Chapter Six: Magic Classes

Harry was already facing a conundrum in his very first magic class.

As eager and excited as he was to start learning magic, he hadn't exactly come to terms with the fact that he was going to be sitting close to a bunch of people he knew nothing about. Was surrounded by them, in fact.

Okay, he knew Ron, Hermione, and that Malfoy kid on the other side of the room, but that was it. And he really only kind of knew them. He could count the number of conversations he'd had with each of them on one hand.

The boy kept his head low, glancing around warily at the other students. His nerves were only just kept under control by the familiar weight of Selena curled up in his hood. She wasn't exactly thrilled about this, either, but it was something they'd both have to get used to.

The door at the entrance to the classroom suddenly slammed shut, making Harry jump in his seat. He spun his head over his shoulder and Selena hissed aggressively, lifting her head to glare at the source of his disturbance. Both of them tensed somewhat at the sight of Professor Snape—the resident Potions Master—striding into the room, his black cloak billowing behind him and a scowl set on his face.

All of the children fell silent as their teacher made his way to the front of the room, seemingly irritated by something. "Let it be known that there will be no foolish waving of wands in this classroom, unless you would like to spend a not-insignificant amount of time in detention. Uncontrolled magic does not mix well with the potions we will brew here, and I will not remind you more than once that such a thing can make you suffer a fate worse than death."

Snape clasped his hands together in front of him, his dark, hawk-like eyes flitting over the students with unnerving intensity. "Even so, I don't expect all of you—or even a few—to comprehend or appreciate the subtleties of potion-making. For those few of you who can, I can teach you to bewitch the mind and bring your enemies to heel. I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death."

Selena's eyes glowed with something like disdain. "He's too dramatic. I don't believe him."

"What if he's telling the truth?" Harry whispered back, a little scared at the idea of what Snape could do.

"Then he is a dangerous man, indeed."

"Then again," Snape's voice regained Harry's total attention and he realized, cringing, that the man was looking right at him. "Perhaps some of you have come to Hogwarts blessed with such incredible gifts that you feel it acceptable to not pay attention."

Harry lowered his head in embarrassment, but none of the class dared to laugh with Snape scowling like he was. It wasn't like he'd been ignoring Snape at all. He'd only barely glanced away for half a second to speak to Selena…

"Mr. Potter," the Professor's voice dripped with something mocking. "Our new…celebrity."

Before he could say anything else, Selena's head lifted from Harry's hood and she glared at Snape dangerously. The Professor met the serpent's gaze without fear, and in fact, seemed more annoyed by her presence than anything.

"Selena, stop," Harry pleaded.

"He is intentionally making you uncomfortable," she hissed back, tail tip vibrating dangerously. "If he wishes to speak to you in such a manner, then he may do so whilst facing me."

Snape lifted an eyebrow at the exchange between the boy and snake. "Unless your pet is volunteering to use her skin in one of our experiments, I suggest you order her back into your cloak, Mr. Potter."

"I'm sorry sir," he replied in a small voice. "She's just—she's protective…"

"I do not care," Snape retorted. "Keep her at heel from now on or I will not hesitate to give you detention."

"Yes, sir," Harry said meekly, giving Selena a pleading glance. The Basilisk glared at Snape for one more moment before slowly curling back into Harry's hood. He lowered his head close to the desk and prayed that class would end as soon as possible. He wanted to get out of here, away from Snape.

Potions class came to an end and Harry was ready to practically bolt from his desk when Snape stopped in front of his seat, placing a hand on the wood. "Mr. Potter, a word. In my office."

Harry cringed, his shoulders sagging. He was in trouble. His first class of his first day at Hogwarts and he was already in trouble. Selena glared at Snape balefully from Harry's hood, but the Potion's Master did not care.

He followed Snape into the man's office and waited as the door closed behind them. Snape walked past the boy to his desk, where he sat down and stared at Harry with narrowed eyes. For a few moments, he said nothing, and Harry was positive the man wanted nothing more than to make him as uncomfortable as possible.

