Chapter 5: Journey to Hogwarts

Bright and early Harry's eyes popped open, not a hint of sleepiness remained. The sun peaked over the horizon and shone over the alley from Harry's window. His consistency with the Dursleys had translated into his schedule for the past couple months. Combined with going to bed early the night before and Harry was ready to go at an absurd morning hour. The train would be there, but would anyone else? It wasn't leaving until eleven.

Then it hit him, magic was allowed on the Hogwarts Express. He rushed downstairs, paid for some floo powder, and flooed his way to the station. Sure enough, the train was there, but not yet started. Harry opened the door to find empty compartments as far as the eye could see. He chose a random compartment further back so fewer people would pass by and gawk and pulled out his wand. The compartments were very cozy, with thick curtains, and cushions on the seats so comfortable he could sleep on them by accident if he wasn't careful.

He had been preparing for this moment for so long. Finger dexterity exercises, practicing the wand movements, memorizing all of the first-year spells, and practicing his wandless magic. He had the theory, he had the movements, and he had the will!

"Lumos!"

"Nox!"

"Wingardium Levisosa!"

"Diffindo!"

"Reparo!"

# # #

A few hours later Harry was bored out of his mind. The first-year curriculum was too simple! He didn't want to experiment too far and hurt himself, and so he was stuck. He heard the noises of the train engine turned on, and finally the noise of students. Having squeezed all of the initial novelty of having magic at his fingertips, Harry began to get nervous about socializing.

Dudley had isolated him and bullied him at school, so Harry avoided giving Dudley that power by isolating himself. Neville was nice, and Harry appreciated him. But would he be in the same house as Neville? The odds were against it. Harry was waffling between heading out into the train, or staying where he was and waiting for someone to come to his compartment. He remembered his fame and the gawking for the past month, best to not put himself on display. To at least appear inviting he opened the compartment door and sat back down. He should appear busy. He grabbed the book on Gobbledygook and began practicing the sounds.

A couple of older girls walked by, but they didn't notice his scar and so kept on going, they did give him an odd look. An older boy with a prefect badge walked past and froze mid-step.

"Are you choking? Everything alright?" he said.

"Oh yes, language practice!" Harry smiled at the boy.

"Er, okay. Just… Nevermind." The boy stepped back out, until he froze again and stepped back into the compartment. "Are you Harry Potter?"

*Cough* "Yes," Harry replied warily.

"Ah, well… Good luck then." The boy left again, this time a bit faster.

Realizing that his gobbledygook might turn people away, he put away the book. Soon, people began suspiciously passing by the compartment and glancing in. None acknowledged him or said hello, they just looked at him as if he were that snake from the zoo. Much unlike the snake, he did not get any pleasure from those people staring at his scar. The impulse to use Tom's gift to make it disappear for the ride was strong, but Harry dismissed it. He wanted to save Tom's gift for another time. His first day, he shouldn't be hiding who he was, or wearing makeup.

Finally, Neville stepped into the compartment, or tripped rather. But all the same, Harry was happy to see him. He shut the compartment behind Neville.

"Merlin's ghost Neville! I've been so bored! I woke up too early, I've been here for hours! Ran out of things to do so long ago!"

Neville cracked a smile. "Good to see you too Harry. Rumor was you were sick, everything alright? Believe me, I know nerves better than anyone. It's okay to be nervous. Do you know what house you'll get in? I would have said Gryffindor when I first met you, but you're Slytherin or Ravenclaw. I think I might just be a Puff, I dunno. You did say I was loyal, right? Right?" Neville rambled until he got out of breath and began panting.

Harry did his best to answer Neville in turn, "I'm alright, just practicing the Gobbledygook phrases. I think you're Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, both would suit you fine. Depends on how they decide I suppose. Too many lineages keep to the same house though. I'd put money on Gryffindor for you, given your obvious desire to be there and your parents."

"Lineages?" Neville asked.

"Well, personalities aren't passed on. There has to be some reason the same family tends towards the same house. Social pressure sounds about right. Maybe politics?"

Harry's hypothesizing put Neville at ease, his shoulders relaxed.

"Where's Trevor?" asked Harry.

"Left him at home like you said I should."

"Good. Now we can be the cool kids." Harry gave an exaggerated thumbs-up.

"Not with you practicing your damned gobbledygook we won't be!" Neville plopped down across from Harry.

"Speaking in a foreign tongue isn't cool?" Harry pretended to be shocked.

"Not that raspy garbage! People thought you were sick!"

"That was the vowels, I'm still having trouble with the- *Oghuh*

"NASTY!"

The compartment door slid open, and a girl shuffled in and sat down without saying a word. She had straight brown hair with a small slightly turned-up nose, lightly tanned skin, and dark eyes which looked directly into Harry's with- an angry expression?

"Ah, hello?" said Harry wondering what she wanted.

