Chapter One
"Bye mum, bye dad." Harry hugged his parents one last time, too full of nervous excitement to feel any sadness at leaving his parent's for the first time in just over four years. He knew it would catch up to him later though and he'd already told him mum to get ready for a teary letter regaling them of his classes and telling them how much he missed and loved them.
"Come on, Harry, you wanna get a good seat on the train." Cedric couldn't help but grin at the excitement on his little brothers face, it was only two years ago that Harry had stood in the exact same spot, sobbing his heart out because his big brother was going away to school. He was so proud of how far Harry had come from the quiet, unsure boy they had taken in to the intelligent and confident preteen he was now. He was looking forward to watching him flourish in school.
"I'm ready, I'm ready, come on Ced." Harry grabbed the older boy's elbow and started tugging him away, their luggage already on the train. He paused just before stepping off the platform and turned to his parents for one last look. "Bye! Love you!"
Then he was gone. Cedric followed his example and turned around, giving his parents a reassuring smile. He could see his mother was only moments away from bursting into tears. It hadn't been so bad when Cedric had first left; Harry had still been at home to keep his mother company during the day while their dad was at the ministry.
Now she'd be alone during the day, it would be hard on her but Cedric knew his mum would appreciate the time to herself, at least until she got bored.
"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him and I'll write to you tonight and let you know what house he's in just in case he forgets." With one last wave, Cedric boarded the train.
***
Harry knocked on the door of the compartment, not wanting to just barge in despite knowing one of the occupants. He saw the boy smile at him as he recognised their visitor and waved him in.
"Hi, Harry, are you as excited as me?" Neville was a slightly chubby boy, still holding on to his baby fat, but his round face was open and friendly. "This is Hermione Granger, she's a muggleborn and a first year."
"Hello," Harry said, as he settled into the seat next to Neville, he held his out to the girl with bushy brown hair, her curls would be lovely when she was old enough to tame them, and warm brown eyes. "I'm Harry, Harrison Diggory."
Further conversation was interrupted for the moment as the train pulled away from the station and the three new first years shared an excited grin.
"I'm so excited!" Harry just couldn't contain the grin that lit his face, he was barely holding on to the urge to bounce in his seat. "Have you done much background reading on the castle?" Harry asked the muggleborn, knowing that if it was him coming in to a completely new culture, he'd want to catch up with the other children as soon as possible.
The next hour was spent with Harry and Neville telling Hermione all the stories their relatives had told them about school life in the castle. Hermione asked the boys if either of them had decided on a familiar to bring with them. Harry confessed that he hadn't found an animal that he felt connected with when he'd gone to Diagon Alley at the end of the summer but his parents had promised he could look every time they went to the alley until he'd found one that fit with him.
It was that conversation that caused Neville to realise that at some point of the journey, his toad Trevor had managed to sneak out of his robe pocket. Just as the three of them were getting ready to go search the train, the doors opened and Cedric walked in followed closely by two identical red heads.
"Hey Harry, I shoulda known you'd ditch me for Nev as soon as you could."
"Sorry, Ced, I should have checked in before we got to talking but y'know I got caught up in things." Harry smiled sheepishly, hoping Cedric hadn't worry too much knowing Harry could still become quite introverted around people he was uncomfortable with. He was growing out of it but the family doubted he would completely lose the habit until he was no longer the shortest around so he no longer felt at a disadvantage. Learning to channel his magic would probably help with that considerably. "Actually, can you do us a favour? Neville's toad Trevor has made a bid for freedom, can you summon him or something?"
"Sorry, kids, you'll have to." Started one twin, much to the amusement of Cedric and Harry who had seen this routine a thousand times before.
"Talk to Percy for that." Continued the other, obviously relishing in the baffled expression of Neville and Hermione's faces.
"Summoning charms are."
"Forth year material so."
"We haven't done them yet." Finished Cedric before the twins could and smirked at the outraged expressions on their faces, while the younger three didn't even try to hide their laughter.
"Oi, Percy!" The twins yelled in unison. A third redhead, wearing horn-rimmed glasses and a prefects badge, popped his head around the door almost instantly, making everyone jump, having not expected him so quickly.
"What?"
***
After the return of Trevor, the first years were left alone for the majority of the ride, enjoying the scenery and getting to know one another. Well, Hermione was getting to know them and vice versa but Neville and Harry had become cousins after the adoption and had known each other since they were seven. Mary Diggory's maiden name was Longbottom and she was younger sister to Frank, Neville's father. When the Diggory's had first adopted Harry they wanted him to have at least one friend his own age so took to arranging afternoons out with Neville. The interactions doing wonders for both boys confidence.
The first few months after the adoption had been very confusing for everyone, after a life of servitude with such strict rules Harry found his new freedom overwhelming. Mary had cried when he'd finally broken down and begged for chores or just some sort of instruction or restriction. They had settled for giving him a schedule. Meals, playtime, bath-time and bedtime becoming the same time everyday without fail and it became Harry's responsibility to keep his bedroom tidy and toy's in order. For a long time Harry's room had been the most organised room in the house.
"So Harry, what house do you think you'll be in?" Neville asked, trying to draw Harry out of his obviously unpleasant thoughts.
