"Voldemort's magic is inside of me? How is that even possible?" Harry asked. He was terrified, and angry. Until yesterday, he had never even heard the name, and even then, he had nothing to connect to it. Now, though, this monster had gotten into his own magic, the only thing Harry had ever known as his own. This could not stand.
"I assure you Mr. Potter, I have no idea. There have been cases of magic being temporarily infected by another's, but it was extremely temporary, lasting a day or two at most. For it to have lasted all these years… My first instinct would be to say that it is extremely powerful, but from my scan I know that it is not. Perhaps… resilient, would be the correct word. Yes, that is it."
"Can you… remove it?" Harry asked tentatively.
"I'm afraid not, Mr. Potter. It is bonded to your magic quite intimately. It appears to me that the only way to remove it would be to separate your magic from his and then eject it from your body. There is no spell or ritual to do that, you would have to do it yourself. Even taking your rather impressive magical control into account, I doubt even you could do that, at least at this point. Perhaps in a year or two. And I may be able to design something to do the actual removal. I don't mean to brag, but I am rather proficient at rituals, and something like this would do much to fill my free time."
"Okay… Is that it? His magic is why mine is acting… different?"
"Hmmm. Not quite. You remember how I mentioned that your magic had recently undergone a change?" At Harry's nod, he continued. "You see, your magic has a rather strong aversion to leaving your body. For some reason I cannot quite ascertain, until yesterday your magic absolutely refused to leave your body. This forced your magic to adapt to its situation, and now even though it is now able to leave, it prefers not to, and will likely not perform very well after it does."
"What? So I won't be able to do magic?"
"That's not what I said, Mr. Potter. Your magic will just behave… differently than it does for most others. But I can assure you, you will still be able to use magic."
"Is there any way to fix it? Make it so it works normally?" Harry was in a panic. When he was younger, he had dreamed of being normal. Once he was made aware of the magical world, he thought that he would be able to be normal once he got there. Apparently, this was not to be the case. Not only was he a celebrity, but his magic was abnormal, too.
"Now, Mr. Potter, I want you to listen to me carefully. Many people will try to tell you otherwise, but I want you to remember my words. Magic is, by its very nature, unpredictable. Just having different magic does not make it abnormal. Your magic is, quite simply, your magic. Nobody else can tell you what is normal or right about your magic, only you can. I know earlier I was comparing you to a "normal" wizard, but that is simply the average. All magic user's vary from the average by some amount or another, and you just happen to be an outlier. It does not make your magic any worse or better," Ollivander spoke passionately.
Harry looked at the older man with a small measure of doubt in his mind, but the conviction that Ollivander had spoken with was hard to disregard. The man clearly had a lot of experience in magical matters, and had given Harry more assistance than anyone else had in his entire memory. Harry slowly began to nod, at first hesitantly, then with more strength. Ollivander smiled at the young boy, and turned the conversation to more pleasant topics.
"Now then, have you finished your shopping for school?"
Harry left Ollivander's store late that night, after a cup of tea had turned into dinner. The strange man had quickly become the person Harry most trusted, not that it meant much of anything, considering Harry had never truly trusted anybody, especially in the Muggle world.
With a soft whoosh, a pale ghost settled on Harry's shoulder. He smiled as he turned towards his companion, who he had named Hedwig after much consideration. Hedwig nipped softly on his ear, as if to chastise him for taking so long, then rubbed her head on his as he walked back towards The Leaky Cauldron.
Several weeks later, Harry walked down the stairs of The Leaky Cauldron, with a large trunk loudly banging on the steps behind him. Though his trunk was larger on the inside than the outside (which was still completely baffling to Harry), it did nothing to lighten the load, and his cauldron combined with his small library of books made it difficult to move gracefully.
He scraped the trunk along the floor and propped it up next to the bar. Tom shuffled out from the kitchen and grinned at Harry with a few teeth. A plate heavy with eggs, bacon, and sausage flew through the door behind him and skidded to a stop right in front of Harry, followed quickly by a fork and knife.
"Thanks, Tom," Harry said as he began to dig in.
"Not a problem, Mr. Evans, not a problem at all," Tom replied with a wink at the name. "Off to Hogwarts, then?"
"Sure am. Gotta be at King's Cross in… just under an hour. Oh, by the way, where is the platform? I can't imagine there being a platform 9 ¾ just out there…"
"Correct you are. You need to find the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, and if you walk towards it on the platform 10 side, you should go right through. If you're not sure, just show up a little early and watch, it'll be pretty obvious," Tom explained.
