Chapter 5: End of Year 1

Edmund was in his room, thinking about the meeting he had with Iris Potter.

It was... interesting to say the least.

They had not shared much about their lives at their homes. But he knew her life with her relatives was anything but pleasant.

He was smart enough not to ask much about it as this was the first time he ever talked to Iris properly.

They mainly kept to their lives at school.

Iris shared her doubts about the third-floor corridor that the old coot had warned the school about.

While talking about the teachers, she told him about the blatant hatred that Snape showed towards her, which had her confused. She had never met the man and had never given him any reason for him to show such hate towards her. Even Edmund found it odd.

When Edmund had reminded her of the time, she thanked him with a bright smile.

He felt heat coming off his face as he recalled the moment. It was a beautiful smile and she looked very cute. He quickly shook it off and focused on trying to sleep. 'Cute huh? Well, all kids are cute, nothing special about her, right?'

Then the image of the weasel eating his food appeared in his mind, "Gaah! Kids are horrible! Now I'm fully awake! Damn you weasel!"

(ROTS)

The school year came to an end and Edmund was sitting beside his group of friends on Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall.

Rumour had been going around that Quirrell had left his job as their teacher while some said he died a horrible death. Somehow, and no one knew why, well, maybe some did know, but Iris Potter was discovered quite injured the previous night.

He didn't understand why, but he felt a bit concerned about her. On the other hand, he was brimming with anticipation because he finally confirmed that his next greatest enemy after the Vulpis family was indeed alive. It was time to increase his training and work on finding a balance between magic and chakra.

Edmund was there when Iris confronted Quirrell in front of the Mirror of Erised. He had to try his best not to expose himself when Iris was getting hurt by the possessed professor0.

His morals screamed at him to aid Iris but he held himself back. He was not ready.

After Voldemort's wraith had escaped, Edmund was about to appear and help Iris to the infirmary when he sensed the old coot approach the chamber.

He waited, henged as a small insect on the wall as the old coot checked her pulse and heaved a sigh of relief.

When Iris was taken away by the old man, Edmund quickly used body flicker and sped away to his dorm.

When he got back, he meditated to calm himself and went to sleep.

Now, what bothered him was the fact that the dark asshat was able to infiltrate a school full of students that was known to be the most secure place in Britain.

He had possessed a person and was walking the very corridors other students used on daily bases. He could have easily done so much harm.

One look at the old coot who was giving away points to Gryffindors for literally breaking every rule told Edmund that the man was least concerned of what grave error he had made due to lax security.

As the feast came to an end, Edmund took a glance towards Iris and observed that as she talked to her friends, her smile never reached her eyes.

She was dreading the fact that she had to spend her summer at her aunt's home.

He felt a small amount of emotion well up in the pit of his stomach as he realised he too had to spend his summer with his mother's killer.

He narrowed his eyes and unknowingly let out a low growl. The students around him were sending him uneasy looks as he frowned in distaste and stabbed at his food while eating.

(ROTS)

Edmund spent the summer after his first year evading his father with genjutsu and working harder on gaining harmony between his chakra and magic.

His progress was slow but was steady. He kept working on ninjutsu and learnt many high-rank ones. Due to the constant use of shadow clones, his chakra levels had shot up quite significantly.

Edmund wanted to get stronger, as much as possible. Things in his first year have been quite strange.

Voldemort had infiltrated to steal the philosopher's stone in the same year Iris had started her school.

Even more strange was the fact that Dumbledore had brought an artefact highly sought after by many all over the world, in a school.

He had exposed the children to potential danger and the traps that were put in place were anything but difficult. Hell, three first years were able to easily get past them.

Why would the Flammels give their priceless artefact to be guarded by Dumbledore at a school? Were they so naive to trust it with him? And why only now? They could have done it at any time before.

He recalled overhearing Iris telling her friends about Hagrid taking something out of a vault at Gringotts.

That must have been the stone.

Why withdraw it right then? And In front of a student of all people? He still remembered the beaming smile on the old coot's face when he looked at the stone in the unconscious Iris' hand.

