Another chapter done now. The sorting and the start of year one comes with the next chapter.

MartinDeShade: To answer your questions, no, chakra is not just magic, and that will be explained further in the story. As for the contract, it is actually used to summon spiritual serpents to guide the summoner. For wizards, the only way to make them corporeal is to imbue them into living snakes. Harry can make them solid only because he creates a chakra based body for them.

Chapter 3

"Stay back, I'm armed." Vernon threatened the large man with a rifle as he and Petunia rushed out from the other room where they slept.

"Oh, be quiet, Dursley you old prune." The man scoffed as he stopped before Vernon and effortlessly bent the barrel of the rifle before yanking it from his hands.

Vernon managed a quiet whimper before he backed away from the large man. Meanwhile, Harry examined the stranger carefully. He guessed the man was about nine feet tall and had a wide, stocky build that clearly gave him great strength and body mass. Harry had no doubt that if this man decided to tackle someone that someone would not be getting up again on his own power, if at all.

"Harry, there you are. You've grown since I last saw you. You were such a wee thing back then. Got something for you. Might have sat on it at some point, but it will taste alright." The man handed him a large box. Inside it was a large birthday cake for him.

True, the cake was crushed, but the mere gesture of it touched Harry. To think someone he didn't even know would actually care enough to remember his birthday.

"Thank you. If you don't mind me asking, who are you?" Harry decided to indulge his curiosity at last.

"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts. Of course, you'll know all about Hogwarts." The man spoke proudly.

"Not really. Is this something related to magic?" Harry asked.

"How do you know that, boy?" Vernon asked sharply.

"Acheron told me I'm a wizard, and that my magic was very strong." Harry grinned.

"And who the hell is this Acheron character?" Vernon growled at the thought of a stranger with an even stranger name that dared filled his nephew's head with such nonsense, but the deep burgundy spread over his large face turned to pasty white when a snake's head poked from Harry's collar.

"This is Acheron, uncle. Say hello, Acheron." The second part was said with a strange hiss that made everyone in the room gasp in shock.


"Blimey, you're a parselmouth." Hagrid was clutching his chest as he collapsed on the rickety couch, which groaned heavily in protest.

"A what?" Harry cocked his head to the side as he looked at them. Meanwhile, Vernon was starting to sweat as Acheron slithered down Harry and was moving towards him. He began to circle the man closely which only added to his nervousness.

"A striped asp? That's the deadliest magical snake there is." Hagrid's shock grew further as he recognized the breed of the snake that was now occasionally nipping at Vernon's heels. This only caused Vernon to whimper in fright as he barely retained bowel control.

"That's enough, Acheron." Harry commanded and the snake returned to him, crawling up his leg and back under his shirt.

"You're lucky he didn't bite you, uncle. From what he told me, it takes hours for a human to die from the bite. Several agonizing hours, in fact." Harry gave him a very evil grin as he scratched his familiar on the underside of his jaw.

"Harry, just to warn you, people don't take kindly to parselmouths. It is considered a Dark gift." Hagrid finally found his voice after his relatives scampered away.

"Are you one of them?" Harry asked calmly as he sat on a rickety chair across from Hagrid.

"Nah, you just surprised me, that's all. Although, I can't say I'm fond of the little buggers." He laughed a bit.

"So, what is Hogwarts?" Harry asked the first of the many questions rolling in his mind.

"Only the finest school of magic in the world. Seven years there, and you won't recognize yourself." Hagrid grinned.

You said people don't like parselmouths. Is it a rare gift?" Harry continued.

"Very rare. I know only one other person that had it. His name was Tom Riddle, but he later became known as Lord Voldemort." Hagrid shivered at the name. "People usually call him You-Know-Who."

"Why?" Harry was surprised at the fear Hagrid showed at the mere mention of the name.

"A few years back, the magical world was at war. Those were dark times, people were dying all over the country, you didn't know who to trust anymore in case they were one of his followers." Hagrid sighed.

"What happened then?"

