To those asking about Allison: I will not delete her, she isn't soul-bonded to Harry, and she plays a critical role in my story.

"Spoken dialogue or signs"

'Thought'

flashback/''dialogue"/'thought'


Gathering

26th of June, 1991

For the next three years, though greatly frowned upon, Allison Taylor tried to get Harry's attention and talk to him about the memories and the strange magical event that occurred. However, unlike Allison, Harry did not want to seek out why it occurred, knowing all the while that it would be useless as they would both inevitably end up at Hogwarts together. Though he knew the basics of her past, there was a change. It was a noticeable difference somehow but Harry just could not think of what it was. 'Whatever the reason, it has to be tied into the 'what' of it all and I may learn of what that magic and this basic knowledge is one day, but I doubt it'll be anytime soon.'

By this point in time, Harry had finished studying the fifth year OWL material. 'It has taken me three full years... The language changed a little as well as the theory and the difficulty raised to new heights. I wonder what the NEWT material will be like; I just hope this doesn't mean I'll be unable to complete the NEWT material when the time comes.' Harry closed the last of his OWL books shut with a snap, got up from his desk, and stretched the stiffness away from his limbs. "I haven't noticed until now but I've grown a lot, though I'll be just shy of becoming what's considered tall, I'm sure, thanks to the first five years here," Harry commented dryly to himself, staring at his limbs. When he was six years old, he had been very small for his age. Though it hurt at first, once he acquired his power, this magic, he was able to get enough food and the freedom to exercise and managed to grow at an unexpected rate.

Harry went to the bathroom, slinging his face towel over, not seeing any of the Dursleys as it was late afternoon, with Dudley watching TV while Petunia read the paper in the kitchen while Vernon was at work. Harry stared at his reflection in the mirror and sighed. He wondered if his eyesight was simply due to genetics or whether it was because of all of the Dursleys and their friends' beatings that caused enough trauma to his head that dealt Harry an irreparable disorder to his sight. "If only I could've fixed it, but I suppose it's better than being completely blind; it doesn't seem like there's a cure for eyesight, even with magic," he said quietly.

Harry took off his round-rimmed spectacles and placed them off to the side of the sink, quelling the reflex to squint in an attempt to focus his sight. Staring at the blurry green of his eyes reflecting back, Harry let go of his emotions and growled, slamming his fist onto the counter top in frustration. Though his dark-sight allowed him to see, he learned shortly after developing the skill that he still needed his glasses, much to his frustration.

"I don't understand, if my magic kept me from death, then why am I still blind? There has to be something I can do. Maybe there will be an answer when I go to Hogwarts, there has to be..." Steeling his emotions to a startling blankness once again, Harry cleaned up and returned to his room. "Just one more month and Allison will probably become even more persistent when we receive our letters; I hope she doesn't actually think that I know what is going on just because I'm involved."

A sudden tapping on the window caused Harry to shake himself out of his thoughts.

Another tap on the window peaked his interest. A third caused him to groan. "Right now?" Harry went to the window and opened it, seeing Allison in her house on the other side of the street with her window open, with an intense expression gracing her face. The next second, a paper plane sped towards Harry, causing him to duck. The paper plane drove itself into the wall. Sighing, Harry went over and grabbed the paper, unfolded it, and it read, "Tell me!"

Harry focused his magic into the plane and rewrote the message, and sent the plane back to Allison at a slower pace so as not to injure her just in case she did not react in time. A different plane came back to him saying, "No? Why?! It's always no!" Harry held the paper up and made sure Allison was able to see the paper clearly, and burned it. He saw her angry face but he didn't really care to deal with it at the moment. He closed the window with a loud click and shut the curtains. Harry stood there for a second and sighed.

"Should I continue this or open up and try to figure this out?" Sighing again. Harry grabbed some scrap paper and wrote a single word on it. He drew his curtains open and opened his windows just enough and sent the paper speeding towards Allison who had been staring so intensely back at his window as though it would open on its own.

Allison grabbed the paper and read the message. "Soon." She looked up, seeing Harry nod and then close the windows and curtains again.

Several weeks passed by in a flash and, during breakfast, there was the clink of the mail flap opening and closing as well as the sound of the letters falling to the floor. Vernon audibly sighed as he glared at Harry and got up to get the letters. He would've made Dudley get them but he knew that the young boy would just complain about it even though it would be futile because Vernon would not risk pushing Harry to the point he'd reached five years ago in any physical way, however, manipulating others was something he considered safe. "Dad! Harry's got a letter!" Dudley shouted from the foyer.

Petunia rushed out of her chair to grab the letters from Dudley and Harry waited patiently, he knew what it was. "Vernon, it's here," she said, pursed lips, eyes narrowed.

"Boy, get your letter from Petunia," Vernon said in a clearly disgusted voice but made no other move.

Harry in his usual blank expression got up and grabbed the letter, stowed it away in his pocket and continued eating his breakfast without a word. Unless one intensely scrutinized him at that moment, no one would notice the extremely slight curl to Harry's lips which showed his pleasure. 'I'm one step closer.' After clearing up, Harry went back to his room to read the letter. "By the 31st hmm? There's no return owl to return my answer to them though I wonder if that owl will come by anytime soon." Harry grabbed some spare paper to write his answer down. "I, Harry Potter, accept my place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry... that should do I hope. Now, since I am technically Muggle-born, maybe they'll send a member of staff to explain things or to otherwise get me to Diagon Alley to get my things." Harry was just about to set his pen aside when, not surprisingly, there was a tapping at his window.

"Hey, I got a letter, there's a magical school?" Harry read aloud from the note.

oOoOo

13th of July, 2015

"Hey dad, why exactly did you ignore Aunty Allison?" Athena asked.

"Didn't I already explain it? It was because of the whole magical bond that had occurred," Harry answered.

"Yeah, but, with everything else you've told us, there's more isn't it?"

"I didn't want to tell you but it was because I was scared. Scared to explore the future with a potential friend who was in a way similar to me, an outcast. Not exactly irrational as I'd been abused far more than I'd care to tell you about and it left scars deeper than the physical that stopped me.

Laughing uncomfortably, Dahlia spoke up, "But you did tell us about how Grandma Lily's sister's family nearly killed you, which released your powers, was it really worse than that? That wasn't the worst of the abuse?"

"Yes, it was far worse than that Dahlia, and it seems unlikely because it almost did lead to my murder but there are many things that are far worse than death, don't you forget that Dahlia, Cygnus, Athena, understand?" Harry answered, turning the answer into a question towards his three children who all nodded. Daphne gave a sad smile as he continued to regale their children with his story of the past.

oOoOo

Focusing, Harry popped into Allison's room causing the girl to turn around with a shocked expression on her face. "Allison, I... I'm sorry for ignoring you these last few years, I just... I won't continue to do so any longer."

"I was thinking maybe you could just tell me more about this magic stuff but this? I did not see that coming, Harry, but let's talk about that shall we and can you drop that expression? You're scaring me," Allison finished in response to Harry's emotionless face.

"Right, sorry, it's been so long that I forget I'm holding it sometimes," Harry said, dropping his mask and giving a somewhat genuine smile which hurt because it'd been a very long time since his last true smile. "In regards to why I've ignored you for so long, please don't take this the wrong way but I'm not ready to tell you that yet. Maybe someday, just not now, alright?"

