Sorry for the long wait guys ^^" I've been busy and will get busier, since I'm getting a temporary job soon. I'll still try to update as soon as I can, of course. Thanks to all who have shown your support with favs, follows and reviews~!

Here's the next chapter, where more characters are introduced. Hope you enjoy it~!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Potterverse nor the Narutoverse. Any part of the story that is similar or quoted from the books, movies, manga or anime belong to their respective owners.

[ "Normal speech in English/Normal speech in another language ('un-translated')"

"Normal speech in another language ('translated')."

§Parseltongue ('translated' obviously)§

Thoughts/Mind speech/Otherworldly (including prophesies) speech/letter writing

cancelled words]

*Speech/Mind-speech in bold = demon speech/mind-speech

and when something is written in someone else's handwriting but on the same paper e.g. in a letter, it'll be in bold:

[ person A's writing vs person B's writing ]

Chapter 7: New Friends

Books and cleverness! There are far more important things, like friendship and bravery.

A smiling witch came by with a trolley full of snacks and candy around lunchtime, and Hari eagerly bought a bit of everything. The eggs she had for breakfast at five plus in the morning had long been digested and gone. Draco also bought some snacks and candy, though Ron didn't buy anything. Instead, he took out some packed sandwiches.

When Hari realised that Ron couldn't afford the 'luxury', she offered some to him, claiming she bought too much when it seemed like he wasn't going to accept the 'charity'. He was quite stubborn, but Hari could be even more stubborn when she wanted to.

"Oh for the love of kami, we can swap food if you want. And I like sharing food anyway. That's what friends do, don't they? You're offending me if you consider this 'charity'," she finally said and dumped some of the food she bought onto his lap. The boy flushed and accepted the food meekly.

When Hari looked up to see Malfoy sneering at them, she threw a Licorice Wand at him. The wand-shaped candy hit him like a dart and he scowled at her. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"You're entitled to your own opinion, of course. But I'm entitled to mine too. And mine insists I throw something at you," she said cheekily. Draco glared and muttered something under his breath.

Hari chose to ignore him after that and happily dug into a cauldron cake. A brown frog leaped across her vision and she caught it with kunoichi reflexes before it went out of the window. She realised the frog was sticky and smelled sweet.

"The Chocolate Frogs can jump?" she asked, fascinated.

"Er, yeah," said Ron, looking a little distracted. "They stop moving once you bite them though." Then he went on to explain the collection of Chocolate Frog cards, which were cards that came with the candy, featuring famous witches and wizards. Each card had a picture (Hari loved the magic that was living moving pictures) of the witch or wizard as well as some information about said witch or wizard.

"I've got Ptolemy," Draco said with a smug smirk when Ron said he was missing Agrippa and Ptolemy from his collection. Meanwhile, Hari ate the Chocolate Frog that Ron had lost, and handed him another. Then, ignoring the two of them who seemed like they were going to launch into another quarrel, she unwrapped a Chocolate Frog to see what card she got.

A few Chocolate Frogs and cards later (she found a Dumbledore one, along with a Morgana, a Circe, a Paracelsus and a Merlin), she looked up to see them still quarreling, and threw a Licorice Wand at Draco while elbowing Ron. That got their attention pretty quickly.

"That hurt," Ron whined. "Why is your elbow so sharp?"

"It was meant to hurt," said Hari, then gestured to the Chocolate Card Frogs. "Is Riddle featured in one of these?"

"Who?" Both boys looked confused.

Most people do not know my real name, Riddle said, sounding rather displeased at the use of his Muggle name.

It's not like they would have understood Hebi-sensei or Tori-ue, Hari replied. Aloud, she said, "You Know."

Ron looked even more baffled, but Draco got it after some staring at her face. As if her face was a book with answers.

"You-Know-Who?" he questioned, and glared at her to warn her against pretending not to know who. She grinned.

"Yeah. The Dark Lord," she confirmed. "Is there a Chocolate Frog card with him on it?"

"Why in the name of Merlin would you want You-Know-Who?" Ron demanded. "I thought you of all people—"

"I don't want him, I was just wondering if there was a card with him on it," Hari corrected, cutting him off. Besides, I already have a part of him living in my head.