"I sincerely hope I do not have to tell you off for letting your pet do as she pleases in class again," Snape warned him. "She should be in that suitcase Mr. Scamander is working on."

"He hasn't finished it yet," Harry replied weakly. "I'm sorry, Professor, really. She's just—Selena just wants to protect me."

"So I've noticed," Snape said dryly, sarcasm dripping from his every word. "But what, pray tell, was so important as to draw your attention away during the lecture?"

Harry swallowed, his throat tight with nerves. "She thinks you're dangerous."

Snape's eyebrows rose. "For what reason?"

The boy barely resisted the urge to hide the disbelief in his eyes as he looked back at Snape. "For what you said at the start of the lecture—about bewitching minds and putting stoppers in death."

"Young though she is, I do not see why a Basilisk, capable of bringing death with a mere glance, would find my abilities to be any sort of threat," Snape commented. "She certainly possesses enough arrogance to face me in my own classroom."

There was something cold about Snape's eyes that had Harry leaning away from him, his fists clenching tightly. He reminded Harry of Vernon in that way—his condescension and willingness to bring the boy discomfort was almost uncanny.

Snape noticed the body language and his brow furrowed for a moment. Then he blinked and seemed to realize something. "She is not afraid of me. You are."

He seemed to be looking through Harry and the boy shivered. He wanted to leave. He didn't like this. He didn't want to be here with this man. He didn't feel safe in this small room. He—

"Harry!" Selena's urgent hiss in his ear jarred him back to reality. He was shaking as Snape's brow furrowed more deeply.

The Professor stood up from his desk like a cloaked wraith and started to move so as to approach Harry. "Boy—"

"Stay away from me," Harry whispered, stepping back so he was leaning against the door. Selena left his hood to coil around the boy's neck, pressing her snout to his forehead in an attempt to calm him.

Snape paused and studied Harry for a few seconds. He was quiet as he considered the child, then inclined his head slightly. "Go. You are dismissed."

Harry scrabbled for the handle and practically threw the door open before half-running out of the office and classroom, ignoring the other students. Snape watched him go before waving his wand to close the door. He returned to his desk and sat down in his chair, pondering the short meeting.

Potter was afraid of him. Not in the way his other students feared him, either. They were just afraid of detention, which he would be more than willing to hand out for those that did not follow his rules and standards.

This was a different kind of fear. Snape had expected the boy to be more defiant in his defense for so small a transgression—his father certainly would have. He looked so much like James that Snape had felt just annoyed enough by the mere sight of him to bite at the child when he showed even the slightest hint of slacking off in class.

James had not been timid or afraid of anything. Harry was acting more like Lily, but she had been as defiant as James in her own, quiet manner. Harry was none of those things, and Snape didn't like how…disturbed the child had been by his mere presence.

He looked over to one of the few paintings he kept in his office, whistling to get the attention of the people in the portrait. "One of you go to the Headmaster's office and inform him that I will be paying him a visit after my next class is over."

Harry didn't go to his next class. He knew he should have done so, especially since it was Charms with Professor Flitwick—who had been working on Selena's new home with Mr. Scamander—but he didn't want to be anywhere near other people right now. He wasn't sure if he would be able to stand it.

"Harry," Selena murmured to him gently. "Harry, go outside. You need air."

He only acknowledged her with a nod as he slipped into the courtyard and made his way across the grounds for the lake. Harry ignored the curious stares of the other students watching him and picked up the pace—he wanted to be away from them.

After several minutes of walking, he reached the shoreline of the lake and found a large rock to sit down on. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, lowering his head and letting his mouth fall open wide to take in a huge breath of air.

Selena slithered off his neck and curled over his shoulders, draping her weight over as much of him as she could manage. Her head came up to press her nose into his hair and she began to hum quietly.

"Hush," she whispered. "Breathe, my love. You are safe. I am here."

