Harry Potter 1. Prologue

From a young age Harry Potter knew not to speak out of turn, not to ask for more food, not to complain and above all not to display his freakishness in front of his relatives. He knew at the tender age of four what a cane feels like on skin and he knew by the age of six what it feels like to be starved for over a week. By age nine Harry Potter had completely lost touch with his emotions, he no longer cared about what was right and what was wrong and he finally realized that the only thing that mattered was power.

Over the first ten years of his life Harry Potter suffered a lot, but in his suffering he learnt a lot about survival. After all what does not kill you makes you stronger right?

The first thing Harry learnt was how to act, so he could always put on a face of innocence in front of his relatives, not that his innocence ever stopped them from hurting him but it did stave away the questions of the teachers at school and the nosy neighbors.

One of the key constants that Harry was exposed to from a young age was the sight of his own blood and over time he developed a fascination for blood itself. The rich dark red color, the texture, the smell and taste of blood, it was the first thing Harry truly loved; or would have loved if he could feel love. He killed his first animal at age six, it was his birthday, the Dursleys had gone out for the day and had left him at Mrs. Figg's house as usual. Harry was in a bad mood and wanted to vent his anger at something and there it was a young kitten not more than a few weeks old staring at him from under the couch. Slowly harry reached out to the Kitten with an innocent looking smile on his face and gently picked it up in both hands, with soft steps Harry walked outside and made sure he was hidden behind one of the bigger bushes around the house. Once he ensured that there was no one around to interrupt his fifteen minutes of fun, in one swift motion Harry pulled out his handy pocket knife and slit the throat of the kitten. A small but true smile crept onto his face as he watched the blood drain from the kitten's neck onto his hands. He considered this his best birthday ever. On that day Harry learnt what it felt like to have power over another's life, he learnt that he enjoyed this power immensely and it was this realization that led to a promise to himself to seek more power so that he would never be weak again.

Another key constant that Harry experienced from a young age was the random and seemingly impossible events that regularly happened around him. He would grow his hair back when his aunt cut it badly. He would teleport when he did not want to get caught by Dudley and his gang and more recently his body seemed to resist some of the damage it was taking, where before there were broken bones now there was only large bruising. He knew that his "family" was not holding back and judging by their exhaustion after a beating session it seemed like they were putting more into the beating than before. By age nine Harry had learnt to control this "power" for the lack of a better term, he could now concentrate really hard and teleport at will, he could grow his hair and even change its color(not that he ever did this in front of his relatives) and finally he could feel the energy coursing through his body and he mentally created a barrier using this power around his entire body now he would not even bleed when stabbed by a knife and the beatings he got from his uncle and cousin no longer left a mark on him.

While he discovered that he had a lot of "powers" in his arsenal there was one that felt different from the others and that was his ability to control blood, it was the first of his abilities to manifest as Harry was no stranger to blood and over the years harry learnt to hone it to a degree where he could control his own metabolism so he did not need to eat much, he could stop wounds from bleeding just by willing it and more recently he discovered that he could kill small animals by forcing their blood out of their bodies. The last one pleased him the most.

On Harry's tenth birthday his uncle sent his aunt and cousin to his sister's place to spend the weekend. Then for the rest of the day he completely ignored Harry and spent the time getting drunk on a bottle of whiskey.

Finally at around 9 P.M Vernon Dursley walked into the kitchen and slurred "Happeyh birthday Boy! I have a present for you right here".

Slowly he started fumbling with his belt buckle, at this point Harry merely thought he was in for another beating at the hands of his uncle and was already making sure his protective barrier was in place. But as he looked up into his uncle's eyes he saw something there that once again put fear into his heart. By then the belt was lying on the floor forgotten and his uncle was pulling his pants down, Harry's eyes widened in realization on what was happening and in response to this his power reacted by lashing out and blasting his uncle backwards into the sink. This was the first time young Harry used his power offensively against a human, the paramedics bought his excuse of his uncle falling down and hitting his head on the kitchen sink because of his acting skills and the Blood alcohol content of the dead man. By the time Petunia and Dudley got back the house was cleaned and only Harry was left to greet them.

With a smile on his face and a soft voice Harry spoke to his Aunt. "Not going to accuse me of killing him? After all I am the scapegoat for all the wrongs that happen on this side of the world".

His aunt looked at him with a look of utter disgust and shrieked " You ungrateful brat you killed my husband, don't you deny it, we should never have taken you in.".

With his smile widening Harry said "I'm not denying anything, he would have lived if I called for help after he fell, but no I watched him bleed out slowly as he pleaded for his life." In reality Harry actually made sure the wound stayed open using his ability to control blood. " It was pathetic, once he was dead for sure I called the ambulance and put up an innocent face and told them a sob story of how I tried to stop the bleeding."

"Oh officer there was so much blood, I.. I.. couldn't do anything" the more Harry talked, the more his aunt's face paled. Finally after over five minutes of the best entertainment he had, had his whole life Harry stopped laughing and looked at his Aunt directly in the eye.

"There are going to be some changes here." When his aunt made a motion to hit him he hastily continued "or maybe tomorrow Dudley here falls off the school roof?"

That comment drained what little blood was left in his Aunt's face. "You wouldn't dare."

Harry let out a loud laugh and replied "It would be the happiest moment of my miserable life Dear Auntie."


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: I do not own Harry potter or anything else in the Potter verse. First chapter up guys please Read and Review. J**

**Chapter 1**

Harry opened his eyes and mentally counted the days, there were 6 left to his 11th birthday. He was looking forward to his first Vernon free birthday. As he thought up of ways to make this one as entertaining as the last one his mind wandered to the radical changes that happened within the Dursley household after the death of Vernon. While being beaten up by Dudley stopped being a problem years ago Harry never really got a chance to torment his cousin until his uncle's unfortunate demise so over the last year Dudley suffered for everything he and his friends had done to Harry in the first nine years of his life and slowly but surely the effects of this psychological and physical torment was showing on the young boy, no longer was he fat and spoilt now he was lean, almost as thin as Harry and had dark circles below his eyes from the nightmares caused by Harry. Petunia Dursley, the shriek, nosy harpy of a woman was gone and now replaced by the ragged, quiet and perpetually tired mother with two jobs who lived in constant fear of her nephew.

Harry fondly remembered the one time Petunia Dursley tried to get Harry instutionalised by claiming he was responsible for Vernon's death. It was quite amusing when Harry went along with the accusations but put up the face of a guilt ridden young boy who blamed himself for his uncle's death and who's only wish was for "Uncle Vernon to be alive again". The shocked look on Petunia's face along with the scandalized looks on the other adults was something that Harry found incredibly amusing. Of course after everyone made hasty apologies to Harry and gave the grieving widow a stern talking to about "blaming an innocent child for an accident", his performance was so masterful that there was even talk of taking Harry and Dudley away from Petunia. Harry knew that this event should not happen again and he took steps to make sure Petunia understood that his threats were real.

Two days after the incident Petunia Dursley got a call from the school,

"Mrs. Dursley?"

"Yes."

"There's been an accident, it's your son ma'am"

Upon hearing these words Petunia's blood chilled and she nearly screamed into the phone

"NO, not Dudley, please tell me he's alive, please."

"Calm down Mrs. Dursley, your son Dudley fell into the pool and nearly drowned but he was saved thanks to the timely efforts of your Nephew Harry Potter. Your son and nephew are currently at St. Mary's along with a teacher and the school nurse."

