The Retelling by HG Forever9696
Summary: We all have read about the universe in which Harry befriends Ron and Hermione. But today we explore a universe a little bit different. In which a raven haired boy, deeply neglected meets a red haired girl, scorned by her own mother and a blonde, the freak of the society. Three kindred souls bond and set in motion something never seen before. Something that is only found in legends.
Rating: R
Categories: Pre-OotP, Alternate Universe
Characters: None
Genres: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Published: 2015.07.24
Updated: 2016.01.05
Index
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Author's Notes: Hello there! if you are an avid reader of Harry Potter fanfiction and a hardcore H/G fan, then you might might might have come across this story on ff.net. It was published here too for a short amount of time but then SIYE had an unfortunate reset which deleted my story. So I decided to take the time to make it better. Hence here it is. Hope you like the story Many thanks to Burning Bunny books, my beta Reader on ff.net who took her precious time to proof read this story.
Chapter 01
‘Why am I doing this, when I have a whole country to protect?’
Those were the thoughts of One Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, as he took an interview for the position of Divination Professor in Hogwarts. Then he remembered, Minerva had scoffed in quite a un-Minervaish way when the matter of filling the vacancy had come up in their annual meeting. She had mumbled something under her breath, which he was sure, was something disparaging regarding the presence of divination as a subject in Hogwarts. The meeting was tense enough. Not wanting to antagonize his deputy headmistress, he had volunteered to take the interviews himself.
Which led him to his current position, sitting in Hogshead, taking the interview of the fifteenth applicant, Sybil Trelawney, Granddaughter of some famous seer, who warned against the Second World War years ago. Well, there were many who have claimed to do that. At least half of the previous applicant had claimed to be the descendant of some famous seer who had given a big prophecy some hundreds of years ago. Well, Dumbledore was not taking the interview of their descendant, and as expected, none of them had come up to the mark on the evaluation for a Hogwarts Professor.
Dumbledore pinched his nose as he looked at the current applicant. Her big round glasses did give off the aura of those seers that come up in those muggle movies every so often. She would look perfect in an incensed filled room with a big crystal ball in front of her, as she would look owlishly at everyone who came in.
Controlling his mirth, as he imagined the scene, Dumbledore looked down at the papers in his hand and decided that he had interviewed her enough.
“Ms. Trelawney?” the phrase which was meant to be a statement turned into a question as he looked at the state of Sybil Trelawney. She had went rigid with her eyes as big as saucers. There was a frozen look in them, as if they were staring at something far beyond.
Dumbledore leaned in close, the shock that he was experiencing, evident in his eyes. If he was not wrong then these were the signs of an incoming Prophecy. The Prophecy could be anything, some incoherent babble to something crucial for the fates of million. He had to listen and listen attentively, for every word in it was important.
And the Prophecy was important too, as it foretold the coming of a vanquisher. Someone who will vanquish the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord was not specified. But there was no doubt in his mind. Fate always played a complex game, but rarely was it so, that a Prophecy given in a certain era and certain place wouldn’t pertain to that same place and era, unless it was specified in the Prophecy.
And no action of Fate was excessive. If the Prophecy was given to him, there must be a role he has to play. Yes, he must be the guide of this new hero, this new light of hope amidst this darkness. He must be chosen to train the next vanquisher. Those were the thoughts of Dumbledore on this matter.
“Professor, what just happened?” it looked like Sybil Trelawney had come out of the trance as she looked around the room confusedly.
“Ah, don’t you remember?” Dumbledore began pleasantly, his blue eyes twinkling as always in a delightful manner, as he peered over his half-moon glasses, “I was just congratulating you on being selected as the new divination Professor, when you passed out, with sheer happiness no doubt. Sometimes, happiness can be a tad bit overwhelming too.”
…………………………..
In a place far away from Hogwarts, inside a dimly lit room, sat Lord Voldemort. It was a huge room. On par with a hall, one would say. At one end, was a slightly elevated stage with an enormous chair in between. It was on this chair Lord Voldemort sat, with his pet snake, Nagini, by his side. As he slowly stroked the head of his snake, he pondered over his current achievements. Ministry of Magic was growing weaker by the day. His followers had infiltrated it to the very roots and were slowly rotting it from the inside. Despite Dumbledore’s best effort, he and his secret order were a mere hindrance in his way. An obstacle that he can overcome any day he wished to. Yes, his victory was all but assured.
A slow knock reverberated through the whole room. Voldemort turned his eyes towards the door unpleasantly. His follower knew well not to disturb him, unless he called them. The matter must be important.
“Enter,” the voice couldn’t be called that of a human. The hiss of a snake would induce less fear than this voice.
The door slowly opened to reveal a rather young recruit, Severus Snape, if he recalled the name correctly. The young man was ambitious, he would grant him that. Not afraid to sell his own mother, if the situation calls for it. A true Slytherin, in his opinion, even though he was a half blood. No, it was because he was a half blood. He knew better than to underestimate the half-bloods. After all, he was a half-blood himself.
“For what reason did you disturb me Severus?” The voice was charming. One wouldn’t say that the voice before and this voice could belong to the same person. The first voice would make chill run down your spine, would make you afraid of even moving from your spot, lest you die. But this voice, it was like a warm blanket that would surround you and soothe you. While he relished in the fear that he induced in other, these were people that he needed, at least for now, he would make them believe that they were safe with him.
Emboldened by this, Snape spoke courageously, “My Lord, I have brought grave news for you?”
“What news could it be that you consider grave for me?” Voldemort barely held back his laugh, he was on the verge of winning. None was strong enough to oppose him, and this young lad said he brought grave news for him? Could it be that either Crabbe or Goyle accidently died from overuse of magic while torturing some muggles? Honestly, he couldn’t imagine any other grave news in such a scenario.
“I overheard a prophecy entailing you and a vanquisher My Lord.”
Those words got Voldemort’s attention. He knew better than to discard a Prophecy. They were powerful words that entangled one like a fly caught in a spider’s web. One simply cannot escape the power of a true Prophecy.
“Tell me the exact Words,” Ordered Voldemort.
“My lord, I don’t know the complete wording, I was kicked out before I could hear it completely,” As compared to the beginning, Snape’s voice was shaking now.
Voldemort seethed inside. This incompetent fool couldn’t do one job completely. But he had to remain calm.
“I see, Tell me what you know,” the voice betrayed nothing of the emotions that he felt.
Snape proceeded to tell him the part of the Prophecy that he knew. The Prophecy was vague, too vague, in Voldemort’s opinion. He couldn’t discern the identity of his vanquisher from just this. There were two candidates in his mind. The Longbottom and the Potters.
“Who else heard this Prophecy?” was the question that Lord Voldemort asked.
“I believe Albus Dumbledore was present there too,”
“Dumbledore you say,” Voldemort said as a plan began to form inside his head. If he played it right, then not only would there be no vanquisher but Dumbledore would also be removed as an obstacle completely.
“Severus, it is rumoured among my circles that you were once smitten with that mudblood whore of potter?”
“Yes My Lord,”
“I see then I have a job for you.”
“Whatever you command My Lord, I shall do my utmost to fulfil it,”
“And you should, but first call Bella in. I have a job for her too.”
…………………………
Potter mansion, usually it would be ringing with the merriment of a newlywed couple with the laughter of a child mixed in. More than frequently, a friend of family, rather a close friend of family would drop by and the noise level would double, as if there were two children instead of one. But now it was silent, eerily so. As if no occupant was present. In reality, there was only one present. The other one being away (at) Diagon Alley with their child.
Lily Potter, the only current resident of Potter mansion was fuming. Her anger was evident in the way she was reading the ancient spell tomes present in their library. The library was an expansive one. Easily thousands of books were present in it. It could be counted as one of the biggest personal libraries in the whole Britain. Though, what set this library apart from others was not its hugeness, rather the ancient knowledge that was gathered. Some of the book s present could only be found here, with no other known copies in the world. Most of these rare books dealt with some powerful enchantments. If there was a rival to this ancient knowledge, it could only be the Black Family Library. As it happens, this ancient knowledge was the target of Lily Potter today.
The reason Lily was going through these huge Spell tomes like they were some thin books could be considered simple. Her family was in danger. As it stands, a maniacal Dark Lord, seeking power over the magical Britain and possibly the whole world could be coming after their family for a stupid Prophecy. Lily couldn’t believe it. The reason her family was in danger, was a stupid bloody Prophecy. She never put much stock in Divination. To think Dumbledore had gal to suggest that he take their child in for “training” against the dark lord over some prophecy? She was furious. But it was nothing to the anger shown by James. She was sure he would have hexed the old man at the spot for even suggesting such a thing, though she was able to control him. Good thing Sirius wasn’t there. The man was possessive enough of Harry, as if he was his own. She wasn’t sure she would be able to control both of them. She didn’t know where Dumbledore even got such a stupid idea. Harry was just a baby of one year old! No child deserves to have their childhood taken away over some prophecy. Especially not her own. That was the reason she was in the library, going over each of the old spell tomes, desperately looking for a way which would protect Harry from the Dark Lord. She wasn’t stupid. Just because she doesn’t put much stock in Divination, doesn’t mean that Voldemort would tolerate any threat to his power, even if it’s a one year old boy. Yes, she needed to protect their child.
Finally, it looked like hours of toiling had borne fruit as Lily found a powerful charm in one of the oldest books. At last
her plans could be brought to fruition.
……………………………
10 Years Later,
‘Why do I have to be stuck with pigs? Fat pigs at that?’
Those were the thoughts of one Harry James Potter as he angrily mowed the lawn. The subject of those thoughts were his family, or rather supposed family since they never treated him like one anyway. Indeed, Harry Potter was an outsider inside his own family. The reason? Only one that Harry could think of was that he was not the son of Dursleys, his family, rather they were his aunt and uncle, him being the son of Petunia Dursley’s sister. He was taken in by them when he was young, quite graciously, as he was reminded not so rarely. What was gracious about them taking him in? He didn’t know. He actually was borderline abused by them. More often than not, he would go to sleep without a full stomach, his room being a small cupboard under the stair, which could barely hold him. His clothes were too large and too ragged to be worn by a child of his stature. The Dursleys didn’t beat him, no, they were smart enough not to do that. Instead, they had given their precious Dudley free reign over his cousin. He could do whatever he pleases with him.
Like a Devil called Dudley appeared walking alongside with his gang of neighbourhood boys, all of them as fat and pudgy as Dudley.
“Harry, you want to play?” was the statement posed in form of a question as Dudley cracked his knuckles trying to look intimidating. To Harry, he only looked more pathetic.
Internally, Harry was groaning, Dudley had chosen the wrong time to appear. He had a lot of chores to do and no patience to spare on someone like Dudley.
“Bugger off Dudders, I am working,” Harry mumbled as he tried to concentrate on mowing the lawn, internally, he wanted to mow Dudley and his gang.
“What did you just say?” Dudley went full red in the face, he hated the name Dudders. He motioned for his gang to surround Harry.
Harry looked as the gang tried to surround him. Seriously, he wanted to send them all flying, but that would get him into a lot of trouble with his uncle, and he wanted to take mercy on his eardrums for now. Seeing no other option, Harry pushed the lawn mower onto one of the fat boys and sprinted. In no time, he had crossed the lawn and was on his way
to the nearby park.
“Look he is running, after him,” came a distant voice, Harry thought it might belong to Dudley, but he was too far ahead to be able to discern his voice. All those fat boys sounded the same to him anyway.
It didn’t take him long to cross the short distance between the park and the Privet Drive, and he was hidden behind his safe place. Even though Dudley knew that he would come to the park, he would never be able to find him in this place. Harry was confident in that.
Still, Harry was upset, not at Dudley and his gang, but at the precious time lost in trying to hide from Dudley and his gang. He would have liked to have some free time before Uncle Vernon came home, but that looked like a distinct possibility now. He really should have just sent the gang flying. It would have been well worth it. Even though his uncle would have screamed at him for not being able to control his freakishness.
‘Freakishness’, that’s what his aunt and uncle called his power. If he was freak, then at least he was not alone, that much he knew from the way his Aunt talked whenever his freakishness would occur. The slight mumbling under her breath, which she thought he wouldn’t be able to hear, after she had done rebuking him, was proof enough for him that he was not an only freak.
At the beginning, he couldn’t control this power of his. Something impossible would always happen when he was angry or scared. At first he didn’t think that he was the cause of these occurrences, his young childish mind just couldn’t process the thought of him being able to do something so outstanding. His Aunt and Uncle just needed a subject for them to vent out their frustration, that’s why they would scream at him. But, as the time passed, as Harry grew up, he couldn’t help but be suspicious of these unnatural occurrences around him. In the end, even Harry had to admit that he must be somehow causing this. What would be the next thought of a young child when he had made such a startling discovery?
‘Wouldn’t it be cool if I could somehow control this power?’ and that’s exactly what Harry had thought, and thus started his daily toil for controlling this power.
The progress was slow for him. At first, he had tried to mimic what he had unconsciously done in the past years, the latest incident being able to grow his hair overnight. He had sat on his bed at night, after he was sure that the Dursleys had fallen asleep, closing his eyes and willing himself to grow his hair. In the beginning, progress was non-existent. Even after three nights, he wasn’t able to make any changes to his hair. He was almost ready to give up, when an idea occurred to him. The incidents always occurred when he was feeling emotional. Maybe, his powers were somehow tied to his emotions. On the fourth night, he sat down and imagined the abuse that he had gone through at the Dursleys, he willed himself to feel the anger at their pathetic behaviour towards him. As his anger came, he didn’t stop it. He let it grow. And that’s when he noticed a slight tingling sensation within him. He couldn’t pinpoint the location just that it came from inside him. Not even realizing what he was doing he focused the tingling sensation towards his hair and behold, his hair had gotten an inch taller. The consequence was that he felt completely exhausted and fell asleep not a moment after. That was the first day in many years Harry had been late in preparing the breakfast.
Since then, Harry had progressed far in his control over his powers. No longer did he have to rely on feeling strong emotions for them to activate. All he need to do was focus and imagine the thing he wanted to do and it would be done. Though, he had to practice a lot before he was able to do new things comfortably.
The shouting of the fat boys had drawn really close as Harry was snapped out of his reverie. The gang was right in front of his hiding place and completely unaware of his presence. His hiding place was a particularly thick bush with a hole in the back. The hole was completely covered by nearby overgrown soft branches. Without close inspection, no one could find this place. Harry, too, had stumbled across this place by complete accident. His foot had caught on a rock once while running from the gang and he fell head first into the bush. That’s when he realized that it was hollow. Hollow enough for a person of his size to comfortably sit inside. Since then, Harry had taken special care of this place by
trimming and rearranging the branches in such a way that the bush would look complete.
The hiding place had served him well over the years. Even now Dudley and his gang were unable to find him. They had moved a bit further now, standing on the edge of some mud.
As Harry looked at them standing there trying to find him, a wicked idea formed in his mind. He closed his eyes and concentrated, imagining a force pushing Dudley into the mud. He was not disappointed as he heard the splash and a grin formed on his face. Though the boy behind Dudley was not able to appreciate the joke much. Dudley rounded on him as soon as he could get up.
The thought of causing a riot in Dudley’s gang amused him to no end but, he still had chores to do. With a heavy heart and silent footsteps, he came out of his hiding place and began walking back towards the Privet Drive.
……………………………………………
Weasleys were a happy family. Anyone who met them would say so. On the outside, Weasleys lived a blissful life even without money under the patriarchy of Arthur Weasley, the current head of Weasley family. Parents of two successful children, who were working abroad, and five more who looked to be as successful as the other two. But, like every other family, this was not the true face of Weasley family. The one who truly ruled over the family was Molly Weasley, wife of Arthur Weasley. While, Arthur was a reasonable man who could see reason if shown, his wife was the opposite. A controlling woman who couldn’t bear to see anything go against her wishes. In the Weasley household, her order was absolute. She was the reason the eldest two Weasley children had flown the nest as soon as they could and rarely show their faces around the Burrow. Out of the remaining four, none could be said to be exceptionally fond of their mother, except for maybe the youngest boy. Then again, the only thing on his mind was food.
Of the seven children that the Weasleys had raised, only one was a girl. Twin to the youngest, she was approaching eleven years of age. A girl with bright red hair, a shade darker than her brothers, and a face full of freckles, just like every other Weasley. She possessed a heart shaped face which was beginning to lose the baby fat and bright brown eyes which seemed to be full of life. Arthur completely adored his little daughter but, Molly was not very caring towards her. Though, the feelings of hostility were mutual. The little girl’s dream was to get out of the clutches of her mother as soon as she could. It was this girl that the fate had chosen to be one of three to bear the mark of greatness.
On this particular day, when the sun was kissing the horizon, a breeze with a touch of heat was blowing promising the advent of summer, the same young girl was busy furiously scrubbing the dishes.
“Ginevra! What are you doing?” Ginny rolled her eyes at that question. Anyone could see she was washing dishes.
Her mother bore down on her as she kept quiet, choosing to ignore her mother in favour of keeping her temper.
“What is this?” her mother said, her temper clearly visible in her voice, “Is this what you call cleaning?”
Ginny looked up to find her mother holding the plate that she just washed. On it was a little spot she missed. She couldn’t believe it! Her mother was scolding her for missing just a tiny spot of oil on a plate? What of dozens of plates that she washed before so perfectly?
“You cannot even wash dishes properly Ginevra! Do I have to do everything myself? By the time I was your age, I could do the whole house work better than my own mother.”
And so Molly Weasley went on and on. Ginny waited, not so patiently, for her to finish. It would only make her lecture longer if she interrupted her mother.
“I am sorry, I’ll do better next time,” said Ginny, not feeling sorry at all. And why would she? She had washed all the dishes perfectly bar one. Her mother had no right for being angry just like that.
Having washed all the dishes while Molly was rambling, Ginny left the kitchen, intent on going to her room and sleep. It was still early, but Ginny had no wish to spend any more time with her mother or anyone else for that matter. The only ones at home were her parents and Ron anyway. There was still a month left before her brothers returned from Hogwarts.
While going to her room she encountered her brother, Ron, in the parlour, who was still stuffing his face with biscuits even after he had five large helpings of dinner. He smirked at her, bits of food flying out of his mouth everywhere.
“Oh, can it Ronald,” She snapped at him, her annoyance increased by the food bits flying at her.
“Ginevra! Stop picking on your brother!” came the voice of Molly Weasley from the kitchen.
“Oh!” Ginny groaned in frustration and stomped upwards towards her room. Only when she was safely behind the closed door of her room and in her bed, did she let the tears fly.
‘Why? Why is this happening to me?” were the thoughts of Ginny Weasley as she cried herself to sleep.
……………………………………
The next day dawned bright and sunny. And with it, started Ginny’s toil once again. She was put to work from the morning, washing dishes, cleaning house, taking care of laundry. All along while berated by her mother. Her trial finally came to end around noon, when her mother left to do some grocery shopping. Seeing no reason to stick around and do chores when her mother was not around, Ginny left everything and went out for a walk.
It was a pleasant day. Neither too hot nor too cold. The heat of the summer was just beginning to creep into the sunlight. A few rogue clouds could be seen wandering in the sky. Feeling herself cheer up on seeing such a beautiful weather, Ginny began to hum to herself as she started walking towards the woods around her home. Her goal was the stream which flowed near the Burrow. In all her life, she had never seen the stream before and she wanted to rectify it as soon as possible.
A short trudge through the forest later, the stream was visible to Ginny. Feeling excited at the prospect of finally seeing it, she took large steps in order to cover the distance swiftly only to be stopped in her track.
What made Ginny stop was a girl, around her age with light blonde hair. The hair colour was so light that one could mistake them for white. Her skin was pale, milky without a hint of blemish. Her face was slightly on the longer side. All in all she could be considered pretty for her age.
Ginny watched the girl, fascinated, as she hummed to herself while kicking her feet lightly in water. Her face was slightly turned upwards with eyes closed. She looked so calm and serene in that state that Ginny couldn’t believe her to be human.
“You shouldn’t stand there like that, you know, you might become infested.”
Ginny blushed brightly at having been caught staring. She hesitated a little bit before coming out of the woods. It was her first time interacting with anyone outside of her family. Finding the stream to be shallow, she crossed it to where the girl was sitting.
Luna opened her eyes as Ginny approached her. She turned toward her. Her eyes were big and bright blue, Ginny noticed.
“Oh my!” Luna said softly as she laid her eyes on Ginny for the first time.
“What is it?” Ginny asked confused.
“You seem to be infested by humdingers,” Luna said, blinking owlishly at her.
“Uh, Humdingers?” Ginny was completely confused now.
“Yes, they get attached to people who are really sad,” Luna said nodding her head.
“Wha…,” Ginny couldn’t comprehend how Luna even knew that.
“Why don’t you sit down? Playing in water can really help getting rid of humdinger.” Luna turned her back and closed her eyes, her feet never stopped kicking the water.
“Okay,” Ginny said while sitting beside the seemingly odd girl. She took off her shoes and let her feet touch the cool water of the stream. She sighed at the good feeling.
“My name’s Luna, Luna Lovegood,” the girl said, her bright blue eyes staring at Ginny.
“Oh, Sorry!” her cheeks were tinged pink at having forgotten to introduce herself, “I am Ginny, Ginny Weasley.”
“Oh, I see Virginia,” Luna nodded her head.
Ginny gritted her teeth, “It’s not Virginia! It’s Ginevra, though I really hate it.”
