A/N Chapter 1 has been updated with an explanation for Harry's wonderful Latin skills. In case you don't want to go back and reread the additional paragraph is here:

Languages were a thing that had always come easily to Harry. So easily in fact, most of the time he didn't even realise it wasn't English he was seeing. Spoken or written, he just knew instinctively what everything meant. With no-one to tell however he didn't realise how unique this gift was.

There are a couple of other language things that happen later on in the story so I'm hoping this will set you up for those as well. I always aim for realistic in my stories, so let me know what you think! Thankyou to everyone who has commented so far!

Chapter 4

The remaining months until Harry's eleventh birthday passed quickly. He was living on a little island off Wales and really enjoying it, he had made friends with the other boys that lived nearby and he had caught up in his new primary school. He was very pleased with how his life was now.

Returning from a very close and energetic game of football with his friends one afternoon in mid July he saw an envelope on the doormat. In precise green ink was written

Mr H J Potter

127 Y Garnedd

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

Harry giggled about this writer's use of his full town name. It had to be official if someone hadn't abbreviated it! Turning the thick envelope over he saw another wax seal, but it wasn't the Gringotts crest. It was a large ornate letter H.

"Hogwarts!" Harry thought. "Finally they've written to me!"

He read the contents carefully and sent his reply back as instructed. Looking at the clock he realised it wasn't as late as he thought, if he hurried he could probably get his wand today! He quickly grabbed his coat before tapping his portkey and muttering "Diagon Alley".

Gringotts was easy enough to spot and Griphook had told him exactly where to find the wand shop from there. Realising that most of the shops were closing he hurried to his destination, glad that there were not many people around to notice and stare at him.

He had to try a lot of wands before the old creepy wand man was happy, but finally he stood there holding his first magic wand! Wanting to try it out immediately and realising that every other shop was shut anyway he portkeyed home.

To his severe disappointment he found that he could do very little with his wand. What he had learnt to do with a flick of a finger or a hand swipe, he just simply could not do with his wand! Resolving to ask Griphook why when he next met him, he stowed the wand away with his other school things he had ordered, made a light meal and then went to bed.

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On September 1, Harry was at Kings Cross Station at nine thirty am. Griphook had told him that he had to run into the wall between platforms nine and ten to get to where he needed to be. Harry was between the two platforms but he was waiting for a traveller free moment where he could try it in peace - he didn't want an audience if he crashed into the wall, thank you very much. The problem was, that being in a London station, there wasn't a pedestrian free minute to grab.

Suddenly he heard a voice behind him. "Excuse me, I don't want to seem rude but you seem to have the same luggage as Hermione and I just wondered if you knew how to get onto platform nine and three quarters?"

"I've been told that you have to run through the wall between these two platforms. I'm waiting for a moment when I won't have too much of an audience if it all goes wrong" Harry replied.

"Walk through a brick wall? That's impossible!"

"I'm inclined to agree with you. Laws of physics and all that. I suppose it's got to do with magic though. I mean take my ring-" Harry stopped abruptly and a huge grin crossed his face. "My ring! Let me see if this works. Platform nine and three quarters."

The three others looked around in astonishment as Harry vanished from sight. A moment later he returned, literally materialising out of the air.

"That's fantastic! Come on, grab hold of anything you want to bring with you and then hang onto me. I don't know if I can take other people but I'm damn well going to try!" He gripped his own trolley as he activated the portkey, landing all four of them next to a scarlet red steam engine. He turned around, grinning to find his three new acquaintances on their knees.

"Are you alright?" he asked. The girl, Hermione, was the first to reply that she was just shocked by the sensation, but slowly her parents also made it upright and they made their way onto the train. After some emotional farewells and thanks to Harry for bringing them there they left the platform, via a door with a sign written "MUGGLE WORLD" above it.

The two eleven year olds started to chat and once Harry had deflated the initial fan worship because of his name, they found they had lots in common. By the time the train started off, they were laughing and joking like they'd known each other for months rather than just an hour. They swore to always be there for each other and many other silly things besides, ate lots of sweets and generally had a good time. Harry had to endure the hero worship twice more as two other first years entered their little cabin during the train journey, but again they were quickly taught who Harry really was and soon they became friends as well. By the time the train reached Hogsmeade, Harry felt he had the three best friends anyone could wish for.

Their first glimpse of the castle from the boats awed Harry as much as anyone else. By the time the group of new first years had been treated to the customary "your house is your family" speech from McGonagall, Harry was wondering how much else they could be expected to take in in just one night. They were soon lead into the Great Hall and Harry's eyes travelled upward to the night sky above them - there was no roof! What if it rained?! Seeing Harry's reaction, Hermione leaned closer to him.

