Fanfic #243 Lupine Tendencies by Hrothgar_Lee(HarryPotter)

This fanfic is an au following a more powerful Harry Potter in the second year. I really like this fic because it has an interesting version of Harry and fun character interactions.

Synopsis: Harry Potter wasn't supposed to go to Hogwarts, especially not with his condition. After Albus Dumbledore's plan with the philosopher's stone was ruined, though, he felt that having someone among the students might be beneficial for everyone's safety and their future plans. That was why an extensively unsatisfied Harry Potter found himself gracelessly tossed into his second year of Hogwarts among students he doesn't know and classes he doesn't care for. Navigating all of that garbage wasn't supposed to be part of the deal.

Rates: M

words: 69k

https://archiveofourown.org/works/35499064/chapters/88490062

Here's the first chapter:

It was entrancing, really, the way that the masses of green trees flew past the train so quickly yet just slowly enough to paint a cohesive picture in Harry's mind before disappearing from view, never to be seen again. It was so easy to lose himself in the ever-changing scenery that sleep threatened to take a hold of him. That, though, was hardly surprising. Sleep seemed to always reach out greedily with its tantalizing hand these days. It was a constant occurrence with only very small windows of glorifying peace dispersed between them.

Harry pressed his head against the glass to his left with a small sigh, and he tapped the bottom of his converse against the ground lightly while fiddling with his phoenix feather and sycamore wand from where it sat in the right pocket of his jeans. His off-hand, covered by a black, fingerless glove, sat lazily against his lap. He was moments away from giving up against his exhaustion and pulling up the hood of his black hoodie to block the early morning light when a knock came from the compartment door.

Great

He wasn't going to answer; it wouldn't make any difference if he did. The compartment door slid open and revealed a very short, very blonde girl with an expression so aloof that Harry would have considered the possibility of an imperious curse if her eyes weren't so vividly silver instead of the murky white that normally accompanied the unforgivable.

"Excuse me, we got here late. May we sit here?"

Her voice was extremely breathy and light as if her mind was miles away. What her voice sounded like, though, was inconsequential. This wasn't a private compartment no matter how much he wished it was; he couldn't keep them out if this was where they wanted to sit. Going back to looking out of the window, he gestured to the seats around him in a reserved expression of invitation. The girl smiled even though he wasn't looking to see it, and she came in, leading a small group of children that Harry assumed to be first years.

Animated talks about childish subjects stormed around him as he wistfully thought about the sleep he would have been getting right now had the little brats gone anywhere other than his compartment. Was it too much to ask for a group of seventh-year Ravenclaws? At least with those book freaks, he could actually hear himself think. Harry's attention was grabbed against his will by the blonde girl who chose to sit next to him when she tapped his shoulder.

"Are you ill? You look like you've been attacked by a swarm of wrackspurts."

What the hell did she just say to me?

Harry had to resist banging his head against the window. This was going to be such a long train ride. Of course, Severus just had to make him ride the train instead of allowing him to stay at Hogwarts. Not even Minerva stood up for him. Hagrid was the only one on his side, and he was hardly intimidating or persuasive enough to override the likes of the other professors. He didn't even know how the blonde could tell that he didn't feel well. With Filius's help, he applied a variety of charms to disguise his numerous afflictions.

"I'm not ill, just tired." He responded.

The girl's lack of expression irked Harry, but she seemed to look away without the intention of bringing more up.

"I like your clothes!" some other first year with lightish brown hair said to him next. "Are you muggle-born too?"

Harry was going to ignore the kid's question, but something within him sympathized with the emotions that sat behind the boy's words. He knew what it was like to not fit in.

"No, I'm not, but I don't enjoy lots of wizard clothes. They are baggy and hindering. We will have to put on our school clothes when we get closer. Everyone will look about the same by the time you're sorted."

"Sorted?" another first-year threw at him. "Oh!" She exclaimed. "I thought you were a first-year too! What year are you?"

Harry held back a snort, "Second."

