Chapter 9

It wasn't long before they were interrupted in their discussion of what they thought of Diagon Alley. A timid knock on the door to the compartment had Harry turning his head to look at who had knocked. He was really hopeful that he maybe he could make a few friends. Even Regulus had had friends and according to the man, Slytherins didn't have friends, just acquaintances that were more useful than others.

It was a boy he had seen on the platform standing with an intimidating witch with a hat that seemed to have a live vulture on it. The boy was round-faced with sandy hair and a little on the chubby side, though nothing like Dudley. He had an affable looking face that had a terribly nervous expression on it as he slid open the compartment door and asked hesitantly, "Do you mind if I sit here? I was s-sitting up front but the older students threw me out."

The boy's stutter seemed more from nervousness than one that was present all the time like Professor Quirrell's. He found the idea that the boy had traversed nearly half the train before getting a seat a bit hard to believe, but he simply said, "Sure. I'm Harry and this is Hermione. Need any help with your trunk?"

The boy smiled shyly as he entered the compartment, dragging his trunk behind him as he introduced himself, "I'm Neville. And I can manage my trunk. It's got a featherlight charm on it."

That interested Hermione and she asked curiously, "But isn't that terribly complicated? And unreliable? The shopkeeper told me that it would be very stupid to put it on a trunk."

Neville seemed discomfited as he had something of his called stupid, but then he ran an eye over Hermione's simple T-shirt and jeans and seemed to gain a bit of his confidence, low though it was, back.

He said, "That's because the charm only lasts for a few hours. If you get someone to do it for you just before the train ride, it's supposed to last for nearly six hours."

Hermione nodded as she said with satisfaction as she understood it. "So that's why the shopkeeper said that. He probably saw Professor Flitwick and realized that I was a Muggleborn and wouldn't have any adults who could do magic around."

Neville sat down next to Harry as he said, "Professor Flitwick's really famous. He was a Dueling Champion for years when he was younger and the laws weren't so strict."

"Was he very violent in his fights?" Harry asked curiously. Regulus had told him a bit about his new teachers but since the only ones he new were definitely still there were McGonagall and Dumbledore, Harry only knew about them.

Neville shook his head. "Oh, no. He was actually a very skilled dueler and almost never damaged anyone in any way. It was actually that the ministry passed a few laws and the British Clubs refused him entrance. He could have left Britain, I guess, but he already had a job at Hogwarts, and I guess he didn't think it mattered much."

Harry was coming to realize what Regulus had meant by telling him not to act like that. Neville appeared unsure about what he was saying by the several times he said 'I guess', and as the Boy Who Lived, and the heir of Houses Black, Potter and McKinnon, he needed to appear as if he actually knew what he was saying. He needed people to trust him, and for that he had to look trust-able. Neville only looked as if he need sympathy.

"What Laws?" Hermione asked curiously.

"The Half-Breed Laws," Neville said a bit more confidently. This seemed to be something that he was well versed about, "Those laws were passed in the 1970s by Madam Dolores Umbridge, the current Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Madam Umbridge is a staunch supporter for the preservation and improvement of Society, and is a firm believer in Blood Purity."

Neville sounded like he was reciting something he had rote-memorized. Harry asked, trying to keep the hope from his voice, "How do you know so much about politics?"

Neville blushed and mumbled, "It's nothing."

Hermione leaned forward as she said fervently, "It is something. You should never be ashamed that you know something. In fact, you ought to try to learn even more about it!"

Neville blushed even more and said shyly, "I'm the Heir of House Longbottom. My grandmother is handling things right now but I need to learn these things as I'm going to have to take our seat in the Wizengamot."

"I've got a couple of seats there too, though I can't do anything with them yet." Harry confided. In truth, he had more than just a couple of seats, but there was no reason to boast and give away something that could prove to be useful later, right. In fact, he wouldn't have said anything at all, except the ever-present voice in his head remarking , 'We could learn more about current events from him than we can from Regulus.'

Neville looked a bit sad as he said, "It's common these days. So many people died that there are multiple seats in one person's hands now."

Hermione interrupted then, sounding irritated that they were talking to each other and ignoring her. Then Harry heard what she said and realized it was actually because they were talking about something she didn't know. "What is the Wizengamot?"

Neville looked a bit surprised at that question but then nodded to himself as if confirming something as he answered, "It's our governing body. Even though the Ministry handles the day-to-day workings, the Wizengamot makes the laws as well as give judgement."

