Our story starts when Petunia receives baby Harry and the letter of his circumstances on her doorstep one fine morning.

It is not until the evening that she has the chance to tell Vernon of the letter and a substantial amount of the truth of Lily's magical status, her Hogwarts education, and life in the wizarding world that she had previously glossed over to him in conversation about her. Although quite a revelation, he saw no part of it as Petunia's doing nor fault, so no part of his opinion about her was changed. After those necessary reassurances they got onto the critical bit of this situation.

"The adoption papers, may I see them…?" he asked.

Petunia swallowed nervously, "there are none," she admitted.

"Well then we can't register Harry for school or the doctor's because we won't be considered his legal guardians," he said.

"I told you. My sister and her wizarding folk are different. They belong to a different set of systems I think, and don't have muggle equivalents of their paperwork - even though they should."

"Very silly," agreed Vernon, "I can have a talk with my lawyer friend if you want. I'd say it's something I heard on the news, was confused about and wanted to set the line straight just for the record. See what they think. They might know something more about these things that we don't…"

"Very wise, please do that…" Petunia was meek because she was still in shock due to the circumstances. If it had been any other day she would have already chattered with gossip after the closure of a heavy conversation.

"I talked with Bernard today," said Vernon at the coffee table after dinner a week and a few days later.

"What did he say?" asked Petunia, pursing her lips as she sipped her tea.

"That we definitely need adoption papers in order to formally adopt him. If we have evidence of relation such as Lily and your birth certificate to prove your parents are the same, a DNA test to show you are a match for his aunt, or anything else that helps build the case, we may be considered higher preference for adoption if there is ever any conflict over who gets to adopt him. Bernard then warned me about custody conflicts with the paternal side of his family. Say his grandmother or grandfather from his father's side wishes to adopt him. He says this is often the case in many custody conflicts, particularly if not much is known about the other side of the family because when tragic events happen, sometimes all families trust with their progeny is themselves and relatives from his paternal side wanting to exercise their claim over him are our biggest concern if we want to adopt," Vernon finished, sipping his tea after the long speech.

"I don't know anything about James' parents. Lily and I...didn't really talk after we drifted apart...I know they don't have records though. They are...witch and wizard..." said Petunia, settling down her cup solemnly.

"I didn't think so. I told Bernard we weren't sure about the records from Harry's paternal side. That they were - circus folk - the term we agreed to call them to non-magical people," said Vernon, "and Bernard said it would be difficult because isolated communities have their own legal system and legal records more often than not. He says often in these situations it's rarely ever the first time people from two different communities came in contact with each other and reached a situation that potentially needed legal resolution. There will have been instances in the past, and legally agreed upon ways of handling the interaction between the two systems. We just don't know about them. He says for situations like these it's recommended we talk to an expert that knows how the two legal systems and formal records interact with each other to reach an agreement, in order to understand what our options are for adoption."

Vernon took a break to sip some more tea. After he was finished he continued, "He also said that we could provide evidence of our relation to Lily and a DNA test to have higher preference for adoption if there is no challenge from his paternal side. And that the more evidence there is, the more likely we are still to be given preference is there is ever any challenge over his custody for the entire time he is under our roof. It is very important for if I'm to do the proper job of adopting Harry under our roof I wish to wrap things up legally as best as possible."

"I agree. Best to wrap things up as well as possible from our end," said Petunia.

"Do you want to adopt?" asked Vernon, "I mean. Tough situation. Looks like they guilt-tripped us and all pressure points towards us adopting. Family is important, our own. I will not stand my wife being unhappy, including a forced adoption of a relative's child she doesn't have good relations with. If you don't make the decision I will seek other legal ways to ensure we do not adopt and change our lifestyle just because of a...freak accident with a relative you don't have good relations with. What do you make of Dumbledore's explanation that he needs to stay with you due to the blood protection of his mother upon death?"

"I don't know," said Petunia, "if I were younger I would've just scoffed and said it was all nonsense. But as it is, I've heard enough gossip from friends about families who've struggled with personal illness and needed an extra kidney, lung, liver, or other organs like that. The first call is always family because they have the most genetic similarities that do play a role which we can't see with the ***** eye, to decrease changes of rejection or complication. If I were younger I would've just scoffed and said it was nonsense but...as unfavourable as it is, I do believe there is a...magical equivalent."

After taking a brief pause she said, "There you go. That's my final answer. As...unfortunate as this situation is I am past believing there is no truth to this sort of thing."

"Well it's a reasonable course of action to take in any family-linked situation," said Vernon, "I just treat it like a health situation, but the magical kind. So you're happy with adopting?"

"Yes. I mean, I've always known if Lily needed a kidney I'd donate one for her...I would you know. And she would me. I guess it's not much different. Even if it's...something I don't understand..." she said, "I'll learn to live with the situation and Harry..."

"I respect that," said Vernon, "I'll call up a lawyer, a proper one not just a friend, to sort out the birth certificates and any other form of evidence. Shall I book the DNA test so that by the time we have reached the front of the waiting list it is around the same time as when all the other documents would go through..."

"### Yes," said Petunia, and that settled it.

"### He's a cute one. Testing for relation to yourself?" Dr Leroy Loughty smiled at Petunia in the consultation room. He had been going over the results of the test and how to read them to the couple.

"Yes," Petunia said a little stiffly.

"Difficult situation? We usually get them here at our relation testing clinic," he said sympathetically.

"You've done a great job," put in Vernon earnestly.

"It's my sister's. We were close when we were younger but she ran of with circus folk in our teenage years...fell in love with the ringleader I suppose. They died in their business and now he's mine..." it was such an overwhelming situation it all just came out. Vernon patted her comfortingly on the hand.

"But not the circus exactly? There's only one group that occasionally passes through here and the last time I did a test for them was about a decade ago. They didn't seem like the type to give of that impression to newcomers..." Dr Loughty said. Turned out he was just too knowledgable about circus folk in the local area to truly be fooled.

"No, you're right. Not circus folk exactly, but...strange people," Petunia swallowed nervously, "I'm not sure if you believe me. But they believe in magic and...they have created a whole isolated society and belief system for it...oh..."

