Chapter 9: First Lessons

Harry woke up the next morning apparently early as none of the other boys were up yet. He took this opportunity to get in the showers first and get ready before leaving the dorm and heading into the common room. He first thought that he was alone, until he saw a figure in one of the couches facing the fireplace. It was Hermione.

~I think that you best talk to her and apologise for being rude yesterday~ Sabrina said.

Harry merely nodded and walked up to Hermione and saw that she was reading some of the Hogwarts textbooks.

"You're up early," Harry stated.

Hermione looked around startled, then scowled as she saw that it was Harry who had interrupted her studying time.

"I could say the same about you. What are you doing up?" Hermione questioned.

"Seems like the others here like to sleep in, unlike the two of us. Let's just say that you wouldn't like the reason why I'm so used to waking up early," Harry replied.

"You always give that answer; 'I won't like what I hear'. Why won't I like it?! You make everything sound like they'll cause more harm than good! Why won't you just talk?! Surely Professor-!" Hermione was about to say before being cut off by Harry.

"If you were about to say the Headmaster's name, then don't even finish! It's because of him that I have most of my problems, so don't even think for one second that I'd regale him with any tales that would just amuse him!" Harry growled in anger.

"What are you talking about? He's the Leader of the Light! Your parents were close to him and trusted him! Why don't you after everything he's done for us?!" Hermione questioned angrily.

"Keyword: were. After everything that I've found out, he's done little to gain my trust and my parents would certainly not trust him anymore; alive or dead," Harry answered.

"And what exactly have you found out, oh great and wise Harry Potter?" Hermione enquired with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"You know what? I was going to apologise to you this morning for being rude yesterday about cryptic answers and I would've explained this stuff to you. As it so happens, I'm starting to regret thinking it as you clearly only think of me as everyone else does. The Great Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the One-Who-Conquered-The-Dark-Lord. That's all I am to you lot, aren't I?! Some bloody celebrity name that you can all hide behind, create a false friendship with and use to do your dirty work! Do none of you realise that I was only a baby that night?! That my parents died to save my life! I watched my mother die in front of my own eyes and no-one gives a crap about that! All you see is some boy that you can use to get some status in your lives! Well guess what?! I am no-one's puppet! I am a human being just like the rest of you! So get over your stupid stereotype and actually look for a change instead of blindly following and listening to what is fed to you!" Harry erupted, panting after finally getting the pent-up rage out at last.

Hermione merely sat back in her couch utterly terrified...and a little bit guilty. The power radiating off of Harry was overwhelming to her. It was like a raging inferno, that she had finally set off. How could she have forgotten all of that while she stood there and judged him based on all of those books, that weren't actually legitimate, that never even mentioned the sacrifice that the Potters made for their only son. He had to live his life away from the magical world without his parents, and possibly without the truth about their deaths either.

Harry took some deep breaths before realising what he had done. He couldn't believe that he exploded like that in front of Hermione. He was trying to be civil and maybe even befriend her as he could tell that they both needed someone to talk to at Hogwarts, then he just went and screwed everything up by yelling at her about his hatred of the Wizarding World.

"I'm sorry...I don't-I-" Harry tried to say before storming out of the common room before he said anything that could make it worse.

~Well...that went swimmingly~ Sabrina said sarcastically.

~I don't need your lectures or snide comments now. I already know that I've probably butchered any chance of befriending Hermione~ Harry hissed.

~Are you so sure? That girl can be extremely curious I think. She'll likely be picking out everything you just said and want to know more about your thoughts now. You do pretty much realise that you've finally given her an honest answer for once about your opinion on the Wizarding World? Even if it was during one of your outbursts~ Sabrina explained.

~I highly doubt that she'll talk to me now. She's afraid of me. I could tell. Heck, she might even go to Dumbledore and ask for help if I'm not careful~ Harry replied.

~And back to paranoia and self-doubt. Yes, she was afraid of you. Who wouldn't be after witnessing your unhinged power first-hand? But there was also a spark of curiosity in her eyes. And realisation. I think you'll find that you haven't heard the last of Hermione Granger yet, my Harry. And don't worry about Dumbledore. She seems too curious about you to risk losing the chance to study you herself~ Sabrina explained slyly.

Harry didn't say anything else after that and continued on his way to the Great Hall. When he entered the Hall, he found that he was the first student to arrive, which seemed to shock many of the professors who were already at their table. He assumed that they expected the students to all arrive together or in groups at a time.

