Author Note Thank you so much for your reviews I love reading them
I am also someone who likes to listen to what the readers have to say and incorporate ideas if they make sense.
I am currently writing seventh year and the Goblet of Fire and now that I've come to writing the interactions between the Potters I want all of your input on this since you all seem to be interested in Harry and the Potters.
I'm asking how would you like the Potter scenes later on to be handled (length, location, characters involved, how often,cursing/crying or not and so on and so on)
If I can incorporate your ideas into the story I would really like to
Cheers
Chapter 39
September 2nd 1992
Hogwarts
The next day everyone was sitting in the Great Hall looking at their new Timetables
Harry and Edmund were talking while Daphne read the paper.
"Looks like we got a lot of classes this year, "Harry said.
"I know "Edmund said "Even without this new class this year's going to be really tough after all Murley kept talking about how tough the exams are".
"Yeah"Harry said "I guess OWLs are really important, they affect the jobs you can apply for and everything.
Edmund nodded "My uncle told me that we will also get career advice, too, later this year. So you can choose what NEWTs you want to do next year."
"D'you know what you want to do after Hogwarts?" Harry asked him as the three of them left the Great Hall shortly afterwards and set off towards their History of Magic classroom.
"Not really," said Edmund slowly. "Except…Well, it'd be cool to be an Auror,'" said Edmund in an off-hand voice.
Harry smiled "If you want to do that I think you would do quite well at it"He said.
"What about you,Daphne?"Edmund asked.
"Well I don't really need to focus about that now "Daphne said "After I graduate I'll be having to give birth to a kid by nineteen so I won't have to worry about a career until much later like Harry will "She laughed "It's kind of nice not having to worry as much about planning for the future".
Harry gulped as they arrived at the classroom.
History of Magic was by common consent the most boring subject ever devised by wizardkind.
Professor Binns, their ghost teacher, had a wheezy, droning voice that was almost guaranteed to cause severe drowsiness within ten minutes, five in warm weather. He never varied the form of their lessons over the course of the past four years, but he lectured them without pausing while they took notes, or rather, gazed sleepily into space.
Harry and Daphne had worked out that one of them would take notes one day and the other on the next day and the person who was not taking notes could take a nap.
Today it was Harrys turn to take notes.
Grumbling as he saw Daphne put her head down on the table Harry took out his notes and got to work with his Meditation Techniques.
Today, they suffered an hour and a half's droning on the subject of giant wars. Harry heard just enough within the first ten minutes to appreciate that in another teacher's hands this subject might have been mildly interesting.
If Harry did not have what he had learned with Master Dao he would have fallen asleep already.
It was nice to know that despite some things that may change others never will.
SCENE CHANGE
They got to Potions, found their seats and heard the sound of Professor Snape's door creaking open.
"Settle down," said Snape, shutting the door behind him.
There was no real need for the call to order since the moment the class had heard the door close, everyone went quiet. Snape's mere presence was usually enough to ensure a
class's silence.
"Before we begin today's lesson," said Snape, sweeping over to his desk and staring around at them all, "I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important
examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition
and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 'Acceptable' in your OWL, or suffer my… displeasure."
Harry and Daphne focused on what Snape was saying.
They liked him for what he was able to do for them in the past two years and how he treated Slytherins but they both agreed that Snape could be very scary and it was a good idea to listen to him,
"After this year, of course, many of you will cease studying with me," Snape went on. "I take
only the very best into my NEWT Potions class, which means that some of us will certainly be saying goodbye."
"But we have another year to go before that happy moment of farewell," said Snape softly, "so, whether or not you are intending to attempt NEWT, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high pass level I have come to expect from my OWL students.
"Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the
Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: if you are too
heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes
irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing."
"The ingredients and method -" Snape flicked his wand "- are on the blackboard -"you will
find everything you need —" he flicked his wand again "- in the store cupboard "- you have an hour and a half… start."
WIth a new year Snape had set them a very difficult potion.
