Harry Potter
I don't own Harry Potter; I'm just playing in JK's sandbox. New writer, constructive criticism please.
Harry slumped miserably on his bed in the smallest bedroom in Privet Drive, nothing in the room belonged to him, it was all broken and discarded items that his cousin Dudley had broken within a few weeks of getting. Harry never got anything new, so he quite often managed to fix Dudley's broken items. He never told anyone about how good he was at fixing items. Uncle Vernon had thrown him up the stairs after the incident at the Zoo and been told to stay in his room. He had no idea how the glass enclosure managed to disappear and allowed the snake to escape. He didn't understand how Uncle Vernon thought it was his fault, but then again anything that happened was automatically blamed on Harry.
His Aunt Petunia and cousin Dudley weren't too bad when Uncle Vernon wasn't there. Aunt Petunia would slip him extra food on the sly to supplement his meagre rations that Vernon insisted on. Dudley would leave him alone for the most part except when Vernon was around, at the moment Uncle Vernon was encouraging Dudley to hit Harry with his Smelting's stick at every opportunity. Harry could see the reluctance on Dudley's face. The cousins had spoken, and Dudley knew it was wrong but was too afraid of his Dad to disobey. Uncle Vernon would often mutter he'd prefer Harry to be completely out of sight and in the cupboard under the stairs, but Aunt Petunia had put her foot down and said that the neighbours would talk if they ever found out. That was the only time Aunt Petunia had ever dared defy him.
The next morning whilst Harry was cooking breakfast, the letterbox rattled, and Uncle Vernon snapped at Harry to fetch the mail. Harry was aware of the tension that filled the morning air and hurried to do as his Uncle bid. He picked up the mail and flicked through it curiously, anything to avoid having to be around his Uncle. To his astonishment, there was a letter addressed to him, the envelope was a curious texture and the ink was a vivid green. He quickly slipped it into his pocket of his baggy jeans and gave the rest of the mail to Uncle Vernon. The Dursley's were completely unaware he had received a letter.
After cleaning up the breakfast dishes and completing his designated chores, thankfully his Aunt Petunia did many of them, he had a normal number of chores for a child of his age. He enjoyed cooking and thinking about pursuing a career in cookery. Aunt Petunia had taught him everything she knew and then knowing how much Harry enjoyed cooking, happily passed the chore on, letting Vernon know that Harry hated cooking, and this would teach him responsibility.
Uncle Vernon went to work, Aunt Petunia out to the garden and Dudley was with friends somewhere in the neighbourhood, Harry slipped up to his room and excitedly took the envelope out of his pocket. He carefully opened it, not wanting to tear the expensive looking envelope, took out the letter, which was heavier than actual paper, felt more like parchment he thought. He read the letter in disbelief, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Well that would explain a lot of the strange occurrences that happen around him he thought.
Harry walked down the street with a shopping list from Aunt Petunia, because Uncle Vernon wasn't due to be home for hours, he didn't have to hurry. He decided to drop by one of the neighbours that he was quite close with, Remus Lupin. Remus Lupin was pretty cool for an older guy. He lived by himself and worked on restoring rare and antique books. He always listened to Harry and made him feel valued and important, he always understood when weird things happened. Harry decided to show him the letter to see what he made of it. Maybe he had read references in his antique books.
Remus beamed when he saw Harry at the door, he always enjoyed Harry's visits and wished he could tell Harry about his parents and who he was to Harry. He had a feeling that when he told Harry the truth that he wouldn't forgive him, but he knew that keeping Harry in the dark and safe was more important right now. Nobody knew that Remus lived near Harry, everyone thought he was living somewhere in Europe, having left when the Potters had been killed. He was still a bit sore that everyone thought he was the traitor within the order.
Welcoming Harry into the house, he offered tea and sandwiches, he knew about Harry's home life and tried to supplement his meals. Harry smiled gratefully and told Remus the story of the Zoo and of receiving the bizarre letter. Remus smiled and mentioned he was aware of that school due to the fact he had been a student there. Harry gaped at him. Remus took out his wand and showed it to Harry, he called out Athena and an owl fluttered to his arm. Remus then accioed parchment and a quill for Harry to respond to his Hogwarts letter. Harry still shocked from the revelation numbly picked up this quill, looked at it a bit strangely and wrote his response to Hogwarts. Remus then attached the parchment to Athena and sent her off.
Remus then took a deep breath and proceeded to tell Harry about his parents and fame and the reasons why Harry wasn't allowed to live with him. Harry absorbed all that and then left in shock, he couldn't believe his kindly neighbour was his Dad's best friend and was magical. He took the news about Remus being a werewolf calmly and thought it was pretty cool, after all which eleven year wouldn't. He walked home with the shopping Aunt Petunia requested and then stopped in horror when he realised, he would have to tell Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon about his acceptance to Hogwarts.
