Chapter Six: The Road to Hogwarts
Harry and Sirius left the Leaky Cauldron only a few minutes after they'd arrived. Draco and his parents were heading to Diagon Alley to get some supplies to care for Draco's new familiar and then they would be heading home as well. Lucius extended an invitation for Harry and Sirius to join them for dinner at Malfoy Manor someday soon while Narcissa informed them that she would be taking Draco shopping for his school things on the next coming Monday. She'd be glad to help Harry get his things since Diagon Alley had changed a bit since Sirius had last gone shopping for school supplies. Both invitations were accepted, though it was decided that they would wait to join them for dinner for a few days. Sirius and Harry needed to take care of some things at their new flat and get settled before they ventured out too much.
After saying good-bye to the Malfoy family, Sirius apparated himself, Harry, and Agni to their new flat. It wasn't a huge space, but Harry had his own room and bathroom and Sirius had made sure there was a balcony for them to sit on and enjoy the mornings and evenings. They had both gotten used to spending a few hours in a shaded spot on the isle and Sirius didn't want to give that up completely for the month that they would be there. Sirius enlarged Harry's satchel for him and let him pick which of the two bedrooms he wanted. They weren't furnished yet. None of the flat was, except for the appliances. Sirius wasn't magically strong enough yet to keep all of the household chore spells running and Harry wouldn't be able to perform any underage magic, so they were using muggle appliances. Sirius was planning on renting the place out once he and Harry were done with it. He hoped that by next summer, he'd have a proper home for them ready to use.
They dropped their things into their respective bedrooms and Harry enlarged his trunk so Agni could jump down and curl up on his favorite chair in the library. That way, Agni could take off his collar without worrying about being seen by the muggle neighbors. Once his familiar was settled, Harry rejoined Sirius at the door for the first of many planned shopping trips.
Luckily they weren't out for too long. They went back to Diagon Alley and stopped at Gringotts first. Sirius made a large withdrawal from the Black vault and placed an order for two enchanted wallets, one for himself and one for Harry. It was the easiest way to ensure that they could access any money they might need, both magical and muggle. He did have a limit on how much Harry could withdraw per month, though Harry couldn't imagine that he'd ever need to spend 50 galleons in a month so he wasn't all that worried about the limit.
After that was done, they made their way to a magical furniture store where they spent some time picking out sets for their own rooms, a living room, and a dining room. Neither of them were picky about colors or anything like that, so it didn't take long for them to find what they wanted, though Harry did pay attention to the types of wood used so they could pick ones with the best properties for sleeping and relaxing. He hadn't spent all that time studying wood types to use on his trunk for nothing. Once the furniture was picked out and purchased, it was all shrunken down and put into a small storage chest for easy travel.
They went and got mattresses, bedding sets, curtains and rugs for the bathrooms, and a few other bits and bobs from the partner home essentials shop next door. Harry had hesitantly asked for an enchanted dog bed for Agni and smiled brilliantly when Sirius immediately agreed to buy it. Harry wasn't used to getting what he asked for but Sirius' agreement made him feel much less awkward for asking.
They placed an order for delivery for groceries. It was much easier than muggle shopping. Harry and Sirius had made a list of the things that they wanted, written an address and a time to be delivered at the top, and given the list over to the kind witch who was working the register. She gave them their total, confirmed the address for shipping, and they left after settling the bill. With that, their first shopping trip was complete and they returned to the new flat. Sirius positioned the furniture in Harry's room first and enlarged it for him. Harry made his bed and then went to help Sirius in the other bedroom and then they worked together to get everything else squared away. Sirius did what he could magically, but aside from arranging the furniture, they did everything by hand.
The next day, they spent most of the morning finishing up getting settled in the new flat, and then Sirius took Harry out into muggle London to see the sights and celebrate his birthday. Despite spending his whole life in a muggle home, Harry hadn't gotten the chance to enjoy any muggle entertainment or tourism and Sirius was happy to rectify that. Sirius purchased everything they'd need to have a movie marathon and let Harry pick out a handful of movies. Harry tried to select a wide range of styles but also picked up some titles that he had heard the other students in his muggle primary school mention before. After touring muggle London and having lunch, Sirius and Harry returned to their new home.
