Harry's Eyes; The Bracelet
Clark was having no luck on his own potion.
"I was never the best at chemistry, and this is bringing back bad memories of an exploding lab," he whispered to Zatanna and Kara.
"I don't see why not; it's in your blood," said Kara. Her potion and Zatanna's were both at the correct stage, "I was mixing chemicals before bed when I was only ten Kryptonian years old."
"It's easy Clark, just follow the instructions. It's like following a recipe."
Clark looked around to see how everyone else in the room, mostly his brother, was doing. He seemed to be having just as much trouble.
'Like following a recipe?' he thought to himself, 'Come on, Clark, you can do this. Mom taught you how to follow a recipe when you were twelve. That's Earth years.
He set his mind to the task and got to work.
Meanwhile, Harry stood at his cauldron, looking at the pages of his book in frustration. First, he found out he was to have three babysitters, as if he couldn't take care of himself. Add to that a detention from Snape! And to top it all off, the bloody fumes in the room were apparently making the instructions in the book appear blurry. His left hand was on the edge of the desk as he tried to point out the words with his right hand. He failed to notice the wood of the desk splintering slightly as his grip tightened with his mounting frustration.
"Something wrong, Harry?" asked Hermione, though she wasn't much better off as she was trying to defend her perfect potions score. Her hair was all frizzy from the fumes.
"I'm just having trouble reading the instructions," he said, letting out a sigh. He took off his glasses and rubbed his temple with his fingertips, trying to relieve some tension. He opened his eyes and stared hopelessly at the page.
"Wait a minute," he said quietly to himself.
Suddenly, the words were clear enough for him to read. He could even make out the added notes from the book's previous owner. He looked at his right hand, which still held his glasses.
"What is it, Harry?" asked Hermione, slightly distracted by her own potion but concerned all the same.
"I can see without my glasses." He held them up to show to her.
"Really?" she said, forgetting her potion for a moment and taking his glasses to examine them.
"Let's not get distracted now." Slughorn said as he passed by them. Hermione slowly handed the glasses back to Harry. As Harry pocketed his glasses,
"Why don't you go and have your eyes checked after class," she suggested.
"My eyes are better than ever, why should I have them checked?"
"It was just a suggestion."
Harry went back to reading his instructions. Hermione noticed that he wasn't even squinting through the fumes. She decided to add this new information to the checklist she had formed in her head.
Unbeknownst to either of them, their conversation was overheard by Kara.
Gryffindor Tower- After Dinner
After the best dinner that he'd had in a long while, Clark, Kara and Zatanna were on their way to the common rooms. They spent dinner sitting just a few feet from Harry and his friends, mostly due to the fact that they weren't really considered part of their small circle yet, but also partly because Harry still seemed to resent their constant presence. They were still close enough, however to overhear Harry and Hermione arguing over the Half-Blood Prince's book.
When they were on the floor leading to the tower, Kara beckoned the other two to follow her. After maneuvering past the other students on the way to the common room as well, they ended up standing in an empty corridor near the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"I think Harry is growing into his vision powers," whispered Kara to her companions as they followed Harry and his friends to the Gryffindor table.
"What? How do you know?" asked Clark, urgently.
"I overheard him and Hermione talking in class. He doesn't need his glasses anymore."
"Is he supposed to be developing vision-based powers this fast?" asked Zatanna.
"I don't know. We haven't even seen signs of strength, speed or invulnerability yet. I had those powers to some extent for as long as I can remember. And I never wore glasses so I'm not sure if he's developing his abilities in the same order."
"When did you get x-ray and heat vision?" asked Kara.
Clark though back to his freshman year in high school. "I got x-ray vision first, when I was fifteen. It just sort of started. Then I developed heat vision a year later. It was triggered by my…" he stopped and began blushing.
"Triggered by what?" asked Zatanna.
"When I got my heat vision, it started when I was thinking about…" he cleared his throat nervously, "It's triggered by hormones." He finally said, a little faster than normal.
"Hormones, what do you… oh," said Zatanna, realizing what he meant when she took in his blush and that he wouldn't look either in the eye.
"I'm not even touching that one," said Kara quickly.
"Yeah, Clark, I think you can help him out with that particular power," Zatanna said smirking, "Should we tell him now?"
"No, remember what the headmaster said? It'll be enough of a shock without adding any more emotional stress that he doesn't need," said Clark. "Let's wait for something more extreme,"
"Like what?" Kara asked.
"Like, maybe when his strength starts developing, but definitely before he develops heat vision."
"Yes, it would be very embarrassing for it to go off in class," said Kara, smirking. She and Zatanna then headed off together. Clark could hear them both mumbling things to each other such as 'Of course boys would have a sex related power- they're all pigs- mine never involved sex.'
Harry, Ron and Hermione were doing homework together when the new students came and sat with them. Harry was in one of the armchairs while Ron and Hermione were both on the couch. Clark took the opposite armchair while Kara took the remaining seat on the couch and Zatanna pulled up a chair from a nearby table.
"Hello," said Hermione cheerily.
"Hi," they all replied.
"Congratulations on winning that potion in class this afternoon," said Clark to Harry.
"Yeah, thanks," said Harry awkwardly. Clark noticed Hermione tense up a bit at the mention of their potions class. It seemed to be a sore subject for her.
"Didn't you used to wear glasses?" asked Clark, feigning curiosity.
"Yeah, I did. But I must have outgrown them. I just realized that I can see even better without them."
"That's good. It makes it easier to see your eyes, they're very nice," said Zatanna.
"Thank you," said Harry shyly, with a blush, "I've been told I get them from my mum."
"If you keep that up, you're going to give him a premature heat-burst," Kara whispered to Zatanna.
Hermione noticed something glinting in the light from the fire and, looking down, saw that it was the bracelet on Kara's right wrist. She was about to turn back to her homework when she noticed the symbol on the bracelet.
"That's an interesting bracelet, Kara. Wherever did you get it?" she asked, eyeing it in concealed curiosity.
Kara looked down at it for a second before answering, "It's sort of like a family heirloom."
"It's very nice," said Hermione before turning to Harry and Ron, "Don't you boys think so?"
"Think what?" asked Ron. Harry looked up, equally confused.
"Don't you think it's nice- Kara's Bracelet?" she said pointedly to the two wizards.
Harry looked at the bracelet, just to appease Hermione, "Yes it is nice. Very ni- nice," it was then that he saw what Hermione saw. The symbol on the bracelet was that of an 'S' inside of a pentagon.