Disclaimer: This is all JKR's. I own nothing in the Harry Potter universe.
Harry's first stop was Turner's Trunk Shop, his old trunk was getting too small to carry the stuff he currently owned let alone what he was about to purchase. Opening the door, a chime sounded his entry. "What can I do for you, young sir?" questioned the store owner immediately, "We have trunks of all shapes, sizes, colors, and styles!"
"Well, I think I have outgrown my old trunk. I met someone who had a trunk that had multiple compartments, and some were enlarged on the inside. Do you have anything like that?"
"I believe I have a few options in the back that you might be interested in," replied, Harry assumed, Mr. Turner, "Follow me." With that, Harry followed Mr. Turner to the store's back room. Immediately, a handsome redwood truck with gold trimming and a gold lion on the top of the lid caught his eye.
"What about that one, sir?" asked Harry.
With a slight grimace, Mr. Turner responded, "Well, actually I have no idea what's in that trunk. It was here when I inherited the shop from my father and when my father inherited it from his father and so on. No one can open it, but you're welcome to try."
Noticing a slot on the front of the trunk in place of a keyhole, Harry found it appeared to be similar to something he had seen before. Oddly enough, his right ring finger seemed to be attracted to the trunk. Realizing that the Gryffindor family ring was on that finger, Harry allowed that ring to be visible. Sure enough, the ring fit perfectly in the slot and the trunk sprung open.
Harry ignored Mr. Turner's gasp of surprise and peered inside. The open compartment was just like any other trunk compartment…except is 5 times larger than the outside appearance of the trunk suggested. After Harry finished inspecting that compartment, the trunk glowed softly, and a new compartment replaced the old one. This one has many bookshelves that appeared to be self-organizing. The shelves would shift on occasion in the few seconds Harry spent studying the compartment. He noticed there were a few books already in the trunk that he was planning on reading now that his blocks were removed. The trunk then glowed again, and a third compartment replaced the previous one. For this compartment, Harry appeared to peer down into a study with a few more bookshelves, comfortable chairs and a few desks. Harry shot a glance to the corner of the trunk and noticed a ladder he could use to climb into the study. After studying the final compartment, the trunk snapped shut and shrunk to the size of a card deck and floated into Harry's pocket.
"Umm…I think I'll take this one?" Harry offered uncertainly.
Blinking in surprise, Mr. Turner nodded and led Harry to the register. Mr. Turner informed Harry that the trunk was most likely worth 3,000 galleons. "However, I'm not sure. I could be ripping you off or I could be ripping myself off, but that's my best estimate," shot off Mr. Turner distractedly.
Agreeing to the price, Harry pulled the exact amount from his money pouch and left the shop with his new trunk in his pocket. Quickly heading over to Madame Malkin's to try and avoid being recognized, Harry prepared himself, as any true man would, to being used as a life-size doll as soon as he said he was looking for an entire new wardrobe. True to his expectations, Madame Malkin squealed in delight when Harry told her he needed clothes for every occasion, casual, dress, and muggle as well. Spending a few minutes getting measured, Harry realized he had grown significantly since the last time he got robes. He was now an entire foot taller than he was two years ago when he spent half of his summer in Diagon Alley. Maybe he wouldn't be one of the shortest boys in his class now!
Being Madame Malkin's dress up doll wasn't as bad as Harry had imagined, granted it wasn't fun, but it also wasn't torture. After acquiring the classic black school robes, Harry was also fitted for new dress robes. Madame Malkin insisted on Harry getting emerald green, Gryffindor red, and navy-blue dress robes because, "they all look so good on you I just can't decide!" Next on Harry's list was to get an entire Muggle wardrobe, boxers and socks included. After another hour of fittings, Harry finally was finished in Madame Malkin's now equipped with all the clothes he could ever need safely packed away in his new trunk.
The next shop on Harry's list was Flourish & Blotts to get next year's textbooks, as well as extra books he could study now that his intelligence had reached its full potential. Entering the store, Harry immediately grabbed a never-filling basket that would keep all his potential purchases in a feather-light carrier. He headed over to the Defense Against the Dark Arts section and perused the titles. He first grabbed the textbook from the previous year and found a little over another dozen books that intrigued him. Some titles included So You Want to Defeat a Dark Lord; Lethal Curses and How to Stop Them; Shields: Physical, Magical, and Psychological; and How to Defend Against the Unforgivables and Others Like Them.
