Harry spent the remaining weeks of the summer holidays reading his textbooks. Not entirely by choice, although he would have happily read them anyway, but because Bruce had added the books to Harry's training regime as well as the regular physical training.

It was night-time on the last day of August and Harry and Bruce were doing the daily magical training.

Currently, Harry was sat opposite Bruce, who was holding a textbook, The Standard Book of Spells, and quizzing Harry about its contents. "What is the spell for making something levitate?" Bruce asked.

Harry thought for a moment. "Wingardium Leviosa," he answered confidently.

Bruce smiled. "And the wand movement needed?"

"Swish and flick." Harry emulated the needed gesture with his finger.

"What does Incendio do?"

"It's the fire-making charm."

"What spell is also known as 'The Thief's Friend'?"

"Unlocking charm, Alohomora." Harry recited.

"Last question, what is the mending charm?"

"Reparo."

Bruce closed the book and grinned. "Good job, Harry."

Harry returned the grin. "Thanks, I think I've got the hang of this stuff."

"I agree," Bruce replied. "I think if you do well this year, you might be ready to help me out."

Harry's eyes widened. "You mean be your sidekick?"

"Only if you do well at Hogwarts."

Harry hugged Bruce tightly, and didn't let go for a few seconds. "I leave tomorrow," Harry said nervously.

"I know," Bruce said sadly. "I'll miss you."

"How am I going to get to the platform?" Harry asked.

Bruce smiled. "All sorted. I've had Zatanna turn the fireplace in the dining room into a Floo Powder Fireplace," he explained.

"What's that?" Harry questioned.

"Alfred's idea. You throw some Floo Powder into the fireplace, say which other Floo Powder Fireplace you want to go to, and then it takes you there."

"Magic is weird. But useful," Harry stated.

Bruce laughed, nodding. "I know. Now get some sleep, we'll need to be up early tomorrow."

Harry went to bed, and after an hour of excited thinking eventually settled into a light sleep. He woke early the next morning, three o'clock according to his clock, and was now too nervous to return to sleep.

He got dressed in a pair of black trousers and a crimson coloured top, deciding he would get changed into his robes on the train to Hogwarts. He pulled his trunk into the dining room, and sat and read Magical Theory, wanting to be as prepared as possible for when he started Hogwarts.

At around four o'clock, Alfred entered the dining room, nodded his head to acknowledge Harry, and wordlessly began to cook an English breakfast. As everything sizzled, Alfred called from the kitchen, "Do you think you are ready for Hogwarts?"

Closing the book, Harry walked to the kitchen. "I'm nervous," he admitted.

Alfred laughed softly. "No need to be nervous, everybody is in the same situation as you. Being away from home for the first time. Just try your best and make the most of it," Alfred advised.

Harry returned to the dining room, and Bruce arrived just as Alfred was plating up breakfast for everybody. "Nervous Harry?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah," he replied, eating his breakfast.

"I thought so. You're sweating more than usual and you're eating faster than you normally do."

Harry ignored him. "What time are we leaving?" he asked.

"The train departs promptly at eleven," Alfred answered, "so I recommend we leave at five-thirty, to account for the time difference."

The three finished their breakfasts and Harry double checked, and then triple checked, he had all his equipment in his trunk. Eventually, it came to be five-thirty and the three stood by the fireplace.

Alfred picked up a small pinch of green powder that was stored in a bag next to the fireplace. "Pay close attention. To use the Floo Network throw the powder and speak clearly," Alfred instructed. "Like so. King's Cross," he enunciated as he threw the powder at the bottom of the fireplace, and Harry ran towards him as emerald flames engulfed Alfred, and then he was gone.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Harry asked worriedly.

"Only one way to find out," Bruce responded. "You go next."

Harry picked up a small pinch of the powder, hurled it at the ground, and yelled, "King's Cross." Harry felt only a small warm sensation as the green fire grew, and when the temperature returned to normal he was stood in a small room.

Exiting the room, Harry was slightly surprised that he was now at a train station, likely to be King's Cross he reasoned, where Alfred stood casually leaning against a nearby wall. "Glad you could do it," Alfred said.

Harry grinned and Bruce soon joined them, his face lightly coated in soot. Bruce looked at the platforms. "What platform do we need," he asked.

"Nine and Three-Quarters," Alfred answered, much to Bruce's confusion.

"Platform Nine… And Three-Quarters?" he repeated incredulously.

"Correct. To gain entry to it, one must simply go through the wall between platforms nine and ten."

The three walked towards the needed platform, and Harry hesitantly placed his hand on the wall separating platform nine and ten. Rather than his hand hitting the wall as Harry expected, the hand simply passed through the wall, leaving an odd tingling sensation. "Wow," Harry whispered.

