How one mistake can change your whole year (September 1991)
September 5th 1991
Harry James Potter could say with full confidence that he was completely confused. Yup, he was utterly lost. Like the ‘running around in circles and everything looking the same’ kind of lost. He hadn’t felt that way in a very long time, but it seemed as though Hogwarts School was bringing out a lot of emotions in him that he hadn’t felt in years.
Granted, it was his first week there and he hadn’t seen much of the castle, but he should’ve already memorized the way from the Great Hall to his respective classrooms, yet it seemed as though that had been a failed effort, as Harry didn’t know where he was at the moment.
“You need any help?” He heard a voice say behind him, an angel come to save him. Finally. Turning towards the noise, he found himself face to face with a boy that looked older than him and way cooler too. He wasn’t wearing his school robes or even traditional wizarding robes like the ones Harry had seen everyone in the school and Diagon Alley wearing, but black skinny jeans that were ripped at the knees, a matching black t-shirt tucked into the jeans and an oversized blue jean jacket with a bunch of different patches all around it. ‘Seems he’s from the Muggle World like me, that’s good.’ Harry thought, but as the boy came closer, Harry noticed two other weird things about him. His bright grey eyes that seemed to shine with hidden mischief and his half and half hair?! Wait what? Harry blinked a few times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, but the boy’s hair really was half black and half blonde. Wow…. Harry thought distractedly.
“Hello? Are you lost?” The boy asked again, snapping Harry out of his shock and forcing him to respond.
“Oh, um… yeah. I can’t find the transfiguration classroom. Again….” Harry whispered the last word to himself but the boy heard him and laughed a bit at the word. But it wasn’t a mocking laugh, it was a… warm one, like he could relate. He seems nice.
“That’s alright. Everyone gets lost at least once in their first week here. I got lost at least once a week for the first term.” The boy laughed again at his own words this time, and Harry couldn’t help but join him, relaxing slightly as he became reassured that the boy wouldn’t make fun of him and didn’t seem to recognise him. “Come on, I’ll help you get there. I’m Hadrian by the way.”
“I’m Harry.” The two walked side by side, Hadrian making sure to engage the boy in casual conversation as they moved towards their destination. They’d gotten to know each other a bit by the time they’d reached the classroom, and Harry felt as though he’d made a friend. He even felt disappointed when they’d arrived at the classroom at last.
“Oh you never told me how old you are.”
“Ah, I’m a second year!” The boy said brightly, laughing at Harry’s wide eyes.
“But in which house?”
“You’ll have to guess that one!” Hadrian teased as he walked away, waving to the other boy as he walked away. Harry couldn’t help but laugh at his new friend before entering the classroom and getting scolded by Professor McGonagall for being late… again.
September 6th 1991
The next time Harry saw Hadrian was during breakfast a few days after at the Gryffindor Table. Harry had wanted to talk to the Weasley Twins and found the boy with them. The three were huddled together and spoke quietly for a few minutes before breaking away, which is when Hadrian noticed Harry.
“Ah there’s my new friend!” The older boy exclaimed going over to where Harry was standing near the long table and ruffling his hair. The boy’s hair had changed colours, and Harry noticed this with wide eyes that made Hadrian laugh.
“It’s pink!” Which actually wasn’t a very accurate description of the hair, as it was more… orangey up close, like a light coral colour.
“Oh yeah, it is. I’d meant to make it red, but it came out a bit wrong.” Hadrian scratched his neck self-consciously, and Harry laughed at the boy’s sheepish expression.
“I think it looks good!” Harry complimented, and the boy really did look very handsome, even with the bright hair colour. He wore a white oversized t-shirt tucked into matching trousers and orange sneakers to match his hair. He also had clear hexagon-shaped glasses with clear lenses on, but Harry didn’t know if he actually needed them or if they were a fashion choice.
“Thank you! Find your way around well?”
“Uh, yeah….” Now Harry was the sheepish one, which made Hadrian chuckle quietly at their switched positions.
“Well I’m glad. And if you ever find yourself lost again, I’ll make sure to be there to help you.” This made Harry smile brightly at the boy, an expression which the older boy returned.
“Now, Rian,” one of the Weasley Twins – Harry didn’t know which one though – chastised as they snuck behind the other boy, putting an arm each around his shoulders.
“Don’t go corrupting our newest Lion.” The other twin continued for the first, smirking at their friend.
“And if I do?” Hadrian replied challengingly, a smirk on his face.
“Well….”
“We’ll have to kill you of course.”
“Keep dreaming.” The boy replied blandly, getting twin laughs in return and a small smile from Harry. “If anyone will do any killing, it’ll be me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have class to go to. Toodles~”
“He’s not a Gryffindor?” Harry asked, surprised as he saw Hadrian step beside another, taller boy his age with swept back grey hair (Harry didn’t know how that was possible, but he could’ve dyed it like Hadrian seemed to do) wearing Ravenclaw robes open over a white t-shirt similar to Hadrian’s but tacked into dark wash jeans instead.
