In my story Harry hates being touched and being the center of attention, he accepts that he is somewhat broken because of his experiences and is allowing himself to heal naturally. He is not incapable of being manipulated but will always seek to make his own path when he recognizes it being used on him. He does not have a hero complex and will never accept the role of Savior that the wizarding world will try to attach to him.

Harry slowly awoke and felt slightly disconcerted before remembering where he was, he tilted his head and peered through the window of the rapidly moving train as his eyes slowly focused and was met with a beautiful early evening sky. He stood up and stretched slowly before sinking back down onto the surprisingly comfortable bench. As he sat back, he observed Hermione sitting back quietly on the bench beside him and staring at the ceiling seemingly lost in thought. She met his sleepy gaze with a soft smile on her face with her bushy brown hair surrounding her face like a halo. Their movements served to startle Neville who jumped awake with a jerky movement and looked around quickly in a slight panic before recognizing them and his shoulders slumped slightly in relief.

Hermione and Harry both noted his awkwardness and drew him into a conversation about the house system, which seemed to be a great choice as he joined in with a grateful smile. Their eyes met briefly and they both nodded silently, acknowledging that it would be best not to confront Neville about his childhood.

Hermione stood up suddenly as she noted the time and indicated to Harry that he should put on his robes, to which he shrugged and stood to slip it over his shoulders after retrieving it from his trunk. He was amazed at how good the spider silk felt against his skin and how strong it was as he tried stretching and attempting to rip it.

'Magic truly made a difference when it was applied to ordinary materials,' he mused.

They discussed the merits of Hufflepuff versus Ravenclaw and comparing the value of intelligence to that of loyalty and hard work. Hermione was about to make a point when they heard a noise outside the door which drew their combined gaze as they all turned towards it.

The door opened slowly and a small mature woman with a warm smile, a deeply wrinkled face and kind eyes stepped in and inquired, "Anything off the trolley dears?"

Harry stood up and gave her a polite smile and moved to look at the selections on offer, he selected several of the chocolate frogs while Neville got a wider selection including licorice wands, magical toffees and mints as well as some chocolate frogs. Hermione gave a brief longing look at the selections but declined to buy anything citing her parents being dentists and having to avoid sweets.

They both shrugged and sat down after the trolley left their compartment. Harry passed her a chocolate frog despite her protestations and reminded her that to enjoy life meant being willing to try new things even if it meant stepping outside of her comfort zone. Hermione struggled briefly before she hesitantly opened the package, the struggling chocolate frog gave her a little pause as her hands shot out and grabbed it staring at as if trying to analyse it thoroughly before she bit down into the chocolate and her entire body went still. Her head remained bowed with her hair falling over her face, but her eyes shot open when the taste and texture of the chocolate registered upon her palate.

Harry grinned to himself as he and Neville watched in fascination as she demolished the remainder of the chocolate frog. Harry smiled at her as she lifted her eyes and stared at him in the throes of the oralgasmic experience that chocolate had given her. She sat back and closed her eyes just relishing the experience and Harry left her lost in a mental haze, as he understood what she was going through. Eating with Julian had exposed him to lots of different flavors and textures and his favorite one so far was peppers, once it was hot he loved it more.

Neville gave a questioning look to Harry who just laughed and said to him, "Sometimes in life we come across a food or experience which we enjoy so much that it can become overpowering to our senses. Hermione has probably never been allowed to try anything sweet or any type of chocolate before, so it is overwhelming to her senses. She is mentally cataloging the experience and will either become obsessed with chocolate, swear it off completely or she will relegate it to a treat for herself on special occasions."

Neville looked at him askance, then quickly glanced over at Hermione who indeed seemed to be processing the chocolate experience mentally, with a blissful expression on her face as she leaned back in a boneless manner on the seat. Harry distracted him with conversation as after about fifteen minutes Hermione sat up, shuddered slightly before reentering the conversation with them.

She smiled at Neville's wary expression and responded to Harry's observation which she had registered but did not feel the need to respond at the same time with a short comment of, "Special treat."

Neville nodded silently as he did not have much experience interacting with other people in his age range, so he had no frame of reference for these new types of interactions.

Hermione clarified for him as he still seemed puzzled, "The taste and texture are wonderful, and it is something that I will enjoy in moderation, but too much of it and it will dull the experience. I can understand why my parents kept me away from sweet things now because I know I can be a bit obsessive when I like something, and I would have overwhelmed and annoyed them by constantly requesting sweets or chocolate."

She gave a last longing look at the remaining chocolate frogs before shaking herself and turned away from them with a bit of effort. Harry and Neville noted her struggle and made a mental note that chocolate was a viable option to appease or bribe her if she was upset or downhearted.

Harry began quizzing Neville on his experiences in the wizarding world with Hermione eagerly joining in the conversation.

They learned of his love for Herbology and his slight fear that he might not be able to do well at Hogwarts, and his resolve to prove for himself that he was worthy of magic and to become someone great.

Harry sat silently with his head bowed and shaking slightly but when he raised his head his intense gaze shocked Neville as well as the amount of anger present in his voice when he spoke.