“I see, Ginny it is then,” Luna answered, “Have you received your Hogwarts’ letter?”
“What? You are a witch Luna?” Ginny exclaimed.
“Of course Ginny! Isn’t it obvious?” Luna asked, her head tilted slightly to one side as her eyes stared at her.
“Huh? How can it be obvious if someone’s a witch?” Ginny asked once again completely confused. She wasn’t sure if she could follow many of Luna’s statement. The girl was odd, Ginny decided. No, she was completely off her knockers. She liked her.
“Never mind,” Luna answered shaking her head with a slight smile on her face.
“So, what are you doing here, Luna?” Ginny decided to keep the conversation going.
“Just washing away the humdingers, though most of them are gone now,” Luna answered.
“I see. So you were sad then?” Ginny asked. She thought that she could finally make some head and tails of the girl’s statement.
Luna didn’t answer, just nodded her head, her feet still kicking at the water.
A comfortable silence elapsed between the two afterwards. In that silence which followed this odd conversation, Ginny felt completely at ease with Luna. There was none of the tension that she usually felt with her family. She sensed, that with this quirky girl of her own age, she could be herself and she wouldn’t judge her. Just like her two eldest brothers.
On this day, when the weather was gradually transitioning from winter to summer. When new leaves were just beginning to sprout on the trees, a new friendship was born.
When more than a few silent moments had passed between the two girls, Luna turned her head towards Ginny, “Do you want to play in water?”
Ginny looked at Luna, a smile covering her face as she took in her new friends. She knew she was late and her mother would scold her for not completing the chores, but right now, spending time with Luna seemed to be much more fun. Any scolding her mother would give her, playing with her will be more than worth it.
“Why not! Let’s play,” was the answer that Ginny gave to Luna with a smile on her face.
…………………………………………
Summer was not really Harry’s favourite part of the year. It only meant more of the chores and more of Dudley’s abuses. Not to mention the heat was killing. But, this summer was turning out to be especially gruelling. His Aunt would just not leave him alone for a moment. No matter where he went, what he did, she was always watching him like a hawk. And the oddest thing was, he was not allowed to pick the mail anymore!
This looked very suspicious to Harry. Especially, when he knew that his Aunt wouldn’t do anything herself if he could do it. And, picking mail was something that he could definitely do. It was almost as if she didn’t want him to see something that would come in the mail. That only meant one thing, he had to see what was in the mail.
This task was an arduous one. His aunt was very vigilant in both keeping track of his moment and collecting the mail herself. Harry had no idea how to complete this humongous task. His only consolation was that, whatever was going to come in the mail hadn’t come yet or his Aunt would have stopped her monitoring.
A week passed in Harry’s attempt to gain access to the mail. He had tried standing near the door but his Aunt stopped him before he could pick it up, looking suspiciously at him while she picked up the mail. He had tried his best to look innocent. Afterwards, he had tried looking at the mail after his Aunt had gone through it to no avail. If there was anything there, his Aunt would have picked it up already.
Finally his chance came. He was working in the kitchen, scrubbing the dishes after breakfast. It was a Sunday so his Uncle was at home too, reading the newspaper while sitting in front of television. His Aunt was up doing God knows what. That’s when the mail came.
“Boy! Get the damn mail,” his Uncle shouted at him from the living room.
“Yes, Uncle Vernon!” Harry tried his best to mask the excitement in his voice as he carefully put the plate back. Trying not to look conspicuous, Harry made his way towards the front door and picked up the mail. He quickly went through the mail before his Uncle noticed what he was doing. There were the usual bills, some business letters for his uncle and an old looking envelope which was addressed to him. Harry quickly stuffed the letter in his shirt where it wouldn’t be visible and took the mail to his uncle. He noticed his approach as he took down the newspaper from in front of his face.
“About time boy, what were you doing?” his Uncle asked, his moustache twitching.
“Nothing, Uncle Vernon,” Harry answered quickly and returned to the kitchen to do the dishes. The day dragged on as he tried to do the chores and stay away from Dudley as much as he could. It looked like the time had stopped since the day wouldn’t end. Finally, it was time for dinner, and Harry was never gladder for the day to come to an end, and that was saying something.
All through the dinner, Harry tolerated the keen stare from his Aunt. He knew she would be suspicious of him, since he picked the mail today but, he tried his best to look normal as he ate his measly portion of the food. It was hard, controlling his excitement and appearing normal under his Aunt’s glare but, he somehow managed it. It was a distinct possibility that, the letter could be his portal away from the Dursleys and, he wasn’t about to botch what appeared to be one chance in centuries. So he sat there, barely keeping it together as his Aunt sent him more than frequent stares. As soon as the dinner was over, Harry got up and took the dishes to the kitchen. That’s when he finally took a sigh of relief.
“Try not to mess up those dishes, they are new.”
Harry almost jumped out of his skin at hearing the voice of his aunt but he managed to keep his sanity as he answered his Aunt.
“Yes, Aunt Petunia.”
His aunt gave him another keen stare before she finally retired for the night.
Harry wiped tiny beads of sweats from his forehead after his Aunt had gone. He couldn’t believe how nervous he was! Anymore of this, and he might even go into hyperventilation. Finishing his chores as fast as he could, Harry too retired for the night. He decided to wait for the Dursleys to sleep before he opened the letter. It was too risky and he couldn’t afford being caught before he had read the letter.
He tossed and turned in his crumpled mattress as he listened to the voices in the house. It was taking Dursleys forever to go to sleep. Even after they had gone to sleep, he lay there in his bed, still too afraid to open the letter.
Before long, the clock in the living room chimed midnight. Deeming it safe enough now, Harry got up and took out his letter. Not risking a light, not that he had any, he decided to rely on his powers. Focusing his power in his hand, he concentrated and, within a few moments there was a dimly lit ball of light in it. Lifting it in front of the letter, Harry let it dangle there as he studied the envelope. It looked kind of old. It was made of some yellow paper which was quite thick and there was a sealing made out of wax in front. It was a throwback to the Eighteenth century. Feeling a bit apprehensive, Harry opened the letter and started to read it.
The letter was, in simple terms, shocking. At first, he thought it was some kind of prank but then his Aunt’s behaviour came to mind and he disregarded the idea at once. It had to be a real deal. Besides it was way too elaborate to be a hoax. Not to mention, it explained a lot about him and his powers, or magic as it was called in the letter.
Now if he only knew what it meant by they were waiting for his owl, it would be perfect?
The problem was resolved the next day when he went out. There was an owl that sat there as he did the customary mowing of the lawn, staring at him the whole day. Thinking that’s what they meant in the letter, Harry wrote his reply in the night and discreetly gave the letter to the owl. The owl gave a soft hoot, took his letter in his beak and flew away.
Finally, finally, he could be free of the Dursleys.
……………………………………….
For Ginny, having a quiet lunch was a rare affair. Rare in the sense that her brother hadn’t done anything to her and her mother hadn’t scolded her yet. As it happened, today was one of those days when she could have a quiet lunch. She very much relished these moment and intended to do so today too, when they were interrupted by two owls.
One of the owls landed in front of Ron while, the other landed in front of Ginny. Considering the timing and that both her and Ron had received an owl together, she could reach only a single conclusion. Her Hogwarts letter had arrived.
“Oh my! Ron open it,” Molly seemed to be positively gushing as a silence descended on the dining table.
“But Mum, I am eating,” Ron’s word were almost incomprehensible with bits of food flying out of his overstuffed mouth.
The landing place of most of those scraps was Ginny, since she had the misfortune of sitting in front of him. Though, today it didn’t matter much since she was too busy opening her letter.
As expected she had been accepted into Hogwarts. Looking up at her mother, she found her to be busy opening her brother’s letter. Deciding that this was the perfect opportunity to slip out, she got up and was about to head out when she was interrupted by her mother.
“Ginevra, where are you going?” Her mother asked while eyeing her.
“I have eaten mother,” Ginny answered feeling chagrined.
“Then wash the dishes, also I see you have been accepted into Hogwarts too, better not waste your father’s hard earned money.”
“Yes mother,” was the answer as she returned to take the dishes and started washing them in a foul mood. Her mother
truly knew how to ruin her mood.
It took better part of an hour for her to get the dishes, and when it was done, she was out of the door before her mother
could assign her another task. She wanted to find Luna and relay the news to her.
The sky was overcast with clouds with a powerful breeze blowing. This seemed to put Ginny in a better mood as she continued her slink towards the stream. That’s where she usually met Luna after their first encounters nearly two months ago.
As she approached the stream, she spied Luna sitting on the bank in her usual manner, her feet dangling in the water as she hummed an unfamiliar tune to herself.
“Luna!” Ginny exclaimed as she rushed towards her friends.
Luna opened her eyes and smiled at her friend, “Hello Ginny, how are you today?”
“I am fine Luna,” Ginny answered as she plopped herself down beside Luna.
“I must say Ginny, I was not expecting you today. What brings you here today?” Luna asked facing Ginny.
“Do I really need a reason to visit my friend?” Ginny asked with a coy smile.
“Ah, I see, Congratulations on being accepted in Hogwarts,” was the answer from Luna.
“What? How did you know?” even after two months, Luna still managed to surprise her on every turn.
“Well, Ginny it is summer and your birthday will be soon and, as the letters are sent before your birthday, so it does make
a nice possibility that you received your letter today.” Luna explained.
“Well that does sound logical,” Ginny conceded.
“No matter, I am happy for you, you seem to be really interested in going to Hogwarts.”
“Yes,” Ginny nodded her head, “I cannot wait to go there.”
“I see,” Luna answered as she stared into the stream.
A few moments of silence followed that but, it was soon shattered by Luna’s voice.
“Ginny, can I ask a personal question?”
“Of course,” Ginny answered, “you can ask me anything.”
“Why don’t you like your family?” Luna asked in a soft voice.
Once again Luna had shown her amazing insight and the ability to read her. She always had shown an uncanny ability of wrangling out truths from her. It was quite marvellous actually. She would ask a question and then just sit there,
humming to herself, like she had never asked anything, like she was giving her a way out if she didn’t want to. In those two short months that Ginny had known her, she had grown to be her closest confidant.
Ginny shook her head wistfully as she began her tale of hate and despair. A tale of a hating mother and a despaired daughter. She told her everything, leaving not even a single aspect of her life. She told her of her condition in her own house. How she was treated as nothing but dirt by her own mother as her whole family watched. They did nothing to stop her and sometimes even joined in on the fun.
By the time the story was finished, Ginny was reduced to tears with her head on Luna’s shoulder, all the while repeating again and again.
“Why? Why is this happening to me?”
Luna cradled her head in her hands as she continued to cry. Her own eyes were brimming with tears, nonetheless, she continued to offer soothing words to her only friend in the world.
Finally, the crying subsided and Ginny lifted her head from Luna’s shoulder. Her eyes were puffy and completely red from crying for so long.
“Sorry,” Ginny mumbled as she rubbed her eyes with her sleeves.
“No need to apologize Ginny, I am here to help,” Luna answered while shaking her head.
“Thanks Luna, I really appreciate it,” Ginny managed a watery smile.
You know Ginny, I was nine when my mother died,” Luna began but was interrupted by Ginny.
“Luna, you don’t have to!” she exclaimed.
“But that’s the thing Ginny,” Luna answered taking her hands into her own, “I want to tell you, I want you to know everything about me. I don’t want there to be any secrets between us. You are my best and only friend Ginny, and if there is anyone whom I trust with everything it’s you. Besides, it’s not as sad as yours.”
“That depends on perspectives,” Ginny answered, signalling her to continue.
“After her death, my father immersed himself in his paper quibbler and I was left alone. We do spend time together but only then we talk about different creatures. It becomes really lonely having nobody to talk to, just chatting like anyone else……,”so Luna continued her tale of sadness, how even with her father with her she always felt so alone and how after meeting Ginny that feeling of loneliness was no longer there.
Ginny listened patiently to the blonde haired girl just like how she had done to her tale and vowed in her heart how she would never leave her alone.
And so the bond between the two girls grew stronger and stronger to the point where they didn’t hide their deepest darkest secret from each other and with each secret spilled, their trust in each other grew, till they could safely say that there was no one else in the world that they would trust more than each other.
And thus, a friendship was born, a friendship which would alter the course of destiny and guide the world for thousands of years to come!
And none of the three were any wiser to the part that they had to play in the grand scheme of things.
Really, how could they know?
………………………………………………..
Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Author's Notes: Here I return, with the second chapter. Umm, what do I say to waste time of people? Ugh Let's just forget it. Enjoy! If you feel amazed at lack of errors in story, then know this it is all thanks to my amazing (is there a word better than that?) Beta reader Burning Bunny Books. Really I should ask her to change her name. It's too long. And if you find any mistakes, then it's the fault of yours truly!
Chapter 02:
Two weeks had passed since that fateful night when Harry decided to trust the seemingly unbelievable letter and sent an owl to Hogwarts. After that, they had yet to get in touch with him.
As for the Dursleys, they hadn’t known any better. Still believing that he hadn’t received any letter, his Aunt Petunia had happily dyed some of Dudley’s old clothes grey, the uniform colour for Stone Wall High, the school that the Dursleys decided he would be going to this September. Little did they know, he would be attending Hogwarts next September. If it was real that is. There still was some doubt in his mind about the authenticity of the letter.
As Harry absentmindedly mopped the floor, he thought about how he would be getting the school supplies. He had no money. And the Dursleys sure wouldn’t be giving him any. He had no way of buying the uniform or the books that were mentioned in the letter. There could be scholarships offered at Hogwarts but he didn’t know. There was also the matter of the location of Hogwarts which he didn’t know. If he didn’t know where the school was, how was he supposed to get there?
Just then a loud knock, threatening to blow the door off his hinges, reverberated throughout the room.
“Those bloody salesmen,” Vernon could be heard muttering about the salesmen all the way through the living room, “Boy! Get the door.”
Not feeling like he wanted to have his uncle breathing down his neck over something as insignificant as a door knock, Harry made his way towards the door.
The scene that greeted Harry as he opened the door was quite the most astonishing one of his admittedly short life. It was a giant man, his girth completely filling the doorway through which even his uncle could pass easily. His height was more than the doorway. His face was completely covered with a bushy black beard through which his beetle black eyes were shining brightly.
“Hello, you must be young Harry,” the voice of the big man boomed throughout the house.
Harry was too shocked to process the information that this giant man knew who he was. He stood there, his mouth open, yet no words coming out.
Hearing the loud voice, Vernon came to the door to see what was going on. As soon as his eyes landed on the giant man towering over the doorway, his face went pale, his eyes bulging out of its sockets.
The giant man turned towards Vernon, his mouth opened as if to say something. But, before anything could come out, Vernon had slammed the door shut in his face. Turning towards Harry, he grabbed him from his hair, yanking him to the living room.
“Listen to me you little freak,” Vernon’s voice was nothing but a chilling whisper as he stood inches away from Harry, his face purple, contorted in anger and fear, filling Harry’s vision. “If I found you associating yourself with the likes of him…”
He never got to finish his sentence, as at that precise moment, a resounding crack was heard, and the giant man walked into the house, holding the cracked door like pieces of a broken china plate.
“Err, sorry about that,” the giant man said sheepishly, then his eyes took in the scene in front of him.
“DURSLEY,” Harry winced at the loudness of the voice, “Just what do you think you are doing?”
Vernon who was already deathly pale after seeing the giant walking in, holding the pieces of the door so nonchalantly, went even paler. He gave a loud squeak and started walking backwards, stumbling on the sofa, he fell on his back.
“D-d-don’t come near me you freak,” in all his life, Harry had never seen his uncle so afraid. The urge to snicker was getting uncontrollable.
“Vernon, what’s the problem?” It was his aunt, Petunia, who had just entered the living room, curious about the strange noises coming from there.
As her eyes took in the strange scene in the living room, she gave a loud shriek and fainted.
The giant man was looking around the room confusedly. On one hand, there was the man who was whimpering uncontrollably as he backed against the wall. On the other, there was the woman who fainted as soon as she saw him.
“Knew the Dursleys were bad people,” the giant man was mumbling to himself as he took stock of the situation.
“Um, I am sorry but who are you?” finally Harry couldn’t hold it in anymore. After seeing the reaction of his uncle, he was bursting with curiosity.
“How rude of me,” the giant exclaimed, “My name’s Hagrid. I am the Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts castle.”
The name Hogwarts caused a euphoric sensation to run through him, “Why are you here?”
“I am here to take you to buy your school supplies Harry,” the giant named Hagrid answered, “We should get going. It’s getting late.”
“Now listen here.” It looked like Vernon had finally gathered his wits. Just barely. “He won’t be doing any of this Hogwash business. He would be going to Stone Wall High like a perfectly normal kid.”
“Nonsense,” Hagrid waved his hand, accidentally dropping the door pieces on the floor, making Vernon jump like a cat, “Harry here has been registered at Hogwarts since his birth. He will be attending Hogwarts just like his parents did.”
Hagrid’s answer fell on deaf ears as Vernon had already fainted. Looking at the two unconscious people, he shrugged his massive shoulders.
“Let’s go then,” he turned towards the door.
“But I don’t have any money,” Harry protested.
“No need to worry about that,” Hagrid replied as he started walking out.
Shrugging his shoulders, Harry followed him outside.
The walk afterwards was one of the most bizarre of Harry’s life. It was a day of firsts for Harry. Hagrid didn’t seem to be much familiar with the things as he kept pointing out even the tiniest of things. As if he didn’t stand out enough due to his huge size.
They took the Tube to London. Harry had to pay for the tickets since Hagrid didn’t seem to understand the concept of Muggle money. He was ready to hand off the entire roll of pounds to the ticket clerk who looked like he was about to faint from seeing so much money at the same time.
After reaching London, Harry found himself in a crowded street with a strange run down building that people seemed to be avoiding. To his surprise, he found himself standing in front of it a few moments later.
“This, Harry, is Leaky Cauldron, the entrance to Diagon Alley, where you will be buying your supplies,” Hagrid said walking towards the building in shambles.
Harry’s eyes opened in disbelief as soon as he walked in. There were all sorts of people wearing weird clothes, chatting noisily. The business seemed to be thriving in here.
Hagrid walked up to the toothless barkeeper who smiled at Hagrid.
“Same as always Hagrid?” Tom asked.
Hagrid shook his head, “Not today Tom. I am here to escort young Harry here to buy his school supplies. He is starting this year.”
Tom peered down to where Harry was standing. For a moment he seemed to stare at him before his eyes went wide in shock.
“Could it be, you are Harry Potter?” his voice was loud, easily heard over the chatter in the whole pub. As soon as the word reached their ears, every head whipped around to see what the bartender was talking about. Strange murmurs started spreading as soon as their eyes landed on the scrawny boy standing there with the giant man.
Afterwards, it was a cacophony that enveloped Harry’s ears. His eyes swam with hordes of people coming to greet and shake his hand. The next couple of minutes were a blur to him.
Finally, Hagrid came to his rescue, pushing people away gently with his hands, “Alright, alright. That’s enough. Give the poor kid some breathing space.”
“You good there, Harry?” Hagrid asked brushing his clothes. At Harry’s nod, Hagrid gave a smile, “Okay, then let’s go.”
As they moved towards a door located on the opposite end, their path was blocked by a figure, wearing a huge turban.
“H-h-h-hello H-h-h-Hagrid,” the man stuttered.
“Oh Hello Professor Quirrel,” Hagrid said jovially, “Harry, he will be teaching you Defence against the Dark Arts.”
“N-not that y-you need it, eh P-p-potter,” Quirrel said limply shaking Harry’s hand, confusing Harry completely. Why wouldn’t he need the subject?
“Now Professor we must get going,” Hagrid said before Harry could ask something.
“O-o-o-of course, you must be in a hurry,” Quirrel answered motioning them forward.
Soon, they were standing in front of a brick wall. Hagrid took out an umbrella and started muttering to himself.
“Let’s see, which one was it again. Oh yeah, three up and two across,” with that Hagrid tapped a brick with the umbrella and the bricks melted away to reveal a beautiful scene.
“Welcome Harry, to Diagon Alley,” Hagrid said.
The world that Harry saw was one he couldn’t have imagined even in his wildest dreams. There were rows and rows of brightly coloured shops, filled with the weirdest things. There were eyes in the jar, hair hanging from the roof, strange liquid being sold and golden pots. An old woman was arguing over the price of liver. A shady looking man was holding something tightly while walking at a furious pace.
“Come on Harry, we need to get going. There’s a lot to buy,” Hagrid urged Harry forward.
As they moved further into alley, Harry’s eyes became wider as he stared at all the interesting things. In the end, they were standing in front a large white building in no time.
“Those are goblins Harry. Better be respectful to them,” Hagrid said, noticing Harry’s wide eyed stare at the strange creatures standing outside the bank.
The inside of the bank was as lush and luxurious as it exterior. There were rows and rows of desk on which the same strange creatures were sitting and doing business.
Hagrid approached one of the clerks who didn’t have any customer. The goblin looked up and gave Hagrid a cold stare.
“Yes?” The voice was as cold as the stare.
“We are here to get some money from Harry Potter’s vault and you-know-what in vault 713,” Hagrid answered cheerfully not noticing the goblin’s cold demeanour or maybe that was how the goblins treated everybody.
“I believe you have the appropriate items?” the goblin peered over the huge desk.
“Of course of course,” Hagrid nodded, “Here’s the letter from Professor Dumbledore,” Hagrid handed the goblin a letter who took it and began scrutinizing in earnest.
