Harry was already determined to master his magic without the need of a wand. Much of this determination was based on his ability to already perform Magic without one. Not to say he wouldn't use a Magical focus if he absolutely needed to. Honestly he planned to make a few different types of them in the future. A wand was one of the most versatile foci to be created, but it certainly wasn't the first. Magical rings, amulets, swords, knives, staves, and armor had all been crafted at various points throughout history. If the focus in question was locked into fulfilling a singular spell it would output that spell not only easier than with a wand but with greater force as well. Harry already had a few ideas floating around in his head.
Another practical reason for his determination came from Hagrid reminding him not to cast any spells at home, as the Ministry of Magic forbid Underage Sorcery and could track it. But they had clearly not managed to track any of the numerous spells he'd performed wandlessly in the past couple of years, which meant that they were tracking the wand use rather than Magic use itself.
While his accomplishments hadn't been overly impressive, almost all of the spells he could do were in the First Year Charms curriculum, so none of them were considered great feats of Magic. But if the Ministry was tracking actual Magic use then they should still have registered considering he lived in a completely Muggle neighborhood. The Ministry may claim that they could detect any magic use, but they obviously couldn't.
Harry had read a lot of fantasy books in his search for inspiration while trying to figure out the ways of Magic. Some of these books featured the theme of a corrupt government in the narrative. The numerous instances of Restricted Magic that were mentioned in the books he'd bought at Flourish and Blott's further solidified his developing opinion on the Ministry. After reading more on the subject it honestly didn't take him long to develop a dislike of the Ministry of Magic and start to wonder if they weren't a bit corrupt. It just seemed odd to the young wizard that so many Magical topics were completely banned from study. All of them were usually just lumped together under the umbrella term of Dark Magic and forbidden to everyone. It made Harry want to find out what was so horrible about several of the subjects that had been banned. It wasn't like he planned to go around murdering and sacrificing people or anything. Besides, according to the Ministry's laws, he was constantly breaking the Decree about the Reasonable Restriction on Underage Sorcery. But he honestly didn't see any harm in breaking some of the Ministry's more silly laws in his pursuit of Magical knowledge.
A knock on his compartment door startled Harry from his thoughts and he looked up quickly as the door opened. The person on the other side was a girl at least five or six years older than Harry himself. She was wearing ripped jeans and a t-shirt with what appeared to be the 'Weird Sisters' band logo on it. He'd seen the logo in the Daily Prophet, which he now had a subscription to thanks to Hagrid, and knew them as a very popular magical music group. The most fascinating thing about the teen in question was her oddly colored hair and eyes. Bright pink hair with purple eyes wasn't exactly common even in the Magical World. She must have used a spell to make these drastic changes to herself.
"Wotcher, the name's Tonks. Don't suppose you'd mind if I sat with you, right ickle Firstie?" Tonks asked with a playful grin.
"Uh, no please come in." Harry invited the older girl. Tonks gave him a brief smile before stepping into the compartment with her trunk and with a quick wave of her wand had it levitated into the overhead rack. With that out of the way the older teen sat down across from Harry and got comfortable.
"So, you know my name, what's yours?" Tonks asked once she'd gotten herself situated.
"Oh, right, I'm Harry, Harry Potter." Harry introduced himself. Tonks eyes widened slightly before she snorted in laughter.
"That's funny and all, since Harry Potter is supposed to start Hogwarts this year, but you won't fool anybody without the scar on the forehead." Tonks chuckled only to choke slightly when Harry lifted up his bangs and showed her the faint scar. "Blimey! You weren't kidding!" She stated as she traced the scar with her eyes. "Sorry about not believing you. Just the rumors all say the scar was bigger and more noticeable because it was made by Dark Magic, you know?"
"I'm afraid I stopped listening to most of the rumors when I heard some of them say I rode Dragons at five years old and fought Vampires and Werewolves across Europe when I was nine." Harry sighed while shaking his head. Tonks chuckled at his clear exasperation with Wizarding Britain's rumor mill.
"Well you're here now so you'll only have to deal with Hogwarts' rumor mill for a while." Tonks grinned getting another sigh from Harry.
"I'd rather be able to study Magic in peace." Harry replied as he patted the book next to him. He'd been planning to crack it open when the train departed.
"What's that you're reading?" Tonks asked curiously. Harry showed her the cover of the book and she read the title in her head. 'Advanced Magical Crafting: Create Spells and Enchant Objects' by Wren Strix. "Harry that's like Sixth or Seventh Year material and you haven't even been sorted yet. Surely you aren't telling me you understand any of that." She reasoned as she looked back at him.
"What's not to understand? It's just Runes and Arithmancy and how to get the desired effects from them. Materials are important of course but I'm told you can order most anything through Owl Order. Shouldn't be hard to get what I need when I'm ready to start experimenting." Harry replied as he looked over his book for any reason Tonks would think it was difficult to understand.
"Nerrrrrrrd!" Tonks exclaimed as she pointed at him. Harry's eyes went wide at her loud proclamation causing Tonks to burst into laughter.