4 Chapter 4 Welcome to Hogwarts

Harry left the train and station through the hidden gate and re-entered three times before giving up. The pop up didn't return meaning he either had to drop out or accept his doom. He was moderately leaning towards the former but he had no other plans and according to Wizarding Law, things would get very complicated for him if he didn't go to Hogwarts now that he was eleven.

Deciding to accept his fate, Harry picked up his empty trunk and Goose and boarded the train. He was an hour early which was the main reason no one noticed him apparating which was entirely the point of arriving early. Thanks to that he also found a number of empty compartments and picked one out before letting Goose out of her carrier. She jumped on the seat next to Harry who's life was slowly passing before his eyes and he approached his inevitable death.

About half an hour in, Harry heard a scratching sound at the door which Goose noticed as well and conveyed, 'Open the door.'

Harry got up to do so and a fluffy orange cat outside took a peek inside before spotting Goose and jumping on the seat next to her. A moment later a bushy haired girl came up the hallway dragging her trunk and said, "Crookshanks! You can't just run off like that!"

Through the bond Harry asked Goose if this was a friend and Goose conveyed back that Crookshanks was her old roommate from the store. Harry wondered if he was a Flerken for a moment before dismissing the idea. Harry's energy sense showed a trace amount of exotic energy in the cat meaning it was at least partially magical, but it had none of the pocket dimensional energy Goose had.

Harry looked back to the newcomer and said, "It seems our cats already know each other." Harry held out his hand and said, "I'm Harry."

The girl saw as well that her cat was sitting next to the smaller orange cat and let out a sigh of relief. She noticed Harry's hand and took it before shaking and said, "I'm Hermione."

Harry looked at Hermione's trunk and said, "Would you like to come in?"

Hermione hesitated for a moment but seeing her own cat sitting next to Harry's seemed as good a reason as any to accept. "Alright, just let me get my trunk."

Harry being the gentleman of course got up to lift her trunk onto the overhead rack. Although he was strong, he was still surprised at the weight of the luggage. Of course not as surprised as Hermione was seeing him lift a trunk with over a dozen books with a single arm like it was made of styrofoam.

For the first time Harry noticed that Hermione was in her robes. His father had told him that he needed to wear his robes when he entered the castle, but he also said the train ride was going to be nine hours long.

In order to break the ice, Harry said, "Can I ask why you're wearing your robes?"

Hermione took a breath and spoke with a matter-of-fact nuance, "Well we're supposed to be wearing our robes for the first day."

Harry smirked and said, "Which is nine hours from now. Will you sleep in your robes tonight if your first class is eight hours from bedtime?"

"Well no, of course not, you wouldn't sleep in your robes."

Harry inferred that she didn't get the point he was trying to make and that pushing it might have the opposite effect.

Hermione decided to make an attempt at conversation and asked, "Are you from a wizard family or muggleborn?"

Harry's clothing was plain and just a little old fashion so he could pass as either a pure blood in casual garb or a muggle born with fine taste. He answered plainly, "Neither. I am an anomaly, an aberration, a tear in reality and a magnet of impending doom. You have been warned."

After a moment of contemplation Hermione rebutted, "That's not a very good joke."

Harry shrugged his shoulders and said, "Just preparing you for what is to come. I hope you're not a fan of rules and common sense, because neither are on speaking terms with me."

She looked partially offended and said, "What do you have against rules?"

Harry said, "Nothing, it's them that seem to have something against me. You know how things are supposed to work certain ways like they always have and always will? Those things take one look at me and tend to explode."

"That doesn't make any sense," she accused.

Harry smiled, "Nope. Thus is my life. Anyways, have you read any of the books yet?"

Deciding not to argue with the change of subject, she answered happily, "Of course. My birthday is in September so I got my letter eleven months ago and have spent that time reading as much as I can. It's all quite fascinating. Have you read the material?"

Harry wondered how she would feel if he told her he hadn't read any of the books but knew all their content by heart. Deciding to lie, Harry said, "Yes I've gone through them all. Far too structured for my taste though."

"What's wrong with structure?"

"In the mundane world, not much. But aren't we on a magical train about to head to a magic school in a magic castle to learn magic? Structure seems a bit out of place if you ask me."

The door opened and a shy looking young lad with brown hair and a bowl cut asked, "Do you mind if I sit with you?"

Harry scooted over and said, "Not at all."

"Thanks," he answered back before dragging his case inside and setting it on the rack. He looked over at the two orange cats and said, "Are those your's?"

Harry was tempted to answer sarcastically but felt it might scare him away. Instead he answered, "Yup, mine's the orange one."

