'...' - Speaking through the medallion
/.../ - Telepathy
:: ... :: - Signing

I'm off to join the wizards

King's Cross Station, Sept 1, 1991, 8:30am
Since it was the height of rush hour, none of the commuters noticed a column of blue-white light appear in a corner near the entrance to the station and leave behind a man, a boy with a trunk, and a cage containing a snowy owl.

Grabbing a nearby cart, Leo quickly helped Harry load his school trunk and Hedwig's cage onto it. Then they headed toward the train platforms.

While the appearance of a caged owl did get them a few odd looks, both Harry and Leo were pleased to see that their early arrival had insured that no one would be paying too much attention to them. Leo's bringing him to the station so early had served another and more important purpose, making sure that no wizard or witch saw them together, or how they had arrived.

Leo brought the cart to a halt beside the brick wall that divided Platforms 7 and 8. Kneeling down so he didn't have to shout over the noise in the station, Leo told his charge, "This is as far as I can go with you, Harry. Aside from the fact that I don't know how the portal to Platform 9 and 3/4 would react to my powers, it is best that we make sure no wanded witch or wizard can connect you to me, even though none of them usually come in this early, there's always a chance they might. Also, we," a quick glance upward told Harry that Leo was referring to the Whitelighters and Elders, "know that they have the ability to cast glamours that allow them to look like some one else. They even have potions that can transform someone into an exact copy of... say you that would be good enough to fool your Aunt."

'Not for long it wouldn't.' Harry countered with a grin, imagining what Grams would do to any wizard stupid enough to try it.

"True, but they wouldn't need to fool her for long to cause a lot of harm." Leo pointed out. He didn't have to imagine what Penny would do to anyone foolish enough to harm her family. She had quite a reputation among the Whitelighters as a witch you did not want to piss off.

Beginning to feel a little like a secret agent with all the secrets he was having to keep and the double life he was going to be living for awhile, Harry suggested. 'In that case, maybe we should have some kind of special greeting.'

"A good idea," Leo agreed. "It will come in very handy if one of the other whitelighters has to pick you up."

He was pleased by the caution Harry was showing. Penny and Patti had done a good job raising the boy, so far. Harry was already using the medallion that Dumbledore had provided, instead of telepathy or signing, just in case wizards had come to the station early.

'It should be something they don't know about and wouldn't be able to find out easily.' Harry looked thoughtful. 'maybe something to do with the Warran line rather than the Talbots.'

After a few moments thought, Leo suggested, "How about this: 'Melinda's granddaughter sent me'?"

Harry nodded in agreement and added. 'Then I'll reply: 'Patti sent you?'. Then you or the whitelighter who comes in your place will say: 'No,' and give one of the names of my cousins. We can start with Phoebe and then you pick the next, only you or they can't use the one that was used last. That way it's random.'

After a few moments of silence, Harry asked, 'How do I get on the platform, Leo?'

"The easiest way and the one that will draw the least amount of attention is to learn up against the brick wall dividing Platforms 9 and 10" Leo told him. "You'll just slip right through the portal, like stepping through a door." Getting to his feet, the whitelighter told him. "Go on, Harry. I'll wait here until you're through."

Pushing his cart carefully through the crowd, Harry moved toward the brick wall separating Platforms 9 and 10. As soon as he got close enough he could feel the muted flow of magic that went to create what felt like an archway in the wall. Leaning up against the wall where he felt a hole in the magic, Harry found that Leo's description had been accurate. It felt like he was pushing open a door.

The transition was almost instantaneous. One moment he was in King's Cross station and the next he was coming out of a wrought iron archway into an old-fashioned train station. There were two signs hanging from the roof of the station. One said Hogwarts Express and the other said Platform 9 3/4. Next to the station there was a scarlet red steam engine that the smoke stack was just beginning to give off smoke.

As Harry pushed his cart down the station platform, he didn't see anybody around who would be able to help him load his trunk onto the train. Well, I did arrive early, he decided. Maybe the people who take care of the train are off on a break.

'Looks like we're gonna have a bit of a wait, Hedwig.' Harry observed, as he gently stroked the owl's feathers.

Hedwig hooted in agreement.

Harry was glad that the owl had gotten over her fit of anger toward him. When she had been left at the old wizarding manor with the guardian, Harry had thought she had understood why she had to stay there and not with Harry in California. Aside from the fact that it would be very hard to explain to the girls, why he was suddenly keeping a snowy owl for a pet, Harry hadn't wanted Hedwig to work herself to death, trying to deliver mail to and from the states. He had explained to her that while he would not be living here, this was where she was to deliver all mail for him. Given his shifting talent he and Grams had worked out a way for him to shift mail from the deep lower drawer of his dresser, to a second trunk that was at the guardian's manor. The guardian would then give this mail to Hedwig to deliver to him. However when Leo had brought him back to the castle a couple of days ago, he was willing to swear she was as mad at him as Phoebe had been when she found out he was going to England to go to school.

Flashback
Halliwell Manor, August 14, 1991
Grams stood at the foot of the stairs and called, "Pru, Piper, Phoebe, can you three come down here please?"

It sounded like thunder as the three girls stomped downstairs.

"What's up Grams?" Pru asked.

"Harry and I need to speak with you." Grams led them into the solarium where Harry was already waiting.

The girls didn't know what to make of Harry's solemn expression.

"Harry, is something wrong?" Phoebe asked.

Harry shook his head.

"Then why do you look as though you've been told you're gonna have to face Ms. Cawston all by yourself?" Phoebe wanted to know.

"Phoebe!" Piper sounded shocked. They all knew that woman had picked on Harry just because he couldn't speak.

"What?" Phoebe didn't understand what she'd said wrong.

"We really don't want to talk about that woman," Piper pointed out. "She wasn't a nice person."

