A/N: This Harry's first day back. Runs into trouble with Snape. It's going
to be pretty nasty. Once again, I'd like to thank all my wonderful
reviewers; you've kept me motivated! Merci!
Disclaimer: Don't sue, it belongs to JKR.
Chapter Eleven: Unordinary Day
Professor Severus Snape had never stared at Harry this way before. An ice cube slipped down into Harry's stomach. It was so much more than the usual loathing, it was pure hatred, pure want to strangle him.
"This will not be an easy year. You have somehow passed your Potion OWL and because of that I will be expecting nothing less than an "O" average from each and every one of you." Harry glanced at Ron with a dubious look. Ron had passed his OWL in Potions, luckily with and A, but at the time, his hopes of becoming an Auror were dashed. That was when Professor McGonagall told them she had forced Snape to make some expectations. She said it had something to do with the Order "Needing as many new Auror's as possible..." Ron had been ecstatic about this, though neither of them was very happy about having Snape as a teacher. Even more surprisingly, they had seen Neville in the class. He was sitting nervously at the very front of the room, already sweating. He had barely passed, and by the look on Snape's face, he was very angry at having him back in class. Harry groaned mentally and Snape began to talk again.
"Since all of you are familiar with the protocol, you have the rest of the class to make this potion. Start now." He waved his wand and the tiny instructions lined the board. Harry had to squint just to make out the words. As he began to crush his black beetle shells with his mortar and pestle, he saw Neville moaning slightly as he fumbled around with his ingredients. His hand slipped, knocking over his tiny vial of unicorn hair, the sliver strands scattering across the table. Snape swooped down on him as he hurriedly picked them up. "Mr. Longbottom, please do not let your atrocious clumsiness disturb my class. It's bad enough when we have to wait after you have melted your cauldron." Neville turned a deep shade of scarlet and mumbled a quick apology under his breath. Harry scowled as the boy feverishly began to make the complicated potion. Hermione nudged Harry.
"Start melting your dittany," she hissed under her breath. Harry poked the bottom of his cauldron with his wand and a tiny fire started to cackle merrily. He tipped the cut dittany into it, in which they immediately melted into a bubbling red liquid as he added the other ingredients. Snape passed the two of them, and as usual, he couldn't see anything wrong with Hermione's potion, so he moved on to Harry and Ron."
"Mr. Weasley," he snapped. "Is it not clearly stated on the board that you need â cup of black beetle shells, not â ? This potion is three shades duller than it should be. I suggest you hurry before it explodes from lack of proper ingredients. We don't want to have two melted cauldron's in this class." The Slytherins laughed and Neville had a panicked look on his face. Snape rounded on Harry. He picked up one of the metal mixing spoons and took a scoop out, then letting it splash back into the rest of the bright red mix.
"Mr. Potter, this potion is completely useless. Not only did you add the amount of ingredients incorrectly, you forgot to stir the potion 3 times clockwise then 2 counter-clockwise. Start over." The potion disappeared and Snape walked off, a smirk on his face. Harry glanced down furiously into his now empty cauldron and began to crush his beetle shells forcefully, bits spraying everywhere. By the time he had caught up, the rest of the class had finished. The only person still working was Neville. Harry scooped some up quickly into a glass container, and rushed towards Snape's desk. Snape sneered at him as he set it down with the rows of other potions. Just as Harry was about to clean up, he saw Crabbe and Goyle sneak up behind Neville, who was pouring his own potion into a container, hands slippery with sweat. Crabbe began to sneak his leg underneath Neville's, about to trip him. Before Harry could think, he tipped his cauldron over. The red liquid spilled all over the cold stone floor. Neville just jumped out of the way, running forward to turn in his potion. Crabbe and Goyle both grabbed onto Neville's cauldron and stumbled to the floor, the remnants of Neville's potion mixing with Harry's. It began to hiss and spark, spraying around the entire room. People ducked under the tables and rushed to the door. Snape walked furiously forward, and waved his wand, the potion simmering down.
"Potter! Longbottom! My desk now!" The bell rang and Harry turned glumly to Ron and Hermione, Ron mouthing, "We'll wait for you!" Neville and Harry walked up to the glowering Potions Master. "It is only the first day back and you two have already created problems! Detention tomorrow night, eight o'clock sharp, and 20 points from Gryffindor! Now get out!" They both rushed out of the dungeons and up to the Great Hall, where Hermione and Ron were waiting for them. Neville turned nervously to Harry as they walked out the door and into the damp morning.
"I'm really sorry Harry! I didn't mean to get you in trouble." Harry waved his hand.
"No problem Neville. Let's just not be late." They walked into Greenhouse Four. The room gave a sudden chill. The four walked to their own table, and saw tall icy plants sitting on in neat rows. Professor Sprout came bustling in.
"Today we'll be pruning Icy Ferns, a native plant to colder regions of Europe. To prune them you will need to use the melting shears at each table. Now watch me..." she took one of the melting shears and lit it. The golden steam of heat was melting away the straggling icicles on the plants. "Now make sure you wear your dragon-hide gloves. We don't want any burns." It was an enjoyable lesson, despite the fact it was very hard to not burn the actual leaves of the ferns, everything looked exactly the same, like a pillar of ice. Next came one of the lessons Harry was looking forward too. Defense Against the Dark Arts. There was a definite air of excitement as they walked into the classroom. For once, no dark creature was sitting in deep tanks or flittering in a cage. The bell rang and Lupin walked down the stone stairs.
"Good morning class," he said happily.
"Good morning Professor Lupin," they replied in unison.
