Disclaimer: We do not own the Harry Potter series. It is the property of J. K. Rowling. This is meant for entertainment purposes only.

Harry Potter and the Winter Court Chapter Two

The next morning Harry joined his aunt in the kitchen and fell in helping her prepare breakfast. She paused in mid-step, startled by the boy's involvement. After a moment she shook herself and asked harshly, "What do you think you are doing?"

"I'm helping with breakfast." he said as he flipped the bacon.

"Since when do I need help?" She spat.

"I figured that I should start helping out, now that I'm better." He responded, pouring orange juice into the four glasses.

She felt her anger rising, and then the sudden cramp in her leg reminded of the extended time she had spent sitting last night. Thanks to those damn witches, both her and Vernon would be sore for most of the day from that episode. But the pain triggered the memory of what had caused it, deflating her emotions quickly. She finally said, "Well fine. If you must help, try not to burn anything, or your uncle will be furious."

He smiled, "I'll try."

Harry continued tending the cooking items, eventually transferring it to the plates. He moved the juice to the table as Vernon walked in, glaring at him. "What are you doing boy?"

"I'm helping." he replied as he went back for the food.

Harry's uncle harrumphed, but decided not to comment. As the young wizard set the plates on the table the middle aged man eyed it suspiciously, expecting it to start slithering off the surface any moment. Harry on the other hand took his seat and started eating, forcing himself to eat slowly despite the ravenous hunger gnawing at him. Dudley waddled in and took his place, oblivious to the strained silence between the other members of the household.

Shortly after finishing his meal, the young wizard rose and carried his dishes to the sink. He then headed for the door, saying, "I'm going to move my things into the spare bedroom." Before anyone could argue the point he disappeared, the swishing of the door the only sign of his passing.

Ten seconds later he heard his cousin whining, "But it's mine. I need it."

Then his uncle bellowed, "Quiet." Harry heard the overweight man storming toward the kitchen door. Vernon stopped on the other side of the small door and mumbled, "It really is better for you to move up there anyway. As we need the cupboard for extra storage."

"How magnanimous of you. I might die from the kindness." Harry said sarcastically.

"Don't take that tone with me." Harry's Uncle bellowed.

Harry cut him off, saying, "Or what? You'll spend another night unable to move."

The puce color drained from the middle-aged man's face, leaving him pale as his mouthed worked soundlessly.

Harry smiled and headed up the stairs with all of his things packed into his trunk.

xxxXXXxxx

That night Harry had cleaned up and organized his new room. He boxed up many of the broken toys from Dudley's previous birthdays and stacked them in the closet. He then took a pin from his pocket and stabbed deeply into the tip of his right pointer finger. He then squeezed the finger for blood and turned to the door. He spent the next five minutes constructing a runic circle on the door, pausing occasionally to coax more blood from the wound. The work started with a six inch, perfectly round circle, followed by a large rune that looked like a possible derivative for several modern runes in the center, representing the entire effect. Then he wrote the details of the spell around the inner circle, detailing what would happen to any who dared to invade his space. Finally he enclosed the entire intricate design within another perfect circle.

As the outer circuit closed Harry infused his energy into it, and the array briefly flared a brilliant cerulean blue. Then he took his finger away and the light faded, leaving only the bare white door.

The young wizard then went to the broken mirror and placed his bleeding finger on the cracked surface. He slowly inscribed another, much smaller circle of runes and closed it. As he expected the cracks mended themselves, completely repairing the reflective surface. Then the clear reflection became cloudy, swirling slowly, and Harry knew it was ready. He leaned forward and said to the mirror, "Lilly and James Potter."

The swirling became more violent, reminding Harry of a tornado he had once observed. In the center a point of light appeared, spreading toward the edges, driving the instability back. The image resolved into his parents, looking down through the mirror, with the sky as a backdrop. "Nice to finally hear from you son." James Potter said, his voice mildly distorted by the transition.

"Sorry." Harry said. "I had to get something extra to eat last night. My body is trying to grow into my other physique. And you did tell me I needed to start living here more."

"It's alright, sweetie." Lilly said. "We just got used to seeing you all the time, so it takes some getting used to."

xxxXXXxxx

Hermione Granger was driving her parents crazy, bouncing from book to book, trying to absorb as much information as possible. This resulted in her making random outbursts as new ideas linked together in interesting ways. She was reading one of her history books while her father was perusing a dental journal and her mother was going over some of their bills. Alan Granger looked up from his journal and asked, "So, How did it go yesterday?"

