Book 1 - Harry Potter And The Dawn Of Chaos
Chapter 4 - Journey to Hogwarts
Harry woke up at five o'clock the next morning, the excitement and apprehension wouldn't let him fall back to sleep, he was excited for the day but nervous, no amount of reading could prepare him fully for the journey he was about to go on. He got up and pulled on the baggy clothes, as much as the robes fit him a lot better and were nicer to wear he didn't think it would be a good idea to walk to the station in his wizard robes. He double checked he had everything. The beautiful snowy owl Hagrid had gotten him sat in her cage, he had named her Hidwig and had been really impressed with the half giants present. Eventually the Dursleys got up and two hours later Harry's huge heavy trunk had been loaded into the car and they set off.
They reached King's cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's stuff onto a trolley and wheeled it inside. The niceness of this gesture put Harry on edge, his Uncle was never nice. This was proved true when Vernon stopped dead and turned to Harry, a vicious grin plastered on his face.
"Well here we are, platform nine and over there is platform ten, I wonder where yours is? Enjoy your term freak." At this Vernon walked away, feeling good that he had been proved right and that the boy was no longer his problem.
Harry looked around, much to his disgust it seemed his uncle was right. There was no platform nine and three quarters. Harry felt the familiar feeling of dread and hopelessness creep into him. He didn't have long left before the train was meant to leave and he had no idea how to find it. He cursed the unless games keeper for not telling him. Harry was frozen in place, he couldn't go back, he wouldn't go back. His body began to shake and he could't stop the spiral of anxiety from claiming his senses.
People were staring at him, he could hear the whispers, he knew they were most likely due to the fact he had an owl with him but that didn't matter. The rational part of Harry's brain wasn't working, he could only picture them talking about how strange he was, how alone he seemed, how pathetic it was that he was just standing there. Trying as hard as he could he couldn't stop those thoughts from taking over, pushing down any attempts to calm himself, the shaking was getting worse and HArry was afraid, he was useless, he was weak, he was forever doomed to be trapped by the Dursleys. No escape, no escape from the hell he had hoped today would mark the end off. Harry Potter was nothing.
"-packed with Muggles, of course -"
Harry's head snapped towards the speaker, he watched as a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all of them had flaming red hair. Each of them pushed a trunk like Harry's in front of him - and they had an owl.
Harry's heart still hammered but the spiral of thoughts slowed, he watched as they all walked towards a pillar between platform nine and ten. He slowly pushed his trolley towards the redhead family hoping they would lead him to the platform, as he got an earshot again he stopped and listened "All right Percy, you go first."
What looked like the oldest marched forward and ran at the pillar, Harry watched carefully as to not miss what happened - but as the boy reached the divide between the two platforms, he vanished. Harry watched in amazement as each of the family one by one disappeared into the divide. Waiting a minute to make sure that the family had gotten far enough away and taking some deep breaths, Harry followed.
People jostled him on their way to platform nine and ten. Harry sped up, he was going to smash right into that ticket box and then he'd really be in trouble. Shaking his head he tried to dispel those thoughts, this was the start of something new, something better than the life he had. He was going to be free. With that thought Harry charged straight into the wall and vanished.
A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to the platform next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead read Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock. Looking behind him to where the ticket box had been he saw a wrought-iron archway with the words Platform nine and three quarters on it. He had done it. Relief flooded his body, the pent up fear and doubt melted away, being replaced with excitement.
Smoke from the engine drifted overhead of the chattering crowd, while cars of every colour wound here and there between their legs, owls hooted to each other in a disgruntled sort of way over the noise of people and the scraping of heavy trunks.
Harry took it all in with wonder and amazement. This was it, this is the world he would be living in. A world of magic and mystery and he could not imagine living in any other world. He pulled his trunk a long while he searched for any empty compartment, many were already full of children saying goodbye to their families, he had lost sight of the gingers but he was sure he would see them again.
He walked past families saying goodbye, hugs from saddened mothers, warning the troublemakers to behave. One family caught Harry's eye though, a blonde boy that Harry recognised as Draco was saying goodbye to what Harry assumed was his family, Draco was being hugged by women with black hair that was partly dyed the same blonde as Draco's, she was dressed in black robes with grey lining, Harry assumed this to be Mrs Malfoy. He watched as a tall man with pale blonde hair, dressed in expensive robes with a silver buttoned undercoat placed his hand on Dracos shoulder and wished him well. Harry guessed this was Draco's father, the one he hadn't shut up about. However it was the man stood behind Mr and Mrs Malfoy that truly captured Harry's attention, he was taller than the others, dressed in similarly expensive robes to Mr Malfoy but with grey lining and undercoat, he seemed to be resting his weight on a black cane, Harry couldn't see the top of it since the man's black gloved hand covered it, he had long curly black hair which came down to his shoulders and the man's eyes were a striking dark grey. Harry's own eyes locked with the man's, who simply stared at him. A slight pressure began to build from within Harry's head. Shaking his head and breaking eye contact with the man Harry continued on his way. If he had stayed a bit longer he would have seen the faint trace of a smile appear on the mysterious man's face and would have seen as he turned to an old withered house elf and seen as both of them disappeared with a crack.