“Now where’s the key?” Hagrid continued, rummaging through his pockets and piling the things coming out of his pockets on the clerk’s desk who looked quite unhappy with the mess.
“Ah finally!” Hagrid exclaimed, pulling out a tiny golden key that he could barely hold between two fingers, “here you go.”
The goblin took the key and looked at it for a moment, “Griphook,” he shouted.
The next instant, a very identical looking goblin appeared beside the desk.
“Take Mr. Potter here to his Vault No. 687 and Vault 713,” the clerk goblin instructed to Griphook.
Griphook nodded to the clerk and turned towards Harry. Motioning with his finger to follow him he began walking to a set of doors located in the huge hall. As Harry crossed the door, he was surprised to find a dimly lit tunnel with tracks going down.
Griphook snapped his fingers and a cart came running. He got into the cart motioning for them to climb on. Harry immediately climbed inside while Hagrid did so reluctantly. The ride that followed was the most exhilarating experience for Harry.
All too soon for his liking the cart stopped in front of huge doors. Griphook climbed out and approached the doors. Pulling out the key that the clerk had given to him, he put it into the keyhole. At first, there were some rumbling sounds before the doors opened, blowing a cloud of dust.
Harry had lost count by now, of how many times his eyes had opened in disbelief during this short trip. There was a small mound of gold that was dazzling brilliantly in the light and all of this belonged to him. There would be no more starvation for him and none of Dudley’s oversized clothes.
“Time to get some money for your supplies Harry,” Hagrid said putting a handful of coins in a bag that he picked up from a corner.
“This should be enough to last you for a year Harry,” Hagrid said pushing the bag in the hands of a shocked Harry.
“All of this. This is mine?” Harry still hadn’t come out of the shock.
“Of course. Your parents left it for you,” Hagrid gave Harry a strange look and walked out of the vault.
“Now to Vault 713. Can we go a bit slow please?” Hagrid said getting into the cart.
“One speed only,” was the gruff reply from Griphook before the cart sped forward or rather downward.
The next vault was an exact replica of Harry’s vault, except that, instead of using a key, the goblin stroked the middle of the door with his long bony finger and it instantly melted away in a wall of dust.
The whole vault was empty except for a single podium made of stone, on which lay a bag. Hagrid quickly scooped it up and put it in his pocket.
“What was in that bag?” Harry asked curiously.
“Nothing Harry, nothing,” came the reply from Hagrid as he got into the cart.
The ride back was as exhilarating as the ride down. By the end of it Hagrid was looking more than a little green.
“Harry, why don’t you go to Madame Malkins,” Hagrid said, pointing to a shop ahead, “I think I need a stiff drink after that ride.”
“Alright,” Harry nodded his head slowly. Hagrid gave him a look before he took off in the direction of Leaky Cauldron.
Harry took a huge breath and let it out slowly. For now, he was alone in this new world. Steeling himself, he went inside the shop located just a few steps away.
A doorbell rang as he went inside the shop. It wasn’t a large shop but, it was filled with rows and rows of clothes. To one side, there were few stands where a young boy was getting measured by a middle aged lady.
Hearing the doorbell chime, the lady looked up. On seeing Harry standing there looking lost, she smiled.
“New to Hogwarts dear?” the voice was kind and warm. On Harry’s nod she continued, “Why don’t you stand
here. I will be with you shortly.”
Harry moved and stood at the place indicated. After measuring the boy, the woman moved away, leaving the two boys alone. At this time, the boy noticed Harry standing there.
“Are you starting this year?” the tone was superior as if he was looking down on Harry. The smirk on his face reminded him of bullies. “I am starting this year too. I am sure I’ll be sorted into Slytherin. That’s the only proper house, with proper tradition. All others are too lax on those half-bloods and Muggleborns, my father says. Are you one on them?”
Harry was saved from the effort of replying by the appearance of the old lady, who forcefully thrust the robes into the boy’s hand and gestured him to go out. The boy glared at the woman and stomped out of the shop.
“Don’t listen to the likes of him my dear,” the lady smiled, “Sorry for the delay, let’s get you fitted now, shall we?”
It didn’t take him long to be fitted in new robes and soon, he was walking out with a large bag full of new clothes and a radiant smile on his face.
“Hey Harry,” Hagrid called to him as soon as he walked out. Noticing Hagrid standing on one side Harry hurried to him. He was holding a cage with an owl in one hand.
“Got your robes?” Hagrid asked. At Harry’s nod, he stuck out the hand holding the owl, “Here, I bought a birthday gift for you.”
“Really?” Harry asked awed, as he tentatively took the cage. He examined the owl within. It was a beautiful owl with snowy white feathers and amber eyes, “It's so majestic.”
The owl hooted softly as if approving Harry’s choice of word.
“It’s a female owl Harry,” Hagrid chuckled, “Now let’s get on with your shopping.”
Their next shop was Flourish and Blotts, a book shop. This shop, like Madame Malkin’s was an average one, with rows and rows of books. Each shelf held a different category of book.
Taking out the list, Hagrid went inside and within a few minutes had grabbed all of the books that were required. Harry wanted to buy more but Hagrid stopped him, insisting that these books would suffice for him now.
After buying the books, the next thing on the list was a cauldron. Here too, Hagrid had to restrain Harry, who wanted to buy a gold one, saying that the list specifies a pewter cauldron. While buying a cauldron, they also stocked up on the necessary supplies for potion making.
In the end, the only thing left to buy was a wand for Harry. According to Hagrid, there was only one shop in whole Diagon Alley who sold wands.
“Here we are Harry,” Hagrid smiled from under his beard, “Ollivanders. The finest wand makers in the whole of Britain.”
Harry wasn’t sure about the finest part. The whole shop had an aura of mystery to it. Unlike all the brightly coloured shops of Diagon Alley, it was a rather dull. Even then, it could be noticed from the end of the Alley.
Entering the shop, the feeling of unease only intensified for Harry. It was almost as if he could feel the magic hanging in the air, calling out to him, infusing in his very being.
He raised one hand to ring the bell, when he found himself staring into two big, grey eyes. Startled, Harry took a step back.
“Ah, Mr. Potter,” the voice was deep and as mysterious as the shop, “I was expecting you.”
“Hello Mr. Ollivander,” despite Harry’s state of shock, Hagrid seemed at ease, “We are here for Harry’s wand.”
“Ah, Hello Hagrid,” the man named Ollivander looked away from Harry, “Oak Sixteen inches, malleable. A fine wand. It’s a shame they broke it. Though, I hope you aren't using its pieces?” the voice had turned stern by the end.
“Err, no of course not,” Hagrid pulled his coat tighter around himself, looking uncomfortable.
“That’s good, that’s good,” Ollivander seemed mollified by the answer, “Now, Mr. Potter needs a wand eh?” he turned towards Harry again, “Of course he does. Now which is your wand hand my dear boy?”
“Err, I am right handed...” Harry answered hesitantly.
“Alright then, stick out your hand for me.” Ollivander asked.
Harry did as he was asked by Ollivander who took a tape in his and hand and started measuring.
“That’s enough,” Ollivander said after a short while, carrying a box. It was then that Harry realized the tape
was measuring his arm itself.
“Why don’t you try this one? Maple, twelve inches, with a core of unicorn hair,” Ollivander opened the box.
Harry slowly grabbed the wand but, before he could even retract his hand, the wand was snatched out of it.
“No, no, no, that won’t do,” Ollivander shook his head, “How about this one, fourteen inches, yew with dragon heartstring.”
But once again, the wand was snatched before he could do anything. This show continued on for at least half an hour. By the end of it, Harry was getting quite frustrated.
“A tricky customer eh?” Ollivander sounded suspiciously excited, “Not to worry, Mr. Potter. I have sold hundreds of wands and there has yet to be a wizard or witch whose match I have not found. Of course it is actually the wand which chooses its owner,” Ollivander seemed lost in his own world.
“I wonder,” Ollivander had gone back to his mysterious self, “Yes that might be it.” And with that the old shop keeper disappeared in the back of his shop.
Harry didn’t have to wait long as the wand maker reappeared almost immediately, carrying a long red box.
“Here. Holly, eleven and a half inches, with a Phoenix feather core,” the voice of the old wand maker was dripping with awe.
As soon as Harry laid his eyes on the wand, he felt himself drawn towards it. It was like the wand was
beckoning him. Without even realizing it, he had stretched out his hand. Like in slow motion, he felt himself slowly grasping the wand. As soon as his hand closed around it, he was washed over by a strange warm sensation. Lifting the wand, he waved it around and, out of its tip flew bright sparks that filled the whole room.
“Bravo,” Ollivander clapped his hand jovially, “Though it is quite strange.”
Even though Harry had a bad feeling about this, he couldn’t stop himself, “What is so strange?”
“You see,” Ollivander began in his mysterious way, “The Phoenix who gave the feather for this wand
happened to give just another one. And that wand, yes Mr. Potter, gave you that scar,” he had lifted the bang that covered Harry’s scar and traced it slowly with a finger.
“That would be seven Galleons,” the change was so abrupt that it left Harry hanging for a moment.
Snapping out of his daze, he took out the appropriate amount of money and placed it on the shelf before walking out of the shop.
“What was all that about?” Harry asked Hagrid as soon as they were out of shop.
“It’s just old Ollivander,” Hagrid said jovially, “he likes to mess with people.”
“Not that,” Harry shook his head, “I meant the last part. What did he meant by that a wand gave me a scar. For that matter, why were all those people flocking to meet me?”
“You mean you don’t know?” Hagrid asked astonished.
“Know what?” the frustration at the situation was beginning to show in his voice.
“You mean, the Dursleys never told you?” Hagrid still was in surprised state.
“Tell me what?” Harry asked again.
“I never imagined Harry Potter himself wouldn’t know,” Hagrid mumbled scratching his beard, “This would be
difficult.”
“What are you saying? I can’t hear you,” Harry strained his ears.
“Nothing. Look it’s almost lunch time. Why don’t we eat and I’ll tell you what you want to know,” Hagrid suggested.
“Finally,” Harry sighed.
Their next stop was Leaky Cauldron, which seemed to be buzzing with people almost as much as before if not more.
“Hey Tom,” Hagrid said leaning over the counter. The counter seemed to groan under the weight and for a moment Harry was worried that it might break under the stress, but thankfully it held, “Can we get a private room for lunch?”
“Of course,” Tom smiled knowingly, “wouldn’t want others to disturb you. I imagine you already would have enough of that. Come this way.”
Tom led them to a small room situated to one side. It had one table and a few chairs in it.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes to take your order,” Tom smiled and left them.
Sitting down on the table, Harry picked up the menu. Seeing the name of all these delicious dishes made him remember that he didn’t have a hearty breakfast at all. Feeling the weight of the coin’s bag, he was sure he could eat his fill for once.
“Have you decided on your orders?” Tom had reappeared. For some strange reason, the bar keeper himself was waiting instead of sending one of the guys working here that Harry had seen. He was sure it had to do something with why he was so famous.
After placing the order, Harry bombarded Hagrid with questions about the wizarding world, who tried to answer as best as he can. This series of question continued well into the lunch.
It was only when the lunch was entering its final phase did Harry ask the question that was on his mind.
“So Hagrid,” Harry began, “You promised to tell me about the reaction of these people.”
“Well, err, that’s because you are famous Harry,” Hagrid answered uncomfortably.
Harry rolled his eyes, “Even I can figure that part out Hagrid. I am asking, why am I famous?”
“That’s a bit hard to explain,” Hagrid said, “You see, you vanquished a great evil when you were one year old.”
“A bit more detail Hagrid please?” Harry asked impatiently.
“Alright alright,” Hagrid waved his hand in air, “Not long ago, there was an evil wizard He-Who-Must-Not-Be-
Named. He wanted to get rid of all Muggleborns and half-bloods because they weren’t pure. He brought with himself a reign of darkness and terror. People feared him and his servants, the Death Eaters. None who crossed their path ever lived. He would have taken over the whole of Britain if it wasn’t for one man, Albus Dumbledore. He and his organization, they were the only thing that stood in front of You-Know-Who.”
Hagrid took a break to take a sip from his large tankard, “Your parents, Lily and James Potter, they were a part of the fight against him. Great people they were. You-Know-Who tried to recruit them several times but each time; they refused. I guess he got tired and wanted to remove them from his way but, one day, he showed up at the Potters residence. Lily and James, they tried to put up a fight against him, but they were no match for his power and cruelty. I don’t why, but after that he tried to kill their baby. Maybe he wanted to make a clean job of it. And then, something unusual happened. He vanished. An act that none of the great families, Bones, Prewetts, McKinnons or even Albus Dumbledore could do, a one year old did it. That’s why you are famous Harry. That’s why you are the Boy-Who-Lived.”
“B-But I was only a one year old,” that was the only thing the shock-riddled brain of Harry Potter could manage.
Hagrid shook his head, “That’s the mysterious part. No one knows what happened. He just vanished. Some says he is dead. I reckon there wasn’t enough human left in him to die.”
“So you are saying he is still around?” Harry questioned.
“I guess. At least that’s what Professor Dumbledore thinks,” Hagrid answered.
“Are you finished sir?” Tom took that moment to interrupt, “I am here with your bill.”
After paying the bill Hagrid stood up, “Alright Harry, time to take you back to your relatives.”
Hearing that, Harry became alarmed. He absolutely wanted to avoid the Dursleys now that he was here.
“Why don’t you go ahead Hagrid, I can go myself,” Harry answered.
“What are you saying Harry?” Hagrid sounded worried, “It’s my job to get you back. I don’t want something to happen to you.”
Despite the situation, a smile broke out on Harry’s face. This was the first time that someone showed him real concern, “Really Hagrid, I’ll be fine. You attract too much attention in the Muggle world with your large size. Besides don’t you have that package to deliver?”
“You are right Harry. I should take it as soon as I can to Hogwarts,” Hagrid opened the door to the main hall and walked out, “Come on I’ll at least see you to the exit.”
Together, they walked out of Leaky Cauldron where Hagrid stood for a moment, “You sure Harry, you will be alright alone?”
“I am positive Hagrid,” Harry answered, “I’ll be off now. See you later.”
“Goodbye Harry.”
With that Harry started walking. He kept on till Hagrid became a distinct blur. The streets of London were busy no matter the hour so, it wasn’t that far ahead. He kept wandering the street for a few more minutes making sure that Hagrid had enough time to return. When he was completely sure, he returned to Leaky Cauldron.
After the lunch hour, the crowd in the Leaky Cauldron had thinned a bit. Still there were too many to suit Harry’s taste. Ducking his head, he made his way to the counter where Tom was busy with a ledger.
“Um, I would like to rent a room.” Harry spoke, trying his best to hide his nervousness.
Tom looked up from his work. Seeing Harry there a look of surprise crossed his face, “Mr Potter!” he exclaimed albeit in a low voice, “You asked for a room? Why would you require a room alone? Don’t you have guardians to return to?”
Harry cleared his throat, “They aren’t in the country at the moment and it would be too much of a hassle to return to their home now. I don’t want to bother them too much,” it was the best thing Harry could come up with on the spot.
“If you say so Mr. Potter. It isn’t our policy to pry in our customer’s business more than needed,” Tom replied with a grin, “Here’s the key to your room. Do you need any help with your luggage?”
“No I think I can manage,” Harry too smiled taking the key from Tom.
Dragging his trunk up the stairs, he dumped it to the side of his bed in room while he himself plopped down on the said bed. Now that he had successfully evaded going to the Dursleys for the next month, next thing on the list was how to spend his time here.
Harry guessed he could read his course books and get a head start on the year. Now that there were no Dursleys to pressure on him, he could finally work at his best. But right now, the thing that intrigued him the most was the wizarding world. It was just so fascinating. Everything looked so different from what he was used to. It was like he was transported to a different era completely. The culture looked different, the currency was different. Even how people travelled seemed different. There was just so much that he wanted to learn. Though, for now he was tired and the learning had to wait.
In the evening, Harry got up and locked his room. Going to the back door, where the entrance to the Diagon Alley was located, he tapped the appropriate brick and he entered the Diagon Alley for the second time in that day.
Unlike the first time, he had only one stop to make this time. That was Flourish and Blotts. It wasn’t hard to remember where the bookstore was located. Harry had gawked enough at every shop that there was a whole map of Diagon Alley etched in his mind already.
Entering the shop, he made his way to the Wizarding Customs and Tradition section. This turned out to be a mistake. Almost every title suggested a dull and boring read. Grimacing, Harry picked up a few books which looked to be mildly interesting. He was about to make his way to the counter to pay for them when a book in a corner caught his eye. It was a book on wizarding noble families. Finding the topic fascinating, Harry added it to his collection and went to the counter.
After paying for the books, Harry straight went to Leaky Cauldron and in his room. Sitting down in the chair, Harry opened the book on the noble families and started reading it. In the beginning was a list of the noble families currently present in Great Britain. That was where Harry had his second set of shocks today. The name ‘Potter’ was written among a few others. The first thought that came to his mind was why was his family name written there?
So Harry started reading the book in earnest. The more he read, more he was surprised. The noble families possessed a kind of royal stature in the wizarding world. They possessed certain rights and leeway.
Moreover the Wizengamot, wizarding parliament of sorts, was almost exclusively made up of noble families and their side families. It truly was like a throwback to an old era. Another interesting titbit about the noble families was the ownership of family vaults in Gringotts, a vault used to store family heirloom and main family treasury. Harry certainly didn’t remember seeing any kind of heirlooms. Also, the goblin specifically said his trust vault. This just meant he had another visit to Gringotts and probably another vault to see.
All that though was for tomorrow. Now he had to eat something. Reading through this almost dull book had left Harry famished. It was just a dreadful reminder that it was going to be hell reading those books.
Stretching, Harry got up and made his way down. Dinner was a pleasant affair for Harry, who hadn’t had two consecutive full meals in, well, forever. After dinner, he decided to do some reading on his courses. Coming up empty on any kind of preference that he might have had, Harry randomly grabbed a book, which turned out to be Transfiguration. Shrugging his shoulders, Harry sat down and started reading it.
The next day started much later than usual for Harry. The Transfiguration book had turned out to be more interesting than Harry’s initial assessment. So much so, that he had finished the first chapter completely. At first, he was slightly upset at having no match stick to practice with but, a bright idea had struck him. He had made his way downstairs and asked Tom for some. At first, Tom looked a bit surprised but then he had smiled and given Harry a couple of boxes.
“Practicing Transfiguration eh? Mr. Potter. Believe me, you will need it. Professor McGonagall’s a strict teacher,” those were his words as he handed him the boxes.
Harry had nodded at the old barkeeper’s words and ran back to his room. He had practiced till late at night and had then fallen on the bed in exhaustion, wearing the same clothes that he had previously.
Shaking his head, Harry snapped out of his musing and starting preparing for the day. Today he had the visit to his possible family vault on the list. Taking out his clothes, Harry gave them a critical once over. Even though he now owned several pairs of new robes, sadly all he had in Muggle clothes were his cousin’s old cast off too big for his frames. Vowing to find some time to buy new clothes, he dressed up in his best pair of jeans and shirt and made his way down.
The Leaky Cauldron was brimming with activity like yesterday. Harry ordered his breakfast and sat on an out of the way table. Many people looked at him strangely for being a lone kid eating all by himself, but Harry paid them no mind. He had kind of understood that if he wanted to survive in Wizarding World, he had to tolerate these stares.
Finishing his food, Harry paid the bill and made his way out in Diagon Alley. Today, his destination was Gringotts. Being the only Wizarding bank, it was located at a prominent and easy to access place which Harry reached quite easily. Entering the bank, Harry felt a bit nervous. What if his family had no family vault? What if he made a fool out of himself?
Questions like these were circling in his head but Harry shook them off fiercely. He was here now. Might as well get it over with. He looked around the bank trying to spot a free clerk. Finding one, Harry quickly made his over.
The clerk had, like others, his head bent over the table reading something. Harry cleared his throat to get his attention. The goblin looked up from his table as if being interrupted was the last thing he wanted.
“Yes?” the displeasure was prominent in his voice.
“Um, I am here to discuss about Potter Family Vault,” Harry said nervously.”
The goblin gave Harry a once over, “And you are?”
“Potter, Harry Potter.”
The goblin nodded his head and motioned for another goblin to come closer.
“Take Mr. Potter here to his accounts manager,” the clerk said authoritatively.
The goblin nodded and motioned for Harry to follow him.
The room that they entered next was even more lavishly furnished than the main hall.
“If you will wait here Mr. Potter, you accounts manager would be with you shortly,” the goblin said and disappeared down another door.
Harry didn’t have to wait for long. Only a few moments later, a goblin dressed in an expensive suit entered in the office.
“Welcome Mr. Potter. My name’s Gornhuk. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” the goblin look more mild-mannered than the other goblins Harry had encountered so far.
“Um, hello,” Harry was feeling distinctly out of place in his jeans and t-shirt, standing in such a beautifully decorated office and in front of such well-dressed goblin.
“I was told, Mr. Potter, that you wanted to discuss some matter related to your family vault,” Gornhuk went straight to business as soon as he sat down.
“Yes,” Harry tried to compose himself, “The first thing I wanted to ask was, why I wasn’t notified of my inheritance before today? Isn’t it the duty of the bank to handle such a matter?”
The goblin smiled for a moment, “Mr. Potter, it looks like you still have a lot to learn about the wizarding world. It is the policy of Gringotts to leave such matters up to concerned parties.”
