So, you stole the saviour of the Wizarding World... by ineffablecrepes

"Come on, Harry. We're going to be late."

Harry looked up from his book to see Ariana standing in front of him. She was dressed in a dark green sweater, dark blue jeans, and grey high tops. Her dark auburn hair was currently down, which surprised Harry because Ariana was normally seen with braids. He sighed and closed the book, stood up from his chair, and placed it on the bedside table. There was no need to bring Tales of Beedle the Bard with him to Hogwarts.

They exited the bedroom and made their way to the living room where three adults and the rest of the kids were waiting for them. Anastasia Prince, a woman with shoulder-length dark blonde hair, fair skin, and blue-grey eyes, and Corvus Prince, a man with dark brown curly hair, brown eyes, and pale skin were standing beside Severus and talking to Emrys and Soren.

"Where's Uncle Regulus?" Harry asked as he jumped over the last two steps.

"He already left for Hogwarts."

Harry nodded as Severus picked up a blue and white teapot from a nearby table. "We'll be taking a portkey to Platform Nine and Three Quarters instead of going through the barrier. It'll activate in a minute."

They all touched the teapot and Severus looked at the watch in his other hand. He was counting down the seconds until it activated and then it happened immediately. Harry felt as though a hook just behind his navel had been suddenly jerked forward His feet left the ground and he could feel Ariana and Soren on either side of him, their shoulders banging into his. They were all speeding forward in a howl of wind and swirling color and his forefinger was stuck to the teapot as though it was pulling him magnetically onward and then his feet slammed onto the ground. He lost his balance when Emrys slammed into him and he fell to the ground.

"Sorry, Harry," Emrys said as he stood up and helped the green-eyed boy from the ground.

"It's alright, Em."

Portkey travel was not his favorite method of travel.

When he turned to look at the others, he noticed that they were perfectly fine, if only a bit disheveled. He then noticed the house-elf with a blue uniform and the Prince house crest standing next to Severus with their school trunks, owl cages, and cat carriers.

"Mitzy!" Harry exclaimed. "When did you arrive?"

Mitzy turned to Harry and smiled. "Mitzy arrives before Young Master Harry and his family did. Master Corvus asks Mitzy to bring the school things to the station and Mitzy has done so."

Harry blinked and then smiled at Mitzy. "Huh, I did wonder where our school trunks went. It's nice to know that Grandpa Corvus sent our stuff with you."

"I think you should go find a compartment for the four of you before it's too late," Corvus said. "I doubt you lot would want to be separated on your journey to Hogwarts."

The children nodded, and they watched as the luggage started to float behind their guardians and Mitzy. As they all walked through the platform, they could hear parents saying tearful goodbyes to their children, and other parents were lecturing their children on what to do and what not to do. They passed a short round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I lost my toad again."

"Oh, Neville," they heard the old woman sigh.

There was a boy with dreadlocks who was surrounded by a small crowd. They all looked at him and one of the older kids said, "Give us a look, Lee."

The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long and hairy arm.

"You're going to smuggle in a spider? Wicked," one boy said.

They pressed on through the crowd until Ariana found an empty compartment near the end of the train. The adults helped them put their trunks onto the luggage racks above the seats of an empty compartment that Ariana had helped find, and the owl cages and cat carriers were put on the ground.

"So, this is it, then. The start of a new adventure," Anastasia said as she looked at them fondly. "Meine Enkelkinder werden zu schnell groß. Ich bin nicht bereit, die nächsten paar Monate ohne die vier, nein, die sechs von Ihnen zu verbringen."*

The children tried to reassure their great-grandmother that everything was going to be alright, despite having little idea what she was talking about. German was not a language they had learned while being homeschooled, despite picking up the basics of it. They just didn't like to see their Granny looking so sad. It took the efforts of both the children, Severus and Corvus to calm her down, but by the end of it all, they had a slightly tearful Anastasia hugging her grandchildren to death.

"We'll send you letters," Harry said as Anastasia brought him into a hug. "Do bi-weekly letters seem okay?"

"As long as the four of you write, I don't mind the frequency of the letters." And then she turned to Severus, "And you, mister. You and Reggie are going to have to visit every Sunday morning for breakfast. I'd love for the kids to join us, but I'm afraid that would put them in quite the spot."

Severus merely nodded. He knew that when his grandmother said something, things were going to be done her way, either if he liked it or not. He turned to look at his children, and there were tears in his eyes. He, of course, would later deny this. Severus Snape-Prince doesn't cry and to believe otherwise would be ridiculous.

