Authors note: I do not own Harry Potter
The beginnings of morning's light trickled into the tower window next to Harry's bed as he was getting ready for the school day. The others who shared his room still slumbered in peaceful bliss, but Harry's body was used to waking up early most days so as to begin his day of servitude to his family. Such a way of life was not an easy habit to break, however his excitement refused to let him fall back to sleep.
He descended the steps to the common room, which was completely empty, and sat down on the sofa directly in front of the still burning fire with a content smile on his face. He would have gone elsewhere, but he had no idea what the day's schedule was like, and he wasn't too sure of the directions even if wanted to go somewhere.
He didn't have to wait long, as the older year students began their own tired movements into the common room. The girl from the night before, Katie, also appeared to be an early riser and offered to escort him to the great hall where breakfast was to be served.
Harry was quiet on the journey down, and Katie used this gap of sound to give a semi-tour to the newest Potter to enter Hogwarts. He listened intently, thankful that Katie was helping him, and verbalised it when they reached the open doors to the great hall.
"It's no problem at all Harry, I'm happy to help", she chirped happily, grabbing his sleeve lightly to take him to the Gryffindor table, Harry blushing hard as his heart near stopped beating.
The hall was practically empty, barely any students or staff in the hall as early as it was. A small contemplation of how he could tell the time when there appeared to be few clocks anywhere entered his brain. He had noticed this in the dormitory, which was clockless, and assumed that he would just figure it out later. Considering his hard wired body clock, he had no worries about waking up on time.
As more students filtered in, with some more than audible groans accompanying them, Harry picked at his breakfast, Katie having piled on the Full English for him. He perked up at seeing the Weasley twins, who greeted him with some cheer.
"Why hello there ickle Harrykins, sleep well?" asked George.
"Well thank you, and yourself George?" he turned his head towards the other brother hoping that he had remembered the subtle differences between them. "Fred?"
The twins shared a wordless look, slight shock on their faces.
Fred was the one to respond. "Of course Harrykins, it's not the sleep that we worry about."
"It's the lessons when we're awake!"
Katie sighed, Angelina and Alicia arriving and hearing the twins joining her in this response. Harry had a silly grin as he looked shyly at his plate, an appetite developing in inside him. 'I can enjoy this for once,' he thought to himself, remembering the lack of meals he would get before his standard Dursley work day, and therefore dug in merrily.
Angelina snorted good naturally and turned to look at the nearest twin, "Good, he needs some meat on him."
Harry ignored it, not sensing any hostility in the barb, just slowing down his eating and gaining a bashful countenance. Still, one could see the joy on his face. He counted his lucky stars that these people found him, because he never would have had the courage to approach them, yet little did he realise it was not luck, but his own kind of gravitas that allowed these people to see him as they did, and allowed for them to decide to come willingly to him.
But none of that mattered to him as he sat there enjoying his morning, giving polite greetings to the other first year Gryffindor's as they walked by him to get to an empty spot. Ron Weasley took particular note of him sitting with his brothers in discomfort, as he made an ugly face and proceeded to traverse himself down the aisle to sit next to Dean Thomas, one of their dorm mates.
As the morning drew on, Katie was happily informing Harry of how the days went by.
"So curfew on Sunday nights through to Thursday nights is at 9pm, while on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as on the holidays, it begins at 10.30pm. It ends at 5am every morning, but there aren't many of us who are awake at that time anyway."
She ignored the grins being thrown her way by her two friends, continuing on with Harry's full attention on her. "What about meal times?" he asked in his regular quiet voice.
"Breakfast is at 6am while lunch just sort of appears whenever. Not quite sure why... but dinner is at 6.30pm ever night, unless there's a feast or something."
"Look at Katie Bell, your guide extraordinaire over here," Alicia giggled.
"You'd have thought she'd been here for years. Very confident there girl," came Angelina's response.
Both Katie and Harry blushed red, but only Katie's response was verbal.
"Here you are Mr Potter, it truly is a pleasure to see you in the house of the brave, I do hope it finds you up to snuff." A piece of parchment daintily landed in front of him, and he looked to the voice to spot Professor McGonagall give a small smile and a nod as she walked off.
He looked down to see what he was given and saw right away it was his timetable.
Monday
9am-11am – Herbology
1pm-4pm – History of Magic
Tuesday
10am-12pm – Charms
2pm-4pm – Defence Against the Dark Arts
Wednesday
11pm-1am - Astronomy
Thursday
11am-2pm – Transfiguration
Friday
9am-12pm – Potions
Between the hours of 9am and 5pm, if not attending a class, it is expected of you to utilise private study so as to reinforce your own personal learning.
