The first lesson of the day was Defence against the Dark Arts, something Harry was very curious about, mostly to compare the knowledge that he already had and the knowledge that the school would be teaching them.
(A/N I will not be writing Quirrell's stutter, it's annoying enough to think about as it is. So just add the stutter mentally.)
Harry sat in the middle of the class, which would allow him to get the best of everything while not allowing people to think he was a know it all, though there was nothing wrong with having a wealth of knowledge to draw from as he did, and Occlumency did help with organizing one's mind whilst also protecting it.
He watched, as he was several minutes early, as the rest of the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff first years arrived in the class. He was happy that he had chosen that spot Terry Boot sat next to him while Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott were seated on the table next to them. He offered a polite greeting to both girls and a nod to Terry as he sat down.
"A pleasure to see you again Miss Bones, Miss. Abbott." Harry greeted "May I introduce you to Terry Boot, Heir of the Ancient and Noble house of Boot. Terry this is Susan Bones, Heiress of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Bones, and Hannah Abbott, Heiress of the Ancient and Noble house of Abbott."
They greeted each other awkwardly, though Harry could see the smile on Susan's face when Harry greeted her and introduced the duo to Terry.
As they were talking to each other about how the start of their years were and the differences between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were, Harry's mind quickly summoned an image of Tonks and how Hufflepuff had been treating her since she had been revealed as a Metamorphmagi. He resolved to inviting them to eat with him later, as well as Daphne and Tracy, Blaise would sit with him without worry.
A smirk appeared on his face as he realized that he had a small following, of sorts, within Hogwarts. He had contacts within all houses and each person had contacts of their own that he would be able to connect with, in time.
Blaise, Daphne and Tracy in Slytherin.
Himself and, maybe, Terry in Ravenclaw.
Tonks and, in time, Susan and Hannah in Hufflepuff.
Draco in Gryffindor.
He would need to ensure Draco was able to get a few friends in the house of Lions, maybe an older student or two would be able to help.
"Harry?" Someone poked him on the rib.
Harry reacted immediately by snatching the hand with his right while doing for a dagger with his left, before he realized that it was Susan that had jabbed him.
"Sorry 'bout that. Got lost in my own head." He admitted. "What'd you say?"
Susan rolled her eyes. "Hannah asked what you thought about the prank that happened in the great hall at breakfast on Saturday."
Harry nodded his head sagely.
"From what I was able to tell there were several spells and types of magic wrapped into the presentation. Though who could have done it…I don't know, there are a few people that I've heard of the that could do something like this but the main targets are trying to find out who was behind it more than anything."
"The Weasley twins?" Hannah asked.
Harry nodded. "I heard that they were the pranksters of the school and now someone is encroaching on their territory, they'll need to be careful unless they force a prank war between them and an unknown prankster."
That seemed to be the end of the conversation as Professor Quirrell entered the room.
"Welcome everyone to your first class at Hogwarts." He greeted "I am your professor for Defence against the Dark Arts, or Defence teacher as some of the older students will call it."
There were a few murmurs around the room.
"I will be teaching you spells that you will be using to defend yourself against other Witches and Wizards that may wish to harm you, I will be teaching you about some of the dark creatures that roam through the Forbidden Forest, so you will learn why it is called so, and many other things that you will need to know in order to protect yourself.
"You will learn how to defend yourself, magically, such as how to duel, we will also discuss the differences between types of duels and what types there are. You will be learning few offensive spells and defensive spells that you will be able to use when needed outside the class room, though there is little to no chance that you will need them within Hogwarts." He concluded, the stutter was slightly easier to understand.
Harry was able to really get interested in the lesson, when he was able to decipher what it was that the professor was talking about, though it did help that he repeated himself a few times whilst they were talking.
He told them that they wouldn't be learning any spells with him for a few weeks since there was a lot of information that they needed to cover in regards to what the Dark arts were and a variety of different subjects in relation to them.
"For now let's start with something a little interesting." He began. "What are the dark arts?"
Several students put their hands up.
Susan being one of them.
"Miss. Bones." Quirrell called on Susan.
"The dark arts, also known as dark magic, refers to any and any types of magic that is used to cause harm, control or death to a victim." Susan intoned, clearly she had recited that several times in the past.
Quirrell nodded "Very good Miss. Bones, I see you've been learning from your aunt, the current head of the DMLE, Madam Bones."
Susan nodded shyly.
"Now do not be misled, students. The dark arts are not necessarily 'evil', just because they are labelled dark." He said as someone behind Harry scoffed.
"Yeah just ask Hale about dark magic." The person whispered, clearly unaware of just how loud he actually was.
"Do you have something to add Mr. Corner?" Quirrell singled out the student in question.
Michael clammed up.
"We're waiting Mr. Corner." Quirrell called out "And that'll also be five points from Ravenclaw for interrupting the class."
Anthony Goldstein answered for Michael, whom he was sitting next to.
