Chapter dedicated to Shadow Wolf0987 – my 1111th reviewer!
In Every Darkness
Chapter Thirty Three: Lessons
2.9.1996
Harry and Hermione walked down to NEWT level potions, which they had first, parting ways with Ron at the Entrance Hall – Ron had only got an Exceeds Expectations in Potions, so he couldn't join the NEWT class. He was going to Charms, which he wasn't taking NEWT level in either, though he could if he wanted to.
The trio didn't have all that many classes together, which they weren't all too pleased about, and those classes that they did have together, they had with the Slytherins, except for Care of Magical Creatures..
"Bloody bad luck," Ron had growled, not liking it at all. Harry was feeling very annoyed because all of his NEWT level classes were with Slytherins, and the only class that he had without them was Care of Magical Creatures.
"Hey Potter!" Malfoy's voice, behind him. "Have you gotten lost or something? NEWT level Potions is this way."
Harry turned and saw his blonde-haired, pale eyed enemy approaching with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.
"No, I haven't lost my way," Harry sneered back. "I'm fully aware that this is the way to NEWT level Potions, which is what it says I have on my timetable."
Malfoy looked, for a moment, speechless, and Harry turned his back, striding quickly down the corridor. When he reached the classroom, he saw most of the class arrayed outside.
There was mainly Slytherins, in fact, apart from Harry, Hermione was the only other Gryffindor in the class. It seemed that no other Gryffindor wanted to deal with Snape any more than they had to.
But Harry wanted to be an Auror, and he wouldn't let a potions class stop him… Hermione, of course, was taking NEWT level just about everything, just because she could.
The Slytherins looked at Harry and Hermione, some were neutral, others wore expressions of dislike, but the majority was open hatred.
Harry guessed most of these students would become Death Eaters, and didn't like Harry because they knew that he was completely against them. Not to mention he'd defeated their lord-to-be more times than anyone else had.
Just when Harry was beginning to feel a little nervous, surrounded by so many possible enemies, Snape turned up, and sneered hatefully at Harry and Hermione.
Both Gryffindors kept their expressions blank, not wanting to provoke an already angry Snape. Harry knew that Snape was angry because Sirius was, once more, visiting his dreams.
"Potter!" Snape barked suddenly as they all took their seats. "What would you use if making Veritaserum the way it is supposed to be made?"
"Griffin feathers, Sir," Harry replied immediately.
Griffins were creatures that could sense truth and lies, and hated being lied to, which meant that different things from them would help with truth potions.
"Why aren't they used?" Snape demanded.
"Because there are very few griffins alive, and they are very good at disguising themselves. A griffin won't give its feathers to someone it doesn't trust, and stolen feathers don't work … Sir," Harry replied, not liking this subject at all.
"What is used instead?"
"Unicorn horns, or phoenix feathers," Harry replied, happy to be moving away from the subject of griffins.
"Well done, Potter. It seemed that, for once, you bothered to read the set texts after all. Though with a mind like yours, I'm surprised the information stayed there."
The Slytherins laughed, and Harry kept his face blank, with difficulty. He could see that Hermione looked positively furious, and Harry knew that he certainly felt that way.
He also knew that he refused to get a detention on the first day back at school, especially not from Snape.
"Seek the centre," Grypis advised him. "You'll stay calm there."
"Good idea," Harry responded, doing so in an eye blink.
Snape, who had been watching him carefully, seeing that Harry was struggling to keep his calm mask, was surprised when Harry's face suddenly went completely emotionless.
He didn't know how Potter had managed it, but he didn't like it … not at all.
Safe inside the comforting walls of the centre, Harry almost smiled to himself. The outside world was both vague and almost painfully sharp.
"You will be making a weaker truth potion today, it is called Verax Onis, page two hundred of your textbooks! Get started, now!" Snape rapped at them.
Harry smiled faintly, he and Sirius had been making this potion a week or so ago. He couldn't remember it exactly, but once he looked at it in the text book he wouldn't have much trouble with it, he hoped.
As the bell was about to ring, Harry had finished his potion, bottled it and cleaned up, which seemed to surprise just about everyone in the room – including Hermione.