Harry looked and saw that his first lesson of the school day was to be Herbology. Katie glanced at the timetable and instructed him as to how to get to the greenhouse in question, which had magically appeared in writing next to the subject on the parchment. "Don't misplace it Harry. The timetable is charmed to let you know which specific room changes, class cancellations, or time changes."
Harry whispered a thank you to Katie for taking time to help him out, to which she simply patted his arm lightly.
"No need to thank me. What are friends for?"
Unshed tears were brought to his eyes as he thanked Katie for her help once again, this time with heartfelt meaning. Saying a quiet goodbye to his new friends, he caught Alicia saying something to the group.
"It almost breaks your heart."
Harry arrived at Greenhouse 4 early, with no other student in sight, and plonked himself onto a nearby bench so as to wait potentially for his first lesson.
It was only a 5 minute wait until a short, dumpy looking witch arrived with one of his housemates in tow.
"Ah, Mr Potter, it's truly a good sight to see a student eager to learn."
Harry looked coyly at the Professor, and shared a smile with the boy, Neville Longbottom if he remembered correctly, and stood up to follow the two into the greenhouse.
The greenhouse had planters placed all around the edge, kept close to the sunlight streaming in through the glass panes, and had long tables placed in a rectangular formation in the middle.
Harry and Neville stood close to the end, next to the Professor. "Shouldn't be too long boys. How are you both? Excited? I remember my own beginning at Hogwarts, I couldn't bare to sleep for my excitement."
Harry relaxed into a safe posture without even realising it, followed quickly by Neville. The two of them were halting in their responses however, not uncomfortable in their replies, but both obviously unused to being in a new situation such as this.
"Mr Longbottom was telling me all about his family greenhouses, but what about you Mr Potter? Any experience on the topic?"
"Not with magical plants Professor, only those in my Aunt's garden."
"Ah, you live with muggles don't you?"
He made a small noise in the back of his throat, and the Herbology professor frowned slightly at the response, but no made reply herself other than a short nod of the head.
Soon after, the other students made their way in, the gold and red of Gryffindor mixing with the yellow and black of Hufflepuff.
"Okay everyone, gather round the table while I give out explanations." She was all smiles as she took registration, a fond look gracing her face as she took in the brand new students all looking at her. "My name is Professor Sprout, and I am to be your Herbology teacher for your time here at Hogwarts, as well as being the Head of Hufflepuff House. Now, some may be wondering why you will be learning about the flora of the magical world. Can anyone hazard a quick guess as to why this is?"
Hermione Granger's hand was first in the air, an expectant look on her face. It was followed by a tentative raise by Neville and the Bones girl from Hufflepuff. Sprout raised her arms towards Neville, the symbolic gesture to get someone to answer a question.
His voice was unsteady, squeaky, lacked conviction, and came out in the tone of a question rather than an answer, but it still garnered a happy indication from Sprout of his correctness. "They are primarily used as ingredients for potion making, but most have general uses that could be from healing simple cuts, to preventing a disease. Herbology is to learn how to cultivate them safely and properly"
"Well done Mr Longbottom, take 5 points for Gryffindor. Of course there are many more reasons that Herbology is considered a core subject to learn, but that is about the gist of it that you need to know for now. But remember the key point to be made. Safety first!"
They carried on, as Professor Sprout dictated safety rules for how the lessons would proceed, before teaching them about some of the most dangerous common plants that they were most likely to encounter. This was followed by a demonstration of what their seeds looked like and what environment to look out for to find them.
Harry and Neville looked content, each earning more points for Gryffindor as they both expertly potted and planted some of the less dangerous seeds, their quiet a duality to the discord of the rest of the class.
Professor Sprout left them with homework to note the safety rules and potential hazards of British and Irish plant life, and a rewarding beaming look for the two Gryffindor's as well as a few of her Hufflepuff's who participated well. Harry said polite goodbyes, and instead of heading to a quick lunch, instead asked Sprout as to the location of the History classroom as well as the library that he had heard about. He then proceeded to said library, Neville following in his wake, where they both began their given homework.
Harry liked Neville already, as he reminded him of himself in some ways. There was a definite mirror of some of the behaviours he exhibited, and Harry jumped on this connection.
"You're really good at Herbology Neville." And that was it, both Harry and Neville took no notice of Hermione Granger stalking into the library to where they both sat in the Herbology section, focusing instead on the burgeoning friendship between them, ignorant to a slightly scathing look. Small snippets of conversation flowed between them seamlessly, and Harry greatly appreciated the wealth of knowledge Neville had on Herbology.
Harry couldn't have known how happy the shy Longbottom was at having Harry with him, fearing like Harry that he would be alone at Hogwarts, and couldn't have know how much Neville would take this feeling to heart. Eventually the time came for their second lesson, and Harry and Neville stowed away their near complete homework, to and Neville was only too happy to follow Harry along to the History room as he would have definitely gotten lost if he was on his own.
