SS3

## Summary

Harry arrives to Potter Place late on Thursday night through the floo network and is intercepted by James who demands to know who she is and then why she is home so late. Harry then has a flashback of the rest of the day.

Harry is by herself carrying potions crates, Leo being off running errands. Harry puts the crates in the backroom of the Serpent's Storeroom, and hears a familiar voice talking to Krait. Horace Burke (owner of an owl order business in the Lower Alleys), was impressed with her Blood-Replenisher Potion and wants to commision some of them for his own store. Krait and Burke agree on a deal, and Krait initially wants to introduce his brewer Harry and Burke, but she signals him not to.

Harry leaves the store with empty crates, planning to buy a rare book on blending magic with the extra gold she took with her, when she feels the weight from her money bag release. She ditches the crates in a corner, and takes off after the alley kid. Harry chases him deep into the alleys but he is fast. Harry curses how out of shape she is, and is just barely able to keep up with the kid. The kid is about to trip and run into a cauldron cart when Harry reaches out with her hand and freezes the boy in midair. She retrieves her money, releases the kid, and gets directions from the cart owner. He gives her a series of convoluted directions to get back to Kyprioth Court. Harry follows them and is a couple of streets away from Kyprioth Court when she notices a sign that states an apartment for rent (number 8 on Dogwood Lane).

Harry knocks on number 5 Dogwood Lane and Mrs. Botting answers. Harry then speaks to Mrs. Whitlock, an older woman who had a fall last month and has been staying at her neighbors place. She is the current owner of Number 8 Dogwood Lane, and Harry choses to pay her up-front for the whole year and increases the offered 9 galleons per week to 11 galleons on the condition that they keep her personal habits to themself. Harry finds herself invited to the Bottings' dinner, during which she meets Mrs. Botting's husband and children, Jim and Clara, then leaves just after dusk.

Harry makes her way towards her abandoned crates that have most likely been stolen. Harry feels a sense of unease as she gets closer to Kyprioth Court. As she gets there, she sees the second floor of the Dancing Dragon on fire. Two groups of fighters are free-duelling in the streets, and half a dozen impromptu firefighters with water stronger than aguamenti are putting out the flames. Harry decides to find another way out, and stumbles away. Her sudden movement causes someone to dart toward her. A man in a blue vest hurries toward her mouth of the alley and upon reaching her, he keels forward. A knife potrudes from his back and his blue vest becomes impossibly red. Harry vomits and then the owner of the knife retrieves it from the back of the man with the blue vest before spotting Harry. He grabs her, puts his knife to her throat and wand to her ribs. She is saved by Leo who demands to know what she is doing there and sends her with directions to Maywell Clinic.

Upon arriving at Maywell, Harry demands to see Healer Hurst and then proceeds to spill her guts to her. Eleni holds her and comforts her. After crying her eyes out, Harry and Mrs. Hurst drink tea and make small talk. Harry mentions that she is going to AIM for Healing, but Mrs. Hurst doesn't buy it for a second. Her accent hasn't changed, lies irritate her magic, and Harry hasn't asked any Healing-relating questions. Harry agrees that she has been lying, but that she can't tell the truth. Mrs Hurst invites Harry to share information with her if she ever needs to unload or vent, and then proceeds to tell how Maywell Clinic was founded.

A short while later, one of the Healers comes running in and informs Healer Hurst that there are over a dozen injured men bleeding, shouting and carrying on. When Mrs. Hurst arrives to the entryway, she sees a vision of chaos with men and women with varying degrees of health. Mrs. Hurst whistles and seizes control over the chaos, directing the wounded to different Healers depending on their wounds. They all sort themselves out and Leo approaches Harry, relieved that she made it in one piece. Harry heals a gash in Leo's elbow. Mrs. Hurst shouts at Marek for joining in the fight when he was supposed to be on bedrest. Harry leaves shortly after through Maywell's floo, promising herself she'll come back the next day to find her crates, and meets the business end of her father's wand. James asks her to prove her identity, but she fails to remember the letter James is referencing to. She begs for another question, and manages to answer it. James grounds her for a week.