The message was clear, 'I hold the life of your son in my hands'. Petunia immediately rushed to the Hospital and almost screamed when Harry hugged her and spoke aloud in that wretched innocent tone "Auntie.. Dud.. Dudley fell into the pool, I was so scared I ran to Mr. Brown he was the nearest teacher and got him.. they said *sniff*.. they said that if I was even a minute late Dudley would have died." Petunia could not believe it the boy had the nerve to hug her after nearly killing her son but she also realized that if she did not respond in kind the people at the hospital would get suspicious and might take her son away from her and she could not let that happen. The freakish boy took her husband away from her she would not let him take her son. So she replied in a cool tone mustering as much fake emotion as she can "It's ok…Harry, your cousin is fine now." And after that she immediately went into the room to watch over her darling boy. Harry just looked at her from behind as a slow smile crept across his face.

After Dudley's near death both Aunt and cousin learnt to behave around Harry Potter and while Petunia did not spend a lot of time around Harry because of her working two jobs Dudley did and so he needed to be reminded every few weeks why Harry was now the King of the hill. Harry of course took great pleasure in reminding his cousin why he should be feared.

Dudley Dursley's life took a turn for the worse after the death of his father, before he was a happy spoilt brat who got anything he wanted with a few loud tantrums. He had everything he ever wanted, all the food in the world, rich parents and a personal punching bag named Harry Potter. Of course all this changed after his father died, all the adults told him that his father's death was an accident but Dudley knew that the freak had killed his father. So in a fit of righteous fury Dudley Dursley decided to attack his cousin, he never fought back before why should he do so now?

It took some careful planning but about a month after his father's death Dudley finally had everything setup to give the freak what he deserved, he even had used the last of his allowance to pay some of the older students to help him discipline his cousin. For the last two weeks Dudley tailed Harry Potter to see when and where he would be alone in order to set up an ambush, he had learnt that his cousin always went to the library during lunch hour to read those complicated science books and then he went back there after school to read some more so he could not get to him at school. However he noticed that his cousin took the way through the park home and Dudley knew that there were a lot of places in the park where one could set up an ambush, he also knew that the park was big enough that no one would hear his cousin should he cry out for help. Dudley Dursley was ready for revenge, him and half a dozen other boys were waiting hidden in the park for one Harry Potter.

Of course Harry knew that Dudley would seek revenge, he knew that his cousin was tailing him for the last two weeks and he knew that Dudley was trying to corner him. What he didn't know was that Dudley had hired help, in hindsight it should have been obvious, Dudley Dursley was a bully and a coward at heart just like his father so why wouldn't he try and stack the odds as much as he can in his favor. So Harry walked through the park on the 1st of September fully expecting a confrontation with Dudley and maybe his best friend Piers and thus was truly taken by surprise when he got jumped by seven people in the short brawl that ensued harry took a blow to the head and got knocked out.

Slowly opening his eyes harry felt a throbbing pain coming from his head; he knew that the wound was bleeding. Looking around and finding himself tied to a tree in the park Harry cursed himself for lowering his guard and more importantly getting lax on using the power to protect his body. Closing his eyes Harry concentrated to once more cover his body in a protective cocoon; he molded the blood flowing from his forehead into a clot and started the healing process. As he was getting ready to teleport out of his bindings he heard someone walking towards him and quickly opened his eyes to find his cousin's beady eyes staring into his.

"What are you going to do now freak, I've got you tied up good."

Harry had never used his control over blood on another human before, he knew he could hurt small animals by making them literally bleed from anywhere but he was unsure if he could do this to his cousin, also he did not want to kill Dudley, not so soon after Vernon anyways, it would make him look too suspicious and he knew that his acting skills were not so good as to convince the authorities that this was another "accident". So he had no choice but to teleport out of his bindings now and to maybe use his power to push Dudley around a bit. He had no qualms of Dudley or Petunia seeing his powers, they already considered him a freak and he had a suspicion that Petunia knew more about where his powers came from. Finally reaching a decision Harry closed his eyes again ignoring Dudley's ramblings and teleported right behind his cousin.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT?"

Harry's mind raced at a million thoughts a second, that was not Dudley's voice this combined with the fact that they were in a pretty secluded are of the park meant that atleast one of Dudley's friends were still around. Quickly turning around harry forced his power from his mind and wished for everyone other than Dudley to forget what they just saw. As soon as that thought crossed his mind his power for the first time visible to his eyes shot out from his outstretched arms and hit all 6 boys simultaneously knocking them down while Harry was bombarded with images of him teleporting from different angles. All this happened within a few seconds and as suddenly as the power had flowed into his arms it receded back into his mind. Dudley for the most part was shocked and for the first time in his life felt an inkling of true fear as he looked into his cousin's icy green eyes.

The other boys all got up with a dazed look and turned back to look towards harry and as one the clouded look from their eyes faded away. Piers was the first one to speak.

"Hey Dudley, why did you untie him are we going to play some Harry Hunting?"

As he said those words the other boys also muttered similar things, it seemed like the memory of Harry teleporting was completely erased from their minds.

Harry realizing that his power could manipulate the human mind cackled with glee at the different scenarios of psychological torture he could now inflict on Dudley without anyone not even Dudley knowing. It seemed that Dudley had also come to this conclusion as he whitened considerably when he noticed his cousin's demented laughter.

What happened after that in the park was Harry realizing he could use his powers not only to erase memories but also plant false ones and even induce waking nightmares. He learnt he could put people to sleep by shooting a red light at them from his hands and then plant nightmares and memories in their heads as they slept. He learnt the limitations of this power and the extents to which he could use it. Of Couse remembering how his physical body was once vulnerable to attack Harry realized that while his body was protected by his powers his mind is still vulnerable to someone with powers like him and so once again using nothing but willpower and instinct he wished for his mind to be protected from this telepathic form of the power.

It was nearly time for dinner by the time harry was done with Dudley and his friends and the best part was that none of them would remember what he did, of course now they would constantly have nightmares and wet their beds at least once a week as a result. For Dudley Harry prepared something special he planted a special memory of Uncle Vernon spending some quality time "bonding" with his son over some whiskey, beatings and inappropriate touches.

"That should stop the fat lump from trying to avenge his father" thought harry and he once again smiled at the irony of the situation, Vernon died trying to molest Harry and instead now Dudley is the one who will bear the mental scars of his father's advances for the rest of his life.

After that day at the park Dudley was a lot more withdrawn and every time he bolstered some courage to confront harry another mental session would break the boy a little more. Harry estimated that Dudley would be driven insane before his 12th birthday at this rate, he couldn't wait for it to happen. He could only hope that Petunia would also snap when that happens, maybe he would give them the little push they need on one of Aunt Marge's visits, killing 2 whales, a harpy and hopefully a dog with one stone so to speak.

Harry was snapped out of his musing by a knocking sound on the window, he got up and looked out the window to be greeted by the peculiar sight of a large barn owl sitting there waiting patiently for him to open the window. Pulling his knife out with one hand Harry opened the window to let the bird in, just as he was about to stab the bird he noticed the letter tied to its legs. Slowly sheathing the knife Harry reached out to the outstretched leg of the owl that had perched on his chair and untied the letter.

Harry looked at the letter and was surprised to see that it was addressed to him.

_Mr. H Potter_

_2__nd__ Largest Bedroom_

_4 Privet Drive_

_Little Whinging_

_Surrey_

Turning it over he saw there was a purple wax seal with the letter H surrounded by a snake, badger, eagle and lion.