"All right, books away please, today will be a class of your thinking wits," Lupin continued. The class did so, and the noise began to buzz, to which Lupin just smiled. "Please push the desks back." There was a loud scraping sound as the long tables were scooted towards the tall windows. The class went in a group towards one end and turned to face Professor Lupin, who flicked his wand. A large animal appeared in the middle of the room. A table with a long row of treats appeared on the other side. Harry recognized the creature at once. A few people stepped back tensely. "Now how can tell me what the creature is?" Harry's hand immediately flew up, and so did many others. Lupin nodded to Harry.
"It's a sphinx."
"Very good. Now sphinx has been dated as a creature from back to the Egyptian witches and wizards. It has the head of a human and the body of a lion. For over a thousand years it has been used by witches and wizards to guard valuables and secret hideaways. Highly intelligent, the sphinx delights in puzzles and riddles. It is usually dangerous only when what it is guarding is threatened. This," he pointed to the calm looking sphinx, "is only a solid projection, it can't really hurt you. Now who can tell me the very first riddle that the sphinx told?" Hermione's hand was the only one that went up. "Yes Miss. Granger?"
"What creature walks on all fours in the morning, two at noon, and three at night?" she recited, sounding like a textbook.
"Very good. Now does anybody know the answer?" All heads were bent in concentration, but nobody seemed to know, except Hermione of course, but she had already answered a question. Harry could tell she wanted to "show off" a little bit more, but she refrained. "The answer is a human," Lupin said chuckling slightly. "A human crawls on all fours when it is young, that's morning, walks on two legs when it learns to walk, that's noon, and uses a cane in old age, that's night. Now the object of this lesson is to come forward and solve the sphinx's riddle. If you figure out the riddle, you will be allowed to pass and you may take some treats. Who would like to go first?" Harry jumped forward. He had done this once already. "Alright Harry, step forward and wait. Now, listen closely, for some of these riddles are quite complicated." Harry did as he was told, and the sphinx began to talk.
"In marble walls as white as milk,
Lined with skin as soft as silk,
Within a fountain crystal clear,
A golden apple does appear.
No doors are there to this stronghold-
Yet thieves break in and steal the gold."
Harry's mind went numb. He stood still for a moment, and he finally started to think. What could possible white...and how could thieves get into somewhere without any doors? It took him another few minutes, but he finally figured it out. Harry gave the sphinx a nervous smile and he looked at Remus expectantly. He also gave a turn to the group and he saw Hermione rocking back and forth, biting her lip. Harry grinned wider. She had probably figured out the riddle minutes ago.
"An egg." The sphinx didn't respond, but she roared op onto her hind legs and let Harry pass.
"Very good Harry!" Lupin said enthusiastically. "You may eat now. Next!" Hermione was the first to step forward and the group groaned. But Harry didn't really see the problem. Hermione was sure to finish the fastest of them all. He munched happily on a bar of chocolate as he heard the sphinx speak again.
"What force and strength cannot get through
I with a gentle touch can do,
And many in the street would stand
Were I not a friend at hand."
Hermione got a familiar look in her eyes and Harry was transported back into their first year. He could still see her expression as she looked at the many potion bottles.
"The answer is a key," she said, with her usual voice, the one that she made every time she didn't want to sound boastful. Once again, the sphinx moved and Hermione rushed forward to join Harry.
"Very good job Hermione," Lupin said, Hermione blushing. They all went, including Ron, who had to have the riddle repeated to him three times before he finally guessed the right answer. The only person to take longer was Neville, who grew quite nervous as the sphinx loomed over him, though it smiled genially at him. Ron bit annoyingly into a Licorice Wand.
"Well that was just great," he mumbled, face an embarrassed red.
"You did alright Ron," Hermione said, "The questions really were quite hard. Though I thought mine was too easy. I would have liked a harder riddle..."
"Oh, shut up! Yours was just as hard as ours and you didn't have any trouble figuring out yours did you?" Ron said, still grumbling. Hermione frowned slightly, her brown eyes flashing. The whole class ate happily, Seamus and Dean seeing how many Cauldron Cakes they could stuff into their mouths. Lupin walked up to them, after he caused the sphinx to disappear.
"How is your first day back going?" he asked. That's when Harry remembered the incident with Snape.
"Not so good. I already have a detention with Snape." Harry regretted saying it in such an annoyed tone, Neville seemed to stiffen and he went even redder, staring hard into his Pumpkin Pasties. "But other than that it was really good."
"That's good. Do you all have Professor Black today?" It seemed so strange for Lupin to say that, and it took a moment for Harry to realize he meant Sirius.
"Don't know. Let me check." He pulled out his turntable and ran his finger down the list. There, under midnight, was the word Astronomy. "Yeah we do, at midnight."
"At least he's used to being awake so late at night. All those years wandering around the grounds when we were at Hogwarts really did help for something." They were interrupted at the bell and Lupin gave them a last bit of chocolate as they rushed out the door. The fun they had experienced in Defense Against the Dark Arts quickly vanished as they entered Professor McGonagall's strict classroom. They spent most of the lesson on the correct wand movements to transfigure their coals into diamonds. By the time the class ended, and they had only twenty minutes to work, Hermione's was the only one who seemed to have made a difference. Her lump had turned a pearly white and a shimmered brilliantly in the natural light flowing from the windows. After a quick lunch they had Charms and Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid had brought them down to the lake and taught them how to care for many of the magical creatures deep in the depths. It seemed strange to Harry that he had been walking into it two years ago, and he could barely imagine that merpeople still dwelt at the pebbly bottom. Their ghastly voices, though, still reached his ears. The Gryffindors had most of the afternoon off, seeing as they had to be in the Astronomy Tower late that night. Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the time outside, in the autumn weather, doing their homework underneath the sunlight. The newly bandaged squid was lazily rolling around in the water, and owls would swoop down out of the Owlrey every couple of minutes. Harry was just finishing his paper on "The Uses of the Burning Potion," which just happened to be the potion they made in the morning, when the last bell rang. Ron stretched his arms above his head and quickly put his books away and jumped up, nearly hitting a low branch of the tree they were sitting under.