“But what if the original party dies without notifying the other party beforehand?” Harry questioned.
“There is no such special circumstances mentioned in the bylaws,” Gornhuk answered, “So the policy remains the same.”
“But that’s ridiculous,” Harry exclaimed. He couldn’t believe his ears, “That could mean that a person might never get his inheritance if someone died in an accident. There could be something important.”
“Mr. Potter,” the goblin smiled, “A policy is a policy, whether it is ridiculous or outstanding. We have to follow it. If, hypothetically speaking, the dying party did want to give something really important to the receiving party, then he should have made sure that it reaches him in case anything happens to him.”
Harry just shook his head. There was no point in arguing with the goblin, “Can I visit my Family Vault?” he asked.
“Of course Mr. Potter,” Gornhuk stood up, “Come, I’ll escort you myself.”
Harry expected to return to the main hall and then enter the tunnels the below but, he was surprised to find that the tunnels were directly linked to the manager’s office.
This time, the cart ride was much longer. Harry guessed there were going into the older parts of the tunnel. After a while, the cart stopped in front of a huge gate that looked ancient. Gornhuk was the first one to get out the cart, dusting his suit. Harry followed suit, not soon after.
“Now, Mr. Potter,” Gornhuk turned towards him, “you just need to place your hand there,” he pointed towards a hand impression on the door, “and the door will open.”
Harry nodded his head and stepped forward. He placed his hand the on the place and waited.
Suddenly there was an intense prickling sensation, “Ouch!” Harry exclaimed, retracting his hand, “What was that?” he looked at his hand. There was blood flowing from his palm but, within moments it was gone.
“These Vaults are protected by strong blood wards,” Gornhuk explained, “Only a person with the right blood can enter.”
Right then, there was a sound of gears grinding. Harry turned around only to find himself in front of an amazing sight. If he thought his trust vault was huge, then he had no words to describe his family vault. And there wasn’t just gold in it. There were all sorts of jewellery, paintings, book shelves and other things that Harry couldn’t see.
“Um, Gornhuk, can you tell me just how much I own?” Harry asked with wonder.
“I thought you might ask that,” the goblin replied with a toothy grin as he fished out a couple rolls of parchment out from his pocket, “there entail all the assets, whether monetary or non-monetary, belonging to the Potters.”
Harry’s eyes glazed over as he looked at the parchment. There were some huge numbers written there. Of course, he had no idea about the working of wizarding economy but guessing from the cost of his school supplies, he had to be filthy rich. Though, Harry had to admit that was a lousy base.
As Harry stood there, having no idea what to do, his eyes were caught by a podium, standing elegantly to one side. He approached the podium, only to find there was a single letter on it, addressed to him. Deciding, he would read it later, he put it in his pocket.
“Alright Gornhuk let’s go,” Harry turned towards the goblin who was standing outside of the vault.
In a short while, they were once again sitting in Gornhuk’s office.
“So Mr. Potter, Is there anything else that I might help you with?”
“No, that would be all,” Harry said standing up when he remembered something, “Gornhuk. It is such a hassle to come to Gringotts again and again. Is there a way, I can access my money without having to come here?”
“You could employ our infinity bag services Mr. Potter,” the goblin answered pleasantly.
“Infinity bag services?” Harry questioned.
“Yes, Mr. Potter, as the name suggests, it is a bag with an infinity charm cast on it to help when large amount is to be procured through it. It is directly linked to the user’s vault. All you have to do is think about the money that you need. If the amount of money is present in your vault it will appear in your bag. Of course it is fool proof. Only the user has the right to access it. Although it is more than a bit expensive.”
“I don’t think money is a problem Gornhuk. Also do you deal in Wizarding to Muggle money conversion?”
“Of course Mr. Potter, we deal in all kind of Muggle currencies. We have dealings with all the major Muggle banks to help meet our client’s wishes. Of course a reasonable exchange tax is also applied on transaction.” Gornhuk seemed to have gone into his business mood.
“What’s the exchange rate?” Harry asked
“Currently,” Gornhuk opened one of the many drawers on his desk and took out some papers. This was the first time Harry had seen papers in wizarding world. Gornhuk flipped through them for a while, “Ah, yes. It is roughly Five pounds to a galleon with an exchange tax of one galleon per hundred galleon transaction.”
“And the pouch?”
“Infinity pouch service costs twenty galleons per month. Transaction limit is ten thousand galleons. If it exceeds that amount then ten galleons are charge for every thousand galleons of transaction.
“Isn’t that a bit too much?” Harry questioned.
“I already told you Mr. Potter. Infinity pouch services are expensive. It is understandable if you don’t want it now,” Gornhuk answered placing the papers back.
“No,” Harry shook his head, “Please link one to my accounts.”
“Of course Mr. Potter. Please sign on this document and the infinity pouch would be yours,” Gornhuk placed a parchment in front of him.
Signing the document, Harry returned the document to Gornhuk whose eyes showed a strange light for a moment. He rang a bell and a goblin carrying a pouch entered the office.
“Here is your pouch Mr. Potter,” the goblin stretched out his hands towards Harry who took it and stuffed it in his pocket.
“Is there anything else Mr. Potter?” Gornhuk asked.
“No this is everything,” Harry smiled and stood up.
“If you say so Mr. Potter,” the goblin too stood up, “I must say it was a pleasure doing business with you.”
“I feel the same,” Harry smiled not really feeling the same. Honestly, he found the whole bank ridiculous. Their policies were strange and their rates too high.
Returning to his room, the first thing he did was open the letter that was addressed to him. As he expected, it was from his parents. The envelope included a copy of their will and a letter.
Firstly, he decided to read the will. Beside Harry, four other people were mentioned in their will. Harry guessed they all, too, were dead. It was after that, that Harry received his most recent set of shock.
Next he took the letter that was written by his parents. He did read the letter in a short while but, it took him much longer to process everything that was written in it. The information that the letter contained was just too mind boggling. Why Voldemort attacked them. His supposed destiny. The manipulations by Albus Dumbledore. It was all written in the letter.
It took him a long time to digest what he read, but when he did, the first emotion that bloomed inside him was anger. Not a raging inferno but a boiling, calm, magma that would wait its chance and then destroy everything in its path.
Revenge. That was the only thing on the mind of eleven year old Harry Potter, as his life with the Dursleys flashed in front of his eyes. All of them would pay. Dumbledore, Voldemort. None would be spared when the time came. Till then, he had a lot to learn.
……………………………………..
Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Author's Notes: Annd, I am back again and I think I am once again without a beta. I just have seriously bad luck in that department. Hopefully I'll find another one soon before my faithful readers find me and murder me on the charge of being too late to put up the chapter (hint, hint). So yeah, to keep on your guys good side, I am gonna beat a hasty retreat and let you get on with the chapter.
Chapter 03
Harry Potter was going through the dilemma of his life. He didn’t know what had possessed him to make such a rash decision. His eyes glazed over as he looked at the huge bookshelves, at least to him right now. How was he supposed to train when he didn’t even know where to start. There were charms, hexes, jinxes, curses and each of them of several hundred different types at least. Now which would help him defeat a dark lord and a manipulative old man, he didn’t know.
After staring at the bookshelves for what was like eternity, Harry couldn’t take it anymore and started piling books whichever came in his sight in the carriage. He had the money, he might as well use it.
As Harry was busy blindly pulling books, a young girl no older than Harry’s age came to him. She had ginger hair and her front teeth were sticking out. Harry took no notice of the girl as she came and stood beside him, so engrossed was he in his task.
“Hello,” the girl suddenly spoke making Harry jump in fright. He whirled around in panic and came face to face with the girl. His first thought on seeing the girl was ‘rabbit.’
“Hello,” Harry replied deciding to hide his less than savoury thought. He had a suspicion that the girl wouldn’t appreciate the direction of his thoughts.
“What are you doing with so many books?” the girl asked. Curiosity was dripping from every word she spoke.
“Err, buying them to read?” Harry said slowly. He thought it was fairly obvious that was the reason one comes to a bookshop.
“These books?” the girl pointed towards his carriage.
“Yes,” Harry answered. He was beginning to think that the girl was retarded. Of course he was buying books that he put in his carriage!
“But they are on advanced topics!” the girl exclaimed, “You cannot possibly be good enough to read them. Even I would have trouble understanding them.” She sniffed as she gave him a once over. Obviously put off by his ragged appearance.
“Huh?” Harry involuntarily let out. Just what was the problem with this girl, he couldn’t understand,
“Look Miss, whether I am good enough to read them or not is none of your concern.”
“Of course it is,” The girl replied haughtily, “I don’t think you are old enough to read Hogwarts first year syllabus.”
The girl was starting to get on his nerves. Indeed he looked shorted for his age but so what? She shouldn’t say things like that just because he looked shorted and wear clothes a bit large for him,
“Just get lost,” his voice was harsh as he replied. He was bullied enough in Dursleys home. He wasn’t going to take it here.
The girl’s eyes widened in shock at Harry’s tone. For a moment Harry thought she was going to cry but it was gone so fast, he thought he imagined it, replaced by a look of anger, “That’s just what you get for trying to help people.”
“No one asked for your help,” Harry retorted as he returned to piling books not bothering to see whether the girl left or not.
He heard a huff from his side and then stomping feet. Finally, he could breathe easily. He thought he might have been a bit harsh on the girl. How many eleven years would someone see in this section? But Harry just shook his head. He hadn’t liked the girl’s tone. She was bossy and arrogant. He was no expert on making friends, far from it, he didn’t have any friends ever. Even then he knew that this was no way of going around making some.
Harry just shrugged his shoulders. It wasn’t like he could understand that girl’s thought process. Even then one thing he knew for sure. Harry thought as he put one more book in the carriage. He was going to learn everything in these books. Even if just to spite that girl.
Harry gave a determined nod at that. Taking his book laden carriage he took it to the counter. The girl was there paying for her books. Hearing the creaks of a completely filled carriage, she turned back. On seeing Harry there, her face took a sour look as she huffed and paid for her books as quickly as possible before walking out of the store.
Harry paid the girl no mind as he placed the books in front of the shocked clerk who looked like his eyes would bulge out due to their sheer number. Though, the shock didn’t last long, as his mind began processing the hefty commission he would make on selling these many books as he began going through the books greedily lest Harry would change his mind.
Paying for his books, Harry set out from the shop. He had a lot of things to do and life wasn’t long enough to dilly dally.
In just a few short days, Harry settled in a routine. His day was spent mostly reading books that he had bought in the book store and his course books. Though, he would venture out on a daily basis when the heat of the August afternoon had waned a bit.
It was on one of these little outings of his when he came across a curious sight. He was sitting in Florean Fortescue’s ice cream parlour enjoying a slice of Bandofee Tart when he saw several redheads walking together noisily. A redhead was rare almost everywhere and to see so many of them at the same place was fascinating. They looked like a close knit family to him, talking and teasing each other almost constantly.
“I see Mr. Potter that you have finally come across the Weasleys,” Mr. Fortescue said as he placed another slice of triple chocolate in front of him. Harry had quite a sweet tooth and was a regular visitor of the ice cream parlour.
He looked up curiously at Florean Fortescue, “Weasleys? Who are they?”
Mr. Fortescue smiled at the young boy, “Only the most notable family in the whole Wizarding London and possibly Wizarding Britain. If you see many red heads with lots of freckles then there’s a high possibility that they are the Weasleys. Quite a close family, if I say so myself,” his look turned sour though as he looked towards the Weasleys, “But like every other one, they aren’t perfect either.”
Harry was quite surprised to detect a hint of venom in otherwise sweet voice of Mr. Fortescue. He turned towards the Weasleys, intrigued at what Mr. Fortescue was implying. The scene that he saw set his nerves on fire.
Among the Weasleys, there was a little girl whom Harry hadn’t noticed first. Her hair were a brighter shade of red than others. Almost like angry red flames were reaching down her back. She didn’t look much older than Harry. Her head was bowed as she trudged alongside the family. He had seen this scene before. He had experienced it. One could say that Dursleys were a happy family too.
Harry felt an ache in his heart as he stared at the little girl. She reminded him of himself so much. The bowed head, the hunched shoulder and the frayed clothes. He could almost envision himself walking instead of the girl.
A fire burned in his eyes as he saw the youngest boy stuck his leg out. The girl stumbled and almost fell into mud, spattering her clothes. The woman walking ahead turned around and started berating her. The girl tried to protest at first but, soon she fell silent, her shoulder drooped.
Harry couldn’t take it anymore. Paying for his ice cream, he got up and started following the redheaded family. The girl was slowly falling behind. Seeing his chance, Harry hastened and caught up to her. They were standing outside Ollivanders by then.
“Hey,” Harry called out to her softly.
The girl stiffened for a moment before she turned around. At that moment, Harry was faced with the prettiest eyes he had seen in his short life. They were a light brown colour with unimaginable depth to them. And she wouldn’t be any older than eleven.
“Are you talking to me?” the girl asked hesitatingly, unsure of herself.
“Err, yeah,” Harry nodded. Now that he was talking to her, he found himself at a loss of words, “Aren’t you going to go in?” he spoke the first thing that came to his mind.
The girl shook her head, “No,” her voice was melancholy, “I already have my wand.”
It wasn’t hard to see through her. Her voice wouldn’t be full of sadness if she really did have her own wand.
“I saw what happened you know,” Harry said softly. The girl’s eyes widened and her posture became stiff, “I know how it feels. Being treated like that.”
The girl’s eyes flared with anger. Her face flushed, she opened her mouth but Harry cut her off.
“I am not pitying you. I am not sympathizing with you either. I just wanted you to know that you aren’t alone.”
The anger was gone. Replaced by reluctance and hesitance, “R-really?”
Harry continued, “I know you don’t want pity or sympathy but maybe you could do with a friend who has gone through something similar?” He stuck out his hand.
The girl looked at his hand in wonder and then up at him. Slowly, her hand raised to grasp his, “My name’s Ginny.”
Harry smiled at her, “I am Harry. Harry Potter.”
Ginny’s eyes widened in shock when she heard his name but soon they were back to normal and she returned his smile.
“Tell you what?” Harry said as an idea began forming in his mind, “Why don’t you meet me here after ditching your family? Can you do that?”
Ginny looked thoughtful for a moment, “It’ll be difficult. But I’ll do what I can.”
“Alright then,” Harry nodded, “I’ll be waiting by the Ice cream parlour.”
Saying goodbye, Harry returned to Florean Fortescue and sat there. In a few moments, the Weasleys came out with the boy who tripped Ginny waving around a new wand. Harry’s eyes narrowed as he saw the boy showing off his wand. He didn’t like bullies and that boy had all the signs of one.
As Harry watched, the family went into Madame Malkins. He sat there waiting patiently though he didn’t have to wait long as a few minutes later, Ginny came out of the shop and started walking hastily towards their meeting point.
Harry got up and met her there. Ginny was panting a bit as there was some distance between the two shops.
“Come on,” Harry said grabbing her hand, “I have something for you.”
“Wha…?” Ginny began to say but Harry was already pulling her into Ollivanders.
Before Ginny could even open her mouth, Ollivander appeared out of nowhere, freaking her out completely.
“Ah Miss Weasley,” the man began in his usual mysterious way, “I was expecting you. Show you wand arm to me please.”
Her mind blank, Ginny raised her right hand. She was too confused to question what was going on.
By the time she regained her bearing, there was a wand in her hand shooting out sparks.
“Ah, lovely,” Ollivander clapped his hands, “12 inches Alder with the core of Unicorn heartstring. A very rare match. I am glad you got your own wand Miss Weasley. That would be seven galleons.”
“What do you mean Sir?” Harry said putting down the appropriate number of galleons.
“Mr. Potter. Come and Ask me that question in a few year time and I would be happy to answer you,” Ollivander smiled at them, “Now run along. I suspect you have some place to be.”
“Wait,” Ginny said suddenly, “I can’t accept it. It’s too much.” She began to put the wand back but was stopped by Mr. Ollivander.
“Now, Now, Miss Weasley. Take that as a token of friendship. Besides, once a wand chooses a wizard, or in this case, a witch. It’s very hard to find a different match for it. I am afraid, it’s useless to me now.”
Ginny looked at the wand longingly. She really wanted it but her pride was in the way. She shook her head, “Still, I can’t take it.”
Harry intervened at this moment, “Please Ginny. I know it is early in our friendship but please accept this gift. You are my only friend.”
Ginny looked reluctant, but in the end her heart won out and she accepted the wand, “Only this time Harry,” her voice was firm as she pocketed her wand.
Harry nodded vigorously and they exited the shop together. Outside the shop Ginny turned towards Harry and hugged him.
“Thanks for the wand Harry,” Ginny whispered in his ear as she let him go, “I’ll see you on the Hogwarts Express right?” she inquired.
Harry smiled goofily at her and nodded his head. Ginny giggled lightly and ran off to Madame Malkin where the Weasleys were still present thankfully.
Harry watched Ginny go, the goofy smile still on his face. His thoughts centered on the red headed girl and how it was nice that he had made a friend his age finally.
………………………
Ginny was lying in her bed after getting back from the shopping for School Supplies in Diagon Alley. Thankfully no one had noticed her absence in Madame Malkin’s shop and she was able to sneak off to her room after returning since her mother was too busy fawning over Ron’s new supplies to pay her any attention. She had taken her meagre second hand supplies with her and put them in her faded trunk. Her new wand was safely hidden beneath a set of new robes her father had bought for her when her mother wasn’t looking, which in turn was safely mingled in with all of her clothes.
She might not have the best childhood but, she still had a few supporters in her house. Her Dad and her oldest brothers, Bill and Charlie. Her dad had never done much to protect her from her mother. Their house was ruled by their mother. Her dad, in blunt words, was spineless who couldn’t do anything against the orders of their mother. Even then, he had tried to rectify Molly’s attitude as much as he could. She treasured those little things that her dad managed to buy her. Money was tight in their family. Even more so when Molly would spend so frivolously on their youngest son.
Then there were her brothers, Bill and Charlie. Most of the time, they were her source of comfort and solace when her mother would scold her. She remembered seeing a shadowy figure on her doorway almost every night when every light in their house had gone out and her parents would be fast asleep. Sometimes it was lean and tall, others it was short and bulky. Her brothers were the ones to tuck her in. They were the ones who would come to check on her when they was a loud thunderstorm. Even after Bill was gone, Charlie did it dutifully, till last year when he too left for abroad. Ginny missed her two eldest brothers.
But she didn’t think her latest friends shared even her bit of good luck. He had looked so sad and forlorn when he told her about his family. Her heart just went out for the poor boy. She had decided right then and there, that she would be his friend. The fact that he was Harry Potter, did little to her resolve.
She couldn’t wait to tell Luna about her new friend. She was sure that Luna would like him.
………………………….
The morning of the September First dawned bright and clear. The peeking sun from the horizon was surprised to find that an inhabitant of the Leaky Cauldron, where the business didn’t start till well into the morning, had beaten him to the punch. This inhabitant was none other Harry James Potter. It would be wrong to say that he was up early, rather a more accurate description would be that he didn’t sleep at all. The excitement and the joy at going to Hogwarts and getting rid of Dursleys had combined and worked better than caffeine to keep him up all night. He had tossed and turned in his bed and had finally gotten up to get ready at the ungodly hour of five in the morning.
He hauled his trunk downwards, where Tom was already up and cleaning. He looked up on hearing noise and smiled a toothless smile.
“Hello Mr. Potter, Looks like you couldn’t sleep,” Tom said.
Harry grinned as he plopped down on a stool, “Too excited.”
Tom nodded, “It happens to all, Usual?”
“Yes,” Harry said. Tom was one of the few persons Harry had become acquainted over the short month that he spent here. He suspected that he would be staying in Leaky Cauldron a lot over the coming summers.
In a few minutes, Tom had his breakfast ready and served. He devoured his food with gusto and picked up his trunks.
“Alright I am off,” Harry said looking at Tom. He had cleared his tab the night before.
“Have a good year, Mr. Potter,” Tom inclined his head.
He watched the young boy haul the trunk out. He had been the barkeeper at Leaky Cauldron for the better part of his life. He had seen a lot of people in his life but, none of them had the eyes as haunted as of the young boy he had seen. But that wasn’t all that he saw. He saw hatred there. Hatred that shouldn’t be in the eyes of any man, let alone in the eyes of an eleven year old boy.
He felt drawn to the boy somehow. He knew that the boy’s guardians were no saint. The clothes he wore on the first day were testament to that. That’s why he hadn’t questioned much when the boy had lied about his guardians. It was clear that the boy didn’t wanted to go back and Tom was not going to send a young innocent person back to what he thought was a hell hole. He was not going to be part of any abuse on a child. During the three weeks that he remained there, his affection for the boy just grew, how someone could not fall for such a pure, innocent person, Tom didn’t know and the more he knew the boy the more he hated his guardian. How could they mistreat such a pure soul? Now as he saw him walking out of the door, he made a vow to himself, that no matter what happens, he would stand by the boy. He knew that he couldn’t do much but what he could was provide a room for that innocent boy, a place away from that hell hole of his guardian, where at least he could breathe easily.
……………………
Right now, Harry was standing in the middle of King’s Cross trying to find the right pillar to run into. The very thought seemed absurd to Harry. Who in their right mind would want to crash into a pillar? But that’s what Tom had told him. He was considering whether the wizards were truly idiots or they just liked to make a fool of themselves. As his search continued, his opinion became readily biased in the favour of former.