"There's someone that I'd like you to meet, Harry," Sirius said as he set the television on the entertainment stand. "Remus is going to come by in a few minutes to drop off your birthday present. He won't stay long, but he'd love to meet you again."
"Moony?" Harry asked.
"That's him."
"I'd like to meet him." Harry smiled. He'd heard the man's name loads of times already from the stories that Sirius had told Harry and Draco. He was eager to meet the man that would have been his pseudo-uncle. "Do you think he'd stay for dinner?"
"I'm sure he would." Sirius instructed Harry to look through the selection of takeout menus they'd grabbed while they were out and pick out what he wanted for dinner. He had already taken care of dessert and Remus had offered to pick it up for him. While Harry ordered the food via telephone, Sirius worked on getting the television set up for them to watch the first of the movies they had picked out.
Remus got there fifteen minutes before dinner, carefully carrying a huge cake decorated with white frosting on the sides. Harry's eyes grew wide at the sight and even wider still when he saw the moving words 'Happy Birthday Harry!' soaring around the cake with a trail of fireworks behind it. Sirius sighed in relief upon seeing Harry's obvious joy at the treat.
While they waited for their food to arrive, Harry sat on the couch with Remus. As Remus introduced himself and explained how he had known James and Lily the same way that Sirius had done when they first met, Agni sniffed at the man's hand and declared him safe with a sneeze and huff before he curled at Harry's feet.
"Sirius has written to me about your projects from Ignis, especially the library compartment of your trunk." Remus said as he took a small package from his pocket and tapped it with his wand to enlarge it. "I know you have some books already, but no library is complete without a few books to read just for fun. I thought you might like to start a non-school related selection as well."
Harry eagerly accepted the much heavier package than he had anticipated, opening the wrapped box and pulling the books out to look them over. Just like the movies he had picked, the books covered a wide range of genres and topics, but they all looked like interesting stories and Harry was eager to have them in his growing collection. He thanked Remus with a smile and hurried to put the package of books in his room. Remus accepted his thanks with a nod and went to help Sirius get the food out of its packaging so they could dish it up and eat.
Remus stayed for the first movie of the evening but left soon after that with a promise to come by again soon. Sirius and Harry resumed their marathon of movies but after two more, they decided to head to bed and keep watching in the morning. Before he fell asleep, Harry quickly pulled out some parchment and jotted a few ideas down about a new project he wanted to start. It was inspired by the last movie they had watched and Harry wanted to see if he could use magic to mimic what the characters had done with technology.
The next few days were filled with more of the same. Harry and Sirius, in between shopping trips, excursions around muggle London, and movie marathons, had to learn to live with each other. They didn't have any problems getting along, but for the first few days, as they got used to having one another around, there was a bit of awkwardness. Both Harry and Sirius had gotten used to being on their own, either by circumstance or by choice, so having each other around presented a bit of a learning curve. A small curve, but a curve nonetheless. Harry had taken over most of the cooking since it had to be done the muggle way, but he knew that any day that he didn't feel like cooking, Sirius would be perfectly happy to order take out. Harry was under no pressure to make a perfect meal.
Shopping for school supplies with Draco turned out to be a rather simple endeavor. While Harry didn't think that he and Draco would ever be exceptionally close, they weren't enemies. They didn't make any plans to sit together on the train, but they did agree to a few study sessions in the library on occasion and, if time allowed, they'd practice their wandless magic together so they didn't lose anything before going back for the summer session next year. Despite Harry and Draco getting on well enough, neither boy was ignorant of the tension that existed between the two adults accompanying them.
It was easy to see that Sirius and Narcissa didn't dislike one another. Harry would even go as far as to say that there was some fondness between them, but that fondness was buried so far beneath the layers of mistrust and anger and disappointment that it might as well not be there at all. The two of them spoke easily with one another and yet Harry couldn't help but notice that certain topics were avoided. Neither of them mentioned their parents, or any other family members. The war and Voldemort were both avoided at all costs. Really, all they talked about was the two young boys with them, a few shared memories from Hogwarts, and the state of the Black family properties that Sirius was looking into as a permanent residence for him and Harry. They discussed a menu for dinner at Malfoy Manor, briefly, and any comment after that was about something Harry or Draco had done or said, or about the lovely weather they were having that day.
