Part 1: The Philosopher Stone
Chapter 1
The Astronomy Tower of Hogwarts was the tallest building of the iconic castle. Anyone who had ever been in Hogwarts even once would easily recognize it. But despite this popularity, it was a place only few people knew how to sneak into. Even fewer actually snuck into the tower, for there was nothing to do inside it. But those who did, they know that it was a very quiet place. You wouldn't hear anything there. The usual hubbub of the castle, the voices of students from the Gryffindor tower, the sound of various creatures from the forbidden forest, nothing could be heard once you were inside. Many would find it eerie and uncomfortable.
A young boy was sitting on the roof of that tower that day, who instead appreciated this silence and quietness. He was sitting by the wall, his back towards the wall with his head resting on it. While one leg was completely stretched, the other was bent. One hand was resting on his knee, holding his wand. His wand was lit, reflecting from his glasses. By looks, he looked to be around 14. His hair was sporting a messy and ruffled hairstyle. His emerald green eyes looked unfocused. A lightning shaped scar was just above his right eyebrow, which he was rubbing absent mindedly. He appeared to be thinking something. The way he was sitting, he looked tense and as if he was controlling himself from doing anything impulsive. What could have been made this young kid be like that?
This wasn't some regular wizard, nor were his troubles similar to that of a regular 14-year-old. He was Harry James Potter and he was feeling a plethora of feeling at that moment. Anger, sadness and fear, these were some of the many emotions that were having their way with his body and mind. His mind was thinking how miserable and pathetic his life was. He could count the good moments he had in these past 14 years on his hand. It was as if bad things and Harry Potter had an agreement, that whenever he was feeling happy, something bad had to happen. And something very bad had just happened to him.
Flashback to 1991
His first 11 years of life were spent as a slave with his "family". And it wasn't an exaggeration. If anything, it was downplaying his life until that point. He had been living with his mother's sister, his aunt Petunia, her husband Vernon Dursley and their child Dudley Dursley. Anything unexplainable happened around him, even if it was just a coincidence that Harry was there, he was blamed and then either scolded, or pushed into his cupboard. And if Vernon was in a bad mood, even a beating and then no food for the rest of the day. After that, he was thrown into his bedroom, which was a 5 feet long cupboard covered with spiders. His daily routine was cooking breakfast for the Dursley's, which he himself was never allowed to eat. And never once was he appreciated for making it, always told it was either not spiced properly or not cooked correctly, even though they would eat everything he would cook. Then cleaning the house and bathroom, which he could only use thrice for five minutes in the entire day. Then gardening and watering the plants, before cooking again and then being thrown into the cupboard for the rest of the night. This was during summer. When he had school, he was to do all this after coming from school. Such was his life for as long as he had known. He was so used to this that whenever anything bad happened, he knew that he would be blamed and beaten for it.
This was not everything he suffered through. He was abused by his own family. His uncle regularly took his frustration out on him, beating him and berating him. His cousin had made a game out of beating him, calling it Harry Hunting. Getting bored from playing it himself, he started involving his friends as well. He hadn't forgotten how many hungry, painful nights he had spent in that cupboard. He still vividly remembered the suicide attempt he had made at the age of 10, when he had given up on his life and just wanted to end his life. Death had seemed a far better and painless option for him. For he could have at least joined his parents, whom he was made to believe were drunk, jobless and worthless people, who had died in a car accident, who didn't care for him, who left him as a burden on his aunt.
He was reminded of it every moment of his life and he wanted to end it. But as his luck would have it, he was caught by his neighbor. The only good thing, if you can call it a good thing, Harry didn't know what to call it, was that the neighbor just scolded him in the thought that Harry hadn't known what he was doing. She hadn't told his aunt and uncle. He could only imagine what sort of condition he would have been at the end of the beating he would have gotten if that news had reached uncle Vernon. Surprisingly no matter how bad of a beating he got, no matter how much pain he was feeling the night before, the next morning he would not feel the pain. He never understood why was that. He still didn't.
