Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. are owners.

Chapter 3

First year – part one

Harry was roughly woken up the next morning by one of his roommates shaking him by the shoulder. He automatically flinched at the contact and tried to move away only to fall down on the other side of the bed. He heard two people laughing, presumably at him. That wasn't the nicest way one could wake up, but to Harry, it was way better than being shouted at through the cupboard door. Harry looked up at the two boys that caused his little morning journey to the floor.

"Hey, I'm sorry about that, but you need to get up or you'll be late for your first class," one of them said.

Harry looked at the clock that was hanging over the entrance of their room. It was true, he would be late. He jumped up and rushed into the shower followed by the loud laughter of the two boys.

Twenty minutes later, he ran into the common room only to crash into someone. He fell over the person he bumped into and managed to hit his head on the couch that was near. Turning and trying to get up Harry noticed that the person who he ran over was Hermione. He helped her to get up and apologized for running over her.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. It seems that we are late for class," Harry said.

"What are you talking about, Harry? I just got up, there's still plenty of time," Hermione answered.

"But it's eight o'clock. It said so on the clock in the boys' dormitory," he exclaimed.

"It's only seven, Harry. Maybe you should get your eyes checked? Are you alright," Hermione asked him. She was concerned about Harry. He was her first friend and she decided that she would take care of him as long he would let her.

She wasn't exactly sure why she was so worried about him, but she really liked him and he wanted to be her friend. For a girl who was regarded as a walking homework machine at her primary school, someone who wanted to be her friend without knowing about her grades and achievements was someone to cherish and hold on to. Last night, she waited with bated breath until Professor Dumbledore announced that Harry was in Hufflepuff. The Hat sorted her in Hufflepuff because she argued with him when he refused to promise that Harry would be sorted into the same house as her. The Hat said that her bravery and intelligence were matched only by her loyalty to her friend so she was a perfect addition for the Huflepuffs. She was terrified that the Boy-who-Lived was going to end up in Gryffindor and that she would once again be all alone.

She watched Harry as he waited his turn and decided to never think of him as the Boy-Who-Lived. That wasn't him: he was like her, a terrified child who was trying to find his place in this new world they'd been tossed into. She hoped that Harry felt something similar because if he didn't then she would end up heartbroken. She definitely didn't want that. Too much experience in being used for her intelligence was Hermione's main childhood suffering. She generally had a good childhood with loving parents and relatives. She had the luxury to know that her parents would be behind her to help her and make any pain go away. She didn't know if she could rely on her friendship with Harry to provide the same support. She should really tread more carefully, but somehow her belief was strong so she committed herself to developing this friendship.

Harry looked at the clock in the common room. It was indeed only seven o'clock. He looked back at his dormitory trying to think why those boys would play such a practical joke on him. After several moments he turned towards Hermione.

"I'm alright. Two boys from my dorm just pranked me," he explained. "Let's go get breakfast."

Albus Dumbledore was deep in thought as he gazed over the Great Hall. He was troubled because Harry's protections away from Hogwarts had fallen. Even if he could cast the wards again, the Dursleys were going to end up in prison for the child abuse they heaped on the boy. He needed to get a new home for Harry, one that was not overly pleasant ensuring that Harry would look forward to returning to Hogwarts every year. After all, all those trials he prepared for the young Potter had the potential to make Harry look at alternate schooling. That prospect wouldn't be a good one for his future. Over the years, Albus had carefully prepared for every possible situation that could occur with Potter and Voldemort. The only situations he didn't plan for where the ones that happened all at once: the falling of the blood wards, the Sorting Hat finding Harry was being abused, Harry being sorted into Hufflepuff. He needed Harry to trust him and to look up to him.

Albus smirked to himself - he had just the plan for the occasion. It involved Lucius Malfoy and one of Tom's horcruxes. He was saving this plan for the next year and Weasleys would work well with this. He could get the Weasleys firmly on his side if he gave them Harry and access to the Potter's fortune. Yes, it was a good plan.

Harry and Hermione had a healthy breakfast and were given their timetables for the year. They found that they had a good schedule with a moderate amount of free time - which Hermione already reserved as study time. They talked to Padma and found that they had lots of classes with the Ravenclaw girl. Harry was happy that they didn't share many classes with the Slytherins. He didn't like Malfoy and didn't want another confrontation with him.

Their first day went really well, at least for Harry. Hufflepuffs had Charms and Transfiguration that day and they started to learn the basics of magical theory. Harry was little put out by Hermione's enthusiasm because it resulted in ending up at library after class. It was just as well because he found several good books on magical theory that helped him with understanding how magic actually worked.

Harry and Hermione continued in the same way through the week. By the end of the first week, everyone found that Harry was fiercely protective and that he was guarding Hermione with his whole being. It was actually Ron Weasley who was the first to discover this protectiveness. Ron insulted Hermione because she didn't want to move from Harry's side when Ron wanted to talk to Harry. Harry simply punched Ron for his remarks about his friend being an insufferable know-it-all that only wanted to be Harry's friend because of his fame. Harry and Hermione grew even closer after that incident for which Harry got two weeks of detention from Snape for fighting like a common muggle. Their only other friend was Padma as she was the only one other than Harry who could put up with Hermione's bossy nature. Harry adjusted his character to better suit Hermione's. He was studying and learning almost as much as she. He also found that his new goal in life would be keeping Hermione happy and safe after experiencing her scolding him for punching Ron yet at the same time thanking him for sticking up for her. Other than the incident with Ron, the only bad thing about that week was their first potion class.

