[CHAPTER 3 - FIRST YEAR]
2 SEPTEMBER
Harriet had always been an early riser, stemming from her days at the Dursley's she had no doubt, and so she had awoken before any of her dormmates. She had the crimson velvet curtains drawn around her four poster bed and laid on her back still snuggled under the covers of the most comfortable bed she had ever laid in.
Her mind was spinning still. She half expected to wake up in some sort of asylum and to be told she had lost her mind and all of it was fake.
"Stats, please."
HARRIET POTTER
SPECIES: Witch Lvl. 3
SUBCLASS: N/A
Hogwarts Student - Gryffindor House
HP: 115/115
MP: 100/100
STATUS: Well Rested, Hunger (Light)
SKILLS:
IDENTIFY LVL 1
PERCEPTION LVL 1
GARDENING LVL 5
COOKING LVL 5
SPEED READING LVL 7
She was interested to find her Hogwarts house affiliation was now on her stats, she wondered if everyone could see that part as well. Maybe she could get Hermione to Identify her. Harry then started to hear some of her dormmates start moving around, and so she decided to get up and get into the shower before it became a race.
_HP&DQ_
Down at breakfast, the three new Gryffindors sat together and were discussing what they were expecting from their classes.
"I think I'm most excited about Herbology, we've got big gardens at home and I really enjoy helping out in them. I heard some of the other boys talking last night and Ron Weasley said his brothers told him the worst class is Potions by far," Neville told the two girls while jamming up his toast, "apparently it's taught by the head of Slytherin house, Professor Snape, and he hates everyone who isn't in his house."
Harry felt a bit of disappointment at that, for two reasons. She was originally looking forward to Potions, it seemed a bit like chemistry meets cooking and she quite liked science and cooking. She also knew that Professor Snape was one Severus Snape, one of the people on the list who should have been a potential guardian for her. Harry had quizzed Remus about it once they had returned home from Gringotts that day, but he was rather tight lipped over the whole thing.
"The thing is, Harry, is that Severus was not a friend of the Marauders. He was your mother's friend, from before Hogwarts I believe. He was a rather touchy subject between your parents, and as far as I knew he and your mother had a rather large falling out in our fifth year. It might be best for you to ask him yourself, Harry. Although, he is not the most pleasant of men so I would use your discretion, okay?"
She had originally planned to just ask him after class, but after hearing the tales of the "greasy dungeon bat" she decided that perhaps she should wait for a bit first. While they were eating and getting to know one another, Professor McGonagall, who turned out to be their head of house as well as the Deputy Headmistress and Transfiguration professor, was walking around and giving everyone their class schedule.
The three new friends huddled together and compared just to make sure that they were indeed all in the same classes at the same time.
First Year Gryffindor Schedule
Monday - Double Charms : 7:00 - 09:00 / Defence Against the Dark Arts : 13:00 - 14:00 /
Tuesday - Double Transfiguration : 09:30 - 11:30 / Double Herbology : 13:00 - 15:00 /
Wednesday - Double Defence Against the Dark Arts : 13:00 - 15:00 / Astronomy : 24:00 - 01:30 /
Thursday - Transfiguration : 10:30 - 11:30 / Double History of Magic : 13:00 - 15:00 /
Friday - Charms : 7:00 - 8:00 / Double Potions : 08:30 - 10:30 /
Breakfast - 6:00-8:00 / Lunch - 11:00-13:00 / Dinner - 18:00-19:00
All holiday and special occasion feasts to be announced prior.
[SCHEDULE SCANNED AND IMPORTED. REMINDERS WILL BE GIVEN ABOUT CLASS TIMES WHEN NECESSARY. CLASS LOCATIONS HAVE BEEN MARKED ON YOUR MAP. ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS MARKED ON MAP INCLUDE: LOO LOCATIONS, GRYFFINDOR COMMON ROOM, PROFESSOR MCGONAGALL'S OFFICE, HEADMASTER'S OFFICE, OWLERY, AND INFIRMARY.]
"Did your …" Hermione started and Neville and Harry just nodded their heads eagerly before she could finish.
"Magic is brilliant!"
