HARRY POTTER AND THE PRINCE OF HOGWARTS

Year One

AN: Hi everyone! Here is the newest chapter of my fanfic, and for once, I'm not late! (Very proud of myself, obviously XD) Anyway, this is just part of the first day at Hogwarts and the morning alone is so long I had to split it. So here is the first part. Hope you enjoy :)

Disclaimer: This story is written for fun, not profit, and I make no claim to the rights and ownership of Harry Potter.

Chapter 7- A very productive morning (1)

Slytherin First-Year Boys Dorm

September 2nd, 5:15 a.m.

Harry Potter woke up bright and early, just like he was used to. Well, not really bright. It was so early that it was still dark outside, the sun hadn't even risen, and besides, he still had the curtains from his bunk bed drawn. They were enchanted to keep the sunlight out, and Harry could attest that they did their job well.

After casting a quick tempus (that revealed that it was 5:15 in the morning), he yawned and climbed quietly out of bed, trying not to wake Theo, who slept in the bunker above him, or Draco and Zabini who slept in the bunk beds beside theirs, or even Crabbe and Goyle. Though, from the way they were snoring, Harry doubted that they would wake from this or from him dumping a bucket full of water on them.

His bed was the nearest to the door- he wasn't about to trap himself in a corner bed with a room full of Slytherins, even if they are only first years- so he just grabbed his stuff and walked to the bathroom. After a shower and a change into the uniform, as well as the adjustment of his arm holster where he kept the wand from his founders (the thigh holster and cherry wand stayed locked under some extremely difficult and slightly dark privacy spells Sal had already put on so that Harry didn't have to when he found it, years later, in the Slytherin vault), Harry sauntered, book in hand, to what he assumed would be an empty common room.

Except it wasn't.

Draco, looking as sourly as anyone had ever seen him, sat in a couch, dressed in informal robes that he'd apparently just thrown over his pajamas, yawning widely.

"Finally! Merlin, I've been here waiting for you since 3:30 am!"

Harry did a double-take, but not one big enough to lose his composure over. His heart warmed at the thought that Draco would go to such measures to talk to him, but then, he heard his voice, six years ago, echoing in his mind.

Leave and never come back. Goodbye, Harry.

Grudges brought misery, but that sentence had brought on more than a grudge ever could. He remembered the tears, millions of tears, that that sentence had made him cry. He'd been six years old, and kicked out of the only home he'd known. A home where he'd been loved, where he'd had fun, where he'd been happy. But Draco, for his own selfish reasons, had kicked him out.

It was time for Harry to do the same.

"I don't see why you'd do that. You're going to be tired for the first day of classes, and lack of sleep makes you very grouchy."

"C'mon, Har, you know exactly why I did this!" Draco had thought that Harry hadn't wanted to talk in public, and so had woken up incredibly early to catch him alone. He didn't do all that just to be turned down again. And yet, here he was.

"No, I don't. I said I didn't want to talk yesterday, and that hasn't changed. So go back to bed already!" Harry was getting irritated- he just wanted to go read… and take care of some other stuff. But mainly read.

Draco crossed his arms stubbornly. "Nope."

Harry just shrugged indifferently. "Alright then."

Without another word, he strolled right past a disappointed and slightly angry Draco and left the Common Room.

His plan had been to wait there for Theo, reading and meditating, since he still had to sort out his feelings about the whole Malfoy situation (he'd forgotten about it yesterday). That might have been why he'd turned down Draco again, but honestly, after everything he had done, the boy deserved it.

Harry frowned inwardly at his lack of compassion and mercy. Having that talk first thing in the morning had made him really cranky.

Since he hardly could do what he'd originally planned, then roaming the castle, exploring, is as good an activity as any.

He strolled down the corridors in the dungeons, whistling as he went. He wasn't scared- no one would willingly go into the deepest, unexplored parts of the dungeons. Except who had things to hide… like he did.

