Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling.
Some of the concepts that will be in this fic are from other Fan fictions about Harry Potter with my own twist on them. So I would like to acknowledge all the Harry Potter fan writers on this site for great work and hundreds of hours of reading. This is an AU story.
Chapter 15
New Friends, New Rivals, and a Train Ride
The dried leaves crunched under his feet as he walked through the Dark Forest pushing his way through the underbrush. The locals had told him that it hadn't always been this way. 'It was about eight years ago, something entered the forest and made itself at home.' That was the way the wizards in the local town told it. Since then people reported seeing a large snake moving around in the shadows at the edge of the wood. Several small muggle children had gone missing over the years after getting too close to the edge of the forest.
"Why am I here?" Quirinus Quirrell asked himself for the tenth time since entering the forest. "Because Dumbledore thought I could use more experience in Defense against the Dark Arts. If it wasn't for Flamel asking him to guard that damn stone for him I wouldn't need to be here getting more experience!" Quirrell muttered to himself sarcastically.
He had been walking around for four hours and hadn't seen anything. Oh yes, there was something here all right; the sun didn't seem to want to penetrate past the tops of the trees putting everything in the forest into shadow. The trees looked withered and covered in slimy moss. "Oh yes, this forest has gone dark alright."
Just as he was about to turn around and head back to the town he felt something fly past him sending a sharp pain through his neck. He snapped his hand to the side of his neck where whatever it was had stung him. When he drew his hand back and looked at it there was a small amount of blood mixed with black. "Oh great what was that?"
Quirrell looked around him not seeing anything, that's when the pain hit him forcing him to his knees. Placing his hand back to his neck he could feel the swelling start. When he pulled his hand away again he looked and could see the normally bluish veins on the back of his hand were pulsing with something black.
He heard the crows call. "CAW" The sound of it made his heart skip a beat. He looked up into the branches in front of him, the pain almost making it impossible. He was surprised to see that his vision was crystal clear and sharper than normal. In the branches not twenty feet above him he spotted what had pecked his neck, a Nightcrow. It turned its head toward him, looking at him without any expression before disappearing in a puff of black smoke.
The fear of seeing the Nightcrow and the pain from whatever the creature had infected him with were almost too much for the Defense Professor. He didn't hear the sound of the huge snake slithering through the underbrush until he was face to face with it. The last thing he saw before waking up on the edge of the forest was a Dark Shade leaving the snake and rushing towards him.
-oo00oo-
Harry sat in his bed going over everything that had happened to him over the past year. Getting away from the Dursleys, finding his heritage, getting his godfather and Remus back in his life, those were the good things but not the only things. He had two good friends Neville and Susan, who both hung out with him for him, not for who he was.
Then there was the bad, Dumbledore topping the list, getting raked by a werewolf, (he still had three long thin white scars going from over his right shoulder down across to his bottom left rib). Not to mention the soul fragment that Lynn found hiding behind the lightning bolt scar on his forehead.
It was just last week that Sirius called him into the Black library where he found Sirius, Remus, and Lynn all waiting for him. It was a case of good news/bad news that awaited him. Sirius and Lynn had spent many hours going over everything they could find about possession and Horcruxs, Lynn even spending some weekend nights at the Manor.
She had told Harry only a couple weeks prior that she regretted not taking his offer to teach him and be able to use the Potions lab and library. She had finally achieved her Masters in Potions but it had taken longer than she thought it would. What Sirius and Lynn discovered took Harry a few days to deal with.
"Harry, Lynn and I wanted to let you know what we found. We are still searching but we have come to a few conclusions." Sirius started the conversation.
"We know for a fact that your scar is not a Horcrux, for one it takes over a month to prepare the vessel that the soul fragment will inhabit, two you cannot make a Horcrux out of a living thing. Two souls cannot inhabit the same body." explained Sirius.
Lynn took over from there. "So once we figured that out we concentrated on possessions. We are sure that what is in your scar is a soul fragment but it looks to be inactive. Now there have been recorded cases of inactive possessions in the past and nothing bad coming of them. The problem is that no one has figured out a way to separate the extra soul from the possessed without killing both souls, at least not that we have found yet."
Sirius took back over. "In the few cases where someone has tried to remove an active spirit or soul from a possessed person it got ugly resulting in both dying. We haven't found any references of attempting to remove inactive possessions so we are still looking."
Harry took the news as well as any eleven years old could. He slumped down into his chair, staring at the floor. Remus moved over next to him putting his arm around him.
"Harry the good news is whatever you did to lock it away is working to keep it where it is. You shouldn't have any trouble with it as long as it stays inactive and locked up." Lynn finished.
Harry took that last bit of good news and ran with it. That night while he was sorting his memories of the day and strengthening his Occlumency, he went to the third floor of his minds: library and walled off the door to the room he was storing that dark book in.
-oo00oo-
On July thirty-first Harry had his first Birthday party in nine years. He had cleaned up after Dudley's parties each year but he had never had one of his own. .All the people that knew about Harry and where he was, attended the party, even Madam Longbottom. He blew out the eleven candles on the cake in one try, making a wish. 'I wish to have a happy life.'