"Bout time! I'm starving!" Harry's stomach rumbled and lunch seemed ages away. Droves of students started to make their way back to the castle, and as they walked through the doors the smell of dinner drafted down the corridors. The food wasn't as lavish as the feast, but it was still enough to make Harry's mouth water. The usual plates of chicken, bowls of steaming corn, and tall cups of pumpkin juice filled the total length of the table. Harry looked up and he saw Sirius shoveling food into his mouth. Harry wasn't the least bit tired, having nearly dozed off in the warm sun while doing his homework. He ate eagerly and the rest of the Gryffindors went up to their common room. Ron and Harry were engaged in a game of chess when Hermione came down, rushing around.
"Come on! We're going to be late!"
"Yeesh, Hermione! We're not going to be late. Queen to E7. Checkmate Harry!" The stone queen hustled along to Harry's king, and battered it to the ground.
"Maybe we should get going," said Harry, jumping up and grabbing his bag.
"I so beat you!" Ron whooped triumphantly, though he followed his friends out of the room. They were halfway up to the Astronomy Tower when they heard someone walking down the stairs. Surprisingly, Lupin came bustling down merrily.
"Going for your first Astronomy lesson Harry?"
"Yeah. What were you doing all the way up here?"
"Just bringing up something's for Sirius's lesson. It should be amazing."
"Ooh, don't make me anymore anxious. Come on Harry!" Ron grabbed his arm and pulled him up the rest of the stairs, Hermione close on their heels. When they walked up into the Tower, they gasped. The cold stone tower had been completely transformed. Instead of slippery walls, there was instead a deep sheet of blue, on which stars twinkled, which completely filled the entire perimeter of the room.
"Hey you three. Glad you're in my first lesson. Like it? Remus was helping me put the finishing touches on the room."
"What are we going to do?" Ron asked excitedly.
"Just want to see how much you all know." The rest of the Gryffindors came bursting in and their reactions were the same as Harry, Ron, and Hermione's had been. They all quickly sat down and waited for their new professor to start.
"Welcome to Astronomy! Before we really dive into anything, I want to see how much you all know. Don't worry I promise it won't hurt." The class laughed and Sirius smiled appreciatively. "Alright, now who wants to go first?" All the hands shot into the air. "Ok, Seamus, why don't you go first?"
"Yes sir!" Seamus eagerly walked forward towards Sirius's desk.
"First stand in the middle of the room," Sirius said pointing to the middle of the circular tower. "Then wait for my instructions." Seamus did as he was told and waited while Sirius pulled out his wand. He gave it a quick flick and the whole class gasped. The starry walls bounced off and they all seemed to be sitting in the middle of a night sky. A beautiful crescent moon hung softly in the corner and Harry could make out the red glow of Mars near the ceiling.
"What am I supposed to be doing Professor Black?" Seamus asked.
"I want you to jump."
"What?" Seamus asked bewildered at the strange request. Harry could see the corners of Sirius's mouth twitch into a smile.
"Just jump up." Seamus sighed and bent his knees, then leaping up. Amazingly he didn't come back down. He laughed loudly as he flipped around in the dark air.
"This is so cool sir!"
"Thank you Seamus. Now will you please locate Phobos?"
"Yes sir!" Seamus hovered towards Mars and pointed to one of the moons.
"Now, can you tell me why wizard, as well as muggle Astronomers, believe Phobos is a captured asteroid?"
"Yeah, it's got something to do with what it's made of." Sirius chuckled as Seamus answered.
"Correct, in a sense anyways. Yes, Phobos as well as Mars's other moon, Deimos have the same surface materials as those that exist in the asteroids in the outer asteroid belt. Can anyone tell me why Phobos is names what it is?" As usual Hermione's hand shot up, while Seamus just floated around lazily. "Yes Hermione?"
"Phobos was named after an attendant of the Roman war god Mars, for which the planet gets its name."
"Very good! Ten points to Gryffindor! And for answering you can go next." Hermione was probably the fastest to find her planet and she rattle on quite a few facts about it before floating to her seat again. Neville bobbed around for minutes before finally locating one of Jupiter's moons. When Harry had his turn Sirius asked him to locate Cassini's division, a division in the bright rings of Saturn. It took him a moment to distinguish between the incredibly thin lines and thick rings of Saturn and Sirius gave Gryffindor another ten points. Sirius gave Harry a slight wave as they walked out of the classroom. Even for the late hour, the halls were buzzing loudly with the excitement of the lesson. Even Neville seemed to have enjoyed himself. Ron was in the midst of bragging to Hermione about how he had named the correct elements in the atmosphere of Neptune when Harry nearly went tumbling toward the ground.
"What in bloody hell?" Harry grumbled as he steadied himself. It seemed he had bumped into Neville who had suddenly bent down to pick something up. The floor was unusually damp and Harry realized Mr. Filch had probably just finished mopping. Neville was quickly scrambling around picking up unusual sheets of paper, not even noticing he had tripped Harry. Ron was staring at whatever Neville was picking up with interest.
"Whatcha got there?" He tried to pick up one of the rectangles, when Neville snatched it up.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," Neville said hurriedly, in a slightly worried and angry tone. Ron eyes widened.
"Sorry Neville. Didn't mean to make you mad." Neville sighed softly as Ron backed up a bit.
