Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to J.K. Rowling and/or their otherwise respective owners.

Author's Notes: Hello, everyone! Hope you all are safe and well (especially those of you who were in Hurricane Hanna's path!). Once again, there's not much to say about today's chapter other than that I hope you enjoy it. Although, that being said, I will say that we don't have a whole lot of more chapters to go until the next major time skip – in fact, I think the next time skip will occur between chapters 20 and 21, or somewhere around there. That'll probably be where some of the angst picks up again as well, both because of the Triwizard Tournament and because of reasons that will be explained. :)

Next chapter will be posted on Wednesday, as planned. So, until then, I hope that you all remain safe and well. :)

Sincerely,

~TGWSI/Selene Borealis

~The Chronicles of Mabon~

~Harry Potter & the Secret of Life~

~Chapter 16: The New Normal~

Monday, 12 September 1994
Hogwarts, Scotland, Great Britain

Harry sighed as he walked into the Great Hall that morning, ignoring the ogling stares and glares directed his way from his fellow classmates. He also ignored the concerned looks of Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, and even Professor Pritchard as he sat down at his usual spot at the Gryffindor table, and ignored the fact that Hermione was nowhere to be found as he helped himself to the eggs, toast, rashers, and bangers nearby.

In the days that had followed his meeting with his bonded – he had given up on calling them his "betrothed" a few days ago – and their families, Harry had been forced to settle into what Dumbledore had apparently called the "new normal" of daily life at Hogwarts. He had been forced to get used to the fact that, wherever he went, all of his classmates stopped to either stare, glare, and/or whisper about him, both because of his lightning-shaped scars that they could now see, because of the fact that everyone was seemingly friends with at least one of his bonded, and because of the rather scathing article about the whole thing that Rita Skeeter had published in The Daily Prophet the previous Friday. Personally, Harry hadn't read the article, as he didn't want to read any slanderous words about him, his bonded, or his parents, but he knew that it must have been bad by the way that Ron had angrily crumpled up the copy of the newspaper that Neville had given him as soon as he had read the blasted thing.

However, the stares, glares, and whispers – as well as having constantly seen his name in The Daily Prophet and even Witch Weekly over the weekend – weren't the only things that Harry had been forced to get used to, because he had also been forced to get used to how his stomach churned whenever he was around his four dorm-mates, how he had to studiously keep his eyes focused on his bonded's faces whenever he saw them (because seeing the shock of golden-green magic around their necks always made him feel like he was going to be sick), and how Hermione had all but disappeared from his life. No matter where he went, it seemed, he couldn't find her, because she had pretty much stayed in the girls' dormitory ever since the previous Wednesday, and only came out for meals when she was seemingly sure that he wasn't around, despite the fact that all he wanted to do was talk with her. Listen to her. Hear her advice.

It just wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that his magic had chosen her to be one of his bonded when, before, he had never liked her in that way. Especially not when their friendship was seemingly getting destroyed because of it.

"Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said as she suddenly appeared next to him, causing Harry to blink and look up at her in response.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall?" he asked nervously.

The Transfiguration professor handed him a piece of parchment and what looked to be two small catalogues. "Here is your time table," she said in reference to the the singular piece of parchment, "along with two catalogues that the headmaster thought might...interest you. He wishes that you will talk to him about the first one when you are ready, and that you would talk with Ms. Weasley about the second one."

"Right," Harry said as he put the time table on the table next to his plate in order to see what the two catalogues were about.

The first catalogue was what looked to be a catalogue for wizarding real estate, specifically real estate for land that hadn't yet been built on. Remembering what Sirius had said about him needing to either buy or build a house for his family sometime soon, Harry begrudgingly put it in his schoolbag, even if all he wanted to do upon the sight of it was to spell it on fire and watch it burn. As for the second catalogue, though...

"Is that a wedding catalogue?" Ron suddenly asked from his place on the other side of the table, his face pale.

