A/N Thanks to all those who reviewed since last chapter! (Stormyfiredragon, Ariadne Venegas, jchangpa)
Harry wasn't sure how or when he'd fallen asleep, but he did, eventually, curled up on the comfortable compartment seats. He didn't dream. He hadn't been able to dream, ever since the first night the Dursleys had beaten him.
He awoke to the sound of a loud voice over the intercom- "Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
For a moment, he thought it was Ron; the voice was almost as nasally. He yawned and stretched his cramped arms. As he reached out to his luggage, he caught a fleeting glimpse at the window.
Oh, god.
The sun had set completely over the horizon; everything glowed from a fluorescent light firmly implanted into the ceiling. How long had he been out?
He'd changed hours before; he didn't want to be caught out in case he'd fallen asleep. A wise decision, it seemed. He rubbed his tired eyes. This was, in truth, the most decent sleep he'd gotten in days.
He grabbed his books and stowed them away in a large bag, careful not to rip the covers. He'd charmed them to maximum protection, just in case some dunderhead came along and slobbered drool all over it. Highly unlikely, but possible.
The train had pulled to a complete stop now; the engine, usually roaring above conversation, quieted to nothing. He pulled open his compartment door. Hundreds of students were already swarming down the corridors; he simply followed the crowd out the door and into the moonlight.
"Firs' years! Firs' years!" a loud, hoarse voice shouted. A large, gangly form stood near the garden. His accent was so thick that Harry had trouble discerning his words. "Who's that?" he asked to nobody in particular.
"Oh, that?" a nasally voice answered. Harry sighed. Had this kid been stalking him? "That's Hagrid. He's the gamekeeper."
Harry turned to Ron. "What is your problem, Ron?"
The redhead frowned. "What do you mean? I'm giving helpful information."
Harry rolled his eyes and focused his attention back on Hagrid, who was now pointing wildly to the boats. The first years followed his finger, tentatively at first, then quicker and quicker.
Hagrid must have some experience in crowd control. The huge man grinned toothily. "Alrigh' get in your boats!"
He, in a test, walked to the very end of the boat pier. Ron tailed him.
Harry put one foot in boat #98; Ron did likewise. Annoyed now, Harry switched to #99, and Ron followed suit.
"Seriously, what is your problem?" Harry whispered, his eyes angry now. "Ron. Stop, or I'll be forced to hex you into oblivion."
"Alright, alright…" he muttered, choosing the boat right next to Harry. "I'll choose this one."
"No. Go far, far away, Ron. Out of eyesight. Or I may not be able to control the urge to send spells your way."
The redhead rolled his eyes and reluctantly moved to Boat #32. Finally, some breathing space.
He stretched out and relaxed…
"Hi, may we sit here?"
Harry looked up to see a group of 2nd year girls, both blushing furiously. "I'm indifferent…" he said, shrugging. They squealed. "But if you want to sit with me because I'm the 'Boy Who Lived' or whatever, I'd advise you to go far, far away. I don't associate with scragglers."
The two looked offended. "We'd never do that!"
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you choose to sit in this boat?"
"Because we wanted to make friends with you, alright?" the second girl murmured, exasperated. "Can't you take a hint?"
Harry frowned. "I'm sorry, is this normal female behavior?"
"You know what? Forget about it. If every single action we do is some kind of manipulation to you, that's fine with us. We'll go sit with Neville Longbottom instead."
Turning their noses high, they left for Boat #16.
"Alrigh', firs' years!" Hagrid bellowed. "Let's row!"
Harry couldn't stop contemplating the girls' words. Manipulation? Of course they'd been trying to manipulate him! It's just like friendship- an intangible and theoretical entanglement of nonsense. Friendship is a mutual contract to lift up each other; both parties was exactly what they'd said they'd tried to do… right? Make friends?
Or powerful political allies, a dark voice muttered in the back of his mind. He supposed it could be possible. If they were to run for a post in the Ministry of Magic, having the Boy-Who-Lived as a friend would be a wonderful asset.
He simply couldn't understand their tone. Were they stupid?
Socializing had never been his strong point, but if socializing was a complicated web of lies and trickery, he wanted out.