He got presents from his friends and the adults. The best one was from Sirius, a set of mirrors that he could use to talk to Sirius anytime he wanted. Harry had sent Neville some more greenhouse clippings the day before for his birthday that he was celebrating at Longbottom manor. Harry couldn't go because there would be a lot of people that didn't know about him at that party. In return Neville got Harry a Herbologists Apron made out of a heavy thick materiel that Harry didn't recognize. Remus got Harry a box full of joke items like Harry had done for Sirius at Christmas. Even Ragnok sent a present for Harry, the book on goblin crafting stunned many at the party because the goblins had never before given out any of their crafting secrets. It was not a thick book so obviously it didn't hold all of their secrets.
Remus had let Harry and Neville out of classes the same day that the Hogwarts term ended for the summer. For Harry, it just gave him more time to do his own reading and studying. It did give Neville, Susan, and Harry more time to play.
The three of them were able to get Sirius with an old but tried and true prank. They set up a string and water balloon over a door so that when he walked through the door the balloons would drop on to his head. The only difference was that the balloon wasn't filled with water. Harry and Neville brewed a potion that Harry had found in one of his ancestor's Anton's books. For three days Sirius walked around the Manor smelling like a wet dog. Harry vowed to never do a smell prank again unless it was something that smelled nice.
It was the morning of September first and Harry was going to be leaving for Hogwarts. Harry had finally made his decision. Sirius and Remus were not happy about it but supported him. For Harry it came down to the good versus the bad. He would be with his friends; he would be able to keep a closer eye on Dumbledore; and lastly Hogwarts itself. With the help of the history lessons, his own research, and the self-updating Hogwarts: A History, Harry had found some interesting things out that related to him being the heir to all four founders. It was going to be an interesting year for certain people at the school.
The day before he had opened the trunk that his father had left for him intending to finally furnish and stock the five room sized compartments. When he opened the trunk climbing down the ladder to the lounge compartment, as he was going to call it, it was already furnished. Harry found all the rooms already finished and waiting for him. The bedroom had a four post queen bed, dresser, and night stand. It also had a closet and connected bath that was about half the size of the one he had at the manor. Leading from the bedroom was a door into the lounge that was setup with enough seating for a small party.
The lounge had two doors leading from it not including the bedroom door. The first was to a small kitchen and Dining room. Harry looked around it and found it was already stocked with food and enough Butterbeer to last him months. The last door lead to a library filled with book shelves. The shelves were empty waiting for him to fill them. When he climbed out of the trunk Tula was waiting for him.
"Harry likes what Tula has done?" the little elf asked.
"Thank you Tula, I like it a lot, it is just what I was going to do." Harry beamed a smile at his elf friend. "Do you want to help me fill the library with books?"
"Oh yes Harry, Tula would be very happy to help." Tula had become very close to Harry over the past year. All of the elves were happy being bonded to Harry but none had gotten as close as Tula. She never left his side when he was hurt by the werewolf trying desperately to hold his blood in with her bare hands that night not knowing what to do. After that she had stayed by his bed the entire time he was unconscious. Once Harry was able to get out of bed she was never too far from him.
When he would sit in the master study reading, Tula would find a book on healing magic to read and sit with him. She never wanted to feel so helpless if her master and friend were hurt again. She even went so far as to expand the space under Harry's bed and moved in. Harry and Tula spent hours just talking with each other and Harry was starting to think of Tula as a surrogate mom, Tula took to the role with enthusiasm.
Harry and Tula spent most of the day picking out books from the Potter and Black Libraries. A third of the books Harry had already read but figured they could come in handy went in first. The rest of the books were all new to Harry, mostly advanced books on the subjects he would be getting at school. All of the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff books were added to the library along with the self-updating Hogwarts: A History, which was placed on a pedestal. Salazar's journal was placed on another pedestal. Harry had finished reading it a couple months ago but he liked having it around. With the help of Sirius they created a new index book for his trunk library.
He'd been taking the time to practice parsel magic during each of his wand classes. Parsel magic wasn't much different from normal magic except the spells were spoken in Paseltongue, tended to be more powerful, and cold only be countered in Paseltongue. Of course, there were spells that could only be cast in Paseltongue. Harry couldn't wait to get down to Salazar's Chamber of Secrets and retrieve all his books from there.
-oo00oo-
Harry finally dragged himself out of bed and got ready for the day. After showering and getting dressed he walked over to the nightstand picking up his new wand. His family wand was already in its wrist holster which became invisible. Amelia had come to Harry three weeks ago, and with the agreement of his godfather and Mr. Crandall, was talked into going to Ollivander's to get a ministry approved and tracked wand. He really didn't need it; he was an adult in the eyes of the law but the adults wanted him to have it for appearances.
