Disclaimer: I own none of the things you already know of.
Harry Potter and the Smallest Change.
Chapter 04. Hogwarts' first year, Part 2. 1991.
Harry felt out of place, falling back into the school routine of classes and homework. But over the next few weeks, he developed a routine which helped him to handle everything.
Monday to Thursday, he spent time with his friends and studied for classes. He completed his homework and made to-do lists for the weekends. Each morning, he would wake up early and explore the castle and the grounds. Friday night after dinner, he would go up to the Room of Requirement to continue his time-enhanced training.
A discussion with Hermione in History of Magic made him consider incorporating muggle training methods into his weekends.
On the weekends, he spent the entire time in the Room of Requirement, training his body and his magic to be prepared to protect Holly and his other loved ones. The first 'day' in the Room of Requirement, Harry used to get ahead with schoolwork, working through his textbooks doing self-study. He spent the remaining time in the Room learning new spells and exercising using muggle exercise machines the room provided at his request.
Harry sent constant letters back and forth to his parents, Holly, and Fleur. He stored the stack of replies in a specific draw of his desk, secured with locking spells he learnt in the Room.
After a month at the school, the Room of Requirement looked much different from when Harry first used it.
It was at least the size of the Great Hall. It had a running track around the outside, with target dummies lining the wall opposite the door. In the centre of the room sat a collection of muggle exercise machines. Some worked his upper body, others his lower body. Other machines worked muscles he didn't even know he had until he used them.
Harry made sure to not overdo his physical training. He was still a child, after all. The many books the room provided about physical training stressed the importance of not pushing his young body too hard, or else he could damage it beyond repair.
Magically, he trained himself by casting spells at the dummies, using this time on the weekends to learn any spells he came across during the week, and those he read in the books the Room provided.
It was a common occurrence for Harry to be lying on the ground, covered in sweat after target practice, or using the muggle machines.
A few times he questioned why he was putting himself through all this effort, pushing his body and his magic so hard with this gruelling routine. But every time the doubt crept into his mind, he remembered the time in Diagon Alley when he met Fenrir Greyback, when he and Holly and been so scared. He thought about what would have happened to them if Harry's magic hadn't repelled the werewolf. He wondered whether they would have been killed or abducted and turned on the next full moon.
That thought, or one like it, would flash in his mind every time he doubted himself.
With every week he spent at school, he noticed that his magic came easier to him. His spells came faster and were cast with more power. Every week of classes he found that the assigned work came easier to him, with how he worked ahead on the weekend and magic felt more natural to him the more he used it.
In his classes, he noticed both Hermione and Daphne scowling at his quick improvement, with no extra effort as far as they could see.
On his fifth weekend in the Room of Requirement, he realised that sometimes, he put more magic into his spells. If he pushed more magic into a spell, it would be a more powerful version, but he tired himself out faster than normal casting.
Harry frowned at the log hanging from the ceiling of the Room. Three logs hung from the ceiling, all in a line. Each log was as thick as he was. He drew his wand and narrowed his eyes as he focussed his magic on the left-hand log.
'Diffindo.' Harry called, firing a severing charm at the log. It struck the log and left a deep gouge in it. The cut was only a few centimetres deep but spread across the entire log.
Harry turned to the middle log and took a deep breath. He focussed his magic and readied himself to use it to overpower his next charm.
'Diffindo.' Harry called, forcing his magic through his wand, overpowering it. His wand bucked in his hand and his aim was off. The spell still hit the centre log, but twenty centimetres too high.
However, the charm sheared the log in half, the lower section fell to the stone floor with a loud crash before it fell on its side and lay still.
Harry gasped in deep breaths as the draw on his magic faded. He felt lightheaded for a moment before he caught his breath. He sat down on the floor for a few minutes before he took a deep breath and stood, and pointed his wand at the third log.
'Diffindo.' He said, and unleashed his third severing charm, but he followed it up with another and another until finally, after at least two dozen, the bottom section of the third log fell to the floor, cut in half.
But the draw on his magic was nowhere near as heavy. He sat again and stared at the two fallen logs, wondering why it took so much more magic to cut it half with one spell than it did to do it with two dozen normal strength ones.
He pulled out his notebook and scribbled his thoughts down with a pen he drew out from the same pocket as the notebook.
