DISCLAIMER: THIS IS MY FIRST HARRY POTTER FANFICTION THAT I HAVE EVER WRITTEN. I LOVE HARRY POTTER WITH MY LIFE. I WILL ACCEPT ANY SUGGESTIONS TO HELP WITH THIS STORY AND I DO MEAN ANY SUGGESTIONS, IT WILL HELP. I DO NOT OWN THE CHARACTERS IN THE STORY. ONLY THE GREAT J.K ROWLING DOES. I ONLY OWN THE OC: ABIGAIL.
ALSO IF YOU THINK THAT THERE SHOULD BE MORE IN THIS CHAPTER, PLEASE SEND A PM. THANK YOU AND HAPPY READING!
Me: (Sigh) I'm starting to stress out.
Lily: What's going on?
Me: I'm having issues with someone.
James: Want me to prank them for you?
Me, hope in my eyes: You would do for me, James?
Remus: Don't encourage him.
Me looking at Remus in anger: why not? it'll be fun.
Remus gives me a look.
Me: ugh fine but remember, you killed it for me to have some laughter today.
Lily: Good now on with the story.
September 2nd, Potter home, London
The next morning at breakfast, Hedwig flew in with a letter from Harry. "Mum, Hedwig's here." said Abigail as she went over to the snowy owl. She gave her some water and an owl treat as Lily was getting the letter from the owl's leg. "It's from Harry! He's written his first letter home!" she said excitedly.
"What does it say, Mum?" asked Abigail as their mother opened the letter.
They were excited that Harry had kept his promise to them about sending home a letter. Lily read it out loud.
Dear Mum, Dad, and Abby,
Hogwarts is brilliant! I got into Gryffindor like you did. Did mum and the girls cry when the train left the station? I hope Abby didn't cry too badly, mind you. Ron, Neville and I made a new friend on the train. Her name's Hermione Granger and she's a muggleborn just like you, mum. I'm looking forward to my classes and learn as much as I can from my teachers. I can't wait to hear from you soon. Tell Abby I said hi and that I miss her already. Love Harry.
"I'm so excited that Harry got into Gryffindor." said James as he dug into his eggs. Lily smiled at her husband, then said to him, "You really wanted him to be in Gryffindor, didn't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about Lily." said James, taking a sip of his coffee then winked at Abigail. Lily turned to her daughter. "There are some things about your father I hope that you didn't inherit, like avoiding questions." she said to them.
"Oi!" exclaimed James, setting down his cup.
"What? You know it's true." said Lily.
"Mum, do you think that we could write a letter to Harry today?" asked Abigail, taking a bite of cereal that was placed in front of her.
"That's a good idea, Abigail. But after your morning lessons." said Lily.
September 2nd, Hogwarts
On the way to the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry and his friends were getting low whispers around them. People were lining up outside classrooms, stood on their tiptoes to get a good look at him. Harry wished that they wouldn't because he was trying to concentrate on finding his way to his classes.
"How many staircases do you think there are here?" Neville asked one day.
"According to Hogwarts: A History, 142 in all." said Hermione. The ghosts at Hogwarts weren't a big help. Nearly Headless Nick was happy to point any new Gryffindors in the right direction and Peeves the Poltergeist was worth getting locked in a classroom if you were late to class. Even worse than Peeves, if that was ever possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Harry and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning. Filch found them trying to get through a door that was out of bounds. He didn't believe that they were lost and was sure that they were trying to get in there, until Professor Quirrell came and rescued them.
Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny dust colored creature with bulging lamp like eyes, just like her owner. For Harry, there was more to learn than just waving a wand and saying a few magic words. On Wednesday at midnight, they had to study through their telescopes and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they would go out to the green houses behind the castle to study Herbology with Professor Sprout.
History of Magic was easily boring in Harry's opinion. The class was taught by Professor Binns, who had been very old and fell asleep in front of the staffroom fire, left his body the next morning to teach his class. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, but somehow got Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up. Professor Flitwick, the charms teacher, was a tiny wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took roll call, and when he reached Harry's name, he squeaked and told Harry that his mother was on her way of being a charms mistress before going into hiding.
Professor McGonagall was different again. Harry had been quite right to think she wasn't the kind of teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down. "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts." she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all impressed by what she did and couldn't wait to get started but were told that they weren't going to be changing furniture into animals for quite a long time. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione was able to change her match into a needle. "Good job Hermione." said Harry and Hermione gave him a shy smile.
Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile. The class everyone had been looking forward to was Defense against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons had turned out to be a joke. his classroom strongly smelled of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire that he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, was a gift from an African prince as a thank you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie but they weren't so sure if they believed the story.
Harry felt relieved that he wasn't far behind from everyone due to his upbringing with his sisters. Lots of people had come from muggle families; like him and his sisters, hadn't realized that they were witches and wizards either. There was so much to learn that even Ron hadn't had much of a head start. Friday was a very important day for Harry and his friends. They made it to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once. "What do we have today?" Harry asked as Ron sat on one side of him and Hermione sat on the other. Neville sat across from him. "Double Potions with the Slytherins." said Ron. "Snape's head of Slytherin house. They say he always favors them-we'll be able to see if it's true."
