Chapter One

1991

HARRY

James was taking Harry to Platform 9 and 3/4 for his First Year at Hogwarts. His son was using his walking stick that doubled as his new Holly and Phoenix Feather wand. You see, Harry is blind. It was a consequence of the dark magic that Voldemort unleashed ten years ago in Halloween of 1981. Harry was an inquisitive child. That was a downside of the blindness, he couldn't read as much as he wanted to. The startling green eyes he inherited from his mother were glazed over. But luckily for him, when he was young, his father showed him he could still read with magic, something called the 'braille spell'. The spell translated the words on the paper into a muggle language called braille, which was a language for the blind to read, the spell changes the words into braille which Harry learned to read shortly thereafter.

The father and son walked onto the platform and Harry hugged his father, then got on the train. On the train he listened around for an empty compartment, which he finally found. He closed the door behind him and sat down. After sitting down for a few minutes someone knocked on his compartment door. He listened for a minute before he decided to let the person in. Harry got up and opened the compartment. In walked a boy who smelled like mud and horse shit, he could tell he was tall by the length of time his footsteps took to hit the ground.

The boy sat down on the seat opposite from where Harry was sitting.

"Sorry, everywhere else was full," he was lying, his breathing and heart rate increased, "I'm Ron, Ron Weasley."

"Harry Potter." he said curtly, hoping to dissuade Ron from talking to him.

"Bloody hell! Do you have the, you know," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "do you have the scar?"

Harry only nodded. It seemed the other boy was expectant, probably waiting for an answer. When he didn't get one, Harry could literally smell the anger coming off of him. He could hear Ron about to answer when the door abruptly opened. It was a female, she smelled of lemons, she looked at the two of them and let out a slight gasp at seeing him, he wasn't sure if it was because he's blind or because he's Harry Potter.

"Um, have either of you two seen a toad? Neville's lost one." asked the girl.

"I haven't seen one, but I'll help you look for it." Harry offered.

"Thanks." he could tell she was smiling.

He nodded, got up, grabbed his cane, and gave a half-hearted wave to Weasley. The two of them left the compartment. He heard the boys noise of frustration after he closed the door.

"So Lemon Girl, what's your name?" Harry asked with a smirk.

The girl blushed, not that he could see, and mumbled something.

"What was that?" he asked, confused.

"Hermione Granger. And how did you know I had lemon shampoo?" she asked, her voice brimming with curiosity.

"I'm blind, don't know if you could tell," said Harry sarcastically, "so my other four senses are stronger. Being magical means that my other senses instead of being an 11, they're dialed at like 15 or something."

"Were you born blind? I don't think I read anywhere that Harry Potter was blind. If you weren't born blind, how did you become blind?" she fired off at 3,000 mph.

"Woah, woah, woah, relax Lemon Girl. One question at a time," he chuckled, "okay so first I wasn't born blind. Second you won't hear a lot of truth in those Boy-Who-Lived books. Did you read Harry Potter and the Midnight Dragon?" Hermione responded with a yes, "Well at the time that book was written I was 7 and I could barely read braille, let alone fight a 5,000 year old dragon. And finally, I became blind on the day of Halloween 1981. So on that fateful night I got three reminders of Voldemort," she gasped and he rolled his eyes, "my mother died, I was made blind, and I got my trademark lightning bolt scar on my forehead."

She never responded to him. They spent the rest of the train ride searching for Neville's pet toad, Trevor, only stopping for a few minutes so he could put his school robes on. When the train finally arrived Hermione helped guide him to the boats, she helped him into the boat which had two other occupants. The first was another tall boy, taller than Weasley, who smelled of chocolate and peppermint, who introduced himself as Dean Thomas. The second was a slightly chubby boy who smell of grass, he was Neville.

They talked for a few moments until he heard the other three gasped. He looked at Hermione and arched an eyebrow, she seemed to understand and started describing the castle. He could picture the whole thing, tall stone towers looming over the green foliage of Scotland, bright lights coming from the windows of the castle, and the lake underneath them so black it reflected the lights from the castle.

As they arrived at the shore on the other side he heard a deep and gruff, but gentle sounding, voice order them to wait in the room for Professor McGonnagall. After a couple minutes a woman walked in, she smelled of cat and parchment. She started talking in her strict voice, but it also held a slight bit of gentleness to it as well. She explained the history of the Hogwarts Houses. Then she walked out into the Dining Hall and came back a few moments later, and ordered them into the Dining Hall.

Everyone gasped and he heard Hermione say something about Hogwarts: A History. He assumed it was the night sky ceiling, he could feel the magic radiating off of it. Once everyone settled down Professor McGonnagall began calling people up. Hermione got into Gryffindor, Neville also got Gryffindor, although Harry could hear him muttering about Hufflepuff, a boy by the name of Draco Malfoy got into Slytherin, and finally he got called up. The whole hall went silent. He walked towards the stool, the only sound in the room was his walking stick hitting the stone floor and echoing throughout it. When he finally got there he sat down and waited for the hat. The hat finally plopped onto his head.

Harry Potter, you've been on quite a few minds tonight. Don't worry though we won't talk about that, let's talk about sorting you. the hat whispered into his mind.

Thank you. Harry thought back.

Now let's see what's best for you, the hat muttered, loyal, yes, very loyal, but no that's not right. Wise, just like your mother. You're very cunning and ambitious as well, but Slytherin is not the place for you, Harry Potter. The only other place is Gryffindor, luckily you possess all of Godric's traits in spades. So the place for you will be..."

