Disclaimer: Harry Potter and its characters do not belong to me. If they did I would be a very rich woman.

Innocence Lost

Chapter 3

September 1st, 1991- Platform 9 ¾ Kingscross Station, London

Harry stood stoically with his family. Having arrived a few moments ago, via apparition, to the busy platform of the Hogwarts Express. Harry held back his excitement with a blank face as he watched the families rushing around saying their farewells for the coming Hogwarts Term. Feeling a hand land on his shoulder he looked at the smiling visage of his uncle as they headed towards the scarlet train. He felt the squeeze on his shoulder as the exuberant man leaned down and pulled him into a hug and said quietly, "I'll see you at Hogwarts Pup, try not to get into any mischief on the train."

He pulled back and winked at him before vanishing with a pop. He heard his grandmother's huff of annoyance before she pulled him in a quick embrace. She then looked at him with her normal severe expression, "Now Hadrian, I expect the utmost behavior from you. You after all are the heir to the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter and are expected to uphold yourself as such. Try not to let my oldest son's bad habits rub off on you."

She then pulled back and the younger Black brother and Lord of the illustrious family pulled him into a tight hug, "We will see you at Christmas. Like mother said be good. If anything happens please make sure to go to Sirius and let us know as soon as possible." The man pulled back and Harry could see the worry in his eyes.

He gave the man a small reassuring smile, "I will Uncle Reg. I promise I will if anything happens. I'll see you for Yule."

The man then let him go and pulled a shrunken trunk from his pocket and unshrunk it with a tap of his wand. Harry took the trunk and tapped the ruin on the front that would make it lighter and grabbed Hedwig's cage where the owl was resting from the ground. Both his family members gave him one last once over and nod before they too vanished with a pop. Finally showing his excitement with a smile Harry quickly made his way onto the steaming train.

Soon enough he found an empty compartment where he pushed his trunk onto the luggage rack and set Hedwig's cage on one of the hooks. Standing on his tiptoes he opened his trunk and fished out the potions text as he settled himself on the bench and began his second read through of the tome. His reading was interrupted by the door sliding open and he smiled happily at the boy in the entrance, "Hello Cousin, was wondering if you would find me."

The blonde boy smiled back before speaking in what one would consider a haughty tone, "There you are Hadrian. Was wondering where you were. Mother and Father send their love. I take it Aunt Walburga dropped you off a bit early."

The boy made his way into the compartment, followed by two larger boys. Harry gave them a cursory look recognizing them before turning his attention back to his cousin, "Of course, you very well know a Black should never be late."

The other boy snorted, "Of course not. It would be unbecoming to be seen rushing about like some commoner."

The blonde lounged back taking a comfortable and relaxed position after he had put away his things. A book also settled in his lap though it lay unopened as he looked back over at Harry, "So, cousin which house do you think you will land yourself in?"

Hadrian closed his book focusing fully on the other, "Sirius of course wants me in Gryffindor, after all most Potters do find themselves in that house. Both of my parents were in there too, but I do not think that is where I will end up."

The other boy nodded his head in agreement, "Blood families due tend to lean more towards one house, but I do agree that you might be one of the few that break that trend." The blonde smirked at him, "Honestly cousin, I think you will be breaking Cousin Sirius' heart and will be joining be in the snake pit."

Harry smiled at the other boy already imagining his uncle's dramatics, "He will get over it. Honestly, I think he already knows where I will end up."

The blonde nodded and opened his book, both were ignoring the two other boys who were silently trading chocolate frog cards. Following the other boy Harry turned back to his potions text, drowning out the sound of the almost full train. Soon enough it lurched into motion leaving the station behind them. Soon enough the four in the compartment were startled out of their reading by the door sliding open. A chubby blonde boy stood there looking around nervously before focusing on the boys in the compartment. He quickly straightened up giving them both a slight half bow, "My apologies Heir Potter, Heir Malfoy. I wasn't meaning to disturb you." He said in a timid voice, "I was just looking for my toad and was wondering if you had seen one?"

Harry quickly took the lead before his cousin could talk, knowing from past experiences with the Longbottom Heir and the Malfoy Heir, "It is no trouble at all Heir Longbottom." He gave a slight bow of his head before speaking again, "I'm apologize but we have not seen a toad."

