Chapter 1: A Stranger's Offer
Harry stood as still as a statue, completely oblivious to the driving rain. He looked down at the grave at his feet and a single tear fell, lost in the rain. After what seemed like hours he finally found his voice "Why did it have to be this way?" he whispered as he looked up at the marble headstone, the last gift he had bought for a dear friend.
Hermione Jean Weasley
September 19, 1979- February 7, 2000
Beloved Friend and Daughter
Gone too Soon
Harry wondered how things had gone so wrong, his best friend murdered by her husband in a fit of rage only six months after their wedding. His own wife acting like this was no big deal, like Hermione had gotten what she deserved, and that the worst thing about all of this was that her brother Ron might go to prison for "killing the ungrateful little know-it-all". Harry hadn't spoken to Ginny at all in the three weeks since Hermione's funeral, and strangely he felt free, free from a relationship that had long since ceased to be exciting or even enjoyable. He had purchased the headstone for the woman he realized had been the greatest friend he had ever known because no one else would. Hermione had sent her parents away to Australia with no memories of her when the war had gotten dangerous and had never been able to restore their memories. The Weasley family had been completely unwilling to pay for the funeral arrangements, so it had fallen to him to take care of her final resting place.
A flash of lightning followed shortly by a crack of thunder brought him out of his musings, he was about to say his goodbyes and go home when he was startled by a voice. "It didn't have to end like this, for you or for her," Harry spun around to look at the source of the voice, a man dressed all in black stood a few feet away. He had long, dark blonde hair and a neatly trimmed beard, he wore a long black coat that would not have looked out of place in either the magical or muggle world. "But it isn't too late."
Harry was shaken by the man's last statement "What do you mean? She... she's dead, there's nothing I can do to bring her back. She's gone and I never told her..." Harry's voice broke, unable to admit his final failing. Even though she was gone he couldn't admit his feelings for her.
"That you love her? If it is any consolation she loved you too. But this is all beside the point, as I said it isn't too late. True there is no magic that can raise the dead, but there is magic that can make it so that she never had to die. A way that you and her can be happy together, and you can save others as well."
"What are you talking about? The only way to save her would be to change history... but you can't do that, can you? Hermione said that you couldn't use a time turner to change things that you saw happen, that it would cause a paradox... and something about that killing you or something."
The man chuckled at this "Even after all these years you remember a conversation you had with her about a purely theoretical concept, or at least well enough to get the important points. Most of that is true for time turners, but time turners are a cheap imitation of time travel. A time turner doesn't actually cause you to move back in time it only folds your personal time line so that there are two versions of you running around simultaneously, as a result if you change something your second time through the magic of the time turner can't change your original actions, so instead it just kills you. What I'm talking about involves actually stepping outside of the time line and moving back to a time of your choice."
"Why me though? And who are you anyways?"
"Ah, yes, I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Virgil Hunter, Master of Time. As to why you, well it isn't just you is it? The results of your actions will change the lives of millions. The future that I have seen is not a place anyone wants to live in, and from what I have pieced together you are the key to making the world a better place. So here is what I am going to offer you, I will transfer all your memories of your life to your past self so that you can change your fate, I will help you figure out what to change and what not to change."
Harry considered what Virgil had to say for a few moments be fore he asked "So when would I go back to if I agreed?"
"The best option would be right before your first year. This will allow you to begin making small changes that will have a cumulative effect on the time line."
Harry thought about this and then something Virgil had said earlier came back to him "You said that I could save other people. So I could save Sirius" Virgil nodded "and Cedric" nod "Fred, Remus, and Tonks" nod "and Dumbledore"
"NO" Virgil all but yelled "You cannot under any circumstances save that bastard, if the option presents itself you should probably help him shuffle off this mortal coil sooner rather than later."
Harry was shocked by this response "What do you mean? What's wrong with Dumbledore?"
Virgil just looked at Harry and sighed "Alright, I need you to think about a few things, really think about them and then ask that question again. Dumbledore was responsible for you being placed with the Dursleys, why place you with them? Why not with a wizarding family? Why did he have Hagrid bring you to him personally, there was an entire Ministry department devoted to relocating orphans during the First Blood War."
"He said that I was protected there, that it kept the protection my mother gave me alive."
"Is that what he told you? I knew he was good at lying to people but that is a good one. If that were even true it still wouldn't justify what happened there. First even if there were protections there that can't be put anywhere else they would only be able to protect you at that house and nowhere else, so it wouldn't be safe for you to leave except to go directly to Hogwarts. Also the protection your mother gave you is in your blood, but it's powered by your magic it will always be a part of you even if you had never met your Aunt. But moving on to more recent actions, why did he send Hagrid to bring you to Diagon Alley? Every other muggle raised student was introduced to magic by a professor, but you get Hagrid. Don't get me wrong he is a good man but he was probably the worst person to answer any questions you had. Why did Dumbledore move the Stone to Hogwarts in the first place? Why were the protections so simple to overcome? How did Dumbledore not realize something was up with Quirrel?"
"I... I don't know, there isn't any real reason I can think of... except maybe..."
"Maybe he was setting you up even then to be a martyr, to throw away your life for his plan, because that is what he wanted. He wasn't supposed to die, and you weren't supposed to survive. It was a fluke that you did survive, if you hadn't already been the master of all three hallows, you would have died, and more importantly, you would have died for nothing."
Shocked didn't even begin to describe how Harry felt at this revelation, trying to buy himself time to think it through he asked a question he thought would throw Virgil off long enough to do some thinking "But what about the horcrux? I had to die to get rid of the one in me." Virgil just looked at him for a second and then he did something completely unexpected, he laughed, and he kept laughing. Harry stared at him "What is so damn funny!"
"Did you ever even stop to think about that, not before he killed you obviously, but afterward. Did you ever mention it to Granger?"
"Yes I mentioned it to Hermione. Why does it matter?" Harry snapped emphasizing the fact that his friend had a first name and that he didn't appreciate the way Virgil talked about her with so little respect.
"And she never pieced it together? Hmmm, even with it over I would have thought she would have looked into it... unless... that would explain a lot. The old man must have put a delayed compulsion on her not to question your being a horcrux, and why she went along with that stupid horcrux hunt. If you were a horcrux how did that piece of soul survive so long in your head? Look what happened to Quirrel when you touched him, and that was with your body and his body insulating the shadow of Riddle from your mother's protection. Even with a body designed as the perfect protection from that same effect trying to possess you in the Ministry nearly killed him. Even if a piece of his soul tried to attach itself to you in '81 your magic probably ate it, which would actually explain you being a parselmouth, and if it didn't it would have found itself in the most hostile environment imaginable, there is no way it could have survived, and even if it somehow had it would have been so weak a kiss from Granger probably would have killed it."
"Wait.. what do you mean? I-I wasn't a horcrux? Okay assuming you are telling the truth, why was the horcrux hunt a stupid idea? We needed to destroy all of them to beat Riddle."
"Yes you did, but you didn't need to find them all to destroy them all. If Granger had done any extra research into it she would have easily found a much easier way to destroy them all. In two of the books she did read about horcruxes one of the references was to a well respected guide to destroying dark objects, the Codex Venator, she could have easily obtained a copy of the book through the owl order service she used for most books. That book would have told her something that neither Dumbles nor Riddle ever figured out, the real reason why no one until Riddle was stupid enough to make more than one horcrux. All horcruxes made by the same person are connected to each other, get your hands on one horcrux and with a simple ritual you destroy all of them, so why bother creating more than one, you just leave more opportunities for your enemies to get their hands on a chunk of your soul. But enough of that, clearly you can't trust Dumbles, but he wasn't your only enemy hiding as a friend, watch out for the Weasleys as well, specifically Ron, Ginny, and Molly."
"But they were... they were my..."
"Friends? Sorry to break it to you, but they were your handlers, keep you under Dumbledore's control and they got what they wanted out of it. Ginny got to be Mrs. Harry Potter, Molly got money, and Ron got money and Granger."
