A/N – For the avoidance of doubt yes, I will use elements of canon when it suits me, but I'm planning some pretty hefty changes, some of which will be in this very chapter! I don't see the point of slavishly following canon, doing that I'm just rewriting what has already been done, doing a worse job of it! That said, I'm not going to discard an interesting plot device when I can play around with it!

Chapter 3 – Where We Belong

"HARRY POTTER"

The Great Hall suddenly went silent. Confused looks were being passed from student to student and at the top table the headmaster put down the goblet he was drinking from and paid close attention to what was happening before him.

Never before had Albus Dumbledore seen the hat call for another student before the previous one had been sorted. In fact, he could not remember any mention of that phenomenon in history. The hat only ever sang its welcome song before the sorting, then shouted out each student's house. That was it.

Professor McGonagall looked as confused as anyone but recovered. "Mr Potter, the hat has called for you, please come up here. Miss Granger, come and stand beside me for a second."

Hermione was stunned. This hadn't happened to anyone else. Before it was removed from her head, the hat reassured her there was nothing wrong with her, he just needed more information before she could be properly sorted. That didn't stop the shy girl from feeling utterly self conscious knowing that every pair of eyes in the room was suddenly focussed on her.

It was a modicum of relief then that she watched as a nervous Harry approached the stool, keenly aware that every eye in the hall had switched from the young witch and was currently trained on him. So much for hoping to blend in. He sat down as the aged witch placed the sorting hat on his head. As with Hermione, he was aware that the background noise in the hall which had restarted as he walked up had faded. All he could hear was the voice in his head.

"Hmmmmm. Well, Mr Potter, you are quite the conundrum, aren't you. Yes, there's more to you than meets the eye. There's more to you than even you currently realise. A child of time indeed. Hmmmmm. I've never sorted one like you before"

As the voice was talking, Harry was having to fight an instinctive response to try and block the voice. The hat of course had sensed this. "Unusual for one so young and allegedly untrained to be able to sense things the way you do hmmmm. Even more so to be able to even think about how you would protect your mind. Yes, unusual indeed."

"Why didn't you sort Hermione before me?"

"Because there is a bigger picture I have to take into account, Mr Potter, but, no matter, I can see things hidden from you and I can see why. Trust your instincts, pay attention to your dreams. I can't say more." Harry could almost sense the hat's pondering. "Now, where to sort you and Miss Granger. Like her you have traits which could see you well in all houses. You would do well in Slytherin, but Miss Granger, not so much. You are smarter than you know and despite your background, you will find you have a hitherto undiscovered desire to learn, you are braver than you think, certainly braver than you let others see and you are more loyal than people will deserve. Miss Granger I think is best suited to Ravenclaw first, with Gryffindor a close second. Annoyingly it's just about the other way around for you. You are going to need friends around you, that much I can see, you need people you can trust. Not Slytherin then. You would fit well in Hufflepuff too, but I don't sense that as the best fit."

The hat stopped its talking for a few moments. "I can see your past, Mr Potter, and I can see your possible future. Things will have to change, indeed things already have. You will need the knowledge of the ages to fulfil your destiny and the bravery to see it through. You have already been let down by people tasked with your protection, I can see that. We can't allow that to continue. I can see there are going to be year-mates who will be there for you, and those who may be found lacking."

Harry was starting to wonder if the hat was ever going to reach a decision and what further information it could possibly need to help this whole thing come to a conclusion, which of course the ancient artefact picked up on. "Well, Mr Potter, not many would have the temerity to challenge what I do the way you do. I can see that there has to be changes, hmmmmm, yes, changes indeed. That's… yes… Right!"

"What do you mea…" Harry started but was cut off by the hat.

"Minerva, please bring Miss Granger forward." The deputy headmistress gently pushed the confused girl back to stand beside the still sitting Harry as the hat boomed out its decision.

"RAVENCLAW"

No one in the hall could remember a sorting of any student which had taken near as long as this. Such was the wonder which permeated the hall it took a few seconds for it to register that both Harry and Hermione had finally been sorted. The Ravenclaws were on their feet cheering, the Gryffindors were sitting stunned, how was it possible that The Boy Who Lived could be sorted anywhere else other than the house of the lions. The Hufflepuffs were politely clapping as was their wont, the Slytherins were trying their best to look bored by the whole thing, but were rapidly losing their battle to hide their disdain for the two latest Ravenclaws.

