Chapter 7 The First Week
A Properly Reared Wizard Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter, or any of the Harry potter characters, and am making no money from this story. Some portions of the text may have been taken directly from HP and the sorcerer's stone. They are marked with {'s. Anything you recognize I do not own and am making no money off of. Archiving: Want, ask, take, have.
Early the next morning Harry awoke. He couldn't wait to see what would happen that day. He dressed and went to wake Ron. It took him six tries to get Ron woken up enough to get dressed. He then dragged Ron down to the Great Hall to breakfast. Ron was nearly asleep in his plate. Harry had milk with his breakfast instead of Pumpkin juice. He was startled when all of a sudden owls flew into the Great Hall. Each one seemed to be carrying either a letter or a package.
As they were finishing breakfast Percy came around the table passing out their class schedules. The first class they had that day was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. Harry dragged Ron out of the Great Hall to get their stuff and to look for their class. He didn't want to be late on the first day. They were looking for the Transfiguration classroom when they ran into a ghost/poltergeist that they had overheard other students call Peeves. He/it blocked their passage and then misdirected them making them late when they finally made it to the classroom.
They walked into the classroom and didn't see Professor McGonagall. There was however a cat sitting on the desk at the front of the room.
"At least we got here before Professor McGonagall," Ron said smugly as they found seats.
As Ron said this Harry shook his head sadly and took his seat. He turned to the cat sitting on the desk and said, "I'm sorry we're late. Peeves gave us a hard time." Ron and most of the class looked at Harry in confusion.
At that moment the cat leapt from the desk and transformed into Professor McGonagall in mid flight. This startled Ron into shocked silence.
As they were leaving once class was over Ron asked Harry how he knew about the cat not being a cat.
Harry thought for a moment, ^The energy patterns didn't feel right for a housecat, but how can I explain it so that he'll understand?^ "Ron, I just felt that it wasn't an ordinary housecat."
Just then Hermione rushed up excited about what they had done in class. They had been turning matchsticks into needles, or trying to anyway. Harry wasn't very successful in Transfiguration at first. He watched Hermione as she transfigured the match. More importantly, he watched how the energy flows were being directed. Hermione didn't seem to be aware of how the energy flows were behaving. She seemed to be directing them unconsciously. As he continued to watch the way the energy moved and changed he had an idea. He pointed his wand at the matchstick and said the right phrase to trigger the transfiguration, but at the same time he wrapped his mind around and through the energy and manipulated it into doing what he wanted. The result: the matchstick was now a needle! Ron's match ended up being slightly pointed on one end, square through the middle with the match head still intact. It was slightly gray in color. Neville's was still very much a match.
The next class that they had was Charms. Harry, Hermione, and Ron walked in and found seats near the front. Draco was sitting in the middle of a group of Slytherins. Ron looked indignant at this. Harry, however, simply looked thoughtful. Once all of the students were settled Professor Flitwick, a tiny floating wizard, began the lecture for the day. They were learning the levitation charm " Wingardium Leviosa"
Professor Flitwick commented, " I once knew a wizard who accidentally replaced the "s" with an "f" and ended up with a buffalo on his chest. So be careful how you pronounce the words."
As in Transfiguration, Hermione got it right away and was able to get her feather to float. Ron, on the other hand, somehow managed to ignite his. The Slytherins snickered at this. Once Harry resisted the temptation to float the feather the way he was used to making things float he got the spell right. He made sure that his feather only just barely left the desk.
Draco was the next one to get it.
Ron eventually got it after Hermione corrected his pronunciation. "Win-gar- dium Levi-osa, Ron."
Neville on the other hand, couldn't get his feather to move at all and panicked. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted frantically. The spell worked, just not as he intended. It sent Professor Flitwick flying across the room to land on top of a cabinet. Harry had been watching as Neville did this and realized that Neville was trying too hard. He walked over and sat down next to Neville as the others were watching the Professor float himself down.
"You're trying too hard, Neville. Just breathe, relax, and concentrate on the magic doing what you want it to do," Harry explained to him.
Neville calmed down and tried again. This time the feather rose, as Neville wanted it to.
"I did it! I did it!" Neville crowed. As all of the students gathered around him congratulated him he lost his concentration and the feather dropped. No one noticed but Harry and Professor Flitwick. Harry quietly levitated the feather from the floor back to the desk the way that Sara had taught him all those years ago. Flitwick saw this and was startled to see that Harry's wand was still on the desk out of Harry's hands.
The class ended and the students went to lunch. While the students were eating Professor Flitwick went to speak with the Headmaster about Harry's magic. "Headmaster I must speak to you about Harry Potter."
"Is something wrong?" the Headmaster asked.
"Well not wrong, exactly. I have to ask. Why is he Here Headmaster?" Professor Flitwick asked.
"What do you mean 'Why is he here'? Did something happen during class?"
