Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Belgariad.
Chapter 7: Train Talk
Harry spent the next two weeks before going to Hogwarts experimenting with his staff and digging through the archives to find out more about what happened to his family.
When he got home after his shopping trip with Professor Snape, in which the Potion Master was kind enough to drop him off - not that Harry cared anyway since he could just teleport home, not that Snape needed to know that; he immediately started immersing himself in the first year books in the Hogwarts Curriculum to know what he would be facing in advance.
If Harry was honest with himself, he was a bit disappointed to learn that most of the lessons in his first year classes would be focusing on the basics, mostly on the do's and don'ts of magic, well, maybe except for Potions, Herbology, and Astronomy since all three subjects required hands-on experience as part of their basic curriculum.
Since he wasn't used to using magic with a wand, Harry decided to use this time to get himself acquainted with wand use.
Being an emancipated minor, and a young lord to boot, Harry knew that the trackers the Ministry of Magic enforced on underage witches and wizards didn't have a hold on him so using his wand and doing spells wouldn't get him into any trouble. Not that he was worried since the wards he placed around Number Four Privet Drive ensured that no magic inside would be detectable outside.
Harry spent a whole week getting familiar with wand-based magic and couldn't help but be happy with the bond he had with his magical foci.
In wand mode (as Harry loved to call it), it was quite powerful. Unlike his Mithril Ring, the wand-staff was quite powerful and his Reducto spell proved that fact. The Levitation Spell practically turned a small rock into a rocket and Harry had a feeling that it was currently floating in space without a care in the world.
Because of that, Harry started fine tuning his control, even going so far as using his skill in sensing magic to determine how much power he was putting in a spell and adjusting it as necessary. It took three days for him to be aware of the amount of magic he used before finally practicing the lessons in his books.
Transfiguration was his favorite since there was something exhilarating about turning one item into another using nothing but magic. Charms was his next favorite, but unlike Transfiguration, Harry studied the effect of the spell and made a special point to practice its counterpart using Sorcery. He was training both of his powers to avoid overspecialization.
Potions wasn't a challenge since every recipe there was just basic and he already mastered the basic preparation in potion brewing.
In staff mode, Harry discovered that he didn't need incantations or intricate movements to produce a spell. It was a point-and-shoot type of thing. All he needed to do was visualize or think about the spell, push magic into his staff, and voila, instant results. He had fun transfiguring rocks into random items with every wave of his staff in a small forest clearing a few miles east of Privet Drive which he picked because it was far from civilization for anyone to notice his spell practice.
Another important discovery was how his staff could amplify his sorcery to perform certain feats that he was previously incapable of. Before he had his staff, he couldn't create objects bigger than his body. With his staff, he was surprised that he was able to pull off creating a very large boulder twice his size.
This brought another round of experimentations with his staff and used it with sorcery.
With his staff in hand, he could practically access every mind in a 10 kilometer radius, unlike the 10 meter limit he had without it. He didn't try it again though since having hundreds of voices inside his head resulted in a rather painful migraine that took three potions to remove.
Another peculiarity about his staff was having a mind of its own.
After one painful episode of accidentally letting go of his staff during one of his experiments, the magical foci simply glowed and floated back to his hand. There were also times that the staff would just float if Harry let go of it and follow him around like a puppy. After that, it was quite rare for the staff to remain motionless when not in use. It would just float around happily without a care in the world. Zieg had fun playing tag with it a few times making Harry look at the two with amusement.
In regards to his research about the First Wizarding War, Harry deferred to Griphook to help him acquire the necessary materials to find out what really happened. Thankfully, his goblin friend had a contact in the Ministry archives so it was three days later after his initial request that Harry received a shrunken trunk full of newspaper clippings, trial records, and even Auror reports from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement during the war. It was a treasure trove of information that Harry immediately dove into with gusto.
It took a week for Harry to read through everything and he arrived at the following conclusion:
First, the First Wizarding War dragged so long because the wizarding public was afraid. They didn't realize the fact that they outnumbered Voldemort and his Death Eaters by 50 to 1. If they just banded together then Voldemort wouldn't have grown too powerful to stop.
Second, the Wizarding World didn't move without someone guiding them. Harry likened them to sheep. Without the shepherd leading them, they would be hopelessly lost and eaten by the wolves. If it wasn't for him stopping Voldemort, Wizarding Britain would have been in ruins.
Third, quite a lot of the purebloods who sided with Voldemort got a free-card out of prison because they pleaded of being controlled by the Imperius Curse. Harry read that the trial didn't incorporate the use of Veritaserum, a very powerful truth potion. Three drops of Veritaserum and the Death Eaters would be spilling their guts with the truth the public wanted and needed to hear.
