First Year Begins

A/N: Okay, here we are with a new chapter. I am thinking about what exactly I can do to make this original so that the canon will be more bearable. I wish to thank shouldabeenadog for all of the insight he has given me but there are some things that I will not change though I do not know which will be.

To stop the debate before it advances any further, Ginny is not being bashed in this story. Do not ask me why I gave the point deduction, it will all be revealed as the story progresses. In fact, the only character that will actually get bashed is Ron because, in my opinion, Ms. Rowling screwed up with the way she quickly changed his character. Ron has a history of jealousy and not being reliable.

To let you all know, this story will have a main crossover that will occur either in the summer after his second year or during the summer after his third year.

My belief of canon for the first few books is a mix of the books, the movies, and the games. Sometime the books hit points that the movie didn't or showed the things happening at a different time than they did originally. The movies focus almost mainly on Harry, Hermione, and Ron that most other characters a pushed out of the way. Like in the first book, Ron wasn't the first one to learn who Harry was, it was the twins and I had actually forgotten that until I was listening to the audiobook while writing this chapter.

Let me say right now that some things will be AU, there are parts that may seem like there is no way could have happened but you will see in my story that the tiniest of actions can cause other things to go haywire or happen like you would never believe to happen.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

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Today was the day that Harry had waited the past month for, today was September 1st and the day that he would return to Hogwarts. While Harry was happy to return to the place he had always seen as his true home, he was anxious and nervous about returning. Would all of the students be there like in his first year? Would the teachers be the same? Would Quirrell still be possessed by Voldemort? Would the Philosopher's Stone still be entrusted to Hogwarts? All of these factors that had caused his first year to be what it was added onto each other, if even one was missing...he could only hope that he was thinking too much.

Harry "equipped" his Holly-Phoenix Feather wand as well as a wand holster that went onto his wrist, allowing him access to his wand quicker and keeping it ready to be drawn at any moment. Harry shrank his pewter cauldron, his scales, and the rest of his trunk, one that had an expansion charm and a multi-compartment charm, and grabbed his Moleskin pouch before heading downstairs to the pub section of The Leaky Cauldron. After a quick breakfast, Tom Apparated him and Harry to King's Cross and left him just as quickly. It seemed that he was earlier than he was before as he didn't see any of the Weasleys but he did see a bushy-haired brunette with an older brunette that looked just like her but with straight hair as well as an older man. 'Hermione...' Harry walked over to the three as casually as possible and at Mr. Granger's wondering of "Where the hell is this Platform 9 ¾?", he made his move. "Excuse me, are you going to Hogwarts as well?"

The taller man turned around and saw a boy around the age of his daughter. "My daughter is, yes. I am Dan Granger, this is my wife Emma and our daughter Hermione. You wouldn't happen to know where the platform is, do you?" Inside, the man was nervous about the entire ordeal with his only daughter going away to a school all the way out in Scotland and her becoming a part of an entirely different community.

Harry nodded. "Sure I do. My name is Harry. Just follow me, Hermione." Harry, while trying to hide it, had a look of pure happiness that reflected in his emerald eyes. The young girl looked to her parents about to ask for permission but her parents cut her off by waving for her to follow the boy. Hermione said her goodbyes to her parents and went after Harry.

Harry guided her to the correct column between the two platforms. "This column here is the barrier that leads to Platform 9 ¾. It may seem a little scary but you have to take your cart and run through the barrier to get passed it. Now, just follow me." With that, Harry grabbed his cart and ran through the barrier. The sight of the Hogwarts Express brought him back to the memories of the damage that had been done to it during the war against Voldemort be he had to push the thoughts aside as he remembered that Hermione was about to pass through the barrier right behind him and, if he didn't move soon, crash right into him. Needless to say, Harry was a few seconds from being rammed in the back as Hermione barreled through the barrier much faster than he had his first time and needed a bit of help in stopping herself and her cart as the momentum started to pull her after she stopped running.

"Wow...so this is the Hogwarts Express? This is amazing! Harry, this is just so unbelievable!" Hermione was exploding with awe at what she was seeing and Harry was happy to see this side of her. Whenever Hermione got the chance to experience or learn something new, she simply becomes so focused on doing so that everything around ceases to exist to her.

"Hermione, if we don't get on the train it will leave us behind and we will have to wait an entire year to go to Hogwarts, if we are even allowed to go after missing a year." Harry knew he was being a bit mean in crushing the girl's excitement but without a watch or knowing the proper incantation and wand movement for a Time spell, he had to make sure that they both got on the train as soon as they could. Harry helped Hermione get her items onto the train and the two chose a compartment. It wasn't too long before the whistle of the train sounded, alerting all of the passengers to the beginning of the train's departure.

