FicWad

Disclaimer: This is fan fiction people. We own none of this stuff. A/N: I am looking for a beta to do a little proof-reading for me. Any volunteers,just leave your name in the comments and I will get back to you. ..oo00[][]00oo../Chapter 1/

Our story starts late on a dark night in a normal suburban home. Well the Dursleys, a family of three, wanted to believe it was normal. However, it was far from normal, because of the one additional occupant, a boy of 11.

This boy goes by the name of Harry Potter. What makes this boy so odd is that he is a wizard, who even for a wizard is odd.

Until recently, he never new he was a wizard. Thanks to Hagrid, he now knows he is a wizard and is going to be going to a school to learn this craft.

Harry sat at the rickety desk in the room reading over his new textbooks. He decided that he wanted to try an experiment with his newfound abilities so he picks up his wand and flicks it at his bed getting ready to say the spell from the book concentrating on changing it just like the book said he could. The bed began to glow and change. When the glowing suddenly stopped his old run down twin bed was gone and was replaced by an elegant queen sized bed.

Harry excitedly sat in his chair and reflected on what he learned from this experiment. 'I didn't use a spell from the book, but it worked the way I wanted it to. What does this mean…? It must mean that the words and wand movements aren’t the only way to do magic.'

Harry looked over at his new bed. It was pushed up against the wall and pushed against the side of the desk. 'The bedroom doesn't have enough space to have such a large bed in it,' he thought to himself. Just as he was about to raise his wand to make asmaller bed an idea struck him, ‘Diagon Alley! How do they get such a large place in such a small alley in central London? Space must not mean the same thing to wizards as it does to muggles. I wonder if I can make my room larger then.’

With a flick of his wand, the room expanded to three times its original size. “Yes!” With a room, this size and a little magic Harry could fix it up to just the way he liked it.

Harry proceeded to go around the room and changed his desk, his wardrobe and many of the other things in his room to the way he wanted them. After he got his room situated the way he wanted he laid down upon his bed welcoming sleep, however just like when he lived in his cupboard the haunting shadows reach for him and he was surrounded by the familiar darkness.

Realizing that this may be some type of magic, since shadows do not move on their own he set aside his fear and let himself explore the darkness surrounding him. Harry got off the bed and walked around the room. He pulled open his new wardrobe, gazed into the mirror, and suffered a shock.

He wasn’t there. All there was in the mirror was dark shadows. Determined to discover what had happened to him. He paced the room thinking to himself not noticing that he was gliding over the bed and other things spaced around the room. Finial, he focused on his movements and realized that he was moving as a dark cloud not really touching anything and moving wherever he pleased. He tried to move up the wall and discover that he could indeed move anywhere a shadow was cast.

Harry zoomed around the room having fun flying over and under everything, he could. As he returned to the floor, he started to panic. How was he to turn this new development off? He couldn’t be a shadow for the rest of his life, how was he to go to Hogwarts and learn magic. As panic was getting a firm hold on his mind, he looked down at his feet and noticed they were back on the floor. Quickly he returned to the wardrobe to discover he was there again. As he stared at his reflection and concentrated on the feeling of being a shadow. He watched himself fade into the darkness and when he willed himself to be normal again. He faded back. ‘So Ican just go from one form to the other on a whim, Excellent!’ he thought to himself.‘Just one last thing to try.’

He walked over to the light switch, turned on his overhead light, and then concentrated on being a shadow. He suddenly found himself on the floor in pain. ‘So I can only move in the darkness otherwise, PAIN. Good to know.’

Mentally exhausted he turned off the lights and crawled into bed determined to study more of his magic over the next four weeks before school started.

Over the following days, he would read his texted books during the day trying out spells and the like, and at night, he would play in the shadows.

He quickly discovered that he could do all the spells in his transfiguration, charms, and defence against the dark arts books. Not wanting to waste his limited potion ingredients, he did not try to brew anything but memorized the many potions and concoctions, studying closely the things he wanted to try when he got to Hogwarts and had more supplies. Frustrated with having learned all he could from his books was determent to find more to learn and read. If only he could get back to Diagon Alley and Flourish and Blotts to buy more books.

