August passed quickly for him and Gaara as they prepared for school. They finished reading their school textbooks and the supplementary books they had purchased in Flourish and Blotts. He refused to be anything less than one of the top ten students in every class. If he was going to have to be part of this world for seven years he would make sure that they were better than the years he had spent at the academy in the hidden leaf. He had been unable to find any references to the stone he had borrowed from Hagrid in any of the books he had purchased or even in any of the books held in the black library. He decided after a week to wait until he had access to the larger Hogwarts library to look for the stone again. He would need to be careful so that Dumbledore and Hagrid wouldn't catch on that he had been the one to take the stone.
Instead he turned his attention to memorizing his textbooks for first year. He had also read the book he had gotten about the theory behind wordless and wandless magic. He spent a few days trying each of the spells in his charms textbook until he was at least semi passable at performing them silently. Wandless spells would take much more practise before he could master them fully. Some of the easiest spells he managed to do on his own, like the levitation charm, but most were still far beyond his current skill level. He could not do both wordless and wandless magic at the same time yet either. Once he could do both he had a feeling his life in the Hidden Leaf would be much easier with an advantage like that. It would almost be like having a bloodline limit technique of his own.
He also didn't want to loose his skills as a shinobi while he was studying in the wizarding world, so he often found himself sparring with Gaara during the day while Sirius was at work. Gaara's sand had stopped working independently of his will once they had arrived in Britain. As far as they could tell it had been his accidental magic giving the sand a mind of its own due to the constant threat of assassination that had loomed over him his entire life while in the hidden sand village. It had certainly made sparring more fun because he wasn't just fighting sand while Gaara stood still but an active opponent who now had to put in a lot more effort to control his sand like a regular jutsu.
As hard as he was working over the month of August it was nothing to how hard Gaara was working. Gaara was determined to put every bit of effort he had into studying magic and regaining his edge with his sand techniques. Gaara slept at least half the day away but still managed to get as much done as he did even with the help of his shadow clones. It was a feat he found worthy of his respect and admiration especially because he suspected that Gaara was also practising with his sand while he was alone as well.
Finally, the first of September arrived. He had, had a hard time falling asleep the night before due to the nervous excitement making his stomach feel like a colony of butterflies had decided to take up residence inside it. This was the day that they would be leaving Black Manor to go to Hogwarts. He had made sure that his trunk was packed the night before because he had no intention of rushing around at the last minute. He wanted to get to the Hogwarts express early so he could find an empty compartment on the train to sit in. That way potential friends and acquaintances could come to him and Gaara. It would allow him to have an advantage with any interactions he had with his fellow students because they would need to ask him if they could join him in his compartment not the other way around.
As usual he was the first one in the house awake. He made his way through the now familiar halls of his home with his shrunken trunk in his pocket already dressed in his school robes. He did not like the idea of changing in front of other children especially because ever since Kurama had passed on, the sun-shaped seal was permanently visible on his stomach. He had gathered that it was uncommon for people who were eleven to have what the wizarding world would call a tattoo. He was sure it would lead to questions he was not willing to answer about where he and Gaara had grown up.
He made it to the kitchen to find that breakfast had already been made by the house elves. He took his seat at the table where he had just finished filling his plate when Sirius came in already dressed for the day. It was strange to see the man out of bed so early on his day off. He was glad that he seemed to take his desire to arrive early to the train seriously.
"Good morning, Prongslet," Sirius said cheerfully for the morning, "There's something I need to tell you before we leave."
He waited for Sirius to continue but he seemed to be waiting for some kind of acknowledgement from him first, "Okay."
Sirius sighed quietly, "You might have noticed that I've been reluctant to allow you outside of the manor over the past several weeks."
He hadn't noticed. He had been so busy trying to learn as much as he could from books about wizard society and then working a year ahead in his school books that it had honestly not crossed his mind to leave the manor. He hadn't really had anywhere to go or anyone to visit. However, looking back it was true that the only time they had left the manor since arriving had been for their school shopping. Not wanting to admit his slip in attention he simply nodded.
"Well, congratulations Harry you're famous," Sirius said with a nervous laugh.
"Why exactly am I famous?" he asked skeptically.
