The Deathly Hollow Chronicles -A Tale of Life and Death- Chapter 1: Welcome to Hogwarts, a harry potter fanfic

For those reading this, Year One is just introductory and some plot setup, POV Ginny One is when the story really kicks up. ~Welcome to Hogwarts~ to ~Christmas and Secrets Unveiled~ can be skimmed.

Harry Potter had the... strangest summer. One moment he was being forced to cook, clean, and play service to his Aunt and Uncle, and fairly large Cousin, the next moment, he's on a train found between Platform 9 3/4, bound for Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. To his utter amusement, when his Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and fat Cousin, Dudley, learned of this, they instantly became afraid of him and began to act as if he didn't exist, even going so far as to treat him better.

To say he was confused was an understatement. He was baffled, and with no friends as he sat in an empty box by himself, he though of what his life had come to. Sure it was cruel, but at least he knew what to expect of it, that is waking up to abuse and being a slave to his horrible relatives. Now he was being thrust into a completely new and unknown world, a world that he never knew existed, a world which his Father's and Mother's had lived during their tragically short lives.

Now Harry was completely oblivious to the Wizarding World, both to its wonders and horrors. He'd been taken to Diagon Alley by a man, half-giant he was later informed of, of the name of Rubeus Hagrid. His speech was hard to follow, and the only thing Harry was told, that he could understand anyways, was how to enter Platform 9 3/4. Now bound to the mysterious School of Wizardry, Harry watched the outside scenery from his box with boredom.

A sliding noise sounded, which harry did not hear. "Do you mind if we join you?" A voice asked from behind, snapping Harry out of his window trance. It was boy with white hair, green eyes like Harry's except his was of a lighter tint. He held an air of superiority and seemed to be the leader of the other boy and two girls behind him. All four of them were dressed in their school robes already.

"No, have a seat." Harry shook his head and said timidly.

"Forgive me, where are my manners." The white haired boy spoke, the leader that is, the other boy also had white hair, same with one of the girls, the other girl had bushy hair and a confident look but shy face. "What's your name? I'm Gerrod. Gerrod Grindelwald." He smiled with suave, Harry was confused.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter." Harry replied, offering his hand to which Gerrod accepted with a look of confusion to his face. "What's wrong?"

"The Harry Potter?"

"Yes. That's me."

"My brother is just surprised that you don't know who he's descended from." The girl with white hair answered. "I'm Historia, Historia Grindelwald, his Sister. And the reason why Gerrod's surprised, is that both he and I are descendants of, in our opinion, the Greatest Dark Wizard of All Time, Gellert Grindelwald, he's our Grandfather actually." She said proudly. The Ministry actually didn't know that Grindelwald had descendants, Gerrod and Historia were planning on letting the public know of their heritage when they were sorted.

"Oh," Harry said, quite surprised really, "it doesn't really matter to me. Honestly." The group shuffled in and began taking seats in the box, which Magically enlarged itself to become a circular, surprising Harry and putting him at awe.

"But you're Harry Potter." Historia said. "They say you're the epitome of good."

"What?" Harry asked, dumbstruck and confused on what she had just said, clearly he was missing something. What was all that nonsense with being some epitome for good or whatnot?

The bushy-haired girl cleared her throat. "Well, I guess it should be us who introduces ourselves next." She said. "I'm Hermione Malfoy." She looked at the white haired boy across from her.

"Nermaius Lovegood." The other white-haired boy said curtly.

"So Harry, you don't mind if I call you Harry, right?" Hermione excitedly says, to which Harry nodded. "What are you looking forward to the most at Hogwarts?"

Harry frowned. "I don't know," he truthfully said, "I don't actually know anything about it, truth be told."

"What?" Gerrod spoke, beating Hermione to the punch. "You don't, how? You are by far the most well-known celebrity there is in the Wizarding World. How is it that you know nothing?"

"I was raised by my Aunt and Uncle, they don't know about Magic, well, they did, they knew it existed, but they never dared talked about it, to me or anyone else." Harry explained as best as he could.

"Idiotic Muggles." Gerrod muttered under his breath with a sigh of frustration.