"Her name is HERMIONE! And what do you mean Ron got her? I thought they were in love."
"In love? Look where you are standing kid. What kind of man murders his own wife, especially if he actually loved her? No she never loved him, they gave her some weak jealousy potions to make her think she might like him, then some weak love potions to make her fall for him, that was part of why she was so upset when he left during the hunt. The potion almost made her leave you and go with Ron, when she overcame the potion she started to question everything that happened with Ron, she needed a sounding-board, she needed you to listen to her thoughts and either confirm or deny her suspicions, but you were a stupid angsty teenager and you left her to stew in her own thoughts, and then when you stopped her from attacking Ron when he came back it was a confirmation that she had made it all up, and then Ron started giving her potions again. They did the same thing to you as well. It worked quicker on you because you didn't think Ginny was a disgusting and contemptible excuse for a human being."
"You make them sound like Slytherins, how did they all end up in Gryfindor if they were that bad?"
"That is actually a funny story, I'll tell it to you some time if you take my offer. So what do you think? Once more into the breech?" Virgil asked extending his hand to Harry.
"You'll be there to help me finish this better than last time?" Virgil nodded "Alright then, let's do this." Harry shook the offered hand and with a quiet pop the graveside was vacant.
Next chapter: the finer details of time and the journey back.
Chapter 2: The Way Back
Harry suddenly found himself in a comfortable armchair next to a roaring fire, sitting across from him was Virgil Hunter, the self proclaimed 'Master of Time'. Virgil settled back into his own armchair and spoke to Harry "Now that introductions and preliminaries have been dealt with, we need to get down to work."
Harry was still a little surprised by the change in location "How... Where... When?"
Virgil chuckled "I apparated us to somewhere more comfortable to have the rest of our conversation. As dramatic a location as your soul-mate's graveside provides for a life changing conversation, it simply lacked in acceptable seating arrangements."
Harry's mind seemed to get stuck on just one thing Virgil had said, but he managed to find his voice long enough to verbalize what had gotten to him so deeply "Soul-mate? Does that mean our souls are connected or something? Were we fated to be together?"
Virgil snorted at Harry's apparent line of thought "Slow down kid. There is nothing quite so life changing as that going on. Two peoples souls being connected by fate and magic, honestly it's simply ludicrous. Does this look like a cheesy romance to you. No all it means is that your magic and hers are highly compatible. If you were in an intimate relationship with her your magics would begin to resonate with each other so that the further in the relationship you went the stronger both your magics would become, at least while you are in close proximity to each other."
"But won't that be kind of weird, me being in a relationship with an eleven year-old Hermione? I mean I'll be almost a decade older than her."
"Don't worry about that, for one thing no one said anything about you doing anything that quickly, and it won't matter because you won't be older than her, because we are not sending your personality back, only your memories. Here is how it is going to work," Virgil reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a round metal disk about an inch and a half in diameter "We will be sending this medallion back in time. It will contain a copy of your memories in this diamond in the center" he said pointing to the clear stone embedded in the center of the disk "while a copy of my personality and knowledge will be stored in the platinum of the medallion. There are runes engraved in it that will allow me to communicate with you, project an image of myself to communicate with others, and if necessary create a physical body temporarily to save your ass from the trouble you will inevitably find yourself in. I will make sure the medallion gets into your possession and when you first touch it your memories will begin to transfer to your younger self. Any questions?"
Harry sat taking this in, only really understanding the most basic idea of what was being told to him "Why are we doing it that way?"
"Because it is a hell of a lot easier to send back a relatively simple object than a person."
"When, specifically, will we be going back to?" Harry asked trying to get himself mentally ready to travel back in time.
"The easiest time to get you the medallion would probably be when you first went to the Leaky Cauldron. With that many people bustling around trying to shake your hand it will be easy to slip it into your pocket. If there is nothing else we can get started." Virgil placed the medallion on a table that suddenly appeared between the two chairs.
Harry looked down at the medallion, gulped and then asked "What do I need to do?"
"Just take out your wand and touch it to the diamond, then state your name."
Harry did as he was directed, as he spoke his name the diamond flashed and turned the same green as his eyes.
Virgil then took out a silver knife and holding the blade in his left hand pierced the pad of his right thumb, let a couple drops of fall onto the medallion and then rubbed it in so that the silvery metal took on a red hue. He then took out a stick of chalk and drew a circle around the medallion. He then proceeded to draw a series of runic symbols and clusters around the circle. Then, taking his wand, he touched each cluster and intoned "Venti tempore, redire hoc ad praeteritum". As he did so each rune cluster began to glow. Finishing this task he looked up at Harry "Good luck Harry James Potter. May your future be better than your past." With a final flash of blue light Virgil pointed his wand at the circle and cried "Tempus"
*HP&MoT*
If the medallion were capable of conscious thought it would most likely have been amazed by the swirling colors dancing around it as it was being thrown back through the time stream. Alternatively if it was prone to motion sickness it may instead have felt violently ill.
When the medallion was reinserted into the time stream it would most likely have wanted to scream in agony at the feeling of its molecular structure being reestablished. Luckily it lacked both the sensory capabilities to perceive the excruciating pain it would have been in, and the vocal chords, lungs, throat, and mouth necessary to vocalize its discomfort. After all a metal disk screaming as though every nerve ending had been lit on fire, while lying on the floor of the Leaky Cauldron would most likely have drawn at least a little attention. As it was no one noticed the medallion's arrival, they also didn't notice the mist that rose out of the medallion and coalesced into the form of a young man with blonde hair and a beard and wearing a black coat. The main reason no one noticed these things is because at that very moment the barman had realized the identity of the scrawny, raven haired boy that had just entered with a rather large and hairy man. "Bless my soul, it's Harry Potter" at this pronouncement the pub erupted into chaos as everyone present tried to shake hands and introduce themselves to the young boy. In all this commotion it was easy for the manifestation of Virgil to pick up the medallion and slip it into the pocket of young Harry Potter.
Harry didn't notice the added weight of the medallion in his pocket until he entered the main hall of Gringotts. Harry reached into his pocket wondering what this new object was and how it came to be in his pocket, the moment he touched it he felt a tingle of energy flow up his arm. He shivered at the sensation and quickly withdrew his hand from his pocket, he then proceeded to nearly jump out of his skin when a man suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Harry looked like he was about to panic until he recognized the man, his name was Virgil, he was some sort of time traveler, and he had sent the medallion currently residing in Harry's pocket back in time. At the look of recognition on Harry's face Virgil sighed in relief "Good your memories are returning at an acceptable rate. Don't say anything until we can speak somewhere more private. For now all you need to do is ask Griphook to convert a few galleons into muggle money when you get down to your vault." Harry just nodded and continued to follow Hagrid to the counter.
After taking a mine car down into the depths of the bank they finally got out at vault 673, Griphook the goblin walked over to the vault door and unlocked it before handing the key to Harry. Harry looked into his vault for the first time, again, and was amazed by the piles of gold, silver, and bronze coins. He began filling a money bag with some of each of the coins while Hagrid explained the different coins. "Um... Mr. Griphook would it be possible to convert some of this into muggle money?"
"That is easily done Mr. Potter, we can handle that when we return to the lobby." After that they went on to another vault which Hagrid emptied by taking out a small oddly shaped package, the philosopher's stone Harry remembered. They then returned in the cart to the lobby where Harry changed ten galleons for one hundred pounds sterling.
Hagrid told Harry to go ahead and get his uniform while he ran down to the Leaky Cauldron to recover from the cart ride at Gringotts. When Harry entered Madam Malkin's he was shepherded to the back of the shop where he saw a face that he knew from his new memories he would grow to hate, Draco Malfoy. Virgil reappeared, snickering he pointed at Malfoy. "How about we have a little fun with the Princess of Slytherin? Just repeat after me." Malfoy proceeded to make a few boring statements about brooms, to which Harry nodded politely, then ask about Quiddiitch, to which Harry gave monosyllabic, noncommittal answers. When he brought up houses Virgil rubbed his hands together and grinned evilly. "...I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been – imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"
"Would you really? Do you really think that being considered a loyal, hard-working person would be that much of an insult that you would throw away your entire future? I guess we can all but guarantee you aren't Ravenclaw material then." Harry said laughing at the stunned look on Malfoy's face.