"O-okay!" Harry could see as clear as day the disappointment in her eyes.

"Back on topic then, what exactly is Hogwarts, how does it work? You know about this, don't you?"

"Of course, I know a lot, the school is a magical boarding school based in the highlands of Scotland, nearby there is the all-magical only village of Britain called Hogsmeade. Now, once inside the castle, everyone is sorted into one of the four distinct houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each are described with specific traits: Gryffindor by bravery, Hufflepuff by loyalty and hard work, Ravenclaw by intelligence, and Slytherin for cunning. There are more but the sorting ceremony will explain it better. Anyhow, there are a multitude of classes such as Transfiguration which teaches us the ability to change things, Charms explains itself as it causes things to work in ways we wouldn't normally be able to do on our own, Potions are basically spells in liquid form and it teaches us how to make them, and the Defense class teaches us how to protect ourselves from the things that could hurt people. There are many more classes but I'm just giving you examples. I'm not actually a teacher at Hogwarts after all," Harry stopped and waited if Allison would ask any questions.

She leaned forward and asked, "What house do you think I'd belong to?"

"You thirst for knowledge at the expense of the patience of others," Harry said, digging at Allison's three year relentless drive. "You are able to do a few things not many adult wizards are able to with the practical side of magic, I believe you would be in Ravenclaw."

"Ravenclaw sounds great! Where would you be?"

"Me? I hide from others, I don't like to draw attention to myself, I have knowledge and I like to learn more, and I work hard but anyone can have any of these things. Based on specific traits, I'd most likely be in Ravenclaw or Slytherin, I do not know if I am brave or loyal enough for Gryffindor or Hufflepuff respectively.

"You were able to just teleport easily over here but what else can you do?"

"That is called apparition, the skill for moving from one place to another in an instant while the opposite effect is disapparition which is when a person sees another apparate away from their location. What I can do... that's a different story. Normally, the massive majority of the magical community uses a wand or some type of channel but I don't need to." Harry held out his hand and with the magical energy he held, conjured up a bouquet of flowers.

"Wow! You have to teach me that!" Allison was bouncing up and down in her chair by the window. "How did you do that?"

"Innate skill and a lot of practice. It is fortunate for both non-magical people such as your parents and people such as you and me that not everyone has the same capabilities as I do to utilize magic with ease because if every single witch and wizard did have such power, the secrecy act that went up in 1692 would have been broken shortly after. There have been wars that threatened to expose magic and our society to the non-magical side and the last one, led by one of the darkest wizards of the century, was ended eleven years ago by me and my family." Harry stopped talking there and Allison was stunned as tears came running down his face. She was about to say something but Harry continued to speak through his quiet sobs. "My parents, James and Lily Potter, sacrificed themselves to save me and when Voldemort turned his wand on me, his spell backfired which gave me this lightning scar, it's faint now and I think a part of that is how I discovered my magic. After that night, I came to live with the people in number four and my life has not been the same, I don't remember much either but I believe Voldemort is still alive... that is all I'll tell you right now, I'm sorry."

Allison didn't see much crying from anybody, she certainly did it when she was hurt and her parents comforted her when they were available but they themselves never did, they were financially stable and had a great relationship and there was happiness often present in her home. When they did comfort her to ease the pain, they hugged her and now she wondered if she should do the same for Harry, someone who, after three years of hiding everything, was telling her so much. She went over to the silent and sullen boy pulled him into a hug, his tears drying up soon after.

He returned the hug and whispered, "Thank you."

They pulled apart after several moments where they sat in silence.

Wiping his tears on his sleeve, Harry began to speak again. "There's houses and the classes, but there are also other activities. The most popular sport in the magical world is Quidditch which is a sport played on flying broomsticks, there's Wizard's Chess where you can tell the pieces to move and other fun stuff. There's a lake, a forest too dangerous for any single student to wander into but it, like the rest of the world, contains many dangerous or otherwise beautiful and ugly magical creatures that defy belief, and many other things that you'll just have to experience for yourself, I don't know everything but it's what I've found out on my free time; I've been otherwise occupied with studying."

"I want to go to Hogwarts so badly now! I want to know what you know and I think I already know what I want to do after school!" Allison squealed with excitement a bit too loudly.

"Allison, is something wrong, sweetie?" Came a woman's voice, there was now the notable sound of a person walking up stairs which was getting closer and closer.

"I'm going to go back, write some sort of note that accepts your placement at Hogwarts and I'll talk to you later, okay? Thank you Allison," Harry gave her a quick smile and popped away.

"And you as well, Harry."

The door opened and her mother Elizabeth poked her head in. "Allison, is something wrong?"

"No mum, I just thought I saw a bug," Allison replied, giving a wide grin and then remembered. "Right, mum look at this! There's a magic school! I was accepted!"

"A magic school? Let me see!" Allison passed the letter to Elizabeth who quickly read through it. "That's amazing honey! We have to tell your father when he gets home from work! I'll prepare a special dinner for us tonight; I knew you were special!" Elizabeth gave her a quick hug and dashed off, leaving her daughter alone who began to write the note that Harry told her to write.


July 31st, 1991

"Vernon, it seems like there's a big storm heading in, we won't be affected much but there will still be a lot of rain, do be careful on the road today dear."

"Thank you Petunia; I'll see you all tonight then," Vernon's eyes lingered on Harry for a moment who was just finishing his breakfast.

As always, Harry cleaned up after himself when he finished and decided to go on a quick run around the neighbourhood; he felt the need to do something to ease the excitement he was feeling. Today was the 31st when his response was expected but no owl had ever shown up so someone would probably be sent over to get things done and explained. He imagined Allison and her family would be brought along so that would be an extremely uncomfortable experience.

As he turned around the final corner of the street to head back to Privet Drive, Harry saw that the clouds were really setting in and droplets of rain began to fall. "It's too late."

It was pouring by the time Harry made it back inside and after cleaning up, he bundled up in bed, waiting. The wind picked up and the windows rattled, it got darker and darker and before he knew it, there was a loud, heavy pounding at the front door which jolted Harry out of his sleep, he checked the clock at his bedside and it read 7:38.

"Who's there?!" Vernon shouted from below. Harry jumped out of bed and watched from the top of the stairs. The door slammed open and there stood a giant hairy man. "Mind if I come in? It's a right mess out there y'know."

"Yes I do mind, sir, you are breaking and entering!"

"Ah, shut it, Dursley! I'm just here to pick up young Harry."

"You better take him away now then! We were never able to beat it out of him! He has kept showing off his freakishness to us and I have had enough!" Vernon spit at the giant.

"Beat? The giant of a man looked up and saw Harry nodding at him. "You dare to beat the child of the greatest witch and wizard aside from Albus Dumbledore?! They saved yer worthless lives!"

"Saved? From what? I never saw or heard anything!" Petunia screeched, "I heard that maybe there was some hooligan wizard on the loose but my house never got burned down! We did beat him! That's one way to make your kind a squib, isn't it?! She told me you know, she told me all about it, I hated it when she did but it was almost useful, a shame it didn't work and now we can't do anything!"

"It doesn't matter now though," Harry spoke up finally, he figured Hagrid was going to be angry enough to actually break the house down. "Who are you?"

"I'm Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts, yeh can call me Hagrid," Hagrid said smiling. He held his hand out to shake Harry's who did the same except his entire body was shaken up and down. "I assume yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o'course."