"Neville, I believe that you can be whoever you want to be as long as you are willing to work towards it. I had some bad experiences growing up but one day I reached my breaking point and I chose a new path forward. I met a friend that day that stepped in and helped me without looking for or demanding anything in return. He listened to me when I ranted and gave advice as necessary to me but always encouraged me to choose my own path. He always encouraged me to chart my own path forward and I will be forever grateful for meeting him that day, because of his intervention I decided that I will not live my life trying to please anyone. I will take responsibility for my own future, I will let no one stop me from achieving my goals and I will give no place in my life to those who will seek to undermine or destroy me."

The serious look on his face and the conviction in his voice surprised both Neville and Hermione as they both sensed that something bad and significant had happened to him. Both had their own childhood issues, so they respected his privacy and did not push for more details.

Neville remembered the first time he had gone to see his parents. He had been around five years old and had kept asking his grandmother for them. She had finally gotten fed up and took him the next day to St Mungos Hospital, where he had been led into the room to see his mom sitting in a chair. He had broken away from his grandmother and run towards her in excitement, only to be met with a vacant gaze that looked straight through him with no recognition on her face. His father lay drooling on a bed with his eyes closed murmuring to himself.

He had cried that day in the hospital room with his grandmother standing stiffly behind him, silent and making no attempt to comfort or reassure him. The visits became a monthly occurrence and he kept hoping that they would eventually recognize him or get better. That day never came, and he always returned home to a cold, sterile environment with a grandmother who was always comparing him to his father, with him always falling short in her eyes. She had done nothing to stop her brother from trying to force him into displaying accidental magic, and he had never cried out to her for help after the first incident. He despised Uncle Algie and sometimes her as well, but he was also afraid of her, so he just withdrew into himself and spent most of his time in the greenhouse.

The plants never judged him, and he could easily tell what was working and what was not. She also left him alone when he was there, and he enjoyed the tranquility the environment provided. She had given him his father's wand to take to Hogwarts, but he had snuck away in Diagon Alley when she had taken him shopping for his school supplies, and bought his own wand from Ollivander's Wand Shoppe when she had been distracted by chatting with an elderly witch outside the bookstore.

The number of sparks that had poured out of the wand had surprised him and Mr. Ollivander, if his expression was anything to go by. He had hidden it in his robe pocket and had slid back into the book store just before she had wrapped up her conversation. The disappointed look she had given him had not been a surprise, but his returned carefully blank expression had made her pause briefly before she shrugged it off and summoned an elf to take their purchases home.

These memories had swamped him after hearing Harry's speech and had made him realize that he was not alone with his horrible childhood experiences. At this moment his decision was made that he would push himself to be the best that he could be and always strive to make his mark in the world. He stood up resolutely and faced Harry with his head held high and in a steady voice greeted Harry in the formal manner of the wizarding world.

"My name is Neville Longbottom, heir of House Longbottom. I offer friendly relations freely to you Heir Potter without condition and pledge to assist you in any way that I can."

Harry stood as well and replied in an equally formal manner, "Well met Heir Longbottom. Your offer is appreciated and accepted."

They both reached out their right arms and clasped them together firmly with a faint glow of magic surrounding them. They both turned to Hermione who was staring at them in shock not having expected the formal offer and acceptance of it.

They both turned to her and offered their hands to her in silent invitation to join the agreement with them. She stood and tried to imitate their formal manner as she held both of their hands and accepted their unspoken offer of assistance which caused a brighter glow to surround them.

They sat down and finally she could not hold back her questions.

What was that glow just now?

What does it mean?

How does this affect us going forward?

Harry grinned slyly and told her that she was now married to them both. She gaped at him in shock only then noticing both of their mouths twitching as they tried to hold back their laughter.

She giggled as she realized that they were joking with her and listened intently as they explained that the glow was to indicate that magic had accepted their vow. It was a statement of intent to assist each other without any hidden obligations and that they would offer friendship freely to each other without ulterior motives.

She blinked back the tears that appeared in her eyes and leapt at them to hug them tightly. They were both hesitant at first, but they slowly hugged her back before they broke apart. Neither of them was accustomed to much physical contact after all. They spent the rest of the journey talking about their different interests and getting to know each other better.

Neville was surprised to find out that Harry had an interest in agriculture and they were both surprised at just how much knowledge Hermione had picked up on it just from reading. Harry had smiled at her and repeated some advice that he got from Julian.

"The acquisition of knowledge is a useful thing, but it is far better to know how and more importantly, when to use it. We will ensure that you get to apply that knowledge that you have stored up in there," he said tapping her head lightly.

She smiled as it felt good to have met two people who showed genuine interest in her and did not poke fun at her for her intelligence. Neville and Harry continued to chat while she mused, and both looked up when they heard the overhead announcement instructing them to leave their luggage in the cabins, and to make sure to be ready in their uniforms when the train stopped.

Harry shrugged and removed his trunk from his pocket and tapped it with his wand to return it to normal size. They both looked at him in surprise while he cheekily smiled and said, "Magic."