"I don't really mind, they are all as good as each other." Harry answered with a careless shrug. "As long as I find a decent friend there, it doesn't really matter what colour the tie is."
"Aren't you worried you'll end up in Slytherin?" Hermione's eyes were wide as she whispered the question, Harry frowned.
"No, why would I be?"
"The escort sent to take me and my parent's to Diagon Alley said all evil witches and wizards came from Slytherin."
Harry rolled his eyes at the display of prejudice, how can they expect students to promote house unity if the teachers won't?
"That's nonsense, anyone evil can come from any house, it's just the Slytherin ones tend to get noticed more because in a bid to take over the world cunning is gonna get you further than bravery. Everyone talks about Gryffindors being brave and Slytherins being cunning but that's not the only characteristic they have, just the one they value most. A Slytherin can be brave just like a Gryffindor can be cunning. The house you end up in depends on which personality traits you pride yourself on, not which ones you have."
Hermione scrutinized Harry for a long moment before turning to Neville who was nodding along. Harry remembered the fit his mother threw when she'd found the twins and Cedric telling Harry that all Slytherins were sneaky and evil, both parents had sat him down the next day and explained to him properly how the house systems at Hogwarts worked and why each house was perfectly acceptable. He'd also overheard his parents explaining to the older boys that they shouldn't be prejudice against Slytherins as it was likely Harry would end up there. Apparently it was very common for abused children to end up in the snake house because they developed a drive to prove themselves better than the people who hurt them. Cedric never said anything against Slytherin again, neither did the twins to Harry's knowledge.
Hermione nodded in acceptance of Harry's logic before opening her mouth but whatever it was she was going to say was cut off when the door was yanked open with enough force to rattle the window. The three first years watched as a redheaded boy with soot on his nose waltzed in and plonked himself down next to Hermione before helping himself to the last chocolate frog.
"Hiya I'm Ron Weasley."
Harry raised an eyebrow, so this was the youngest Weasley male? He was distinctly unimpressed, even Fred and George for all there pranks and mischief had impeccable manners when they were called for, were they really related to this boy?
"Hermione Granger." The girl gave a sniff of distain, obviously not appreciating the lack of common courtesy.
"Neville Longbottom." Neville just looked bemused and Harry could understand why, he'd met Augusta Longbottom, she was a formidable woman. If Neville or Harry had behaved like that in her presence she'd have had them over her knee before they could blink, eleven years old or not.
"Harrison Diggory."
"Oh I know you, Cedric Diggory's little brother, he's been over to the house a few times with the twins, o' course you've probably met them when they go over to your place." He looked at Harry expectantly but Harry had no idea how to respond, he hadn't asked a question or said anything that really warranted a response so Harry settled for nodding and that seemed enough for the redhead. If Harry was honest, he didn't really want engage the boy in conversation. He was probably nice enough once you got past the obnoxious exterior but he really wasn't the type of boy Harry could have a close friendship with, he was sort of shallow from what Harry had heard from the twins. "I don't know how your mum puts up with the twins being round so much during the summer, they drive everyone mental at our house, with all their pranks."
"We like them, it gives everyone something to laugh about, although they learnt pretty quickly not to do anything that couldn't be undone straight away." Harry stared out the window as he answered, hoping the boy would realise they weren't actually that happy with the way he'd pushed his way in and was now ignoring Nev and Hermione.
"No one in our family trusts them any more, they never come out with anything true anyway. Everything's a joke or a prank to them. Like on the way here they told me that you were Harry Potter." Ron laughed, clearly thinking it was the most absurd thing in the world. Hermione just looked at Ron like he had a screw loose, how had he not realised they weren't interested? Harry just shared a look with Neville, he really hadn't wanted to deal with this yet.
"That's true."
Ron laughter died as he and Hermione stared wide-eyed at him. Harry rolled his own before lifting his fringe to expose the famous lightening bolt scar marring his forehead. He'd deliberately had his hair cut in a way to hide it, he might not be as timid as he was when he'd first left the Dursley's but he still wasn't really comfortable with the idea of people starring at him.
"The Diggory's adopted me shortly before I turned seven, the family I'd been left with weren't very nice."
At this Hermione's shocked face softened into an understanding smile, telling him she understood and still wanted to be his friend, Harry grinned in response.
"Bloody Hell." Ron breathed, the look of awe on his face making Harry squirm in his seat much to the amusement of the other two. "I knew Harry Potter was going to be at Hogwarts soon but I wasn't sure it would be this year. This is brilliant, we can be in Gryffindor together and pull pranks on the Slytherins."
"I don't think I'm going to be in Gryffindor." Harry interrupted, wanted to put an end to that fantasy before it took on a life of its own.
"Course you will." Ron waved his hand absently, as though physically brushing the idea away, obviously still absorbed in his plans for the future. "Your parents were in Gryffindor."
"Actually, my mother was a Ravenclaw and my father was a Hufflepuff." Harry bit out, the other two could see he was beginning to loose his temper with the rude Weasley. "Lily and James Potter were Gryffindors but I can't remember them and while I'm sure they were lovely people they have had no influence in my upbringing."
Ron looked dumbfounded, why would he want a Hufflepuff parent when he had two Gryffindor parents?