Of course, he should be higher in his ever so humble opinion. Albus and his incessant meddling, though, refused to let him move ahead of the year his age placed him in. Something about laying low until it was time, keeping Voldemort's henchmen from getting curious too soon, and looking after a particular section of students. It was a load of rubbish. Voldemort was going to make his life difficult no matter what he did. Going to school and playing the part of a good celebrity grated on his nerves far beyond what he thought it would.

"What house are you in?"

It was a small, redheaded girl this time. Outstanding! Realizing that he was their senior made them look up to him. There was no way in hell that he would be humoring their questions this entire fucking train ride.

"I haven't been sorted yet. I was homeschooled for my first year."

Harry thought that presenting himself as lacking in information would vanish their conception of his superiority and convince them to leave him alone. Unfortunately, he didn't count on the mystique of his odd situation pumping up their curiosity much more than it dampened their newfound respect for him. He was saved from more questions by the arrival of the Honeydukes trolley, and he had never loved the kind old lady who ran it any more than he did at that moment.

Harry declined the candy when she asked if he was looking to buy any, but the overexcited muggle-born spent quite a bit of money to purchase a variety of magical candy to experience as much of his new world as possible. Harry could, once again, relate. He was much the same way when he was introduced to the wizarding world at the age of six, and he was introduced to all of it from a hospital bed. This scenery must make everything all the more magical. He might've exploded if this was the way he got to know who he was and where he came from.

With the curious boy enamored by all of the candy and the rest of the first-years getting drawn into his contagiously excited attitude, Harry was allowed to stare back out of the window and ignore the fact that he was surrounded by a compartment full of new, rambunctious students. That was, unfortunately, interrupted when their compartment door was thrown open to reveal yet another blond that sought to ruin his train ride.

"I heard Harry Potter is on this train. I've already checked all of the other compartments." The boy's eyes glued to Harry as the chosen one tiredly looked away from the window and toward the open door, "Are you him?"

Harry knew who was talking to him immediately: Malfoy. He was told to watch out for that one. The kid was an arrogant bastard, but he wasn't stupid or incompetent. The Malfoy boy was sure to notice something was off if he wasn't careful, and that would undoubtedly lead to information going to the Malfoy that he really had to watch out for. Lucius was dangerous, powerful, and influential. That man was the last person Harry wanted to look at him with an analytical gaze.

"And if I am?" He said carefully though not necessarily unkindly.

Malfoy looked around the compartment with an unsatisfied sniff and let his mouth stretch into a smirk, "I would tell you to come to the compartment I'm sitting in instead of with these... people."

Harry shrugged and went back to looking out of the window, "My trunk is in here, and I don't feel like levitating it all the way to the Slytherin compartment. There is some space left for you though. You're welcome to join me if you want."

Malfoy almost cringed at the thought of it, but Harry could tell that he honestly considered it for the chance to get close to the boy who lived. He also knew that most of the kids in the compartment that had any idea of what Malfoy just implied seemed on the brink of outrage at both the Malfoy boy for saying it and himself for not standing up against it. There was no use though. Prejudice was something he learned to accept a long time ago. He already tried to fight it, but wizards were all groups of stubborn fools no matter what their opinions were, and Harry found that convincing them to believe something that they didn't already believe was impossible. Harry blamed it on the fact that kids were allowed to grow up until the age of 11 with people who fed them whatever the hell they wanted and never experienced someone challenging them on a belief. It was hard to change opinions when kids were never taught the importance of honest debate.

"No," Malfoy said with a frown. "My friends are over there. If you'd like to come and join them, you'll have no trouble finding us."

Harry was almost impressed by how civil the boy was. The way Severus talked about him made the boy seem almost incapable of being considerate towards those that didn't eat out of his palm. It was of little consequence either way. Malfoy and all of his friends were bound to hate him once he put that stupid hat on his head and got jammed into a category that he didn't care for. The boy left and closed the door with a thump before walking away with two boys much larger than Harry would have thought second years could be.

