AN: This is literally my first fanfiction. Don't expect high quality content because I certainly don't. In the future I will probably read this and think it is a piece of garbage. But right now, I am proud of it. Therefore, advice is not only allowed but encouraged.
On a happier note, please join the Haphne server! Link: discord dot gg/pKSdvJQvhU
We do several weekly activities such as a discussion club, Care of Magical Creatures lessons and our own movie/anime club!

3rd of July 1992, nº4 Privet Drive, Surrey

Harry Potter was laying on his bed reflecting on the events occurred in Hogwarts during the past year. He had not only learned magic, but he had also found out about another culture that had been hidden to him for most of his life. And if that weren't enough, he had encountered enough life-threatening experiences than the average wizard in their lifetime.

But he also had another thing to reflect on. Just before going back to his relatives' house, he had entered himself into a rivalry contract with the one and only Daphne Greengrass. Even though he was not regretting his decision, Harry still wondered if that decision had been a correct one.

Another thing that was bothering him was his lack of mail. His friends had promised to write to him, however after more than a week, he still hadn't received any news from either Ron Weasley or Hermione Granger. His thoughts were interrupted by a ruffling of feathers coming from the window. A brown owl was sitting there, with a copy from the Daily Prophet rolled in its leg.

Harry had decided to subscribe to the newspaper in order to keep in contact with the magical world. Even though he had managed to save Hedwig from being jailed in her cage, Uncle Vernon still had all his magical items trapped in his old cupboard. He had spent all day practicing with the locks in his room and now he was quite confident he could open any door with just a couple clips he found among Dudley's trash.

He would have to attempt this tonight, since he wanted to keep up with his homework as soon as possible. He had a rival to beat, after all.

The Daily Prophet didn't contain anything extraordinary today. Despite that, there was an interesting article about the Auror force and its lack of recruits. Apparently, a lack of NEWT potion students caused a drain in the applications to become an Auror. That fact made Harry pause his reading. This lack of trainees was indirectly caused by Snape's stupidity in his classes.

He should do something to get rid of Snape once and for all. First of all, he was a bad teacher by all standards (except for Dumbledore's apparently) and he was ruining people's careers. In addition, it would not be a good idea to have a rivalry while Snape was still biased towards Malfoy. The teacher had to be biased either to him, or to his rival to keep things interesting.

A metallic sound raised his attention. Apparently, it was time for dinner already. The sound of the cat flap in his bedroom still got him sometimes. His uncle had installed it in his hope that Harry would never return to Hogwarts, but Harry had instantly told him of the possible consequences. Therefore, Vernon had made it his purpose to make Harry's summer as horrible as possible.

For dinner he had nothing exceptional. A piece of bread so hard he could use as a hammer, some leftover salad from Petunia and a single grape as a dessert.

After feeding himself, Harry came back to his musings. In about 2 hours, the Dursleys would fall asleep, and he could begin with his plan. He waited, and waited, and after reading some of Dudley's old comics (something he had started doing out of boredom) the old clock finally showed it was 10 o'clock in the evening.

Harry slowly stood up and moved towards the door. Dudley and Vernon's snoring still could be heard in the distance, good. He fiddled with the clips for a minute and managed to pick all the locks in his room. Harry proceeded to walk down the stairs calmly (not the movie definition here) and started picking locks again. After another few stressful seconds, Harry had finally succeeded in opening the cupboard, but he found himself with another issue, there was no way he was carrying everything on one go.

So, it came down to a very simple choice: either man up and do an only trip trusting his equilibrium (what his masculine pride was telling him to do) or do it in 2 moves but hoping that his relatives wouldn't notice his steps. In he end, he chose the latter. First trip went rather well, and he managed to get his potions, DADA, charms and transfiguration textbooks. The second trip consisted on the trunk and everything left inside of it.

But when he finally set his feet on the end of the stairs the unthinkable happened. Vernon was moving. Harry decided to stay still and pray that nobody heard him. After a few tense seconds, the snores started again. His mission had been successful.