Hermione rolled her eyes but couldn't keep herself from smirking. She answered back while pointing at the larger fluffier one, "That's Crookshanks, he's half Kneazle."

Harry pointed at his and said, "That's Goose, she's a Flerken."

Hermione frowned at the unfamiliar term and asked, "What's a Flerken?"

Harry shrugged and said, "No idea, but this one looks exactly like a cat."

The new boy looked confused and Hermione said to him, "I'm not sure if he's joking." She straightened up and said, "I'm Hermione Granger."

"Neville Longbottom."

Both turned to Harry and said, "I'm Harry."

Hermione noticed that he hadn't given his family name before when he introduced himself earlier and asked, "What's your full name?"

"Harry James something or other. Haven't used it before so no point in starting before we get to Hogwarts." Harry recognized Neville's name as his parents said they were friends of the Longbottoms and wondered what they were like.

Hermione wasn't pleased with the non answer but after several exchanges was already getting used to Harry.

Neville turned back to the cats and said, "I was going to bring a toad my gran bought for me but I couldn't find it this morning. My gran said she'd find it and mail it to me but I'm not sure if it isn't just better to leave him home."

Harry asked, "Do you plan on being an apothecary or potion master?"

Neville shook his head, "Merlin no, I like plants but I don't think I'd be good at anything like that."

"Then it would probably be better to leave the toad."

Hermione asked, "Why?"

Harry answered, "Toads have a hundred or so uses as potions ingredients and skilled potion masters raise their own on specific diets which changes the properties of these ingredients. In other words, a pet toad is practice for raising them for ingredients later."

Hermione gasped, "That's barbaric!"

Harry shrugged, "Not really. Some magical ingredients can't be used on their own as their properties are far too harsh. If fed in small quantities to the right kind of toad over a period of time, some of the toad's organs would gain these properties and are far more mild to use in a potion. Many lives have been saved through the sacrifice of a toad. What mundane scientists do to mice when studying drugs is much worse."

Neville was partly intrigued and partly disturbed while Hermione was mostly confused. She asked, "Where did you learn that?"

"Moste Potente Potions volume three. Only available through direct ordering."

"Can I borrow it?" She asked.

Harry answered, "Not until Christmas Break I'm afraid. The book has many things the school would not appreciate young children reading and if you were caught reading it by a teacher it would most certainly be confiscated."

Hermione's scandalized look almost made Harry burst into laughter but he successfully suppressed it while thinking of a plan. After realizing where the girl's priorities lie, Harry figured he could corrupt her to the dark path of rule breaking with the proper incentives.

Harry said, "Hermione, there is no skipping grades in magic school and there is no real benefit given to any student for reading ahead or doing better than others. Because of that, they won't allow you to learn beyond what they think you should. In other words, you're not going to be allowed to learn lots of things until they think the rest of your age group is ready, despite how far ahead of them you are."

Before Hermione could explode, Neville said, "Wait, my Gran said students who do well are rewarded."

Hermione latched on to that and said, "That's right. Hogwarts A History says each house has an hourglass filled with gemstones which fill out when points are given for achievements!"

Harry smiled and answered back, "Hermione, I've read Hogwarts: A History as well. First place at the end of the year gets the House Cup. Now tell me, according to Hogwarts: A History, what are the benefits of winning the House Cup? What advantage does that house gain over the second, third, and last place houses?"

Hermione frowned and seemed to be thinking furiously.

Harry gave it to the count of ten before continuing, "As I said, there is no 'Real' benefit to learning ahead. This means that the teachers not only won't help you, they will actively hinder you if you try to rush ahead of your year. There is only one way to learn at the pace you want."

It only took a moment of hesitation before Hermione took the bait and asked, "What way?"

Harry smiled innocently and said, "Ignore the teachers and teach yourself of course."

Neville asked, "Are you going to do that?"

Harry answered back, "I've acquired the text books for all seven years and I've read them all and practiced up to third year. I want to master fourth year content before November."

Hermione looked like she wanted to say something but the twisted logic Harry infected her with prevented her from coming up with a reason why that was not allowed.

Harry gave her an olive branch and said, "Hermione, if you have any questions about what you read or any request to learn things from other years, all you have to do is ask."

Hermione had little choice but to give into temptation and proceeded to ask question after question on many of the things she couldn't figure out and some of the things she wanted to learn that were not available until later years.

Neville was almost tempted to break out a parchment and quill just listening to the pair as Harry was a very good teacher.

Right before the train left, the door opened and a redhead peered in and saw three kids and two cats and closed the door.

Harry didn't let it bother him and continued walking Hermione through some of the theories and practices that he learned, discovered on his own, or found in some of the journals or Grimoires of his Library.