Harry's rigorous routine at Hogwarts was broken almost two months after starting Hogwarts. It was Halloween and Harry was returning to class after taking a bathroom break. He heard someone sobbing as they ran around a corner away from the Charms' classroom.
Harry narrowed his eyes and remembered that Hermione had Charms at the moment. He ran to the corner the sobbing person had run toward and saw a mane of bushy hair disappear around another corner.
Hermione.
He ran down the corridor and where it intersected with another, he paused. He looked down the three corridors.
Harry sighed.
He wished he had the marauders map his dad and Sirius told him about. Harry ran forward and searched for Hermione, hoping that he'd find some clue where she'd gone. As he ran, he wracked his mind for spells that could track people and came up empty. He made a mental note to research tracking spells in the future, then continued his search.
It was almost two hours later, and Harry still wandered the halls searching for his bushy haired friend. He was sure they were missing the Halloween Feast, and Harry wondered if she had maybe just gone to her common room.
Then he heard a scream.
Harry drew his wand and ran toward the scream. A minute later, he heard a crash as something huge was nearby. Its heavy footfalls made the ground vibrate as he drew near.
A deep rumbling roar of something echoed down the corridor, and he figured it also made the thumping footfalls. A deep crash sounded nearby, and Harry's gaze was drawn to the door of a girl's bathroom.
Harry ran to it and as he stepped inside, he froze in place.
In the room stood a Mountain Troll. In its right hand, the monster held a club the size of a canoe. The creature was at least twelve feet tall and its head almost reached the ceiling. The thing roared and swung its club at the toilet stalls, which exploded, sending shards of porcelain and wood splinters throughout the bathroom.
Water sprayed out of the destroyed toilets and sinks and covered the floor with a layer of water.
Harry ignored that, though.
He heard a scream again and his eyes zeroed in on a cowering, bushy haired girl who hid under a sink in the corner of the room.
Hermione.
Harry growled.
He'd read about Trolls before he'd gone to Hogwarts. He'd read about the many creatures that could conceivably harm Holly and he'd made copious notes about the creatures and how resistant to magic their skin was.
Harry narrowed his eyes at the massive creature.
'Hermione.' He called, drawing her attention, and inadvertently doing the same for the Troll.
Hermione stared at him with tear-stained cheeks and the Troll blinked at him, its simple intelligence recognising him, likely as prey.
'Get out of here as soon as you can once I start casting.' Harry shouted before he turned to meet the enraged gaze of the simple creature.
The Troll took a step toward him. The ground shook with the impact and Harry took a steadying breath and drew his magic to him. A plan came to him, and he wanted to discard it as foolish, but after a few more seconds, nothing better came to him.
The creature took another rumbling step and let out a deafening roar.
'Distract it for a moment, I need it facing you for my plan to work.' Harry shouted at Hermione.
The girl looked terrified, but at his words, she nodded and stood, ignoring the tears streaming down her face.
'Flippendo.' She shouted and a jet of blue light shot out of her wand, hitting the Troll in the back of its bald head.
Harry blinked in surprise; they hadn't covered that hex in class yet.
The Troll roared and spun around. It swung its club backhanded and destroyed the rest of the toilet stalls as it turned to face Hermione, who quailed under its wrath.
Harry darted forward. His time in the Room of Requirement had improved his speed and agility. He leapt onto the creature's back, springing off a ruined bathroom stall beside it. He wrapped a hand around the creature's head and took hold of its protruding brow while his other hand crammed his wand up the creature's nose.
Before he could allow any doubt into his mind about the only plan he came up with, he acted.
'Diffindo.' He screamed, pouring as much of his magic into the spell as he could gather.
His wand bucked in his hand; the recoil of the overpowered spell pushed his hand away from the creature's face.
His spell not only incapacitated the Troll like he'd hoped, but it also burst out from the back of the creature's skull and cut into his shoulder, almost removing it from his body.
Harry fell back on the floor with a splash, the water spraying through the room from the ruined toilets and sinks mixing with the blood pouring from his wound, staining the water that covered the floor red with blood.
Harry saw his wand fall to the floor in front of the Troll, its body swayed in place.
The creature had only half a head after Harry's spell.
Harry clutched his wounded arm and screamed in agony; blood gushed through his fingers as he stared in horror at the swaying corpse of a twelve-foot Troll. It teetered backward, but then fell forward, landing in the bloody water pooling at its feet. Blood gushed out of its half skull to mix with Harry's.
