Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Diagon Alley

[Page 66 - Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight.]

"Why would you keep your eyes shut? If I were you and I just found out I could do magic, I would be bouncing with excitements." Terry Boot from Ravenclaw asked, puzzled at past-Harry's behavior. Harry in present fidgeted uncomfortably. He didn't want to explain how often he dreamed about people taking him away and didn't want to get his hopes high.

"I often had a dream about me getting away from my relatives and well, I got disappointed a lot when I woke up and none of it actually happened."

"Oh. Sorry." Terry murmured, wincing slightly. Harry smiled at him which he hoped felt reassuring. After all, he wasn't the reason why he had that kind of childhood. So there wasn't any point in making him guilty just because he asked one question. It wasn't like he knew about that.

"It's kind of sad. You immediately think it's a dream when something good happens." Lavender commented, looking at the raven haired teen in sympathy. Harry didn't response to her, instead choosing to shrug nonchalantly. He could almost touch the anger radiating from his friends, who were his family by all but blood. He also had a feeling that the Weasley twin's parchment full of pranks just for his relatives were few pages long. He almost felt sorry for them. Almost.

As expected, the pranking crew was busy recording every ideas that people were sending to them. Susan and Hannah's hands ached from writing too much, and their writings were near illegible. The twins were stacking pieces of parchments that the others sent and if it wasn't for empathetic Hermione helping them organizing, they weren't sure they would've survived it. If this was what doing paperwork was like, they couldn't understand how their dad managed it. They wouldn't have survived through an hour.

[Page 68 - "I haven't got any money - and you hear Uncle Vernon last night - he won't pay for me to go and learn magic."]

"You haven't got any money?" Ron snorted, raising an eyebrow at Harry. "Really, Harry. I think you are the most rich teenager in the entire world. But here you are, stating you have no money. But don't worry mate, I believe you. It's not like you have mountains of gold in your trust vault. And I can't even imagine amount of money in other vaults."

"Hey! I didn't know there was a Wizarding bank." Harry whined, then added with a startled blink. "And what do your mean by other vaults?"

Surprisingly, it was Draco Malfoy who answered him. "Potter family is one of the most Ancient and Noble family. Trust vault is only for you to use until you become a legal adult. If your become an adult you will have an access to other Potter's vaults. If you thought the trust vault was everything Potter family had, then you must be dumber than I've originally thought." He added the last sentence with a sneer. After all, it wouldn't be good if the Dark Lord and his father found out that he's being rather friendly to Potter. He mentally scoffed at his last thought. As if Potter of all people will be his friend.

Neville also added to Draco's explanation. "You can't access your family vault now because you might waste it all. It's just a way to ensure young heir making a wrong choice which will result to Potter family losing all their fortune and influence. Speaking of which, you need to learn about those kind of things. You know, investing, politics, etiquette, etc."

"Let me guess. Your gran decided to teach me." Harry dead-panned, but he looked interested.

"Correct." Neville grinned. "At least now I have a company. Let's just hope you don't get overwhelmed." At Harry's questioning glance, Neville proceeded to explain. "My gran's a strict teacher, and she'll be mortified if you tell her you don't know anything about it. You are supposed to learn those kind of things as soon as possible."

"Well, let's just hope she is patient since I know I'll be absolutely horrible at politics and etiquette." Neville grinned amusedly at his friend who was making faces and shook his head. "Nah, I think you'll do fine. Besides, you'll do way better than me. Once, I fumbled over my words because I was nervous and offended my aunt so badly that she hexed me on sight for whole month."

"What did you say?"

"I may have questioned her mental stability and compared her to a pig." He grimaced, swatting at Harry in mock anger when he let out a bark of laughter. "Okay, so I won't have to worry about being the worst student." Harry teased Neville, who took it with good humor.

"Shut it, Harry, or I'll film your first try on greeting the guests and send it to everyone I can think of. And yes, that includes the Slytherins."

