When he passed through the barrier at King's Cross, Harry felt like he was being reborn.
He only took a few seconds to change his mask, straightening up, his shoulders straight and his gaze proud. Vernon had insisted on accompanying him to the station this year. Harry wasn't quite sure why as he hadn't even left the car the year before but he didn't appreciate the gesture. He must have kept his shoulders hunched, eyes lowered in submission until they stopped in front of the pilar between tracks 9 and 10. At least they had arrived earlier than last time and the platform was relatively empty. Only a few families were present and it was far from the cacophony that had greeted him the first time.
He quickly found an empty compartment and settled in, quickly pulling out a book. It was one of the books Voldemort had sent him in August and dealt extensively with the use of runes in the world in relation to geologic magical energies. It was a little hard to understand, using a sharp and very specialized lexicon, but Harry enjoyed the challenge. Some of the books he had received were of a high standard but had nothing that would cast doubt on Harry's allegiance to the Light. Other books dealt with darker matters, these were well hidden in the secret compartment of his trunk.
Immersed in the text, he didn't realize the station was filling up little by little. It was the door to his compartment opening suddenly that brought him back to reality. A young blonde girl entered her compartment with a light step. Her dreamy gaze moved slowly before settling on Harry. She cocked her head slightly to the side.
- Hello Mirus… or is it Harry?
Harry was immediately on alert but didn't let it show. He didn't know how this girl knew this information but he wouldn't confirm it. There was an air of strangeness around her, her gaze leaving his face to wander before returning to it.
- My name is Harry. Who are you?
- Okay, Harry then. My name is Luna. Don't worry, you know, I know how to keep a secret. Besides, even if I told everything I know, people would mistake that for another one of my quirks. No one listens to what I say except dad.
- Hmmm okay. Is it your first year, Luna?
- Of course, hehe. Can I sit with you?
Without waiting for an answer, Luna sat down on the bench in front of him and pulled out a magazine that she held upside down. She was right, even if she said he was Mirus, twin brother of Draco Malfoy, no one would take her seriously. Harry still wondered where she got her information. Apart from him, only Voldemort and the goblin who had taken his inheritance test knew about it and neither had reason to betray his trust. Maybe she was clairvoyant? Regardless, Harry had a feeling it was better to make her an ally than an enemy. If only to avoid taking the risk that someone would believe her.
The train fills up as it goes, the sound of goodbyes being said through the windows filling in until the train pulled away and left the station.
Their compartment was perfectly silent, apart from the noise of pages being turned. They were disturbed only twice.
The first time, a red-haired girl opened the door to greet Luna. She didn't stay long, blushing red when she saw who was in the compartment. Harry shrugged at the hasty flight of the one he quickly identified as the youngest of the Weasleys. Given her reaction, he was pretty sure she had grown up hearing crazy stories about the Boy-Who-Lived and had an image of a prince charming for him. Very little for him, thank you very much.
The second person to interrupt their peace was none other than Draco Malfoy. Looking proud and slightly arrogant, he settled down next to Harry after glancing critically at the petite blonde sitting across from him. He obviously seemed to think she was unworthy and quickly turned to the brunette.
- Hello Potter. How were your holidays?
Surprised at Draco's interest in him when he hadn't paid much attention to him in first year, Harry took a few moments before answering.
- Uh… They went well, I spent a lot of my time reading.
- Ah, no wonder you're a Ravenclaw. Say, I know we didn't talk much together last year but I wanted to let you know. I heard the Weasleys at the bookstore when I went to buy my books and what I heard you shouldn't like, I don't think.
- Tell me.
- I heard the girl talking about you for a good ten minutes before asking her mother if it was true that she was the future Lady Potter, to which her mother replied that it was a no-brainer. She said, and I quote, "you look so much like Lily, you two are made for each other."
- Oh… Creepy. Why would I want a girl who's supposed to look like my mother?
- I agree, it's creepy. Still, it seemed important for me to warn you that the Weasley girl has set her sights on you and in a rather obsessive way.
- Thank you Malfoy.
Following this, Draco left the compartment to join his friends. That's when Luna lifted her head. She was now wearing a very odd pair of glasses whose colored lenses shouldn't really allow her to see properly.
- He's right, you know. You will have to be careful. The flames are invasive and stop at nothing. And the king of the mountain does everything to fan the fire. Beware of the weasel that talk to the snake.
She immediately plunged back into her reading. Harry was more and more convinced that Luna was seeing a lot and thinking about what she had just said. Flames? The Weasleys, of course, by the color of their hair. So beware of them. The twins looked harmless enough, more interested in their pranks than anything but Ronald and the girl he would have his eye on. The King of the Mountain? Dumbledore, perhaps? The redhead family was known as almost fanatical members of the Light. On the other hand, for the weasel and the snake, he could not make a connection.
Deciding there was nothing he could do right now, Harry went back to his book. It focused on the influence of Mount Fuji's magic rift on the use of Japanese runes when the train slowed down and stopped at Hogsmeade.
The journey to the castle was made, this time, in stagecoaches drawn by black, skeletal winged horses. The beasts looked gloomy and Harry made up his mind to look up the breed of these beasts in one of the books on magical creatures in the library. He also wondered why the first-year students had to take a rowboat in the middle of the night on a deep lake while the older students were comfortably seated in a coach.
