Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter II- And Away He Goes
"Stop fighting like a fool!" Mad-Eye Moody taunted while he easily deflected a Stunner, courtesy of Harry Potter. "The Minister of Magic isn't paying me enough to train weaklings like you."
These harsh but sadly true remarks stung the ego of Harry Potter. But of course, he wouldn't allow the Auror to see that. Never show fear in the face of the enemies, was the number one rule of Alastor Moody who was tasked by the Minister Fudge with training the vivacious boy against the rebel insurgence that so wanted his life. After several attempts at the life of the young boy, the Ministry was forced to remove the underage rule from him so he could train hard during the summer.
As soon as he turned eleven, the Auror was given the task of preparing Harry Potter for the insurgence or for the countless of people who wanted to kill him. And it was no easy task, dealing with the arrogance of the boy. But Alastor soon got used to it, and he actually acknowledged the potential and brilliance of Harry Potter, even if he thought the kid was a waste of sperm.
"Let's see you handle this- Incendia Verbero!" Harry Potter hollered victoriously as a long whip made of melting lava furiously erupted from his wand. This was the finest spell that Harry knew, one he had practiced for hours on end to master. A cripple like Mad-Eye can't possibly dodge these attacks, thought the Boy-Who-Lived arrogantly.
The experienced Auror was very much surprised that the brash, arrogant Gryffindor knew such a powerful spell but he showed no signs of being impressed. The boy's got a big enough head already, thought the Auror disdainfully.
Harry fluidly slashed the air with his wand. The fiery whip was connected to the wand and as he expertly moved the wand, the whip was also moved. He had swiftly tried to burn his mentor with several strikes, but unfortunately for him, the Auror was much more agile than he looked. With agility not expected from a man with a peg of wood for a leg, Mad-Eye easily dodged each strike while he looked for a vulnerable spot. The Boy-Who-Lived started to lose concentration and get tired of this, and at that exact moment, Alastor Moody showed him why he was one of the greatest Aurors ever.
The one-legged man swiftly flicked his wand, and almost instantly, a powerful jet of clear water burst from his wand. It rocketed with inhumane speed towards the Boy-Who-Lived who instinctively deflected the water with his whip.
Harry gritted his teeth as his whip disappeared into a great puff of steam that encompassed the entire training hall. He couldn't see and he knew that he was defeated. "Nice try," he heard the Auror whisper to his ear. Before the young boy could react, he suddenly found himself drifting closer and closer to sleep. Harry tried to desperately wake himself up, but after thirty seconds, he finally succumbed.
Despite how much Mad-Eye thought that the unconscious boy was a spoiled brat with no respect for others, he had to concede that the Boy-Who-Lived had potential- And a lot of it
"You lost Potter," Mad-Eye grunted victoriously as the smoke subsided revealing a spread-eagled Harry looking disdainfully at the face of his mentor. "Immediately after the steam blocked your eyesight, I swiftly transfigured the steam around you into a sleeping gas that will temporarily you knock you out. A shrimp like you isn't even close to having the skill needed to do this kind of magic," Alastor grunted arrogantly in an attempt to rile him up. He knew that these sorts of comments only drove the Boy-Who-Lived into becoming stronger. "Do you understand what happened?"
The teenager nodded. With great effort, he managed to stand up while simultaneously refusing the help of Mad-Eye. "Let's go again, cripple." Harry cockily said as if forgetting the fact that he had just been defeated in a duel. "And this time I won't take it easy on you."
Mad-Eye had been the tutor of Harry for quite a while and he was perfectly aware of the fact that his student was trying to goad him into jumping into another fight. He knew that the boy was an arrogant prat for the most part, but there was some semblance of good deep, deep, inside. "While I'd like to continuously rip you apart for the whole day, I don't want to injure you too much- After all, what will happen if the so-called Chosen One has bruises from actual battle? Wouldn't want the gossip section to post pictures of a battered Harry Potter now, would we?"
For a moment Harry Potter looked like he would hit the crippled man, but after a few moments, he grinned. "Touché," the Boy-Who-Lived replied. He couldn't really say anything since that was the truth. "I guess this is good bye till next year, Mad-Eye." The-Boy-Who-Lived stretched out his hand.
"Until next year boy," the Auror muttered shaking the hand of Harry, shocked that the boy was showing some respect. That was of course until the Boy-Who-Lived grinned arrogantly while he didn't let go of his hand.
"Stupefy!" shouted the green-eyed teenager as he pointed his wand at the chest of the Auror. The Boy-Who-Lived finally let go of his hand, but it was too late to escape for the Auror. Mad-Eye grunted in pain as a fiery bolt of magic struck him with the force of a hammer. He was slammed with incredible force against the concrete wall. "Constant vigilance, old man, remember that," Harry Potter taunted with incredible audacity as he loftily walked away from the injured Auror.
