A/N- Guys, I am over whelmed with so much love shown to the first chapter. Thanks for loving this fic. We will go to Hogwarts with this chapter.
1983, Hogwarts
Albus Dumbledore had been away to a session of the International Council of Wizards in France when Harry Potter had been abducted from his relative's place. When he returned to Hogwarts after the session and entered his office, he went to check the ward monitors he had placed on Harry Potter out of habit and was shocked to find that one of the monitors had broken down. The one related to the blood wards, to be precise. The blood ward was first grade protection against Tom and his followers. As long as his mother's blood lived at Privet Drive, he would be safe from Tom and his followers. Anyone with intent to harm him could not enter the property. For the wards to fall could mean only one of two things. Either the Dursleys had given him up to someone else or Harry Potter was dead. A quick check of the ward which was tied to Harry's well-being was intact, meaning that he was alive not that it indicated anything about his health.
Panicked, he threw a pinch of floo powder in the fireplace and called, "Mrs. Figg's, Privet Drive' and stepped into the emerald flames. As the floo ejected him, he hastily stepped out of it, his wand in one hand and his face a myriad of emotions- worry, resentment, and anger.
"Where were you in the name of Merlin?", he heard a scathing tone of voice say and turned to find Arabella Figg standing, glaring at him intensely. Before he could say anything, she started ranting to him, "Do you realize how many times I tried to floo call you? Harry Potter has been missing for a week now and you did not bother to reply to my floo calls."
Dumbledore sent a silencing spell at her and sighed, "Arabella, I have just returned to Wizarding Britain from France where I was in a conference of the ICW. The first thing I noticed is that the blood wards were broken. Did anyone attack Privet Drive? Is little Harry safe?"
He undid the silencing spell and she growled, "I haven't seen him since a week ago when I had gone to Petunia under some pretense and she didn't even allow me in her house. I tried to find him a few more times but I could not find him. I tried to floo call you dozens of times but there was no response. Their living room window was blown out from the inside, but; the family seemed to be fine. There was no other sign of violence."
Dumbledore was more worried. He had kept Harry Potter here away from the wizarding world in the hope that he would grow up to be an innocent humble teen unharmed by death eaters and the boy had been taken away from the safest place that Albus could find.
With a flick of his wand, his robes were transfigured into a suit and he walked up nonchalantly to the door of #4 Privet Drive while his eyes kept darting around to be aware of any danger lurking within the shadows.
He rang the door bell and Vernon Dursley opened the door only enough so that he could peek out of the opening growling, "We are not interested in buying anything you might..." His words were lost in his throat as he found a wand pointed at him. He never had any practical experience with wizards but he of course knew what a wand was. Petunia had told him about the wizarding world after the freak of a child had come to live with them.
He squeaked, a sound he later could swear he had never made before, and Dumbledore shoved him out of the way with his wand and entered the house, walking to the sitting room. Petunia who had come into the hall by now yelped as she saw Dumbledore and he asked gravely, "Petunia where is Harry?"
She wanted to run from here but knew there was no way she could outrun him. She tried to speak firmly but it came out as a whimper, "We... we don't know. He is... he is gone."
Dumbledore had no time for niceties so he petrified both of them and performed legilimency on them to see their memories. What he saw in those memories appalled him. It was mortifying to think that this woman had been so cruel to a child, a child who was her blood, son of her own dead sister. He saw memories of mistreatment of the toddler and the violence that Vernon meted out at the times when the child performed some accidental magic. He also saw where they were keeping the child- in a cupboard under the stairs! He wanted to hex them into oblivion but knew that was not the way. He rather decided to frame them up for prosecution by the muggle law enforcement authorities for losing a child who was in their care. Some of his squib associates who were in law enforcement would happily agree to do this. He saw the memory of that day when Harry Potter allegedly disappeared. He saw Vernon opening the door and then closing it as he could not see anyone at the door but unlike Vernon he noticed the blur which happened when someone was employing a disillusionment charm.
As he was done with legilimency, he started casting a myriad of detection spells in all directions but he could gather nothing from them. The incident had happened a week ago so there was no active magic in the air but there must have been some residual magic unless that person had been concealing his magical signature. That was some complicated magic but it hid one's identity well.
He turned to Petunia, "By losing Harry, you have disappointed your dead sister who loved you. You have defiled her memory and I hope no harm has come to Harry Potter otherwise I myself will come and wreck vengeance upon you."
He unpetrified them and disapparated to Sheffield. He had a retired Auror to find.
1 week later, Hogwarts
In the last week, Albus had asked all of his friends, accomplices and associates to help in the effort to locate the missing child but their collective efforts had yielded no results. There was no one who could tell them a thing about the missing child.
He had reluctantly met Madam Bones, Head of the DMLE, and told her about Harry's disappearance. She had chewed him out for his failure. One thing she also agreed upon was that they needed to keep this private because the Dark faction led by Malfoy was trying to establish its dominance in the Wizengamot which would be catastrophic. The only one standing between them and their goal was Albus Dumbledore who also had helped them to survive through the war with the help of his vaunted Order of the Phoenix.
It was the Order that had saved them from annihilation at the cost of the lives of many of its members during the war and Dumbledore was the only one who was feared by all of them collectively. Albus had roused the members of the Order like Podmore, Moody, Diggle to find any leads but there were none. He had tried to find Remus Lupin and he was told that Lupin was last seen to be living in Blackmoor three years ago and nobody had seen him since then. Of course he had not asked his Game Keeper Rubeus Hagrid or he would have got a lead in that direction.
He and Madam Bones had conducted discreet inquiries in the office of magic detection whose chief function was to see that underage muggle born students did not perform magic at their home during the summer. The detectors could detect if magic had been cast at a place but not the caster. They had learned that on the particular day, there was an incident of accidental magic by a toddler around 3-4 years of age at Privet Drive and then someone had performed the Homnum Revelio spell in the house followed shortly by disillusionment. Since the caster was an adult wizard, there was no means to track his identity. They found that the caster had disapparated the moment they were outside of the wards. They were not able to identify the apparition point.
When it became clear to him that he could not find Harry on his own, he had decided to break the news to Minerva. He called her in his office and said to her very gravely, "Minerva something has happened and I think you should be acquainted with the circumstances lest you find it out from someone else."
She studied his facial expression and was wary. If something could make Albus Dumbledore worried, it was really trouble. Being the Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock and Head Master of Hogwarts was thrice the burden and Albus bore it all without any worry so it was nothing related to any of those. Then the only other thing which could worry him was Harry Potter. Minerva had never been comfortable with the decision of leaving him at the doorstep of the muggles in the middle of the night. When Albus had explained the circumstances and his limited options she had to agree. She just wished that Charlus or Dorea were alive so they could have shouldered his upbringing what with Potter Manor being impenetrable and there was Potter Castle which the family had received in inheritance from the Peverells, one of the ancient families which ceased to exist 1000 years ago. Pity that the Potters were always in the thick of things and thus, there were only a handful around in every generation.
She looked into the electric blue eyes of Dumbledore and saw the sadness and regret in them and feared for the safety of the child. She asked in a small voice, "Has something happened with Harry Potter?"