He was among the first to finish, though not the first, that was Hermione, of course. But it was better than he'd done in the previous five years, for which he was both surprised and grateful.
"You will all write an assignment on the uses of Verax Onis and it's limitations when compared to Veritaserum," Snape snapped at them, just as the bell rang. "This is due in this time next week."
As they walked from the room, Malfoy finally noticed Grypis, who was perching on Harry's shoulder, hidden by the boys shoulder length hair.
"Hey look!" he sneered, "Potter's got a new kitten. Didn't you know only witches and weaklings own cats, Potter?"
"I beg to differ," a voice Harry knew all too well spoke from behind them. Arabella Figg strode into few, with two cats trailing her. "I've known plenty of great wizards that have had cats. They are very sensible creatures … Though you being a Malfoy, I doubt you know the meaning of the word."
Malfoy flushed angrily. "Just who do you think you are, woman? My family is one of the most respected in the wizarding world."
"Yes, that would be why your father is in jail. Ten points from Slytherin and a detention for speaking to a member of staff in such a manner. You will come to my office tonight, got that?" Mrs. Figg snapped at him.
"But … how?" Malfoy stuttered.
"I'm the new Hogwarts caretaker, that's how!" she barked at him. "My office as the same one as my predecessors. Now off you go, or you'll be late for your next class."
Harry and Hermione hurried onwards, Harry having slipped back out of the centre after they left the potions classroom. "I've got Divination with Firenze now," Harry told Hermione. "I'll see you at recess."
She nodded and they parted ways. Harry was still wondering why Dumbledore thought divination would be important for him.
When he entered Firenze's classroom, he found that he was the first one there. The centaur was standing among the trees with a sad look about him.
"Hello Firenze," Harry greeted him quietly.
"Ah, Harry Potter. The heavens have much to say about you," Firenze's voice was someone distant, as he looked at the sky.
"Do they?" Harry asked, his heart sinking slightly.
Firenze shook off his gloom and smiled at Harry. "Yes, they do. But it will do you no good to know of what they say. Your path has been chosen for you, and you cannot step off it. It is a centaurs sad task to be the bearer of this knowledge, and not to interfere."
"Do the stars show my death?" Harry asked, suddenly afraid.
"All men and women must die, Harry Potter. There is no reason to dwell on a death that may happen tomorrow or next century," Firenze responded calmly. "But I am making your uncomfortable, I think, with my words. How are you, Harry Potter?"
"I am well, Firenze. And you?"
"I miss my kind. I chose the road I did because the stars marked it as my fate. But with that choice, I severed all ties with my own kind. I am destined to be alone, and I cannot say I like that destiny."
"I am sorry, Firenze. But, if you don't mind, I'll be your friend. I can't take the place of your own kind, I know, but perhaps it will make you miss them less," Harry offered, holding out a hand.
Firenze took the proffered hand in a strong grip. "I thank you for your offer, Harry Potter, and I am glad to accept it. Friends always ease the path that fate commands we walk."
He bowed slightly, to Harry, and let the boys hand fall, just as the others in the class appeared.
Harry wasn't at all surprised to see Pavarti Patil and Lavender Brown among the few who entered the room. There were only ten people in the class, Harry, Pavarti, Lavender, Ernie McMillian, Hannah Abbot, another Hufflepuff girl Harry didn't recognise, and four Ravenclaws that he knew by sight if not by name.
It seemed that NEWT level Divination wasn't a particularly popular subject. "Today you will look at the stars and tell me what it is you see there," Firenze began the class, waving his hand.
Immediately it was as if the sun had been blacked out, and the stars shone out above them. "This is what the stars would look like if it were night now. Look at them, and tell me what you see," the centaur bade them.
Harry looked up, and immediately his eyes were drawn to one star, and one star only. "Mars is bright tonight," he whispered the words that he'd heard so often that night in first year when he'd entered the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid.
Firenze came to stand beside him, the centaurs own face was upturned to the heavens. "So it is," was all he said.
"That means that war is coming, doesn't it?" Harry asked.
