Chp 10

1st September 1994

Hogwarts

"C'mon guys, we're lagging behind." Ron complained. Holding his belongings, he had bounced off the train and was already heading for the carriages.

"Says the one who took so long to fix his tie," Ginny muttered under her breath. The rest of the group chuckled as the heard it. The group followed the excited redhead to the carriages, watching as the first years broke off from the large horde of students, following behind Hagrid.

They broke into two groups: Harry, Ron and Neville in one and Luna, Ginny and Hermione in the other. After hoisting their things on to their respective carriages, they hopped on board and got ready.

The carriages rocked slightly before lifting off, high into the air. Harry swore he heard a neigh, multiple neighs in fact. But when he had brought it up to Neville and Ron, they looked at him like he was crazy.

Harry had looked around outside the window, trying to find the source but eventually gave up. There was literally nothing in the open air beside them except for other carriages.

Great Hall

The Great Hall looked as magnificent as ever, Harry couldn't suppress the wonder and astonishment everytime he set foot in it. The ceiling was still the same stunning sky, and the floating candles seemed to light up a path to the familiar Gryffindor table, guiding the group along.

Harry and his friends, with the exception of Ginny, sat together in the middle of the long table. Ginny had chosen to sit with her own yearmates and was animatedly chatting with them. Harry received a few waves from his housemates as they moved to sit next to the group. They recounted their summers as everyone waited for the new first years to start filing in.

A hush fell over the entire hall when Professor McGonagall escorted the line of first years in, Harry smiled as he took in their expressions. The muggleborns were definitely extremely mystified by the ceiling and the purebloods still tried to hide the wonder at being here behind their proper, cold masks.

He remembered how he had bore the same expressions many years ago. Hogwarts just had that atmosphere that pulled you in, no matter who you were, pureblood or not. They settled down in a side of the Great Hall, and Professor Dumbledore stood up to greet them. Seated at the teachers' table were fresh and familiar faces, Snape as usual was scowling at the masses.

But beside him sat a man that Harry was largely unfamiliar with, shaggy hair and the creepiest fake eye he had ever seen. Sure, he hadn't seen many fake eyes before but the way this one rested outside the man's eye socket was absolutely creepy. His gaze was a mix between a glare and an appraisal of the student body.

Just then, the man seemed to look straight at him, and their eyes made contact. The man sent him a terrifying grin and Harry snapped his head in the other direction so fast he worried for the state of his neck bones. Dumbledore continued, not noticing any of this.

"Welcome, students old and new, to Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where a brand new year of learning awaits all of you." The students' applause thundered through the hall. Dumbledore waited for it to die down before continuing.

"The four Hogwarts houses of Brave Gryffindor, Cunning Slytherin, Wise Ravenclaw and Loyal Hufflepuff welcome all new additions. With that said, let the Sorting begin." The Sorting Hat was placed on a stool and it then burst out into song.

The entire Hall watched as first year after first year walked up to the stool, cheering as another was welcomed into their own house. After all of them were sorted, Dumbledore stood up yet again.

"This year, there will be a few new changes. Firstly, let us welcome our new DADA Professor, that's short for Defence Against The Dark Arts," he explained for the many clueless first years, "Famous Auror and my own good friend of many years, Alastor Moody."

The man with the fake eye rose from his seat and bowed, he jerked his head up and gave the entire student body one hard glare before sitting back down. Dumbledore cleared his throat and dispelled the lingering awkwardness.

"Thank you, Alastor. Ahem. Secondly, our school has been given the honor of hosting the very first Tri Wizard Tournament in a very, very long time. Champions of three magical schools, Durmstrang from Bulgaria, Beauxbaxtons from France, and of course, our very own Hogwarts will go through trials and face dreadful challenges all for the grand prize of 1000 Galleons and eternal glory."

At this point, the students were all extremely excited, buzzing with each other enthusiastically. Dumbledore smiled as he took in the sight.

