Author's Note: Well, lots of people favorited and followed this story. I didn't have plans to write a second chapter, but I thought I'd give it a try. A guest pointed out inaccuracies in letting the Granger's keep baby Harry, I'll admit I didn't think that part through very well, but let's be fair, this is set in a fantasy world where it's still okay to leave a baby on a doorstep.
Ten years passed peacefully since that terrible Halloween night. Harry and Hermione were as thick as thieves. A phrase which here means they were inseparable, always playing together, always swimming together and just bonding the way one would expect siblings to bond. Harry knew he had been adopted; he knew that his parents died under mysterious circumstances. But, because he was loved, cared for, and was regularly allowed to visit his biological parents' grave with his adopted parents for special occasions (e.g. holidays) he was still a healthy, happy boy.
Hermione was an avid reader, when she and Harry were really little, it was often she who would read bedtime stories to her brother, often more so than their parents. The Granger's were very proud of their little girl for picking up on reading so early in life. She was the first to teach Harry how to read before they even entered first grade.
Yet, the two children often had strange things happen around them. Sometimes, when they were on the playground, Hermione would often jump from the swing at a great height and often seemed to float back to the ground. One time in kindergarten, Harry had somehow caused to change his teacher's wig blue, he had been sent home with a note, but the Granger's laughed.
"How could you change a wig a different color without even touching it? I think the teacher should complain to the manufacturer!" Mrs. Granger had said.
Even odder was Harry felt he could understand snakes that he would encounter when his family went out camping in the Forest of Dean. He told Hermione about this but neither of them ever brought it up with the grown-ups, thinking they just wouldn't understand.
Then one day, a few days shy of Harry's eleventh birthday, he and Hermione were outside playing horseshoes together when they had an unexpected visitor.
"Hello children, are your parents' home?" a squeaky voice asked. Harry and Hermione looked up. There at the edge of their front yard was an incredibly short man with a rather bushy white beard. He was wearing a robe of blue and black and had rather thick glasses.
"Wait here, we'll get them!" announced Harry as he and Hermione ran together to the door. They knocked fervently to get their parents' attention.
"I swear that man wasn't there a minute before, and where is his car?" whispered Hermione.
"Can he even drive being that short?" asked Harry in a hushed tone. That's when the adult Granger's answered the door.
"Alright kids, what's going on?" asked Mr. Granger with a raised eyebrow.
"Somebody came here asking if you were home, and you've always told us we shouldn't talk to strangers," said Hermione pointing at the short man. Mr. Granger looked to where his daughter was pointing. He walked across the yard and approached the man who he now realized was actually shorter than the kids.
"Can I help you?" asked Mr. Granger, as he crossed his arms, he had dealt with salesmen before and people selling raffle tickets, and would always try to be polite in refusing.
"My name is Professor Filius Flitwick, and I come to reveal that your children have the right qualities for my school," the little man replied.
"Oh, your school? I don't seem to recall sending an application for a private institution, and I know my wife wouldn't do that without letting me know," said Mr. Granger with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, their names have been down on the list since birth," Prof. Flitwick replied.
"List? Well, you can come inside and we'll talk about this. I don't know what the Potter's were planning for Harry's future, I mean they died when he was still a baby, but we'll hear you out," said Mr. Granger, who was now curious. Shortly after, the whole family sat together on the couch with little Professor Flitwick facing them. Mrs. Granger offered to make tea which the little man gladly accepted. Then Mr. Granger realized that their new guest might have difficulty reaching the rather large chair that was now facing the couch that the children were sitting upon. He thought about getting one of the kiddie chairs from the basement they had used when the kids were five when suddenly, old Professor Flitwick somehow seemed to float onto the large chair.
"Sorry for my little demonstration, but that will all make sense momentarily. Mrs. Granger came back in.
"Well, I've got the kettle on, might be a few minutes-" she stopped when she saw the strange little man now sitting in her cushioned chair. She desperately wanted to ask how he got up there considering the seat was a bit higher than him, but was worried it would offend him.
