Unholy Flames
Summary: Harry Potter has powers. He's known since he "magically" grew his hair back. Curiosity leads to stumbling across the magical world, and Harry is not pleased. AU.
A/N: Forgot to mention, in this world, Dumbledore is just a powerful old man. Harry vanquished Grindelwald, and Voldemort rules Britain as of now, possibly forever.
Chapter 3: Hogwarts
Humming to himself, trunk in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, was Harry, looking for all the world excited. Finally, he could learn magic for real. There was only so much you could learn self-taught and unsure of what you were even dabbling with.
Harry's good mood quickly evaporated. McGonagall had neglected to tell him how to get to Platform 9 ¾, and he couldn't exactly ask; he'd be called a madman and sent to a mental institute. Harry downed his coffee in a few gulps, and while more alert now, he was infinitely more stressed.
"Oh my god..." he groaned. He really had wanted to go to a magic school.
Still, he drifted around Platform 9 and Platform 10 aimlessly, subconsciously hoping the answer would just come to him. Tired, he went toward the wall separating Platform 9 and Platform 10, and leaned. His heart sunk as he felt himself go through.
Harry took off his glasses, wiped them on his shirt, and put them back on. He wasn't mistaken. He had magically found Platform 9 ¾. Moving towards the red train, he spotted a blonde boy looking quite glum walk into the train. It was Aiden. He ran towards the train.
"Oi! Snape!"
Aiden spun around with such speed that Harry thought Aiden must have been looking at him the whole time.
"Yes? Oh, it's you. Harry Potter, right? Boy-Who-Lived?" Aiden said, no contempt in his soft, cordial voice.
"Yeah, sure, why not," Harry offered. "Let's find a compartment before we run out of seating options."
Aiden did not reply, and just walked on ahead. Harry looked at him, and followed. He had no idea why the boy talked so little. He had thought people loved to talk about themselves.
"Do you like Quidditch?" Harry said, attempting conversation.
"No. Father says I shouldn't partake in such a savage sport."
Harry tried again, "Are you into Dueling?" He didn't expect it to work on such an seemingly apathetic individual.
He was wrong.
"I love Dueling!" Aiden exclaimed. "Did you see the last International Dueling Championship?"
"No." was the simple response.
As if not hearing him, Aiden started to babble about all the famous Dueling champions and how they had performed.
"... And Lumari blasts him off the ring with the most awesome Bombarda ever!" Aiden summed up.
"That's pretty cool. I have a feeling you're going to kick my ass in dueling class," Harry said in an amused tone. Aiden just grinned in response. "Speaking of class, you do know our Charms teacher was a former dueling champion?"
"Yeah. My father's the Potions Master so I met him earlier on. Nice guy," he said.
"What's your dad like? Is the class going to be a breeze or hell?"
Aiden instantly tensed up at the mention of his father. His eyes darted everywhere, as if perhaps the Potions Master was here the entire time.
"He's pretty strict. He has high standards, so don't expect to ace his class easily." Aiden said carefully.
"Damn. He must make you wear a tie to bed, huh?" Harry said jokingly.
Aiden stared blankly for a second, and then started laughing. Harry laughed with him for what seemed like an eternity before they stopped.
"You're all right, Aiden." Harry commented.
Unholy Flames
The two boys exited the compartment. It was odd how different they looked from one another. They both had green eyes, though Aiden's definitely had blue somewhere in there, but that's where the similarities end. Harry had rather unruly jet black hair, while Aiden had straight blonde hair that fell to his shoulders. Harry's wand was made of hydra scale and cypress wood. Aiden's was made of phoenix feather and hawthorn. Harry had a look of confidence, mixed with a small amount of humility. Aiden had a look of someone who was miserable, but able to handle himself in sticky situations. It was only natural that they became fast friends.
They were waiting outside the Great Hall to be sorted.
"Shut up, you guys!" a girl with wavy brown hair said. "We put on a freakin' hat to get sorted alright? It's simple! Now shut the hell up!"
"What's her problem?" Harry said, arms crossed. She was insanely loud.
"Who cares?" Aiden mumbled, looking quite green.
Harry looked to him but wisely refrained from commenting. He assumed Aiden's sorting would affect his father quite a bit. Sometimes he wished he had parents. But not parents that judgemental.
At that moment, Professor McGonagall opened the doors to the Great Hall and addressed the school. "Let the sorting begin!"
The sorting went in alphabetical order, and Harry was happy to zone it out, at least until his name was called.
"Potter, Harry."
An ominous quiet settled. Harry glared lazily at the student body, and sat on the stool as the Sorting Hat was placed on his head.
"You're cunning enough to satisfy your needs, you have great ambition, but no, you would not belong in wee Slytherin. You are brave, but would never rush into it without thinking about it. You are only loyal to yourself. Humm. You remind me of Tom Riddle, but he was obvious for... said too much."
Harry grew impatient. The hat had spent a while muttering quite loudly as to his characteristics. It was downright rude, accusing, and offensive.
"Sort me, you bloody hat!" he whispered.
"BETTER BE - RAVENCLAW!"
The blue table to his right broke into applause, the whole lot of them grinning like lunatics. He threw the hat back onto the stool, and walked towards the blue table. People at the Gryffindor stared at him with looks of betrayal, Slytherin with cold regard, and Hufflepuff paid him no heed.
Aiden was sorted into Slytherin. Harry looked to the Slytherin table, and there was a boy with pale blonde hair and grey eyes conversing with Aiden as if they had known each other forever. For all Harry knew, they had.
He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a scream. There was a freckled boy with red hair, and he glared coldly at the Sorting Hat. The boy had apparently been mind-raped just like Harry, but the boy must have a temper to attack it so evilly. The boy, who a housemate told him was Ron Weasley, walked to the Slytherin table.
Dumbledore got up at addressed the students: "You know the rules. Please avoid the Forbidden Woods, and the third floor is reserved for Dueling Club, so do not go there for any other reason. On a happier note, let's sing the tune to the Hogwarts song."
Everyone sung at different paces. Harry was startled to see a pair of twins, with the same red hair as Ron Weasley get on the table and start singing a dance club version of the song.
He could tell he was going to love this place.
A/N2: I really enjoyed writing this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. The last part was a bit rushed, and I feel woozy!
Please review!