AN: In no way am I connected to Harry Potter

'Dear Harry,

Norberta is doing just fine. She's certainly grown into quite a handful.

I do know of a few trusted harvesters; we do sometimes lose our dragons and there is little that naturally feeds on them. I have enclosed three names for you. I hope this helps. They are well-travelled and have come across many exotic animals.

Yours sincerely,

Charlie Weasley

P.S. Not even the twins could come up with a sixty foot Basilisk story'

/

'Dear Mr Peterson,

I am currently a student at Hogwarts and have need of a professional and experienced magical harvester. I was the slayer of this beast and the law states the carcass belongs to me. However, I would like this handled with discretion.

The creature in question is a Basilisk. I have enclosed a photo as proof.

I understand that this is difficult to believe. I do not wish this to become common knowledge but rest assured I have enough money to pay your fee. That conversation should occur after the job is done so we fully understand the necessities used.

Yours sincerely,

Harry Potter'

Hogwarts had settled into a new normal. January gave way to February and the snow had yet to melt for three months.

"You battled this. With a sword. Only eight months ago."

Sirius had not seen the original Basilisk from his time. The two times he had visited the Chamber of Secrets, he had taken the passageway beyond the stairs. Medusa he had met a few times and he was growing to like the reptile.

Only now did he truly understand how big she would grow. Only now did he realise how much of a miracle it had been that no one had been killed when it roamed the halls.

Only now did Sirius have a comparison for how small Harry was. Eight months ago, he would have been even smaller.

Even when he was a kid, Sirius didn't think a Basilisk was a good idea as a guardian but he had never thought much on it. He still didn't think it was a good idea, but he couldn't really ignore it now. The fact that another Basilisk would hatch if this one died was just as disconcerting. At least Harry had got to this one before Voldemort and Medusa seemed to care for him.

The care Harry had for Medusa is what had led to today's situation.

Medusa herself was outside, waiting for their contact. She had promised not to be seen but had sworn to act immediately if the human were to do something to harm them or the students.

Harry didn't turn to look at Sirius. "I was fine."

Fine.

Sirius had a thorough debate with himself on whether to comment on that. He eventually settled on 'not today'. He tapped Harry on the head and silently cast the Disillusion Charm on him before doing the same for himself.

After a final moment of consideration, Sirius approached the carcass slowly. His footsteps echoed down the metal; water splashing and plopping. He did the same on the bottom of the jaw of the monster, though he had no idea how successful he was.

His wand didn't feel as secure as it should. "Okay Harry. Are you ready?"

Harry stopped. "Yeah." His wand appeared in his hand. He pointed it at the head. "Wingardium Leviosa."

At first, there was only a shake.

Then, the head lifted. After a few seconds, the rest of the body slowly began to rise as well.

Sirius aimed his wand at the water pool where the majority of the body resided. With an image of a long snake body rising, he spoke with a forced calm. "Wingardium Leviosa."

His magic began to shift. The ripples drifted out; steadily and knocking the edge of the pool.

Well, Plan A is working well. I honestly wasn't expecting it to work. Is this because the Basilisk is dead, Harry and I are potential Heirs of Slytherin or that the Basilisk is not as resistant to magic as we were led to believe?

It was not a theory Sirius really wanted to examine closer. After all, with how paranoid Slytherin was proving to be, Sirius wouldn't be surprised if the Basilisk was normally almost immune to spells. It wouldn't make her a good guardian against a magical army otherwise and this is not a beast exclusively designed for stealth.

It was a full minute before the end of the body slid out of the pool.

Sirius had had the foresight to make sure there would be no obstacles in their path before they started as they wouldn't be checking where they were stepping. Even so, his heart did clench as the colossal snake was dragged across now Medusa's nesting chamber. This one barely fit in it.

Harry killed this with a sword. At least our fights were due to Death Eater wannabes that graduated into the nutjobs. Do I congratulate him or ground him?

It was slow progress. This could be due to any number of factors. All Sirius cared about was getting this out safely.

He certainly understood why Harry wanted this out of the Chamber as quickly as possible and also why he had no interest in telling Dumbledore about it. However, he would have preferred to wait until the weather was a little better. Snow was preferable to rain but the ice was still an extreme danger.

"You okay Harry?"

