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Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 1

The ancient chandelier cast a golden glow over the grand dining room of the Wheeler estate, its light flickering softly against the high panelled walls lined with portraits of grim-faced ancestors. The heavy oak table groaned under the weight of silver platters and crystal goblets as the family gathered for dinner. The air was thick with unspoken tension, a brittle silence punctuated only by the faint clink of cutlery and the occasional strained breath.

Ted Wheeler entered the room last, his tall frame commanding attention despite the quiet gloom that seemed to cling to him like a cloak. His jaw was tight, lips pressed into a thin line, eyes dark with a storm that had been brewing since the fall of his Creature Control bill at the Wizengamot. The defeat was not just a political blow—it was a personal one, a challenge to everything he believed the wizarding world should be.

Behind him, Karen quietly set down the serving dishes with careful precision, eyes lowered to avoid meeting anyone’s gaze. Holly sat at the far end of the table, her delicate hands folded neatly in her lap, her silence louder than any protest. Nancy and Mike exchanged small glances, their youthful faces guarded, wary of the tension that had gripped the household for days.

“Dinner is served,” Ted announced, voice low and edged with fatigue, taking his place at the head of the table. As Karen poured drinks into the goblets, Ted’s eyes scanned the room briefly, before he rose and reached for the decanter himself, pouring drinks with a practised hand. It was unusual—Karen or the house-elves normally handled this—and Mike’s curiosity sharpened.

Ted’s fingers paused as he filled the final glass, deliberately leaving it separate from the others before sliding it towards Nancy. The young woman’s pale hand trembled slightly as she accepted it, and Mike’s suspicion deepened.

He remembered the whispered arguments, the hurried conversations cut short when he entered the room. He thought of Ilya Bondarenko—his friend, the half-Veela boy whose mother, Margaret, was full Veela—and how the bill would have endangered them, restricted their rights and marked their kind as lesser. The only thing that had saved them was Fyodor Bondarenko’s fierce speech, rallying the Dark faction to oppose Ted’s Light faction’s harsh measures.

Ted, who constantly preached that darkness was evil and that the greys—those caught in the middle—were no better, had been humbled in defeat. And now the strain showed in his family.

Mike’s mind raced. Over the past weeks, he had quietly rebelled in small ways—like slipping the Daily Prophet article about the bill’s defeat onto Ted’s desk, hoping to make a point. But tonight felt different. Something was wrong.

As the family raised their glasses, Mike silently summoned his ancient magic, praying this would work, since normally it would be beyond one of his age, and to his relief, successfully cast a subtle cleansing charm—wandless and soundless—on Nancy’s drink. The magic flickered gently, probing the liquid for dark enchantments or poison, or even what he feared most, love potion.

Nancy’s eyes widened in surprise as she sipped the drink, then she nearly choked. Her throat closed for a moment, a sharp cough cutting through the silence. She quickly covered it with a forced smile, shaking her head as if to dismiss the incident.

“Went down the wrong way,” she murmured, glancing at Karen, who stared at her with concern, and Ted, who masked suspicion with a tight smile.

Mike caught Nancy’s eye and gave a subtle nod. She hesitated, confusion flickering across her face, then slowly nodded back. After dinner, when the others had dispersed, they met quietly in the drawing room.

“Mike, you really think someone tried to—?” Nancy’s voice was barely above a whisper.

He nodded. “It’s the only explanation. The way you reacted, the separation of your glass—it’s not normal. I know what to look for, and I felt something was off, something was in the drink.”

Nancy swallowed hard, the weight of his words sinking in. “But who? Why would someone do something like this to me? I’m just trying to get through this year. You think it was-?”

Mike shook his head. “Our father, yeah and I don’t know for certain what he used yet, but I have my suspicions. Luckily there’s a way to find out for sure.”

He pulled a small piece of parchment from his pocket. “Tomorrow, when we go to Diagon Alley for school supplies, we slip away to Gringotts. There’s a procedure they use—the Inheritance Test. It can reveal any enchantments or potions on a person. We’ll see what happened...but we can’t use our family account manager, he’ll tell dad.”

Nancy stared at him, the fear and disbelief clear in her eyes. But beneath it, a flicker of determination.

“Alright,” she said quietly. “We’ll do it. But we have to be careful—if dad suspects anything, things could get worse.”

Mike nodded solemnly. “We’ll keep it quiet. No one else can know.”

The next morning, the Wheeler house buzzed with the clatter of preparations for the trip to Diagon Alley. Ted’s brooding presence lingered but seemed momentarily distracted as Karen fussed over packing, and Holly barely spoke, lost in her own world.

Mike and Nancy exchanged guarded smiles, each pretending to be absorbed in their own tasks while watching Ted closely. They were walking a tightrope between family loyalty and the unknown dangers lurking beneath.

As they stepped out into the bustling wizarding streets later that day, the familiar sights of storefronts and street vendors did little to ease their tension. They had a plan, but the shadow over the Wheeler family had only just begun to deepen.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 2

The Wheeler family stood in Diagon Alley, having just left Gringotts, Ted glaring around, already seeing the slights and ‘mockery’ being sent his way, even though no one was actually paying him the least bit of attention. Turning to Mike and Nancy he observed them with narrowed eyes.

“So, what is you need to get?”

“I just need my books and some fresh supplies of parchment, quills and Potions ingredients.” Nancy replied primly.

Mike nodded. “Same.”

Ted grunted and nodded and before Karen could even say anything, he seemed to decide.

“Alright, well, you’re not little children anymore, go and get them, we will be busy, meet us back at the Leaky Cauldron at three, don’t be late.”
With that he stalked off, Karen following him while carrying Holly.

“Well, that was charming.” Nancy remarked sarcastically.

“Maybe.” Mike said. “But it works to our advantage, c’mon, we’ll get our stuff quickly then we’ll get back to Gringotts.”

Nancy nodded and so they hurried first to the apothecary and then to get their quills and parchment. Finally they headed for Flourish and Blotts, knowing this would be the longest part of their shopping trip. Sure enough as they arrived they saw Mike’s friends already there, Nancy smiled.

“Go on Mike, take this chance to at least enjoy some time before we have to be serious.” She said gently.

Mike bit his lip. “Um right, I’ll see you at Gringotts.”

With that he made his way to his friends, actually starting to smile on seeing them again.

Will was the first one to notice him and grinned.

“Mike, hey, you made it.” He called out.

The others turned, all smiling, Max, Dustin, Lucas, Jane and Ilya were all gathered together and had been looking over and comparing their book lists.

“Hey, dude, we were worried you wouldn’t make it.” Dustin said.

Mike laughed. “C’mon guys, I’m here...I see I’m not the only one who was allowed to go unsupervised.”
The others all nodded as Jane shyly admitted.

“I didn’t think Hopper would allow it, but he did, at least once Will and Ilya showed up.”

They both nodded and then Max added. “I arrived shortly afterwards then Dustin and Lucas showed up.”

“So, I guess we’ve got the next grade of textbooks for all our core classes to get, but we also need our elective books too.” Lucas remarked.

“That’s why we’re comparing books lists, see who is going to be in class with who.” Ilya explained.

Mike pulled out his list. “Well, let’s see what I have too.”
They all nodded and soon noted what they needed, the shopkeeper had noted they were all third years and began putting together seven packets of the books for their core subjects while they shopped for their electives textbooks. Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin and Max all got updated copies of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for Care of Magical Creatures. Then Mike, Ilya, Jane, Dustin and Max got Numerology and Grammatica for their Arithmancy elective, meanwhile Mike, Ilya, Jane and Lucas got Rune Dictionary and Ancient Runes Made Easy for their Study of Ancient Runes Elective. Home Life and Social Habits found it’s way into the baskets of Will, Ilya, Jane and Max for Muggle Studies leaving Will, Lucas and Dustin to get Unfogging the Future for their Divination Elective. Making their purchases they were finally all set.

It was with a heavy heart that Mike bid farewell to his friends as they headed to Florian Fortesque’s Ice Cream Parlour, he had to meet Nancy for their secret visit to Gringotts. His friends were confused but accepted things and wished him well, he didn’t tell them exactly what he was doing after all. Regardless he saw Nancy and nodded as they made their way inside and up to the counter. Both bowed deeply, showing respect, much to the surprise of the Goblin behind the counter.

“May your gold flow, Axebreaker.” Mike greeted the Goblin, noting the name on the plate on the desk.

Recovering himself, Axebreaker nodded. “What can the nation be doing for the two of you? You have already retrieved your gold for your Hogwarts supplies?”
Mike swallowed. “We need to speak with someone about getting inheritance tests done...I’m willing to pay from my trust vault, but...it can’t be Halbert.”

“Halbert is your family account manager, he handles such matters, although why you think you need such tests-” Axebreaker began.

Nancy pleaded her case. “Please, we can’t risk our father finding out, there is...something going on and we can’t trust him.”

Axebreaker paused, regarded them and then gave the matter some thought. Then he smiled toothily.

“Follow me.” He said.

They did so and were led through a number of corridors until they reached a rather grand door. Axebreaker knocked, a heavy cavernous sound that echoed.

There was a pause before a rough voice spoke.
“Enter.”
They did so to see an older Goblin seated behind a desk, looking up at them with narrowed eyes.

“What is this, Axebreaker?” He asked sharply.

Axebreaker bowed low and spoke. “Michael and Nancy Wheeler seek a private Inheritance Test, father, I figured you’d like to do this, given history.”

The older goblin’s eyes widened and then nodded. “Very well, thank you, return to your duties and I’ll handle this.”

Axebreaker bowed again and left while Mike and Nancy made their way to the desk and sat opposite the elder goblin.

“Greetings, I am Sicklefang, and yes, you heard right, I am Axebreaker’s father. I am Deputy Director of the Diagon Alley Branch of Gringotts, an empty title since all I do is push papers. But most importantly, I used to be the Childress Account Manager, no doubt why my son brought you to me.” He explained.

“Childress?” Mike queried.

Nancy realized the significance however. “That was mum’s maiden name, before she married dad.”

“Yes, shortly after her parents died, they were married, thus with no other members of the Childress family, their vaults were absorbed into the Wheeler vaults, standard practice.” Sicklefang explained with a sour expression. “Of course it left me with no vaults to manage and I was pushed up here instead.”

Nancy and Mike shared worried glances of that, nevertheless they knew that their maternal grandparents had died under natural causes, but Nancy knew that she had been born only eight months after her parents marriage. Sicklefang also revealed that their mother was due to marry someone else, but that whole relationship quickly vanished after the death of her parents.

Shaking his head however, Sicklefang pulled out two sheets of parchment and laid them on the desk, he held his hands over them and chanted for a moment before presenting them with a rune etched dagger.

“Prick your finger and drop three drops of blood onto the parchment, the wound will heal and we’ll see what the tests reveal.” He explained.

Both siblings did so and as the pricks to their fingers healed, they watched as the blood was absorbed by the parchment and then blood red writing appeared across both sheets. They took them and read, Mike let out a sigh as he expected, while Nancy gasped in horror at what she read. Having seen the results himself Sicklefang nodded.

“We’ll take the price for these from the vault you stated, young Mr. Wheeler…”

“I’ll pay for Nancy’s cleansing too.” Mike said, seeing her test results.

Nancy bit her lip. “No Mike, I’ll do it, I’ll manage, I’ll use my new personal vault.”
Sicklefang nodded. “Very well, let’s do this, it shouldn’t take long.”

Mike nodded in relief and sat and waited as Nancy was led away. Left alone, Mike read the tests with a sigh, he should have seen this coming. He read Nancy’s first:

Miss Nancy Denise Wheeler

Parents:

Lord Edward 'Ted' Franklin Wheeler (father)

Lady Karen Alicia Wheeler (née Childress) (mother)

Siblings:

Heir Michael James Wheeler (brother)

Miss Holly Rose Wheeler (sister)

Magical Core: Light

Vaults:

Wheeler Trust Vault (refilled with 10,000 Galleons worth of coin annually)

Wheeler Family Vault (Contents and access only available with Family Lord's Permission)

Childress Vaults (Absorbed into Wheeler Family Vault upon parents marriage with mother being the last of her family)

Personal Vault (Set up on 17th Birthday, contains 5000 Galleons, accessible upon graduation from Hogwarts)

Vault Discrepancies:

None

Injuries and ailments:

Physical:

Sprained ankle (sustained 20th December 1983, healed but still some lingering pain)

Magicial:

Loyalty and Compulsion Charms (Geared to Edward Wheeler and cast by him, age one)

Submissive Charms (geared to Edward Wheeler and cast by him, age 5, partially broken by sheer willpower)

Mail Ward, cast to screen mail sent to Nancy Wheeler and prevent certain people from even sending letters (Cast by Edward Wheeler, age 10)

Triggered Memory Charm to prevent remembrance of ever hearing the words 'Inheritance Test' or 'Cleansing' (cast by Edward Wheeler, age 11, partially broken by mild Cleansing charm)

Love Potion (geared to Steven Maxwell Harrington, brewed by Diane Harrington and administered by Edward Wheeler, age 14 for first dose, repeated doses since then)

Submission Potion (geared to Steven Maxwell Harrington, brewed by Diane Harrington and administered by Edward Wheeler, administered just yesterday)

Mike shook his head, it was worse than he thought. He turned his attention to his own test:

Heir Michael James Wheeler

Parents:

Lord Edward 'Ted' Franklin Wheeler (father)

Lady Karen Alicia Wheeler (née Childress) (mother)

Siblings:

Miss Nancy Denise Wheeler (sister)

Miss Holly Rose Wheeler (sister)

Magical Core: Grey

Vaults:

Wheeler Trust Vault (refilled with 10,000 Galleons worth of coin annually)

Wheeler Family Vault (Contents and access only available with Family Lord's Permission or on succession of Lordship)

Childress Vaults (Absorbed into Wheeler Family Vault upon parents marriage with mother being the last of her family)

Vault Discrepancies:

None

Injuries and ailments:

Physical:

Broken nose (sustained 15th October 1983, healed)

Magicial:

None (unusual Cleansing occurred on 22nd June 1983)

Formerly was under:

Loyalty and Compulsion Charms (Geared to Edward Wheeler and cast by him, age one)

Submissive Charms (geared to Edward Wheeler and cast by him, age 5)

Mail Ward, cast to screen mail sent to Michael Wheeler and prevent certain people from even sending letters (Cast by Edward Wheeler, age 10)

Triggered Memory Charm to prevent remembrance of ever hearing the words 'Inheritance Test' or 'Cleansing' (cast by Edward Wheeler, age 11)

He was pleased to see that awakening his Ancient Magic had cleansed him of what his father had been doing to him. Now he had helped Nancy, but he knew they couldn’t do much else at the moment. But they had an idea now. Something that he was ready to focus on after Nancy returned, looking shocked and didn’t say anything until they had paid for everything and left the bank.

“I can’t believe this, Mike, what are we going to do?” Nancy asked.

Mike sighed. “I know what you’re thinking right now, but we can’t take any action against Dad yet. He has too much support and power, we need to get much more evidence, along with anything more, at least for now.”
Nancy bowed her head. “So, we keep our head down for now and build things quietly until we can act?”

“Yeah, not sure about the Harrington’s however.” Mike said.

That brought a blaze to Nancy’s eyes.

She shook her head.

“That...I can’t believe this, they’d do this and-”

Mike calmed her quickly. “Nancy, whoa, wait. Let’s not jump to conclusions. Steve might be getting dosed too, it might just be his parents and dad who are behind this. You’ll notice that Steve is mentioned only as the person your love potion was keyed too, nothing about him brewing it or anything.”
Nancy grimaced but nodded, understanding what Mike was getting at.

“Alright, I’ll talk to Steve at school, see if I can convince him to get a test.” She said.

Mike nodded. “That would help, yes.”

She paused for a moment before adding. “Probably best not to let dad know you have a Grey Core either, huh?”
Mike sighed. “Tell me about it, makes me think about what Mr. Bondarenko said last year, I’m wondering about dad’s core...and mum’s. Holly’s too.”

Nancy nodded and, noting the time, they made their way quickly back to the Leaky Cauldron, not wanting to be late in meeting their parents and Holly, schooling their features into neutral expressions. Sure enough Ted was waiting with a glare, Karen quiet as usual, as was Holly.

“Finally, come on, had to wait here with so many undesirables. You need to remember what I’ve told you already Mike and stop associating with them.” He snapped.

Mike said nothing and just made his way towards the fireplace. Ted glowered before he shook his head.

“Just both of you try and not to embarrass me this year.”

With that the family went to the Floo to head back home.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 3

It was time at last for the young witches and wizards to board the Hogwarts Express, nearly eleven o’clock on the 1^st of September as they all boarded the train, for Mike is was a relief as he finally got away from his father’s dark glare at him still ‘fraternising with those beneath him’, namely Will and Ilya, albeit for different reasons. Will for the usual stigma surrounding the Byers family, Ilya for simply being Fyodor’s son, given how much the two men opposed each other in the Wizengamot. Mike didn’t care about his dad’s growling and ignored his demands, they were his friends and that was that. They were good people and that was more important than any of the other nonsense his dad believed.

“You handled that well Mike, you managed to avoid any issues with dad, now you can relax.” Nancy said softly. “Go on, join your friends, just...behave.”

Mike rolled his eyes but smiled as Nancy straightened her new Head Girl badge, Jonathan stood next to her, also smiling, the corresponding Head Boy badge on his lapel too.

