I want to say thank you to everyone who decided to favorite, follow, and commented on this fanfic, I wasn't expecting many to like it, now that I know more people want to read this fic I will give it my all to hopefully meet your expectations. I'll try my best to give a weekly update, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

Edited 9/3/22

Chapter 2

Harry had entered the train and found a nearby empty compartment and brought his trunk into it, instead of putting his trunk above he sat down and kept it in front of him and placed Hedwig's cage on it. Hedwig was happy to be out of her cage and flew above to rest, putting her cage away Harry took out some of his school books to read about the spells he'd learn, even though he read them in the journal and practiced the incantation and wand movement he wanted to make sure he had everything correct. Harry read in the journal how on the train you're allowed to use magic and Harry intended to finally practice his spells and work his way to mastering wandless magic.

Looking at one of the easiest spells they would learn Harry focused his magic towards his wand and pointed forward "Lumos!" A light appeared from the tip of his wand and he couldn't help but smile when it worked. Harry knew there were different versions of lumos and hoped he'd be able to practice those too.

"That's amazing!" Harry jumped at the new voice and it caused him to drop his wand, extinguishing the light, turning to the door he saw a girl with bushy brown hair standing there. The girl, realizing she must have surprised him, spoke "Sorry I didn't mean to surprise you, I was about to walk by and heard you and saw your wand light up, I guessed you were a first year like me and I couldn't help but enter, I'm the first magical of my family and I've been wanting to practice casting spells but I wasn't allowed to, I read in Hogwarts: A History that magic is allowed on the train and I wanted to practice." Realizing she was rambling on the girl stopped and looked embarrassed.

Harry didn't seem to mind though and after picking up his wand spoke "It's alright, would you like to join me?" He noticed the girl was surprised but soon a smile spread across her face as she nodded.

The girl introduced herself "My name is Hermione Granger, it's nice to meet you."

Harry smiled and spoke "My name is Harry Potter." Harry tried to cut himself off since he didn't mean to say his last name but it was too late.

Hermione's eyes widened as she looked up at his scar and said "Holy cricket, you're Harry Potter, I've read about you in a few books including Modern Magical History, I've seen your name on a few kids' books but I didn't think they were accurate."

Harry smiled at that and said "Thank you, I've seen those kids' books too and felt embarrassed someone decided to make up adventures of my life." Harry helped Hermione place her trunk above and after they sat across each other, Harry asked "So you're the first magical in your family?"

Hermione nodded "Yes, my parents were scared when they didn't know what was causing all these strange things to happen around me, thankfully Professor McGonagall explained to them how I was a muggleborn and magic was real, they were quick to accept I was magical since they were scared something was wrong with me."

Harry smiled at that and said "That's good, I was introduced to the magical world by a man named Hagrid, it was a shock when I learned I was famous in the wizarding world but now I'm excited to learn magic." Hermione's smile seemed to brighten at that seeing she met someone who might be as excited to learn as she is, soon the conversation moved to their classes and Hermione asked how many spells Harry could cast to which he replied lumos was his first one. Pulling out her wand Hermione focused and soon cast lumos which made her smile, Harry congratulated her and soon the two started talking about what spells they wanted to practice.

Hermione noticed the tape Harry had on his glasses and said "Can I see your glasses?" Not waiting for an answer Hermione raised her wand and pointed it at his glasses, Harry was about to ask what she was about to do when she spoke "Reparo!"

Harry felt his glasses straighten as the tape holding it together came off. Taking his glasses off Harry felt them and saw they were no longer damaged, putting them back on he saw the scratches the lens had were gone and he smiled "Thank you so much, I didn't think of using that spell on my glasses, you're really amazing with magic!" Hermione blushed in embarrassment but smiled.

Harry had taken out one of the extra books he got for charms and Hermione looked excited when she saw the new book, together they looked through and found some spells they wanted to practice. For the next half an hour the two of them practiced two charms, one was for opening a door while the other was for closing it, thanks to the journal Harry was the first to get the spells but to his surprise Hermione wasn't far behind and soon the two were firing their spells at the door watching it open and close over and over. The two talked about what classes they were excited about, for Hermione she was looking forward to transfiguration and charms the most while Harry looked forward to defense against the dark arts and potions.

