Author's Notes: I know, I know, I'm updating quite slow. Too bad! HA! (Because of this author's tendency to adore chocolate, she is now having a bad case of sugar rush.)

Chapter 4

During the next three years, Harry had continued his "double" life – pretending to be a prodigy in the muggle world, and practicing magic until it began second nature to him. He could now run for a few hours without stopping, and he was very proud of that. Having a very good background in potions, something that came to him quite naturally, he was sure he could make most of the potions the professor would throw at him. Though with newfound powers, Harry didn't feel the need to scare his relatives, he did live off them in one way. But, he now had a private kitchen (magically expanded) to fit his needs. Harry's clothes were still secondhands; he never cared much about his appearance.

He was feeling quite excited, as he would be going to Hogwarts in a week. Harry remembered the day when a letter came to him by mail.

Flashback

Quietly pocketing it, he read it privately in his bedroom. Having already bought most of his supplies some day or another, he was thankful he wasn't going to have a big shopping day. Harry was rather bewildered when the school requested him to buy a wand. What in the world would he need a wand for? None-the-less, he had stopped at Olivander's to get his wand, which was made from holly, with a feather from a Phoenix, the same phoenix, in fact, where Voldemort's wand had one of it's feather as the core. Sparks flew from it, as Harry touched the wand. He didn't feel anything different, except he knew it would be a very big disadvantage if he could only use the wand in battle. Luckily, he didn't need a wand. Figuring it must be another tool in the weird world, he left the odd store.

Going into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, Harry sigh. He never liked clothes shopping. Pushing the doors, Harry spotted quite a few people in there getting measured. A lady came and asked him, "Hogwarts, dear?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, come in, come in. Follow me please."

She led Harry to a stool and made him stand on it. The lady then said, "I'll just go get the measurements, wait for me please."

Harry obediently nodded. On his side, a boy whose hair was blonde looked at him. His gray eyes seemed to gaze up at Harry once before saying, "Are you going to Hogwart's too?"

Harry looked at him and smiled. "Yes, I am. My name's Harry, what's yours?"

The boy arrogantly said, "My name is Draco Malfoy, and I'm a pureblood."

Harry grimaced. "I'm a half-blood, but does that really matter?"

Draco looked at Harry as if he had grown another head. "Of course it matters! Purebloods are what made the society wealthy. Until the muggle-borns came, that is. Besides, the Dark Lord wants all muggleborn out."

Having done some research on Voldemort, Harry said arrogantly. "It may interest you that Voldemort is a half-blood. In fact, since my mother was a muggleborn witch, and that my father was pureblood, I may be more purer than him."

Draco stuck his nose up. "As in?"

"Voldemort's mother was pure, but his dad was a plain muggle. Don't believe all that nonsense about bloodlines. There isn't enough proof."

Another lady came and told Draco he was finished. With a meaning stare at Draco, Harry paid no more notice to him as Draco walked off, having a thoughtful look on his young, pale face.

Promptly leaving his store with his school robes and some casual muggle clothing, he thought he'd treat himself with a pet. Thinking an owl would attract much attention in the Dursleys, Harry figured he could get something more small. Going into the pet shore, Harry was astonished there were quite a large variety of pets. Some bat-like creatures were up in a cage; a ginger cat was sitting moodily, confined by glass. But it was a golden puppy that caught the eye of Harry. Asking the shopkeeper what breed it was, he was surprised to find it was a rare griffin and snow kneezle breed, making it extremely smart and intelligent.

"Just came in yesterday, this little guy." Exclaimed the shopkeeper proudly. "One of a kind, I must say, but it's a mean little fellow! Bite my hand, it did yesterday."

However, when Harry reached down to pet it, the puppy-like creature yawned contently and licked his hands.

Surprised, the shopkeeper said, "Well, it must like you a lot. It's 70 galleons for it, and I'll throw in a cage and a book on how to take care of it."