He cleared his throat and merely said, "I'll see you at Hogwarts, Meine Kinder."*

The family said their final goodbyes and the adults and one house-elf left the train, and minutes later, the train whistled and it started to move.

Harry leaned back in his seat, looking out the window and wondering if he could take out a book from his trunk. But that would mean having to bring the trunk down from its rack, and in all honesty, Harry didn't want a heavy trunk to fall on top of him. He sighed. He should have asked Mitzy, or Uncle Severus if they could put a featherlight charm on his trunk. Well, it was too late for that. He closed his eyes and listened to Ariana softly speak about Unicorns.

The door to the compartment slid open, and a young boy with fiery red hair and what looked to be hand-me-down robes stood at the threshold. He glanced nervously at them and bit his lip. "I'm sorry to interrupt...but may I sit here? The others are...full."

The kids become quiet and they glanced at each other. The red-head breaks the silence and says, "Or...not. That's okay. Um, I'll go see if there's another compartment."

The boy turned to leave, but Ariana chose that moment to speak. "What's your name?"

"Um, Ronald," the boy replied. "Ronald Weasley, but I go by Ron."

"Well, Ron," Emrys piped in. "Take a seat, will you?"

"Oh, um, thank you," Ron said as he sat down in one of the empty seats. "So, what's your name?"

"I'm Emrys Prince, and this is my sister Ariana." He pointed towards Harry and Soren. "And those are our cousins Harry Potter and Soren Riddle."

Ron's eyes turned wide, and he made weird little noises that worried the other children. "Harry Potter!" he finally said. "Are you really Harry Potter? You and your friends aren't pulling some prank, are you?"

"We're not pulling any type of prank," Harry said.

Ron leaned forward and said, "And have you really got — you know..."

He pointed at Harry's forehead. Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.

"So that's where You-Know-Who—?"

"NOPE!" Soren said as he closed the book he had been reading shut. "We are not talking about the Dark Lord, Harry's scar, or anything related to that today, or ever."

Ron blinked and then flushed red. "Yeah, of course. Sorry."

"So...um, Ron, do you have any siblings?"

"Yeah. I have six. Five brothers and one sister," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in the family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was Headboy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.

"His name's Scabbers. and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff — I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

Ron's ears went pink and he seemed to think that he had said too much because he started to stare out of the window.

Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. He remembered that when he lived with the Dursleys, he would get all of Dudleys' old clothes while Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would buy all the nicest types of clothes for their little Diddykins. In their eyes, he was always the freak, the unwanted boy from Number Four Privet Drive. He was glad he was no longer living with them.

"There's nothing wrong with not being able to afford something like an owl," Ariana said softly. "I know a lot of kids whose parents can't buy such things because they're on a tight budget." She paused and she glanced out the window. "That's nothing to be embarrassed about. And if anyone makes fun of you because of that, we'll... we'll fight them!"

"Ariana, no!" Emrys exclaimed. Ron stared at them. "We don't fight people!"

"If they're going to be mean about it, then yes, we do fight people," she responded with a huff.

"Do you guys mean that?" Ron asked.

Harry looked at Emrys who was mumbling under his breath and shrugged. "Yeah, of course."

Ron mumbled thanks as he ducked his head, trying to hide his blush. While they had been talking, the train carried them out of London and they were now speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past. Around half-past twelve there was a great clattering outside the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the carts, dears?"

Harry leaped to his feet, and Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd bought sandwiches. Harry glanced at Emrys, Soren, and Ariana and asked, "The usual?"

There were three nods and he went into the corridor and bought some Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Shreiking Sherbets, and a couple of bags of Roasted Chimera Potato Crisps. He also bought a copy of the Daily Prophet because he didn't have the chance to read his Grandpa Corvus' copy during breakfast.

Ron stared as Harry brought into the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," the four children replied and they laughed. Soren stood up and grabbed a bag of crisps for himself and a couple of chocolate frogs and pumpkin pastries for Ariana and Emrys. Harry took a bite of the licorice and then looked over at Ron. "Feel free to help yourself to some sweets."

"Thanks," he mumbled as he grabbed a chocolate frog. He unwrapped the frog and took a bite out of it, and looked at the card he had gotten. "Morgana. I've got six of her already. Do any of you want it?"

"Oh, I do!" Ariana said. "I haven't gotten her yet."

