"You fell asleep reading a book, didn't you?"
They were at the first breakfast at Hogwarts and students used this time not only to eat, but to catch up with friends before their Head of House would come with class schedules. Harry paused spreading butter on his blueberry muffin and looked at the girl sitting next to Ginny who asked him the question.
She was slightly smaller than Ginny and had wavy blond hair that went past the part of her Harry could see. Her eyes were wide and gray, and there was a small smile on her pale face as if she wanted to laugh at something but it would be rude in front of everyone.
"How do you figure that?" Harry asked back. The girl's smile widened a bit and she opened her mouth to speak.
"Harry why are there braids in your hair?" Ron asked as he looked away from his bacon and eggs at him. Harry's hands swooped up to his hair and he felt some of it was twisted together and sticking straight up. He used both hands to untangle it. The gray eyed girl looked mildly disappointed. Harry looked closer and saw that some of her hair had small braids in it too.
"My mom used to call them Tome pucks. They'll read over your shoulder and give you that relaxed feeling that reading gives you. And if you fall asleep they'll pull and twist your hair to wake you up." She said to Harry as if Ron didn't interrupt her. Ginny smiled fondly at her friend and Ron gave a little chuckle.
"Er, hi I'm Harry. Welcome to Gryffindor." Harry attempted to switch the subject with a bemused smile at the girl. She did a little sitting curtsy.
"I'm not a Gryffindor." The girl replied and showed her blue trimmed tie. "I made Ravenclaw last night." Harry waited for her to say her name but she went back to her oatmeal. Harry's left eye started to twitch.
"That was a surprise. What did the hat say to make you chose?" Ginny asked and the blond took her time to answer. Harry wanted to tap his foot in impatience.
"Nothing. I picked Ravenclaw because I like the color blue." she stated and Ron snorted. Harry decided to leave the girl alone for the moment. The hall doors opened again and Hermione stepped through and made a beeline for them, somehow knowing where she was going through her face was covered by Voyages with Vampires.
"Good morning everyone." She said while grabbing some fruit. "Harry, you have braids in your hair. Did you finish Hands of Gods?" Hermione asked, making Harry and Ron gawk at her and the blond girl beam.
"Wait, so tome pucks are real?" Ron questioned her. Hermione closed her book and set it down while casting Ron an incredulous look.
"Tome pucks?" Hermione repeated with a laugh. "I've never heard of those. I just wake up with braids in my hair sometimes after falling asleep reading. It doesn't happen at home, strangely enough."
"That's because Hogwarts has the largest colony of tome pucks this side of the world!" The blond first year declared. Hermione looked over at her and smiled patiently.
"You're name was Luna Lovegood wasn't it? Good on you for making Ravenclaw, I almost went there myself." Luna smiled back at Hermione and Harry clicked his tongue at them.
"So that's your name? Luna?" Harry asked and Luna grinned and winked.
"Not enough context for you to figure it out yourself, was there?" Luna replied and stood up. "Here comes Professor Flitwick. I need to ask him a question about how useful charms would be to find invisible creatures. I know there must be so many here! See you in class Ginny!" Harry watched confusedly as she skipped up to Professor Flitwick before looking up and regarded Ron and Ginny concernedly.
"Hey, how are your parents?" He asked seriously. Ron grinned and shrugged.
"They're fine. Actually, they might already be back home by now." Ron answered and Harry returned his grin.
"Good. I hope you told them thank you for me."
"Yeah mate. They said don't worry about it. You're one of us." Harry nodded, smiling and saw Professor McGonagall make her way to them.
"Good Morning Mr. Potter, you are feeling better now?" Professor McGonagall asked and handed them their schedules. Harry nodded and gave a smile McGonagall didn't return. "Good. I hope nothing will impede your progress in Transfiguration this year." She warned and Harry shook his head emphatically.
"Absolutely not Professor. I feel right as rain!" Harry said but Professor McGonagall already moved on. Harry looked at his schedule then rolled his eyes. "Defense first this time. Maybe Lockhart isn't as bad as he seems." he said with forced optimism. Ron groaned and got up and grabbed his pack.