"What's your opinion on this Doctor?" asked Vernon, "although we don't adhere to those beliefs we have had to be exposed to those ideas through Petunia's relation to them. Even though it is impolite to reject a belief without entertaining it at all in polite society, we...have to admit we're at a bit of a lose how to even begin entertaining their ideas. I...what is your opinion, as an educated person? It might do us some help to hear it."

Dr Loughty licked his lips and raised his eyebrows, as if he had a lot of knowledge to depart. Then, he began, "I'm certainly not a stranger to the idea of communities to varying levels of isolation having their own society and belief systems. It has been well documented throughout history that there's always been different ideas and worldviews practiced by different groups at any given time, just that most people are more commonly acquainted with the dominant one, or the worldview that the majority of all people currently living practice. But the existence of alternate groups has always been recorded. It is the fact that one worldview is practiced by the majority that causes us to see it as the only worldview of reality. However, the fact that it is dominant does not affect the existence of others. Though there are complexities when they intertwine and interact..."

"Thank you for not believing that I'm making it up," said Petunia. It was one of the reasons she hesitated to mention it to any of the friends in her social circle.

"No, I don't believe you are. And I also don't believe they believe they're making it up either. They probably very strongly have some understanding or experience of something outside of what the dominant worldview knows and genuinely believe it is magic of a sort, and have established a sort of system for it. But of course, magic doesn't exist. If you showed a lightbulb to someone decades before it came out, they might think it's magic. If you showed someone magnets who had never seen them before they may also believe there's magic at play. Magic is simply a word humans use to describe phenomena we do not currently understand. And with good scientific understanding and analysis we can break it into physical steps and simple explanations from our everyday world that don't involve magic at all," he finished.

"Beautifully put. So they are crackpots because they are onto something the rest of humans don't know about but just don't explain nor understand it well. Calling it magic," said Vernon.

"Sadly many people are ignorant to even the most beautiful of all phenomena," said Dr Loughty.

"Is there a way to make money of this magic?" asked Vernon, "say if one of them had a proper discussion with a businessman...used what they know to...generate profit..."

"Whether or not their worldview spreads to the dominant society's worldview or dies with them when the community dies does depend on several factors, one of which is luck. Many times in life all too soon a community dies out without getting to spread their worldview, and then the next one discovers the same phenomenon and one day if by chance there may be some interaction between them. So we can't say for sure when or what the knowledge dispersion between your sister's isolated community and our one happens. But all I can say is that there's no such thing as magic, everything can be explained by the physical laws of this universe, and it is only a matter of time to unravel it and stop using the word 'magic' as a blanket statement over what is really going on underneath," he finished.

"So we're just sitting ducks," said Vernon, "expected to live with it until if or when their community could bridge with ours. But we largely can't change our position in this."

"I suppose no," said Dr Loughty.

"Thank you though, you've been immensely helpful. Have you a special interest in studying these type of phenomenons? Your explanations have been breathtaking," said Petunia. He was really, one of the only people who had given them a palatable answer from their perspective.

"No. I'm just a very strict adherent of the laws and logic of science and I apply my methods of analysis to most things that tickle my mind. I'm glad my musings have offered some peace to you, and if you're would feel it's helpful, I'm happy to be contacted about anything more to do with this all throughout his upbringing if there's something you wanted questions about. I want to help my clients as much as possible..."

"Thank you, that would be in order," said Vernon.

"Looks like we have made a new family friend," remarked Petunia optimistically once they had left the clinic.

My name is Harry Potter. My parents died in a car crash when I was one so I was sent to live with my Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and my cousin Dudley for as long as I could remember. The circumstances of my parents death isn't discussed much because of the distress it causes to my family. I have mostly lived a happy life though the Dursleys didn't ask for this position and would have clearly preferred their family life with just Dudley, but the one thing that strikes me as significant is Dr Leroy Loughty, who has been a family friend of ours for as long as I could remember, and later - a good friend to me.

It started when I liked talking to him when he came over. Witty, enigmatic, with a lot to say, he was what Aunt Petunia would describe as being unexpectedly good with children and after some time they thought we clicked well that they said yes when Dr Loughty made the jovial suggestion that I accompany him to his work at his lab one day for fun.

I went there every so often when he was running some small errands and didn't mind humouring a young child at the same time. It was there that I was acquainted with science, broken down simply so I could understand, and I loved it. It is so satisfying when things make sense because you could understand how they worked.

"What happens if people make a new discovery?" I asked him one day nearing my 11th birthday when I had been a bit older.

"They write papers," said Dr Loughty, "of experiments to do to confirm their theory. If other scientists can do the same experiment again around the world and get the same results then it's proven true, so that theory becomes more supported. There can always be evidence against it, but some theories build up so much support we basically consider them to be facts. Which are then used around the world for all sorts of different purposes and industries. That's how new scientific knowledge is found."

"Do people have to use them?" I asked.

"No, sometimes it's just there to be recorded. Waiting to be used," he said, "but what's more significant is adding to the collective human knowledge, with sound scientific theories of naturally occurring phenomena we otherwise didn't understand just branded as magic at the time. It's the thinking and analysing to deduce how it all works that's most important. Never let yourself be held back if you are to go into a science field when you're older," he said, "it is a beautiful train of thought."

I was eleven when I got my Hogwarts letter. "It's that same rubbish from that crackpot community," said Uncle Vernon.

"I'll call up the post office and see if they have a record of that letter in their storage before it was sent," I said, "it may not have come through the postal system even though it ended up in our mailbox." Talking about things calmly and rationally always seemed to calm my aunt and uncle down.

"Good. I want to see what they say. I bet not," said Uncle Vernon. Since he was calm he did not take the letter away from me and it seemed I would be allowed to keep it due to my excellent handling of the situation.

I called the post office. "Hello, Little Whingeings Post Office Speaking, how may I help you?" A young sounding male operator said over the phone.

"Hello, Harry Potter from number 4 Privet Drive speaking. I was wondering if you had a record of a letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry recorded anywhere before it was sent this morning," I said.

"Hold on one moment..." A few shufflings later the voice said, "We do keep a small summary of each item that our mailman has delivered. There was a water bill, electricity bill, a subscription to the magazine..."

