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Author's Chapter Notes:
Firstly, the chapter title was taken from a HP 3 track. Beautiful instrumental song, so go check it out on youtube or somewhere. :) I'm on spring break so I finally had time to update. I'm going to try to get another chapter up this week, too. Hope you guys enjoy!

“Wait…” Brian began to say.

“Shh,” Howmione scolded them. “The sorting ceremony is starting.”

Professor McGonagall led the first years to the front of the Great Hall and pulled out what looked like an ordinary, old hat. Each student, in turn, sat on the stool in the center, and the hat was placed on their heads. Brian was surprised the first time the hat spoke. It screamed “Ravenclaw” and the student headed towards the corresponding table, where the students were cheering.

Brian again tried to question Nick about “Brian Potter.”

“Dumbledore is about to give his speech,” Howmione said, apparently sensing that Brian was about to speak.

Brian was forced to turn his attention to the front of the room. There was a table sitting perpendicular to the four house tables. Sitting there were a group of older witches and wizards; this had to be the staff’s table. Brian could see Qbeus up there, as well as Professor McGonagall.

In the center, a tall wizard had just stood up, and the chatter immediately ceased. His long, dark hair and beard reached his waist. He had bushy eyebrows and a straight nose. His robes were a deep purple. Brian suspected he would’ve thought “wizard” if he’d seen the man walking down the street, even before he knew there really was such a thing.

“Welcome to another year at Hogwarts,” he said, his voice full of a gentle yet understood authority. “I would like to begin with a few start-of-term reminders. Your classmates are not guinea pigs on which to practice your magic. And,” his gaze seemed to linger a few seconds longer on the Weasley twins at it swept the hall, “I do mean that figuratively and literally.”

Brian looked again at Alex and AJ, only then realizing that they were holding a guinea pig. Wondering who that was, he heard them whisper to each other, “How did he know?” The other replied, “It’s Dumbledore, isn’t it?” Laughing, they set the guinea pig down and waved their wands. A few seconds later, a confused first year was sitting on the plates.

“Those students who are of age will be able to visit Hogsmeade. A schedule of trips can be found posted in your house common rooms. As always, the Forbidden Forest and Mr. Filch’s office are off limits.”

Again Brian heard the Weasley twins laugh quietly. He wondered what kind of mischief they had gotten into during their years here.

“I would also,” Dumbledore turned more serious, “advise each and every one of you use precaution during the school term, whether in the school, on the grounds, or in Hogsmeade. Study hard this year.”

Brian wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but Dumbledore seemed to turn towards him as he said this.

“Now, let us begin the feast” the headmaster said, a small smile on his face once more.

Suddenly, plates appeared down the center of the tables, full of all types of food. Brian filled his, realizing how hungry he was. He had seconds on dinner and then dessert appeared. By the time the Gryffindors were led to their rooms, he was stuffed. He didn’t think he could walk up all of these flights of stairs. Wizards had magic, but they couldn’t install elevators? They were on the seventh floor, after all!

After crawling through a hole behind a portrait (in which the woman had been singing opera loudly and off key), he had walked through a cozy common room. On the walls hung red and gold tapestries bearing intricate designs and bearing a lion. There were couches and chairs and a huge, stone fireplace. Students were gathering here, catching up after summer vacation. Since Brian didn’t know most of these people, he decided to keep exploring.

Brian walked up a spiral staircase to find his room. In the circular space were four-poster beds. He found the one with his trunk on the end and sat down on his bed, testing out the mattress.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Nick rushed in.

“Tell you what?”

“You’re Brian Potter, aren’t you? They were asking me about you, and I said, ‘Well, how could I know? I’ve never met Brian Potter.’ Howie had to point it out to me!”

“You knew my first name. I didn’t realize at the time that it was such a big deal.”

“A big deal? You’re famous!”

“For what? You said I defeated You-Know-Who, but that’s impossible. I’d never heard of him before today.”

“You were only a baby, so of course you don’t remember! And no one knows exactly what happened. They say he broke into your house, killed your parents,” Nick said this part more quietly, “and then tried to kill you. He couldn’t though. Instead, you were marked… Is it true?”

“What?” Then Brian realized Nick had been staring at his forehead. Like so many others had. “My scar? Yeah,” he moved his curly bangs aside so that Nick could see. “Looks a bit like a music note, doesn’t it? I always thought it was an odd birthmark.”

Brian wished Qbeus had filled him in. No wonder they had gone to such trouble to hide him. Well, no, that didn’t make sense. Nick said that You-Know-Who was gone. Surely he couldn’t be in any danger now?

Everything Nick told him simply gave Brian ten more questions that he wanted to ask. “Why did he want to kill my parents?”

“I don’t know. He liked killing people in general, so maybe it wasn’t personal. But you saved the wizarding world, so your name is in textbooks. Of course, you disappeared after that.”

Wow. His biggest accomplishment up until now had been getting Employee of the Month twice in a row at Long John Silvers.

“My Dad heard a rumor that you were placed in the WPA.”

Brian started to ask, but Nick was finally catching on to how little he knew.

“The Wizarding Protection Agency. After you didn’t show up for your first year of Hogwarts, most people thought you’d be in hiding the rest of your life. Imagine everyone’s shock to find you here!”

Brian wondered if anyone else had ever had such an eventful first day of school. He doubted it.

Nick rejoined the party in the common room, but Brian lay in bed, taking in everything that had happened today. He hadn’t known his birth parents. Or even that his birth parents were different than those he considered his real family. That being the case, he couldn’t really miss them. Still, he felt a sadness that their lives had been taken from them. Nick acted like he was hero, and in the greater scheme of things in the wizarding world, Brian could see how that was true. For Brian, the story was simply a tragic one, though. This also made him more nervous about classes in the morning. People were going to expect great things from him.

And the only magic he knew was card trick his father had taught him.