"Yes I do, I've actually already been down to Diagon Alley before, but I need to go there soon to get my books and things. I just wasn't sure if you were going to come by here, Hagrid. What about the other one?"

"What other one? Oh righ', I came here fer two children," Hagrid said.

"Other one? Our Dudley is no freak like you!" Vernon and Petunia both spat.

"Nah, not yers, the other child across the street," Hagrid said gruffly, jerking his thumb behind him towards the Taylors' house.

"Their child is a freak? Oh that makes so much sense! Vernon, I knew she was weird, always chasing after him."

"I'll be back tomorrow mornin' Harry and we'll all go to Diagon Alley to pick up yer things for Hogwarts," Hagrid told him and then mumbled under his breath, "Yeh keep insulting their memories and then yeh'll see what happens." He then went lumbering off to Allison's house.

"Then why come today?" Vernon grumbled and shut the door. Harry was already gone, back in his room watching and extending his senses towards her house. Hagrid was inside, explaining a few things about Hogwarts and the Wizarding World but Harry figured Hagrid was holding back information just so he could talk during the trip to Diagon Alley tomorrow.

Hagrid then left their house and vanished. With nothing left to do and his stomach empty, Harry went down to the kitchen where there were a few plates of leftovers. "Petunia, if you hate me so much, why do you keep caring for me? You could have kicked me out years ago."

Petunia just ignored Harry.

oOoOo

Harry had only been able to sleep after the storm abated at midnight and when he woke up the next day, he stumbled his way half-awake over to Allison's house where Hagrid had arrived just moments ago.

"What's that boy doing here? Hagrid, he's a delinquent, he's known for causing trouble around the neighbourhood, you can't trust him!" Elizabeth said loud enough for the entire group to hear.

"Nonsense! This is Harry Potter!" Hagrid responded, confused.

"It's fine, Hagrid, let's just get going, are we apparating?" Harry said quietly.

As Harry and Hagrid conversed about the plan for the day, Allison pulled her parents aside.

"Mom, dad, you have to stop with this! You don't even know Harry! Don't you remember why we're here in the first place? We moved here because our neighbours saw my magic and began to abuse us! Don't take it all out on Harry!"

"Allison, honey, we're just trying to protect you, you don't know him either, we're not taking anything out on anyone," Allison's dad, Jonathan said in a low voice, keeping a wary eye on the slightly ragged looking black haired boy.

"Really? Have you actually seen anything that shows that he's a horrible child? Have you actually learned who he is? I know what you're going to say," Allison lashed back and shushed her parents when they were about to cut her off. "You've been saying it all to me for three years. It's not just because I want a friend or that he is like me in that we have magic powers, I'm not defending him just because of that, you have to stop and get over it, learn who he is before you pass judgment!"

Allison huffed and walked over to where Harry and Hagrid were waiting. "Is everything okay?" Harry asked, "It's fine you know; I'm used to it."

"No, everything isn't! It's not fine, you shouldn't be used to it at all! Can't you do something about them?" Allison poked Harry hard, Hagrid was just looking confused and waiting.

"Well, I haven't really tried but maybe." For the first time in a long time, Harry enhanced his dark sight beyond just sight and saw a string of spells lined all around the house and on Jonathan and Elizabeth as well. "Well that's interesting," Harry said quietly. "Hagrid, just give me a few minutes alright? I forgot something."

"Sure Harry, we have a lot of time today," Hagrid said with a smile.

Harry ran back into Number 4 where he turned himself invisible and headed back out to the Taylors' house. 'There are about 30 different spells on just the entrance alone but the wiring is easy to see, I should be able to dismantle this web I hope.' Harry drove his magic into every single spell that was a part of the house and the Taylors' clothes and lifted it off them but they didn't disappear, in fact the spells fought hard to reattach themselves. Harry looked over at Hagrid and had a thought. 'Is Hagrid magic resistant? These are only charms and hexes and they're fairly low grade even by an adult's standards.' Harry surrounded all the spells with his own magic and spell knowledge and wound it tightly into a ball and proceeded to throw it towards Hagrid. The ball burst open and the spells wrapped tightly around the half-giant but then broke apart and sizzled out of existence, Hagrid just chuckled lightly.

The effect was immediate, Elizabeth and Jonathan got headaches from the sudden lack of external control and they fully returned to their own minds and bodies. "Wha-? What happened? Where is the boy?"

Harry reappeared at the front door of Number Four and ran up to them. "Hey sorry for the wait, we can go now, this might hurt you three since it'll be your first time side along apparating."

"What's apparating?" Jonathan asked. Both parents felt extremely guilty and they wanted to apologize but Harry not only didn't answer Jonathan's question nor gave them any opportunity to speak and instead just linked their hands and then grabbed Hagrid's and they all vanished.


"I think I'm going to be sick," said Elizabeth and Jonathan, Allison seemed shaken but otherwise alright.

"Harry," Allison whispered, "Why aren't you talking about what you did? Clearly, they were under a spell right?"

"Hundreds of spells, the way I cut it off from them saved them from a great deal of pain but they're still undergoing a bit of backlash right now, don't worry about it, and I won't say anything until I find out who did it because they could be watching and know that I did it. I don't want to seem narcissistic but I am an important figure to the magical world and any followers of Voldemort who were not caught could be spying on me, don't worry, I can handle it alright?"

"Okay, but I'm still going to worry about you. I've already been trying to understand what that magic was that hit us three years ago," Allison replied quietly.

"When we're not so exposed, maybe we'll know then, now come on, they're waiting for us," Harry ushered Allison forward, her parents finally recovered and Hagrid waited with them.

Entering the pub, Tom, the bartender, looked up and with a toothy grin said, "The usual, Hagrid?"

"Can't Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business, two new students for the year," Hagrid made to clap Harry on the shoulder, the latter of which was nowhere to be found and so the half-giant was confused as Allison and her parents were still around, looking at the strange looking people and the decorum.

"Alright, maybe later then, Hagrid?"

"Always, Tom, always." Flashing another smile towards Tom, Hagrid pulled Allison and her parents along towards the gateway that split the magical world from the Muggle world. "Oh there yeh are Harry, I was wondering where yeh were," Hagrid said, relieved.

"I could see that people would swarm me Hagrid; I didn't want any attention, sorry about that."

"It's alrigh', I understand that myself Harry," Hagrid nodded. "To enter Diagon Alley, you need any witch or wizard to tap these three specific spots to open the archway." He showed this to Allison, Elizabeth, and Jonathan who stared in wonder as the bricks of the archway pulled apart to reveal a completely different world. People dressed in robes, cloaks, with fantastical wares and creatures out and about.

"Generally, the first stop in Diagon Alley is Gringotts, which is Britain's main bank and tha' is where we'll head first to get things set up for you."

They headed up to the massive white marble building and again, the small family of three stared in awe. There were two goblin guards at the entrance and they nodded, allowing them to pass. Once through, they faced a pair of silver doors and above it was the warning set by the goblins of Gringotts warning all against thievery. The two goblins by the silver doors bowed them through into the Hall where a myriad of goblins were weighing and working gems and coins of various colours but Hagrid took them to the very end of the hall.

"Mornin', we've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe, and also to get some money fer this new student, Allison Taylor. I've got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore about the you-know-what in vault 713."

