DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER

So, second chapter. In this chapter, Harry heads to Hogwarts. I actually give an opening for a Neville-Harry friendship, but nothing's official yet, so if you don't want Neville to be Harry's friend, let me know. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and that even though this part is pretty much a filler chapter, I still managed to make it at least mildly interesting.

During the past few weeks, Harry had finished the pool, and he had read all his books from Flourish and Blotts. He had also started a conversation with Professor Flitwick through Hedwig, his newly named owl, to find out more about the wizarding world and the 'known' facts about himself, the lost twin of the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry was now up to date on Hogwarts, pureblood customs, the complete first year syllabus, the Boy-Who-Lived tales (which were largely fabricated) and had even read some books about wandless magic abilities and the nature of magic itself.

Harry was a very studious boy who didn't need much sleep and was also pretty fit, due to all the work he had done around Private Drive and throughout Surrey. He didn't look very remarkable, but he made sure to comb his hair, having it stick out only a little bit to have the lightning bolt on his forehead covered at all times.

Therefore, when on the first of September he stepped on to Platform 9 and ¾ , he calmly walked onto the train and sought out a compartment in the middle. Apparently, most people did not arrive at 9 o'clock, but rather chose to come between 9:30 and 9:55 a.m., allowing Harry to read his last book, a book on the Mind Arts, in relative peace. Professor Flitwick had suggested the book because Mind Magics led to a better memory and a faster recall. Harry was so lost in his book that he barely noticed when the train started moving. He did notice, though, when his compartment door opened.

Harry looked up to see a brown-haired boy who was the same height as Harry, had brown eyes and had yet to lose all of his baby fat.

"Hi, sorry for bothering you, but can I sit here please?" The boy asked timidly.

"Yes, sure, come in." Harry responded.

After Harry had helped the boy stow his suitcase away, they settled down again. The boy acted very nervous so Harry decided to try and get him to relax.

"My name's Harry Potter and I'm a halfblood, though I'm Muggle-raised. What about you?" Harry introduced himself, looking the boy straight in the eyes.

"I'm Neville Longbottom, a pureblood, and I was raised by my Gran." Neville introduced himself. He had tensed at the mention of Harry's name but seemed to have calmed down when nothing special happened. "What house do you think you'll be sorted into?"

"A Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, most likely. Gryffindor is not an option because of my twin, and I don't think it's going to be Slytherin because I don't think I'd be welcomed there." Harry replied.

This sparked a conversation about all the houses, with Harry assuring Neville multiple times about his chances of getting into Gryffindor and that Hufflepuff was not a lesser house. When their conversation had slowed, Harry went back to his book, leading Neville to take out a book on Herbology as well.

When the food trolley came around, Harry bought some chocolate frogs and a Sugar Quill. After Neville had explained to Harry about the chocolate frogs and the cards that came with them, they went back to their books.

Suddenly, Neville jumped up.

"What are you doing?" Harry observed coolly, a bit irritated at the interruption.

"I lost Trevor!" Neville cried. At Harry's raised eyebrow, Neville explained about his toad and how he kept losing him. Harry only listened halfheartedly. He had pulled out his wand and was thinking about a way to track Neville's toad.

Harry waved his wand once and muttered, "Accio Trevor."

Neville looked questioningly at Harry, who simply pointed at the compartment door.

"You'll want to open that."

"Uhh, sure thing." Neville opened the door and seconds later, Trevor came floating through.

"Trevor!" Neville exclaimed; he looked elated.

"There you go. Now please calm down." Harry looked at Neville coldly.

"Sure, thank you. But why are you acting so cold all of a sudden?" Neville started mumbling again.

"We'll be arriving at Hogwarts soon and I'm preparing for the imminent meeting with my brother and the rest of the wizarding world. It is for the best if I don't show any interest and act coldly; if I remain in the background, there won't be as many problems for me. I know all the stories which have been spread about me, of how I'm a growing Dark wizard, and of how I was abandoned because my parents claimed I had been infected with Dark magic after Voldemort's defeat." Neville shivered at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, but Harry ignored it and continued on.

