Hogwarts Express
It was September 1st, 1991 and Harry Potter stood watching the entrance to King's Cross. He found it amusing to see how many Muggle-borns or half-bloods were clumsily strolling with their trunks and pets towards the trolleys. He had refrained from taking Hedwig to Hogwarts, reasoning he could just use the owls in the Owlery at Hogwarts, much to Hedwig's displeasure. This way, Remus would still be able to keep in touch without going to the post office every time he needed to send a letter. His own trunk was shrunken in his pocket by Remus, even though his uncle was doubtful that Harry could enlarge it himself on his first try. Harry replied that he would just ask one of the older students to do it for him if he wasn't able to. He smiled as he remembered his uncle's grumpy state from this morning….
Remus had tried to dose him again with Sleeping Draught, but as soon as Harry picked up his hot chocolate, his ankh was starting to warm up. Harry decided to let his uncle sweat in his attempt at dosing him once again and found something to do every time he was about to take a sip. He asked Remus how they were going to King's Cross Station in the morning, remembered that he had to check if he had everything in his trunk, had to go to the bathroom, etcetera. When he said he was going to lay about his clothes for the next day, Remus just said with a sigh, "Let me guess, you know…."
He nodded with a smile and continued with rereading 'Hogwarts, A History' for the next day.
The next morning, Harry woke Remus at half past seven, being ready with his morning exercises, shower and breakfast. He was immaculately dressed, his hair partially tamed and his trunk was packed with a few last minute additions, which were the books about learning how to read music. His uncle moaned when Harry tried to wake him, saying the train didn't leave for another three hours at least and tried to go back to sleep. Harry, having the ultimate remedy for this situation, just said some gibberish in Parseltongue and Remus shot up like a spear. Ever since he had set a completely harmless grass snake on his uncle at Potter Manor, he was very afraid of Harry's ability to speak the language of snakes.
And so here they were, almost an hour early at King's Cross and taking in the sights. Families with students going to Hogwarts were milling about with their belongings and pets through the late rush hour. Remus had told Harry about the portal between platform nine and ten to get to platform Nine-and-three-quarters and they were walking towards it through the crowd.
"Okay Harry, this is it. Just walk through the barrier and watch out that you're not seen by any of these Muggles." Remus explained, pointing towards a brick wall.
Harry looked at the totally normal appearing wall, shrugged and started walking towards it. He closed his eyes when it seemed he was going to walk right into it until… he slammed head first against the wall and fell back on his ass.
He looked towards his uncle only to find him rolling on the floor, howling with laughter.
"It's the wall on the other side of the platform, isn't it?" Harry asked rhetorically.
Remus didn't answer; for he was too busy laughing at his gullible nephew.
Harry just shook his head, hard to believe his own stupidity in trusting his uncle in such an opportunity. Over the years, he found out the hard way that Remus was a vital part of the infamous prankster group at Hogwarts known as 'the marauders'. It was a sign of carelessness that Harry fell for something as obvious as this. In the house, they had set up rules to prevent things like this, for after a while Harry became so vigilant that he wouldn't drink anything but water directly from the tap. He looked to the other side and saw a wizarding family disappear into the wall that was obviously the real portal to get to platform 9¾.
Harry just left his uncle behind and walked towards the barrier; not knowing how much time would pass if he let Remus revel in his successful prank by rubbing his forehead. He passed through the wall and gasped as he saw the Hogwarts Express for the first time in his life.
It was a red and gold steam train that seemed majestic and antique at the same time. Harry was slightly disgusted by it however, since he had found yet another form of prejudice in the Wizarding World. Remus had told him of the bias against Slytherin House and the esteem of Gryffindor House and the train was just another example. Remus entered the platform and saw his nephew looking with amazement towards the Express.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" He spoke.
"It is. However, you do realize that the train is just another form of house prejudice. Let me guess, our esteemed Headmaster was an avid Gryffindor?" Harry mentioned to his uncle.
"Hmm, you're correct, as usual." Remus said with a thoughtful look. "Well I guess this is it. Please be careful and don't get caught breaking any rules. And remember, if the headmaster doesn't give you your father's cloak before Christmas, ask him about it." Remus said as he hugged his nephew goodbye.
Harry spoke in an equally emotional tone. "I will. Thank you….. for everything, Remus. I'll see you again for the Christmas holidays and hopefully I'll have the cloak with me."