The voice was quiet but steady. "Fine."

There was a slight tremor there but Sirius wasn't sure whether it was due to the strain of lifting something this size or due to the cold. There was no wind yet but it was only a matter of time.

"Not far now," Harry called.

Sirius couldn't say the same. However, he just needed to get the burden far enough away from the castle sightlines. Hopefully, the Disillusion Charm had done enough. Normally this wouldn't be the best situation for a camouflage spell but Voldemort had shown him in the war how effective it was on reptiles. Lily thought it had something to do with snake scales and skin.

"How much farther, Sirius?"

Sirius gave a rough estimate. "Another twenty feet and we can drop it."

Harry seemed to stop for a moment before continuing. Maybe he was just checking his footing.

{A human is approaching from the west.}

The west.

That meant they had walked through the front gate.

In theory, someone should be monitoring it; perhaps Hagrid or Filch. They would find out soon. While both would prefer no one showing up, they weren't doing anything illegal or even immoral.

"Okay Harry. Drop it now."

Thump.

Thump.

Sirius immediately headed over to check on Harry.

He was panting a little, but didn't look like he was covering up an injury. He also didn't seem to have much strain from moving something so heavy and large for so long (even if Sirius did help).

Before anything could be said, a man approached them. He was heavily interested in the carcass, but that was to be expected. Once he got close enough, Sirius did recognise him from a photograph.

"Mr Peterson."

Peterson looked Harry up and down. "Mr Potter." He tilted his head as he studied the Basilisk. "Are you claiming that you slayed this?"

Harry bristled but his voice remained calm. "Yes, sir."

"How?"

"An ancient sword."

"Very well. Silence please. I do not like speech while I work. We will discuss payment and actions afterwards."

Harry tried to catch Sirius' eye. Sirius just tilted his head. He had never seen a rendering before and so had little idea of what to expect. He did make sure to cast a warming charm on himself, with Harry quickly following suit. He seemed fascinated by the process.

{The Headmaster approaches.}

Sirius let out a low groan. He knew there was a very high chance of it happening, but he did not want to deal with Dumbledore about this. He had an annoying habit of making things far more complicated than it needed to be.

Despite the conditions, Dumbledore wasn't difficult to spot when he was in sight range; he had decided to wear red robes dotted with purple and yellow stars. The frown on his face was only visible because Sirius was expecting to see it.

"I'll talk," Sirius said casually to Harry.

Harry, who had gone stiff when hearing Medusa, merely nodded once and turned back to the rendering.

Mr Peterson glared at Sirius before following his gaze. The look soften to a blank mask before continuing his work. He said nothing yet.

Dumbledore was frowning. Sirius just raised an eyebrow. It was very obvious what they were doing and that they had attempted to lock him out.

Well, I'm not sure if it was trying to lock Dumbledore out and more thinking that trying to get it out through the bathroom was impossible.

"What are you doing?"

Sirius answered in a sincere tone, despite the temptation to respond in a patronising manner. "The law states that the slayer of a beast owns the carcass. We are acting on that."

Mr Peterson stopped working. "Was Mr Potter the slayer of this beast, Professor Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore's expression didn't change. "It is not as simple as that-"

"Sure it is," Sirius replied. "Who was responsible for the death of this Basilisk, Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Harry was but-"

"That is all I need." Mr Peterson returned to work. "Please keep your heated discussion to sensible volume."

That would be more Sirius' problem than Dumbledore's.

Harry remained quiet; focused on the rendering.

"Sirius, may I have a word?"

Sirius sighed. "Fine. Is everything with you with going to be an argument?"

"That is not my intention."

Could have fooled me.

They didn't move out of sight of Harry or the carcass, but Sirius did deem it necessary to throw up anti-eavesdropping charms. He hadn't been too concerned before as the Disillusionment Charm had done the job and was still doing well. It might be worth researching ways to counter it.

"You have become very paranoid, Sirius."

Sirius ignored that. "Was something wrong with my Disillusion Charm?"

"Not quiet. Hogwarts informed me through the Sorting Hat that the Basilisk had been removed. I came to enquire why."

"It is Harry's right."

It would seem that Hogwarts still had not told Dumbledore that there was a live Basilisk protecting the Chamber again. That was very odd and not a little dangerous. However, Hogwarts must have a good reason; something he would ask Medusa before he left.