A sharp voice snapped him out of the reverie. The bank, which had seemed so far before, lay only a few meters away.
"Alrigh'! Mind your step!" Hagrid called. Nobody (except Ron, who had the nerve to try to take Neville down with him) fell into the Lake- a new achievement, according to Hagrid.
He'd cheerfully escorted the (mostly) dry students to the main hall. They filed in large lines to be sorted.
Yet through it all, he couldn't forget the girls' words. He ran it through his mind. Was there some sort of underlying message that he couldn't decipher?
So entangled was he in his thoughts that he almost missed his name getting called. Shaking himself, he ascended the marble staircase and plopped himself onto the wooden seat.
Instant silence filled the hall, one so complete that it would do Silencio proud. The entire student population seemed to hold its breath as the Hat was fitted onto Harry's head.
Hm… interesting mind….
Harry gave a slight gasp. Unlimited potential, too. Strong will to compliment the image… but where to put you?
You could be a great Gryffindor, you know; follow that route, and you'll be sure to achieve your goals.
Perhaps a Hufflepuff; you'll definitely get a high Ministry post, that's for sure.
Ravenclaw could grant you the wisdom and intelligence to do what you believe is right.
Slytherin… hm… in Slytherin, you could be great; powerful in every sense of the word.
The hat was silent for a moment.
And then- "RAVENCLAW!"
The Ravenclaw table exploded in applause; Harry walked over and sat down beside two first year students he'd never met.
And, of course, the annoyance known as Ron needed to ruin the moment.
"Unfair! Unfair!" he screamed. The entire Gryffindor table took up the chant. "Unfair! Unfair!"
Dumbledore frowned. "Please quiet down, students; unless you want to prolong the time before the Feast…?"
The entire table instantly quieted down. Harry smirked. Gryffindors… they'd exchange the Boy-Who-Lived for a burger any day. He was quite glad the Hat didn't sort him there.
Dumbledore made his per-usual meaningless remarks; Harry yawned and focused his mind on etching a pattern on the wooden table. He nearly missed the 'Let the Feast Begin!' and shifted away; a massive bowl of punch landed where his hand had been.
Even feasts, it seemed, were hazardous at this school.
Stretching again, he dug in.
He finished his dinner well before anybody else; he'd never had a very large appetite. Yawning, he grabbed his fork and began drawing runes on the table… One moment, he was finishing up a rune. The next, his face lay pressed hard against the wood, drenched in water.
He looked up. A cackling, semi-translucent ghost passed by above, cackling madly. Harry glared. Why the h*ll did anybody employ a water balloon-dropping ghost at Hogwarts? He was genuinely starting to question the headmaster's sanity.
It was well after an hour later that they'd finally been called to leave for their dorms; Harry followed the prefects (he honestly couldn't be bothered to learn their names) up a spiral staircase and onto a narrow platform.
The painting, a proud, old sculpture of a tall eagle glanced apathetically upon the group before asking,
"What determines the size of a black hole?"
Harry rolled his eyes. Classic science question. This one had been used in too many trivia bowls he'd been forced to participate in to count.
"The Schwarzschild radius!" he called.
A 2-ton statue slid aside to reveal a large, warm Common room. The female prefect gave him an approving nod (what was her name? Spindle?) and they all made their way through into the room.
Harry took an instant liking to it. This room had everything- from books to sofas to bean bag chairs. A soft fire cackled gently in the 3 strategically positioned fireplaces littered about the room, giving a warm, homely feel.
The prefects explained everything (literally everything) about the rooms, including the 'proper' way to fold beds (which Harry rolled his eyes at). When they finally finished and stalked back to their respective rooms, the moon had long since risen and most- if not all- of the students were sleepy.
Harry waited patiently for them all to leave for bed. It took a while; quite a few were night owls, but before long all had left. He had the Common Room all to himself.
Pulling out his moleskin pouch, he swerved around and dumped his books onto the rug. He'd been anxious to train his magical core; he hadn't touched it for days, and he longed to feel the power again.
He closed his eyes and assumed the Lotus position.