"Erm, that's a bit disrespectful ain't it, mate? I mean, they did die for you."
Neville and Hermione's eyes went wide at the audacity while Harry scowled at Ron for his tactlessness and obvious guilt trip, who in Merlin's name did this boy think he was? A question like that could ruin someone's life and the way they looked at themselves if they'd never thought of it before, but luckily Harry had. Shortly after being adopted and finding out the truth of what happened to his parents, he began to feel guilty. What if they thought he was replacing them? That had been another topic Mary had to sit him down to discuss with him.
"I will always love my biological parents but if they were half the parents I think they were then I'm sure they'd be happy that I'd found a new family to belong to, that I wasn't alone."
Ron just looked uncomfortable now but the others wanted to cheer when he finally decided to drop it.
"Erm, I think I'm gonna to talk to my brothers before we reach the castle."
The others grinned at each other as Ron beat a hasty retreat, obviously Harry Potter wasn't quite how Ron imagined him.
"Did you hear about the Great Hall?" Hermione asked as they settled in to enjoy the rest of the journey. "The ceiling is bewitched to reflect the sky outside, the weather as well. I read about it in 'Hogwarts: A History'."
"That's true, except on the Holidays." Harry replied, the other two shot him quizzical looks, asking him to explain further. "According to 'Hogwarts: Marauder's Secrets' by R. Moony, it will show specific things on the holidays, like snow at Christmas and a storm on Halloween regardless of the real weather at the time."
***
As Harry settled into the dormitory that night, he couldn't help but feel slightly proud that he had ended up a Ravenclaw like his mum. He was also somewhat relieved that his name had been announced Harry Diggory, he didn't think he could stomach the pandemonium that being addressed as Harry Potter would have caused. He wasn't going to make a secret of his former identity, that would just make the scandal even bigger when he was found out and he would have been found out. Hopefully this way it will get round slowly and everyone will respect his decision to be a Diggory, not a Potter.
The feast had been spectacular, the food had almost been as good as his mother's. He'd met the Ravenclaw Ghost, known as the Gray Lady, she'd greeted them with promises of help should the ever find themselves lost while trying to traverse Hogwarts many moving staircases.
There had only been seven students sorted in to Ravenclaw this year, three boys and four girls. The wizarding world was getting smaller and smaller due to the purebloods refusal to mix with half bloods and muggleborns. The other two boys he was now sharing a dorm with were Michel Connor and Terry Boot while Hermione was rooming with Padma Patil, Mandy Brocklehurst and Lisa Turpin.
The first years had enjoyed trying to get into the common room for the first time. To access the Ravenclaw dormitories they'd had to answer a riddle, the prefect who'd shown them the way refused to help them.
"What can run but never walks
has a mouth but never talks
has a head but never weeps
has a bed but never sleeps?"
They'd been there for twenty minutes arguing over what it could be before Harry had been able to answer in a flash of inspiration. A river had been the answer. Not the most complicated of riddles but they'd only been allowed to hear it once and they had already been exhausted after the excitement of the day. Thank god the riddles were only changed at the start of term, Harry didn't fancy spending time trying to answer new puzzles whenever he wanted into the common room, imagine doing that when you needed the loo?
The next morning Harry had been surprised to receive a letter of his parents, congratulating him on becoming a Claw like his mum, Cedric having written to them the night before to let them know, guessing Harry would have forgotten to in all the excitement of a new school and making new friends. Harry and Hermione had giggled until breathless when they'd first heard the students referred to as Gryffs, Slyths, Puffs and Claws.
The weeks passed quickly after that, Harry and Hermione charming almost all their professors with their advanced knowledge. Or, at times when they didn't know the answer, their thirst to find out what the answer was and then reading everything they could find about it in the school library as well as the library attached the Ravenclaw common room.
The only lesson Harry had any problems in was potions. He'd already expected Snape to somewhat dislike him, his mother had already told him all about the rivalry between the professor and his biological father during their time at school. But Mary had told him that Lily had been close friends with the surly man before a falling out in their fifth year. If he'd really regretted the rift in friendship as much as everyone suspected, surely he'd somewhat try to make amends by giving her only son a fair chance despite his hate for who fathered that child.
The flying lessons that had taken place in Harry's fourth week had been his favourite so far though Hermione would disagree. They'd shared lessons with the Hufflepuffs and thankfully managed to avoid any arguments or injuries unlike the Gryffindor/Slytherin lesson.
Harry had always enjoyed flying ever since his first time on a broom when he was eight, even if it was only a training broom and wouldn't do any more than hover. Cedric would sometimes take him out on the broom he got for Christmas just before his first year. After the first time, his mother could no longer watch as they flew, she'd screamed herself hoarse yelling for Harry to hold on tighter to his brother.
But the lessons had been marvellous, he was finally flying solo! It had been an effort not to completely disregard Madam Hooch and just go tearing round the Quidditch pitch. The rest of the class had been awed at Harry's skill on a broom, even if he couldn't show it off properly, his affinity for flying had been obvious. It hadn't taken long for Terry and Mike to decide he should tryout for the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. And they wouldn't take no for an answer, of course when Harry proved more stubborn than they'd anticipated, adamant that a first year wouldn't make the team, they'd gone behind his back, directly to the Quidditch Captain.
