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Chapter Three: The Potions Master
Harry woke up early, before the rest of his peers, and he hurried out of bed and to the bathroom to change so he would have the privacy that he needed. Once done, he went back into the room and sat down on his bed, unsure about what to do now. The clock said it was only 6:10am, and he didn't know what would happen if he went down for breakfast so soon. Not that he was hungry. His stomach was still roiling at the thought of food.
But he didn't want to sit there, bored, so he went down into the common room and back to the window. The giant squid was floating in front of it, and Harry grinned, waving.
"Hi," He said, and the giant squid moved a couple of its tentacles. Harry took that as a greeting, and he giggled. "How did you get here? I thought you guys live in the ocean." The giant squid bobbed its head, and Harry nodded. "Hmm. I guess you wouldn't know." He grinned. "You're really amazing, you know, and I bet you're super smart. Can you do any cool tricks?" The giant squid wriggled around before doing flips in the water. Harry's eyes widened in amazement. "Wow. You are super smart! I knew it." The giant squid blew bubbles happily. He smiled, but his focus was interrupted when Elijah came up to him.
"Potter," Elijah said quietly. "You should be in bed still. It's not time to get up." Harry chose to ignore him, focusing on watching the giant squid as it juggled some hapless otters, whose faces were scrunched up in obvious outrage. Harry grinned, clapping. "Potter. Are you listening to me?"
"Did you see that?" He asked, turning to the Prefect as he pointed at the squid, who seemed to be quivering with self-satisfaction. "He wants some applause." Elijah glanced over at the giant squid before sighing.
"No, Potter, I did not see that." The older boy ran a tired hand through his hair. "Why are you up?" Harry shrugged, turning away from him.
"Just because," He said. The giant squid gave him a wave, and Harry waved back, before it swam away.
"Harry," Elijah said softly, concerned, and Harry narrowed his eyes at the use of his first name. "Is everything alright?" Harry gave Elijah a confused look.
"Yes. Why?" He studied the older boy, trying to figure out what he wanted. Elijah only shook his head.
"Never mind, Potter." He sighed, running a hand through his hair, and Harry waited patiently for him to continue. "I'll be bringing you down to your detention after dinner tonight." Harry nodded, and Elijah gave him a grim frown. "Good." Elijah headed back over to Gemma, and Harry headed back up to the dormitory, since the squid had left and there was nothing floating in front of the window anymore.
He got back on his bed and laid there for a while, before sitting back up and staring at Theodore, who was asleep, his curtains wide open. In fact, Harry realized that he was the only one that had slept last night with his curtains closed. He frowned. Was that not something he was supposed to do? Harry figured the curtains were there in the first place because they didn't want to see him. His aunt and uncle didn't, that was why they shut him in his cupboard so often. He shook his head, deciding that it was no use trying to figure out the choices made by wizards.
He glanced at the clock, which told him that it was already 6:45am, and he sighed. He was incredibly bored, but he tried his best to remain as quiet as possible, not wanting to risk the fury of the other boys if he were to accidently wake them up. He had woken his uncle up early once by accident when he was little, and his uncle had been furious. He forced Harry to work outside for the entire day without any water until he finished all his chores, even though there was a heatwave that week. Harry had gotten really sick from the heat, but his aunt wouldn't let him in, even when he threw up. She just locked him into his cupboard as a punishment for getting sick when he had finally finished his chores. He did get water though, so that was nice of them.
Harry sighed but sat there patiently, remaining quiet and trying to relax the darkness as much as he could in preparation for the school day. The darkness was sort of listening. Eventually, Harry managed to make a fragile truce with the darkness, and it promised that it would try to remain calm. That was all Harry could ask for. Finally, at 7:30am, Blaise started to show signs of waking up, and Harry sighed in relief. The other boy rolled over, yawning as his eyes opened, and Harry grinned.
"Oh, great, you're awake!" He said happily, and Blaise turned to look at him as he rubbed his eyes.
"Yeah," He yawned, stretching as he sat up. He turned to look at Harry, his eyes narrowing in confusion. "Why are you up so early?"
Harry shrugged. "I'm always up this early," He said, as if it was obvious. He nodded towards his friend. "Why are you up so late?" Blaise rolled his eyes again.
"It's not late, Harry. It's 7:30am. That's not late," Blaise grumbled, but got up, stretching as he yawned. Harry frowned. 7:30am certainly sounded late to him. If he got up that late at home, he'd be getting no food for the rest of the day, and if he did anything freakish during that time, they'd lock him up for a week. No, 7:30am was decidedly not early. Good thing no one was starved in Hogwarts.
"Breakfast starts at 8:30am," He informed his friend, and Blaise nodded tiredly. "7:30 is a good time to wake up. You don't want to be late." Blaise gave him a funny look.
"I didn't know you were the punctual type." He smirked, and Harry shrugged his shoulders. Blaise yawned again and picked up his clothes before heading to the bathroom. Harry turned back to Theodore, who was moving a lot more now, and Harry figured he'd be waking up soon.
He was right. It was only a couple of minutes later when Theodore opened his eyes and sat up. "Good morning," Harry said from his bed, and Theodore looked over at him, rubbing his eyes.
"Harry? You're already dressed?" He asked, his voice hoarse, and Harry nodded. "Why?"
Harry frowned, confused about why they kept asking him that. He was supposed to wake up early. "Because," He said easily, waving the other boy off.
Theodore just stared at him for a few minutes before nodding and followed Blaise into the bathroom. Harry shrugged before getting up and going back down to the common room. After a quick glance to see if the giant squid was back – it was not – Harry went to go sit down on one of the couches. It was comfortable, but Harry didn't like how squishy it was and how much he sank into it when he sat down. He frowned, standing up and walking over to look at the pictures hanging on the walls, nearly having a heart attack when one moved.
"Hello," The man in the picture said as Harry tried to calm down the darkness that had just tried to disembowel him. He gave the picture a wave from his hunched over position. "Are you alright, young sir? Do you need a healer?" Harry shook his head, finally managing to control the darkness, and straightened up to look at the man in front of him. He had long grey hair and wizened features, wearing a pointy hat and dark blue robe.
"Hello," Harry said softly. "What's your name?"
The man raised an eyebrow. "Why, I'm Merlin, of course," He said proudly, and Harry's eyes widened, actually recognizing that name.
"Oh, wow! Like the wizard!" He said in awe. The portrait chuckled, nodding.
"Yes, I am indeed a wizard," Merlin said, tilting his head. "What is your name?"
"Harry," He told the old wizard, and Merlin nodded in understanding.
"Ah, yes. You're the one they've all been talking about," He murmured, and Harry decided to ignore that comment. He didn't really need reminding of his fame. "You've caused quite the stir, haven't you?"
Harry frowned, scrunching up his eyebrows. "Not really. If anything, Voldemort caused all of this," He said dryly, shrugging, and Merlin was definitely looking amused at this point. Others around Harry were definitely not as amused, and a few gasped audibly.
"Potter!" Gemma shouted, and Harry turned to her, tilting his head in confusion. She glanced up at Merlin, looking apprehensive, before coming up to Harry. She went to grab his hand, but he dodged, moving away from her.
"Don't touch me," He said quietly, and she stared at him, wide eyed for a moment, before nodding, gesturing to the other Prefect and another upper year. Harry took that as a sign that he was meant to follow, so he trailed behind her, rather reluctantly, not wanting to end his conversation with the old wizard.
"Bye, Harry!" Merlin called after him, and Harry waved over his shoulder.
"I didn't do anything," He defended when they finally reached the others. Gemma crossed her arms, glaring.
"We don't use that name," She said firmly, and Harry scrunched up his eyebrows skeptically.
"Merlin?" He asked, and Gemma raised an eyebrow. Understanding dawned on him, and he slapped a hand to his forehead. "Oh. You mean Voldemort."
"Potter!" She chastised again, and he flinched, sending her an apologetic look. "What did I just say?"
Harry tilted his head, frowning. "Not to say it?" He was still unsure, and he saw her sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose. He didn't get it. What was so bad about a name?
"Yes, exactly." She took in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. "A lot of people here in the Wizarding World lost people because of You-Know-Who." She gestured exasperatedly towards him. "You did too! You're practically the poster boy for it! Saying his name makes a lot of people upset." Harry nodded in understanding. He didn't like saying his uncle's name if he could help it, so he could understand why people didn't like Voldemort's name. But he decided to ask her the question anyways.