Harry could only imagine how stilted the conversation might have been if Lucius had been there too. Though Sirius had never said anything, Harry had a very strong sense that it would be much harder for Sirius to play nice with the man.
As they were getting fitted for robes at Madam Malkin's, Harry and Draco spoke about the projects they wanted to work on during the year. Draco had finished the collar that he'd wanted to make for Nebula and had started on the leash, but he had needed to make a few adjustments to the design. Harry's original plans had included some fire-magic specific concealment runes that Draco didn't need, so he'd had to rework the design slightly. Harry explained the project that had been inspired by the muggle movie he'd watched that first night with Sirius. As they were discussing when they might find the time to work on their current or even new projects, their guardians had gone off and returned with two beautiful owls in cages; one a dark black and the other a snowy white.
"We know you both have your familiars with you, but this way you'll be able to write to us - and each other during the summers." Narcissa explained as she showed her son the black owl she'd selected for him.
"I wrote to Dumbledore on your behalf and you both have permission to bring both your familiars and your owls with you." Sirius said, grinning down at Harry.
"Brilliant." Harry, his hands free thanks to the expansion runes on his crafted bookbag, took the cage that held his new pet and held her carefully in his hands. "Thank you, Padfoot."
"You're very welcome, cub." Sirius replied. He glanced back at the door to Madam Malkin's. "All set here?"
"All set." Harry dug his school supply list from his pocket. "Just the wand left."
"I wish we could have carved our own." Draco said mournfully, pulling his own wand from his pocket. His parents had taken him to get it the day they got back from Ignis, a process that had apparently taken an unusually long amount of time.
"Have to wait a few years for that." Harry agreed. The magic of wand making was a bit more volatile than the other crafting projects so the wand crafting class wasn't offered until the third summer session they'd attend, the one before their fifth year at Hogwarts. It was apparently similar to blood magic in that way. Students could design their own wands and blood runes but they wouldn't be allowed to actually make use of them until Healer Michael deemed their magical cores stable enough for the powerful works that went into both of those practices.
Harry and Sirius bid the Malfoys good bye and made their way to Ollivanders. They entered the old building quietly and Harry took in the wide expanse of thin rectangular boxes that were stacked on overflowing shelves. He closed his eyes for a moment, extending the same magical sense that he used when Crafting and he could feel the flow of magic in the room. Most of it was docile, drifting lazily about as it waited to connect with another, but a few were jumping around, as though they were reaching for someone nearby.
When Harry opened his eyes, his gaze settled on the shop front counter. An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.
"Hello," said Harry awkwardly, glancing up at Sirius. Sirius placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work." Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.
"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course." Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.
"And that's where . . ." Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger. "I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands . . . well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do. . . ." He shook his head and then turned towards Sirius. "Ah, Mister Black. First dogwood, dragon heartstring, 12 inches. Such a shame that one was snapped. I trust your new wand is serving you well."
"Of course." Sirius dutifully pulled his dark oak, 11 inch, dragon heartstring wand from his robes for Ollivander to examine.
"Good, good." Ollivander turned back to Harry. "Well, now — Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"
"Er — well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.
"Hold out your arm. That's it."
He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head.
As he measured, Ollivander explained some of the magic of wandmaking, most of which Harry already knew from his time at Ignis. He listened with half an ear, more interested in feeling the traces of magic that he could sense floating around the room.
Ollivander shooed the magical tape measure away when it tried to measure the distance across Harry's left nostril, and then approached Harry with a carved wooden box which he opened to reveal the wand sitting within. Harry knew before he touched it that this wand wasn't his. The magic of the wand was reaching out to somewhere far beyond Harry.
"Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."
Harry took the wand and waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.
"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —" Harry tried — but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.
"No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."
