End of the First Year

Daphne POV ~ A Few Weeks Ago

Late at night, Daphne sat in the common room in an armchair by the fire, studying a chapter in their charms textbook. She sighed and resigned to go to sleep when the door to the room slammed open, with a visibly dirty Harry walking in, a mix of a scowl and worry etched upon his face. The others took note of his loud appearance as well but immediately went back to their own tasks. 'What happened? And why is he so dirty?' She thought curiously. She shook the questions from her mind and returned to her book but out of the corner of her eye, she kept note of his presence until it disappeared into the boys' rooms.
...

"Why are we so far down? We were winning!"

"That damned Potter must have done something!"

"But what? He's only 11!"

"11 my arse! He's obviously a dark lord in training, he must have cursed his 'friends' to follow and help whatever sick games he's playing!"

"But wasn't he raised by Muggles? How would he even learn that kind of magic...?"

Daphne tuned out the gossip and Tracy's own loud theories and turned to her own thoughts, 'Was this why he was so upset yesterday? He must've been traipsing around the Forest but he hasn't cared about the house points all that much so why would that bother him?'

There was a lot of shouting ahead and the next thing she knew, Harry was passing by with his mask set more rigidly than usual. Her eyes bore a hole into his retreating form for a moment until he passed around a corner.

Daphne POV - Night of the Fight

At dinner, there was gossip that the horrid noises heard around the castle grounds were because of Harry Potter attempting to play the violin. Most wondered where the instrument had even come from. 'So that's why he was missing from class...' Daphne thought. She had noted his absence from every class they had that day.

The pattern repeated itself for days and the boy's absence was becoming more difficult for Daphne to ignore for reasons beyond her grasp. After Harry had left the Great Hall that night, she noted his disappearance and when some time had passed, she lost what remained of her appetite and made her way slowly back to the Slytherin dungeons. Just as she began making her way through the first corridor of the dungeons, she heard a loud slam of a door a short distance ahead which made her jump. She took out her wand and prepared a small hex but then hid her wand as she saw some other students also heading back to the common room. They ignored the noise and kept walking on. She brought her wand back out and checked the doors, the first few revealing empty rooms but the fifth on the left revealed a fallen figure.

"Wh-," Daphne began to speak but as she was able to perceive more of this figure, she realized it was Potter. What had silenced her questions was the glow of green light that began to grow and envelop him. This green light revealed the existence of burns and other twisted black marks. Yet as she began to examine them, they started fading away. The boy grimaced and curled up in pain and a moment later, Daphne realized her hand was on his shoulder as if to try and comfort him. She jumped back in surprise, looking around then back at her own hand. She tentatively put her hand back and a short while later, the rest of the wounds faded from view, the fast fading green light showing barely noticeable remnants of whatever he had suffered. He began to shift and groan aloud and Daphne quickly ran out of the room while hiding her face, only slowing down to close the door quietly behind her.

Harry POV

Harry woke up on the cold stone floor a little sore but otherwise he felt alright, warm, even. He was surprised he wasn't in incredible pain or at least held some level of discomfort considering he had just faced one of the most feared wizards in recent history. As he pushed himself up into a sitting position, he had come to another realization: He couldn't see for the first time in a long while. Even if it were a dark room, he should have been able to see. Harry sighed and his exhaustion hit him like a ton of bricks. "That does not feel good," he said with a sigh and a yawn. He tried drawing on his wells of magic to reenable his sight but the most he was able to do was shift the mass of energy ever so slightly.

He got to his feet and turned around, he was pretty sure that he hadn't moved much into the room so there should be a door behind him not that far away. He stumbled forward slowly with his hand outstretched and just two steps later, his hand hit something solid. "Well this feels like wood, if it's not the door, I'll be surprised," he said with a chuckle. He ran his hand across the expanse of wood until he managed to grasp onto the handle of the door and slowly pulled it open.