“They’ll be fine Nancy, c’mon, we need to go and start the meeting.” Jonathan said cheerfully.

Nancy nodded and followed him down the train. Will turned to Mike and grinned.

“Funny, you’d think being Head Boy and Head Girl they’d be even bigger sticklers for the rules, but they’re still as laid back as ever, huh?” He remarked.

Mike chuckled. “If you could call Nancy laid back. But yeah…”

He trailed off, thinking about what they had uncovered, this wasn’t the time, keep it to themselves for now as he followed Will to their usual compartment.

Sure enough, Lucas, Dustin, Jane, Ilya and Max were sitting waiting in the compartment and grinned at them as they entered.

“There you are, we wondered what was keeping you.” Max teased.

Both boys just nodded and sat down and that was when Dustin spoke up. “So, guys...What are we going to do this year, I mean, after all that happened last year, we need to think.”

“Yeah, we need to think what to do about all this business with the repositories.” Lucas added.

“I’m not sure, we’ve found the Founders Library, which gives us a starting point, but…” Jane replied, shaking her head. “Well, we’ll need to talk to Professor Dumbledore and we can hopefully pull things together then.”

The others nodded while Max sighed.

“I’m just not looking forward to her being at it again, her probation being over now.” She groused and nodded to the compartment door.

They followed her gaze and saw Angela walking past, haughty superior expression back on her face after last year.

To break the tension, Ilya then remarked. “Well, I just wonder what dad’s going to do this year while I’m away…” Seeing their looks he explained. “Mother is off to the Veela Enclave, it happens every four years and lasts all year. He hinted he had something planned, something that would surprise me.”

That got the others interested and they began discussing their thoughts, while also making simple casual conversation as the train continued on its way to Hogwarts.

XXXXX

Exiting the carriage, drawn by the invisible horses, that took them up to Hogwarts as usual, Mike smiled as he and the rest of the party finally looked up at the castle again, looking forward to their third year and of course, hoping to unravel more of the mystery they were neck deep in. They made their way up and into the castle, smiling wider as all of them felt the same thrill of being back in the castle and already feeling the thrill of adventure, looking forwards to what the year may hold. Yet it wasn’t without an edge, they tempered things, knowing they had to be careful, especially after the incident last year with Henry Creel and Brenner.

“Well, guess we’re heading to our tables, we’ll talk more about things later guys.” Dustin said. “Our biggest thing right now should be finally starting our electives tomorrow.”

The others grinned and agreed before making their way towards their separate tables. Mike did notice something however that bothered him. He didn’t know if Nancy had been talking to Steve but, regardless, her tense expression worried him and he made to get close to her.

“Nancy.” He whispered. “Please, I can see you’re upset, but don’t do anything rash, not so early.”

“It’s not that.” She said softly. “It’s...listen, you remember the detention you, Jane, Will and Ilya served in first year, with Filch. The one I ensured we Prefects supervised.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s because of Filch we did that, he’s been...acting questionably lately. Just now I saw him, the way he was looking at you, Will and Ilya was worrying...especially Will and Ilya...just be careful around him and make sure they know too.”

Mike was startled. “Um, okay...Will and Ilya, and me. But...not Jane?”

Nancy shrugged. “He didn’t even glance at her.”

Mike bit his lip, glancing over at the caretaker who stood, lurking at the back of the hall as usual.

The Sorting passed normally and everything was going well, Mike kept the warning in the back of his head but did his best to focus and enjoy the moment, not wanting to raise any suspicions. He heard a few whispers and even some gasps, he looked around, confused and then saw Ilya was wide-eyed, almost as if he’d seen something he couldn’t believe. He followed Ilya’s gaze up to the head table, just as Dumbledore made the announcement that startled him too, but also gave him hope for one particular class that year.

“Allow me to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Fyodor Bondarenko.”

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 4

The next day dawned with the usual hustle, bustle and excitement of that first day back at Hogwarts, the new third years were especially excited as they would receive their timetables and be ready to start their electives. But for Mike, his excitement was tempered with concern, Nancy’s warning from last night ringing in his ears. He couldn't just leave it and so he was glad when he spotted all of The Party grouped together outside the Great Hall and rushed to join them.

"Hey Mike, you made, what took you, I beat you here." Lucas teased his fellow Gryffindor.

Mike bit his lip. "Sorry I just, guys, we need to talk, I need to warn you."

That startled them but he continued, sharing Nancy’s warning about Filch with them, especially Ilya and Will. To say all were shocked would be an understatement but they all took the warning and as they trooped into the Great Hall and split off to their tables they kept a wary eye on the Caretaker, lingering at the back as usual. Despite being wary they were thankfully still able to enjoy breakfast, get their timetables along with directions and soon were on their way to their first elective classes.

XXXXX

After the long trek from the Great Hall to the North Tower, Will, Lucas and Dustin were relieved to find the Divinations classroom, although now inside they found the atmosphere of the room to be a little, overwhelming. Now they were being introduced to the subject by Professor Sybill Trelawny.

"Welcome, to Divination, here we will learn the wonders of the future and find if you possess 'The Sight'." She announced in an overly dramatic 'mystical' voice and sweeping gestures with her hands. "This is not an easy subject to learn, teach or grade, for without the Inner Eye there will not be much you can accomplish. But I forsee great things in this class for at least two of you already."

That drew whispers, as well as blushes from Dustin and Will as she had looked directly at them as she said the last part. The boys felt uneasy but their focus was soon on the lesson as Professor Trelawny began teaching the 'art' of tessomancy or reading tea leaves.

It was a tedious process as they followed the instructions and soon were working in pairs, going over what they saw in each other's cups, Professor Trelawny walked among them, listening in, occasionally asking questions and being seemingly unimpressed with some of the answers or would just nod in confirmation but otherwise said nothing. Then she reached Will and suddenly reacted.

"You!" She gasped. "Your aura is pulsing dear, are you in the Beyond, I think you are, what do you see?"

Taken aback Will stammered before looking down at the cups. It was however his own cup he was seeing something in and he admitted as much.

"Yes, yes." Was all the Professor said. " and what do you see?"

Will took the cup from Dustin and looked at it, he was uncertain but found himself gradually making connections and interpretations as he gathered steam.

"Some...sort of angelic figure and then, a dark shadowy one, grasping...seeking the angelic figure with intent to harm them." Professor Trelawny gasped and Will continued. "A wolf and a snapped chain...the wolf shall break its chains."

"Remarkable, dramatic, terrifying, so dangerous. You have a rare gift my dear." Trelawny said in amazement.

But Will wasn't done. "Um, there's one more, a snake, with venom dripping from its fangs. Beware the serpent that unleashes its venom when it does the most damage."

Trelawny was even more ecstatic over Will producing three predictions from one cup, while Will was just unsettled as he shared an uneasy look with Lucas and Dustin, wondering what this all meant, especially as he had a sinking feeling about the angelic figure and who it could represent.

XXXXX

Making their way to the classroom, Mike, Jane, Ilya and Max readied themselves for their first Arithmancy lesson. Reaching the classroom they found it open and entered, a handful of other students were already inside. Acting quickly the four of them found desks together and began setting up everything they needed while the other students arrived. Finally they were all ready as the Professor entered and stood before the class. She had a rather austere expression that thankfully gave way to a welcoming smile as she spoke, her voice just as welcoming.

"Welcome to Arithmancy, I am Professor Septima Vector. Now Arithmancy is a more theoretical subject that others, there is practically no wand work or spells, but make no mistake. Arithmancy is a very useful and worthwhile subject. Why it is a required subject to become a Curse Breaker for example." She announced to them all.

This changed the atmosphere in the classroom for a bit, there was definitely a lot more interest now. Pleased with the effect her words had, Professor Vector began handing out worksheets.

"Uses pages 6 to 9 of your text books to fill in the worksheet to show the Arithmantic formula to set up a basic ritual circle." She explained. "You may work in groups bust must do equal shares of the work. You may begin."

With that Mike, Ilya, Jane and Max shared grins, already knowing they were going to work together.

XXXXX

Meeting up during a break between classes the Party discussed their first electives, as well as Transfiguration and Charms and it was clear they found their electives interesting although not many of them had favourable opinions about Professor Trelawny. That said Will's predictions scared them, especially the part about a dark figure coming after an angelic one. They also noted that as expected, their core classes were getting harder and would continue to do so with the new material, not to mention the revision of the old. Their talk met an unexpected interruption when Fyodor approached.

"Ah glad I caught you all. We need to talk before class." He said.

That dre their attention and Ilya spoke up.

"What is it dad, um Professor?"

Fyodor chuckled. "Professor when we're in class Ilya, that's all. Anyway, given our connections, in the interest of fairness I will not be awarding points to you in class. I'm sure you understand why."

They all nodded, realising it made sense, before the bell rang and they hurried to their next classes.

XXXXX

The smell of the crisp autumn air filled the noses of Mike, Will, Lucas, Dustin and Max as they left the castle with the other students who were all taking Care of Magical Creatures together. Heading down to the paddock where the lesson was to be held.

“Welcome, welcome, gather around, always glad to see a new class of students.” Said the eccentric gray haired one-eyed, one-armed, one-legged man who they assumed was the Professor, which the man then confirmed. “So yes, welcome to Care of Magical Creatures, I am Professor Silvanus Kettleburn.”
Mike shared a look with Will and Max, all of whom were clearly wondering the same thing, what had they signed up for? Namely that the Professor looked like he had suffered more than a few ‘accidents’ in his career. But Lucas was, along with other students, looking at the paddock, some in delight, others in confusion. Seeing this, Professor Kettleburn gestured towards what looked like a Jack Russell terrier, except it had a forked tail.

“Allow me to introduce you to the first creature we’ll be studying in this class, best to start gently I say. This is a Crup.” He announced.

So began the first lesson, one that was surprisingly fun and soon the students all began enjoying themselves as they began to study and learn about the Crup.

XXXXX

After the fun of Care of Magical Creatures, Mike and Lucas returned to the main castle and joined Jane and Ilya as they headed for their first Study of Ancient Runes class. While they sat in a row together they weren't all in one group as the desks in this classroom were all single desks. Nevertheless they got themselves prepared and began to wonder at the electives they hadn't taken, sharing with each other and wondering what new avenues of magic and knowledge lay before them. By the time the class was full, the Professor had arrived, a woman of seemingly boundless energy as she made her way to the front of the class and faced them all with an infectious smile.

"Good afternoon all of you." She greeted them happily. "Welcome to Study of Ancient Runes, I am Professor Bathsheda Babbling."

She began explaining then about the importance of Runes, the class syllabus and what to expect in their lessons, since like Arithmancy it was a mostly theoretical subject.

"Now, one of the best ways to learn in Ancient Runes is by doing so. Pick a rune from your book and transcribe it as best as possible." Professor Babbling explained. "Now don't worry, these won't be graded, it will give you each a starting point and an idea what to work on and improve. Once you are finished, write the page number on the back and I will collect them before the lesson is done."

Everyone quickly got to work, pleased at how quickly they were going to start learning something new. For Ilya however this lesson took on new meaning when he remembered what he had seen in the forest last year, at the portal, this could be his chance to finally translate it and learn what it was for and where it led.

XXXXX

With the first lessons of all but one elective under their belts, except Dustin having to take the second Arithmancy class due to also taking Divination, the party were ready enjoy their first week, until soon only two core classes remained to have their first lessons. Aside from History of Magic being as much of a bore as ever, the classes were again getting harder. Which filled the Gryffindors with dread as they joined the Slytherins in the dungeons for the first Potions lesson of the year. They all stood by their cauldrons, waiting anxiously as Snape swept up to his desk and his gaze passed over the room, cold black eyes boring into each of them as he did so.

"I hope this attentiveness last the lesson as I will be finding means to test your potions this lesson and woe betide anyone who hasn't prepared their potion properly as that will make it poisonous." He said with his usual sneer. "You will be brewing shrinking solutions, the instructions are on the board, you will follow them exactly."

With that he waved his wand at the board, making the instructions appear and they all quickly got to work. It was clear Snape was going to be as vindictive as ever this year as something went wrong which caused a series of firework like explosions to burst from Lucas' cauldron earning a sneer from Snape, detention from Lucas along with his potion being vanished and twenty points from Gryffindor. Mike looked around outraged and caught Jane's eye. She nodded and mouthed 'Angela' to him and Mike rolled his eyes, he might have guessed. Luckily that was the only drama and everyone else escaped intact, their potions complete, much to Snape's disdain.

XXXXX

With everyone else having already been to all their electives, only Will, Ilya, Jane and Max had an elective left, Muggle Studies and so it was that they made their way to the class to find the other students all waiting for class to start and they soon sat down and had their books out, all ready to begin, curious as to this class.

“Welcome, class, to your first lesson in Muggle Studies, I am Professor Charity Burbage.” The professor announced, she gave an easy smile. “Now in this class we will be studying the history and daily lives of Muggles, and how they are able to live without magic, but instead use electricity, technology and science. We will be starting with research into some relatively simple Muggle inventions that have in fact been updated over the years, the telephone and radio. So, let’s start, page 3 of your books please and we will start.”

The class all got to work and soon they were starting, it was an enjoyable class, Will, Ilya and Jane all certainly did so. Max did too but she also added something under her breath.

“Merlin, why do we magicals make things so complicated when the Muggles have such useful things like this.”
That made the others smiled as they all enjoyed the last elective and quite an interesting first week for them for sure.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 5

Excitement was high for the party as they took their seats in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. This would be their first lesson with Fyodor as the teacher and they couldn't wait. Unfortunately a certain blonde Slytherin had to try and spoil their good mood.

"Oh look at teacher's pet Bondarenko." Angela taunted. "Bet you can't wait for easy points and marks in this class just because Daddy's teaching it."

No longer under probation, Angela surprisingly hadn't escalated beyond her stunt in Potions. So the party used their best weapon against her, blatantly ignoring her and therefore, when laughter did ripple through the class it was at a red faced infuriated Angela and not them. Before she could start up again, Fyodor entered the room, limping up to his desk.

"I hope, after a lacklustre first year and the actions of last years Professor that you'll have a much better time in this class this year." He announced. "While he was controversial on so many levels, Professor Creel got one thing right, regarding his eyeball curse lesson. You need to be prepared."

"How was what he did supposed to prepare us for anything?" Angela snapped.

For once even the party agreed with her, as did Fyodor in fact.

"It wasn't, his reasoning was right, his method flawed. You should have studied the theory behind the curse even considering practicals. Speaking of, we better begin with the theory for this class. This year we are covering Dark Magical Creatures, starting with this one." He said, flicking his wand at the board. "Open your books to page 10."

They did so and Fyodor began the lesson.

He looked around and asked the first question.

"So, Boggarts, who can explain what a Boggart is? Yes Miss Bingham?"

Suzie replied at once. "A shapeshifter that turns into whatever a person fears the most."

"Correct, five points to Ravenclaw." Fyodor replied. "Now, what is the best weapon against a Boggart?"

This time it was a Hufflepuff boy who answered. "Laughter."

"Yes, by using the Riddikulus Charm and picturing your fear turning into something funny, you can conquer a Boggart. Since you seem quite sure of yourself with all that scoffing, Miss Orkin, what is the benefit of tackling a Boggart in groups?"

Angela flushed at being called out but stuck her chin up haughtily.

"If you're truly powerful you can easily tackle a Boggart by yourself."

Fyodor tutted and shook his head. "Wrong, wrong, wrong, Miss Orkin. Mr. Bondarenko why don't you tell us?"

Ilya caught the amused glint in his fathers eye, addressing him that way and smiled back.

"Having multiple people present will confuse a Boggart, disrupting its ability to spread fear."

Angela was ready to protest the favouritism but was shocked when Fyodor merely revealed his son was correct, but issued no points. Instead he went right on to giving them the rest of the period to study Boggarts and practice wand movements for the Riddikulus Charm. All in all, the Third Years were pleased with the lesson useful, informative and laying the groundwork for the future, they couldn't wait for the next one.

XXXXX

Heading down for lunch, the Party were talking amongst themselves, all still quite pleased with the Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson they had just had. It looked like they were going to have a good year with the subject for a change, a competent teacher who didn’t have some dark and evil secret.

“Hey, Ilya.”

They turned, hearing the voice and saw it was one of Ilya and Dustin’s dorm mates, a fellow third year Ravenclaw boy.

He smiled. “Just wanna say, that lesson was awesome, your dad is one great teacher.”

“Thanks.” Ilya said softly. “I’m pleased the lesson went so well too.”

The boy nodded and hurried away. The party all shared wider smiles this time before beginning to move on. They were however interrupted by an unwelcome voice.

Angela soon cornered them and got in their faces. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Max snapped. “Talk sense for a change Orkin.”

Angela scowled. “I am talking about the class, Professor Bondarenko is your father, freak, I know you’ve got some stupid set up going to give you an advantage, so-”

Ilya rolled his eyes. “Actually, we don’t, just the opposite. It has been agreed that, in the interest of fairness, none of us will be getting points in that class.”

Angela growled and looked like she was about to continue complaining. But they ignored her and continued on for the Great Hall, which just infuriated her even more but she couldn’t do anything as they were now around other people as they went to have lunch.

XXXXX

It was after lunch, just when they had hope that the rest of their day go normally, the Party soon found themselves dealing with yet more drama. This time in the form of Jason threatening Eddie again.

