Disclaimer: Only the premise of this story belongs to me – the whole HP universe most obviously belongs to JK Rowling. I just like taking it all out to play with for a little while :-) - ES
Chapter 29
Harry's second day went just as well, or maybe even better than his first. He had formed a friendship with Padma Patil, after they were paired up in Transfiguration for their first lesson. He was actually pretty good at Transfiguration, surprising him and his partner as he was one of only two students who were able to change their matchstick into a needle (the other was Hermione, which didn't surprise him at all). Professor McGonagall showed him a rare smile after seeing his accomplishment and rewarding Slytherin house with 5 points. She commented to him after the class had ended that his father was also good in the subject and would be proud of him, which made Harry smile back.
History of Magic was quite boring as the teacher Mr. Binns droned on about goblin rebellions. The only good thing about the class was that he shared it with the Hufflepuffs and was able to talk with Susan and meet her friends, Hannah Abbott and Ernie MacMillan. They enjoyed their class time together uninterrupted, as the ghostly teacher didn't appear to notice that no one was paying him the slightest attention. Harry figured he'd just study on his own for that one, as the teacher didn't even assign homework, or appear to notice the students being bored to death as he rambled on.
Charms was bearable because he was paired with Neville. Of course, Ron had to start bad-mouthing Neville and Harry as soon as he saw this. Professor Flitwick heard and brought Ron up to the front of the class to demonstrate the first charm – the Levitation charm. After failing miserably on the pronunciation (weren't you listening, Mr. Weasley? was Flitwick's question at seeing him unable to successfully perform the charm) and not moving his feather at all, Neville was called up to demonstrate. Although nervous, Neville got his feather to rise a few feet and earned 5 points for Gryffindor. After that, Flitwick moved Ron Weasley to the other side of the class so that Harry and Neville didn't have to hear his jealous sniping them, telling him he would be speaking to Professor McGonagall about his disgraceful behavior. Professor Flitwick pulled him aside as their first Charms class ended, and asked to speak to him. Harry looked over at Draco, who nodded that he would wait for him. Harry turned back to the professor and looked at him questioningly.
"Ah, Mr. Potter, I know you are wondering why I asked you to stay." seeing Harry's nod, he continued, "I wanted to speak to you about your mother. You see, I had Lily Potter, or rather Lily Evans as she was known then, as my student when she attended Hogwarts, and she was quite remarkable at Charms."
"Yes sir, I read that she was practically a Charms Mistress with her skill at them."
"Quite," replied Flitwick, while wondering at the statement that he had read about her. 'Did no one talk to the poor boy about his parents?' he thought. "Well, she worked with me on some improvements in Charms and was about to submit them before her tragic end." said Flitwick, wiping his eyes slightly at the thought of his favorite student dying. "Anyway, I asked you to stay because I have some of her old projects and papers if you would like them. I thought that you might like to have something that she worked on..." Flitwick trailed off, hoping he hadn't upset Harry.
"Thank you, sir. I would love to see them. I'm glad you kept them safe. As you may know, I don't have very much from my parents, so this would be great!" said Harry eagerly.
"Okay, then I'll bring some things down to your common room after dinner tonight, as I'm pretty sure you have free periods for the rest of the day." At Harry's nod, he said, "Alright, let's get to dinner then!" said Flitwick, escorting Harry to the door where Draco Malfoy was waiting for him.
That first month seemed to just fly for Harry after his first two of days. He had made a few more friends in all houses and they all seemed to get along. It was not an uncommon sight to see first-years from all four houses sharing a table at the library, exchanging opinions and help on the subjects that they all studied and a few that they didn't. While some of the others were a little nervous to see Harry arrive that for their first study session with 3 other Slytherins, their minds were put to ease as they got to know each other and realized that they were all just first-years trying to do their best in a new school. Their group, which now consisted of Harry, Draco, Blaise Zabini, and Daphne Greengrass of Slytherin, Neville, Dean Thomas and Parvati Patil of Gryffindor, Susan, Hannah Abbott and Ernie MacMillan of Hufflepuff, and Hermione, Padma Patil and Terry Boot of Ravenclaw, had practically claimed one of the tables in the back of the library as their own. Although they all didn't have the same free periods during the week, they all still used that specific table when they did. On weekends they all got together for a few hours to either go over homework that any of them had had some trouble with or discuss other magic that they were not yet studying.
It was during the second one of these weekend sessions that they started discussing the upcoming flying lessons. Hermione and Neville were both nervous, but the others assured them that they would do fine. They would be paired up, Gryffindor with Slytherin and Hufflepuff with Ravenclaw for the lessons so Harry and Draco assured Neville they'd help him out while Terry and Susan said the same to Hermione. When Hermione asked about Harry's confidence though he had no experience, he explained that his father was a chaser for the Gryffindor team, so he was hopeful that he inherited 'good flying genes'. This was greeted by chuckles from the rest of the table which Harry received with a smile and chuckle of his own.