The answer was discovered late that night while playing with the shadows. He was in his room moving around aimlessly as ashadow trying to think of a way to get to Diagon Alley when his stomach started to growl. The Dursleys never fed him well but he could sneak out at night and raid the cupboards and refrigerator for food as long as he did not take to much food. He had discovered earlier in the week that he could not conjure food so he had to make a food run. Thinking hard about using his powers to creep under the door and down to the kitchen to knick some food he suddenly found himself in the kitchen looking at the cupboards. With a devilish grin, he returned to normal grabbed a bit of food, turned back to a shadow, and concentrated on returning to his room. After eating his snacks, he played with his new form of travel. He realized that all he needed to do was focus on where he wanted to be while he was a shadow and he would instantly be there in the nearest shadow. He popped back and forth from the neighbourhood park a few times when he realized that he could use this to travel to Diagon Alley. He looked at his clock and realized that it was a little past midnight and the shops would not open until 9 o’clock, so he set his alarm for 5 o’clock and lay down for a bit of rest. When his alarm woke him a few hours later, he changed to a shadow and concentrated on the outside of the Leaky Cauldron.

When he arrived, he quickly returned to normal and entered the pub. Tom the bar man was behind the bar cleaning glasses. Giving Tom a nod of the head and receiving a toothless grin in response, he exited the back of the bar and proceeded to enter Diagon Alley. Harry quickly walked up the street trying to avoid the few late night patrons hanging around in the alley. When he reached Gringotts, he noted that they were open so he decided to make a quick stop to his vault. When he entered noting that only one teller was open and had a bit of a line. However, he saw a group of goblins in a heated discussion, one of the goblins he recognized as Griphook who had assisted Hagrid and him to his vault on his birthday. Harry quickly walked over to the goblins and said, “Hi, Griphook how are you this morning.”

The Goblins looked up to see who was talking to them, a few of the patrons in the queue also turned to see the boy talking with the goblins. “Sir?” Griphook said cautiously.

“Do you not remember me, Griphook? I am Harry Potter you showed me to my trust vault about a weeks ago, I came with Hagrid.”

“Yes sir I remember you what can I do for you Sir?”the goblin said formally with an odd expression on his face.

“Well for starters you can call me Harry instead of Sir, and I was wondering if there was a way to skip over the queue and get into my vault.”

“Yes Sir, do you have your key?”

“I do Griphook, and please call me Harry.”

“Well then, Harry, if you would follow me.” Griphook led Harry through a door, boarded acart, and set off down the track at hi speeds. The breakneck turns were as enjoyable this time as they were the last. When Harry and Griphook exited the cart, Harry had a broad grin on his face.

“Does that every get old, riding the carts like that?” he asked rhetorically.

The goblin laughed, “No, to those who truly enjoy the ride, it never gets old. Some times late at night or in the early hours you can hear Gringott himself riding around laughing. Here is your vault Sir, if Icould have your key please.”

Harry handed over his key and Griphook examined it for a moment then walked up to the door and opened it for Harry. “I have a question for you Griphook. How much gold would I need if I were to buy all of my Hogwarts school books at one time?”

“I would say about 300 Galleons, would cover all your books for the remaining six years that you have not yet purchased.”

“That leads me to ask two more questions. Will Ihave enough in here to do that and since my money bag will not hold that much is there some way I can get one that will?”

The goblin responded most formally, “Sir your vault will hardly notice the withdrawal of one hundred times as much gold. Also all Gringotts’ moneybags are enchanted to expand to accommodate any amount of money one wishes.”

“Well in that case I will take out 400 Galleons, so that if I find any other books I want, I can get them as well.”

As Harry and Griphook were returning to the cart they heard a loud laughing and the sound of a cart approaching. Coming around the corner was a cart with only asingle goblin in it laughing and having a grand ol’ time. The cart keep up speed as it approached Harry and Griphook’s cart. At the last possible second, the cart stopped narrowly avoiding crashing into the other cart.

The occupant of the cart was a very old looking goblin, Harry thought this goblin looked as if he could have been around since the opening of the bank. The goblin hopped out of the cart with the speed and vigour of much younger goblin. As he approached the pair he said, “Griphook, who is this smart young lad you are escorting here?”

“My name is Harry Potter, Sir,”Harry responded.

The goblins eyes snapped to Griphook in a look of shock and then returned to Harry. “Harry Potter, The Harry Potter?”

“I do not know about The Harry Potter. I venture a guess that there have been other children named Harry Potter before, but I am aHarry Potter,”Harry responded with a grin.

“Indeed, lad, there have been children named Harry Potter, but none as famous as you, lad. Let me introduce myself. I am Gringott.”

“The Gringott?”Harry said astonished.

“Yes indeed The Gringott,” he said with a chuckle.“I am the founder of this bank.”

“Wow! It is a pleasure to meet you,”Harry said as he extended his hand to the goblin. Gringott shared another look with Griphook before he took Harry’s hand and shook it.

“How is business going for you?” Gringott asked of Harry.