Albus sighed, "Two weeks ago while I was in France, someone entered the Dursley home and took him away. From what my investigation yielded, it was a wizard but they were concealing their magical signature so it is possible that we will never find out who it was unless Harry Potter returns to us. I have forced Moody out of retirement, roused the Order to find him but nobody has a clue as to his whereabouts."
She wanted to shout, raise hell but knew it would would not pursed her lips in a thin line and asked him, "So what should we do?"
Albus shrugged, "There is nothing that we can do right now, Minerva. If the minister finds out then he will stop at nothing to oust me from the position of Head Master and Chief Warlock and we are still not over the effects of the war. The light lost a large number of its supporters while most of the dark faction is intact. If I am out of the Wizengamot, the dark faction will have no trouble in seizing power in the Wizengamot."
As Minerva left, Albus opened a drawer which contained memories. Early memories of Tom's life when he was a student, memories about his parents, grand-parent, and his uncle who had died in Azkaban a year ago but not before Dumbledore been able to obtain a memory from him. There was something about Tom's death that did not sit well with Dumbledore. Lack of a body was first. Then there was no indication of where he had gone or what happened to him. The only thing he was sure about was that Tom had disappeared that Halloween night but not dead. He had reluctantly looked into some dark magic books he had taken off the shelf in the library decades ago. One of the most evil books described the Horcrux, the vilest of soul magics and Dumbledore had shuddered at the thought that perhaps Tom had made one. Thus, he had started collecting memories, trying to document his life.
There was also a memory from an elf who was accused of accidentally killing her mistress. The witch was known to be the last in possession of two founder relics- the necklace of Slytherin and the cup of Hufflepuff and Tom had been regularly visiting her when he worked at Borgin and Burke. He had also found a memory from Slughorn in which Tom had asked him what a horcrux was but he had understood that the memory had been tampered with. Since then Horace had avoided him, not willing to give him access to the memory.
Black Castle, 1985
It had been two years since Harry Potter had been brought to the Black Castle and the boy had instantly loved the company of the people around him.
Arcturus doted on the boy all day long and would have spoiled him rotten if he had his way with him but Remus Lupin had put his foot down and made him obey some rules in his upbringing. While the boy was not deprived of anything, he was not over-indulged either. Sure he had a chamber full of toys, both magical and mundane but he was not allowed to be lost in the chamber all day long. Arcturus had started to tell him about magic, his families (both Black and Potter) and other little things which every pure-blood child should know, he also told him that all magicals were equal irrespective of their ancestry. He had seen how his children had destroyed themselves on the false notions of blood superiority and most were either dead or were incarcerated in Azkaban. Arcturus told him all he knew about Charlus and Dorea while Remus educated him about his father and mother.
When Harry was five years old, they had sent him to a muggle school so that he would have exposure to the muggle world too. In the muggle world, he was simply known as Hadrian Jameson. He was taught about everything that they teach there. One thing that was exciting was his accidental magic. He was powerful for his age and his accidental magic was equally spectacular. Once he had vanished all the legs of his chair but Travistor who was invisibly tailing the boy had repaired the damage before the muggles noticed. Once while he was taking a stroll in the school grounds, he was chased by a dog he had offended and the boy found himself on the roof. It had been hard to deal with but a few well placed memory charms had done the trick. As he grew, his incidents of accidental magic had lessened but they still happened.
Arcturus had been curious about the scar. His scar had refused to heal itself despite everything he he could do. He had tried everything that was in the books in his extensive library but nothing seemed to work. It always looked like the red angry lightning shaped scar it had been. Arcturus had not forgotten the horcruxes and had the thought that the boy could be one. There was nothing he knew or that he could find that told him if a living being could be a horcrux or what the effects would be. He had shared what he knew and his suspicions with Lupin and discreetly sent him all over Europe to find practitioners of soul magics and dark magic to find a way to rid Harry of the foul thing but nothing had been found in the 18 months. Finally he stumbled upon a mage in Greece who was said to live in a far-off mountain.
After a lot of trouble and constantly badgering him for 5 months, they were able to obtain an audience with the Mage. He was said to be around 400 years of age and was a recluse.
The mage lived in the side-cave of a mountain which was protected by so many wards that Arcturus's mind was boggled. There were all kinds of wards upon the entrance of the cave including blood wards and necromantic wards. The Mage Hippolytius was tall but stooping with age, snow white beard, gray eyes and a thundering voice. As they entered, he addressed them, "Welcome Arcturus Orion of Black, Remus Lyall of Lupin and Hadrian James of Potter."
After they were given a seat, Arcturus told him about his suspicions, of the horcruxes and the mage fell silent for a long time before he drew a wand and started casting a myriad of spells at the boy who had fallen asleep in Lupin's lap. After sometime, the mage had turned to both of them, "there is a little piece of soul of Voldemort residing in his scar. It is so little that it will not cause any trouble to him except draining his magic however if Voldemort succeeded in returning in a body during this life time, this soul shard would pose problems for the boy. Even right now it sort of acts as a connection between them but I do not think Voldemort is aware of it. Needless to say, if the soul shard is not extracted out of him soon, it will keep Voldemort alive."
Arcturus asked him what had been on his mind, "Revered Mage, is there a way to exorcise the soul shard out of him without harming the lad? Can you tell us how many horcruxes of his are out there?"
The mage sat in contemplation for a second before he started speaking, "The soul shard can be exorcised out of him but that would cause him immeasurable pain. He may pass out due to exhaustion. If he were any smaller, I would have refused it at this time but he is of age where he would live at the end of it and he is powerful enough that he would not be magically exhausted. Now the decision is yours. As to your second question, this soul shard is like the sixth part of his soul meaning there were at least 5 pieces when this one was formed."
Arcturus thought hard about it but Remus's mind was already made up, "Honoured Mage, please exorcise the soul shard out of him. I would rather see him in pain and agony once and for a short time than see him sharing a connection with that monster all the time. If this thing is keeping him alive, I want it gone." Seeing the werewolf's resolve, Arcturus had also agreed to exorcise the soul shard out of the lad.
The ritual which they had followed was very painful. They had undressed him and then laid him in between a symbol and the mage drew some blood from Harry and mixed it with a potion and drew some runes all over his body. After sometime five more wizards entered the cave and took their positions on their designated points and started chanting. The lengthy spells were about exorcism, banishing someone who did not belong, scorning someone for all the evil he had perpetrated all his life. After 10 minutes of chanting, the lad started to cry out in pain. It was such a howling sound that Arcturus wanted to pick him up and run away. Remus had grasped his hand and was keeping him rooted. The werewolf, who knew the pain of his own involuntary transformations at the full moon, gritted his teeth and looked on with stoic determination, as his eyes filled with tears. Perhaps he was experiencing all the pain that the boy was going through.
After an hour of excruciating pain during which the lad made an inhuman howling, an inky black darkness oozed from the lightning scar on his forehead. The mage trapped the foulness in a clay jar. He set the jar apart from them and destroyed it with fiendfyre before their eyes.
Arcturus offered a big bag of galleons to the mage who refused to touch it but pointed to his assistant who accepted it for him. The mage said, "I do not indulge in worldly matters anymore but this was a task which needed to be done for the betterment of this boy who will become a warrior beyond all renown. Tend to him well Arcturus Orion Black and he will bring glory to his family."
