Harry Planeswalker Chapter 4

It wasn't even half an hour before Harry inevitably got up from his seat

"Where are you going?" Hermione asked curiously.

"To go and congratulate a friend," Harry answered with a wide smile before he began walking away.

"Where's he going?" Ron asked loudly, gathering more attention than Harry already had.

Harry ignored it however as he walked down the table. The staff at their table up front were looking rather curious and probably expecting him to approach them. Instead, he turned at the end of the table to walk straight to Slytherin's table.

Draco saw him coming with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing. Instead, an older Slytherin stood half-way up to call after Harry. "Hey, First year? What are you doing over here?" she asked pointedly.

Harry stopped next to Draco with a raised eyebrow. "Is there some rule against eating at other tables?" Harry asked, dearly hoping it wasn't so. Not for his own sake, but that was going too far. Lunches should be a break from school drama and rivalries.

"Err, during formal things like this? Yes," she answered with a frown.

"Oh. That's fair. But I'm not here to eat. I'm just here to congratulate a friend," Harry answered casually, getting a long stare from her. "I can stand and talk if you want," he offered with a smile that dared her to make an argument out of this.

"...Fine, just don't stay here too long," she instructed, reluctantly sitting back down.

Draco looked at him with a confused frown on his face. "You are a crazy one, Potter."

"Thanks, I've been practicing that for years," Harry said in amusement.

"You do understand we're house rivals now, right?" Draco reminded.

"No, Slytherin and Gryffindor are rivals. I don't care who wins," Harry admitted casually.

Several Slytherins looked at him suspiciously, or smugly, while Draco looked unconvinced. "You're still trying to be friends with me after going to the lions?"

"Look at it this way: you wanted to be my friend too. I don't see why different results on a personality test should change that," Harry offered.

"You do know you're probably not going to make a lot of friends in Gryffindor, trying to be chummy with me?" Draco cautioned.

"Then I guess it's good I have a true friend in Slytherin, eh?" Harry asked playfully, repeating the words of the Sorting Hat's song.

With that, he stuck out his hand again for Draco to shake. The Malfoy boy frowned, before ultimately giving a small smile as he shook hands with Harry again.

"Have a good year, Drake," Harry said before heading back to the Gryffindor table.

Needless to say, there were several silent, strange looks being sent his way.

He chose to ignore them until he reached his seat, glancing up and down the table. "...Did someone die while I was gone?"

The pointed question prompted them all to return to eating and pretend they were minding their own business.

"Are you friends with that git?" Ron asked with a scowl, rather loudly.

"Yes?" Harry answered with a shrug.

"But he's a snake!" Ron countered. "Do you even know who he is?"

"Not to encourage my brother's poor attitude, but do you, Potter?" an older read head asked. Harry gave him a curious, expecting look. "Oh, right, Percy Weasley, prefect."

Harry squinted. "Oh, right, you were the train's hall monitor," he recognized. "That part of being a Prefect?"

"As a matter of fact, it is," Percy answered firmly.

"Really? Good to know," Harry accepted casually. "What was the question again?"

"Do you know who Draco is?" Hermione answered with an eye roll.

"Right, yeah. Rich boy with a lot of self-entitlement and a father too eager to throw money at problems," Harry summarized. "Why do you ask?"

"Then why are you friends with him?" Ron asked pointedly. "He's a rotten prick!"

"Ron!" Percy hissed. "Don't make a scene on your first day!"

"And there's a family feud going on between yours and his, right?" Harry added in knowingly.

"Nothing official, but...yes," Percy answered with a sigh. "I just wanted to make sure you know what you're doing."

"Of course I do! I'm making a friend," Harry answered in amusement. "Just one with a lot of issues to work on."

He pretended not to notice the concerned look Hermione had.

"Look, you can't be friends with him," Ron said with a frown. "Ignoring his family, he's in Slytherin! We're in Gryffindor!"

"Ronald, we're here for a few good years," Harry pointed out in annoyance. "I am more than happy to make enemies, just not over the color of my school ties."

Ron gaped at that simple statement.

"Now shut up and stuff your mouth, you're obviously starving," Harry suggested, nodding to the food as he decided to get a second helping as well.

"I...urg, fine. But don't act like we didn't try to warn you," Ron said with a groan as he began to eat any and all food close by.

"You're just a bit mad, you know that?" Hermione said with a headshake.

Harry grinned. "Things would be dull if I wasn't."

"Yes, well, just so you know? One of the Professors has been sending you rather unpleasant looks since you went over to Malfoy," Hermione remarked.

"I noticed. Greasy hair, hoof nose, next to the one in a turban," Harry said without looking up at the teachers.

Percy glanced to the staff table, just to be sure, and winced. "That would be the Potion Professor and the Head of Slytherin, Professor Snape."