"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, I assume you have your key? As for you Ms. Taylor, I shall call a goblin to set you up with the bank," The head goblin spoke. "Irontooth, take these three to general accounts Manager Narok and Griphook! Take Mr. Potter and Mr. Hagrid here down to Mr. Potter's vaults."

"You already have yer key, Harry?" Hagrid asked, he rumbled around in his large coat and pulled out a small golden key.

"When I first came to the bank, I talked to Lord Ragnok and he issued me a new key and changed the lock so that key won't work anymore, how did you have that key, Hagrid? I recall Ragnok mentioning something about Dumbledore holding onto it, did he give it to you to give to me?"

"He said tha's how we would get down to yer vaults but nothing about you already havin' a key..." Hagrid said, frowning at the key in confusion.

"That's alright; I'll see you three in just a few minutes," Harry said to the Taylor family and headed through another door with Hagrid and the goblin named Griphook.

As they descended the track in the cart, Hagrid immediately started looking green and Harry just hoped the man wouldn't spew out all over the cart and so kept his mouth shut. The twists and turns often did make Harry dizzy but it was slight and he was used to it by now. Harry unlocked the vault door and withdrew a handful of each type of coin and placed it into the moneybag he brought along. Hagrid gave Harry a thumbs up as the boy climbed back into the cart and Griphook locked it back up, once all three passengers were back in the cart, it sped off deeper into the tunnel until they arrived at Vault 713. Griphook unlocked the door and grabbed whatever was inside, Harry thought maybe it was some sort of tightly but messily wrapped object but Hagrid had blocked his view. Griphook then handed Hagrid the item who quickly pocketed it and once they were again situated in the cart, it sped off much more quickly towards the surface.

"I'll see yeh later Harry, I've got to take care of something else at the Leaky Cauldron for the moment," Hagrid said, and he ran off surprisingly quickly.

"Hey, Harry, where did Hagrid run off to? We just set up a small account for Allison here and now we need to get her things," Elizabeth said quietly. At the moment, she wasn't sure what was real, for now, she would try to be nice to the boy. Though minor, there were many compulsion and memory charms but since they were lifted, the effects allowed for all that were affected to think moderately straight.

"Don't worry, I know the place, the first place we should head to is Madam Malkin's shop for uniforms. It's all personally tailored for each student so it'll take longer than any of the other stores." Harry lead the trio of constantly in-awe family towards the clothing shop.

"Hogwarts? There's another young man being fitted up right now," said the witch who all presumed to be Madam Malkin, a squat, smiling witch dressed in mauve.

The group was led to the back of the shop where a pale, blonde boy was currently being fitted. Harry and Allison were stood atop stools and a robe was slipped over them by Madam Malkin who started to make the correct measurements. "I see you're Muggle-born aren't you? Tch, I can see it you know, your parents back there, normal witches and wizards don't usually follow their children in here and your clothes, where did you even get them?" The blonde boy immediately began to speak, insultingly and condescendingly. Jonathan made to get up and speak a few words to the boy but Elizabeth held her husband back, she didn't want to make a scene in this new world.

"Now, now, there's no need for that kind of talk!" Madam Malkin interjected and said to the pale blonde boy. "You're done, my dear." The rude boy walked away to a woman who was waiting by the entrance of the shop.

"Who was that and why was he so rude?" Allison said loudly in annoyance.

"I can only assume that's one of the more pure-blooded families, what I mean is that the boy comes from a line of witches and wizards that have no non-magic blood in their ancestry. A few of them assume that blood is power and think that anyone with impure blood is lesser than them as well. I don't know quite how prevalent they are in this society though," Harry explained.

"You two dears are done as well, come to the front and I'll bag your robes for you."

There was a series of loud thuds from outside the store and Harry saw that Hagrid had come back with a bunch of ice cream for them. He was grinning at the family as he held up the treats for them to see. The group headed to get their basic equipment and ate the ice cream in silence. "Mr. Hagrid?" Jonathan spoke suddenly, "You've been living in this world for a while, yes? Do you know about the pure blood families? We'd just met a very rude blond boy in Madam Malkin's shop."

"Ah, tha' would probably be one of the Malfoy clan, are very high up in our society, very old fashioned," Hagrid answered.. After acquiring their things from Flourish and Blotts (Allison was very much dragged away from the huge shelves stocked with books), they headed to the potions shop where they acquired their potions equipment and ingredients. The group all pinched their noses, it did not smell that great in the shop and Jonathan almost started gagging and only Hagrid was unaffected.

They all took deep breaths as they left the shop and started laughing because of how funny they all found the situation, a world of magic and they couldn't even spell away the smell?

"Fer one last stop, we should get you two yer wands and OH! Righ'! I almost forgot, I haven't gotten yeh a birthday present Harry, listen, we'll stop by Eeylops Owl Emporium to pick up an owl for you two, they're dead useful and can help you communicate while you're at Hogwarts," Hagrid said as he clapped his hand to his forehead. Once at the store, Harry immediately noticed a snowy white owl that was trying to stay hidden in its cage. He attempted to approach it when it froze and pretended it was dead. Harry cocked his head to the side, curious at the bird's mannerisms.

Seeing that the bird wasn't moving anymore, Harry said aloud to the shopkeeper, "Excuse me, miss? Why is this owl acting like this?" Harry speaking caused the rest of the group to look up and also see the owl.

"Oh that one? No one really knows, but she showed up one day and has refused to go with every customer who has walked passed those doors ever since," she replied sadly. "Though from what I can guess, she was previously owned and was abused by them as when she had shown up, she was covered in wounds not made by any animal. You can try to get it to come with you but I have never seen it budge."

"Alright..." Harry said, he then, while cutting off everything except for the owl and himself, began speaking in a quiet voice, "Hey there, I don't know what your life was like but, I was hurt a lot once too; it took a lot for me to even talk to that girl over there and she's just like me." The snowy white owl opened an eye to look right at Harry. "I was hurt very badly, physically and mentally you know, all I can remember is loneliness and pain given to me by my family; I can understand if you won't but if you come with me, I'll make sure to protect you and take care of you." The owl opened another eye and lifted its head from the floor of its cage just slightly. Harry lifted his fringe and showed the now attentive owl his faint lightning scar. "I lost my parents when I was just one year old to the man who gave me this, I imagine it must be quite lonely here yea? Come with me?"

He placed his hand against the cage and the owl got up and hopped to where Harry was standing, gave a single hoot and tapped its head against the bars. "Very well." Harry ended the magic block and everything else immediately came rushing back. The shopkeeper and the rest of the group were in a stunned silence. Though they heard nothing, they felt they already knew what happened, Hagrid was smiling widely.

"I often order a lot of the creatures that are brought here from other places around the world and the country but she came here on her own so she costs not even a single knut, just care for her," the lady said with a smile.

Taking the cage off its hook, Harry looked down at the bird with a smile. "I will."

Elizabeth and Jonathan shook themselves out of their stillness and ushered Allison to choose an owl as well. "There's a lot though! Who do I choose?"

Elizabeth crouched down and said, "Whichever owl seems right to you, Allie."

Allison walked passed the many cages but each bird seemed content to mind its own business. About halfway down the group of cages, she saw a Northern hawk-owl that followed her every movement. "This owl, he's the one!" Paying the shopkeeper, the group left the store and Hagrid immediately began talking.