Harry listened only half-heartedly to the Sorting Hat's song, preferring to focus on the actions of Luna and little Weasley standing side by side. The blonde had a look that traveled everywhere without ever fixing on a specific object while the redhead seemed to be looking for someone in particular. When she met his gaze, her cheeks flushed and she looked down. Obviously, he was the one she was looking for. Obsessive, Draco had said. It seemed like he was right.
Luna was sorted into Ravenclaw and settled next to Harry as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It didn't bother him, he was beginning to appreciate the blonde, she didn't behave like the other girls he had met so far and was rather discreet.
The young Weasley, whose first name he learned when she was called, joins the rest of his brothers in Gryffindor. Ginevra cast a disappointed look at Harry as he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He didn't think the young girl was studious enough to be sorted into his House but the risk had still been present. He couldn't have endured six years with her.
Dumbledore's speech was as uninteresting as the year before. He introduced them to their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Quirrell having resigned saying he wanted to resume his travels. Professor Lockhart was even less credible than Quirinus as a Defense professor. He looked more like a TV presenter, with his perfect white-toothed smile and flawless hairstyle, than someone who was supposed to have defeated many creatures. Well, if his books were to be believed, which Harry did not.
Classes started the next day and once again Harry stood out with his excellence.
Of course, Potions lessons were still held under taunts and implied insults but even Snape found himself limited when his target not only didn't respond to his provocations but managed to brew his potions anyway.
Much to his regret, Harry felt that the first Defense class would long be remembered as one of the most embarrassing. Not only had the teacher let out a small cry when he read his name on the roll call, but he gave him a big talk about fame and how to cultivate it. As if he cared about his damn fame...
In addition, the "teacher" gave them a questionnaire from the first lesson. But, instead of focusing on Defense Against the Dark Arts, it was only about his autobiography "Magical Me".
Harry was ashamed to admit to himself that he knew all the answers, having read the book out of curiosity and having an excellent memory. But it was out of the question for him to answer correctly. So he chose to answer all the questions the wrong way, which made some Muggleborns laugh when the professor read some of them aloud.
Who knew Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition wasn't to travel to Tatooine to fight Jabba? Or that his favorite animal wasn't ET?
It wasn't until the second week that Harry felt his bracelet vibrate silently. He was comfortably installed in his four-poster bed, the curtains closed. He cast a quick silencing spell on the curtains so his comrades wouldn't hear anything.
- Mirus, he whispered.
- Oh, Mirus. How did this second school year begin?
- No surprises overall. We are starting to practice faster than last year, that's good. On the other hand, the Defense professor is a joke. This loser has never done a quarter of what he describes in his books. I don't understand how people can believe that someone who has faced all these creatures could be so...so...
- Immaculate?
- That's it. He's not credible.
- Hmm... In short, you're afraid you won't learn anything from him?
- And losing parts of my brain in the process.
- Which would be a tragedy. Have you read the books I sent you?
- I have read several, yes.
- Have you read "Magic Defense" by Rozenkov?
- I devoured it. You learn so much more than in our textbooks!
- It's also completely illegal because it contains spells that the Ministry, in all its ignorance, deemed dark. And it gives leads for the use of wandless magic, which the authorities fear above all.
- Yes, I read that. But it is written that not all wizards are necessarily able to practice it, much like the ability to become an Animagus is not a possibility for everyone.
- Absolutely. On the one hand, the wizard must have above average power, and on the other hand, most wizards are totally dependent on their wand. That's why it's so easy to defeat the average wizard, if he loses his wand he's as useless as a headless chicken.
- Eww, thanks for the mental picture. Moving on. If I read the book but without practical training, it doesn't get me far.
- I was going to come to that. There is a room at Hogwarts that only materializes under certain conditions. Few people know about it and those who have seen it do not know how it works. This will be the perfect room for you to train. Have you ever visited the hallway on the seventh floor where there is a tapestry showing a wizard and trolls wearing tutus?
- Oh yes, I saw it. This is a good example of wizarding logic...
- Certainly. The wall facing this tapestry is the entrance to the room. You have to pass the wall three times thinking about what you want to find in the room. You will have to ask very specifically for a room to train without being spotted by the director and in which you can train magically and physically. It should provide you with everything you need to train on your own. But be careful, it's dangerous to try new spells when you're alone. No one will find you if you get hurt.
- You're right. Maybe I'll take Luna with me...
- Luna?
- Luna Lovegood, Ravenclaw first year. She accosted me on the Hogwarts Express calling me Mirus.
- How is it possible ?
- I think she's clairvoyant. Maybe a seer. She doesn't always make sense and tends to be vague, but she's far from being stupid. I don't know why but I'm sure I can trust her. She advised me to beware of "fire" and "king of the mountain", clearly the Weasleys and Dumbledore.
- A seer can be a very good ally… Very well, take her with you when you go to train. And use your Cloak to get there, the old fool shouldn't suspect anything.
- Obviously.
- Why did Miss Lovegood advise you to beware of the Weasleys? From what I've seen in the last year, they can be distressing in the case of the twins or pathetic like young Ronald, but they don't seem like a danger to me.
- Apparently, Ginevra, the last, is convinced that she is my future wife and her mother seems to encourage her. Well, that's not all, but it's getting late and I have Potions in the first hour tomorrow. Snape is looking for any loopholes to exploit so I prefer not to get tired during his lecture.
- Alright. Good night Mirus.
- Good night Voldemort.
- Oh, call me Marvolo. It's my middle name and you'll be safer than if you call me Voldemort.
- Alright. Good night Marvolo. Surim.