"When my father hears about this..."
"Well if your father is anything like you he probably won't understand half of what you tell him about what just happened anyways, so I'm not all that concerned." Malfoy's mouth snapped shut and he spent the rest of the time that Harry was in the shop just glaring at him. Harry left shortly after finishing this conversation, he then continued on to buy the rest of his supplies with Hagrid. The trip was almost identical to his previous trip to Diagon Alley with Hagrid, he spent a little more time browsing at Flourish & Blott's bookstore, and he had an easier time finding all the necessary ingredients at the Apothecary. His visit to Ollivander's took just as long and he bought the same wand as before. Hagrid then bought him a beautiful snowy owl as a birthday present before they left the alley and Hagrid took Harry home. On the way home Virgil reminded Harry to ask about how to get onto platform 9¾ at King's Cross.
When Harry got up to his new room at Number Four Privet Drive he finally could wait no longer to get some answers "Alright Virgil, we need to talk. What exactly is going on, I vaguely remember a conversation we had but what exactly is happening?"
"Well Harry the simple version is that you just gained access to memories of the next nine years of your life. You have these memories because without them you will be pushed around until you are forced into a final confrontation in which your survival depends on a fluke, all so that a delusional old man can gain a little more glory. I'll try to explain everything I can eventually but for right now we need to make a few decisions. Tomorrow we are going back to Diagon Alley to buy you a few more books. But before we go you need to decide if you want to be in Gryfindor, or if you want to try a different house instead."
"Why wouldn't I want to be in Gryfindor, all my friends were in Gryfindor. You told me that Hermione Granger was my soul-mate and she is going to be in Gryfindor."
"Which friends are you referring to? The littlest weasels made sure you didn't have many friends outside of themselves and their family, and they will most certainly be in Gryfindor, after all that is the Weasley curse. Hermione went into Gryfindor because that is where she thought you would go because even back then she could see that you would be a great friend, and possibly more. If you talk to her more before the sorting you could pretty much tell her which house to be in. In fact you probably should, she'll have a much easier time at school in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw."
"Okay maybe it would be better to be in another house, but when am I going to be able to convince Hermione that she should be in a different house with me?"
"Ah, you are doing much better at this than I had hoped. It is good to see you questioning what you are told, even when you are questioning me. As for when you are going to talk to her, that is one of the reasons why we are going book shopping tomorrow." Virgil said while looking around the little room for a place to sit down.
Harry perked up at this news "You mean Hermione will be there tomorrow?" Virgil just nodded and decided to sit down on the bed, the bed didn't shift at all under his weight. Seeing this Harry threw himself down on the mattress only to find himself sinking into the mutilated mattress much further than he thought he would have.
Virgil chuckled at the little yelp of surprise from Harry. "Sorry probably should have mentioned that I'm not actually here, I'm just a projection in your mind."
Harry mumbled a few choice words at Virgil while he repositioned himself on the bed "You said that was one of the reasons we're going tomorrow, what other reasons are there?"
"Well the only other reason is that we need to get you a few more things, and we don't want Hagrid reporting those purchases to Dumbledore."
"We could have just asked Hagrid not to tell anyone."
Virgil snorted at that thought "Hagrid is a wonderful person, but I wouldn't trust him to keep a surprise party a secret if it was in an hour. The man is completely incapable of keeping a secret."
"Why did you want me to ask how to get onto the platform when we already know how to get there?"
A grin split Virgil's normally stoic face "I'm glad you are paying attention, I did that so Dumbledore wouldn't get suspicious when his set-up falls through."
"Set-up?"
"Yeah, the Queen Weasel shouting about muggles and asking about the platform number. She has been on that platform fifty times easily, how could she have forgotten the number, she isn't as stupid as Ronald and he has no problem remembering the platform. Right now though you need to make a decision on which house you want to be in."
Harry nodded at this suggestion and then lay back to think through the possible choices. Slytherin was a definite no go, knowing how many people in that house would end up joining the Death Eaters when the war got going he would never feel safe in that house and Hermione would have to sleep with one eye open in Slytherin. Thinking about what Virgil had said he realized that he was absolutely right about Gryfindor, it wasn't worth the trouble that would come with being in the house of the brave. Just being a Lion brought animosity from even the better snakes, and he could still be friends with the few people he would have missed anyways. So that left being a Badger or an Eagle. Ravenclaw would be perfect for Hermione, she was definitely smart enough, but when he thought about how the 'Claws had treated Luna Lovegood, he realized that they were closed minded and cruel. Hufflepuff would probably be best, in Hufflepuff Hermione and he could develop strong friendships with good people who wouldn't jump to conclusions about one of their own, and with what was coming he would need that.
Having reached his decision he sat up and looked over to where Virgil was still sitting "Okay, I've thought it over, and I think Hufflepuff is probably the best choice, but how sure are you that the Weasleys won't follow me?"
Virgil was glad that Harry had been able to make a decision as quickly as he had, if he could continue to be so decisive this whole venture might turn out beautifully. "I am absolutely certain that they will not be able to follow you, the Weasleys are cursed to always be in Gryfindor."
"Really? Who comes up with a curse like that?"
"Godric Gryfindor himself cursed the descendants of his youngest son Henry. When Henry abandoned his father in battle Godric is reported to have disowned him, but said that he and all 'the weasels that would spring forth from his loins' would always be in his house at Hogwarts so that all would see how far they had fallen, until the family had redeemed itself. And so it is that every Weasley has been in Gryfindor where they truly don't belong, thus their complete lack of success in every endeavor, after all no one trusts a cowardly lion. You should probably go to sleep now you have a long day tomorrow."
Chapter 3: Old New Friends
Harry woke up early the next morning, went downstairs, and, upon seeing that none of his relatives were awake, left a note saying that he was going to London to pick up some books for school, before he left the house for the day. Harry stopped for breakfast at a small cafe before he caught a bus into London. On the ride into London Virgil gave him a run-down on what he hoped would happen in Diagon Alley.
Upon reaching the Leaky Cauldron Harry went into the pub at straight through to the back, luckily no one noticed his passage so he avoided a repeat of the day before. Taking out his wand he tapped the proper brick and walked through the archway into Diagon Alley. He made his way to the bookstore where he would be waiting for his opportunity to meet his best friend for the first time. While he was waiting he looked around the store and picked up a couple of books, first he grabbed a copy of Hogwarts a History, then he picked up a book entitled Modern Magical History, he picked up both of these books because he knew that Hermione had read both of them before starting at Hogwarts. He also picked up a book on defense, Virgil had recommended the specific book because it would give him an excuse to go with Hermione down to Ollivander'safter she was done in the bookstore. Harry was debating with himself whether he should pick up a book on becoming an animagus when he finally saw a head of bushy brown hair entering the store. He grabbed the book on the animagus transformation and then started to wander randomly through the shelves waiting for an opportunity to introduce himself. It turned out that he really didn't need to think that hard to create an opportunity, as he turned around a shelf he walked right into the girl he had been trying to introduce himself to.
Both of them had been carrying a small pile of books so when they collided with each other they were both knocked off balance and books flew everywhere while they both fell to the ground. Both started to apologize to each other at exactly the same time. This caused both of them to laugh a little at the absurdity of what had just happened. Harry regained his feet first and immediately offered Hermione a hand up "I'm so sorry Miss..."
"Hermione Granger. And it's okay I really need to pay more attention where I'm walking. I'm just so excited about all this you see. No one else in my family is magic so this all so new and exciting, there's so much to learn and discover and I just can't wait to get started. I'm really sorry, first I nearly run you over and now I'm giving you my life story."