Whatever Harry was expecting when he entered the classroom for History of Magic, seeing a ghost as his teacher was definitely not at the top if his list. The Gryffindor's and Hufflepuff's they shared the class with also seemed to be of the same mind as a tangible ripple of excitement passed through them all as one.
Harry and Neville sat down close to the front, quills and parchment out. It was, unfortunately, not to be as fun as they'd originally hoped for. The Professor, Binns, just droned on without even taking a register. No greetings or a single polite hello instead he just jumped straight into the first year syllabus with nary a care for anything else.
It was all it took for Harry to remain awake, hand matching the same pace as his professors voice; his quill shot across the page and he could only think how thankful he was that he practiced in the summer in the use of the writing implement.
When the lesson ended, only himself and Granger had been able to keep focus on the lesson, even if it was incredibly difficult for him, and he left feeling somewhat disappointed. When he eventually made it to the great hall for dinner that evening, headway made on his History homework, Neville squeaking out a farewell, leaving him to it when Harry sat next to a smiling Angelina. Harry frowned lightly at this but shook his head as the rest of the group took form around him.
He was mostly silent as they socialised, preferring to be the wallflower, though causing them to laugh as they understood his annoyance at Binns' lesson.
"History is good for one thing Harry and one thing alone," whispered Fred conspiratorially.
"Sleeping," George finished sagely.
Katie smacked him lightly and turned to Harry. "While not wrong, I usually read ahead slightly and get a head start on homework. Binns just reads from the book anyway so you aren't missing anything."
Harry enjoyed his night, spending it with the older students in both the hall and common room, basking in their company while he finished the History homework as best he could. When he fell asleep that night, after sending a warm goodnight to Neville, and ignoring a frosty looking Ron, it was with a happy expression plastered on his face.
Harry woke early again the next day, and after getting ready, he met Katie in the common room, everything he needed ready for the day in a book bag slung across his shoulder.
The duo walked in a content silence to get some breakfast, and the morning in there took a similar vein to the previous morning, as the group formed around him while they ate. The one difference that was felt on that morning, however, was when a beautiful snowy owl descended onto the table in front of Harry.
"Oh it's so beautiful," gushed Alicia.
Harry raised his left hand and began slowly stroking his owl's feathers. "Her name's Hedwig," he revealed, "Mister Hagrid got him for me for my birthday."
The others shared a look between them, marvelling at the at atmosphere of content they were not expecting surround him. The others would later vanish as one when it came time for them to attend their lesson for the day, leaving Harry on his own in the great hall with his owl.
Across the way from him, and slightly further down, Neville kept making nervous glances towards him, looking as though he wanted to say something. Harry only caught the looks out of his peripheral vision, his own self-consciousness stopping him from going over to talk to him as well. Eventually it was time for their Charms lesson, so Harry gave one last pet to Hedwig as she flew off, got out of his seat, and made his way over to Neville.
"You coming Neville," he asked, not looking directly at him.
Neville gained a pleased look as he grabbed his school things, and cheerfully walked side by side with him through the school to their lesson room.
They took their seats, with the Gryffindor's joined by the Ravenclaw's for their classes on that day.
They were joined by the diminutive Professor Flitwick, who let out a joyous squeal when he got to Harry's name on the class register. Said boy in question just ducked his head down at the unwanted attention as it drew everyone's attention on him.
"Now class, here in charms we do not focus on anything other than that which could be utilised on a day to day basis. However, just because you may possibly be able use these spells from morning to night, and vice versa, does not mean that you should not be extremely careful in their study and usage." His tone was light and friendly, but heralded a hint of seriousness that Harry took up on. "Just because the implementation of the spells we will learn in this class may be relatively easy to get the hang of... an overpowered illumination charm could very well blind your classmates, so make sure we all be extra careful!" He ended the spiel with a quick, single, clap.
Harry was looking forward to this class; the spells in the 'Standard Book of Spells: Grade 1' were incredibly easy to learn for one reason or another. It had taken Harry only two tries to get the small repairing charm down so as to fix his glasses. From what Angelina had described to him, the spells that they would learn in Charms had a lot of detail behind their learning, and were either too technical for the books to teach, or had some safety concerns behind them that required their teacher to monitor them.
"Today's lesson is a simple one, but still requires me to be on hand to help you out if needs be. Today, I will be teaching you the Lumos charm, which illuminates your wand, and the Nox counter spell which, in a sense, turns it off."
It turned out the reason that this required a teacher was obvious from the get go. Most of the class immediately set their wands ablaze with light, but Flitwick's attention was necessary to divert the differing ranges of luminosity involved. Too much power pushed through their wands gave much more powerful spells than was needed it seemed.