"So it's the legislative and the judiciary?" Hermione asked.

Neville nodded.

Harry asked him confidingly, "Would you mind helping me learn everything that people like us need to know? My father was a pureblood, but I grew up with my mother's Muggle relatives. Which means that there are so many things that I don't know, especially since I didn't know that I was a wizard till I got my Hogwarts letter."

Neville looked taken aback at that. Harry hoped he hadn't made a mistake. He had always been good at reading people, understanding what they were thinking simply by looking at them, something that was a necessity in the Dursley household, but he had never asked anyone for help before, especially since he didn't want to owe any favors to someone he didn't even know.

"W-why are you asking me that?" Neville asked in bewilderment.

Harry smiled sheepishly at the pudgy boy as he said, "Well, you're the first Heir I've met and you don't seem stuck up. Moreover, I might be new to this world but I've already found out about the prejudices. You don't seem to really care that I'm a half-blood, something I know that most others belonging to Pureblood families will."

Neville hurriedly reassured him, "I don't, honest! Not all of us Purebloods treat Muggles badly. In fact, only the really high up ones mind half-bloods."

"See?" Harry asked with a small smile. "You're nice."

Neville blushed, but said with a small smile of his own, "Sure. I'll help you."

After that, everything proceeded enjoyably. Hermione eagerly asked questions about the Wizarding world that apparently everyone knew, yet weren't present in any book, while Harry tried to prevent her from scaring off Neville.

Harry came to find out a lot about his two train companions. Hermione's parents were dentists, and they had their own house just outside London. Hermione was a very clever student and would have started eighth grade if she wasn't about to start Hogwarts.

Neville grew up with his grandmother. He didn't say what happened to his parents, just that they had been Aurors, and neither Harry nor Hermione pressed him on the topic. Instead, they found out that his whole family had thought that the boy was a squib for years, before one of his great-uncles accidentally dropped him out of a window and he bounced down.

Hermione asked in outrage at that point, "And what if you weren't? What if you didn't have magic? Does that mean that if you weren't a wizard, your family would rather you die?"

Neville stared at her with wide eyes, opening and closing his mouth rapidly without actually saying anything.

Harry himself thought it a horrible thing too, but he still said, though reluctantly, "Wizards, or even squibs, don't die when dropped off heights, unless they're really small. Our magic protects us from it. It's why we get sick less often too."

Neville jumped on this explanation, anything to explain away his family's actions. "Did you read about Quidditch? There are two balls, called bludgers, and they are made of iron and their sole duty is to go around trying to unseat players. Yet, it's rare that anyone gets permanent damage. No one's ever died at Hogwarts while playing the game, even though the Gryffindor and Slytherin games are supposed to be really violent.

"Why especially those games?" Hermione asked, diverted.

"There's this big rivalry between the houses," Neville told her. "Ever since Gryffindor kicked Slytherin out of the school because he didn't want Muggleborns to be taught at Hogwarts. Ever since, Slytherin has been the Pureblood house, though Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff have some too, and Gryffindor has been the house for Muggleborns, Muggle lovers and those Purebloods who really don't like the current society."

"So Slytherin's a no-no for me. Good thing that I already planned to go to either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw." Hermione answered confidently.

Neville looked at her a bit shyly before saying, "You seem like you really like books."

Hermione instantly stiffened a little, as if knowing something bad was going to happen. Neville continued, "I think you out to go to Ravenclaw. Gryffindors are often known as the house for the reckless or even the brainless. They really don't like studying."

Hermione blinked rapidly, staring at the boy, before her shoulders started relaxing. She finally commented, "I thought Gryffindor was the House for the Brave?"

Neville looked at Harry, as if confirming that he wouldn't take offense to what was going to be said next before saying softly, "Officially, Gryffindor's for the brave, Hufflepuff's for the loyal, Ravenclaw's for the clever, and Slytherin's for the ambitious. But in reality, it's often very different. Gryffindor's for those who don't think, like playing pranks, and break rules while making a lot of noise. Hufflepuff's for the losers, or those who don't go anywhere else. Ravenclaw's for the nerds and the book smart people who are horrible at anything practical and very unsocial. Slytherin is for the cruel and Dark Wizards and those who hate Muggles."