The two were caught up in their conversation so much that they forgot they left the door wide open, another kid was about to walk past but was stopped when the toad in his hand hopped into the compartment. Harry saw something move and acting on instinct reached out and caught it, thankfully he didn't grab it too hard as he realized it was a toad. "Trevor!"

They both looked and saw a blond boy enter the compartment, realizing this was his toad Harry handed it back and said "He came into our compartment, here you go."

The boy said in a quiet voice showing he was nervous "Thank you."

Wanting to be polite Harry gave an introduction "Hello my name is Harry, this is my friend Hermione Granger, it's nice to meet you." Harry didn't notice the look of surprise on Hermione's face but soon a smile spread across her face at hearing he called her his friend.

The shy boy saw he was holding out his hand, using his toad free hand he shook "Neville Longbottom, it's nice to meet you."

Harry was surprised at the name and realized this was his godbrother, Harry asked "Longbottom right, are you related to Alice Longbottom?"

Neville seemed stunned at the question, normally when people hear his name they ask about his dad, nodding Neville said "She's my mum."

Harry smiled and said "My mum's name is Lily Potter." He saw Neville's eyes widen at that as he quickly glanced up at his scar, Harry continued "I heard our mums were best friends, practically sisters, I would be happy if we could continue what they started."

Neville felt himself relax as he squeezed Harry's hand and smile "I'd like that."

Harry helped Neville bring his trunk into the compartment, Hermione not wanting to be rude helped as well, after putting it away they all sat down and Neville said "I don't think I've heard the name Granger, are you a muggleborn?"

Hermione nodded and said "Yes, that's not a problem, is it?"

Neville answered "Not to me but there are some who will look down on you because of it, there are some purebloods who think they're automatically better than you just because their family has a magical history."

Harry added "The best way to shut them up is to show how much better you are at magic than them, if they keep bragging about their blood then that just shows they don't have the magic to prove they're better."

The three got back into talking about the classes they were looking forward to and Neville explained how he was excited for herbology and how they had a few green houses back home, Neville however ended up bursting Harry's bubble when he heard what classes he was looking forward to "I'm not sure you'll enjoy potions Harry, I heard Professor Snape treats every student not in Slytherin badly, my gran is on the board of governors and she complains about him a lot."

Harry was confused and said "I thought the professor for potions was Slughorn?"

Neville shook his head "He retired around eleven years ago, the new potions professor is named Severus Snape."

Harry frowned as he tried to think if he heard the name before, he looked forward to potions since the only chore he did like was cooking and potions seemed close to it, Hermione asked "Why does Professor Snape treat the other houses badly?"

Neville answered "He's pretty biased, whenever any complaints about his students come up he blames anyone not in Slytherin so a lot of them cause trouble knowing they can get away with it."

Hermione seemed shocked at the idea of a teacher being so unfair to the students, Harry remembered how his mum was best friends with Sev and even though he was sorted into Slytherin they stayed friends, Harry spoke "I'm sure not all Slytherins are bad, hopefully Professor Snape isn't as bad as you say." Neville hoped Harry was right but still prepared for the worse.

They went back to talking about what they were going to learn at school when Harry got an idea, reaching into his trunk he remembered when he was buying his school supplies he saw a shop selling all kinds of sweets and Harry decided to buy some. Harry found his stash of candy and saw the preservation charm on them still kept them fresh so Harry took out a box of bertie botts every flavor beans, opening the box Harry asked "What's the name of the spell that lights up the tip of your wand?"

Hermione answered first "Lumos!"

Harry smiled "Correct."

He held out the box to Neville who nervously took one, Neville soon smiled when the bean he picked tasted like chocolate. Harry handed the box to Hermione and told her to ask a question, after thinking she asked "What's the incantation for the knockback jinx?"

Harry answered "Flipendo!"

Hermione nodded and Neville had to take another bean, he spat it out when it tasted like grass. Harry realized Neville was struggling so when he took the box he asked "What plant strangles you when you struggle?"

Hermione was about to speak when Neville beat her to it "Devil's snare!" Harry smiled and Hermione had to take a bean, Harry and Neville laughed when Hermione spat out her bean saying it tasted like dirt.

Neville thought about a question and asked "What's the incantation for the mending charm?"

Hermione beat Harry to it "Raparo!"