The Griffzle was now nuzzling on Harry hands, purring happily. Having read that a Griffzle can not only fly when spreading their hidden wings, but also grow at a rate so slow, that it would be very suitable for it to stay at Hogwarts. Smiling widely, Harry paid for the Griffzle, and hope it'll behave itself.

/\

The night before going to King's Cross, Harry was graciously invited to eat dinner with his family. Waiting until everybody was close to finish, Harry decided to drop the bomb.

"Err…I'm leaving for another school tomorrow."

Aunt Petunia scowled, and Uncle Vernon began changing colors. "What do you mean, you good-for-nothing freak! Are you saying you're not good enough for Stonewall!"

Harry sighed. "Not like that, Uncle Vernon, but this school called Hogwarts…"

Vernon choked on his food. Petunia shrieked, "I am not paying for you to learn abnormality! No, you go to Stonewall!!"

Harry frowned. "I will remind you that your sister graduated from the same school I am going to."

"Don't you dare mention that freak around…"hissed Aunt Petunia. So you know…"

Dudley looked at them. "What? Mommy? What is the freak talking about?" he whined.

Harry held his head high. "Yes, I do. And I am going," Harry said stubbornly. "Besides," he started cheekily, "it'd would refine my skills."

Waving his hand over his dishes, they magically became clean.

With that, leaving Aunt Petunia shrieking, Uncle Vernon snarling, Harry walked merrily up the stairs.

He really needed earplugs, Harry thought, as Dudley's whining began flowing upstairs.

Entering his room, he promptly shut the door and locked it with the strongest charm he knew, and double layered it. Who knows what measure the Dursleys would take to prevent him from going to Hogwarts? Eyeing his window, Harry transfigured a few more pieces of glass that were all unbreakable. Amused at his own paranoia, Harry sat down on his bed, scratching Rangi, his newly named Griffzle, which meant "sky" in Maori. Knowing the cute puppy-like creature would be able to fly one day, Harry hoped he'll enjoy being free up there…

/\

"11 ¾…where in the world would I find anything like that?" muttered Harry. In the bustling train station, Harry mentally slapped himself. He should've read his encyclopedia ages ago.

People were already staring at him, with a weird trunk and an adorable puppy. Both just clash.

Swearing suitable for his age, Harry glanced uncertainly at the signs on top of him. Thinking he should try to detect magic, he closed his eyes and let very thin strands of his magic reach out. Practicing with his core paid him off. Soon, his magic could detect a wall that was magical. Opening his eyes, he walked to the wall. Cautiously, he pushed his cart lightly on the wall, and to his surprise, it went right through! Grinning, Harry congratulated the person who had such the brains to think of such weird thing. Under the muggles' noses, too, and the person must be laughing his socks off bewildered muggles as they tried to go through, but thought it should've been a hallucination, as he couldn't go through.

Slightly impressed by the long train, Harry accidentally bumped into the red-haired twins.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking." Apologized Harry.

"No pro-" said one of them.

"Blem. My name's George," George said.

"And I am Fred!" said Fred.

"We're twins!" both of them exclaimed, as if they didn't look like it.

Grinning, Harry crossed both of his hands to get a double handshake. "Harry here, please to make your acquaintance, oh mighty twins!"

The twins took his hands and shook them exaggeratedly.

"So, a firstie, eh?"

"What should we do, Fred?"

"Hmm…deep fried - "

"Or boiled?"

"Maybe steamed?"

"With mom's special sauce?"

"Perfect!" Both shouted.

Harry began cautiously backing up. He wasn't sure there were customs about wizards eating other wizards…

"But we don't like eating human beings…" started one.

"It's not like we'd ever tried…"

"But we should get him on the train first…"

"To send him to Hogwarts…"

"And fatten him up!" both said.

Both laughing, they helped Harry's luggage into the compartments that were opened from the lower side of the train, with Harry nervously eyeing them. Both were jokers, he was sure, but Harry was still nervous. Maybe because he didn't had the upper hand. Just that second, Harry grinned. Well, he was Harry Potter…

Waving at the twins, Harry got on the train. Magically making his eyes look watery, he began his revenge.

