Harry absent mindedly adjusted his robes on him.

He was thankful that Hogwarts had black robes for their uniform, but the fact that they were simple black robes with not much to distinguish them from any other set of robes in the world annoyed him quite a bit. This wasn't proper garb. His mother would laugh at him for wearing a dress regardless, but she'd be less mean about it if it was at least a cool set of robes.

To that end, Harry had decided to get his own set of custom robes. Because the villain needed to have the coolest clothes, and having the same plain robes as everyone else just wouldn't do. Something over the top and unique would do. To that end, instead of the robes that would cover the entirety of his body, Harry had instead opted for what amounted to a trenchcoat that could pass as a robe, in black leather of course.

He wore it open, with no shirt underneath. If you've got it, flaunt it, his mother often said, and as such, Harry found himself flaunting the body he'd gained from the martial arts training he'd undergone. After seeing his auntie Ku Fei and what she could do with just plain old physical training, Harry had been inspired, and thus joined her and his father as they practiced and trained themselves. Even if neither really needed the training, as Ku Fei was recognized as the greatest living martial arts master and his father was the most powerful mage recognized in actuality, they still trained every day, and Harry had joined them as soon as he was able.

It'd taken a long time for him to come up to any level that he considered acceptable, but hearing both his father and auntie praising him for his progress was very nice. Particularly given the fact that it was part of what little time he could share with his father, who was always busy.

All that training had resulted in Harry turning the body of what could've been a scrawny little boy into something that quite resembled his father during his youth. He had no bulging muscles, as they'd just be a nuisance, but he had a physique that promised very much when he became just a bit older.

His strange manner of dress was noticed, both in King's Cross as well as Platform nine and three quarters.

Both the normal people and the wizards and witches seemed to be quite surprised to find him, though he was thankful about the fact that they limited it to just staring. He was struggling to remember what it was he'd forgotten that morning, and distractions really wouldn't help.

"Excuse me-" someone called, behind him, and something smashed onto his back, throwing him to the ground.

Normally, this would've resulted in a few scrapes and the like, but Harry had taken rougher tumbles before with no injury, and as such, he merely raised an eyebrow as he stood back up.

"Oh shi- I'm so sorry!" a rather high pitched and frantic voice yelled, as the girl driving the cart that had tried to run him over came running to the front of her cart, clearly worried about what had just happened.

Harry looked at her. The most noticeable feature about her was her incredibly bushy hair. The only other noticeable thing were her abnormally large front teeth. Otherwise, she was somewhat plain and bland in appearance. "Oh, no, don't worry. It was an accident," Harry said with a smile that came easily to him, his manners taking over. "Here, let me help you," he said, as he lifted a few of the things that had been knocked off her cart and put them back where they belonged.

"I'm really sorry, though, I should've been watching where I was going," she said, shaking her head, "oh, I've only just crossed the gate and I'm already in trouble!"

Harry waved his hand, almost as if he could dispell her worries by doing so, smiling at her and placing a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him. "I told you, don't worry. It was just an accident, you couldn't have seen me there. It was my fault for standing there in the first place. You have nothing to apologize for."

"Thank you, but I really must-" she tried again, but was cut off as Harry laughed.

"Allow me to claim fault for this. It's my duty as a gentleman," he said, nodding at her.

"Thank you..." she said, with a small blush on her face. Even if her appearance was mostly plain, she did blush quite cutely. "I- err- my name- I mean- I'm Hermione. Hermione Granger..." she said, almost shuffling in place.

He smiled and nodded. "Nice to meet you, Hermione. I'm Harry Springfield," technically his name wasn't Springfield, but he didn't really care. Dumbledore had told him that Harry Potter would be recognized by name, but Harry Springfield would not, and both his mother and father had told him that being recognized and thus not allowed to move about freely was quite annoying.

"Nice to meet you, too," Hermione said with a smile.

The sound of a loud whistle caught them both by surprise, though, and she squeaked. "Ah! I've got to rush! I'll go pick a compartment... would you mind riding with me?"

"Ah, sure," Harry said with a nod and a smile. "I'm waiting for my maid to bring me my luggage, but I'll catch up with you in a minute."

"That sounds alright," she said. Hermione blushed a little once more, nodded and departed.