Hermione rushed over to him. She held her wand in her hand and stared at the blood flowing through his fingers.
'Harry, I-I don't know what to do. Please don't die.' Hermione cried; fresh tears poured down her face.
A pair of gasps came from the doorway, and Harry turned his darkening gaze toward them to see Neville and Ron staring at the dead Troll in shock. Then a moment later, the Professors arrived.
His vision grew darker and Harry saw McGonagall and Snape standing behind the two Gryffindors, along with Professor Quirrell.
Harry blinked once before darkness claimed him.
Harry woke to a white room. Though he was still dizzy, he noticed a white-haired woman fussing with the sheets on his bed. Harry groaned and tried to sit up, but white-hot pain flared from his shoulder, and he fell back on the bed with a hiss, his right hand going to his left shoulder. As his hand touched his shoulder, the white-hot pain erupted again, and he tore his hand away with a gasp.
'Mister Potter, please just rest. We haven't quite fixed up your shoulder yet.' The white-haired woman tutted as she waved her wand over his body, then focussed on her, waving over his shoulder.
'Where am I?' Harry croaked; his throat dry. The woman huffed before waving her wand at something behind him.
A glass of water floated in front of him, and he took it with his right hand.
He drunk the whole glass with greedy lips.
'You're in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts and I am Madame Pomphrey.' The woman announced as she went back to work on his shoulder.
'Normally students don't find themselves here so quickly.' She tutted, leaning over to inspect his shoulder and frowning.
'You've been asleep since last night. It's Friday afternoon now.' Pomphrey explained, and Harry sighed.
Harry waited until she had finished waving her wand over him.
'When can I leave, ma'am?' Harry asked with as little impatience as possible.
The woman didn't fall for it.
'You'll leave when I release you, young man. You're just as bad as your father. Besides, now that you are awake, the Professors will have some questions for you. They should be here soon.' She said before leaving his bed.
'Your wound is closed, but because the damage was so extensive, I'm afraid you'll have a scar. Magic has its limits after all.' Madame Pomphrey explained, and Harry shrugged, then stared at his left shoulder.
There was no pain.
He touched it, ran his fingers across the fresh, pink skin. The scar was a straight line between his chest and arm, and Harry saw how close he must have been to cutting his arm off with the spell he used to kill the Troll.
The door to the Hospital Wing opened and Professor Dumbledore walked into the room with more vigour than a man half his age. Behind him came Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Quirrell. The four Professors stood around Harry's bed; Dumbledore, and McGonagall with expressions of disappointment. While Snape sneered and Quirrell wore an expression Harry couldn't quite place.
'You are lucky to be alive after your foolish actions, Mister Potter.' Dumbledore admonished a moment later. The man's blue eyes were hard as they stared at him.
'Why do you believe my actions to be foolish Headmaster?' Harry challenged, his eyes narrowed.
The four Professors stared at him in disbelief, their mouths agape.
'I had been searching for my friend Hermione since she was bullied in class by her housemates.' Harry paused, looking hard at Professor McGonagall.
'We missed the Feast, where I assume the Troll's presence was announced. So how were we supposed to know there was a Troll in the castle?' Harry paused again, this time meeting Dumbledore's gaze.
'A place that was supposed to be the safest place in Britain. I've never seen a Troll before coming here.' Harry said, looking around the Hospital Wing.
'And why exactly is my head of house not here with you? Professor Sprout should be present if I am to be interrogated.' Harry kept the Headmaster's blue-eyed gaze.
'Why are my actions considered foolish when all I'd done was to find a friend in need before fighting a creature that shouldn't be in the school to begin with?' Harry growled and silence filled the room.
On the left of Harry's bed, Professor Snape's face twisted into a look of grudging respect, tinged with a dash of amusement. McGonagall stared, speechless, as Quirrell looked almost pained at the situation.
Dumbledore nodded once.
'My apologies, Mister Potter. I admit I didn't have the entire story before jumping to conclusions. I thought you had gone after the Troll.' Dumbledore said, each word coming slowly, like he was carefully choosing his words.
Harry blinked at the old man before he scoffed.
'Why would anyone sane go searching for a Troll?' he asked, incredulous, and received a few awkward glances in return.
McGonagall cleared her throat and broke the awkward silence.
'What happened in the fight, Mister Potter?' she asked.
Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
'It was a stupid plan, but it was the best I could come up with on the spot.' He admitted before he took another breath and explained the events that occurred after he entered the bathroom.
