Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter, but I've had this idea in mind ever since I learnt about Uagadou and thought it would be a great place for Harry to be.
-8-
The Years at Uagadou.
By TimeTraveller-1900.
-8-
Uagadou was one of the oldest, largest and most mysterious schools of magic in the whole world. Visitors to the school would describe the school as an edifice carved into the mountainous rock of the Mountains of the Misty Moon in Africa, and because it was shrouded in thick mist, those visitors would say the school was floating in mid-air.
Unlike Hogwarts, the students of Uagadou arrived through a network of portals similar to the floo network in Britain, but with these, you merely stepped through them and you arrived instantaneously without any ill effects. The upper years arrived first before the new students; the Upper years took their place in the Great Cavern, while outside the first years arrived next.
As he stepped through the portal with his luggage, Harry blinked as he took in the surroundings. It was evening, and the sun was starting to set, casting amazing hues in the sky. As he stood in his patterned Uagadou robe, Harry looked around at the other first years. For better or for worse, he would be spending the next 7 years of his life with these students, and truthfully he was hoping to make some friends for the first time in his life after not being able to make any when he had been living with the Dursleys.
Harry had been living in Africa for the last month, learning all he could about this strange new world he was now a part of. That was vital, as he wanted to do well here.
-8-
Harry was 7 years old when he first discovered the existence of the magical world. As he had grown older, he saw just how different he was compared to the Dursleys. Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley never failed to show him he was unwanted and if they had his way, he would be living in a foster home; sometimes he had debated what had stopped them from doing so, and he was torn between their desire to get rid of him and getting one over on his parents.
Growing up the way he had, Harry had come to believe the stories about how his parents were drunks, and criminals, and he had been lumbered with them. But he had no desire to let it define his life; he knew if it were up to them, he would be out on the streets and they'd just simply forget he existed. He had been working on plans to leave the Dursleys as soon as he was old enough to fend for himself, but he was curious about what had stopped him from actually leaving Number 4 in the first place.
As he had grown up, the abuse he'd gone through because of the Dursleys had only grown and started to get out of control. When he turned 6, Harry started to truly become terrified he was going to die, and so he spent a lot of his time avoiding the Dursleys as best he could. It wasn't until the end of the year, they were planning to leave for a holiday.
Harry had been delighted and he spent months planning the escape, knowing only too well they would just leave him with old Mrs Figg, the mad cat lady the Dursleys sent him to when they left for one of Dudley's birthdays and when they went on holidays. Harry normally hated the place, but that time he was truly looking forward to it. Mrs Figg never really bothered taking precautions, and she wasn't as security-aware or conscious - he never knew which - like the Dursleys were.
But when the time came and he tried stealing money, he discovered the truth. He found letters from Figg to Dumbledore, and vice versa and enough proof of the magical world's existence for him to see it wasn't a dream. Magic was real. From the letters he discovered there were spells letting Dumbledore know precisely where he was, even about his health and how they had wiped his memories whenever he had managed to make it out.
The letters made it clear Dumbledore had plans for him and those plans made it clear he needed to be with the Dursleys to humble him. When he had seen that very wording, Harry had almost grabbed a knife and stabbed Figg there and then when he discovered she not only knew of the abuse, but she didn't truly care as long as she got paid. Her only job was to make sure he lived and was watched, although it was a badly thought-out plan since anyone could have come and killed him.
Harry had needed to wait for a few years before he met Hagrid. When he had gotten his Hogwarts letter, Harry had taken it back to his cupboard and he had written an affirmative. He had waited for a whole day before more letters turned up. Soon the Dursleys discovered what was happening, and Vernon took the family on a mad dash through the country before they stopped off at an abandoned house on a small…island (he was being too generous with the description) before Hagrid turned up.
Harry hadn't liked the enormous oaf, and how he had praised Dumbledore for virtually everything, and he couldn't help but think if the magical world had wanted to hide, they should not have sent Hagrid in the first place. Hagrid was confused when Harry had told him that he had already written a confirmation letter and wanted to know why it was necessary for a school to send millions to a prospective student in the first place, but Hagrid had offered some flimsy excuses. He had clearly expected something different.
Hagrid had been useless as a guide. He had rushed the entire visit to Diagon Alley. It was all, "I'm no sure I'm tha' right person ta tell ya, 'Arry," and "y'll find out soon, Arry."
Just because he was a Dumbledore lackey, Harry had assumed he could ask him some basic things about the magical world, but by the end of his time with Hagrid, Harry had had enough. He had already planned to go back to Gringotts and ask the goblins about his family, and discover what Dumbledore had been doing and if there were options to getting away from him.
To his delight, there were options. He could simply change his name, but the Potter estate would remain his. Discovering his estate was something that really made him furious, especially when it turned out Dumbledore had conspired with a particularly crooked goblin to do his own dirty work and get some money and artefacts from the family.
If he'd been angry, then the goblins were incandescent with rage, fortunately, they redeemed themselves, and Harry had a front-row seat to the execution of the crooked goblin. Harry changed his name, picking out the name Peverell who were an older family line, and he had left Hogwarts and planned to transfer to a different school.