His daughter set the book down and turned to face her parents, "It was great. I met some goblins at this bank called Gringotts. Then I got my wand from this creepy old guy named Olivander." She was speaking with an excited speed that left little room to breath, "Then she took me to get some robes, and I met this boy, Harry, and we talked about school. He's starting this year as well. He's really smart and we talked while we picked up our other things."

Samantha Granger was happy to hear that her daughter was finally making friends. Hermione was smarter than most kids her age and didn't realize how annoyed other kids could get about her encyclopedic habit. Now she had been a part of the magical world for less than a month and already had a friend. She said, "I'm happy you're enjoying this dear. We were so worried that you'd be disappointed when you started this."

"It's great mum. So many things to learn, and with someone to study with it can be a lot of fun."

The Grangers nodded at each other and went back to their tasks. After about fifteen minutes Hermione gasped, holding her hand to her mouth to try to cover her overlarge front teeth. Samantha looked up suddenly and asked, "What is it dear, something shockingly different about the wizard version of history?"

The Granger's youngest daughter shook her head and said, "I just found an entry on Harry Potter."

Alan scratched his chin, saying, "Can't say I know that name."

"When he was fifteen months old his parents were murdered by a dark wizard. Then that same wizard tried to kill Harry, but the spell backfired, and no one has seen him since." Hermione summarized the page long bio.

Her mother frowned, "That sounds like a tragic story. But how does that explain your reaction?"

"That young man I met yesterday. His name is Harry Potter." Hermione said.

"Sounds like he could use a real friend." Her father said, "Listen, there will be a great many people trying to catch his eye because he is famous. But real friends, the ones who knew him before they knew his story are what he needs the most."

"Don't lecture." Mrs. Granger told her husband. Then she turned to her daughter, "From what you said about the way he behaved I would venture to guess that he doesn't even know about his past yet. Just be there if he ever wants to talk about it, but try not to bring the subject up."

xxxXXXxxx

It was just after lunch and Minerva was pacing back and forth in her office waiting for Poppy to show up so they could take their findings to the Headmaster. She was matching her step to that of the music she was listening to, letting the angry words of the song feed her own anger. The tempo changed and the part she had been waiting for approached. She sang along "And when I dream, and when I dream, and when I dre..."

The ward on her door switched the modified wireless off as someone was about to enter the soundproofed room. Madam Pomfrey walked in looking as mad as she had been the day before, carrying a small stone tablet like a clipboard under her left arm. "Are you ready Minerva?"

"Of course Poppy. Is that the scan information you got yesterday?"

Pomfrey nodded and handed the tablet over, "I've compiled the data and checked it three times."

The smooth surface shifted and changed colors to display a human form with various labels to indicate where and when damage had occurred. It still made Minerva shutter in rage to think that all this had been done to a young boy by his own relatives.

"I told him 'These are the worst sort of muggles imaginable' but he didn't listen, and now look at what this poor boy has gone through. 'This is necessary for his protection.' he said, 'He must stay here to be safe' Ha, maybe safe from dark wizards but not from his own blood." Minerva ranted.

"Nor apparently from meddling light wizards either." said the enraged mediwitch. She turned from the tablet to Minerva "How are we going to get him out of there, and what shall we do with Albus."

Minerva scrunched up her face and contemplated the options. She had tried this ten years ago to no avail. The only new evidence she had was the medical report, which might not convince the Headmaster. That arrogant old coot would rather the boy was somewhere the other side couldn't get to him than a place where he could actually have a loving family. If only Dumbledore wasn't so worried about that prophecy.

Finally she looked at her colleague and closest friend and smiled, "I don't care what Albus says. Even if he doesn't consent to letting us take Harry away from those horrible people, we'll make sure that they can no longer hurt him."

Poppy grinned evilly, "So much for coming in peace."

xxxXXXxxx

Albus Dumbledore was completely shocked at what he was reading from the medical report. He knew that young Mr. Potter would be in for a harsh childhood with the Dursleys. He knew the muggles would not understand some of what happened around Harry. The old man even understood that they might try to raise the boy in such a way as to make him turn out normally. But he never imagined they would go this far.

Now he had a pair of very upset witches in his office wanting him to let them bring the child to live at the school. Not even considering his usual compunctions against letting students live in the castle, Harry was still safer in his relative's house. Or so he thought.

