Chapter 11

Harry climbed off of the train and onto the busy station. He stood amidst a sea of all sorts of people, tall or short, skinny or large. They all wore the same black robes as Harry though some had colorful additions like green or red lining. The trunks apparently, were to be left in the station and transported magically to Hogwarts. He hoped it wouldn't get lost somewhere in between. He tended to have bad luck like that. At least Ed had Harry's name embroidered on. Same thing with all of his clothes, in case of losing them.

Everyone else in the station seemed to be taller than him, he thought, staring around the platform with wide eyes. He must have looked lost standing there because some older kid, another one of the redheads from the station, walked over to him, flashing a badge on the front of his robes proudly.

"Harry, was it?" The boy barely left any time for him to nod before continuing on bossily. "First years take the boats across. You'll need to go over there. Hurry now! You'll be late!"

Harry followed the direction the boy – Percy, some dormant part of his brain recalled – was pointing and he ran off with a muttered thanks.

He could see a large head bobbing above the crowd in the vague direction he was headed. He was reassured by the surrounding younger peoples around him as he got closer.

"First years!" the giant of a man called. He had straggly thick black hair that covered almost his entire face. His dark eyes stand out brightly, reminding Harry vaguely of Hedwig's black eyes. The man was massive. He was at least three or four feet taller than anybody else and Harry wondered how he had missed him before. He stood out especially in the crowd of First years, who looked miniature in comparison.

"Harry! Over here!"

The distinctive Irish accent identified Seamus immediately. Ron was waving at him, standing next to Seamus who still had his hands cupped from yelling.

Harry grinned broadly and went over to them. It seemed, inadvertently, he had made some friends.

"Hello."

"Nice to see ya. We were wondered where you went off too."

"I was helping Neville with his missing toad."

Ron rolled his eyes. "If I had a toad, I'd lose it as soon as I got here."

"Accidentally or on purpose?" Ron scrunched his nose like this thought had never occurred to him before.

"On purpose, of course! Toads are so boring, though I guess I can't complain; I brought my rat, Scabbers."

Harry wasn't really sure what the society's difference was between a toad and rat. Were owls unpopular too? He kind of doubted that; he had seen many different varieties of owls at the station. He was already very attached to Hedwig and wouldn't want to give her up for popularity's sake. Harry opened his mouth up to ask but was interrupted by the large man.

"First years! This way!" He called, his voice low but loud. He turned to lumber off in another direction, a crowd of people Harry's age following him, trying to keep up with his long stride.

"Who's that?" Harry asked Ron and Seamus as they hurried to catch up.

"Hagrid, I think his name is. Gamekeeper at Hogwarts." Seamus said, panting slightly.

They traveled a little ways to the lake Harry had seen before on the train. The older students had headed off in a different direction from the train station. He wondered how they got to Hogwarts and then how he was getting to Hogwarts. Perhaps they would have to swim the lake? Walk on water? Was that something wizards could do?

He was relieved when they came across a docking station and a plethora of tiny wooden boats. But no oars. Where were the oars?

"Four a boat!" The giant of a man growled cheerfully, an odd accent leaking into his voice.

"Mate, come on. Let's take this one!" Ron whispered, climbing into the nearest boat. Seamus followed soon after. They both had jumped into the boat, causing it to jerk up and down on the glass-like water, sending ripples in every direction. Harry opted to be just a bit more dignified and step onto the boat instead of possibly falling over into the water.

"Come on, Harry!" Seamus urged, impatient. "We don't want to get left behind!"

Harry ignored him and put his foot down on the edge of the boat. It seemed sturdy enough until he put his weight on it, realizing what a horrible idea it was seconds after he did it. The boat didn't flip over, though it probably would have if Ron and Seamus hadn't have gotten in first. Instead the boat was propelled away from the dock, making Harry have to stand with n foot on the dock and one foot on the edge of the boat. Not good.

"Harry!" Ron cried and reached a hand for him to grab. Harry shifted his weight to try and grasp his hand, but only succeeded in falling into the dark water.

(A/N: I was so tempted to end it right there)

The first thing Harry registered was that the water was freezing cold. Above him was a faint watery outline of his friends, their voices muffled by water.

The second thing was that there was something wrapped around his ankle. It was slimy and had suctioned cupped itself to his skin, with a vice-like grip. He tried to get a glimpse of what it was, but it was hard to see underwater and the stinging hurt his eyes. He kicked frantically at the mysterious creature, trying to both reach the surface and dislodge it.

He was running out of breath and panicking, started trying to scream underwater. That only caused the water to fill his mouth. He could feel it overtaking him and black spots appeared in his eyes.

All of a sudden, something gripped the back of his robes and dragged him onto the deck. There he lay, sobbing wet and gasping and coughing up lake water, trying to take in as much oxygen as possible. The air turned chilly and he shivered from the cold water, eyes centered on the man leaning over him.

"You okay?" He faintly recognized the low voice of the giant man who led them here. Hagrid, wasn't it? He also could hear the cries of Ron and Seamus in the background, echoing Hagrid.

Harry sputtered water for another minute before nodding and croaked, "Yes."

The man's eyes were peaked in concern and Harry shivered again in the cold air. "We'd best be getting you to da nurse's office. Wouldn't want you to catch a cold on yur first day."