As soon as the two chose a compartment, Harry relaxed on one side and Hermione on the other. "I think I should re-introduce myself. I am Hermione Grange, it's nice to meet you." Hermione had the same smile that Harry remembered from before Voldemort's return, after then it was rare to ever see Hermione smiling.

Harry took a breath, knowing that he would have to set a few things straight after introducing himself due to Hermione's reliance on books and the fact that nearly everything written about him was completely false. "I am Harry Potter. It is nice to meet you as well, Hermione." Just as Harry expected, Hermione's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to begin her long explanation about how she had read books about him.

"You're Harry POTTER? I've read" That was where Harry gently cut her off by placing a finger on her lips.

"Now hold on Hermione, I know that there are books about me but you have to understand that none of them are accurate. No one knows exactly what happened that night nor has anyone ever talked to me about that night to get my side of the story." Harry tried to be as gentle as possible but he had high hopes in Hermione's logical mind.

Hermione's ire had begun to rise as soon as Harry placed his finger on her lips in order to silence her but, as he explained, her mind went to work. 'It does make sense. The only people who would really know what happened that night are You-Know-Who and Harry. The prior couldn't since he died that night and Harry just said that he hasn't told anyone. Also there is the fact that none of the books that talk about Harry's growing up describe him as he is now, in fact, they all tend to depict him as some sort of Man-Among-Men yet he is just a normal boy that is around my age.' Hermione gave Harry a soft nod. "I guess it makes sense but why would the publishers let something so fictional be considered fact?"

Harry smiled at Hermione's deduction skills, it was just like her to wonder about the hard questions. "I honestly don't know, the only idea that I can come up with is that they hoped to jump on the Boy-Who-Lived bandwagon in order to make a quick Galleon in the hysteria that followed Voldemort's fall."

The two seemed very comfortable around each other, Harry because he knew Hermione before but Hermione was starting to see Harry as someone that she could talk to. He had helped her for no other reason than he could, not expecting something in return, and he seemed to be able to handle her intelligence unlike that children she had gone to school with in the Muggle world. 'Maybe...just maybe I can make friends at Hogwarts. Maybe they will see me for who I am and not insult me for my intelligence. Maybe Harry would be my friend...'

A majority of the trip on the Hogwarts Express was just spent talking as the two talked about some of the spells that they had read about and a little bit about their pasts. While neither went to in depth, they got a feeling for each other and Harry was a little ashamed about the fact that this was one of the few times that he had ever just sat down with Hermione and talked just for the sake of learning more about her and not turning for her help when he needed something or help with his homework. 'How could I have been so stupid and so selfish. I promise Hermione, I will be a better friend to you this time around.' "Don't worry Hermione, I may not know much more about the Wizarding world but I will be there whenever you need some help. You can count on me, I always help my friends."

Hermione gained a shocked look on her face at Harry's words and tears began to fall from her eyes, not tears of sadness but ones of happiness. "Th-Thank you, Harry. You're my friend too..."

A tune entered Harry's ears as the world paused around him. The soft aria that echoed into his ears seemed to lull him into a sense of ease.

Thou hast created a new bond...

It brings you closer to your destiny...

May this bond grow to fruition...

Social Link: The Bookworm

Social Links: Social Links are bonds that are formed with people close to the player. These allow for more interactions with the person and also can reveal secrets that the player would not discover on his own.

Befriend Hermione: +35 experience

Social Links? What else was this life going to reveal to him as he progressed? Harry was pulled from his thoughts as he heard the compartment door slide open. "Would you mind if I sat in here, all of the other compartments are full." Harry looked towards the door to see a young Ron Weasley, Harry had actually almost forgotten about him since he had been so focused on Hermione that he had forgotten that they had met on the ride to Hogwarts. Getting a nod from Harry and Hermione, Ron sat down next to Harry. "Ron Weasley 's the name and this is my pet rat, Scabbers."

"Hermione Granger."

"Harry Potter."

Ron looked over to the boy beside him. "Harry Potter! ...Is it true that you have that...scar?"

Harry did his best to hide his annoyance, what was it with people and their obsession with his scar. Couldn't they keep out of his business...stupid question, the Wizarding world seemed to revolve around his business, be it good or bad, true or false. "Yes, I have a bloody scar. You happy?" Harry knew Ron didn't know better but it still annoyed him a bit. Back when he had met Ron the first time, he had never experience what his "fame" caused him, so he didn't mind showing Ron his scar back then. After cooling down a little, Harry let out a sigh. "Look, I'm sorry but I am annoyed with people reminding me of that night. This scar is a constant reminder that I will never get to see my parents again so I take these kind of things a bit personally." Hopefully Ron would be different this time around, Harry really didn't want to deal with Ron's jealousy and short temper.