" I assure you it is going to be quite the exciting year. Now, I present to you the wonderful feast made by our very own elves of Hogwarts. Do enjoy." He waved his hand and the smell of freshly cooked food instantly filled the air of the Great Hall as dish after dish, course after course of food appeared out of nowhere.

The students tucked in and savored the taste. Truly, there was nothing better than this. Harry ate to his heart's fill, the food was simply amazing.

Gryffindor Tower

After the feast, the students headed towards their dorms. The first years followed after their respective House Prefects while the rest of them followed the crowd. Their own Prefect whispered the password around and the password was soon spread around.

After having the password crudely whispered into his ear, Harry entered the already open door and was met with the familiar Gryffindor Common Room. The fireplace, the banners and the couches were all as he had remembered, the portraits welcomed him in and Harry obliged.

He passed through the Common Room and headed for the Dormitory. His roommates followed behind him while they excitedly bantered. Hermione had split off along the way, going to her own room.

Swinging open their room door, they rushed in. Harry dumped his things on the ground and flopped onto the bed with a thud. He rolled around in the soft fabric and watched Neville unpack his things and Ron, Dean and Seamus engage in a rather violent pillow fight.

He too followed Neville's example and started unpacking and organising his things, after joining in on the pillow warfare, of course.

Ron, Dean and Seamus eagerly welcomed him with blows to the face. Harry retaliated with strikes of his own. The boys laughed as it all went down.

Neville sighed as he watched his roommates destroy their room.

The setting sun caused them to declare a truce and call off the pillow war. Thoroughly tired out, they calmed down and went to change into their night clothes.

"Tired now?" Neville told Harry as he handed him a glass of water.

"You wish." Harry flashed him a cheeky grin while accepting the glass. Neville shook his head and went to help out the others, who were most definitely exhausted.

Neville cast a Tempus charm and let out something resembling a squawk when he saw that it was already a quarter to midnight. He scrambled to pack his things for tomorrow, Dean and Seamus looked on, amused.

"You guys should stop laughing and get your things ready too!"

"Nah… we're getting up extra early tomorrow. Should be enough time." The two of them lazed on their beds with matching grins, Neville retorted with a resigned huff and got back to packing.

Harry went over to help him out while Ron declared lights out in 5 minutes after letting out yawns in quick succession. He shuffled around in his night clothes while he got the bed ready.

Neville thanked Harry for his help before getting comfortable under his blankets. The black-haired boy nodded and hopped into his own bed.

"Good night guys."

"G'night, " They replied in unison. Just then, his bangle hummed twice against his skin.

Harry softly laughed and whispered to it, "Good night to you too."

He smiled and was unable to keep the excitement for tomorrow in his heart from bubbling over, causing him to fall asleep with a goofy grin on his face.

The warm heat from the heater in the middle of the room radiated throughout the night, protecting them all from the cold chilly outside air.

2nd September 1994

The morning started off with both Dean and Seamus floundering around for their books. The schedules hadn't come in yet but they were still trying to shove every different type of textbook into their book bags.

Harry and Ron awoke to Neville smirking sleepily at the two. The boy appeared to be half awake, with his body resting against the headboard.

"Nothing is to come out of you!" Dean pointed at Neville, who only nodded and went to go change.

Harry and Ron followed suit and soon enough they were more or less freshened up. Dean and Seamus managed to get everything together in time, and all of them quickly made their way down to the Hall.

They met up with Hermione on the way there. The fuzzy haired girl greeted them while burying her head nose-deep into a book. She allowed Ron to guide her as she followed the group to the Hall.

They sat down and got started on breakfast. The standard flurry of owls flew in and dropped off the morning mail, letters and whatnot. Harry slurped up his soup, which was absolutely delectable by the way, and watched as the Daily Prophet came raining down.

His own copy came crashing down and he caught sight of the breaking news on the first page.

'Dark Mark At Quidditch World Cup. Minister Fudge Says, "No worry."'

A multitude of students gasped in shock and horror, a large amount of murmuring started amongst the student body. Harry remembered all too clearly the sickly green insignia that lighted up the sky. His scar seemed to burn just at the thought of it.

