Harry potter and the breeding darkness

Chapter 11

As far as Harry was concerned, the last month of his summer holiday was passing far too quickly. It was now August 20th and Harry was scheduled to visit Hogwarts to meet with Professors Babbling and Vector to take his Arithmancy and Ancient Runes placement exams. He had gotten his approval for a student-issue time-turner already. The time-turner would be delivered directly to Professor McGonagall and Harry would receive it on the first of September. So, now that it was officially approved, there was nothing preventing him from switching his electives. All that was left was to be determined was which year he be placed within each of the subjects.

He had asked if there was somewhere other than Hogwarts where he could take the tests but McGonagall had said that wasn't possible. She did ask him where he was staying, saying that a contingent of adult wizards could come to escort him to the school to ensure his safety. Harry knew that this question was all Dumbledore so had, politely, turned down. In his response, he mentioned that his friend would be coming with him to side-along Apparate him directly to the gates of Hogwarts. He even asked if it was possible for his friend to be allowed inside the school so he could wait for him in the castle rather than down in Hogsmeade.

McGonagall had not been committed in her response, saying that 'they would see when he got there'. Tom had thought that they would most likely approve of his entry into the castle just so that they could grill him for information while Harry was taking his exams. Harry wasn't really sure how he felt about that. He was definitely concerned about Tom being 'grilled' by McGonagall, and, quite likely, Dumbledore himself. It seemed rather risky to Harry, if he was being completely honest, but Tom seemed rather excited by the potential challenge. He seemed utterly convinced that he could completely fool both McGonagall and Dumbledore should he be faced with either of them.

Plus, the prospect of being allowed into the school by the old man was utterly amusing to him, not to mention potentially beneficial in any future conflicts. Once he was allowed in, the wards would remember him and he would always be allowed back unless the permission was specifically revoked by Dumbledore. While it was entirely possible that the old man would do just that once he had left the school, the chance remained that Dumbledore would not and Tom would forever have an open invitation into the school.

Harry had trouble imagining that Dumbledore would remain completely ignorant of Tom's true identity but the Dark Lord was confident. Harry had still been considerably hesitant about the whole thing but stopped his protests when Tom finally conceded that he was concerned about leaving Harry in 'enemy territory' with no way of personally retrieving him should something go wrong. It was one thing to have Severus and Thorfinn both in the school but Tom still felt better if he knew that he could go in to get to Harry personally if the need should arise.

The fact that Tom was worried was enough to halt Harry's protests, completely.

So, the morning of August 20th Tom and Harry prepared for their day at Hogwarts. Tom was wearing his glamor ring with his persona as Nicodemus Tomaras. He also cast several additional spells upon himself just for extra safety purposes.

Tom's Nicodemus glamor looked about 17 years old with pale blue eyes, soft features, round cheeks and full lips. His bronze-colored hair was short and slightly wavy, but neatly styled. The robe he was wearing was form-fitting on his upper torso with trim lines, flowing smoothly into the long hanging bottom that went down to his knees. The robe was black with silver trimming, while his crisp slacks were black with silver pin stripping and his shoes were a smooth polished black.

Harry was, of course, without his ring today. His black hair was left free in all its untamable glory today. Hair that was, once-upon-a-time, a short messy fringe against his forehead was now chin length and left to frame each side of his face. The rest of his hair now reached the base of his neck and was left in soft black waves. Peaking out just below his ear on his right side, just barely visible amongst the dark hair, was the white ivory with black lacquer front, spade earring.