Chapter 2

A much changed Harry Potter exited the apothecary in Diagon Alley, bag full of potions ingredients in his hands. Where, only three and a half years before, stood a scrawny, malnutritioned boy, Harry was now looking much more like a ten going on eleven boy, although he was still a little on the short side. The scrawniness, however, was completely gone, partially due to Harry eating better, as well as due to the slow changes induced by Harry's limited vampirism, which had begun to have noticeable effects on him, such as his eyes now being flecked with tiny bits of gold and seeming to glow faintly in the dark, although his pupils hadn't yet changed into their eventual catlike form. In addition, Harry was surprisingly strong for a boy of his size, although it was still within the range of normality, unlike the noticeably superhuman strength that fully turned vampires possessed. His skin had paled as well, and the sun, while it would most likely never be deadly to him, still caused an uncomfortable itching sensation that would only grow worse with time. Partially in response to this, Harry used a combination of cosmetic charms and time to straighten and grow out his hair, which now covered the nape of his neck and made the hot summer days much more bearable to him, when it would be much more conspicuous to wear a hood to cover his exposed skin. After all, while Harry would never have to truly fear the sun, it didn't mean that he was completely immune to discomfort, and he found that longer hair was a perfectly good trade in exchange for not having the constant sensation of spiders crawling all over the back of his neck. As for his tastes, Harry had developed the predicted liking of blood pops, and, while he didn't particularly thirst for blood, he found that it had quite a pleasant taste, at least to him.

Handing his load to Dudley, who now looked much scrawnier and decrepit, Harry grabbed his servant's hand and portkeyed home, upon which he took back the bag and went down to his house's basement.

At first glance, the basement seemed normal, at least for a wizarding household. A large cauldron sat in one corner of the room, with a small table beside it covered in vials and ingredients, as well as a journal covered in detailed notes, above which lay a shelf holding several choice books on potions. On the other side of the cauldron, a large set of shelves covered in spatial expansion runes held hundreds of jars filled to the brim with ingredients. Harry had done the runes on the shelves himself, and they were rather crude by the Encyclopedia's standards, simply expanding the shelves back by half a meter, and they needed recharging on a monthly basis. Even arrays as crude as those had taken Harry nearly a year to get right, and he was proud of them, regardless of the fancy 'self sustaining runic matrices' that the Encyclopedia harped on and on about.

The cauldron itself was steaming gently as the mixture within boiled, ready for the next stage of the potion Harry was readying to brew. After all, tomorrow was his birthday, and Harry wanted to get the recipe just right by then.

The potion he was trying to make was intended to hide Harry's more vampiric characteristics, such as his eyes, which were now flecked with pale yellow, and his fangs, which were starting to emerge, although they wouldn't be truly noticeable for another two or three years by Harry's estimates. Harry had, through extensive experimentation on subjects that he had kidnapped from Knockturn, managed to create a drinkable potion that achieved the desired effects, but in the process had a number of negative side effects, including but not limited to, the skin sloughing off, the blood boiling, and, in one unfortunate case, the brain melting out of the unfortunate test subject's ears. Harry had gone through at least ten insane vampires in this way, and still had another two locked away behind a false cabinet in the back of the basement.

Dropping in the shredded boomslang skin,(an ingredient commonly used in many body changing potions such as Polyjuice) this time only three pinches instead of four like he did in the last potion (which caused the test subject to die as his fangs grew backwards into his own skull, but other than that, nothing happened, which meant Harry was getting close,) Harry then stirred the potion, three times clockwise, once counterclockwise, before putting out the fire below the cauldron and beginning to wait. The potion would need to cool for five minutes, before the final ingredient, namely the blood of the drinker, would need to be added.

Humming softly to himself, Harry walked over to the false cabinet, pushed open the door, and looked at the sleeping vampire tied to a table. Pulling out a knife, Harry quickly slit open the subject's wrist and collected approximately twelve drops, before he healed the injury and turned to leave. A groan from one of the cells in the room alerted Harry to one of the test subjects, this one being a middle aged witch Harry had captured in Knockturn, waking from their spell induced slumber.

"Please... I'll pay you anything you want, just let me go!" The witch groaned. Harry chuckled at that, having heard the speech many times before, and fired a sleeping spell at the prisoner, who then lost consciousness. Exiting, Harry walked back to the cauldron, noticing that he still had three minutes to go, and waited.

When the time passed, Harry sprang into action, bottling the potion before adding the blood into the bottle one drop at a time until the mud brown potion turned into a light violet. Harry nodded approvingly at the shade, it being several shades lighter than his previous attempt, and was perfectly in line with his arithmantic calculations as to the result.

Levitating some of the potion into a vial, Harry walked back to the test room and, with a wave of his hand, woke the poor vampire on the table. It immediately began to thrash at its bindings, hissing and frothing at the mouth. Tutting in disapproval, Harry called to Dudley, who ambled down the stairs into the testing room. Ordering his servant to keep the vampire's head still, Harry poured the vial into the vampire's mouth, and watched the results. The vampire's movements slowed, and the fangs flowed like water for a few moments before they stopped, looking for all the world like normal canines. Prying open one of the vampires' eyes, Harry saw that the pupil was back to normal, and the once yellow eyes had become a light brown. Then, about five seconds after the potion was taken, the vampire began to thrash again, hissing and frothing like before, but now without any physical characteristics that distinguished it as a vampire. Seeing that its mentality was unchanged, and completing a scan for side effects which turned out negative, Harry nodded and attached a pair of monitoring devices to the vampire's fangs, which would mark down when they grew back. Pulling out a Post-it note, one of the most useful inventions ever to come out of the muggle world, at least in Harry's opinion, he wrote down the time that the potion was administered, the effects of said potion, and a quick rune that would make the card glow in the dark so that it would be easier to spot. Then, after waving his hand over the rune to charge it, Harry strode out of the room, sealing it behind him. He then bottled the rest of the potion and put it into another creation of his, which he called the Stasis cabinet.

The Stasis cabinet was the result of several months of hard work with runes, and was Harry's first successful attempt at creating a self sustaining runic matrix, which was a rune, or cluster of runes, that gathered the ambient magic in the air around them and used it to power itself. It had its limits, such as it only working in a magic saturated area such as Diagon Alley, or Harry's basement workshop, and it was extremely difficult to get right, taking Harry nearly two weeks to get right, as he constantly had to undo and redo his carving in order to get each angle and line perfectly measured. Should he make even a single mistake, the rune would not work, or would work improperly.