"Wished McGonagall favored us." said Harry. Both Hermione and Neville nodded in agreement. Professor McGonagall is head of Gryffindor house, but hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before. Just then the mail arrived and Hedwig had gotten in front of him with a couple of letters.
"Hmm, I wonder what's going on at home." said Harry as he opened the first letter.
Dear Harry,
Congratulations on getting into Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud of you. Your sisters and I cried for a bit, but we're fine. Abby wants to know what Hogwarts is like so make sure that you write her a separate letter the next time you write home. I'm so glad that you made a new friend and I can't wait to meet her. Hope that you are working hard in your classes and having a little fun. Remember, if something's bothering you, you can always write home to tell us. We love you no matter what. Write home soon and we'll see you at Christmas.
Love Mum, Dad and Abigail
Harry smiled at the letter and places the letter from home in his bag. "Something good?" asked Neville.
"Yeah. My mum can't wait to meet Hermione though." said Harry, placing some eggs, hash browns and a sausage on his plate.
"I'm looking forward to meeting her too, Harry." said Hermione. Harry reads the note from Hagrid, asking him to have tea with him on Friday and sends a reply with Hedwig. The group grabbed their bags and left the Great Hall. Potion lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle and was quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.
Snape, unlike Flitwick, started the class by taking the register, and like Flitwick had done, he paused at Harry's name. "Ah yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new…celebrity."
Malfoy and his friends, Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names on the register and looked up at the class. "There will be no foolish wand waving in this class. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of potion making. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even stopper death." he said to them, with his black eyes looking around the room. Silence followed his little speech. Harry and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows while Hermione was on the edge of her seat, waiting to prove that she wasn't a dunderhead.
"Potter!" Snape said suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Harry was confused at the question as Hermione's hand shot into the air.
"I don't know sir." said Harry. Snape's lips curled into a sneer. "Tut, tut…clearly fame isn't everything, isn't it Mr. Potter?" He ignored Hermione's hand that was still in the air.
"Let's try this again, Mr. Potter. Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" he asked.
"In the stomach of a goat, sir." Harry replied and Hermione places down her hand. Snape was shocked at what he had heard. "Answer me this Potter, what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Snape asked.
"They come from the same plant, sir. Also known as aconite." replied Harry. Snape glared at the boy, wondering why he didn't have the answer to his first question. "Sit down!" he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood makes a powerful sleeping potion known as the Draught of Living Death. Well, why aren't you writing this all down?" He then looks around the classroom to see that everyone rummaging through their bags for quills and parchment.
Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape had them in pairs and set them up to make a potion to cure boils. He swept over the classroom, watching them weighing and measuring out the ingredients, criticizing everyone but Malfoy on their potion. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus' cauldron into a twisted blob and the potion was seeping across the floor, burning holes in people's shoes.
Seconds later, Neville collapsed in pain due to having red angry boils all over his arms and legs from being drenched in the potion. "Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the mucked up potion with the wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?" Neville whimpered in pain as boils started to pop up all over his nose.
"Take him to the hospital wing." Snape spat to Seamus, then he rounded onto Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville. "You…Potter…why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's a point taken from Gryffindor." he said to him.
"Professor, I didn't…" Harry started to say, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron.
"Don't push it." he muttered. "I've heard that Snape can turn pretty nasty." As they climbed the steps out of the dungeons an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low. "I think I'll write a letter home, asking my mom if she or dad knew Professor Snape." said Harry, wondering why Snape hate him so much. "I think that's a good idea Harry." said Hermione.
"Besides, Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. Do you think we can come meet Hagrid with you?" said Ron. At five to three, they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the Forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door. When Harry knocked, they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. They then heard Hagrid's voice ring out, saying, "Back Fang…Back."
Hagrid's big hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door opened. "Hang on." he said. "Back Fang." he let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound. "Make yourselves at home." said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.
"This is Ron and Hermione." said Harry as he introduced them to Hagrid.
"Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. "I spent half me life chasing yer twin brothers away from the forest." He then turns to Hermione.
"It's very nice to meet you, Hermione." he tells her, before sitting down. The rock cakes that were offered almost broke their teeth, but Harry, Ron and Hermione told Hagrid about their first lessons. Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes. Harry and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch 'that old git'. "An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her…Filch puts her up to it."
Harry then starts telling Hagrid about Snape's lesson but like Ron, Hagrid told him not to worry about it. "But he seemed to really hate me." said Harry.
"Rubbish." said Hagrid.
"Why should he?" Harry couldn't help but to think that Hagrid didn't quite meet his eyes of Snape. "How's your brother, Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron, changing the subject. "I liked him a lot…great with animals." Harry and Hermione looked at one another, wondering why he changed the subject on purpose. While Ron was telling Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry spotted a clipping from the daily prophet.
"What do you have there, Harry?" asked Hermione.
"There was a break-in at Gringotts on my birthday. I wonder if Mum and Dad know about this." said Harry. As the three of them walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes, they were polite to refuse, Harry thought that none of the lessons he'd had so far had given him as much to think about as tea with Hagrid. What was the package that Hagrid had to pick up on his birthday from Gringotts? Where was it now? Does Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry?