Platform nine and three quarters was just as Harry remembered, he quickly boarded the train in order to avoid what few crowds had appeared this early and searched the compartments for one that was empty. Eventually he found Luna reading her father's magazine, she was the only one in her compartment so he asked "Heya Luna, are these seats free?"
Luna beamed and replied "Oh yes, I wasn't expecting anyone to sit with me."
Harry took the window seat across from Luna and gazed out of the window, he saw a family of redheads appear and figured it must be the Weasleys. They only just got on the train when the doors shut and the whistle blew, as the train rolled out of the station Harry watched the parents enviously as they waved and were left behind.
Shortly into the journey the compartment door was opened by a small red headed girl, Harry didn't recognise her and assumed she was a first year. Judging by her hair she was the sister Ron had sometimes mentioned, back when they had been friends.
"Hi Luna, could I sit here since everywhere else is full…"
"Of course, it's just me and Harry"
"Harry?" The girl asked confused, she glanced around the compartment and Harry chuckled when her eyes glanced right over him, he realised he hadn't dispelled his mild notice-not. He looked at Luna and assumed the girl had only noticed him because he had drawn attention to himself.
"Hello" Harry said, waving his hand and subtly dispelling his charm.
"Oh, hello, I didn't see you there, I'm Ginny Weasley." Ginny said shyly, sitting down beside Luna.
Harry knew she was expecting him to provide his surname too but he was weary of revealing his full identity, considering how the other students had reacted last year he wanted some time to be treated normally. Instead he nodded and withdrew his charms book for the year and looked at each of the charms they would be learning.
Ginny dismissed his rudeness and began talking to Luna excitedly about Hogwarts. Some time into the journey Harry became aware of Luna calling his name, he put down his book and looked at her expectantly.
"Ginny wanted to know what we would be learning as first years." Luna explained patiently.
"Depends on the subject, I found potions is mostly practical since Professor Snape believes you should be doing the theory in your own time. Astrology however is almost entirely theory based for the beginning half of the year then after half term you swap to practical, Transfiguration and Charms is a mix of both and history of magic is taught entirely with lectures."
"What about defence?" Ginny asked curiously
"I wasn't allowed to take defence in my first year and I would assume you won't be allowed either."
"Oh, that's a shame, I was looking forward to learning how to capture the Caerbannog Lepus." Luna said, looking very disappointed.
"Doesn't Lepus mean rabbit?" Harry asked, unsure of his latin translation
"It does" Luna nodded and went back to reading the Quibbler.
Harry glanced at Ginny and saw she was holding back laughter, Harry shook his head at the odd behaviour and decided to hide behind his book again.
The train ride was otherwise uneventful and soon they had arrived at Hogsmeade, when Ginny tried to open the door of their compartment she found it had been locked, Harry looked at it and immediately saw the magic of Dobby. He reached out with his magic and quickly broke the elf's magic, he then ushered the girls through and when they waited for him he said "You two go on, I'll see you in the great hall for your sorting."
Once they were gone Harry called for Dobby, instantly the elf appeared making Harry wonder if he had been there the entire time.
"What can Dobby be doing for great master Harry Potter?" Dobby asked uncertainty, he also refused to look Harry in the eye.
"The first thing you can do is stop trying to keep me from Hogwarts, I can easily break your magic and you're only wasting our time. I'm here now and I'm not leaving, but if you still want to protect me how about alerting me whenever this danger appears so I can be prepared? That way I'm safe and you're not wasting your time trying to stop me?"
Dobby looked hesitant but finally nodded and miserably said "Dobby supposes he could do so…"
Harry breathed out a sigh of relief, he had already gotten tired of tearing down the elf's magic.
"Brilliant, could you also keep an eye on Luna and Ginny for me? I don't want them to be hurt either."
The elf nodded solemnly, revived to have sorted out the issues with Dobby Harry took a moment to properly look at the elf. When he had last seen him, Dobby's ears had been droopy while his skin had looked like grey paper.
Now however the elf seemed healthier, his ears stuck up more and were springier, his skin had gained a light orange colouration and his ribs were less pronounced. It was obvious that the elf had gained some much needed weight and he carried himself with more confidence.
The most significant change that Harry noted was that the elf had grown over a foot taller, the elf could now pass as a small first year. When he looked at the elf with his mage sight and looked past the magical auras he found Dobby's body was now saturated with magic, looking closely he saw that the magic was being carried along the elf's veins from a pool of magic right where the heart would be.
Harry assumed since the elf did not need to eat or drink his body used magic for sustenance, with the increase in magic the elf's body grew healthier. In order to properly use that magic it needed to be pumped around the body, which meant that either elves did not have blood or that the magic was carried by the blood.
He noticed Dobby shuffling nervously under his attention and so dropped his gaze and said "Thank you Dobby, I guess I'll see you around then."
The elf nodded and disappeared silently, Harry quickly gathered his stuff and left the train. Almost all the students had already left the station but there was still enough left for Harry to figure out where to go. Upon finding the carriages Harry wondered what the skeletal horses were, when he Looked they all had a strange grey magic which swirled placidly.
Picking the carriage with only another sole Ravenclaw he settled down for the journey, he guessed the boy was at least a sixth year judging by his size, Harry was planning how he would get the carriages to move without the horses when the boy started speaking.
"No need to guess what house you're in." The boy said "Have you figured out how to get the carriages to move yet?"
"Some sort of conjuration or charm, considering how long these carriages have been used for I would imagine I would need to employ some sort of air spirit or earth elemental."