30th of July 1992, nº4 Privet Drive, Surrey

After that night, Harry's mood improved significantly. He wasn't dying of boredom anymore and he was also relieved that he wouldn't be receiving a dressing down from his teachers for not doing the summer homework. What was still intriguing him was the lack of correspondence from his friends though. He was coming back from the bathroom after his daily shower when he heard some voices coming from his room.

"Just give Dobby the package and owley won't get hurt!"

"Hoot, hoot!"

Harry came into the room to witness the most bizarre scene he had ever seen in his entire life. There was a large barn owl that was fighting against a small humanoid creature, who seemed to be trying to steal the package coming from the owl. Before he could even think, he said the only thing you could say in this situation.

"What the hell is going on in here!?"

"Oooh, Dobby is sorry, yes he is, but Dobby must protect the Great Harry Potter sir!"

"What are you doing? What are you?

"Dobby is a house elf good sir. And Dobby is trying to intercept Harry Potter's mail."

"And why would you do that, Dobby?" He was trying to fully understand the situation, after all, if Dobby or the owl wanted to hurt him, they would have done something worse than stealing his mail.

"The Great Harry Potter sir must not be comings back to Hogwarts!" "Big danger awaits for him at Hogwarts!"

Harry wasn't really surprised by that. After all, in his first year only, he had been close to death several times. Right now, he would play along with Dobby, and see where that brought him.

"Okay then, Dobby, I will not come back to Hogwarts this year if that makes you happy. On one condition, you must give me all of my mail back, ok?"

Dobby seemed to reflect on Harry's words, but he finally relented. "Dobby will be givings the Great Harry Potter's mail back and will not take it again." A crack was heard, and suddenly there was a stack of envelopes on top of Harry's bed.

"Dobby will be leavings now, have a nice summer Harry Potter sir!"

"Thanks Dobby, have a nice summer as well." Another crack happened, and Harry found himself alone in his room again. Except for the two owls that were attentively looking at him. Harry was remembered about how everything began and paid attention to his new 'guest'.
The owl seemed exhausted, after the fight with Dobby. Harry decided to open the package carefully, to make sure he couldn't get hit by a curse or something (He didn't know it at the time, but the wards around his house would have not allowed a dark artifact to come in).

What he saw next promised to have either really serious or absolutely hilarious content: it was a book titled "A book on rivalries: How to dominate your opponent without being an asshole" accompanied by a letter.

Believing that the letter would explain more, he decided to open the letter first:

Potter:

I wasn't sure when your birthday was, so I sent this today because it's better to have an earlier present than a late one. This book shall explain everything you need to know about how to be a proper rival. I expect you to be at your best by the start of the year.

Signed,

Daphne Greengrass

PD: Have a happy birthday!

He wasn't completely sure about who would send him a letter (apart from his friends), but he wasn't expecting anything from her anytime soon. That presented him with another problem, he didn't know when her birthday was. He would be expected to give a present as well and he didn't want to be mean.

Eventually, Harry decided that the book wasn't his main priority, and that he should start by reading his friends letters. Opening the first one from Hermione, he learned that she would be spending August in Ireland and she didn't know if she would have the chance to write again before the start of the school year. Ironical, Harry thought, that she wouldn't be able to write just after Harry had been able to receive her letters.
Ron's theme was a completely different thing. He was spending his summer at home with his family, and actually invited him to come to his house if Harry wanted. He was genuinely tempted to accept, but he didn't want to overwork Mrs. Weasley, who already cared for seven. Plus, he doubted Uncle Vernon would ever let him leave voluntarily, so it was out of question for now.

After setting aside the last letter from his friends Harry looked at the clock to realise it was quite late already, so he decided to go to sleep. And the moment he fell into the mattress, Harry didn't know more.

1st of August 1992, nº4 Privet Drive, Surrey

Harry had not changed his routine in the slightest in the last two days. After responding to both of his friends and reassuring them that the whole mail issue had been solved, Harry decided it was time to handle the most important problem he had at the moment: The promise he had given to Dobby.

Harry suspected Dobby hadn't completely believed him (or he just didn't trust him at all) and Harry was quite sure Dobby might do another one of his shenanigans if he turned up at King's Cross. Therefore, he would write a letter to Dumbledore warning him of possible inconveniences about his arrival at the train.

