Disclaimer: All characters, events, and references drawn from HP belong to J.K. Rowling, respectively, everything else is my own invention.
The Potter Timeline
Year 1 Episode 8 - Bitter Medicine Makes Better Wizards
Harry hovered a hundred meters above the pitch floor, gazing at the chaos below. Oliver, Angelina, Alicia, Katie, Fred, and George seemed overwhelmed as they defended the Gryffindor hoops against a flurry of Slytherins trying to slam-dunk their first match.
From the moment Madam Hooch blew the whistle, the game turned ugly. The snakes did everything they could to thrash the lions...including cheating. Only ten minutes into the match, several fouls had already been called against the green-robed players. Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint and Chaser Adrian Pucey ganged up on Katie, forcing her into one of the bannered towers as she drove the Quaffle toward their hoops. The girl was nearly thrown from her broom when its tip clipped the edge of the tower, causing her to spin and lose the Quaffle into the opposing team's arms. Slytherin Keeper Miles Bletchley feigned a swipe at a Bludger flying near Angelina and nearly took her head off. Then, Slytherin Chaser Kelvin Morris pummeled Fred while trying to slam the Quaffle through one of the Gryffindor hoops.
After several infractions in a row, Madam Hooch called time and verbally thrashed the snakes for their over-aggressiveness, deducting ten points from their score as a penalty. Afterwards, they seemed to calm down and play fairly. But this didn't comfort Harry one bit. Rumors had been passing around the school a few days in advance that the real target of Slytherin's players would be...him.
From the moment Harry punched Malfoy in the eye, enmity between their respective Houses ramped into high gear. Draco's humiliation was an affront the snakes weren't about to let slide. Glares, bumps in the hallway, even vicious name calling was exchanged between students of every year among the Houses. Percy had a time trying to keep his Gryffindors from winding up in a fight with the taunting Slytherins, magical and otherwise. But nearly all of Hufflepuff and half of Ravenclaw backed the Gryffindors as both held disdain for the fourth House. And so, the stands in Hogwarts Quidditch pitch were filled to the brim with students from all Houses eager to see who would get the upper hand in this first match.
If playing for his first time and bearing an undeserved reputation for greatness wasn't enough pressure, having the eyes of all Hogwarts on him gave Harry nervous fits. But while hovering high above the pitch in the crisp, Saturday afternoon air, Harry had time to drum up some desperately needed confidence.
Across the pitch, hovering above the Slytherin side, Seeker Terence Higgs watched Harry intently, ready to beat the kid to the Snitch once it made its appearance. And then, before either knew what happened, the tiny gold ball with fluttering wings shot into view between them.
Harry glanced at Higgs, Higgs at Harry.
Both shot toward the prize at lightning speed.
When the distance between them was only twenty meters, the Snitch dropped like a rock toward the pitch floor. Higgs spun into a downward spiral. Harry's eyes went wide and went into a spiral himself, hurtling downward at breathtaking speed.
The boy caught up to the Slytherin and they flew parallel for several meters, glaring at each other. The Slytherin shifted sideways and slammed into Harry, nearly causing him to topple from his broom into free fall. But he hung on for dear life and stabilized. Higgs tried to do it again, but this time Harry pulled up, moving parallel with the horizon while shooting forward. The opposing team's Seeker hit nothing but air and nearly fell off his broom in the process.
Harry now did a corkscrew, spiraling downward once more, eyeing the Snitch as it changed course and flew along the oval outline of the pitch. He was close on its heels and Higgs was right behind him.
Harry was amazed at all the students and staff watching him fly by. Every Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw was cheering him on, jumping up and down, clapping, and shouting from the top of their lungs. Amidst this crowd stood the enormous form of Hagrid, gazing at Harry with a huge grin. Next to him stood Hermione, who, while clapping furiously for the boy, had a face full of excitement and worry. Dean, Seamus, and Neville stood next to her and above them all a banner floated in the air:
Potter for President! Go Harry!