In connection to this, Harry discovered that Sirius Black didn't get a trial. He was immediately chucked into prison courtesy of Minister Bagnold and Bartemus Crouch. It was quite possible that Sirius was innocent since the whole blowing-up-Pettigrew-and-twelve-muggles thing was too stupid to even be considered. Really, if the explosion caused the twelve muggles to die with their bodies intact, how come Peter died with only a finger to show for it? Where was the blood and gore?
Lastly, the public placed too much trust on Albus Dumbledore. Despite being the head of the Wizengamot, the judicial system of the Wizarding World, how come the Death Eaters got off scott-free? If Albus Dumbledore was really the wise and venerable leader they portrayed him to be, why didn't he do his job to make sure that none of the Death Eaters would be terrorizing Wizarding Britain again?
Griphook also included his birth certificate in the trunk. Harry didn't know why it was relevant but when he found out through it that Sirius was his godfather, he was livid.
Thanks to his the many books he read on wizarding history and customs, he knew that being a godfather in the magical world was like a magically-binding contract. To become his godfather legally, Sirius had to swear a magically-binding vow to always love and protect him. There was no way Sirius would out his parents to Voldemort because that would conflict with the vow he took. If Sirius did betray his family then the magic would have killed him on the spot.
Since he was clearly alive, Sirius was innocent and rotting in jail in the company of Dementors. He needed to do something about that and it better be soon.
It was the morning of September 1 when Harry received an email from Ian Drake, a Technomancer who he traded his Magic-To-Electricity rune set for the Internet spell.
James,
A friend of mine informed me that your Magic-To-Electricity Runic Set is not a patented creation. I suggest that you patent this as soon as possible since it wouldn't do to let someone claim this for their own. As promised, I didn't let anyone know of our trade. I suggest that you register this as soon as possible.
Anyway, any new discoveries lately? If you have, let me know.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Cheers,
Ian Drake
P.S.: The friend who saw the rune set gave me magically-binding vow that she would never reveal it to anyone without your express permission. She discovered it by accident when she noticed the runes on my laptop and deciphered its combination. Toodles.
Harry slapped his head in irritation after reading the mail. Why in the world didn't he think of that? His creation was a feat in the Wizarding World and if he was roughshod with its existence then someone would have claimed it as their own. That would have been a disaster for him since all of his gadgets sported such runes. He immediately forwarded the mail to Griphook since he gave his goblin manager his old laptop so they could communicate easily without having to use the mobile phone.
When the email was sent, he closed his laptop not bothering to turn it off since it wouldn't run out of power anyway, and finished his packing. He had two hours before the train would leave for Hogwarts and he wanted to make sure that he had plenty of time to get there early to get a nice compartment for him to ride in.
Harry had to raise an eyebrow before he entered the barrier to Platforms 9 and ¾ when he saw a family of red heads waiting just outside with the woman shouting her head off about the location of the hidden train station. He had to give it to the woman; she was treading a fine line before being apprehended by Aurors for disregarding the Statute of Secrecy.
Really, shouting 'Platform 9 and ¾' in the middle of King's Cross with a lot of muggles around wasn't a good idea.
Luckily, he was an hour early from departure and he was able to find a compartment at the back of the train. His mobile phone rang as he heaved his lightened trunk over to the compartment on top of his seat. He pulled it out and saw that it was Griphook.
"Hello, Griphook." Harry greeted the goblin through the speaker54wqas578912. "Did you get the email I sent you?"
"Yes I did, Harry, which is the reason why I called. This is an ingenious way of using runes. Why in the world did you wait this long to have it patented. Someone could easily make millions with this."
"My bad. If my friend from New York didn't tell me that then someone would have. Can you patent it for me?"
"Consider it done. However, I need the schematics of the rune matrix before I can have it patented by the Ministry. Which name do you want me to use?"
"Wait a minute, Griphook. Let me send it to you right now. I have all my creations scanned on my laptop." said Harry before pulling out his laptop from his backpack. He used sorcery to float the computer at chest level and replaced the phone back to his ear. "Alright, I got everything ready. Do you want me to send everything or just the finished product?"
"Hm, send me the schematics and a scan of the completed array. That should be enough to have it patented without giving me a headache."
"Alright, let me prepare it now." Harry attached the file that contained all his notes on the email and sent it to the goblin. "Sent. Please tell me when you get it. By the way, use my other persona on the patent. I don't want my name attached to anything so early in the game."
"Good idea. I got your email. Let me check the file now. Goodness, this is practically the most innovative way to use runes. I see that you used our goblin researcher's idea on magic having a destructive affect on muggle electricity."
"Yeah. After I tested my magic on my cousin's game console, which blew up by the way, I had a breakthrough in determining that it was really electricity causing muggle technology to self-destruct. It was smooth sailing after that and creating the rune array to convert magic to electricity to avoid overpowering the machine was relatively easy. I was kind of surprised that others didn't think of this before."
