Author's Note: Raingirl4513 - I love that you like my take on Ravenclaw, but I have to confess I am a Slytherin as sorted by Pottermore.
Little Gem
The next morning Harry rose before all the rest of the boys in his dorm, eager to start learning from the older students. He changed quickly and left Lorelei to explore with explicit instructions that she was not to hurt a single person. The basket from Jordey with snacks was beside Lorelei's cage and Harry grabbed an apple before making his way to the common room, the other boys just beginning to stir.
"Morning Nanette," Harry called cheerfully.
She was nursing a steaming cup of coffee but smiled at him, "Morning Harry. Ready to start?"
"Actually I have a question first," Harry sat down next to her and tossed his apple core into a waste bin, "Can you transfigure glass into stone?"
"Of course, what do you need transfigured?"
"My lizard's cage, she hates it. I think she'd prefer a warm rock to lie on."
Nanette smiled and waved her hand, "That's easy; I'll do it right before we leave for breakfast. Now get out your wand."
Harry complied and unsheathed his wand, eager to see what she would teach him. "First we'll start with the Heating Charm. The tower has no fireplaces because the sheer amount of parchment and books lying around. In the winter it can get quite cold if we don't insulate ourselves with heating charms.
"Now the incantation is Caloram and it's just a simple swish of the wand, like this," Nanette swished her wand and without saying anything the shirt Harry was wearing started to grow warm.
Harry grinned and pointed his wand at Nanette's shirt but she stopped him, "I don't think so. You may have slaughtered a dark lord but you will not be setting me on fire. Practice on that cushion." Harry scowled at the mention of Voldemort but turned to the cushion.
By the time Stephen, Terry, and Michael made it down – Anthony Goldstein had decided to sleep in – Harry had mastered the heating charm and was working on the second, the Silencing Charm. Nanette had eagerly turned the cushion Harry had been practicing on into a large, squawking bird and was told to practice. Apparently the wind could get very loud and this was an easy way to quiet the noise.
Harry had just gotten the hang of the Silencing Charm when the girls; Padma, Mandy, Lisa, Su, and Morag joined the common room. Terry had managed to make half of his cushion warm but Michael had set the table on fire, much to their amusement.
The next spell Nanette taught Harry was the Impervious Charm. By this time everyone was sitting together in a large circle. Harry flew by the others in terms of how long it took to master the charms. They were relatively easy ones that the Prefects taught every year but Harry was excited to see the envy on his fellow first year's faces, especially when he managed to make a Magical Theory text book completely impervious to Nanette's coffee.
"Good job Harry," Nanette praised with a pleased smile. "I've never seen someone master all three before breakfast, though I did manage two."
Harry grinned maniacally, he absolutely loved Charms.
As she had promised Nanette made quick work of turning the glass cage into a large flat rock. Harry even put a Warming Charm on it just to spoil Lorelei.
Harry had no idea what classes he'd have today so he grabbed his bag and all of his school texts, plenty of parchment, two quills, two ink pots, and some snacks all the while smiling darkly when it never got an ounce heavier. It had been well worth the extra few galleons for the Feather-light Charm.
The Great Hall was about a quarter full when Harry and Nanette made it down. Breakfast had just been served and the two sat down together. "I can't believe you managed to master all three charms." She said this so casually as she filled her plate with eggs that Harry wondered if he'd only imagined she spoke at all. But then she looked at him with curious eyes and he knew he hadn't.
"Er – well they weren't difficult." Harry said as he averted his eyes and scooped up some eggs and bacon.
"Hey it's not a bad thing; if you got it flaunt it. Just make sure that if you get bored in Charms to ask Professor Flitwick –"
"Ask me what?" Both Harry and Nanette turned around. Professor Flitwick was no more than four feet tall and had dark hair and a nose that reminded Harry of a Goblin's.
"Harry already mastered all the charms we went over this morning." Professor Flitwick looked to Harry and smiled almost gleefully.
"Taking after your mother, Mr. Potter? She too excelled in charms. Oh she even spent breakfast looking through her text book – managed to mend a friend of hers robe on the second day." Professor Flitwick was almost rocking in excitement as he said this. "I do recommend you self- study Mr. Potter, and should the work become too easy for you I have plenty more. So many charms you can never master them all!"
He laughed and then handed them each a schedule, "See you in class!" Then he was gone and Harry was left looking at his time table. All first year Ravenclaws had Defense Against the Dark Arts first then Charms which was followed by a lunch break. Both DADA and Charms would be with Hufflepuff.