Dean had drawn the lion of Gryffindor under the words and Hermione used a spell to not only cause the words to flash in different colors, but also cause the lion to rise and roar with ferocity, lay back down, and then repeat this over and over.
Seeing all these cheering faces, including those of Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout, gave Harry a boost and the kid fired off after the Snitch with zeal. He could hear Lee Jordan's loud-speaker commentary on the match, but only understood a few phrases as he zoomed past.
"...with Potter and Higgs right behind the Golden Snitch! Johnson and Flint, meanwhile, are battling it out over the Quaffle as Slytherin just took possession. The green Chasers are nearly at the hoops...wait...the Weasleys have deflected Bludgers at the Slytherin's Captain and...he dodged them both! Unfortunate...I mean...spectacular move by Flint, and Slytherin gains another ten points..."
The House of the snakes erupted and simultaneously booed at Harry who swooped by their section of the stands. The Slytherins pelted him with empty Chocolate Frog boxes and he could have sworn at least one of them came from a sneering, black-eyed Draco Malfoy. But following the golden orb back into the center, Harry found himself in the middle of the hornet's nest.
The melee between the players raged hot as Chasers, Beaters, Keepers, and Bludgers swarmed at each other with intensity. Harry dodged Alicia cradling the Quaffle, swerved out of Adrian Pucey's flight path, avoided a Bludger heading straight at him, and ducked under the club of Slytherin's Rory Reeves as the Beater deliberately swung at him. Relieved to have escaped that first gauntlet, Harry glanced back and frowned - Higgs was miraculously still on his tail.
The Snitch took off at lightning speed toward the southern end and Harry struggled to keep his eye on it. But his Nimbus never failed him. The two hummed together like ferocious eagles swooping toward their prey. The ball rose once more, and the two Seekers zoomed after it. Harry's adrenaline kicked in as his Nimbus built up a tremendous burst of speed. The next thing he knew, the Snitch was only a couple meters from his grasp. Excitement flamed within at the idea of catching the orb and winning the match for Gryffindor.
But just as he released his right hand to grab the object, Harry's Nimbus jerked left. He was stunned. Re-grasping the handle with all his might and thinking he had regained control, Harry steered back toward the tiny ball. But the back of Harry's broom then jerked upward as though trying to throw him off. Harry wrapped his entire body around the handle in shock, hanging on with everything in him. Then, the tip of the Nimbus flew up and flipped him completely upside down. Harry was again stunned, wondering in alarm what was going on.
The Nimbus jerked left, right, up, and down like a bucking bronco trying to rid itself of its rider. But mysteriously, Harry also found the broom freeze in place between these jerking motions, as though two opposing forces were battling over control of the broom - one of them jerking it around, the other trying to stop it. By this time, the boy was so concerned about being thrown, he lost all cognizance of what was happening in the pitch. His face turned to anguish. This unfortunate development could cost his team the game.
But then a commotion erupted from the stands and in an instant, Harry reconnected with the Nimbus. The forces acting upon it had ceased! Losing no time, he shot off and searched eagerly for the Snitch. As he flew under the raging battle between the hoops, he noticed a plume of purple smoke rising from the faculty section of the stands, it's spectators fleeing from it in a hurry. But he had no time to focus on that. Where was the Snitch?
Glancing up, he happened to sight Higgs in pursuit of the orb. Harry lowered himself to the broom and hurtled toward their position like a missile. He narrowly passed through a closing gap between Gryffindor's Chasers and Slytherin's Beaters and had closed the gap between him and the Snitch in record time, throwing all his determination forward.
This was it.
This was the moment...
The boy sailed upward, ahead of Higgs, reaching out with his right hand to grasp the golden object and win the match. But before he could, something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Harry turned to find a Bludger flying straight at him.
It was too late.
The object struck the side of his head and he blacked out...
~HP~
He awoke with a dull ache in his head, gazing up at the ceiling of Hogwarts hospital wing. The smell of herbal ointments, medical potions, and plain old rubbing alcohol hit his nostrils. He pulled away the sheets of the twin hospital bed, looking for his glasses.