Ron and the twins had all been told about Ginny having to marry Harry on October 29th the previous Thursday, when Fred and George had asked their younger sister what was wrong upon seeing her crying. Harry hadn't been around when that had happened – he had, admittedly, been hiding in his and Ron's dorm room – but, by all accounts, what followed was nothing short of legendary, because while the three youngest Weasley brothers may or may not have wanted to corner Harry and beat him up for his impending wedding to Ginny (regardless of the fact that neither of them wanted it to happen), Ginny's anger at their reactions, along with her wicked Bat-Bogey Hex, ensured that they didn't.

"I don't know," Harry replied after a moment as he hurriedly put the second catalogue in his schoolbag as well. "Does it matter?"

Ron hesitantly shrugged. "Guess not," he said before he went back to his breakfast, albeit with a more morose expression than before.

For a moment, Harry felt a twinge of guilt towards his friend. Ron didn't deserve his anger, or to be forced to watch his sister get married off at thirteen-years-old, or even for his and Hermione's friendship to end because the bushy-haired girl had all but gone MIA. He really didn't. Truly. But there was nothing that Harry could do about the latter two things, and he was just too angry to do anything about the first. In fact, anger was one of the few simmering emotions he could still feel at this point, along with guilt and apathy.

Speaking of guilt and apathy... Harry thought as he non-conspicuously spared a glance towards where he knew Ginny was sitting with the twins, towards the other end of the Gryffindor table. She was moodily stirring her bowl of porridge with her spoon, her head down and her hair obscuring her face from view. However, that being said, he knew that her eyes were still red from all of the uncharacteristic crying that she had done since Wednesday, and that there were dark bruises underneath them due to the fact that she had probably been getting little to no sleep. All of his bonded, save for Luna, the Greengrasses, and Diana Runcorn were pretty much in the same state, after all, and Harry hadn't been getting much sleep, either.

Quickly turning back to his breakfast, Harry picked up his timetable and examined it. His first class of the day was Herbology with the Hufflepuffs, followed by Care of Magical Creatures. And, as if that wasn't enough, after lunch he also had a double-block of Divination, meaning that he would not only have to deal with several of his bonded and their friends, but also Hagrid's dangerous magical creatures and the distorted ramblings of Professor Trelawney as well.

Ignoring his plate, which was still half-full, Harry grabbed his schoolbag and stood up. Ron didn't fail to notice this, though, as he looked up from his breakfast again, his eyebrows furrowed. "Harry?" he asked. "Where you going?"

"Class," Harry replied with a shrug. "Might as well. Gotta get the day over with sometime, right?"

Before his best friend could reply, Harry steadfastly walked away, and once again ignored all of the pairs of eyes that followed him.

Just as Harry had figured that morning, his first day of classes didn't really go all that well.

At the start of Herbology, Professor Sprout had walked into the greenhouses and began their first lesson of the year with a short speech in which she basically said that "drama surrounding recent events will not be tolerated during this class". Of course, that didn't stop Justin – Justine, Ernie Macmillan, Zacharias and Sally Smith, or Roger Malone from constantly glaring at him, much like they had all done back in their second year when everyone had thought that Harry was the heir of Slytherin. Harry pointedly ignored them as he listened to Sprout's lesson – which, as every first lesson of the year was with her, was a basic rehashing of rules for the greenhouse and the different types of caring techniques that they would be using for the year – just as he ignored the sympathetic looks that Neville, Susan, and Susan's best friend Hannah Abbott gave him.

Things did not go much better in Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid was noticeably subdued as he introduced them to the mooncalf herd that he had bought over the summer, which was a surprising change of pace from the hippogriffs that he had started them off with the year before. That was probably half of the reason why the giant wizard was so upset, with the other half being his undoubted concern for Harry and Hermione, if the way that his beady black eyes constantly flickered between the two of them was any indicator. Just like in Herbology, though, Harry ignored Hagrid's concern, just like how he ignored the glares that Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson were giving him.