"So that's his name," Harry said to himself and found a rather juicy drumstick. "His hair naturally that greasy or that a side effect of brewing fumes exposure?"

"I wouldn't make jokes like that where he can hear," Percy cautions firmly.

"I'm not joking. I already have enough trouble with my hair," Harry retorted honestly. "Last thing I need is another Harionago incident."

"What's a Hairy Nago?" the student to his other side asked.

Harry grinned playfully when so many of the other Gryffindors leaned in. Actually, he was pretty some of the Hufflepuffs behind him were doing so too. "It's basically a ghoul, but with this really long hair full of barbs and thorns. They can also control their hair like limbs."

"What, did you have to fight one!?" an excited first year asked.

"Oh no, I never met one in person. At least, none that I know of," Harry waved off. "No, someone once put a curse on me that made my hair like theirs. Trouble is, I'm not a ghoul, so my own hair grew and came to life, trying to kill me!" Harry explained as they all gasped in amazement.

"Potter, don't make up grandiose stories to scare or...entertain the first years," Percy cautioned sternly.

"It happened, and I'll show the curse if you want, Percy," Harry offered in a far too innocent voice.

"That sounds dreadful!" Hermione said with a hand in her hair, her fear overcoming her fascination. "Why was someone trying to kill you?"

"Granger, are you dense?" Ron asked in disbelief. "He's Harry Potter! It was probably a Death Eater, one of the ones that didn't get caught."

Hermine frowned at being insulted but didn't speak up. Actually a lot of people went eerily, almost fearfully silent over the subject of You-Know-Who and his followers.

Harry came to a conclusion: he definitely should have read deeper into Draco's mind…or anyone's, really. He knew Draco's father was a Death Eater, but not what that meant. "No, not one of those. He was a thief just trying to escape and decided that curse was a good distraction. And he was right! I thought something was on my head for a full minute before I realized it was my own hair! The curse hurt a few other people around me before I got rid of it, so he got away."

"What with?" Percy asked, skeptical but invested in this rather detailed story.

"No idea!" Harry answered boldly, to the disappointment of many. "No one would tell me, and that was the last I heard of that particular person. One of my weirder adventures. I go in to find some enchanted lanterns, I get stuck in the middle of a heist attempt."

"Enchanted...lanterns?" Ron asked with a furrowed brows. "Like magic lamps?"

"Not the wishing kind," Harry waved off. "I mean lamps with a light-spell contained in them to help brighten places that have magic-enforced darkness."

"There are ways to do that? I've never read about them!" Hermione said, keenly interested now.

"I think Bill mentioned something like that, but with torches," Percy said to himself. "Where have you been, Potter?"

"I like to ask myself, where haven't I been?" Harry answered mysteriously.

As Harry engrossed his fellow students with stories of his many travels, the staff watched on with a curiosity of their own.

"Albus, please tell me you knew and this is some surprise done in ill-taste?" McGonagall asked to the headmaster with a frown on her lips.

Dumbledore, however, smiled. "My dear Minerva, if I had known where that boy was, I don't think I could bear to hide my relief and joy," he admitted honestly.

"So, Harry Potter just disappears for years, and just walks in for his sorting ceremony like nothing is wrong?" Sprout asked doubtfully.

"A miracle is nice, but this is rather bizarre," Fillius said, leaning up to get a better look at the boy.

"Wherever he's been, it has done nothing to humble the arrogance he inherited from his father," Snape said with a hum, noticing how Potter deliberately kept from so much as looking up at the table.

"W-what do you think that was a-a-a-a-about?" Quirrell asked curiously. "Him and the-the-the Malfoy b-boy?"

"Some students care less for the division of houses than others," Dumbledore mused, stroking his beard. "Something isn't right though. He arrived with the students from the train. We should have known if he obtained a ticket, or if his affects arrived from the train."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Might Finch have overlooked it?"

"Possible, but doubtful," McGonagall said with frown. "Should we ask him, Albus? Keep him behind?"

The headmaster considered it for a moment before relaxing in his chair. "No."

More than a few eyebrows raised in his directions. The staff was suddenly very grateful the High Table had a charm that helped keep students from listening in on their conversation uninvited.

"If he was anyone else, would you think that boy anything more than a child regaling his peers, hopeful friends, of some adventure he had?" Dumbledore asked warmly.

They all looked again and mostly agreed. Harry was smiling broadly as people laughed or cheered or even accused him of making things up.

"I'm sure he'll have some tales to share with us," Dumbledore mused patiently. He waited years to find this child again, to know he was safe. He could wait another day.

Hagrid, however, was unexpectantly silent, watching the Boy Who Lived with misty eyes and whispering: "Blimey, he looks just like James."

Snape's face darkened in agreement.