The days seemed to go both so slow and so fast at the same time to the young witch and wizard living under the Granger's roof, depending on what was happening.
When they were in bed, or when they were helping with chores or otherwise distracted with the mundanity of life, even when Harry practiced his telekinesis with Hermione helping (he was no longer restricted to a set time now that Hermione had a wand to use, though he knew his parents would prefer he tried not to become too reliant on it), even when Hedwig who was still adjusting to this new dynamic sometimes brought the oh so lovely gift of dead mice to their mother who promptly screamed, it seemed like the clocks were moving slower than a lazy snail.
However, at the same time, when they thought about how they'd have to leave their parents soon for the first time or had to adjust to some of the things they found out while reading their textbooks (Harry never needed to know the last recorded words his father had said had been 'I can't stay, my son needs me back home' as far as he was concerned, heart hurting), and most notably when they were trying to learn about magic, the time flew.
It was due to this, plus years of their parents instilling responsible hardworking and a desire for knowledge in their children, that both Granger siblings had taken to studying even more than either of them usually did. Harry was somewhat more relaxed than his sister but the idea of Hermione actually studying more than normal was almost terrifying in its own way. The only thing she really stopped studying for was her family when they needed her.
Both children had been aware of the wizarding world for so long but were locked outside from knowing anything. They'd picked up very little knowledge or understanding of the world of magic, much less than they'd like to, and there was barely a month until they'd be going to Hogwarts.
As such, they were desperate to get as much knowledge about it into their skulls as they possibly could. After seeing a blood purist for himself, and relaying the tale to his sister who had been disgusted, they'd both agreed on some subconscious level they never wanted there to be any doubt where they belonged.
Even if Harry was partially forgetting he wouldn't actually be that much of a worry in the eyes of blood purists, he was still raised by muggles. He didn't want people thinking for a second he wasn't good enough to be a wizard, not after how long he'd been waiting for this.
Hermione was clearly in the same mindset and so it would become that, when the two weren't already studying their butts off on every single class they hadn't even started yet (with particular attention paid to the ones that interested them most, that being Transfiguration and History of Magic for Hermione, Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts for Harry, and Charms for both of them), and when one wasn't studying they'd be ambushed by the other at any moment with a long held tradition the two had.
One week in, and Hermione had started by suddenly fixing Harry with a very intense look from the dining table. He'd frozen, half expecting her to go on a rant about the fact he had an odd habit of stealing ham from the fridge to eat raw which everyone else in the house found endlessly odd, but instead, she spoke up. "What's the wand lighting incantation?"
"Uh, Lumos?" Harry raised a brow. He didn't mean for it to come out as a question, he knew he was right, he just hadn't expected the sudden question. Hermione nodded imperceptibly before speaking again.
"What's the wand motion associated with Wingardium Leviosa?" She quizzed again and Harry quickly understood what was going on. Over the years, when the two knew a big test was coming up, in amongst their studying they'd surprise each other with random and very sudden pop quizzes, the idea being that if you could remember the information on the spot like that you'd be much more likely to remember it all when the test came around. For Hermione especially, Hogwarts probably was feeling like a big test, she'd be worrying about being tested on if she truly belonged there, so she'd want to bring her A-game.
Harry sat down and grinned, he wasn't going to get this question wrong, considering the personal link he had to it.
"A swish and a flick."
"The charm for unlocking locks?"
"Alohmora for most items not charmed against it, Aberto for doors specifically with mild defensive charms on them."
"What's the key factor that often causes trouble with spell casting?"
"Intent. People let their mind wander even slightly while trying to cast a spell, causing unforeseen results. A spell word isn't actually the cause of a spell but merely a disciplinary trigger you condition yourself with to think the right thoughts to perform the spell."
They went on like this for a good ten minutes until it closed up, with Hermione giving him an amused look. "You're still a weirdo for eating ham like that."
"Oi!"
A week later, it had been Harry's turn to ambush Hermione and he'd been sure to get his revenge for when she had called him out on the ham, by talking loudly behind her when she'd been peacefully reading up on spell crafting, confirming the same theories Harry had already gone over.
"What's the difference between Transfiguration and Charms on a fundamental level in relation to your magic?" He'd spoken firmly, doing his best to hide the smirk that threatened to appear on his face when Hermione jumped a mile in her skin and accidentally dropped the spellcasting book. She shot him a glare before speaking up.
"In charms, you cast your magic. You think of an effect and use conditioned motions to cause the effect you have in mind to happen." She said, a hint of smugness creeping into her tone when she saw her brother being disappointed the effect of the fright hadn't thrown her off her game. "In Transfiguration, you mould it instead of cast it. This is why it's usually more difficult for a student to handle simple Transfiguration classes than it is for simple Charms classes, as not only do you have to envision the effect but the whole process and imagine the change taking place without getting distracted in your mind."
"What's the difference between spells that affect humans taught in charms and spells taught in Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Harry quizzed, not to be thrown off by one good answer.
"How detrimental and dangerous said spells are to a person. In charms, you may learn a few more simple spells such as a cheering charm." Hermione repeated, sounding like a textbook given form. "In Defense Against the Dark Arts, you'll learn generally more combative and defensive spells, such as Flipendo, the knockback jinx or Protego, the shielding charm."
"Protego? Isn't that third and fourth year material?" Harry asked, before realizing he just gave away he'd been sneaking out some of the extra books Hermione bought to read himself. She gave him an amused look and nodded.
"Yes, it is, you thief." She said. Harry stuck his tongue out at her, making her giggle. "And if your next question is what's the incantation for a summoning charm, it's Accio."
Harry glared, annoyed she knew him well enough to guess exactly what he was about to ask.
