Title: The Way The World Works (mxm) [A Harry Potter fanfic]
Summary: Nine year old Harry Potter discovers the wizard world on a fluke and decides he loves it. He creates a new identity and become someone else entirely. At eleven Harry recieves his Hogwarts letter, but it wont stop him from being him. And it helps that he's a metamorphmagus and a little more devious then people think. When the times comes, they wont even know what hit them.
Rating: T (it may change)
Pairings: Don't know yet
Warning: Will be male/male in later chapters, though not for some while as Harry is still young.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything you may recognize!
§Hello snake!§ equals Parceltongue
Ch 3 - Rubeus Hagrid
The rest of the year passed so fast that Harry could barely remember it. He spent it reading and studying as many different subjects he could. He found that he particularly liked Runes and had found one that, when carved, could allow you to unlock a door which he was taking a great advantage of. He carved the rune on as soon as he found it into the side of the door by the place the lock was so that if he was concentrating enough and his hand was on the door, he could unlock it and lock it again as he wanted and he found that under the age of fifteen Runes didn't register at the Ministry because they were considered to hard to do. However he had found that Runes was just like any other language, the earlier you start the easier it is to understand.
Once again, the stupidity of the Wizarding World was astonishingly.
He had read about the traditions of the Wizarding World, well those that weren't forbidden because they were considered 'evil'. He wasn't really sure of he wanted to laugh or cry when he read that. The urge to throw up was building the more he read and the more he read the more he resented those that called him their Savior. They left him! They didn't care for him, they cared for the small use he could have for them and then he would most likely be accused of some ridiculous crime and thrown in Azkaban or something. It seemed like something they would do.
Harry found that Goblins and other creatures were misunderstood and basically didn't have any right to do anything other then what they were being ordered to do. House-elfs were one thing, they apperently likved to serve, literally, but goblins? Centaurs? Hell even gnomes.
He didn't really see how gnomes were "vicious evil creatures" that had to die. Not without reason anyway.
Griphook and Snarktooth taught him Gobbledegook and Harry was surprised to realize that the language was incredibly old. They even had a few books in gobbledegook written by Merlin himself. There was a lot of vaults that he couldn't access until he was seventeen and he could only claim two lordships a year after he turn thirteen. It pissed him off, but he still had access to his money so he wasn't complaining.
In Hogwarts: A History he found out that as heir to Ravenclaw he could access the Restricted section of the library in Hogwarts and all those books that were there was technically his to do with as he pleases. It was the reason some books screamed and bit when taken from the shelf. Only a heir of Ravenclaw was allowed to read them. Apperently none knew that and since Dumbledore took over as Headmaster he has moved several books there and therefor given over ownership of those books to Harry. He felt kind of smug for days after he had found that out.
He also found the books on Potions fascinating and when he went back to Diagon Alley where he bought every book he could find on the subject together with Herbology. It was closely related after all and Harry quite liked working in the garden and he had already vowed that when he moved out he was going to get his very own garden that he could do with as he please.
His hatred for Dumbledore only grew as he read about some of the laws he passed. It was ridiculous! He was basically passing laws making him untouchable. It was truly a crime, the level of stupidity these people suffered from, the way they were groveling at his feet and were even willing to kill for him.
It was disgusting and Harry honestly had to wonder how their whole world hadn't fallen apart yet.
Harry learned to ignore Petunia and Vernon as their hatred for him went up. Dudley continued chasing him around and bullying him. He had even invented a game called Harry-Hunting. Harry swore he would get revenge one day. One day a little after his tenth birthday while he was running he suddenly found himself on the school's roof. The weird thing was that the roof didn't have a door. He got the worst beating of his life when he got home after that and his resentment for the muggles grew as he realized they weren't going to do a thing to help him.
He spent most of his time in his cupboard and he wasn't ashamed to say he had started to ignore his homework completly, only doing them in the last second as that way it was more easy to get the teachers to think he was worse at school then Dudley. He couldn't afford to do better then him or he was scared his uncle would actually kill him.
He had studied the laws of the wizarding world and was appelled that there wasn't one against the abuse of children. It was as if they took it for granted that no one would hurt them. However when he looked longer back, about a century, he found one that said it muggleborns or magical orphans were abused in any way they would be taken and relocated. It took a lot of snooping around to find out that Dumbledore was the one that had pushed for that law to be removed. More then ones did he wonder what was wrong with that man.
On Dudleys eleventh birthday the day started like any other day. Harry was woken up by his Aunt Petunia banging on the door to the cupboard and then when Dudley ran up and down the stairs screaming at him to get up.