Sirius leaned back in his chair running a hand over his face, "Twelve years ago a prophesy was given by a seer that stated only you could defeat You-Know-Who. It is why your parents had to go into hiding. They cast a spell that would allow their location to remain a secret held by our friend Wormtail, but he betrayed them while Lily was pregnant with you. She was killed but somehow when the body was examined, despite her only having been a few months pregnant when she died, you were gone but according to the self updating records in the ministry still alive. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was a pile of ashes on the floor but his followers maintained that he was also still alive because his mark on their bodies didn't disappear. As a result the prophesy was considered to still be in play, you were a miracle because you had managed to survive but also the greatest mystery in the history of the Wizarding world as no one knew how you survived or where you were. I've been keeping reporters and curious fans away from the manor but as you will be going to school with children who grew up hearing stories about you I thought I should give you a fair warning."
"Why didn't you tell me right away?" he said voice rising higher than he intended, "Now I have to factor this revelation into all of the plans I made."
He had planned to be the intelligent go to tutor for the other children in his year group. He was intending to foster connections that would be to his advantage while not making any promises in return other than being willing to use his intelligence to assist them in their various aspirations. Now he had been told he would be seen as a hero by default so the world had all of these expectations of him that he would need to make at least a minor effort to live up to. It was annoying that now he would need to be seen living up to expectations while trying not to alienate any classmates who were on the opposite side during this conflict that occurred before he was even born. He also had to worry about weeding out the connections that would seek to use him for his fame or money. He groaned into his plate.
Sirius reached out an arm and squeezed his shoulder, "Don't worry, I'm sure a smart kid like you will figure out how to handle it. I didn't tell you right away because I wanted to give you time to get used to being in the wizarding world before you were made to deal with this too."
He huffed, "Are you sure the prophesy was about me specifically?"
"You were the only baby born at the end of July. Your birthday still was the end of July right?" Sirius asked.
"July 31st," he had been born at night because that was when the Kyuubi's attack had begun but he didn't know the exact time.
"I still don't understand how you survived, any ideas?" Sirius prodded.
He knew it was a jutsu of some kind because Kushina had never had magic or she would have gone to Hogwarts with Lily. Unfortunately, he had no idea which jutsu she could have used. He was also very sure he was not telling anyone in the wizarding world about shinobi or the elemental nations.
"No one ever said," he told Sirius with a shrug.
Just then Gaara walked into the kitchen with a large yawn also dressed in his school robes. Sirius smiled at him as he sat down.
"Excited to go to Hogwarts?" Sirius asked.
"I wish we didn't need to get up so early," Gaara complained, "Why can't you just apparate us to the school instead of this Hogwarts Express?"
Sirius laughed, "It's tradition, you'll love the ride to Hogwarts. Think of all the friends you'll make on the train. I met all of my best friends on the train."
Sirius said the last whistfully. He seemed to be caught in memories that made him both happy and sad at the same time.
"Maybe," Gaara said.
Gaara was trying to look like he didn't care but he could tell by the tightness in his expression that he really wanted to make friends. As the days passed he began to suspect that he and Gaara were likely not going to be in the same house however, he had accepted it as an advantage as it would help him to make connections with students in other houses easier. He smiled reassuringly at Gaara trying to convey that he would always have him. He though he saw some of the muscles in his face loosen but it could have been his imagination.
As soon as they had apparated onto Platform 9 3/4 he was hit with a wall of sound. There were already several families with their trunks and animals. He wondered why the wizarding children at least didn't have their trunks shrunk down like he did, the feature wasn't really expensive to add. The only thing he actually needed to carry was Hedwig's cage. The owl didn't seem overly fond of the noise or the confinement if the fluffing of her feathers was any indication. He felt a little bad because he hadn't had any use for her over the summer aside from delivering his thank you note to Hagrid who had not sent back a response. He assumed that was probably due to the panic of having lost the stone he was meant to retrieve.
In front of him was a large train with a scarlet steam engine that had the words Hogwarts Express printed on it in shiny gold paint. The steam billowing out from the chimney was thick in the air giving the entire platform a misty view. He was glad it was thin enough to see his immediate surroundings so he wouldn't need to worry about bumping into anyone by accident. The number of people made him worried about being able to find a free compartment. He turned to Sirius with a small smile and hugged him quickly.
