13

Chapter 13 – The Hogwarts Express

Sunday 1st September 1991

Kings Cross Station, London

"Hi Harry, Hi Hermione," Neville greeted them as he entered the carriage that they had claimed for themselves on the train. "Made it in plenty of time, I see."

"Hi Neville," Harry said, and stood up to help Neville lift his trunk into the luggage compartment above their heads. "Crikey! What have you got in here, it weighs tonnes!"

"Don't be rude, Harry," Hermione told him. "Just because you got Uncle Padfoot to put a Featherlight charm on our trunks doesn't mean that everyone else's folks did."

"Sorry Neville," Harry apologised, but the two rolled their eyes at one another, being acutely familiar with Hermione's reprimands.

"I think the Weasleys have just arrived," Hermione told them, peering out the window. "There's a whole mass of redheads just come through the barrier, in any case."

Harry leaned over her to look for himself.

"Yep, that's them," he agreed. "Ron did say they always seemed to arrive everywhere at the last minute. Have you seen anyone else we know, Neville?"

"Susan and Hannah were just saying goodbye to their family when I hopped on board, I think," Neville replied.

"Ah yes, the inseparable blondes," Harry quipped.

"Harry!" Hermione chided, though he could see she was trying very hard not to laugh as well.

"Well, it's true!" he said. "Cousin Draco's been by, but was polite enough not to inflict his company upon us."

Neville scrunched up his nose. "He still thinks I'm a squib, for some reason."

"Yeah, but Auntie Monica put him right soon enough, didn't she?" Harry grinned. "And wasn't his face a picture when he realised that he'd been invited to a muggle house for tea? Mum and Dad could barely keep from laughing at how he was trying to be so polite and keep a sneer off his face, and then at his face when we put the TV on!"

"He's still a knob," Susan Bones said, as she joined them in the compartment.

"Susan!"

"Hermione! Sorry, I didn't see you there! I meant 'snob'. Honestly."

"Sure you did. Hi Hannah!"

"Hi folks!"

Neville and Harry got up again to help the girls with their trunks, and the five of them settled down for the long train ride. Hermione had brought a book to read, but she was quite happy to abandon it to join in with the others when Neville pulled out his Exploding Snap cards, and the time passed quite quickly for them.

Sunday 1st September 1991

Kings Cross Station, London (still on the platform)

Monica sighed as the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the platform, slightly bemused at the sight of Ginny Weasley chasing it forlornly in her wish to be going with her brother and his friends.

Part of what she had come back to undertake was complete. Harry had enjoyed a happy, healthy pre-Hogwarts childhood. He'd not had to suffer living with the Dursleys and the negative self-esteem that had engendered in him, nor had he been subjected to the magical binding that Albus Dumbledore had put on him. She'd been prepared to raise him herself to achieve those objectives if she'd had to, but was glad that she hadn't needed to, and that she'd been able to share that load with Doug and Helen, and to a lesser extent with Sirius, Agnes and Remus. In addition, her younger self was a much better rounded person than she had been at eleven, thanks in part to having a brother to share things with.

Dumbledore was still a problem, though. His belief that Harry still had to be the one to defeat Voldemort made him a threat, and with Harry now that much closer to the old man at Hogwarts and more within his influence, she worried about what might happen next.

Quirrell was also still potentially a problem. She hadn't been able to find out whether he had once again been convinced to host the Dark Lord, but the attempt on the Philosopher's Stone at Gringotts had still been made, as reported in the Daily Prophet.

Putting the two together, and she was sure that Dumbledore was just as likely to have his gauntlet of traps for Harry and his friends to scale, and that worried her even more.

She shook her head and made her way back along the now-deserted platform towards the temporary Floo-point.

"You've done everything you could, Hermione," she heard a voice say from behind her.

"Thanks, Harry," she said, automatically, before realising what she had heard.

"Harry?"

She turned towards the voice, and was engulfed in a hug.

"Harry?"

She pulled back and looked up at him. He looked every day of the 68 years old he'd been when he'd died.

"Hiya."

"How did you get here? Where've you been?

"Where to start, eh?"

"I thought you were gone," she said. "I mean, when you weren't here."

"You assumed my calculations had gone wrong, and I hadn't managed to send myself back after all?"

"Well, yes. And they were wrong, you know."

