8 June 2008 A/N: Thanks to:
- panther73110: We'll see now, won't we?
- Tiffany's Hogwarts Secrets: Thanks. D
-JaceH83
-Kirril: Thanks! In chapter two, Harry heard the whole argument but, as an oblivious eight year old (are eight year olds oblivious…?) didn't really care. He probably didn't understand either, as he wasn't raised as a Potter—he was raised as 'boy'.
-odepotmike
-murray28764
-HarrySirius Fan
-dillon2
Disclaimer: I, 'turayza', do not own any of the mentioned characters, locations, spells or random ideas. They all belong to J. K. Rowling, and there is no copyright infringement intended.
Chapter Four: The Hogwarts Letters
Two Years Later (Draco and Harry are 11 years old)
The bright morning sun rose the same way it did every single other day. Its vivid yellow rays promised scorching summery heat, just as it did the day before. Its light streamed through the windows of Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy's rooms, lighting up their darkly colored rooms brilliantly and disrupting their sleep.
Harry Potter rolled over and tried to ignore the blaring light.
Draco Malfoy grunted and covered his face with his pillow.
Harry rolled over and mumbled something resembling 'not yet, I'll do the dishes later.'
Draco whacked himself through the pillow.
Harry sat up abruptly, realizing what day it was.
Draco tried to bury his head in his blankets.
Harry hopped out of bed excitedly and rushed out of his room.
Draco was in the process of attempting to dig a hole in the mattress of his bed when Harry burst into his room hollering at him to wake up.
"DRACO! HAUL YOUR LAZY BUM OFF YOUR BED! Do you know what day it is? Do you? Do you?" Harry yelled excitedly, jumping on to Draco's bed and bouncing up and down, causing Draco to be bounced up and down as well.
"Leavemealone," Draco muttered from under his blankets and pillow. "Ineedmybeautysleep."
"Screw that, Draco! Our Hogwarts letters arrive today!" Harry shouted at Draco, tearing the layers of silky fabric over goose down off his friend. "WAKE UP!"
Draco slowly (agonizingly slowly) crawled to a sitting position. "You're evil," Draco said, wiping the fog of sleep from his eyes. "Why'd you wake me up?"
Harry stared at Draco in disbelief. "We. Get. Our. Letters. Today." Harry said, speaking as if Draco was mentally retarded. "Seriously, you've got hearing problems. Have you really not heard what I've been yelling at you for," Harry checked the bedside clock, "the last five minutes?"
Draco mumbled something under his breath.
He then looked at the magically updating calendar/clock/planner hanging on his wall.
Draco lurched off the bed with a start.
"HARRY! WE'RE GETTING OUR HOGWARTS LETTERS TODAY!" Draco exclaimed, adrenaline pumping through him.
"Wow...someone's fast today..." Harry muttered, rolling his eyes. "Race you!" Harry shouted, sprinting out through Draco's door.
"Hey! That's cheap!" Draco said, running after Harry.
--
The two (slightly calmed down) boys sat at the breakfast table munching on bacon and eggs.
"Hey Draco?"
"Yeah?"
"Wouldn't it be funny if you didn't get your Hogwarts letter?"
Draco glared at Harry.
"No, but it'd be funny if you didn't get yours," Draco replied flatly.
"Oh no, I'm definitely getting mine," Harry replied with a smirk (one that he had learned from Draco).
"Oh really."
"Of course. Remember that time I blasted all the windows in the house out?"
"How could I forget...Mother thought it was me, and I was yelled at for hours," Draco replied, looking a little annoyed.
Harry laughed at the memory.
"I can't wait to go to Hogwarts!" Harry exclaimed, thinking happily about all the stories Lucius and Narcissa had told him and Draco about their school years.
flashback
"When you two are eleven, you will receive a letter to Hogwarts. Though Durmstrang would be more suitable for two respectable pureblood wizards like you two, Narcissa has been insistent that you stay closer to home and go to Hogwarts. Hogwarts was a great school in our time, before the fool of a headmaster, Dumbledore, took over. When Narcissa and I were around your age, Hogwarts was the best wizarding school in the world," Lucius said to Harry and Draco, who sat on a couch opposite of him.
"What was Hogwarts like, father?" Draco asked curiously.