"It's for the best if I just avoid the spotlight and let people forget about me. To make this happen, I'm slipping on a mask, if you will, that hides who I truly am. Also, I'm asking you not to tell anybody of this, it would be best if you simply claim you were in a carriage of your own and you do not know me. Is this clear?" Harry had gazed deeply into Neville's eyes as he spoke and his message had clearly made an impact, for Neville simply nodded.

"We can still be friends though, right?" Neville hesitantly asked.

"If you befriend me, there will be some adverse effects on you. I suggest you try and befriend other people first. If by Halloween you have decided you still want to be my friend, then I will consider it. Now, we are close to Hogwarts and I believe it's time to change into my robes. I would suggest you do likewise." This was the last thing Harry said to Neville, and he started changing.

~~~~Scene Break~~~~

Harry crossed the lake in a boat along with the rest of the first years. They all ignored him, and he did likewise.

At the doors of Hogwarts, the students were handed over to a strict looking woman by the name of Professor McGonagall. They were led in to a room next to the Great Hall, and were left behind for a few minutes with the suggestion to "smarten up". It was while she was gone that Harry had his first clear view of his twin in a number of years.

Max Potter. The boy still had all of his baby fat, dark red hair, hazel eyes and was pretty short, and he was carrying a very arrogant air about himself. He was busily explaining to anybody who would listen that he had defeated Voldemort by catching the Killing Curse in his hand and throwing it back at him. According to him, the curse was so strong it had left a cursed scar on his hand, looking a lot like a skull. All of those who were listening looked highly impressed and they kept staring at the boy as if he were the next Merlin.

Harry thought the only way one could see a skull in the scar was by squinting, turning your head almost 90 degrees, and having the light fall at it from a very specific angle. He had also noticed a platinum blonde boy who had his own audience; he was explaining how superior the Malfoy family was to other families.

When McGonagall came back in, the students all followed her and Harry slid in line, far enough away from both Max, the blonde, and the professor.

Once at the front of the hall, McGonagall pulled out an ugly, old hat, which started singing.

(Traditional first year school song, ends on Thinking Cap.)

After everybody applauded, McGonagall started calling names.

Harry observed closely and started forming files in his mental archives; it was the only part of the Mind Arts he had achieved so far, and it was like a huge filing cabinet inside of his head where he could simply make files for everything which interested him, and he could rank them for easy recall.

Neville became a Gryffindor, and he let out a barely audible, but clearly relieved sigh at that. Harry made sure to add a note to the file: Cares a lot about the opinion of his grandmother.

As they came to the P's, it should have been Harry's turn, but Max was called first. This didn't surprise Harry in the least; it was a subtle ploy by Dumbledore to ensure that Max would be seen as THE POTTER, and Harry would simply be ignored as the darkish twin who wasn't worth much.

After 10 minutes of total silence and Max having his expression cycle through shock, disgust, anger, disappointment, more anger, relief, and determination (which came from more anger), the hat yelled out "Gryffindor!"

Students started applauding, but Harry had noticed the frustration which laced the Hat's voice, and judging from the looks from Professor Flitwick and a man with long, greasy black hair, (who Harry thought fitted the description of Professor Snape), he wasn't the only one.

Then, McGonagall called out his name. Making sure his cold exterior was in place, Harry coolly walked up to the stool and let McGonagall place the hat on his head. In the seconds Harry had to judge the hall, more than three quarters of the students believed the lies his family had been spouting about him for the past ten years.

"Ah, the younger Potter." Harry heard a voice in his head. Easily deducing it was the Hat, he simply gave a mental nod.

"Hmm, you have a very sharp intellect, Mr. Potter; very powerful, but courageous, loyal, and cunning to boot. Tell me Mr. Potter, are there any houses you dislike?"

Harry told the hat, after a minute of silence.

"Preferably not with my brother, and if possible, I would like to blend in to the crowd, so Slytherin would be out of the question as well." Harry replied, inwardly frowning at the idea of being in the same house as his brother.

"Very well then; you would fit in with both Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. Yet in Hufflepuff you would be noticeable for your aloof character, so I believe it would be best for your goals if you went to..."

