Chapter 1: Where it all began
There lives a 10-year-old boy in the cupboard found underneath a staircase of the Dursley household. Harry is what they said to be the name of this neglected boy, yet they never called him that. 'Freak', 'Brat', 'Boy', the list of names they call him could go on and on, but never Harry. Strangely enough, Harry never felt compelled to correct them.
For the whole decade of his neglected life, Harry never felt loved nor did he yearn for it. All his attempts of getting someone to love him had only left him with a bleeding heart, disappointment, and resentment. Harry stopped hoping that someone would cherish him for who he is, and definitely stopped hoping that someone will come to rescue him from the abuse of life. He grew to be mature, and independent for any child at his age after learning the harsh truth of reality in his early childhood. Surviving is Harry's main priority in his life, something no child should yet think of– and Harry is willing to do anything to survive.
Except, his dull life was shaken up when Harry received a peculiar letter. Just the sight of it made the Dursleys vexed, they went to so many lengths just to make sure Harry remains unaware of the contents of the unknown letter. Seeing how greatly unnerved the Dursleys are by the letters, that kept coming in, amused Harry– it didn't take long before his amusement turned into irritation.
On the day of his 11th birthday, Harry finally knows what was the big deal with the letter. It was storming that night, but Harry pays no mind as he sings himself Happy Birthday alone in the dark. Suddenly a hairy giant, who introduced himself as Hagrid, busted down the door of the vacation house the Dursleys had rented. What followed after that had been chaos, Harry absolutely loved it.
After putting the Dursleys down to their places, Hagrid gave Harry a familiar letter. It was a letter of admission to Hogwarts, a magical school for wizards and witches just like Harry. Harry was thrilled at the prospect of learning magic, and the fact that magic is real!
On a later date, Hagrid picked up Harry from the Dursley household to assist him in buying his school materials. To say the least, Harry was bouncing from one place to another, extremely curious about the wizarding community and the things that were new to him. Except his joy was cut off when every wizard and witch who saw his scar came to pester him. Harry, who wasn't used to all the attention and being hailed for reasons he does not know, was creeped out by their behaviors and immediately closed off.
Hagrid informed him why the others acted that way after seeing his scar, needless to say, Harry was not amused. While he was grateful for the truth and ecstatic when learning more about his parents– he didn't like the implications it brought nor did he like the heavy burden that comes with it. During the whole trip, Harry would always brush his fringe to make sure his scar was covered from the public's eyes.
On the day Harry left the Dursley household for his long trip to Hogwarts, he encountered a family of redheads. The interaction between the family members made Harry's yearning for a family return– he quickly stomped it away. When he found an empty compartment on the train he decides on pulling down the blinds, he does not need to see other families dropping off their children and giving their farewells to each other.
To Harry's surprise, a familiar redhead knocks on his compartment door while on the way to Hogwarts, a little odd and loud but the redhead is friendly. He introduced himself as Ron Weasley, Harry immediately took a liking to his new friend. While the two boys were having fun with the food Harry bought from the food trolley, a girl with bushy hair busts into their compartment. Harry's first impression of the girl, Hermione, wasn't the greatest as he found her to be rude and intrusive at first. However, Harry did see the talent Hermione possesses and applauded the girl's knowledge of magic despite being a 1st-year student like him and Ron.
They arrived after hours of waiting, and what greeted Harry was astounding. Hogwarts is just simply beautiful and amazing, everything about it screams magic. For once, Harry felt like a child taken on a field trip that he had never gotten a chance to. His awe was cut off when all eyes focused on him when he was called for the sorting, he did not like the attention one bit.
The hat had wanted to put Harry in Slytherin, but from the knowledge he had of the house and his encounter with Malfoy, he would rather be in Gryffindor. He may be naive about the wizarding world, but he is not a fool to not notice the expectations. Getting placed in the house of snakes would mean trouble, he does not like the thought of being targeted just because he let down everyone's expectations. The hat granted his wish, and the house of lions cheered for their new cub.
