Michael Brown

It was a dark, rainy evening. The room in which we were gathered was covered in darkness, with one small lamp as the only source of light. Everyone in the room was silent, as we were patiently waiting for the meeting to start. I could feel a noticeable tension coming from others and I couldn't say I was surprised. After all, everyone knew that this meeting, first of many to come, wouldn't be held without a good reason.

When the clock struck seven, I decided it was finally time to begin and spoke, gathering everyone's attention.

"Welcome everyone. I'm so glad that everyone was able to join today. My name is Michael Brown and it's my privilege to act as the leader of this group. I hope that no one here has anything against it" I said, waiting for a few seconds to see if anyone would disagree with my statement. Hearing no protests, I continued. "Before we start, it would be best for everyone to introduce themselves to the group. Normally I would let you all do it by yourselves, but as I am aware that most of the members of this group don't possess ability to speak, I will do that in your behalf"

I turned to the first member of our group, who was sitting silently in his usual spot, watching me with his piercing eyes and patiently observing the proceedings. His face betrayed nothing, but I knew he was actually quite interested in attending this meeting, for various reasons. I pointed at him with my hand.

"This is Owlfred, an owl I purchased at Diagon alley. He will be a vital member of our group, as he will be responsible for handling my correspondence, delivering every letter I would want to send. I have high hopes for you, Owlfred" I said, giving him a shallow bow as a sign of respect. His only reaction to my statement was a quiet hoot, which I took as him accepting his role. I of course didn't mention that Owlfred was actually a Ministry spy, sent to infiltrate my group and pass everything he learned to the ministry, as I wasn't stupid. It was better to make him think I was oblivious to his true nature.

After finishing Owlfred's introductions I moved to the second member of the group, who was currently lying on one of the chairs, content to just observe the meeting. It was my wand.

"I made you a member of this fine group because Mr Ollivander, who from what I heard is a leading expert on wands, stated that you are sentient. I don't have any reason to doubt him, which is why I decided to treat you like an equal. Unfortunately you are, as far as I know, unable to communicate with us, so we have no way of knowing your real name. To make it easier for all of us, I will call you Kenny for now. I hope you don't mind?"

I gave Kenny a few seconds to respond, but it didn't do anything to convey its displeasure. Taking it as a sign of approval, I continued.

"You probably both wonder why I called this meeting. You see, I will soon start my education at Hogwarts, a place I know nothing about. I need someone I could trust, with whom I could speak about my plans and Ideas. Don't worry, I don't expect you to contribute to these meetings much. I just need someone trustworthy to talk to, if only to be able to vent"

I was obviously lying through my teeth, as I didn't trust either of them in the slightest. Owlfred was the animagus spy employed by the Ministry, while Kenny was a magical parasite leeching off my magic power. There was no way I would share my actual plans with them. No, I would use these meetings to spread disinformation among my enemies, taking their attention away from my real plans. I would make them panic over nothing, letting me realize my actual plans without being observed.

My lack of trust was also the reason why I didn't tell either of them about the last member of this "inner circle", who was currently hidden inside my school trunk, ready to be smuggled into Hogwarts. I didn't come into contact with Tom yet, knowing that I was under constant invigilation of my parents, and thus, the Government. My plan was to take Tom to Hogwarts, where it would be easier for me to hide, if only because of the sheer number of people there. When I was certain it was safe for us to talk, I would open the diary and speak with Tom, hopefully able to convince him to join forces in trying to overthrow the Ministry. He would be my real ally, not these pretenders.

For now I would hold these meetings though, not only to feed Owlfred and Kenny a false intel, but also to make me look harmless in the eyes of the Ministry. I would play the part of an eccentric kid, who liked to talk with his owl and wand out of loneliness. They wouldn't suspect that I was actually aware of all of their machinations, slowly working towards exposing their true nature to the masses.

"Let's start with the first point of our agenda…" I started. However before I was able to say anything else the door to my room suddenly opened, revealing my sister Lily, who barged inside without asking. Noticing the darkness in the room she immediately turned the lights on, illuminating the room and leaving me temporarily blind, as I wasn't expecting the sudden change.

"Why are you sitting alone in the dark? She asked innocently, either unaware or pretending to not know about the proceedings that were taking place in the room. I wasn't sure which it was yet. "And why are you wearing your school uniform?" She asked upon noticing I was wearing my cultish robe bought during my trip, using its hood to cover my face.

"…I was about to watch a movie, so I turned off the lights. The robe is quite comfortable, so I decided to wear it while watching" I said, giving my sister a nervous smile. I still didn't know how involved she was in spying on me, nor what she actually knew about the meeting I called, so it was better to give her some believable excuse. She however didn't entirely believe me, as she gave me a look that said "I may be young, but I am not stupid". Knowing that continuing this subject would be bad, I decided to change it. "Do you need something?"

