A/N: Here ya go! You may be pleased to know that I've decided to be
sensible and I'm now planning the chapters BEFORE I write them.
A/A/N: As one of my lovely, amazing, brilliant, wonderful (etc) reviewers mentioned, if I did one chapter per lesson this story would be EXTREMELY long. As tempting as it sounds, I'm only going to do a chapter per lesson for the first day. After that, I'm going to get a move on. I have no idea how long the story will be, as I've only planned up to Chapter 12 so far. (I will plan following chapters after I've finished writing this one!)
Y/A/A/N: I will be writing a final 'chappette' for Looking Back, basically explaining it in more detail for people who found it too cryptic. And YES, there WILL be a sequel (not just yet though!)
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, only the plot, and maybe not even that, cos someone's probably written this story already (You never know!).
1 Dies Diem Docet
Chapter Eleven: First Day – Grey's Lesson.
Fortunately for Ron, lunch that day was particularly filling. After having Spaghetti Bolognaise, followed by an extremely large portion of Apple Crumble, he actually announced that he was feeling full. This surprised Harry and Hermione, as neither of them remembered Ron ever being full. He was usually thinking of his stomach and complaining that the next meal was too far away.
However, Ron was not allowed to enjoy his lunch as slowly as he would have liked. All three of them were rushing lunch in order to get to Care Of Magical Creatures early, in order to talk with Professor 'Grey'. The left lunch a mere ten minutes after first sitting down, and ran across the grounds to the lesson. Halfway there, Ron realised that it is not a good idea to run on a full stomach, so walked the rest of the way.
As they had hoped, they were the first to arrive at Hagrid's Hut, although Hagrid wasn't actually living there, as he was away on 'Hogwarts Business'. Professor Grey was there, preparing for the lesson. He had a pen full of creatures that looked like hedgehogs. Surely they weren't studying them? At least if they were, they looked a lot friendlier than Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts, which had turned out to be, mildly aggressive. (A/N: More like Lethal!) However, before they had a chance to examine them in more detail, Professor Grey noticed them and they went over to talk to him.
"Hello you three, how has your first day been?" Snuffles asked them.
"Let me see, Malfoy tried to kill Dumbledore by making an Ageing Potion instead of a Swelling Solution, so he got a detention AND 100 points off Slytherin," at this, Snuffles grinned, "Dumbledore told me I was stupid for taking the potion without knowing what it was, we both have to see him tonight, Neville got a potion correct, Remus said you were taming a Manticore for our lesson, we did the Imperious Curse in DADA and Remus took pictures of Neville singing the BeeGees and Lavender acting like a Chimpanzee. That's about it really." Harry told him. (A/N: WOW! I just summed up the previous two chapters in 91 words!)
"Not too much then. What lesson do you have after this one?"
Harry answered, "Divination" while Hermione said, "Arithmancy" and Ron just groaned. Snuffles laughed.
"I see you two enjoy Divination just as much as I used to! Do you by any chance make up your homework?" When Harry and Ron nodded, he said, "We used to as well. So long as it was depressing enough Trelawny loved it."
"So, how are you enjoying teaching at Hogwarts Sirius?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, I love it so far! The Slytherins are a pain up the backside, but I'm coping. It's great just being here again. I feel like I have found a part of me that I lost when I graduated."
Harry understood that feeling. Every year, when he returned to Hogwarts after the Summer Holidays, he felt like he was complete. Magic, having been absent from his life until he found out he was a wizard, was now an important part of him that he felt lonely without. It seemed like every time he left at the end of the year, the magic stayed at Hogwarts, waiting for him.
It turned out that Sirius was getting rather bored. When he had been at Hogwarts, he had never gone this long without playing a prank. He told them that he was longing to play pranks on the Professors, especially a certain Head Of Slytherin called Severus Snape. However, that plan had been put on hold, as Snape was not at school that year. He also did not like being Professor Grey. It seemed that having grey instead of black hair did not agree with him.
Just then, the rest of the class arrived. As usual, the Slytherins were bringing up the rear, talking quietly amongst themselves. Harry suspected Malfoy was thinking how to disrupt the lesson. However, Malfoy had not reckoned with Professor Grey. Harry was to see a different side of his Godfather that morning. His serious side. (A/N: no joke intended)
"Good Afternoon class. I am your new Care Of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Grey. For half of you, I am also one of your two Heads of House. I demand constant concentration in this class, as some of the creatures we study this year could be dangerous."
Malfoy, as usual, was not listening. He was talking to Crabbe and Goyle, laughing about something. Harry remembered the last time Malfoy did not listen in Care Of Magical Creatures. Buckbeak the Hippogriff had attacked Malfoy because he had insulted him, despite Hagrid saying you should never insult a Hippogriff.
"Today we shall be studying Knarls. Can anybody tell me what a Knarl is?"
Hermione, of course, put her hand up immediately. She was the only person. Of course, when she answered, she sounded like she had swallowed the textbook.