The ingredients on this one had to be added to the cauldron in precisely the right
order and quantities; the mixture had to be stirred exactly the right number of times and the heat of the flames on which it was simmering had to be lowered to exactly the right level for a very specific number of minutes before the final ingredients were added.
This was also a solo work so Harry got to work on his Potion as he saw Daphne working on hers.
A light silver vapour should now be rising from your potion," called Snape, when there was only ten minutes left to go.
Harry looked around the dungeon and saw that the surface of Daphne's potion was a shimmering mist of silver vapour
Which thankfully he was able to do on his own to a fairly good amount.
Daphne was the Potions Expert though.
"Fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name and bring it up to my desk for testing," said Snape. "Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion making, to be handed in on Thursday."
Harry,Daphne and everyone else walked up to Snape's desk with their filled and corked flagons.
Soon the bell rang and they were out the door.
SCENE CHANGE
They then had Charms followed by Transfiguration. Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall both spent the first fifteen minutes of their lessons lecturing the class on the importance of OWLs.
"What you must remember," said Professor Flitwick squeakily perched as ever on a pile of
books so that he could see over the top of his desk, "is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come! If you have not already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!"
They then spent over a long time reviewing Summoning Charms, which according to Professor Flitwick were bound to come up in their OWL, and he rounded off the lesson by setting them their largest ever amount of Charms homework.
It was the same, if not worse, in Transfiguration.
"You cannot pass an OWL," said Professor McGonagall grimly, "without serious application,
practice and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an OWL in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work."
"Today we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until NEWT level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your OWL."
They then worked on Vanishing before heading off to Herbology.
To nobody's surprise, Professor Sprout started their lesson by lecturing them about the
importance of OWLs. Harry wished all the teachers would stop doing this
Professor Sprout then gave them an essay at the end of class. Tired and smelling strongly of dragon dung, Professor Sprout's preferred type of fertilizer, the Slytherins trooped back up to the castle an hour and a half later, none of them were talking very much; it had been another long day.
They had one more class left in the day
Home Ed with Delores Umbridge
SCENE CHANGE
When they entered the new classroom they found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teacher's desk wearing the fluffy pink cardigan she had worn the night before and a black velvet bow was on top of her head.
The class was quiet as it entered the room; Professor Umbridge was, as yet, an unknown quantity and nobody knew how strict a disciplinarian she was likely to be.
"Well, good afternoon!" she said, when finally the whole class had sat down.
A few people mumbled "good afternoon" in reply.
"Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge. "That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to
reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge'. One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"
"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they chanted back at her.
"There, now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."
Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks; the order "wands away" had never yet been
followed by a lesson they had found interesting. Harry and Daphne shoved their wands back inside their bags and pulled out their quills, ink and parchment. Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, extracted her own wand, which was an unusually short one, and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once:
Like a mile of words.
More than Harry had ever seen before, even from Master Dao.
As students copied Umbridge she spoke to the class "Now we will be following a carefully structured, theory-centerd, Ministry-approved course this year. Copy down the following, please."
She rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished and was replaced by a list of Course Aims
For a couple of minutes the room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. When everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge's fifteen course aims she asked, "Was everybody owled a copy of the reading for this year?"
There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class.
"I think we'll try that again," said Professor Umbridge. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply, 'Yes, Professor Umbridge', or 'No, Professor Umbridge'. So: has everyone got a copy of the reading?"
"Yes, Professor Umbridge," rang through the room.
"Good," said Professor Umbridge. "I should like you to turn to page five and start to read 'Chapter One. There will be no need to talk."
Professor Umbridge left the blackboard and settled herself in the chair behind the teacher's desk, observing them all closely. Harry turned to page five of what he had been sent over the summer for his class and started to read.
The class quickly turned to be desperately dull as bad as listening to Professor Binns. Harry felt his concentration sliding away from him; he had soon read the same line half a dozen times without taking in more than the first few words. Several silent minutes passed. Next to him, Daphne was absent-mindedly turning her quill over and over in her fingers, staring at the same spot on the page and scowling.
