Chapter Seven - Suspects and Names
BananaCarrot-Five
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Harry Potter is owned by Warner Bros. Entertainment and J.K. Rowling.
November 3, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Harry found he had an excess of energy when he awoke the next morning. Remembering he was again in his bed and not a bed in the Hospital Wing, he sat up and looked around. Neville wasn't in his bed, but while Dean and Seamus' curtains were wide open with them sleeping away, Weasley's bunk was all covered up. Harry shrugged and hopped out of his bed and walked out to the Common Room.
Because standing in the middle of the Common Room was Hermione and Neville, with Hermione carrying a book 1/3 of her size and nearly as thick as her!
"Got this book in the library! An Encyclopedia of Magical History, Edition LXXXVI (86). It's all about unusual and interesting historical magical facts, and this edition, newest edition that is, was updated last year! It's over three thousand pages long! I'm going to love this read!" Hermione was smiling as wide as Hogwarts herself, and her eyes were sparkling with happiness. "I'll be right back!" Hermione vaulted to her dorm.
"Y'know Harry, I think we might see less of her until she finishes that book," Neville chuckled.
"It'll take her a year to get through it, I bet," Harry added.
"That's the thing, Harry, even Madam Pince said that!" Neville replied. "Hermione just has to let her inspect the book every month until the end of the year. Hermione might have dragged me with her," Neville added the last part in quietly as Hermione came bouncing down the stairs, fortunately book free.
"Alright, let's get to breakfast, and then Hagrid's!" Hermione smiled as the boys followed her out of the Common Room. Breakfast was chirpy, Hermione was rattling off about how much she was going to love the new book she had, while Harry was fixated on remembering the main reason they were visiting Hagrid.
"Not to burst your bubble, Hermione, but we do have to ask Hagrid about Professor Snape," Harry told her.
Hermione sighed in response. "I know, can you just let me soak in the happiness that is me getting to read a new book first?"
The kids got a good laugh and finished their breakfast in silence. The three knew that their visit to Hagrid's would not be a pleasant visit, but still went, even if it was to being their friend some company.
\-0-0-/
"Listen, you lot, while I understan' yer' thinkin' that Professor Snape cursed that broom yest'rday, it doesn't say anythin' about why he would do that! He is a teacher! He's here to protect the students, not harm em'!" Hagrid explained to them when they had sat down.
"Hagrid, Professor Snape knows about the thing Professor Dumbledore is protecting! He knows we knew about it, and he tried to kill Harry because of it!" Hermione explained, getting head nods from Harry and Neville.
"He tried to get past the three-headed dog but failed! I saw the blood that night," Harry explained.
Hagrid raised an eyebrow. "How do you lot know about Fluffy?"
"That thing has a name?!" Hermione exclaimed, her voice raising several pitches.
"Well, yeh. 'E's mine, yer' see. I lent him to Dumbledore to protect tha-" Hagrid stopped short. "I shouldn't a told ya that, no more questions! Don't ask any more questions!" Hagrid stared at the kids.
"But Hagrid," Harry pressed, "Whatever it is, Snape is trying to steal it!"
"Listen ter' me you three. Stop meddlin' in business you have no right to meddle in. Tha' thing that you speak of is strictly confidential, between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel! Ya hear me, confidential!" Hagrid suddenly paled. "I shouldn't a told you that…"
"Nicholas Flamel?" Harry asked. Hagrid remained silent.
"Who is Nicholas Flamel, Hagrid?" Harry pressed. His friends went silent quickly.
"I can't tell ya' that, 'Arry. Jus' stop messin' with this, it isn't yer' issue ter' mess with!" Hagrid told them.
Harry huffed in annoyance, and Hagrid sighed. "Why don't you lot get back up to the castle? I'm sure there's schoolwork for you ter' do."
Hermione's face lit up instantly. "We have that Charms essay due! Gotta go, Hagrid! Talk to you later!" Hermione grabbed both boy's arms and pulled them out. In her haste Harry lost his glasses, and Hermione sheepishly apologized as he picked them up and re-adjusted them. Neville chuckled in the background. The trio went back up to the castle, pardon, Hermione went while the boys were pulled to the castle, an essay at the front of their minds and Nicholas Flamel, reluctantly, in the back.
\-0-0-/
The trio worked on their Charms essay for several hours that afternoon, and as dinner neared Hermione brought down that absurdly large book and popped it open. She was going to start reading it, but Harry and Neville talked Charms with her until they would have to head to the Great Hall. Neither wanted to lose their best friend to a massive book, at least not yet.
The evening feast was amazing, as always, and for once Ron didn't stare daggers at Hermione. Professors Snape and Quirrell looked angry, Professor Snape most likely for failing to kill Harry, And Professor Quirrell for probably being angry at Professor Snape for trying to kill Harry. Professor McGonagall looked worried.
In the Girl's dorms, Lavender and Becca playfully cornered Hermione with questions about her large book. Hermione smiled as she set it next to her and closed her eyes. Tomorrow would bring a new adventure, and a new day.
\-0-0-/
November 4, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Cracking her eyes open, Hermione found that she had quite literally, and accidently, cuddled with that ginormous book she borrowed. Squeaking in shock, she propped herself upright and carefully opened the book. Right inside the Table of Contents, a beautiful drawing of a swan gracefully gliding across the page presented itself. Hermione sighed happily before eyeing her twelve-year-old birthday present.
The elegant art set from Hasie's. Beautiful, it was. With a glance out the window, she put the book down and opened her art set. Paining the sunrise shouldn't be too hard, after all, practice makes perfect!
Harry woke up later than he anticipated, partly due to the ramming thoughts in his head about Professor Snape, Quidditch, and Nicholas Flamel. Looking over, he saw that Neville's bed was empty, and upon further investigation, found him in the Common Room, editing his Charms essay. Grinning slightly, he grabbed his own essay and greeted his friend, before both worked on minor revisions until breakfast was calling for them and Hermione hopped down the stairs to meet them.
Throughout the day, the trio worked through their classes as usual. Potions was a right pain for the trio, as Professor Snape sneered heavily at them, as if it was their fault for existing. After Hermione cleared both boy's essay at lunch, they enjoyed their classes (Even History of Magic) and handed their essays in that evening to Professor Flitwick. Unsurprisingly, Ron Weasley did not turn in an essay.