_HP&DQ_
Ministry of Magic - Head of the DMLE's Office
Remus sat in the chair with his head between his knees as he took a few deep breaths. The last 24 hours had been a whirlwind for the thirty-one year old werewolf. He had discovered that Peter Pettigrew was not only alive, but had hidden as a pet rat to school boys for the past decade. Everything had happened rather quickly after he summoned Director Bones to the platform yesterday morning. It took a moment for the shock to wear off, but once it did the aurors jumped into gear and had the rat in an unbreakable charmed cage and in custody. Remus had been sent home and told to report back in the morning to give his testimony. Before he left the platform himself, he saw the Hogwarts aged Weasley children be led through the floo on to Hogwarts since they had missed the train in the bustle of the arrest.
He was now at the Ministry, he had received an owl summons at first light to come in by 7 am sharp. Which Director Bones was about ten minutes overdue for. Remus wasn't complaining, mind you, his panic attack was currently dominating his senses.
"I just left him to rot. I didn't even question it. What kind of friend am I?!" Were the circulating thoughts that tried to overwhelm him.
The door to the office opened and in swept a no nonsense sort of woman in a sharp suit under her open robes and golden monocle. She had a tiredness about her that spoke of a very long night with no sleep.
"I'm terribly sorry Mr. Lupin, this has been a mess of a day, as I'm sure you can imagine," she said while she ran a hand through her short dark blonde hair.
Remus straightened himself and gave her a weak smile.
"Trust me, I understand."
She gave a tight smile and took a seat behind her desk.
"So, in your own words, can you tell me what happened on the night of 31 October 19, 1981."
With a deep breath, Remus told the story of how his best friends James and Lily became terrified for their and little Harriet's lives, and so on the suggestion of Albus Dumbledore, decided to hide behind a Fidelus charm. They had told everyone that Sirius was the secret keeper, so on the night of the attack everyone assumed it was Sirius. Remus had thought just like everyone else that Sirius had blown Peter and the muggles up in an attempt to escape.
He was rather upset again by the end of his tale. Amelia's lips were pressed into a thin line, and then she began to speak.
"After we got Pettigrew back to our holding cells, we dosed him with Veritaserum and questioned him. The fact he had a dark mark on his forearm helped any rights he may have had been pushed aside to learn the truth. Apparently, the truth is that Peter Pettigrew was their secret keeper, not Sirius Black. It was a ruse, Black would be the obvious choice while Pettigrew hid in plain sight. The problem was, Voldemort already had his fangs into him and he immediately betrayed the Potters. I also took the liberty to pull Black's arrest file, and big shocker here, it's empty. They didn't even question him, let alone give him a trial. Straight to Azkaban. Before you begin to have another panic attack, as soon as it became obvious that Mr. Black was more than likely innocent, I sent my best and most trustworthy to go and retrieve him. He has been in my holding cells ever since. We are trying to get him to a lucid enough state to testify for himself."
Remus just blinked at her. There was only one thought on his mind now.
"..Can I speak to him?"
_HP&DQ_
Back at Hogwarts…
Harry and her new friends' first magic class was Charms with the head of Ravenclaw, Professor Flitwick. He began class with a roll call, and nearly fell off his stack of books when he reached her name.
"I apologise Miss Potter, I was very fond of your parents and you look so much like your mother…" and he was on to the rest of the names.
"Welcome to Charms, as first years I know this is your first class featuring magic. I am Professor Flitwick. The aim of this course is to teach you about Charms and their uses, as well as thinking outside of the box on how to use them. For first years, we will start simple and build as we go. For each class you take here at Hogwarts, your guidance system will unlock a Skill for each. As you move forward in subjects, you may learn more skills. It all depends on how you spend your free time outside of classes! Now, our first lesson will be a simple lighting Charm, also known as lumos. The wand motion looks as such," the professor flicked out his wand and showed them a swirly movement with a jab, "Practise the motions first, and I will come around and let you know when to add the words to try the spell itself. Go on!"
Harry was sitting at a front desk next to Hermione, with Neville and the red headed boy who introduced himself as Ron Weasley at the desk behind them. After practising the motions a bit, Professor Flitwick made it around to their rows and gave pointers to both of the boys, before telling the group they could move on adding the words.
Hermione was the first to get the charm right, the tip of her wand gave a light glow.
"Oh!" Harry noticed Hermione jolted a bit but then smiled. More determined than before, she was next to get the tip of her wand to glow.
