The Unknown: A Harry Potter Story

Chapter 1: The Day of Anticipation

A loud crash of thunder pierces through the silent night causing a young boy to jolt out of bed. The boy curiously looks out the window but is surprised to see that there is no storm that night. Looking around the quiet room the boy's eyes fell to the clock beside his bed. Only 3:20 am, he thought to himself, couldn't the morning just hurry up and come already. He lowered his head back onto his pillow and pulled the covers close around him, returning to restless sleep.

"Jason wake up!" a voice cut through the boy's sleep, waking him suddenly. Upon opening his eyes Jason was greeted by the kind smile of his grandfather, Richard. Grandpa Richard had a smile that could brighten up an entire room. The old man in his 70s was on the shorter side with brilliant green eyes and grey hair which had mostly fallen out with age, leaving him bald except for a thin band reaching around the sides of his head.

"Mornin Grandpa," Jason said as he slowly roused himself from his slumber.

"'Mornin' yourself we have to get going or we'll miss our train," his grandfather responded with a chuckle. At the train's mention, Jason remembered his excitement from the night before. Today was the day, he and his grandfather would travel to Diagon Alley to purchase the supplies he would need for his first year at Hogwarts.

"Give me a few minutes, I'll be right down." He said jumping out of bed and rushing towards his closet to get dressed.

"Breakfast is already on the table" Grandpa Richard replied as he made his way out of the room. Jason quickly changed out of his sleep clothes and into a pair of blue jeans with a plain orange t-shirt, pulling a pair of socks onto his feet before shoving them into his black tennis shoes that were waiting at the foot of his bed. Before leaving the room, Jason paused to look in the mirror hanging on the wall behind his bedroom door. He looked into his light brown eyes, before moving his attention to patting down the areas of his short black hair that were sticking up. He was a little taller than the average eleven-year-old boy, with slightly tan skin, a protruding chin, and a small scar running horizontally along his left cheek.

When Jason was done checking himself in the mirror, he made his way downstairs and sat down at the kitchen table for breakfast. Grandpa Richard had made his favorite: scrambled eggs with bacon and a slice of toast with grape jelly spread on it. While scarfing down his breakfast, he thought back to the day a few weeks ago when he received his Hogwarts letter.

It was a hot day and Jason had been sitting on the roof of his family's large three-story house trying to cool off. In the distance, Jason noticed an owl flying straight for the roof where he was sitting. As the owl got closer, he noticed it was a medium-sized brown owl clutching a letter in its beak. The owl flew directly over Jason's head, dropping the letter into his lap. Upon inspecting the letter, Jason saw that it was addressed to him, and when he flipped it over, his heart skipped a beat when he saw the Hogwarts crest. With shaking hands Jason opened the letter and read :

Dear Mr. Fortescue,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The subsequent weeks were a blur. All Jason could remember was convincing his parents to let Grandpa Richard be the one to take him to Diagon Alley to purchase his school supplies and the jealous looks of his younger sister whenever she heard him talking about his preparations for attending Hogwarts. Finally, the day had come. He quickly finished scarfing down the rest of his breakfast and looked over at Grandpa Richard in anticipation.

"Alright, Alright," Grandpa Richard said once he noted Jason's stare, "Go brush your teeth, and then we can head to the train station." With a wide smile on his face, Jason rushed to the upstairs bathroom to brush his teeth and a few minutes later he and Grandpa Richard were out the door on their way to the train station.

A/N: Hello and thank you for reading chapter 1. This is my first attempt at writing a story and I hope that everyone will enjoy it. Please let me know if there is anywhere you see that I can improve, feedback is appreciated. I have a few more chapters already written, with more on the way and a writing and posting schedule that will have more chapters coming out on most Fridays. This story will for the most part follow the events of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and I have plans to continue the story through the other Harry Potter books as well. Once again, thank you for reading and I hope you stick around on this journey with me.

-Staldak