Clay Pinions
By Lochar
Disclaimer: Alas, Potter, I do not own thee.
A/N: My hands! They're possessed! And thank you for all the reviews on Ch. 8.
Chapter 9
"Firs' Years! Firs' Years over here!"
Harry looked up, and saw the big man, Hagrid, yelling for them. "Come on, let's go see what he wants." He motioned for Ron to follow him off of the train. The other girl, Hermione had disappeared somewhere in the crowd.
"Come on. No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid pointed to the little boats sitting in the water.
Harry climbed into the closest boat with two seats open, Ron right behind him. There were already two boys sitting in it.
"I'm Seamus." One of them introduced himself.
"Neville Longbottom." The second one said.
"I'm Ron, and this is my mate Harry." Ron introduced the two of them.
"Nice to meet you both. I wonder…" The boats started moving. "Guess I don't have to ask how long until the boats start moving."
Harry leaned over the side of the boat and looked down into the water. "Hey look, there's a monster in the water!"
The other three all looked over the edge and saw a giant squid. "Wow! Hope he's friendly."
From a nearby boat, Hagrid laughed. "E's friendly. You fall outta yer boat an' he'll put ya back in it."
The boys keep looking around, and noticed the area started to open up. The boats floated around a bend, and everyone got their first look at the Hogwarts castle.
It was immense. Sitting on a cliff, it had high towers, a drawbridge, ivy climbing up the walls; it seemed picturesque. Of course, after getting a good look, most of the students were now more focused on how far the boats had to go until they made it to the school shores.
After a few minutes, the boats went through a curtain of ivy into the base of the cliff and landed at a small harbor, with the children piling out of the boats.
"Alrigh' firs' years, up the stairs an' wait at the big doors. Someone will come out and show yeh in shortly." Hagrid told them.
They all climbed up the stairs, and stood in front of the large doors waiting to be let in.
"So Potter, what House do you think you will end up in?" Malfoy smirked. "The lowly Hufflepuffs, moronic Gryffindors, bookworm Ravenclaws, or the mighty Slytherins?"
Harry sighed and reluctantly looked at Draco. "Any house without you is the right one for me." He then turned back to talking quietly with Ron.
Malfoy stood there for a moment, unable to speak. Just as he was about to reply, the door swung open.
They were greeted by an older lady with a stern face, small square glasses, and dark hair made into a tight bun. "I am Professor McGonagall, your Transfiguration professor and Deputy Headmistress. I am about to bring you inside, where you will be sorted into your House for the duration of your stay at Hogwarts. Your House will be like your family. There are four Houses, and they are…" Harry was only half listening to the rest of her speech, as Ron had told him about the different houses and points system on the train, which Ron had learned from his brothers and parents.
Once Professor McGonagall was finished, she led them inside to the entrance hall, and told them to wait a moment in front of another set of great doors.
The entrance hall was grand. It was wide, and its ceiling was high enough that Harry was pretty sure that the entire Dursley house could fit inside. There were doors leading off to passageways on every side, but the what caught Harry's attention the most, were the huge doors they were in front of, the giant staircase, and the odd hourglasses next to one of the walls.
Hundreds of voices could be heard on the other side of the doors, but two voices suddenly got clearer.
"We should give him a second chance. He might change his ways." The first voice said.
"We've given him hundreds of second chances! He's never going to change his ways." The second said.
Just then, two bodies floated up through the floor -causing gasps from most of the students-, continuing the conversation the first years had heard.
"And furthermore, he's not even a real ghost-" "Oh! Hello there!" The second exclaimed when he caught sight of them. "First Years about to be sorted?" The students were busy staring at them, but a couple managed to nod. "Good luck those of you who end up in Hufflepuff. My old house, you know!"
The two ghosts floated off, still arguing about someone who may or may not be a ghost.
"Children."
Everyone turned around in a flash. Professor McGonagall returned.
"You will now be brought in to be sorted. Single file please, and don't cause a commotion."
Everyone lined up, and walked into the Great Hall. There were five tables in the very large room, four were obviously the house tables as there were students sitting around them and banners above; the fifth ran opposite the others, and there were adults sitting at it facing the students. Harry looked up to avoid the eyes of everyone looking his way, when he noticed there were candles floating everywhere, and the ceiling looked like it did outside.