He closed his eyes and nodded jerkily, sucking in another breath of air his pounding heart desperately needed. Harry wasn't sure how long he sat there, trying to calm his rabbiting heartbeat and regain his breath, but eventually he managed to settle enough to think.

Selena's tongue flickered out to caress his cheek. "There you go…"

"I'm sorry…I didn't…" He trailed off, falling silent.

"You do not have to apologize to me for such a thing, Harry," Selena murmured. "You were scared and you had every right to be."

Harry was quiet for a few more seconds before he spoke again. "I have to go back to his class tomorrow."

"And still I will be there," she promised him, humming to soothe his distressed nerves. Harry closed his eyes and leaned his head into Selena's as much as he could. He decided to stay here and recover until it was time for Transfiguration. He wasn't sure if he could bear the embarrassment of walking into Charms class so late. He'd apologize to Flitwick tomorrow for missing the first day and hope he wouldn't be punished too badly for it.

"Enough thinking, Harry," Selena told him, nosing at his cheek. "Relax and watch the water with me."

So he did.

McGonagall's class was more bearable once Harry had recovered himself. She wasn't nearly as intimidating as Snape had been and the class itself was really interesting. Harry wondered if they would learn about Animagi in this class—he'd read about them to some extent in his books, and the concept of turning into an animal was fascinating to him.

What sort of animal would he turn into if ever he learned how to become an Animagus?

That thought hounded him all the way to Herbology, where Professor Sprout was teaching them the basics of her craft. He found Herbology to be equally interesting, if only because the idea of growing a garden had always kind of appealed to him. Maybe he could make one in the suitcase once it was prepared?

Amidst the various magic classes he was introduced to throughout the morning, he became more and more aware of Selena's growing hunger. She was getting a little more antsy with every hour that passed by, which he was coming to learn meant that the young Basilisk was getting peckish.

Lunchtime rolled around and she hissed into Harry's ear the moment they reached the Great Hall.

"I require sustenance."

Harry's lips quirked up in a smile as he hissed back softly. "I thought you were getting a little hungry. Hold that thought, I'll see what I can do."

He strode up the Hall, past the other students to where some of the teachers and staff were eating at the front. Fortunately for them, Hagrid was currently eating on the far left side of the table, and that was who Harry approached.

"Hullo there, Harry!" Hagrid greeted him cheerily. "What can I do for ya?"

"Hi, Hagrid," Harry returned the greeting with a small smile and held his hand up to guide Selena forward. "Um, I don't suppose you have a rat on you, or something? She's hungry."

"Is that right?" Hagrid chuckled as the small serpent eyed him dryly. "Hold that thought, lad."

Hagrid paused for a moment and said nothing, and then with a crack of magic, a fat rat appeared on the table before him. The half-giant slapped his hand down to trap the furry creature, which squealed under the weight, but Hagrid was careful not to accidentally crush it.

Harry stared with wide eyes. "How did you—"

"If you're looking for something to eat, for you or lil' Selena here," Hagrid began, smiling. "Just think it. Something'll pop up for her."

"Inform the giant that if he enjoys having that hand attached to his body, he will release that rat and allow me to feed," Selena hissed in excitement, her tail tip vibrating fiercely.

Harry rolled his eyes and passed on the message in a language Hagrid would understand. The half-giant chuckled. "An' a one, two, three!"

His hand flew off the rat and Selena lunged at it from Harry's shoulder, practically tackling the fuzzy creature off the table and onto the floor behind Hagrid's chair. The rat squealed as Selena did her work and Hagrid laughed uproariously, whilst Harry merely shook his head.

He glanced further down the table and spotted Professor Flitwick at the opposite end. The diminutive Professor was currently enjoying his own lunch, and Harry bit his lip as he remembered that he owed the man an apology for skipping out on his class.

"I'll be right back," Harry told Hagrid. "I have to talk to Professor Flitwick. Enjoy your lunch, Selena."

The distracted hiss from somewhere below the table was the only response he got, to which Hagrid snorted in amusement. "I'll keep an eye on 'er."