Black Castle, 1986
It had been a year since the boy had been exorcised of the soul fragment. His scar had healed well. All that remained of it was a thin, white zig-zag line where the angry, red mark had been. Glamour charms worked well enough on the boy for those occasions when he had to leave the grounds of the castle and Arcturus was content. Cassiopeia had visited him a year ago and when she found that he had an heir again, she had taken up residence in the castle teaching Harry wizarding customs. Arcturus had forbidden her from teaching him any dark magic. He planned to teach him Black Family Magic but that was the extent of it. The Black family had some very dark spells in its repertoire but most of its spells were borderline dark and since they were personal magic of his house, they could not be outlawed by the Wizengamot nor would Harry face any prosecution for using them. He planned to teach the boy to use those spells by his third year.
The boy still went to Muggle Primary where he was learning elementary things and Arcturus had no issue with it. He however insisted on physical education and put in him the habit of running every morning and had Lupin teach him swimming which the werewolf was happy to do. The boy was indoctrinated by the werewolf with a muggle sense of fashion and kept abreast with developments in the muggle world.
The werewolf had improved a lot since he had come to live at Black Castle. He now looked fit and well-fed. Gone was the tattered clothing he wore while he lived at Blackmoor. He doted on the boy and taught him everything about his father and his circle of friends. He did not sugar coat it when he told Harry that James had been a bully in his school year and of his rivalry with Severus Snape. He also told him about the conditions at school during those years as WIzarding World was tearing itself apart and there were lines drawn between the students even before they were sorted. He had also shown him photographs of his parents which were taken during their school years and in the later years and introduced him to everyone in the photos.
This year they were planning to start teaching him the theory of magic so that he would be ready when he got to Hogwarts. Remus was also preparing to tell him about his position in the Wizarding World, his parent's death, Sirius's alleged betrayal, Pettigrew's death and everything without drawing a conclusion as to his guilt.
Six months ago, Arcturus had visited Augusta Longbottom at the Longbottom manor.
-Flashback starts-
He stepped out of the floo to find Augusta there with her heir, Neville Longbottom. As he did his courtesy as a gentleman, she led him to the parlor. After refreshments were served, she came straight to the point, "What is the purpose of this visit, Lord Black?"
He smiled at her, "Please call me Arcturus, Lady Longbottom."
She immediately replied, "Then address me as Augusta."
He started telling her how he had removed Harry Potter from his muggle relatives, how they were keeping the boy, his reasons for doing so and what he had taught to him so far. As he finished narrating, she asked him, "What assistance do you require of me? Do you wish to announce it to the Wizarding World and have House Longbottom back you up?"
He shook his head, "The time is not right for it. I had a different proposition altogether."
She adopted a calm demeanor, "Please do go on, I am listening."
He started again, "as you know Harry Potter is living a very lonely life in the Black castle where he has no one of his age to play with him. I am an old man, approaching the dusk of his life but he needs people in his life who will remain his life-long friends. He cannot live his entire life in seclusion. I propose that for a fortnight during a year, you foster him here in the Longbottom Manor where he will grow up with little Neville while for a fortnight Neville will live at the Black Castle with him. This will lead to them being friends and each will have someone they can depend upon. Besides you know the alliance of Potter and Longbottom and the saying which goes as "Wherever a Potter goes a Longbottom will follow."
She agreed, "This will do some good for Neville who has no friends to call his own. I have been rather heavy handed with him all these years raising him sternly but he needs to be a child every now and then. I agree to your proposal Lord Black provided you let Harry Potter visit more. I would like to see him more during the year and may be able to teach a thing or two about the Potters to him."
Arcturus had readily agreed to the proposal.
-Flashback ends-
Since then Harry had visited Neville twice for a week each time. Neville had come over for a week and the two boys had taken a shine to each other, becoming fast friends at once.
Black Castle, 1990
In the last three years, Hadrian Potter-Black had grown into a fine young boy. He had started reading the theory of magic and for the last year, Arcturus had taken him out of the muggle primary and started teaching him about magic. Remus taught him about the theory of each subject for the first six months until the boy had enough and had asked for a wand. While it was illegal to buy a wand for a child below 11 years of age and no wand maker would sell a wand to them anyhow, Arcturus's talent had come in handy. He had learned wand crafting in his younger days but never used his talents until he needed to. The boy had chosen a wand of Blackthorn wood with Dragon heartstring and Unicorn tail hair. The wand was a work of wonder and he was learning quickly. He had learned enough of transfiguration, defense and charms to last up to 3rd year and theories about Runes beyond which Remus refused to teach him yet saying he would have a lot of time to learn it. He also taught the boy a lot of pranks and told of the stories where the Marauders pranked the hell out of everyone in Hogwarts.
Arcturus had engaged a potion master (under oath of course) to teach him the basics of potion making after the boy had shown interest in the field.
Neville had become a brother to him in all the years that they had been friends and everything he did was shared with Neville. Longbottom was very supportive of him and was often ready to fight anyone who showed hostile intentions towards Harry. He had also learned much of what Harry was learning but had problems with his wand. When he had inquired, he learned that Augusta planned on giving him his father's wand and it had flabbergasted Arcturus. He had sent a book on wandlore to her telling her that her grandson would not receive perfect results with a wand that did not choose him. Dowager Lady Longbottom had vowed to buy him a new wand when he went to school.
Remus often described the castle to the boy and Harry was curious about it. He would ask Remus about its location, the number of rooms in the school and every hidden passageway.
One day when he had pestered Remus enough, the werewolf told him that there were so many hidden passages at school that no one could know all of them.
Harry whined, "Moony, why are there no maps of the castle?"
Remus smirked, "There are no official maps, cub but Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs had crafted a map of the castle which contained a detailed outlay of the school and it also showed everyone's position on it."
Harry asked with wide-eyed wonder, "Where is it? Can I have it?"
Remus mock-sighed, "Filch confiscated it in our sixth year and then we lost track of it. I believe he may still have it."
Then Harry asked, "Could you make another one?"
Remus sighed, "I'm sorry, Cub, I don't think so. It was mostly Sirius and James who did the work and I'm not sure how they did it. My only contribution was to sit in the library and search for the charms that they had used."
Harry said, "Then I will find the original. Will a summoning charm work on it?"
Remus had to think about that one for a minute before he answered, "It just might. I don't remember them putting any charms on the map to prevent it. However, I am afraid you would have to find out for yourself."
Then Harry asked, "However how does the map work?"
Remus had told him the phrase for opening and closing the map. Remus had also asked him to enquire after the Invisibility Cloak which had not been recovered from the cottage and was a Potter family heirloom.
Remus had also brought him a camera and taught him to click photographs and showed him how to use specific potions to develop pictures that moved. For a month, Harry Potter was not found without his camera and he had created hundreds of photos of everyone in the house.
Kreacher had come to the Black Castle in 1987 bearing the news of the death of Wulburga Black. True to his promise, he had not interred her in the family crypts and her crypt was forgotten. A portrait which had been commissioned a decade ago was destroyed by him. Kreacher was kept at the Black Castle serving Harry. After some initial problems things were good between the two of them with Kreacher enthusiastically serving him as "Master Harry."
