I Am Not Simply.
by ny_zed
Disclaimer: My name is not J. K. Rowling, and I do not own Wizarding World and Associates in any way.
Chapter 3
James and Harry were engaged in an intense staring contest—correction. An intense glaring contest. The occupants of the room were waiting to see who would crack under the pressure first.
It didn't take long before James broke.
"YOU BASTARD!" He screamed. "YOU STOLE MY TITLE!" Arcturus smirked behind him.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
"And what would be your reasoning?"
"I am the Heir of Potter. I am the one to become Lord and Head. I am the legitimate heir! What of you, bastard of mine?"
Cyrus Greengrass' eyes widened as he took in the news. The heir was a bastard?
Unfortunately for Cyrus Greengrass, he was promptly hit with a Obliviate! from behind by Arcturus.
During this confrontation, Lily Potter had been playing with her children instead of comforting her husband.
"Maybe if you had paid attention to your family, you would not be in this position today."
The door slammed as Harry and Arcturus walked out.
Harry was seething. "How dare he accuse me of stealing the Heir title! He deserved it!"
Arcturus sighed. "He wouldn't be able to do anything about it anyway. The will is—"
"—Yes, I know, I know! Will is law. I am not that stupid, Uncle."
1 September1987
King's Cross Station, London, England
Harry settled into life in Grimmauld Place rather slowly. There was the matter that Sirius, that dirty dog still came around, despite the fact that he hated the places. Something about "accessing my library" and "torturing my mother". He never noticed Harry's presence, and Harry would ignore him in kind.
The Black Property was a marvel. Five floors, full of stuff to explore. With Harry's inquisitive nature, he'd explored the whole place within three months.
This was better than Potter Manor. After mastering Occlumency, Harry was able to recall every single detail of his rather short life.
Of course, there was no actually outdoor area of the property, since it was the middle of dreary London, but he'd never forgotten the times he spent flying his beloved Nimbus 1600. He always zoomed along the dark London skyscape, risking the Statute of Secrecy and his wand. Right. His wand.
His Hogwarts letter had arrived in July. The first thing Arcturus had done once seeing said letter was taking the kid out for dinner. harry had enjoyed that night eating at Diagon's Most Famous Italian Restaurant, where he indulged in spaghetti and meatballs.
When they left on full stomachs, it was around six p.m. and most stores were still open. They had done their shopping right then and there.
And now, Harry was absorbing information at an alarming rate. He was already on fourth year material!
Arcturus grabbed his shoulder, and whispered "It's time, child."
Harry stood straighter. He was the Heir Potter. He had an image to maintain, and people to impress. Arcturus chuckled as he let go. "Go then, lad. Go forth to your new adventure. I'll see you during Yule."
Harry nodded, and waving goodbye, walked into the train carriage. It was ten a.m.—relatively early. No compartments were occupied.
Harry walked to the very back and sat down. He reasoned—no one would come back here, thus he would be undisturbed, and could read in peace.
Time seemed to pass quickly as he felt a jolt, signaling the departure of the train. Not a minute later, the door slid open. Harry looked up, slightly annoyed. He was met with an average height boy, with brown hair. "Mind if I sit here?" Harry shook his head to signal no.
The boy dragged his trunk into the compartment and then opened a Quidditch magazine. Front page cover, Vratsa Vultures Win EuroCup for Second Year Running.
The door opened again to admit a tall red-headed boy followed by a slightly shorter one. This smaller boy wore horn-rimmed glasses, and looked extremely pompous for whatever reason.
"Right then, Percy, I'll drop you off here. If you got problems, come and find me, alright?"
"Thank you, Bill."
The older boy frowned at the strangely formal comment from his younger brother, and left.
Percy took a look at Harry. "So, reading ahead, are we?"
Harry looked up from his book, and then looked back down. "Yes."
Percy held out a hand. "Percy Weasley. Good to meet you." No wonder he seemed so familiar. Red hair, infinite freckles. Harry looked up and shook it. "Harry Potter."
"Brother of the Twins-Who-Lived?" The other boy was now staring at Harry like the greatest thing on Earth. Harry's expression turned cold. "Yes. Who might you be?"
"Wood, the name's Oliver Wood! Wow, I can't believe I'm meeting the brother of the Twins!"
"Shut up, Wood." Percy said. "The twins are probably very annoying, are they?" He asked Harry.
Somewhat grateful that Percy Weasley did not seem to spare a thought about his family, Harry shrugged. "What exactly do you mean?"
Percy sighed. "My family's huge. I'm the third child, and the next children after me are Fred and George. Most annoying shits on earth, that is. Can't stop annoying me for no damned reason, and Mum would just let them go."
Harry nodded sympathetically. While he technically didn't grow up with the twins, He understood how annoying kids were.
"What about you?" Percy asked. "First of five, we've got two sets of twins younger than me." Both Percy and Oliver grimaced. That was just the lot.
"I didn't grow up with them, though." Percy frowned. "Why not? The Potters should have enough money for all of you, shouldn't they?"
"Doesn't really help if your parents ignored you after Voldemort happened." Percy winced, while Oliver exclaimed, "You said You-Know-Who's name!"
This was quickly getting awkward in front of Oliver. "Yeah, yeah. Who cares. The man is gone."
"But still!" Oliver insisted. "He could be still lurking somewhere, for all we know! His body was never found, y'know!"