At the end of Breakfast Nanette led all the first years to the Defense Against the Dark Arts on the second floor. The classroom was bright and airy. There were two large chalkboards on top of a small set of stairs and a bird perch off in the corner. Other than that the room was sparsely decorated, with only a desk and chair for the Professor. The Hufflepuffs arrived at the same time and Harry fought to get a chair next to Terry Boot in the front row.
It seemed that everyone was eager for their first class. Harry had his book out, his parchment ready, and his ink well unscrewed; ready and waiting for the Professor.
"Do you think we'll learn any hexes?" Terry whispered anxiously from beside Harry.
"I don't think so," Harry replied, "But we do learn the Curse of the Bogies and it's fantastic." Both boys grinned and Harry couldn't help but laugh when he pictured Petunia with giant bats flying out of her nostrils.
Professor Quirrell came in a few minutes later and the class fell quiet instantly. "G-Good morning students." The professor's voice wavered as if he were scared to address them. "Wel-Welcome to Defense A-Against the Dark Arts. Y-Yes M-Miss?"
"Patil sir," Padma answered and Harry turned around and looked at her for a moment. "Sorry to interrupt you sir but what are the Dark Arts? I've looked everywhere in our textbook but it doesn't expressly define how exactly a Dark Spell is different from a normal spell."
Harry's head whipped back to Professor Quirrell, eagerly waiting for his reply. For a moment he looked like he might be sick but then his face went calm. "D-Do any of you know?"
Nobody moved and Professor Quirrell seemed like he wanted to sigh. "Some magic," He began and grabbed some chalk, "is fueled by emotion. Can anyone give me examples of this?"
Harry raised his hand quickly feeling utterly joyful that he could give an example and raise his hand. This was the first time his academics had no limit, there were no Dursley's here. "Yes, Mr. - ?"
"Potter, sir." Harry replied almost giddily. "And the Unforgivables are based off emotion."
The class, which had been quiet before, was now deafeningly so. Every eye seemed to snap to Harry and even Professor Quirrell looked surprised. Was he not supposed to talk about those or something? Harry looked around confused. "What?"
"Would you care to elaborate, Mr. Potter?" Professor Quirrell asked as he studied Harry intently.
"Erm, well the Cruciatus Curse is base off your cruelty. The Killing Curse is based off your hatred and the Imperius Curse is fueled by determination – your will against your opponents." Harry turned when a Hufflepuff squeaked loudly and he found the boy staring at him in utter horror.
"What?" Harry asked the boy, "I was curious why I was famous and someone explained the Unforgivables to me to help me realize why you all think I should be famous." Catherine Potter nee Malfoy had gone into depth about each Unforgivable and how they worked when they had spoken about how he could have possibly survived the Killing Curse.
That seemed to put the Hufflepuffs at ease but his fellow Ravenclaws were looking at him still, as if he had impressed them.
"Ten points, Mr. Potter, to Ravenclaw." Professor Quirrell said with a small smile. Harry nearly beamed.
"Now the Unforgivables are not the only emotion fueled magic," With that the Professor turned to write on the blackboard. "The Patronus Charm is also based on emotion, on happiness. The Charm uses pure happiness to ward off Dementors. There is also the Fidelius Charm which uses a sense of pure trust to cast, to hide the secret which is being hidden inside the secret keeper.
"Now, Dark Magic is all magic – like the Unforgivables – that uses negative emotion to cast. Conversely, Light magic is all magic which uses positive emotion – like the Patronus Charm – to cast."
"But how does that make sense Professor?" Harry asked suddenly and he realized he forgot to raise his hand.
Professor Quirrell didn't seem to mind that Harry interrupted and he motioned for Harry to continue, "It's just – if Dark and Light magic are based off emotion then why is only Dark Magic banned?"
"Why is Dark Magic banned at all?" Terry asked from beside Harry.
"Dark Magic is banned because not only does it have a tendency to be very dangerous but studies have shown that prolonged exposure to extreme levels of negative emotions were damaging for the psyche." Professor Quirrell explained but this only made the students, Harry in particular, even more curious.
"Well obviously experiencing nothing but negative emotion for an extended period of time is bad," Padma Patil exclaimed, "but that doesn't mean it should all be banned. What if some of it was helpful?"
"No way," Susan Bones from Hufflepuff said loudly with pink cheeks, "There is no way anything based off of such negative emotion is good."