"Tha' was incredible Harry! Whatever happened there Harry, you and that owl will definitely be more than just friends, you'll be partners!" Elizabeth and Jonathan gave each other pained looks,now feeling even more guilty for what they had said and done to Harry for the last three years.

"Alrigh', let's go to Ollivanders, the only real place to get wands around here!"

The storefront read "Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C."

Inside, there were thousands of long thin boxes stacked upon each other but no one was in sight and the air tingled with magic. It was mysterious and Harry figured it was due to the way wands worked. "Good afternoon," a soft voice said which caused everyone but Harry to jump, a loud crunching sounded from the corner where Hagrid had been sitting.

An old man that they all presumed to be Ollivander stood before them. "Hello, I expected to see you soon Harry Potter, you have your mother's eyes. It's as though she were only here yesterday buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inch long, swishy and made of willow. A nice wand for charm work." The man said all that without blinking which was creeping out Elizabeth. "Your father favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches long, pliable, and more power which was excellent for transfiguration. Your father favoured it though really it's the wand that chooses the wizard, of course." The man leaned forward and got really into Harry's space but the child did not lean away. "I'm sorry to say that I sold the wand that did it, thirteen and a half inch long. A very, very powerful wand made of yew wood and in the wrong hands... if only I'd known what that wand would do..."

"Ah, and it seems we have a new witch to welcome to the Wizarding World, welcome Miss and - Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! It's so nice to see you again, yours was sixteen inches long, made of oak, and was rather bendy wasn't it?" Allison smiled at the friendly old man whose creepy atmosphere seemed to disappear.

"It was sir, yes," Hagrid said.

"It was a good wand but I suppose they snapped it in half when you were expelled?" Ollivander asked, suddenly serious.

"They did, yes," Hagrid had been carrying a pink umbrella but the group hadn't paid much mind to it and he gripped it very tightly as he spoke.

Humming, Ollivander gave him a piercing look and began to go around Harry and Allison with tape measures. "Which is your wand arm?"

"I'm right-handed," Harry and Allison both said. Ollivander gave Harry an inquisitive look.

"Hold out your arm, that's it." The wand maker measured them from shoulder to finger, wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit, and around their heads. While measuring, Ollivander explained, "Every Ollivander wand has a powerful magical substance for cores such as unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and dragon heartstrings. No wands are the same such as any other creature are never quite the same. As such, you'll never get good results with another's wand as you would with your own.

"That'll do," He said, and the measure that had been working by itself fell into a heap on the floor. "I'll first start with Mr. Potter. Try this one, beech wood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches, nice and flexible, just take it and give it a wave."

Harry picked it up and when waved, it gave off nothing more than a spark and Ollivander immediately took it back. It went on like this for a half hour and still no wand reacted with more than a spark. Elizabeth, Jonathan, and Hagrid all looked at this with strange curiosity and boredom. "Hmm... try this, holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." When Harry took the wand and waved it, it burned up and disintegrated into nothingness.

"That is indeed strange, Mr. Potter, I assumed that your association with Voldemort would've worked with that wand as that is the brother to his wand." Hagrid shook a little. "Come with me."

Ollivander disappeared behind a shelf and Harry followed him to another door which opened up to a small workshop with boxes labelled with different kinds of woods and other materials. "I suppose you have more than just an ordinary wizard's power Mr. Potter?"

"How did you know that?" Harry asked, immediately on alert. His hand raised, white magic condensed into a ball.

"Don't you worry, Harry Potter, I am older than you think and as a wandmaker, this sort of thing is instinctual to me, those with great powers always give off a different air but even then, you're different. Your magic is far more different than anything I've ever experienced. You remind me of Albus Dumbledore, he's an extremely powerful and skilled wizard and his magic feels different as well, it's a rare feeling that I, of course, never see much. This problem stems from the fact that the wands I normally make are meant to deal with the type of energy that regular witches and wizards use but if I switch the wood and core with an ancient or extremely rare material, they should be able to channel your magic efficiently. You may not see any use for a wand with your power but a wand is always far more efficient in channeling magic and casting spells though you don't need any incantation if you're skilled enough and could simply use the wand. Now... what should I use?"

Ollivander went to the back wall of the tiny workshop and a network of lines flashed into existence and like the archway to Diagon Alley, the wall pulled apart to reveal another place, a smaller storage.

"Who are you, Mr. Ollivander?" Harry asked, his curiosity was definitely peaked now.

"I may be mysterious and old, Harry Potter, but I assure you I am just an old man with a lot of knowledge." The old man took one good look at Harry again and began to open several boxes. "Your magic gives me the feeling of elves but not like the house elves that serve Hogwarts or rich families but something even more ancient..." Ollivander showed Harry what seemed to be a deep dark red wood. "For your wand, we'll use Faerie Wood, as the name suggests, it is wood from the once prosperous land of the Fae race but they fell during the time of Merlin, an ancestor of mine, who was a thief and stole this precious wood right from under their noses. It was left with another of my family before he was hunted down and killed by the Fae guard and to this day, none of my family knows why he did this. I never used it because it never felt right but now maybe it is right for you."

Ollivander then, with a pair of tweezers, held up a platinum blond thread. It seemed like normal blond hair to Harry. The core we'll use is this. It belonged to a once proud magical race but they disappeared from the earth and no one knows who or what they were and no one in my family knew where these platinum blonde fibers came from. I assume by your reactions to the wood and the core that they feel right for you? That they feel like your own magic?" Harry had been nearly overwhelmed by the magic pouring from the wood and the core, it was as though the materials had chosen him already, even though they weren't made into a wand yet and nodded.

"Alright, now crafting a wand does take time so I shall not take the time of your friend and her parents any longer, we shall start with her wand first and I will personally deliver your wand to you later in the day."

Harry was still in a state of shock from the magic and so he didn't notice that he didn't tell Ollivander his address. Once a shower of sparks entered his line of sight and he shook himself to clear his head. "Oh wonderful, it seems that wand has chosen you Ms. Taylor! That will be seven galleons."

Passing over the big gold coins and pocketing the purchase, the group decided not to pressure Harry for answers as they headed off. "Why aren't we, er, not apparating back?" Elizabeth asked as they headed to the train station with their things.

"It's extremely difficult to transport huge loads with just apparition, Mrs. Taylor," Harry said quietly.

"Oh I guess that's a thing that, because size and travel even with magic..." Elizabeth said back but stopped, feeling very awkward.

At the train stop, Hagrid handed Allison and Harry a ticket each. "Your tickets for Hogwarts," he said. "First of September at King's Cross, it's on your tickets. See you soon Harry, Allison." The train arrived and as they got on, Elizabeth and Jonathan turned to say goodbye to the friendly half-giant but just as they did, Hagrid vanished.


As Harry was relaxing in bed, Petunia came knocking. Harry sat up and waited for whatever she wanted to say. "This box was left by the front door, it's yours." She tossed it to Harry and left, closing the door behind her. Hedwig had been sleeping in her cage but woke up due to the noise.