McGonagall glanced over at the staff table. Dumbledore sat impassively in his gilded throne, Severus Snape couldn't help let a sneer appear on his pallid face. Pomona Sprout, the head of Hufflepuff was paying close attention as was Filius Flitwick, the half-goblin head of Ravenclaw. He was intrigued by his latest recruits.

As McGonagall slowly got the great hall under control enough that the sorting could continue Harry and Hermione made their way to the Ravenclaw table where they were welcomed by Penelope Clearwater the 5th year female prefect and Storm Thorgerson, the 7th year male equivalent. The latter looked at them with a smile.

"You two know how to make an entrance, don't you!"

"We didn't mean to". Hermione's voice was quiet. She was fully expecting hostility from those around her.

"I don't think for a second that you did" laughed the older boy. "But, you are 'Claws now, so we will look after you. You both must have the smarts for it, or the hat wouldn't even have considered you. What took so long?"

Harry interjected. He wasn't going to let Hermione take the responsibility for this, now whilst she was still so unsure. "The hat said that both Hermione and I had traits which could have seen us in any house. Both of us had decided that we didn't want to be in Slytherin" Harry knew he was making an assumption, but the hat did tell him to go with his instinct, and Hermione not interrupting was telling him he was right "so the hat must have decided that as we are friends we would be better off being sorted together." It was a lame excuse he realised, but it was the best he could come up with off the cuff.

Penelope's eyes flicked between the two. "You must be amazingly close friends if you could persuade the hat to do that! How long have you known each other?"

Harry glanced at Hermione before answering. "I couldn't give you an exact time" he started hesitantly "but it seems like it's been long enough, doesn't it!" He looked at the brown haired girl beside him who could only nod in silent assent.

Penny couldn't argue with that. Their fellow first years who had been listening introduced themselves and Harry could see Hermione relax, knowing that there was not going to be any hostility coming their way this evening. The two returned their attention to the sorting in time to see Neville nervously make his way to the stool.

"Hmmmm, another who is going to make me earn my keep this year!" the hat by now almost sounded amused. "Slytherin is not you, you are intelligent but not driven by learning. You are brave enough, but you are also loyal. The question is, what defines you. Which of those traits embodies your spirit, Mr Longbottom. Where best could you grow…"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

The Badgers cheered for their new housemate and his newest friends gave him a reassuring wave and a pair of thumbs ups, their way of trying to make sure that they were still more than happy to maintain a friendship despite the different houses.

The sorting continued without further controversy and before long there were two students left, one of whom was one of the redheads Harry had seen at the station. He whispered to Hermione "he was with the older people who tried to grab me, but he seemed friendly enough when we were waiting to come in. He had also gone through the barrier at that point."

McGonagall called him up to the sorting hat. "Weasley, Ronald". The hat made its penultimate trip of the year inside a head.

"Well well well, another student I need to make a tough decision on. I've never known a year like it"

"What decision? I'm a Weasley and Weasleys go to Gryffindor. Mum and dad were Gryffindors, my brothers were all Gryffindors, I'm a Gryffindor."

"You are certainly no Slytherin, you have ambition but no guile. You aren't a Ravenclaw, you aren't driven enough. You claim to be a Gryffindor, but do you really have what it takes to see things through when the going gets tough? Courage, possibly, but chivalry? Determination? That's yet to be seen. Hufflepuff? You are loyal to your family, certainly, not known for hard work though. Maybe that would be the making of you though, hmmmm?"

Before Ron Weasley could make another protest the hat screamed out "HUFFLEPUFF". The redheaded boy didn't look best pleased at this turn of events, but had the presence of mind not to say anything. He couldn't change his sorting, and it wouldn't do to upset the rest of his housemates from the start.

There was only one student left to be sorted, and once Blaise Zabini found himself making his way to the Slytherin table, a hush descended throughout the hall as the Headmaster finally stood up to speak. "Good evening and welcome back to our returning students, and welcome to our first years. I dare say that was the most thrilling sorting we have had in some time, I'm sure we will all need time to get to know our new housemates, so announcements can wait until after the welcome feast!"