The rest of the trip to Hogwarts was quiet due to Harry's earlier outburst with Ron sending brief glances at Harry that were half fearful and half apologetic while Hermione was confused by the red-headed boy's question to Harry. Why would someone be so interested in seeing Harry's scar? From what she could figure from the little Harry had told her about that night and from reading a bit about it in books, a normal person that knew the story behind that scar would have the discretion to avoid asking about it but here this boy was asking about the scar like it was of no consequence.

During the remaining time of the ride on the Hogwarts Express, Harry had been reflecting on Ron and how he had reacted. To tell the truth, he was still a bit annoyed by Ron's complete lack of tact but that was Ron but that still didn't change that, even though this Ron hadn't done them yet, he had shown that he wasn't the most dependable. In truth, Harry was bearing Ron at the moment simply because it gave him a better chance to get Pettigrew and maybe clear Sirius' name and get him out of Azkaban without having him need to escape.

Sirius... That was another thing Harry had to think about, something that had slipped his mind until just now when he was reminded of Pettigrew and, inside is attempted barrier from emotions, he felt ashamed of himself for forgetting Sirius. He was the only family that he had left and had spent the past ten years in a cell in Azkaban for a crime that he was not only innocent of but had been denied his right of a trial to prove said innocence. But Harry knew that he had to harden his heart if he was to fix everything...but wasn't Sirius' imprisonment something that deserved to be fixed? Harry knew that deep down he would do everything that he could to save Sirius but there were two questions that needed to be properly answered first and that was when and how he was going to save Sirius. If he did it too soon, any evidence he could bring up would probably be disregarded due to his appearance and if he tried to free Sirius with any other evidence than Pettigrew himself, the rat would escape and he would be near impossible to find.

It wasn't long before the Hogwarts Express finally made it's stop at the Hogsmead Station. It was a beautiful night out, just as Harry remembered, and it was made even better by the sight of one of Harry's first acquaintances in the Wizarding world, Rubeus Hagrid. "Firs'-years, Firs'-years follow me." Harry had to stay quiet since he had yet to meet Hagrid this time around so he just kept his head down as he got into the same boat as Hermione and two other first years, Harry didn't really bother to try and remember who they were as he had other things on his mind at the time. Harry looked up at the castle that was getting closer to him, Hogwarts, the place he had seen as his home and had been mostly destroyed after the war. A single tear flowed down Harry's cheek as he looked at the castle. 'I'm home...'

As Hagrid opened the large door to the castle and led the group of first year students into the foyer of the large castle until they reached another set of large doors. "Well,wait 'ere til McGonagall comes fer ya." With that Hagrid left the children to themselves. A certain blonde student saw this as his chance to speak with Harry. "So I see its true, Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts. I am Draco Malfoy, heir of the House of Malfoy, and I wish to extend hands of friendship with the heir of the House of Potter."

Draco...being civil, even friendly? Maybe because he did meet Draco in Madam Malkin's or on the train? Maybe because the two were talking alone? Harry honestly had no idea but the way that Draco worded his statement he had a meaning behind it, it had a seeming of importance with the way it was said. Well, time to use some of the political shit that his dad had talked about. "I am Harry Potter, heir of the House of Potter. I apologize heir Malfoy for not knowing the appropriate response to your offer. I have not been part of our world for more than a month so I do not have the experience or knowledge that one having been raised in our world, such as yourself, would have. If you are asking for my friendship, heir Malfoy, then I would be glad to have yet another friend."

Draco had a look of surprise on his face before it slipped to a smile. A smile on Draco's face, not a smirk or a sneer but and honest smile, surprised Harry a bit. "Heir Potter there is no need to apologize, and my friends call me Draco. I wouldn't mind being your friend either."

Harry could feel the atmosphere around the two change totally from that of importance to one of casualness. "And mine call me Harry. I'm sorry I'm not very knowledgeable about traditions, what little I have of my parents doesn't explain much and the people I grew up with had no idea so there was no help from them."

Draco let out a small chuckle, not the one Harry remembered after the boy had insulted someone but a heartfelt chuckle, if anything this eased Harry more. The world went to gray as the same aria filled his ears.

Thou hast created a new bond...

It brings you closer to your destiny...

May this bond grow to fruition...

