He watched with pity as Dean and Seamus fell asleep almost immediately. Too out of shape, or too easily tired. He couldn't tell which. He thought back to Hermione and wondered if it was unfair to hold Dean and Seamus to a higher level. He figured that Hermione did quite a bit more thinking, which he had discovered from personal experience was extremely tiring, more so than any game of football he had ever played, minus the one against the Salingsburg Schooners. That game was like three hours long. Two overtimes followed by three shootouts until finally his team had won. It was pure luck too. Robby, the midfielder on Harry's team, had hit a very weak roller and the keeper, being shocked, had stumbled on a soft spot and fell. Who could have guessed such a clumsy error could win such a competitive game? Harry wasn't tired at all, and was bored and looking for something to do. He decided to secretly attempt to emulate Hermione and extracted his Potions textbook. He scanned and skipped the first chapter, all about measuring nicely and how to boil and simmer, and light a fire, and freeze, and cool, all the simple etiquette. He needed something useful.
In the beginning of chapter two he discovered some fairly simple looking potions that anyone with three brain cells could manage. He read their titles and purposes and scanned the ingredients. The procedures he didn't bother with. He found himself taking notes.
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Head Boy Percy Weasley, Seventh year peeked into the first years dormitories to make sure that everything was alright for the night. He saw that the Mutton boy was calmly taking notes. From the thickness of the book he guessed that it was either potions or history of magic. He realized that this struck him as odd because even he, Mr. Over-Achiever had never been so inclined to be copying notes on his second day of school, much less in his first year. This was ridiculous. He had half a mind to order the boy to sleep. But he stopped himself. If this boy had such a desire to be the best, then who was he to interfere? Percy turned and continued up the stairs to the other dormitories.
What Percy hadn't seen was the smirk on the boy's face and the organization of his notes. There were six parchments, each with a different title; Malfoy, Slytherins, Ravenclaws/Hufflepuffs, Great Hall, Professors, House Mates (Ron, George and Fred). On each was a variety of potions, and the administration of each, as well as the desired effects. Was this really studying? He had to say yes, it was studying with a purpose.
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Harry woke early the next morning. He knew immediately that he only had a short amount of time before history was made. He began waking Seamus and Dean. He wanted them to be awake for the results of their nights work. He kept pushing them until they were dressed and barely awake, but awake enough to walk around. As they made it down the stairs into the common room Harry saw a cheerful and energetic Hermione Granger ferociously studying her potions textbook. She was alone, as it was about six o'clock, and no one in their right mind would be studying. She blushed at the looks she received from Dean and Seamus.
"If I was Snape and I wanted to ask about things which most students would skip or just glance at, it would be the common ingredients page. Spend some time on it if you're serious about him giving a quiz or something." Harry said. He saw a small smile grace her rosy cheeks. He and his accomplices continued towards the portrait of the fat lady.
"WAIT! Wait, I mean. Where are you going so early?" It was then that Harry realized she was studying to pass the time. She was bored.
"We have an inclination that something of great humor is about to happen, so we thought we may want to see it. You're welcome to come along if you wish" Harry said. He watched as she smiled widely.
"Thanks, I'll just be a minute, I need to return my book up to my- my-my" she sputtered as she hurriedly collected her papers.
"Just do it" said Dean, not entirely gentlemanly. She nodded and sprinted up the stairs of the girl's dormitory and they waited for her. Harry noticed the looks of disapproval he was getting from the two of them.
"What?" He asked out of curiosity.
"Why did you have to bring along the know-it-all?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, she'll ruin the fun, or worse, rat us out" Seamus added.
"Guys, she may be one to follow the rules, but she certainly won't rat out people from her own house. Her desire to win the house cup is too large and she knows that we would loose house points. Secondly, she may or may not be a know it all, but there will be times, I guarantee it, where you will need her knowledge. That, and she's in our house, so she is one of the group. She can be trusted with anything, and if she can't then she's the type that would tell us before hand. She is a much greater asset than she is a setback" Harry said. He prided himself in being able to bullshit so well that he could even see his words as truthful, almost.
"Agreed" conceded Seamus.
"Yeah" agreed Dean. Harry felt good in convincing them to let her come along, even if it was only so that she wouldn't feel left out. She came down a few seconds later with a very excited look on her face. They marched in awkward silence down to the entrance hall where Harry explained they would wait. As the silence grew worse, Harry started speaking with Hermione about how far she got in the textbook. Dean cut in suddenly.