Looking up into his Deputy Headmistress's eyes he conceded his error, "I'm sorry Minerva. I never imagined this could happen. How inhuman does a person have to be to break a three year old's arm?"

"I hate to say I told you so, but I did say they were the worst sort of muggle I had ever seen. But you insisted on leaving him there, all because of some archaic blood wards." McGonagall snapped.

"The protection provided by proximity to his relatives would compliment that imparted by Lily's death." Dumbledore feebly tried to defend himself.

"But is it worth having him horribly abused and beaten by those relatives?" Poppy asked with the calm voice she used when she was really angry.

Hanging his head Albus said, "No, no it's not. What do you want to do about it?"

"I would prefer to have him living in the castle, but I'm sure you have an argument against that." Minerva said, setting up her real plan of visiting the Dursleys on a regular basis. She took a perverse pleasure in torturing those pitiful excuses for human beings.

"It is not the policy of this school to house students permanently throughout their tenure here. True," He held up his hand to stop the approaching arguments, "Exceptions have been made. But these were the most extreme circumstances. I believe that he can stay with the Dursleys as long as certain precautions are taken."

McGonagall smiled inwardly while scowling outwardly as Albus played into her hands. "Very well, but I will be taking charge of this myself. Poppy and I are already involved so we can visit them once a week until we are satisfied that he is no longer being abused." She stood and moved to leave. "I'll send them a letter tomorrow warning them of our impending visits. I think we're done here Poppy." The two women swept from the room, leaving Dumbledore sitting there alone.

Albus was disturbed by this situation. The violence indicated by the scans being directed toward a child rocked him to his core. He had seen similar brutality from Grindelwald, but one expects such thing from a dark lord. He summoned a piece of parchment and quill, writing a quick letter to his contact among the Unspeakables. He signed and sealed the message and handed it to Fawkes. The Phoenix took flight and immediately disappeared in a burst of flame.

xxxXXXxxx

Two days later Harry awoke to the sound of something tapping on his window. He slowly raised the pillow from his head and glanced toward the sound. The light was too much at first, giving him the impression of a sky full of swirling while clouds. As his eyes adjusted the shape of a snowy owl came into focus. He remembered his parents saying something about the animals being used as message carriers in the magical world.

Harry opened the window and the animal carefully flew in carrying an ornate brass cage. It set the cage down and perched atop it, holding out its leg that had a rolled piece of parchment attached to it. He took the letter and unrolled it, reading the untidy scrawl on the paper.

Dear Harry,

I decided to get ya an owl fer yer birthday.
Hope ya like it.
She needs a name.

Hagrid
Keeper of Keys and Game at Hogwarts.

Harry looked at the beautiful white owl blinking at him with wide yellow eyes. He thought about an appropriate name for such a creature. Something that conveyed both her looks and purpose. He snapped his fingers and said, "I'll call you Scheherazade. Lovely conveyor of knowledge."

The creature blinked at the proclamation, wondering what the kid was on to give her such an auspicious name. She sighed and tucked her head under her wing, preparing to sleep for the rest of the day.

Assuming that Shez liked her name the young wizard stretched and glanced through his dresser. Deciding on a tee and jeans he checked the time and headed down to once again help with the preparations for breakfast.

When Vernon walked in he was reading the mail and grunting at every bill he opened. Finally he came to an envelope made from heavy parchment addressed to him and his wife in a very flowing, handwritten script. He broke the wax seal and extracted a single folded page written in the same hand. He visibly paled with each line:

Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,

After our visit the other night we contacted certain authorities and received permission to preform regular visits to your home to ensure the well being of one Harry Potter. We will be arriving today to check up on him and make sure you know the procedures. We expect to arrive around ten in the morning. Please be prepared.

Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Poppy Pomfrey
Chief MediWitch
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Vernon handed the letter to Petunia and rounded on Harry, "What is the meaning of this boy?"

The thin boy sipped his orange juice and answered, "What does the letter say?"

The long necked woman shrieked, "Why would they have to come here? And just for you?"

"They say that two of your kind of freaks are going to be arriving within the hour to 'check on you' and say they intend to show up whenever they want 'to check on you.'" The older man screamed. "Who do you think you are to tell them lies about how we treated you boy?"

Harry thought that the overweight man should avoid letting his blood pressure get high enough to change the color of his face. "It probably has something to do with that time you broke my arm. And then left me in the cupboard for three days."

"We never did any such thing." Both Dursley's yelled.

