Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. Before you read, I would like to say a few things. First, I made a new story, a Harry Potter and Inside Out crossover. It's called 'Riley's Friend (and Crush) is a Wizard'. If you want to check it out, you can.
Also, I made a poll for one of my upcoming stories. It's a Walking Dead (TV version) fanfic, with the game version fanfic being made as well. For the story, I want to know if you want Rick/oc or Rick/Beth. Vote on the poll on my profile.
On this chapter, they will be reading about the first classes. So, enjoy.
Diclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and the Gift of Memories.
Chapter 11: The Animagus Chapter
"And that's the end." Hannah said, shocking Lisa C.
"What?!" Lisa C exclaimed in shock. "But we haven't heard what house he got in!"
"It'll probably say which house in the next chapter." Neville said. "I can read next Hannah." Hannah pass the book to Neville and he began to read.
"Chapter 11: Animagus Animagi….." Neville reads.
Mcgonagall smile. This must have when Harry asked her questions about the Animagus ability. She wonders what he was thinking at the time.
His lungs were burning with each breath he took. His legs felt like they were made of led. His muscles were on fire, and every movement he made felt like someone was trying to tear his body apart. It was the ultimate form of torture.
Harry loved every minute of it.
"Wait a minute…." Lisa C said slowly before realization hit her. "You mean the book skipped the part where Harry get sorted?! Come on!" She wanted to see which house he would be in damn it!
Neville hid a smile in amusement. "Don't worry, I'm sure that this will tell you which house he will be in." He read ahead a bit and saw that it was the day after, so Harry will probably be going up the dorms soon.
It was the day after the Sorting Ceremony. The sun was still hiding behind the horizon, not yet risen high enough to cast anything more than a pale yellow light into the sky. And like most mornings, Harry Potter found himself exercising long before anyone else woke up.
"When does he wakes up?" Nymphadora asked the others. Anastasia answered it, after some thought, saying around four to five am. The younger Tonks whistled. That's earlier than most of the aurors get up at.
The morning air was crisp and cool as Harry pushed his body much harder than he usually did. Each ragged gasp that left his throat produced a light mist in the cold air of Scotland, though he knew most of it was due to his magic reacting to his overheating body. The cool morning air of Scotland combined with the elevated height made his work out this morning much more difficult than some of his other ones.
Even as his lungs heaved another ragged gasp, a smile made it's way to his face. There was something to be said about pushingsones body beyond it's physical limitations, of trying to break your previous boundaries. Harry always felt he was at his best when his work outs consisted of this kind of regime.
"The dude's crazy." Terry stated, with most of the others nodding in agreement. None of them knew anyone that would push themselves like Harry does and still have a smile on their face.
By the time Harry was finished his body was caked in sweat and his shoulders were heaving up and down as he gulped in as much oxygen as his lungs would allow.
The cool air of the morning hit his naked torso, and his pectoral muscles twitched from the contrast it presented between the cold morning air and his overheating body.
The first years girls blush again at the site of Harry's shirtless body, the same with Lisa C as well. Blaise, Neville, and Terry look a bit envious. Mcgonagall look amused at the children's reactions while Anastasia and Andromeda giggled at the reactions. Tonks has a slight blush on her face, but not much else noticeable. If he was older, she might have want to go out with him, but he's eleven and seven years younger than her.
Walking over to the tree whose limbs he had used for his pull ups, Harry waved his hand and both the towel and water bottle he had set aside floated into the air for him to grab. The towel went around his neck after he used it to wipe the sweat off his body, and the water bottle was guzzled down seconds later as he leaned against the tree. He took one moment to look over at the sun as it continued it's slow, steady rise over the mountains, before making his way back to Hogwarts.
Traveling along the path he had memorized from last night, Harry made his way to the Gryffindor Tower.
"So's he in Gryffindor?" Lisa C questioned. The first years nodded while Mcgonagall beamed proudly.
"The house of the brave and courageous." Hermione and Neville said proudly.
He was forced to stop several times as the stairs moved on him, and sometimes he got sick of waiting and simply worked out a new path to follow. Eventually, he made his way up to the portrait of the Fat Lady, a very fat woman in a pink silk dress. The Fat Lady was asleep, the deep breaths she was taking and the fact that her eyes were shut told him this.
Despite having seen the moving images on the Chocolate Frog he had eaten on the Hogwarts Express, Harry had been quite shocked to see that the portraits lining the walls were all alive. The people within them moved and talked and acted just like real people.
"Wow." Lisa C said as she saw the image on the TV. It's only been eleven chapters, so the magic still amazed her, Anastasia, and Wei.
It was an amazing piece of magic - like all the magic he had seen performed that were far beyond what he could accomplish - and the ever inquisitive part of his mind couldn't help but wonder how this feat was accomplished.
"Caput Draconis," Harry spoke softly so as not to wake the Fat Lady. The door swung open as the Fat Lady continued to snore, and Harry walked into the Gryffindor Common Room.
The Gryffindor Common Room was a large, circular room where Gryffindor students could relax and study in relative peace. It was full of squashy armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board where school notices, ads, lost posters, etc. could be posted. A window looked out onto the grounds of the school, and a large fireplace dominated one wall. The walls were decorated with scarlet tapestries that depicted not only witches and wizards, but also various animals.
"So that what the Gryffindor commodore looks like." Daphne mused, speaking the non-Gryffindors thoughts. Most students sometimes wonder what the other commodores are like.
Harry recognized many of them, some were magical such as the Griffin, others were not, as was the case with the lion. The room itself wasn't bad looking, it actually was kind of cozy, though Harry was not very fond of the color.
"Why?" Mcgonagall questioned with a frown. She thought that red and gold is fitting for the house of the brave.
He had nothing against red and gold, but those two colors combine were just too bright and loud to have a whole room decked out in them.
"I agree." Daphne said, wrinkling her nose. "Those colors are just too bright." Hermione and Neville pouted a little. They liked their commodore just the way it is.
Still, it was his common room now, and he was going to be living there for the next seven years. Might as well get used to it.
Without sparing the room a backward glance, Harry headed towards one of the two doors on the opposite side of the common room. Each door led to a spiral stair case which led to a set of dormitories. One for the boys, one for the girls.
Harry took the one leading to the boys dormitory. Naturally.
"Of course." Nymphadora said with an eye roll. Not like he could enter the girl's dormitories anyway.
The boys dormitory was a circular room, much like the common room, only instead of armchairs and tables it held beds. There were four four-poster beds in total, with deep red, velvet curtains. Once more, the color scheme was in gold and red, Gryffindor colors.
"It's like you guys are living in royalty." Lisa C said with a pout. She wanted to live like that! She is so jealous of her friend right now.
Harry noticed that everyone else was still asleep. Dean Thomas, a dark haired, dark skinned boy who was almost as tall as Harry, was sleeping like a rock, occasionally mumbling something incoherent under his breath. Harry thought the boy was talking about football, but couldn't be too sure. Semus Finnigan, a boy of Irish descent with pale skin and sandy-colored hair, was rolled over onto his back with his arms spread out and his mouth hanging wide open.