"Professor, he's awake..." Oliver Wood spoke.
Harry saw several people standing at the end of his bed and one standing to the side. But they were blurry until someone handed him his rounded spectacles and he placed them on his face.
The entire Gryffindor Quidditch team stood at the foot of the bed gazing down at the boy. Every one of them looked bruised and beaten. George wore a sling around his left arm, Katie had a bandage around her right hand, and Oliver had a cut across his cheek.
"How are you feeling, Harry?" the captain asked with a concerned look.
"Sore," the boy replied while rubbing his aching head. He then noticed Professor McGonagall standing next to the bed with a worried look in her eyes.
"What happened?" Harry asked intently.
"You were knocked out by a nasty Bludger," Angelina informed him, "though Madam Hooch used a levitation spell to keep you from getting injured in the fall."
"But...what about the match?"
The eleven-year-old was more concerned about that than his condition.
"We lost," Wood told him point blank with a grimace.
Harry's face became downcast. Oliver continued.
"But don't let that bother you. And it wasn't your fault, by the way."
"Yeah, don't sweat it, Harry. We all took a beating today," Fred spoke with a half-smile.
"Those Slytherins were really vicious, and we're glad you're not worse off than you are," Alicia threw in with a teary-eyed gaze at the kid. Professor McGonagall leaned over and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Harry, Madam Pomfrey says you received a concussion from the Bludger and need to rest for several days. You're to remain here until she releases you. Starting Monday, I'll arrange for your classwork to be brought here until you're able to return to normal class attendance. We want to make sure you're fully healed before you get back out on the pitch."
Harry nodded at her with a frown. She threw him a motherly smile.
"Many of the students and your friends are eager to see you, but I'm not allowing them in until you've rested some more. Madam Pomfrey will bring you some dinner and then get some sleep, young man. I'll permit student visitations starting tomorrow."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Take care, there, Harry," George gave out with a smile, "Fred and I will stop by and bring you some of those leftover Halloween treats to cheer you up."
"Yeah, hopefully they're not all rotten by now," Fred added.
"Get some rest, Seeker," Wood told him with a nod, "we need you back on the pitch in top form for the match with Hufflepuff."
"And Harry," Katie Bell spoke while stepping forward and placing her hand on his foot, "regardless of what happened out there today...we're all very proud of you!"
All of them nodded in agreement, including Professor McGonagall.
Harry's cheeks turned pink and he swallowed hard, cheered by his team's words even as the sadness of the loss shadowed his heart.
"Thank you all," he replied.
The team departed along with McGonagall. Madam Pomfrey then brought the boy a tray with a bowl of hot soup, bread, and some milk. After Harry finished his dinner, the healer returned with a purple flask in her hand.
"Drink this potion, Harry. It should help you sleep and help with the pain," she told him while handing him the flask.
The boy took it and popped the cork. Instantly, a horrid smell came out and his face scrunched up. But he drew up courage and swallowed the potion in one swift draught. It tasted...awful.
'Why can't medicine taste pleasant?' the kid wondered while trying to keep the potion down.
Pomfrey took the flask and leaned over him, she then pulled out her wand, pointed it at him and muttered something. A faint bluish light appeared, and Harry felt a cool sensation inside his head.
"There now, young man. That should speed up the healing process. Now, get some sleep."
"Yes, ma'am."
And Harry did just that.
~HP~
When he awoke the next morning, sunlight was pouring into the hospital wing through its tall casement windows, illuminating the chamber with a soft glow. Harry noticed a table at the foot of his bed piled high with candy of all sorts along with a multitude of flowers potted in small ceramic cauldrons. Each of these possessed notecards with get-well wishes from numerous students. He then felt something around his hand. Looking next to the bed, the boy smiled.
Hermione was sitting in a chair and reading an open book on her lap, turning the pages with her right hand while holding Harry's hand with her left. The sunlight created a warm, light-brown glow through the edges of that fluffy hair of her's as she firmly concentrated on the pages before her.