Divination was undoubtedly the worst class of the day, though. As soon as he had climbed into the classroom, Professor Trelawney had shrieked and stared at him with her wide, bug-like eyes. Harry stared at her in return, expecting her to say something relating to his "impending doom" or something like that. However, in lieu of doing her usual tidings of death and darkness, the Divination professor quickly turned away from him, as if the very sight of him was too much for her to behold, and asked for everyone to take out their dream journals from the summer so that she could take them for grading.

All of the students, Harry included, did as they were told. Professor Trelawney then walked around the room to collect them, her hands shaking even more than they usually did. When she reached the table where Ron and Harry were sitting, though, she only took Ron's dream journal, ignoring Harry's offering of his. Harry frowned at this, not knowing why the seer ignored him, and tried to offer his journal to her again. However, when she saw this, Trelawney let out another shriek, before she looked at him again, her eyes fearful and her form visibly trembling.

"Mr. – Mr. Potter," she said, her voice shaky. "I am afraid that I can no longer teach you."

"Wh – what?" Harry asked, absolutely gobsmacked.

"I can – I cannot teach you anymore," the Divination professor repeated. "You must – you must leave. Now. You must leave and not come back. I am afraid that you have nothing to gain from this class any longer."

Disbelievingly, Harry turned to look at Ron, who gave him his own disbelieving look in return, before turning to look at the rest of his classmates. They were all looking at him with wide eyes, because no one had been kicked out of one of Professor Trelawney's classes before, not even Hermione. Thus, for him to be kicked out – and not with any real reason at that – was...well, astonishing.

"Now!" Professor Trelawney repeated herself again, her voice louder.

Frowning, Harry stood up from his chair, before he grabbed his schoolbag and walked over to the circular trapdoor, which he opened and climbed down through. Not really caring about what Professor Trelawney would do to him, he didn't bother to gently pull the trapdoor closed behind him, causing it to slam back into place rather forcefully.

From above, he was pretty sure he heard the Divination professor give another shriek in response.

"Did Professor Trelawney kick you out?"

Harry jumped at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, before he quickly turned around to see who was speaking. His eyes widened when he saw that the person who had just spoken was the new History of Magic professor, Professor Pritchard. The older wizard was leaning against one of the columns built into the wall, his face sympathetic and his fierce grey eyes sharp and calculating.

"P – Professor Pritchard," Harry greeted the man with a frown on his face. "How'd you know that Professor Trelawney just – "

"Oh, I had a hunch, that's all," the professor answered as he suddenly stood up straight and walked towards Harry, a slight smile on his face and a small chuckle accompanying his words. "Not to speak ill of a colleague, but, after I realized that you bore the mark of Mabon, I knew that Professor Trelawney would...well, that she wouldn't treat you well, let's just leave it at that."

Harry's frown deepened at that. Although Professor Dumbledore had told him that it had been Professor Pritchard to figure out that what was going to happen...well, happened, he had never spoken with the professor up until now, so he hadn't really had a chance to ask him about just how the older wizard had figured it out. Nor had he really had a chance to ask Pritchard about why he hadn't said anything once Harry and the rest of the students had arrived at Hogwarts, in order to maybe-sort-of prepare them for all of the chaos that had been fated to ensue.

Just when Harry was about to ask the History of Magic professor this, though, Professor Pritchard said, "Well, I should probably take you to see Professor McGonagall now, shouldn't I?"

Harry blinked. "S – sir?" he asked, confused.

Pritchard smiled in response. "Once again, I do not want to speak ill of a colleague," he said, "but I doubt that Professor Trelawney will let you back into her classroom again – I believe that she is someone who fears the magic of the ancients, and to have you so close to her is probably too much for her to bear. So, that being said, you should probably see Professor McGonagall, so that the two of you can decide what to do about Trelawney refusing to teach you anymore. And I should probably accompany you to Professor McGonagall's office, so that you do not get a detention for skipping a class that you have been kicked out of for no fault of your own."