"Yeah maybe he can teach us how to get his hair like his. Mine can use some bounce to it." He said and Harry laughed while they went to class.
"Slayer of the Midnight Morgue-robber of Maryland. Defeater of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf. Honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League and awarded the Order of Merlin, Third Class. These accomplishments all belong to one man, me. Gilderoy Lockhart." Gilderoy Lockhart smiled with flashing teeth at the second years that filled his classroom. Only the girls smiled back, though Ron was holding back laughter. "But I don't only dabble in defense. I also have a line of products for hair care and fashion design, see my published works for more details." Ron and Harry both tried unsuccessfully to stifle laughter at that, and gained the attention of Lockhart.
"Mr. Weasley, I see you're paying attention to my little speech. Let's see if you did the same when reading my coursework. What dark creature did I defeat using the freezing charm?" Lockhart asked pointedly. Ron's laughter was cut short and he floundered. Hermione's hand shot into the air. Lockhart ignored her.
"Um, the uh, Wagga Werewolf?" Ron ventured and Lockhart's eyes narrowed even as his mouth lifted in a smile.
"Wrong Mr. Weasley. Ms. Granger, the answer? "He replied and Hermione beamed.
"You used the freezing charm Immobilous to stop the outbreak of Cornish pixies in the village of Westerbrook as stated in Year with the Yeti." she answered promptly and Professor Lockhart flashed her a roguish grin.
"Correct Ms. Granger. Five points to Gryffindor. Mr. Weasley if you cannot keep your thoughts in your head without disrupting class you will be sent out." Lockhart finished and Ron slumped in his seat, properly chastised.
Lockhart then took out his wand and with a flick all the table and chairs the class was sitting in slid to opposite sides of the room. Everyone looked at their teacher in confusion and excitement.
"It's time to give a small presentation of my most recent accomplishment." Lockhart declared and with another flick of his wand everything in the classroom changed dramatically. All of the tables and chairs disappeared, the floor morphed into tall grass and the walls were switched with a backdrop of mountains and grassy cliffs. Harry and the rest of the class whipped their heads around to catch everything. It seemed the only thing that didn't change was the smell. It still smelled like the defense classroom, which meant vanilla and fresh lilac.
"This is the illusion charm. A bit too high level to teach you all, but I will use it now to give you a treat. Me, in action. Look over here, in the brush, and see the creature that ravaged the village nearby only to be defeated by me, Gilderoy Lockhart." Lockhart pointed to a dense patch of bushes to the left and Harry watched as a massive form erupted from the brush and scuttled on many legs. It was a giant spider, an Acromantula at least two meters tall and three meters long. The females in the class screamed and the males yelled and backed away. Ron yelped and backpedaled into Neville behind him, who looked just as scared as Ron. Harry had his wand out instinctively, forgetting it was an illusion.
"Remember it cannot harm you. This is an illusion, a memory." Lockhart said and pointed to his right. A figure with bright blond hair was crouched in the grass "See? There is a slightly younger yet still handsome me lying in wait. Watch what I do next."
Harry was enraptured as he witnessed the illusioned Lockhart trap the spider in a spell and do battle. Even though he wasn't actually there, Harry still felt the power of the spells, and the anxiety of watching Lockhart narrowly escape certain death from the vicious swipes of the Acromantula claws and bites from its hellish maw. Lockhart hastily drew symbols on the ground with his wand that glowed and when the spider would step on them it would be paralyzed or stumble and fall over, allowing Lockhart to attack.
When the memory version of his teacher finally killed the spider with a series of cutting curses, Harry couldn't help but cheer with the rest of the class. The memory Lockhart knelt next to the carcass and cut parts off and put them in a satchel on his waist. He turned and smiled brightly as a group of people came running up to meet him. A well-endowed woman ran into his arms and Lockhart swung her around once before giving her a deep kiss. Harry choked as the girls gasped and giggled. The real Lockhart grinned and flicked his wand.