During his studies, Harry had learned that, contrary to popular belief, runes were not a single language, or even a set of languages. The named runes that were in common use were simply the most simple way of obtaining a desired effect. An example of this was Hagalaz, which stood for 'Hail', and would produce an effect that, depending on its magic charge and the precision with which it was made, varied from simply cooling an area to freezing all water within a certain radius from the rune. However, Harry had read in the Runes volume of Encylcopedia Arcanum that runes were not letters, and the effects came from the precise arrangement of the lines that composed the rune. Thus, Harry could make a more complicated version of Hagalaz that would produce a more predictable effect, such as freezing all water in a 3x3x3 centimeter cube exactly one meter in front of the rune. Of course, the lines alone carried no magic, as they would need to be filled with magic via another medium, such as runic ink, or, in Harry's case, a thick, blue, gelatinous potion that acted as a magical battery once solidified. Harry would then drip the potion into the runes he carved into the wood, making sure to completely level the potion until it was flush with the wood of the cabinet, and then magically dry the result. Should he make the rune perfectly, the result would place the interior of the cabinet in temporal stasis. Of course, he didn't have to make it completely perfect, because even if he had made a few mistakes with his measurements, the rune would have still kept the area within in a near stasis, which would have still preserved the contents, but Harry would accept nothing less than perfection in his work, which would often draw out projects that should have taken a day, or a week at most, into month long labors.

A satisfied smile on his face, Harry cleaned out the cauldron and set out the ingredients for the runic potion, which he would be brewing the following morning. Then, he went upstairs, intending to eat dinner, only to find an owl fluttering around outside the door, a letter tied to its feet. Opening the door, the owl flew inside, dropped off the letter, and then perched itself on the railing leading upstairs, obviously waiting for a reply.

Opening the letter, Harry quickly read through it, immediately seeing that it was his Hogwarts acceptance letter. He had discussed it, and Hogwarts in general, with Arnold the day before, and had come to the agreement that the school would teach Harry nothing but outdated rubbish, especially with the curriculum having been gutted of anything even remotely 'dark' after Voldemort's reign of terror, leaving behind an incomplete curriculum that caused Hogwarts to drop in standing from being the best wizarding school in Europe to being third best, and Harry wasn't yet old enough to travel internationally, thus putting Durmstrang, the new best school, out of the realm of possibilities. Thus, Harry had resigned himself to attending Hogwarts.

Reading through the letter, Harry quickly took stock of the supplies he did and didn't have. He had the robes and pointed hat, although the last hadn't seen any use since he had gotten it for free as part of a package deal with Madam Malkin the year before. The dragonhide gloves were still on his hands after the potion making session, and the winter cloak was in the closet. As for the books, he had bought most of them over the years, before discarding many of them as worthless. Ordering Dudley to find them and pile them by the exit, Harry read on through the list. He had the cauldron, phials, scales, and other potions equipment already bought. The telescope, however, he would need to buy himself, and Harry had never bothered to buy a wand, seeing as he hadn't needed one for his magic. As for a pet, Harry decided on an owl, simply because they were actually useful, unlike the cat, which would just sit around and mew for attention, while a toad wouldn't even do that, and would only be useful for potion ingredients.

Then, something caught his eye at the end of the letter. It stated that a Hogwarts professor would be coming to visit him the next day to help him 'get used to the wizarding world'. Harry laughed at that, as he had been living in said world since he was seven. With that in mind, Harry quickly penned a reply, using a ballpoint pen and regular muggle paper, both of which he found more convenient than their wizarding equivalents, although they were rather difficult to acquire in Diagon, necessitating a visit to the muggle world. He then gave the reply to the owl, which seemed rather impatient, and it flew away as soon as the letter was in its beak.

Harry ate lunch quickly, and then went out into Diagon Alley to buy the required materials. The telescope was bought first, along with an expanded trunk to carry things in, before Harry dropped by Eyelops' Owl Emporium, leaving with a Great Grey Owl that he named Arnold, after the man who had become somewhat of a father to him in his time in the wizarding world. That done with, Harry went off to buy his wand, ordering Dudley to take his purchases home in the meantime. He had two choices, neither of which mattered to him, as he did his magic wandlessly. He could either go to a shop in Knockturn, where the wands wouldn't have the trace on them, thus allowing him to perform magic with a wand without the ministry knowing, or he could go to Ollivanders, where the wands were traced, but the available wand selection was much larger, the wands were cheaper (not to mention legal). Deciding to save money, Harry decided to go to Ollivanders, as the trace wouldn't work on wandless magic.

However, as Harry walked up to the store, a familiar blonde boy exited the store, parents in tow and a wooden stick in his hand. Harry was spotted almost immediately, causing the boy's delighted face to darken in anger.

"YOU!" The blonde screamed, pointing the wand at Harry, screaming an incantation that Harry recognized as the latin version of the stinging hex. Harry simply leaned to one side, and the spell rocketed past him. Another two charms were sent at him, both of which were dodged, before Harry began to get annoyed with the blonde. Raising his right hand, Harry pointed two fingers at the boy like a muggle handgun and fired off a pair of puncturing curses in rapid succession, one from the upper finger, the other from the lower. Although it wasn't discussed in detail in the Encyclopedia, Harry had realized that he could fire off multiple spells at once, provided that they took different pathways out of the body, the same pathway couldn't be used more than once without being given a short time to vent any magical energy that could have accumulated from lack of focus, otherwise the second spell would be altered by the residual magic that hadn't yet been dispersed. Thus, one spell took a path that would exit from one finger, while the other took a second path that would exit the other finger. Technically, Harry knew that he could have exited the spells from different points on the same finger, but he had discovered that it was much more difficult to do when the exit points were so much closer together, and thus decided that it was more trouble than it was worth, hence the two fingers pointed at the blonde.

A smirk grew on Harry's face as the blonde dodged out of the first curse's way only for the second one to hit, the curse causing him to fall to the ground in pain, clutching at his stomach, where the curse had hit. Harry frowned at that. He had aimed for the head, after all.

Walking up to the boy, Harry once again aimed his fingers at the boy, this time almost touching the boy's hair. This time, he wouldn't miss. However, before he could fire, a cane rapped him on the forehead. Looking up, Harry saw the older blonde's cane aimed straight between his eyes.

"Well done, but I would rather you not killed my son today. Rest assured that Draco will be punished for disgracing the Malfoy family in this manner." The man said. Harry withdrew his hand, although the boy, Draco, was far from being out of danger. After all, the magic wasn't limited to exiting from the fingers, as Harry had learned, although it was easier for Harry to direct the magic out of his fingertips than it was for him to so out of other areas of his body. He could cast with ease out of his hands, fingers, and eyes, although that last option would end up with him going blind in the eye used to cast for a short period of time, especially for the magics that produced visual effects to denote their path, for obvious reasons.

"Thank you. I will take my leave now. Come, Narcissa." The man said, before he hauled up Draco by the scruff of his neck and dragged the boy away. With the Malfoys out of his way, Harry proceeded into Ollivander's. Once inside, he saw an old man putting various sticks away into boxes, muttering about 'Damn kids making a mess of things'.

"Hello?" Harry asked. The man's eyes snapped up, meeting with Harry's. Immediately, Harry felt something tugging at his mind, and he hurriedly looked away. While he had read about mind arts, he hadn't done much in that field other than find out how to detect mental intrusions and organize his own mind through meditation. What he had not done, however, was set up any mental defenses.

