A/N: Whaaaaat's up?! I'm back with another update! I must confess I am extremely proud of my update rate for this story! I haven't been this fast an updater since ... well ever! =)
Now, I have gotten 18 people to vote for the poll of who Harry should interact with more and form friendships with during his first year and so far, Fred and George Weasley are in lead with 14 votes, tightly followed by Neville Longbottom and Cedric Diggory at 13 votes each! The current top 10 is, as follows: Fred and George, Neville, Cedric, Hermione, Ron, Blaise, Susan, Katie, Daphne and Hannah (shared amount of vote with Percy and Wood). So if you feel someone should be higher on the list or you just feel someone is missing, dont be shy to go to my profile and vote for your favorite.
That said, I think I'll leave the rest of the small talk until after the chapter is done. I also got a simple question I want an answer for at the bottom so even if you don't wanna read the answers to my reviews, please just read the AN at the bottom and answer. =)
Disclaimer: Don't own this stuff...
Chapter Seven: Harry takes flight
The Wednesday morning found the first year Gryffindor boys sitting in the great hall, excited for their full day flight training. The teachers had decided that it would be better for them to get all their teaching in flight done in one day and then be done with it rather than draw it out, since there really wasn't that much they needed to learn, just get some practice in. They were supposed to meet Professor Hooch outside at the school grounds by 10 o'clock and then she would tutor them until 12 when they would take a break for lunch. After lunch, those who still needed help with their broom skills would rejoin Madam Hooch outside while the rest would get the day off.
During breakfast, Harry was pleasantly surprised to find that Hedwig was among the owls that arrived in the great hall, carrying Ginny's answer to the letters they had sent on the train. When the snow white owl dropped down in front of him, Ron immediately reached for the parchment that had his name on it. He tore it open and read the lines she had written to him and sighed with relief. She had forgiven him. He looked to see what she had written to Harry, only to find that his friend had tucked the letter inside his robes.
"Aren't you going to read it?" he asked suspiciously. Why wouldn't Harry read his letter from Ginny? Did he think it contained something he didn't want Ron to know?
Harry looked at his friend for a moment, carefully picking out his words.
"Mine and Ginny's letters have been our private business for the last month and that's how it's going to stay." he said, studying his friend for any sign of a negative reaction.
Ron looked like he was going to complain but thankfully, Hedwig chose that moment to step in between them and munching on a piece of bacon. The red haired boy took a look at the owl and remembered how she had snapped at his fingers when he had tried to take Ginny's letter once. When Hedwig looked up at him, as if to say "your finger will end up like this piece of meat if you try to take that letter", Ron decided to just shrugg it off and let Harry and Ginny have their secrets. It would probably be less painful that way.
After finishing breakfast, the first years all found themselves outside on the grounds. As was expected, they were standing grouped in their houses, as they hadn't really had any contact with people from other houses yet. They were still getting to know each other. All 8 Gryffindors were standing close to each other, all doing their own thing. Parvati and Lavender seemed to have taken to each other rather quickly and were already discussing their families and how they had grown up. Hermione was once again standing for herself, silently trying to rehearse what she had read about flying in a book. Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville was standing in a little group of their own, discussing quidditch, the greatest wizarding sport in the world, played on brooms. Ron seemed to know as much about quidditch as Hermione knew about their classes, which would mean pretty much everything they could think of.
The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were also standing in their little groups, talking amongst themselves. Harry noticed that the students in those houses tended to cast a sideway glance at him from time to time, but he did his best to ignore it. His own housemates had been the same during the first two days at school, but they had settled down after they got used to seeing him around. The other houses hadn't seen him as much and so wasn't as used to being around the "boy who lived".
Looking over towards the brooms that were already placed on the ground where they were supposed to start training as soon as Madam Hooch arrived. Which should be in 10 minutes according to Harry's tattered old wrist watch. When he looked up from his wrist watch, he noticed that Malfoy was giving him angry looks. Answering with a simple smile, Harry turned away from the slytherin boy. Malfoy had been glaring at him ever since that first incident in the great hall when Professor Sinistra had pulled him out by the ear. However, he hadn't done anything about it as Malfoy hadn't dared to make another move. Apparently, something was different today becuase when Harry smiled and turned away, Malfoy stalked over towards them. As he passed by the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, the groups immediately quieted down, watching as the blonde boy closed in on the Gryffindors.
"You think you're so good, don't you Potter? Just because you are the teacher's pet doesn't mean you're better than me." he almost spat out the name "Potter" and the mention of "teacher's pet".