Social Link: The Faith

Befriended Draco: +3 Charisma, +1 Luck

Another Social Link, and with Draco this time? Harry could only wonder how many he would have by the end of the year with the way things were going.

"Don't worry too much, Harry. I'll do what I can to help you out with things, its the least I could do for my friends." Draco was seeming a lot different when he was both away from Crabbe and Goyle and away from Harry's friends. Maybe...just maybe he could prove to be a good friend this time around. This of course got him thinking about the people that had been his friends his first time around. In truth, he had only two friends that he spent time with back then but there were some many other people that became important to him that they could have easily become friends if he had stopped to relax once in a while.

At the moment, the group of ghosts came into the room. It was the same conversation that the four house ghost were having about Peeves that they had when he first came to Hogwarts. Moments later, the large door opened to reveal Minerva McGonagall. The woman scanned the crowd of children and gave Harry a short smile when their eyes met. "Form a line and follow me." McGonagall lead all of the children, Harry included, into the Great Hall where they were ushered up the middle between two tables. The Great Hall was very grandiose with four long table perpendicular to each other where the students sat as well as a fifth table at the end of the hall where the teachers sat. The ceiling, he remembered Hermione telling him, was spelled to reflect the outside sky.

Harry watched as McGonagall walked over to a stool in from for the Teachers' Table and set an old hat on the stool. Harry had moved so that he was by Hermione and they could here Ron complaining about how his brothers had tricked him into thinking that he would need to fight a troll to be sorted. "Heh, like they would have first years fight a level four Magical Beast for a sorting." Harry could here Hermione's giggle from his comment and that left a small smile on his lips.

The Sorting Hat soon began it's yearly song as it touched the stool. It was the same as Harry remembered in his past but really, with the way things were going, how many things would be the same or even similar with all the differences that were happening. He was reminded of one of the things he learned of Hermione after their Third Year involving the Time Turner. She had told him about several of the theoretical problems with true time travel, the Butterfly Effect. The Butterfly Effect stated that on one side of the world a butterfly flaps it's wings and causes a tornado on the opposite side. Simply stated, it meant that small differences could spiral into problems of monstrous proportions. From the way things were going, any information that he had of the future would soon be useless but...wasn't that what he wanted? Harry wanted to use this second chance to change how things had happened, to change the hell that his life had become.

Pushing away his thoughts, Harry's attention was caught when McGonagall called Draco Malfoy to the stool. Against what he remembered, the hat actually stayed on Draco's head for several moment before announcing him to be a Slytherin. This was a big change as the last time, the Sorting Hat hadn't even touched Draco's head before sorting him into Slytherin. Harry could only wonder if his simple talk with Draco before the sorting had changed this. His attention was yet again shifted when he head McGonagall call his name. 'I need to stop doing that or who knows what I'll miss.'

As Harry walked to the stool where the Sorting Hat sat, he could feel all of the eyes that had been focused on him after his name had been called. All of the staring eyes and whispering grated on Harry's nerves yet none of it was shown on his face, it was as if emotions simply refused to reach the surface for his but simply grew inside him.

As Harry sat on the stool, moments before the hat was to be placed on his head, he had a worry. 'What if the Sorting Hat finds out...' He wasn't able to finish his thought as the Sorting Hat came to rest on his head.

"Hmm,...Difficult. Very difficult. There is courage with this one as well as loyalty. Not a bad mind either, not bad at all. You have ambition and drive as well as talent in spades and a healthy thirst to prove yourself. Difficult to choose where to put you. Hmm, you wish to protect those around you...an admirable goal and one that should be allowed to succeed. Gryffindor!"

Harry had a small smile on his lips as he walked over to the Gryffindor table, the cries of "We got Potter" from the Weasley twins filling his ears and filling him with happiness as the last time he had seen the twins, one was dead and the other seemed like his will to live on was gone. Harry sat down next to Hermione and one of the Weasley twins, it was always difficult to tell which was which without hearing their voices.

As Harry focused his sight on the teacher's table and noticed that Quirrell was there. 'Looks like there are some things that are still the same but...' There was something that didn't sit right with Harry but he couldn't place exactly what it was. The rest of the feast what the same as before along with Dumbledore's warning about the third floor corridor, which meant that the Philosopher's Stone was once again within Hogwarts' walls.

When Harry arrived in the common room of the Gryffindor dorm, he was surprised to see another another glowing blue book that seemed to escape everyone's notice and a few even walked through the Save Point as if it wasn't there. As Harry walked by it, he let his hand touch it and let his progress be saved. He moved with the rest of the boys his year up to the dormitories and called it a day.

