Ch. 9

The fall term fell into a normal routine as the weeks progressed. The second years saw a marked increase in the amount of work expected from them and a few were struggling to keep up. With the reformation of the Study Group, the second year Hufflepuffs and a select few from the other houses found themselves not only able to keep up with the work but excel during classes. The fact that four professors were on Probation managed to leak out to the student body during the second week and the majority of the students couldn't be happier. When Susan heard she sent her auntie an owl telling her of the news and promising to keep her up to date on the teachers that she had and if they improved.

The last Saturday in September dawned bright and early and Susan woke up and roused Hannah. "Tell me again why we are getting up so early on a Saturday Suzy?" Hannah grumbled as she put on her favorite pair of faded jeans and a t-shirt.

"Because today is the Quidditch tryouts and we promised Harry we would go watch."

Grumbling to herself, Hannah finished getting ready and together they headed for the common room. Harry was already down their waiting with his broom slung over his shoulder pacing the room nervously and together they walked up to the Great Hall where Susan tried tempting Harry to eat something.

"Come on Harry, you need to eat. You're going to do great, you're a natural at flying and your quick reflexes and hand-eye coordination is just wicked."

"I know that in my head Suzy, it's just, I've never tried out for a team before and I'm nervous." Harry sighed and took the proffered toast and began to eat it much to Susan's happiness. Harry looked down at his watch and noted the time. "I'm going to head down now and get a little warm up in before practice."

"Ok Harry, we'll join you." Together the three got up from the table and made their way to the pitch. When they walked onto the pitch, Susan and Hannah went and took seats in the stands to watch the tryouts with a few other spectators. Susan watched as Harry mounted his broom and shot up into the air. She smiled to herself as Harry pulled off death-defying dives and maneuvers pushing his broom to the limits. After a few minutes more people started to make their way onto the pitch for tryouts. Around 10, Cedric came out of the locker room holding a crate full of balls and got the tryouts underway.

"Ok everyone; I have high hopes for the team this year. With three returning members and some of that good old fashion Hufflepuff work ethic, I think we have a chance to do well this year. First of all, I want everyone to do a few laps around the pitch to see how well everyone handles their brooms." He blew a whistle and all the hopefuls pushed off and started to fly laps around the pitch. Susan watched as the group started to separate out as the better flyers took the lead and separated from the rest. She was pleased to see that Harry was leading the group and easily outstripped most of the other flyers.

After a few laps around the pitch, Cedric gathered the hopefuls together again and asked them to separate into the positions they were trying for. Harry was in a group of about 10 other people trying for two of the chaser positions. The first thing Cedric had them do was to try one on one shots on goal. Last year's keeper Herbert Fleetmoved into position and waited for the first chaser hopeful. "Ok," called Cedric. "You have five tries to score as many points as you can." The first one to try was a 4th year Susan didn't know the name of. She flew towards the three goal hoops and looked as if to shoot for the middle only to change at the last minute and shoot for the right hoop. The quaffle soared through the right hoop and scored. There were a few cheers from the watching crowed as she got in position while the keeper retrieved the ball. Her next shot went wide and the next one was stopped by the keeper with the last two scoring making her record 3 out of 5.

The next few hopefuls were not so good scoring only once each. Finally it was Harry's turn. Susan and Hannah sat up and cheered loudly for their friend as he got in position with the quaffle secured tightly under his arm. The first run at the goal he made straight for the far right hoop with a burst of speed and at the last moment he made to fake to middle fooling the keeper and shot for the right. The quaffle soared through the hoop scoring. Harry next sped towards the middle goal this time shooting for the left goal which the keeper missed by inches. By now, the second year Hufflepuffs were cheering loudly for their year mate as Harry took his position for his third shot that he scored with a double fake pump at the middle goal. His fourth try produced the same result but to the left goal.