"I know that." Phoebe told her. "I was just saying that he looks like he's just been told that he's gonna have to spend another year with her."

::Not far off:: Harry put in darkly, though no one saw his comment. He was thinking about Professor Snape whom he would be facing in a couple of weeks.

"Girls, please!" Grams interrupted before Pru could get involved. "What I needed to talk to you about is the fact that Harry is going to be leaving in a couple of weeks to go to school and except for coming back for Christmas, he'll be away about ten months. And if this school works out, then he'll be going there until he's eighteen."

"Why?" Phoebe looked at her grandmother stunned.

"You remember when Harry and I had to go to England a few weeks ago?"

The girls nodded.

"We had to go talk to the lawyers that are responsible for Harry's parent's estate." Penny lied glibly. "They've been looking for Harry since we got him in '85. From what they told us, Harry has a trust fund to see to his needs til he's eighteen then he will inherit his parent's estate. One of the other things they told us was that when Harry was born, his parents enrolled him in the school they both went to and that he's supposed to start this year."

To say that all three girls looked shaken would be an understatement.

Finally Pru asked, "They can't force him to go, can they, Grams?"

"No, they can't," Penny confirmed. "They can't even force me to send him there, since I am his legal guardian."

"Then why does he have to go?" Piper was confused.

"Because he deserves a chance to learn about where he came from," Grams began only to be interrupted.

"I don't want him to go." Phoebe stamped her foot.

"Well, he is going, Phoebe." Grams countered firmly. "At least for one year. He'll have a chance to learn about his family..."

"His family..." Phoebe scoffed. "His family over there didn't take very good care of him the first time they had him and they shouldn't have a second chance to try and hurt him."

"Well, he's not going to be staying with the Dursleys." Grams told her. Even if I knew where they were, she thought to herself. "I've made arrangements for him to stay with some friends of mine over there, in the few days before school. And the family I was talking about him getting to know are his parents. Don't you think Harry deserves to know about his parents?"

"I. Don't. Want. Him. To. Go." Phoebe repeated stubbornly. "He shouldn't go. He won't have anybody to talk to over there, or talk for him. Harry belongs with us not them. Where were these lawyers when he was being hurt? They've proven they can't be trusted to take care of him."

She ran out of the room, not wanting to hear another word.
End Flashback

Unlike Hedwig, Harry reflected ruefully, it had taken Phoebe until the day before his departure to get over her anger at his going away from them. By that time Harry had begun to think his 'sister' was never going to speak to him again, at least not til he came home for Christmas. After Gram's announcement, Phoebe had spent most of her days out of the house. Where he didn't know, but Grams hadn't looked too worried, so he knew she wasn't in any danger.

He had spent most of his time going over his books, especially the Potions ones. Grams had told him she wouldn't put it past the bozo who taught Potions to have some hard questions designed to humiliate the class. She'd told him about an Accounting professor Patti had had in college, who on the first day of class always enjoyed trying to make her students feel like they were ten inches tall and dumber than a box of rocks. Grams had conceded that the woman was probably a very good accountant, but she just didn't have the patience to teach and in Grams opinion, if you didn't have the patience to teach you shouldn't be teaching. She had even suggested a few things to try and help him not be afraid of Professor Snape, such as imagining the teacher in underwear, the stranger the better. When he'd told her he couldn't do that, she'd come up with something even better. She'd taken him to a club in the Castro district, for some inspiration.

Remembering the people who worked in that club, Harry couldn't help thinking, Grams, certainly knows some interesting people.

(AN: For those of you who don't live in the US, have been living in the back end of beyond for the past 20 years, or are too young to know, the Castro district in San Francisco is the area where the Gay community primarily lives or maybe I should say lived given that they have spread out. It is also well known for having the unusual types of clubs such as drag or transvestite.)

Harry remembered the last full day he spent at the Manor at least, until Christmas, quite well.

Flashback
Harry was packing some of his winter clothes in the second suitcase he was taking with him, when Phoebe came to his room. A quick glance at the bed assured him that none of his school books were visible.

"Harry," Phoebe was standing in the doorway shuffling her feet.

::Hi, Phoebe:: Harry couldn't help wondering why she was here, given that she'd been avoiding him, like the plague, ever since Grams told them he was going to go away to school ::You can come in, you know. I'm not going to bite.::

Phoebe giggled as she came in and plopped herself down on the bed.

Harry resumed his packing, waiting for Phoebe to start talking.

"Harry, please stop doing that." Phoebe begged.

::I have to finish packing.:: Harry told her. ::My flight for New York leaves tomorrow morning.::

"I don't want you to go." Phoebe told him.

::But I am going.:: Harry pointed out. ::It's already been decided, remember?::

"Why?" Phoebe wanted to know.

::Why what?:: Harry countered. He was fairly certain he knew what she was asking about, but with Phoebe you could never be entirely sure. Sometimes following her logic gave him a headache.

"Why is Grams sending you to a school in England?" Phoebe asked stiffly. "You're not English. You're American. You don't belong there."

Harry smiled. ::The school is in Scotland and technically I am an English citizen. I was born there, remember?::

It was true. Since Patti was never able to complete the intended adoption, his official citizenship was still British. However when the judge had made Grams and Patti his legal guardians, he had issued Harry with a temporary dual citizenship until he turned eighteen, to avoid possible issues with the INS. Once he turned eighteen, he could decide for himself if he wanted to become a full US citizen.

"Picky, picky," Phoebe just glared at him. "And you're avoiding my question. Why do you want to go to school so far away?"

Knowing he couldn't tell her all of the reasons why, Harry settled for telling her part of it. ::I don't want to, but I need to.::

"That makes no sense." Phoebe was confused. "If you don't want to go, then don't go."

::I have to.:: Harry repeated. ::It's what my parents wanted. Tell me something, Phoebe. If you'd never had a chance to know your mother and then you found out that you had a chance to learn about who and what she was, would you take it?::

Phoebe looked thoughtful, then reluctantly said, "I... suppose I would."