"It could. Mars is the bringer of battle, and his eyes watch us more intently than ever," Firenze replied. "He has been growing brighter for the past few months."
Harry continued to watch the night sky, and now astronomy classes proved helpful, as he was able to tell which star was which. From little he had learned of seeing the future in the stars, all signs pointed to war.
When he told Firenze this, the centaur smiled. "You are one of the few who does not search for silly things, Harry Potter. This art is most accurate when the searching is not looking for detail. Five points to Gryffindor."
Harry smiled at the centaur. "Thank you, Firenze. Would you mind if I came and visited you occasionally?"
"Be my guest, Harry Potter. You are always welcome here. Though I do not think that you will find much time this year, or next, for social calls. Your teachers will keep you working hard, I'm sure. Go now. You must be hungry, it's some time since breakfast."
"I'll see you soon," Harry promised the centaur, and hurried out of the classroom, blinking in the sudden light of the castle by day.
"So, how was Divination?" Hermione asked Harry, though she did not bother to hide her dislike of the subject.
"It was ok. We were watching the planet, as usual. Everything seems to point towards battle," Harry remarked. "And this is centaur-taught divination. Centaurs know the stars, Hermione. You can trust them to tell the whole truth."
"I know," Hermione agreed, though she sighed as she said it. "But I don't have to like it."
"He never said you did," Ron interrupted.
"How was charms?" Harry asked Ron.
"Oh, it was ok. We were revising though, so I actually knew most of it."
"Arithmancy was fun," Hermione added, smiling happily.
"How did you survive potions?" Ron asked Harry, not paying Hermione's last comment any heed at all.
"Oh, it was ok. We were making a truth potion called Verax Onis," Harry replied.
"Snape asked Harry questions as the beginning of the lesson," Hermione added. "And Harry could answer them … Where did you learn all that Harry? You weren't that good at Potions last year – no offence."
"None taken," Harry replied, grinning. "I've been studying over the summer – I didn't want Snape to take me by surprise again. I need this grade to get to be an Auror."
Ron rolled his eyes and snorted. He'd disapproved of Harry taking NEWT level potions from the day Harry told him his plans.
"What have we got after this?" he asked his friends.
"Care of Magical Creatures," Ron replied. "One of the few classes that we're together in."
"And the only one we have together without Slytherins," Harry added, smiling slightly.
His two friends nodded. "And after that we have Defence."
"Uh oh," Hermione groaned, and they all laughed.
"Come on, let's get down to Hagrid's hut," Harry said, sounding slightly weary. "See what he's got for the first lesson of the year."
"Something exciting, no doubt," Hermione replied dryly. They all knew Hagrid's love of monsters.
The three of them wandered across the grounds, not to fast, since they weren't in that much of a hurry – the bell hadn't gone yet.
"We should go to the Library tonight and get started on homework," Hermione said, out of the blue. "Harry and I both have Potions assignments, and didn't you mention that Flitwick gave you something, Ron?"
Ron mumbled something under his breath, which sounded like, "Yeah, but I wish he hadn't."
"So we'll meet up after dinner and go to the library," Hermione decided, not catching – or ignoring – the look of disgust on Ron's face.
They reached Hagrid's hut just as their partners for this year – the Ravenclaws – turned up.
Hagrid wasn't there when they arrived. "Wonder where he is?" Harry muttered.
"Probably finding some creature that will try to kill us," Ron muttered darkly.
"Ron! How can you say that? Hagrid's your friend!" Hermione hissed at him.
"That doesn't mean that he doesn't have an obsession with creatures that would kill us as soon as look at us," Ron growled back.
"Both of you shut up," Harry snapped wearily before Hermione could reply. His friends glared at one another, but didn't speak.
Suddenly Hagrid appeared from behind his house. "Come on, round this way," he said cheerily, beckoning them with a smile.
They all hurried around, following Hagrid into the backyard of his little house, which was filled with a large pool of water, containing some weird creatures. "Hagrid," Hermione breathed, "are those what I think they are?"
***
Tha
That
Hehehe! Funfun! Cliffies abound! *grins* I'll tell you what the creatures were next chapter.
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