"I know. I realised that when I arrived back here and it was 1991, not 1981."

"When did you arrive back?"

"About a month ago. On my birthday."

"Oh."

"And like I said, you've done everything you could."

"Dumbledore's still being an asshole."

"Hermione!"

She wrinkled her nose at him.

"Well, he is."

"Dumbledore's biggest problem is that he doesn't believe that he could be wrong. He decided what the Prophecy meant, and he has never been prepared even to consider that he might have made a mistake, or that there could possibly have been other interpretations than his own."

"You're so right about that," Monica agreed. "I've lost count of the number of times I must have been through the possible interpretations with him. He just doesn't seem to listen."

"As I think someone once said of a young man stood not too far away from you, 'he possesses an over-abundance of the quality which in myself I would characterise as strong-mindedness'."

"Stubborn as a mule, then?"

"You said it."

"So what now?"

"Well, now, you go about your life as best you can, whilst helping young Harry with anything he might happen to need you for, though if I know Harry, I suspect he'll be pretty self-sufficient."

"This is going to get confusing."

"How many times did you almost call Helen and Doug 'Mum and Dad'?" he asked. "More confusing than that? More confusing than watching yourself grow up?"

"Probably."

"So what now?"

"Well, first we head out of Kings Cross and find a pub, and you can fill me in on exactly what you've been doing for the past month other than keeping tabs on me and on Harry."

"And then?"

"And then we can talk about whether or not you're going to let Sirius or Doug and Helen know that you're here."

DOHPDOHPDOHPDOHPDOHPDOHPDOHP

Sunday 1st September 1991

Great Hall, Hogwarts

"We just have to put a hat on?" Ron asked, comical levels of relief showing on his face. "I'll kill Fred and George. They told me I'd have to wrestle a troll!"

"Really, Ron," Hannah told him. "You should know better by now than to believe anything those two tell you."

"What if I get Sorted into Slytherin?" Harry worried.

"I can't see that happening," Ron reassured him. "Potters are always in Gryffindor. Besides, if you're supposed to be the defeater of You-know-Who, there's no way you'd go into Slytherin."

"At least you'll have 'Cousin Draco' to look after you if you do," Hermione teased, making Harry's nose scrunch up in distaste.

Harry was more surprised by the presence of Uncle Moony, Remus Lupin, among those sat at the teacher's table. He was sure they hadn't been told about it.

"Did Uncle Moony mention anything to you about teaching this year?" he asked Hermione.

She just shook her head. "I don't think so. I wonder what he's teaching."

"Could be anything," Harry replied. "I think he got good scores in all his NEWTs and he certainly taught us things in lots of different subjects."

Their speculation was cut short as Professor McGonagall called the Hall to silence, and a tear in the brim of the Hat opened up and it started to sing!

The Sorting Hat's song told them of the founders and the qualities that they each favoured the most, before Professor McGonagall began calling the first years up.

"Hannah Abbot"

It didn't take long for the Hat to announce "Hufflepuff!" and the sorting was under way.

Most of the children went into the Houses that he expected them to, and that Auntie Monica had thought they would. Susan also went into Hufflepuff, as expected, and after Goldstein (Gryffindor!) and Goyle (Slytherin!), soon it was Hermione's turn.

'Brave and Loyal, yes, but that thirst for knowledge is very much there, isn't it?' she heard in her mind.

"Ravenclaw!" the hat shouted, and Hermione jumped up to join the cheering students wearing bronze and blue.

After Daphne Greengrass (Slytherin!) and Su Li (Gryffindor!), Neville was next up, and as expected he joined the Gryffindor table, to a broad smile and thumbs up from Ron.

The queue began to thin as names were called and the new students joined their new housemates. A pair of dark-skinned Patil twins were split up between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor, and Sally-Anne Perks became the latest Hufflepuff, and before he knew it Harry's name was being called out by the Deputy Headmistress.

The whispers around the hall abounded, though mostly among the older students, and Harry felt somewhat self-conscious, but forced himself to stride forwards towards the stool and sit calmly as Professor McGonagall placed the Hat on his head.

'Oh my! You will make a powerful wizard one day, young man!' he heard as the Hat cogitated over which House to allocate him to. 'Yes, you would do well in any of the four houses, but I sense a courage deep within that has yet to be truly tested.'