They both snorted and got up when the train finally rolled to a stop. The number of students milling around in the hallway convinced them to sit down while they waited for the crowd to ease up, as most of their fellow students all tried to disembark at the same time. When they saw that the crowd had lessened outside the compartment they made their way through the door and spotted the milling group of first years like themselves grouped together and looking around for directions.

They heard a booming voice over the noise of their fellow students, "First years over her, first years over here."

The group of children were apprehensive and wary of the very tall and large man who turned out to be Hagrid, but the prefects assured them that it was normal for them to be escorted to the castle separately. They hesitantly followed him with his lantern as he held down a dark sloped path with his lantern held aloft. The path proved to be slippery, but thankfully no one fell or were injured in the dim light.

The end of the path brought them to an inlet at the lakes edge where several small boats bobbed in the water, which they were instructed to get into, not exceeding four per boat. The boats did not look very sturdy but after they noticed that Hagrid's weight was easily accommodated when he stepped into one, the first year students shrugged and carefully got into the remaining boats.

When everyone was seated, Hagrid tapped his boat with a pink umbrella and which caused the boats to jerk into motion and then move slowly across the lake with his leading the way.

They passed beneath a bridge with numerous vines trailing down from it and gasped in awe at the brightly lit castle that they were approaching as it stood proud and tall with all the windows lit up as if in welcome.

The castle was huge, and Harry counted seven floors with tall towers at each corner of the castle. He could feel the magic pouring off the castle and how it washed over them giving a sense of welcome and as if to reassure them. He shuddered as the wave of magic hit but noticed as he looked around that no one else seemed to register it as he had.

Their boats finally pulled up at a landing and they carefully disembarked as none of them wished to fall into the frigidly cold and dark water. Harry could have sworn that he saw things moving around under the surface and he shuddered slightly at the thought. Hagrid then led them up a long flight of stone steps before reaching a large landing and strode purposefully towards two massive wooden doors that easily dwarfed him in height. The wood was intricately carved into fascinating patterns of strange symbols which Harry did not recognize.

They seemed to pulse briefly as Hagrid raised his large fist and knocked loudly, while they waited anxiously before hearing footsteps approaching and stop on the other side of the door, it opened slowly, and a tall witch wearing dark robes with a stern expression on her face stepped out to welcome them inside. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, Deputy headmistress of Hogwarts with a stern businesslike expression on her face and she led them into a waiting area, instructing them to remain there quietly while she left to reenter the Great Hall to announce them.

The absence of supervision caused them to break into small groups and start whispered conversations with each other, only for some of the young students to burst out screaming when several ghosts floated through the walls. Harry had not previously been aware of the presence of ghosts in the magical world, so he was as surprised as the rest of the children. He was curious about how they came to exist though and made a mental note to himself to do some research on their origins. Hermione started muttering spells to herself as the wait stretched on and Harry distracted her with the stories of his agricultural and money-making adventures in his neighborhood. She calmed down, as his distraction attempt worked and Neville paid keen interest to the story as well.

Professor McGonagall stepped back out to collect them and gave a stern glare at the elevated noise level, which quietened them slightly, before she led them into the Great Hall. The ceiling above showed the starry night sky and four large rectangular tables were spaced evenly around the hall with a large table where the teachers sat set against the wall opposite to the door they entered. Sitting in the middle of the table on a large golden throne was Albus Dumbledore who smiled as he surveyed the new students.

Harry noted that his robes were magenta and covered in some design that shone and swirled under the lights in the hall. He snorted as it was clear to him that the Headmaster was obviously not afraid to stand out and he noted the symbolism of the throne which seemed to be lost to most of his fellow first years. The combination of clothing and the elevated position of the throne told him that he held himself separate and above the entire school.

He turned back towards Professor McGonagall as she placed a wooden stool down on the floor between the tables, then placed a hat that suddenly appeared in her hand upon the stool before turning to face them. The hat seemed to quiver and shake before it formed a mouth and started singing worse than Julian and Vic, to Harry's surprise. It proceeded to identify the four houses and their traits and then invited them to be sorted in one of the most horrible attempts at music that he had ever had the misfortune to hear.

Harry listened to the student's names being called out in alphabetical order and clapped politely as the students made their way forward. He clapped politely and briefly after each student was sorted, noticing that Slytherin students were only applauded by the teachers and members of their house. He sensed someone was glaring at him from the teacher's table but when he looked over there he noticed that no one was looking directly at him.


Teachers Perspective

If he had kept his eyes on the teachers table, he would have noticed that the headmaster and a dour and sour faced man with greasy hair returned to observing him when he turned back his attention to the sorting. The headmaster's gaze was puzzled as he was unsure as to how to approach the boy after the sequence of events which ended in him and Hagrid being dispatched from the neighborhood. He had attempted to return during the summer to speak to Mrs. Figg, but the presence of magical wards stronger than he had ever observed outside of Gringotts, rendered his attempts to cast the disillusionment spell consistently failing. He had been forced to transfigure his robes into a pink plaid suit and a red top hat before making his way to the house of Arabella Figg. He remembered with a smile the envious looks that the people he passed had given him as he strode purposefully to her door.