"Oh, I know." Harry said. "But that's what I told them, and the evidence backs me up."

Vernon spoke in a voice that was little more than a whisper, "Why?"

"Because I don't like you. You may have never mistreated me physically. But the things you said in front of me while you thought I couldn't hear were just wrong. Such as the cred you got from taking in your brain dead nephew. Or maybe the way you kept lying about my parents, trying to boost your status even further."

"Your good for nothing parents had to go and get themselves blown up and land us with you." Vernon screamed.

Harry looked at him and simply said, "Shut up."

Vernon found himself unable to speak, his lips flapping uselessly. He made a swing at the teenager, who held up his hand. The large man froze in place, his eyes swiveling madly.

"Now, my dear Aunt. Would you mind telling your husband the danger of trying to strike a wizard. And while you're at it tell us the truth about your sister and her husband." Harry's voice seemed to mesmerize her.

"Vernon, you may want to refrain from trying to hit your nephew. It was, after all, a wizard who killed Lily and James." Her voice was flat, as though she was in a trance. "Lily was a first generation witch, no others being found in our family within recorded history. She received her letter and went off to Hogwarts where she met James Potter. I was jellous of how much attention our parents seemed to lavish on her."

"It was after her second year that I finaly came to the realization she was abnormal because of her abilities. After her seventh year she left home and got married. She told me about a war that was going on, though I didn't believe her because it never came out in the papers. After I got married we agreed to forget about her and live a normal life devoid of magic."

"When you showed up on our door step there was a note from a man named Dumbledore. It detailed what really happened to your parents and asked that we take you in. Vernon and I discussed it and decided to do our best to drive the magic out of you. But it became quickly apparent something was wrong when you seemed almost completely unresponsive."

"The only time you seemed to have any life in you at all was when you were eating and we never did figure out how you learned to use the bathroom."

Harry smiled, "Did you keep the letter?"

Petunia nodded. Harry closed his eyes for a moment and an old piece of parchment came flying into the room, placing itself in his waiting hand. He unfolded it and read silently.

Petunia Dursley,

This is Harry James Potter, the son of your sister. Lily and James were killed earlier tonight by a dark wizard styling himself as Lord Voldimort. It is my hope that you will take him in and raise him well. This will ensure not only his safety, but yours as well. Choose carefully because if you take him in you will not be allowed to throw him out at any point in the future.

Albus Dumbledore
Headmaster
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot
Chief Mugwomp of the International Confederation of Wizards

Harry went through the letter twice before turning back to his relatives. "Thank you Aunt Petunia. I don't imagine that you're going to be too happy about this whole situation so I'll let you sleep it off. Don't worry, you'll be up in time to greet your guests. And don't forget that they believe you've been abusing me, so I wouldn't suggest bad mouthing me too much in front of them. They already don't like you."

He waved his hand and they both fell asleep.

The boy with the lightning bolt scar finished his breakfast in silence while he considered what he had just learned. For some reason Albus had disregarded his parent's wishes and placed him with the two people specifically disallowed by their wills. Something really didn't add up here.

Then he left for his bedroom, needing to speak to his parrents.

As Harry closed the door to his room he sensed the magical barrier seal behind him. He extracted one of the two leather bound journals he had brought back with him from the Dreamlands. Opening it to the first page he wrote:

Hey Mum and Dad.
I got a Snowy Owl from that guy Hagrid you told me about and named her Scheherazade.

A few moments passed before a response came through:

Hey Harry.
Your Mum and I are thrilled to hear about the gift. Hagrid was a good friend when we were at school. He became a better friend when we joined the Order of the Phoenix and started fighting against Tom Riddle.
Have you heard from your Godfather Sirius?

Harry dipped his pen in the ink and wrote back:

No. He hasn't sent me anything, not even a letter. But appariently it was that Dumbleroe guy who arranged for me to live here.

The response came:

You might need to send him one instead. But it surprises me that he hasn't contacted you over the years. He was my best friend, best man at my wedding and always the most loyal man I could imagine.

That doesn't make any sense. Albus knew our wishes and should have known better.

Harry wrote:

I'll see what I can find out. Madam Pomfrey and Miss Mcgonagall are going to show up soon to talk to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon about abuse.

His father wrote:

Don't have too much fun blaming them for all those bones you broke learning to fly. And then the arm you broke learning to fight.