"Wake up Potter! We're going to the Zoo!" Harry almost groaned when he was reminded what day it was and was about to walk out when his cousin ran past and pushed him back in again before slamming the door shut in his face. Harry just sighed and pushed himself up again and tried to ignore the ache that was now in his back.
Harry had to restrain himself from throwing up as he heard Petunia coddle with Dudley and wishing him a happy birthday. He walked into the kitchen and could barely stop the sneer from showing as Petunia glared at him.
"Why don't you just cook the breakfest and try not to burn anything."
"Yes, aunt Petunia." He answered and sincerely wondered what the heck happened to her braincells.
Petunia put her hands over Dudleys eyes and led him to the table with his presents nearby. "I want everything to be perfect for my little Dudleys special day." Harry wondered why Vernon had married her, especially since he hated anything abnormal and Petunias family certainly were not normal. Perhaps she had gotten his mother to give her love-potions.
Vernon looked at him. "Well, hurry up, boy! Bring me my coffee!"
"Yes, Uncle Vernon." Harry watched as Dudley saw his presents and could almost see the greed in his eyes.
"Aren't they wonderful my darling?"Petunia smiled, but Harry could already see the way Dudleys eyes were taken over by anger.
"How many are there?"
Vernon simled at Dudley, looking smug and not a little creepy. "Thirty-six! Counted them myself."
Dudley glared and screamed. "Thirty-six! But last year, last year I had thirty-seven!"
"Yes, well some of them are quite a bit bigger then last year." Vernon stated.
Dudley screamed again and Harry wondered how they had managed to make such a spoiled little brat. "I don't care how big they are!"
Petunia stared down at Dudley and Harry could just see the her thoughts. She was going to give in. She always gave in. "Wait, wait, this is what we are going to do. When we go out, we're gonna buy you two new presents. How is that, pumpkin?"
Harry sneered at the look she gave Dudley and tried to stop the curses he wanted to use. However he couldn't be caught using that kind of magic, not until he found a way to destroy the wards around his house.
He had read up on different kind of wards and hoped that when he went to Hogwarts he would find out which wards were placed on him. The Goblins had erased the Trace that were on him, using the excuse that it would die soon anyway, if no-one reapplied it. He guessed that would happen at Hogwarts.
It still pissed him off though.
A little while later they were going out to the car and Harry was trying to ignore the feeling that something bad was going to happen soon.
Vernon pulled him aside just before he could get in the car and grabbed a hold of his arm in a far to tight grip. "I'm warning you now boy. Any funny business... any at all, and you won't have any meals for a week. Get in!"
Harry climbed into the grey silver car as fast as he could and tried to ignore Piers and Dudley as they insulted him again and again. It was just there luck that Harry wasn't bothered by it anymore. During the ride to the Zoo Harry got a couple of jabs to his ribs by Piers and he thanked his lucky star that Dudley wasn't nearly as strong as he thought himself to be. However that didn't mean it didn't hurt.
He passed time buy counting how many cars they passed as they drove and tried his best to ignore his cousin and his best friend. It still pissed him off about it, he fact that Dudley could have friends and he couldn't. The only ones who were his friends were some of the people in Knockturn Alley. He still couldn't understand why people always took detours to get away from the Alley. He quite liked it there.
When they arrived at the Zoo Harry left the car last and immediatly went to the Reptile House while trying to ignore the other people that were there. It was Harry's first time at a zoo, of course he was going to pretend he was alone. Especially since talking with reptiles wasn't something the average person could do.
Not even many wizards could do it.
Harry had found out that only the descendants from Slytherin could do it. He also found out that his mother came from a long line of squibs from different famous people, which were why he had so many lordships.
Inside the reptile house it was a lot more quiet and less people. Harry frowned when he thought about it. Not many people liked snakes and he knew it was even worse in the Wizarding World. They thought that snakes were pure evil and didn't have thoughts of their own. It made him incredibly mad when he found out about that and just made him want a snake of his own that much more.
He walked further and further in until he stood in front of a cage of a boa snake that positivly huge. After minutes of standing there he was pushed roughly to the side as his supposed family made their way over to him.
"Make it move!" Dudleys voice cut through the haze the push brought him and Harry frowned again.
Vernon hit the glass of the cage. "Move will you."
Dudley immediatly took after his father and started banging on the glass like a crazy man. "Move!" He yells and Harry almost chokes on a laugh. The snake can probably not understand him and if it does it wont move out of spite. Snakes are very vain creatures.
Harry finally has enough. "He's asleep!"
"He's boring." Dudley sighs and walks away, his parents and Piers following him.