Harry stepped on the train, even though it was still fifteen minutes before departure time and waved towards Remus. As someone else stepped on the train after him, Harry removed his custom wand, pointed it inconspicuously towards his uncle while waving and spoke softly, "Muto Coloro Roseus" while performing the necessary wand movements meticulously. An indignant cry from Remus together with laughter coming from the entire platform told him he'd had been successful in changing his uncle's robes pink. Harry was rather proud of himself, it was the first time he had performed wand-based magic and he successfully did the Colour Change Charm on his first try. He knew that the Hogwarts Express was considered part of Hogwarts and, as such, would be exempt from the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. He heard the laughter from his prank all the way to the empty compartment he chose to sit in about halfway down the train.
He sat down in the compartment and watched through the window as parents said goodbye to their children and pushed them towards the train. Harry noticed Neville Longbottom striding through the crowd of waving and pointing parents with his grandmother. The regal-looking, old woman was pushing her charge forward and ignoring the gaggle of fans. She obviously wanted nothing to do with his fame but Neville still managed to stop every now and then for an autograph, lavishing in the attention. Behind Neville, a family of redheads emerged from the barrier with only a couple of minutes to go before the train left, they said a quick goodbye and Harry noticed the mother speaking a few last words to her youngest son while pointing towards Neville. He noticed the daughter, probably the youngest child, was staring at the Boy-Who-Lived with an adoring and, to Harry at least, slightly disturbing look.
Putting the thought out of his mind, he looked towards the door of his compartment that had just slid open. A young girl, probably a first year as well but shorter than Harry since he was tall for his age, entered the compartment and sat down on the couch opposite of him. She had long hair that was black as night and contrasted with her pale skin, a small nose and full lips. Together with her dark blue eyes she was quite pretty and would be a bombshell as she grew older. Harry had looked away before she thought he was staring and introduced himself after making eye contact.
"Hello, my name is Harry." He didn't hold out his hands, since that was an act of friendship and alliance in the old pureblood customs but kept a welcoming smile on his face and refrained from saying his surname.
The girl obviously recognized the greeting and what it stood for, for she replied equally friendly and non-assuming. "I'm Blaise, it's nice to meet you."
Harry didn't know what else to say, since he didn't have much contact with others of his age, so he kept quiet. He noticed that the train took off at that moment and decided to read for a while. He moved sideways, placed his shrunken trunk on the couch beside him and removed his custom wand from his wrist holster. He realized the action might seem a bit threatening even if he was just a first-year so he decided to clarify. "I'm just going to try an Engorgement Charm but I don't know if it'll work so don't laugh if it doesn't, alright?"
Blaise nodded thoughtfully but didn't say anything.
Harry muttered "Engorgio" and performed the right wand movement, or so he thought because nothing happened. He went to try again but a soft hand on his arm stopped him. He looked towards Blaise and saw that she had her wand out as well.
She motioned towards the trunk, "May I?"
Harry nodded, not in the least bit jealous if she did it since he was eager to see what he did wrong. "Please, go ahead."
Blaise tapped the small trunk with her wand and said "Finite". The trunk returned to its former size immediately and Blaise put her wand back in her holster and stared back at him victoriously.
Harry slapped himself and smiled gratefully and a bit sheepishly towards his companion. "Thank you," he said. He should have remembered that "Finite" would return a shrunken trunk back to their former size and was much easier to do than an Engorgement Charm. 'Engorgio' was the countercharm to the Shrinking Charm 'Reducio' but a simple 'Finite', with the intention to end the charm, would usually dispel the last performed magic on an item or person. He realized that his uncle had known this and was probably cackling with laughter once again as he thought about Harry's Engorgement Charm.
He grabbed the book 'Magical theory'out of the main compartment of the trunk, the one with nearly all his first-year things so he could open it safely in front of others, and placed the trunk in the rack above him. He motioned to the book at Blaise, signaling that he was going to read and she did the same only with the first-year transfiguration text.
Their readings were interrupted when the door slid open with a bang and a rather short blonde boy with a pointed, aristocratic face barged into the compartment and looked around. He held his face up high and looked down at them. Two thuggish boys came in after him and tried to look menacing, they seemed to serve as bodyguards for the snobbish kid.
"Have any of you seen Longbottom? I heard he was on this cart, are you him?" The blonde, aristocratic boy looked pointedly at Harry.
Harry just shook his head, not trusting himself to say anything lest he made enemies even before he arrived at Hogwarts.
"What's the matter, can't speak? Don't you know who I am?" He looked at Harry's Muggle clothes. "You're probably a mudblood, it's disgusting the filth they allow at Hogwarts these days…."
Harry held his mouth shut, but he was itching to try out some of the curses and jinxes he had read about. He didn't know what the boy was trying to achieve with speaking down to him, perhaps aiming to intimidate Harry, so he just kept silent.