“I’m getting fed up with your games, Munson.”

Eddie shook his head. “You don’t understand, it’s not what you think, you-”

Jason cut him off. “Save it, I know what I saw and I know there is only one explanation, you sick-”

“Jason, stop!” Chrissy cried out as she rushed forwards.

Jason turned to her, eyes blazing. “What, you standing with him, you’re betraying me!”

Chrissy swallowed but shook her head. “No, you, we can’t just-”

“Enough, look, you don’t know anything.” Eddie said at last. “Just stop before you make a fool of yourself and just leave me alone.”

With that he turned and stalked away. Jason growled but before he could say anything to Chrissy, who was clearly still concerned, she left. He shook his head and then turned to see the Party.

“What the hell-?” Lucas began.

But Jason stepped up to them and startled them by what he said next. “Listen here you dorks, I’m giving you fair warning, stay away from Munson, for your own good.”

“Like you can tell us what to do.” Mike snapped.

“I’m telling you, stay away for your own good, he’s dangerous and I’ll prove it!” Jason snapped.

“Oh yeah, sure, of course he is.” Jane muttered, rolling her eyes.

Jason growled. “I mean it, don’t you see, it’s obvious.”

Max scoffed. “Another one who can’t talk sense.”

Jason just growled before shaking his head.

“Fine, then I’ll just tell you, stay away from Munson, before he hurts you.”

He paused as if trying to be dramatic before he made his big reveal.

“Eddie Munson is a werewolf.”

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 6

The Party had started to really enjoy their third year, they were getting settled into the swing of things, the increase in work with the addition of their electives was something they were still getting used to but they were managing. The only issue was Angela still making a nuisance of herself in Potions, targeting Lucas and Max specifically and Snape, ever biased, had no problem deducting points and assigning detentions until Jane had enough and so, this lesson, she was ready. Before they even began brewing their Antidotes to Common Poisons, she raised her hand, surprising everyone. Snape raised and eyebrow and then sighed.

“Yes, Miss Hopper, you have a question?”

Jane squared her shoulders and explained. “Yes sir, I know we don’t really use our wands in this class but isn’t there a spell that protects your cauldron from other people trying to tamper with it, such as adding ingredients that would have a negative reaction to the potion?”

Snape raised an eyebrow at that. “There is, but I highly doubt that would be necessary-”

“I’m sorry sir, I think it is, given the amount on interference being done to Lucas and Max’s cauldrons sir.” She said firmly, making it clear where she stood on this matter and spelling it out for the class.

There were gasps from the other students, Angela glared at Jane, once more silently denouncing her as a traitor.

Snape sneered and shook his head.

“I highly doubt that, Miss Hopper. Mr. Sinclair and Miss Mayfield clearly-” Snape began.

Jane cut him off. “Are brilliant at Potions, I’ve seen them over the summer and everything is just fine, last year was just fine, but now...I find that suspicious and it’s clear to anyone who bothers to look that someone is clearly tampering with their work.”

That sent a ripple through the class as Snape glared, clearly not happy with this turn of events.

He shook his head. “This is dangerous ground Miss Hopper, making such accusations without proof-”

“I could always call my father to come in and investigate.” Jane offered. “You know sir, the Head Auror, Jim Hopper.”

There were gasps again and this time Angela paled, having clearly forgot that detail. Snape meanwhile suppressed a snarl. He had to hand it to her, Jane Hopper had played this expertly. He made up his mind to indulge her, even though he was certain the two Gryffindor dunderheads were as bad as he saw them as, at least this would help him prove it. But it was not to be as he taught them the spell and they went through the lesson with everyone’s cauldrons protected and there was no drama with either Max or Lucas’ cauldrons or potions and they handed in near perfect potions, leaving Snape with a look on his face as if he’d bit into an oversized lemon and Jane left the classroom with a smug smirk. Snape could only sigh watching this, he couldn’t deny Jane Hopper had the true cunning and was a brilliant Slytherin, he just couldn’t understand why she was using it against her own house mates and helping out those beneath her.

XXXXX

It was the end of that day and the students had just finished their dinner, Mike, Will, Ilya and Jane were not heading for their common rooms however, they had received notes from Professor Dumbledore requesting them to come to his office, so they were heading there now. This left Lucas, Dustin and Max to head back to the common rooms themselves. Max had ended up separated from Lucas in the crowd, making her grumble only to gasp as a hand grabbed her by the elbow and yanked her aside into one of the classrooms. She found herself being shoved against the wall, grunting at the pain.

“Get off!” She snapped.

Billy glared at her. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, you’re still hanging around with those-”

She shoved him off and glared. “Like I told you before, I don’t care about your stupid narrow minded opinion, they’re my friends, end of story, now, get lost and leave me alone!”

“You don’t get to-”

“I. Don’t. Care.” Max snapped. “Thank Merlin you’re gone after this year and I never have to see your ugly mug again.”

She stalked off before Billy could do anything else, leaving him fuming and snarling, furious at the disrespect Max showed him, he couldn’t believe it had come to this.

XXXXX

Unaware of this incident however, Mike, Will, Jane and Ilya entered Dumbledore’s office where they found him seated and waiting for them, he wasn’t alone either.

“Dad?” Ilya questioned.

Fyodor nodded to them, he stood by Dumbledore’s desk, both of them gave gentle reassuring smiles.

“Ah, you’ve all made it, good, come.” Dumbledore said, gesturing for them to approach the desk.

They did so and finally, it was Mike who spoke.

“What’s...going on Professor?”

Dumbledore smiled softly. “I was talking with Professor Bondarenko and he informed me of the progress you’ve all made along with Mr. Henderson, Mr. Sinclair and Miss Mayfield in the training he’s been given you for defensive spells.”

Fyodor continued. “We’ve got a room set up so we’ll be continuing your training during the school year. I’ll let you know when we’ve been able to arrange things for your first extra lesson.”

They all shared smiles, relieved to hear that, but that wasn’t the main reason they were here.

“Now...I’ve filled him in one what you found last year and what has been going on, do we have anything to add?” Dumbledore asked.

They shared a look, considering this.

“Not really sir, sorry.” Will said. “We’re not having much luck spending time researching the library, but what we have managed to see is that the four reservoirs are located within Hogwarts and the grounds, but not exact locations.”

Jane nodded, continuing. “Yeah, with that we also learned that only one of the reservoirs would activate at a time, meaning there is one active right now, but until we find it and activate it the others won’t.”

“We also don’t know which one of us will acquire the power of the reservoir this year, but it’s not likely that I’ll get the Gryffindor one and so on, given how we had to open the library.”

Dumbledore nodded as they all took this in.

“Yes, makes sense...regardless, we cannot let this stop us. I have faith in you all and I will do my own research, we will find these answers, I promise you that.”

They all felt some relief at that and hope that they’d finally get somewhere when they resumed their research.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 7

Max let out a slow breath as she made her way down from the girls dorms in Gryffindor Tower, her palms felt sweaty and so she wiped them on her skirt and grimaced. She also scowled at herself.

‘What is wrong with me, why have I been feeling like this lately, and why so focused on this moment, it’s just a stupid study session.’ She thought to herself.

Yet she couldn’t help it. Even now, as she had reached the common room and looked over to the usual nook where Lucas was sitting waiting for her. He gave her that crooked smile that he usually gave and Max bit back a grimace from the strange feelings that began swirling within her at seeing that.

Her mind wandered again. ‘He smiled like that during Quidditch Practice too, when he scored and, and...urg, focus Max, what is wrong with me?’

She pushed the thought away and realized she’d found herself having already reached the usual table.

“Hey.” She greeted, somewhat lamely.

Lucas bit his lip, but then smiled again. “Hey, so, ready to start looking into stuff for our reports on Hinkypunks and Kappas?”

She sat down, setting out her books and notes. “Right, so, Defense Against the Dark Arts is it?”

“Yeah.”

Max nodded and tried to focus, but it wasn’t easy. She kept glancing at Lucas and her mind kept wandering, unbeknownst to her, Lucas was having similar struggles as he kept glancing at her, taking special notice of the way her red hair caught the sunlight as it filtered through the nearby window.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, in the Ravenclaw Common Room, Dustin was also having certain thoughts in his mind, thoughts regarding his strange emotions around a certain girl. That girl being the quiet, shy but undeniably sweet Suzie Bingham. The dark haired girl was sitting at one of the tables in the common room, reading over class notes, pushing her glasses back up from where they had slipped down her nose and Dustin shifted slightly. She looked so sweet, was so nice, it left him feeling strange and warm inside. Regardless, he composed himself quickly, he had agreed to help her with Charms work, this was no time to get distracted. Approaching the table he sat down, he didn’t smile too wide, he was still self-conscious of his condition which not even magic could fix. Part of it meant his teeth didn’t always form properly. Suzie still gave him a kind smile in return.

“Dustin, there you are, thank you for helping me with this.” She said, although she couldn’t help but feel a strange fluttering, like butterflies in her stomach.

“It’s not a problem.” Dustin replied, the same fluttering feeling in his own stomach. “So, what are we working on?”

Suzie looked down quickly. “Um, we have an essay on the applications of Cheering Charms and also need to practice the Banishing Charm for next class.”

Dustin nodded. “Alright, well, let’s get started.”

He hoped that, by looking over this work and focusing on it, it would make it easier to distract from the strangeness they were both feeling.

XXXXX

At the same time, Jane, Ilya, Mike and Will were all currently gathered in the Founders Library, looking over any details that they could use, anything that might hint at them where to look and who would be uncovering their repository this year.

“Anything yet?” Ilya asked Jane as he stepped up next to where she was sitting.

She started. “Oh, I didn’t hear you coming.”

“Sorry.” He apologised sheepishly.

He was momentarily distracted however as she reached up to brush a lock of her hair back from her forehead. Her hair had been growing back ever since first year and now was of medium length, was actually curly too. He felt it looked good on her.

‘She always looked nice, but now she looked even nicer and, it’s nice to see her smile after all she’s certainly been through, I…’ He thought to himself, cutting himself off as he saw Jane was looking back at him, face going red.

She bit her lip, feeling the heat rise to her face. ‘Wow, did I never notice how...pretty Ilya looked, he...is it his Veela allure, no, he’s wearing his necklace to control it, he’s...oh what am I thinking?’

She caught herself too and shook her head. Seeing this, Ilya reacted.

“Jane, are you okay?”

She started and quickly collected herself. “Oh yes, I’m fine, sorry, I was just, distracted. I’ve not had much luck finding stuff.”

Ilya sighed. “Me neither, hope the others are having better luck, we should ask them.”

Jane nodded as they began to head to the other side of the library where Mike and Will were.

Will bit his lip as he turned yet another page on another book, he’d lost count of how many he’d looked through. There was a lot and it was fascinating, but it wasn’t helping with what they were looking for, until he turned a page and gasped.

“Hey, I think I found something.” He said.

Mike walked over and leaned over to start looking. “What is it?”

Will instantly felt his face heat up as he realized how close Mike was now. He had been feeling strange around Mike for a long time, it was only now he was starting to make sense of it, and it terrified him. Yet at the same time, he yearned for it, yearned for closeness to Mike, that feeling, strong yet never unpleasant.

“Will?” Mike asked concerned.

They locked eyes and then Mike felt it, his own heart sped up, heat rose to his face and he quickly quashed it down with terror.

‘What am I doing, what am I thinking...I, I...I can’t be doing this?’ He thought in a panic. ‘I don’t, I can’t feel that way can I, even if I did, if dad ever found out I...fuck, focus, can’t…’

“What is it, what did you find?” Jane’s voice cut through things.

That gave Mike the chance to calm down, Will too as he turned back to the book and Jane and Ilya joined them.

Will took a deep breath and explained. “So yeah, it’s not exact but I think we’ve got some way to narrow down, at least a little, the locations of the repositories. The Gryffindor one is somewhere down in the dungeons, so is the Slytherin one...meanwhile the Hufflepuff one is located high in the castle, in one of the towers...um, the Astronomy Tower I think, it’s not completely clear.”

“Wow, so that’s...alright, that gives us a start.” Mike noted. “What about, about the Ravenclaw one?”

“Um, ah here it is, wow that’s...it’s in the forest.” Will revealed, eyes widening.

This left them all shocked, but it gave them some hope, they now had starting points.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 8

The Party were making their way down to the Entrance Hall, it had been long enough for them to really get settled in and really focus on their third year, they were doing well in class, tackling their extra lessons with Fyodor and of course, digging through anything they could in the Founders Library.

“Still not finding much, it’s almost like this whole thing is testing us.” Ilya muttered.

“I get it, I feel the same way.” Will admitted. “But listen, we just need to focus, keep looking, we’ll find something.”

Max sighed. “I wish we could have your optimism Will.”

The others smiled softly while Will flushed but shrugged. They continued onwards to their destination when they saw it.

“Seriously, doesn’t he have anything better to do than harass him?” Mike growled.

The others shared the sentiment as Eddie stood, looking surprised as Jason got in his face, again.

“Time’s up, Munson, it won’t be long now.” Jason said.

Eddie narrowed his eyes. “What in Merlin’s name are you talking about?”

Jason snapped. “Stop pretending, you know what! It’s over for you know, I’ll show everyone just what you are!”

“I...have no idea what you’re talking about, what I am?” Eddie replied, looking genuinely confused.

That made the Party share worried looks, Mike had told them all about Jason’s warning to him, Lucas and Max about Eddie. Not that they believed it, but Jason clearly did.

Eddie was clearly confused and more than a little taken aback.

“I seriously don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, you really should-”

“Don’t think you can tell me what to do, you disgusting creature!” Jason snarled. “You think it’s funny, getting to walk around here, putting us all at risk, no doubt you’re looking for a victim, how many have you hurt already, how many have you turned!”

There was a flicker of something in Eddie’s eyes, not guilt, but some form of recognition. “Turned, you’ve clearly been huffing the Potions fumes, dude, I’m not-”

“Save it.” Jason cut him off. “I know exactly what you are and soon the whole school will know.”

“Jason!”

He started and turned, glaring at the Party who were glaring back at him.

“You kids, shouldn’t-”

“Actually, you’re the one who is clearly in the wrong here. Bullying?”

All started at that and turned to see Nancy standing there, glaring at him.

Jason scoffed. “Oh, give me a break, Nancy, as if you could do anything to me.”

“I think you’ll find I can, one of the benefits of being Head Girl.” Nancy pointing out, making Jason pause. “So...do you want to risk it?”

Jason growled. “You’ll see, tomorrow you’ll all see.”

With that he stalked off and Nancy sighed before gently urging Mike and the others onwards while talking to Eddie to make sure he was alright. Jason’s final words there were ominous for sure, especially as they all recalled that this very night was the full moon.

XXXXX

“I can’t believe I’m even doing this.” Mike whispered. “Still, we can’t take any chances.”

Lucas nodded. “Yeah, we have to make sure Jason doesn’t do this. I mean, even if Eddie is a werewolf, he’s been at this school for six years and nothing has happened.”

Mike grimaced. “Yeah, let’s go.”

They slipped downstairs into the common room where Max was already waiting for them, looking tense.

“About time, he already left, I saw him. C’mon we’ve gotta get to the Entrance Hall and meet the others.” She said.

The others nodded, realising they were running out of time. Reaching the portrait hole they cast the Disillusionment Charm to hide themselves and so they slipped out and began making their way down, creeping through the castle to ensure they didn’t run into anyone who could cause them problems. Luckily they made it to the Entrance Hall and were surprised to find Jason was there, hiding not very effectively, they moved to one of the statues in the Entrance Hall where they had arranged to meet the others. There were some stifled gasps and they flinched but then, realising Jason couldn’t see them, they deactivated the charm. Sure enough the other people they had bumped into were the rest of the party.

“What now?” Dustin whispered.

“We can’t do anything yet, just follow him.” Jane whispered.

The others nodded and so they recast their Disillusionment Charms and focused on Jason, until finally he slipped out of the doors and so they followed.

The Party tried to stay steady, not stumble and try to stay quiet as they followed Jason over the Grounds, towards the forest, it was difficult as they were all still Disillusioned and as such they couldn’t see each other. Jason continued onwards without pausing, he clearly knew where he was going. Following cautiously they were soon in the forest, already a creepy place, being in there at night just made it worse.

“I don’t like this.” Ilya muttered.

The others could hear but couldn’t risk replying, regardless they pressed on as best they could, it was harder to avoid making too much sound, luckily Jason didn’t seem to hear them. Although that could be because he was looking around wildly, as if searching for something, as the forest was alive with noises.

“C’mon, where are you, you monster.” He was muttering.

The Party glared, hearing that, knowing full well from his behaviour that he was far worse than Eddie could ever be, werewolf or not. Then they heard it, a loud howl which made all of them, and even Jason, tense.

“Finally.”

With that he slipped closer to the edge of a clearing. Worried, the Party also slipped forwards and looked into the clearing. They were all shocked by what they saw, for there indeed was a werewolf standing there, large, powerful and dangerous. Something seemed off however, something they couldn’t quite put their fingers on, but this was enough for them to know now, the stories of a werewolf at Hogwarts was real and now Jason had seen it and was already hurrying back to the castle, they hurried to do the same, worried for what the following day would bring.

XXXXX

Nervously making their way downstairs, the Party sure enough spotted Eddie once more cornered by Jason, this time with an audience.

“Well, Munson, we’ve got a crowd now, ready to confess?” Jason remarked with a sneer.