[CONGRATULATIONS ON PERFORMING YOUR FIRST INTENTIONAL MAGICAL SPELL. YOU HAVE UNLOCKED THE SKILL CHARMS LEVEL 1. YOU MAY ACCESS A LIST OF SUCCESSFULLY CAST SPELLS IN YOUR GUIDANCE MENU FOR REFERENCING. NOTE THAT THESE FUNCTIONS ARE DISABLED DURING EXAMS.]
[++1 CHARMS SKILL]
[USING MAGIC WILL DEPLETE YOUR MP LEVELS. ALL MAGIC USES MP AND VARIES SPELL TO SPELL. CONSUMING ALL OF YOUR MP TO A LEVEL OF ZERO WILL RESULT IN UNCONSCIOUSNESS AND MAGICAL EXHAUSTION.]
[-5 MP]
Harry now saw what Hermione had reacted to, and dismissed the new alerts. She took a moment to look around the classroom to see a few dazed faces and a few concentrating very hard. About a third of the class had their wands lit at least once while she was watching. Unfortunately, Neville and Ron were not among those successful. Where Ron seemed embarrassed and frustrated, Neville only seemed like he was expecting such an outcome. Harry shook her head, it wasn't her place to comment, but she and Hermione did spend the rest of the Charms class trying to help them out.
_HP&DQ_
Their next class was Defence Against the Dark Arts with Professor Quirrell and the Slytherins. Harry had been very excited for this class as well, for any way to help protect herself seemed like a good thing to learn to her, considering her past that was.
She was quite disappointed in Professor Quirrell himself, though. While he seemed like he knew the subject he was lecturing them about, his horrid stutter made it almost impossible to focus on what he was saying. The room stunk highly of garlic, and she had heard some unfavourable rumours from some of the other students about him as well. She had taken notes as best as she could and flipped through their textbook during the class. Correctly answering a question about a defence spell from their textbook awarded Harry with another new Skill.
[BY PARTICIPATING IN CLASS, YOU WILL GAIN OTHER SKILLS AS WELL AS SKILL POINTS FOR THE CLASS ITSELF. THE MORE YOU DO, THE MORE YOU LEARN.]
[UNLOCKED DADA SKILL LEVEL 1. YOU PROVED MINOR KNOWLEDGE OF DEFENCE SPELLS FROM READING AHEAD IN YOUR TEXTBOOK.]
[++1 DADA SKILL]
[UNLOCKED NOTE TAKING LEVEL 1.]
[++1 NOTE TAKING SKILL]
Later that evening after dinner, Harry laid in bed still awake. She could hear the faint snoring of her dormmates in the bed around her. She was focused on the glowy words above her head though, not the sounds of their snores.
HARRIET POTTER
SPECIES: Witch Lvl. 3
SUBCLASS: N/A
Hogwarts Student - Gryffindor House
HP: 110/115
MP: 80/100
STATUS: Content
GENERAL SKILLS:
IDENTIFY LVL 1
PERCEPTION LVL 1
NOTE TAKING LVL 1
GARDENING LVL 5
COOKING LVL 5
SPEED READING LVL 7
MAGIC SKILLS:
CHARMS LVL 1
DADA LVL 1
She noticed her stats had been updated now with a 'general skills' and a 'magic skills' and the new additions were added in as well. She was curious how long these lists will become, how long were ones like Professor Dumbledore?
[PARTY HEAD REMUS LUPIN HAS REQUESTED A PRIVATE LINE CHAT. ACCEPT OR DENY?]
Harry is jolted out of her thinking and sits up in bed a bit.
"Accept please," she whispers. Hopefully the thick velvet curtains will drown her voice to her sleeping roommates.
"Harry! I hope you weren't sleeping, but I only just now got away from the craziness that has been the last two days. Before I tell you what has happened, tell me, which house did you make it into?" Remus asked with barely hidden excitement. His voice echoed in her head, and since no one in the room made a sound she assumed it was not heard out loud. There was more emotion in his voice than she was used to hearing, but Harry waited for him to talk after her to ask anything.
"I'm in Gryffindor, just like mum and dad and you were. Hermione is here too, and I made friends with Neville Longbottom on the train. He's in Gryffindor with us as well. One of his roommates named Ron Weasley spent lunch and sat with us too. He wasn't on the train for some reason, he didn't explain why though. We had charms and defence today, everything was a bit overwhelming, but brilliant."