"He has obviously been trained in another tradition of magic. Why put our own system of magic at risk by introducing someone who has been trained in another?" Professor Flitwick demanded of the Headmaster.
Dumbledore's eyes stopped twinkling for a moment as his expression became serious. "Because his parents were very powerful with a wide range of abilities. He needs to know how to handle his abilities regardless of any other training he may have received."
"Just what type of magic has he been trained in, anyway?" Flitwick asked Dumbledore, perplexed. He had specialized in charms and wand use and so had previously had no need to look outside his chosen form of magic at other systems.
"That doesn't matter. Just teach Harry wand use," Dumbledore told Flitwick.
"How can you be so sure that this won't be a problem? Will you at least instruct Harry not to use any type of magic he has not learned from us on school grounds?" Flitwick demanded.
To this Dumbledore replied, "I know his Guardians. I know people who are trained in that style of magic. I will not put undue restrictions on any child's abilities in any area, regardless of where they might have acquired those abilities. Would you have me keep a good beater from playing Quidditch just because he learned to handle a bat playing Cricket?" the Headmaster asked.
"Of courser not!" Flitwick replied indignantly. "But this is magic! Not just some game!"
"Quidditch is not just a game!" with that Dumbledore sent Flitwick off.
The next class that day was Double Potions with the Slytherins. Draco sat at the front of the room while Harry sat with Ron one desk behind him. Professor Snape began the class by taking roll.
When he got to Harry's name he paused. "Well, if it isn't Harry Potter, our resident celebrity."
The blatant hostility in this statement startled Harry for a moment. "Ummm. yes sir, I guess so."
The Slytherins snickered at his. Draco because snickered because he knew what his godfather, Professor Snape, didn't. Harry hadn't even known that his name was Harry Potter until that summer.
Snape's eyes were black as coal, much like Hagrid's. But unlike Hagrid's eyes, Snape's eyes held no warmth. They were like two pieces of obsidian colored ice.
{"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making,' he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word. Like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand waving here many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will under stand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of the liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death-if you aren't' as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."}
Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to begin learning and proving that she wasn't a dunderhead. Harry, Ron, and Draco exchanged looks with raised eyebrows.
Snape turned to Harry with a glint in his eyes. "Potter! What would be the result if I combined powdered root of asphodel with an infusion of wormwood?"
"I'm not sure sir. But whatever it was would not be pleasant as both asphodel and wormwood are substances that are toxic to humans."
Snape sneered at this answer.
"Clearly fame isn't everything," Snape said ignoring Hermione who had her hand raised.
"Let's try again. Where would you look if I told you to get me a bezoar?"
Hermione looked like she was going to explode if she didn't get to answer.
"In a goat's stomach, sir. It can be used to counter or treat quite a few poisons, sir, " Harry replied.
"Hmmph!" Snape snorted. "That is not the only place that one can be found! Clearly you did not deem it necessary to open a book over the summer."
At this point Hermione looked over at Harry with a mixture of respect, for answering the question at all, and envy because he was called on. Ron, with a mixture of befuddlement and rising resentment at Snape's perceived attacks on Harry, snorted.
This caught Snape's attention. "Is there some problem Mr. Weasley? Do you perhaps need to see Madame Pomfrey?"
This caused the Slytherins to snicker and giggle, even Draco.
{"What's the difference, Potter, between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"
At this Hermione stood up, her hand reaching toward the dungeon ceiling.}
Harry said quietly, "I think Hermione knows. Why don't you ask her, sir?"
{A few people laughed. Snape however was not pleased.
"Sit down!" he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is called the Draught of Living Death} By the way, a Bezoar can be found in the stomach of most ruminants. {As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you copying that down?"
There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment.} Oh by the way Potter, just because you know a few of the answers does not mean that you can be cheeky to a teacher. A point from the House of Gryffindor."
Snape paired them off to begin working on a basic potion for treating boils. Harry and Ron were working at the table in front of Neville and Seamus. Harry was carefully weighing the nettles he was about to add to his cauldron when Seamus shouted, "No Neville! Don't add those yet!"
Harry turned around, pushing Ron out of splash range, and saw the potion and cauldron explode. ^Oh man! This is gonna be unpleasant! ^ Harry thought to himself as the botched potion came splashing down on him and those around him. He could have shielded himself from being splashed with the potion but his Guardians had told him to keep a low profile, magic wise.
"Mr. Potter! Why didn't you warn Mr. Longbottom not to add the nettles yet? Ten points from Gryffindor!" Snape snapped at Harry before passing him something to counter the botched potion he had been splashed with.
The class continued after that with Snape finding fault with everything the Gryffindors did. The Slytherins, however, could do no wrong. He praised Draco for slicing his slugs evenly.
Once the class was over the students cleaned their equipment and left the room. On his way out of the classroom Harry stopped to speak with Professor Snape.