This drew cheers from all tables as food magically appeared. Two of the newest Ravenclaws tucked in, keeping an eye on those around them. Hermione seemed to be trying to look at everything at once. "Did you see the portraits as we came in? One of them waved at me! Hogwarts'; A History says that it's the greatest concentration of magical paintings in the country. I can't wait to see more of the castle, I wonder what the dormitory will be like, I bet the Ravenclaw common room is amazing, did you see…"

Harry smiled as he listened to his first friend get excited about what was going on around them. In truth, he was just as excited, but couldn't help but think that there was something going on he wasn't aware of. The business with the sorting hat worried him. Harry wasn't used to being the centre of attention and normally would do anything to make himself invisible. It was the best way to avoid a tongue-lashing or worse whilst living with the Dursleys. The thought of being away from that hell on earth should have made him happy, but instead, he couldn't help feel morose. That this life was available to him, and that others took this for granted brought home how much Harry had missed out on. The sorting hat commenting on his intelligence also made him feel more sad than anyone would have thought.

The truth was, Harry loved reading. It was an escape from the misery of his home life, but he was only really able to read at school. On the rare occasions he brought a book home, it wasn't long before it was destroyed by Dudley or before it was ripped out of his hands by his harridian aunt who would scream "if you have time to waste on this, you have time to do more chores" before making him clean something or cook something.

He was brought out of his reverie by a nudge from his friend. "Are you ok? You looked like you were sad."

He forced a smile. "I'm ok, it's just a lot to take in. I'm trying to get my head around everything that's changed in such a short period of time."

"I know what you mean. I keep thinking that this must be a dream."

"If it is, I don't think I ever want to wake up! I mean all this magic, and…" Harry paused. He was going to say 'and you' but somehow it seemed like something too intimate to say to a girl, as nice as she was, that he had only known for a few hours, even though it was the first thing to come to his mind. Instead his rational mind countered with …"and new friends."

If Hermione noticed the pause she never said, she just beamed a rare open mouth smile in his direction, something Harry had already noticed she only did when he was the only one to see. Anyone else got a bright but closed-mouth smile. Harry felt something tug inside him when he realised that his friend must have been teased because of her teeth, something he couldn't understand. Before he knew it he was blurting out "you have a really nice smile". The look on Hermione's face was one of shock and wonder before a red flush started on her neck and spread its way to her cheeks. She looked away and changed her smile to the closed mouth version which made Harry sad. "I… I'm sorry, I just wanted… I didn't want to make you feel awkward or anything, I just…"

He was cut off by his friend looking back at him and the previous smile returning to her face. "Thank you. No one has ever said that before. Most people make fun of me. I know my teeth are a bit big, but…"

Harry cut her off. "They are stupid then, there's nothing wrong with your smile. I think it's…" he stopped and just waved his hand, hoping she would get his meaning, although he wasn't sure what he would have said otherwise. 'Interesting'? No, that would not work. 'Nice?' True, it was nice but it was way more than that. 'Lovely'? That would work, but is that really an appropriate thing to say? Fortunately she came to his rescue by clasping his hand and squeezing it fondly.

Their moment was interrupted by a sound coming from the top table. The students had eaten their fill and it was time for the headmaster's pronouncements.

"I trust you all enjoyed your meal, so now it is time to introduce you all to this year's Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Returning to Hogwarts after taking a year's sabbatical to travel through magical sites in Eastern Europe, please welcome back Professor Quirinus Quirrell" The headmaster pointed toward a pale skinned, nervous looking man clad in garish purple robes with a matching turban atop his head. Dumbledore looked at him as if he was expecting the returning teacher to say something but he merely nodded out toward the great hall, his eyes flicking over each table before coming to rest on the Ravenclaw table.

"Professor Quirrel was a 'Claw when he was a student" murmured Thorgerson to the two first years. "He used to be the Muggle Studies professor. Bit of a promotion to get the DADA role."

The headmaster turned back to his audience. "The Forbidden Forest remains just that, and all students are advised that the 3rd floor corridor leading from the Charms corridor is strictly out of bounds to all students, lest they suffer a most terrible death." This brought murmurs from all tables.

"What crazy kind of school has something like that?" Harry was aghast. He looked over at Hermione who shared his look of shock. He looked over at Storm who just shrugged.

