Chapter 7

The next morning, I was groggily awoken by my alarm clock blaring and demanding I wake up after only five and a half hours of sleep. I showered, changed, and headed straight for History of Magic, after informing Terence that I was spending my current stock of Silver Points on reserving a ritual chamber for the night tonight. He looked over at me to ask if I was sure I wouldn't rather sleep instead, to which I shook my head and replied in the negative. As I said that, Terence simply nodded as if I had said something he'd been expecting. Seeing my sleepy, if questioning look, he elaborated.

"Every year there's some bright spark who realizes what phase of the moon it is the night after the first Astronomy Class of the Year and tries to trade favors to reserve a ritual room. Professor Sinistra schedules her first-year classes specifically for that. I think this is the first time someone's been able to buy the room outright on their own, though. Normally there's a bit of trading of favors going on. I'm told Ravenclaw has its own way of determining who can secure a ritual chamber, while Hufflepuffs tend to just be able to ask for one. Not sure about the Gryffs. Apparently, the only Gryffindors who even bothered to look into it in the past few years were the Weasley Twins and they are keeping Mum." Explained Terence.

I simply shrugged at that, staying just long enough to get today's common room password along with the night's password the Slytherin Ritual Chamber, and trudged my way to History of Magic. The classroom was, fortunately, only up a single flight of stairs and down a hallway. The Classroom itself was large with a number of rows of desks and was fronted by three stained glass windows that would have been very pretty had I been in the right frame of mind to appreciate them. Instead, I simply took a seat and put my head down. I was out like a light not too long after that. My dreams didn't contain any portents or premonitions, simply being a bit of a zany dream adventure.

I had to free a Princess locked away in a castle made of cake that I had to Just before I'd managed to eat my way through the cake castle to free the Princess, I found myself being shaken awake by Daphne. I blinked up at her and asked her eloquently why she had woken me.

"Buh?" I questioned.

"Class is over, you slept straight through." Responded Daphne. Blinking, I stretched out, getting rid of the slight cramp in my neck from sleeping slumped over a desk.

"I can't believe you did that!" Hissed Hermione from over by Terry Boot.

"Hermione?" I queried.

"She stayed behind to scold you for sleeping through class." Supplied Terry.

"What I can't believe is that Professor Binns didn't notice." Smirked Tracey.

"Well, from the way he acted, I'm fairly sure he wasn't entirely all there even when he was alive, let alone now he's been dead for over a century." Pointed out Millie.

"True. He didn't get anyone's names right." Agreed Terry.

"Terry! That's a professor!" Insisted Hermione, scandalized.

"He called you Hortensia the whole class." Pointed out Tracey.

"Still. You shouldn't be rude." Huffed Hermione.

"What's your next class?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Potions with Hufflepuff. You lot have Transfiguration with Gryffindor, yeah?" Answered Terry.

"Indeed." Nodded Daphne.

"Speaking of, I've heard that Professor McGonagall can be fairly strict. We should get cracking." Frowned Millie.

"Right. One thing before we leave, I've managed to reserve us the Slytherin Ritual Chamber for tonight. Meet me in the Dungeons after dinner and I'll lead you guys there. Oh, and tell Susan and Hannah during Potions, yeah?" I offered.

"Wicked!" Grinned Terry.

"We'll let them know." Confirmed Hermione.

And with that, Daphne, Tracey, Millie, and I headed out for Transfiguration. Doing so required us to go through the Middle Courtyard, a large open space inside the inner wards of the Castle that various students enjoyed spending time hanging out in. There was a large, iron, armillary sphere in the center of the Courtyard, surrounded by a field of grass. As soon as we stepped outside, however, I got a flash of a premonition and ushered Daphne, Millie, and Tracey back through the doorway just in time to avoid a balloon filled with Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder from hitting near where they'd been standing. The area near the doorway was suddenly shrouded in a cloud of pitch darkness.

"The Twins." I grumbled.

"Perfect. How do we get to class now?" Sighed Millie.

"I may have a solution. Susan and I got to talking about Secret Passages the other day. I might have traded her knowledge of a secret passage between the Quad and the Potions Classroom in exchange for information about a secret passage between the Grand Staircase and the Middle Courtyard." Informed Tracey.