"A face most guys copies." Andromeda teased, causing the men in the room to pout. They did not.
And Neville Longbottom, the round faced boy, was curled up in a ball laying on his side.
Since no one was awake to see him, Harry waved his hand towards the trunk sitting in front of his bed. He smiled when the small charm he had placed upon his trunk spoke the password in a hushed tone. It was a very basic charm, one he had discovered during the summer when he looked up basic household charms. He had set up the speaking charm specifically for instances like this, since he suspected - quite correctly - that he would be waking up long before any of his roommates did.
The trunk unlocked with a soft 'click' and another wave of his hand caused the small rotating circle with the numbers one through four to move until it reached the number two.
The trunk soon opened up as Harry directed more magic at it, and before long one of his three sets of school robes and a large towel flew out to land in his outstretched hands.
"Doing that while the rest of us are sleeping." Neville said with a shake of his head. He could've woken up at that time and see Harry do that magic.
After closing and locking the door once more, Harry made his way to the communal showers where he enjoyed a nice long soak under the hot sprays of water. He came out nearly half an hour later dressed in his clothes with the towel laying over his still wet hair.
A lot of eyebrows were raised at the time it took Harry to bathe. "Wow, and I thought girls took long." Blaise mumbled, making sure the girls didn't hear them. He doesn't want to get hex.
It wasn't long after arriving back in his bedroom that Harry found himself sitting down on the couch reading Hogwarts, A History.
Hermione nodded in approval. "It's a good book to read." Many of the first years roll their eyes. Typical Hermione. That girl loves Hogwarts, a History.
It was a very interesting book, fill with all kinds of useful information about the castle he was now living in, and he was nearly half-way finished with it, having read quite a bit of the book over the summer. Harry was hoping to finish reading it before the end of this coming week.
As Harry continued flipping through the pages, his mind memorizing everything his eyes lade sight to, the sound of the door leading to one of the dormitories opening had his ears perking up.
He turned just in time to see Fred and George Weasley walking into the common room.
"Twins?" Anastasia asked, seeing the two on the screen.
"Twins." Mcgonagall said with a nod. Anastasia then took note of the mischievous looks on their faces.
"Prankers?"
"Prankers."
"How bad?"
"Really bad."
Unlike everyone else who couldn't tell them apart, Harry knew exactly which one was which.
"Say wha?" Basically all the wizards and witches said. None of them could tell the two apart, especially when they start confusing them as to which is which.
The one coming up to him on the left, Fred, had two extra freckles on his nose, and the other one, George, had a very small, almost unnoticeable scar on the left side of his cheek.
"How did he not-" Tracey was about to ask how did he notice those things, before she slapped her forehead in realization. "Eidetic memory."
Daphne smirk. "It seems that you do have a brain in there."
"Shut it, Daph."
"Fred, George," Harry greeted the two with a small nod. The two twins grinned at him as they quickly hopped over the couch and sat on either side of him.
"Good morning, Harry," George greeted with a large smile.
"And what a wonderful morning it is," Fred added.
"Indeed, the day is young."
"The sun is shining."
"And the weather is mild."
"Which begs the question of just why you are reading this fine morning when you could be doing something much more productive?"
"...I thought twin speaks was a myth." Lisa C said in awe. Now she knows that it's not a myth. It's actually real.
"Apparently, it isn't." Anastasia commented.
Harry, who was keeping his ears on the conversation as it bounced between one twin to another, gave them both a slightly raised eyebrow to show his amusement. While he had not paid any particular attention to the pair last night during the sorting, he had seen them and listened to their conversation just like he had watched everybody else at his table. That, plus his earlier observations during their meeting on the Hogwarts Express let him know these two were trouble makers. It was very likely they were the 'Marauders' of this era.
Mcgonagall shuddered. The twin Weasleys and the Marauders will always haunt her memories.
"And just what could I be doing so early in the morning? Breakfast isn't until eight."
"True, very true," Fred said with nod.
George began rubbing his chin in mock contemplation. "Well, you could always think up new and inventive ways to cause mischief."
"I must concur with my dear brother," Fred added helpfully. "Why would you want to... read." He mock shuddered. "When you could think up more and more ways to spread chaos and joy to the school?"
"I think there is more chaos than joy." Mcgonagall said dryly. Honestly, those two are the worst she have to deal with in her house. And for the record, she doesn't think chaos and joy should be in the same sentence.
Andromeda look a bit interest. She heard few of the pranks from her daughter, so she wonder if any of those pranks will be shown on hear.
At those words, Harry's lips quirked up in a small, half-smile. "Aside from the fact that I don't think chaos and joy should ever be used in the same sentence again,
"Agreed." The adults, Hermione, and Daphne said at once.
perhaps I am just the kind of person who enjoys reading a good book in the morning instead of finding ways to get myself into trouble."
'And thank Merlin for that.' Mcgonagall thought in her head. It would've been awful if Harry picked up his father's tendency of pranking. So far, the only prank he ever did was the one on Draco and that was because the blonde slytherin harm his friends. Still, that doesn't mean she approves of that.
The twins gasped in false horror.
"You hear that, Gred? He doesn't enjoy causing mischief."
"I heard, Forge. It's shameful how these young-ins are getting more and more boring over the years."
"Hey!" Tracey and Hannah shouted. They are not boring!
Harry rolled his eyes at the twins, before his attention turned towards the rest of the common room. During the time he and the two Weasley's had been talking, many other Gryffindor students had been making their way into the common room. Already he spotted many of the older years as they walked out of the room, most likely going to the Great Hall, and a few of the first years he had met last night, those being Fay Dunbar, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom.
"Well, I do apologize for being so droll," Harry spoke to Fred and George as he closed his book shut with a snap, shrunk it with a tap of his wand, then stood up. "I'll endeavor to do see what I can do about becoming more exciting in the future. Now, if you would excuse me, I've got to get going."
"See yah, Harry," George said with a jaunty wave as he and his brother stood up.
"Don't be a stranger now!" added the other jovially.
Harry shook his head at the pair's antics, but waved all the same, before making his way over to Neville Longbottom before he could reach the exit to the common room.
"Good morning, Neville," Harry greeted with a smile. The other boy nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Harry speaking, and quickly whirled around to see the raven haired youth next to him.
The first years shared amused smiles at Neville's reaction on the book while the boy himself blush in embarrassment.
"Oh, Harry," Neville breathed, looking like he had just received the scare of his life. "Good morning. Did you... did you sleep well?"
"I slept quite well, thank you. And you?" asked Harry cordially.
"Oh... yeah, erm, I slept alright," Neville mumbled, and Harry almost sighed at the unenthusiastic and slightly unsure response. Looking at him, one would never suspect this boy would belong to the house of lions.
Neville sighed a little. That was true. Thankfully, Harry helped him boost up some confidence in himself.
Everything from his posture to his subdued way of speaking denoted to someone who lacked the necessary self assuredness to do well in the house Godric Gryffindor had created. Neville Longbottom, Harry had determined, was a very skittish and easily frightened boy with a complete lack of self confidence.
"Way to kick lower Harry." Tracey said with a wince. Though that was true.