::That's what I'm doing.:: Harry told her. ::I don't know anything at all about my parents. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't like me asking questions. My parents planned for me to go to the school they went to in Scotland. They even paid for it. Now I have a chance to find out something about them and how they were when they were growing up. Maybe even see some pictures of what they looked like. I don't want to lose this chance, Phoebe.::

He paused for a moment, watching Phoebe's face carefully. ::I also don't want this to come between us, Phoebe. You are part of my family...::

"Hey, what are you doing on the Platform so early?" A male voice startled Harry out of his memories of that afternoon. "You shouldn't be here for another couple of hours."

After making sure his bangs were covering his forehead, and the scar, Harry looked up and saw a man with slightly greying hair standing a few feet away. He wasn't wearing robes like some of the other wizards Harry had seen. He was dressed in a pair of old-fashioned pants with suspenders and an equally old-fashioned, stained shirt.

'Sorry,' he apologized to the stranger, 'but I had to come early, because the person dropping me off had to go to work early.' Pulling the ticket he'd been given with his letter out of his pocket, Harry looked at it. 'Besides, this ticket doesn't say when we're supposed to start arriving, just that the train leaves at 11:00.'

"Well, that's true," the older man conceded.

Harry added, 'And I figured it would be safer to wait here, instead of out in the main area of the station. Especially since Hedwig had been getting a few odd looks.'

"Are you a muggle-born?" The man asked.

'I wasn't raised in the wizarding world, if that's what you mean.' Harry countered as he dug through his book bag for something to read.

"I kinda thought so," the man nodded in understanding. "Wizard folk know to start arriving around 10 and most muggle-borns usually don't start arriving til then either."

'Should I leave then?' Harry asked

"You don't need to," the man quickly assured him. "It's just that the train isn't ready for passengers yet."

'That's okay, I've got plenty to read.' Harry held up a paperback book.

The stranger finally introduced himself. "I'm Mike. Let me know if you get hungry. One of the guys usually goes across to the muggle cafe across from the station around 9:30."

Fairly certain that he would be hungry by then, Harry simply asked, 'Let me know when they're ready to go and I'll go across with them.'

He'd been too nervous to eat when he got up this morning and now that he had finally begun this journey, he was starting to calm down which meant he would want something to eat soon.

"Station's packed with muggles." Molly spoke up, as she got closer to Platform 9 and 3/4.

Dumbledore had asked her to keep an eye out for young Harry Potter and to make sure he made it through the Barrier. So far though, she hadn't seen any child matching the description she'd been given.

"What's the platform number?" She asked in a slightly louder tone, hoping the boy was nearby.

"9 and 3/4!" Ginny piped up, then she begged, "Mum, can't I go..."

"You're not old enough, Ginny. Now be quiet." Molly told her. Looking around she still saw no sign of the boy. "All right, Percy, you go first."

Once he was through the barrier, she pointed to one of the twins and said, "You next, Fred."

"I'm not Fred. I'm George." Her son sounded exasperated with her. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"

"Sorry, George dear," she apologized.

"Only joking, I am Fred." The red-headed twin smiled as he took off for the barrier at a run.

As soon as he cleared the other side of the Barrier, Fred saw a dark-haired boy step away from a nearby trash bin and directly into his path. Since the boy had his back to the Barrier, he hadn't seen Fred's entrance. Fred quickly tried shifting the direction of his trolley, even though there was no way to completely avoid hitting him.

Once he'd managed to pull his trolley to a stop, Fred hurried back to check on the smaller boy. "I'm so sorry. I came through the barrier a little too fast, and by the time I saw you it was too late. Are you all right?"

George came through the barrier in time to see his brother helping a smaller, dark-haired boy to his feet. Pushing his trolley over to join them, he asked his twin, "Who's this?"

"Don't know, just sorta ran into him." Fred told him

"My brother, the human bludger," George commented, seeing the smaller boy was limping slightly.

'What's a bludger?' the dark-haired boy questioned as he pushed his bangs out of his eyes.

"A bludger is used in the game of..." George's explanation trailed off as he caught sight of the lighting bolt shaped scar on the dark-haired boy's forehead. "Blimey, are you --?"

"He is." Fred put in, having caught sight of the scar as well. But when the dark-haired boy made no comment, he asked uncertainly, "aren't you?"

'Aren't I what?' Harry couldn't figure out what they were talking about, until he remembered that he'd just brushed his bangs out of his eyes.

The twin's next words confirmed his guess as they said at the same time, "Harry Potter."

'Yeah, I mean, yes, I am.' Harry told them.

The two boys were staring at him as if he were a cross between a rock star and some strange exhibit in a zoo. He had the feeling that he had vanished as far as they were concerned and all that remained was his scar. He hoped the rest of students at Hogwarts weren't going to be like this or it was going to get old real fast.

Before Harry could get too uncomfortable with them staring at his scar, an older woman's voice called out, "Fred. George. Are you here?"

The twins turned their heads and looked toward a red-headed woman who seemed to be searching for them on the crowded station platform. Gratefully, Harry used their moment of distraction to escape back to his compartment on the train. He had chosen one of the rear cars, figuring the others would fill up first and he would have privacy longer. He had always been uncomfortable with attention. Even though he had lived with the Halliwells longer than the Dursleys, he still equated attention with trouble. Any time he had gotten more of the good kind of attention than Dudley, it had always meant a beating and then time in his cupboard. Because of them he dreaded being singled out as anything special, always preferring to stay in the background. Hanging around with Phoebe that had always been easy, since she tended to draw the attention to her, because she was such a lively person. Unfortunately he was beginning to have the feeling that it wasn't going to be quite so easy to fade into the background at Hogwarts.