The four Professors stared at him, mouths agape.
Snape cleared his throat, his black eyes narrowed on Harry.
'So, you say that you sent an overpowered Severing Charm at the Troll from inside its nose to bypass the magic resistant skin?' Snape questioned.
Harry nodded before groaning, one hand shooting up to press against his forehead. His brain felt tender.
Snape blinked.
'You are nothing like your father.' The sallow man declared and at Harry's blank look, the man sighed.
'That is a good thing.' Snape said before he swept away from the group and left the Hospital Wing, his cloak flaring out behind him.
A few seconds passed in silence.
'Does anyone else know how to do that?' Harry asked.
Quirrell sighed and shook his head, following Snape. Which left Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore standing watch over Harry's bed.
'I'm afraid young Mister Potter, that only Severus knows how to be so dramatic.' Dumbledore said and Harry blinked at the man wearing bright purple robes with orange stars.
Professor McGonagall huffed and left the Hospital Wing.
Dumbledore sighed.
'Fifty points to Hufflepuff for courage and determination in the face of danger, to protect a friend.' The old man closed his eyes for a moment before taking a broken wand out of his pocket and placing it on Harry's bedside table.
It was his Holly and Phoenix feather wand.
Harry stared at it in horror.
'We found it underneath the Troll. The creature collapsed on top of it and crushed it.' Dumbledore paused as Harry fought to retain his relatively clear mind thanks to years of meditation with Remus.
'I have contacted Mister Olivander to come to the school, seeing as it is a quiet time of year for him.' The Headmaster pulled out a fob watch from his robes, checking it before returning it.
'He should be here any moment.'
Seconds later, the somewhat creepy wand maker entered the Hospital Wing with his piercing gaze on Harry.
As the wand maker approached Harry's bed, the man gave Dumbledore's knobbly wand a distrustful look before he turned back to Harry. When the old wand maker's gaze fell on Harry's wand, a look of heartbreak crossed his features.
Not saying a word, Olivander moved to the wand. He picked it up and looked at it from all directions.
'This wand is damaged beyond repair. The Phoenix feather is broken.' Olivander announced.
Harry's heart sank.
Olivander turned to Dumbledore, a calculating expression on his hawk like eyes.
'Perhaps, Fawkes would deign to replace the feather for young Harry here?' Olivander asked, his gaze boring into Dumbledore's.
Dumbledore nodded once and a moment later, in a burst of flames, a Phoenix exploded into the room.
Harry gaped at the majestic bird of fire.
The Phoenix, Fawkes, trilled a cheerful note at seeing the Headmaster and the wand maker. Then its black eyes fell on the broken wand in Ollivander's hands, and its song turned mournful.
Tears sprang to Harry's eyes as the song tore at his emotions. He wondered if he was feeling the bird's emotions or if it brought out his that he fought to control.
The Phoenix landed on the end of the bed; its black eyes locked on Harry's. The large bird hopped onto the blanket and a few moments later, it had moved until it was only centimetres from Harry's face.
As the Phoenix's gaze pierced him, Harry felt like the bird was peering into his soul. It was not a pleasant experience.
With a happy chirp, Fawkes leant its head over Harry's wounded shoulder and released a single tear. As the tear fell on the scar, it faded until it was little more than a discolouration.
Harry blinked as the Phoenix disappeared in a flash of flames, leaving behind a single tail feather on Harry's chest.
Olivander leant over and picked up the feather with a wide smile.
'Well, young man. I will return tomorrow with a new wand for you.' The wand maker announced. He tucked Harry's broken wand into his robes, along with the new feather. The man left the room in a hurry.
Harry turned to the Headmaster.
'How is Hermione, sir? She wasn't hurt the last time I saw her.' He asked.
'Miss Granger is fine.' The old man gave a tired shake of his head.
'Misters Longbottom and Weasley led the Professors to the bathroom, which they'd been told that Miss Granger holed herself up in since an altercation in Charms.' The Headmaster started.
Harry nodded.
'Yes, the two boys were likely the ones who made her runaway crying in the first place.' Harry said.
Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at Harry, disappointment clear in his gaze.
'You should be more appreciative of those who were instrumental in your rescue. Anything else just smacks of petty jealousy.' The Headmaster rebuked.
Harry quirked an eyebrow at the grandfatherly disappointment on display. He released a frustrated sigh. There was no way the Headmaster would hear anything to impugn the honour of the Boy-Who-Lived.