"Sorry, I'm just a bit tired. Nothing a bit of sleep won't fix. See you tomorrow." And with that he rushed with the others to the common room, leaving the three friends in a state of shock. Well, two anyway. Hermione just sighed, and Harry immediately recognized it.
"What do you know Hermione?"
"I don't know what you mean," she said, though tinges of pink rushed to her cheeks.
"Oh, come on Hermione! Tell us!" Ron said indignantly.
"No Ron! Now lets get back before we get in trouble!" She stalked off and Ron grumbled.
"Well, we'll get something out of her eventually." And with that they followed her back through the portrait hole.
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The next day went by quickly, and Harry soon found himself dreading the detention with Snape. He had to once again start a brand new potion, as his was not deemed "correct." Neville too, seemed to grow nervous through out the day, accidentally sending the lump of coal they were transfiguring around the room, spraying bits of black upon the students. Luckily Professor McGonagall was able to clean it up right away, though she did give Neville a stern look. By the time dinner had come around, Harry could barely eat.
"What's so different from any other detention you've had with Snape?" Ron asked as Harry threw down his biscuit mournfully.
"I don't know! It just seems extra horrible today. I don't know why!"
"Well, we'll wait up for you."
"Thanks...uggh, I better get going." Harry had already seen Neville scoot his way down to the dungeons. He glanced at the clock and jumped up. "God damn...I'm going to be late." And he was. The minute he walked in Snape smiled horribly and pointed to the ground.
"Ten points from Gryffindor! Now get to scrubbing." Harry let out a groan. Usually they had to clean or do something with horrible potion ingredients, but scrubbing the dungeon floor! It was huge, and in the dark light it never seemed to be clean in the first place. Harry was brought out of his thoughts with another growl from Snape, "NOW!" Neville was on the floor with a little brush and was scrubbing forcefully. They sat silently in the suds for a very long time, till Harry could almost hear a ringing in his ears. He remembered what Hermione had said the other night...
"I don't know what you mean..." but Harry was pretty sure Hermione knew exactly what was going on. He looked towards Neville who was wiping his forehead.
"Neville?" he asked.
"Hmm?"
"How was your summer?" Neville seemed to turn brick white at Harry's question, but he quickly recovered.
"Normal."
"Did anything happen Neville?" Harry started, "Because you can tell me if something was bothering you..."
"Nothing happened!" Neville said forcefully, taking Harry by surprise.
"Sorry...just thought you might want to talk..." Neville turned crimson as Harry let out a sigh.
"It's no problem Harry. Nothing special happened." After he said that, Neville went back to vigorously scrubbing the last section of the dungeon floor. By the time they had cleaned up and put the supplies away, it was the dead of night, and all the other students were asleep. They slowly made their way back to the common room. As they stepped in, Harry grabbed Neville's arm.
"Are you sure Neville?"
"Harry, all I did was stay at home and do my homework. Nothing else. Goodnight." Neville rushed passed Hermione and Ron who were sitting in the fluffy armchairs. Harry looked up at Neville as he raced towards their dormitories.
"What in blazes is wrong with him?"
"Harry, sit down." It was Hermione who had answered him. She was looking worried and very tired.
"What is it Hermione?" Ron asked as Harry slowly sat down.
"Don't you two get it?"
"Get what?"
"Neville. You two don't see it?"
"No Hermione, we don't." Hermione let out a long sigh as Harry spoke.
"Then I guess I better tell you, and then you can leave him alone." She didn't give the two time to response; she just started what seemed to be the beginning of a very long story. "Neville's jealous of you Harry. He's been visiting his parents in St. Mungo's all last summer, and you know what happened to them. You, Harry, getting the people you love the most back, and him, still having his parents sitting insane, not even knowing who he is. After the news of the veils came out Harry, he became depressed. Ginny said he kept saying sometimes he would wish his parents would die, so they could have a chance of coming back. That it wasn't fair that his parents couldn't even think, couldn't even really exist. Your parent's at least got to die and be together. His parents can't have that." It took a few moments for the words to sink into Harry's mind.
"It make sense..." he said quietly.
"Yes it does. And I hope you two will leave him alone. I'm sure he doesn't need the very person he's jealous of asking him questions. You know how you felt when you knew you had no one left, after Sirius died. I'm sure he's feeling the same way now. So give him some time." She walked up to the girl's dormitories, Crookshanks lying lazily in her arms. Harry and Ron sat in silence for a few moments.
"Guess we should have guessed it huh Harry."
"Like I said, it makes sense. And Hermione's right. We should leave Neville alone."
"Yeah..." Ron said absentmindedly. With that they walked to their beds and changed into their pajamas. As Harry climbed under the fluffy covers he heard some crinkling coming from behind Neville's curtains.
"Poor Neville..." he thought, "I know just what it's like...and I wouldn't wish it on anybody..."
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Neville wiped away tears as he looked at the pictures. Harry was climbing into bed, and he tried to silence the shuffling of the photos. He looked down at them...his mother and father smiling up at him, eyes normal, not dull and clouded, not showing signs of a brutal insanity. Neville picked up a fading newspaper. He saw Harry and his parents...along with Professor Black standing together laughing and enjoying life. He suddenly slammed it bitterly into his pillow.
"Why does Harry get to have all his dreams come true?" he thought with his soul burning with rage. "Why do my parents have to suffer? Why me? Why us..." and with that he cried silently into the soft fabric, which muffled all the tears of pain.
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A/N: I've decided to throw some more angst in the mix (hope you don't mind.) We will be seeing more of Neville and some of the problems he faces. Now, I want to ask a question. Would anyone who had read and liked my stories (and is particularly good at digital art/drawing) be interested in drawing fanart for Life Awakened (or any other of my stories)? Please put the answer in your reviews, which by the way have been AMAZING! Thank you so very much!! I love you all! Till the next chapter!