Mad-Eye Moody grunted in pain as he painfully watched the bastard walk happily away. That boy should be in Slytherin, the Auror muttered under his breathe, because he sure as hell acts like one.
At that moment, Mad-Eye had no idea how correct his statement was.
It was dinner time for the Potters when Harry Potter finally went home. After showering and nursing his bruises, he then went to the dinner table to eat. When he sat down at the table, his father spoke up.
"It's time to prepare for tomorrow," James told his son while he absentmindedly cut his food. "Will you need anything before going tomorrow?"
"Actually I do," said the Boy-Who-Lived. "I'd like a new broom- preferably that Firebolt. Think you can buy it for me?"
"If the Sponsor says you've been good then we will," Lily replied, fully aware that the chances of that were pretty low. And besides, the boy was spoiled enough already.
Meanwhile, Harry frowned at this. According to his parents, there would be an impartial, unknown, Slytherin tasked with keeping track of his behavior at all times. The Sponsor was to watch his progress the entire year and send regular reports to his parents and Dumbledore. So if Harry was good then others would find out, but if he was bad then others would find out. The green-eyed boy thought this was incredibly unfair- and with good reason too. He knew that every single Slytherin was eagerly awaiting his expulsion from Hogwarts, even this so-called 'impartial observer.'
"You might as well say no," the green-eyed boy muttered under his breathe.
For a few minutes there was a tense silence, where only the clattering of the utensils could be heard, until Lily asked a question in an attempt to break the silence. "Are you looking forward to Hogwarts, Carmela?"
"Yes, I am mum," Carmela, the only sibling of Harry, exclaimed excitedly. She looked like a carbon copy of what her mother would have looked like a child with her flowing garnet-colored hair that was neatly adorned with a colorful flower, to her dark green eyes which always seemed to be wide with wonder. "I can't wait to go to Hogwarts!"
"Where do you want to be placed in?" Harry eagerly inquired, while he leaned closer to his sister. His sister was quite possibly the only person in the entire world that the Boy-Who-lived treated with tenderly love. Most people who had come to see him as the arrogant, egotistic prat that he truly was, were always exceptionally surprised when they saw him playing happily with h is sister.
"While I'd honest prefer Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, I wouldn't mind being in Slytherin too much, especially since Harry is there," the little girl teased, knowing how much Harry hated Slytherin.
"Trust me you wouldn't want to be in Slytherin," Harry said in a matter-of-factly tone, secretly terrified at the thought of his sweet, innocent little sister becoming a dirty Slytherin. "They like to eat little girls like you- and err, do lots of other disgusting things."
"Whatever you say brother," Carmela adorably said, knowing fully well that her brother was just joking. For the rest of dinner, the two siblings happily chatted away while James and Lily looked happily at their son, very much pleased that he had the ability to actually be nice. It happened very rarely, but as he enthusiastically chatted with his sister, he almost looked normal.
Just almost.
After eating dinner, Harry went up to his bed to get some much needed rest. As soon as he lay down on his bed, the green-eyed boy fell into deep slumber.
"Now, now I feel so unlucky," Voldemort hissed in feigned sadness as he walked towards a cradle with a baby inside. "I came here also expecting to kill your parents but alas! I find only two pitiful Muggles, probably a relative of your Mudblood of a mother in their place, though I must say that that in itself is not so bad. It was a mostly unsatisfying kill, though I admit that the melodic shrieks were quite entertaining." The Slytherin grinned demonically at the baby as though he expected them to understand what he was saying.
The baby merely looked curiously at the Dark Lord, as though the killer was merely an animal to be stared at in zoo.
"It's a shame that I have to kill you- well not really- but I must do it in order to secure the wellbeing of the Wizarding world. Goodbye Harry Potter- you have yet to have live." The Dark Lord pointed his hand, a wand that had killed countless of people who'd dare to stand up against, and he grinned maliciously. "Avada Kedavra!"
The little boy merely watched curiously as a jet of sickly green magic rocketed towards him with incredible speed. The last thing he remembered seeing was the terrifying face of Voldemort leering at him with such intensity.
Harry suddenly found himself awake, tired and terrified by his dreams- or was it a nightmare? It was already morning- He could hear the melodic, cheerful chirping of the birds' right outside his window. He sighed in relief.
The green-eyed boy left his room rather hurriedly, and as soon as he stepped out of his room, he was pleasantly greeted by the delicious smell of breakfast. He eagerly walked down the spiral staircase, and into the kitchen, where his family was already fully dressed and eating- Except for him of course.