As October's wind turned to November's wind, Professor Sinistra applied a heating charm to their classroom in the Astronomy Tower to help the students stay focused during their midnight lessons.
November 5, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hermione had woken up earlier to continue her painting. It wasn't as great as she imagined, and it was a lot harder than she first thought but having a whole pad of paper to use calmed her. So far, she had pointy mountains and a semi-circle meant to be the sun sketched out. As the morning dragged on, and the dorm began to stir awake, Hermione was slowly getting herself worked up over how the sun was positioned. No matter what she did, she did not think it looked right. As the clock read seven AM, she sadly packed the art set, put it away, and grabbed her school bag before heading out of the dorm.
Harry and Neville were in hushed conversation when Hermione interrupted them, and the trio slowly made their way to breakfast. Neville launched into a speech over their new Herbology plant, Ignis something. He explained that his mum used to grow them all the time until she couldn't. At that, he frowned and changed the subject. He missed the sidewards glance Hermione gave Harry.
They learned that the name was "Ignis Lillium," which translated to "Fire Lily." Its primary purpose was used in certain healing potions, to mend internal wounds. It had an uncommon twin but the information on that was deemed irrelevant by Professor Sprout, much to Hermione's disappointment. Neville soaked it up quickly, despite the lack of "additional information."
\-0-0-/
In Potions, Draco Malfoy was starting to try to formulate a plan to get Potter, the Mudblood, and the Squib expelled. It had to be a sure thing, if it failed, he could find himself punished severely or even expelled. Only issue was, he had no idea what to try.
'My Father would not allow them to expel me. I'm too important to be expelled.' Draco's smug thoughts told him as the trio in question entered the classroom. As the class worked on their potions, he seethed in anger as the Mudblood was helping the Squib and Potter on their potions, and both, the greedy idiots they were, sucked it up immediately.
Following a relatively calm Potions lesson, the Trio headed to Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall was muttering spells at her chalkboard as the class filed in for the double lesson. For many, it was a boring lesson as it was a lecture, and to start Professor McGonagall mainly lectured on principals they had already covered previously. What get the student's attention was the fact that she silently transfigured her hat into a baby kitten.
"Now, you may be wondering why I showed you this after lecturing on basic rules we learned these past few months. The answer is simple: The basics now apply to the advanced later. Understanding Transfiguration is understanding layers of intent, incantations, and a clear mind of the object you have and the thing you want to turn it into. If you do not know how to turn an inanimate object into another inanimate object, how do you expect to turn an inanimate object into a living creature?"
The class was super focused on her as she silently transfigured the kitten back into her well-known hat. After her lecture, she assigned a foot of parchment on the concepts of her lecture that was due the end of the following week.
That evening, following a fabulous feast and a cheerful Charms class, with nothing to distract her, Hermione curled up on her seat in the Common Room with the book and started reading the "History of Wizarding Origins" section in her book. She quickly learned why Madam Pince told her it would take her a year to read the book. The print was tiny and the pages were massive! Nevertheless, Hermione smiled as she delved into her new book. Meanwhile, Harry and Neville worked on the not-so-popular job of organizing their notes to write Professor McGonagall's essay. Suffice to say the trio went to bed exhausted in their own way.
November 6, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
What normally would have been Quidditch Practice for Harry turned into an extra two hours of sleep. Because the game had been just the past Saturday, Wood hadn't pulled the team for Quidditch for practice. Granted, their next game wasn't until February and that is against Ravenclaw, so the team had some time to unwind, and since Harry's catch made Wood happy, it made all of them happy.
Unbeknownst to him, Hermione was awake and waiting for the sunrise. Because the seasons were changing, the sunrise was getting later and the sun would eventually start coming up further east, and would therefore, eventually, make it so she would either have to finish the painting from memory or do a new one (as the sun would be coming up over a peak, not the valley as she had started to draw). Fortunately, she was making decent progress. She settled for a shape that resembled an inverted pac-man as the sun, and she felt proud of it. As the sun rose and the color of the sky turned orange, Hermione began painting again, willing herself to paint the sunrise to the best of her ability.
Neville woke earlier than Harry again, and went downstairs and sat by the fire, just relaxing. It wouldn't be for another forty minutes before either of his best friends showed up.
Despite starting the day with Potions, the Trio's classes were manageable. Quirrell's lecture blabbered on about vampires or something, and Binns' lecture was on a minor conflict that had involved the Magical Congress of the United States (MACUSA) nearly three hundred years ago. As it turned out, not many of the students knew that America even had its own magical population, despite knowing their friends came from different regions of Asia and Europe.
During the feast, Hermione was gushing about History of Magic. Apparently learning that tiny tidbit of information about the States in North America sparked her to now want to do additional research on America's history of Wizardry. Considering she was now starting to read that massive book of hers, additional research sounded excessive. But, as it was Hermione, neither boy voiced their opinions to their friend, and they nodded in agreement.
Astronomy was pretty simple, however classes were now fully limited to warming charms and Professor Sinistra's forty minute lectures on light levels in constellations.
November 7, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hopping out of bed with a smile on her face, Hermione hastily extracted her painting materials to continue painting the sky. It had been tricky, mixing in orange with red and yellow that came from the sun below, but Hermione was smiling as she continued to perfect her early morning sky.
Harry and Neville were busy playing with Neville's Remembrall when Ron sat up and rounded on them.
"What's that thing?" he asked.
"It's a Remembrall, Ron," Neville responded as he tossed it to Harry.
"What's a Remembrall?" Ron asked again.
"It helps you to remember things you forget." Harry answered calmly as he caught the ball from Neville's throw.
"Whatever, I guess," Ron replied, before tossing his pillow on his head and falling asleep again.
Harry shook his head. "Let's head to the library, Neville. We'll meet Hermione in the Great Hall."
"Right," came his reply. Both boys changed and headed out of the Common Room and to the Library, spending a good hour there, unsuccessfully finding anything on the three-headed-dog from their books or anything on Nicholas Flamel. They walked to the Great Hall where Hermione was slowly eating food while reading her Transfiguration textbook again. She looked up and smiled at them, and their day properly began.
