SUMMARY
Harry James Potter is the only person to have ever survived the Avada Kedavra curse. Unfortunately, his twin brother, Michael Stephen Potter, is mistakenly proclaimed as the Boy-Who-Lived' instead. As he grows up, Harry becomes withdrawn and distant from his family. However, when Harry and Michael receive their Hogwarts letters, Harry sees it as a chance to finally prove his worth to everyone…
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank…
This website – For providing a forum where people like me can write stuff that people will actually get to see. Also thanks to those who have encouraged this spin-off the 'The Lone Traveller'
J.K. Rowling – They are her characters after all.
CHAPTER TWO – An Interesting First Day.
The next morning, the four boys made their way down to the Great Hall for both breakfast and their timetables, which Snape and several Prefects handed out.
"Looks like we've got Herbology first with Ravenclaw, followed by the History of Magic…" said Roger, reading out his timetable.
"Oh no," groaned Spencer as he read his own one.
"What's up Spence?" asked Blaise.
"History of Magic," said Spencer. "According to Nathan, it's the most boring subject ever because of Binns."
"Binns?" said Roger curiously. "Why, is he a bad teacher?"
"I dunno about 'bad', but according to Nathan, he's the most boring thing in existence," elaborated Spencer. "He's apparently the ghost of a teacher who just died one day in the staffroom without realising it and carried on teaching. He supposedly just drones on and on, oblivious to the fact that no one's paying attention."
"Sounds like a good place to catch up on some sleep to me," quipped Harry as he swallowed a mouthful of Pumpkin juice. He looked at the goblet and frowned slightly. "Why in Merlin's name do I keep drinking this stuff? I don't even like it that much!" he muttered as he put the goblet down and looked at his timetable.
"Well, I've heard that Herbology's quite interesting," said Roger. "All those weird and wonderful plants that… Muggles don't even know exist." Again, Harry noticed that Roger paused slightly before saying the word 'Muggle'. He'll get used to it, thought Harry as he chewed on a mouthful of toast.
"Don't worry," said Spencer. "If you think Herbology's interesting, then you'll love Flying Lessons, whenever we actually get them, not to mention Transfiguration and…"
Before Spencer could continue, everyone's attention turned to the flock of Owls that had just appeared in the Hall and were descending towards the four house tables.
"Looks like a lot of people forgot to bring stuff with them," concluded Spencer as he watched several packages being dropped in front of several students at all four tables.
"Not many on our table, though," noted Blaise.
"Apart from that one," interjected Roger, pointing at one Owl that was heading straight for them.
"Oh Merlin, don't tell me I forgot something," groaned Spencer.
"Well, just as long as it isn't me," said Blaise. "I'd never hear the end of it."
"At least we know it can't be for me," added Roger.
The Owl flew over them, releasing its package as it did so. The small red parcel landed right in front of Harry.
"Oh well, mystery solved," said Roger. He looked at the others and saw the almost horrified looks on their faces. "Um… what's wrong?" He looked at the red package, which the others were looking at apprehensively. "What is that?"
"It's a Howler," whispered Blaise.
"What's a…?" Roger began to ask.
"Something no one ever wants to receive, trust me," interrupted Spencer in an equally quiet voice.
Harry sat there, staring at the Howler and said nothing. I don't understand! Why's someone sent me a Howler? I only got here yesterday. I haven't even had any classes yet, let alone got into trouble, unless someone found out what I did to Cuthbert. But if that's the case, then why hasn't anyone said anything? Surely I would have been punished or something before I started getting Howlers. Oh well…
"Guess I should get this over with," sighed Harry, ignoring the looks he was getting from the Slytherins who had just spotted the Howler sitting in front of Harry. "At least then I'll know who sent this and why." he said as he reached for the Howler and opened it.
Suddenly a booming voice filled the Great Hall, causing every cup, plate, table and piece of cutlery in the vicinity to shake violently.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER!" boomed the voice. "YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPLAINING TO DO!" Oh, Merlin, thought Harry as he recognised the angry voice of his father.
"FIRST YOU UPSET YOUR MOTHER AT KINGS CROSS AND NOW I HEAR YOU'RE NOW A MEMBER OF SLYTHERIN HOUSE!"
Hear? thought Harry, How the hell did you 'hear' I was placed in Slytherin?
