Harry "Cory" Potter was a quiet, sometimes easy to miss child.
Okay, very easy to miss.
The teachers did roll call and if not for the fact he spoke up loud enough to be counted, he could very easily be missed. In fact, he often was, not that he noticed or cared. With his nose often in a book, he generally forgot there was a world around him.
The only child who could possibly be conceived as his 'friend', or as he would call her whenever he took notice of someone next to him also reading (he would dub her a fellow sufferer of idiots who couldn't understand simple mathematics or science later on) was a girl named Granger.
She was bushy haired and all the girls despised her. However she immediately clicked with him because he A) didn't chase her off calling her a buck-toothed know-it-all and B) would often explain a book if she was having trouble understanding something from it. The two had a quiet companionship that mostly derived from their love of books, their hatred of bullies, and the fact that strange things often occurred around them.
Case in point, the one and only time a substitute teacher (who unfortunately for him happened to know Vernon) took notice of him reading and advanced science book in class and tried to confiscate it, his wig turned blue and looked like he had stuck his arm in an electric socket. Harry had promptly returned the book, as he had finished it while the man tried and failed to put the hair on his wig back down.
He wisely avoided the house for a week, preferring to sleep on the playground rather than tempt Vernon's rage. Thankfully his 'friend' had learned to bring extra lunch bags after discovering his "cousin's" bad habit of destroying Harry's lunch.
Her parents were less than happy to learn of the fact Dudley was not only never punished for such despicable behavior, but was often actively encouraged by his parents to do worse. But unless Harry spoke up, there was nothing they could do about it.
Well, outside of organizing multiple 'playdates' which in actuality were covers for them to take Harry and their daughter to London for educational trips to the zoo, among other places.
So long as he got 'permission' via angering his aunt or uncle to the point they threw him out, no one bothered to care.
At least thanks to the efforts of the Grangers he didn't look like a bloody scarecrow or child from a third world nation where food was scarce.
Tomorrow was his eleventh birthday, and he had already secured a playdate (read exile from the house) with the Grangers. They considered him their second child, and Hermione was more than happy to treat him like the brother she never had.
"Happy birthday Harry," said Emma.
"Thank you," he said, happily accepting the cake. Birthdays, Valentines Day, and Christmas were the only times they were allowed sugar in the Granger household. The reason for that was simple.
Both the Grangers were dentists.
Hence the reason why, whenever he had enough money in his pocket he always bought a chocolate bar or other easy to hide treat to share with Hermione.
"So what's on the schedule for today?"
"The London museum has an interesting exhibit, and there's supposed to be a sale outside the national library," said Dan.
Seeing the looks on their faces, he smirked.
"Library last for you two. You can wipe the place clean after we see the museum, and we're not carrying the books for you."
"Deal," said Harry, pleased. He immediately grabbed his extra large messenger bag.
The exhibit on dinosaurs was interesting, but he had the feeling they were much more impressive when they were alive. He didn't know whether it was from the movie he had recently seen called Night at the Museum, or some instinctive knowledge. Either way, he was more interested at the science section.
Not the kid's section, which was full of interactive things for young aspiring scientists, but the adult one dedicated to the great minds of the past few centuries.
The demonstration Emma had mentioned was going to be in there. They were going to challenge the minds of the audience and open up a new science exhibit at the same time.
Harry took one look at the exhibit they were putting together and very nearly turned around.
"We should probably go, it looks like they're having trouble putting it together," said Harry. He didn't know how he knew that (or why he had always been able to read the advanced science books in the library that most kids wouldn't have a hope to hell of understanding...Hermione was barely able to understand half of it) but he knew that they were setting the entire thing up wrong.
What he didn't know was that it was a deliberate mistake.
"Oh? Well young man if you think you know how it's supposed to look, let's see you put it together," said one of the demonstrators.
Harry went up to the table and began to assemble the entire thing in less than five minutes.
The demonstrator didn't look angry. Quite the opposite in fact.
"How exactly did you know the exhibit was wrong?"
"I don't know. I've always found the science books in the library to be too simple, so I usually switch to the fantasy section instead. Fantasy is just a vision of what's to come once science catches up after all," said Harry.