"Well, your parents were a part of the group that was fighting him and his followers, and even fought him a few times. Then, your parents went into hiding. It seems he had them marked for death or something. Well, he managed to find out where you were hidden and attacked on Halloween ten years ago. After he killed your parents, he turned his wand on you, but for some reason, his curse bounced back and destroyed him, while leaving you with that scar. You're famous in the magical world because of that." Hagrid grinned.

"Thank you for telling me this. So, what do we do now?" Harry asked.

"You should go to sleep. Tomorrow, I'll take you to London to buy your school stuff." Hagrid replied.


As was his habit, Harry woke up early and went outside of the hut and started practicing the latest taijutsu kata he was learning. He did this for about an hour until he saw an owl approach the hut with something clutched in its talons.

He returned to the hut to find the recently awakened Hagrid reading a newspaper Harry saw was titled the Daily Prophet.

"Shall we go, Harry?" Hagrid led him outside and into a small, dingy boat.

The pair drew some strange looks from the people on the Underground because of Hagrid's size, but other than that, the journey was peaceful.

Having remembered that Hagrid said Harry was famous in the magical world, Harry changed his looks with a simple transformation and used a genjutsu on Hagrid to make the large man see him as if he wasn't disguised.

The entrance to Britain's magical shopping district turned out to be a dingy old pub called the Leaky Cauldron. It looked like it came right out of the dark ages, and the patrons certainly fit in. Everyone was wearing robes and cloaks, and one nervous looking man was actually wearing a turban.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley, Harry." Hagrid beamed proudly as he opened the gate to the alley behind the bar.

Harry was staring in awe at the sights before him, shocked that a place like this was actually real.

There were shops selling all sorts of strange items like wands, robes, flying brooms, and from what he heard from one witch, even dragon livers and who knows what else.

"First stop is Gringotts." Hagrid led him to a very large building made of white marble. It was the bank of the magical world, run by magical creatures called goblins. From the amount of armed guards in the building, he knew that they were not something he wanted to mess with.

After Hagrid produced Harry's vault key from one of his many pockets, they were led to a side passage by a goblin called Griphook and into what looked like a mine cart that took them deep into the bowels of the bank.

"Goblins must know a lot about metal working." Harry commented after they stopped by his vault and where he filled a special expanded bag he got in the lobby with a generous amount of coins. After that, they went to a second vault where Hagrid retrieved a small package.

"Goblins are the best metal workers in the world. Why do you ask?" Griphook said proudly, with more then a little arrogance thrown in.

"I wanted to buy a weapon." Harry's reply surprised both Griphook and Hagrid.

"You cannot buy a goblin weapon, Mr. Potter, only rent one. Everything made by goblins belongs to the goblins." Griphook informed him.

"Can you recommend a place where I CAN buy a weapon?" Harry asked.

"There's a blacksmith called Vesuvio's in Knockturn Alley. His work is far below our standards, though." Griphook's voice had a hint of disdain this time.

"Thank you for the information." Harry thanked him as he and Hagrid stepped out of the cart and out of the bank.


"I think a good trunk should be the first thing to buy." Harry turned to his guide. Hagrid just nodded and took him to a trunk shop.

Ten minutes later and a hundred galleons spent, Harry walked out of the trunk shop with a brand new four compartment trunk.

The first one was just twice as big then the outside and was used to store clothes. The second featured a bookcase that popped out of the trunk and where he stored all his books. The third was designed to store potions and potions supplies and had over a hundred jars and vials of different sizes neatly arranged in special shelves along with over five hundred strips of parchment that could be used for labels.

The fourth was five times bigger then the outside, and was empty. Harry planned to store his weapons in this compartment.


Over the course of the day, Hagrid received one surprise after another from Harry. First, in the stationary store, Harry shocked the clerk when he asked for a calligraphy set. It took the man a few minutes, but he finally found a set made from beautifully carved mahogany.

Again, in Madam Malkin's, Harry purchased a two small rolls of dragon hide, and also asked what was the best way to work with the hide.

"Please, Hagrid. It's important to me." Harry begged the large man as they stood at the entrance to Knockturn Alley, since Hagrid refused to allow Harry to go in there. Fortunately for Harry, after a few minutes, the large man relented and led him down into the infamous alley.