"What's so bad about his name?" He voiced aloud, and Gemma frowned, looking away from him. He glanced over at Elijah to see if he would answer, and the older boy looked extremely uncomfortable. There also seemed to be guilt, or something close to it, on the older boy's face, but Harry couldn't tell. He stared at Elijah carefully, trying to figure it out.
"We just don't say it," Elijah said simply, and Harry frowned, not agreeing that that was a very good reason not to say it. "Potter, you just need to stop saying it."
"Alright." He shrugged. It was no skin off his back. If it made them happier using the weird nickname, he would go with it. The three older students glanced at each other, sharing looks Harry couldn't hope to decipher, so he left them there, heading back up to his dormitory to see if Theodore and Blaise were finally ready. He didn't get that far, they met him before he even made it to the stairs.
"What was that Harry?" Theodore whispered, and Harry shrugged. "You used You-Know-Who's real name?" Harry shrugged again, and Theodore sighed, most likely aware that he wasn't going to get anything out of him. "Are you excited for classes?"
"Sure," Harry decided to respond to that question. It was easier. "Are you?"
Theodore stared at him for a few seconds, before nodding. "Yeah. I'm excited to learn about Potions, and Transfiguration sounds cool." Harry nodded along, even though he really didn't know what Theodore was saying. Harry was unable to read anything in his textbooks when he was locked up in his cupboard before school started.
"What about you, Blaise?" Harry turned to his other friend, who nodded.
"Same as Teddy. Potions looks cool, but I think Charms and Defense will also be interesting," He said. Harry frowned. He had met the Defense professor with Hagrid, and he did not think that that man would be capable of making the class interesting. Plus, his head hurt every time he was near the weird turbaned professor.
"I don't like him," Harry stated boldly, and his friends turned to him, confused. Harry saw their looks and elaborated. "Professor Quirrell. He's strange, and my head hurts every time I'm near him. Plus, he smells bad. Like garlic. I don't like him."
"Your head hurts?" Theodore asked, shifting nervously. Harry noticed his change in demeanor and frowned, wondering what that was about. Theodore ran a hand through his hair. "How does he make your head hurt?" Harry studied Theodore for a little bit longer, before turning away again, shrugging.
"I don't know. He just does," He said simply, and Theodore frowned. He didn't look like he accepted that answer, but Harry didn't care. He wasn't asking them to accept it.
"We should get going to breakfast," Blaise said, breaking the weird tension that had come over the group, and Theodore nodded. They walked out of the common room, Blaise and Theodore chatting amongst themselves, while Harry nodded and made the proper sounds when the conversation called for it.
In reality, he was still mulling over what could have possibly made Theodore react the way he did to Harry's words. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but it was probably the same reason why a good handful of his Housemates either avoided him or glared at him. Their parents did or still currently support Voldemort, and now Harry, who had defeated their Master as a baby, was in the same House as their children. And their children were obviously aware of his significance. The whole Wizarding World was, but some ancient honour code prevented the parents from using their children to harm him. Unless they just used their child to get Harry to come to them. He wouldn't put it past them, and he frowned.
"I have a question," He said slowly, interrupting whatever Theodore was saying to Blaise. "Are you actually friends with me? Like actually actually?" He couldn't look at them as he waited for them to tell him he was a freak, that of course they didn't actually like him, that they were going to hurt him and hate him, and leave.
Theodore tilted his head. "What do you mean?" He glanced at Blaise, the two of them sharing another knowing look and Harry sighed.
"Everyone's been looking at me like I'm a fr-like I'm different. There's plenty of other Slytherins that don't seem to like me being in the same House as them too." He shifted, looking down at his feet, not liking the now pitying expressions on his friends' faces. "Are you actually friends with me? Or is it because your parents told you to be?" Blaise shook his head, but Theodore looked extremely guilty. Harry levelled his stare on the other boy, waiting patiently for his answer.
"My father hinted at it," Theodore said awkwardly. "Told me that it would be advantageous to introduce myself. So, I did, but I'm friends with you because I like you, not because my father told me to." Harry pondered this over. He didn't know if that was how friends were supposed to be made, but they were here now, so he couldn't complain. Theodore chuckled humourlessly. "But you probably shouldn't be visiting my house anytime soon." Blaise glanced over at Theodore, frowning, and Harry nodded, understanding the hidden meaning there.
"Alright. So, we're friends then," He said with finality. "That's all I wanted to ask. Thanks."
Theodore and Blaise seemed unsure, but Harry was content with dropping the subject. These were two of his first friends, and as a freak, he never thought he'd get any, so Harry didn't exactly care why they decided to be friends with him, as long as they weren't going to suddenly kill him. He was sure that they wouldn't, but he couldn't quite put it past their parents, so he wouldn't be visiting. Not that he'd even be able to. He was to be back at the Dursley's in the summer, and his aunt and uncle would never allow it.
"Alright," Theodore said, just as they made it into the Great Hall. Before they got to the Slytherin table, Harry's eyes met Ron's, and he grinned, waving. Ron waved back, which caught Hermione's attention and she looked up, grinning as she waved. Harry headed over, ignoring his two other friends' protests.
"Hey, guys!" He said happily, and they both greeted him as well.
"How was your first night? What's it like being in Slytherin?" Ron asked, mostly succeeding in holding back his prejudices. Harry smiled.
"Not bad! I made some friends." He pointed at Theodore and Blaise, who were sitting at Slytherin table, wide-eyed as they watched him. Ron snickered.
"They don't look like they're very happy that you're over here talking to us," He said, looking back up at Harry, and although he was trying to sound casual, Harry could see the worry in his eyes. He smiled.
"Don't worry. No one's going to stop me from being friends with you," He said simply. "And they won't try to stop me. Teddy even agreed with me about Draco!" Harry laughed, and Ron laughed with him.
"Well, I guess that's alright," He snickered, looking over at Draco, who'd just come in and was now sitting and staring at Harry in disbelief. In fact, most of his House was watching him like he'd grown a second head and was currently committing blasphemy.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay in your House if you're friends with us?" Hermione asked quietly, and Harry nodded. "Harry, what if you get hurt?" He shook his head.
"We don't hurt our own. I won't hurt them, and they won't hurt me," He said firmly, which seemed to ease Hermione's worry, and Ron seemed to relax at that as well. Harry paused. "What about you? What will the rest of your House think if you're friends with a slimy Snake?" At this, Ron glanced around the table. Most were watching the three of them with disbelief and disgust, and Ron winced. Harry waited nervously, scared that Ron would decide he didn't actually want to be friends with a Slytherin and a freakish one to boot. But the Hat was right, and Ron just shrugged indifferently.
"Like you, they don't get to tell me who to be friends with, and I don't think they'd hurt us." Ron glanced quickly back at the other Gryffindors before looking at Hermione, who was watching them as well. "Besides, if they do, I'm sure Fred and George will protect me. And you, Hermione." Ron nodded at her, who seemed relieved.
Harry grinned. "Well, great!" He paused, shifting nervously. "I was just a little worried this morning that you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore. That you'd think I'm a fr-that you'd think I'm weird," He said this quietly, he didn't want the other students to hear, and he felt a gentle hand take his. He managed to stop the darkness from stirring rather quickly and looked up to meet Hermione's eyes. She smiled softly.
"Of course not, we wouldn't leave you," She said firmly, Ron nodding in agreement with her enthusiastically. Harry smiled at them gratefully.
"Thanks guys," He said in relief. "Also, I was going to visit Hagrid today after classes. Want to join? I'm going to ask Teddy and Blaise, and maybe you'll see that they're alright too." He could see Ron hesitating, barely keeping the scowl off at the mention of the two Slytherins, but Harry continued beaming at him happily, waiting patiently for him to accept his invitation.
And, with a glance up at Harry, Ron sighed, nodding. "Alright, I'm down," He said, glancing at Hermione, who nodded, though she looked a little anxious. Harry grinned.
"Don't worry. I'll tell them to be on their best behaviour. No talk about pureblood superiority, and no talk about slimy Snakes. Good?" He said, and his friends nodded, Ron giving him a hesitant smile. Harry smiled back enthusiastically before making his way back to his table. He sat down, ignoring the other students' glares on him, and poured himself a glass of water.
"Harry, what was that?" Theodore finally managed to choke out past his astonishment, and Harry turned to his two friends. Blaise was watching him shrewdly, but Harry only grinned at him.
"Me, Ron and Hermione are going to visit Hagrid after classes. You're welcome to come if you want!" He said cheerfully, and he watched as Theodore's eyes widened even more. Blaise continued to stare at him.