He held onto the wall and turned left. The Slytherin common room door should only be a couple of minutes away at a normal pace, provided he didn't miss the last passage there. From his memory of the last few months, it should be on the other side of the corridor. He stepped forward with a little more confidence and kept his right hand on the wall. Minutes later he reached what seemed to be a different piece of wall compared to the earlier stone.

After speaking the password, the wall let him through into common room. With his memory serving him right, Harry rejoiced and in his joy, he accidentally flipped over one of the smaller chairs that he walked into. With a dull thud and the knocking over of some objects, he groaned. The derisive laughter of two others told him he wasn't alone and so, after regaining his wits, he turned in the direction of the path to his room and slowly navigated his way there. He detected obstacles by lightly kicking out in front of him every few steps until he was sure the way was clear.

"One... two..." Harry counted the doors he passed until he reached what he assumed was his room. "If this isn't it, I'll have a very surprised friend in a few minutes," he mumbled. Plopping himself down on the bed, he sighed, "I hope I can get my magic control back soon, I can't handle tomorrow sightless."

The next day, the moment Harry regained consciousness, a small amount of energy swirled around him and he cheered. "It's not a lot but better than nothing." He dropped his hold on the energy and sent some of his magic to his eyes, granting him the sight he had become accustomed to.

If one were to see Harry Potter, they would assume he was reserved and cold. For the first time since his arrival to Hogwarts, there was a strange warmth to him, as if the first signs of spring had arrived.

Harry came across a Gryffindor on his early morning exercise and that student seeing him greeted him along with a wave, confusion twisting their expression upon realizing who they had greeted.

Taking a short rest by the lakeside, Harry felt Hedwig flying down to him so he held his arm out for her. He touched his head to hers and in that instant, images of her breakfast was transmitted to his mind. He broke the contact and stared at her in surprise. She hooted and cocked her head to the side. He tried transmitting an image in return but even with contact, nothing happened. "How strange... What should I do about that, Hedwig?" He asked. The snowy owl just cooed at him then took off. He smiled as he watched her fly away. "Right, one problem at a time."

Later, as breakfast began in the Great Hall, there was the absence of Quirrell which Dumbledore addressed immediately.

"I have an announcement to make: Professor Quirrell has vacated his position as he could no longer handle the stresses of the job." Dumbledore spoke, sounding almost irritated. "On another note, it is a bit early for Defence Against the Dark Arts professors to retire from the position compared to previous years but the Ministry has been contacted so please give a warm welcome to Professor Johnson. He will be your temporary professor until the next year." The old man's twinkling blue eyes landed squarely on Harry for a split second, while gesturing to the new figure occupying a seat at the head table, before turning back to the rest of the Great Hall and allowing for breakfast to continue.

Harry returned to class for the first time in weeks and it was the same as before, except that everyone was acting strangely around him. They could not look him in the face and would turn away to ignore him, unable to even send a glare in his direction.

It wasn't until lunch that someone in the Great Hall shouted at Harry. "Will you stop that?! You're being so weird!"

Harry lifted his head away from his plate of toast. He showed confusion and just mumbled something that sounded like a question through the toast that he had in his mouth.

Several people groaned in frustration. 'What is with everyone today?' Harry gave a look of concern around the room. 'I've done nothing differently.' He grabbed his remaining slices of toast and just walked away. He felt one particular set of eyes boring into his back, it was hers, just as it had been for the last few weeks. 'Odd, her behaviours have changed too, what is going on at Hogwarts?'

This continued for days until people began to ignore him as they couldn't even meet his eyes without losing their train of thought. It was at this point, though, that he was finally able to meet up with Hermione and Allison again.

"Where's Ron?" He asked, noting the boy's absence.

Hermione replied with a grimace, "His older brothers bullied him into staying in line which is very anti-Slytherin it seems. It wasn't pretty so we might not see Ron as a friend again for a long time."

"Can we do anything about it?" Allison asked to which Hermione responded with a shrug. "Well... it can't hurt to try, but I'm glad that at least we can be around each other again, being alone with the other Ravenclaw students all the time was so stifling, I could barely even focus on the Ancient Runes text I've been reading for fun," Allison said quietly.