"Ah, Harry Potter! Welcome to my shop. Looking for your wand, I presume? No matter, I'm sure that we will find one that suits you in here. After all, it seems like it was only yesterday when I sold your parents their first wands!" Ollivander said.

"Um-" Harry began, intending to inquire about the legilimency used on him, but Ollivander cut him off.

"Now, if you would stand here so I can take your measurements." Harry stood at the indicated location, and immediately a series of tape measures began to fly around him, measuring every inch of him.

"How does this help with getting me a wand?" Harry asked.

"It helps with finding any abnormalities that could affect your magic." Ollivander replied off handedly. Soon, the tape measures were finished, and Ollivander went towards one of the walls, pulling out a box and handing it to Harry.

"Fourteen inches, Ash and Unicorn Hair." Ollivander said, handing the wand to Harry. As soon as he grabbed it though, Harry dropped it in shock. When he held the wand, his magic suddenly seemed to develop a mind of its own and almost funnel itself towards the wand in his hand! It was not a pleasant feeling by any means.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Harry asked.

"What?" Ollivander asked in turn.

"That... that draining feeling! What was that?" Harry asked.

"Interesting. You seem to be much more in tune with your magic than other kids your age. That feeling was the wand doing its job, but that is not the wand for you. Now, due to you being more aligned with your magic, you should have an easier time finding a wand suitable for you. Could you, perhaps, release your magic and use it to inspect the wands? Try to find one that seems to call for you. Of course, if you cannot do so, we can still find you a wand the normal way, but it will take longer." Ollivander said.

Closing his eyes, Harry focused on his magic. He could indeed perform the technique Ollivander described, having used it to check potion ingredients for impurities before he purchased them. However, as soon as he began to release his magic, it began to come into contact with the wands in the various boxes. Most of them were, thankfully inert to him, but some of the wands began to drain his magic as soon as it came into contact with them. In response, he quickly pulled away, causing the wands to spark briefly, or, in a few cases, explode out of their containers and rocket across the room. However, Harry didn't feel any of the wands 'calling to him' as Ollivander had said they would.

Soon, Harry had enough and opened his eyes.

"None of the wands match." He said simply, causing Ollivander's eyebrows to furrow in thought.

"Well then, it seems as if you are one of those people then. You may require a more... exotic wand. Come with me." Ollivander said, and Harry followed the old man into a back room. A large table took up most of the room, with various wands lying about on it in various states of completion.

"Here is where I experiment with more... exotic wand types. Nonstandard cores, multiple cores, unusual components and designs, that sort of thing. Take that one over there, for instance." Ollivander gestured towards a wand that seemed to be cut in half. "I used two hairs from the same unicorn in that one. It's useless though. Cores cancel each other out as soon as a spell is cast. Now, can you look at this shelf over here?" Ollivander gestured towards a shelf with various wands lying about on it. "Over there are the more unusual wands I've made that seem to actually work, although they are quite willful. Occasionally I get a customer that needs one of those rather than the usual. Go on, have a look."

Harry obliged, extending his magic and scanning each wand in turn. All but one of the wands on the shelf were inert, but the last one... Harry walked over to it and picked it up. It didn't attempt to drain his magic, but it also clearly interacted with it, as Harry felt his magic gently extend towards it, forming a connection between wand and wizard.

"How much for this one?" Harry turned to Ollivander.

"Let me see... Yew and Thestral hair, nearly inflexible, a rather willful combination. You're going to need a lot of mental focus to use this, but it might just work for you. That would be ten galleons, if you please." Ollivander said. Harry quickly paid and all but ran out of the store, eager to be away from those wands. His shopping done, Harry returned home.


The next day, Harry woke up early, wanting to brew the rune potion as soon as he could, preferably before the Hogwarts professor arrived. Thankfully, it would only take an hour or so to brew, so it shouldn't take too long. However, Harry quickly remembered that Dudley's state might cause the professor to object, and ordered Dudley to make himself scarce for the rest of the day. His cousin/servant promptly retreated into the sealed room.

Quickly eating breakfast, Harry retreated to the basement, setting the cauldron to boil. Unfortunately, it seemed as if luck wasn't with him, as there was a knock on his door just as the water started to boil. Sighing, Harry ran upstairs, still wearing his potion making gear.

Opening the door, Harry saw a tall, thin, greasy haired man standing outside, a scowl on his face.

"I assume you are the professor they sent to 'introduce me to wizarding society'?" Harry asked.

"I am. You are to come with me, Potter." The man said.

"I'm sorry, but I would rather not. You see, I'm in the middle of brewing a potion, and I would rather not come back to see the house burnt down." Harry replied, trying to get the professor to leave. Unfortunately for him, it was not to be.

"And why would a boy like yourself need to brew a potion?" The man asked.

"It's a storage medium for runic magics. I ran out a few days ago, and will need some more for my next project." Harry replied truthfully. He had, after all, bought a trunk the previous day, and wanted to put some preservation and fireproofing runes on it.

"Runes are not taught until the third year, so you are obviously lying. Come with me, now. I do not approve of people wasting my time, Potter." Snape replied, a sneer on his face.

"If you need proof, feel free to come in. Otherwise, I would like to say the same to you. I do not approve of my time being wasted." Harry said, before turning and walking back to the basement. Hearing footsteps behind him, Harry knew that the professor was following, and smiled.

Ignoring the professor's presence behind him, Harry walked up to the now boiling cauldron, picking up a measured portion of powdered doxy eggs as he did so. Adding it into the cauldron, Harry stirred fifteen times clockwise, before turning and readying the next ingredient, which was a suspension of sapphire dust in nightshade extract, which Harry mixed a few times, before adding in seven drops. As expected, the potion became thick and viscous, changing color to a deep blue. Waving his hand to make the cauldron start stirring automatically and set up a timer for the next ingredient's insertion, Harry turned to the professor, who was staring at the cauldron, as well as the various books above the ingredients table, with intense interest.

"Do you believe me now, Professor?" Harry asked.

"It seems that you do indeed have some talent for the art, Potter. I am Professor Severus Snape, and I will be teaching your potions class. Remember that this display will gain you nothing in class. Don't expect any favoritism from me in my class, celebrity or not. Now, is there anything else you wish to tell me, or shall I take my leave? It is obvious that you do not need to be introduced to our world." Snape replied, spitting out the compliment as if every word were a particularly disgusting poison.

"Just one quick question. How do I get to Hogwarts?" Harry asked.

"Go to King's Cross station and find the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, then walk straight at the barrier. If you are indeed a wizard, you should pass through it into platform 9 and 3/4. You then board the Hogwarts Express and go from there. Anything else?" Snape asked.

"Nothing, sir." Harry said, just as the timer rang, after which he turned and added six more drops of the sapphire suspension. By the time he had turned back, Snape was already gone.