"What time are you going?" He asked slowly, and Harry smiled.
"4'o'clock," He said, turning to grab a piece of toast. Blaise was silent beside him as he pondered it over.
"Alright," He finally said. Harry turned to grin at him, bouncing in his seat, and Blaise held his hands out as if to stop his enthusiasm. He couldn't, and only sighed when Harry continued to vibrate happily beside him.
"Oh, great! I told them that there won't be any Slytherin hate while we're there, and no talk about blood traitors and muggleborns." He reached out, patting Blaise's shoulder. "So, it should go smoothly."
Blaise only gave him a tired look. "You are unbelievably naïve," He deadpanned, and Harry shrugged, spreading jam on his toast. Silently, he disagreed with Blaise. He knew how awful the world could be, how awful people could be, but he didn't know why the four people he cared about couldn't be kind to each other.
Theodore, silent throughout the whole exchange, finally sighed. "Alright, I'll come too," He said, slightly huffily, but Harry would take it, and he grinned through a mouthful of toast. Theodore saw his smile and sighed. "But only for you, Harry. I'm not promising that I'll like them."
Harry only nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. I like them. All I'm asking is that you be okay with me being friends with them," He said easily, reaching out for his glass of water again. Theodore was watching him carefully, yet again, and Blaise was glancing around at the rest of the House. They were still glaring at Harry, and he was starting to get tired of it. He knew he was a freak, didn't mean they had to stare.
"Harry, you still have to be careful about the rest of the House, though," Blaise said slowly. "Even though they can't harm you, they-well, they could do other things. Worse things."
Harry scrunched up his eyebrows. "Like what?" He asked. If they couldn't physically harm him, or starve him, or lock him up, he didn't think anything they could do would be that bad.
"They could humiliate you or exclude you. You could become a pariah." Blaise said this as if having a sullied reputation was the worst possible thing. Harry only shrugged, not exactly upset at the thought. He was used to being a pariah, used to being humiliated and called a freak, forced outside of everything else. It didn't scare him. He decided not to respond, reaching out to grab two slices of apple and another piece of toast.
Theodore and Blaise exchanged looks, before Theodore sighed. "Harry, you should be careful. It should worry you," Theodore insisted, and Harry frowned.
"Why should I worry? No matter what I do, they've already decided. I'm a half-blood and the Boy-Who-Lived, and now they know for sure that I'm friends with a blood-traitor and a muggleborn," He pointed out. "They'll do what they want no matter what I do." He shrugged again. His friends didn't seem as indifferent as he was.
"Doesn't that bother you? Aren't you going to fight back?" Theodore asked, confused, and Harry didn't answer. He couldn't explain it to him, not to someone who was proud of his magic.
He didn't have to worry about petty Slytherin drama because he was going to get rid of it and then he'd be normal, and he wouldn't be at the school anymore, with these people. But he couldn't really explain that, so he didn't, turning his attention to his food instead. Theodore sighed, and his two friends seemed to drop the subject, which Harry was fine with.
"Nott, Zabini, Potter," Gemma said, coming up to them with papers in her hands. "Here are your schedules." Harry took his and read it over.
They had Herbology first with Ravenclaw, then Defense with Gryffindor, lunch, then Charms with Ravenclaw, and lastly, Transfiguration with Hufflepuff. Harry, despite knowing this was all temporary if he was successful, was excited. He was never able to enjoy school in the past, too terrified of his cousin, too terrified of doing well and being punished for it, and the number of classes he missed because of punishments resulted in his teachers thinking quite poorly of him. At Hogwarts, he didn't have his cousin, he didn't have many people picking on him, and those that were, he could easily handle or ignore, and he also wasn't being locked up, so he wouldn't be missing his classes.
He was up and out of his seat with a hoot of excitement. "Wow! I can't believe we have such cool classes today," He said, scanning the timetable eagerly. Blaise tapped the table.
"Not yet though, Harry. It's only 9:15. We still have 15 minutes until we need to be down for Herbology," He said, and Harry frowned, but sat back down with a sigh.
By the time ten minutes had gone by, he was standing and ready to go, and Theodore rolled his eyes. "Why are you so eager?" He asked skeptically, and Harry only shrugged. "It's just classes."
"I've never been around magic before," Harry said easily, managing to say the m-word without stuttering. "This will be my first time learning anything about it." Theodore shifted beside him, and Harry glanced over, noticing the embarrassed expression on his friend's face.
"I'm sorry, Harry, I didn't realize," He apologized. "I shouldn't have said it like that-"
Harry waved him off. "Don't worry about it, Teddy. It was a simple mistake." Theodore did not look convinced but stopped trying to apologize and they made their way down to the greenhouses.
Harry's eyes widened when they stepped in, many plants he did not recognize growing all around the greenhouse. He stopped to study a group of giggling marigolds, who were shaking as they whispered quietly. Theodore grabbed his sleeve, tugging him gently.
"Don't interact with the Murmuring Marigolds. They're total gossips," He said, and Harry reluctantly followed his friend, wanting to hear what the plants had to say. Before Harry could wander off, the professor was clearing her throat, and Harry sighed, making his way over to a table with his friends.
"Hello, class, my name is Professor Sprout. I'm the Head of House for Hufflepuff, but I'm also the professor for Herbology," She greeted, her voice loud but friendly. She picked up a plant in front of her. "This is called a bouncing bulb. They're relatively easy to handle, with one exception." Harry raised an eyebrow as the bulb leaped out of her hands, ricocheting off the table, but she caught it easily. "We will be repotting it today. To stop it from jumping, tickle the flower at the top of the bulb, and it will calm down, making it easier to handle." The bouncing bulb in her grip wriggled once before settling down, and she placed it into another pot, covering it with dirt until only the flower was visible, poking out of the dirt.
Harry turned to look at the other plants, only half-listening as she gave the rest of the directions. He knew how to repot, he had done it numerous times in Aunt Petunia's garden, and bouncing didn't seem like that big of a hurdle to overcome. It beat having to redo everything after Dudley came and destroyed it all. His eyes landed on some vines climbing up the wall of the greenhouse, like snakes as they twisted around. They seemed to be breathing, and Harry could hear them whispering to each other. He leaned forward, eyes wide and interested in hearing what the snake-like vines were talking about, but he was interrupted.
"Harry c'mon, lets go get our plants," Theodore said quietly from beside him, and Harry nodded, standing up to follow the boy. Professor Sprout handed him a pot with the bouncing bulb buried in the dirt, only the top little flower of the bulb visible.
She smiled at him. "Mr. Potter, I expect you to be listening next time," She said easily, and he stiffened, but nodded sheepishly.
"Yes ma'am," He said quietly, before hurrying to follow Theodore back to their table. He placed the bouncing bulb beside the empty pot, and with practiced ease, filled his empty pot with soil before tickling the flower on top of the bulb and removing it from the soil. He transferred it over to the new pot quickly and efficiently before burying it again. It was all over before the bulb could even wriggle in his hands, and he grinned. This was easy. Done with his work, he got up, making his way slowly over to the vines, craning his neck back to look at them.
"Well done, Mr. Potter," Professor Sprout said from beside him, and he froze, startled. The darkness stirred inside of him, and he swallowed it down quickly.
"Thank you, ma'am," He said softly, once he was back in control, and the professor watched him carefully.
"Are you alright, Harry?" She asked quietly, and Harry stiffened, shocked at the question. He gave her a bemused look, studying her carefully over his spectacles, before nodding.
"Yes ma'am." He nodded towards the vines, intent on changing the subject. "What are these?"
"They're called Rosy Boa Vines," She said. "Quite friendly, that's why they're allowed in this greenhouse." She grinned, reaching out to pat the vines gently.
"Do not touch me there, woman. A different sspot," The vine hissed as it wriggled, and Harry stepped back, startled, but reached out to the spot that the vine indicated. He felt the vine tremble under his hand and hiss in delight. "Yess, thank you, young sspeaker." Harry didn't know what that meant, but he didn't think it was something good. He frowned, glancing quickly at his professor, who didn't look like she could hear them.
"A sspeaker?" Another vine said eagerly. "Tell her we need more food. No more of thiss sstupid fertilizer. We need real food. Like mice. Or birdss." The vine that spoke twisted around his wrist, as if to drive its point home, and Harry nodded. It released him with a satisfied wriggle. "Thank you."
Harry waved bye to the vines before making his way to the professor, who was speaking with another group of students now. He tapped her on the arm once she finished her conversation with a group of Ravenclaw students. She turned, smiling at him.
