A/N: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW, ITS MY FIRST FANFIC, AND I'M KINDA NERVOUS😅
It was Halloween night, 31st October 1981. The most revered day in wizarding history, for it was on this day that The Dark Lord was defeated. Sirius, Remus, James, Lily and their son Harry Potter were celebrating Halloween on that fateful night as a dark shadow creeped down their street towards them. How careless and naïve they were, blissfully unaware of the terrible plot being played around them. Well, he, Lord Voldemort would fix that. He would revive the wizarding world, starting with this one child. He was not one to play long games, of course. Bellatrix had always told him how impatient he could be. That was, after all, Dumbledores style. That old bat, taking advantage of the war for his own goals. Voldemort walked up to the front porch and vanished the door with a wave of his wand. There was silence in the living room for one moment, before the little family began to panic. James and Lily Potter started to duel Voldemort, as he shouted to Remus and Sirius to signal the order. Voldemort shoved them aside and took long strides towards Harry, but James had enough. With a powerful stunning spell, he sent Voldemort flying through the wall and cast a huge silencing charm immediately, so as not to alarm the muggles. Voldemort got up and put his wand in the air, like a lightning rod, and a ribbon of blue light encircled it. James and Lily were transfixed at the sight, and did not notice their son being hit by a narrow strike of red lightning. Voldemort vanished after this, just as members of the order along with Dumbledore started popping up.
—
It was five minutes to twelve at Godric's Hollow, and Harry Potter was wide awake. His birthday was due in 5 minutes, after all. 3 minutes left—He should shout and wake up the whole house for fun. 2 minutes- 1 minute-30 seconds-3…2…1… Harry Potter was officially eleven, and Hogwarts ready. As soon as the clock at his side table pointed at 12, he felt a huge surge of magic positively rush through at the speed of light. It was so powerful that all the windows in the house simultaneously smashed. He suddenly found himself lying on the floor. Well, now he didn't have to shout and wake them up. He heard the adults clamber out of their beds and run towards his room, shouting and talking. The door opened and a stream of adults filed in. James, Lily, Sirius and Remus looked at him with worried faces. James was the first to break the silence.
"What the- What happened here?" He spluttered.
"James, he's eleven. It's just his magic rushing and streaming through him." Sirius replied.
"But it wasn't this powerful for any of us!" Lily replied hysterically, rushing to Harry's side and helping him on the bed. She fussed over him, waving her wand around him.
"Well, you're officially a marauder now, kid." Winked Sirius. "Better make us proud, or we'll disown you and send you to the orphanage." He joked.
"Shut up, Sirius." James snapped as he led them to the living room. As they sat down on chairs, all of them wide awake, a screech was heard from outside the window. Lily walked over to the window and opened it. "It's his invitation!" She gasped, untying a letter from the foot of a brown owl. She handed it to Harry as Remus slapped his back and Sirius and James wiped tears from their eyes. Harry stared at the letter, taking in all the detail.
"Better rip it apart before you make Sirius faint, Harry " James remarked. Harry peeled the letter. Suddenly, not being able to take in the heavy atmosphere, he ripped the envelope, and a letter in yellowing parchment fell on his lap. He unfolded it as the celebrations between the 3 marauders and Lily ensued behind him:
Hogwarts Acceptance Letter
Mr Harry Potter,
The living room,
The Potter Residence,
West Country England
Dear Mr. Potter,,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Minerva Mcgonagall
Deputy Headmistress
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT & WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Harry seemed to just realize that he was finally going to Hogwarts, and happiness flooded him. He whooped loudly and shouted, "I'm going to Hogwarts!"
"'Course you are, you dunderhead, you got a letter didn't you?" Sirius teased
"We should go to Diagon alley to get the things!" James exclaimed.
"Yeah, cause the shopkeepers're gonna be up and about at one in the morning." Lily said, exasperatedly rolling her eyes. Harry laughed at their bickering.
"You aren't worried or anything, are you, cub?" Remus whispered.
"I'm fine, Remus." Harry said. After years of knowing him, he still didn't understand why Remus called him 'cub'. The adults stopped celebrating after a while, and called Harry to sit with them at the living room, saying they had something important to tell him
"The things we tell you will be extremely important, and you must never tell them to anyone without our permission, alright?" James asked warily. Harry replied with an ok, and sat down. He listened to them as they told him secrets about the wizarding world, about Voldemort, The Dark Lord, and the Order of the Phoenix. They told him about their animagus forms and about Remus' 'furry little problem'. They told him about the day Voldemort attacked, leaving his mark on Harry. Harry listened in silence, only gasping whenever they told him about something particularly horrible.
