Period Times: Breakfast is from 7-9 am, Lunch is from12-1 pm, Dinner is from 5-7 pm; single periods are one hour, double periods are two hours; curfew is 9pm with Prefect escorts for Astronomy due to the time (8-10 pm).

Monday: Breakfast, Double-Herbology w/ Ravenclaw, Free Period, Lunch, Double-DADA w/ Gryffindor, Double-Potions w/ Gryffindor, Dinner, Free Period, Double-Astronomy w/ Hufflepuff

Tuesday: Breakfast, Free Period, Double-Transfiguration w/ Ravenclaw, Lunch, Double-HOM w/ Hufflepuff, Double-Charms w/ Gryffindor, Dinner

Wednesday: Breakfast, Double-Herbology w/ Ravenclaw, Free Period, Lunch, Double-DADA w/ Gryffindor, Double-Potions w/ Gryffindor, Dinner, Free Period, Double-Astronomy w/ Hufflepuff

Thursday: Breakfast, Free Period, Double-Transfiguration w/ Ravenclaw, Lunch, Double-HOM w/ Hufflepuff, Double-Charms w/ Gryffindor, Dinner

Friday: Breakfast, Double-Herbology w/ Ravenclaw, Free Period, Lunch, Double-DADA w/ Gryffindor, Double-Potions w/ Gryffindor, Dinner

Weekends: Free for clubs and team practices/games

AN: There is no "official" class schedule, so I made my own. I will be referencing this one. :-)

Chapter 26

Harry went back into the common room and saw that the first years were gathering together. 'That's right, the Prefects are taking us down the first time and then to our classes today.' Harry thought, glad that his meeting with Snape had gone well and been completed early. He'd hate to make anyone wait for him if he could help it. As Harry looked around, he noticed some of the older students milling around as well. He wondered why until one approached him, with his friends behind him.

"So, Potter, how the hell did you end up in Slytherin?" demanded a surly-looking older student.

"Marcus!" said a girl near him, "Don't jump down the poor boy's throat! He's a Slytherin and that's all that matters!" said the dark-haired girl.

"Um, Marcus, was it?" At the boys' nod, Harry continued, "And please call me Harry. To answer your question, the Sorting Hat thought I'd do best in Slytherin. I had heard about the other houses and it seemed to me that this would be the best one for me so I'm glad the hat and I agreed." His fellow first years chuckled at that, remembering a similar conversation from the train ride. "Oh, and I like snakes." He said this last with a smile. The way he handled this had the other students respecting him if only a little – it had at least broken the tension that had been building since Marcus had asked his question.

"Well, that certainly answers what is probably the most prominent question in everyone's minds!" exclaimed the same girl from before. "And you can call me Tricia. I'm in fourth year and Marcus here is in fifth, but we've known each other forever." she said, smiling, "Our families are friendly, so it's like having an older brother watching out for me." Seeing his look, she continued, "Don't worry, we're all mostly like that. Though we're not all as grumpy in the morning as some people." she nudged Marcus as she said this, while he grunted before grinning at her.

"First years! This way for breakfast!" called the Prefects, breaking up their little circle. Harry joined his fellow first years as the Prefects pointed out statues and paintings they could use to figure out where they were. Being in the dungeons, they walked past the entrance to the kitchens, which the Prefects pointed out, surprising Harry. "You are expected to be at all meals, however, extenuating circumstances, as well as a growing body's need for food, might leave you hungry at times outside of meals. In that case, you may come to the kitchens and request food from the elves. You need to tickle the pear in this picture" indicated Marcus, as he was the 5th year Slytherin boy Prefect, "and the doorknob appears." said Marcus as the door opened to reveal the Hogwarts elves hard at work preparing breakfast. Several elves came over to see if they needed anything.

"Cans we be helping you, young masters and mistresses?" squeaked one elf, as the others hovered behind her.

"Not this morning, thank you Blinky." replied Marcus, "Just showing the new students around."

"Okays, we bes seeing you laters then, we has work to do!" exclaimed the elf identified by Marcus as Blinky, as she turned and shooed the other elves back to work.

"Right, so if you need a snack and it's before curfew, you can come here. Be warned, you are to treat the house-elves with respect. They are part of the staff of Hogwarts and mistreatment will not be tolerated. Remember that they take care of your dormitories as well as your food." Marcus left off at that statement, leaving Harry to imagine how a house-elf could take revenge for poor treatment. He shivered at that, remembering how powerful Dobby was. No, he would not be rude to these staff-members. Not that he had been before, but no one had explained before. 'No one had needed to – I was 'trained' to be sympathetic to everyone except Slytherins.' thought Harry. He mentally shook himself and listened as Marcus and the other prefects directed them to the Great Hall. They came through the double doors and filed to the right, where the Slytherin table was located.

As they sat, the dishes on the table filled with breakfast foods. Harry helped himself to breakfast as the rest of the table started eating, conversation at a low while everyone ate their first meal of their first day of classes. As they finished and started to chat in low voices, the Head of House came over to distribute their new schedules. As it was a Monday, Harry's first class would be Herbology in Greenhouse 1. He saw the he had this double-period class with the Ravenclaws three times a week (AN: Refer to schedule posted at beginning of chapter). He also noticed that he had several classes with Gryffindor that he had not had before. 'More meddling', he thought. 'Dumbledore must hope that peer pressure from the Gryffs will make me uncomfortable. Ha! Like that would work! Although, he's doing me a favor really, I always thought I should have been better friends with Neville and he's giving me a chance without knowing it.' Harry smiled at this thought, deciding he'd sit with Neville if he got the chance.

"What are you smiling about, Harry?", asked Draco.

"Nothing, I just noticed that we have quite a few classes with the Gryffindors." replied Harry.

"And that makes you smile?", asked Draco incredulously.

"Well, I happen to know that my father's family was particularly close to the Longbottoms, and those classes will give me an opportunity to get to know Neville." explained Harry.

"Neville? You mean that fat little lump over there? I heard he's practically a Squib!", exclaimed Draco.

"Don't believe everything you hear, Draco. I think he has potential, and he can be my ears and eyes inside Gryffindor." stated Harry, calmly.

Draco's eyes widened at that statement. He appeared to think this over before saying, "Sounds like you're getting a Gryffindor spy... Not a bad idea. And you already made an impression on that Granger girl in Ravenclaw... So, which Hufflepuff do you think would do?" he said, turning back to Harry.

"Susan Bones."replied Harry.

"Good luck. Her aunt is head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." stated Draco.

"I know. She used to be in the auror corps with my father, I think that'll help smooth the way." said Harry, not mentioning that Sirius was also an auror. No need to raise more suspicions.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Harry."

"You'll see, Draco. It'll be worth it to know everything that's going on here." said Harry.

"First year Slytherins! This way!" said another of the Slytherin Prefects. She led them back to the dungeons for their books, now that they had their schedules. Once the first years had reassembled in the common room, she led them down to Greenhouse 1 for their first Herbology class. Harry couldn't wait, this time he'd do things right. Right for him and others that he now realized also got shunted to the side in Dumbledore's grand scheme for the Greater Good.