Chapter 9
Halfway through the train ride there was a knock on the door. Blaise got up and opened the door to see a kindly looking old lady standing behind a cart full of snacks and sweets.
"Would you kids like to buy anything on the cart?"
Tracy jumps up excitedly and rushes to pick out all her favourite treats; Blaise buys a couple boxes of what look like chocolate frogs; and Daphne gets a bag of just plain chocolate. They all turn their eyes to look at Harry, waiting for him to choose something from the cart.
"Oh, no thank you. I don't have much of a sweet tooth."
The lunch lady gives him a kind smile and wheels away her cart. Daphne and his new friends give him strange looks before getting lost in their snacks.
After a little while they hear the sound of a timid knock against the door of the compartment. They turn to see who it is and find a pudgy nervous looking boy standing in the doorway. Harry has no idea who he is but it seems like the others in the compartment do. It's Tracy that finally clears things up for him.
"Neville? Is everything okay?"
Harry looks at the boy with newfound interest. So this was Neville Longbottom, Heir to the House of Longbottom. Harry had to be honest with himself, Neville did not look like much. Just by his posture alone, Harry could tell that young Neville had hardly any confidence in himself. His arms were in front of him and he was leaning his body back ever so slightly, as if he was about to flee at the first sign of danger. He kept his eyes on the floor, refusing to meet the eyes' of the room's occupants.
"Urm… hi Tracy, Blaise, Daphne. I just came to see if you guys might have seen Trevor, my pet toad?"
Harry really didn't mean to but he couldn't help but feel his anger start to rise as he watched this boy. Neville was supposed to be the Heir to one of the oldest and most influential in Magical Britain. The Heir to the House that has been allies to the Potter House since the first Wizengamot. Looking at Neville right now, Harry was not very confident in the strength of the alliance once Neville took over.
Getting annoyed at the boy's nervous manner of speaking, Harry whipped out his wand and pointed it at the door.
"Listen Longbottom, I want you to close your eyes and picture the toad. Can you do that?" Neville jerks his head. Closing his eyes in concentration, Harry allows his magic to take over and reach out to Neville. Once it makes contact with the boy, Harry softly murmurs one of the most difficult spells he has learnt so far.
"Accio Trevor"
A few seconds go by before Neville is suddenly hit with a brown projectile that came flying out of no where, which he barely manages to catch before it hits the floor.
Harry watches as Neville checks over his toad before lifting his head to presumably thank Harry. However, the moment their eyes make contact for the first time Harry stiffens in his seat. Everyone looks at Harry to see a number of emotions flicker across his face. The last emotion to appear is a look of pain and regret before Harry forcibly brings his mask back up so that his face is set in its usual bored expression.
"They won't ever stop… trust me I know. The ones I used to deal with every day, and what you are probably dealing with on a daily basis, they are nothing compared to what goes up in here", Harry points to his head, "at night when I have hardly any control over my thoughts. I still have them every other night. I learnt to deal with them." Neville is the only one who seems to understand what Harry means as the other three occupants in the compartment look between the two boys in confusion. "I learnt something important years ago when I first fought back. Once you start fighting back, you start controlling your life. I know that you are aware of the connection that makes us practically brothers. Know that my pride will never allow me to call the person who you are right now, my brother. You need to fight back Neville. Not for me or your Grandmother; not for your parents or even your House… you need to make the decision to fight back for yourself or things will never change." Harry watches as Neville lowers his head and slowly begins to walk away from the compartment. Once he leaves, Harry releases a heavy sigh and leans his head against the back of his seat.
"Did you really have to break him down like that?" Harry looks across from him to meet the angry gaze of Tracy. Even Blaise and Daphne are sending him disapproving looks. "Why would you do that? His self-esteem is low enough as it is!"
Harry glances out the window for a bit, ignoring everyone else. When the silence comes close to being unbearable, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his Ipod. Untangling the cords of his earphones, he answers Tracy without meeting anyone's eyes.