Harry continued to shop buying books in Transfiguration (he kind of wanted to impress his godmother), Charms, Potions, Herbology (only a few though), Occlumency, Legilimency, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Wizard Politics & History, and Care of Magical Creatures. The book he was most excited that he found though, was an old, worn book shoved in the back of the shelf titled The Theory Behind Ancient Magycs. Heading to the register, Harry dumped all the books on the counter and the shopkeeper almost fainted in shock. Several hundred galleons lighter, Harry left the shop and decided to head to Ollivander's to get a wand holster and see if he could possibly acquire a second wand.
Opening the door to the cryptic shop, Harry peered in warily. Sure enough, Mr. Ollivander jumped out causing Harry to flinch. "Well, Mr. Potter. What can I do for you today? Your wand doesn't need replacing I hope."
Reassuring the man that wasn't the case, Harry put forward his requests. Ollivander immediately brought out several different wand holsters. Harry picked a wrist holster that was made from the hide of a Hungarian Horntail, he liked the sleek black leather, not to mention it WAS kind of fitting. Harry asked Ollivander to charm it against Summoning Charms and for it to be invisible when on his arm. The second wand, however, was a more difficult problem.
"I'm sorry Mr. Potter. The Ministry doesn't like it when regular citizens have an extra wand," began Mr. Ollivander.
"Well, it's a good thing I'm not a regular citizen, is it? After all, not many regular citizens have a sadistic killer after them," Harry interrupted cheekily.
Chuckling, Mr. Ollivander agreed to keep this quiet and began choosing wands for Harry to try. Taking longer to find his second wand than his first, Harry finally found a suitable back up wand. It was 10 and ½ inches, cedar wood and phoenix feather. Reminding Harry not to use his second wand unless it was an emergency, Ollivander rung up his purchases, after Harry picked out an ankle holster of the second wand.
As was leaving, Harry's stomach growled and checking the time with wand crafter, he realized he missed lunch and it was almost dinner time. Deciding to grab a meal at the Leaky Cauldron, Harry walked into the pub and all conversation stopped. Ignoring the crowd, Harry spotted Tom and called out to him.
The bartender ignored the boy and continued serving a few customers at the bar. Confused, Harry walked over to the bar trying to grab Tom's attention. On the way, Harry noticed an abandoned Daily Prophet on one of the tables. The headline on this particular issue was Harry Potter: Savior or Murderer? and depicted a picture of Harry clinging to Cedric's dead body on the Quidditch pitch after returning from the graveyard. With his face burning red with anger, Harry stormed out of the shop glaring at the witches and wizards assembled before leaving to the muggle world.
Finding a small pub in the muggle world quickly, Harry ate his meal in silence, paid, and headed back outside. Calling for the Knight Bus, Harry set out to go back to Privet Drive angry at the Wizarding World for believing the lies of the Ministry. Once arriving at Privet Drive, Harry stepped off the Knight Bus and entered his relatives' house. He realized how late it actually was when he heard his uncle's snores.
Not understanding just how lucky he was to return home when his "guard" wasn't present Harry climbed into bed and snuggled into his sheets. Before he could fall asleep, however, Hedwig tapped on his window demanding entrance. With a groan, Harry sat up to let his owl in from her night outing. After stroking her feathers for a few minutes as he felt he had been ignoring his one constant companion, Harry was finally able to fall asleep never realizing how pissed a certain Ministry official was that the Dementors didn't do their job.
Waking up early the next morning, Harry found himself very annoyed. He wasn't sure what was wrong. Nothing that happened yesterday pissed him off that much besides the Wizarding World believing the pathetic Ministry, but he couldn't really blame the public now that he thought about it. He was the only witness to the rebirth of Voldemort (he wasn't counting the Death Eaters) and Fudge dismissed him out of fright. Harry understood that many people didn't want to ever believe that Voldemort was back and that would choose the Ministry's story. What he didn't like was being possibly accused of Cedric's murder. However, Harry knew there was no proof in that aspect, so he wasn't concerned with being tried.
No what really bothered Harry was that not one of his friends told him what was going on in the Wizarding World. No one told him the Minister was trying to ruin his reputation, not that he really cared, but STILL! They were his friends! They were supposed to help and support him, not keep things hidden just because Dumbledore said to. Realizing he was very annoyed with his friends (and Sirius), Harry violently shoved that to the back of his mind to focus on his training. Now that he could perform magic without the Ministry knowing and a safe space to do it in (his trunk's study) Harry was excited!
Continuing with his physical training before his magical, Harry went on his run and jogged for an hour without tiring! 'What the heck,' he thought, 'yesterday I could only run for barely over 20 minutes. Now it's an hour without even being out of breath!' Harry continued to ponder how this could be, when it clicked. "The blocks," he whispered out loud. Of course! It made sense after all. Somehow, the blocks on his magical abilities were also stunting his physicality. With that discovery, Harry continued his physical training without any more setbacks.