"What I can I do for you Dumbledore?"

"I do not think that selling Basilisk parts would be wise. The few known potions and other spells that require these parts are undeniably Dark."

Sirius pinched his nose. "For starters Dumbledore, as much as I hate it, I am a Black. I am familiar with some of those potions and I know for a fact that the only reason some of those spells are banned by the Ministry because being a Parselmouth is an unofficial taboo. No I am not telling you what those spells are."

Dumbledore thought about it, but did not press.

"Second, we haven't decided what to do with the parts yet. We pay Mr Peterson for his services, which we will discuss when done. Right now, we wanted to remove it before one of the unknown Parselmouths in the school decided to do it themselves."

Harry's concern had been for Medusa. While Sirius was sympathetic, he was more concerned about someone else stealing it. He just did not believe Harry was the only Parselmouth in the school with so many having Black (and therefore Slytherin) blood.

"Is there anything concerning your many titles that you want to talk to me about?"

Before, Sirius had been impressed at Dumbledore's status. Now, he was beginning to wonder how well the three different positions were being fulfilled. The Headmaster position had definitely suffered.

"What are the current plans for the Basilisk?"

"As I said, they are to be discussed. I will ensure you get something as it was Fawkes who brought Harry the Sorting Hat along with pecking the eyes out and Hogwarts as well for that sword. However, Harry will be keeping the bulk of it. I have no interest in Death Eaters getting their hands on this."

"…I see. Has Cornelius approached you at all?"

"Fudge? No. He's probably waiting for me to go and bribe him. Who has his ear at the moment?"

"I believe it to be Madam Umbridge and Lucius Malfoy."

"With what money?" Malfoy had donated quite a bit of money to the DMLE in the end. Sirius was highly doubtful that was three-quarters but he had no way of proving it. He had been concerned about Lucius acting like someone with nothing to lose; apparently he was more slippery than expected. Maybe it was more than bribery and a silver tongue that kept him free all those years ago.

"He has many forms of income." Most likely illegal but it didn't matter now. "Will I be seeing Harry at the Wizengamot this month?"

"That is up to him."

Dumbledore glanced back at the carcass before turning back to Sirius. "I trust you will send me a letter?"

"Concerning your business, yes."

"Then I bid you farewell." With that, Dumbledore cancelled the anti-eavesdropping charms and began to stroll back to the school.

Meddling-

Sirius took a breath and headed back to the other two. He Conjured a chair for himself and Harry to wait for the job to be done. With this size of this snake, they were going to be a while.

Harry didn't ask what he and Dumbledore talked about.

Okay Medusa. It's done.

It took fourteen hours.

The sunset hadn't changed much as there were no clouds in the sky to block the moonlight. Harry and Sirius had contributed with Lumos Charms but they were told that wasn't strictly necessary.

In a way, Harry was pleased when night fell. As fascinating as the rendering was, his stomach turned after the skin was peeled and then the internal organs…

In one way, cool. On the other, disgusting. The stench…

Mr Peterson packed the parts into a suitcase. "Where would you like to discuss business?"

Sirius considered. "How about a meal in the Three Broomsticks?"

It had been some time since Harry had eaten. While he could take a trip down to the kitchens, he did fancy a proper meal out. They may walk out the front gates but he could slip back through Honeyduke's.

His stomach protested but Harry didn't care. He definitely wasn't ordering any meat though.

It was a quiet walk to the front gates so they could Apparate. Or, in Harry's case, side-along.

Once they reached the gate, Mr Peterson handed over his wand. "I'll see you in the Three Broomsticks." The man Disapparated.

Harry's jaw dropped. "Did he just give you his wand?"

Sirius snorted. "I have no doubt he has a backup. This does give some insurance so he doesn't just disappear with our goods." He held out his arm.

Harry groaned. "I hate Apparating."

"It does get better when you're the one doing it."

"And when do I learn that?"

"When you're sixteen."

Harry sulked. He took hold of Sirius' arm.

I hate Apparating.

Maybe it was because they weren't going as far or maybe Harry was getting used to it, but this time wasn't as bad. He didn't feel like he was going to throw up at least.

Which, considering how queasy I feel, is a major achievement.