"When you deal with magic there's sometimes some crazy stuff goes on. Back in 5th year my girlfriend's younger sister was cursed by some dark magic and transformed into a wizarding painting. Magic is powerful, there are always going to be people who want to harness that power for their own dark needs."

"That's awful!" gasped Hermione.

"It wasn't a great time. Penny and I had only gotten together at the end of 4th year, I knew Beatrice was starting first year after the summer, it put a bit of a strain on our relationship!"

Hermione's thirst for knowledge shone through. "What happened to her? How was she transformed? What did you have to do to undo it? Oh! You were able to undo it, weren't you? I'm sorry I know I shouldn't be asking personal questions, it's just all so new to me and.." Storm stopped her with a laugh.

"It's ok, you wouldn't be a 'Claw if you weren't inquisitive. I'll tell you all about it some other time, but yes, Bea is ok now. She still has nightmares, but there are fewer of them these days."

Penelope tried to bring some levity to the situation. "For the record, Penny in this instance is not a contraction of Penelope! I still have no idea what Haywood sees in this idiot! Fair to say he's punching well above his weight there!"

Storm recognised Penelope's efforts and played along. Clutching his chest theatrically he cried "You wound me, madam!" Neither missed his look over to the Hufflepuff table where they saw a beautiful long-haired blonde girl smirk in his direction.

"That's Penny" pointed out Penelope before indicating a few seats further down "and there's Beatrice."

"She's beautiful" commented Hermione. "Her hair is amazing" said with an air of dejection. Hermione was aware of her own hair's shortcomings.

"It's not any nicer than yours". The voice from her side was quiet, as if it wasn't really meant to be heard. Hermione's eyes shot across to a shy looking Harry, and her face lit up with another broad smile. "That's very sweet. That's twice you have said something nice. Thank you." Harry flushed red again, but just shrugged.

Storm missed the byplay but had heard Hermione's compliment of his girlfriend. "Thank you, and yes, she is. For what it's worth, I agree with the unfortunately honest Miss Clearwater. I am out of my league with her, but, I will just have to keep working hard to maintain the illusion that I'm not, won't I!"

Harry had found himself looking closely at the head table for the first time since the excitement had died down.

"Who are all of those people?" he asked.

Penelope answered. "Those are the teachers. The Headmaster has already pointed out Professor Quirrell, to his left we have Professor Trelawney, who teaches divination, on her other side is Professor Vector the arithmancy teacher. On Quirrell's right is Professor Sinistra who does astronomy, beside her is Professor Flitwick, he's our Head of House and the charms professor, then Professor McGonagall you know, then the headmaster, then Professor Snape who does potions, then Professor Kettleburn who is care of magical creatures, then Professor Hooch, she's the flying instructor, beside her is Professor Sprout who does Herbology. The other two beside Professor Sprout are Madam Pince the librarian and Madam Pomfrey the school healer. Our history teacher is Professor Binns, but he's a ghost so doesn't turn up to the feasts."

Both Harry's and Hermione's eyes had lit up at parts of Penelope's explanation. The thought of flying filled Harry with a mixture of excitement, wonder and fear, whilst the mention of a library had of course tickled Hermione's bookwormish tendencies.

Before long however, the feast was over and the 5th year prefects were charged with getting their respective first years to the appropriate House. "Right my group, wait here a second" Penelope instructed. "Robbie will be along in a second." Right on cue, the other 5th year prefect, Rob Haskins made his way along the table.

"Howdy troops, sorry I didn't come along at the sorting, I am not going to lie, I was too busy catching up with friends after the summer, but I see Juliet Bravo here has kept you in line!" Robbie sniggered at the look of confusion amongst the first years. Being muggleborn, he had grown up in the non magical world and as a kid used to watch the TV show about a policewoman with his parents. It may have been several years since they stopped making the show, but the name of the show had become synonymous with any female police constable. As Penelope's initials were PC, Robbie had christened her Juliet Bravo as a joke. It hadn't stuck with anyone other than him.

The motley crue of children started their journey through the castle toward Ravenclaw Tower. After climbing what felt to those not used to it an infinite number of stairs, they eventually congregated outside a door which didn't have a handle but had a door knocker in the shape of an eagle in the middle. "To enter the Ravenclaw common room and dorms, you have to prove you are worthy by answering a riddle the door will give you" explained Penelope. She reached out and used the knocker. As soon as the hammer of the knocker struck the door, the eagle opened its eyes and spread its metallic wings. Looking out over the group its beak opened.