Once back at the house, Harry decided to set up a schedule for him to follow the rest of the summer.
Monday:
7:00 am – 9:00 am: Workout
9:00 am – 9:30 am: Breakfast
9:30 am – 12:00 pm: Defense
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Potions
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Transfiguration
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Charms
Tuesday:
7:00 am – 9:00 am: Workout
9:00 am – 9:30 am: Breakfast
9:30 am – 12:00 pm: Defense
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Herbology
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Ancient Runes
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Arithmancy
Wednesday:
7:00 am – 9:00 am: Workout
9:00 am – 9:30 am: Breakfast
9:30 am – 12:00 pm: Defense
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Occlumency/Legilimency
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Wizard Politics
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm: Care of Magical Creature
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm: Ancient Magycs
Thursday:
7:00 am – 9:00 am: Workout
9:00 am – 9:30 am: Breakfast
9:30 am – 12:00 pm: Defense
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Potions
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Transfiguration
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Charms
Friday:
7:00 am – 9:00 am: Workout
9:00 am – 9:30 am: Breakfast
9:30 am – 12:00 pm: Defense
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Physical Fighting
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Dueling Tactics
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Wizard Politics
Saturday:
7:00 am – 9:00 am: Workout
9:00 am – 9:30 am: Breakfast
9:30 am – 12:00 pm: Defense
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm: Ancient Runes
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Arithmancy
5:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Occlumency/Legilimency
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm: Ancient Magycs
9:00 pm – 11:00 pm: Care of Magical Creatures
Sunday:
7:00 am – 9:00 am: Workout
9:00 am – 9:30 am: Breakfast
9:30 am – 12:00 pm: Defense
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Lunch
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Potions
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Transfiguration
7:00 pm – 10:00 pm: Charms
Deciding that defeating Voldemort and saving his own life was more important than having a break from learning, Harry did not choose to have an off day in his training. He did make sure, however, that he planned for enough time to sleep so he would be well rested for the rest of his training.
The weeks flew by and Harry barely spent any time with his relatives. He only saw them briefly during for meals, but that suited both parties. As Harry's studying progressed, he realized just how poorly he actually did in school for the past 4 years! He remembered hardly anything for any class before he started his summer training. Glad that he changed his study habits now and that his natural intelligence was unblocked, Harry shrugged away his disappointment with himself. At least he changed before his OWL year! 'Won't Hermione be pleased,' he thought bitterly. Harry was still annoyed his so called 'best friends' were sending him such impersonal and pointless letters. They still hadn't told him that the Wizarding World hated him, only Sirius tried, but even his letters were only vague hints that Harry only understood because he already knew.
By August 31st, Harry was now extremely proficient in his new subjects, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Wizard Politics, Occlumency, Legilimency, Physical and Magical Dueling, and (the one he was most excited about) Ancient Magycs. For the subjects he had been studying for the past 4 years, Harry felt he was at almost a NEWT level in Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms, and yes even Potions. In Defense Against the Dark Arts, the subject he trained the hardest in, Harry found himself to be at Mastery level according to the current difficulty scale.
He was very proud of his new summer habits; however, he did feel a little left out that he was left at the Dursley's all summer and didn't get to spend any time with his godfather or friends. But if that's the game his friends were going to play, then Harry would play right along too. They were probably expecting him to jump right back into their arms in gratitude for "saving" him from the Dursleys. Harry, however, had different plans. He didn't have to be friends with just Ron and Hermione, especially if this was how they were going to treat him after he witnessed a friend be murdered. Yeah, it might be a tad more difficult due to the Wizarding World hating him, but Harry was still going to try and get to know his classmates better, especially Neville as he felt they had a lot in common. He would also make the effort to get to know Professor McGonagall better and be the one to reach out, after all according to Snoutclaw she did in fact love him even though she didn't remember their full relationship. With that new determination, Harry drifted to sleep prepared to shock everyone at Hogwarts with his new-found intelligence and power.
Upon waking up the next morning, Harry felt refreshed and re-energized. He was excited to get back to Hogwarts and get to know the people he spent the past 4 years with, but never really got a chance to talk to. Having packed everything in his trunk the night before, Harry shrunk it and let Hedwig fly out the window to meet him at Hogwarts (he decided to leave her cage at Privet Drive). Cautiously, Harry approached his uncle and asked for a ride to Kings Cross.
"Fine," Vernon answered with a grunt, "but only because your aunt and I have to drop Dudley off at the station as well."