Harry continued walking the length of the train, the search took him all the way to the final carriage which seemed quieter, getting his luggage on board took him a lot of effort but finally Harry was on board the Hogwarts express, now he just needed to find an empty compartment.
LINE BREAK
Picking up all of his fastly depleting courage, Neville Longbottom finally managed to speak, breaking the awkward silence that had filled the compartment since the other boy's arrival, and said the worst thing he could ever say, "I am sorry about your parents." For Merlin's sake Neville thought to himself why on earth did he say that.
When his grandmother had asked Neville to find Harry Potter on the train and make friends with him, he had been terrified, the boy who had barely gotten into Hogwarts, the boy whose entire family had believed a squib was now expected to make friends with the boy who lived, the child who had saved magical Britain, who had defeated the monster that was he who shall not be named. Neville had almost immediately given up on said task instead finding himself a nice empty compartment and sitting down expecting a long and lonely ride to Hogwarts.
What he hadn't expected was for said boy who lived to appear outside his compartment and ask to join him. Nevilles stutter had caused him to give up on trying to say yes so Neville had just quickly nodded, thankful he had gotten the message and taken a seat. There was an awkward silence until Neville had finally managed to find words again. Unfortunately it had been those ones and Neville was regretting speaking at all.
"Thank you." Harry answered quietly, looking away from Neville and out of the window.
"Sorry, that was a very bad way to start, I just panicked and I have always wanted to tell you that, everyone goes on about how amazing it must be to be a hero like you but I always felt bad because of the price you paid." Neville could feel himself rambling at this point.
"It's fine, I actually do appreciate it. Everyone else just keeps thanking me for it and honestly it's terrifying." His voice was small.
"I am sure people will get used to you eventually. I mean they will be around you 24/7 so they can't keep up the shock every time." Neville was trying desperately to make up for his tasteless blunder because as much as Harry said it was fine Neville would hate for someone to talk about his parents like that.
"Yeah, I guess this is just so new to me."
Neville was confused by Harry's words "What do you mean this is new to you?"
"Nothing"
"Oh, umm what are you looking forward to most about Hogwarts?" The question was Nevillie's attempt to change the topic since Harry clearly didn't want to talk about that and it worked. A light seemed to be lit from behind Harry's eyes as he started to talk.
"Honestly Nevillie, I am just excited for the Magic, it is so amazing to me. I am just excited to take it all in, to play with it and to experience it. Diagon Alley is wonderful and I can imagine Hogwarts is going to be even better. The way it feels, the unpredictability of it all. I don't understand how anyone could not want to experience it." Neville was taken aback by the sudden passion in Harry's voice. The boy who lived had been surprisingly quiet and withdrawn so far, but as soon as he started talking about magic he exploded with excitement "I am excited to study all the branches of magic and array of subjects at Hogwarts , especially defence and history of magic. I know everyone expects me to want to learn defence but I can't help but be fascinated by the idea and the history of the magical world but be exciting and interesting so that will be fun, what about you?"
Hearing his excitement about history Neville didn't have the heart to tell him the stories he had been told about how dull and boring it was meant to be and yeah of course Harry Potter wanted to learn about Defence. Neville decide to be honest with Harry, lying would only start the friendship off on bad terms and from the seams of it Neville was actual making a friend within Harry "Honestly I have never really been very talented with magic so I am looking forward to improving in all areas, but my main passion is always Herbolgoy, I know it isn't as exciting or flashy but it is incredibly useful and Hogwarts has some of the most diverse collection of plants in Britain, it's brilliant."
"You seem very passionate about it, I hadn't considered how useful it could be."
Neville felt his cheeks redden a bit "Sorry, I know it's not important, so what interests you about defence?"
Ignoring Neville's question Harry asked his own "Would you mind telling me more about Herbology, and don't apologies for being passionate."
"You sure you don't mind?"
"Of course not, I haven't done much research into the subject and would love to learn as much as I can about it before I arrive at Hogwarts" Harry's smile reassured Neville who then began a long detailed conversation about the pros and cons of Herbology and why it was such a useful branch of magic even though many considered it unhelpful due to it not being as flashy as other magical branches.