The boy squeezed her hand and Hermione shot him an astonished look.
"You're awake!" she squealed as quietly as possible, trying not to perturb Madam Pomfrey, but accidentally dropping the book from her lap onto the floor with a thud. Harry chuckled. The girl turned to face him and took his hand with both of her's, giving him a look of relief and worry.
"Hi," he uttered as he reached across to take his glasses off the bedside table and put them on.
Hermione's eyes glistened as she gazed over his face.
"How are you feeling?" she inquired almost desperately.
"Better, though I still have a headache."
The girl nodded.
"I was so worried about you...all of us were. Professor McGonagall wouldn't let anyone see you and we thought maybe you were very badly injured."
"No, I'm fine...mostly."
Harry's face now saddened as he looked at the girl.
"So...everyone saw what happened."
Hermione frowned and nodded, releasing his hand and sitting back in her chair.
"Yes. And those Slytherin prats are gloating about it. They're wearing these hideous badges that say 'Potter for President' with a moving cartoon of you getting hit in the head with a Bludger. Several fights have nearly broken out already and the House Prefects are having a time trying to keep things from getting ugly."
Harry looked down.
"It's all my fault. If I hadn't hit Malfoy..."
"Harry, no one blames you. You don't need to beat yourself up for it. Malfoy started all this, anyway, remember?"
"Yes, but if I had kept my cool, like Professor McGonagall said, it might not have gone this way, and...we might have been able to win the match."
Harry mused for a moment in silence while Hermione looked at him with worry. He then looked back at her.
"Did you notice something funny happen with my broom out there? I lost control of it somehow. I can't figure out what happened."
Her worry deepened.
"Yes, we all saw it. Hagrid noticed it first and handed me his binoculars to look. But then I looked over at the faculty section and saw...Professor Snape staring up at you and mouthing something, a spell or incantation of some sort."
"Snape?" Harry shot at her in alarm, "do you think he was trying to throw me from my broom?"
"Well...that wasn't all. Professor Quirrell was also looking at you and mouthing something. They both were."
Harry looked across the room in thought, remembering their suspicions about Quirrell. Hermione leaned closer.
"Harry, do you think they were both trying to throw you from the broom?"
"Well, when it was happening, there was something strange about it. It felt like the broom was trying to toss me, but at the same time, like someone was trying to freeze the Nimbus and...prevent it. If I had to guess, Hermione, I'd say one of professors was trying to protect me while the other was trying to...harm or even kill me. The question is, which one did which? And how did it stop all of the sudden?"
The girl breathed in deep at these words.
"When I saw the professors looking up at you, I suspected they were up to no good and snuck up behind the faculty stands. I used a smoke-screen spell to try to disrupt whichever one of them was jinxing your broom."
"That was you with the purple smoke!"
Hermione smiled and nodded.
"Yes, and I'm glad I got there in time."
"So am I. Thanks for that," he said, and the girl's cheeks turned pink. Harry continued.
"But why would one of them try to kill me? Snape seems to hate me personally, but I would never think he'd want to do something that rash."
"I don't know, Harry. But whatever the reason, we need to find out which one it is so that the next time...they don't actually succeed."
A heavy silence fell between them. Then, after a few moments, Harry gazed at all the gifts at the foot of the bed.
"Looks like people aren't avoiding me anymore," he commented with a partial smile.
"Well, everyone's warmed to you after you stood up for Neville...and me. They see you have a good heart, Harry."
Harry shook his head in perplexity at the idea they'd even thought otherwise. Hermione continued.
"And, getting hit with that Bludger and Gryffindor losing the match with you on the team sort of makes you look...human, like you're one of them after all. Perhaps they can relate to you now."
"That's good to know, though I had no idea that's what it would take for them to realize this. But that also means I have to work hard to prove myself, now. It was kind of nice having a reputation as a powerful wizard - I didn't have to do anything to earn it."