Neville quickly remembered his manners. "Hi! I'm Neville Longbottom, what's your name?"

"I'm Emma Vane, I heard Harry Potter was practicing dark magic," she accused.

"Just Gobbledygook. You know, the goblin language?" replied Harry.

The girl's expression changed in an instant to massively perplexed. "Goblins speak human language, why would you bother? And it's completely unbelievable. Where would you have learned it?"

"He's learning to speak it," Neville defended, "He was pronouncing a vowel when you came in. Truly horrifying."

The girl crossed her arms and stood up. "Well, stop doing weird things. You have a responsibility as the boy who lived you know." She left the compartment in a huff.

Neville and Harry looked at each other, confused by the interaction they had, but shrugged and began to chatter amongst themselves again. In a short while, a pair of redheaded twin boys entered the compartment.

"We heard Harry Potter is writing Goblin poetry?"

"And we just want to know-"

"-the name of your Goblin mistress."

The twins smiled and struck out their hands.

"I'm Fred-"

"and George Weasley."

Goblin poetry? That crazy woman! The rumor mill was completely out of hand, and they weren't even at Hogwarts. Harry shook the twins' hands after Neville. He remembered the woman from the shop mentioning a Weasley, this was the family that bought all of the secondhand schoolbooks! Not that he'd judge them. Good on them for not giving the money to Flourish and Blotts. And impressive how they were finishing each other's sentences, did they prepare this?

"No poetry here, sorry. If you were looking for tips on picking up goblin mistresses, I might suggest Emma Vane."

Fred and George looked at each other with an evil smile. "Playing the game, we can-"

"-respect that."

The twins left the compartment in a rush, they gave Harry an uneasy feeling. In a word, they looked mischievous. It may have been a bad idea to feed into the rumor mill with them…

The train started to move after the twins passed through. Harry and Neville continued their conversation about Hogwarts houses and their significance. A cart lady walked by with wizarding snacks, which Harry bought a huge amount of, hoping someone else would stop in. Neville was still nervous about his house selection, and how his house selection contrasted with Harry's.

"You might even be in Slytherin Harry, aren't you worried about it? Not that you're evil, but you are ambitious. You-Know-Who drew most of his power from Slytherin. Most of the kids there are going to be pureblood elitists from his side. It could be dangerous. Plus, you saw how they are with you, if Harry Potter doesn't go into Gryffindor, it will already cause a stir."

Harry popped an every-flavored-bean in his mouth. "Oooh, gravy." He swallowed the candy. "No Neville. I'm not worried. My lineage is Gryffindor, and we don't know how they decide it. I have no desire to go to Slytherin; if I do, I'll make the best of it. It may be a combination of choice and personality; it may have little to do with actual traits. What I don't think is they'll wave a magic wand at me and say 'You've got too much ambition, Slytherin you go!'"

Neville was horrified. "You're the only one who wouldn't care. Every other first year is either concerned or sure of where they're going."

"I am concerned. I want to know the benefits before I decide, if there's any choice."

This set Neville off. "Oh Merlin! You're going to be in Slytherin! I know it! Everyone will hate me for hanging out with you, and your fellow Slytherins will convince you not to hang out with me!" Neville said, panicked.

Harry sighed and pretended to read a book. "If you're going to be like this, I'm going to read."

"Yes! Read! Read a whole bunch! Good idea, they'll put you in Ravenclaw!"

The compartment door opened once again, it was a girl with light-brown hair and pale skin. She had a frown on her face. "Mind if I sit in here?"

"Sure!" said Neville, his eye still slightly twitching from his previous rambling.

The girl took the window seat next to Neville, rested her chin on her hands, and stared out the window. Harry ignored her. She didn't introduce herself; he didn't want to deal with another person leaving and Neville driving him crazy with his insecurity about the houses. She had the right idea, look out the window, the scenery was nice enough.

After about half the time it takes to boil water she looked back into the compartment. Neville was fiddling with some chocolate card frogs, Harry continued looking out the window.

"I'm Tracey Davis by the way," she said.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Neville Longbottom."

"Harry Potter."

"Obviously," said Tracey as she rolled her eyes.

"What, does it say 'Harry Potter' on my forehead or something?" Harry joked.

Neville and Tracey laughed.

"There are rumors…" Tracey began.

Neville groaned. "NOW what are they?"

"Harry Potter is in a love triangle with a goblin mistress and Emma Vane. She caught him reciting goblin poetry on the train and broke it off."

Harry shook his head. People didn't believe those rumors, did they?

"Untrue," said Harry.

"Obviously."

"Is there another scar I'm unaware of?" replied Harry.

Tracey giggled. "Pansy Parkinson said it was. I defended you, but she said I was a stupid half-blood and I should go with the other half-bloods if I was such a Gryffindor lover. Then I remembered, Harry Potter is supposed to be a half-blood."