"Don't worry about it I know how you feel I only found out about all of this yesterday. I'm Harry by the way. Here let me help you with these." Harry offered while reaching down to help her recover her scattered books. When both of their piles had been recovered Hermione looked at the books Harry had been carrying.
"Are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" She asked.
"Yeah, I am. I can't wait." Harry responded with a genuine grin on his face.
"You do know none of those books are on the list of books we need right?"
"Oh I know, I got all the textbooks yesterday, but after looking through them a little last night I decided to come back and pick up a few other books." He explained to the curious witch.
"Oh that does sound like a splendid idea. I was thinking about picking up a few extra books myself. Why did you pick these two though?" She indicated the defense book and the animagus book.
"Oh... well I got this one because... well I got bullied a lot at the school I was in, and I really don't want to have to go through that again at Hogwarts, so I just figured..." he left the sentence unfinished while holding up the defense book.
"You figured you would learn how to defend yourself before you started school. I know how that feels, being bullied. At my old school people made fun of me because I liked to read so much, and I never really had friends." She said giving him a comforting smile.
As Hermione finished her explanation and looked at the other books that Harry had, as though waiting for him to explain the other book she had asked about, another witch who Harry would recognize anywhere walked around the shelf. Professor Minerva McGonagall stopped when she saw Harry and Hermione "Ah there you are Miss Granger, are you finding everything, or do you need some help?"
"Oh, no I'm fine Professor. Oh, Harry this is Professor McGonagall. Professor this is..."
"Harry Potter. It is a pleasure to finally meet you Mr. Potter, I knew your parents quite well before they died. They were wonderful people and I hope you do them proud." McGonagall said. Harry was surprised by her words. He had never heard her say anything quite so... nice. From the memories he had of his other life he had gotten the impression that she was always very strict, sure she could be polite and courteous, but she was always very professional. Of course he had never really interacted with her outside of school in his future.
Hermione was confused that h the Professor appeared to know this boy who had just told her that he was also new to the wizarding world "But Harry, you just said that you only found out about magic yesterday." she stated with a slightly confused look on her face.
"I did." Harry told her. "I was raised by my Aunt and Uncle, and they never told me anything about magic. I only found out about it when I finally got my Hogwarts letter yesterday. Apparently I'm famous here or something... I really don't understand exactly why though."
McGonagall looked shocked at this revelation, well she raised an eyebrow which was roughly equivalent to anyone else standing there with there eyes bugging out and there jaw on the floor. "Mr. Potter is famous because when he was just a year old a dark wizard killed his parents, but when he tried to kill Harry something happened and the dark wizard died. I am surprised that your relatives never mentioned that you were a wizard though." By this time a man and a woman who Harry dimly recognized as Hermione's parents had joined them.
Hermione then introduced Harry to her parents and they all continued to look through the store for Hermione's books. While they were looking Harry and Hermione talked more about their experiences growing up. They told each other about the different incidents of accidental magic that they had caused. Harry picked up a book on dueling and it was at this point that McGonagall noticed the books he had chosen. She, like Hermione, was curious about his choice of reading material. From the what she had heard of their conversation she understood the defense and dueling book, and the two history books made sense for someone who was new to the wizarding world, but she had to wonder about the fifth book he was carrying.
"Mr. Potter might I ask why you picked up a book about becoming an animagus?" McGonagall asked Harry.
"Oh well it seemed like an interesting topic and I kind of like the thought of being able to transform into an animal." Harry responded
McGonagall smiled at the obvious enthusiasm in his voice "Well I hope you are as enthusiastic about your schoolwork. I should warn you though that becoming an animagus is a long and difficult process, it can take years to master and most witches and wizards lack the discipline to see it through."
"Well I have plenty of time to try and master it both at school and during the holidays, and it will be something to do with any free time I have."
"Well if you are going to try the least I can do is offer to help. If you have any trouble with understanding the process come speak to me and I will see if I can help."
"That's okay Professor, I don't want any special treatment."
"It isn't special treatment Mr. Potter. I am the Transfiguration Teacher after all, so it is directly related to the subject I teach, and if you aren't careful it can be dangerous. Since there are no rules against students attempting to become animagi it is my job to make sure that they at least do it safely and properly." Harry thanked the Professor for her offer and continued his conversation with Hermione.
When they finished in the bookstore Hermione told Harry that all she had left to get was her wand. Harry asked if he could join them as he wanted to ask Ollivander a couple of questions about something he had read about. When they reached the wand shop Ollivander was surprised to see Harry "Back again so soon Mr. Potter? I hope nothing happened to your wand."
"No Mr. Ollivander, I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions, but I can wait a bit." Harry said motioning toward Hermione who looked ready to explode at the thought of finally getting her wand.
Harry watched as Hermione was measured, he found it quite amusing to watch especially when the measuring tape moved on to seemingly random measurements, including the circumference of her left pinky and the height of her ear. Hermione only had to try a few wands before she found one that worked, vine wood and dragon heart-sting. With Hermione finished Ollivander turned to Harry "Now, what was it you wished to ask me about Mr. Potter?"
"Oh I was reading a book on basic defense and the author recommended getting a wand holster. I was wondering if you sold them or if you knew where I could get one?" Harry said showing Ollivander his new copy of A Beginner's Guide to Defensive Magicby Alastor Moody.
"Ah yes. I can help you out with that just give me a second to go get one from the back."
"Mr. Ollivander do you think I could get one of those too?" Hermione asked, hearing that the author of a book on defense suggested getting one, she thought it sounded like a good idea.
"Certainly Miss Granger." Ollivander then walked through a back door. A few moments later he came back into the shop with two small boxes. He handed one to Harry and the other to Hermione "These are two sickles each. I only sell basic holsters here, but that is all you will probably need in school."
Harry and Hermione payed for their holsters and thanked Ollivander before they exited the shop with the Grangers and Professor McGonagall. Having completed her task of helping Hermione get her supplies McGonagall excused herself before returning to Hogwarts. The Grangers invited Harry to lunch and he gladly accepted their offer. While they were waiting for their food to be brought out, at a nice little Italian place not far from the Leaky Cauldron, Harry and Hermione were both reading their own copies of Hogwarts a History. Hermione was reading her copy because she couldn't resist the opportunity to read something new, Harry on the other hand was looking for the evidence he would need to sell Hermione on Hufflepuff.
When the food arrived Harry and Hermione began talking about Hogwarts. When the conversation turned to houses Harry knew that it was time for his sales pitch. "Honestly if I had a choice, I would go with Hufflepuff."
"Really? Why Hufflepuff? From what I read most people don't seem to have that high of an opinion of Hufflepuffs."
"I think that mostly comes down to the fact that the characteristics that are common in Hufflepuff are so broad, so people assume that if you are in Hufflepuff you must completely lack the traits the other houses want. The main reason I want to be in Hufflepuff though is because it leaves you with more options when you get out of school. There is a section in Hogwarts a History about famous alumni of each house. Slytherin produces a lot of politicians, Ravenclaw produces a lot of researchers and spell-crafters, Gryfindor produces a lot of curse-breakers and aurors, but Hufflepuff has produced leaders in every field."
"But some of that just comes down to what people need to be in a house."
"True, but more of it comes down to reciprocal determinism." Virgil had provided some of the points for his argument, but Harry understood all of the points he was making. "You will be spending most of your time with people from your own house, as a result most of your friends will be in your house. To keep them as friends you will continue behaviors that they like, thereby making those behaviors more prominent. Over seven years Gryfindor, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin will change how you think about situations, changing how you look at the world and what you want to do with your life. Hufflepuff is known for being the most open-minded and accepting house, if you are brave or smart or cunning when you start you will still be that way when you finish, probably more so than when you started because Hufflepuff nurtures whatever makes you unique. Also it seems like the best place to make some good friends."