“Fine, Sir. I just came down to get some money so Icould buy a couple extra books at Flourish and Blott’s.”

“Ah, well since you are heading back up would you care to go the more ‘/scenic/’ way.”

“Yes, Sir, I would love to,”Harry responded immediately.

“No, Sir, I do not enjoy the ‘/scenic/’ tour as much as you do, Sir,” Griphook responded.

“Well then Harry care to join me?” Gringott asked as he hurried back into his cart and Griphook got in to his and left. Harry did not have to be asked twice. He quickly took up the seat next to Gringott and the cart rocketed away as soon as Griphook was out of the way.

The ride was amazing they seemed to go on for hours yet it still was not enough. They journeyed to the very depths of the bank as Harry watched the vaults number get smaller and smaller as they rocked around corners and over steep drops laughing and screaming in excitement.

Much later Gringott and Harry returned to the bank lobby and exited the cart with wide grins on their faces. As they made their way back to the entrance Harry said, “Griphook was right, Sir. That never gets old; I could ride that all day and still want to go again.”

“I as well Harry, and please call me Gringott, and the only draw back to riding the carts is after awhile your eyes start to hurt from the wind in your face. But none the less if you are ever in the bank again and want another tour just ask for me and we can go for a ride.”

“Sure thing Gringott. Until next time,”Harry said with a smile while many of the patrons looked at Harry in astonishment.

As Harry exited the bank, he noted that the sun was now up however the shops were not opened yet. Harry slowly made his way back to the Leaky Cauldron to wait for the shops to open. As he entered the pub he looked at the clock on the wall it was just a little after 7 o’clock, he had spent almost two hours in the bank. As he sat down at a table, Tom shuffled over to him and asked if he could get him anything to eat or drink. Harry ordered a small breakfast plate and also got the paper to read while he past the time.

The story that took up most of the front pages was about a break-in at Gringotts. It turns out that someone tried to break-in to vault 713 the same day that Hagrid had emptied it. Harry was happy that Hagrid was lucky enough to have emptied it before it could get broken into. ‘What ever was in that vault that Hagrid took must have been very valuable if someone tried to steal it. Hagrid must be a really important guy if he was trusted with the duty of retrieving what ever was in there,’Harry thought to himself.

At a little after 9 o’clock, Harry paid his tab and entered the alley again making his way slowly to the bookshop. Just before the bookshop, Harry saw adisplay in a shop called Quality Quidditch Supplies. The display was of a mannequin with a pair a goggles and other clothing. Harry got an idea, entered the store, and found a clerk. “Sir, the goggles you have on display will they fit a goblin?”

The clerk looked at him in confusion, “I suppose they would but why do you ask?”

“Well I have a goblin friend who could use a pair.”

“You have a friend that is a goblin?” the clerk asked arrogantly.

“Yes, I do. He is a very powerful goblin at the bank. Now how much are those goggles and can you gift-wrap them?”

“3 Galleons and yes we can gift-wrap them.”

“Good, can I write a note with them?”Harry said as he handed over the Galleons.

“Sure,” the clerk said as he handed Harry a piece of parchment and quill as he hurried off to get the goggles and wrapping paper.

Gringott

I saw these in the store and figured they would make your ‘tours’ of the bank easier. I hope they fit the clerk here at the store seams to be a bit of an idiot. Thanks again for the tour.

Harry

Harry folded the note and gave it to the clerk to place in the wrapped package. He then took the package and on the tag wrote so the clerk could see, Gringott. The clerk just gaped at Harry as he left the store and made his way to Flourish and Blott’s.

When he entered the story a thin whisp of a man came bustling over to him and declared, “Hogwarts, first year,” and turned away.

“Wait!”Harry had to shout at the man and he turned around to look at the boy in front of him. “I already have my first year books. I was hoping that I could get my books for all the years.”

“Well,” the man glared at him, “I could sell you the basic books, Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Potions, History of Magic, Astronomy, and Herbology, but after that there are elective classes in your third year.”

“What are the electives that I can choose from?”

“Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, Divination, and Muggle Studies.”

“Well I grew up with muggles so I do not need that one. What are Ancient Runes and Arithmancy?”

“Well the Ancient Runes are used to protect and ward places. While Arithmancy can be a form of divination as well as spell crafting.”

“How much would it cost to get a full set of regular class books as well as sets for Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Care of Magical Creatures?”

The man huffed at Harry and said, “About 275 Galleons.”

“Ok, I’ll take them. But can I look around for alittle bit to see if there are any other books I want to get?”