Hermione had a slightly rough time in Charms, more for the reason that she had almost died the week before because of Ron Weasley's words in this very class. Nevertheless, she still performed the Levitation Charm as students slowly started getting the spell, Harry included. Neville was not having good luck, as he had tried and practiced and still hadn't produced any results.
"Why does this not work when I practice it, but it worked when I needed it?" Neville asked, slumping in his seat.
"Well, Professor McGonagall did say Transfiguration was based on intent, I wonder if that applies to Charms too?" Harry wondered. He must have said it louder than he thought because Professor Flitwick answered his question, surprising him a little.
"All magic is based on intent, Mr. Potter, if you don't want to do it in your mind, you won't be able to perform the spell. That is why I and your other teachers tell you to concentrate on the work!" He smiled happily as Harry sucked this in with much of the class following intently.
Charms wrapped up with much less drama than what had unfolded the week prior. Potions was worse, because of the events of Halloween, the class seemed to forget about the assigned essay, which set Professor Snape on edge. He sneered and insulted everyone in the class at least once that evening. To unwind, Hermione pulled the book out and continued reading. To her surprise, Harry and Neville guided her to the library where they tried to find information on the three-headed-dog, again, with no success. The trio returned to the Common Room tired some forty-five minutes later, as Madam Pince kicked them out as curfew was close.
November 8, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hermione sat up with a wide smile on her face. Today was Friday! No Potions class today! Harry will be happy about this. Forgetting her painting, she plucked the book from the floor, accidently waking Crookshanks (said cat yelped in shock as its pillow had been moved) and hurried downstairs to wait for her friends.
Harry and Neville didn't take long. Especially because Potions was nonexistent every Friday, both boys decided that motivation was worth it. Then again, every day since Halloween had the Trio on edge.
Neville went into his element as Herbology was up first, as normal on Fridays. They continued their studies of "Ignis Lillium." Hermione went into her element of knowing almost everything, however Neville beat her out almost every time. 'The War in Herbology, featuring Neville and Hermione,' Harry thought amusingly.
\-0-0-/
If Herbology was awesome, then History of Magic was awful. Harry's dictation spell allowed Neville to sleep and Hermione to stare death at him while her parchment remained empty. She decided that for all intents and purposes, she would learn the spell herself, but not before drilling Harry's head with her vision. Spoiler Alert, she was unsuccessfully unsuccessful. Oh well.
November 9, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Freedom at last! Hermione jumped out of bed with a huge smile on her face. Forgetting her painting and ignoring Crookshanks hopping onto her bed to stretch, Hermione changed into some informal clothing before running out of the Dorm and into the Common Room. She was in such a rush, she ignored Harry and Neville who were reading through their Charms notes and went straight to the Library. In the Common Room, both boys quickly decided to go after her.
Twelve minutes later, Hermione already had three Charms books opened, and was studying common writing spells when Harry and Neville caught up to her.
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, out of breath, "What you doing?"
"Research," Hermione answered without looking up.
"On what?" Neville asked.
Hermione looked up at them. "Oh, just that spell Harry uses in class almost every day!"
Harry was taken back. "Oh, uh, Hermione, the spell was called 'Dictare' and the wand movement is this." Hermione's eyes became saucers as Harry demonstrated the spell right in front of her. Within fifteen minutes Hermione had nailed down the spell, but her yelp of excitement almost had them kicked out of the library by Madam Pince, despite being the only ones there at this time of morning.
Hermione profusely thanked Harry and the Trio made a collective decision to continue researching Nicholas Flamel and the three-headed dog, with breaks every so often.
Draco had decided to get the Trio expelled from the Library by ripping up the books they were using. When the three kids in question stood up to leave, Draco strutted into the library and went to their table, ripping page after page out of their books. Unfortunately for him, he didn't have the foresight to check his surroundings, and ended up getting banned from the library for six months.
'Six months! How dare she!' Malfoy thought bitterly. He was an heir to the Noble House of Malfoy! His father would take care of this in no time. But damn it! He should have been more aware of his surroundings!
When the Trio returned from their agreed break, Madam Pince was at their table, casting spells and what not. Hermione became worried and rushed over.
"Ma'am, what happened here?" Hermione asked. Madam Pince finished her spell casting and put her attention on them.
"Mister Malfoy believed it was a good idea to rip up my books! Suffice to say he has been banned from the library for the next six months!"
The Trio looked at each other as if the world's problems had been solved. No more Malfoy! Hermione quickly sat down and the boys followed soon after, with them continuing their research on Flamel and the Dog.
\-0-0-/
That evening, Professor Dumbledore made an announcement.
"Third Years and above, please see your Head of House and hand in your permission form to visit Hogsmeade this weekend. No permission slip means you cannot go. Thank you."
Hermione supplied to Harry and Neville that Hogsmeade was the only fully magical town in Great Britain. The evening was filled with the older years handing permission forms to their Head of House.
November 10, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
It takes a lot to rile the Scottish witch up. Constantly being shut down by Albus when she brought the student's complaints about Severus to him, Minerva considered going above her mentor's head. What stopped her, however, was Albus' silence on James and Lily's son, Harry Potter. When Harry had arrived at Hogwarts back in September, she was hopeful that Severus' infatuation for Lily would finally be quashed and he would be able to treat Harry kindly. However, on the first day of classes, Harry had approached her with a complaint against him.
Minerva lost all sorts of composure after that. She decided, after getting rejected by Albus for the last time, to file a complaint through the Ministry. While she would normally not think about taking these measures, simply thinking about Severus continuing to hold a grudge against Harry for the sole purpose of Lily (As he had complained about every day for years) pained her to her bones.
That is why she was now heading to the Owlery to send a post owl with her package of memories to the Ministry to assess Severus as a professor. Even Albus was not allowed to ignore the orders and changes made by the Board of Governors. As the post owl flew off, Hedwig hooted her greetings and flapped her feathers at a now exiting McGonagall.
\-0-0-/
With the school, and by extension the Library, mainly empty because the older years were at Hogsmeade, Hermione was currently scouring through Magical Animals in the library, as Neville and Harry were looking through books on Magicals from the past century. All three, while tired, didn't want to give up, and they wanted to find their answers before the professors would "dump" school on them, as the older years called it. Harry perhaps was in the worst state, in terms of sleep. His Quidditch practices started again, as Oliver had ended the team's "Victory break" as he so called it.
