House of Friendship

Chapter 2

By Jamnaz79

Notice: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not claim to own any rights or make any profits from my writing.

Harry of course would know none of this instead he spent the feast making small polite talk to the other new members of Helga's house. He would enjoy the feast immensely, practically because it was the most food he had ever had! In addition this was the first time he had actually been allowed to have sweets like cookies or other items. In all of his life he never had so much especially friends. He had a feeling in his chest that he didn't understand. At first he started to worry that he might be getting sick but finally he realized this is what it felt to have friends and be happy.

For the first time in his young life Harry Potter was happy.

~~~ HoF ~~~

Harry loved being a Hufflepuff. Over the first few weeks of classes he had made friends with all of his school mates. He had grown up without a friend and now he had almost a dozen of them. Not only were the students in his own year friendly but the whole house were friends. There was only one student that bugged him and that was Zacharias Smith.

The blonde haired brown eyed boy didn't like Harry. Right from the start the two of them had been at odds. It was strange because he never remembered doing anything personally against him. Heck he even tried to be extra friendly to him. But no matter what offers he made the boy seemed to want nothing to do with Harry.

It taken week before Harry was alone with Zaharias in their dorm room when he found out the why. Ernie Macmillan and Justin Finch-Fletchley were both off to breakfast early leaving the other two boys in the room alone. Harry had just finished showering and was at his bed pulling out his oversized hole filled hand-me-down clothing. Zacharias was at his desk writing a letter when he spotted Harry and let out a snort of disgust. The boy's lips turned into a sneer much with a look at Harry much like the Potions Professor gave him.

The young raven haired boy had enough and threw down his clothing. Harry turned his emerald eyes onto the boy with a glare, "I don't get you. Why the hell do you act like that towards me?"

"Why? Because you are the Potter Heir and yet you know nothing of our people! You act nothing like you should! You dress in rags so disgusting that I wouldn't let my house elf wear them! Is it a pity act? Or is it a cry for attention?" Smith launched on a tirade at the young man his eyes narrowed. Obviously he had been building this up. The sneer was gone only to be replace by a look of frustration and determination for answers.

Harry took a step back unsure what to say. He never expected this response from the boy. He reacted as he did when younger, what the Dursley's had beaten into him. He withdrew into himself quiet. If one doesn't speak there a better chance of not being hurt.

The lack of answer did not change Zacharias though as he pushed from his chair and walked towards Harry. He stopped a few feet away with a frown, "Well Potter? Is it a cry for attention? Is that it?"

The young man stopped moving back as he felt the back of his legs pressed against his bedside table. He was trapped dog cornered in an alley. And Like the dog when cornered he started to find the will to bark. "I don't want attention. I don't want anything but to live a normal life."

"You will never have a normal life Potter! You are the Heir of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter! We aren't meant to be normal!" Smith snarled at the other first year boy now that he had gotten a word out.

"I don't know what that even is!" Harry declared with a loud shout and frown marring his lips.

That certainly wasn't what Zacharias was expecting. The boy frozen and stared at Harry for long moments with his mouth open, then he shifted his gaze towards the clothing again starting to think. Quickly the bright young man looked up at Harry judging him, "Swear it to me."

"Swear what to you?" Harry was not fully angry! Not only had the boy insulted him but he had gotten him to lash out. Whenever that happened at home next thing would be a beating before being tossed into his cupboard. He wasn't going to let himself be picked on though, not now, not at Hogwarts too. He never realized that all of the years within the Dursley household seeing their anger and reactions had built up his own anger at the world. His own frustrations of his life every day built up time and again. What he was forced to live through that nobody deserved had been buried deep inside of him. But, now this boy who questioned everything he said and made assumptions about him was bringing it out. They all seemed to make assumptions about him. He was supposed to be something special, something unique and better than everyone else. Harry had hit the breaking point and it started to spill over.

He never noticed when his bed started to smoke from the fire of his blood calling on the wild magic. Instead he stared at the other first year boy as he yelled back, "Of course I don't bloody well know anything about this world! I have been raised by fat, arrogant muggles that told me only that my mother and father died drunks! I lived my life in living hell being beaten and worse every bloody day! How do you expect me to all of a sudden make everyone happy? I get here and I am some special person! I am supposed to be some supper hero! Hell Hannah has books written about me! I don't even know the first thing about this world or about my own family. I have never even seen a picture of my mother or father!"

After the last words were spoken Harry's bed seemed to have had enough. It erupted into full flames spilling over the bed burning not only his pulled out clothing but every but the mattress. Harry didn't notice at first though as he heaved heavy breaths realized what he just admitted.

Zacharias stared at his roommate with surprise. Never had he expected this. This boy was Harry bloody Potter and he just admitted he had been forced to live with muggles. Even worse those muggles were abusing him! The boy-who-lived, hero and icon of the wizarding world, not to mention the heir of House Potter was being abused by muggles? He snapped out of that thought which had derailed his brain when she saw the flames sprouting up. Quickly he ran to the door way and yelled out, "Fire!"

It was lucky that there was a fifth year prefect in the hallway. She ran into the room and saw the fire on Harry's bed. It was a quick Aguamenti that saw a jet of water onto the flames. She looked back an forth between the two boys before giving a snort and walking out of the room. Both of the first years knew hat they were lucky to do without a talk from the girl. But, most likely she would report what took place to their Head of House. The fire though had calmed the atmosphere between Zacharias and Harry.

The blonde haired boy looked down at Harry's bed with a frown, "The House elves will fit the bed. I am sorry."

Harry blinked in surprise at the change of statement all of a sudden. He looked up and saw his roommate was looking sheepish. Harry cleared his throat, "I am sorry too. I really do not know what you mean about everything. All I know of the magical world is what I have been taught in class or what Hagrid told me when he took me the alley. What is the ancient and noble House thing?"

Zacharias stared at the young man for a long time then offered his hand towards Harry, "I will teach you, perhaps we can start over? I am Zacharias Smith would you like to be my friend?"

Harry took hold of the hand with a smile and quick shake, "I would like that. I am Harry Potter, it is nice to meet you Zacharias."

That would be the day that Harry would start to get instruction about the wizarding world but even more he would make his best friend.