"Tracey! We found that passage together!" Hissed Daphne.

"And now it's come in handy for both of us. Do you want to argue or do you want to get to class on time?" Confronted Tracey.

"I'm with Tracey on this." I opined.

"Same. Probably best to avoid angering the Deputy Headmistress." Added Millie.

"Fine. Just consult me next time before you trade away information we found together." Grumbled Daphne.

Tracey led us back toward the Grand Staircase, leading us up toward a painting of a red-bearded, Renaissance Wizard with a dog. The Wizard looked down at the group of Slytherins with a skeptical look, only for Tracey to say the phrase 'dragon's egg'. Apparently, that was the right password because the Wizard in the painting slid aside with a shocked look on his face to reveal a corridor. We took that and it spat us out on the other side of the Middle Courtyard from the cloud of darkness and a pair of confused Weasley Twins who were bickering over what had just happened. We stealthily made our way through the courtyard while the Twins were arguing over whether or not this constituted a successful prank, heading into the Transfiguration Classroom.

The Classroom itself was a large room surrounded by high windows, with four rows of desks arranged in the center. Various cages and other paraphernalia lined the walls while a large desk with a pair of golden cat statues flanking it sat at the front of the room. Four large candelabras sat unlit behind the desk, flanking a chalkboard two on each side of the board. Curled up on the desk, licking her paw, was a Gray and Black Tabby Cat that I knew was Professor McGonagall's Animagus form. It was fortunate, but the three of us weren't the last to arrive, even with the detour we'd had to take. Harry, Ron, and Neville were. Apparently, Neville had gotten lost on the Grand Staircase and Harry and Ron had gone to fetch him.

No sooner had those three taken their seats than Professor McGonagall leaped off her desk and changed back into her normal, human, form. This seemed to surprise the hell out of everyone except Tracey, Parvati Patil, and Myself. Professor McGonagall seemed to note that, but otherwise seemed unruffled. She launched into her lecture about the safety, or lack thereof in Transfiguration as a subject without skipping a beat. Then, as soon as she finished warning us all against the Dangers of messing about in her class, she pulled out the matchsticks and started us on the day's work.

"I am aware that in some of your classes, you have covered multiple topics and spells in a single class. That will not be happening here as I'm sure that Today's lesson will demonstrate. Transfiguration is remarkably difficult, after all. Some of you might not be able to perform our introductory exercise swiftly. Indeed, I expect many of you won't be able to complete it today at all. It takes time to get into the proper mindset for a new student of the Art of Transfiguration." Informed Professor McGonagall.

She then began handing out matchsticks to the Class while saying, "This task has no incantation and no wand movement beyond pointing your wand at the matchstick. It's something of an introductory exercise to get you all in the proper frame of mind to perform transfiguration. It is the first bit of freeform transfiguration we will be performing in class, to turn a matchstick into a needle. Can anyone tell me what one of the two ingredients required to cast a successful freeform transfiguration are?"

Immediately, Tracey's hand shot up alongside Parvati's. Professor McGonagall called on Parvati. Who immediately answered, "Intent, Professor."

"Correct, five points to Gryffindor for that. Miss Davis, do you know the other ingredient?" Questioned Professor McGonagall.

"Will, Professor." Responded Tracey.

"Also correct. Five points to Slytherin. Indeed, Will and Intent are both required to perform a successful freeform Transfiguration. Now, to change these matchsticks into needles, you will need to point your wands at the matchsticks, shape the needle in your mind's eye with intent, and Will the matchstick to take that shape. You may begin now." Intoned Professor McGonagall.

As that happened, I tried what Professor McGonagall had said I should do. For an hour, I tried to no avail. It wasn't until both Tracey and Parvati managed to get their matchsticks to turn into needles, earning another five points each, that I figured that I needed to come at this from a less technical angle. I tried to imagine what a matchstick changing into a needle would look like first. I imagined the matchstick going from tan to gray, from square to round, the bottom going pointy even as the top turned into a loop, and then everything hardened and turned metallic.