Hermione laughed and Harry laughed with her. He then thought back over all his attempts to make friends with these same students who at one time steered clear of him. And as he did, something stood out to him like a sore thumb.
"I'm glad people are willing to be my friend now. But there's one person here who never shunned me from the beginning."
Harry reached over and took her hand, squeezing it while throwing her a grateful look.
"Thank you, Hermione...for being such a good friend. Who knows what a right mess I'd be in if it weren't for you."
The girl with the fluffy brown hair blushed fiercely, her eyes tearing up at his compliment as she squeezed his hand back. Silence then fell between them again until a parade of students suddenly burst into the wing, causing a commotion to the chagrin of Madam Pomfrey.
Nearly every student from Gryffindor visited Harry to wish him a speedy recovery. A number from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw also made an appearance. Even Ron Weasley and his pals showed briefly, giving their support for the boy and his recovery, though Harry wondered if it was more because the kids detested the Slytherins than viewed him with friendliness. Nevertheless, he was grateful for the support. Hagrid also made an appearance and brought Harry some of his famous rock cakes. The boy thanked the giant but was still leery of trying one.
The rest of Sunday passed uneventfully. Hermione stayed with the boy after lunch, and they shared the candy and some of the treats George had promised him. They also conversed about all the strange things that happened to them since arriving at the school and then Hermione read out loud to Harry from the now familiar book she had brought with her: Oddlum's Oddities of the Wizarding World.
The two laughed at some of the more ridiculous topics the book offered, such as how giants living in the Forbidden Forest produce a tasty nut butter by shaking whole oak trees bare of their acorns or the secret warehouse at Ellerby & Spudmore Company where they house "insane" flying broomsticks that are too dangerous to sell to the wizarding public. But Harry was also mesmerized by other odd facts Hermione read to him about the world he now inhabited.
Harry remained in the ward for only a couple of days. Madam Pomfrey was satisfied the boy had made significant recovery and permitted him to rejoin the student population. On the following Wednesday, Harry and Hermione had risen early as usual and headed for the Great Hall to get some breakfast. It was Harry's first morning back after the harrowing Quidditch match and his stay in the hospital wing.
When the two kids walked through the doorway into the Hall, they froze in astonishment. The Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw tables were completely full of students. Only a handful of Slytherins sat at theirs.
When the eleven-years-olds appeared, all the students, except the snakes, rose and cheered, clapping and shouting praise to the boy who had stood up to Malfoy's gang and had so bravely played his very first Quidditch match.
"Welcome back, Harry!"
"We believe in you!"
"You'll get 'em next time!"
Harry had never been so gobsmacked in all his life - clearly all the students had to rise even earlier than they did to make this kind of appearance. Red-faced and full of wonder, Harry walked toward the Gryffindor table with Hermione. He received backslaps, handshakes, and words of encouragement from the three united Houses the likes of which no one had seen for decades at Hogwarts. The few Slytherins eating breakfast kept to themselves and kept quiet in the face of so much support for their sworn enemy.
After this, everyone in the Great Hall enjoyed a hearty breakfast before classes with an atmosphere of cheer. The boy with the lightning-shaped scar simply beamed.
~HP~
After Quirrell's class, Harry and Hermione decided to take a walk on the dirt path around the black lake. As Harry was technically still recovering, Wood gave the boy at least a week off from Quidditch practice. Thus, he had his first free Wednesday evening in weeks.
The cold air of November had truly set in and the two made sure to bundle up against the freezing blasts coming off the water now and again. As they walked, Harry was eager to talk with his friend about something.
"Hermione...while I was in the ward, I spent a lot of time thinking over what's happened," he started while gazing at the leaves crunching under their feet, "and I'm not very happy with myself. Getting into fights at school, getting detention for it, losing my first match, and always having to rely on you to help me because I'm just so ignorant about magic."
The girl listened quietly. Harry continued.