Two years ago, Arcturus had received a letter from Lord Greengrass, one of the friends of the Family. He had inquired after Arcturus's health and wished to have an alliance with House Black. Arcturus knew that Lord Greengrass never sought alliance with someone unless they could make some profit out of it. The Black's had some extensive properties which had greenhouses on them and House Greengrass owned a potion making business. He wanted to obtain potion ingredients at lesser costs, plain and simple. But it served a major purpose for him. He had welcomed him to the Black Castle with his family and introduced them to Harry as Hadrian Potter-Black. Cyrus was astonished to find Harry Potter here but had agreed to not disclose it to anyone under oath.
Harry had become friends with the Greengrass daughters- Daphne and Astoria. Often Neville and the Greengrass daughters got together at the Black Castle or at Longbottom Manor and they bonded as friends.
Arcturus had told him about Voldemort and his mission of blood purity which was nothing but a sham and a means for his dominance in the wizarding world. While he emphasized the importance of the customs and traditions of the wizarding world, he told him that it did not matter whether one was pure-blood, half-blood or muggle born. What mattered was the power. Dumbledore, the greatest wizard in Britain was a half-blood after all.
He also told him that Voldemort had not died and told of his suspicions about the same. There was one question which had hounded him for years and he had not found an answer to it. That question being, why did Voldemort personally come after the Potters? Why had they gone into hiding? Coincidentally Neville's parents too had done the same but both of the sets of parents had either died or were incapacitated. He had to find the answer to that question.
Remus had shared the Marauder's animagus research with the child and had told him that after his first year, he would start teaching him to be one. After all, it was taught in third year at Hogwarts therefore it was reasonable that Harry could become one.
He had also taught the boy the ways of Slytherin- cunning, ambition and resourcefulness while Remus taught him Bravery, Chivalry and leadership. They were not making a weapon of him but teaching him what he would have been taught either way.
Harry had once asked Arcturus, "Grand-uncle, would you like it if I am in Slytherin?"
Arcturus frowned, "Why would you be in Slytherin, lad?"
Harry innocently replied, "Because that's where you were sorted into."
Arcturus replied, "You can be sorted into Slytherin as well but remember this lad that it will not win you any allies. Most of the school despises Slytherin house and you need people around you who will be able to help you. I would rather that you go to Gryffindor and act like a Slytherin."
Harry had said nothing but grinned at the thought.
His spell training also had been coming along beautifully and Remus had at times taken him to see Dueling tournaments so that he would know what it was like. When they had returned, he had used the Pensieve in his office to see the memories of all the tournaments and pestered Remus to tell him about the spells he had seen flying.
He used to spend an insane amount of time in the Black Library reading spell books learning new spells, hexes and jinxes. While he could not practice them yet, he was sure itching to. Arcturus was sure that as soon as he was off to Hogwarts, he would start learning those spells. He had also engaged a duel master (under Oath) to teach dueling to Harry, something that he felt every Pureblood Lord should do for his heir.
Another thing that the boy loved was flying. When he was six, Arcturus had ordered a Comet 260 for him and since then Harry Potter spent as much time in the air as he did on the ground. He had been to some weekend games with Remus (under Glamours) and saw professional Quidditch players in action and whenever he came home, he would try to imitate their movements. Harry was fantastic on a broom and often scared him with his stunts.
He also liked to ride the animals that were in the castle. His elves had taught him about Hippogriff riding, horse riding and to tend and care for the animals.
He had also taught him Occlumency and Legilimency since they were useful arts and a must for the heirs of Houses. It had been incredibly hard but at last, the boy had been able to construct some serious mental defences. A further six months had passed before he learned to keep them up at all times and to detect an intrusion.
In the last 8 years, they had taught Harry Potter everything that they could and now the time was coming for him to go out in the world and show his talents. Arcturus also had to commit the secret of Horcruxes to someone else who would be able to look for them and help the lad fulfil his destiny because he felt it in his bones that he had not much time left before he was reunited with Melania, Charlus and Dorea. His only regret was that he had not been able to help Sirius anyway despite knowing that he was innocent of betraying his friends. The Wizengamot asked for proof after all and he still did not know what had transpired on that night with Peter Pettigrew.
July, 1991, Hogwarts
Albus and Minerva were looking at the enchanted quill writing names inviting students for admittance at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The quill halted as it came to Harry's name and after a second began to write,
Hadrian Potter- Black
Chateau de Black
France
Albus watched in horror as the letter was sealed in an envelope and was dispatched. If the boy was being raised by the House of Black, they might have turned him to the Dark. He was being kept out of Wizarding Britain and this explained why they were never able to find him. Albus knew that going to Chateau de Black and asking for custody of Harry Potter would be a bad idea because whoever was alive in the House of Black would hate him with a passion.
He decided to see if Harry Potter would accept the invitation and attend Hogwarts or go to study somewhere else altogether, Durmstrang for instance.
France
Arcturus had come to live in the Chateau de Black in France a few months ago after he had heard of Cassiopeia's passing. Her death had been the hardest on him since he felt that she had been the most sensible of his siblings. She knew that she would be married off as a trophy wife to some pureblood and therefore had not married and lived life as she desired. He also did not want anyone else to know that he was living in the Black Castle which they would know after Harry's admittance letter was sent.
He had also informally declared Harry as his heir a month ago and promised him that they would fetch his heir rings when they went to Gringotts on his eleventh birthday. He remembered the Goblin's request but had chosen to leave his investment as heir till his eleventh birthday since it would give them sufficient time to make him ready for anything that may come and they could avoid any unsavoury person from finding them.
Just then Harry came running into the room clutching a red letter in his hands bearing the Hogwarts crest and jumping on the balls of his feet, "Grand-uncle, my letter has come!"
He chuckled and had to tell the boy to behave before he settled down. In the past years, he had tried to get the boy to call him Grand-father or Lord Black but he always called him grand-uncle. As the boy was still excited, he had to admonish him a little, "Control yourself, Harry. As we had decided, you will get to go to Hogwarts if you can write the letter in response by yourself without asking help from me and Moony."
Harry had immediately sat down to write the letter.
"Dear Professor McGonagall,
Greetings to you. I hope that this letter finds you in good health. I am writing this letter in response to your letter offering me admittance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
I will take the Hogwarts Express from King's Cross on 1st September with the other students.
Hadrian Potter-Black
Heir to House of Potter and House of Black"
Arcturus read the letter once and dried the ink. Harry sealed the parchment with the seal of House Potter (Goblins had sent the signet) and whistled. A falcon flew into the room and Harry grinned, "Zeus, up for a long flight?"
The bird cocked its head as if saying yes and Harry attached the letter to its talons and the falcon took off. Arcturus sighed. He had done what he could to make the boy ready and hoped that nothing bad would come of it for anyone.
31st July 1991
Remus woke Harry early and sent him to bathe while Kreacher laid out his clothes for him. A black shirt with black trousers, a Gryffindor red robe made of Acromantula silk with a cloak of the same material and dragon hide boots.
As Harry returned to his room, he found a little pile of gifts on his bed and tore through the packing eagerly. Arcturus had given him an Auror grade Wand-holster something that he wanted but never asked, along with a wand- kit. Remus had given him a set of books about practical defense. Daphne and Astoria had sent him a silver bracelet with an emerald stone embedded in it while Neville had sent him a book on plants. They had planted a Green House in Longbottom manor and both worked there with equal interest though Neville was undoubtedly better than him at Herbology. He had sent Neville's gift to him a week ago. It was a rare plant that the Longbottom greenhouses lacked.
