Harry James Potter walked down the main hall of Hogwarts. His eyes darted over to all corners of the room, taking in the things he'd see.
He could feel the entire student body staring in his general direction. As he walked slowly to the front of the hall with the rest of the first years, his mind wandered back to how he'd gotten here.
Life never had been easy for him. Orphaned at a young age and forced to live with his not-so-loving aunt was the first of his many misfortunes. His cousin also tried his best to make Harry's life a living hell.
At the very least, he was happy not to face any sort of physical abuse from his so-called "family." Well, apart from when Dudley would shove him while playing with his friends, Harry-hunting or so what he called it.
He had always thought about his life. Why had it been so cruel to him? He would often stare at the roof of the cupboard where he would be lying.
His life had taken a turn a couple of months ago. It was an ordinary day. He was preparing breakfast for his uncle when somebody rang the bell.
Being the ever-diligent chore-boy, Harry went to answer. He was rather surprised to see a letter on the porch, addressed to him no less.
At that time, his cousin decided to be the prick he was and tried to grab the letter for himself. However, Harry quickly outmaneuvered Dudley and opened the letter.
After that, let's just have Harry had to face quite the consequences.
Harry looked at the dusty hat in front of him and watched as it spoke out loud.
"Better be, HUFFLEPUFF !" The table behind Harry cheered as the red-headed girl moved to join them.
Harry waited as multiple other students went to get sorted into their house. A blonde-haired boy caught his attention and he instantly got sorted into Slytherin.
Harry waited as finally his name was called upon.
"Potter Harry!" The aged Professor called out his name with what he felt was a tiny hint of excitement.
Harry took small steps and made his way to the stool. He took a glance at the Professors sitting in front of him. All of them had a look of anticipation on their face.
Harry could also not ignore the whispers that began circulating the hall. Hagrid had told him that he was famous, but he didn't expect it to be to this extent.
Well, with how people reacted at The Leaky Cauldron, Harry wasn't that surprised.
Harry grabbed the dusty old hat, putting it on his head.
'Ah, I have been waiting for you to come, Mr Potter.' Harry heard a voice in his head, presumably the hat.
'Indeed quite precisive.' The hat complimented.
'Now enough of the talking, and let's begin your sorting.'
Harry agreed with the hat's words as he was quite annoyed at the looks of anticipation.
'Now let's see, you are quite the brave lad, no doubt. But I see the thirst for knowledge in you, one that would make Rowena proud and loyal to those whom you trust. But what's this hidden deep within? Such ambition would make Salazar jealous. You certainly have great things in your future.' The hat is issued off.
'I see, interesting. You most certainly fit the house of snakes best, but I can see those dreams you have in your sleep.' Harry felt his heart skip a beat.
'You know about the dreams?' He asked the hat in his mind.
'Of course I do. I knew about your entire life the moment you put me on.' The hat said much to Harry's worry.
'Please don't tell anyone about them.' Harry asked with sincerity.
'No worries, Mr Potter, I couldn't tell anyone if I wanted to.' The hat said with a chuckle.
'Now what a shame with such ambition you would certainly be a great Slytherin, alas no child of his would-be anyone but there.' The hat said with a huff.
"All right, better be GRYFFINDOR!" The table on the middle left erupted in cheers.
Harry took the old hat off and made his way to said table. On his way, he heard two redheads scream out, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"
Harry nervously walked towards it, greeting a few students on the way. Finally, he made his way to his seat, near a girl with bushy hair, whom Harry had seen on the train.
"Your Harry Potter." The girl said, staring at him, her mouth slightly open in shock.
"I am," Harry said awkwardly.
"Uh, sorry, where are my manners? My name is Hermoine, Hermoine Granger. It is a pleasure to meet you, truly." The girl blurted out.
"Nice to meet you too." Harry gave her a small smile.
The two stopped talking as the next student was called upon.
Harry sat on his bed, the bottom bunk as the snoring of his roommates filled the room.
He shared a room with Ronald Weasly, one of four brothers that he had met, he also mentioned his elder brother playing for the school quidditch, (though Harry didn't know what Quidditch was) team last year, so make it five.
Harry looked at the book in his lap and flipped a page.
"I'm finally here Tal," Harry muttered aloud.
Who was Tal?
Well, Harry didn't quite know that himself. Was he a figment of his imagination? Maybe a distant ancestor of his. Who knows.
Yet the man who Harry knew as Tal was much more than an ordinary figure.