“Look here, boy, I will not waste my time getting books you do not have the money to pay for…”

Harry cut the man off by opening his moneybag and showing him the expanded in side that contained plenty of money for the purchases and more. “I also will need a way to transport my books, because my school trunk will not be able to fit all my books as well as my other essentials.”

“I will get you a magic backpack as well,” the man said suddenly infinitely more helpful and friendly. The man rushed off to get the books asked for as Harry set off looking through the shelves of books.

Harry browsed for awhile not really finding any books he thought he should get. There were plenty of books of interest but Harry just did not think he was ready to read them until he had finished with his schoolbooks first. As Harry was heading to the register, he took note of one last book ‘Magic Means of Travel’. This book might just explain his shadow travel he had been doing. Even if not it may have other means he could use when the shadows were not available. He picked up the book and carried it to the resister. The man totalled up the books and bag, it came to an even 300 Galleons.

‘Griphook was right.’Harry thought to himself. As Harry left the bookshop, he turned to make his way up the street to Gringotts to deliver his present. When he entered, the bank there was a large crowd of people queuing to get to the tellers. Harry looked around and spotted Griphook again. He made his way over to him and said, “Hello again Griphook,” taking no notice of the many gasps and stares he received.

“What can I do for you Harry?”Griphook smiled at Harry.

“I have a gift for Gringott and I was hoping you could deliver it to him for me.”

“It would be my pleasure,” Griphook said taking the wrapped gift from Harry.

“Thank you Griphook, that’s all I needed. Thanks again,”Harry said turning to leave.

“Have a fine day Mr. Potter.”

As Harry left the bank, he heard whispers of, “Is that Harry Potter…”and “Did you hear him talking with that goblin…”Harry beat a hasty retreat out of the bank before he could have a repeat of the events of when he entered the Leaky Cauldron the first time.

As Harry made his way back down the street to leave Diagon Alley he realized that the sun was to high in the sky for him to travel back to the Dursleys’ the way we came so he made a detour to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour to have a bit of ice cream and review his magical travel book.

Harry sat in the corner of the shop at a table casually eating his ice cream and looking through his book. There was no mention of his shadow travelling but as Harry was skimming through the book, he came upon aform called Apparition. As Harry read through the theory on Apparition it sounded a lot like what he did when he travelled by shadow. When he had finished the section on Apparition, he decided that he was going to try it, so he hurriedly finished his ice cream and headed out of Diagon Alley and to a dark alley out side of the Leaky Cauldron. In the alley, Harry checked to see that he had everything and concentrated on his room at the Dursleys’ and suddenly he was there. He liked this being a wizard thing.

Harry unpacked his new backpack, laid out his books, and began reading when the doorbell rang. Moments later his uncle bellowed, “Boy, get down here, now.”Harry quickly marked his page, put his wand in his front pocket, and made his way down stairs. As he descended the stairs, he noticed the guest who had arrived. The guest was a stern looking woman with her dark hair up in a bun and glasses perched on her nose and a wand out ready for action. He gave a small smile as he descended to the bottom of the stairs.

“Are you Harry Potter?”she said briskly.

“Yes,” he said with trepidation as she levelled her wand at him.

“Have either of you noticed any one strange in the last few minutes?” She asked of both Vernon and Harry.

“Just you, you freak. How dare you come to my house with your little stick out for the neighbours to see? I will not allow freaks to invade my home. Get out!” Vernon bellowed.

Harry could tell this was a mistake. The woman flicked her wand at the man and he was suddenly silent as he tried to continue with his rant. “Harry how about you? Did you see any thing weird?”

“No, Ma’am. I just got back a few moments ago, and Iarrived in my room,” he said quickly.

She lowered her wand and fixed him with a stern look. “What to do you mean you arrived in you room?”

“Well Ma’am, I went to Diagon Alley to gets some books and when I was done I Apparated back to my room.”

“YOU WHAT?” she said in total shock.

“Well I did not know how to get back home so Ibought a book on magical travel and read the section on Apparation. It seemed easy enough so I went to a dark alley and Apparated back to my room.”

“You are telling me that you Apparated from Diagon Alley to your room on the first try with no training.”

“Yes Ma’am. Did I do something wrong?”Harry asked fearful.

“No… Yes… No… I think we need to sit down and talk.”

“Sure but can you do me a favour?”

“Yes, what do you need?”

“Can you undo my uncle he’s starting to turn purple and that just spells trouble for me later,”Harry said pointing to his uncle.

“Oh yes, I forgot about him. Listen hear muggle. Ido not appreciate being called a freak. Harry and I are going to sit down and have a discussion. I do not want any interruptions form you. Is that clear?”