"Well, guess we're going to have to change that." Hermione said. "Right?" She looked to the other three who nodded, save for Nermaius who was quiet. Nermaius was the quiet type and talked only when needed or when he was with friends. Gerrod was the silent helper, Historia was the calm observer, and Hermione, well, she was an ecstatic bundle of joy when she went into her teaching mode. Though she had the most interesting habit of looking at Gerrod to see if what she was telling Harry was correct. Harry was happy to learn, the more they talked, with some minor intervention and corrections from the other three, the most he was enthralled with the Wizarding World. Harry had learned that during the First Wizarding War that he had defeated the Dark Lord, Voldemort, when he was a babe, which made him famous as well as being dubbed the Boy-Who-Lived. They had talked about how each knew each other, them being Nobles of the Wizarding Society, they had to regularly interact with each other.

Several hours passed from their talking, they were almost there. A woman came by with a trolley. Each had purchased some things to snack on, while Harry decided he would buy the entire cart, well around three to five of everything. The little snack intervention and continuation of learning about the Wizarding World's history was interrupted by the arrival of a platinum blond boy with two much larger boy behind him, they looked to be bodyguards of some sort.

"So, it's true, Harry Potter is on Hogwarts Express?" His question was more of a statement.

"Yes, that's me." Harry said, lifting his hand for a curt wave. Hermione had stopped talking.

"Hello, Draco." She said warmly to the boy who entered their box.

"Sister." The now named Draco replied curtly. A slight hint of disappointment when he realized who was in the box.

"You could be warmer to me, afterall, I am your Sister; Father would be most disappointed in you." Hermione remarked coyly.

"Hahaha, just because we're Claimed Siblings, doesn't mean I have to be nice to you." Draco replied with a joking snark. "Besides, Mother loves me best." He added with triumph.

"What sad compensation. You're just jealous that Father love me more than you, he finally has the Daughter he's always wanted, but could never have." Hermione victoriously commented, rubbing her nails against her robes in mock celebration.

"Just because-wait a minute, was that an insult?" Draco asked confused from her earlier remark.

"Yes, yes it was." Hermione answered, waving her brows once, a proud look on her face as she eyed her Claimed Sibling. Claimed Siblings were, in the Wizarding World, legitimized Bastards. Hermione was the product of her Father, Lucius, being unfaithful to his wife, he had copulated with a Pureblooded woman one night when he drank too much after an argument with Narcissa. The woman's family had fallen out of social graces, she was the last of her Bloodline, it would have ended with her, but she gave birth to a healthy baby girl, nearly a year and a half after Draco had been born. She had named the babe, only to die moments after. With his soul being pulled, Lucius had checked his Family Tree, and there, appearing on a separate branch to the left of him, Narcissa, and Draco, was his deceased lover and newly born Daughter. Magic, and honor, had compelled Lucius to claim the child and raise her, over time, he came to truly cared for the babe. He spoiled her, she was his treasure, and the last thing of the love of his life, to which Narcissa had come to accept. Hermione was a babe, and she could not blame a child for the wrongs of their parents. Lucius had told Hermione that he truly did love her Mother when she was old enough to understand. A fact he showed through his evident favoritism, though Draco didn't mind as he got older, it certainly annoyed him at times, the great Lucius Malfoy, an idiot when it came to all things, his Daughter.

"Are you two done?" Gerrod asked.

"For now." Both said in unison. "This isn't over." The said together again. Historia giggled, covering her mouth with her hand in an attempt to stifle her laugh.

"We can talk later Heir Potter." Draco said to Harry. He bowed himself out and walked away.

"That was quite honestly the most entertaining banter I've ever had the pleasure of listening to." Historia voiced joyously. Gerrod sighed in amusement and Nermaius just smirked. "Now where were we. Potion works, right?"

"Yes." Hermione leaned forward and once again began to lecture Harry on the Wizarding World. The covered quite a bit of subjects during their time on the train. Sadly, for Harry anyways, it had to end, the others, while they enjoyed Hermione's company, it was still exhausting to listen to her talk nonstop. Gerrod had pulled a pocket watch from a hidden pocket sleeve in his robes to check the time.

"We're nearly there, about ten minutes from. You had better get your robes on Harry." Gerrod instructed with a calm voice. The Boy-Who-Lived nodded and went to go change.

