A/N- Hey guys it's me again! Lolmak. Here is the next chapter ladies and gents. Sorry for the delay guys. And seriously you guys are awesome. Over a hundred favorites, over one hundred fifty follows, nearly four thousand hits as well as five communities as well as all your kind words. Seriously, this chapter is my way of thanking you. Nine thousand words as well as more than halfway through chapter four. Thanks so much again guys. Special thanks to my Beta Reader Ninjasquirrel1912, you are indeed awesome and helpful. Without further ado guys… enjoy.


"Remember to write us every day Arnold" said Lily Potter, tears running down her face. "Write to us about anything and everything, get good marks, and make us proud my darling boy."
Arnold Potter shot his mother a hesitant smile, "Mum, I'll be fine, I swear, Don't worry about it mum."

James laid a hand on his son's shoulder and attempted to discretely slip something into his hand. "Use this on Snivilus for me will you?" The boy sneered when his father said the name, "Oh, I will make sure of that dad." He answered.

"Make sure to use the stuff I gave you Arnold for getting around the castle unnoticed. Remember 'I solemnly swear—'"

"-I'm up to no good, I got it dad." Arnold finished while smiling and hugged both his parents. The sound of the train's whistle broke their moment and Arnold sheepishly grinned as he boarded the train.


Harry, however, missed this emotional departure as he had already boarded the train prior to it and found himself an empty compartment.

He plopped down into the leather seat and opened a book on advanced charms. After spending five minutes reading the first page, he put down the book with a sigh.

Here he was; eleven years old, a prodigy at magic, soon to be able to cast spells not to be seen for years, with a powerful wand older than the school he was going to, and an inheritance large enough to live forty lifetimes, extravagantly. Was there any place for him? Would he make friends? Would he have a place to call home?

Harry didn't often worry about things like this, but it was the next seven years of his life on the line. Seven years spent alone did not sound desirable, but how did one go about making a friend? Having spent most of his life by himself, Harry simply did not know.

The genius did not know something, great. He could recite his first year classes forwards and backwards, but didn't know the first thing about human contact.

But Harry was smart, he could learn. All he had to do was to sit back and bide his time. Though eventually, he hoped he would find someone to be friends with.

The compartment opened and in stumbled Ron Weasley. Not even pausing to excuse himself of his rude entrance he grabbed Harry's shoulder, hard. "Hardy, do you know where Arnold is?"

Harry looked up and removed the boy's hand from his shoulder. "I do not know, or particularly care where my brother is, nor is my name Hardy." He gave the boy a sneer and rolled his eyes "With those manners no wonder your family is so looked down upon, but funny enough you and my brother deserve each other."

It took a moment for the insult to register and when it did Ron's face turned the color of his hair. The Weasley brought back his fist intending to hit him. "You ungrateful git! how can you complain about being close to the Boy-Who-Lived twenty-four sev-"

He wasn't able to finish that sentence due to Harry catching his wrist in midair, squeezing it with all his might, as well as using a bit of wandless, silent, magic to increase the pressure. "You try and hurt me again and you will have more punishment than just a bruised wrist, Weasley. All you have accomplished by trying to punch me is proving my point of your lack of manners and social standing." The Weasley sank to the ground in pain with Harry still holding his wrist. "Did I make myself clear Weasel?" The boy nodded furiously and Harry released him sending an unnoticed healing charm at the limb. The boy scrambled to his feet, and threatened "Wait until I tell a teacher about this, you'll be sorry."

Harry shot the boy a smug smile, "Oh I don't think I will."

Ron spun out of the compartment and slammed the door, rattling the glass. Harry's grin deepened. The bruise would be gone by the time the Weasel managed to find a teacher, leaving Ron in a potential early detention if things went bad. Harry grinned and leaned back in his seat when a knock sounded on the compartment door once again.

He frowned but silently was glad that someone had the courtesy to knock before barging in.

He opened the door to be met with a head of platinum blond hair. "Malfoy" said Harry, inclining his head slightly. "What brings you to my humble compartment today?"
The boy inclined his head in response, "The most interesting thing that has happened on this train brought me here. That Weasley boy was squealing like a pig and rubbing his wrist as if a grim bit him when he got out of your compartment." Draco plopped down on the seat opposite him, "After that he ran, calling for a teacher and almost immediately ran into the trolley lady spilling half the cart. He's still there, moaning about his wrist that has not a mark on it except for those damn freckles of his." The blond smirked. "So I have decided to come to the fun compartment… this one."

Draco sniffed and extended his hand to Harry, "We've met a couple of times under a different circumstances and it's no news that your brother and I hate each other. I wish to call a truce between ourselves because frankly, I bear you no ill will."

Harry smiled, grasped the arm and they shook. "That ponce Weasel deserved it, he has no life between obsession with my brother and worship of a failing Quidditch team." The Malfoy heir smiled, "Just try not to get into the Puffs or Griffs and we'll be fine Potter." Harry smiled and his eyes held a new gleam, "Wasn't counting on it Malfoy."


The rest of the train ride was actually enjoyable for Harry as he and Draco talked animatedly about a variety of subjects ranging from Quidditch (moderately of course) to teachers at school. It was a relief for Harry to finally be able to talk to someone who was well versed and mannered. He had spent too much time with the Weasley family and Dumbledore over the years, and frankly sifting through stupidity and riddles got tiring after a while.