The morning of their upcoming flying lessons both Harry and Draco were excited, as were most of their fellow first-years, although both Neville still looked a little green at the prospect. As they ate breakfast, Harry looked over at Neville to give him a thumbs up and a smile of encouragement. Neville tried to return it, but his smile looked more like a grimace. He was distracted in a moment though, as a regal-looking eagle owl brought a package to him at the table. Neville opened it and revealed a ball about the size of an over-large marble that appeared filled with gray smoke. As he held it, the smoke turned red. Harry noticed and hoping to avoid what had happened in his previous life, nudged Draco, asking what it was.
"That's a Remembrall, Harry. When the smoke turns red, like it has in Neville's hand right now, it means you've forgotten something. Problem is, it doesn't tell you what you might of forgotten, so the owner is only reminded of the fact that they've forgotten something but not what. And let's face it, we all forget things, so it's not really useful except to embarrass the owner." Draco remarked as he looked over to see Ron pointing and laughing at Neville who appeared to be deep in thought about what he might have forgotten. The other first-years, not to mention some of the upper-years, at the Gryffindor table were giving Ron dark looks, they evidently didn't like his attitude towards one of their own.
They proceeded through their classes that day, looking forward to the flying class that would take place in the afternoon with the Gryffindors. The Slytherin first-years all rushed to put their bags away in the dorms and walked fast down to the pitch where their flying lessons were to be held. As they arrived, they could see their flying instructor, Madame Hooch, laying out brooms out on the ground at six foot intervals in two rows about twelve feet apart. The Slytherins lined up next to one row and waited for the rest of their classmates to join them.
The Gryffindors came out with Ron telling stories in a loud voice about how he had been flying for years and he was sure that he could fly rings around everyone with all his experience. The other Gryffs looked peeved at this boastfulness, but lined up next to the other row of brooms with little noise. Neville still looked nervous, but lined up so he was across from Harry and Draco, with Dean Thomas on one side and Seamus Finnigan on the other, so he didn't have to be any nearer to Ron's bragging.
Once they had finished lining up, Madame Hooch walked between the two rows making sure that everyone was near a broom. She instructed them on how to get their brooms to jump into their hands. Harry and Draco both had their brooms in the hand after the first try, while Neville's broom flew into his hand after the third time he said the command. They then all positioned themselves on their brooms and Madame Hooch walked between them correcting their positioning. Once they were all ready, Hooch instructed them to hover a few feet above the ground and ran them through some short drills. Harry and Draco had no problems with this, but Neville was gripping the broom so hard his knuckles were white. He managed to go through the drills, but had trouble dismounting his broom. He ended up almost rolling off of it and, as he did, his Remembrall fell out of his pocket.
Ron saw this and laughed while he went to grab it. Unfortunately, Hooch was putting the brooms away and didn't see. Neville demanded it back, but Ron, already being taller than him, held it out of his reach. At this moment, Harry stepped forward and demanded that the red-headed twit hand the Remembrall back over to Neville.
"What's it to you, Slytherin? Why do you care what I do to this squib's toy?" sneered Ron.
"Well, Neville is my friend, and friends stick together. Besides, Neville is obviously not a squib, since he got into Hogwarts." Harry bit out, while trying to contain the insults he wanted to add. 'How did I never see that he was such a jerk before?' thought Harry.
At this moment, Madam Hooch returned and took in the situation. She asked what was happening and the Gryffindor girls explained that Ron had taken Neville's Remembrall. She turned a stern eye on Ron and told him to return it, which he did, all the while muttering bad-naturedly under his breath about slimy snakes and their stupid squib friends. Neville walked back into the castle with Dean, Harry and their other friends, Remembrall securely tucked into his pocket.
As they walked in, though, it seemed that the other Gryffindor students had taken offense to Ron's behavior.
"Hey Ron, why are you talking bad about Neville? He's supposed to be your house-mate and you know that McGonagall would be upset if she got another bad report about you." said Parvati.
"Yeah, and you shouldn't be talking about the other houses like that. We should be able to make friends regardless of house. Or maybe you're too close-minded to do that?" Lavendar chimed in.
Ron was berated in this fashion until they reached the tables in the Great Hall, but continued grumbling and not making any real response. He sat far away from Neville with his back to the Slytherin table, while the others made small talk during dinner. It seemed to Harry that he had already made some changes, and he was happy with the way the other students had reacted. 'Maybe inter-house unity is possible.' thought Harry, as he turned back to his dinner.