Once he was back in his compartment, Harry sat down near the half open window, where he could see the twins and the red-head that he assumed was their mother, without being seen. The woman had at least two other red-headed children with her, and Harry couldn't help wondering if they were the twins' brother and sister. There was a slight resemblance other than the red hair. He also couldn't help wondering how their mother managed to tell the twins apart, since they appeared to be identical down to the last freckle, as far as he could tell.

Their mother had just finished cleaning something off the younger red-headed boy's nose and Harry had heard the twins refer to him as 'ickle Ronniekins' which meant his name was probably Ronald or some variation of it.

"Where's Percy?" The woman asked.

"He's coming now." One of the twins told her. Harry still didn't know which was Fred and which was George.

Harry saw an older boy come striding up in billowing black robes and wearing a shiny badge that looked like it had a 'P' on it. So far he was the only one Harry had seen who was already in his school clothes. As soon as he was in earshot, he told the group, "Can't stay long, Mother, I'm up front. The Prefects have got two compartments to themselves."

This Percy reminded Harry a little of the leaders of some of those protest groups he saw on the news. The ones that were pompous and puffed up with their own self-importance and who's groups never amounted to much, other than maybe some occasional press when it was a slow news day.

"Oh, are you a prefect, Percy?" One of the twins sounded surprised. "You should have said something."

"You know I think he did," commented to other. "At least once..."

"Or twice..."

"An hour..."

"All summer."

As the twins burst out laughing, Percy growled, "Shut up."

"How come Percy got new robes?" One of the twins asked.

"Because he's a prefect," their mother said fondly. "All right dear, have a good term and send me an owl when you get there."

She kissed Percy on the cheek before he left, then turned her attention back to the twins. "Now, you two -- you behave yourselves, this year. If I get one more owl telling me you've... you've blown up a toilet or --"

"We've never blown up a toilet." One twin protested.

"Great idea though," the other observed. "Thanks mum."

"It's not funny." She sighed then said, "Look after Ron."

"Don't worry, mum, ickle Ronniekins will be safe with us."

"Shut up." Ron ordered, his face from what Harry could see was reddening slightly.

"Hey Mum, guess what?" One of the twins spoke up. "Guess who we met?"

"You mean who you ran into, don't you?" the other one countered.

"Who?" Molly was looking around the station trying to see if she could find Harry Potter.

"Harry Potter!"

That brought Molly's attention back to the twins. "You ran into him, Fred."

"It was an accident, mum." Fred spoke up quickly in his own defence. "He stepped into the path of my trolley, just as I cleared the Barrier."

"Was he ok?" Molly wanted to know. "Are you sure it was Harry Potter?"

"Seemed to be. He disappeared when you hollered at us." Fred shrugged. "Saw the scar on his forehead and when I asked, he said he was."

Glad that he had made it through the barrier though she wondered who had told him how to get through, Molly was debating going on the train to look for the boy and make sure he was all right, when Ginny asked, "Oh mum, can we go find him? I want to see him."

"No, Ginny," Molly told her firmly. "He isn't something you goggle at in the zoo. Was he alone, Fred? Were his relatives with him?"

"Seemed to be alone." George told her. "Didn't see anyone nearby, and I think if they had been they would've come running after Fred, here, accidentally knocked him down."

"Never mind that," Fred spoke up quickly, wanting to divert his mother's attention, seeing the glint of fire in her eyes. "Do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"

It didn't have the desired effect though and his mother sternly ordered, "I forbid you to ask him about that, Fred. As if he needs to be reminded of that on his first day at school."

"All right, all right, mum." Fred held up his hands in surrender. "I won't ask him."

Seeing the quick look that Fred gave his twin, Harry was fairly certain that the other twin might ask him, since he hadn't promised not to.

A moment later a whistle, alerting those still on the platform that the train would soon be leaving.

"Hurry up and get on the train," their mother ordered.

After making sure their trunks were on board, the three boys did so. Then they leaned out the window so their mother could kiss them good-bye as their younger sister began to cry.

"Don't Ginny," Fred requested, "we'll send you loads of owls."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat." George quickly added.

"George!"

"Only joking, mum." He assured his mother.

As the train began moving he saw the boys' mother waving and their sister began running alongside the train, half laughing, half crying. When the train started going too fast for her to keep up, Ginny began waving as well.

Sitting back down in his seat, Harry wished that his family could've been here to see him off and that Phoebe could have come with him But it was not to be. Grams had told him that the girls' powers would not be unbound until after she was dead and that her death would not occur until the girls were in their twenties or early thirties and until that happened the girls weren't to know about witches or witchcraft.

As houses flashed past the window, Harry was both excited and a little worried about what awaited him at Hogwarts. Most witches, never had a dangerous destiny, they just spent most of their time trying to maintain the balance and help out those who couldn't work magic in little ways to try and make their lives better. However, as Grams had once told him the more power you had, the more responsibility you had to protect those who couldn't protect themselves from the dark forces in this world and like the girls who would one day be the Charmed ones, he had his own destiny to fulfil and it was unfortunately going to be a dangerous one.

He was also a little worried about what awaited him at Hogwarts. Leo had said that there were certain events that were going to happen that would turn out worse if he weren't there. That meant that besides going to learn the type of magic his parents had used, he was going to be at Hogwarts to try and prevent something from happening or at least to keep it from turning out too badly. It was a scary idea that success or failure rested on his eleven year old shoulders. Was he really ready for it? Well, he told himself, it's too late to back out now, even if I wanted to.

The door to his compartment slid open and Harry looked over to see the red-headed boy, Ron, standing in the doorway.

"Is anyone sitting there?" Ron pointed to the empty seat opposite Harry. "Every other compartment is full."

Harry shook his head. 'Nope, so far I'm the only one in here.'

Ron sat down and after taking another look at the dark haired boy sitting across from him, looked out the window.