Draco of course proclaimed that he was going to Slytherin while Harry told him he was dead set on Ravenclaw. Draco didn't even blink when he said he enjoyed to study ahead and it pleased Harry that they would most likely be able to speak to each other and wouldn't have to worry about house grudges.

Harry however was very wary of putting too much trust into Draco. When the blond asked how far ahead he had learned, Harry had told him halfway through the first year curriculum. Draco friendlily teased him for it but the topic was soon changed to an argument about who was the best chaser in Puddlemere United.

Having someone to talk to was a relief and time flew by extremely quickly, his book lay, unnoticed, on the table.

Right before they arrived at Hogwarts, their compartment door flew open once again and his brother stormed in followed by Weasley and a bushy-haired girl.

"Jeez hasn't anyone heard of knocking?" Draco gave him a pointed look making Harry cough, "Besides you, I mean." Looking up at his brother he smiled, "Can I help you dear brother?"
Arnold growled, "You hurt Ron."
Harry feigned a look of hurt innocence, "What do you mean Arnold? Hurt? Where?"

Arnold pointed at Ron, "You hurt his wrist"

Harry gave an exasperated sigh "His wrist is perfectly fine, I have no idea what in Merlin's name you are talking about."

His brother glared at him, "Somehow you managed to find a way to do this."

"Do what?" Arnold just shook his head and growled, "Never mind let's go." Ron began to protest when Arnold shook his head at him. The bushy haired girl went after them as well.

The moment they were out of sight, Harry and Draco burst out laughing. "Are you sure you aren't a Slytherin Harry? Because that there was the sneakiest thing I've ever seen." Harry just chuckled, "Yes I'm sure, but for goodness sake, it's their fault that their minds can't comprehend what a small healing charm can do." They looked at each other once again and burst into another round of merry laughter.


After the train had stopped moving, Harry and Draco stepped off after gathering their things. Hagrid, the lumbering oaf of a man came to greet the first years. It wasn't that Harry hated Hagrid, it was just the fact that the man could not think for himself and would run into the veil itself should Dumbledore command it. He was just another tool, mindless to serve its purpose.

Once its usefulness was through, he would be discarded like the rest of them.

"Hey Arnold!" the man damn near shouted with a smile. "Welcome to 'ogwarts. I hope yer goin' to like it as much as yer parents did when they were here." Arnold brushed the groundskeeper off, "Whatever, let's just get inside." The smile didn't disappear, "Are those yer friends?"

Arnold sighed knowing the man would keep asking until he would answer. "Yes, Hagrid this is Ron and Hermione." The man patted Ron on the back which left him winded, "A Weasley eh?"

Ron could only nod as he gasped for the air Hagrid forced out of his lungs.

"The Weasleys are a fine family, real tight with Dumbledore. Ah that man Dumbledore, like a grandfather to us all ain't he?" At this Arnold broke into a smile. "He sure is Hagrid. He is pretty strong, and training me himself." He basked in the exclamations around him.

"Dumbledore himself? Blimey."

"Who's Dumbledore?"

"Only the strongest wizard who's ever lived, I hear Arnold is in second and the dead dark lord He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is third."

"I hear he slew a dragon at age five!"

"No! it was a hydra."

This continued for several minutes until Harry lost it. "Can we just get to the bloody castle?" he exclaimed at the exact same time as Draco.

Hagrid recalled himself, "Oh right, um come to the boats first-years unless you want to walk to the castle alone. Ye can talk about Arnold on the boats, maybe ye will be in one with him."

Many of the girls squealed and began conversing amongst themselves, but there were a few exceptions, one being a blonde haired girl whom Harry was sure he had seen somewhere before.

He was yanked; literally, out of his thoughts by Draco who dragged him to an empty boat. The blonde girl simply stood there and waited for the boats to be filled. When it was clear that there was only one space left, she walked over to Harry and Draco and sat down with a sneer.

Draco smiled, "Daphne Greengrass, I presume?"

"You presume correctly Malfoy. Now if that is all, I would like you to stop your pathetic attempts at conversation. I did not choose to sit here, I stayed back like a dignified pureblood should while the blood traitors and muggles scrambled to get close to our Lord and Savior Arnold Potter." Here speech oozed with a polite, yet biting tone. Her eyes betrayed no emotions.

Needless to say it was the longest boat ride of Harry's life.


After they landed on the shore, Hagrid organized them into a group and began leading them up to the castle. Clustered together they made crawling progress and eventually Harry and Draco broke free of the group and walked behind them at a leisurely pace. A few seconds later, Daphne Greengrass also broke free of the gaggle of Arnold-worshipers. Harry gave her a kind smile to which she sneered in response to. Harry kept the smile plastered to his face and made no indication that he was afraid or intimidated in any way. They locked eyes and Harry grinned as Daphne turned her head forward with a huff.

"Ice-Queen." He heard Draco mumble and inwardly somewhat agreed with his description.

With a start he realized that he had indeed seen the girl before… at the owlry if his memory served him correctly. The sneer she had affixed to her face was so much different than the smile he had seen her wear at the store…

He was ripped from his thoughts when they arrived at a large gate. Carved onto it was the Hogwarts crest which shimmered with magic as the carvings actually moved with life. Another interesting thing about the door was the sheer amount of wards it possessed. The thing seemed to be built to withstand anything.

Harry detected strong muggle repelling charms as well as intent seeking spells. Finally, a couple for reinforcement and strength were added to prevent it from breaking; by magical or physical means. The spell work was definitely impressive.