It became apparent just how upset the first-years were with his choice to not say anything about the insult Malfoy directed at them. He shouldn't have been surprised. In a world colored black and white, inaction was tantamount to siding with the enemy. How blissful it must be to have such a simplistic view of the world. Harry expected that many of them would continue to carry that naivety with them into adulthood and beyond. Well, at least he got to zone out again once everyone started staunchly ignoring him.

-------

Harry's wand vibrated warningly about six hours later, telling him that it was getting close to the time that they would arrive. The green-eyed boy sighed and stood to get his luggage from the rack above him in order to take out his clothes. He then looked to the only other boy in the cabin with him.

"We are almost there. You can either come with me to the loo or find somewhere to change on your own."

The boy hopped up and got his robes, accepting Harry's invitation. He then looked at the girls.

"The compartment has a lock. If you know how to power runes, then you can lock it magically too. Otherwise, you should come with us and change in the girl's bathroom."

He looked at the blonde because she seemed to be the group's spokesperson. The girl only nodded at him, which Harry took to mean that she could, in fact, power a rune. It wasn't really complicated. All she had to do was figure out where the rune was and push her magic into it. All of the actual spellwork was taken care of by the rune and the specific intent the person had for it when it was drawn or engraved into the door's manual locking system. Either way, if she knew how to power a rune scheme, then there was no chance of anybody with less skill than a professor getting in here. He was beyond confident with his runes, but he doubted that he could get even halfway past them without triggering some kind of alarm. Never let it be said that the teachers of Hogwarts didn't know their stuff.

With that, the two left and walked to the bathroom to change.

--------

Harry stood up once the train screeched to a halt and began to walk out of the compartment when he noticed the muggle-born going for his luggage. Everyone else with him seemed far too nervous and excited to devote attention to the poor chap, so Harry decided to intervene himself.

"Don't worry about your luggage. There is no way in hell you're getting it all the way to the castle, especially in your first year. The elves will take care of it."

Harry could see the reluctance on the boy's face. It was expected. Muggles never left their things lying around unattended. It was a good way to get your shit nicked. A muggle-born would obviously be uncomfortable with breaking such habits so soon.

"If you're that averse to it, I can power the rune scheme from the inside once you leave. The house-elves will be able to break it, but nobody here will be getting into your stuff."

The boy looked extremely grateful before his face turned uncertain and worried.

"How are you going to get out?"

Harry shot the young boy a smirk and pointed his finger at the wall opposite of the compartment door.

"The window."

The boy shook his head adamantly and stammered out, "N-No! You could get in trouble. I'll just leave it."

Harry good-naturedly laughed at his comment, "Nonsense, I might be able to talk my way out of detention if I blew the window out along with half of the wall. I'll be fine."

The boy's eyes took on a determined gleam that Harry didn't think the excitable kid could possess, "I'll come with. If you get in trouble, then we get in trouble together."

Harry thought that was a little much, but the kid was eleven. If he wanted to have an adventure, who was Harry to say no? The rest of the girls finally filtered out of the compartment, leaving Harry to take temporary responsibility for the muggle-born. He walked up to the door, closed it, and twisted the lock. With his fingers pressed against the metal, he could almost feel the runes begging for his power.

"What are you doing?" The boy asked him.

Harry diverted his eyes from the lock to the kid as he reached into his magical core and allowed the runes to siphon off some of his energy. The door began audibly thrumming with power as the runes ate up the magic needed to operate.

"You'll learn about spell theory in one of the books you have to read this year, and it is kind of hard to explain if you don't know the basics already. Runes are a specific application of spellwork that replaces incantations with drawings. Like an incantation, the rune works as the blueprint of a spell, and the creator's intent controls the unspecified aspects. The only difference is that a rune doesn't have any power until you give it some, and the original use of the spell is kept with the drawing. All you have to do is give it the energy, and the rune will perform the magic it was designed for on its own."

The boy looked completely confused. Harry was glad that he didn't try to give an in-depth answer. Once he finished powering the wards, he turned to open the window.

"Once you understand magical theory, just come and tell me if you'd like another explanation. You'll get it much better after your first or second semester."