Harry closed his eyes, shutting his book as well.
Today had been quite a long day for him, and now his eyes were heavy.
Slowly, his exhaustion took over, and he joined his roommates in the bliss of sleep.
"I did not do it on purpose, you madwoman." A young boy screamed out in fear and frustration.
"You damned brat, how dare you Give me my potion back, you do not know how hard I have worked for it." Women screamed out in rage.
"Go away!" The boy said in retaliation. Astonishingly, he turned into a fly and started to move at a rapid speed.
"Oh no, you do not!" The woman screamed out, turning into a bird herself.
The two ran along a giant castle, as the woman, with her ethereal beauty, finally stopped chasing the boy.
The boy turned back as he looked at the woman in frustration.
"I told you, women, I didn't drink it on purpose?" The boy once again said in annoyance.
The woman ignored him and finally turned back into a human. She fixed her posture, befitting her noble heritage.
"Alright, I've had enough of the two of you." The two turned to see a large man with long hair and a beard.
'"If the two of you are gonna fight, go outside. This a school for God's sake, not your living room. I and Salazar won't tolerate any more of your foolery." The man said, his words absolute.
"Fine! But tell her to stop chasing me around, I'm not gonna let her do things to my body." The boy said, glaring at the woman in front of him.
"Rowena." The man said, looking at the women expectingly.
"Fine, but you will not come near my research lab again."
"All right, I get, Geez." The boy said, sticking his tongue out.
"All right, now go back to your work." The two of them turned in opposite directions and started to move on with their work.
Harry walked through the hallways lazily. His body was still tired from the previous day as he had barely gotten any sleep.
He walked into the classroom, which was designated to one Minerva McGonagall, the Professor for a subject known as "Transfiguration" Harry had read a basic summary of the subject which was given on the first page, it was hard for him not to.
With a smile and excitement in his heart, Harry took a seat in the corner. He looked at the clock on the wall. His eyes also darted to the teacher's table, on which a cat lay peacefully.
'Five minutes until class starts. It's better to read a little ahead.' Harry thought opening up the book.
Quickly enough, Harry read through the first page. It was a basic introduction to the branch of magic known as transfiguration, how it was first discovered, and the names of a few famous researchers who had helped advance the branch.
Harry looked back at the clock. It was already time for class to start, yet he could not see the head of his house, whom he had met yesterday.
"Thank goodness! We're not late, I heard from Fred and George just how nasty Professor McGonagall can be." Harry's attention turned towards two boys.
One was Ron Weasley, his roommate, and the other was Dean Thomas, another boy in his house.
The two boys quickly took their seats beside Harry. He gave the two a small smile and stared at the clock.
"And what exactly have your brothers been saying about me Mr Weasly?" Harry snapped back to the source of the voice.
His eyes widened as he watched the cat transform into a human.
The class, which was filled with kids talking, was filled with utter silence. All the students turned their attention towards the woman, who had her attention on the boys sitting right next to Harry.
"I apologize Professor." The red-headed boy gulped as he saw her stare intently at him.
"Very Well, A point from Gryffindor for both Mr Weasly and Mr Thomas for being late." The two boys received the punishment in silence.
"Mr Weasly I have already dealt with five of your brothers, please try and behave like your eldest brother and not the twins." Professor McGonagall said with a slight irate.
"Although, Kudos to Mr. Potter for arriving five minutes early for class and spending his time reading the textbook, take a point, Mr. Potter."
Harry gave an awkward nod. He had learned about the points system in Hogwarts and why there were four houses. Although he didn't understand why people cared about winning the house cup, he wouldn't mind earning some points.
"Now let us begin our first lecture, today I will teach you about the basics of Transfiguration. We will discuss What it is. Why it is used? And most importantly How it's used." Professor McGonagall started the lecture.
Harry watched as with the flick of a wand a chalkboard appeared from thin air.
"First, What is Transfiguration?" McGonagall asked.
A few students raised their hands, Harry included.
"Yes, Ms Granger?"
"Transfiguration is the subject of Magic in which we bend the nature, shape, size, and structure of anything living or non-living." The girl answered.
"An adequate answer, yet not sufficient enough." The bushy-haired girl frowned, "From the way you define it, Ms Granger it appears that we could create anything. Even a human being yet that is not possible. May I ask why that is?" She asked again.
This time no one raised their hands and McGonagall nodded.
