Chapter fourteen: Hogwarts
In the meantime Harry slowly had made his way to the kitchen where Snape already sat, drinking his coffee.
"Morning." Harry greeted when he came in. "What is for breakfast?"
He covered a yawn with one hand while the other tapped his cane on the floor until he found a chair.
"Ask Minka." came Snape's slightly muffled reply. A paper rustled.
After calling the house elf for his breakfast, Harry asked curiously.
"When will we leave here and how?"
"We will ride a carriage to King's Cross Station and you two will border the train. I will apparate to Hogwarts directly."
"Alright." Harry agreed easily.
They walked through the barrier with Snape. Harry was already shivering with dread. His fear of crowded places made him cling to Snape's side who wrapped an arm protectively around his shoulders to guide and anchor him. The train whistled every other second. The chatter of the students saying goodbye to their parents and the racket of their pets, everything mingled together to a blanket of noise descending upon Harry.
It was nearly impossible for him to find his way, because his cane constantly bumped into something or someone, making him even more grateful for Snape's support.
Draco was walking behind them since he was lugging all the baggage.
Harry thought he was strangely quiet, but maybe he just didn't hear his complaints as his hearing was already working overload.
When they arrived at a door, they loaded all the trunks and suitcases onto the train. When they were finished, Harry gave Snape a quick, but strong hug to say goodbye, before he entered the train, stumbling.
He entered their compartment and gratefully sat down. Draco stayed longer to talk to Snape, presumely about him concerning his condition and giving some last-minute advice on how to help.
The whistle blew one last time and the doors closed themselves magically.
A moment later, Draco came in and slumped into a seat across from Harry.
"Now we are heading for another year with the old fool and his entourage." Draco sighed. He seemed to be of two minds on this. On the one hand, he didn't like the teachers, but on the other hand, he wanted to see his friends again and learn some new potions or mean spells to scare the Gryffindor first years.
Their trip went by undisturbed and fast. They had already changed into their robes before coming to the station, so they could watch the chaos unconcerned. The high noise level was getting on Harry's nerves, though. He hoped the rest of the day would pass soon, so he could be in his silent dormitory.
Upon arriving at the castle, he was pulled out of the crowd into the adjoining chamber of the Great Hall where the rest of the first years was waiting to be sorted.
The whispered assumptions of what would occur in little time was amusing and thankfully distracted Harry from his own reason to be here. Amusing was the fact that no one dared to ask Harry what could happen, considering that he was much older and more experienced in the magical world especially Hogwarts.
He was soon getting impatient wondering why it took so long. Surely it hadn't taken this long when he was a first year, six years ago?
Finally he heard the door open and an instant later a bony hand gripped his elbow in a death grip.
He was led into the Great Hall where whispers rose as soon as he entered. It was understandable as it was very unusual for a non-first year to come to Hogwarts.
After everyone had shuffled to the front between Head table and the four house tables, the Headmaster started his annual speech.
"Welcome back, everyone! I wish you had a good holiday, so that you are ready for a new year full of learning." his eyes were twinkling madly, and although Harry couldn't see that, he almost could hear it by his tone.
"Well, let's not wait any longer and commence with the Sorting!"
From there McGonagall took over and called up the students in alphabetical order to sit on the small stool.
When the last student had been sorted, McGonagall announced.
"This year we even have a new student joining us that will not be in first year. He will be in sixth year. Since he is blind, he has been home-schooled until now. I should inform you about some things concerning Mr Evans. You are under no circumstances to curse, hex or otherwise prank him in any way. The same applies to his cane. Is that understood? " Mutual agreement was murmured on all sides.
"Good. Now, Laures Evans, please step forward." McGonagall said much more gentle than before. She led him to the stool where he sat down and the hat was placed on his head. It still reached low over his face and hid most of his eyes.
"Well, let's see." the hat whispered in Harry's mind. "You've been here before, haven't you? I never forget any child I sorted within these walls. Hm... You don't want to belong to Gryffindor anymore? Have found a family, didn't you? ...So, not Gryffindor, but Slytherin won't do either... Oh, don't be disappointed. You'd drown in there. They are not kindly sinned towards handicapped people. Then we have Rawenclaw, but you have no thirst for knowledge just to know. That means you'll be a good last option. Not to stir bad memories, but just think of proud Cedric Diggory and how happy he was with Helga's lot."
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the Sorting Hat shouted a second later and Harry took it off with glowing cheeks. Professor McGonagall showed him to his table where he reluctantly sat down. He was greeted quite enthusiastically, but all he wished for was a glance at Draco and Snape to evaluate their reactions.
He nervously waited for Dumbledore to finish his speech, telling everyone that Harry Potter wouldn't attend school this year for he had gone into hiding to train for the last battle with Voldemort. The students cried out in dismay at that, especially the Gryffindors. Whereas, the Slytherins just seemed to be glad to be rid of the Golden Boy and the Ravenclaws didn't say much at all.