"He said that if you want to talk about the Dark arts then you should ask Hale, the first night he made this speech in the common room about there being no such thing as the dark arts, or the light arts."
Harry rolled his eyes.
Quirrell caught the action and turned his attention onto Harry.
"I'd be more than interested in hearing this different view on the Dark Arts that you have Mr. Hale, if you're willing I'd be more than interested to hear you share it with the class."
Harry sighed, he knew that there was no way that he was going to be able to avoid doing this but if he was able to find a way the Hufflepuff's would be curious and start asking questions, and if they started asking questions members of the other houses would hear and start asking the same questions.
If there was one thing that he'd learnt over the last three years was: it was better to face the problems head on with as much confidence as you could muster, while still keeping a level head as to know when you're getting over one's head.
Harry stood "I think it'll be better if I stood where you are, sir." He added as an afterthought.
Quirrell just nodded and moved to the side, giving Harry all the space that he needed.
He faced the class and took a deep breath.
"I think the best place to begin is with myself, uh, to begin with, as many members of Ravenclaw would know, as from my impromptu speech when we first arrived in the common room, the reason why I was sorted first was because I am not a normal wizard, in the typical sense that you all may or may not be aware of."
There were a few people that were talking amongst themselves, the professor raised an eyebrow.
Harry cleared his throat and eyes returned to him.
"I think the first thing that everyone has to realize is that there as there are countless types of spells and branches of magic, there are also numerous, if not countless, forms of magic users other than Witches and Wizards."
"Like how the Headmaster is called a Warlock?" A Hufflepuff asked.
Harry nodded "Exactly, a Warlock is considered another form of magic user. Though it is different than the other titles that can be used, which is because no one is born a Warlock, it takes time and hard work to be considered a Warlock."
There were more people murmuring, though Harry was somewhat happy to see that a few people were taking notes of what he was saying, not just the Ravenclaw first years that weren't able to write it down the night before. At some point the blackboard behind him had started writing and listed what he was saying as dot points for people to read. Harry saw the small movement from Quirrell to continue talking, clearly he was enjoying the topic.
"Now just as there are Witches and Wizards, there is no difference in name for a female Warlock, there is only the Male name, for some reason there has never been a name that fit female Warlocks. But the main difference between a Witch or Wizard and a Warlock is simple.
"A Witch or Wizard is someone who uses A) wand, or other magical foci, movements and B) the incantation, together to perform a spell. A high level Warlock is able to perform magic without an incantation or any form of focus, they can perform powerful magic with just their hands."
A hand was raised.
"Yes Mr-"
"Hopkins, Wayne Hopkins. Are you saying that a Warlock is someone who can use silent and wandless magic?"
Harry nodded "In the simplest of words yes, that is pretty much what a warlock is. But there are differences between the types of Warlock, three levels actually. A low-level, or fledgling Warlock, is able to perform magic silently, a Mid-level or Average Warlock, is able to perform some magic without using their wand but they may need to use their wand from time to time, depending on the spell, and a Master Warlock is someone that can perform magic silently and without their wands, as Mr. Hopkins said before.
"So as I said there are different types of magic users, and I kind of spoke too much on that, there are different types of magic that can be used. I've seen, in person, what some people would call Dark Magic save lives of people and I have seen what people would call Light Magic, or the Light arts, kill where, by logic, they should not be able to."
This time there were gasps and more than a few people were staring at him like he'd grown a second head.
"Over the last year I was trained by my masters, and I will not be explaining that anytime soon." He cut in. "I was trained by my masters and shown different types of magic that existed through the world, I have met Necromancers, Voodoo Priests in New Orleans, America, I've met Shamans and Witch doctors, even an immortal warrior that was cursed to live forever.
"Each had different magic that no other was able to use, and from all of them I learnt that they saw magic differently. Some wanted nothing more than to control the world, others wanted nothing more than to live in peace using their magic's to protect and heal others. From them I learnt that to protect the people that we love there is nothing that could be considered Dark or light when it's used against another person, there are only different shades of Grey that exist." Harry concluded.
There were blank faces all around him and he sighed.
"Ok I think a small practical would be needed." He said.
"Uh, Susan." Harry singled the Hufflepuff out. "The professor said your aunt works for the DMLE, yeah?"
She nodded.
"That means she would have taught you a few simple spells with a practise wand or with your own when you got your supplies, correct."
She nodded, though seemed to be a little shy about it.
"Do you know the Lumos charm?" he asked.
Again she nodded.
"Well, did you know that if you put enough power into the spell and aim it at someone you can cause them to go blind?"
Her eyes, and others, widened in shock. But Harry nodded and kept talking.
"If you were to do that on the staircases that we use to get to our common rooms when someone wasn't expecting it, the sudden bright light could cause them to fall over the railing and result in them being horribly hurt?"