Harry opened the box and within was the dark red wand. It gave off a feeling of incredible familiarity and even Hedwig seemed to notice this. Harry picked up the wand and at first there was nothing but soon he felt a burning sensation grab at his body and at his magic; it burned like nothing Harry had felt before but when the pain ebbed away, he felt that the wand had linked itself to him so that only he could use it unlike ordinary wands. Harry felt only a comforting, familial warmth. He gave it a wave and a series of multi-coloured sparks appeared from the tip. "This is definitely the one, Hedwig."

The snowy white owl gave a happy hoot and went back to sleep. Harry placed the wand back into the box and placed it upon his desk. He was surprised Allison hadn't come knocking but it was probably because of all the new things she had to read and study.

Harry completed his normal daily routine and went to sleep for the day. For the first time in years, Harry dreamed once more about the purple-skinned woman and the tiny creatures with big eyes and sharp ears that he now knew were house elves. 'But why house elves?' He thought. 'What exactly is it about house elves?'

The scene changed and he thought he saw that same woman battling what appeared to be an old wizard. Each magical blast by either side was met with equal force and neither gave ground. The foggy image of the dream cleared away just a little to reveal that there was more than just the wizard. Though it didn't show their faces, these tall and slender witches and wizards were aiding the first wizard in the fierce battle against this woman. The woman cast a bright light which blinded the group but the first wizard managed to shield himself from being affected, then the woman cast another spell that was aimed at the group aiding her enemy.

Even in the dream/vision that Harry was seeing, he could tell that it affected the entire world and the screams were horrible. Before they fell entirely to the magic's effects, the creatures gathered their power and cast a spell, but nothing seemed to happen and it dissipated. Before anything more could happen, Harry woke up and it was morning. "Another mystery to figure out once I'm at Hogwarts, I have absolutely no idea where to start."


The rest of August passed by in a flash and he met up with the Taylors. They had offered to take Harry down to King's Cross two weeks before and he'd accepted. That day was memorable and Harry hadn't really expected that day to happen.

oOoOo

"Harry, my husband and I, we're both extremely sorry for how we had treated you these last few years. We didn't even bother looking past the words of others to know you for who you truly are and we treated you like a murderer. I'm so sorry, what we did is inexcusable."

Harry was standing stunned, Elizabeth Taylor was apologizing. He figured that after he'd told Allison that she would tell them they were under the influence of some other entity's spellwork.

"It's-," Harry began to say but she cut him off.

"It is not fine, Harry! No child should be shunned like that and we want to make it up to you, for starters, how about John and I, take you along with Allison to the station on the 1st of September? It's small but I want to do something to help," Elizabeth said firmly.

"Thank you Mrs. Taylor. I accept your offer."

oOoOo

The drive down to King's Cross was quiet. Jonathan was focused on getting them to the station and Elizabeth was navigating for them. Harry and Allison were talking about the things she had been reading in her new books. When they reached the station and got their trunks loaded onto trolleys, they were lost. "Hagrid didn't tell us how to get on the platform, did he?" Harry laughed nervously. As much as he knew, he somehow glossed over that small fact. 'Of course I did!' Harry berated himself silently. 'Oh wait a second, am I dense? I can sense this!' He was about to enhance his senses with his magic when Allison spoke in response.

"That's alright, there have to be more families coming through this side won't there? We're not late and we still have time," Allison said, seemingly calm.

"Look, there's one there!" Jonathan pointed out a large family of redheads between platforms nine and ten. "Let's watch them and see how they do it." One by one, the children took their trolleys and walked or ran straight at the barrier. They were all surprised when rather than crashing and making a scene, the red haired family all disappeared. "Well then, let's try to do that, I'll go with Harry, and Elizabeth, you'll go with Allison okay?"

All agreeing, Jonathan and Harry lined up the trolley and pushed, running. Both had closed their eyes still expecting a crash but when nothing happened, they opened them and were met with the scene of a platform crowded with other families. It was a strange sight to behold after Diagon Alley where all the buildings looked to have been built decades ago. Crowds of witches and wizards with their children all climbing aboard a scarlet steam engine train that was called the Hogwarts Express.

The two moved off so and Elizabeth and Allison appeared running with their eyes closed. "Wooh! That was weird," Elizabeth exclaimed. "Come on, let's get you two settled for the ride. Elizabeth and Jonathan lifted their trunks onto the train and they began walking back from the front as every compartment they came across was full with other students.

A short while later, they'd found an empty compartment at the middle of the train and after stowing away their trunks, the group got off to say their goodbyes.

"We're going to miss you, Allison, be good alright? Make us proud!" They hugged their daughter and then turned to Harry. "Harry, once again we're both very sorry for what we did but I'm glad we've started putting that behind us and getting to know you more than what your family and the other neighbours have told us. Take care of yourself and Allison for us, please? Thank you, we'll see you in June."

Elizabeth and John gave the kids one final hug as the train sounded and the other families began to wave to their kids on the train. Allison went and got back on the train and Harry made to follow but as he did, a sight caught his eye. With most of the kids on the train, Harry was able to see this. There was a well-dressed, stone-faced girl not saying a word to her parents as they bid their farewells and she got on the train. 'That was odd, she didn't seem at all sad to say goodbye but her parents certainly are, who is she and why is she like that? Maybe it's just a coping mechanism and I'm not seeing anything that is abnormal.' Back in their compartments, some students were waving goodbye to their families as the train began to pull away, Allison and Harry did the same until Elizabeth and John were out of sight.

"I hope we'll be able to make friends when we're there," Allison said, smiling hopefully. Harry agreed.

The train hadn't been going for very long when their compartment door opened up. "Hey, can I sit with you guys? Everywhere else is full," said a red haired boy.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Harry answered.

"Thanks, it's crazy out there, my name's Ron Weasley, what's yours?" Ron said to them.

"I'm Allison Taylor," Allison said, giving Harry a knowing look, smirking.

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter, nice to meet you Ron," Harry said, returning the look.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron said loudly and Harry responded with a nod.

"Wow! I didn't expect to meet you on the train, and do you really have the, well," Ron said, pointing at Harry's forehead.

Harry pulled his bangs back to show the ever-fading lightning scar, it was barely visible now and Harry had no idea why.

"It's just barely there but wow... so that's where You-Know-Who..."

"Yes, and all I remember is a green flash and laughter."

"I think I saw you with your family earlier on the platform, Ron, what are they like? Are they all wizards?" Allison spoke up to spare Harry from remembering any more. He didn't enjoy talking about that much, the parents he lost that day.

"Er, yes I think so. I think my mum might have a second cousin that is an accountant but we never talk about him." They talked about Ron's family for a while and he had five brothers and a sister, he was currently the 6th to enter Hogwarts and felt he had a lot to live up to with what his brothers had done with their time at Hogwarts. Nearly an hour later, the door compartment opened up and a woman with a trolley piled with snacks came into view. Harry bought a little of everything for the group and shared it with Ron and Allison, trading some for the corned beef sandwiches that his mom had made.

As the train went farther and farther away from London, the door opened up and this time a fretful looking, chubby boy came in and said, "Sorry, but have any of you seen a toad at all?"

"No, sorry, we've been here the entire time," Allison said apologetically.

"I've lost him!"

"I'm sure he'll turn up," Harry said.

"Yes, well, if you see him," the boy said sadly and left.

"I can't say much as I have Scabbers but if I had a toad, I'd lose it as soon as I could," Ron said to them. The rat was sleeping on Ron's lap and the boy looked at it. "He could die and you wouldn't even see a difference, I tried turning him yellow yesterday so that he'd be more interesting, but the spell didn't work," Ron said.