After what was like hours of search, Harry finally found the right pillar. Bracing himself, he started walking steadily towards it. As the pillar got closer, his speed increased and he closed his eyes. It was like passing through a veil of water, just invisible. And then, he heard a whistle.
The first thing he saw, as he opened his eyes, was a magnificent train bellowing steam. It’s engine, scarlet and gold in colour, was one of the most beautiful things Harry had seen in his life. Behind the engine, there were cars and cars following. It was the Hogwarts Express.
In no time at all, Harry had his trunk loaded in the train. Now all he had to do was wait for the Weasleys to come. Which would turn out to be a long one since there was still more than an hour left in departure and the Weasleys didn’t come till the last minute.
But when they did come, there was no way that Harry would have missed them. As soon as they entered the platform, his eyes were drawn to them with their bright flashing red hair. Though, he wasn’t looking for all of them. He was looking for just one particular Weasley. His friend, Ginny Weasley.
The thought still made his stomach flutter. He had never thought, never hoped that he would be able to make a friend. But here he was, sitting in a compartment, waiting for his friend to show up. There was still a small part of his mind who doubted that Ginny would come find him.
But, that part of him banished when his eyes finally landed on Ginny frantically, or as frantically as she could while being discreet, looking around. He stuck his head and waved his hand at her vigorously.
From the moment they had reached the platform nine and Three Quarters, Ginny had been looking around, trying to find Harry or Luna. They should have been here, it was almost time for the train to depart. Finally, she saw a flash in the corner of her eye. Turning, she found Harry waving at her. She too waved back at him.
Turning, she said her farewell as quickly as she could and boarded the train. She wanted to meet Harry as soon as she could but first she had to find Luna.
It wasn’t a long search. He found her sitting in a compartment all by herself.
“Come on,” she said grabbing her by her hand, “I have got a friend for you to meet.”
“Alright,” Luna said dreamily, getting up and grabbing her trunk from above, “Is it Harry?”
Ginny nodded, her face a mixture of excitement and nervousness, “Come on let’s hurry.”
Soon they were standing outside of Harry’s compartment. Ginny knocked against it and waited. In no time at all the door was opened and Harry was standing there, grinning.
“Hey Ginny,” Harry said, then he looked behind Ginny and saw Luna, a questioning look came over his face.
“Hey Harry,” Ginny returned his smile and then he saw the questioning look on his face, “Oh this is Luna my friend. Luna this is Harry. I told you about him?”
Luna smiled and stuck out her hand, “I can see why you became such good friends so fast.”
Harry tilted his head quizzically and shook her hand, “Really?”
Luna leaned in like she was going to whisper a large secret and spoke, “You have a nargle infestation too.”
Harry quirked his eyebrow, “Nargles?”
Before Luna could answer, Ginny interrupted, “Well never mind Luna,” she said pushing her into the compartment, “She can get a bit loony at times. But that’s why she is so much fun.”
The girls settled in opposite to Harry. As soon as they sat down, the train gave a shrill whistle and started moving.
“Looks like we are off to Hogwarts,” Harry said excitement bubbling over into his voice. He was trying to start a conversation. He didn’t think he would be able to stand Luna’s stare any longer.
But before anyone could answer the door was slammed open rather rudely by a tall lanky ginger boy. He looked around, his eyes going bright when they landed on Harry and a look of distaste came on his face when he saw Ginny there.
Harry’s eyes narrowed as he looked at the guy. He was the one bullying Ginny in Diagon Alley.
“Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full,” The boy said already moving into the compartment, “Bugger off Ginny, find someplace else to sit.”
But, Harry having been a victim of bullying himself for so long stood up and glared at the boy, “No, there’s no room here. We are saving a seat for a friend,” his tone was polite yet firm.
But it was like the boy didn’t get the message at all, “Sure there is room. Ginny,” his voice had become threatening, “Didn’t you hear what I said?”
“She was here before you,” Harry replied scathingly, “So why don’t you go and find yourself someplace else to sit.”
With that, he shoved the boy out and slammed the door shut on his face. He heard a muffled ‘ow’ but didn’t really care.
“Your brother’s rather rude Ginny,” Luna stated matter of factly.
“Don’t I know it,” she gave a small smile, “Thanks Harry!”
“Don’t mention it,” he shook his head, “So what were we talking about?”
“Nothing you just stated the obvious fact that we were going to Hogwarts,” Luna twirled a lock of her white blonde hair in her hand, her bright blue eyes staring somewhere far off.
“Err, yeah,” Harry stammered. He had no idea what to say to that.
In an act of desperation, he said something he would later come to regret, “Um, Luna,” she looked up a questioning look in her eyes, “What are Nargles?”
Ginny gave a huge sigh and slumped backwards, a hand coming to cover her forehead as she shook her head, her long red hair dancing around her face. Luna’s eyes brightened as she leaned forward. There was excitement in her eyes.
“I am so glad you asked that,” With that she launched into a lengthy explanation of what Nargles were. Where they were often found, how to track them. That was all Harry could decipher before his eyes glazed over.
During this monologue, which lasted well over an hour, he counted Nargles thirty seven times, something named Quibbler twenty times and her father a total of fifty five times.
Her explanation might have gone on even more but there was another knock on the door and a haughty looking blonde walked into the compartment with two hue boys at his side, who resembled Gorillas more than human.
Harry instantly recognized the boy from the Diagon Alley. His expression turned sour. It was like they were destined to be interrupted today by bullies.
“They are saying down the train that Harry Potter is sitting here,” his eyes landed on Harry and he leaned forward, “You must be him,” he stuck out his hand, “My name’s Draco, Draco Malfoy. If you want to make great in Wizarding World, then I can help you with that,” he looked towards Ginny and Luna and a sneer came on his face, “And certainly with whom to make friends with.”
Harry just stared at the boy. He reminded him of those salesmen that were trying to sell something and that last line about making friends certainly struck a chord in his heart. Not to mention, his perfectly settled, sleek and glossy platinum blonde hair were rather off putting to him.
“Just get lost, I don’t need your help with making friends,” Harry stated simply and turned towards the girls, completely dismissing the boy.
Draco’s face turned red. Never before in his short life was he insulted this much before, “How dare you Potter,” he seethed, “Watch out or you might end up like your parents.”
“And who’s going to do that?” Ginny intervened, “You? Please. I don’t think you even know which end of the wand is the right to hold.”
“Shut up,” Draco raged, “At least I can afford a new wand unlike you, you weaslette. I know all about your poor little Family. My father says that the Weasley spend half his time down the table and still cannot earn enough. Whatever that means.”
All Harry did was blink and then some bat like things were coming out of Draco Malfoy’s nose. He shrieked in a high pitched voice and rapidly backed off, slamming into the wall of the train. That was the last thing they heard before the door which was blocked by the two gorillas closed and then a thump was heard, as if someone crashed into the door followed by loud shrieks and thumping feet.
He looked towards Ginny who had her wand out and was breathing hard. Her eyes were ablaze with anger.
She took a few deep breath and sat down, “Sorry about that,” she said sheepishly.
Harry just shook his head, too afraid to speak. He had no idea she was this powerful.
“My eldest brother taught me that,” Ginny spoke suddenly, “He works for Gringotts as a Curse Breaker. He is in Egypt. Before he left, he helped me master it. He said it was for my protection.”
“Oh,” Harry nodded, “I have practiced a few but none of them were,” he searched for the right word, “so awesome.”
A faint tinge appeared on Ginny’s cheek as she smiled, “I don’t think they teach hexes like these in the first year.”
“What’s its name?” Harry asked curiously.
“It’s called the Bat Bogey hex.”
“Luna do you know any,” Harry said turning towards Luna before trailing off. She was holding some magazine with some weird pictures on it, “What’s that?”
Luna looked up, “Oh this,” she turned the magazine, “This is Quibbler. My dad publishes it.”
“Can I have a look?” Harry said interested in the strange magazine.
“Sure,” Luna said and began rummaging through her hand bag, “I always carry an extra one. In case, Humblimbers steal one. Here.” She thrust out another copy of the magazine.
“Err, yeah,” Harry said taking care in not asking about humblimbers. His head was still abuzz about Nargles. He read the headlines, “Minister Fudge, a Goblin Eater?”
He looked curiously at Luna who was busy reading her own copy. It was Ginny who answered.
“Believe me Harry, that’s one of the sane ones. I have read a few in the last couple of years and I can tell you that.” She said holding back a smile.
“I don’t know,” Harry smirked, “That certainly explains why the Goblins are always so gruff.
“Want anything young ones?” a kind voice echoed from the door. They turned around to see that it was the food trolley, laden with all kind of sweet.
“Wow,” Harry said completely fascinated with different kind of brightly coloured sweets, “I think I’ll take some of all,” he said taking out his pouch filled with galleons.
“Alright kid, just make sure you don’t get cavities,” the food lady said putting a handful from each box into a bag and giving it to Harry, “Here you go.”
Harry took the bag and paid the lady. He turned towards the girl with a wide grin on his face, “SO who want candies?”
Rest of the trip was spent eating sweets and chatting amicably with each other. Soon, it was being announced that they were about to reach Hogsmeade, they looked out to see that the sun had almost set.
“Wow, Time sure flies when you are having fun,” Ginny said in wonder.
“Timplers don’t like fun. They run away when people are happy. Otherwise they make the clock stop,” Luna said sagely.
Harry and Ginny both nodded vigorously not wanting Luna to go off any other insane tangent. They changed into their robes and sat chatting. Soon they pulled up in the Hogsmeade Station. They were asked to leave their belonging behind.
Harry not wanting his personal beloved Owl, Hedwig to be left behind, opened her cage and let her out so that she could fly and hunt. They disembarked the train to find a huge man shouting.
“First Years, Over here,” It was Hagrid, holding a huge lamp and waving his hand.
Harry, Ginny and Luna made their way through the hordes of students towards where Hagrid stood. He looked towards them and grinned.
“Hey Harry,” He almost shouted over the chattering of hundreds of students, “You got back okay?”
“Yes,” Harry said, lying smoothly.
“Good,” Hagrid nodded. He turned towards the other first years who had gathered around him, “To the boats. Four to each one. No more or it might tip over.”
They made their way over to a lake where dozen of boats were tied to posts. Harry and the girls got into a boat and soon were joined by a bushy haired girl. She huffed when she saw Harry and turned her head away.
“What’s her problem?” Ginny whispered in his ear.
Harry just shrugged his shoulder in response.
“Alright you lot ready?” Hagrid shouted. He had a boat to himself, “Forward.”
With that the boats were moving on their own through the calm crystal water. Soon Hagrid asked them to duck and when they come back up they saw a view that took their breath away.
“Wow,” Harry said simply and was echoed by Ginny. Even Luna had faint traces of wonder in her eyes.
In front of them was a magnificent castle. It was bathed completely with white light and it was like it was pulsing with a faint glow of magic.
After they reached the bank, Hagrid pushed open the door that was present there. They were greeted by the sight of a witch in a green robe and a long pointed hat. Her eyes held no traces of mirth and her lips were traced in a thin line. She didn’t look like a witch that Harry and the girls wanted to cross.
“Follow me,” her voice was as stern as her visage. She turned and started walking briskly. Not wanting to be left behind, the children hurriedly followed her.
They were led to a small enclosed room which had no windows. It was just big enough to comfortably hold all the first years.
“Welcome to Hogwarts,” The Witch said, her sharp gaze sweeping over the young children, “My name’s Professor McGonagall and I’ll be teaching you Transfiguration,” that’s when Harry realized what Tom had meant when he gave him those needle sticks and he was glad that he had mastered most of the spells present in the book, “Shortly, you shall be sorted into Four houses. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. While in Hogwarts, your house will be like your family. You will stay with, dine with them and take classes with them. Based on your conduct, each one of you will be awarded house points. Good behavior and outstanding class work will earn you house points while misconduct will result in deduction of points. At the end of the year, the house with most points will be awarded the house cup. Do you understand me?”
The children nodded vigorously not wanting to be scolded by the witch this early, “Very Well. All of you will wait here. I will return shortly for your sorting,” Professor McGonagall said and left the room through a small door that they hadn’t previously seen.
As soon as the professor left the room, whispers started all across. Harry too turned towards Ginny and Luna who were standing to his side.
“How do you think they sort us?” Harry said wondering aloud.
“My father told me that they place an old hat on your hat which sorts you into a house,” Luna said but like all of her other eccentric stories which too mostly relate to her father was ignored.
While they were talking, they heard some shrieks coming from the back of the room. They looked there to see some ghost passing through the back wall of room discussing about someone names Peeves. When they saw the children, they stopped and greeted them, before floating through another wall.
Soon after Professor McGonagall returned and took them to another hall. This hall much larger and much more magnificent. Harry looked up to see the clear starry sky above. He was nudged in his side. He looked down and saw Ginny motioning to look ahead.
He looked forward, curious to see what Ginny wanted him to see. That was when his eyes landed on a strange, battered looking hat sitting on stool. It seemed like Luna’s eccentric theory about how they were sorted wasn’t wrong.
A line formed on the hat’s front before it opened. It was the hat’s mouth. If that wasn’t shocking enough, the hat began to sing. Though its voice was surprisingly good. It sang about the Hogwarts and all the four houses. After the song ended, the tables broke out in applause. As the noise died down, Professor McGonagall stepped up with a roll of parchment in her hand and started calling.
“Abbot, Hannah,”
A blonde girl with pigtails ran towards the stool and wore the hat. The hat took a minute and shouted,
“HUFFLEPUFF,”
The second last table erupted in cheers. The girl took off the hat and ran towards the table.
“Bones, Susan,” and with that the sorting continued. Soon it was the turn of one of three friends.
“Lovegood, Luna,” mentioned Professor McGonagall. Luna walked out dreamily and wore the hat. The hat was so big that it came to Luna’s shoulders.
The hat seemed to take its time before it shouted,
“GRYFFINDOR,” Luna took off the hat and walked towards the table which was cheering.
After that it was time was Harry’s sorting.
“Potter, Harry,” whispers broke out in the hall at the mention of Harry’s name and even the teachers turned towards the sorting line to catch a glimpse of the Boy-Who-Lived. He took a deep breath and started walking towards the stool blocking out all the whispers and put on the hat, the hat came to Harry’s eyes.
Like Luna, the Hat seemed to be taking its time with Harry but just like her it finally shouted,
“GRYFFINDOR,” The Gryffindor table erupted in huge cheers at getting the Boy-Who-Lived. Many people offered Harry to sit with them but Harry ignored them all and sat with Luna who had already made sure to save two seats for her friends. They both smiled at each other and turn towards Ginny who was still standing in the line, Harry had made sure to leave the middle seat vacant for Ginny. They both patted the seat and smiled at her, she too smiled back albeit a bit nervously.
It didn’t take long for Ginny’s turn to come and she sitting on the stool waiting to be sorted. Just like the two of them the hat took its time with the sorting, Harry wondered what it was that the hat took so long with just the three of them. But just like the two friend she was sorted in the same house.
“GRYFFINDOR,” shouted the Hat. Ginny immediately took off the hat and ran towards her two friends sitting there. All of them grinned at each other for getting in the same house.
“Well, all of us got into same house,” Ginny commented still smiling.
“I knew that all of us were going to be in the same house, after all we are friends,” Luna answered dreamily and both of her friends too nodded their head and waited for the sorting to end so that they could fill their starving stomachs, as sweets can only keep you sated for so long.
After the sorting was done, a tall bearded man got up from the middle. Harry guessed that this was Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts and the man mainly responsible for ruining his life along with that Dark Lord whose name he didn’t even know. His hair were whiter than milk and his beard almost reached his navel. His eyes covered by half-moon glasses were twinkling in the strangest way he had seen, almost as if by magic.
“Hello and Welcome back to Hogwarts,” he had a gentle smile on his face as he peered over his glasses at the students, “I am sure all of you will be ravenous, so I won’t keep you away from food for long. I just have a few words to say and those are nitwit, oddment, blubber and twit,” he clapped and food appeared on the table.
Harry didn’t have any time to ponder over the strange speech as his mind was occupied with the thought of all the food that had appeared in front. Not even the Dursleys could have eaten these many different dishes. With hunger that grew a thousand fold on seeing such delicious food, he starting piling his plate.
While eating, Harry looked around and his eyes landed on the staff table. There were a few teaches that stuck out. There was Professor McGonagall talking heatedly with Albus Dumbledore who was smiling serenely while nursing a glass of juice.
The guy with Turban, Professor Quirrel, was talking to a hooked nose greasy haired professor. His eyes met his for a moment, and he felt a sharp pain in his scar. Involuntarily, he let out a sharp hiss.
“Are you alright?” Ginny asked obviously concerned about her friend,
“Yeah I am fine, just a headache,” Harry said rubbing his forehead, “Who’s that Professor anyway?” Harry said jerking a hand towards the hooked nosed Professor who was still glaring at him. Harry could only groan internally. For some reason, the Professor hated him. He could only hope that he had no classes with that Professor.
“Don’t know for sure,” Ginny shrugged, “But I think that’s Severus Snape, the Potion Master. Bill didn’t like him at all. Said that he was a greasy git.”
“Great and he seems to have something against me,” Harry moaned in desperation.
By then, the Feast had ended and Dumbledore had once again stood up. He knocked the glass gently with a spoon to get everyone’s attention. Soon there was silence in the hall, everyone listening intently to what the wizened headmaster had to say.
Dumbledore cleared his throat, “I have a few start of term notices for you. First of all, our esteemed caretaker, Mr. Filch, has asked me to remind you that magic is forbidden in the hallways. Also, the list of Forbidden items have been updated. Please take a look at it in the Entrance hall before you retire to your Dormitories,” Dumbledore paused for a breath and looked around, “The First Year Students should note that the Forbidden Forest is just that, Forbidden. Some older students would do well to remember that as well,” at that the twinkle in his eyes increased, “I have one other thing to add. That is, the left hand corridor on the third floor is banned for students. You must steer clear of it if you don’t want to die a painful and gruesome death.” There were some laughter at that but most of the students looked serious, “Now then, it’s time for the Hogwarts song.” He spread his arm out in an exaggerated manner as Harry and the girls noticed that the smile on the teacher grew forced.
In the next few moments they understood why. What Dumbledore called a song was more like a rumbling of bees. All these different tunes mixed in made it sound more like a busy day at the London roads. Everyone was singing to their own music. It was a long five minutes during which the Song was sung. Even then, Dumbledore had to wave his hand to banish the lyrics that were appearing in midair to make a pair of red headed twins stop. Harry thought that he had seen them with Ginny at the platform.
“Ah Music,” Dumbledore gave a warm smile, “The magic of our soul. Now it’s for bed, so off to your houses,” he clapped his hand once again and the students stood up from their tables.
“Alright First Year Gryffindors over here,” Harry heard a red headed boy call. Another one of Ginny’s brother. The Prefect one.
They gathered around him and were led through different corridors to in front of a huge magical portrait.
“Hello dearies,” the portrait of the fat lady spoke, “What’s the password?”
“Caput Draconis,” Percy, as he told his name was, said firmly.
The lady nodded and the portrait opened to reveal a room decked in red and gold. It was the common room. After entering the room, Percy gave them a few instruction on proper etiquette and then told them to head up to bed.
“Alright see you tomorrow,” Harry said waving to the two girls and climbed the stairs to his dormitory.
The two girls said their goodbyes to Harry and climbed to their dormitory. They were sharing it with a bushy haired girl named Hermione and two other girls, Parvati and Lavender. Parvati and Lavender looked the gossipy type of girl, the type the girls weren’t particularly comfortable with. Hermione seemed alright but her attitude towards Harry had left the girls unsettled. They hadn’t known Harry for long but, the conversation that had lasted with him for several hours had at least revealed this much that Harry was a nice person and anyone who doesn’t like him had to be an idiot or a bad person.
“Hey Ginny,” Luna said after they had settled in their bed and had made sure that the other girls were fast asleep, “Did you notice the way Harry was looking at Dumbledore?”
“Yeah,” Ginny nodded, “It was almost like he doesn’t like the man.”
“I am sure he has a reason,” Luna said turning over, “And he will tell us when he thinks it’s alright. Good night.”
“Yeah, I know,” Ginny said though the frown didn’t leave her face as she settled down to sleep.
Unbeknownst to the girls, at that time Harry was having a strange dream. The dream included a strange turban wrapping around his head and asking him to transfer to Slytherin. But Harry knew that he would never transfer to Slytherin. Finally he had made friends and both of them were in Gryffindor. He was not going to leave them behind. The turban wrapped tightly around his neck and began choking him. When he was sure that he was going to die, the dream ended, never to be remembered again.
……………………………………..
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Chapter 04 (Revised)The next morning dawned bright and early for Harry. He was up and getting ready long before his peers had even started stirring. Hs excitement was evident in his gait and in his bright smiling face. He felt well rested for once, his bed here being a huge improvement to what he was accustomed to in the Dursley’s household. He was sharing the dorm with three other students, Seamus, Dean and Ron, Ginny’s brother. The introduction last night had gone pretty well, and he expected to have an easy relationship with all of them. He even talked to Ron last night. But then, he said some pretty bad things about Ginny. Needless to say, Harry ignored him from then on. Dean and Seamus, on the other hand seemed pretty friendly.