Harry could imagine that his was a great place for secret meeting and such, or brewing illegal potions, trying illegal spells, the list goes on. Though Harry wasn't here for any of that today.

He walked for quite a long time, until he was sure that no one would accidentally end up here. People who knew this place would be on edge, looking for dangers, and wouldn't be surprised if something dangerous and deadly was walking around. On the other hand, people who had never been here or didn't even know of its existence, might well be victims of some deadly poison.

Harry rolled up his right sleeve, where the black tattoo of his pet snake Selena was currently resting, and then, he pressed it. A second later, a ten-foot-long basilisk appeared at his feet. Any reasonable person would run for their life, but Harry grinned and bent down. The snake climbed up his arms until it rested on his shoulders and squeezed him slightly, as if hugging him. He scratched her chin, causing her to laugh softly (ki-ki-ki!).

Though a snake like his was incredibly heavy normally, some enchantments he'd found in an old book from the Slytherin vault made it possible for him to carry her when she was this long and heavy, but also when she would be 50 feet long and ten times as heavy.

"Hello. I've missssed you", the snake said.

"Assss have I. Now, lissssten, I will let you out to hunt here, but if you ssssscent a human, you have to hide. I will come back for you thissss evening, yesss?" Harry hissed back.

Selena did a sort of nod and slithered back down to the ground, instantly disappearing in the darkness of the corridor. Satisfied, Harry walked back to the entrance (that was hidden just beside the entrance to the common room) and headed for the first floor.

He had some more... things to check up on.

Except that the 'things' had disappeared. He was standing in front of the first-floor girl's bathroom, extremely confused. He remembered all the times he'd stood here, and instead of seeing a witch stuck on the door, there was a golden name plate, three words engraved on it.

Salazar Slytherin's Office.

And now, that office- Harry's favorite out of the four- was simply… gone. Needless to say, Harry's mood didn't improve in the slightest. Not only was that office incredibly beautiful and significant to him, it also had contained a certain door, which led to a certain staircase, which led to a certain chamber.

He'd been looking forward to visiting the chamber again. It was perfect for dueling (no spell cast there could be picked up by the Hogwarts wards and Headmaster, including Unforgivables), brewing (there was an actual, huge potion lab which also contained some notes of Sal's unfinished work), hiding his ten-foot-long snake (it couldn't stay in his dorm- he didn't know how he would explain that to his dorm mates- and it wasn't very happy tattoo'ed on his arm and meditating (he still had to do that- urgently).

He considered knocking, but hell, it was 5.30 am. Who on earth would be awake, much less in the first-floor girl's bathroom, at that time?

A freaking ghost, that's who.

Harry had just walked in, only to hear wailing coming from one of the stalls. Immediately, he'd turned on his heel and grabbed the door handle, but before he could open it, a ghost had walked through the stall door and shrieked loudly at the sight of him.

"A BOY! A BOY IN MYRTLE'S BATHROOM! OH, WHAT HAS MY LIFE TURNED INTO?" More wailing followed that.

Harry shot a silencing spell at the door without even looking, since he had turned around to face, who, he supposed, was Myrtle.

"Hi, sorry for disturbing…" he said somewhat awkwardly. He had no clue how to, like, talk to her. But he had to try since a), she was upset, and he didn't need anyone- much less a ghost- to go tattle and b) maybe she knew something about the disappearance of Sal's office.

As soon as he'd started speaking, she'd quieted down, so he took his chance and continued.

"I'm Harry Potter. You're… Myrtle, right?"

"Oh! He calls me Myrtle. Not Moaning Myrtle, no! He calls Myrtle by her name!" The ghost looked much happier.

"Yes, well, hi, Myrtle. Nice to meet you", he said, filing way 'Moaning Myrtle' for further research. "I have a question, and I thought you would be the perfect person to ask." Harry hid his grin as she looked away almost bashfully but definitely blushing- or the equivalent for a ghost. A little flattery never hurt anybody.