"What about fear or anger?" Harry asked her. "Would you want to defend yourself if you couldn't feel fear or anger?"
"Logic would tell you to defend yourself," Michael Corner called out from the back, "You wouldn't actually need fear or anger. I'd actually go so far as to say they only serve to cloud your judgement, I'd prefer to be level headed when I fight."
No one said anything for a moment after that but Harry found Terry looking at him, urging him debate. Not one to throw away the opportunity to have some fun Harry spoke up. "Fear and anger are natural bodily responses to outside stimuli. Take fear for example, it sets your body into the fight or flight response – which is like super human mode. That's when your heart rate rises and adrenaline courses through your system. Those things are positive responses from 'negative' emotions. They'll help you fight and protect yourself better."
"Well," Mandy called out, "in that case it's safe to say that negative emotions are necessary both to our survival and to our mental health. We need the entire range of emotion to view the world and deal with our experiences. So, shouldn't we - if we need both positive and negative emotion – also need both Light and Dark Magic?"
Murmurs spread throughout the small classroom and Professor Quirrell seemed immensely happy that the class was fully engaged and even debating amongst themselves.
"Light magic doesn't hurt people," Su Li said over the murmur of voices. "Dark Magic is banned because it harms other."
Harry jumped at this one, "That makes no sense. Next class we have is charms where we'll be covering the Hovering Charm. I could use the same charm on you so that you'd fly off the side of a cliff and you would be harmed, does that make it dark?"
"But Dark Arts generally have only one purpose, don't they, Professor?" Su Li asked as she glared at Harry.
"Why don't one of you try to come up with a practical use for – let's say one of the Unforgivables?" Professor Quirrell instructed the class who immediately began to murmur amongst themselves.
Padma Patil's hand shot into the air and she said, "The Killing Curse is said to be an instantaneous death, so no pain right? That could be used medically."
"Five points to Ravenclaw Miss Patil." Professor Quirrell praised and the girl's brown cheeks grew darker. "Now all of you have brought up excellent points. However, the Ministry has decided that magic labelled Dark has risks that far outweigh their benefit.
"Now that we know what Dark Magic is, this class is designed to teach you to defend yourself against witches and wizards who choose to break the law and practice it anyway."
The rest of Defense Against the Dark Arts or what little was left of it was spent taking down notes on all things labeled 'Dark'; from creatures to spells to artifacts. By the time Harry had arrived in the Great Hall for lunch, after Charms, word had spread all over the castle about the DADA debate and Harry was no longer the object of pointing and staring. The other first year Ravenclaws were scrunched together at the end of the table and Harry sat himself farther down. He could hear them whispering, 'No no, that's labelled dark too – that could be used to stop something that's too big for you to fight! – Oh don't be thick Su, I think magic should be free to study –
After lunch first years had a free period and so Harry made his way to the third floor and found the library with a huge smile. The library was just about the size of the Great Hall and it had one absolutely enormous stained glass window along the far wall. Shelves lined every inch of wall and were packed full of leather bound books. Just the sight of it made Harry joyous. There had to be tens of thousands of books.
Before he went to explore however, Harry made his way to the desk where a large plaque read 'Madam Irma Pince, Librarian'. Madam Pince was behind the large oak desk that was piled high with books she seemed to be performing magic on. "Excuse me," Harry said as the sharp grey eyes of the librarian snapped up to his, "I'm Harry Potter." He held his hand out for her to shake but Madam Pince made no move to take it.
"You look like your father," She snapped, "and if you act like him in here I will throw you out by the scruff of your neck."
Harry's eyes widened and he had to stifle a laugh, "I promise I'm well behaved, I was wondering if you could show me how the library is organized? Do you follow the Dewey Decimal system or – "
"Of course we don't." Madam Pince said as she moved to come around the side of the desk. "Each section has a sign where it begins and ends," Harry followed to where she pointed and found a sign at the top of a bookcase that said, 'Transfiguration'. "All non-restricted books on core classes are found here on the bottom floor as well as Flying, Invisibility, Dragons, Magical Law, and the Reference sections.
"The Restricted Section is also found on this level near my desk, you may only enter with a signed note from a Professor and you may only check out books with a different signed note." Madam Pince turned to Harry and looked at him long and hard. "Anyone caught in the Restricted Section unauthorized or defacing a book will be punished to the fullest extent that I am allowed.
"Do you understand?"