"It must be time for the new arrivals. Let me see who amongst you can answer this…

Only one color, but not one size,

Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies.

Present in sun, but not in rain,

Doing no harm, and feeling no pain.

What am I?"

The first years started to murmur to themselves, repeating the riddle to see if they could work it out. Hermione's brow furrowed in concentration before her eyebrows shot up.

"A shadow?"

The eagle's wings retracted and with a gentle click the door opened. "Does it change the riddle every time?"asked Harry.

"It changes a lot, there's no set pattern to when it does. I think the door just decides when it wants to annoy everyone" was Penelope's reply.

"What happens if I can't work out the riddle?" Harry was worried.

Robbie shrugged. "Just do what I do and hang around until someone else comes along. All of us have been stuck outside at one point or another." It sounded like good advice and Harry was determined he would try and see who were the most adept at resolving the riddles.

The group made their way into the common room, marvelling at the sight before them. The common room was spectacular. Bright and airy, with banners of blue and bronze hanging from the middle of the ceiling which in turn was enchanted to show a perpetual night sky, complete with stars, planets and the occasional meteor shooting around. There were comfortable chairs and couches. One side had two doors either side of a statue, opposite side had an arched entrance which led to the private Ravenclaw library. The excited first years were exploring the common room and Harry had found himself separated from Hermione for the first time since the sorting. He made his way over to the statue. The plinth at the bottom bore the name 'Rowena Ravenclaw'. Looking up at the statue he couldn't help but mutter "she must have been beautiful" under his breath.

"She was." Harry jumped at the sound, he wasn't aware there was anyone else around him. His eyes darted back and forth and eventually made out the spectral shape of The Grey Lady. "Don't be afraid Harry Potter, I will do you no harm."

"You know my name?"

"Of course." It was a simple statement of fact. "You are a special one, Harry, you may not realise it yet, but you are. I was pleased to see you sorted into my mother's House."

"I'm very sorry, but I don't know who you are. I never knew I was magical until I got my letter you see, and I've not been as thorough as Hermione in reading Hogwarts: A History, but I plan to try and fix that."

"Do not worry yourself. In life, I was Helena Ravenclaw. I will not bore you with the details of my story, you will learn it soon enough. We will talk more in the times to come, until then, welcome to the House of my mother. Make her proud." With that the ghost of Helena Ravenclaw faded away.

"No pressure then" Harry thought out loud. "Just the daughter of one of the founders."

He looked around and saw Hermione on the other side of the room talking to Penelope at the entrance to the library. She clearly wanted to go in but was being persuaded by the prefect to leave that for another time, given everything else which they had to do in the evening. She looked over and saw Harry, giving him a little wave and a tight lipped but genuine smile.

Robbie had joined him, bringing the other three first years, Terry Boot, Michael Corner and Anthony Goldstein. "Right lads, these are the doors to the dorms. Each year group has its own dorm, and don't get excited, there are separate ones for boys and girls. The handle to the girls dorm is charmed so that it disappears if you approach it with the intention of trying to enter. Anyway, normally, there's three beds to a room in the dorm, but with there just being the four of you this year, the castle has made a couple of adjustments and made one big room for your year with four beds."

The girls had joined them beside the statue and were getting a similar chat from Penelope.

Hermione had made her way back to Harry's side, his eyes glowing with excitement. "This is wonderful" she gushed. "Penelope says that the views are amazing when it's light. We are going to get our things in our dorms and then come back down to meet Professor Flitwick." She suddenly looked pensive. "I was hoping to get a chance to speak to you too." Her voice was quieter, as if she was scared of the response she would get.

"I was thinking the same thing. We need to try and work out what that was all about." Harry's response lifted her concern and she rewarded him with an open smile, the kind she only seemed to give him.

The first years made their way to their respective dorms and Harry found himself being the last one in. The other three picked the beds further from the door, leaving Harry with the last one. He didn't mind at all and his trunk was soon at the bottom of the bed and a perch for Hedwig appeared out of nowhere. Each bed had a window nearby, a side-table beside the bed and a comfortable chair. The beds themselves were 4-posters,with blue drapes which could be pulled shut for privacy.

