Here we go... Back to the Hogwarts school for another day in the life of the infamous Harry Potter...

~*~*~*~*~*~

"Photographic, Potter?" Snape questioned, his voice full of malice. "If you indeed do have a photographic memory, which of those answers could have been found on page one-hundred-and-eighty-nine?"

Harry's eyes glazed over again as he searched his mind. He didn't usually pay attention to page numbers... but, maybe... "None of them, sir. On that page... is the wolfsbane potion, used on werewolves to allow them to keep their logical human mind, making them able to control their actions instead of hunting other humans... right, sir?"

The Professor looked through one of the books and found that Harry was correct. Snape was impressed. He didn't let it show, but he was. No one else he knew could have done that. No matter how skilled one student was, the class must go on. The Potions Professor gave Harry a look saying, 'speak with me later,' then continued with his lesson.

During the class, they made a simple potion to cure boils. Neville Longbottom managed to get boils by exploding his cauldron and was escorted to the hospital wing by one Seamus Finnigan.

After class, the room gradually emptied, Harry shrinking his items to fit them in his pouch again.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Harry said after the classroom was empty.

"How many books did you end up reading? I know you borrowed some from me, but how many books do you have memorized in that head of yours?"

Harry shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. If I think about it, it comes back. That's all. My favorites are the Charms. They seem to come the easiest."

"Your mother was excellent at charms, as well." Severus leaned back in the chair at his desk and studied Harry. "Make sure you come to me if something strange happens. And make sure you bring my books back unharmed!" he yelled after Harry, who was already heading for Charms.

He slid into the classroom right before it was time to start, being ushered into a seat by the tiny Professor Flitwick.

"Well," the Professor started, "This ought to be an interesting class! First-year Slytherins and Hufflepuffs!"

The Hufflepuffs smiled brightly and the Slytherins groaned at his cheeriness. "Has everyone looked over their books? Are there any charms people would like to demonstrate for us?"

Draco pushed his hand into Harry's back, saying, "Ask Potter, he's a big charms boy." Grinning wickedly, he added, "Aren't you, Potter, huh?"

Harry sneered at the boy and turned back around. Professor Flitwick scurried over to him.

"Is that right, Harry? Want to demonstrate some charms for us?"

"Not really."

The small Professor sighed, making Harry feel guilty.

"Alright, alright, I'll do it," he said.

The Professor flitted around happily, reminding Harry of a little child.

Harry took out his charmed Charms book, enlarged it once again, and muttered, "Marmoreum!"

The little Charms Professor gasped and clapped. "Good, Harry! You've turned your book to marble! Wonderful! Any more, Harry?"

Much of the class continued that way, before Professor Flitwick spoke of the history of charms and what they would learn during the term. Once the class was over, the first-year Slytherins were of to Transfiguration...

~*~*~*~*~*~

Professor McGonagall stood in front of the class with an eagle's eye watching each of the students. "This is easy, students! All you need to do is transfigure the feather!"

The students were supposed to be transfiguring a duck's feather into a raven's feather, but most of the students couldn't make it work.

Hermione Granger's, over in the Gryffindor side, was transfigured beautifully, and was rewarded Gryffindor points for it.

Harry, on the Slytherin side, wasn't doing as well. He did manage to transfigure the feather, but he wasn't as deft (A/N: I got it right this time, HA!) with it as he was with charms and normal spells.

"No, Harry, you're flicking wrong," Vanella told him from his right. "Flick like this," she said, demonstrating with her wand. She took to Transfiguration easily, as she had transfigured her feather around the same time as Hermione Granger.

Harry tried it as she had instructed, saying the spell. The feather transfigured into a raven's. Professor McGonagall came to examine it.

"Good, Harry. Wonderful flicking work."

Vanella beamed at him.

They spent the rest of the class transfiguring their feathers into different kinds and varieties. The best was when Hermione Granger transfigured hers into a peacock's feather, long and blue, with what looked like a green eye at the top. McGonagall had given Gryffindor ten points for that, then dismissed the class.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry ambled into the Common room after all of his classes were over, plopping down in the corner he had sat in the first day. He needed to write a paper for Transfiguration already, and was none too thrilled about it. He pulled out his green velvet pouch and enlarged his Transfiguration book.

Vanella walked into the Common room not long after. She walked over the corner and threw her bag of books down. "Ugh!" she yelled.

"What?"

She sat down heavily. "Just... ugh," she said quietly. "I hate being back in school. I didn't mind for the first few classes, then BAM! School is torture again."

"What happened?"

"This Transfiguration paper has to be 18 inches long!"