The boy left as quickly as he came in, after receive no response whatsoever, which is probably what he was looking for. Harry looked towards Blaise, who stared back at him and he just shook his head, amused by the antics of snobbish, pureblood, eleven-year-old elitists. Blaise seemed to find it equally amusing and chuckled at Harry's response; she looked at him appraisingly and stuck out her small hand.
"If that's the way you react towards Malfoy, than you might be worth my friendship. I'm Blaise Zabini." She said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Zabini. I am Harry Potter." He gently grabbed her small hand, softly turned it over and lightly kissed the back of it in the pureblood custom of introduction.
She blushed lightly and startled at his name. "Potter? I'm surprised you didn't start a duel just now. Weren't your parents both Gryffindors?"
Harry stiffened at the usage of the 'past tense' and the mention of his parents but quickly recovered when he realized she was talking about their former designated house while they were both at Hogwarts. "They were, however I don't see how their history at school is of any influence to my reaction towards a pureblood elitist." Harry replied.
"You're right. However the designated house of a parent CAN predict the personality of the child, since the houses are based upon characteristics and it's possible to assume that a parent raises their child by their own morals and standards." Blaise explained.
"So you're saying that every person in a Hogwarts house, sorted in that house at the age of eleven, has the same morals and standards not only at that time, but also for the rest of their lives? Or at least fifteen years later?" Harry asked in discussion.
"You have a point. However you do realize that the former Hogwarts house of a parent can define some of the characteristics of that person and they can pass that along to their child?"
Blaise asked for clarification.
"I realize that. On the other hand, it is equally possible that the child learns from their parents faults, develops completely different characteristics or even renounces their beliefs. Thus, making it just a matter of chance with perhaps a slightly larger probability for your conclusion." Harry argued and gave in to some extent.
Blaise smiled victoriously at winning yet another time over him until Harry dropped the bomb on the conversation.
"But this is all under the assumption that the parents are present to raise their child…."
"Oh," Blaise said dumbly, not knowing how to reply to such a statement.
"I….. I'm sorry." She continued after the silence became uncomfortable.
"That's alright, you obviously didn't know." Harry tried to smile reassuringly towards his travel companion.
The rest of the train ride continued in comfortable silence, only briefly disrupted by the 'food cart lady'. Harry bought several cauldron cakes and chocolate frogs, both for stilling his hunger and to offer Blaise something. A slight motion with his hand in a 'help yourself' kind of gesture and she took two chocolate frogs, thanking him quietly and carrying on with reading.
Harry saw many students walking up and down the train during the trip to glance at the Boy-Who-Lived who was probably only a few compartments away from him and Blaise. When the train started to slow down, a voice called down the train that they had to change into their robes since they would be arriving at Hogwarts in ten minutes time. Harry left the compartment shortly for Blaise to get changed and returned quickly after, took off his jacket and pulled on his robes over his Muggle outfit.
The twosome moved off the train and followed the rest of the first years towards a huge man with a thick accent and a bushy beard. He was calling all the first year students together next to the beginning of a path that ran down to the lake, while the older students moved in the direction of several carriages on the other side of Hogsmeade station.
The enormous man, who could be over ten feet tall, was still calling for "Firs' years, Firs' years this way please" while every starting student was already in front of him. When he finally noticed that he had everyone together, he introduced himself. "Ello everyone, name's Hagrid, Rubeus Hagrid, but everyone jus' call me 'Hagrid'. C'mon, follow me – any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now!" He motioned everyone to keep following him down the steep, narrow path towards a fleet of small boats sitting in the water by the shore.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called and Harry and Blaise climbed in a boat together while a pair of twins followed after them.
"Everyone in?"shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then, Forward!"
And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was serenely calm with the surface of the water as smooth as a mirror. There was a loud "Oooooh" as the castle of Hogwarts came into view. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side of the lake was a vast castle with many towers and turrets, illuminated from within and lighting up the windows of the castle. The half full moon in the sky above covered the castle in an ethereal glow, making it seem even more surreal and magical. It was clear to Harry why they brought the first-years this way with a first impression of the school such as this.
Harry thought he saw unnatural rippling in the surface of the water up ahead and looked down the boat to see if there was any marine life visible in the dark, shallow water. To his astonishment, he saw giant tentacles holding the boats from below, moving the boats forward towards their destination. He tapped Blaise on her shoulder and pointed next to the boat. She looked and shrieked as she saw what was below the surface.