"If it's that obvious, won't everyone else see them too?"
"Nah, they've got layers upon layers of Muggle repelling wards and Notice-Me-Nots on that thing. Muggles won't notice a thing."
While Tom was speaking, Harry had polished off the remainder of his breakfast. Standing up, Harry said, "Well, I should be going, don't want to be late. Thanks for everything, Tom. I really appreciate it."
"Not to worry, young sir. I trust you'll stop in and visit next time you visit the Alley?"
"You know I will, Tom. Have a good year!" Harry shouted back as he moved back into the Muggle world.
After a short taxi ride, Harry was weaving through the crowds at King's Cross, dragging his trunk along behind him. Knowing she hated her cage, he had released Hedwig before leaving his room at the Cauldron, and placed her cage in his trunk. He knew she would either meet him on the train or at Hogwarts. Over the past month, Harry and Hedwig had formed a strong bond. Whenever he went into Diagon Alley, Hedwig would insist on accompanying him, and would wait patiently on the rooftops whenever he was inside. He didn't know how, but she had an uncanny ability to sense his emotions and current state of mind, often hopping over for a nuzzle whenever he was frustrated or upset.
Arriving at platform 10, Harry leaned casually against a pillar, watching the barrier where Tom had said the entrance was. Sure enough, barely a minute later, he watched a tall, dark haired man with his arm around a girl Harry's own age approach said barrier. With a quick glance around, they both continued forward and disappeared without a trace. Now sure of where to go, Harry walked to the same spot he had seen them disappear and put a hand forward hesitantly. His hand went through the bricks as if they were made of air. Shrugging to himself, Harry closed his eyes and stepped forward.
Opening his eyes, he was momentarily awestruck by the sight before him. A massive, bright red steam engine was sitting before him, with white steam billowing from its stacks. Behind it, passenger cars stretched around a shallow corner and out of sight. Somehow, magic was able to hid an entire platform within King's Cross, without the Muggles being any more aware of it. Harry shook his head with a smile on his face. He loved magic.
Looking at the large clock hung on the wall, he saw that he still had nearly thirty minutes until the train left. Deciding to grab an empty compartment, he lugged his trunk to the nearest steps leading up to the train.
"Excuse me, would you like some help with your trunk?" Harry spun at the words, and came face to face… well, face to stomach, with someone. Looking up, Harry saw the same man he had seen walk through the barrier before him. His face was expressionless, though not cold. His piercing blue eyes sat behind slightly arched eyebrows, reminding Harry that he had been asked a question.
"Erm, that's alright, sir. I can handle it on my own. Thank you, though," Harry replied respectfully.
"Not even a featherweight charm? It will make putting your trunk in the racks much easier, I assure you," the man asked again. "Excuse me, where are my manners? My name is Damien, Damien Greengrass. My oldest daughter is starting at Hogwarts this year, though she already got on the train. Wanted to find a good seat, or something like that."
"It's good to meet you, Mr. Greengrass. My name is Harry, Harry Potter, and… er… yeah, I guess that spell would be pretty handy, sir," Harry replied, trying not to stumble over his words. Something about the man's eyes made him feel as though he could read his thoughts, a very uncomfortable sensation.
The man, Damien, flicked his eyes briefly to Harry's forehead, though too quickly for even Harry to notice. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Potter. Here you are," Greengrass said, and tapped his wand against Harry's trunk. He could immediately feel the pressure on his arm decrease as the charm took effect.
"Thank you, sir. I really should get going, I want to get a good compartment," Harry said, belatedly remembering that the man's daughter had said the same thing.
Damien chuckled, as if remembering the same thing. "Of course, Mr. Potter. I wish you luck in your upcoming year at Hogwarts," he said, giving a brief smile and turning back to the barrier. He quickly vanished in the crowd that was beginning to develop.
Harry put the encounter out of his mind, knowing he had bigger things to focus on. In a few hours, he would arrive at a new school, one where he (hopefully) wouldn't be an outcast. Squaring his shoulders, he tightened his grip on his lightened trunk and stepped onto the train.
Author's Note: Hey guys, happy new year! Sorry for how long this chapter took, I've had to focus on other things the last few days. Hope you enjoy the new chapter, and please leave a review with suggestions or questions or anything. Finally almost to Hogwarts!