Strange Times Ahead (Harry Potter x Male Strange Reader)

Prologue

Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry is a known school within Europe. Being one of the top-ranked wizard schools, or on par with Ilvermorny in America. Many notable figures have walked its halls: Newt Scamander, the magizoologist, Nicholas Flammel, a known alchemist, and Albus Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard in the world and the headmaster to the school itself.

When a child, who has great magical potential at age eleven, is given that letter of admittance, it's a life-changing thing. Where they step out of the world of Muggles (the world of humans) and enter the magical world. It's like being admitted into a college, the rush and surge to gather your things and go excites you for what's to come.

But Hogwarts has been through some rather scary events as of late, like the terrifying Basilisk out to kill all of the Mudbloods in school, wizards born from Muggle parents, and the escape of one Sirius Black. When news of it had spread to the parents, Hogwarts received less and less students. Where many students would fill the halls and be sorted into their houses, there were dwindling numbers of who would attend the magical school. But Hogwarts didn't close its doors to new students, for Albus believed in a philosophy: Help will come to those who ask for it in Hogwarts.

Of course, with the Basilisk attack, many students had been pulled out of the school for their safety and well-being. With the desire to return, Hogwarts had to consult the Ministry in opening special classes to catch up students who were pulled out. Managing to convince them, Dumbledore not only allowed those classes, but students wishing to catch up to their peers were also allowed into these special classes.

And such a class opening was a call to one boy in particular: (F/N) (L/N).

He sat in the cabin of the train to Hogwarts, the familiar red train chugging along the tracks, with the number 9 ¾ on the front to signal which platform it came from. The young fourteen year-old rested his head against the window of the empty cabin, his (H/C) hair pressing against the clear glass. He had tired eyes and was dressed casually in his approach to the school. He looked over to his left, seeing a newspaper that was placed down by the kind lady offering candy to the other children. He could see the pictures moving, as if they were alive. He reached over with a gloved hand and went to grab it, but such a simple action was made difficult by the fact that (F/N)'s hands were shaking out of his control. The moment he lifted the paper off of the seat, he could hear the slight flapping sound of the paper as he attempted to bring it closer.

He looked at the headline of the paper, where it read, "HOGWARTS REOPENS ITS DOORS". The article then went on to describe how Albus is opening the doors to students who left during the Basilisk incident as well as to any students wishing to attend Hogwarts late into the year. There was another article beneath the headline, which told the people who would be filling in for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts (DADA) teacher. An American wizard known for his specialty in voodoo, known as Doctor Voodoo.

(F/N) placed the paper down and resumed his staring contest with the passing scenery before him. He brought his hands together and started rubbing them, as if massaging them.

The train soon went into the thick forest, and eventually arrived at its stopping point. When it hissed to a halt, the students in the other cabins began to get up and head for the exit, leaving their luggage for one of the school's staff to deliver. (F/N) followed suit, standing up and heading to the exit. As he was leaving the train, he could see that there were little people, with long ears and big eyes, were handing robes and vests to the students. It was the uniform to the school. When he received his, he looked at the stitching of the badges; it was a crest with a large letter "H" in the middle, and four animals took up a section of the shield; a lion, a snake, an eagle, and a badger.

Quickly throwing on the vest and robe, he, along with some other students, climbed into a carriage, which was being pulled by two dark horses, with wings at their sides. Him and other kids quickly held the edge of the cart to keep themselves from falling off before settling in for a comforting ride.

The length of time between Platform 9 ¾ and to now was marked by the night sky that was looming overhead of the travelers in the carriage. The stars could barely be seen from the gaps in the trees, and the only light provided to them was the light of the lamp. Some were baffled by the magic used to pull the carriage, while some already appeared to know. (F/N) wasn't one of them to try and figure it out. Although curious, he kept to himself and remained focused on why he was there in the first place.

"Hey, you," he heard, "you're finally awake." Everyone in the carriage, even (F/N), looked over at the one kid who said it. That kid was placed at the front right corner of the vehicle, but he wasn't looking at anyone, just quoting something to himself. When he felt the stares of the other kids, he looked back at them with a nervous blush. "J-Just something I remembered in my dream." After that little interaction, (F/N) and the others eventually made it to a shoreline.

Meeting them there, where canoes were lined up side-by-side, was a large man, with long hair, beard, and mustache. To a point where you could only see his eyes. Though he looked imposing, he was a rather polite man.

"Welcome!" He greeted them happily. "I am Rubeus Hagrid, your Care of Magical Creatures teacher, and I will be the one guiding you to Hogwarts!" His voice boomed over the crowd of students that were there, which intimidated some. The man, Hagrid, then brought everyone down to the shoreline, waving his hands onto the boat. "No more n' four to a boat," he said, before he divided some of the students up. One at a time, students began to enter the canoes, "Careful now, careful! Don't want to enter the Great Hall all soaking wet! Hands on both sides of the boat! Keep it steady!" He helped by standing in the water, and holding onto the boats so that no one would fall over.

Ever silent, (F/N) started climbing into the canoe, following Hagrid's instruction. He got closer to the front of the boat, and then took a seat. Hagrid then walked out of the water and looked around at the boats in front of him, making sure all of the kids were situated in the boats, before giving each boat a light push to get them on the water. When he walked over to the last boat, he saw that it was only (F/N) sitting in there. He pushed the boat in, and did his best to carefully climb in without toppling it over. (F/N) sharply turned his head around, watching as the large man climbed in and nestled himself on the back seat.

"Is everyone okay?" He asked, to which he was given various answers, all confirming to him that they were okay. He then looked over at (F/N), who still had his eyes on him. "How about you?" (F/N) felt the attention on him, but he managed to put together his words.

"Yeah," was all he said. Hagrid nodded his head and cleared his throat.

"Forward!" He called out.

The boats that were slowly floating over the water suddenly picked up speed. It was slightly faster than the carriages, but not enough to outright knock the students into the water. They were now moving quickly enough that the ride wasn't going to take until morning till they reached the other docks.

Hagrid produced an umbrella from his large, shabby coat, and he aimed it towards the lanterns that were on the fronts of each boat, as well as the lanterns that were in each boat were lit and lifted into the sky. They served as the guide for the boats the kids were each in.

Once again, each kid watched in awe at the spectacle, only for their breaths to be taken away when they reached the large castle in the distance. The moon was positioned behind the castle, casting it in a bright light. Each window was illuminated brightly, letting them know that the castle was alive with other students. The whispers of awe and the pointing of fingers could be heard and seen across the other boats, and excitement began to build up in each student that anxiously awaited to begin their school year.