"You called him 'the Dark Lord'," Draco observed with a strange expression. Hari tilted her head as she glanced at Draco.

"What? Sorry? Would you prefer 'Voldemort'?"

The two boys flinched at the name, as she had expected them to (and was quite pleased with their reactions—Hagrid himself had jerked most amusingly and violently the first time she used the name.)

"You said his name!" Ron exclaimed, looking quite horrified.

"You-Know-Who is confusing. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is simply too long. So it's either Voldemort or the Dark Lord," Hari said. "Both of which you guys seem to have a problem with. What? Am I supposed to call him Voldie then? Or Lord Snake? Or-"

"That's... Quite enough," Draco hastily interrupted. "'The Dark Lord's fine. It's just that usually only his supporters call him that."

"Really? But he is—was—whatever a Dark Lord, isn't he?" Hari said idly.

You are being purposely obtuse, Riddle sighed.

Please, I could have argued that Voldemort is just a name. And that it isn't even a proper name, Hari replied.

"Anyway, we've gone off point," Hari announced when the two boys were simply giving her exasperated looks. "I don't suppose the Dark Lord is featured on a Chocolate Frog card, is he?"

"No, and they're wise not to put him on one," Draco said. "Not for another fifty years to a decade, at least."

"Ah, pity," Hari said to herself. Somewhere in her head, she heard Kurama snort, while Riddle muttered something that sounded unpleasant but she didn't catch it.

The next time the sliding door opened, Hari and Ron were trying out her packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. So far, she had gotten grass, strawberry, toast, pepper, coffee and coconut. Ron had it worse with sprouts, almond, liver, pumpkin, soap and lemon.

Meanwhile, Draco was looking out of the window, eating a pumpkin pasty and ignoring the both of them. The scenery outside was beautiful with rolling green hills, woodlands and meandering rivers that gleamed silver-blue in the sunlight.

The boy at the door looked like a first-year, with a round face, dark blonde hair and hazel eyes. He was a bit short and chubby, and reminded Hari of Choji.

"Sorry," he said. "But have you seen a toad at all?"

All three of them shook their heads and he began wailing, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

Hari felt quite sorry for the boy, especially since he seemed fond of his toad and she liked toads. Riddle, any advice?

A Summoning Charm should do it, but it's a fourth-year spell, Riddle said.

You're being helpful. It's creepy, Hari commented. Aloud, she said to the boy, "Have you asked the prefects? Or the upper years? They could use a Summoning Charm."

The plump boy mumbled his thanks and left.

"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

Scabbers was the fat brown rat that Ron had brought with him. Draco had given the rat the most disgusted look she'd ever seen on his face, when he first saw it, and Hari was somewhat relieved to know that 'Mudbloods' weren't the worst in his mind. Hari herself didn't really like the rat, because there was something off about it that she couldn't identify.

The rat was sleeping in Ron's lap at the moment, and Ron was saying he'd like to turn the rat into another color. Then Draco nastily offered to turn it pink with green spots, earning an indignant yelp from Ron, who was now clutching the rat close to his chest, away from Draco's wand.

Then the compartment door slid open again. The plump boy was back, this time with a girl already wearing her Hogwarts robes (Hari, who hadn't wanted to wear her Hogwarts robes to King's Cross station, was still in her plain white shirt, hand-me-down pants and old sneakers). She had bushy brown hair.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said bossily.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl was distracted by Draco's wand and hadn't heard him.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it then."

Both Ron and Draco frowned at her as she sat down beside Draco.

"Wait, aren't you here about Neville's toad?" Hari asked. The girl's eyes widened comically, evidently having forgotten about the toad. Hari sighed and turned to the boy called Neville.

"Didn't you ask the upper years or the prefects?"

"They just laughed," mumbled the poor boy miserably. Hari narrowed her eyes, ignoring the soft snort she heard from Ron.

"They what?"

"Seriously, toads are out of fashion, Longbottom," Draco drawled.