"Blame it on their shortsightedness. I'll have this patented by the end of the day. Anything else, Harry?"
"None that I could think of right now. Thanks a bunch, Griphook. Bye for now." said Harry before ending the call and canceled the levitation on the laptop before placing it beside him. It was a good idea too since it was a few seconds later that he had a visitor.
"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" said Draco as he entered the compartment with two others.
"Glad to see you too, Drake." said Harry with a smile. It was nice to see his first wizarding friend, not counting the goblins of course. Besides, he didn't want to spend the commute to Hogwarts with only his books for company.
"Drake?" Draco asked when he heard his new nickname.
"Well, it sounds better than Draco. They mean the same thing anyway, Draco and Drake both means Dragon." Harry pointed out. "Who's brute one and brute two?"
This caused Draco to laugh before sitting down on his seat. The two brutes merely stood by the door as if guarding it. From their menacing looks, it was a good assumption.
"The one on the left, brute one as you put it, is Crabbe and the other one, brute two, is Goyle. They are family friends and my bodyguard of sorts." Draco introduced the two to Harry. "Crabbe, Goyle, meet Harry Potter."
The two merely grunted which made Harry snicker followed closely by Draco.
"Well, they definitely got the bodyguard role down pat. Why you need a bodyguard, much less two, I would never know." Harry commented as he observed the two. They definitely had the muscles for the role though a bit undeveloped considering they were still kids. "Why don't you two sit down? I doubt anyone here would need your muscles. If there are then feel free to show them the error of their ways."
The two grunted again before taking their seats. Crabbe sat beside Draco while Goyle sat beside Harry who merely raised an eyebrow. A brief telepathic probe revealed that they already considered him a friend since he was chummy with Draco. So this meant that he was included in their protective detail. How quaint.
"So Draco, how did your summer go? Did you read your books in advance?" asked Harry curiously. He was curious how purebloods spend their time at home and Draco was the perfect candidate to be interviewed.
"It was boring. Nothing to do but attend parties and hanging out with friends. In fact, quite a few of them will be looking for me. I hope you don't mind getting your 'private' compartment being crowded later." said Draco with an apologetic smile. Harry merely chuckled.
"No need to worry, Drake. If they are your friends then I would like to meet them. Considering I grew up with muggles all my life, I didn't get to meet any witches and wizards my age. It would be a refreshing experience to say the least." Harry mused out loud causing Draco to look at him as if he was crazy.
"I can't believe that you didn't know you were magical before Professor Snape met you. He is my godfather, by the way." Draco said, adding the last part as an afterthought.
"I know. He saw both of us talking in Madam Malkins. He told me that you were his godson. Anyway, you better believe it. Besides, I always have this feeling that something was missing in my life and that something turned out to be magic. I'm just glad that I received my Hogwarts letter or I wouldn't know a thing about my other heritage."
"Harry Potter not getting his Hogwarts letter? The injustice of it all." Draco said in mock-horror before smirking at Harry. "I don't think that would sit well with many of the purebloods in Wizarding Britain. They've been waiting for you to appear for years now. If they found out that you were raised by muggles, there would be an uproar."
"Why would that be? They don't know me after all." Harry asked in confusion.
"They might not know you personally, Harry, but they know of you because of your status as the Boy-Who-Lived. According to my father, you disappeared after you killed You-Know-Who. No one knows where you went and who took you. Any efforts they put into finding you failed, no matter how hard they tried. If they found out that you were raised by your muggle relatives without knowing you were magical then you would have been spirited away and raised by a pureblood family the Ministry decided on." Draco pointed out which caused Harry's eyes to widen.
"Well, that would have been a welcome thought. Too late now considering that I know about magic and here to stay. I'll be attending Hogwarts for the next seven years and stay with my relatives during the summer." Harry paused. "Well, that's the plan anyway."
"I'll invite you to my place this summer." Draco promised. "I'm sure that you'll find it nice to get to know your peers during one of our parties. We, Malfoys, are very famous for our parties."
"That I don't doubt, Drake, considering your father had the Minister by the ear." said Harry with a chuckle. "Your invitation is quite welcome and you can owl me after running it through with your parents. I don't want to intrude, you know."
"Good. That cleared up the air." said Draco in agreement. He definitely like this Harry Potter unlike the descriptions he heard from the Light families. Who knew that the real Harry Potter was an intelligent, unbiased kid. This was definitely to his liking and he was happy that he befriended him. "Anyway, to answer your question, my summer was boring but yes, I did read in advance though I had to limit my spell practice since mother didn't want me to do the spells in the books without someone supervising me. Really, how hard could it be?" Draco said with a scoff.
"Aside from potentially blowing your brains off, causing an explosion, or turning yourself into something inanimate? Nothing serious." Harry said sarcastically which Draco took in good humor.