The last few weeks before Harry left for Hogwarts went by in a blur. Finally, the day of departure arrived, and Harry left the house, trunk in tow. Dudley had been ordered to keep the house clean, and to feed himself once a day. Simple enough.

Catching a taxi to King's Cross, Harry drew a few odd looks due to his appearance, as he hadn't bothered to change out of his robes, but he ignored them, instead proceeding to the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, trolley with his belongings in hand. His owl drew some looks, but he ignored them and quickly reached the barrier. Taking a deep breath, Harry ran towards it, closing his eyes as he did so, and instead of the impact that would have happened had it been a normal wall, Harry opened his eyes to an old fashioned train station, inside which a scarlet steam engine waited to depart, while students boarded the cars behind it. Harry soon boarded the train, finding an empty compartment in which to sit, and promptly opened his trunk, removing the useless school textbooks in favor of the prize underneath, namely the ritual volume of Encyclopedia Arcanum, and began to read.

The most important thing to know before performing a ritual is that all rituals require a sacrifice. It could be something as simple as a few drops of blood ranging to the sacrifice of hundreds of innocents. What makes this necessary is the fact that it is not the caster's magic that is being used, but rather it is the ambient magic of the world, which is awakened by the sacrifice...

Harry continued to read, paying no heed to time passing by, until finally the train started to move, causing him to put the book down as he watched the train pull out of the station. Then, Harry returned to his reading, only to be interrupted several minutes later by a redheaded boy with a smudged nose opening the door and inviting himself in.

"Mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full, thanks." The boy said, sitting down.

"I don't recall allowing you to sit here." Harry replied.

"Are you really Harry Potter? I'm Ron, Ron Weasley by the way." The boy asked, ignoring Harry's dismissal.

"Leave me alone." Harry replied.

"Do you really have the scar?"

"Leave me alone."

"Can I see it?"

At that, Harry snapped.

"GET OUT!" Harry shouted, pointing towards the door, just as a certain blonde made his way down the train, his two cronies in tow.

"I heard Harry Potter was in he- YOU!" Malfoy shouted, drawing his wand.

"Yes, it's me. Now get out. You and the redhead." Harry said. Neither moved.

"Malfoy! What are you doing here?" The redhead asked.

"Red hair and a hand me down robe? You must be another Weasley. Tell me where Harry Potter is, and I'll let you off, just this once." Malfoy said.

"He's right in front of you!" Weasley shouted.

"Get out, both of you, or I'll toss you off the train myself!" Harry shouted.

"Harry, this kid's a dark wizard! Don't trust him!" Weasley shouted.

"You should keep your mouth shut, or you'll get dirt in it while you're grubbing for money on the ground, Weasel." Malfoy snarled. "Now, Mr. Potter, I believe we've got off on the wrong foot. I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy, and you are?"

"Don't listen to him Harry!" Ron shouted.

"Shut up Weasley, the people who matter are talking." Malfoy replied.

"Both of you. Get. Out." Harry snarled.

"Make me!" Malfoy shouted.

"Harry, stick close to me and he won't hurt us. I'll protect you!" Weasley declared. That insinuation of weakness caused Harry to snap and raise his hand, firing off a puncturing curse at point blank range. It hit Weasley's shoulder, causing him to collapse in tears, while blood flowed freely from the wound Harry had caused.

Stepping on the fallen boy's face, Harry snarled.

"I don't need your protection Weasel. Now get out!" Harry then flung the boy out of the compartment, where he stumbled to his feet, face scrunched up in pain.

"You'll get yours!" He shouted, before stumbling away. Harry turned to face Malfoy.

"Well, now that the trash has been dealt with, let's talk." Malfoy said.

"I'm not interested." Harry replied. "Get out before I make you."

"We'll see about that! Crabbe! Goyle! Teach him a lessAAARGH!" Malfoy never had a chance to finish, before a pair of bludgeoning curses flew through the air and sent him flying out of the compartment. Malfoy stood, clutching his face, where both curses had hit, one having shattered several teeth, while the other had broken the boy's nose.

"Wait until my father hears about this, Potter! I'll have your head!" With those words, Malfoy stormed off, leaving Harry behind in peace and quiet, but not for long. Soon, there came a knock at his compartment door.

Harry opened it to find two robe clad girls standing outside, one tall and blonde haired, while the other was shorter and brown haired.

"Excuse me, but I noticed this compartment is mostly empty. Do you mind if we sit here? This blonde git and his two pet trolls just kicked us out of our old compartment." The taller of the two girls asked.

"Was that blonde named Malfoy, by any chance?" Harry asked.

"Yes. He looked like he got into a fistfight with one of his big friends. Were you by any chance responsible?" The shorter of the two asked.

"Yeah, I did it. Now, you can sit here so long as you are quiet. Am I clear?" Harry asked.

"Crystal." The taller girl said, and Harry moved aside, allowing them in. Then, he sat down on the side opposite of theirs and took out his book again and continued to read. He noticed the older of the two girls scrutinizing him, but ignored her, at least until another knock came at the door.

"Excuse me? Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville has lost one." The bossy tone shook Harry out of his concentration and he looked up. A girl about his age with brown, curly hair stood in the doorway, simply radiating the word 'know-it-all'.

"Have you tried a summoning charm?" One of the girls in the compartment asked.

"We're not supposed to perform magic until we reach Hogwarts, so I couldn't possibly do that. Besides, that isn't taught until halfway through the first year!" The girl looked like she was about to continue, when Harry stood up.

"We have not seen the toad. Now, I would appreciate it if you gave us some peace and quiet." He said, before he realized that he had made a mistake when the girl's eyes shot towards the scar that, while it had faded somewhat, still was present on his forehead.

"You're Harry Potter! I've read all about you! You're in 'Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts', and 'Great Wizards and Witches of the 20th Century'!

"Yes, yes, I'm Harry Potter, I've heard the story before. Now please, stop bothering me and go find the stupid toad." Harry said.

"But I-"

"OUT!" Harry shouted, causing the girl to 'hmph' and leave. Harry closed the compartment door, before opening his trunk and taking out a pouch with his runemaking kit. Opening it, he took out a penknife, a protractor, and a vial of runic paste, before he began to carve a locking rune on the doorframe, using what he remembered of his time creating the secret room in his house's basement as a guide. The two girls watched in curiosity as Harry carved the rune, waving his hand and undoing lines every once in a while, before, fifteen minutes later, he was finished. Then, he spread the runic paste into the carving, leveling it out as he did so, until the rune was complete. Then, he closed his eyes and poured magic into the rune, causing it to glow as it energized. Then, process completed, he put his supplies away and tested the door. It didn't budge from its closed position. Smiling in satisfaction, Harry turned to the girls.

"There, no no-one will bother us. If you have any questions about 'the great Harry Potter', please voice them now." Harry said. The taller of the two spoke first.

"What did you just do?"