As I let my imagination run with it, and watched the matchstick change in my mind, it finally clicked. I realized what Transfiguration actually was. It was all about allowing your imagination to manifest through magic. After all, what is intent in this instance if not imagination? That seemed like thought-based magic and thought-based magic was my bailiwick. One of my bailiwicks, anyway. With that, I tried again, willing the matchstick to change in the same ways I had imagined it changing in my mind. As I did that, pointing my wand at the matchstick the whole time, the changes began to take shape. It was a slow process, taking another full hour, but I managed it. By the time the third and final hour of class started, I had managed to turn my matchstick into a needle. In the meantime, Tracey had begun to get both Daphne and Millie to do the same. Professor McGonagall seemed to notice my efforts as well.

"Five points to Slytherin for accomplishing this task on the First Day. Well done Mister Zabini." Intoned Professor McGonagall. Looking over, I saw Neville was struggling with no one to help him. With a sigh, I decided to brave the Gryffindor section of the classroom to help him out. I made my way over to him, ignoring the glares from both Ron Weasley and Malfoy, and tapped Neville on the shoulder. The poor guy jolted as I did so, before turning to look at me.

"Longbottom. You look like you could use a bit of help. Mind if I give you a few pointers?" I queried.

"Only if it's not an exchange of favors. Only, Ron said that's the sort of trick that Slytherins like to pull and Gran agreed I ought to get you to commit ahead of time to it." Frowned Neville.

"Relax, Neville. This is just me helping out a friend." I offered.

"Right. It's just, I know you said last night that you were trying to make friends and invited me to your ritual and all, but part of me is still thinking that you're trying to prank me." Insisted Neville.

"It's not a prank. I could swear a magical oath if you like?" I tried. This guy seemed like he'd been bullied a lot before. Hadn't there been something in the books about his Uncle trying to kill him or something? I was fairly sure I'd read a passage about him being shoved out a window by his Uncle at some point.

"Oh. Then yes. I'd like some help please." Nodded Neville.

"Right. Oh, before I forget, we're doing the ritual tonight in the Slytherin Ritual Chamber. Just come find me at dinner if you don't feel confident heading into the Dungeons on your own, I'll walk you there." I said.

"Thanks, Blaise." Smiled Neville. It honestly broke my heart to see that. It was as if someone back in my old life had been bullying my little brother. Poor guy.

At any rate, I talked Neville through what I'd done to get my own Matchstick to turn into a needle. By the end of class, while Neville hadn't managed to change the material from wood to metal, he'd at least managed to make the matchstick gray and pointy on one end. He'd get the hang of it with a bit more practice, but he really needed a friend to help him with his confidence issues. I got the sense that he didn't really have a whole lot of friends before coming to Hogwarts. Funnily enough, though, Neville managed to be one of eight people who managed to get any change out of their matchsticks in the first class, though only Tracey, Parvati, Myself, and Theo Nott managed it on our own. Neville was helped by me, while Daphne and Millie were helped by Tracey and Harry was helped by Parvati.

As class ended and people began filtering out of the classroom, however, Professor McGonagall called out to me to stay behind. I waved Daphne, Tracey, Millie, and Neville on without me as I hung back to talk to the Professor. I was touched that Neville tried to hang back as well. I knew most of Gryffindor had a thing against Slytherins in general thanks to the last Dark Lord. He wasn't going to get a lot of kudos from his housemates for making friends with me. If I hadn't already been trying to make friends with him before, I was damn sure going to now. My big brother instincts had been tripped, despite the fact that we were physically the same age.

"Mister Zabini, I have to ask, how did you know that I was the cat? Miss Patil and Miss Davis knew likely because I taught their mother and father respectively, but your own mother didn't seem the type to spoil such a thing." Asked Professor McGonagall.

"I'm a Natural Leglimens and a Seer, Professor. The Mind Arts are traditionally where the Zabini Family's strengths lie. I can recognize Human intelligence when I see it." I shrugged.

"I see. I noticed you applying a different method to the one that I taught in your freeform transfiguration as well. Was that Mind Magic as well?" Pressed Professor McGonagall.

"What is intent if not imagination, Professor? It took me a bit, but I managed to figure it out." I nodded.

"You are aware that using mind magic as a method of Transfiguration is rare, yes? I've only seen it twice before in all my years, in fact. The Headmaster is the only one currently in Britain known to do that." Remarked Professor McGonagall.

"I wasn't aware of that, Professor." I blinked.

