Disclaimer 1: This is fanfic. That means I do not own any of it. I just borrow it to play with for a little while and let people see the pathetic results if they really want to.
Disclaimer 2: I'm not making any money from it. It's just for fun.
Disclaimer 3: What isn't borrowed is all made up. None of this is real or most likely at all realistic. Please don't trust any of the information in here. Most likely you know more about whatever I'm writing about than I do.
Disclaimer 4: Attitudes, views and opinions expressed by the characters or in the story are not necessarily those of the author. Even when writing Science Fiction or Fantasy I do not tend to attempt to create perfect/better worlds in which everybody gets a happy end ... or whatever is best for them. Please accept that some characters will have a bad ending or be unhappy.
Disclaimer 5: I intend no insult to anyone. If I offend anyone I'm very sorry. Please understand that it was an accident as I tend to be very clumsy in these things.
Notes: Hm ... you can't just take a child shopping for magical items and then send him back to an institute full of Muggles where he shares a dorm with several curious Muggle children and expect nobody to find out about your magic school, so how to get in Diagon Alley?
Harry No. 5 and the Philosopher's Stone
Chapter 4: The Keeper of the Keys
"Hermione, Harry number 28 and Justin number 9, please report to the main gate! Hermione, Harry number 28 and Justin number 9!"
"Oooh, you must be going to a really good secondary institute!" Malcolm said. "You're going with Hermione!"
"She's smart," Dudley agreed.
"It's called Hogwarts Secondary Institute," Harry told them one last time. "My parents chose it for me, because they went there, too. Don't forget to write."
All the boys still remaining in the dorm nodded.
"I'm going to Stonewall Secondary Institute," Malcolm added.
"And we're going to Smeltings Secondary Institute," Dudley said putting his arm around Pierce. "We're so lucky we get to stay together."
He still seemed to be amazed by that even though they'd known it for a week now.
"Good luck, Harry!" Pierce said.
"Yes, good luck, Harry!" the others chorused.
"Good luck, boys," Harry wished them as well. Then he picked up his suitcase and walked out of his dorm for the very last time. "I'll never forget you!"
He had a photo album and a yearbook full of pictures to remember them by and of course he would write to them for the rest of his life, but it still felt strange that all the people he knew were about to disappear from his life. Of course Hermione and Justin number 9 were going with him, but he only knew Hermione by sight and wasn't sure who Justin was. Surely he'd seen him around, but he must be from a different dorm and class. "And we'll all meet up when we're grown up!"
"Yes, see you then, Harry!"
Other boys called good-byes out of every dorm he passed on his way to the main gate, some he knew by name and others barely by sight. Harry returned all their greetings as a matter of course, though.
There were even more children hanging around the gate itself, younger students who'd come to see the hoverbusses and cars from the secondary institutes arrive and the oldest students leave. Harry had done the same every year he'd been here and wasn't at all surprised to see them. There'd be even more children here tomorrow when the whole school would gather to welcome the new-arrivals from the nursery institutes. Harry felt a little stab in his heart at the thought that he would not be there to cheer with the rest, but he knew that the oldest children had to leave first to make room in the dorms for the little ones to move into and an exciting new life was awaiting him.
"Harry number 28 reporting," he said to the porter. "I've been called for."
"And you took your time, too," the porter snapped and slammed a parcel of folded up white fabric against Harry's chest. "Go in there and take off all your clothes except your underpants. Fold them up neatly and leave them on the bench. Then put these on. Don't forget to take the binder with you when you leave and give it to the guide from your new institute."
"Yes Mam," Harry nodded obediently and went into the changing room.
He'd just finished folding up his old uniform when the door opened again and another boy walked in.
"Hi, I'm Justin number nine ... er ... a Justin now. I'm a Justin."
"Hi, Justin. I'm a Harry," Harry replied politely and started to unfold his white bundle.
It turned out to contain simple white trousers, a plain white t-shirt and a binder with the institutes's crest on it.
"I wonder what they put in those," Justin commented once he too had finished changing.
"Names and parents and former institutes?" Harry suggested on the way back out. "And grades maybe?"
"And medical history, psychological assessment results, behaviour reports," Hermione added. Apparently she'd been waiting for them for a while and had overheard the end of the conversation.
"Hi, Hermione," Harry greeted her. "I'm a Harry."
"Hi, Harry," Hermione returned. "You know me?"
Harry nodded. "You won the spelling competition."
"Ah yes. And what's your name?"
"I'm a Justin."
The porter led them to a disappointingly small and unimpressive hovercar. Of course there was no need for a huge bus when picking up only three students.
The man inside however turned out to be very impressive indeed.