Hermione was in no way used to being the one asking questions and learning from someone of her own age group. She was always the useful one, the one others relied on and Harry seemed to take that away from her. That feeling however vanished quickly as she was learning with greater speed than hours of reading and re-reading had done for her before. So many things which had stumped her before now made perfect sense! After that she subconsciously stopped treating Harry like a peer and started thinking of him as a teacher. That way she was still the smartest of her peers.

The main reason Harry was capable of explaining something he never taught before was the autocorrection assist of his Scholar Path which subconsciously provided him with the appropriate means to teach the subject. The Scholar Path was the Path of both the Student and the Teacher and increased the rate he could absorb, understand, and accurately impart knowledge.

Some time after the train departed, Neville started asking questions once he knew Harry had lots of knowledge on Potions and Herbology. Although he was actually just referencing and cross referencing different books and theories, Harry still sounded professional in his answers and theories on how specific processes worked, though truth was that the last plant he touched was the weeds he had to pull out of Petunia's yard.

When Goose asked for food Harry took his trunk out and opened it facing him and with his hand hidden in it he pulled out some food for Goose and Crookshanks from his inventory. Harry didn't want to conjure plates in front of Neville and Hermione so he just opened the cans and set them in front of the cats. Hermione thanked Harry and continued leeching the secrets of the universe from his noggin.

At some point the train whistle could be heard which meant they would arrive in fifteen minutes.

Harry got his trunk once more and left the compartment for a moment before confirming the hall was empty and simply equipping his robes from the inventory.

When Harry entered he saw Neville was just placing his robes over his other clothes which Hermione seemed less inclined to care about even though it was an infraction of the rules. Harry was quite pleased he was able to seduce her to the dark side successfully. Now he must get her to play a prank on a teacher.

*Ping*

[New Quest: Heir of the Marauders.

Get Hermione Granger to play a prank on a teacher before the end of the school year.]

He was joking! Harry internally sighed that such a quest would pop up but the rewards for his quests in the mortal plane had been good so far and he kinda wanted to do it anyways so might as well.

Harry moved to lift Hermione's trunk off the rack but Neville said, "Leave it Harry, they'll move our stuff to our rooms later."

Harry wondered if whoever was going to move his things would question the weight, or lack thereof, but there was no point in considering it.

The sun had already dipped below the horizon and the stars shown around the smiling crescent moon which hung over the castle in the distance.

"Firs' years, firs' years over here."

Harry recognized the man his mum described as Hagrid bellow out for them to gather around him. Once assembled he led them to the lake shore where there were ten boats, each glowing in Harry's senses with a concentration of exotic energy.

"Four to a boat, come on now."

Harry, Hermione, and Neville loaded themselves up but the boat didn't move. Eventually the red headed boy Harry noticed on the train earlier hopped in and the boat started moving. Harry's energy sense was working overtime as through the water, he felt the presence of an enormous mass and tentacles. A giant squid? The Potters certainly forgot to mention this. They passed under some low hanging branches which nearly got caught in Hermione's hair before the open sight of the lake came into view. It was a perfect picturesque setting of the castle on high, the moon behind it, and the reflection of both on the calm lake before them.

Harry's senses noticed it was something of a play. There was a spell on the water that seemed to calm it to let the reflection appear clean and the air seemed charged with a spell to break up the cloud cover. Although Harry knew how they pulled the look off, it was no less impressive.

The boats pulled up to a small dock where everyone was able to get off. Harry was impressed at the spell that prevented the boats from rocking when they got off as it was one that he didn't recognize.

They followed a short path which led to an enormous door and once they approached, it opened to reveal a sterned faced elderly woman.

Hagrid waved behind him and said, "The firs' years Professor McGonagall."

"Thank you Hagrid, I will take them from here."

The Professor led them up some marble stairs to another large door and welcomed them to Hogwarts. She gave a brief introduction of the point system which made Hermione frown at the confirmation of a lack of purpose behind the point system.

Harry heard the redhead who had been clinging to them since the boat say something about a troll and McGonagall moved to open the doors. Harry quickly took off his glamor necklace causing his hair to change from dirty blonde to black. Only Hermione and Neville noticed but before either could say anything the door was open and they were led into the Great Hall.

In addition to the hundreds of students sitting on four very large tables were a half dozen or so see-through grey spirits floating through the air above the tables. The Hogwarts Ghosts. They flew to the crowd of new students with their interests peaked and each conveyed their wish that the students would join their houses.

McGonagall arranged the students in a line before getting out a stool and a hat. Once the hat was placed on the stool it started to sing a song Harry doubted he would remember.