The Boy-Who-Lived wrote back:

I see nothing wrong with letting them take the fall for those.
Been good talking to you. I'll write back after the meeting.
Love You.

He closed the Traveling Journal and turned just in time to sense his uncle coming up the stairs.

On the landing the fat man stood there looking at a blank stretch of wall where a door should be. He could have sworn that he was coming up here for something to do with the boy, something he wanted to say. But for the life of him he couldn't remember. Vernon headed back down the stairs to find his wife waiting with a troubled expression on her face. "That was quick Vernon. Did you tell that little shit to straighten up or he would be out on the street?"

Mr. Dursley slapped his face as the knowledge returned. How could he forget something like that just going up the stairs. It was probably the Freaks fault that he could get distracted so easily. He turned and went back up the way he came. Upon reaching the top again he looked around for the door to the spare bedroom. Again he began wondering what he was doing up here. He knew that his wife expected him do something up here. Despite wracking his brain for the information it just wouldn't come back to him. He glanced down the hall and saw his bedroom door standing open. Walking over he realized he never finished an article in yesterday's paper. Grabbing the document he headed back for the living room.

At the bottom of the stairs his wife was still waiting for a report. The overweight executive brushed past her and into the living room.

Just as Petunia was about to ask about how it went a knock came at the door. Mr. and Mrs. Dursley went to the door and opened it carefully, as though it were going to explode. The two witches that had become the focus of much of their fear were standing there with friendly smiles on their faces. Minerva said, "Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. We are here to deliver the decree from the authorities. If we could come in, this should be relatively painless."

The muggles scurried out of the way to allow passage to their visitors. When they got to the stairs they found Harry waiting for them. "Hello Ladies." He said, "It's nice to see you again."

Madam Pomfrey smiled softly at the polite young man. "Hello Harry. How have you been these past few days?"

"Well enough. Got my own room upstairs. Apparently my uncle decided they need my cupboard for more storage." Harry said in a childishly happy voice.

The magical women glanced at each other with concerned looks on their faces. McGonagall looked back toward her future student and said, "Why don't you go back up to your room and leave us to talk to your relatives."

"Okay!" The boy said and raced back up stairs. He waited until the women headed to the living room before sneaking back down to listen. A few seconds later his cousin joined him, trying to elbow him out of the way. To his surprise his arm stopped cold against the smaller boy's side as though it had hit a brick wall. Dudley stifled a scream and quickly withdrew to a less painful position.

Inside the room Minerva was seated next to Poppy on the couch with the Dursleys in their usual chairs. She composed herself and said, "I realize that you have a negative opinion of people capable of doing magic, but that is no reason to abuse a child." Just as the two horrible muggles were about to speak McGonagall waved her wand, silencing and paralyzing them. "We have only heard one story of the acts of abuse you visited upon an innocent child. But the techniques at Madam Pomfrey's disposal has found evidence of more abuse. Based on this information I had petitioned for Harry's immediate removal from this house."

Poppy picked up the thread as Minerva cooled down, "The request was turned down. Instead we have been given permission by the most powerful wizard of our age to institute some monitoring measures that will insure his safety. If you ever abuse him again we will know." She made sure their full attention was devoted to her, "And you will be punished."

With that the two witches left, without lifting the restricting charms. As they reached the foyer the sounds of scampering feet on stairs could still be heard. Poppy smiled, "He does have his father's spirit for mischief."

Minerva nodded as the same smile crept across her face, "He does at that. But he also has his mother's sense of timing." They both left without any further comment.

At the top of the stairs Harry and Dudley listened as the door closed. Dudley whispered, "Listen Harry. What's happened to you rescently? You seem like a different person."

Harry chuckled, "It's a long story Dudley. Let's just say this is the real me, and I'm finally back. I know you never really did anything wrong to me, but your parents are another matter. They neglected me and just shut me in that cupboard. The rest of what those two found was an echo of where I've been all this time."

The overweight boy looked lost, "Huh?"

"Even longer story. Don't worry about it though. This is who I am, and who I'll be for the rest of time." Hary said. "And with any luck I'll be out of here before too much longer. But in the mean time, just don't get in my way. There are a lot of things I have to do, and anyone who tries to stop me will get hurt."

"But what's really going on here?" Dudley asked.

"If you want to know I'll tell you. It's not a pretty story though, so feel free to stop me at any moment." Harry threw his arm across half his cousine's shoulder and headed for his room.

