Hi everybody, I finally got the next chapter ready. Enjoy.
New Sport
Harry was on the way to the hospital wing with Justin. Professor Sprout had called all those children that were muggleborn or raised in the muggle world together and told them that they needed to get some shots against magical diseases. They didn't mind much, as they knew from the muggle world that there were some diseases that had killed many people in the past until the vaccination had been invented. That had prevented many deaths. It was somewhat logical that similar things were done in the wizarding world. The ones that Professor Sprout had mentioned were spattergroit, dragon pox and vanishing sickness. Each year the heads of houses informed the children that the shots were given for certain ages.
For the first-years she always already knew which children had got the shots by a healer before, as she always sent a letter to the parents or guardians of the child to inform them about their sorting and to introduce herself as the contact if they had questions or wanted to discuss something about their child. So while she had given the informational speech to all new Hufflepuff first-years one evening, there were only Justin and Harry who didn't get the shots before. It was three weeks into the school year now and they were used to their new schedules. And with the massive support that the Hufflepuffs gave each other, they didn't have as much pressure on them as other students in Gryffindor or Ravenclaw had told them about.
Neville and Hermione for example had told Harry one day how there were many others that looked down on them or made fun of them because they liked to learn or were clumsy and shy. Ron Weasley in the lead among the first-years. It was something that if it went out of hand in Hufflepuff would immediately be dealt by one of the prefects. Nobody was allowed to get away with bullying in their house. They took the rule that your house was your family to heart. Sure, there were arguments among students, but normally, after the first anger had gone, the ones involved sat down and talked about the problem and at least always reached a truce. Mostly misunderstandings and stress played a large role in harsh arguments.
The two reached the hospital wing and were soon seen to by Madam Pomfrey.
"Ah, yes, Mr's Potter and Finch-Fletchley. Professor Sprout already informed me that you would be coming around for your shots today. Mr Potter, in your case I'll need to do a diagnostic spell to find out what kind of shots you might already have got, as your guardians, your aunt and uncle, didn't reply to the letter Professor Sprout sent them to ask about that. Mr Finch-Fletchley, your parents sent me a copy of your medical records from your muggle healer, so I'm informed about your status," Madam Pomfrey told them.
Harry realised that he should perhaps inform Professor Sprout about the issue with the Dursleys not being his real guardians. As far as he could tell, she wasn't happy with a lot of things that the headmaster did. Her club where she taught students about ingredient preparation for potions to not fail because Professor Snape never covered this part showed it. She was doing what she could to help her students out, but it wasn't always enough.
Then both boys were told to sit on chairs. Justin was done first, as his shots were the only thing needed to do. The diagnostic charm was just a pro-forma thing to ensure that nothing had already been caught during the time at Hogwarts. Then Harry was next. Madam Pomfrey performed the diagnostic charm on him and looked startled. Then she seemed to ponder something.
"Mr Finch-Fletchley, you may go back to your common room already, I'll send Mr Potter later when I'm done. I need to look something up concerning one result I got, as it is a rare thing, but nothing dangerous. I just want to double check which potion I need for the shots," Madam Pomfrey said, making Justin nod and tell Harry that he would see him later.
When Justin was gone, Madam Pomfrey turned to Harry.
"Alright, I think we should talk openly, Mr Potter. You can be assured that anything spoken between us falls under the healer's oath of secrecy," Pomfrey told him.
"Okay, I guess you found something that doesn't meet the expectations you had?" Harry guessed.
"Indeed. You've not only got the normal muggle shots like Mr Finch-Fletchley, but also several shots against magical diseases. The only thing necessary is a refreshment for the vanishing sickness. I wonder how this can be," she stated.
"You said you wouldn't tell anybody what I tell you?" Harry asked to be sure.
"Indeed, the exception would be if you were in mortal danger if I kept my silence," Madam Pomfrey said.
Harry nodded, that made sense to him.
"Well, I don't really live with my aunt and uncle. I haven't lived with them for more than three weeks a year since I was eight years old and the squib woman in the neighbourhood that was asked to have an eye on me for Professor Dumbledore informed me and my true guardians how long I needed to stay in the house each year to keep the protection around it up and working. My homeroom teacher at primary school was a muggleborn wizard, Keith Brackwood. He saw that I wasn't treated well by my aunt and uncle and interfered. He first helped me that I got the second bedroom that Dudley, my cousin, used as a place where he could drop his broken or unwanted toys. Before that I had to sleep in the cupboard under the stairs. The Dursleys don't like magic at all and called me boy or freak all the time. Keith placed a notice-me-not charm on me when I was six and he realised how bad things were.