After he was dressed up, he was trying to flatten his hair down when Remus came into the room, "you are fighting a losing battle there, cub. This is Potter hair which can never settle down. The only thing that seems to work on this is the Sleak-easy potion which was invented by Lord Potter."
He produced a bottle of the said potion and liberally applied it to his hair and it was tamed down a bit so that he would not look like a manner less wizard. Then Remus started to apply glamour charms on him. He lengthened his hair turning it to brown, changed his eye colour to steel gray, and raised his cheek bones.
When Harry entered the Lord's study, he found that Arcturus was likewise under Glamour charms. Remus and Harry accompanied the older wizard to the fire-place where Arcturus threw in a pinch of floo powder into the grate and called, "#12, Grimmauld Place."
Harry and Remus followed suit. Soon they appeared in the Black Townhouse where Harry was assigned a room upstairs. The House was too dark for his taste and gave him a sense of foreboding. Lipsy, Mipsy and Tipsy had been there for a week now cleaning the place and making it fit for use.
Harry turned to Arcturus, "Grand-uncle, I do not like the decorations of the house. It is too dark and looks like a house of Dark Wizards."
Arcturus frowned, "You know, I think the House needs remodeling now. Worry not lad, I will call in people to redo the whole house. For now we will make do with what we have."
After they had been served a hefty lunch by the elves, they flooed to the Leaky Cauldron. Since they were all under Glamour charms, nobody could identify them.
They walked up to the bank while Harry was looking in all directions trying to take in all that was happening around them. The lad had been stopping at every step to look at every window display, to take in everything that was there to see. He was also intrigued when he had stopped and read the warning that was written outside the bank where two goblins stood as sentry. They approached a teller Arcturus respectfully said to a teller goblin, "I am here to see Iron Tooth, manager of House Black."
The goblin who still had not looked up from his ledger, sneered, "Iron Tooth is not an ordinary goblin, wizard. He does not meet everyone who walks through that door."
Arcturus pulled out a knife from his robes and buried it hilt deep into the desk of the teller and snarled, "If you can recognize the crest on the knife, you will take us to Iron Tooth or I will ensure that your head rolls for this."
The goblin looked at the knife and gasped. He immediately jumped down from his table and stuttered, "Of... Of course Lord Black. I will fetch him for you."
As the goblin ran to fetch Iron Tooth, Arcturus wrenched his dagger free of the table and waited. A minute or so passed and Iron Tooth came running and bowed to Arcturus, "Lord Black, King Ragnok had instructed us to take you directly to him when you come to the Bank."
Arcturus replied, "Then let us not tarry, Iron Tooth. As it happens, I have a lot to talk to him about."
They followed the goblin to Ragnok and were given seats while refreshment was called for. After they all had made themselves comfortable, Ragnok opened the conversation, "Lord Black it has been a while since you came here. We expected Harry Potter here at the age of eight to become the heir of the House of Potter but you explained in a letter that he would not be coming to us before his eleventh birthday and for good reasons. Now that you are here, let us give him his parent's will, his heir rings and take care of any other matters that you may be worried about."
Arcturus nodded, "Let's begin then."
Ragnok produced a parchment and a red quill then gave them to Harry, "Mr. Potter, please write your name on this parchment with this quill."
Harry of course knew what a blood quill was. It had been part of his instruction and he had not liked it a bit but Arcturus had explained why it was important. He wrote the name on the parchment and words began to appear. Ragnok looked at the results and then handed them to Arcturus.
The parchment did not contain anything out of the ordinary.
Hadrian Potter Black
Father's name- James Charlus Potter
Father- Charlus Henry Potter
Mother- Dorea Potter nee Black
Mother's name- Lily Potter nee Evans
Father- Harrison Evans
Mother- Margaret Evans
Heir apparent to- House of Potter, House of Black
Ragnok pushed a button on his desk and a goblin entered. He barked orders at him and while they waited, Arcturus turned to Ragnok, "Ragnok, if it is all the same to you perhaps we can deal with other matters in the meanwhile?"
The goblin nodded, "As you say, Lord Black. The next thing on the agenda is to appoint a manager for House Potter."
Arcturus had given it some thought and made a decision while conferring with Harry. He turned to Ragnok, "House Potter would appoint like to appoint Iron Tooth as Account Manager for House Potter because Harry is heir to both the houses and as such, he will become the lord in the future. It will be convenient for him and for Gringotts."
Ragnok nodded, "It will be done Lord Black." He turned to Iron Tooth and gave some orders and the goblin left. Sometime later, the goblin who had been sent to fetch the will returned and presented it to Ragnok who gave it to Harry. With trembling hands, Harry started to read:
We, Lord James Charlus Potter and Lady Lily Potter do hereby declare this to be our last bequest made in good faith and in sound health and fit state of mind. Any other bequest which exists at this point of time is null and void.
To Sirius Orion Black, we leave a million Galleons and our son Hadrian Potter with the hope that he will be a good god-father to him who will teach him to be a better man and great wizard. Padfoot, you fought with us tooth and nail for this honour over Moony and Wormtail and now it is upon you to make him a better person.
To Remus Lyall Lupin, we leave five hundred thousand Galleons and the country estate in Sheffield with the hopes that you will do your duty as an uncle to Hadrian in case Padfoot only tries to teach him to be a prankster. Moony, please find a witch who would love you ignoring your furry little problem and start a family with her so Harry will have someone his age to play with. We would have given you more but we know your dignity would not allow you to accept it.
To Peter Almeidus Pettigrew, we leave two hundred thousand Galleons to help you start the business you always wanted and to help you achieve your dream of travelling around the world. However if you have betrayed us Wormtail, we hope that you will die paying for your crimes.
To Frank Jeremy Longbottom and Alice Longbottom, we leave five hundred thousand Galleons with the hope that you will look after Harry as you would look after your own son, Neville who is our godson.
To Neville Frank Longbottom, we leave two hundred thousand Galleons in the hopes that you will grow up to be a fine young man and make your parents proud. We are sorry that we could not be around to see you grow up.
Through this testament, we also establish a trust with corpus fund of five hundred thousand Galleons to help pay for those students who cannot afford school supplies. This fund shall be held in trust by Lord Ragnok of Gringotts and the money will be invested by him as he sees fit while he finances the education of those students who cannot afford their education easily.
The rest of our wealth will go to our son, Hadrian Potter. Harry, we wanted to be there for you but the war and threat of Voldemort is hanging over our heads like a sword and if we have died, remember that we died doing what was our duty. We hope that you will have a long, happy and fulfilling life ahead.
We provide a list of persons who shall get the custody of Harry Potter in event of our untimely demise.
1. Alice Longbottom, God Mother to Hadrian James Potter or their legal relatives.
2. Sirius Orion Black, God Father to Hadrian James Potter or their legal relatives.
3. Remus Lupin, friend of the family.
4. Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and God mother to Lord James Charlus Potter.
James Charlus Potter and Lily Potter
Lord and Lady Potter"
After Harry finished reading the will, he wordlessly handed it to Arcturus and turned to Ragnok, "Since Sirius Black is incarcerated and Peter Pettigrew is supposedly dead, does it mean that those provisions of the bequest will not be enforced?"