"What do you need, Mr. Potter?" She asked kindly, and Harry glanced over at the Rosy Boa Vines, who he could still hear whispering. He glanced at the professor again, searching for any sign that she could hear them too, but he didn't see anything, and he sighed.
"What are they, exactly?" He asked, pointing to the vines. "What do they do? Are they just regular vines?"
Professor Sprout shook her head. "No, they're sentient, in a way. Much like the Murmuring Marigolds. They can speak, but only to those that speak Parseltongue."
Harry frowned. "Parseltongue?" He asked, skeptical, and she nodded, her expression changing to something that Harry couldn't quite decipher but didn't really trust.
"Yes, it's the language of snakes, one that only Slytherin and his descendants could speak," She said. "Not necessarily dark, but for many in the Wizarding World, being able to speak it indicates a certain-" She cut off, hesitating slightly as she searched for the right words. "Well, people often assume that those who speak it are evil. You-Know-Who was a Parselmouth, and that definitely didn't help." Harry frowned, deciding to keep the fact that he understood them to himself, although he felt bad that he couldn't tell her that they wanted different food.
He decided that he would have to feed them himself. "Are they hard to care for?" He asked.
She nodded. "Yes, they really only respond well to speakers." She gestured towards the vines. "They started growing here by themselves, some birds must have brought in the seeds, and I didn't want to cut them down. They're endangered, you see, and I'm not one to kill off endangered plants." Harry nodded along, not quite sure what endangered meant, but understanding why she wouldn't want to kill off the vines with Herbology being her area of study. She went over to another group of students struggling with their bouncing bulbs, and Harry walked back over to his table, sitting down beside Theodore.
Theodore, who was trying to catch his bouncing bulb, turned and glared at him. "Can you help me?" He growled, and Harry jumped, but nodded, automatically reaching out towards the green blur leaping around them and snatched it out of the air. He handed it back to a wide-eyed Theodore. "Thanks."
Harry nodded, before pulling out his Herbology textbook and flipping to the page on Rosy Boa Vines as he waited for the class to end.
They walked into the castle on their way to defense, and Harry had to force himself to keep moving, dreading the class. He could feel a headache coming on, and he gritted his teeth as he followed Theodore and Blaise into the defense classroom.
"Are you alright, Harry?" Theodore whispered from beside him, and Harry nodded tightly, his eyes closed. "The professor is going to teach soon. You should probably open your eyes."
Harry fought down a sigh and nodded, opening his eyes reluctantly to focus on Professor Quirrell, who had just walked into the classroom. But the attempt to focus was nearly impossible with the headache that was piercing his skull, and he groaned. To make matters worse, the darkness was getting antsy, and Harry clenched his wand tightly, willing his breakfast to stay down.
He heard Quirrell clear his throat, and he forced himself to pay attention. "H-H-Hello, class," The man stuttered, and Harry gritted his teeth, his eyes watering at the pain in his head when his eyes met his professor's. "W-welcome to D-D-Defence Against the D-Dark A-Arts."
The man droned on, and Harry kept his head up, trying to make it seem like he was listening as he tried to control the darkness and ignore the stabbing pain in his skull.
Theodore tapped his desk, and Harry turned stiffly to look at his friend. "We need to read our textbook now, and make notes for the chapter on Imps," He whispered, and Harry nodded, mechanically reaching down into his bag. His muscles felt tight and sore, like he had the flu, and his wrists ached as he pulled his book out of his bag and dropped it onto his desk. "Harry, are you sure you're alright?"
Harry nodded slowly. "My head hurts, but I'll be okay," He managed to choke out, and Theodore frowned. Harry's headache only intensified, and he bit back a groan, looking up at his professor who was now standing in front of his desk. The darkness lashed out, slamming into his ribs and his already aching head, and he felt his eyes water up in pain. Quirrell must have seen it too because he frowned.
"Is e-everything a-a-alright, Mr. P-Potter?" He asked softly, and Harry paused, considering lying, but the pain of the darkness slamming into his organs and the headache decided for him.
"No sir. My head is really hurting," He said hoarsely, and Quirrell's eyes widened in shock, before nodding. He pulled out a piece of paper, scribbling something down, before handing it to Harry.
"Head on o-over to the I-I-Infirmary, Potter, and see M-Madame P-Pomfrey." Quirrell glanced over at Theodore. "Mr. N-Nott, p-please a-accompany Mr. Potter there. D-don't stay, c-c-come back to c-class after."
Theodore nodded, and the two got up, heading out of the classroom. Once the door had closed and they were a good few meters away from the classroom, the darkness finally stopped freaking out inside him. His headache was still there, though, and he put a hand to his head.
"Thanks, Teddy," He whispered, and his friend nodded. They made their way to the Infirmary, and an older witch met them at the door when they entered,
"Oh dear, what's happening here?" She asked, and Theodore glanced at Harry. He must have seen something in Harry's expression, because he explained to Madam Pomfrey.
"He got a headache in Defense," Theodore explained, and the nurse tutted, guiding Harry into a bed. Harry stiffened at Madam Pomfrey's hand on his shoulder and had to grit his teeth as he forced the already agitated darkness down. The nurse didn't seem to notice, working on some potions instead.
"Mr. Nott, I assume you have to go back to class?" Madam Pomfrey asked, giving Theodore a pointed look. Theodore hesitated, glancing at Harry, who nodded.
"It's okay, Teddy. Quirrell wants you back," He said quietly, and Theodore reluctantly nodded.
"Alright. Feel better, Harry," He said before heading out the door. The nurse turned her attention to Harry, handing him a potion. He looked at it skeptically, and Madam Pomfrey huffed disapprovingly, placing it in his hand.
"It's just a pain-relieving potion," She explained. "It won't hurt you." Harry sighed, aware that the nurse had more authority than he did and gulped it down. It tasted sour and bitter, but he was used to forcing down foods that had gone off and tasted bad, so it wasn't hard for him to finish the potion. "Good job, Harry. Most people who take that potion for the first time sick up." Harry didn't comment, and Madam Pomfrey handed him a glass of water. "It will take a few minutes to kick in. Your Head of House will be down here soon."
Harry's eyes widened. "Professor Snape?" He asked, his anxiety rising, and he struggled to sit up, trying to get out of the bed. Madam Pomfrey tutted, pushing him back down gently by the shoulders, and Harry shuddered at her touch, breathing deeply to try and make the darkness settle down. She frowned.
"Are you alright, Mr. Potter?" She asked, the same skeptical tone of voice that every adult used when he showed aversion to their touch. He didn't know why it was such a big deal. Touch was often bad, and not something he wanted from other people.
"I don't want to get into trouble for whinging," He begged, and the nurse softened.
"Harry, you're not going to get in trouble for a headache and you weren't whinging," She chastised gently. "Professor Snape always comes when his students are in the Infirmary."
Harry made a distressed sound at the back of his throat. "Why?"
"Because of rule number five. We take care of our own," Professor Snape drawled, arriving at his bed. Harry stiffened, grimacing as he turned away from both of the adults standing around him. "What happened in class today, Mr. Potter?"
Harry hesitated, not too keen on answering, but the glare on Professor Snape's face was vicious, and he found himself blurting out the answer. "My head hurt really bad. All over, like knives were stabbing my skull."
Professor Snape raised an eyebrow. "I see." He glanced at Madam Pomfrey. "Have you done the diagnostic scan?" He asked, and Harry bit his lip, not liking the sound of that.
The nurse shook her head. "No. It's your call," She said, not looking at Harry, and he narrowed his eyes, his muscles tensing as he prepared to flee.
Just as he was about to make a break for it, Professor Snape looked over at him and he froze. "Any signs that it's needed?" The man asked casually, and Harry trembled, his anxiety growing. Signs? What type of signs?
"Some," She said, glancing over at Harry briefly with a frown, though her frown was different from those he was used to seeing. This frown was filled with pity – for him – which was something people rarely had when interacting with him, and Harry narrowed his eyes. "I think it would be helpful."
Professor Snape nodded in approval, and Madam Pomfrey turned to Harry, waving her wand in a complex motion. Harry felt a warm film settle over him, making his hair stand on end, and he watched with wide eyes when words started appearing in front of Madam Pomfrey. He was able to read it backwards. 'Malnourished', it said, and his fear and anxiety started to grow in response to his panicked realization that the spell would tell them about his injuries on his back. The darkness lashed out in response to his emotional turmoil, and he felt it snap out against his skin, making the weird filmy feeling disappear and ending the spell after one more word – 'eyesight'. Professor Snape's expression darkened as he read the two words present, and his eyes flashed to Harry's.