Thanking him, Harry waited outside for the Dursley's to finish their breakfast. Once all four were squished in the car, mainly due to Dudley's massive size, they set off for Kings Cross. After a near silent car ride, Harry ran through the wall and onto Platform 9 ¾ at 10:30. Once arriving to the platform in plenty of time before the train left, Harry immediately set off for the train to find a compartment. Walking down the train, Harry found a blonde girl sitting alone in a compartment. Harry thought she was a fourth-year and if she was he thought she was, Harry knew she had very few friends, if any. Feeling his heart go out to the lonely girl, as Harry only knew too well what it felt like to be alone, he popped his head in the compartment.
"Hey! Do you mind if I sit here?" Harry shyly asked the girl, he didn't want to disturb her if she actually wanted to be alone.
"Well hello Harry Potter," she replied dreamily, "if you would like to. But I'm sure it's only the Wrackspurts talking. No one really likes to spend time with me." With his heart breaking at that statement, Harry's resolve hardened. He had promised himself he would make more friends than just Ron and Hermione and he would start with this girl.
"Well," chuckled Harry, hiding his sadness for the girl, "I believe you have the advantage. I do not know your name, yet you know mine. Well, I guess that's not exactly surprising that you know who I am," he finished a little bitterly.
The girl's eyes briefly flashed with shock before resettling on their dreamy haze. "You mean you don't know me? Haven't you heard of Loony? That's what everyone calls me. I was sure that everyone knew that," her words were spoken with that unearthly, uncaring manner, but Harry was sure he detected a hint of sadness in her tone. "But if you don't know me, I'm Luna "Loony" Lovegood, Harry Potter and it's a pleasure to officially meet you."
"Luna," Harry stressed her proper name, "no one should be calling you Loony and I assure you, if I had known I would have tried to stop it sooner. I know what it's like to be called names and made fun of for things that others deem freakish. I will never call you anything other than Luna or any name that you wish to be called. I hope that you will believe me, but I understand if it will take some time. In the meantime, I will do my best to ensure that you aren't made fun of anymore or called any other horrible names," Harry promised.
Luna's eyes shone with unshed tears throughout Harry's short speech. She had never had any friends since her mother had died. Her ability to see past the limits others had on their sight thanks to her mother's unfortunate accident set her apart from everyone. Now here was the most famous, or infamous depending on what you believed at the current moment, wizard wanting to help her. "Oh, Harry Potter, thank you. Maybe this will be like having a friend. I haven't had one in a while. Not since Ginny Weasley stopped coming over after my mother died."
His eyes flashing in quick anger Harry was quick to reassure that he intended to become her friend once she got to know him better. It was up to her when they officially became friends. Falling into a companionable silence, Harry and Luna went to their separate readings waiting for the others to board the train. After 10 minutes, a familiar dirty blonde-haired boy poked his head into the compartment carrying an odd-looking plant.
"Hiya Harry! Can I join you two? I just got here."
"Of course, Neville! There's plenty of room. This is Luna Lovegood in case you haven't met her. Luna, this is Neville Longbottom, he's one of my dormmates," Harry eagerly welcomed the boy. Here were two people Harry hoped he could call close friends soon. Thinking back on what he said, Harry blurted out, "Actually Luna, I don't know what house you're in. Not that it matters to me what house you're in, but maybe I could join you for a few meals at your table as long as it's not Slytherin. I don't care, but I know others *cough* Malfoy *cough* wouldn't want me there…" Harry rambled in his excitement in spending time with other people besides Ron and Hermione.
Smiling slightly at Harry's obvious enthusiasm Luna interrupted him, "You won't have to worry about that. I'm in Ravenclaw, wit beyond measure and all."
Grinning sheepishly at his outburst, Harry managed to calm down, but not before Neville's laughter caused him to blush. Settling down, the three began talking about their summers, Harry toning down just how much he did and his bitterness at his best friends.
5 minutes until 11, the three new friends heard a loud commotion outside the train on the platform. Turning to look out the window, Harry saw the Weasleys', Hermione, Remus Lupin, Mad-eye Moody, and a large black dog enter the platform. Sliding down to hide himself from their searching eyes, Harry continued to peer out the window to watch what was happening. Seeing all of them come to the platform together reimbursed Harry's bitterness towards his godfather, his friends, and his surrogate family. He watched as the twins, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny quickly board the train. Harry thought he heard a dog whining, but honestly, he couldn't care less. His godfather left him with his awful relatives without even attempting to visit him. Harry loved the man, but he realized just how little he knew about him. He spent what, maybe a few hours in his presence total? He knew that wasn't Sirius' fault, but it still didn't change the fact the two knew hardly anything about each other.