-oo00oo-
The trip to Diagon Alley happened on a Saturday morning with a special portkey that Amelia provided to Harry and Sirius. Since Remus had been cured months earlier of his problem no one had continued to bother tracking the moons cycle, all except Harry that was. Today was the night of the August new moon. The portkey took them right to Ollivander's front door, they both looked around outside before entering the store. Neither noticed the man that was watching from an alley across the street.
Harry looked around the shop as they entered, it looked old and the shelves were full of small boxes covered in dust. Harry thought the place look rather dingy and dark. Sirius took a seat next to the door and waited. It was an unspoken tradition to let the new students meet Ollivander by themselves.
"Ah, Mister Potter, I was wondering when I would be seeing you." The old man called as he walked out from behind some shelves. Harry looked at Ollivander; he was old with gray hair, and eyes that seemed to look right through you. Harry didn't feel Ollivander invaded his mind but the man looked at Harry like he knew everything about him.
"A family wand, might I see it Mister Potter?" Harry just looked at him for a moment before releasing his wand from its holster and handing it to him. Ollivander took it from him looking it over with a trained eye. He then waved it around in a small circle getting many colorful sparks from the tip.
"Ah, a beautifully crafted wand, Redwood and Griffon crest feather I believe. I have not had the chance to work with Griffon crest feather in a very long time. I believe this wand was crafted by one of my ancestors." He then handed the wand back to Harry who put it back in his holster. Harry had yet to say a word to the old man.
"Shall we get started then?" A tape measure jumped out of Ollivander's pocket and started measuring Harry's wand arm while Ollivander walked back into the shelves pulling boxes down.
An hour later Ollivander still had not found a wand that chose Harry. "I wonder." Ollivander disappeared in to the back of the shop before Harry could ask what he wondered. When Ollivander returned he handed Harry a wand, he felt a warm wind pass over him as the wand touched his hand. The wand felt ok to Harry but he could tell it was not as powerful as his Redwood and Griffon crest feather wand.
"Very interesting." stated Ollivander.
"What's interesting?" asked Harry.
"It is interesting that you should be destined for that wand Mister Potter, Holly and Phoenix tail feather. The phoenix that gave the feather for your wand only gave one other. It is interesting that its brother gave you that scar."
"Voldemort" Harry just stated.
"Yes, I expect great things from you Mister Potter; great things indeed for Voldemort did great things, evil yes, but great." Just as Ollivander finished talking the door to the shop opened. Everyone turned to see who it was.
"Ah, Mister Dumbledore." called Ollivander in welcome. Sirius jumped to his feet and positioned himself between Harry and Albus.
"Good afternoon Mr. Ollivander, Sirius, Harry. I was wondering if I might have a moment of your time Harry. If you would follow me I think we should talk in my office at Hogwarts." Dumbledore asked but it was more of a statement.
"He will not be going anywhere with you Old Man!" Sirius growled.
"Please Sirius it is very important…" Albus didn't finish his sentence as Harry and Sirius disappeared, as nine gold coins clattered to the floor.
-oo00oo-
When he entered the dining room Sirius, Remus, and Mr. Crandall were waiting for him. After sitting down and his breakfast appearing, Harry started eating.
"Harry, are you sure about this? We can still get you into one of the other schools. The Salem Institute in Boston would be a better choice." started Sirius.
Harry finished chewing the bacon he was eating before answering. "Yes, I know you don't like it, but it's where Neville and Susan will be; besides it's better to keep a closer eye on Dumbledore. If he tries anything, he won't like the outcome."
Mr. Crandall had found some information that shed some light on possible motives for what Dumbledore was doing besides the Voldemort issue. After Scott had told Harry what he found a few things clicked into place. The House of Dumbledore was a junior house. A little over three hundred years ago the last of the Ancient and Noble House of Allen died out. The family was firmly in the light and had many junior houses allied to it including House Dumbledore.
Unlike the other junior houses, House Dumbledore did not ally with a new Ancient and Noble House. This was the first step in his house being elevated to ancient and noble status.
Harry learned the process it took in his traditions and culture class. For a family to be elevated to a junior house, they had to remain independent for two hundred years, own land, and have at least five families allied to them. At the end of two hundred years a council of junior house heads selected randomly from all the junior houses would vote. If the vote passed the family was elevated to a junior house.
To become an ancient and noble house, the junior house needed to be sponsored by a current ancient house, remain independent for three hundred years, have continuously owned the same land for five hundred years, have at least twenty families allied to it, and remain in good standing, meaning its head could not be convicted of any capital crimes. After three hundred years a full council of all the current heads of Ancient and Noble houses was called and a vote taken. If the vote passed with a two thirds vote the junior house was elevated.
What clicked for Harry was when House Dumbledore spoke with the Head of the Ancient and Noble house of Potter three hundred years ago seeking a sponsor, they were turned down. Harry had read the small entry about that request in the Potter journals, but didn't understand it at the time.
House Dumbledore did end up finding a sponsor and the clock was started. What Scott found out was that House Dumbledore was up for vote in four years. With only a handful of Ancient and Noble houses still around; keeping Harry from claiming his birthright would have kept the Potters from voting giving him a better chance.