And on and on it went, changing subjects randomly every day, until they were quizzing each other three times a day, changing subjects every time, constantly increasing the difficulty of the questions every time as well, sibling rivalry shining through.
The last one, before it was finally time for them to pack up and leave for Kings Cross Station, was a Potions quiz Hermione ambushed Harry with, right in the middle of him levitating their items into their trunks as one last bit of practice.
"What is Rabbiaserum?" Hermione's first question hadn't managed to make him jump. He'd been expecting it at any moment.
"The aggression potion," Harry answered immediately. "Anyone under its effects can't help but act aggressively for a few hours."
"How many hours?" Hermione inquired, leaning forward as if expecting to catch him out due to his vague answer.
"Between three and eight, depending on your blood type." The telekinetic smirked, enjoying the slight glower on his sister's face that she hadn't gotten him.
"What fruit is used in invisibility potions?" The bushy haired girl pressed on.
"Spiders." Harry met her eye, as he used a hand to float her books into her trunk.
"You've got to be more specific than that." Hermione pouted. "It's the Whitebanded Crab Spider because of their camouflaging abilities. You wouldn't get a lot of good marks for just saying spiders you know, most spiders don't share the same traits."
"Ah, there's my lovely nagging sister. It's been so long since I'd heard her voice," Harry said wistfully, rolling his eyes teasingly. Hermione glared at him and stuck out her tongue. "Alright, I'll be more thorough. Next question?"
"What is a Bezoar and where would you find it?"
"A core ingredient that cures most poisons and is found in the stomach of a goat," Harry began. "It's made of plant, hair or similar fibres that the animal couldn't digest, that end up forming a sort of stone. That a good enough answer for you, 'Mione?"
"It's better," She said, though her smirk betrayed her playfulness. "What colour is a standard aging potion supposed to be?"
"Green, specifically a dull green that's not quite dark."
"Difference between Monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"Uh… aren't they the same thing with different names?"
"Are you sure about that?" Hermione smirked, accidentally betraying her own cards. Harry smirked back.
"Yes." He said, resisting the urge to chuckle in triumph at the pout that came onto his sisters face. Sadly, Harry may have been good but he wasn't perfect and against Hermione he was rarely destined to win in games of knowledge in the long run.
"If you added the root of an asphodel after it was turned to powder to an infusion that used wormwood plants, what potion would you get from those ingredients?"
"I…" Harry blinked, trying hard to remember the properties of them for clues. He answered hesitantly "A drowsiness potion?"
"Not even close."
Harry scowled and couldn't wait until they were allowed to use their wands to jinx her for that smug look on her face.
Kings Cross Station had been packed when they'd arrived and the Grangers weren't even sure if it was packed with wizards and witches or if it was just a busy day in the muggle world as well. Either way, it made for decent enough cover, as there was enough going on that most didn't pay more than a few seconds of attention to the family that had two eleven-year-old children wheeling forward trolleys with massive trunks and owls on them, though Harold Granger probably would have enjoyed making up tall tales about the reason why if anyone asked.
Soon enough they reached the area between the pillars separate platforms nine and ten and Harry and Hermione watched their parents take out the bangles McGonagall had provided them, putting them on.
"Alright, Harry, it's probably best you go first, Sweetheart," Joan spoke up, leaning down and kissing him on the head. They weren't sure if their parents could follow with the amulets but they were hopeful they could. "Be safe about it."
"Yes, mom," Harry whined slightly, tinging pink at the show of affection before turning and taking a deep breath. He didn't run at it, he knew that would hardly do for keeping it a secret, plus he'd be much less likely to cause a scene if things went wrong, which when you were faced with a solid wall you had to walk into seemed like a good possibility.
He didn't let it stop him though continuing on all the way and reaching it, before feeling his trunk continue on, almost as though it was being pulled in instead of colliding with anything, followed by himself and a moment later he found himself on a new platform walking forward and looking around in amazement.
There was no doubt everyone around him now were witches and wizards, based on the cloaks, the fancy olden looking clothes, and the few in muggles clothes who really didn't know how to appear anything other than odd. (Harry could have sworn he saw a witch wearing a bedsheet as a cloak like it was normal, yet otherwise was in perfectly normal muggle clothing.)
Much like Diagon Alley, owls were swooping about everywhere and he could see cats weaving between the legs of everyone to find their owners all over the place. There was a giant scarlet train to his right waiting in a place with a nice green landscape behind it.
Footsteps behind him a moment later got him to turn and he saw his mother approaching him, followed by his sister and their father.
"Oh my, that's very odd." Joan blinked, shaking herself as she adjusted to the sensation.
"Tell me about it." Harold agreed, before looking around. "Alright, let's find you kids a compartment. Looks like everyone's loading up at the front so if you want an empty one it'd be around the back."
"The back's good for me," Harry spoke up and Hermione voiced her agreement, so they all headed to the tail end of the train, finding an open window.
"Alright, let's get your stuff up there." Harold set to work, picking up Hedwig's cage and putting the bird onto the train first, followed by a few of the smaller items they took with them such as a backpack for each kid that contained a few extra clothes and supplies they were only supposed to use if they ran out of stuff in their trunk.
Then finally it was time for said trunk and Harold bent down to pick up Harry's only to let out a massive grunt of exertion and have to stumble back. "Jeez harry… what did you put in there, a great white shark? How are you even pushing that?"
"It didn't seem that heavy to me," Harry said, though that was a partial lie. He'd been using his telekinesis periodically to shove the trolley forward.
"Well, it certainly is."