The trio exited the library disappointed, their scope of information, while plentiful, was not bearing any fruit. Dissatisfied, Neville took to reading his Herbology textbook, Harry skimming through his Potions textbook for the overdue essay, and Hermione attempting to finish her painting, her massive book still serving as Crookshanks' pillow. Spoiler alert, she didn't finish the painting.
The feast that evening was ordinary, unfortunately it contained a full complement of Ron Weasley staring at Hermione. Fortunately for the Trio, the Twins swiftly dealt with their brother by making him cluck like a chicken, much to everyone's enjoyment and Ron's annoyance.
November 11, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
With the Twin's prank still fresh in everyone's minds, the students got themselves ready for the day. Transfiguration was calm, it mainly consisted of Professor McGonagall lecturing on some transfiguration the class would be learning next. Professor McGonagall was slightly angrier than normal, but that could have been because Ron Weasley, again, was late to class, complaining about his throat.
Potions was no better, Professor Snape sneered at Harry's essay and wrote a large "T" on it.
"You should learn to pay attention, Potter! Not all my lectures are based off of your textbook!" Snape sneered.
Harry nodded mutely as he then listened to the boring, monotone lecture from Professor Snape.
After lunch and a relaxing History of Magic class, Harry smiled and relaxed as Neville took charge of the Trio as Herbology class progressed. Both Harry and Hermione recognized Neville's spirit and love of the subject, and both knew who to ask for help on Herbology, should they need it.
Dinner was more relaxing as a result, with Ignis Lillium being at the forefront of Neville's mind most of the feast, and Harry and Hermione adamantly discussing Transfiguration and Potions.
"How about after Charms, we head to the Library? We could split up and look through more books to maybe find who Nicholas Flamel is?" Harry asked quietly.
"Or the dog, remember that too mate," Neville chirped.
Hermione looked between both boys and nodded. "Yes, and since Malfoy was banned from the Library, we'll be in peace!"
The trio sighed in relief. No Malfoy while they were trying to unravel the mystery that had been lingering in their minds, no Malfoy to disrupt their research to find Nicholas Flamel, no Malfoy to disrupt the precious time that was remaining for them to work on schoolwork, when they decided to.
Astronomy was slow, even with the occasional warming charm being cast every ten or so minutes. The temperatures were dropping, and it was still the tail-end of Autumn. Winter wasn't official for another few weeks, not until the Americans celebrated their Thanksgiving Holiday.
Concluding class and some interesting facts about Jupiter, the Trio made their way back to the Common Room with the rest of the Gryffindors. Hermione wished both boys goodnight and went upstairs, and Harry and Neville retired to their own dorm soon after.
November 12, 1991
The Ministry of Magic, London
A post owl was making their way to a special alcove. This special alcove was where all mail to the Ministry of Magic went through. The owl unfastened the parcel, watched it fall onto its own little levitating platform, hooted, and flew off. The platform seemingly knew where to deliver the package, as it soared off to its destination: The Ministry's Department of Magical Education.
This parcel, addressed to the Twelve Governors on the Board of Governors for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, reached the Post Room. Unfortunately, the attendant working that day neglected to notice the apparent importance of the parcel and tossed it in the back, where he would eventually sort it on his own time. The parcel contained about one hundred memories, dating back to 1982, and a letter explaining the situation of Severus Snape and his actions at the school. It would take about two weeks until this parcel would be found and delivered to the intended recipients.
\-0-0-/
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
A normal Tuesday morning greeted the Trio. Hermione was on a roll with her painting, and really wanted to finish it. She was becoming increasingly frustrated as she had the idea etched in her head but couldn't seem to put it on canvas exactly how she wanted to. Instead of stressing over her sunrise painting, she opened that massive book and continued reading. Harry and Neville could wait a few extra minutes, right?
Those few extra minutes proved to not be necessary, as Hermione was soon teased out of the dorm on account of that book. To be precise, Lavender and Parvati had decided that relentless teasing of the book would get a laugh out of the bookworm, and it did work. Hermione greeted both Harry and Neville shaking off the giggles that she had moments earlier.
The trio made their way to breakfast, and the day that followed was as about average as you could expect. That evening, the kids looked through even more books, their piles slowly becoming smaller and smaller, as Hermione's expedition material had nearly run out. Neville banged his head on the table when he finished going through a particularly long encyclopedia that explained common magical animals. Apparently the three-headed-dog was not a common animal. Calling it a night, Neville slugged out of the library, shortly followed by Harry, who tried to get Hermione to join them to no avail. His head, swinging between the open door Neville ran out of and Hermione, seemed to be on overdrive. With a sigh, Harry ran out of the library to catch up to Neville, who was already halfway up the staircase to the Common Room.
Entering the Common Room, Harry saw that Dean and Seamus were playing Exploding Snap, while Ron was doodling with his chess set. Following Neville upstairs, he slumped on his bed.
"Four days, four days and I find nothing!" Neville complained. Harry listened as his friend began what looked like a rant.
"A nine-hundred page book doesn't have one mention of a three-headed-dog! Harry, what if we can't figure this out? On top of school, this is already wearing me out!"
Harry sighed. "Nev, this wasn't ever going to be easy. Y'know, I'm still trying to figure out who Nicholas Flamel is, and I think Hermione is looking for both topics simultaneously."
Both boys stopped and thought of that sighed and burst out in chuckles.
"Welcome to the world of Hermione Granger, Harry," Neville joked, "Compliment of three hours of research every day!"
Harry chuckled, then took a few deep breaths. "But, Neville, we've only been at this for about a week. Snape did try to kill me at the game last week. That's half the reason we are doing this." Harry tried to reason.
Neville frowned in thought. "I just don't want this to overtake school or us, y'know? Before Hogwarts, I spent most of my time in my family's greenhouses. Getting thrust into this is a bit of a struggle, I will admit, but I think it's worth it. For what's happened so far, I kind of like trying to figure this out."
Harry nodded. "I would remove the troll though, that is something I never want to experience ever again."
Neville shuddered in fright. While it felt like forever ago, the events of Halloween still bored into Harry, Neville, and Hermione's mind. Comprehending all of this was a struggle.