Harry had been half right. He didn't make the starting team but he was the reserve seeker. Sarah Fawcett, the Quidditch captain, didn't want to put him at risk by making him a starting player in his first year. He was still small for his age and the other teams wouldn't take mercy on him just for that. He'd be fouled before he was even in the air.
So Harry joined them for practice and stamina training, getting ready to be their secret weapon come the start of his second year, once he'd toned up and developed enough skill to hold his own against the other team's seekers. He was just grateful his mother had gotten rid of his horrible glasses years ago. Magically assisted corrective surgery really was a Godsend and he dreaded to think how hard it would be to spot the tiny flying ball if his eye sight had still been as bad as when he was a child.
***
The next thing Harry and his friends knew it was Halloween. The day started easily enough but went down hill abruptly after charms when Ron started shooting his mouth off about Hermione. Everyone watching could see that he was just sore over the fact that she'd gotten the hang of the levitation charm faster than him but that didn't stop it hurting Hermione when he called her a know-it-all. She was gone before Harry could stop her and it didn't take a genius to realise she was crying.
"Where do you get off," Harry shouted, rounding on the startled redhead. "insulting someone else just because she learnt a spell faster than you. It's pathetic, instead of mocking her for how she helped you, you should just be thankful she cared enough to help her at all."
"Come on, Harry." Ron pleaded, his voice taking on a whiney quality. Or maybe Harry was just angry enough with him that everything about Ron had become annoying. "You know I'm right."
"Just stay the Hell away from her, Ron." Neville commanded, surprising Harry who didn't know that the Gryff had come to stand next to him. The friends took one last disgusted look at Ron before running after the female member of their trio. After finally giving in and asking Mandy where she could be, they'd eventually found her alone in the abandoned girls toilets on the second floor.
When they realised just how much Ron's taunts had actually hurt their friend, they gave up of the idea of the feast in the Great Hall and had their own picnic on the floor of the bathroom with whatever sweets they had in their bags and Moaning Myrtle as an extra guest.
Rather unluckily about halfway through, interruption came in the form of a mountain troll that had the three first years cowering in cubicles while Moaning Myrtle went for help. Of course it wasn't long before the troll realised where they were and began to swing his club at the toilets instead of the sinks. After pelting large bits of debris at his head and the tiled walls around him proved basically useless, it was Hermione who managed to get a lucky shot and levitated it's club out of its hand, seconds before it came crashing down on Neville. It only took one hit from its own club to render the troll unconscious but took a further five minutes and the arrival of the teachers to bring the three of them out of their shock.
"Explain yourselves." Professor McGonagall shrieked, her hands flying to her chest at the sight of the unconscious troll on the bathroom floor.
"I think it's obvious, professor." Interrupted the silky tones of Snape before either of the three students or ghost had a chance to answer. "When Mr Potter and his sidekicks heard about the troll at dinner, he thought that surely a fully grown mountain troll was no match for the fabled Boy-Who-Lived. Isn't that so, Mr Potter."
"Diggory, Professor." Harry corrected automatically, with a scowl. "Actually, none of us were at the feast. We were already in here when the mountain troll arrived."
"And tell me, Mr Potter. Why were you not at the feast?"
"That was my fault, Professor." Hermione whispered, she obviously didn't want to admit that a boy made her cry but they had no other acceptable reason to give for being where they were, unless they want to say they came after the troll but why get in trouble when you don't have to? "Ron Weasley was picking on me. I got upset and ran off. I came here, Harry and Neville found me a short while ago but I wasn't ready to go back out yet so we stayed her, eating sweets. The troll turned up and cornered us, Myrtle went for help and I levitated the club out of its hand and knocked it out."
After that explanation, Snape had no way to blame them for being in danger and was forced to let them go, McGonagall awarding them ten points each, for sheer dumb luck, much to the dungeon bat's displeasure.
By the next day, everyone knew that Harry Diggory and two friends had faced off against the mountain troll. This led to a fight between Harry and his brother when Cedric, at the top of his voice and in the Great Hall, asked Harry what on Earth he'd been thinking going after a mountain troll.
Harry had responded just as loudly that he didn't go looking for the troll, he'd gone looking for Hermione and didn't even know the troll was in the school until it was too late, he stormed out after that, annoyed at his brother for shouting at him before asking him what had happened.
It had taken Cedric till lunch to finally catch up to Harry and apologise. Despite having only been there two months, Harry already knew his way around the castle as well as most fifth years and his short stature made it easier to duck out of sight when avoiding someone in the corridors.
Of course the spat between the two brothers had nothing on the fit Mary Diggory and Augusta Longbottom threw when they found out a troll had gotten into the school at that three children had been forced to face it alone. For a full week afterwards, Ministry officials could be seen reinforcing the wards and making sure every side door in and out of the castle was locked tight and password protected. Nothing was getting in again.
Before anyone knew what hit them it was Christmas and Harry couldn't wait to go home. As much as he was enjoying school he was still only eleven and missed his parents something fierce. Christmas day was exactly like it always was in the Diggory household, regardless of how old their sons got, Mary and Amos were still woken at eight in the morning by two boys jumping on the bed. This was followed by a breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and mugs of hot chocolate with cinnamon sticks. It was only once they had all eaten and washed the dishes that they were allowed to open their presents.
