The Dark Prince's Ascension

Chapter 3

Hogwarts is to be the host of the Triwizard Tournament. At least that is what Dumbledore announced at the Start-of-Term Feast. Harry only half-listened to what the old man said, instead he tried to figure out how exactly he would help Tom. However, the only interesting thing was their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, ex-Auror Mad Eye Moody. Tom seemed to freeze in Harry's mind as Moody was introduced. Tom, what's wrong? Harry thought.

"An Auror, Dumbledore has an auror in Hogwarts," Tom's voice said in Harry's head (He was currently hiding the diary in his robes just so he could hear Tom's voice). "This is very troublesome Harry."

Why so?

"Aurors are excepts at fighting and catching Dark Wizards. We must be extremely careful around him," Tom said. "We are lucky that we did not begin your dark arts training yet. Your aura should still be the same, though that will change. If we've started during the summer, then there would be a drastic difference and I am afraid that the Auror and Dumbledore might have found out."

Do you think Moody can see auras like Draco?

"I don't know... we must speak with Malfoy immediately about this," Tom said. "After the feast, I need you to divert to the dungeons."

Okay, Harry nodded. He continued to absent-mindedly listen to Dumbledore, his mind drifting off to other subjects, most of them including the Triwizard Tournament, and his wonderment about the other Wizarding Schools. I did not even know there were other wizarding schools, he thought to himself. Nobody ever talked about them.

When Dumbledore called for them to go to bed Harry stood with the rest of the Gryffindors and walked with Ron and Hermione. His eyes searched out for the rare head of platinum blonde in the sea of Slytherins. He found Malfoy walking near the back of the Slytherin crowd, talking with a dark skinned Slytherin whose name Harry forgot. He looked at his two friends and said, "You two go on, I just have to tie my shoe, alright?"

"Yeah, see ya in a bit," Ron nodded. Harry moved towards the stone benches in the entrance hall and pretended to tie his shoe. He looked around his shoulder and waited for Draco to come out of the entrance hall. The Slytherins were one of the last to come out, the group moving in one solid form as they've turned towards the dungeons. Harry looked back at his shoe and continued to pretend as some Slytherins gave him weird looks.

Harry felt a shadow fall upon him and turned to see Draco standing in front of him, arms crossed. "Did you think that would actually worked?" he asked. "Serious Harry, pretending to tie your shoes? What are you five?"

"Sorry," Harry said. "But I need to talk with you, and just so you know it did work. Got you here, didn't I?" Harry smirked.

Draco just rolled his eyes and sat down. "So what do you want? Want me to tell you your aura hasn't changed? Or is this something else?"

"A bit of both," Harry admitted.

"Alright, let's get this out of the way," Draco said as he dramatically rolled his eyes. "Your aura is still the same. Mostly golden with a bit of green right near your scar. What else do you need Harry?"

"This one is about our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Harry said. "Professor Moody... can he see auras?"

Draco's face seemed to lift a little as he gave Harry a little smirk. "Now there's an interesting request Harry. Is Professor Moody an Aura Reader like Dumbledore and I? No, I do not think so, although there is something very curious about him."

"What is it Draco? And how can you be sure?" Harry asked.

"We can sense when we're in the presence of an Aura Reader, Harry," Draco said. "It's like how you and I both knew that the other was also a poof. We don't need to say it, we're just really good at knowing what to look for. Now here is the interesting part. His aura is completely blank."