Harry simply sat there enjoying himself as he turned the light on and off at a steady pace, being one of five other students who quickly got the spell at a satisfactory level rather quickly. The only issue he noted was the small delay he had when incanting the spells to when the spell visibly activated. He asked Flitwick about it to gauge his insight after most of the class had settled their brightness issues.
"Ah, so Mr Ollivander did say to you indeed that your wand may be unpredictable Mr Potter." The tiny professor didn't have to strain his neck that much to look at his student. A look that Harry did not recognise grew onto his face. "I can only assume that this is due to the abnormal core in your wand. Has this been an issue with any of your other spells you have tried to cast?"
Harry sat and thought about it for a minute. "If I think about it sir, maybe? I haven't really given it much thought to be honest." He gained a downcast look and Flitwick had to strain his ears so as to hear his words. "All the spells I've done I have got really quickly though."
The professor asked Harry to remain behind after the lesson ended, after giving out their mandatory homework assignment to be due for the next lesson. Neville, who had had Harry happily help him get the spell as well as he could, looking back in concern to which Harry simply smiled and waved him off in thanks. Though he wondered, nerves wracking, what the professor wanted to talk to him about.
"Mr Potter," he began, waving his wand as he spoke which summoned some teacups and a kettle out of the aether. "There's no need to look so worried," he soothed, "I just want to talk to you quickly about your wand."
Flitwick's conclusion seemed sound to Harry, but still disappointed him nonetheless. "Every witch and Wizard has varying degrees of power; their magic grows as their body and mind do, which is why now as a first year it would be incredibly difficult to perform a seventh year spell. Think of a spell as a muscle too, the more you perform a certain type of spell, the more your magic becomes accustomed too it, allowing for you to perform spells of that type easier." Harry's eyes were full of wonder at his words, reminding Flitwick another green eyed student he used to know. "Wands allow for you to focus these spells, with incarnations becoming a bridge for raw magic to be able to change into the spell of your choice... That's actually the simple theory behind it. There is much more to it but that's advance magiclore that even experience Arithmancers have trouble coming to terms with. But your wand core is obviously powerful, which in relation to what even I can tell is high magical strength, may allow for easier usage of spells. I daresay there is some natural skill involved too, just like your mother I bet, but the unnatural state of your wand grants a small time delay I'm afraid. Although who knows? Maybe with more learning you could get your wand to stop being late to class" Harry let out a pleasant sounding boyish giggle at the accompanying over exaggerated wink that followed, giving an added benefit of cheering Harry up slightly.
Harry sat there taking it all in, but found that he enjoyed chatting with his teacher as he sipped on the offered tea. He was friendly and obviously a good teacher as he brought down low Harry's worries about his magic - quickly calming him down. They spent the next hour in relative companionship, no longer discussing education or the like. By the end of it, as Harry left the room to head to his Defence lesson with a man apparently called Professor Quirrell, the last Potter decided that Professor Flitwick was an amazing teacher. He was an incredibly affable man, and laid to rest most of the anxiety that Harry was currently possessing about his magic in one fell blow. He couldn't have known that Flitwick had a single tear fall at the sight of such a reserved and desperate boy, as well as a smile at such an impressive character of heart he saw in him.
The real thing that kept Harry in such good spirits as he caught up with Neville, surprising him with a louder than usual greeting at the classroom door later on, was the small remembrance he had of Flitwick mentioning his mother. A person he had always dreamed of, but never knew anything about.
Harry was unsure if it was the lesson or the teacher that set him on edge; there was something about Quirrell that did not sit quite right with him.
He had entered the room, Neville following at his heels, to a room that stunk to the high heavens of garlic, and a glowering Hermione Granger, who had a similar look when their Charms teacher had asked him to remain behind to chat. The stare she made, made him uncomfortable, and the topic of fighting others that the lesson entailed had him feeling slightly queasy. He liked to think that he would get involved in a fight to defend someone if pushed to it; he repeatedly struggled to manage the power involved in the Knockback Jinx he was meant to be practising on Neville, afraid as he was of hurting someone. The spell was done correctly, but the slightly put off place look of annoyance on Neville's face lasted throughout the lesson, and carried on all through the night until the next day.
He had no idea what it was that he had done wrong; he believed that him and Neville were starting to get along really well the past couple of days, and was shivering in his anxiety as Angelina calmly explained that his new friend most likely thought he was pitying him.
"Why would he think that?" he near cried out.
Angelina gave her own pitying look towards Harry. "He most likely thought you were holding back, or didn't think he was good enough."
Neville proceeded to ignore him from then on, and every time it happened, that burning feeling would strike his gut, and tears would threaten to burst. Such an upbringing that he had, meant that he did not want to have someone he believed he was getting on with well, upset with him, as the cracks in his growing confidence began to enlarge. It became even worse for Harry's already fragile mental state during the Astronomy lesson with the first year students of Slytherin house.