The Goblin nodded, "You are right, Mr. Potter. Would you like for the other provisions of the will to be put into effect immediately?"
Harry nodded, "Yes please."
Arcturus who had been sitting strangely quiet, started speaking excitedly, "This will proves that Sirius is innocent."
Harry excitedly said, "Then let us take this to the ministry and ask them to release him."
Arcturus sighed, "Alas! This will does not state that Peter was their secret keeper and we also do not know about the events of that night when Sirius allegedly killed him and 12 muggles. We will need something more than this to ensure that he is exonerated."
Just then Iron Tooth entered the room and placed an ornate wooden box on the table. It was made of cedar and contained two rings. One had the Potter Crest while the other had the Black crest.
Ragnok handed the rings to Harry telling him, "Place the Potter ring first and then the Black ring. If the House Magic accepts you, you will know it."
Harry wore the rings one by one. While the Potter ring fit his finger almost instantly the Black ring scanned him for quite some time before it fit in his finger and melded with the Potter ring.
Ragnok congratulated him, "Congratulations Mr. Potter. I apologize that I cannot give you access to your family vaults until you reach the age of majority and ascend as Lord Potter. Until then, you have access to your trust vault. It will give you access up to five hundred thousand Galleons per year, refilling from your family vaults annually. We will send your quarterly statement to you via owl."
Arcturus obtained a pouch from Iron Tooth which he gave to Harry. It was connected to Harry's trust vault and it would never be empty so long as he still had funds there. Their business done, they left the bank.
As they were approaching Madam Malkin's, Harry asked something which had just come into his mind, "Grand-uncle, you have told me several times that I am very famus. Why is it that I have never received a letter from anyone in the wizarding world?"
Remus snorted while Arcturus smirked, "When you were brought to Black Castle, we discovered that you had mail wards on you meaning no one could have sent you letters at the Muggle's home. I think Dumbledore placed the ward on you so that hundreds of owls would not be seen flying around a muggle house and attract unnecessary attention. As you came to Black Castle, we called in a curse breaker to determine that there were no wards upon you which would harm you. He found that you had a mail ward on your person and another ward tied to you which would keep the caster informed about your well-being. We had him break the mail ward and as you know there are some heavy mail wards around Black Castle and every letter which was sent to you was redirected to a chamber where they still lie to this day. Many were from witches and wizards congratulating you for a feat you would not remember doing while a lot were from witches of your age who perhaps had taken a fancy to the boy-who-lived. You can read them at your leisure when you return to Black Castle at the end of your first year."
Harry blushed but kept his expression carefully neutral.
Arcturus sent him to Madam Malkin's with Remus while he went off to buy something. What that something was, he was keeping to himself. The witch in the shop ushered him in, "Hogwarts dear? Go to the back and have your measurements taken. Another boy is being fitted there."
Harry entered the back of the shop and stood on a stool while a measuring tape was taking his measurements. The other boy had platinum blond hair, a long face, and steel gray eyes. Harry felt like there was something familiar about the other boy but Harry could not place it.
The other boy asked him, "Are you going to Hogwarts too?"
Harry nodded, "Yes."
The boy said, "Do you know which house you will be in? I bet I will be in Slytherin."
Harry shrugged, "We won't know that before we get there, will we?"
The other boy who could not take the hint that Harry was not willing to talk, said again, "My parents are next door, looking for books. I think I will bully them into buying me a broom and then smuggle it into school. What is your favorite Quidditch team?"
Harry replied, "I have none."
The other boy asked, "Where are your parents?"
Harry replied off-handedly, "They are dead."
The other boy asked again, "But they were like us, right? Magicals?"
Before Harry could think of an answer, the witch told Harry that his measurements were done and he was thankful for the escape.
He had not wanted to come to Madam Malkin's in the first place because he had wardrobes over-flowing with clothes both, wizarding wear and muggle but Arcturus had insisted that since he had no dress robes, he would have to buy some. They left after an hour with 5 school robes and other required items.
The next stop was the trunk shop. Arcturus had many sophisticated trunks in the castle but he wanted Harry to have something simple. They chose a two compartment trunk- one a library and other a wardrobe. They also selected to couple it with a feather-light charm, a locomotor charm and shrinking runes.
While the trunk was being made ready, they had a big ice-cream from Fortescue's cafe and after that they went to Eeylops Owl Emporium where Arcturus bought him a Snow White beautiful owl which he would later name Hedwig. When he asked why he was being given an owl, Arcturus told him that Falcons were not allowed at the school as they could attack the school owls.
When they reached the Black Town House, Harry found a parcel on the bed waiting for him. There was no name on the packet though except a small piece of parchment which read, "Harry Potter."
He hollered for Remus and the werewolf came running up with Arcturus and he showed the packet to them. Remus cast some detection spells at the packet and nothing dangerous was revealed. Harry opened the packet cautiously and something soft and silky fell out of the packet.
Remus cried, "That is James's invisibility cloak which has been missing all these years. I wonder who had it."
Harry looked through the wrapping and found a letter:
"This was left with me by your father shortly before he died. I needed this to research some old magics. It is time that it was returned to it's rightful owner. Use it well. Happy Birthday, Hadrian Potter Black."
Remus looked at the letter and said, "This is Dumbledore's handwriting. I wonder why he needed this cloak when he can be invisible without using the cloak."
Arcturus said nothing but mentally smirked. He knew of the legend of the cloak, having being told about it by Charlus Potter. He resolved to make sure that Harry Potter learned about his heritage.
1st September 1991
Finally the day was here when Hadrian Potter Black was to embark on the next phase of Arcturus's plan. Arcturus had talked about his plans with Harry at length and Harry had agreed with them. They had decided that together they would win the wizarding world to their side so that if Voldemort arose during his lifetime, he would not have much ground to stand on.
In the last month, Harry had visited Neville or Daphne almost daily. Since they were all in London, they got together for a study session or swimming or a day in the Longbottom greenhouse and Arcturus was hopeful that he had got friends who would stand through the thick and thin with him. There was nothing more that he could do except watch while Hadrian Potter – Black conquered the wizarding world inch by inch.
Sometimes they went out to Diagon Alley with Harry under glamour charms and visited the shops and have fun in general. They all had decided to meet at Platform 9 ¾ King's Cross, London. Harry flooed to the platform at 10:00 A.m. with Remus who had applied some glamours(they were keeping his involvement secret) and Lord Black who had returned almost instantly after seeing him through the floo. He took a seat at the end of the train in a compartment which was empty and waited for the others. Daphne flooed in after sometime and hugged him before going to find her other friend- Tracy Davis. They had decided not to take the first ride together as it was necessary for their plans. Neville arrived sometime later with his grand-mother who embraced Harry like a grandson before she flooed back to Longbottom Manor.
10 minutes before the train started, a family of red-heads entered the platform through the barrier. Neville pointed them out to Harry, "They are the Weasleys. They are a good family but are generally looked down upon because of their scorn of pure-bloods. They had a seat on the Wizengamot but were ousted from it due to some under-handed deal involving Lord Malfoy about 70 years ago."
Harry nodded, "Grand-uncle told me about it. They are also related to me through Great Aunt Cedrella Weasley nee Black."