"That's no excuse!" Hari hissed, annoyed. Insults and fights were one thing. Laughing at someone who has lost a pet they love is another. She was reminded of her previous childhood, where she was the loser of the class and had to fake bright smiles despite being laughed at.

"Did all the prefects laugh?" she demanded.

"No," Neville mumbled. "But I didn't want to ask the rest..."

The bushy-haired girl spoke up, "I met him when he was standing outside one of their compartments. I thought we'd try the rest of the train again before asking them for help, since they weren't being very nice."

"Bet you ten knuts they were snakes," Ron said derisively. Draco scowled.

"And they would have every reason to—"

"Shut up," Hari said and threw another licorice wand at him.

"You're wasting food like that," the blonde boy said, though he didn't sound like he minded it much.

"You're eating them," Hari pointed out as he unwrapped the licorice wand. Then she opened Fuyu's cage. The large white owl made a funny sound that Hari had found was called a bark, even though the bird sounded nothing like a dog.

"Fuyu, can you help us find Neville's toad and bring it back, alive and uninjured?" she asked the bird. Fuyu clicked her beak and glared at Hari with golden amber eyes. Hari grinned sheepishly and added, "Please."

Then the snowy owl soared out of her cage and out of the compartment door.

"The toad might just die of fright even if your owl doesn't do a thing," Draco commented. "But she's a beauty."

"Where did you get her from?" the bushy-haired girl asked, looking quite enchanted by the owl. Ron merely looked a little envious.

"Hagrid, the school's gamekeeper, bought her for my birthday," Hari said proudly. Draco arched an eyebrow.

"Well, I guess he isn't so bad..." he said with a thoughtful look.

No doubt wondering if getting gifts from that oaf is worth getting to know him, said Riddle snidely.

"What's her name?" the other girl asked.

"Fuyu. It means 'winter' in Japanese," Hari replied. "She's really clever."

"Oh. Are you Japanese? You don't look Japanese," said the girl. "You know, I considered getting an owl, but they're expensive. And I'm not sure if my family would like an owl in the house. Nobody in my family's magic at all. It was such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course. I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I heard—I've learnt all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough—I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

All four of them—Neville, Ron, Draco and Hari—were staring at her by then. She had said it all very fast, and Draco had begun sneering halfway through.

"Well, we might as well all introduce ourselves," Hari said, but she wasn't the first to say her name.

"Ron Weasley," said Ron faintly. Hari was sure he hadn't studied everything from the look on his face.

"Neville Longbottom," Neville said, looking rather pale, probably still worried about his toad.

"Draco Malfoy," Draco said stiffly, and seemed about to insult the girl who was evidently a Muggleborn, so Hari quickly interrupted, saying, "Harriet Potter."

"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course—I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in—"

"I'm pretty sure ninety-nine percent of those books are quite mistaken," Hari commented dryly, cutting the girl off swiftly, before she could continue rattling off like a youthful Rock Lee doing his daily run. "I was sent to live with my Muggle relatives when I was one, and did not re-enter the wizarding world until a month ago. So unless there are secretly witch and wizard spies hiding out in my neighbourhood... And even then, I don't think you can actually get to know a person from a book."

Ron sniggered at that, and Hermione looked a little affronted at the idea that her books could be wrong. Draco was smirking.

"Well," Hermione began, huffing. "What house do you think you'll be in? I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best."

"Why? I'd have thought a book-smart girl like you would be in Ravenclaw," Hari said. "I heard that it's the house for the intelligent and knowledge-lovers."

Hermione shrugged with a small frown. "I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad..."

Then there was a commotion, and Neville ducked as Fuyu soared over his head and into the compartment, a small fat toad in her claws.

"Trevor!" yelled Neville happily when the owl dropped the toad into his hands. The toad croaked and seemed very much alive and unharmed. (Though Hari decided that ordinary toads like Trevor looked pretty hideous compared to the ones from Mount Myouboku.)

"Crabbe? Goyle?" Draco said. There were two boys behind Neville. Both looked like a flying bird had just attacked them.

"Friends of yours?" asked Hari. Draco frowned.

"Well, we've known one another since we were kids but..."