"I am so happy to hear that Harry. Although, it wouldn't have mattered to me which house you ended up in as long as you were happy there," Remus paused, and Harry could almost hear him to try and figure out how to say what he wanted to next, "there was a bit of an…event I suppose… yesterday at the station as the train left. Do you remember how I sent you along and said I needed to speak to someone?"
Harry thought for a moment and nodded, then realised he couldn't see that and spoke in the affirmative.
"Well, do you remember how I told you about Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black? As it turns out, it didn't quite happen the way we were led to believe…"
After going over the events of the last two days, Harry just sat in her bed in silence. Remus had told her that Sirius was her godfather, so what did that mean for her? She asked him as such after he finished explaining.
"Well, Pettigrew has been questioned and has taken up residence in Azkaban, and since Sirius is doing surprisingly well despite ten years in Azkaban he is going to testify with Veratiserum on his own behalf in the morning. I'll be there myself to add in my own knowledge of the events, and it will probably be all in the Daily Prophet one of the next few days," Remus paused here again and took a deep breath, "As for what it entails for you Harry, well, that is completely up to you. I spoke with Sirius for a little in the medical bay at the DMLE, and he asked about you no less than five times. He needs some help mentally, and St. Mungos will be contracted to supply that for him. But, he has expressed a desire to be a part of your life, if you would have him."
Harry thought to herself for a few moments. If Sirius really is innocent and he wanted to help Remus and be in her life, then why shouldn't she let him, she thought. It's not exactly like she had people clamouring to be her guardian, and if Remus and her dad had him as a best friend all throughout Hogwarts, he can't be all that bad, can he?
"If he is cleared tomorrow, can he come back to the cottage with you? Or does he have somewhere else he needs to stay?"
Harry could hear the relief in Remus's voice after her delayed response.
"I'm glad you think that Harry, it was what I was hoping we could do. He will need help, and we can make sure he gets it."
_HP&DQ_
The next morning found Remus back at the Ministry of Magic, but this time down in the court levels. He was sitting in the gallery of court seven awaiting to be called for a witness of the defence. The entire Wizengamot had been called, and Supreme Mugwump Albus Dumbledore presided. At 7 AM precisely, he slammed his gavel down and the doors shut on their own and flashed with the light of a ward, one that Remus assumed it was to keep unwanted people from opening and closing it.
"We are called here to decide on a matter related to our session yesterday, to exonerate or reimprison Lord Sirius Orion Black, head of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. Auror Shacklebolt, can you please bring in the accused?" Came Dumbledore's voice via a voice Sonorus charm.
Every eye in the courtroom watched the auror leave and return. Remus was pleased to see Sirius had not only been able to bathe, but his hair and beard were trimmed and he had a fresh set of expensive looking robes on. Director Bones was clearly pulling all stops. His hands were still shackled, but he walked with a confident step to the witness chair.
"Identify."
LORD SIRIUS O. BLACK
SPECIES: Wizard LVL 27
SUBCLASS: Lord LVL 1
ANIMAGUS FORM: the Grimm aka Padfoot
STATUS: Well Rested, Malnourishment (Chronic), Fatigue (Chronic), Hopeful
Remus could tell the moment his skill worked, because Sirius whipped his head right to him and gave him a small nod.
"Auror Shacklebolt, please give the accused the Veritaserum." Dumbledore instructed the stocky and rather intimidating, auror. Shacklebolt stepped forward and dropped three drops of a potion from an eyedropper onto Sirius's outstretched tongue. After a moment, his eyes seemed to glaze and he relaxed into the chair.
"For the record, please state your name and date of birth."
"Sirius Orion Black, born 3 November, 1959."
"Let the record show that the serum is working. Now, Lord Black, can you please tell us in your own words the events of 31 October, 1981."
In a monotone voice obviously under the influence of the potion, Sirius began to speak.