~~~ HoF ~~~

To most of those that had stayed for the feast it was Halloween. Many of the students had left to celebrate the old world customs including his best friend Zacharias. Harry had been feeling at ill ease all day and promised that he would go to the next festival to learn a bit more about the wizarding world. It want that Harry was Christian and believed one religion over another. Hell, he had been told by the Dursley family often enough that Freaks aren't allowed in church that in his heart he didn't know if he ever would go to one. No, the reason for his problems today was because it was the day of his parents death. This day ten years before Harry James Potter became an orphan and while the rest of the wizarding world celebrated it. Harry hated every moment of this day. It was a blank reminder of what he could have had if things had been different.

So despite the numerous types of candies and food all over the table Harry had no appetite. He actually sat at the back of the Hufflepuff table away from most of his year mates that he normally spent time with to be by himself. He pushed his fork around without eating but trying to ignore the attention and looks directed at him.

It was a surprise when the doors flew open and the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher ran into the Great Hall. The man looked around breathing heavily and screamed, "Troll! There is a Troll in the dungeon!"

Professor Quirrell quickly fell forward, a strange thing to see of someone feinting, onto his face with a loud thump. The hall erupted into screams of concern.

Harry saw the young professor fall down and grew concern. He had fallen a lot of times growing up and knew how much it hurt. If the Defense professor was unconscious someone should help him! Hell, he might be needed against the troll. They were very nasty creatures according to his books which he had read everything about.

It was with those thoughts that Harry got up from his seat and ran over to help the kind hearted man. The professor may smell bad and be a little strange but he was far from the worst professor. Actually he had been rather friendly to Harry so far in his classes and even offered multiple times to give him extra lessons. So one good turn deserving another Harry quickly knelt down and rolled over the man onto his back touching only his clothing.

It was then that he noticed how pale Professor Quirrell looked. He quickly reached his small hands upwards to check for a pulse at the man's neck. He was thankful for all of the time he spent at the library reading. It had been an excellent way to get away from the Dursley family for a time. Now it gave him a chance to try to help the poor fainted man till Madam Pomfrey could get here!

Harry touched his fingers to the bare neck of Quirinus Quirrell when the strangest thing started to happen. The young professor's skin started to burn. The noise of the hall at first masked the sound even from the young Hufflepuff of the scream that came from the Professor's throat.

It was only when Headmaster Dumbledore raised his wand with a loud signal fire and screamed out "Silence!" that everyone noticed Harry and Quirrell.

When the hall turned to look for the sound they found the poor Hufflepuff boy holding his hand against the throat of Professor Quirinus Quirrell while the man's neck was turning back by the second. The dark burned flesh was spreading by the second as pour Harry was panicking trying to reach forward to stop it. He looked in a panic as he thought he had done something wrong. Why was his friend in pain? What was happening that the poor good Professor was screaming! Had the troll somehow done this? Did his magic do this like the fire he caused when he was arguing with Zacharias?

Harry was pulled away from the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher as the man reached upwards towards him. His hands now starting to crumble into ash as his body burned. Harry didn't look back to see who grabbed him, but found out as the Headmaster swept by him towards the down Professor. But, the old man never reached him as out of the decaying body of Professor Quirrell a black mist formed. It screamed in rage as it shot out of the body of the former Dark Arts Professor startling everyone around it.

Harry saw the form and felt a pulling inside of him. It felt as if his head was going to burst. The scream of the demonic monstrous mist with red eyes caused the boy to fall onto his back rolling around. All of a sudden the scar on his forehead burst open. Black mist started to pour of it in a flash draining from the young man. The mist gathered together before it disappeared from sight.

Albus Dumbledore tried to react to the fact that Tom was here! He had been in Quirrell the whole time like he had thought and planned. But instead of all of his plans to get the man to try to steal the stone and become trapped in his runic array he now was hear floating incorporeal form before the entire student body! It was a great chance and a nightmare. Unfortunately before he could react he heard the scream of Harry and the black mist shot out of the young man. It speared through the old Headmaster chilling him to the bone, sapping his strength to the point that he felt his heart wanting to burst and the room becoming dark! Before Albus could react the mist disappeared and the demonic version of Tom was gone from the all.

All of the students of the hall stared now at the ash that had been the body of the Defense against the Dark Arts Professor and the body of the boy-who-lived next to him unconscious and bleeding heavily.

It would not be till twenty minutes later when the Slytherin House was heading back down to the dungeons that anyone remembered about the troll in the dungeon.

Author note: I can see a Hufflepuff Harry wanting to help a poor fallen over professor. I am sure Quirrelmort never planned for that one to happen. I always wondered if the different part of the soul called out to each other. They are part of the same after all. It would make sense with the connection between Harry and Tom that it was the soul of Tom trying to call out and connect with it's counterpart that allowed it. In this case I just took it to the next level as the pull of the soul fragment towards the original portion caused the fragment to rip out of Harry's head and combine back into Tom. It makes the Dark Lord a little more of his old self so perhaps he will act more sane and be more powerful. Thoughts? Like it or hate it? The Smiths are believed to be the descendants of Hufflepuff in a few places so I figured he might be an interesting friend for Harry. Plus from his attitude in the films I could see him taking offense to Harry acting the poor me card.