"Yes, but let us not dwell on the past." Percy said. "So who did you live with?" He asked Harry.
"My grandfather and uncle. They particularly raised me. My grandfather died a year ago—" Percy nodded solemnly as he recalled the Daily Prophet headlines marking the death of Lord Fleamont Potter. "—and I've been living at my uncle's place since then."
Percy's opinion of the Potters dipped significantly after that. How could they abandon their own child? He turned to Oliver. "What about you, Wood?"
Anticipating the question, Oliver responded, "I've got a brother who's graduating this year. A prat, Winston is. Enforces the rules like his life depends on it. I heard McGonagall loves him." The trio exchanged a hearty laugh. They've heard from rumours about how strict Professor McGonagall was. If that was the case, they'll need to watch out. "Oh, here comes the devil."
The door opened for the fourth time that day as it admitted a taller boy that looked like Oliver. "Ah, there you are Oliver." Both Percy and Harry felt chills at the cold expression.
Oliver's joyful expression immediately disappeared, replaced with a similarly cold expression. "What do you want?"
Winston Wood sneered. "Mother would want you to know that you're a runt." Percy and Harry's eyes widened as they took in the obvious insult.
"Well, you and Mother can go to hell as far as I'm concerned. Get out, stop bothering me."
Winston's sneer grew. "You think you can tell me what to do?"
"Clearly, you dim-wit. And I'm here figuring out how you got the big-head badge."
Winston glowered, and he growled angrily, "What did you say?"
Oliver was defiant, and he repeated his sentence and then spat on the floor in front of him.
Winston Wood snapped as he lunged for Oliver. His hands never reached his target, as he was then Banished out of the compartment, the door then shut and locked itself. Winston stood up and started banging on the door, screaming profanities, but the door never did budge. Meanwhile Oliver was looking around for his savior. "Who was that?"
"Me." Harry said, revealing his custom wand of, quoted from his custom wandmaker, "cherry and ash, with dragon heartstring and Phoenix feather, fourteen inches, good for Transfiguration, or any magic in general."
Percy looked at Harry at newfound admiration. "Wow!" Percy said. "That's a fourth year spell! Could you teach me that?"
Harry gave out a laugh. "Sure, mate. Anything for my new friends."
The expression that Percy and Oliver gave him was something he wouldn't forget anytime soon.
He laughed as he started explaining, "Well, you point your wand at the desired spot and you say 'depulso!', and then you should picture how..."
By the time the train was starting to slow down, Harry had successfully taught Percy and Oliver how to Banish and Cut someone with magic. Also some useful jinxes and hexes just in store for bullies like Winston. Harry would have liked to share a Black family hex that would make Winston's life particularly miserable, but that was, obviously, a family spell and thus a family secret.
"Ah, shit! We have to change!" Oliver said frantically. The three boys quickly pulled on their robes and quite soon the train stopped.
They disembarked and witnessed a monstrosity of a man screaming "Firs' years! Firs' years! Firs' years over 'ere please!" The giant man was named Rubeus Hagrid, and he was apparently the groundskeeper of Hogwarts. They rounded the turn and got their first view of Hogwarts.
Harry gaped. It was marvelous. This was to be his home for the next nine months. He was quite excited for the future.
They were led onto boats, where they crossed the lake. After they disembarked their boats, Hagrid led them up to the entrance of the grand castle. He knocked on the large wooden doors three times.
BAM! BAM! BAM! Immediately, the doors swung open to reveal a woman wearing tartan robes. "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."
"Thank you, Hagrid, you may go." Hagrid nodded, and he walked off to wherever he was supposed to go.
They were led into corridor off the Great Hall. They heard quite a bit of chatter, which meant that the older students were already there.
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat, which got the attention of the first-years. "Welcome to Hogwarts, what I hope to be your home away from home. The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.
"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.
"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."(This was directly quoted from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)
McGonagall then walked away, allowing the cohort to break down in chatter as they pondered how they would be Sorted. It was at this time that several transparent but clearly definite beings floated through the stone walls around them, producing some shrieks from some girls.
"I tell you, Nick, we really need the Bloody Baron to come around more to control that damned poltergeist—I say, what are you bunch doing here?"
Percy, being the person he was, straightened his spine and said, "We are waiting to be Sorted, sir."
"Ah! New firsties! I am the Fat Friar, ghost of Hufflepuff! Hope to see you there, you know."
The ghost next to the Fat Friar tipped his cap. "And I am Sir Nicholas Mimsy de Porpington, resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower. Hope to see you in the lions' den!"
"Hush hush, run along." Professor McGonagall had returned and the ghosts slowly floated through the wall into the Great Hall.
"Single line, and follow me."
"Potter, Harry!"
"Potter?"
"The twins have a brother?"
"We could ask him for their autograph, you know—"
"Don't be foolish, Smith. They're only seven."
Harry sat down and waited as the Sorting Hat was put over his head.
What do we have here? Raised by purebloods, bitter toward your neglect with a thirst to prove yourself.
"How'd you get past my shields?"
Well, I am a magical artifact, so naturally I have that power.
"I don't quite understand."
You'll learn soon? Back to our topic. Ah, ah. I see. Hufflepuff wouldn't do. You'll do fine in Ravenclaw and Slytherin, but you aren't really the bookworm and ambitious type. Better be "GRYFFINDOR!"
This chapter was posted on July 31st, 2023.
In other words, Happy Birthday, Harry!