"Maybe we could ask Madam Pince for a book on three-headed-dogs?" Neville voiced randomly.
Harry shook his head. "Nev, we aren't supposed to know about Fluffy, remember what Hagrid had told us? What will happen if we ask her? 'Madam Pince do you have a book on three-headed-dogs?' What if she is in on the secret that Hagrid slipped? I don't want more detentions."
Neville nodded solemnly. "I think I'll get some sleep, Harry. You should too, you have Quidditch tomorrow, again."
Harry smiled. "Yeah, haven't forgotten." He sat up and walked out of the Common Room, intent on finding Hermione. Instead, his path was blocked by Ron, who was fiddling with his chess set randomly.
"Hey, Harry! Want to play chess?" Ron asked in a tone slightly higher than usual.
"Uh, no Ron, I'm actually-" Harry was cut off.
"Great, here, you can be black!" Ron smiled. Harry stared at him.
"No, Ron." Harry stated flatly.
Ron's smile dropped. "No?"
Harry nodded. "No. Now, if you will excuse me, I would like to find my friend." Harry turned away from him and walked all the way around the Common Room before exiting the portrait hole. Ron was flabbergasted. He was sure Harry would want to play chess! Ron, for a second, forgot about the way he had treated Hermione on Halloween, which resulted with nearly the deaths of the three students.
\-0-0-/
Harry walked towards the library, intent on finding Hermione to apologize for leaving her like he and Neville did. He found her in the same spot looking through the same book with a frown on her face. He felt guilty and walked up to her. His footsteps apparently were quite loud as Hermione stumbled when she heard them, but upon seeing it was Harry, she smiled.
"Come on, Hermione, it's nearly curfew. Plus, Neville is already asleep in the Dorm, and I have Quidditch practice tomorrow." Hermione nodded quickly, picked up the handful of books they had been looking through to put them away, and hastily gathered her things as Harry watched and waited patiently.
When the duo exited the library, Harry apologized. "Hermione, sorry that me and Neville kind of ditched you, Neville was frustrated that four days of research hadn't yielded anything, and I was just trying to help him."
Hermione smiled at him. "That's fine, Harry. Perhaps you two can take a few days off?"
Harry almost agreed but added in one condition. "Change that to 'Us three can take a few days off' and you have yourself a deal, Hermione."
Hermione looked at her feet, and reluctantly agreed. Reaching the Common Room, both bid each other goodnight and headed up their respective staircase. The trio slept in peace that evening. Only the fact Harry had Quidditch made him sleep faster.
November 13, 1991
Hermione woke up with a smile on her face. Quickly changing into her robes, she pulled out her art set and waited for the sunrise. When the sunrise came, Hermione beamed in happiness and closed her eyes, before sketching the last bit of her drawing. When the sunrise concluded about ten minutes later, Hermione smiled. With the exception of the sun's rays and part of the sky, she had a colorless sketch of her sunrise. Tomorrow, she would begin coloring it. Hermione was one cheery witch.
Harry was nudged awake by Neville, said boy held his Nimbus over his shoulder and was poking his side. "Harry, Quidditch Practice starts in fifteen minutes! You nearly overslept!" Neville exclaimed in a shouted whisper.
Harry bolted upright and he moved quicker than the snitch he caught to get ready. With Neville's help, both boys were out of the Common Room five minutes later. A Lumos Charm allowed Harry to run through the halls at near top speed, Neville on his heels. Several hours later, Harry, Neville, and the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, bar Oliver, entered the Great Hall looking tired. Hermione hopped out of her seat and went right to Harry and Neville, handing them each a slice of toast. Smiling, Harry allowed himself to be led to the spot at the table Hermione occupied.
If Harry would name one happy thing about today, It would be Herbology. He had Double Potions, Defense, and History of Magic in a row. Unfortunately, as Harry had sadly realized three days into the school year, Potions, Defense against the Dark Arts, and History of Magic were his least favorite classes, and for their respective reasons too. Snape, Quirrell, and Binns were all horrible teachers in their own regard. Fortunately, with the exception of History of Magic, both Neville and Hermione agreed with him.
The evening feast was delicious, as always, and the Trio went to Astronomy with enthusiasm. The class still consisted of warming charms and shortened lectures. At least the stars looked brighter.
November 14, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hermione was going to start colouring her sketch, but instead she leaned over and heaved that large book up and onto her lap, slightly annoying Crookshanks, who decided that Hermione's legs were a more comfortable spot to sleep.
Hermione opened to a different section of the book, a heavily detailed timeline of events dating back to the origins of Wizardry, some six thousand years ago. As much as Hermione would want to deny it, in the two hours she read, she learned more history from her book that morning then she ever had in Professor Binns' lectures all year.
Meeting the boys for breakfast, Hermione ate silently as Harry and Neville chatted about the Quidditch Season. When Defense arrived, Hermione cast the Dictare spell and decided to focus on Harry. Double Defense had always been difficult for him, and today, Professor Quirrell was trying to get Harry to demonstrate how to subdue a vampire. Through gritted teeth, Harry refused, over and over again.
Quirrell's stuttering wasn't helping, he looked between the rest of the class, Harry, and the rest of the class as he struggled to come up with a suitable response.
Thankfully, Harry's bad mood dissipated after Lunch. Harry did laps around the Training Grounds and encouraged Hermione and Neville to join him. When the trio did do broom flying, it was at a low altitude (for Hermione) and a slower speed (for Neville) and while Harry might have been bored, he wasn't as the observant student would see him laughing away and joking with his friends while flying about ten feet off the ground.
While History was about average, Harry could see Hermione wasn't concentrating as much as she had before. He shrugged it off, as Hermione's parchment was filling up steadily with notes on the current Goblin Revolt they were studying.
As normal, History of Magic sometimes was a sleeping class. Well, unless you were Harry Potter observing his friend who was acting slightly off. Fortunately, Potions was their last class, and Hermione was back to normal in the dungeons. Sneering Snape was normal, Neville's cauldron having an issue was, unfortunately, normal, and the Slytherins taunting and teasing were normal. All in all, a very normal Potions class.
Thankfully, Hermione kept her promise to Harry, and the Trio enjoyed an evening in the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron convinced Neville to play some Chess with him, and Hermione was intently reading her book. Harry decided to doze off in front of the fire.