"Dinner is ready, so mom told me to fetch you" She responded simply. It was a convincing explanation. There was of course a chance she was lying, but for now I decided to believe her.

"I see, I'll come in a minute" I said. I couldn't exactly just leave the meeting without saying anything, so I needed to at least finish it without coming to dinner.

Lily left the room, leaving me alone with Owlfred and Kenny. They didn't say anything, but I had a feeling they were quite amused by what happened. Suddenly feeling a little embarrassed I coughed into my fist, trying to act confident despite my earlier humiliation.

"…based on recent developments I think it would be best to suspend this meeting for about half an hour. We will then continue the meeting"

After saying that I hurriedly left the room so that Owlfred and Kenny wouldn't see the flush of embarrassment that appeared on my face.

At ten o'clock of September 1 I found myself at King's Cross station, where my parents and I were searching for platform 9 ¾, where I was supposed to board the train to Hogwarts. I of course knew how to access it, but I couldn't exactly reveal it. Technically I could just tell my government handlers that McGonagall told me how to access the platform, but it was probably better to just let other students enter the platform.

I spent the last two weeks preparing myself for attending Hogwarts, thinking about all the dangers and traps waiting for me there and preparing countermeasures for them. I also packed several items in my trunk that would help me survive the year. I had some dummy notebooks there, which I would use to make the Ministry think I was just keeping a diary, taking their attention away from Tom's diary. I also packed emergency rations, which I would use in case the faculty was drugging the food served at the castle. Lastly, I took my camera and voice recorder, as they would probably be necessary for some of my future plans. I didn't know if magic messing with electricity was a real thing, as it sounded a little too convenient for me, but batteries inside the devices would only hold for a certain amount of time, so my goal was to work on changing their source of power from electricity to magic during my year at Hogwarts. It should be possible, as Arthur Weasley did something similar with his car in Harry Potter.

After a few minutes of standing between platform 9 and 10, waiting for someone to use the wall leading to the right platform, we were approached by someone. When I noticed who it was, my blood turned into ice, as I became aware that by acting clueless I made myself a target for Ministry's manipulations. Apparently they believed I really didn't know how to access the platform, so they sent their agent to help me, no doubt intending to put me in their debt. Damn it, I was too careless!

"Hello, I noticed that you have some trouble" Started a girl who approached us, pushing a cart containing her belongings. She had bushy, brown hair and a very familiar face, one I hoped I wouldn't see for some time. "Ah, sorry for the lack of manners, I'm Hermione Granger. I think I remember you from Flourish and Blotts. Michael, right?"

"Yes, that's me. Michael Brown" I said warily, not liking the fact that I was approached by one of the main characters even before boarding the train. Wasn't it extremely suspicious that I already met the whole cast during my trip to Diagon alley and now one of the Gryffindor trio was approaching me just to help me? There was no way it was just an accident.

It was definitely the Ministry's scheme! By showing up whenever I was in trouble and being helpful, these damn gryffindors would worm their way into my heart, making me trust them completely. It would be a long process, most likely taking years, but they had time, Ministry overlords probably used some time magic, most likely connected to time turners, to become immortal, making a few years just a second for them. Damn the Ministry and their games!

"Ah, you are probably one of the students" exclaimed Mother. She most likely also realized Hermione's real intentions, but she didn't let that show on her face, as she decided it was better to fish for some information. "Do you perhaps know what we should do next? We arrived at the indicated address, but…"

"Yes, platform 9 ¾ is actually hidden behind the magic barrier" Said Hermione excitedly, as if she was happy to share her knowledge with others, before pointing to one of the pillars. She probably thought that it helped her gain some affection from me. Too bad I knew about her plans, so her actions were meaningless. Not that I would tell her that. "You have to go through this pillar. Passing it will let you access the right platform"

"I see. Thank you for helping us" I responded, acting like she was actually helpful.

"No problem. I am a second year student, so it's my duty to help new students. Here, let me show you how it works" She said with a smile. Ah, so that was her plan. She would act like an experienced senior, who would come to help her junior. Not bad, Granger, not bad.

After finishing speaking Hermione turned her cart around and started running at full speed at the pillar, apparently trying to show us how to proceed. Contrary to my silent hope she didn't crash into a pillar, destroying her cart in the process, instead phasing into it, vanishing from our sight.

I sighed. It appeared that there was no point in stalling any further. I closed my eyes, gathered my strength and ran my cart into the pillar, arriving at platform 9 ¾ .