"It's an amazingly magical castle, Draco. There is a great lake, a massive forest, and an ever-changing interior. Hogwarts will never become boring. We always thought Hogwarts was really alive when we were first years," Lucius replied.
"What did you do there?" asked Harry.
Lucius chuckled softly.
"Hogwarts is a school, however magical and fairytale-like it may sound. We took classes like Potions, Etiquette, Ancient Runes, Transfiguration, Charms, Dueling, Bloodlines...Useful classes like those. Unfortunately, Dueling has been replaced by Defence Against the Dark Arts, Etiquette and Bloodlines have been taken out and Muggle Studies," Lucius scowled, "has replaced them. And Dumbledore uses teachers who are every bit as idiotic as himself--Trelawney, the nutcase, and Binns, the ghost, for example. Hogwarts has fallen away, but it is still a great school, regardless. Slytherin is still as pure as ever," Lucius finished.
"What is Slytherin?" Harry asked, not having been raised in a Slytherin household.
"The best house of them all!" Draco said proudly. "All the Malfoys have been Slytherins, and I'm sure you'll be one too."
Lucius cracked a smile.
"Yes, Slytherin is the purest of all the houses. The founder, Salazar Slytherin, prized pure blood, cunning, and ambition. All of these lead to success, which makes Slytherin the best of all four houses," Lucius said smugly.
"What are the other houses?" Harry asked, his head whirling with the new information.
"Slytherin, by far, is definitely the best of the four. But also acceptable would be Ravenclaw, founded by Rowena Ravenclaw. She was a brilliant witch, though not as powerful as Slytherin and Gryffindor, but prized knowledge above all. Godric Gryffindor founded the Gryffindor House. Thought Gryffindor himself was a great and powerful wizard, his ideals of courage and bravery were ultimately his downfall. Though he can be admired, of course, for his traits, his way of doing things was a surefire way to failure and he displayed quite a large amount of idiocy. An equally undesireable House would be Hufflepuff, founded by Helga Hufflepuff. However kindhearted the witch was, she reached her position in life only because of her friendship with the other three founders and all those in her house are rather...pushable. Though there are oddballs in each House, the Houses are sorted by a Sorting Hat, which decides which founder's ideals you portray the most and places you in their house. I have no doubt that you will both be placed into the noble house of Slytherin," Lucius explained.
end flashback
An owl screeched and soared into the Malfoy owlery, flapping twice around the writing table before dropping onto a perch and looking at Harry and Draco expectantly. The two boys scrambled over, pushing and shoving each other in a bid to try and reach the owl first. Finally, Draco untied the letter (only one!) from the owl's leg (after sitting on Harry's stomach to stop him from moving) and fed the owl a treat.
Draco held the envelope face down, nervous butterflies flitting around in his stomach.
"Gerroff me, you big oaf!" Harry grumbled, squirming from under the slightly taller Draco.
"Oops, I forgot about you," Draco said sheepishly, standing up.
Draco flipped the envelope open and saw that it was addressed to "Mr. Draco Malfoy, Malfoy Manor." Draco sighed softly in relief.
Harry popped up beside him.
"Oh, bollocks. You got yours first. Well, open it!" Harry said impatiently.
Draco carefully slitted the envelope open, and delicately lifted out the sheets of paper. The first piece was a letter that said:
Dear Mr Malfoy,
"We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Students shall be required to report to the chamber of Reception upon arrival, the date for which shall be duly advised. Please ensure that the utmost attention be made to the list of requirements attached herewith. We very much look forward to receiving you as part of the new generation of Hogwarts' heritage.
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress" (Rowling, SS)
The paper behind the letter had a list of required materials, which said:
"First year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes
2. One plain pointed hat for day wear
3. One pair of dragon-hide gloves
And the following set of books:
'The Standard Book of Spells' by Miranda Goshawk
'A Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi' by Phyllida Spore
'A History of Magic' by Bathilda Bagshot
'Magical Theory' by Adalbert Waffling
'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration' by Emeric Switch
'Magical Drafts and Potions' by Arsenius Jigger
'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' by Newt Scamander
'The Dark Forces: A Guide to Slef-Protection' by Trimble
All students must be equipped with:
One wand
One standard size two pewter cauldron
And may bring, if they so desire, either an owl, a cat, or a toad.
