Avian Anarchy Chapter 9: First-years, a harry potter fanfic

Avian Anarchy
by Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling or Disney, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am merely borrowing the characters to play with them.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC, magically powerful Harry. Dumbledore/Weasley bashing.

While Professor McGonagall brought the Sorting Hat out of the Great Hall, the noise coming from the Gryffindor table attracted everyone's attention.

"Ginny is neither a betrayer of the family…"

"… nor a Slytherin whore…"

"… nor does it matter…"

"… that she was sorted into Slytherin…"

"… as the main point is…"

"… that she's going to be happy…"

"… nothing else." The twins glared at their younger brother, who was sitting next to them.

"What is going on here?" McGonagall asked in a strict voice, as she re-entered the Great Hall.

"Our younger brother…"

"… saw fit to make some unduly comments…"

"… on our sister's Sorting."

"Mr. Weasley, Ronald Weasley, behave yourself if you don't want me to take points, which you haven't even earned yet."

"Yes."

Shaking her eyes in apparent annoyance, the Gryffindor head continued to the head table.

"Why did the Hat put you into Slytherin?" a girl with long, blonde hair, who was sitting opposite of Harry, asked. "Not that you're not very welcome here." She cast a warning look at Draco.

"I told the Hat that I didn't want to be in Gryffindor under Ronald's thumb," Ginny said, smiling. "So, he put me into Slytherin."

"Well done. I am Daphne, by the way, Daphne Greengrass, and this is my friend Tracey Davis."

"I'm Ginny.

The boys also introduced themselves, and Harry had the impression as if most of his first-year housemates were very nice.

'Everyone seems really nice,' he thought to his mother.

'Yes, but you must be careful, as many of them have Death Eater parents, and Ginny was the girl, for which her mother and Dumbledore made the betrothal contract with you. I know that it was not her fault, but still.'

'I know.'

While – at least according to the twins – usually, there were five beds in the dormitories in Gryffindor, the Slytherin rooms were only equipped with two beds. However, due to the uneven number of first-years in their year, Harry shared a room with Draco and Neville.

'Thank Merlin for the uneven number,' he thought, feeling very happy upon seeing their names together.

Before they could inspect their room, however, the prefects called everyone together for a house meeting.

Professor Snape swept, more than he walked, into the common room, where all students were sitting on the floor in a circle with the first-years in the middle.

"For one or the other reason, you have all been sorted into Slytherin. Even if I tend to believe that the Sorting Hat must have been either drunk or manipulated to choose some of you for this house." He stared at Harry and Neville.

'Idiot,' Hedwig thought to Harry.

"Your house will be your family. You might fight as much as you wish within the house, however, outside of this door," he pointed to the entrance door, "you will be one united family. Every dispute remains inside the house. Did I make himself clear?"

Under the professor's sharp look, Harry had the impression as if the man could see right through them.

"Yes sir," he replied, together with everyone else.

"Just like the point system within Hogwarts, we have our own points system." The professor pointed to several dozen glass devices that were put up onto the wall above the notice board. "If you earn points for our house, you will also receive a snake. If you lose points, you will earn yourself a toad. Three snakes make up for one toad, and if you have too many toads, which means ten toads, you will serve a detention with me. If one of the other professors assigns you a detention, you will serve one with me in addition."

"Yes sir."

"Mr. Potter, our new celebrity." The professor looked straight at him, a sneer on his face.

#Idiot.# Hedwig, who was sitting on one of the torches along the wall, blurted out, seeming extremely upset.

Paws, who had so far been peacefully asleep on the fluffy, green carpet in front of the fireplace, let out an angry growl.

"Now, behave yourselves, Potter pets, or you will see yourself out of Slytherin very quickly."

'Harry translate,' Hedwig instructed him. 'If my familiars must leave, then I will go as well, and I believe that the headmaster would be very disappointed if I left Hogwarts.'

Trying to keep a straight face, Harry repeated the sentence, causing the professor to see red.

"You imbecile. Just like your father, as arrogant as him, believing that you owned Hogwarts. Detention with me tomorrow evening."

"Yes sir." Harry was rather amused at the man's outburst, hoping that Hedwig would be able to give him an explanation for the professor's apparent hatred for him.

"First-years, please introduce yourselves, shortly, to your housemates."

Harry listened with interest, as the others introduced themselves. He was shocked, when Neville told them that his parents had been tortured by Death Eaters and had been at St. Mungo's ever since. Finally, it was his turn.

"I didn't know about magic, let alone that I was a wizard until about six weeks ago, when I bonded with Hedwig, my first familiar…"

Hedwig trilled a soothing melody that made Harry's housemates look at her in clear amazement.

