gasp.

"They're Slytherins," spat Ellington. "They aren't defenseless."

Harry grinded his teeth, then smoothed his face into a blank mask, raising an eyebrow. "What defensive or offensive spell did you learn in the first term of DADA?"

Silence.

"They're Slytherins!" his sister spat out, spit flying from her lips. As if that was enough justification.

"Why do you even care, Potter? You hate Slytherins." Cassidy eyed the two wands aimed at her, form tense. Around them, their fellow Puffs had slid away from the group, watching with apprehension.

"My little sister is a Slytherin," Harry smirked, watching with a quiet fascination as the blood ran from the three's facegs.

His magic clenched around the three, making Cassidy drop her wand as it coiled around her body in surprise. "She's a first year you see. It's funny, because there are only three female Slytherin firsties."

Again, Harry paused, a sickening gleam entering his eye as malice washed over him.

"And all three are missing." His magic tightened. Ellington was silently gasping, eyes wide as he clawed at his throat. Besides him, still hovering in the air, his sister was faring only slightly better, little croaks making their way audibly past her lips.

"Said to be attacked by you." Harry's fist clenched, dropping all three older years to their knees, heads tilted back as their hands scrambled and pawed at their chests and throat.

"I don't hate Slytherin, just to make that clear," Harry's eyes narrowed, stepping closer to the trio and forcing their attention back onto him. "And if you find three first years, three eleven year olds to be a threat, you don't deserve the titles of Witches and Wizard" Harry spat, eyes bleeding red as his magic curtained over the three.

"That is enough!" a loud voice bellowed, drawing Harry's attention to the main aisle. "Harry, my boy, let them go. We shall discuss this matter privately."

Dumbledore.

Fred and George kept their wands out, staring hard as the surrounding students eye Harry in fear and disgust.

Gasping and tearful swallows of air could be heard as Harry's magic unwillingly drew back into his body, returning to their transparent form.

Harry's form was tense, hands still clenched and fingernails biting into his palms.

"May the Heads of the Houses join us," Dumbledore didn't even bother to ask, before striding forward and out of the Hall.

The twins wrapped their arms around Harry's shoulders, nodding at Percy as they passed. Harry went silently, eyes still filled with hate and a snarl on his lips as the trio of upper years passed him hurriedly to match pace with their professors.

Behind them, as the Great Hall's doors slammed shut, chaos reigned. Because in all of that, in the terrifyingly awe-induced strength and power of magic

Harry had not once touched his wand.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dumbledore's office was exactly as Harry remembered it. Armchairs in front of a cluttered desk, weirdly shaped gadgets and memento's scattered along the various tomes and displayed on the bookshelves.

Taking a seat on his throne-like chair, Dumbledore smiled at the six students as the Professor's stood to the side.

"Now, why would you attack your fellow students, my boy?" Dumbledore's tone was soft, silky, and it made Harry want to regret his actions. Except, he didn't. Harry held no regret in his body.

No.

That's a lie. Harry did regret one thing. He wished he hadn't been interrupted. Because those 'fellow students' of his had harmed, had attacked, his little sister.

Blood needed to be spilt.

He didn't even know how Cassiopeia was fairing or what her injuries were!

"Professor, they attacked three Slytherin first years," Fred spoke up, coming to stand besides Harry, head held high.

"They admitted to it," George followed. It wasn't their best work, but right now, honesty was the best route to work with.

"Is this true?!" Professor Flitwick demanded, coming to stare at his student.

"I was alerted by my prefects that three first years, Misses Avery, Doe, and Greengrass never made it back from the greenhouse. We've been searching for them since," Snape interjected, lips curled in disgust as he eyed the quivering fourth and third year students in front of him. Spineless cowards, going after first years.

"This is true, Severus asked me if I had seen the girls," Pomona confirmed, before striding towards her students, disappointment and anger warring on her face. "I just never imagined it'd be two of my own involved in such an incident."

"Now now," Dumbledore waved a hand to allow more seats to be conjured for the students to sit. "I'm sure they have an explanation, right ladies? Gentleman?"

Rage began to consume Harry yet again. An explanation?! They attack my sister and you still want them to defend themselves?

It seemed Snape and Flitwick, at least, seemed to be in the same line of thinking as Harry based on their facial expressions.

"They were alone, sneaking about in the halls, sir." That was Cassidy's voice.