"With Malfoy and the Slytherins successfully learning curses, a professor trying to kill me, and a giant, three-headed beast lurking in the corridors of Hogwarts almost biting my head off, I realized I better get my act together, magically speaking. Professor McGonagall was right. Brute force won't save me against powerful magic, dark or otherwise. And...you were right too. What good does it do to spend all that time flying when a crazed lunatic can just yank me off my broom at fifty meters whenever he pleases?"
The kid breathed out in frustration.
"So...I wanted to ask you a favor."
"Sure, Harry," Hermione replied curiously.
The boy stopped and she stopped after, gazing at him with her arms folded for warmth.
"Would you teach me the spells you know?"
Hermione's eyes went wide. He continued.
"It's just that...you're so good at casting all those spells and charms you've learned. Not to mention that they've been really useful. You've pulled my bum out of the fire several times now with spells I've never even heard of. I don't know a quarter of what you do, and I feel like such a wizarding dunce..."
Harry couldn't finish as Hermione leapt at him with another of her fierce hugs. Harry chuckled. He finally realized she wasn't going to stop with the physical affection and decided to just go with it - that's simply how she expressed herself sometimes.
The girl let go and stood back from him, a teary-eyed look of joy on her face.
"I'm so proud of you, Harry! I'll be glad to teach you what I know!" the girl exclaimed, barely able to contain her excitement.
Harry chuckled again.
"Okay, great!" he replied. The pair resumed their hike and Harry went on with his idea.
"I thought maybe we could work on the spells on days when I don't have Quidditch practice, if we're not overloaded with classwork. I'd like to learn all the spells you've learned and once we've gone through those, we could practice our new class spells together and maybe even study some the professors aren't teaching."
Hermione was even more thrilled.
"That would be great!" she squealed, "though perhaps we should clear this with Professor McGonagall first."
"Sure. I doubt she'd turn down a couple of her pupils wanting to spend extra time learning the curriculum. She might even let us use an empty classroom for our practice," Harry added and Hermione beamed at him with a nod. The two continued the hike with an air of excitement. But another matter quickly came to the fore.
"By the way, Harry, I still haven't found any information on the Hall of Reflection. It's strange, to say the least. There's nothing in Hogwarts, a History nor in any of the books I checked out in the library. Are you sure that's what Filch called it?"
"Yes, definitely. And I assume Professor Dumbledore knows about it since he had me specifically clean the hall. I guess we need to ask him directly, then."
Hermione nodded. Harry continued.
"Perhaps he knows who those people were I saw in the mirror and how they got there."
The girl looked up across the hills behind the castle with squinty eyes.
"You know, Harry, after what happened at the Quidditch match, I was wondering if the second set of footprints you saw leading to the locked door inside the hall was Professor Quirrell's."
Harry thought about this.
"That's possible. But if it's true, then how did he get back out of the room without leaving another set of prints, like Snape did?"
Hermione shook her head with a frown.
"I don't know. But I suspect that at least one of them is attempting to steal the Stone. And maybe that person is the same one who tried to jinx your broom too."
"But what do I have to do with the Philosopher's Stone?"
"I don't know that either, Harry. But I have the sneaking suspicion that it's Professor Quirrell and not Snape."
"Why do you think that?"
"Well, first of all, Quirrell was the one who came in during the feast and announced the presence of the troll. Snape had been in the Great Hall the entire time. He couldn't have let in the troll by himself. Quirrell may have done so and then pretended surprised by it. Second, your scar burns when Quirrell turns his back to you - Snape doesn't seem to affect it."
"But Hermione, Snape did try to go after the Stone and got bitten in the process. His footprints and the blood in the Hall of Reflection prove that. Besides, I don't why Quirrell would have a grudge against me - I don't really know the man. But Snape, on the other hand, not only holds a grudge against me, but seems to have known my parents, or at least my mother, and I suspect something bad happened between Snape and her."
Hermione frowned at this, deep in thought.
"It's difficult to tell. Perhaps we need to ask someone who knows Professor Quirrell and Professor Snape better."
Harry pondered this for a moment before his face lit up.
"I think I know just the person to ask."
"Who?"
"Hagrid..."