"You see not only does Hogwarts provide me with the opportunity to study exotic plants that I wouldn't normally get the chance too-"
It was around half past twelve and Neville had just begun to discuss why Hogwarts was the perfect place to study Herbology when he was interrupted by a knock at the door, it slid open to reveal a smiling, dimpled old woman who said, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"
Harry, who hadn't eaten anything all day leapt to his feet and went out into the corridor. He had never had his own money to spend on sweets before and he was sure going to make up for lost time, so he bought everything she had to sell. Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cake, Liquorice Wands and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life but he wanted to try them all.
Neville watched in fascination as the hero of the wizarding world began to consume a worrying amount of candy "Don't you think you should slow down Harry?"
"Nope, join me" Harry said offering out a Pumpkin Pastie to Neville who smiled at the emerald eyed boy and took it, they both sat in a comfortable silence eating the sugary treats until Harry opened the Chocolate Frog which lept out, causing the boy to yelp in surprise and causing Neville to lose all sense of composure and begin laughing hysterically. Neville while laughing caught Harry's eye who had tried to look annoyed but soon joined him in his laughter. "I am sorry Harry, it's just most children our ages were raised on stories of how you defeated You-Know-Who and watching you jump because of candy is not exactly what I imagined you would be like"
"Well I didn't expect it to jump at me"
Neville watched as Harry looked down at the now empty box and pulled out the card from within it.
"Albus Wulfric Perceval Brian Dumbledore, that's a great name"
Neville chuckled, "Yeah it is isn't it, he's a great man to be honest, he's responsible for a lot of good in our world"
"Why, what did he do?"
"You don't know?" Harry shook his head, "The back of the card explains a bit but he is a hero, he defeated the dark Lord Grindelwald, then went on to make some of the latest discoveries in alchemy, is currently acting as the headmaster of Hogwarts, Supreme Mugwump of the ICW and the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot. Not only that but he did all of this will being a halfblood therefore proving the whole blood supremacy nonsense to be nonsense. The only man in Britain that You-Know-Who feared." Nevillie sounded in awe of the man
Harry looked back down at the card, the picture of an old man with a long white beard and purple robes looked back at him, he didn't look that impressive to Harry. "Do you want it?" He asked, offering it to Neville. "Sounds like he's your hero."
"I mean he is but no keep it I've got like five of them."
"Oh look, they come in different colours. That one looks so much like a real frog." Harry exclaimed, pointing at a shape that was moving towards the door.
"Ahh, TREVOR." Neville shouted, running towards the door and in the process scaring the small animal which leapt out of a small crack in the compartment door. "Sorry Harry, that was my toad. Merlin, it's going to take me ages to find him."
"Not if I help," Harry said, standing on his feet. "Come on, the longer we wait the further away he gets."
Neville couldn't help but smile as he followed the boy who lived out to hunt for his wild toad.
LINE BREAK
Harry and Neville had split up and agreed to meet back at their compartment when either Trevor had been found or they finished searching the train. Whichever came first. Harry was certain it would be the former yet Neville insisted it would be the latter.
Harry went from door to door. Knocking and quickly asking. He tried not to stick around too much since the longer he stayed at each compartment the higher the chance of someone recognising him would be and the reactions from the people in the pub was enough for Harry to not want another instance of that happening, especially when kids are involved.
A few people he was sure might have had an idea. One carriage contained two red haired boys who had made a pun about pottery which upon hearing Harry had quickly fled. He was running out of compartments now. The final three were ahead of him. Knocking on the first he heard a girl's high pitched voice from inside.
"Who is that? Theo finds out for me."
Harry couldn't hear the reply but after a minute or two the door slid open to reveal a boy of a similar height to Harry. His eyes were a dark blue and his hair was a short styled brown.
"Who are you?" The boy asked. His voice was devoid of any sign of actually caring, as if it mattered little what Harry would say.
"Oh I recognise you. You're the boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop." A voice came from inside. Standing to the side the first boy who Harry assumed was Theo allowed Harry to look into the compartment. It was filled with 6 people and looked very cramped. The voice had come from a pale boy who was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.
"Hi Draco, sorry for interrupting you guys but my friend Neville has lost his toad." This was met with snickers from the carriage. Another girl groaned.
"Longbottom. Him and that damned toad are an embarrassment."
Harry suddenly felt very uncomfortable, like he wasn't in on a private joke. "What do you mean?"
"Honestly," Draco explained "He is a bad wizard. You should find some better friends."
Harry felt his temper flare. Neville was the first one who had shown him kindness in the strange exciting world and here he was listening to this group of bullies insulting him.
Before he could say anything the first girl with the high pitched voice made a comment. "Well Millicent. Maybe he doesn't have a choice. I mean look at his glasses, definitely a Muggleborn. Now can we shut the door on this waste of space and get back to discussing more important things, like the fact Harry Potter is somewhere on this train and we need to figure out how to make friends with him."