Hagrid put a beefy arm on the door's knocker and gave a couple loud thumps with it. After about a minute of waiting the doors swung open to reveal a strict looking woman with horn-rimmed glasses.

"Ah Hagrid, here with the first years I see?"

Hagrid coughed, "Err yea." He turned around to address them, "Firs' years, this is professor McGonagall head o' Gryffindor. She's gonna take ye to be sorted."

The woman nodded, "Thank you, Hagrid." She turned around and began a leisurely pace down the hallway. The rest of the group followed and finally the conversation turned to something other than Arnold Potter.

Harry could see why; the castle was beautiful. Tapestries hung in the hallways and framed painting conversed with each other in hushed tones. The architecture was astounding and Harry smiled when he saw a ghost in the hallway.

Harry heard a swish of air and sidestepped what seemed to be a water balloon. Instead of hitting Harry, the projectile flew farther and hit the crowd following McGonagall. It burst on contact spraying them with water. By the sound of their squeals, it must have been freezing.

Professor McGonagall spun around, anger in her voice "Peeves!"

The giggling man blew a raspberry and tossed another balloon into the crowd. "PEEVES! Stop this instant!"

The man burst out into laughter. "Stop what? You heard how much fun we were having, and you can't control me." He said in a mocking tone, while sticking his tongue out and making a rude gesture.

McGonagall huffed, irritation all over her face. Suddenly she relaxed and gave an eerie smile. "I can't control you; that it true." She said, "But I guess the only option left is for Bloody Baron will have to have a word with you."

The man sputtered and snapped his fingers, and the soaked first years immediately dried. A look of fear spread across Peeves' features. "It was just a harmless joke professor, and a-a-as you can s-see they aren't wet anymore." The old woman nodded and smiled, "Then let's make sure that they stay that way, alright Peeves?"

The man nodded and disappeared with a poof of smoke.

McGonagall turned to the first years, a look of apology written across her face. "I am sorry for that. You just met Peeves, the school's resident poltergeist. He is often pranking anyone he can come across, so it is advisable to stay far away from him."

"Now we have dilly dallied long enough, it is time to be sorted. Follow me."

Beside him Draco snorted and elbowed Harry mouthing 'dilly dally', Harry grinned and headed down the hall after the head of Gryffindor.


The great hall was every bit as majestic as Harry had imagined it to be and was divided in a manner that screamed house rivalry. The Gryffindor lions bared their teeth at the snakes who simply looked the other way as if the conflict was beneath them.

The Hufflepuffs caught in the middle, shrank towards themselves trying to seem smaller. The Ravens however looked like the brightest of the bunch. Having enough confidence to not shrink in fear and enough wisdom to stay out of the petty skirmish.

They were smart, some more book smart than actually intelligent, but Harry could see that most if not all would grow up to be great witches and wizards.

They didn't particularly call attention to themselves even though Harry got the feeling that many of them were powerful. It would be the right choice for him.

"First year sorting will now commence." Said Professor McGonagall. "May you grow in knowledge in all your houses, may it be Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin." Her voice hitched saying the last one and a small scowl graced her features.

A stool was brought out and upon it was placed a hat. Harry thought nothing of it until a tear opened near its brim and he began to speak."

"Oddment, nitwit, blubber, tweak." The hall was stunned into silence and Dumbledore colored slightly. "Oh sorry headmaster, were you supposed to say that? Well excuse me for having to sit in your office the whole year, then sort these brats for an hour and then sit in your office listening to your mumblings about Arnold Potter and the 'greater good' till next time!"

Harry burst out laughing as Dumbledore fired a spell at the piece of clothing. The hat looked like it struggled for a few seconds but then an unnatural grin spread across its face and he began singing.

Insert hat songhere (A/N- Come on guys, you've read it a hundred times over in other stories. If you really want to see it so bad go Google it)

The hat finished the song and put a satisfied smile onto its face. "Abbott, Hannah." McGonagall called with a loud voice.

The timid girl went up to the stool and after a few second the hat called 'Hufflepuff' with a loud voice. The girl smiled and joined said table.

And so the list continued. Some names Harry recognized like Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy; who all got into Slytherin by the way, but the number of muggleborns was increasing. It wasn't that Harry hated them, no, it was just that they usually didn't apply themselves to anything.

At one point his mother managed to convince his father to visit a muggle school. It was for James to apparently 'broaden his horizons'. It was a rare occasion where for once, the entire family came along.

There, they were presented with the averages for school boards across the world such as Britain and America. When they saw the school standings Harry was shocked.

The low marks Harry saw appalled him (he was a hard worker). There was a very small minority of students with marks that were considered decent, let alone good. The rest were subpar with low grades and a system preventing the students from actually failing a course. (A/N- Primary school people, grades 1-8 were like this for me, not that I had any chance in failing :P)

A wizard could come forth from any one of these students and they would continue giving poor results regardless. Eventually, they would grow in number as more and more were allowed into their school.

If subpar efforts were to become a norm, it wouldn't be subpar anymore. It would cripple the world of magic in the long run, or so Harry thought.

But Harry promised himself that he wouldn't look down on anyone applying themselves though. Pureblood or muggle they would be equal in his eyes if they put in the effort. He would judge by actions, not predetermined prejudices like so many purebloods around him.

"Potter, Arnold."