Hermione considered everything that Harry had said. It all made sense. Sure, she was smart enough for Ravenclaw, but if she was in Ravenclaw everyone would just expect her to be smart, she would just be another brainy 'Claw. She didn't want to be in Slytherin under any circumstances. Even if she really was brave enough to be in Gryfindor like she wanted to be, others in Gryfindor would expect her to be braver and her intelligence might not be as appreciated. "You're right, Hufflepuff would be a good house to be in. Maybe if we're lucky we could be in Hufflepuff together." Hermione finally said, with a small hopeful smile smile on her face.
Harry returned her smile "Yeah, that would be great, but as long as we're in the same house. It will be good to know I'll have a friend at Hogwarts."
At his response Hermione broke into a big smile, which Harry thought was perfect. They spent the rest of the meal in pleasant conversation. And when it was done Hermione gave Harry her phone number so they could talk before they saw each other again on the first of September, before giving him a hug goodbye. They both felt an electric tingle when they hugged but only Harry knew what it might be. On his bus ride home Virgil confirmed that the tingle Harry had felt was the result of his and Hermione's magic beginning to interact. Even if it never went further they would be slightly better at magic when they were near each other, and they would have an easier time understanding each other as their magic would pick up the fluctuations in the others magic that resulted from emotional changes.
Chapter 4: Of Weasels and Ferrets
Harry spent the month leading up to his departure to Hogwarts studying and calling Hermione. Ever since they had met in Diagon Alley the pair hadn't gone more than a day without talking to each other. They were both either on the phone, reading ahead in their textbooks, or doing both at the same time for most of the month of August. Harry even had lunch with Hermione and her parents every Saturday, during these lunches Harry would drop subtle hints that his home life was less than congenial. Hermione's parents, David and Jean Granger, were concerned by some of the comments that Harry made about his relatives, but when they asked for more details he would simply evade the questions and change the subject. David and Jean had both seen cases of child abuse in their work as dentists and they had privately agreed to ask certain acquaintances in Child Services to have Harry's relatives looked into while he was away at Hogwarts. On the 31st of August, which was a Saturday, Harry found himself at the Granger house having dinner with the family of his best friend. After Harry had made a comment about how his Uncle would probably be furious that he had to take Harry to King's Cross earlier in the week Hermione had asked her parents if her new friend could spend the night before they both left for school. Virgil was pleased with these developments, because it was with his coaching that Harry had given just enough information to ensure that someone would be investigating the Dursleys in the muggle world, well outside the control of Albus Too-Many-Names Dumbledore.
Harry awoke the morning of September 1st in the most comfortable bed he had ever slept in, including the one he remembered from his dormitory in Gryfindor Tower. Thinking about it he realized that it wasn't that this bed was somehow the most amazing bed in the world, he had just never had a comfortable mattress. After a hearty breakfast Harry and the Grangers loaded his and Hermione's trunks into the back of David's Mercedes and drove to King's Cross. They arrived at the train station at five minutes to ten, they loaded the two trunks onto trolleys, Harry had sent Hedwig off to Hogwarts so she wouldn't have to wait in her cage for the entire train ride. In fact he intended to get rid of the cage completely if he had to return to the Dursleys the next summer, they couldn't really lock her in her cage if she didn't have one could they. Harry and Hermione said good-bye to Jean and David at the barrier to platform 9¾, Jean gave both children a hug good-bye and Harry, at Virgil's suggestion, made sure to tense up when Jean first hugged him, after all one last nudge towards the Dursleys couldn't hurt.
Having arrived an hour before the train was due to depart, Harry and Hermione found the platform much quieter than Harry remembered it being the first time he had taken the Hogwarts Express. The pair made their way onto the train and headed for the back, hoping to find a quiet compartment where they wouldn't be disturbed. At Harry's suggestion they had already changed into their robes, taking advantage of the relatively empty train, before sitting down to read and talk like they had been doing over the phone all summer. Harry was nowhere near as fast at reading as Hermione, but he had already finished reading through Hogwarts a History, Modern Magical History, and A Beginner's Guide to Defensive Magic, he had also read through most of his textbooks, so he was now getting started on reading Journey to Your Inner Beast: A Guidebook to the Animagus Path. He found the book to be quite interesting, it detailed the basic steps of becoming an animagus while pointing out the most common errors that witches and wizards made while attempting the transformation. He had just finished the first chapter, which served as a general outline to the entire process, when Hermione finally asked the question she had been dieing to ask since she had first learned what Harry was planning to attempt.
"Do you think you'll actually be able to do it Harry?"
Harry looked at her for a second before realizing that she was talking about the animagus transformation "I don't see why I couldn't do it. The book says it's a slow and tedious process, and that the reason most people don't accomplish it is because it is taxing on their determination, not on their magic or skill."
Hermione seemed to be considering her next question for a moment before asking "Do you think we could try to do it together?"
Harry was delighted that she had asked, he had been trying to think of a way to suggest that she join in "I think that would be great, this way we can both help each other out and keep ourselves from giving up if it starts to go to slowly. The first step is just meditation, the book says that this should be done outside if possible as it will help you focus on your instincts better. It also has tips on how to do it if you are having trouble clearing your mind."
"How long does that take?"
"According to the book it depends on a few different things, the more often you meditate and the longer you do it for the faster you will finish the first step, the fastest anyone has ever completed the first step was in two months, but he apparently meditated for ten hours every day. It also depends on how in touch you are with your instincts, and how in control of your thoughts you are. From what the book says if we can meditate for at least an hour three times a week, we should discover our forms within six months to a year."
While Harry and Hermione were having their conversation a troop of redheads were searching the muggle side of the station for Harry Potter. Molly Weasley was growing frustrated, they had been looking for almost twenty minutes and had seen no sign of the boy. Fred and George had been highly confused by their mother's behavior and had continued onto the platform after the first circuit of the train station. It turned out that Dumbledore had just assumed that Hagrid would forget to tell Harry how to get onto the platform, and hadn't bothered to ask him to be certain before sending Molly to ensnare the boy. At three minutes to eleven Molly gave up and told Percy and Ron to hurry up and board the train. Ginny was quite put out at not getting the opportunity to meet her future husband, and would most likely sulk for the next couple of weeks. As the last two redheaded passengers got on the Express pulled away from the platform beginning its journey north.
Harry had hoped that by taking a compartment at the back of the train he and Hermione would avoid drawing attention, unfortunately it was not meant to be. Minutes after the train started moving the compartment door slid open to reveal two people that Harry truly had no idea how to deal with, Virgil had said that in the end they had been on his side, but with what he already planned to change he wasn't entirely sure how to get them on his side.
"This ones a no go brother mine."
"Right you are, got a couple of firsties here."
"Well you know-"
"-It would be rude-"
"-If we didn't introduce ourselves."
"This is Fred,"
"And this is George"
"And we're the infamous Weasley twins." They finished together.
"Whatever you may hear about us-"
"-It's probably true."
"But enough about us-"
"-Who might you be?"
Harry couldn't help but smile at the antics of the loveable twin terrors. "This is Hermione, and I'm Harry."
"Blimey-"
"-It can't be-"
"-I think he is-"
"-Are you?"
Harry looked at the two with a confused look masking his inner smile "Am I what?"
"Harry Potter." the twins answered in stereo.
"Oh... last time I checked I was."
"Hmmm, I thought you'd be taller."
"Funny, I thought he'd be shorter."
"Oh well, it's been a pleasure meeting you-"
"-but we have business to attend to."
With that the twins exited the compartment, closing the door on their way out. Harry turned to Hermione "That was certainly interesting."