"Why won't they just use a cleaning spell to clean it up?" he said. Harry reluctantly turned from Hermione to Dean.
"Because shaving cream is similar to a cleaning material. If they try it, it'll be like…trying to dry something by spraying water on it. It won't work. Plus we targeted a house of only Pure-blood wizards, from only wizarding families. That means that they have no idea what shaving cream is, or does, or what it smells like. Therefore, they'll think it's a freak potion or something, and then you get a-" Harry stopped as they heard a loud sound.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH GET IT OFF ME!!!" "HELP!" "SOMEONE HELP ME!!!" A chorus of yells came from the stairs going into the dungeons. Seconds later a medium sized male, probably a third or fourth year, came running up the stairs by them. He was in his pajamas and he went towards the corridor where the Headmaster's office was. Harry started laughing along with Dean and Seamus, and he saw that Hermione was giggling as well. As things began to calm down, Harry pulled an object from his pocket and made it larger. It was an old, mechanical camera.
"Never leave home without it. Who wants to instill this day in history forever?" Harry asked. They all nodded vigorously and followed him down the stairway, and through the dungeons. They were beginning to think that Harry had gotten them lost until they rounded a corner and saw an opening from which a ridiculous amount of shaving cream oozed. It was about chest height, chin height for Hermione, and it was thick and beautiful. Harry started snapping pictures, and as if on cue, the rest of the Slytherins awoke and started screaming and running in panic. Out of their dormitories, they poured into the common room; they splashed through the shaving cream in their fright and desperation to get out. Harry kept snapping his pictures, and the four of them couldn't stop laughing enough to move. There was a stampede to the doorway in which many of the younger students were being pushed under, squashed, and stepped on as they disappeared under the surface. As Harry ran out of film and Slytherins closed on the door, Harry signaled to everyone that it was time to leave. As they neared the Entrance hall, they passed the student who had run by them and with him was the headmaster.
"Stop, the four of you. What is happening?" Dumbledore asked.
"We heard that an event of rare and bizarre importance was happening and I had to get it on camera" Harry said quickly.
"How did you know what event was occuring?" The headmaster quipped, and Dean, Seamus and Hermione all looked at him sadly, as they knew the headmaster was going to capture him as being responsible.
"I was simply going for an early breakfast. I was awake and hungry, and on my way down he ran by screaming about something or other, and he was covered in white stuff, so I felt I should get my camera, and some friends and see what was going on. I do think you should get down there though, Headmaster. Things are really out of control" Harry said. The headmaster obviously didn't believe him, but raced on after the student down into the dungeons.
"Wow, you were nearly caught" Hermione said shortly afterwards. "To think of every rule you broke to do that. Do you know how foolish it was? How wrong it was?"
"In the words of a brilliant man, 'I never made a mistake in my life; at least never one I couldn't explain away afterwards.'" Harry said.
"It matters who you consider brilliant" Hermione retorted.
"True, but I do consider Rudyard Kipling to be rather brilliant" Harry responded. She seemed to accept it, as Dean and Seamus exchanged knowing looks. Sure, Hermione was the know-it-all, but knowing everything was not the only measure of intelligence.
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Harry relayed the story to a significant group of Gryffindors and Ravenclaws during breakfast. He had taken over one thousand separate orders for pictures. He knew Slytherin was hated, but he never imagined it could be to such an extreme. It was fanatical. He ended the account and the group dispersed, leaving him to his breakfast. He barely listened in as Ron was being told what he had missed out on by Dean as Seamus and Hermione quietly discussed the amazing places around the castle. Harry glanced up with a subtle smirk to the Headmaster as Snape let his house students in, cleaning them one by one. The cleaning was basically a rinse followed by a drying, occurring in the dungeons. The news had spread quickly, and some were congratulating Fred and George, to their great confusion.
Harry smiled at the idea of the snotty Slytherins getting cleaned off by their Head of House. They were entering with their heads down, utterly humiliated. The large doors to the Great Hall creaked open. Harry turned, expecting another humiliated student to enter. Instead it was an older looking man, with long brown hair and shabby robes. He looked like a homeless person. The man glanced across the student body, and Harry saw the headmaster meet the man and direct him out of the hall. Everyone else went back to their conversations, but the man's face seemed vaguely familiar to Harry, and Hermione noticed his expression. She gave him a meaningful look and he shrugged it off. She seemed unsure, but the next second the flutter of thousands of wings announced the arrival of the post. The dense cloud of owls swooped in, dropping their packages and letters, before landing for a quick bite. Harry was surprised to see Mercury flying towards him, and he prepared himself for her landing.