"I want to find an empty compartment. I'll write you once we're sorted," he said stepping back.
"I'll see you both at Christmas," Sirius said, also hugging Gaara.
He chuckled at the way Gaara's eyes widened in surprise and his cheeks pinked. Once Gaara was released they made their way onto the train waving briefly to Sirius before they lost sight of him in the crowd.
The train itself was already packed with students. As they walked down the aisle of the train they had to weave past several other students who were looking for compartments with their friends inside or shouting out the windows at their families. A few cars down near the middle of the train they were finally able to find a compartment that was completely empty. He and Gaara sat on opposite sides of the compartment taking the window seats for themselves. The Platform was on the opposite side of the train from the compartments so they mostly just had a view of a stone wall while they waited for other students to board the train.
To his surprise no one seemed to want to stop at their compartment. He watched a stream of children and teenagers make their way down the aisle of the train but no one knocked on the door to see if they could sit with them. He felt himself growing annoyed at his plans beginning to fall through right from the start. After an hour of waiting the train began pulling away from the platform. He watched out the window as the stone wall disappeared. They passed several buildings as they made their way out of the city. Even if he met no one else on the train he would have plenty of opportunities to create connections once he had met his house mates at the sorting.
He was just about to ask Gaara if he had thought to bring anything for lunch when the compartment door slid open. At the door was a redheaded boy with a smudge of dirt on his nose. He felt his nose wrinkle in disdain at the lack of proper cleanliness wondering why no one had bothered to tell the boy. His jeans were faded and frayed and the old trunk he carried was worn and beaten. Nothing he had looked new even his was looked like it had seen better days.
"Everywhere else is full," the boy said as he entered the compartment without asking.
His eyes narrowed as he watched the boy put his trunk on the rack. Even though he wouldn't have said no to him sitting there it was still proper manners to ask. Being polite could never hurt but the boy's rudness made it highly unlikely they would be friends. Unlike Sasuke who got away with being rude because he was otherwise talented, rich, and good looking; this boy had none of those things so he would not be forgiven so easily. Gaara got up to help him lift his trunk onto the rack when it looked like he was struggling with the weight. He locked eyes with Gaara asking without words what he thought he was doing. The responding raised eyebrow conveyed enough to let him know that Gaara wasn't going to start a fight over the boy sitting with them. He huffed but accepted that there was nothing he could do without making a terrible impression. This boy could end up as a future house mate so there was no reason to risk hostilities now.
"You have dirt on your nose," he advised tapping his own nose to indicate where the dirt was.
The boy's face blushed from the roots of his hair down to his neck as he hurried to wipe off the dirt with the sleeve of his robes. All the boy managed to do was smudge the dirt around so it was more obvious than ever. He sighed but let it go as he didn't deem the boy worth the trouble. The boy glanced at him with a frown before turning his attention to Gaara who had so far been much more friendly.
"Thanks for helping with my trunk," the boy said holding out his hand to shake, "Ronald Weasley."
"Gaara Sabaku," Gaara shook hands with the boy.
Gaara turned to him once again giving him a significant look that said 'your turn' quite clearly. Ronald followed the look to him with a nervous smile on his face.
With a sigh he put on his blandest smile, "Hadrian Potter."
Ronald's eyes lit up and his mouth opened to say something but the door opened before he was able to speak.
"Hey Ron," two voices said in unison.
It was clear from the shared features that they were related to Ronald.
"We're going to see Lee's tarantula," one twin said.
"Want to come?" the second twin asked with a wicked grin.
While he watched Ronald's face went white with terror. He made sure to make a mental note of the weakness in case he ever needed to use it. He would of course only use it if it was absolutely necessary because it would likely only be able to be used once.
"I'm good here, thanks," Ronald squeaked.
He smiled at the twins who seemed more interesting than their younger relative. He saw they were not in their uniforms so he wasn't sure which house they were in.
"Hadrian Potter," he held out his hand in greeting.
The twins shared a look before grinning back, "Sorry for not introducing ourselves. I'm Fred, and this is George. Ron's our little brother."
"A pleasure to meet you both," he shook both of their hands.