If all this was true it was just politics and it wasn't the first time for it to happen. Dumbledore could have also been hoping to look like the savior to Harry, gaining Harry's trust then just before the vote, tell Harry of his birthright saying he just found out and have Harry vote for him. There was no way to be sure of any of this. Before the war with Voldemort and the deaths of the entire Potter house except Harry, the House of Dumbledore was on good terms with the Potters and would have received a yes vote, not so much now.
Plus Albus and his brother Aberforth were the last of the House of Dumbledore; once they died that would end the line unless they had children that no one knew about.
What had made Sirius laugh was that the House of Malfoy was trying for Ancient and Noble status. They were two hundred and fifty years into their three hundred. With Lucius on the run it looked like the clock was going to stop for them.
"Are you sure about your plan Harry?" asked Remus.
"Yes" was Harry's simple answer.
"Scott is everything ready?" Harry turned and asked Scott.
"It will all happen today while you are on the train. It's going to cause another shakeup in the Wizarding world and I'm looking forward to seeing what falls out from it." Scott gave Harry a big smile. Scott had not been a prankster in his life but being around Harry and the two Marauders kind of rubs off on him. Scott had been caught in no less than twenty pranks over the past year and had even gotten his revenge on Harry and Sirius three times. He was still unable to get Remus.
"I am looking forward to tomorrow mornings Daily Prophet or do you think they will do a special edition for this?" questioned Harry.
"If the Prophet gets wind of it before the special edition deadline it will be out tonight." Scott just shrugged his shoulders.
-oo00oo-
Minerva had just left Dumbledore's office; she had delivered him some very good news. She had received a reply from Harry Potter accepting the invitation to attend Hogwarts. He let out a long breath realizing that he had been figuratively holding his breath for the past year. Since Harry had gone missing his plans for the boy had been going up in smoke. He knew Harry was the boy in the prophecy made all those years ago, true it could have been Neville Longbottom as well until that night.
After telling Alastor about the prophecy and his plans the old Auror had shot so many holes in his plans that he wasn't sure what to do except continue forward until he knew how things had changed.
He was hopeful that some of what needed to be done and that he had planned for would be salvageable. His plans for Harry's first year were still in play, his hope that the trap he had set for Voldemort would still happen. The suggestion to Quirrell that he should get more experience in DADA and the rumors of the dark forest in Albania had worked perfectly. Dumbledore wasn't against sacrificing a few for the greater good of all, or for the good of his own plans. Quirrell was a second-rate professor to begin with, and his political views were more in line with Voldemort and the purebloods anyway.
Contrary to popular belief, Albus didn't give second chances. What he did do was give out the illusion of a second chance and then use the person for his own benefit or to benefit the wizarding world in some way. If the person did truly redeem themselves that was just frosting on the cake. The thing was that you didn't have to have been convicted of a crime or even be a bad person to fall under Albus's "getting a second chance", you just had to be fundamentally opposite of Albus's beliefs to get that first strike against you.
Albus had heard all the rumors about the forest in Albania going Dark; he had even traveled there a couple years ago to look for himself, and he found what was lurking there in the shadows. It wasn't his place to deal with the shade that was Voldemort, which was Harry's destiny.
A week later, after receiving Harry's reply, he got word that Sirius and a young man had appeared and gone into Ollivander's shop. Dumbledore was not unaware of what day it was on the lunar calendar. The second prophecy that Dumbledore heard from Trelawney was coming true. That Harry was the subject of it had been until now up to interpretation. The fact that he was at Ollivander's buying a wand made Dumbledore believe his plans were still viable since Harry would not have been able to train this entire time without a wand. Sure he could be learning about magic and the theory but not actual spells.
He knew that Harry would be at Ollivander's for some time so he left his office immediately. When he arrived at Diagon Alley, Auror Shacklebolt greeted him letting him know that it was Sirius who entered the shop but that the boy with him did not fit the description of Harry. Dumbledore pulled out his wand waving it in the direction of the shop, Shacklebolt giving him an inquiring look.
"Just some anti-apparition and anti-portkey wards Mr. Shacklebolt, nothing to worry about." Albus told him.
They waited outside the shop for almost an hour before Dumbledore figured it was safe to go in. Ollivander would not take kindly to him interrupting a wand choosing. Not many people knew it but Ollivander could give Albus a run for his money in a duel and he was at least several years older than Dumbledore, no one really knew how old he was though, not even Albus. Ollivander had been a young wand maker when Dumbledore received his first wand.
The meeting with Harry didn't go quite as planned as Albus had hoped. Within moments of him entering the shop Sirius and Harry disappeared without a trace. The only thing that was left behind was the galleons on the floor that Ollivander waved his wand at making them fly into his cash box.
"Just couldn't wait until he walked out could you Albus? You would be wise to leave that boy alone, he will do great things, good or evil is still to be seen." that was all Ollivander said before disappearing in to the back of the shop.
Albus walked back out contemplating what he had seen and heard. Harry was not the small scrawny boy that he had seen twelve months earlier. He was taller by several inches and had a healthy weight. He wasn't wearing the broken glasses but instead Albus could see his deep green eyes turn black as Albus looked into them before Sirius blocked his view.