Just then, a familiar white feather drifted in front of him. Any dread or fear he felt was instantly dispelled as Harry put the newspaper down and looked up in excitement.

Hedwig gazed back at him as she flapped her wings to stay in the air. She definitely looked tired out but somehow still maintained her regal disposure.

"Hedwig!" Harry grabbed the meatiest sausage he had off his plate and tossed it into the air. The owl swooped down and snapped it up, dropping an envelope.

Harry gave her a quick embrace and reached over to pet Hedwig. He ran his fingers through her feathers. She hooted in bliss and nuzzled her head against his hand.

"You must be tired from all that flying, why don't you go rest some and I'll bring you a fat mouse later?"

Hedwig nodded and flew off, headed for the Owlery. Harry picked up the envelope and place it into his book bag, he would look at it later. He guessed that his friends assumed it was from Sirius, and had chosen to give him privacy.

Harry decided to read it later, but he had caught sight of the neat words handwritten on the front:

To: Harry

From: Sally and Perseus

He couldn't wait to read it.

The day went by relatively fast, with teachers giving rough introductions to the new syllabus. The envelope was burning a hole in his pocket throughout the entire day, just begging to be read.

The first period had been History of Magic, and Harry had been right about History of Magic. Professor Binns' class was just as excruciating as always. Even though he had gotten a good amount of sleep last night, he still was unable to keep himself from dozing off.

The monotonic speech Professor Binns was making finally ended with him promising more in depth descriptions of Goblin eating habits. Harry was glad it was over but also dreaded the next lesson at the same time.

Break went by quite fast and the next period went by in a flash. Before he realised it, he was already seated at the table for lunch. Hermione was making notes on her book while Ron and Harry mentally prepped themselves for the upcoming Potions with the Slytherins.

He had enjoyed his short-lived Malfoy-free time,

the blond boy was strangely… detached to his Hogwarts life so far. Usually, or according to past experiences, he would have already been in his face with an insult or snarky comment.

Well, Harry was not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Potions had came and gone by, Snape gave him and Ron a look that promised detention, but he and Ron had managed to make a barely, just barely, acceptable potion.

Malfoy just had to rub it in as well, but that was the norm for the blond pureblood.

Dinner at Hogwarts was an amazing thing as usual, Harry ate to his heart's content. Ron was sharing on how excited he was for Quidditch, and Harry agreed with him. He had wanted to continue the conversation, but just as he saw a rat run past the large doors, and a desperate house elf chasing after it, he realised Hedwig was probably still waiting on that mouse.

"Well guys, I've got to head off first. I promised Hedwig a mouse and she gets really grumpy when she's hungry." The table laughed as Harry got out of his seat. He waved to them and left the Hall.

Harry made his way to Gryffindor Tower, his hand in his book bag fiddling with the corner of Sally's letter. He entered his room and went to his bed. Leaning back, he pulled out the envelope.

The paper wasn't the musty yellow parchment he was used to obviously. It was fresh, white, slightly crinkled printer paper that held the letter. Harry had to commend Sally's skill with a quill, it was like she was the one who had been writing with one for 4 years.

Harry opened the envelope and pulled the letter out. He unfolded it nervously. Would Sally think he was a freak? Did she want to stay in touch? Harry started reading:

Dear Harry,

Thank you for your letter. I was surprised to find a white owl right outside my window, but she seemed quite friendly. Trust me, I've seen weirder. I think she likes children, Percy surely enjoyed playing with her.

Thank you very much for the bracelet and the ring, they are very beautiful. Although, you really didn't have to send us gifts but we will definitely treasure them anyway.

I'm quite shocked that you'd assume I wouldn't want to contact you. Rest assured, your letters are very much welcome. It's like having a pen pal, I used to have one when I was younger. Feel free to talk about anything. I'll even start, how is school? You're in 9th grade right? You can choose not to answer if it gets too personal, but I do hope you'll tell me something about you. All I know about you is that you really like my tea.