“Oh no, Rian is as Slytherin as they come.” One of the twins said with humour colouring his voice, and Harry gaped at the two.
“He’s a Slytherin?!” Harry asked in shock. He’d been told by everyone he’d met so far that Slytherins were evil, but Hadrian had been really kind to him. Could Ron and Hagrid have been wrong about the House of the Snakes?
“Yeah. But don’t believe everyone that tells you they’re all evil.” The other twin explained calmly to Harry, “Hadrian is as kind and caring as they come. He’s just ambitious and cunning to a fault, which is what put him in the snake pit in the first place.”
“But I thought he was a muggle-born?”
“Oh, no one knows. He’s never said who his parents are for people to be able to realise, but he definitely doesn’t act like those arrogant purebloods you see around.”
“That’s good.” Harry said, sighing a bit in relief.
September 12th 1991
The third time Harry met Hadrian was a week after their first encounter. The second year Slytherins were coming out of Greenhouse Two while the first year Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs were going in for their own lesson. Harry had been waiting for Ron to join him when he’d noticed the older boy coming towards him, and he’d broken into an involuntary wide grin.
“Hadrian!”
“Harry!” Hadrian exclaimed happily, bidding his companion farewell before he approached Harry, a companion who had a very eye-catching streak at the front of his brunette hair and was wearing a black shirt tucked into black trousers with the typical Slytherin robes everyone else wore open over the outfit. He’d dyed his hair again, this time into a bright blue that was a bit darker than the light blue beanie he was wearing. He also wore a black varsity jacket and blue jeans with a black t-shirt underneath. “How are you?”
“I’m good. The blue suits you.”
“Why thank you.” Hadrian said with a dramatic bow that had Harry cackling.
“You never told me you were a Slytherin.” Harry said after a minute, and the boy’s face closed off a bit.
“I’d heard you think Slytherins are all evil, so I hadn’t wanted that to be the first impression I gave you.”
“Oh….” Harry breathed out, slightly ashamed at the impression he’d made on the boy. “I actually think you’re really cool.”
“That- I, um….” Hadrian apparently didn’t know how to take a compliment, as he stuttered out and his pale skin turned pink in embarrassment. This made Harry laugh, and Hadrian joined him after a moment.
“Actually,” Harry continued, “you never even told me your last name.”
“You didn’t tell me yours either.” Hadrian countered, and Harry stared at him in shock.
“I thought you already knew. And, um… it’s Potter.”
“Mine’s Black.” Hadrian said with a cheeky smile that hid his hesitation, but Harry could see it right away (he’d always been good at reading people, had been forced to be to survive living with the Dursleys for so long), he just didn’t know why it was there. Black was a pretty common last name after all; he’d met a few people in primary school with the same last name.
“Hadrian Black. That has a nice ring to it.” This made the older boy cackle loudly, amusement clear on his face. They talked for a few more minutes before Hadrian had to leave for his next class, but the interaction made Harry feel warm on the inside (which seemed to be a trend when it came to Hadrian). He’s actually made a friend other than Ron. How exciting!
From then on, the boys continued talking, and Hadrian started teaching Harry stuff about the Wizarding World casually, dropping the lessons into their normal conversations, like how to interact with purebloods, what not to say to them, what was normal for the muggle world but wasn’t for the magical one. Harry didn’t know if these lessons had been taught to the boy growing up or if he’d gained them from experience, but they were extremely useful.
There were lessons like:
“Purebloods think it’s rude if you start using their first names immediately, you should only use their last names or their titles until they give you permission to do so.”
Or,
“Why do they wear robes when you don’t?” Harry had asked during one of their numerous conversations, a few weeks after he’d started hanging out with Hadrian consistently.
“Because I’m the abnormal one; robes are normal attire in the Wizarding World. I don’t like them, though, so I don’t wear them and the professors rarely comment at this point.” Hadrian had ended his words with a soft laugh, and Harry couldn’t help the amusement that coloured his voice as he replied.
“That makes so much sense.”
And then there were other conversations like:
“If someone touches you without permission or calls you Harry like they know you even though you’d never met them before, use a stinging charm on them.”
“Isn’t that illegal?”
“Nope. And if someone tells you otherwise, send them my way.” This was all said with a vindictive smirk after Hadrian had seen one of the other Gryffindors harass Harry. The words had made Harry both shiver in slight fear at his friend’s dark expression but also smile at the protective tone of his voice. Hadrian really cared about me, huh.
Similar scenes coloured their first year of friendship, which Harry cherished beyond most things in his life at that point. They made him feel… seen, heard and understood. Cherished for the first time in his life.