Ron passed Ariana the card and Emrys picked up a chocolate frog and unwrapped it. He took a bite of his frog before it could hop away and looked at the card he got. It was a card of a man. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

"So, this is the famous Albus Dumbledore," Soren said as he looked at Emrys' card. "I wasn't expecting him to be....so old." He paused and then looked at Emrys. "What does the back of the card say?"

Emrys shrugged and flipped the card over and read, "Albus Dumbledore. Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling."

"Isn't...Grindelwald the one that had a whole front-page article about him in last week's Daily Prophet?" Ariana asked.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, apparently it's been...fourteen years since his escape from Nurmengard. The Ministries worldwide are still trying to find him."

"Fourteen years?" Ron repeated. "How come no one has been able to find him? I mean, I reckon he has to be quite old, no?"

"Old? Perhaps. But he's a Dark Wizard, and they're tricky little things. Or so Uncle Severus says," Soren responded with a shrug. "I bet he's hiding in plain sight and some of his followers are hiding him on their estates. Hell, I'd bet that he's gone out in public wearing some sort of disguise, perhaps."

"That's...scary actually," Ron said as he unwrapped another chocolate frog. "He could be anyone. He could even be..." he paused and then shrugged. "Our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"I doubt Headmaster Dumbledore would be fooled by someone wearing a disguise, or someone pretending to be someone else. Besides, doesn't Hogwarts already have a Defense professor?"

"Yeah, but they don't last long. My brother says that every year, a new Defense professor gets the job because the last one either quits or mysteriously disappears. I've heard that there is supposed to be some sort of curse on the job."

"Woah."

The five turned silent after that and for a while, they watched as the countryside became wilder. The neat fields were gone and woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills took their place. Harry was reading the Daily Prophet when there was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry and the rest of his family had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.

"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"He'll turn up," said Harry.

"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..."

"Have you tried asking a prefect for help?" Ariana asked.

The round-faced boy shook his head.

"Well, if you go to the prefect compartment," Ron said. "I'm sure my brother Percy will be glad to help. He has red hair, just like mine, and square glasses."

"Oh!" the boy exclaimed. "I'll go bother a prefect then. Thank you."

The boy left the compartment and Ron sighed. "Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

The grey rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap and he poked it on the side with his finger. "He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..."

Ron rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway —"

Ron had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Hermione, no. I told you we should go find a prefect," the boy was saying. "Besides, I already asked them and they said no."

But the girl paid him no mind.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said.

Harry stared at her and frowned. "We told Neville that he should go to the prefect compartment...I'm assuming you've been dragging him around the train?"

The girl looked at Harry surprised. "No! Of course not." She crossed her arms and frowned and then noticed the wand Ron was holding. She sat down and said, "Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."

Neville let out a groan and said something about going to find a perfect, and then disappeared. Ron looked confused at the girl's request but shrugged.

"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow. Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." The boy waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter. but I ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

Soren blinked and stared at Hermione. "I'm Soren Riddle." He paused and tilted his head to the side. "Also, what self-respecting kid says ever so pleased? I...I doubt even the rich kids say that."

Hermione stared at Soren blankly and Emrys started sniggering. Ariana merely sighed. "Please ignore my brother and my cousin. They aren't the best when it comes to talking with girls."

"Oi!"

"I'm Ariana Prince, and the one next to Soren is my brother Emrys Prince."

"Ron Weasley."

"Harry Potter."

"Are you really?" Hermione said. "I've read all about you. Did you know that you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century?"

Harry blinked and shook his head. "No. I did not know I was in those books. Though I doubt anything written about me in those books is a hundred percent accurate."

Hermione looked shocked that a book might have the wrong information. "But...why would they lie?"

"To make me seem cooler than I am?" He paused and frowned. "I mean, I've heard in one book I was portrayed as an eight-year-old fighting a Ukrainian Ironbelly. I mean, what eight-year-old fights a dragon?"

"I suppose you have a point," Hermione said. "You should probably get changed. I expect we'll be at Hogwarts soon."

Neville poked his head inside the cabin and smiled at Hermione. "Found my toad! Percy helped me find him."

"Percy? Who's Percy?"

"Ron's brother and a Slytherin Prefect. Come on, Hermione. Let's go back to our compartment."

Neville dragged Hermione out of the compartment and Harry could hear her mumbling under her breath about toads and prefects. Ariana grabbed her robes from her trunk and then left the compartment to change. The boys quickly changed and when Ariana returned, Ron and Soren were arguing about what Quidditch team was better.