At the end of the list, there was no record of such a letter.

"Would that be all Mr Potter?" said the voice, "it is possible for people other than the mailman to put post in other people's mailboxes. We aren't responsible for it though we can recommend some mailbox security products to buy if that's within your interests..."

"No thank you sir, good day sir," I said, before hanging up with a click of satisfaction.

"Well, what did they say m'boy?" grunted Uncle Vernon as he ate some more baked beans at the breakfast table.

"That there was no record of such a letter at the post office this morning," I said, "someone else must've put it in the mailbox. Or it came by other means to the mailbox."

Uncle Vernon roared with laughter, "strange community," he said.

"Things haven't really improved...I'm not that surprised," said Petunia.

I smiled and ate my breakfast as fast as possible before escaping to my room to read it. Because I had not made such a fuss out of the letter being magic, which may have triggered Uncle Vernon's (somewhat understandable) outburst as the topic of magic without any real explanation was not welcome in this household, and I had attempted to approach the situation as rationally as possible which kept both individuals calm and not threatening to take the letter away from me, I got to read it.

I read it in the privacy of my own room in the cupboard under the stairs and dropped the letter with a faint open-mouthed 'wow' afterwards. I was a wizard with magical powers I didn't know about until now, signed up for a school to harness them since birth, that I had just received the entrance letter and list of items to purchase for today. I was going there next year to learn how to develop said powers of magic, and all that came after.

I felt...amazed but also like there was no such thing as magic afterall. It is simply naturally occurring phenomena people do not currently understand, that a community of people have labelled 'magic' and they may have invented some education systems to harness it. But the reality behind it was not any fictional substance called 'magic', but real-world scientific meanings and analysis' no one from that community had ever thought through before and recorded to add to the world's scientific knowledge.

My name is Harry Potter, and I might be the first person to approach this community with a rational perspective and prove through experiments and papers, that there was no such thing as magic, and everything could be explained by physical laws of the universe as we knew it, and settle this for once and for all.

I told my Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon of this over lunch on this Saturday.

"Dr Loughty taught you well, those were his views," remarked Uncle Vernon.

"Those are sensible views all sensible people hold and he just happens to be one of them," I said.

"Your mother received one of those letters too," said Aunt Petunia. It was usually not a discussed topic but Dr Loughty's help and views surrounding it had made some things easier to discuss. I suppose Aunt Petunia felt game to talk about things a little today in this conversation. "And of to Hogwarts she went too. I suppose the wizarding world hasn't changed much since then. But it was due to the ... car crash of your parents, that you had to live here with us. We received another letter from the headmaster of the school, Professor Dumbledore, of the circumstances and how we were to care for you. There were no adoption papers so Vernon had to go through the difficulty of talking to a separate lawyer and drafting up the documents in order to do it properly so we would have higher preference over custody of you if there came any custody challenges from your paternal side. Awfully inconvenient people, wizarding folk. And Dr Loughty was the scientist who explained to us the results of a DNA test for the court. We told him a little of the situation then and he had just such a sensible view of it that we decided to keep in touch and exchange well wishes from time to time. Then you clicked so well with him and...it's amazing how things turn out. We could've never predicted..."

"He's a good man," said Uncle Vernon, "without his help we wouldn't have been able to understand some things as...well as we did."

"I've always liked him," I said.

"Can I have an outing with Dr Loughty too?" asked Dudley, who had never expressed any interest in cognitive challenges until now.

"Why yes you can, Dr Loughty ought to be free to humour all kids under this household, one more can't hurt. I shall have a word with him now that you want to..." said Aunt Petunia.

The rest of the lunch passed smoothly. Things often passed down in families so I wasn't surprised that my parents were involved in the community. If anything I was now more driven to get to the bottom of it, because it had been something that affected my side of the family for so long. Both my parents were involved in this community and so were my grandparents from my father's side from what I'd deduced of the situation. I didn't ask any more questions than necessary for I didn't want to trigger any outbursts or emotional moments in either my Aunt nor Uncle as they didn't react to the topic well. But I knew there were more mysteries waiting to be solved just from what I knew of everything now.

I saw Dr Loughty once again in the intermediary between receiving the letter and going to Diagon alley to purchase my materials. I told him of the letter and everything.

"Well that's great," he said, "it's a bit expected because these things do run in families. And I'm sure you'll have a lot of things to take in and analyse into scientific theories if that's what you want to do. Of course, you can just enjoy it..."

"No never," I said, "I will never just dub it magic on top and not understand it. Once my eyes have been opened to the beauty of science I just can't accept it. Though I may work on my theories bit by bit, at what's easier to understand and then keep going..."

"Sounds like a plan. Well, live life the way you want. By the way, I've some news to tell you. I've accepted a post on a decade long expedition to Antarctica over a combined geology and biology project with a formidable team from around the world. It is quite a career move for me, but I will be around no longer and quite uncontactable there. This project was one I hoped for for some time but I thought to let you know so you're not wondering with unanswered questions about my whereabouts. Life, has a way of never going the way you planned, and I'm not sure what my next steps are after this, or where else in the world I would be located. Though I'm open minded to all opportunities and the direction my life may take after. There's many exciting things left for me to explore. But this may be the last time I'm in this part of the world again and also the last time I may see you. I hope it causes no unnecessary distress..."

"None, it's not unusual for scientists to leave as they are stationed where they need be for their jobs. I had no expectation you would stay so there is no disappointment. I can only say thank you for being here for my family for so long and all that you have opened my eyes up to," I reasoned.

Even though he had left I would not forget the lessons he taught me, and that was no excuse to not carry out my original plan of unlocking the scientific explanations behind all the mysteries of this magical community. I will carry on, regardless of this minor inconvenience. I will not be deterred from my original goal.

On an innocuous weekend I was contacted by the staff member that would come to get me for the trip to Diagon Alley.

There was a ring at the doorbell. Aunt Petunia told me to get it from the breakfast table and I opened it to a very tall man with a closed umbrella. Outside it was stormy, unusual for this time of the year but freak storms pass over these suburban areas sometimes. Though his umbrella was closed and he was not wet at all, on the contrary his clothes and bushy beard and hair looked incredibly dry, suggesting he was nowhere close to getting wet on his journey here.