Harry frowned a little before voicing something that he hadn't dared to say in front of Regulus, "But aren't the first years divided almost equally in n every house? Surely that wouldn't be possible if simply being in a house means that you fit all its characteristics and don't show any of some other house? Moreover, how can anyone even know what someone is really like before knowing them for longer than the teachers probably know us? It doesn't make sense."

Neville shrugged.

Hermione said thoughtfully, "It's not written in Hogwarts a History how they sort is, just that it's something the Founders made so that the sorting would keep on happening even after they were dead."

Neville shrugged as he said morosely, "I'm bound to be in Hufflepuff."

"Because you're really loyal?" Hermione asked bracingly.

Neville shook his head as he said, "No, because I won't go anywhere else. I'm not brave, or clever or ambitious. In fact, the only thing I can do is tend to plants. My grandmother wants me to be in Gryffindor though."

"Well,who teaches Herbology? Is it the Head of any House?" Harry asked.

"Professor Sprout. She's head of Hufflepuff." Neville answered.

"Well, there you are!" Harry said. "She'll probably pay you more attention if you're in her house and are her responsibility. So really, you ought to be glad to be in Hufflepuff. You'll get to learn more about what you like best."

Neville looked decidedly more cheerful at this as he answered, "Yeah, you're right. She's already made three new types of plants, modified existing species and it's said that there is no plant that she can't make grow. It would be amazing to learn from her, especially if she's my head of house because I don't think the teachers usually have much interaction with first years otherwise. I could probably get extra classes with her and Hufflepuffs are supposed to be really friendly. My mother was one too."

He shut up at that, refusing to say anything more and his enthusiasm visibly deflated at the thought of his mother. Hermione asked hurriedly, sounding a bit panicked, "Hey, want to play cards? I brought a deck."

They spent the next hour playing cards, till there was a knock on their compartment door, which Neville had closed on finding out Harry was Harry Potter, saying that there was no need to let everyone gawk at him. A woman called, "Anything from the snack trolley dears?"

Hermione looked at them both and when both the boys shook their heads, she called out, "No, thank you!" politely.

They heard the woman move further down the train along with her trolley, an doors open as the other students bought things from her. Harry took out the sandwiches he had bought at the station and offered them to the others. Both his companions refused for the time being though, as they too had brought their own lunch. Soon enough, there was silence except the sound of three children hungrily munching on their food.

Neville paused eating to search his pockets for something. Harry didn't pay much attention to it, busy sharing some of his food with Hermione, who in return gave him some of her own spinach and cheese sandwich. He had never had people to share food with before, or even anything to share at all. This was a wonderful feeling, actually having friends.

"I can't find Trevor!" Neville said in panic.

Harry asked, looking at him askance, "Who's Trevor?"

"My toad!" Neville explained, looking worried. "Do you think he's gone out of the compartment? He's so small, someone could have stepped on and crushed him!"

Hermione put down the sandwich in the paper bag she had brought her own food in as she said reassuringly, taking charge. "Don't worry Neville. We'll find him we've kept the door locked for a long time, so he's probably still here, but if he isn't, I'll help you search for him. He can't have got off the train."

This only served to panic Neville further as he yelped, "What if he jumped off the train."

"We're on a magic train carrying eleven year olds to a school, from London to Scotland. I really doubt they leave the doors open." Harry told him.

Neville gulped in a deep breath before nodding shakily.

They searched the entire compartment, beneath the seats, behind the luggage, on the floor, on the seats, everywhere. Finally, Hermione said with a huff, "It's gotten out. We were probably too busy playing when it happened, or maybe even before that."

"I'll go look for him," Neville said, sounding scared at the very prospect.

Hermione took pity on him and said, "I'll come with you."

she turned towards Harry and said though, "You shouldn't come. If anyone catches sight of your scar, there will probably be a mob. There are story books featuring you. There are dolls of you."

Harry scowled but nodded. He didn't want to be on compartment arrest. He refused to acknowledge that he was sulking as the other two left the compartment. He bit into the piece of sandwich he'd gotten from Hermione, he'd thought that it would taste bad, especially after Hermione said about er parents' proclivity for healthy eating, but surprisingly enough, it actually tasted good.

He finished the sandwich, then ate on from the stock of magical sandwiches he'd bought, then burped. His stomach felt uncomfortably full and he was getting bored. Hermione was acting as if people would treat him like one of the movie actors or something. Even Neville seemed to agree. It was horrible. He finally got up and changed into his school robes, unable to find anything else that he could do that would get rid of this boredom.

