A/N: All four of them, for their various reasons, were substantially broken individuals when they boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time. As to why we see practically no after-effects from that, the short answer is that all four of them seize on their fellowship as a new "normal" and pretty much ignore the old "normal". I did something similar myself when I was a few years older than this, transforming quite abruptly in response to a sudden radical improvement in my social context.

08 Routine:

Now that they essentially had complete freedom in their studies, the Four quickly settled into a routine that suited them. They continued their exercise sessions in the mornings, and without Astronomy to stay up for on Wednesday nights they could run before breakfast every morning. After breakfast they normally split up, each of them going to a different class - to begin with these were mostly second-year classes, since they were already ahead of the first-year curriculum. After lunch they holed up in their private classroom (they'd asked Flitwick now and he'd given them permission), and each of them in turn taught the others what they had learned in the classes they'd attended that morning. Even Hermione's extraordinary organisational skills were being challenged, as she kept track of everything they were learning - she reacted mock-violently whenever anyone suggested that she shouldn't have to do all that by herself, so they left it in her hands. She also mostly decided what classes they would go to and what they would study in their own sessions, although she was always willing to change things if someone objected.

In the evenings they generally practised dueling, and they became adept at tiring themselves out as much as possible while making sure they could always recover by the next morning. They found that their magic grew stronger a lot more rapidly than anyone had expected, and continued to push as fast as they could.

They no longer had scheduled private lessons with Professor Flitwick, but he and most of the other teachers gave the Four a standing invitation to visit and ask questions anytime they were free. For Potions they attended no classes and had no teacher as such, given their relationship with Snape, but Professor Sprout supervised their use of the Potions classroom a few times each week. At first they brewed two different potions at once between the four of them, but they quickly increased this to four and beyond as they became more confident. In brewing potions the Four were essentially just testing what they already knew thoroughly, so they found they could make good use of having an entire classroom to themselves. They also became very popular with Madam Pomfrey, since most of the potions that they brewed went straight into her stores.

For Defence Against the Dark Arts they didn't bother attending scheduled classes, but Professor Flitwick did arrange for them to practise dueling against some older students. The Four quickly learned to work effectively as a team, gambling that in any real fight they would probably be together.

Although the Four didn't attend regular Flying lessons on Wednesday afternoons, they did meet up with Madam Hooch every week or so to test-fly prototypes. Harry honed his already-excellent flying skills, while his friends became quite good fliers themselves - even Hermione became entirely comfortable in the air, and Ron might have been good enough to play on the House Quidditch team if he'd had the time - as it was, Harry had quietly but firmly refused to play Quidditch in his first year. He did leave open the possibility of joining the team later, but right now he was too busy with study.

Hermione was happier than she had ever been before. She had three very close friends who obviously valued her highly, and they valued her for what that she cared about most: learning. She finally had people who appreciated her obsessive planning, and for the first time in her life she was in a situation where she really needed it. Her exceptional memory was also getting full use - she was the Four's expert memory for all the details in every subject, especially History of Magic. There was the faint shadow of awareness that war was coming, but she knew that they were already doing everything they could to prepare for that. She wan't even particularly bothered by the coldness that her dorm-mates often showed towards her - they never actually did or said anything nasty to her, being well aware that even on her own she was already more than a match for all four of them, and she just couldn't make herself care all that much that they didn't like her.

Neville also was happier than he had ever been before. Raised to believe that he was worthless, he had abruptly found himself in a situation where that clearly wasn't true. He had friends who cared about him and thought he was important, and with their help he was excelling in ways that even his inner voice of doubt couldn't deny. He had thrown himself whole-heartedly into this new life, letting his new happiness blur the painful memories of the past. Among the Four he was the recognised expert in Herbology and Potions, seeing the connections between the two subjects and developing a deep understanding of what made potions work. He even began to modify some potions recipes, although he always asked Professor Sprout and took extreme safety precautions - he hadn't forgotten the exploding cauldrons in their second and final lesson with Snape.

Ron was, in a word, fulfilled. All his life he had been overshadowed in every way by his older brothers, and even occasionally by his younger sister. Now, finally, he was standing tall in his own right. He didn't care at all that Harry was more famous - Ron was now at least slightly famous for his own work alongside Harry, rather than just for being Harry's friend, and so he was happy. Besides, his social world was largely wrapped up in the Four - in their company he was an equal, and he found he didn't really know or care what anyone else thought of him. Much to his own surprise, he had quickly become the Four's expert on aspects of History of Magic and Defence Against the Dark Arts. He had always excelled at chess, and now he used that strategic thinking to analyse historical events and trends and to devise battle strategies. He had also discovered quite a few ways in which the accepted histories of the wizarding world didn't make sense, and the Four had begun to piece together an alternate history which painted their government in a far less favourable light. So far they had chosen not to tell anyone about this, though Ron and Hermione between them were keeping meticulous notes on everything they learned and realised.

Harry had found peace in work, more or less. He knew that war was coming, but like Hermione he was reassured that he was already doing everything he could to prepare for it. He had been badly hurt by his relatives, and that damage might never fully heal, but now it felt like it belonged to a different life. It could no longer touch him. Besides flying, Harry became the Four's expert in spellcasting itself - he did have more magical power than the other three, although by now they were all well beyond any of their former classmates in that regard. In his friends he found the emotional security that he had always lacked; their shared task both insulated them from the rest of the world and bound the four of them together, and they had rapidly become extremely close.

This peace endured until Halloween.