With the first conversation with the twins under his belt Harry settled back into his seat hoping that those two were the last redheads he would see on the train ride. For the next forty-five minutes Harry was beginning to believe that fate was going to stop fucking with his life and let him have some peace. Moments later all his hopes and dreams were destroyed by the arrival of yet another redhead. Harry had reviewed all the memories he had received about Ron, because the memories felt as though they were from someone else he was able to view them without the emotional bias he had clearly developed about Ronald Weasley. He had come to a conclusion about Ron, Ron was like a puppy, he had an adorable tenacity about things he wanted, he always seemed to have a helpless look about him, and he really could be fun to have around, but just like a puppy he had a number of bad habits that he didn't seem to realize were unacceptable in civilized society. It didn't matter whether it was his chronic jealousy, his tendency to be an insensitive ass-hat, or his human garbage-disposal impersonation, the biggest problem that Ron had was that he just didn't want to change for those around him, you either liked him when you met him and would overlook his horrible behavior, or you would see him for what he was straight away and he would completely ignore everything you say to him.
"Do you mind if I sit in here, my brothers kicked me out of their compartment." not waiting for a reply Ron took a seat on the bench across from Harry and Hermione as the two had taken up one entire bench with themselves and their books. Harry just shrugged his shoulders and went back to his book, hoping against hope that Ron would take the hint and stay quiet. "I'm Ron Weasley by the way. Are you really Harry Potter?" Harry nodded "Do you have really have the... you know..." seeing that Harry wasn't going to finish the sentence for him Ron plowed on "Scar" Harry nodded again "Can I see it?"
Harry just looked at him with a look of complete and utter annoyance at the redheads total lack of tact for a good minute "Why on earth would you want to look at my scar?"
"Well it's famous, you're famous. If I were you-"
"-You wouldn't be all that happy about people wanting to gawk at the constant reminder that your parents were murdered by some psychopath on a world domination kick." Harry cut him off before returning to his book. Hermione patted him on the arm trying to comfort her clearly hurting friend. Ron just sat there unsure how to respond to Harry's pronouncement, possibly because he couldn't understand someone not wanting to bask in their own fame, or possibly because he couldn't understand most of the words Harry had used.
The three sat in silence for half an hour, with Harry pointing out an occasional passage in his book to Hermione. At this point Ron again tried to strike up conversation by showing them is rat, when Ron pulled the rat from his pocket Harry had to suppress the urge to attack the treacherous animagus in the redheads hand. As much as he wanted to see his godfather released from prison, Virgil had insisted that it would arouse suspicion unless he could say exactly where he had learned about Sirius Black. Harry had begrudgingly accepted this reasoning and simply hoped that someone, probably Hagrid, would let Black's name slip so he could go about getting a trial for his wrongly accused godfather under the pretense of wanting to hear what the man who had supposedly betrayed his parents had to say about what he had done. Until then attacking the rat would serve no purpose and would most likely cause more problems than it would solve.
Eventually Harry had to face the one confrontation he had been almost certain would occur no matter how much he tried to avoid attention. The blonde ponce walked into the compartment as though he owned the entire train, trademark sneer firmly affixed to his face, and his personal neanderthals flanking him. "Is it true? They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you is it?"
"Well it certainly isn't her." Harry said indicating Hermione, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Harry could see the small grin that came to Hermione's face, though it was unlikely that anyone else saw it as she was still hidden behind her book.
"This is Crabbe and this is Goyle" Malfoy said indicating his unnecessarily butch entourage "and my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Ron snickered at Malfoy which brought his attention to the redhead "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford." turning back to Harry he continued "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." He finished offering his hand to Harry.
Harry watched the blonde's face carefully, he didn't want to miss a second of his reaction, while answering "Hmmmm, well based on your not so subtle attempt to imply that you are somehow better than everyone else would suggest an almost pathological need for recognition from others. The fact that you are walking around with what appear to be trained gorillas with you, you obviously feel the need to over-compensate for your own inadequacies. So if it's all the same to you I have enough problems without taking on your emotional issues as well, thanks but I think I'm good for now. So if you wouldn't mind taking Tweedledee and Tweedledum with you, it is getting rather crowded in here." Harry absolutely loved watching Malfoy's expression change from one of confusion into one of anger as he slowly realized he was being insulted.
"You better watch yourself Potter. If you don't learn some manners then-" Harry never found out what would happen if he didn't learn manners, because while Malfoy had been beginning his threat Harry was drawing his wand and casting a simple knock-back hex to push Malfoy and his goons out of the compartment before slamming the compartment door in their faces.
Ron was clearly amazed by what Harry had just done, even if he only understood a handful of the words Harry had used. "That was bloody brilliant Harry. You'll be amazing in Gryfindor."
"Why would I want to be in Gryfindor? All that will accomplish is drawing me into more unnecessary confrontations. No I really think Hufflepuff will be the better house to be in" Harry said before once again returning to his book. Harry prayed to whatever gods might inhabit the higher planes of reality that there would be no further interruptions.
For once in his lives Harry's prayers were answered as the rest of the journey passed without anymore excitement. Ron eventually left the compartment to change into his robes. And when the train finally stopped at Hogsmead Station Harry and Hermione got off the train and made their way over to where Hagrid was gathering the first years. After a brief hello to Hagrid Harry and Hermione found themselves sharing a polite conversation with Susan Bones. When they got to the boats they would take to the castle Harry and Hermione were joined in their boat by Susan and a boy who Harry vaguely recognized as Terry Boot.
When they entered the castle Hagrid handed the first years off to Professor McGonagall, who gave the same speech about your house being your family. Harry placed his hand on Hermione's shoulder to calm her down while they waited for the sorting as she was getting overly nervous at facing some unknown challenge. They were shown into the Great Hall where the Sorting Hat sang exactly the same song it had in Harry's memory of his sorting. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when she realized all they had to do was put on a hat. McGonagall began to call names and the sorting proceeded as Harry remembered it until McGonagall got to Hermione's name, the hat spent a little longer on Hermione than last time before it shouted out "HUFFLEPUFF" Harry smiled as he watched Hermione make her way to the Hufflepuff table.
The sorting continued until McGonagall called out "Potter, Harry" the entire hall grew quiet and everyone's undivided attention was focused on Harry as he sat down on the stool and placed the Sorting Hat on his head.
Hufflepuff please, Harry immediately thought toward the hat Hold your horses Mr. Potter, let me take a look first. Yes you definitely would fit in Hufflepuff, very loyal to your friends, ah, so you are the one who suggested Hufflepuff to the charming Miss Granger. But you have a good mind, plenty of courage, and you certainly are quite cunning, Slytherin would be a better fit. Why would I want to be in Slytherin? If I am as cunning as you seem to think I am then Slytherin would be the last place I would want to be, after all what good is being cunning if everyone knows you are cunning and ambitious. Very well Mr. Potter, I know when to give up better put you in "HUFFLEPUFF"
Chapter 5: Let the Games Begin
"HUFFLEPUFF" As the hat shouted on Harry's destination a lot of people had very different reactions to the placement of the Boy-Who-Lived in the "House of the Badgers". The Hufflepuff table broke out into enthusiastic applause, said applause was only a little louder than it had been for the other first years who had joined Hufflepuff, though this was mostly due to the fact that Hufflepuff was enthusiastic about every new student, and only slightly due to the fact that most of the 'Puffs were still in shock that they had gotten Harry Potter.
Hermione Granger's face currently sported the biggest smile that had ever graced her face in her short life, bigger than when she had received the Encyclopedia Britannica for her eighth birthday, bigger than when she had found out she could do magic that summer, and even bigger than when she had first walked into Flourish & Blott's. Her best friend was going to be in the same house as her, they would have classes together, they could study together, and they could just hang out together for the next seven years.
The Ravenclaws clapped politely for the Boy-Who-Lived, they hadn't expected to get Potter, so they weren't really disappointed to see him go somewhere else. The Slytherins also applauded politely, though there were also a few stifled laughs at the thought that the supposed savior of the wizarding world was "with the rest of the losers in Hufflepuff". Gryfindor was probably the quietest, after all it is rather hard to applaud when you are using both hands to pick your jaw up off the floor where most of the jaws at the Gryfindor table were currently residing. Everyone in Gryfindor had simply assumed that Harry Potter would be in Gryfindor, after all his parents had both been in Gryfindor, and he had already defeated a dark lord. The few Gryfindors who actually managed to clap for Harry were probably the only ones who had thought about the fact that Harry hadn't been raised by his parents, and therefore wouldn't have automatically become what they were, not to mention the fact that he probably hadn't needed to be all that brave to defeat Voldemort, it wasn't as though he had dueled the bastard.