"I was at my flat in London when I got Lily's patronus. The only thing it said was "he's here", but I knew what it meant. James and Lily were under the Fidelius charm, and everyone but the four of us thought that I was their secret keeper, when really it was Peter Pettigrew. I felt that I was the obvious choice and that He would surely come for me. It's my fault they chose Peter instead. It's my fault…" Sirius seemed to lose himself for a moment under the potion and Remus could see the tears on his face from his seat. "I knew it meant that Peter had betrayed them, willingly or not though I didn't know. I headed straight to Godric's Hollow to find the wards down and the upper storey on fire. I ran inside and James was slumped on the floor by the staircase, and I …lost it. I must have startled baby Harriet upstairs, because she gave out a loud wail and I rushed up the stairs. Lily was on the floor near the crib and Harriet was covered in blood inside. I immediately went to her and ran a simple diagnostic spell and when it deemed her stable I turned to leave. James and Lily made me her blood godfather and Remus and I were to be her guardians if something happened to them. But…two things happened at that moment. Hagrid arrived on orders from Dumbledore to collect Harriet and bring her to Madam Pompfrey to look her over, and the glow signalling that someone outside had just unlocked a new subclass. I handed Harriet to Hagrid along with my flying motorcycle, it was shrunk on my person at the time, so they could make haste to Hogwarts. Then, I used my Level 5 Investigate skill from my job as an auror. What I saw made me see red and I chased after him. It was Pettigrew, the rat! He had unlocked a special subclass with his betrayal of someone who practically was his own brother! TRAITOR is a locked subclass, and he could have only achieved it from betraying the Fidelus!"
The crowd and the wizards of the Wizengamot all looked rather sour at the thought of a true TRAITOR amongst them. Only the most unsavoury of sorts were given such subclass options, and to actually go through with the Quest to unlock it is practically unheard of. You got THEIF and CRIMINAL occasionally, but most had the sense not to do the Quests to get such a subclass and chose one of their other available options instead.
"Order! Ladies and Gentlemen please remain quiet so the accused may continue, no matter how unsettling the revelations may be," Dumbledore said rather firmly to the blustering crowd.
The sound returned to a slight whispering, and Dumbledore asked Sirius to continue.
"I chased after Pettigrew, but he turned into his Animagus form and started to run away. So in return I changed into mine, and gave chase. He is a common brown rat, and I am a Grimm. By the time I caught up with him, it was daylight and we were in a Muggle area. He pointed his wand at me, yelled 'Don't hurt me Sirius!' and then turned his wand around and blew himself up. It threw me backwards and knocked me unconscious. By the time I woke up, I was in Azkaban. My first visitor was yesterday when Kingsley came and got me from my cell."
The uproar after he finished was thunderous. A Lord of the Wizengamot just thrown into Azkaban without any sort of questioning? How horrifying! It could have happened to any of them! The press in the crowd was going wild, the flash of photographs being taken was nearly blinding.
Remus chuckled a bit and shook his head, he didn't think they would even need his testimony. Sirius would be leaving here a free man, today, that much was obvious.
_HP&DQ_
Back at Hogwarts…
After breakfast the quartet checked their maps for the Transfiguration classroom location and headed down to their first class of the day. The double period was mixed with the Ravenclaw students. As in every class so far, Hermione headed as near to the front as she could and the rest filed in around here, with Harriet usually sitting directly next to her and the boys sharing another table near them. Professor McGonagall was nowhere to be seen, but there was a striped tabby cat with strange square markings around its eyes sitting on the desk in front of the classroom. Remembering Remus's words about using her Identify skill on animals to help increase it, she turned to the cat.
"Identify."
PROFESSOR McGONAGALL
SPECIES: Witch Lvl. ?
SUBCLASS: Transfiguration Mistress Lvl. ?
ANIMAGUS: Classic Tabby Cat
Harry wasn't sure how to react to the information, but the tabby did turn and look at her and then it nodded a bit in her direction. She realised that the Professor had probably noticed her using her skill on her, whoops. Hermione, as observant as ever, narrowed her eyes at the interaction between Harry and the cat, as subtle as they were, and then turned for a moment to stare at the cat. She gave a little squeak and Harry confirmed that she also had Identified the Professor. Hermione turned to Harry and they both stifled giggles as the rest of the class seemed to remain oblivious. At the sound of the last bell, Ron hurriedly sat down in the empty seat next to Neville.
"Oh thank goodness McGonagall isn't here yet! I was still hungry and so I asked Fred and George where the kitchens were and well I don't think they were honest with me…" he began in a rushed voice.