"They were collecting Miss Greengrass's textbook," Sprout's voice shook with barely concealed rage.

"They were acting suspiciously!" Ellington insisted, lowering his gaze under Flitwick's harshly disapproving stare.

"It seems to be a misunderstanding," Dumbledore smiled, nodding at the three students and ignoring the hard gazes of the twins. Harry seethed between them. "Surely, you never meant to harm the younger students." His eyes twinkled as the students shook their heads hurriedly.

"Headmaster," Snape's silky baritone voice swept over the room. "If I may, I have three first years, two of which have sustained a concussion, one with a broken arm, and all of which have various bruises in the hospital wing."

Kill them.

Harry saw red, blood rushing past his ears. His fingers cut into his palms, not that he noticed. Fred and George held onto his arms tightly, keeping him in place.

"100 points. Each," Snape's rage flared in his coal-colored eyes. "Detentions for the rest of the term. And dare I suggest expulsion."

"You can't d-" the three voices were cut off as their Heads of House nodded in agreement to their punishment.

"Mister Potter acted in defense of a loved one, though I do not condone such violence, it was an instinctual reaction," McGonagall stepped forward, startling Harry and the twins. She came to stand beside them, laying a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Yes yes, Harry, my boy, you shall not be punished," Dumbledore agreed, fingers steepled together. "But to condone your actions, the same pass must be made for the others."

No way.

"There will be no one expelled tonight." Warner and Cassidy slumped in their seats in relief. "Nor shall points be taken or detentions had."

What the fuck

Snape's lips pursed, as if he knew this would be the outcome despite declaring the initial punishment. Is this what always happened when a Slytherin was attacked?

The Slytherin Head of House excused himself to see to his students, robes billowing out behind him.

"Mr. Potter, Messrs Weasley, return to the Common Room, if you will," glancing at McGonagall's defeated face, Harry knew a lost cause when he saw one.

It didn't stop his will, his magic, his blood calling for vengeance though. He'd pay them back tenfold.

He promises he will.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fire roared in the background as the entire House sat patiently, awaiting the impromptu House meeting to begin.

Caelum, Corvus, Cayden, and Nicholas were anxiously squirming in their seats. Their friends were hurt and they hadn't been there. If only they had been there.

"Attention everyone, I call this House Meeting to order," Terence stood in front of the fireplace, his court flanking him.

"In light of recent events, I'm implementing a mandatory buddy system. Third years and below must be accompanied by one of the upper years at all times when leaving the Common Room."

There was no debating, no disputes, and no interjections.

"Three of our first years, Heiress Lysandra Avery of the Noble House of Avery, Miss Astoria Greengrass, second daughter of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass, and Cassiopeia Doe are currently residing in the hospital wing." Here, Terence waved Victoria forward.

"All three have sustained multiple bruises, assumed from the fall after they were stunned. Heiress Avery and Doe sustained concussions, which have already been fixed by Madam Pompfrey. Miss Greengrass broke her arm, of which has already been mended."

After the display in the Great Hall, Victoria, the healer of the upper court had immediately made way for the Hospital Wing to check on the first years and learn of their status.

"This is an attack that won't be taken lightly!" Terence's voice boomed. "We all know Dumbledore will brush it aside, those of you seeking retribution, do so discreetly. No one gets caught."

Many upper years nodded in the affirmative, already planning how they could act on their revenge.

No one harms a snake and gets away with it.

"Are we going to talk about Potter?" a voice called out from the tables.

The tension that had been building in the room bled out, returning to a lighter atmosphere.

"Who knew he had it in him?"

"Never though the Light side's boy-hero would stoop to those lengths."

"Did you see him? He cast wandlessly and wordlessly!"

"He defended Slytherin!"

"Please, he was looking out for himself, the blood traitor."

The common room split into mini groups, everyone discussing the Boy-Who-Lived actions amongst their friends.

"Potter really is different this year," Theo hummed, his intrigue in the Gryffindor growing.

"He said he didn't hate Slytherin," Draco echoed faintly.

Blaise and Pansy exchanged amused looks. "Having a crush, Dray?" Pansy teased.

Draco's cheeks reddened and he scowled at his laughing friends. "If Potter doesn't hate Slytherins, why did he deny my friendship?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with you being a prat," Daphne raised an eyebrow, blowing on her cuticles.

"I am not - I've never - He-," Draco spluttered indignantly, prompting more laughter.