Harry nodded and flashed the librarian a smile, "Of course, I'd never do that."
Madam Pince looked as though she wanted to believe Harry but knew better. "Well then, over here is the staircase to the second level of the library which houses all non-restricted book on the elective subjects you can take in third year as well as sections on Wards, Curses, Offensive Dueling Magic, Mind Magic – " Harry perked up at this, " – Alchemy, Banking, Cooking, Healing, and Music."
Harry was nearly ready to run up the stairs when Madam Pince stopped him, "As a Ravenclaw I expect a higher level of care for the library Mr. Potter, do not make me throw you out because I won't let you come back."
With that Madam Pince hurried back to her desk and Harry took to the stairs, two at a time. For two hours Harry browsed Wards, Mind Magic, Healing, and Curses. Madam Pince looked like she was fighting an amused smile when she saw Harry making his way to her desk with an armful of books. "You do realize you can only have books checked out for two weeks, don't you Mr. Potter?"
"Of course," Harry said as he carefully set his books on the counter, "That's why I only limited myself to five."
Madam Pince gave a small approving smile and set about checking out each book. Harry had picked out: Basic Wards for Beginners, Shielding Your Mind, Lawfully Learning Legillimency, Compendium of Curses, and Basic Emergency Care and First Aid. When Madam Pince finished she flashed him an amused grin before she ushered him out of the library.
Later that evening back in the common room, Harry was reading Basic Wards for Beginners when Mandy drew his attention. "What are the rules regarding the chalkboard? Do you know?"
"From what I gather any year is allowed to write questions on it. A seventh year wrote the second question before I left for breakfast and I saw a third year add the fourth one about a half hour ago." Harry said as he watched Mandy pick up the chalk.
'Does a Boggart have a definitive form?'
"What is a Boggart?" Harry asked Mandy as she watched her question fade into the chalkboard where it would stay for two weeks.
"An amortal shape shifter who turns into your worst fear. I was reading about one today in between break and Transfiguration."
Mandy sat back down next to Harry on the couch and rested her feet on the table in front of her. "I went to the Library during break. Madam Pince showed me around a bit."
"Oh not fair, you should have dragged me along. Michael and Terry insisted I come with them to study out in the courtyard. They're obsessed with Potions and utterly terrified Professor Snape will kill them." Harry laughed at that, it had spread around school like wildfire that Professor Snape had taken nearly thirty points from a Gryffindor who had caused his cauldron to explode.
Silence reigned for a few minutes before Mandy looked to Harry, "Let's learn something!"
"I am learning something, I'm learning basic wards."
"No, no…let's learn something together. Like a project."
Harry looked to her and quirked a brow, "What kind of project?"
"Hm," Mandy hummed in thought, "I want to learn how to grow Devil's Snare like Professor Sprout showed us." When she saw Harry's face scrunch in distaste she said, "No? Okay then how about an instrument? Grandfather says that it's a great thing to learn."
Learning an instrument almost immediately appealed to Harry and he found himself groaning at the thought. He wanted to study so many different things that he was sure to fall behind in his classwork. But instead of saying no like he should have Harry nodded and allowed Mandy to drag him from the sofa. She led him to a closet next to the piano. Harry let out a low whistle, inside was almost every type of instrument Harry could think of and more that he could not identify.
"These are left behind by graduating students for those of us who want to learn," Mandy explained as she held up some sort of strange accordion and squeezed both sides together. It let out a horrendously loud sound and Harry cringed as she set the instrument down, coughing from all the dust it produced.
"Oh look there's a violin back here!"
Harry turned to explore the other half of the small room. There were tubas, a large harpsichord on rollers, a guitar, and even a lute. Harry continued looking until he found a large cello in a corner that was covered in a thick layer of dust. "I'm going to learn the cello!" Harry called to Mandy.
With a great struggle Harry lifted the cello and put every ounce of strength into carrying it back to the sofa so he could lay it down on the coffee table, Mandy came out of the cupboard only seconds behind Harry with a violin in one hand and a large grin on her face. "Are you sure we aren't better off buying new ones?" Harry asked as he eyed the dirty cello skeptically, it didn't even have a bow.
"Nonsense, these have character. All we have to do is put in an owl order for new bows and some cleaning supplies and we'll be good as new." Harry wasn't so sure but when Mandy said she'd do the ordering Harry shrugged and left her to it. He picked up his Warding book and made his way to the boys' dormitory.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed, let me know what you think!