He had only been able to find out from her that Harry spent lots of time between the homes of Petunia and his new neighbor and she was no longer needed to babysit him. She spent the remainder of time speaking about the changes in the Dursley's treatment towards Harry, which made him hide a wince as he had never realized that the compulsion charm that he had placed on the letter had horrifically backfired.

He had never returned to the neighborhood since he had left Harry on the doorstep, and he had cast the charm on the letter he had left for Petunia and her husband, to be very strict with him and to instill a strong work ethic. He mused to himself that he had been very distracted that night but dismissed any feelings of guilt as he believed that some adversity helped to build character.

Severus Snape was the potions professor of Hogwarts magical school and he hated teaching with a passion only matched by his hatred for James Potter. He had easily spotted Harry Potter when he walked in and had immediately hated him when he saw James Potter's hair and the strong resemblance on his spawn. He scowled as his memories of being tormented by the Marauders during his school days popped into his head before he wrestled them back using his occlumency. He vowed to ensure that Harry received some of the torment that his father had dished out to him.


Return to normal POV

He looked away deciding to ignore it and then he heard the deputy headmistress announce, "Granger Hermione."

He gave her a reassuring pat on the back and she stepped forward taking a deep breath and sat carefully on the stool with the hat sinking down over her head. It sang out "Hufflepuff," as her robes gained a black and yellow trim and a large crest appeared on the back of the robes with a smaller one on the front.

She nodded her head at them both and made her way to the Hufflepuff table to polite applause. He noticed a brief look of disappointment at the house choice by Professor McGonagall.

He heard Neville's name called and gave him a firm nod as Neville stepped cautiously forward to sit down on the stool and the Hat was placed upon his head. A few moments later the hat announced Hufflepuff once more and his robes changed to reflect his new house. He stepped confidently over to the Hufflepuff table and sat down beside Hermione who welcomed him with a smile. He nodded towards them while the sorting continued. He watched Malfoy be called forward and before the hat could touch his head properly it screamed out Slytherin.

Draco strutted proudly over to the Slytherin table as the students at the table clapped politely. The students of Slytherin house almost always kept their faces blank he noticed, as they did not give any outward emotional response to any of the sorting.

The Hufflepuffs were warmer but they also stayed somewhat muted. The Ravenclaws seemed to meet a midpoint between the two houses while Gryffindor was loud and boisterous much to the chagrin of Professor McGonagall no matter who was sorted. Her stern glares were somewhat effective in silencing them but two red-headed twins sitting there continued celebrating unconcerned.

When his name was called the entire hall broke out in murmuring and whispers. He ignored them and calmly say down on the stool as the hat was placed over his head.

The hat spoke to him in a surprisingly deep voice, "Hmmm, you appear to be very brave young man and ambitious as well. Gryffindor and Slytherin will serve you well. Oh, and very intelligent as well. Perhaps Ravenclaw."

Harry firmly stated, "Hufflepuff," in reply to the hat. The hat paused before testing him with a question, "You have the quality of hard work, but can you give out your loyalty easily?"

Harry sharply responded, "Only a fool will give his loyalty blindly and mine is reserved for those who earn it."

The hat paused and then responded, "Well said Mr. Potter. Well said."

The hat announced loudly to the hall, "Hufflepuff."

The entire hall erupted in cries of surprise, joy from the Hufflepuffs mixed in with some angry and disappointed voices as he walked quietly over to the Hufflepuff table to join Neville and Hermione, who made space for him to sit down with them. He greeted the rest of the table politely but rebuffed any attempts at questioning him. The attempts quickly stopped as he refused to respond to anything beyond a greeting. He exchanged polite greetings, but they eventually realized Harry Potter was not going to speak more unless he desired to.

The sorting finally ended with Ronald Weasley being sorted into Gryffindor and Blaize Zabini being sorted into Slytherin. Harry noticed that the students continued to stare at him and in some cases glaring from some of the Gryffindor table as if he had betrayed them in some way. He knew that his parents had been sorted into Gryffindor but he felt no need to walk in there footsteps.

The headmaster rose theatrically from his throne and welcomed them to Hogwarts before waving his hand and the tables groaned, as a vast variety of food appeared on the tables. Harry selected some chicken and vegetables onto his plate with a small portion of rice. He noticed that everyone was still throwing looks and some glares in his direction, but he hid his annoyance and tuned them out.

He was glad that the full mouths of his fellow students had stopped the endless and often intrusive questions that they were throwing at him. Neville ate silently on the other side of Hermione while she seemed to hesitate before placing a small portion of the different dishes onto her plate.

The food vanished to be replaced by a variety of desserts but the only one that he liked the most was the treacle tart. The sounds of plates and utensils slowly lessened, and the dishes disappeared from the table. The headmaster rose again to speak advising them to keep out of the Forbidden forest, to notify them of a list of banned items and to keep away from the third floor unless they wished to experience a most painful death.

The last one caused the students to burst out into excited whispers, but Harry, Neville and Hermione just looked apprehensively at each other and silently agreed to avoid that floor as much as possible.

They heard the students around them burst into different melodies and when they looked to see why they saw the words of a song floating in the air over by the head table which they recognized to be the school song.

They had missed that last part from the headmaster, but they kept silent while the noise around them slowly subsided. The rest of students finally finished singing and were forced to wait until the two red headed twins slowly and obnoxiously dragged out the song for another minute.

The headmaster dismissed them with a smile and they were approached by two prefects, one male and the other female. The female student introduced herself as Tonks and only Tonks, and the male student identified himself as Walter Knoxville. They led them down some stairs and into the dungeons until they came before a large stack of barrels set against a section of the wall. She pointed out that the barrels were the entrance and could be accessed by tapping out Helga Hufflepuff on one of the barrels. The correct barrel to tap on was changed monthly and failure to use the correct sequence and or barrel would cause the barrels to spill vinegar on the person doing so.

Ms. Tonks stepped in front of the group of first year students and turned to address them.

"You will be forced to crawl through a series of barrels this first time as a security measure. The barrels will serve to record your magical signature and your facial features to ensure that only Hufflepuff students or those whom we allow entrance to, can enter. After the first time you will only have to walk past the barrel and let it close behind you before they will retract and allow immediate entrance into the room."

She tapped out the rhythm slowly for them to memorize and led them through the barrels which were surprisingly not claustrophobic for the first-year students.

They emerged into a large earthy, comfortable and circular room with low ceilings. The room was well lit with round windows that provided a view of flowers and thick green grass. The room had plants placed all around the room that enhanced the comfy feeling with a mixture of magical as well as mundane varieties.

A plump pleasant faced witch walked through a section of wall behind them surprising everyone, and she gestured to the entire house to gather together for an impromptu meeting.

"Normally I leave it up to the prefects to introduce you into the house and I meet with you tomorrow morning before breakfast to welcome you to Hogwarts and to our house. I had no choice but to notice the unwanted questions posed to Mr. Potter tonight at the feast and this is simply not what I am willing to accept from members of my house. We are looked down upon by most of the other houses and the wider magical community. This house supports each other as best as we can, and we do not harass anyone that is a member of this house. We stand for dedication, hard work, loyalty and fair play. Do not harass Mr. Potter again or I will deal with you personally to ensure that it stops."

She said all of this in a firm voice and the guilty persons bowed their heads sheepishly. She turned to Harry and apologized on the behalf of her house who nodded his head in acceptance of the apology.

Harry indicated to her that he would like to address the house briefly to which she motioned to him to go ahead.

Harry turned to the crowd of children who stared back at him with varied expressions on their faces as they were all unsure as to what he would say to them.

"I only found out about magic just a little over a year ago. I do not know who was responsible for spreading the lies written in those Harry Potter stories, but none of them are true. I also only learned about my parents and the sacrifice that they made to protect me against the Dark Lord, and how all the glory was given to a year-old toddler which makes absolutely no sense to me. I am a private person and I will be polite to those who offer politeness, but please do not assume or believe that I am anything like what you have read about in those books. I look forward to obtaining my magical education and I hope that we can get to know each other better in time, but please respect my privacy as I will respect yours."

He finished his speech and noted the various facial expressions of the students. He saw surprise, shock, disbelief and angry expressions as they processed his speech. Professor Sprout was speechless as she had not believed the books herself but had assumed that he was hidden away with a magical family at the least, or raised with knowledge of his heritage. She excused herself and indicated to Tonks that she could finish up her orientation before she left hurriedly.

Tonks went on to explain the curfew times of 10.00 pm to 6.00 am and how students caught outside would be issued detentions and or having house points deducted as well. She explained how the house point system worked and the awarding of the House trophy at the end of the school year. Breakfast started from 6 am to 8 am with classes starting at 8.30. Each class was usually for 45 minutes with the fifteen minutes allowed for first years to get from one class to the next.

She explained that Hufflepuff was more focused on looking out for each other and less so on the House trophy. The Quidditch Cup was the only thing that they cared about and Slytherin house had captured it for the last five years.

Assistance and tutoring would be offered within study groups by older students and required students to sign up for assistance if they found themselves needing help. They could also form groups on their own if they so desired, instead of joining an existing group. She also encouraged them to travel in small groups as they were sometimes targeted by other houses for bullying.

She stated proudly that, "We protect our own."

She showed them to their dorm rooms and explained that they could choose their own roommates and that each room carried its own bathrooms. She urged them to go to bed early so that they would wake up on time and that they would be escorted to the main hall at seven the next morning until they got to know the castle for themselves.

She dismissed them and proceeded to walk over to a group of fifth year students and started chatted with them. Hermione ended up with a room of her own as the other girls in her year had already paired off. She found that she did not mind as she was a single child and it would take time to acclimatize to sharing a space.

Neville and Harry quickly paired off and selected a room at the end of the hallway and walked inside. They found two comfortable looking beds covered in a black and yellow zig zag design and a circular desk between them with two chairs pushed beneath. Their trunks appeared after they took a seat at the table, and they proceeded to unpack and make themselves comfortable.