"Transfiguration is strictly limited to beings or things which can use magic, say for example a cat." The Professor waved her wand and the board turned into a cat. She waved again and it returned to normal.
"Now for say a human or a unicorn. No one mage could ever transfigure such a being into existence, We think therefore we are, and due to our consciousness we can wield magic." She explained.
"But Professor what about muggles?" A girl from the back asked.
"Ah yes, Ms. Li, it is a common misconception that muggles are not able to use magic, muggles can use magic as much as we are, however, the amount they can control is so minuscule that they could not do a single lumos charm, same can be said for squibs however they are able to use more magic than a muggle, yet not enough to be considered a Magical being. This is also the reason muggles can give birth to people with magic." McGonagall explained.
"Now that you know somewhat about what transfiguration is, let's understand why it is used and how it was discovered."
The rest of the lecture continued on as Minerva explained the uses of Transfiguration to the students.
"Now children altough I know most of you are excited to do some magic, however we do not have much time for the first exercise, so instead we will be doing some text-reading for the remainder of the class." Minerva said much to the students disappointment.
The second class Harry had to attend was of charms. It was something he was slightly more excited about than Transfiguration. He quickly made his way into the classroom, being one of the earliest to arrive.
Harry took a seat alone near the edge of the class. He watched as students started to pour in. Normally, he would read the book, but Charms was a different field. It was entirely practical, and the theory had little to no advantage.
Harry waited for a few more minutes. The class was filled now with about forty or so students.
This time, he was sharing a class with Hufflepuff. He had learned from his timetable that they shared each class with a specific house.
Since there were only around twenty first-year students in each house, it made it easier for the teachers to share classes in their tight schedules.
There were around twelve total professors and over five hundred students to teach. The schedules were extremely tight.
Harry waited with anticipation. Surprisingly, a rather short man entered the class.
He quickly piled up a bunch of books and stood on them, Harry decided not to judge and wait for the small man to speak up.
"Good morning, Class. I am Professor Flitwick, your teacher, for the study of the subject Charms." The man said with enthusiasm.
"Now I know most of you are excited to do your first bit of spell work, and I won't take away your anticipation, but before learning your first spell let me begin by asking what exactly is charms?" Flitwick asked.
Multiple students raised their hands, and Flitwick smiled.
"Yes, Ms Bones?" He called.
"Charms is the general study of spellcraft. It teaches how to do a spell properly without making a mistake."
"Correct! The subject of charms has been a part of the Hogwarts curriculum since it was founded. It is here to help you all cast a spell without it backfiring. Now enough, with the talking, let's learn your first spell, shall we?"
The mood of the entire class cheered up as they felt a ping of excitement in them, 'Finally, I'll learn my first spell.' Harry thought, excited and nervous.
"All right, everyone, take out your wands."
Harry watched as everyone took out their wands, all of different sizes. Harry put a hand in his pocket and took out his wand.
An eleven-inch, holly wood with a phoenix core "Nice and Supple." As the wand maker, Ollivander had told him.
"All right, today we will be learning the most basic of spells, the Lumos charm," Flitwick said aloud.
"Can anyone tell me what exactly the Lumos charm is?" He asked.
"Yes, Ms. Granger."
"It is a spell which makes a small piece of light appear on the tip of our wand." She explained.
"Indeed. Now, the Lumos charm may not be anything extravagant, but it has saved countless lives and helped me personally in the hard situations."
"Say, for example, if you are in a dark forest, it's the middle of the night, and the only thing you have is your wand. The Lumos charm is an easy yet effective way to navigate."
"Now, enough of my rambling. The charm is pronounced Lumos, Lew-Mos. You mustn't make a mistake in the pronunciation as it can cause the spell to backfire." He explained.
"Now the movement of your wand should be, a flick of the wand, then a draw back, and a second flick." The Professor said, showing the wand movement.
"Move the wand and say Lumos and Viola." The Professor presented a light coming out of the tip of his wand
"Now it's your turn. Also, I found it easier to imagine the spell happening, so try imagining the spell and say it with intent." He finished explaining as every student started to get to work.
Harry watched as a couple of students tried the spell to no avail. 'All right, I guess it's my time to try.' Harry grabbed his wand firmly.
A flick, return, and another flick, "Lum-"
"That is incorrect boy," Rowena said with a sigh.
"Your pronunciation is incorrect, and the way you move your wand is rigid. It should be smooth, not rough." She explained to the young boy in front of her.