"As he thought that I had been left there for a reason, he first did what he could to help me from afar. He took care of getting me clothes, toys and books and made sure that I got enough to eat. Over time he became like a surrogate father to me. But as we knew that nobody would allow a muggleborn wizard to adopt the Boy-Who-Lived, we didn't ask for official adoption, even if the Dursleys would have happily signed me over without blinking. Later on Keith's girlfriend, whom he by now married took the position of a mother figure that I didn't have until then. Aunt Petunia certainly isn't one for me. Keith and Jessica taught me all I needed to know about the wizarding world and thanks to Mrs Figg, the squib neighbour, telling Professor Dumbledore when we would go on vacation so that he wouldn't worry if I left the wards for longer than a certain period, I got to have a great childhood from then on.
"Jessica also first took me to a friend of hers who works as a healer for St. Mungo's to get me a magical check-up when I was seven. Since then I've been having one per year, but at her friend's home to not alert anybody to my knowledge of the wizarding world. We didn't want to call people onto the fact that I knew about magic and get into trouble. From what Mrs Figg told Keith, Professor Dumbledore wanted to avoid that I got a big head from the fame I have and therefore wanted me to grow up in the muggle world. As if being ignorant wouldn't have been more dangerous than that. Not to mention that my so-called relatives wouldn't care for me, despite Aunt Petunia being Mum's sister," Harry scoffed.
"I see and you don't want anybody to know about this arrangement," Madam Pomfrey stated.
"Yes, Keith and Jessica are like my parents and I want to stay with them, no matter what other people think," Harry said fiercely. "I'm also going to be a big brother for their child, which will be born sometime around February next year. I finally have a real family and I don't want to lose it."
"I don't see anything wrong with that, Mr Potter. They are certainly taking good care of you. I won't tell the headmaster or anybody else, but I suggest that you inform Professor Sprout so that she gets the information who to contact in case she needs to speak to your guardians, "Madam Pomfrey said.
"Okay, I'll do that," Harry promised.
Madam Pomfrey then gave him the potion to refresh the vaccination against vanishing sickness and let him go. Secretly she was very pleased that the boy had a good home. After what Minerva had told her about the muggles Harry was left with, she had been worried what she would find.
Keith and Jessica looked over a catalogue with furniture for a nursery. They were currently discussing what kind of things they wanted to get for their baby. They looked up when they heard a bird enter through the open window.
"Oh, hello Hedwig. I see you have a new letter from Harry," Jessica greeted the snowy owl.
She hooted and held out her leg to let them take the letter.
"If you can wait for a moment, I'll get you some owl treats. We didn't really expect a new letter already," Keith said.
Hedwig in response hopped onto the perch she had in the kitchen to take a bit of water while she waited. Jessica read over the letter.
"It seems that Madam Pomfrey and Professor Sprout now know about us taking care of Harry. It was found out during the routing check for vaccinations of magical illnesses," Jessica told Keith.
"Ah, yes, we didn't think of that. Professor Sprout always makes sure that her students have all the necessary vaccinations at the beginning of the year and would have tried writing to Harry's guardians to find out which ones he had got. With the Dursleys not being able to reply, not that I think they would have done it even if Harry was still truly living with them, she would go with the default route and let Madam Pomfrey do a complete diagnosis," Keith admitted having overlooked that part.
"Well, at least nothing else happened. Here, you can read the letter for yourself," Jessica said and handed Keith the letter.
Dear Keith and Jessica,
Things are going well here at Hogwarts. I'm doing well in all my classes, well, acceptably in Potions to be honest, but with the teacher hating me I guess that's the best I can get for now. Thanks to the older Hufflepuffs telling us to use earplugs in History of Magic and to read the book I'm getting the work done there. The subject is actually quite fascinating I've found. You just have to read up on more than goblin rebellions. I especially like the true story of Camelot and Merlin. The ones that is known in the muggle world is completely different except for the main actors. Though reading up about wizarding inventors also keeps you interested in the book. I wonder why there aren't more inventions being made these days. I looked up which ones were made during the past fifty years and there are perhaps a dozen compared to there being over twenty each year during the eighteenth century for example. I think that's a real shame.