"Ha ha. Very funny, Harry." Draco snapped before he shivered when the scenarios Harry pointed out happening to him. It was a ghastly image and immediately pushed it to the back of his mind. "How about you? Any studying?"
"Of course, I practically devoured every book after Professor Snape brought me home. I tried a few spells and all seemed to work fine." Harry said casually, downplaying his abilities since he didn't want to show off until he got to Hogwarts.
"What spells?" Draco asked eagerly before a thought occurred to him. "How come you didn't get reprimanded. According to father, all underage wizards and witches living in a muggle neighborhood should be detected upon use of magic."
"Can you keep a secret?" asked Harry, not worried about revealing the third compartment on his trunk. Draco nodded. Harry pointed at the trunk on top of his seat. "My trunk has a secret to it. The third compartment is warded to ensure that no magic is detected by anyone outside. As long as I stay inside while I do magic, the Ministry can't trace it."
"That is absolutely brilliant." Draco exclaimed, not knowing that there was a trunk like that. "Maybe I should get one? How much did it cost?"
"Well, it has three compartments, the first is the normal space-expanded compartment; the second is a small potions laboratory, and the third is the warded space for casting spells. I bought it for 1500 Galleons. Quite a bargain too considering the uses I had for it."
"That's dreadfully expensive." said Draco with a frown. That much money was worth 5 years allowance for him and he doubted his mother or father would dish out that much money for a trunk, though he might be able to sell the idea considering that it had a potions laboratory. Both of his parents knew that he had a knack for brewing.
"It was a worthy investment. I don't want to restrict my magic until I come of age. The trunk is worth every Galleon it costs me to buy and the full potions lab was definitely worth the cost."
"Fine." Draco admitted, grudgingly. "Anyway, what spells did you try out?"
"Well, I tried the levitation charm and the first three transfigurations in the book. I had fun changing stuff in the trunk after mastering them. It was wicked." Harry said with a gleam in his eyes which made Draco grin.
"I tried the levitation charm myself though I didn't get it to work. I know I got the wand movement and pronunciation right but it doesn't work." Draco admitted with a frown on his face.
"Hm, did you visualize the object to float?" Harry asked, pulling up the directions of the spell from his mind.
"I don't think I remembered that part." Draco admitted sheepishly causing Harry to sigh.
"Drake, if you want to master the spell or any spell for that matter then I suggest that you read everything about the spell. The levitation charm has three requirements; incantation, wand movement, and visualization. Why don't you bring out your wand and give it a try." suggested Harry before snapping his fingers causing his wand to appear on his grip. The holster that Ollivander sold him had a neat enchantment that would let your wand appear on your hand with a snap his fingers. Returning it was simple visualization.
"That was wicked. How did you get it to come out like that?" Draco asked with child-like glee on his face. Harry rolled his eyes. He pulled up his sleeves to show Draco the holster.
"I bought this from Ollivander after I got my hand. You should get one too. Anyway," Harry flicked his wand and aimed it towards the floor in between him and young Malfoy. "Conjurus!"
Three small rocks appeared in a blink causing Draco to look at him in shock before schooling his features.
"You know, if I didn't know any better, you're way to advanced for just reading your first year books, Harry. Conjuration is a third year spell, after all." Draco pointed out as he gave Harry a look. Harry merely grinned and waved his hand dismissively.
"Draco, Draco, Draco. You think a bookworm like me wouldn't succumb to the temptation of buying books above first year. Please, Draco. I like knowledge and how can I resist the temptation that a bookstore offered?"
"Fine." Draco said in agreement before pulling out his wand. He did the swish and flick the spell required and incanted. "Winguardiam Leviosa."
One of the rocks wobbled but didn't float. Harry immediately saw the problem.
"Before casting the spell, why don't you visualize the rock floating. When you have the image firmly in your mind, do the spell." suggested Harry. He saw Draco close his eyes in deep thought. It was a few seconds later that he opened his eyes and did the spell again.
"Winguardiam Leviosa." Draco incanted. This time, one of the rocks floated up a few inches before flopping back down on the floor. This improvement made Draco excited. "I did it. Did you see that? I did it!"
"That you did, Draco, but you might want to celebrate when you achieve something like this." Harry did the wand movement, which wasn't necessary but he needed to do it to avoid showing off his true ability, and incanted the spell. "Winguardiam Leviosa."
Much to the surprise of Draco, and his two bodyguards, the three rocks floated up to eye level before Harry flicked his wand again and guided the rocks to fly around the compartment. The three purebloods were staring at him in awe.
"How in Merlin's balls did you do that?" exclaimed Draco. "That wasn't mere levitation, that was full on telekinesis!"