"Oh, come on, it's not my fault that this damned stick can't move along my hands." The boy said, annoyed.
"Tal, calm yourslelf. Magic can not be forced. Only when you are at peace of mind will you be able to do the spell correctly?" She explained.
"All right, all right." The boy said in annoyance.
With another wave of his hand, Tal tried to do the spell once again.
"Lumos."
He looked at his wand, and once again, nothing happened.
"Are you even sure that I can do magic? Maybe the book made a mistake or something?" The boy said in frustration.
"The book wasn't wrong Tal, it's just a little difficult for you to do spellwork, on the bright side your potion-making is by far the best in your year, even Myrddin can't beat the potions you make." She explained.
Tal felt a vein pop up on his head as he heard the name of his fellow schoolmate. Myrddin was a genius through and through. His spellwork first class, He was able to learn transfiguration with ease. The only thing Tal could beat him in was Potions, and that didn't even require magic.
And even in Potions, Myrddin wasn't bad at all. Hell, he would be the second-best in his entire school year.
"All right, try again Tal, make sure you practice hard enough, and I have no doubt that you will be able to do the spell," Rowena said with a small smile.
"All right." The boy said, watching the figure of the woman turn around.
She was twenty years his superior, but even his young mind couldn't ignore her beauty.
Tal ignored those thoughts and grabbed his wand firmly. For the next few minutes, he tried the spell over and over again.
"You know you're doing it wrong." He heard a voice from behind him, causing him to let out a small yelp.
"What do you want?" Tal asked, slightly annoyed as he realized the face in front of him.
"I don't wish for anything, although I wouldn't mind helping you out a bit." The boy, Myrddin said. He had blonde hair and spectre grey eyes, and as much as Tal didn't want to admit it, he was dang handsome. Even for their age, the boy was able to attract the attention of many of the females in the school.
"I don't need your help, Myrddin," Tal said, taking his wand into his hand again.
"If you say so." The boy replied.
Tal ignored him and closed his eyes again. He grasped onto his wand. "Lumos." He said aloud.
Again, the boy watched as the spell failed.
"You're doing it wrong." The boy said.
Tal ignored him and once again tried the spell.
"You know it's quite rude to ignore me when I'm simply trying to help." Tal gritted his teeth and looked at the boy, annoyed he took a deep breath and stared at him.
"All right, Mr. Hotshot, how exactly am I supposed to do it then?" He asked.
"Well you flick your hand from down to up, up to down, and down to up, that isn't necessarily wrong per se, but the movement of your hand is opposite to the ideal movement, it goes up down, down up, and up down. You do it the opposite way. Also, if you imagine a light appearing on the wand, it would make it much easier." Myrddin explained.
Tal gave an annoyed smile and grasped his wand into his hand. He took Myrddin's advice and tried to do the spell.
"Lumos." Tal looked at his wand and felt a twitch on his face. The wand had a small glow on its edge, indicating that the spell had worked even if it did not work to its maximum.
"See you did it correctly," Myrddin said with a smile.
"Thanks." Tal sighed and honestly thanked the boy. The two didn't have a bad relationship it was just more so that Tal was jealous of the boy, and he knew it.
"Wonderful job Ta, try again and you'll learn it completely in no time, and a good job Myrddin at helping a fellow student in doing a spell," Rowena said noticing the boy cast the spell.
"Mr Potter?" Harry felt his eyes open up.
He looked around and noticed his professor looking at him worried.
"Are you all right? You seemed to doze off in the middle of the spell." The man asked.
"Ah, I'm sorry, Professor, I'm tired from the previous day and didn't sleep properly." Harry gave an excuse.
"Ah, understandable, you are a long way from home after all. However, please try not to stop to a spell midway. It can have dire consequences." The man gave a small smile.
"Yes, Professor," Harry said as Flitwick moved on to help another student.
Harry might have seemed calm, but his mind was in turmoil.
'What just happened?' It was the first time this had happened to him in his entire life.
He had never daydreamed before, and the dream felt way too real. It was as if he was Tal, himself.
Harry took a deep breath, trying to calm himself and not think about what had happened.
'I'll deal with it later.' he thought.
"Lumos," Harry called out. He did the movement exactly as he had done so when he had dreamt of being when being Tal.
"Wonderful, Mr. Potter," Flitwick said in amazement.
Harry looked at the tip of his wand, a bright light emitted from it, much to his surprise.