Eddie was looking exasperated as he shook his head. “Dude, I have no clue what you’re talking about, I told you-”

“Save it, I saw it all last night.” Jason countered. “All I have to do is share my memories of the incident then everyone will know...You’re a werewolf!”

There was shock, whispers rippling through the crowd. Eddie was more than a little taken aback by this.

“Me, a werewolf, oh...that’s not what-” Eddie began, not looking scared or upset, but as if he’d just realized something.”

“Save it-!”

Jason’s triumph was short lived however, even as the crowd began to get on edge towards Eddie.

“What is this, how dare you!?”

All eyes turned to see Professors McGonagall and Snape approaching, she was glaring darkly at Jason.

“Professor, it’s true, I saw him, he was out in the forest last night, roaming around after he transformed!” Jason cried out, making sure the crowd overheard.

“Last night...Mr. Munson was in the Hospital Wing last night.” Professor McGonagall stated firmly.

Another ripple ran through the hall, the building tension almost dissipating instantly.

“Wh-what, but I saw him!” Jason cried.

Snape shook his head. “Mr. Munson was injured in a Potions accident in his last class, so I had to take him to Madam Pomfrey and inform Pomona, Minerva was talking with Pomona at the time, so there are four of us who can vouch for Mr. Munson’s whereabouts last night.”

Now the crowd was glaring angrily, at Jason, who was now looking foolish.

“I think you should all go to breakfast.” Professor McGonagall said firmly.

It was clear she was going to deal with Jason now and the Party felt relieved, but also confused. If Eddie was in the hospital wing last night, then who was the werewolf they saw in the forest.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 9

The time at Hogwarts was turning inexorably towards autumn, the leaves golden, the air turning towards Halloween, however before then, before the day of the Halloween feast, there was something else that was due to take place that had the Party, along with the other third years, all excited. It was time for their first Hogsmeade visit, they had handed in their permission slips earlier in the year to their heads of house and now it was time.

“You ready for this.” Mike was saying enthusiastically.

Lucas grinned and nodded. “You bet, this is awesome, I can’t wait to get to Honeydukes.”

Dustin nodded in agreement. “Yeah, me too, I’m looking for some of those um...Fizzing Wizzbees, I think?”

“That’s them.” Max confirmed. “Me though, I’m looking forward more to Zonko’s, that’s gonna be awesome.”

“Isn’t that the, the prank store?” Jane asked warily.

“Yup.” Max replied with a smirk.

“Seriously, there’s more to Hogsmeade than that.” Mike said with a soft laugh. “There’s the Three Broomsticks, Gladrags Wizardwear, Dervish and Banges.”

Will nodded and continued. “You’re right, that’s not all. Scrivenshaft, The Magic Neep. Not to mention the Shrieking Shack.”

Jane bit her lip as she took this all in. “That’s, wow...I don’t even know where to start…”

She had to admit, it was hard for her to keep it all straight, she didn’t know even half of the stores.

Ilya noticed her struggles and bit his lip, feeling his face heat up, nevertheless he spoke up.

“Don’t worry, I can see it’s overwhelming, but we’ll all help, right?” He said.

The others all grimaced as they realized what he meant, due to her past, being raised in captivity by Brenner, Jane wouldn’t know much about Hogsmeade, something that even Muggle-Borns knew due to hearing about it from others.

“Yeah, we can help.” Mike said at once.

Will nodded. “Once we get to the village we’ll give you the full tour, you’ll enjoy it in the end, trust me.”

Jane smiled at that, brightening up, hopeful again. Soon they went to join the other third years and up as they approached the main gates where Filch was checking off the students on a list to make sure only those who had permission were leaving. There was a longer than usual pause when Ilya reached the front of the line, something that made Mike tense. He was watching Filch carefully and could see the way the man’s eyes slid up and down Ilya who waited, shifting a little uneasily. Finally Ilya was let through and Mike after that and the Party regrouped.

“What took you guys?” Max asked.

Mike glared. “Filch being creepy.”

“Mike-” Ilya gasped.

“Dude, he was literally looking you up and down, he wasn’t even hiding it.” Mike pointed out. “Remember what Nancy warned us about.”

They all shared looks and whispers at that but they did their best to focus on the trip, making sure Ilya and Jane were in the middle of the group, safe and ready for the upcoming tour of the village.

Some time later, the Party was once more happy and things were going well, the tour had been perfect and Jane was amazed by many of the shops. They had also purchased some sweets from Honeydukes and looked over the other stores, Max had purchased some products from Zonko’s while they were saving some money for the Three Broomsticks. They had just visited the Shrieking Shack and were now heading to said Three Broomsticks.

“This has been amazing, thanks you guys.” Jane was saying happily.

“Of course, no trouble.” Will said happily.

They’d seen some familiar faces around town too, however they hadn’t had any problems with Angela thankfully not noticing them, but then something happened.

Dustin noticed it first. “Hey guys, look at this, does that guy seem weird to you?”

They followed him and looked over to where he pointed. There was a man, looking shifty as he moved towards an alleyway. Sharing wary looks they all silently agreed on their course of action. They began to creep down to the alleyway themselves and, staying in cover, they peeked down the alleyway and saw the man, he was there with several others, all looking just as shifty.

“Alright, any luck?” One asked the man who had just arrived.

He nodded. “I’ve found the relic, it’s in that old abandoned house just down the street from The Three Broomsticks. Might be tricky to get to.”

A third scoffed. “Of course it’s gonna be tricky, that’s why we were hired, we’re being paid a lot of Galleons for this and you know it. Stop complaining.”

The first man shook his head. “Enough, Lord Brenner is counting on us, we-”

They all stopped at that, tensing as Jane was unable to hold back the gasp on hearing his name.

“Quick.” Ilya hissed.

They slipped away, praying they could get out of sight before the men came looking.

Seated in The Three Broomsticks, all with a Butterbeer each, the Party were still in shock.

“Did you hear that right guys?” Dustin asked warily.

Lucas nodded. “Yeah, this is bad, those guys are clearly up to no good.”

Jane shivered. “They work for...for him, they, they…”

“It’s okay, we’ll figure this out.” Ilya said soothingly.

“This too, we’ve already got the werewolf issue and looking for the repository.” Will remarked.

“We might not have a choice, they might all be connected.” Mike pointed out. “We’ll figure it out, for now, just keep an eye out, I don’t know if we got away clean.”

The others agreed and made sure to stay in the Three Broomsticks and relax until it was time to leave with the rest of the students, hoping that would give them cover, ensuring the shady men didn’t see them. Now they had yet another mystery to unravel.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 10

The atmosphere at the school was once more building up, the first Quidditch Match was approaching and the anticipation was again building for it, everyone eager to see the first matches of the season. Ilya, Lucas and Max had to focus on practice for the upcoming games, as such it limited what the Party could focus on for their main mystery, nevertheless they still covered their school work, extra training with Fyodor and then, finally, they focused on each of their own personal concerns regarding the mysteries they had to face. Concerned over how unhinged Jason seemed to be becoming and worried he’d try something towards Eddie, Mike and Will were trying to find out what they could about the potential werewolf sightings at the school. With Lucas and Max busy, Dustin began looking into what that group or the relic they were after could be, surreptitiously questioning other students who had gone to Hogsmeade if they had seen anything. Finally, concerned about Ilya, Jane had went to ask some of the Prefects, especially Barb who out of those she felt were most approachable, was the only one free, to see if she could figure anything out about Filch and his actions. All in all they were keeping rather busy, especially as their electives became more interesting and Fyodor was introducing them to new creatures in Defense Against the Dark Arts, such as, most recently, the Grindylow.

It was the start of another day, the day of the Gryffindor Vs. Slytherin Quidditch match in fact and there was quite a buzz going around the tables as the students ate breakfast, they all were talking about the upcoming match, some taking bets, yet something was going on if anyone paid enough attention, namely if they looked over at the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables carefully, namely at Steve and Nancy. But then a distraction emerged, in the form of the owl post arriving. As the students who spotted their owls waiting for the deliveries there was a surprise where Damocles, the Byers family owl, was seen amongst the flock, carrying a letter. After hovering for a while he made his way down to Jonathan and dropped the letter off to him. Jonathan thanked the owl and checked the letter before getting up and approaching the Hufflepuff table, Will watched as his brother approached and began to talk to him quietly, Will bit his lip as he realized what was going on but nodded, confusing his friends. They found out the answer later as they were heading down to the pitch.

“Will, what was that about?” Mike asked.

Will bit his lip. “I...Sorry guys, Jonathan and I are gonna be going home over Christmas, mum sent that letter, asking him to talk to me and explain that she wants us both to come home over Christmas, said she has something important to talk to us about.”

This startled the group and left them saddened but understanding and accepting of it.

XXXXX

Nancy sighed as she thought carefully, it had been tricky ever since she had returned to Hogwarts after getting cleansed. Steve was getting suspicious now and he was surely going to push the issue somewhat unless she could think of some way to explain things to him. But she wasn’t sure how to approach it.

‘What if he, what is he’s involved in this, if I do this wrong and he is, dad will know, Steve and his parents will know and Merlin knows what that will end up doing…?’ She thought worriedly. ‘That said, Mike doesn’t think so, he’s actually pretty sure that Steve’s as much a victim as me in this. Should I…?’

She then realized she’d have to make her decision very quickly as Steve was approaching her, she wasn’t going to get inside the Quidditch Stadium before he reached her. Sure enough he soon reached her and spoke up.

“Nancy, we need to talk.”

Nancy swallowed. “Yes, we do.”

He seemed a little surprised by her answer but followed her to the side, out of earshot of the other students.

“So…”

Steve spoke at once. “What is going on Nancy, everything was going so well last year, but now...ever since we started this year, even on the train ride, you’ve been avoided me.”

She sighed. “Steve, something has happened, but I...I don’t know how to explain this.”

“Have, have I done something?” He asked, actually sounding uncertain for once.”

She shook her head. “No Steve, not you, your parents, and my dad.”

“Wh-what?” He blurted out, genuinely confused.

That gave her hope.

Taking a deep breath she spoke softly.

“I don’t expect you to believe me, but please...hear me out.” She said. “Mike was suspicious because of how dad was acting before our journey to Diagon Alley. He somehow worked out something was wrong with my drink, he talked me into going to Gringotts, we got inheritance tests done and well...I had to get a cleansing, I was full of loyalty, compulsion and memory charms and...Love Potions, keyed to you.”

Steve froze, eyes wide. “What, no, that’s...that can’t be...Nancy, I would never-!”

“I’m hoping that’s the case. Listen Steve, I know you don’t want to hear it, but please just...think up some excuse over Christmas and go to the Goblins, get your own test and maybe, maybe a cleansing too if you need it.” Nancy pleaded.

Steve bit his lip. “I...You’re right, I don’t wanna believe this is, I...But I trust you, I’ll do it.”

Nancy felt some relief, hopeful that things would work out okay in the end as they entered the stadium to begin watching the game.

XXXXX

While the game continued in the stadium, two students were not actually watching, they weren’t even at the stadium. Taking advantage of the moment to enjoy some private time together, Robin and Vickie enjoyed themselves in a broom closet, moaning as they finally got a chance to relish their relationship, even if they did have to keep things secret for now. But they knew it would be worth it in the end, and just made this stolen moment all the more precious.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 11

It was time, the Christmas Holiday had begun and the students who had signed up to go home were heading down to Hogsmeade Station to catch the train home for the holiday. This included Will and Jonathan, Will had sadly said farewell to his friends, but he knew he'd see them after the holiday. He was curious however.

"Jonathan, did mum give any hint as to why she wanted us home?"

Jonathan shook his head. "No, just that she wanted to talk to us about something important and it needed to be face to face."

Will bit his lip at that, unsure but boarded the train with his brother, understanding he'd get answers once he was home. The journey passed easily enough although there was some slight shame on Will's part as he was still working through the strange sensations he had been feeling lately around Mike, and was hiding them from Jonathan. All after Jonathan had been so open with him about his crush on Nancy, but Will kept telling himself things were different.

XXXXX

Joyce smiled softly as she returned home with her sons, both were clearly curious but willing to let her reveal things in her own time. Now was the time.

"So boys, I told you I needed to announce something important." Joyce said as she turned to face them.

"Yeah?" Will replied.

Jonathan then noticed. "Who, who is this?"

That was when Will noticed him too, a man was seated waiting for them with a friendly smile, which widened as he stood and Joyce came over to join him.

"This is an old friend of mine, Bob Newby." Joyce revealed. "We recently reconnected and, well, we've started dating and...and I wanted to make sure you boys knew. I want you to be comfortable with this after all."

Bob turned to them, he was of medium height with short brown hair and hazel eyes, fair skin and a normal build.

"I know it must be awkward boys." He said, genial and friendly. "But I really care about your mother and hope we can get along."

There was a moment of silence as both boys considered the short but sudden reveal.

Joyce watched nervously, worried about the boys reactions, Bob stood by her, doing his best to be reassuring. After a pause, Will smiled.

"Mum, wow that's...I'm happy for you, really." He said happily.

Joyce let out a soft sigh of relief, at least Will was happy.

She turned to her oldest son. "Jonathan?"

Jonathan sighed. "Mum, don't get me wrong, I want you to be happy. But after everything that happened with dad, I can't just, say yes."

He paused before smiling.

"But I'm willing to give things a chance."

That was the best Joyce could hope for and she smiled as they got ready to enjoy Christmas together.

XXXXX

At Hogwarts, the rest of the party smiled as they enjoyed their latest Christmas at the castle. They had already shared their own gifts and sent the ones they had gotten for Will to him, even receiving their gifts from him too. The Christmas Feast was an enjoyable affair, even if the Great Hall was only half full and nobody was seated entirely in their Houses, so the whole party were gathered together and simply enjoying themselves, while they could for they had something planned for later. Meanwhile they simply enjoyed the feast while Dustin, seeing her sitting alone since that year all her friends hand gone home for Christmas and sge hadn't, invited Suzie to join them which she gratefully did. Mike however felt strange during the feast, as if something inside him was missing.

XXXXX

Mike bit his lip as he sat with the others in the Founders Library, searching for answers, he still felt that strange sensation like something was missing, he couldn't put his finger on what however. But he tried to put it aside and focus as they tried to find whatever they could on the Repositories.

"Hey wait, I think I found something." Ilya said suddenly.

They turned and were confused for a moment as the book he held seemed to be blank, but then they remembered.

"Ilya, we can't see anything on the book, but you can." Jane said. "That must mean whatever is here is tuned directly to your Ancient Magic."

Ilya nodded. "Makes sense, but does this mean?"

Mike finally spoke up as it dawned on him.

"Ilya, you're the one who is going to unlock your Repository this year. That's the only reason for this I can think of."

"Ah...So now I need to find it, figure out where it could be..." Ilya noted.

Dustin smiled. "Well, it's narrowed down at least, we know the Ravenclaw one is located up in the Astronomy Tower-"

Ilya shook his head quickly. "No...I don't think it's that simple. I might not be unlocking the Ravenclaw one, just because I am one doesn't mean-"

Jane nodded. "Exactly, Ilya had to stand on the Gryffindor crest to unlock this place...maybe that's the one he looks for."

Max grimaced. "Down here in the dungeons..."

They all shared wary looks, but still felt relieved that they had made some progress at least.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 12

There was an air of excitement again as it was time for another Hogsmeade trip, the party were all chatting as they made their way down the snowy path from the castle to the village, the crunch of snow under their boots being the only sound other than their voices as they chatted aimlessly for a while, simply trying to keep things casual for now, even though their minds were busy with some other issues. Most notably, Mike was still rather quiet, more so than usual, still seeming if something was missing, he had even said it himself, but none of them could figure out why.

“I’m worried about Mike.” Jane said at last, quietly to Ilya as they walked slightly behind the others, out of earshot.

Ilya nodded. “I know what you mean, we all are, I just...I think we should maybe do something to cheer him up, but what?”

Jane bit her lip. “I don’t know...I wish I did.”

They looked over at their friend, Mike walked in roughly the middle of the group, hands stuffed in his pockets as he walked, almost trudging through the snow, head bowed, certainly not in his usual spirits. Meanwhile, Dustin, Lucas and Max walked up front along with Suzie who had joined them and, after all this time, had won their trust enough to be brought into the Party, and therefore into the secret of Ancient Magic which was what led to her doing her best to help them, much to their relief.

Reaching the village the Party all paused as Mike looked around for a moment.

“So um, what are we gonna do?” He asked, trying to act casual.

They shared a look before Ilya stood up.

“We’re worried about you Mike, you’ve been down this whole Christmas.” He said.

Mike sighed. “I know, I know and I’m sorry, I just, don’t know what…?”

Jane spoke softly. “We don’t have a clue either, but we’d still like to cheer you up...that’s why Ilya and I think you could benefit from joining us to a trip to Honeydukes and then the Three Broomsticks.”

“That, does sounds cool, but, you guys?” Mike queried, looking to the other four.

“Don’t worry about us.” Lucas said with a smile.

Dustin nodded. “Yeah, go, have fun, we’ve got our own thing to do.”

“Well, okay.” Mike said at last.

So with Ilya, Jane and Mike heading one way, Dusitn and Lucas led Max and Suzie in another direction.

“So, what is this...own thing?” Max asked.

Dustin explained. “It’s all to do with what happened on our last visit. You weren’t with us Suzie so, I guess I better explain.”