"Hello," he said in a jolly voice, "There was a bit of a storm here but I was still able to fly here nicely. Eleventh birthday, that's a special age hey," he said, winking at me. I instantly liked him. Pleasant, affable jolly guy. Seemed sensible and not full of airs or graces at all. He was a genuine soul.

"Come in. It is still pouring out," said Aunt Petunia, welcoming him into the kitchen table.

"When you say fly, was it on a plane?" Uncle Vernon asked carefully.

"No, there isn't a flight short enough for that," said the man, settling down his umbrella as he accepted a cup of tea from Aunt Petunia at the breakfast table. I didn't notice it until now but there was a white box he had been holding with his other hand which he settled down in front of us.

"Happy birthday Harry," he said, "I made it myself. Not the best cook but figured it was the thought that counted."

I opened up the box to a homemade birthday cake, deliciously baked with the words 'Happy Birthday Harry' written on top in icing that would be delicious to eat.

"Thank you," I said with the biggest smile on my face.

"Anyways, I'm Rubeus Hagrid. Keeper of the keys and grounds at Hogwarts. I'm here to take you to Diagon Alley to get your supplies because Hogwarts usually sends a staff member to help muggle-borns. Or those in similar situations. In case the letter didn't make it clear enough to yer Harry, yer a wizard, and you will go to Hogwarts to learn magic."

If there was one thing a sensible person didn't like it was to meet a silly view and still adhere to it for a long time yet. I figured it was better to make things as straightforward as soon as possible, especially as I didn't judge for there to be any emotional outburst or reason why I should hold back on this.

"I'm not magic and neither is anyone else in your community. Magic is simply a word people tack onto naturally occurring phenomena they do not currently understand, and anything that is explained by magic can also be explained by the physical laws of the universe and simple logic if truly thought and analysed out," I stated simply.

"Well of course," said Hagrid, "that's more or less what people think of it. We all know we're a bit special and all, doing these things. No one feels we have figured these things out but we figure em well enough to survive in our community and that's all that matters really. We just call this 'magic' because it's better than saying, we're cursed with something we don't understand and have ter build a school for so we don't make fools of ourselves in this society. Or no school. We all know that deep down, it's the prejudice that makes it difficult to come out with hard rules for it because-"

"I've been taking lessons from Dr Loughty too," Dudley chose this moment to chime in, "and I know logically it's all due to economics. People in that community would not logically want people outside of it to profit economically from the naturally occurring phenomena only they currently practice regularly. Because a lot of things in society could be explained through simple economics. I know how sensible things work too-"

"Yes well, if ter prejudice was only about the rich not wanting the poor ter benefit. But eh-blimely Harry. Look at the time, we should get going-"

"Yessir!" I said, closing the lid of the box. Dudley looked disappointed. He was also an eleven year old boy who had a sweet tooth and had fond feelings towards birthday cake which he just realised may be dampened if they weren't eating it at breakfast and he was left in suspense over when it was consumed.

"Do let us all have a slice before we leave. Would you like a bit of bacon and eggs Mr Hagrid?" said Aunt Petunia, sensing the way Dudley felt.

"Yes," said Harry, who was so pleased by the fact that he had a birthday cake, he was just happy to have one slice and would've liked a bit of an affair with his family.

"I suppose," said Hagrid, accepting a plate of eggs, bacon and french toast from Aunt Petunia.

"Ow-hard-" Dudley choked on a slice of birthday cake he had thought was tantalising to eat. He lost his balance and fell forward.

"Uh no-" said Hagrid as Dudley came barrelling towards him, trying to juggle the two separate plates of eggs and bacon, and french toast, as well as his umbrella that he had also been holding, at this new projectile.

He tripped, the eggs, bacon and toast went flying in the air. His umbrella flew through the air and a spark zigzagged from the tip to Dudley's rear-end, which then sprouted a pig's tail to Harry's surprised eyes. Hagrid's hands then caught his balance on the table, and the next second it all came crashing down as breakfast items spilled, plates dropped and crashed, and the floor was a mess of items. All of the members sat there in their chairs or on the floor in the case of Dudley and Hagrid, food and broken plates all around them, and the remainder of the small table at which they had a lowkey breakfast at sometimes remained in smithereens all around them.

"Dudley your tail! Look at what happened to you!" screamed Aunt Petunia, pointing at Dudley's tail.

Uncle Vernon saw the change in physical condition Dudley was in and screamed too.

"Sorry. Accidental magic," grunted Hagrid, picking up his umbrella.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon just screamed even louder at that, not liking naturally occurring phenomenons they didn't know about to be described in those words and Harry could practically see the mood of the room rising like mercury in a thermometer before...

"Let's go," he said quickly to Hagrid, leading the newcomer outside, "see you," he said as calmly as he could to his Aunt and Uncle as to not make the situation more hysterical before they left the doors of Privet Drive.

"I shouldn't have said accidental magic..." said Hagrid, as he began leading Harry away to Diagon Alley where their next big adventure lay.

"What's the prejudice that prevents magic being analysed and studied?" I asked as I followed Hagrid to the underground subway.

"Witches and wizards like ter think they're something special, finding and discovering this magic ahead of everyone else. They like ter think it runs in their blood and that muggles are below them, even though it'll be hard to catch them saying that. Well, in their secretive circles it's rampant but outside they know better to let their true opinions run. Because of this they don't want ter acknowledge magic is something that isn't intrinsic and well, magic. And that it can be studied and analysed and found not ter be magic at all," Hagrid explained.

"Is that why they hide themselves from muggles?" I continued, "because they don't want to associate with subhuman people?"

"Nail on the head Harry. That's a pretty good reason for any community that believes they're superior to deny a community knowledge of them. The rich like to keep the poor poor. The literate like ter keep the illiterate illiterate back in the day. Back in the day reading may be considered magic too by some people. Same thing, different century."

"So no economic profit can be made of an exchange of ideas either way," I said.

"None whatsoever, maybe ter only good thing out of all o this. Blimey Harry, yer really made me think about the world a little bit. Usually I don't think these things, but live in a society for so long and you do understand these sentiments. Feel it in yer bones."