Next to that Professor Sprout informed all of the first-year Hufflepuffs that we needed to get certain vaccinations for magical diseases if we didn't get them already. For that reason she contacted all our parents and guardians. As the Dursleys, who sadly are still my official guardians, wouldn't answer such a letter, I was sent to Madam Pomfrey to let her do a full diagnosis to find which shots I needed to get. She was really surprised to find out that I only needed a refreshment for the vanishing sickness, as Jill had already done the others during my yearly appointment. She confronted me about the situation, as she needed to make sure that I wasn't doing something dangerous, like getting them from an unqualified source. She was very understanding when I told her why I didn't tell anybody who my true guardians are. She also said that with her healer's oath she wouldn't tell the headmaster, as it wasn't anything that could endanger my life. Though she advised that I should tell Professor Sprout so she could contact you in case she needed to do that.
So I did that and Professor Sprout also promised to keep the secret. I think she was relieved to have a proper contact for me. She also already gave me permission to come and see my little sibling once you give birth, Jessica. It's so great! I can't wait to be a big brother.
For the next weekend I've agreed to play football with some others. A boy from Gryffindor, Dean Thomas, is a great football fan and bemoaned in Herbology that there wasn't a football club at Hogwarts. I suggested to simply assemble a number of kids who would like to play and it spiralled from there. We already have about sixteen players together by now and perhaps we can get two complete teams till the weekend. We've put up flyers on the notice boards in our common rooms and Dean convinced a Ravenclaw to put it on theirs. It think it will be fun. Hagrid already agreed to let us play on the field next to his hut. I'm really looking forward to it. Just studying and playing inside does get boring after a while.
I'll write again soon,
Love Harry
Keith smiled at Harry's enthusiasm. He agreed that having some friends to play football with would be good for him. And perhaps they could convert some more open-minded wizard raised kids to it being a great game. After all, only seven students could play on the house Quidditch team plus perhaps a few reserves. Nowhere near enough to let a good number of students get rid of too much energy.
The football game had become really well-attended. Overall twenty students in first to third year had come to play. That meant they had two teams of ten, which was nearly as much as a normal team. Hermione, while she didn't like playing all that much, knew all the rules and had offered to be their referee, which was taken in with cheers. The captains of the teams were chosen to be Dean and Harry and after drawing sticks to see who could choose the first teammate, they put together their teams. Once that was done, Hermione went over the most important rules of the game for all the wizard-raised kids, mainly that you were forbidden to use your hands and if the ball left the field, the other team got it. They decided to forego special rules like being offside. For now the rest was already enough to keep in mind.
Hermione explained that they would use the basic set of rules and play two halves of twenty five minutes. She explained changing the sides of the field after the first half, and that there would be a break of ten minutes between the halves so that the players could rest a little. Then she started the match and after the first awkward beginning, even those that hadn't played before got the gist of things and had a lot of fun trying to get the ball into the opposite goal. There were few fouls that Hermione had to call out, as the rule that you were only allowed to hit the ball and not the other player had been understood. It would have to be seen if that held in following matches.
When Hermione whistled for the break, the teams had both managed to score one goal. And the wizard-raised children felt how exhausting the game was, but it was also a lot of fun. They listened to the stories of the muggle-raised kids how popular the sport was in the muggle world and when the break was over, they enthusiastically continued the game. In the end Dean's team shot the winning goal just before the end of the game. Harry was a good loser and congratulated Dean, promising that next time his team would win. After the success of having set up the game, many wanted to do this again. This had been the most fun most of them had had since the school year started.
Harry sat on the chair next to Neville's bed in the hospital wing. He had heard about the accident that had happened in flying class and wanted to visit the shy boy, whom he considered one of his friends. Though Neville's broom acting out and flying off with him, only for him to fall down and breaking his wrist wasn't the only thing that was talked about. Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy had managed to get themselves into detention with Professor McGonagall, not only for flying without Madam Hooch being there, but Malfoy also breaking Neville's remembrall while mocking Weasley.
It had led to not only Slytherin losing twenty five points for the incident, Malfoy had detention for a week. Weasley had shouted really bad insults at Malfoy, and while the blond ponce might have deserved some, Professor McGonagall, who had heard them, wouldn't let that kind of behaviour stand. So he had two days of detention and lost ten points. Thanks to the other Gryffindors, especially Hermione, being able to tell the head of Gryffindor the full story, there was no way that Malfoy could weasel his way out of that punishment.