"The Knarl is often mistaken for a hedgehog by Muggles. The two species are indeed indistinguishable except for one important behavioural difference: if food is left out in the garden for a hedgehog, it will accept and enjoy the gift; if food is offered to a Knarl, it will assume that the householder is attempting to lure it into a trap and will savage that householder's garden plants or garden ornaments."
"Absolutely correct Hermione, 10 points to Gryffindor. Can anybody tell me where Knarls are found?"
Once again, Hermione was the only person with her hand up.
"Knarls are found in Northern Europe and America."
"Correct, another 5 points to Gryffindor. Will everybody please open their copied of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them to page 24, then collect one Knarl between three pupils, and make notes."
Harry opened his book. To his slight surprise, he saw that Hermione had in fact repeated the definition of a Knarl exactly! He wondered how many times Hermione had read the book, but decided against asking her.
They had a pleasant lesson, watching the Knarl wander around, and talking amongst themselves. Harry noticed Malfoy actually eating a bacon sandwich, but did not expect even Malfoy to do what he did next. Malfoy gave the Knarl some bacon. Immediately, the Knarl ran towards the pumpkin patch, which it then proceeded to attack. Professor Grey noticed this and went and picked the Knarl up, before putting it back in the pen. When he turned around, Harry noticed his face was full of suppressed rage.
"Who gave the Knarl food?"
Malfoy raised his hand. "I did Professor. I thought it looked hungry."
"Were you not listening when I said that you should never offer Knarls food? In fact, why were you eating in my class in the first place? Detention and 20 points from Slytherin."
Harry could hardly believe it. On the first day of lessons, Malfoy had got two detentions and lost Slytherin 120 points! That meant that things were looking up for Gryffindor, especially without Snape there to constantly deduct points.
Professor Grey did not seem in the mood to continue teaching after that. So the class was dismissed early. Harry, Ron and Hermione stayed to talk to Snuffles for a bit longer. They arranged to meet with him in the Three Broomsticks at the next Hogsmeade weekend for an 'extra lesson'. In other words, a butterbeer. They said goodbye to Snuffles and made their way back to the castle. Hermione went to Arithmancy, while Harry and Ron made their way up to Divination. Arriving at the landing below the classroom just in time, as the ladder that led up to the classroom had just been let down.
WOW! A very long chapter by my standards! I hope you enjoyed it! Chapter 12 should be out soon.
See that little button at the bottom of the page? Lower, lower, left a bit, that's it! CLICK ON IT AND REVIEW!
A/A/N: As one of my lovely, amazing, brilliant, wonderful (etc) reviewers mentioned, if I did one chapter per lesson this story would be EXTREMELY long. As tempting as it sounds, I'm only going to do a chapter per lesson for the first day. After that, I'm going to get a move on. I have no idea how long the story will be, as I've only planned up to Chapter 12 so far. (I will plan following chapters after I've finished writing this one!)
Y/A/A/N: I will be writing a final 'chappette' for Looking Back, basically explaining it in more detail for people who found it too cryptic. And YES, there WILL be a sequel (not just yet though!)
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, only the plot, and maybe not even that, cos someone's probably written this story already (You never know!).
1 Dies Diem Docet
Chapter Eleven: First Day – Grey's Lesson.
Fortunately for Ron, lunch that day was particularly filling. After having Spaghetti Bolognaise, followed by an extremely large portion of Apple Crumble, he actually announced that he was feeling full. This surprised Harry and Hermione, as neither of them remembered Ron ever being full. He was usually thinking of his stomach and complaining that the next meal was too far away.
However, Ron was not allowed to enjoy his lunch as slowly as he would have liked. All three of them were rushing lunch in order to get to Care Of Magical Creatures early, in order to talk with Professor 'Grey'. The left lunch a mere ten minutes after first sitting down, and ran across the grounds to the lesson. Halfway there, Ron realised that it is not a good idea to run on a full stomach, so walked the rest of the way.
As they had hoped, they were the first to arrive at Hagrid's Hut, although Hagrid wasn't actually living there, as he was away on 'Hogwarts Business'. Professor Grey was there, preparing for the lesson. He had a pen full of creatures that looked like hedgehogs. Surely they weren't studying them? At least if they were, they looked a lot friendlier than Hagrid's Blast-Ended Skrewts, which had turned out to be, mildly aggressive. (A/N: More like Lethal!) However, before they had a chance to examine them in more detail, Professor Grey noticed them and they went over to talk to him.
"Hello you three, how has your first day been?" Snuffles asked them.
"Let me see, Malfoy tried to kill Dumbledore by making an Ageing Potion instead of a Swelling Solution, so he got a detention AND 100 points off Slytherin," at this, Snuffles grinned, "Dumbledore told me I was stupid for taking the potion without knowing what it was, we both have to see him tonight, Neville got a potion correct, Remus said you were taming a Manticore for our lesson, we did the Imperious Curse in DADA and Remus took pictures of Neville singing the BeeGees and Lavender acting like a Chimpanzee. That's about it really." Harry told him. (A/N: WOW! I just summed up the previous two chapters in 91 words!)