"Ha! Spoken like a true well-rounded scientist. Tell me, have you ever taken an IQ test?"
"No, but Hermione was almost put into the advanced classes because of one."
Hermione had taken a minor IQ test, and while her ability to think things through was excellent, her memory retention had kept her from the advanced classes. As did the fact that it was very apparent that she had trouble handling stress and put too much stock in book learning as opposed to real world learning. She would have burnt out because she had trouble learning to relax during test time.
Harry on the other hand, was hiding in the library because Dudley had been in a foul mood and had missed the test entirely.
Harry and Hermione were taken to a side room already prepared as someone broke down the exhibit again. It was a trick to weed out those with higher minds.
Hermione had been frustrated by several of the questions, but Harry simply breezed right through them.
She always knew he had been downplaying how smart he was.
Either way, they would need a few days to tally his score (which would be sent to Dan and Emma's home instead of the Dursleys for obvious reasons, but that only meant they could head to the bookstore once they finished lunch.
The moment the children laid eyes on the large amount of books on the tables, it was like setting piranhas on a wounded carcass. There was no escape, and it was like watching a train wreck with horrified fascination, complete with explosions.
Dan and Emma, from long dint of experience after the first time they unleashed the two terrors, picked up a few books to read and then found a place to watch the chaos of the children haggling over used books.
They didn't have to worry about the two...anyone foolish enough to kidnap or otherwise interrupt their fun was sure to receive...discipline...via Harry. The last idiot who tried to kidnap the boy during a book run (which had become an annual tradition) had to be sent to the hospital because the boy had taken offense and broke both the man's legs, the arm holding him, and a very serious concussion courtesy of the book Harry had been holding at the time...it had been a hardback.
(Harry can perform the "Maka-Chop" from Soul Eater. Never underestimate a hardcover book.)
Besides, the people at the bookstore knew the two very well. They were favorite customers with how many books they bought.
It was dark by the time they left...Harry had procured enough books to keep him happy for the next four months if he paced himself. Hermione didn't see what his fascination with the odd comics that read the wrong way was, but she knew better than to complain. He was quite literally the only friend she had.
It was quite a shock to find two large owls waiting for them once they returned back.
To make it even more surreal, they had letters made of heavy, old-style parchment paper with the names of both Harry and Hermione.
Naturally this alarmed the adults, but Hermione was too intrigued by the idea of a school for magic to not reply. Or she would have had Harry not had the bright idea of waiting to see if there were other viable options other than a place that quite literally had robes and quills as required materials.
He refused to dress in a robe and there was no way he was going to bother with quills and ink pots when pens were so much easier.
He had the feeling Petunia would know more about this...he would have to approach her in a good mood.
Armed with a rare and very hard to find plant from outside Britain, something he knew his aunt would lord over the other neighbors for months if given the opportunity, he waited until she was alone. That meant skipping school, but at this point the teacher were more likely to send Harry's reports to the Grangers as they had figured out the Dursleys wanted nothing to do with him.
It was simply less headache inducing for everyone, since for some reason any attempts to adopt him always fell through.
"What do you want boy?" demanded the slightly-less-irate-than-normal Petunia. And by that he would mean she was at least willing to listen to the question without trying to kick him out of the room.
"What do you know about Hogwarts, or any alternative schooling for this magic?"
He found that being blunt and not bothering to beat around the bush tended to make things a lot easier.
Petunia let out an angry hiss.
"So that damn thing came did it? Hogwarts was the school your mother went to...before she married that bastard James Potter and got killed by the monster haunting the bloody layabouts," spat Petunia.
Maybe it was the fact he had the forethought to placate her first with a rare plant, or perhaps it was the mention of alternate schooling that did it. Either way Petunia told him everything she knew about the place including someone she absolutely loathed...a certain wizard by the name Albus Dumbledore.
Apparently she had wanted to see the school, even if it was only once, but he had denied her simple request. And by the time Lily could have taken her to at least Hogsmeade, they had already become quite distant and Petunia was too embarrassed to think about asking.
And then she was killed and she never got the chance.