"It's a rune that keeps the door stuck in place so no-one will open it until I de-energize it." Harry replied.

"Why didn't you just lock the door?" The shorter of the two asked, pointing towards the lock. Harry looked down, saw the lock, and his face met palm. The girls giggled.

"Anyway, we haven't introduced ourselves, have we? I'm Daphne Greengrass, and she is Tracey Davis. I assume you are Harry Potter, right?" The taller of the two, Daphne, asked.

"You are correct in your assumption." Harry said, sitting back down after locking the door as an extra precaution.

"That's good to know then." Daphne said, before quieting down. After a minute of silence, Harry picked up his book again, intending to continue from where he left off. It was then that Daphne spoke again.

"You do realize that rituals are considered dark magic, right?" Daphne asked.

"I have performed a few already then, does that make me a dark wizard?" Harry asked.

"Legally, yes, you are considered dark, but let's keep that our own little secret, shall we? I mean, so have I. Most pureblood families do, after all, celebrate Samhain and the various solstices with rituals." Daphne replied.

"Good. Not having to dispose of loose ends always makes things simpler." Harry replied, causing Daphne and Tracey to chuckle nervously.

"That's nice to know, Harry. Now, judging by the rune and rituals, you already know some magic, right?" Tracey asked.

"More than you know." Harry replied curtly.

"No need to be rude now, Harry. Sheesh!" Tracey replied.

"So what do you know?" Daphne asked.

"Look in my trunk, under all the junk they made us buy for first year courses, and you'll see what I've been learning from since I found out I had magic." Harry said, gesturing towards the trunk. It flipped open, before Harry levitated out the books on top, revealing the Encyclopedia Arcanum series in all its glory.

"Encyclopedia Arcanum? I've never heard of it." Daphne said.

"That's because you're looking at the only set in existence. I bought it at a good friend of mine's shop down in Knockturn Alley, and it's taught me everything I know." Harry said. By then, Daphne had flipped open the introductory volume and was reading the tale behind the books. It was then that the door was rattled several times, and Harry heard voices outside.

"Allright, it's not opening up. Ready Fred?" One voice asked.

"Ready George! 3... 2... 1... Bombarda!" With that, two voices shouted as one, and the door exploded into a cloud of dust. As it cleared, Harry saw four redheads, the youngest of which looked familiar.

"That's him! That's the dark wizard who attacked me!" The youngest Weasley shouted, pointing his finger at Harry.

"You have three seconds to get out, Weasley." Harry snarled. "Three..."

"Oi, firstie! We're here to..." One of the medium sized redheads started.

"...teach you a lesson!" The other finished.

"Two..."

"Nobody hurts a Weasley..."

"...and gets away with it!"

"One..."

"For attacking a student, I will be having words with Professor McGonnagall. What have you to say in your defense?" The tallest Weasley butted in.

"GET OUT!" Harry screamed, raising his hand and unleashing a torrent of bludgeoning curses. The first two hit Ron in the face, sending him to the ground. The next two hit the tallest one before he could draw his wand, one curse impacting his nose, the other flying low and slamming right between his legs, causing him to collapse to the ground, moaning in pain. That was when the two medium Weasleys fired off their first shots. One missed, hitting a wall, covering it with a patch of blue paint. The other also missed, but hit Tracey, who fell to the ground face first, trapped in a full body bind. The Weasley twins never got a chance to continue their assault though, as Harry had fired a bludgeoning curse and a severing charm at one twin's genitals, the second of which barely missed, while Daphne managed to land a lucky stinging hex in the other boy's eye, before running over to him and kneeing him between the legs, causing him to collapse, groaning to the ground. Turning to Tracey, Harry levitated her to an upright position, before turning to Daphne.

"Do you know how to undo this?" Harry asked.

"You mean you don't know? You know wandless magic but not how to undo a full body bind?" Daphne asked incredulously.

"No, I don't know how to undo this on someone else, and wandless magic is pretty easy with the right state of mind, for your information." Harry replied.

"Well, I don't know either. Lay her down on the seat, will you?" Daphne said, and Harry obliged.

"Now, shall I dispose of them?" Harry asked, gesturing to the unconscious Weasleys.

"As much as I hate to say it, people will notice if four Weasleys suddenly disappear on the train. I want to kill them as much as you do right now, but we're not Gryffindors, charging in without knowing the consequences. We'll wait for them to slip up, then we'll make them suffer an unfortunate... accident." Daphne said, a smirk on her face.

"Agreed, but what is a Gryffindor?" Harry asked.

"You don't know? Whatever. Hogwarts is divided into four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Gryffindor is supposed to be the house of the brave, but in reality it's just the place where they put the brawn over brains idiots like the Weasleys so they don't feel bad. Hufflepuff is supposedly the house of the loyal and hardworking, but really it's just the land of the sheep whom the hat can't be arsed to actually sort. Ravenclaw isn't too bad, at least. It's the house of the intelligent, a bit antisocial, mind you, but Ravenclaws always top the school in terms of academic scores. Finally there's Slytherin, where I'm going. It's the place of ambition, where all the people that matter in the world go. Of course, the Gryffindorks hate Slytherins because they wish they could be as powerful as us. They say it's a place for Dark wizards and witches, and it's true to an extent, as most of the people in Slytherin are purebloods who still practice the old ways, which are considered dark now thanks to Voldemort. Do you understand?" Daphne explained.

"Yes, but what was that about a hat?" Harry asked.

"You'll see soon enough. It's supposedly a way of deciding which house you're getting into, but it's easy enough to fool. Just think that you like snakes and want to be rich and famous someday and it'll pick Slytherin. That's where I'm going, at least. How about you?" Daphne asked.

"I don't know. Ravenclaw sounds nice, but everyone there will probably drive me insane with questions. Gryffindor, if that's where the Weasleys are, I'm not going there. As for Hufflepuff, I think I stand out enough to avoid it, don't you think?" Harry quipped, causing Daphne to laugh.

"So Slytherin it is?" She asked.

"Looks to be so. Now, when does this train arrive?" Harry asked.

"Couple more hours." Daphne replied, causing Harry to groan.


It was dark by the time the train arrived at Hogwarts. By then, the Weasleys had dragged themselves away from the compartment, and Tracey had come out of her body bind screaming curses.

Stepping out of the carriage, Harry, Daphne, and Tracey heard a giant, bearded man beckoning first years to get on a group of small boats. Harry was joined in his by Daphne, Tracey, and later on, a boy named Blaise Zabini. Looking around, Harry, saw Malfoy getting into a boat with two oversized boys that reminded Harry of Dudley, as well as a young, brown haired girl that seemed to exude the sense of being a spoiled brat from every pore. Then, coming from the boat next to him, Harry heard Ron talking animatedly about curses and dark wizards. Turning to look at the boy, Harry saw him gesturing wildly towards his injuries while talking to a bushy haired witch and a round faced boy, who shot a glance in his direction every few seconds.