This was why he wanted to get to know his godmother. She couldn't even remember he was her godson, but she still wanted to be with him, she just didn't know if that's what he wanted. Sirius on the other hand, knew of his relationship with Harry and besides the Firebolt and a few words of advice during the Tournament, he really hadn't made an effort to reach out to Harry. How hard was it to send an owl? Last year, Harry understood, he was on the run and hiding out in caves. But it appeared now that that wasn't the case and Sirius still hadn't tried to reach out to him or bring him to where he was, but obviously he let Ron and Hermione.
While Harry was lost in his thoughts, the compartment door opened revealing two of the people he was stewing over. "Harry, mate! How was your summer? Crappy I bet, what with those horrible muggles and all. Well Herms and I were just gonna drop our stuff off, we need to go to the prefects' compartment as we're prefects. I don't know why it wasn't you mate, but I'm sure Dumbledore has his reasons for picking me. Well, see ya! We'll try to come back afterwards, but you just never know what with us being prefects."
With that said, Ron and Hermione quickly left so as not to be late to their prefect meeting. Honestly, Harry couldn't care less that he wasn't chosen as a prefect, but really Ron? Neville would have been a much better choice if Dumbledore didn't want him to be one. Ron's ego had just skyrocketed, and Harry couldn't be gladder that he decided to get to know more people. Ron would just be insufferable this year and although Harry was over his guilt over Cedric's death, he was still mourning despite not knowing the older boy that well. After all, his spirit (?) did help him escape old Moldyshorts' clutches and implied his death wasn't Harry's fault. With his grief, he just didn't think he would be able to stand Ron if he was the only guy he hung around.
What surprised him though, was Hermione's acceptance of his speech. Her silence was as good as any sort of verbal acceptance. If she thought Ron was being rude she would quickly get into an argument over it. Harry was saddened by this. He was still holding out hope his best friends didn't mean to leave him out of things, but if this was any indication they didn't care about how he felt.
Shaking himself out of his funk, Harry stopped Neville and Luna from going off any more on Ron and Hermione's behavior. The three of them quickly got into an animated conversation about Neville's plant, mimbulus mimbletonia. Harry started to poke the plant which then squirted out a stinky sap that covered all three students. Laughing harder than he ever had before, Harry struggled to pronounce the cleaning spell to free them from the sap, which coincidentally was called Stinksap. It was during this mess, that Ron and Hermione returned to the compartment with looks of disgust on their faces.
"Harry, mate, c'mon. Let's go sit with Ginny, Dean, and Seamus. Their playing Exploding Snap. I'm sure that would be more fun than getting covered in whatever this is," Ron ordered confidently, "I mean who wants to sit with Loony Lovegood and Shlongbottom." Hermione silently agreed with a nod and gestured for Harry to follow.
The laughter in the compartment ceased immediately as Neville and Luna blushed violently. Harry glared at his 'best' friends. Had they always been this cruel and Harry was just blinded by their acceptance of him? Well, no more.
"Actually, mate," Harry sneered looking eerily like Snape, "I'm having fun here with my friends Luna and Neville, so thanks, but no thanks. I like to spend time with people who haven't abandoned me. Go have fun, I'm good."
"Oh, c'mon Harry! It's not our fault we were told not to tell you anything," whined Hermione, "Let's just go enjoy the train ride together now that Ron and I are off duty."
Shock quickly spread over Harry's face. Did they really think he was just going to jump right back into their arms after a summer of basically silence? Well, before the blocks from Umbridge were removed he might have, but once that intelligence block was lifted, Harry's self-confidence grew. He realized there were several people that he could be friends with that wouldn't leave him when he needed them most.
"Go Hermione. I'm not going to hang out with bullies. I've been on the receiving end and can't stand to see others get the same treatment I dealt with before and even during Hogwarts. I would have thought you would understand too. Until you two apologize to Luna and Neville for disrespecting them and calling them names you can no longer consider me your friend. Goodbye." With that, Harry stood up, threw their two trunks out of the compartment, and slammed the door in their faces. He then locked the door with his strongest locking charm and with his power back to its full potential, it would take someone a whole lot more powerful than even Dumbledore to break that charm.
Neville and Luna looked at each other as Harry huffed in anger. "I can't believe them," he muttered to himself, "they knew I was bullied when I was younger by both my relatives and my old classmates. How could they do that? Especially Hermione! I know she was bullied when she was younger for liking to read. Hell! Even Ron made fun of her for it those first two months! Even now he makes fun of her! Ron, I get! He's so petty and jealous of others that he needs to drop them down a few pegs. Ugh! I can't stand them right now! How did I ever become friends with them in the first place!"