Harry's birthday comes and goes and they celebrate quietly with gifts (mainly academic in nature) and a cake that shouts insults when it is cut. Harry spends the week finishing up school work, sending brews through owls, and finishes her Correspondence School assignments and tests, Harry then has more time to devote to the Polyjuice Potion. Harry wants to show Archie her progress, and asks her mom where he is. Lily says he's at Zonko's with his dad, and tasks Harry to pick up some more ice mice from Honeydukes.

Harry goes to Honeydukes. In the shop, Harry looks through the display window and spots Snape walking with purpose to the apothecary and feels afraid that he might see her and then jealous of an universe where she, as Harry, could be pestering Snape for information and helping him over the summer. Harry quickly counters the thought by thinking the relationship with her parents and Snape is even more complicated. Harry meets up with Archie and Sirius, and Archie demands that Harry upholds his status as a prankster and fills a basket full of the newest prank items, like the barrier button.

That night, they stay in Archie's bedroom and Harry performs runic magic to blend both of their hairs together into one. The runic circle ends up using nearly all of her magic. Archie tries the hair with a Polyjuice Potion, his hair becoming slightly more curly and his face looking slightly more like Harry. He suggests that they both stick with one potion as the different doses would be hard to keep track of, and from an outsider's perspective it would be reasonable to have a significant shift in appearances in a set of months apart.

The last thing Harry wants to do before returning to Hogwarts is to become more fit. She turns to Remus who checks Harry's sincerity and then starts to create her a exercice regimen, with running, stretching and strenghtening exercices. She also decides that she will stop being a vegetarian, making that the pretense instead.

Harry then returns to Hogwarts, promising to try out for Quidditch. She hides herself in the bathroom and takes a modified Polyjuice Potion with the combined hair and amber added to the potion which will make the potion last roughly one year. Rigel joins her Slytherin friends in the train compartment. They talk about the available positions for the Quidditch team, until Millicent demands that they stop, switching the topic to politics for the rest of the train ride. They discuss the potential legislation that got stalled over the summer as well as the Sleeping Sickness and the SOW Party's role in causing it.

Rigel leaves the train with her friends and see skeletal horses pulling the carriages and asks what the horses are. Pansy can't see them, but Theo can, and Aldon Rosier walks by and explains that they're called thestrals. Rigel follows Rosier, Rookwood, and Selwyn in the carriage to get explanations. Alice is really uncomfortable with the subject, so Edmund makes them change it. Rigel requests assistance with distracting Pansy on September 6th for her birthday.

Rigel and her friends arrive at the Great Hall and wait at their table for the sorting to begin. Two young boys with dark hair who look remakrably similar, but don't share the same last name, are sorted in Slytherin, in particular. During the feast, Pucey's snake gets loose and wreaks havoc down the table. Rigel speaks to the snake (Evan) who she rescues, and promises to feed, before telling Pansy that the snake is in her lap. Pansy passes the message down. Rigel gets a snack from Binny before heading to the common room.

Rigel gives Evan back to Pucey. Snape gives his welcome speech for the year before they retire to their dormitories. Blaise joins their dormitory this year and they all welcome him in. He questions why Rigel doesn't change into pyjamas, and after avoiding the question, Rigel says that wearing robes helps her be prepared in case of an emergency.

Rigel works out the following morning, running around the lake, and does some self-reflection while doing so, and working on her exercices. She then stops by the kitchens to ask Binny if she can be served meat when she's in the kitchens only. Rigel finds out that Binny works at a Unicorn Stables at Madame Touraine's in the summer in France, and Binny offers to teach French to her, which she accepts to corroborate the pretense that "Rigel" is from the continent. When Rigel comes back to the dormitory Blaise and Draco are arguing about Rigel's whereabouts. She takes a shower.