Harry then took a seat at the Gryffindor table and, since he was first there, he had first pick of what to eat for breakfast. McGonagall soon came over and handed him his timetable for the week. Looking at his timetable, he saw that he had all of the basic lessons today, with Potions being a double lesson. Interestingly, the main house that Gryffindor seemed to be paired with was Slytherin. This confused Harry greatly as it was quite obvious that Gryffindor and Slytherin were rival houses and seemingly hated each other. Then again, Dumbledore likely did it deliberately to keep the rivalry alive for his own reasons.

Soon, the rest of the student body filed in and sat at their respective house tables to have breakfast. Typically, Ron decided to try his hand at befriending Harry again, much to the latter's annoyance.

"Hey mate! How come you were up so early? You were gone before we even woke up," Ron asked.

"I always wake up early. Force of habit, I guess. I thought it'd be best to just go and let you guys sleep in," Harry replied.

"You could've just waited in the common room, you know? Then you could've come down with us instead of on your own," Ron said.

"I preferred to just come down here while I still had first pick of food. Besides, I've finished eating already. I'll see you in our first lesson," Harry replied before getting up and walking out, much to the shock of the Gryffindors around him.

~That was a quick exit. What's wrong? No sarcastic remark for Ronnie-kins?~ Sabrina asked playfully.

~I didn't really want to deal with his attempts of fake friendship this morning, Sabrina~ Harry replied bluntly.

~You're still beating yourself up about Hermione?~ Sabrina enquired.

~I don't need this conversation right now~ Harry responded, irritated at how well Sabrina was reading him.

~Is that how you're going to cope with this? By shutting everyone out? You need to open up to that girl, my Harry. You'll find that Hermione will appreciate the full truth more than just cryptic replies. You told Ginny the truth~ Sabrina retorted.

~I did that because if I didn't, she wouldn't understand and believe me~ Harry replied in irritation.

~And don't you think that Hermione would understand and believe you if you told her the truth? Face it, you worried that she will tell Dumbledore what you know because she initially praised him like everyone else. She doesn't exactly know any better, does she? Only what she's currently been told which is that Dumbledore is the greatest wizard of the age and is the Leader of the Light. What do you think is going through her mind since you told her that Dumbledore is the cause of your problems? The Leader of the Light has done more harm than good for the Wizarding World's Saviour? Not a good headline, is it?~ Sabrina explained.

~I guess not...Anyway, we have other matters to deal with at the moment, like getting the my first lesson~ Harry said, changing the subject.

~This conversation isn't over, my Harry. You can't run away from this~ Sabrina stated.

Harry was glad that Sabrina had finally dropped this, for now at least. He didn't need to be reminded of his foolish outburst. All it did was provide fuel for the fire. He didn't want anyone to know too much about him. Now Ginny knew of Dumbledore's betrayal of him and Hermione knew of his hatred for Dumbledore and the Wizarding World in general.

Harry then steeled himself and purged his mind of such thoughts as he walked towards the Transfiguration classroom for his first lesson. When he got inside, he found a seat and brought out the Transfiguration textbook for first years and began to read it again to refresh his memory.

After a while, Harry noticed a tabby cat, that almost seemed surprised by his presence, walk down between the student desks and jump up onto the McGonagall's desk. He found it strange as he hadn't seen any tabby cats around and would've been expecting McGonagall soon as he assumed that everyone had finished breakfast by now. He also found it odd that the cat was surprised by him, as if it didn't expect him there. A normal cat wouldn't think twice at seeing a person anywhere. Sabrina had told him about people who could transform into animals before. Could it be...?

~That cat doesn't smell right...It smells human...~ Sabrina stated.

~Human? Then that means that it's an animagus!~ Harry exclaimed.

~Exactly. I think that you found out where McGonagall is~ Sabrina confirmed.

Harry then grinned and walked up to McGonagall's desk and looked at her cat form with a knowing smile.

"You can change back now, Professor. I know that it's you," Harry said.

McGonagall's cat eyes widened before she transformed back into her human form. McGonagall was initially shocked at Harry's ability to determine her identity, but she soon showed how impressed she was.

"Not many students have been able to figure that out before. I'm very impressed. May I ask how you determined that I was the cat?" McGonagall enquired.

"I was expecting you to appear before the rest of the students so I was initially surprised at seeing your animagus form instead as I haven't seen many cats around. Of course, you did betray yourself, Professor, as I saw the surprise in your eyes at seeing me here first. Then of course, you jumped onto your desk. Another sign of your identity. I then had it confirmed when my familiar could smell your human scent on your animagus form," Harry explained eloquently.

"So you know what an animagus is? Very good. I shall award 10 points to Gryffindor for your correct identification and knowledge. However, what was it that you said about your familiar smelling my scent?" McGonagall asked.