Looking at the clock, which read 10:40, Bruce looked sadly at Harry. "I guess this is it for a year," he muttered.

Harry's eyes welled with tears. "I guess so."

Alfred placed his hand on Bruce's shoulder. "I believe that Master Harry may leave the school on holidays, if he so wishes."

Nodding eagerly, Harry told him he'd try to come back every holiday, unless something comes up.

"Very good," Alfred said, "but the train leaves soon, so I suggest you find a seat."

Harry grabbed his trunk and faced the wall. Taking a breath, Harry sprinted at the wall, ignoring Bruce's words of encouragement as the wall came closer. Harry closed his eyes as the wall neared, and when he opened them again, he was stood facing a scarlet steam engine on a platform swarmed with parents and students. A pack of owls flew overhead and a group of cats darted between peoples' feet. A sign above read Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock.

The first few carriages that Harry passed were already crowded with students, some leaning out of the windows to talk to their families, and others jokingly fighting over seats.

Harry pulled his trunk down the platform, looking in the windows of the train for an empty carriage. He passed a chubby, round-faced boy who was frantically searching his pockets, before he turned to the old woman with him, saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."

Continuing through the crowd, Harry spotted an empty compartment near the rear of the train. He tried to lift his trunk through the door, but the heavy trunk barely lifted more than an inch before Harry dropped it.

"Want a hand?" Harry looked up and saw a freckled boy with bright red hair.

"Sure," Harry replied gratefully.

The red-head turned to the side and yelled, "Oi, Fred, get here and help!"

Another red hair boy appeared, identical to the first, and with their assistance Harry lifted his trunk onto the train.

"Thank you for your help," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair from out of his eyes.

"Is that…?" one of the twins said suddenly, eyes widening as he pointing at the lightning scar.

"It is," the other one confirmed.

"So, he's him?"

"He is him. Aren't you?" the twin said to Harry.

"Who?" Harry asked, hoping he hadn't been recognised.

"Harry Potter," both twins said in unison.

"Oh, him," replied Harry. "No, I'm not."

"You're not him?"

"I'm Harry Wayne."

The twins' conversation ended prematurely when their mother's voice trailed through the train's open door. "Fred, George, are you in there? Ron needs help with his trunk."

With a final confused glance at Harry, the two left the train to return to their family. Harry quickly left the area and headed into a nearby empty carriage. Pulling his trunk, he tried lifting it to the overhead luggage rack but found it still to be too heavy.

An idea sprung to mind, and Harry pulled out his wand and pointed it at the trunk. With a swish and then a flick, he said, "Wingardium Leviosa." Expecting the trunk to levitate gracefully, he was surprised when he it remained immobile on the floor. Shrugging, he pushed the trunk under his seat and sat.

Within seconds, the train began to move, and houses began to flash past the window in a blur of colours. Harry felt a degree of nerves building, having no idea of what he was getting himself into.

The compartment door reopened and Harry was greeted by a familiar bush of frizzy brown hair. "Hello Hermione," he greeted cordially.

"Harry," she said, before pausing hesitantly. "I'd like to apologise for how I acted in Diagon Alley. It was inconsiderate of me to-"

Harry held up his hand, ending her apology. "No need to be sorry, Hermione. It wasn't unreasonable to assume somebody knew about themselves."

"Still, I apologise," she said.

Harry decided to change the subject before she could continue her unnecessary apology. "Are you excited for Hogwarts?"

Hermione's eyes lit up. "I've read all the books numerous times," she gushed. "But I'm excited to actually learn how to do the spells."

"I tried to do Wingardium Leviosa earlier, but it didn't work," Harry admitted.

Snapping into teaching mode, Hermione demanded, "Show me."

Harry pulled his trunk from under his seat, re-aimed his wand, swished and flicked, and said clearly, "Wingarium Leviosa."

"You're saying it wrong," Hermione said gently. "Maybe its because of your accent. It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, you have to make the 'gar' long, and emphasise the 'o'.

Harry felt his cheeks redden but nodded. "Wingardium Leviosa," he spoke carefully. The trunk began to elevate at a steady rate before slotting into the overhead rack. "Thank you," he said sincerely.

The door slid open again, and Harry thought he was looking at one of the red-haired twins, until he realised this boy was younger. "Mind if I sit here," the boy asked. "Everywhere else is full."

Hermione and Harry glanced at each other before shrugging, and the boy took a seat opposite Harry.

The boy glanced at Harry's forehead, and then pointedly looked out of the window in an attempt to seem like he never tried to look at Harry's scar.