As Harry woke up, he saw that he was not in his dorm room but some where else entirely different.

Welcome to the Room of Fate. The Room of Fate is a place that you visit sometimes when you fall asleep in Hogwarts. While sleeping, secrets of Hogwarts may present themselves to you or it may be something different entirely, it is almost never the same between visits as there are always new secrets. In the Room of Fate, time is paused until you wake up and you will be immune to Legilimency as long as you are sleeping. You may store potions and ingredients here that would normally go bad after a certain time and they will be kept fresh. The Room of Fate is linked to the Room of Requirement and only you or your party with you may access it.

Harry could definitely see how this could be useful, there were several time when he could think of needing this if only for an extra chance to plan. As he looked around the room he could see several different things such as a few cases that he assumed were for items and ingredients, a rack to place potions on if he had too many or ones that had an expiration, an empty bookcase, several racks against the wall for holding...something, and several couches and chairs. As Harry finished his look around the room, he decided to head for the door an leave. Once he hit the door, he woke up.

Harry walked through the hallway as he headed down to the dungeons for the first class of the year: Potions with the Slytherins. Seemed like the class schedule was a little different than it was before. Walking the halls began to raise Harry's annoyance as the whispering seemed to be about him as he walked by, couldn't they just relax for once? It was especially annoying that he had to see Snape first thing in the morning.

As Harry walked into Potions class he noticed that things were the same, again. Each student was at a desk and the professor, not that he deserved the title, had yet to show up. A minute until class began, the doors to the classroom opened up and in came Snape, his cloak billowing behind him like a cape of some muggle hero from the comic books. "Settle down, there will be no silly wand waving in this class. In this class I will teach you the subtle art of potion making, is you are not too thick to understand the lessons. I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory, even...stopper death."The man had always been full of himself as Harry remembered but at least he was truly that good when it came to being a potion master and, while there were surely other potion masters as good as him if not better, none were currently available to teach as Hogwarts or able to since Dumbledore had cemented Snape's position.

Snape turned his way and Harry racked his brain for what to do with the questioning he remembered Snape giving him the first time around but...it never came. Instead, Snape simply glared at him and put the class straight to brewing. It was a simple brew to cure boils but, as he remembered from Neville's experience, was easily ruined with consequences. Harry was brewing his potion when from the corner of his eye he saw something flying at him. Whatever it was it landed in his potion, causing the liquid to glow a bright right. "Potter! Get away from the-" Harry could see a look of urgency on Snape's face but everything was happening too fast. The next thing Harry knew was pain as the cauldron he was using exploded. While the explosion itself wasn't that dangerous, the shrapnel from the cauldron pierced through Harry's body.

'After my second chance...I die in a potion accident?' The world went black with the words Game Over in red above Harry. As quick as the pain hit Harry, it disappeared with his life. "DAMN IT! WHO THE BLOODY HELL WOULD THROW SOMETHING INTO MY FUCKING CAULDRON SO FUCKING EARLY, I HAVEN'T EVEN HAD A CHANCE TO INSULT ANYONE YET!" Harry tried to calm down, he had yet to really experience any emotions of this level until now and he wondered why that was. Sure, nothing had been this bad yet but he sit was able to feel some emotion at the time when the things happened. Harry loaded his last save and appeared in the Gryffindor common room just after the feast. 'I need to keep my full attention on what is going on.'

This time in Snape's class, Harry sat near Draco and was partnered with him to do the potion. Harry figured that who ever had thrown the object before would be less willing with him being partnered with Draco as his partner and, even if they did, Harry no longer was letting his guard down so his trained Seeker abilities would a catch the object before it landed in the cauldron. "Your not too bad at this, Harry. Have you ever made potions before?" Draco was much kinder to him this time around, Harry attributed it to the sort of friendship they had formed.

"A little, I've done a few elixirs to help if I got injured before term started." It seemed like he may be able to keep Draco from being too influenced by Lucius.

The class ended with Harry actually receiving a decent grade to his surprise. "Lets see which class is next..."

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And there is the end of the chapter. I am still looking for new perks but know that some of them may be turned into Abilities that simply are gained at a certain level. I am using a system I call ASP (Abilities, Spells, Perks).

For those that are wondering about the Room of Fate, this is not some super powerful room. It is comparable to the Guild Room in Fable 3 where items can be stored, weapons changed, etc. Concerns about this chapter will be mentioned in the next.

End of the chapter

Level 2

Experience points: 135

Health: 246

Mana: 223

Strength: 12

Perception: 14

Endurance: 16

Charisma: 26

Intelligence: 21

Agility: 23

Luck: 12