"Most people think you're stupid aren't they," I couldn't stop myself from blurting out, "because they don't think to ask your opinion on these matters. But any adult living in society would know. There's a few adults like that at my school, I didn't realise until Dr Loughty pointed it out to me, he's a scientist."

"Very true. Live in any society for decades and decades and it's just what yer feel. About the way people see magic, science, everything. But no one thinks ter ask the unusual looking groundskeeper - I know I am very physically different from everyone else. Hard not to know. He sounds like a wise man," said Hagrid.

"Does it bother you?" I asked.

"Does it bother you?" said Hagrid, "you sound like you know quite a lot of muggle science and logic, which I assume are subjects in the muggle world. And they might teach you ways of thinking that wizarding subjects don't. You probably do think differently than other kids yer age and yet I haven't seen any signs it bothers you..."

"Whether or not other people know about my superior advancements in such an area doesn't change the outcome. It's not like a life or death situation where if someone knows or doesn't know I'm better at muggle science than they thought it would magically change anything. Other people don't really need to know. And I can always analyse magic scientifically inside my head. I can do what I want without needing to let anyone know..." I found myself revealing some of my inner sentiments towards this topic that I hadn't really verbalised until now.

"There you go," said Hagrid, "you only need to talk when necessary. Just goes to show once again how you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover..."

I was happy it didn't bother Hagrid, though a part of me was still upset for a reason I could not fathom. Hagrid had been one of the nicest, most knowledgeable and conversational people I had met, and yet my immediate impressions were already that he didn't get the appreciation he truly deserved in this society. I just didn't get the feeling.

The majority of the trip was through the shops and street of Diagon Alley, so there was no real way of talking about serious matters discretely and hence there wasn't much meaningful discussion save for general explanations of how the wizarding world worked. I thought there were lots of naturally occurring phenomena all around me that currently had no known scientific explanation, but I could see myself working on them one by one in the order they arrived at to break them down scientifically into steps that could be understood today. It was not an uneventful day.

Two things stood out to me. One was that my parents actually died due to a dark wizard killing them and that I was the chosen one meant to bring them back. The way people treated me proved it was true I had a name and reputation out there. I didn't like it one bit but there were no actions I could take to truly dispel them without bringing more trouble to myself so I just told myself I would have to live with it - though I would of course, live out my life at Hogwarts the way I wanted to, without the interference of fame on my daily life that was unwanted.

I may be an orphan, a young person, but I wasn't a pushover and would not be bending my life around fame I had never brought onto myself.

The second thing was the Malfoys, and their charming son whom I met whilst shopping for robes.

He instantly struck me as a spoiled only son of a rich family with strange views. If Hogwarts was anything like muggle private schools, the rich parents always had a say on the school board and tried to win all the schoolyard battles in their progeny's favour. It would bring too much trouble to truly deal with them, and the best way was just to ignore them and appear uninteresting to them. Once they saw you were an easy target it was quick to lead to trouble and catch on.

I shrugged at all his questions and pretended to be focused in examining a pair of robes. His eyes enlarged as if he was unused to people unfearful of his family name after he introduced himself and his house, but considering I'm Harry Potter, and he wasn't sure if he should hate me because my unwanted fame interfered with the reputation he wanted to ask, nor love me because he saw my reputation of potential benefit to him, my neutral reaction right in the middle, neither disagreeing with him, nor overly excited by him, seemed to have caught him off guard. I could see uncertainty and a bit of blankness flickering over his face, like he wasn't sure what to do or say.

Finally, he turned around and went back to robe shopping. "I suppose you're slow," was his final musings, "You don't seem to have any look on your kids like the slow kids. Father told me I might be the only one with anything to say and social connections to make. Still, good day potter. Hope to see a chap like yourself at Hogwarts sometime," he tried to make a show of clapping me on the back and I obliged just enough to be neutral. Disinterest was shown on his face as he stalked away.

I may have evaded him for now but I still didn't like him one bit. Need to avoid him if I have any common sense at all, I thought, for he was just a spoiled, bitter, envious, boy who could easily cause me a great deal of trouble if he pinned me as his nemesis or enemy or something.

The day wrapped up with Hagrid purchasing me an owl, brief musings about how he knew my parents personally and the pleasant people they were. I missed him when he was gone but otherwise the day was uneventful. I needed reference books and to actually be around this phenomena of magic to write papers on it and analyse it scientifically, which was only supported if I was actually in the 'magical' community or at Hogwarts I supposed, so that was the ideal time for it all to begin.

Dinner was incredibly tense that night. Aunt Petunia didn't like my owl but she wanted it released and flying free around the neighbourhood even less so she obliged me to keep it in my room and our meal's leftovers for it's feed.

"I'm sorry about your tail Dudley. If only I could make it up to you," I said.

"It's not a tail," said Uncle Vernon.

"So don't you dare spread that lie and bake it into him. We were all confused this morning when we called it a tail but never again," said Aunt Petunia whilst cutting up her steak.

"We went to the emergency department in hospital as soon as we could. When the doctors asked what happened we said your Aunt Petunia opened her umbrella funny this morning, a spark came out and the next thing we knew, we had...this problem. The doctors theorised the umbrella was old or made of rusting or expired materials that reacted strangely to the air and the sudden freak storm that formed. He theorised the umbrella collected a lot of static electricity somehow, and when your Aunt moved it through the air, it all released and electrified a loose cotton thread on Dudley's pyjama bottoms, instantly fusing it together. Luckily the cotton thread absorbed most of it, but it was severe enough the tip melded into his skin, and gives the appearance of a tail," explained Uncle Vernon.

"Even though these pyjamas are blue and white, the thread used for the seams and such tends to be of a different colour. Easier for the seammistress perhaps, so they were a pale pink, which neither of us were particularly aware of until today," said Aunt Petunia, "Also, although we couldn't tell at the time, it burned his skin and left marks. Which were treated today, he's on some medicine for any infections, swelling and pain management. When that's decreased and they have the time he's getting it removed. They assured us it was harmless to wait a few more days."

"They were able to get us an appointment in two days time where he can get it removed with one round of local anesthetic and bed rest for a week after, so no more comments on this unfortunate accident ever again or you'll be sorry," said Uncle Vernon, shaking a finger at me.