He saw the grateful look the other boy gave him before he nodded, "Thank you, he must have wandered off elsewhere."

The boy then slid the compartment shut and Harry looked over at his cousin at the sound of his scoff, "I swear. I don't understand what is wrong with him, losing a toad. If I had a toad I would want it to stay lost."

Harry let out a sigh as he was used to the other boy's antics, "Come now Draco. He is the Heir of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Longbottom and you know my family has an alliance with his. His mother is my Godmother. You could be a bit nicer. He isn't so bad once you get to know him. His grandmother though," Harry let out a shiver, "she's worse than my Grandmother."

Draco gave him a pout, "Fine, fine. For you cousin I'll try to be nicer. Just he is a bumbling fool and an embarrassment to fellow purebloods."

Harry shook his head and focused back on his book, he knew that, that would be the best he could get from his cousin. He loved Draco and considered him one of his best friends, but the boy did have a bit of a superiority complex.

The train ride after that was peaceful for the most part. The group of four buying a few sweets from the trolley as she went past. Soon enough the boys changed into plain black Hogwarts' Robes and the train came to a standstill at Hogsmead station. The four waited for the rush and then made their way off the train. A large man stood, towering above the students shouting out in a gruff voice, "Firs years! Firs years! O'er here!"

Harry grabbed his cousin's hand, pulling him towards the giant man the two silent boys following behind them. Soon enough they stopped before a row of little boats and he heard his cousin's sound of disgust, "I swear, if I get water and mud all over me I'll be sending word to my father. Having a bunch of eleven-year-old children going over a lake."

Rolling his eyes, Harry elbowed Draco in his side smirking at the undignified yelp, "Really Draco," he drawled out, "I highly doubt we are going to get muddy and wet. They are enchanted, stop acting like a muggle."

Smirking smugly at his cousin's glare he sat himself down in one of the many boats and his cousin huffing the entire time climbed in next to him. The two bigger boys joined him both smirking at the antics of the Potter and Malfoy Heirs. Harry casually leaned back and looked over the black expanse of water and took in a breath at the site before them. The lake itself was like a mirror reflecting all the stars and the moon that hung in the sky, looking as though they were floating on the sky itself. On the other side of the lake was a giant castle. Of course, his family had told him about the school but seeing it first hand was an entirely different experience.

The castle was beautiful yet imposing. He could make out the shadow of it in the night sky, the moon giving it a bit of light and the flickering lights from the many windows. Overall it was beautiful and magical, it truly was magical. He thought back to stories he had read of princesses and knights and smiled wistfully. Surprisingly his grandmother never opposed him reading muggle literature and stated that it was something more for him to learn. She herself found amusement in how they wrote about magic and scoffed at their tales and its inaccuracy. Though if he were to say anything about it to anyone else she would have his hide. Sirius got quite a kick out of it which landed him a week of being chased around by floating books that would randomly smack him on the head.

His mind was drawn back to the present as the castle loomed closer and soon enough the boats stopped at a dock. The giant man leads the students into the fortress and a hallway just inside. They all lined up looking around them. Harry took in all the paintings and floating candles, though jumped slightly as a group of ghosts swooped through the room talking amongst themselves. A couple of students screamed, and he held back his snicker as the ghosts exchanged pleasantries with the new students. Soon enough the vanished through another wall and a severe woman came through the door.

Her hair was tied back into a tight bun, dark yet tinged with grey. A set of square silver spectacles sat on her nose and her robes were a dark emerald green. A matching witches hat sat gracefully on her head. She looked over at the group of new students imploringly before she began to speak drawing Harry's attention to her, "Welcome First Years of Hogwarts. If everyone could form a straight line, we will commence into the Great Hall for your sorting."

Harry fell in line behind his cousin and once everyone was settled the woman turned around to the door waving her wand and it fell open. She then leads them onto the dais at the front of the hall. Harry Looked around them and saw the teachers sat on the long table next to them and held back his sneer at the form of who he knew was Headmaster Dumbledore. He saw below them long tables that he knew were the house tables, each one had a banner hung overhead, depicting the house that it belonged to. He then focused back towards the front of them where an old hat sat on a stool. The woman moved forward and stood next to the hat where suddenly a rip in the seem opened like a mouth and it began to sing.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I am the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folk use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! Don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!" (1)

The hall broke into applause at the end of the hat's song and Harry joined in. Soon enough the noise died down and the older witch pulled a long scroll from her pocket. She read the first name on the list with a shout, "ABOTT, HANNAH!"

