Harry was sat in the shed going over his mental checklist for Hogwarts. He had already sent Hedwig off an hour ago and was now stalling. In a way he didn't want to go back. He didn't like the glamour, or having bad eyesight, and he definitely didn't like his hair. The brown/black somehow made it look messier and it was back to being short, something he hadn't expected. The blood glamour seemed to work differently to a normal glamour. To Harry it felt similar to polyjuice, like it changed you instead of covering you. He also noticed the difference in his body; he hadn't thought much on it until he was put back, but his true appearance had filled out a little more after a summer of good food, and two weeks of Kreacher constantly trying to feed him potions. He wasn't completely healthy but he would get there. Then there were the clothes. He had bought new ones for him to be seen in at school but he still didn't like them. They were muggle and from a charity shop but at least they fit and weren't completely threadbare. He had also asked Kreacher to get him a massive crate of chocolate, when Kreacher had popped back he expected to see a honeydukes' yearly supply crate. What he saw was a small ebony box inlaid with mother of pearl to create a beautiful floral design. When he asked Kreacher he was told it was the yearly supply from 'confiserie des dieux,' a French chocolatier his mistress said was the best. Hadrian was sure he didn't want to know how much that cost. He had expanded an inside pocket on each of his robes to hold at least six large bars of chocolate. If the dementors were going to be around this year he would not go anywhere without it.
He cast a tempus and sighed at the time, he really needed to go. He walked to a shadowed corner and pulled the shadows to engulf him. He had been practicing this since he got his animagus form; he had noticed a day or two after that he was overly aware of shadows, and where a phoenix can disappear in a flash of light dark phoenix's can travel through shadow. It felt slightly uncomfortable but it was far better than any other magical transportation. stepping through he found himself on the muggle side of kings cross. He made his way to the platform and quickly found Neville sitting in a compartment by himself, so Harry joined him. It wasn't long before Ron and Hermione found him, and began talking about their holidays, ones he had no doubt were funded by his vaults. During his last meeting with Goruk he had gone over all the transactions Dumbledore had been making, and found him taking far more than he had any right to. The Weasley's were being paid before he had even met them and the Granger's were given a large sum of money in the summer between first and second year with smaller monthly transactions since then. It took less than five minutes for them to start an argument over Hermione's cat. He just turned to Neville and asked what new plants he got for his greenhouse this summer. The boy looked a little startled at first but soon was talking animatedly about his passion.
They had about an hour left of the journey and Harry was done. He saw that his mask was in perfect condition after Hermione stopped inspecting him and relaxed an hour into the journey but he could feel himself getting snappish towards them. He got up and excused himself to the bathroom and walked towards the back of the train. He was approaching one of the gangways when he heard a very shrill and recognizable voice on the other side. Quickly he slipped into the closest compartment and shut the door. He relaxed as he heard her walk past until a cough sounded from behind him, he turned to see Malfoy and four other Slytherins he believed to be, Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Daphne Greengrass, and Blaise Zabini, all watching him.
"Avoiding your girlfriend Potter?" He grimaced at the use of the word girlfriend, and pointed to the door
"um I'm just going to…" he was cut off as the train screeched to a sudden stop and he was thrown to the floor. He realized what was happening and got to his feet as quickly as he could. with his hydra wand in hand he turned to the door, it was already opening to reveal a dementor. it barely got inside before Harry cast a patronus, and two deer leaped across the compartment. One, a doe, stayed directly in front of him, the other, a stag pushed the dementor away, and came bounding back quickly. He sent them both to go down the rest of the train and drive off any other dementors. Turning back to the compartment he saw five very pale Slytherins and one shaking Zabini. He had clearly been affected the worst. Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a bar of chocolate and held it out to Zabini who just looked at him incredulously.
"It helps with the after effects." He still didn't take it. "Look, I know the kind of shit they can bring up." Blaise glared at him and snapped.
"Oh, poor prince potter has a few bad memories." his voice was dripping with venom and Harry's eyes went cold. He knew Zabini was just lashing out at someone he didn't trust seeing him vulnerable, but Harry hated when people thought he could never know hardship. He dropped the chocolate in Zabini's lap and headed to the door. pausing just before opening it, he spoke.
"I hear my mother begging for my life, and her screams as she dies." With that he left. He knew he shouldn't have said it the second it left his lips. But people seemed so intent on throwing around the title of the boy who lived without thinking about what happened for him to get it.