He was also at least half the reason Harry had decided to go into Gryffindor.
"Say wha?" Was the response Neville had.
As the heir to the Longbottom name and fortune, Neville would eventually inherent the title Lord of Longbottom and a seat on the Wizengamot. More to the point, his family was one of the Founding Five, which made allying himself with this boy even more imperative. Having Neville on his side after they graduated from Hogwarts would definitely be a boon politically if nothing else.
Neville frown a little. "Is he….using me?" He wonder if Harry only became his friends just because of his heritage.
Daphne, seeing the look, explained what Harry was thinking. "Yes Neville, he first befriended you because of your heritage, but he also truly saw you as a friend." Neville look a bit unsure.
"How do you figure?"
"If he befriended people because of the boons he would get, he wouldn't have befriended Hermione or Lisa C." Daphne answered. "The two of them aren't of noble or wealthy houses, plus one of them is muggle. There would be any gain to befriending them, no offense to you two." The two of them didn't take offense.
Daphne saw Neville relax, making her mentally sigh in relief. She then turn to the others. "I should warn you guys, that Harry's thoughts about everyone will mostly be practical. Remember he never had a normal childhood and he had to mature a lot." The others took those words in mind.
Thus the reason Harry had decided to Sort himself into Gryffindor. Right now, Neville was an easily frightened child with no self confidence. Certainly he acted nothing like the heir to one of the Founding Five families should. Harry planned on fixing that by taking Neville under his wing and bolstering the boys flagging confidence in himself.
"And he did good." Hermione complimented, getting Neville to blush bashfully.
This would ingratiate the Longbottom heir to him, thereby giving him a powerful ally once they both reached the Age of Majority.
'He really have a mind of a politician.' Anastasia thought with a frown. While she admires Harry's intelligence, no child should have to think like that in that age.
Sure, it was a little underhanded, using the boys lack of confidence for his own gains. But Harry justified himself with the fact that he was also helping the Longbottom heir quite a bit. Not only would Neville gain Harry as a powerful ally, Harry would also be helping the heir to one of the Founding Five families become the kind of man other people will look up to and admire. More to the point, Neville would be able to have confidence in himself, something that Harry felt was imperative for everybody to have if they wanted to be successful in this world.
"So he essentially helping himself and Neville at the same time." Hannah summarized, after a moment. Daphne nodded, even though it was more of statement than a question.
After all, if you couldn't be confident in yourself, who would be willing to have confidence in you?
"True words." Daphne commented.
During his eleven years of life, Harry had placed people into three different categories that described the majority of the people he was likely to run into. These categories, or archetypes, as it were, were not conducive to everyone, but for the most part, Harry felt that most human beings fell under one of these three categories. Those being Sheep, Shepherds, and Wolves.
Everyone lean in interest of what Harry have to say. His thoughts are interesting, to say the least.
The sheep were what made up the majority of the populace. They were the people who had no real sense of self beyond their unique personality. These were the people who 'followed the heard' if you would excuse him for the phrase. They did things because everyone else was doing them, they followed those who had a better vision of the future than themselves - or simply had more power - and they typically followed along with the rest of the crowd.
"That is true." Andromeda said. There are many wizards and witches that just do things because everyone else was doing them. It was also the same for the muggle world.
Generally speaking, aside from the fact that the vast majority of people were sheep, they were fairly useless to his overall goals.
Shepherds were a just as obvious branch of people. These were the people who had vision. They were revolutionaries of their times, leaders in every sense of the word. Those who Harry had dubbed shepherds were the kind of people the sheep followed.
"Leading the flock." Daphne said. It was a small branch of people, compared to the many sheeps in the wizard world.
Harry liked to think that he was one of the shepherds, or at least would be once he began making some headway towards his goals.
"I think he is as well" Hermione said, remembering the time they all went to protect the philosopher's stone. The other first years nodded in agreement, remembering that time as well.
Like the shepherds the wolves should be a just as obvious euphemism. Wolves were predators, stalking the night for their prey and pouncing when they least expected it. They were one of the apex predators, an animal who was well known for both their cunning and viciousness.
"Like Malfoy?" Hannah questioned.
Tracey shook her head in disagreement. "Nah, he's lack cunning and viciousness." The two girls laugh, along with the other children who know Draco.
Much like the wolves of the animal kingdom, human wolves acted very similar in execution. They preyed upon the sheep, devouring them in a not so literal way until they had what they wanted, which sometimes led to death and sometimes didn't, though occasionally death may be preferable. So far, the only people who Harry would have considered wolves in recent years was Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
'He won't be thinking that for long.' Blaise thought, thinking of his mother. His mum is every bit a predator in all meanings.
Of course, not everyone fell under these three categories. Lisa, for instance, was certainly no sheep, yet not quite a shepherd either. And she was far to nice to be a wolf.
"Thank you Harry." Lisa C said with a slight blush. She was curious to see what category Harry put her in.
She was one of those people he could not place into a specific category, though that may very well have to do with her meaning far to much to him to place her in a stereotype like he did most people. He would admit to being biased. Perhaps the most accurate way to describe her as would be to consider her a partner, someone he thought of as an equal, someone who could be a Shepherd, yet had no desire to take on the roll of a leader like he did.
"A good way to describe her." Anastasia said with an approving nod.
Hopefully, Neville would eventually become like Lisa in time. If he wanted to succeed in any plans he might make, he needed more than just sheep who blindly followed orders.
"I'm not going to do that." Neville said with a shake of his head. He might've at that time, but not now.
"Do you see him?"
"The one next to the pudgy kid?"
"It's Harry Potter!"
"The boy-who-lived!"
"I can't believe he's actually going to Hogwarts."
"Oh, he's so adorable!"
Lisa C's eyes twitch once again while her mum smile at her in amusement.
As Harry Potter listened to the students he passed on his way to the Great Hall talk and watched them gawk at him like he was some kind of circus animal, he made sure to memorize each and everyone person who did so and put them under the 'sheep' category, which just so happened to include pretty much everyone he passed that morning.
Really, Harry noted with some ironic form of amusement, the people in the wizarding world acted exactly like those in the muggle world did when they ran into a celebrity. He wondered what those blood purists would think if they knew that?
"They probably riot or be in denial." Daphne said, half-joking and half-serious. "Maybe attempt to kill you discreetly, if you're a muggleborn of half-blood."
They'd probably throw a fit.
"Agreed."
"Something on your mind, Neville?" Harry asked quite suddenly. The much shorter boy walking next to him looked up from where he had previously been staring down at the ground with his face scrunched up in thought, startled.
"It's... it's nothing," Neville mumbled, ducking his head back down so he could stare at the large, granite tiles on the floor.
"Neville," Harry admonished with a slightly chiding voice. "If you have a question, please don't hesitate to ask. Asking questions is a fundamental key to gaining knowledge. If you don't ask questions, you'll never learn anything that is truly worth while."
"Very true." Mcgonagall and Hermione said in agreement. If you don't ask questions, you won't be able to gain knowledge.
Neville looked back up at Harry in surprise. Harry just smiled in return.