"It's thanks to my familiar that I know of animagi. She has a very keen sense of smell, so would have no problem with distinguishing between the scents of different animals and individuals," Harry explained.

"Where is your familiar? I thought that your owl, Hedwig as Hagrid told me, was and she isn't here. It isn't part of the school list to have more than one pet," McGonagall questioned.

"She isn't a pet. She's a friend, as is Hedwig. As for where she is, she's coming out of my shirt to greet you now," Harry replied with a grin.

Sabrina heard Harry and also grinned before slithering up his arm and peeking out of his shirt collar, scaring McGonagall as the professor didn't expect to see a snake on the Boy-Who-Lived at all.

"A s-s-snake?! That's your familiar?!" McGonagall asked in fright and shock.

"Yes, her name is Sabrina. I've known her since I was young. We've been inseparable ever since," Harry replied.

"C-can you-?" McGonagall was about to ask before being cut off by Harry.

"Speak to her? Yes, I can. Not sure why though as I don't recall anyone in my family being able to speak to snakes according to what I've heard," Harry said.

Soon, voices of the students could be heard coming from the corridors. It was finally time for the lesson to begin it seemed.

"That will be all, Potter. You best take your seat before your classmates enter. I ask that you don't say anything about my animagus form, alright? I do love to have some fun with the students on the first day," McGonagall said with a smile before transforming back into a cat and jumping onto her desk.

Harry smiled back and took his seat just before the students filed in and also took their seats, whispering between themselves about the appearance of the cat on McGonagall's desk and the apparent disappearance of her. While the students continued to whisper and theorise about McGonagall's location, Harry and Sabrina were having a quiet, almost inaudible conversation themselves.

~Was that a good idea to reveal me and your status as a Parselmouth to McGonagall? Aren't you worried that she'll tell Dumbledore?~ Sabrina questioned.

~I'm counting on it~ Harry replied with a grin.

~Feeding the old man information to make him think that he's one step ahead, are you?~ Sabrina asked.

~Exactly. If McGonagall tells Dumbledore about our conversation, he'll try and confront me and separate us, which he will not be able to do, giving me something to hang over him later on. Also, I suspect that he already knows about me being a Parselmouth, but by implying that I don't know the actual name of snake language and that I don't know much about my family history will make Dumbledore think that he has information that he can use to gain my trust and control me if he hangs onto it and tells me later if I ask for answers~ Harry explained.

~Good plan. The old man's going to be in for a shock when you reveal that you already knew everything~ Sabrina said.

~He won't know anything until the very end and it'll be too late for him to do anything to stop me~ Harry responded.

Just as Harry and Sabrina finished their talk, someone sat next to Harry, startling him slightly as he didn't expect anyone to sit by him as every desk seemed to be filled. As he looked over to see who it was, he saw Hermione giving him a quizzical look as she raised her eyebrow.

"You don't seem too interested in Professor McGonagall's disappearance or the cat on her desk. Do you have an idea about what's going on?" Hermione asked quietly.

"As much as I would like to tell you, it would only spoil the fun. Just know that Professor McGonagall won't be leaving us hanging for too long," Harry answered with a smile.

As soon as Harry said that, running footsteps could be heard coming towards the classroom as Ron entered and panted from the running that he had done.

"Phew! Made it! Where's old McGonagall?! I thought that I was going to be late!" Ron exclaimed.

As soon as Ron finished saying 'late', McGonagall jumped off of her desk and transformed before walking up to Ron as he made it to the desks. Everyone then applauded at her stunt, making her blush slightly at the students' enthusiasm.

"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed bluntly.

"Well thank you for that assessment, Mr Weasley. Perhaps it may have been good to transfigure your hand into a pocket watch? Then you may have been on time," McGonagall said.

"I-I got lost," Ron stammered.

"Then perhaps a map instead? There's an empty seat next to Mr Thomas. I trust you don't need a map to find it," McGonagall responded before walking back to her desk as everyone chuckled at Ron's expense.

"Did you know that Professor McGonagall was going to do that?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. I caught her as she came in as her cat form," Harry answered.

"I guess that I'm glad that you didn't tell me straight away. It would've indeed spoiled the reveal," Hermione said.

Harry nodded in response, but it seemed as though Hermione had one last question before McGonagall started the lesson.

"How did you figure it out then? It's not common knowledge for first years that Professor McGonagall was an animagus," Hermione enquired.

"The fact that a random tabby cat would jump onto her desk was one factor. The cat's surprise at seeing me was another. My familiar confirming it via scent was the final factor," Harry answered.