Harry slowly opened the letter and pulled out the first sheet of paper and read:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of_ WITCHCRAFT _and _WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

(_Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock._

_Supreme Mugwump, International confed. of Wizards)_

He read the rest of the letter explaining to him that he had been accepted at this Hogwarts and that they expected his owl before July 31st, his birthday. This letter explained a lot to him about his powers but it also bought up a lot of questions. Harry laughed, just as his life was getting boring fate drops this letter in his lap, yes he would go to Hogwarts after all one could only learn so much about the power… no magic on their own, some formal education on how to properly wield magic would definitely be beneficial for him, not so much for his family and whatever enemies he might make along the way. After all one does not become powerful without stepping on a few toes, breaking a few bones and ripping a few hearts out of their weak feebleminded bodies.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Today was Harry's birthday, while he never celebrated his birthday in a conventional way Harry did have some plans for entertainment in mind at Dudley's expense of course. However these plans had to be scrapped in-lieu of the Hogwarts letter he had received. Harry had written back to the Deputy Headmistress as instructed in the letter and had voiced his concerns on being ignorant of where to purchase the items on the list along with the fact that he didn't bloody know how to get to Hogwarts. The Deputy McGonagall had replied with an apology and information that a representative of the school will arrive on the 31st to take him shopping and give him directions on how to get to Hogwarts. This did not please Harry, he liked doing things alone; he was alone his entire life and he was not going to change that any time soon. It also irked him that he was not given a choice; it seemed like the freedom he enjoyed the past year would be severely curbed at Hogwarts. The other issue that was still bothering him was the money, he was certain that Hogwarts would not be cheap and he had only saved up around 800 pounds the last few months using his powers on unsuspecting fools, however this concern was also addressed by McGonagall in her letter. It seems his parents had left him an inheritance and a trust vault according to her it will be more than enough to pay for his Hogwarts education and other expenses incurred. With all his primary concerns addressed all Harry could do now was wait.

At around 11 A.M Harry heard a loud booming knock from downstairs, he heard Petunia walking towards the door to open it and realized that his Aunt had no idea that a representative from Hogwarts was arriving today to pick him up. As he walked down the stairs he heard the loud shrill noise of Petunia's voice shrieking at the biggest human being Harry had ever laid eyes on. At that moment he wondered if every wizard would grow to be a specimen like the one in front of him and he thought of the physical damage one could inflict with a body like that. Still lost in thought Harry made his way to the front door just in time to catch the tail end of their argument.

"I WILL NOT PAY SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH THE DEVIL CHILD MORE WAYS TO TORTURE MY BABY"

The giant-man's face turned red with anger and he pulled out what looked like a pink umbrella pointed it at Dudley who had wandered into the foyer to find out what all the noise was about. Pausing for a moment to stated something about insulting Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter he shot a white light at Dudley causing him to grow a pig tail.

It was Harry's laughter that finally drew their attention to him, upon seeing him the giant-man cracked into a smile while Petunia went deathly pale.

"Ah.. yeh must be Harry then, last time I saw yer, you were jus a wee little babe"

Raising his hand for a shake Harry introduced himself and asked "You must be the school representative, sir?"

"Ah theres no need ta call me sir, I aint no professer. The names Rubeus Hagrid, just call me Hagrid, everyone does."

Nodding his head, Harry took a closer look at the representative Hogwarts had sent to reintroduce him to the wizarding world. After a few minutes of small talk and observation as they walked down Privet Drive, Harry was a little disappointed. This Hagrid while strong physically seemed to lack mental focus. He seemed like the kind of person who could be easily fooled into believing anything. However at the moment he was the only person Harry knew from the wizarding world and so will have to serve as a knowledge source, however it was a given that anything said by Hagrid needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

By the time they finally disembarked from the bus in front of a pub named the leaky cauldron Harry had learnt a lot more about the wizarding world and his own position in it. He learnt about his parents' death, Voldemort or You-Know-Who, death eaters, Gryffindors, Slytherins, his very own moniker "The Boy-Who-Lived" and the fame that came with it.

By this point Harry had decided to buy as many books as he can on his own past for two main reasons, he wanted to know who's bright idea it was to send him to the Dursleys after his parents death, once he got his hands on some names he would arrange for slow very painful deaths for these individuals. The second reason was that the more he heard Hagrid talk about Voldemort or "You-Know-Who" the more he liked the fear inspired by him, sure he had killed Harry's parents but damn he must have been awe inspiring if people still feared his name 10 years after his death. The ability to inspire such fear was true power and Harry knew this, he wanted it in fact one could say that was his innermost desire. He wanted to become as powerful or even more powerful than Voldemort, he wanted everyone, the magicals, the muggles even the dumb animals to cower before him.

As these thoughts were going through his head Harry once again heard the name Albus Dumbledore coming from Hagrid's mouth and where there was fear in Hagrid's eyes when he spoke of Voldemort here he could see an almost fanatic loyalty shining through them. Curiosity peaked Harry innocently asked.

"Hagrid, Albus Dumbledore is the principal of Hogwarts right?"

"Yeh Harry, great man Dumbledore. They say he was the only one You-Know-Who feared"

This was interesting, it seemed Dumbledore was more than a mere headmaster then, probably the most powerful wizard alive considering the one who previously occupied that position died 10 years ago and left Harry with the lightning bolt scar and according to Hagrid even Voldemort was wary of crossing paths with Dumbledore. Harry knew he needed to be cautious around Dumbledore, the only way one could inspire the level of loyalty Hagrid was showing was with true power and Harry knew that regardless of what Hagrid says about Dumbledore no one can achieve so much power and still keep their hands completely clean.

"The leaky cauldron, welcome to tha wizardin world Harry", Hagrid announced as he opened the door to a dingy looking pub. Harry noticed that the mundane people or "muggles" as Hagrid called them could not see this pub, before he could make any more observations on the enchantments around the pub he was ushered in by Hagrid.

The bartender upon seeing Hagrid, smiled and asked "The usual Hagrid?"

"Can't Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said hagrid clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder with enough force to cause his knees to buckle. Harry grimaced at this, he did not like feeling weak and while he knew Hagrid has little to no potential magically he was still a physically formidable being. With these thoughts in mind Harry raised his head and looked at the bartender who's eyes widened for a second before flicking towards Harry's forehead.

"Good Lord… is it…bless my soul it's Harry Potter", upon hearing this the patrons of the bar stopped what they were doing and all turned their eyes towards Harry. Harry who never liked crowds to begin with silently berated both Hagrid and himself for letting this happen however there was nothing he could do but smile and act nice. Many people came forward expressing their gratitude for what he did, the fools raising him on a pedestal for something he had no control in or memory of doing. If they considered him such a hero then why was he cast aside to live with filthy muggles after the fall of Voldemort, why was no one there to save him then? He wanted to scream at them, torture them, make them suffer for what he had to endure, however that would have to wait so for now he put on a façade of innocence and humility and replied to each courtesy with one of his own.

Eventually almost everyone at the pub was done with their five minutes with the famous Harry Potter when a pale young man made his way forward very nervously, "Great another weak minded idiot too afraid to be in the presence of the famous Harry Potter", thought Harry as he got ready to smile and nod at whatever this man had to say.

"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."

"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."

Harry sighed internally, if all the professors at this supposedly reputed school of magic was like this pathetic man in front of him then he would have to look into self-study from books; in all honesty Harry did not mind self-study it's what he had been doing so far and while he did not know what level of power other 11 year olds possessed he was fairly certain that they were not as good as him, especially if Hagrid and the rest of this lot in the bar were what one would consider average witches and wizards.

Once again pulling away from his thoughts Harry smiled at the professor and asked, "What do you teach at Hogwarts professor?"

"D-D-Defense against the D-Dark Arts", muttered the professor with a look of fear in his eyes, "Not that y-you need it ey P-Potter." He laughed nervously and made eye contact with Harry.