Harry closed his trunk after arranging a few pictures and knickknacks on the headboard above his bed and grabbed Neville to go outside and chat with Hermione.

She was sitting down on one of the couches and she smiled when they approached her and plopped down beside her.

They were left alone but they noticed that some of the students would eye them covertly in what they thought was an inconspicuous manner. Finally, two of the other first years gathered their courage up and came over to speak to them in a somewhat shy and hesitant manner.

They stopped before them and one of them took a deep breath and introduced herself and her companion.

"Good evening, my name is Susan Bones, and this is my friend Hannah Abbott. We would both like to welcome you to the wizarding world and apologize for hounding you like that at the table. Please understand that we were exposed to those books and stories at a very young age and assured that they were true. It is only when we got older that we realized that they may not have been as accurate as we were told that they were."

Harry thanked her and introduced Neville and Hermione to them. Hermione noticed that they did not treat her differently when they noticed that she was a muggle-born and Neville had had some brief interactions with them at formal events but had never talked to them outside of those situations.

They chatted and learned that Susan was the niece of the Amelia Bones and the current head of the DMLE. She mentioned no parents which they noted. Hannah Abbott was her childhood friend and they grew up together and often spent time at each other's houses. They left, and this seemed to start the flood of visitors. It was a series of introductions and apologies and Harry while uncomfortable with all the attention, maintained his polite façade as he interacted with the rest of the house.

When the crowd finally wore off they rose to their feet as they were starting to feel the fatigue of the long train ride and the events of the night so far.

They bid farewell to each other and proceeded back to their dorm rooms. Neville and Harry quickly fell asleep after taking a long hot shower and donning their nightwear.

Hermione lay alone in her room with a mixture of emotions keeping her from falling asleep. She was happy that she had met two future friends in Harry and Neville, but she was frustrated at the prejudice present within the magical world. She was glad that she got to use magic, but she was unsure as to the future ahead because even if she was the best student at Hogwarts because of her blood status she had no real future ahead in the magical world as it currently existed.

She sighed and closed her eyes as she recognized that it was not an issue with an easy answer and it made no sense trying to figure it out right away. She fell asleep quickly and fell into a deep slumber once she came to this conclusion.

The next day

When Harry woke it took him a moment to catch his bearing in the unfamiliar environment. The window to the castle showed dark skies but his internal clock was telling him that it was his normal wakeup time. He reached for his wand and cast the tempus spell and noted that it was 4.45 am.

He got as quietly as he could out of bed and climbed down from the top bunk and made his way over to his trunk. He selected the correct key to open his exercise compartment and entered to perform his morning exercises.

When he came out after an hour he noticed Neville was now coming out of the shower and starting to get dressed. He nodded a greeting to him and grabbed his towel to go and get cleaned up as well.

After he came out and dressed they left their room together and made their way into the common room. They found Hermione sitting on one of the couches and reading a book on transfiguration quietly. They both observed her briefly before they called her name to get her attention which caused her to almost drop the book as she was surprised at their sudden appearance.

She seemed surprised to see them outside so early but put down the book and made room for them to sit beside her. The room was relatively deserted, and they made sure that no one was paying attention to them before they leaned together and began to make plans.

Harry pulled a notebook out of his mokeskin pouch and a fountain pen and started the conversation.

"Hermione, Neville. We need to come up with a plan on how we are going to attack our studies. We need to find somewhere to practice our magic in private and to hone our skills. We can see how the first week of classes go and see what areas we need to work on the most and what our weaknesses and strengths are."

Neville and Hermione nodded their heads in agreement. They began chatting about what they had liked so far from the books they had studied. Hermione was most interested in transfiguration and charms while Neville was interested in potions and herbology. Harry confessed that he was interested in all the subjects so far except for astronomy and potions. He told them of practicing preparing potions over the summer after obtaining his supplies and finding the subject workable but volatile and too time intensive to appeal to him. He saw the potential benefits but preferred to focus on more active magic. He liked Defense against the Dark Arts because it focused more on defensive and offensive magic.

They nodded and fell into idle chatter while the common room began to fill up and empty as students made their way down to breakfast. Tonks appeared and after counting to ensure that they were all present she led them to the Great Hall. When they arrived for breakfast they found the hall half full and sat down to eat breakfast.

They enjoyed the wide variety of dishes on offer and each of them ate their fill before placing their forks down on their plates. When the meal was complete, and the Hall was filled with students, Professor Sprout came over to their table and started distributing their timetables.

They looked over the timetable and noticed that they had a single class of Charms first with the Ravenclaws, followed by a double class of Herbology with the Gryffindor's before breaking for lunch. Lunch lasted for an hour and a half was followed by two more classes on Potions with the Ravenclaws in the afternoon finishing at 3 pm, with dinner being served from 5 until 7 pm. The time between the end of classes and dinner they decided to use for studying and homework. The period after dinner they would take to relax and use for personal projects.

The Charms class was to their initial disappointment mainly focused on the importance of wand movements and what made charms different from transfiguration. Charms was focused on animating items, color changes and any other magical effect which did not change the shape or structure of an object. They did get a chance to practice the Lumos spell which just required them to point their wands and say Lumos out loud without any want movements. It was designed to be used as a source of light in the dark and required little magical effort to produce.