Professor Snape began his lecture with a boisterous speech about potions which Harry actually liked because the man had some style in delivery. After that potion class became the exercise in how not to teach something. Snape began attacking Harry with a number of questions from the potions book, which Harry answered correctly. Snape began taking points for the correct answers for the sheer amount of cheek the boy had for learning his whole potions book before term. For the rest of the class, they had to brew a potion using only the instructions written on the board. Harry and Hermione were the first to finish, followed closely by several Ravenclaws with whom Hufflepuffs shared the class. Snape gave them all an acceptable, the lowest passing grade, which made Hermione question her potion making skills. She ended brewing the same potion three times that weekend. Harry didn't understand why she thought herself at fault when it was obvious that Professor Snape was an idiot.

Three first years spent almost the whole weekend in the library with Harry and Hermione trying to learn as much as they could. Hermione threw herself into potions, going through whole first year material in two days. Harry oriented on magical theory as he wanted to really understand magic. Padma was surprised by the fervour which other two had for learning. She couldn't keep up with their pace so she spent less time with them and more time with her Ravenclaw friends.

Amelia Bones was standing outside Number 4 Privet Drive as she watched Dursleys being led to the police van. It was a lot of work getting them convicted for child abuse but she managed to get her hands on enough evidence to convict them for at least ten years in prison. But it wasn't easy: she was blackmailed, obliviated, and even assaulted this week while she worked on this case. She was obliviated by Albus Dumbledore, something she still couldn't believe. She was extremely lucky that she left a set of her memories in a pensieve at home completely by chance. When she restored her memories she was terrified. No one would believe her that she was obliviated by Dumbledore. She didn't even knew why he obliviated her as memories of her encounter with him were completely wiped from her mind. She only knew it was Dumbledore after checking several spells in her office that were designed to prevent any assault on her in there.

She was threatened by Fudge to give the case to his undersecretary, Umbridge, but something told her that nothing good would come from it. She used that encounter to consolidate her position in the ministry. It was a fight that would be in any textbook of political wars. She managed to keep the case in her office and even kept Harry Potter's name safe. Fudge fought her every step of the way, but she pulled a few favours from several members of the Wizengamot and as a result, Fudge shut his mouth and kept a low profile after that.

She was assaulted that morning when she arrived on Privet Drive. Several masked wizards wanting to know the whereabouts of Potter's relatives to "teach" them how they should behave towards wizards. She swiftly defeated them and was prepared to find them later and to discover the rat that leaked information from her office.

She was watching her friends from Scotland Yard as they went about their business in the house. She talked with several of her friends, filled out the appropriate paperwork, presented her case to Chief Inspector Casdil and voila! The Dursleys were on their way to police custody and their son was on his way to an orphanage.

She entered the house, opened the cupboard under the stairs and casted several strong flame spells. She extinguished the flames and apparated home.

Harry didn't know about the situation that the Dursleys found themselves in until the next Monday. He didn't even think about his life before Hogwarts, trying to suppress his memories of his relatives. He instead focused on magic, with the experiences of his first week giving him an unparalleled love of magic and Hogwarts.

Hermione tried very hard to prove to everyone her intelligence. She thought that giving her new classmates a reason for liking her meant that they would actually start to like her. She noticed that everyone who spoke to her was either afraid of her or was trying to insult her. Only person that actually liked her was Harry, a boy who was different from everyone else she'd ever met and she couldn't decide if that was good or bad thing.

Two shadowy figures calmly walked through the halls of Hogwarts, as was their custom since the founding of the school. They didn't have to fear anyone in this castle; after all they were two of the four founders of Hogwarts. Helga and Rowena were invisible to all except those that served Hogwarts itself. Because of that no one could see them for no one truly served Hogwarts. Even Headmaster Dumbledore served his own interest rather than their castle. They built her so that everyone could learn magic in those perilous times when being a witch or a wizard meant having to extinguish flames beneath your feat. They never made any distinction between their students except their houses. The Four Founders only taught those who were in their respective houses, so many learned different branches of magic: Salazar instructed them on the branch of battle magic, Godric taught about the nature and elements, Rowena taught magical theory and care for magical creatures, and Helga taught her students magic based on emotions. Her magic was different than everyone else's, sometimes more powerful, sometimes less. She relied on her emotions to fuel her magic. With that, she could sometime cast spells so powerful that not even her three co-founders could defend against her.

The two female founders were close friends even though their personalities were exact opposites. Helga was a passionate woman who believed in the power of magic by itself. She didn't learn about things that didn't interest her. She got quickly bored when working on something and always had at least three or four projects going at the same time. One of those was having a giant squid as the guardian of Hogwart's lake. Rowena was a cold and merciless woman, equally for her enemies and allies. Even her daughter wasn't good enough in her eyes. She was a hard taskmaster and she was always seeking new knowledge for knowledge's sake. She knew more about magic than even Merlin but wasn't as powerful, so she relied on her vast knowledge of spells to defeat her opponents. She never lost a duel and even Salazar couldn't defeat her when she was in a foul mood. Many students feared her more than Slytherin and his snakes and only a very few tried to talk to her. Only person that Rowena respected as an equal was Helga and that led to their close friendship that would last for a whole eternity.

Currently, the two founders were arguing about the boy named Harry Potter. They agreed that they were going to provide all and any help that they could to him because they saw his potential the other night in their room. That potential was greater that any they ever encountered. Rowena wanted to start Harry's training immediately while Helga wanted to wait until Harry found his bearings in wizarding world. They finally decided that they would start his training after Christmas and not a moment later. Rowena wasn't pleased, but she respected her friend's wishes. After all, the boy was in her house.

A/N: Chapter 3 revised. Please leave a comment of you find the grammar mistakes that I missed...