Harry looks back at the snake laying in the cage and tries to squash down the feeling of wanting revenge that he always gets when the Dursley's behave that way. It truly is time consuming.
"I'm sorry about him. He doesn't understand what it's like laying there all day, with people pressing there ugly faces up at you." Harry looks at the snake as its head leaves the ground and it rises up into the air. He has always loved the way people are scared of snakes and is not ashamed to say that if he didn't understand them, he would probably be too.
Harry continued. "Where do you come from? Do you miss your family?"
The snake shake his head and wonders if this strange scale-less snake can get him out. If he does, the snake decide, he will get him a mouse as a thank-you gift. It was only fitting after all, as the snake must be terribly sad after the loss of his scales.
The snakes head turned to the wall and Harry turned there as well when he figured out what the snake meant. There it stood in bright, big red letters:
BRED IN CAPTIVITY!
Harry stared. "Oh."
The next seconds Harry was pushed to the ground as his cousin came running screaming about what the snake was doing. Dudley put his face to the glass and stared at the snake and Harry watched with surprise as the glass vanished and Dudley fell into the cage and was drenched in water. The snake slithered out and stopped before him looking almost grateful.
§Thanksss, amigo.§
§Anytime.§ Harry answered.
The snake slithered away and as people screamed and hurried to move out of the way, Harry couldn't help the small smile that grazed his features. Unfortunally he was too slow to remove it and Vernon saw. Harry quickly schooled his features into an impassive mask, but it was to late. Vernon has already narrowed his eyes and Harry knows exactly what that means.
—
The next week passed as Vernon said it would. No food and only allowed out to do his chores. Harry was lucky that he had managed to knick a couple of water off Dudley when he wasn't looking and had, of necessity, learned a wonderful thing called a cooling spell. It worked better then he thought and he was sad to say that without it, he could have died.
When he wasn't working his arse off, he was busy making as many nutrion potions as possible and perfecting the disappearing spell. He had already managed the Notice-Me-Not spell and it was incredibly useful for the trunk in his cupboard. Were anyone to look inside they wouldn't even notice it, which helped him a lot.
He found that he more often then not only got irritated on his wand. He loved it and the feeling it gave him, but it was so much more easier to do magic without it. Oh Harry wasn't stupid, he knew you weren't supposed to do wandless magic. Dumbledore himself had written the law that labeled it as dark and forbidden it from being done. It was ridiculous of course, that they thought they could restrict magic that way. It wasn't called magic for nothing and Harry knew that if things were to continue the way they were going, the Wizarding World would crash and burn.
And Harry was going to be there when it happened.
On the day of Harry's eleventh birthday they were in a small hut in the middle of the sea. It was storming outside and Harry was laying on the cold hard floor with only a thin blanket covering his shivering form. Dudley on the other had was laying on the only couch and was snoring so loud that even if he tried it, Harry wouldn't be able to fall asleep.
Harry carefully draw a birthday cake in the dust on the floor as the time comes closer to 00:00, to his eleventh birthday. He knew very well what those letters were and it was incredibly irritating that they thought he wouldn't find out something that was so important. Something that was a such big part of him.
But people would learn not to underestimate him soon enough.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The entire hut shock with the force of whoever it was that was knocking on the door. On the third try the door completly fell off its hinges and Harry stared at the giant of a man that was standing in the door-way. As he stepped in and put the door back in its place Vernon and Petunia came downstairs with a barrel. Harry could only stared at the man as he threatened his uncle and destroyed the gun completly. However he did not understand why this was the man that had come to give him his letter. He was sure it was Professor McGonagoll's job.
"Sorry 'bout tha'." The mans voice is low and he has a giant brown beard that covers half of his face. Harry sighs as he realizes that this is the best he's going to get.
Harry stares.
Vernon's face turns purple.
Dudley hides.
Petunia stares too.
The man clears his throat. "'M here to you yer Hogwarts letter, 'Arry."
Harry stares some more. "Okay."
The man, whos name Harry still didn't know, looked startled, as if he was expecting Harry to not believe him, which, if Harry was someone else, he probably wouldn't. However as it was, Harry wasn't stupid and he intended the world to know that.
"Well, here it is 'Arry!" The man boomed with a way to loud voice and pulled out his letter from one of the many pockets and held it out towards Harry.
Harry thought about it and then promtly ignored the mans way to cheerful tone and the letter in his hand. "Who are you, anyway?"
If it wasn't for the hair covering his entire face besides his nose and eyes Harry could have been sure he blushed, but as it was, it could have been just as easily the light.