Disclaimer: Don't sue, it belongs to JKR.
Chapter Eleven: Unordinary Day
Professor Severus Snape had never stared at Harry this way before. An ice cube slipped down into Harry's stomach. It was so much more than the usual loathing, it was pure hatred, pure want to strangle him.
"This will not be an easy year. You have somehow passed your Potion OWL and because of that I will be expecting nothing less than an "O" average from each and every one of you." Harry glanced at Ron with a dubious look. Ron had passed his OWL in Potions, luckily with and A, but at the time, his hopes of becoming an Auror were dashed. That was when Professor McGonagall told them she had forced Snape to make some expectations. She said it had something to do with the Order "Needing as many new Auror's as possible..." Ron had been ecstatic about this, though neither of them was very happy about having Snape as a teacher. Even more surprisingly, they had seen Neville in the class. He was sitting nervously at the very front of the room, already sweating. He had barely passed, and by the look on Snape's face, he was very angry at having him back in class. Harry groaned mentally and Snape began to talk again.
"Since all of you are familiar with the protocol, you have the rest of the class to make this potion. Start now." He waved his wand and the tiny instructions lined the board. Harry had to squint just to make out the words. As he began to crush his black beetle shells with his mortar and pestle, he saw Neville moaning slightly as he fumbled around with his ingredients. His hand slipped, knocking over his tiny vial of unicorn hair, the sliver strands scattering across the table. Snape swooped down on him as he hurriedly picked them up. "Mr. Longbottom, please do not let your atrocious clumsiness disturb my class. It's bad enough when we have to wait after you have melted your cauldron." Neville turned a deep shade of scarlet and mumbled a quick apology under his breath. Harry scowled as the boy feverishly began to make the complicated potion. Hermione nudged Harry.
"Start melting your dittany," she hissed under her breath. Harry poked the bottom of his cauldron with his wand and a tiny fire started to cackle merrily. He tipped the cut dittany into it, in which they immediately melted into a bubbling red liquid as he added the other ingredients. Snape passed the two of them, and as usual, he couldn't see anything wrong with Hermione's potion, so he moved on to Harry and Ron."
"Mr. Weasley," he snapped. "Is it not clearly stated on the board that you need â cup of black beetle shells, not â ? This potion is three shades duller than it should be. I suggest you hurry before it explodes from lack of proper ingredients. We don't want to have two melted cauldron's in this class." The Slytherins laughed and Neville had a panicked look on his face. Snape rounded on Harry. He picked up one of the metal mixing spoons and took a scoop out, then letting it splash back into the rest of the bright red mix.
"Mr. Potter, this potion is completely useless. Not only did you add the amount of ingredients incorrectly, you forgot to stir the potion 3 times clockwise then 2 counter-clockwise. Start over." The potion disappeared and Snape walked off, a smirk on his face. Harry glanced down furiously into his now empty cauldron and began to crush his beetle shells forcefully, bits spraying everywhere. By the time he had caught up, the rest of the class had finished. The only person still working was Neville. Harry scooped some up quickly into a glass container, and rushed towards Snape's desk. Snape sneered at him as he set it down with the rows of other potions. Just as Harry was about to clean up, he saw Crabbe and Goyle sneak up behind Neville, who was pouring his own potion into a container, hands slippery with sweat. Crabbe began to sneak his leg underneath Neville's, about to trip him. Before Harry could think, he tipped his cauldron over. The red liquid spilled all over the cold stone floor. Neville just jumped out of the way, running forward to turn in his potion. Crabbe and Goyle both grabbed onto Neville's cauldron and stumbled to the floor, the remnants of Neville's potion mixing with Harry's. It began to hiss and spark, spraying around the entire room. People ducked under the tables and rushed to the door. Snape walked furiously forward, and waved his wand, the potion simmering down.
"Potter! Longbottom! My desk now!" The bell rang and Harry turned glumly to Ron and Hermione, Ron mouthing, "We'll wait for you!" Neville and Harry walked up to the glowering Potions Master. "It is only the first day back and you two have already created problems! Detention tomorrow night, eight o'clock sharp, and 20 points from Gryffindor! Now get out!" They both rushed out of the dungeons and up to the Great Hall, where Hermione and Ron were waiting for them. Neville turned nervously to Harry as they walked out the door and into the damp morning.
"I'm really sorry Harry! I didn't mean to get you in trouble." Harry waved his hand.
"No problem Neville. Let's just not be late." They walked into Greenhouse Four. The room gave a sudden chill. The four walked to their own table, and saw tall icy plants sitting on in neat rows. Professor Sprout came bustling in.
"Today we'll be pruning Icy Ferns, a native plant to colder regions of Europe. To prune them you will need to use the melting shears at each table. Now watch me..." she took one of the melting shears and lit it. The golden steam of heat was melting away the straggling icicles on the plants. "Now make sure you wear your dragon-hide gloves. We don't want any burns." It was an enjoyable lesson, despite the fact it was very hard to not burn the actual leaves of the ferns, everything looked exactly the same, like a pillar of ice. Next came one of the lessons Harry was looking forward too. Defense Against the Dark Arts. There was a definite air of excitement as they walked into the classroom. For once, no dark creature was sitting in deep tanks or flittering in a cage. The bell rang and Lupin walked down the stone stairs.
"Good morning class," he said happily.
"Good morning Professor Lupin," they replied in unison.