"Mr. Potter, have you been eating properly?" The Professor asked quietly. Harry tilted his head, confused. Of course he was eating properly, Harry didn't think there was more than one way to eat.
"Yes sir," He said dutifully. Professor Snape raised an eyebrow.
"Then why does it say here that you haven't been getting enough food?" The man's tone left no room for argument, and Harry winced before shrugging. "Mr. Potter, that's not an answer."
Harry sighed. "I don't know why, sir," He said quietly, and Professor Snape sighed, running a hand through his hair as he turned to the nurse.
"A nutrition potion sound alright to you?" He asked her. Harry kept his eyes trained on his feet, so he didn't know how she responded. She must have agreed because Professor Snape addressed him again. "You will be coming to my office before dinner for the rest of the week, Mr. Potter, for a nutrition potion. Hopefully, that would fix-" He threw out a hand towards the words still hanging between them- "this issue with your weight." Harry only nodded. "What about your eyesight, Mr. Potter? When was the last time you got your eyes checked?" Harry shrugged again, and Professor Snape sniffed in irritation. "A real answer, Mr. Potter."
Harry shivered, but complied. "I-I don't remember." He kept his eyes on his hands as he clutched his wand tightly. The adults were silent for a few seconds, before Professor Snape spoke again.
"Well, how did you get the spectacles you have now?" He asked quietly, and Harry's eyes flickered up to the man standing in front of him, flinching when he saw the intense expression on Professor Snape's face.
"We got them from the NHS. From a box. It had lots of them." Harry took his spectacles off, holding them out. "Aunt Petunia let me choose the pair I wanted."
Madam Pomfrey's eyebrows were raised skeptically. "From a box?" She asked as she took his spectacles and Harry nodded. She pursed her lips, before waving her wand again, and Harry stiffened, narrowing his eyes with distrust. She must have seen his look because she explained. "This will tell me your new prescription, Mr. Potter." Harry nodded slowly, and numbers popped up this time. The nurse grumbled something before waving her wand over Harry's spectacles and then handed them back to him.
Harry took them cautiously, before putting them back on, and his eyes widened. "Wow!" He looked around in amazement, everything so much clearer and sharper than they were before. "These are so much better! Thank you." He turned to smile at the nurse, and she gave him a smile in return.
"Of course, Mr. Potter. They likely were the cause of your headache," She explained, and Harry didn't bother telling her that it wasn't the spectacles, rather it was the weird Defense professor that made his head hurt and the darkness storm inside him.
"Thank you, Poppy. I will bring Mr. Potter down to lunch now, if everything is good," Professor Snape said as he put a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry immediately twisted away from his professor's hand, clutching his wand tightly as the darkness lashed out against his spine, making his back ache. His reaction did not go unnoticed by Professor Snape, who raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Potter? Is everything all right?" Harry could only nod.
"Yes sir," He said quietly, hunching his shoulders forward. "Sorry sir." Professor Snape didn't say anything in response and Harry relaxed. "Thank you, ma'am."
The nurse watched him with pursed lips before nodding. "Of course, Harry. If your head hurts again, come back, alright?" She told him firmly, and he nodded, standing up from the bed stiffly. He kept some distance between him and his professor in case the man wanted to touch him again.
"Let's go to lunch, Potter," Professor Snape said after what felt like eons, and Harry nodded quickly, bolting for the door. He didn't bother waiting for his professor, entering the Great Hall and joining his friends.
He sat down beside Theodore, who was watching him carefully. "Are you okay, Harry?" He asked, and Harry nodded quickly, picking up a dinner roll.
"I'm fine," He said easily, before changing the subject. "What did I miss in Defense?"
Theodore and Blaise didn't look they wanted to drop the subject that fast, but something in Harry's expression must have made them keep quiet, because they went along with it.
"Not much," Blaise said. "Professor Quirrell just had us read from the textbook."
Harry turned his focus on his friends, pushing away any lingering doubts from the hospital visit, and found that it was quite easy to forget all his worries from before now that he was with his friends. The darkness agreed, and finally settled down, calmer than it had been since the whole debacle that was Defense.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" The tiny professor said. "Swish and flick!" He demonstrated the movement, and Harry watched him carefully. "Now, you try on the feather in front of you." Harry turned to focus on his feather, frowning, and he glanced at Theodore to watch him try. His friend was unsuccessful, and he grumbled in annoyance.
"Professor, I don't get it," A Ravenclaw student moaned, and Professor Flitwick walked over to them.
Harry tuned out their conversation, turning his focus back on his feather and the spell. He wasn't sure how the darkness would respond to his first use of magic with his wand. He could feel it getting agitated, and he took in a calming breath.
"Wingardium Leviosa," He said softly, making the right movements, and tried to hold back the power he put into the spell. However, at the last moment, he felt the darkness lash out down his arm and into his wand, causing the power behind his magic to surge higher than he wanted it to.
The feather hurtled up through the air, and the panic was instantaneous, his anxiety and fear spiking, which resulted in his feather catching on fire as it flew. He heard a couple students scream at the floating ball of fire above them and Harry trembled with guilt, resigned to the punishment that he would for sure get after this. But Professor Flitwick didn't seem overly concerned.
"Children, children, settle down!" Professor Flitwick chastised, putting out the flaming feather easily with a flick of his wand. Ash fell down from above and his classmates stopped screaming, but Harry couldn't relax, still looking up in wide-eyed terror. The tiny professor appeared in front of him. "Well done, Mr. Potter."
Harry turned to look at the man, startled. "W-well done? But I-I-" He gestured up towards the ceiling helplessly, and his professor chuckled.
"Oh, no need to worry about that, Mr. Potter. You just need to control the power behind your spell, that's all. Things like this happen all the time," The professor said, obviously trying to reassure him, but Harry could hear the subtle undertone of uncertainty in the man's voice and he frowned, incredulous. He doubted people normally set their feathers on fire while they levitated in the air.
"Alright," He said instead of voicing his concerns, and the professor left to go and help other students. The shame was still squeezing his throat, and the darkness was still swirling around inside of him angrily. He closed his eyes, hunching forward as he tried to regain control. He was aware of Theodore and Blaise trying to engage him in conversation, but he ignored them as he retreated, focusing inward.
The rest of the lesson passed like that, and Harry finally re-engaged when he heard his classmates start packing up. He picked up his bag and followed his friends out of the classroom, remaining silent as they made their way to Transfiguration. Blaise and Theodore didn't try to make him speak, which he was grateful for, and by the time they entered Professor McGonagall's classroom, Harry had managed to get the darkness back under control and was feeling better.
"Are you excited for this class, Harry?" Blaise asked, noticing Harry's change in demeanor, and Harry nodded. Theodore and Blaise exchanged looks, which Harry ignored, before Blaise smiled. "Me too."
They sat down, and Harry scrunched up his eyebrows, staring at the cat sitting on the professor's desk. He turned to Theodore. "Teddy, who's that?" He whispered, and Theodore only shrugged, looking just as confused. They weren't the only ones who were puzzled, he could hear a few Hufflepuff students whispering as well.
Suddenly, the cat jumped off the desk and transformed into their professor. Harry's eyes widened in shock and the darkness jumped inside of him. "Welcome, class," She greeted, and Harry closed his eyes briefly, regaining control of the darkness. He managed to reel it in quite easily and opened his eyes after a few seconds. "Before we get into the details of Transfiguration, I think you all deserve to see a demonstration of what Transfiguration can do." She waved her wand in a complicated motion at her desk, and it promptly turned into a pig, to the laughter of the students.
"Wicked!" One Hufflepuff student said, and Professor McGonagall inclined an eyebrow, but didn't smile.
"Thank you, Mr. Macmillan," McGonagall said. The pig oinked beside her, and Harry wanted to reach out and pet it. He'd never pet a pig before, but Professor McGonagall turned it back to a desk rather quickly. "You will not be doing that today. We will be working on turning a matchstick into a needle." She waved her wand and matchsticks appeared on all of their desks. "Before we start, however, I have some rules while you're in this classroom. Transfiguration is complicated magic, as you saw with the pig, and can be dangerous if done incorrectly, so there will be no messing around with it, or you will be banned from my classroom. Do I make myself clear?" The class chorused their understanding, and Professor McGonagall nodded. "Alright. Well, take out your Transfiguration textbooks, please, and turn to page 15."