A girl with blonde pig tails came forward and sat down on the stool and lowered the hat down over her head. A few moments of silence before the seam opened once again and the hat shouted out over the hall, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The girl sat the hat back down on the stool after she stood, the seams on her robes changed into a bright yellow and the blank spot for the crest changed to that of the Hufflepuff's Badger Crest and she head down to join the cheering table. The woman then looked down at the next name, "BONES, SUSAN!"

She joined the other girl at the Hufflepuff table. The list continued, Terry Boot and Mandy Brocklehurst joined Ravenclaw and Lavender Brown joined Gryffindor. He clapped politely for each sorting, not paying full attention and instead glanced at the head table. He saw his uncle bouncing happily in his seat next to a hook-nosed man who seemed less than thrilled at having his uncle next to him. He held back a smirk, recognizing the man as Severus Snape, who was a good friend of his Uncle Regulus and Cousin Lucius though he knew he was a rival to his Uncle Sirius. He had a feeling that Sirius purposely sat there to rile the other man up, if the glares the man kept giving his uncle anything to go by.

He focused back on the sorting when his cousin's name was called, the hat barely touching his head before declaring him a Slytherin. Draco smirked over at him, which he winked at him as the blonde went and took his seat. He stood silently again drawing his attention to the teachers table, he held back a scowl when he saw the Headmaster seemed to be focusing on him. He decided to ignore the man's blatant staring and focused again on his uncle who shot him a wide grin and waved. He rolled his eyes and nodded towards him before turning back towards the hat when he heard his name called.

Holding his head high he sat down on the stool, lowering the hat on his head. All he could see was the black space within the hat when he heard the hats voice in his head, "Ahhh, Harry Potter, I was wondering when I would be sorting you. Hmmm, interesting, very interesting. Both of your parents were the perfect fit for Gryffindor, though I do not think that is for you. Your mother was almost in Ravenclaw and though you are quite intelligent and have a keen mind, I do not think you would quite fit in. You do have a thirst to prove your worth and are quite ambitious. Yes, I think that is perfect." The hat then said out loud shouting across the quiet hall, "SLYTHERIN!"

Harry stood up and set the hat gently on the stool, smirking as he headed towards the table, his robes changing to match that of his new housemates. Once he sat down next to Draco, he saw the pouting form of his uncle who was shooting him puppy eyes, the smirking form of Snape who seemed to be gloating to his uncle and the frowning visage of the Headmaster. The sorting soon ended with Blaise Zambini joining them at the Slytherin table, who elegantly settled himself across from Harry.

The Headmaster stood saying a string of nonsense, that Harry didn't bother to listen to before the feast appeared before them. Harry happily loaded his plate with roasted lamb, vegetables and Yorkshire Pudding before tucking into his meal. After he and his housemates had finished the main courses the meal on the table changed to desserts and Harry happily scooped up a piece of treacle tart, one of his all time favorite desserts. He ignored the eyeroll of his cousin and happily dug in. Once the food was cleared the Headmaster stood again, listing out rules and regulations, introducing the teachers, prefects and student heads before dismissing them to their common rooms.

The Slytherins sat and waited for the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs to rush out in an unorganized mess. The Slytherins then rose as a group, the first years ushered to the front where the prefects then headed the house down into the dungeons. One of the prefects took place in front of the group looking over them all in front of the expanse of blank wall in front of them. She pushed back a strand of auburn hair behind her ear before speaking, "For the new Slytherins amongst us this is the entrance to our common room. It is password protected and we ask you not hand it out to people outside of our house unless you have permission from one of the prefects or our Head of House, Professor Snape. Our current password is Serpent. The password changes once a month and it will be posted on the house bulletin."