Instead, Harry shrugged.
The door opened to the Hospital Wing, to reveal Hermione with a bright red face.
Dumbledore clapped his hands.
'Wonderful timing Miss Granger, I believe Mister Potter was quite worried about you.' The old man smiled at the bushy haired girl before turning to Harry.
'I leave you in Miss Granger's capable hands.' The Headmaster announced before he left the room, whistling a jaunty tune.
Harry shook his head at the Headmaster's strange behaviour before smiling at a silent and still red Hermione.
'I'm glad you're safe.' He said, a smile on his face.
She mumbled something he couldn't hear.
'Can you repeat that, sorry?' Harry asked, and his smile grew wider.
Hermione took a deep breath and met his gaze.
'Thank you for saving me.' She said, and he shook his head.
'Think nothing of it. It's what friends do.' He says and Hermione made to say something, but the doors opened again.
Neville strolled into the room, Ron behind him.
The two boys stood on either side of Hermione.
'Are the two of you feeling okay?' Harry asked, raising an eyebrow at the boys.
'I'm glad we arrived in time. According to the Professors, you would have died a few minutes later.' Ron's face paled.
'You were bleeding, a lot.' Ron looked a little green.
Harry stared at the red-haired boy.
Neville smirked at Harry.
'You know what, Potter? You probably owe us both a Life Debt now. So much for the Heir of the House of Potter. At this rate, you'll owe Life Debts to half the school by the time you inherit the House.' Neville's smirk widened as Harry turned his gaze on the Boy-Who-Lived.
Harry stared at the boy; disbelief clear on his face.
'Hermione probably does too actually, without me and Ron arriving with the Professors, who knows what would have happened?' Neville crowed.
Harry turned a reassuring smile onto Hermione, who had grown pale. He shook his head once before turning back to Neville.
'Who was the one who caused the situation in the first place? Why was Hermione in that bathroom, Brother?' Harry asked with narrowed eyes.
Neville turned red and his jaw tightened.
'Ron, we need to go.' Neville snapped, then turned to Hermione and raised both eyebrows.
'Are you coming, Hermione? We could use your help; goodness knows that we're not as good a student as you are.' Neville admitted, looking anything but contrite.
Hermione's eyes widened in surprise as she looked between Harry and Neville for a few seconds. Harry met her gaze, and she looked torn before she nodded to herself.
'Feel better soon Harry.' She said, then followed behind Neville and Ron as they left the Hospital Wing.
As they walked out of the door, Harry heard Neville's voice.
'Say Hermione, what do you know about Cerberus'?'
Harry rolled his eyes and sighed. He hoped Hermione wouldn't come to regret her choice. He knew she was desperate for friends in her own house. But to follow your bullies?
Harry shrugged to himself. Better the devil you know, he supposed.
Harry relaxed back into his bed, letting out a groan as he settled. A few minutes later, Hedwig flew in through an open window, almost as if she knew she was needed. She perched on the end of his bed stared at him with amber eyes.
Harry leaned over the bed, and found he had nothing to write on.
'Hogwarts House-Elf please.' Harry called and a moment later, a pop sounded, and a House-Elf stood next to his bed.
'How can Wonty help the young Potter, sir?' it asked, and Harry smiled at it.
'Would you be able to get me some paper and a pen to write some letters?' he asked, and the little creature just stared at him.
Harry sighed.
'How about some parchment and a self-inking quill?' he asked, and the little creature beamed and popped away and reappeared a few seconds later with a stack of parchment and the self-inking quill.
'Thank you very much Wonty.' Harry smiled and the little creature disappeared with a pop.
Harry wrote a letter to his parents first, telling them what happened, and that he was okay, but needed a new wand, which should arrive tomorrow. He wrote a letter to Holly, telling her what happened while leaving out the scary parts and trying to make it sound like an adventure.
Harry wrote a third letter, this time to Fleur, telling her what happened, but going into more detail about the Professor's reactions to him saving a student from a twelve-foot Troll. He told her he was looking forward to Christmas when he would see her again, if she was still going to the ball, of course.
Looking down at his letter to Fleur, he had to admit that he was ranting a little about the Professor's but shrugged.
Harry looked up to call Hedwig, but at some stage the Snowy Owl had moved beside him, and he smiled at the bird, certain she could read his mind. He gave her the letters.