Harry watched his peers as they tried to turn their matchsticks into needles. Many of them were failing at it, and Harry frowned, turning to look at his matchstick sitting in front of him. He poked it half-heartedly with his wand, but didn't attempt the incantation, hesitant with trying magic again after the disastrous Charms class.
The darkness was making his muscles quiver as it swirled inside him in anticipation, and he took in a deep breath, trying to calm it down. He tightened his grip on his wand, and the darkness seemed to respond well to that.
"Mr. Potter. Is everything okay?" His professor asked, coming to stand at his desk, and he nodded quickly. "Well, then, go on and try that spell."
Harry hesitated. "Can you show me the wand movement again? Slowly?" He asked, and she nodded. Harry watched carefully, following her every move, and he closed his eyes briefly once she had finished, trying to channel his magic properly into his wand and control the darkness. When he finally felt comfortable, he attempted the spell. The matchstick turned into a grey wooden needle, and Professor McGonagall raised her eyebrow.
"Well done, Mr. Potter. Good first try," She praised, and Harry gave a quiet thanks. She smiled at him slightly, before moving on to the other students. Theodore turned to him, grinning.
"I can't believe you did so well your first try, Harry!" He praised, before gesturing to his lumpy matchstick. "Can you help me figure it out?"
Harry nodded, and the two of them discussed tips and tricks about how to make this spell work. Blaise soon joined in on the conversation, and a few Hufflepuff students as well, and Professor McGonagall gave them all points for their teamwork. The feeling of pride that rushed through Harry was a surprise to him, he had never felt pride in anything he had done before, and he smiled. For once, he felt something positive in response to magic, and he couldn't find it in himself to worry about what that meant for the darkness.
"Harry!" Ron called out and Harry turned, grinning as the redhead and Hermione made their way over. The two Gryffindors hesitated at the sight of Theodore and Blaise beside Harry, but they didn't say anything.
Harry smiled. "Ron, Hermione, this is Theodore, he goes by Teddy-" He pointed to Theodore, who shook both Hermione's and Ron's hand- "and this is Blaise." He shook their hands as well, and Harry's smile got wider, pleased with the cooperation between his friends.
"Nice to meet you," Ron said politely, though he did look like he swallowed a lemon. It beat throwing curses at each other, so Harry would take it.
"Ready to go to Hagrid's?" He asked the group, but didn't really wait for an answer, marching over to the doors and walking out onto the grounds. He closed his eyes briefly, letting himself relax under the warm sun and the fresh air, and the darkness settled down inside of him, calmed by the outdoors as well.
"How'd you meet Hagrid?" Hermione asked as they walked down the hill to Hagrid's hut.
"He picked me up from the Dursleys." Harry stiffened when he spoke the name but continued after the darkness settled. "After I didn't respond to my letter, he came to investigate and bring me to Diagon Alley."
Theodore furrowed his eyebrows. "Why didn't you respond to your letter?" He asked skeptically, and Ron seemed to nod in agreement to Theodore's question.
Harry hesitated, before deciding that he didn't have to answer truthfully. They would never know. "We didn't have a way to contact them. And we thought it was a prank."
Blaise scoffed. "Surely they knew about magic!" He sounded offended, like the idea that Harry grew up in a household without the knowledge of magic was unbearable. "You're Harry Potter! How could they not know about magic?" Harry made a face, not liking the reminder of the significance of his name.
"They knew about magic," He admitted. "They just-well, they didn't really like it."
Ron seemed just as confused as Blaise was at this. "Wait. They knew about magic and they didn't like it? How come?" He asked, and Harry panicked, unsure what lie to use that would make them the least suspicious. He definitely didn't want to tell them the truth, they wouldn't understand, but Harry didn't know how he could explain his relatives' dislike for magic in a way they'd accept. He wasn't a great liar.
But Harry was saved from answering when they arrived at Hagrid's door. The giant had the door open already, having been expecting them, and he smiled. "Harry!" He greeted, before turning to his friends. "Who're yer friends?" Harry turned to look at them, and Ron held out a hand first.
"Ron Weasley. Pleasure to meet you," He said, and Hagrid grinned, taking his small hand into his giant one and giving it a shake. Theodore held out his hand next.
"Theodore Nott," He said, and Hagrid shook his hand as well. The rest of the introductions went pretty much the same, and they soon found themselves sitting at Hagrid's kitchen table with tea and biscuits that Hagrid called rock cakes.
Ron took one for the team and bit his rock cake first, and the other four quickly put theirs down when they heard what sounded like cracking coming from Ron's mouth. Harry was sure that the redhead broke a tooth, but Ron didn't look like he had any missing teeth when he smiled weakly and told Hagrid that his rock cakes were nice.
"I'm just not that hungry," Ron said as a way of justifying not finishing the pastry. The others nodded along with him in agreement. Hagrid didn't seem to mind and waved them off easily. "Thanks for the tea, though!"
"O' course!" Hagrid said jovially. "Now, how'd yer classes go?"
Hermione perked up at the mention of school. "It was amazing!" She said, and Theodore nodded. Ron looked reluctant to agree, but nodded when Hermione gave him a pointed look, and Blaise tilted his head in agreement. Harry pursed his lips, unable to say that today's classes were amazing, what with the multiple mishaps he had, but he couldn't say they were terrible. "I liked most of my courses. We had Defense with Harry, Blaise and Teddy." She trailed off at the end, glancing at Harry, who winced. She frowned slightly, but didn't mention Harry's visit to the Infirmary, changing the subject instead. "What classes did you have that you didn't share with us, Teddy?" Theodore glanced at Harry briefly and seemed to agree with Hermione, moving on from the topic of Defense class.
"We had Herbology, Transfiguration and Charms. Hagrid, do you know about the bouncing bulbs?" He asked the giant, and Hagrid grinned.
"Yes! Quite fun, they are. Bit mischievous though," He said, and Theodore winced, most likely remembering his struggles with repotting his bouncing bulb. Harry giggled quietly, and Theodore glared at him.
"Harry repotted his bouncing bulb faster than anyone else. He caught mine too, with reflexes of a seeker," He said instead, and Ron looked over at him, interested.
"Wait really? Do you know how to play Quidditch?" Ron said eagerly, his eyes bright, and Harry gave him a half-lidded stare.
"Raised by muggles, remember?" He said dryly, and Ron grinned sheepishly, but his excitement did not seem to go away.
"We'll just have to explain it to you then," He said enthusiastically, and Theodore smiled, nodding in agreement, Blaise raising an eyebrow in interest as well. The next fifteen minutes were taken up by the three of them trying to explain the rules of Quidditch to Harry, with Hagrid chiming in a bit as well, and Harry was quickly getting more confused the more they tried to explain the ridiculous game.
"But why?" He repeated, his friends still not understanding. "Why would I want to be hit off my broom?"
Ron shook his head vigorously, and Theodore sighed in frustration. "You don't want to," Theodore said. "That's just the game. Like obstacles or something." Harry was not convinced.
"Flying, metal obstacles that could break my bones. No thank you," He said sarcastically, and his friends sighed in resignation as they gave up trying to explain Quidditch to him. Hermione seemed relieved, not interested in Quidditch any more than Harry was.
Ron was stubborn though. "But if you're as good of a seeker as Teddy says you are, Harry, you need to try out for the team!" He insisted, continuing when Harry protested. "You probably won't even be hit by bludgers, and you don't really need to understand the point system or the rules, you just have to catch the snitch!" Ron was getting more excited the more he talked about the possibilities, not seeming too concerned with the fact that if Harry made the team, he would be playing against Ron's House. Ron just seemed excited that Harry could do it if he wanted to, which Harry didn't, and he told his friend as much.
"Anyways," Hermione said loudly, interrupting Ron's rebuttal. "We have Potions together too, right?" Ron stopped talking about Quidditch reluctantly, and Blaise nodded in response to Hermione's question. "Can you guys tell me what to expect? That's one subject I can't really understand fully with just a textbook." Harry shifted uncomfortably, and Theodore bit his lip, glancing at Blaise, who sighed.
"I've heard that Professor Snape can be a bit…tough on students, especially Gryffindors," Blaise said neutrally, his expression blank.
"Yeah, my brothers say that he's a right git sometimes," Ron supplied, and Hermione gave Ron a scandalized look. Ron didn't look the least bit apologetic. "What? I imagine it's true." Harry snickered quietly and Ron grinned. "See? Harry agrees."
"Snape hates me because I'm the Boy-Who-Lived," Harry stated. "He thinks I'm arrogant and that fame went to my head." Theodore looked offended at this, and Blaise raised an eyebrow.