He refused to say 'or die' as he didn't want to scare anyone, but the point needed to be made. They weren't just learning magic for fun, some of the magic that they were going to learn was actually able to hurt someone if the caster wanted to.
Some students were looking at their wands, seeming to understand just how much power that they actually had, others seemed to be thinking about what he was saying seriously, clearly the Purebloods, that weren't of the darker families, weren't accustomed to being told that the magic that they had been looking forward to learning was able to hurt someone.
Harry continued, using another example.
"Susan has your aunt shown you, or taught you, the stunning spell Stupefy?"
Susan who was still standing looked at Harry almost afraid to answer, but that alone told him the answer that he'd originally thought.
"Well, for those that don't know, the Stunning spell is used by the Aurors to knockout the Witches and Wizards that they are attempting to arrest. But if they used enough power they would all be able to use that spell to stop someone's heart." He told them.
There was silence in the room. No one had realized anything like this, after all they were only eleven and just starting to learn magic.
Quirrell quickly got the class back under control and introduced them to the first topic that they would be covering; Gnomes.
Harry walked out of History of Magic, extremely disappointed.
He had looked through the History of Magic textbooks that they were given briefly over the few minute break they had between classes and had crossed paths with a few of the older students, he hadn't understood why they shook their heads and offered several students to transfigure their books into pillows for them, nor did he realise why they were chuckling when they were told what class they were headed to. Now that he did he would add it to the list of things that he needed to change when the time was right, but for now he would knuckle down and keep an eye on things, whilst looking for things that needed to be fixed. If there were too many things he'd scrap the first plans that had been made and would take control immediately.
If not for his education, or his sanity for the very least. He liked History, not magical history currently, but muggle history, with the magical aspects that he'd been filled in on, his fascination was mostly on Rome and Greece because of his family origins.
He had fortunately been able to sit next close to Daphne, Tracy and Blaise. Once they had realized that they were only going to learn things that were in their books, word for word, they decided that they would use the chance to catch up, they had been able to see Tonks walking around while they were moving between classes but they didn't have a chance to really speak to her, Harry decided that he'd attempt to find a place where they were able to talk and hang out comfortably. He already had the place, he just needed to find it.
Harry sat in charms with his head of house Professor Flitwick, as the teacher.
The half-goblin, Harry had heard from the senior students, was a professional duellist. Which was, in truth, an understatement if there ever was one.
Flitwick and still remains, a seven time world champion duellist. One of the very few Magicals that were able to call themselves a master of spell warfare, a ridiculous title; Harry believed. But he had seen a few memories of the Duels that Flitwick had partaken in, a few of them were nothing other than exhibition duels, but the one he'd seen that displayed his Head of house's spell repertoire and style had sent chills down his spine.
The sheer skill and power that the small man held was undeniable.
Instead of sidestepping spells or using shields to defend himself like most would, Harry watched as his professor commanded control of the arena, using a combination of charms to attack his opponent and transfiguration to construct the battlefield to his needs. Harry could tell, from having watched other duellists, that Flitwick wasn't a master of transfiguration duelling, the skills that he did have in 'Combat Transfiguration', as it was aptly named, were born from necessity and heavy training.
The class were told that as it was their first week learning magic they wouldn't be learning any spells, but they would be learning wand movements, which were used in combination with incantations to actually perform magic.
Moving his hand in strange ways was annoying to learn, as the natural movement of the wrist were not directly compatible with some of the ways that he hand needed to move in order to execute the movement properly, resulting in many students developing sore wrists and arms.
They were told that Madam Pomfrey had pain relief potions if they required one, no one required one, though one red haired Gryffindor complained loudly that he would need to see the healer otherwise he wouldn't be able to write; then coming to some foolish decision he had mentioned that he wouldn't see the healer and would instead go to class, complain about his wrist and not have to write.
Another member of the house of Lions, Hermione Granger, if he remembered her name correctly, the one he recommended the book to, had scolded the boy about his behaviour.
To Harry it reminded him of some of the senior disciples from Kamar-Taj and how they would 'instruct' some of the others whilst the Masters were delayed with other tasks, though she specifically reminded him of some of the worst disciples that tended to believe they were superior to others because they had been there longer or were placed under important masters.
Harry wanted to say something but Draco spoke first.
"Granger." He called out to her "If the fool wants to do something as stupid as that on the first day then let him do it. It's got nothing to do with you, so if he wants to make a fool out of himself for our amusement then let him."
With that he walked away, not caring about her response. Harry rolled his eyes and walked away as well, others seemed to get the idea and just ignored the duo, moving on to their next class.
Harry was the first student to arrive in the Transfiguration classroom, other students having taken the normal route that they were guided on whilst harry had taken a hidden pathway that was listed in one of his Father's, James', grimoires that he had made listing a few passageways that would make moving between classes easier.