Harry nodded and waved at her as she left. Then he blinked and looked around oddly. "Ah... I just failed at being evil again, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did, Master," a calm, cold and robotic voice told him, as a green haired young woman wearing a french maid outfit appeared walking through the portal.

"Mother will be disappointed," Harry said, frowning slightly.

"She'd say that you are just like your father, Master," the maid said, nodding.

Shaking his head, Harry sighed. "Do you have everything?"

"Affirmative," the maid said, nodding, "shall we go?"

"Yes. Let's board the train. I'll see if I can find Hermione."


Villainous Comeback

Chapter 2: Eviler Than Thou


"I've heard Harry Potter is in this train. Is that true?" a platinum blond boy asked.

It really was the most striking part of him that Harry saw, as the boy stepped in his line of sight. Even though the boy was effeminately pretty, very much so, Harry had seen prettier boys before. The hair kind of reminded him of his mother's, though it was a few shades too light. Maybe closer to auntie Ayaka's hair color.

The green haired maid was stopped from progressing as two burly boys who seemed to have some troll ancestry stepped on either side of the blond.

"Yes. I am he, though I'd much prefer if you refer to me as Harry Springfield," Harry said, holding back the comment that he wished to make, about the boy's rudeness.

"Good. I am Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," the blond said. "You will soon learn that some families are better than others, Potter, and you don't want to be seen making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there, I know who all the right sort are," he said, with a smug smile on his face, offering his hand. "What do you say?"

"Right sort? Wrong sort?" Harry asked, frowning slightly in confusion. "Under which criteria are you judging people? Is it based on alignment? Are you one of those goody two shoes who discriminates against everyone who's not Lawful Good?"

"W-What?" Draco asked, clearly confused by the questions, withdrawing his hand and scratching himself just above the ear as he tried to make sense of it. "What in blazes-"

"I'm afraid I am going to have to decline, in that case. Not only is it awfully rude to exclude others based on such lousy labels as their alignment, but I can't be seen having goody two shoes as allies if I'm going to be the Final Boss who takes over the world," Harry said, nodding to himself.

"That's true, Master. Your mother and father, but mostly your mother, would be proud of your reasoning," the green haired maid said.

Harry nodded to the maid with a smile. "So, I apologize, but I am afraid I can't join your organization, or club, or group. But we can be friends, right?" he asked, patting Draco's shoulder.

"I... Think... What..." Draco said, shaking his head. "Sure. Whatever."

Harry smiled at him. "Great! Now, I did promise my new friend Hermione that I would meet with her, so I'm afraid I am going to have to cut our conversation short. Perhaps next time you could introduce me to your friends, as well?" he said, before waving. "I shall see you later, Draco!"

The maid rushed after him, leaving Draco there, looking kinda stunned.

"The hell just happened?" he asked, mostly to himself.


"A toad?" Harry asked, tilting his head slightly. "No, I have not seen it. My apologies, but do you mind if I help you search?"

"Master. You have an appointment," the maid said.

"Ah, yes, I do. Apologies once more, but you must excuse me, for I really must be moving. It was nice to meet you, Neville, but I must depart."

And so they left, leaving a somewhat dumbfounded young boy behind.


"Excuse me, but is a girl named Hermione Granger here, perchance?" Harry asked, after having been invited into the compartment.

"No, I don't know anyone by that name," a dark skinned boy said, replying.

"Yeah, it's just us guys here," another, this one a pale skinned redhead, said.

"Apologies for interrupting you. Cheerio!"

And so he left.

"Weird guy," one of the kids said, as they returned to their cards.


"She's lying. I doubt she'd have met Harry Potter!" a shrill voice said, having been raised.

Hearing his birth name being spoken, Harry turned to the conversation, and then knocked on that compartment's door. He was invited in a few seconds after, and he opened the door.

"Excuse me, but is a girl named Hermione Granger here, by any chance?" he asked, as he looked around and saw that Hermione was, indeed, seated in the compartment. "Ah, there you are! I've had to search quite a few compartments to find you. Apologies for being late," he added, nodding. "Am I interrupting anything?" he asked, seeing the odd faces looking at him.