"Of course not," I said.

"The doctors said we only thought it was a tail because we were out of our minds and believed it to be a freak accident. If you really believe and think one thing, sometimes the eyes deceive you and that's what you think. Upon closer inspection it wasn't really a tail," said Aunt Petunia.

"Of course it wasn't, the doctor gave the most logical and sensible explanation," I said.

"I'm sad that Dr Loughty is leaving," said Dudley. Whenever I talked of sense and logic it was evident to my family it was due to Dr Loughty's influence so it would also be a topic fresh on their minds. "I wish I could learn more science."

"Why not," said Aunt Petunia, "it's a fine interest to have and Dr Loughty's unfortunate leave shouldn't be a reason they stop. Daddy will arrange something for you."

"I'll see if I have any friends who are scientists and happy to pass on their knowledge. You shall continue studying science as you wish," said Uncle Vernon.

I felt happy about this. With two minds fresh on science and scientific concepts I'll have even more help with my work on proving magic is just the world as we know it, just unanalysed. All I needed to do was make sure Dudley could work fair and square with me. But I had no doubt two minds were more efficient than one, and there was no reason to discount Dudley as his interest and knowledge in science at the moment to me, seemed without a flaw nor complaint to disqualify him from such tasks. To do so was against common sense and simply going of on prejudices I may have held against him. The rest of dinner passed uneventfully.

Before going to bed that night I thought about my parents. The fact that they were killed by a dark wizard - so a crook in that community - meant they were most likely involved in crime, lived in a criminal area, otherwise targetted by criminals, or lived an interesting life before it had happened. It wasn't comforting to know I was in the thick of things, but in virtually all the crime fiction novels I'd read, the hero got out unscathed because they had a good application of common sense and rationality even in dangerous situations. And that's how you survive criminal activity and situations.

I vowed to never let this hold me back and to always respond with common sense with dealing with him or anything that came with it.

When September the first came, I followed the Weasleys' to platform 9 and 3/4, boarded the train, and within minutes of actually having a conversation with Ron Weasley, already did not think we had enough in common to be friends.

Ron was not someone who cared about his grades nor academia, and carried with him a strong feeling of complacency that one could only deduce was going to continue the entire way through the years without some divine intervention. It wasn't that I disliked people who didn't care about if they were meeting minimum requirements or not or studying with some ambitions or goals for their future. Rather that I did care a little. While I was no star student at my muggle school I was generally average or above that, tried my best because I wanted to keep all options open, like most children who didn't know what they wanted to be. Ron's complacency I sensed was something he played of like a joke, and although I could see him settling into an easygoing laidback popularity due to it, I didn't want my best friend at Hogwarts to be someone I couldn't study with, or share those concerns with.

Although I did not have much friends at my muggle school because my Aunt and Uncle didn't encourage me to take any extracurricular activities and I did have a quiet disposition I chose my friends like most boys did - companions that were equal, no more no less, whom I could have adventures throughout the years with. I did not want to spend my time explaining things to a dullard or slow person, or tag behind someone whose strength I did not think I could match at current. Most pre-adolescent boys were much the same, each wanting their own adventures to be with like-minded companions, and I was no different.

I also sensed that Hogwarts bought opportunities to try new extracurriculars and I thought I may like a sport. I was always very small and fast, and I was sure there was something I would enjoy. Ron had shown nothing towards sport except for bitterness towards his older brother Bill for being Quidditch captain so it was not very catching. I wanted to be friends with someone who was interested in discussing sport with me all the time and for whom had ambition to train and work together.

I was polite to Ron but he did not particularly interested me as a friend.

All too soon Hermione and Neville walked in. Neville I was interested in beyond his nervous facade but Hermione I had little interest in. She was a girl and boys this age generally preferred to hang out with boys. Although she seemed to care about her studies, I'm sure there were other boys I could be friends with that also cared, and she gave no mentionings of any interest in sport so unless I had any other reason to, I'd assume there were none. There were some boys that I could talk studies with, and maybe sport or similar things along the side. She didn't interest me either. I would not continue my way through Hogwarts making friends with people who did not interest me and weren't my true companions nor what a boy would naturally like at this age. That would be unrealistic.

All too soon the events of the train and journey to the castle melted away and it was time for the sorting, an event even I sensed was life-changing even then. The moment the sorting hat touched my head there was something akin to a clothy sigh that I sensed.

"Interesting. You are not afraid to take the necessary actions to achieve your goals and do not back away from occasions you know would not be silly nor foolish to attempt. You have an easygoing temperament most of the time and entertain academic ideas and knowledge even if you do not possess a life-driving force towards knowledge, though it would be incorrect to say you aren't open to knowledge and new ideas at all. You have an easy way of accepting kind-hearted and decent people whom you show the right loyalty almost subconsciously, and a reasonable amount of tolerance and general well-wishes towards everyone else, but yet you do not make it your life's purpose to show loyalty towards those who have earned it nor to particularly harness hardwork to meet any desires. You do have your own ambitions and a sensible way of achieving them, not wishing to be pushed over or mistreated in the process when you are of control, but yet there is no sense of self-preservation as your ultimate instinct and underlying quality to anything."

The hat paused as if for breath. I was hearing these words as if they were said by an invisible voice inside my head. That no one else could hear.

"You also share a past with an individual whom you correctly identify as a crook and whom you are already aware everyone else theorises is linked to you based on what they know of the real situation that occurred between them. A crook whom some say is linked to you in these series of crimes and whom there are similarities. He belonged in Slytherin and you have no obvious flaws away from Slytherin. You are not an obvious student to turn down for Slytherin, truth to be told, but yet I sense no particular inclination towards it either."

"BETTER BE - GRYFFINDOR!"

The great hall erupted into applause as I got up and sat down. Mine took one of the longer ones but I was content with the result. It seemed I was not an obvious person to turn down for any house, but not an obvious candidate for any, though perhaps more suited towards Gryffindor, and despite the review of my connection with the crook, there was no particular inclination I had within me for Slytherin, so Gryffindor the all around better choice it was.