The only thing that happened to set this Christmas apart from all the others was anonymous gift containing an invisibility cloak with a note claiming it had once belonged to James Potter, though the note was addressed to Mr Potter and referred to James Potter as his father. Harry hated it when people did that. He knew that if the Potters had survived then his relationship with them would have been just as loving as it was between him and his parents, but they hadn't, he'd never met them. How can people expect him to have some sort of connection to people he couldn't remember? The Potters would always have a place in his heart, they were his biological parents and they had loved him enough to die for him but it didn't go further than that. He had a new family that he loved more than anything and they loved him just as much as he's sure the Potters did. Why did people seem to think he wasn't allowed that?
***
Soon Winter ended and Spring was around the corner. Harry had barely thought about the incident with the troll on Halloween, he hadn't considered how it got in or why Quirrell had apparently told the professors it was in the dungeon when it was actually on the second floor. A floor that, at the time, had only had three living people on. Surely, a dumb as rock troll would have followed the noise to everyone in the Great Hall? So how did it end up one the second floor? That should have been deserted at the time? Unless it was herded up there, which would mean that someone wanted Harry to face a troll. But why? Surely no one could expect Harry to survive that encounter? Maybe that was the point.
But Harry never thought about any of this. Not until the second incident that almost caused Harry untimely, or timely as someone apparently thought, demise.
It was the first potions lesson of February and each student was working individually at a desk, test conditions which meant work quickly and work quietly, no talking to other students. Harry was good a potions when Snape cut him enough slack for him to actually be able to focus, apparently all that cooking for the Dursleys was good for something after all. However this was the only class were Harry wasn't in the top two, he wasn't even close in this class. Normally he was fighting for the top spot, normally with Hermione or Draco Malfoy, or Neville in the case of Herbology.
Apparently for all Snape went on that he should be treated like every other student, he was full of hot air. He was the only professor to treat Harry differently, and it wasn't in a good way. In short, Snape bullied Harry and Harry was just about sick of it. He really didn't want to complain to his parents but the greasy git was messing with this was his education! 90% of what Harry knew about potions he'd learnt from independent study, Snape just wasn't teaching and Harry was sick of it! Sick of the snarky comments and being called either Potter or stupid or boy! It was probably an even toss up of which word made his blood boil hotter.
He hadn't been called boy since his time with the Dursleys and he really didn't have a pleasant reaction to the word. At least Snape wasn't calling him a freak or something in the room just might have exploded.
But for once, Snape was leaving him be. There'd been barely a word said to him and Harry really couldn't be happier about that. Maybe if he actually made the potion perfectly, Snape would back off for the rest of the year, if Harry just proved himself to the man a little.
The idea had barely crossed his mind before the potion turned blood red and began to spit ominously. It took seconds for Harry's mind to figure out what had happen and another second for him to get over his shock. Someone had sabotaged his potion!
"Professor!" He just had time to shout before he was forced to duck and roll out of the way of the mini-explosion that would have been fatal had he not realised what had happened,
"You foolish boy!" The professor bellowed as he vanished the contents of the now melted cauldron. Harry shakily got to his feet. That had been closer than he'd like to admit. "Do you have a death wish? That explosion could have killed you. Not paying attention in this class will kill you!"
"I was paying attention!" Harry roared back, his temper had finally been exceeded as far as Severus Snape was concerned. It had been a long time coming. " I didn't cause that! That explosion was caused by adding mandagora straight after the aconite on a high flame!"
"There is no mandagora in the potion, Potter!" Snape's voice was deathly calm, a sure sign of impending doom as far as any other student was concerned but Harry was too far gone to care. He was not going to take the blame for this!
"Exactly!" Harry screamed slightly hysterically, the shock of how close he came to dying playing with his emotions. "I know there's no mandagora in this potion! Look at the vials in my kit, I've never even opened my mandagora! This means someone deliberately added it to my potion to cause that explosion and with all due respect, sir, my name is Harry Diggory. I haven't been Harry bloody Potter since my seventh birthday!" With that Harry slumped into the nearest vacant chair and put his head in his hands, trying hard not to hyperventilate or cry. He was suddenly exhausted.
Snape's face was a blank mask as he stared at Harry for a long moment before doing just what Harry suggested and looking at the vials in his first year potions kit. Harry's mandagora was indeed untouched and still sealed.
"Class dismissed." Without it even been voiced Harry knew to stay behind. Snape approached the small shaking boy and kneeled in front of him. "Calm down, Mr Diggory, you are in shock. This is a common side effect when someone tries to kill you."
Harry choked on a startle laugh and looked at his professor in slightly fearful disbelief, had Snape just made a joke? Was the apocalypse coming? Of course Harry knew that if he actually asked these questions a second and probably successful attempt would be made on his life so settled for saying. "You called me Mr Diggory."
"Indeed." Snape commented dryly, was this his was of admitting he was wrong about Harry? Harry's breath was still coming in short gasps and black spots were appearing in front of his eyes, his fingers and toes were tingling slightly. "Oh, and Mr Diggory, detention for cursing a teacher."