"I THOUGHT I'D RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THIS! WHY SLYTHERIN? OF ALL THE HOUSES, WHY SLYTHERIN? MICHAEL EVEN TELLS ME YOU WERE GLAD WHEN YOU WERE PLACED IN THE HOUSE OF THE SERPENT!"
Harry glared at his brother at the Gryffindor table, who he noticed was visibly shaken by the Howler, which was still ranting on about Harry's 'becoming a dirty snake'. So, Michael told you about me being a Slytherin, did he? thought Harry, suppressing his rage. Son of a bitch, that raggedy-scarred excuse for a twin brother ratted me out!
Eventually, the Howler ended with a warning that he would no longer be a part of the family if there was any word of him acting 'like a Slytherin'. Bit late for that threat Dad, smirked Harry. I haven't been a part of the family since that Halloween night ten years ago. Once the Howler's message ended, it burst into flames, leaving a small pile of black ash and a slight scorch mark on the table.
Harry sat back in his chair, closed his eyes and breathed in deeply as everyone in the Great Hall started muttering about the Howler.
"Did you hear that?"
"What did 'e mean by 'upset your mother'?"
"Poor Michael, imagine having a brother like that."
"Merlin's beard! That must be a first. No-one's ever got a Howler on their first day before."
"Who'd've thought Michael Potter's brother would turn out so bad?"
Harry opened his eyes again and got up to leave.
"Harry!" said Roger. "Where're you going?"
"To get my stuff," answered Harry, looking at the remaining food on his plate. "I've kinda lost my appetite."
"Me too," said Blaise, getting up.
"Yeah, and me," added Roger, also getting up.
"Hold on," said Spencer as he stuffed one last sausage in his mouth and took one last swig of Pumpkin juice. "Right, that's my appetite gone too." he added as he stood up.
Harry couldn't help but smile as he and his new friends left the Great Hall together.
XxXxXxXxXxX
The rest of the day went fairly smoothly. Harry had never had much interest in plants and Professor Binns proved to be just as boring as Spencer had said he might be. Astronomy had been equally as uninteresting ("What in Merlin's name does looking at bright dots in the sky have to do with magic?" exclaimed Spencer at one point.) but Charms had more than made up for it…
"Now, students," proclaimed the diminutive Professor Flitwick. "Simply say the words 'Wingardium Leviosa' and point your wands at the feathers before you. Remember, swish then flick and make sure your pronunciation is correct."
After a few seconds, the words 'Wingardium Leviosa' seemed to blare through the classroom as most of the Slytherins tried desperately to levitate their feathers. Harry sat back and watched them waving their wands around frantically. Did anyone actually listen to a word the Professor said? he wondered as Spencer nearly knocked his feather off the table when he tried tapping it with his wand. He took out his own wand and looked at it for a second.
"Great things shall be done with this wand, just like it's brother,"echoed the voice of Mr Ollivander, the wand maker, through Harry's mind. "The Dark Lord performed many great things with this wand's brother – terrible but great things."
He pointed the wand at the feather before him hesitantly. No wonder Dad's pissed off about me being a Slytherin, he suddenly realised. I mean, after all that fuss Mum & Dad made after I got this wand, it's no wonder they wouldn't want me in the house that supposedly produces more dark wizards than any other.
"Harry?" said Roger quietly. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Harry muttered as he watched Blaise's feather levitate about an inch off the table before the spell failed.
"Aren't you going to try it?" Spencer asked as Roger tried and managed to get the feather several inches off the table before it too began to fall again, just as Blaise's had done.
"Wingardium Leviosa," sighed Harry suddenly, swishing and flicking his wand as he said this. The feather immediately started floating upwards. Many of Harry's fellow Slytherins stopped what they were doing and stared at the feather, trying to figure out whose it was. Harry put his wand down on the table and stared at the feather. Let's see 'em figure this out, thought Harry as he made his feather do a flip in mid-air. There were several involuntary gasps, one of which came from Professor Flitwick as he and the other students scanned the classroom, trying to find the one who was controlling the feather. Betcha these idiots're looking for someone using a wand, thought Harry. I just hope I get a chance to learn more wandless magic soon, I mean, I'll be damned if all I can ever do without a wand is levitation and summoning!