'Okay, so deliver the ones for Holly and my parents first, then deliver Fleur's, okay?' Harry asked and Hedwig gave a bark that Harry was sure was along the lines of 'Of course I'll do that.'.
The bird took off out of the window and Harry was alone again.
His letters written and sent away, Harry lay back in the bed and gave in to the need for sleep.
Harry opened his eyes. Sunlight shone in through the windows and an obnoxious bird sung on the ledge of the open windows. He groaned and looked around himself. He froze as he saw his father sitting in a chair beside the bed, looking like he hadn't slept.
James' head hung in his hands, his palms pressing against his eyes.
'Hey dad.' Harry croaked and James jerked back and stared at him for a moment before crushing him in an embrace.
'Harry, I'm so glad you're okay. We got your letter last night and rushed straight here. Your mother is in the Headmaster's office. I'm surprised we can't hear her from here.' James tried to joke, and Harry sighed.
'I didn't want to worry anybody with the letter I sent you guys.' Harry admitted, and James scoffed.
'That ship sailed a long time ago kiddo.' James paused and cocked his head to the side, looking at Harry with an intense gaze.
'You've grown.' James said.
Harry grinned.
'That's what kids do.' Harry smirked.
James grinned and shook his head.
'Okay kiddo, can you tell me the entire story?' James asked.
Harry sighed and nodded.
Harry told James the story starting from the seeing Hermione running out of her Charms class until he wrote the letter the night before. Lily arrived in the Hospital Wing mid-way through the story and, as he finished, the two shared a look that Harry had seen many times before. It was a look that shared an entire conversation.
James ran a hand through his hair, holding Lily's hand with his other.
'Hogwarts is going to be watched closely from now on, Harry. There is something fishy going on and we considered pulling you from the school.' James continued, but was cut off by Harry.
'I want to stay.'
Lily smiled at him.
'We will not pull you out. Your father will have Aurors stationed at the school for safety.' Lily explained and Harry beamed at her before the door to the Hospital Wing opened.
Olivander walked into the room, Dumbledore beside him and together the two old men moved to Harry's opposite side. Once he stopped, Olivander drew a wand out of his robes and presented it to Harry.
'Young Mister Potter, I have enjoyed remaking your wand. It is still Holly and Phoenix feather, much like it was before. However, the wood has been reinforced, and it now contains both feathers, the old broken one and the new one.' The wand maker wore a rather creepy smile as he handed the wand to Harry.
Harry held the wand and felt warmth flood through his body as his magic reacted to the new wand. It was above and beyond anything the wand had triggered before it broke.
'This wand is now undoubtedly my greatest creation. As far as I am aware, only one wand on this island is more capable.' The old man declared and glanced toward Dumbledore for a moment before turning back to Harry.
'The bucking you experienced with your old wand shouldn't be an issue with this one. It was caused by the wand not being able to keep up with the pure magic flowing through it.' Olivander explained and Harry only stared at his wand.
Harry blinked and tore his gaze from his wand.
'How did you know it used to buck?' Harry asked and Olivander only smiled in answer.
Beside his bed, James, and Lily stared at Harry with wide eyes.
Harry cleared his throat.
'Thank you, sir, for fixing my wand. I don't know what I would do without it.' Harry smiled at the man, who only nodded.
Harry turned to his parents.
'How is Holly doing?' he asked.
Both his parents glanced at each other and gasped.
'Oh my god, James, we left her and Charlus at home.' Lily breathed; the colour drained from her face.
Both leapt forward and embraced him.
'We love you and we'll see you soon, I promise.' James said.
'We have to go; your siblings have been alone all morning.' Lily said and kissed his cheeks.
They both stood back and gave Dumbledore a fierce glare before they ran out of the room.
Harry blinked as the door closed behind them and turned back to Olivander and Dumbledore.
Olivander gave a soft grin.
'I believe we can expect great things from you, Mister Potter.' The wand maker said before he and the Headmaster left the room.
Madame Pomphrey walked into the room and glanced up at the clock on the wall. She turned back to Harry and waved her wand over his brow. She sighed.
'Okay Mister Potter, you seem to have recovered. You can leave, but I don't want you to do anything strenuous for the rest of the weekend.' Pomphrey declared, giving him a stern stare.
Harry beamed and climbed out of bed. He tested his arm, stretching it and found no pain.
