Becoming Alpha

Chapter one

Chapter One

Harry James Potter looked out the window of his compartment on the Hogwarts Express in Platform 9¾, watching the other students and their families say goodbye for the term. Harry saw people in robes ranging from navy blue, to black, to blood red. He saw people who were obviously Muggles as they were in Muggle clothes and looked out of place in the sea of witches and wizards, looking lost and unusual.

Harry closed his eyes, turning away from the window, and thought about the events that had led to him finally being gone from the Dursleys. Letters had gone to his aunt and uncle's house for days, finally driving his uncle crazy enough that he took them away from home until they ended up at a broken-down house on an island, during the middle of a storm. Then, Hagrid, a big man, had broken into the house and given Harry his letter, finally convincing him that he was indeed a wizard. The next month was spent out of the way of his family until today, September 1st, when they agreed to take him to King's Cross, where they left him at ten in the morning.

Harry had been thankful that he had thought to ask Hagrid how he was to get to Hogwarts, a school for witches and wizards, as he probably would have never found the hidden entrance without Hagrid's instructions. He then worked hard until he finally got his trunk onto the train and into a compartment, sitting down by the window with his hair covering his forehead carefully.

You see, Harry James Potter wasn't an ordinary wizard. Until a month ago, he had thought himself to be an ordinary boy with no parents. Then, he found out that his parents had been murdered by an evil wizard named Lord Voldemort, leaving Harry with only a lightning bolt-shaped scar on his forehead and the title 'the Boy-Who-Lived' after Voldemort had turned his wand on Harry, intending to kill the one-year-old and failing, supposedly losing his own life in the process.

Harry had learned on his trip to Diagon Alley, the alley where shops were for witches and wizards, hidden in London, that his scar made him stand out. He had decided to change into his new, black school robes the moment he got on the train and then hide his scar with his black, unruly hair, trying not to stand out. So far, his plan had been successful.

Before too long, it was eleven o'clock, the whistles were blowing, and the Hogwarts Express was leaving the station, finally taking Harry to Hogwarts and away from his old life with the Dursleys.

...

Harry was watching London pass by when a group of kids in robes with blue lining on them came into the compartment and asked him if they could sit with him. Harry told them they could and then went back to looking out of the window, basically ignoring the older children. He didn't want anyone to realize who he was, preferring to stay unnoticed until he was forced to name himself. Luckily for him, the older kids didn't mind and left him to himself, talking among themselves about their different summers.

The only time Harry looked away from the window the entire train ride was to buy food for lunch when the trolley came around, only buying enough to satisfy his hunger. Otherwise, he spent hours just watching the land speed by him as he enjoyed his freedom from the Dursleys for the first time since he had been a year old and left on their doorstep after his parents had been murdered.

...

Harry stared up at the magnificent castle in front of him as the boats sailed across the lake, unable to believe his eyes. He couldn't believe that he was going to be staying in such an amazing place for ten months of each of the next seven years. He thought he had to be dreaming; this couldn't be his new home.

Looking around at the other first years, he realized that he wasn't the only one with this reaction. Almost every first year was staring at the castle in front of them; the few who weren't were looking around like Harry for other reactions. Harry went back to staring at the stone castle until they finally got to the other side of the lake and were led up to the doors where Hagrid knocked on the doors three times. They opened to show a tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes with a stern face.