After a few minutes of Harry being gone and looming silence, Gerrod spoke, "I'm surprised he didn't run away when you first began to rattle on, Hermione." He teased.

"Oh, shut up, I don't have many friends, well who are boys anyways, not for the lack of trying, Father had practically forbidden me to mention boys to him, much less be in contact with them." Hermione told Gerrod with a hint of annoyance to her Father. "But I have friends in you, Nermaius, and Harry, even though we quite literally met today. We are friends, right?" She asked panicky.

"We wouldn't be if we weren't sitting here. Besides hadn't we already been through this conversation?" Nermaius answered with snark, Historia hit him on the arm and he soundlessly laughed.

"Don't be rude," Historia said, reprimand more like it. "Although he's right." And she burst out laughing.

"What's going on?" Harry asked, having finally returned from changing. He returned to his seat by the window.

"Nothing, we're just making fun of you and Hermione." Historia said with a smile.

"They're being mean because I talk a lot." Hermione said.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Thank you, see, it's not a bad thing to be passionate of what you know."

"In your case, it's almost everything, Hermione." Gerrod said, Hermione gave him a face and he held his hand as in defense. "I never said it was a bad thing. Its just some, mainly the fools, have a hard time because they are intellectually challenged, unlike you and me."

"Hey, I'm smart." Historia pouted at her Brother.

"Not as smart as me, Gerrod, or Hermione from what we've seen." Nermaius commented.

"Some people have all the luck." Historia pouted, slumping down her seat just a little. Harry just smiled at her and stared out the window.

The last minutes of the train ride came slowly, but it soon stopped, and excitement filled the air, the First Years exited in a hurry. Rushing to the boats where Hagrid had told them to get in, the boys made one boat with Draco. Hermione and Historia along with a girl named Pansy and Daphne, made another.

Hogwarts was beautiful in the dark, the castle was like a looming giant, a shadowy colossus, the lights of lit room sparkling in the dark, as if the stars were to the earth. Yet the building gave off a impressive and commanding aura, one could feel the Magic that has been imbued into the grounds of the school. The Protection Charms and Shields tingled as the students passed the barrier threshold which surrounded the school grounds. The First Years watched from their boats as their seniors entered the castle without them. The Black Lake, Harry had learned from Hermione, was able to Magically guide the boats they were in to the shore where one of the entrances were.

Harry Potter, Hermione Malfoy, Gerrod and Historia Grindelwald, and Nermaius Lovegood along with the other two girls Harry didn't know, all exited their boats the moment they hit land. Each searched through the crowd of students to find one another. Hagrid hadn't told them anything else and just left them to their own devices to head inside.

"Harry," Hermione shouted, waving her hand in the arm to catch his attention. Harry waved back to indicate that he saw her, he notified the other boys and they made their way to Hermione and the others.

"So you're Harry Potter." A girl with a high-pitched voice said. Dark-haired and brown-eyed, with a face the shape a heart, the girl extended her hand to Harry, which he took. "I'm Pansy, Pansy Parkinson. This here is Daphne Greengrass." She flick her hand to the mature looking blond beside her, Hermione, and Historia. Daphne curtsied and Harry gave a small bow with his head, obviously not knowing what to do, Daphne smiled at him, not faltering her lack of knowledge as Hermione had informed her and Pansy of it. Harry had realized that all the other students, besides himself, were all very mature looking for their age, Hermione had explained that apparently being a Wizard or Witch meant that the Magic they had made them better, stronger, smarter, and faster, more handsome or beautiful, or both, than the average Muggle.

"Hello Potter." Draco said as he walked up to the group, it was a good thing the other First Years were talking loudly or else everyone on of them would have turned their head to stare at the Boy-Who-lived as if he were an exhibition display. "Pansy, Daphne, etch, and Historia, right?" The etch was to Hermione, who rolled her eyes at his behavior. "You guys know what House you're hoping to join? I plan on joining Slytherin."

"Your more likely to go Ravenclaw to be honest, Draco." Hermione said to her Brother.

"Oh, shut up, I don't want to be in a house full of freaks." Draco hotly remarked.