"It's charmed to be that way, reflecting the weather outside. It was in Hogwarts, A History."
Harry jumped; he hadn't realized that Hermione had walked up behind him. "Don't DO that!" He whispered fiercely. "You scared me."
"Sorry." She whispered back.
Professor McGonagall led them to the front of the head table, facing the students. She motioned for them to stop, and she quickly made her way through a door near the corner, and brought out a stool and a large, very old looking hat. The older students at the table seemed to lean forward a bit, and then a rip near the brim of the hat opened wide and began to sing.
(A/N: If I have to type out the first year song, I'm going to beat someone bloody. Also, I'm only going to show the sorting of the main people.)
When the applause died down, Professor McGonagall stood near the stool and retrieved a scroll from her robes.
"When I call your name, come up here and place the Sorting Hat on your head. It will determine which House best suits you."
Harry listened as she went through several people's names until she got to one he recognized.
"Granger, Hermione."
She nearly ran up to the stool and sat down. The rip in the hat opened up, and then shut again. It did this several times for two or three minutes, until it finally shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!"
Everyone was clapping and Hermione smiled brightly as she went and sat down at the Gryffindor table.
Another few names, and then Professor McGonagall came to,
"Malfoy, Draco"
The hat had no trouble this time. Almost before it was on Malfoy's head it shouted out, "SLYTHERIN!"
A few names later, Harry heard his own name.
"Potter, Harry."
The whole room became silent. Harry could hear the whispers starting up as he walked to the hat. "Boy-Who-Lived", "Harry Potter", "Wow! It's him!" Nervous, Harry turned to the Void to calm himself down.
Sitting in the chair, McGonagall set the hat on his head.
'Hmm, very interesting Mr. Potter.'
Huh?
'Please, either bring that flame into this darkness, or dispel it. I cannot place you into a house if I cannot see into your mind to see what qualities you have.'
Oh, sorry. I was nervous. Harry let go of the Void and could now sense the hat a little better.
'Not a problem. You are one of the first ones able to do that to me though. Anyways, let us get on to your Sorting. Hmm… a fierce desire to prove yourself, especially to that uncle of yours. Loyalty to your few friends and your cousin. Courageous to a fault; he would have loved that. A want to learn, but you want to learn for use, not for the knowledge itself.
'So that makes you best for Slytherin or Gryffindor.'
Not Slytherin.
'Are you sure? They could help you on your way to greatness; it's all here in your head.'
Not Slytherin, not Slytherin, not Slytherin.
'Alright, if you're so against it, it'd better be…' "GRYFFINDOR!"
People at the Gryffindor table started jumping around and there were shouts of, "We got Potter!" and other things as Harry took his place among them. He made sure there was enough space next to him for Ron, who he was sure would be joining him.
More names were called, and new students sorted before Harry heard Professor McGonagall call out,
"Weasley, Ronald."
Another bare moment under the hat, but this time "GRYFFINDOR!" was the call.
Ron smiled and got off the stool, some color finally returning to his face. He stumbled towards the Gryffindor table, and sunk down in the seat next to Harry. "At least we didn't have to wrestle Trolls."
Harry quickly turned from watching the last student, a 'Zabini' being sorted, and looked at Ron. "What?"
Ron shook his head. "That's what those two jokers were telling me." He pointed to his twin brothers. They both smiled back innocently.
Before Harry could say anything, they heard a cough come from the head table where the teachers were at. Dumbledore had stood up. "Now, before we eat, I have just a few words to say: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"
Everyone laughed and clapped.
"He's nuts, isn't he?" Harry asked out loud.
Percy turned to him. "A bit, but he's still the best wizard in the world." Percy pointed to the table. "Potatoes?"
Harry looked at the table and was shocked. All the plates were now filled with food. He quickly put together a plate of the best looking things and started eating.
Looking to the head table, he noticed a pale and nervous-looking man, wearing, bizarrely enough, a purple turban, talking to another man with a hooked nose, greasy black hair, and sallow skin. The dark-haired man glared at him.
"Ah!" Harry put his hand on his forehead, where it was pounding in pain.