"Oi, you lot. Want some help?" A new voice spoke up and they all turned to see a tall red-headed wizard approaching. He had a lot of freckles and stood about a head and a half taller than Harry. He was clearly an upper year student. "Me and my brother take a lot of items up to the school every year, so we're used to dealing with heavy trunks."
"Oh, that's very sweet of you." Joan nodded her thanks and the boy jumped into action, grabbing one end as he looked over his shoulder to shout to someone.
"Fred! C'mere and help with this." He shouted and a moment later it was like a clone appeared of the teen, an identical twin appearing and at the sight immediately throwing in his own helping hand, grabbing a trunk that Harry helped with. "Always at least one first year who needs some help with their trunks."
Between the two male Grangers and the two redheads, the trunks were quickly stowed away, the Grangers thanking them profusely for their help. Just as they were moving away one of their eyes noticed Harry's forehead and their eyes widened.
"Wait you're—"
"Well, thank you very much for your help," Joan cut in, turning to her children. "I think you two had better board now if you want to get that empty compartment. I love you both, stay safe. Hermione, keep your brother out of trouble."
"Promise!"
"Hey, I'm not the troublemaker!" he pouted, only to be met with incredulous looks. "….I'm not always the troublemaker."
"That sounds more accurate." Harold laughed. "Be safe Harry, both of you be sure to write. I want to hear from both of you what it's like by the end of next month, alright?"
"Bye dad!"
"Love you!" Both kids called as they turned and climbed on, trying to meet their mother's eyes who was silently crying and trying not to let it show as she sent her kids off on their way.
A few moments later they found their compartment and opened up the door, sinking into their seats at opposite sides of each other. After settling in, Harry sighed and Hermione gave him a small but sympathetic smile.
"Someone was going to recognize you eventually." She sighed.
"Yeah, but it's going to be a lot weirder once they have a chance to actually do something about it." Harry voiced his thoughts, picking at a loose thread in the seat he found. "Hey, just one train journey until we finally get to see Hogwarts though."
Hermione opened her mouth but Harry cut her off before she could speak, smirking knowing what she was about to say.
"The cover of 'Hogwarts, A History' doesn't count." He smirked when she stuck her tongue out at him again. "Mind you, I wonder how much of that is accurate to how it is now. I mean it was written nearly two decades ago now so there probably is some incorrect information now in it, especially depending on if they had much information on it in the first place."
"Well, I think most of it should still hold true, the wizarding world does seem to value tradition to an almost detrimental degree at times, from what we've read." Hermione pointed out thoughtfully and so for a while the two siblings found themselves immersed in a conversation about what they were expecting versus what they might actually find.
Hermione had just been talking about how she suspected that if there was one thing the book got wrong it was that Salazar Slytherin's secret chamber probably wouldn't be the only secret place created by one of the founders, when the door had suddenly slid open.
Harry and Hermione looked up and Harry was pleasantly surprised to see it was Daphne Greengrass standing in the doorway. "Oh um… hello. I thought this compartment was empty, sorry. It's just there is a lot of noise and chaos going on upfront and I wanted to find a quieter spot."
"We're quiet." Harry smiled awkwardly, trying not to think about how their last meeting ended. "Plus if we're not quiet enough, I'm sure my sister would love to try a silencing charm. She's a bit of a show-off- Ow!"
Hermione kicked his leg under the table and glared at him with a pout. Daphne however had her eyes light up, walking in. "Your muggleborn sister?"
"Yeah, the one who knows how to leave a bruise." He glared back at her and she just shrugged before turning to the blonde. "Hermione, this is Daphne, I told you about her when we came back from Diagon Alley."
"Hermione Granger, pleased to meet you." She smiled. "You're Daphne Greengrass?"
"Yes, I am." Daphne nodded, gesturing to a seat beside Hermione. "Mind if I sit down?"
"Not at all." Hermione smiled standing up and letting her in. Once they were sat down, there was an awkward moment of silence as they tried to figure out how to continue before Daphne spoke up, looking at Harry.
"I just wanted to say, I'm really sorry you had to experience how my mother acts. She's very… old-fashioned." The blonde explained, wincing as she said this. Clearly, she was thinking of a different description than the one she gave. "I don't think the same at all, however, so please don't think of me like her."
"I remember." Harry assured, giving her a reassuring smile. "I remember more how excited you got over the muggle music on display than I do how your mother acted."
Daphne smiled at that. "Well, I can't help it. Like I said at the time, it's just so imaginative and creative, and it's really good at painting an artistic and metaphorical picture. Wizarding music is still nice but symbolic music is a lot rarer because there's far too many things that genuinely exist in the wizarding world that if they try to be metaphorical, most people get too caught up on the literal meanings."
"Really?" Hermione asked, turning her full attention to the girl as did Harry, both immensely interested. Daphne seemed slightly surprised at the genuine attention but smiled and nodded.
"Yeah! I mean a really popular wizarding song was one by Selina Bluebell, called 'Prettier than a Unicorn', which a lot of people seem to think was about a girl literally being prettier than a unicorn. Of course, then most people criticize it for describing the girl's flaws, most completely failing to miss the point of the song that the girl's soul and heart are what made her prettier than the unicorns."
"I doubt the artist was very happy about that misunderstanding," Harry said with a hum and Daphne let out a small giggle.
"She really wasn't. She explained the meaning over and over and at one concert someone tried to be all rude about the song only to get jinxed when the artist lost her patience. It was just a harmless leg locker jinx but it must have been funny to watch at the time." Daphne said, looking very amused, the mirth making her eyes light up as she laughed about it. "But it's precisely cause of that I prefer listening to muggle music. Not to mention even the less symbolic ones tend to have very fun melodies or beats. Heck, I don't think the wizarding world even knows what rock music is but I wish they did."