"Professor Snape, dir? Is there anywhere here that I can store my potions things? I don't feel comfortable hauling them from my dorm down to the classroom for each class. " Harry explained to Snape.
Snape blinked at this request, almost as if no one had asked this before. He pointed to one of the cabinets where the common ingredients were stored. "You can store your things in that cabinet if you don't mind not being sure that you know who has access to them."
Harry placed his things o one of the shelves in the cabinet and just kind of smiled at what the Professor said. He gathered the rest of his things and left the room.
Snape blinked at this response, or lack there of, and looked over at the cabinet where he thought he had seen Harry place his supplies. As he looked at the cabinet, he found that he was unable to casually focus on the area where Harry put his potions supplies.
They were sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room, reading, after a dinner, which made Harry homesick for the types of things Maria, Reneé and Sara, made. Hermione was reading "Hogwarts A History". It startled Harry to see that the version that she was reading seemed to be thinner than the copy that he had. He went back to what he was doing. "I sure hate doing long division by hand. It's tedious and takes too much time."
This comment caught Hermione's attention. "I agree Harry, but what does that have to do with our classes?" she asked Harry coming over to see exactly what it was that he was doing.
He had spread out before him a basic algebra lesson.
"Why are you doing algebra at Hogwarts Harry?" she asked. "That's not on the list of classes is it?" she said starting to panic.
"No Hermione, its not," Harry reassured her. "But my Guardians want me to be able to get an American High School diploma. Plus it just might come in handy in potions."
Hearing the word "Potions", Ron, who was dozing off over a full belly and a well-thumbed copy of "Quidditch Through the Ages" opened one eye and said, "What?"
Hermione asked, "How can that be helpful in Potions?"
"Well," said Harry. "Suppose you need a lot more, or less, of a potion than usual, or one of your ingredients is stronger or weaker than usual. You'll need to know how to balance your ingredients or even the time needed to make the potion. Algebra is one way to help figure all that out with out trial and error." ^And Explosions.^ Harry thought quietly.
Ron Scoffed, "Isn't that part of taking the class?"
Harry, his paranoia surfacing for the moment, said, "I'd rather be able to figure it out for myself than have to depend on somebody else's work."
Hermione looked thoughtful, "That makes sense to me Harry."
Ron snorted, "Too much work. Won't affect my grade anyway," and went back to his book.
Hermione quietly said to Harry, "Ca you help me keep up with my math?"
Harry said, "Sure. We can work on it together a couple of times a week. I wonder what else Hogwarts doesn't teach?"
At this Hermione kicked Ron awake, "Ron!"
Ron snorted, "Huh? Wha?! I'm up mum!"
"What courses did your older brothers have here at Hogwarts?"
"Well, let's see. There was Transfiguration, Potions, Divination, Charms, History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Muggle Studies, and Percy took something called Arithmancy. Other than those, I'm not sure; I'll have to as my brothers. Why do you care?" Ron said rather belligerently.
"Well, I didn't have time to finish "Hogwarts A History" and Professor Dumbledore was a bit vague about the course of study," Harry said.
Hermione asked sharply, "Have you met Headmaster Dumbledore?"
Harry replied, "Very briefly. He spent most of the time he was there talking to my Guardians."
Ron, becoming intrigued, asked, "Where was 'there'?"
Harry, trying to sound casual, said, "oh, there was a problem with my letter and he delivered it personally."
Hermione and Ron tried to pry more details out of Harry, but he declared that he was tired and went up to bed, ending the discussion.
The next morning Harry dragged Ron out of bed and down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Ron did not want to wake up. The mail owls were delivering their letters and packages when to Harry's surprise one landed in front of him. It had a letter from Maria and Sara.
In the letter Maria said that they had received an owl from Dumbledore about Harry's knives being confiscated. Maria reminded Harry that he was told to keep a low profile. They asked about how he liked his classes, teachers and fellow students.
Harry quickly finished his breakfast and went up to the owlery to send a response.
Maria and Sara were sitting at the breakfast table eating, when an owl with a letter from Harry came in through the window and landed on the table in front of them.
That's Hedwig, Harry's owl. It looks like she's got a letter from him," Maria said taking the letter from Hedwig and giving her a piece of bacon.
"Well. What's it say?"
"It says:
'Dear Maria and Sara.
Classes are interesting, if not exactly what I expected. I'm making friends here, Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy, and Hermione Granger. I have met some interesting people. Hagrid works as the groundskeeper. Two of my teachers are very interesting indeed. Professor Snape, who teaches Potions and seems not to like me for some reason; and Professor McGonagall who teaches Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall can turn herself into a cat. Professor Snape is the Head of the Slytherin House, which seems to be the rival of the House that I was Sorted into, Gryffindor. That might explain some of the animosity Professor Snape bears me and the other Gryffindor students, but not all of it. There are a few things that disturb me about some of the people that I have encountered here, however.