The first day back to classes goes smoothly except for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, in which the wide consensus is Professor Lockhart is an egotistical moron. Rigel meets with Snape in lab one to iron out a schedule they can agree upon and Snape agrees to open her personal lab again the following morning.

The rest of the first week goes on, and Friday is Pansy's birthday. Rigel offers to have Sirius and Remus meet them and their parents at the platform. Pansy and Draco agree. Pansy is also very impatient for her gift as she has received something from everyone except from her two best friends. After lunch and herbology, they blindfold Pansy and walk to the edge of forest where they meet Hagrid and a small family of unicorns. She is very pleased by her present.

## Characters (by order of appearance)

* Harry Potter & Rigel Black
* James Potter
* Edgar Krait
* Horace Burke
* Jack (not by name)
* Adam Quincy (not by name)
* Mrs. Botting
* Mrs. Whitlock
* Mr. Botting
* Jim Botting
* Clara Botting
* Man in the blue vest
* Man with the knife
* Leo Hurst
* Janice
* Eleni Hurst
* Carol
* Marek Swiftknife
* Aled Flint
* Solom
* Rispah Cooper
* Lily Potter
* Severus Snape
* Sirius Black
* Archie Black
* Remus Lupin
* Draco Malfoy
* Pansy Parkinson
* Millicent Bulstrode
* Theodore Nott
* Blaise Zabini
* Rubeus Hagrid
* Aldon Rosier
* Edmund Rookwood
* Alesana Selwyn
* Minerva McGonagall
* The Sorting Hat
* The Animators (not by name)
* Adrian Pucey
* Lucian Bole
* Miles Bletchley
* Girl with long, dark pigtails (in first year)
* Evan
* Daphne Greengrass
* Albus Dumbledore
* Gilderoy Lockhart
* Binny
* Severus Snape
* Hannah Abbott
* Susan Bones

## Settings

### Potter Place

* Floo room
* Potter Library

### The Alleys

* Serpent's Storeroom
* Deep into the Lower Alleys
* Dogwood lane
* Kyprioth Court, Dancing Dragon
* Maywell Clinic

### Hogsmeade

* Honeydukes
* Zonko's Joke shop

### Other

* Remus Lupin's condo
* Hogwart's Express

### Hogwarts

* Great Hall
* Kitchens
* Slytherin Common Room
* Slytherin boy's dormitory
* Lake
* Potion's Lab One
* Greenhouses
* Forbidden Forest

## Potions

* Blood-Replenishing Potion
* Polyjuice Potion & Modified Polyjuice Potion
* Pepper-up
* Modified Weightless Draught (mispelled draft)

## Trivia

According to the author note, the Slytherin second year schedule is the same as the previous year except for Flying:

Monday: Charms, HoM, Lunch, DADA

Tuesday: Transfiguration, Herbology, Lunch, Free Period

Wednesday: Charms, HoM, Lunch, DADA, Astronomy

Thursday: (no first period because up late for Astronomy) Potions (theory), Lunch, Transfiguration

Friday: Double Potions (practical), Lunch, Herbology

## Inconsistencies

When they are talking about the thestrals, Rosier says to Rigel, "Do you volunteer at St. Mungo's with your surrogate uncle?" when it should be "father".

Instead of going to the common room through the blank wall, it is said that "[they] were being led through the portrait hole by Selwyn, who was head girl this year." In addition, Selwyn is made Head Girl (7th year) even though it was implied in The Pureblood Pretense: Chapter 18 that she is in 5th year. ("Edmund Rookwood is a year below me"; Edmund being in 4th year in PP).

## See also

* The Rogue
* Sphinx Correspondence School of Magic
* Miscetis Essentiae

## References

1. ↑ The Serpentine Subterfuge: Chapter 3 Author's Notes