Hagrid understood her reaction and explained to everyone in a loud voice. "Tha's jus' the giant squid; she 'elps the boats along every year an' won't hurt yeh."
Harry was intrigued that a marine animal could be so well trained and kept in an environment around children. He gently stroked the tentacle in the water below their boat in appreciation and received a tickling brush above the water in return. Blaise hit his shoulder in mock anger and shook her head amusedly when he looked at her questioningly.
The boats entered a dark tunnel where they had to bend their heads down for a moment and arrived at an underground harbour. They climbed onto the wooden docks and followed Hagrid up a flight of steps to a huge, oak door. Hagrid knocked three times with his fists that might have reverberated around the entire castle and the doors opened to a tall black-haired witch in emerald green-robes and a black pointed hat. Professor Minerva McGonagall, head of Gryffindor house, Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration professor, if Harry was not mistaken. She looked like she was not one to cross, but after hearing about her soft spot for the Marauders; he knew it was just an act to keep everyone in line.
"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."
The professor opened the door and motioned the new student inside where they entered the Entrance hall. It was enormous, even larger than a house in suburbs, with torches lining the stone walls and had a ceiling too high to make out. A marble staircase facing towards them led to the upper floors and, if Harry believed his uncle at least, had a trick step on the seventh tread of the second stairs around the corner.
Harry was drawn from his inspection by the slamming of the door behind them and he saw Professor McGonagall moving to the front.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. Your house represents your family during your stay here and you will have classes with them, sleep in the house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room."
Harry, recognizing the speech as a memorized one, decided to intervene to start his breaking of prejudices in the Wizarding World.
"Excuse me professor. Are you saying that we can't spend our free time in one of the other common rooms? If so, then where will we meet up with people from other houses then? Are there any common places for promoting the inter-house relationships?"
"Not that I'm aware of, mister….?" McGonagall replied.
"Potter ma'am, Harry Potter. Nice to meet you, Professor McGonagall," Harry filled in.
"It is nice to meet you too, Mr. Potter." Harry swore he saw a small smile on her face, signaling he had broken through her hard exterior already. "Now, as I was saying before," here she glared mockingly at him and Harry just smiled his lopsided grin in return, the one his uncle said was 'James Potter 1-0-1'. "…. the four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house had its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking," here she flicked her stern eyes briefly to Harry, "…will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, which is a great honor to achieve. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours."
"The Sorting Ceremony will commence in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you take that time to smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Here she looked towards the redheaded boy who had kept close to the Boy-Who-Lived ever since Harry saw them on platform 9¾ and Harry noticed his ruffled robes and brown smudged nose.
Harry raised himself up high, determined to enter the hall with confidence and nobility. He heard people discussing what the Sorting Ceremony would entail and barely managed to keep his snort back when he heard a mention of 'fighting a troll'. One girl with bushy brown hair, large front teeth and a book held to her chest was reciting all the spells she had read about. Remus wouldn't tell him how exactly they were sorted but Harry did manage to pry information about it from his uncle and was told that it was something that defined or read your characteristics.
He was surprised by the Hogwarts ghosts who paid a visit to the new first-years. He had never seen a ghost before and found them immensely interesting after all the stories he had heard about the way the Marauders befriended most of the ghosts for information and knowledge. They served the Headmaster as a part of Hogwarts but were the rumor mill of the castle and had once lived as witches and wizards, therefore had knowledge of old magic.
The definition of old magic was used very widely by Harry, for he realized everything what those two words entailed. They would know of rituals, spells and items that are no longer in use, not mentioned anymore in literature or even outlawed since then by the Minstry of Magic. They would be the ultimate teachers and all you had to do for acquiring that knowledge was to receive their acceptance and friendship. Also, the ghosts would know Hogwarts like no other and thus had invaluable information for Harry.
The doors through which the professor had disappeared opened and McGonagall entered the entrance hall once again. No one but Harry and Blaise had noticed it since everyone was still in awe or in conversation with the four house ghosts. McGonagall smiled briefly when she saw Harry looking at her, but it disappeared when she spoke up.
"Move along now!" Everyone but the twosome jumped at the sharp voice in surprise. "The Sorting Ceremony is about to start. Form a line and enter the Great Hall in an orderly fashion."
They did as told and entered the hall after one another. Harry thought it looked awe-inspiring with all the candles floating in the air, four tables next to each other along the hall, the staff table in front of everyone and the enchanted ceiling looking like the sky outside. He heard the girl with the bushy hair lecturing that she had read about it in 'Hogwarts, A History'. The other students and staff already seated were watching the new first-years and speculating where they would be sorted. It was exactly as he had read about in 'Hogwarts, A History' like the girl said but the book just didn't do it justice, it was magical.