"Familiar?" Hermione questioned.

Unfortunately, or fortunately for Hermione and Harry respectively, McGonagall began the lesson then, so the class became silent as she introduced Transfiguration and set some tasks for the class to do. The tasks ranged from changing some parts of an item to changing the entire item into something else.

Harry found that he had no problem with transfiguring his items with his Holly wand and that his Hazel wand produced quicker results. However, he only tested his Hazel wand underneath his desk while no-one watched him. It wasn't common to have multiple wands, after all, and he didn't want to have more questions asked about himself.

Everyone else was struggling, apart from Hermione, who was able to do the partial transfigurations, but was still having some trouble with the full transfigurations. Eventually, her curiosity defeated her pride and she asked Harry for help and advice.

"How did you manage to do your transfigurations so effortlessly? No-one else but you and I have done any and I can't seem to get a full transfiguration to work," Hermione questioned irritably.

"Don't try to control your magic," Harry replied.

"Excuse me? How can we perform magic if we don't control it?" Hermione asked, not completely believing what Harry had said.

"You can't fully control magic as it is a form of energy that surrounds us all. We, as witches and wizards, can harness the ability to perform feats of magic, but we cannot fully control it. We have to let it flow through us and ask it to help us rather than make it do what we want it to do. If you relax yourself and let magic flow through you, the best results can only follow," Harry explained.

Hermione looked sceptical, but followed Harry's advice anyway, letting herself drift off for a moment to relax her mind before attempting to perform the spell again. To her astonishment and amazement, the transfiguration worked just as Harry had said it would.

McGonagall then came over to see Harry and Hermione's progress and was amazed to see that both students had completed all of the tasks that she had set.

"How did you manage to do this? Not many students have been able to complete all of my tasks before. What are your secrets?" McGonagall enquired.

"It was Harry who helped me, Professor. He said to let magic flow through us and ask it to help us. When I relaxed myself, I finally managed to finish the tasks. He had already completed them all on his first attempt!" Hermione explained, clearly in awe of Harry's talent.

~And you thought that she would hate you. This doesn't sound like hate to me~ Sabrina teased.

Harry didn't reply as he was being watched and didn't want to draw public attention to his ability to speak Parseltongue just yet. After Hermione finished explaining, McGonagall's expression softened as she began to smile and praise the two of them.

"Then I believe that congratulations are in order. Well done to both of you! I shall award 10 points to Gryffindor for completing all of the tasks and an extra 10 points to Mr Potter for successfully helping a fellow classmate," McGonagall said before turning and walking around the classroom again to see whether anyone else completed any of her tasks.

Hermione was beaming at Harry after McGonagall's praise while Harry was internally debating whether it was good or bad that Hermione revealed his skill in magic. She didn't do it deliberately to annoy him, that much was certain from the awe in her voice.

~It would've come out sooner or later, my Harry. This way, it will force many people to rethink their opinions of you and make them realise that you are not to be underestimated~ Sabrina stated reassuringly.

Harry nodded in understanding as he caught Hermione glancing at him again. He decided to try and talk to her as it was obvious that she wanted to say something.

"You keep looking at me. Is there something you wish to say to me?" Harry whispered.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me. You heard what Professor McGonagall said; not many students complete all of her tasks. You're rather talented it seems," Hermione whispered in reply.

Harry nodded in response before reading up on the next spells that they would learn as he stored the theory in his mind and pictured him performing the spell. It seemed as though Hermione had the same idea as she also began to read up on the next spells for the week.

After a while, McGonagall dismissed the class as the lesson was over and the students made their way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Nothing much happened during this lesson, practically speaking. Harry was getting extremely bored of the lesson by the end of it as he had already read up on the theory of the Dark Arts and the types of spells for combat, so having a stammering Quirrell explain it all again at a quarter of Harry's reading speed wasn't enjoyable.

Harry spent his time watching Quirrell instead and trying to determine his true nature and mannerisms while trying to figure out what he might do at Hogwarts. Would he be involved in Quirrell's plan? If Voldemort was influencing Quirrell, then it wouldn't be a surprise if Harry found himself involved in this in the end.

Eventually, the lesson ended and the students grudgingly, apart from the Slytherins, went to the Dungeons for their first double Potions. Considering that Potions was taught by Snape, Harry had a very bad feeling about how the lesson would play out. He was certainly glad that he had already read up about all of the first year potions so shouldn't have trouble in following any steps if Snape wasn't very...helpful.