The hall hushed and you could hear a pin drop.

Arnold Potter, in his immaculate robes strutted over to the stool and sat into it. His head disappeared into the hat. After about ten seconds the hat's smile disappeared and turned into an irritated grimace. "Huffindore!" It yelled. The hat looked like it was struggling with something but then calmed. The smile came back accompanied with the irritating happy voice.

"Gryffindor I meant of course."

The hall burst into discussion once again. Arnold dropped the hat to the ground beside the stool and strutted over to his table who were raving like a bunch of lunatics. Harry snorted in disgust and waited for the din to die down.

"Potter, Harry."

Hearing his name Harry straightened his back and made his way over to the stool. He felt their eyes and whispers as he walked forward.

"Is that Arnold's brother?"

"I didn't know he had one."

"He's probably someone with the same last name."

"How many people do you know with the last name Potter? He has to be it."

"If he is the brother of the Boy-Who-Lived I thought they would be similar in some way."

At that last comment Harry smiled, damn right he wasn't anything similar to his brother! He wasn't planning on changing that either.

Harry bent over to the sorting hat and gently brushed the dirt off its brim and slowly lowered it onto his head.

The sickening, happy, voice sounded in his head. "Why Harry, it seems like place for you should be in Gryffindor to help your brother.

The hat began to delve in his fake mind and he shut it inside; trapping him.

Harry jumped into his mind after the hat and found it trying to escape the now seamless walls.

"Who are you?" Harry shouted at it.

The head accessory turned around, "So it was you who trapped me here."

Harry nodded. "You aren't the hat's real conscience are you?"

The false hat chuckled, "You are right bright one. I am an artificial conscience created by Dumbledore when he needs to make a sorting go a certain way."

"So you have no real conscience of your own?" The hat shook 'no'.

Harry smiled and the hat's eyes widened. "What are you doing?!" The rip in the hat began widening eventually splitting the hat into pieces.

"I'm making sure I go where I belong. Next time you should learn to stay out of my head."

Returning to the darkness of the hat he felt another conscience enter his mind. This time he saw a scruffier hat looking around his head wildly.

The hat spotted Harry, "Hey brat, what the heck happened to that other bastard that old fart sent into me? And why the hell does your brain feel so weird?"

"I destroyed him. As for your other question…" Harry opened the link to his actual mind and invited the hat in after him.

"Learned occlumency? Now this might be interesting."


After viewing Harry's real mind the hat agreed that he belonged with the ravens. "There is no other place you should go."

Harry smiled. "Do you think you can keep my involvement of freeing you secret?" The hat made an attempt at a bow which caused it to tip over on its side. "Of course." It said as it rolled on its brim. "It took the old fart about three years to craft that thing to sort his first years and keep me contained. I was able to throw him off momentarily as you probably saw, but Dumbledore has been keeping me under his thumb. That man plots too much."

Harry picked up the hat. "The old coot spent a very long time creating that thing to trap me and I don't plan on falling to the same trick twice. If you ever need something don't hesitate to ask, ok?"

Harry nodded and returned them to their respective bodies.

"RAVENCLAW! AND I AM DAMN SURE OF THAT!" Harry smiled and removed the hat on his head, placing it gently back onto the stool. He looked up the see the headmaster glaring at the hat who smiled smugly back in return. "Anything wrong, Albus?" it asked in a self-satisfied voice.

Dumbledore put on a forced smile. "No, of course not."


After Blaise, Zabini was sorted Dumbledore clapped his hands and got everyone's attention.

"Oddment, nitwit-" and stopped midsentence realizing what had happened. When he saw everyone staring at him, he hastily cleared his throat. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. You may get your schedules from your heads of house…" He made a few more announcements about banned items, a forbidden corridor and some new teachers. After the announcements were done, Dumbledore made the student body sing the school song.

The school song was nothing short of chaos with everyone singing at a different pace or tune. This is madness. Harry thought with a scowl. He wasn't sure but he thought he heard a small whisper in his head as if replying saying, "No, This is Sparta." (A/N- LOL, I had to)

It was mostly the Gryffindors who got into the merrymaking, while the rest of the school either sung half-heartedly or didn't sing at all. Harry belonged to those in the later and nodded in satisfaction at Draco who was doing the same thing.

When the Weasley twins finally finished their agonizing singing, the food appeared in mountains. Harry made sure that his brother and Ron where out of sight otherwise he doubted his ability of keeping his meal in his stomach.

Following the proper etiquette while eating, Harry attempted to make pleasant and polite conversation with the rest of his housemates. He got a few questions about his brother which he responded to very curtly. When they finally got the hint that he didn't want to talk about the subject, their conversation turned to lighter topics such as quidditch and anticipated subjects. A couple of second years told them about the potion master Snape and warned them not to get on his bad side.

The din in the great hall eventually died down as the children finished eating their fill.

Dumbledore stood up and his eyes gave a twinkle, "The school year has officially started and I would like all prefects to lead their houses to their doors. Have a nice rest and I formally welcome you to another year of learning at Hogwarts."

Their prefect; a girl by the name of Penelope Clearwater, led them to their dorm where a painting guarded the way to the common room. The prefect turned to the first years, "You have to be able to answer a riddle in order to get into our common room, and if you can't answer it correctly you will have to wait for someone who can."

The painting seemed to ponder for a while. "Alright I've always wanted to try this one, what is in my pocket?"