The man cleared his throat again. "Rubeus Hagrid, but you can call me Hagrid, everyone does."
"Wow, it's not every day someone gives you permission to use your last name." Harry was sure his sarcasm was obvious, but regretfully Hagrid didn't appear to notice it. Oh well, he was sure that in a few years, it would be clear as day and then they would have to realize that he wasn't going to be anyone's savior. He was Slytherin through and through, and they were going to have to live with that.
Especially that Dumbledore guy.
Harry took the letter that was still being offered to him and almost snorted when he realized that it looked the same that it had been over fifty years ago, one that he had found in the middle of a book in parcelscript to a Tom Riddle. Not that he knew who that was.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF
WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1 September. We await you owl by no later then 31 July.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Debuty Headmistress
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose, a habit he had picked up by Jensen, an old wizards that had taught him the basics of potions and runes. He did not have the patience for this. He knew what would happen when people found out who he was, he had read the books about him. He thanked Merlin for his ability to metamorph, and that it at least had not been blocked. However the chance that it would be if people were to find out was something that he couldn't risk.
"I don't have an owl, Hagrid."
"Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me." Hagrid said, clapping his head to his forehead with enough force to know over a cart horse, and from yet another of his many pockets he pulled out an owl - a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl - a long quill and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note which Harry could read upside-down:
DEAR MR DUMBLEDORE,
GIVEN HARRY HIS LETTER.
TAKING HIM TO BUY HIS THINGS TOMORROW.
WEATHER'S HORRIBLE. HOPE YOUR WELL.
HAGRID
Harry almost snorted at the picture Hagrid was making. Why he didn't just transfigure the quill and parchment bigger, he had a feeling he would never understand. It probably had something to do with Dumb-as-a-door.
Hagrid walked out again and threw the owl out into the air after he whispered a few words to it. He wonders if Hagrid has any idea f how to take care of animals, much less show him the Wizarding World. He seemed like the kind of man that would follow anyone blindly as long as they gave him a little attention. Although that could have been his desire to see an ulterior motive in everything.
But somehow he didn't think so.
"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment Vernon decided to speak again.
"He's not going. We swore we were going to make sure he was normal when we took him in!" Vernon erupted on the side-lines.
Hagrid grunted. "I'd like ter see a muggle like you stop him."
"A what?" said Harry, trying his best to play ignorant. It was quite widenly known that Dumbledore knew mind-magic and Harry didn't doubt he would see how Harry reacted from Hagrid's mind.
"A muggle, Harry, is what we call people without magic." Harry was quite pleased with the expression on his face, even though he was quite pissed off. This was the proof! They knew where the heck he was and they did nothing! Harry was seething on the inside as Hagrid happily declared that it was Harry's bad luck that left him with muggles this big.
Any chance of ever liking the giant went out the window with that.
Hagrid continued. "We'll spend the night at the Leaky Cauldron and tomorrow I'll take you to buy your things."
Petunia shrieked and Vernon cursed. Dudley was still hiding in the corner.
"Oh, I almost forgot." exclaimed Hagrid. "Here yer cake 'Arry, happy birthday! It's not every day you turn eleven!" And then Hagrid pulled a cake out of yet another pocket, which Harry was sure he had sat on at some point.
Harry tried to ignore the impending headache coming his way. "Excuse me, sir. But what actually is Hogwarts? I can't be a wizard!"
"Well yer are 'Arry, just like yer parents." said Hagrid and Harry was sure he could see some tears there as well. "And then they were killed by You-Know-Who and it was just so sad!"
"Who's you-know-who?"
Hagrid lowered his voice conciderbly. "He's the darkest wizard in centurys. He's the heir of Slytherin too, all wizards in Slytherin are dark, Harry, yer don't want to go there."
Harry glared at the floor while trying not to curse the bastard that was sprouting nothing but lies. "You'll tell me all about Hogwarts right? And how will I go there, I know they wont pay for it?"
"Of course I will 'Arry! And yer parents payed for Hogwarts before yer were born." Harry did have to admit he wanted to go to Hogwarts. He really wanted to go to Hogwarts. He may not support the side his family was on but that didn't mean he shouldn't know anything about them.
Harry sighed. "Okay, I'll go with you."
"Wonderful! You'll love it 'Arry!" Hagrid exclaimed in a far to excited voice.
—
Finally!
It's finished!
Okay my fingers are sleeping right now but I'm incredibly thankful for all the reviews!
By the way, which house do you think Harry should be in at Hogwarts? I can't decide and would love to hear your opinion.
Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it!
-FantasyDeath