"Ravenclaw!" the Hat yelled out. After a few seconds of silence, the Ravenclaw table started applauding. Harry rapidly started scanning the room to observe the reactions of the student body. The mood at the Slytherin table varied from relieved to puzzled to disappointed. The same could be said for the Gryffindors.

The Ravenclaws clearly didn't know what to think, so they had broken into small discussion groups.

The Hufflepuffs clearly thought he couldn't be too bad if he hadn't gone to Slytherin and simply left it at that.

Harry settled down in an empty spot next to some other first years, and he turned to the sorting, not showing any emotion whatsoever.

The sorting continued and Harry continued his filing. The blonde was indeed a Malfoy, Draco Malfoy to be more precise. Judging from the looks of Max, there appeared to be bad blood between them. Harry noted "potential ally" next to Malfoy's name.

After the sorting had finished, Dumbledore simply told the students to tuck in.

Using the only food-related charm Harry had read about in his books to check for contamination (a charm-and-potion-tracer spell), he received a signal from the chicken legs- which sat in front of him- but nothing else. So he dug in, ignoring the chicken legs. From time to time, Harry looked up to the staff table. One of these times he noticed that Flitwick was absolutely beaming and kept shooting smug looks at the man Harry assumed to be Snape.

As dinner had concluded, Dumbledore explained about forbidden items, a dangerous forest, and the third floor corridor being forbidden due to lethal danger. That certainly killed the mood. Before finishing, he actually called for the students to applaud for Max for a minute, because they all owed their lives to him, according to Dumbledore at least. Most students did so, with only two notable exceptions, the Slytherin table, who were simply ignored, and Harry, who made sure to just sit back and not to draw any attention to himself.

When the applause had ended, Dumbledore ended the feast and sent everybody to their dorms. The Ravenclaw prefects led the first years to the statue of an eagle. Before anybody could ask a question, the eagle spoke up:

"Build me or sink me,

Weight in my belly,

Trees on my back,

Nails in my ribs,

Feet I do lack,

What am I?"

Before either of the prefects could explain, Harry spoke up:

"You are a ship, now please get out of the way, it was a long train ride and I want to sleep."

The eagle simply jumped aside. The prefects looked stunned at Harry's rapid and icy reply, so Harry just walked in and went to the stairs which had a sign with Boys on them, and walked up until he arrived at the door which held a large bronze 1.

He entered the dorm and looked around for a second. In the middle of the room, there was an old fashioned stove. There were four king-sized beds with blue sheets and a bronze raven on their footboards. Harry quickly moved his trunk and placed it in front of his chosen bed, which was equally far away from both staircase and bathroom. Harry then pulled out his wand and drew a nice cobalt blue half-circle around his bed.

The other boys entered, but before they could utter a word, Harry spoke:

"I will be sleeping here and you are not allowed to cross this blue line. I don't care about noise and rubbish, as long as you keep it outside of the circle. I am not very sociable and I don't want to talk to you. I will be placing silencing charms in my area very soon, so I will not react to any noise you make. In case of an emergency, you are allowed to cross the line to alert me. If you alert me without just reason, I will take revenge. Goodnight." Harry kept his icy exterior firmly in place and he looked each of the boys in the eyes, with an ice cold stare to make sure they understood.

When Harry thought they were suitably intimidated, he turned around and started placing the charms he had thought up himself years ago when the Dursleys were still changing.

Charms in place, Harry placed himself in his bed, closed the curtains, and began meditating. The book he had read on the train had explained about Occlumency-the defense of the mind- and Legilimency-the ability to enter other minds- with all the steps needed. Harry hadn't been able to do more than build his file cabinet due to the Welcoming Feast.

Once in trance, he started building a brick room around his mind with a simple door and lock while the file cabinet was at the center of the room. Finished with his defense, he opened his eyes to look at his watch. 2:47 a.m. Harry immediately changed into his pajamas and went to bed.

So that's all for now. I understand that it's early for Harry to already learn Occlumency, but I don't think it is overkill for 2 simple reasons:

-It's a simple brick room with a lock; I mean seriously, anybody who knows Legilimency can get in there.

-Harry will be studious and smart. Voldemort had a great magical talent and Harry will be facing him at some point. I want to at least give the boy a chance.

Please do review if you want to steer the story a certain way; you can PM me or use the polls which should become available at my profile at some point.