Penelope reddened, "That isn't a valid riddle and you know it."

The painting gave a sigh, "It worked so well in the Hobbit though, hmm it counted there. Have you ever read the Hobbit? Wonderful book I got from a muggle painting friend of mine. He has to be completely still whenever there are visitors looking at him, but otherwise is such a wonderful fellow…"

"Just give the riddle already!"

The painting looked bored, "Fine, though I don't see the point if it doesn't challenge you in the slightest. What crawls on four legs in the mor-"

"A man." The girl deadpanned.

The painting sniffed. "See what I mean? Fine enter."

It swung open to reveal the Ravenclaw common room. The prefect pointed at two staircases. "These lead to the male and female dormitories, find the bed with your name on it and your stuff should be on it. Have a good rest and get prepared to learn tomorrow."

With that, the girl climbed the right staircase and disappeared from sight.

Harry shrugged and entered his dormitory. He found his bed almost immediately and let out a yawn. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out like a light.


Harry's built in magical alarm woke him up the next morning. He glanced around and saw his fellow housemates strewn all over the adjacent beds drooling. Harry shrugged and made his way to the showers and gave himself a quick rinse; not having taken a shower the day before.

After he was satisfied he was clean, Harry opened his custom-made trunk and descended into its depths.

There he donned a pair of his best school robes made of silk and imbued with some standard protection charms. Not wasting any time and seeing that breakfast was to begin in an hour, Harry began to organize his potion stores and ingredients.

Harry was pleased to say that quite a few potions he owned were no longer being brewed as their recipes had faded away into the years. His now extended personal library from his inheritance vault contained texts on their effects and brewing instructions.

A book like this could sell for over fifty thousand Galleons to the right buyer, but Harry had no intentions on selling it any time soon.

Skimming over the rather large list of potions, Harry concluded that the book was advanced material as most of the potions would require a well-versed practitioner in order to brew correctly. Coincidentally Harry knew one such person in Hogwarts whom he had learned on the train was Draco's godfather. Any upstanding Potion's Master wouldn't be able to resist the lure of potions unknown. Harry hoped that he and the man could come to some sort of understanding.

Satisfied with his plan, Harry closed his eyes and began to mediate. When he opened his eyes he found himself inside his mental landscape again and set about strengthening his shields and traps. Harry tried to do it as often as possible; at least once a day otherwise his shields would gradually become weaker.

After Harry was pleased with his defense, he began to update his fake mind with modified memories of his conversation with the sorting hat. Dumbledore would most likely try and glean the truth from his mind if he couldn't get it from the hat. It paid to be prepared, the moment he stepped into the school Harry was aware that he would have enemies. He would outwit them and would make allies, ones he could trust to watch his back.

Harry removed himself from his mind and opened his eyes to the real world. Harry pocketed one of the rare potions as well as its brewing instructions, it would serve its purpose in getting Snape interested.

Climbing out of his trunk he noted everyone around him was still sleeping with a few exceptions such as the prefect from before, Penelope was it? Who was carrying what looked to be a muggle air horn.

Harry just had enough time to cover his ears before the blast of air sounded; startling all the resting Ravenclaws out of their sleep. A couple of them even fell out of bed.

Penelope regarded the glaring Ravens and then smiled fondly at the object in her hand. "Probably my favorite muggle invention. Now, there is a new day ahead of us." The girl shot them a withering glare, "No one is going to be late to the great hall, not on my watch. I give you fifteen minutes to be outside our common room and at our table. Be late at risk of your own life!"

The claws immediately sprang into action, while Harry simply walked outside the common room to where they were supposed to meet.

It didn't take long for Harry to wait when a tall student exited the common room about thirty seconds after Harry did. He let out a loud yawn and did a double take when he saw Harry standing there. "How'd you get ready so fast? Penel-" he yawned again. "Penelope just woke the first years didn't she?" Harry nodded and stuck out his hand, "Harry Potter, first year."

The boy shook, "Felix Brunt, fifth year prefect and second in the year in terms of academic standing after that Penelope." A mock scowl crossed his face. "I'll beat her this year, only if I get enough time to sleep. I bet that the only reason she wakes people up is to keep them off their game academically."

Harry shook his head, "It seemed more of a sadistic pleasure to me."

A voice behind them cut into the conversation. "What seemed like a sadistic pleasure?"

Felix whitened and began stammering as he saw Penelope standing there with her arms crossed but Harry cut him off, "We were talking about Puddlemere United beating the Chuddley Cannons last night. They could have caught the snitch at any time but chose to stack their score just to humiliate them. Not that there's anything bad with debasing the Cannons. They have a really horrible play style and after they traded away their beaters-"

"Never mind" The female prefect stopped him with a confused look on her face. "I must have misheard your conversation. I will see you at the dining hall."

When she was out of earshot the male prefect burst out laughing "That was natural, kid. And the look on her face-", His face turned to one of bliss as he recalled the moment. "Say kid, what was your name again?"

"Harry."

"Well Harry, if you every need something don't hesitate to ask." The boy said smiling. "Now if only I had a pensieve…"


Breakfast was a rather noisy affair as many first year students were introducing themselves in hopes of make friends, while the rest of the students conversed about how their summer vacations.

Harry absently twirled his wand on his finger and watched the light gleam off the gem. Harry still couldn't figure what kind of stone it was and vowed to read Gavin's texts on it when he had the chance.

