The next morning a very groggy Harry woke up, confused for a moment before he remembered, "no cupboard" he whispered. Truly not a dream then. Checking to see if his dorm mates were awake, he was relieved to see them all still asleep and hissed a few words to Ophion in greeting. During his trip to Diagon Alley, he had visited Flourish and Blotts and come to the conclusion that not only could he not get everything there and then, but that he also wanted to visit some less well known book shops too, and had a sneaking suspicion the ones that would capture his interest would lay within Knockturn Alley which he was not allowed anywhere near when he was with Hagrid, unfortunately.
On his browsing, he had come across a shrinking charm for Ophion, without knowing it was a fifth year spell, Harry performed reducio on his familiar, in order to be able to carry him around in his pocket comfortably. He didn't know how long the charm lasted for but would cast it every morning to be on the safe side, as he doubted his room mates would be calm about a seven foot snake in his bed, especially a still growing seven foot snake.
Making a mental note to find out what he could about magical snakes in the future, Harry got up and had a shower and then made his way down to the common room. Truly a magnificent room in bronze and blue, with a replica bust of Rowena Ravenclaw in the corner that he must have missed last night. He began reading his book The standard book of charms, whilst waiting for the rest of his year to come down so they could all travel together. He'd not learnt all of their names yet, and he also didn't want to get lost on his way to the Great Hall. Padma Patil came down the stairs, closely followed by Terry Boot, who sidled up to Harry and gave him a quick tap on the shoulder "you were up early this morning, fancy going to breakfast? Padma and I were just heading down if you wanted to join us?" Harry nodded and got up to follow them out the common room.
On the way down to the Great Hall, the three students got to know eachother a little better, Harry found out Terry had an older brother already graduated, and that he had attended some schooling before Hogwarts with a few pure blood families in their year. Padma had a twin sister in Gryffindor who was much more typically girly, but they were still fairly close. Parvati's friend Lavendar had been her best friend since they were young, and so Padma didn't feel so much like a third wheel. Harry told them about his general ignorance to the Wizarding world to horrified looks off both his classmates, Terry offered up the information that the Slytherin would be the ones with he best information "I can always put in a good word Harry, I know Theodore Nott's great something grandfather wrote the 'Sacred twenty eight', and that Blaise Zabini has attended etiquette school from an early age. Malfoy would be your best bet though if you could get him on board, I remember his father bragging that he would show Draco the family tree every week and that he's had his responsibilities drilled into him from an early age". Harry thanked him but declined the good word, "I've already reached a sort of friendship with Malfoy, so I will ask him after our first lesson together on Thursday".
"I think it would be a great idea to organise a study group with some of them so we have all our bases covered" stated Padma, and Harry couldn't help but agree. Not because he needed the help mind you, but because he hated feeling like he didn't know something, and he certainly didn't want to be beholden to anyone so offering help with their practical work would be the easiest way to avoid this. That and if pushed he could make them do as he pleased, but he had no immediate plans to dominate yet, if at all if he could help it. After all, it's easier to be on top if you're beloved and feared, rather than only feared.
The rest of their year mates ambled into the great hall about ten minutes after they'd sat down and the introductions started. His male year mates consisted of Terry, Stephen Cornfoot, Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner and Oliver Rivers, whilst his female year mates were Padma, Su Li, Mandy Brocklehurst, Lisa Turpin and Morag McDougal. Some of them did not seem happy to have Harry amongst their number, seemingly because they assumed he'd somehow tricked the hat into placing him in Ravenclaw and not Gryffindor, but he would show them one way or another. Some like Stephen and Isobel had links to the pure blood supremacists in Slytherin and seemed to find him an affront in their general sensibilities. "Raised by muggles did you say" Mandy asked with a look of disgust on her face, as Morag sneered his way. Harry just rolled his eyes in response, however Terry felt he needed to defend Harry " he might have been raised by muggles Brocklehurst, but you went to the same prep classes I did, so what's your excuse for your general stupidity" as Mandy's face gradually got redder, and Morag seemed gobsmacked at his audacity.
"First years, nice to see you all sitting together, here are your timetables for the year, please note that my office hours are listed for your use but if you please, prefects are your first port of call" a cheerful Flitwick stated as he meandered past the group of first years. Harry looked at his timetable and saw most of his classes were with the Hufflepuffs, with a few exceptions. Today's classes consisted of Transfiguration with the Puffs, History with Slytherin, Herbology with Gryffindor and Charms with the Puffs again.
Getting up from his seat Harry started towards the door and was surprised when he found Padma and Terry following him out. "You guys don't need to be my bodyguards, I'm more than capable of defending myself" Harry said to them, mentally remembering avoiding Dudley and his cronies and his practice at home in his cupboard with his magic.
"We know, we just wanted to" said Padma.
As the three of them headed to their first class Harry was quietly hoping that the classes would keep him challenged, if he supposed if not, he could always ask for more work, perhaps some advanced work wouldn't go amiss if he persuaded the teachers anyway.