I'll be writing to the others in the usual manner after the rest of my classes.
Enjoy your sightseeing.
Love; Harry'
"Well Sara, that letter was interesting. Harry has remembered what we've taught him," Maria said to Sara with a smirk.
"He remembered how to write a letter that might be intercepted," Sara said.
"Though, I wonder. what is he feeling that is off." Maria wondered aloud.
"Do you think that he's just homesick? Or is there something that really wrong that he's feeling?" Sara asked Maria.
"Well. it is the first time that he's been alone outside of familiar territory. But. Dumbledore struck me as the type to use Hogwarts to make happen what he wants to happen. We'll just have to trust Harry's instincts. He'll let us know if there's anything really wrong going on."
Harry sent Hedwig off with his letter and headed back down to the Great Hall. That day they had History of Magic, Herbology, and DADA. DADA was with the Slytherins. History of Magic was boring. Ron fell asleep almost immediately, but Hermione listened avidly while taking notes the whole time. Harry managed to stay awake for a while. Normally history fascinated him, but this teacher, a ghost who had taught at Hogwarts for a long time before he died, was one of the most boring teachers that Harry had ever had.
Herbology was three times a week. The first lesson was very interesting. Some of the plants in the magical world were quite different than their similarly named non-magical counter parts.
DADA was the last class of the day. Professor Rangell, the instructor, was quite nervous/ his classroom smelled strongly of garlic making Harry crave some of his Guardians cooking. The odor seemed to be coming from the large purple turban the Professor was wearing. He said that it was a gift from an African prince after he got rid of a particularly pesky zombie. When Seamus pressed the Professor for details on how he beat the Zombie, the Professor stammered, fidgeted, and changed the subject.
That evening Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco were hanging out in the library. This was the best place for them all to meet as Draco was in a different House.
Ron challenged Harry to a game of wizard's chess. While this was not the first game of chess that Harry had played, Ron beat him rather quickly. Harry reached into his bag and pulled out a game set that Ron had never seen before.
Draco looked at the game set, turned to Harry and asked, "Is that a GO set?" "Yeah, it was a birthday present last year. My guardians felt that it would be a good way for me to practice and improve my strategy techniques," Harry said setting out the stones. "Would you like to play a game?"
"Sure."
Ron looked on in wonder as the game got started. T went on for quite a while. Madame Pince came by after a time to shoo them all out of the library. Draco conceded the game. "You were winning anyway, it was only a matter of time."
They all headed back to their dormitories to get ready for bed. Once the others in his room were asleep, Harry opened the second compartment to his trunk and went down into the library there.
He sat down at one of the tables and wrote a letter to his Guardians.
It said:
'Dear Guardians;
There are some things I need to discuss that I couldn't put in the letter that I owled to Maria and Sara. The owl might have been intercepted. There are some people here that set of all my alarms and make my skin crawl. One of them is the DADA Professor. Professor Rangell makes my skin crawl for some reason. It's almost as if there's more to him than meets the eye. Something sinister, almost evil. Dark.
Some of the Slytherin students are stuck up and racist. They could be easily lured toward darkness, as they have known little else. Draco might have been like them if I hadn't intervened when I did.
There's something about Headmaster Dumbledore that makes me wary. Not sinister really, but there has to be a reason why Voldie is afraid of him. He can't be the wise kindly old grandfather that he appears to be. At least not solely.
There's a Dark Forest on the Grounds that I'm Itching to explore. I'll be careful.
Love: Harry'
Harry folded the letter, sealed it, and placed it in the cubby for transportation.
He then left his library, closed and locked his trunk, and went to bed.
The next day they went to visit Hagrid in his hut on the grounds. Draco seemed to feel out of place and uncomfortable.
Ron was worried and outraged by an article that he had read in that day's edition of the Daily Planet.
{" GRINGOTTS BREAK IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break in at Gringotts on} August 10 {widely believed to be the work of Dark Wizards or Witches unknown.
Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had been emptied earlier that same day.
But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokes goblin this Afternoon."}
Harry couldn't help but wonder if maybe what the robbers were looking for was the package that Hagrid removed when they went to the bank that day. He knew there was something odd about that package wrapped in brown paper. However, he didn't say a thing about his suspicions to the others.
That night after astronomy, Harry wrote another letter to his Guardians and sent it via the Library. He told them about the attempted robbery of Gringotts and his suspicions.
After sealing his trunk, he got ready for bed, and went to sleep wondering what else could happen.
A/N: My thanks to all who have reviewed this. I'm sorry this chapter took so long, I just couldn't seem to get started. Thanks are due to my mother for helping me start the chapter. This would probably have been posted last night, except, my sister was upset hat I would not let her use the computer or the phone line, so she turned off the computer as I was typing up this chapter and I lost two pages.