"What's the matter?" Ron asked.
"Nothing." He looked at Percy. "Who are those two men talking? The one wearing the turban and the one with the dark hair?"
Percy looked up. "Oh, that's Professor Quirrell with the… turban, and the other is Professor Snape. Snape is the Potions Master, but everyone knows that he wants Quirrell's job, Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's no wonder Professor Quirrell looks nervous."
After getting to know more about each other and getting themselves pleasantly full in the process, the plates cleared themselves. And then all the students made themselves unpleasantly sick off of dessert.
When the plates cleared themselves for a second time, Dumbledore stood up again.
"Now that your stomachs are full and your heads empty, I think I'll fill them up with a few start-of-term announcements."
Laughs came from a number of students at this.
"First off, for the first years. There are several places off-limits. The Forbidden forest on the edge of the grounds for instance, is just that: forbidden. It would be wise for a few of our older students to take note of this." His eyes twinkled as he looked at the Weasley twins.
"Also of note, Mr. Filch, our caretaker, wants me to remind you all that there is to be no magic in the corridors between classes. Students wishing to join their House Quidditch teams should see Madam Hooch. Trials will be held in the second week."
Years third and above should make sure they have their permission slips for Hogsmeade weekends handy, but if you do not, we have many fine owls in the school Owlery that would be happy to pester your parents for you." The older students laughed in response while the younger students looked a little confused.
Dumbledore's smile slipped a little as looked around. "And finally, please take note. The third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to anyone who does not wish to die a very painful, gruesome death."
A few students laughed, but most looked thoughtful.
"He is joking, right?" Harry asked.
"Most likely not." Percy said. "But it is odd… Normally he gives a reason why. Like how the forest is full of dangerous monsters. I'm surprised he didn't at least tell us prefects."
Dumbledore dismissed them to their dorms then, and Percy led them up flights and flights of stairs. Halfway up, they managed to run into the object of the ghosts' previous discussion.
"Ohhhh! Ickle Firsties! What fun!" He started chucking the walking sticks he was carrying at them.
"Peeves! Quit right now or I'll let the Baron know what you're doing!" Percy shouted at him.
"Ohh, so scary!" Peeves stuck his tongue out at Percy. "Not! Wonder if I can find anymore Firsties to play with?" Peeves zoomed down the stairs, apparently looking for more first years.
"Peeves, the poltergeist. The only one who has any control over him is the Bloody Baron. He won't even listen to the prefects." Percy told them.
Percy led them up a few more flights of stairs, to a large portrait of a very fat woman in a pink dress.
"Password?" The painting asked.
"Caput Draconis." Percy told her. She nodded, and her painting swung forward, revealing the Gryffindor common room.
"Boys are up the left staircase, girls are up the right. First floor up, you're trunks will be at your beds." Percy waved them towards the stairs.
Harry and Ron walked up to their dorm and found their trunks. Harry had just enough time to change into his sleeping clothes before falling asleep, not even waiting long enough to talk to Ron.
Harry's dreams that night were filled with nonsense. Professor Quirrell's turban was on his head, telling him to go back to the hat and allow it to put him in Slytherin. Every time Harry said no, the turban got tighter and heavier on his head. Harry even tried using his Chi against it, but it didn't affect the turban.
Malfoy was there as well, laughing at him for choosing the wrong house. He then morphed into Professor Snape, who laughed at him as well, in a high-pitched, cold laughter. Then there was a green flash of light.
Harry awoke, sweating and shaking. When he calmed down, he rolled back over, forgetting the dream and falling back asleep.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The next few days were extremely hectic. You had to memorize the quickest way between classes, which steps might make you fall through them, doors that changed their locations every Tuesday, and walls that pretended to be doors.
And then for Harry, there were the constant whispers that seemed to follow him anytime he went past a group of people. "You see him?" "It's Harry Potter." "Did you see him?" "Did you see his scar?"
It's going to get annoying very fast if I can't talk to anyone because they're too busy staring at me and this stupid scar to actually talk.
Harry quickly learned that the sneering Professor Snape didn't just dislike him; he seemed to actively loathe him.
The first class Harry had for Potions turned out to be a double lesson with the Slytherins. The students had just gotten settled in, when Professor Snape stalked in, robes billowing out behind him.