"Harry, I think you should take a look at this," James said, spraying bits of bread on his daughter while doing so. He handed him the Daily Prophet of the day.
The Boy-Who-Lived took the paper and he groaned loudly when he saw the front-page headline.
Harry Potter's Snaky Year
By Rita Skeeter
The Boy-Who-Lived has always been seen as the epitome of a Gryffindor, brave and noble, he has already done several great things in his young life. He is already being praised by many to be the next Merlin, the man who shall be our aegis against the forces of evil. So it came as a huge surprise to me, when I was tipped off by an anonymous wizard about Harry Potter's snaky change in nature.
According to many Hogwarts students, Harry Potter's penchant for bravery and incredibly magical abilities, is only matched by his unbridled hate for the Slytherins, a house filled with cunning and ambitious men- the opposite of a Gryffindor. He has supposedly gained quite a notorious reputation in the school for his tendencies to bully, harass and even hospitalize anyone who wears green. But one day, the rightfully concerned parents of the Slytherins being bullied, demanded that the half-sane Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, expel Harry Potter.
Instead of agreeing to this, the Headmaster instead made his own admittedly ingenious suggestion which the parents agreed to. Harry Potter is to live with the Slytherins, go to class with the Slytherins, and basically be a Slytherin for his whole year! If he has shown signs of improvement then he shall be allowed to stay in Hogwarts, but failure to do will result in his immediate expulsion.
Oh my, the Boy-Who-Lived has literally become the thing he has hated the most in the whole hard. It seems that he has finally gotten his just desserts for being so cruel to the Slytherins. Now this shall surely be an interesting year for Harry Potter and all of the Slytherins.
The Boy-Who-Lived cursed under his breathe as he imagined the reactions of his friends and fans to this damn article. They would definitely not be pleased by this, and he didn't look forward to seeing them. Anyways, Harry Potter got up from the kitchen table to dress up, still anxious about seeing his friends, but determined not to let it terrify him into submission.
After everybody was finished eating and dressing, they all went to the car. The car, while it looked quite small and crowded from the outside, it was actually spacey in the inside, thanks to the spells cast by Lily. They drove to the train station quietly- Everybody was still either thinking or too tired to get involved in a conversation.
For about half an hour they were like this, until the car finally made it to Kings Cross. It was still pretty early in the morning but the train station was already brimming with many magical folks, all of them eager to get into the train or to get their kids inside the train.
The Boy-Who-Lived and his family left their car, and they started to go towards the barrier that separated the Express from the Muggle eyes. Before his eyes, Carmela walked through the barrier, taking her first step towards becoming a witch.
Harry prepared to follower her, but before he could walk through, he was stopped by his father and mother. "Before you go to school, I have to tell you to not worry about Snape," James confidentially told his son. "I had a word with him and Dumbledore- the Headmaster agreed that if that slimy git- uh, sorry Lily- if he tries to abuse his power in an attempt to get you expelled then he will be fired. The Headmaster is behind us all the way here, and he wants to give you the best chance possible."
"Thanks dad," Harry gratefully said.
Harry smiled. "I guess this is goodbye then," he said to his parents as he hugged them both. He didn't have much to say. His parents merely smiled at him, and they said their goodbyes before starting to walk back to the car.
Harry took one look at them leave, before he himself started walking. As he walked through the barrier with his luggage in hand, he felt the feeling that despite how he acted, his parents were still looking out for him. He felt the rare feeling of serenity.
A feeling he barely felt in his celebrated, active, yet hollow life.
"Are you ready to go to Hogwarts now?" Carmela muttered grumpily as he got past the barrier. She had been waiting for him.
"Yeah Carmela," Harry said smiling with almost a sense of humbleness, "I am." And at that moment, he didn't worry too much about the upcoming reaction to him being placed in Slytherin. Of course, he once again became anxious when he saw several wizards and witches pointing rather rudely at him.
The two Potters then went inside the train, trying to ignore the people who were openly pointing at Harry as though he was a zoo animal. They hurriedly but cautiously went inside the Express, making sure that they weren't being recognized by other people.
Luckily, the Boy-Who-Lived found an empty compartment to go to, while his sister eagerly went to her the compartment of her best friend, leaving her brother all alone. And to be honest, that was the way Harry wanted it for the ride. He was usually a very social teenager, one who was always surrounded by infatuated and impressed students, all of them wanting to get to know him better. But the Boy-Who-Lived just wanted to be alone.
Unfortunately for the green-eyed boy, minutes after his sister left, his friends meekly walked inside the compartment. His three best friends- Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Ron Weasley were there. "Hello," the Boy-Who-Lived half-heartedly said, while his friends replied with faked enthusiasm.