"Rock music?" Hermione blinked in shock. Daphne nodded, looking at her confused about her question. "Sorry, just didn't expect you to be into it. You look very much the furthest thing from someone into rock music."
"Oh, mother forces me to maintain an image." Daphne sighed. "Not that I mind too much in terms of this—" She gestured over her own body and looks. "—but still, it gets tiring and when it comes to other people…"
She bit her lip, stopping as though she wasn't sure she should be talking about this. Then, very suddenly, she shifted gears on the spot as if trying to find a different topic.
"So, you were both raised by muggles!" She declared, an excited glint in her eyes. "Tell me about that, please? I really want to know what it's like when you don't grow up in the wizarding world."
"Oh, well I suppose we can do that." Harry chuckled playfully. "If you tell us about growing up in the wizarding world in return."
"Deal!" Daphne grinned. "How about starting with entertainment? I hear muggles have something called a talonvision."
"Television." Hermione corrected with a giggle, and so they launched into explanations of each other's worlds, the differences between them, even the small ones. Like for example, how a teddy bear was merely inanimate in the muggle world and was just meant to be held, while in the wizarding world they almost always had an animation charm on them to make them act as though they're alive, if not very smart.
Harry and Hermione probably looked like they were discovering the greatest scientific discovery in the world for the first time ever when Daphne told them how wizards sometimes animated figures into life to act out scenes from books for entertainment or created illusions to watch, while Daphne looked similarly amazed as they explained television and how they could switch through channels at any moment, getting to see brand new shows without any idea what they were getting into at the time.
Of course, Daphne had sounded extra excited when they'd explained certain television programs would play muggle music, accompanied by an actual music video and she looked as though she'd love to see any music video at all. Maybe in the future, they could find a way to show her one. After all, it seemed they were becoming friends with her.
And there was no doubt that it was genuine as well, she wanted to be friends. There was no ulterior motive that Harry sadly knew he might have to worry about with others because she still hadn't noticed his scar yet. He'd quickly hidden it beneath his bangs when he'd almost been recognized by the twins.
And as if summoned by the thought of them, they heard footsteps outside. Daphne had very suddenly gone wide-eyed and surprised both siblings as she grabbed a cover from above and covered herself entirely right as the handle pulled down, before opening to reveal the twins again.
In between them though, was a third redhead who must have been related to them but who had different features. He was a tall boy who was rather thin with freckles of his own and a long nose.
Neither sibling knew why Daphne had suddenly opted to hide but she had, so they respected it by pretending the oddly shaped sheet was just luggage for the moment.
"Oh, hello again," Hermione said politely, though if one looked closely they could see she was eyeing the twins slightly as if trying to examine them.
"Hello, didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves before-" One twin started.
"-And Ronniekins here can't find a compartment. We checked everywhere else but this is the only place left-" The other twin continued.
"So we thought we'd heal two witches with one potion and ask if he could join here."
Ronniekins face tinged pink. "It's Ron, you two know I hate that nickname."
"And that's why we use it." One of the twins smirked, before turning to the two. "I'm Fred Weasley by the way, my twin's George Weasley, and this great ugly git is our little brother Ron."
"We gathered," Harry said, sounding a tad amused as he watched a different set of siblings interacting. "Seat beside me is free."
Ron sighed in relief and sat down, though his brothers didn't immediately leave. Before they could say anything though, all three red heads jumped when Daphne very suddenly re-emerged from her fabric confines, sighing loudly in relief.
"Blimey!" George said, having jumped in his skin before grinning. "Got us, that's rare! Where'd you come from?"
"Sorry, thought you lot were… someone else." She said vaguely before coughing and wrinkling her nose. "Oh, I regret using that blanket. It's hard to breathe under there."
"Well, since you've introduced yourselves, I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione spoke up, reaching over to shake their hands, her bushy brown hair bouncing around as she did so. Both twins looked very amused at someone electing to shake their hands.
"Oh, I feel so important!" Fred joked.
"As do I, good sir!" George replied in an equally amused tone.
"You can ignore them, they're prats," Ron said, clearly suppressing a smile when both brothers put their hands to their hearts.
"Prats?!"
"Oh how you wound us, little brother…"
"Guess we'll just have to prove it true as revenge!"
Ron rolled his eyes. Clearly, this was normal behaviour for the twins. Daphne seemed to hesitate for a moment before she reached over as well. "Daphne. Nice to meet you."
And then, finally, it was just Harry left, and he sighed when he saw the twins' eyes go up to his forehead briefly. Might as well get it over with.
He brushed the bangs aside, revealing his scar. Hermione sighed, Ron looked at it with awe, the twins looked like they'd won a million pounds.
Daphne, admittedly, did have a reaction that amused Harry. She simply sat there, staring, as her eyes slowly widened and her jaw dropped. It was honestly pretty funny to watch her slow realization.
"Harry Potter-Granger."
"Blimey, you are him!" George spoke up, hitting Fred's arm. "I told you!"
"Potter-Granger?" Ron questioned, furrowing his brow. Harry sighed.
"I was adopted by a muggle family and decided to take a double-barrelled name to honour my birth parents." He explained simply.
"You're Harry Potter…" Daphne muttered in shock, staring wide-eyed, manners forgotten in her surprise.
"And that scar, is that where-" Fred had begun to ask but he didn't get far into the question.
"That's enough." Hermione's voice cut like a knife through the compartment, bringing all eyes to her. "It's awkward enough for him dealing with the fact he's famous for something he can't remember, but asking him questions about his parents dying is not on and I won't stand for anyone making my brother uncomfortable with it."
