Ch-3: Siri, are Dungbombs needed in Potions?

Harry yawned as he sat up on his bed.

Today was his first day back at Hogwarts. He stood up and took his bag out of his trunk. He proceeded to stuff in a blank roll of parchment, a sealed pot of ink and a quill. Today was the first day and he didn't know the timetable, so he would just not carry his books until tomorrow.

Harry closed his trunk and started walking to the Great Hall alone, his bag resting on his shoulders. His dorm mates seemed to have woken up early or they were sleeping in the Common Room, he didn't care to check if that was true due to the huge amounts of people sleeping there.

Last night had been a huge party, organised by the Sixth Year students and of course, the majority of the House joined, so they were partying until they literally dropped down.

'Gryffindor has always been like this, I suppose', Harry mused as he sat down to eat breakfast.

A nearby Fifth Year groaned as he held his head. The boy said, "I really should have slept yesterday!"

The boy's friend said, "It is your fault. I told you to come up, didn't I?"

Harry ignored the duo as he kept eating.
_

Harry entered the Transfiguration classroom and sat on the last bench, he really hated sitting in the front. As he sat, he noticed a girl in the front seat. The girl had short dark blonde and square glasses. She was reading her textbook diligently.

Sometime later, a cat walked in. She stared at Harry and the girl before walking to the front desk and jumping on top of it. Seems like McGonagall has arrived.

About ten minutes had passed by and Harry was scribbling on a piece of parchment when the third student entered. He went and sat in the front row. Well, he was a Ravenclaw, so Harry had already guessed it.

It was then that the students started trickling in with groups. A trio of Ravenclaw girls. A duo of Ravenclaw boys. A Ravenclaw boy and a Gryffindor girl. And on and on and on . . . they all kept coming slowly.

As James entered, he scanned the room and rushed to Harry. He sat down with a sigh and asked Harry, "Couldn't you have woken me up?"

"No." Harry kept scribbling.

James peeked and asked, "What are you doing?"

Harry muttered, "Nothing."

"Nice cat, mate."

"Shut up."

The last student crashed in (A Gryffindor girl) and sat next to the Ravenclaw boy in the front row. The students, at this point, were chatting among themselves or reading their books or just staring at the cat.

The cat jumped off the table and turned into McGonagall.

"Wicked!" cried a young Sirius Black. When did he enter?

"Thank you, Mr Black", McGonagall commented and turned towards the class. She said, "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts. Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

She looked around to see if they all agreed and continued, "Today, we will start by doing something small."

"Aw", some students whined.

McGonagall rolled her eyes and explained, "Due to this being your first class, I can confidently say that you haven't used your magic consciously yet, therefore I will be starting small. Is that understood to all?!"

Every student nodded and she continued, "Today, we will transform a match into a needle. It is one of the simplest transfigurations. Please take out your books and wands, you will be needing them both."

Those who hadn't done so began shuffling around and taking out their things. Harry noticed Peter Pettigrew bumping into the desk as he took out his wand and had a hard time controlling his amusement.

"Now", said McGonagall, "turn to page 2 of your textbook and read it. If you have any questions, ask me. When you are done, we will continue further."

And they did continue further, a lot more than they expected.

Because this was a double period, they had a lot more time than they would have. Due to this, every student got the hang of the spell before the end of the class and McGonagall told them that they would have no homework for the day.

She also taught them a new spell.

Now, Harry had been subtly not trying to focus on the spell previously, to not stand out for doing the spell in one go. He hadn't been caught the first time but in the second spell, he was not so lucky this time.

This time, they had to turn their needles back to matches and as McGonagall was monitoring, she noticed Harry and James. She said, "Mr Potter, that is not the way."

James and Harry looked at her in confusion together. She sighed and muttered something to herself.

She said to James, "You continue your work, Mr James Potter, you have been doing astoundingly well." and turned to Harry, "Mr Harry Potter, your focus should be on your needle, not outside."

Harry spoke, "It won't happen again, Professor."

McGonagall said severely, "I hope it doesn't." and went back to her monitoring.

By the time class ended, not five students had completed the spell. The four who had done it were James, Harry, a young Lily Evans and the Ravenclaw boy who entered the classroom after Harry.

As the students stood up, McGonagall stated with an almost unnoticeable smile, "Mr Potter, Mr Potter and Miss Evans, take a point for Gryffindor each. As for you, Mr Stebbins, take a point for Ravenclaw."

The four of them nodded with a small smile and exited with the rest of the students.
_

"Whew!" exclaimed James, "That was fun. I think I liked this one!"

Harry said with a small smile, "It's the only subject we have had yet."

James turned around and looked at Harry. "So", he said, "How does that matter? It isn't like I will not like it even if I find something fun."

Harry chuckled and said, "That is true."
_

"Stop talking, Mr Longbottom. You too, Miss McKinnon. Now, good afternoon to all of you! I am Professor Slughorn, I know it is a rather funny name, Mr Black", Slughorn said as he heartily chuckled. He said to all the students with a huge smile, "Now, today we will not be making a potion but don't be disappointed, children. We need to learn the safety procedures first, right?"

Slughorn paused to look at the students, some of whom nodded and a Hufflepuff said yes.

After lunch, Harry and James had Herbology and Potions, with the former being a double period with Slytherins and the latter being a double period with Hufflepuffs. Herbology didn't happen this time due to an unexpected accident in the sixth-year class, so Potions was the only class left for today.

Slughorn continued, his thick moustache with each word he said, "Brilliant! Now, take out your textbooks. Very good, Miss Fortescue, you have already taken it out, and you too, Miss Evans! Wonderful!"

Harry felt this lesson was much better than anything Snape could have done but Merlin, he really hoped that the lessons progressed quicker than whatever speed this is.

By the end of this lesson, most of the students were joking with Slughorn, James and Sirius (who Harry was too scared to approach) included. It really seemed, though, that the Professor had taken a certain liking to Lily Evans (who Harry couldn't even begin to think about).

Harry had thought he would be friends with Lupin, Sirius, his dad and mum when he entered this time but no, he was too scared to even approach them. At least, James was forced upon him by Dumbledore and James himself. Harry just wished he could approach the others as easily.
_

For the Potions lesson, the students were assigned a way to keep themselves safe in the class with the catch being that they could not take help from any book, including the one they had. They had to understand how to be safe themselves due to the serious risk in Potions. The worst part was they had to write 12 inches.

Harry could understand that but honestly, screw this. He just wanted to make the Potions already, not be stuck in some silly precaution, most would just make up stuff, as James did. The first line he wrote was, 'One shouldn't be naughty enough to play with Dungbombs in a Potions classroom as we all know, so trying to hide them is a must for any student'.

It was evening right now and Sirius Black entered the Common Room with James, both of them covered in black goo and a huge smirk on both of their faces. They sat down next to Harry and James said, "Harry, I have found a better brother than you. Meet Sirius Black."