"Not too much then. What lesson do you have after this one?"
Harry answered, "Divination" while Hermione said, "Arithmancy" and Ron just groaned. Snuffles laughed.
"I see you two enjoy Divination just as much as I used to! Do you by any chance make up your homework?" When Harry and Ron nodded, he said, "We used to as well. So long as it was depressing enough Trelawny loved it."
"So, how are you enjoying teaching at Hogwarts Sirius?" Hermione asked.
"Oh, I love it so far! The Slytherins are a pain up the backside, but I'm coping. It's great just being here again. I feel like I have found a part of me that I lost when I graduated."
Harry understood that feeling. Every year, when he returned to Hogwarts after the Summer Holidays, he felt like he was complete. Magic, having been absent from his life until he found out he was a wizard, was now an important part of him that he felt lonely without. It seemed like every time he left at the end of the year, the magic stayed at Hogwarts, waiting for him.
It turned out that Sirius was getting rather bored. When he had been at Hogwarts, he had never gone this long without playing a prank. He told them that he was longing to play pranks on the Professors, especially a certain Head Of Slytherin called Severus Snape. However, that plan had been put on hold, as Snape was not at school that year. He also did not like being Professor Grey. It seemed that having grey instead of black hair did not agree with him.
Just then, the rest of the class arrived. As usual, the Slytherins were bringing up the rear, talking quietly amongst themselves. Harry suspected Malfoy was thinking how to disrupt the lesson. However, Malfoy had not reckoned with Professor Grey. Harry was to see a different side of his Godfather that morning. His serious side. (A/N: no joke intended)
"Good Afternoon class. I am your new Care Of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Grey. For half of you, I am also one of your two Heads of House. I demand constant concentration in this class, as some of the creatures we study this year could be dangerous."
Malfoy, as usual, was not listening. He was talking to Crabbe and Goyle, laughing about something. Harry remembered the last time Malfoy did not listen in Care Of Magical Creatures. Buckbeak the Hippogriff had attacked Malfoy because he had insulted him, despite Hagrid saying you should never insult a Hippogriff.
"Today we shall be studying Knarls. Can anybody tell me what a Knarl is?"
Hermione, of course, put her hand up immediately. She was the only person. Of course, when she answered, she sounded like she had swallowed the textbook.
"The Knarl is often mistaken for a hedgehog by Muggles. The two species are indeed indistinguishable except for one important behavioural difference: if food is left out in the garden for a hedgehog, it will accept and enjoy the gift; if food is offered to a Knarl, it will assume that the householder is attempting to lure it into a trap and will savage that householder's garden plants or garden ornaments."
"Absolutely correct Hermione, 10 points to Gryffindor. Can anybody tell me where Knarls are found?"
Once again, Hermione was the only person with her hand up.
"Knarls are found in Northern Europe and America."
"Correct, another 5 points to Gryffindor. Will everybody please open their copied of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them to page 24, then collect one Knarl between three pupils, and make notes."
Harry opened his book. To his slight surprise, he saw that Hermione had in fact repeated the definition of a Knarl exactly! He wondered how many times Hermione had read the book, but decided against asking her.
They had a pleasant lesson, watching the Knarl wander around, and talking amongst themselves. Harry noticed Malfoy actually eating a bacon sandwich, but did not expect even Malfoy to do what he did next. Malfoy gave the Knarl some bacon. Immediately, the Knarl ran towards the pumpkin patch, which it then proceeded to attack. Professor Grey noticed this and went and picked the Knarl up, before putting it back in the pen. When he turned around, Harry noticed his face was full of suppressed rage.
"Who gave the Knarl food?"
Malfoy raised his hand. "I did Professor. I thought it looked hungry."
"Were you not listening when I said that you should never offer Knarls food? In fact, why were you eating in my class in the first place? Detention and 20 points from Slytherin."
Harry could hardly believe it. On the first day of lessons, Malfoy had got two detentions and lost Slytherin 120 points! That meant that things were looking up for Gryffindor, especially without Snape there to constantly deduct points.
Professor Grey did not seem in the mood to continue teaching after that. So the class was dismissed early. Harry, Ron and Hermione stayed to talk to Snuffles for a bit longer. They arranged to meet with him in the Three Broomsticks at the next Hogsmeade weekend for an 'extra lesson'. In other words, a butterbeer. They said goodbye to Snuffles and made their way back to the castle. Hermione went to Arithmancy, while Harry and Ron made their way up to Divination. Arriving at the landing below the classroom just in time, as the ladder that led up to the classroom had just been let down.
WOW! A very long chapter by my standards! I hope you enjoyed it! Chapter 12 should be out soon.
See that little button at the bottom of the page? Lower, lower, left a bit, that's it! CLICK ON IT AND REVIEW!