After sending the feather flying around the classroom, making it perform several kinds of aerial acrobatics as it went, Harry pointed at the feather, then at the desk in front of him and muttered "Accio feather." The feather suddenly shot from it's position just above Cuthbert Garrett, who had been allowed to start classes just after lunch, to it's original place on the desk in front of Harry.
As the feather landed in front of him, Harry noticed that everyone's stares had now turned toward him. He sat back in his chair and smirked. "Let's see Michael beat that."
"How did you do that?" Blaise asked as the class ended.
"Yeah, Harry," added Roger. "That was great!"
"But how'd you do it without a wand?" questioned Spencer. "The controlling, I mean."
Roger looked at Spencer curiously. "You mean, Harry shouldn't have been able to do that without a wand?"
"Oh, wandless magic is possible, but it's very rare because it's supposed to be very hard," explained Blaise as they left the classroom and headed back towards the Slytherin common room.
"Not as hard as you might think," interjected Harry. "It's really not as difficult as people seem to…"
"So," sneered a voice from behind them. "I had a feeling you wouldn't be able to resist trying to make yourself look good, Potter."
The four boys turned and saw a blond boy, no doubt the one who had addressed Harry, accompanied by Cuthbert Garrett, a dark haired girl and two boys who, to Roger, resembled some Gorillas he had once seen in London Zoo, except the Gorillas had looked a lot more intelligent than these two. The three other boys instantly knew who the blond boy was. Sounds like someone needs taken down a peg or two, thought Harry as he addressed Draco Malfoy.
"Not really," replied Harry nonchalantly. "I just happen to know enough to at least get a feather off the table. I didn't see yours go very far though. What's wrong, levitating feathers too hard for you?"
"What did you say?" spluttered Malfoy, not quite expecting that kind of response from Michael Potter's less important brother.
"I said…" Harry repeated loudly, ignoring the looks of concern he was getting from everyone else. "Is levitating feathers too hard for you?"
There was a stunned silence. Was Michael Potter's brother trying to start a fight – with Draco Malfoy of all people? Was he mad?
"You... How dare you!" stuttered Malfoy angrily. "Do you even know who I am?"
"Yes, Draco, I do know who you are," replied Harry coolly. "And before you say anything, yes, I do know who your father is, so you don't need to threaten to tell him about the big nasty Potter boy, okay?"
"You impudent son of a Mudblood!" yelled Malfoy as he drew his wand.
"Put that wand away right now!" yelled another voice. The Slytherins all turned and saw the Deputy Headmistress coming towards them, looking very angry indeed.
Oh boy, thought Harry. Just what I need! Guess there'll probably be another Howler waiting for me tomorrow morning…
XxXxXxXxXxX
Meanwhile, back at the Potter House in Godric's Hollow, Lily Potter was upset – very upset.
"Oh god!" she sobbed as she dropped the photo album on the floor. "I'm a horrible mother!"
"Lily…" said James, entering the room the second he heard her.
"Don't you dare say I'm a wonderful mother James, because I'm not!" she yelled. She pointed at the photo album on the floor. "I've just looked through all our pictures of Harry and we haven't got a single one of him smiling! In every single picture, he either looks unhappy, angry or just not wanting to be there or… with us."
James went over to his wife and hugged her in an attempt to calm her down. "Ssshh, Lily, it's alright. You're just worried about Harry, that's all. We all are," he said quietly.
"B… but, you saw what he did when I tried to give him a hug. He… he just… froze as if…" sobbed Lily as she the tears began to flow down her face.
"Yes, Lily. I saw it…" mumbled James.
"And what Mr Ollivander said about Harry's wand… how it's feather came from the same phoenix as… his wand. Then M… Michael writes and tells us that Harry's in Slytherin and… and about Harry's reaction to the sorting…" continued Lily.
"Don't worry," interrupted James gently. "Everything'll be fine…"
"But what if he hates us?" Lily exclaimed. "Especially after that Howler you sent… what were you thinking, sending that thing!?!" she yelled suddenly. "On his first day of all days?"
James sighed. "I… I don't know what came over me." he stammered. "I just… felt so angry after he upset you and… Oh Merlin…"
There was a very long silence as James Potter cradled his sobbing wife in his arms.