Harry sat there in the class room, again sitting towards the middle of the classroom, though admittedly he was hoping that he wouldn't have to sit next to Granger or the red haired Weasley, he couldn't stand either of them. Weasley was pathetic, as were his table manners, everything that Harry had seen and heard from the ginger boy told him that he was lazy and needed a real attitude adjustment.
Granger on the other hand was easy for him to understand, she came from an environment where she was regarded as the best and most intelligent by her peers and teachers. Now she was in a new environment that she hadn't prepared for and was clinging to her usual routines, something that wasn't looked favourably on by the students or faculty, though it had yet to be shown by the later.
So there he sat, in the classroom alone, with Professor McGonagall, or Aunt Kittie, as young Harry had known her as. The reason being that when he'd been introduced to Sirius' animagus form, Padfoot, his father's form, Prongs, and Peters form, Wormtail, the only one that Harry didn't like; Somehow he'd been able to tell that Minerva was also an animagus and had 'pushed' her, so to speak, into her feline form, which he had then cuddled whilst the feline was too shocked to realise she was trapped.
Harry pushed the treasured memory lovingly back to where it belonged within his Occlumency shields as he watched the feline that was sitting, oddly stiff for a cat, on the desk waiting for the rest of the students. He smirked when he saw the bottle of catnip sitting on the corner of the desk with the small card tied around the neck of the jar with the antler motif visible.
What he didn't realise was his personal animagus form was reacting to the intrusion of Erebus, something that was surprising to Harry and his two masters when they had separated the different entities within Harry's mind. They had unknowingly began his training as an Animagus, sadly with Erebus within him completing the transformation was impossible, though oddly enough, his eyes were able to change, firmly placing Harry in the second step of animagus training, Partial animal manifestation.
At times, whether Harry knew it or not, willed it or not, or otherwise wanted to show it or not the eyes of his Animagus form would manifest, granting him use of the natural ability of the animal.
The feline professor, who had been watching Harry saw the ghost of a smirk on Harry's face when he saw the bottle and she also saw the change in his eyes when he was looking at the bottle. Being a Transfiguration Mistress she knew exactly what that meant; she would be speaking to him after class.
She had also watched as his fist clenched tight, as if he was attempting to distract himself from pain.
Knowing it would raise questions, though not caring at the current point in time, he quickly reached into his small pouch and pulled out a vial of his healing potion. Draining it in as few mouthfuls as possible. He let out a deep sigh of relief and peace as students started to arrive.
Terry had spotted Harry and decided he would do as he had in the lesson prior, sat next to him on the available seat on the Ravenclaw side of the room.
Draco had seen where Harry was sitting and had taken the closest seat to him on the Gryffindor side of the room.
A quick glance around the room showed Hermione was sitting at the front of the class with one of the Indian twins, Parvati, he believed, next to her, with Lavender Brown and Padma Patil, a fellow Ravenclaw, filling up the rows close to the front of the class room. He did not see Weasley or one of the two boys that followed him, the Irish boy. The other boy, a dark skinned Half-blood, was already seated in his seat and was looking for his dorm mates.
Terry and Draco continued a conversation that they had been having between classes whilst they were looking around for the teacher to arrive, Harry wasn't really paying attention to whatever it was they were talking about. His eyes were locked on the desk in front of the class watching the teacher.
"Where is the teacher?" he could hear Granger moan "It's rude to not be present at the beginning of the lesson." Harry rolled his eyes.
"Miss Granger, I believe it would be prudent as to not insult a teacher when she is sitting in front of the class waiting for all her students to be quiet so she may introduce the class properly." Harry said, his voice was loud enough to cut through the class room's aimless chatter, drawing eyes to the two.
"What are you talking about Hale?" One of the female Ravenclaw's asked, though her attitude was none too kind.
Harry sighed. "As this is Transfiguration, and is our first class on the subject, Professor McGonagall thought she would demonstrate the more advanced applications of the subject. The Animagus Transformation."
His explanation was met with odd looks from those that hadn't read of the subject, which were mostly the Half-blood and muggleborn students, and realization by the Pureblood students that had been told about the advanced technique.
Just as the Professor was about to reveal herself the door to the class room swung open and all eyes turned to see the two missing lions walk into the room, well the young Irish boy walked into the room, Weasley practically strutted into the room like he owned the place.
"Could you believe the look on old McGonagall's face if she saw we were late?" Ron smirked.
Choosing this as the perfect moment to reveal herself, everyone watched at the stiffly seated feline rose into a crouch and leapt of the desk, transforming back into her proper form.
"That was bloody brilliant." Ron said in awe.
The young Irish boy was both stunned and shocked by what he'd just seen.
Harry decided that he'd break the tension, after all he was getting bored. That was never a good thing.
"Ladies and Gentlemen; the Animagus Transformation." He introduced jokingly "Brought to you by the illustrious Professor McGonagall, Transfiguration mistress extraordinaire."