Looking into all the compartments, he saw a group of teenage females, all whispering and giggling. He went in quietly, and tugged on one of their robes, looking helplessly at them.

"Excuse me," he fake-sobbed, "These two red-haired twins have took my luggage…"

The girls looked at each other and couldn't resist the large, shimmering eyes of one Harry Potter. With stricken expressions, two of the girls stayed with Harry while the others went off to catch the culprits.

While the two girls began to pinch Harry's cheeks and kept on commenting how cute he was, Harry hoped the other girls had finally caught the twins. As if on cue, Fred and George were handcuffed onto their compartment with the girls holding them tightly.

"So, cutie, were they who took your luggage?"

Making his eyes more watery, Harry's eyes glossed even more, giving an appearance of total innocence. Taking that as a yes, the girls began sharing evil looks.

"But…"

"We didn't do…"

"Anything!" the twins said together, dumbfounded at what was happening. Both stared at Harry, who gave them a look of pure amusement, with a glint of evilness showing in his rather watery eyes.

The girls, one of them assuring Harry's luggage was safe, ushered him out of the compartment, saying whatever would be happening, was not exactly suitable for his age. Complying, Harry sent a fast wicked grin to the twins, and with the girls all oblivious, he went out of the door, whistling a merry tune as he walked in the hallway on the train, with Rangi trailing after him.

He finally found a compartment that was empty, and went in. Pulling out one of his potions books bought a while ago, Harry began to re-reread it. He was sure Hogwart's curriculum wouldn't be that advanced, but just to be sure, he decided to read ahead. After all, the boy-who-lived wouldn't live up to his name by dying from a potion, right?

Shoosh! The compartment door suddenly threw open, and a bushy-haired girl came into view. Seeing Harry's eyebrows raised at her, she said "Excuse me, have you seen a toad around here somewhere? Someone lost one."

Harry politely shake his head, and asked the girl, "Hi, my name's Harry. Could you describe the frog for me?"

Smiling slightly, she said, "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Hermione Granger. The frog's slightly grayish, but with a few spots of green."

Concentrating slightly, Harry looked at the frog in his mind, and ordered his magic to bring him the frog. Within seconds, a frog appeared in his outstretched hands, and half a second later, Hermione's eyes looked at Harry with awe.

"Wow, how did you do that? That must be advanced magic!"

Harry grinned. "Special trick."

Suddenly noticing Ransi, Hermione let out a squeal of delight. "Aww, he's so cute! What is he?"

"Oh, him?" Harry grinned. "Bought him from a store and he's a Griffzle. Half griffin and half kneezle personally think they are related to dogs. For some reason, this half-breed ended up looking like a dog!" Harry joked. Rangi then bit him right on the finger, making Harry mock hitting him. "And very intelligent." Rangi seemed to beam at the compliment, making it look prouder. "But also arrogant." Rangi growled at Harry, and Harry ruffled its fur, grinned, leaned down and quietly said to Rangi. "And my first real friend."

Hearing this, Rangi nuzzled Harry, and crawled into his lap, comforting with his owner and friend.

Looking at the affection between the two, Hermione smiled at them and took the frog from Harry.

Harry looked up at Hermione. "Now, why don't you give the frog back to your friend? I'm sure he or she would be more than happy to find it."

Hermione nodded and went to open the compartment door.

"Oh, and if you're having trouble finding a seat, you and your friend would be more than welcome to sit here!" Harry called out.

Putting his potions book back into his bag, Harry turned to look out of the window. Green trees rushed by, and the streams and rivers seemed to flow out of the picture, as if they were alive. Harry spotted a few birds, and swore he saw a rainbow ever so slightly in the sky. He wondered whether leprechauns were real, and that there was a pot of gold hiding under the damp earth at the end of a rainbow.

Just then, someone opened the compartment door again, and Draco Malfoy, the boy he met in the shop came in.

