Transfigure My Heart
Disclaimers: Look up. See my penname? It's sycoticatalyst. Wanna know why? Cause I'm a broke college student in the United States, and thus am able to have a fun penname like that. I don't own enough to buy Nagini from JKR, so I highly doubt that it would be even remotely possible for me to own any of these characters.
A few parts are taken directly from the first book, but only to make the transition from the books to the alternate universe more realistic. Anything you recognize from the books was more than likely written by JKR and not myself.
The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink. There was no stamp.
Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.
"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.
Harry took a few steps towards the kitchen, still staring at his letter, when a thought popped into his mind. He didn't know what the letter said or who it was from, but he knew that he had to read this letter in a secluded place. Quickly, he tucked it under the door to his cupboard and walked into the kitchen. He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard and turned to walk back to his cupboard.
Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust, and flipped over the postcard.
"Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk..."
The door shut silently, and Harry went into his cupboard to read the letter. As he read the letter, his eyes gradually got wider and wider. Finally he reached the closing of the letter.
Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks, but there was no one to ask, no way to find the answers to these questions. Wait... They await my owl? What does that mean? Sighing, Harry threw his letter to the corner of his cupboard, thinking it to be a sick joke of Dudley's, to get back at him for the snake incident.
A week passed, and Harry had nearly forgotten about the letter. But then...
BOOM. A knock at the door.
BOOM. Another knock.
SMASH! The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor.
Harry jumped. Quickly, he blew out the candle he had lit to read an old book of his, Oliver Twist. Actually, it had been from a library, but Dudley never bothered to return it.
Slowly, Harry closed the book and set it down, then put his ear up to the door to listen. He heard creaking of the floorboards, coming closer to his door, and he heard his uncle snoring upstairs. Odd, he's usually a light sleeper... Then he heard a knock on his cupboard door. Harry jumped, falling back and knocking over his unlit candle and a few other things Harry couldn't be bothered to worry about.
The door opened, and Harry gasped. A huge man with wild hair and black eyes was stooping to look into his cupboard. "Wh-Who are you? What do you want?" Harry stammered, pressing himself against the wall, his eyes wide and fearful.
The giant man seemed perplexed, then he answered, "Well, Dumbledore never got yer owl, so he sent me ter fetch yeh. That reminds me..." The man reached into his pocket and pulled out an owl - a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl - a long quill, and a roll of parchment. He scribbled out a short message, rolled up the note, and gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak.
"Wait... What's going on? You mean the letter was real? I'm really leaving the Dursley's? And I'm... I'm a wizard?" Harry was getting excited, relieved that the letter wasn't a prank and that he would be leaving the Dursley's.
"Well, yeah! Didn't yer aunt and uncle tell yeh all about yer parents?"
"Tell me what about my parents?" Harry asked, confused. "They told me my parents died in a car crash."
"A car crash! How could a car crash kill Lily and James Potter? No, they were murdered by a dark wizard - and he tried to kill you, too. Tha's how yeh got that scar on yer forehead."
Harry involuntarily put his hand to his forehead to feel the familiar scar. Then a thought came to him. "How come my uncle didn't wake up when you broke the door down?"
"Oh, tha'. I put a silencin' spell on the house so no one upstairs can hear anythin' down here. Didn't want ter wake them unnecessarily."
"Can we leave right now, then? I don't have much to pack." At the man's nod, Harry began to collect his things. "By the way, I don't think you told me your name."
"Oh! Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. But call me Hagrid." Hagrid stuck out a giant hand and shook Harry's whole arm.
When Harry had finished packing all his things, Hagrid led him outside where two brooms were laid on the driveway. Unsure of what to do, Harry waited for Hagrid to get on his own broom, then imitated him with the smaller broom. They flew and flew, Harry asking questions of Hagrid about wizard life and Hogwarts, and Hagrid answering. Finally, after what seemed like hours of flying, Hagrid told Harry to start descending. They had reached London.
They touched down in an alley by a small pub, and Harry followed Hagrid inside. A few people were sitting at the bar, and one person sat at a table in the back reading a newspaper. The bartender reached for a glass and said, "The usual, Hagrid?"
Hagrid shook his head. "Can't, Tom. I'm on Hogwarts business. We'll need a room tonight; Harry ought ter be real tired from our trip today." Hagrid clapped his great hand on Harry's shoulder, making Harry's knees buckle.
"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry, "Harry... Harry Potter?"
The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent.
"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter... What an honour. What room would you like? Any room at all. No charge!"
"Um.. I'm fine with any room, I guess... Thank you."
Minutes later, Harry had been shown to the biggest room in the Leaky Cauldron, and he was laying on a bed next to Hagrid's, his mind racing. He couldn't believe that he was finally away from his aunt and uncle. As he drifted off to sleep, a content smile played across his lips, and he dreamt of flying pigs and talking unicorns.
When Harry awoke the next morning, Hagrid was already awake, and had brought up some breakfast for him. He ate it all gratefully, and the two of them headed down to shop for his school supplies. After visiting Gringotts, Hagrid led Harry to Ollivander's. As Hagrid was about to enter the store, it seemed as if he suddenly remembered something. "Oh, uh.. Sorry, Harry, I forgot somethin' at Gringotts... I'll meet yeh back here soon." With that, Hagrid turned and walked back to Gringotts.