Harry unlocked the window and threw it open before placing his hand on the bottom of the window sill and using it to support him as he hopped out of the train and landed on the sidewalk of the boarding area. It was fortunate that he chose a compartment on the boarding side, or he would've had to jump onto the grass and walk all the way around the train. Once he got his bearings, he turned to the window to wait for the first year. Harry smirked at the boy's suddenly not-so-confident face once the time came for him to actually jump. It was a bit high up, Harry supposed, especially for such a small kid.

"What, wasn't it you who said you were going to come with me?" Harry asked with a sliver of condescending snark in his voice.

Apparently, his muggle-born companion didn't appreciate getting underestimated. The boy's determined glint came back, and he hopped out of the train just like Harry without a second thought. That he had just a little help from a subtly cast levitation charm was not important. Harry didn't expect him to jump out of the train unsupported anyway. As soon as the boy was ready, the two of them set off to congregate with Hagrid and the rest of the first years. The half-giant was searching the crowd for him, and Harry gave him a very slight smile once he managed to collect the large man's attention.

There weren't many people that Harry cared about in any particularly deep way, but Hagrid was one of the few people who could really understand his situation. Eventually, their shared experiences led to an amicable relationship between them, and Harry became quite fond of the gamekeeper more and more over time.

Harry and the firstie got onto a boat that happened to be already occupied by the girls that shared a compartment with them. Once the small, wooden boats began their magically driven journey to the castle, Harry noticed the redhead eyeing the two of them with a slight pinkish tint to her cheeks. He had to hold back a sigh. Just what he needed, another fangirl that knew absolutely nothing.

"what?" He asked with just a little snap to his voice.

The girl startled at his sharp tone and looked more than a little taken back.

"Where were the two of you when we got off the train?"

Harry quirked his eyebrow as if almost disappointed by the question, "you didn't hear your friend and me talking about his luggage? We just had ourselves a little pre-sorting adventure."

"Oh," she said, seemingly a little put out by his attitude.

Jesus Christ, and now she was making him feel bad. He couldn't even act properly annoyed without depressing an innocent child. He was spending too much time with Severus. The man basically spewed ire 24/7, and anyone with the misfortune to find humor in his spitefulness was sure to have it rub off on them eventually.

"Next time," he said in an attempt to lift her spirits without invoking further conversation. "You should come along if you want to know what's going on."

Well, she certainly looked much happier than she did before. Unfortunately, that blush of hers only got brighter. Harry decided that this was a problem for his future self and spent the rest of the boat ride looking around the lake for that giant squid. He knew the bloody git was in there somewhere just waiting to yank him off of the boat; he could practically smell the little bugger. One of these days, he was going to get enough power in his levitation charm to yank the squid onto the courtyard grass, see how the invertebrate liked it when he had to be wary every time he approached the shoreline lest he find himself in the cool morning air instead of the lake he called home.

His ponderings were cut short when he saw one of the squid's long tentacles barely breach the water's surface next to his boat. He gave it a rough glare and poured murderous intent through every pore in his body with the hopes of somehow communicating to the squid just how big of an enemy he was about to make if he decided to pull his favorite child into the lake on the first day of school. Harry was almost certain that the squid did not get his message, but something must have convinced the thing to wait for another day because it withdrew back into the gigantic body of water without causing the mayhem it usually wrought.

The second-year decided not to press his luck and hopped out of the boat the moment it came into contact with solid land. It felt so damn good to get across that lake without getting drenched. The muggle-born caught his triumphant expression, but Harry did not feel like explaining himself. Every curious student, one day or another, would end up encountering the giant squid. He wouldn't be the one to ruin the surprise for the first-year who was certain to run into it before the start of summer vacation.

He walked with the group of first-years as they approached the ever-familiar castle and began their ascent to the great hall. It was when they finally got to the top that he caught the eyes of none other than Minerva McGonagall. There was no expression on her face, but Harry could see her fondness for him practically swimming behind her irises.

"Welcome, students," she said formally. "To your first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the next few moments, you will all be called into the great hall where you will line up, approach the chair when your name is called, have the sorting hat placed upon your head, and find yourself in the house that you will be representing for the remainder of your time in this school."