"Oh shoot… she's got a point, Fred." George pointed out and for their part, they did all look slightly ashamed as they realized what they were doing. Ron was the one who seemed to find a way to move on from the awkwardness as he turned to the girl.
"Wait, you're his sister? How's that then?"
Hermione blinked but she explained—in as little detail as possible in regards to Harry's backstory—how he'd come to join the Grangers and how she wouldn't let anyone hurt her brother, just as he wouldn't let anyone hurt her. Both shared a smile at that for a moment while the others digested it.
"Harry Potter… with a muggleborn sister," Fred muttered before suddenly laughing after a moment. "Oh, that's too much."
"We'd never be able to come up with something so brilliant!" George added with a laugh.
"What are you two talking about?" Daphne asked confused and Ron looked bemused.
"Pranksters." He said as if that explained everything.
"Nothing we're ever going to do is going to cause an uproar like you two will and you're not even trying! Ha!" George suddenly bowed with a grin. "We are forced to salute you."
"Oh yes indeed." Fred followed, still laughing his head off. "But we can't stay. Our friend Lee's got a tarantula down at the front he's showing off we want to see, we just thought we'd help our brother find a compartment first. Cheers!"
And with that, both twins suddenly turned, walking off and laughing all the while.
"They're… lively." Harry settled on after a moment, though he had to admit something about their laughter was contagious and he couldn't help a small smile.
"Tell me about it." Ron shook his head. "Mum's always yelling at them for some new scheme or something, except when they're at Hogwarts. Then she's yelling at the air while clutching whatever new letter she's got about them generally causing some havoc."
"A very lively pair then." Daphne surmised with a giggle. "Still, must mean your house is never boring with them around, got to love that."
"I suppose." Ron said, though his tone clearly betrayed he didn't seem to think the same. "It's nice in the moment for a laugh but it also means there's a lot to live up to. I have five brothers to try and match and considering one of them was head boy, the other was a quidditch captain, one is a prefect and the twins are geniuses when it comes to enchantments, it's daunting. Especially cause if I do pretty much anything good, even though everyone expects me to, it's not a big deal anyways. The others have probably already done it."
Harry and Hermione winced. Both knew what it felt like to be jealous of their sibling, but they had it easy compared to Ron, especially as neither really cared much in the long run about the cause of their jealousy while Ron's seemed to be something he'd have to contend with constantly. Though if all of his family had gone, and they had that many, that almost definitely confirmed they were purebloods then.
Before either could say anything though, it was Daphne who spoke up.
"It must be nice to at least know they definitely love you though. From what I understand siblings can be annoying but good ones still love you and that must be comforting to know." She said, before sighing. "My younger sister won't even look me in the eye, our mother has her whipped to believe the same nonsense she does about blood purity. Though if she's scared I don't blame her, mother really isn't pleasant when she's mad."
"That doesn't sound good." Harry frowned seeing her wince as she said that and Daphne sighed, giving a 'what-can-you-do' shrug that left a pit in his stomach. He wondered if this was how the Grangers felt when they thought about the Dursleys, except with much more on the surface anger of course.
"What about you?" She cut in quickly, clearly not wanting to dwell on it. "You two must have a good family life?"
"Oh, we're very average." Hermione assured. "Family of four, mother, brother, sister, there's nothing too unique about us."
"Other than their little rules for learning that have turned you into a walking encyclopedia?" Harry asked teasingly, ducking under a half-hearted swing from his sister.
"Very funny." She said dryly.
"I know I am," Harry replied cheekily, earning a glare from his sister and a chuckle from their audience. "In all seriousness though, other than our parents having a thing about making sure we learn as much as possible all the time, we really are just a regular muggle family more or less. Do homework, then sit around and watch television or read books, do chores. Just whatever to pass the time. Our parents can be a bit strict at times but we love them and they love us."
"Sounds very nice." Daphne smiled, though there was a small hint of sadness behind it. Before Harry could investigate into that, however, Ron spoke up with a very tactless question.
"Do you ever wonder what your birth parents were like?" he asked, only to get two glares and a surprised look. "What?"
"That's a very tactless thing to ask." Daphne frowned at him.
"And could be worded much nicer, even if now is not the best time," Hermione said, looking like the protective big sister she was meant to be.
"It's fine," Harry spoke up, sighing and rubbing the back of his neck. "Honestly, not really. I mean from what I know they weren't bad parents, so that's good, but I never really knew them at all? The only memory I have of them is…"
He winced suddenly. In his mind, he saw a green light and heard a high, cruel laugh.
"Anyways, there's not much point in pondering over it to me." Harry shrugged. "Voldemort made sure of that."
Daphne winced, once more going wide-eyed while Ron let out an audible gasp.
"What?"
"You said his name!" Daphne pointed out, looking stunned. Harry and Hermione shared a look before rolling their eyes in tandem.
"Yeah, it's not hard." He said sarcastically. "Bob, Marty, Sarah, Drew, Jessica, McGonagall, Harold, Lily, Brian, Dumbledore, Voldemort! See, easy to say names."
"Harry." Hermione shook her head, but a small smirk played on her features. "I do agree though with my brother in what he's actually trying to say. There's no point in fearing a name when nothing happens from saying it. To be afraid of the name is to merely increase fear of the thing itself. Refusing to call Voldemort by his name just increases fear of him."
"And that was precisely what Voldemort" Another flinch from both purebloods. "—wanted. Even if he's dead now, he ruined my life for years. He is many things, clearly, a great big massive prat being one of them, but what he is not is here right now. And even if he was, I refuse to give him the satisfaction. Not after what he did to me."