With matching grins the twins left the compartment. It seemed the only reason they had entered the compartment was to torment their brother. He knew from the few stories Kiba had shared that it was a common theme among siblings so he assumed it came from a place of affection. It likely never occurred to them that they were giving away valuable information that could be used against Ron.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out once his brothers were gone.
He wasn't sure why his identity was being called into question by a boy he had just met. He crossed his arms over his chest before glancing away. After a few moments of silence he realised Ron was actually expecting him to answer.
"Why would I lie about my own name?" he asked the glass of the window.
He watched Ronald in the reflection of the glass. He was fidgeting in his seat while looking to Gaara for help. He rolled his eyes at the boy wondering if he was being a bit too judgemental for a first meeting. It was simply that the boy didn't seem like someone he could like. The twins on the other hand seemed like the type who would be relentless if they were your enemy. They were the ones he would rather cultivate a relationship with assuming they didn't hate him automatically for being in a different house.
"He is Hadrian Potter," Gaara confirmed.
"Wow," Ron said breathless.
He watched in the window as the boy perked up, "Where were you? Why did you disappear? Were you in hiding from You-Know-Who? Do you know how you survived? This is so great. I can't believe I am meeting The Harry Potter. I've read stories all about you."
He finally turned from the window and blinked at the boy across the compartment, "You read stories about me?"
Ron nodded his head and launched into an explanation about how there were a series of children's books all about him going on adventures as he fights against evil. He listened to Ron as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the parchment and ever-inking quill he kept there in case he wanted to make notes on something to look up later. As Ron spoke he wrote a letter to Garnok to see about getting money from anyone using his name for profit. He had taken the time to read all the books on wizard law he could find in the Black Library and knew he was entitled to a portion of any profits being made by the use of his name. Of course when he had read the law book he had no idea that it would apply to him. It was fortunate that he took the time to study up on the world he had found himself in. He realized the wizarding world was designed to cater to those with money as he read the laws, so it would never hurt to have more money than he already did.
"That was very informative Ronald. Thank you," he said pleasantly once Ron was done explaining all about him.
He stood up to open Hedwig's cage. The snowy owl flew once around the compartment before landing on the back of the seat he was sitting on. With a tap of his wand he sealed the letter with a wax seal in the shape of the potter crest. He opened the window enjoying the wind in his hair. He held up the parchment for Hedwig who grabbed it in her talons on her way out the window.
He turned back around to find Ron looking at him suspiciously, "Who did you just send a letter to?" Ron asked.
"Sirius," he lied easily.
It wasn't any of Ronald's business who he decided to write letters to. From the look Gaara sent him he knew he would need to explain the truth later. Gaara knew him too well by now to be easily lied to, not that he would ever want to lie to Gaara. He knew that due to Gaara's uncle attempting to assassinate him as a child he valued honesty very highly. In fact even when Gaara was an insane murderous shinobi who was never allowed to sleep he had never made any attempt to lie about it. He could respect the fact that he had no issue telling someone he was going to kill them and then doing so. He was glad however that Gaara had put that time behind him and was looking to move forward now. He had grown a lot more patient and friendly once he was able to actually sleep regularly.
"Are all of your family wizards?" Gaara asked to change the focus of the conversation away from him.
"Yes, well, mostly, I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him," Ron said dismissively.
"Your brother's seem interesting," he mused.
"I have five brothers," Ron said wilting in his seat, "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. My sister will be going next year. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left. Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny with the pranks they pull all the time. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."
He felt his interest catch on the last word. He really didn't have time to listen to so much whining so he had mostly tuned Ron out. If he wanted to be better than he would simply need to work for it. If not then he was free to complain about his lack of success to someone else. He knew from Sirius that the reason no one had found Peter so they could clear his father's name was because Peter was a rat animagus, most likely living in a sewer somewhere.
"Can I see it? The only rats I've seen are the one's Hedwig brings home," he said sweetly.
Ron reached inside his jacket pocket with a shrug. He pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep. His eyes focused right away on the fact that the rat was missing a toe. He smiled as he once again made another mental note to keep track of Peter in case he needed to get his Father out of Azkaban for some reason in the future. Depending on how Sirius reacted to his sorting it may need to be sooner rather than later.