Harry arrived home and put away the shopping quietly and decided to bite the bullet and tell Aunt Petunia his news before Uncle Vernon got back. His Aunt took the news calmly and said she had expected this day to come and was already preparing arguments to Vernon to allow Harry to go. She said Harry had better make himself scarce for the rest of the evening once Vernon was home.
Next morning at breakfast, Uncle Vernon stared at Harry balefully and agreed that he could go to Hogwarts and cited the fact he wouldn't have to see Harry for 10 months of the year as the reason for letting him attend. Dudley smiled at Harry when Vernon wasn't looking and gave him a thumbs up.
Remus excitedly took Harry to Diagon Alley for his school stuff, he was so relieved that he no longer had to hide magic from him. Harry asked what felt like hundreds of questions about magic, his parents and anything else he could think of. They hit Gringotts first to pick up wizarding money for his school supplies, Remus instructing Harry on Goblin greetings and the importance of respecting them, after all they do look after his money. Harry took on board all these words of wisdom and retained if for future use.
After picking up all his textbooks and various other texts that caught his eye, Remus discreetly making sure they were appropriate for his age. They headed to Madame Malkins to be measured for school uniform and robes. Both entered the shop and were greeted warmly by the owner who told Harry to hop up on a platform. A platinum blonde haired boy was up on the platform next to him also getting fitted for school robes. He looked at Harry considering and introduced himself as Draco Malfoy, Harry also introduced himself. Draco didn't give much away except to flick his eyes up to look for the scar which was the mark of the Boy – Who – Lived. He could barely see it; it was just a silvery mark lighting bolt shape. He asked about the scar and Harry shrugged and commented that it had been very visible and red until about a year ago in which he had been involved in a hit and run with a car and since then the scar had just faded. Draco then turned the discussion to Hogwarts houses which Harry didn't know anything about. Draco delighted to show off his knowledge proceeded to tell Harry everything he knew. Remus stepped in at one point and corrected Draco on the sorting process which Draco had said was a 30-minute magical exam. Both boys hung on to Remus's explanation of how the sorting was a closely guarded secret and he didn't want to spoil it for them.
Just then the door of the shop chimed, and a dark figure swept in, Draco greeted the man and introduced him to Harry and Remus. Severus Snape greeted them both politely but dispassionately and hurried Draco out the shop as they still had plenty more shopping to do. Remus explained to Harry who the man had been and to study ahead in his classes as he was a very demanding teacher and gave some tips of books to read ahead in.
Once Harry had all his school supplies and Remus had bought him a beautiful snowy owl for his birthday. They headed back to Privet Drive. Remus came in and spoke briefly to Aunt Petunia that he would see Harry off to King's Cross Station and to school safely. Petunia sighed in relief; she had been worried about how to get Harry to London without Vernon going mad.
Finally, the first of September had arrived, and Remus would be arriving soon to take him to King's Cross station. Harry was excited and nervous. He had read all his textbooks and thought he had a decent understanding in most of the subjects. He was most excited about Potions as he likened it to cooking. Remus had told him stories of his parents' academic achievements and he didn't want to let them down, so had resolved to do his very best in all subjects.
Remus had taken him to the station via Apparation, Harry wasn't convinced he had liked it, it felt like he had left his stomach behind in Privet Drive. They had arrived at King's Cross Station in plenty of time and Remus showed Harry the trick to getting on to the platform as it was hidden from Muggles. Harry climbed abroad the gleaming scarlet express train and Remus helped him to find a compartment and stow his luggage, a few more bits of last-minute advice and Remus left.
Harry sat in his compartment watching families drop off their children. He had his Potions book on his lap as he wanted to review it again before arriving. A young girl approached his compartment dragging her trunk, he leaped up to help her stow it away. They introduced themselves to each other, Hermione Granger politely thanked him for the help and proceeded to chatter away about everything she had learned so far about Hogwarts and the four houses that were named after the Hogwarts Founders. Harry was overwhelmed by all the information that was being flung at him. Harry asked her to slow down a bit to allow him to absorb the information. That little bit of advice would stick with her the rest of her Hogwarts career. She realised that everyone absorbed information and understanding at different rates and not everyone would be able to keep up with her.
The train finally started to move, Harry and Hermione grinned at each other in excitement. They chattered about various subjects until they were interrupted by a shy chubby boy who asked if they had seen a toad. They answered in the negative and the boy was about to leave dejected. Harry asked a passing older student if they had an ideas on how to find the toad, the older student Oliver Wood accioed the missing toad. Neville grinned in relief and thanked Oliver gratefully. Harry and Hermione introduced themselves to Neville, who ended up sitting with them the rest of trip to Hogwarts, the three of them got to know each other and all secretly hoped they would be in the same house.