Harry gave another chocked laugh just as darkness overcame him and he slumped towards the floor.
***
Harry had woken the next morning in the hospital wing. Hermione and Cedric had clobbered him with hugs when he made it into the Great Hall for breakfast, apparently word had spread fast about Harry's brush with death in potions.
This left Harry with a bit of a dilemma, did he tell Cedric and Mione that someone was after his blood or not? The upside to telling them was that he'd have someone to help watch his back, the downside was he'd never get a moments peace, between the two of them they'd smother him to death in days.
He decided to wait, if the person responsible really was the set on killing him, he'd no doubt try again and Harry didn't want anyone he cared about getting caught in the crossfire and if they knew there was no way they'd leave him alone.
His detention was served a week later in the Forbidden Forest, he was also stuck with Draco Malfoy and Ron Weasley who'd gotten trouble for fighting in the corridors. Again. They'd been instructed to find an injured unicorn; Harry and Draco went off with Fang the boar hound while Ron stuck close to Hagrid.
It didn't take long for them to find the unicorn, beautiful even in death only now it was hauntingly so. However the truly terrifying aspect of that situation was not the fate of poor animal but the black cloaked figure drinking from the wound on the creature's neck.
Before Harry really had chance to comprehend what he was seeing, Draco let out a blood curdling scream, Harry would be sure to tease him about that when he next saw the blonde, and bolted back in the direction they had come from, Fang at his heels, leaving Harry alone to face the blood soaked figure that was now aware of his presence.
Harry stumbled back as the creature, because it couldn't be a person, moved towards him. A sudden pain in his forehead causing him to not notice the tree root behind him leaving him sprawled on the floor. He almost cried with relief as something leaped over him driving the monster back and out of the clearing.
The centaur, as it turned out to be, introduced himself as Firenze before insisting Harry sit on his back as they made their way back to Hagrid. Any conversation Harry tried to start was stilted, Firenze obviously unsure as to how much he should say. Harry knew centaurs could read the stars and this one was clearly struggling with whether or not he should allow what he'd seen to happen. Harry could tell Firenze was building up to something as he explained what unicorn blood was used for and who would be so desperate to use something so pure for something so monstrous.
"Voldemort." Harry breathed. Lord Voldemort was in the Forbidden Forest. How had he got so close to the school undetected?
"Harry Potter, did you know something is hidden in the school at this very moment?"
Harry frowned, he'd heard nothing about anything in the school at all, which must mean it was something so important or dangerous that the chance couldn't be taken for the students to even find out something was there. Let alone what.
But where could it be? Only the teachers' quarters were out of bounds. Students could go anywhere else as long as they knew it was there, which wasn't say much though to be honest. But he'd heard no whispers about anywhere being locked up. Except… At the Welcoming feast. Professor Dumbledore has said the third floor was out of bounds this year.
Harry had assumed, in a castle this old that the corridor had just becoming unsafe, the structural integrity had been compromised or something. After all, even magic could only keep a building together for so long. But maybe it had been closed because something was hidden there.
It was common knowledge that Hogwarts was the safest place in the magical world, except maybe Gringotts. Then again, someone had managed to successfully break into the bank for the first time in history, just before the school year had started. Was that why what was hidden was at Hogwarts? Because surely the headmaster wouldn't want to risk the school being broken into unless there was no other choice.
"The third floor, someone broke into Gringotts for it. That's why it's here. What is it?" Harry was in awe, what could be so important that they could risk someone as dangerous a Voldemort coming to a school full of children just to get it?
"You are intelligent, Harry Potter, you tell me."
"Please, my name is Harry Diggory now. And how am I supposed to know? I can't thing of anything important enough to hide in a school."
"Something that will give the Dark Lord his body back and grant his wish of immortality. Something that can create gold out of anything it touches."
Harry's eyes went wide. No. It couldn't be possible. There wasn't one currently in existence. Was there? It's not like the person who made it would have died and let it be lost. The last time one was made was six hundred years ago, the man who made it could easily still be alive and kicking and now hiding from Voldemort.
"The philosopher's stone."
"Well done, Harry Potter."
It was silent after that. Harry's mind was racing with thoughts too fast for him to really understand and numb from shock both at the same time. The world around him was a blur and the next thing Harry knew he was in bed trying to sleep. He didn't even remember changing into his pyjamas.
Harry continued on automatic for three days before Cedric, Neville and Hermione dragged him into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom for an interrogation.
"Now, Harry." Cedric started, forcing him into one of the conjured chairs. "Out with it."
He sighed, he wasn't gonna get out of this one and if everything was really as serious as the centaur had said then they deserved to know. Ten minutes later Harry had finished explaining about the attempts on his life and his encounters in the forest. Their reactions varied from anger to fear but the one emotion that was apparent throughout the tale was worry.
"He… He has help, doesn't he?" Hermione asked tentatively, Harry nodded but Neville looked confused. "He has help inside the castle, he isn't doing this alone."
Neville and Cedric paled, it made sense. Voldemort couldn't move around the castle unnoticed, at least while the students were around. So someone who can must be helping him.
"Before the incident in potions, I'd have said it was Snape but I don't think he'd do this." Harry mused. Snape's demeanour while Harry had been scared was not friendly but warmer than normal and somehow reassuring.