His mind then turned to his life altering 11th birthday. The arrival of the letter that changed his life. Whether it changed it for better or worse was something Harry still thought every day. When collecting the letters his uncle would have received, he saw one with his name on it. He hid it inside his clothes instantly, knowing that if his uncle found it, he would never see it again. He might even be beaten for it. Why would someone even send him a letter?
After he was locked into the cupboard for the night, Harry opened the letter. The contents had shocked him. It was a letter from some school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The letter was sent by its deputy headmistress, whose name was apparently Minerva McGonagall. The letter said that he was apparently a wizard and thus was selected for this school. It also said that should he choose to accept his seat at Hogwarts, he would need to send his reply before September 1st. But how could he send a reply when there was no address? Even if he somehow found out the address, how would he even send them a letter? What if all this was just a prank by his cousin? Did this Hogwarts School truly exist? Was he truly a wizard, if something like that even existed? He decided to look at the attached letters and then decide on what to do. The attached 2 letters were about the things he would need for his supposed first year. The name of books, the stuff required for classes, like wand and potions tools were listed in those letters.
Wands? What were wands? And what would he do with a wand? Do magic? His relatives had always drilled into him that magic was a farce and didn't exist. At the end was a line stating only owls, rats and cats were allowed as pets. He had seen many people have cats as pets, but never rats and owls. Did anyone even have them as pets? While it all seemed ridiculous and fake to Harry, there was no way that this was a prank by the Dursleys. They didn't have this much brain for them to think this through for a prank on him. Nor make it this detailed. It felt a tiny bit believable to him.
Deciding to trust that this Hogwarts did exist and that he was a wizard, Harry thought how he could be magical. Reflecting on his memories, he thought that all the unexplainable things he had been punished for could have been due to magic. What else could explain his hair growing overnight after being cut by Petunia or him appearing on the roof when running from Dudley? But the biggest proof for him was how the pain from his beatings had always decreased much faster for him that the other kids he had seen getting injured. But what use was him being accepted? He would never be able to go to this Hogwarts. Uncle Dursley would never pay for it. Accepting it as his bad fate striking again, Harry went back to sleep. Dreaming of being with his parents in a house full of happiness and joy. A dream he knew would never come true. Such was his luck and life.
It was the next day when he was surprised once again. He was doing gardening in the backyard when an owl came and landed in front of him. A letter was attached to its leg, which the owl held out towards him. He looked around, making sure no was watching him. Then carefully and slowly, Harry took the letter from the owl's leg. He then quickly snuck into one of the spots he had found earlier and thought was good for hiding from Dudley. He then opened the letter.
It was a letter addressed to him from a place called Gringotts. It was written by someone named Lord Ragnok, who apparently was the director of Gringotts. The letter said,
Mr. Harry James Potter,
I am Lord Ragnok, Director of the Gringotts wizarding bank. Yesterday was your 11th birthday, a very monumental day for any wizard. As of yesterday, you have become eligible to access your trust vault. If you want to come to Gringotts right now, please take the enclosed small key and say "Ragnok, director of Gringotts". This key is a special item that will bring you to Gringotts. Please come as soon as possible.
Lord Ragnok,
Director of Gringotts
Harry was intrigued by this letter. Should he do as the letter said? Considering all chores were done and aunt Petunia was watching the T.V. inside, now was a good time to try. If it worked, he could escape this torture. Anything would be better than what he was going through there. It was also be a test to see if magic truly existed or not. If it did, then yesterday's letter must have been true as well. Deciding to check if magic was real, he said the phrase. He felt a tug at his stomach and closed his eyes. He felt the ground beneath his feet disappear and felt as if he was levitating for a moment. When he felt ground on his feet again, he opened his eyes. In front of him was a short humanoid being, who had long fingers and ears. His skin had a similar color to his, but looked thicker. Perhaps this was a goblin. The goblin said, "Mr. Potter. Welcome to Gringotts. I am Griphook and I am the goblin that has been assigned to you. Please follow me. The director wishes to meet you." Harry followed the goblin. His face clearly showed the shock. He was still coming to terms to the fact that magic truly existed. That he was a wizard. He was way out of his comfort zone right now. It was making him feel very uncomfortable. But he knew that this was a chance to escape from Dursleys. And he had to use it to the fullest.