Harry's experience in Hogwarts was interesting, to say the least. He became close friends with Ron and Hermione over time and became an inseparable trio, while it wasn't always sunshine and rainbows for them Harry is just glad to finally have friends. The encounters with the Snakes and Snape were his least favorite experience in Hogwarts, he is not one to judge a book by its cover but the blatant disrespect they throw at him was not something he appreciated.
Then there's Professor Quirrell, their DADA teacher who Harry couldn't help but feel odd to be around. His weird turban teacher would stutter a lot while teaching, irritating many of the students because of how incomprehensible his explanations are. But when Harry would encounter his teacher or talk to him alone the stuttering disappears, as if it was all faked. There's also the unknown throbbing pain in his scar and the feeling of hollowness whenever Harry is around Professor Quirrell. Harry chose to avoid Quirrell outside of classes and ignored the aching feelings he gets around him.
Besides meeting new and strange people, numerous events happened that changed Harry's life. He got into the quidditch team by accident when trying to get back Neville's ball from Malfoy. Apparently the stunt that he made during flying lessons was spectacular that it caught the eyes of his House's Head. Afterward, Harry, Ron, and Hermione faced a troll on Halloween which made their bonds stronger. It was a complete disaster and made them lose house points, but despite this, the trio would forever cherish this memory.
Christmas arrived, and many of the students chose to go back home for the break. Harry remained in Hogwarts, never does he want to spend his break with the Dursleys or even return there ever again. Ron and Hermione decided to stay behind in Hogwarts too, wanting to accompany Harry for Christmas, which Harry greatly appreciated. Harry's first-ever Christmas celebration had been extremely fun and warm, it wasn't extravagant like how he usually knows but it wasn't lonely and cold either.
For the first time in his life, Harry received a gift from a friend, from someone. Mrs. Weasley, Ron's mother, had made him a Christmas sweater despite only knowing him from the letters Ron and the Weasley Twins send to her. Ron and Hermione had gifted him different sweets and a hug from each.
Then there's the anonymous sender, who sent him a cloak that turned him invisible. The cloak was odd, it sent shivers down Harry's soul yet he feels it reaching out to him. Ron and Hermione did not feel anything wrong with it, nor did they hear the bell that chimes whenever it was worn. Harry kept the cloak hidden from the others ever since and used it sparingly.
At one time Harry was using the cloak, he stumbled upon an abandoned room where a large mirror was hidden. The Mirror of Erised or Mirror of Desire is what the mirror is called according to the engravings on it. Harry did not get it at first until the image reflected in the mirror showed two people hugging him. Their faces looked exactly the same as the faces of his parents, who he only knew from past pictures and newspapers. Ever since then, Harry would visit the room whenever he can and talked to the people in the mirror despite knowing that they aren't real and it was all his imagination. His nightly visits had been stopped by Albus Dumbledore one night when the headmaster came out of nowhere and told Harry that the mirror would be relocated soon. Dumbledore warned him to not look for the mirror any longer, Harry was upset by this development but only nodded at his headmaster.
For the rest of the remaining school year, the trio had been trying to identify who is going to steal the Philosopher's Stone hidden on the forbidden floor of Hogwarts. They had heard and suspected of the stone being a target of thievery when they saw the news of Gringotts being stolen from. Harry, who was there when the stone was taken from the vault, told his friends his theory of the stone being hidden in the school. Their 'Gryffindorness' won all rationality and made the 11-year-olds become detectives of Hogwarts when they heard of the stone. Harry is flabbergasted that a prized artifact is hidden in a school surrounded by children, and its location was even announced as if Dumbledore was baiting the thief to steal it. He kept his thoughts to himself, who is he to speak for the better judgment of the wise?
Later on before the end of the school year, the trio speculated that it was Snape who wanted to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Harry tried to inform Dumbledore of this theory but he was not taken seriously by the wizened man. His friends did not like the lack of response from Dumbledore and took it as a responsibility to catch the thief instead. The trio had ventured into the forbidden floor, not caring about the dangers they will be facing. Bit by bit they manage to accomplish the tasks together, however, nearing the end of the challenge they had to split apart.