"It has to be an older Slytherin then." Cedric said with certainty. Hermione glared.
"Cedric, you can't say that! It's a stereotype!"
"Stereotypes become so because they spend so long being true." He retorted and while that was not true in every instance, he did have a point.
"Statistically, he's probably right, Mione." She turned her glare to Harry and he hastened to explain himself. "Voldemort had more support in Slytherin than any other house and it has to be at least a sixth year for them to remember his first reign well enough to feel compelled to help him come back."
Cedric shuddered. He might have only been three but even he could vaguely remember the terror that permeated every day life at the end of the first war before the Potter's had finally managed to stop him. Even if his 'death' wasn't as permanent as everyone assumed.
It was decided that they needed to tell someone, they were too young to even guess how to stop Voldemort. The next day they met outside Professor Flitwick's office and confessed all the diminutive man.
The emotions were easy to read on the professor's face. They could tell he believed them, as a teacher he must have been told about the stone being in the school but you could see his fear at hearing just how close to the school Voldemort was, especially when Harry revealed Firenze's rescue.
After a thorough questioning, they were eventually sent on their way after Flitwick had promised to inform Dumbledore and check on the stone's protections and reinforce them if necessary.
After that the stone was the last thing on their minds as the exams were finally upon them. Hermione was in such a frenzy Harry was only a step away from secretly dosing her with dreamless sleep, just to make sure she got at least one full night.
By the time the exams were over Harry and Neville had made a pact that next year Hermione was to be avoided at all costs, it would be better for everyone's health that way.
***
None of them thought about the stone or Voldemort again until about a week before the end of term. The first year trio were lounging by the lake enjoying the view for one of the last times before boarding the train home.
Harry gasped at the sharp pain zinging through his scar, his eyes watering as he clapped a hand to his forehead.
"Harry? What's wrong?" Hermione's voice managed to penetrate the daze he had fallen into while he tried to move past the burning agony.
"Scar." Harry managed to grit out through clenched teeth. "Voldemort. Something is going on."
"You-Know-Who? His insider must have got past whatever was protecting the stone." Neville whispered, looking round as though he expected Voldemort to leap out at them shouting 'boo'.
"We have to tell a teacher." Hermione insisted. "They have to be able to do something."
"They won't believe us a second time, Mione." Harry said, wiping his watering eyes, the pain finally passing. "McGonagall was suspicious enough that we knew about the stone at all. If we say we think Voldemort is getting close or maybe already has it, they're just gonna ask us how we know. What are we going to say?"
"He's right, Mione. They're not gonna believe us just because Harry's scar was hurting."
They boys could see Hermione wanted to disagree but even she couldn't deny that the teachers wouldn't do anything without evidence, not after finding nothing amiss last time.
"We'll have to check on it ourselves."
"W… What? Harry…" Neville stuttered, already terrified over just the suggestion. Hermione bit her lip and looked indecisive.
"We're not going to confront him. We'll just go check. If everything is fine we won't say anything but if it's not then we have proof to alert the teachers with."
Hermione still looked unsure but nodded her agreement while Neville was looking almost as pale as Malfoy.
"Don't worry, Neville." Harry said with a soft smile for his friend. "You're not coming, Cedric is. Your job is to tell someone where we went if we're not at breakfast tomorrow morning."
***
That night Harry was able to use James' invisibility cloak for the first time. He had a soft smile on his face as he thought of his biological father and all the pranks he apparently pulled during his years at Hogwarts. Would he be proud his son was about to get one over on the teachers?
It was easy enough to get past the hellhound. As long as they stayed under the cloak all they had to do was disguise their scent, a charm that was simple enough as long as you knew it, which thankfully Cedric did or they might have been screwed before they even got started. The devil's snare was equally simple. They hadn't even needed to conjure fire as they were able to get away from it before the plant got a good grip on them.
The key room was possibly the easiest challenge they faced, even if Harry had to wait till second year to take the starting position, he was still one of the best players Hogwarts had seen in years. Harry could secretly admit he'd been having fun even if it was completely inappropriate. Just as they were about to close the door behind them Harry decided they should take the three brooms with them. They didn't know if they'd need to beat a hasty retreat and even those battered old brooms were better than running.
Harry could tell Cedric had enjoyed himself as well, standing on the platform off to the side, directing chess pieces like a general directs his troops. Even Hermione who wasn't a fan of chess could admit it had been fascinating to watch.
All three of them where thankful that the troll had already been taken care of, neither Harry nor Hermione relished the thought of tangling with one of them again. It was clear the troll had been knocked out by a blow to the head though how it hadn't been knocked out weeks ago by its own smell was beyond them.
Hermione had found her moment to shine when they came upon the logic puzzle. Though either Harry or Cedric could have probably figured it out and just as fast, they'd already had their fun and decided to let Hermione complete a task on her own.
"It's this one." She announced holding up the smallest bottle, there was barely enough left in it for one swallow. She then held up the rounded bottle from the right end of the potions line up. "This one will get us back through the purple flames."
"Cedric should go through forward." Harry decided, taking the rounded bottle. "You're only a third year but you've still gotta a better chance than us. You at least know how to disarm."
Cedric nodded and took the small bottle from Hermione.