'Well I found him.' Dumbledore mused as he turned and left the store pulling down his wards.
"What happened, Headmaster?" asked Shacklebolt.
"He will be at Hogwarts on the first of September. They were able to portkey out despite the wards and I can see that Harry was not very happy to see me." replied Dumbledore before he returned to Hogwarts.
As Albus entered his office he considered the events of the past couple of hours. Two things stood out above all the rest. The first being that for the second time he had been warned by someone that he respected to stay away; to keep his hands out of Harry's life.
The second was the way Harry's eyes had changed color while he was looking at him. What could that mean? His eyes had turned completely black losing all color.
-oo00oo-
The trip to King's Cross station took little time using the public access floo station on platform nine and three quarters. Remus stayed back at the manor in case of trouble so he could alert Amelia. No one was expecting trouble today since Dumbledore was getting what he wanted, Harry in the castle. The trouble was going to come when Harry got to the castle.
Harry had his trunk shrunk and in his pocket and a book bag slung over his shoulder. The book bag was expanded inside and charmed to be feather light, he had several books in the bag including several Hogwarts history books. He was hoping to work on some more of his history project while enjoying the ride.
He was wearing nice casual clothes that Tula had laid out for him, just some jeans and a polo shirt. Sirius was wearing semi-formal robes with the Ancient and Noble house of Black crest sewn on to the breast.
Tula was riding along in Harry's trunk; she was going to look after Harry while he was at Hogwarts. It wasn't against the school rules but it was frowned upon for students to bring personal house elves. Neither Harry nor Tula cared about what was frowned upon. Hedwig was back at the Manor, she told him that she would join him after he got to Hogwarts.
The platform wasn't too busy since it was still early, Sirius figured that if Dumbledore had anyone watching for him they would assume him to be one of the last to arrive to avoid being seen. Harry looked around the platform taking interested in the beautiful engine that pulled the Hogwarts Express. It didn't look from the outside that there were many passenger cars lined up behind the engine. He had read that the Hogwarts Express would add or remove cars as need magically and each of the cars was magically expanded to have many more compartments then a normal passenger car.
Sirius helped Harry find a compartment on the train after taking a close look at the engine while waiting for Neville and Susan to arrive. They were going to come early as well to stay with Harry. It wasn't long before Harry saw Neville arrive at the station. He waved to him from the window getting a nod from Neville before he joined Harry in his compartment. Susan arrived not long after, joining Harry and Neville. They talked about the people and kids on the platform as they arrived. Neville would point out kids that he knew from the formal parties his Gran dragged him too. Susan knew a few more of the kids and families; she wasn't as sheltered as Neville had been.
Susan had a few friends that she knew growing up and was hoping to introduce Harry to them during the ride. After the past year she considered Harry and Neville as her closest friends. She hadn't been hanging around her old friends as much, so she wasn't going to invite them to sit with her during the ride unless Harry suggested it.
Sirius waited on the platform watching the parents dropping their kids off. He could see the tears that most of the parents shed saying their goodbyes. He was feeling the same way watching Harry and his friends talking through the compartment window. He had hidden himself in the shadows to keep an eye on everything. It was difficult for him letting Harry go off to Hogwarts knowing that the old codger Dumble-dork had something planed. If anything at all happened he was going to pull Harry out of the school until Dumbledore either resigned or was fired, and he would see that one of those two things happened.
It was getting close to eleven and the train would be leaving soon. The platform still had a few parents standing around talking and waving to their children on the train when a group of red heads came running through the barrier from the muggle side. Both Sirius and Harry took note of them.
"That's the Weasley clan, seven children; the oldest Bill graduated two years ago, his brother Charlie graduated last year." Neville started telling Harry.
Harry nodded his head to indicate he heard Neville. "I met Bill at Gringotts back in September last year. He was being trained to be a curse-breaker by the goblins. He removed the Signature block from me so I could receive owls." Harry replied not taking his eyes off the group of redheads.
"The others are Percy, he is in fifth year, then Fred and George who are starting third year, Ron is starting this year with us, then Ginny is the youngest, she will be starting next year." continued Neville. His Gran dragged him to many events over the years, and he knew most of the pure-bloods even though the Weasleys didn't hang around in the same circles. His Gran forced him to keep up on all the pure-blood families even though she didn't subscribe to the bigotry.
The thing that caught Harry's attention was the mother. Unlike all the other parents that had dropped off their kids she was looking around the platform not paying much attention to her own kids. It was like she was waiting for something or someone and hadn't found them yet. Harry looked to where his godfather was standing and received a nod from him in the direction of the redheads indicating the mother was one of Dumbledore's groupies, the Order of the Phoenix.
The train whistle blew indicating the train was going to be leaving, that was when the mother finally started saying goodbye to the four kids getting on the train.
As the last of the Weasleys stepped up onto the train, it started moving. Harry waved to Sirius before seeing him disappear from view. He sat back in his seat and pulled the glasses he had purchased last year out of his pocket putting them on. He wasn't going to hide from the Wizarding world and they all knew him as wearing glasses.
