Harry moved quickly down the hallway in the train, glancing in each compartment as he passed in search of an empty one. He was already on the fourth car, and every single compartment had at least one student in it, usually several more. Finally, in the second to last compartment in the car, he found an empty one. Sighing in relief, he slid the door open and pulled his trunk in behind him.
He hauled his lightened trunk up to the rack above the seats. While he had certainly not needed the featherweight charm due to his ability to strengthen his muscles, he did appreciate the gesture. He made sure the trunk was secure, then slid the compartment door shut and pulled out a book on transfiguration. He had already finished reading the text for class, and though he didn't fully understand everything within, he wanted to learn more about the underlying process, not just how to do it.
Before he was even able to open to his bookmark, there was a tapping on the window. Harry turned and opened the window, and Hedwig flew in and landed on the bench across from him. He gave his companion a knowing glance, then cracked the book open and began reading.
According to this book, transfiguration had three main types. The most basic was changing the shape of an object without changing the material itself. This would be like changing a block of wood into a broom handle, or a chunk of marble into a bust. Next came changing the material itself into something else, like turning a match into a needle. The wood would truly become metal, not just look like it. The final and most complicated type of transfiguration was creating or changing living things. Not only did the materials themselves have to change, but life had to be either created or modified to fit.
The subject seemed insanely complex, but since it was taught in their first year, the basic stuff couldn't be too difficult. Deciding to try his hand at it, Harry took an owl treat from his trunk. He placed it on the bench next to himself, and reread the instructions. He was supposed to visualize the final product he wanted, jab his wand directly at the object to transform, and use the incantation mutare.
He drew his wand from the holster attached to his hip (a gift from Ollivander during a later visit to the shop) and focused on what he wanted the treat to change into. He jabbed his wand towards the treat, and firmly said "Mutare!" He could feel his wand drawing the magic from his body into itself, and then expel the magic towards the treat. However, before anything actually happened, the magic snapped back into his hand without having an effect on the treat. Harry frowned, the book had said that a failed transfiguration would either partially transfigure the object, or the magic would dissipate entirely. What had just happened was neither of these, though. He felt his magic obeying his command and trying to transfigure the treat, but it hadn't happened.
This must be one of the side effects Ollivander had mentioned. Harry knew his magic had tried to transfigure it, but it hadn't been able to reach the owl treat. Maybe…
Harry picked up the treat and held it in his hand. Once again, he focused on what he wanted it to look like, and said "Mutare!" This time, instead of jabbing his wand towards the treat, he jabbed it forwards and touched it with his wand. He felt his magic responding as before, and this time, it flowed directly from the wand into the treat. Before his eyes, it began to shift and warp, growing taller. When it stopped moving, he was left with an owl treat that looked exactly like Hedwig. Harry grinned at his success.
Now he wanted to try something else. He had not experimented a lot with his wandless magic while in Diagon Alley after Ollivander had told him about the Trace, and the magical government's ability to detect magic cast by underage magic users. He placed the mini-Hedwig in his palm, and focused on how the treat had looked before his first successful spell. He pushed his magic through his skin and watched in wonder as the owl-shaped treat warped back to its original shape.
He knew there was something different, though. The magic he used for the actual spell had been changed by his wand motion and the incantation, forcing it to do exactly what the spell intended. When he had done it directly, with his own magic, the magic didn't even change, just filled the object and forced the change. It also took more magic, so it appeared the wand was something of a precision tool.
As if growing bored with Harry's activities, Hedwig gave a short bark and bobbed her head towards the window, apparently satisfied that Harry was alright. Harry smiled and reopened the window, and the snowy owl hopped to the sill, then into the air. He then closed the window, and sat back down, considering his first real spell.
He was interrupted from his musings by a knock at the compartment door. He looked up, seeing a girl about his own age standing at the door, and quickly stood up and walked over. Sliding it open, she immediately began to speak.
"Hello, I'm Hermione Granger," she said, sticking her hand out towards him. He grasped it, quickly taking in her appearance. She was slightly shorter than him, with a head covered in a large amount of bushy brown hair. When she smiled, her front teeth were revealed to be slightly larger than normal. She was already dressed in the standard Hogwarts uniform (sans the house colors, of course). He refocused as she continued to speak.