Finally, he took out Magical Herbs and Fungi from his trunk and started reading it from where he'd left off. Potions, Regulus had told him, was a very dangerous subject. You either did it well, or you blew something up. Older students, at least those with brains, used spells to make brewing much less dangerous, but at his age, harry wouldn't be able to do anything like that.

Which meant that he'd have to read and memorize the reaction table, the neutralization table, the substitution table, the side notes that told how to recognize whether the ingredients were in the correct state, the preparation table, the colour table and what not. It also meant that he had to memorise even the textbook meant for Herbology, because the two were intrinsically linked, especially since most plants were used for potions.

It was enough to put one off potions permanently. Except it was the one part of magic that he could do in the Muggle World without getting in trouble with the ministry.

He was trying to memorize the different names for the same plant that somehow implied different parts of the plant without nodding off when Hermione and Neville finally returned. By the look on Neville's face, Harry knew that they hadn't found the toad.

"So you couldn't find him?" Harry asked hesitantly.

Hermione shook her head in irritation, saying, "No, but we definitely found a bunch of first years who should be turned into toads."

"We met Draco Malfoy and his cronies and Ron Weasley." Neville explained.

"What happened?" Harry asked curiously, gladly closing his book. He'd almost decided to take a nap, sitting there all by himself.

"Ronald Weasley in an insensitive prat who speaks while eating and spits food on everywhere. Can you imagine, I asked him whether he'd seen a toad and he said that if he'd brought one, he'd get rid of it as soon as possible? This considering the fact that he brought a rat with himself?" Hermione said, making a face full of disgust.

"I thought you could only bring an owl, cat or toad?" Harry asked in confusion.

Neville sat down on the seat and explained, "It's one of those things you need to know if you're in the Wizarding world. The Weasleys are really close to Headmaster Dumbledore. They probably got special permission."

Hermione looked extremely put out as she said, "Then they should have written, 'Contact the school authorities for permission to bring other pets'. Not simply write that we can only choose between three animals. It's not fair."

Neville said slowly, as if fearing a rebuke, "They're poor but still purebloods. Rules are different for us."

Indeed, Hermione looked ready to burst at that when Harry intervened and asked, "What about Draco Malfoy? What did he do?"

Neville shrugged, "He's always been that way."

Hermione explained this time, "He behaved really rudely. Said that Neville was already a shame to the Longbottom name and he ought to be glad that he had missed a chance to do even more damage to the already damaged reputation of the family. Which, if you ask me," Hermione said, looking at Neville as she continued.

"is a lot of rubbish since he's the one who goes around with a couple of bodyguards with him, as if he can't even defend himself from a few insults. And did you see who he was with? He looks like a ferret, the girl fawning over him like a pug, the boy sitting in the corner like a rat and those two giants look like gorillas. At least you don't have your own menagerie that you have to bring to school to protect yourself, he's such a coward."

Neville smiled shakily but warned her, "Don't speak like that to anyone else, okay? You could get into really bad legal trouble if the wrong person heard you."

Hermione nodded, looking a bit shamefaced, but not really sorry about what she'd said, considering that Neville had lost that downtrodden expression. Moreover, as Harry found out, Malfoy had sneered at her and insulted her when he found out she was a Muggleborn. They were really getting into the stupidity of believing in Blood Purity when Neville caught sight of Harry's new attire and said with wide eyes, "I totally forgot about the robes!"

He jumped to get his trunk down from the overhead luggage counter and dragged out a black robe. He looked at Hermione pleadingly. She stared at him uncomprehendingly before making a small O with her mouth and saying, "I'll just wait outside, shall I?"

As soon as Hermione was out of the room, Neville undid the green robes he was wearing and put on the black ones. Harry raised his eyebrows and asked in amusement, "You could have done that in front of her too." The boy was wearing a shirt, a waistcoat over it, and leggings as well.

Neville looked scandalized as he said, "You don't ever change clothes in front of a female! Her family could challenge you to a duel if she's sufficiently annoyed."

Harry looked at Neville in consternation. Oh dear, were there many rules like that? Somehow, Regulus always forgot to say the smallest things.

It could be, that he thinks that we already know this. His mental voice replied.

You're probably right. He must think that we still behave like that. The Wizarding world,' Harry replied back, trying not to think that he was, essentially, talking to himself, 'still looks stuck in the eighteenth century. Or maybe even the fifteenth one, considering they didn't seem to have gone through their Renaissance yet. It was during the fifteenth century, right?'