November 15, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
The Trio, rested up, made their way to the Quidditch Pitch despite Harry's attempts to keep them in the Castle. Neville had joined Harry as normal, and Hermione was still skirting the edge about something, and while she didn't voice it, Hermione's actions of caution and retreat instead of advance made Harry wonder.
At least she didn't carry her book to the Pitch.
Oliver was at the Pitch, and while he was busy, was having a conversation with Katie about practices. Harry only heard the tail end of the conversation, but then again he was focused on Hermione's well being over Katie and Oliver's conversation.
"-play until February. Maybe we could have almost no extra practices until about January?" Katie pleaded.
Oliver turned around and looked at her. "If I cancel practices, what will happen come January? Will the team be in good shape still? No, of course it won't be! I'll have to train you all up again!""
Katie sighed. "Ollie, think about us for a minute. We all love Quidditch, but we also have school and outside lives too! We won the first game anyways, so we shouldn't worry about anything else now."
Oliver thought. "If the team does excellent today, I'll consider it."
With a bright smile, Katie squeezed Oliver's arm. "Thanks!" Turning around, she spotted Harry. "Hello Harry! See you soon!" Katie zoomed out of the room with a bright smile on her face.
Harry watched as his teammate ran from the room and looked to Oliver. He shrugged and smiled, before turning back to draw diagrams on his board of sorts.
\-0-0-/
Breakfast was a welcome time for the Gryffindor Quidditch team and Co. A surprise turn of events occurred. Before Oliver dismissed the team, he announced that there would only be practice on Wednesday mornings until after Holidays. Katie was the only one on the team who smirked, even though the rest of the team, Oliver included, knew that she probably influenced his decision for practice.
Giggling, Angelina and Alicia speculated that Katie liked Oliver. As it was, that wasn't old news at all. Well, unless you were a giggling gossiper, I guess.
Neville was excited about Herbology, and Harry was excited for Charms. Grinning, Harry loved Fridays. He didn't have to deal with Professor Snape's classes on Friday, and he could instead smile with his friends.
November 16, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hermione woke up at the usual time to paint, and taking several deep breaths, she began to colour her painting. Every second that her brush was in contact with the canvas was another second that she was stressing over the colours. To combat this, Hermione snuggled with Crookshanks for a while before painting again. She managed to get decently looking mountains, but still lacked the rest of the sky. Calling it a morning, she got herself out of bed, greeted her housemates, and went down to breakfast.
Hermione was thinking about going to the library, but out of respect to the promise she made to Harry and by extension Neville, she decided to spend the day with them and ignore the library. When Harry and Neville had joined her for breakfast, and the owls had dropped the mail, Neville received a bulky but square package from his Gran. A note came with it. The package was a set of Wizards Chess. Smiling, Neville gestured the Chess set to Harry and Hermione. Harry smiled and nodded and Hermione, while rolling her eyes, smiled and nodded too.
After a slightly rushed ending to breakfast, Neville was chased by Harry and Hermione to the Common Room where Neville put Harry and Hermione against each other in Chess. Through grins, giggles, smiles and laughs, Harry and Neville taught Hermione their knowledge of Wizards Chess, and by evening, while Hermione hadn't won a game yet, smiled and laughed with Harry and Neville. That evening, all three kids went to bed with massive smiles on their face. For it had been an enjoyable day with each other.
November 17, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
"Hey, Hermione, what's that?"
Hermione was woken up by Becca's voice, said girl was looking at Hermione's unfinished painting. Hermione smiled at her.
"It's a painting of the sunrise. Well, I'm trying to paint it of the sunrise, It isn't exactly going as planned, you see."
Becca smiled and twiddled her fingers. "D'you think you could teach me? To paint? I always wanted to do it but I was never good at sketching."
Grinning, Hermione nodded. "Sure Becca. Just let me know when you would want some lessons!"
"Did I hear you just offer Becca painting lessons?" Kelly asked, half asleep.
"No, Hermione did offer her painting lessons," Parvati replied.
"You got it wrong, Becca wanted them, Hermione's giving it to her," Lavender said.
Giggling at the other girls' antics, Hermione simply smiled at Becca.
The boy's dorm was its own mess. As it was Sunday, Harry was up early for Quidditch. Or he would be, until Harry remembered the happy reminder, he only had it on Wednesdays now. Leave it up to Katie to change Oliver's mind.
When Seamus woke up around seven and saw Harry in bed, he shook him awake.
"Mate, you missed yer' Quidditch!" Seamus exclaimed.
Harry opened his eyes again. "No Seamus, Wood is only having them on Wednesdays now. Katie convinced him to change."
"I'll be mate, you've been up a lot since you got on tha' Quidditch team. Nice." Seamus replied. "I'm off to breakfast, I'm hungry."
Harry chuckled and tossed a pillow at Neville, to which he sleepily returned.
"Get up, Nev. I'm also hungry." Harry said.
Five minutes later, both boys were in the Common Room.
"Shouldn't we wait for Hermione?" Neville asked Harry, who was going to the Portrait Hole.
"Nah, she'll join us when she's ready," Harry replied. Neville shrugged and followed him out.
True to his word, about thirty minutes later, Hermione hopped into the Great Hall, a big smile on her face.
"Good morning, Hermione. How are you?" Harry asked.
"I'm fantastic! Becca wants me to teach her how to paint, and now all the girls in the dorm want me to teach them too!" Hermione exclaimed.
Harry thought for a minute. "Is the stuff you have now going to be enough?"
Hermione nodded. "Yeah, its tubes of different colours, I have colored pencils, sketching pencils, paintbrushes, canvases, paper, basically everything needed."
Harry nodded. "Ok Hermione, have fun teaching them!"
Hermione nodded and looked down at her plate. "Do you two want to learn too?"
"No thanks, Hermione," Neville responded. Harry, however remained silent.
"Maybe you could teach me?" Harry asked in a quiet voice. Hermione smiled brightly.
"Yes, Harry! Of course! This will be so fun!" Hermione exclaimed, smiling brightly.
Following breakfast, the Trio headed to the Library, where they, unsurprisingly and unfortunatly made no progress on their research.