With that he told her about the talk they had overheard from the strange group. The relic they were after, the location of which he and Lucas had managed to find, and their worries about what this meant.

“So, we’re got a dangerous criminal group who are helping the Dark Wizard who is after you guys and this Ancient Magic, and they are looking for this strange relic which will apparently help the Dark Wizard in trying to take you guys on, is that about right?” Suzie asked and when they nodded she sighed. “Why don’t we just report this?”

Max was the one who answered. “Because this is all we have, no real proof, even someone who’d believe us, like Chief Auror Hopper, wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

They lapsed into an uneasy silence after that.

Finally Suzie sighed.

“Okay guys, I’m sold, what are we going to do?”

“Wait what, just like that?” Max gasped.

Suzie smiled. “I trust you guys and if these people you’ve spoken about are even half as dangerous as you claim, they can’t be allowed to get their hands on that relic.”

“Alright, awesome.” Dustin said with a grin. “Okay so, we’ve gotta get the relic away from where it currently is, they know it’s there and will likely steal it when they have a chance, I’m surprised they haven’t already.”

“So we’re going to get our hands on it first and hide it.” Lucas finished.

The girls nodded and Max asked. “How are we gonna do this?”

“Alright so...we’ll get there first, then we’ll scout the area out.” Dustin said. “Then I’ll need help to get inside and then I’ll grab the relic and then we’ll regroup and hide it.”

Lucas nodded. “I hope this works, it’s not exactly a detailed plan.”

“Sometimes simple is best.” Suzie said softly.

Dustin gave her a lopsided grin at that and together they headed for the empty Hogsmeade building.

“Alright, what do we have here?” Dustin muttered as he began scoping out the area around the building, there was nothing immediately apparent that would cause problems.

So with nobody around to stop them they began checking the windows of the building until Max found one that offered the best view of the room where the relic was in.

“Here it is, so…?”

Dustin nodded. “Watch my back guys, help me in and then make sure nobody comes along. Alohomora.”

The window unlocked and opened and with Lucas boosting him up he climbed in, for once glad for his medical condition which meant he could fit through things like that window that most other people would struggle with. Inside he dropped into a crouch as he landed and looked around, nobody around. He cautiously cast a few spells Fyodor had taught them and found that remarkably there was nothing around.

“Whoever put this relic here didn’t realize that someone would be after it I guess.” He muttered.

He then quickly crossed the room to where the relic sat on the table.

Checking carefully as he reached the relic he still felt wary and cast a few more spells, still nothing. Counting it as a stroke of luck, he quickly picked the relic up and stepped back, nothing. Letting out a sigh of relief he turned and hurried back to the window, stashing the relic in the inside pocket of his robes.

“Guys, all clear?” He called out.

There was a pause and then Max’s voice. “All clear.”

He worked his way out and found Max on her own.

“C’mon, someone was coming but Dustin and Suzie went to distract them, we’ll meet them on the edge of town.” She explained.

Dustin nodded in agreement. “Good, because that brings us close to where I plan to hide this thing.”

Max blinked in surprise but then smiled and nodded, glad to hear it and soon they were hurrying along, relieved that things had gone so well, they knew it certainly wouldn’t last but they’d take it while they can.

XXXXX

Mike smiled as he left Honeydukes with Jane and Ilya, they had bought some new sweets and even now he was eating some of Honeydukes best chocolate while walking.

“Alright, Three Broomsticks.” Ilya said with a grin. “My treat.”

Mike just nodded, relieved to be feeling better, even if not completely. “Thanks for this guys, I don’t know why I was feeling so down, but I’m glad you guys are helping me out.”

“Of course, what are friends for?” Jane replied.

Mike smiled at that but then spotted something.

“Oh not again, what’s going on now?”

They followed his gaze and sighed as they saw Jason once more confronting Eddie, this time about ‘catching him with Chrissy’. What they did not expect however was Chrissy’s reaction as she came storming into the square, glaring at Jason.

“Have you lost your mind, I swear this is getting out of hand, Jason!?” She screamed.

He turned to her, startled. “What, Chrissy, I’m just trying to-”

“Control me, I’m not stupid Jason, I’ve had enough of this, enough of you, we’re finished, leave me alone!” She snapped back.

Jason froze, shocked and horrified, Eddie gave a small smile while Chrissy just shook her head. Surprisingly, despite what many thought, neither she nor Eddie said anything about them actually being together or anything, so once again, Jason was left to look like a fool.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 13

The end of the Christmas holidays brought mixed feelings, for some they felt it was a drag to return to schoolwork after so much fun. But for the Party, they were happy to be reunited with Will, Jonathan returned too and both boys seemed happier than usual, something which the others noticed immediately.

“Will, what’s going on?” Mike asked. “You and Jonathan look kinda, well…”

Will just laughed. “I know, I know. It’s actually pretty cool.”

“Yeah?” Dustin prompted as the others listened in.

Will smiled. “Mum is, mum is dating again, an old friend of hers, Bob Newby.”

They all gasped at this, knowing about Joyce’s difficulties and how she was mostly ostracised from the magical world due to her marriage to Lonnie Byers. This could be a sign of hope, something that might help things.

“He’s a great guy.” Will said. “We spent the Christmas holiday getting to know him better. Jonathan was wary at first, which I guess is understandable, but he’s really warmed up to the guy now.”
“That sounds awesome dude.” Ilya remarked with a grin.

The others also nodded all smile. Although Mike’s smile faltered as he looked to his left and noticed Filch shuffling up nearby. He narrowed his eyes at the foul-tempered squib, remembering Nancy’s words and cleared his throat.

“C’mon guys, let’s go to the training room, we can talk more there and we can get you up to speed, Will, Professor Bondarenko gave us lessons while you were away.” He said quickly.

Will nodded and together they left and headed for the room, Mike privately letting out a sigh of relief that the close call.

XXXXX

“So, your mum is dating again, and an old friend, that’s, that’s awesome.” Nancy said with a smile.

Jonathan nodded. “Yeah, it’s great. I admit, I was a little wary at first, mum has been hurt enough. But Bob is a good guy, I’m sure I can trust him.”

Nancy smiled wider. “That’s great, I’m glad for her, and you guys...oh…”

Her expression changed as she noticed Steve standing nearby, looking awkward, waiting for her. Nancy bit her lip.

“Excuse me.” She said quickly and hurried over.

Steve looked worried as she drew closer but she was wondering what would happen now. She knew this was the time she’d find out if she made the right decision to tell him everything.

“Steve?”

He sighed and shook his head. “I got checked at Gringotts like you said and...Merlin, Nancy, you were right. I was dosed up to my eyeballs in love potions, mum made every one of them and both she and Dad were dosing me.”

“Oh Steve, that’s...I’m sorry, I-” She began.

Steve shook his head. “Nancy, our whole relationship was faked, it was designed by your father and my parents...all for some reason I don’t understand…”

Nancy sighed. “Neither do I, Steve and I’m so sorry. I can’t believe it either. Even though I’ve known since summer...You got a cleansing, right?”

Steve nodded and then there was a pause.

“What, what do we do now, I mean, Ted and my parents have really crossed the line here.” Steve asked.

Nancy sighed. “I know, but we can’t do anything right now, not to my father, he’s too powerful and if we take action against your parents, we could do something but...that would tip him off.”

Steve narrowed his eyes. “So we just do nothing?”

“We hold this close, do our utmost to live our own lives and, the moment we get a chance, we expose them and take them down.” She replied firmly. “If not then we take our revenge by living our own lives, not the ones they want us to have.”

Steve sighed but nodded and went on his way.

Watching him go Nancy sighed and bowed her head. She still couldn’t believe this, she had already known that her relationship with Steve had been faked, but still, all this was heavy to take. She couldn’t understand her father or his parents motivations, she couldn’t even begin to guess but even with all that, she still hated that this had hurt Steve. She had compartmentalised her own hurt but still, it didn’t make things any easier.

“Nancy?”

She started and turned to see Jonathan had approached her, looking worried, she hadn’t realized that Jonathan had waited around rather than leaving.

“Jonathan, I...um…” She stammered.

Jonathan bit his lip. “Are you okay, I um...I didn’t want to eavesdrop but I overheard what you and Steve were talking about. Mike already told Will about the love potions incidents and he told me. So I um, I can guess what’s going on.”

Nancy gasped at that but then felt relief, it would certainly make things easier for her.

“It’s, it’s true. I managed to get free of potions my father had dosed me with thanks to Mike. Steve was the same and now he’s free...but it’s come at a cost, I don’t even know how we’re supposed to go forward from this.”

Jonathan bit his lip before reaching out, gently touching her shoulder. “If there’s anything I can do…”

Nancy smiled and thanked him, relieved that at least something had worked out and she was grateful for Jonathan’s support.

XXXXX

Steve sighed as he walked down one of the corridors in Hogwarts, shaking his head as he tried to bring some sort of sense of clarity to his new batch of problems. He knew he and Nancy couldn’t just carry on as they had before, their whole relationship had been faked, they were still friends, at least they still had that, but everything else had been fabricated by his family and her father. Regardless, he had no idea what to do now. But then, something happened that startled him. He had opened the door to the classroom where he’d planned to go to clear his mind. Robin and Vickie flinched, their eyes widening as they pulled apart from their kiss, staring at him with wide-eyes.

“Harrington, what the he-?” Robin began in shock.

Vickie bit her lip. “Um, we, that’s…”

Steve blinked then quickly cleared his throat. “Um, that’s...I didn’t mean to, sorry, I just. I was trying to clear my head and I usually come here. But, well…”

“Please, you can’t say a word about this.” Robin hissed.

Steve grimaced, suddenly realising just why Robin was so insistent. “Hey, I swear, I won’t be saying anything, okay.”

Both females looked at him carefully, but then relaxed, trusting him.

“Now, what’s that you said about clearing your head?” Vickie asked.

Steve sighed but went to share his problems with them, while they were glad he wasn’t going to expose them.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 14

Dustin sighed as he slowly, carefully got up from his bed. It was late at night but he wasn’t asleep. He had made arrangements earlier that day, determined to do something for a change. He was glad to be helping Mike, Will, Jane and Ilya in dealing with learning more about their Ancient Magic and to try and find the Repositories, but with everything else that was going on, they would be stretched thin if they all tried to check things out. So he had come up with an idea and shared it with Lucas, Suzie and Max, it was tricky as there was some apprehension about gong out at night. But it was their best chance. This was his idea to allow them to be of more use to the group, they’d take one of the mysteries they were dealing with on themselves, allowing them to focus on it and the others to focus on their own mystery, it would allow them to cover twice as much ground. However even so, he didn’t want to share that with Ilya, Mike, Jane and Will yet, knowing they’d be overly concerned. That was why he was being slow and careful, since Ilya was his roommate and he didn’t want to wake him. But he was soon dressed and slipped out of the dorm room and down to the common room where he found Suzie waiting for him.

She stood up and smiled softly.

“Ready?” She asked gently.

Dustin couldn’t help but feel strange when she said that, a strange fluttering in his stomach.

Still he focused and smiled. “Yeah, okay, let’s do this, be careful.”

Suzie nodded and they slipped out of the common room and cast the Disillusionment Charm on themselves to aid in avoiding attention and crept on down until they reached the entrance hall and soon enough they were there and found Lucas and Max waiting for them.

“For the record, while I agreed, I still have a bad feeling about this.” Max said softly.

Lucas nodded. “Yeah, I mean, going all the way to Hogsmeade in the middle of the night...just to look in on these creeps?”

“I know it’s crazy.” Dustin agreed. “But hey, this might be our best chance, if we can do this, we can help the others. Trust me, something is wrong here, that group is, is somehow connected to the Repositories, I’m sure about it.”

“I trust you, Dustin.” Suzie said gently.

Lucas and Max shared a look but shrugged and agreed to go along with it and so together they crept out of the doors and began making their way down the path. It was tricky, moving through the dark to find the way to Hogsmeade but they pressed on, desperate to see if their hunch was right.

It took some effort but they managed to find their way into town, it looked very different at night, lit by lanterns and with very few if any people around.

“Where do we start?” Lucas asked warily.

Dustin replied. “We’ll look where the area we saw them first, so that’s over here.”

The girls nodded and followed him, Lucas brought up the rear, looking around warily to make sure that they weren’t being followed in turn. Reaching the right spot they crouched down and began to look around carefully.

“There.” Max hissed.

Dustin nodded. “I see them.”

Sure enough they saw the rough group, it was them alright. The leader was unmistakable.

“Urg, what a mess, you told me the relic was there, that it was just lying around, easy pickings.” He was complaining.

“It was boss.” One of the men said. “Saw it with my own eyes, checked for wards and curses guarding it, nothing.”

The leader rounded on him. “Then how come when we went to claim it, it was gone.”

“Sounds like someone beat you to it.”

The four teens all flinched hearing that voice as did all the criminal group as they turned, looking terrified, even if they outnumbered the speaker and his sole companion. But then, it made sense when the speaker was Brenner and the companion was Creel.

“I entrusted you to claim that relic, it is important for my plans.” Brenner said to the group. “Only for you all to lose it...how disappointing.”

The leader spoke quickly. “Please, sir, um...we, we’ll find it, we’ll search the whole town.”

Brenner scoffed. “That’ll do for a start...but I will expect more than that, understand.”

He looked curiously at Creel who had turned and was glaring as he looked around. But the four had already slipped away, desperate to get back to the castle.

XXXXX

The following day, Mike, Jane, Ilya and Will were gathered in the Founders Library, the strange thing was, they weren’t the first ones here. Normally they made it first then Dustin, Lucas, Suzie and Max showed up. Yet this time things were reversed and it was clear that the latter four were tired and yet anxious.

“Alright, what’s going on?” Ilya asked.

Dustin swallowed. “So um...last night we kinda, snuck out to Hogwarts and went to Hogsmeade.”

“You what?” Mike gasped. “Why?”

“It’s that group, the ones that were after the relic.” Dustin explained. “We hid the relic last time we were at the village and...now they know it’s missing but that’s not the problem.”

“What?” Jane asked.

He swallowed again. “Um...they’re working with Brenner.”

That made all of them freeze and they realized now what this meant, things had just gotten a lot more serious.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 15

Seated in his chair at his desk, fingers steepled before him, Professor Dumbledore seemed lost in thought as he pondered the words the Party had just shared with him. As he did he considered The Party themselves, a collection of third year students who showed so much talent and promise, even beyond the Ancient Magic situation that directly affected four of them. To say nothing of the inter-house unity they promoted just by being friends. First there were the three Gryffindors, Michael Wheeler, Lucas Sinclair and Maxine Mayfield, the three Ravenclaws, Ilya Bondarenko, Dustin Henderson and Suzie Bingham. Then the last two, one each from Hufflepuff and Slytherin, William Byers and Jane Hopper respectively. He had also noticed subtle changes in the bonds between the group, certain pairs staring to develop stronger bonds. He endeavoured to watch and see what became of those growing bonds, it boded well for all their futures he felt.

Returning his focus to the matter at hand he considered what they had told him and sighed.

"Considering that you just revealed you broke curfew AND made an unauthorised visit to Hogsmeade I should be punishing you." He said gravely. "But after all you've revealed, I will let it slide this once...for these are far graver matters you have brought to my attention."

"Yes Professor." Dustin said. "It's, it's really on me. I'm the one who suggested it. Something about that group bothered me, we knew they were bad news, that's why I hid the relic. But for them to be working with Brenner, for it be part of all this..."

"Rather more than you expected, Mr. Henderson." Dumbledore finished for him.

Dustin nodded and silence reigned again.

It was Mike who finally broke it. "What do we do now?"

Professor Dumbledore smiled softly. "Focus on your studies and keep trying to find the repositories. Any luck with this year's search?"

"No Professor, all we know is it's the one I'm meant to find and while we suspect it may be Godric Gryffindor's, we don't know where to look, or if it even is that one." Ilya explained. "All we know is two of them are located in the Dungeons, one in the Astronomy Tower and one in the Forest."

"That poses a problem of course." Professor Dumbledore agreed. "We'll have to keep searching, but don't neglect your other studies in the process."

They all agreed and finally left the office, ready for their next extracurricular lesson with Fyodor.

XXXXX

Ilya winced as he stumbled, dropping to one knee, he fared better than Will who had landed on his back and slid a few feet across the floor. The others watched, wincing in sympathy as they had experienced similar to Will when it had been their turn. So far only Ilya hadn't been so much as knocked off his feet, small comfort though it was.

"Up you get." Fyodor said calmly. "I think that'll do for this lesson."

He gave a reassuring smile as Ilya helped Will to his feet and the others came over to join them. They had just had their latest extra lesson where Fyodor taught them defensive spells and had taken to using the old Duelling Chambers to practice in. Lately they had been working on Shield Charms.

Ilya sighed. "Sorry dad, I know we should be doing better."

"Better, you've been doing fine. Or have you all failed to notice it's taking longer and longer for me to break through the shields." Fyodor countered. "You have to remember what you are learning is advanced for your age. I originally taught Ilya so he could defend himself if his heritage got out and the bigots started targeting him. But given recent events, it's beneficial to all of you, but you can't push too hard or you'll drain yourselves. Understand?"

They all nodded, finally getting it and feeling relieved as well as hopeful. They finally left and prepared themselves to start on their remaining homework now. They didn't want any distractions as they drew nearer to Easter and thus would have more time to investigate the repository location properly.