But where should he go?
But then he had a brainwave, why not give the magical world a touch of reality? Using the goblins' pensieves, Harry was able to collect his memories and wrote a short book filled with pictures of the abuse he had suffered. With an army of solicitors and lawyers at his disposal, Harry totally destroyed the Harry Potter franchise and released the book, which told the magical world in no uncertain terms the storybooks and toys were complete lies, and he released word of how he had been abused his entire childhood.
In the chaos, Harry Peverell disappeared.
For a month, he had studied the different magical schools and he had chosen the school of Uagadou in Uganda, Africa, for its focus on some of the more arcane forms of magic, but primarily because of their wandless magic. Harry had spent enough time in the magical world by that point to see wizards and witches were pretty useless without their wands. If someone got lucky and knocked his wand out of his hand, then he would be as hopeless as he had been with the Dursleys.
Harry never, ever wanted to be hopeless again. He wanted to become a powerful wizard without being anywhere near someone as evil as Albus Dumbledore.
And now, here he was. He had spent some time in Africa, exploring it and picking up on the culture thanks to the tutors he'd hired to help him get over his ignorance.
-8-
"You're Harry Potter, aren't you?"
Harry turned and smiled at the girl and the boy standing next to him. They were both at around his height, their skin as dark as chocolate. The girl wore her hair in braids, entwined with jewels while wearing golden earrings while wearing a gold necklace.
"I was, then I changed my name to get away from the chaos," Harry smiled. "Nice to meet you," he held out his hand.
The boy shook his hand first. "Addo," he introduced himself.
The girl was next. "Adeola," she said. "We didn't know you would come here," she added.
"Well, Uagadou is one of the best schools of magic in the world, and I was attracted to it," Harry didn't bother mentioning he had been tempted by Ilvermorny and Castelobruxo. "What about you?"
"Our family has been attending this school for centuries," Addo said proudly, looking around at the finely carved stone statues. Harry did the same, noticing they were extremely well carved and guessed they had been done by a spell. There were statues of magical creatures battling against former alumni of the school.
Adeola tilted her head, the light catching the colour of her skin and making it gleam. "We read the book, Harry," she said quietly. "I'm sorry you went through all of that."
"Thanks," Harry replied with a gentle smile. "I only released that book and the note at the end saying I would never forgive them for their stupidity, and I was making a new life for myself without their meddling."
"Good idea," Adeola nodded in approval, though her eyes were still shining with sorrow.
"Have you spoken to anyone else here, yet?" Addo asked to change the subject.
"No, not really. We've only just arrived after all, and I was too busy looking around to do it," Harry replied truthfully.
"Well, luckily for you, we know quite a few people!" Adeola chirped with a grin, and she took Harry's hand and led the bewildered former Potter around the room. There was an eclectic mix of people here in Uagadou; there were kids from Asian countries like India, China, and Korea, and they had come from families who'd emigrated from their countries, and there were a few from Britain, France, and Spain, and on and on it went. There were even a few older students here who had come from schools like Ilvermorny.
Harry made a mental note to speak to them as soon as he could. Addo and Adeola knew quite a number of the students, and while some of them were friendly, there were a few that gave him really bad vibes. Fortunately, Addo and Adeola warned him of some of them and kept him away from him, but Harry made a note to learn as much as he could and prepare himself in case they came after him.
By the time he had met a few more of Adeola's friends, the teacher came in and smiled at the chattering students who were getting to know each other, as was encouraged. They were going to be working and living together for a year and would be here for a long time, so they would need to get to learn how to live and work together.
"We're waiting for you," he said in his smooth voice.
Following the other students, and keeping close to Adeola and Addo, Harry walked into the Great Hall.
Well, Great Hall was a poor name for the place. They and the older students and the teachers, who were sitting on a platform were in a vast underground cavern. The ceiling was tall, lined with stalagmites while a magical projection of the outside savannah was giving the room its greatest light source, which seemed incongruous next to the enormous statues of numerous witches and wizards who had attended the school, and enormous paintings, some of them in the style of Arab and Egyptian cultures. Around the room were circular tables where the older students were seated and ready to begin eating.
The Headmaster stood and waved his hands for silence, but Harry felt the slight magical wave.
"Welcome to Uagadou, First Years," he said smoothly, a welcoming smile on his face. "For our returning students, welcome back. I hope you have had a wonderful holiday and rested yourselves because the real work will begin; for the first years, you will only just be starting to master the arts of magic. For our returning upper years, you will be discovering a higher understanding."
The Headmaster took a deep thoughtful breath. "I will call your names on the register, to make sure you are here," he said to the first years, and a scroll appeared in his hands.
For the next half an hour, he began reading off the names and the first years went to their new seats, going virtually wherever they liked, as the tables were enormous. When the Headmaster called the name of a student who'd transferred from other schools, the Headmaster would make sure they would stay with their year but would be given a mix of the different materials.
When Harry's name was called, some of the students recognised him for who he was, but he ignored them and joined Addo and Adeola.
It was the start of his time at Uagadou.