"So, what did you want to ask me?"
"It's just..." Neville's eyes darted around the hall, and Harry realized the boy was looking at the dozens upon dozens of people they had been passing, all of whom were staring at Harry like he was the second coming of Merlin. "How do you do it?"
"Ignore the stares, you mean?" asked Harry for quick clarification.
"Especially with that perfect memory of his." Tracey muttered.
When Neville nodded he gained a thoughtful look. "I don't." He couldn't, not with the way his memory worked. "I just don't let it bother me."
Actually, now that he had gotten over his initial shock at discovering his fame, he simply found the reactions he got too amusing to let them bother him. There was just something funny about watching people make utter fools of themselves by gaping at him like he was the second coming of Christ.
"That's…." Anastasia started out, trying to find the right words. "A way to see things."
It was kind of a twisted way of seeing things, but he simply couldn't help it.
"I don't think I could do that," Neville mumbled quietly.
"I think you could," Harry countered, once more getting a shocked stare from the boy next to him. He smiled and looked straight ahead to see they were nearing the Great Hall. "Remember this, Neville; the only thing you ever need to worry about is how you perceive yourself. So long as you are comfortable with who you are, then you need not be bothered by how other people perceive you to be."
The adults couldn't help but be proud of how mature Harry can be. Wei especially, considering that he taught and train Harry. Granted, it was mostly hand to hand combat, but still.
Neville didn't say anything as they swept into the Great Hall, but if Harry were to judge by the look on the boy's face, he would have to say that what he said had at least taken root in Neville's mind. Now, so long as he took Harry's words to heart, he would eventually become much more confident, or at least more comfortable with himself.
Of course, a little subtle reinforcement every now and again never hurt anyone.
As soon as they entered the Great Hall, everyone who was already inside stopped what they were doing to stare at them. Girls quit chattering about whatever it was the fairer sex chattered about, boys stopped talking about sports and ceased their goodnatured ribbing of each other. All eyes turned to Harry and Neville.
They must have made an odd sight. The tall and athletic boy who looked more like a second or third year than a first year, and the short boy with the round face and skittish nature walking beside him.
"It was an odd sight." Tracey murmured to himself. She got a slap in the head by Daphne for that one.
Thankfully, Neville didn't seem to be paying anymore attention to the stares, busy as he was going over Harry's advice in his head.
Harry kept his head held high, his shoulders back and his back straight as he walked forward with the confidence of a person who was completely at ease in his own skin.
Wanting to be seen as someone who was a little more approachable than most of these people seemed to believe he was, he nodded in greeting to a few of the people he passed, regardless of whether they were in his House or not. This eliciting hushed whispers from many of the boy's, and excited and shy giggling - along with a few blushes he noticed upon offering a smile to a gaggle of second year Hufflepuff's - from the girls. He wondered about that, but shrugged the thought off as inconsequential soon after.
Andromeda shook her head. No matter how smart Harry is, guys are dense when it comes to a girl's feelings for them.
Soon enough, he and Neville were sitting at the far corner of the Gryffindor table, and conversations once again picked up, this time most likely about him instead of whatever all these people were talking about at first.
Harry had sat himself on the window side of the table, allowing him a full glimpse of the other three tables so he could observe the other students as they spoke.
He began piling food on his plate, mostly consisting of eggs and fruits (the healthiest food he could find there) as the jumbled noise from a hundred different voices filtered itself through his ears. Beside him, Neville was silently putting food on his own plate, contemplative expression still in place.
As the many conversations continued to wash over him, Harry's eyes strayed towards the door leading to the entrance hall where more and more students continued pouring through. From those doors his eyes caught a glimpse of red hair, and he watched as Ronald Weasley slumped into the Great Hall wearing the yellow and black colors of his house, and sat down at the Hufflepuff table.
That was one of the few Sortings Harry had actually taken notice of, and not just because of his confrontation with the boy on the train ride to Hogwarts. The Weasley family, from what he understood, were one of those families who were always Sorted into a specific House without fail. For nearly two generations every single Weasley who entered Hogwarts had been a Gryffindor, until now at least.
"Unlucky for us." Hannah said with a grimace. The Weasley ate like a pig who was starving. And the boy is a bit rude as well.
Harry wondered why Ron had been sorted into the Hufflepuff House. He would admit to not knowing the boy very well, but the ginger haired boy did not seem very hard working. Perhaps that meant he was very loyal? Or maybe it was a form of reverse psychology. Had the Sorting hat placed Ron in Hufflepuff because he wasn't very hard working or loyal in an effort to make the boy understand the value of those traits?
Possible, plausible even, though Harry suspected another reason might have been because the hat had seen the way he had verbally wailed on the kid and decided it would be best if they weren't in the same House. He supposed it didn't matter one way or the other.
A few minutes after Ron entered the room, Harry saw Hannah and Susan walking into the Great Hall. Both were wearing their school robes, which were in the same House colors as Ron as they walked side by side. Harry stood up, drawing much attention to himself, but he ignored that and began making his way towards the two Hufflepuff's.
It was time to begin the first phase of one the plans he had concocted recently. It was a small step, but sometimes you had to crawl before you could walk, and walk before you could run. Baby steps, he had heard some people call it.
"Morning Hannah, Susan," Harry greeted the pair with a congenial smile.
"Harry!" Hannah exclaimed in pleasant surprise while Susan's cheeks gained a light red tint. The blond, pig tailed girl quickly regained her wits, whilst her friend shuffled a little. "Good morning."
"I trust you both slept well?" Harry said inquiringly. Hannah gave him a slight giggle and nodded.
"Yes!"
Harry smiled at Hannah's answer, then turned to look at Susan and offered her a look of polite inquiry. The red haired girl noticed this, and her cheeks turned a shade of red that nearly matched her hair.
"I did as well," she answered in a soft voice, her eyes going from his to the floor, then back to his. "And you? Did you sleep all right?"
"Like a rock," Harry said with a charming smile etched on his face. Susan flushed and looked down at her toes.
"You blush a lot." Lisa C commented, getting the girl to blush and look down.
"Anyways," Harry continued after a few seconds, "I was wondering if you two would like to have breakfast with me?"
"Breakfast? With you?" Hannah's mouth worked just enough to get that much out. Susan seemed even worse off, her eyes having widened to the size of a galleon.
Terry made a few coughing sounds, which sound suspiciously like a laugh. "You two look ridiculous with those expressions on your faces."
The two girls merely glare at him.
"Am I really so awful that you wouldn't want to have breakfast with me?" asked Harry, affecting a hurt expression. Both Hannah and Susan looked at him in shock.
"Of course not," Hannah hastened to assure him that she did not find his company unpleasurable. "It's just - I mean - are we even allowed to sit with you. I mean, you're a Gryffindor and we're in Hufflepuff. I mean, aren't we supposed to sit at our own table?"
"It's expected you to be from the students, but it's not against the rules." Mcgonagall said. She was proud that Harry manage to befriend people from all FOUR houses. Not just of his own house.