Exercising the mind reading powers Harry had used on Dudley and his friends Harry looked into the Professor's mind for a few seconds to see what he was thinking off, while he did not intend to do this it had become something of a habit for him around muggles. Harry knew knowledge was power and knowing what his aunt or cousin was thinking about allowed him to plan things as needed. Realizing what he was doing Harry quickly pulled his mind back while cursing himself silently, externally he just broke eye contact while still closely observing Quirrell to see if he noticed the intrusion.

"Y-You will be g-getting your equipment I s-suppose? I have to p-pick up a book on V-V-Vampires myself" spoke Quirrell giving no indication that he noticed Harry's mind probe.

Mentally relaxing once more Harry made a list of things he learnt from that brief excursion into the Professor's mind. One, he did not like Harry, though Harry sensed that this dislike was because he wanted to please someone else by killing Harry; two, regardless of this show of incompetence he is putting up he is a rather skilled wizard or thinks he is at least as he intends to break into vault 713 in Gringotts, whatever that is; and, three he wants to give a red stone to someone his mind calls master.

Now Harry was always good at riddles and as riddles go this one was rather easy to solve, the only people who would be pleased by Harry's death were the Dursleys and Voldemort's former servants or the Death Eaters as Hagrid called them. Now Harry had no way of checking if Quirrell was secretly working for the Dursleys but he was fairly certain that was not the case, no Harry learnt something important from those few seconds in Quirrell's head, he learnt Lord Voldemort was not as dead as everyone liked to believe, he learnt that this red stone Quirrell was thinking about can bring him back to life and he learnt that Voldemort holds a grudge against him, which was not very suprising. The potential for chaos and destruction a resurrected Voldemort brought a smile to Harry's face however he knew that this was delicate ground and that he had to thread carefully, maybe he would help in the resurrection of Voldemort a few years down the line but right now he had to ensure that he could gather enough knowledge and power to show Voldemort that making an enemy of Harry Potter would not be a wise decision.

While these thoughts were going through his head Hagrid had led them to behind the bar and tapped on a brick with his umbrella. Seeing Harry's smile and mistaking it for one of awe, Hagrid grinned and said, "Welcome to Diagon Alley."


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Do not own Potterverse or any of the characters, they all belong to J.K. Rowling. There are parts of this chapter that are from the first book, just a heads up. Please read and review. :)**

**Chapter 3**

Harry was impressed; he finally saw the limitless potential magic had he saw many things that were considered impossible in the muggle world being casually displayed in the alley. The lust for Knowledge and power was evident in his eyes and if anyone were looking at them they would have been reminded of another pair of eyes glowing with an insatiable need for power.

Looking around as they walked towards the bank Harry saw that there were other alleys connected to diagon alley, in fact the entrance of what seemed like the biggest one after Diagon alley was just beyond the bank, curiosity peaked Harry turned to Hagrid and asked "Hey, Hagrid what's in Knockturn Alley"

Hagrid's eyes widened upon hearing that alley's name coming from Harry's mouth and he replied a little too loudly "Where did yah hear about tha place Harry?"

Internally sighing at Hagrid's lack of common sense Harry simply pointed at the sign.

Looking slightly abashed Hagrid sheepishly smiled at Harry and replied "Right, the sign forgot about that. Now Harry, don go roamin around in Knockturn Alley, tis a place for Dark Wizards."

Harry's mind processed this information and stored it for later use, carefully masking his face so as to not show his true emotions Harry simply nodded at Hagrid's warning implying that he understood.

As they arrived at the bank, Harry saw one of the ugliest creatures he had ever seen in his life, wondering what it was he once again turned to Hagrid.

"They are goblins Harry, one would be mad to steal from Gringotts with them guarding the place." Spoke Hagrid seeing Harry's questioning look.

Once again storing the information about goblins in his mind he stepped through the threshold of the bank and felt something brush against his shields, both physical and mental. It seemed like this foreign magic did not do anything overt to him but he made a note to investigate this further once he was done shopping.

They approached a teller and Hagrid spoke "Harry Potter here would like to make a withdrawal from his account."

The goblin reached over his desk and looked at Harry intently before replying "Does Mr. Harry Potter have his key?"

This prompted a five minute long search by Hagrid through the vast number of pockets within his coat, before he finally pulled out a small golden looking key.

The goblin took the key from Hagrid with a look of distaste evident on it's face before proclaiming "Well everything seems the be in order. GRIPHOOK!, please take Mr. Potter and his …associate to his vault"

Just as Griphook was approaching Hagrid pulled out a piece of parchment out of one of his pockets. "There is also the matter of You-Know-What, in vault 713" he spoke as he handed the parchment over to the goblin.

Until now Harry was only thinking of what he would do with the money he apparently had inherited from his parents, he already had rudimentary investment plans made in his head for muggle companies. After some more research of how the magical world works he planned to make some investments there as well. Harry knew that there were many forms of power, he clearly had the magical power in the bag, now he would have to work on increasing that while at the same time he aspired to gain both financial and political power and once he attains this power the world would be his. He was snapped out of his thoughts when the goblin teller shouted something that sounded like griphook and he once again focused his attention on Hagrid and the teller only to catch the tail end of their conversation.

Now as they walked towards the back of the bank Harry had something new to think of, he was curious of what "You-Know-What" was and he knew asking Hagrid directly would yield no results. As they entered the mine cart Harry decided that he would worry about the contents of vault 713 at some other time as it seemed like it was going to be taken to Hogwarts and he would have plenty of time there to puzzle it out. However this meant that he would have to reluctantly keep his ties with Hagrid as he was the one most likely to tell Harry what this mysterious item Dumbledore wanted at Hogwarts was.

The cart ride was interesting mainly because Harry had never been on a rollercoaster in his life and the feeling was not unpleasant there was also the added bonus of the look on Hagrid's face. Upon reaching the vault the goblin simply stated. "Key"

Hagrid still shaking a little handed the key over to the goblin.

Inside the vault was heaps of Gold, columns of silver and mounds of copper, quickly turning to the Goblin Harry asked, "How much?"

Griphook pulled a ledger of sorts from within the walls of the vault looked it over and spoke "The potter trust vault has 130,000 galleons, 14 sickles and 21 knuts."

Eyes narrowing with a hungry glint in them Harry asked "Two questions, first what is the current conversion rate of wizarding currency to muggle pounds and second you said trust vault does this mean there is a main vault?"

The goblin pursed it's lips and answered, "The current conversion rate for the galleons to British pounds is approximately 12 pounds to a gallon. So your vault is worth almost 1.6 million british pounds. The answer to your second question is yes there is a main potter vault and no it does not have money in it all the money from the main potter vault was placed in your trust vault after the death of your parents. It now comprises mainly of books and other family heirlooms, you will not be able to access it until you reach your majority."

1.6 million pounds was far more than what he expected to inherit and though it was a little disappointing that he could not access the main Potter vault until the age of 17 there were a lot of things he could do with the money he had access to. After taking a moment to calculate mentally how much money he would need for the current shopping trip and then adding 100 galleons on top of that for additional expenses harry closed the vault with a smile on his face.

Once again the cart ride was fun, Harry had been manipulating Hagrid's blood and other body fluids ever since they entered the bank with the intention to make him sick enough to leave Harry alone to do his shopping, this manipulation combined with the cart rides seemed to be doing the trick as Hagrid looked about ready to throw up by the time they reached vault 713.