XXXXX

So it was the Party retired to the library to work on their homework, breaking into small groups over their remaining subjects. Talking in a low voice so as not to draw the ire of Madam Pince, Suzie went over her notes for Arithmancy to help Jane and Max who had been struggling. Meanwhile Dustin and Lucas were writing up reports on Porlocks for Care of Magical Creatures, having started work on them after Puffskeins. Dustin still swore the Puffskein he had worked with tried to attack his nose with its tongue, as Puffskeins were wont to do. Meanwhile Ilya had become very interested in one of the Runes books, even beyond homework, which Mike noticed while also working on the subject.

"Dude, what are you looking at?" He asked.

Ilya showed him. "I have to do well in this class, I have to get into it next year, then I can work on these Runes. If I do that I can translate the ones on that portal Creel used, then we can find out more about it."

Mike gasped, realising he was right, this would indeed help them, but they'd have to wait till next year unfortunately.

Meanwhile Will had just finished his Divinations homework, which left him to ponder something with concern, namely his three predictions from the first class. He had written them down and now looked at them, feeling that same prickle up the back of his neck as he had when he made them.

'An angelic figure being pursued by a grasping shadowy one.'

'A wolf breaking its chains.'

'A serpent unleashing its venom when it will do the most damage.'

Every one of them made him uneasy, especially as the first one he had a sneaking suspicion about as he glanced towards Ilya, the Half-Veela boy not noticing. But now, given the reveals and tensions between Jason and Eddie, he was beginning to worry that the second one was starting to make sense too and it didn't bode well, at least that was what he feared.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 16

The castle was in a cheerful mood come Easter, this was despite the upcoming exams, but even the fifth and seventh years were enjoying probably the last moments of freedom before really getting into their OWLs and NEWTs respectively.

'Still for so many of them to be so complacent.' Nancy mused ruefully.

She shook her head and focused, she had Head Girl duties to attend to, such as right now doing her patrols on the Seventh Floor along with Jonathan. It had certainly been a boon to Jonathan as he proved to be an effective Head Boy, despite concerns people wouldn't listen to him due to the stigma against his family, yet they did. But Nancy was now left with a new dilemma, namely that strange feeling she had been experiencing since fifth year. Now free of the Potions and spells it made sense to her now and in quite the shocking way. If it hadn't been for the potions, she would have realised all the way back then she was falling for Jonathan Byers.

She could understand why of course, objectively he was good-looking, he was also studious and had a strong drive for justice, certainly traits she shared.

'I wish I could tell him but...after so long, after having to deal with Steve and I being all over each other due to the Potions...' She reflected quietly. 'How do we even begin to overcome that awkwardness?'

"Nancy, you okay?"

She started at Jonathan's voice and turned, smiling.

"I-I'm good, sorry, was lost in thought." She said.

He looked at her carefully then nodded. "Well, we better get back to the others. Get the reports done." He said.

Nancy agreed and they began making their way to the allotted classroom to make their reports. As they walked Jonathan sighed to himself. He really wanted to approach Nancy with the truth, but he was running out of time and had no idea how to do so.

XXXXX

Robin moaned softly into Vickie's mouth as their lips met again and again. Finally parting for breath their eyes met, pupils blown, emotions almost overcoming them although they held their restraint, despite Vickie's hand brushing Robin's thighs just as the hem of her skirt, Robin gently knocked her knee against Vickie's in response.

"Shouldn't you be doing rounds?" Robin teased breathlessly to her Prefect girlfriend.

Vickie giggled. "Finished just before we met up, gave us time for this...I do have to report but after that, you can join Steve, Jonathan, Nancy, Barb and I if you like?"

Robin grinned. "Sounds good. Well, can't make you late, lead the way."

Vickie quirked an eyebrow. "So you can ogle my butt and swaying hips?"

"Can you blame me?" Robin fired back.

Vickie smiled, she liked this side of Robin, even if it only came out in these secret meetings, hidden away in out of the way classrooms, out of fear of word getting back to Robin's parents. But they could handle it for now, they just needed to find the right time. So with that they headed for the meeting room, Vickie leading the way with Robin following. Vickie making sure to give a little extra sway to her hips for Robin's benefit, making the other girl give a muffled moan which just made Vickie grin again.

XXXXX

Seated together, Nancy, Jonathan, Steve, Vickie, Robin and Barb all took a moment to relax, their duties for the evening done.

"So...how are you all doing, I know it's been, difficult this year?" Barb asked warily, hesitantly.

Steve sighed. "That's putting it mildly. At least after this year we're done and I can get away from my parents after what they did."

"Same here, though I worry about Mike and Holly not having that option, especially since we can't expose them yet, not with dad still having so much power." Nancy agreed.

Jonathan turned to her and softly reminded her. "They have a standing invitation to visit us whenever they want, mum told me that herself. I'm pretty sure their other friends extended the same. They won't be trapped, especially if he has to keep up appearances."

Nancy nodded at that, feeling somewhat calmer.

Barb nodded. "That's, that's something at least. What about you guys?"

She turned to Robin and Vickie.

Robin nodded. "We won't have to hide anymore, we'll be away from my parents and they don't get a say. If they don't like it tough."

"Just a bit longer." Vickie explained. "Then we're free. Though of course, I doubt we'll be leaving this?"

The others agree, they'd have to resolve these issues, but would have to wait until they had the means to do so. So their first thought would have to be their NEWTs, then they could worry about their future plans.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 17

It was with a sigh of relief that the cohort of Seventh Year friends exited the practical session of their Charms NEWT, their final one. The OWLs finished two days ago and the other exams the previous week. Now they were finished and just had to enjoy what remained of the school year. The only major events that remained were the Quidditch Cup final, Gryffindor Vs. Ravenclaw, and the Leaving Feast. That said, there was still a mystery they had to consider.

"So what do you think?" Jonathan asked. "Will, Mike and their friends? Down searching the Dungeons again?"

Nancy sighed. "Possibly...I don't get why though."

The others shared a look too, having no idea either. What they didn't know was that they were searching for Godric Gryffindor's repository, Ilya was feeling tugs on his magic down in a certain area of the Dungeons, but so far they had not had any luck.

Having reached the Entrance Hall their thoughts about the Party were driven from their minds by a new problem right in front of them. Namely a crowd of students circling around someone or something, quickly sharing a look they rushed and, seeing the Head Boy and Girl, as well as all the others except Robin being Prefects, the crowd parted to let them through. Once able to see the centre of the gathering they stopped and groaned. Jason was once again getting in Eddie Munson's face.

"I don't know how long you're planning on keeping up this charade, Munson!" Jason snarled.

Eddie shook his head. "There is no charade, you've been told the truth Jason. Just because you don't like the truth doesn't mean it's not true."

"Don't give me that, the teachers keep covering for you but I know." Jason countered. "I know about you disappearing once a month at night, about your visits to Snape's office."

"All of which has nothing to do with you and really, that's the best you can come up with?" Eddie shot back.

Jason growled, he needed the crowd on his side. He already had them muttering in suspicion.

"It's all I need, it's obvious. You've got Snape giving you Wolfsbane Potion and going to hide, werewolf."

"That's enough!" Nancy snapped, stepping up with the others.

Everyone flinched and all eyes turned to her. Eddie startled, Jason looked livid.

Unable to stop himself he blurted out.

"This doesn't concern you Wheeler!"

Nancy quirked an eyebrow. "That's Head Girl Wheeler to you, Jason and you've been told about this, Eddie is not a werewolf now stop harassing him."

"But-"

"Enough." Jonathan cut in. "Aren't you tired of making a fool of yourself, every time you accuse Eddie you're proven wrong."

"Ah but I saw the wolf this time, roaming through the forest and when the next full moon comes, there will be even more proof, I guarantee it." Jason said smugly.

Only for Steve to point out. "So you just admitted to being out after curfew, in the Forbidden Forest?"

This drew laughter from the crowd as Jason spluttered.

Then a new voice. "What is going on here?"

Professor McGonagall stood, watching the scene before her with a severe expression, accompanied by Professors Sprout and Flitwick.

"Professor." Nancy quickly intervened. "Jason has been harassing Eddie about being a werewolf again."

Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared and Jason quickly reiterated everything he pointed out before as proof.

Professor McGonagall was not impressed however.

"So you needlessly endangered yourself, going out after curfew into the Forbidden Forest to chase a werewolf, so you could harass a student who has already, multiple times, been proven innocent?" She questioned with a dangerous edge to her voice.

Jason was stunned. "What, but Professor..."

"Mr. Munson was nowhere near the forest that night as he was getting extra lessons from me as he seeks to pursue a Mastery in Transfiguration after school. I personally escorted him back to the Hufflepuff Common Room myself." Professor McGonagall revealed. "Really this persecution of Mr. Munson is getting out of hand. You are now in detention for the remainder of the school year, I'm afraid the Gryffindor Quidditch team will need to find a replacement."

"What, you can't-!" Jason burst out.

But he was quelled by a look from Professor McGonagall.

"Pomona, I leave the punishment up to you, since it is your student being victimised."

Jason gulped as the kindly Professor Sprout showed a more angry side, eyes flashing dangerously as she agreed. Soon the Professors dispersed the crowd and Jason was led away, things calming down.

XXXXX

Finally, once things were calm again, the Party emerged from the Dungeons where they had been anxiously watching things unfold.

"Man, I swear he's getting worse." Lucas muttered.

Max sighed. "Tell me about it...we're gonna have to pick up the slack come the match."

Mike nodded. "Yeah, but still. It's clear that even if it's not Eddie, there is a werewolf around."

"This is crazy, we've got that, those creeps in Hogsmeade and trying to find the Repository." Jane said heavily.

Ilya sighed. "We're running out of time, what are we gonna do?"

Will shook his head. "We need to relax, we can't tackle them all as one big group, so we try smaller groups. But for now, we go and see Hagrid and try to relax, okay."

The others smiled and agreed with this plan and so they headed off to do so, all the while pondering how best to tackle the multiple mysteries laid out before them.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 18

The atmosphere was electric in the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch as it was finally time for the final. Gryffindor Vs. Ravenclaw. Mike was a little uneasy as usual, he was just not comfortable on the Quidditch Pitch, all thanks to his broom accident where he had hit his face, he just wasn’t athletically inclined but regardless he showed up to support his friends. Will smiled reassuringly at him as he sat next to him, also here for support along with Suzie, Dustin and Jane. Since Lucas and Max were playing for Gryffindor and Ilya was in Ravenclaw they had not worn any scarfs or such to show favouritism to one side or the other. They were simply here for their friends. Regardless the excitement was palatable from everyone else sporting either red and gold or blue and bronze. Cheering, hollering and watching excitedly as both teams kicked off and the game began. The action came quick and fast.

“Wow, I still can’t believe how skilled everybody is.” Will said softly.

Mike smiled and nodded. “Y-yeah. I know. Wish I could be even half as good.”

Will turned to him and gave him a reassuring grin. “Hey, don’t put yourself down like that, Mike. You have your own talents.”

Mike smiled at that and nodded. “Yeah, I...thanks Will.”
That just left him with a strange feeling, a strange, warmth in his chest. Will was just so nice, he knew what to say to help people. A true Hufflepuff. But why was he feeling this way.

‘It’s weird, it’s only around Will and, no, that’s ridiculous, don’t...I can’t…’ He thought worriedly.

Will meanwhile watched as Mike brushed a lock of hair away from his forehead, his fingers twitched, he wished he could have done that, then he realized what he had been thinking and quickly pushed the thoughts aside, this was not the time to think about that.

As the game raged and both teams showed themselves to be almost equally skilled, neither side having much luck scoring, at least until Ravenclaw got two goals through, goals that Jason could have saved had he still been part of the match. Meanwhile Ilya was playing his best game yet, even Max and Lucas’ best team plays were not getting through. All of them were grinning at this, in amazement at their skills, Max and Lucas kept shooting glances at each other, really enjoying all this, as well as the warm feeling they got within them when they glanced at each other. They knew what it was, but were confused and worried about what they were feeling, they knew they were crushing on each other and weren’t sure how to approach things. They weren’t the only ones however, seated in the stands, cheering each of Ilya’s saves, Dustin and Suzie grinned as they shared looks.

“This is awesome.” Suzie said with a laugh.

“Yeah, this is, we should do stuff like this more often.” Dustin remarked.

Suzie giggled and he paused, considering how what he said might have sounded like, regardless they returned their focus to the game, however it was clear they too were starting to develop feelings for each other.

“Hey, guys, look.” Mike said suddenly. “About time, huh?”

They started and followed his gaze, only to all grin as finally, thanks to his own attitude, Jason’s accusations came true. For now Eddie and Chrissy could be seen, a few rows ahead of them, lost in a deep kiss, having clearly confessed to each other at last. Will noticed something too and nudged Mike, he looked over and sighed, but at least felt it was an improvement, at least this time he knew it was true love, Nancy was also engaged in a kiss, with Jonathan. A kiss which coincided with Gryffindor scoring their first goal.

XXXXX

The tension mounted, the fans getting more and more on edge as the game continued, things were picking up, the score was tied fifty each, with the scores that they already had if either team caught the Snitch now, they’d win not only the match but also the cup. All eyes moved up to the two Seekers who were flying over the match, looking carefully, then it happened, out of nowhere, the Ravenclaw Seeker suddenly dove down. Seeing this the Gryffindor Seeker followed but the head start of the Ravenclaw Seeker made it a foregone conclusion and soon the blue and bronze clad fans cheered wildly, the team flying together and hugging. The Party all smiled and celebrated too, after all, Ilya was their friend and that was why they were here, for support. Lucas and Max smiled and nodded to Ilya as they landed with their team, graceful in defeat as ever. Ravenclaw had won the Quidditch Cup and, unless something completely unforeseen happened, they were a certainty to win the House Cup too.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 19

The atmosphere in the clearing on the edge of Hogsmeade was tense, the criminal group had gathered there, having been called to answer for their lack of progress in finding the relic. The leader shifted nervously, before quickly covering it and glancing warily around at his men. He couldn't show weakness in front of them, not when they were to blame. He had given precise orders and they had failed to measure up, failed to carry them out. It was the only reasoning he could think of, otherwise they would have had the relic by now and would have been made rich beyond measure. Instead they were here, empty-handed and about to answer for it as Brenner arrived. The Dark Wizard wasn't alone however and that brought the criminal leader out into a cold sweat. Brenner's creepy enforcer, Creel, was with him. Worse he already had his wand out and an unsettling gleam in his eye, as if ready to start punishing them before even hearing what they had to say.

Luckily nothing like that did happen, instead Creel simply moved to the side while Brenner stepped up to the leader, a look of disappointment in his eyes.

"You have had almost an entire year to claim the relic for me...you have failed." He stated with a dark glare.

The leader tried to speak up. "We have searched the whole village, but someone else has stolen it and-"

"Spare me the excuses." Brenner snapped. "You have hardly searched at all, or there would have been news of it. All we can say for certain is it's not in the castle or those brats would have their hands on it and be using it."

"But, to search like you said, would draw attention-"

Brenner was unmoved. "And, you're being paid for this, yet all you give in return is incompetence and excuses, no more. I want a full accounting of all this, now."

And so the men scrambled to deliver their reports.

As they did so Brenner listened while also reflecting on the importance of the relic. He had discovered through researching the material located on the other side of the portal that the relic was attuned to the Repositories, that it would show which one was active and when, more importantly, it showed exactly where each one was located. He needed it to get ahead of those meddling children that Eleven had betrayed him for, before they stole that power instead of putting it to its proper use. Finally the reports were completed and Brenner was not impressed with what he heard.

"So your reason for not conducting proper searches is cowardice." He summed up darkly.

The leader flinched. "What no, the Aurors-"

"Merlin's breath." Brenner snarled.

He then raised his wand and everyone except Creel tensed.

Brenner raised his wand and cast a spell into the air, the very atmosphere shimmered and the air seemed to change around them.

"There, you can search with impunity now, be aggressive, do whatever it takes, the Aurors can't interfere now." Brenner remarked. "This also means the reluc is still in the village as I tied the spell to it. So long as it is intact and here, nobody can apparate in or out of Hogsmeade."

"We have to, what, besiege the town?" The leader gasped.

Brenner nodded. "If that's what it takes. There is only a week left before the Hogwarts school year ends and then we miss our chance, so get to it."

The criminal group were all uneasy but began making plans. But Brenner wasn't done yet.

"Now, since I've determined the cause of failures here, we can deal with it before we begin." He said, voice deceptively soft. "Henry."

With that Creel smirked and levelled his wand.

"Avada Kedavra!"

There was a flash of green and the leader fell, dead.

There was a stony silence before Brenner pointed at one of the other members of the group.

"You." He beckoned him over and he came forward, shakily. "Congratulations, you've just been promoted."

The man tensed, the meaning behind it was clear. With no other choice he had the rest of the group tidy away his predecessor's dead body and then join him as they prepared to besiege Hogsmeade, meanwhile Brenner and Creel walked away, over the valley paths, towards the Forbidden Forest.

"So what now?" Creel asked.

Brenner smiled. "We go back through the portal, see if we can find anything else of us."