"Oh, yes, well, thank you, I'm honored, Harry Potter. Ask away."

"I was wondering… well, do you know what this was before it go turned into a bathroom?"

She narrowed her eyes and HArry could tell she was suspicious. It was a slightly weird question, one probably didn't ask often.

Harry cut her off before she could say anything. " I know, I know, it's strange." He rubbed his neck and looked away. "I'm just really interested in Hogwarts' history, and not a lot of people have the time to tell me anything. So I've taken it up as a private project, but if you don't have time or just don't want to say anything, Myrtle, I totally understand." He paused, insecure. "You know what? This was stupid. It's probably better if I just left now-"

But Myrtle rushed forward. "No, no, don't go Harry Potter!" I will gladly tell you everything I know!"

Harry grinned easily.

Score.

Fifteen minutes later, Harry left the girl's bathroom decidedly more knowledgeable and with the name of a book where he could find more information about everything that could be known about Hogwarts.

The name of a book that he was warned not to say aloud, because it was so ancient and fearsome that it couldn't even be found in Hogwarts' restricted section.

Luckily for him, he had a way of getting exactly what he wanted.

It wasn't even hard.

Helga had once given him an empty, magical book that, should one tap his wand on the cover and say the name of any book aloud, the empty book would turn into said book. The cover could even be disguised by tapping twice. A third tap, and the contents would clear, so it would be ready to turn into the next book.

All he had to do was sneak back into his dorm, disguised with a silencing and Notice-Me-Not charm, open his trunk, summon the gifted book and sneak out again. Needless to say, the plan went flawlessly.

Harry went over to a corner in the Common Room and cast the strongest privacy charms he knew, though he doubted anyone sane would be awake this early on the first day of school. Once he was surrounded by at least half a dozen spells, Harry took out the book from his backpack, grinning victoriously.

With his wand, he tapped it once and said, "Tenet Secreta Hogwarts."

A hour later, the book had brought on nothing but headaches. It was handwritten, and not exactly easy to understand since it was written in Latin. Harry had worked through the first two chapters, dictionary in hand, before realizing that all he'd read was just the introduction. Sure enough, the chapter after that was much more… insightful, and he learned plenty of things that had shocked him to the core, though there was nothing there about what he actually wanted to know… yet.

Harry was determined to read the entire thing, but it was huge and was definitely going to take more time than that. Besides, there were already people streaming into the Common Room. He'd taken longer than he thought and he still had more stuff to accomplish before breakfast, if possible.

Quickly, he stuffed the book into his backpack, slung that over his shoulder and discarded the privacy spells before anyone could realize that he, a simple first-year, had cast them. Head bowed, he joined the few people already awake in leaving the Common Room.

But while they turned right to get up to the Great Hall, he turned left, towards the Hogwarts Grounds.

He soon found what he'd searched for: the Hogwarts Broom Shed.

That was when he realized two things. One, that the surrounding Security was a total joke. And two, that the reason it was that way was because Hogwarts' brooms were an even bigger joke.

Harry searched through the ones that looked alright before choosing an old, battered-looking Shooting Star and locking the shed behind him. Then, casting a Notice-Me-Not charm on himself, he climbed atop it and kicked off, enjoying the frigid morning wind in his hair and on his face.

How he'd missed flying.

As soon as his entire body had turned numb from the cold that came from flying around the Quidditch pitch at high speed for half-an-hour, he cast a warming charm on himself and started Occluding.

He flew slower, at a more reasonable and not-so-deadly pace and cleared his mind, before pulling up different moments from the last few days to examine his feelings and then storing the memory away again to start with another.

Muscle memory was the only thing steering the broom at this point, the entirety of his mind focused on the Occlumency exercises he was going through. People could say a lot of things about Salazar Slytherin, but he was an amazing teacher.