Albus Dumbledore's mind was racing, had the Dursleys actually managed to completely break the boy? Albus had sent him there so he would be beaten and lonely, but to be so downtrodden as to end up in Hufflepuff. Albus realized that he would need to adjust his plans he couldn't trust Hagrid to let enough slip to draw a Hufflepuff into a search for the stone. And he couldn't assume that some misguided Gryfindor courage would lead young Harry to explore the off-limits corridor. No he would need to push Harry along the path, after all it was important for Tom to see Harry as a continued threat if he was to ensure a final confrontation to fulfill the prophecy.
Severus Snape smirked to himself, it would seem that the spawn of Potter was as useless as his arrogant father. Snape was going to enjoy this immensely.
The shadow of Lord Voldemort currently hiding under a garlic smelling turban was laughing to himself the boy was in Hufflepuff. He had allowed himself to get worked up over nothing, the boy would obviously not be a threat. All he needed to do now was complete his plan to regain a body and the wizarding world would bow before his might.
Harry made his way to the Hufflepuff table smiling at Hermione, he gave her a big hug before sitting down next to her and looking around at the other first years. Harry was seated between Hermione and Ernie McMillan, Susan Bones was on the other side of Hermione, Hannah Abbot was across from Susan, next to her was a boy Harry vaguely remembered was named Wayne Hopkins, next to Wayne and directly across from Harry was Megan Jones, whom Harry had apparently never spoken to in all his years at Hogwarts, and next to Megan sat Justin Finch-Fletchley rounding out the Hufflepuff first years. Harry then looked back up toward the staff table, when his eyes passed over Dumbledore he felt a tingling sensation in his head which signaled an attempt to probe his thoughts. He immediately snapped his eyes shut and shook his head to break the connection, silently thanking Virgil for insisting that he learn enough Occlumency to be able to detect a passive Legilimency probe, like the one that Dumbledore had just launched. Virgil had agreed that it would probably take years for Harry to be able to actually stop an attack, but for now all he needed to do was break away from any attack before the attacker could get any useful information. Virgil had said he would be able to create a work around once they had an opportunity to visit the room of requirements, so until then Harry just had to avoid eye contact with Snape and Dumbledore.
The sorting ended with Weasley being put in Gryfindor, Harry thought Ron looked rather put out with that he wouldn't be in a house with him, and Blaise Zabini going to Slytherin. When Dumbledore had said a few words and the food had appeared Harry loaded his plate before starting a rather enthusiastic conversation with Hermione and Susan about classes. A third year sitting next to Susan offered some advice about some of the different teachers and their classes, Harry had to do a double-take when he looked at the boy, it was Cedric Diggory. Seeing Cedric brought forward memories of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, and Harry made a silent promise that he would make sure that Cedric didn't die this time through.
The rest of the feast passed without incident, Dumbledore made the same speech as he had the first time, and Harry and the other first years were soon being led down to the Hufflepuff Common Room by the fifth year prefects, Max Thompson and Emily Watkins. To get to the Common Room they had to go down the flight of stairs that led to the kitchens then walk all the way to the southern end of the castle where the entrance was hidden behind a painting of a large, jovial man dressed up like the god Bacchus, who asked for the password "hyperbole". The one concern that Harry had about Hufflepuff when he had made his decision, was that he had never seen the Hufflepuff common room. He had plenty of memories of the comfortable Gryfindor Tower, one of the stuffy and scholastic Ravenclaw common room, and even one of the creepy subterranean snake-pit of Slytherin. The moment Harry stepped into the common room he had no regrets about his decision to go with Hufflepuff. The entrance was on the northern side of the large room, the room was three floors high, so even though the entrance was underground two thirds of the southern wall was made of windows that would allow in plenty of sunlight during the day. The first floor had soft sand colored carpet, there were two large marble fireplaces, one each on the eastern and western walls. Around each fireplace was a semi-circle of comfortable looking yellow chairs and lining the walls were a collection of couches and scattered throughout the room were tables with more comfortable chairs surrounding them. The room was probably twice the size of the Gryfindor common room, with a lot more seating as well, and that was just the first floor. In the south-east and south-west corners were spiral staircases that led up to the second and third floors which each extended twenty feet out from the north, west and east walls. The prefects explained that the dorms were off the second floor and the third floor was reserved for people doing homework and studying. Harry hugged Hermione good-night before heading to his dorm.
When he got to the room he would be sharing with Justin, Ernie, and Wayne he found out that his bed was the only one with a window next to it. He was glad that he would still be able to look out over the grounds from his dorm. He then climbed into his four-poster bed, closed the curtains, and cast a simple privacy charm before finally releasing a loud groan he had been holding back ever since the Weasel had entered his compartment on the train "Ronald Weasley must be the most annoying and thick person to ever walk the earth. Can't the boy take a hint, why the hell couldn't we just kick the stupid bastard out of the compartment?"
Virgil appeared at that point to explain to Harry why they couldn't more actively distance themselves from the 'Red Menace' "If you had been rude enough to Ron to kick him out of your compartment it would have raised questions. For the time being you need to appear to be a shy and timid child who only opens up to a few close friends, specifically Hermione at this point and maybe a couple more people over the next few weeks, perhaps Susan. She and Hermione really hit it off at the feast tonight, and she is a wonderful girl. With the way you handled Ron on the train it simply looks like you had no common ground for conversation with the twit. The worst thing you could do right now would be to arouse suspicion from Dumbledore, wait until after he gives you the cloak, so that way he loses all chances of becoming the master of the Hallows."
"I realize that but the nitwit was just so annoying." Harry said with a sigh.
"I know, I was there. Luckily you won't see too much of him over the next few months."
Harry just sat there in silence for a few minutes before he brought up something that had been bothering him since he had gotten on the train "I want to tell Hermione about what happened."
"I agree, Hermione is a bright girl, if you want to be able to use your knowledge of the future without making her suspicious she needs to know the truth. And the sooner you tell her the better. Saturday you can take her up to the Room of Requirement and explain what is going on, at the same time we can get your Occlumency shortcut, and we should get one for Hermione as well."
"I guess I can wait that long" Harry said through a huge yawn "if there's nothing else I'm going to bed."
"Good night then Harry." Virgil said before disappearing.
Harry soon fell asleep, and for once he was not haunted by dreams.
The morning of September 2nd dawned brightly in London and David and Jean Granger were awake and getting ready for their day. They had awoken earlier than usual and had rescheduled the early morning appointments for the day at their dental practice. The reason they had done these things was that they had a meeting with a friend who worked in Child Services scheduled for breakfast. They met their friend, Larry Mitchell, at a cafe near his office and once they had ordered their food Jean began to tell Larry about how they had met Harry Potter and to finally voice their concerns about his home life. None of the three people sitting at that table in a small cafe in London realized just how far reaching the consequences of their discussion would be.
Albus Dumbledore was very concerned about what he had discovered during and after the feast the night before. When the ancient Weasley owl had arrived with Molly's letter minutes before the sorting Albus had been worried that Harry might have missed the train. He was relieved when he saw Harry enter the hall, but it did raise a question as to how Harry had managed to get on the platform. A short and aborted mental probe of the boy revealed something much more disturbing that could easily disrupt his plans. Somehow the boy had developed rudimentary occlumency shields, the shields were nowhere near strong enough to stop him from accessing the boys mind, but they were enough to alert him to any invasion of his thoughts. Hopefully Harry did not even realize that he had these defenses, otherwise he might have already done serious damage to his relationship with the boy. After the feast a similar probe on Hagrid had revealed that Harry had simply asked Hagrid about the platform, and now that Albus thought about it he probably should have asked Hagrid if he had told Harry before now. He was also concerned when Minerva had told him about her meeting with Harry when she had taken Miss Granger to Diagon Alley. Harry was clearly concerned for his own safety and survival, how was he supposed to convince Harry to die willingly if even at eleven the boy was trying his hardest to survive. The fact that the young Weasley boy had been unable to get into Hufflepuff meant that Albus would need to find new handlers for Harry outside of school.