A Properly Reared Wizard Disclaimer: I do not own Harry potter, or any of the Harry potter characters, and am making no money from this story. Some portions of the text may have been taken directly from HP and the sorcerer's stone. They are marked with {'s. Anything you recognize I do not own and am making no money off of. Archiving: Want, ask, take, have.
Early the next morning Harry awoke. He couldn't wait to see what would happen that day. He dressed and went to wake Ron. It took him six tries to get Ron woken up enough to get dressed. He then dragged Ron down to the Great Hall to breakfast. Ron was nearly asleep in his plate. Harry had milk with his breakfast instead of Pumpkin juice. He was startled when all of a sudden owls flew into the Great Hall. Each one seemed to be carrying either a letter or a package.
As they were finishing breakfast Percy came around the table passing out their class schedules. The first class they had that day was Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall. Harry dragged Ron out of the Great Hall to get their stuff and to look for their class. He didn't want to be late on the first day. They were looking for the Transfiguration classroom when they ran into a ghost/poltergeist that they had overheard other students call Peeves. He/it blocked their passage and then misdirected them making them late when they finally made it to the classroom.
They walked into the classroom and didn't see Professor McGonagall. There was however a cat sitting on the desk at the front of the room.
"At least we got here before Professor McGonagall," Ron said smugly as they found seats.
As Ron said this Harry shook his head sadly and took his seat. He turned to the cat sitting on the desk and said, "I'm sorry we're late. Peeves gave us a hard time." Ron and most of the class looked at Harry in confusion.
At that moment the cat leapt from the desk and transformed into Professor McGonagall in mid flight. This startled Ron into shocked silence.
As they were leaving once class was over Ron asked Harry how he knew about the cat not being a cat.
Harry thought for a moment, ^The energy patterns didn't feel right for a housecat, but how can I explain it so that he'll understand?^ "Ron, I just felt that it wasn't an ordinary housecat."
Just then Hermione rushed up excited about what they had done in class. They had been turning matchsticks into needles, or trying to anyway. Harry wasn't very successful in Transfiguration at first. He watched Hermione as she transfigured the match. More importantly, he watched how the energy flows were being directed. Hermione didn't seem to be aware of how the energy flows were behaving. She seemed to be directing them unconsciously. As he continued to watch the way the energy moved and changed he had an idea. He pointed his wand at the matchstick and said the right phrase to trigger the transfiguration, but at the same time he wrapped his mind around and through the energy and manipulated it into doing what he wanted. The result: the matchstick was now a needle! Ron's match ended up being slightly pointed on one end, square through the middle with the match head still intact. It was slightly gray in color. Neville's was still very much a match.
The next class that they had was Charms. Harry, Hermione, and Ron walked in and found seats near the front. Draco was sitting in the middle of a group of Slytherins. Ron looked indignant at this. Harry, however, simply looked thoughtful. Once all of the students were settled Professor Flitwick, a tiny floating wizard, began the lecture for the day. They were learning the levitation charm " Wingardium Leviosa"
Professor Flitwick commented, " I once knew a wizard who accidentally replaced the "s" with an "f" and ended up with a buffalo on his chest. So be careful how you pronounce the words."
As in Transfiguration, Hermione got it right away and was able to get her feather to float. Ron, on the other hand, somehow managed to ignite his. The Slytherins snickered at this. Once Harry resisted the temptation to float the feather the way he was used to making things float he got the spell right. He made sure that his feather only just barely left the desk.
Draco was the next one to get it.
Ron eventually got it after Hermione corrected his pronunciation. "Win-gar- dium Levi-osa, Ron."
Neville on the other hand, couldn't get his feather to move at all and panicked. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted frantically. The spell worked, just not as he intended. It sent Professor Flitwick flying across the room to land on top of a cabinet. Harry had been watching as Neville did this and realized that Neville was trying too hard. He walked over and sat down next to Neville as the others were watching the Professor float himself down.
"You're trying too hard, Neville. Just breathe, relax, and concentrate on the magic doing what you want it to do," Harry explained to him.
Neville calmed down and tried again. This time the feather rose, as Neville wanted it to.
"I did it! I did it!" Neville crowed. As all of the students gathered around him congratulated him he lost his concentration and the feather dropped. No one noticed but Harry and Professor Flitwick. Harry quietly levitated the feather from the floor back to the desk the way that Sara had taught him all those years ago. Flitwick saw this and was startled to see that Harry's wand was still on the desk out of Harry's hands.
The class ended and the students went to lunch. While the students were eating Professor Flitwick went to speak with the Headmaster about Harry's magic. "Headmaster I must speak to you about Harry Potter."
"Is something wrong?" the Headmaster asked.
"Well not wrong, exactly. I have to ask. Why is he Here Headmaster?" Professor Flitwick asked.
"What do you mean 'Why is he here'? Did something happen during class?"