"Oh," Harry said lamely after a moment. "That makes sense...I guess."

"That's what I thought," the professor replied. "So, come along, Mr. Potter. I do not have all day."

With that, the History of Magic professor started walking down the Divination staircase. Harry hurriedly followed after him, even though he wasn't sure what to make of the older wizard. After all, Professor Pritchard seemed rather...strange, for some reason, in his mannerisms and expressions. And for some reason, that made Harry think that the older wizard had not grown up or even lived in the wizarding world of Great Britain, even though he had a fairly standard British accent.

"So," Professor Pritchard said after a few minutes of them walking together, "are you excited for my class, Mr. Potter?"

"Err – " Harry replied, not really sure if he should tell the older wizard the truth or not. "I...I guess?"

The professor chuckled again in response. "Most of your fellow students have had a similar response," he said. "Mostly because my predecessor...well, he left much to be desired, even when he was still living. Or, at least, that's what I have heard, anyways, because I haven't been able to have the pleasure of meeting Cuthbert Binns."

Harry blinked again. "You haven't?" he asked. "Why not?"

Professor Pritchard sighed. "I'm afraid I'm not allowed to tell you the reasons for that, Mr. Potter," he said.

"Oh," Harry said in response.

The two of them walked in silence again for another few minutes, mainly because Harry didn't really know what to talk to the professor about...or even if he actually wanted to talk with Harry. Professor McGonagall was not really one for conversation, after all, and Professor Snape would rather hurl insults at him than even try to attempt to make conversation. In fact, the only two professors that Harry was comfortable with talking to were Remus, who was no longer a professor, and Professor Dumbledore, who he knew probably wouldn't have spent so much time with Harry, if it wasn't for him being the Boy-Who-Lived and all that.

The Boy-Who-Lived, not because of magic borne from his mother's sacrifice, but rather borne from her desperation and willingness to sacrifice not just her son's happiness, but the happiness of so many others...

"Mr. Potter," Professor Pritchard said, stirring Harry out of his rather dark train of thought. "I am aware that things have not been going...well for you, to say the least, after the events of the Welcoming Feast. Professor Dumbledore has told me as much – although his words weren't necessary for me to see how you have been faring – out of concern for you. I am something of an...expert on the Druidic Era, you see, and on wizarding customs in general.

"So, that being said, I extend an offer to you," the professor continued. "If you ever feel like you have any questions to ask about the Ritual of Mabon, please feel free to come to my office...regardless of the hour." At Harry's blank look, Pritchard chuckled and added, "Yes, Professor Dumbledore has told me about your Invisibility Cloak, Mr. Potter. But, rest assured, I have no interests in ever confiscating it from you, even if you use it...irrationally. That being said, you are also welcome to come to my office at any time if you have any questions about the content that we will be covering in my class this year, because believe it or not, quite a bit of it pertains to you. And I do not want you, or any of my students, for that matter, to be lost or confused when it comes to our society's history, or the customs that we use and have been using for centuries."

"Uh, o – okay," Harry said. "Th – thank you, Professor."

The professor waved his hand. "Think nothing of it, Mr. Potter...ah, here we are."

Harry looked up. Sure enough, the two of them were now standing in front of the door leading to Professor McGonagall's office.

"I'll leave you here, then," Professor Pritchard said with a nod. "Good day, Mr. Potter. I'll see you tomorrow morning in class."

"Uh...good day, Professor," Harry replied.

But the History of Magic professor didn't hear him, because he was already walking away.

Sighing, Harry turned back to look at the door to Professor McGonagall's office, unable to stop himself from thinking about how...strange Professor Pritchard acted. How strange he had talked. It was almost like he was much older than he looked...

...No, Harry thought about the idea with a shake of his head. That's silly. I'm just...I'm just not used to how strangeeverything else has become. I'm sure that's it. That that's all.

Word Count: 3,190

Next Chapter Title: Professor Pritchard