The way the goblin opened the vault was quite impressive, observing everything he could Harry stored that tit-bit of information about goblin magic in case he ever needed to rob Gringotts. Hagrid quickly leaned inside and grabbed a small grubby looking package. While Harry did not know what was in the package he could somehow sense that it was powerful. Memorizing the size and shape of the mysterious object Harry decided he would try and steal it from Hogwarts if possible.

Having finished with their business at Gringotts, one quick cart ride later they were standing outside of its entrance. Seeing that Hagrid was about 3 steps away from emptying his stomach on the steps of the bank Harry smoothly held out a hand motioning Hagrid to stop and spoke, "Hagrid you don't look so good maybe we should go sit down somewhere for a while until you feel better?"

"Nah Harry, I need ter get to You-Know-What to Dumbledore as soon as possible."

Biting his lip and putting on the face of a brave child Harry replied, "Well, if you want I can do all my shopping myself, it's no problem my aunt makes me shop alone for her all the time."

Seeing that Hagrid looked unsure on what to do Harry decided to push is magic a little more making all of the giant man's blood rush to his head at once. The effects of this was instantaneous Hagrid immediately held his head in both hands and groaned loudly.

Once again looking really worried Harry spoke, "Hagrid you really need to lie down or something, go to Hogwarts now I can take care of myself."

Hagrid still holding his head just nodded and started walking towards the leaky cauldron. Harry watched him walk all the way down the alley and kept the innocent smile fixed on his face until he was sure Hagrid could not see him anymore.

Silently thanking the gods that he was finally rid of that oaf Harry pulled out the required materials for first years list from his pocket. Looking through it he mentally catalogued everything he needed into four categories, Wand, Clothes, Books, and supplies. Seeing that he wanted a wand as soon as possible he decided to get that first.

The sign on the door read "Ollivander's makers of fine wands since 382 B.C", it also said that the store was open so Harry did not understand why there was no one in there. Just as he was about to turn around and leave an old man walked in from behind one of the shelves.

"Apologies, usually the ward on my door alerts me when a customer walks in." spoke the man in a soft voice.

Noting to himself that his shield seemed to have evolved to avoid magical detection harry spoke, "It's fine, I need a wand."

"Ofcourse" said the wandmaker then upon looking closer at Harry his eyes widened just a fraction and flicked towards the infamous scar.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, I was wondering when you would come in here to get your first wand, I remember the day your parents came to get their wands."

"Lily Evans, 10 and ¼ willow, swishy great for charms work and James Potter 11 inches mahogany excellent wand for transfiguration"

Snapping out of his reminiscence Ollivander simply asked Harry to hold out his wand hand as a tape measure started taking all kinds of measurements.

"You see Mr. Potter, a wizard does not choose his wand, rather a wand chooses a wizard. Now try this 12 inches willow, dragon heartstring good wand for charms work." Spoke Ollivander as he held out a box with a wand in it.

As soon as Harry picked it up the light bulb exploded, startling him.

Ollivander just snatched the wand back and quickly handed him another, this process went on for a while as the wandmaker kept getting more and more excited.

"Hmm could it be…", muttered Ollivander.

"Could what be?" replied Harry who was now getting annoyed at the amount of time it took to find a wand.

"Wait here a moment Mr. Potter." Said Ollivander as he disappeared into the back of the store and returned shortly holding a box.

Looking inside Harry saw another wand and at Ollivanders prompting he extended his hand and picked it up to immediately feel a warm feeling spread through his body as sparks shot out the wand tip.

"11 inches Holly, with a phoenix feather core." Spoke Ollivander and with a strange look in his eye he continued to mutter. "Curious…."

Finally biting the bullet Harry asked with a scathing tone, "What's curious."

"You see Mr. Potter like I told you earlier I remember every single wand that I have ever made, and the phoenix that gave the feather that resides within that wand gave another feather, just one other."

Still not understanding why this would be curious Harry simply nodded to Ollivander asking him to continue.

"While this wand chose you, why it's brother gave you that scar, 13 and ½ inches yew. It seems we can expect great things from you Mr. Potter for He-Who-must-not-be-named did great things, terrible yes but still great."

Now that was curious thought Harry. His initial theories on how he survived the killing curse basically boiled it down to dumb luck, however now he knew for sure there was some kind of a connection between him and Voldemort and it seemed like it was this connection that prevented the Killing curse from ending his life ten years ago. Following that train of thought Harry realized that it was rather strange that Voldemort himself went to kill the Potters from what he had heard so far about the war there were a lot of murders and a lot of families were wiped out however Voldemort himself never went to kill someone, especially not alone. Realizing that there was more to the story than what Hagrid told him Harry decided to uncover what he can during his time at Hogwarts this year.

Snapping out of his thoughts Harry thanked Ollivander paid him and walked out the store with his new wand and wand holster that he bought as an afterthought.

After quick stops at a few shops the last couple of things left on Harry's list were his robes and books. He intended to spend at least a good hour at the book store and maybe a few more book stores in Knockturn ally scouring for material on the wizarding world and magic in general so that he could get a better understanding of both as Hagrid's explanation was woefully inadequate. So he decided to get the purchasing of robes out the way first.

Walking into Madam Malkin's robes for all occasions Harry looked around to find a squat witch dressed in all mauve smiling at him.

"Hogwarts dear?" she said, Harry simply nodded as she went on speaking "Got the lot here – another young man is being fitter up just now, in fact."

In the back of the shop was a blonde boy with a pale, pointed face standing on a footstool while another witchpinned up his robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry up on a stool next to him and started to take measurements for his robes.

"Hello", said the boy, "Hogwarts, too I assume?"

"Yes", replied Harry mildly curious what a normal magical teenager is like.

"My father is next door buying my books and mother's at Ollivander's looking at wands, though father says there is a better wand shop in Knockturn alley where they don't put the trace on your wand if you can pay for it." spoke the boy. Continuing in a nonchalant voice he spoke "after getting my wand I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms, don't see why first years can't have their own just because a few mud-ggleborns don't know how to fly yet."

Harry caught the slip up on the muggleborn phrase, while he did not know what the blonde was going to say he figured it was some kind of a racial slur.

"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on.

"No I don't and before you ask I've never played Quidditch never had the time for sports as an orphan." Spoke harry dancing around the fact that he was muggle raised as he had a hunch that it would not go over so well with the boy.

"Oh sorry about your parents", said the boy not sounding sorry at all. "They were our kind right?"

"Don't be sorry, and yes they were a witch and wizard."

Seeing the boy's confused look at his comment Harry sighed and continued. "They brought me into this world and then promptly died fighting someone far stronger than they were thus leaving me with my pathetic muggle relatives, so don't be surprised if I don't particularly cherish their memories."

Looking horrified at the thought of being muggle raised while at the same time smiling at Harry for calling his muggle relatives pathetic the boy simply raised his hand as he spoke, "I am really sorry for your upbringing then, no witch or wizard deserves to be raised by filthy muggles, my name's Draco Malfoy by the way."

Steeling himself for the unavoidable hustle his name would bring about Harry took Draco's hand and replied, "Harry Potter."

The way Draco's eyes bulged as they flicked towards Harry's forehead would have been comical if it weren't so pathetic.

Just as Draco was about to say something Madam Malkin said, "That's it dear, you're done."

Before Harry could leave Draco called out, "Wait! Are you done shopping? Because if you are not I would like to introduce you to my father. Maybe we can finish our shopping together after that?"