Harry took his spot for his last attempt and Susan could see the smile on his face from the bleachers. She could tell that he was having the time of his life. She had watched and practiced with him enough times over the summer to know he was a natural flyer and could make that broom perform amazing things. That grin on his face told her he was planning something for his last shot. She had a suspicion of what he was going to do as she had seen him practice a particular maneuver enough over the summer. This time Harry headed for the left hoop with the quaffle tucked securely under his arm. As he neared the hoop he moved the quaffle to his hand and performed a barrel roll to the right moving him right in front of the middle hoop half way through his roll. Susan watch open mouthed as Harry threw the quaffle through the middle hoop while still upside down in his roll. The keeper finding himself out of position could just sit there and watch as the quaffle soared right through the middle of goal hoop making it 5 for 5.

Smiling brightly Harry landed to wait with the other hopefuls who already did their tryouts. The Hufflepuffs gathered around him and chatted with him and seemed to be congratulating him on his awesome flying waiting while the last few chaser hopefuls tried out with only one of them scoring 3 goals. With the individual runs complete Cedric gathered them all together. "Ok, now I'm going to see how well you all work in a Chaser team. Heidi Macavoy here will be the lead chaser and two of you will join her. Beaters, while they do that, I want two of you up hitting bludgers at them. I'll be judging you on your accuracy, your power, and your team work." Susan looked over the beater hopefuls and to her surprise she saw Megan Jones standing waiting her turn.

"Hannah, did Megan tell you she would be trying out also?"

"No, she didn't say a word to me. I wonder if she's any good. Her aunt is Qwenog Jones on the Harpies though. I hope she makes the team. It would be great to have two of our year on the team."

With that Cedric started rotating chasers into the chaser formation. Susan watched as Harry seemed to spend the most time in the air with Heidi a third year brunette girl almost a head taller than Harry. Susan gasped as she saw a bludger heading straight for Harry's back and cringed in anticipation for the hit he would take. To her and Hannah's delight Harry performed some sort of rolling maneuver with the bludger sailing harmlessly past him. Susan and Hannah burst into cheers in both relief and amazement at their friend's situational awareness.

After a while Cedric blew his whistle and called the tryouts to an end. Cedric, Heidi and Herbert gathered together in a huddle to discuss who to have on the team. Susan and Hannah went down with the other spectators and gathered around. "Harry that was amazing, I'm sure you're going to make the team." Susan said as soon as she and Hannah got up to him.

"Thanks Suzy, I'm glad that all that flying over the summer paid off. Thanks for coming down and watching." Harry turned to Megan. "That was a nice bludger you sent at me Megan. You were probably the best one up there."

"Thanks Harry, I still can't believe I missed you. How the heck did you avoid that bludger?"

Harry's smile dropped. "I have a lot of experience of knowing when things are about to hit me and avoiding them. I guess you could say I have developed a sixth sense so to speak." Before anything could be said Cedric and the other two team members came back to the group.

"Ok everyone, first I want to say that everybody did a great job. It was a hard decision but I think that we will have a good side this year. Our beaters will be Megan Jones, and Anthony Rickett. The new Chasers will be Harry Potter, and Tamsin Applebee with Malcolm Preece as a reserve. Our first practice will be next Tuesday evening with practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I plan on working us hard this year; I think with this team we have a good chance of taking the cup." Cedric turned to the new team members. "Now let's go fit you for your robes." With that, the group broke up with the team heading for the locker room. Hannah and Susan stuck around and waited for Harry and Megan to finish up. When they were all done Susan, Harry, and Hannah made their way to the owlry and sent Hedwig off to Amelia to tell her the good news.

HC

Term started to fly by quickly for the three friends. All three were busy almost every night doing homework, or participating in clubs. Susan decided that she would try to branch out a little more and joined the Gobstones Club that met on Wednesday while Harry was meeting with Madam Pomfrey. Susan was surprised to find Hermione in the club also.

"Hi Hermione, I didn't know that you liked Gobstones."

"Oh, Hi Susan, I haven't really played much but my parents told me that I should try to join a few clubs this year and they made me promise that at least one would have nothing to do with school work. I think I will also join the charms club on Mondays."

"That's wonderful; Harry, Hannah and I go to that one also. It's pretty fun and Professor Flitwick always makes it interesting."

"That's good. Where is Harry? I figured he would be here also."