Then, the boats started moving towards the castle visible in the distance, presumably Hogwarts. Harry waited until the docks were out of sight before nudging Daphne and Tracey and pointing at Ron, who was still standing in the boat, which was rocking noticeably from his exaggerated gestures. Taking aim at the boy's head, Harry fired a quick bludgeoning curse, which met its mark perfectly.

A dazed redhead toppled over, falling into the water with a loud 'SPLASH!', causing the boat's other occupants to scream, while the occupants of Harry's and Draco's boats, along with several others, rang with laughter.

"Serves the filthy blood traitor right!" Harry heard a high pitched, girly voice from Malfoy's boat.

"I hope weasels can swim!" Tracey said vindictively, just as Ron's head broke the surface of the lake a good twenty feet behind the rest of the boats.

"Help! I can't swim!" The boy screamed, which caused Harry's boat to laugh all the harder.

"Are you a wizard or not?" Came the shout from Malfoy.

"I don't... know any spells!" Ron shouted in between gulps of air, causing even more laughter. Soon, however, Ron's pleas for help became fainter and fainter, until they faded completely.

"That accidental enough?" Harry whispered to Daphne, causing her to break out in giggles.

Eventually, the boats reached the shore, where they were greeted by a tall, stern looking witch in emerald green robes. The bushy haired witch from Ron's boat immediately jumped out and ran to her.

"Professor! There's been a terrible accident! Ron's fallen off his boat and can't swim!" She gasped out.

"Why didn't you pull him out then?" The Professor asked.

"By the time he surfaced, he was too far away!"

"Are you a witch or not Hermione? You could have just summoned him, could you not? I know you practically memorized your school textbooks!"

"But we're not supposed to do magic until we get to Hogwarts!" At that, the professor sighed.

"Very well. Don't worry, that is why we have the trained giant squid in the lake, after all, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem. In fact, he should be appearing right about... now!" The professor said, just as a giant tentacle broke the water, a screaming Ron in its grip.

The boy lay coughing on the ground where the tentacle deposited him, before standing and pointing his finger at Harry.

"He's the one! He's the dark wizard who knocked me off the boat! I saw him curse me!" Ron declared.

"Your wand please, Mr. Potter." The professor's tone booked no argument. Harry complied, pulling out his wand, which he hadn't touched since he bought it in Ollivander's. Taking it, the professor pulled out her own wand and waved it over Harry's, muttering a set of incantations as she did so. Then, she handed Harry's wand back to him.

"Mr. Potter here has not cast a single spell since he got his wand at Ollivander's, so he could not possibly have knocked you off the boat. Now, Mr. Weasley, you are to apologize to Mr. Potter for your groundless accusation."

"But he can do wandless magic!" Ron shouted back.

"Mr. Weasley, wandless magic can only be done by incredibly powerful wizards like Dumbledore, and even then they can only do it after years of study and hard work. Now, apologize to Mr. Potter."

At that, Harry began to think. If he stuck with the professor's story, then in the likely event that he would use wandless magic in Hogwarts, he could be implicated. However, if he kept his abilities secret, which would be somewhat problematic as he had already gotten used to doing his magic wandlessly, he would have a greater advantage over potential rivals like the Weasleys. Then, after several second, Harry decided on a course of action that would both explain his abilities and get Ron into trouble.

"Acually Professor, I can do wandless magic." Harry said.

"Of course, everyone here has done accidental magic before, but I assure you, that does not count as true wandless magic." The professor replied. In response, Harry held the wand out in the palm of his left hand, before closing his eyes as if in concentration and, with a swish and flick of his wrist, and a loudly incanted "Wingardium Leviosa", Harry made the wand rise in the air.

"That... that is incredible Mr. Potter! But how does this prove that you were not responsible for Mr. Weasley's accident? If anything, it weakens your case." The professor exclaimed.

"Yes, but I can swear a magical oath that I didn't utter any spells while I was in the boat. Daphne, Tracey, and Blaise can vouch for me." Harry said.

"Really now? Miss Greengrass, is this true?"

"Yes, Professor McGonnagall, Harry didn't say a single spell while in the boat." Daphne replied, catching on to what Harry was doing.

"That is all well and good, but I noticed that you only said that you didn't utter a single spell on the boat. What would prevent you from doing your magic silently?" Professor McGonnagall turned back to Harry.

"You can do magic silently? I thought that you needed the incantation for it to work!" Harry exclaimed, trying to hold back laughter.

"Yes, it is indeed possible, although it is a highly advanced way of cast... what are you doing?" The professor's eyes widened as Harry closed his own and pretended to concentrate on the wand, but without actually pouring his magic into doing the deed. After several seconds of nothing happening, Harry opened his eyes.

"It's useless. The wand won't move!" He exclaimed in false frustration.

"Don't worry, Mr. Potter. Silent and wandless magic would be difficult even for a wizard like Dumbledore. I now see that it was foolish of me to believe you capable of the feat. Now, Mr. Weasley, apologize to this young man here immediately!"

"But you saw-"

"Now, Weasley! Do not test my patience!"

"Fine. Sorry." Ron choked out the apology as if it had threatened to kill his family.

"Good. Now that that has been dealt with, let us proceed to the great hall." The professor turned around, muttering faintly about prodigies and wandless magic. Harry smirked at Ron, the other boy's face reddening in anger.

"Just you wait, Potter! I'll get you soon!" Ron growled.

"What was that? I didn't quite catch that, could you say it again?" Harry asked with a mocking smile.

Before Ron could reply, the group of students reached a set of huge double doors, doubtlessly leading into the Great Hall. Before they could enter, however, Professor McGonnagall turned to them and began to speak.

"Through this door lies the great hall, inside which you will be sorted into your houses. They are: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has produced great witches and wizards, and will be like your family for the duration of your stay here at Hogwarts. Each house's standing will be determined by the amount of house points it has. Following the rules will gain you points, while breaking the rules will lose you points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup. Now, without further ado, let us proceed to the sorting."

With those words, the doors opened, and the first year students proceeded into the great hall, drawing stares from the older students, which were seated at four long tables around the room. Harry assumed that each table must belong to an individual house.

Harry watched as Professor McGonnagall walked up to a large stool, upon which sat a rather ragged looking hat. Then, to his shock, the hat began to sing of all things! He didn't pay attention to the song though, as he was too focused on figuring out just how the hat worked. Of course, he made very little progress before the song stopped, and Professor McGonnagall called the first student, Hannah Abbot, up to be sorted. Harry watched as the hat was placed on her head, and a few seconds later it called out HUFFLEPUFF!, and Hannah went off to the table with the yellow and orange robed students, her own robes changing to match.

The next student, a Susan Bones, joined Hannah in Hufflepuff, before Terry Boot became the first Ravenclaw, this time going to the table wearing purple and blue. Vincent Crabbe became the first Slytherin, joining the silver and green clad table, soon being joined there by Tracey Davis, while Hermione Granger, the bossy witch with bushy hair, went to Gryffindor. Daphne Greengrass went into Slytherin, along with Gregory Goyle and Draco Malfoy. Finally, Harry Potter was called, and every eye in the room locked onto the black haired youth.