"I've been looking for a place to sit, and this is the first compartment I've seen that wasn't completely full. Would you mind if I sat here?" She managed to say all of this in one breath.
"Er, sure, come on in," Harry replied, and shifted to the side to allow her to pass. She smiled quickly at him and pulled her trunk in behind her.
"Would you mind helping me with my trunk? It's rather heavy, I brought… a few extra books."
"Not at all," Harry said, and grasped the handle with one hand. He pumped some extra magic into his arm and easily hefted the trunk into the overhead racks. Hermione looked shocked for a moment, but quickly recovered and smiled at Harry, before sitting on the opposite bench, next to the window. Harry returned the smile, then picked up his book and began reading again.
The girl, Hermione, copied his actions with a book she withdrew from inside her robes. From the looks of it, it was a beginner's compendium of charms spells. Harry briefly considered asking why she was simply reading a list of spells, but reconsidered since it could be considered rude. He didn't know her, after all.
As the train got underway, the pair continued to read, filled with the sounds of turning pages and occasional rattle from the train car.
About two hours into the trip, they were interrupted by another knock on the door. Harry slid his bookmark into his book, then stood and slid the door open. Before him stood a boy, about Hermione's height, with sandy blond hair and a not insignificant amount of baby fat still on his face. He looked somewhat nervous, so Harry gave him a small smile, before saying, "Hi, there, how can I help you?"
"Um, hi, my pet toad, he escaped from his cage, and I was just wondering if you had seen it?" the boy asked.
"No, I haven't seen it. Would you like some help? We could each take a direction down the train, and maybe find it?"
"No, I actually started up at the front, so I can just keep working my way back. Um, thank you though, for your offer. Er, I'm Neville, Longbottom that is. I guess I'll see you at school?" the boy said, nervousness creeping into his voice.
"It's nice to meet you, Neville, I'm Harry Potter. If you'd like, I can come with you through the rest of the train and find your toad?"
Neville's face gained a somewhat awestruck look as Harry introduced himself, but began nodding as Harry continued speaking.
"Great! Let me put my book away, and then we can get started," Harry said. He grabbed his book from the seat where he had left it, then reached up and slid the book into his trunk. After flipping the lock closed and pocketing the key, he turned back to Neville. "Ready to go?"
"Uh yeah, sure," Neville mumbled, still apparently in some amount of shock.
As he walked out, Harry turned back to the compartment. "I'll be back soon, Hermione. Would you mind keeping an eye on my stuff?"
Hermione, her mouth still hanging open from Harry's introduction, nodded, and Harry slid the door closed.
"So, Neville, were you raised in the wizarding world?" Harry inquired as they moved through the train. Harry had suggested they skip the closed compartments for now, as a toad would have trouble getting through them, and if they had not found it by the end of the train, they could knock on compartments on the way back.
"Yeah, I was raised by my Gran at my family manor. Though, nobody thought I even had magic until a few years ago. My Uncle Algie, uh, dropped me out a window when I was eight. Fortunately I bounced when I hit the ground, and I guess that was enough to convince everyone." Neville's voice had trailed off as he continued speaking, as if embarrassed at sharing such a personal story.
"I actually didn't even know I was a wizard until I turned six. My, er, relatives, they're muggles, and didn't really know anything about magic. A bit of a shock for them when they found out," Harry said, heavily censoring his story. While he did appreciate that Neville had shared a rather personal detail, Harry was not yet ready to make his own past known to others.
Neville grinned slightly. "Yeah, I bet it was," he said, fighting a chuckle. "So, what house do you want to get into?"
Author's Note: Bit shorter than last chapter, but I should be updating a lot in the next week or so, I've got a lot of free time on my hands. Also, wow, over 20k words. I honestly never expected to get this far. Thanks a ton to everyone who has reviewed Unbreakable so far, all the encouragement is really helpful. And thank you to everyone who has followed or favorited it as well. Enjoy!