FicWad

Blind Faith

Chapter 5

The month leading up to Harry's leaving for school flew by. The boy buried himself in his books, wading through both a general history of the wizarding Europe as well as 'Hogwarts, a History.' He'd started on the first year course books, but had been forced by Aunt Petunia to start taking breaks after he'd locked himself in his room for an entire week reading.

Harry's attention was also split by an ongoing battle between his aunt and Hedwig. Aunt Petunia had not been exactly pleased, to say the least, when her nephew had shown up late on the night of his birthday with a six-foot feathered and winged snake wrapped about his shoulders. Hagrid, proving that he knew how to Apparate, vanished before the woman could even open her mouth in protest. After being unable to order or cajole the boy into getting rid of the magical snake, she divided her time either chasing it with a broom or removing dead mice from her slippers. If it hadn't been for the distraction created by Dudley, Harry was sure his aunt would have lost all patience and kicked them both out to live in the backyard.

The recovery of Harry's cousin was slow but no less phenomenal. From a boy who'd been comatose just weeks before, he was now able to sit up in a chair unassisted and even take short walks with help. Dudley was also recovering a healthy appetite and was gaining back some badly needed weight, though he was hardly in any danger of becoming the gluttonous pig of a boy that he'd been before the accident

September 1st finally came and found a middle aged woman and two boys waiting at the divide between platforms nine and ten at Kings Cross Station. One boy, a blond in a wheelchair, was obviously bored and spent his time squeezing a rubber ball in his hand. The other, a pale, raven-haired boy with dark glasses and a long white cane was looking at a ticket with his aunt.

"You're sure this is where you're supposed to be?" Petunia asked the boy.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," the boy responded, pointing at the wall. "The entrance is right here."

"Well," she said uncertainly, "if you're sure..." She pulled the boy into a tight hug. "Your mother would be so proud of you..." She pushed him back out to arms length and said quietly, almost to herself, "So many regrets... Run along now, we'll see you at Christmas break. And remember to send that bloody beast at least once a week with a letter." After sharing a final hug with Petunia and ruffling Dudley's hair, the boy turned and pushed his trolley through the barrier between platforms nine and ten, vanishing from view.

The transition to the platform was much similar to entering Diagon Alley a month before. The magic was so strong here that it was somewhat painful, but he vowed to force himself to get used to it; after all, it couldn't get much worse than this, could it? He pushed his trolley towards the huge glowing thing that must be the train and went about trying to find an empty compartment. As he walked, he sensed all kinds of wizards around him. Some were strong, others weak, and, especially among the younger ones like him, he could feel potential untapped and waiting.

As he found the entrance, he heard one boy with particularly strong potential that seemed somehow blocked say, "Gran...I've lost my toad again."

"Oh, Neville," sighed an old woman.

Harry also noticed a group of people about to board while the mother was trying to wipe something off her youngest sons face. "Ron, you've got something on your nose."

"Mom--geroff!"

"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got something on his nose?" This from two separate voices that sounded like one. They were twins, he realized. Their magical signatures, the patterns their sparks wove themselves into that identified him to his inner eye, were almost exactly identical.

Harry smirked to himself and began to try and pull his trunk onto the train, though he was having a time of it. Two of the boys from the group, the twins, came over, and one said, "Need some help?"

"Thanks," the boy replied. They soon had the trunk on the train and in the luggage rack above the seat. Harry had just released the door on Hedwig's pet carrier and turned to thank them again when he was met with a sudden momentary silence.

"Hey, you're not..." one started.

The other finished, "Harry Potter, are you?...But I didn't know you were...oh, sorry!"

Harry smiled, "No, it's alright. Nobody really knows what to say the first time they notice. It happened when I was four. Just don't make a big deal out of it, okay?"

"No problem, mate. So what's in the cage? Not a rat, like little Ronnikins, has is it?"

"No, nothing like that," the boy said with a smile.

"Well mum is going to need us to help load our things; see you in a bit, right?"

Harry held out his hand and shook each of theirs in turn. "Yeah, and thanks again."

After they'd left he settled back and pulled out the potions text. He was giving this more attention than most because he somehow that it would be his most challenging class. Hedwig had settled on top of his trunk near the ceiling. The train started moving and Harry continued reading. He was only a few pages farther into the book when the door opened again, and the twins came in followed by the boy with the dirty nose from outside.