"All right, books away please, today will be a class of your thinking wits," Lupin continued. The class did so, and the noise began to buzz, to which Lupin just smiled. "Please push the desks back." There was a loud scraping sound as the long tables were scooted towards the tall windows. The class went in a group towards one end and turned to face Professor Lupin, who flicked his wand. A large animal appeared in the middle of the room. A table with a long row of treats appeared on the other side. Harry recognized the creature at once. A few people stepped back tensely. "Now how can tell me what the creature is?" Harry's hand immediately flew up, and so did many others. Lupin nodded to Harry.
"It's a sphinx."
"Very good. Now sphinx has been dated as a creature from back to the Egyptian witches and wizards. It has the head of a human and the body of a lion. For over a thousand years it has been used by witches and wizards to guard valuables and secret hideaways. Highly intelligent, the sphinx delights in puzzles and riddles. It is usually dangerous only when what it is guarding is threatened. This," he pointed to the calm looking sphinx, "is only a solid projection, it can't really hurt you. Now who can tell me the very first riddle that the sphinx told?" Hermione's hand was the only one that went up. "Yes Miss. Granger?"
"What creature walks on all fours in the morning, two at noon, and three at night?" she recited, sounding like a textbook.
"Very good. Now does anybody know the answer?" All heads were bent in concentration, but nobody seemed to know, except Hermione of course, but she had already answered a question. Harry could tell she wanted to "show off" a little bit more, but she refrained. "The answer is a human," Lupin said chuckling slightly. "A human crawls on all fours when it is young, that's morning, walks on two legs when it learns to walk, that's noon, and uses a cane in old age, that's night. Now the object of this lesson is to come forward and solve the sphinx's riddle. If you figure out the riddle, you will be allowed to pass and you may take some treats. Who would like to go first?" Harry jumped forward. He had done this once already. "Alright Harry, step forward and wait. Now, listen closely, for some of these riddles are quite complicated." Harry did as he was told, and the sphinx began to talk.
"In marble walls as white as milk,
Lined with skin as soft as silk,
Within a fountain crystal clear,
A golden apple does appear.
No doors are there to this stronghold-
Yet thieves break in and steal the gold."
Harry's mind went numb. He stood still for a moment, and he finally started to think. What could possible white...and how could thieves get into somewhere without any doors? It took him another few minutes, but he finally figured it out. Harry gave the sphinx a nervous smile and he looked at Remus expectantly. He also gave a turn to the group and he saw Hermione rocking back and forth, biting her lip. Harry grinned wider. She had probably figured out the riddle minutes ago.
"An egg." The sphinx didn't respond, but she roared op onto her hind legs and let Harry pass.
"Very good Harry!" Lupin said enthusiastically. "You may eat now. Next!" Hermione was the first to step forward and the group groaned. But Harry didn't really see the problem. Hermione was sure to finish the fastest of them all. He munched happily on a bar of chocolate as he heard the sphinx speak again.
"What force and strength cannot get through
I with a gentle touch can do,
And many in the street would stand
Were I not a friend at hand."
Hermione got a familiar look in her eyes and Harry was transported back into their first year. He could still see her expression as she looked at the many potion bottles.
"The answer is a key," she said, with her usual voice, the one that she made every time she didn't want to sound boastful. Once again, the sphinx moved and Hermione rushed forward to join Harry.
"Very good job Hermione," Lupin said, Hermione blushing. They all went, including Ron, who had to have the riddle repeated to him three times before he finally guessed the right answer. The only person to take longer was Neville, who grew quite nervous as the sphinx loomed over him, though it smiled genially at him. Ron bit annoyingly into a Licorice Wand.
"Well that was just great," he mumbled, face an embarrassed red.
"You did alright Ron," Hermione said, "The questions really were quite hard. Though I thought mine was too easy. I would have liked a harder riddle..."
"Oh, shut up! Yours was just as hard as ours and you didn't have any trouble figuring out yours did you?" Ron said, still grumbling. Hermione frowned slightly, her brown eyes flashing. The whole class ate happily, Seamus and Dean seeing how many Cauldron Cakes they could stuff into their mouths. Lupin walked up to them, after he caused the sphinx to disappear.
"How is your first day back going?" he asked. That's when Harry remembered the incident with Snape.
"Not so good. I already have a detention with Snape." Harry regretted saying it in such an annoyed tone, Neville seemed to stiffen and he went even redder, staring hard into his Pumpkin Pasties. "But other than that it was really good."
"That's good. Do you all have Professor Black today?" It seemed so strange for Lupin to say that, and it took a moment for Harry to realize he meant Sirius.
"Don't know. Let me check." He pulled out his turntable and ran his finger down the list. There, under midnight, was the word Astronomy. "Yeah we do, at midnight."
"At least he's used to being awake so late at night. All those years wandering around the grounds when we were at Hogwarts really did help for something." They were interrupted at the bell and Lupin gave them a last bit of chocolate as they rushed out the door. The fun they had experienced in Defense Against the Dark Arts quickly vanished as they entered Professor McGonagall's strict classroom. They spent most of the lesson on the correct wand movements to transfigure their coals into diamonds. By the time the class ended, and they had only twenty minutes to work, Hermione's was the only one who seemed to have made a difference. Her lump had turned a pearly white and a shimmered brilliantly in the natural light flowing from the windows. After a quick lunch they had Charms and Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid had brought them down to the lake and taught them how to care for many of the magical creatures deep in the depths. It seemed strange to Harry that he had been walking into it two years ago, and he could barely imagine that merpeople still dwelt at the pebbly bottom. Their ghastly voices, though, still reached his ears. The Gryffindors had most of the afternoon off, seeing as they had to be in the Astronomy Tower late that night. Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the time outside, in the autumn weather, doing their homework underneath the sunlight. The newly bandaged squid was lazily rolling around in the water, and owls would swoop down out of the Owlrey every couple of minutes. Harry was just finishing his paper on "The Uses of the Burning Potion," which just happened to be the potion they made in the morning, when the last bell rang. Ron stretched his arms above his head and quickly put his books away and jumped up, nearly hitting a low branch of the tree they were sitting under.