"Please, sit down, everyone, while we wait for the water to boil, we can get started," said Professor Flitwick. The Granger's sat down on the couch with the two children between them.
"Now, I understand my visit is certainly a surprise, and I do appreciate you taking me into your home, now as I mentioned, your children are now old enough to be attending Hogwarts School, and to be quite frank, I was sent to explain that," he said.
"I've never heard of that school, and to be frank that is a very strange name for any place really," said Mr. Granger who once again crossed his arms.
"Well, I wouldn't expect you to be familiar with it, but the thing is the two children between you are a witch and wizard, and Hogwarts is a school of magic," said Flitwick. There was a pause before Mrs. Granger got up.
"The tea should be ready now," she said leaving for the kitchen with a bemused look.
"Alright, is this some sort of prank? Do you have a hidden camera on you?" asked Mr. Granger with a smile. Flitwick smiled, revealed that he had a stick in his hand, swished and flicked it and suddenly a variety of objects that were on the coffee table levitated in thin air. Mrs. Granger came back in, and dropped the tray she was carrying.
Flitwick had a look on his face that showed he felt bad for the poor woman, he waved his wand once again and the broken items seemed to repair themselves, and the tea even seemed to return to their containers, and then the tray looked as it did before as he seemed to conduct it to the coffee table. Then he arranged to have the items he caused to float to settle back down He waved the stick one more time to levitate a cup of tea to himself. He took a sip as if this was as normal as picking up marbles.
"It is very good tea, I'm sorry if I scared you my dear, but I felt a quick demonstration was in order. Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm afraid most Muggles require proof, do they not?"
"Muggles?" the family asked in almost perfect unison.
"Oh, that's just a nickname we in the wizarding community give non-magic folk. Now, how about if you children read your letters?" Flitwick explained, then suddenly, in Harry and Hermione's laps were two yellow envelopes with a big read seal. They opened them and the front heading of the letters inside said that they had in fact been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Well, that certainly explains some things these kids have done in the past, such as this little girl floating without trouble and this boy changing people's wigs different colors. But if they go, how are we going to explain this to their current school, nobody is going to believe they're going off somewhere to learn magic tricks," inquired Mrs. Granger.
"Don't worry, Hogwarts will take care of that, so you won't have to worry. We understand modern Muggles don't believe in magic, and frankly, we try to keep it that way," answered Flitwick, now he looked directly at Harry and smiled.
"My boy, I taught both of your parents when they went to Hogwarts, and I must say, you are the spitting image of your old man, except your eyes, they're your mom's," he continued.
"Wait, my birth parents went to this school? They were wizards?" asked a surprised Harry.
"Oh sure, back in their day, they were incredibly popular, granted they're famous, you're technically famous," replied Flitwick.
"How could his parents have been famous?" asked Mrs. Granger who had now walked over to put a hand on her adopted son's shoulder.
"Oh dear, I guess you don't know about the Dark Lord. Or the circumstances surrounding their deaths," said Flitwick, all cheerfulness melting from his face.
"Circumstances? I was the one who found their bodies! There was nobody else in that house! They lived on that island way over there at the time, and I didn't see any other boat arrive or leave, and believe me, I would have!" exclaimed Mr. Granger.
"Well, I suppose Harry has to know at least part of the story. Can't have him off to Hogwarts when everyone in the Wizarding World knows about it," said Flitwick sadly before taking another sip of tea.
"Years ago, there was a wizard who was incredibly evil. He killed a lot of amazing witches and wizards. Some tried to stand up to him, but anyone who tried that to his face ended up dead. He had a number of followers. Then one Halloween night, I'm sure you remember it, he came to your parents, and well…he killed them," said Flitwick.
"There was nobody else on the island! And why didn't he kill this boy whom we have raised as our own son since then?" asked Mr. Granger who was now curious because he had wondered about the scene that he had found all those years ago.