Harry's two companions remained silent as Harry ranted, once he paused, Neville shyly spoke up. "Harry, you don't have to defend us against your best friends. We get that we're weird and uncool. Don't break your friendships with them for us."
Luna nodded in agreement with a sad look in her eyes, "Yeah, I get that you probably want to hang out with them over us. I didn't expect you to defend me against Ron or Hermione when you promised me that."
With that statement Harry quickly interrupted her, "What do you mean you didn't expect me to defend you against Ron or Hermione? Were they doing this before? Have they been calling you names? Both of you?"
Neville and Luna both nodded. "Yeah," Luna answered sadly, "Ron was the one who started calling me Loony when we were younger and once I got to Hogwarts he started to spread it among the students. That's why I was surprised when you didn't know who I was. For the longest time, I thought you knew what he was doing."
"Luna, Neville, I never knew they were doing this! If I did I would have either stopped them or stopped hanging out with them years ago! I swear I never knew," Harry earnestly promised.
"We believe you Harry," Neville stated, "I knew you were unaware when Ron would be nice to me when you were around. It was as soon as you left that he would start calling me Shlongbottom. No other Gryffindors called me names. It was just Ron and the Slytherins."
Trying to reassure them both, Harry promised that he would never participate in any form of bullying. Until Ron and now Hermione changed their ways, Harry was not even going to acknowledge his former best friends. Putting that behind them for now, Harry and his new friends prepared to enjoy the rest of the trip, happy that Harry's lock charm prevented any other unwanted visits.
A few hours later, the train arrived at Hogsmeade station. Harry sadly noted that Hagrid wasn't there to greet the first years, instead Professor Grubbly-Plank had replaced the friendly half-giant. He was just about to climb into one of the horseless carriages with Neville and Luna when he noticed they were no longer horseless. Instead, they were being pulled by a winged animal whose bones were very easy to see. This animal looked like a skeletal, malnourished, creepy horse.
In shock, Harry finally managed to climb into the carriage. "What was that," he finally asked.
"That was a thestral. They can only be seen by those who have seen death," answered Luna wistfully as if she was living through a rather unpleasant memory. With that downer, the new trio settled into a silence the rest of the trip, not because of any dislike, but just out of respect for those they knew who had died.
They quickly left the carriage once it stopped. Luna separated from the two boys to join her housemates for the formal Opening Feast. Only at formal feasts and events did students have to sit at their house tables. Students just continued the practice since many of them weren't friends with others outside their house. Ron and Hermione had already sat down at the table and openly glared at Harry and Neville. With a shrug towards Neville, Harry just decided to sit by Colin Creevey and the other fourth-years barely glancing at either his former best friends or the new professor who was dressed in a pink cardigan.
Harry warily started a conversation with Colin about his photography as they waited for the first-years to show up. Surprisingly, Colin was being all creepy obsessed with Harry, but was actually able to talk about one of his passions easily with the infamous Boy-Who-Lived. Relieved, Harry was actually able to enjoy talking to the younger boy and getting to actually know him.
The students all quieted once the Great Hall doors burst open with Professor McGonagall leading the frightened first-years to the front of the hall. Harry tried to give them all encouraging looks and despite all the bad press out there about him, a few of the first-years perked up while most still just looked terrified, although passed that off as fear of the sorting, not anger at or fear of him. McGonagall gave Harry a quick questioning glance at this out-of-character behavior that the old Harry would have ignored as a trick of the light. But now knowing how his professor felt about him, Harry grinned at her and slyly motioned her to bring her attention back to the first-years.
Rolling her eyes at the boy's new, if not encouraging, antics, McGonagall did just that as she set the Sorting Hat on the stool. Preparing to listen to the Sorting Hat's song, Harry was distracted by a ball of parchment hitting him in the back of his head. Picking it up in confusion, Harry unrolled it to find a note written to him.
Well, Harry. So, Hermione and I are bullies, are we? Well, at least we didn't lead anyone to their death, unlike someone else I know. How is that treating you? Racked with guilt yet, or are you sickeningly pleased with yourself? You sure did seem a little too happy with your new "friends" on the train for someone who just caused a death. Why else do you think Sirius didn't have you stay at his house? I hope you can live with yourself. Honestly you disgust me.
- Ron
Staring at the parchment with disbelief, anger, grief, guilt, and sadness all rolled into one, Harry just sat in shock. This was too far! How dare Ron write this when he knew how much Cedric's murder had eaten him up on the inside. Yes, he was mostly over the guilt as he knew he was only trying to be fair and allow Cedric, the true Hogwart's Champion, a chance to share in the glory, but sometimes that guilt would come back in full force during his nightly dreams of that awful evening. In his anger, Harry accidentally set fire to the parchment wandlessly and barely managed to not storm out of the Great Hall in anger. He did NOT want to give Ron the satisfaction that he drove him away.