"He meets with Madam Pomfrey on Wednesdays."

"Oh." Hermione looked at her feet for a few minutes while biting her lower lip. "I think he and I got off on the wrong foot last year, I would like to try again. I have been told I can be kind of bossy and I have been trying to curtail those tendencies."

Susan could only nod at this. Harry had mentioned to her that Hermione reminded him a little of his aunt in her overly abrasive tone on their first meeting and that had turned him off of the Gryffindor bookworm. She hoped that the girl could mellow out a little and she seemed to be trying.

To everyone's surprise, Snape organized a Potions Club that met on Friday evenings down in the dungeons. The popular rumor was that the Headmaster had 'suggested' that Snape organize it as a way to help his interactions with the students. "I can't believe you want to spend more time in the presence of that greasy git." Hannah said after the last class on Friday. "I mean it's bad enough we have double potions with him but why would you want to spend your Friday night their also."

"I know he isn't the most pleasant person Hannah, but if I want to be an Auror like Auntie, then I need to have a NEWT in potions. If this club can help me get better at potions then I plan on going. Plus, Harry is really looking forward to it. He was really disappointed that there wasn't a club last year."

"Ah so the real reason comes out." Teased Hannah while Susan felt her face heat up as Hannah giggled. "Well, as much as I enjoy spending time with you two, I think I will take a pass on this one."

"Ok Hannah, I'll see you when we get back." Susan waved and headed for the door out of the common room while Hannah took a seat and joined in a game of exploding snap with Megan and Sally-Anne. Susan and Harry made their way down to the dungeons together and idly speculated on who would attend and what they thought they would do. When they entered Susan looked around to see who else was there and to her displeasure the majority of the people in attendance were Slytherins. She could see Malfoy sitting at a table surrounded by other Death Eater children holding court.

Luckily, she also saw a familiar blond headed girl along with a brunette and Harry and Susan made their way over and sat at the table. "Hi Daphne, I'm glad to see a familiar face here." greeted Harry.

Daphne looked at Harry with her face neutral using her Ice Queen mask giving both Susan and Harry a polite nod in greeting. "Hello Harry, it's good to see you too. I'm glad it's not just some of the more distasteful members of my house. Tracey insisted we come when she heard of this club."

Tracey grinned at her best friend. "It wasn't that hard to convince you Daph, besides; I want to get my Potion's Mastery when I'm done with school like my mom so this should help." Daphne decided to refrain from responding and instead busied herself with taking out her potion's equipment. As the group was getting settled a quiet voice sounded behind Susan.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Susan turned around to see Hermione standing their nervously looking at the assembled group. No one seemed to object to the girl joining them though Harry didn't look all that pleased with the idea. Just as Hermione was taking a seat Snape swooped into the dungeon black robes billowing behind them and a scowl on his face. He walked up to his desk and glared around the room. His eyes seemed to rest on Harry longer than others and his scowl deepened.

"Let's get one thing straight," Snape drawled. "This potions club was 'suggested' by the headmaster and he gave me little choice for the day. I do not appreciate my valuable time wasted on babysitting dunderheads. If any of you do anything that I deem inappropriate you will be out of this club faster than you can say cauldron. I expect you to not bother me and do what you want quietly. Is that understood?"

The gathered students just nodded at Snape's rant. Susan looked around the room and could see a lot of disgruntled faces on the faces of people who had come. The Ravenclaw contingent looked disappointed that they wouldn't be taught anything new while the Slytherins took it in stride. She glanced over at Harry to measure his reaction to the news. She was surprised to see a small smile on his face as he took out a muggle style notebook and pen. "What's got you so happy? I figured you would be rather disappointed."

"Oh on some level I am. But for the last year I have been doing my own work without his help so it's no bother to me." Harry lowered his voice and looked around to make sure Snape was out of hearing range. "Besides, did you actually expect the greasy git to act any different than he does in class?"

Susan had to admit he had a point but she had hoped that it would have been different. "So what should we do then?"

"Well when I first started out I would pick a potion and make small alterations to the recipe to see if the results were better or worse than the original. How about we start with that."