"No, Draco. That was simple levitation. If you read the chapter on the levitation charm, the author told us that after the subject is levitated, the caster can use his mind and magic to guide the direction where you want the object to float. If you don't believe me then bring out your charms book, turn to page 68 and read the fifth paragraph. What I said should be there." Harry said calmly
Not believing that Harry was right, Draco stood up and had Crabbe pull down his trunk from the top bunk. He rummaged around for a few seconds before pulling out the charms book for first years. He flipped over to the indicated page and read down to the fifth paragraph. Draco had to give Harry an incredulous look when he found out the instructions were there.
"Bloody hell. Don't tell me you got the books memorized." Draco shouted before slamming the book shut.
"I have an eidetic memory. I remember everything I ever read and I can call them up in my mind anytime. Quite useful for a bookwork like me, don't you think." said Harry with a smirk on his face.
"Bloody Ravenclaw." Draco grumbled. "I think we all know where you will be placed after the sorting."
"Why thank you. I did read about the Hogwarts houses and I find Ravenclaw to my liking. I do like knowledge after all." Harry said with an arrogant sniff before a smile broke through his face.
"Alright. At least I know you won't be a Gryffindor. That would have sucked." Draco said with disdain.
"Well, I know I'm brave but I'm not foolhardy enough to jump into an unknown with wands blazing. That would be just stupid." Harry said with a huff. Gryffindor indeed. He wasn't suicidal, thank you very much.
"I know." Draco said with a grin. "That is why I said you're going to be in Ravenclaw. You're too smart to put yourself in danger. Slytherin would be perfect for you too considering you were sly enough to buy the trunk that would allow you to use magic."
"There's nothing about it that indicates being sly, Draco." Harry said condescendingly causing the blonde to huff in irritation. "That is what you call being prepared. Since I found out that the trunk shop offered such features, I took it immediately. All you need to do was ask."
"Alright. Stop with the condescending tone already. You make it sound as if I'm a child." said Draco before he stopped when the train jerked and left the platform. "Finally, I thought we were going to be here all day."
Harry looked at his watch and saw that it was exactly 11AM. Right on time.
"Well, Professor Snape did say that the train would leave the platform at 11 sharp. It just turned 11 so I guess the train is right on time." Harry pointed out before a thought occurred to him. "I wonder if those red heads got into the platform on time. Their mom was spending quite a lot of time in the muggle side of the barrier when I went through it."
"Red heads?" asked Draco with a raised eyebrow causing Harry to nod. "Freckles on their faces?" Harry nodded again. "Lots of children with red hair and freckles on their faces?" Harry nodded for the third time. "Those were the Weasleys. Bloody traitors if you ask me."
The name of the family struck a chord in Harry. That was the same family that betrothed him to their daughter without him knowing about it. Now he knew who they were. Draco saw Harry stiffen upon the mention of the family.
"Something wrong with the Weasleys?" Draco asked curiously. Harry shook his head before giving his blonde friend a smile.
"Not really. I was just surprised since the woman was shouting her head off about the platform in the middle of a muggle crowd. I'm going to be quite surprised if she isn't picked up by Aurors for endangering the Statutes of Secrecy." Harry said, not telling his first wizarding friend what really happened to him concerning the family. He didn't want all of his secrets coming out, after all, until the right time anyway.
"Ah, bloody stupid family if you ask me. They should all be chucked into Azkaban." growled Draco. Harry raised an eyebrow at that comment.
"They aren't really that bad. A bit noisy if you ask me but a typical family, nonetheless." Harry told the blonde who gave him an incredulous look.
"I have nothing against the Weasleys, Harry, but I can't deny the fact that the current patriarch of the family married a woman who came from a family who loved to steal."
"Oh? Do tell?" asked Harry curiously. Draco merely huffed before explaining.
"I have nothing against the Weasleys. The current patriarch, Arthur Weasley is as honorable as they come like the rest of his ancestors. However, his wife, Molly Weasley was a Prewitt before she married Arthur. The Prewitts were well-known thieves. They don't steal outright but it is common knowledge in Wizarding Britain that the Prewitt females would marry a rich husband and end up impoverishing them before the year is out. That is what I thought happened to the current Weasley family, who was once a well-off pureblood family. Now, they lived in a hovel earning minimum wage."
"Wow. That's something you don't learn every day." quipped Harry good-naturedly though his mind was whirling to the betrothal contract. He needed to give Griphook a call later to see if the signature included Arthur Weasley since he didn't get that far down into the contract to remember. If Draco's information was correct about Molly then she definitely had a hand in the creation of the contract and Albus Dumbledore was in on the whole thing.
It was an hour later that Draco's prediction of visitors came true. Slowly, but surely, one pureblood after another started pouring into their compartment looking for the young Malfoy heir. Harry didn't mind the company. In fact, he found it intriguing as each pureblood kids shared their summer experience with him.