I felt happy as I sat there, I liked the notion of standing up for what you believed in, being unafraid to try new things, take measured risks, step into the unknown after calculated decisions and preparation but nonetheless making the first step. It was straightforward and logical to me as well, Gryffindor was a house I connected with.

The next few weeks passed uneventfully. I learned people who identified themselves as witches and wizards held prejudiced views towards muggles and muggle-borns, believing them to be inferior as they possessed less of what they dubbed 'magic' even without any scientific proof. Different community, same prejudices, I thought, thinking of the prejudiced views the rich and poor, educated and uneducated, able-bodied and disabled, male and female, that tainted the muggle community as well. The analog in the witch and wizard world I thought.

I also made good friends with Dean Thomas and Killian Osbert. Individuals similar to me for whom I could have genuine friendships through the Hogwarts years with. Dean Thomas loves flying in his spare time, we planned to fly around the school grounds near the Quidditch pitch when we could and he also shows interest in schoolwork and doing well. He would be a good studymate if we wanted to learn at all. Killian Osbert was from Ravenclaw, incredibly intelligent, quick-witted, sharp, and also with a sense of humour that could bite. He was okay playing Quidditch with us. And those were my friends. Boys my age that were true companions in study and also Quidditch and sport outside of school.

I was happy.

At the same time I did not tell them of my past, nor my home, nor my knowledge of Voldemort after me and anything I may have to do to keep him at bay or defeat him if we were ever to confront, nor my goals to prove magic doesn't exist. Because those were personal problems that started and ended with me, my own adventures, my own mysteries in life, my own inner world to keep, just as they had theirs, and we were friends in what we shared. It was possible to be friends just with genuine interests and I had no reason to offload my burdens onto anyone else.

I also had no reason to doubt myself for my situation was one I'd gotten in with anyone else, but solely myself. I could trust myself to get out of it.

Hermione ended up sticking with the girls. I didn't pay much attention to her but judging from her occasional disgruntled remarks, the misunderstandings and banter I could hear happening between the other girls and her, she didn't fit in well at all. But it seemed they sensed they ought to show her some friendship or at least attempt to be friends with her since they shared a dorm together and usually dormmates were close friends at Hogwarts so they did drop her niceties and invite her out or correct her from time to time. She responded in tow, even if gruffly at first, and it seemed they grew closer over these weeks. She would eventually have some pleasant friendship with them, even if slow at first.

Though she still did have her show-offish tendencies, but she seemed to not with her friends as if by instinct knowing they would disapprove and thus reserved it for teachers and the class in general only. Some of the weaker students such as Neville Longbottom sought her out for help and she did accordingly.

Ron ended up being closer friends with Seamus and Neville. Seamus and Ron shared their approach to studies, matching each other better and having funner times with each other. Neville also enjoyed their company and bluster so it was a good match. Ron for this credit, did not mock Neville for his slowness to warm up to magic, which could also be explained by having a hand-me-down wand and lack of confidence as Hermione said. Either way, he did not mock Neville for his personal problems.

I had my classes. They were enjoyable and interesting, though a few teachers were bad just like at my muggle primary school. I knew I would mostly self-study outside of class for those subjects and not rely too much on teacher interactions to understand for the teachers either didn't teach well or had obvious personality problems that affected their work. No matter, teachers were like this sometimes, as long as you were able to get by and get the marks you needed.

Severus Snape was one teacher in particular that I knew disliked me from the start. His scathing remarks on my fame, fortune, and supposed personality that came with it unveiled closely held stereotypes that I did not want to counteract or interact with. People who strongly clung onto their beliefs could do silly things to keep it, and I didn't want to put myself up in the firing line. I tried to remain neutral and uninteresting to him, and leave little for him to pick on.

Potions was definitely a class I would ignore the teacher, study for by myself and try to get what I needed to leave Hogwarts with decent credentials. Dean and Killian agreed. Dean said you always had to self-teach for some classes because teachers were like that and Killian said he swore he was smarter than some of the teachers anyway so it made little difference, and in the end, we had to do decently well in class to get marks that pleased us, and that was it. It was only for subjects we were particularly interested in for future careers we would need to be careful of.

I did not ultimately do enough for Malfoy to leave me alone, but as I tried incredibly hard to appear neutral, disinterested, and to ultimately not have him pin me as a nemesis most of the time he interacted with me, there was a degree of ambiguity there and a measure of hesitance or confusion. He lay off me more than what I suspected he was capable of doing to someone like me if I hadn't been as logical about the challenge of him as I had been, but I sensed he would still be a presence I would have to put up with through all these years.

I was caught of guard at my first flying lesson where Malfoy stole Neville's rememberball. Seeing the look on his face and the fact that Malfoy was just a mere few footlengths out of reach, I hopped on my broom and gave chase. Malfoy rose higher and higher, I was surprised by the sudden increase in intensity of this chase but also not at the same time as I quickly realised Malfoy was a boy who'd probably flown before. He threw the rememberball and I flew to catch it. Brooms worked in a self-explanatory way.

After which Mcgonagall saw me and enlisted me as seeker on the Gryffindor Quidditch team at once. I was to go to my first lesson in a few weeks. Malfoy also challenged me to a duel, I tried to appear neutral or against it. The crowd egged us on and spoke of the date and time quite heavily but I stuck to my phrasing that I was sure it was a joke and I wasn't risking getting into trouble so early to see it through. Indeed after that evening it was revealed neither Malfoy nor his cronies turned up and that he had planned to tell Filch to get me in trouble for Filch had been wondering around on the corridors where the duel would be. I was glad to have avoided that.

Malfoy seemed to not react much to the fact that I didn't turn up. Perhaps he hadn't really been expecting me to either. And since I have little response when I saw him again, arranged my face perfectly blank at all the critical points he ever glanced at me to read my response, he seemed to gloss over me and pick a new target - who were Ron Weasley and Neville Longbottom, but moreso Ron Weasley for some reason.

Ron and him fought back bitterly but it mostly didn't involve me.

I also saw Hagrid at his hut once school started. It was just me as Dean and Killian had no reason to be there. Hagrid asked me how everything was doing and I gave him the lowdown to which he replied everything was looking good and he was glad I was having a normal and happy time. I also mentioned my plan to prove magic wasn't real through the use of scientific papers.