With only a little relief from burning that wretched note, Harry turned his attention back to the Sorting, only to notice that the new professor had interrupted Dumbledore's welcoming speech making his usual pre-dinner welcoming a lot longer. 'My goodness, she looks exactly like a toad,' Harry thought, 'I wouldn't be surprised if she shot her tongue out to catch a fly.' Ignoring what the toad-woman was saying, Harry looked over to the new first-year Gryffindors putting Ron's note out of his mind. He saw both how nervous and excited they all were. Harry fondly remembered his first few days at Hogwarts and totally understood what those first-years were going through.
Finally, the toad-professor finished his, whoops her, not so subtle hints at the Ministry's hopeful takeover of Hogwarts and dinner was served. Shooting a glance to Neville, Harry motioned that he was going to go join the new first-year Gryffs. Nodding his agreement, Neville joined Harry as the two wished Colin well and sat with the first-years.
"Hey guys," Harry began, "how are you liking Hogwarts so far?"
Immediately 10 of the new first-years began to excitedly explain everything they've experienced so far, from the train ride to the boat ride to the ghosts scaring them. Chuckling at their antics, Harry didn't notice the glares Ron and Hermione sent his way as he tried to calm them down.
"C'mon one at a time! I may be the Boy-Who-Lived-Only-To-Be-Scrutinized, but that doesn't mean I have super hearing comprehension," Harry joked.
Neville snorted, "The Boy-Who-Lived-Only-To-Be-Scrutinized? That's new, I didn't know that was your new title."
Harry shrugged and turned his attention back to the first years. During the older boys' antics, the first-years had calmed a little and they realized just who decided to talk to them. Grinning at their stunned faces, Harry asked all 15 of Gryffindors newest members what their names were. "Just in case any of you don't know who I am, which I'm guessing would be mostly muggleborns, I'm Harry Potter and I'm a fifth-year this year! And this is Neville Longbottom, also a fifth-year! Unfortunately, our esteemed ministry has decided I'm crazy and a nutter, but I can guarantee you I'm quite sane…most of the time," he finished with a cheeky grin.
One at a time, the new Gryffs introduced themselves. Carly, a cute little girl with loose blonde curls, questioned Harry shyly, "Why does the government think you're crazy? You seem like a normal person to me." Harry assumed from this question that Carly was a muggleborn as other first-years just gave each other wary glances.
"Well, Carly," the girl in question noticeably brightened when Harry remembered her name, there were 15 after all, "I just so happened to witness an event that would cause a lot of mayhem to the Wizarding World once accepted. Unfortunately, I'm the only witness who revealed what happened. The other witnesses want the mayhem to happen, you see. So, our Minister can't do anything without proper proof. But this debate isn't something you need to be concerned over right now! It's your first night in an enchanted castle! However, I will promise all of you that despite these rumors that I'm crazy, I am not, nor will I ever be. I'm also here if you ever need a guide around this crazy castle I call home!"
Neville agreed, and the first-years went back to questioning the boys about classes, professors, and Hogwarts in general. Harry eagerly answered every and all questions asked, including a few more personal ones that he felt like the firsties should know about him. He did refrain, however, from answering any questions related to his home life or Snape. He left the Snape questions to Neville because his relationship with the Potions Master was atypical for most Gryffindors, Neville's however was more realistic.
Harry glanced up at the staff table during a lull in the conversation as the first-years realized just how hungry they were after their long day. Professor Dumbledore was looking over at him with that ever-present twinkle in his eyes. Harry wasn't sure how he felt about his headmaster. Yeah, he left him with the Dursleys, but that was the only place he could go without contention from the Ministry. Harry wasn't upset with that at all, oh no. Harry was upset with that fact that he was never checked up on by anyone from the Wizarding World as he was growing up and with the fact that Dumbledore was hiding things from him.
Turning his attention away from the headmaster, Harry noticed McGonagall giving him yet another look of complete shock. Once she realized he was watching her, his godmother tried to recompose her features to a neutral expression, but failed miserably. Internally smirking at her obvious shock, Harry just raised an eyebrow at her and continued his observations.
The only other professor who showed any interest in Harry's display, was the new toad. She was giving her new student a death glare for reasons Harry could only guess at. Since, if she was in fact a Ministry employee that could be a factor, or she could just hate Harry for some unknown reason. Unconcerned, Harry turned his attention back to his new charges and enjoyed the rest of feast listening to their excitement.