Astronomy was not something that Harry believed he enjoyed. It was a little more than strange to him that they were studying the heavens.
There may have been a practical application towards magic, but he could not for the life of him see exactly what it was. The fact that the lesson also messed with his sleeping pattern, and he was extremely exhausted before the lesson even began, definitely did not assist his already recently fractured mental state.
Not even his group of older friends, something he was still trying to get used to having some of, nor finishing up his homework early, or even another chat with Flitwick has soothed him. Neville was still ignoring him, no matter what he tried to do to catch his attention to apologise could sway him. So when Draco Malfoy swept up behind him, Harry was so far off in thought he jumped in fright.
The blond boy held back a smirk, sidling up in the pretence of talking about the moon Jupiter they were meant to be looking at.
"So, Potter, have you given any thought to what I said to you?"
Harry was not in the mood for the arrogant Slytherin, whose very presence felt oily to his senses, and just gave a distressed shake of the head.
Malfoy just kept running his mouth however, oblivious to the discomfort him being in such close proximity was bringing to Harry. "I mean, I've seen you hanging around with those blood traitors, but at least you're learning." Harry froze up completely, not angry at what had been said, but feeling dismayed at the obvious insult towards at least one of his new friends. "It's a good thing you threw away that disgrace of a Longbottom." A smirk materialised at this point, "A pity he didn't follow the way of his own parents. Though I suppose they world be smarter than him now."
Neville Longbottom kept staring into his telescope, but he had gone as still as a rock, Harry followed, but his own distress became verbalised instead of the stony silence.
Even though Harry had no idea what he was referring to, he still found what was said absolutely appalling. "How dare you? How could you be so horrible?" Tears made their way down his cheeks, and this triggered something in within Draco Malfoy that had him in stitches.
The mocking was audible to all, and the snickering and muttered words from the rest of the Slytherin's at the Wizarding World's saviour, had them soon near howling with laughter. For the rest of the lesson, after the aloof Professor Sinistra had calmed them all, the students of Slytherin made nothing but japes at his direction. It hurt more when he could see some sort of amusement from a few of his own housemates.
At the end of the lesson, knowing full well how much his reputation would have taken a complete nose dive come morning, he stood in the common room, depression bubbling to the surface.
It was happy tears that flowed when Neville apologised for his own behaviour after he awoke, and said those few words that meant so much to him... "Thank you so much Harry. You're a real friend."
Harry was still riding the high when he made it to the transfiguration classroom, happily conversing with Neville, with the last couple of days' awkwardness behind them.
They passed the Weasley twins in the corridor, who both simultaneously gave him a cheeky thumbs up in congratulations. Mocking laughter was heard coming from other students however; Malfoy had already got word out of his weakness the night before.
"Just ignore them."
Harry just turned away, shame filling him up at his show of weakness in the night, to which Neville just looked on in his own embarrassment.
It was a cat that was perched on the teachers desk when they entered the Transfiguration classroom, confusing Harry slightly. He shook his head to remove the stray wonders filling it, dropping into a seat at the front, sliding in gracefully as Neville took the one next to him. After all the Gryffindor's and Ravenclaw's had filled their seats, Harry understood the cat conundrum.
Amazement grabbed hold of him as the cat leapt forward and morphed into the stern looking McGonagall. It did not let go as he witnessed several acts of magic the likes of which he had always imagined it to ever look like. The woman described what she had done as the 'Animagus' transformation, and then had proceeded to alter objects in the room from their natural state of being into animals and then back again.
"There are several rules to the art of Transfiguration, and several rules to my classroom. I will tolerate no tomfoolery, no acting out, and no acts of any undisciplined nature. This is not playtime. This class in particular has the risk of danger with every misspell or lack of concentration. If none of you wish to vanish your limbs into oblivion you will need what I tell you. You break these rules, you will leave and not return. Am I clear?"
Harry nodded along with a sweating Neville as the lecture began. Soon, a box of matchsticks was placed in front of every student.
"This is a simple spell. It will allow for good practice to be had as the similarities between a matchstick and a needle are very close. Their weight, their size, and overall their overall shape will allow for a near seamless transition for most newcomers to the field. Now, you have the information, but I will still help you overcome any obstacles you find yourself hitting."
Harry put everything out of his mind that was happening in the castle. He had endured worse, this he knew, and already the pressure of the social scene was getting to him. Nevertheless, he knew he was able to make it due to the ones he had fighting in his corner with him. As such, he was only slightly shocked when the matchstick turned on his first try.
It wasn't a perfect needle. The rectangular shape was still there, but there was a definite eye, distorted as it was, and it was a shiny rust colour instead of the glinting grey he was after.