The group at the table seemed to think that was a good idea with the exception of Hermione. "But the directions in the book clearly tell us what to do. If there was a better way for the potion to be brewed then it would be in the book."

"There are more things on heaven and earth Horatio then are dreamt of in your books." Harry said. "I'll tell you what Hermione, first make the potion the way the book says then make the potion with my corrections and give it to Snape to look over and say which one is better. If the one the book produces is better than I will never suggest this again."

Hermione looked like she wanted to argue but she couldn't think of any good argument against this idea so she grudgingly nodded. As the small group worked and chatted about different things involved in the potion recipe Susan glanced over at Harry and saw that he seemed to be working on something and taking furious notes. "Harry, what are you working on?"

"I am trying to adjust the Dreamless Sleep potion so it isn't habit forming. I read in the muggle world that they have found ways to use the body's own natural chemicals to help facilitate sleep. Madam Pomfrey and I have been talking about it for the last week or two and we thought that we could modify the potion to exclude the ingredient that causes addiction without sacrificing the effectiveness. Right now I am still in the planning phase trying to figure out what ingredients might produce the effects that we are looking for."

The whole table was silent just looking at Harry. Finally it was Hermione Granger who broke the silence. "Harry that sounds really dangerous, you shouldn't be experimenting with potions like that. You aren't qualified and you should leave that to the people trained in it."

Susan winced knowing that if Hermione wanted to be friends with Harry this was not the way to go about it. Sure enough Harry lightly glared at her. "All it is chemistry with different types of materials. And it's not like I am working on this alone. Madam Pomfrey is helping me and I have been working with her on potions for over a year now. The last advance in potions making was the Wolfsbane potion almost 25 years ago and before that the uses of dragons blood 75 years ago. While muggle medicine has taken leaps and bounds in the last 5 years alone. If we wait for the 'qualified' people to make their discoveries then we will fall further and further behind."

The group had a mixture of expressions on their faces to Harry's rant. Susan could see that Hermione was still a little indignant about Harry's response while Daphne looked slightly offended at the criticism of the Wizarding world. Harry seemed to ignore all that as he buried himself back into his notes and a book. The rest of the group looked at each other and just went back to work fiddling with their potion and discussing small changes that could be made. Over all Susan was not impressed with the potion club as a whole and voiced her disgruntlement to Harry as they walked back to the common room.

"That was a waste of time Harry. I was hoping to actually learn something instead of just fiddling with a recipe."

"I know what you mean Suzy. Snape is supposed to be one of the youngest potion masters in Britain but the man could not teach his way out of a paper bag. I think that working with an already made potion recipe and modifying it is the best way to go. I have learned so much while doing that with Poppy's help. I don't understand Granger's problem though. She is obviously a smart girl but she relies too much on books and her blind faith in authority. She should have realized that all discoveries are made not from books but challenging them."

Susan could only nod at this. "When did you get so smart? I never heard you quoting Shakespeare, forming logical arguments, and now reformulating potions."

Harry blushed at the praise and scratched the back of his head. "Well I've always enjoyed reading and science but with the Dursleys, I never got the chance indulge in it. Now that I have a wonderful new family," he shot a grin at Susan, "I can read all I want so over the summer while you and Hannah were doing girl things and Neville was busy with his Gran, Kingsley and I would go to the library and museums and I was able to read a lot and at one of the science museums we went to was a science museum that had an extensive exhibit on chemistry. I realized the similarities between that and potions and figured that the potion recipe was just a chemical equation that could be modified to do other things." Harry looked rather pleased with himself as he finished and Susan couldn't help but smile at this new sense of self confidence he was displaying. She wrapped her arm around his and leaned a bit into him and together they finished walking back to the common room.

A/N Thanks again for reading. First of all, the quote is adjusted from a line in Hamlet so I know it isn't the real one but I figure changing one word would be ok to fit with what Harry was trying to say to Hermione. Speaking of, she pops up a few time in this chapter but don't worry she won't be taking over. She is still just a side character in this with a little more screen time. Let me know what you guys think of the changes in Harry in this chapter. I hope it didn't seem too much too fast.