"There is a ceiling, it's just charmed to look like the night sky" she whispered. "It shows whatever the sky is, unless of course it's raining or something, then the drops don't actually fall."

"How do you know that?" he whispered back.

"Read about it in Hogwarts: a History, it's a great book."

"Can I borrow it sometime?"

Hermione's reply was cut off by a sharp voice calling out "Susan Bones!" She gave a last look to her friends as she approached the Sorting Hat. Just moments later it shouted "Hufflepuff!" and she walked towards her new house table.

After that, the remaining three watched the sorting until Hermione's name was called. She spent a long time under the hat before it shouted out "Gryffindor!" and she glared at it before walking over to the house table. A little later, Neville Longbottom was called up leaving Harry feeling slightly alone and more than slightly nervous, waiting by himself. The hat quickly decided on "Gryffindor!" for Neville, leaving him sighing in relief as he went to sit next to Hermione.

It seemed like an infinite wait before he heard his name be called out after that but on the call of "Harry Potter" the Hall went deadly silent. Harry wondered what would happen if he let out a tremendous sneeze or something right at that moment. He decided against it though, funny as it would be.

He chatted to the Hat for a solid five minutes before the Hat let out a thoughtful "hmmmmmm" causing the whole Great Hall to make a collective jump and Harry to smirk and mentally thank the Hat. They decided he was either a Slytherin or a Ravenclaw, which was slightly annoying because his friends were in the other two, but the Hat assured him it wouldn't make any difference in the long run. He enjoyed learning for learning's sake because he hadn't been able to for the first ten years of his life, but those same ten years had made Harry cunning and sly. After another minute of discussing the pros and cons of both houses, both were still indecisive.

Finally the Hat asked "do you want to change everyone's lives or just your own by coming here?"

"I just want to be me and have an easy life" Harry replied. The Hat cleared its brim loudly and shouted "Ravenclaw!"

Harry smiled and headed to the table of blue and bronze who were cheering extremely loudly. He noticed a peculiar expression on one of the teachers' faces, he assumed it was the Headmaster with that throne he was sitting on, and made a mental note to try and avoid having to meet with him until he was able to ask Griphook what it all meant.

The sorting continued but Harry heard very little of it. He was trying to field questions and get the hero-worship out of everybody's systems. Unfortunately the way that had worked on his friends wasn't working here. Also every time he had met someone so far he had had to go through the hero worship! He had had enough of it already and he hadn't even been around other wizards for a day! When the next person came up to him and asked to see his scar, he stood up very deliberately. The offending student back off quickly but Harry just climbed onto the table.

He didn't need to quieten the hall down, conversations ceased mid word and he had all eyes on him. Here goes, he thought.

"Hello! Yes, I'm Harry Potter. My parents were murdered by a wizard when I was one year old. I don't remember them at all. I have been told that I am only here now because my Mum died instead of me, because she bodily blocked the spell meant to kill me. That and that I look very similar to my Dad are all I know about them. I don't how it happened, why it happened or why you're all so keen to know about me, but since you are I'll tell you all this story so I stop having to repeat myself.

I grew up in Surrey, in a place called Little Whinging with my non magical aunt, uncle and cousin. I was taught to clean the house at the age of three, shoved out in the garden to pull up weeds and mow the lawn at four, and made to cook every meal before the age of five. I was not to intrude in their lives at all except to cook and clean. It was easier not to go to school because I always had to do worse than Dudley and be his personal punchbag. So I stayed at home, worked the list of chores my aunt left for me and if I finished them before she got back, I could have some free time before having to cook dinner.

I didn't know I was a wizard or that the magical world existed until I accidentally triggered a portkey a few months ago. The people I met taught me many things and they have changed my life completely.

That is my life story."

Harry sat down and started digging into the food that had appeared on his plate. Seeing all the looks he was getting from the Ravenclaws and the Hall as a whole, he sighed, picked up his plate and walked over to the Hufflepuff table.

"Can I sit here, Sus?" he asked. "At least then I might be able to hold a normal conversation whilst we eat."

"Ummmm fine by me Harry. Not sure if you're allowed though."

Harry shrugged. "If they ask I'll go then. You never finished that story about your aunt, elf and new home on the train, how did it end?"

The two chatted away as they ate. After a while one or two other Hufflepuffs tried to join in the conversation and slowly the others got drawn in as well. By the time they had finished pudding Harry felt that most of the new Hufflepuff first years at least had understood what it was he was trying to get at.