The train started after sometime and they were exchanging chocolate frogs with each other when a red headed boy opened the door, "Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."
Harry cordially invited him in, "Sure, come in."
The boy introduced himself, "I am Ronald Weasley."
Harry replied, "This is Neville Longbottom and I am Hadrian Jameson." He didn't want it to be known that he was attending Hogwarts before the sorting. There would be time enough for gawkers to gawk at him.
They were making small talk with each other for some time when Ron brought his pet into the conversation, "This is Scabbers, my rat."
Scabbers it turned out had an appetite to rival his master. He ate his share of everything that Ronaldate. The rat was running across the length of the compartment and climbing up and down making them laugh.
Harry remembered his camera which he had packed in his trunk and brought it out and started clicking some pictures of the three boys including the rat. He decided to develop them at the end of the week and send them to Remus to start an album of Harry's school days.
The lunch trolley came by and even though the boys were full, they bought something of everything. Ron who had brought sandwiches was invited to partake in their purchases which he did happily.
After a few hours, the boy he had met at Madam Malkin's came into their compartment with two others looking for something to eat and bullying people in general.
He said to the compartment in general, "Look boys, these fine people have so much left to eat still. We will take their food."
Neville glared at him, "No one invited you in here."
The boy said, "Still we are not leaving. We are done with our food and you have lots left."
Harry was getting tired of the bully. He told him flatly, "You are getting tiresome. Go now or I will make you go."
One of the boys reached for their food pile and came up with Scabbers who bit his finger. With that, they decided it was time for them to leave.
Hearing the commotion, a buck-toothed, bushy haired girl entered their compartment, "Were you all fighting? You are going to lose points before you reach the school."
Ron replied, "No, we were not fighting but Scabbers was. Who are you by the way?"
The girl replied, "I am Hermione Granger, muggle-born. Who are you all?"
Harry answered, "This is Ronald Weasley, this is Neville Longbottom and I am Hadrian Jameson."
Hermione asked again, "Have you people studied ahead for the classes? I bet I am far behind many of the students. I have read all my course books though and have learned them by heart."
She was speaking so fast that it was hard to make her words out so Harry just shook his head in denial. Telling them to get ready, she left them in their compartment.
Ronald sighed, "I just hope she doesn't wind up in the same house as me."
Talks then turned towards sorting with everyone guessing how sorting was done at the school. While Harry knew how it was done, he decided not to mention it to Ron to ruin his surprise. He would find out for himself soon enough.
Harry said nothing but pulled a book out and started reading while Neville did the same. It had become a habit for them to read if there was nothing more to do. They had talked about their families at length during the last few hours (mostly Ron did) and had eaten together. There was nothing more to do for them.
Soon the announcement was being made for them to leave their luggage on the train from where it would be taken to Hogwarts. The boys changed into their robes.
When they got off the train, they heard a loud booming voice calling, "First yers! First yers! Ove here!" A giant (by their standards anyway) with a lantern in his hand, bushy beard, beetle black eyes and dense beard was collecting the first years together. As they were all with him, he started taking them to the edge of the lake where he assigned them to boats, "no more than 4 to each boat."
Harry climbed into a boat with Neville, the girl from the train and Ronald. Daphne deliberately chose another boat but they shared a look which meant things were going well with them.
As the boats sped forward they came into the first view of the castle. Harry had to remember to breathe as he took in the sight of the castle with its towering turrets and light shining from its sparkling windows. The place looked formidable, beautiful and enduring. No verbal description of the place from Remus prepared him for the actual sight. Harry remembered his camera and holding it as steady as he could, took some pictures while he could still get the whole building into frame.
Hagrid led them to a side door in the castle where he banged on large double doors three times. The doors were opened by a stern looking witch, her hair tied into a bun on her head, her lips firmly pursed into a thin line and her expressions foreboding. Harry had the impression that it was a teacher one should not cross.
"First yers, Professor McGonagall.", said Hagrid, consigning the group to the stern looking witch. He then headed off through another door.
She took them to a chamber and started addressing them, "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start of term feast will begin shortly. Before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room. The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."
Harry did not understand what he could do to smarten himself up except try to tame his hair. But he knew that was a losing battle. Every Potter male was cursed with the same hair. As they were waiting some students jumped in fright as pearly white ghosts drifted out of a wall talking among themselves and arguing what to do about Peeves. One of them noticed the students and asked them what they were doing while others guessed that they were waiting to be sorted.
McGonagall led them into the Great Hall and Harry was amazed at the size of the hall. While he had lived in a castle for the last 9 years, the Great Hall was twice the size of the hall at Black Castle and looked more magnificent with the ceiling charmed to look like the sky outside. She took them all near the staff table while Hermione kept reciting facts about the school from "Hogwarts: A History' like how the ceiling had been charmed. After Professor McGonagall told them how they were to be sorted and started calling out names, he waited while he watched others getting sorted. He was casting a keen eye over the other students to sight some potential allies among his year mates. While some were sorted almost immediately, the hat deliberated over others. Harry hoped that none of them would become "hatstall", one who could not be sorted even after the Hat had deliberated over them for 5 minutes. He was so lost in his musings that he missed the whole song of the Sorting Hat.
Abbott Hannah was the first to be sorted and went into Hufflepuff, followed by Bones Susan who also went to Hufflepuff. Terry Boot became the first Ravenclaw followed by Mandy Brocklehurst who followed Boot into Ravenclaw. Lavender Brown became the first Gryffindor almost immediately followed by a big looking girl named Milicent Bulstrode who was sorted into Slytherin followed by a trollish looking boy called Vincent Crabbe who was sorted into Slytherin. Michael Corner again was sorted into Ravenclaw followed by Stephen Cornfoot and Tracy Davis became Slytherin with Fay Dunbar being sorted into Gryffindor, then came Kevin Entwhile and Justin Finch Fletchley who both were sorted into Hufflepuff. Seamus Finnigan going to Gryffindor and Anthony Goldstein went to Ravenclaw.
Finally it was Hermione's turn and she eagerly put the hat on her head and it started speaking in her head, "What do we have here? Oh you have a well organized mind here. You have a thirst for knowledge but you are also brave and do not hesitate to take a stand. Ravenclaw would be good for you and so would Gryffindor, so, where to send you?"
Hermione spoke, "Can you send me to Gryffindor? It will be good there for me."
The hat agreed, "Ravenclaw would be fit for you equally but you are inclined to Gryffindor more. So you are going to GRYFFINDOR."
The hat said the words to the Great Hall and the table with the red and gold banner burst into applause while Ron groaned. Professor McGonagall called the next name "Daphne Greengrass' and Harry attentively watched the sorting.
As Daphne put the hat on her head, the hat spoke, "You have thirst of knowledge and the ambition of Slytherin. I know of just the place to sort you. SLYTHERIN."
She happily walked to the Green and Silver bannered table. Gregory Goyle soon followed suit into Slytherin while Wayne Hopkins and Megan Jones went to Hufflepuff. Sue Li was sorted into Ravenclaw and then it was Neville's turn. Neville shuffled nervously towards the stool and put the hat on his head. The hat said, "Oh I see. You have lived under the shadow of your parents' fame. I can see you are hard-working and loyal, the traits of Hufflepuff but there is an underlying sense of bravery and chivalry. You will do well in "GRYFFINDOR."