Neville was understandably downtrodden about losing the remembrall, even if Professor McGonagall has assured him that Malfoy would have to pay for a replacement. Not to mention that he was really scared to try again to fly on a broom.
"Come on Neville, don't let one bad experience sour flying for you at all. It's great. Perhaps all you need is to start with a proper broom that won't fly high even if you want it to. I heard older students in Hufflepuff say that the school brooms were too risky to use, but the school doesn't have the money to replace them. Some told me that they always flew off course. If yours behaved like that, it definitely looks as if it was damaged and it wasn't your fault," Harry said.
"I'm just useless at all the practical things, Harry. Look at my spell casting. I never get a spell right. No matter if it is in Charms or Transfiguration. And Potions is a disaster for me. Professor Snape makes me really nervous. I can't do anything right," Neville said depressed.
"Don't think that way. You only need some confidence. And you're not the only one Snape treats badly, he absolutely hates me for some reason that I don't get. I haven't done anything to him and always prepare extra-long for his classes. It still isn't enough to get the marks I should get from him. Just read up on the things that are going to be covered in the next two lessons in your book. That already helps a lot. I always use a red pen to underline important steps. That helps me remembering what to look out for in a recipe. From what I heard Hermione is really good in that class, so perhaps you could spend some time with her, working on this so you don't have to be as afraid as you are now," Harry suggested.
"Perhaps, but that still doesn't help with my casting. Nor even Dad's wand seems to help. I'm just a bad wizard," Neville sighed.
"Your Dad's wand? Didn't you get your own one? I mean Ollivander gave me a speech about the wand choosing the wizard. If your Dad's wand didn't do that, you wouldn't get proper results. You only get the best results with your own wand. I didn't really understand that at first, but when I once took Susan's wand accidentally, it worked a lot worse for me than mine. The same was true for hers. We didn't notice immediately as both our wands are made from holly and look similar," Harry informed Neville.
"It really is such a difference?" Neville asked surprised.
"Yes. The difference between our wands is the core. Hers has a unicorn hair in it and mine a phoenix feather," Harry confirmed. "Perhaps you could ask Professor McGonagall if you could go to Diagon Alley on a Saturday morning to buy your own wand. It doesn't make sense after all that you wouldn't be able to perform to your best just because your wand doesn't like you."
"I'll think about it, Harry. Thank you," Neville said with a small smile.
"No problem, that's what friends are for. You could also come to our next football match. It's a lot of fun and we are always happy about more players. Or spectators that cheer the teams on if you first want to watch and get an idea how to play," Harry offered.
"Sounds nice. I'll at least come to watch. I have no idea of the game and I don't feel well simply playing like that," Neville then said.
Harry nodded and smiled at his friend.
It was the end of September now and the teachers had assembled for the monthly staff meeting. First on the agenda were the reports of the four heads of houses how the students had found back into school and how the first-years were coming along.
"Alright, we all know the procedure. Which one of the heads of houses wants to begin?" Dumbledore asked.
"I'll start," Flitwick said. "My eagles are finding back well and the new first-years are doing well in their classes. I find that I have less tensions among the first-years than in previous years and I think it has something to do with the meetings of the younger years for that muggle game football that Mr Potter and Mr Thomas have started. I don't know how many of my eagles are attending, but I think at least two of the first-years play and some others go with them to watch and learn more about the sport. The prefects informed me that they overheard some discussions and comparisons between football and Quidditch and which one was more interesting. There were the usual complaints about Cuthbert's teaching inability and Severus' bias."
Snape snorted. As if he could care of the little dunderheads didn't like his way of teaching. He hadn't chosen to come here and teach snot-nosed brats Potions. He had wanted the Defence job, but the headmaster had refused it to him each year anew.
"The snakes are behaving like it is to be expected. They have more or less got the picking order down and the older ones have informed the younger ones what I expect of my Slytherins. None of them would attend a silly muggle game," Snape said condescendingly.
"Now, now, just because your students are too uptight and play politics even from the time they're children, doesn't mean that the game is silly. My badgers really like it and more and more of them are going to the meetings. I think they'll soon have enough players to form more teams. The atmosphere in Hufflepuff is very relaxed and the new students have found into life at Hogwarts well. I had the ones that didn't have all the vaccinations necessary for their age see Poppy, so they are all safe from illnesses from that side. I also got the letters to all the guardians out that didn't know about me being the head of their child's house and gave a basic introduction with contact information in case they want to arrange an appointment or simply know how their child is doing at school," Sprout gave her basic report.