"And you also crossed house lines to help Mister Longbottom. I don't have to tell you how unusual that is in a Slytherin." Pointed out Professor McGonagall.

"I wasn't put in Slytherin out of Ambition, Professor. I was put there due to cunning. Besides, Neville could use the help." I responded.

"I see. Well, you've certainly earned an extra five points for reaching out and helping him. Run along now, Mister Zabini. I have a conference that I need to attend with the Headmaster before dinner." Dismissed Professor McGonagall.

With that, I headed back to my dorm. I had three hours to kill before dinner and I intended to spend them increasing my capability with Occlumency, Leglimency, and Remote Viewing. I was fairly certain I wouldn't be able to push any of them further than I had previously, but that wasn't the point. The point was just to make progress, to begin with, incremental or not.

After all, every little bit helped. . .

XXXX

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and a half-dozen other, equally loquacious titles was currently concerned over a student in his care. This wasn't too unusual of course, after all, Harry Potter was a student in his care. What was unusual was that the student in question wasn't Harry Potter or even related to anyone he knew involved in the last Big Wizarding War. At least as far as Albus could tell, at any rate. No, what worried Albus was the two wars before that.

Magical Italy had thrown in with Grindelwald during his war, at least when it came to the campaigns in Greece and the Balkans. They had switched sides shortly before Grindelwald's disastrous attempt to seize control of the Nexus of Baba Yaga to fuel his powers further and his Old Friend's turn toward the utilization of industrial-scale blood sacrifice to create armies of Inferi in an attempt to stem the turning of the tide against him. The Zabini Family had participated in Magical Italy's war effort both during and after switching sides. Likewise, they had members on both sides of the Necromancer's War, with Falco Zabini and his branch of the family in Magical Trentino siding with the Knights of the Black Mountain as a junior member of the Necromancers Alliance, while the rest of the family supported the Allied efforts against the Necromancers.

Unfortunately, Young Blaise seemed to be showing several signs that worried Albus. According to Severus, Blaise was both a talented Occlumens and had received extensive tutoring prior to arriving at Hogwarts. Minerva, meanwhile, had reported that Blaise not only had claimed to be both a Seer and a Natural Leglimens but was even capable of using Mind Magic as a method to effect transfiguration. Albus had also heard that he had been reaching out beyond Slytherin to help various students of other Houses, something that was atypical for a Slytherin, but would serve in good stead if he wished to recruit followers later on.

Then there was his mother. The Woman had been suspected of murdering each of her seven husbands after ensuring that they would leave her their fortunes in her will. Nothing had ever been proven on that front, but she seemed to be the textbook definition of a Black Widow Murderess. True, the woman was dead, but having been raised in that sort of environment by that sort of person did call into question Blaise's home life and sense of morality. It may be harsh, but the circumstances meant that Albus was having to look at things with a more critical eye than he'd like.

After all, he could dismiss any one or even two of these factors, but taken together? Young Blaise seemed remarkably similar to how Gellert had been during their time before the wars together. They had similar capabilities, it seemed, similar backgrounds, and a similar pattern of reaching across ideological lines for friendships. Would Blaise turn out like his Old Friend had? Could Albus afford to ignore the chance that he would? No, he would be keeping an eye on Young Blaise Zabini. It was the only way to be sure that he would not miss the signs of a third Dark Lord coming into his power under his nose. He had been blind to both Gellert and Tom's turn to Darkness, after all. He refused to be blind again.

Speaking of Tom, there was the issue of the Stone. His old mentor Nicholas Flamel had graciously allowed Albus to remove the Stone from Gringotts and place it in Hogwarts to bait Tom into a trap. After all, Albus had long suspected that Tom Riddle had made one or more Horcruxes, but it hadn't been until the break-in at Gringotts that he had confirmed that he was on the right track. Only three Wizards in all of Europe would have been able to get past Gringotts Security. Albus hadn't done it, and Gellert had not moved from Nurmengard since his defeat all those years ago. That only left a single possibility. That Tom had survived in some fashion and was hoping to make a permanent return to the land of the living using the Stone.