Casting the interaction out of his mind knowing he couldn't do anything about it, he made his way towards the pull of his magic to where his patronuses were. It led him to an open carriage, one that had no compartments, just a few tables and chairs. A rather large group of first and second years were huddled together with a few prefects lingering around, trying to calm them down. His doe patronus would nuzzle one of their cheeks every now and then, and his stag seemed to be standing guard slowly circling them. As soon as he stepped into the carriage both the deer bounded over to him nudging and nuzzling for attention. This brought the attention of the prefects so he called over to Cedric, who was the Hufflepuff fifth year prefect.
"Diggory, is everyone alright?" the Hufflepuff just blinked at him wide eyed.
"You know my name?" Harry couldn't blame him for that. until now he hasn't interacted with anyone but Weasley and Granger. He still let out a sigh.
"Yes. I do." To his surprise he also knew the other two prefects so he called them over. "Clearwater, Fawley." he gestured for them to come over. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out four chocolate bars and handed two to each girl. "Would you hand some out to each of the younger years? It helps with the after effects." Clearwater looked shocked but nodded and quickly started handing out pieces of chocolate. Fawley raised an eyebrow at him and turned to do the same.
"I'm glad to see one of my future students has a good understanding of dark creatures and their effects." Harry turned, and was not prepared for the wave of grief that washed over him at the sight of Moony looking so young and unharmed. His patronuses sensing his distress came forward blocking Moony from him. He reached up a hand to stroke the stags neck where he stood in front of him and slowly the stag moved aside.
"Are they yours?" he gestured to the patronuses.
"Yes they are." he looked at Moony properly and saw when his professor realized who he was talking to. His eyes had flashed amber for a split second when he recognised his lost cub.
"They're impressive. If you will excuse me I need to have a word with the conductor." he quickly made his way out of the cart and towards the engine. Harry turned to talk to Cedric when a small voice interrupted him, and he turned. It was a second year slytherin and he saw Fawley twitch when she noticed. As if she wanted to pull her away.
"Um… is that your magic?" she pointed at the stag and Harry smiled.
"Yes it is. I call him prongs, and the doe over there is called Soteria." He had found out that that was what his mother called her patronus from one of her journals he had found in her vault. The girl's eyes sparkled and she started to fidget.
"Can I, umm… can I pet them?" Every head turned to them as if this was the question they all had and Harry chuckled.
"I'm sure they would like that." On that cue Soteria went to the cluster of students and laid down in front of them. They all looked to him for confirmation and he nodded. Soon enough there were two deers laid on the floor with a load of children sat near giving them attention.
"Are you alright for them to be out this long? Patronuses, especially corporeal ones, drain magic Quickly, not to mention you have two out, and they have already been out at least ten minutes." Harry could probably hold them like this for another three, maybe four hours by the feel of his magic, but he thought it best not to say that.
"They're keeping the younger years calm, and I can hold them till we get to school. It's not like I will need my magic for something else today. It's just the feast then bed." Harry watched the kids stroking his patronuses and noticed one was shaking badly. He walked over and crouched near him. He noticed the slytherin tie and looked up to see Fawley glaring at him. She really was protective of the slytherin's.
"Did you get any chocolate?" The boy shook his head and Harry pulled out the last bar of chocolate from his pocket. Breaking off a piece he handed it to the boy. "It will help with the shaking." he bit into it and slowly his trembling stopped. Harry moved back to the wall so Fawleys glare didn't burn a hole through his head and stayed there until the train stopped. He walked to the carriages, Cedric staying next to him. Harry, now not being used to not having peripheral vision, tripped on a root and Cedric steadied him.
"You overdid your magic use." he hadn't and he was about to say so when Fawley joined them on his other side.
"I appreciate what you did for the younger students. Children their age shouldn't have had to go through that, and it could have been much worse if you hadn't done something. You didn't have to hold the patronuses either but I…"
"Harry, where have you been!" He took a slow breath and turned to see Weasley and Granger storming towards him. Ron was looking over his shoulder and scowling.
"And what are you doing with a puff and a snake?" Harry was already losing his patience.
"There prefects Ron. I was affected pretty badly by the dementors so I stayed where I was for the rest of the journey. I knew I would see you at the castle. I figured it was fine. Come on, let's get to a carriage."He ignored both of the prefects trying to catch his eye, and led Ron and Hermione to the carriages.