The first he met was Pansy Parkinson, the current heir of the Parkinson family, well, until his mother gives birth to a male heir where she would be set aside from be betrothed to a suitable family deserving of their stature.
After their brief introduction where Pansy immediately latched on to Draco like a leech, much to the blonde's annoyance, the next visitor was Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis.
The two were best friends since childhood since both their parents shared the same relationship.
Daphne Greengrass was the epitome of pureblood persona. She was cold, aloof, and blunt to a fault. Thanks to Harry's telepathy probe, he found out that it was mostly a mask because his parents warned her that quite a lot of students in Hogwarts, especially among the male population, would be clamoring around to get her attention due to her station of being the Greengrass heir, the sole heir to the head of the Neutral families in this side of Wizarding Britain.
That was one information that Harry found interesting. It would seem that there were three sides to the First Wizarding War. Aside from the Light and Dark families, there were also Neutral families who chose to stay out of the chaos. He decided to ask Daphne later on what was entailed to being a neutral, well, after he befriends her of course.
Tracy Davis was the total opposite of her best friend. She was loud, unnaturally happy, and of course, quite talkative. Harry briefly wondered how she came to befriend Daphne who was quite content to just stay in the background and listen to the conversation. He later realized that it was their by-play of sorts. Tracy would attract attention while Daphne would observe and act accordingly. It was a full-proof plan of self-preservation.
It was during the course of their conversation that he found out that Tracy was a half-blood like him and technically a pureblood. Her father was a pureblood but her mother was a muggleborn witch.
With the seven of them in one compartment, it would have been a tight fit. Thankfully, the Hogwarts Express had an enchantment of sorts so each compartment would expand to accommodate the number of students it contained. Harry was happy with the space since one of Draco's bodyguards stuck to him like glue.
They were in the middle of their discussion on what subjects they liked when the woman with a trolley laden with wizarding sweets stopped by and asked if they wanted to get someone off the carts. Harry stood up from his seat and addressed the group.
"Any requests? I'm somewhat hungry so I'm going to see what she has in that cart of hers." asked Harry as he looked at everyone in the compartment.
"Get me some Chocolate Frog, please? I'm feeling lucky maybe I can get the last card to complete my collection." said Draco as he pulled two Galleons from his pockets.
"My treat, Drake." said Harry, not accepting the money from the blonde who just nodded his head since it was impolite to decline an offer from a respectable figure. "Anyone else? As I said, my treat."
"Cauldron Cakes for me, love." said Tracy before giving him a kiss on his cheek which made Harry blush a bit. One could never fault Tracy's forwardness and he knew that it was just a play of sorts, not an attraction.
"Chocolate Frogs for me as well." said Daphne in her cool voice.
"Daphne has a sweet tooth." Tracy sang out loud causing everyone to snicker. Her best friend smacked her on the back of the head that made her stop.
"Pansy?" asked Harry, looking at the girl who was giving Draco loving looks.
"None for me thanks. I'm on a diet." Pansy said distractedly.
"Diet, huh?" noted Harry as he eyed Pansy's rather anorexic body. He turned his attention to Crabbe and Goyle. "Brute one and two, any orders?"
When he only got a grunt from the two, he turned to Draco for help.
"Just buy them something. They aren't picky. They eat anything that's edible." Draco said dismissively as he tried to remove Pansy latching on his arm.
"They eat anything, period!" Tracy said with a snicker causing the two brutes to blush.
"Gotcha. Back in a minute." said Harry with a nod before walking out of the compartment and towards the woman who gave him a smile. "Good afternoon, ma'am."
"Good afternoon, dear. Anything off the carts?" asked the woman, waving a hand to her cart laden with sweets.
"The name's Harry ma'am, and yes, I got a few orders from my friends." said Harry with a smile as he started pulling out sweets from the carts. He also pulled out a dozen Butterbeers from the stash.
"Then you can call me Helen. Nice to meet you, Harry." said Helen with a smile. This was one of the politest boy she had met and took to him immediately. If only most of the children were like him, it would make her life a bit easier selling sweets to the students.
"Nice to meet you too, Helen." Harry smile before checking out the sweets he got from the carts. After a quick inventory, he decided that he got everything and then some. He pulled out five Galleons from his pocket, more than enough to pay for his purchases and handed it over to the woman who was about to pull some coins out of her pocket. "Keep the change, Helen."
"Why thank you, dear." said Helen with a warm smile and gave Harry a kiss on the cheek causing him to blush again. What's with woman and their darn kisses. Sheesh.
He flicked his hand out and conjured a basket before placing the sweets and drinks he bought inside. When he was done, not noticing the bug-eyed looks Helen was giving him, he returned his wand back to its holster and was about to lift up the basket when a boy and a girl interrupted him.