"Hedwig, could you come here please?" She was technically caged by Vernon, but Harry's lock opening skills made that useless. He only had to make sure it seemed locked when his relatives looked, and everything would be good.

"Take this to Professor Dumbledore, or at least make sure it's a professor different than Snape. I would like to get rid of him, but I don't know if that would be even possible."

"Preck" Hedwig waited until the letter was correctly tied to her leg, and then took off flight. She would make sure her human's letter was sent to the Dumbledore man, and if she could take care of the batman then she would do it for her human as well.

2nd of August 1992, Hogwarts Castle, somewhere in Scotland

A white owl was flying towards the highest tower in the castle. It had flown for hundreds of miles carrying a letter for the Dumbledore man, containing important information for the wellbeing of her human. She flew through the window and landed next to a strange bird that she had never seen. Before she could try to establish conversation, an old man with a very long beard came into the room. It must be the Dumbledore man, after all she never failed to deliver.

A man by the name of Albus Dumbledore entered his office. He was still thinking about the nice breakfast the elves had cooked for him when he realised there was an unexpected guest waiting for him. There was a snowy owl besides his phoenix, and the owl was looking at him inviting him to do something.

Feeling uneasy, Dumbledore walked towards the owl, and retrieved the letter from its leg. Then, he started reading:

Dear Professor Dumbledore:

Yesterday I had a very unexpected visitor. A house elf named Dobby came into my room to warn me about the dangers at Hogwarts. Not only that, but said elf also confessed to be the one tampering with my mail so I wouldn't wish to return to school. I've convinced him to leave me alone, but I also promised him not to come back here.

As you can expect, I don't want to fulfil this promise, and I want to come back for my second year. Right now, I fear he may find a way to impede me from coming back, so I would like to ask for someone to come and check that I can get to Hogwarts properly.

Sorry for the inconvinience,

Harry Potter

Albus Dumbledore found himself speechless, a feeling he had become used to when talking about this young man. The thought of Harry Potter not coming back was unnerving, but at least he had time to prepare some help for young Harry. He had to make sure to send a teacher knowledgeable in the muggle world to avoid unnecessary calls to the obliviators. Either Severus or Minerva would do. He would definitely choose the latter though. It was well known that Harry and Severus didn't get along and he did not want to cause a confrontation before the year even began. He would have to talk to Minerva this afternoon to make everything clear.

Meanwhile, in the dungeons:

A white owl was navigating through the labyrinth of corridors and staircases commonly denominated Hogwarts. She was about to give up on her mission when she smelled something repulsive, which could only mean someone was making a potion. Staying close to the floor she witnessed the batman pouring some ingredients into a cauldron and then leaving the room. Seeing her chance unfolding she entered the dungeon and proceeded to look at the cauldron. After a little hesitation, she started dumping random bottles and jars into the cauldron and to finish it off, she turned the fire intensity to the maximum.

The white owl decided that her mission was over and hoped that she would be successful in her endeavour. If all went well, the batman would be no more.

A minute later a middle-aged man (who resembled a bat) entered the room again and without looking at his cauldron, poured the porcupine quills in it. Maybe he forgot about turning off the fire, maybe he forgot to do the basic safety drills, or maybe he was just a dunderhead with an overinflated ego. What definitely happened was one of the biggest explosions Hogwarts had ever seen, and a level 4 earthquake that would reach the near town of Hogsmeade. From then on, the age of Severus Snape was over, and a good age for potions students had begun.

A white owl was flying towards nº4 Privet Drive, Surrey. She felt quite proud of herself today. She had accomplished her human's request and she had fulfilled an additional wish of his. Despite being in the air when it happened, she felt the wave of the explosion. She may or may not have caused this explosion. She may or may not be involved with the death of a man. But she did not care about the consequences and was wishing to see her human as soon as possible.

These missions were not her field of expertise, but if asked, she wouldn't hesitate to do this again.

3rd of August 1992, nº4 Privet Drive, Surrey

Harry picked up the Daily Prophet to start his daily routine. The moment his eyes set on the paper; they became the size of saucers. Considering the headline, it was expected of him to react that way.