November 18, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hermione woke up a tad earlier than usual. She was so close to finishing her sunrise painting! She had finished the mountains fully yesterday, and was finishing painting the sky's red, orange, and yellow streaks. She wanted to add in a few small clouds, but she reasoned she would have to let the colors dry before she layered more on.
When she was satisfied with the sky, she changed, packed up her school supplies, and headed out to go to the Great Hall. Harry and Neville were there, eating eggs and bacon.
Transfiguration was normal, Professor McGonagall had the class practice wand movements all morning. Potions was filled with Professor Snape criticizing Harry and Neville. History of Magic was filled with Professor Binns regurgitating last week's lectures, and Herbology was filled with learning the different scents that Ignis Lillium gave out. Charms and Astronomy were about average. The Trio's day was calm. School continued.
November 19, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
"Aha!" Hermione cried. She had finally finished her clouds and her painting, to her, looked awesome. She grabbed a thicker sketching pencil, and in the bottom corner of the canvas, signed her initials and date, marking the work as complete.
"That's really awesome, Hermione!" Becca exclaimed, seeing the painting from her bed.
"Thanks!" Hermione replied.
She skipped down the stairs and greeted Harry and Neville, both who were already on their way out the Portrait Hole. The trio ate breakfast and Hermione gushed about finally finishing her painting.
"Can we see it, Hermione?" Harry asked curiously.
"No, not yet Harry. Soon, though. Soon." Hermione smiled at Harry and Neville rolled his eyes.
Classes were classes, Harry continued to spell the quills to write his notes, and during Defense, Hermione had to admit that she focused on Harry more than she did on Professor Quirrell.
Potions was Potions, Transfiguration was Transfiguration, and Charms was Charms. The biscuits at dinner tasted amazingly flaky.
November 20, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Harry woke up early for Quidditch. Thanks to Katie, Oliver had been persuaded to lessen the practices since they weren't going to be playing a game for a few months. Neville joined him as they walked out of the Common Room, and when Harry exited the locker room about forty minutes after arriving at the Pitch, He spotted Hermione with Neville, and her massive book. He flew up to them and teased Hermione about the book.
"Didn't know the Pitch was a Library, Hermione!" Harry called out. Hermione's eyes poked from above the book.
"Well, I didn't think you would be flying, so I brought my book so I wouldn't be bored. Neville here has been a good sport! He hasn't interrupted me once!"
"Uh, that's because I didn't want to talk to you while you were reading, Hermione," Neville replied. Hermione rolled her eyes at that and smiled.
"Seeing that you guys are finally flying, I'll put my book down and cheer you on," Hermione said, smiling at Harry.
"Awesome, Hermione! See if you can keep your eyes on me once I start flying!" Harry taunted. To prove his point, He shot off so quicky and so fast Hermione had to take a few seconds to find his blur again.
"Harry Potter I will ground you to the Library all weekend!" Hermione shouted, much to the amusement of Neville. He went silent when she turned to him. "Don't think I forgot about you, Neville!"
The "anger" failed when both burst into laughter. They then proceeded to watch Harry and his friends on the team practice. Fred and George still had that cutout of Flint's head they aimed bludgers at, though. Some things don't change after all.
November 21, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hermione allowed herself to be bold today. When Flying lessons came, she boldly asked Harry to help her fly higher than ten feet. Harry looked puzzled at her before eventually shrugging and replying with a simple "Alright, Hermione."
She regretted it when Harry helped her fly up to about forty feet.
"Hermione, don't look down. Look at me. Just ignore your in the air. You're on a broom, looking at me. It's like any other time." Harry told her.
Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She pulled her head up, opened her eyes, and looked at Harry. His green eyes made her feel light, and soon enough Hermione forgot she was high in the sky. When Madam Hooch blew her whistle, she momentarily panicked, but Harry's hand on her shoulder calmed her. She confidently lowered her broom down to the ground and dismounted. Who cared that all she did that class was hover forty feet in the air? She could have sworn she saw Madam Hooch nod at Harry after he dismounted his broom.
Neville came up to them and congratulated Hermione on overcoming her fear for the class. Hermione blushed slightly and smiled. Everything appeared to be easier with Harry and Neville at her side.
November 22, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Harry could be seen in bed that morning with his hands under his head and his mouth in a big smile. It was no doubt why; Harry loved Friday. It was a combination of it being the end of a school week and the fact that there was no Potions today. Neville chuckled.
"Don't think I'll be excited next year when our timetables read that we have Potions on Fridays!" Neville exclaimed.
"Oh, I don't want to think about next year yet, Neville. I want to think about this year, you know? Just this year. And everything in it." Harry said.
"Think about this year. How original, Harry." Neville said, shaking his head in amusement. "I'm off to breakfast."
"See you in a bit." Harry called out.
"Oi, shush you two, I'm tryina' sleep here," Dean mumbled.
In response, Ron shifted in his sleep very loudly.
\-0-0-/
"You have an exam next Friday on our studies of Ignis Lillium, so prepare!" Professor Sprout announced at the end of a very informative lesson. Half the class groaned while the other half grinned. Well, only Hermione grinned. Exams were her strength in school. Neville would have grinned, but he felt bad for Harry, who didn't particularly fancy exams in the first place. So, his face was the equilibrium of the trio's reaction.
Astronomy wasn't too cold, however Professor Sinistra announced that a very small amount of snow would fall due to the temperature going below freezing. Sadly, it would not be a blanket. But it did signify one thing: Winter was coming, if not slowly.
November 23, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
After an early morning in which Hermione finally beat Neville at Wizards Chess, the Trio went to the Library. By this point, Hermione had to admit that it was starting to look like they weren't going to find anything about the three-headed-dog in the Library. Their time, instead of researching the whole day, was spent on homework and notes revisions.
Hermione decided to make a full catalogue of their notes for the end of year exams they would have. Despite Harry and Neville's protests, she took it upon herself to condense three months of notes from the three of them into a cohesive and easy to follow study packet they would review come exam time. She would then copy it twice more and give the copies to Harry and Neville. It was something Hermione had done on a much smaller scale when she went to Crawley Primary, only this time she had friends she liked and wanted to help and said friends weren't stopping her. As a plus, the boys liked her notes anyways.