Harry listened patiently.
"Aunt Petunia, if I do end up in this Hogwarts place, would you like pictures? I know he would never understand, but since I don't think I could bring you to the castle I could easily take plenty of pictures of the place for you."
Petunia was stunned. She had never thought her nephew would be willing to fulfill a long-held desire to see Hogwarts. She would have to hide them from Vernon of course, but that was a small price to pay to finally see the castle.
Her face, for the first time since he had known her, softened.
"If you do go to the school, I would like that," she said.
Perhaps he could take her to see it first hand once he graduated. If he went to Hogwarts anyway. Either way it looked like they would have to make a trip to this...Diagon Alley... soon.
Harry clutched his newly bought camera. Upon hearing the full circumstances as to why Petunia had treated her nephew so badly in the first place, they had bought him a camera so he could take as many pictures as he could for her.
Envy truly was a dangerous thing if it could turn someone like Petunia into such a horrible person. Vernon had only exasperated the problem because of his beliefs that anyone not English or 'normal' was a lesser human. Dudley...he was simply a product of a bad situation and bad parenting. There was a chance he could be saved, but it would probably take something drastic at this point.
Harry was the one who found several pamphlets for 'muggleborns' near the bookstore. It was in an out of the way corner, but his habit of perusing the entire bookstore allowed him to find it within five minutes of entering the place.
He wondered why they didn't showcase the pamphlets up front like a normal bookstore.
As quietly as he could, he relocated the entire display, leaving a trail of dust behind him. He bumped into something, but nothing was on the floor. Whatever it was, it was blocking his relocation of the display.
Further inspection revealed a small box full of invisible books. He grabbed two, figuring if these people didn't have enough common sense to remember where they put the books, he didn't have to pay for them.
Finder's keepers after all.
He grabbed one of each, and promptly left the bookstore.
Unknown to him, his little trick would lead to a large amount of first-generation magicals to chose alternative schooling for their children, leading to a smaller class size.
And a large amount of first-generation muggleborns secretly planning to create their own Ministry to slowly replace the old outdated one.
"Next!"
Harry didn't know why, but he remembered this place. The creatures didn't look like what he would think a dwarf would appear like or a gnome. Which left two things. Either an orc or a goblin, and considering the fact they were short, surly tempered creatures with well-forged weapons, he was betting goblins.
Which really begged the question...why on earth were goblins running a bank of all things?
"Great, another group of idiots to try their luck at that wretched vault. Why we agreed to let these fools try to open it I'll never know. The next group is about to go down, take the door to the right," said the goblin annoyed.
The Ministry, in an attempt to allocate funds after the war, convinced (read: forced and blackmailed) the goblins to open up dead vaults. Of course if an heir were to step up, they would be repaid in full once their claim was verified, but until then the vaults would be considered dead.
However one vault was causing them no end of trouble because it was sealed with a riddle instead of a simple key. And since according to the goblins the one who had set it that way had left some form of one-of-a-kind treasure, the Ministry was especially eager to get into it.
Dan and Emma saw no reason not to let the kids try their luck. It wasn't very dangerous, since there were other children their age there as well.
And so they went deep into the bowels of the bank tunnels to the mysterious vault.
Harry didn't know why, but the weird nostalgia feeling he was getting refused to go away. Almost like he was remembering this trip from a long time ago and was simply making a return to this vault.
One by one the people made their attempts. There was only one try per person, and once ten people failed they were sent above.
Harry's group was the last to make their attempt.
Harry walked calmly up to the vault, and felt a mental nudge.
Without warning, the door knocker immediately asked in an otherworldly voice "What was the first word this man said to his companion?"
There was a face, and something clicked.
"Run."
To the shock of the goblins, the vault swung open. Harry looked inside, and took out only one thing from the vault itself.
At least now the goblins could honestly say the vault was claimed.
"What do you have there Harry?"
"I don't know. But something told me it was important," said Harry.
In his hand was an old-style pocket watch with the oddest design the Grangers had ever seen. After Harry put it in his pocket, they forget he even had it.
(A/N:In case anyone was wondering, the face was Rose.)