"The Holyhead Harpies are better," Ariana said as she sat down.

Ron looked like he was about to say something insulting about the Holyhead Harpies when the compartment door slid open once more.

"Oh for Salazar's sake," Emrys exclaimed when he saw three boys enter the compartment. "Have you lot heard of knocking? This has to be the third time that someone barges into our compartment without knocking."

"Does Neville count?" Ariana asked, ignoring the pale boy. "I mean, he did apologize for interrupting us and he was looking for his runaway familiar."

"Hm, well, no, Neville does not count. Okay, then. Two times, but the point still stands!"

The pale boy sneered at Emrys and Ariana and then looked at Harry. "Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yeah," Harry said. He was looking at the two boys who were acting like the pale boy's bodyguards and frowned. If he was being completely honest, they were making him a little uneasy.

"Oh, this is Crabbe, and this Goyle," said the pale boy after noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all about the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." He turned to Harry and said, "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

Draco held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it. Instead, he frowned at him and tilted his head to the side. "I suppose that's your way of saying that you want to be friends with me? And while I don't appreciate you making fun of my friend, I understand that you've been poisoned by the prejudiced way of your parents and the people you surround yourself with."

Draco blinked and for a minute, he didn't know what to say. This was the boy he had encountered at Madam Malkin's and even without knowing the boy's name, he knew he wanted to be friends with him. But now? Draco had no idea if befriending him might get him into trouble with his parents.

"Don't look so surprised," Ariana piped in. "We know who you are. Anyone who does their research on Britain's most influential families know who you are."

"Uncle Severus would be so disappointed in the young boy you've become," Soren said as he unlocked the door of a black cat carrier and placed a couple of ice mice inside. In seconds, the ice mice were gone and there was a satisfied purr.

"He was appointed as your godfather," Ariana added after seeing Draco's blank look. There was a sort of recognition on Draco's face and Ariana smiled.

"Look, I think you would benefit from us becoming your friends. And you seem like an interesting person, you know. But if you're going to insult one of my friends based on their looks, or because they're tight on money, then I don't think we could become friends."

"But...he's a Weasley!"

"I'm aware of this," Harry said as he rolled his eyes. "But being from a poor or rich family means absolutely nothing to me."

Draco narrowed his eyes at Harry and then huffed. "I suppose I could accept your offer. Even if it means being...cordial to Weasley." He paused and then looked behind him, realizing that his so-called friends, were still there. "But of course, I'm not going to accept such a preposterous offer. Come on, Crabbe, Goyle. Let's get out of here."

He pushed Crabbe and Goyle out of the compartment and when he was sure they weren't anywhere near, he opened the door once again, and said, "I'll consider your offer, Potter."

And with that, Draco Malfoy closed the door and walked away.

"Well, that was interesting," Ron said.

The rest of the ride passed fairly quickly and no more people barged into the compartment. Emrys was quite glad about that. He had enough people barging into a place without knocking for the day, thank you very much. The train slowed down and the group waited until the train was a little less empty before leaving their compartment.

Once they got off the train, they pushed through the crowd of people and toward a huge, tall, man holding a lamp, who was yelling, "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

They followed the man down a steep, narrow path until they reached the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, was a vast castle with sparkling windows, and many turrets and towers.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing at a fleet of little wooden boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Ariana and Soren, and in another boat, Emrys was sitting with Hermione and Neville.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then, FORWARD!"

The boats started to move, gliding across the lake, and everyone had their eyes on the castle. Harry doubted that anything would be able to take his attention away from the majestic castle.

"AH!" someone yelled out and then there was the sound of someone falling into the lake.

Okay, perhaps Harry was wrong. Something could most definitely take his attention away from the castle.

Everybody turned around to see who had fallen into the lake. It was Draco Malfoy. A very concerned-looking Draco Malfoy was yelling at someone to help him. Hagrid was making his way to the boy when a tentacle came out of the water, grabbed the boy from the hoodie of his robe, and dropped him onto the boat.

"Was that the Giant Squid?" someone said.

"I think it was!" another one said.

The tentacle waved at the children and then it disappeared from view. Before they could wonder where it went, they were forced to duck their heads as they reached a low cliff, and then they were carried through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They soon reached the castle and they all got out of their boats and they went up a passageway, before coming out at last, onto smooth, damp grass right in front of the castle. They climbed up the stone stairs and crowded around the huge oak door.

They had finally reached Hogwarts.