"Gryffindor!" the Hat announced, and Harry made his way to the farthest table to his left to join Neville and Ron amongst the red and gold, as Fred and George Weasley started a chant of 'We got Potter! We got Potter!'

"Never in doubt," Ron said smugly as he patted Harry on the back.

A stern look from Professor McGonagall quelled the noise, and the Sorting continued apace, until the last boy standing (Blaise Zabini) was directed to the Slytherin table.

The Headmaster signalled for the feast to begin, and hungry children dug in to their meal.

Harry was pleased to see a variety of dishes to try, and opted for an individual Steak and Kidney pudding and added some peas, carrots, potatoes and gravy, mindful that he would have been encouraged at home to have some vegetables alongside his meat, and tucked in himself, and for a while conversation was kept to a minimum whilst empty stomachs were dealt with.

Once everyone's appetites were sated and the dishes started to disappear, the noise level began to grow once more, until Professor Dumbledore cut into the din with a rap of his spoon against his glass.

"Now that we are all adequately fed and watered," he began, "I have a few start of term announcements.

"Firstly, you will be pleased to note that Professor Quirrell has returned from his sabbatical, and will take up the post of Defence against the Dark Arts teacher."

A pale young man wearing a purple turban stood up and bowed nervously, then promptly sat down again.

"Also joining us, but for the first time as a member of staff is Remus Lupin."

Lupin stood, still looking a little threadbare even in his robes, Harry thought, when considered next to some of the other teachers. He also bowed to the students, perhaps a little more sincerely and with less haste to return to his seat.

"Professor Lupin will be taking over the History of Magic classes from Professor Binns, who has chosen to move on-"

Whatever else the Headmaster had intended to append to that statement was lost in the din of raucous cheering from the students. Lupin smiled broadly, and got up to bow once more to the acclaim.

"Yes, yes, I'm sure that Professor Binns will be greatly missed," Dumbledore continued, "but I have every confidence that Professor Lupin will be a more than adequate replacement.

"Professor Lupin will also be taking over from Professor McGonagall as Head of Gryffindor, to help lighten her load somewhat and allow her to focus on some of the changes that we are hoping to introduce to modernise the curriculum over the next few years."

This prompted a further generous round of applause for both the outgoing and incoming Head of House from the Gryffindor table.

"First years should note that the Forbidden Forest is appropriately named, and should not be entered without a teacher escorting you. Some of our older students should perhaps also be reminded of this." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as they glanced over at the Weasley twins.

"Mister Filch has asked me to remind you all that magic is not to be used in the corridors between lessons.

"Quidditch try-outs will be held from the second week of term onwards, and anyone interested in trying out for their House team should speak to Madam Hooch or their Team Captain in the first instance.

"Finally, you should be warned that the third floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds." Harry sensed that the Headmaster wanted to add something additional to that, but had perhaps been put off by something someone had said.

"And before we head off to bed, we should of course sing the school song."

What followed was a cacophony like nothing Harry had heard before in his life. The lyrics that the Headmaster put up on a screen in front of them were banal and nonsensical, and with no tune to follow those that had bothered to put in any effort at all were all attempting different (and inharmonious) melodies of their own, but Dumbledore seemed delighted by the whole farce, and then sent them off to their dormitories with meaningless platitudes.

"House meeting before bed," Percy Weasley informed them as they gathered together to leave the Hall, and Harry could hear other prefects relaying the same information to the older years.

"What's that about?" Ron asked his older brother.

"Not too sure," Percy replied. "Haven't had one in years under McGonagall, so maybe just for Professor Lupin to introduce himself to us."

Harry nodded, and tried to catch sight of Hermione to wave to before the Ravenclaws were also herded through the doors, but she had gone before he could pick her out of the crowd. Susan and Hannah waved cheerfully from the Hufflepuff cohort and the Gryffindor boys waved back at them.

Percy led them through the castle and up several flights of stairs before reaching the entrance to the Gryffindor common room.

"Got lucky tonight," he puffed at them as they finally reached their destination. "The stairs have a mind of their own and often move around just when you need them, which makes getting around the castle in a hurry a bit of a lottery."

Harry, Ron and Neville looked at each other and collectively decided to take the warning to heart, mentally committing to leave additional time to get to classes whenever possible.

Percy gave the password ('Caput Draconis') and let them into the large open common room. Stairs led upwards from an archway on either side of the room.