Albus Dumbledore was in a quandary. Harry wasn't anything like he supposed, he'd not gone into Gryffindor like his parents and according to Hagrid, spent an inordinate amount of time looking at books in Diagon Alley. No, not what he had supposed at all. The only saving grace was that he'd not gone to Slytherin, but Ravenclaw still had links to the dark and the boy was quite quiet and a bit standoffish "we shall see" he murdered to himself, "we shall see".
Transfiguration was as easy as it was enjoyable, the idea of changing things and animating or conjuring later in school filled him with anticipation. "Professor, when do we learn things like conjuring" he'd asked after the lesson, most of which he'd been showing off, but it wasn't like he could help being better than them. "Not until your last two school years Mr Potter, students need a firm grasp on the basics and then to work their way up" although truly she had seen him perform the spells ridiculously easily and suspected he would bore easily in class if this wasn't recified. "Perhaps we can look into doing the spells non verbally Mr Potter, I'd rather not move you so far ahead of your peers but I understand if it eventually comes to that"
Harry grinned, handed McGonagal the finished needle and thanked her for the class "I will try everything non verbally in future Professor, I've never tried before so I imagine it will keep me occupied". He did indeed think it would keep him occupied, usually his magic did what he wanted it to and that's why it came so easily to him, and why his wandless magic abilities were so great. He'd never tried learning the spell for something and then not verbalising it, he wondered if the Latin words made any difference or if the intent was where the power lay. Something to look into.
"I've never seen anything like it!", "the boy could give me a run for my money in a few years" McGonagal gushed to the other staff members present. They were sat having a discussion about the new students, and how they were settling in. "Well it's only been the first day of lessons Minerva, perhaps it was beginners luck" mused Pomona Sprout. "I'm telling you, it was deliberate and extraordinary, you'll see".
"Well the boy probably used his fame to get taught early before Hogwarts, it wouldn't surprise me that a Potter cheated to get ahead" sneered Severus Snape. He had been waiting to hear just how like Harry Potter was to his father, same arrogance and the same level of pandering, knew in his bones this Potter would be no different.
"I'd be surprised if that was the case, as he didn't find out about magic until a month ago, and regardless his parents were both very talented" an irritated McGonagal replied, rolling her eyes at her colleagues behaviour.
Nothing he said could change her opinion about Harry's talent, and it seemed like the other teachers were using a wait and see approach. She wondered how many of them would also start giving him different work to do.
The rest of his classes that day went rather quickly and he found the same problem for them all, he would get bored very easily. Although Herbology held some amusement as it was with the Gryffindors and Harry had paired up with Longbottom, who as it turned out was a genius with plants. That worked out well Harry thought, as he'd had enough gardening to last a life time for his aunt at home and could not see it being one of his favourite subjects. It also had the added bonus of winding up Granger, the bushy haired girl from the train, as Harry and Neville, who'd given him permission to use his first name, were miles ahead of her in the class and she obviously did not like not being top. Just wait until she sees the end of year results, Harry smirked to himself as they finished up the second to last lesson of the day. Harry waved goodbye to Neville and rejoined his Ravenclaw friends to set off for charms with the Hufflepuffs, another class he was eager to get to as not only did it seem very interesting but it was also taught by their head of house, who seemed a decent teacher if the praise from the other students was something to go by.
Later on in the Great Hall for dinner, Harry was sitting with Padma and Terry when a throat coughed behind him, and Draco Malfoy stood there with his head high and a look of disinterest on his face, though his eyes showed slight nerves. "So I heard you want a guide of sorts for the Wizarding world Potter", Harry glanced at Terry who was staring down at his plate trying to look inconspicuous. "Yes, i don't know any traditions or practices and I've yet to look in the library for the information".
"I can give you what you need Potter, in exchange for something, of course" Draco stated with a slight smirk on his face. Harry just smirked back, so this is how he was playing it "that's fine Draco, I'll assume you will come up with something, and in the meantime, Terry, Padma and I are going to start a study group of you and some select friends want to join. Draco just looked pensive and gave a nod and scuttled back to the Slytherin table.
"I didn't need your help Terry, I said I was already sort of friends with Malfoy but now I owe him".
"Sorry Harry" Terry responded with a pink tinge to his face. Harry just left it at that, he'd have to have a think about what the Malfoy heir would want and hope it was just help with schoolwork, he just didn't think it would be.
In bed that night, and quietly talking to Ophion, Harry wondered about the status quo of students only socialising with students of the same house, and thought it rather foolish. $ yes young master, I agree, pick your nest mates carefully, but don't cut yourself off from one group$ he paused, and if a snake could look wise he would have done $ i will help you choose the worthy$.
"Thanks Ophion" Harry said as he petted him gently, vowing to go to the library after class to find out about silenceing his bed so they could talk freely, before falling asleep ready for his next day in Hogwarts.