"Can I have everyone's attention please?" said their head of house, Flitwick. "I have your schedules for your year, I will call you out in alphabetical order so please listen carefully.

Harry waited for his name and retrieved his schedule. He had Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins, Charms, Transfiguration, and History of Magic with the Gryffindors, as well Astronomy and Herbology with the Hufflepuffs.

With a snap the food disappeared from the Ravenclaw table and the stains and splatters from food immediately faded away from view. Magic really was wonderful.

Harry stood up from his seat and gathered his books that were resting on the table and placed them into his small bag. After making sure that the rare potion was on his person Harry set off for the dungeons.

The potion that he had was referred to as the 'Mind Shield' and would replicate occlumency shields for up to an hour. It was useful for temporary shielding of ones thoughts. The potion itself wasn't made up of rare or expensive ingredients, but its recipe had been lost many eons ago.

It should hopefully serve its purpose in getting Snape to either like him or at least tolerate him in class. It wasn't any secret that the Potion Master despised his father and Harry hoped that he could avoid his father's reputation through hard work and a couple small bribes.

Eventually when Snape would acknowledge that he wasn't his father, he would make a more permanent agreement for the man to brew the rest of the potions he would need. Also, secrecy from Dumbledore was a must.

Harry reached the door of the classroom a bit early and pushed the heavy oak door open. Inside a handsome man sat in a chair. He had straight raven hair with a perfectly straight nose, his dress robes billowed as he walked over to Harry and regarded him. Harry stared at the man in awe; this was what a potion master was meant to look like. (A/N- Ye he be real handsome in this story (no grease))

"You are early, I like that in a student. You may take any seat you like."

Harry inclined his head slightly showing his respect and took one near the front of the class where he would be able to see the board.

After he put his things down he grabbed the mind shielding potion from his pocket and moved over to Snape who had sat down in his desk.

"Permission to speak sir?"

The man raised an eyebrow, "Permission granted." He said in a somewhat amused voice.

Harry nodded; this was the moment of truth, "Sir, my name is Harry Potter. I know that my father has wronged you greatly in the past and I apologize profusely for his actions. I ask that my parentage not be used against me in this classroom." He took a deep breath, "As bold as it sounds sir, I enjoy brewing potions and I want to be able to learn from the best."

Harry looked down at the ground. "I do not even know how I could be related to the rest of my family sir. I understand that you may hate me sir, but I ask you to please still allow me to learn from you."

After an eternity of silence Harry looked up to see Snape with a contemplative expression on his face. Finally the man spoke, "I must admit it pains me to see you. You are a reminder of what I couldn't have, my first love. You have her eyes. But I cannot hate you. You will not be held accountable for the actions of your parents here. I will judge you on who you are, and from what I see, you are also brave and well-mannered. I don't know many people who would willingly be in your situation apologizing for a father's…" He trailed off for a moment. "or mother's actions, but here you are."

The raven haired man stood up, "But I have long come to terms with my feelings for the Potters." A look of sadness crossed his face. "Lily has become an air-head and no longer is the bright witch she once was, and James… Well." He gave a bitter laugh, "He is a coward, and a bully. A man with riches, a wife and fame whose only thing left is to Lord over his son's worshipers."

"Though it may be true at the moment I am in Dumbledore's employ, I do not serve him. I am my own man, my own master. Severus Snape is what I have made myself to be; a potions master. I did not let my blood or family hinder me and I have fought through life by working hard. If I see that same attitude, I would be pleased to teach you."

Harry let out a sigh. "I will try my best not to disappoint you sir."

Snape smiled, "See that you don't, but above all do not disappoint yourself." He paused a moment letting the message sink in. "Now Mr. Potter get to your seat, class will be starting soon and people will start coming. It would do you good to be prepared."

Harry grinned, "Thank you professor Snape. I will work hard." He held out his hand with the vial in his grasp, "I have acquired a few rare potions sir, as well as texts on them."

Snape took the bottle carefully from his hand and regarded it closely.

Harry continued. "I have many other potions like this sir, lost to the world for many years. I leave this one to you as a token of my appreciation."

The professor's eyes held a gleam to them as he continued regarding the bottle and brewing instructions. Harry took this as a good sign and moved on. "However many of the potions in my texts require a very skilled brewer to make and I am afraid I could possibly hurt if I were to attempt it myself. I would humbly ask as to whether you would be interested in helping me rediscover them during my free time?"

Finally the man put the bottle onto his desk and gave a satisfied sigh. "Yes Mr. Potter if you hand me your schedule we can work out when it would be best." Harry smiled and Snape held up a finger. "But I will only allow you to assist me once I have deemed you proficient, before then I will not allow it. You will provide the recipes for now and I will craft the potions until you are ready. Does this arrangement please you?"

Harry inclined his head and smiled, "Very much sir."

Snape held out his hand and they shook on it. "Very good Mr. Potter, now return to your seat before class begins. For now you have proven to know how to use your time effectively."

Harry nodded and retook his seat; the next few minutes were filled with a comfortable silence. The rest of the class soon began to trickle in after that and Harry waved Draco over when he saw the familiar head of blond hair.

"Hey Potter, hope you are as good with a cauldron as you are with your words." Draco said setting down his supplies onto their table. A few seats away an emotionless Daphne Greengrass sat daintily on her stool while flipping the cutting knife in her hand.

Approachable? No.

When the din had settled down Snape stood up and cleared his voice. The class immediately fell silent.

