Harry had already been sitting when Hazel told him who her parents were. He was pretty sure he would have been alright if he had been standing but his head did buzz a bit after he heard. For the briefest of moments he was intensely jealous but almost instantly he was happy for his sister.
He truly loved Hazel. She had always been there for him when he needed her. And she never lied to him. When she couldn't tell him something she simply said that she knew but she couldn't tell him.
She was truly his best friend and he was not afraid to tell her anything. He sighed.
"I am sorry Harry." She paused for a long moment.
"But I will say that I believe it is Dumbledore that has said you can not know certain things. There are very few people mom will absolutely not go against and he is at the top of the list, but I do not have any real proof.
"I am not sure if it is truly for your good or not. But it is what you have for now so we will make the best of it."
Harry smiled and hugged his sister tightly. Who else would understand how he felt? And who else would be ready to help and protect him no matter what.
Hazel breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he released her.
"I am not sure what I thought would happen but I have been really worried about this conversation. I will promise not to keep secrets from you and if I have to I will tell you as much as I can without breaking a confidence. I have an odd feeling that as we get older they will start making us do oaths and magical agreements to keep us from passing information."
Hermione perked up at the topic of binding agreements and oaths. It was very advanced magic and Hazel spoke of it as if it were everyday household magics.
"Deal. The same goes for me." They looked at each other for a long while then they both burst into laughter.
"So." Ron sat looking from Harry to Hazel and back again. "So your adopted mother is pro.. pro… professor Mc.. Mc… McGonagall." He looked back to Harry with an expression of abject fear.
"Calm down Ron! Just think about what she could teach us. Think about how she could help us with transfigurations." Hermione stopped and looked at her hopefully.
Hazel shrugged. "I have been studying magic since I was three and Shyla found me when I was two. My transfiguration skills make me look like a shape-shifter now. But don't tell my mom that. For her I just do advanced transfiguration. I can help you if you like. We do not do much defense against the dark arts because they are in the middle of a long peace there so you can help me with that."
Hermione brightened. She had been worried that they would not be able to give her anything in return. "That is a deal." She enthusiastically reached her hand out and Hazel shook it with an amused smile.
They all sat together to talk about Professor Quirrell's dream scape.
"Snakes?" Ron shuddered.
"What could snakes mean?" Hermione looked to Hazel as if she was the only one there who could actually answer. Harry and Ron actually believed that she was so they both ended up looking at her too.
Hazel didn't pay either of them any mind as she explained her thoughts on it. She was use to people asking her advise on topics.
"Well when I saw the snakes, especially the large one, Slytherin came to my mind. I don't know if you understand how divination works but there is quite a bit of discernment involved and soul awareness. So when I see an image, or a concept, something of the like, pops into my mind that is my sense of discernment telling me something.
"Now if my sense of discernment and my soul resonate that is my divination ability."
"You had resonance?"
"I had resonance." Hazel nodded and shrugged at the same time. "Does Professor Quirrell have anything to do with Slytherin house?"
The other three looked to each other blankly.
"No. He doesn't."
They all sat for a moment and Hazel's eyes went wide as a distinct and familiar tingling moved slowly down her back. Hermione saw her first but both she and Harry asked in unison.
"What is it?"
"uum." Her eyes just got wider and wider as she hesitated.
Hermione frowned as she thought but she could not think of what Hazel may have figured out. Then her eyes went wide and she began hoping that she was wrong as she looked to Hazel and waited for an explanation. Harry and Ron just looked on in varying levels of concern.
"Does he have anything to do with Voldemort?"
It seemed like everything stopped. Even their breathing stopped. Ron had whimpered at hearing the name while Hermione and Harry both went ridged.
Hazel sighed. "All three of you need to be careful of Professor Quirrell. Should I tell my mother about him?"
"NO"
All three of them answered at once. Hazel smiled lightly. "As you wish. But trust my mother she will help you and she cares for you a lot Harry." She shrugged. "I know she seem very stern but it is just the headmistress aspect. There is a lot more to her."
Hazel paused in thought. "This is probably going to be dangerous." She sighed and looked to Hermione. "We need to think about why Voldemort would use Professor Quirrell, and he is using him. His dreamscape tells me so."
She paused for a stunned moment.
"I may have alerted Voldemort to my presence. I am pretty sure that the part that reacted to me is controlled by Voldemort. It is a small but powerful part of Quirrell. Maybe not a part of him but something that can affect him.
And I don't think he understands who I am just that I am capable of sensing his presence." She shook her head. "I will be more careful as well. My existence is not common knowledge anymore but some still remember that I exist. I don't want him to realize who I am and think that he can get to you through me."
Ron snorted. "A witch as powerful as you?! Let him try."
Hazel was stunned into silence. She was not a modest witch by any means but calling her powerful was a bit much for her. Once she got over her shock, and she could speak again she shrugged.
"Well I am still considered a novice actually… well... kind of."
"A novice?!!!?"
She looked at the three shocked faces and laughed.
"Uuum… well... About Voldemort. Tan Dimension knows a lot about En. I will see what they have about him in the records. The more informed we are the better prepared we are."
"This is very true."
Ron rolled his eyes as he watched Hermione nod her head vigorously.
"What!? It is!"
The four of them continued talking for some time, almost until it was time for them to wake up. Harry was the last to leave and he looked at her in a way that made Hazel nervous.
"I want you to know that I do not blame you for anything and I maybe a little jealous but I am really happy for you too."
She raised a hand to interupt him. "We do not need to say such things to each other. I know that you can sense how I feel like I can sense you. Let's just start fresh from here.
"I will try not to be so guilty and you can try not to feel too betrayed and we will somehow meet in the middle."
She looked him directly in his eye.
"I will try to figure out a way to make things better for you in Aunt Petunia's house."
He smiled at her and faded from the dreamscape as he woke up.