[Page 70 - "Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country." "Why?"]

"Why? Harry, did you even consider what might happen if muggles found out about magic? Honestly, Harry, you need to think more carefully before saying things." Hermione said, and Harry rolled his eyes. "Okay, Hermione. I was being stupid and I need to think more. Can we move on?" Unfortunately, this statement only encouraged Hermione to say more rather than being quiet like Harry hoped.

"You are not stupid, Harry! Far from it really. A real problem is that you are being so lazy like Ronald!"

"Hey! I'm sitting right here, you know." Ron protested indignantly but Hermione ignored him. He scowled crossing his arms over his chest, muttering, "bloody woman" under his breath.

"If you just really put some effort into your work I'm sure you'll easily catch up on me. Why aren't you even trying?"

"Alright, Hermione! I promise I'll try my best from now on."

"Really, Harry. I know you don't like studying but-" Hermione stopped in her rant and looked at Harry, stunned. "Just like that? You are agreeing to study hard just like that?"

Harry sighed tiredly and ran his hand through his hair. "One of the Dursley's rules was that I shouldn't 'cheat' and outshine my dearest cousin." Harry rolled his eyes at this. "So I thought it would be the same in Hogwarts. Took me a while to realize they won't care how good my grades will be."

Harry grimaced slightly, expecting some kind of strong reaction, and he wasn't disappointed. Many people, including Harry's friends, Ravenclaws and even some professors, reached for Calming Draught. Harry was really thankful that he asked Madam Pomfrey for them, or he bet that quite a few students would have fainted when they read about his encounters with Voldemort.

Hermione's reaction was the most amusing. She stared at Harry for a moment and opened her mouth to say something, but changed her mind at the last minute and instead whirled around to face Ron. "Ronald! Even Harry's saying he will work hard. What are you going to do? Aren't you even worried about your future? If you keep slacking off like this, your future will be ruined!"

"Hey, I do study! And you are being ridiculous. We didn't even take OWLs yet and you make it sound like I failed NEWT miserably!"

"Oh, now you are calling me ridiculous?"

Harry shook his head amused and irritated at the same time. He did not want to hear his best friends bickering again. Honestly, when will they stop bickering like five years old kids? But he had to admit, it cheered him up a little, which probably was Hermione's goal.

"I also agree." Luna piped up while looking up to observe the enchanted ceiling. "You are actually far from stupid. And I must say, you are also a great teacher. Do you have any thoughts on becoming a DADA professor, Harry?" The members of DA agreed with the blond when she said Harry was a great teacher, and the raven haired teen looked slightly embarrassed. "I didn't really think about it. But I might consider it."

"But it's cursed!" Ron protested. "Harry might die if he took over that position!"

"But it's Harry Potter." Colin pointed out, as if it was the answer to everything, which, to him, was probably true. "He can do impossible things! I bet if he did become a DADA professor, he will break the curse and will be a fabulous teacher!" He chirped, clearly excited about it.

Umbridge, after eavesdropping on their conversation, scoffed. As if that boy could be a teacher. Even if he did, she bet he would be the worst teacher ever.

[Page 74 - A little man in a top hat was talking to the old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut.]

"You compared Tom to a walnut? I like your observant skill, Harry." Ginny cheekily said. "I wonder how you described us." She mused, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes.

"You've better described me nicely, Harry." Hermione threatened playfully along with others. Harry couldn't help but groan. He prayed that he described then nicely, or he knew he was going to be pranked. Yes, they were his friends, but the smartest witch, best pranksters and others with rather creative ideas and wild imagination were included, and who knew what they could do if they worked together?

"You didn't insult our looks, did you, Harry?" George continued teasing, much to displeasure of the emerald eyed teen. "I mean, if you found fault in Ron, I understand that," the said ginger head cried out, offended, but to his irritation, no one paid him any attention. "But us? My devilishly handsome brother and I am perfectly flawless, thank you very much."