"My word Mr Potter!" the Professor stood shocked. A pleased smile graced her features as she took in the slight frame of her student. "Keep at it Mr Potter. Intent and practice. You must get the feel for the magic." She paused for but a moment before continuing, "You need to visualise it more. Power and knowing is only half the battle."
It took only five more tries until he had it down. 10 points given to Gryffindor and a proud smile was completely worth it as he helped Neville make some much appreciated headway with his own transfiguration. The feeling was worth it, and it carried with him as both he and Neville were dragged both together to the now regular group at dinner. The feeling shielded him from the disgruntled looks of some of his own year, the jealous one from a couple of his own housemates, and the jeers that were bring sent his way. Some had seen his small size, his introverted behaviour, and fragile state a target, and they had labelled him as such.
However, the week was not yet over.
When Harry awoke early again on Friday morning, he was sat on the fence in regards to how his first few days at Hogwarts were going. There were positives and negatives to how his school life was being played out, and he was warring within to try and see only the good things.
He was learning so much about both magic and him own self, that he felt that everything else could be powered through to an adequate conclusion. He mused on the fact that he had friends now – real friends! That those friends actually seemed to care about him, even when he had been told time and time again that no one would ever want a freak, astounded him. The teachers seemed to care about him too, and Professor Flitwick was ultimately becoming his favourite one; there was so much wisdom in him, about magic and life, that Harry felt that he could turn to him for any reason.
When he and Katie had made their morning walk to the Great Hall, Angelina trailing along after waking earlier than usual, he was reminded fully of another two.
The glowing form of his owl seemed to have been waiting for his entrance, entrancing those early risers with her beauty as she gracefully landed on Harry's shoulder. "Hey girl," he intoned softly, affection lacing his voice. He caressed her plumage, deftly taking the letter tied to her leg, before treating her with a rasher of well-cooked bacon. The bird was careful not to claw at her human, wary of his thin form as she nuzzled the side of his face, letting a gentle bark enter his ears.
Katie and Angelina enjoyed seeing the affection between master and familiar, though smirks may have come from some of the other students who were up. This was part of the negatives that Harry deemed to exist in his magical life.
Although Harry endured much worse in his muggle schooling, he still felt that life was being unfair in its fickle ways. The magical world also had its confusions, but looking back on it he could see a drastic improvement to his life. As he opened the letter to see that Hagrid had invited him to lunch after their potions lesson, he realised that things were a hundred percent looking up.
He penned a quick thank you to his large friend, tying the letter carefully to Hedwig, yet kept her with him so as to enjoy his breakfast with her. The morning went on as Neville joined the group for breakfast, as quiet as Harry – more so – drawing a couple of odd, but not horrible, looks from the Weasley twins. The twins quickly begged off to join their friend Lee, after which Alicia found out their lesson that day.
"Just... you two be careful of Snape."
Harry tilted his head, questions on his lips. "Why? What's wrong with him?"
Angelina shrugged, "He has it out for the Gryff's. Probably because he's the head of Slytherin, and you know how they are."
Harry did indeed know what a Slytherin could be like, experiencing such petty cruelty from one of their own already.
When they had sat down in the potions classroom at 9 o'clock, Harry sitting next to Neville, he could feel his heart beating a mile a minute while they waited for this infamous Snape. 'Just, please Harry, for me, try not to do anything to get on his bad side,' Katie had begged him with a gentle touch on his arm. She had had a look he couldn't quite place, concern for him he would later realise, as she went off to her Charms class.
He had seen the man at the staff table before. Covered in all black robes, with dark eyes, hooded eyes, and a disturbing pallor to him. His voice was of a whisper, but not of the calm, naturally dulcet like Harry produced, but a harsh one that demanded attention.
"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses..." He looked at the register, sneering grossly in particular as he reached a certain name. "Harry Potter."
Harry felt like a deer in the headlights. He swallowed deeply, his mouth gone dry as he took in the professor before him. The man's eyes dove into his own, and he could see the faint traces of anger and disgust pierce him. His uncle was the only one who had ever driven this deep seated fear into him before, and now he had got a taste of it from Severus Snape as well.
"Shall we see if you are as ignorant as your father was, Potter? What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Harry's mind caught up to him after Neville's light kick under the table. He breathed shakily, his voice matching as the Slytherin's quietly began with their mocking laughter. "It makes a sleeping potion sir. I can't remember which one." He was thankful that he had read his potions book, though he could not for the life of him decide where he had seen that particular piece of information. He supposed he should have been thankful he got at least some of the information correct if the annoyed sneer he was getting was any indication of Snape's ire.
"Well, well, it seems as though you aren't a complete idiot," Harry flinched at the words, "Shall we try again? I do suppose that knowing the words 'Draught of Living Death' may be beyond your intelligence." Malfoy looked as though all his Christmas's had come at once.
'I wont cry. I wont cry. I wont. I wont!'