"They look like bodyguards to me," Ron snorted.

"Wow, you've got minions!" exclaimed Hari.

"What? No!"

"Malfoy, why are you... sitting with... Blood traitors?" one of the two new boys asked, like he had trouble forming sentences.

The Crabbes and the Goyles haven't been known for much intelligence, Riddle commented. But they have their uses.

"Is that a Mudblood?" asked the other boy. He was taller than the one who first spoke.

"Yes, she's what you would call a 'Mudblood'," Hari spoke up while Draco was floundering for some excuse. "And from what I gather so far, she seems a lot more intelligent than the two of you. But I shouldn't be surprised." She turned to Hermione. "What's that thing called? The one where children turn out worse due to marrying one's relatives too many times?"

"Inbreeding," Hermione proudly supplied, looking quite pleased at the opportunity to prove her intelligence.

"Yes, inbreeding," said Hari. "That's what you anti-Muggleborn purebloods do, right?"

"Shut up, Potter," Draco snapped, before turning to address his 'friends'. "Crabbe, Goyle, Father encourages me to gain connections when I can, and this here, is Harriet Potter. Never mind the blood traitor and Mudblood... Father will be pleased if he knows I've managed to make friends with the Harriet Potter."

He could become a blood traitor by association though, and I doubt his father will be pleased about that, Riddle commented. I may be able to tolerate Mudbloods who are exceptionally talented (here, Hari had knew he was referring to his attempt at recruiting her mother) and are willing to serve me, but I don't think Lucius is as lenient. (And Hari had to snort at the idea of anyone being less lenient than the Dark Lord, but had to admit that the idea did sound somewhat scary.)

Crabbe and Goyle looked a little uncertain, and stood around the doorway awkwardly.

"Go on, you two. I'll join you later," Draco said and waved at them dismissively. Like obedient dogs, they left. Hari was now trying to draw parallels with this world and the shinobi one. There were the proud Hyuuga and Uchiha clans, though she didn't know much about the Uchiha... She didn't think they only allowed clan members to associate only with others from distinguished families...

"Draco, are you sure your father will be alright with this?" Hari asked worriedly. For a moment, Draco seemed surprised at her concern.

"I'll explain that I'm just doing this to get close to you and possibly influence you into our way of thinking," Draco said casually, though his eyes held a hint of worry. "It's what I'm really doing anyway. And you do need someone to teach you our culture. We can't have Harriet Potter acting almost as bad as a Mudblood."

It's not as if no one tried, Riddle said sullenly. He could teach you everything I taught you and more and you'd just throw our efforts out of the window anyway.

Hebi-sensei, don't sulk. It's unbecoming, Hari replied cheekily. And I don't throw your efforts away. I keep them in a box in my head and it they shall stay there gathering dust until I really need to use them.

"So is a Mudblood a witch or wizard with non-magical parents?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"No... It's someone who is smarter than the average pureblood," Hari deadpanned and Ron made an odd choking sound. Draco scowled and looked like he badly wanted to introduce his face to the nearest hard surface. Neville laughed shyly.

"Oh. Well, it doesn't sound like a good thing, but if you put it that way," Hermione said, and smiled. Hari noticed that she would have been quite pretty if her front teeth were smaller. And if Ino or Sakura ever got the chance to give her some hair-treatment.

"We should probably change into our school robes now," Draco announced as he glanced out of the window, choosing, wisely, to ignore Hari's more exasperating behavior.

Hari left first, going out of the compartment with her robes and found a washroom to change in. The train had only four cubicles—two at the front, two at the back—and she was surprised to find that they were all empty. Perhaps everyone had changed into their school robes earlier.

But when Hari walked out of the washroom a few minutes later, wearing the dreadfully boring black robes over the school uniform—a white buttoned shirt, a plain black tie, a dark V-neck jumper and a dark pleated skirt (a skirt! Hari had never worn a skirt before, not as Harriet, not as Naruko, and she wished she could wear the boy's uniform instead... Now there's a thought!)—the next cubicle was occupied and there were a few students waiting outside.