Harry gathered his toiletries and headed to the loo. Completing his morning ritual, he was dressed and ready within no time at all. The other students were just beginning to get up by now. He took his backpack and walked down the stairs into the common room. There was one thing that was bothering him though. And that was, where was he going to find a suitable place to practice? He supposed that in this large castle, there might be a few unused classrooms that he could use to hone his magical skills. He also needed to exercise, as he expected stamina played an important role in a fight. Harder, it would be for his opponent to wear him, better would be his chances to win.
Harry looked around the common room. It was empty at this time in the morning. Feeling a bit chilled, Harry sat down by the fireplace. There was no fire in it, though it was warm enough for Harry’s taste.
He was sitting there for a few minutes when he heard movement from the stairs. Looking up, he saw the persons he was waiting for coming down from the girl’s dormitory together.
“Good morning, Ginny, Luna!” Harry said, feeling a bit exuberant.
“Good morning,” The girls replied, while Luna looked completely awake and refreshed, Ginny was still yawning and stretching.
“You girls are up early,” Harry asked.
“Couldn’t sleep much due to excitement,” Ginny gave another yawn, barely covering her mouth with the back of her hand.
“I am an early riser, Harry,” Luna answered, her eyes staring far into space, “I have to wake up early, otherwise naglewagers would attack my eyes.
Harry just tilted his head and arched an eyebrow. He was beginning to enjoy Luna’s strange personality a bit.
“What about you?” Ginny asked as she flopped down on the sofa, “You were up even before us.”
“Me? I always get up early,” Harry said shrugging his shoulders.
“Hey! Not fair why do you two like to wake up so early. I like to sleep in,” Ginny exclaimed.
“Don’t worry, Ginny, I’ll wake you up early every day. Don’t want my friend to fall to naglewagers,” said Luna with a smile.
“No thank you! I happen to like my sleep very much,” Ginny retaliated.
“Oh come on Ginny, You have to get up early now otherwise you will be infected by naglewagers,” Harry chimed in.
“See! Even Harry agrees with me,” Luna said, her eyes glinting in triumph.
Ginny glared at Harry, “Is this how it’s going to be?” Her voice was venomous but Harry could detect playfulness in her eyes, “Don’t worry, I’ll make you pay for it.”
“Alright, alright,” Harry threw his hands up, “anyway, who wants breakfast?”
“Mm, I am famished,” Ginny said as she immediately stood up.
Luna nodded her head, “Yes, I think it’s the perfect time to have some breakfast.”
“Well then let’s go,” Harry exclaimed and made his way to the portrait hole, the girls following behind him.
It was still early, so there were no students in the Great Hall. Only a few teachers like Professor McGonagal and Dumbledore were sitting at the staff table, once again engaged in some discussion that they had no idea about. It seemed eerie, the Great Hall looking so empty when only last night it was so vibrant and full of life. They walked towards the Gryffindor table and sat down. Food appeared in front of them as soon as they sat down.
“It must be really hard to make food for so many students,” Ginny said as she dug into her plate with gusto.
“I read that Hogwarts employs several hundred elves for preparing the food,” Harry answered.
“House elves?” Luna’s ear perked up, “I would really like to meet them,” her eyes were shining with wonder and happiness.
“But we don’t know where the kitchen is,” Ginny answered with a frown, “The castle is so huge, it could be almost anywhere.”
Luna’s face fell when she heard Ginny’s comment. Seeing this, Harry began consoling her, “It’s alright, I am sure we will find it sometime soon.”
“That’s nice. I can’t wait to meet the house elves,” Luna cheered back up and started eating.
Harry gave a small sigh and glared at Ginny who just innocently smiled back at him. Shaking his head, Harry began eating once again.
“Harry, why were you glaring at the headmaster last night,” Luna asked completely out of the blue when they were almost halfway finished with the breakfast.
Hearing the question, Harry’s eyes widened in surprise and he almost choked on the food. Hurriedly, he grabbed a glass of water and gulped it down in one go.
“You noticed?” Harry asked, his eyes red with the near choking experience as he gasped for breath.
“It was hard not to, with all that evil energy emanating from you,” Ginny teased, trying to lighten up the atmosphere.
Harry put down his fork and took up another glass of water, buying time as he considered his options. On one hand, he had never relied on anyone before and he was a bit reluctant to start doing so from now on. He was completely alone at the Dursleys and prided himself in doing everything they threw at him from a young age. They rarely had any reason to abuse him and even then, it was mostly without logic. On the other, what he was doing was something huge. He was aiming to destroy the two leading wizards in the British, and most probably the Whole Wizarding World. Both of them had a devoted, bordering on fanatic, following. If he was going to succeed, then sooner rather than later he would need the help of others.
He hadn’t known the two girls for long. Some would even say they weren’t even acquaintances yet. Yet, he knew enough about them to trust them. He felt a bond with the two girls, especially Ginny. With his decision made, he put the glass down.
“Not now,” Harry said looking towards the entrance of the Great Hall, where the students had begun trickling, “I’ll tell you all about it later.”
Just then Professor McGonagal came down and started handed out schedules to students. They took their schedules and completed their meal silently.
After eating, they stood up and started walking out of the Great Hall, intending to reach their class early. It was not a long walk, and soon they were standing outside of their Transfiguration Classroom.
“So girls,” Harry said turning towards them with a smirk, “Do you know what we have for our first lesson?”
The girls just shook their heads, having no idea what would be in the lesson.
Harry sighed dramatically, “Really now, you should study a bit more,” he playfully chided wanting to keep the charade going a bit longer, but he quailed seeing the stares directed at him.
“Fine,” Harry threw his hands up, “you girls are no fun, you know,” he grumbled.
“Oh Harry,” Ginny giggled, “We are plenty fun just not when you want us to. Now tell us.”
“Okay.” Harry said and then proceeded to tell them what he had learned at the Leaky Cauldron from Tom.
“Needles from matchstick huh,” Ginny pondered, “Sounds interesting.”
Just then, the door was unlocked and they entered the classroom and sat at the front, noticing a tabby cat sitting on the table staring at them.
“That’s odd,” Ginny commented, “I didn’t think Professor McGonagal was the type to bring her pets to class. Where is she by the way?”
“What pet?” Luna asked, “She is sitting right there.”
“Huh, where?” Harry asked, confused as he looked around.
“On the table silly,” Luna giggled lightly.
“But there’s only a cat on it,” Ginny said before her eyes widened in comprehension, “You mean the cat’s, Professor. She is an Animagus.”
The three looked towards the cat with wide eyes which nodded imperceptibly to confirm their suspicion.
“Cool!” Ginny said enthusiastically.
“Well, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Harry said thoughtfully, “I mean, Animagus training is an advanced form of Transfiguration. That just goes to show that our professor is very talented in her field.”
Ginny could swear that she saw the cat preen herself a bit. Shaking her head she took out her book to read ahead of their lecture.
Harry noted that while Luna’s textbook was new, Ginny’s was worn out and an outdated edition.
The next one to enter the class was the bushy haired girl named Hermione Granger. As soon as she entered, she stopped and stared at them like they were a new species of animal at the zoo. Her stare soon turned into a glare. She huffed and took the seat adjacent to their and angrily started taking out her book.
“What’s her problem,” Ginny whispered, “It’s like we killed her puppy.”
Harry just shrugged, “Don’t know and don’t care really.”
“What did she do to you,” Luna asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.
“Nothing,” Harry shook his head, “She is just bossy, and I don’t like her.”
“You seem to know her very well,” amusement laced Ginny’s voice.
“Not really, I have only met her once, when I was staying in the Leaky Cauldron,” Harry answered.
“You sure make opinions about people easily,” Ginny said while grinning.
“I can’t help it if they are just so easy to read,” Harry said grinning too.
Ginny’s retort was cut short by the arrival of the rest of the class. Almost all the class was there except for some people. Actually all the class was there except for three Gryffindor boys.
Sitting close to the professor they could see her getting irritated.
“Uh oh, they are going to get it,” Harry whispered.
“They deserve it,” Ginny’s voice was filled with venom more than likely directed at her older brother.
“I hope they haven’t fallen victim to Nargles,” Luna said worriedly.
Fortunately Luna’s worries were unfounded as the three Gryffindors burst into the classroom.
“Thank Merlin the Old Hag isn’t here,” exclaimed Ron the thickheaded in his usual tactful display that is expected of him. He looked around the room and started walking towards the front row.
“Harry mate! What are you doing in the front row? Let’s go back or we’ll have to listen to the professor,” Ron said.
“Well, Ron!” Harry said annoyed at being bothered again by the stupid redhead,” As listening to the professor is the standard way of learning, I’ll sit here thank you.”
“Why would you want to study so early, it’s just the start of term. We still have a lot of time left,” said Ron stupidly.
“Since Mr. Weasley, the basics are usually taught at the start of the term and they are very important for the rest of the year,” suddenly a voice said behind Ron.
Harry and the group looked up to see Professor McGonagall standing over Ron with an annoyed expression on her face.
“Seat now, Mr. Weasley,” Professor McGonagall said, “And five points from Gryffindor for insulting a Professor.”
Ron couldn’t even utter a word as he nodded timidly and beat a hasty retreat to the back of the classroom.
“Miss Lovegood, five points for recognizing an animagus. You have some sharp eyes,” Professor McGonagall praised as she made her way back to the desk.
“Now then,” Professor surveyed the room with her sharp eyes, “Transfiguration is one of the complex branches of magic, yet it is one of the basic material that should be known to a witch or a wizard. It involves turning an object whether animate or inanimate into another object,” at that she took out her wand and pointed it at the table, instantly turning it into a pig.
The class gasped at the flawless transfiguration. She waved her wand again and it returned to its previous state, “With practice, you will be able to do this and much more. Though I warn you, I would expect nothing less than the best from all of you. In my class, slacking off will not do,” her eyes turned to the back of the class where the three late Gryffindors were sitting, “Have I made myself clear?”
The whole class nodded, “Good. I expect each of you have bought the prescribed textbook?” at that the class nodded once again, “Turn to page five and read on how to turn a matchstick into a needle. Once you have done so, you are free to practice. If you are having any difficulty, do not hesitate to ask.”
“Miss Brown,” Professor McGonagall called to the girl sitting at one end, “Please hand out these matchsticks to your classmates.”
The girl nodded and hurried to take the basket from Professor McGonagall. Once Harry had received his matchstick, he waited patiently till the girls have finished reading the chapter.
“Ready?” Harry whispered, “Remember magic is all about will and intent.”
The girls nodded and focused on their matchstick. Harry took a deep breath and trained his wand on his. Going through the wand motion now fully inscribed in his mind, he muttered the incantation. The matchstick glimmered for a second before turning into a smooth shiny needle.
“Flawless Transfiguration Mr. Potter,” Professor McGonagall said from his side, making him almost jump out of his seat,
“Five points to Gryffindor. Miss Lovegood, Miss Weasley, keep practicing. You seem to be on the right track.” With that the Professor left to continue her rounds across the classroom.
“Well then,” Ginny took a deep breath. Her matchstick had become a bit pointed but it was still a matchstick, Luna had only fared little better, “Let’s try again.”
With Harry’s help and through sheer determination at being not left behind, both of them managed to complete their Transfiguration within five tries.
“Excellent work, you two,” once again the Professor had arrived at their desk without them even noticing, “That will be five points each. You may start on the reversal spell. If you manage to complete the assignment, you will be awarded ten points each.”
“Yes Professor,” the three nodded and started reading the next chapter, pleased with the praise they have received from the strict Professor. It was then that they heard the Professor’s voice from the back of the classroom.
“Mr. Weasley! Are you even trying?’ her voice was shrill, “Not only are your wand movements wrong but you are saying the wrong incantation.”
Harry tuned to Ron Weasley’s berating and the fact that they were doing so admirably might be the reason that the Professor was berating him so much. By the end of lecture they had managed to master the reversal spell.
“Admirable work, you three,” Professor McGonagall said when she arrived at their table, “It is not expected to master the first spell till three classes, but you have managed to complete two assignments in only one. Truly admirable. Like I said, that will be ten points each.”
Feeling thoroughly pleased with themselves, they nodded. Right then, Harry noticed a prickling sensation at the back of his neck. Turning around, he saw Hermione glaring at them like they had stolen something precious from her.
The stare persisted till the end of lecture, when Ginny couldn’t take it anymore.
“What’s her problem?” Ginny said glaring back at the girl who flushed and packed her things hurriedly and rushed out of the classroom, “I swear if this continues on, I am going to give her a piece of my mind.”
“Whoa. Whoa,” Harry said trying to calm her down, “No need to get so riled up.”
“I think she is infected by wrackspurts. They cause you to lose your mind,” Luna said in a dreamy fashion.
“I guess, we should keep away from them,” Harry said mock seriously, “Don’t want to get infected and all that.”
Luna nodded her head like he said something excellent, “Good idea Harry. They are very contagious.”
By then Ginny had calmed down and was smiling at her out of the world friend, “That’s enough about Wrackspurts from you Loony. We have a class now,” she said pushing both of them out of the class.
“Loony?” Harry said frowning.
“Yeah, it’s sort of a nickname I have for Luna,” Ginny explained, “You know how she goes on these strange tangent. So I came up with it and it kind of stuck.”
“I do not go on strange tangents,” Luna protested, “I just say what I see.”
“Yes you do,” Ginny argued.
“No I do not.” Luna shot back.
Harry just shook his head and followed the two girls to their next class.
…………………………………..
The rest of the classes passed in the same manner and before they knew it they were finishing dinner. True to his word, Harry had taken the girls to an unused classroom to tell them about his hatred towards Dumbledore.
“So,” Ginny said taking a seat at the desk, “Tell us what got you so riled up about Dumbledore?”
“Well, it’s a long story. So make yourself comfortable,” Harry said taking a seat himself, “Remember, what I have told you about my upbringing at the Dursleys?” he practically spat the name out, “Well, Dumbledore was the man who placed me there.”
“Well, they are your relatives Harry,” Ginny said tilting her head, “and your aunt is the closest living relative, isn’t she. And it’s not like he would have known about their hatred for magic.”
“Let me tell you all about it from the beginning. I got it from a letter that my parents left for me,” Harry said sighing, “Just before my birth a Prophecy was made.”
“Really, a Prophecy?” Ginny said incredulously.
“Don’t be like that, Ginny,” Luna said, “Prophecies are the way that the higher power chose to intervene with our fates. Their words carry a significant weight and their wrong interpretation can lead to disastrous consequences. If there was a Prophecy made about Harry, then that means that we are standing at a turning point in history.” Her voice was serious and firm.
“Right,” Ginny said with a roll of her eyes.
“Well, whether or not Prophecies are real,” Harry continued his story, “Voldemort chose to believe in it. And the rest is known to you. What is not known is that, the Prophecy spoke about a boy born at the end of July. At that time, there were two of us, me and some boy named Neville Longbottom.”
“I don’t remember a boy by that name in our year,” Ginny said.
“I guess, Voldemort wanted to be thorough, or he chose to attend some other school,” Harry explained, “Anyway, Dumbledore offered to take both of us in and train us to fight against Lord Voldemort. Though, my parents refused. They said they wanted to give me a normal childhood and that they were trying to find a way to destroy Voldemort, so I apparently don’t have to. To protect me, they decided to go into hiding, choosing to use a charm name Fidelius with a guy name Peter Pettigrew as their secret keeper. No one knew that though, and my Godfather was the one they told everyone about. I guess their plan failed and Voldemort got to them.”
At this point, Harry took a breath, “My parents wrote in their letter, that they don’t really trust Dumbledore. My Mum said that she always found Dumbledore to be too cunning for his own good. When they were fighting against Voldemort, Dumbledore never chose to give up any information willingly. Always dancing them around like pawns. She said that she found him to be too cold towards human life. For him, they were sacrifices that he was willing to give if that meant destroying the Dark Lord. He always talked about the greater good. Never considering that a single human life is as precious as all of them,” Harry’s voice was full of emotion by now, “But that’s not the only thing. Despite all their differences, they told Dumbledore explicitly, that if anything was to happen to me, then I would be sent to my Godfather or one of their friends. In no case was I to be given to Aunt Petunia or her family. They told him that they feared what they would do to me, if my custody was given to them. Yet, Dumbledore chose to give me to them.”
Harry stopped for a moment to bring himself under control, “And that’s why, I have chosen to take revenge. Not only on Voldemort, but also on Dumbledore. He is as much responsible for destroying my life as the Dark Lord. I don’t care if the whole world thinks of him as the hero; for me he is an abhorrence that I have to destroy.”
Their minds boggled by all this new information, Ginny was the first one to move, wrapping Harry in a loving embrace, “I understand Harry,” her voice was soothing, “I would feel the same way, if someone had done the something same to me.”
“Daddy always said Dumbledore was an alien trying to take over the world,” Luna said dreamily, her big blue eyes staring at her friends.
It was more than enough to break the ice as Harry began chuckling, “Well, I cannot imagine a human having a beard so long.”
They shared a good laugh before Ginny turned the conversation towards a serious topic, “So what are we going to do about it?”
“We?” Harry asked distractedly.
Ginny just rolled her eyes, “What were you expecting. That after you told us all about Dumbledore, we would pat you on the back and say ‘good luck’? Of course we want to be a part of it. Right Luna?”
“Yes, Ginny. We cannot leave him alone. Merlin knows what kind of creature he will attract on his own. We need to protect him,” Luna said completely serious.
“Hey, I don’t need protection from you two,” Harry said indignantly.
“Of course you don’t,” Ginny said snickering.
The snickering soon turned to full fledge laughter leaving Harry sitting there with a sour expression on his face.
…………………………………..
And so the training against two top wizards in Britain started for three children. They decided that every day after dinner they would come into the empty classroom and do their homework. After that they would study ahead, so they could be better in their school work and study other books Harry had bought for himself in Diagon Alley.
Right now though, they were sitting in the Potions Classroom, waiting for their Professor to come. The wait wasn’t long as the door opened with a bang revealing their Professor in his trademark black robes. With his robes bellowing behind him, he walked with his nose turned upward. He reached his desk and turned towards the students.
“Put your wands away,” his voice was barely above a whisper, yet it carried across the dank, dark classroom perfectly, “There will be no foolish wand waving in this class. I do not expect any of you to understand the subtle science that is Potion making, yet I would endeavour to cram as much of it as I can into these thick heads of yours. And if I any of you, though highly improbable, showed any affinity towards this delicate art,” he gave a significant glance towards Draco, “I can teach you….”
And so the Professor droned on and on. Harry and the girls had heard enough from him and they tuned him out. That is until Harry’s name was called unexpectedly.
“Potter, tell me! Where would you find a bezoar?”
“Seeing professor as you are a potions master in your cabinet,” Harry retorted. He didn’t like being singled out.
“One point from Gryffindor for your cheek, Potter,” Snape sneered.
“What do you mean Sir? I am sure the Bezoar would be there.”
“That’s not what I meant Potter,” Snape looked livid.
“Well Sir, considering how we are not supposed to know the last chapter of our textbook without learning, I would say that’s the right answer.”
“I expect my students to learn their textbook beforehand, Potter, and it’s not my fault if you are too lazy to even do that,” The potion master was now leaning at their table.
“Why professor, afraid that people would know that you can’t really teach if you actually started teaching?” Harry smirked at the greasy professor.
“Five points from Gryffindor for insulting a teacher,” Snape’s sneer intensified, “All of you open your textbook now,” Snape said to the whole class.
The rest of the class was spent in the same way with Harry and the girls questioning the professor on every step of the way. If he was not going to make it easy for them than they were not going to make it a walk in the park for him, as for losing points and failing the class they could care less. Points didn’t matter and Snape was going to fail them anyway.
They were confronted by an angry Hermione Granger outside the class.
“I can’t believe you three,” She started laying on them as soon as she spotted them, “Don’t you have some kind of respect for a teacher? What you just did was the most horrible thing I have ever seen. Can you believe how many house points we lost because of you?”
“What do you mean? What did we do?” Harry just stared back at the girl.
“Don’t give me that,” the girl said, “You were disrupting the class by asking those stupid questions,” at that Ginny snorted. The girl glared at her before continuing, “Not to mention you shouldn’t talk back to a professor.”
“So you are telling me that I should have just sat there silently and let him bully me,” Harry said slowly while looking at the girl.
“Humph, he was not bullying, he just asked a simple question to which you gave a stupid answer,” the girl huffed.
“Whatever,” Harry said feeling indifferent, “Just get lost. No one asked for you advice again,” Harry put special emphasis on the word again.
The girl looked indignant before furiously walking away from them.
“Poor girl,” Luna said in a sympathetic tune, “She really should do something about those humdinger around her. According to Daddy, everyone at the ministry is infected by them.”
“I think we should just get to lunch,” Ginny gave her own opinion, “It’s getting late and I am feeling quite hungry.
“Oh I don’t know,” Harry smiled at her, “I don’t think they would have enough left to satiate your hunger.”
Ginny just punched him on the arm and made her way towards the Great Hall.
………………………….
Unlike Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Art wasn’t cool. They were just told to read through the assigned chapter, while Quirrel kept looking out of the window like Death itself was coming to fetch him and he would have to run at the moment’s notice. But that wasn’t the only thing weird about him. He would often talk to himself, muttering words like Master and I am sorry. It made him quite the strange fellow in Harry and the girl’s book. They thought that the strange Professor might belong in a mental facility more than in Hogwarts.
“Professor Quirrel is quite the strange fellow,” Harry said after a particular gruelling lesson. The spells weren’t that hard but being eleven years old can make them seem hard.