Harry noticed that Hermione and Neville both came close to hatstall but had been sorted before the 5 minute mark. When McGonagall called "Draco Malfoy' the boy from the train walked up to the stool and as soon as the hat had touched his head, the hat called out "Slytherin." Smirking in pleasure, he strode to the table with the Green and Silver banner.
Isobel McDougall was sorted into Ravenclaw while Ernie McMillan was sent into Hufflepuff. Lilith Moon, Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson were sorted into Slytherin and then the Patil twins were called who were sorted into Ravenclaw and Gryffindor respectively. Sally Anne Perks was sent into Hufflepuff and Harry was feeling the jitters knowing he was next. This was the moment that would determine whether their preparations had been enough.
McGonagall called "Hadrian Potter-Black" and there was complete silence in the Great Hall. While people did not know him by Hadrian yet everyone knew he was the last Potter and so everyone was gawking at him as the hat sat on his head. The hat examined his mind for some moments and then said, "I must say I am surprised Mr. Potter-Black. You have a well organized mind with some serious mental shields. I can see cunning, resourcefulness and ambition in you which are all the traits of Slytherin and no doubt you will learn to be great in Slytherin. There are also underlying qualities of Bravery, Chivalry and courage in you which makes you worthy of Gryffindor. What do you say, Mr. Potter?"
Harry replied, "I would rather be in Gryffindor than Slytherin. No true Slytherin would be sorted there if he could derive an advantage by being in another house."
The hat guffawed, "That is a good point however logic does not work here. I still think you would do well in Slytherin."
Harry frantically said, "No I refuse to go to Slytherin."
The Hat finally gave in, "Ok, if that is your wish, GRYFFINDOR."
The table with red and gold banners erupted in cheers while the Weasley twins were standing and chanting, "We got Potter, We got Potter."
Harry strode to the table and sat with Neville and the twins who thumped him on the shoulder. Oliver Rivers was sent to Ravenclaw, Ellia Runcorn was sent to Gryffindor, Sally Smith and Zacharias Smith were sent to Hufflepuff, Dean Thomas joined Gryffindor while Lisa Turpin was sent to Ravenclaw. Ronald was sorted to Gryffindor and Blaise Zabini was sorted into Slytherin.
After that Dumbledore stood up and said, "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we start our banquet, I would like to say a few words, Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!, Thank you."
Everybody clapped and cheered while Harry did not know whether to laugh or not. He turned to Percy Weasley who was sitting near him, "Is he mad?"
Percy said, "No. He is a genius though a bit mad." "Potato, Hadrian?", he asked and Harry found that the feast had started and the tables were filled with food of all varieties. Since he was feeling hungry, the food trolley on the train had been a long time ago, he tucked in while Ron was glaring at him.
After he was done eating, he turned to Ron, "What is the problem, Ron? Did you not enjoy your food?"
Ron said snarkily, "Why didn't you tell me that you are Harry Potter?"
Harry frowned, "How does that make any difference? And my name is Hadrian Potter-Black. Please remember it."
Hermione who was seated near them said to him enthusiastically, "I have read all the books about you. You are mentioned in the Rise and fall of the Dark Arts and Important Wizarding Events of the 20th Century."
Harry snorted, "Whatever is written there is false, Miss Granger."
She looked shocked, "What do you mean? Books do not lie."
Harry told her calmly, "It is speculation at best. I have been hidden away from the magical world for the last ten years. As far as Wizarding Britain is concerned, living under a rock (Neville snorted) and no one save a handful of people knew my whereabouts. There is no one alive to this day who knows about the events that transpired that night except me and I was too small to even hold a wand, how would I remember what had happened?"
Hermione opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again. He had a point and she could not reply to it. Harry further continued, "The children's story books about me are also fiction because I can attest that I have never seen a Nundu in my life, never mind petting one. I do not live in a far off castle surrounded by scores of friends or know of any secret magics."
Just then, a ghost rose from the table and introduced himself as Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington, the ghost of Gryffindor Tower.
Ron piped up and Said, "I know who you are. You're Nearly Headless Nick! Fred and George told me about you."
The ghost scowled, 'If you want to address me, call me Sir Nicholas.'
When Hermione asked him how he gained that name, he showed them how his neck was just hanging by sinews.
After that the talk turned towards other students who were telling of their family history, ancestry etc. Harry watched around the great hall while he tried to take in everything he saw and heard.
He looked at the staff table and found a hook-nosed, greasy haired person sitting at the staff table talking to a nervous looking man who wore a ridiculously large turban.
He turned to Percy who had been talking to Hermione and answering her questions about studies. She seemed fascinated by Transfiguration but was disheartened to know that they would not be transfiguring furniture into animals for now but small things like match-sticks into needles. He asked Percy who was a prefect, "Percy, who are those two?"
Percy looked where he was pointing and answered, "They are Professor Quirinus Quirrell who teaches Defense against the Dark Arts and Professor Severus Snape who teaches Potions. Snape has always wanted to teach Defense."
Harry was surprised but covered his surprise nicely. He had heard from Lord Black that Severus Snape had been accused of being a death eater and to see him teaching here was discomforting for him.
Snape looked at him sharply just then and their eyes connected for a moment but then Snape looked away.
Dumbledore stood up again, "Now that you all are warm and fed, it is time that I give you all some notices before you are taken to your comfortably warm beds and tucked in to be ready for your lessons beginning tomorrow."
Everyone chuckled for a moment and Dumbledore started speaking again, "The forbidden forest is just that, forbidden. The new students as well as some older students would do better to remember this (he looked at the Twins who were snickering). Mr. Filch, our caretaker has reminded me this morning that no magic should be used in the corridors between classes. The list of restricted objects has been extended and now includes 300 objects. The complete list is posted outside his office to be examined by the students at their leisure. I would take this opportunity to inform all the students that the right wing of the third floor is out of bounds for everyone this year if you do not want to die a horrible painful death."
Harry was among the few who laughed at his words but he was one of few to do so. He asked Percy, "He is not serious. Is he?
Percy said, "He must be serious. I have never seen him joke about these things. But he should have at least told us Prefects the reason for it."
Dumbledore led the school through the recital of the school song and then dismissed them. First year Gryffindors were being led by Percy. When they came to the stairs, there were some sticks floating in the air. When the first years started to pass by, the sticks started shooting towards them.
Percy roared, "Peeves!"
Peeves the poltegrist appeared cackling, "Ickle firsties! So much fun..."
Harry had heard about the Poltergeist from Remus and how the Marauders used to include him in their pranks or sometimes make him the target of their pranks. He would pay them back in kind whenever he got the chance.
Harry stepped forward and said to Peeves, "Peeves, the Marauders send their compliments. They promise that they will return to harass you more."
The Poltergeist almost fell out of the air but was air-borne at the last moment. He drifted away.
Percy said to him appreciatively, "that was very good Hadrian. Nobody has managed to do this to him yet in my memory."
Harry said nothing but was inwardly planning all the mayhem that he would cause at Hogwarts while he appeared the naive and docile guy. The Invisibility cloak had come as a blessing for him at the right moment.
When they reached the portrait hole, Percy gave the password, "Caput Draconis" and it swung outwards to allow them entrance. Percy showed them the way to their dorms. He explained the general rules and they retired to their dormitories.
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