Seeing the person he met earlier in Diagon Alley, Draco immediately thought of the conversation they had. Still confused between the facts Harry had said, and the views his father told him, Draco surely didn't know what to do.

Smiling slightly at him, Harry offered him the seat in front of him. Draco took the seat. Fidgeting a bit, Draco opened his mouth, but Harry cut him to it.

"I know you're still wondering about the whole blood thing. It's okay if you're still doubting my views."

At this, Draco was surprised. He had never had a friend who, well, understood. And the person in front of him wasn't even his friend.

"I heard that some pureblood families teach their children about the blood thing." Explained Harry.

Nodding, Draco quietly looked out of the window. A while later, he said, "I know you know my name, but what is yours?"

"Harry."

Narrowing his eyes, Draco looked at Harry.

Noticing this, Harry smirked. "So you're quite fast, huh? Promise you won't yell when I say who I am?"

Shaking his head, Draco motioned Harry to continue.

"My name's Harry. Harry Potter."

Draco dropped his jaws.

Harry couldn't help it, he laughed.

Closing his mouth, and remembering he was a Malfoy, he looked at Harry at a new light.

"I'm no celebrity. Stop staring me." Grinning, Harry continues, "Unless you swing the other way, in which I may tell you, I prefer females."

A tinge a pink appeared on Draco's pale cheeks. He diligently said, "I am not gay!"

Harry chuckled. "I know, I know. I was just playing around. So, what's your favorite sport?"

Draco grimaced in annoyance, and then excitedly said, "Of course Quidditch, I like to play as a keeper. How about you? Do you play Quidditch?"

Looking at Harry's blank face, Draco paled. "You don't know what Quidditch is?" Draco whispered. "No, this could not happen."

For the next hour or so, Harry was indulged by a whole new game, which he decided, was worse that Harry Hunting. With hundreds a moves that does not qualify as penalties, Quidditch was one real violence game. But like most reckless guys, he concluded Quidditch was a wicked sport.

/\

A while later, they stopped conversation to have lunch. Harry bought a wide variety of sweets, which he hadn't noticed quite before in Diagon Alley. Asking Draco about it, Draco answered, "Sweets are usually sold from a sweet store. There's a very small one down in Diagon Alley, but unless you are trying to find sweets, you won't actually notice it."

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Magic."

"……"

So after tasting a few, uh, delicacies of sweets from the magical world, Harry concluded magic folk was plain weird. Why would anyone want to eat a chocolate frog when it looks and acts and feels like one? It was just plain disturbing, Harry thought, if a baby saw a real frog and thought it was chocolate. (Harry shuddered) The only thing Harry liked was a bar of chocolate that had warm caramel melting in his mouth, and Harry concluded happily: it was magic.

He also found that people liked collecting the trading cards behind the chocolate frogs. (His first card was Dumbledore) Before long, they were close to Hogwart's and were asked to change into their school robes. Taking turns changing inside the compartment, they were ready to go in no time.

"F'rst years! C'mon ov'r here!" A huge man with a mustache motioned them as they stepped off the train. Going on to a boat that fit only two people each, Harry and Draco quickly went on. As they were floating and were carried by the current to arrive at the main door of Hogwart's, which was a lovely castle that seemed to came out of a fairy book. Commenting this to Draco, he said, "Did you know, that a lot of the muggle's tales were written from wizards?"

A bit awed at the information, Harry continued to watch Hogwart's as it became closer and even more beautiful if it could. Soon, with some regret from Harry, they arrived to shore and walked to the main door.

Led by a stern professor by the name of McGonagall, Harry knew he would have a good education at Hogwarts.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

"The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Harry looked at himself and brushed his clothes a few times, just for the sake of it. Beside him, Draco held his head up high, as if he was insulted that he wasn't properly dressed enough.

"The sorting ceremony will being soon. Please wait here." Said Professor McGonagall.

Suddenly, a herd of pearly white ghosts came through the wall, letting many of his year mates gasp at the sight.