"He has obviously been trained in another tradition of magic. Why put our own system of magic at risk by introducing someone who has been trained in another?" Professor Flitwick demanded of the Headmaster.
Dumbledore's eyes stopped twinkling for a moment as his expression became serious. "Because his parents were very powerful with a wide range of abilities. He needs to know how to handle his abilities regardless of any other training he may have received."
"Just what type of magic has he been trained in, anyway?" Flitwick asked Dumbledore, perplexed. He had specialized in charms and wand use and so had previously had no need to look outside his chosen form of magic at other systems.
"That doesn't matter. Just teach Harry wand use," Dumbledore told Flitwick.
"How can you be so sure that this won't be a problem? Will you at least instruct Harry not to use any type of magic he has not learned from us on school grounds?" Flitwick demanded.
To this Dumbledore replied, "I know his Guardians. I know people who are trained in that style of magic. I will not put undue restrictions on any child's abilities in any area, regardless of where they might have acquired those abilities. Would you have me keep a good beater from playing Quidditch just because he learned to handle a bat playing Cricket?" the Headmaster asked.
"Of courser not!" Flitwick replied indignantly. "But this is magic! Not just some game!"
"Quidditch is not just a game!" with that Dumbledore sent Flitwick off.
The next class that day was Double Potions with the Slytherins. Draco sat at the front of the room while Harry sat with Ron one desk behind him. Professor Snape began the class by taking roll.
When he got to Harry's name he paused. "Well, if it isn't Harry Potter, our resident celebrity."
The blatant hostility in this statement startled Harry for a moment. "Ummm. yes sir, I guess so."
The Slytherins snickered at his. Draco because snickered because he knew what his godfather, Professor Snape, didn't. Harry hadn't even known that his name was Harry Potter until that summer.
Snape's eyes were black as coal, much like Hagrid's. But unlike Hagrid's eyes, Snape's eyes held no warmth. They were like two pieces of obsidian colored ice.
{"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making,' he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word. Like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand waving here many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will under stand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of the liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses. I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death-if you aren't' as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."}
Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to begin learning and proving that she wasn't a dunderhead. Harry, Ron, and Draco exchanged looks with raised eyebrows.
Snape turned to Harry with a glint in his eyes. "Potter! What would be the result if I combined powdered root of asphodel with an infusion of wormwood?"
"I'm not sure sir. But whatever it was would not be pleasant as both asphodel and wormwood are substances that are toxic to humans."
Snape sneered at this answer.
"Clearly fame isn't everything," Snape said ignoring Hermione who had her hand raised.
"Let's try again. Where would you look if I told you to get me a bezoar?"
Hermione looked like she was going to explode if she didn't get to answer.
"In a goat's stomach, sir. It can be used to counter or treat quite a few poisons, sir, " Harry replied.
"Hmmph!" Snape snorted. "That is not the only place that one can be found! Clearly you did not deem it necessary to open a book over the summer."
At this point Hermione looked over at Harry with a mixture of respect, for answering the question at all, and envy because he was called on. Ron, with a mixture of befuddlement and rising resentment at Snape's perceived attacks on Harry, snorted.
This caught Snape's attention. "Is there some problem Mr. Weasley? Do you perhaps need to see Madame Pomfrey?"
This caused the Slytherins to snicker and giggle, even Draco.
{"What's the difference, Potter, between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"
At this Hermione stood up, her hand reaching toward the dungeon ceiling.}
Harry said quietly, "I think Hermione knows. Why don't you ask her, sir?"
{A few people laughed. Snape however was not pleased.
"Sit down!" he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is called the Draught of Living Death} By the way, a Bezoar can be found in the stomach of most ruminants. {As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you copying that down?"
There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment.} Oh by the way Potter, just because you know a few of the answers does not mean that you can be cheeky to a teacher. A point from the House of Gryffindor."
Snape paired them off to begin working on a basic potion for treating boils. Harry and Ron were working at the table in front of Neville and Seamus. Harry was carefully weighing the nettles he was about to add to his cauldron when Seamus shouted, "No Neville! Don't add those yet!"
Harry turned around, pushing Ron out of splash range, and saw the potion and cauldron explode. ^Oh man! This is gonna be unpleasant! ^ Harry thought to himself as the botched potion came splashing down on him and those around him. He could have shielded himself from being splashed with the potion but his Guardians had told him to keep a low profile, magic wise.
"Mr. Potter! Why didn't you warn Mr. Longbottom not to add the nettles yet? Ten points from Gryffindor!" Snape snapped at Harry before passing him something to counter the botched potion he had been splashed with.
The class continued after that with Snape finding fault with everything the Gryffindors did. The Slytherins, however, could do no wrong. He praised Draco for slicing his slugs evenly.
Once the class was over the students cleaned their equipment and left the room. On his way out of the classroom Harry stopped to speak with Professor Snape.