'If you don't know, what makes you think I do?' was the curt response.

"Harry?" Neville's tentative voice broke through his thoughts. Harry looked up to see the boy watching him with a worried look on his face. "It's all right," Neville said reassuringly. "I'll tell you all about these unspoken rules too, if you want."

Harry stopped himself from flushing as he said, "Thanks, that would be good."

Neville simply nodded with a pleased look on his face, before opening the compartment door again so that Hermione could come in.

It wasn't long after that that they heard a voice echo through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Harry's stomach lurched with nerves. The pale faces of the other two reflected their own state of anxiousness.

Neville said in a troubled voice, "I heard from my family that we're going to be sorted first. What if we fail the sorting though? What if it's a test? I know nothing about anything but plants!"

"I only know about the last two decades or so, even that through newspapers. And the Jelly-Fingers Jinx, but I don't think they're going to ask me that." Harry said nervously. Why, oh why, had Regulus refused to tell him how they were sorted. Students lived in House Dormitories, ate at House tables, attended classes with their Housemates, even had their Head of House as guardians for children whose nearest relatives were Muggles, and he didn't even know how he'd be sorted?

Hermione chewed her lower lip before suggesting, "I could go over the few charms I have learnt while we get to the castle, if you want."

Both the boys nodded gratefully.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the while a deep voice called out, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

The three first years moved towards that light. Harry had expected that the lamp was floating in air or something, it was held so high, but as they got close enough to actually be able to discern more than a few feet in front of them, he realised that he was wrong. It was being held by a man so big, that he could conceivably pass as a giant. Or maybe not, since he didn't look to be twenty feet tall or something, but still. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.

"C'mon, follow me - any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" the man asked one last time before turning and moving away.

Slipping and stumbling, they followed the man down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville sniffed once or twice.

"I'm Hagrid, the groundskeeper. Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black take. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

Neville politely helped Hermione climb into one before following her. Harry climbed in after them both and then a red-haired boy followed them into the boy. By Hermione's pursed lips, it was obvious that she didn't like the boy. The boy turned and smiled a little at Harry as he introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Ron Weasley. And you are?"

"Harry," Harry said with a small nod. He didn't want to act too friendly with the boy who both his friends disliked. Before they could say anything more Hagrid shouted, "Everyone in?" He had a boat to himself.

"Right then - FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. The boat moved quite smoothly, not at all like he would have expected it to. Maybe it was because they were on a lake? Or maybe magic was involved, which seemed like the most likely option. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, Oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Neville blushed a little at having so much attention brought to his misfortune but nodded. Hagrid didn't wait for a reply, instead raising a gigantic fist and knocking three times on the castle door.

A/N: Thank you, all those who sent suggestions for houses. They helped a lot, though I'm afraid Harry's sorting is probably going to disappoint a lot of people. but it will be explained in the really long talk between Harry and the sorting hat, which is the reason why it isn't included in this chapter. that would have made the chapter length around 7000 words or so.

Thank you delenda est c , Riniko22, vsama , MaiWishes, Glorilian , TheMagneticWitch, 64teeth, Anaelyssa, charm13insomnia , aspygirlredo, Stormshadow13 , Claws, 01asdf, LoveTess , KK. for your kind reviews. The next chapter ought to be out sooner as I already have 1000 words written.

On a happy note, ACIL has made a 100 reviews! Fingers crossed for many reviews. please?

I'm looking for a few fanfics, if anyone has read them, could you please tell me the name of the story?

1) Lily leaves Harry with Snape before going in hiding with James, where they're killed. Snape raises Harry, snape/Voldemort pairing. the Grangers are snape's friends. remus takes harry into hiding at fenrir's when voldemort finds out who harry really is, but finally doesn't kill him. there's a sequel too.

2)Harry, Ginny travel back to Harry's 5th year with assorted kids. Voldemort turns Lily Potter's corpse into a horcrux. having the deathly hallows evidently turns Harry senior a bit wacko. harry and Ginny teach at Hogwarts and Harry Sr teaches Harry Jr occlumency. there were about 30 or so chapters. ginny doesn't like Dumbledore. alternate timeline created. almost all the ravenclaws find out that Harry, Ginny, etc are from the future. ginny and Harry jrs start getting into a relationship. so do ron and hermione. umbridge gets kicked out of hogwarts.