When the students arrived, they took their seats and waited for a few minutes before Snape finally entered. Snape blew the door open and walked up to his desk as his robe billowed behind him. Harry found this to be rather overdramatic for his tastes and looked around to see everyone either in awe or fearful. Well, Snape certainly achieved his goals of making a grand entrance, at least in most people's eyes anyway.

Snape soon began an obviously prepared speech to try and make himself and Potions seem to be the most important thing in the world before he locked eyes with Harry, who had been expecting a confrontation since seeing the hatred in the man's eyes at the feast after the Sorting Ceremony.

"Mr Potter...Our new celebrity...Tell me, Mr Potter, what potion contains powdered root of asphodel and infusion of Wormwood as ingredients?" Snape questioned with a small smirk.

It was obvious to Harry that Snape didn't expect him to know the answer. The potion in question was Draught of Living Death, which the students would not attempt to do until their sixth year as it was an advanced potion to make. They wouldn't even learn about the theory of it until late this year. Hardly the sort of thing to ask a first year student about on the first day. It was time to teach someone else not to underestimate him it seemed.

"Draught of Living Death, sir," Harry answered, trying his best to sound as polite as possible.

"Where would you look into if I ask you to find me a bezoar?" Snape asked as the smirk vanished.

"In the stomach of a goat, sir," Harry replied stoically.

"What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Snape asked again, getting more irritated as Harry kept answering his questions.

"There isn't one. They are the same plant. Another name for them is aconite," Harry replied, adding the last part to further annoy Snape and show off his knowledge.

"I don't know how you know all of this, Potter, but I will find out. One day, you will slip up. Now, everyone turn to page 137 and complete the potion by the end of the lesson. Begin!" Snape threatened before walking behind his desk to observe the students stumbling to open their books and get their ingredients.

Once again, Harry found that he was paired off with Hermione. This did have its benefits, of course, as they would hopefully complete the potion early and get off of here as quickly as possible. He subtly placed a protective shield charm over their cauldron as he could see Malfoy and his cronies eying them from across the room and he didn't want to have any problems that Snape could use for his advantage, Harry's fault or not.

As Harry thought, the combined work of both him and Hermione allowed them to complete the potion without any problems and in time before the lesson ended. When Snape came over to check their potion, he sneered as he saw nothing wrong with it whatsoever, which irritated him further.

"I swear that I will find out how you cheated, Potter. You two are dismissed!" Snape bellowed as he turned away to check on the other students.

Harry glared at Snape as he found the man's childish behaviour to be rather stupid, but packed up his things and left as quickly as he could with Hermione as he didn't want to spend any more time in that classroom than necessary.

"Why does Professor Snape seem to think that you were cheating? You weren't, were you?" Hermione enquired.

"Of course not. Reading ahead is supposed to be encouraged, at least by most professors it seems. Did you not notice the way he looked at me as he began his questioning?" Harry responded, giving Hermione some time to think.

"Now that you mention it...He had a weird smirk on his face as if he had just won something. But why would he think that he had won something?" Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Because he didn't expect me to answer his questions correctly, if answer at all. After all, I haven't been in the Wizarding World for so long, so why would I know anything if my only contact was when Hagrid arrived to take me to Diagon Alley to get my school supplies? Simply put, he was trying to bait me into humiliating myself. Instead, it backfired on him. Clearly, he doesn't like being shown up, but has no problem in showing someone else up. He can't take what he dishes out basically," Harry explained.

"But why would he be like that? He's a Hogwarts Professor! He should be helping us!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Remember what I told you before about learning about things for yourself? This is what I meant. Snape is a prime example of why you can't believe everything you hear. Just because he's a professor, it doesn't mean that he will help everyone. It's common knowledge that he hates everyone who isn't a Slytherin and he clearly holds a distinctive grudge against me for some reason. I intend to find out why," Harry explained.

Hermione seemed to begin to think over his words as she became silent for the rest of their journey towards the greenhouses to be ready for when their first Herbology lesson started. When the students and Professor Sprout arrived to start the lesson, Harry and Hermione joined them and listened to Sprout talk about some of the plants that they would be studying this year as well as take them all on a tour around the greenhouses, pointing out any plants of interest.

When the Herbology lesson was over, the students all made their way to Charms, where they, once again, learnt about the theory of charms from Professor Flitwick and practiced wrist movements that they would use when cast charms. Only one lesson was left now; the first Flying lesson.

A/N: And so begins the basis for Harry and Hermione's friendship. I hope that Harry's outburst wasn't too much, but I felt that it would be the only thing that could get Hermione to rethink Harry's attitude and become intrigued by him with how I've portrayed her. I'm just going to do some fine tuning to chapter 10, then I'll upload it and complete and upload chapters one at a time. See you soon guys.