"Take five points for Gryffindor for such an incredible job and another five for doing the spell on your first try," Flitwick said cheerfully.
Harry heard people start to murmur as they stared at him.
"Alright, now that you are done with Lumos charm so early, how about you try the Knox charm? It is the same movement, but horizontally, and the pronunciation is Nox. The spell is the opposite of the Lumos, so your wand will stop glowing." Professor Flitwick explained.
Harry nodded and tried to the spell. This time, however, it didn't work.
"Adamant effort, but it's all right, try, and you'll get it correct in no time." Flitwick encouraged and went to help the other students.
"Hey, how'd you do it?" Harry turned to his left and saw Hermoine Granger.
"Uh, I just did what the Professor told me." Harry answered.
"Well, could you maybe help me?" She asked.
"Sure."
"Well, can you show me you were doing it normally?" Harry asked.
The girl nodded and showed him the spell.
"Lumos." She said.
The wand didn't change and remained the same at the tip.
"See?" The girl said frustrated.
Harry nodded and immediately noticed the problem.
"Your hands are moving to hastily, maybe try slowing down and also your intent isn't there, you're just moving your wand and saying some words, it's no different from moving a stick." Harry said.
"Oh, how exactly do I show intent?" Hermoine asked, not taking his words as an insult.
"Well think of casting a spell as asking magic to do something for you, your intent is what tells magic to do it, not your words or your movement, your intent could be imagination or thinking about sonething." Harry explained.
"Alright, but you seem pretty knowledgeable at this, I thought you said you lived with muggles?" She asked.
Harry remembered how he had told his fellow housemates how he lived with muggles last night when they had asked. He also remembered the look of surprise on their faces. But what he did not know was how he knew all this information.
"I don't know it comes, naturally, I guess?" He said, not sure of himself either.
"I see." The girl said quickly, getting back to doing the spell.
The rest of the class went quietly, and Harry was able to do the knox spell after quite some time, though it still amazed his Professor, who had awarded him five more points.
Now he had a break before his next class, which was Potions, and Harry had decided to spend the time in the library.
Harry sat in a corner of the large library. Luckily, the library was massive, and he had no one around him, so he could read in peace.
The book in his hands was the charms book, and he had decided to try and learn a few more spells if he could.
'I mean, if I am able to learn two spells in forty minutes, I could learn another one in an hour." He thought.
He opened the page with the next spell. The levitating charm.
"The incantation is Wingardium Leviosa. The eand movement is a swish and a flick." Harry read out loud.
Harry spent the next hour hour or so trying to do the spell. He had his wand out and was trying to levitate the charms book.
Obviously, he knew that it was against the rules, but hey, it was a simple spell, and nothing would go wrong.
Luckily, he was correct as by the fourthieth minute of his break, he was able to cast the spell and lift the book a few inches above the table.
Harry celebrated in his mind about his success and opened the next page.
"Quite impressive Mr. Potter." Harry turned around and he immediately stood up in surprise.
"Professor Dumbledore." He said in shock and worry.
"That would be me." The man said with a chuckle.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have used magic without assistance." Harry quickly apologised.
"It seems you know your mistake Mr. Potter, so you must understand when I have to take Ten points from Gryffindor for breaking the rules." Dumbledore said.
Harry looked down in shame and was about to apologise again.
"However I would also like to award you five points for such wonderful spellcraft." The man said with a grandfather like smile.
"Thank you Professor." Harry said with a small smile at the praise from the strongest wizard alive.
"I am simply telling the truth Mr. Potter, now may I ask why you are in the library, currently it is your break, isn't it?" He asked.
"Well, Ummm. I just wanted to learn a couple more spells before the next period." Harry answered.
"Ah! The thirst for knowledge. I remember doing something like this when I was your age, although I wasn't as lucky as you myself, my wand ended up exploding on my face if I remember." Dumbledore chuckled, while Harry grimaced at the thought of that happening to me.
"Well Mr. Potter I do admire your wish to learn, but learning and strength are not the only things in this world." Dumbledore looked at the boy with a strange look in his eyes.
"Yes Professor." Harry replied.
"Go outside Mr. Potter, make friends and enjoy your time here, strength will come with time, but your relations will only go away with it. Trust me Mr. Potter, I had to learn thatvthe hard way." Dumbledore said with wisdom, though Harry could feel sadness in the aged headmasters voice.
"Now enough my rambling Mr. Potter, how about you go and make friends then?" Harry nodded as he watched the man leave.