There were four girls in the compartment. Two of them wore robes, while the others did not. One of those wearing robes was Hermione, who seemed to have changed into her robes first thing upon arrival. The three students he didn't recognize were all reasonably pretty, he mused, but it could very well be the fact that he compared them to the exceptionally plain Hermione unconsciously. Still, he had to become used to the new spectrum of hair colors. At Mahora, there was an abundance of lighter hair colors and few people had darker shades of hair. Well, at least, amongst his family. His classmates had a more subdued palette, but they were still predominantly bright.

"Not at all. Say, you wouldn't happen to be Harry Potter, would you?" one of them asked.

"Why, yes, I do so happen to be Harry Potter, although I much prefer going by my new name, Harry Springfield. It catches less attention, you see?" he said, a smile blossoming on his face.

He thought it was fun, because he couldn't go by Springfield on Mahora or anywhere with a large mage community, simply because his name would be immediately recognized and he'd be swarmed with fans of his father and in one memorable occassion, fans of his mother. And here, he couldn't go with his original name, because people thought he was some celebrity super hero.

That was just shameful. How could they believe that he, of all people, would be a hero? All his heroism was purely accidental, he'd have you know!

"Master. Shall we remain in this compartment?" a calm, robotic and monotonic voice asked.

"Well, we do have space for a few more, don't we?" asked one of the girls.

"These are designed for six seventh years to use, so yes, we do," Hermione said. "I read about it in Hogwarts, A History. Apparently, they decided to stop just short of seven, which is a very magically powerful number, as a joke."

"Granger, we know you've read Hogwarts, A History. You only told us a hundred times," one of the girls said, frowning, "seriously, we get it already."

"Sorry! It's just - I'm really nervous!" Hermione said, apologetically, "aren't any of you nervous or excited?"

"I'm a pureblood, Granger, I'm not going off away from my parents into a world I know nothing about," one of them said. "So, no, I am not."

"Same here," another said.

"I'm a halfblood, but she's my bestie," the third one said, pointing to the girl who'd spoken first, "and I was mostly raised in the magic world anyway."

"I lived in a mixed community, but both of my adoptive parents are magic users, and they can get in contact with me very easily if they need to," Harry supplied.

"I am a magitek product without a real personality. My artificial intelligence is not advanced enough to give me feelings such as anxiety and fear," his maid added.

"... Oh," Hermione said, blinking. "A-Anyway, introductions!"

"Right. Please allow me to introduce myself," Harry said, nodding. "My name is Harry James Potter, but please, just call me Harry. Springfield, if you must. Nice to meet all of you."

"Daphne Greengrass," the first speaker said, flicking her dark hair behind her as she focused her stormy grey eyes on Harry's emerald green ones. "Likewise."

The second, right next to Daphne, smiled and nodded. "I'm Pansy Parkinson. Enchanted," she said with a girlish giggle.

"Tracey Davis," the third one said, copying her friend with a grin, seeing the scowl Daphne sent her way. "the pleasure's all yours, I'm sure."

"Oh, but of course," Harry said, bowing slightly. "Ah, you wouldn't happen to be part of that group that Draco told me about, would you?"

"... That depends. Draco is notoriously unreliable when he is introducing others," Daphne said.

"He's not bad," Pansy defended him. "He's just not very smart."

"Well, look who's talking," Tracey shot at her.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't even know this 'Draco' person."

"Anyway, what group are you speaking about?" Daphne asked.

"Well, I do believe he tried to recruit me for some sort of group. He called them the 'Right' sort, so I assume it is some sort of organization devoted to the upholding of good morals and values, exemplified by those of the Lawful Good alignment. Laudable, but I'm afraid I had to decline. Far be it from me to discriminate based on alignment. As a villain, I can't truly abide organizations of goody goods attempting to subvert my rule, you understand?" he explained, taking a seat next to Tracey, while his maid took a seat next to Daphne.

"What," Daphne asked, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Alignments?" Hermione asked, clearly confused herself.

"I don't get it," Pansy said.

"Oooh, alignments like in Dungeons and Dragons?" Tracey asked, smiling at Harry, then looking somewhat surprised as the other three girls turned to look at her. "What? Roger plays it with his muggle friends... He got an O in muggle studies for it..."

"Something like that," Harry said, raising his hand as if to gesture to emphasize, but then deciding not to. "Ah, but look at me, I'm speaking solely of myself. I'm sure all of you have interesting stories of your own to tell."