"Could you show us?" Allison asked excitedly.

"I could but..." Ron pulled a wand out and it was very battered and chipped. Just as he raised it, the toadless boy had returned but with a bushy haired girl who was already in her Hogwarts robes.

"Have you seen a toad? Neville's lost his," she said in a bossy tone.

"We've already told him that we haven't seen a toad," Ron said but the girl had zeroed in on his raised wand and wasn't listening.

"Are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." Sitting down, the girl and the boy called Neville sat too, fidgeting in his seat. He was certainly worried about his toad but it seemed as though he was waiting for the girl to get back to the search.

"Alright," clearing his throat, Ron began the 'spell' and said, "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." Nothing happened when he waved his wand and the rat stayed gray and asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" the girl said in a condescending tone. "It isn't very good, is it?" I've practiced with a few spells and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all and it was such a surprise when i got my letter but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've learned all our books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough. I'm Hermione Granger by the way, who are you?" The speed with which she had said all that as well as the fact that she had learned all of their books by heart had stunned Ron. Harry and Allison were unaffected but were a little annoyed with the tone that she was speaking to them with.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"Allison Taylor," Allison answered.

"Harry Potter," Harry said.

"Are you really?" Hermione said, her gaze locked on to Harry. "I know all about you, of course, I got a few more books for just reading and you're in Modern Magical History, and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."

"I imagine they spoke more than just the night that Voldemort-," Harry was saying when Ron gasped loudly, interrupting him.

"You said his name! You don't say his name! I thought you of all people wouldn't dare!" Ron said, shocked.

"Oh, right, that, I'm not afraid to say his name but I forgot most people are, sorry," Harry apologized.

Hermione spoke up again, "What were you saying before, Harry?"

"As I was saying, what did they say about me and my family?" Harry directed towards Hermione. He already knew what they said, they were all guesses on what happened but nothing that was really true when it came to him. "The reason I say this is that I read those books as well and the writers were only really guessing on what happened and whatever happened between Vol- You-Know-Who and I, those stories and theories are far from the truth. I'm actually surprised by how off they were."

"Oh." Hermione was a little down, confusing the four of them. But she went back to her normal self and began to speak quickly again. "So do you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I guess Ravenclaw won't be bad either. Anyway, we should go and look for Neville's toad, you three should change; I expect we'll be there soon."

"I hope that I'm not in the same house as her," Ron said grumpily. He threw his wand back into his trunk and went on to explain that all of his family were in Gryffindor and wondered what they would say and do if he ended up elsewhere, especially Slytherin. Allison asked what the older brothers, the ones who had graduated, did, and Ron explained that Charlie studied dragons in Romania and Bill was working in Africa for Gringotts. "Speaking of Gringotts, did you hear? It's been all over the Prophet, but I guess you don't get that with the Muggles, someone tried to rob a high security vault and it's huge because they disappeared, it must have been a powerful dark wizard to do that in Gringotts so everyone is scared in case it was Voldemort somehow."

Allison began to feel something akin to fear with Voldemort being mentioned but she hadn't really heard much about the dark wizard so she would wait until there was more to go on.

Ron then began talking about Quidditch and was about to explain the finer parts of the game when the door slid open once more to reveal the rude blond boy from Madam Malkin's shop, this time he was showing more interest in Harry and he was also accompanied by two big, mean, and dull looking boys on either side of the blond boy like bodyguards.

"Several people said they thought they saw Harry Potter back at the station and that he was in this compartment, is it you?"

"Yes I am, who are you?"

"My name's Draco Malfoy and this is Crabbe and Goyle."

Ron coughed which sounded suspiciously like a snicker. Draco looked at him and said in a demeaning voice, "Think my name's funny, do you? I don't need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." Turning back to Harry, Draco explained in high and mighty voice about how some families were better than others and that he wouldn't want to make friends with the wrong types. Harry was angry now, Allison and Ron were both annoyed. Draco made to shake hands but Harry knocked his aside.

"Your view on who is better than who, Mr. Draco Malfoy, seems slightly skewed. I will not consider being your friend until you figure out what I mean, now goodbye," Harry said, his displeasure quite obvious.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," Draco said. "Unless you're politer, you'll go the same way as your parents and they didn't know what was good for them. You continue hanging around with riffraff like the Weasleys, Hagrid, and her," Draco said looking at Allison and continued with disdain in his voice, "it'll rub off on you."

Ron stood up but Harry just forced him back into his seat and Allison made sure that the red head stayed quiet. "I assure you that I'm being quite polite, I find this just a bit funny considering how rude you are being to me and my friends here; I bid you good day, Draco Malfoy."

"But we don't feel like leavi-," Draco began to say but Harry just pushed the trio out with just enough magic to make it seem like he'd done it with just force and closed the door.

"Nothing? That's surprising with how much he ran his mouth," Allison said after a few moment silence.

The two boys agreed. "I just saw a group of boys coming from here, what happened?" Hermione said, stepping into view.

"They were being very rude so Harry forced them out," Allison explained, "Do you know about them Ron?"

"Yeah, his family were some of the first people to come back from You-Know-Who's side after he had disappeared and they all claimed to have been bewitched but my dad doesn't believe it. Can we help you?" Ron finished, turning to Hermione.

"I came to tell you that we're nearly there so you'd all better put your robes on, you've got dirt on your nose by the way." Ron glared at Hermione as she left.

They all put their robes on and minutes later, the train screeched to a halt. On the platform, a familiar voice was heard. "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! Alright over there Harry? Allison?" Hagrid's hairy face beamed over the sea of heads. "C'mon, follow me, any more firs' years? Mind yer step!"

The group of first years followed Hagrid down to the edge of a great lake. On the other side, there was a vast castle on the mountainside. "So that's Hogwarts, seems bigger than I thought," Allison said in wonder.

"Of course," Harry replied, "It's an old castle and those were huge."

"Four to a boat only!" Hagrid said to them, pointing to a bunch of boats floating in the water by the shore. Harry, Ron, Allison, and another student got into one boat when Hagrid shouted, "Everyone in? Right, FORWARD!" The boats all moved at once, gliding across the smooth, surface of the lake. All were quiet, staring at the castle. Minutes later, they reached a sort of underground harbor where Hagrid found Neville's toad which was promptly returned to the tearful boy. The group of students were led to a huge oak door and Hagrid knocked three times with a gigantic fist.

The door opened and there stood a tall, black-haired witch in emerald green robes. "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said. The witch took over from there and led them through the entrance hall into a small chamber off the hall.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," McGonagall said. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you'll be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is an important ceremony because, while you are at Hogwarts, your house will be something like your family within the castle. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in the house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room."

Taking a breath, the professor continued, telling them the names of the four houses and then, "Each house has its own great history and has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn points while any rule breaking will lose points for your house. At the end of the year, the house with the most points are awarded the great honour of the house cup. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house you join. The sorting will happen in front of the rest of the school soon so prepare yourselves. I shall return when we're ready for you, please wait quietly." Professor McGonagall then left the chamber.

