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It is recommended to read the previous Unmasked Mystery stories. This is the prequel to Unmasked Mystery I.

CHAPTER ONE: THE BEGINNING

I always knew that I was different, but I never knew that my differences would help me heal my broken family. You know of my tale of my last three years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but none of you know how I was able to protect my secret, how my loving family revealed the truth to me, or how I first met Draco, Ron and Hermione. So join me through my first four years at Hogwarts.

Growing up at the Dursleys, I knew I was different, and not because I was unloved by my relatives, or because I had to wear my whale of a cousins handy downs which were miles to big for me. It wasn't even because I was called a freak and had no friends. No, the reason I knew that I was different was due to the fact I could change into a girl, not that I ever told anyone. Who knows what would have happened if I did. However, my so called family knew since I accidently changed in front of them. That would have been the worst punishment of my life after that little incident. They warned me - no, threatened me - that if I ever did that again, they would send me away to a horrible orphanage, after I got a good beating. Sometimes I use to consider doing it on purpose, just to leave Privet Drive once and for all, but something always stopped me, and no, it wasn't the beating that stopped me. So I stayed with the Dursleys hoping that there was in fact someone out there that cared for me and would come and take me away.

Anyway, I'm glad that I stayed. If I hadn't, I might not have learnt the truth. The real reason why the Dursleys treated me like dirt. The Dursleys secret came out the night Hagrid, the Keeper of Keys and Ground, from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, came to rescue me. Turned out that I was a wizard, just like my dead parents, the only difference was that I was famous. I was famous because I survived a curse that was believed to be impossible to survive and in the process, I somehow managed to vanquish the darkest and most powerful Dark Lord of all time, Lord Voldemort. Little did I know at the time, that this Lord Voldemort would have a huge impact on my future and he would mean more to me than just being a dangerous enemy. However, my story begins after I left the Dursleys and hoped of the Hogwarts Express from Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

It was on this train ride that I became best friends with Ronald Weasley, though we call him Ron for short. He was the youngest son out of six sons, with a little sister named Ginny. I first met him briefly when I had to ask his mother, Mrs Weasley, how to get onto the platform. He was tall, thin and gangly, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose. At first he was really awkward around me and was embarrassed because his family wasn't able to afford many luxury items, but after a while, he became comfortable with me presence and we were chatting like old friends. He was in fact my first friend. It was as we were eating our way through a pile of sweets that I first met Hermione. A bushy brown haired girl with rather large front teeth and a bossy voice. At first I didn't like her and was so grateful when she left our compartment.

The journey to Hogwarts was soon over and I hopped off the train, with Ron, to be met with a familiar voice.

'Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?'

I looked up at the massive form that had appeared above me and smiled when I recognised who it was. It was Hagrid.

'C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!' Hagrid called and I quickly hurried after him, followed then by the hesitant other first years, who didn't know what to make of Hagrid. I myself had be frightened by him at first, but I now knew that he was actually a big softie had heart.

It was during this process, of following Hagrid, that I realised another reason why I was different to other kids my age. While the other first years slipped and stumbled down a steep, narrow path, I remained upright and never once did I slip of stumble, though I nearly fell to the ground when Ron slipped and grabbed onto me.

As we rounded the corner of the path, there was a series of "Oooohs" from the first years as we caught sight of Hogwarts. I myself gasped at how magnificent it looked, as it stood atop a high mountain with its windows sparkling in the starry sky, on the many turrets and towers.

'No more'n four to a boat!' Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore and snapping my attention away from the castle that I would soon call home.

I ended up hopping into the same boat as Ron, followed by Hermione and a round faced boy, who I would eventually become close friends with, named Neville Longbottom.