Harry knew his long bangs were covering the scar again, so even if the boy were looking for it, he wouldn't have seen it.

The red-headed twins appeared in the doorway of the compartment a few moments later, grins on their faces and one of them said. "Here you are, Ron. We've been looking all over for you."

"Well, here I am." Ron told them.

The other twin spoke up, "we're gonna go down to the middle of the train...Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula. Wanna come?"

Ron shuddered and said, "No thanks."

Before they left, one of the twins asked, "Harry, did we introduce ourselves?" When Harry shook his head, they struck a pose and announced, "We're Fred and George Weasley and this is our younger brother Ron. See you guys later."

Harry barely had the chance to say, 'bye' before the door slid shut behind the twins.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron wanted to know.

Harry nodded.

"Oh, I thought it might've been one of Fred and George's jokes." Ron told him. "And have you got the..."

'The what?' Harry asked.

"The scar." Ron pointed toward Harry's forehead.

'Yes, I do.'

"Can I see it?" Ron wanted to know.

'No,' Harry told him and anticipating the next question, added, 'and no I can't remember what happened the night Voldemort killed my parents.'

Ron stared at the dark-haired boy amazed. "You said his name!" then added in a low voice. "Nobody ever says You-Know-Who's name."

'Don't see why not. It's just a name.' Harry shrugged, and got up to get his book bag off the luggage rack, intending to get a book to read since this train ride looked like it might turn boring. The train gave a sudden jerk as his hand wrapped around the strap, sending him to the floor and scattering the contents of the bag.

Ron knelt down to help him get all his books back in the bag, curious about what the boy-who-lived read. Picking up a thick book, he asked, "What's this?"

'History book from my other school.' Harry put it back in the bag, before Ron could see the title said American History. 'My Aunt wants me to keep up with my regular schooling as much as possible.'

"Muggle schooling?" Ron couldn't believe it. "Why?"

'Non-magical schooling,' Harry countered. 'As for why, so that I have a chance at a good job in the non-magical world, once I finish school.'

"But you're a wizard! Not to mention the Boy-Who-Lived!" Ron couldn't understand why anyone would willingly want to learn muggle history if they didn't have to. "You don't need Muggle history to live and work in the wizarding world."

'My family lives in the non-magical world, and when I am done at Hogwarts, I most likely will be too.' Harry told him. Seeing the other boy didn't understand, and trying to find some common ground with the red-headed boy, he asked, 'Are all your family wizards?'

"Er -- yes," Ron said then paused "At least I think so. Mum may have a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

No common ground there. Harry hoped the disappointment he was feeling wasn't showing on his face. While the wizarding world had some cool stuff, the people in it were proving to be something of a let-down. True he hadn't met a large number of wizards yet, but with very few exceptions like Mike on the train platform, most seemed to regard the non-magical world as something to be ignored, or in some cases kept as far away from the wizarding one as you could get it, even if it meant barring those who could work magic from coming into the wizarding world, if they came from non-magical families.

It wasn't right and Harry knew it. If there was thing he had learned living at the Halliwells, it was that family mattered. You shouldn't act like they didn't exist, especially if it was because of something they had no control over. It didn't matter if they could do magic or not. Nor did it matter if they were evil and you ultimately had to vanquish them. It didn't matter how far apart the kinship was, after all he was technically a second cousin, or if you only saw them rarely, they shouldn't be ignored as if they didn't exist. Harry felt that Ron should have at least known this cousin's name, even if he knew nothing else about him other than that he was an accountant. He was beginning to wonder if he could find any common ground with this boy.

Not knowing what caused the silence and wanting to break it, Ron asked, "What's it like, living with muggles?"

'I like living with my aunt and cousins. I wouldn't trade them for anyone else's family, even if they are a bit crazy at times.' Harry told him honestly, then quickly changed the subject before he could ask something Harry couldn't tell him, by asking, 'What's it like growing up in a wizarding family? I mean you've got three older brothers and all.'

"Five actually," Ron told him, looking a little gloomy at the thought. "I'm the sixth in my family to go to Hogwarts and I've got a lot to live up to. It won't matter how good I do though, because they've done it first. Bill, he's my oldest brother, was head Boy at Hogwarts. Charlie, he's now working with dragons, but he was Captain of the Quidditch team while he was at Hogwarts. Then there's Percy. He's a Prefect and wants everybody to know it. Fred and George, while they mess around a bit and get into trouble, they still get really good marks, and everyone thinks they're really funny. With five older brother's, I never get anything new. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Reaching into his pocket, Ron pulled out a large, fat grey rat that seemed to be sleeping.

"His name is Scabbers and he's useless. My Dad got Percy and owl because he made prefect, but they couldn't aff--," The red-headed boy broke off suddenly, then finished by saying, "I got Scabbers instead."

Harry didn't see anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. Before he found out about the money his parents had left him, Harry had gotten used to sometimes having to wait for things. Money had been very tight at the Halliwells, especially after Patti had died.

He had never missed having things because, while things were nice, they couldn't replace love. Yet here was a boy who clearly had love, but seemed ashamed because he didn't have things and wouldn't have any way to stand out from the crowd. Harry's initial impressions of the boy sitting across from him were that while he might make a good acquaintance, he wouldn't make a good friend. Ron seemed to be the kind who would never be satisfied with being in the background and would always want something better. Time would tell whether his impressions were correct or not.

Turning his attention to the window, Harry saw they were in the countryside now and the houses seem to be getting further and further apart and there were now sections of forest. Harry turned his attention back to his history book, since Ron didn't seem to want to talk right now.

Since they were in a car near the end of the train, not too many people came by their compartment and no one else disturbed them for a while. Some time after noon, according to Harry's watch, there was a clattering sound outside the compartment and Harry looked up to see a woman pushing a cart.

"Anything off the trolley, dears," She asked with a smile.