"Neville isn't," Harry replied.

"Nope, pureblood," Neville said with a thumbs up.

"It's weird, I expected more people," said Tracey.

Harry shrugged. Despite the steady stream of gawkers, nobody stayed; it wasn't his fault. He never asked anyone to leave, they just did. Like they assumed they were bothering him, or that he already had friends or something.

"I'm muggle raised," said Harry, "I don't have any friends except for Neville who I met in Diagon Alley."

"W-What? Muggle-raised? Harry Potter is muggle raised? How is that possible!? I'd sooner believe the goblin stuff. Nobody speaks goblin."

"Well I am learning gobbledygook," said Harry, Tracey's eyes widened. "Not at the level of reciting poetry, don't worry. But my mother's sister's family took me in after… You know. They kept me completely ignorant of magic."

"Wait, Harry. You didn't know about magic?" Neville spoke up.

"I've only been aware of the Wizarding World for a few months now. A snake in a zoo told me I was a wizard. I knew I had power, but I thought it was another ability, not magic. I immediately forced the truth out of my Aunt, and went straight from the zoo to Diagon Alley and Gringotts, then to Madam Malkins where I met Neville. I haven't seen the Dursleys since."

Tracey and Neville looked at Harry with mouths completely agape. He didn't know why he mentioned the snake.

"He's putting us on, right Neville?" asked Tracey.

"Th-that day we met? I thought Dumbledore was moving you around in secret! I knew you were raised by Muggles, but didn't Dumbledore tell you about magic? Is that why you were mad at him?"

"I didn't meet Dumbledore until a few days before my birthday. I was hiding from him since he placed me with my family, I only knew he was very powerful and could place me back. He never checked in on me himself. He placed a squib woman in the neighborhood to make sure I wasn't dead or kidnapped," Harry spat.

Tracey stood up and began pacing. "Muggle raised, Parseltongue, and a contentious relationship with Dumbledore? You're the exact opposite of everything you're supposed to be! I don't understand."

"He's better than the version of Harry everyone expects him to be," Neville turned his nose upwards.

"Gryffindor golden boy?" Tracey quizzed.

"He's more likely to be Ravenclaw, I think Slytherin, but Harry insists he'll have some choice in the matter. But with the Parseltongue revelation, I think I'm right," said Neville gleefully. When it wasn't him freaking out about Harry's placement, he could have fun with it no doubt.

"I'll be in Slytherin or Hufflepuff," declared Tracey, "but all my friends are a shoo-in for Slytherin."

"We could all shoot for Hufflepuff together?" suggested Neville.

"NO!" Tracey and Harry said together.

"Oh… Sorry, I thought we could all be friends…" Neville mumbled sadly.

"We can be friends in different houses. You'll go to Gryffindor, Tracey can go to Slytherin, I'll go to Ravenclaw," Harry insisted.

"Ooo! I like this idea! We should include a Hufflepuff and control the school from the shadows. Bwahahahaha!" Tracey posed with her hand to her chest and her foot on a seat like she was a sea captain.

Harry shook his head. "Well, you fit right in with your weird behavior."

"YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!" Tracey and Neville said at the same time.

# # #

Hours later when they had switched off in the room so they could change, another person opened the door to the compartment. Three people really, one blonde child with a perpetual sneer and slicked-back hair, with what appeared to be two goons at his flanks.

"I heard Harry Potter is in this compartment. Is that true?" the unpleasant boy demanded.

Harry raised his hand with a sigh, another annoyance.

"Ah! It is you. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, I am Draco Malfoy, of the Malfoy family," Draco emphasized his family name as if Harry should definitely recognize it. "These are my associates, Crabbe and Goyle. While I am glad to see you hanging about with a compatriot of equal blood status, not all associations are desirable." Draco looked from Tracey to Neville. Harry felt his blood boil, but put his emotional control back on. He would take this snot down a peg, but his style.

"I don't care one whit for blood status Draco Malfoy. Character is more important to me, and you have failed a most essential character test," Harry stated evenly.

"Oh really? Offend the Malfoy family at your own risk, Potter!"

Malfoy's goons cracked their knuckles.

"Flipendo! Colloportus!" Using his wand, Harry sent out a low-level knockback jinx and locked the door magically.

Malfoy tried the door, but it would not budge. They saw through the glass Malfoy's unhappy, disheveled figure. Harry swore he could see Malfoy mouth something about his father.

Neville pointed an accusing figure at Harry. "When did you learn magic?! I thought you said-"

"Tried them out before you got here. I told you I was waiting for hours," Harry complained.

"Flipendo isn't in the first level coursebooks!" Tracey's eyes widened and she also pointed an accusing finger at Harry.

"Many hours!" Harry responded, "I already read the coursebooks ages ago."