"Though I do not recall how I described your outstanding looks," Harry drawled with such sarcasm that would have made Draco proud."I do remember that I have commented on your sanity and maturity level. Once. Few times. Maybe at least a dozen of times." He skillfully dodged a well-aimed swat to his head, grinning cheekily. "What? I've already thought what I wanted to think and there's no changing back."

However, all of them perked up when they heard Harry mutter, "but I think you'll be more than pleased to hear how I described Umbridge." Well, it wouldn't be overstatement to say they were almost vibrating in their seats in anticipation, eager to hear how exactly he had described the toad-witch.

[Page 75 - A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching. "Professor Quirrell!"]

"You. Met. Quirrell. In. Leaky Cauldron?" Hermione hissed, her brown eyes blown wide with worry and her face paling rapidly. "Oh my gods, Harry, were you hurt? Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he? Oh, I swear, if he did I will-"

"'Mione, remember that happened years ago. Besides, he wouldn't have dared to attack me when there was so many people around." Harry dI'd his best to calm her and his other best friend down. Their conversation was whispered so nobody heard it except Remus and Sirius, who had much improved hearings. They glanced at each other, unnerved that this Quirrel guy - who was apparently a professor according to the book - was a supposed threat to Harry. It was rather disturbing that Hermione and Ron seemed to be worried that a professor would try to hurt their godson but frankly, they couldn't care less if a freaking pope or monk attacked Harry. All it mattered was that they hurt their godson, and they will not get out of it unscathed. No one survived the wrath of the Marauders.

Meanwhile, the others were having their own conversation about the said DADA professor. "He was such a coward. And his stammers made it so difficult for us to study." A seventh year Ravenclaw complained, and many others, mostly Ravenclaws, nodded in agreement. "But I still don't know why he disappeared."

"Well, I'm for one glad that he's gone now." Terry remarked. "I mean, as she said, it was really hard studying from him and he always kinda creeped me out."

"I second that." The Golden Trio muttered, dark scowls firmly on their faces as they thought back to their first year. "He's way better off gone."

[Page 76 - "Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley." He grinned at Harry's amazement.]

"It's really confusing for the muggleborns or half-bloods raised in muggle world when they first experience the Wizarding World. You should really inform the muggle parents so they know what they are dealing with, Headmaster. It is very difficult for the muggleborns to adjust if they have no knowledge of magical world. You can't expect them to fit in on their own if they have little information about the world they've just been introduced to." Hermione said, quite happy that she could voice her opinions.

"But of course, there are some exceptions. Hermione fits in perfectly even if she's a muggleborn." Harry whispered to Ron, but loud enough for Hermione and other people around them to hear. Hermione cuffed him lightly, rolling her eyes at them.

"Anyways, as I was saying, if you give them information about magic early, then they can learn our cultures better and don't look so out of place."

"I will consider it for future reference, Ms. Granger. Thank you for telling us since it will certainly improve our system." Dumbledore replied, looking rather pleased as he pondered that option. Even Slytherins looked intrigued since one of the reasons they deposed muggleborns was that they had no respect for their culture. Apparently, it was all misunderstanding because they never got a chance to learn about them, so if Granger's suggestion was set on action, they would be less seeing the muggleborns discarding their culture and rules.

[Page 78 - "Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.]

"Why do I get the feeling that Harry will try to rob Gringotts?" Blaise Zabini wondered out loud, not really caring whether people heard him or not. He was shocked when many people seemed to share his thoughts.

"Harry? You won't try to break into Gringotts, right?" Neville asked nervously, while carefully looking at Harry for any signs of lie. Harry spluttered in shock. "What? Of course not! Why would I even think about doing that?"

"My, my, Harry! When you lie, you shouldn't splutter like that."

"Yes, Harry. We expected better of you." The Weasley twins tsked, and started chiding Harry, irritating the teen more.