Neville, Susan, and Harry settled into a conversation about Herbology. Susan and Harry both enjoyed listening to Neville talk about his favorite subject. As they settled down the door to the compartment opened with a young redheaded boy standing there.
"Can I sit in here, everywhere else I full?" He was dragging his beat-up trunk behind him with a small cage sitting on top.
"I highly doubt that is true, the Hogwarts Express always has room for more students. It will magically expand to make room for students." Harry stated matter of factually. The boy had already started putting his trunk up in the overhead. "But seeing as you didn't wait for an answer, please join us."
"I'm Ron Weasley." The boy held out his hand. "And this is Scabbers my rat." Harry looked up at the boy from where he was sitting then down at the cage he was holding that had a rat in it. If it wasn't for his Occlumency he would have been up and firing every curse he had been taught this past year at the cage and the rat inside. He schooled his face seeing the rat was sleeping and shook hands with the boy.
"This is Susan Bones, Neville Longbottom, and I'm Lord Harry Potter." Harry replied to the boy formally. 'Let's see if he gets the hint.' Harry thought to himself.
"WOW! Harry Potter.!" Harry watched as Ron's eyes looked up to his forehead for a second. 'Nope didn't get the hint.'
"No, Lord! Harry Potter." Harry punctuated the lord part. "Or Lord Potter, only my friends can call me Harry." punctuating the lord again. This time it looked like Ron got the message as he sat down quietly not apologizing but with a dirty look on his face like he had just ate something he didn't like.
"Neville, Susan if you would excuse me a moment I need to use the loo." Harry stood up, walking out of the compartment and closing the door behind him. He walked to the end of the car and found the bathroom empty. After going in and closing the door he reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the mirrors Sirius had given him for his birthday.
"Sirius!" Harry called into the mirror. A moment later Sirius's face appeared in the mirror.
"Trouble already Harry?" Sirius asked with a little hint of distress, the train ride was the part of the trip that he couldn't reach Harry quickly.
"Yes and no. I'm not in any trouble nor has anyone tried anything other than some kid named Ron Weasley trying to force his way into a friendship with me. Ron, has his pet with him, it's a rat, one that is missing a toe and looks a lot like Wormtail." Now that got Sirius's full attention.
"Are you sure Harry, please tell me this is not one of your pranks." Sirius's face was turning darker.
"Yes I'm sure, please don't do anything stupid and get tossed back in Azkaban." Harry scolded his godfather. After a moment Sirius's face lightened up but you could see the determination behind his eyes.
"I'll contact Amelia; I'll have Aurors on the platform in Hogsmeade. Don't do anything or give away that you know anything. Don't worry Harry I won't do anything that will take me away from you again." Sirius gave Harry his best smile and the mirror went blank.
Harry turned around opening the door, stepping out into the passageway to go back to his compartment Harry bumped into a bushy brown haired girl dragging her trunk up the passage. She looked like she was upset with a few tears running down her cheek.
"I'm sorry; I didn't know you were out here. Are you okay?" asked Harry. He wasn't very good with crying girls. Susan had come to the Manor one Saturday upset; she had been crying because she failed a quiz that her tutor had given her. Harry had been at a complete loss as to how to deal with it. He just told her it wasn't the end of the world and helped her study for a few hours. He was lost as to why that simple thing had made Susan smile for the rest of the day.
"Are you going to tell me I'm not worthy to learn magic too?" this was said between soft sobs.
"Why would I tell you that?" Harry asked confused.
"Every time I tell someone that my parents are muggles they have looked at me like I'm some kind of lower life form." The girl was now watching for the same reaction from Harry.
"Oh, I understand now, you're Muggle-born. You have had the pleasure of meeting some of the pureblood bigots. Don't listen to them they think their better than everyone else because they can trace their magic back so many generations. The truth is most are the weakest the Wizarding world has to offer." Harry had gone into what Remus called his teacher mode.
"The purebloods families are so into their blood lines they don't see the fact that muggle-born and half-bloods tend to be a lot more powerful and a lot smarter. Those families are so inter-married most are first or second cousins to each other." Harry gave a small laugh at that. The girl was looking at him, her mouth slightly open and the start of a smile showing in her eyes.
"Tha…Thank you, I'm Hermione Granger, Muggle-born." She introduced herself. "I've read about the bloodlines but didn't know it was that bad. The books I have read have all said to be a pureblood made you more powerful." She looked like she was about to argue with him.
Harry held his hand up to stop her. "And what books have you been reading?" Harry asked her. Hermione started listing off the books she had read; it took her a minute to list them all.
Harry had to stop her again. "Greatest Wizards of the Twentieth Century only lists the pureblood wizards because it was written by a pureblood. Magics Power tells its readers that magic begets magic and I quote "For the power of magic to be increased one must come from a long line of wizards and marry into a long line of wizards, only then will the power of the child be increased" that book was also written by a pureblood and is not in fact true."