Harry awoke happy and well rested, he got up and ready before heading out to the common room. On his way down the hallway to the common room he ran into Hermione and Susan who had apparently been coming to wake him up. "Oh good, you're already up Harry. Susan said her Aunt Amelia recommended getting to breakfast early the first day so we would have time to come back and get our books after we get our schedules." with that explanation out of the way Harry, Hermione, and Susan made their way up to the Great Hall for breakfast. The three Hufflepuffs were already done with breakfast when Professor Sprout came around with their schedules. When she handed them their schedules she told them that she wanted to speak with all of the new Hufflepuffs in her office before dinner. Harry looked through his schedule, he had pretty a good morning, with Transfiguration and Herbology before lunch, but his afternoon was going to be torture, Potions and History of Magic on a Monday. Harry pocketed his schedule and the new trio made their way back to their dorms to pick up their books.
The first Transfiguration lesson of the year was very similar to the one Harry remembered from the original time line, except that Hermione, while still the first, was not the only student to successfully turn their match into a needle, Harry managed it a few minutes after her, and Susan accomplished it a couple minutes before the end of class. McGonagall was impressed by their progress and gave ten points to Hufflepuff for each of the three. After Transfiguration the Hufflepuffs walked out to the greenhouses for Herbology with the Gryfindors. Herbology was mostly uneventful, with the exception of a minor scuffle between Ron and Ernie when Ron tried to take a seat at the table Harry was sharing with Hermione and Susan. After Herbology was lunch, and the trio joined the other Hufflepuffs on the march back up to the castle. After a quick lunch Harry suggested to Hermione that they use the twenty minutes they still had before potions to find a place on the grounds to do their meditation. When Susan asked what they were talking about Harry explained about their plan to become animagi, and Susan asked if she too could join in. Harry and Hermione saw no problem with this so ten minutes later the three of them were sitting under a tree while Harry explained the first step of the process to Susan.
"The first couple of months of meditation are just about clearing your mind, pushing away your conscious thoughts until you are simply existing. When you have accomplished that you should feel some kind of primal rhythmic pulse, this is a representation of your inner beast and its instincts. You then focus on reaching down inside yourself and finding your inner beast so that you can draw it closer to the surface until eventually you can perceive it fully during your meditation, when it comes before you and names itself to you, then you can move on to the next step."
"So we don't have any control over what our form is? What if our form is really stupid?" Susan asked with a worried look on her face.
Hermione handled this question "Your form is controlled by your personality, so odds are your form won't be anything too bad. And even if it was you could simply choose not to continue after you learn your form. Meditation has been shown to have a significant effect on improving mental ability, so even if none of us decided to continue the meditation would still be worth the effort." This answer eased Susan's worries and she was now just as excited as Harry and Hermione to get started.
"We have an hour and a half between classes and our meeting with Professor Sprout, we can begin our meditation then, but right now we need to get to Potions." Harry said while standing up, he then offered the girls a hand up before they set off for the dungeons.
Harry had been dreading Potions, he had to some extent hoped that Snape wouldn't be quite as vindictive if he wasn't a Gryfindor, but he knew that was just wishful thinking. Snape started off the class with the same speech about how much he could teach if the students weren't incompetent, Harry had to try really hard not to laugh at the fact that the poor performance in potions was more on the incompetence of the teacher than the students. Harry had nothing but respect for Snape's ability as a potion maker, but just because you can do something doesn't mean you can teach it. Having finished his speech Snape decided to begin his favorite activity in the world, terrorizing students.
"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood"
Harry waited a moment before hesitantly answering "Well sir, if you added a proper stabilizing agent and base liquid, you would get a sleeping potion known as the 'Draught of Living Death'."
Snape glared at Harry before asking another question "Very well, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
Harry had to bite his tongue to keep answering with as much sarcasm as he felt the situation deserved 'I would probably look in the supply cupboard.' but while antagonizing Snape may have been cathartic it would not be worth the trouble it would cause so he gave the answer that Snape wanted "I don't know."
Snape sneered at him but Harry didn't notice because he wasn't looking at Snape's face, he didn't want to give the bat a chance to look into his mind. "Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh Potter? What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
"There is no difference, those are just two names for the same plant, sir." Harry replied quickly.
Snape was clearly furious that he hadn't been able to make Harry look like a complete fool "15 points from Hufflepuff for being unable to answer a question asked by a teacher." Harry just ignored this, arguing with Snape wouldn't help any and it would only hurt his case that Snape was unfair and unreasonable.
The rest of class passed without incident, as this class was with the Ravenclaws no ones cauldron exploded and Snape wasn't given any excuses to punish Harry further. History of Magic was as boring as ever, but Harry was proud of himself for not falling asleep in the class. After Binns had finished droning on about people who had died sometime in the 1200s Harry led Hermione and Susan back out onto the grounds to begin their first meditation session. After an hour of sitting quietly they headed back inside for the meeting in Sprout's office, none of them expected any progress, but the fact that they had all managed to sit silently for an hour was a good sign. When they arrived outside of the office, which was off the corridor that led to the Hufflepuff common room, they were greeted by the other Hufflepuff first years. Five minutes after they arrived Professor Sprout invited them all into her office and asked them to take a seat.
"I am glad you all made it here on time. As you know I am the head of house for Hufflepuff, and every year I have a meeting just like this one to introduce myself to my new first years. My job as your head of house is to handle any problems you have with other students, or with the faculty. If you feel that someone has wronged you, please bring it to my attention rather than settling things on your own. Now I'm sure none of you have had any problems yet as we have only been here a day, but if there is anything you want to bring to my attention, please feel free to do so at any time." Professor Sprout finished her little speech with a kind smile on her face.
At this point Harry made his first visible move in what would be a very long game. "Actually Professor I do have a problem."
A look of concern crossed the Professor's face "Who with Mr. Potter?"
"Professor Snape, ma'am. During Potions class he singled me out by asking three questions that were not even covered in the required textbook, and then took points because I could only answer two of them."
Professor Sprout looked to the other first years for confirmation of these facts, when they all corroborated Harry's story she turned to Harry "Very well Mr. Potter, I will speak with Professor Snape about his unprofessional conduct towards you. Until then, twenty points for bringing this to my attention rather than attempting to argue with a Professor. If this continues, please let me know. You may all go, have a good evening." And with that they all went to dinner.
The rest of the week passed quickly and soon it was Saturday, the trio had found time to meditate almost every day after classes and they all felt that they were making good progress. After lunch on Saturday Susan said she needed to write a letter to her aunt and that usually took her a couple hours as her aunt insisted on receiving as many details as possible, so Harry and Hermione were alone for the afternoon.
"Well since we have nothing else going on why don't we work on that essay for Charms? I know it isn't due for a week, but the sooner we get it done the better." Hermione suggested.
"Maybe in a bit, but first there is something I need to show you first." Without another word Harry led the way up to the seventh floor. When he showed her to the Room of Requirement Hermione was in awe.
"What is this place? How did you find it?" The room had taken on the appearance of a small stretch of tropical beach, Harry had decided to start off with something truly spectacular to give Hermione some idea of what the room was capable of.
Harry smiled at the look of wonder on Hermione's face. "This is the Room of Requirement, whatever you want or need the room to be it becomes that." at these words the room began to change until it resembled a small sitting room with three chairs and a table in the middle. Harry sat down in one chair and gestured for Hermione to sit in another. He pulled the medallion out of his pocket, placed it on the table and then continued "As for how I found it, well... that is a long story."