Monday 2 September, 1991 The Great Hall, Hogwarts

Harry arrived in time to have breakfast the next morning despite still feeling full from the huge amount of food that was served the prior night. As he sat there sipping on a cup of morning tea, he wondered how he was going to be able to get a copy of the London Times. He knew that the magical side's main newspaper was something called the "Daily Prophet" but it didn't cover anything that even remotely looked informational. Instead, it came across as one of the supermarket tabloids that his aunt loved to read. He noticed one of the older Puffs had sat down near him and leaned over to ask a question.

"Excuse me, but do you know how to request a subscription to a non-magical newspaper that it'd be delivered here? Is there a service for that?

The older Puff turned to him and said that all he needed to do was to fill out that paper's subscription notice addressed to "Hogwarts' School, Scotland" and that there was someone who worked in the postal system that looked for items that were addressed like that and rerouted them to the Owl Post.

Harry then asked how he should be able to contact them if they weren't able to receive owls. The Puff instructed Harry to send a letter or subscription form with his owl to the Diagon Alley Owl Post Office, which would take care of the transfer.

Harry pulled out a piece of parchment from his bag and a pen and wrote a note and a request to start a subscription to the London Times. While he was writing, others came into the Hall to start their breakfasts. Neville sat down across from him, smiled sleepily and grabbed nearest pot of tea and a cup. As he finished writing his note, the post owls showed up. Harry heard the sound of Hedwig's screech and smiled at her as she landed.

"Good morning, My Lady," he asked her, "I trust that everything in the Owlery is to your satisfaction?"

Hedwig gave her human a quick bob of her head and fluffed up her feathers proudly.

"I'm relieved to hear that. I have a quick errand for you to attend to if you would? I need you to take this note and subscription request to the Owl Post Office in Diagon Alley. After that, I suppose, assuming there's nothing else that they would need on their end, you can take your time getting back."

Hedwig held out her leg to which Harry tied the letters. He gave her a slice of bacon and sent her on her way. He then began building his own breakfast.

While eating, he spotted Hermione coming into the Hall and waved at her. She came over and asked if she could join him at the Hufflepuff table.

"Sure, I don't see why not," he replied.

Soon, the three of them began chatting as they consumed a light breakfast. Harry and Neville were told to stick around after finishing their meal as the Head of house needed to hand out their class schedules. Their Head of house, Professor Sprout, descended from the teacher's table and began handing out the schedules. When she reached Harry, she smiled at him and asked him if he was settling in okay. He nodded his head and said he was looking forward to seeing what Hogwarts offered in way of classes. He inquired if there were any art classes offered at the school but was told there weren't. He frowned upon learning that.

"Professor, if you have a moment at the end of your duties this morning, I'd like to have a quick conversation."

She agreed and left to continue the distribution of schedules then returned.

"Okay, Mr. Potter. What did you want to discuss?" she asked.

"I was wondering if there was a possibility of, perhaps starting an art club or at the very least a place where I could collect some clay and work on it on my own."

Professor Sprout's curiosity was piqued and asked him to elaborate.

"Well, as you can probably guess from my last name, I'm interested in producing usable ceramics and clay sculptures. In my primary school, I had the opportunity to make a few sculptures and a bowl then have it fired. They were very beautiful pieces and I learned a lot about the whole process. I'd like to continue that here."

"Well, I don't know but I think at one point the school may have had something like that. I'll ask the Headmaster and see if there's something in storage that we could let you use," she said, "I'll get back to you on that one way or another, say at the end of today if that's okay with you?"

Harry thanked her and got up to start making his way to his first class of Potions. He stopped by his dorm room to pick up the necessary books and headed towards the dungeons. He arrived about twenty minutes before class was scheduled to start so he sat down and began to review the first few chapters. So entranced was he by the information in the book that he didn't notice the approach of three boys.

"Hello again, Mr. Potter," said Draco Malfoy.

Harry looked up and blinked a few times before returning a small smile.

"Good morning, Mr. Malfoy," he replied, "are you here for your first class as well?"

"No, my first class in Potions is with the Gryffindors but that starts at ten am. I was just making my way to catch a spot of breakfast before getting my schedule for the term."

"Well then, enjoy your morning repast," said Harry, "I'd like to finish reading this. I understand that the Potions Master likes to quiz new students to see if they have any prior knowledge."

Draco bid his farewell and left with his friends. Harry watched them walk away for a moment and chuckled to himself musing on what the relationship was between the three of them.

The other Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws gathered just before the start of class so Harry stood up, gathered up his stuff and got in line. The Potions Master, Professor Snape, opened the door and ordered them inside. The Puffs found their places on one side of the class and Claws on the other. Harry took out his pen and notebook to get ready for any note taking.

Professor Snape gave a rather chilling description of what he could teach them but ended with a barely concealed insult on their intelligences. He began taking the roll call and when he reached Harry's name, he sneered.

"Potter! What would I get if I added the powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Harry thought for a moment then said, "I believe that would give you a decent Draught of Living Death, sir."

Professor Snape glared at him, "By what do you mean 'decent?' Is there something that is better suited to the effects that is required?"

"Yes, sir. According to my limited research, the effects could be better reached if one were to use a small dose of processed curare." Harry said.

Snape was intrigued and it showed on his face. "Curare? What is that and where can it be found?"

Harry explained that Curare is a common name for various plant extract alkaloid arrow poisons originating from Central and South America. He went on to describe the general function and types of the poison as well as to where it could be found in a processed form but couldn't tell him the price of said processed form as he just didn't know. As he was explaining the poison and its properties, everyone began taking notes scribbling away furiously.

Professor Snape was impressed. Secretly to himself, he thought that maybe Harry took after his mother more than his father. He would wait and see. He then assigned the students to start making a simple boil-curing potion that was due at the end of class.

At the end of the day, Harry was relaxing in the Common Room of Hufflepuff house thinking of a solution to a problem. Professor Sprout had come up to him and informed him that there was nothing in the way of the things needed for a pottery class or even a student club.

"Professor, is there a kiln in town that might help with this problem? I could make my pieces then send the work to them to be fired."

She thought for a moment, "No…I don't believe there is. However, you might want to ask one of the prefects to look for you when the next Hogsmeade date is arranged."

Harry thanked her and resolved to find some books on making his own kiln and pottery studio. He figured that if he could obtain permission, he could either build the studio in an unused classroom or a small shed outside near the greenhouses. The kiln could be built in the same location outside as well. He also thought about what sort of magic that could be built into the whole idea. He wrote down his ideas in his notebook and planned to hit the library at the next opportunity.