With every wand that was placed in his hands, Harry could feel that it wasn't a match. The magic was either reaching around him or not moving at all, which made Harry wonder if the intended recipient for that particular wand hadn't been born yet. He waited, trying not to be frustrated with Ollivander fluttering about, until finally he felt a pull on his magic. Ollivander had pulled down what Harry knew would be the last wand he tried.
"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple." Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Sirius whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well . . . how curious . . . how very curious . . ." He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious . . . curious . . ."
"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"
Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare. "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar." Harry swallowed.
"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember. . . . I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter. . . . After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great." Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand, and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop.
Harry was quiet as he and Sirius traveled home. Held the wand case in his hands, wondering what it meant that he now had a wand that was the brother of the wand that killed his parents. His parents who were targets of a madman because of a prophecy that involved Harry. Harry hadn't asked about the prophecy his parents mentioned in their letter to him, too distracted by his school work and Agni and getting to know Sirius, but he hadn't forgotten about it.
He didn't know how to approach the subject with Sirius just yet, too scared that Sirius would scold or yell at him for asking questions. He'd never been allowed to do that before. Even at Ignis he hadn't asked for much and when he did, his questions were directed to Headmaster Scythe. It wasn't worth the trouble just then. He could wait for a while to ask.
They had dinner at Malfoy Manor the next Monday, two weeks before the boys were set to leave for Hogwarts. Just as Harry had predicted, spending time with all three Malfoys was a tense, uncomfortable experience. He was glad for the opportunity to escape out to the Manor's grounds with Draco when they were excused from dinner just after dessert. There was still just enough light left for Draco to show Harry his broom.
"I know we're not allowed to bring them to Hogwarts but I figure every wizard should get a chance to ride a broom on his own before school." Draco explained as he pulled two brooms out from a garden shed that housed enough brooms for three full Quidditch teams - at least according to Draco. "If you'd like to try, that is."
"Show me what to do."
Draco coached Harry through the process of commanding his broom into his hand and then showed him how to mount and grip the broom so he wouldn't fall off. Once Harry was set, he kicked off the ground and soared into the air. Draco followed and, after Harry did a few lazy loops to get acquainted with the broom, they soared across the grounds together. Harry took to flying with the same ease that he had taken to Crafting. It was like he was born to do it. With the knowledge that he wouldn't be allowed to fly outside of lessons while he was at Hogwarts, Harry was even more determined to finish the new project he'd started before he got on the train to school.
Once they landed, Harry showed Draco his notes for his hoverboard project. Draco was initially not very intrigued once he learned that Harry was inspired by a Muggle movie, but he eventually agreed that the idea was fun. If Harry could get it to work. Inspired by the challenge in Draco's tone, Harry set to work on finalizing the runes and enchantments he needed to make his project work with Draco looking over his shoulder.
The last few weeks of summer flew by. Remus stopped by every couple of days to visit and check in on how they were getting along but otherwise, Harry and Sirius were left to their own devices. Harry perused through his school books and worked on his hoverboard project once he finished putting the final touches on his leash for Agni. The days were easy and unhurried, hardly interrupted except for the visits from Remus and the few letters that Harry and Draco exchanged with their new owls which consisted almost entirely of project notes and their continuing speculation of which Hogwarts house Harry would be placed in.
Draco was still certain that he himself would be in Slytherin, there was no way around it, just as he was positive that Harry would be in Gryffindor. When he asked Sirius about it, his godfather only said that he would be placed where he was meant to be and Sirius would be proud either way. There was a sad sort of glint in his eyes when he said that that made Harry feel like there was something he was missing, but there wasn't time to dwell on it.
On the morning of September first, Harry placed all of his school things into the appropriate sections of his trunk, except for one set of school robes that he tucked into his enchanted bag, then shrunk the trunk down and placed it in his bag as well. His snowy owl, named Hedwig, was perched in her cage on the desk in Harry's room and Agni, the concealment and fire-suppressing runes on his collar activated, was sitting by the door, waiting. Harry smoothed his hand down his shirt and tried to ignore the way his stomach rolled anxiously.