"I've read the article Harry, but don't worry- I'm not about to stop becoming friends with you now," Ron passionately exclaimed as though he was trying to convince himself. The two other Gryffindors quickly said the same thing.
"Thanks guys," the Boy-Who-Lived replied as he reclined against the chair. "I really do appreciate it."
As he looked at his friends, he honestly wouldn't have held it against them if they decided to stop talking to him. And in fact he expected them to do just that.
Harry was, to put it frankly, merely an icon and celebrity to them, and he understood that. There were never really any true signs of friendship between them- the relationship between the Boy-Who-Lived and his three 'best friends' was a symbiotic one.
The green-eyed boy knew the three boys were merely pals with him because he was famous and it impressed them. He knew that the second he became something that they didn't like, like becoming a Slytherin for example, then they would stop befriending him eventually. And he was honestly fine with it.
The only reason Harry even bothered to befriend them was because it gave him a sense of normalcy. That was something that he rarely felt in his life- he had always been the celebrity, the prodigy, and many other 'the' but in the end, he was never normal. The Boy-Who-Lived knew deep inside his egotistic heart that it was pathetic- pathetic that his emotional wellbeing depended on these three students, but his ego prevented him from acknowledging this weakness. And as a result of this, he had somehow convinced himself of having a 'true friendship' with them, but all of a sudden, thanks to his unfortunate Slytherin situation, he was forced to acknowledge this.
For the next few hours Harry sat there quietly, looking at the passing scenery, while his friends talked cheerfully and excitedly to each other about their summer. After what seemed to be forever, someone opened the compartment. Everybody looked up, only to be disappointed by the sight of Draco Malfoy and his goons, Crabbe and Goyle, smirking arrogantly at them.
Harry and the three Gryffindors instantly reached for their wands, while the Slytherins did the same thing. "Relax, Potter and friends," Malfoy disdainfully said, "I don't want to waste my time fighting with you two right now."
"Well what do you want Malfoy, hair conditioning advice?" the Boy-Who-Lived retorted sarcastically.
"Shut it Potter," the Slytherin replied while he absentmindedly touched his hair. "Just here to tell you that we will be getting to know each other a lot more intimately this year, and that I'd show some respect- after all you want to have a fairly pleasant experience right?" The Boy-Who-Lived raised his eyebrows at Malfoy's choice of words. After pausing for a bit the Slytherin then continued on, completely unaware of how gay he had just sounded. "So I'd say you should watch out Potter- you're in the realm of the snakes now, and if you don't watch out, you'll get bitten." Malfoy then grinned what he thought was an intimidating grin, before he dramatically left the compartment, once again unaware of how foolish he had just seemed.
As a result of this incident, Harry and the Gryffindors furiously laughed at the idiocy of the platinum-haired boy. After the laughter finally subsided, the compartment became silence once again. For the rest of the trip, the three Gryffindors quietly talked amongst themselves, while he returned to looking at the scenery in quiet reflection.
After they finally made it to Hogwarts, Harry and his friends boarded the nearest empty carriage, while he saw his sister go to the nearest boat. The Boy-Who-Lived stopped for a brief moment to admire the Thestrals, pitch-black stallions with powerful looking wings, while he remembered the first of many times he had seen death.
He was only eight years old yet he was already taking advantage of his political influence as the Boy-Who-Lived by posing for pictures with the Minister of Magic. All of a sudden, a darkly clad wizard of medium built, leaped on the stage where the picture taking was happening with his wand raised and pointed at the Boy-Who-Lived. The assailant to be was half-way to uttering an incantation when all of a sudden he was swiftly barraged by a powerful Bludgeoning spell courtesy of Mad-Eye Moody. A loud sickening crack was echoed throughout the podium as the head was cleanly decapitated.
As a sliver of blood sprayed the abnormally silent Harry across the face, the terrified crowd shrieked and shouted with incredible volume. Meanwhile, the head landed only a few feet away from the Boy-Who-Lived who morbidly stared into the bloody, yet unimaginably enraged eyes of the dead man.
It was to give him nightmares for years, and even now, he still pondered why anyone would try to kill him as a child. As the carriage drew him closer and closer to his school, he assured himself that he was fully prepared for whatever faced him.
After all, he had faced worst things before.
Author's Note-
Well, here's the second chapter of my story. I'm a bit worried that I tried to pack too many things at once, but for the most part, I'm happy with it. Mad-Eye is to play a very important part in this story, as a mentor and reluctant protector.
Also, I pretty much put Carmela in here to show that Harry is not 100 a bastard and that he does have some emotions.
Next chapter is the feast and Harry's first few days as a Slytherin.