Harry nodded his thanks and then walked down the table to meet Professor Flitwick, leaving Selena to eat and Hagrid to observe the tiny Basilisk in action.

"Guess it's just you an' me, eh?" Hagrid beamed down at the serpent.

Selena just looked up at him with her jaws wrapped around the rat, annoyed by the chuckling giant who was fully aware she could not respond at that particular moment.

Severus Snape was scowling. Normally, this was not an uncommon occurrence, but the ferocity of his scowl was a bit out of the ordinary, which Dumbledore noticed with ease.

"The Basilisk aside, you failed to mention Potter's circumstances before his arrival," Snape growled in irritation.

"I did not want bias to color the teachers' impressions of him," Dumbledore replied, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"You mean no more so than they already would be?"

Dumbledore raised his head to meet the challenge with a steady gaze. "You and I know full well the teachers here are professional enough to not allow Harry's celebrity status to affect their opinions of him, Severus."

Snape wanted to bite that there were probably a few teachers with a few less scruples than the likes of McGonnagal or Flitwick, but he let the thought die. Dumbledore was right, as annoyingly common as that happened to be.

"This incident was my fault," Severus admitted bitterly. "But this could have been avoided if you'd simply told me—"

"Told you what?" Dumbledore interrupted. "That he is not James or Lily, regardless of your relationships with the two of them? That his scars have affected him terribly, but are not what truly make him Harry Potter? You're a smart man, Severus. You should have been able to realize that regardless of who he looks like. You let your history cloud your judgement and you lashed out at him."

Snape had a scathing retort ready to snap back with, but in the end, he held his tongue. He despised being wrong. His failures had always been what defined him, and never his successes.

"It is just the first day," Dumbledore told the embittered man more quietly. "There are many more ahead of you."

"The boy is afraid of me," Snape retorted. "What do you suggest I do? Haul him into my office after class tomorrow and tell him not to be?"

"No," the Headmaster answered with a slight twinkle in his eye. "No, that would not be wise. Give him time. Give him the benefit of the doubt. You are a good teacher, Severus. I know you are. So teach him. Show the boy that you are not what he thinks you are and in time, he will come to forgive you."

"You seem awfully sure about that," Snape muttered, turning to leave his superior's office.

"Call it a hunch," Dumbledore merely shrugged before calling after him. "And Severus?"

"Yes?"

"The Basilisk is quite possible the only one Harry feels truly safe around at the moment," Dumbledore told him, smiling just the slightest. "If you wish for Harry to forgive you, might I suggest not threatening to use her entrails in one of your potions?"

Severus had the funniest feeling the old man was probably laughing on the inside.

The final class for the day was Madam Hooch's broomstick lessons. Selena had very firm thoughts on the matter.

"I will not be flying," she said with no small amount of certainty. "My belly is full and I belong on the ground. This snake will not be climbing into the air for any reason whatsoever, thank you very much."

Harry smirked and flashed a glance at the Basilisk, who was coiled up on his stack of books and watching the students as they made their way outside. "Do you want to wait for me here, then?"

"I suppose I could take a nap while you're flying about like a maniac," she responded dryly. "Do try not to crash."

"I'll be careful," he replied, leaving Selena to her nap.

As he joined the rest of the students outside, he was pointedly aware of how several of the other children were giving him uneasy glances. He knew it was because he could talk to Selena via her serpentine language, and he knew that it made them uncomfortable, but he couldn't really bring himself to care.

"How do you talk to it?"

It took Harry a moment to realize someone was addressing him, and another moment to realize it was Malfoy asking the question. Right—some of the Slytherin first years were sharing this class with them.

Harry just shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've just…always been able to talk to snakes."

"Any snake?" Malfoy asked, one eyebrow raised curiously.

"If they feel like talking, yes," he admitted.

"What do they talk about?" That was Hermione, always fascinated by Harry's ability to speak Parseltongue.

"Depends," Harry shrugged again, doing his best not to focus on the attention he was getting. "Most of the little ones just like to chatter aimlessly. The bigger snakes are a bit lazier."