Mr Peterson was sitting at a table in the corner. The suitcase was settled under said table. After ordering, Sirius returned the wand and sat down opposite. Harry sat down next to him. His salad arrived not long after.

He did finish his first butterbeer before starting it though.

Mr Peterson handed over the galleons for his food. "I must say, I'm surprised. Not many can go for food after seeing my work."

Sirius picked up his fork. "I was in an Auror in the previous war. I've seen far worse."

Harry shrugged. "It wasn't that bad after the first few hours." After the skin had been removed anyway. He took a gulp of his second butterbeer before continuing.

Sirius spoke. "Let's start with the basic payment for the performed services."

"Three hundred galleons and five knuts."

That was more money than Harry had ever spent.

Sirius pulled a money bag out of his pocket. He removed some coins and handed it over. "Keep the change."

Mr Peterson took the money. He then moved the suitcase closer to them.

Harry focussed on his meal. The others did the same, silently deciding to leave the further business discussion to after they finished. Instead, the topic turned to Quidditch.

"The World Cup's next year?" Harry asked, perking up. "Who are the favourites?"

"Bulgaria is one," Mr Peterson replied. "Their new Seeker is currently undefeated."

"And with the talk about Britain hosting the next World Cup, the hope is that a local team get through."

"Definitely not England," Harry replied. "So Scotland, Ireland or Wales." He didn't know more about professional Quidditch than that.

But the World Cup…How much would tickets cost?

"I would place my money on Ireland," Mr Peterson stated. "However, there are many countries that are just as good, if not better."

"Doesn't mean they will win," Sirius replied. "Remember France in 1979?"

Mr Peterson chuckled. "I remember well. I was even in France at the time. It was quite the experience."

Eventually, the meal came to an end. The pub had emptied considerably. Their dishes were cleared away and their drinks refilled. Harry almost felt the atmosphere change slightly, even though the deal was already done.

Sirius leaned back a little in his chair. There was tension in his body. "Mr Peterson, how many Basilisks have you harvested in your many years of work?"

Mr Peterson took a sip of his drink. "This was my first. I have worked with gorgons in Greece and an enlarged viper in Australia." Harry did already know this, but it still felt incredible to hear. "I had honestly thought that a Basilisk was a creature of legend, not reality. The parts will sell very well."

Harry shifted a little.

Sirius put a hand on his shoulder. "It is something that he shouldn't have had to do, but that is how it is."

"It is incredible. If that lived in Hogwarts, then he should be up for an Order of Merlin. I have no doubt that if he slayed that beast, then he saved the lives of everyone there."

Regina may have been a beast then and she might have tried to kill me but that wasn't her fault.

"That would be far more trouble than it's worth at the moment. You may be satisfied that he was responsible, but others won't be and more would find that act…concerning."

"Politics," Mr Peterson sighed. "You have my sympathy. Then am I to assume that those Basilisk parts will not be seen in the British market?"

"Highly unlikely." Sirius took another drink. They hadn't discussed that but Harry wasn't going to ask right now. "What is your opinion on the best location?"

Mr Peterson hummed a little as he thought. "Australia is strong with Parselmagic. As are Africa and South America. It would depend on what you want. If you want money, then Europe and even Britain would be best. If you want people who will use it responsibly, then those countries are your best bet. There is no guarantee either way."

"I'll consider that."

Mr Peterson finished his drink. He stood up and offered his hand. "Mr Black. Mr Potter."

Harry stood up and shook it. "Thank you for your work Mr Peterson."

Sirius did the same after Harry let go. "Good luck in the future."

"And good luck to the two of you." With that, he left the pub.

Harry frowned and glanced at Sirius. "What now?"

Sirius finished his drink. "For now, we get some sleep. These parts aren't going to decompose anytime soon, so we can discuss this later."

All of a sudden, Harry remember the Parselmagic book he had sitting in his trunk. He hadn't even glanced at it since he got it and realised he didn't understand the theory behind it. The advanced work would still be beyond him but some of the simpler spells he could probably manage.

He didn't remember if there was anything in there concerning Basilisk. He knew they were mentioned but couldn't place why.

"I don't think I want to sell it."

"Then we won't. For now, I'll take them back to Potter Manor."

"Okay."