Three hours later the Dursley's son walked out. He was pale and covered in a cold sweat. Harry had layed the universe bare for him, and it had almost been too much for the child. He made it too his bed before curling up and letting his eyes slip out of focus. At that moment Dudley Dursley's mind broke. This was not as bad as it could have been, seeing as he already had several flaws that had been instilled by his parents. Also he had a well trained telepath nearby to help him as he put it back together.

xxxXXXxxx

On September 1st Harry walked out of the Dursley's house and made his way to the end of the street. He was carrying his trunk in one hand and Scheherazade's cage in the other. As he reached a good wide stretch of road he set the empty cage down and threw out his wand arm in a sharp motion. With a loud bang a large, purple, triple-decker bus appeared before him.

The door opened to reveal a middle-aged man behind the wheel with a teenager coming down the steps to greet him. "Hey there, welcome to the Knight Bus. My name is Joey and the guy at the controls is named Bruce. Headed to Hogwarts this year?"

"Yeah," Harry said, "My first year."

"You should have an interesting time this year. I hear that Harry Potter is supposed to be there this year."

Harry blinked at this comment, but held his tongue and just nodded. He hefted his things and made his way up the short flight of stairs. Finding a seat the young wizard stowed his things and secured himself as best he could. If what his parent told him about this thing was true...

The bus lurched into motion with another loud bang. They were moving at high speed down some road that Harry didn't recognize, but he cringed as they almost hit a pair of stopped cars. The bus seemed to slide smoothly through a space a mere six inches wide. With one last loud bang they appeared in front of King's Cross Station.

There were several families eager to get to the station and Harry hung back to avoid getting into the fray. As soon as the steps were clear he made his way down and out onto the street. Looking up he saw the high arching glass ceilings covering the dozen tracks. He looked around at the bustle of people all moving to get to their trains. Suddenly a familiar voice spoke from behind him, "Hello Harry. It's good to see you again."

The young wizard turned to see Hermione standing behind him with two adults he assumed were her parents. He bowed his head, saying "Pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Granger. It's good to see you too Hermione."

Alan Granger held out his hand, "We've heard so much about you young man. I do hope that you have a good year."

Harry smiled, "Thank you sir. I hope to."

Samantha smiled and hugged her daughter, "You two better get going."

Harry and Hermione went into the station and easily got through the barrier that hid the entrance to Platform 9 3/4. Looking at the large red locomotive of the Hogwarts Express Harry could remember all of the stories of school his parent's had told. Hoping to have some of those same kind of tales to tell them next summer he hefted his things and headed toward the train with his only friend in this world.

They climbed into one of the cars about halfway down the train, quickly finding a compartment. Shoving their trunks into the overhead compartments they each pulled out a book and settled in for the ride. Hermione was reading Hogwarts, A History while Harry was reading Basic Magical Theory.

Just as they were both getting comfortable the compartment door slid open and a small boy with a round, kind face was looking in, "Have you seen a toad?"

The bushy haired girl closed her book and set it aside while saying, "I'll help you look for it. What about you Harry?"

"Just a sec." He said and closed his eyes. After a second of him concentrating Hermione was about to say something when a dark green toad floated into the compartment and settled onto the couch next to him. "Is this your toad?"

"Trevor!" The young boy shouted, as he ran over and picked up the wayward animal. "Thanks. He keeps getting away from me. My name is Neville. Neville Longbottom."

Hermione said, "I'm Hermione Granger and this is Harry."

"Harry Potter." Harry finished for her, "It's a pleasure to meet you Neville."

"Are you really?" Neville asked with his mouth open.

"Hope so," Harry said, "I'm wearing his underwear."

Neville snorted at the joke while Hermione wondered about crude boy humor. The boy with his toad slowly backed out of the compartment, saying "Well, thanks again for helping he find Trevor."

Harry went back to his reading, saying "That could get really old."

"How did you do that Harry?" Hermione asked as she sat back down.

"Just a little trick I picked up when I was a kid." He said. "That whole hero worship thing is not something I need."

"It's to be expected. The magical world has been telling stories about you for the last ten years."

"I read the same book. It's just gonna get really old, really fast."

Hermione had no idea how to respond to this so as the silence stretched into uncomfortableness, she started reading again. After a few minutes the train started rolling, carrying the students off to the adventure known as Hogwarts. Once they got up to speed, the kids on the Express started moving around. Looking for their friends, study mates, and love interests, the ancient dance of rearranging the occupancy started.

