Author's Notes: Once again, thanks to all the readers who have checked out my story in the past week. And a special thanks to all who submitted a review.

ProfessorChris: Thanks for the support and the kind words.

Well, last week's Monty Python reference was, of course, the English fans singing "Jerusalem" at the Quidditch World Cup Finals. This song, considered an unofficial national anthem of England, was used in several episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. This week's reference is a bit obscure, I have to admit.

Well, thanks to the new Reader Traffic thing, I can see where all of you are reading my story from. I have readers from the USA, Canada, the UK, Belgium (Goedendag!), Germany (Guten Tag!), Sweden (God Dag!), Australia, and even China (Ni Hao!). So good day to all of you around the world!

Well, enough of that. Time to continue the story.

Chapter 8: The Next Gryffindor

Henry Harper Gryffindor took a seat in a rather crowded car on the Hogwarts Express as the train took off on its way to Hogwarts on September 1, 1997. His father was also taking the express to the school, but he was near the front of the train with the prefects and the Head Boy and Girl. The car that Henry decided to stay in was filled with other students who were making the trip to Hogwarts for the very first time in their lives, just as he was. Henry found himself sitting next to a girl with dirty blonde hair and grayish-blue eyes who was looking around the car, seemingly confused. He decided to introduce himself to her.

"Hey, my name is Henry," he greeted as he extended his right hand to the girl.

The girl was startled by his greeting and looked at Henry for a moment. "Megan," she replied as she shook Henry's hand briefly.

"That's a nice name, I'm pleased to meet you," Henry said, "You come from a Muggle family, don't you?"

Megan had looked away from Henry, but when he said this looked back at him. "How did you know?" she asked.

"The way you're looking around," Henry explained, "It tells me that you've been told nothing about being a witch."

Megan nodded in agreement. "I'm probably going to flunk out of this school," she moaned.

"Oh, nonsense," Henry replied as he turned his body to face his new friend, "Why do you say that?"

"I don't have any idea what's going to happen to me," Megan explained, "I have no friends here, and I'm already homesick." It looked to Henry like she was about to cry.

Only 11 and already she's a drama queen, Henry thought to himself. "Hey, if it's any comfort to you, I'm not quite sure what to expect either," he replied, trying to comfort her, "And you'll make friends soon enough here. In fact, I think you've already made one."

Megan laughed briefly at that. "Maybe," she admitted, "You seem like a nice person."

"My father always taught me that you should be kind to others," Henry explained, "Something he called karma, I'm not quite sure what that is."

"It's a religious belief that some Muggles hold," Megan elaborated, "Basically, it is the belief that all your actions have consequences that will, sooner or later, catch up with you."

Henry nodded in understanding. "I like that belief," he stated, "It makes sense and is fair."

"Yeah," Megan replied, then paused before asking, "Hey, what's a mudblood?"

Henry flinched upon hearing that term. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I say something I shouldn't have?" Megan asked with concern.

"Where did you hear that word?" Henry asked.

"Well, before I had boarded the train, I saw this little girl who half-shouted, 'I don't like mudbloods!'" Megan related to Henry, "And then this older boy, who I assumed was the girl's older brother, laughed and then said, 'Who doesn't?' I didn't understand what they were talking about."

Henry took a deep breath, wondering how to answer this question without upsetting his new friend. "Megan, that word is not a very nice word to use about anyone," he began, "It's a very offensive term used to refer to wizards or witches who have muggle parents. It's basically our version of paki or nigger."

At Henry's use of those particular words, it was Megan's turn to flinch. Then she thought about this implication for a moment. "Are you telling me there's racism in this world too?" she asked with a tone of despair in her voice.

"Unfortunately, yes," Henry replied sadly, "There are quite a few pure-blood wizards and witches who think that because they are pure-bloods, they are automatically better than everyone else, in the same way Muggle racists think they're better than everyone else simply because of their skin color."

"It's dead stupid," Megan agreed, although she was starting to let doubt seep into her mind about her place in this world.