Honestly, Harry didn't know what he wanted to do with the parts. He didn't even know what he could do with the parts. He didn't know if he wanted to do anything with them. All he knew was that he didn't want anyone else to have them.

At the very least, the corpse was now out of Medusa's home.

The Chamber would be a good place to practice Parselmagic. Harry had searched around the Chamber, but couldn't find anything else left by Salazar Slytherin. At the very least, Medusa told him that Riddle hadn't taken anything.

"Harry?"

Harry blinked at Sirius' voice. He was looking at him, concerned. "I'm fine. Just tired."

He didn't feel sick anymore, but that may be due to him getting over the rendering. That was not a job he was interested in doing.

Sirius said he saw worse in the war…

Harry hadn't read those kind of details in the Daily Prophet.

"I think it's time for us to head back."

Harry nodded in agreement. He swallowed the rest of his butterbeer in one gulp and stood up. Sirius cancelled the anti-eavesdropping charms and the pair left the pub.

I need to learn those charms.

There were still a few charms he wanted to learn, such as the Disillusion Charm and the copying charm. Professor Flitwick had been teaching him duelling mostly. He hadn't had a case of accidental magic since.

Annoyingly, he still had no luck with the Patronus Charm.

They walked a little farther down the path before Sirius offered his arm. With a slight groan, Harry put his hand on it.

Nope, this time was just as bad.

"I need to learn to Apparate."

Sirius chuckled. "Not yet, you're not."

Harry sighed.

"Off you go, Harry. Try not to get caught when you get into trouble."

"I won't."

"Hiya Harry."

Harry almost jumped. He turned around to see Hagrid on the other side of the Hogwarts gates. Only his voice and silhouette gave away it was Hagrid; he was a bit too far for Harry to see him.

"Lumos."

It was just Hagrid but he had that crossbow with him. Had he been in the Forest again? What would he need the crossbow for even if he had?

"Hagrid," Sirius greeted. It wasn't warm and it wasn't cold.

Harry hid a frown.

"Sirius. Like to say I'm sorry for what I said about you."

"It's fine." That was curt.

But, not so curt that Hagrid caught it. Harry could see the large man visibly relax.

"Alright Harry. Ready to go back to the castle?"

"Yeah." He gave a quick hug to Sirius before pushing the gates open and swiftly slipping inside. "Let's go Hagrid."

Sirius shook his head slightly and walked away. There was a near silent crack that Harry had come to associate with Sirius Disapparating.

"Come on Harry."

Harry trotted to keep up with Hagrid's strides. "So what are you doing out here, Hagrid?"

"Dumbledore asked me to keep an eye out for you. It's past curfew Harry. You shouldn't be out."

Dumbledore told Hagrid to wait for him. Harry wasn't sure what he felt about that, but it wasn't joy or relief.

"I was having the Basilisk harvested."

"You should have left it Harry. That thing was dangerous. It could have hurt you."

"It was fine. I had Sirius with me and an experienced harvester." It had been mainly Medusa that had reassured him but Harry didn't want to tell Hagrid that. "Besides, I knew what was down there. Someone else might have gone down there and been hurt instead." He did know that was Sirius' main worry.

Harry had every belief that there were other Parselmouths. He wasn't angry at them keeping it a secret. He would be furious if he learned someone who bullied him was a Parselmouth though.

Hagrid was quiet for a moment. "Well, as long as you don't go down there again, it's fine."

Harry changed that subject fast. "What are we working with next week, Hagrid?"

Hagrid chuckled. "That would be telling Harry. Don't worry; you'll like them."

That had a slightly different tone than Harry had heard before from Hagrid. "Are they dangerous?"

"Not if you know what you're doing."

Harry gave up. He wasn't getting anything more. "And the crossbow?"

"Don't worry about that Harry. Here we are. You stay safe, all right?"

"All right. Thanks Hagrid." The school seemed closer now than when they had left. His mind must be more tired than he thought.

Hagrid waited until Harry was inside before heading back to his hut.

Harry didn't stick around. He immediately headed back to the Gryffindor Common Room. There were a number of short cuts he had found earlier in the year and he found them quickly. He encountered no one on his way.

Within three minutes, he was outside the Fat Lady. "Fortuna Major."

"Hmph. In you go, young man." She swung open.