"You two fly back. Meet me in the room with the devil's snare."
The two first years nodded their heads and each took a swallow from the bottle before handing it back to Cedric and passing through the flames. They mounted the brooms and flew back the way they came, Harry could feel his older brother's eyes on him watching until he turned a corner towards the troll's chamber and was out of sight.
They'd barely been in the room a minute when they heard a voice shouting for them to go. The look back down the corridor to see Cedric speeding towards them like another hellhound was on his tail, which it just might have been.
"He was there! GO!"
Harry's eyes widened and he quickly kicked off from the ground, closely followed by Hermione. With some tricky manoeuvring that obviously cost them precious seconds, they managed to just get passed the three headed dog and out into the third floor corridor before a spell knocked them off the brooms and on to the floor. Harry tried not to cry out as his head hit the floor with a sickening thud. He could already feel something warm and wet matting the hair at him temple.
"That was quite clever. Smashing the bottle so I couldn't follow but did you really think a simple charmed flame could stop me? The Dark Lord's vessel!"
Harry grinned inwardly at his brothers stalling tactics; it was smart to think of it so quickly. He could hear his brother trying to disarm whoever it was that had chased them but clearly the spells weren't meeting their target. Harry jerked as he felt ropes wrap themselves around him, he tried to focus on who was there but the knock to the head had left his vision blurred and his mind a little foggy. All he could make out was a purple turban.
"Quirrell?!" He gasped, unable to hold in his exclamation of surprise, who the hell would have guessed it was Quirrell? The man in question smirked, almost as though he could tell what Harry was thinking. Actually he probably could.
"Yes, who'd have suspected poor pathetic Professor Quirrell? Scared of everything, from his students to his shadow. Not a bad disguise really, don't you agree? Now, what to do with you three? I have to get rid of you before anyone realises you're gone and comes looking. Can't blow my cover now can we?"
The words had barely left his mouth when the door leading to the staircases was blown open. Harry rolled his head to try and look; he could just make out the shape of two people. One with a long white beard and the other dressed all in black. Dumbledore and Snape, Harry gave an inward cheer that someone had come to bail them out of the mess they'd gotten themselves into. They really hadn't expected anyone to have stuck around once they'd made it to the stone. They'd just wanted to check it was still there.
Harry could feel the darkness creeping up on him and he could barely feel it as he, Hermione and Cedric were summoned to behind their rescue party and released from their binds. He couldn't even focus the duel going on between Dumbledore and Quirrell and he scarcely flinched at Quirrell's piercing scream as something ghostlike and hideous was forced out of the teacher's body.
Harry wasn't the only one with concussion. Only Cedric had enough experience on a broomstick to know to roll with the fall as he hit the ground and therefore avoid any serious injury. Though Hermione was in a better state than Harry, having only hit the back of her head as opposed to her temple.
Harry's last thoughts before the darkness completely dragged him under were; they really weren't protecting the stone very well if three students had managed to get to it, followed by who the hell was carrying him?
***
Harry woke the next day to find his parents and brother anxiously awaiting his return to consciousness. As Madam Pomfrey gave him a quick check over before releasing him, Harry couldn't help but wish he was still asleep. His mum was going to kill him for the stunt he'd pulled going after the stone. Dumbledore had shown up briefly to let them know that the stone had been destroyed and to award him and his brother fifty points each for delaying Quirrell long enough for the headmaster to get there. He'd also reluctantly informed them that Quirrell had in fact been possessed by Voldemort and had died when Voldemort had released his body.
Harry and Cedric would have laughed at the talking to Mary had given the headmaster if they hadn't know they were next in line. The doors had only just closed behind Dumbledore when she rounded on them.
"Just what were you two thinking? You could have been killed! You would have been killed had the headmaster not turned up when he did! Just what do you have to say for yourselves?"
"Sorry, mum." The two brothers intoned together, eyes lowered in shame.
"In our defence," Cedric continued, despite his mother's death glare. It could beat Snape's any day. "We were expecting it to be a student. Working for Voldemort, I admit, but not the Dark Lord himself."
"Also," Harry couldn't help but add. "We hadn't actually expected anyone to be there. If it was me and have grabbed the stone and ran. We were just checking the stone was still there, we weren't trying to be heroes. I promise."
Mary took a deep breath and grabbed her husband's hand.
"If you two do anything like this ever again, I will wrap you both in cotton wool and never let you leave the house again, do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, mum." The boys responded dutifully, trying not to grin.
***
According to HP Lexicon, Fluffy was a hellhound so he's staying a hellhound.
Sorry if this feels kinda rushed, I didn't really wanna just type up the first three books so I've skipped almost everything that stayed canon, so sorry if it doesn't flow as well as it could.
My plot doesn't kick in really until year four but the stupid things Harry did in canon bugged me so I wanted to rewrite his earlier Hogwarts years at least a little and give him a bit more sense.
The next chapter will be shorter than this as less will deviate from canon and it will probably be out faster if my comp doesn't die.
This is completed unbeta'd so please be kind and forgive the little mistakes. If they are big mistakes drop me a review and let me know. I'll make sure I fix it.
Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think so I know whether or not I should keep going.
Hugs for everyone who reviews!
Hanna xoxo