Within a quarter hour a knock came at the door. "Enter." Hermione called. The door slid open to reveal a boy with long blond hair and a sour expression on his face.

"Can we help you?" The bushy haired girl asked.

"I'm looking for Harry Potter. A boy up at the front said he was here."

"And you would be?" Harry asked, not lowering his book.

"The names Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." The smug boy said with a bit of a pose.

"Deflate yourself and take a seat." Harry said, "You found me."

Draco humphed and settled himself down next to the boy he had been hearing about for as long as he could remember. "So what house do you think you'll be in?'

"What does it matter?" Hermione asked. "Aren't they all pretty much the same?"

"Pretty much the same? You couldn't be more wrong." Draco set himself for a good oration. "Slytherin is obviously the best. Then there's Ravenclaw, followed by Gryffindor. And at the bottom is Hufflepuff."

"I take it your family all went to Slytherin?" Harry asked.

"All those worth mingling with. The rest have a bad habit of being too boring."

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with Ravenclaw." Hermione said.

"Only if you want to spend all your time studying." Draco Retorted.

"Come on Draco, I'm sure they still have some fun. What use is knowledge without applying it." Harry said.

"Oh yeah," Draco responded intelligently, "Like what?"

"Like this." Harry said. He waved his hands for show while extending his aura toward the others. Suddenly young Mr. Malfoy started giggling uncontrollably, soon falling out of his seat to languish on the floor. Hermione heard Harry's voice in her head, "Funny isn't he, when he thrashes about like that?"

"How are you doing that?" The girl asked again.

"Something I studied a few years ago under Mage Diggers." Harry answered grinning.

"I can't believe you've studied under a Mage, there supposed to be really rare, how did you ever get the chance to do that?"

Harry answered now laughing softly, "It was something my parents set up."

Harry was then interrupted by a voice from the door, "Why is Malfoy laughing on the floor of your compartment?"

They turned to see a red headed boy standing in the door looking put out.

"They told me that Harry Potter was in this compartment, but there is no way he would be laughing along with a Malfoy." The red head continued irately.

"I am in this compartment, but what's wrong with being here with Malfoy?" Harry responded.

Draco managed to stop laughing, "Red hair, second hand robes and a big mouth, you must be a Weasley." He sneered.

The new compartment member blushed at the description and snapped, "Shut it, Malfoy."

As the two other boys descended into a juvenile shouting match Harry closed his eyes, appearing to sigh at their antics. Hermione heard him in her head again, "What do you say we leave these two to kill each other and we can go see how Neville's doing?"

She nodded and they collected their things to go without Malfoy or Weasley even noticing.

"What was their problem?" Hermione asked.

"Probably UST. That's what my dad said in his journal." Harry answered.

"What's UST?" The bushy haired girl inquired, a little worried about the answer.

"Unresolved Sexual Tension. That's the way he described it whenever he and my mum argued."

Hermione shuddered at the thought just as an older red haired boy passed them in the hallway, speeding toward the load voices.

He opened the compartment door to find his youngest brother pointing his wand at another first year's head. He yelled, "Ronald Weasley! What do you think you are doing?"

"Stay out of this Percy. Malfoy here is gonna get it." Ron screamed back.

Percy grabbed his brother by the ear and started dragging him out, yelling, "You just wait until our mother hears about this Ronald."

xxxXXXxxx

After enjoying an afternoon of friendly conversation, the three teens slipped their robes on, expecting to reach their destination soon. Neville asked, a little nervous, "So what house do you think you'll be in?"

"I really think I could be happy in Ravenclaw but I guess Gryffindore could be okay or maybe even Hufflepuff, but Slytherin just seems like a bad huse." Hermione said in her customary breathless manner.

"I hear that everyone who goes to Slytherin becomes a dark wizard." Neville said.

"Not all of them." Harry said. "But quite a few of them, including Tom Riddle."

"Who's Tom Riddle?" The bushy haired girl asked.

"He later came to be known as Voldemort." Harry said casually.

Neville cringed and whispered, "Don't say his name."

"Neville, calm down. It's just a name." The nerdy girl said in a placating tone.

"Trust me, he won't just appear when someone says his name. He doesn't have that kind of strength at the moment." Harry said.

"I thought he was dead, that's why he hasn't shown up." Hermione said.

"Tom's not dead. I saw him once." Harry said.

"You did?" Both of his friends asked.