With that said she turned and faced the wall and spoke the password. The wall formed an archway in which the house then made their way inside. Harry looked around the room, noting that there were large fireplaces along the walls and a few bookshelves that were packed with books. Round windows also adorned the walls showing what he assumed was the dark murky waters of the lake. Dark Green and black leather furniture was scattered throughout the room and he felt it gave it a bit of a posh yet homey feel. His attention was drawn back to the prefects when the girl spoke again, "If everyone could find a seat, Professor Snape will be with us shortly to lay down the House Rules."

Draco lead Harry to a couch where they were joined by Blaise. Crabbe and Goyle took seats on the loveseat next to them and Theodore Nott took a seat on the armchair besides that. A quite murmuring soon encompassed the room, as friends caught up with each other, sharing stories of their holidays. The room fell silent as the hook-nosed man made his entrance. His cloak billowed around him and he stood in the front of the room glancing imploringly around the students of the house he oversaw.

Soon enough he began to speak in a smooth and soft voice that carried throughout the room, "Welcome back and welcome to those who are joining us to the Noble House of Slytherin." He paused as the room greeted him back, "For those who do not know, I am Professor Severus Snape and am the Head of Slytherin House as well as the Potions Master and Professor of this school. I expect the utmost dignity of my students. If there are any problems with someone within the House it is to stay within the House. I expect everyone to show a united front to the rest of the school."

He gave a warning glare around the room before speaking once more, "The bulletin board is found in the back of the room. On it, it lists school activities, the House Rules, School Rules, upcoming events, and tutoring help and information. The house rules are simply as follows; Curfew for first to third year is 21:00 and fourth to seventh 23:00. Everyone is to be in bed by those times. Breakfast in the great hall is held from 07:00 to 09:00, lunch from 12:00 to 14:00, and dinner from 17:00 to 19:00 except for welcoming, leaving and holiday feasts. I expect everyone to make a presence at breakfast and dinner at some point during the time frame they are available.

I expect everyone to attend all their classes as well as make at least acceptable on their course work. If you are struggling in a particular subject I will set, you up with a tutor. As I said before, inter house problems stay within these walls. I do not stand for bullying within my house and if I see any of you bullying a fellow housemate you will be punished. If there is a problem a prefect is unable to help you with, you may come see me during my office hours. They are posted on the bulletin. I also expect everyone to keep themselves and their rooms tidy. Now it is late enough, I shall see you all in the morning for breakfast where I will pass you your schedules."

With that the formidable man swept from the room. The prefects then took charge once more, leading the students to the dormitories where Harry found his trunk set in front of one of the four poster beds in their room for the next seven years. He hurried to their adjoining bathroom to take a quick shower and brush his teeth before changing in his sleepwear and tucking in for the night. Falling asleep rather quickly from the excitement of the day.

September 1st, 1991- Headmaster's Office- Hogwarts

Dumbledore sat silently at his desk relaxing at the calming tones of his phoenix as he went through this evening once again in his head. The boy was what would be expected of a child raised by a pureblood family. He wasn't the timid child he had originally planned to show from the tender care of Petunia and her family. He sneered at the thought of what had become of those blasted muggles, Petunia in a mental ward, Vernon was dead, and their son Dudley last he knew was on the streets. Those muggles didn't matter though, no they were a means to an end that did not go how he wanted it to.

The Potter Brat was what was expected of all pureblood children meant to take head of their family. Cold and calculating, he could see it in the boy's eyes as he had studied everything around him. The child would not be as easy to manipulate as he had hoped. He was though still a child, so he knew he had an upper hand. Hopefully the threat of the boy would be taken care of this year though. Yes, hopefully Quirrel would take the bate and lead the boy to his death. He sat back, slipping one of his favorite candies in his mouth a malicious smile crossing his face. If the boy was out of the way, then he just had to worry about the others who would be too stricken with their grief that they should be easier to dispose.

Now he just had to wait for everything to fall into place, then he and his lovely Gellert could come to the focal point and lead the world to greatness. He shivered at the thought of the man he loved. Summers never lasted long enough, and he missed the man in his time away. That would change soon though. After the boy and his "family" was gone, he could bring Gellert back to the public and they would take their place as the leaders they were meant to be. They would get rid of the filth in the world and bring the wizards back to their knees. He just had to be patient. With that thought the man stood and made his way to his bed. Yes, things will work out in the end. He was Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard in their world.

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1- The Sorting Hat's Song was taken directly from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. It belongs fully to JK Rowling.