“I have heard rumours that he encountered some nasty spirits in Albania,” Ginny commented, “Some even say that he was caught by a hag, almost roasted over a fire before the Law Enforcement came to rescue him. Others say that the vampires made him their drinking bag before he was rescued. Some even say that werewolves kept him for their full moon meal.” After Ginny started, she just kept on going about all the rumours concerning Quirrel.
“Well I think the only one Quirrel needs to watch out for is Snape,” Harry joked, “If looks could kill, the guy would be long dead.”
“Well there are rumours that Snape is after Quirrel’s job. And that he offered himself but Dumbledore went over him to choose Quirrel.”
“That’s enough,” Harry said exasperated, “What’s with girls and gossip.”
“I don’t gossip,” Ginny said indignantly, “I just like to stay updated on the recent happenings in the castle.”
“Luna, what do you think about Quirrel?” Harry said wanting to change the subject.
“I think he is infected by Nargles and Wrackspurts both. They can be a nasty combination,” Luna said merrily while inspecting her wand.
Harry just shook his head. It was impossible to get an opinion out of Luna when she didn’t want to give.
“Alright you lot,” Harry said getting up, “Break’s over. We aren’t going to defeat the two strongest wizards of this age by laying on our bums.”
“Well then what are we waiting for?” Ginny said, a fire burning in her eyes as she took the stance to practice.
……………………………..
Flying was a lesson that all three were looking forward to. It fascinated Harry that he was going to fly on a broom. Something that was used to clean rooms in the muggle word.
“All present?” Madame Hooch asked to be certain after she had taken the attendance, “Place your hands over your broom,” she looked over at each of them critically, “Now yell UP.”
“UP,” the whole pitch chorused. Some instantly shot into the hands of their owners, some just hobbled while most of them remained motionless. However, Malfoy’s broom seemed to be a unique case as it hovered up and smacked him right in the face. With a strangled cry, he fell on his back rubbing his face.
“Mr. Malfoy,” Madame Hooch shrill voice rang through the whole ground, “I told you not to stand so close to your broom. Next time, pay attention to my warning.”
Malfoy stood up, his whole face red. Whether it was from embarrassment or from being smacked by the broom, they didn’t know. But, it still was hilarious.
Of the few students whose brooms had responded, Harry, Ginny and Luna were in them. Next Madame Hooch instructed them to mount their brooms.
“Mr. Weasley,” this time it was Ron who had earned Madame Hooch’s ire, “Your grip is completely wrong, here let me show you.”
While the other students were still busy trying to mount their brooms correctly, Harry and the girls had slowly pushed themselves off the ground. Their brooms were hovering just a few inches off the ground.
“Excellent,” Madame Hooch praised, “No, Miss Brown, that’s not how you kick.”
With Madame Hooch’s attention once again averted from them, they began rising higher. Soon, the students and their instructor were just a speck on the ground.
It was Ginny who took off first. Leaning forward on her broom, she accelerated and with a swishing sound she was racing towards the other edge of the pitch.
Harry, not wanting to be left behind also pushed his broom and raced forward, Luna following them serenely.
“Do not fly too rashly,” Came a distant voice from below but they ignored it in favour of the exhilarating feeling the flying gave them. The brooms were old and worn out, yet their three flyers took out as much efficiency from them as they could, pushing it to its edge with their sharp turns, sudden dives and fast acceleration. They were a blur on the pitch as they played a complex game of tag with each other.
…………………………
Minerva McGonagall was sitting in her office going through the essays that she had assigned during the summer to her classes. It amazed her just what kind of things students come up with just to fill their spaces. She sighed and rubbed her temples, getting up to get a breath of fresh air. She approached the window and looked down, knowing that it was time for the flying instruction for her house. She really hoped that they had some good flyers this year. They could use them.
After Charlie Weasley had left last year, Gryffindor was in desperate need for a seeker. Sadly no one had shown enough potential to be a decent seeker. She would really hate for Slytherin to win once again. Severus was becoming insufferable as it was. She would hate to know how he would be after another win.
It was then that she noticed three distant flyers doing insane acrobatics, at least for first years, in the air. She squinted her eyes trying to make out who they were, all the while hoping that at least one of them was in Gryffindor. As they came closer, she realized that this might be her lucky day.
…………………………………..
“Come on Potter, can’t catch me?” Ginny taunted Harry while hovering over him. Luna as always was busy in her own world slowly drifting over her broom, but it was not like she was easy to catch either. Whenever he tried to approach her, she would just shift like the wind had blown her that way.
“It’s not my fault,” Harry said indignantly, “You two have been flying for merlin knows how long and it’s still my first flight.”
“Aww,” Ginny cooed, drifting closer to him, “Poor Little Harry! Can’t even catch two girls.”
“Why you,” Harry lunged at her but she was a tad bit out of reach. He leaned forward, preparing to dash after her, when they heard a whistle. Looking down they saw Madame Hooch waving at them with Professor McGonagall at her side.
“Uh oh,” Ginny looked worried, “What did we do?”
“Don’t know,” Harry shrugged, “Let’s find out.”
Slowly, they descended to the ground before jumping and landing in front of the two Professor.
Without wasting a moment, Professor McGonagall spoke in her usual stern manner, “Follow me,” she turned around and started walking briskly towards the Castle.
Harry and the girls shared a glance before shrugging and following her at a hurried pace, trying to keep up with her. For a woman over seventy she was surprisingly swift and agile, covering distance in long strides.
Their destination was a classroom where she peered in, “May I borrow Wood for a moment?” They heard her voice.
A few moments later, a tall lanky boy came out looking confused, his eyes shined though when he looked at the three first years.
“Professor are these three for the Seeker try out?” he spoke quickly running his eyes over them, “Yes they are small and lean. They would be perfect.”
“Yes Mr. Wood,” Professor McGonagall said, “You guessed correctly. I have chosen these three to try out for the position of seeker, though I believe they would make a good reserve player for other positions.”
“Is that so?” Wood said critically, “Why don’t you three meet me on the grounds in the evening. I will test you there.”
“With that solved,” Professor looked towards Wood, “You can return to your class. You three may go back to your dormitories. I believe your class has almost ended and I do not think you are in need of any more flying lessons after that exquisite performance. Madame Hooch would agree with me on that.”
“Yes Professor,” The three replied and set off to their common room.
“Yes!” Ginny said with excitement, “We are going to play Quidditch. And what’s better, all three of us could be on the team. I never thought that I would be on the house team in my first year.”
“Why not?” Harry asked, a bit confused. From what he had seen, Ginny was easily the best flyer out of them.
“Not many captains recruit first years in their team since they aren’t allowed their own broom. The school brooms are ancient and they cannot very well use them in a real match,” Ginny explained.
“Oh well! I can’t wait till the evening, Quidditch seems exciting,” Harry said smiling at the girls and then he frowned, “I hope it doesn’t cut much time from our training.”
“Relax Harry, we need some fun too, besides that would be if we’re even selected at all,” Ginny said.
“Yes Harry! Nargles can’t attack you in the air,” Luna said dreamily.
“Oh alright! By the way how do you play Quidditch?” Harry asked.
…………………………………..
Come evening, Harry and the girls were standing on the ground, waiting impatiently for Wood to show up. At least, Ginny and Harry were. Luna seemed to be in a world of her own like always.
“Potter,” A voice spoke from the stands. They looked over to see Wood waving at them, “Come, and help me with this.”
He was dragging a huge box that seemed to be shaking and vibrating every now and then. Harry nodded and quickly went to Wood to help him with the box.
“Thanks Potter,” Wood said breathing raggedly as he sat over the box which was still shaking strangely, “I think, first Introductions are in order. My name’s Oliver Wood and I am the Gryffindor Quidditch Team Captain. I am the keeper in the team. Now you three.”
“Harry Potter.”
“Luna Lovegood.”
“Ginny Weasley.”
“Weasley,” Wood muttered, “Should have known another one was coming soon.” He looked up and smiled, “I hope you all know the basics about Quidditch,” the three friends nodded, even Harry who was thoroughly instructed on the topic of Quidditch by Ginny, “That’s good then, we can get to the try outs then.”
He got up from the box and pulled out a golf ball from his pocket, “I will throw this ball in the air and you will catch it. For now we will use the school broom,” he pointed towards an old broom lying, “Understood?” the three nodded, “Well then ladies first.”
At that Luna stepped up and mounted the broom. Slowly, she started hovering over the ground. She looked towards Wood expectantly who nodded and threw the ball. The first one was relatively easy, almost landing straight into her hand. Next one, went a bit wide and she had move a bit to catch it. The catches became increasingly difficult but Luna caught all of them with no apparent difficulty.
“Good work,” Wood praised, “Next is Weasley.”
Ginny took the broom from Luna and rose up. Her performance was nowhere near as graceful as Luna’s but no less efficient either.
Harry performed in much the same way, catching all the balls that Wood threw at him and away from him.
“All three of you performed greatly,” Wood frowned, “Let’s try for the other positions first before making a decision.”
Next up was the beater position. Luna was the first one but she just stood there motionless.
“Luna you have to hit the ball,” Ginny shouted at him.
“But there are Baby humdingers in the hoop,” Luna answered.
“Don’t worry,” Ginny snickered, “They will be fine.”
Luna looked at Ginny for a moment before nodding and hitting the Bludger. It precisely went through the hoop.
“Brilliant shot, Lovegood. What are…” Wood tried to say but he was cut off.
“Don’t,” Harry and Ginny spoke at once, looking at him with eyes full of warning.
“Alright,” Wood looked confused, “Weasley you are up next.”
Needless to say, the try out for Beater and the Chaser went in the same way with each of them landing an almost perfect score. There were a few mishits here and there but as a whole, they performed admirably.
“All three of you are really good,” Wood said in a contemplative voice, “Do you have any preference?”
“I don’t want to be a beater, if makes my arm hurt,” Ginny complained swinging her left arm, “And seeking is just plain boring.”
He looked towards Luna who just shrugged her shoulder.
“Well, I find Seeking interesting,” Harry gave his own opinion.
“Well that settles it,” Wood clapped his hand together enthusiastically, “The girls can be reserve chasers and Potter, you will be our Seeker. Though, I might play you girls as seeker from time to time to test new combination.”
“Sounds good to me,” Harry replied grinning. He was looking forward to playing Quidditch.
“Good,” Wood closed the lid on the box after putting the balls back in, “I’ll expect all three of you on the pitch by six in the morning sharp.”
Before any one of them could comprehend what Wood had just said, he had grabbed the box and was dragging it back to the stands.
“Did he just say six in the morning,” Harry said giving a significant glance towards Ginny whose mouth was opened in shock.
“Quidditch doesn’t seem that exciting anymore,” Ginny muttered dejectedly, almost slumping to the ground.
Harry and Luna shared a grin before dragging a visibly shocked Ginny to dinner.
………………………………………….
Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Author's Notes: And once again I am back, with the next monthly? update. Do I have anything to say? Do I? Do I? Do I? nahh, except for saying thank you for enjoying the story and I hope that you keep reading it with the same fervor with which I write it. (Gets out of the way of angry mob!)
The month of September and October had passed in a flurry; and, before they knew it, the three friends had grown close. Closer than they had ever been to anyone else in their whole life. Their friendship could be said to be at a stage where there were almost no secrets among them. The deepest, darkest parts of their lives were known to each other. They were a tight knit group and most students had learned it the hard way. An oddity is never fully accepted by people from the beginning. Most reject them outright.
And Luna was, well, anything but normal. Quickly, she had become the target of bullying and ridicule at Hogwarts. Often it occurred when she was alone, suddenly pushed from the back when she was walking in the hall or her hair tugged forcefully by some unknown student. Sometimes her things would disappear from her bedside. It would have been a difficult time for her if not for her two stalwart friends.
While Harry and Ginny shared a deep bond, two abused children can have a lot in common, Luna didn't seem to share that anchor of their relationship. Yet, they could empathize with Luna's situation at Hogwarts. For Ginny, Luna had always been a steady source of comfort away from her home and her first friend. For Harry, at first Luna was just a strange girl whose company he enjoyed. As time passed, he began to value her friendship more and more. So it was no surprise that they came to her rescue.
Harry was usually the mild mannered of the two when they came across someone who would be bullying her. In just a few weeks, Ginny had gathered a reputation of hexing before thinking, jealously guarding her long-time friend from anyone who even dared to look at her cross eyed. Once, she had come across one of her dorm mates, Lavender, trying to hide Luna's shoes. It was more of lack of knowledge rather than trying that Lavender didn't end in Hospital wing with some serious injuries. Needless to say, Professor McGonagal was highly displeased and she ended up with a week of detention. Though, she got off easy. Lavender received a full month of detention with a deduction of fifty house point for bullying a fellow dorm mate. Luna worried less after that.
Other than that initial hiccup with Luna, their life at Hogwarts had been mostly pleasant. There were some people that they would rather avoid like Hermione, Ron, Malfoy and Snape, but it's not like you can have every wish in your life granted. Ron would usually annoy them at mealtimes or during classes trying to sit beside Harry, only to be sent away by an annoyed group. Hermione would mostly glare at them for finishing a work earlier than her. Snape would make their life miserable in potion on the cost of having a headache. Whereas Malfoy would usually taunt them in corridors or sometimes during meals; only to be ignored like he wasn't there.
Working in a group seemed to have its benefits, as they would help each other when the others couldn't understand a subject. Like Harry excelled in Transfiguration, but Charms was Ginny's area, and oddly enough, that means not surprisingly, Luna always managed to somehow remember all of History of Magic lessons whereas Harry and Ginny couldn't even keep their eyes open in the class. Potions was usually shared. Harry and Ginny would pair up whereas Luna was with Hermione. She was driving the bossy girl nuts.
Quidditch practice was very exhilarating even with Wood's odd hours' practice. They would practice Quidditch at least four times a week, it provided a great distraction from all that work that they were doing.
As far as their training was concerned, it was going smoothly. Apparently, when you are learning on your own, it can go pretty fast. They had learned almost all of the practical course of the first year and were just beginning to move on to second year curriculum, along with some higher level curses and jinxes that weren't taught till OWLs but formed the basis of duelling.
Halloween had arrived and for the first time Harry felt depressed. He didn't know why.
He hadn't even known his parents. He didn't even remember their faces. Yet there was just this hollow feeling inside of him, like he was missing a part of himself. A dull ache clawing at his chest, squeezing his heart, wanting to choke him. He felt like there was a dam inside of him on the verge of breaking any moment.
But, that was when his friends came into play. Having two observant girls as your friends can be really helpful in such circumstances. They had been gentle with him. Giving him his space, yet maintaining a semblance of normalcy for which he was eternally grateful. They had made sure that he ate his full even when he felt like he wouldn't be able to stomach even a morsel of food. It's hard to brood when you have two such caring friends.
The only exceptional thing that had happened in the day was Hermione missing her classes after a row with Ron when he called her a know-it-all after she successfully demonstrated to him how to cast the levitation spell in Charms class. It was odd Hermione would miss a class. She almost seemed to be in love with them.
While they were enjoying the Halloween feast Ginny revealed to the group why Hermione didn't attend the class.
"I overheard Lavender." She spat the name out like it was bug that got into her mouth. "She was saying that she heard Hermione crying in the second floor bathroom."
"All day?" Harry raised his eyebrow.
Just then they were interrupted by the doors of the Great Hall banging open. Like every other student, they turned their head trying to see what it was. It was Quirrel running like Death was chasing him all the while screaming.
"TROLL, TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!"
Just before he reached the Staff table his legs tripped and he fell over. Feebly, he looked up and in a voice even feebler he said, "Thought you ought to know." In the next moment, he had passed out on the floor of the Great Hall.
For a split second there was complete silence in the Great Hall. Not a single voice could be heard. Everyone was staring at the motionless body of Professor Quirrel in shock. And then, as if the collective senses of everyone present had returned at the same time, the hall turned into a noisy den of chattering birds.
Professor Dumbledore stood up immediately and shot sparks into the air, regaining the silence.
"Please be calm." His voice was amplified and could be heard easily. "Prefects please gather the students and lead them to their dorms in an orderly fashion. Teachers please follow me."
The respective House Prefects started gathering the students around with the Head Boy and Girl monitoring the whole situation while Professor Dumbledore lead the teachers through a back entrance. Harry, Ginny, and Luna also gathered behind Percy and started walking out of the Great Hall in a huge congregation. They had just crossed the threshold when they remembered something.
"Hermione," Harry whispered in horror, his face becoming pale as he came to the realization that no one could have told her.
"I'll tell Percy," Ginny said hurriedly before quickly making her way towards her older brother.
"Percy!" she called out to him over the gaggle of students. Somehow, her voice got through and he glanced down looking annoyed.
"What is it Ginevra?" his voice was as pompous as ever.
Ginny resisted the temptation to kick him in the shin, seeing as how the matter they had at hand was more important. "It's Hermione. She doesn't know that there's a Troll. She had been locked in the bathroom all day and didn't attend the feast."
All colour drained from Percy's face as he heard his sister. Trolls weren't the most intelligent of creatures and that's what made them dangerous.
"I-I'll inform the teachers," Percy stuttered handing over the duties to his fellow prefect as he rushed back into the Great Hall.
Ginny made her way back to her friends looking worried for the witch in her year. She might have been a nuisance, but not enough to wish any ill will towards her.
For a few minutes they kept walking like that, silent in the loudly whispering crowd. Fidgeting and glancing around, hoping to see Hermione. They were the only one though. Everyone else seemed eager to get to the safety of common room.
In the end, it became too much for them. "Damn it," Harry cursed, "they are taking too long."
"Calm down," Ginny tried to soothe him, "It's a large castle. It will take them sometime to reach there."
"Still." Harry's expressions were torn as he looked around. Slowly, a determined look came over them.
"Harry, no!" Ginny hissed, immediately understanding what Harry was trying to do.
"It might be too late otherwise," Harry spoke in a firm tone, "We have to save her."
Ginny shared a worried look with Luna before nodding resignedly. They looked around making sure no one was paying any attention to them before quietly breaking from the group. Once they reached the end of the hallway, they broke into a sprint towards the upper floor.
Through various twisting and turning hallways, they finally reached their destination. Just they came within ten yards of the bathroom, a bloodcurdling shriek pierced through their ears. Their feet were weary from the long sprint, yet they pushed even harder, trying desperately to reach the door before anything bad happened.
With a shove they opened the door, only to hear a cry even more full of despair fade into nothing. The scene they saw though froze them to the spot. It was Hermione, her whole skull was bashed in and thick wisp of curly brown hair matted with blood and brain fluid still clung to her head. Her face was completely unrecognizable. Over her stood the Troll looking confusedly at his club which was streaked with blood and hair. With one hit, he had destroyed Hermione's face completely. They were too late. She was dead.
As their brains processed this information, the shock was replaced by anger. Anger at the untimely death of someone they knew. Sure she was bossy and arrogant and they would even call her an acquaintance on her best day, yet she didn't deserve to die like this. The most horrible thing that she had done was to be jealous at being outsmarted in the classes.
They could feel the anger surging through their veins, awakening their magic. As if in slow motion they raised their wands.
"Stupefy!" The three stunning spells from Eleven year olds did nothing more than faze the thick skinned Troll.
"Stupefy." The three voices rang once again shrilly, this time pouring even more power into their stunning spell. This was the most lethal spell in their arsenal and they almost regretted not learning something more dangerous.
The Troll stumbled a bit this time, his eyes catching his three attackers. With a mighty roar he lunged forward, intent on smashing the three students.
"STUPEFY!" this time the spell had all the power they could muster. For a few moments, the white beams travelled rapidly, zigzagging across each other before combining and struck the Troll right on its chest with a force of sledgehammer.
Even the thick hide of a Troll couldn't manage this powerful bit of magic as he was thrown backwards and crashed into the already weakening wall. The force was just enough to break it completely and under his own weight the troll fell backwards before falling down. Even from where they stood, the voice of neck snapping could be heard clearly.
Suddenly, they all felt very drained. With a heavy heart they sank down on the floor their eyes never leaving the mangled corpse of the brunette that they had known for such a little time.
"Oh Hermione," Ginny whispered. This was the first time that she had used her first name. Her eyes were misty as her hand came up to cover her mouth. Quietly she started sobbing.
For a few moments the whole bathroom was filled with the quiet cries of Ginny. Harry and Luna were too shocked to do anything. At that instant, hurried footsteps could be heard in the corridor. The footsteps grew louder as they came close only to come to a sudden halt.
"Oh my," gasped a voice. It belonged to Professor McGonagal who was accompanied by Professor Dumbledore, Quirrel and Snape. She staggered a bit, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.
"Minerva," Dumbledore spoke in a sharp tone, his eye twinkling madly, "Remove the students immediately."
"O-of course," Professor McGonagall nodded. She righted herself and with a composed face walk towards the students.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley and Lovegood." The three looked up. Even in such a situation she had managed to regain her bearing quite quickly. "Follow me."
Slowly they nodded and got up. The Professor looked at them for a split second, an unknown emotion coming over her face but it was gone before they could put a name to it. She turned around and started walking at a brisk pace.
The walk back to the common room was silent and long. The corridors seemed stretched and never ending. Nevertheless, they reached their destination.
Professor McGonagal left the three students there and returned. Harry spoke the password and they climbed into the portrait hole. The common room was completely empty. Probably, Percy had sent everyone to bed already.
They plopped down into Sofas near the fire, their blank eyes staring into the small fire. It was the first time they had seen death and over that it was gruesome. The way Hermione's head was bashed and the brain fluid intermingled with blood all over her face was stuck in their skull.