They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance —"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?"

A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Nobody answered.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

Harry suddenly felt many fast strands of magic going at him and his classmates at a fast pace. At instinct, he created a barrier between himself and the magic. He focused on making the barrier large and dome-like, so that no magic would be going in.

Opening his eyes, he smiled at the glassy bubble. All ghosts became quiet, so as the students. Then, whispering began erupting between the ghosts.

"This shouldn't have happened."

"How would the ministry track down the underage magic then?"

The students however, panicked.

"Let me out of here!"

"I'm trapped!"

Rolling his eyes slightly, Harry stepped up and said, "I'm sorry, but there seems to be magic attacking us. Please wait here until the professor comes. We're safe in this bubble."

His soon-to-be classmates all quieted down. However, one red-haired boy boldly called out, "Who are you? Stop lying! You couldn't be able to perform such advance magic! You're a liar!"

Draco, who heard this, sneered at the red-haired boy. "I may suggest that you find proof before accusing. Like father, like son." Draco said, referring to the time the red-haired boy's father had came to his mansion and tried to find dark artifacts.

Harry, grateful to have someone to defend him, began to open his mouth. But just then, the doors to the Great Hall opened.

The noisy hall suddenly stopped their chattering as they saw the large bubble. Mouths dropped opened.

Albus Dumbledore, who was sitting behind the table, was curious. Happy, but curious. After all, this was a sign of advanced magic. Harry Potter must have done it.

"Who did this?" asked Professor McGonagall sternly.

Harry raised his hands slowly.

"Please put down that…thing of yours now! The ministry uses the time to put tracking spells on the students so that they would keep track of what magic the student uses!"

"Um…sorry?" said Harry awkwardly. He quickly dismissed the bubble away.

Seeing such advanced magic, all eyes turn on him. Harry posed a defensive stance. "What?"

Professor McGonagall, very much surprised at the control of magic the student had, took one second before regaining her stance.

"Please follow me. You're going to be sorted soon."

One by one, the students uncertainly followed her. Looking curiously at the Great Hall, Harry was fascinated at the ceiling.

He heard Hermione whisper, "Its bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat 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'm 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!"

The whole hall burst into applauses the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

Harry was quite surprised. What a weird way to sort people.

/\

A/R: Thanks to all those review!

/\

animeflunky: The Dursley's got a taste of magic!

Fire From Above: I'll change that football thingee when I rewrite it. (If I ever get to it), since I am very lazy. Thanks for the tips!

Angel Xavier: I am very lazy. Please bear with it. :P

Fussbudget: I'm trying to restrain myself with Harry's powers. But right now he only has raw magic. Voldemort has the experience. With the "hideous" thing, I actually meant it as an irony for "muggles" . Think of how Vernon and Petunia would react if they actually had a normal, clean word that was really a spell!

Terris1: Death eaters? They suck. HA! (Please read the note on the very top. It would explain much of my behavior.)

athenakitty: Dumbledore would play as the Grandfather role. I never liked to go deep in fiction as it is fiction, so it'll be quite unrealistic for human behaviors. Like, most people are selfish and only care to tend for themselves. Not in this story! 

King of Vaypouria: Haven't decided it yet. Help?

queer hedwig: Thanks for all the reviews. (Yeah, I know my grammer sucks. Thanks for the tips!)

david9999: I haven't decided which character Harry would be with. But for certainly, it won't be Hermione. Hermione's just like Harry's sister in the series. I mean, eww…(sugar rush, anyways, no offence to H/Hr shippers. I read them too, but I just won't have them like that in this story.)

Serafin982: Soon…

David305: Thanks for all the brilliant tips! I really appreciate the effort you made in writing that long review! (Too bad I can't say the same for me…:P)

To the others who review, thanks again! I read all of them, (twice), so yeah, love ya guys!!

IMPORTANT: Any suggestions in where Harry would be? I personally don't want him in Hufflepuff though.

Review Please!

Jamie