Albus suspected that Tom had someone in his school, but he had no way of knowing who at the moment. Albus' money was on someone in the Board of Governors who was less suspect than Lucius Malfoy. Someone who could act more openly around the school than Lucius would be capable of. Possibly someone in the Wizarding Exams Department. Could Tom's spirit be possessing one of the people Griselda had sent over to prepare the Fifth Years for the OWLs? Albus wasn't certain. He would have to wait until someone made a play for the stone to find out. Fortunately, the Stone was quite safe inside the Mirror of Erised. Not that the various traps that had been placed in front of the Mirror would be a challenge for Tom. No, the real safeguard was the Mirror Itself, as Tom would never be capable of the Mindset required to retrieve the Stone from the mirror. Until he made a play, though, there was no way to know.

Until that time, Albus would keep an eye on the developing situation with Mister Zabini. Now that he thought on it, Severus had wanted to place young Blaise in advanced classes in Potions, Defense, and Charms. To accelerate his first-year curriculum and potentially qualify for testing out of first year in those subjects. Perhaps that might be for the best, after all, such programs naturally required Ministry oversight and as luck would have it, they already had the required Ministry Personnel preparing the Fifth Years to take their OWLs. Yes, Albus would accede to Severus' request. Next week, Young Blaise will begin his advanced courses. After all, then Albus would have all his potential rotten eggs in one basket.

It would be much easier to keep track of everything then. . .

XXXX

I was correct about the incremental advancement with the Mind Arts. I could feel myself getting just a little better at Occlumency, Leglimency, and Remote Viewing each time I went through the exercises. Now that I had done the exercises twice for a full session each time, I had a baseline to measure progress. I judged that by February, I would be able to improve enough to reach the next step in all of those disciplines. For Occlumency, that would be the ability to deflect attempts at Obliviation, for Leglimency, I would no longer need eye contact to scan surface thoughts, and for Remote Viewing, I would be able to view anything on the same floor I was currently on. By the time the Triwizard Tournament rolled around, assuming progress held steady, I would at the least be able to view anything in the Castle with Remote Viewing, Overcome Possession attempts with Occlumency, and use Leglimency to effect a sort of Jedi Mind Trick.

I headed down to dinner, assured that I'd have an ace or five up my sleeve by the time things began to heat up with Voldemort returning. Now I had to focus on getting my head in the game for the Ritual of Selene's Inner Flame. Fortunately, I had most of what I needed in my trunk already. The ritual required powdered moonstone, mugwort, a fire built of ebony wood, and milk mixed with the blood of the supplicant as an offering poured onto the flame as a libation under the full moon. I had everything but the Milk, which a request to the house elves at dinner got me a jug of, and the blood, which would need to be gotten on-site. By the time dinner was over, we were ready to go.

Predictably, Neville waited for me at dinner. The guy was nervous, but that was all right. I'd show him the way there. As I led him down the stairs into the dungeons, he let out a sigh of relief as he saw that I wasn't just leading him into an ambush of other Slytherins, but that the others were down there waiting.

"I told you, Neville. This is me trying to be friends. I'm not trying to trick you." I offered.

"Blaise is a decent bloke, Nev. Even if he doesn't seem to have the proper respect for the professors." Added Hermione.

"Not everyone is a bookworm, Hermione." Scoffed Daphne, rolling her eyes.

"I guess that's why he's not in Ravenclaw." Interjected Terry before Hermione could bite the bait Daphne'd laid out.

"Aye, though he could've done well in Hufflepuff." Mused Susan.

"He does have that Hufflepuff urge to make friends." Admitted Hannah.

"Honestly, I think he'd have done well in any house. Maybe not Gryffindor." Amended Tracey.

"What's wrong with Gryffindor?" Frowned Neville.

"Can you see Blaise sharing a dorm with Ron Weasley?" Pointed out Millie.

"True, I can barely share a common room with Malfoy. If we had to share a dorm as well, I'd have hexed him already." I admitted.

As we made our way to a locked door in the Dungeons, we chatted for a bit and I made sure we all realized what we were going to have to do to succeed in the ritual. Neville looked a bit perturbed at the thought of cutting his palm open for the sacrifice, but he calmed down once I explained I had Wiggenweld Potions waiting for everyone afterward. At that point, Neville was as determined as the rest of us. As I whispered the password to the locked door and stepped through after it opened, I got my first look at the Slytherin Ritual Chamber.