Sincerely,

Sally

Harry finished the letter and let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't freaked out and didn't demand he never contact her again. That was a good start in Harry's book. Harry slumped down against the headboard, smiling widely. He quickly pushed himself off the bed and grabbed his ink and quill.

He couldn't really tell Sally about Hogwarts, the Statute of Secrecy did exist after all. Harry thought for awhile before enthusiastically writing on the parchment. He managed to end up with lesser ink splotches this time.

Harry happily sealed the letter with a wax seal. The red liquid hardened into a sloppy round flower, his initials in the center of it all.

Before he left the room though, he went to his trunk and pulled out a box of owl treats and mice. He carried it with him and exited the room, heading for the Owlery with a spring in his step.

The students were still mostly in the Great Hall, so the corridors were still quite empty, save for a few others.

Harry walked into the Owlery, the scent of owl droppings and sawdust hit his nose instantly. Those two scents should never have been mixed, he thought as he tried to keep his dinner in his stomach.

Ignoring it, or trying to, he searched for Hedwig. Not that it was hard for she stood out amongst the sea of brown and black owls. She swooped downwards and landed on a perch next to him.

"I told you that you'd be getting a mouse." He opened the box and tossed the fattest one he could find up. As she chewed, he poured a few owl treats into a small dish.

He could see some other owls looking at it eagerly, but Hedwig turned back to glare at them before continuing with her meal.

"Sorry girl, but I have to send you out again. I've got another letter for Sally. She says that Perseus likes you, did you play with him?"

Hedwig cooed, and Harry chuckled. It seemed that she had enjoyed it too. He took the letter and waited for Hedwig to finish eating. He placed it within her beak and watched as she prepared to take off.

Harry gazed as her white figure disappeared into the horizon, he sighed and left the Owlery. Sniffing his robes slightly, he wrinkled his nose. He definitely needed a bath, urgently.

Harry paused and ran his hands all over his robes, searching for any sign of owl droppings. Just in case.

4th September 1994

DADA Clasroom

Today,was a day that Harry was hyped about. The first DADA lesson of the curriculum. He practically bounded into the classroom after lunch, buzzing with excitement.

Although the new professor was… interesting, Professor Dumbledore had vouched for him being a close friend of his. On top of that, he was a famed Auror. Many of his classmates had expressed eagerness for him to be teaching, Harry reckoned that he was quite well-known.

Having Remus as last year's teacher really raised the bar, he had proved to be more efficient than any other teacher before him. He had taught them many protective spells and offensive curses, educated them on magical creatures and how to deal with them.

Needless to say, Harry had high expectations. He hoped that this teacher would be of the same standard.

Once everyone was seated, Professor Moody walked into the class. He gruffly introduced himself to the students, his glass eye spinning wildly. Harry got the impression that he really didn't want to be here.

"Alastor Moody. Ex-Auror. And your new Defence Against The Dark Arts Teacher. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me to."

He gave the whole class a hard look to make sure he had everyone's attention before continuing.

"Now when it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a more practical approach. But first can anyone tell me how many Unforgivable Curses there are? "

The entire class quietened down in an instant, this was a taboo subject. Not a single person raised their hand to answer, probably preparing for what they thought Moody was about to do.

Hermione, being the godsend that she was, broke the tension with a soft answer.

"Three, sir."

"Good. And why are they called the Unforgivables?"

Hermione opened her mouth to answer but apparently it was a rhetorical question as Professor Moody turned to the blackboard behind him and grabbed the chalk.

"Because the use of any one of them is a one-ticket to Az-ka-ban." He enunciated every syllable of the name as the chalk harshly scratched words on the blackboard.

"The Ministry says you are too young to see what these curses do. I say different. You need to know what you're up against! You need to be prepared!" His voice thundered loudly through the quiet room before shifting into a low, dangerous tone.

"Now, which curse shall we see first?"

"Well?!" He shouted in response to the fearful silence.

Everyone in that room, aside from Moody, gulped rather audibly. Their teacher was glaring at the entire class, their prior excitement had already been converted into anxiety and fear.

The class left the classroom enlightened and traumatised.