"I am not going to rob Gringotts!"

"Harry, are you absolutely positive-"

"I'm not going to rob Gringotts! Merlin's sake Hermione! Have some faith will you? Why do you even suspect me to rob Gringotts anyways?"

"You are mad."

"I am not!"

"Yeah, you are not. Suicidal, but not mad."

"Ron, not you too!"

Everyone watched the scene with amusement, including Slytherins. Theodore Nott asked Draco, his lips twitching in amusement. "Do you think Potter will try that kind of thing?"

"I don't know. But the fact that even his friends suspect Potter to break into Gringotts just proves that he is mad, as that half-giant said." Draco replied, snickering when Potter silenced and body binded the Weasley twins and pointed his wand at his other friends, daring them to continue. It was really amusing to watch Potter threatening and blackmailing his friends. Draco idly wondered whether they were always like this and if they were, how could he slip into the Gryffindor dormitory to record some of their banter. It would certainly improve his mood any day.

[Page 83 - In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes.]

Draco mentally cringed. Although he would rather die than saying to Potter or to anyone else, he was sounding rather arrogant and insensitive. When he first met Potter and didn't know his name, he was really looking forward to having a real friend that wasn't arranged by his parents. Crabbe and Goyle were his friends but they had only met because his father wanted a truce between their families. He hadn't met any kids around his age yet, except for some pureblood kids he met for politics because of his father's orders. He truly wanted to be his friend, but didn't know how, so he copied what his father usually did and some behaviors of purebloods. When Potter rejected his offer of friendship at the train, he took it as personal insult, started bullying him and his friends.

It sounded quite silly when he thought about it, being an arch-enemy just because of small rejection. But even if he did accepted his friendship, they would have never been friends, especially now since the Dark Lord had returned. His father would never approve it and when the Dark Lord finds out, he along with his parents would receive quick death at the best, long gruesome torture at the worst. He felt involuntary shiver run down his spine and shook his head to clear it.

At times like this, he was really thankful that his godfather, Severus Snape, taught him Occulemency. For that, he could lock this kind of disturbing thoughts into the darkest depth of his mind.

[Page 85 - "So what is Quidditch?"]

"Harry Potter not knowing Quidditch." Oliver yelled outrageously, grimacing at the thought. "That's a crime! He's a youngest seeker in century. How dare the Dursleys keep Quidditch away from Harry! There should be a law about this!"

Angelina shook her head while listening to her former Quidditch Captain rant. The Dursleys abused, neglected and starved Harry and he was focusing more on Quidditch. Really, he had some mental issues. Perhaps he got hit by a bludger too hard? Then again, almost all the Quidditch players, especially the Captain, weren't all there and had unhealthy obsession with winning. For example, the Weasley twins were, well, the twins. Their pranks always got even more creative and ridiculous as the time passed and their actions always managed to drive people insane, hinting about instability of their minds. She liked to think Katie, Alicia and herself were fine but she had been a bit pushy of her team these days. Oliver was the whole definition of obsession and Harry... Well, one would doubt their sanity when the said person always throw himself into danger without any second thoughts.

[Page 86 - "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin."]

"If you keep resenting SLytherins for being 'Dark', then of course they are going to the Dark side since you won't let them in the Light side. After all, it isn't their fault that there were several dark wizards from the House. Besides, other dark wizards were from other Houses, they just aren't so well known." Luna commented off-handedly, startling everyone. "After all, saying all evil wizards are from Slytherin is same as saying that all evil wizards come from Hogwarts."

Harry blinked as he processed that. Well, if you put it that way, it certainly was rather unreasonable to only blame the Slytherins for being Dark. Besides, what was the standard of being Dark, anyways? Not that he was against the idea of banning curses such as Cruciatus Curse, but you could easily kill people with Light spells such as levitation charm. You just had to levitate a person high enough and drop them. But on the other hand, most of his encounter to life threatening situations were caused by Slytherins such as Voldemort. So he couldn't really just be buddies with them, but he understood them better now.