Outside the living room, Annie Rose Potter had been listening to her parents as she sat on the stairs, trying not to cry herself. Why did Harry have to become a Slytherin? she wondered furiously. Dad's always said that Slytherins were always bad people and that they always turned out evil. Even the man that tried to kill Michael and Harry was a Slytherin!
She let out a sob, hoping that no one would hear it. No such luck – a few seconds later, her father came out of the living room and saw her sitting on the third step up. He looked at his daughter for a second, quickly realising what was upsetting her, especially when he saw a tear slowly trickling down her cheek. "Oh, Dad!" she sobbed as she lunged forward and hugged him.
"Sshh, Annie. It's okay…" he said softly. "Everything's going to be okay…"
"But I don't want Harry to be evil!" she cried suddenly.
Evil? thought James, almost shocked at his daughter's outburst. Oh Merlin, he thought as he realised why she was so worried. Why do I have to be so prejudiced against Slytherins, especially in front of the children?
"Oh, Harry's not going to become evil," he said as he kneeled down in front of his daughter.
"But you said…" exclaimed Annie.
"I know what I've said about Slytherins in the past," interrupted James. "But maybe Harry'll prove me wrong, yeah?"
Annie sat there and said nothing, but James did notice that the tears weren't coming now and that Annie was almost smiling.
"C'mon," grinned James. "Let's go and cheer up you mother."
Annie nodded and the father and daughter entered the living room together, only to find that Lily had already calmed down and was writing what looked like a letter.
XxXxXxXxXxX
"Well," said Spencer as the four boys sat in the empty Slytherin common room after dinner. "That was an interesting first day, don't you think?"
"Have to agree with you there, Spence," nodded Blaise. "I mean, first of all, Harry here gets a Howler for the heinous crime of allowing some tatty old hat to put him into Slytherin."
"And that was before lessons even started," added Roger.
"Can we please not talk about that?" interrupted Harry.
"Sorry, Harry," said Blaise. "But, uh, if you want to, y'know, send a reply, I can get a hold of some Howler parchment."
"And get another one of those things in response?" exclaimed Roger, shuddering slightly at the memory of the first Howler he had ever heard.
"Rodge's right," agreed Harry. "If I send them a Howler in response, my parents'll probably reply with a Howler… each."
"Ouch," mumbled Spencer. "Anyway, what were we talking about? Oh yeah, our incredible first full day at Hogwarts…"
"Which only got really interesting when we had Charms," Blaise interjected.
"In which Hal here put on one heck of a show for us," continued Spencer.
"Oh, come on, it wasn't… hold on…" said Harry, pausing as he replayed what Spencer had just said in his mind. "Hal?"
Spencer shrugged. "Well, if I'm 'Spence' and you've given 'Rodge' here a nickname, then you need one too."
"Um… okay," said Harry uncertainly. "But where did 'Hal' come from?"
"It's a variant of Harry, I think," guessed Roger.
"Yup," grinned Spencer. "Besides, I thought it'd suit you."
"Hal Potter," Harry mumbled. "I suppose it has a decent ring to it."
"What about me?" asked Blaise, pretending to be upset. "Don't I get a nickname?"
"Alright Blaze," said Harry. "Anyone have any suggestions?" he added rhetorically.
"Blaze?" snorted Spencer.
"What?" said Harry defensively. "It was the best I could come up with on such short notice."
"Blaise Zabini. 'Blaze' Zabini," mumbled Blaise, trying the name out for himself. "I can live with that."
"Oh my god…" muttered Roger incredulously. "Howlers, points for Slytherin from Flitwick, points from Slytherin from McGonagall, threats of Detention and now we've all given each other nicknames. Bloody hell, Spence, it looks like you were right. Today has been an interesting first day."
On the other end of the common room, the portrait hole opened and two girls entered the common room. The boys looked up and realised that the two girls were heading towards them.
"Looks like it's about to get even more interesting, said Spencer quietly.
"Um… excuse me, said one of the girls nervously. "Is there a Harry Potter here?"
Blaise, Roger and Spencer all looked at Harry.
"Uh… yeah." said Harry unnecessarily.
"This came for you while we were in the Owlery," she said, handing Harry a letter as she did so.
"Oh, uh, thanks," stammered Harry.
"You're welcome," said the girl.