"Hey, Ron." The twins were back, both stood in the compartment doorway. "Listen, we're going to the middle of the train, Lee has a tarantula."

"Got it," Ron mumbled, and Harry noticed how his forehead and begun to sweat more.

"Harry," the other twin said. "Did we introduce ourselves? I'm Fred, this is George," he said as he indicated his twin. "We see you've met Ron. See you around." Both twins left, shutting the door behind them.

Ron stared at Harry before blurting, "Are you really Harry Potter?"

Harry sighed. "I'm Harry Wayne," he replied.

"You've got the scar, Fred and George said so." His eyes stared at the scar. "You sure you're not him?"

Hermione tried to catch Ron's eyes to silence him, but Harry replied, "I used to be Potter. Then I was adopted and became Harry Wayne."

"So, you are Harry Potter," Ron stated.

"No," Harry responded, his voice firm, "I'm Harry Wayne."

Ron waved his hand dismissively. "Do you remember it. When You-Know-Who … you know?"

"Murdered my family?" Harry asked, and Ron nervously nodded. "No. But if you're so fascinated by stories of my relatives' murders, I can tell you about when my Aunt and Uncle were killed."

Ron began to shake his head, but Harry continued. If Ron was going to ask inappropriate question, Harry would make him regret it. "It was a Friday, and we were at a restaurant in America when a crazy guy broke in. He shot my Uncle right in between his eyes," Harry placed a finger on the Ron's forehead for emphasis, "the bullet went straight through him, and his blood just spurted out." Harry paused, relishing in the slight greenness of Ron's face as the details nauseated him. "Anyway, onto my Aunt. The crazy guy had an accomplice with him, and she had a giant mallet. She hit my Aunt over the head with it and her body just cracked and fell to the floor."

Ron's face was now green and he seemed to be swaying in his seat. "Enough," he said.

Harry narrowed his glare. "Are you done asking me about the murder of my family?"

Ron nodded, spluttering out an apology. "You don't get it though," he eventually said once his face had returned to its natural pale colour. "You're like a hero to the Wizarding World." Harry shook his head. "Seriously, you are. You ended a war. My brothers and sister grew up with stories about you, our mum loves you, you killed the guy that murdered my mum's brothers."

"Ron," Harry said firmly, silencing him. "I am not a hero. I do not remember killing any Dark Lord, and I don't want to. I just want a normal school life, where I do not get asked about my murdered family that I was too young to even remember. Understood?"

Ron nodded feebly and the carriage turned to a tense silence. While they sat, the train had left London and was now speeding past the country side.

At around half past twelve, the door slid open again and a smiling, old woman asked, "Anything off the trolley?"

Harry leapt to his feet to look at the magical world's snacks, while Ron's ears turned pink and he mumbled about bringing his own sandwiches, while Hermione spoke about her parents making her bring sugar free snacks. Harry meanwhile, had grabbed a handful of all the choices and paid the woman a Galleon and told her to keep the change.

Ron stared with jealousy as Harry brought his bounty in. "Want some?" Harry asked, offering some kind of treat.

Ron adamantly shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Have one," Harry instructed, wanting to put the argument behind them and be civil, tossing a chocolate frog to Ron and passing one to Hermione.

"Are these really frogs?" Hermione asked, as the frog wriggled in its box.

Ron laughed. "No, but see what cards you get. I'm missing Agrippa and Ptolemy."

Harry and Hermione glanced at each other and unwrapped the frogs and picked up their cards. "I got Hobart," Hermione said, looking at her card.

Ron shook his head. "Common card."

Harry looked at his, which had an old man wearing half-moon glasses, with long silver hair and a beard. Under the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore. "I got Dumbledore," Harry announced. Harry flipped his card over and read the information. "Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Considered by many to be the greatest wizard of modern times. Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for his discovery of the twelve uses of dragon blood, and his work on Alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel."

The three ate and conversed as the train continued, until the chubby boy that Harry had passed on the platform entered the compartment. "Sorry," he said nervously, "but have any of you seen a toad?"

When they shook their heads, the boy began to sob, "I've lost him. He keeps getting away from me."

Harry replied, "If he keeps getting away from you, that means he keeps coming back to you. He'll turn up." He indicated the seat next to Ron and the boy sat.

"I'm Neville, by the way," the boy said.

"Don't worry about your toad," Ron said. "It could be worse, you could have a lazy animal that never moves." He pulled a fat grey rat from his pocket. "This is Scabbers."

Harry decided to change the conversation, to keep Neville's mind off pets. "What house does everyone want?"

Hermione was quick to reply. "Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. I like the thought of being in the house of the brave or the smart."

Neville was next. "My parents were in Gryffindor. My gran wants me to be there as well."