Hermione was staring at Harry with something akin to awe on her face. She had never met anyone her age before that could quote from a book that she had read and he had gotten the quote completely correct. It took her a second to get her voice back. "You quoted that word for word. You must read a lot." The last was part question and statement.
"Yeah, you could say that, I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself, I'm Harry Potter." Harry watched as the girls eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up into her hairline. "Why don't you join me in my compartment, you look like you could use a place to sit down."
Harry reached forward to help her with her trunk and started down the passage. He didn't get more than three steps when Hermione found her voice again. "Your Harry Potter, I've read all about you. You're in Greatest Wizards of the Twentieth Century, Downfall of a Dark Lord, and you have an entire line of books based on your adventures."
Harry stopped, turning back to the girl that was following him and talking a mile a minute, he was getting upset that even the muggle-born were stupid enough to believe what they had read in all those books. "Miss Granger." Harry started letting a little of his anger out in his voice. "Are you one of those people that believes everything that you read to be true and fact?"
Hermione stopped, looking at the anger in his eyes. Not that that bothered her. She was getting angry at being called, she wasn't sure what he called her but she didn't like it. "I know what the difference is between fact and fiction!"
"Really, you believe a three year old was able to subdue a dragon on his own and turn it into a pet? You believe a five year old was able to kill an entire pack of forty werewolves with the flick of his hand? All of it is fiction even what is in the history books. I have NEVER given a single reporter or book writer a quote. The only thing the history writers got right was that my parents were killed and I became an orphan. Not everything written in a book is true or fact even History books are one sided and sometime bigoted."
Harry took a deep breather he didn't mean to lose his temper. With Pettigrew only a few compartments down sleeping in the cage of a boy he was sure he wasn't going to like, Harry was a little on edge. Hermione was staring at him like he had two heads and was growing a tail.
Hermione was going over everything she had read about the Boy-Who-Lived and comparing it to the Harry Potter standing in front of her and she was coming up short. 'The books couldn't be all wrong, this can't be the real Harry Potter, but there is the scar, but he says the books are just stories, they can't be wrong.' Hermione was conflicted. All the books she had read about him had been written as if they were true stories.
"I have to think about this." Hermione finally replied.
Harry just shrugged his shoulders. "You're still welcome to join me and my friends in our compartment." With that he put down Hermione's trunk and walked away letting her make her own choice.
Harry returned to the compartment where his friends were waiting for him. He sat down across from Neville his eyes flicking to the rat still sleeping in the cage. Moments later Hermione opened the compartment door and entered. Harry helped her put her trunk in the overhead then sat back down. Hermione sat next to Susan as Harry introduce everyone around.
Ron just grunted when Harry indicated who he was not bothering to look at her. Harry just shrugged at the boy's rudeness.
Conversation started again between Harry, Neville, and Susan. They were now into Harry's favorite subject History more precisely Hogwarts history. As the conversation got into more and more detail Harry could see Hermione getting frustrated.
"You look like you don't agree with what we are talking about Miss Granger." Harry was still using her family name because he wasn't sure about her yet.
"I've read Hogwarts: A History from cover to cover and what you're saying just isn't true. Your talking like Salazar Slytherin was a good guy, and that it was one of his son's that gave his name a bad reputation. He didn't have any sons." Hermione pulled her copy of Hogwarts: A History out of her bag and flipped to the page with the correct information on it.
"What revision of Hogwarts: A History is that one Miss. Granger?" asked Harry.
Hermione looked up from where she was reading the passage out loud and then looked back to the book flipping to the front page. "Seventh Revision." she replied.
"Ah" replied Harry. "You are aware that Hogwarts: A History gets revised every one hundred years?"
Hermione nodded. "It says that here in the front, yes."
"So you are aware that there have been ten revisions since Hogwarts opened?" Again she nodded. "I have a copy of all ten revisions." stated Harry. Hermione's eyes widened again.
"Can I borrow them?" she asked excitedly.
"I don't know Miss. Granger, you do not appear to be able to think for yourself, since all ten copies contradict each other I'm not sure if your brain could handle it." Harry smirked at the bushy haired girl who was getting a very offended look on her face.
"In the fifth revision written by a Slytherin alumnus, Salazar was the kindest of the four founders and the greatest. That seventh edition was written by a Gryffindor alumnus and paints Salazar as the most evil of evil. So tell me which of the revisions would you believe?" Harry could see Ron smirking out of the corner of his mouth at the mention of the Gryffindor revision.
"The seventh revision, everyone knows Slytherins are all evil." Stated Ron "matter of fact" like everyone should know that. Harry and everyone else just ignored him.
Hermione huffed putting the book back in her bag. "So you're telling me that you know better than the books."
"Not at all Miss Granger, I am simply pointing out that when it comes to History you should check multiple sources for the facts and come to your own conclusions and when faced with the actual subject of some historical event to take his word at it." Harry grinned at her and then pointed to the scar on his forehead.