"You have come to this class to learn the art and privilege of potion making. It requires no spells so your wands may be put away." He paused a moment and studied the class, "You are Ravenclaws and Slytherins, the most intelligent and therefore powerful witches and wizards in your grade. While others may have brute strength, we have intelligence. When the Gryffindors run forward, we bide our time and observe our surroundings." Snickers were heard from the Slytherins. "You aren't Hufflepuffs or Gryffindors so I see no reason to have subpar work in my classroom. If anyone here plans on slacking, the doors are over there. You haven't come to this school to fool off, you came to learn."

Snape grabbed a cauldron and set it over a fire adding water while dicing Griffin feathers at an amazing speed. Adding them to the fire he threw a couple of newt eyeballs into the cauldron and a cloud of pink smoke rose from it. "Follow what I have done here and let it simmer until the color turns into a dull orange. After that turn off your fire and give it four turns clockwise and one counter-clockwise. The color should change blue after that." He turned and looked at Harry. "Does anyone know what potion this creates?" All the while he didn't look at anyone else.

Harry was confused but then realized what was happening. 'He's testing me!' Harry raised his hand keeping a neutral expression affixed to his face.

"You have an answer Mr…?"

"Potter, Sir."

The man nodded, "What potion does it create Mr. Potter?"

"It creates the 'Smoke Form' Potion and will change shape according to its brewer's thoughts. It is more of a physical projection of the brewer's thoughts but if it's pure enough, it shows insight into the user's feelings a bit as well; which can be determined by the color."

Snape allowed a small smile to grace his lips, "Very good answer Mr. Potter. That will be ten points for Ravenclaw. Now what are the rest of you waiting for? Get to work!"

The class exploded into a frenzy of chopping and sloshing of water and Harry cut the feathers into thin pieces while Draco gathered the most quality newt's eyes out of his supplies. Nearby their cauldron hung over the fire while they toiled. The moment Harry finished with the feathers, he threw them into the water which Draco followed up by tossing in the eyes. A cloud of pink smoke rose from their project and the two boys shared a grin.

With a brief glance around the room, Harry saw that they were reasonably ahead and watched for the opportune moment to start stirring. The moment the potion turned orange Harry gave the mixture the stirs and stopped the fire. After a few moments the orange sank into a rich navy blue and Harry quickly poured their potion into a stopper and cleared the workspace with Draco's help.

The pair then made their way up the front desk where Snape gave them a small smile which he quickly hid under a mask of indifference that most Slytherins were known for. "You are finished?"

The two nodded and handed him their vial. After studying it for a few moments Snape nodded and sent them back to their seats. "A satisfactory effort."

After a bit of time, the rest of the potions were ready and 'all were the correct color for once' as Snape put it. They were given a small essay to complete and sent to their next class.

"I will see you later Draco." Harry said as he made his way to his Transfiguration class. Professor McGonagall would be there as well as Arnold and his two side-kicks; thing one and thing two.


Harry reached the door and pushed it open effortlessly and took his seat beside another Ravenclaw who introduced herself as Cho Chang. (A/N- She is in Harry's year here guys, mostly because I've forgotten most of the female Ravenclaws from the book) After a moment of sitting Harry realized that there was a cat sitting on a stool at the front of the classroom. It sat stiffly and regarded the students one by one. It seemed oddly familiar, almost as if he had seen it before…

Harry muttered tempus and realized that the class was to start three minutes ago. At that moment the doors flung open and in strutted in Arnold with his two sidekicks. The redhead guffawed at something Arnold had said and unceremoniously plopped down into his chair; but not before pulling out Arnolds'. The bushy haired girl sat down and let out a sigh of relief and took out her books.

Arnold looked around the class and leaned back with a satisfied smirk, "Teacher isn't even here, I told you we wouldn't be late, Hermione."

At that moment the cat sprang into action transforming mid-air into their transfiguration teacher. "Well you sure aren't on time, are you Arnold?" The old woman smiled serenely at the boy. "But I think it will be fine to overlook this, you are the Boy-Who-Lived after all. Just try not to do it too often."

Arnold nodded and shot her a grin. McGonagall nodded and began her lesson.

"This is the class for Transfiguration. If you aren't a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor I suggest you find your correct class now." She looked pointedly at a Hufflepuff in the back row. The girl blushed and stammered an apology before running out of the class.

The teacher sighed, "There's always one." She muttered.

"You should have the book 'Transfiguration: Change and Growth' by John Snow (A/N- Yes it is a GOT reference). Flip to page three and read the first section carefully, you have five minutes."

Harry looked at the page and snorted, he learnt this before most children could even read. He instead pulled out his book on Gem magic and finally gave the book its first read.

Flipping open the cover, Harry saw a flowing text swirling along the page written in fine calligraphy. At the top a small picture of a gem was drawn that resembled the one in his wand's handle. It sparkled on the page just as it did in real life.

The Learning of Gem Magics

Hello, reader and I enthusiastically welcome you to a new world, a world of powerful magic. So powerful in fact that it can level cities and mountains if one is strong enough. It is enough to say that with this sort of power a mere mage will not pose any problem.

There are a few basic rules for Gem magic and most of it lies in the Gems themselves. Their colors are by far the most important feature they have as they affect the type of spell that it is attuned to. It might take a while to grasp at first but the more time you spend around gems, the more natural they will feel to you.