Seconds later, the owl landed in such a small space on the table it was almost unreal. The owl handed Harry a small note from her beak, and Harry held out his last sausage for her, and the owl grabbed it and flew off.
"You should really teach that animal some manners" Hermione's voice penetrated Harry's concentration. He looked up and she seemed to understand from the numerous confused glances she was getting that her statement had not been received well. She saw Harry slip the note into his pocket and watched as he finished his eggs in a few large bites.
"Who sent you the note?" Hermione asked as he finished.
"Oh, it's nothing" Harry responded innocently as he put his goblet down from a swig of pumpkin juice.
"Oh, are you ready for Potions?" she asked. He sensed the nervousness in her voice.
"Yeah, I have to run and get something. I'll meet you in Potions in, twenty minutes is it?" Harry said. She nodded. He stood up and calmly left.
As he made it to the gargoyle, it opened as if it anticipated him. He stepped inside and circled up the staircase until he got to the door to the Headmaster's office. He opened it and stepped in. The shaggy man from the Great Hall jumped to his feet, his eyes wide with awe and sadness.
"Harry?" the man said. Harry looked over at the headmaster and responded with his normal yes. The man seemed to think better of his position and took the seat behind him. "Harry Potter?" He asked again. Harry nodded. "My god, you're alive." The man said. Harry just stood there. Both the man and Dumbledore looked at him like he was going to do a trick.
"What? I'm not used to this whole lost son of humanity thing. I never felt lost, so I don't exactly feel found or reunited or any of that. Can someone tell me what's going on?" Harry said getting a little annoyed. The man turned immediately to Dumbledore.
"He's just like James" the man said. That's when it clicked.
"Remus Lupin?" Harry asked. The man seemed caught off guard.
"Y-yes" he said stuttering a little.
"Wow, you looked a lot different in the pictures Sirius has. You always looked so much bigger in the pictures. Sirius told me positively everything about you. He said he always went through your trunk and stuff trying to find the plans for your pranks. He said the only thing he ever found was a love letter to you from Mimi McAllister" Harry said with sudden comfort.
"I thought someone stole that!" Remus said with growing anger. "And he was going through my things? For how long?" he demanded.
"I don't know, but until I was seven he made me read it aloud every night before I went to sleep. It was the only reading material he would let me read before sleep. He said that you were the best person on the planet for finding and getting rare magical objects like the time you got the really strong acid formula which would work with lemon drops" Harry said. Dumbledore had stood.
"You did that? It took five of the most agonizing days of my life to re-grow my teeth, and you almost let me expel Frankie Schultz for that!" he said with a booming, unnatural voice. Harry could see that Remus was scared. He couldn't help but laugh. Sirius had told him countless times that whenever they were caught for doing something as small as talking too loudly, Remus always panicked about expulsion.
"Y-y-you always say that what happened in the past stays in the past, right?" Remus said unsurely. Dumbledore made a humph-like sound before sitting again, but he was eyeing Remus piercingly. The silence was very awkward.
"I have potions" Harry said after standing for three more minutes with nothing to do or say.
"Yes, Harry, you may go" Dumbledore said. Harry smiled at Remus and left. He was in high spirits when he entered the Potions classroom, and that was his first mistake. With a grin on his face he met the gaze of a very irritable and ornery Severus Snape.
"Sit, boy!" the potions master commanded brashly. Harry did a double take and made his way to an open seat next to Hermione despite other people waving him over to their tables. As he neared the table the door slammed making Harry jump. He turned and saw the professor grinning evilly as he stood next to it.
"The period has begun and you are still unseated, Gryffindor. Twenty points from Gryffindor for tardiness" the oily man said. Harry sighed and slipped into the seat. He looked over at Hermione, who was so tense her hands were shaking, and her silver bracelet was rattling against the table because of it. Harry placed his hand over it and she whispered an apology as she moved her arms to prevent the sound. Harry turned to the Professor as he made it to the front of the class and began his speech.