"She also took me away from my abusive muggle relatives and introduced me to my new guardians. I am very happy to be at Hogwarts and look forward to study all different kinds of magic. And to have real friends for the first time in my life," he added as an afterthought.

To his relief, his housemates applauded like they had done for everyone else before. Only the professor was looking at him in apparent disdain.

Finally, they were dismissed and allowed to retire to their rooms.

"I don't like Snape. He really has it out for Harry, doesn't he?"

Harry and Draco looked at Neville, smiling.

"I know Snape quite well, as he is my godfather and a good friend of my father." Draco seemed pensive, as he continued. "They were both Death Eaters in the war, but I'm not really sure if Snape still supports them. When I was alone with him a few weeks ago, he told me to not step into my father's footsteps but to try to be my own man and do better than him." He let out a deep sigh. "Perhaps, he still has to keep up appearances and therefore treat you badly. I am not sure."

#Well said, Draco.#

'May I tell him? I fear that too many people already know.'

'Make him swear a wizard's oath to keep your secret. He should know how to swear such an oath.'

"Draco?" Harry cast the other boy a hesitant look.

"Potter?" Draco quirked an eyebrow in silent question.

"Please call me Harry. Would you mind swearing a wizard's oath to keep Hedwig's secret?"

Draco nodded in apparent understanding, before he raised his wand. "I swear on my magic to keep the secret of Harry's familiar." He smiled, when Paws ran over and gently licked his hand.

"He seems to approve of you." Harry smiled, somehow feeling happy at the canine's approval of his friend. "Anyway, in her former life, Hedwig's soul was that of my mother. That's why at times, she explains things to me such as other people's behaviour or such."

"Cool." Draco cast Hedwig an appreciative look.

"You're really lucky, Harry."

Harry pulled Neville into a gentle hug, just like Andromeda, Sirius, Santa and Claire had done to him, slowly making him get used to gentle touches. He still did not feel outright comfortable at the physical contact, but he understood that it could make one feel better.

"Remember, my mum is your godmother, and she'll be here for you, too."

#Of course, Harry. Well said.#

"Thank you, Harry and Hedwig."

'Harry, wake up.'

Harry lazily rubbed his eyes, as his mind slowly turned to awareness. It was still dark outside, and his roommates seemed to be fast asleep.

'What time is it?' he thought back.

'It's only four in the morning, but I must show you something. You must prepare yourself for your classes, considering how much your head of house seems to dislike you.'

Hedwig instructed Paws to remain in bed and sleep some more, before she motioned Harry to head to the common room. She dragged him over to one of the bookshelves and craned her head to get a good look at the old looking books.

#There it is. 'Powerful Potions for Poorly Performing Pupils'.#

Harry carefully pulled out the book, which was thin and dark green with a gold lining. He hesitantly opened it, wondering why he had to study Potions of all subjects on his first day of classes at four o'clock in the morning.

#Read page 48 and remember the answers to the questions. Considering that Severus seems to dislike you simply because of your outer resemblance to your father, he might ask you one of these questions. They're really mean, and he already loved the book, when we were students.#

"You seem to know him quite well." It was a simple statement, more directed at himself than at his mother.

However, Hedwig replied, quickly. #He was my best friend until our fifth year, when he said something really atrocious to me. I believe that he regretted it afterwards, but I then fell in love with your father, and, while we still remained friends, we were not as close anymore as before the incident.#

"All right, Mum. Thanks for telling me." With that, Harry engrossed himself in his reading, only to notice in surprise that the book seemed to be really interesting. 'Thank Merlin Polly taught me so much about potions,' he thought. 'Otherwise, I wouldn't understand anything.'

First thing the following morning, everyone gathered in the common room. The prefects used the opportunity to give the first-years further instructions.

The first boy to speak up introduced himself as Brian, the sixth-year prefect. "Remember what the professor told you last night. The house is the family. Do not fight or quarrel outside of our house. If you have any problems, either go to see Professor Snape or come to one of the Slytherin prefects. We'll all be able to help you. We will go to the Great Hall together. During breakfast, you will receive your timetables from Professor Snape, and right after breakfast, I shall take you to your first morning class. Afterwards, I will pick you up again and take you to your second class. I have received permission from Professor Snape to partly miss my classes today for that purpose. You'd do well to remember the ways to the various classrooms, as from tomorrow morning onwards, you'll be on your own. Do you have any questions?"

Another fifth-year boy spoke up and introduced himself as Marcus, the Quidditch captain.

"The house team badly needs a Seeker and a Chaser. Is any of you good at flying, catching the Snitch or whatever?"

'You're extremely good.' Hedwig sounded firm and very convincing, and Harry hesitantly spoke up.