Walking up to the stool, fully aware of how the room went quiet as his name was called, Harry simply projected an image of nonchalance before putting the hat on his head. He was surprised when he felt something enter his mind.

"You've killed, Harry." A voice spoke in his mind.

"What will you do about it?" Harry thought back.

"I cannot. When Godric Gryffindor made me, he spelled me so that I cannot reveal the secrets of the students I sort. If it weren't for that, I would have attempted to remove you from this school myself for the risk you pose."

"Good. Now, about my sorting?" Harry asked.

"As much as I loathe to do this, let's get down to it." The hat seemed to sigh in Harry's mind. "Hufflepuff is out, and despite the insistence of the powers that be, were I to put you in Gryffindor, there would be murder in the school before long. That leaves Ravenclaw and Slytherin, and you fit both houses perfectly. Your studious nature will ensure your success in Ravenclaw, so I believe it to be the best choice." The hat declared.

"No." Harry replied.

"Ah yes, I assume you are thinking of the bargain you made with young Miss Greengrass on the train, correct? I believe your status as a non-pureblooded wizard would prevent you from achieving your best in Slytherin due to the interference of your peers, so I believe Ravencla-"

"No. Nobody became great through taking the easy route. I am warning you, I am not afraid of killing to get my point across, so if you were to put me into Ravenclaw, you will find a student dead every night until I can go through a re-sorting." Harry threatened.

"I can see you will make good on that threat, and there isn't much I can do to stop you, so I believe that you shall go into SLYTHERIN!" The last word was shouted out, and Harry stood, a smile on his face as the took off the hat and set it down, before heading off and sitting down next to Daphne and Tracey.

"I assume you had to persuade the hat to place you here?" Daphne asked.

"I had to threaten to kill a few Ravenclaws, but the hat relented in the end." Harry replied.

"Really now?" Daphne asked as Ronald Weasley went into Gryffindor.

"Of course. Why would I be lying?" Harry asked, and Daphne laughed.

Finally, the sorting ended when Blaise Zabini went into Slytherin. When the dark skinned boy sat down, the old wizard in the headmaster's chair stood and gave a short speech, reminding the students that the Forbidden Forest was, in fact, Forbidden, that there were several newly forbidden items on the banned items list, and that the third floor corridor on the right hand side was "Forbidden to any who did not wish to die a most painful death."

"He's baiting us, you know." Tracey spoke up as Dumbledore said that. "If that corridor were truly forbidden, he wouldn't have said that, and the corridor wouldn't even be accessible to us."

"Agreed. So, shall we check it out?" Harry asked.

"No. As far as I know, it doesn't really concern us." Daphne said. That was about when food began to appear on the table, and the students began to eat. Right away, the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor tables exploded into loud conversation, while Ravenclaw and Slytherin stayed mostly silent, Ravenclaw barely eating anything, preferring to engage in quiet discussion, while Slytherin ate in a more refined manner, the conversation ranging from politics to the forbidden corridor. After a few minutes, Daphne nudged him.

"That's disgusting! Just look at him!" She pointed across the room, where Ron was stuffing his face, much to the disgust of Hermione, who was sitting next to him.

"Another opportunity for an accident." Harry smirked, before firing off a well aimed stinging hex. It hit Ron in the chest, making him to gasp in pain, mouth full of food, causing him to start choking on his meal. Ron was soon flailing around, face turning red, when the bushy haired witch next to him stood, and wrapped her arms around his abdomen and administered the Heimlich maneuver, causing Ron to fall to the ground in pain, but alive. Apparently, the bushy haired girl had broken several of his ribs in the attempt to dislodge the food that was choking him. Harry's eyes widened imperceptibly at this, wondering if the girl even realized the magnitude of her actions.

Soon, several teachers arrived and levitated the groaning boy to the hospital wing.

"Damn, and I thought for sure that you had him that time!" Daphne groaned.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll do something else stupid soon, and we'll kill him then." Harry quipped, as if he was simply discussing the weather, rather than having tried and failed to kill an eleven year old twice within two hours.

The rest of the meal passed without incident, as the rest of the Weasleys had better table manners, making them less likely to have an 'accident', at least for now. Finally, Dumbledore stood up and dismissed the students, who followed their prefects to their dormitories, the Slytherins and Ravenclaws departing in orderly lines, while the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors ran out in a ragged mob. Descending into the dungeons, they stopped in front of a portrait of a snake, where one of the prefects then spoke a password, Ambition, and the portrait swung aside, revealing a rather well furnished room, inside which Professor Snape was waiting. The first year students formed an orderly line in front of the greasy haired professor, while the older students went to practice a routine that they had obviously gone through before.

"Welcome to Slytherin House. I am Professor Severus Snape, head of Slytherin house and your potions instructor." Professor Snape began when the older students had left. "Before I continue, I would like to remind you that I will not coddle you in this house. This is a house of serpents, not worms, after all. You are to settle your disputes yourself, without drawing me into them, as I do not wish for my time to be wasted with the petty arguments of children. Now, as members of Slytherin house, you are to present a united front to the other houses. Whatever your grievances with each other are, they are to be settled inside the common room, not in the hallways. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Professor Snape." The first years intoned.

"Good. Now, due to our dormitories' location, we have more than enough room to give each one of you their own room, unlike the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, who have to share. This space, however, comes at a cost in that the dungeons will get rather cold in winter, so you all better learn your warming charms before then. In addition, unlike the Gryffindors, who need to have their girls' and boys' dormitories warded from intrusion from the other gender, you are free to pass between the two at will. However, I expect you all to behave appropriately, and will not be responsible for any injuries sustained from your trespassing. Now, while curfew officially is at nine o'clock, you will be permitted to stay up until eleven to get ahead on your studies before the lights go out. Any questions?" Snape asked. When no student raised their hand, Snape spoke again.

"In that case, I will leave you to it. You are to find a room to yourself. What you do in it is none of my concern unless you make it so." Snape then turned and left the room, the portrait closing behind him. Nobody spoke for a few moments, then Draco Malfoy walked to the front of the crowd.

"My name is Draco Malfoy, and my father is Lucius Malfoy. Should any of you do anything against me, my father will hear of it, and your families will find themselves out on the streets before you can even kiss my robes. As of now, I declare myself to be the king of Slytherin, and you all better obey me if you know what's good for you!" Malfoy proclaimed. The little speech made Harry see red. How dare the little blonde ponce presume himself Harry's superior? He could barely cast a stinging hex, much less beat Harry in a duel!

Walking over to the blonde, Harry drew back his hand, calmly looked Malfoy in the eye, and, with a resounding 'SMACK!', Harry slapped him across the face, putting his entire body behind the blow.