"You know, I hoped this world would be better than the one with my relatives but it's worse and much more strange," Harry thought aloud. "Magic is amazing but is it really worth it to continue to living among these kinds of people? Just to suffer differently?"

"We don't have to be friends with them," Allison reminded him. "Plus, quitting now would restrict a part of yourself in the non-magical side of the world and that's definitely not worth it."

"I'd like to think that even just the three of us is enough to make our own way here," Hermione said. "Let's not give up just because it's difficult now."

Harry let out a quiet sigh and said, "You're right, both of you. Let's work hard to make it the best life it can be then..."

"So... what happened with Quirrell? You took care of him right?" they queried.

"Well... I hit him hard and Voldemort took his remaining bit of life for himself, then he left as a kind of shade. It was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be though, I'm not even sure how I'm alive right now honestly," Harry answered, finishing his reply nonchalantly while pointedly ignoring the gaping looks of shock they were showing at him. "There is also something else but I don't quite know how to bring it up. Until I feel confident in telling you both, we can continue on as normal."

"Okay, that's understandable," Hermione agreed. She then exploded as his initial words finally properly registered in her mind. "DID YOU SAY YOU ALMOST DIED?!"

"It was nothing, just a few curses, dark magic, and burns here and there," Harry replied, still ignoring their gazes.

"DON'T JUST SKIP OVER THAT LIKE IT'S NOTHING!" Allison shouted, "WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!"

Harry's voice dropped low as soon as she said those words. "And what could either of you have done? While you and Hermione are certainly very knowledgeable with magic in its first year with some advancements into second and even some reading into third year material, you've yet to even begin practice dueling and grasp the use of more powerful spells. For me, I'm lucky to have the kind of magic that I do have."

"Sorry," Allison mumbled. "I just wish I could have helped..."

"No, you're right to worry, but we'll have to be better prepared. I need to be smarter about this the next time he comes around and hopefully finish it for good by then."

...

Harry was heading to the library when he noticed a familiar presence sitting in a secluded corner. He headed straight there and sat down with a specific question in mind.

"Hullo Ms. Greengrass."

"... Potter." There was a moment of silence as Harry just sat opposite of her without a word. "What do you want, Potter? Stop staring."

"As the heir to a house with a history as long as yours, you have knowledge of certain magicks right?"

Daphne stopped her studying to stare at him. "I'm not at liberty of discussing my house secrets," she said with a hint of annoyance.

"That's not really what I mean," Harry hastily said, "I'm wondering if you know any magic about the mind, something that could help protect secrets from unwanted guests."

"I do, and-." Daphne paused as if to prepare herself. "I'll help you."

Harry looked taken aback. "Really? Why is that? We have no reason to even be communicating right now."

Daphne glanced up at him. "Don't push it... please."

"My apologies then, and thank you," Harry said, giving a hint of a smile to her.

A short while later, Daphne Greengrass stood at the front of a classroom that was empty were it not for her and the three others occupying the space. The room was far off from the usual populated areas so there was a low likelihood of being discovered. Harry, Hermione, and Allison sat before her, waiting expectantly. "No unnecessary questions, I'm sure Potter has already explained but I'm here for one reason only, so let's begin."

"Occlumency is the ability to defend ones mind from outside sources. How would you go about this? Magic defenses like a shield spell? No, that's inefficient and has too many holes even if it could work. It's quite simple really, one simply has to close off their thoughts and emotions. But it can be quite difficult for most." She gave a paused look toward Allison and Hermione who began to raise objections but she just spoke a degree louder. "Be calm! That's the first step. If you're too in the moment, your control becomes unstable which allows for intruders to find out what they want and maybe even influence you."

They began a few basic exercises of calming and staying neutral while Daphne, to their utter shock, began acting incredibly goofy. She poked them and prodded them and made strange sounds that caused them to giggle and break concentration. When that happened, Daphne would revert back to her normal self until they were able to stop. "Try again," is all she would say.