Harry quickly ducked in, making a mental note to keep his Cloak on him at all times. However, it would seem he got lucky; the only one down was Hermione.

He was about to ignore her until she spoke.

"Harry. How is Sirius?"

Harry turned on his heel fluidly and sat opposite her. She was working on Potions at the moment. At some point tomorrow, Harry had to brew his Pepper-Up Potion for Mrs Tonks' review.

"He's good."

"And it's done?"

"It's done."

"Good." Hermione crossed out something and wrote something underneath. "Have you heard from anyone about the dog you found?"

Harry blinked. He had almost forgotten he hadn't told Hermione. "No." He considered. He glanced around. There was no one around. "Hang on." He left his seat and headed upstairs.

The boys were all asleep. Harry went to his trunk, opened it and carefully removed the photo album belonging to his father. He closed the trunk and headed back downstairs. Hermione hadn't moved.

Harry opened it to the page of the four boys. He showed it to her.

Hermione looked up from her work and studied it. "You do look a lot like your father." She frowned. "Is that Sirius Black?"

"Yes." Harry flipped to the next photo. "So is this." He pointed.

Hermione went still. "You've seen this?"

"Yes. He showed me in the holidays."

"He's not registered."

"It was war Hermione and they were in the Ministry."

"So he was always with you."

"Since I left Privet Drive."

Hermione didn't say anything. She was still staring at the photo. Harry wasn't sure whether she was looking at Pettigrew or Lupin. He closed the book.

She blinked.

"Hermione. Promise you won't tell anyone."

"Ron?"

Harry winced. "I will tell him. Just not now."

"You should tell him Harry."

Harry glared at her. "It's my family. I'll tell him when I want."

She glared back. "No need to snap at me. You're keeping a lot from him. In fact, you've barely spoken to him."

Harry opened his mouth to rebut her until he actual thought about it.

She was right.

Harry did barely talk to Ron.

Ever since Pettigrew fled.

And that wasn't Ron's fault.

There was a Quidditch match against Ravenclaw next week. Harry would talk to Ron after that. He just needed to decide what he was and wasn't going to tell him. Ron didn't know about the black dog Harry had been with so he didn't need to bring that up.

He hadn't responded to Hermione. "I'll work on it."

"Good."

With that, she collected her parchment and books and headed to bed.

Harry let out a low growl, gently picked up the album and stormed to his dorm.

He didn't dream that night.

It was Wednesday afternoon when Harry found the time to return to the Chamber. He took the Parselmagic book from his Family Vault with him along with spare parchment. He had an hour before Charms and he was going to make use of it. Until after the Quidditch match, Wood was going to use up as much of his spare time as possible.

Medusa was now about twenty feet long. Even so, that didn't scare Harry. He mainly ignored her as he sat down in her resting chamber and opened the book to a certain page.

The spell was simple. It was supposed to clean a surface. The only difference between this Parselmagic and the common cleaning spells was that it was it removed unseen bacteria and viruses as well. That normally took a second, more specific spell.

Harry double checked the book.

The one issue was a lack on incantation. He read it three times but there was no mention of words. It merely said 'speak intent' and that was in the first chapter. There may be more for the more advanced magic but for now, it was a very simple spell. Apparently.

There's got to be more though…Hang on…Here we go; handwriting. 'The words themselves are meaningless until given meaning. Each to their own and even then, only to be certain of what they will'. So the spells need words to make it easier on the caster to differentiate. I can work with that.

That might work with more magic than Parselmagic, but Harry wasn't going to try that yet.

That spot will do.

{Clean.} He added a jab with his wand to focus his attention on that spot.

The wand felt colder for a moment. In that moment, the tile floor did become a lighter shade. At the end of the spell, his wand felt normal.

Medusa's head came up before she lowered herself to slither towards Harry's work. She gave it a brief sniff. {Well done for a first attempt. The floor is cleaner but practice is needed. This is too weak for healing standards.}

Harry glanced at his wand. He jabbed at a different spot, trying to channel more magic. {Clean.}

The wand felt even colder than before. Harry could see no difference between this spot and his first attempt after the moment passed.

Okay, something's up with my wand.

{More powerful and a better attempt.}

The wand was now fine. That had taken longer to go back to normal.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

The five pebbles danced around the room before he ended the spell. Nothing was wrong there; the spell worked perfectly and the wand felt perfectly fine.