"I don' think he meant it like tha'," Hagrid said quickly, defending his colleague. "Professor Snape is just difficult. He don't hate yeh." Harry didn't point out how weak Hagrid's argument sounded, shrugging instead.
"He's very intense," Theodore said slowly, probably not too comfortable bad-mouthing his Head of House. "But I don't think we-" He gestured towards Harry, Blaise, and himself- "have to worry about it as much as you and the rest of Gryffindor will."
Hermione sighed. "That's frustrating. Thanks for telling me, though," She said, and Theodore gave her a look that wasn't exactly a smile but wasn't a sneer either.
Hagrid glanced at the clock on the wall. "You lot should be heading back up. I imagine you have homework to do," He said, ushering them out, and the five of them said their goodbyes, thanking Hagrid for the tea and the inedible rock cakes, before heading out the door after Harry gave Fang a pat on the head.
They walked up to the castle, Ron, Blaise, and Theodore chatting amongst themselves to Harry's surprise, and Hermione walked beside him.
"Thanks for inviting me, Harry," She said, and he turned to look at her. She met his eyes briefly, before glancing over at the other three. "They're not bad, your Slytherin friends. They didn't call me and Ron names, so that was definitely nice." She giggled, and Harry laughed with her.
"Your standards are quite low," He teased, and she rolled her eyes, grinning.
"They are nice, Harry. Not just because they didn't call us names." She shrugged, picking at her sleeve nervously. "The other Gryffindors – the boys in Ron's dorm and some girls with me – they said we're stupid for trusting that you'd protect us if we needed it against your Slytherin friends." She met his eyes carefully, as if waiting for him to get offended, but Harry sent her an encouraging smile. He had already told the Sorting Hat that he would be prepared to fight for his friends, and he was telling the truth.
"Of course, I'd protect you," He said easily. "You're my friend. All of you are my friends." He grinned and she smiled back at him.
"What are you doing here?" He heard Ron say stiffly, and he looked over at the other three to see Draco standing in front of them with his goons flanking him.
Draco saw Harry looking, and sneered. "You're hanging out with blood-traitors and mudbloods, are you, Potty? How pathetic can you be?" He pointed at Theodore and Blaise. "You even dragged them into it."
Blaise sniffed. "Harry didn't drag us into anything. He's our friend, and Ron and Hermione are his friends too, so we're here to support him," He said stiffly, and Draco sneered.
"You don't actually like them, do you?" He scoffed, and Blaise only raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Ron looked angry, and Theodore rolled his eyes.
"We do, actually, so why don't you move along, Draco?" Theodore snapped, his voice cold, colder than Harry had ever heard it before, and he shivered at the cruel glint in Theodore's eyes.
Draco's eyes widened in anger. "What-" He started to yell, but Blaise cut him off.
"We're all magical here, Draco. Why do you have to treat them like they're your enemy?" He asked with disgust, his nose turned up at the blonde-haired boy.
"Are you forgetting that you're in Slytherin? They would never try to be nice to us! Why would you stand up for them?" Draco's hands were clenched into fists and his face getting bright red.
Theodore raised an eyebrow. "Because we can look past our prejudices," He said with a sneer. "Weasley can too. Maybe you should try it some time. You'll find that it's easier than being a bully." With that, Blaise and Theodore shoved past Draco, and the other three hurried to catch up.
"T-Thanks," Hermione said quietly, and Blaise glanced at her, frowning. She shifted nervously, glancing over at Harry, who was watching his fellow Slytherin cautiously, unable to predict how his friend would respond. But, to Harry's relief, Blaise only nodded.
"Sure," He said gruffly. Hermione smiled in relief, and Ron was watching them, his eyes wide with awe.
"I can't believe you stood up to Malfoy for us," He said, his eyes flicking between Theodore and Blaise rather rapidly. "I-I don't-why?" Blaise frowned, opening his mouth but no words came out, so Theodore answered.
"We didn't do it for you. We did it for Harry. He's our friend and he cares for you," Theodore said simply "And we care for Harry." He glanced at Harry, who smiled softly at his friend, unable to voice just how much he appreciated his two Slytherin friends for backing him up. Theodore gave him a gentle smile in return, before turning back to Ron and Hermione. "And you two aren't so bad."
Ron grinned. "Neither are you guys," He said before hesitating. "Maybe I'm wrong about you Slytherins." Harry knew that took a lot for Ron to admit, and he laughed.
"See? I told you guys this would work out!" He said enthusiastically, and that successfully broke the tension. Hermione broke out into relieved giggles, and Ron laughed along with Harry. Blaise rolled his eyes, but Harry could see a hint of a smile on his face, and Theodore grinned.
"Guess you were right." Theodore reached out hesitantly, and Harry gave him the briefest of nods. Theodore smiled, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Remind me not to doubt you again." Harry laughed, nodding and Theodore squeezed his shoulder gently before letting go.
Ron's eyes widened in realization. "Are we the first group of Slytherins and Gryffindors to be friends?" He asked and they all exchanged looks, unsure. Ron grinned. "If so, that's wicked."
Blaise smirked slyly. "The perfect combination. Granger's smart, you're the brave Gryffindor who'll take the risks, me and Theodore can charm the pants off any professor, and Harry can just pull out the whole 'Boy-Who-Lived' card. We'll be unstoppable." Ron laughed.
"We can team up with my brothers. They like to pull a lot of pranks," He said, and Blaise and Theodore glanced at each other with cunning smiles. "The professors would never expect us to work together."
Hermione frowned. "We can't break the rules!" She said and Harry patted her arm in comfort.
"Don't worry, it'll take a while to plan anyways. Who knows, Hermione? Maybe you'll realize you want to join in," He reassured her, but by the way she glared at him, he didn't think it worked.
The other three ignored her complaints about breaking the rules, and they spent the rest of their walk back up the castle discussing all the schemes they could pull off now that they were a group. Harry was just happy that the four people he cared about at this school got along with each other and cared about him too.
"Hermione, how do you spell 'incorporeal'?" Harry asked, peering down at his parchment. Hermione didn't look up from her book but answered his question.
"I-N-C-" She began but was interrupted by Professor Snape arriving at their table. Theodore and Blaise looked up in alarm, sending Harry nervous looks, and Ron glanced at Hermione.
"Mr. Potter," Professor Snape snarled, and Harry's gaze darted up to the man's scowling face.
"Yes sir?" He asked meekly, and his professor sneered.
"Why did you not come by my office for your potion?" He grumbled, and Harry scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion. "The nutrition potion, idiot boy! We talked about this in the Infirmary."
Harry frowned, not too keen on being called an idiot, but didn't comment. "I'm sorry, Professor, I thought we weren't starting until tomorrow," He said politely, and Professor Snape grunted in irritation before handing Harry the potion. Harry took it without complaint and downed it, before handing the empty vial to his professor, who took it and left the library without saying goodbye, his robes swishing around him angrily.
"He's intimidating," Ron said quietly, and Harry could only nod in agreement. He turned to Hermione.
"So, how do I spell it?" He asked nonchalantly and waited for Hermione to recover from her shock of seeing the menacing professor. She finally turned to him when she regained composure.
"Oh, yeah, sorry." She cleared her throat and smoothed out her robes. "I-N-C-O-R-P-O-R-E-A-L." Harry nodded in thanks, and quickly wrote it out.
He moved on to his Transfiguration homework next, and they worked quietly for another 10 minutes but were interrupted by the librarian.
"Off with you lot! Dinner started five minutes ago," Madam Pince snapped, shooing them out and Harry and his friends scrambled to pack their bags before hurrying down to the Great Hall.
They waved goodbye to Ron and Hermione before making their way back to their own table, who were all staring at them. Word had obviously gotten out that Blaise and Theodore were now hanging out with Gryffindors as well. Harry winced.
"I'm sorry, now they all think you're weird, like me," He said apologetically, but Theodore was already shaking his head, and Blaise was rolling his eyes, a smirk on his face.
"We wouldn't have stood up for you if we didn't want to, Harry," Blaise said easily. "We don't care."
Harry frowned. "You don't? What about your parents?" Blaise shrugged.
"My mum doesn't care." He glanced at Theodore, who had a mutinous expression on his face, and Harry was surprised. Theodore didn't seem like one to go against his father. "And Theodore's dad could use a good reality check." Theodore didn't get offended, snickering quietly.
Harry scrunched up his eyebrows. "I don't understand."