"Well, that's the biggest mystery, something about little Harry confounded that wizard that night. Some say he died, but others say he might still be about there, just biding his time," continued Flitwick who was now dabbing his eye with a tissue. Then he pointed at Harry's scar.
"That's no ordinary mark you've got there, my boy, that's something you get when an evil curse gets you, you should be grateful, nobody before you has survived that curse, and You-Know-Who was quite powerful in his curses."
"What do you mean, You-Know-Who?" asked Hermione.
"Oh right, well, people are still afraid to say his name. Except for Dumbledore, Headmaster at Hogwarts. Granted, he's the only one You-Know-Who feared, well, since you asked," said Flitwick who flicked his wand a few times and managed to write 'Voldemort' with floating letters in the air. Then he vanished them.
"Please don't make me say that out loud," he requested.
"So, this wizard, are you telling me he used magic to get to the Potter's island, and then if he somehow survived, used the same magic to leave?" asked Mr. Granger. Flitwick nodded.
"Well, I guess that explains a few things, and seeing what you've just done here, I guess I'm willing to keep an open mind. I mean, as my wife pointed out a moment ago, these kids have certainly displayed unusual talents, so how does the schooling work?" continued Mr. Granger.
Flitwick smiled again. He told the family how Hogwarts would be essentially a boarding school. They would have to buy their supplies over in London. Then on September first, they would leave from King's Cross Station to attend the school. It would be a seven-year schooling, and naturally the children would be home for the holidays.
"Well, this is a lot, but if this is good for the kids, I mean I went to a boarding school when I was younger. Harry, Hermione, do you want to accept the invitation?" asked Mrs. Granger who was now smiling. Beaming, the children nodded in excitement.
"Marvelous!" squeaked Flitwick who once again used his wand to open a window, he whistled and in whooshed a big barred owl. This made Mr. and Mrs. Granger jump a little.
"Should have given better warning, this is how we send mail, if you look at your letters, they read they expect your owl no later than July 31st," explained Flitwick. Hermione and Harry looked at their letters and found that to be true.
"Now, how shall I put this? Dear Professor Dumbledore, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger have accepted the invitation to enroll, they look forward to starting September first and they will surely be a great addition to Hogwarts?" asked Flitwick who was already writing this down on a parchment. The family shrugged in agreement. Flitwick rolled the parchment up, gave it to the owl who took the parchment in its beak and then flew back out the window. Flitwick acted as though this was as normal as talking on the telephone.
He levitated himself back to the floor, grabbed a crumpet from the tea tray, walked back to the Granger's and handed another piece of paper to them.
"Here is the address you will have to go to in London. I would recommend going on the lad's birthday this week, yes, we know. There you will meet a man named Hagrid, also from Hogwarts who will be happy to help show you around. I'll be sure to let him know to expect you. Don't be fooled by his appearance, he may seem gruff and scary but he's a kind and gentle fellow," explained Flitwick.
"Why aren't you going to come with us?" asked Hermione.
"Oh, as much as I'd like to Ms. Granger, there are other families in similar situations to yours I have been asked to talk to, Cheerio! See you both in class this September!" replied Flitwick as he started to leave.
"Wait! One more question, what kind of magic do you, specifically, teach?" asked Harry.
"Oh, I teach Charms my boy, I'm also head of Ravenclaw, that's one of the four houses at school. There's also Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin. All have produced fine witches and wizards over the centuries, and regardless of which house you end up in, I wish you both the best!" Flitwick answered with a smile, before leaving. The family then looked outside to see how he even arrived, but the moment they looked out the window, he was already gone.
Author's Note: Well, this ended up longer than the first chapter. Now, before anyone puts in a review, I'd like to point out that Snape himself said in the last book, someone from Hogwarts would show up to explain everything to a Muggleborn's family. Also, there was a time when inviting stranger's into your house was considered acceptable (there used to be door-to-door salesmen). I don't know if I can continue further, as a lot of plot points would be difficult with this scenario