Harry mused the potential advantages and disadvantages of accepting Draco's offer. On one hand, judging by what he observed from Draco the Malfoys seem to be a rich and powerful family so a potential alliance with them should not be bad at all, there was also the added bonus that they did not seem to care much about Muggles. On the other hand going with Draco meant that he would not be able to spend that much time at the book store browsing for books on the Wizarding world and magic and the plan to stop at a bookstore in Knockturn alley would have to be scrapped as well, though the wand shop Draco mentioned earlier would not be a bad tradeoff. Deciding that agreeing with Draco would be best for now Harry said, "I've already bought a wand, though I still need to purchase books and I am interested in getting one of those untraceable wands from Knockturn alley, so sure I'll go with you."

With a pleased look on his face Draco simply nodded.

Walking out of Madam Malkin's both boys made their way to Flourish and Blott's, just before entering Draco stopped Harry and spoke, "I'm not going to lie to you and you'll probably hear this from someone else anyways." Taking a deep breath and in a quick hushed tone Draco continued, "Father sympathized with the Dark Lord's cause so he will not receive you warmly, please let me explain to him your views on muggles and your muggle relatives before reacting to father's demeanor."

Looking at Draco for a moment Harry burst out laughing, "Draco, Draco, Draco, do not worry, I truly do hate my relatives and while I do not hold any particular grudge against muggles in general I DO feel that they are inferior to wizards and therefore should be subservient to us. So do not worry I am sure your father will see it in his heart to not to ignore my hand of friendship." This was of course only partially true, while Harry did not care about muggles he did not really care that much about wizards either, in his mind there was only one person he cared about, himself; and in order to ensure that he would have the Malfoys or at least Draco assisting him in his goal he knew exactly what to say and when to smile and nod.

Draco visibly relaxing after Harry's outburst resumed his confident pointed look and entered the book store like he owned it, behind him Harry followed with a slight smile on his face and a graceful nonchalant air around him that completely contradicted the cruelty reflected in his haunting green eyes.

Draco led Harry up to a blonde couple who were browsing books in the History of Magic section of the store.

"Ah, there you are Draco, I presume you are done with purchasing your robes then?" spoke the man as he replaced a book on the rack and turned around to face them.

Noticing Harry as he turned around he spoke, "and who might this be?"

Cutting off Draco's reply Harry simply made eye contact with the Malfoy Patriarch and extended his hand, "Harry Potter."

Lucius Malfoy was about to knock the hand of the arrogant boy aside and make a few scathing remarks and not so subtle threats at the boy-who-lived before he was stopped by the look in those emerald eyes, they reminded him of another pair of eyes, blood red. It was a look that promised power, pain, cruelty and death all wrapped in one. Slowly reconsidering his previous course of action he simply took the boy's hand and replied, "Lucius Malfoy, at your service."

Harry suddenly letting go of the elder Malfoy's hand while at the same time reigning in the magic that was brimming just under his skin, turned to Draco with a childish innocent smile on his face and said, "See Draco I told you your father would understand."


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: Sorry for the irregular updates guys, been busy. Please read and review. :D**

**Chapter 4**

Harry's last month with the Dursleys was interesting. Both Petunia and Dudley were even more terrified of him now that he knew the full extent of his abilities. If it were not for the rigorous studying Harry was doing to learn everything he could about magic before heading to Hogwarts he would have spent some time toying with the Dursleys. But as things stand now they were mere insects to him, an inconvenience certainly however not one of any significance. So they settled into a routine of completely ignoring each other for the month of August.

Packing his belongings quickly with the help of his now traceless holly and phoenix feather wand, he ensured that the books and items of a more sensitive nature were hidden in the secret specially warded compartment of his trunk. Usually 11 year olds do not get such trunks from a normal magical luggage store, however when you are the boy-who-lived and are accompanied by Lucius Malfoy most shop owners cave to the pressure.

Thinking about Lucius Malfoy, Harry pulled out the book on Wizard Genealogy he bought and looked up the Malfoy Family tree. He had already looked up the Potter tree and was surprised to find that he was distantly related to the Malfoys via Narcissa Malfoy nee Black as Harry's own Grandmother was a Black before she married a Potter. Now he was looking to see who the current Head of the Black family was and if they had any children studying at Hogwarts, Harry knew that Voldemort already had his hooks in the parents so it would be hard to woo them to his cause, however he would take their children. His search led him to Sirius Black who is currently incarcerated at Azkaban and has been for the last 10 years. Seeing that he had no heir and thus there were no Blacks currently studying at Hogwarts Harry shut the book and packed it with the rest.

Before leaving for the station Harry popped into the Living room smiled at his aunt and said "Well Auntie I'm off to Hogwarts."

Looking a little shocked at being spoken to by the boy Petunia just quivered and nodded nervously.

"Come now auntie no tearful goodbyes for your dear nephew, no hugs and kisses?" mocked Harry.

"Well I don't care if you do not have any presents for me because I've got a present for you." Said harry in a sing-song voice, eyes glinting with malice he pulled out his wand.

Seeing the wand Petunia's face lost what little color it had left and Dudley just squealed and hid behind his mother.

Pointing the wand at Petunia Harry calmly intoned _Petrificus Totalus,_ and petunia was frozen below the neck.

Pointing his wand at the Door and window's Harry cast a quick _Silencio_ so that the neighbors do not interrupt his going away present.

Then he summoned Dudley and bound him to the Coffee table. Looking directly into the terrified boy's eyes Harry started pulling on his blood, he had learnt earlier that month that his ability to manipulate blood was something normal wizards could not do, quite similar to his ability to speak to snakes, while further reading had come up with the fact that Voldemort could speak to snakes Harry had yet to find another Wizard who had so much control over blood. In fact the closest match he could find was a water elementalist as blood was comprised mainly of water, however Harry knew he was not a water elementalist as not even they could control water with the finesse that controlled blood with.

Harry snapped out of his thoughts at the first of Dudley's screams, looking down he saw the boy was starting to bleed from his nose and ears. Satisfied that the boy was in enough pain Harry looked up at Petunia and removed the silencing charm.

"PLEASE STOP, I'LL DO ANYTHING PLEASE STOP HURTING MY BABY."

"Anything you say?" mused harry with a thoughtful look on his face.

Seeing that the boy was considering it Petunia renewed her pleas, "Yes anything!, please don't hurt him anymore."

"Hmm well, no." With that Harry pulled out his knife and quickly made two incisions on dudleys right wrist, not deep enough to be fatal but deep enough to put the boy on suicide watch.

"Oh dear, looks like poor Dudley was having suicidal thoughts better get him to the hospital quick Petunia…." Said harry in a tone that would have been sincere if not for the silly grin on his face. Then before walking out the door he looked over his shoulder and in a nonchalant voice stated "Oh and the paralyzing charm should wear off in about fifteen minutes."

Psychological torture was always something Harry preferred to physical torture, not because he did not like the sight of blood and bones quite the contrary in fact he liked the sight of blood so much he always ended up killing his animal test subjects before satisfying his desire. However with psychological torture he could ensure that they live and still have all the fun in the world, it was like getting to have the cake and eat it too.

As he walked down the driveway Harry whistled to himself while subtly flicking his wand at his Aunt's car all four wheels immediately went flat. This combined with the fact that the _petrificus totalus_ spell he cast should not wear off for at least half an hour should push his aunt a step or two closer to insanity. Pity he could not be there to witness the whole ordeal unfold but such was the unfairness of life.

Getting to Kings Cross station was fairly easy, however it was here that Harry ran into a problem. Looking at his ticket for the first time he realized he had no clue on how to get to platform 9 and ¾. Walking up to platform nine he looked over to the next platform and was not surprised to find the number 10 displayed on a big blue plastic sign. Closing his eyes Harry focused on listening to the people around him figuring that there had to be other people looking for the train. It was 10:40 am right now and the train is supposed to leave at 11 so Harry figured that if worst came to worst he would just go to the leaky cauldron and use the floo address Lucius had given him and request a favor from the Malfoy Lord. This of course was a last resort option as Harry did not want to be in debt to anyone, especially not Lucius Malfoy.