"It was the look in his eyes. I used to have the exact same look before I was seven. Even though I was only one at the time, I still get flashes of what happened that night. Some of them are of my mother screaming and some of them are of her crying. The one thing that every single dream I have of that night is that it always ends with a bright flash of green light. If you combine all those nightmares with the daily beatings I used to get from both my uncle and cousin, you can understand that I just about gave up on life. No one was there to help me, I had to make the conscious decision to start looking out for myself. To start fighting back against everything wrong in my life." Finally Harry sorts through the cords of his earphones and places the buds in his ears. He then switches the small device on and searches for a specific song. "Neville has the potential to be a very powerful figure by the time he leaves Hogwarts, I just gave him the option to walk that path. If he chooses it, I shall help him. If he doesn't, I don't know if the Potter-Longbottom alliance will be able to last to the next generation." Harry fixes Tracy with a hardened gaze. "You asked why I did that? It's because I wish I had someone that told me exactly what I told Neville when I had absolutely no confidence in myself. You can think its cruel but you have never had to go through what we had to go through. For me it was abuse, for Neville it's the memories of his parents being tortured. I read the reports of that night. No matter how young a child may be, an event like that stays with them forever."
Harry clicks play and turns the volume up, drowning out the rest of the world as he allows himself to get lost in the musical chords running through his head.
Harry woke up to the feeling of being shaken. He blearily opens his eyes to see Daphne giving him a small smile.
"We almost at Hogsmeade station. Tracy and I need Blaise and you to leave the compartment so that we can get changed."
Harry nods his head and stands up to have a nice good stretch before he follows Blaise out the room to give the girls privacy. The stand outside the compartment for a minute before Blaise brings up a topic he is confused about.
"Harry, how are you able to use your Ipod? If I had know that they work when around magic then I would have brought mine along as well."
"Well I only learnt fairly recently that using electrical devices around magic rarely happens. You se, I found a spell made by my mom that enables me to use any electrical device by using magic as a power source. I cant teach you the spell since I already promised Daphne I would teach her in a few years time. Just ask your mom to send along your Ipod and I will cast the spell for you."
"Thanks, that's will make being at Hogwarts a whole lot easier."
Before they could continue their conversation, the girls stepped out the compartment to give the boys a chance to change. Once the boys were done they let the girls back in and the four of them spent the remaining time in easy flowing conversation.
The group of four got off the train to see all the older students walk in the direction of the carriages. Before they had a chance to follow the older kids, a booming voice rang out through the night.
"Firs' yea's, firs' yea's. All you firs' yea's over here please."
The group made their way over to the tallest man any of them have ever seen. He easily towered over all of them to the point that it would take three of them standing on each others' shoulders just to reach the end of his really long beard. The weirdest part about the giant was that he was carrying a pink umbrella.
All the first years followed the giant of a man off the platform and down a path that ended at a lake. There were boats lined up on the shore.
"Four to a boat!"
Once everyone was seated, the giant man got into a boat and all the first years stared wide-eyed at the fact that the little boat was able to keep the huge man above water. He suddenly points his pink umbrella in front of him and shouted.
"Forward!"
All the boats lurched forward, gaining yelps of surprise from some of their passengers. As the boats floated towards a bend in the lake, the first years noted that the night sky was being lit up by something in the distance. As they drifted past the curve of the lake, none of the first years would ever be able to say that the breath wasn't taken out of them at the sight that greeted them.
A magnificent castle stood tall beyond the shore they were currently heading towards. It was lit up so that they could see it in all its glory. From where they were currently floating they could see the main building and the towers spread all over it. The castle itself had an ancient look to it while at the same time looking as if it was the safest place on earth. Even from the distance they were at on the lake, every single first year could feel the magical that literally surrounded the castle. It gave them a feeling of arriving home after being gone for a long period of time.
Finally reaching the shore, they all hopped out of the boat before following behind the giant man up a flight of stairs that were next to what looked to be the boathouse. As soon as the reached the top of the stairs, they were ushered through a courtyard to a set of huge double doors. In front of the door stood a stern looking witch.
At the sight of the witch it took all of Harry's self-control to not snort out loud at the clothes that she had on. She looked the obviously generic witch that he used to see whenever he watched any movie that had something to do with witches and wizards. The dress she wore was black in colour and reached all the way door to the floor, completely covering her feet. She had a big pointy black hat on that was perched on the top most part of her head so that her face was visible. The way her face was set in a stern expression was an indication to Harry that she hadn't had a good laugh in what he guessed to be years. The giant man walked up to the old witch and bowed his head.
"The firs' yea's Professor. All here an' all safe."
The witch looked them over before giving a curt nod of her head in the direction of the giant man.