"Potter- Springfield, are you telling me that you're trying to be a Dark Lord?" Daphne said, dropping the bomb that she'd been holding.

"That's... that's bad!" Hermione said, causing Daphne to lift an eyebrow and look at her as if she were stupid. "Yes, I know it's obvious," Hermione said, frowning at Daphne.

"Oh, no, not at all," Harry said, shaking his head. "A Dark Lord is such a small time title! I'll be the Evil Overlord!" he said, nodding to himself. "Well, I'm still working on it, anyway."

"Don't you need a proper pseudonym to be an evil Overlord?" Pansy asked. "Evil Overlord Harry just sounds a bit too... plain. You need something impressive, or at least an epithet to your name."

"Every good villain has a cool name," Harry agreed, "but I haven't been able to think of one."

"Are you two paying attention to the conversation you're having?" Tracey asked. "You're seriously talking about this."

"Well, yes, I wouldn't want to walk into this blind," Harry said, "I'd rather be prepared, and mother told me I have to build up myself on my own, since that's how she did when she was young..."

"No, no, I'm not talking about that. I mean, I have the perfect name! How about Vortigern?" she asked.

"Vortigern? What?" Pansy asked.

"King Arthur's grandfather, right?" Harry asked, tilting his head. "Sounds good. I like it. Evil Overlord Vortigern," he said, testing it.

"It's so cool!" Tracey said, giving him a thumbs up.

Daphne scoffed. "Redundancy aside, are you seriously talking about that? Harry Pot- Springfield, as an Evil Overlord? As if! You have 'Hero of the Light' written all over you."

At this, Hermione nodded. "I'm not trying to offend you, Harry, but you're really too nice to be a villain."

But instead of acknowledging her fair and logical point, Harry shook his head. "Just because I'm an evil villain doesn't mean I can't be polite, Hermione," he said. "Really, there is no excuse for rudeness."

"Too true," Pansy said.

"So says the most rude amongst us, the one who didn't even know you're supposed to give your name when you ask for someone else's. Even Draco knows THAT much!" Tracey commented.

Pansy blew a raspberry at her, before pouting and turning her head aside.

Hermione glared at them. "Am I the only one who's still living in a logical world?"

"Welcome to magic, Granger. It doesn't make a lick of sense," Daphne said, shrugging. "I gave up trying to understand it and make sense of it years ago. Trust me, you're better off just letting it go."

"But I can't! He seriously, no joking here, just declared his intention to become an evil overlord, and... and... you're not reacting at all!?" she was starting to raise her tone, so Harry lifted his hand.

"Hermione, please, don't raise your voice," Harry chided, "and... yes, I did indeed state my intended goal."

Truth be told, he didn't really understand what she was reacting so hard to. Everyone knew his mother was evil and nobody made such a big fuzz about it back at home.

"But... you're so nice, how can you be, well, evil?"

Harry laughed.

"There's no reason to be impolite, Granger. Truly, only lesser men resort to rude behavior," Pansy said. "I, for one, welcome our future Evil Overlord Vortigern."

Daphne scoffed once more. "I don't think you're gonna make it as an Evil Overlord. You're too light," she said.

"I assure you I am not," Harry said, frowning slightly. "Why, my father might be a hero, but even he understands the power of Darkness!"

"Aren't the Dark Arts all about hurting another? Frankly, that sounds like an awfully rude and mean thing to do to another," Hermione said with a frown on her face, as if challenging Harry to reconcile his niceness with his evil and his dark affinities.

"Do not confuse the so called 'Dark Arts' with the true power of Darkness, Hermione," Harry said, sagely. "The so called 'Dark Arts' have nothing to do with the element of Darkness. Instead, they are merely a classification of spells whose purpose is purely intended to be inflicting damage or otherwise hurting one's enemies, and sometimes one's allies as well. A disgrace to the name they were given, I assure you!"

At this, the other three looked at him oddly. "Oh, yes? And what, pray tell, is the true 'Darkness' you speak of?"

Harry smiled. "Why, Darkness is just that. Darkness. There's no good and evil in it. It's just power. And it's purpose, it isn't to cause harm, or destroy... No, Darkness doesn't care about such a thing. Darkness doesn't have an opposite, contrary to popular belief. There's no conflict between it and the light. The Darkness consumes everything. Good, evil, light, shadows... everything was once darkness, and everything will return to darkness."