"First year potions with Gryffindors and Slytherins. My, how the planets align themselves. I am here to make sure that you invalids learn the masterful art of concocting magical combinations without magic. I do not expect you to appreciate the work that goes into potion making, nor how its' power exceeds any wand waving you will ever be able to do. I will show you how to make potions of death, of life, of greatness, and of strife. If you make any mistakes in my class, you will be quickly and severely punished. I will not have any foolishness, and I will not tolerate any misbehavior. I will call the attendance, say 'present' when your, and only your name is called." He started down the role and Harry took out a parchment to take notes. As he finished the attendance, he turned back to the class.
"Now, you all should have read chapter one by today…" a wave of groans crossed the room, and Harry saw Hermione let out a sigh and relax a little, "and so we will start with the topics of the chapter. Mr. Malfoy, what is the difference between simmering and boiling?" Harry turned to the blonde arrogant boy.
"Simmering takes a long time, and boiling only a short amount of time?" the boy said without conviction.
"You should read you text closer. The difference is that simmering extracts materials for a desired effect, and boiling is to destroy impurities. Mr…Mutton. Yes, Mr. Late, what is the difference between a Gorbot and Liscenistries?" Snape hissed.
"Um, well, a Gorbots are Liscenistries, along with Riobites and Gortirras" Harry said. He was surprised he remembered that.
"Five from Gryffindor for hesitation, but otherwise correct. Lets see if you know the standard unit of measure for powders" Snape said.
"Um…" he said as he thought about it. He saw Hermione raise her hand. He tried to think back to when he had to order his materials from a catalogue and they had three different ways of measuring powders, he had a one in three chance. "Fairy Wing Piles?"
"Yes, Mutton, but I am asking the questions here, not you. Three points from Gryffindor. One more for our little know-it-all. What precautions must you take to ensure the absolute accuracy of any potion you are making?"
"There isn't a way is there? I mean, you can measure exactly and do everything perfectly and there is still a chance it won't work out right" Harry said.
"An example?" Snape persisted.
"Wolfsbane often doesn't work out right despite everything being measured perfectly and timed to the second which is why when they make it, they make a lot of cauldrons at a time to make sure they at least get some from the concocting" Harry responded.
"Quite right, but you should not know such things, may I ask where you came across such information?" Snape pressed. Harry could first of all tell it wasn't a question, but a command, also he saw that the class was looking at him queerly.
"Yeah, it was in the Young Wizards Discovery Series, the Potions volume…hey, didn't you write that one?" Harry asked. The class watched as Snape's chest swelled slightly.
"Yes, well, I was asked to do it, and felt that young wizards could do well with some basic backing before they came for a formal education. Achem, back to the lesson. Eight points to Gryffindor for…preparing for class. Now, turn to page eight in your books. We will be copying all of the…" Snape went on. Even Harry was stunned by this one. He did as he was instructed but kept repeating the words in his head. Could big, cruel, evil Snape really give points to a Gryffindor? Didn't it break some sort of rule? But what rule have you planned on not breaking while you're here? His brain argued. He went to work and rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming on.
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Once again, Harry was in the center of a large group in the common room. Everyone asking him all sorts of questions. "How did you do it?", "What's next, world domination?", "Are you related to Dumbledore?" All of the questions were ridiculous but in some weird twisted way, he felt he would probably be asking the same ones. He felt really alienated. After lunch, because there was no class, he had gone to the library with Hermione to discuss magical cooking, while there he ran into Remus again who looked on the edge of tears. Harry did notice that when ever he brought up Sirius, by talking about his Godfather, Remus would change the subject. It made the conversation much more challenging, and by the looks Hermione was giving them, she noticed it too. As dinner came around, Harry separated from Remus and realized they had been arguing over the use of dungbombs, whether they were an effective tool or just a silly nuisance. Harry felt that they were a nuisance and not creative enough for his liking. Remus maintained that they were the perfect distraction and useful in creating spontaneous trouble. The argument got so heated at times that Madame Pince beat Remus on the head with a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet.
Hermione kept thinking about the conversation between Harry and Remus. They acted like two children, and seemed to fit so well together. They acted like they were long lost friends. She caught on that Remus knew Harry's father well, but the joy that entered the man's eyes as he discussed such foolish things with the boy was remarkable. The wrinkles that appeared as he smiled led her to believe he hadn't smiled in years. Harry seemed quite pleased to have acquired a new friend, especially one with such profound knowledge in the art of annoyance and deception.