"Excuse me, have you seen a toad?" asked the girl. "Neville here lost his pet toad during the ride. We were hoping that you might have seen something."
"Sorry," Harry said with a shake of his head. "Didn't see one. Have you tried asking an upperclassman to summon it for you. I read there's a spell for that."
"Really? I didn't know that. Thank you for your help." said the girl brightly before pulling the somewhat chubby boy away.
"Y-yes. T-thank you." said Neville as he was towed away by an excitable bushy-haired girl.
"Weird girl." Harry mused before taking up the basket of sweets and going back inside the compartment. "I got the food! Let's dig in!"
"Hungry much." commented Daphne as she eyed the basket Harry was carrying. Harry placed it down on the floor for everyone to grab their orders.
"Of course, I'm a growing lad, after all." said Harry as he puffed out his chest. Since he was wearing a muscle shirt, his well-developed chest was quite visible causing Daphne and Tracy to blush crimson.
It was almost evening when the conductor announced that they would be arriving in Hogsmeade Station in 10 minutes and instructed all the students to switch to their uniforms before disembarking.
Being the polite wizard he was, Harry ushered the boys out of the compartment to an empty one beside theirs to change into their uniforms. The girls were giving him grateful looks since they didn't want to go naked in front of boys.
When the train finally made its stop at Hogsmeade Station, the conductor told everyone to leave their luggage on the train since they would be magically taken to the castle and to their respective rooms after the sorting. They had to wait for the crowd to thin out before disembarking. Harry saw Hagrid bellowing for the first years to follow him.
"Hello, Hagrid." Harry greeted the giant as he approached.
"Glad ter see yah, Harry. How was the trip?" asked the giant as he ushered a few first years into a boat.
"Trip was good. I met a few friends during the ride so I wasn't bored and alone. Are we taking the boats to school?" said Harry as he eyed the small boat moored at the side of the lake.
"Aye. Only four to a boat. Best if you and your friends get in. The weather is in a might foul mood so it's best to be off before it gets worst."
"Sure thing, Hagrid. See you at Hogwarts." said Harry as he stepped onto one of the empty boats followed by Draco, and by extension, Pansy, and one of his bodyguard, Crabbe. Goyle, Daphne, and Tracy took the boat next to them joined later by a dark-skinned boy.
It was a few minutes later that Hagrid bellowed for them all to depart and the boats, as if following his orders, slowly floated out into the lake and followed the boat where Hagrid was standing on. The boat ride was not as comfortable as anyone would think since the weather turned cold in the middle of their journey.
Thankfully, Harry knew how to cast the warming charm so he offered to cast it for the Draco, Pansy, and Crabbe who looked at him in thanks, visibly sighing when their body temperature turned to normal.
Harry looked over his shoulder to see Daphne and Tracy huddled together, shivering. Taking a bit of an aim, he fired off four warming charms that hit the occupants of the next boat dead on. It was Tracy who saw him aiming his wand at them when she felt the welcome warmth cover her like a cocoon. She nudged at Daphne and pointed at Harry who was grinning at them cheekily while holding his wand. Daphne mouthed a 'thank you' which Harry replied with a mouthed 'you're welcome'.
It was a few minutes later that Harry finally saw Hogwarts. The castle was gracefully standing beside the lake, its majestic towers glowing dimly under the night sky. It was a breathtaking sight that Harry immediately fell in love with. It was twenty minutes later that they finally docked and ushered out of the boats by Hagrid before being escorted to the front of a large double-door where a stern, elderly woman was standing in wait.
"The first years, Professor McGonagall." said Hagrid, presenting the first years to her. Harry recognized the name since it was her he wrote the letter to after he received his Hogwarts letter.
"Thank you, Hagrid." McGonagall said with a smile, which still looked stern. "First years, follow me please."
She led the first year to an anteroom just outside the Great Hall before addressing everyone.
"My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration Professor and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Later, you will be sorted into the different house of Hogwarts – Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. You will wait here until you are called. Please remain composed and silent."
With that, she left the room to let the first years wait things out before the sorting would commence.
Harry was leaning on the wall with Pansy, Draco, and Crabbe when the rest of the gang approached.
"Thanks for the warming charm earlier, love." said Tracy with a smile. "You have impeccable aim."
"I aim to please, hun." said Harry cheekily causing Tracy to give him a good-natured slap on the shoulder. He saw the dark-skinned boy beside her. "Care to introduce us to your friend, Tracy?"
"Oh, this is Blaise Zabini, one of our childhood friends." said Tracy as she introduced the boy to Harry. "Blaise, this is Harry Potter."
Blaise gave Harry a surprised look before composing himself and offered a hand which Harry took with a shake.
"Nice to meet you, Harry. Thank you for the warming charm earlier. Tracy told us that it was you who cast the spell." Blaise said with a grin which Harry returned. "Considering how far we were from your boat, you have very good aim."