"Mind if I sit here?" the boy asked. "Everywhere else is full." Harry shook his head and put the book away as the other boy sat down. The boy looked at him fixedly for a moment, then quickly out the window, pretending he hadn't been staring.

"Hey, Harry," said one of the twins, "we forgot to introduce ourselves earlier. I'm Fred."

"And I'm George Weasley. That's Ronnie over there, our ickle brother. We're going down the train to see Lee Jordan's giant tarantula. See you in a bit."

None of them but Harry had heard the quiet rustle from above as Hedwig became alerted to the possibility of a nearby meal. The boy made a note to himself to talk to the snake about other people's pets later. After Fred and George, left the two boys sat in silence until the redhead couldn't take it anymore.

"You're really Harry Potter?"

"Yes," the boy said shortly.

"Do you have the...?" The boy started pointing furiously to his own forehead, trying to communicate what he wanted without saying it. Harry could tell what the boy was doing; he could 'see' the boy's motions in his signature but didn't let on.

"I'm sorry, what?"

The redhead jabbed his hand more urgently at his own forehead and whispered, "You know, the /scar/?"

"Oh, right." Harry pulled back his fringe and exposed the scar given to him years before.

"That's it then?" said Ron. "You got that from..."

"Yes," he replied. "But I really don't remember any of it."

"Nothing? Wow if somebody off'd my mum and dad I think I'd never forget it."

Harry flinched at the words from the other boy, who seemed so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed he was being hurtful. Trying to get off the subject of himself, Harry asked, "Your whole family are wizards then?"

"Yeah," Ron replied. "Mum and Dad are of course; Dad works at the Ministry, you know. He's head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office. Anyway, you met the twins, Fred and George Troublemakers; they are always doing pranks. They'll be starting third-year this term. Then there's Percy; he's in his fifth year now. All about rules, he is. I've got two older brothers too, Bill and Charlie. They've already gotten out of school, and my little sister Ginny, she starts next year.

Something squirmed against Ron's stomach, and he pulled something from under his shirt. Harry hadn't noticed it before because its magical signature was weak, but he realized it must be some kind of animal.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's just Scabbers, my pet rat," Ron answered dejectedly. "Kind of pathetic, really."

Harry had seen rats before and, while this had some resemblance to one, he knew that it wasn't what it seemed. He was about to ask further when he heard a shuffling above him again and quickly told Ron to put it away.

"Why?" the redhead asked. "He's been cooped up all day. He needs to stretch his legs."

"Because if you don't, I'm not sure if I can keep my pet from eating him," Harry replied, pointing up. There were lots of times he wished he could still see and this was one of them. Both boy and rat let out almost identical squeals of fear as Hedwig stretched out a little bit and half-spread her wings. The rat was quickly stuffed back under the boy's shirt and wrapped protectively in his arms. The redhead stared in horror as the Coatl slithered down and wrapped itself around Harry's shoulders.

"What the bloody hell is that thing?"

"This?" the boy asked as the snake rubbed its snout against his cheek "It's just Hedwig." Harry whispered something to the small beast, which seemed to actually pull back and nod at the boy. "There, you see? She says she won't eat Scabbers." The dark haired boy cracked a smile, "In fact, she said she wouldn't think of it; the rat's far too old to taste any good."

Just then, they heard a great clattering outside the door. When it opened, a matronly woman asked if they wanted anything off the cart. Ron muttered something about sandwiches but Harry, not having tried any wizard candy before, got a little of everything. They were silent for a bit as the boy struggled with an oddly shaped box that he couldn't seem to get open.

"Not like that," instructed Ron. "Just grab the lid where it says /pull/."

"I don't know where that is," said a frustrated Harry. The other boy came over and took the box from his hand.

"It's right here! What, are you blind?" Ron suddenly became very still as he finally realized the significance of the other boy's dark glasses and the white cane leaning against the bench. "Bloody hell," he exclaimed in a hoarse whisper. "I'm sorry, Harry, I never noticed...it's just that you were acting so normal!"

Harry suddenly stood, grabbing his cane in a white knuckled grip. "I think I should take a walk now... alone."

Harry left the compartment, barely able to keep his hands from shaking in fury. He knew Ron hadn't meant to be hurtful but he was just so sick of people thinking that just because he couldn't see it somehow made him less than other people.