"I suppose there's no use in putting it off." Harry said to Agni, smiling when the quickly growing pup's ears perked up at his words. "C'mon boy. Let's get to Hogwarts."
Harry lifted Hedwig's cage, tossed his bag over her shoulder, and joined Sirius in the living room.
"All ready to go?" Sirius asked with a bright smile. Harry could see the pride shining in his dull gray eyes.
"Ready." Harry confirmed.
"Let's go then." Sirius gestured to Hedwig. "You can have her fly there, you know? Then put the cage in your trunk."
"Oh." Harry hadn't thought of that. He went out onto the balcony and opened Hedwig's cage. "I'll meet you at Hogwarts then."
Hedwig hooted softly before she took to the skies. Harry watched her fly off for a moment before he went through the somewhat tedious process of getting his trunk out, enlarging it, putting the cage in, shrinking it, and stashing it away again. He joins Sirius in the living room again and after a quick check on Agni's new leash to make sure it was attached to both his collar and the belt loop on Harry's jeans, Sirius apparated them to King's Cross.
Harry was among the first of the students to arrive and board the Hogwarts Express, a process that was mercifully very simple once Harry had gotten over the slight hesitation he'd felt in moving full force towards a brick wall. Even with Sirius at his side and Agni at his heels, Harry was still nervous that this was some elaborate prank and the actual train would be somewhere else entirely. He wasn't proud of the thought, but after the tales he heard of Sirius and his own admittance that he'd done many things that were especially cruel in the name of having fun, well, Harry could write off the possibility until it happened.
"Let's find you a seat." Sirius ushered Harry onto the train quickly, trying to keep any extra attention off of them. Neither of them were unknown to the wizarding public and Sirius wanted Harry to have as normal an experience as possible.
Harry settled his things in a compartment towards the middle of the train, bypassing a few that some older students were holding for their friends until he found an empty compartment.
"All set? Do you need anything?" Sirius asked, hovering in the door like he wasn't sure what to do with himself now.
"I'm alright." Harry said. "What about you? Are you ready to go back to Ignis?"
"Yes, I've got everything." Sirius said and held up the portkey that would take him back to Vulcan's Isle so he could resume his treatment plan with Healer Michael. "Are you sure you don't mind staying at Hogwarts for Christmas? We can make other plans. It's not a problem."
"No, that's alright." Harry assured. "Next year."
"Alright." Sirius stepped into the compartment and set his hand on Harry's shoulder. "Write to me after you get settled, yeah? I want to know everything."
"I will." Harry promised. He felt Sirius squeeze his shoulder and then let go. "I hope your time with Healer Michael helps."
"I'm sure it will. Have a good year, Harry."
Sirius glanced back at Harry a few times as he left. Harry opened the window of his compartment and leaned out of it, watching as Sirius strode across the platform to the designated departure and arrival section. He saw Sirius look back at the train mournfully before he pulled a braided rope from his robes and, holding it in both hands, disappeared from the platform. Harry slumped back against his seat, still staring out the window as Agni placed his head in his lap.
Stroking his fingers between Agni's ears, Harry sat and waited as other students began to arrive. The Malfoy family apparated in twenty minutes later. Draco and Harry made eye contact and shared a nod of acknowledgement as Draco began to walk towards the train.
As more and more students began to arrive, Harry could feel his anxiety growing and so he pulled out the supplies for his hoverboard and began to work on fine tuning the shape of the board with wandless carving magic. He almost had the board done, he just needed to fine tune the runes and then decide if he wanted to make any cosmetic changes. He had, like he always seemed to do, gotten completely absorbed in his work to the point that he didn't even notice another person appear outside his compartment, stare at him in wonder, and then push inside, until he registered a slightly annoyed voice calling out to him.
"Are you doing wandless magic?" A girl says, obviously surprised by the sight. Harry looks up from his work to see a girl with brown, bushy hair looking at him with wide eyes.
"Er, yes." Harry replies.