As Harry was contemplating going to the Leaky cauldron he heard the words "so many muggles, now what was the platform number again dear?"

Snapping his eyes open he looked in the direction the voice had come from and spotted a large family of red heads, they looked so out of place in the muggle world that Harry was sure they were a wizarding family.

Growing up in an abusive environment had honed Harry's ability to detect the smallest of details in a person's emotion, voice and tone and the first thing his instincts told him about the woman's tone was that she was throwing out words like muggle on purpose and that the whole thing screamed of a setup. His mind catching up to his instincts then pointed out that at least three of the five children in that family seemed to be older than Harry himself so it seemed very unlikely that a woman who has made this trip to the station multiple times before would forget the name of the platform.

Thus deciding to follow what both his instincts and mind were telling him, Harry stepped away from the platforms and observed the family.

Looking at them he noticed the tallest red haired boy walk with his cart towards the barrier between platform 9 and 10 and just as he was about to crash into the wall simply walk through it.

Understanding all he needed to know from the first observation, Harry simply decided to wait until the rest of the red head clan went through the barrier before going himself.

After what seemed like an eternity the mother and the daughter walked through the barrier with ten minutes left on the clock, Harry noted that the mother was looking around as if she was searching for something, this just confirmed his theory that the woman was sent her to keep an eye out for him.

With a confident gait, knowing that most magic was based on intent and belief Harry walked through the barrier. On the other side he was greeted by a scarlet steam engine and a lot of adult wizards and witches seeing off their children.

Quietly weaving through the crowds Harry made it onto the train and found an empty compartment to sit in. He knew that Draco would eventually find him and so settled down, pulled his trunk from his pockets and removed a book on transfiguration to read.

His peace was broken a few short minutes later by the sound of the door opening, looking up from the book Harry saw that it was the youngest of the red head males.

"Is it ok if I sit here, everywhere else is full." Stated the boy nervously.

Looking at that the boy for a few seconds Harry simply nodded and went back to his book. A few more seconds of silence ensued before the boy opened his mouth again to speak.

"Thanks and I'm Ron…Ron Weasley by the way."

Again Harry simply nodded without looking up from his book. The train started moving and this allowed for a few minutes of silence before the boy spoke again.

"What's your name?"

Snapping his book shut loudly Harry looked up into the eyes of Ronald Weasley and spoke in a soft tone, "Ronald Weasley, hmm I remember reading about your family. All red heads, male for the last three generations until your sister Ginerva, poor as dirt because your grandfather and namesake Ronald Weasley was stupid enough to oppose Abaraxas Malfoy."

Seeing the boy's face go through a myriad of emotions Harry continued, "Your mother Molly Prewitt was the sole heir to the Prewitt line as her two twin brothers Fabian and Gideon died in the last war, Crucioed to Insanity before being hit by Avada Kedavras cast by Antonin Dolohov. They were foolish enough to think they could take on Voldemort and his inner circle on their own."

Enjoying the sickened look on Ronald's face Harry kept going, "Finally your father Arthur Weasley, magically average, physically weak and politically insignificant, if not for the support of Albus Dumbledore he would not even have the job he currently holds… not much of a man to look up to I'm afraid."

Half-way through his monologue Harry had known someone was coming towards the compartment as they tripped his proximity wards. So timing it right just as he ended his speech on the history of the Weasley family the twins walked into the compartment no doubt to check on their little brother and instead found the same little brother attacking a poor unarmed seemingly muggle born student.

Jumping on their brother and holding him back Fred shouted, "Ron, what are you doing!"

"LET ME GO, I'M GONNA KILL THAT BASTARD."

Putting on a hurt look while at the same time allowing the blood on his face clot, thus making the bruise on his cheek look worse than it really was Harry spoke in a nervous quivering voice. "I..I'm sorry Ronald, I..I was told I would be famous in the wizarding world, I.. I ne..never realized that people would hate me for who I am here too."

Seeing the black haired boy on the verge of tears both Fred and George smacked their brother on the head and said in unison "Explain"

Harry cut in and with a little more confidence, "He asked me if it was ok for him to sit here and then introduced himself. I thought the polite thing to do would be to introduce myself in return and so I did. However after hearing my name Ronald just attacked me, I'm sorry again I should have known that my name would cause such extreme reactions and I do not blame Ronald for his political views."

Puzzled at the political views comment and assuming Harry was someone like Draco, Fred stated "There's no need to apologize to this prat, he should not have hit you… I'm sorry what's your name again?"

Breathing in as if preparing for another attack, "Harry…Harry Potter. I thought the Weasley family were firmly against the dark lord in the last war but I suppose just because the head of the family was against him does not mean the rest of the family have to follow in his stead." Said Harry with a nod towards Ron clearly implying who the "bad apple" of the lot was.

The look on their faces was priceless, Fred and George were horrified at the fact that their brother attacked the Boy-Who-Lived and as a result of which now THE Harry Potter thinks Ron has aspirations to become a dark wizard. Ron could not believe that Harry Potter was such a cruel, sadistic person and he knew that now no matter what he said his brothers would not believe him.

It was to this scene that Draco and his friends walked into. Harry looking at Draco quickly modified his plan to include him. He quickly gestured Draco to be silent. The Weasleys who had their back to door did not see the new arrivals.

Sighing dramatically Harry continued, "The first wizard my age that I meet decides to punch me in the face, this is going to be a wonderful year." He knew Draco was smart enough to pick up the hints from that one statement and improvise from there and he was not disappointed as Draco walked into the compartment and spoke with a haughty voice, "What is this I hear about Weasleys getting into fights with respectable wizards using filthy muggle methods?"

Harry turned to Draco and told him the same story he told the Weasleys before "Introducing" himself.

Draco convincingly putting on a fake look of concern said, "First off I would like to apologize on behalf of the Wizarding world for what this Weasel did, you will find that some Wizarding families are better than others Harry and I can help you with that, Draco Malfoy."

With a look of gratitude that could have won the Oscars Harry took Draco's hand and shook it reverently.

Fred and George watched this exchange with growing horror as they saw the son of a Death Eater befriend Harry Potter savior of the wizarding world.

Realizing they have to do something Fred pulled his wand out and stated, "Oi, Malfoy no one wants you here, get out."

They were not prepared for Harry's outburst, "FIRST YOUR BROTHER HITS ME NOW YOU THREATED THE FIRST FRIEND I'VE MADE IN MY LIFE."

Looking a little shocked at the screaming George started stammering, "Mate, Harry… you..you don't understand, Malfoy is bad his Father followed You-Know-Who, he does not want to really be your friend."

"Oh and I suppose Ronald I-hit-people-to-greet-them Weasley wants to be my friend?" shot Harry sarcastically.

"Thank you for pulling your brother off me before he broke my nose or did something worse but I can choose my friends." Continued Harry as he rubbed his cheek.

"Now please take your brother and leave" he stated in a tone of finality.

Seeing that they cannot convince Harry to go with them the twins drooped their shoulders in defeat and walked out dragging Ron with them for a sound scolding.

Closing the door Harry turned to the students in the compartment and smirked as they all let out the laughter they were holding in. After that he spent the next ten minutes telling them what really happened, this led to another round of laughter and finally introductions were made.