Harry, Hermione and Neville had no issues getting their wand tips lighting up but some of their classmates seemed to have difficulty performing the spell. Susan, Hannah and most of the Ravenclaws got it down easily as well with only a few Hufflepuff students struggling, before Professor Flitwick was able to talk them though what they were doing wrong. By the end of the class all the students had got the spell down and Harry had started experimenting with different colors on his wand tip. He had earned ten points for Hufflepuff and another five after he had explained to both Neville and Hermione how to repeat the same feat with their own wands.

Susan and Hannah had overheard his explanation and after a few moments had been able to duplicate the same results to their surprise. Professor Flitwick had explained to the remaining members of the class that intent mattered when casting and the verbal incantation was used to focus their magic and intent which shaped their magic to do their intended action. Hermione's quill flew over her parchment as she made copious notes as Professor Flitwick explained the mechanism behind casting a spell successfully.

They made their way to the greenhouses through a side entrance of the castle after making their way down to the ground floor and having to pause several times to get directions from the portraits. Harry sighed to himself as he did not understand why a school would be so difficult to navigate. They were provided with a map, but the shifting hallways and stairways made it useless for the most part.

The Herbology class focused on the importance of safety and using the proper protective equipment consistently as all the magical plants posed some potential for danger. She showed them a Venomous Tentacula and a Devil's Snare. She explained that they would mostly observe the more dangerous plants in the first year with the emphasis on safe handling procedures.

She explained magical and mundane plants had a common origin, but the presence of magic had caused many changes to occur between the common and magical varieties, eventual experimentation had led to many new species being created as magic allowed for many more options in combining desired traits and benefits.

The major drawback that magical plants had was a greater need for nutrients from the soil and occasional access to magic at various stages of their development. This was thankfully not usually a large amount but the more magic and nutrients available the faster the plants developed and matured. Larger and more specialized magical plants required more magic which meant that they could only be raised in magic rich environments such as schools, large magical families or over naturally magic rich areas. The use of spells left magical residue, which dependent of the intent of the magic used could cause mutation resulting in plants becoming useful for healing and nutrition or poisonous according to the aspect of dark or light the magic was used for.

She went on to explain how the manure from magical animals was necessary compared to using animals from the mundane variety as the sheer volume of nutrients required for magical plant varieties could turn fertile soil into desert land. She used the example some of the desert regions throughout the world were former magical areas that had performed multiple and dangerous experiments trying to create magical super plants.

The combination and the number of traits they tried to include into one plant had resulted in a massive drain on the soil over a period of time, and the eventual damage had led to the forced evacuation of the area along with strict regulations on magical plant breeding.

Harry wrote copious notes in his notebooks which he summoned absentmindedly, as this gave him some fascinating ideas for how to apply his agricultural interests into a method of earning a living as an adult. He wondered if it was possible to reconvert desert lands back into arable lands using magical methods. He made a note to himself to do further research into this as it provided a possible alternative in locating an area for resettling and avoiding having to live among wizard-kind when he completed his education.

He did not yet know what type of career he wanted but he knew he did not wish to spend his life behind a desk any more than the minimum amount necessary. He wanted freedom of movement and easy access to the outdoors and mobility.

Neville was fascinated and bubbled with happiness as he made his own sets of notes. He truly enjoyed working with plants and this class alone had given him new ways of improving his greenhouses with just the first lesson alone.

Hermione's thoughts flew over the administrative issues that managing magical plants and mundane plants could cause, as she vowed to seek a way to overcome the limitations that large-scale cultivation could present.

They were given some magical parsley to be moved into larger pots as they had become to big for their current pots. The only difference between them and the mundane variety was the blue color of the plant and a much stronger aroma than their green mundane origins.

The Gryffindors did not seem to enjoy the practical aspects of the class and some grumbled loudly at the uselessness of the subject. They were ignored by Professor Sprout who informed them that anyone who deliberately sabotaged the class would earn a month's detention and the loss of fifty points as a starting point. This instantly quelled most of the rebels among the Gryffindors and soon the only noise that could be heard was the noise from plant pots and gardening tools being used.

Harry smirked as Hermione and Neville met his eyes and they silently shared a moment of amusement as they each gave a mental thanks that they had not been sorted into that house. The Gryffindors had in the one class they had seen so far showed a clan mentality and a rebelliousness attitude to authority that promised lots of future conflict.

They packed up their bags after the class was ended and made their way to the Great Hall for lunch chatting about what they had enjoyed in the classes so far.

He noted the youngest red head from Gryffindor approach him as they entered the entrance and ignoring both of his companions introduce himself as Ronald Weasley and his future tour guide to all things of the wizarding world.

Harry looked at him from head to toe and saw nothing that impressed him. The boy was tall and gangly, he was rude in ignoring his companions, his eyes were staring at his forehead attempting to locate his famous scar and he was the biggest complainer in the last class they had just had.

