Chapter 9

The bell rang and all the students immediately sprang up their seats and lined up at the door. James looked up just in time to see Harry stand up and go around the desk he had been sitting on.

James stood up from his chair and called, "Harry, stay for a moment."

Harry looked at Ron and the redhead just shrugged at him. James could see Harry shaking a bit and he was starting to become pale, like he was extremely nervous. Of course, he is a professor. Any student would be frightened if he or she were told to stay.

Ron mouthed something to Harry and he went outside, leaving both Potters alone.

"Sit down, Harry." James said as he leaned back on his desk.

Harry gulped and sat down on a nearby chair. "Am... Am I in trouble, professor?"

"What?" James raised his eyebrows. "Why would you be in trouble?"

"I... I just thought... never mind. What's this about then?" Harry asked.

James sighed. "This is about what happened earlier. When I asked you to help me. Are you sure you're alright Harry?"

Harry looked up and gaped at him. Was this guy serious? He held him back here just because of that? Sure what happened to him was beyond normal and was surely something that needed to be checked up on, but it was gone now.

"Harry?" James said as he waved his hand in front of him.

Harry was shaken out of his thoughts and said, "Yeah, uh... I-I'm fine. I'm fine Professor, really. It was just a slight headache. Nothing to worry about."

James eyebrows rose. "A headache? Shouldn't you have that checked at the Hospital Wing?"

"No. No. It's not necessary, I mean, come on, it's just a small headache." Harry said with a small, unsure chuckle.

"Alright..."James said slowly but he kept eyeing him as though he was something awfully suspicious. "If that headache comes back often, you should go to the Hospital Wing, are we clear?"

"Huh?"

Upon seeing Harry's confused look, James sighed. "You see, Harry, we teachers care for our students greatly, believe me, I once saved a child from drowning in the Black Lake."

Harry gave him a look that said "I-don't-believe-you" and James chuckled.

"Believe it or not, it happened. Now, where was I... oh yeah, We care about you so whenever a teacher might tell you do to absurd things without a particular reason, remember that there are always two possibilities. One, he or she is only thinking about your wellbeing or... two, he might just want to mess around with you." James said, chuckling at the last part.

Harry smiled a bit at that. He thought conversations with James Potter would be kind of awkward or tense but if this kind of flow continues, then he wouldn't mind speaking to him sometime in the future. Maybe he would go as far as to ask for some advice.

"Now, I've kept you in here for too long, I'm sure you're really late for your next class." James said, opening his desk drawer and pulling out a piece of paper. He grabbed a quill and dipped it in a nearby ink bottle and started scribbling on it. He was done in just a few seconds and he handed the piece of paper to Harry.

"Give this to your professor for your next subject. It would get you out of trouble for coming in late." James said as he returned to the front of his desk.

Harry's hold on the paper became tighter upon hearing that and James' lip twitched upward when he saw it.

"Well... I'll see you later then. Careful, okay?" he said as Harry started his walk towards the door.

"Will do. Thanks sir!" Harry said as he waved his hand and slowly closed the door behind him.

James sighed and smiled. That Harry Potter was a nice boy. He thought he would be all distant and non-interactive but he sure proved him wrong. He didn't cause him to get sad over his son's loss as he had previously thought. If anything, he took his mind off it.


A few days later...

Harry was about to lose it. This time though, it had nothing to do with the stares. No, this time, it was because of another class. Yes, he thought that since this was a magical school then, he would somehow do everything magically and without breaking a sweat. But boy was he wrong!

The teachers were ruthless witches and wizards. Especially McGonagall and Snape. They were the worst. Harry could not remember a single day in which he was free ever since school started. Those two always gave them homework as though it was their life source and it was like if they missed even a single one, they would die.

That was not the worst part though. The worst part was that most of their classes were held together with the Slytherins.

Over the course of four days, Harry quickly learned that Slytherins were nothing but rude, spoiled brats who depend on their bat-like teacher who liked to defend them. Of course, it had to be Snape. The guy he hated the most with such an outstanding passion that he thinks he might get an award just for it. The guy deducted points from Gryffindor simply because they wore scarlet and gold.