Oh, he was so ready for this.
—
It was on September first, that a family could be seen walking towards platform 9 at King's Cross. Sirius and Remus had convinced the Potters to come along, and the 5 stopped in front of the divider between platform 9 and 10. Harry had a white owl he decided to call Hedwig in a cage on his cart, which was earning looks from muggles, especially those who called themselves 'vegan', muttering about animal abuse. They walked into the wall, casually chatting; they had already been here more times than they could count. They materialized into a huge crowded platform, with hundreds of people screaming for their kids, or else recounting anything they forgot
"Let's get this over with, shall we?" James sighed. He didn't like his son being away from him, but he had work to do. A bright red steam engine rolled into the platform, hooting cheerfully, and wearing 'The Hogwarts Express' on its front proudly. Parents immediately started giving last minute hugs and Apparating away.
"Good luck, kid." Sirius said, as he and the other pulled Harry into a bone crushing hug.
"Take care of yourself." Lily said, as he boarded the train. He watched them wave, and then disapparate from the station. Harry turned around and started walking down cars of the train. None of the compartments were empty. He finally walked down to the last car, hoping against hope that he wouldn't have to squeeze in with people he didn't know, when he saw a compartment that was empty. Or at least wasn't full. A boy he recognized as a Weasley from his father's description of their red hair, and a bushy-haired girl he didn't recognize were sitting and talking in it. They noticed him and the boy opened the door. "You gettin' in, mate?" He asked.
"Yeah, sure." Harry replied as they hastily made space for him. "You're a Weasley, aren't you?" He asked.
"Yeah, so? My names Ronald. Ronald Weasley" the red haired boy replied, and shook Harry's hand hesitantly.
"And you are?" Asked the bushy haired girl.
"I'm Harry Potter." He said, shaking her hand as well. Ronald gasped.
"I'm Hermione Granger, and I'm Muggle-born, for your information." She said, and looked at him as if he would bias against her.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ronald asked eagerly.
Harry frowned in mock-concentration, "Last time I checked, yeah." He joked.
Ronald ignored him. "Blimey! Your dad's the most popular auror in the ministry! He's my idol! You can call me Ron, by the way. Don't like the name Ronald." He remarked as Harry tried to interrupt him.
"I didn't know that. Tell me more!" He said, as the trolley lady came, asking whether they wanted any snacks. Harry bought a lot, laughing as Ron became embarrassed and said that he didn't have any money. They talked happily throughout the journey, and talked about Hogwarts and which house they would get sorted into. In the middle of the journey, a pale faced, blonde boy interrupted them-a Malfoy. Harry whipped out his wand, which was an '11", made of holly, and possessed a Phoenix Core', as dictated by Ollivander. He relaxed as he saw it was Draco Malfoy— The two had gotten close since their fathers had met when they were 9. Ron however kept his wand up and scowled at him as Hermione tried to get him to sit down. "Hello Harry. Why didn't you come see me? I was wondering where you went— we promised we'd sit in the same compartment, remember?" Draco asked, looking at Harry and ignoring Ron.
"What do YOU want Malfoy, and why're you getting all chummy with him, Harry?" Ron spat out. "His fathers a death eater!" He added.
"Shut up, Weasley. You don't have to discriminate me because my father used to be that… that thing's supporter." Draco snapped.
"Right, that's enough, you two. Stop discriminating him, Ron. Come sit, Draco." Harry said.
"Can't. I said I'd go see Uncle Severus." Draco said. "Bye, Harry. See you at Hogwarts." Draco waved as he turned and walked away.
"Harry, his father was you-know-who's right hand! Don't befriend him, his father will probably go after all of Malfoy's friends and make them you-know-who's supporters!" Ron said.
"Stop overreacting, Ron. Last time his father came over, he was actually nice to me." Harry said, and Ron shrugged his indifference. The rest of the journey went on cheerfully. The three played a variety of different magical games, with Ron beating them every time at chess even if they teamed against him. The sky outside steadily got darker. "We better put on our robes; it's getting dark and we're probably going to reach Hogwarts soon." Hermione remarked, just as a prefect came and told them to get dressed. The train stopped at a station call Hogsmeade, and they clambered out and met Hagrid, a large, tall groundskeeper who was supposed to take the first years to Hogwarts through the lake… on boats! The three shivered at the thought, but went on anyway.