"Bout time! I'm starving!" Harry's stomach rumbled and lunch seemed ages away. Droves of students started to make their way back to the castle, and as they walked through the doors the smell of dinner drafted down the corridors. The food wasn't as lavish as the feast, but it was still enough to make Harry's mouth water. The usual plates of chicken, bowls of steaming corn, and tall cups of pumpkin juice filled the total length of the table. Harry looked up and he saw Sirius shoveling food into his mouth. Harry wasn't the least bit tired, having nearly dozed off in the warm sun while doing his homework. He ate eagerly and the rest of the Gryffindors went up to their common room. Ron and Harry were engaged in a game of chess when Hermione came down, rushing around.
"Come on! We're going to be late!"
"Yeesh, Hermione! We're not going to be late. Queen to E7. Checkmate Harry!" The stone queen hustled along to Harry's king, and battered it to the ground.
"Maybe we should get going," said Harry, jumping up and grabbing his bag.
"I so beat you!" Ron whooped triumphantly, though he followed his friends out of the room. They were halfway up to the Astronomy Tower when they heard someone walking down the stairs. Surprisingly, Lupin came bustling down merrily.
"Going for your first Astronomy lesson Harry?"
"Yeah. What were you doing all the way up here?"
"Just bringing up something's for Sirius's lesson. It should be amazing."
"Ooh, don't make me anymore anxious. Come on Harry!" Ron grabbed his arm and pulled him up the rest of the stairs, Hermione close on their heels. When they walked up into the Tower, they gasped. The cold stone tower had been completely transformed. Instead of slippery walls, there was instead a deep sheet of blue, on which stars twinkled, which completely filled the entire perimeter of the room.
"Hey you three. Glad you're in my first lesson. Like it? Remus was helping me put the finishing touches on the room."
"What are we going to do?" Ron asked excitedly.
"Just want to see how much you all know." The rest of the Gryffindors came bursting in and their reactions were the same as Harry, Ron, and Hermione's had been. They all quickly sat down and waited for their new professor to start.
"Welcome to Astronomy! Before we really dive into anything, I want to see how much you all know. Don't worry I promise it won't hurt." The class laughed and Sirius smiled appreciatively. "Alright, now who wants to go first?" All the hands shot into the air. "Ok, Seamus, why don't you go first?"
"Yes sir!" Seamus eagerly walked forward towards Sirius's desk.
"First stand in the middle of the room," Sirius said pointing to the middle of the circular tower. "Then wait for my instructions." Seamus did as he was told and waited while Sirius pulled out his wand. He gave it a quick flick and the whole class gasped. The starry walls bounced off and they all seemed to be sitting in the middle of a night sky. A beautiful crescent moon hung softly in the corner and Harry could make out the red glow of Mars near the ceiling.
"What am I supposed to be doing Professor Black?" Seamus asked.
"I want you to jump."
"What?" Seamus asked bewildered at the strange request. Harry could see the corners of Sirius's mouth twitch into a smile.
"Just jump up." Seamus sighed and bent his knees, then leaping up. Amazingly he didn't come back down. He laughed loudly as he flipped around in the dark air.
"This is so cool sir!"
"Thank you Seamus. Now will you please locate Phobos?"
"Yes sir!" Seamus hovered towards Mars and pointed to one of the moons.
"Now, can you tell me why wizard, as well as muggle Astronomers, believe Phobos is a captured asteroid?"
"Yeah, it's got something to do with what it's made of." Sirius chuckled as Seamus answered.
"Correct, in a sense anyways. Yes, Phobos as well as Mars's other moon, Deimos have the same surface materials as those that exist in the asteroids in the outer asteroid belt. Can anyone tell me why Phobos is names what it is?" As usual Hermione's hand shot up, while Seamus just floated around lazily. "Yes Hermione?"
"Phobos was named after an attendant of the Roman war god Mars, for which the planet gets its name."
"Very good! Ten points to Gryffindor! And for answering you can go next." Hermione was probably the fastest to find her planet and she rattle on quite a few facts about it before floating to her seat again. Neville bobbed around for minutes before finally locating one of Jupiter's moons. When Harry had his turn Sirius asked him to locate Cassini's division, a division in the bright rings of Saturn. It took him a moment to distinguish between the incredibly thin lines and thick rings of Saturn and Sirius gave Gryffindor another ten points. Sirius gave Harry a slight wave as they walked out of the classroom. Even for the late hour, the halls were buzzing loudly with the excitement of the lesson. Even Neville seemed to have enjoyed himself. Ron was in the midst of bragging to Hermione about how he had named the correct elements in the atmosphere of Neptune when Harry nearly went tumbling toward the ground.
"What in bloody hell?" Harry grumbled as he steadied himself. It seemed he had bumped into Neville who had suddenly bent down to pick something up. The floor was unusually damp and Harry realized Mr. Filch had probably just finished mopping. Neville was quickly scrambling around picking up unusual sheets of paper, not even noticing he had tripped Harry. Ron was staring at whatever Neville was picking up with interest.
"Whatcha got there?" He tried to pick up one of the rectangles, when Neville snatched it up.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," Neville said hurriedly, in a slightly worried and angry tone. Ron eyes widened.
"Sorry Neville. Didn't mean to make you mad." Neville sighed softly as Ron backed up a bit.
"Sorry, I'm just a bit tired. Nothing a bit of sleep won't fix. See you tomorrow." And with that he rushed with the others to the common room, leaving the three friends in a state of shock. Well, two anyway. Hermione just sighed, and Harry immediately recognized it.