Sighing, Harry turned to see atall boy, about his age, waiting at the counter. An old-looking wizard walked up and handed the boy a wand. The boy waved it and the man took it from him. Curious, Harry moved forward to watch the exchange. The man put another wand in the boy's hand, and he waved it. This time, flames of silver and green danced around the wand, and Harry gasped. The boy grinned to the old man.
"Wonderful! Ebony and dragon heartstring, twelve and a quarter inches. Good for the more complicated spell work.. That'll be seven galleons." The boy handed the man seven gold coins and turned to leave. When he saw Harry, he smiled tentatively.
"Hello, my name is Blaise. Blaise Zabini."
And so began their friendship. While Harry stayed and got 'fitted' for his wand, Blaise went to Florean Fortescue's to buy two ice creams. After going through nearly the entire store, a wand finally chose him. Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches. 'Nice and supple,' Mr. Ollivander had said. When the wand had given off green and silver sparks, Blaise had grinned and whole-heartedly congratulated him. As Harry began to fish through his pockets for seven gold pieces, he heard Mr. Ollivander muttering.
'Sorry, but what's curious?' Harry had asked.
'I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother - why, its brother gave you that scar.
'Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you Mr. Potter... After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things - terrible, yes, but great.'
Harry had shivered and quickly paid the seven Galleons for the wand, then exited the shop with Blaise.
After meeting back up with Hagrid, who had gotten sick from his second ride in Gringotts, Harry let Hagrid go back to the Leaky Cauldron for the afternoon. Harry and Blaise talked while they shopped for their school supplies; Harry about his experiences with Muggles, Blaise about the Wizarding World and Hogwarts. Harry met Blaise's mother, and had joined them for ice cream at Florean Fortescue's. Hismother seemed very happy that Blaise had found a friend so soon after receiving his letter, and upon learning of Harry's living situation, invited him to stay with them for the remainder of the summer. Harry agreed, grateful for a place to stay away from the Dursleys, especially after he just suddenly disappeared. So, after meeting up with Hagrid again and telling him about the invitation, Harry left with the Zabinis.
The rest of the summer was wonderful for Harry. He learned about all sorts of things, including the four Hogwarts houses. Slytherin was Blaise's favourite, so Harry learned more about that house than any others. He also learned about Quidditch, and even got his own broomstick for his birthday, along with his first ever birthday party.
However, as all good things must, the summer ended all too soon. On the first day of September, Harry and Blaise boarded the Hogwarts Express, and several hours later they arrived in Hogsmeade. Harry and Blaise sat in a boat with Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott, both of whom they met on the train. Finally, the boats arrived at Hogwarts, and they were led inside to the Great Hall. The first years formed a line at the command of Professor McGonagall, and followed her inside. The witch set a stool down in front of them, and on top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. Harry found himself imagining trying to pull a rabbit out of it - when suddenly it began to sing. He listened in awe as it sang its song, paying particular attention to the Slytherin part. He desperately wanted to be in Slytherin, now that he was faced with so many other students he didn't know. He didn't know what he would do if he were to be Sorted into a different house from Blaise.
Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment. "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!" Harry watched as a pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of the line and sat on the stool. She was sorted into Hufflepuff, as was the next girl. An unpleasant-looking girl was sorted into Slytherin, as were two boys he had seen Draco talking with. Several more sortings later, Draco was put into Slytherin. Then Theodore, a girl named Pansy Parkinson, and then, at last -
"Potter, Harry!"
As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.
"Potter, did she say?"
"The Harry Potter?"
The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.
"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting... So where shall I put you?"
Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, Slytherin, please Slytherin...
"Well then - SLYTHERIN!"
Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Slytherin table. He was so relieved to have been chosen for the same house as Draco and hopefully Blaise, that he didn't notice the silence that had overcome the other house tables. Harry sat down next to Draco at the table and waited for Blaise to be sorted. He sat impatiently and continued watching as the rest of the students were sorted, and finally Blaise was called. Time stood still for Harry as his friend sat under the hat, until finally -
"GRYFFINDOR!"
Harry began clapping, having assumed Blaise would be in Slytherin with him, but when it registered through his mind that Blaise was not walking toward the Slytherin table, Harry stopped clapping and just stared open-mouthed at him as he walked slowly to the other table. Harry found himself disconnected with reality for the rest of the evening, although he did eat and chat with Draco, Theodore, and a few other Slytherins. However, if asked what he had eaten or talked about, Harry would not have been able to come up with an answer.
A/N: For some crazy reason, people have been emailing me with questions like "Why did you delete Transfigure My Heart?" or "What happened to that Blaise/Harry AU fic?" etc. You all know, you're prolly the only ones reading this. I swear, it's gotta be a conspiracy. Anyhow, I'm sick of trying to find my original files every time someone wants to read it, so I've given in and decided to start over. After a quick reread, I realized I rather enjoyed the beginning of the Prologue... until I started to ramble needlessly. Really, it's pointless to the plot. I can get by a different way. So half of the prologue, and most of chapter one have been tossed. Have started chapter one, but I'm not going to promise it'll be done anytime soon. I'm lazy.
A/N part 2: It might not be Harry/Blaise. Just to warn you.