Just like that, Malfoy tumbled to the ground, stunned. Planting his foot on the fallen blonde's neck, Harry turned to face the crowd and spoke.

"The king is dead. Long live the king!"

Nobody moved for the first few seconds, then applause broke out as Blaise started to clap, followed by Daphne and Tracey, and pretty soon, most of the first year Slytherins followed suit, with the exception of Malfoy's two trollish cohorts and a spoiled looking girl named Pansy Parkinson, the former of which simply stood there, looking stupid, while the latter actually rushed over to Malfoy, screeching something about her 'Drakey Poo' being hurt, causing the rest of the room to burst into laughter. Just like that, Draco Malfoy lost all his credibility among the Slytherins, and Harry had asserted himself in his place as the new leader of Slytherin house. It was then that Draco managed to lift his wand and fire a curse up at Harry. The stinging hex met its mark, but instead of the high pitched yelp of pain that Malfoy had expected, Harry simply grit his teeth and turned to Draco.

"As punishment for the coward's act of cursing your better from behind, Malfoy, I hereby declare that his belongings are no longer his. The rest of you may help yourselves to whatever is in his trunk." Ignoring Malfoy's gasp of outrage, Harry continued. "In addition, each and every Slytherin, including the upper years, may request that Draco use his own finances to purchase something for them, and Draco will oblige and purchase it for you."

"Over my dead body!" Draco shouted back.

"Careful what you wish for." Harry said, before firing a torture curse that simulated electrocution at Draco, keeping it on for several seconds before releasing it. "Now, if you agree to these demands, you will be released. If not, well, there's more where that came from." Harry said,

"My father will hear of this!" Malfoy shouted, right before the curse was reapplied.

"Your father isn't here right now, Malfoy, so I suggest you shut up and agree to my demands, unless you actually like the pain." Harry said to a groaning blonde.

"Fine! Fine! I'll do it, just please, let me go!" Malfoy shouted as Harry prepared to fire another curse.

"See? That wasn't so hard now, was it?" Harry chided as he stepped off Malfoy's neck, allowing the other boy to slowly scramble to his feet. "Blaise! Daphne! Would you two be so kind as to alert the upper years as to Draco's generous offer and the story behind it?" The two students then shot off to their respective genders' dormitories, following Harry's command.

"Tracey!" Harry then turned to the brown haired girl.

"Yes?"

"Get out some parchment and a quill. We're making a list." Tracey smiled at that, and rushed off towards the girls' dormitories, coming back several minutes later with the required supplies.

"Sorry for taking so long. I had to claim a room and call for the house elves to bring my stuff down." Tracey said with a grin. By then, the common room had filled with upper year students, some of which were jeering at Malfoy, while others began clamoring for the list as soon Tracey arrived with it.

"Allright! Please put down your name, then what you want to order. Please keep the prices within reason, as we want our generous friend here," Harry announced, pointing at Draco as he did so, "...to still have some money for the next time we do this!"

It was nearly half an hour before everyone, Harry included, had signed the list. The requested items ranged from relatively inexpensive (A 'Deluxe Magical Make-up Kit', imported from France for Pansy Parkinson,) to truly expensive, such as seven sets of racing brooms, ranging from British Nimbus 2000s to American Nike Victories, doubtless requests from the members of Slytherin's quidditch team, although given how many brooms were ordered, it was fairly obvious that each player had put down enough brooms to supply the entire team, thus bringing the total to forty nine expensive racing brooms. Harry himself had put himself down for an extremely rare and expensive rune making kit that he had circled in several catalogs but couldn't find anywhere in Diagon Alley.

Finally, when the upper years had left the common room, Harry showed the list of parchment to Draco, who blanched at the expenses listed.

"I want these delivered within the month. I don't care how you get it done, but if a single one of these items is not here by the end of September, there will be hell to pay. Understood?" Harry asked, handing the paper to Malfoy, who nodded dumbly and then turned to leave.

"Oh, and I charmed that paper to warn me should anyone try to edit its contents. Should you try, I wouldn't hesitate to turn this into a monthly occasion, Malfoy." Harry said to the boy, who nodded again and shuffled towards a dormitory that he had chosen.

Soon, many of the first years had gotten over their excitement at the humiliation of Malfoy and had went off to find their own dormitories, Harry included.

The Slytherin dormitories, due to their location in the otherwise unused dungeons of the school, had enough space to give each student their own room. However, the passageways between them and the common room were laid out in a labyrinthine manner, complete with dead ends, secret passageways into other rooms, and ever shifting corridors, all of which helped to contribute to the impression of Slytherin house being a true den of snakes.

It was several minutes of walking later that Harry found a promising looking room. As every room was unique, a student had to investigate each room he wanted carefully, lest there be some unpleasant surprises present, such as cursed furniture, or a particularly rude ghost, or worse.

The room that Harry had chosen seemed more like a miniature library than a bedroom at first, with the shelves still filled with books. Next to the bed, which was rather small when compared to some of the other rooms', there was a large desk, with several old sheets of parchment and even a journal of some sort lying on it. Picking up said journal, Harry saw on the front the name 'Tom Marvolo Riddle'. The name seemed familiar to him, although Harry couldn't figure out why.

Opening it, Harry saw that the first few pages were written as if the notebook were a diary. Skimming through those, Harry saw the writing style change about a quarter of the way through the book, as it started to look like less of a diary and more of a proper research journal, similar to the one that Harry kept as he worked on his potions that he had brought with him in his trunk.

Deciding to ignore the journal for now, Harry walked over to the bed, upon which lay a note, which told Harry to summon the Hogwarts house elves to bring his luggage down to him. Doing so, he watched as several long eared creatures appeared into the room, carrying his trunk. They quickly put it down, depositing another note in the process, and then disappeared as quickly as they came, a loud 'CRACK!' signalling their departure. Picking up the note, which Harry saw was just a quick reminder that his owl had been moved to the Owlery, as the dungeons were no place to keep it. Sighing, Harry sat down on the bed, the excitement of the day having finally caught up to him. He fell asleep shortly afterward.


A/N: That would be the second chapter of this story done a day late, as I had to re-write the entire last segment of the chapter, as the old version, at least to me, seemed cliche and OOC.

As for my early introduction of Daphne and Tracey, the former of which being pretty commonly shipped with Harry, this is not at all indicative of future pairings (or is it? I'm not telling!). After all, I read books 1-5 expecting Harry to end up with Hermione, as Ginny was a very minor character in those books. Then, in book 6 she comes out of nowhere and gets Harry for herself. Thus, theoretically, the pairing could be any girl in Slytherin (No slash here, sorry folks). It could even be someone NOT in Slytherin! Imagine that! Regardless, romance won't be a primary focus of this work of fiction. (I like calling this a 'Work of Fiction' instead of a Fic! It's more formal sounding, and helps pad the word count.)

Anyway, I hope that this chapter meets your expectations after reading the first. That's all for now, folks!