When the food finally appeared, Harry asked his neighbour to list the dishes on the table clockwise, not concerned about 'Harry Potter' at all, since that was himself. As Evans he couldn't have had much contact with Harry Potter, so that shouldn't bother him either.
He didn't have a chance to escape his housemates in order to talk to Draco or Professor Snape after dinner, and hoped he could do so in the morning. When he entered the common room, he was bombarded with questions and invitations. They surrounded him like a hive of bees, pushing him to a sitting area near a fireplace.
"Where did you live?" "Why were you home-schooled?" "By whom have you been taught?"
Some even dared to ask: "Why are you blind?"
Harry neither had the time nor did he want to answer all these questions, so he mostly said nothing. They were all talking against each other, anyway. That is, until one of the braver students, most likely a prefect, called a halt to the turmoil and tried to send everybody to their dormitories. The younger years were righteously cowed and obediently went to bed. The older ones stayed for a while until they realised Harry wouldn't tell them anything. Then he was taken up to his bed by one of his year mates.
His sleep was plagued by nightmares and some of the time he was lying there half-awake. Despite his bad night, he felt quite alert when his new mates woke him up in the morning.
He had packed all books into his bag, so he wouldn't have to go back here to collect the correct ones when he got the timetable. Being blind, he had to consider if it was worth going the way twice, if he did not really have to.
When he entered the Great Hall, heated whispering broke out.
'Nothing unusual there.' Harry thought glumly. 'I'm still the centre of attention. I wish I could at least talk to Draco.'
He had no such luck, since a lot of people were swarming around him, trying to question him again and again.
'I should put a sheet on the notice board with all the questions and answers, so they stop bothering me.' He thought wryly.
He tried to ignore most of the students and concentrated on his food. They only left him alone when the timetables were handed out, though. He breathed a silent sigh of relief and tucked in. When he got his own timetable finally, he asked the boy beside him to read it out slowly for him. He still didn't know his name, but he was kind and supporting, not so overwhelming like the rest.
School started on a Thursday this year, and the first lesson, he had was Charms. After that he had a free period until lunch and in the afternoon he had Potions and Care of Magical Creatures.
Harry liked his timetable, alone for the fact that he had no Potions first thing in the morning. He had always hated that.
When everyone got up and left the Great Hall, Harry asked his neighbour, whose name he now knew:
"Nick, what lesson do you have now? Can you please lead me to Charms?"
"I'm sorry, Laures. I have Herbology now."
"Oh, all right." Harry replied softly. Standing awkwardly, he headed where everyone else was going. In the slightly emptier Entrance Hall, Harry halted and waited. He didn't know for what, aimlessly trying to orientate himself.
"Hey, Laures. What do you have now?"
"Draco? Oh God, you are here. I thought Id lost you. I have Charms, but I don't know how to get there." At the end of the sentence, he blushed and his voice almost died away completely.
"You are lucky. I have Charms, too, and after that Ancient Runes." Draco declared matter of factly. "Well, come on. Let's go, or we will be late."
Harry nodded and thrust out his hand for Draco to take. His hand jerked at the initial contact, but he grasped Draco's hand more firmly after it.
Harry and Draco were waiting in front of the Potions classroom just after lunch, talking softly about his living arrangements and his housemates.
"So you're really alright with being in Hufflepuff? I don't think I could do that. But I suppose it fits you best."
"Yes, I didn't think so before, but now I think I wouldn't survive the other houses. The Hufflepuffs are very curious, but they leave me alone most of the time." Harry agreed.
"That's good, then. Anyway, I always go to uncle Severus after the fist day of school. Do you want to come with me?" Draco asked quietly, so that the others wouldn't hear.
"Yeah, alright. How do you think he'll be in Potions? Is he different when he teaches one on one?" Harry asked, pretending not to know the answer to that.
"Yes, I suppose. He is always favourable to the Slytherins, but he can be downright mean to the other houses."
"Make way!" Professor Snape bellowed as he arrived to open the door. The students quickly scuttled out of his way as not to draw his wrath upon them.
Harry and Draco entered last, so it would be easier for Harry to walk who was very grateful for his consideration.
"Welcome to your sixth year of Potions. Everyone who subscribed for this subject will have to do his best with the greatest effort or you are to never come back to this class, is that understood?"
"Yes, sir." The whole class chorused not very enthusiastic. A few students groaned and muttered some obscenities under their breaths. Harry wondered how he was to absolve his potions without his sight, but just as he thought about it, Snape commented on that.
"If I see just one cauldron exploding this year, you will sit detention for a month. And if Mr Evans is hurt by your stupidity, it will be detention for the rest of the year." Snape barked, seeming to be in a very dark mood.
Harry could imagine the fierce scowl that was edged into Professor Snape features quite clearly, shuddering slightly as he remembered the piercing stare that was normally fixed on him when Snape talked like that.