Harry was mostly unfazed by this teaching method but even he couldn't help but laugh at one point which made Daphne glare at him. At one point, Allison asked, "Even if we manage to become calm enough for occlumency, how would we know it's working? Can you attack our minds?"

"Good question," Daphne said, and her brows furrowed. A minute passed and Allison was about to speak again when she yelped. Hermione and Harry turned to face Allison.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"I-I just saw a lot of bugs everywhere... everywhere," Allison replied shivering.

"That is something a user of legilimency is capable of," Daphne explained. "Besides finding certain information, they may be able to instill images or feelings that could influence the mind." She hummed for a second and gave a look toward Harry. She narrowed her eyes and Harry felt her presence attempt to enter his mind for just a few moments. "I don't know what you've done, Potter, but it seems like you already have a kind of defense against intrusions. Though for a more powerful legilimens, it would probably be easier for them to break through."

She went back to the front of the room. "Alright, let's try again."

Time passed and exams came and went. The points difference was too great to make up even after the remaining Quidditch matches played out. Harry was also barred from the Quidditch team by Flint after the points debacle, which resulted in him having to give up his gifted broom back to Snape. The result of which was that for the first time in years, for the last great dinner of that year, the Great Hall was decked in Hufflepuff's black and yellow colours. Students from the other houses initially grumbled to themselves but the Hufflepuff table were having a grand time. Some Hufflepuffs audibly shouted out "Thank you, Dark Lord Potter!" Some less celebratory students from each house noticed that at the head table, Dumbledore had an especially sour look on his face. They thought that perhaps because he was known as a Gryffindor and so was sad to have lost in such a way.

As Harry feasted by himself, he looked around and thought, 'Well, perhaps it's not all that bad. If the world isn't to my liking then I just have to change the world!' He then felt embarrassed that he even thought those words in such a manner and shivered from it.

...

Harry sighed. He was staring at the Hogwarts train, deep in thought while Hermione and Allison conversed.

"Harry? What's wrong?" Allison asked, interrupting herself.

"I have to live with the Dursleys for two months until the next year. They don't really bother me anymore but I'd rather not have to stay with them if I can help it. I was told I have a place in Diagon Alley but I don't want to be mobbed by ignorant people asking why I'm in Slytherin and what kind of dark terrors I'll unleash later on," Harry said with another sigh.

"I'm sure you'd get attention if you were wandering in public, Harry, but it probably wouldn't be like that," Hermione said.

"Are you sure? After this past year at Hogwarts, it seems to be the likely thing," Harry replied quietly.

"Perhaps, but kids like us are weird, maybe the adults have grown out of it," Hermione said with some hope.

"You're forgetting that the professors acted bitterly against him though, Hermione," Allison said.

"Right, maybe it's better if you find another place then," Hermione said quickly.

"Oh! I know! Stay with me and my family! They're open to having you around for Christmas, why don't we ask if you can stay for the summer too?" Allison suggested enthusiastically. "We'll make room!"

"That... sounds like a nice idea," Harry agreed.

From far away, hidden from sight, a small figure watched the trio talking. Once they began to board the scarlet steam engine, the figure vanished without a sound.

A/N: So... For everyone who has read this far and plan to continue on: This first year was obviously heavily canon-inclined. There may be similar events as well in the future but besides a few key events in the Potterverse, that should hopefully be where the canon story ends and my own truly begins. It has been a long 6 years to release just these first 15 chapters but even before that I had released several stories with similar OP Harry ideas in mind and subsequently deleted. This is the one story I plan to finish. I hope that what I have planned is grand enough for you readers and hopefully I execute it well.

P.S. Sorry, this chapter took much longer to write than I expected. I had a rough outline made the day I uploaded the previous chapter but then some personal stuff happened then my job became exhausting. Maybe I should stop making upload-time promises. I'll try to upload chapters more frequently than I did with the previous chapters though.

Also, I know that this story isn't even remotely the best out there but I'm grateful for all of you who have made it this far. Thank you for sticking around and continuing to read my story, I appreciate it.

(The First Fourteen Chapters May Be Rewritten In The Future)