Ron's ears went pink as he told her, "I've got sandwiches," but from the expression on his face, Harry knew, Ron clearly didn't want to eat them.

Harry had finally found something that was common to both the magical and non-magical worlds. Mothers would makes lunches for their kids that they didn't want to eat and would either swap with someone else, if they could find someone willing to take it, or simply not eat it at all.

Harry stepped out into the corridor and looked the cart over. There wasn't any of the candy or snacks he was used to seeing. Instead there were things like; Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes, Pumpkins Pasties, and bottles of some strange burnt orange coloured drink. Harry got some of everything that looked interesting and carried it back into the compartment.

"Hungry are you?" Ron commented, looking at the sweets lying on the seat beside Harry.

'I am a bit, but then again I've never seen this kind of candy before.' Harry admitted.

Ron pulled out a wrapped package of sandwiches and opening it, pulled one apart with a grimace. "Mum, never remembers that I don't like corned beef."

'You can have one of these, if you want.' Harry offered, holding out a pasty, familiar with the routine from school.

"I don't have anything to trade, other than the sandwiches and you wouldn't want one of them." Ron said, looking from the sandwich to the pasty. "It's all dry. She hasn't got much time, you know," then he added, "what with the five of us at home."

'Oh, go on,' Harry urged continuing to hold out the pasty. He didn't like the idea of someone going hungry, if he could help it.

Looking at the pile of snacks on the seat, Ron gave in and shoved the sandwiches to one side. They sat there, eating their way through the pasties and candy. Not exactly the most nutritious lunch, Harry reflected, but there is no one around to complain either.

'This isn't really a frog is it?' Harry asked holding up the box that said Chocolate Frog on it.

"No," Ron assured him. "Check out the card inside though. I'm missing Agrippa."

'What?' Harry didn't understand that at all.

"Oh that's right you wouldn't know." Ron nodded. "Chocolate Frogs have cards inside the box. You know the kind you collect. These are of famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred so far, but I'm missing Agrippa and Ptolemy."

Harry opened the package, curious to see what the wizarding world's version of a trading card looked like. Taking the card out of the box with one hand while he ate the frog with the other, Harry found himself looking at an image of Albus Dumbledore.

'I got Albus Dumbledore.' He told Ron.

"I've got about ten of him," Ron told him. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa."

Harry waved his hand at the pile of frog boxes as he read what the wizarding world considered important facts to know about Albus Dumbledore. When he turned the card back over he was astonished to discover that Dumbledore's face was gone from the card and said, 'Hey, he's gone!'

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day can you?" Ron said, then told him, "don't worry, he'll be back. I got Morganna again and I've already got six of her. Do you want it? You can start collecting your own."

Harry hadn't known the photo on the front of the card was like the paintings he'd seen at Hogwarts, but as he watched, Dumbledore came back into the picture. The Headmaster smiled a shy smile.

Once all the frogs were opened and devoured and Harry's wizarding card collection had a good start, they turned their attention to the Every Flavour Beans.

"You want to be careful with those." Ron warned him. "When they say every flavour, they mean every flavour. You'll get all the ordinary ones like peppermint, chocolate, and marmalade, but there's also liver and spinach and tripe. George reckons he got a booger flavoured one once."

Picking up a green one, Ron bit into it carefully, and then just as quickly spit it out. "Yuk! Sprouts!"

They enjoyed trying out the beans as the countryside sped by outside their window. Harry had so far tasted; coconut, buttered toast, baked bean, strawberry, a hot one that Ron said was probably curry, and grass.

The countryside had changed from neat fields to woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills, when there was a knock on their compartment door. A round faced boy, that Harry had seen come on to the Platform shortly before George had hit him with his trolley, came in.

He was tearful as he asked, "Have you seen a toad at all."

When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

'I'm sure he'll turn up.' Harry tried to reassure the boy.

Still looking miserable, the boy said, "Well, if you see him..."

He left a moment later.

"Don't know why he's so bothered." Ron commented. "If I'd brought a toad, I'd lose it as quick as I could." There was a brief pause. "Mind you I don't have much room to talk, given that I brought Scabbers."

He looked down at the rat still snoozing on his lap and said in disgust. "If he died, you wouldn't notice a difference. Tried to turn him yellow, yesterday. Thought it might make him more interesting. Spell didn't work though." Looking at Harry, he said, "look I'll show you..."

Rummaging around in his trunk, Ron pulled out a battered looking wand. It appeared to be chipped in places and Harry could see something white showing at one end.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out." Ron observed as he turned back toward Scabbers. "Anyway..."

Before he could say anything more, the door to the compartment opened again and the boy who'd lost his toad was back, only this time there was a bushy brown haired girl with him. She was already wearing her Hogwarts robes.

"Neville's lost a toad. Has anyone seen it?" She asked in a bossy sort of voice.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," Ron told her, but the girl wasn't listening.

Instead she was looking at his wand. "Oh are you going to do some magic? Let's see it then."

Ron looked taken aback as she sat down.

"Er, -- all right." Clearing his throat, Ron recited, "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid fat rat yellow."

Harry knew it wasn't going to work before the wand even touched the rat. It was a made up rhyme with no power or intent behind it.

As Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep, the girl asked, "Are you sure that's a real spell?" Then before Ron had a chance to respond, she continued on. "If it is, it's not a very good one, is it? I've only tried a few spells myself, and they've all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magical and I was ever so surprised 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've heard -- I've learned all our course books by heart, I just hope it will be enough -- I'm Hermione Granger by the way, who are you?"

Harry stared at the girl amazed. He'd never thought he meet somebody who could best Phoebe at saying a lot in one breath, but this girl just might've done it.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

'I'm Harry Potter.'

The girl stared at him in amazement for a moment. "Are you really?" At Harry's nod, she said, "I know all about you, of course -- I got a few extra books for background reading and you're in Modern Magical History, Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

'I am,' Harry couldn't help feeling surprised.