"Professor Snape, dir? Is there anywhere here that I can store my potions things? I don't feel comfortable hauling them from my dorm down to the classroom for each class. " Harry explained to Snape.
Snape blinked at this request, almost as if no one had asked this before. He pointed to one of the cabinets where the common ingredients were stored. "You can store your things in that cabinet if you don't mind not being sure that you know who has access to them."
Harry placed his things o one of the shelves in the cabinet and just kind of smiled at what the Professor said. He gathered the rest of his things and left the room.
Snape blinked at this response, or lack there of, and looked over at the cabinet where he thought he had seen Harry place his supplies. As he looked at the cabinet, he found that he was unable to casually focus on the area where Harry put his potions supplies.
They were sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room, reading, after a dinner, which made Harry homesick for the types of things Maria, Reneé and Sara, made. Hermione was reading "Hogwarts A History". It startled Harry to see that the version that she was reading seemed to be thinner than the copy that he had. He went back to what he was doing. "I sure hate doing long division by hand. It's tedious and takes too much time."
This comment caught Hermione's attention. "I agree Harry, but what does that have to do with our classes?" she asked Harry coming over to see exactly what it was that he was doing.
He had spread out before him a basic algebra lesson.
"Why are you doing algebra at Hogwarts Harry?" she asked. "That's not on the list of classes is it?" she said starting to panic.
"No Hermione, its not," Harry reassured her. "But my Guardians want me to be able to get an American High School diploma. Plus it just might come in handy in potions."
Hearing the word "Potions", Ron, who was dozing off over a full belly and a well-thumbed copy of "Quidditch Through the Ages" opened one eye and said, "What?"
Hermione asked, "How can that be helpful in Potions?"
"Well," said Harry. "Suppose you need a lot more, or less, of a potion than usual, or one of your ingredients is stronger or weaker than usual. You'll need to know how to balance your ingredients or even the time needed to make the potion. Algebra is one way to help figure all that out with out trial and error." ^And Explosions.^ Harry thought quietly.
Ron Scoffed, "Isn't that part of taking the class?"
Harry, his paranoia surfacing for the moment, said, "I'd rather be able to figure it out for myself than have to depend on somebody else's work."
Hermione looked thoughtful, "That makes sense to me Harry."
Ron snorted, "Too much work. Won't affect my grade anyway," and went back to his book.
Hermione quietly said to Harry, "Ca you help me keep up with my math?"
Harry said, "Sure. We can work on it together a couple of times a week. I wonder what else Hogwarts doesn't teach?"
At this Hermione kicked Ron awake, "Ron!"
Ron snorted, "Huh? Wha?! I'm up mum!"
"What courses did your older brothers have here at Hogwarts?"
"Well, let's see. There was Transfiguration, Potions, Divination, Charms, History of Magic, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Muggle Studies, and Percy took something called Arithmancy. Other than those, I'm not sure; I'll have to as my brothers. Why do you care?" Ron said rather belligerently.
"Well, I didn't have time to finish "Hogwarts A History" and Professor Dumbledore was a bit vague about the course of study," Harry said.
Hermione asked sharply, "Have you met Headmaster Dumbledore?"
Harry replied, "Very briefly. He spent most of the time he was there talking to my Guardians."
Ron, becoming intrigued, asked, "Where was 'there'?"
Harry, trying to sound casual, said, "oh, there was a problem with my letter and he delivered it personally."
Hermione and Ron tried to pry more details out of Harry, but he declared that he was tired and went up to bed, ending the discussion.
The next morning Harry dragged Ron out of bed and down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Ron did not want to wake up. The mail owls were delivering their letters and packages when to Harry's surprise one landed in front of him. It had a letter from Maria and Sara.
In the letter Maria said that they had received an owl from Dumbledore about Harry's knives being confiscated. Maria reminded Harry that he was told to keep a low profile. They asked about how he liked his classes, teachers and fellow students.
Harry quickly finished his breakfast and went up to the owlery to send a response.
Maria and Sara were sitting at the breakfast table eating, when an owl with a letter from Harry came in through the window and landed on the table in front of them.
That's Hedwig, Harry's owl. It looks like she's got a letter from him," Maria said taking the letter from Hedwig and giving her a piece of bacon.
"Well. What's it say?"
"It says:
'Dear Maria and Sara.
Classes are interesting, if not exactly what I expected. I'm making friends here, Ron Weasley, Draco Malfoy, and Hermione Granger. I have met some interesting people. Hagrid works as the groundskeeper. Two of my teachers are very interesting indeed. Professor Snape, who teaches Potions and seems not to like me for some reason; and Professor McGonagall who teaches Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall can turn herself into a cat. Professor Snape is the Head of the Slytherin House, which seems to be the rival of the House that I was Sorted into, Gryffindor. That might explain some of the animosity Professor Snape bears me and the other Gryffindor students, but not all of it. There are a few things that disturb me about some of the people that I have encountered here, however.