Harry and Allison waited in silence though Ron did say that another older brother, Fred, said there was a sort of painful test but that was possibly a joke. Everyone else was listening anxiously and no one was talking except Hermione who was muttering to herself about the spells she had learned. Harry started to tune it all out when twenty ghosts burst through the wall. Soon enough, though, Professor McGonagall returned and made them form a line and though Harry complied, he was almost staring off into space with his blank eyes. It wasn't until everyone burst into applause that Harry stopped and heard Ron say that they just had to try on a hat and that he would kill Fred for talking about having to wrestle a troll.

Professor McGonagall stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment and began to call out the names of students to try on the old hat on the stool at the front of the hall. No one really interested Harry until the stone-faced girl appeared and was just as emotionless as when she was on the train. 'Still? It's been hours! I get that some may be sad that they won't be with their parents but still!' Harry tried to scrutinize the stone-faced blonde girl but he got nothing. Her name was Daphne Greengrass and she ended up in "SLYTHERIN!"

Hermione went to Gryffindor and then other names that Harry didn't recognize were called. Neville went to Gryffindor, Malfoy went to Slytherin and then more names until... "Potter, Harry!" Whispers immediately broke out by all students as Harry made his way to the stool with the Sorting Hat. Looking up, all the teachers and Dumbledore were watching him, some happy, some smiling sadly, though one particularly greasy haired wizard stared at Harry with seething hatred. Harry placed the hat upon his head and immediately all other sounds were drowned out.

"Well hello there, Harry Potter, you are hardworking and loyal to those you trust which is an excellent trait for Hufflepuff. You have an already well-learned mind which would be excellent for Ravenclaw and more than enough daring and nerve for Gryffindor. Where to place you? Hmm...you like secrecy, are ambitious, possess enormous potential and you have a hidden power," said the hat, who, knowing that it just triggered Harry's nerves, stated a single phrase that Harry could tell was true. "I am a powerful magical artifact enchanted by some of the most powerful witches and wizards of the age, Mr. Potter, everyone knows this."

'Very well, place me where you will, though I'm not particularly happy that I'll be immediately surrounded by potential enemies,' Harry thought.

"I believe you'll be best suited for… SLYTHERIN!' The hat shouted the last word to the hall. "Be careful, Mr. Potter," the hat said to Harry in his mind as he took the hat off. The Great Hall was dead silent and Harry looked to where Ron was standing and noticed that he had a look of loathing in his eyes. Whispers from all over the hall then broke out, and Harry could have sworn that Ron mouthed the word 'traitor' at him.

'Strange, he seemed nice enough before, is it really just because I'm in Slytherin?' Harry wondered, feeling a bit gloomy at the loss of a potential friend. Turning around, he saw disappointment from most of the staff's eyes. Hagrid seemed tense, Dumbledore was staring at him intensely with a slight frown, the professor in a turban seemed tense but not because of his sorting, and the greasy, black haired man seemed absolutely shocked. However, Professor McGonagall, being the consummate professional, read the next name on the list but people were still quiet, even the Slytherin students. By the time Allison was called, the hall was back to its usual self, cheering for the students that were seated at their table.

Harry watched as Allison almost jogged to the hat in excitement. It barely touched her head when it shouted, "RAVENCLAW!" Harry gave her a thumbs up as she looked in his direction but she looked upset that they weren't in the same house, though her mood was lifted when everyone at the Ravenclaw table welcomed her. Ron was called up shortly after and he was placed in Gryffindor. Harry was now fully focused as the man at the head of the table stood up and welcomed everyone. It was Dumbledore and they ended up locking eyes. Immediately, Harry thought something tried to breach the magical shield he forgot he had put up around himself years ago, but he brushed it off as being tired from the train trip, then he noticed the greasy, black haired man also looking at him intensely, now that his shock had worn off.

As the food appeared on the tables and everyone began to eat, Harry heard bits of conversation about him from the other end of the hall and he just knew this would last for a while.

"Hey, Potter! How does it feel to be a traitor to your own family?" a girl asked beside him, loud enough for several people around to stop eating and listen in.

"I do not know my family but if they're anything like someone I have just recently met, I imagine they would be rather disappointed if not outraged." Harry sighed and raised his voice so that anyone who was listening close by, would hear him. "I am no traitor to anyone, I have simply been placed into one of the four houses of Hogwarts, the only house with a negative reputation due to the actions of a few select individuals, but I am none of those people." The chatter in the hall died down but remained a quiet buzz as those who heard told their friends what he had just said. Harry could still hear them talking about him and now all were wondering what he meant.

He could see the questions already. Is he like You-Know-Who? Is this just a cover-up? A lie? Will he be the next dark lord? Or is he really just a kind child who has the basic traits of a Slytherin? 'Well, maybe they'll think that, but only time will tell,' Harry thought.

"Right, well then, let me introduce myself," said another, it was a boy who Harry didn't see in the sorting. "I'm Peter, fifth year, our head of house is Professor Snape, the black haired professor sitting near Dumbledore." Peter pointed to the greasy black haired man at the head table who was currently talking with a small, older wizard about something. "You've got a problem? You can go to him, Dumbledore, one of us, or you can solve the problem yourself."

Harry continued looking at the head table and Professor Snape glanced in his direction, they locked eyes and Harry felt the same something trying to breach his shields, though he had no idea what it was. It wasn't able to make even a scratch after a minute and the professor gave up, resuming his conversation with the small old wizard. Harry's gaze lingered for just a moment more before he turned to his dinner. "I'll do that then," Harry said to the fifth year.

After the food was vanished off the golden and silver plates and Dumbledore bid them all a good night, the Slytherin prefects led the new students down into the dungeons. A few first years seemed a little shaken by this but said nothing. They were led to a stretch of a damp stone wall where the closer prefect said, "snake bite." A stone door that was concealed in the wall slid open which revealed a long, low, underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling. There were round, greenish lamps hanging on chains and a fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them. There were high-backed chairs around the fire and smaller chairs and tables strewn about the rest of the room.

"Listen up, because we'll only tell you this once," said the girl prefect in an annoyed tone, "All of you have separate rooms to sleep in due to a series of magically expanding spells. Those doors on the left lead to the boys rooms and the doors on the right lead to the girls rooms, understand? Good." She led the first year girls off to the right and the boy prefect led them to the left. Harry immediately noticed that there were 7 doors on one side with a number on each.

The door closest to the common room read 7 and the last read 1 so Harry assumed these doors were based on the year that the students were in. "This is the door you go through that will lead to your rooms, the doors on the right side lead to the bathrooms. Your rooms have your names already engraved upon the door so there should be no problem, understand?" The small group of first year boys just nodded, afraid to speak, and went through, the prefect went off to his own room.

Draco Malfoy had sat too far from Harry at dinner to make any sort of move or speak without shouting but as the other first years found their rooms through silver and green doors, Draco Malfoy made to bump Harry into the wall. Harry, however, having his nerves empowered by his magic, sensed this and moved to the side, causing Draco to stumble as he missed. Surprised, he looked back at Harry.

"Next time, Potter," he said smirking and went into his own room.

"Good luck with that," Harry said to the empty hall, and went inside.

The room was big enough for a four-poster bed, a desk with a mirror, and a closet and his trunk which was placed at the end of the bed. Harry changed into his pajamas, collapsed into the bed, and immediately fell asleep.

He began to dream and saw something he hadn't seen in years. A girl encased in ice where it seemed like she was smiling. The darkness once again cleared away but this time the girl didn't melt; it was Daphne Greengrass.