Soon the illusion dispersed and they were back in the classroom. The walls with portraits of smiling Lockhart's and the hardwood floor came suddenly and Harry for a moment felt claustrophobic. He sat back in a chair and wondered what Lockhart would do next.
"Sorry about that last bit. Romonda wanted to personally thank me for destroying the beast that killed her brother. Happens a lot when you're a professional monster slayer, and incredibly handsome." Lockhart grinned and then started to unbutton the sleeve of his left arm. He pulled up the sleeve to show a gruesome looking purple wound that looked like a bite mark. He looked at the students seriously.
"This is from the Acromantula. If you looked closely during the illusion you would have seen it lurch forward and do this just before I cut it down. Though the poison is gone and I'm in no danger, I will have this mark for the rest of my life. This is the price of a life of adventure."
Lockhart continued his lecture in a more subdued tone detailing the dangers of rushing into a situation without planning and not having the right supplies for each adventure. It felt to Harry a bit like Lockhart wanted them to become monster hunters and this was his recruitment speech. A look around the classroom showed Harry that most of the boys and a few of the girls might have wanted to drop out of school and go on adventures right then and there. Harry knew after last year's quest for the Sorcerer's stone he needed to know how to plan for perilous missions since they seemed to be drawn to him. He resolved to pay close attention to what Lockhart had to say from now on.
When the class was over Ron and Hermione were gushing about the lesson on their way to Transfiguration.
"Did you see how he trapped that spider?" Ron said excitedly.
"Oh, what I would do to learn that severing charm he used!" Hermione responded. Harry nodded along with them before remembering something.
"Hey Ron, what happened to Lockhart being a fraud and his works a bunch of sappy romance novels?" Harry asked with a smirk. Ron shrugged, but his ears were turning red.
"Well now that we know he does all that for real, it's kind of different, you know? I mean look at how he demolished that Acromantula, Harry!"
"Did you think I wouldn't check before thinking he was the real deal?" Hermione asked Harry with a wry smile. Harry shrugged.
"I don't know, he does have a strong jaw and deep blue eyes. I thought maybe you read his books for a different reason." He said lightly and flashed Hermione a teasing smile before dodging her punch aimed at his arm. "I didn't know the wizarding world had such crazy jobs." Harry said more seriously.
"Well think about it. My brothers are curse breakers and dragon handlers. Why wouldn't wizards be monster hunters too?" Ron pointed out. Harry grinned. Every year the wizarding world gets bigger and more wonderful to him.
Harry was anticipating this Transfiguration lesson since he still didn't know if he could transfigure something wandlessly. They were paired with the Ravenclaws. When Harry arrived they all looked at him with mixed looks of pity, awe and curiosity. Harry tried to ignore them but a girl came up to meet them.
"Hey Harry, are you okay? I heard you were attacked at the train station and I didn't see you at the feast last night." She said with a look of concern. Harry put on a reassuring smile.
"I'm fine, really. It was nothing." He replied but a boy stepped up.
"It was nothing to fight off a demon?" He questioned with a disbelieving tone. Harry winced.
"Wait, how did you hear about that?" Harry asked. The boy shrugged.
"The prefects overheard the Professors talking about it. I overheard the prefects." The boy explained with a grin.
Harry was in a dilemma. He wanted to tell them the story because looking back on it, the whole thing was pretty cool, but he didn't want to tell them how badly the demon beat him or for them to make it a huge rumor and over exaggerate his involvement. He sat there half smiling for a moment while all the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws looked at him expectantly.
"Look really, I didn't do anything. I just ran until Dumbledore showed up." Harry answered safely. The Ravenclaw students looked at each other then back at him.
"Nundu dung Potter." Said the boy Harry thought might be named Terry Boot. "What about the demon?" Ron stepped in front of Harry and glared at Terry.
"Hey lay off alright? If Harry wants to tell you what happened he'll send you an owl. Come on guys." He said and moved past the other students into the Transfiguration classroom. Harry noticed as he took his seat that there was a cat sitting on the desk watching as they filled the room. Harry didn't know Professor McGonagall was a cat person. He thought her more of a dog kind of lady. He tapped Hermione on the shoulder and pointed at the cat.