A brazier filled with ebony wood sat in the center of an octagonal room of bare stone, a circle of crushed moonstone and mugwort flower petals surrounded the brazier. The ceiling was a dome of glass and ironwork, with a runic mechanism that would open various panes in the dome to let moonlight in. Against one of the eight wall sections was a table with eight vials of Wiggenweld Potion. Against another of the eight wall sections was another table with a jug of milk, an obsidian knife, a towel, and eight cups. Against a third of the eight wall sections was a basket with ebony logs in it and a few books of matches.

"We've all been in Professor Sinistra's class so we should all know how this works. If you don't, just say what I say and do what I do." I insisted.

With that I went over to the table with the milk, poured a cup, and held it in the crook of my arm before casting an Incendio on the brazier, setting it alight. I then put my wand away, hit the runic mechanism to open the dome, took up the obsidian knife, and stepped up to the brazier, careful not to disturb the ritual circle of crushed moonstone and mugwort flower petals as I did so. I cut my palm on the knife and shifted things around so that I was able to squeeze a few drops of blood from my cut palm into the milk. As the light from the moon bathed me in its glow, I held the cup of milk and blood up to the moon.

"Selene, Lady of the Moon, you of bright hair and dark eyes whose torch lights the way in the dark, grant me your favor that my inner flames may banish the gloom of night!" I intoned before upending the cup into the flames.

As the smoke climbed up into the air and out of the open pane, the moonlight bathing me in its glow shone a little brighter and there was a brief smell of ozone. A sense of weight fell on me as if some presence was regarding me, and when it receded, I felt warmer than I had before,. I knew then that the ritual was successful. I moved over to the table with the milk, careful to not disturb the ritual circle, wiped down the knife with the towel put it down, discarded my cup, and stepped back. I gestured to the others. Surprisingly, it was Hermione who decided to go next. I moved to the Wiggenweld Table and drank one of the potions, the cut on my palm healing in moments after downing it.

The others did what I did, though they had to use the provided matches rather than Incendio as none of them knew the spell. By the time the last of us was finished, it was midnight. As the others headed to bed, I made sure that the knife and cups were clean then burned the towel with an Incendio. No sense in leaving any potential blood samples that could be used against us lying around, after all. The stuff that had been sacrificed was mystically inert now, so that was fine. Once that was done, I left the rest for the House Elves to clean and headed off to bed. Tomorrow was another day, after all, and I had to teach Italian to Daphne before Double Potions with Gryffindor.

Best to get what sleep I could, there. . .

XXXX

AN: So yeah, here we see not just Blaise's Thursday and the Ritual of Selene's Inner Flame, but also a bit of Dumbledore and how he views things. Dumbledore isn't clueless about Voldemort infiltrating Hogwarts in this fic, he's just looking in the wrong direction. It's hard to blame him for being suspicious of the Ministry OWL People, especially given how Lucius Malfoy has wormed his way back into the Ministry's good graces recently.

As to the stuff about Grindelwald and World War Two, I've taken only the part from the First Fantastic Beasts Movie about Grindelwald having a vision of World War Two and am doing my own thing with his whole deal otherwise. Notably, he only saw the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, not anything else. In fact, Grindelwald was the reason that Nazi Policy shifted from sterilization and deportation to flat-out killing everyone during the Wansee Conference. That way, he had materials to make whole armies of Inferi. I'll go over Grindelwald's War, his Muggle Puppets in Germany, and everything with that in more detail in an in-universe book post down the line.

Suffice it to say, even though Blaise may have enough of a superficial resemblance to the background and abilities of a young Grindelwald largely by accident, Dumbledore isn't wrong to want to keep an eye on him. Grindelwald was not a good person and a lot of what Voldemort learned about Dark Lording was taken from Grindelwald and adapted to avoid what Voldemort saw as weaknesses in strategy. Keeping an eye on a potential new version of that is just good sense.

If Dumbledore can kill two birds with one stone by putting Blaise and the Ministry Officials together, he's going to. It's just a shame that Quirell is the infiltrator, not the Ministry's Owl Prep People.

At any rate, next chapter will be Friday, featuring double potions with Gryffindor.

Stay tuned. . .