Dumbledore was not a man he could trust. His trust further plummeted when he learnt that of all the wizards in the world, Lockhart was given the job to be their defence teacher.

On the other hand, Edmund had been working on seals and was just a few steps away from recreating the Hiraishin.

That technique would prove to be a lifesaver someday. Recently he had been working on barrier seals and was trying to find ways to mix wards and barriers. But for that, he had to find a balance between the two energies. It would take time, but he was sure he would be able to do it.

His investments against the Vulpis family were yielding great results if the look on Altair Vulpis' face was any indication.

The former death wanker had been distraught for quite a while. His vaults were constantly losing money due to constant expenditure and he had lost a lot of stocks in many businesses.

Moreover, he couldn't find a way to vent his frustrations as he could never find his son anywhere so that he could curse him. Even the house-elves were not responding to him. He had wanted to talk to his son about it, but, for some reason, he was unable to do so.

Unknown to him, Edmund actually made Altair free all the elves using genjutsu and had bonded with them in the name of Whirlpool family.

Edmund closely and patiently watched as his murderer of a father slowly descended into madness. Killing a mad man would be so easy. He would wait and then strike at the opportune moment.

(ROTS)

It was September 1st of 1992 and Edmund was visiting the apothecary to buy some ingredients to practice for potions at school. While on his way, he noticed a lot of commotion at the book shop.

Edmund made his way to the shop and saw people flocking towards Lockhart as he flaunted his books to them.

Edmund shook his head in disappointment. Wizards really acted like sheep and believed everything they read in books.

Just when he was about to leave, he saw a bunch of redheads enter the shop accompanied by none other than Iris Potter and the Granger girl with what looked like her parents.

He didn't understand why, but something interesting always happened around the girl-who-lived. So, he decided to wait in the corner of the shop.

(ROTS)

Summer for Iris was not very pleasant. Uncle Vernon was cruel as ever and had locked up all her stuff in the cupboard. He didn't even allow her to have her wand with her.

At least Hedwig was spared and was allowed to stay with her. Her uncle went even further by putting bars on her room's window.

At first, she thought her friends had abandoned her as they didn't contact her at all and never replied to her letters. But, her worries were vanquished when a house-elf Dobby appeared and confessed that he had been stealing the letters. She was a bit annoyed when he told her to not go to Hogwarts due to some danger. How could she even do that? And stay with her so-called family for the rest of the year? She shuddered to think of the consequences.

Iris was really angry at the stupid elf when he levitated the cake and threw it on Vernon's guest. He tried to get her expelled. She even got a notice of warning from the ministry of magic for underage use of magic.

When the Weasleys came to rescue her from her hell, she was eternally grateful.

Mr and Mrs Weasley were really kind to her. They even volunteered to go with her to Diagon Alley to buy her new books. Never had anyone shown so much kindness to her and for the first time in her life, she got the feeling of belonging to a family. She wondered if her mother was just like Mrs Weasley. It was all felt too good to be true.

On the day of their departure, she, along with the Weasleys, arrived at Diagon Alley and spotted Hermione with her parents. Together they went to the book store and saw a lot of people crowding up in the shop. The number of people made her feel uneasy and she wanted nothing else but to get away as soon as she got her books.

Her fears were realised when Lockhart grabbed her shoulder and pulled her in front of the crowd. She got very scared and stood stupefied as the reporters took pictures and later she was handed a bunch of books.

Relieved that she got away from Lockhart, Draco Malfoy appeared out of nowhere and further ruined her mood. When Mr Weasley arrived and she felt the tension lift of her shoulders, Draco's father arrived and began sharing jibes with Mr Weasley. It got so far that it appeared they were about to start a fight.

Just then, a voice was heard which she recognized very well. She breathed a sigh of relief and for some reason, she felt the tension leave her altogether.

"Are you two trying to start a fight here? It's highly unbecoming of a Lord of a Noble House and a ministry official to act like their children. Perhaps you two should go to Hogwarts in their place and learn some discretion. There are reporters present in this shop. Are you two so desperate to appear in the paper that you completely disregard the fact that you are Lords of your families?"

Although the voice didn't sound very pleasant for the two men.