He stood up in front of the class and took the roll. When he got to Harry's name, he stopped and looked up. "Ah, Harry Potter, our newest – celebrity." He sneered at Harry and continued on with the roll.
Afterwards, he faced them all. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making. There is little foolish wand-waving here, so most of you will no doubt not consider this to be true magic. I do not expect many of you to understand any of the beauty that comes from potions, but." He looked around at the students. "I can teach you to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
Snape smiled, almost maliciously. "Potter!" He snapped. "What would I get if I added powered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Harry sat there. Powered what to an infusion of what? "I'm not sure Professor."
Hermione's hand flew into the air.
Snape nodded. "Typical, ride on your fame and know not a thing. Alright then, where would I find a bezoar?"
Harry shook his head. "I don't know that one either, Professor."
Hermione's hand was shaking in the air.
"Didn't even bother to look into your school books before you came, did you Potter?" Snape questioned.
"I did Professor, but I'm not good at memorizing every detail of a book." Harry replied
A couple of Gryffindors gasped, and even the Slytherins had a look of astonishment.
"Two points from Gryffindor for cheek. Maybe you can save yourself some face. What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
Hermione's hand now seemed to be vibrating in the air, she was waving it so fast. She was at the point of jumping up and down in her seat.
"I can't remember that one either, Professor. Hermione seems to know, maybe you should ask her?"
Snape's face starting turning red in anger. "Three more points for repeated cheek, Mr. Potter." He whirled to face Hermione. "Sit down girl." Hermione sat.
He turned back to Harry. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping draught so powerful it is called the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar can save you from most poisons and can be found in the stomach of a goat. There is no difference between monkshood and wolfsbane as they are the same plant. It also goes by aconite." He scowled. "Well…? Why aren't you all writing this down?" The furious scratching of quills against parchment started up.
Harry narrowed his eyes at Snape. A glass vial on Snape's desk imploded.
Snape whirled around to face Harry. "Four points off for destroying school property!"
Harry's eyes widened at this. He opened his mouth to protest, when Ron pulled at his arm and whispered in his ear, "Don't! Fred and George say he just gets worse."
Harry closed his mouth.
The rest of the class did not go much better.
After having the class split up into pairs, Snape pointed his wand at the board, and a set of instructions appeared. "We'll be making a common cure for boils today. Follow the instructions exactly." He then started prowling around the class, making remarks to the students that seemed to be intended to mess them up.
Snape was actually pleased for once, when Malfoy's potion threw up a green cloud of smoke. "This is how it should be done." When Hermione's potion moments later did the same thing, he just looked into her cauldron and told her, "Too light of a color, you've messed up somewhere." And then he walked off.
Instructor, definitely. Harry thought, watching both Snape and his cauldron carefully while Ron was dicing up an ingredient.
A painful howl came from the other side of the classroom, and everyone looked up to see Neville covered with painful looking boils. His cauldron seemed to be bubbling over and the mess was eating into the wooden stools. The students close by jumped onto the available chairs and tables to get away from the concoction.
Snape swooped down on him. "Put the porcupine quills in before you took it off the fire, didn't you boy!" Neville couldn't answer. Snape shook his head, disgusted. He turned to Seamus who had been his partner. "Take him to the Hospital Wing."
He then rounded on Harry. "Potter! Why did you not tell him to add the quills after taking it off the fire? Wanted to make yourself look better if he got it wrong? Yet another point from Gryffindor."
Harry scowled at Snape. Several more glass phials around the room cracked. "Two points off for each one of those that just cracked."
"I'm not doing anything, Instructor Snape." Harry said through gritted teeth.
"Obviously, you're doing something Potter."
This time, a cauldron on Snape's desk spewed out its contents. "Four points for my cauldron Potter!"
Harry took a deep breath, and brought himself into the Void, but it seemed that there was something outside of the Void, bubbling, and it was just getting worse with the Flame near it.
Everything glass that didn't belong to a student shattered. "Thirty points total for that one Potter! Want to try for some more? I don't think Gryffindor is quite far enough in the negative numbers yet."