Harry took a bean and spat it out when it tasted like earwax, he saw Neville and Hermione were laughing and couldn't help but laugh with them, he thought "So this is what it's like to have fun with friends." The game continued for a while after that, Hermione realized Neville was better with herbology so would ask those questions to help him out, Neville no longer felt nervous around Harry and Hermione and felt glad he met them and hoped they could still spend time together at school. The train whistle blew and they realized they were about to leave, Harry looked out the window and saw how crowded it looked, he even saw some students running to the train and guessed they showed up last minute, Harry couldn't help but smile as he saw the train begin to leave and now he was on his way to Hogwarts.

The three friends soon finished their game and by bad luck all three had disgusting tasting beans so Harry took out a few chocolate frogs and offered some to them, Neville accepted but Hermione hesitated saying her parents were dentists and wouldn't want her eating too many sweets but in the end accepted one. The three enjoyed their chocolates as Hermione explained to Neville what a dentist was, soon all three heard a knock at the door, the door opened and Harry saw a red headed boy standing there, the boy asked "Excuse me can I sit here, my brothers started talking with their friend about his pet spider so I quickly left."

Harry glanced at Hermione and Neville and all three agreed, once the boy had his trunk put away he introduced himself "My name is Ron Weasley, it's nice to meet you." They introduced themselves and once again Harry had someone stare at his scar but soon the conversation moved on, Ron introduced them to his pet rat Scabbers, Neville showed him his pet toad Trevor and around that time Hedwig finally flew down and landed on Harry's lap.

Hedwig looked at Harry and asked "Can I have a treat?"

Harry spoke "Sure."

The other three jumped and Hermione spoke "I didn't know there was an owl in here."

Harry explained as he got out the owl treats he bought "Oh yeah, sorry I didn't introduce her, this is my owl Hedwig." Harry got an idea and smiled as he spoke "In my completely unbiased opinion she is the greatest owl in the entire world."

Harry saw Hedwig turn to them and puff out her chest and say "He's telling the truth."

Harry chuckled lightly at that, Hermione spoke "Wow she's so beautiful!"

Hedwig turned to Harry and said to him "I like her, let's keep her."

Harry chuckled and said "Hedwig likes you, especially when you compliment her, do you want to pet her?"

"Can I?" Hermione asked to which Hedwig responded by flying closer to her, Hermione seemed nervous but Hedwig moved closer and put her head under Hermione's hand to which she started to pet her.

Hermione relaxed and smiled as Hedwig seemed happy to have someone pet her, Harry took out the treats and handed one to Hermione and said "Here if you feed her one of these you'll become her favorite."

Hermione held the treat in her palm and saw Hedwig eat it, soon the owl snuggled up to her and Hermione said "She's really friendly, I wanted to get a pet but I couldn't decide between an owl or a cat, I'm hoping to convince my parents to get me one soon."

Harry got an idea and said "If any of you want you can ask Hedwig to deliver a letter home for you."

Neville asked "Are you sure Harry?"

Harry heard Hedwig say "If you give me a treat I will."

Harry smiled at that and handed a treat to Neville and Ron, once they gave a treat to her Hedwig seemed happy and Harry said "Now she'll do it, Hedwig it'll take a while to get to school so go ahead and rest some more, I'll let you know when we get there."

Hedwig nodded and flew back up to rest, Ron spoke "Wow it's almost like she understands what you say."

Harry smiled and said "She's a smart owl."

A woman with a cart came by asking if anyone wanted to buy a snack, Neville bought a few cauldron cakes and Hermione decided to try some sugar quills, Harry was about to buy some pumpkin pastries but noticed Ron was staring at the snacks before looking disappointed at his sandwiches, Harry bought more than he intended to and offered to trade with Ron and soon everyone was enjoying something to eat. Ron tried to show them a spell his brothers told him about to turn his rat yellow but when it failed Harry spoke "I'm guessing your brothers like to pull pranks."

Ron nodded and Harry wondered what kind of pranks Ron's brothers liked to pull, soon the door opened and Harry saw three boys showed up. The blond boy, Harry guessed he was the leader, spoke "I heard Harry Potter was on the train, have you seen him?"