"That's a good idea Harry. Records are always good. If you want, the ministry of magic do have their own section devoted to scientific write-ups of magical elements. If you could get a paper verified, even if they don't publish it on the Daily Prophet, it would still exist as part of the treasure trove of knowledge. Just untouched upon until someone asks about it."

"How did people who identify themselves as witches and wizards come up with the idea of muggle scientific papers if there was no communication between the two communities?" I asked.

Hagrid chuckled, "People who identify themselves as witches and wizards. I like that. It is what you would call us I suppose if you wanted to live by the worldview magic didn't exist so heavily in our society. Oh, there have always been contact with other communities. Witches and wizards do communicate with the goblin communities, centaur communities, spectral communities, even if not everyday so you might not think about it too much in yer day to day life. And they have since the dawn of time, because witches and wizards separated from muggles remember, not the other way around. In the formation of this community, there's been many passings and goings with other communities. And ever since the dawn of time, there have always been some communication with muggles as well, but just certain circles, or certain topics, or certain exchanges that once are done and over, are forgotten about or glossed over. You don't know them or think much of them because they're not talked about much, but it's always been there."

"So muggles taught witches and wizards the scientific principle and they kept their own archive in the ministry of magic all this time? Just that it's not widespread nor well-known within this community?" I asked, hardly daring to believe the hypocrisy of it.

"Something like that. Or people who identify themselves as witches and wizards knew of the scientific method from the muggle community - there must be some social circle in history where this information exchanges, and they liked it enough to have a copy in the ministry. Though since it's not common knowledge told at schools or in the workplace many don't know about it and it doesn't influence our society too much," said Hagrid.

"What if I wrote revolutionary articles on the fact that magic isn't real? Or explained elements of magic in terms of physical laws of the universe? Would anything happen? Who even reads them and validates them?" I asked. I needed all of this if I were to do my experiments. It was already immensely helpful though, to know these rules were adopted in this community and how to kickstart the series of papers on proving magic is just a word we attach to naturally occurring phenomena we do not currently understand.

"A team in the ministry, whoever's told to the job I suppose. Doesn't mean they like it. Could be the part of their job they most dislike but are unable to get to the positions they like the most. I imagine they would be obliged to repeat the experiments within enough times for accuracy and if they get the same results then the paper is valid and it goes into the Tree of Knowledge, a special room in the ministry. I suppose if someone on the team thinks it's amazing they might pay for space in the Daily Prophet to publish it, or possibly start their own. Maybe more muggle-borns end up in those positions. I don't know," said Hagrid.

"Thanks Hagrid, that's very helpful," I said truthfully, "so my papers do have a chance of going up and valid. Is there any way I can pay to have it published in the Daily Prophet myself? I have enough from Gringotts surely...and how are you so knowledgeable about this? You live in the castle just like everyone else and they're not any more knowledgeable about this I think..." I said honestly.

"I like creatures and beasts," said Hagrid, "before I started working here I did a lot of work with those, hung around those communities. A lot of magical creatures are sentient you know, it's not only witches and wizards, and quite capable of philosophical talks. I also did some work with those animals in my freetime or as a special errand while I'm currently working there. And weaving in and out those communities you do hear some talk that you wouldn't be able to at the hub of witch and wizard communities I guess. The topic of magic not being real and scientific explanations for it is actually fairly large in many communities, they just don't believe witches and wizards would ever acknowledge that fact so they don't bother to engage in discussion with them. But it's one of the more widely talked about topics when it comes to witches and wizards, from magical communities outside of this one."

"How do they know what scientific theory is?" I said, "they're more removed from muggles are they not?"

"Not entirely," said Hagrid, "fairies sometimes hang around muggle dwellings and they chatter a lot to many species of magical creatures in all their habitats. It caught the interests of some who asked for more information which the fairies gave and it was spread around. Sometimes knowledge stays for centuries in certain communities because it seems worldbreaking to them. Sirens sometimes talk to muggles and they do have some sense of it. Centaurs have also at times talked to muggles. Once information is known it stays for centuries, being passed down from generation to generation. It's safe to say a lot of magical communities have their own interpretation of what magic is and where it comes from, and there are some that bridge their worldview with the scientific theories from the muggle population they know about, so they're not entirely removed from muggles."

"That makes sense," I said, "some muggle depictions of magical creatures seem to just be drawn from their interactions with them alone. Without a witch or wizard intermediary between them. Muggles also inhabit many parts of the world that may overlap with magical creatures. It makes sense their views are a bit difference. Why don't do they rebel and just talk to muggles then, since it is clearly in their earnest belief that there's some science behind magic?"

"Because they're bound by the International Statue of Secrecy which actually governs all magical creatures," said Hagrid, "by agreeing to be recognised as a magical creature they are under the protection of the ministry as well as bound by their laws. This means if any of them are ever in threat of extinction or run into huge problems with muggles they can rely on aurors - magical police - to sort them out. And since it is hard for any species to survive, this is the wisest choice for many. And they do uphold their promise to keep to the International Statue of Secrecy, even if it disagrees with their own personal views at times."

"That's awful," I said, "that the only individuals working at the ministry are witches and wizards. The other communities have no representatives on there at all! It's not a democracy, but a dictatorship almost."

"That's actually how many other sentient magical creature communities see it," said Hagrid, "but for centuries and centuries witches and wizards would fight these magical creatures, many wars, seiges, attempts to wipe one another out. It was already a turning point in history to establish laws prohibiting killing anyone unless in self-defense, for some special laws to appear in regards to how witches and wizards treat members of other magical creature communities. It is enough we stopped fighting and killing each other and have some semblance of law and order for the past few centuries that the wish for true representation and all the new battles it would bring is just a wish and a dream for now," he finished wistfully.

"But like most people under dictatorships. They are glad for the power of the majority that they bring."

"I see. I suppose history and politics can't be changed so easily. I don't like the state of the wizarding or witching world though," I said a little sadly.

"Many people don't," said Hagrid, "it's what you do to change it better for the future that makes the most difference."

And so I left with a heavy heart and an even bigger desire to remove that prejudice by writing and publishing my scientific papers.