Harry looked at the envelope curiously as the others began a conversation with the two girls. Who in Merlin's name would send ME a letter? wondered Harry as he read the writing on the envelope. Suddenly, he recognised the handwriting. "Oh boy," he muttered. "Now what?"
"What's wrong?" asked the girl who had given him the envelope. "That's not another one of those Howler things is it?"
Harry shook his head. "It's from my Mum."
"Is that bad?" asked the other girl, a fairly tall girl with dark hair.
"Dunno," said Harry, putting the envelope down on the table. "I'll find out later."
The two girls were quickly invited to sit down by Spencer and Blaise, almost simultaneously Harry noticed. During the conversation that followed, Harry found out the curly-haired red-head who had given him the letter was called 'Christine Morgan' and the dark haired girl was called 'Daphne Greengrass'. Apparently, Spencer already knew Daphne quite well, as she was a member of a Pure-Blood family whose beliefs, fortunately, were more in line with the Westwood family than with families like the Malfoys, the Garretts and indeed the rest of the Zabini family. Christine, on the other hand, was a Muggle-born – Hence her unfamiliarity with such things as Howlers, Harry thought – and was quite visibly nervous and probably felt out of place. Fortunately, it was Blaise to the rescue, which Harry hadn't really expected. I don't believe it! Harry thought as he recognised the almost shy look on his friend's face. I guess there is such a thing as love at first sight, or should that be crush at first sight?
After a few minutes, Harry picked up the letter from the table and got up.
"Hey, Harry," called Roger. "Where're you going?"
"Just thought I'd read this while Garrett's hanging around with Malfoy's lot," said Harry, holding up the letter. As Harry turned and headed for the staircase to the boy's dorms, he noticed the looks of disgust on Daphne and Christine's faces when he mentioned Malfoy. Guess Daphne's family don't get along too well with the Malfoys and Christine probably knows about the whole 'we-hate-mudbloods' ideology already – or maybe they just saw what happened after Charms, Harry thought as he walked up the stairs.
When Harry entered the empty dorm, he immediately sat on his bed and opened the letter. As he had guessed, the letter was indeed from his mother…
Dear Harry
I hope this letter finds you well and I hope the Howler your father sent you wasn't too embarrassing for you. I remember seeing a few friends, as well as your father, receive some very nasty Howlers when I was at Hogwarts.
I just wanted to tell you that your father feels very bad about how he reacted and sends his apologies. I also wanted you to know that, whatever you do, your father and I are very proud of you. I just wanted you to know that so you know that there's no need to try and 'prove yourself'. If we have ever made you feel inferior in any way, then I am very sorry, but please don't feel you have to outdo your brother or make us 'recognise your worth'.
You are my son. I love you and am very proud of you – nothing will ever change that. Please remember that.
Lots of Love
Mum
Harry stared at the letter disbelievingly. Does she really mean it? he wondered. Or is she just saying that to 'make me feel better' or something. He read the letter again.
"Dad? Sorry? Well, that's a first!" he mumbled as he re-read the second paragraph, but it was the last paragraph that really surprised him. I love you and am very proud of you – nothing will ever change that, he read over and over again. It was after the sixth reading that Harry noticed what looked like a tear-stain near the top of the parchment. She… she was crying? Because of me? All of a sudden, Harry began to feel a sense of guilt – between his wand, his reaction to her attempts at a motherly goodbye and being sorted into Slytherin, it was little wonder she was upset, he realised as he put the letter down on his bedside table.
Maybe they do care, thought Harry as he sat alone in his dorm.
-
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Just thought I'd better say a few things about this story…
Though I do agree that Slytherin Harry/Gryffindor Ginny could potentially be interesting, I'm NOT doing Harry/Ginny in this fic. If you want to see a Harry that loves Ginny Weasley, then read the Lone Traveller. Also, I don't do Slash, so there's no need for anyone to 'worry' about Harry being gay.
Also, as far as uniting the houses is concerned, all I can say is that there's a reason for the upcoming 'war' between the people soon to be known as The Guys and the PFBs. (we've already seen an early 'skirmish' in Lone Traveller)
Lady FoxFire: Guess this chapter's just answered your question.
Still to come…
Harry's first Potions, DADA and Flying Lesson, the Halloween Troll, Harry's first Quidditch match and a visit from a passing Traveller. After that, the fun really starts, especially in second year and beyond…