"Megan, let me tell you something," Henry began forcefully, making sure he had Megan's full attention before he continued, "There's a reason why you're on this train. You're here because you accepted an invitation to learn about magic and your potential as a witch. It doesn't matter whether you're a Muggle-born, a half-blood, a pure-blood, or whatever. On this train, we are all wizards and witches. That's all that matters."

Megan nodded, thankful that she had a shoulder to lean on already. "Are there others like you at Hogwarts?" she asked.

"Oh yes, and you'll find that out for yourself soon enough anyway," Henry assured as he sat normally in his seat again.

However, at that very moment, the doors in the back of the car were opened very forcefully, as if whoever did it wanted to get attention.

"Right then, first-years," a grunting, deep voice from the open door commended, "We're here to show you where your place is."

"Yeah, and you'll probably want to leave the car if you're a mudblood," a deep, raspy voice added slowly.

"Shut it!" the first voice replied quickly.

If it wasn't for the use of the epithet, Henry would have found the two voices and their whole routine very humorous. Megan, who hadn't developed a hatred of that word yet, was giggling. Henry had a very good idea who the two voices belonged to.

"Megan, whatever happens," Henry whispered to his new friend, "Don't say anything and don't get out of your seat. I'm going to take care of these two blokes."

Megan nodded, wondering what Henry meant by that. Is this some sort of hazing activity? she wondered as Henry stood up in the pathway in the middle of the car and looked toward the door. He saw two seventh-year boys slowly shuffling his way. Both of them were physically thick and looked like they were about as think mentally as they were physically. The guy on his left was the taller of the two and had brown hair in a bowl cut that made Henry perform some forceful blinking to make sure he saw what he thought he saw, while the one on the right had short, bristly hair and long arms that reminded Henry of a gorilla. They look like a couple of thugs, he thought, They have to be Crabbe and Goyle.

"Hey mates," Henry calmly greeted, extending his right hand to the two seventh-year students.

"Shut it, first-year!" Goyle grunted as he slapped away Henry's wrist.

Henry faked a gasp of surprise as he looked at his hand for a moment. "That is downright rude," he pointed out, "I demand an apology."

"We're not going to apologize to a first-year like you," Crabbe stated, "We're here to show you how things work at Hogwarts now."

"We've been looking through the cars and we haven't seen anyone who'll stop us," Goyle explained, "So I guess we'll do as we please."

"Shut up!" Crabbe snapped.

"Well then, I would suggest that you don't go forward through the train anymore, since the prefects are two cars up from here," Henry advised the two, "And for some reason, I don't think they'll back down from you two."

"Are you calling us weak?" Crabbe asked threateningly, flexing his muscles in an attempt to intimidate the younger student. Goyle followed suit.

Okay, it's time to test how stupid these two really are, Henry thought. "Yeah, I am calling you weak," he replied calmly, "But you can make me bow in reverence to you."

"How?" Goyle demanded immediately.

"Go into the prefects' cars and intimidate everyone in there," Henry instructed, "Then come back in here with the Head Boy and Head Girl and I will bow to your will with them. That's all."

"Come on Crabbe," Goyle said as he walked forward. Crabbe hesitated at first, but followed his friend into the next car.

As Henry sat back down in his seat, all Megan could do was stare at the door that led toward the engine of the train as it opened and shut. Her jaw was dropped as far as it could go. "Those two don't really think they can intimidate all the prefects, do they?" she asked, still unable to think that what she had seen was possible.

"Well, we'll find out soon enough, won't we?" Henry replied casually.

"You aren't going to bow to them, right?" Megan inquired. To her, bowing to someone was one of the worst ways of demeaning herself down to something less than human.

"If they bring Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley here and make those two bow to them, I'll do the same," Henry said, "Another thing my father always told me was to stick to my word, no matter what. He always stressed loyalty and trust."

Megan nodded. "Your father sounds like he's a good man," she mused.

Henry thought about an answer to this for a moment. He was not completely ignorant of the activities of his father and uncle seven years ago, as he had heard stories about what his father had done in the past. "He tries to be, but he's done some things that could be considered shady," Henry elaborated.

"Shady dealings?" Megan asked, "Is your father a politician?"