Suddenly, the cat leapt from the desk. Mid-leap, it blurred and Professor McGonagall's form appeared, pointy hat and all. For such a drastic change, it was rather graceful and seamless.
"When do we learn how to do that?!" Someone exclaimed. Harry realised belatedly it was her. She ducked her head a bit in embarrassment of her outburst. Remus had told her briefly about her dad and them being Animagus's, but to see it in person was something else!
Professor McGonagall gave her a tight lipped smile.
"Miss Potter, only those with extreme dedication to the art of Transfiguration and a connection to their inner animal are able to unlock their transformation. If it is something you truly aspire to achieve, ask me again after you have taken your OWLs," she paused and her face turned less cordial as she turned her gaze to Ron, "Now, Mr. Weasley, if you could make sure to get your fill at breakfast so you can be on time to class, I am sure we all would appreciate it. I will not take points this time, but perhaps next time, think about exactly who you are asking directions from, before you ask them, yes?" Her right eyebrow rose at the end of her sentence, and Ron turned a burning red and ducked his head down with a nod.
"If we are all present now, welcome to your first Transfiguration class. The art of Transfiguration is not a light one, nor will you be able to simply slack in my class and get by. Transfiguration is turning one object into another, in the beginning, and then in later years we will be creating objects by Conjuring them. You have the opportunity to learn many offshoots from Transfiguration, including the Animagus transformation, Enchanting objects, Conjuring items, and so on. For our first class, I will begin by talking about the art and giving you the history. Now would be a perfect time to begin progressing your Note Taking Skill, if you have unlocked it that is. If not, this is your opportunity to do so."
_HP&DQ_
The week progressed rather smoothly for Harry and her new friends. Ron seemed to split his time hanging with the three of them and two other boys, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan. Harry felt he could be a bit hot headed sometimes and wasn't fully sure why he hung out with them to begin with, but he wasn't actually mean to anyone so there was no reason to have him not be around occasionally she reasoned.
At a late breakfast the Thursday morning after their first Astronomy class, Harry received two letters. The first was from the large caretaker of the grounds outside, Hagrid. He told Harry in the letter that he knew her parents and would love to have tea with her this weekend at his hut, and she could bring her friends. The second letter she had been anticipating since she arrived at Hogwarts.
Miss Potter -
I believe our mutual friend may have spoken to you and ruined the surprise, but I would like to request your presence for a meeting of words at your earliest convenience this coming Sunday. If you are able to attend after breakfast on the aforementioned day, the password to access my office on that day shall be "Chocolate Frogs".
I look forward to speaking with you.
Albus Percival Wulferic Brian Dumbldedore - Headmaster of Hogwarts
Harry turned her head to the professors table at the head of the room and made eye contact with Professor Dumbledore. She raised the letter a bit indicating it and gave him a nod. The headmaster raised his glass to a toast, and nodded back.
_HP&DQ_
The most interesting class so far, had surprisingly been History of Magic. She had heard from the other Gryffindors that the professor was a ghost, and while she had met a few of the castle's ghosts, such as Sir Nicholas the Gryffindor ghost, Professor Binns was a bit different.
For instance, one of the not so great things was that Professor Binns was terrible with names, but after hundreds of years teaching, who could really blame the man.
No, what Harry found most interesting were the topics of the course itself.
"In History of Magic, we will cover everything over the next five years, from the dawn of magic, to current and recent history. If you so choose to continue this subject onwards to NEWT level, things will become a bit different. But! That is a bit of a surprise for those who decide to choose what most deem a "boring subject" to further pursue," the rotund ghost was rather animated in his speech, floating back and forth in front of them waving his arms about emphatically.
"The most important things you will take away from this classroom, though, is what I will teach you about the guidance system all of you have inside your heads. It is part of our history as magic users, and I am in a special position to teach you such knowledge, because I was part of the team that created the spellwork for the Guardian Forest."
Every student that had not been paying attention and taking notes before, started to at his words. Harry saw even Ron pull out his quill and parchment, and he had only done that for Transfiguration so far.
"The first important guidance based skill you will learn, is Identify, if you have not already. Please take this moment to focus on me, and think very hard about trying to Identify. I'll wait a moment and then tell you about what you can see."
Harry had already learned the very helpful Identify skill, and she knew Neville and Hermione already had it. Even still, she focused on the ghost professor.
"Identify."