Harry ignored the outstretched hand and in as polite and as bland a manner as possible spoke, "I am not in need of a guide, but I thank you for offering your services."

He continued to the Hufflepuff table and missed how the boy's face turned red in embarrassment and then in anger as he realized that he had been snubbed. He was about to turn around and march behind him to confront the arrogant arse, when he noticed that Draco Malfoy was standing there with his two sidekicks sneering at him.

The resulting confrontation stopped short of blows after the sight of Professor Snape prowling towards them had stopped Ronald from swinging his clenched fist into Draco's face. Draco had proposed an honor duel at midnight in the trophy room which Ronald had jumped on without realizing the baited trap that it was.

His twin brothers had witnessed the confrontation but after sharing a glance had decided to let Ron face his own battles, hopefully he would learn the importance of self-control from it. Percy Weasley, his older brother and a Gryffindor prefect noted the confrontation but seeing it break up without conflict, figured that it had been resolved and walked over to the Ravenclaw table to chat with his love interest Penelope Clearwater.

Harry and his friends enjoyed their lunch and made their way to their common room to relax after their meal. They lounged on the couches in the common room before getting up to make their way to the Potions classroom where they met the Ravenclaws milling around the closed door of waiting for the Professor to arrive.

The door swung open exactly at 1.00 pm and the students entered the classroom and sat at the stations provided and placed their potions texts on the table. The classroom door swung open suddenly causes a few students to squeak in fear. The classroom was poorly lit, had strange looking ingredients contained in jars and the figure entering wearing a black cloak that swirled around him as he walked and harsh unattractive features caused one of the Ravenclaws girls to start crying out in fear.

He sneered contemptuously and snarled at her, "Cease your crying you dunderhead before I removed 100 points for being an annoying crybaby." He smiled darkly at the forced cessation of tears and the strained expression on her face as she fought to hold back her tears and her fear of him.

He instructed them to put their useless wands away and started extolling the unique possibilities and flexibility of potions, with the students of the class staring at him in awe as he listed the possibilities from halting death to fame and fortune.

He noted that the spawn of Potter did not share the awe of his classmates and when he caught his eye sent a Legilimency probe at him seeking to see what the spoiled brat was thinking.

His probe revealed a defined structure within his mind which made him cautious because very few wizards can build up an able defense to protect them from mental intrusions via Legilimency. He sneered contemptuously as he made his way into the structure through the door and obvious trap, but to his surprise he found only an empty room with a chair at the end of a corridor. He destroyed the chair in frustration and to his shock some creatures began attacking him and draining his probe and hence his magic. He attempted to overpower the creatures and destroy them but a sharp and heavy blow to his testicles caused him to stiffen up and break off the probe.

He looked around in shock and noted that the Potter boy's wand was not present on the desk, so he wondered who could have hit him or how. He eyed him suspiciously, but his glare was ignored as if it was non-consequential to him. Snape knew that he could not accuse him openly without the proof from a wand showing that he had cast a spell, and that his attempt to probe his mind was illegal and would see him in Azkaban before the end of the day.

Harry laughed internally as he was fully aware of Professor Snape's probe and he resolved to start teaching Neville and Hermione the art of controlling their magic and protecting their minds from mental probes. If he made any new friends he would include them in his teaching, but he did not plan on taking responsibility for educating or teaching anyone without a good reason or some form or reward.

He had learned already from his own life experiences that people rarely appreciated things that were given freely and that they did not earn through hard work and dedication. The remainder of the class went quickly as the damage done to Snape's nutsack had rendered him incapable of free movement and speech. His face never gave away his pain, but his stiff movements signaled that all was not well with him.

The class was not well taught and the only instructions he gave were from those on the board. He gave no insights or explanations and only snarled at any student who requested help, "Follow the instructions exactly as they appear on the board, You Dunderheads. IF you want an explanation read your textbooks."

Harry, Hermione and Neville shared a look as they silently acknowledged that this class would be mostly self-study. They submitted their sample of the potions at the end of the class under the nasty glare of their Professor and made their way to their common room quietly. The day had started out great and magic had shown great promise but from the last class they had experienced, quality instruction was not guaranteed in every class.

Severus Snape groaned after the last student left and shuffled over to his potions cabinet to retrieve a pain-relieving potion, which he swallowed quickly. He never believed in showing weakness to anyone because his experiences had shown that this led to exploitation or manipulation. He went over the events preceding his mind probe and realized that there were no warning signs that Potter brat had occlumency. He briefly considered warning Dumbledore but sneered to himself that Dear Albus deserved to experience for himself the pleasure of exploring James Potter's son's mindscape for himself.

I am ending it here for now. My apologies for taking so long to update after setting such a rapid pace initially but I was on vacation and trying to incorporate magic and narrating the life of young students in this fictional environment is proving more difficult than I anticipated. I have a greater appreciation for fanfiction writers than ever before after stepping into the ring myself and while I am open to suggestions and room for improvement, please note that I am relatively new to this writing fiction, translating ideas from your head to the written form is challenging to me. I hope to improve as I go along, and I thank everyone who takes the time to read my creation.