This is the start of an idea that I got a long time ago. Hope you enjoy the ride! Do share your thoughts...

Edit 1

Well, I have always wanted to come back and do this, and I don't believe a better opportunity would come to me, than right now. The guy who started this story had a few ideas in his head on he'd go about it. The guy writing this, right now, is one who has been writing fanfictions for close to 4 years. I have wanted to edit the beginnings of this story for a long time now, and I have even received many suggestions that I should. Here's me embarking upon a journey of editing my story.

A few points I'd want to add here. One, I will only be editing chapters 1 to 35, and even there, most of the chapters from 18 to 35 may not undergo any changes. I expect the majority of my edits to be in chapters 1 to 17. Secondly, the chapters I end up editing, WILL NOT undergo any changes to plotline, character descriptions, interactions and such. I will try to keep this promise. Most of the edits will be in the narration of the events, or adding some narrative touch-ups to other things that may precede or succeed the ones that have already been written. Finally, as I'm writing this, this story is about to near its completion. I'd be posting the final 5 chapters of the story within the following week. Once done, I will not make any changes to any of the chapters published in the story.

Will I be adding some epilogues to this story in the future? Only time will tell, I suppose!

The first 4 chapters in this story follow a very different style of storytelling, compared to the rest of the story. In some ways, it follows the POV of one character. The me who wrote this almost 4 years ago, thought it to be a good way to follow the character and get into the world, and I'm going to keep it that way.

End of edit - 03rd January 2025!

I was standing on the platform, waiting for the train that was going to take me to a whole new world of adventure and excitement. The only problem was, the train wouldn't come to this platform. I had to find platform 9 3/4, at least that's what my ticket said. It was then I saw him. In all honesty, he looked stranded. He seemed desperate about something and was panicking. I was overjoyed seeing him, since, like me, even he had an owl with him. Which meant only one thing. He too was a wizard.

"Hi, I am John Smith and you are?"

He looked at me and then at my owl and replied, "Harry, I am Harry Potter. Hey, do you happen to know how to get to platform 9 3/4?"

"I was hoping you'd know it," I replied.

We both stared at each other helplessly and then I heard a group of people talking about muggles. The group had a kid who seemed much older than we were, identical twins, a kid who looked our age, and a girl who looked the youngest of the lot.

I was helped to get to platform 9 by Percy Weasley. Harry and I got into a carriage and pressed our way through the crowd before we found an empty compartment. After we got settled, I looked at him and thought I should begin a conversation, and just then Ron Weasley joined us.

"Can I join you guys?" asked Ron.

"Of course! Hi, I'm John," I replied.

"I'm Ron,"

"I'm Harry Potter,"

There was a silence that lasted a few seconds where Ron kept staring at Harry, and I was staring at both of them awkwardly.

"Are you really Harry Potter?"

"Yes"

"Can I, um, can I see your scar? Do you really have one?"

Harry showed his forehead to Ron and me. There was a small scar there, in the shape of a lightning bolt.

Most of the conversation after that was about Harry Potter, and also some about the magical world. Harry has a muggle cousin named Dudley. He also told us about a muggle friend named Daisy. We also met Hermione and Neville. Hermione talks a lot and Neville lost his toad.

Harry doesn't really want to be here. I was shocked to hear this. He loved his life as a muggle, and then he got his letter. Ron told us about a lot of things, wizards, witches, Hogwarts, Quidditch and Chocolate frogs.

It was a nice train journey to Hogwarts, quite enjoyable. It was exactly what I was hoping to get. Well, that's when the conversation turned towards me.

"So, John! Are your parents wizards too?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, they... were..." I replied, keeping a straight face.

But I didn't really manage to steer the conversation away. If anything, my response only brought a reaction out of them.

"Oh!" gasped both of them.

"How?" asked Ron, stammering.

"Yeah, happened when I was a baby. My Aunt told me it was an experiment gone wrong," I replied.

"I am so sorry. So, you grew up with your Aunt?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, I grew up a muggle, but she told me about a year ago," I replied.

"You grew up a muggle?" asked Ron, shocked.

"Yeah"

"Why?"

I honestly didn't have an answer to that question. I was not going to tell them the truth. But, what could I possibly say to make them believe my lie?

I couldn't think of one. So, I went with, "I don't know! I think she wished I wouldn't have magic in me," I lied.

They continued to pester me with questions about my aunt, and I kept dodging them. In hindsight, I should not have gone with the, "I think she wished I wouldn't have magic in me!". That was a mistake.

But soon, they got diverted. Ron continued to tell us about the wizarding world. He has older siblings here, and the stories he has heard from them, he shared with us. That was quite nice of him.

The train journey was just perfect, I easily made so many new friends in just a few hours.

And Hogwarts... Oh, Hogwarts was so beautiful, more beautiful than I thought it would be. Did you know that first-years rowed to Hogwarts? Over the lake... Using a boat.

Ron, Harry, Neville and I were in one boat. Harry was nervous, he was a bundle of nerves. I guess, so were Ron and Neville. Ron had this look in him, that he was here to achieve something. He was nervous too, but that was because he wanted to get into Gryffindor.

The water was icy... like not just cold, it was icy. I absolutely loved it and the air around us. And then we caught sight of the golden castle. The castle, in the night, under lights, is a different kind of beauty. I almost forgot everything and just stared at the castle.

But eventually, we got down. We walked into the castle.

And then came the sorting ceremony. Harry, Ron, Neville, Hermione and I, all got sorted into Gryffindor. It truly was a great ceremony. There was some great food and desserts... The desserts were just heavenly.

Dumbledore made a speech. McGonagall was quite strict, are you even surprised? Snape was menacing, Hagrid was cheerful and that's all I can write at the moment.

I'm in Hogwarts now and about to spend my first night. Honestly, I don't even know why you were worried. This is awesome!

This story is something that I have been working on for some time now. Hope you like it!