With a light round of applause from Harry the professor looked at Harry, he, in response, flashed her a cocky mischievous grin, something that had been referred to in the Potter Family journals as the Potter grin, something that the males of the family had naturally developed, it held the ability to make women swoon, so the books said, and naturally gave of an air of smugness that made people laugh and comfortable.
With the angle that Harry was looking up at the professor with, it was Deja vu for her.
Out of everyone in the world, bar the family itself, she knew that grin anywhere.
"Thank you Mr. P-Hale." She mentally scolded herself for the slip. She hoped that no one heard it.
Harry did and cocked an eyebrow, unknowingly looking more like his father than he knew.
"Thank you for that assessment Mister Weasley, perhaps it were to be more useful if I were to transfigure Mr. Finnigan and yourself into a pocket watch, that way one of you might be on time." She scolded the pair.
"We got lost." Seamus admitted.
"Then perhaps a map." The professor rebutted "I trust you don't need one to find your seats."
Without another word McGonagall turned away from the pair and walked back over to her desk, the two boys quickly found their seats and prepared their books for the class. As she was walking to the desk Minerva's mind was spinning, she knew that there was only one person that she knew that had that smirk, and only one person that could have inherited it, she needed answers and there was only one person that she would be able to get those answers from.
"Mr. Hale, Why, may I ask, are you not wearing the proper uniform required by all students?"
There were some snickers made by students when they heard the question and Harry was actually starting to get annoyed with people asking him the same question, they had been doing it since he'd arrived in the castle.
"According to the school charters policy on uniform, Section 12, Apprenticeships, article 6; Students undertaking any form of Apprenticeship or Mastery may, if so required, wear an article of clothing identifying themselves as an apprentice.
"Section 13 states, if a student completes a mastery whilst they are attending school they are able to wear the clothing befitting one of said station, whilst they are performing any duties or tasks that fall under their mastery. I am a qualified Master of Kamar-Taj, I am wearing the robes, and actually it's a tunic, of my position."
Professor McGonagall raised an eyebrow "And what, exactly is your mastery and position?"
Harry had a ghost of a smile on his face, though the professor could see it.
"My mastery is in Illusions, Relic identification and recovery, Magi-Physical combat, Security and Stealth." He explained "As such I am always performing my duties;
"As an Illusion Master, I am always looking for Illusions that have been erected in places that they have no reason for being, as a master of Security and combat I am always on guard against attacks against myself or upon others around me, and as a member of the Relic Identification and Recovery sect of the temple, I am always searching for Relics that have been stolen or created that are required to be sealed away."
Minerva, and everyone that hadn't heard Harry's explanation were impressed and shocked. Who knew that someone so young could be doing something to complicated and dangerous.
Harry decided that he'd break the new tension in the room.
He flicked out a hand and a deck of cards appeared.
"I also do card tricks if that helps."
Students started to laugh and chuckle at the blasé response.
Minerva just rolled her eyes and began the class.
"Mr. Hale, please stay behind for a moment." She called out to the young boy that had caught her interest.
She watched as Hadrian waved his friends on, telling them that he would catch up with them later.
Once they were alone he walked over to the desk where she was standing and waiting for him.
"Is there something wrong professor?" He asked her.
Minerva looked over the boy, the green tunic was odd, but if it was something he was able to wear because of his position as a, so called, Master, then there was nothing she was able to do about it. Though she would need something to prove that to her.
"As you may not know, I am the Head of house for Gryffindor. But I am also the deputy headmistress of the school and as such there are certain things that I need to confirm, such as-"
"My position as a Master" Harry cut in. "You need some form of proof that I'm not just making everything up and I am actually who I say I am."
Minerva nodded, though Harry could tell that she wasn't too happy to have insinuated that he was lying to her.
He smiled "Don't worry I already thought that something like this would happen, Professor Flitwick said it would only be a matter of time and it would be either you or the headmaster that would approach me on the subject."
Without another word Harry reached into the messengers bag that he was using to carry his books, he produced a rather large envelope which clearly displayed the ICW insignia, proving that the documents were authentic. He rifled through the documents pulling out several pieces of parchment, he returned several of them before placing several on the table. Once he had all the documents that he needed he returned the large envelope to his bag, he picked up the documents, flicking through them carefully, ensuring they were the right ones, he gave a single nod and tapped the parchments on the table to level them before handing them to the deputy headmistress.
"These are documents from the ICW, they have the confirmation of my apprenticeship, list my citizenship as a citizen of Kamar-Taj, my confirmation as a Master with an overview of the examinations that were required to attain that position."
She looked over the documents, noting the red script in the corner of each parchment listing them as certified copies.
Everything she would need was listed within the documents she was handed.
There was confirmation of here he lived before he was accepted into Kamar-Taj, the ICW acceptance of Hadrian as an adult after he passed the examinations and a review panel, of which there was a brief three page overview.