There was a moment of silence in the compartment of that as they all looked at him before Ron let out an impressed whistle.
"Bloody hell. I'd have thought, you of all people… I tell you, mate, I'll be shocked if you don't get into Gryffindor with a take like that." The redhead exclaimed with a chuckle.
"It is a really impressive show of character," Daphne admitted with a soft smile. Hermione and Harry shared amused looks.
"I don't know about the Gryffindor thing, I'm not trying to be brave by saying it." Harry shrugged. "Though I suppose it would be nice to be in the house my birth parents were in."
"Oh in that case you're probably a shoe-in." Daphne hums. "Most people share a house with their parents. Though there are some exceptions…"
"Well, I hope it won't be me," Ron spoke up with a sigh. "My entire family have all been Gryffindors and they're proud of it. It would be really awkward if I wasn't in Gryffindor."
"Oh, I don't think it would be so bad. It's not like the other houses are anything to laugh at, they all have their positive traits." Hermione smiled. "Personally, I think Ravenclaw would be a really nice house to be in. I've been trying to learn so much about the wizarding world, I've been reciting potions recipes in my sleep and practicing incantations every day, not to mention how much studying I've been doing. It will be like having it confirmed I've been doing enough."
"You definitely sound like the Ravenclaw type." Daphne giggled. "Just be sure to actually breathe and try to live between the studying, most of them forget to."
Hermione blushed and Harry cackled, knowing Hermione often had exactly that problem.
"Yeah, I suppose it wouldn't be so bad. Plus, everyone gives Hufflepuffs a hard time but they're also probably the most overall liked house. No one really has any bad blood with the Hufflepuffs." Ron hummed. "Just as long as I'm not in Slytherin. I'd get on the train and come running right back if I was sorted there."
"Slytherin isn't bad either." Daphne frowned, sounding defensive. "Just because it has a bit of a bad reputation doesn't mean everything about it is bad. They have some of the smartest students in the school after the Ravenclaws."
"Well I suppose, but they say there isn't a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't from Slytherin." Ron frowned. Hermione scoffed.
"If that's true, I'll eat my robes," Hermione said, raising a brow. "I highly doubt evil is a house trait in the school."
"Plus there's evil wizards from every house," Harry repeated what McGonagall told him. "Ravenclaw had Goldfinch, Hufflepuff had Bristlecone and even Gryffindor apparently had one called Sirius Black, so it's definitely not confined to any one house."
"Huh… I actually didn't know that." Ron said in surprise. "Still though, it does have the highest number of dark witches and wizards produced…"
"Maybe so but it's not a guarantee. You aren't dark because you're Slytherin. No one is bad because of circumstances, it might help give cause, but a bad person is only bad because they choose to be bad." Harry said simply, before groaning. "Unless mind control exists in the wizarding world."
"...Sorry mate."
Harry let out another groan. Well, that was wonderful to know.
"I will probably be a Slytherin," Daphne spoke after a moment. Ron looked startled by this admission. "Greengrass' have always been Slytherins for centuries."
"You're a Greengrass?" Ron asked, sounding vaguely uncomfortable now.
"Yes I am, not that I really want to be." She sighed. Ron didn't look put at ease by this, however, keeping a wary eye on her.
They were fortunately saved by the door sliding open and a plump witch appearing with a cart full of snacks asking if they wanted any. Hermione looked like she was struggling to pick one thing knowing their parents would object to an overload of sweets, Ron said he already had a lunch, and Daphne eyed the treats longingly but didn't dare ask for one.
So Harry took it upon himself to help them, taking out a pouch and slamming down several galleons. Ron dropped his sandwich in shock.
"We'll take three of each."
"Harry!"
"Yes?" Harry asked with a smile. "We won't know what we like if we don't try them all, and I'm sure mum and dad will overlook it just this once."
Hermione bit her lip before sighing and waving her hands in a gesture telling him to go ahead.
Daphne and Ron looked at him like the Messiah had arrived. In fairness, probably any eleven-year-old would at the gesture.
That was how, twenty minutes later, they were surrounded by wrappers and trying all kinds of sweets. Chocolate Frogs that really hopped were one of Harry's favourites, though Hermione wasn't too keen on them as she wasn't much a fan of chocolate. Pumpkin pasties which were by far the most normal sweet were his sister's personal choice of the snacks, enjoying them the most. Ron especially enjoyed Fentula's Fading Fudge, a fudge that turned the consumer briefly translucent as they chewed on the fudge. They all enjoyed the cauldron cakes which were small cupcakes in the shape of cauldrons with a whole mixture of tastes making it up.
Then, of course, being dumb kids, they couldn't resist the temptation to try Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans, which Daphne and Ron warned were very accurate in their name, sharing their horror stories of bogey flavoured and toilet water flavoured beans. They agreed to try five beans each, which took up the whole box.
Harry struck a happy medium of two good beans of chocolate and strawberry mousse, a mediocre but not necessarily bad bean in a cheese flavoured one and two bad ones in a dirt flavoured bean and one that tasted like sulphur. His sister was a tad more fortunate as she only got one bad one in one that tasted like a particularly horrible cough medicine, two that were fairly neutral to Hermione in the form of one that tasted like tears, and one that tasted like sprouts. Then there were the good ones, one that tasted like bacon and one that Hermione freaked them all out with when she said in a calm voice 'Oh, the blood of my enemies!'
They only realized it was meant to be a joke when she broke down laughing at their faces. "Just kidding! It's pork."
