Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Stories!? What stories!? An unknown character challenge - Andrew Cleveley

Judgement

He had been only one of many within the First Years who had never known about magic before their eleventh birthday. He had expected to enter a brand new world. He did not know or recognize anyone in the entire castle. The thought of being so alone had been terrifying. He knew that he would be making friends over the next seven years but those friends would not be the ones he had grown up with and had been friends with since early childhood as he had with many of his neighbors.

He had been Sorted into the House of Gryffindor, the house of the brave and noble lions. Every member of the house had been very welcoming and jubilant with every person that joined their table. They clapped and cheered, making the loudest noise in the entire hall. He had felt entirely comfortable in the warm welcome and many handshakes that were passed around as the feast began. He looked around the hall and almost felt glad that he had not been Sorted into the house that sat on the far end of the Great Hall. The entire table was silent as they ate, barely making a sound. They had only clapped as they had received new members, almost as if everyone who had been sorted into that house had been expected.

He had been surprised when he recognized the black-haired boy that he had often seen wandering around the neighborhood where Andrew had grown up. He had often been called a delinquent and thief. Andrew's mother had always warned him away from the other boy. They had all been told that he had gone to St. Brutus' a couple of years ago. His mother had sighed in relief and told him that the neighbor who had been forced to take the boy in had always complained about how lazy and useless the other boy was and how he often resorted to violence and stealing when he got bored. He sometimes wondered why that woman did not simply send the boy to an orphanage if she despised him as much as her voice had indicated.

Andrew had watched this boy for a couple of months. He had not seen anything that looked like delinquent behavior coming from the boy, who he quickly learned was Harry Potter and through some vague mentions of him that Harry Potter was praised and a savior from the Dark Lord at the age of one. He did not see the lazy boy his mother had always painted him to be, one that would always sit in the sun instead of work and was a waste of resources. All that he had seen was a boy who was like any other teenager, who had problems and tried his hardest to fix them while trying not to step on anyone's toes in the process. In fact, Andrew had often seen the other boy give up something just to help a friend in need.

Andrew realized that his mother had simply made assumptions based off what she had been told as his mother, despite her various warnings, had not given him any notable detail for Andrew to recognize Harry Potter by and thus avoid him as he had with every other child his mother had warned him to avoid ever since there had been one child he had started talking to without knowing who he was. His mother had been furious but he had not understood what had caused her anger. His mother had never seen Harry but had already made assumptions, incorrect assumptions at that.

He would have to correct this error in judgement on both his and his mother's parts. He hoped it worked and his mother did not force him to leave because he was in the same house as the boy she saw as a very bad influence. It would take a lot to convince his mother to differ her point of view as she was hardheaded and was often unwilling to admit her faults but Andrew would not allow this to rest on his mind and weigh him down at the injustice of the entire story. It would be difficult.

He was a Gryffindor after all.