"Boys on the left staircase, Girls on the right," he advised them. "Your belongings should already be at the foot of your bed. Please check quickly that everything is in place and then come down for the meeting. If there are any problems please let myself or one of the other prefects know."

They nipped up the spiral staircase and found that their dormitory was located on the very first floor up. It was a circular room with a large window at the far side from the stairs that had a heavy curtain pulled across it. Five beds were arranged around the room, and a doorway on the left led into their bathroom.

Harry, Ron and Neville were set up on one side of the room, and Dean and Seamus on the other, either side of the bathroom door. A brief check of their trunks revealed no problems, and they were soon back down in the common room, where Professor Lupin was waiting for them.

"I think that's all of you," he said with a smile, and was reassured that this was the case by a nod from one of the seventh year prefects.

"Good. First of all I'd just like to introduce myself a little more fully. I'm Remus Lupin, and although I'll be teaching History of Magic as my main specialism you might also see me fill in for other teachers on occasion as well. I was in Gryffindor from 1971 to 1978.

"You may also have heard rumours that I'm a werewolf. They are true."

There were gasps around the room.

"However, you are all perfectly safe, as I'm only afflicted by the curse during the full moon and, just so you know, the full moon is on the 23rd this month.

"Obviously I won't be around on those days and my classes will be scheduled accordingly, but if you need someone as Head of House during such a time, Professor McGonagall has agreed that she will be available for you."

He looked around the room. There were still one or two shocked faces, but it looked as though he'd gotten through to them.

"My quarters are just down the corridor from the entrance here, and are clearly marked. Please speak to the guardian of the door if you need me, and he will let you know if I am available or where you can find me.

"If you need to come to me with Head of Gryffindor matters, I would prefer that you do so between the end of Dinner and nine o'clock during the week, and during the afternoons at the weekend, though if you have anything urgent, I am of course available for you any time.

"I'll also be available in the office next to the History of Magic classroom on the first floor for an hour from the end of classes every day for any classwork queries – History or otherwise – and for the hour before lunch on Saturdays. If I'm holding detentions at that hour, you are still welcome to come and see me."

There were nods all around. It was more than they had been given leave to do by Professor McGonagall, though she too had often been available at odd hours.

"The next thing is that I intend to hold monthly meetings like this to go over any issues that might arise within the House. Hopefully they'll all be nice and brief, but there may also be rules that we need to re-establish the need for.

"Curfew is 9.30 for first years and goes up in 15 minute increments to fifth year. For those trying to work that out, it means 9.45 for second years, 10 o'clock for third years, 10.15 for fourth years and 10.30 for fifth years. You are expected to be here in the common room or in your dorms by that time, getting prepared for bed. Lights out for your year group is 45 minutes after curfew.

"Note that your Astronomy classes are no longer going to be held at Midnight, but will be scheduled during the day, so there should be no excuses for any nocturnal excursions at all!

"Sixth and seventh years have curfew at 11 o'clock unless asked to do patrols, in which case it's 11.30. We'll trying to avoid the need for prefect patrols this year, so hopefully that won't be necessary. Sixth and seventh year Prefects will do bed checks immediately before the lights out deadline on a rota basis. There's no rigid lights out time for sixth and seventh years. We're treating you as adults and expect you to behave as such, so no all-nighters, please."

"Does anyone have any questions?"

Nobody did at this point.

"Okay, finally, I just want to talk to you about Harry Potter. Give everyone a wave, please, Harry."

Harry stood and waved, looking around the room.

"Despite what you might have heard from the Daily Prophet or any other rumour source, Harry's just an ordinary eleven year old wizard. I noticed at the feast all the whispering about him, and I just want to make it clear that he is to be treated like any other first year. I don't want to see anyone targetting him or trying to get him to talk about his parents or Voldemort-"

Someone shrieked quietly at the Dark Lord's name.

"He doesn't remember what happened the night his parents died, and it would be rude to pester him about it. He's not the 'saviour of the Wizarding world' no matter what you may have read, and if any of you have read the children's books that have been published about him, I should let you know that none of them bear the slightest resemblance to the truth, and Harry's parents and magical guardian have taken them to court for libel.

"So, please, don't pester Harry with questions or for stories – he's led a perfectly normal life as a young boy.