"Where would I find a Bezoar, Potter?"
'I know this one!' Harry's eyes lit up. The potions book was quite specific about this topic, deeming it's information worthy of 3 pages worth of text. "A Bezoar is found in a goat's stomach, sir, and because it's really important as a poison antidote, most ingredient cupboards should carry one." He felt pleased with himself. 'Please! Move on!'
The man looked as if Harry had physically harmed him; Snape squinted as he looked at the boy. Harry almost let out a breath he did not know he was holding, but it was unfortunately in vain.
"That will be 5 points taken. For your cheek, Potter."
He could feel the glare that Granger was levelling him with. The air was constantly being displaced as her arm was lowering and raising angry mutters coming from his left as the girl's aura upset his own. The rest of the Gryffindor's could only feel shock, understanding the warnings about this teachers bias, with no negativity heading Harry's way for his subject application. The stray thought of wonder as to why Hermione Granger appeared to dislike him entered and left his mind when Snape asked him another question.
"Pathetic," Snape said, "Clearly we can see that fame is the only importance here." This broke the dam, as the Slytherin's let loose their howls. The tears flowed throughout the lesson, and it was clear that Snape's smile, almost unseen in Hogwarts history, was because of the sight.
Harry's potion was average at the end. He knew he could have done so much better, but the disparaging words that went his way, inflamed his already depressed mood. His focus was poor and his and Neville's potion was definitely the worst in the class – Crabbe and Goyle, practically two living scarecrows, had performed better than he had. When Snape had let the class go, almost gleeful in speech, Harry almost sprinted out of the room to looks of pity and concern from most of his housemates. So delved into his own misery, he had not noticed Neville shadowing him towards Hagrid's hut.
It was a soft knocking that alerted Hagrid to the arrival of his guest.
"Y'alrigh' Harry? Wha's all this abou'?" he questioned as he took note of the crying boy.
Neville squeaked as the gamekeeper looked at him in concern. "It was Professor Snape sir," he muttered, "He really had it out for Harry."
"Come in then. Come on in boys," he stepped aside to allowed them entrance, the decided to pour a strong cup of tea to give to his guests. The presence in the hut was warm, and Harry could feel himself calming as he soaked it all in.
Hagrid just let him vent, and found himself liking the Longbottom boy as Harry introduced him as his friend. He saw the start of a friendship between the two, and heartily approved. "Jus' let it be Harry. Snape's go' a foul manner, but 'e really knows his stuff."
"He insulted my dad, Hagrid. He hates me and I don't know why."
"He does'n' hate you Harry." Even though he said this, he would not meet either boys' eyes as he spoke them. He quickly drove the topic to a different area. "'Ows the lessons trea'in ya? Learn anythin' good?"
Hagrid learnt all about his week, not discussing the Astronomy mishap, but waxed lyrical about how amazing Professor Flitwick was. An opinion shared by both Neville and Hagrid. Neville was content to give his own thoughts when Hagrid asked him how he was getting on too, after Harry apologised for not asking if it was okay for him to join them.
"Forget abou' it," he boomed jovially, "Any friend of Harry's more than welcome 'ere." The man chuckled though when he heard about Harry's growing friendships outside the year. "Careful the Weasley boys don' lead ya astray Harry," he had said, though there was no malice involved.
When Hagrid had eventually shooed them away, stating that they had better finish their homework so as to enjoy their weekend, he let them know they had a complete open invite to visit whenever they wished.
As the steps took them into the castle, the tears had stopped flowing, and Harry was in a much better mood than before.
The three girls had taken turns to comfort Harry after making him tell them what had happened in potions, all gaining evil glares that became directed towards the greasy looking Professor after being told what happened. Flitwick had his own thoughts on the matter, and cheered Harry up immensely when he began to put to rest his fears about his parents that Snape dredged up. The small professor started regaling him with details of his mother and father when they were his students, then dragged McGonagall into their weekend tea session too, allowing her to tell him the tales of his parent's youth.
The next few weeks went by quickly. Harry and Neville became a close duo, and the five older students had practically taken him under their wing. The novelty of having a different Harry Potter as a student began to dwindle, with even the other Snakes finding Malfoy's boorish behaviour annoying. Flitwick became cemented as Harry's favourite teacher, and Sprout for Neville, but it was in Transfiguration that allowed Harry to shine. He had obvious skill in the Magic, and Minerva McGonagall would offset the vicious diatribes Snape would lash out with against his father, with plenty of bright memories with him as her student skilled the art.
Yet even she would throw an ashamed gaze elsewhere when he uncharacteristically complained about Severus Snape.
It was the first Wednesday in October when a notice went up in the common room of their new lesson that was to be taught once every month.
Neville groaned, "I can't stand broomsticks Harry, I'm terrified of heights."