"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff-, I mean, I got Scabbers instead," Ron blushed looking away from them at his slip.
Gaara seemed to want to say something to cheer Ron up but looked like he was having a hard time coming up with anything to say. As the son of the Kazekage Gaara had never been poor. As a jinchūriki he was often sent on the higher ranked missions so he also made good money on his own. He decided he should help before the awkward silence became too hard to break.
"So think you'll be in Slytherin?" he asked.
It seemed a fair question. With five successful older brothers to live up to it would be reasonable to assume that Ron would want to surpass them all. A large ambition like that would fit in with Slytherin though the boy was hardly cunning.
"I would never want to be an evil snake," Ronald spat, "How dare you."
He raised his eyebrows calmly, "Why do you think Slytherin is evil, Ronald?"
Ron's mouth was opening and closing like a fish he was so shocked, "Everyone knows there isn't a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin."
"As I understood it from Hogwarts: A History, it is the house of ambition and cunning. They are known to be resourceful, shrewd, and determined. Where I come from hate crime is quite common. It has always been my desire to become a leader there so that I might have the power to put an end to such a foul crime. It is a very ambitious goal. Ronald, do you think that makes me evil?" he asked maintaining eye contact.
"Well, no," Ron hesitated.
"And you, Ronald, you have five older brothers, all of them successful in Hogwarts. Do you not have a dream or ambition of your own? Do you not wish to surpass them all and be more successful than they are?" he could see Ron squirming in his seat.
"I want to be an auror," Ron said softly.
"Do you want to just be an auror? Or, would you rather be the head auror? From what I understand the head auror is a political position, would you not then need to be cunning, shrewd, resourceful, and determined to out manoeuvre the competition and secure the job?"
"I-," he interrupted before Ron could continue.
"Therefore, the requirements for getting where you hope to be are they not Slytherin traits?" He finished.
"Most of Slytherin is evil," Ron said defensively crossing his arms over his chest, "But there could be some exceptions."
He smirked triumphantly that his argument had won. Ron was stubborn and would most likely go to Gryffindor. Gaara rolled his eyes at him but was smiling a little to himself while they all sat in silence. The train was moving quickly and they had long since left the buildings of the city behind. Out of the window was a view of farmers fields and meadows where cows and sheep grazed. Every so often they would pass through a thicket of trees before the fields and meadows returned.
Across the compartment he could hear Ron and Gaara discussing Quidditch together softly. Outside the compartment he could hear the clattering sound of something being rolled along the aisle. The door the to the compartment slid open to reveal a friendly looking witch with grey hair and a plump figure.
"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she asked smiling kindly.
"Mum made me sandwiches," Ron said gloomily.
He had discovered while living with Sirius that he had a great fondness for chocolate. Apparently Sirius kept so much chocolate in the house in case his friend Moony ever decided to visit. As far as he could tell Remus had never visited him once since his father went to prison, even before he and Gaara had arrived.
He and Gaara both stood to take a look at the cart. The house elves had wanted to pack them a lunch but Sirius wouldn't hear of it because the trolley was part of the experience of going away to Hogwarts, it would have been a shame if they missed out on it. The trolley was filled with several different snacks and candy but he decided just to get a few chocolate frogs and a couple of cauldron cakes. He paid the witch five sickles and ten knuts for his treats and returned to his seat.
He ate the cauldron cakes first because they were more filling than the chocolate frogs. Across from him Gaara was sharing the treats he had bought with Ron. He thought it was nice that Gaara was learning how to make friends on his own but worried that they might drift apart if he made too many. He glanced up and found Gaara looking at him. He smiled knowing it would never happen. Gaara was the closest he was likely to get to a sibling. He felt strongly that even if they ended up in separate houses they would be able to remain just as close. He would make sure of it.
He opened his first chocolate frog catching it before it could jump onto the floor which would be very unhygienic. The first frog he had ever opened had gone to waste because he had refused to eat it off the floor.
He pulled out the card while he ate. He had a few cards so far but didn't really care about collecting them. He looked at the picture of a wizened old man with half moon spectacles. The name on the bottom of the card was Albus Dumbledore. The man also had a crooked nose like it hadn't been healed correctly after it was broken which spoke to his level of competence as a wizard. He wondered how he had managed to become headmaster if he couldn't even manage to heal his own nose. From the book on charms he had read the spell was one of the simpler healing spells.