When the class eventually ended Daphne put her arm in Harrys.
"I didint like that class, '' she whispered softly.
The next day they had Defense Against the Dark Arts with Pius Thicknesse who it turns out was worse than Lockhart and just like Umbridge had them read from a book.
Harry did not like the class.
After that they were in Transfiguration where Professor McGonagall marched into the room
"That will do," she said and silence fell immediately.
She then gave a student their homework back to hand out.
Harry got his essay back and was happy to see that he had managed an A.
Looking to the side he saw Daphne had goten a A to.
"Right then, everyone, listen closely - most of you have now successfully Vanished your snails and even those who were left with a certain amount of shell have got the gist of the spell. Today, we shall be practicing the altogether more difficult Vanishment of mice. Now, the Vanishing Spell becomes more difficult with the complexity of the animal to be Vanished. The snail, as an invertebrate, does not present much of a challenge; the mouse, as a mammal, offers a much greater one. This is not, therefore, magic you can accomplish with your mind on your dinner. So - you know the incantation, let me see what you can do…"
Daphne and Harry exchanged small talk as they worked about their class with Professor Umbridge next period.
"I really hope we do something more than just read"Daphne said "Ive already read close to half the book she gave us already".
Harry chuckled.
Of course Daphne would have.
He hoped that they covered a bit more in Home Ed for Daphne's sake.
And in DADA for his sake.
But sadly that was not to be.
Umbridge was humming and smiling to herself when they entered the room.
Professor Umbridge once they all entered called them all to order and silence fell "As we finished Chapter One last lesson, I would like you all to turn to page nineteen today and commence Chapter Two,There will be no need to talk."
Still smiling, she sat down at her desk. The class gave an audible sigh as it turned, as one, to page nineteen. Harry wondered whether there were enough chapters in the book to keep them reading through all this year's lessons.
After all, Daphne had already gotten through most of it allready.
SCENE CHANGE
After Lunch Harry and Daphne met Layla and Edmund in the Library.
The conversation turned to Umbridge and Thicknesse.
Especially Thicknesse
"I heard"Edmund said "That the plan was that Thicknesse is only staying for a year and then Umbridge will be the DADA Professor next year.
"Thats horrible"Daphne said "We need to do something about them they are both dreadful teachers and we're not going to learn anything from them at all,"
"What can we do about that?" said Edmund, yawning. "The two of them have their jobs and they are here to stay. Fudge will make sure of that."
Daphne looked like she had an idea just then.
"Well," said Daphne tentatively. "You know, I was thinking that - maybe the time's come when we should just - just do it ourselves."
"Do what ourselves?" said Harry
"Well - learn Defense Against the Dark Arts ourselves," said Daphne.
"We can go and look jinxes up in the library and try and practice them, I suppose -"Layla said.
"No, we've gone past the stage where we can just learn things out of books"' said
Daphne. "We need a teacher, a proper one, who can show us how to use the spells and correct us if we're going wrong."
"Who, then?" said Harry, frowning at her.
Daphne heaved a very deep sigh.
"Isn't it obvious?" she said. "I'm talking about you, Harry."
There was a moment's silence.
"About me what?" said Harry.
"I'm talking about you teaching us Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Harry stared at her. Then he turned to Edmund to see that he was frowning slightly, apparently thinking. Then he said, "That's an idea."
"What's an idea?" said Harry.
"You," said Edmund. "Teaching us to do it."
"But I'm not a teacher, I can't -"
"Harry, you're the best in the year at Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Daphne leaning into Harry and whispering "Think about what you've done!"
"What do you mean? "Harry asked.
"Let's think, you saved the Sorcerer's Stone from You-Know-Who, you killed the Basilisk and destroyed Riddle, became an Animagus, learned Occmulcy and destroyed the Slytherin Hierarchy by fifteen "Daphne said.
"You make that sound very grand, "Harry said dryly.
"My fiancé is a hero after all"Daphne said, kissing him.
"Ok"Harry said "I'll think about it".