"Yeah. It was about three years ago, while I was studying with the Diggers. He was trying to test some of his new powers, but the lack of a physical body made it easy for Dr. Diggers to banish him." Harry reminisced.

The round faced boy had a look of awe, "That Dr. Diggers sounds like he's powerful."

"He is. And between him and his wife, I learned a lot. But we only had about two years together. Then I went to study with my Aunt and her sisters, plus those bloody ravens." Harry scrunched his face at the memory of his least favorite teacher. After six months with that creature, he doubted any of the professors at Hogwarts would be able compare.

"You were taught by ravens?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, two of them. Little scavengers wouldn't let me eat breakfast until I answered all their questions about the previous day's lesson. Luckily one insisted on waking me at dawn, so the food would be ready about the time we finished."

Both of the other students were looking shocked by Harry's story. He noticed their expression, "Don't get me wrong. I still had fun, especially when I got to spar every afternoon. My Aunt's youngest sister was perfect for that, as we were about the same height."

Hermione was about to say something when the train whistle sounded and they could feel it slowing. Harry jumped up, "I think we better get ready, sounds like we're about to get there."

Harry opened his trunk and extracted his dagger, strapping it around his chest under his robes. When he turned around he could see his two friends looking a little nervous, "Master Julia told me 'When going into an unknown situation, there is no such thing as too prepared.'" He slid his wand up his sleeve, into a pocket he had added. With that he led them out into the hall, making his way toward the exit.

He slid the door back as the train came to a stop and people began pouring out of the compartments. Stepping onto the platform they noticed a sign declaring this as 'Hogsmead Station'. Hermione was about to comment on the history of the village when a booming voice called over the crowd of students, "Firs' Years. Firs' Years, o'er here."

The youngest students in the mass slowly made their way toward the bellowed summons and Harry stopped ten feet away, thinking to himself, 'A bloody half giant. Haven't seen one of those since that one day...'

His thoughts were interrupted by the huge man leaning down at him and saying, "Why 'ello there 'Arry. Haven' seen you since you were a baby."

"Um... Hello." The scarred boy replied.

"Names Hagrid. Hope you got me present?" the shaggy man asked.

"Yeah. I named her Scheherazade. Thank You." Harry answered.

Hagrid smiled and straightened up before bellowing again, "Firs' Years, o'er here." When a sizable group had separated from the returning students he counted to make sure. Then he said, "Follow me, and stay close." He led them down a path, through a thick stand of trees and out into the moonlight on the edge of a large lake. On the shore were several small row boats, each big enough for four students.

The half-giant told them to get in and climbed into one of his own. As they finished piling in he pulled out a pink umbrella, tapped his boat and said, "Forward."

The boats launched smoothly and formed up behind Hagrid's to glide silently across the glassy surface of the lake. The castle on the hill grew ever larger as they approached. Several people were whispering about their perspective houses, hoping that they would get into the same house as their friends. As they approached the cliff upon which the school sat their view was obstructed and they noticed a soft light coming from an opening in the rock wall.

The flotilla made its way into the opening and proceeded a short way until it reached a rocky beach. The boats wedged themselves securely into the small stones and Hagrid said, "Come on, this way. Keep up."

The procession made its way up a stone stair to the lawn right before the school, giving the new students a full view of the magnificent structure. Massive stones and high arches causing then to crane their necks attempting to take it all in. The huge double doors of the entrance shook as Hagrid knocked three times with his huge fists.

The doors opened to reveal the stern features of Minerva McGonagall. The enormous man said, "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here" She said. Then the Professor turned and led them into the hall. She opened a door into an anti-chamber and waved all the students inside.

Harry was fidgeting, feeling like he was standing to close to a fire. He was experiencing an unpleasant burning and tingling sensation all over his skin. He shifted his sight and was assaulted with what looked like a fiery wind blowing over him. He pumped up his aura and shifted it to shield against all the ambient magical energy trying to flow into him. As the force filtered through his aura and lessened he relaxed and canceled his mage sense.

Just as he was finished the teacher was ready to speak, "Welcome to Hogwarts. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly."

Harry could feel his stomach trying to growl from the mention of food. He let the rest of the well practiced speech wash over him while trying to force his guts to stop churning. The young wizard didn't even notice the teacher leave, and only noticed her return when she said, "Now form a line and follow me."

xxxXXXxxx

A/N: For those who think we are making a Mary-sue, don't worry all will be explained later. Also the updates will hopefully be steady, but they won't be fast, just so you know.