"Yes, I see that. Thank you Hagrid, you may leave now." As the giant man walked back out through the courtyard, the old witch lead the batch of first years through the big double doors before stopping before another set of doors and turning around to face the new students. "Welcome to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am the Deputy Headmistress of this fine institute. You may refer to me as Professor McGonagall. Before you meet the rest of the students I would like to take the time to explain what will happen. When you walk through that door you will be tested to see which house you will belong to for your remaining time at Hogwarts. There a four House which you standing the chancing of becoming apart of. Gryffindor, the House of the brave; Ravenclaw, the House of the wise; Hufflepuff, the House of loyalty; and lastly Slytherin, the House of the cunning."
Harry didn't even try to contain his eye roll at the obvious favouritism and disdain showed to particular Houses. It was plainly obvious that the professor standing before him was a part of Gryffindor House. Even if he hadn't read his parents' journals it would have been hard for him to miss the amount of pride in her voice when she spoke the name. The disdain, bordering disgust, which he heard in her voice, could have only been for Slytherin.
"No matter what House you eventually find yourself in, always remember that your House is your family. Now, I will go instead to get everything ready for your test." With that she makes a way to a small door that was a little way down foyer and walked through it.
As the rest of the first years broke out into nervous chatter about what the test would be, Harry walked up to a wall and was leaning his back against it. He closed his eyes and subtly let his magic search the immediate area surrounding him. As he was getting feedback from him magic, he suddenly felt the presence of a couple beings made of magic making their way towards the first years. At the sound of one of his year mates shouting in fear, Harry opened his eyes to find out that the magical presences that he felt were in fact ghost.
One that looked like his head was barely connected to his head literally floated through a group of first years before turning to talk to them.
"My, I hope to see you in the House of the brave. Gryffindor of course."
After the ghosts left, Harry closed his eyes again and resumed his inspection of the area.
"So this is the great Harry Potter."
Deciding to ignore the voice that was begging for attention, Harry continued on with his task.
"Oi, Potter!"
The only indication that Harry even heard the voice was the slight twitch of his left ourbrow.
"When my father hears about this, you'll be expelled for sure!"
At the last comment Harry finally opens his eyes. The sight that greets him is an almost carbon copy of Lucius Malfoy. Harry allows a smirk to fall into place before addressing the boy in front of him.
"Let me guess… porcelain skin, manicured nails, ridiculously expensive robes, and way too much hair product for any one person… you are obviously a very sexually confused boy which would make you a male member of the Malfoy family, would it not?"
The Malfoy Heir's face turns an intense shade of red as the students around the two burst into laughter. Malfoy sputters for a bit before finding his voice again.
"When my father hears about this-"
"-he will be unable to do a single thing." Harry's face settles back down into its bored look before he continues. "Need I remind you that the wealth that your family had was 95% owned by me, as the rightful Heir to the House of Black. 95% which I took back, meaning that your father does not have nearly the amount of power and influence that he used to since now he can't buy himself out of trouble and into favourable situations. Lets not also forget that I defeated both your father and Lord Nott in an honour duel and that your family now owes me a favour that I can cash in at anytime." Harry releases his magic and it is felt by all the first years standing in the foyer. The only ones that are comfortable standing around Harry are Daphne, Blaise, and Tracy. "I think its time you had a reality check little boy. You do not have any power over me, or anyone else standing here. You, like your father, aren't worth very much. If you are to test my patience by being annoying, or if you attempt to harm my friends in anyway, I will do what I did to your father and show you just how much the Malfoy name means to me. Do not test me on this. I am one who enjoys a good fight every now and then and I have no problem in being the instigator, consequences be damned."
Harry exhorts pressure on his magic so that Malfoy knows that he is very serious. Before anyone can speak up, Harry turns to face a red-haired boy standing with his mouth open, as if to begin speaking.
"Judging by the red hair, I believe I am right in assuming you to be a Weasley?" At the nod of the boy's head, Harry continues his speech. "The same applies to you. I can feel from the magic surrounding you that you were about to make some smart remark, probably about how I lied about what I said to your mother. My advice? Wait until the paper tomorrow morning before deciding to attempt to make an enemy out of me."
Before anything else could be said, the huge doors opened up to reveal Professor McGonagall taking a step into the foyer to address the first years.
"We are now ready for the sorting. Please make your way inside the Great Hall in an orderly fashion."
so please review and let me know what you think. for those of you who kinda figured out how busy harry will be, do you think its a good idea to have him play quidditch? i can have him play or not play, its really up to you