As Hari walked past a blonde girl waiting outside the cubicle she had been using, there was a funny sense of not-quite deja vu, a sense of familiarity that she couldn't place. The girl wasn't very remarkable, though she had a certain regal aura about her, and Hari wondered if she was a pureblood. If she was, then she might be related to Draco and that might explain the familiarity, Hari thought.

With one quick glance, Hari took note of the girl's appearance. The girl had long light blonde hair—darker than Draco's but lighter than Neville's—with side bangs, and was wearing a dark purple turtleneck shirt, a purple and black skirt, and black boots. Just as Hari was about to walk away, the girl noticed Hari looking at her and their eyes met. Her eyes were gray-blue.

Then the girl turned away and Hari walked off.

When Hari returned to her compartment, Draco was there but Ron was not. Hermione was also there with Neville. The two of them were discussing the Sorting, while Draco was ignoring them and was once again, looking out of the window (which, Hari realised, was probably the most civil he could be around a Muggleborn). All three were wearing school robes now.

They turned as she entered, and Hermione was the first to greet her.

"Oh good, you're back. Which house do you think you'll get in? I don't think you've answered that yet," she said.

"Not Ravenclaw," Hari said, a little sheepishly, and took the empty seat across Draco. "And perhaps not Hufflepuff. Loyal maybe. But not hardworking. At least, not in terms of studies."

"Neville thinks he might be in Hufflepuff, though his family were Gryffindors," Hermione said. "I don't understand why your family's house would matter. And then there's the house rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin. It just sounds so silly."

"Nature versus nurture," Hari said. She hadn't understood it either, until Riddle explained it to her. "Often enough, your family raises you to become like them. And even if you don't end up like them, their opinions still matter. And about the house rivalry, I think it's because the 'personalities' of the two houses clash. One house believes in cunning and ambition, while the other house is more straightforward and believes in honour. Self-preservation and sly strategies versus chivalry and brave risk-taking."

"Oh," said Hermione, and lapsed into thoughtful silence.

"But don't opposites attract?" she finally asked.

"Not all of us are magnets," chuckled Hari. "But I don't see why not. Hey Draco, think we could still get along if we end up in the clashing houses?"

Draco looked a little annoyed at being included into the conversation, but nevertheless replied in a bored voice, "Not in public."

Hari beamed at him and he looked a little startled at her bright sunny smile.

"Does that mean we can still be friends? In secret? Cool!"

"Stay there," Draco ordered when she looked like she might launch herself at him. She grinned and tackled him into a hug anyway.

"Lighten up, Draco. No one's here to judge you if you become more friendly and drop that everyone's-beneath-me attitude."

Hermione giggled, and Neville looked shy and amused. Ron chose that moment to appear.

"Oi, what's going on here?" he demanded. Hari laughed.

"I'm annoying Draco. It's fun," she replied, and ruffled Draco's neatly combed hair. He yelped and shoved her away, pale cheeks now pink.

"You're infuriating, Potter! No doubt you'll end up a brainless Gryffindor," he snapped, as he fished out a comb and began combing his hair back. He was as fussy about appearances as Ino, Hari thought.

I'm surprised he's still here, Riddle commented. With you acting like that. I'd have hexed you and left if I were him.

That's not how you make friends, Tori-ue, Hari chided teasingly.

"Yes, yes, we've established that already. Twice, in fact. This would be the third time. No need to state the obvious, Malfoy," Hari replied, imitating his usual drawling voice. Then she repeated what Riddle had said, "Why are you still here though? Didn't think you'd actually stay after I've annoyed you this much."

"I'm still considering whether being in the Girl-Who-Lived's good books is worth the trouble," Draco said irritably. Ron bristled, probably not pleased with the idea of the Malfoy befriending them for ulterior motives. Hermione looked a little affronted too.

"Say, Draco, have you seen a blonde girl with gray-blue eyes wearing a purple shirt, black and purple skirt and black boots?" Hari asked, knowing better than to take offence. She'll bring him 'round, she thought.

"That may be Greengrass. Daphne Greengrass," he said. "She likes purple. Why?"

"Oh, it's just that I saw someone like that earlier, and thought she looked familiar..."