Ron groaned. "You think that's bad? All my family is Gryffindor. Imagine if we got Slytherin."

"That's the one You-Know-Who was in?" Harry asked.

"Yeah," Ron said sadly, slumping in his seat. Harry deduced that he was worried about the sorting.

"What do your family do?" Harry questioned.

"Mum stays at home, Dad works for the Ministry of Magic, Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, Bill's a curse-breaker for Gringotts," Ron's comment started a different topic in his mind. "Did any of you hear about Gringotts?" Neville nodded, but Hermione and Harry shook their heads. "It was robbed," Ron explained.

"What did they take," Hermione asked.

"Nothing, that's why it's weird. They didn't take any money from any of the vaults, they just left without taking anything. Everyone says it must have been a really strong and dark wizard."

The group began to theorise about what could have happened, when the door opened and a pale blond boy sauntered in, flanked closely two thickset boys, one on each of his sides. "Is it true, what they're all saying?" the blond boy asked. "That Harry Potter is in this compartment. Is it you?" he said, looking pointedly at Harry.

"You must be mistaken, I'm Harry Wayne," Harry corrected.

The boy fixed his gaze on the scar that was unhidden on Harry's forehead. "I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy," he said grandly, and Harry was reminded of his Uncle when he tried to increase his importance.

Neville rolled his eyes, and Ron sniggered. "Think that's funny, do you?" Malfoy asked. "No need to ask who you are. My father has told me all about you, red-hair, freckles, hand-me-down robes. Obviously a Weasley." He turned back to Harry. "You'll discover that some wizards are better than others. I can help you there." He held his hand out for Harry to shake.

"I can make my own decisions," Harry replied casually.

Malfoy withdrew his hand, his cheeks now flushed pink. "I'd be careful, Potter," he said calmly, stressing the incorrect last name. "Unless you want to join your parents, I suggest you stop conversing with the blood-traitors, mudbloods, and Squibs."

Malfoy suddenly found himself with four wands pointed at him. "Leave," Harry ordered.

"Are you going to fight," Malfoy scoffed.

"Unless you want to be on the receiving end of my Incendio, I suggest you go," Harry warned.

Malfoy ignored him, and advanced along with the thugs that flanked him.

The group reacted quickly. Ron sent a spell towards the boy on the left, and bats flew out of his nose and sped around him. Neville yelled, "Expelliarmus," and a red light erupted from his wand sent the boy on the right backwards.

Hermione aimed her wand at Malfoy, and said "Petrificus Totalus." Malfoys arms snapped to his sides and his legs stuck together as he toppled backwards, stopping when he hit the door.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Harry cast, pulling the stiff Malfoy into the air and out of the room.

The two remaining friends of Malfoy, left soon followed by a freed Malfoy who ran after them.

"We're going to be in trouble," Hermione panicked. "And then we'll be expelled."

"It'll be fine," said Ron. "Malfoy started it all anyway." The others voiced their agreement.

A voice sounded throughout the train, "We will be arriving at Hogwarts in five minutes. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken separately."

The four quickly got changed, throwing on the robes over their shirts.

The train slowed to a halt, and all the students tried to push past each other to reach a cold, dark station. Harry shivered as a cold breeze blew.

Then a lamp came into view, bobbing up and down as it approached. As the light appeared, Harry saw it was held a giant of a man, with a bushy brown beard. "Firs-years over 'ere," the man shouted with a booming voice.

All the first years, around forty by Harry's guess, followed the man down a slippery and narrow trail. The path was dark, and the large man blocked out the light he was holding. "Yeh'll see Hogwarts in a sec," the man yelled as they rounded a corner, "right 'ere."

The path opened suddenly into an edge of a great lake, illuminated by the moonlight. Perched upon a mountain on the other side of the lake, was a grand castle, it's windows reflecting the stars in the sky, shadows cast by the many towers the castle had.

"No more'n four to a boat," the man said, indicating a fleet of small wooden boats by the shore.

Harry, Ron, Neville, and Hermione entered a boat and waited for the other boats to be filled.

"Everyone in," the man shouted. "Right then, FORWARD."

The boats moved in unison, smoothly skimming the water, advancing to the castle that everybody was enthralled by.

Harry felt something slimy next to him, and looked to see a toad. He prodded Neville and pointed. "Trevor," he said gratefully, scooping up the amphibian.

The boats stopped on the shoreline, and everybody clambered out into the shadow of the majestic castle. They followed the giant man up a flight of stone steps and crowded the huge, oak front door.

The man raised his fist and knocked three times on the castle door.

This is it. Harry thought. This is Hogwarts.

Review. Do people think Harry should be Ravenclaw or Gryffindor?