Lucinda Thomsonicl-Pocus
Chief Attendant of Witchcraft Provisions" (Rowling, SS)
"Wow…" Harry whispered, reading along with Draco.
Right then, another owl flew in through the owlery window carrying another Hogwarts stamped envelope. Harry hurriedly untied the envelope and gave the owl a treat, then ripped open his envelope messily. Lifting out his papers, he saw that his letters were identical to Draco's—with the exception of this paper:
Dear Mr. Potter,
It has come to our attention that you are living with muggles in a non-magical area. A professor will come to you and take you to purchase your school supplies before the term begins. Please await our correspondence for further information.
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
"Hey Draco! What do I do about this?" Harry asked, holding his letter out to Draco to see. "What if they go to the Dursley's? What if," he gasped in horror, "they come here and try to take me away?"
Though Harry was still slightly worried, he sighed in reluctant acceptance and nodded in agreement.
"Did Lucius say when he planned to take us to Diagon Alley for school supplies?" Harry asked Draco.
"I think he said the Sunday after we received our letters..."
"That would be tomorrow, then!" Harry said, barely able to wait for the 'shopping trip'.
"That it would be. Ooh! Have you seen the new Nimbus?" Draco asked, his thoughts flitting to Quidditch.
"Wait, the broom? There's a new Nimbus? How come you didn't tell me about it?" Harry asked, prodding Draco.
"Hey, back off! You were too busy reading your new Potions book, and I like my head connected to the rest of my body, thank you very much," Draco replied defensively.
"Oh." Harry stared out into space blankly, trying to remember when that had happened. "Oops."
"Anyways, that's beyond the point," Harry said, changing the subject, "what's the Nimbus like?"
"Absolutely brilliant! You know the Comets we have in the shed? Well, the speed is supposed to be three times as fast, and it's acceleration time is miniscule! Turning is supposed to be magnificent, too. The only problem is the braking--it's a little on the shaky side, but at least it's fast," Draco said excitedly. "Too bad first years can't bring brooms. I bet we can sneak them in if we hide the brooms in our clothes, though."
"Wow...I can't wait to try out the Nimbus," Harry said, a little starry-eyed.
"Yeah, me too. I can't wait to go to Hogwarts, for that matter," Draco replied, grinning in anticipation.
"Hey, you want to owl Blaise and Theo to see if they've received their letters yet?" Harry asked.
"Sure! And if they have, we might as well get them to come over for a bit of celebrating (and break into Father's butterbeer stores while we're at it)," Draco replied.
"We're an odd bunch, you know that? Celebrating about going to school... I used to abhor school--but then, it was a stupid muggle school, so I suppose that was to be expected," Harry said.
"Oh please. Hogwarts doesn't sound like any plain and boring school. And we'll be away from the controlling influence of our parents al year long! It shall be desert three times a day from now on," Draco plotted evilly. "Anyways, even if Hogwarts is just a normal school, it'll still be better than those evil, ruler-toting torturous tutors we have teaching us now."
"Yeah...at least. Do you think you'll miss Lucius and Narcissa?" Harry asked. "I think I will, and they're not even my parents!"
"Maybe...yeah, I probably will. They might not be good at it, but I know they love me," Draco said with a silly smile. "But they said we'll probably be having so much fun that we all but forget about them," Draco replied. "Oh yeah...and I heard that the Boy Who Lived is in our year. What do you say about befirending him, and placing him on our side?"
Harry burst into peals of laughter.
"Imagine the Minster's face if his poster boy turned out to be a Slytherin, the house of evilness!"
"That would be absolutely ridiculous," Draco said while laughing at the image. "What an interesting thought. Let's try that, shall we?" Draco said, plotting his evil little plots in his evil little mind. (What a hardcore Slytherin! XD)
"Right-o," Harry replied, plotting equally evil little plots in his equally evil little mind.
The two devious soon-to-be-Howarts-students discussed their plans for their next seven years at Hogwarts all the rest of the day, nothing else able to permeate their minds.
9 June 2008 A/N: Do any of you know how to get a beta? Is there a search-thing with a list of all the betas + their information, or do I have to find one by asking around? Anyways, thanks for reading!
Next chapter coming up: Adoption Letters and Diagon Alley