"As I told Tracy earlier, I aim to please, Blaise." said Harry with a grin at Tracy who merely stuck a tongue out at him causing him to chuckle. "So I guess you know everyone already?"
"Yes. As you may have noticed, almost all pureblood families know each other for one reason or the other. We all had play dates when we were still toddlers and met a few times at parties." Blaise answered before turning to Draco. "Glad to see you, Draco."
"Blaise." Draco said with a nod. "I thought your mother was planning to cart you off to Durmstrang."
Blaise made a face before answering.
"Yes she was but your mother convinced her otherwise. Thank her for me, would you?"
"I will. I was planning to send her an owl tomorrow to inform her of the train ride and the sorting." Draco replied with a nod.
"Ah. Slytherin then." Blaise said cryptically.
"Were there any doubts?" said Draco puffing up his chest causing everyone to give him an amused look. Harry, however, was confused.
"You already know what house you're going to be sorted into, Drake?" Harry asked, confused. Blaise snickered at the nickname.
"Not really but all Malfoys were Slytherins and I wouldn't want it any other way." Draco informed his new friend.
"Hm, so the sorting would put you in the house where your family was?" Harry asked, digging for answers.
"Not really but in most cases, the sorting would end up placing you in a house where you are most suited to. Since it only comes to reason that your families shape you to be something similar to them, it may the reason why most sorting would put you where your family was if they attended Hogwarts." Blaise supplied causing Harry to nod in understanding. It was basic psychology, after all.
"Ah, I understand." said Harry before realizing something. He looked at Draco. "So this is why you said I was a shoe in for Gryffindor because of my parents?"
"Correct. However, I think you're going to be placed in another house since you don't display any Gryffindor courage." Draco said, couldn't resist jabbing at his friend.
"Really, Drake. As I told you earlier, I have courage in spades but I'm not stupid enough to jump into a situation with wand blazing that could get me killed. I am logical, not suicidal." Harry pointed out causing Blaise to chuckle."
"I wouldn't be surprised if you are sorted into Ravenclaw, Harry." Blaise said with a grin.
"That's what I told him." quipped Draco.
"What he said. I don't mind being Ravenclaw. If I was to base my sorting according to the qualities of the houses, I would say that I would either be placed in Ravenclaw or Slytherin."
"Not Gryffindor?" asked Daphne with a raised eyebrow.
"Possible but not probable. I am courageous but I let my mind dictate my actions, not my heart. From what I read in Hogwarts: A History, Gryffindors are courageous to a fault which is not for me. Hufflepuffs are hardworking and loyal. I am not for that house because my loyalty to people depends on their actions and not their background. Ravenclaw, I am quite sure because I am logical and I prize knowledge above everything else. Slytherin is a possible since I tend to think things through to make sure that I stand on top instead of down below."
"Hm, a logical mind indeed." said Daphne with a hum. "I vote that you will be sorted to Ravenclaw then."
"I stick to my strengths, Daph." Harry quipped.
"Daph?" the Greengrass heir asked coldly.
"Daphne is a mouthful so I dub you as Daph from now on." Harry explained with a cheeky grin. Daphne was about to retort but Draco stopped her.
"You might as well drop it, Greengrass. He dubbed me as Drake earlier. From the looks of it, any names with two syllables is a mouthful for our resident celebrity." Draco said as he eyed Harry who was giving him an indignant look.
"Celebrity, I am not, Drake." Harry snarked.
"Celebrity, you are, Harry Potter." Draco rebutted with a grin. However, the mention of his name caught the attention of the masses. Everyone turned to Harry and gave him different looks ranging from disbelief to awe. Of course, Draco saw that and couldn't help but rub it in. "See?"
"If you didn't open your big mouth then they wouldn't be staring at me like a side of beef." Harry said with a sniff, pointedly ignoring the looks he was being given.
"Sorry to say this to you, Harry dear, but you ARE a celebrity. Your name would be likely called out from the crowd during the sorting so everyone will know that Harry Potter has finally come to Hogwarts." Pansy pointed out. The group gave her disbelieving looks. "What?"
"You know, Pansy, if I didn't know any better, I would say that you are hiding something in that pretty little head of yours." Tracy said with a grin.
"You know, Tracy, I may act like an idiot by I am far from one. Besides, why show your strength to people you don't know. Better to keep it hidden and let it out when they least expects it." Pansy said with a huff before continuing. "Not that I mind acting like an idiot around my Drakey-poo. He is just so cute!"
"Definitely a Slytherin." Harry couldn't help but blurt out.
"And don't you forget it, Potter." Pansy said with a pleased look on her face as she latched on to Draco who was vainly trying to let her release his grip on him.
End of chapter 7.
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