"What do you know Hermione?"
"I don't know what you mean," she said, though tinges of pink rushed to her cheeks.
"Oh, come on Hermione! Tell us!" Ron said indignantly.
"No Ron! Now lets get back before we get in trouble!" She stalked off and Ron grumbled.
"Well, we'll get something out of her eventually." And with that they followed her back through the portrait hole.
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The next day went by quickly, and Harry soon found himself dreading the detention with Snape. He had to once again start a brand new potion, as his was not deemed "correct." Neville too, seemed to grow nervous through out the day, accidentally sending the lump of coal they were transfiguring around the room, spraying bits of black upon the students. Luckily Professor McGonagall was able to clean it up right away, though she did give Neville a stern look. By the time dinner had come around, Harry could barely eat.
"What's so different from any other detention you've had with Snape?" Ron asked as Harry threw down his biscuit mournfully.
"I don't know! It just seems extra horrible today. I don't know why!"
"Well, we'll wait up for you."
"Thanks...uggh, I better get going." Harry had already seen Neville scoot his way down to the dungeons. He glanced at the clock and jumped up. "God damn...I'm going to be late." And he was. The minute he walked in Snape smiled horribly and pointed to the ground.
"Ten points from Gryffindor! Now get to scrubbing." Harry let out a groan. Usually they had to clean or do something with horrible potion ingredients, but scrubbing the dungeon floor! It was huge, and in the dark light it never seemed to be clean in the first place. Harry was brought out of his thoughts with another growl from Snape, "NOW!" Neville was on the floor with a little brush and was scrubbing forcefully. They sat silently in the suds for a very long time, till Harry could almost hear a ringing in his ears. He remembered what Hermione had said the other night...
"I don't know what you mean..." but Harry was pretty sure Hermione knew exactly what was going on. He looked towards Neville who was wiping his forehead.
"Neville?" he asked.
"Hmm?"
"How was your summer?" Neville seemed to turn brick white at Harry's question, but he quickly recovered.
"Normal."
"Did anything happen Neville?" Harry started, "Because you can tell me if something was bothering you..."
"Nothing happened!" Neville said forcefully, taking Harry by surprise.
"Sorry...just thought you might want to talk..." Neville turned crimson as Harry let out a sigh.
"It's no problem Harry. Nothing special happened." After he said that, Neville went back to vigorously scrubbing the last section of the dungeon floor. By the time they had cleaned up and put the supplies away, it was the dead of night, and all the other students were asleep. They slowly made their way back to the common room. As they stepped in, Harry grabbed Neville's arm.
"Are you sure Neville?"
"Harry, all I did was stay at home and do my homework. Nothing else. Goodnight." Neville rushed passed Hermione and Ron who were sitting in the fluffy armchairs. Harry looked up at Neville as he raced towards their dormitories.
"What in blazes is wrong with him?"
"Harry, sit down." It was Hermione who had answered him. She was looking worried and very tired.
"What is it Hermione?" Ron asked as Harry slowly sat down.
"Don't you two get it?"
"Get what?"
"Neville. You two don't see it?"
"No Hermione, we don't." Hermione let out a long sigh as Harry spoke.
"Then I guess I better tell you, and then you can leave him alone." She didn't give the two time to response; she just started what seemed to be the beginning of a very long story. "Neville's jealous of you Harry. He's been visiting his parents in St. Mungo's all last summer, and you know what happened to them. You, Harry, getting the people you love the most back, and him, still having his parents sitting insane, not even knowing who he is. After the news of the veils came out Harry, he became depressed. Ginny said he kept saying sometimes he would wish his parents would die, so they could have a chance of coming back. That it wasn't fair that his parents couldn't even think, couldn't even really exist. Your parent's at least got to die and be together. His parents can't have that." It took a few moments for the words to sink into Harry's mind.
"It make sense..." he said quietly.
"Yes it does. And I hope you two will leave him alone. I'm sure he doesn't need the very person he's jealous of asking him questions. You know how you felt when you knew you had no one left, after Sirius died. I'm sure he's feeling the same way now. So give him some time." She walked up to the girl's dormitories, Crookshanks lying lazily in her arms. Harry and Ron sat in silence for a few moments.
"Guess we should have guessed it huh Harry."
"Like I said, it makes sense. And Hermione's right. We should leave Neville alone."
"Yeah..." Ron said absentmindedly. With that they walked to their beds and changed into their pajamas. As Harry climbed under the fluffy covers he heard some crinkling coming from behind Neville's curtains.
"Poor Neville..." he thought, "I know just what it's like...and I wouldn't wish it on anybody..."
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Neville wiped away tears as he looked at the pictures. Harry was climbing into bed, and he tried to silence the shuffling of the photos. He looked down at them...his mother and father smiling up at him, eyes normal, not dull and clouded, not showing signs of a brutal insanity. Neville picked up a fading newspaper. He saw Harry and his parents...along with Professor Black standing together laughing and enjoying life. He suddenly slammed it bitterly into his pillow.
"Why does Harry get to have all his dreams come true?" he thought with his soul burning with rage. "Why do my parents have to suffer? Why me? Why us..." and with that he cried silently into the soft fabric, which muffled all the tears of pain.
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A/N: I've decided to throw some more angst in the mix (hope you don't mind.) We will be seeing more of Neville and some of the problems he faces. Now, I want to ask a question. Would anyone who had read and liked my stories (and is particularly good at digital art/drawing) be interested in drawing fanart for Life Awakened (or any other of my stories)? Please put the answer in your reviews, which by the way have been AMAZING! Thank you so very much!! I love you all! Till the next chapter!