When it was time to head up to dormitories, the first-years gathered around Harry and Neville ready to be led up to Gryffindor Tower. That's when shit hit the fan, however. Ron and Hermione Gryffindor's newest prefects stormed over.
"First years! Follow us," Hermione demanded, "We are your fifth-year prefects and we will lead you to the dormitories, not these two who have no authority to do so. Now come on," she finished roughly and swept out of the Great Hall with Ron and 15 upset first-years following behind. Said first-years kept giving Harry and Neville wistful glances as they walked out of the Hall, but not wishing to further enrage his former friends Harry just gave them an encouraging nod. However, because Harry no longer trusted the two older students to act appropriately, he made sure to stay close to the group in case they tried anything.
Nothing horrible happened on the walk up, but neither Ron or Hermione answered any of the first-years' questions about where things were in the castle. Instead they stewed in their anger together completely ignoring the first-years except for the occasional snapped retort to hurry up. Frowning, Harry followed quietly.
Upon entering the common room, Harry noticed Professor McGonagall had beaten all the students and she had called a house meeting.
"Gryffindor prefects," she started, "Since today is a Friday and we have a full weekend before classes start, I want a pair of you to take the first-years on a tour of the castle tomorrow morning. Show them where their classes are so they will not be lost on Monday." Here she gave Harry a pointed look and he blushed in embarrassment. "That is all for now. Mr. Potter? May I speak with you in my office for a minute?"
With the inevitable ooo's that every student globally utters when one of their own is called out by a teacher following behind him, Harry let Professor McGonagall lead him out the portrait hole, but not before noticing Ron and Hermione's superior looks. Rolling his eyes at their stupidity and shallowness, Harry ignored the two. After a short walk in silence to the Transfiguration professor's office, Harry settled into one of the wooden high-backed chairs in front of her desk.
The two continued to sit in silence as McGonagall just stared at Harry, causing him to shift uncomfortably. "What did you want to talk about?" Harry blurted out rather rudely, McGonagall just raised an eyebrow. "Er," Harry continued, "I mean, you wanted to speak with me, Professor?"
Peering down at the boy over her square spectacles with narrowed eyes, McGonagall finally spoke, "Yes, Mr. Potter, I did. I just wanted to inform you that Professor Umbridge…"
"Professor Umbridge? As in Dolores Umbridge?" Harry asked in worry.
"Yes, Potter. Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister," she answered sarcastically, "Surely you remember from her opening speech at the Feast?"
Harry sheepishly shook his head.
"You don't? No matter. Anyway, I just wanted to warn you to be on your toes and to stay out of trouble. She and the Minister would do anything to expel you from Hogwarts, understand?"
"Yes, Professor," Harry mumbled, "I'll try, but we all know trouble seeks me out."
At this, Professor McGonagall's lips quirked slightly, as if hiding a smile. "You are, unfortunately, correct Potter. Just try all the same."
Nodding his head, Harry quietly left her office and began to wander about the castle. He knew he should return to the common room, but there were just too many thoughts running through his head. Not noticing where he was going, Harry eventually found himself at the Astronomy tower. Looking out over the grounds of Hogwarts, Harry began to plan how he would react to Umbridge's presence at Hogwarts.
'Obviously, she doesn't know that I know she placed all those blocks on me and sealed my parents' wills, but how am I going to deal with this,' he thought. That's when a plan began to form, and he doubled over in laughter in how he would deal with Umbitch, sorry, Umbridge. As if attracted to his laughter, Hedwig soared into the Astronomy tower and hooted softly in his ear.
"Hey girl! Ow! Why did you nip me?"
Hedwig looked at her wizard exasperatedly.
"Alright, alright! I'm going to bed! Geez, sometimes I feel like the only thing you truly enjoy doing is mothering me." Hedwig nipped him again at his ear, hard. "Ow! Sorry, Hedwig. You know I'm just teasing, right? You truly are the closest thing I have to a mother," Harry continued to softly speak to his owl on his trip back to his dormitory never noticing the silver tabby cat following through the shadows.
Harry got back to his dorm without encountering anyone, which was a good thing as it was several hours past curfew. Hedwig flew off his shoulder to rest on the top of his four-poster bed and to keep watch over her boy. Quietly, so as not to wake his snoring dormmates, Harry got ready for bed and fell asleep with thoughts of chasing Umbridge out of Hogwarts.
A/N: I know I'm making a few characters OOC, especially Ron and Hermione, and I think I'm taking my dislike of Ron out in this story. I'm sorry if you don't like how I'm treating those characters, but it is my story. Also please leave any reviews about this story. This is my first attempt at writing a fanfiction despite having read several. Constructive criticism is welcome, but please refrain from leaving any hateful comments. If you don't like it, don't read it.