“If you do not want him interrupting then we had best just leave him like he is and go to my room,”Harry interrupted knowing that uncle Vernon would not be able to keep himself from interrupting.

“Fine, lead the way Harry.”

Harry led the witch up the stairs and opened the door to his room. As soon as she entered, she stood flabbergasted, as Harry took no notice of her shock. He proceeded to wave his wand and change one of his cousin’s broken toys into achair that he offered to the witch while he moved his desk chair over by it. The witch sat down in shock, not noticing its creation.

“First off Ma’am, what is your name,”Harry said pleasantly.

The witch finally composed herself and her face returned to a stern demeanour. “My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall. I teach at Hogwarts.”

“Really what do you teach?”Harry started grilling the woman in his excitement. “I am really looking forward to learning more magic. I seem to be pretty good at it. I have not had any trouble with the spells I have tried so far. Although I don’t wave my wand and say the words like it says in the books. Is that wrong? I hope not because I would hate to start out doing it wrong.”

“You have already done some of the spells in the books?” McGonagall asked amazed.

“Yea, I changed my room as you can see. I also did all of the spells in my Charms book and most of the ones in my Transfiguration book. I can’t do some of them because I do not have the mice, rabbits or other animals needed.”

“Well, let me be the first say that is very impressive. However, as you are not of age you are not supposed to be doing magic outside of school. You have just happened upon a loophole in the system that will allow you to do magic until you start school. I recommend however that you tread carefully. While it looks like you are not having any problems with magic, it could get very dangerous very quickly if it gets out of control. As for your Apparating, that is illegal. I will not turn you in because it is obvious that you did not know this law.”

“Oh I am sorry I didn’t know. Ever since Hagrid told me I was a wizard I was immensely curious and I wanted to try and learn and do as much as possible.”

“Well then now that that is settled. Do you have any questions for me?”

“A few actually, first, why are you here? Not that Imind. It was just a little odd that you show up with your wand out and ready to fight.”

“Well I was in meeting with the Headmaster and suddenly he said that someone had Apparated into your house.”

“How did you know that?”

“Well after the mishap with your Hogwarts letter we decided we needed to keep a closer watch on you so we set up a few wards to do so. The wards alerted the Headmaster and since there are only a few of the teachers that know where this house is, he sent me to look in on you.”

“Why didn’t he come himself?”

“I will have you know Mr. Potter Iam a perfectly capable witch that can handle checking out a single Apparation intruder on my own,” she said with a twinge of anger.

“I didn’t mean anything by it. I just thought since he was the one that new someone Apparated in here he would come himself,”Harry said apologetically.

“Well then all I can say is that he did not feel it necessary to come since he did not think it was a major threat but just needed to be investigated.”

“Ok, I have one more question. Since I know my uncle and when he gets mad nothing good can come of it, I do not believe he will be willing to take me to Kings Cross to catch the train. So how am I to get to the train to get to Hogwarts if I am not allowed to Apparate?”

“Well I believe there is another magical family that is not to far from here maybe I can talk with them about stopping by here to give you a ride to the station. I believe their daughter will be starting Hogwarts this year as well, so it will give you an opportunity to meet one of your fellow classmates. I will owl you later this week and inform you if they are able to give you a ride. If not then I will arrange something else for you.”

“Thank you. By the way you never told me what class you taught.”

“I teach transfiguration. If there is nothing else Ishould be getting back to the school to inform the Headmaster that there is no threat here.” With that, she bid Harry good-bye as Harry walked her out of the house.

When Harry closed the door and turned to go back up stairs he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to a purple bloated face of his uncle, still unable to make asound. Uncle Vernon just glared at Harry expectantly.

“Oh, sorry,”Harry said catching on to what his uncle wanted. Harry flicked his want at uncle Vernon and his voice returned to him.

“UP IN YOUR ROOM! NO MEALS!” he bellowed.

Harry spent the rest of the summer locked in his room able to read his schoolbooks. Which he did not mind, he did not like being around his ‘relatives’ anyway. At night, Harry would use his shadow travel to get food from the kitchen.

As September 1 arrived, Harry had finished reading and practicing the spells in his books up through third year and browsed through those of his fourth year. He packed his trunk and his backpack and was ready to meet the Tonkses at 9:30am as per Professor McGonagall’s owl.

Harry found himself ready and waiting at 9 o’clock. “Better to be early, just in case something goes wrong,”Harry said to himself.

A/N: Sorry about all the changes. I am a little OC and anal retentive about text. I have to have it looking perfect, and the way you have to upload stuff does not work well with me.