It didn't take too long for the hyper group to make their way back down and find themselves some seats as they waited for the girls to come back down. As they did, the door to the common room opened and the diminutive head of house made his way over to introduce himself.

"Firstly, let's get the introductions out of the way, I'm Professor Filius Flitwick, your head of house. Yes,I'm half goblin before anyone asks!" The professor proceded to provide an overview of the house points system, the house cup and his expectations from the first years, namely, keep out of trouble, do their best, and ask for help when needed. After he had finished his speech, he asked for questions and fielded the dozen or so which were fired at him. With a warning not to stay up too late, he left them to their own devices.

The first years dispersed to further explore the common room or head to their dorm, leaving Harry and Hermione sitting together on a couch.

For the first time since they had broken the ice on the train, there was an air of awkwardness about the duo. Harry thought he'd better try and get things moving. "I don't know what the other houses rooms are like, but there's no way they could be better than this!"

"I know. It's so pretty in here, there's a library, plenty of space to work, the ceiling is fantastic and the rooms look so comfortable. I'm sharing a room with Padma Patil and Lisa Turpin, they both seem nice enough, Padma is a twin, he sister is in Gryffindor." This gave Harry the opening to get to the part of the conversation he knew Hermione was keen to explore, but didn't know how to broach.

"I wonder how sisters can be sorted into different Houses so easily, yet there was all that with us."

"I'm sorry Harry, I don't know what was wrong with me that made the hat…"

Harry cut her off by placing a hand over her arm. "There's nothing wrong with you. The hat told me it needed to look into my head to see something, I don't know what, to see where best to sort us both. If there's anything wrong with either of us it's likely to be with me." His eyes dropped to the floor, the unusual and unexpected confidence he had found within himself since he spaced out at the station deserted him. "Maybe my relatives were right. Maybe I am a freak." He hadn't consciously meant for that to be heard but such was the quiet in the room that Hermione picked it up.

"They called you names?" she asked softly.

Harry just shrugged. "It's no big deal" he said with forced brightness. "The hat said some things to me I don't understand. The Ravenclaw House ghost came and spoke to me earlier and she said some things too. I need to think about them."

"The Grey Lady came and spoke to you? Oh wow, Harry, she's notorious for being distant with people."

"She didn't say much. The hat said something about being a child of time, the ghost said I was special." He looked troubled. "I'm not special. I'm a nobody, really. I don't know anything about magic, the little I've learned I picked up from Hagrid or you. If either of us was to be called a special one, it should be you. You probably know more about things already than any of the other first years."

Herminoe blushed at Harry's words, and was about to refute them when she looked over at her friend. Her first friend. He looked worried, which in turn worried her, giving rise to her insecurities.

"Do you regret talking to me on the train?" she asked quietly, thinking that was the reason for Harry's distraught look.

Harry's eyes shot to her. "Of course not! If I was asked if I wanted to repeat today and try it again, I'd still try and find out. Your my friend." This time it was Harry's turn to sound insecure. "That is if you want to stay my friend. I'd understand if you…" He couldn't finish the sentence as he was cut off by a faceful of brown hair. Hermione had thrown herself into a hug, wrapping her arms around Harry's shoulders.

Despite this being the second time Hermione had hugged him, it still took all of Harry's self control to reign in his flight response. He figured it was something he was going to have to get used to.

She disentangled herself from him and flushed red. "Sorry, I just… You are my first proper friend, I was worried you would think that everything that went on today would be too much and you wouldn't want to be my friend any more."

"You are my first real friend too. I know it's only been a day, but it's been the best day I can remember, even with the stuff about the sorting. If it meant we would get to be in the same House, I'd go through it again."

Hermione gave him that special smile. "Did you get a chance to speak to Professor Flitwick about your parents?"

Harry's face darkened. "No, I didn't want to say anything in front of anyone else. I will see if I can get some time with him though. Would you come with me?"

Hermione was surprised at his question. "Of course I would, but I'd have thought that you would want to find out stuff like that privately."

Harry shrugged. "I just thought that it would be nice to have a friend. It might be, I don't know, sad." Hermione nodded.

The two sat and spoke for a while longer before agreeing it was time to head for bed. The common room was mostly empty. They agreed to meet in the common room the following morning before heading to breakfast.