Ron was left behind in the chess room, resting after being attacked by a chess piece, Hermione and Harry did not wish to waste Ron's sacrifice and went ahead. Hermione was the next to be left behind after solving the riddle, Harry continued on all by himself. Once Harry reached the end, what greeted him was not Snape but Quirrell, who housed the Dark Lord Voldemort at the back of his head. The gruesome sight made Harry gape and furious.
Through a familiar mirror, Harry got to acquire the stone first before Voldemort, who seemed to be enraged by this development. Disregarding Voldemort's warning of not touching the boy, Quirrell lunges at Harry in an attempt of stealing the stone. Quirrell and Voldemort were burned, charred, and turned into ashes after getting touched by Harry, who only wanted to defend himself. Harry stared at the ashes in front of him in disbelief and absolute horror, he did not wish to kill.
There was a sound of bells chiming, but Harry could only hear the screams of agony from his former enemy. The room smelled like burnt flesh and the foul smell filled Harry's senses. Harry was snapped out of his trance when Dumbledore arrived and vanished away the ashes of Quirrell and Voldemort. The headmaster asked Harry how he was doing, and Harry lied that he was okay– squashing away the turmoil in his head.
By the end of the school year, the House of Lions won the house cup award. Everyone in Gryffindor cheered and celebrated their victory, everyone but Harry who could still smell the burning flesh in the air. Seeing their friend bothered and down by something, Hermione and Ron tried to console and cheer Harry up, despite not knowing the reason why he was down since Harry was not telling them anything. Harry appreciated his friend's concern, but he will never let them know of the raging disaster storming up in his mind or the truth of what happened that night.
Harry's mood did not improve when they boarded the train to return back to their homes. Harry's mood especially soured at the thought of returning to the Dursley household, that place was no home to Harry. Harry couldn't help but grimace when he saw his fidgeting uncle by the train station, completely freaked out by the sight of other wizards and witches.
"Hurry up ya freak! We're leaving immediately." Harry hears his uncle grouse under his breath and walk away knowing that Harry will be following in his tail. Harry clicked his tongue at his uncle's behavior and simply waved his goodbyes to Ron and Hermione, who were darting their eyes at Harry and his uncle– and looked worried for Harry. Harry gave them a smile for one last time just to reassure them, it didn't look like it worked but Harry couldn't linger anymore as he heard Vernon screaming bloody murder.
The ride back to the Dursley household had been thankfully quiet, Harry is grateful for the silence. However, the neighborhood had been eerily silent and empty, devoid of any life as if it was a ghost town. Harry frowns at this observation but Vernon did not seem to notice anything off. Once they finally arrived at Privet Drive 14, Vernon headed straight inside the house like a puppet in a string. Harry was creeped out by the oddity that was happening.
Out of nowhere thick fog covered the entire neighborhood but the Privet Drive 14. Harry looked around to see if there was anything in the fog but saw nothing, then he hears a bell chime coming from the door. The door of the Dursley household morphed into a black door with a green butterfly on it. Harry took a closer look and saw his name engraved on a metal plate that was attached to the door. He hears a wet squelch coming from the door handle. When Harry glances at the door handle an eyeball, poking out above the silver door handle, greeted him. Harry yelped in shock and jumped away from it, the eyeball followed his movements.
While freaked out by what is happening, Harry couldn't help but be curious about what just happened. However, he hesitated in entering the weird door.
"Go…enter the door and test your worth… Harry Potter" Suddenly a deep rattling voice came out of nowhere.
Harry feels something ominous hiding in the fog, he does not dare to turn around to see the lingering dark figure. Valuing his survival, Harry does what the entity says and opens the door. What greeted Harry was darkness, he bites back his worry and steps into the abyss.
The black door closes, and a bell chime followed.
A/N: Hello to my new readers! I am a new writer who is still learning how to properly write a story so apologies for my grammatical errors and lack of skills. This is my first ever published book and would like to learn many things along the way as I write this book of mine. Critiquing and giving points to improve are very much welcome and appreciated :D