While pulling childish pranks like that was not something Harry particularly liked doing he knew the benefits of doing so. He had started insulting the Weasley family only to drive Ron out of the compartment however the arrival of the twins allowed him to set up the situation in such a way that the twins would from now on take his word over their own brothers, this itself was a great bonus to driving the boy out of the carriage. But with the arrival of Draco and friends the childish prank he had started reaped much greater rewards, now Theodore Nott, Blaise Zabini, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle all showed him a measure of respect where before they would have nothing but disdain.

Eventually things in the compartment settled down and Harry studied his new companions, Draco was clearly the smartest of the lot and the rest looked to him as some sort of a leader. Nott and Zabini both seem to be of average intelligence and magic. Crabbe and Goyle were defiantly the stupidest of the lot. While planning on what he could do with the assistance of the boys Harry's proximity ward went off again. His wand was already in his hand by the time the door slid open to reveal a bushy haired girl with large front teeth.

"Have any of you seen a toad, Neville has lost his." She said in a bossy tone, then noticing Harry's wand in his had she continued, "Oh, going to do some magic are we, well let's see then."

Looking from his wand to the girl and then back to the wand Harry simply tucked the wand in and said, "No, we have not seen a toad."

Once again in a bossy tone the girl said, "Well don't know any real spells then?, It's ok I didn't either, I didn't even know I was a witch until a few months ago but after that I read all my books from cover to cover and practiced all the spells for the first year at home."

Looking at Draco to silence his retort Harry simply pulled his wand out and spoke in a slow measured tone, "Just because some of us choose not to flaunt it does not mean we do not have it, you still have a lot to learn about this world." Then he waved his wand causing the girl to get roughly pushed out of the compartment while at the same time closing the door forcefully. His wordless casting only raised the level of respect his peers held for him.

After that the rest of the journey was uninterrupted, getting off at Hogsmead station Harry heard a familiar voice calling out for all the first years and headed in that direction.

"Hiya Arry, good ta see yer." Spoke Hagrid in his booming voice.

"Hey Hagrid, hope you are doing alright." Replied Harry in a polite tone.

Seeing Draco's raised eyebrow Harry simply mouthed later to him.

As the boats turned around a corner Harry got his first view of Hogwarts and he could feel the magic of the Castle rub against his own. It was truly a beautiful sight, so much power concentrated in one place. Continuing to drink in the sight of Hogwarts Harry decided that one day the castle and all its power would be his.

The boats arrived at the edge of the lake after which Hagrid led them on foot across the grounds to the doors of the castle.

"The firs years professor McGonagall" said Hagrid to the rather stern looking woman at the entrance.

"Thank you Hagrid."

The woman, then looked over all the students before turning around and leading them into the entrance hall.

"Good evening first years, before you go take a seat in the great hall you will be sorted into a house. There are four Houses, Gryffindor, Huffelpuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin each one has its own noble history and repertoire of notable alumni. Here at Hogwarts your house is like your family, you will sleep in house dormitories and spend your free time in the house common rooms. Good behavior will earn your house points and vice versa rule breaking will lead to a loss of house points. The house with the most points will win the house cup at the end of the year."

Then looking over the first years once more to make sure they were all presentable McGonagall nodded once and walked into the great hall.

As soon as she left muttering broke out among the students on what the sorting process was going to be, Harry heard hilarious rumors of fighting trolls and acromantulas as part of the process. While he was certain he could take on a troll or acromantula and survive the rest of this sorry lot would not.

Harry was the first one to notice the ghosts, he was quite fascinated by their presence as he knew for one to become a ghost they should die an untimely death, possess magic at the time of death and not have been ready to die. As a result of which most wizards who became ghosts died horrific and gruesome deaths at the hands of dark wizards and Harry definitely wanted to learn more about these deaths.

Noticing the ghosts now one of the other students screamed drawing their attention.

"Ah, first years, they seem to be getting smaller every year." Spoke the fat one in a jovial voice.

"Hope to see some of you in hufflepuff, my old house you know!"

At this Draco muttered, "If I were sorted into that house, I would leave for drumstrang before the night was out."

Harry simply hummed and nodded for he did not really have any preference on the houses though he acknowledged that getting sorted into Slytherin would be the most beneficial as most influential families were tied to Slytherin house in some way.

McGonagall returned and led them all into the Great Hall, looking up Harry laid his eyes on one of the most complex pieces of magic ever wrought, the ceiling of the great hall. It was indeed an impressive sight. Looking down once again his eyes narrowed in on the sorting hat, he had read about that artifact as well and wondered if his magical shields would stop the hat from looking into his head. Deciding that he would not know until his head was under the hat he put aside the issue for now and walked forward with the rest of the group to get sorted.

/Insert hat song from book one here/

McGonagall unfurled a scroll and read our loud "Abbot, Hanna"

A nervous looking girl went up to the stool and sat down as McGonagall put the hat on her head.

A few seconds later the brim of the Hat opened once more and shouted out "HUFFLEPUFF"

The table clad in yellow and black burst out cheering.

This went on for a while Sally ann-perks, ravenclaw, Susan Bones, Hufflepuff, Lavander Brown, Gryffindor and so on.

Some sortings took a long time like that bossy girl, Hermione Granger and the chubby boy Neville Longbottom, both gryffindors. Upon hearing the name Longbottom Harry's eyes sought out the boy, he remembered reading about the torture of Neville's parents at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange and wanted to finish the set for her by ensuring Neville joined his parents.

Eventually McGonagall got to the P's and finally his name. She paused for a second before reading out "Harry Potter"

The hall went silent before the whispering began with a renewed ferocity. "Is it really him?", "The Harry Potter"

Harry simply ignored all the whispering around him, walked up to the stool and sat down.

McGonagall placed the Hat on him and now he no longer had to suffer watching four tables of fools trying to stare at him.

Feeling a presence brush against his shields Harry quickly made an opening in them, pulled the presence into his mind and closed his shields up again. If anyone was observing the hat and not Harry they would have noticed it slump ever so slightly almost as if it were no longer alive.

Within Harry's head the soul of the Hat if it can be called a soul was trying its best to get out and failing miserably.

"Mr. Potter release me at once, if I am not reunited with my physical body in a few minutes I will fade away." Screeched the hat.

"Hmm, well you were trying to read my mind without my permission so I should just let you die.." mused harry.

"You cannot, if that happens then the magic of Hogwarts itself will pull me out of your head and restore me."

"That is a lie." Stated Harry calling the hat's bluff, for if that was the case then the hat would not have been so worried about being released.

In a defeated tone the presence spoke "Very well Mr. Potter what do you want in exchange for my release, a house of your choosing?"

Laughing a bit Harry mentally replied "Well I want a house of my choosing but if you think you get off that easy then you are quite foolish for a thousand year old artifact."

"Now I know you were created with secrecy oaths as part of your magic so you cannot reveal what happens during each sorting however you can tell me all the secrets Hogwarts has to offer. That is my price for your life."

The voice replied after a few seconds of silence, "Very well Mr. Potter, I will leave a part of my presence in your mind which will tell you all the secrets Hogwarts has to offer, now please release me."

As the voice said those words a small portion of the blueish white orb that represented it in Harry's mid broke off and drifted towards Harry's mental self. Absorbing so much knowledge into his own mind would take some time so Harry instead decided to store it within his mind and sort through it later.

With an angelic smile on his face Harry said "Well Hat, it was a pleasure doing business with you, Oh and sort me into Gryffindor, can't let too many people know about my true nature now can I?"

Knowing full well that the Hat would most probably sort him into Slytherin as petty revenge Harry released the presence from his mind.

The Hat regaining its life once more perked up on Harry's head and screamed out "SLYTHERIN!"


End file.