Harry felt surprised someone was looking for him, before he could try and cover his scar the blond boy saw his scar and smiled "Ah so you are Harry Potter, this is Crabbe and Goyle." He gestured to the two boys behind him and continued "And I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Ron tried not to laugh but Malfoy heard him and sneered at him "I don't see why you're laughing at me, the dirt on your face and old damaged clothes you have tell me clearly you're a Weasley, too poor to buy new robes or clean up properly." Harry frowned at that but Malfoy turned back to him and said "The boy-who-lived can do better than this, spending time with a Weasley, squib, and…" He turned to Hermione and his sneer deepened and said "That."

Hermione seemed hurt by that, Malfoy turned back to him and continued "I can show you who the real witches and wizards are, what do you say?" Malfoy held his hand out to Harry, Harry saw Ron felt embarrassed as he tried to straighten his clothes, Neville seemed to shrink at the comment, Hermione was looking down but she kept glancing up at Harry as if she was expecting him to join Malfoy and leave.

Harry stood up, he saw Malfoy was taller than him but still faced Malfoy and started to move his hand but then crossed his arms and spoke "I don't appreciate you insulting my friends, if you have proper manners then I expect you to apologize to them then I'll consider shaking your hand."

Hermione, Neville, and Ron were surprised at what Harry said, meanwhile Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were shocked before Malfoy looked mad and said "You just made a mistake Potter, unlike the Potters the Malfoys actually have pride in themselves." Harry saw Crabbe and Goyle crack their knuckles in a threatening way, Malfoy continued "You better watch yourself Potter otherwise you might end up like your parents." Malfoy started to take out his wand but then they all heard a shriek and an angry Hedwig descended on the three boys.

All three boys screamed in panic, they waved their arms to try and defend themselves but soon ran out of the compartment, Hedwig landed on Harry's shoulder and yelled "Try and hurt my Harry or his friends and I'll hurt you!"

Harry was surprised at her reaction but soon a smile spread across his face and pet Hedwig and said "I love you, Hedwig." Hedwig snuggled into Harry and seemed happy.

Ron said "That was amazing!"

Harry looked at his friends and saw they were smiling too, Harry smiled and sat down and said "Hedwig didn't like the way he insulted you and threatened me, she's quite fond of all of us." All three started thanking and complimenting Hedwig, Hedwig puffed out her chest in pride before flying back up to rest but she kept watch in case those three came back.

Ron and Neville explained to Harry and Hermione how Draco comes from a family of purebloods who think highly of themselves while looking down on anyone who's not a pureblood, Neville explained to Hermione how everyone thought he was a squib because he never showed accidental magic until his uncle dropped him out a window. Ron told them how Malfoy would likely become a Slytherin since everyone who went to that house became bad, Harry frowned at that and said "I don't think everyone in Slytherin turned out bad, I know some have but it's wrong to judge them all as bad just for a few."

Ron said "They're all bad, you can't trust a Slytherin since they'll eventually stab you in the back."

Harry thought about how Sev was his mum's best friend even though they were sorted into rival houses, Harry spoke "I think I'd rather judge the person themselves instead of the house they come from, besides who knows how the sorting will go."

Ron explained how his brothers Fred and George told him he'd have to wrestle a troll, Harry couldn't help but laugh before saying "Ron that's obviously a prank, there's no way the teachers would make first years wrestle a troll to get sorted, I doubt a first year can even beat a troll."

Neville spoke "My gran said the way students are sorted is an old tradition that shouldn't take long."

They continued to talk about the different houses for a while, Hermione was hoping for Gryffindor but wouldn't mind Ravenclaw, Neville thought he'd be sorted into Hufflepuff, Ron said Gryffindor was the only house for him, and Harry said he's hoping for Gryffindor but wouldn't mind any of the other houses, he hoped he could make friends that wouldn't be chased away by Dudley and his gang. For the rest of the train ride Harry and Neville played chess with Ron but they couldn't beat him, Hermione wasn't interested so Harry offered to let her read his extra books to which she immediately accepted.

An announcement told them they would be arriving soon, the boys let Hermione get changed first while they waited outside before she let them get changed, soon they arrived at Hogsmeade station where Harry opened up the window to let Hedwig fly out, after exiting the train Harry introduced his friends to Hagrid. The four friends shared a boat ride and soon they all got to see their first glimpse of Hogwarts, Harry could only describe it as magical when he saw the lights of Hogwarts and how the stars in the background added to the breathtaking sight. When they made it inside Harry got to see Professor McGonagall who welcomed the students, while they waited for the sorting to begin they were soon greeted by many ghosts who welcomed them. When the doors opened Harry got to see the great hall and was once again blown away by the display of magic, he heard Hermione say how the ceiling was enchanted and he couldn't help but stare up before his gaze turned to the teachers and he tried to guess who some of them were based on the description from the journal.