SEVERUS SNAPE FOUND DEAD AT THE HOGWARTS DUNGEONS!

A mysterious potions accident declared cause of death

Even though harry was surprised by the article, he didn't feel any emotion inside him. Snape may not have deserved to die, but the world was definitely a better place without him. However, there was something strange about all of this. After all, what are the chances for someone to die exactly where Harry was sending a letter? In fact, why would it be the person he hated the most in the castle?

Hedwig had become very still all of a sudden. Maybe she knew something about all of that?

"Hedwig what happened to Snape?"

"Hoot, hoot!"

She sounded nervous after saying that, so Harry decided to pry further.

"Hedwig what did you do?"

"Hoot!"

"So, you are trying to make me believe you were just helping him on a potion? The exact same person who I've complained about several times?"

"Prek!"

"Since I already have enough problems, I am not going to add owls acting as hitmen on my list. But never do it again ok?"

"Prek!"

Harry decided that he had had enough of that conversation. Honestly, assassin owls? Why did all the weird things happen to him? He would have to try harder at having a peaceful life, after all, he wanted to reach the age of a hundred, if only as a way to screw over the Dursleys.
Right now, he needed something else to occupy his mind. Maybe he should find a way to purchase all the 2nd year equipment. The list would arrive soon after all. He wondered if there would be an owl delivery system available?

1st of September 1992, King's Cross station, London

Harry had managed to arrive at the station 2 hours before the train arrived. He had lied to Uncle Vernon in order to make him leave earlier than needed. Now he was waiting for an opportunity to cross the barrier, but muggles were not collaborating.
After 5 minutes of waiting Harry finally had his chance and tried to walk into the pillar. Emphasis on tried to because he was unsuccessful. His cart just bumped into the wall and some muggles looked at him weirdly.

He decided to give it another try, but he achieved the same success as the first attempt. Therefore, hoping that Dumbledore had remembered about his letter, he started knocking the wall as it was a door. That seemed to do the work as seconds later, he found himself standing in front of Professor McGonagall.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter."

"Good morning, Professor. I guess the headmaster warned you, right?"

"He warned me, indeed. But I must admit I had never encountered this situation before. The portal acts like a solid pillar to you right? Don't worry, the muggles won't see us."

"It does, yeah." He moved again until his hand hit the wall. "I think someone is manipulating the portal to stop me from entering."

"Ok Mister Potter. We are going to do the following: first of all, I am going to break the ward that impedes you to walk through. Then, you are going to run through the wall alone. Finally, I will come in with your cart. All clear?"

"Yes Professor. Whenever you are ready."

"On the count to three. One, two, and three!"

Harry ran to the pillar covering his face with his hands, but it was not needed. He went through the pillar exactly as he did in his first year. He opened his eyes to a completely empty platform 9 ¾. He then looked behind him and was greeted with his head of house moving his cart towards him.

"Alright Mr. Potter, I believe that was everything. I would recommend you enter the train as soon as possible to prevent any incidents. If anything strange happens again, I'll be staying at the first compartment on the train. Have a good day, Mr. Potter."

Harry decided to obey his head of house's orders and entered the train quickly. He claimed a compartment for himself and stored his trunk. He then grabbed Hedwig's cage and put it on a seat next to him. After doing that, Harry continued to read the book on rivalries that Greengrass had given to him.

An hour or so later, Harry received a call from mother nature, and decided to go to the bathroom. On his way there, he found a brunette girl who seemed to look for a compartment.

"Good morning, my name is Astoria how are you today?"

He was surprised by the younger girl's forward behaviour but answered nonetheless. "I am feeling good thanks. My name is Harry. By the way, you look familiar to me, but I don't think we've ever seen each other before?"

"Oh, I get that quite often." Harry then realised that she looked a lot like Greengrass, so maybe she had a sister? "I may look like my sister, but I am starting this year."

That confirmed it. "Any idea where you are going to be sorted tonight?"

"I want to go to Slytherin with my sister, but I won't be sad if it doesn't happen."

"Be careful, Slytherin has an above average concentration of morons."