"Welcome to Vesuvio's. What can I do for you?" A middle aged man covered in soot greeted them.

"I want to place an order for some items." Harry pulled out several sheets of paper. He had them for over a year now, and it took him months of research to find out how these particular weapons were made.

"I need three hundred of these, a hundred of these and a hundred of these. I also need two hundred yards of wire matching these properties." Harry handed him the designs for shuriken, kunai and caltrops along with the info for the wire.

"This is a most unusual order. I've never seen weapons like these." The smith examined the papers carefully.

"They're a foreign design. Make sure the first two are well balanced." Harry replied.

"Alright. Let's see, high grade steel, and these things will require special molds too. I'll need four hundred galleons and six months to finish them." The smith replied.

"I'll give you six hundred if you can make a third by the 30th of August." Harry grinned as the man's eyes shined at the thought.

"Deal. I want half now, half on completion." The smith grinned and Harry pulled out three hundred galleons, leaving him with about fifty in his bag.

"Harry, why do you need weapons?" Hagrid asked with a frown.

"Nothing special, really. I was training in Muggle fighting, and the teacher showed us some weapons. I wanted to have some of my own so I could train. Besides, if anyone attacked me, they won't expect I have Muggle weapons as well." Harry grinned lightly.

"Just be careful with them, alright?" Hagrid gave him a stern look.

"Hagrid, I promise I will only use them in the direst circumstances." Harry's words reassured the large man and Hagrid led him to the pet store where Harry bought a large box of mice and little birds kept in stasis for Acheron.


After that, the only thing remaining was Harry's wand, and Hagrid led him to Ollivander's. "The best shop for wands there is, Harry."

"Ah, Mr. Potter. I was wondering when you would show up." Ollivander gave him a creepy vibe, but it was obvious that he knew his stuff from the mere fact the old man managed so see through his disguise.

Much to Ollivander's growing excitement, it seemed that no wand would suit Harry. Several wands came close, like one that was made of holly with a phoenix feather core, but it wasn't close enough.

"Hmm, I wonder. I recently received a shipment of wands from a friend of mine from Asia asking me to study them. They are all highly experimental, using previously unexplored combinations. Give them a try." Ollivander handed him a box with a dozen wands in it, and after a few tries, a wand erupted with a flurry of snowflakes, filling the whole store with five inches of snow the moment he gripped it.

"Marvelous. Ten inches, made of holly and with the hair of a legendary Japanese Yuki-Onna." The old man explained with a wide grin after he managed to clear out the snow from his store.

"How much is it?" Harry asked.

"No charge, Mr. Potter, but I will ask you to send me some letters explaining how it serves you. What subjects does it work best, what spells do you have difficulty with and which come easy and so on." Ollivander replied.

"I can do that. Thank you, Mr. Ollivander." Harry grinned as he tucked the wand in the new holster that the strange old man gave him with the wand.


"That was one strange day." Harry grinned to himself as he finally collapsed on his bed. It seemed his relatives returned from their sojourn in the cabin on that little island none worse for the wear, and had avoided him completely, lest they meet his little scaly friend.

Harry spent the next month reading through the books on magic, comparing the spells they contained with the ninja techniques he practiced.


"That way, master, the barrier is hidden in that pillar." Acheron directed his master from behind the high collar of Harry's shirt in King's Cross station. After hearing that, Harry calmly looked around and choosing a good moment, walked through the seemingly solid brick wall. His trunk was already shrunk and safe in his pocket, due to the self-shrinking charm it had on it.

"I'm going to check my trunk. Feel free to relax." Harry let Acheron slither on one of the seats as he started checking the compartments.

The last one was of course, something he wouldn't let other see. It held several racks with rows of kunai, shuriken as well as a box full of caltrops. Everything was sharp and ready to be used.

This compartment also held several pouches he had managed to fashion using the dragon hide. It took him a few tries, but he had some experience with sewing, and his last ones turned out pretty good. There were two hip pouches and two kunai holsters, one green and one black. The kunai holsters had fifteen kunai each, while the pouches had thirty shuriken and thirty caltrops.