In front of everyone, between the house tables and the staff table, Proffesor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool in the middle of the Great Hall. On top of the stool she put a pointed, patched, slightly frayed and extremely dirty wizard's hat. Everyone was staring at the hat and suddenly a rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth and the thing started to sing!
"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see,
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
if you've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"
The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became still once more. Harry realized he had nothing to fear from this kind of sorting and would just have his most apparent characteristics determine which house he went to. He tried to guess what his house would be, but reckoned he could be placed anywhere.
Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.
"When I call out your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said.
"Abbott, Hannah!"
A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of the line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment pause -
"Hufflepuff!" shouted the hat.
Sometimes the sorting took a bit longer for the hat to shout out a house and Harry reckoned that it was because of them matching the description of more than one house. When "Longbottom, Neville" was called, the boy strutted through the remaining first-years and the Great Hall erupted in whispers as they all got to watch the Boy-Who-Lived get sorted.
This sorting was obviously the longest until now and Harry found it amusing to see a look of panic appear every now and then on Neville's face. When the hat finally shouted "Gryffindor!", he saw both Neville and Dumbledore sigh in relief and Harry had the suspicion that the headmaster was listening in on the Boy-Who-Lived's sorting process. The Gryffindor table gave a loud applause of approval and the sorting resumed. Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin while the hat had barely touched his head and finally, it was Harry's turn with "Potter, Harry".
He walked confidently towards the stool, put the hat on his head and sat down. He felt a wavelike feeling against his Occlumency force field and strengthened the power flowing through it. After a minute of probing against his shield, the hat spoke up for all the occupants of the Great Hall to hear.
"Would you please lower your Occlumency shields, Mr. Potter?"
The hall erupted with whispers as the students who knew what Occlumency was gasped and explained it to the other. Harry lowered the force field around his library/mind only and heard a voice speaking to him inside his head. "I'm surprised Mr. Potter. That is the first time a first-year managed to keep me out with their Occlumency shields even though many pureblood families teach their children rudimentary Occlumency skills. Not many adult wizards can even manage such a feat though I don't often scan the minds of adults but your shield is quite unique."
"Will you read my mind? Learn my secrets, my education, goals and everything I want to do?" Harry asked the hat in a panicked voice.
"Yes, I can read everything inside your mind right now. But have no fear, your ancestor, Godric Gryffindor, placed secrecy oaths on me so that I can never tell another about what I find inside the mind of students." The hat replied and Harry released the breath he didn't know he was holding. He didn't want the headmaster knowing what was in his mind; he had too many things to keep hidden and the idea alone sent a chill down his spine. He remembered the sigh of relief Dumbledore gave when Neville Longbottom was sorted into Gryffindor and felt the hat respond to his thought.
"You are partially correct. He wasn't listening in on the sorting, since that is impossible but he had expressed a preference for placing the Boy-Who-Lived in the house of the lions. I shouldn't be telling you this but since he wasn't wearing me on his head at the time, the secrecy oath doesn't apply. He also expressed the same preference for you, though to a lesser extent." The hat mentioned casually, too casually.
"Me? Why would he be so interested in me? I'm not the Boy-Who-Lived; he didn't even know I was aware of the Wizarding World until he was suspended as steward of the Potter seat in the Wizengamot." Harry asked confused about his affiliation to the Boy-Who-Lived.
"I'm sorry but I cannot answer that. Shall we continue with the sorting, it seems the students are becoming impatient? You are an heir to Godric, so you can demand of me to be sorted in his house or I could sort you normally, depending on your choice." The hat explained patiently.
"Please sort me as you do with all the students," Harry replied.
"Very well, you are certainly not foolishly brave enough for his house. You are loyal to those who have earned it, but in no way is your loyalty sufficient for Hufflepuff. You are incredibly intelligent and have a talent for magic almost unprecedented so Ravenclaw is definitely an option. You are also very ambitious and have several goals worthy of a Slytherin, you would do well in the house of the snakes, and you could become great there….." The hat seemed to trail off, looking for a response from Harry but not receiving any. Aside from Gryffindor as a rebellion to the headmaster, he didn't care where he was sorted.
"Very well, I have made my choice. I'm looking forward to your time here at Hogwarts Mr. Potter. You can have a great influence on the Wizarding World with your goals and moral standards. Seeing as you hold knowledge and intelligence as your greatest goal in life, I wish you the best of luck in…."
Is this a fake cliffhanger or what?