Snape was such a biased Head of House. They expected McGonagall to put a stop to it or maybe treat her Gryffindors like how Snape treated his little snakes but she scolded Gryffindors twice as hard as she would with the Slytherins. Of course, they could understand her, wanting everyone to learn and be disciplined, but the Gryffindors were ridiculously beaten.

The only things that Harry looked forward to were Professor James' and Professor Lily's lessons. Those two always made him brighten up and, although he might not get the lessons most of the time, he loved to just simply sit and listen to them talk and demonstrate some spells.

James Potter sometimes substituted for Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and History of Magic. He did not have a proper subject like his wife so whenever he comes to their lessons instead of their usual teachers, he would be overjoyed. Unlike their usual Teachers, James was easy to talk to. He joked around with them sometimes but not too much that it would cause the class to get out of hand. He did not give them fright and most of them listened attentively as he discussed the lesson like it was a story.

Lily Potter's lessons, however, were gentle and easy going. Since it was still their first week, they were supposed to study the history of Charms, in which, Hermione was proud to say, they were going to finish by next week.

Of course, this wasn't a comfort to Harry. After History, they would pour over countless theories and maybe, by October, they can perform their first Charm. Yippee...

But that did not mean that Professor Lily's lessons were boring. If anything, it was wonderful. History had never been taught like how she did. James' lessons often included transfiguration of small objects into tiny models of golins and wizards and make them fight a battle while he talks in the background.

Lily spoke every word with such charm that it was impossible not to pay attention. She would often demonstrate a few things on the sentence like, "...and then, Reiner Grovell, an insane old wizard from the mountains of Scotland, found a way to" she snaps her fingers and fire immediately formed over her palm. "make fire!"

It certainly amazed all of them. She always manages to surprise them with her spells whenever they go over their books.

Back to the present.

Harry slapped a hand to his face and turned to face Ron. "I knew it..."

Ron looked equally horrorstruck. "Mate, don't they think we've had enough of them?"

"Why?!" Harry said dramatically as he raised his hands up to the air. A few passers-by stare at their weird actions but the two ignored them. "Why?! Why would they put us in another class with... with them?!"

By them, he meant the Slytherins. Another class with Slytherin. It now adds to a grand total of 5 classes with them in a week.


The Gryffindors and Slytherins glared hard at each other as Draco Malfoy, an arrogant brat from Slytherin strode forward with a small, golden, glass ball in his hands. He was leaning on his broom smugly as he smirked at Harry.

"You want this?" he said teasingly as he held up the glass ball.

Harry made a move to snatch it but Malfoy quickly moved his arm so that he couldn't reach it. "Ah, Ah, Ah.." he said, flicking his pointer finger left and right. "I'll have Neville get this. I'll just leave it somewhere for him to find. How 'bout on the roof?" he said and swung his left foot over the broom and took off.

Harry ground his teeth in his rage. That Draco Malfoy hadn't been lying when he said he knew how to fly. Harry didn't know he could hate someone so much in his entire lifetime.

Just a few minutes ago, their Professor, Madam Hooch, took Neville to the Hospital Wing. Neville took off too early on his broom and he lost control of it in his panic. He broke his wrist after he fell down a few feet. Unfortunately, he left his Remembrall, the one that Malfoy was currently holding.

The Slytherins' smug faces made Harry clench his fist so hard. The rest of the Gryffindors intensified their glares but all of them knew that someone had to go up there and put a stop to Malfoy's actions.

Harry swung his leg over his own broom and was about to kick off when he felt a hand on his arm. He immediately sent a glare to the one who tried to stop him and he found out that it was Hermione.

"What are you doing? Let go!" He yelled as he tried to pull his arm away.

"No!" Hermione said firmly. "Madam Hooch told us to stay put!"

She was right. Madam Hooch did threaten them. She told them to stay on the ground or they would be expelled. But he did not care. His blood was boiling and he wanted to rip Malfoy apart so badly right now.