A few minutes later (maybe more than a few), Harry opened his eyes again and steered the broom back to the ground, feeling calmer than ever. While thinking about what results his mental exercises had brought on, he put the broom back in the shed.

He now knew for sure that he felt guilty at his outburst at the Dursleys, no matter how much he might have thought they deserved it back then. His sorrow for Sirius' imprisonment was very much real, though he didn't blame Lucius or anybody else. He only felt determination in getting him out and finding out who stuck his godfather in jail. Also, he might have been a little harsh on Draco, but he couldn't forgive him. Not yet. And he didn't really hate his twin- actually, he was surprised to find that he wanted to be on better terms with him, maybe even get to know him. Be actual brothers. Now that he didn't have Draco…

His hatred was more directed to Lily and James. He'd been gone six years, and then, he was just sent off again. Because they thought he was a Squib. And he wasn't sent off to a nice home. No, that would be too good for the Slytherin Potter. He would grow up in an abusive one, where he was treated like a house-elf. Or would have been, if Merlin hadn't shown up and saved him. They couldn't have known that the Dursleys were horrible, but still.

But unlike Draco, they might be able to earn his forgiveness. Maybe. Someday.

Smiling to himself, he walked back up to the castle.

It had been a very productive morning.

Almost everyone was in the Great Hall by the time Harry got there. First, he looked over to the Gryffindor table (while walking), smiling discreetly at Hermione and Neville, who waved back. He was surprised to find that Adrian wasn't even looking at him, though.

Shaking it off, he looked towards the teachers next. Snape was looking straight at him. He looked back and was surprised to find the tiniest tendril of Legilimeny find its way into his mind. Harry smirked and kicked him out, this time attacking Snape's mind. He arrived in his mind-space, but didn't press further, instead just burned a message into the floor with a thought alone.

Please stay out of my mind, Professor Snape. I don't think Prof. Dumbledore will take you legilimising students without permission too well. Unless he does it too, then I guess you're both going to jail.

Then, Harry looked away, breaking the connection. Snape all but dropped the cup of coffee he was holding in response to Harry's attack, which the boy found quite amusing. Snape had always told him, when he'd been posing as Dracos cousin and participating in his tuition, to never underestimate your enemy. Now Snape had just been the one to underestimate him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he also caught Lily looking at him, desperately trying to catch his eye, but Harry didn't look over. That could get complicated and he didn't want to get into all that today.

Undisturbed, he continued walking towards the Slytherin table.

Harry had barely arrived there that Theo bombarded him with questions.

"Where were you? D'you do anything exciting without me?" Theo asked, mocked-offended, while swallowing his toast. Once he could talk again, he said, "No but seriously. You woke up incredibly early, according to Malfoy at least. What did you do in all that time?"

Harry thought about it. He'd talked with Draco- or rather avoided doing so. Then he'd a much nicer conversation with his basilisk and let her out in the dungeon, so she could hunt. Then he'd visited the first-floor girl's bathroom, flirted with the ghost that lived there, gotten the information he'd needed about a certain secret and forgotten chamber and so did an hour worth of research on it but found nothing. After that, he'd broken into the Hogwarts broom shed, stolen a broom and went flying to clear his mind and think about all that had happened in the last few days. Lastly, as he'd entered the Great Hall, he'd had a stare-off with his Head of House and avoided one with his mother, before he finally sat down beside Theo and grabbed for scrambled eggs.

Harry shrugged and said, grinning mischievously, "Nothing much, really."

AN2: That's it! Kind of short compared to the last ones, but nessessary. Stay tuned for chapter 18 on December 6th, 2021!

AN3: Tenet Secreta Hogwarts is Latin and is supposed to translate into The darkest secrets of Hogwarts. Let me know if there is a problem with the traduction, since I am in no way fluent in Latin.

AN4: The story is kinda slow-paced right now, but it will speed up once we're done with the first few days to the main events.

Have a great week guys,

M.S.