"I've read about that!" The girl stepped into the compartment and began talking excitedly. "It's supposed to be incredibly difficult! It's not even offered at Hogwarts until after OWLs and even then, so few people can do it that it's not even a true class! How did you manage to do it? You must be a powerful wizard. Oh, I'm Hermione, by the way. Hermione Granger."
"Harry."
"Nice to meet you."
"You too." Harry cleared his throat. "And, uh, I learned how to do wandless magic at a kind of preparatory school."
"Oh! Like a magical primary school?"
"Sort of."
"I'd have loved to go to something like that, but I didn't even know about magic and Hogwarts until I got my letter. A whole world of magic living right beside us! I couldn't believe it." Hermione perched on the seat across from Harry "Did you grow up knowing about magic?"
"Not exactly." Harry said. "Both of my parents were magical, but I was raised by my muggle aunt and uncle until I went to Ignis."
"Ignis?"
"The preparatory school I attended. Ignis Academy."
"I've never heard of it." Hermione said with the expression of someone who was deeply upset at admitting that there was something she didn't know.
"It's not a well-known school in Britain." Harry said placatingly. "There was only one other Hogwarts student there while I was there."
"Who?"
"That would be me." Draco said smoothly as he stepped into the compartment. Behind him, filling the hall with figures and expressions that reminded Harry of Dudley, were two hulking boys that looked as though someone had just told a joke that they didn't understand. "Draco Malfoy."
"I'm Hermione." She held out her hand to Draco, who blinked at her in surprise. Harry tried to remember if he'd seen any wizards greeting each other with a handshake and couldn't think of a single time. That seemed like such an odd thing to be strictly muggle.
"Pleasure." Draco turned to Harry. "Your last letter said that you finished the leash and you're almost done with the base of the hoverboard. I had a thought about the flight and sticking runes we were talking about."
"Oh, brilliant." Harry reached for Agni's collar and pulled it around so Draco could see the bit of metal attached to the ring on it. "The other end is attached to my jeans. Watch this."
Harry ran his finger along the latch and a thin, shimmering stretch of fabric appeared in his hand. It was nearly transparent but as Draco got closer he could see the rune work stitched into the fabric. Concealment, expansion, and invisibility runes overlapping each other.
"I think I've got it long enough that he'll be able to explore all of Hogwarts and the grounds but not any further. I won't know for sure until we're there." He ran his finger over the metal again and the fabric shimmered out of existence. "Did you get Nebula's to work? How is she?"
"She's sleeping in my library." Draco said with a slight smile before he schooled his expression. "And yes, I've got her collar and leash to work, though she's not fond of wearing it yet."
"Agni too." Harry scratched his familiar on the head.
"You've got your own library?" Hermione asked, her eyes lighting up in excitement. "Here? How?"
"Magic." Draco said flatly, looking at Hermione like one might look at something unpleasant they'd just stepped in. He turned back to Harry and pulled a rolled bit of parchment out of his pocket. "The runes."
"Right." Harry reached into his bag and pulled his project notes out. Draco took a seat on the bench beside him. He turned to the two boys still lingering in the hall outside the compartment.
"Go find Zabini or Greengrass." Draco instructed. "I'll join you later."
The two boys looked as though they wanted to protest but remained silent as they walked away.
"Sorry about them. Our father's instructed us to stay close and I fear they took that instruction a little too literally." Draco said. He glance over at where Hermione was trying to look like she wasn't sneaking glances at the parchment that Draco and Harry were holding. "Are you a muggleborn?"
"How did you know?" Hermione looked slightly embarrassed.
"Decorum." Draco said. He glanced at Harry and seemed to be considering something. Harry had the distinct impression that once again Draco was doing something under orders for his father, but Harry had the feeling that Lucius Malfoy would under no circumstance instruct his son to be nice to a muggleborn girl who happened to be in Harry's train compartment.
"Oh." Hermione seemed to deflate a bit. "I apologize. All of this is so new to me, I suppose I got a bit excited."
"Clearly." Draco rolled his eyes. "A bit of advice, you might want to study up on wizarding etiquette. I can't imagine you'll be sorted into Slytherin but you'll have an easier time in any House if you're not running over our customs with your excitement."