[Page 87 - Harry now carried a large cage which held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing.]

"Hagrid was the one who bought you Hedwig? Aw, that was so nice of him." Hermione nearly cooed at that, causing Ron to roll his eyes and mutter, 'girls' under his breath. Unfortunately for him, she caught him saying that and proceeded to hex him that his mouth was sealed shut. Harry, having experienced how his best friends could be when they started bickering, wisely ignored it.

"Well, yeah. I'm really thankful for that since if it wasn't for him, I would have never even met Hedwig." Harry grimaced at the thought of being without his owl. "She's a good friend and much nicer company than the Dursleys. Not to mention she's smart. She's the most intelligent animal I've ever met! Except for Crookshanks, that is." Harry added hastily when Hermione frowned at him.

"I know, right? I mean, if they could speak English, I bet they'll complete assignments without any problems." Hermione commented, happily fantasizing a debate she would have with two animals.

"Mmmmmmmhh mhhh." Ron snorted then made some noises since he couldn't open his mouth. Apparently, Hermione understood him and in no time, they started arguing.

"Ronald Weasley! How dare you to say such thing about them! They are perfectly capable of understanding you even though they can't talk. I am warning you if you say things like that in front of them, only you will be responsible for their actions."

"Mmmhh mh!"

"I never did insult Pigwigeon's intelligence! Besides, he's way better than his owner."

"Mmhhhmh mhhh!"

"Oh, don't you dare use that tone with me, mister!"

"How are they even understanding each other?" Neville asked in disbelief. He , like everyone else, was looking back and forth between the two Gryffindors like a tennis match. Harry shook his head ruefully, not even bothering to hide his amusement. "Honestly, I have no idea. But don't try to understand them, it will make your head explode. I speak from experience."

"Right." Neville blinked as he resumed watching the two's never ending argument.

[Page 91 - The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair...]

"How many wands did you try?"

"Uh, about thirty wands or something?" Harry answered, blinking when people started snickering. "What?"

"Thirty wands?" Ernie shook his head almost fondly. "Seriously, Harry? You are a very picky customer aren't you?"

"Hey! It wasn't like I was trying to be difficult." Harry huffed, scowling. "Besides, according to Olivander, the wands choose their masters so technically speaking, it was the wands who were being picky."

"Well, you surely made the man happy. I think he likes being challenged."

"I guess so." Harry mumbled but was occupied worrying about how they would react when they heard that his wand's core was the same as Voldemort's to fully participate in their conversation. Sure enough, people didn't react well when they heard that piece of information.

"Your wand is brother wand to You-Know-Who's?"

People started gawking at him again, but this time with more fear. It was like his second year all over again. People accusing and labelling him based on something he couldn't control.

"Yes, his wand is brother wand to You-Know-Who's, so what?" Ginny snarled, with a look that promised violence if it was needed. She reached for Harry's hand and gently squeezed it, offering some comfort, and was delighted when the raven haired teen squeezed back. Ron, Hermione, Remus, Sirius and many others also glared at the rest of the students, daring them to judge Harry. They gulped and immediately turned away from their vicious glares.

Harry sighed, relieved that his friends got his back. Despite how he was used to people's ever changing opinions about himself, it didn't make it easier to face their hatred alone. He leaned into Remus and Snuffles comfortably as they listened to the book. But just as the chapter ended, blindingly bright light appeared, forcing them to shut their eyes and turn away. Young children screamed in fright and scrambled away as the older students and professors whipped out their wands and pointed to the general direction where the light was coming from. They could hear three thuds as something fell to the ground, though they couldn't see what it was since they were temporarily blinded because of the light. Harry felt dread settling around him as the light gradually disappeared and everyone held their breath as they waited for sight to return so they could see what was in front of them.