So what's going on?

Harry skimmed through the book. There was no mention of wands anywhere in it during that quick scan. He would have to read every passage carefully.

The wand slipped back into the wrist holster. He raised his right hand, pointing. {Clean.} He made sure to channel the same amount of magic as when he used the wand.

Medusa inspected it. {This is equal to your first attempt.}

Nothing felt off there.

He raised his left (off) hand. {Clean}.

Harry knew that was quicker. Not by much more than milliseconds, but it was faster. His wrist also felt odd. {Medusa?}

She took a little more time evaluating this experiment now. She inspected each of the test areas carefully. She then returned to him.

{The final attempt was the strongest. It would be satisfactory in a Healer's domain.}

Harry considered that.

Okay. So the wand wasn't the best? This doesn't make sense. And why would my left hand be better than my right? If it made any difference, it should be better with my right as I'm right handed. So why? And why is the wand in the middle?

Harry looked at his left wrist.

And saw the bracelet there.

Is this it?

There was a definite difference between using his left and right hand, not just with the results. He could have sworn his wrist felt warm for a second.

Hang on. If my wand felt cold but the bracelet was warm…

Harry focused again. He pointed. {Clean}.

That was definitely the bracelet, not his wrist.

So the bracelet helps my magic. Did Sirius know that? Why does this help with Parselmagic more than my wand?

The order from best to worst was: bracelet, wand, dominant hand wandless.

The wand slipped into his hand. "Wingardium Leviosa." The six pebbles rose to the ceiling gradually and back down again. He raised his left hand, making sure the wand was nowhere near. "Wingardium Leviosa." The six pebbles rose to the ceiling carefully and back down again.

After a thought, Harry switched his wand to his left hand. It felt a little off-balance, but he ignored it. "Wingardium Leviosa."

The seven pebbles shot up steadily to the ceiling before coming back down again.

Okay. So the best results are when the bracelet and wand work together. Therefore…

Harry held his wand carefully, tilting his wrist a little to try and work with it. {Clean.}

That thrill…He hadn't felt that since he first bonded with his wand.

Medusa almost seemed to purr. {Perfect.}

So. The wand and bracelet together are best…Of course they are…

Harry touched the bracelet to move it to his right wrist when he hesitated.

Maybe…I can't really use my wand in my left hand but I don't need movements or even incantations when I try wandless so…Maybe I should keep them separate for now. This way, I can practice both and keep them separate in my mind for exams.

Also, Harry really didn't want to advertise his bracelet. He wanted to keep it hidden.

Maybe I should get Sirius one. But where on Earth did he get it?

Okay. If I move it, my magic comes easier and is far less of a strain. If I leave it, I can work on my wand and wandless magic almost at the same time. The wand method may take more effort but there is more control; I'm not going to curse someone accidentally when my temper gets away from me. Practice with my wand first until I get the feel of a spell, then leave wandless.

I think…I'll leave it for now and if there's another Philosopher's Stone or Chamber of Secrets situation, I'll move it then.

Harry thought.

This was a Christmas present from Sirius; our Christmas…

"Expecto Patronum."

Harry didn't know what to expect. He didn't know what to visualise. He just whispered and let the magic flow.

That's…not a…shield…

The hooves didn't touch the ground. The legs were long and thin; the almost streamline body balanced perfectly. The small head perched on a strong neck. The horns reached back then curving; the consistent silver colour making it impossible to tell where one ended and the two began.

The antelope turned its head around the room. The head then spun to look back at Harry.

"Mum?"

It vanished.

The Conjured mini-magpie had vanished again.

Sirius wasn't too worried. It had done this a few times and it always turned up. The impala (Sirius thought) had disappeared as well. The dog and stag were doing some sort of dance on the coffee table.

He was starting to think they were never going to fade. He hadn't thought that was possible.

Sirius headed straight into the dining room. There was a large meal laid out there, still piping out steam.

"Thank you Jinxy."

Sirius sat down and began to eat, casually flipping through a file as he did.

His research had resulted in little; Basilisks were too rare an animal. He had few ideas how to sell the parts without them winding up in the hands of people he really didn't want to have it. Therefore, he was beginning to enquire into what home uses the Basilisk could have.