I'll be writing to the others in the usual manner after the rest of my classes.
Enjoy your sightseeing.
Love; Harry'
"Well Sara, that letter was interesting. Harry has remembered what we've taught him," Maria said to Sara with a smirk.
"He remembered how to write a letter that might be intercepted," Sara said.
"Though, I wonder. what is he feeling that is off." Maria wondered aloud.
"Do you think that he's just homesick? Or is there something that really wrong that he's feeling?" Sara asked Maria.
"Well. it is the first time that he's been alone outside of familiar territory. But. Dumbledore struck me as the type to use Hogwarts to make happen what he wants to happen. We'll just have to trust Harry's instincts. He'll let us know if there's anything really wrong going on."
Harry sent Hedwig off with his letter and headed back down to the Great Hall. That day they had History of Magic, Herbology, and DADA. DADA was with the Slytherins. History of Magic was boring. Ron fell asleep almost immediately, but Hermione listened avidly while taking notes the whole time. Harry managed to stay awake for a while. Normally history fascinated him, but this teacher, a ghost who had taught at Hogwarts for a long time before he died, was one of the most boring teachers that Harry had ever had.
Herbology was three times a week. The first lesson was very interesting. Some of the plants in the magical world were quite different than their similarly named non-magical counter parts.
DADA was the last class of the day. Professor Rangell, the instructor, was quite nervous/ his classroom smelled strongly of garlic making Harry crave some of his Guardians cooking. The odor seemed to be coming from the large purple turban the Professor was wearing. He said that it was a gift from an African prince after he got rid of a particularly pesky zombie. When Seamus pressed the Professor for details on how he beat the Zombie, the Professor stammered, fidgeted, and changed the subject.
That evening Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco were hanging out in the library. This was the best place for them all to meet as Draco was in a different House.
Ron challenged Harry to a game of wizard's chess. While this was not the first game of chess that Harry had played, Ron beat him rather quickly. Harry reached into his bag and pulled out a game set that Ron had never seen before.
Draco looked at the game set, turned to Harry and asked, "Is that a GO set?" "Yeah, it was a birthday present last year. My guardians felt that it would be a good way for me to practice and improve my strategy techniques," Harry said setting out the stones. "Would you like to play a game?"
"Sure."
Ron looked on in wonder as the game got started. T went on for quite a while. Madame Pince came by after a time to shoo them all out of the library. Draco conceded the game. "You were winning anyway, it was only a matter of time."
They all headed back to their dormitories to get ready for bed. Once the others in his room were asleep, Harry opened the second compartment to his trunk and went down into the library there.
He sat down at one of the tables and wrote a letter to his Guardians.
It said:
'Dear Guardians;
There are some things I need to discuss that I couldn't put in the letter that I owled to Maria and Sara. The owl might have been intercepted. There are some people here that set of all my alarms and make my skin crawl. One of them is the DADA Professor. Professor Rangell makes my skin crawl for some reason. It's almost as if there's more to him than meets the eye. Something sinister, almost evil. Dark.
Some of the Slytherin students are stuck up and racist. They could be easily lured toward darkness, as they have known little else. Draco might have been like them if I hadn't intervened when I did.
There's something about Headmaster Dumbledore that makes me wary. Not sinister really, but there has to be a reason why Voldie is afraid of him. He can't be the wise kindly old grandfather that he appears to be. At least not solely.
There's a Dark Forest on the Grounds that I'm Itching to explore. I'll be careful.
Love: Harry'
Harry folded the letter, sealed it, and placed it in the cubby for transportation.
He then left his library, closed and locked his trunk, and went to bed.
The next day they went to visit Hagrid in his hut on the grounds. Draco seemed to feel out of place and uncomfortable.
Ron was worried and outraged by an article that he had read in that day's edition of the Daily Planet.
{" GRINGOTTS BREAK IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break in at Gringotts on} August 10 {widely believed to be the work of Dark Wizards or Witches unknown.
Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had been emptied earlier that same day.
But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokes goblin this Afternoon."}
Harry couldn't help but wonder if maybe what the robbers were looking for was the package that Hagrid removed when they went to the bank that day. He knew there was something odd about that package wrapped in brown paper. However, he didn't say a thing about his suspicions to the others.
That night after astronomy, Harry wrote another letter to his Guardians and sent it via the Library. He told them about the attempted robbery of Gringotts and his suspicions.
After sealing his trunk, he got ready for bed, and went to sleep wondering what else could happen.
A/N: My thanks to all who have reviewed this. I'm sorry this chapter took so long, I just couldn't seem to get started. Thanks are due to my mother for helping me start the chapter. This would probably have been posted last night, except, my sister was upset hat I would not let her use the computer or the phone line, so she turned off the computer as I was typing up this chapter and I lost two pages.