"It's generally expected that you will sit at your own table," Harry explained patiently. "But not necessary. There are no rules that state you must sit with your House, or that you can't sit with another House." With that out of the way Harry decided to make a bold move, a Gryffindor move, and grabbed the pair by the hand and began leading them over to his table. "So, come on. I want the first two friends I made on the train to eat breakfast with me."
Everyone in the Great Hall was once more watching Harry as he did something that had most likely never been seen done in Hogwarts for a long time, if ever.
"More likely ever." Daphne murmured. But maybe people during the first few years Hogwart was built sat with each other. Who knows?
If there hadn't already been a smile on his face, there would have been now. Perhaps his example would be followed by those who had friends that ended up in another house. He could only hope people would eventually begin following his lead. If not, the sheep of this world may need more pronounced encouragement.
"Well alright," Hannah said with a giggle, even though her face was slightly flushed. Beside her, being slightly dragged along due to her surprise, was a red faced Susan who couldn't stop staring at her's and Harry's conjoined hands. She was blushing to the roots of her hair. "I guess we could join you for breakfast."
"Why the blushes?" Nymphadora asked slyly. The two of them didn't answer. Hannah merely look at her shoes like they were the most interesting things in the world while Susan blush and look away from the metamorphosis.
"Great," Harry said as he walked over to where Neville was staring at him in surprise. He let go of Susan and Hannah, allowing them to claim the seats across from him, while he took his original seat next to Neville.
"I believe introductions are in order," Harry said with a slight clearing of his throat. "Hannah, Susan, this is Neville Longbottom. Neville, this is Hannah Abbott and Susan Bones."
"Erm," Neville stuttered for a moment, but quickly jerked his hand out and held it over the table to Hannah. "Nice to meet you, Hannah."
Hannah smiled as they shook. "Nice to meet you too."
"Susan," Neville greeted with an unsure looking nod. This time there was no hand shake, but unlike with Hannah, Neville was speaking to Susan with a familiarity. "It's good to see you again."
"Good to see you two Neville," Susan spoke softly, as was her wont. "How is your grandmother?"
"So you two know each other before you went to Hogwarts?" Anastasia asked, receiving nods from the two of them. "Huh, interesting."
"Oh, she's doing... well," Neville edged, and Harry sighed. One of the first things he had noticed about the boy was how strained he sounded when he spoke of his 'gran'. Already, Harry had come to the theory that the Dowager of Longbottom was at least part of the reason for Neville's lack of confidence.
Neville look away from the curious looks. Admittingly, Harry was on the letter when he thought it.
"How's your Aunt?"
"Aunties fine," Susan said. "Busy, but she seems to enjoy her work."
"That's good."
Harry hummed in the back of his throat as he listened to the two. "I take it you two know each other from somewhere?" he asked curiously.
"Ah, yes," Neville stuttered a bit as he realized that he had just been ignoring the Harry Potter. "My gran and Susan's Aunt travel in the same social circles." Which Harry took to mean they were in the same political circles. It would make sense, both the Longbottoms and the Bones' were generally considered 'light neutral' families, families that were light, but did not necessarily fall in line with Dumbledore's beliefs.
Of course, that was before Alice and Frank, who according to his mother's journals were good friends with her and his father, had joined Dumbledore in the fight against Voldemort. Despite this fact, the Longbottoms were still considered politically neutral, and had become even more so in recent years.
"Makes sense," Harry nodded, then smoothly changed the subject by addressing Hannah and Susan. "So are you two excited for our first few classes today?"
"Yes," Hannah said with an excited smile. "I can't wait to see what we're going to be taught. I'm really looking forward to Charms class."
"Best class." Hannah said with a grin, with some of the others agreeing. It especially good with a teacher like Professor Flitwick.
Harry smiled, and thus the conversation went along this vane. Harry made sure to ask questions to all three of his companions, mainly focusing on school and what they wanted to learn, trying to get a feel for what they would be good in and what they didn't like. He made sure to ask his questions in a way that required more than a simple one word answer, and also made sure that both Neville and Susan - the shyer two of the trio - had an equal amount of speaking time as Hannah did.
"We didn't notice that." Susan said when they read that part. Harry was really subtle with what he was saying that she didn't pick up that Harry is making sure that she and Neville were also talking.
As they spoke - their conversation had turned from Hogwarts to their favorite hobbies - the Head of the House of Hufflepuff and the Head of the House of Gryffindor walked over to them with very slight smiles on their face.
"We were proud at seeing house unity at that time." Mcgonagall responded.
Anastasia frown "Is it really that rare to see two students from different houses talk to each other?"
"Unless they are siblings or maybe childhood friends, yes it is." Mcgonagall said. It was a bit disappointing actually.
Well, Pamona Sprout was smiling. Professor McGonagall looked like she was trying to smile, but couldn't quite manage it.
Mcgonagall blush a little in embarrassment at the attempt of smiling. She hasn't smile in a very long time.
Pamona Sprout was a very plump woman, with a head of messy gray hair and a kind smile on her face. She looked like the kind of woman who had a nurturing disposition and loved the outdoors.
"That's Pamona in a nut shell." Mcgonagall said. She was the best person to teach herbology, due to her love of the outdoors.
"Five points to all four of you," Professor Sprout said with a kind smile. "It is good to see students seeking friendship outside of their House."
Hannah beamed at her Head of House, while both Susan and Neville gave the woman shy but happy smiles. Harry offered his own charming smile and nodded his head graciously.
"These are your schedules," Professor McGonagall spoke up after a moment, handing both Neville and Harry their schedules while Professor Sprout gave Susan and Hannah theirs. "Have a good day, Mr. Potter, Mr. Longbottom."
As the two Professors walked away, Harry took a look at his school schedule. "It looks like we've got Charms first, followed by Transfiguration." He looked over at the two Hufflepuffs. "What about you?"
"Potions followed by Transfiguration," Hannah answered, her schedule in one hand and a muffin of some kind that she was absently munching on in the other.
Lisa C belly grumbled a little. "All this talk of food is making me hungry."
"Me too." Tracey admitted. Before they know it, a giant table of food appeared in front of the group, along with cups and pitchers of drink beside them. The table is fill with breakfast foods and lunch meals
"...I love magic." Lisa C stated before diving in for the food, with Tracey following root. Daphne shook her head at the two before going to get own plate, along with the others.
Everyone got their own meals, some breakfast, some lunches, before they all got back to their seats.
Harry smiled. "Looks like we'll be sharing a class together on our first day then."
"Seems so."
After breakfast, Harry and Neville said goodbye to Hannah and Susan, then made their way to the Charms classroom.
As they walked Harry once again had to marvel at the interior of the castle. He had read much about Hogwarts in Hogwarts, A History. But reading about something, and seeing it right in front of your very eyes were two completely different things.
There were exactly one hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending.
"Like a maze." Anastasia commented, seeing the stairwells and doors. That would make things very difficult to go the place you want to go.
It made getting where you wanted to go very difficult, because sometimes the door or staircase or doorway that led to a certain hallway or room at one point, might not lead to that same hallway or room during another. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Harry was sure the coats of armor could walk.