The venom was far too potent to be handled carelessly. Sirius had already decided to place a small sample into a hidden safe in the Potter Manor library and the rest into his vault at Gringotts. The skeleton and the muscle had also been placed in the safe; they could be used as ingredients for a variety of potions.

It was the snakeskin and scales that was the most uncertain. While this could be used as ingredients as well, Sirius had had mixed results when investigating whether or not it could be used for protection. The skin would be tight and fluid, allowing the wearer to move with ease unlike metal or even certain dragons. This particular snake had very strong resistance against direct magic. However, it was no protection against blunt force and Sirius remembered well that most of his injuries in the war (and Harry's at school) had been the result of physical trauma, not magic. It may have been the Sword of Gryffindor that slayed it, but cutting the skin would have been quite easy with the muscle underneath being the problem otherwise.

Something to keep in mind if Medusa ever needed to defend the school.

Sirius shook his head and finished his meal.

Right. I've send that 2000 galleons from the Black vault to Dumbledore for Fawkes' part and donated 3000 directly into the school for the Sorting Hat with strict conditions so no one can touch that unless it can be proven to be directly tied to the school. I've responded to the letters from Greengrass and Regent Longbottom. What am I forgetting?

Sirius was sure there was something. It would come to him eventually.

The empty dish was popped away.

It would be wise to look over the agenda for the next Wizengamot meeting. No one had yet spoken to him properly concerning alliances, but many of his meetings with the other Lords and Ladies opened with that. It would seem that they would only be bold if they were certain of a positive result and Sirius was still too much of an unknown.

So far, there had been very little. In fact, most of the session had been less than an hour long and had been examinations of little details in minor legislations. Apparently, one individual in the Ministry was causing 'havoc'; but no one could pin down which one. However, when faced with facts, the few amendments they wanted regarding health and safety were fair points.

Sirius had been quite amused and had voted for more sensible ones, such as a policy in place to ensure potion vials had Unbreakable Charms on them whenever in transport at the very least.

It had been quite interesting to see which members were more focused on the person submitting the bills and which focused on the bills themselves. Sirius was starting to build up a better idea of who was friend, enemy and potential ally.

When Voldemort returned, he may have to reassess.

The next meeting…is mainly a discussion on the Tri-wizard Tournament and the Quidditch World Cup.

Barty Crouch.

This would be the first time Sirius would see the man since his imprisonment in Azkaban.

Sirius would do his best to avoid him. Hopefully, Crouch would be doing the same.

The mini-magpie did a dive bomb from the top of the stairs and over the banister. It did a corkscrew (Sirius had seen Harry pull that stunt on his Firebolt). It pulled up less than an inch from the floor. It glided to the cabinet and tried to skid to stop instantly.

The impala hopped down from one of the stairs and acted as a buffer. The magpie smacked into it, tripping over. The impala had no loss of balance due to the crash. Instead, it walked over and used its horns to help the magpie back up again.

That's just like you Lily. Your son got you very right, despite…

The stag and dog flitted around the room, leaping over obstacles and pounding across the surfaces at an impressive speed. The dog bounced off the wall to land on the cabinet while the stag made an incredible leap of several feet from the stair below the impala used.

Sirius took long strides to have a look himself.

All four animals turned their heads to look at him.

The magpie flapped its wings and was soon back in the air again. The dog playfully jumped after it while the impala and stag watched from a distance.

Sirius headed back to the dining room. He had a lot of parchments to work through and not very long to go through it. It had never occurred to him how much work his new life would be and he disliked a great amount of it, but it was necessary.

He had a new respect for Charlus and Dorea.

Still, he should be able to organise a few meetings so he could see the Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw Quidditch game next week. Sirius had no doubt it would be a good one.

AN: I do apologise for how long it took to update this. I haven't abandoned it and have no intention to but it does get pushed to the back of the to-do list by life sometimes. Hopefully I will be able to update more regularly. I appreciate that some of you are concerned, but I have plenty of plans for the future of this fic. I just have to make sure the 'filler' is also worthy of reading.

There have been many queries on the pairing. I am hoping to make it realistic and, though some won't like my choice, I hope to write it well enough that it is correct for the story.

As always, I welcome questions, comments and constructive criticism. I hope you continue to enjoy.

Thanks for reading and sticking with it.