Harry just needed to shut his eyes and he could see the enlarged spider tap dancing and spinning to an invisible tune, with Professor Moody pulling its strings.

The class had had a laugh when the spider hopped and twirled about the room, but reverted to the original silent, terrified state when Professor Moody went on to state and demonstrate the darker aspects of the curse. No other teacher would have been able to shut a class up so quickly.

The spider had willingly thrown itself into a bucket of water and propelled itself into a solid glass window. It would have been instant death had Professor Moody not stopped it. Imagining what the Imperius Curse could do to a fellow human, Harry shivered.

As if the poor spider had not suffered enough, the Professor then cast the Cruciatus on it. He stood there, explaining the effects painfully slowly while the spider let out screeches and cries. The way it curled up on itself, each of its long limbs paralysed in the air with pain was imprinted in his head.

The professor only cancelled the spell when Neville started hyperventilating due to the sight of the same curse that had taken his parents from him. They had all called out for the professor to cancel the spell. Harry took notice of the glimmer of unwillingness in his eye.

Finally, he picked up the still twitching spider and explained the very last curse. He placed it on Harry's table, looking him dead in the eye.

"There is only one person who has survived this curse, and he's sitting in this room right now." He had said, lifting his wand with the incantation on his tongue.

This was when things started getting weird for Harry. The moment Professor Moody let loose the Killing Curse, Harry felt a pulling in his chest, a strong one.

He tried to recall the feeling as he walked to the Great Hall. It felt oh so familiar, like a part of him. He felt strangely comfortable as it was released. Harry felt acquainted with the feeling, like he was meeting an old friend. The spider had let out its last breath then, dropping down lifelessly onto the desk.

Just then, the bell had rung and the tense atmosphere in the classroom melted away. Professor Moody walked back to his desk while dismissing the class. Harry had stared at the corpse on his desk while he packed his things.

"Don't mind that, I'll clean it up later. Off you go now." Professor Moody told him as he wrote down the information for the next class on the backboard.

After Harry reached over to pack his quill and ink bottle, he couldn't help looking at the corpse again. Its life had been extinguished, just like that. A surge of pity rushed through his heart, and before he knew it, Harry was placing a hand on the cold body.

"Rest in peace." He muttered.

Looking up, Harry saw his friends waiting for him at the door. He grabbed his book bag and walked out. When he rejoined the group and they bid Professor Moody farewell, a silvery smoke coming from the corpse caught Harry's eye. It dissipated in no time, leaving no trace at all. However, Harry could have sworn that it had formed the shape of the spider, and that it had given him a small bow before fading away.

Harry had nodded his head in response, thoroughly puzzled. Professor Moody stared at him, cocking an eyebrow as he organised his lesson materials.

Harry instinctively moved his hand to trace over Phoenix, calming him down, letting him process what had just happened.

Did Professor Moody do that? Harry had seen potion fumes do some weird things before, trust him on that one, and Professor Moody had been sipping a flask of something throughout the lesson. Harry remembered the puffs of smoke that rose from it whenever the professor opened it.

Hmm...something was definitely up. Harry resolved to be more wary of his newest teacher.

Hiya everyone! Now that the location has been shifted to Hogwarts, more and more of Harry's demigod side will be revealed. I've hinted so much at it, and we get to see some of it in this chapter. The smart cookies have probably already figured it out and I'll continue dropping hints, although it should be quite obvious.

Take note though, that I've decided for Harry to have a gradual discovery of his demigod nature.(his powers, his heritage, physical traits). It's not gonna be in an instant so yeah that side of the story might be slow. Remember, although Harry takes note of all these weird thing occurring, he doesn't know he's a demigod and being a demigod is not really something he'd suspect straight away.

And also, after mulling it over for a bit, I have decided to keep whatever that i have written in the previous chapters. Although I did redo some of the chapters, I realised that it would clash with what i have planned for the story. So I'm sorry if the plot holes might be annoying , but im sticking to my story. I'm a very wishy washy kind of person and i apologise for that.

As always, please review and constructive criticism is always welcome. :D