"Did you know McGonagall had a tabby?" He whispered. Something about the classroom made him feel like he should talk as quietly as possible. Hermione shook her head.
"No, I didn't. Super cute cat though." She whispered back. Harry was about to agree when the cat leaped forward and transformed into Professor McGonagall herself. Harry almost fell back on his chair and was happy to see he wasn't the only one. Ron let out a loud "Whoa!" and the class gave applause. McGonagall looked mildly pleased with the reaction.
"Thank you class. Now, we are going to start on inanimate to animate transfiguration which means turning a nonliving or moving thing into a living or moving thing. All of you have a cup on your desk and we will be turning that cup into mice, like so." She then pointed her wand at the cup on her desk and pronounced the spell and the cup became a white mouse. Professor McGonagall soon set everyone to work on the practical.
Harry took out his wand and then hesitated, looking at it. Transfiguration was harder than pretty much any other subject because the visualization process needed while performing the incantation and wand movements together. But wandlessly, would it be harder or easier? Harry wondered if he would even need the same incantation or just the visualization. The chapter about wandless transfiguration was one of the last in Hands of Gods and Harry wasn't that far yet. A part of him thought it best to just do it with a wand until he knew how to do it wandlessly, but another part of him wanted to at least try it.
Before Harry could decide, Professor McGonagall stood behind him.
"Mr. Potter, is there something wrong with your wand?" She asked and Harry shook his head. "Then why haven't you tried to turn your cup into a mouse? Ms. Granger has already finished." Harry looked over to Hermione and saw a white mouse on her desk sniffing her fingers. Harry looked back at his cup.
"I actually have a question professor, uh about wandless magic." Harry said and saw McGonagall's eyebrow rise. He blushed, realizing that he gained the attention of the whole class. "Um, would doing wandless transfiguration still need the incantation or just the visualization?" Professor McGonagall studied Harry's embarrassed face a little longer before walking to the front and addressing the whole class.
"Mr. Potter asked a question I seem to get often in second and third year classes. He asked if Wandless Transfiguration needed the incantation or just the visualization. The answer is neither. Wandless transfiguration is not possible." Harry gasped as did Hermione and a few Ravenclaws. Harry looked at Hermione in confusion and betrayal. Why is the Transfiguration chapter in Hands of Gods so many pages if it weren't possible?
"I will reiterate." McGonagall continued. "Wandless Transfiguration is not possible for a second or even a third year student to learn. You simply do not possess enough magical power to perform it. Any attempt will exhaust you completely or in worst case kill you. I will not tolerate any one of you trying wandless transfiguration in my classroom or anywhere in Hogwarts. If I catch you, you will be expelled is that clear?" A few students mumbled the affirmative. "I asked if that was clear." McGonagall repeated sternly.
"Yes Professor McGonagall!" was the answer and she nodded, satisfied. Harry sighed and brandished his wand. He said the incantation and pointed his wand at the cup and watched as it gained a tail and whiskers. Harry grimaced. If there were any class without instant gratification, it was transfiguration.
After class Harry, Ron and Hermione went to the Great Hall for lunch. Harry plopped down on a seat and flicked his index finger and thumb together, making the plate of sandwiches float slowly to him.
"I thought you read all of Hands of Gods Hermione." Harry groused after taking a bite of his sandwich. Hermione wiped her mouth and gave Harry an affronted look.
"Of course I finished it Harry!" She answered.
"Then why didn't you tell me we couldn't learn wandless transfiguration?" Harry asked. Hermione shook her head.
"Silvers writes the Transfiguration portion just like all the rest of the book. He didn't say anything about needing more power or training." She answered and Harry scrunched up his face in displeasure.
"He must have learned Wandless Transfiguration very carefully or he's super powerful. Man, expulsion for trying to learn magic! That's hardcore." Harry said and took another morose bite of his sandwich.