He grinned and turned to the white-haired woman.
'Thank you, Madame Pomphrey. Don't take this the wrong way, but I hope not to see you anytime soon.' Harry smiled, and the Matron laughed.
'Same with you Mister Potter, now off with you.' She shooed him, and he rushed out of the Hospital Wing before she could change her mind.
He went straight for the Room of Requirement and spent the rest of the weekend in the room, testing his new wand and returning to his research and training.
On Monday morning, Harry sat at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall. Daphne sat next to him.
Not many students were in the Hall and Daphne stared at him with narrowed eyes.
'What were you thinking? Risking yourself for a girl who doesn't even appreciate what you did for her.' She hissed, careful to keep any eavesdroppers from hearing her.
'It's okay. If Hermione wants to make friends with her housemates, I'm fine with that. She doesn't owe me anything.' Harry shook his head.
Daphne scoffed.
'You know that she actually does, right? A Life Debt no less.' Daphne asked, and Harry groaned.
'I told her to ignore it. That closed the issue, didn't it?' Harry said, drawing his fingers down his face.
Daphne rolled her eyes.
'Were you truly raised as an Heir? Life Debts are things that Heirs should know about.' She quirked an eyebrow.
Harry clenched his jaw, then sighed.
'I paid little attention to them to be honest.' He admitted.
Daphne groaned and brushed a stray hair out of her face.
'Harry, Life Debts are important. Magic itself binds the two people together, not against their will, really. But it makes it so the person who is owing will feel obligated to return the Life Debt.' She paused, a finger on her chin.
'Sometimes it's a marriage contract, or money, or business. Sometimes they are just friends for the rest of their lives, the owing party trying to be there to repay the Debt.' Daphne explained, and Harry ran both hands through his hair.
'How do I get rid of it, if it's even there?' he sighed.
Daphne grinned, mischief in her eyes.
'You'll have to marry her or get her parents to pay you.' She smirked.
'Life Debts are dumb.' Harry grumbled.
'The Gryffindor doesn't even appreciate it.' Daphne said.
Harry sat back in his chair, covering his face with his hands, and let out a groan.
'Daphne. She appreciates it.' He said, earning a raised eyebrow in question.
'What do you know about Hermione?' he continued, dropping his hands, and looking her in the eye.
Daphne blinked before frowning.
'She's a bossy know it all that is admittedly good at classes. Not as good as either of us, but still good.' she said, the words came slowly as she considered them. Harry gave her an encouraging smile.
'Go on.' Harry urged.
Daphne blinked again and was silent. She frowned, deep in thought, then sighed.
'I don't really know anything more about her.' She admitted. Harry smiled and nodded.
'That's what I assume most people see in her. Consider what those traits would lead to in social situations?' Harry asked and Daphne's eyes widened as she stared at Harry.
'She would likely not have any friends.' She breathed.
'Yes, and what effect might that have on her personality?' he probed.
Daphne closed her eyes and gave a heavy sigh.
'She would likely turn to the popular crowd to fit in, and who is more popular than the Boy-Who-Lived?' she answered and raised an eyebrow toward Harry.
'How long did it take you to figure her out?' she asked.
Harry ran a hand through his hair, he'd researched some psychology during his first few weekends in the Room of Requirement.
'A few weeks.' He murmured, and she gave him a strange look.
A moment later, Susan and Hannah sat down opposite them with bright smiles.
'Good morning, you two. Already eaten?' Hannah grinned, bubbly as always.
The next month and a half passed without fanfare. Hermione distanced herself from him in their classes together, sitting instead with Neville and Ron. Harry told Susan and Hannah what happened and told the two Hufflepuffs to stop glaring at Hermione at every opportunity. He told the two that Hermione could make whatever choices she wanted to; they would still be friends if she came to him for help.
Hannah rolled her eyes at him, but Susan gave him a long look and nodded before she dropped the subject.
Harry's weekend training continued. He pushed himself harder once he realised he wouldn't have access to the Room over the upcoming Christmas break.
The Monday morning that the students would leave for Christmas break arrived and Harry walked into the Great Hall, walking past Hermione, showing a large tome to Neville and Ron.
'That is light reading?' Ron asked, incredulous.
'Hush Ronald, I found out who Nicolas Flamel is. He created the Philosopher's Stone.' Hermione crowed to the two dumbstruck boys.
Harry shook his head as he went to sit beside Susan for breakfast.