"And the other houses don't have any?" She asked inquisitively.

"They definitely do, but they get reprimanded, and you can hex them if you want."

"You can't do that in Slytherin?"

"You may, but they will be telling their fathers about it."

"Oh, well I guess we'll see tonight. Have a nice day!" She then entered a compartment and Harry was left alone once more.

He returned to his compartment, stored his book, and chatted with Hedwig for a while. A few minutes later Hermione barged into the compartment, and they quickly struck a conversation. Said conversation lasted until the train started to move, which was the exact instant in which Ron came into the compartment as well.

1st of September 1992, Great Hall, Hogwarts Castle

Harry and his friends were sitting in their usual spots in the Gryffindor table. Harry was sitting with Hermione on his left, and Ron was sitting right in front of him. There were a couple spots free next to them, which meant that they would have a couple of first years with them.

They had heard the Sorting Hat's song, and the sorting was already taking place. Gryffindor had already received a new student named Colin Creevey when suddenly Professor McGonagall said:

"Greengrass, Astoria!"

The hat seemed to think for approximately a minute before he came to a decision.

"Gryffindor!"

Astoria was astonished, but she returned the hat to Professor McGonagall and started moving towards the lion's table. She was about to ask someone to let her sit when Harry stood up and asked her to come with him. She moved towards him and sat at the empty seat next to the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Welcome to the Lion's den, Astoria! These people here are Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, my best friends. Ron, Hermione; this is Astoria, we met on the train."

Both Ron and Hermione answered politely, though there was a little hesitation on Ron's part. Harry knew that he didn't like Slytherins much, and Ron was probably associating Astoria with her sister. He would have time to change Ron's habits. After all, he should consider telling his friends about his rivalry with Daphne. It would be weird if she came here and neither Ron nor Hermione knew anything.

Sooner than he expected, the last person was being sorted. It was Ron's younger sister Ginny, and she looked as if she were about to faint. The feeling didn't last long however, since the hat shouted "Gryffindor" one last time and the Great Hall applauded once more.
Ginny sat next to Ron and seemed to look at Harry in adoration for a second, but she blushed madly and decided that staring at a table was better.

Before he could reflect on that, Dumbledore rose from his seat and started to speak:

"Good evening, everyone! To all of the first year students I say that I am very glad to welcome you to Hogwarts! And as for all the other students, I am glad to welcome you again this year!"

"Once again, this year I found myself with a vacancy on Defense Against the Dark Arts. But I am very proud to announce than no other than Gilderoy Lockhart will be teaching this year!"

Harry was quite surprised to hear that. Even though it explained why he had to buy all of his books, he hoped he would develop on his encounters in class. After all, his books looked more like adventure stories than textbooks.

Dumbledore started speaking again:

"To begin this new year, I must start with some unsettling news. Our beloved potions Professor, Professor Severus Snape, unfortunately left us this past summer after an unfortunate potions accident."

Harry had to stuff a chuckle at that. As if anything Hedwig did could be considered an accident.

"Fortunately for you, we have been able to find an excellent replacement this year! I am very proud to present to you Professor Persephone Greengrass, who will become head of Slytherin House as well!"

Harry's brain stopped thinking for a second. A raven-haired woman in her mid-twenties rose from her chair and gave a polite bow. Harry barely heard Astoria speaking:

"That is my older cousin! How could she not tell me that!"

Harry couldn't see Astoria's reaction, since he was busy looking at her sister's. Daphne seemed rather surprised as well, but her look changed to a freezing glare when she noticed him peeking. THIS WAS NOT GOOD. If there was a single thing he learned from Vernon, it was that if a woman ever looked at you like that, you might as well move to a different country.

What Harry didn't realize was that Professor Greengrass was looking at him with interest. She had heard a lot about the young man from her eldest cousin, and now she would have a chance to see if she was telling the truth.

The opening feast itself was delicious as usual. Harry made sure to eat a bit of everything, to start compensating for the 'Dursley diet'. Once the last dish disappeared from the table, Dumbledore sent them all to bed.

Harry went through his night routine automatically. He fell asleep before his head had even hit the pillow.