"My lions are doing as well as can be expected, even if I have some trouble with the newest Weasley. He simply can't keep his mouth shut in situations and has run afoul some other students. I think I also need to have a serious discussion about table manners with him, as I've had four complaints about his eating habits already. I don't understand why though, as none of his older siblings ever showed that kind of behaviour and the twins can be terrors as you know." Many nodded at that. "Well, the class work of a lot of them could be better, but I have two that are doing quite well. Getting Mr Longbottom a proper wand has helped him a lot in class and I think he has taken to studying with Miss Granger, which is also good for her, as she didn't seem to have found into the group really well. Though I have heard that she's accepted being the referee for those football games as she knows the rules perfectly."
"I see. Well, the games seem to be a positive aspect for the school, so I see no reason to interfere. Hagrid also told me that the children don't cause any trouble and he has an eye on the matches, as they're using the field next to his hut. He's actually very happy, as he gets to know a lot of the students this way," Dumbledore chuckled.
Many of the teachers smiled fondly at that. Hagrid really was a nice man and he would be a good person for the children to know. Even if they would have to make sure that he didn't show them his 'interesting' beasties.
The next topic were the OWL and NEWT classes and certain students that needed to be reminded to do more work to pass. There were some in every year. Madam Hooch asked if there was any way to get a few replacement brooms, as the accident with Neville Longbottom had shown how dangerous the old ones were. The result was the same as ever, too little money to get new ones. They continued with the third years and how they were dealing with the new classes, before discussing individual students that stood out either positively or negatively.
Keith and Jessica looked at the new letter from Harry. It wasn't as light in tone as the former ones.
Dear Keith and Jessica,
Do you have any good advice how to get an idiot to not insult everybody around that he doesn't like? I honestly am close to punching both Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy now. The former has taken badly to me telling him clearly that I don't want to have anything to do with him, because firstly he was a bully, he has said some really mean things to Neville and Hermione and mocked us Hufflepuffs in general when he tried, again, to get me to ditch my friends, and secondly I couldn't stand his manners at all. He actually makes me sick if I have to watch him at mealtimes. I know Lavender brown and Parvati Patil have already complained with Professor McGonagall, as Hermione told me during a study session for Defence in the library. It's simply easier to do self-study because Professor Quirrell stutters so much.
The latter calls all muggleborns that he comes across mudbloods and sprouts off that pureblood supremacy nonsense. He doesn't take well to me taking his arguments apart by the way. If Snape didn't like him so much and not punish him for anything, no matter how many witnesses to his fault there are, things would be a lot better. But the git is getting away with nearly everything as long as no other teacher is close by. He really didn't like that he had to clean with Mr Filch for a week over the stealing of Neville's remembrall and flying without permission from Madam Hooch while she took Neville to the hospital wing to get his hand treated.
We had hoped that the incident would lead to at least getting the worst school brooms replaced, but no, there isn't enough money for that. I have trouble believing that. Hogwarts costs too much money for that to really be true, or they're wasting money in other areas that I don't know about. After all, they don't have to pay for cleaning, keeping the castle warm, several kinds of Potions ingredients and some food supplies. The house elves do all the chores around the castle after all and many things are grown in the greenhouses or can be brought in from the forest. I know that Hagrid supplies Professor Snape with a good number of parts from unicorns that live in the forest. He told us a bit about the creatures in the forest after a football game. I would really like to see a unicorn or a hippogriff. They sound really cool. I think in third year I'm going to take Care of Magical Creatures as an Elective.
Back to the two bullies. We tried talking to Professor Sprout, but with Snape denying all accusations against Malfoy as long as no other teacher as seen it, he says that we're simply discriminating against them Slytherins because of the house's bad reputation because of Voldemort having once been a student in there, the headmaster won't overrule his ruling of things. I wish I could prove that we're telling the truth. That would at least get the git the punishments he deserves.
On the positive side Neville's new wand is working loads better than his old one and Hermione is helping him to catch up. It's really good we found the problem out this early on. I don't want to imagine what problems he would have had using magic if it had continued. And he already has issues believing he isn't a good wizard. His Gran is really too hard on him.
I hope you know something to deal with the idiots, because my patience is really running thin.
Love Harry
And cut. Till next time.