"Goodness, didn't you know?" When Harry shook his head no and she started talking very fast again, "I'd've found out everything I could, if it was me. Do either of you know which house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'm put in Gryffindor. I've heard it's the best house. I heard that Dumbledore himself was in it. I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway we'd better get on with looking for Neville's toad. You two had better change, we'll be there soon."

And with those parting words Hurricane Hermione left, taking Neville with her.

As they changed into their school uniforms, Harry and Ron talked about Ron's older brothers Bill and Charlie and what they were doing now that they were out of school. About the break-in that had apparently occurred at Gringotts in one of the high security vaults. Then the topic had wandered to Quidditch and when Ron found out that Harry knew nothing about Quidditch, he started describing the game enthusiastically.

He had just started in on the finer points of the game, when the compartment door slid open for a third time. This time it was three boys who came in and Harry recognized the pale one in the middle at once. He'd seen him in Madame Malkins. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown in Madame Malkins.

"Is it true what they're saying up and down the train?" The pale boy spoke in a demanding way. "They're saying that Harry Potter is in this compartment. So, is it you?"

Harry nodded as he looked at the other two boys. Both of them were kind of heavy set and from the way they were positioned around the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.

Noticing where Harry was looking, he said carelessly, "Oh this is Crabbe, and that's Goyle. And my name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

There was a slight snort from Ron that might have been choked back laughter and that brought Draco's attention to him.

"So you think my name's funny do you?" Draco sneered, taking in the worn robe and the red hair. "No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair and more children than they can afford."

Ron's face went red with anger as Draco turned his attention back to Harry. "You'll soon find out, Potter, that some wizarding families are much better than others. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort, now do you?"

He held out his hand for Harry to shake, but Harry eyed him coolly, before saying, 'I think I can figure out who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks.'

While Malfoy's face didn't turn red like Ron's had, there was a definite flush of anger across his cheeks. "I'd be careful if I were you, Potter." He warned Harry. "Unless you're a bit more polite, you'll end up going the same way as you parents. They didn't know what was best for them either. Hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and it'll rub off on you."

Both Harry and Ron got to their feet, reacting to the implied threat.

"Say that again," Ron growled, his face going even redder.

"Why, do you intend to fight us?" Malfoy drawled.

'If you don't get out now, we will,' Harry said, hoping he wouldn't have to put any of the moves, he'd learned in his self defence classes at the Y to use.

"But we don't want to leave. We're still hungry and you've still got some food." Malfoy told them.

Goyle reached for one of the chocolate frog packages, but before Ron could even make a move to try and stop him, Goyle let out a loud yell.

Scabbers had sunk his teeth into Goyle's knuckle and the rat was currently hanging from it. Malfoy and Crabbe backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers around and around, until the rat released its hold and flew into the window. Once Goyle was free of the rat, all three boys disappeared.

Hermione Granger appeared a few moments later demanding to know what was going on, as if everything that happened on this train were her responsibility. They told her very little.

A few minutes later the train slowed down and then came to a stop.

As they exited the train, Harry heard a voice calling, "Firs' year! Firs years over here!"

When Hagrid caught sight of Harry, he called, "All right there, Harry?" At Harry's nod, he called, "All firs years, follow me." With a cautionary "Mind yer step, now."

Hagrid led them away from the station and down a steep narrow path that seemed to be enclosed by darkness. Nobody said much as slipping and stumbling they followed the bobbing lantern, held high above their heads.

"You'll get yer firs look at Hogwarts, in a sec," Hagrid told them. "It's just around this bend."

The narrow path had widened out to reveal the edge of a dark mirrored surface that could only be a lake and perched on a mountain on the other side of it and reflected in the water was a huge castle. All the windows seemed to be lit and the starry sky, made a wonderful background for the castle's many turrets.

There were a lot of "ohhs" as the first year students got their first glimpse of the castle.

"No more than four to a boat," Hagrid instructed, pointing out the small boats waiting at the edge of the lake.

Ron and Harry were joined in their boat by Neville and Hermione Granger.

"Everyone in?" Hagrid called from the boat he had all to himself.

When nobody said anything to indicate they weren't ready, Hagrid said "FORWARD!"

The little boats began moving across the smooth surface of the lake, making barely a ripple in the glass-like surface.

On the other end of the journey, as they were climbing out of the boats in the underground harbour, Hagrid who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them, called out, "Hey is this yer toad?"

Neville took a look at what the large man was holding and called out gratefully, "Trevor!"

Hagrid led them up a steep path to a large door, that he banged on with his fist.

The door swung open almost immediately and Harry saw Professor McGonagall come out wearing emerald green robes. The first time he'd met the woman, his impression of her was that she was someone you didn't want to cross and seeing her now, Harry still had the same impression. She looked stern and forbidding.

"The firs years, Professor McGonagall." Hagrid told her.

"Thank you Hagrid." She nodded to the large man as she opened the door wide enough to admit them all.

The first years followed her across the stone floor. Harry heard the droning sound of hundreds of voices coming from a doorway to his right. The rest of the students must already be in the Great Hall. She led the first years to a small chamber off the great hall and they clustered tightly together, peering about nervously.

Professor McGonagall waited a few moments and then began her speech. "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start of term feast will begin shortly, but before you take your seats, you must be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony, because while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. Classes will be taken with the rest of your House. You will sleep in your House dormitory and your free time will be spent in your House common room. The four Houses of Hogwarts are; Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin."

Here she paused for a moment. "Each House has its own noble history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are here at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points and any rule breaking will lose them. At the end of the year, the House with the most points will be awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will become a great credit to whichever House becomes yours."