When the sorting began Harry saw the old hat his mum mentioned, Harry paid attention to the names to see if he might recognize any of them but the second name surprised him, when McGonagall called for Susan Bones he saw a red head walk forward nervously to be sorted, Harry remembered what his mum said about her parents and hoped he'd be able to become her friend, he clapped when she was sorted into Hufflepuff. Hermione was the first of their friends to be called, Harry tried to give her a comforting smile as he placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling back at him Hermione walked forward and had the hat placed on her head, it took nearly a minute before the hat shouted Gryffindor and Hermione went to join the house of the lions. Neville was the next one to be sorted and he was glad to join Hermione, this continued on until finally Harry was called.

Harry heard whispers around him as he walked forward and soon the hat was placed on him, Harry heard the hat say "Interesting, you already seem to know how this is supposed to go, I can see Lily's brilliance has inspired you. Ravenclaw probably would work for you, you have a good mind but I don't think you'd be as dedicated to studying as most of the students in that house. From what happened on the train you have shown loyalty that would be a good fit for Hufflepuff, especially since you plan to work hard to achieve your mother's goal. Aiming to master wandless magic, quite the ambition that would fit well in Slytherin, if I believe anyone can master wandless magic it's you. Your bravery is something to be admired though, to stand up for others would be a great trait that would fit well in Gryffindor, yes this is a difficult choice indeed."

Harry spoke to the hat "I know you listen to the opinion of the person you're sorting, while I would be ok with any of the houses I'm hoping to be in the same house as my parents and my friends."

The sorting hat responded "The loyalty of a Hufflepuff, the courage of a Gryffindor, the mind of a Ravenclaw, and the ambition of a Slytherin, any of the founders would have been glad to welcome you into their house but as you say Mr. Potter I listen to your opinion, better be…" Harry heard the hat shout "GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry heard many students begin to cheer from the Gryffindor table and he saw two red heads start dancing on the table, Harry smiled at Hermione and Neville and went to join them as they saved a seat for him. Harry greeted the members of his house before paying attention to the sorting. Ron was sorted into Gryffindor and finally Blaise Zabini was sorted into Slytherin, Harry saw the headmaster Albus Dumbledore stand up to welcome the students before giving a few announcements about the forbidden forest, some banned items, and the third floor corridor being off limits, after he said a few random words the feast began and Harry was amazed to see so much food. Harry glanced around the great hall and saw all the first years and realized each house now had ten new first years and Harry turned to the ones in his house. Harry saw he was rooming with Ron, Neville, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan, looking at the girls' side he saw Hermione was rooming with Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Fay Dunbar, and Sally-Anne Perks.

Harry hoped he could become friends with the first years in his house first before trying to become friends with students from the other houses. Glancing up at the teachers' table Harry asked Percy Weasley about them, Percy pointed out who the teachers were and what they taught but when Harry met the eyes of Professor Snape he suddenly felt something try to enter his mind but at the same time he felt a lot of pain from his scar. Realizing what it was Harry focused his occlumency and forced out the probe and soon he felt the pain vanish along with the probe. Risking a glance up he saw Snape was still watching him so Harry quickly turned to his friends to talk as they ate. When the feast ended the prefects led them to their houses, after meeting the fat lady and giving the password they entered the common room and were shown where they would be sleeping. Harry got to see how Gryffindor found any reason to party when they decided to welcome the first years, Harry didn't want to risk sleeping late so after saying goodnight to Hermione and promising to see her in the morning he went upstairs. Harry picked the bed closes to the window where he saw Hedwig was flying around becoming familiar with the area, soon the other boys came into the room to get to sleep.

Harry got changed and closed the curtains around his bed, as he laid there he thought about everything that happened, Harry was glad to have made new friends and hoped that soon he'd become friends with the other first year Gryffindors. It seemed like Malfoy was going to cause trouble so he'd need to be cautious around him, he hoped not all the Slytherins would act like him. Sleep started to come and so Harry thought "Hopefully tomorrow will turn out well." Harry soon fell asleep with a smile on his face as he dreamt of his new home away from privet drive.