"I'm fine." Harry insisted. He wanted to see the rest of the ceremony and the castle with his new friends.

Hagrid looked doubtfully down at him. "Let's get ya to the other side first and then see what ya say. Here." He rummaged through his many, many pockets in his overly large coat. "I know I had a towel somewhere." He muttered to himself.

"Really, I'm f –"

"Here it is!" Hagrid cried in triumph, throwing a ratty material roughly around his shoulders. "I was a-keeping that for 'mergencies like this."

The towel, though thin and dirty, warmed Harry instantly, shielding him from the cold. "Thank you." He said with real gratitude.

Hagrid looked embarrassed. "Yur welcome."

"Harry, are you alright?" Seamus called from the boat.

"I'm fine." He said, getting a little tired of repeating himself.

"Come on then." Hagrid said and before Harry could protest, he lifted him onto the boat. Harry sat down immediately, not wanting a repeat.

Hagrid gave him one last look and then wandered off to help someone else.

"Bloody hell, mate, you gave us quite a scare!" Ron said.

"Yeah, you didn't come up for like five minutes!"' Seamus joined in.

Harry glanced around him and lowered his voice. "There's something down there. It was pulling me down."

Ron, now looking completely frightened, glanced nervously over the edge of the rickety wooden rowboat. His face was so pale you could see each individual freckle. "What was it?"

"I didn't get a good look." Harry leaned down to examine his ankle, which still felt sore. A red circular mark marred his calf. "I think it was something with tentacles. Look." He showed them his foot.

"Does it hurt?" Seamus asked, awed as if looking at a battle scar.

"Not much." He tried to ring out his water-logged clothes. "I'll be fine."

"Um-" A voice said from behind them. They turned around to see Neville standing there.

"Do you-" Neville swallowed hard. "Do you think I could, um, join you boat? All the others are full."

"Sure." Harry said, and Neville clambered onto the boat without incident. He sat in the back with Harry.

"Why are you all wet?" He asked tentatively, noticing Harry's dripping appearance and the soaking hair still plastered to his head.

"Fell in." Harry said simply, not wanting to relate the experience a second time.

"Oh." Neville said, and shifted uncomfortably like he was trying to decide whether or not to ask about it. He must have decided against it, because he said nothing.

The rest of the boat trip was awkward silence. They were surprised when the rowboat started moving all by themselves and gripped the sides hurriedly. Ron looked like he was worried whatever was in the water would come after them. After a little while they realized this was just more magic as all the other boats were doing the same.

In front of them was Hogwarts. It was huge, dominating the skyline in front of them. There were several mossy stone turrets and towers. A dark forest acted as background to the castle. The lights inside gave a mysterious glow and the whole thing seemed… well, magical.

The old wooden rowboat jerked again, and Harry held on with a tight grip even after it stopped.

Harry could not have been more relieved to get off that boat.

A/N:

Doobie the Dubee- I'm actually going to focus on Harry at least the first two books. Ed is definitely going to have his own plot which will come more into play third year. It will start out with Harry, but Ed will come in too! Thanks for reviewing!

Forgot her password- you're right, that was a lot of questions. Its okay, though, I like questions. Someone might eventually call Ed short, though he is not as short as before if you notice in Chapter 3 I think I said that. As for you title idea, this story is going to be a collective of all the books, so I am going to name it The Life and Times of Harry A. Potter. Hope that's ok. For Ed's reaction to the philosopher's stone and Dumbledore, well, you'll just have to wait and see. (: I watched the tv show but I also read a lot of fanfiction dealing with other ones that I might have confused into the mix, plus I don't have cable so I'm still waiting for the last part of the tv series from Netflix. So its kind of a mix. Al is still in Amestris. Ed will have some sort of research subplot where he investigates magic, how he got here, and how to get back. That might not be til like the third book or something though, haven't decided yet. I like the original pairings, really, but I haven't decided anything besides Ed is not having a pairing, except the faint possibility of Edwin being talked about. Harry is still truly Harry so he will still be in Gryffindor. THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING! I HOPE YOU REMEMBER YOUR PASSWORD!

Breaniver- Yes, Ed has explained everything to Harry, even Alphonse. I also think Ed would like Harry to be very studious and pushes him very hard, though I think Harry isn't naturally a prodigy like Ed so there will definitely be differences. Though Harry is also naturally curious….hmmm. Thank You For The Review!

Crystal Blues – Well, the Weasleys were surprised in the original series, weren't they? I think that even if they knew Harry was coming this year, how would they know it was him? Even giving the similarity of names. The Harry Potter is almost on a pedestal in their world, like an otherworldly force. It's probably hard to imagine him as human. Plus he was shrouded in mystery his whole life, no one knows what he looks like or where he was. Make sense? THANKS FOR REVIEWING!

Zati Shal –Harry can only do very basic alchemy, because he doesn't have the necessary affinity for it. He also isn't a prodigy like Ed, and it would be difficult to learn at a young age. THANK YOU FOR REVIEWING!

THANK YOU ALL ESPECIALLY ANYONE ELSE WHO READS MY STORY AND REVIEWS!

PLEEEEASE REVIEW OR I WIL THROW WINRY'S WRENCH AT YOU! Just kidding. Or am I…?

-Dov5e