Hate to say it, but this chapter was a bit disappointing. I can understand having to stay so close to canon for most of it, since Hagrid is essentially guiding Harry in both cases, but I really didn't like that your only departures from canon involved affirming the same old friendships. I like AU stories because they're different from canon, the more changes the better. Now we've got a Harry who's somewhat better off than he was with the same old Ron and Hermione. I don't hate their characters, but I was hoping for a bit more variety from you.
Still looking forward to reading more, for the record.