Harry didn't give them a chance to shut the door on him. "No need. I will let you get back to your gossip. Oh how rude, I forgot to introduce myself."
Theo eyed him as he said this. As if connecting dots inside his head and suddenly his eyes widened.
"Harry, my name is Harry Potter and I think I am good with the friends I have already made. Thank you very much." With that Harry spun around and walked back the way he came. Not bothering to check the other two compartments. He was happy to hear the silence of the compartment as he left.
LINE BREAK
As the train pulled into the station Neville felt the pit in his stomach seemingly knew that they had arrived and was now spitting all of the worries and doubts back up into Neville. His silence was not noticed by Harry who was peering out windows in hopes to catch a glimpse at anything even remotely magic. The boy had confided in Neville how new he was to this world so it made sense that he would be so engrossed in his search.
The announcement telling them to leave their cases was a relief as Neville was sure he wouldn't be able to carry anything with how badly his hands were shaking. Slowly they left their compartment and made their way onto the platform where they were greeted by a large man, who from Harry's description he recognised as Hagrid. The half giant was calling all first years over to him and Harry made a beeline towards him with Neville trailing behind him. Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Neville assumed someone had cast Nox on everything around them. He clutched on to Trevor as tight as he possibly could and tried his hardest not to let the tears out. He really didn't like the dark. There was a strange quite over the group and nobody seemed to want to break it.
They came to the edge of a great lake where a fleet of little boats were sitting in the water by the shore. "Four to a boat." The large man shouted and Neville and Harry quickly found himself in a boat alongside Susan Bones and Hanna Abbot, the second of which caused his cheeks to turn a slight red. He hadn't been allowed to spend lots of time with other children due to his grandmothers over protectiveness but the Bone's were one of the few families trusted by his grandmother and as a result he spent a lot of time with Susan, who often brought along Hanna. Over the years Neville had grown close to the two girls yet only one of them caused him to get so hot and embarrassed whenever we interacted with her.
"Hey Nev, who's this?" Susan asked with her signature lack of subtleties.
"Hi Susan," he stammered out and tiring slightly to see if Harry was uncomfortable with the attention on him, "This is Harry Potter."
An audible gasp came from Hannah and Susan started with a slack jaw at the small skinny boy who was clearly not okay with the amount of attention on him. Trying to think quickly Neville said the first thing which came to mind and immediately regretted how obvious he had made it.
"So Hogwarts, is everyone excited?" While the question was clearly an attempt to distract the girls Hannah clearly got the message as she answered without hesitation about how she was and the conversation quickly moved on from the topic of who they were in the boat with. Neville watched as Harry seemed to relax and let the flow of the conversation take hold of him, chatting away about his excitement and listening eagerly to every tiny bit of information he could gather from the two girls about magic.
This continued for a couple of minutes as the boats drifted over the water. The back and forth between Hannah and Susan was a nice familiar distraction for Neville and he enjoyed seeing how Harry watched. Rarely did he actually say anything, the odd comment which was met with laughter but nothing of substance. Yet as they turned and the castle came into view silence fell over the group. It was beautiful, the torches that lit it added to the awe of the old school. The pure size was impressive, it was bigger than anything Neville had ever seen. Next to him he could feel the pure joy coming from Harry.
"Wow, just wow."
"Such a way with words Hannah." Susan quickly commented.
"Oh shut it, Bones." And with that the silence was broken as the girls went back to their light hearted bickering. Neville took longer to take his eyes off the castle but finally did yet he noticed Harry never did. For the rest of that boat journey Harry never took his eyes off Hogwarts.
Dear Reader
This chapter was were I begin to make changes to the events of cannon. This story will involve Neville a lot so I hope you like him as much as I do. His progression is one of the most interesting changes in the series I am hoping by giving him more of a spot light we can all watch as he grows Into what he grows is for me to know and you guys to find out.
I just wanted to say a thank you to anyone who favorited or followed this story, it does mean a lot to know that a lot of people want to see where my mad ideas will lead too and I hope i keep you entertained and maybe a little impressed. I wanted to say a big thank you especially though to Bluerain22 for being the first to comment and for such kind words. I hope you enjoyed this one as well, no worries if not.
And Finally a request, if while reading this story you think that a chapter is missing something or could do with an added scene to expanded on something or really if you can think of any improvements to this story then please feel free to leave a comment or message me with the correction or idea and if it works within the plan I have for the story I will write it and add it into the chapter as a post-edit, obivoiouly giving you credit for the idea, because while I have a clear idea where this story is going, with all 8 books roughly planned, this is still my first real attempt at writing and I would love any and all ideas and advice on how to make this story simply the best.
Until next time my dear readers.
Paddington123