Henry laughed immediately at that, as crooked politicians were not a purely Muggle problem either. "No, he's not a politician," Henry clarified, "But he is a rather important person in our world. In fact, my entire family is quite important." Henry hesitated to bring up his family name, as he wanted to win recognition in his own right. Well, she is Muggle-born, so she most likely has no idea why my family is so important, Henry thought to himself, Bloody hell, she's probably never even heard of Gryffindor before. And she'll find out my name soon enough, anyway.

"What is your last name?" Megan inquired, "I don't believe you told it to me."

"Gryffindor," Henry replied, "My name is Henry Gryffindor."

"Mine is Megan Blaire," Megan added, not having any reaction to Henry's last name.

Henry nodded. "That's a very nice name you have," he complimented.

"It's too bloody normal, if you ask me," Megan replied, "I'd like to have an exotic last name like yours."

Perhaps someday . . . , Henry began to think before immediately ending that line of thought, No Henry, you can't think like that. At least, not yet.

Henry and Megan continued talking for the next minute or two when the door leading toward the front of the train opened again. Henry and Megan looked toward the door, along with practically everyone in the car, and saw that Crabbe and Goyle had returned. But this time, they were standing on either side of another wizard. This wizard was taller than either Crabbe or Goyle and was grabbing both young men by one of their ears. Crabbe was one the wizard's right and Goyle on his left. The wizard in the middle of the three was wearing robes of red and gold, contrasting with all the black robes that surrounded them. Megan also noticed a slight resemblance between this wizard and Henry.

"It's bad enough that you two want to haze the first-years," the wizard holding the two Slytherins by the ears began, "But to think that you want to impose your will on the prefects as well? You're lucky I can't take points away from your house for this, but I am giving both of you a detention. I'll have to ask Mr. Filch just what is available for you two to do. I'm sure he'll find something."

"Come on, let me go," Crabbe begged, "You're hurting me!"

"My father will make you pay for this!" Goyle threatened.

The wizard laughed at that notion. "Your father wouldn't dare to lay a finger on me, Goyle," he retorted as he continued walking toward the back of the train with the two seventh-years, "There is absolutely no room at Hogwarts for this sort of behavior." He was making an example of these two to everyone else.

The wizard in red and gold approached the back door of the car, which slid open magically for him. He then tossed Crabbe and Goyle into the next car. The students in both that car and Henry's car burst out in laughter at the scene.

"Let this be a lesson for you all," the wizard declared, "This kind of behavior will not be tolerated at Hogwarts. Every student on this train deserves respect, whether that student is a seventh-year, a first-year, or someone in between the two."

The wizard then began to walk back toward the front of the train when something on his right caught his attention. Looking down, he found Henry looking back at him. "Henry, I should have known you had something to do with all this," the wizard noted with mild amusement.

Henry shrugged and kept an innocent look on his face. "I just suggested it to them, Dad," Henry told his father, "I didn't make them do anything."

Geoffrey Gryffindor smiled at his son. Like father, like son, I suppose, Geoff thought, I would have done the same thing in Henry's place.

"Henry, don't take advantage of the weak-minded for your entertainment," Geoff ordered his son, just loud enough for everyone else in the car to hear.

"Yes father," Henry replied as Geoff walked through the door at the front of the car, shutting the door behind him.

"That's your father?" Megan asked Henry after Geoff had left the car.

"Yeah, that's him," Henry confirmed, "His name is Geoffrey Gryffindor."

"What is he doing on the train?" she inquired.

"You'll find out soon enough," Henry replied as half of the first-years in that car began to gather around his seat. Most of those who stayed away from him did so either because they didn't want to be too close to a Gryffindor at this time or because they hated his family name. Most of the latter group would end up being sorted into Slytherin.

--

Author's Notes: This chapter is adding new players to the story. Sure, I could just focus on Harry's trials, but I want to show that there's a lot more involved in this struggle than just him.

By the way, I apologize for offending anyone with certain words I used in this chapter. I do not mean to offend anyone by using them. I just needed a way to explain how offensive the term "mudblood" is.

Well, that's about all for this week. Until next week, read, review and enjoy.