At the end there was applause and McGonagall called, "Abbot, Hannah."

The young girl in question walked up to the stool and sat down before the hat was placed on her head. A few moments of silence passed before the hat shouted "Hufflepuff!"

One by one each student was shorted. Neville and Hermione got sorted into Gryffindor and both were waiting to hear when Harry was going to be called.

After Sally-Anne Perks had been sorted, McGonagall froze. Silence echoed for a moment barely hidden by the emerging whispers of confusion.

From the tallest seat at the head table, the old man Harry figured was Dumbledore said, "Minerva?"

The professor unfroze from the shock of the name and after a cough called out, "Potter, Harry?"

Harry nonchalantly walked up to the stool as if he had not been publicly declared dead a year ago.

McGonagall robotically placed the hat on his head as she had no idea what else to do.

{Hmm, Interesting blocks you have here. Well nice of them to let me through. Ahh, been to the other side have you? That's a first.}

Harry thought, 'You're not going to tell anyone are you?'

{Certainly not, your secrets are yours and yours alone to tell. Though there is much about your power you do not understand yet but I can tell you are up to the challenge. Oh yes, I can tell you seek challenges like a bird seeks the sky. Certainly ambitious. However a Slytherin certainly wouldn't choose Hell mode. No, that's a Gryffindor if I've ever seen one.}

'Think I'm going to die?'

{Oh most certainly, there are at least four things in this castle looking to kill you at the moment and that number will likely double in two or three months. I'd level up if I were you and don't skimp on the exercise and practice.}

Harry felt like he wanted to cry as the hat shouted, "Gryffindor!"

The table of red and gold was the first to break the silence and shouted louder than any other time that night welcoming Harry to their house. Harry moved to sit with Hermione and Neville who were both giving an excellent impression of a fish at the reveal of his name. Like everyone else, Harry's robes changed from unaligned to his house colors once he sat down.

Harry felt someone giving him a death glare and looked over to the head table. Dumbledore and most of the other teachers were shocked. The one Harry recognized as his mother's old acquaintance Severus looked like he'd seen a ghost and the man in the turban which somehow blocked his energy sense seemed noncommittal about it though he was looking in Harry's direction.

McGonagall continued the shorting while several of his new house mates started bombarding him with questions, starting with Hermione of course.

"Are you really Harry Potter?"

Harry honestly answered, "From the day I was born to the day I died."

That threw most of them off and Neville used the pause to ask, "I thought you had glasses and a scar."

Harry lifted his hair out of the way to reveal the faint image of his scar. Harry answered back, "I got my eyes fixed and my scar started healing a year ago."

A brown haired girl leaned over the table and argued, "Cursed scars don't fade, that's why they're called cursed scars."

Harry shrugged. He honestly had no idea why his scar didn't fade before and why it faded after he died.

Once the last student was sorted, Dumbledore stood up and said, "Let the feast, begin."

Harry noticed a build up of exotic energy over all the tables at the word feast and it flashed at the word begin. James had told him that Hogwarts was filled with house elves who did things like this. They were the ones who made food appear and vanish and cooked and cleaned.

Harry turned around and noticed several masses of exotic energy that hadn't been there before positioned along the walls. The masses were skinny and only a meter or so high. Invisible house elves perhaps?

Harry turned back to the food and started filling his plate with potatoes and meats. Though technically unnecessary, he would face awkward questions if he didn't eat and it was not as if the act of eating was unpleasant. 'Ohh, biscuits, I'll take three.'

Harry did his best to either avoid, be purposefully vague, or be misleading on many of the questions he was asked and the only time he told the truth was in a situation where he would absolutely not be believed.

"Why'd they say you blew up last year?" asked the redhead.

"Because if they said I detonated through magical implosion most people wouldn't understand."

At some point the invisible elves flashed their magic and the mostly empty dinner plates were replaced by plates containing desserts.

After a few more minutes and those too had been taken out.

Dumbledore stood up once more and announced, "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices."

Dumbledore took a sip from his cup before he started listing off an assortment of objects which seemed to now be banned from the school.

"As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year. I must also tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out-of-bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry immediately declared to himself under no circumstances would he ever venture into that corridor. Since decomposing into energy and reconstituting himself from energy were both unimaginably painful, having a very painful death meant if he was killed there, he'd face three consecutive terrible pains instead of the usual two per death.

Dumbledore continued, "It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

A dozen or so shouts of complaint arose from each table, the loudest of which originated from a pair of identical redheads from his own table.

"This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy, but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

Harry paled as he remembered what Rocksheer had told him about expecting the unexpected. He hoped he was over thinking it but his doom announced itself in the next moment.

*Ping*