They'd all sighed in relief and Ron had gotten started on his. Ron had the worst luck by far, getting four bad ones in a row before he got a good one, much to the rest of the group's amusement, especially as he kept trying to eat the next bean to wash the flavour out of the previous one which led to the brilliant sight of his scrunched up and horrified face as he went from tripe, to sardine, to glue and capped off with a soap flavoured beans. The entire compartment was howling at his misfortune as he described to them each one even as he reached for the next bean, finally finishing on a vanilla ice cream one he was likely immensely grateful for, as it washed away the taste in his mouth.
Daphne had been a tad hesitant to follow up on the show once they're recovered from their laughter but she had indeed proved to have better luck than any of them, having the exact opposite of the situation Ron did, with her having only one bad bean which was a grass flavoured bean, while her other beans were all good ones; éclair, strawberry, bubble gum, and apple.
Speaking of Daphne and the sweets, the girl showed remarkable restraint with them all, clearly not wanting to spoil her appetite or risk overeating. There was a single exception to her cautious eating, however.
The exploding bonbons, which really exploded in your mouth, seemed to bring out a whole other side of her. She was scoffing them down like the world would end if she didn't and when Ron insinuated no one could handle the explosions if they took them all at once, Daphne clearly saw it as a challenge and poured the rest of the bag into her mouth at once.
There was no doubt the sight of the blonde, cheeks puffed out with bonbons as one could hear the explosions inside her mouth, glaring at the redhead and looking him right in the eye was quite the amusing sight. To her credit as well, Daphne proved she could handle it, slowly chewing and swallowing, eventually getting them all down, met with a round of applause even if Hermione was shaking her head. Harry secretly agreed with Ron when he called the blue-eyed girl a bit mental.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end and just as they were putting the wrappers of the sweets away and agreeing it might be for the best if they saved the rest for up at Hogwarts (Hermione going on about a stasis charm she was excited to use), they heard footsteps approaching followed by a drawling voice. "Think they said he was in here."
Daphne went noticeably pale before abandoning everything else to get herself under the sheet again, accidentally kicking Hermione's leg as she got under and went still. Ron shared a confused look with the others who quickly gestured to him to be quiet about it by putting their fingers to their lips. They didn't know what it was about either but they should respect it for the moment.
The door opened and Harry was surprised when he came face to face with the snobby looking Malfoy boy from the newspaper he saw in Diagon Alley, who had bragged about being likely to get into Slytherin. On either side of him were two very mean and thick looking boys, who looked almost like bodyguards. One was large and fat with a fat neck and arms that reminded Harry of a gorilla, while the other was a bit thinner though still big, with broad shoulders, small dull eyes, and long arms.
"So is it true?" The Malfoy boy spoke up. He was pale and had blonde hair, and he looked as snobby as he had in the paper. "They're saying all over the train Harry Potter's in here. So it's you then?"
His eyes landed on Harry and noticed his scar with interest. Harry immediately got a bad feeling in him, feeling his magic swirl inside silently as though expecting to have to be used. Pushing down the sensation, Harry was polite despite the rude introduction. "Yes, that's me. Who are you?"
"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." He sneered, only for Ron to cough, clearly trying (and failing) to hide a snicker. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. Red hair, freckles, shabby clothes. You must be a Weasley."
Ron immediately looked a lot less amused and much more annoyed.
"There's no need for that," Hermione said, frowning. Draco's sneer turned to her. "For that matter, there's not much need to barge in here in the first place. If you really wanted to meet Harry you could have waited until School was going on, instead of barging in just to gawk at him."
"No one asked you," Draco said, narrowing his eyes. Harry felt his temper begin to rise now that Draco had shut down his sister. "Who even are you?"
"Hermione Granger." She answered, eyeing him warily. Draco sneered.
"So muggleborn filth—" Harry did stand up at that, very fast, walking to the door as his temper went from zero to one hundred in the blink of an eye.
"I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully," He said, in a deathly quiet voice that promised a painful punishment for interruption. "No one, and I do mean no one, is going to bully my sister without suffering serious consequences and I promise you, they won't be the kind any teacher will dole out on you. Understood?"
Draco eyed him, before clearly sensing he'd hit a boundary. Yet despite that, he tried to press on. "You're new, so you still have time to learn, Potter. It might be hard if you've had to live with that, and been fed rubbish by the weasel, but you'll soon learn there are better families than others. I can teach you how to spot the wrong sort—"
"No thanks." Harry cut in, eyes flashing dangerously as he grabbed the door, smacking Draco's hand down out the way first. "I can already spot it when it's right in front of me."
And without hesitation he slammed the door shut, silently using his telekinesis for a moment to ensure it would stay that way as he sat down. Ron stared at him wide-eyed before clapping him on the shoulder.
"That… was bloody brilliant! Fred and George are going to love it when they hear how you put that prat in his place!" Ron laughed. Hermione frowned, however.
"I suppose that makes the first purist…" She sighed. The blankets moved and Daphne re-emerged once more, sighing aloud.
"Draco Malfoy. The Malfoys are some of the worst purists there are," She explained, wincing.
"Not to mention his dad used to work for You-Know-Who. Says he was under mind control but lots of people reckon it was a lie. Malfoy didn't need mind control to want to join him," Ron spoke up, shuddering before turning to Daphne. "And what was that hiding thing all about?"
She sighed, wincing before she spoke up. "Like I told you before, I'm a Greengrass, and as Harry saw in Diagon Alley… My mother is about the worst kind of blood purist there is. More than that, she's very well known amongst other purebloods, she goes to all sorts of parties and that with them and so she's friends with them. Which means they talk to each other, and pureblood kids are expected to always be in correspondence with their parents while at Hogwarts."