"I've got about 500 cards but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy," Ron mentioned.
"You can have mine, I'm not really interested in the clutter," he said without thinking.
He turned over the card to see if Dumbledore had ever done anything aside from botching a simple healing charm that even he could manage without ever having gone to Hogwarts yet.
ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS
Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.
He supposed it sounded impressive but he would reserve judgement until he met the man. It looked like he was quite old so it was entirely possible he was past his prime and senile. There was no way to know until he met the man. He glanced up to see Ron looking at him with his mouth hanging open. He had almost forgotten about his impulsive offer to give him his chocolate frog cards.
With a sigh he pulled his trunk from his pocket. He tapped the trunk with his wand, unshrinking it before digging around for the chocolate frog cards he had gathered. He tossed the neat little bundle over to Ron before closing and re-shrinking his trunk.
He had just placed it back in his pocket when the compartment door slid open. He recognized Draco Malfoy instantly from Madam Malkin's but had never seen the other two boys behind him before. He glanced at them with curiosity before he smiled at Draco.
"I heard you both were in this compartment. I wanted to introduce you to my," Draco paused briefly, "friends."
He had little doubt that Malfoy would have preferred the term minion. Across the compartment Gaara snorted before smiling when their eyes met. He missed his own minions back in the hidden leaf. Hopefully, he could pick up a few while he attended Hogwarts. He would respect the fact that the two beefy boys behind Draco were his minions and not try to steal them from him.
"This is Crabbe," Draco gestured to the mean looking boy to the right, then gestured to the mean looking boy on the left, "and this is Goyle."
He nodded politely to each of them before turning his attention back to their leader. Spending time on the minions was pointless as they would follow where their master led them. He had felt like Draco was worth knowing when they had met before so he was willing to put in the effort to be friendly.
"A pleasure to make your acquaintances," he said turning back to Draco, "Please have a seat."
Draco took the offered seat next to him, "I had hoped to run into you before we reached Hogwarts."
Ron snickered into his hand across the compartment.
"Think what I said was funny do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford," Draco said with a sneer, "you'll soon find out that some wizarding families are much better than others."
"I'm sure you are right however just because one's parents are not successful does not mean the children will not be. I would advise you not to write anyone off until after OWLS at least," he said smiling at Draco.
"Didn't you say something similar in Madame Malkin's?" Gaara added.
"Yes, about Hufflepuff and how they have traits I can admire even if I myself do not possess them," he smiled at Gaara.
Draco looked thoughtful, "Father did say the oldest Weasly was a curse breaker for Gringotts or something."
"A valuable profession," he agreed, "Ronald was it easy for Bill to become a curse breaker?"
Ron puffed up a little as if it was his own accomplishment, "You need to be really smart especially to get a job with Gringotts. Curse breaker's are really rare."
"I suppose you are right," Draco nodded before turning to sneer at Ron, "Do try to make something of yourself."
He saw Gaara casually reach out to grab Ron's arm. Judging by the tense lines of his body under his ugly sweater and jeans Ron was ready to throw himself on Draco. Unskilled as he was he probably wouldn't inflict any major damage but it would still be annoying to clean up the mess. He decided he would rather not watch them get into a fist fight in his compartment.
"Ronald," he said to get Ron's attention away from Draco, "I just noticed everyone is in their robes aside from you. The sun has almost set we should be close to Hogwarts."
Ron looked around and seemed to notice for the first time that he was the only one not wearing his robes.
"I suppose I will see you when we get off the train," Draco said standing to leave, he nodded at him and Gaara while ignoring Ron.
He stood to follow them into the aisle. He slid the compartment door closed behind him before surreptitiously checking around them to make sure they were alone. He didn't want anyone overhearing what he was about to say. It was bad enough that the minions were still present.
"Did you manage to bring your broom," he asked with a smile leaning against the closed door.
Draco smirked at him in response, "Your advice was very helpful."
"One more piece of advise then. If you can, bring your trunk to the sorting with you, you never know who might see inside it if you leave it on the train for the servants," having given his warning he slipped back into the compartment.