Eventually, Harry and Neville arrived at the Charms classroom and entered. The Charms classroom looked very much like a lecture hall. Instead of desks lining the room in rows up front, there were long tables with chairs that were set on either side of the room, with another set of tables behind that that sat on a slightly raised platform so the students in the back could see past the students up front. At the end of the room, in front of a large, glass window was the desk Harry assumed would be used for the teacher.
"It does look like a lecture." Anastasia mused, looking at the classroom. She turn to Mcgonagall. "Why does it look like a lecture hall?"
Mcgonagall shrug. "Our classrooms have always been like this, so it wasn't really strange to us."
Harry and Neville found a spot near front, close to the teacher's desk, and idly conversed while waiting for class to start.
It wasn't long before more and more students arrived. Before long, all the tables were filled with excitably chattering first years.
Almost immediately Harry noticed something that bothered him about this class. The Gryffindors were sharing this class with Ravenclaw, clearly denoted by their differing colors. The Gryffindors were all sitting on the left side of the room, while the Ravenclaws had taken the right.
Andromeda frown a little. "It's going to take a lot to break that segregation."
"I know." Mcgonagall said with a grimace. She knows all too well about how stubborn witches and wizards can be.
This was something that would need to be corrected soon. If all went well, Harry would rectify this instinctual need to segregate the Houses.
After all, he needed more allies than just those who were in Gryffindor, and the best way to do that was to rid everybody of this instinctive need to befriend only those people from their house.
Soon after all of the students had filed in, a very short man with short cropped black hair that framed either side of his face, a mustache and slightly pointed ears that vaguely reminded Harry of Goblin ears walked in. Perhaps the man had some Goblin blood in him.
"He has some good guesses." Mcgonagall said. "And good at reading people just by looking at them." Susan Bones, Hannah Abbot, Pomona Sprout, and more.
He was wearing the robes that denoted him as the Head of the House of Ravenclaw, blue robes with silver trim and vest, and a large pointed hat.
The class began to simmer down when they realized their teacher was in the room, only to start laughing when the tiny Professor had to use a stack of books and stand on his desk in order to be seen by everyone in the classroom. The short man didn't seem bothered by this however, and merely smiled congenially as he waved his hands to silence his students down.
"It is a pleasure to see you all this morning," the Professor began what looked to be his start of the term speech. "As my Ravens already know, my name is Filius Flitwick, and I will be your Charms Instructor for the duration of your stay here at Hogwarts. I hope we can all get along and have fun while learning one the main subjects we teach here at Hogwarts. And please do not hesitate to ask me any questions you may have. You won't learn anything if you don't ask questions."
With his small speech done and over with, the diminutive professor began taking roll call. During this time, Harry listened to each name as it was called, and observed those students, taking careful note of each one and keeping mental tabs on his observations. When Professor Flitwick got to Harry's name, the man gave an excited squeak and tumbled off his stack of books and out of sight, eliciting much laughter from the students.
The group laughed as well at the scene, especially since it's on the screen.
"I'm am really glad that Flitwick is our Head of House." Terry said, with Lisa T nodding in agreement. Flitwick is really smart, but not really that stern.
Harry did not laugh, but he did have a small smile on his face. He suspected that the professor had done that on purpose for the soul purpose of taking attention away from him. It was just a hunch, and he had no real proof other than the fact that no one was staring at him anymore, but was nevertheless grateful.
Now all he had to do was see if this class met his expectations.
After Charms class Harry and Neville met up with Hannah and Susan while on their way to Transfiguration. After shared greetings the four made their way into the classroom and, at Harry's insistence, sat down together with Harry in between Susan and Neville, and Hannah taking a seat on Susan's left side. The group of newly formed friends then began conversing about how their first classes went.
Many of the other students that entered the room at the same time as the small group of four eyed the group strangely, and those who entered after did so as well. They looked at the group like they were expecting some kind of scandal to happen any moment. Their wide, disbelieving eyes making it seem as if seeing people from separate houses conversing was something that had never been done before.
Harry had the feeling that it most likely hadn't. Not in this day and age at least.
"Nope." Mcgonagall, Nymphadora, and Andromeda said at once. They have never seen anyone else do what Harry is doing and it amazed them.
He was a bit curious at their shock though. These students were all first years like him, so they shouldn't have any of the house biases that others did yet. So why were they acting like the idea of two Hufflepuffs sitting with a pair of Gryffindors was unfathomable?
"Probably because their parents told them about the houses." Mcgonagall guessed. "And the muggleborn may have been told things by the half-bloods and purebloods."
Maybe it had something to do with their parents. He didn't know, and it probably didn't matter. Harry was sure that given time things would change.
"Where do you think our professor is?" asked Hannah as she took a look around. Most of the desks were now filled up with students, all of them chittering and chattering excitedly - after the initial shock of seeing students from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff sitting together, most of the other students seemed to just accept it and were now talking amongst themselves. Yet she could not find their teacher.
"Who knows," said Harry, his eyes straying to the cat with the strange rectangular markings thatwas sitting on the teacher's desk.
"What's with that cat?" asked Neville, having spotted the feline perched on the desk as well. "You reckon she's Professor McGonagall's familiar or something?"
"Close Mr. Longbottom." Mcgonagall said, attempting a smirk. It didn't really go so well.
Hannah looked over towards the black tabby cat, then shrugged. "Maybe."
Harry frowned as he found himself eying the feline. There was something about it that just felt... off. He couldn't quite put his fingers on it, but there was just something about the cat that did not remind him of a cat.
It was probably the stern glare the thing was giving everyone.
About five minutes after the bell rang, signaling a start to the class, Ron Weasley and another boy, Zacharias Smith, a boy with blond hair and brown eyes, rushed into the room.
"Good, Professor McGonagall's not here yet, so we won't get into any trouble for being late," Ron said, breathing heavily, with Zacharias nodding his head in agreement but not speaking.
"Oh, you are challenging Murphy's Laws." Lisa T said with a shook of her head. Her mother, meanwhile, suspects that the cat actually is Mcgonagall. Especially because of the stern glare.
Just then, the cat that had been sitting on the desk leapt into the air. Harry and the other students all watched in awe as the cat began to shift in mid air, changing from a tabby cat to a person. Arms and legs stretched and expanded, claws became hands, fur became clothes and before long Professor McGonagall was standing in front of the shocked crowd of first years, directing a stern glare towards the two Hufflepuff boys.
"...That was awesome." Lisa T said in awe. They can transform into animals too? Magic is just getting more and more amazing. Great, now she wants to become a wizard.
"Think again, Mr. Weasley," the strict looking professor said. "That will be five points from Hufflepuff for the both of you for being tardy. Now sit down before I dock more points."
Ron and Zacharias hurried to their seats, properly cowed by the stern woman. Harry mused that it probably had something to do with Professor McGonagall's glare. It was very intimidating, as he could attest to.
"It's really is." Lisa T said with a shiver. The magicals, even Andromeda, shudder as well. They all saw that stern look at some point or another.
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," Professor McGonagall soon began, her voice just as stern as the expression on her face. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
Then she waved her wand and the students watched in awe as her desk changed into a large, pot bellied pig.