Harry frowned deeply as he saw where this was going, not liking the implications. Hermione seemed to have come to the same conclusion as she let out a sad sigh. Ron still hadn't figured out where it was going, however.
"So if any of the pureblood kids see me talking to muggleborns or what they call 'blood traitors', possibly an even stupider concept than blood purity, they'd write back to their parents. Their parents would contact my mother…." Daphne trailed off, shuddering violently. Even Ron got the implications, frowning as they all felt bad for the girl. "Anyways, moving on from that, the train's been going for quite a while. We're probably gonna arrive soon. We should get changed."
She obviously just didn't want to focus on the subject, but the others agreed. Harry and Ron grabbed their cloaks and headed out of the room to the bathroom (fortunately, Malfoy had stalked away completely), while the girls changed in the compartment.
On returning, there had been another twenty minutes of general discussion before they finally arrived on the platform and they all left the train, coming on to a platform. Most of the taller students, who almost all towered completely over the Granger siblings, took off towards a path up ahead, where Harry thought he could see carriages.
The first years however didn't, because there was something else getting their attention.
"FIRS' YEARS OVER HERE! FIRS' YEARS THIS WAY PLEASE! C'MON NOW, AIN'T GOT ALL DAY!" A heavily accented and deep booming voice sounded, making all the first years look over to see an absolute giant of a man. He had shaggy long brown hair and a very messy brown beard going down to his chest that also covered most of his face. In one of his hands, which were the size of dustbin lids, he held up a lantern to signal to the first years to come to him, as though his immense size wasn't enough of a clue to who was shouting at them. He had black eyes that had a glint to them and he wore a large overcoat made of some kind of skin. "FIRS' YEARS THIS WAY!"
Everyone hurried over, Harry and Hermione finding themselves near the front of the group, Ron not too far behind. Harry looked around and faltered when he realized Daphne had disappeared.
Looking around, he was sad to see she had joined a group of not so pleasant looking individuals. He was willing to bet his wand they were purebloods.
"Harry! I haven' seen yeh since yeh were jus' a little baby." The man said, surprising the siblings as they looked up in surprise.
"You know who I am?" Harry asked in shock, as the man had implied he actually knew Harry not as someone famous but had interacted with him in the past. Hermione looked equally as shocked.
"O' Course. Yeh're parents introduced me. Doubt yeh remember me name though, Rubeus Hagrid, keeper o' keys an' grounds up here at ole Hogwarts." Hagrid introduced himself, smiling.
"You knew my mum and dad?" Harry asked, excitement beginning to flow through him.
"Oh yeah, I knew yeh're parents all righ'. They were great people." Hagrid beamed, before turning to his side, looking at Harry's sister. "An' here's Hermione. Dumbledore mentioned yeh moved families. Yeh're his sister, righ'? Hope yeh both get along!"
"Oh, we do, for the most part." Hermione smiled, her cheeks going red at being recognized. Harry however noticed something else that made him frown.
"You knew I moved families?"
Hagrid looked as though he just took a bullet to the chest (not that an actual bullet seemed like it would do much to him) as he heaved out one great big sigh and turned to Harry again.
"I'm... I'm the one who took ya ter the Durlseys. I didn' wan' ter let yeh go but Dumbledore had insisted it was fer the bes'. I never thought ter question 'im. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." He said, sounding genuinely saddened. Harry felt his stomach do a flip as he went through an entire emotional journey in just a few seconds. There was shock, followed by anger that he'd been left, quickly replaced by shame for the anger as Hagrid had explained why and sounded so genuinely remorseful, then finally he landed on merely having to accept it. He couldn't be mad for something that happened so long ago, that Hagrid couldn't have known the consequences of.
"I forgive you," Harry said, though he hoped it sounded more sincere to Hagrid that it sounded for him. His voice was probably showing more of his surprise than his forgiveness. The giant did seem to look at least a little better so that was good, as he stood up.
"Glad ta hear it. I'll hafta catch up with yeh la'er. I want ta talk to yeh properly soon, but got stuff ta do righ' now." He said, before looking up. "FIRS' YEARS HERE PLEASE! THA' ALL THE FIRS' YEARS?"
Once they were all gathered up, Hagrid led them over to a lake where there were a bunch of boats waiting. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all shared a boat along with a round-faced boy who introduced himself as Neville Longbottom through a slight stutter, clutching a frog in hand. Though he wouldn't say it out loud, Harry thought Neville looked very, very clumsy.
He was proven right when the boy almost stepped into the lake instead of a boat. They sailed on ahead once they were all in boats as a group, and Harry noticed Malfoy sailing near the front, shooting dirty looks at his group which made the telekinetic roll his eyes.
Soon enough they passed under a rocky formation and when they came out the other side they let out gasps of awe at the towering sight of Hogwarts castle that they were greeted with. It was all lit up and it radiated magic and warmth, as well as power and protection.
Something about the place felt so right that Harry felt his soul settle in a way it usually only did when using his telekinesis.
They went through a dark tunnel and soon reached a harbour of sorts that seemed to take them underneath the castle. They all clambered out onto the smooth dry stone waiting for them and once Hagrid had made sure everyone was present, they had all set off up a passageway, before coming out onto damp grass in the shadow of the castle.
They soon reached a large, oak door that towered over even Hagrid. It seemed to be designed to let giants in.
"Everyone ready? Tidy yerselves up now if ye need ta!"
When he was met with shouts of confirmation that they were ready from the students, Hagrid raised his fist and knocked three times on the wooden door, which swung open after a moment, and out came a familiar elderly witch in emerald robes.
"The firs' years, professor!"
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take over from here. The ceremony will be starting soon."
McGonagall had arrived to take them for their sorting.