Ron Weasley snorted behind him, but no one except Neville took notice of it. The redhead had not really fit into a friendship group since being sorted into the house of lions. His brothers would avoid him when possible, and most found his lazy, rude, and slobby behaviour downright appalling. The same feeling of isolation lay with Hermione Granger, who was realising that she couldn't quite study her way into become skilled at flying; people disliked her for her arrogance and standoffish attitude. Harry just thought she had some sort of vendetta against him.
Harry patted his friends shoulder, the human contact something he was still getting used to thanks to Katie Bell, and spoke to him sympathetically. "It'll be okay Neville, you'll see."
His friend smiled at him then, but on Friday afternoon, with the humiliation of losing control of his broom and having Madam Hooch, the flying instructor, drag him to be fixed up, caused all thoughts of smiling to go straight out the window.
"Did you see the way Longbottom fell?"
There was Malfoy, shooting his mouth off again. Harry didn't find it in him to dislike people; instead of directing negative thoughts toward others, it would be directed into himself. However, he was finding the boy who was Draco Malfoy, to be someone who left a bad taste in his mouth when dealt with.
"Look what the fat lard dropped." It was the Remembrall that he had proudly shown Harry that he received as a gift from his grandmother.
Within minutes, Malfoy was showing off in the air, taunting Harry to come follow as he knew he was Neville's friend. The other Gryffindor's had tried to berate Malfoy for mocking Neville, but Harry kept quiet, not finding his bravery to speak out. Hearing Malfoy's barbs had Harry feeling ashamed. How could he call himself a friend of the missing boy if he couldn't even stick up for him?
He swung his legs over the broom, without saying a word, and shot off after the blond. With the wind flowing through his hair, the sights he was viewing, and just simply flying, felt almost second nature to Harry. Draco then had said something to him, but Harry was feeling some apprehension as now he was up there he had no idea what he was going to do next. He didn't even pretend to act like he had been listening
Malfoy huffed in annoyance, thinking that the Potter was deliberately ignoring him, so he smirked and lobbed the Remembrall as high and as far as he could.
Harry didn't hesitate, so worried was he at catching the speeding ball, he dived after it, catching it safely in his hand mere millimetres from the ground.
When Professor McGonagall came storming outside to drag him in, his housemates swarmed her and jumped straight to his defence. All of them. Harry was confused at this due to some of their behaviour to him these past few weeks, but he still smiled through his terror at his coming reprimand. His smile was wider when the Professor allowed him to see Neville in the hospital wing before the coming punishment.
The happy thank you he received allowed him to get the strength to not break down after that point as he followed the Deputy Headmistress.
The fact that he was summarily rewarded instead of disciplined just made him confused. But he would take all the victories he could get, and instead of the trepidation he had begun with, he realised he was starting to enjoy his time at Hogwarts.
Authors note - Some lines taken directly are from Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone (Snape)
This chapter is just setting the stage for where Harry is at academically and magically. Compared to canon Harry, you can clearly see how different he is. Just imagine you've been thrown into a land of magic, into a place that teaches you magic. I personally understand the want to learn everything I could about it. Those who grow up around magic have it as a common occurrence, but someone like Harry or Hermione would be near obsessed with mastering it.
It may also seem like I'm bashing certain characters. I don't see it as actual bashing, more like exaggerating their personalities a bit, then fitting them into my version of this world. For example, Ron's character: he is selfish and lazy, but is redeemable in some aspects. He is also still a child.
About the ease in which Harry fits in with the older Gryffindor's is something I remember when I started school, and was practically adopted by a couple of them when they saw how difficult it was for me to make friends. It wouldn't take much for these characters, I believe, to see Harry as someone to look out for and take under their wings. The fact he's Harry Potter helps too I suppose. However, Harry is a fragile, tender soul here, he wont be someone who is just some weak willed character however; there will be showings of an emotionally Harry mixed in with the weak. This is only the beginning of a long time plot-wise, and he still has time to grow.
Also, a bit ashamed to admit it, but I struggle to write dialogue scenes. I will try to put it in as much as I can, but please don't hold it against me if it's more descriptive and less talking.
My ideas for the timetable is that in most schools, there are multiple teachers per subject. Hogwarts only has 1 teacher per subject, with four houses per year, most likely split into 2 classes per year, with 7 years. That leads to 14 potential lessons a day. There is no way that there is enough time to do it all. Also, I could totally see them required to participate in private study to better themselves.
So I gave Harry a powerful wand, but if you remember, it's a unique one. Unlike the Elder Wand, who's core is the same, it isn't perfect. I gave Harry the potential to utilise powerful spells (hope you liked my take on differing power too), but there is still that drawback of a delay. Everything has a balance – the good = power, the bad = time delay.
Next Chapter – Meeting the Team
Thanks for reading, and stay safe.
KhaosOnion