Anastasia look impress. "I can tell that you're a pro at that if you just did it with a wave of your wand." Mcgonagall smirk in response.
"If I wasn't, then I shouldn't be a transfiguration teacher." Mcgonagall responded.
Even Harry was not immune to feeling impressed at the display of magic. While Harry could Transfigure one object into another, he had never done such a large scale transformation, and never transformed an inanimate object into an organic one. He could only imagine how complex that kind of magic was. It was very unlikely they would be getting into anything that complicated for several years at least.
Another wave of her wand and Professor McGonagall had changed the pig back into a desk. She then proved Harry's thoughts on not learning anything very complex correct by setting them up with the task of transfiguring a match into a needle.
Harry did not do anything at first, choosing instead to take a glance around at all of the other students as they struggled with this task. Neville had a look of the utmost concentration on his face, his eyes and nose scrunched up almost painfully as he waved his wand at the match which did not change into a needle. Susan and Hannah were likewise not getting anywhere. In fact, the only person who seemed to be making any progress was Hermione Granger, whose match seemed to ripple for a second before going still, unchanged.
"That's going to change soon." Hermione muttered, still a bit miff at how easily Harry did it. And a bit angry at herself for not accepting his help when he offered it.
It had not taken very long for Harry to decide just how well he wanted to do in his classes. Many people were already holding high expectations of him thanks to his title as the Boy-Who-Lived, and while that did bother him some, it also provided him with the perfect excuse to not hold back.
After all, if people were expecting him to be great, he might as well show them just how high he could shoot those expectations out of the water.
"Though he did hold back some by not transfiguring the match without the wand." Mcgonagall said. She doesn't know if she should be glad that Harry didn't show off or disappointed that he didn't show the full extent of his magic.
Holding his wand in his hand, Harry went back to his match. Almost absently, he waved his wand at the match, and watched in satisfaction as it near instantly changed into a needle. Another wave of his wand had it changing back into a match. It was very easy for him to do. He had been doing small time transfigurations for two and a half years now.
Deciding to give himself a challenge, Harry began adding extra features to the needle. Sometimes he would make the point longer, other times he would make the head larger. He would change the composition the needle was made up of, copper, brass, silver, iron, steel. By the time Harry was finished, he had made a needle in Gryffindor colors with a decently complex lion head on the shaft.
Nymphadora whistled. "I doubt third years or some fourth years could make something like that." Andromeda and Mcgonagall nodded in agreement.
"How are you doing that?"
The question had Harry stopping his work and looking over at Hannah, who was sitting on Susan's left while he sat on said red head's right. The girl, along with Susan, was staring at him in shock and just a hint of envy. Neville too seemed to have stopped his work and was now eying Harry's needle in undisguised awe.
"Transfiguration is all about focus and visualization, you can't just wave your wand, say an incantation and expect the match to turn into a needle," Harry began, assuming a very minor note of lecture. "You have to picture it changing in your mind, literally visualize the change happening as you cast the spell." He noticed that the three still looked slightly confused, so said, "Try it first by taking the spell in steps."
"Steps?" asked Neville, who had the least amount of success with his transfiguration.
"Yes," Harry said. "Try changing the match into a needle using smaller steps. First off, ask yourself what needs to change? What's different about the match from the needle? You have the thickness, the point and eye of the needle, the shaft, and the material. It doesn't matter which order you make the changes, but when I cast the spell I change the thickness first, then the material, then I'll transform the head of the match into the needles eye and finally the other end into the point. By following it in smaller steps you don't have to try and focus on the whole item changing at once and that allows you to get each point right."
"A good learning style." Andromeda commented, with nods from the adults.
It had taken him a long time to work this out, he had first discovered transfiguration when he accidently turned a baseball Duddley had thrown at him into a stirofome toy.
Anastasia and Lisa C frown when they heard that. Anastasia, because she doesn't approve of the boy's behavior, and Lisa C, cause she doesn't like the pig.
He eventually managed to reverse engineer his steps and came up with this method of practice, using his small objects like pens, pencils, and footballs as the test subjects.
"That is a very impressive display of knowledge and magic, Mr. Potter," a voice came from in front. It was then Harry realized that he was the attention of everyone in the room. Most of the other students were staring at him in unmasked amazement. The only one who didn't seem to quite share that complete awe was Hermione, who also looked at him in envy and jealousy.
Hermione rub her head in embarrassment. She was acting like a real brat at the time. She was so use to doing things better than anyone else that it was shocking that someone was doing things better than her.
"Twenty points for Gryffindor, ten for getting the spell right, and another ten for the enlightening and knowledgeable explanation," Professor McGonagall said, giving him a rare smile.
"Thank you, ma'am," Harry said with a small nod, he wondered if he might have gone a bit overboard with his explanation. When he explained anything, especially anything involving theories he had come up with through his own hard earned research, he tended to get... a little too passionate at times.
"Tell me about it." Lisa C muttered. "You should see him at our old school whenever their is a project that requires a lecture."
"And since you can clearly do this, perhaps I should give you a more advanced task," Professor McGonagall began, but Harry interrupted her.
"Actually, I was thinking it might be a good idea if I went around and helped out some of the students who were struggling," Harry suggested. Professor McGonagall looked surprise by his offer, but soon her lips turned into that smile-grimace that he was coming to recognize as something she only did when she was proud of one of her students.
"I was." Mcgonagall commented. Some wouldn't be so eager to do advance classes at all. But Harry, instead of saying no or taking the class, he offered to help others.
"An excellent idea, Mr. Potter. Very well, you may assist your fellow students for the rest of your time in my class. And take fifteen more points for Gryffindor."
"Thank you, Professor."
And so went the rest of class. Harry went around helping those students who looked to be having trouble. By the end of the class, he had managed to walk both Hannah and Susan through the steps he had devised and they had managed to change their matches into needles, though Susan's looked better than Hannah's. Neville had gotten close, and only needed to fix the head, while Seamus' had inexplicably blown up when he tried to do his transfiguration.
"How did that happen?" Lisa C asked incredulously. The first years shrug, not knowing the answer. They've been wondering that same question for a while.
Dean had managed to change the matches tip into a point, but not much else. On the other hand, Sally-Ann Perks, a Hufflepuff with light brown hair and eyes, managed to also turn the match into a needle. The only other person who accomplished that task was Fay Dunbar, who sat beside Pavarti Patil and Lavender Brown, two girls who were far too giggly to actually make much headway when Harry had tried to help them.
He had even gone out of his way to help Ron a bit, though the boy seemed leary of him. Not that Harry could blame him, he would be wary to if someone who had verbally reemed him was suddenly being so helpful. Still he tried, and that's what mattered to Harry.
The only person Harry had not been able to help was Hermione Granger, who had refused to use his unorthidox methods under the claim that it was not in the book they had been assigned, and therefore was not the proper way to do the transfiguration.
Andromeda look at her incredulously. "Did you really say that?" Hermione duck her head in embarrassment. She know now that she should've accepted his help instead of rejecting it out of jealousy.