Creel nodded and so they headed off to do just that and to wait for the show to begin.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 20

The air at Hogwarts was one of relaxation and joy for the most part. There was happiness as they approached the last few days at Hogwarts. Although for some there was sadness too, sadness to be leaving the castle and such. Nancy and Jonathan were happy as they had finally found each other and were happily dating now. Both knew that Ted was not going to be happy, but they didn’t care, in fact this was all about showing Ted that Nancy was not his puppet anymore, even if they couldn’t use what they knew against him yet. Sitting next to each other, Vickie and Robin were whispering plans together, getting ready for their future, preparing to finally be free of Robin’s parents. By the time they found out the truth, there would be nothing they could do about it. The Party meanwhile were apprehensive however as they were running out of time, they still hadn’t found the Repository and if they didn’t find it before the end of the school year, it would be vulnerable. Ilya was the one feeling the most pressure due to it being his repository. Fyodor had announced at breakfast that day that he had only signed on for the year so he’d be leaving at the end of it and the students were disappointed, having enjoyed having him as a teacher. Mike meanwhile crumpled the letter his father had just sent, once more berating him for spending the year ‘associating with undesirables’ with a particular focus on Will this time which confused and annoyed him, more than it usually did for some reason.

XXXXX

“-ike, Mike, wake up. Lucas, c’mon.” Jonathan’s voice pierced through the veil of sleep. “C’mon you guys, all of you up.”

Mike jerked awake and looked around, Lucas and the other boys were getting out of bed, looking startled and confused.

“What’s going on?” Mike asked, seeing Jonathan was there with two other Gryffindor Prefects.

Jonathan sighed and explained. “Get dressed quickly and follow us, we’re going down to the Great Hall...all students have been ordered to get there as quickly as possible.”

Lucas caught Mike’s eye and shrugged. “Alright, we’ll be there.”

They got dressed quickly and soon they were heading down from the dormitory and soon saw Max who joined them.

“What in Merlin’s name is going on, do you know?” She asked.

They shook their heads up followed everyone else out, taking note at once that pretty much the entire house was present. The air was thick with whispers but nobody was aware of what was going on as Nancy and Jonathan led them down through the castle until they reached the Great Hall and filed in, the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs were already there and soon the Ravenclaws also joined them. The House tables were gone so they were all standing and sharing wary looks. Mike grimaced as he looked up at one of the windows and nudged Will, Will saw it too, the full moon.

That was when they took note of the Professors all gathered at the top of the room, Dumbledore approached the lectern and spoke, his voice filling the hall as he made the announcement.

“I am afraid drastic events have happened at Hogsmeade, a group of powerful witches and wizards have attacked the town and now seem to be holding it under siege, they are seemingly looking for something and the Aurors are unable to get into the village. The actions of the group suggest strongly that Hogwarts itself may well be under threat.” He paused to let this sink in. “We are going into lockdown, you are all to stay in the Great Hall tonight, the Prefects, Head Boy and Head Girl will be in charge of defence of the Great Hall, meanwhile we will head out and defend Hogwarts from any that try to come up to the castle to attack, please remain calm, we will get through this.”

With that he waved his wand and several sleeping bags appeared as well as drinks and food in case they needed them. Everyone was whispering again, all in shock but watching warily as Dumbledore led the teachers out of the Great Hall and out into the grounds, the doors closing behind them. There was a pause and then finally Nancy spoke.

“Okay everyone, grab a sleeping bag, if you need something to eat or drink, grab it, find somewhere and just wait patiently, sleep if you can. We’re here and everything will be fine.”

Reacting to her words, everybody went to do just that, allowing the Party to gather and consider what they heard, and what they had seen.

Dustin especially looked frantic.

“Guys, this is bad, this is my fault.” He said.

“What are you talking about?” Will asked worriedly.

Dustin shook his head. “I hid the relic, that’s what they’re after, this is happened because I hid it and-”

“Dude, don’t even go there.” Lucas said sharply. “They’re evil, it doesn’t matter what you did, they would have done something terrible anyway.”

“Yeah, besides, Brenner wants that relic, that’s enough reason to keep it away from them.” Max added.

Jane swallowed nervously and shook her head. “That’s right, but...Ilya?”

Ilya was distracted, worried. “Sorry, I just, something felt off there. But you’re right. What can we do anyway?”

“We could use that secret passage we found, Dustin.” Suzie suggested, shocking them all. “If we get there and get the relic, we could, I don’t know, do something.”

Dustin nodded thoughtfully, Max and Lucas shared a look, already deciding on what they were going to do.

“Please tell me I didn’t hear that?”

They turned to see Steve standing there, watching them with a raised eyebrow.

“You heard Professors Dumbledore, none of you are leaving this place till that siege is lifted-”

“It’s not going to be unless we can get that relic.” Lucas countered. “We have to.”

Steve shook his head. “Not happening, got it, I can’t allow you to-”

“You could come with us, that way you’re still watching over us.” Suzie said, all innocence and charm.

Dustin sighed. “Besides, I’m the only one who knows where the relic is hidden.”

Steve froze at this and then groaned.

He shook his head, looking around.

“I’m going to regret this. Fine, but just you four, the rest of you stay here.” He said firmly.

To his surprise, none of them argued but he accepted it and they slipped away, Jane, Ilya, Mike and Will watching them go worriedly.

“I hope this works out.” Jane said warily.

Mike grimaced. “We’ve got another problem, it’s the full moon.”

The others turned to look at them.

“The werewolf issue and notice both Eddie and Jason are missing...and someone else…” He explained.

The others froze at that, it didn’t take long for them to know what he was hinting at.

“Mike, no.” Jane whispered.

Mike shook his head. “I can’t just leave this, they don’t know about the siege either, I have to help them.”

“Not alone.” Will said firmly, surprising them all.

Ilya bit his lip. “Okay, but...we can’t…”

“It’s fine, cover for us, please.” Will said.

They nodded and shared worried looks as Mike and Will went and slipped out. Jane went to go and talk to Robin and Vickie while Barb led the other Prefects in checking on the other students. Nancy and Jonathan however had noticed Mike and Will and both groaned.

“What are they doing?” Nancy hissed.

Jonathan shook her head. “I can’t believe this, c’mon, we’ve gotta get to them.”

Nancy nodded. “Right...Barb, we have to go round up a couple of students, keep an eye on things here for us.”

Barb turned to them and nodded knowingly.

Drawing their wands, Nancy and Jonathan hurried out of the Great Hall too.

Alone for the moment, Ilya sighed and shook his head. He glanced around warily and noted that while the Professors were outside, some members of staff, Madam Pomfrey, Filch, Madam Pince and notably Professor Trelawny was here while Hagrid had gone to the gates. Shaking his head Ilya took a drink and sat down, trying to ignore the breeze coming from the side door next to him.

‘This doesn’t make sense, now…’ He thought before noting something weird. ‘Whoa, what...no…’

His vision was blurring, his body felt weak and heavy. He instantly realized something had been in his drink. He felt hands take hold of his shoulders and begin to lead him through the ajar side door before blacking out.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 21

The crisp night air filled Mike and Will’s lungs as they exited the castle and began to hurry down the grounds towards the Forbidden Forest.

“Mike, how sure are you that we’re going the right way here?” Will asked warily.

Mike shook his head. “Where else would they be?”

Will grimaced but nodded, Mike had a point. They hurried onwards, unaware that Nancy and Jonathan had just exited the castle and saw them.

“What are they thinking?” Nancy hissed. “C’mon.”

Jonathan nodded and they hurried after them, trying to close the gap and stop them before it was too late. But Mike and Will plunged headlong into the forest and Jonathan shook his head.

“Dammit, what are they even doing?”

Nancy had a nasty feeling. “They’ve been witnessing the arguments Jason has been having with Eddie. They’re probably trying to get to the bottom of this werewolf mystery...Oh no, it’s the full moon.”

“Yeah, but its behind clouds, that gives us time...also, weren’t Jason and Eddie also missing from the hall?” Jonathan replied, eyes widening.

Nancy grimaced. “Oh and not just them. I have a bad feeling about this, c’mon.”

Nodding Jonathan followed Nancy as they lit their wands and began to work their way through the forest in pursuit of Mike and Will, following their own lit wands.

Working their way through the forest, looking around wildly with their wands lit and showing the way, Mike and Will were worriedly greatly.

“What are we going to do, even if we get there, we’re not exactly-” Will began.

Mike shook his head. “We’ve been trained by Ilya’s dad, we can defend ourselves, we just need the truth.”

Will sighed. “I...I hope you’re right.”

They ducked down as they began to draw nearer to a clearing, hearing raised voices. They shared a look.

“Nox.” They whispered.

But before they could go any further they were grabbed and gasped.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Jonathan hissed as both boys were turned around.

“Jonathan, that, we…” Will began.

Nancy shook her head. “Save it, we need to get you-”

“We can’t. Listen.” Mike hissed.

Before Nancy or Jonathan could say anything they heard it too, the raised voices.

“They need to be warned about the siege, and if there is a werewolf we can’t just leave them out here.” Mike explained.

Will nodded leaving Nancy and Jonathan taken aback and they quickly shared a look before turning to look at Mike and Will again.

“Stay close, don’t do anything rash.” Nancy said softly. “Nox.”

Both her and Jonathan’s wands extinguished their lights and they moved quietly to duck down and peered around the trees as they stood, gazing out into the clearing which was actually lit somewhat.

“No way...what is going on here?” Mike whispered.

Eddie was there, as was Jason, but they weren’t alone, a third person was present. Chrissy.

Jason was looking at Eddie with a mixture of triumph and rage, meanwhile Eddie looked wary and on edge and Chrissy was terrified.

“So, caught red-handed, huh Munson.” Jason was saying. “Not enough for you to steal my girlfriend but now you’re gonna make her your next victim!”

Eddie shook his head. “You don’t understand, you don’t know what’s actually going on here, you need to-”

“Shut up, I know what’s going on here, see Chrissy, I told you-”

Chrissy shook her head. “Jason, enough, you need to leave, please, it-”

“Leave, leave you with this monster, so he can do Merlin knows what to you!?” Jason roared. “No, come on, I can take you to safety, did you forget how you’re my girlfriend, how he stole you from me and now he-”

“He didn’t steal me, you are the only real monster here, a bully who I was glad to ditch, we are not dating anymore or did you forget that.” Chrissy snapped, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

“You...shut up, that’s not what happened!” Jason burst out. “What spells have you used on her?”

Eddie shook his head. “I didn’t do anything, you drove her away with your attitude and you don’t know what’s going on here, I’m trying to get you to leave for your own good.”

“No, you just want to make Chrissy your next victim, I don’t know how you convinced the Professors to lie for you, but I am here to expose you!” Jason snapped.

He had his wand out by now and Mike and Will couldn’t take any more of this.

“No!” Jonathan cried out.

But too late, Mike and Will had their wands out and were rushing down into the clearing, just in time as Jason cast a cutting curse.

Both boys wasted no time in casting.

“Protego!”

Their shields sprang up and blocked Jason’s curse. Jason started, Eddie looked at them in amazement while Chrissy actually looked even more scared.

“Wheeler, Byers, how dare you get in my way, can’t you see-”

“Enough, Jason what do you think you’re doing?!” Jonathan snapped.

He and Nancy had joined the boys and now had their wands out too.

“You’re supposed to be in the Great Hall, due to the siege in Hogsmeade, instead you’re out here and trying to murder a fellow student.” Nancy snapped.

Jason scoffed. “Oh stop acting as if you’re better than me, Nancy, you’re a girl and you don’t have a clue about any of this. Besides, I’m doing the school a favour by putting this beast down!”

“So that’s disrespect to the Head Girl, Misogyny and admitting to attempted murder against an innocent student.” Nancy listed off with a cold look.

Jason growled. “Innocent, HE’S A WEREWOLF!”

“I’m not a werewolf, it’s already been proven to you, honestly, stop acting like-”

“Stop lying, you pathetic brat.” Jason said. “If you’re not a werewolf, what are you doing out here during the full moon.”

“Trying to help, it’s why I got the potion and disappeared during those full moon nights. I’ve been helping.” Eddie explained.

“What, no, you can’t be doing that, you’re the-”

“The moon.” Will cried out.

They all flinched as they realized that the full moon was indeed coming out from behind the clouds and, to Jason’s horror, Eddie’s dismay and the shock of the other four, the werewolf was exposed and it wasn’t Eddie. For there, transforming before their eyes, was the werewolf, Chrissy Cunningham.

Eddie reacted at once.

“Please, relax, she’s taken the Wolfsbane Potion, she’s harmless.” He said desperately.

Jonathan and Nancy shared a look and nodded, quickly ushering Mike and Will behind them, just in case. Chrissy howled as her transformation finished and there she stood amongst the ripped ruins of her pyjamas, she let out a low growl as she shifted in discomfort.

“N-no, no, this, this can’t be possible, she’s not, what have you done to her!?” Jason burst out in fury.

“Oh for, he did nothing, you moron, anyone can see Chrissy has been the werewolf this whole time!” Mike snapped.

“Shut up brat, you-” Jason snarled before raising his wand.

Whatever he was going to do, they didn’t find out. Since Chrissy reacted, with notable clarity and not the savagery of werewolves, and delivered a swift backhand to Jason, knocking him against the nearby tree, knocking him out. The others flinched, gasped but then Eddie stepped forwards.

“Chrissy, it’s alright, we’ll, we’ll figure this out.” He said. “Just, do what you usually do.”

Chrissy turned to him, let out a low whine, before bounding off into the forest.

“Is she…?” Nancy began.

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, she’ll be alright, this is what we’ve been doing since I found out the truth. I bring her the potion, help her get out here during the full moon and leave clothes for her here. She roams the forest and finds a spot to sleep things off.”

“What about Jason?” Jonathan asked.

Will bit his lip. “Maybe we should, we should ask the Professors, I mean, they know about this, right?”

“Yeah, they do.” Eddie said. “We can do that, they’ll know how to handle this, for Chrissy’s sake.”

Sharing a look, Jonathan and Nancy both smiled and nodded, relighting their wands.

“C’mon, let’s go, back to the castle, we’ll get you guys checked out at the hospital wing and talk to the Professors.” Jonathan said at last.

With a feeling of hope, the five of them left the clearing, planning to do just that and of course inform the Professors that they needed to do something regarding Jason, who was still out cold.

XXXXX

Groaning, Jason opened his eyes and looked around, it was still dark, he was still in the forest and then he flinched. He recalled it all and he growled.

‘That bitch, she lied to me, betrayed me and she was a fucking monster this whole time...that creep Munson is behind this, they’ll pay, I’ll make sure everyone knows about it, they’ll be hounded out of this school, just as they deserve, they-’

His thoughts tapered off as he heard footsteps and then saw two men entering the clearing and seeing him.

“What have we here?” One remarked, one Jason recognised.

“Pro-Professor Creel?”

The older man sneered. “A miserable brat...there’s no other option is there?”

Creel nodded. “He always was a waste of space anyway.”

“That’s-” Jason burst out.

But he never got to say anything else, nor did he end up exposing Chrissy, as Brenner drew his wand and uttered the two fatal words.

“Avada Kedavra!”

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 22

Suzie led the way while Dustin, Lucas and Max looked around warily, Steve was the most on edge, shaking his head, wand already out.

“This is crazy, how did you even find a secret passageway inside that humpbacked one-eyed witch statue?” He asked.

Suzie bit her lip. “Pure chance, even the password took a lot of trial and error.”

They were now moving down a narrow passageway, getting further and further away from Hogwarts.

“And you’re sure it leads to Hogsmeade?”

Suzie nodded to Steve. “Yeah, checked it out carefully, leads us to the basement of Honeydukes.”

“That’ll get us into the village, but then what do we do after that?” Max asked.

“We need to avoid those men, as much as we can, but-” Lucas began warily.

Dustin sighed. “Yeah, failing that, we need to distract them, whatever it takes, I need to get to where I hid the relic and pick it up, then we can decide what to do with it.”

“Where did you hide it?” Lucas asked warily.

There was a pause and then, with a sigh, Dustin admitted.

“The Shrieking Shack.”

They all paused to stare at him in shock but then Steve recovered.

“Great, alright, do what you gotta do, just, be careful.” He said at last.

So they continued on until they got to the end of the passage and slipped into Honeydukes basement and so they hurried upstairs and soon stood in the store, peering out the windows.

Peering out they could see that the streets were mostly deserted, at least of any villagers, they could see the criminal group moving around the village. Sometimes forcing their way into some buildings otherwise they were casting spells around the village, clearly searching.

“They’re looking for the relic, but why is no one stopping them?” Dustin remarked sadly.

“Typically, something like this, Aurors would be all over it in mere moments, unless…” Steve remarked and sighed. “There must be some sort of ward or barrier that’s blocking them…”

“But how, that sort of thing needs a focal point and, and...oh no, you don’t think-” Max replied, eyes widening.

The others realized it too and shared wary looks.

“Great, so now the relic is being used to stop help arriving…” Lucas groaned. “What do we do now?”

Dustin shook his head. “We get the relic and regroup, then we figure it out.”

“Agreed.” Steve said. “Lucas, Dustin, go and get the relic. We’ll keep an eye on things here.”

There was a pause for a moment, but then, seeing they had no other plan, they accepted and slipped out of Honeydukes, the streets were currently empty around it. Sharing a nod Lucas and Dustin began moving off silently, using the Disillusionment Charm, to get to the Shrieking Shack.

“So, what about us?” Suzie asked warily, drawing her wand.

Max drew hers as Steve explained.