With a firm tug, he managed to break free from Hermione's grasp and he immediately kicked off from the ground.

"What an idiot..." Hermione muttered.

Harry was never comfortable with the idea of flying. He had been excited at first but as the flying lessons grew closer, he began to acquire some fears. He did not voice it out like Hermione or Neville but he was definitely a little bit nervous about it. He was surprised when he found out that Ron, who grew up in a wizarding household, had little to none experience with flying on broomsticks.

But now...

Everything just... vanished.

They were just... gone.

For the first time in his life, he felt so free.

Harry released a small chuckle from his lips as he stared at his own hands, gripping the broom handle tightly, with amazement. He couldn't believe it. It all just felt natural... somehow... The wind rushing past his body as they blocked his ears from hearing any sounds didn't bother him at all. He thought it all added to the effect.

He didn't know why he was so scared in the first place. FLYING WAS AMAZING!

From the corner of his eye, he saw Malfoy and he quickly turned the broom so that it would face the Slytherin. Malfoy was a little shocked to find out that he knew how to fly as well but he quickly composed himself.

"Give it here, Malfoy!" Harry yelled.

Malfoy did not reply as he simply tossed the ball around and caught it. Harry snarled and made the broomstick zoom towards Malfoy. To his surprise, he found himself facing nothing. He didn't even feel himself come in contact with Malfoy.

Harry turned his broom around and yelled, "Give it here Malfoy or I'll knock you off your broom!"

Malfoy turned slightly at him. Harry could see that annoying smirk of his again. "Really? Have it your way then."

With one quick motion, he threw the ball off into the opposite direction. The color drained from Harry's face and he felt his heart stop for a moment.

He didn't know what made him do it. All he knew was that he was looking at the ball falling in slow motion in front of him and everything else followed after. It all just seemed to click. His hands gripped the handle tightly and with one motion, he was diving towards the ground in high speed. Everything was a blur around him but the Remembrall was clear. It was like it was the only thing he was seeing at this moment.

He let his left hand let go of the handle and it slowly reached out to the ball just a millimeter away from him.

What happened next was too fast. He remembered grasping the ball and then he felt like he flew upwards and then gently, down. Before he knew it, he was in the middle of screaming Gryffindors and scowling Slytherins with his hand raised. In it, was the Remembrall.

"What the-?" Harry said hoarsely.

"Mate! You did it mate! You did it!" Ron yelled, jumping up and down in joy.

Harry was silent. What on earth had he done?

"HARRY POTTER!"

The screaming around them stopped. All students turned to see a very shaken, white-faced Mcgonagall. The students immediately compressed closer to each other as they determinedly looked at the ground.

The Slytherins looked on smugly at the scene unfolding before them.

Ron decided to step up. "Professor McGonagall, it wasn't his fault! He-"

"Be quiet, Mr. Weasley. Potter, come with me!" McGonagall said.

All heads turned to Harry, whose robes were slipping of his shoulder and his hair windswept. He didn't have a choice but to follow Professor McGonagall. He didn't even leave his broom behind. He must've looked ridiculous, walking around the castle with it, following Professor McGonagall. He knew he was going to be expelled. He just knew it.

So why wasn't he?

A few minutes later, he found himself in an unused classroom with McGonagall and a fifth-year named Wood.

"I'm what?" Harry croaked as he stared at them with a pale face.

The pair looked at him with gleaming eyes. "You're our new seeker!"


A/N: Okay, so I'm just gonna come out and say it. I'M REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY SORRY YOU GUYS! I really am! I know most of you are angry at me but I can't exactly help it okay? School takes most of our free time away, I'm sure all of you can relate to that. Especially if you experienced joining any extra activities.

And to those of you who don't believe this, well, we live in different countries. You live... somewhere on Earth... and I, live in the Philippines. It might be vacation for you guys but school starts in June here and ends in either March or April. You can search this if you want.

Again, I'm really sorry. I can't promise quick updates, but then again, I never have. I hope you'll bear with me until the next chap.

This was a long Author's Note but I just had to say those things. I'm sorry if I hurt any of you.