The difference between the black and green pouch was simple. The kunai and shuriken in the green ones were all coated in Acheron's venom. Since Harry was immune to it, he saw no reason not to use it if he had to.


"Master, may I eat this?" Harry looked up and saw Acheron constricting a panicking toad. He closed the trunk with a sigh and put it back in his pocket.

"He's probably someone's pet, Acheron. Besides, I fed you this morning. You don't want to get fat, do you?" Harry admonished him.

"Excuse me, have you…" A girl with bushy brown hair walked in and froze at the sight of the large serpent coiled around the toad.

"Trevor." A nervous boy with a gentle, round face joined her a moment later.

"Is this your toad?" Harry plucked the frightened animal from Acheron's coils and handed him to the boy. For once, the toad didn't mind being in his owner's hands.

"Thank you." The boy said weakly as he watched as the serpent crawled up the boy's sleeve.

"Why do you have a snake with you? They're not allowed at Hogwarts." The girl finally found her voice.

"As pets, no. However, Acheron is my familiar. The rules allow familiars regardless of species." Harry replied as he gestured for them to join him.

"Is he really your familiar?" Her eyes shone with eagerness.

"Yes he is. We've been bonded for a while now. Oh, where are my manners. Harry Potter, at your service." Harry introduced himself with a wide grin as he held his hand out to them.

"I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Neville Longbottom. You're really Harry Potter?" The fire in her eyes was visible now.

"Last time I checked, yes. And yes, I know I'm mentioned in a lot of books, but I'd take the stories about me with a grain of salt." Harry gave her a shrug.

"What do you mean?" Hermione frowned.

"Well, on the night of my supposed triumph, four people were present. Three are dead, and one was a fifteen month old infant. Therefore, everything those books say about that night is speculation at best." Harry replied.

"That makes some sense." Hermione mused.

"May I offer you a word of advice? You're muggleborn, right?" Harry asked and she nodded in reply.

"I can see you're very smart and that you love to read. You should be very careful in classes, then. A lot of pureblood wizards will not like a mudblood showing them up." Neville gasped loudly at that.

"If I said that word, my gran would scourgify my mouth." He said nervously.

"Don't worry; I'm not someone to use it either. I'm not telling not to do your best, but in class, don't do more then the other bright students." Harry gave her a firm and serious look.

"I'll keep it in mind. You know, when I found out I might meet Harry Potter; I didn't expect someone so serious and mature." She said pensively.

"I'll take it as a compliment." Harry grinned.


Again, his compartment door was suddenly opened and a boy with a pointy face and platinum blond hair walked in.

"I heard Harry Potter was on this train. Are you him?" He asked in a haughty tone.

"No. Name's Evans, James Evans. But if you do find him, can you get me his autograph?" Harry grinned at the blond boy who just gave them a quick glare and walked away.

"Why did you lie to him?" Hermione asked once the blond was gone.

"Neville, why don't you tell her?" Harry turned to Neville.

"That was Draco Malfoy. His family is really big on the whole pureblood tripe. His dad was accused of being a Death Eater, but he got freed by claiming he was under the Imperius. Gran said he had to give out some heavy bribes to get that to stick." Neville replied, gaining confidence as he spoke.

"How did you know that?" Hermione turned to Harry.

"Wait a moment." Harry pulled his trunk out and opened the library compartment. There wasn't much in it at the moment, but Harry had bought over three dozen books and thanks to Kage Bunshin, he had almost read them all.

"Here, 'Magical Etiquette and Modern magical families and their ancestry.' You can return them once you read them. Just to warn you, the second book is heavy on the pureblood propaganda." Harry handed her the two books.

At that moment, a voice echoed that they would be arriving soon.

"We should go back to our compartment. Thanks for the books, Harry." Hermione smiled.

"Don't mention it. See you two later." Harry grinned.

"Their magic is strong, master. Not like yours, but still strong. They will be good allies in the future." Acheron commented.

"Yes, they have a lot of potential. Now, let's see the sort of havoc we can cause in this place." Harry grinned widely. Hogwarts and the magical world had no idea what was coming.