Harry had to hide his mirth behind a neutral facade. That woman had such a way with words. It was as if everything she said carried the weight of the world behind it even when the subject was no lighter than that afternoon's dinner plans.

"Once you are placed in a house, that house will be your home. The students in that house will become your brothers and sisters. Your triumphs will earn your house points, and misbehavior will lose them. I assure you, students here take this competition very seriously, and you would be wise to treat it with the same respect as your peers."

With that, the scarily strict woman called upon the group of new students and led them into the hall to line up before the wooden chair that sat facing the student body. He could almost feel the tension in the unsorted boys and girls around him, and he was aware of why. Houses were much more important than something as simple as a place to belong. The house one got placed in would brand them for the rest of their lives in Britain. Traits would be attributed to them against their will. Parents would be expecting them to end up in the houses they deemed respectable. Enemies and friends would be solidified in solid steel with the blink of an eye. This was possibly the most stressful thing any magical child would have to deal with until they took their O.W.L.S. Their very reputation hinged on a single word from a mangy, old hat.

"Harry Potter," McGonagall called first.

Harry wasn't surprised at all that they didn't go in alphabetical order here. Best to get the only second-year student out of the way first. He was sure the professor also hoped for him to rid the firsties of their anxiety by showing them how simple this really was. It was society that would give them problems, not the houses; and no matter where they went, a portion of the public would end up hating them.

The boy walked up the stairs and took a seat without an expression on his face. This was simply something he had to accept. The hat didn't even speak a word to him when it fell on top of his messy, black hair. Why would it need to? He embodied one house perfectly. The fact that it fit him so well did nothing to make his categorization feel any better.

"Gryffindor!!!" the hat shouted at the top of his lungs.

The entire table of lions whooped and hollered at his placement. Was it odd that he didn't feel like cheering at all? He looked to Severus and Minerva, and he tried to appear happy with where he ended up. The woman smiled kindly at him, and the potion's master simply seemed resigned to the place Harry was designated. Neither look made him feel better; so he stood, walked to the very end of the Gryffindor table, and plopped down in the first open seat without saying a word to the housemates surrounding him.

He could feel the cold glares of hatred coming from the Slytherin table, and he knew for a fact that he just made enemies of about a fourth of the school. He took solace in the knowledge that everyone else yet to be sorted would be doing the same in the next few minutes.

He watched as every first-year, one by one, got tossed into a house. The blonde, Luna, went to Ravenclaw; the redhead, Ginevra, went to Gryffindor; and the muggle-born, Colin, ended up with the lions too. He sighed to himself when the two firsties decided to place themselves next to him with satisfied smiles. He ignored them completely as Albus Dumbledore stood up before the hall and officially started the feast.

Harry played around absentmindedly with the food on his plate. He expected to be where he was. His bad mood eventually simmered down to the dull realm of reluctant acceptance he always seemed to be hovering in. Damn, he was so bloody tired.

"Hey," some boy with red hair said while piling a mountain of food onto his plate. "Are you really Harry Potter?"

Ah, yes, his absolute least favorite way to start a conversation. He recognized the boy immediately though. Severus told him all about the three first-years who charged toward Voldemort and Quirrell as if they weren't getting involved with plots that were miles over their heads. Fools, the lot of them. Harry spent a good amount of his lessons with Severus laughing at his misfortune when it came to dealing with the Gryffindor trio. He would have never done that if he expected to be thrown into school the next year. He felt like lobbing his fork across the Great Hall straight at Snape's smirking face just to make himself feel better. He might miss, but he'd get damn close. If he actually managed to land his shot, maybe they would be forced to expel him. The git would deserve it for taking so much pleasure in his pupil's misery.

"Oh, great starter, Ron!" came a stinging shot from the first-year redhead to his right. "Could you get any less creative?"

The boy, presumably named Ron, blessedly decided to forget all about him once he heard the insult.

"Sod off, would you, Ginny? You've been here for two whole minutes, and you're already nagging. I don't think you could say a word to the bloke without turning redder than your hair, so don't talk to me about how I start my talks."