If he had to guess, he'd estimate the amount of total power he could access at around 20%, give or take, and that had already given him a power beyond Legilimency- Telepathy. Concentrating, he reached out and took firm hold.
With a soft hand, he guided his magic out of his core and into his palms. Ah, he'd forgotten how it was like to have total control over his magic. Wands to channel magic? Preposterous! He realized the stupidity of the entire idea. The longer the channeling source, the firmer its material, the stronger his magic became. Staffs- they were ideal; but they presented a large problem- they would often drain too much energy. The user could, unconsciously, rip out all of the magic in his core and create a massive explosion.
He'd keep far away from them- at least until he'd learned to fully control his magic.
The familiar tug suddenly filled his hands; he opened his eyes- they glowed a golden color. He grinned.
Raising his hand, he willed himself off the ground.
His legs rose at a snail's pace, his feet likewise until his entire body levitated above the earth.
This activity… it was strenuous. He could keep this up a few inches above the earth for perhaps an hour at best before having to dive back down. A hundred inches would be even more challenging.
He hated gravity sometimes.
Harry sighed; his eyes dimmed, and he fell back upon the Earth. If only he could draw on more energy…
That gave him a sudden idea. Didn't Ravenclaws have Time Turners?
He snuck around the back of the room and raced to the area with the 4th-years' backpacks. Taking care not to make any more noise than necessary, he picked out a silver-blue locket filled with sand.
What were the mechanics? One turn an hour, he seemed to remember.
This would do. He briefly remembered the rune he'd read about in his Runes textbook- was it awaken? It would certainly help him unlock his powers- to some extent, at least. Nodding, he grabbed his textbook and a spare pen. These would be all he needed.
With a careful hand, he drew the rune awaken; in the sender's box, with shaky handwriting, he wrote the words Harry Potter.
Flexing his fingers, he turned the Turner…
5 days earlier…
"Hedwig! Hedwig!"
The snowy white owl frowned. A rougher version of Harry stood before her in long, black robes, clutching a letter. Strange; she thought Harry was in his room! She swooped from her hunting trip and touched the floor. She cocked her head at him.
"I need you to take this… to myself."
Hedwig blinked, confused.
"Just bring it to my room!"
The bird nodded, slightly annoyed. She didn't stick out her foot.
Harry sighed. "please bring it to my room…"
The negatives of having a proud owl… he thought, tying the letter roughly to her leg. Hedwig hooted and flew off.
Harry felt a sudden surge of power; he knew his past self- or future self- had come through. The awaken rune took several days to activate past the initial boost; he'd timed it almost exactly right.
Energy flooded his palms, but not nearly as much as he expected. He scrunched his eyebrows. Runes would only do so much for him, it seemed; the most it unlocked was a 2% energy flow.
Still massive, but not nearly as much as he'd hoped for.
An unknown force suddenly touched his mind; he recoiled and lashed out.
The nearest lamp suddenly burst into flames. Harry watched, awed, as the top of the bulb caught fire; it sparked and spluttered before being completely engulfed.
It took nearly 30 seconds for him to regain enough motor control to put out the fire. Interesting… he could influence objects around him now. The 2% certainly made a difference.
It seemed that the more power he unlocked, the more abilities he obtained. He ticked them off on his fingers.
Telepathy, small telekinesis, small influence over matter.
He'd honestly have liked it if he could improve his telekinesis, he knew that he needed a staff at least to fully control it.
Not even Gandalf could channel full telekinesis with his hands, after all, but the grey-bearded wizard was famous for his extraordinary telekinetic powers.
Which led him to the conclusion that he needed a staff. Not a real staff, mind you; a 'booster', a bit of a crossover between wand and staff.
He licked his quill. There was only one maker of magical items capable of creating such a thing.
He grabbed a spare piece of parchment, checked it for Ollivander's , and began writing.
A/N Not a lot happened in this chapter; just introductions to Hogwarts and ordering his weapon. Lessons begin next chapter, that should be fun to write :)
I will probably get most of the Ravenclaw riddles from Protobowl or some other website.
Along the way, Harry will learn the intricacies of socializing. Maybe. Please leave a review on your way out!