"Not just any magic, Harry. Wandless Transfiguration. You still have Charms and Jinxes and other spells to try and learn. Leave the advanced stuff for later." Hermione suggested sensibly. Ron looked between both of his friends and chuckled.
"I'm not even going to try advanced Wandless anything yet. I'm still struggling to make things move toward me without it giving up halfway." he said and Harry grinned.
"What's your mantra?" Harry asked.
"Move toward me"
"That's a command isn't it?" Hermione interjected. "Isn't the mantra supposed to be a statement in the present tense?"
"Probably. I'm not an expert Hermione!" Ron bit out. Hermione's hair seemed to bristle like a cat's tail.
"Everyone knows that Ron." She responded and Ron went red. Harry stood up abruptly.
"Don't we have Charms after this? Come on, maybe Professor Flitwick can help." He said and grabbed his bag. Hermione and Ron were still glaring at each other when he turned around after a few steps.
"Come on!" Harry repeated and they both huffed but followed.
Harry and his friends walked into the Charms classroom and found Professor Flitwick flicking his wand at a stack of books and stacking them up in front of the class. Harry greeted him and the small professor gave the three a big smile and a squeaky "Hello there!" Hermione stepped forward.
"Professor, we have a quick question before class begins." she said and Flitwick gave them a knowing glance.
"This is about wandless magic isn't it?" he said and the three students blinked. Flitwick chuckled. "Professor McGonagall told me about your question in her class Mr. Potter. A bit above your level but no less insightful. Now, what do we have?"
"Professor, what sort of mantras are best for wandless Charms?" Hermione asked and Professor Flitwick looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Charms is most effective wandlessly with simple mantras and quick movements. One thing about a Charm is the speed of which charmed objects move or change in response to body movements. The tricky thing is the slower your body movement, the faster charmed objects will move toward you, be banished away, float or explode. Slow movements are generally more powerful in any wandless magic field, though with focus any quick movement can counter a slow movement in a duel."
"Sir, would a command work better than a statement for a wandless charm mantra?" Harry asked and Professor Flitwick shook his head.
"Commands won't work for any mantra. It must be a statement in the present tense. That is one of the few conditions of performing magic wandlessly." Flitwick answered and Ron looked away pointedly when Hermione grinned victoriously in his direction. "Ah, more students are coming now. Seems we must leave the rest of your questions until after class."
"Yes sir." Harry, Ron and Hermione replied, turning away to find a seat.
"Oh, and take fifteen points to Gryffindor for your questions. I do enjoy seeing true interest in the subjects of magic. "Flitwick added bringing a smile to their faces.
The class was spent learning the cushioning charm for which Harry used a very heavy book to practice on. When he got the hang of it with a wand, Harry started to think of a good mantra and movement for the charm.
"This is cushioned." He muttered and waved his hand at the heavy book. Then he took the book in both hands and looked at Ron who was dozing with his head on the desk. With a grin Harry whacked Ron across the back of his head. If the wandless charm didn't work then Ron may have been seriously hurt. Instead, Ron woke, swearing loudly and tripped over his chair trying to get away from Harry who was roaring with laughter.
"That's not funny Harry!" Ron exclaimed, rubbing his head and scowling when he realized what happened. After that they had a mini battle involving throwing cushioned objects at each other until the bell rang.
Throughout the week Harry would occasionally run into Lockhart and it seemed the vain man was only serious when he was talking about monster hunting. Any other time he would pull Harry aside and regal Harry of stories about fame and give him unwanted tips about how to maximize the attention he got from everyone. It was annoying especially since Harry's classes with the famous wizard were so exciting and informative.
Harry also had Quidditch practice to worry about now. Oliver Wood, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain didn't hesitate to wake Harry up before the crack of dawn and demand his presence on the pitch. Ron and Hermione would dutifully follow him to practice to yell encouragements and chase off spies. One such morning Harry was racing after the practice snitch when suddenly a blinding light started to flicker in his eyes as if someone's watch caught the Sun's reflection. Harry looked around for the source and saw a group of green robed students laughing and pointing at him. The practice snitch fluttered away and disappeared. Harry was livid.