PROFESSOR C. BINNS
SPECIES: Undead (Ghost) Lvl. ?
SUBCLASS: Master of Knowledge and Enchanter Extraordinaire Lvl. ?
STATUS: Deceased (Incorporeal), Pleased
After a moment he began to speak again.
"Now, all of you should have the same display before you about my status. As you grow your Identify Skill, you will be able to learn more information from your target. For example, my levels should be question marks for all of you. This is simply because I am exceptionally higher level than all of you. If I chose to, I could let one or all of you see any and all information I have available about myself. You will find that most will keep everything they can close to their chest and only let you see their name of choice and their known species and subclass. I, and many of your other professors and higher professionals, will have only the most basic information available. There are also Status Effects that can be displayed, which are one of the many ways a healer can assess you even if you are unconscious." Harry thought that tidbit was very helpful, too bad the Muggles didn't have an equivalent.
"Lastly, your displayable Titles and Skills. These are only listed if you direct them to someone, or ask for them to be displayed. Often, witches and wizards will have numerous Titles and a multitude of skills. As you grow and learn, it is even possible to merge two or three related skills to create a new one that features both. A great example of this is in the Auror line of work. A prerequisite for training is the Investigate Skill, which is the result of merging a level 5 Identify and a level 5 Perception.
"Something to remember, a word of caution of sorts. While you can ascertain much from using the Identify Skill, most people's guidance system will notify them of the use of a Stealth skill on them. Some people may not like that. Use at your discretion students, alright?"
A mumble of agreement moved through the class.
"Excellent!" He clasped his hands together and floated back to the centre. "Now, please open your textbooks and our first lesson will be on the founders of Hogwarts…"
_HP&DQ_
Friday morning brought the new Gryffindors another single lesson of Charms early and then their first double lesson of Potions right before lunch. They then had the afternoon free for an early start to the weekend, and homework of course.
In Charms they were working on the Lumos charm again, and those that had mastered it in the first class were directed to change the brightness and the colour of the light next. By the end of the hour everyone had managed to at least cast a weak version of the charm, even Neville and Ron. Neville was looking particularly pleased with himself, Harry was pretty certain it was the first spell he had been able to successfully cast all week.
They made haste in a group down to the dungeons for Potions, and met up with the Slytherins once inside. This time Hermione sat with Neville, and after a moment of consideration Blaise waved Harry over and she took him up on the empty seat at his table.
Harry learned very quickly that Remus had been rather accurate in his description of Professor Snape despite the fact he had not seen the man in person in over ten years. He was a tall, sallow man with a hooked nose. His hair was lank and greasy that Harry guessed came from decades of Potions fumes. His dramatic entrance into the classroom was different from the other professors, and his eagle gaze froze for a moment upon meeting Harry's eyes as he swept the classroom. Harry could see the man visibly argue internally with himself, and then he proceeded to give a speech involving "stoppering death" and other such dramatics. She was intrigued even more with the idea of Potions and took notes on everything the dour professor had to say.
The class went fairly well, except for the end where Ron and Seamus's cauldron exploded onto them and the neighbouring tables. The professor was rather cross with them for not following the instructions on the board, and sent them both to the infirmary and homework of writing a foot of parchment of what they did wrong. He instructed the rest of the class to bottle up samples of their potion with their names on it and bring it to his desk and then dismissed the class.
Harry tried not to think about how the professor's eyes softened when they met hers. While he was outwardly cruel to most of the other Gryffindors in the class, he hadn't spoken a word directly to her once.
_HP&DQ_
[END OF SCHOOL WEEK ONE, STATUS LISTED BELOW]
HARRIET POTTER
SPECIES: Witch Lvl. 3
SUBCLASS: N/A
Hogwarts Student - Gryffindor House
HP: 115/115
MP: 100/100
STATUS:
GENERAL SKILLS:
IDENTIFY LVL 1
PERCEPTION LVL 1
NOTE TAKING LVL 1
CRITICAL THINKING LVL 1
NAVIGATION LVL 1
GARDENING LVL 5
COOKING LVL 5
SPEED READING LVL 7
MAGIC SKILLS:
CHARMS LVL 1
-LUMOS
DADA LVL 1
TRANSFIGURATION LVL 1
HERBOLOGY LVL 1
POTIONS LVL 1
-CURE FOR BOILS