"That," the porter said pointing at the giant. "Is Mr. Hagrid from Hogwarts secondary institute. Don't forget to give him your binders."
And then she walked away back in the direction of the wardrobe, most likely to collect their former clothes to have them washed and the name tags removed.
"Hi, Mr. Hagrid," Harry said and the other two children quickly followed his example.
"Hello Harry," the man replied with a fond smile. "And hello to both of you as well."
The smile reassured them. Mr. Hagrid might be big and strong, but he didn't seem the kind of nurse who'd spank a boy, or pull him along by the ear unless he really deserved it.
"How do you know I'm Harry?" Harry asked holding his binder out to Mr. Hagrid.
"Why, I recognised your scar, of course," Mr. Hagrid said accepting the binder and putting it into his huge coat-pocket even though Harry could have sworn that it was just a bit too wide to fit in there.
"You've seen me before?" Harry asked astonished.
"Why yes. Took you to that Muggle nursery myself after You-Know-Who's attack on the Magical Nursery Institute. And there you were with that odd scar right where he struck you."
"Who?" Hermione asked rather forwardly, but Mr. Hagrid had just put away the other two binders and was too busy rummaging in another pocket to reply.
"Now, let me see," he mumbled. "Let me see ... Ah yes, here it is," and he pulled out a strangely yellow, rolled up piece of paper.
He unrolled it, looked at it and then declared happily: "Yes, this is it. Harry, at Hogwarts institute you will be Harry number 5.
"Only number 5!" Harry had been hoping for a lower number, but this was too good to be true.
"Don't be stupid," Hermione snapped. "Of course they'll have more Harries than that. It probably just happens that their number five left yesterday, so you get his old number. The numbers would all be much higher if they weren't re-used. Right?"
"Er ... right," Hagrid confirmed in a tone that suggested that he either didn't know himself or hadn't really been listening to Hermione at all. "Now, you must be Hermione. You will be Hermione number 2 from now on, and you will be Justin number 3."
They had another Hermione! Harry almost laughed at Hermione's shocked face, but of course he knew that one wasn't supposed to laugh at people in front of a nurse or teacher. It was very bad and Harry didn't want to be a bad boy.
"Welcome to Hogwarts institute for Witches and Wizards," Hagrid added as if as an afterthought.
"Witches and Wizards?" Harry asked.
"Aren't witches bad?" Justin added.
"Why no!" Mr. Hagrid exclaimed. "They are just women - or girls - who can do magic. Just like you three. But do get in the car and I will tell you all about it while it drives us to Diagon Alley."
And so they climbed into the car, which turned out to be much bigger and more comfortable than it had appeared at first glance and Mr. Hagrid, or Hagrid as he preferred to be called, told them all about magic and the magical community that had to be kept hidden from Muggles. Muggles were people who could not do magic and were therefore much better off thinking that it didn't exist.
"So our parents are witches and wizards, too?" Hermione asked. "And why do they have a secondary institute for us, but put us with Muggle children until then? What if somebody there sees a child perform accidental magic and gets suspicious?"
"Well, usually the students we get from Muggle institutes are Muggle-born. That means that they have Muggles for parents. But you might not be. There's no telling really, unless I'd open the sealed binders and I'm not supposed to do that. It's not my business to know that, you see. I'm just the groundskeeper and keeper of the keys."
"So there is a magical primary institute?" Hermione demanded.
She really was a very forward girl, Harry thought. And clever! He had no idea how she came to all those conclusions.
"Oh yes, of course there is," Hagrid confirmed.
"So why would we not have gone there, if we weren't Muggle-born?"
"Well, you see, just ten years ago now, when you were babies, You-Know-Who attacked the Magical Nursery Institute and actually tried to kill our Harry here. The curse rebounded and killed You-Know-Who himself, but many of his followers are still about and never got caught. A lot of people thought they might attack the institute again. To get revenge, you know. So some of them preferred to hide their children among Muggles. You'll be told when you're sixteen. Then you'll know, if it's really that important to you. Myself, I don't see what difference it makes whether your parents were wizards or Muggles. It's all up to you to decide what kind of a person you want to be. And it's not all that important whether you're a wizard or a Muggle yourself either. There are really good Muggles and really bad wizards. Just look at You-Know-Who."
"But I don't know who!" Hermione exclaimed and with a lot of difficulty, because he was scared of saying his actual name, Hagrid managed to tell them the story of the evil wizard Voldemort who had plotted to overthrow the Ministry of Magic with dark magic and murdered many, many people.
'Like my parents' Harry thought, but he didn't want to talk about that and said nothing. It was much easier to just let Hermione ask all her smart questions and listen to the answers.