4: Going Home

It was the evening before school started, and Harry was still dreading on his confession. Sure, Dudley didn't flee from him anymore and even agreed to have his pig tail removed by him, and Petunia didn't try to hit him with a frying pan at all during the month, Harry was not sure about his Vernon's reactions at his to-be-said words. But he couldn't procrastinate anymore. So he came downstairs to the sitting room, where the Dursleys were watching the television. He cleared his throat,

"Uncle Vernon, could I have a lift to King's Cross tomorrow? My train leaves at 11."

His Uncle grunted, just like last time, before making a comment on Flying Carpets. Before he could stop, Harry found himself saying, "Flying Carpets have been illegal in Britain for centuries. Not that it wouldn't be convenient."

Now all three Dursleys were gulping at him like goldfish. Harry was torn between being amused by the scene and mentally slapping himself for the slip-up. Of course, another huge part of his energy was used to maintain a straight face. He shrugged, "read it somewhere earlier."

"Boy, don't you talk to us like that!"

Even his 19-year-old mind couldn't stop Harry from flinching at Vernon's purple face and accusing finger. Be civil, Harry reminded himself, and took a deep breath before changing his tone, "I'm sorry, Uncle Vernon."

Soon enough, Vernon complained about cutting off Dudley's pigtail, and Dudley opened his mouth before Harry could, "Dad, you don't have to. Harry changed it back."

And the house went into chaos once again. Between Vernon's outrageous yells and Petunia's panic, Harry found himself standing in the living room, genuinely amused by their reactions. It took the Dursleys half an hour to make sure Harry didn't bewitch their son, and another half an hour to calm down and go back to watching the television. Harry cleared his throat again,

"So…" He controlled his tone carefully, "could I have a lift tomorrow?"

Vernon didn't answer, and Harry prepared himself for the worst. Just as Harry decided to execute his plan B and blackmail, Vernon grunted again,

"Sure."

"Excuse me?" Harry grasped, immediately fusing surprise, excitement and gratitude in his voice and blocking the great relief he was now feeling.

"You heard me, boy. We'll drive you there. Only this time, though. Next time you figure it out."

No, I don't even need you this time, thought Harry as he thanked Vernon and went back into his bedroom.

The next morning Harry woke up at dawn. It was becoming a part of his habits recently, to wake early and take a brief nap after lunch. Harry enjoyed it as it gave him quiet time to review their plans and think about new ones. Today, he was going on Hogwarts Express again, in his 11-year-old body, as a first year, and he was to try and talk to his classmates. Harry was reminded of the morning before they infiltrated the Ministry and the other one when they robbed Gringotts. This time, he won't die or be arrested should their plan go wrong, but nobody knew what the long-tee consequences would be. Not that, Harry reminded himself, there was a big chance for it to turn out a fiasco, but some caution was always useful. Constant vigilance, after all.

Harry was, again, dropped off at King's Cross without breakfast. He wandered around for a few minutes, not looking for the platform this time but waiting for a particular voice -

"- Full of Muggles -"

Harry spun around and saw the familiar sea of red hair. Ron, behind his family, was smiling at him. Harry waited till the twins went through to walk up and politely ask for assistance. This, he and Ron decided a few days ago, could not change until they both sat in that particular compartment, as Harry would need a family again soon, and they couldn't depend on Sirius or Remus until the end of their third year. The Weasleys, if things went as they way they should, would always take him in as one of their own. So Harry played his part diligently, even revealing his scar to the twins like last time. Shortly after the train's departure, Ron's head peaked into the compartment,

"May I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

Harry chuckled. If he didn't know better, he'd take this Ron as truly 11. Grinning widely, Harry nodded towards the seat, "showtime's over, mate. We have a two-hour break now."

Ron managed to suppress his laugh until the compartment door closed, and the two friends both slid into a laughing fit.

"You should have seen your face -"

"You sound ridiculous -"

"I never thought -"

"Were we really that small -"

"Stop looking at me!"

"Stop telling me to stop looking at you!"

Fifteen minutes later, the laughter died down and the mood in the compartment changed drastically. Harry quickly cast a Muffliato before Ron asked, "so, how are you today?"

Knowing this question was addressed to more than his physical well being, Harry let out a mischievous grin,

"Couldn't've gone better. Didn't even need to remind him that Hogwarts will be looking for me if I didn't board the train. Next year, though, I might need the Knight Bus."

"That's good. And next year you'll be coming with us. Before You-Know-Who can get you."

"I don't know who!"

"You know who I mean. The one who set a bludger on you. If I'm referring to Riddle I'll use Riddle."

"Right, mate, don't get used to it. We aren't even supposed to know till the end of next year."

Ron nodded before grinning again, "then we can use Snakeface and Noseless starting fifth year. Plus Umbridge the Toad, that'll be fun."

That sent the boys off to another fit of laughter. Naturally, the rest of their quiet time was spent mocking the Dark Lord, his followers, and a certain DADA teacher. When the trolley came, Harry went out to buy enough of their favourite sweets to last a month, and sent a big portion of it to Sirius. As Hedwig disappeared to the North, Ron took out a shrunk lunch box from his pocket, and the two enjoyed their lunch courtesy to Ginny.

It was five after one when Neville came to find Trevor. Harry exchanged a look with Ron and stood up, "I'll help you ask around", and walked out with Neville.

Heading towards the end of the train, Harry was soon joined by Hermione and Malfoy. The four of them went into compartment after compartment,making conversations and looking for Neville's toad. The four of them made a good team: Malfoy used his position to handle unfriendly comments, Hermione persuaded the first years that not all Slytherins are evil, Harry was smiling timidly and greeted others warmly when introduced, and Neville's friendly and polite manners made him welcome. The plan seemed to work: having four first years who were expected to be in four different houses walking along the train looking for a toad convinced quite a few lower years and a handful of upper years that friendship between houses were possible. Of course, in a few hours, three out of four would end up in Gryffindor, but the train didn't know it yet, so it would do for now.

It was almost five when Harry returned to their compartment with Hermione. They had just asked Percy to Summon the toad and Neville and Malfoy had gone back to their own compartments. They closed the blind behind him and cast another Muffliato before sitting down with Ron, who looked like he was deep in his thought.

"Oi!" Harry snapped his fingers right in front of Ron's face. Ron jumped up and had his wand ready within a second, and found Harry holding his hands up grinning, with a beaming Hermione behind him.

"Blimey, Harry! You're wearing off my survival mechanism!" Complaining half-heartedly, Ron made his way towards Hermione and the two held onto each other for a few minutes, whispering. Harry's mind drifted to a certain red head in the Burrow, and the scent of her hair…

"Time to work, mate!" It was Harry's turn to jump up and find his friends meant no harm. Shoving his wand back to his pocket, he made sure Ron received his glare before listening to his best friend.

"You'll need to think of something to impress Snape - other than pretending to be a Potions genius, of course."

Harry nodded. He had spared several thoughts on the matter in the past month, but none of them sound realistic. "I figure I could be polite, maybe? But he'll still see me as my father. You know how I look."

Ron paused to think for a moment, Hermione screwed up her eyebrows. Then, suddenly, her head snapped up, "I have an idea, Harry! You sit with me, a Muggleborn, and we can pretend to be geniuses together. He'll see more of himself and your mother this way. Oh and we can pretend to help each other, too. To make it more convincing."

Ron nodded slowly, approving the idea, but Harry saw a potential flaw in the plan, "What about Neville, then? We can't let Snape taunt him either!"

"He can sit with me. I'll only act like a better-than-average first year and that's enough to prevent Neville from messing up. It's a good idea. Now, how are we unfolding the Stone this year?"