Harry assumed the girl's real reason for not wanting his help was jealousy. From what he had seen of Hermione so far, the bushy haired witch was used to be at the top of her class, and to see someone doing better than her had likely sparked her competitive streak. It was unlikely she would accept help from him.
In the end, she had only managed to change the matches color and gain a pointed tip, a fact that seemed to humiliate her. By the end of class she looked like she was just a few seconds from crying.
Lisa C open and close her mouth, trying to find the right words to say. Finally, she just said. "I don't know if I should feel sympathy or not. I mean, it was your fault that you only manage to do that instead accepting help and doing more."
"I know." Hermione sighed. She's been telling herself that since the troll incident.
Harry might have felt pity for the girl, but considering it was her own pride that had spurned his help, felt nothing more than a slight exasperation. It wasn't like he could do much anyways. One could only help those who wanted it, and Hermione Granger clearly did not want his help.
'At least he tried.' Hermione thought. She didn't really have any reason to be mad at him for his thoughts, since they are exactly right. And they aren't used to hurt her.
When class finally ended, Harry stood up with the rest of his friends, but rather than leave, turned to them and said, "you three go on ahead to lunch without me. I'll meet up with you in a few minutes."
The three looked at him for a second in confusion, but decided to just go along with it and said goodbye before heading out the door.
"So we're going to see what he's going to talk to Mcgonagall about." Hannah said, leaning in anticipation. She's been itching to know what Harry has been talking about.
With everyone else leaving, Harry walked up to Professor McGonagall, who looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you, Mr. Potter?"
"Yes, actually," Harry said with a polite, inquisitive smile. "I actually wanted to ask you about your ability to turn into a cat." It had been on his mind ever since he had seen it. He knew what it was of course, he had seen Sirius change into a dog and had even ridden on him before he and his parents had gone into hiding. And he knew that his father had the ability to transform into an animal, though he had never seen it before.
Mcgonagall eyebrows rose in surprise. 'So Sirius and James were Animagus. Can't believe nobody found out.'
Professor McGonagall's other eyebrow joined it's bretheren in being raised. "You mean my animagus ability?"
Harry gave her a nod.
"Yes, I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about it."
The truth of the matter was he only knew a little bit about animagus transformations. That being that it was the ability for a human to transform into an animal, and that his dad, Sirius, and another of his dad's friends named Peter Pettigrew had become animagi sometime in their third year.
Harry was very interested in learning to become an animgus, not only to honor his dad, but also because of how useful the ability sounded. And to prove himself the best, Harry had every intention of becoming an animgus before this year was over.
Mcgonagall eyebrows rose even more, with the others joining her (Or has their eyes widening). "Didn't thought that was his intention."
"It's Harry, so we shouldn't be surprise considering what we read about him." Andromeda said. If it's possible, Harry would try to reach a seemingly impossible goal.
Professor McGonagall looked at the boy in surprise, before that small, almost imperceptible smile found it's way onto her face. "You really are your parents son, Mr. Potter. Your father was quite gifted in Transfiguration, much like you seem to be, and you have your mother inquisitiveness."
"Thank you, Professor," Harry said with a genuine smile. It was hard not to feel good at being compared to his parents, especially from someone who clearly thought so highly of them.
"Very well," Professor McGonagall said, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give you some information on animagi. What would you like to know?"
"Everything," Harry said almost immediately, before he began firing off all the questions he had with barely contained excitement. "What kind of animal transformations are there? Are they fixed? Or can you transform into any animal in the animal kingdom? Also, does becoming an animagus offer any benefit to the user beyond the transformation itself? And just how does one become an animagus in the first place? And -"
"...Harry fire more questions than I do." Hermione said with widen eyes, admitting that she ask a lot of questions.
"Slow down, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall interrupted his rapid fire series of questions with the air of someone who was becoming completely overwhelmed. "I can see you have a lot of questions, more than I initially thought. Tell me, are you interested in becoming an animagus?"
"Of course," Harry said. "Who wouldn't." At seeing her stern and skeptical look, Harry hastened to add. "Though, I doubt I could accomplish it right now. It sounds very difficult, but I figured if I could learn everything there is to know about becoming an animagus, I would have a head start for when I actually begin attempting the process."
"He got a silver tongue," Nymphadora commented.
Professor McGonagall stared at Harry for a few, long seconds. Seconds which almost felt like hours to Harry. For a moment, he thought he might have overstepped his bounds, but after a few seconds, the stern teacher walked over to where a small bookcase was and began running her index finger across the spines of the books located in it. Her finger stopped when it got to the one she seemed to be looking for, and she pulled out it of the bookcase before walking back over to him and holding it out in offering.
He took the book from her and looked down at it's front cover. It was titled, A Guide to Discovering Your Inner Animal by Morgana le Fay. His eyes widened when he saw the author.
"This was written by Morgana le Fay," he breathed, turning his wide eyes to Professor McGonagall. If he didn't know any better, he would almost say she was smirking at him. "The Morgana le Fay? The half-sister of King Arthur, infamous Dark Witch and quite possible Merlin's most bitter enemy?"
Anastasia and Lisa C eyes widen while Wei eyebrows rose. The magicals that didn't know about the book has their eyes widen as well.
"...I want that book." Hermione whined, envy written all over her face. She wonder if Harry could let her borrow it.
"You seem surprised," Professor McGonagall said, her smirk now undeniable. "Morgana Le Fay was a student at this school, much like Merlin himself."
"I didn't know," Harry said in shock. While a part of him felt a little silly for not having come to the conclusion that if Merlin had been a student at Hogwarts, than surely Morgana must have been as well, he still couldn't help but feel a sense of astonished perplexity.
"That book will tell you everything you wish to know about animgi and how to become one yourself," Professor McGonagall said, her smirk being replaced by her stern glare as she spoke. "That book is a part of my personal collection, and I expect you to not only bring it back when you are finished, but to bring it back in perfect condition. It is not lightly that I am giving this to you, Mr. Potter."
Harry looked down at the book with a newfound reverence. When he looked back at Professor McGonagall, his smile was quite possibly one of the brightest he had ever given anyone.
"Thank you very much, Professor," he said, bowing slightly at the waist towards her. "I promise to take excellent care of your book, and return it in the same condition you gave it to me."
"See to it that you do," Professor McGonagall said with a stern look that was slightly butchered by her smile. "Now, best be off with you, Mr. Potter, lest you miss the rest of your lunch."
"Right," Harry gave her one last nod before hurrying out the door, the book on animgus transformation in his hands. He could hardly wait to see what knowledge this book contained.
With his thoughts on the book he now possessed raging through his mind, Harry made his way towards the Great Hall where Hannah, Susan, and Neville would no doubt be waiting for him.
"And that's the end." Neville said, closing the book and eating a piece of sausage on his plate. "Do you think Harry could become an animagus before the year is over?"
Daphne thought about it for a bit before saying, "I think that if anyone can accomplish the task, it's Harry." Nobody argue with that response.
"I'll read now." Daphne offer, taking the book and turning to the next chapter.
And that's the end. I hope you guys like this chapter. Remember to check out my poll, check out my other stories, to review, favorite, and follow, and that I will see you later.