"Thank you." Hermione said softly. "Do you, er, have any recommendations?"
Draco asked Harry for a bit of parchment since he only had his roll of notes with him, which Harry pulled from his notebook without protest. Draco made a list of four books on wizarding custom and tradition and then, after thinking for a moment, added two additional books that looked to be about potion ingredient preparation and a book of everyday charms that aren't normally taught in class. Harry glanced over and saw that both of the books were ones that Draco had told him to get when they went shopping for supplies that summer. The other four were books that Harry had read during his time as Ignis after he'd learned that he was the Heir to a magical Lordship.
Once the list was passed over, Draco turned his attention to Harry's hoverboard notes and the two of them worked together to plan out where each rune would go and how they would overlap with each other. Hermione listened intently as they worked, her eyes tracing over the runes that the boys were tracing with their fingers. Draco stayed until they had finished the plans for the hoverboard and then went off to find the two boys that he had arrived with. Hermione was once again looking at the list of books Draco had given her.
"I might have a copy of those." Harry said to break the silence that had fallen over them. "I can check once we get to Hogwarts."
"Thank you." Hermione said. Harry could tell that she was burning with desire to ask more questions about the hoverboard and Ignis and everything else that she had seen between Harry and Draco, but luckily before she could begin her barrage of questions, the compartment door was opened again and a group of four students squeezed in.
"Sorry, everywhere else was full." The first one said, a dark-skinned boy who introduced himself as Blaise Zabini said.
"Zabini? Isn't that who Draco was looking for?" Hermione said. Blaise looked at her in surprise.
"You've met Malfoy?" He asked.
"Yes. He gave me a list of books to read." Hermione waved the parchment in her hand around.
Blaise hummed as he looked over the list, glancing between it, Hermione, and Harry in obvious confusion. When his eyes met Harry's, Harry shrugged. He truthfully didn't have any idea why Draco had done what he did for Hermione. Maybe he was trying to win points with Harry by proving that he wasn't going to revert to the snobbish, I'm-better-than-everyone boy he'd been last fall at Ignis.
The other three students, a light brunette boy named Anthony, a blonde girl named Hannah, and a brunette girl named Tracey, introduced themselves and took the open seats they found. Harry tucked his project notes and the hoverboard back into his bag and shifted a bit so Agni could crawl under the bench, hiding from the new people around. Once the introductions were finished, including Agni who thumped his tail against the floor in acknowledgement, the tip of his snout poking out between Harry's feet, the conversation began to flow through the compartment, perhaps inevitably focused on Hogwarts and what house they think they'll be in.
As they get closer and closer to Hogwarts, the girls and boys take turns clearing the compartment for the other group to change into their school robes. A prefect with red-hair and wearing the red and gold tie of Gryffindor comes around and instructs them to leave their things on the train, it would be taken up to their dorms while they were at dinner. Harry takes his trunk of his bag and enlarges it to leave in the compartment with the others. Once they get to the train station, Harry lets the others leave the compartment first before he opens the library portion of his trunk and let's Agni jump down to curl up in his enchanted bed.
Once he's off the train, Harry follows the other first years to a large, bellowing, beast of a man directing them down to a line of boats. Harry ends up in a boat with Draco and another blonde boy who is tightly gripping a toad and introduces himself as Neville.
They glide across the lake, watching in stunned awe as the great castle comes into view. The structure is massive, light from within with soft, golden light, a gleaming beacon of hope perched upon the ridge. Harry was so entranced by the sight that he nearly knocked his head on the low rocks they had to go under and would have done so if Draco hadn't grabbed his shoulder and pulled him down.
The students disembark from the boats and then climb what feels like a thousand stairs before they are greeted by a stern looking woman dressed in green robes at the great wooden doors that seem to serve as the main entrance into the castle. Harry listens attentively as the woman introduces herself as Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House, Deputy Headmistress, and Transfiguration teacher. She explains how the House system works and encourages the students to make friends with their house-mates, as your House is your family while you are at Hogwarts. She led them to an antechamber off the Great Hall before she walked through a different door.
"The Sorting will begin in a moment. Prepare yourselves."