Harry dropped the Void, just to keep the Flame from bubbling whatever it was. The unfelt magic potential in the air dissipated.
Snape glared at him. "Class dismissed. Potter, if this happens again, I'll take a hundred points from Gryffindor and you'll have detention for a month. Now get out of my sight!"
Trudging out of the potions dungeon, Ron looked at Harry. "Merlin Harry, you had to have lost sixty points in there."
Harry shook his head. "I know, but I wasn't doing any of those things. Why would he think I was?"
Ron shrugged. "Best guess I've got is accidental magic, but you've got your wand now. That should control it."
Transfiguration was the next class, and Harry was able to enjoy that one much more.
Even if just because it was taught by their Head of House, Professor McGonagall.
"Transfiguration is one of the most complex and dangerous magics you will learn at Hogwarts. If I find anyone messing around in this class you will leave and not come back." With that, McGonagall transformed her desk into a pig and back again.
The class leaned forward, eager after that demonstration. But they soon found turning a desk into an animal was far into the future.
After spending half the class taking copious notes, they were each given a number of matchsticks, and told to attempt to change them into needles. By the end of the class, only Hermione had even been able to make her matchsticks a silver color; let alone into metal. She was graced with a rare smile from Professor McGonagall for that.
As everyone walked out of the classroom, Harry turned to look at his desk. The matchsticks were still sitting there, wooden, not silver, not even pointed. After everything that had happened during the day, his temper was at a high point. Channeling a decent portion of Chi into his wand, Harry pointed it at the offending pieces of wood. He nearly growled out the command, "CHANGE." The little pieces of wood, knowing a force majeure, listened.
Harry walked out smiling. Behind him sat several perfect metal needles, all lined up.
"Thirty points to Gryffindor." An astonished McGonagall managed to get out, but Harry didn't hear her.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
A week later, Harry could be found sitting in front of the fire in the common room, watching the flames. His fellow Gryffindors had finally calmed down enough to where they weren't bumping into each other trying to see him, so he had a few moments of peace while he was here.
"Evanesco," Harry heard a voice behind him. Turning, he spotted Percy practicing a spell on a snail in front of him. The snail would fade out of view for a moment, and then slowly return. And then he'd cast the spell again, causing the snail to disappear for a moment again, only to return.
Cool, a temporary invisibility spell. How'd he move his wand? Harry watched Percy practice for another fifteen minutes, the prefect so intent on his attempts that he never noticed Harry's staring.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The next morning at breakfast, Harry trudged down the stairs, tired. Most of the rest of the students were there, an oddity for a Saturday morning.
Malfoy grinned move up to Harry, seeing him walk in. "Ah, Potter. Have you deigned to descend to the poor mortal's level? Maybe you will grace us with a story from your past, detailing how you have handled the Dark Lord in past battles?"
"Shove it, Malfoy." Harry said, as he sat down.
"Ah, but your adoring public awaits you. We all await your tales with baited breath."
Harry narrowed his eyes at him. "Just shut up Malfoy."
But with a smirk, Malfoy shook his head. "Not until we get our tale out of you Potter."
Harry stood up. "Fine, you want a tale Malfoy? I'll give you a tail!"
Harry pointed his wand at Malfoy, who looked at him with glee. Harry channeled as much Chi as he could into his wand. He knew this might not even work. "CHANGE!" He roared.
A huge jet of power flew out of his wand. Malfoy barely managed to move out of the way at the last moment, and the Slytherin table was hit with the spell. The table disappeared, and where it had stood, was now a large pig, looking confused.
Everyone was either staring at the pig, or Harry. Harry looked over to Malfoy who was still on the ground, eyes wide. "Dang it, missed."
He then fell to the ground, completely drained.
Ha ha, first time I leave you people on a cliffhanger.
Oh, and 2 house points to the people who guessed the Techi-ken. That's one part of it.
Yu Yu Hakusho was the other part, 3 house points to Shadow Cael.
Random answers to questions:
-Yes, the pendant was cross shaped. What'd you expect from me, a triangle? LOL
-Harry will figure out soon what's up with his wand in terms of being connected with his Chi.
-In this story, there is NO such thing as a lightsaber.
Beta by Dr. Gero, who had some serious tweaking to do to this story.