Dinner neared and Harry reluctantly said his good-byes to Remus. It would be the first time Hermione would have to drag him from the library. Harry was definitely in high spirits as he skipped to the great hall with her.
"You look like an idiot, like your smiling at nothing" she said. His chipperness was getting on her nerves.
"You just don't want me to enjoy myself, while you waste time pouring over tons of nonsense written in all those useless books you read" Harry said back, his smile never fading.
"How can you say it's nonsense?" she retorted.
"Well, the way I see it, you already know all of it, so your time reading it is wasted. We only have so much time in our lives. It'd be a pity to waste so much on stuff you already know" Harry said wisely. She seemed a little defeated. "Don't look so down. We can study after dinner if you really want to. Or you can take a break from the books and we can do something fun" he said smiling meekly at her.
"What do you mean by fun" she said suspiciously as he held the doors to the great hall open for her.
"We could play wizard's chess, or Snap…" Harry began as they sat down.
"I don't know how to play snap" she said.
"Well, we can play wizard's chess, and eat every flavor beans…" Harry began.
"Yeah, why don't you start with dinner, before you get ahead of yourself" Hermione said as Harry noticed he was the only person with an empty dish. He mumbled something about 'just being friendly' and took a chop from the serving tray.
About halfway through dinner when evening plans were being made, a tapping on a glass grabbed everyone's attention. They turned to the staff table and saw the Headmaster was standing.
"I hope you have enjoyed your supper. You may have seen a certain individual wandering around the castle. I am now going to properly introduce you to Remus Lupin. He attended Gryffindor as youngster, and was visiting today to reacquaint himself with a friend from long ago. He has had various occupations in his life, such as being chief strategist in the war against Voldemort, a reserve Auror for the Ministry of Magic, and an independent researcher for the Magitec Company. If any seventh years have questions regarding their plans after graduation, Mr. Lupin can be a very useful tool in assessing your future. Please, continue your meals" Dumbledore said as he sat down.
Harry tossed a pea. It missed. Hermione gave him a glare as he tossed another. Too far. He ignored her look and tossed one more. Hermione heard a "yow" from near the other end of the table. She leaned forward and saw that Fred, or was it George, was staring down at Harry with a less than pleased expression. Harry was mouthing something to them, but they weren't getting it. One of the twins got up and came down the table. He kneeled behind Harry, which Hermione supposed was better than pushing her aside, like last time.
"Why the pea launching, Harry?" the twin asked. Harry nodded up towards the staff table.
"Moony" Harry said.
"Moony? What's Moony?" The twin asked. Hermione caught the other twin giving her a questioning look from the far end of the table. She returned it with the same expression.
"Moony, you know, Moony. Padfoot, Prongs, Moony, and Wormtail. Moony." Harry said with great disappointment.
"Oh. Oh, oh, oh. That's Moony!?!? Really? No bullocks?" the twin seemed to look at the staff table with awe. "Merlin's arse! And he was successful anyway! Wait till Mum finds out. Hah. This is wonderful. Thanks mate. Oh, you can get the, umm, thing you wanted, from us later. We'll be…around" the twin said as he stood and made his way quickly back to his brother. They whispered quietly to one another, and in seconds they were both glancing up at the staff table. Evil grins gracing their faces.
"See, when you're nice to people, you get stuff in return" Harry said with a smile.
"Yeah, he's going to give you that 'umm, thing you wanted'" she said in a relatively decent and very sarcastic impersonation.
"Don't be mean. I really wanted that thing. It used to be my father's" Harry said.
"I know, all you men want is your things" Hermione responded, earning her a very queer look from Harry.
"What exactly, are you talking about?" Harry asked.
"Umm, I don't know, my mum always says that to my dad. I think I know, but I'm not so sure, and when thinking about it, I think your right in that it was not a good thing to say" she responded. He hated it. She ruined the entire conversation. He finished his pudding and got up to leave. Hermione stood up to but stopped when she saw that Harry wasn't going anywhere. He was looking at her as if waiting for something. She was waiting for him to say something. Finally, he did.
"Chess, is it?"
Another chapter done. I know this took a while, but I had it beta-ed, so it should have fewer mistakes for your reading pleasure. That calls for a big thank you to WretchedMongrel. Alrighty then. Sorry this took so long, but I am a terrible procrastinator, blame my libido. Thanks for the reviews, and I hope to see some more.
great marauder, cyberfrogx, everpresent, Mystic Queen, and DaBear, thank you.
