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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.