"So? You're good at Transfiguration; just write it, and it'll probably get easier than you think. The paper does have a big topic, anyway."

She sighed. "Sure, I guess."

"Besides, it's not due until the day after tomorrow."

"Procrastinator."

"Yep."

~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning, in the Great Hall, a big barn owl swooped down and dropped a newspaper on Vanella's plate.

"What's that?" Harry asked, between mouthfuls of scrambled eggs.

"The Daily Prophet.  I subscribed to it so we could know what's going on outside this castle."

She opened it up, reading the headline. "Oh, gods, Harry, look at this!" She shoved the newspaper between him and his beloved plate of scrambled eggs.

He read it quickly.

*Gringotts Break-In Latest*

Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken.  The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.
"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.

Harry almost spit out his eggs. "We were there that day!"

"I know that! Why do you think it matters so much?" Her eyes took on a faraway look. "Dark wizards were at Diagon Alley the same day you and I were getting our school things."

Harry snapped her out of it. "It didn't happen when we were there, El. It must've happened later that day. Does it say what vault?"

She searched through the article again. "No."

"Professor Snape emptied a vault that day, when I was with him. He took out a little package, but that was it. Would the thief or thieves be looking for that?"

She got another faraway look. "How big was this package?"

Harry shrugged. "Small. Maybe two inches diameter. Square, could've held almost anything." He remembered it clearly. "Kind of grubby looking. After Snape took it out of the vault, he gave it to Dumbledore, who said he 'needed to take care of it,' or something like that."

Her eyes widened. "I'm going to miss Potions. Tell him I'm not feeling well."

Harry furrowed his brows as she ran off. What was that about?

He quickly finished his eggs and headed off for Potions.

He arrived with time to spare, enough to talk to his Professor. "Sir?" he said, when sure no one else was there. "I've got a question."

"Yes, Harry?" Snape said, leaning back to face the boy.

"What did you take out of that vault in Diagon Alley?"

Snape's face hardened. "That's no business of yours."

"But, Professor! Somebody tried to steal from an empty Gringotts vault the day we were at—"

"I know, Harry. I also read the Daily Prophet. I know more about this than you do. The information you want is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nicolas Flamel—"

"Nicolas Flamel?"

Severus bit his tongue. "Oops." He was shocked at himself. He almost never made slip-ups like that one. Dumbledore surely wouldn't be happy when he heard about this.

"Who is he?"

As perfect timing as ever, Draco Malfoy walked in, followed by his two goons and most of the other Slytherin first-years. Forced to retire, Harry sat down at his desk. With Vanella missing, he had no partner for his Potions work. Unfortunately he did not notice that Pansy Parkinson was also missing and that made his partner—

"Malfoy, move up next to Potter. You need partners for this Potion."

"Potter," Malfoy greeted, setting his supplies down in Vanella's chair. "I see your girlfriend's missing."

"She's not my girlfriend, Malfoy," Harry growled. "So sit and help me do this or you'll end up the size of my Transfiguration book."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Note: Ahh, what fun it is to write this. Next up is Vanella searching in the library, and the Potions class from Hell. Look out for the chapter; should be up tomorrow.

Reviews:

Sarily: Thanks! I know, he is more studious—much. Although he still is the same Harry that puts off his homework. Go figure. Oh, and, as for the Mary Sue argument. I noticed those factors, too. It's very hard to come up with a unique and interesting character if she can't have talents. Hermione and Ron have talents, too, don't they? And, no, Vanella is most definitely not the French word for Vanilla. 'Vanella' is just 'Vanilla' with the 'i' replaced with an 'e' so that it can be shortened to 'Ella' or 'El.' I like to think of the name 'Vanella' as my own creation, as no one has ever used it before, and, if I have one, hope to give the name to my daughter someday. I happen to think that a French surname fits her quite well, to be discovered later on... I better stop now before I get ahead of myself. Anyway, I'm going for the quick updates as long as I can!

BlackSparrow: Nah, I don't think Snape's so bad once he lets people into his emotional bubble. He'd probably be a nice guy, actually. You never know, though. Well, Vanella is here to stay—for a little while at least—so I hope you like her in the end, but it is alright if you don't. I really don't mind. I don't know about poor Draco, though. After all, he doesn't act too nice to Harry during Charms... let's see how he acts next chapter, shall we?

starangel2106: What's the count now? 55 or 50 points? I think it's 55 but I can't remember. Ah, well. Anyway, yes, after thinking more through it I think the Latin theory makes sense. Well, thanks! Yes, Snape stared. I don't think it was a goldfish look * this time * though, but we'll have to see what happens...

Translations ( only one for this chapter ):

"Marmoreum": 'Made of marble.'