"We can't let it affect us, you know," Luna spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "The path we are walking; we'll see many more like this. We have to get used to it."
Harry clutched his head, his finger tugging sharply at his unruly hair. "I know," he said, "It's just."
"How can we get used to seeing that?" Ginny finished his sentence.
"I don't know." Luna shook her head slowly. "But if we don't, then we won't be able to survive. Voldemort and Dumbledore, I don't think they are people who shy away from death. You saw him today didn't you? He never hesitated even for a second. He was in complete command. If we want to defeat him, then we'll have to surpass him in every way possible."
"I guess." Harry still was in shock. It was hard not to; after what he had seen.
Ginny wiped her eyes and managed a watery smile. She got up and said, "Luna's right. It's not our fault that Hermione is…is dead," she managed to get out, "We cannot let it affect us like this. Why don't we sleep for now? I think we'll better in the morning."
"That's a lovely idea Ginny," Luna smiled as she got up, "I am feeling really tired too."
Harry took a deep breath and exhaled it. Standing up he smiled somewhat shakily, "Alright, time to sleep."
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, the girls hugged Harry before saying good night and they walked up to their respective dormitories.
….
A week had passed since the tragic incident with the troll. It had taken some time, but Harry, Ginny, and Luna had mostly returned to normal. Their busy schedule had helped and they had shoved the incident to the back of their mind. Hogwarts had held a day of mourning for her, but other than that nothing really wavered from the usual flow.
As they sat enjoying a leisurely breakfast on a weekend, an owl landed in front of them. Surprised, they looked at each other. They weren't expecting any letters. Shrugging his shoulders, Harry stretched his hand and took the letter from the owl, as Ginny started to feed it bits and pieces from her plate.
"It's from Hagrid," Harry announced after a while.
"What does he say?" Luna asked absentmindedly.
"He's inviting us for a visit," Harry answered passing the letter onto Ginny who scanned it rapidly before handing it to Luna.
"Why not? It's not like we have anything better to do." Ginny sighed and stretched. "I want to take a break from the training too."
With that it was settled. Since it was weekend and they had already finished all the work assigned to them by the teacher, they decided to take the day off and relax even from the training. They didn't get many free days with homework, Quidditch and training.
After Lunch they took off to Hagrid's hut which was located on the grounds. It was an enjoyable walk. With the playful bickering between Ginny and Harry and the odd comments inserted by Luna they soon found themselves in front of Hagrid's hut.
Harry knocked at the door and waited for a response, they could hear someone barking from the inside before the door was opened to reveal Hagrid's bushy face.
"It's you guys, come in come in," Hagrid said beckoning them inside.
Harry and Girls went inside and found themselves in a quite spacious, at least for them, hut. There was a huge bed in one room in which only Hagrid could sleep. Unicorn hairs were hanging by the door.
"Why don't you guys sit and I'll make some tea," Hagrid said before moving on to pour some water in the kettle.
"So, Harry tell me who are these two lovely girls with you," Hagrid asked after putting the water on stove.
"These are Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood," Harry said motioning to the two girls.
"Weasley? You must be Bill and Charlie's youngest sister, I remember them, they were quite good, especially Charlie, shared my love for animals, Good thing he went to Romania. And you must be Xeno's daughter. He was a bit odd but a good guy at heart." Hagrid said looking at them. The girls smiled at hearing such praise for their family.
"Did you know my Parents too Hagrid?" Harry asked curiously wanting to know something about his parents.
"Of course I did Harry, Lily an' James Potter, two of the best wizard an' witches I knew…."
And with that Hagrid launched into a series of stories about Harry's parent and Ginny's brothers. Luna's Father also made an occasional appearance. All in all the afternoon was spent in an enjoyable manner with tea, discarding the struggle to eat the rock cakes and almost breaking their teeth in return, but some would say that that was mildly pleasant too.
…
It was the morning after they had met Hagrid. They were sitting on the breakfast table discussing the latest topic that was being covered in Potions. As Snape didn't seem capable of teaching them anything they had resolved to learn it themselves. Unlike other subjects they had not at first included in the training seeing no use for potion skill only to find how wrong they were when it became quite apparent how much a potion can do after a serious training session.
As they were eating, three Owls carrying a large bundle came towards them. They looked towards the Owl trying to figure out what it was that they were carrying. They didn't have to wait for long though. The owl dropped the package in front of the three young Gryffindors. Ginny hesitantly reached out and took the letter attached to it and began reading it.
"What does it say?" Harry asked seeing Ginny getting excited.
"It's from Professor McGonagall. She sent you a broom. Well not for you, it's for the Gryffindor seeker,"
"Really? A broom," Harry said getting quite excited too.
"Well Harry! Open it. It's not infected by wrackspurts," Luna said dreamily.
Harry shook his head and began tearing off the paper. His breath hitched in his throat as he looked at the sleek handle and the finely cut broom twigs. It was truly a master piece.
"Wow! It's a nimbus 2000 Harry, I'm almost jealous," Ginny breathed.
"Well no need to get jealous Ginny, I'm sure Harry will offer us a ride too right Harry," Luna said to Ginny before turning to Harry and fixing him with a stare. It was a stare more likely found on Ginny's face but Harry decided that it was much scarier on Luna not to mention creepier too.
"Umm, why not, you can even take the first ride too," Harry said nervously.
"Oh That's really sweet Harry, but you can take the first ride, we can wait in turn," Luna said once again returning to her normal face.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief at least he still can ride his broom before others.
…..
"Well, that was fun, we should visit Hagrid more often," said Ginny, while Luna nodded her head.
"Yeah why not," said Harry, "Let's just hope he doesn't give us those rock cakes again," he was still rubbing his sore jaw from trying to eat the rock cakes.
"Come on let's hurry up we actually have to eat something real too, its almost dinner time," said Ginny while pushing them.
"Alright Alright let's go."
….
It was the first game of the Quidditch season Gryffindor Vs. Slytherin and as expected Harry and the girls were very nervous. It was also his very first game as a player. Ginny and Luna were just reserves and will replace the original chasers if the game went too long or one of them got injured. Even though Wood had pushed them through rigorous training, Harry still doubted that he would be able to catch the snitch when it mattered. They were not eating much, but they were not the only ones. Other Gryffindor Quidditch team members were also up early and looking quite green. It heartened them to see that they were not alone.
After sitting there and pushing the food around for what seemed like eternity Wood pushed away from the table and ordered the team the follow him. The team too stood up leaving their food plates as it was.
Soon they were standing in locker room waiting for the game to start. They could hear the stadium slowly filling up.
"Alright Guys," Wood started only to receive five set of glares, "and of course girls," he hastily added, "We have prepared for this moment. We have trained and trained and trained so that we could show those fat Slytherin who are the real boss. We have got the best team that anyone can ask for, both regular and reserve. Let's get out and Show them What IS QUIDDITCH."
The last part was almost yelled by Wood followed by a chorus of "YES" from the team. Harry and the girls were no longer feeling nervous ready to take on whatever the other team had to throw at them.
The Gryffindor Quidditch team walked out on the Quidditch pitch among loud cheers. Fred and George's friend Lee Jordan was commentating with Professor McGonagall acting as a Mediator...for Lee Jordan.
"And Here come The Gryffindor Quidditch team led by their captain Wood and follow by Weasley, Weasley, Johnson, Spinnet, Bell, Potter, Lovegood and another Weasley. It seems like we are getting a lot of Weasleys, and by their number of children I am sure One day the entire team would be just Weasley, although that would cause quite a bit of confusion but…."
"JORDAN, the match please," Professor McGonagall scolded.
"Yes, Alright Professor, and Yes Gryffindor team today has nine players with two chasers as reserve. I must add that right now Gryffindor team is the only one with reserve player. A remarkable insight from our captain Wood, but as we all know he is only bright when it comes to Quidditch."
"JORDAN," Professor McGonagall said once again.
"Sorry Professor got carried away a bit there. Alright the match is about to start the bludgers and snitch has been released. Now just waiting for the Quaffle and there it goes. All the players are in the air. The Quaffle has been snatched by the Gryffindor chaser first. It looks Like Johnson, passed to Bell, passed back to Johnson, passes it Spinnet, she is about to throw and what a wonderful feint towards Johnson who just came zooming from the other side and threw it through the loop. With that Gryffindor leads 10-0.
Harry quickly zoned out the commentary and the lewd comments made by Lee Jordan towards the chasers intent on finding the golden ball as soon as he can, and there it was hiding just behind Wood's back.
He looked towards the other seeker, but he still had to spot the golden ball, seeing the opportunity he slowly started flying towards the golden snitch trying not to get attention from the other seeker. But he had forgotten one thing in trying to avoid the other seeker's attention: the golden ball was very fast and Harry was slowly zooming towards the ball as it vanished from his sight. Harry cursed himself. He had let an easy opportunity go to waste. He returned to lazily circling the pitch. As he was passing the teacher's box he felt a sudden lurch in his broom. He halted, trying to see what was wrong with the broom. When nothing happened he passed it off as a figment of his imagination, but as soon as he started moving, the broom gave another powerful lurch. This time it was too strong to be missed and Harry was almost thrown off the broom.
Gripping tightly to the broom, he tried to lower it gradually but it was completely out of his control. It would sometimes go sideways and sometimes jerk upwards trying to throw off his rider like an angry bull. It was all Harry could do to hold to the broom, never mind searching for the golden snitch.
"Uh OH, It seems like something is happening to Potter's broom, it is acting strangely," it seemed like the whole pitch had noticed his predicament and had gone silent. Slytherins though undeterred by what was happening continued to score the goals as the Gryffindor team gathered around Harry. Fred and George tried to approach his broom only to find it speeding upwards. Afraid that the broom will throw Harry off, they continued circling beneath him hoping to catch him as he fell.
On the other hand, Harry was trying to gain control of the broom. It was almost like someone was remotely controlling it. As soon as Harry would try to get it under control it would jerk even strongly. It was only a matter of time before he was thrown off the broom.
He looked down trying to gauge his height and that was when he saw it. The Golden Snitch hovering below him just above Fred and George, but they had not noticed it.
"FRED! GEORGE! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!" Harry shouted to the twins. He had made an insane decision and he was going to act upon it.
He took a moment to gather his breath before acting upon it. He jumped from his broom at the height of almost a hundred feet. He was going to be thrown off anyway from the broom, and if he was going down he might as well win the match too.
It took him just a moment to reach the snitch. The golden ball seemed unaware of the object rapidly approaching it as it remained where it was. One moment his hand was closing around the snitch and the next Fred and George had caught him.
"Blimey Harry! You gave us some scare there!" said one of the twins.
Harry just grinned and looked towards the stands which had gone deathly silent. He raised his hand in which he was holding the golden snitch.
"AND IT SEEMS LIKE GRYFFINDOR HAD WON, 170-150 DUE TO A WONDERFUL FLYING CATCH BY THE SEEKER HARRY POTTER," Lee Jordan yelled in the microphone.
It was like a dead engine being revived as the crowd seemed to slowly came out of the deathly silence and began roaring. Gryffindor had beaten Slytherin spectacularly.
Fred and George lowered him to the ground where he was immediately hit by a white and red missile.
"Harry what the hell was that?" Ginny demanded as soon as she released him. Even Luna was deathly serious.
"Harry you could have died!" Luna voice quavered a little bit.
Harry immediately felt ashamed of his decision. He hadn't thought how the girls would feel seeing him jump like that.
"I'm sorry," Harry began feeling apologetic, "It's just that the broom was going to throw me off so I decided to jump right there so at least I would be caught by Fred and George."
"And the snitch?" this time it was Luna who demanded.
"It just came along the way." Harry mumbled.
"Well, make sure that you don't pull such a stunt again," Ginny said to him sternly.
"Ok, I promise," Harry said.
"Well, let's go the team is waiting."
And indeed the team was there too and as soon as the girls got away from him they surrounded him cheering him on. He received slaps on the back from twins and the wood while the Gryffindor chasers hugged him and kissed him on the cheek putting a goofy grin on his face.
"Well, you know what does it call for?" one of the twin asked.
"I know, A PARTY. GRYFFINDOR DORM," the other twin yelled.
And with that they moved on towards the tower and towards a party that lasted well into the night and had to be broken by Professor McGonagall.
….
"I think it was one of the teachers. My broom started lurching when I passed in front of it," Harry theorized. They were sitting in Hagrid's Hut discussing the latest accident in Hogwarts which was Harry's broom acting out of Ordinary.
"Well, I know someone who would love to curse you," Ginny said, "Snape," she spat the name out like it was some disgusting thing.
"Why would you think that?" Hagrid demanded.
"Because," Ginny turned towards Hagrid, "he really seems to have it for Harry, always insulting him for no reason. Besides, he may have just wanted Slytherin to win. He certainly is biased towards them," she said remembering the hook nosed professor wearing a distinct silver and green scarf even though it wasn't that cold.
"From what I have heard you lot don't make it easy for him either," Hagrid said with a smile hidden by his beard while placing tea and rock cakes in front of them.
"Err, Hagrid no need for the cakes we just ate," Harry said eyeing the rock cakes.
"Oh its alright Harry, at least take one," Hagrid answered.
"All the more reason for him to jinx Harry's broom," Ginny said intent on proving Snape's crime.
"Now, now, Snape doesn't wish you harm at all," Hagrid said.
"Certainly doesn't seem like it," Harry mumbled.
"What about all those points that you lot lose, I imagine, it wouldn't make you popular among others," Hagrid said trying to divert the topic.
"Not really, we earn loads of points in other classes, so all in all we earn more than we lose," Ginny said, "which makes another reason for Snape to hate us."
"Although Ravenclaw doesn't seem too pleased with us," Luna chimed in.
"Snape doesn't hate Harry, and I would imagine they wouldn't. You lot are stealing their title for being the smartest," Hagrid concluded with a chuckle.
"Well it's their fault that they couldn't compete with three reckless Gryffindor," Harry said with a smile of his own before a newspaper caught his attention. It was an old one but there was some news that had piqued his interest.
"Hagrid, wasn't this the same vault that we emptied on that day?" Harry said to Hagrid while holding up the copy of Daily Prophet.
"Now that's none of you lot business," Hagrid said uncomfortably snatching away the copy but not before Ginny and Luna took a good look at it.
"That must be what you are hiding here," Ginny said.
"Now that is between Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel," Hagrid said even more uncomfortably.
"Nicolas Flamel?" this time it was Luna, "Why would Nicolas Flamel be interested unless it is Philosopher Stone," her voice had changed from the usual dreamy tone to a curious one.
"Philosopher stone? You mean that stone which turns everything it touches to gold?" Harry asked.
"Not only that, but a special drink called elixir of life is also made from it which grants its drinker eternal life,"
Luna's eyes were focused for once, "Now why would it be placed in Hogwarts?"
"Only if someone really really strong was after it and they couldn't protect it in Gringotts as we had seen in the news," Harry said.
"Not to mention it takes someone really strong and cunning to break into Gringotts," Ginny said thoughtfully.
"Could it be?" Harry said with wide eyes looking at the girls. They had completely forgotten that Hagrid was there.
"Voldemort? How could it be?" Ginny asked sceptically.
"Well whoever it is, he must be the one who let the Troll in Halloween," Harry said.
"So that he could use it as a distraction and take the stone," Luna finished the line.
"Hey! I remember Snape's leg was bloody that day. He must be trying to get into the third floor corridor," Harry said suddenly.
"Alright that's enough teachers are doing whatever they could to protect it no need to worry," Hagrid said finally breaking out of his stupor, "Look how late it is you lot need to eat your dinner too," Hagrid said while shushing them out of the hut.
"Alright Hagrid see you next week," Harry said to the Giant. He really was a good guy.
"Alright take care of yourself and don't tell other what ye know."
"Don't worry Hagrid we won't tell anyone, we promise." Harry said before turning and walking with the girls.
…
"I think it's Snape who wants to take the stone." Ginny declared.
"Why are we discussing this?" Luna asked in her dreamy tone.
"Because I would rather not have that evil den of oil get his hand on something so great," Ginny answered.
"So you want it for yourself," Luna asked turning her wide blue eyes towards Ginny.
"What? No. I mean it would be nice but it belongs to someone else."
"Also we are discussing this just in case Voldemort is after it. I would imagine he would want eternal life," said Harry.
"On the off chance that he actually is alive," Ginny added.
"Well he must be otherwise the prophecy doesn't make sense," Luna said.
"Whatever, let's just get back to topic, I think it's Snape," Ginny said.
"Or maybe Quirrel, you know he has been acting quite strangely," Harry said with a frown.
"Hmm, you are right, Snape would be too convenient. Anyone would doubt him even after seeing him once," Ginny said with a frown of her own.
"Still that doesn't make him any less suspicious. I think he is infected by nargles," Luna said in her own dreamy voice.
"So it's either Voldemort or Snape or Quirrel, why would Quirrel want to steal the stone?" Harry asked.
"Who wouldn't?" Ginny asked rhetorically.
Harry nodded his head. The stone was just too big of a temptation for anyone. Not only unbound wealth but also immortal life, who wouldn't want that?
"So there are three suspects huh? Voldemort is the most likely one but then again they could be working for him too," Harry thought aloud.
"We just need to keep an eye out for them don't we," Luna said focusing her eyes on her two best friends.
"By the way Luna how did you know about Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked suddenly curious.
"Oh! I just ate a chocolate Frog today." Luna answered dreamily.
"What?" Harry asked now utterly confused.
Luna instead of answering just handed him a card. It was a chocolate Frog Card of Dumbledore; confused Harry just turned the card around and began reading it.
"Oh!" realization dawned on Harry's face as he looked at the card.
"What is it?" Ginny asked.
Harry just handed her the card to read too.
"So you knew about Nicolas Flamel because you happened to read about him on that day, that's lucky," Ginny said.
"Oh! You can say that, I believe it was destiny," Luna said once again staring into space.
"Well since that's settled let's start our homework we have a lot to do," Harry declared before grabbing his books and parchment to start the recent essay that they had been assigned. The girls too followed his example.
...
And just like that the days flew by before Harry and the girls, they would perform well in the class, do their training, which was going remarkably well, most of their weekends were spent with Hagrid laughing and sharing stories over tea while trying their best to avoid the rock cakes and sometimes helping him tend to the ground too.
As far as the suspicious professors were concerned they hadn't made any move out of the ordinary, not that they could much to keep an eye on them outside of the class, but it seemed like the stone was safe, at least for now.
It was a particularly chilly November afternoon when they made their way over to Hagrid's Hut. They knocked on the door only to hear Fang barking like usual.
"Oh, it’s you guys, I knew ye lot would be coming around by now. Come in, come in, I have got something exciting to show you," Hagrid said, grinning broadly after he had opened the door.
The three friends shared a worried look. They knew enough about Hagrid that exciting for Hagrid only spelled dangerous for others. They hurried inside to find what it could be that made Hagrid so excited dreading all along what they would find.
"Hagrid is that an egg?" Harry said while preening over the suspiciously large egg in the kettle.
"Not an ordinary egg, it's a dragon egg." Hagrid said, he was basically trembling with excitement.
"DRAGON EGG?" Harry and Ginny shouted while Luna's eyes only grew as wide as saucers.
"Keep your voice down will you? Don't want others to find out"
"But Hagrid don't you know how dangerous it is to breed a Dragon?" Ginny asked in a harsh whisper.
"Oh! It will be alright, it would be harmless, won't you?" the last part was said with rolling the egg in the large kettle.
"But it could destroy the whole castle," Harry protested.
But Hagrid just turned a deaf ear to all their pleading, no matter what they said he wouldn't budge.
"Oh it’s alright Harry, Ginny if Hagrid wants the poor dragon to suffer we can't do anything," Luna who strangely silent till now said in a sorrowful voice.
"What do ye mean by that?" Hagrid demanded. He took it as personal insult that anyone would accuse him of making an animal suffer.
"I mean the dragon will only suffer here," Luna said her dreamy eyes focusing on the overly large man, "Dragons like to fly in open large lands, the presence of people here will only scare the poor dragon."
"You are right," Hagrid said while slumping into the seat, "Dragons are very independent. They don't like being confined to small places," it seemed like Hagrid was only murmuring to himself now.
"But what can I do about it now?" Hagrid said while looking at the egg worriedly.
"Oh I know we can ask Charlie, he would love to take another dragon to the reserve," Ginny said with excitement.
"That's a great idea Ginny, Charlie will take care of the dragon," Hagrid said beaming at her.
"Thank Merlin that has been solved, how did you even get a dragon egg?" Harry asked Hagrid.
"Oh I won it in a game at Hogshead, some stranger said he had an egg and would give it to me if I won, Hagrid answered.
"A stranger? What did he ask you?"
"Nothing much, seemed interested in three headed dogs, Cereberus ye know, wanted to know how do you get past one, told him through music, I know about it after all I raised Fluffy," Hagrid doesn't seem to know how much he was telling the young teens albeit unintentionally.
"Fluffy?"
"Yeah, it's the dog at the third floor corridor...wait a minute...you lot that's enough, now go, its gettin' colder," Hagrid suddenly seemed to know what he was talking about.
"Oh! Okay Hagrid, I'll send the letter to Charlie as soon as I can." Ginny said before walking out of the hut.
"This stranger must be the one who is after the stone that's why he wanted to know how to get past Fluffy," Harry concluded.
"But that doesn't tell much now does it," Ginny said.
"Yes the wobblers are still flying," Luna added.
"But at least we know that he is still after the stone."
…..