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat was pulled off of his head and he started walking to where he heard the deafening cries of 'We've got Potter!'. He jumped off of the slight stage that was there and headed towards the smell of lemons and grass. He sat down in between Hermione and Neville. The sorting went on for a few more minutes. Dean got Gryffindor and started heading towards us. Ron also got Gryffindor but didn't come near them, instead went to where the smell of hard liquor was coming from. He heard Ron greet the boy as Seamus, so that's who he was.

After the sorting finished he heard Dumbledore stand up and start to speak. His voice had a gentle grandfather feel to it, but there was also a sinister and manipulative undertone to it.


HERMIONE

She was looking at the boy. Harry Potter. He was an anomaly she couldn't figure out. He had long raven coloured hair that framed his slightly tanned face. His emerald green eyes were glazed over, a result of his blindness she now knew. His bangs were pushed to the right which allowed her to see his famed lightning bolt scar, it nicked into his left eyebrow slightly. He was tall and a little scrawny, but he was still a little attractive. She was about to start talking to him when the headmaster stood up to speak.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

The colours of his outrageous robes were still burned into her retinas. Food of all types appeared in front of her eyes. She looked over to tell Harry when she saw him sniff and reach for certain things. It was amazing. He moved with such practiced grace she almost forgot he was blind. Her eyes were wide and staring, her mouth hung open too, she couldn't believe how normal he was acting. He was talking with Dean and Neville like he didn't have some crippling handicap. She finally remembered herself and started eating the food on her plate, whilst still looking at Harry out of the corner of her eyes.

It was good food. Slightly greasy. But still good. She looked up at the staff table and started looking at all the staff members.

Of course there was Professor Dumbledore, with his bright orange and purple robes, and tall lime green wizard hat. His half moon spectacles were over his nose as he ate, showing her his sky blue eyes. He had a long beard that could've been tucked into his belt twice and still would have touched the floor. His hair wasn't as long, he had silver hair, pulled back into a frizzy ponytail.

The next person down the line was her head of house, Professor McGonnagall. She was wearing dark green robes and a dark green witches hat. Covering her fern coloured eyes were square framed glasses.

Next to her was the Potions professor, Professor Snape. Normally she respected her teachers, but she didn't know what to think of him. He was wearing all black robes and had shoulder length greasy greying black hair and sunken beetle black eyes. His skin was sallow and pale, and a sneer seemed to be a permanent fixture on his face.

He was talking to Professor Quirrel, the DADA professor. The professor was a short man, standing at about 5'3", and had a paranoid and panicked look on his face. On his head was a purple turban that matched his purple robes. She couldn't see the hair on his head, but he had some slight auburn stubble on his jawline.

After him was the diminutive Charms professor, Professor Flitwick. He looked to be about 4'7". He had ear length balding white hair, with a white goatee. His hair had little flecks of brown throughout it. He was wearing a nice dress robe that looked like the suits her dad would wear to work.

One of the two people he was talking to was Rubeus Hagrid, the groundskeeper of Hogwarts. He was a very tall man. Understatement. He was about 9 feet tall. His hair and beard were wild and untamed. Even though he looked threatening his brown eyes were gentle and caring. He was wearing a torn coat, with patches and pockets all over it, torn pants, and big huge work boots. And leaning against the table next to him was a pink umbrella.

The other person and the last of the professors that were there was Professor Sprout, the Herbology professor. She was plump with grey hair and soft brown eyes. She was wearing some dirty robes that looked hastily cleaned and brushed off.

Dumbldore finally stood up and cleared his throat, waiting to make an announcement. She looked at him attentively. Scanning over the 'greatest wizard in the world'. So far she was unimpressed, but there was more to see.

"Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start of term notices to give you." said the headmaster. "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. I've 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. Also 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. Finally I must introduce you to our new History of Magic professor, Professor Nathair Ryder."

The woman he pointed to had just arrived. She was incredibly beautiful, most of the older boys and some girls were looking at her with lust in their eyes. Her hair was a lilac colour, she was wearing glasses over her eyes, which were a very odd sight. They were same colour as her hair, but a lighter shade, and she had square pupils. She wasn't wearing dress robes like all the other professors, instead she was wearing a black turtleneck and dark blue jeans. Hermione looked at Harry and saw him smirking. She was about ask why he was smirking when Dumbledore started talking. It made her growl quietly, every single time she wanted to talk Dumbledore seemed to speak.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore.

Hermione noticed that the other teachers smiles had become rather fixed. Dumbledore pulled out his wand and told them to pick a tune, and everyone but the entire Slytherin table, her, Harry, Dean, and Neville started singing the awful song. Everyone was off key, it was terrible.

After everyone finished singing, Dumbledore said something about music being 'a magic beyond what we do here.' Hermione scoffed. Yeah right, she thought, if music was a type of magic then they would do it here. The prefects began leading them to the portrait entrance to Gryffindor Tower. She grabbed Harry's hand and helped him get there. Once everyone got to the entrance, the only delay being a poltergeist named Peeves, the prefect named Percy turned to them and said the password, which was 'Caput Drcaonis'.

This was her new and she wanted to stay here. It's already better than the muggle world, she's already got 3 friends here and she's only been in the Wizarding World for a day. It took her 3 years of school to get a friend, even though that friend was just pulling a prank on her. I think I could get used to this, she thought.