“We find out what we can and keep an eye on things, intervene if we have to but don’t start a fight if we can help it.”

They nodded and soon they made their way deeper into the village.

Leading the way towards the outskirts of the village, Dustin grimaced and shook his head. Feeling safer in the normal darkness they dispelled the charm.

“Dude-” Lucas began.

Dustin grimaced. “C’mon, we need to do this quickly. Dammit, I can’t believe this.”

Lucas was a little startled by Dustin’s strong reaction. “Dude, what the, what’s wrong with you?”

“This is my fault Lucas, all this, those thugs attacking. If I hadn’t hidden that relic-” Dustin began.

“Hey, no, dude, if you hadn’t done that those thugs would have got their hands on that relic and then, I don’t even want to think about what might have happened.” Lucas countered.

Dustin bit his lip. “I...maybe…”

He then made his way to the shack and turned to Lucas.

“Okay, I’ll get the relic.” He said.

“Be careful, I’ll keep an eye out here.” Lucas said.

Dustin nodded and slipped inside. He looked around the dusty and wrecked room inside the shack for a while.

‘What a mess, they claim the place is haunted but they...this is ridiculous.’ He thought. ‘Ghosts can’t do damage like that.’

He shook his head, he’d work it out later, he had more important things to do right now. He left the room he was in and made his way into the next room, a small dining room of sorts, he approached the back of the room and crouched down. Carefully he lifted the loose floorboard and lifted up the relic. It was glowing now which startled him. But then he recalled Steve’s worries and theory. Casting a quick spell on the relic he grimaced, Steve was right, they needed to find a way to break the ward on the relic. But for now, he had to get back to the others. Carrying the relic with him he hurried out of the shack, looking around.

“Lucas?” He called out.

He couldn’t see him. Then he felt a wand poke the back of his neck and he tensed.

XXXXX

Steve grimaced as he ducked down behind the statue of Hengist of Woodcroft, it wasn’t a good spot, too many ways to flank him, but there was no other cover. Max and Suzie ducked down behind him, grimacing too as the spell fire flew around them.

“We can’t stay here, we’re too exposed.” Steve said.

“I’m sorry, okay, they were-” Max began.

Steve shook his head. “You did the right thing, they would’ve hurt that family if you hadn’t intervened, but we need somewhere with more cover.”

Suzie nodded in the direction of an alleyway by the Three Broomsticks. “Over there, that might work.”

“Hopefully, and hopefully Dustin and Lucas had better luck, c’mon.” Steve said.

He then led the way, firing a spell towards the criminal group who responded in kind. Suzie and Max fired their own spells, all of them rushing to their new cover spot. One criminal was certainly not happy with this and actually fired a blasting curse at them. Luckily it missed, sending a shower of rubble flying up as it hit the ground. Ducking into cover they return spell fire and heard the criminals curse and some shouts. There was some more return fire and they ducked down, there was a pause and then, silence.

“What’s happening, are they-?” Max wondered.

Suzie bit her lip. “I don’t know, something isn’t right…”

That was when they heard the laughter from the men which made them freeze, worried about what that meant.

Then came the echoing voice of the leader of the group.

“Come out now, we’ve got your friends, it’s time to surrender, you’ve made a big mistake standing against us.”

They shared a worried look and peeked out and froze, the man was right. The group was there, smirking, laughing, one was holding the relic, the leader had his wand trained on Dustin and Lucas who were kneeling before them, tightly bound and gagged.

“What…”

Steve shook his head. “No choice.”

They stepped out warily, Lucas and Dustin instantly tensed.

“MMMM MMMMM!” They screamed.

The men laughed again, clearly thinking they’d won but Steve noticed something right away, as did Max and Suzie. Dustin and Lucas weren’t screaming in distress, they were gesturing with their heads at the relic. It was enough for them to realize.

“The relic, it is the source of this ward.” Max whispered. “But the books in the library said…”

“We don’t have a choice.” Suzie said.

The leader smirked. “So, drop your wands, there’s no help coming, we’ve already won.”

Steve shook his head. “No, you haven’t.”

With that he cast a Bombarda, right at the relic causing it to shatter.

The men howled in rage as they saw this happen, but Suzie and Max sent stunners while Steve used the summoning charm to pull Dustin and Lucas towards them, just in time as finally Aurors began apparating into Hogsmeade and took advantage of the situation, swiftly taking down the group as Steve stood his ground, the girls working on freeing the boys.

“They, they ambushed us, I just...thank Merlin you realized.” Dustin blurted out.

Lucas groaned. “Can’t believe this, we...what now?”

Seeing the head Auror approaching while the others took the criminals away, Steve sighed.

“We give our statements and return to the castle, you guys need to be checked out in the hospital wing.” He said.

So they readied themselves, glad that things were finally looking to be resolved.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 23

Ilya groaned as he tried to move, blinking a few times to try and clear his blurred vision. His head felt heavy, he felt cold, he couldn’t move.

“Wh-wha?” He gasped, his voice slowly becoming clearer.

His breathing quickened as he he began to take stock of his situation and it wasn’t a good one. He couldn’t move because he was in the middle of one of the dungeons, one that certainly seemed to be used for the purpose of its name, his arms were pulled behind his back and upwards, held in place with chains, his ankles were chained together. The cold was due to the fact that his socks, shoes, robe, sweater and shirt were gone. He felt the terror, he looked around, unable to see anything useful, except his wand, but it was too far away, he couldn’t reach it at all. Worse, when he looked down again he saw something else that was missing.

“That...who did this…?” He gasped aloud.

He could recall it now, the drugged drink, someone dragging him out of the hall. Whoever did that had done all this to him, and something else, something that was making this worse for him. His allure necklace was gone, he had no control over his allure now and he knew that would make things worse, he would be more vulnerable to whoever did this as they’d be so enthralled there would be no reasoning with them.

Ilya looked around more, there had to be something, some way, any way to get out of this. The dungeon was barely lit, a few flickering torches and that was it. There was only one entrance and exit, the door ahead of him, an old fashioned barred door that he could see out of it, but only what was visible through it, which meant just the wall opposite. Ilya stopped tugging at the chains however as he saw it.

“No way…” He gasped.

The opposite wall had a faint glow to it, a glow of Ancient Magic, even that symbol on it that they’d seen before. He felt the tug on his magic and he knew then he had found it, his repository. It was so close but he was in a dire situation and couldn’t even get to it. Then he heard the shuffling footsteps and wheezing and recalled the warnings he had been given over the year, from Mike and Nancy mainly. His heart clenched and sure enough, Argus Filch came into Ilya’s field of view, smirking at him, although there was a slightly vacant look in his eyes, the result of Ilya’s allure.

“Well, well, I seemed to have been right.” Filch sneered. “You were the best of them, Veela boy, oh how wonderful.”

Ilya shivered in revulsion at the sight of Filch’s eyes practically sliding over his body.

He couldn’t let this happen, he had to do something, he had to get free, to grab his wand, to subdue Filch. His gaze flicked to the door, the glow on the wall, he needed to get to his repository too.

“You...you’re a sick creep, you’ll never get away with-”

“Oh please, you’re the one at fault, creature. You’re a Veela, you’re making me do this, enticing me.” Filch snapped. “So easy to deal with too, nobody ever thinks about Muggle methods of subduing someone here.”

Ilya grimaced at that, he actually knew about Muggle methods, his father had warned him and he’d let his guard down. The sting of disappointment was momentarily forgotten however at the feeling of Filch’s hands on his butt.

“GET OFF!!”

He cried out as Filch then grabbed his hair and pulled, his head moved back, making his arms ache even more, almost screaming in pain.

“Shut up, I know what you are you, what your kind is like, you want this.” He snarled.

He let Ilya go and Ilya felt his breathing become erratic again, could feel the pain, the tears forming in his eyes. His heritage was being used against him in a bigoted way, on mistaken beliefs, just like before, just like Ted Wheeler and his foul Creature Control Bill. He had overcome that, he could overcome this, somehow. He had no idea how close he was to that however, for even as Filch walked around him, turning his back to the door, Ilya tensed, waiting for whatever creepy thing Filch had planned next. Then there was a loud noise, several blasts and Ilya flinched until he took stock again and gasped.

Filch was on the ground, out cold and bound with ropes. The dungeon door have been blasted open and standing there was Jane, Robin and Vickie.

“Ilya!” Jane gasped.

But before she could rush to his aid, she stopped, eyes going wide, jaw slack. Ilya groaned while Robin and Vickie rushed over.

Looking back Robin narrowed her eyes. “Jane!”

Ilya bit his lip. “It’s...I’m Half-Veela, he took my Allure necklace that I use to control it, it’s affecting Jane...You two are immune due to well…”

Both older girls blushed and then Vickie gasped.

“Wait, is this it?” She held it up and Ilya nodded.

He was relieved as she put it back on for him and Jane blinked before running up to him, working on freeing him.

“It’s okay Ilya, it’s okay.” She said, voice shaking.

Ilya shivered, he could still feel that creeping over his skin. “I...Jane, I…”

He swallowed and they hugged while Jane handed Ilya his wand back.

“It’s okay, it’s over now.” Vickie said before slipping into full Prefect mode. “I’ll go and fetch the Professors, Robin keep an eye on this creep. Miss Hopper, take Mr. Bondarenko to the Hospital Wing.”

Robin nodded and held the bound Filch at wand point while Jane got Ilya free from the chains and covered him with her cloak and began escorting him out of the dungeon.

Once outside and out of Robin’s earshot, Ilya stopped.

“Ilya, we have to get you to Madam Pomfrey.” Jane said.

He shook his head. “Not yet, that wall, help me over...I’ve found it.”

Jane gasped. “Are, are you sure?”

He nodded and she guided him over. He reached out and touched the symbol which flared then faded, as did the wall, revealing a large vault behind it and there, in the centre, a large repository of Ancient Magic covered with Gryffindor symbols.

“You have overcome an unexpected trial.” A voice echoed, startling them. “It is common for the vaults to test those who come seeking them, but you have already been tested and survived. Claim the power that is yours.”

Ilya swallowed and, despite being shaky on his legs, stepped away from Jane and up to the repository, he reached out his hand and touched it. The light flared and Ilya gasped as he felt the power flowing from the repository into him, building more and more until finally it was drained and he felt it thrumming inside him, making him fall to his knees. But Jane caught him.

“You did it.” She said gently. “Now, let’s get you to Madam Pomfrey.”

Ilya nodded, glad that it was over at last.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 24

Ilya bit his lip as he sat in the hospital wing, trembling out of the mere memory of what he had endured. Jane sat by his side, doing her best to try and calm him.

“Ilya, I...I just wish I got to you sooner.” She said sadly.

Ilya shook his head. “No it’s, I should have guessed something wasn’t right, but...I never imagined…”

He swallowed but composed himself. He wasn’t alone either, there were others who had been involved in serious incidents during the lockdown that required them to be checked out. This also led to his friends being there, along with certain Prefects, as well as the Head Boy and Head Girl. They had been informed of the truth at last, regarding the Ancient Magic, they had all proven trustworthy after all.

“So...you all were involved in crazy stuff?” Steve asked. “I had to help these four out with that siege...Ilya got grabbed by Filch and you two went chasing a werewolf?”

As he said that last part he quirked an eyebrow at Mike and Will. Both blushed but shrugged.

“Yeah, but still, about that…”

“We all knew about Chrissy, the Professors and Prefects, as well as Jonathan and I.” Nancy explained. “But now, with all this…”

“Things have changed.”

They all turned to see Professor Dumbledore enter, accompanied by the Heads of House.

“Headmaster?” Madam Pomfrey asked.

Dumbledore nodded. “How is everyone doing, Poppy?”

“Aside from Mr. Bondarenko, everyone has been cleared, I want to make sure there aren’t any lingering after-effects beyond...well, beyond what is to be expected from what he endured.” She explained.

Dumbledore nodded. “Understood, well, first there is some good news. The criminals have been taken away and the siege is lifted, Hogsmeade and Hogwarts are no longer under lockdown.”

“I’m just sorry we had to destroy the relic, given what we learned it could be used for.”

“We’ll survive without it, we managed so far, right?” Will remarked.

The others nodded, even Ilya, who managed a weak smile.

He could still feel the power within him and was trying to get used to things. That was when Fyodor arrived and hurried to his son’s side.

“Ilya, are you...what’s…” He stammered, showing a rare loss of control.

Ilya swallowed. “I...I’ll be okay dad, I just...he didn’t-”

Jane watched Ilya sadly, wishing she could do something to comfort Ilya, leading her to ponder the curious sensations she was feeling around him, unaware that Ilya was struggling with the same sensations on top of everything else.

“What do we do about...Filch?” Jane said softly.

“I want that monster imprisoned.” Fyodor growled.

Dumbledore gave him a sad smile. “You’ll have to take that matter up with your wife, Fyodor. She wants to have Argus handed over to the Veela Enclave. If we do that I doubt we’ll have much left of him to be sent to Azkaban.”

Fyodor gave a grim smile and shrugged, maybe he’d let his wife have her wish, he’d just need to discuss it at the Wizengamot. His teaching tenure was up too so now he’d be going home when the students also left.

“Yes, well, hopefully you’ll all recover and be ready, I am afraid that Martin Brenner and Henry Creel are still out there and in fact they were close last night.”

That made them all tense, Jane especially.

It was Mike who realized a problem.

“Wait, Chrissy is out there, what if she gets hurt...and what about Jason, he knows the truth, if he-”

Will smiled softly at Mike’s concern, feeling that warm feeling inside, he truly liked this side of Mike. It was the only explanation for it, he knew how he felt about the other boy, he had known about that side of himself for a while, had been curious about Mike for quite some time too, but now it all made sense.

Dumbledore sighed. “It is a mixed situation...but he’s not going to be able to expose the truth. I was out in the forest to make sure Martin and Henry did not cause any problems. But they’ve left and I found they’d claimed a victim…”

“Wait, you mean...Jason’s dead?” Jonathan gasped. “They killed him?”

Dumbledore nodded and they all shared shocked looks. True he had been terrible and being dead he could not expose Chrissy, but for Jason to be so callously killed off.

After more discussion and reassurances, Ilya was left to Madam Pomfrey’s care with Fyodor watching over him, the rest of them left the Hospital Wing, feeling calmer and more hopeful. After sending a forlorn look at the Hospital Wing, Jane followed Steve as Snape escorted them back to the Slytherin Common Room. Will and Mike shared on last glance before Will followed Eddie, Vickie, Robin and Professor Sprout back to his common room. Likewise Flitwick escorted Barb, Dustin and Suzie back, the latter two sharing glances too. Finally McGonagall escorted Max and Lucas, also sharing glances, and Mike, Jonathan and Nancy trailing after them, hands linked. Watching this all unfold, Dumbledore just hoped that things would get better. After all, they were going to need all the support they could get for whatever lay ahead.

Chapter Text

Harry Potter: Stranger Secrets: Year 3

Chapter 25

It was finally the end of the year, the End of Year Feast was due to be held and the Party had met up at the Entrance Hall and were talking together.

“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay, dude, I mean…?” Will began.

Ilya nodded. “I’m fine, really, it...it never goes away but it gets easier. Dad helped and I’ll be meeting mum when we get back.”

“So, what’s happening with…?” Mike asked carefully.

Ilya smiled. “Mum got her wish, he’s being handed over to the Veela Enclave.”

Jane nodded, expression grim. “Good, no less than he deserves.”

They all nodded and soon spotted Chrissy and Eddie heading for the Great Hall. They sent them both reassuring smiles and Chrissy looked happier and more relaxed than she had been in all the time they had known her so far. She understood thankfully that they would keep her secret and she was certainly much happier in her relationship with Eddie. Soon after the others involved in the ‘adventures’ arrived and smiled. Nancy and Jonathan had finally more or less confirmed their relationship and were preparing for the outbreak that would come when they got back.

“You sure you’re ready for this, you know dad is going to-” Mike began.

Nancy nodded. “It’ll be fine, the two of us are graduating, he can’t do anything about it, we’re already of age.”

Mike nodded, Will smiled too while Jonathan confirmed that Joyce already knew about them and was supportive.

With those matters resolved they made their way into the Great Hall, splitting up to their respective house tables. Dumbledore stood up before the feast began and made a few announcements, mostly congratulating the Seventh Years for reaching the end of their Magical Education, announcing that in addition to the Quidditch Cup, Ravenclaw had won the House Cup too. He also had to deliver some news which was not quite so cheerful, such as the fact that despite becoming a favourite teacher for his teaching methods, Fyodor Bondarenko would not be returning as Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. He also had to announce the death of Jason and the outcome of the Siege of Hogsmeade. Ilya was grateful however that Dumbledore did not go into detail about the incident with Filch. Merely stating that due to ‘inappropriate behaviour’ Filch was fired from Hogwarts and would be facing justice. A lot of students were pleased with that and those that were not merely pleased were outright celebrating. All in all it was a joyful end to what had been a dramatic year and throughout it all, Ilya stayed strong, having the support of his friends and his dad, even as they rode on the Hogwarts Express all the way back to King’s Cross, even as they departed the train and reunited with their families, Ilya stood strong, his mother joining in supporting him and helping him calm down. Not even Ted’s anger at Nancy and Jonathan’s relationship, or Mike’s continued friendship with the others, especially Will, could dampen this and they vowed they’d stay strong together, ready for whatever they may face in the following year as they sought out the second Repository.