When he returned Gaara was waiting for an explanation with his arms crossed and foot tapping.
"I was giving him a helpful piece of advice," he said defensively.
"You've met Malfoy before?" Ron asked.
He had changed into his robes while he was speaking to Draco. They were faded to more of a dark grey than a true black fraying along the edges. He supposed that was to be expected if they were hand-me-downs from his older siblings.
"We met him in Diagon Alley while we were school shopping," Gaara informed him.
"I've heard about his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."
"I don't believe in light or dark magic," he told Ron softly, "The world is in shades of grey. I think it's best to learn to manoeuvre in the shadows."
"Right," Ron rolled his eyes.
A voice echoed through the train even though he couldn't see any speakers, "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
He snorted at the same time Gaara did. Neither of them were stupid enough to leave their trunks on the train. They had both brought their shinobi gear with them to continue practising while at the school. He knew the house elves would have been ordered to search their trunks for anything they weren't supposed to bring. If anyone asked he could just tell them he forgot it because it had been in his pocket the whole trip. He did decide to leave Hedwig's cage behind. There was no reason to drag it around the school especially when Hedwig was gone delivering a letter.
The train gradually slowed down until in came to a gentle stop. He waited a few minutes for most of the students to push their way off the train. Once he was sure he wouldn't be squished by an overeager student he, Gaara and Ron made their way into the aisle.
As they exited the train he heard a voice he recognized as Hagrid's bellowing at the crowd of students,"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?"
Hagrid's beamed at him having spotted him in the crown somehow. He did wish people would stop calling him Harry. His name was Hadrian. It also bothered him that Gaara wasn't mentioned and now all the other first years were trying to get a look at the famous student. It was annoying but he smiled at Hagrid anyway because he had technically stolen from him. It was the least he could do. As far as he was concerned they were now even.
"C'mon, follow me. Any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"
Hagrid led the way down a steep muddy path. Every so often he felt his foot slide out from under him. Some of the other children were holding on to each other to stay upright. Thanks to his shinobi training he was able to correct his balance without attempting to drag Gaara down with him. The path was barely big enough for the giant man to fit through the trees but had space for all of them to walk in pairs.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."
The path led to a small inlet where there was a long rickety dock. Along the dock was a fleet of small child sized boats each with its own lantern to light the water in front of it. Across the lake was the castle of Hogwarts lording over the lake on top of the cliff. It was nothing like the sprawling wooden castles that the daimyo's lived in back in the elemental nations. It was a large stone building with hundreds of windows going up several floors with large spiralling towers reaching toward the sky.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called out.
He went with Gaara and got in a boat that had a solemn looking boy with dark curly hair. The boy didn't introduce himself when they got into the boat, he looked at Ron with a sneer. Ron's family seemed to have a pretty poor reputation in the wizarding world. He wondered if it was worth being friendly with him if he didn't have any connections that might benefit him. He might just keep him as an acquaintance rather than a friend until he could see how likely it was for him to achieve his career goal of being an auror.
"Everyone in?" Hagrid shouted while he looked down the line of boats, once he was satisfied no one was left behind Hagrid yelled, "FORWARD!"
The boats began to move across the lake under their own power. There was the odd whisper from some of the ruder students during the journey to the castle but it was mostly silent. The large castle loomed above them on the cliff growing bigger the further they sailed from the docks. They came to a curtain of ivy and Hagrid yelled at them all to put their heads down. He felt the damp strands of ivy run across his head and shoulders dripping water down the neck of his robes as their boat moved through the curtain. On the other side was a large chamber roughly carved from the mountain. The boats gently bumped into the stone docks inside the cave allowing them all to climb out safely.
Once everyone was out the group gathered to follow Hagrid up a stone stairway that led to the surface. They exited what seemed to be a small shed and followed the pathway to the front doors of the castle. The doors of the castle were so large that they dwarfed even Hagrid.
Hagrid knocked three times on the castle door. He wondered why they closed the doors on the first years to begin with when they had to have been opened for the second through seventh years only a short time ago. It was probably for the sake of unnecessary showmanship. He hoped whoever was meant to open the doors would do so soon.