The stunned silence was palpable. They had been around magic their whole lives, they wouldn't understand. He was just doing due diligence. The Dursleys held him back, made him servile and dull. His plan had never changed, only now he would succeed with magic instead of grades. It wasn't strictly ambition, he didn't need to be powerful or wealthy, he only wanted to be free. Magic was his freedom. Wealth, political power, fame… They were window dressing.

# # #

"Firs' years with me!" Hagrid called out repeatedly as the train came to a stop at Hogsmeade. Harry and Neville stuck together, Tracey went back to be with her other friends, promising to stay in touch.

As soon as a sizable crowd of first years had gathered Hagrid began walking away from the direction of the other students. "This way to the boats, first years! Come along! This way to the boats, come with me!"

They followed along until the came upon a lake with many small boats prepared at the water's edge. Harry wondered why not just one boat, or even boats twice the size, but then realized there must be symbolism or some such thing. Many of the traditions of Hogwarts were left out of texts, even in 'Hogwarts A History' there was no mention of how the kids were sorted, or this aquatic ceremony of taking small boats to the castle.

"No more than four to a boat! No more'n four! If yeh get wet, McGonagall 'll have my head." Hagrid stepped into a boat of his own which pulled out ahead of the others.

Harry and Neville stepped into a boat with a bushy-haired girl all by herself, holding a torch. Harry and Neville nodded to her as they stepped in. Why was she alone? Muggle-born?

"I'm Neville Longbottom."

"Harry Potter."

"I'm Hermione Granger. I'm new to the wizarding world, but I've read all about you in books," she bragged as if it was some sort of accomplishment over him.

"Well, from everything I've read, those books aren't very well-sourced, often wrong or misleading even; so please don't get the wrong idea about me," Harry replied.

"Are you quite sure? I read about you in Modern Magical History, The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. They should be good enough, don't you think?"

Harry felt a headache coming on. The girl was arguing with him over his own life? All of those books were awful whitewashed hogwash from Flourish and Blotts. The ministry approved history section in a nutshell. He didn't know other parts of the book personally, but the ministry had too much of an interest in celebrating him, the sources concerning him were all ministry officials with 3rd hand accounts.

"I cannot account for the general potency of the books. I can say when it comes to me, the books are often fabulously incorrect."

She looked scandalized, as if he had falsified the information himself. Yikes, she was a terror. In combination with being muggle-born, she was going to have a rough transition. Not that he'd help. He'd be nice to her, but he wasn't going to forge a friendship out of guilt. Neville probably could get along with her, he had a high tolerance for people. If Neville became mad or irritated, it was only after he had become closer with Harry and knew Harry wouldn't take it personally.

"Well perhaps you should read more then," Hermione huffed.

Harry put his hand on Neville's arm to prevent him from responding in his defense.

"Let's enjoy the boat ride, shall we?" suggested Neville, he could be a diplomat.

The silence became less awkward as the boats began to move behind Hagrid's like a swarm. Night had fallen during the train ride, and the stars were out in dazzling force. Just as they were enjoying the sea of stars, Hogwarts castle, lit up in its glory, appeared on the horizon. Harry turned to look around the lake, a giant squid was peaking out from the waters, Harry could swear it waved at him.

This was a performance, he realized. Ooh's and aah's echoed out over the lake when the Hogwarts Castle came into view. It was meant to inspire wonder. For the muggle-borns, it would make them realize the grandiosity of magic. For the purebloods, it would humble them, or even inspire them to look at magic differently than the banal way they were used to seeing it.

The boats weaved under a bridge and smacked into a stone landing at the base of the castle. It led up some stairs and through a stone archway. They left the boats and Hagrid guided them up the stairs, which wound up at a large wooden door. In front of the door into the castle was an older looking witch, though she kept her hair color, with stern eyes and pursed lips. She wore very old-fashioned robes, and had the traditional witch's hat upon her head.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, I am Professor McGonagall, deputy headmistress and head of Gryffindor house," she said in a commanding tone. The noise from the students died down. "Thank you Hagrid," she dismissed him, "as I was saying, you will spend your time here at Hogwarts in one of four houses. They will be like your family. You will live with them, go to classes with them, and dine with them. The houses also compete for points in a house cup, which are given out and taken away by staff for your behavior and classroom performance. They naturally have their own sports teams as well, though it does not concern first years to do more than cheer." She gazed out over the first years as if to challenge them to think otherwise.

*Ahem* "In the next few minutes we will be ready to sort you. We will enter the great hall in an ORDERLY fashion and then I will call your names one at a time for the sorting process. You will step up, you will be sorted, and you will go to your respective house table. That is all."

She disappeared behind the door and left them waiting. As they were waiting, suddenly there were screams, ghosts appeared. Harry kept his cool, well aware of the castle ghosts from his reading. Neville was getting more and more nervous about the sorting if that was possible.