"I doubt you'd know her. Her family is a pureblood family like ours. Father invited them for a couple of parties before. She's rather cold and quiet. I think she's more interested in flowers than people."

Just then, a voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Hari looked out of the window and saw a deep blue twilight sky like an upside-down bottomless ocean. The scenery was shadowy and hard to discern, but she noticed that there was a silhouette of a huge black castle in the far distance.

"Come on Fuyu, in you go," she told her owl as she waved at her to return to her cage. Fuyu obediently entered the cage and settled down in there.

"See you later," Hari said to the bird and left the compartment to join her new friends in a crowd of students jostling in the corridor.

Moments later, Hari found herself outside the train, following Hagrid along with all the other first years. The night was windy and cold, and the path was steep, narrow and very dark. Hari subconsciously warmed herself with a mixture of chakra and magic.

Then there was a chorus of noises expressing delighted surprise, and Hari saw that they had stopped at the edge of a black lake that gleamed like obsidian under the starry night sky. Beyond the lake, the castle of Hogwarts stood on a mountain, with sparkling windows and jagged, twisting edges of turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" called Hagrid over the sea of students, as he pointed to a fleet of small boats floating near the shore. Hari looked around. Hermione, Neville and Ron were with her, and Draco seemed to have disappeared, probably gone to join Crabbe and Goyle.

The four of them shared a boat, and when everyone had gotten in, Hagrid (taking a boat by himself) led the fleet across the lake. The boats seem to glide across the glassy waters by itself, another sign of magic. Hari leaned over the edge of the boat, wondering if there was anything living in the lake.

There's a giant squid, a colony of merpeople and quite a number of grindylows, Riddle supplied. Hari froze.

Merpeople? And what are grindylows?

Most children would have focused on the giant squid first, you know.

I've seen giant Slugs, giant Toads, giant Snakes, giant Clams and other gigantic creatures, not to mention the bijuu, Hari replied dryly.

How could I forget, Riddle muttered sarcastically. Well, some merpeople are similar to those depicted in Muggle myths and fairytales. Others are less beautiful and most are vicious beings. Otherwise, they're exactly what they sound like-part fish, part human. Grindylows are little water demons.

An image appeared in her mind, featuring a sickly green creature with horns on its head and eyes which were off-white, the color of yellowing cream, long spindly fingers and a sharp-toothed grin. The image was soon replaced by her memory of Kisame, and she wondered if he could be considered a merperson.

"Hogwarts," Hermione breathed. Hari looked up and saw the castle looming over them on a cliff. She could feel the hum of magic like music singing through her veins, and could see the strange glimmering air that surrounded the place like a bubble of faint swirling colors. It was beautiful and so wonderfully enchanting.

"Heads down!" Hagrid suddenly yelled, and everyone ducked as the boats slipped through a curtain of hanging ivy, and into a long and dark winding tunnel that led them to an underground harbour.

Hagrid brought them to a passageway in the rock after they had all climbed out of the boats onto a rocky shore, the warm yellow light of his lamp guiding them through the dark. Then they found themselves standing above ground, on damp grass under the glittering night sky, in the shadow of the huge castle before them.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and waited outside a pair of huge oaken double-doors, as Hagrid knocked on the front doors three times.

They had arrived at Hogwarts.

That's all for now. You can expect the next chapter to be up in about... A month's time? Hopefully I can finish it sooner...

Anyway, feel free to leave your comments or questions on the story! If you spot any mistakes in any form, do let me know. Thanks.

To the (Guest) I live 2 comment: Hermione will remain Hari's good friend, just like in canon, though Hari's scope of friends will definitely be wider than in canon, and she will have attachments to friends from her former life. So they may not be as close as in canon? But then again, they're now both girls, which is a point in their favour since it give s them something in common. We'll see.

To the other guest who commented: I'm glad you liked the story. I wasn't sure how well having two extra voices/spirits/beings in her head would be received XD

And to all other guests, I would greatly appreciate it if you could leave a name or something so that it's easier to address you when replying your reviews. Otherwise it might get confusing ^^"