"Huh... That IS an impressive speech about the power of Darkness. You might have it within you to become an Evil Overlord, Potter," Daphne said.

"Please, Miss Greengrass, do call me by the names I asked you to. It's embarrassing to be referred to that way by my peers," Harry said, blushing slightly with an easygoing smile.

"So... you don't practice the Dark Arts?" Hermione asked.

"Of course not. They are the height of rudeness, and an insult to both myself and my parents!" Harry said, shaking his head.

"Sorry," Hermione squeaked, worried that she had offended Harry.

"Nonsense, Hermione, you didn't know any better. You have nothing to apologize for, though I do have to ask you to keep it in mind for the future."

At this, Davis and Parkinson nodded, while Greengrass turned to Hermione. "Not everyone will be as forgiving as Harry, Granger - don't forget that it's an insult to call someone a practitioner of the Dark Arts, as it implies subservience to He Who Must Not Be Named," she explained. "Even those who were actively subservient do not wish to be reminded of that time. So I'd suggest you keep such accusations to yourself."

"It wasn't an accusation, it was an honest question," Hermione defended herself.

"Nonetheless, do try to mind your environment, Hermione," Daphne said. "Now, does anyone have the time?"

"We started moving about an hour ago, so... we've still got quite a ways."

"Good. I'm sleepy. I'm going to take a nap. Don't interrupt it," she warned, before she pulled a set of robes from behind her, which everyone now realized she'd been using as a headrest, and draped them over herself, before she relaxed in her seat.

"Ah, she might have the right idea. I did have quite a long trip on my way to London today, and I am quite tired as well. By your leave, I-"

"You don't have to leave, you know. We'll just talk quietly so you two can sleep," Tracey said.

"Oh. That does sound lovely. I'd rather not have to find an empty compartment so I could sleep," Harry said, nodding. He exchanged seats with his maid, who'd remained so silent that some might've forgotten she was there, and laid comfortably on his seat.

"Master. I shall wake you up when it is appropriate," the maid said, simply.

"You know, I'd almost forgotten she was there. Anyway, what is YOUR story?" Pansy said, turning to the maid.

"See? What'd I tell you? Rude as a knave," Tracey said, shaking her head. "Excuse me, miss, but would you mind forgiving her manners?"

"I am the master's designated Companion. It was originally supposed to be an enchanted doll that would guarantee the master's safety and attend to his needs while at Hogwarts, but due to the Mistress' inability to recall the production process of her enchanted dolls, I was chosen to accompany the young Master here as a replacement. I am here to attend to his needs, but as I am not a combat model, I cannot guarantee his safety," she explained, sitting primly and properly.

"Huh. Your voice sounds all weird and stuff," Pansy commented. "And I didn't know you could bring human servants into Hogwarts. I know some bring elves and some bring familiars with higher functions, but -"

"I am not human," the woman said, simply. "I am an android."

"What's that?" Tracey asked, curious enough to forget her own manners.

"An android is an artificial construct designed to imitate the appearance of a human being. The most advanced process allows for realistic skin and covered joints."

"So you're a very, very realistic golem? Or maybe a homunculus?" Tracey asked.

"Neither. I am an android. I was not created through a magical process," she explained, briefly.

"You're a robot?" Hermione asked, gasping softly. "But I thought it was the thing of Sci-Fi..."

"Correct," the android stated. "My creator has been producing members of the Chacha line of robots for the past thirteen years. As it is too costly and complicated still, mass production has not yet begun."

Hermione's eyes were wide.

"This is incredible... Such an amazing piece of technology here..."

"So, do you mind explaining to us non muggle-savvy folk what any of that means?" Tracey asked.

Hermione looked at them. "You have no idea that you're standing in front of something that will change the world... Okay, okay, let me try to explain..."

And so Hermione set about trying to explain to her new friends what kind of insane milestone of technology they were sitting right next to, while trying to keep her own giddy excitement out of it, as she described the possibility of robots performing the jobs that were too difficult or hazardrous for humans to do.

"So... basically, they're the muggle world's equivalent to house elves?"

Of course, this necessitated an explanation of what House elves were.

Before they knew it, as muggleborn and wizard raised traded information, the time began to fly, as the Hogwarts Express brought them ever closer to the castle that would be their home for the next seven years...