"Now everyone get their cauldrons out and start preparing your ingredients. You may use cupboards two and seven for additional supplies. The recipe is on the board."
A few seconds later when nobody had moved, be bellowed: "What are you waiting for, you dunderheads. Get on with it."
A furious scrambling arose and everyone was trying to be the first at the cupboards, that is except Harry who still sat a bit fearfully on his chair. He needn't have worried, though, as Snape approached him when the others were busy.
"Mr Evans, you may work together with Draco to the best of your abilities. I will allow you to decide what you are able to do just this once. Ask him for explanations and let him tell you quietly about the potions preparation and its development."
"Yes, sir." Harry sent a little smile in his direction.
The other teachers had been equally negligent in his participation in class. They sometimes only gave him written homework and he could sit at his table, being bored out of his mind. The first real incident happened about three weeks into term during Defence against the Dark Arts, when they should have been practicing a variant of the binding spell. Aim and control were very important for this, making it impossible for Harry to try in a full classroom. Also, he couldn't check whether it had worked and would be distracting the other students too much from their own spells.
That's why Harry sat in a corner at the back of the class, listening to his classmates and twirling his wand between his fingers.
"Hey," somebody whispered a voice to his right. At first, Harry didn't know who the other was talking to and therefore ignored her.
"Evans." She called this time.
Harry wondered who it could be. It had to be one of the Gryffindors because the Hufflepuffs did not pester him much anymore and only in the common rooms, asking if he needed anything they could help with. Harry found it amusing, but also annoying that they treated him like an cripple when he was only blind. Anyway, back to the problem at hand. Harry turned his head to the girl, to show that he was listening.
"Why are never doing anything in class?" the girl asked quite imperiously.
'She sounds almost like Hermione,' he thought. 'Maybe it actually is her? Some friend I have been for the last five years. I can't even remember her voice.' He shook his head mentally in disbelief.
"I can't just shoot spells around the room when I don't know what I'm doing at all, can I?" He hissed back quietly.
Well, you shouldn't just sit here, doing nothing, you know?" she admonished him in the know-it-all way that was so uniquely Hermione that Harry finally recognised his friend. He groaned internally. She was about to make a scene, he just knew it.
Stop it, will you? That's between the professor and me!" Harry told her far more bravely than he felt. He was scared wanted to hide. He wanted Draco to protect and stand up for him, but he had Arithmancy now.
"That's…that's…" she spluttered and then exclaimed. "I can't believe this!"
"Whatever is the matter, Miss Granger?" asked Professor Durham in a silky, but dangerous tone. He was a bit like Snape in his mannerism with the death glares and the biting comments when he found a suitable victim, but he was much kinder than Snape in general and a better teacher. Harry had come to like Snape's snarky personality, but he had to admit Snape was a horrible teacher, although he'd never tell him that.
Professor Durham even looked a bit like Snape. He was pale with a smooth skin (contrary to Snape's wrinkles) and black shoulder lengths hair with pale lavender coloured eyes that seemed to see everything. He was also very tall, at least 6"3', but he wasn't stalking like Snape did, he was much more graceful in his motions. That is to say, this is what Draco had described him to be like and who kind of admired his new defence professor, so it probably wasn't the complete truth.
"I… I…" Hermione stuttered, very embarrassed at being caught talking in class. She would most likely blushing like a tomato right now, Harry thought.
"I was wondering why Evans never has to do anything. He's just sitting around all the time." She blurted, maybe even throwing a nasty look in Harry's direction.
Harry followed the conversation avidly. 'Only she can be so stupid. She's is just digging herself in deeper and deeper if she goes on like this. Professor Durham is very against students questioning his ways of teaching.'
"Does he now…Is it any of your concern, though?" he asked with a sickly sweet tone that was mocking her openly. He was nearer now, Harry heard, maybe halfway down the aisle.
Hermione, who didn't know what to say anymore, was stuttering incoherently.
"If you don't have anything to say anymore, go back to your seat and continue with today's task." Professor said dismissively and walked back to the front of the class.
"Yes, professor" Hermione replied chastised. Harry imagined her standing there with her head bowed, on the verge of tears. He didn't want to sound mean, but she deserved the rebuff. He couldn't stand her nosing in his business, especially now that he had something so big to hide. She mustn't get close to him, lest she recognised him somehow, by way of speech or movements.
Half an hour later the bell rang eventually and everyone was glad to be able to leave. Harry dallied behind until he felt his professor next to him. He held his arm out for Durham to take and lead him to the door where Draco would be waiting to take over.
The transfer happened silently and only when the door had closed behind his professor did Harry throw himself into Draco's arms, trembling like mad.
TBC
Thank you for all your reviews. I have finally found some energy to go on for a bit. the story will probably have 3 or 4 more chapters... i don't really know yet.
I will try to finish it before next year, but I cannot promise anything. just bear with me, please-
cyu as