In fact gems themselves can be used to channel certain types of spells, Emeralds being green are attuned to healing magic and any healing spell cast with an emerald will see a significant increase in effectiveness, also, any spell associated with nature will get stronger.

Sapphires being the brilliant shade of blue that they are, boost mental power, sturdiness and are able to give a Gem Mage feelings of calm and levelheadedness.

Rubies with their fiery shade can be a double-edged sword. While it is one of the strongest gems when it comes to a battle, their presence can cause anger and or emotional instability. It is attuned to any sort of destructive magic such as cutting, severing, mutilating, and explosive curses. Since it can cause instability in your emotions while battling, it is recommended to have a sapphire on one's person at all times. Lack of reasoning due to anger has killed many mages in the past, you would do well to understand its severity.

Moving on we have the diamonds…

Harry looked up as the professor cleared her throat and began lecturing the steps needed to turn a matchstick into a needle. After she finished, she handed out matchsticks to each student and told them to get to work.

The moment the needle touched his hand, Harry focused on the image of the needle in his mind and waved his hand. Before his eyes his matchstick thinned out and turned silver. In the top a hole formed for a thread. This happened in a mere second leaving the Ravenclaw beside him sputtering.

The moment McGonagall finished handing out the last of the matches, Harry raised his hand. The professor walked over with a smile on her face. "You have a question Mr. Potter?"

Harry shook his head and held out his needle, "Not really, except for what do I do now that I'm finished?"

The teacher gasped and took the needle from Harry's hand. "Upon my word!" She exclaimed gathering the attention of the rest of the class. "I should have expected this from James's son, but a perfect transfiguration on the first day and so quickly? Ten points to Gryffind—Ravenclaw, excuse me; for such fine work."

She spent a couple more minutes fussing over his needle before moving on to help struggling students. "How do you do this?" Exclaimed the girl on his left while throwing down her matchstick in annoyance, right before picking it back up with a sigh.

Harry smiled at her, "Would you like some help?"

The girl frowned, "I can do it myself."

Harry smiled, "Well if you need help don't hesitate to ask."

After five minutes of trying relentlessly the matchstick hit the table once again.

Harry picked it off the desk and transformed it into the needle with no effort and then reversed the change with the same ease. He replaced the stick on the table and opened his book on Gem magic again.

Just as he began reading he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see a defeated Cho Chang glumly holding her matchstick in between her fingers.

Harry shut the book and chuckled as she reddened, "When you hold the matchstick, do not under any circumstance imagine it transforming into the needle right away. Rather visualize the needle clearly in your head first and once you have this image apply each change individually. First try thinning the match, then change the color, then the material etc. It will be slow change at first but the more you do it, the faster you will get. Eventually you will do it so fast that it will look instant."

The girl nodded and her face scrunched up in concentration. About seven seconds later she looked into her hand and saw a needle sitting on the palm of her hand. She gave a whoop and immediately blushed when the entire class focused their attention on her.

At the end of the class only two other people managed to make the match into a needle. One being Arnold who had been practicing from age seven as well as the bushy-haired girl who sat beside him flipping through a large tome.

McGonagall all but forgot about Harry's achievement and set about praising her lions on the job well done. They each received fifteen points for their effort whilst Cho only got five. The professor evidently favored her own house, but Harry wasn't angry. Karma would balance it out in the form of Severus Snape. Harry was sure the points would find a way to disappear by the end of the day, one way or another.


The next class Harry had on his schedule was Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, which was in the greenhouse on the other side of the school.

He begrudgingly shouldered his book back and made his way past a knot of students in the hallway trying to jam their way into a classroom.

It took about four minutes of walking till he finally reached the battered oak door which was locked.

Harry gave two firm knocks and the door swung open to reveal an older woman carrying a pair of shears in her hand and donning a pair of overalls. Seeing Harry's bemused expression she smiled warmly. "Come on in dear. My name is Professor Sprout. You are taking Herbology correct?" (A/N- Sorry guys I have no clue how she is in cannon. Here she shall be the old grandmotherly type but a bit stricter)

Harry nodded and the woman pointed towards a timid boy near the front of the room. "Go and sit beside Neville and begin writing down the instructions on the board, when the rest of the students arrive, we will begin. For now introduce yourself to your partner."

Harry walked over to the boy and gave him a look over. Frankly he didn't look like much: chubby, shy and probably picked on by others. Regardless Harry stuck out his hand, "Hi, my name is Harry Potter." They had met before, albeit informally at all sorts of pureblood events, but this was the first time he actually met the boy.

The boy simply looked down and mumbled something incoherent.

Harry forced a smile, "I didn't quite catch that."

"I said 'My name is Neville'."

"Well then, it's nice to meet you."

The boy nodded and averted his eyes. They fell into an uncomfortable silence which stretched on for the entire class. The moment the lesson ended, Harry wasted no time in getting away from the awkward atmosphere.


A/N- Nothing important in Herbology for now guys. I promise when it gets to it I will have detail. Oh yeah and Neville is in Hufflepuff, sorry for the confusion. So that's it for this chapter. Next one should be interesting (Hopefully) Also guys I would like for you, my readers to find me a good image for this story cause I'm fresh out of ideas and or time (I know disturbing that your author has no ideas huh?) Anyway stay tuned for the next chapter and I would love your thoughts and or opinions on how this chapter went. Thanks again, and till next time. Also is 9000 words pushing it?

-lolmak