"Now, does anybody have any final questions?"

There were one or two ill-informed or ruder people who plucked up the nerve and asked about how he had become a werewolf, whose questions Remus fended off with a very brief explanation and a warning that this was private information.

"I should have asked – any final questions about the House Rules or my office hours," he said with a sigh.

"No?" He looked around the room. "In that case have a good evening, get yourselves settled in. If the fifth year prefects could please make themselves available for any questions about Hogwarts, classes, and so on that our newcomers might have, for around half-an-hour before the first years have curfew, that would be much appreciated."

DOHPDOHPDOHPDOHPDOHPDOHPDOHP

Harry met up with Hermione again the next morning before breakfast, and was unsurprised to learn that the accommodations in Ravenclaw tower were very similar to those the Gryffindors had.

Whilst Harry was already familiar with Neville and Ron in hos own dormitory, Hermione had only previously met Padma Patil from among the girls she shared a room with, and then only once or twice, so she had a little more work to do in getting to know her new roommates.

Professor Lupin distributed class timetables around the Gryffindors during the meal, and Harry was disappointed to see when comparing his schedule to Hermione's that they weren't sharing any classes – the Gryffindors seemed to be paired with either the Slytherins or Hufflepuffs in every slot – so they agreed to meet in the library immediately after classes finished each day in order to compare notes.

The classes themselves were, as Auntie Monica had warned them, fairly easy for two avid youngsters who had already been taught much of the material by their surrogate Aunt and Uncles. They understood that those who didn't have the advantage of learning and practising magical skills at home needed to be brought up to speed as well, though, and Hermione in particular had to restrain herself from appearing over-eager.

Transfiguration and Charms were both enjoyable and even Harry learned something new from Professor McGonagall.

Herbology was a hands-on exercise, and both Neville and Harry tried hard to help the others in their year – Professor Sprout was aware that Neville was particularly good at the subject, and ensured he was paired with the weakest of the rest of the class (usually Dean, Seamus or Lavender).

By the time Harry entered his first History of Magic class, he'd heard from Hermione about how her fellow Ravenclaws had enthused so strongly about Professor Lupin's teaching – especially the older years who had been accustomed to Professor Binns for previous years.

But for all the good that the teachers in these classes did, it seemed to be undermined by two subjects that Harry couldn't help but hate.

Defence Against the Dark Arts was an enthralling subject, full of variety and looked to be so useful in the real world, but Harry couldn't help but struggle with it. Professor Quirrell had an appalling stutter that made it almost impossible for him to deliver a full sentence clearly, and just trying to keep it all straight gave Harry headaches.

Even Hermione admitted that she found it painful to try and interpret Quirrell's classes, and warned Harry that the rest of the Ravenclaws were intending to treat the class like they had done History under Professor Binns – self-study from the textbooks as much as possible. She and Harry had the advantage that they also knew they could go to Professor Lupin if they had questions they couldn't otherwise get answers for.

If Defence was a complete waste of time for Harry, Potions was probably worse.

Professor Snape seemed to delight in ridiculing Harry's efforts and treating him with barely disguised contempt when called upon in class. He opened their first class by pointing out his celebrity status and how undeserved it was, and seemed to mention it at every opportunity, usually as a means of putting his work down.

"Did you think that your fame alone would earn you a passing grade, Potter?"

"Do you expect your mother's sacrifice to help you stir your cauldron?"

His worst insults were delivered next to Harry's desk, sotto voce, ensuring that even if Harry complained, there were no witnesses to any verbal abuse, and Harry knew that if he reacted in class it would only earn him detentions, which Snape seemed to dish out like confetti to Harry and his fellow Gryffindors, whilst praising the Slytherins regardless of the actual classwork they delivered.

It was only a week in, but two classes with the greasy-haired Potions professor were more than enough.

On the first Saturday, he and Hermione visited Professor Lupin, and used his office Floo to travel back to Crawley and the Grangers.

Helen was outraged at Snape's performance, and had to be restrained by Doug from immediately Floo-ing straight back to the castle and giving him a piece of her mind, whilst Sirius was particularly concerned that Quirrell again appeared to be possessed by Voldemort – which then had to be explained to the children.

Calmer heads eventually prevailed, and Doug insisting on hearing about the rest of their first week at school, before they concluded that a delegation would be sent to confront the Headmaster.