The girl blushed hard as her mouth opened in mortification at the thought of what was just said to Harry Potter. Snape's smirk grew into an infuriating, shit-eating grin as if the man could personally hear the childish bickering around him. Every man had a limit, and the Gryffindors around him just found his. Shooting a scathing glare at Severus that only seemed to make the man even happier, Harry stood up and walked out of the hall before heading towards Gryffindor Tower. He wasn't much in the mood for food today, and none of the teachers he knew so well would expect him to participate in "house comradery" or whatever such rubbish they were so desperate for him to be a part of.

He knew the castle like the back of his hand. It was sort of a requirement for spending so much of his life there. Once he reached the portrait of the Fat Lady that acted as the guard for Gryffindor Tower, he realized that he didn't know the password. He would've been told by the prefects upon being led here like a toddler, and he also could've checked on the door of the Great Hall if he had cared enough to look, but it seemed as if he was doomed to make Severus's night even better unless he somehow gained access to the tower.

"Password," the woman said as she looked at the boy impassively.

"I don't have it," Harry responded simply.

"Then there will be no entrance," she said back as she looked away from him with just a hint of sass behind her movement.

"Oh, come on," he prodded, "you know that this is the only house I could possibly have been sorted into. Can't you just let me in?"

She looked at him with soft eyes. Portraits, Harry found in his early years, provided great company. They had nowhere to go and very often found themselves with nothing to do.

"Harry," she said. "You know I can't just let you in without a password. I have to do my job. How do I know you aren't an imposter?"

Harry made a noise of indignation, "An imposter on my first day!? How would they even know what I looked like? How would they know that I know you well enough to ask you to let me in without a password? The first ones are posted in the Great Hall! Literally, anyone could walk up here with a password tonight."

"Then why didn't you find it out before coming up here so early?" She snapped back haughtily

Harry crossed his arms and smirked at her, "if you don't let me in, I will go down to the Dungeons tomorrow and ask Asmodeus to annoy you all day."

The woman cringed at the thought of the pesky little ashwinder making its way through the castle-wide slew of portraits and pestering her all day with that incessant smirk that a snake should not be able to possess.

"You wouldn't," she challenged, not yet ready to give up the fight.

Harry looked at her as if she were daft, "you know I will, and you also know that Asmodeus is very fond of me. He'll be up here before breakfast is over if I have anything to say about it."

The woman rolled her eyes dramatically and let her frame swing open for him.

"Fine, you win. You better get the password by tomorrow though. I won't do this again."

Harry nodded at her with a genuine smile, "thanks, I owe you one."

She smiled back kindly, "and don't you forget it."

He walked past her, through the common room, and up the stairs to the boy's dormitory. He walked into the second-year rooms and found the bed next to his trunk before falling onto it and allowing the divine tendrils of sleep to claim him.

-----------

"I don't get why you're so mad, Ron. I would've left you at the table too!" a boy said while a mass of snickering shot through the room.

Harry had always been a very light sleeper. It was a habit built within him that started at his uncle's house and only grew bigger during his time with the professors of Hogwarts. He was awake the moment they walked into the door.

"Good, you can both be gits together then," Ron said angrily while he stomped toward his bed.

"Come off it, Ron!" the same boy said back teasingly. "You really expect him to sit there while you bicker with your little sister?"

The redhead made a noise of incredulity.

"It isn't my fault that she had to butt in!"

The other boy laughed at Ron's exclamation.

"She had a point though. What were you thinking!? Starting a conversation with a famous person like that? It was like you were trying to make yourself look like a pretty little fangirl."

The whole room echoed with laughing boys as Ron threw something at the one who insulted him.

"Well, next time, I'll let you do the talking, Neville. We'll see how you do."

Neville shook his head as he chuckled at his friend's irrational temper while everyone slowly slunk off to bed. Harry could feel the eyes on him, and he regretted now that he didn't take the time to close his bed's curtains before going to sleep. There was nothing he could do now. Once he was sure that everyone was in their beds and heading off to sleep, Harry felt comfortable enough to go back to rest once again.