"Hey there's Slytherins down there! They're messing up my concentration!" he roared at his team and flew down toward the rival team. Ron and Hermione ran up behind them to listen in.
"What do you think you're doing here?" Wood started angrily at Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Captain. "We booked the pitch this morning!"
"Professor Snape gave up a pass. We need to train our new Seeker." Flint explained with a self-satisfied smirk and brandished a written note in their faces. Wood snatched it out of his hand and read Snape's barely legible scrawl. He then crumpled it up, slammed it down and stepped on it.
"Who's your new player huh? You better hope he can fly well enough to cover the rest of your losers!" Wood challenged and the Slytherins scowled but made way for Draco Malfoy to come forward. Harry couldn't help it. He burst out laughing.
"Malfoy?! He's your new Seeker? Malfoy couldn't catch a snitch if it had no wings and was tied to his broom." Harry said, making the Gryffindors laugh.
"Don't get jealous of my talent and resourcefulness Potter. I'm sure your low grade broom could fetch a fair price in a charity market." Malfoy countered causing the Gryffindors to protest that Harry's broom was top of the line.
"Potter's broom is still last year's model and he's the only one with a Nimbus. Everyone on Slytherin team has the top of the line Nimbus 2001, courtesy of Malfoy." Flint bit in. Harry shook his head in disgust.
"So you bought your way on the team? Did you even try out Malfoy? Is that why you need the pitch this morning, so you can learn which part of the broom to sit on?" Hermione cut in, bristling in anger. "You really are less than a flobberworm without your father's coffers."
Malfoy looked over to Hermione and glared as if seeing the one thing he hated most. "I don't know why you're even here! You don't even play Quidditch! Don't talk about things you don't understand you disgusting Mudblood!"
Several things happened at once. All of the Slytherins started laughing, the Gryffindors rushed forward in protest and reached for their wands and Ron dashed in front of them all, pushing Hermione back and grabbed Malfoy's neck.
"Never say that word to Hermione again!" He thundered, angrier than Harry had ever seen him. Then before the Slytherins could touch him Ron threw Malfoy backward hard with a flash of light, making him fly several meters before landing painfully. The Slytherins rushed to see if he was unharmed and gave Ron half warning half scared looks. The Gryffindors patted Ron's back and laughed at the Slytherin's misfortune. Harry didn't know what Malfoy said but knew what Ron did. He used wandless magic.
Harry and Hermione led Ron away from the scene and toward Hagrid's hut. When they got there Hagrid let them in and asked how they were.
"How dare he? To you? How dare him!" Ron said over and over. Hagrid looked at Harry and Hermione for explanation.
"Harry was practicing Quidditch when the Slytherin team showed up and said it was their turn. There was an argument and Malfoy, who's the new Seeker for Slytherin called me something that got everyone mad." Hermione explained.
"Well, what'd he call yer?" Hagrid asked. Hermione shrugged.
"A Mudblood or something." She said uncaringly but Ron and Hagrid exploded.
"That little slime ball!" Hagrid roared while Ron kept on with his tirade, now increased in volume.
"What happened after tha'?" Hagrid asked and Hermione glanced at Ron before continuing. "Ron grabbed him and pushed him after yelling in his face. By the way Ron, that could get you in trouble! Thank you for defending me but you shouldn't attack other students for my sake."
Ron shook his head angrily and said nothing. Harry watched both his friends before huffing loudly.
"Okay I'll bite. What's Mudblood mean?" He asked and Hermione smiled slightly. Ron scowled.
"It's an insult. Probably the worst one you can give. It means dirty blood. Malfoy called Hermione that because her parents are muggles, not wizards." Harry gasped and matched Ron's scowl with his own.
"If I hear him call you that again Hermione, I don't care if Snape is watching, he's getting cursed!" Harry declared.
"Professor Snape, and no Harry don't! It's not worth it!" Hermione corrected but Harry just shook his head and changed the subject.