Once everyone was in, Hagrid made the fleet of boats sail forward across the glimmering black lake towards the castle. The journey was surprisingly short, though that might have been because I couldn't tear my eyes away from the castle. Once we had reached an underground harbor, we clambered out onto rocks and pebbles, before following Hagrid up a passageway and coming out onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. We walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door which Hagrid knocked three times upon. The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face. The first thought that crossed my mind was the fact that she was not someone to cross, but then, as I looked at her more closely, I saw that she in fact looked familiar to me, as though I had known her a long time ago. I soon got rid of that theory. There was no way I could have met her before since my Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would never associate themselves with a witch or wizard.

'The firs' years, Professor McGonagall,' said Hagrid, snapping me from my thoughts.

'Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.' replied Professor McGonagall as she scanned the crowd of first years.

She must be looking for someone, I thought before following her into the actual castle and into empty chamber off the main hall.

'Welcome to Hogwarts,' said Professor McGonagall, though her eyes still seemed to be looking for someone. 'The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be like your family. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking -' she looked down the front at me and Ron, but once she found my eyes, she didn't look away. Instead she searched my face and I could see that her eyes were now filled with pain, joy and sadness. ' - will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour.' McGonagall forced her eyes away from me. 'I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.'

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. I nervously tried to flatten me hair.

'I shall return when we are ready for you,' said McGonagall, taking once last look at me, before leaving the room.

'How exactly do they sort us into houses?' I whispered to Ron.

'Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking.' replied Ron.

Fred was one of his old brothers, whose twins name was George. I had met them on the train and they seemed very nice, but I also got the feeling that they like to pull pranks and have fun, so I dismissed the thought of it being a test. After all, maybe half of my fellow first years would have come from a Muggle family and they would have about as much knowledge of the wizarding world as my cousin Dudley. Well, except for Hermione, who was currently going on about the books see had memorised and the things she had learnt before coming here.

Ron and I shared a look as she kept going on and on as we were waiting for McGonagall to return. It was going to be a long seven years if we had to listen to her go on like that every day.

It was then that I first met Draco. If you had told me that in my fifth year we would start dating and eventually would get married and have children, I would have told you that you were barking mad. Why? Draco just reminded me strongly of Dudley - who I didn't have a very good relationship with - and when he insulted Ron then suggested we'd be friends...I couldn't. I could never be friends with someone who thought they were better than anyone else, so I turned him down, just before McGonagall arrived back to get us, before leading us into the Great Hall.

The moment I stepped foot into the Great Hall, my jaw dropped. It was unbelievable. Thousands of tall, white candles stood floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. However, what impressed me the most was the ceiling, which had been bewitched to look like the sky, according to Hermione. I found it hard to believe there was a ceiling there and that the Great Hall didn't simply open on to the heavens.

I quickly looked down again as McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. I was confused. Were we meant to do something with this ancient looking hat or what? I looked around at the other first years and they looked equally confused, while the teachers and older students sat there in complete silence looking at the hat, as though expecting it to do something. I turned my attention back to it in time to see it twitch before a rip near the brim opened and it began to sing. I stood there stunned as it sung its song, before hesitantly clapping with the rest of the school as it fell quiet and still once more.

McGonagall then stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

'When I call your name, you will come forth, I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses.' she said. 'Abbott, Hannah!'

I mildly watched the sorting before turning my attention to the teachers. Right in the middle of the teachers table I recognised Albus Dumbledore - I had seen a picture of him on the Hogwarts Express - and saw that he was watching the sorting and he seemed sort of impatient, for he kept glancing at the rest of us first years. Frowning, I saw that the seat on his right was empty and assumed that it belonged to McGonagall, before looking to his left and my eyes studied a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin. Then, as though this teacher knew that I was looking at him, he glanced over and looked at me directly in the eyes, with a small amount of curiosity in them and another emotion that I couldn't decipher. In fact, this teachers body language was different to the other teachers. While there emotions could be seen quite clearly, this teacher's couldn't.