Theodore's snickers died down and he waved Harry off. "Don't worry about it," He said, jerking a thumb towards Blaise. "He's right. We chose to defend you and we knew what would happen." He shrugged delicately. "And we don't care." Theodore grinned, and Harry sent him a relieved smile back. "Now, why don't we start dinner?" Harry took that as evidence that the subject was dropped, and they turned to the food instead.
Harry wasn't too keen on anything, too much food to choose from, and instead put some broccoli, mashed potatoes, and a bread roll on his plate. His stomach did some flip flops at the sight of the food and in response to his anxiety, but he took a deep breath, forcing it away as he tried to eat most of his food. He made it through the broccoli, and the bread roll, but he couldn't eat much else, and drank a glass of water instead.
Theodore was watching him. "Are you not eating more?" He asked skeptically, which drew in Blaise's attention, and now Harry was being pinned down by his friends' quizzical looks.
He winced. "I'm just not that hungry," He said quickly, and Theodore nodded slowly, though he didn't look that convinced. Harry smiled in attempt to reassure him. "Honest. I'm not used to this rich food." Blaise raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't comment, and the two turned back to their meal. Harry relaxed in relief, and instead turned to study the others in the Great Hall.
Draco was glaring at them, and Harry rolled his eyes in response. He turned to glance at Hermione and Ron, who were chatting with each other and another Gryffindor boy, but he could see some of their other Housemates whispering and pointing at his two friends. Harry frowned, not liking what he saw, but he knew that if he tried to defend his friends against their Housemates, he'd only make it worse. So, instead, he turned his attention to the high table where the professors were chatting and eating their food. Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster were chatting, and Professor Flitwick seemed to be having a serious conversation with Professor Snape, based on the severe expression that his Head of House had. Harry frowned, leaning forward in interest, but Professor Snape turned around in that moment and met his eyes. Harry quickly looked away, flushing in embarrassment at having been caught.
He sat there, waiting, for another half hour until dinner was finally over, and then they finally made their way back to their common room.
"You have detention tonight, right?" Theodore whispered, and Harry nodded, sighing. Theodore made a face. "That sucks. Sorry." Harry only shrugged, and dropped his bag off, before letting his friends know that he'd be back. "Where are you going?" Harry didn't respond, leaving his common room and heading over to the Owlery. The cool wind felt nice on his skin and he took in a deep, calming breath, before he made his way up the steps to visit Hedwig. She trilled happily when she saw him, and Harry grinned.
"Hi Hedwig," He whispered, petting her head, and she hooted cheerfully. He stood with her for a little over ten minutes, telling her about his day, and everything that had happened in his classes. "I didn't mean to lose control, but I think-I think I'm getting better. I don't know if Snape knows about e-everything though." He bit his lip, nervous, and Hedwig hooted softly, nipping his hand gently. He smiled, continuing to pet her. "Anyways, I should go. I have detention soon." Hedwig bobbed her head, and he smiled, before heading back down the stairs and into the castle.
"Where'd you go?" Theodore asked, looking up from the game he was playing with Blaise and one of the girls in their year. Harry shrugged.
"For a walk. I needed some air," He said, waving his friend off, and Theodore frowned, but didn't push for answers. He sat down beside Theodore, eyes narrowing as he tried to make sense of the cards he was holding. "What are you playing?" It didn't look too hard, similar to a game he saw his peers at his old school play a couple of times, but this version looked a little different.
"Exploding snap," Theodore said, not looking up from his cards, and Harry tilted his head. The name made him a bit nervous, but he didn't have enough time to learn how to play because Elijah came over before anyone could explain the rules.
"Ready to go, Potter?" He asked, and Harry nodded, standing up and waving goodbye to his friends, before following Elijah to Professor Snape's office. "Good luck." Harry nodded, and the Prefect left. He took in a deep, revitalizing breath before reaching up and knocking on the door.
"Come in," He heard Professor Snape say, and Harry walked in hesitantly. His professor looked up at him, his eyes hard, before pointing at a bunch of cauldrons sitting on the table in front of the professor's desk. "You'll be scrubbing those today, Mr. Potter. No magic." Harry nodded, moving over to start, but Professor Snape stopped him. "No, not yet. I have some questions for you. Come sit." Harry whipped his head up, looking at the man in surprise, and Professor Snape bared his teeth into a sneer. Harry felt his anxiety and fear spike but made his way slowly over to sit down in front of the frightening man. "What happened today in the Infirmary?"
Harry shrugged, looking down at his hands. "I told you. I had a headache," He said quietly, and he jumped when Professor Snape snarled in anger.
"You know that is not what I'm asking, boy!" He snapped, and Harry stiffened immediately, his breathing getting shallow. Professor Snape must have noticed something, because he paused, calming himself down. "Why did you flinch when I touched your shoulder?"
Harry shivered, before shrugging again, and he saw his professor's eyes narrow. "I was just surprised," He said. "You startled me." He sent Professor Snape his best apologetic smile, but his Head of House continued to look at him quizzically. Harry made sure to keep his expression that of innocence and his professor sighed.
"Sorry for startling you," The man said, and Harry paused, shocked that his serious Head of House would apologize. The man noticed his shock and sneered. "But if I find out that you're not telling the truth, Potter, there will be consequences." Harry fought down his shudders, but simply nodded his head. He would choose receiving Professor Snape's punishment for lying over his uncle's punishment for snitching any day.
"Yes sir. I'm not lying though," He said easily, and the man sneered again, studying him carefully, before Harry looked away, disliking the man's piercing stare and the way it made his head itch. His professor sighed.
"Another question, Mr. Potter. Why did you leave the common room last night?" His Head of House asked casually, but Harry tensed, aware that the man was most likely far from calm. His uncle often sounded calm right before he exploded with rage, and from what he had seen so far from Professor Snape, this man was very good at controlling his emotions while still being terrifying and intimidating with his anger. Harry wasn't keen on finding out how Professor Snape exploded when he finally lost control of his temper.
"I-I got overwhelmed," He whispered quietly, unsure if his professor could even hear him, but not caring either way. "I don't know. I needed a break."
Professor Snape scoffed. "I don't know why you keep on insisting on breaks, Potter," He hissed. "What makes you think that you get that privilege? Everyone else has to share a room."
"That's not why," Harry mumbled incoherently, and his Head of House growled angrily.
"What? Speak up!" The man snarled, and Harry trembled fearfully, waiting for the blow to come. None came, and he glanced up quickly, making sure that the man would not surprise him suddenly, before answering.
"I said that that's not why." He couldn't look at his professor, staring off at the cauldrons instead.
"Then why, Mr. Potter?" The man asked silkily, again with the false sense of calm, and Harry gritted his teeth, before shaking his head. They sat in silence for a few more seconds before Professor Snape huffed angrily. "Fine, Mr. Potter. Get started with the scrubbing."
Harry stood up in relief, glad to be done with the questions, and turned his focus to scrubbing the cauldrons. Professor Snape didn't speak for the rest of the detention, and Harry managed to let himself relax slightly into the task, which Harry really didn't consider a punishment. He gritted his teeth, using his frustration about his slip up today with allowing the nurse and Professor Snape to get suspicious to fuel his work at scrubbing these cauldrons.
After what didn't feel very long, Professor Snape cleared his throat. "Alright, Potter, you're done," He said, still sounding miffed about Harry's lack of answers. Harry nodded, bringing his cleaning supplies to the sink in the classroom, ignoring Professor Snape's eyes on him. "You'll come back to me tomorrow." Harry nodded, mumbling a quick thank you, before bolting out the door and back to his common room.
It was almost time for bed, and he made his way up to the dormitory, sitting down on his bed and waiting for the rest of his dormmates to finish with their showers before he went. Once they were done, Harry rushed into the bathroom, carrying his pajamas so he could change in there, and hopped into the shower. He closed his eyes, letting the hot water sooth his aching muscles, which were still sore from the darkness' freak out in Defense, and quickly washed up. Once finished, he stood in front of the mirror again and studied the welts on his back. They didn't look that much different, still red and swollen, but the one that had been infected no longer had pus coming out and seemed to be healing, most likely due to his magic. He frowned, aware that if Professor Snape and Madam Pomfrey had seen his back today, there would've been lots of questions to answer, and his uncle would've blamed Harry for snitching. He shuddered, thankful that the darkness stopped the diagnostic spell the nurse used, before drying quickly and getting dressed.
He was exhausted as he crawled into bed and shut his curtains, and he was asleep before his head even hit the pillow.
Thanks for reading! Please R&R!