After that, Hermione sat quietly listening to the three friends talk about the History of Hogwarts some of which she had not even heard before. Harry pulled several books out of his book bag along with several sheets of parchment that had notes on them. Hermione noticed the titles as he pulled them out, three Hogwarts: A History and two others she had not heard of before, Headmasters Chronicle and Founders Biography, the last one looking very old.
"Harry, where did you get those?" asked Hermione.
Ron finally lost what was left of his sanity after being in a compartment full of bookworms for several hours with nothing to do but listen. "WHY DOES SHE GET TO CALL YOU HARRY AND I DON'T, SHE'S ONLY A MUDBLOOD!"
It was like being called a freak which was his relative's favorite name for him after 'boy'. Harry snapped his head around to look at the redheaded boy. Ron had a smug look on his face. Harry's eyes changing color to a deep icy blue scaring Ron who was losing his smug look.
It was Harry's contacts, Remus had noticed a few time that Harry's eyes tended to change color when he was feeling some extreme emotion. He had told Harry about it one day when Harry's eyes had turned yellow while he was laughing after getting Sirius with a prank.
Harry replied in a very calm but icy voice. "You will apologize to Hermione, and you will apologize to me as the Head of the Ancient and Noble house of Potter for saying such a thing in my presence."
Ron gulped, he was used to his temper tantrums getting overlooked, and he knew what he said was bad but he was too stubborn to apologize for it. After staring into Harry's eyes for a second he huffed and walked out of the compartment leaving his trunk and rat sitting there.
Harry got up and closed the compartment door behind the git. When he turned back to Hermione she was staring at him in wonder.
"How did your eyes change color like that?" She had a lot of things on her mind but her inquisitive mind just had to know. Harry started laughing. He had been using passive legilimency on Hermione and could see all the thoughts and emotions running around in her mind. He had noted that she was very close to having as good a memory as he had.
Right now he was feeling guilty for the way he had treated her and for what the git Ron had said. "I'm sorry, you should not have been called that and I am sorry for the way I treated you earlier. You are a very smart person, you just haven't been given all the information you need to come to your own conclusions."
"Thank you, you didn't need to apologize for him, I'm used to being called names and you're right I shouldn't believe everything I read." She smiled at Harry getting a smile in return and his eyes turned back to green. "Now tell me how your eyes change color like that." She asked again excitedly.
The rest of the trip went by uneventfully. Harry kept an eye on the rat that was still in the compartment and other than during Ron's outburst it stayed asleep. They got a couple more visitors, friends of Susan's, who she introduced but no one stayed. Other than several people passing by the compartment multiple times and looking in, mostly girls, things stayed quiet for the rest of the ride.
As they were pulling into Hogsmeade station Harry started to get a feeling in the back of his mind. It was the same kind of feeling he got when he first met Hedwig. Like something was just out of reach. As the train came to a stop, an announcement was heard all over the train. "All students please remain in your compartments until further notice."
Harry looked out the window and could see several adults dressed in uniform robes getting on the train. "What's going on? Why are we waiting on the train?" asked Susan. Before Harry could answer the compartment door opened.
"You four please step out of the compartment. We are just checking for contraband." stated the Auror standing in the doorway.
The four students exited the compartment past the Auror and found five more Aurors crouched down outside the door in the hallway. The four kids were herded down the passage, as they got to the end they heard a bang and saw several spell being thrown into the compartment. As Harry looked down the passageway an Auror came out of the compartment holding the rat cage.
"HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY RAT?" Came the voice of Ron from the other end of the car. He had been in the loo the rest of the trip sulking, he wanted to be Harry Potter's friend, his mum told him that she thought they would make good friends, but now he really didn't want anything to do with the Boy-Who-Lived. LORD POTTER had acted just like a Malfoy and had looked down on him.
"This is no rat boy." came the gruff voice of the Auror. "Was this your pet?" Harry almost laughed at that question, was this guy stupid, Ron just yelled to the entire train that it was his rat.
"YEAH" yelled Ron again.
"Then it's a good thing we got it, this is no rat, it's an illegal animagus. We are taking it in for questioning." The Auror then turned and walked up the passage toward Harry and his friends passing them and leaving the train. Ron look like he was about to pass out, all the color had drained from his face.
Harry and friends ignored him. Another announcement was heard telling the students they could now exit the train and to leave their trunks. Harry turned around making his way to the exit with Neville, Susan, and Hermione. When the four got onto the platform they heard someone calling for the first years.
"F'irst yers thi' way." Harry looked around seeing the giant of a man waving his arm in the air, he recognized him immediately.
Hagrid the gentle giant his mom used to call Hagrid, he remembered. He also remembered Hagrid handing him over to Dumbledore just before he was placed on the doorstep of his relatives.
Harry wasn't sure how he felt about Hagrid. He knew that he was very loyal to Dumbledore, but didn't know where the man's heart was in Harry's case. He would keep an eye on him for now and try to figure out if Hagrid could be trusted later.
The first year were herded down to the shore of a lake where several small boats waited. "F'our to a boat." Hagrid called out. Harry, Neville, Susan, and Hermione took a boat together.