We stared at each other were about a minute, before he looked away and whispered something to Dumbledore, while I turned my attention back to the sorting to watch as Hermione eagerly hurried forward, before being sorted into Gryffindor. Ron groaned beside me. He didn't want her to be in that house since he was likely to be going in there.

Soon there wasn't many people left and I knew that it would soon be my turn to be sorted. "Moon", "Nott", "Parkinson", then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" then "Perks, Sally-Anne" and then, at last - 'Potter, Harry!'

As I stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

'Potter, did she say?'

'The Harry Potter?'

I knew that I was probably going to be in for a long year if everyone was going to constantly whisper about me, but amongst all the whispering, I noticed Dumbledore sit up straighter along with the hooked-nose teacher and saw they were both looking at me curiously, as was McGonagall. The rest of the teachers just looked interested, so why were these three teachers acting differently?

The last thing I saw before the hat dropped over my eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at me. Next second I was looking at the black inside of the hat. I waited, wondering what was going to happen.

'Hmm,' said a small voice in my ear, making me start slightly. 'Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind either. There's talent, my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, and - now that's interesting...So where shall I put you?'

I blinked, wondering what was interesting at first, but decided to think "Not Slytherin", over and over again in my head. I didn't want to go there. I had heard horrible things about that house and I didn't want to have a bar of them.

'Not Slytherin, eh?' said the hat. 'Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that - no? Well, if you're sure - better be GRYFFINDOR!'

The last word wasn't said in my ear, but rather shouted out to the rest of the hall. I relaxed. I was likely to be with Ron and away from Draco who had been sorted into Slytherin.

Grinning, I felt the hat being pulled off my head. I glanced over at McGonagall and she seemed to be fighting the urge to smile. Odd.

Shrugging it off, I went and sat across from Hermione with my new house mates and before long, Ron was sitting next to me, looking relieved. I laughed and turned my attention to Dumbledore, who had risen to make a speech.

'Welcome,' he said. 'Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.'

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins, while the hooked nosed teacher looked at me knowingly. Did he expect me to be the same as the Weasley twins or something? And if so, why did he think that?

'I have also been asked by Mr Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death.'

I laughed lightly. The headmaster couldn't be serious, could he? I mean, what kind of school would hold something that could result in the death of a student.

'He is not serious, is he?' I asked Ron's other brother Percy who was the Gryffindors male Prefect.

'Oh, he's being serious.' said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. 'It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere - the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least.'

'Now let the feast, begin.' said Dumbledore, clapping his hands together and making food appear on the table in front of them.

I had never seen so much food and began to pile nearly every type of food in reach onto my plate, not caring with anyone thought of me as a pig. I was hungry and I had never seen such lushy food before.

Anyway, during dinner I spoke with my new friends and house mates about our family's - though I remained silent not wanting everyone to know of my home life - and I had to admit that I was extremely jealous to hear what kind of family life they had. I wished that I had stories of loving parents, though Neville never spoke of his parents only his grandmother. I did not pry as to why he did not mention them. I was sure he had a good reason not to mention them.

Dinner went by with no dramas and I was soon following Percy and the rest of the Gryffindor first years to the Gryffindor Tower where the Gryffindor common room was located. I soon discovered that the entrance to the tower was guarded by a fat woman in a pink silk dress, known as the Fat Lady.

'Password?' she said as we stopped in front of her surprising me. I knew portraits could move but I didn't know that they could talk too.

'Caput Draconis,' answered Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall which we all then scrambled and into the Gryffindor common room, a cosy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

We then went our separate ways. The female first years went to their dormitory while I went with Ron, Neville, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas to the boys dormitories. This was the part that I was dreading most. For some reason I had never been comfortable sharing a dorm or anything with other boys, though I don't know why.

Any who, while the other boys got changed into their pyjamas - how I wished they used the bathroom to change like me - I sat averting my gaze and staring across the moonlit lake. Even when my dorm mates went to bed, I sat there thinking. Thinking about what I had left behind and thinking about what was about to come.

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Written: 10 January 2012
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