Harry returned to the dorm room to find Anthony Goldstein who had the bed next to his still up and sitting in the chair with a book. He looked up and smiled. "Some day huh?"

"You can say that again! I keep thinking all of this is a dream." Harry flopped down on his chair, the excitement of the day leaving him and making him aware of how tired he was.

"My mum has been telling me about Hogwarts all my life but it's still like something unbelievable."

"I'd never even heard of Hogwarts until July this year."

"How? I mean, you are Harry Potter!"

"I was brought up by my relatives who hated magic, they didn't tell me anything about,well anything. I'm hoping to get to speak to Professor Flitwick to hopefully find out more."

The two chatted away for a while longer before tiredness started to overcome Harry. He mentioned to Anthony ('my friends call me Ant') that he and Hermione planned to meet up in the common room before heading down to breakfast, and out of courtesy told Ant that he was more than welcome to join them.

It seemed that no sooner had Harry drawn his drapes around that he was asleep. As he lay there, sleeping away Harry became aware that he was dreaming. The dreamscape he found himself in seemed strangely familiar. He was aware that everything was a monochrome grey and couldn't shake the feeling that he had been here before, but couldn't remember when.

As he looked around a familiar figure appeared from out of thin air. "We meet again Harry Potter, although for you no doubt this will feel like the first time."

"There is something familiar about this, about you, but I can't quite place it."

"We met in a different timeline, you agreed to be sent to this timeline for a variety of reasons. When we last spoke, I told you that you would have no memory of the other timeline to help or hinder you, but that I would give you some information and some skills to help you in your quest."

"So that's what the hat meant with all that 'child of time' nonsense. What is going on?"

"In your previous timeline, things did not go well for you. You have a chance to change things in this timeline. To do that you need to know certain things, which I will drop into your mind, which in turn you will need to protect. I will give you that power. Other than that, you are on your own."

"Ok, wait. If I had this whole other life, why wouldn't you give me all the information I had so I know what went on and where it went wrong?"

"Because the information would be useless to you. Things would not be the same. Things already are not the same.". The figure motioned for dream Harry to sit. "In the last timeline, people died. Many people. Imagine you knew them, you knew who died and when. You would want to change things to prevent that, yes?" Harry nodded. "So knowing that they died, how would you know what to change to prevent that? Would you have to change one thing, or ten? Then would you know which ten? What about the effect changing the first thing would have, how would that one change impact the other nine? Would you be able to make the changes knowing that doing so may save one person, but cause others to die?"

Harry didn't respond. "Exactly. That is why you were not returned to this time with all of your knowledge. It would not help, in fact could well do the opposite." The figure looked at Harry, his normally unreadable expression softening. "It is said that a butterfly flapping its wings in Peru, can initiate changes in the wind and weather patterns which result in there being storms in London. Small changes in one area can mean major differences in another. Should someone recognise this Quantum Weather Butterfly and attempt to manipulate it for his own ends, what happens then? Voldemort is one who would try and do such a thing."

"But I don't really know anything about this Voldemort other than what we talked about on the train."

"One of the gifts I will leave you with will be the understanding of Voldemort that I promised you when last we spoke. The other gift will be the different ways to destroy his horcruxes we also discussed. I also told you that I would give you some insights into others in this time stream, but as I said at the time, they will be based on your interpretation of this dream, rather than direct knowledge as the others will be. The final gift will be the ability to close off your mind and repel anyone trying to gain entry that you do not wish to grant. This will also mean you will sense more easily should anyone attempt such a thing."

"Thank you. Can you tell me more about Voldemort now though?"

"Your plans to speak to people are the best way to learn that. You need to learn what is solely relevant to this stream of time. My knowledge is based on others, this time stream has more in front of it than behind it in this regard" The figure stood and morphed back from the visage of an old bearded man back to a younger figure, clad all in black. "Our time here is coming to an end. Remember, not all who are on the side of the light are truly your friends. Be wary of who you trust."

That seemed to spark something in Harry's brain. "The headmaster… I have a vague sense of being told that I should be careful around him."

"The headmaster is on the side of the light, there is no doubt. But remember the need for balance in all things. Expect to be called to his office soon. Think about your approach, and do not allow yourself to be fobbed off with half truths and obfuscations." The man started to fade. "Trust your instincts."

"The sorting hat said the same thing."

"I know, I told him to."