"Ah, but a movement charm couldn't be applied before being used since the carriages only move at the end of term and Hogsmeade trips and elementals aren't safe around children."
"Dumbledore could enchant the carriages rather than charm them, that way a finite wouldn't work."
"He could, but then it would also take much longer to reapply the enchantment, which seems fairly redundant if the carriages aren't used that much. I don't know all that much about conjuring or charms to be honest, my main area of knowledge is potions, I wonder if you could make a potion that makes the carriages move?" The boy said charmingly
"Maybe a momentum potion that could make the carriage move but that wouldn't let the carriage stop or wait, you would need a way to apply the potion when needed. I suppose a rune scheme could then detect people sitting in the carriage and apply the potion when someone sits down…"
"I'll tell you what, I'll invent a potion that can move things as needed, I'm Chester Davies by the way, no need to ask who you are."
Before Harry could think of anything else to say the carriage rounded a bend and the entrance hall came into view, he quickly left the carriage and followed the students into the great hall. He sat down in his normal spot and pulled out his potions book, he had already read it over but after his conversations first with Luna and Ginny and then with Chester he wanted some quiet time.
Unfortunately the hall was filled with excited children who hadn't seen each other for weeks, it was a miracle they could hear each other over the din Harry thought. Finally after what felt like a lifetime the first years arrived and got sorted, Luna got sorted into Ravenclaw while Ginny joined her brothers in Gryffindor.
Soon the feast was over and Harry was allowed to leave, he took some of the shortcuts and was one of the first to reach the common room, as such he had to answer the riddle.
"A natural state, I'm sought by all.
Go without me, and you shall fall.
You do me when you spend,
and use me when you eat to no end."
'A natural state sought by all, that could be peace. Go without and you shall fall, I guess that means you will die, could be air or food… I don't know what it is when spent. Use me when you eat to no end… What do you use when eating? Well you die if you eat to no end, that's why people say you need to have a balanced diet… actually don't shops call their money their 'balance' and without balance you fall over… a natural state of being is balanced!'
"The answer is balance" Harry said, confident that he had found the answer.
The other Ravenclaws began discussing his answer but Harry had already scurried through the portrait hole and up to his dorm.
When Harry awoke the next morning he took a moment to drink in the magical atmosphere of Hogwarts, he tentatively activated his mage sight and was immediately blinded by the intensity of the magic. His sight had become strong enough to work even through his closed eyelids which meant that even when he shut his eyes he was still overloaded with information.
Eventually he grew used to the amount of magic and was able to see more than just the blinding white of Hogwarts magic, once he had achieved this he got up and began preparing for the day ahead.
Down in the common room he ran into Luna, who seemed to have been waiting for him. Together they went down to the great hall in silence, during their breakfast Flitwick arrived and began handing out the time tables. Once he received his, Harry noticed that every Wednesday he had a lesson marked tutor, it seemed his alchemy lessons would be continuing.
Seeing potions as the first lesson of the day Harry made his way down to the dungeons after making sure Luna knew where to go for her Charms lesson, seeing as the Slytherin's were beginning to line up outside Harry assumed he shared this class with them for the year. This changed very little in terms of lesson structure, although Snape no longer started their lessons by quizzing Harry on his potions knowledge.
Once the lesson ended Snape called out "Potter, a word." Harry was unsure of why he was being kept behind, perhaps Snape had moved their contest of knowledge to after the lesson for the benefit of the other students. When Harry made eye contact with Snape he felt the professor's magic brush against his mind, he quickly enforced his occlumency shield and forced Snape's magic away.
"Impressive, when I sent you that book for Christmas I doubted you would be able to learn how to form even a simple barrier. Tell me, how did you manage to throw me from your mind?"
"I felt your magic and forced it away."
Snape nodded, seemingly impressed with Harry's skill "Unorthodox, I personally prefer to trap a legilimencer within my mind, I understand the Headmaster forces a legilimencer to relive their worst fears. The Dark Lord tried to invade his mind once, that was also the only time he tried. Come back tomorrow after dinner and I'll help you develop your shields so that you can thwart an attack without realising. You may go."
Harry knocked on Snape's door tentatively, after his third knock the door swung open to reveal Snape behind his desk.
"You are here to learn the subtle art of occlumency, should you prove successful then I shall teach you the more obtuse art of magic. Which some may mistakenly call dark. Your current shields are passable, in order to improve your shields I will repeatedly attempt to penetrate them. Prepare yourself!"
Snape quickly drew his wand and made a tapping motion, instantly Harry felt the professor's magic crash against his own. He saw memories begin to flicker across his mind and Harry quickly raised his shields, it kept Snape's magic at bay for a moment before shattering.
Reaching out with his magic he tried to force Snape's magic away, at first it seemed he would win but then the full weight of Snape's magic slammed into him, once more he began reliving memories before Snape withdrew and Harry found himself back in Snape's office.
"That was an acceptable first try, restraining my magic was surprising but unfortunately you proved too weak to keep it going. Once you regain your energy we will try again, however this time try to shape your magic into a shield to withstand or redirect my magic."
It was late at night before Harry finally left the man's office, he had developed a massive headache but he could now withstand Snape for twice as long and had some input over what memories were seen. They had arranged to meet twice a week and Harry hoped soon he would be strong enough to either completely stop Snape or make fake memories, something which Snape had mentioned as a possible idea, an idea which Harry had decided to learn.
Bonus points if you know which rabbit Luna is referencing in the beginning.