November 24, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hermione had managed to transcribe and rewrite almost all of the first two weeks of class notes before she had to stop writing due to her wrist hurting yesterday. Then again, she had written for five hours straight and was really excited. She decided that should look up a spell that wrote words for you.
Dictare was not the type of spell to write words from what you say, as it uses what the caster's thought process would be and write notes based on the thought process. This was why her and Neville's notes, for a while, looked like Harry's monotone handwriting.
After some research, she read that a Dicta-Quill did the exact job she needed. Relieved, she went about to find out how to get one. She was not happy when she learned that mainly Ministry employees used Dicta-Quills. She would have to do some asking around to see if a Professor had a spare Dicta-Quill they didn't want anymore.
November 25, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Monday came far too quickly than anyone had wanted. The weekend had flown past them in a snap. Before they knew it, they were in class for yet another week. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, for as classes were almost a part of the student's lives as, let's say sleeping. It meshed like potatoes and gravy.
Hermione had asked Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, and Professor Flitwick if they had a spare Dicta-Quill that she could have. While they all said no, Professor Flitwick recommended to her to ask an older student if they had any or knew someone who had one spare.
The first people who sprung to mind were Fred and George. She cornered them after the evening feast in the Common Room.
"Fred! George! Can you help me?" Hermione asked. The Twins looked at leach other before looking back at Hermione and nodding.
"Do you or someone you know have a spare Dicta-Quill I can have?" Hermione asked.
"Well, no, but-"
"Unlike my less-handsome brother here-"
"Oi! I'm the handsome one!-"
"While we don't have any, we can get some for you."
Hermione stared at them. "How? When?"
They simply grinned. "You'll know in a week," one said.
November 26, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Neville was happy. Herbology always put a smile on his face. Harry went into his mood during Defense but had slowly been able to start not being upset. To Harry's defense, however, he got a headache every time he went into the class. It was valid, when a Professor stutters his way through an hour long class almost every day, a headache isn't unusual.
For Hermione and Neville, they had also been getting used to Harry's mood swings and Professor Quirrell's stuttering. Fortunately, lunch was right after, and Harry helped himself to several cups of pumpkin juice, before heading to another class he disliked, Potions.
The relaxing part of the day came with Transfiguration and Charms. Practical demonstrations and practicing always seemed to draw Harry in. It was something Hermione noticed about him. Compared to Neville's slow changing of moods, Harry's mood could go from pain and annoyance to happy and smiling in minutes. It was a trait Hermione admired but also worried about. However, considering they have only really been friends for less than a month, she decided that she would have to live in the moment and just relax.
November 27, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Harry woke up around five to get ready for his Quidditch Practice. Even with the reduced schedule, Harry still felt like he didn't need more practice, but as he loved Quidditch and he loved flying, he hauled himself to the Pitch. Emerging from the locker room half an hour later, Hermione and Neville waved to him from the stands. Some things haven't changed.
\-0-0-/
Ministry of Magic, London
Department of Magical Education
The forgotten parcel was found by the same attendant who tossed it towards the back two weeks prior. Looking closer at the parcel, the attendant's eyes widened in horror and very quickly sent the parcel to the Hogwarts' Board of Governors Office, the original and intended destination of the parcel.
Lucius Malfoy was not happy that a parcel from Hogwarts was delivered to the Ministry. He was also not happy when said parcel contained a long letter and many vials of memories that discredited Severus Snape as a Professor. He knew that he had to follow Protocol when it came to situations such as these. Lucius drafted a memo to the other eleven Governors for a meeting on December 1. Before then, Lucius had a lot of work to do.
November 28, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Flying was again the highlight of the day. Hermione didn't make it to forty feet but made it to twenty-five on her own and smiled in happiness. Fueled by her determination, Neville allowed his broom to speed up ever so slightly. From her position, Madam Hooch smiled as Hermione and Neville started to come out of their shells while on a broomstick.
Harry smiled too. His best friends were making headway on flying. Compared to a few weeks ago, Hermione had been scared to fly high and Neville refused to fly fast due to his wrist breaking. Then you had the Troll and all those events. While it felt like a blur to Harry, he remembered ever detail as if it was yesterday.
However, Hermione was currently cheering Neville on, and she was unintentionally flying higher in the sky. Harry smiled.
November 29, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Hermione had skipped breakfast. This was very odd for their bushy haired friend. Harry and Neville didn't know what to do. When they met up in Herbology, Hermione explained she was in the Library. Neville pushed, but Hermione didn't explain why. Harry shrugged it off but couldn't ponder as Professor Sprout began the class with the exam. Early reports at lunch said the class did well in the exam. That night after Astronomy, Hermione figured out what her next painting would be of. She smiled in happiness and fell asleep.
November 30, 1991
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Today was a unique day. For the first time in a while, the Trio were split up during the day. Neville was with Professor Flitwick working on his Charms, Hermione was in the Library, her lips sealed, and Harry was in the Common Room, playing Chess with Ron.
Harry, while he disliked Ron because of what he had done to Hermione at Halloween, didn't exactly want to make an enemy out of him. So, when Ron wanted to talk to Harry over Chess, Harry agreed.
"Harry, can I ask you something?" Ron asked, moving a pawn.
"What is it?" Harry replied, before moving his bishop.
"Well, what do you see in Hermione and Neville?"
Harry stopped. He looked up at Ron. "What?"
"What makes them special?" Ron asked again.
Harry thought for a moment before responding. "That's easy. They're my best friends."
Ron pushed harder. "What about them made you want to be friends with them?"
"Why are you asking me this, Ron?" Harry asked.
"I'm curious, Harry. That's all." Ron responded.
Harry took a deep breath. He knew he probably shouldn't have responded with this, but he did so anyways.
"Neville was my first friend on the train, and Hermione was my second."
Ron thought about that so hard he became surprised when Harry checkmated him. Harry stood up.
"Friends aren't magically created, Ron. I know that all too well. Just be kind, respectful, and there. You'll make some friends, at least that's what I had to do." Harry shrugged before walking out of the Common Room to find Hermione and Neville. Ron was left in the Common Room, pondering over Harry's words.
Author's Note: Hello again! Finally got this chapter written! Thankfully I have some more chapters written, I have to do some editing on them. Thank you for reading and thank you for sticking with me through this! Au Revoir!
BananaCarrot-Five