"I love to fly and catch the Snitch." Harry's voice was barely audible.

However, Marcus heard him as well as Draco, who also uttered that he loved to fly.

"Draco and Harry, join me out on the grounds after the last afternoon class."

The two friends exchanged an ecstatic look, before they replied, "Yes, thank you."

"May I come with you and watch? I've never flown before."

Harry and Draco cast Neville broad smiles. "Of course. You can always come with us."

Their first morning class was Transfiguration, and Harry felt extremely grateful to Brian, who took them straight to the classroom. The first-years noticed in surprise that a tabby cat was sitting on the teacher's desk; however, the professor was nowhere to be seen yet.

Harry, Neville and Draco took seats in the first row, while Hedwig chose to sit on one of the torches nearby. When Harry expected Paws to curl up on his feet as usual, however, the canine jumped up onto a chair, from there onto a desk and took a big jump over to the teacher's desk, only to chase the feline down onto the floor and all around the classroom.

"Paws, stop that. Come here." Harry slowly began to panic, hoping that the professor would not enter the classroom just now.

The canine, however, completely ignored Harry's shouting, and Harry was just about to follow the canine and try catching his familiar, when the chase took an abrupt end. The feline's body suddenly stretched and in front of the first-years, who were observing the scene, open-mouthed, transformed into none other than Professor McGonagall.

Paws simply stared at the professor and let out a last, small growl, before he retreated and came to sit on Harry's feet.

"I am very sorry, Professor," Harry spoke up.

"I hope your familiar is sorry." The professor's mouth was stretched to a thin line; however, to Harry's relief, she soon became distracted, when Ronald Weasley chose that instant to enter the classroom.

"Mr. Weasley, you're late. Five points from Gryffindor."

"I didn't know where the classroom was."

"Strange that your younger sister was able to find the classroom then." The professor's expression was grim.

"She's a slimy Slytherin." Ronald glanced at the second row, where his sister was sitting together with Daphne and Tracey.

"So, you admit that Slytherins are better than Gryffs then?" Draco blurted out, causing the Slytherin side of the room to laugh.

"Mr. Malfoy, please behave yourself. Now, let's finally begin after all these disturbances."

Like the adults on the North Pole had advised him, Harry used his official wand instead of his main wand to practise in class. Nevertheless, he managed the spell right after Hermione Granger, a muggleborn Gryffindor, who seemed extremely eager to please the professor. Draco managed the transfiguration right after him, and they both gained five points for Slytherin.

Seeing that Neville was speaking the incantation correctly and waved his wand the appropriate way, however, still not succeeded in changing his match into a needle, Harry recalled their conversation with Hedwig on the train.

"Professor?" he addressed the teacher in a small voice.

"Mr. Potter? What is the problem?" McGonagall swiftly stepped over to where Harry and his friends were sitting.

"I think that Neville's wand is not right for him. He's using his father's wand. Would it be somehow possible for him to get his own wand, even while we're at Hogwarts?"

Harry noticed that Neville cast him a horrified look, which fortunately vanished, when the professor turned to him in a calming voice.

"Mr. Longbottom, is that true?"

"Yes Professor. My Gran told me that it would be an honour to use my father's wand."

McGonagall shook her head in clear annoyance. "Nonsense. Mr. Longbottom, please come to my office after the last afternoon class. I am sure one of the older students can show you where it is. I shall take you to Ollivander's to get your own wand."

Neville stared at the professor, wide-eyed, when she continued. "Since we have a special fund for unexpected expenses, your grandmother does not even have to know about it. You can tell her about it at a later time."

"Thank you so much, Professor."

"Mr. Potter, thank you for the information. Take ten points to Slytherin."

During the rest of the class, Neville was outright happy. This should change the instant, however, their Potions class began.

At first, the professor held a monologue about the fine art of brewing potions, before he abruptly began to address Harry as their new celebrity, just like he had already singled him out during the house meeting the previous evening. This time, however, he asked a couple of potions related questions and seemed to become more irritated by the question that Harry answered correctly.

Harry inwardly grinned, as all of the questions were taken out of the book, which Hedwig had suggested for him to read early in the morning. After the fifth question, Harry felt a strange feeling, just as if someone tried to enter his mind. He did not know how it happened, however, a bout of magic left his body, and the professor was flung backwards, where he hit his head against the teacher's table.

"Potter!" The professor glared daggers at him, dismissing the class at the same time. "We're going to see the headmaster. Now!"

tbc...

Thank you so much for the many kind reviews for the previous chapter! Please let me know what you thought about this one and what you expect from this story.

Do you want Snape to be good or bad in this story?