The thing that really made her eyes widen was the officially signed document that declared that Hadrian held what was practically the magical world equivalent of Diplomatic Immunity, baring few incidents he was completely immune to all forms of legal action, by any government.
She looked up at him in shock.
He smirked and gave a slight shrug.
"Was there anything else I can help you with?" he asked.
Minerva sighed and placed the documents on the desk so she could sort them out later.
"Actually yes, Mr. Hale. There is one other thing that I'd like to discuss with you, admittedly it was the main reason for keeping you behind. Now as you are clearly aware of the Animagus transformation, are you aware of how dangerous an undertaking it is, especially at such a young age and without proper understanding of transfiguration, along with the laws of the art." Her tone left no room for argument, this was clearly her telling him that she was disappointed that he would do such a thing because of how dangerous it was.
There was an audible gulp from Harry, which gained another raised eyebrow from Minerva.
"I see that you understand the risks of such an undertaking."
Harry cleared his throat. Seemingly drawing up courage from somewhere.
"I think that it would be better if you met with Professor Flitwick and talk to him, I've got a few things I need to collect from him so I will ensure that he's able to tell you. But you will have to swear an oath, just as he did." Hadrian told her as he reached into his bag, searching for the parchment that had the oath.
"Why would you require an oath?" she asked him.
Harry answered with a smirk. "I know that people are used to putting their trust in you, sadly the information that I have shared with him affects more people than just myself, so I need an oath to protect them.
"There is a saying that I've come to understand. I only mention it because it's important, and I know you'll understand it. 'Knowledge is power. Information is power. The secreting or hoarding of knowledge or information may be an act of tyranny camouflaged as humility'. I think that someone that has fought in two wars, against two different armies, would understand the meaning behind that quote."
Harry gave a nod and picked up his bag, placed the parchment with the oath on her desk and walked out without being dismissed. As he was about to open the door he spoke once more without looking at the thoughtful professor.
"Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not."
He opened the door.
The noise on the other side was almost enough for him to miss the final thing that she asked him.
"Who said that?"
He smiled.
"Vixen. Your favourite flowerchild."
Without another word he stepped out and closed the door.
Seeing Terry and Draco standing outside the class room he gave them a small smile, thankful they waited.
"Everything ok?" Terry asked.
Harry nodded. "Never better."
The first potions lesson that Harry had was with the Hufflepuff's, though he didn't mind having the chance to meet with Susan and Hannah again they were still weary of him after what had happened in their Defence against the dark arts class. But happily they weren't too weary of him as to not speak to him during class, though they did speak more about the potion that they were making; a basic boil cure. Though simple, there were some parts of it that were interesting to Harry, who foolishly vocalised a comparison that potions was the magical equivalent to a combination of cooking and chemistry.
When Snape heard he voiced his disapproval of the notion to Harry.
Much to the humour of the other students in the class. Though Harry didn't back down about his comparison, mostly because he could actually see the commonality between them.
"But sir," he began "If one was to look at both potions and cooking you would see the fact that they are similar, though potions being the more useful of the two." It didn't hurt to butter the professor up a little.
"With cooking you have the ingredients and a recipe that you need to follow in order to complete a meal, in potions you have the ingredients and the recipe to make a potion, draught, elixir, or other such thing. Then you have the Potions masters, such as yourself, and professional chefs, that have recipes of their own, which they have spent hours or days, or even years attempting to perfect and master. In cooking there's less of a risk because if something doesn't work then you just have a bad meal that you don't want to eat, but in potions you have a potion that could either kill you or as good as."
The class looked between the two, while attempting to complete their potions, as to not annoy the professor any more than Harry was currently.
Snape raised an eyebrow. "And Chemistry?" he asked.
It seemed that he was allowing Harry to voice his own ideas before he shot him down completely.
"Well with potions it's not the ingredients, exactly, otherwise you wouldn't be able to make variations of potions with stronger or weaker doses. It's what's within the ingredients, the chemicals and effects of them on the body, which a potion has, similar to how an infusion of Foxglove, a plant that is well known for being poisonous, was used with great success in treating a diseases known as Edema, which was once called Dropsy, which would cause swelling that was bad enough to break through skin.
"Muggles have used Chemistry to a great degree when looking to cure illnesses that plague the world. There was recently a study in the muggle world where Scientists, who are similar to potion masters and alchemists in a way, have harnessed some of the chemicals from the plant to make a medicine that helps prevent heart failure." He explained, carefully taking a breath, having ranted whilst talking.
"What's heart Failure?" Susan Bones asked.
"It is a condition, Ms. Bones, where the heart is unable to pump enough blood through the body to meet the body's needs. It is not as common within the Magical world as our magic assists our bodies, resulting in a longer life than muggles, but within the Muggle world it is considered a very serious condition that many have died from." Professor Snape explained.
Harry was slightly put off by having the professor explain Heart Failure, he hadn't thought that the professor would know what that was. He mentally scolded himself for presuming so.
