15 Hagrid

"First years over 'ere. Everybody get in line. No Pushing. Hey, I said no pushin'. Didn't ya hear me?" shouted Hagrid trying to control the little kids.

Harry smiled as he saw that. Hagrid truly was the most suitable to receive the newly arrived first years.

Even though his giant size was a little shocking at first but his entire demeanor radiated a warmth that could calm down even the rowdiest of the bunch. Also, his intimidating size helped if there was someone a little too active.

Harry walked over to him "Hey Hagrid, remember me?"

"Hmm? Who are you lad? I don't think I have met you bef….wait that scar.

Harry? Is that you? Oh Harry, I missed you like crazy.

I saw you last when you were so small you could fit into my palms. Ha-ha looks like you have grown up now" laughed Hagrid while hugging him.

Harry knew it was a little exaggerated since even with Hagrid's size there was no way a one-year-old kid could fit into his palms, but he really was too small when Hagrid brought him from the ruins of Godric Hollow so he didn't point it out.

As he hugged Hagrid, the faint memories of the original Harry resurfaced in his mind. He could faintly remember the time when Hagrid had taken him away. He could feel the same fuzziness that the original Harry felt at that time. It was an amazing feeling, like being home. It almost brought tears to his eyes.

This was surprising. It seems that along with the memories, he had also inherited original Harry's feelings.

"Hagrid, thanks for what you did back then."

"You know about it?" asked Hagrid a little surprised as Harry was only a year old at that time and only two other people were present there. Since it was unlikely he had met either of those two, it could only mean that Harry somehow remembered what happened ten years ago.

"I didn't remember it for a long time but as I started practicing my magic, those repressed memories came back to me. I could remember you but only faintly. But as I saw you just now, it all came back. So thank you Hagrid, for everything" Harry mixed some truth into lies.

"Its Ok Harry, you don't need to thank me. It was my duty to take care of you," replied Hagrid almost blushing. He lived up to his name of the gentle giant.

"Well anyways, we will talk later. Now get in line. You don't want to keep her waiting" said Hagrid in an almost frightened tone. It was a funny sight to imagine, a big giant getting scolded by a middle-aged woman almost half her size.

They then got on the boats to get across the Black Lake. Harry got curious and tried to sense what was inside the lake.

He didn't find anything for some time, so he increased the power of his soul. As his range increased, he detected some magic fluctuations. He concentrated more towards them and suddenly saw what was causing the magical disturbance. It was a large group of mermaid-like creatures. He could only describe them as such. He knew there were magical creatures living in this lake and that there was an entire clan of mer-people living at the deepest parts of it.

He felt fascinated by these creatures. He would have to find some time to get in touch with them. Who knows he might learn some secrets as these creatures have existed here for centuries.

Then they reached the shore and as it was raining, everybody ran inside to protect themselves from getting wet, although not successfully.

As they reached the foyer, there was a woman waiting for them.

She was dressed in a greenish dress with a black robe. Her hair was tied in a bun and she was wearing round spectacles. She looked at all the students gathering there and slowly everybody became silent and arranged themselves into neat rows. That got them all an approving nod from the woman.

'She is much scarier than in the story' thought Harry. He had earned the stare for a second longer than the others, due to being who he was and he could see a slight surprise in her eyes as she looked at him.

'Guess she recognized me' thought Harry.

"Ahem. My name is Minerva McGonagall. I am the deputy headmistress and on behalf of the entire staff, I welcome you all to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. In a few minutes, you would all be taken to the main hall where you would be sorted into your houses. I expect great things from you all and hope to see you in classes on time starting tomorrow" said McGonagall as she walked away leaving the kids there waiting to be called out.

Harry silently cast a drying spell on him and also on Ron who was shivering from getting wet.

Ron looked at him gratefully and many people around raised their eyebrows seeing what I did.

"Snort. Trying to show off just because you can do a few tricks" said a voice in a condescending tone. Harry knew immediately who it belonged to without even turning his head.

So he simply replied, "Yeah well, talk to me when you can do the same."

"You...I…humph, I will deal with you later" said Draco trying to hide his embarrassment.

Hermione looked at Harry with pleading eyes while shivering. There were many others who were glancing towards him occasionally.

"Sigh, alright. Here we go" said Harry helplessly as he waved his wand and as the spell took effect there was a slight mist in the air due to the drying of everyone's clothes at once.

It was an almost shocking display of control over magic for a first-year. But Harry just ignored everyone's look and closed his eyes in meditation. It had become a habit of his to not waste any time if possible.

A few minutes later McGonagall returned and was a little surprised seeing the lingering mist in the air and everyone's dry clothes. She had suddenly remembered it while returning here that the students might be feeling cold due to getting wet in rain. So she planned on helping them out. But it looked like someone beat her to it.

As she concentrated and tried to sense the source of magic used here recently, she zeroed in on a black-haired kid standing there with his eyes closed. As she looked at him, it was as if he could sense her gaze and opened his eyes looking back at her.

She was surprised to see that it was none other than Harry Potter.

'Since when could he use magic? I thought he was living with the muggles' thought McGonagall in her head trying to figure out how Harry could use a large-scale magic spell this early. He hadn't even entered Hogwarts yet.

'Well, whatever, looks like I need to talk to the Headmaster and try to find out about what happened to him in the last few years.'

She finally put an end to her thought and asked the kids to get in a single line and follow her.

They were then taken to the main hall.

As Harry entered the hall, he was taken aback by the grandeur of it. There were four long tables and hundreds of students sitting on those tables looking at the newly arrived. There were hundreds of candles floating in the air lighting up the entire hall. Further up, he could see the enchanted ceiling.

"The ceiling is enchanted and shows the outside weather conditions. I read it in 'Hogwarts, A history'," chimed in Hermione in her usual informative tone.

I could see some of the kids rolling their eyes. Looks like she really was unpopular right from the beginning due to her know-it-all attitude.

Harry decided not to interrupt her as he knew it would lead to an important event in the near future which would lay the foundation for the 'legendary trio'.

He then looked towards the front where the professors were sitting. There, he could see the faculties of different branches, Flitwick from charms class, Trelawney from divination, Sprout from Herbology, Snape from potions, Quirrell from Defense against the dark arts, etc., and in the middle of them all, the headmaster and arguably the greatest wizard alive, Albus Dumbledore.

Harry couldn't decide what to think about Dumbledore. He knew that he was on the side of good and wouldn't even hesitate to lay his life for it, but that very sense of sacrifice and duty makes him blind to other's feelings. He was ready to use any means necessary to achieve his goals. In the original story, everything eventually ended up well, but there was a huge cost to be paid for it. A lot of people died and the ones who were able to survive the second wizarding war were left with extreme emotional scars.

Dumbledore had the power to stop this or at least prevent a lot of losses but he just couldn't let go of his strategist hat and do what needed to be done. His decision to stay in the shadows, pulling the strings cost a lot of people their lives.

Harry planned on changing all that and the first thing he would do is to make him realize his foolishness.

Dumbledore needs to know that others are not his pawns and not everyone had decided to sacrifice themselves like him. They deserve a chance to choose their fate. Also, since this is now real, he knew that things wouldn't just take care of themselves through some sheer force of luck like in the story.

That would initiate one of his major goals – Dumbledore's survival.

He couldn't let him die like in the story and would have to reignite the will to live inside him. Otherwise, a lot of his plans would need to be changed.

As he thought of that, his name was called out.