"If being smart means being a freak, I'll gladly join Ravenclaw." Gerrod answered. "Course that doesn't mean you'll stay in Ravenclaw, Draco. You know how the Sorting Hat works."

"How does it work?" Harry asked. "You've never explained it actually."

"We didn't?" Hermione pondered for a second. "Hmm. Guess we didn't. Well, essentially, we're sorted into on of Four Houses, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Gryfindor. Slytherin for the cunning and resourceful, Ravenclaw for the smart, Hufflepuff for the gentle and kind, and Gryfindor for the head-strong,. Of course any given year the Sorting Hat can change several students around depending on their personal growth and traits. Those who stay in their first designated House are called True Slytherins, Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Gryfindors. Of course that doesn't happen as often as it seems."

"What do mean?" Harry questioned, interested greatly.

"Well," Hermione began. "In the last hundred years, there have been a combined total of only 40 True Slytherins, Ravenclaws, Gryffindors, and Hufflepuffs. 17 from Gryffindor, 11 from Hufflepuff, 7 from Slytherin, and 5 from Ravenclaw."

"Why does Gryffindor have so many?" Harry asks.

"Because, Gryffindor is popular because of all the societal backlash Slytherin gets for being, what they consider, 'evil.' Many students go join Gryfindor because they're labeled as the 'good guys.'" Hermione answers with an annoyance. "Slytherin isn't even bad, Merlin himself was a Slytherin. And it was Salazar who created the Sorting Hat to have no bias to its wearer."

"Really?" Draco said, a little confused, "I didn't know that. And I spend more time in our library than you."

"Exactly." Hermione prompted. "The people are so biased when they say Salazar was biased, even though it was him who created and structured the Sorting System."

"Why is it that-"

"Merlin, you're Harry Potter!" A boy screamed with enthusiasm. He had fiery red hair, blue eyes, a long nose, and a fat face. All the chatter stopped when the boy screamed out Harry's name. The all stared at the boy as if her were some lost artifact. "I-I'm Ronald, Ronald Weasley."

"Oh Merlin, its one of them," Draco sarcastically said to which he received a look from Ronald.

"Malfoy, what are you doing with Harry?" Ron asked, acting as if he and Harry had been best friends for years.

"Talking to him, Weasley." Draco replied smartly. "Or were you too dumb to realize that we were actually having a intellectual conversation?" Ron's ears turned red from embarrassment.

"Yeah? W-well I bet Harry doesn't want to hang out with the Son of a Death Eater." Ron retorted with a smirk. The crowd of students silenced over the words, Death Eater. Hermione gasped, she covered her month.

"My Father isn't a Death Eater, you uneducated scum. And don't you dare call him that, you know nothing of what you speak of, you prat." Hermione threatened, she was infuriated that this boy dared insult her family, to insult her Brother was one thing, to insult her Father, was another. And she would not have that.

"Hey, I know you, your Lord Malfoy's love child! Must be terrible being finding out that you're an illegitimate Half-breed, I honestly feel bad for you, you can be my friend if you want, I wouldn't want to hang out with family like that, especially-"

Crack.

A fist flew right into Ron's face, he reeled back in pain and held his nose, crying out that it was broken or something. "Don't you ever insult us Malfoys." Draco said, nursing his hand. He looked to the crowd. "The hell are you lot looking at? Let's go guys." The group, Pansy and Daphne included, left the boy on the ground with his hand clutching his blood nose. They walked up the stairs and people made room for them as they reached the top. Surprisingly, an elderly woman opened the door and exited.

"Bumbling buffoon." She mutter under her breath. Looking up to the students, she could see Harry Potter in a group with the Malfoys, a Parkinson, and a Greengrass as well as three white haired students, who she guessed were related somehow. How odd. "Greeting students, I apologize for not coming earlier, it seems our Gamekeeper had forgotten to come and escort you on what to do. To let you all know, I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, I teach Transfiguration here at Hogwarts and an also the Head of House Gryffindor. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarted yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting. Please follow me," she flicked her wand and the doors behind her Magically pulled themselves open. She turned around but then stopped, once again she face the students in a kindly manner. "Oh, I almost forgot. Welcome to Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."