It seemed that Snape had seen Harry's surprise.
"Mr. Hale, you seem…shocked by my knowledge, did you think I was foolish enough to not have looked into something, even a subject as mundane as cooking and Chemistry to assist me in my craft?" he asked, the annoyance was clear to Harry.
"I'm sorry professor, I had thought that you, along with many within the British magical world, would have disregarded any subject that was so…mundane."
"Hn…" Professor Snape just looked at Harry.
To Harry it looked as if Snape was staring through Harry, as if he was attempting to look into Harry's very being.
He turned on his heel and walked back to the front of the class room. It was clear that the conversation was over.
Just as Harry had turned to figure out where Terry was on the boil cure potion he heard Snape speak.
"Ten points for Ravenclaw, for a correct comparison and using intelligence to show the use of different types of ingredients and their application."
The rest of the class went rather smoothly after that, few of the Hufflepuff's thought that they were able to ask questions now, and Snape had actually answered a few of them. Snape had thrown a few insults around the room, calling a pair of Ravenclaw students that Harry didn't know the name of dunderheads for nearly ruining their potions; they had nearly added their Porcupine quills whilst the potion was still on the flame.
Harry sat in the Library with the Daphne, Tracy, Blaise, Draco, Tonks, who had asked (read: forced) Harry to let her sit with puppy-Erebus, Susan and Hannah.
After Harry had mentioned to Susan and Hannah that he knew one of the Hufflepuff Seniors that they would be able to talk to if they needed help, they had immediately searched for Tonks, who was more than happy to accept the older sister figure for the two. Helping them out with their homework, which they hadn't received yet, but she had given them copies of the 'secret' History of Magic Notebook that was passed throughout the student body, for a price of course, she had given them a her copy since she wouldn't need it, having been able to drop the class as soon as her electives had been made available.
Draco had a hard time fitting into the house of lions, sadly all the preparation that Lucius, his father, had put into making Draco the next 'Prince of Slytherin' for the duration of this education completely fell through because of Harry's toying with the hat, though all he did was allow Leonidas to do his job. Draco had received a letter from his father the next morning, clearly someone had owled him, or their parents whom had passed it to him, and informed Malfoy senior; He was not happy.
The letter had commanded Draco to be resorted, get kicked out of the house, kill the entire house…In no uncertain terms Lucius wanted Draco out of Gryffindor by any means. Draco had brought the letter to Harry, who had noticed something was wrong and ensured him that there was nothing for him to worry about. Draco had owled his father the next day and, because of Harry's assistance, which was not shared in the letter, informed Lucius that the house presented a previously unseen opportunity for the family.
Draco's sorting would allow them to 'feel out' the light sided families, as it were, there were several Muggleborn students that were sorted into Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, with Ravenclaw coming in third on the list, but there were also a large faction of Purebloods that were sorted into those two houses, he had told his father that after earning their trust he would be able to learn things from both houses without much trouble, The Gryffindor's being overly trusting of their own housemates and Hufflepuff being, somewhat, aligned to the house.
The letter had yet to receive a reply, from Lucius anyway, but the next day Narcissia, Draco's mother, had sent him a letter telling him that his father had gone to the board and practically demanded that his son was resorted into the house of snakes, it was only because of the Hat that he wasn't able to get his way, though why the hat was in the meeting was Dumbledore's fault apparently.
The look that Harry had unknowingly adopted told Draco that Hadrian was thinking of something, this told Draco that there was something being planned out and where there were plans being made, there were allies being made and being broken apart, and when alliances broke there tended to be opportunities.
Daphne, who was sitting on Harry's right, and Blaise, sitting on Harry's left, with Tracy next to Daphne, told him that with the loss of Draco being sorted into the Snake pit, as the house common was apparently dubbed, Theodore Nott had thrived, claiming his place as the head of the first year snakes, with Pansy Parkinson, Draco's betrothed by his side, though she had been avoiding him since he was sorted into the house of Lions.
Harry knew very little about the Nott family, he knew that they were dark and dangerous family from the records that his family had kept, but they were severely outdated by several years and generations. He asked Tracy and Daphne felt safe in the snake pit, he knew that Blaise could take care of himself or he would have just asked Harry for something to help him but he was more concerned about the girls.
Tracy nodded and mentioned that she was safe with Daphne, who, on the other hand, scoffed and rolled her eyes. Clearly being concerned about her safety was insulting to her, but he didn't care. He received a small nod from Blaise, secretly telling him that he'd keep him up to date, as per his request.
Turning his attention to Tonks he asked her if there were any other incidents with the boys that had upset her in the badger house. She averted his gaze and he knew right away that there were issues, Erebus picked up on his annoyance and let out a growl of his own, which was slightly cute coming from the cub.
"It's nothing I can't handle, especially if I'm going to be an Auror when I leave school." She told him.
All eyes locked onto Tonks, making her slightly uncomfortable, even more so than she was moments before anyway.