"And what about that one?" Malfoy nodded back towards the way they came, where the students all knew Selena was waiting with Harry's things.

"Selena?" Harry pursed his lips and smiled some. "Well…she likes to complain. But she means well, most of the time."

Malfoy hummed noncommittally before smirking. "I saw her tackle a rat off the table with Hagrid at lunch. Bloody freaky, that."

"She was hungry," Harry answered, shifting in place. He was getting a bit uncomfortable with all the attention, but thankfully, Madam Hooch chose that moment to walk to the students and start the class.

Harry decided he liked the idea of flying, especially since the broom was so willing to leap into his hand when he called it to him.

Unfortunately, it appeared that flight was not for everyone.

A brief, but violent flight through the air and a bad crash landing saw Neville with a broken wrist, and Hooch escorted the injured boy to the infirmary whilst simultaneously demanding the students not attempt another flight until her return under pain of detention.

Neville had, unfortunately, lost something during his vicious crash landing, which Malfoy picked up with a sneer. It was a remembrall Neville's grandmother had given him before he left for Hogwarts.

"Did you see his face?" Malfoy sniggered, waving the magic ball around in his hand. "Maybe if he gave this a squeeze, he'd have remembered to land on his fat ass!"

Rolling his eyes amidst the chorus of laughter, Harry held his hand out to Malfoy. "Let me have it. I'll give it back to him in the Common Room."

"Nah," Malfoy refused, smirking. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for the lug to find on his own."

With a quick kickoff, Malfoy was on his broom and flying like a pro. He'd clearly flown before, and had enough experience to make it look easy. "How about on the roof?"

Harry frowned deeply as he watched Malfoy ascend at least thirty feet up on his broom. The Slytherin boy called down to him. "What's the matter? Bit beyond your reach?"

He knew it was a challenge, but Harry wasn't an idiot. He didn't know how to use a broom and he most certainly didn't want Madam Hooch to come back and find him trying (and likely failing) to fly around like a maniac in his attempts to catch Malfoy, who obviously knew what he was doing.

"I could just wait for Madam Hooch to get back here to rip you a new one," he pointed out.

"Eh, I'll be back down on the ground before she gets back," Malfoy drawled, tossing the remembrall back and forth in his hands. "This cheap thing might be in a million pieces, though."

Harry considered it for a few seconds before shrugging. "Well, go on. Give it a go."

Hermione shot him an incredulous look. "Harry!"

"I'll take care of it," he muttered back to her. She blinked at him, cocking her head curiously.

Malfoy just took the invitation for what it was. "Bombs away!"

He threw the remembrall as far as he could across the yard, sending it whistling through the air for several seconds before it hit the ground with a sharp crash, splintering into a multitude of fragments.

Harry left his broom and walked over to the shattered pieces while Ron yelled up at Malfoy. "Git!"

"Jog on, Weasley," the blonde scoffed, wheeling around in the air as he descended.

Harry knelt by the mess of the remembrall and extracted his wand from his robes, pointing at the wreckage and frowning in concentration. "Reparo."

He carefully, slowly put the pieces back together with his magic. Although he'd yet to find an opportunity to practice this particular spell, it was a relatively simple charm being used on a relatively simple object. It took him a little less than a minute, but eventually, the remembrall was back in one piece.

Satisfied that it was at least put together, (and hopefully functional) he picked the item up and pocketed it. He stood up and turned around, returning to his class.

"Where'd you learn that one, mate?" Ron asked, looking a little surprised. "We barely just started learning levitation stuff in Charms."

"I read about it," he shrugged back. "It's a useful spell."

"You're no fun, Potter," Malfoy complained.

"I'm not a prat," he retorted. "There's a difference."

The blonde's face colored as some of the class snickered, but Harry couldn't care less. He'd return the remembrall to Neville once the boy had returned from the hospital wing. It wasn't that big of a deal.

Besides, he got to successfully test a new spell. That was a plus.