He moved through the train, putting distance between himself and the redhead. Up ahead, he could sense two people approaching: a girl he'd never met before and the boy he sensed before with the hidden potential. The two of them were walking slowly, and the boy was actually down on his knees, obviously searching for something

"Really, Neville, he's got to be here somewhere! Just keep looking!" When Harry reached them, the girl tapped the kneeling boy on the shoulder and helped him up. "Hello," she said "Have you seen...I mean, we're looking for Neville's toad, Trevor. He's disappeared again."

"I haven't run across him," he said, "but if you need help, I'll do what I can."

"Thank you. I'm Hermione Granger and this is Neville Longbottom."

"Pleased to meet you," he replied. "I'm Harry and this," he scratched the Coatl under the chin so it would raise its head from the crook of his neck, "is Hedwig." He felt the same stab of fear come from them that he'd felt with Ron, but this time it was tinged with something else.

"She's... she's beautiful," whispered the girl in awe.

"Well, let's go find your toad," said Harry, and they were off. They went from car to car talking to people and investigating all the dark corners. Their quest also helped Harry in a way he didn't expect; spending time with the other students and talking with them seemed to blunt some of their curiosity. That's not to say that the fact that the Boy-Who-Lived was blind and had a huge feathered snaked on his shoulders didn't attract attention, but maybe if he met and talked to everyone they'd quit watching him and whispering this and that behind his back.

As the search continued for the little toad, Harry relied on his ears and Hedwig's senses, as Trevor was either too small or simply masked out by all of the magical signatures nearby that Harry couldn't find him that way. It was finally the Coatl that found the little toad.

"Master, I taste the scent of a cold-blood on the air. It is near the place we entered. In a smaller cave with odd, nasty smells."

"Hermione," the boy asked, "is there a cupboard or something by the door where we came in?"

Following Harry's words, the girl opened a small cupboard by the door and began rooting around. Shortly thereafter, she pulled back, triumphantly holding up a large toad. "Found him!"

Neville ran up and squeezed the toad to him tightly, making its eyes bug out even farther than normal. Harry had just joined them when a voice called out from the other end of the car.

"Someone said that Harry Potter is on the train...it's you then?"

Turning, Harry recognised the voice of the boy from Madame Malkin's. Draco Malfoy, flanked by two large goons, swept through the car and stopped before the boy. Malfoy was acting cocky and obnoxious, obviously showboating for his two bodyguards and his schoolmates. "Never did get to tell me your name the other day. This is Crabbe and Goyle, friends of mine." Harry cocked his head to the side as both boys nodded rather than spoke. Looking a bit flustered, Draco elbowed them both sharply. After their muttered greetings, the blond turned his attention to Harry's two new friends. "Who's this then? Longbottom I recognise. But you..." he said to Hermione. "Who are your parents?

"They're Muggles, not part of the wizarding world."

"Muggles?" Turning to Harry, Draco sneered nastily and said, "Really Potter... hanging out with a Mudblood? You should know that some wizard families are better than others and you don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort." The boy put out his hand. "I can help you with that."

"I think I can tell the wrong sort for my self, thanks," said Harry. The blond boy began to pull his hand back as his ears turned pink with anger and embarrassment. Harry quickly reached out and grabbed it before it before the other boy could pull away and said, "Granger and Longbottom are my friends, and if you'd get your head out of your arse, I'd like you as a friend too."

Crabbe and Goyle had started towards the blind boy when he'd grabbed their leader, but when Hedwig rose up on the boy's shoulder and spread her wings, the two goons turned white as ghosts and ran as if their lives depended on it. Draco stood before the boy, mouth agape, as the beautiful and deadly creature regarded him.

"I...err...I'll see you later Potter." The boy left, not quite as angry as before, but a little bit fearful as well.

Harry led Hermione and Neville back to his compartment where Ron was noticeably absent They sat and talked about Hogwarts and the coming school year until one of the prefects came and told them to put on their robes. Harry dressed, and shortly after that they pulled into the station. As they disembarked, he had to repeatedly ask several people not to help him as he got off the train.

"C'mon, follow me --- any more firs' years? Mind yer step now!" Gathering with the rest of the first years around Hagrid, they all began to walk down a narrow, dark path. Harry was in his element. While the other children were having trouble keeping their feet, the one boy experienced at walking in the darkness found it quite easy. Now if he could just get rid of the nagging headache that was creeping up on him...

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder "Jus' round this bend here..."

Harry suddenly clutched his head as he rounded the turn. It was too much, too bright... and then he fell into an even deeper blackness.