"Like I told you Tonks, if you need any help I am willing to do help you. All you have to do is tell me and I'll be there for you, and if I'm right, so will everyone else here."
His statement was met with nods and statements of approvals. Though Blaise decided to be different and smirked while twirling his wand, his eyes alight with a dangerous glint. Seeing the look Tonks burst out laughing, calling him a wanna be Mafioso, something that she knew his family was and he was proud of it. Her laughter was infectious and soon the rest of the small group was laughing with her.
Susan and Hannah looked at each other, a look that was not missed by Daphne or Harry. They were not going to let something happen to their new friend. Especially one that was planning on joining the Auror corps.
Over the laughter they didn't realise that Harry had grown deep in thought, until he spoke anyway.
"Tonks, since you want to be an Auror, which would mean that you practise spells other than the ones taught in class, yeah?" he asked.
The question stopped all other voices as they wanted to know as well.
She nodded "Yeah, I spoke with Flitwick and McGonagall and they gave me a few books and references to others so I could increase my spell knowledge. Why?"
Harry nodded slowly. "Well I was wondering, mostly because we're the only group of students from all houses that are friends." Which was surprising to a few of the group. "I thought that maybe it would be better if you not only learnt new spells but taught us a few, of the safer ones anyway."
He raised a hand to stop her argument, just so he could finish.
"We would all benefit from the lessons, you would develop a better understanding of the spells, we would learn something new, we all come from different places, so to speak, so we would all have different ways of viewing things and different questions."
Daphne caught on to what he was saying. "With more people that would mean that you'd be able to find new spells to learn faster."
"Susan's aunt is the head of the DMLE, so she'd know a few Auror spells that she might be able to teach you." Hannah added.
"My family has a large collection of spells and contacts." Blaise offered.
Tracy spoke next "We could make it like a club, meet on a regular basis, and do all our homework together, learning from Tonks and each other."
"We'd learn how to duel against each other, giving you, Tonks, different people to practise against-"
"How are you practising?" Susan cut Draco off.
"McGonagall transfigured a few spell dummies then had Flitwick charm them, I've been using an empty class room on the sixth floor to practise." She said.
Harry scoffed, getting everyone's attention.
"A spell dummy might be good for practising spells and basic duelling, but you won't be duelling when you're an Auror Tonks." He explained "Out in the world there are no rules, regulations, and politeness. When you're fighting a dark wizard that's not a duel, it's more than that. A single mistake out there, the wrong frame of mind-"He snapped his fingers "Then that's it. We've lost a friend and Britain's lost an Auror."
Everyone blinked.
"That's rather Dark Harry." Hannah said meekly.
He nodded. "But I'm not wrong, and I'll be the first to admit that I know nothing about how to duel."
"Really?" Tracy asked.
He nodded again.
"Tonks if you want I'll help you, but if you want my help I won't duel you."
Tonks blinked, she was confused.
"If you won't duel me, then what will you do?"
He gave her a cocky grin.
"I'll teach you how to fight, and if you wish, how to kill."
Hello everyone,
I hope that you all have been enjoying my story so far. I know i'm having lots of fun writing it, though i have been spending a little more time on my newest story, which will be somewhat of a short story, definitely not as big as this story may turn out to be if all goes to plan. Anyway i thought that i might just put something out there and respond to a few reviews that have been submitted.
setokayaba2n: Thanks for the review, but hold on and wait to see what happens. Though i want to thank you, i hand't thought of that but i can put something like that in somewhere a few chapters down the track. I'll be sure to make a special mention of you when i do.
Storybook thumb: You are right, partially, from my POV anyway. I believe that the Basilisk is the first indication that Harry is the so called 'chosen one' and i say 'chosen one' not because he was chosen by some higher power, but chosen between two people...though i guess that would make him the 'Selected one' instead of chosen...
Either way, i am also of the opinion that the basilisk is the turning point for those that understand the larger picture. Harry killing the beast, rescuing Ginny, someone that he'd barely knew at the time, destroying the horcrux. All of that together showed everyone that he had the power, and the drive to, at a minimum, weaken Voldemort's power base. Because that's what his immortality became, his base. His lowest levels of power. The power to come back even from a death like state.
NakedFury: i'll try to ensure i use proper language skills in the future. though how i consistently overlook it is annoying as poor spelling is oddly a pet peeve, one of many anyway. Though i do tend to agree with being original and that was the plan. Have harry vanish from England, raised somewhere else by people that have a whole new style of magic and powers. It was why Harry is the host of Loki, Gabriel and Erebus.
Silveranglefeather: i realized and fixed it all just for you!
kossboss: I know jumping from one place to another is horribly annoying, but there are parts of Harry's history that need to be brought up for things to make sense, like Harry's reaction to Daphne's statement on the train. That reaction plays a part in larger form further down the line, towards the end of his second year, start of his third.