She looked over the assembled group of very young looking First years, and spotted Harry Potter standing next to what could only be the youngest Weasley boy, given his fiery red hair, and breathed a sigh of relief. The first part of Dumbledore's plan to separate the boy from the Halliwell woman had been done. Returning her attention to her welcoming speech, McGonagall continued. "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes, in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you smarten yourselves up." Her glance roamed over the assembled group stopping on Ron, Neville, and Harry among others. "I will be back for you when we are ready. Please wait here, quietly."

Harry looked around beginning to feel a little nervous. Headmaster Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall hadn't mentioned anything about a sorting when they were here in July. He couldn't help wondering what it involved. Since Ron had had five older bothers, who'd already gone through it, he asked, 'How exactly do they sort us into our Houses?'

"Some kind of test I think," Ron told him. "Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

Harry couldn't help wondering what kind of test it would be. Couldn't be a magical kind of test, because those from non-magical families wouldn't know that much magic, yet, unless they were like the Granger girl who it seemed had practically devoured her books. He could hear her going over all the spells she had learned and wondering which one she'd need.

Before he could worry about it too much, people behind him began to scream, making him jump about a foot in the air. Turning to find out what was causing them to scream, Harry caught sight of twenty, pearly white, slightly transparent people gliding across the room from the back wall. The ghostly people seemed to be arguing about someone.

One who looked like a fat little monk was saying, in a slightly hollow voice. "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance..."

"My dear Friar, we've given him any number of second chances. Peeves, gives us all a bad name and he's not really even a ghost..." the apparition that was wearing a ruff around his neck and tights suddenly noticed the first years. "I say, what are you doing here?"

Nobody said a word.

"New students," the friar exclaimed joyfully. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

That got some nods.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff," the Friar called. "My old house, you know."

"Move along now," Professor McGonagall's voice called out. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

One by one the ghosts floated away through the walls, as McGonagall ordered, "Form a line, single file."

The Great Hall looked more magnificent than when he had seen it with Grams. The ceiling was reflecting the night sky outside and it seemed to be lit by thousands of candles that were floating in mid-air. The rest of the students were sitting at the four tables that had been there in July, their House banners now clearly showing over the tables. There were gold plates on the tables in front of each student and across the front of the hall was the teacher's table. Professor McGonagall led them down the aisle to the teacher's table.

In front of the head table, there was a three-legged stool with a patched witches hat on it. Harry couldn't help wondering what kind of test would involve a patched old witches hat. It was a few moments before he realised that the Hall had gone silent and everyone was starring at the hat. The hat twitched and then a rip opened near the brim, like a mouth and the hat began to sing.

(Insert sorting song here)

The whole hall burst into applause when the hat finished its song and the hat bowed to the individual tables before becoming still again.

"I'm gonna kill Fred." Ron muttered. "He was going on and on about wrestling a troll and all we have to do is try on a ruddy hat."

Harry nodded feeling slightly relieved, though he did wonder how a hat was supposed to figure out which House you belonged to. Surely everyone had the qualities it mentioned as being desired by the Founders of those houses. How was it supposed to know which one was the right one?

Professor McGonagall pulled out a roll of parchment and said, "When I call your name you will come up here, put on the Hat and be Sorted into your House... Abbot, Hannah."

The first girl went to Hufflepuff and the Professor moved through the list. Soon each House had had at least one new member.

Finally she called, "Potter, Harry."

The whole hall went silent again, except for some whispers of:

"Potter, did she say?"

"The Harry Potter?"

Students stood up or craned their necks, trying to get a look at the boy-who-lived as he walked up to the Sorting Hat.

As soon as he was seated, McGonagall placed the Hat on his head and it was as though someone had dropped the Cone of Silence on his head. All sound in the Great Hall had vanished.

"Difficult," Harry heard a voice say in his head.

/Who are you?/ Harry thought back at the voice.

"I am the Sorting Hat." The voice told him. "It is my job to make sure you get placed into the right house, but you are going to be a difficult one to place."

/Why?/

"You have all the qualities the Founders desired for their students." The Hat's voice told him. "You are very loyal to your friends and family. A quality prized by both Godric and Helga, but while you are not afraid of hard work, you are much braver than the average Hufflepuff. You have a good mind, and would do well in Ravenclaw, however the desire of knowledge for knowledge's sake is not what drives you. You see knowledge as more of a means to an end. You also have plenty of courage which would earn you a place in Gryffindor and more than enough cunning to survive in Slytherin. Oh and what's this...? We haven't had a follower of the greenway in this school in a very long time."

/Please,/ Harry begged the Hat/don't tell anyone about that. My family's lives could be at stake if you do./

"Don't worry, I shan't tell anyone." The Hat was quick to reassure him. "Godric, my master, had a great respect for the old ways and was very sorry to see them disappear from the wizarding world. But we are not here to discuss History. We are here to Sort you, young Harry Potter."

/And where do I belong?/ Harry wondered.

"Strangely enough I'm evenly divided on you and that's a first. You are cunning enough, good at thinking fast in situations where there is no time for elaborate planning, and have a few other talents that would mark you as belonging to Slytherin, but your courage, loyalty and desire to protect your family and friends coupled with your desire to help others mark you as belonging to Gryffindor."

There was a few more moment's silence, before the Hat spoke again, "You should know that Dumbledore spoke with me earlier today. He wanted you placed in Gryffindor, no matter what. Ordinarily I would ignore his requests, but in your case, given that you have no real need to prove yourself thanks to your family's love and because you do have an exploitable weakness though no one knows about it yet, it must be..."

Everyone in the hall was beginning to wonder what was going on with Potter's Sorting. The Hat seemed to be taking an awful long time in Sorting the boy-who-lived.

Suddenly it shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

(AN: As some of you may have noticed, I used quite a bit of JKR's dialogue and some screens in this chapter, but some of them were moved around. I didn't mark them, but I wanted it noted, so I wasn't accused of plagiarizing.)