Harry frowned at being called the teacher's pet. Sure, he had done ok in classes but from what he knew, no one had treated him any differently from anyone else and Hermione usually gave better explanations than him when asked a question. While he was frowning at Malfoys' statement, the rest of the first years gathered around the two of them.
"I don't know what you are talking about, Malfoy."
Malfoy kept on glaring at him, but then suddenly stretched out in his full height and his face took on that all to familiar look of superiority.
"You're fame won't help you out here, Potter. To be able to fly you will need true skills, not just a teacher who is a suck up."
Seeing that he wouldn't be able to go at this in a defensive stance, Harry allowed his face to harden, something he had learnt to control pretty good during his twists with Uncle Vernon, and instead went on the offensive.
"Well, that means you're not so lucky either, doesn't it? That daddy you're so proud of won't be able to buy you this Malfoy, because skills can't be bought by money."
Behind him, he heard a few snickers and he didn't need to turn around to know that Ron was close to laughing out loud. Malfoy's expression became sour as his glare was back and he immediately spat:
"At least I have a father! At least my parents weren't pathethic enough to go and get themselves blown up!"
In a matter of seconds, Harry's light mood got swiped away and he felt cold rage filling him at the insult to his parents. His face, that had been a hard but rather amused expression up until that point, lost all of its calm nature and for a moment, his eyes flashed from green to a sickly yellow. Malfoy stumbled back when he saw the almost unnoticable change in Harry's eyes, but a second later it was gone again. However, he got the impression he might have taken this too far.
"Never! Ever! Insult! My! Parents! Again!" Harry roared in a fit of rage. He didn't know why, but without thinking he pulled out his wand and pointed it at Malfoy's throat. It would be no use, since he didn't really know any spells yet, but for some reason he just did it. When Malfoy realized he was threatened, he tried to take a step back but found that he couldn't due to the crowd of first year students that was standing around them. He cast another glance at Harry's rage filled face again and when the boy who lived didn't seem to waver, he started whimpering.
"Harry, stop it! He's not worth it!" a voice called from somewhere behind Harry.
Even in his enraged state, Harry recognized Hermione's voice and after giving Malfoy one last disgusted look, he lowered his wand. No longer being pinned at the tip of a wand, Malfoy drew a breath and fell to the ground. The crowd around them looked on with varying expressions of shock, fascination and support. Pansy Parkinson, a girl in Slytherin that had taken to walking around the castle along with Malfoy and his goons, stepped inside the circle and pulled the blonde boy to his feet. Harry watched with pity as Malfoy behaved like he had been hit by a most painful and devastating curse.
"Hah, not so tough outside of the common room now are you Malfoy?" a voice came from behind the Slytherin part of the crowd.
The crowd scattered to reveal a dark skinned boy with short hair. Harry recognized him vaguely from the sorting ceremony. He had been the last person to be sorted. If memory served correct, he had been sorted into Slytherin.
"Shut up, Blaise. No one asked for your opinion!" Malfoy snarled at the boy, causing Harry to frown. Were the Slytherins fighting amongst themselves?
The boy, Blaise, didn't seem particularly offended by Malfoy's declaration. He just glared at his housemate with despise. A stare that was returned fourfold by Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson.
"Too bad I didn't ask for your consent then, Draco." Blaise retorted.
Harry looked at the interaction with interest. They hadn't been at the school for more than 3 days but it seemed he and the Gryffindors weren't the only ones who had found a dislike for the cocky Slytherin boy.
Seeing that nothing was to come of the situation, it appeared Malfoy had gotten a little more vary of himself after he had Harry's wand pointed at him, Harry turned his focus back to what had happened in his own twist with Malfoy. That feeling... it had been so cold. The anger that had flowed through him was unlike anything he had ever felt before, yet it felt familiar somehow. As if he had felt it before... in another life. No! What was he thinking? That sounded completely ridiculus, even for a magical world.
"Good morning students!"
The row between the two Slytherin boys and Harry trail of thought was interrupted by the arrival of Madam Hooch. Malfoy cast one last glare at Blaise before they were guided over to the broom sticks on the ground by their teacher. The initial instructions were pretty simple and when they were told to call their brooms off the ground by saying "up", Harry noticed that his was one of the few that actually did as it was told. Hermione's did react at all while Seamus was rolling around on the ground. Ron's did get "up", but it did so to hit him on the nose, earning a few chuckles from the surrounding Gryffindors.
After a while, when everyone had at least triggered a reaction from their brooms, Madam Hooch instructed the students to try and levitate off the ground a little and then land back down again with no trouble. Easier said than done, but Harry found that it really wasn't that hard. In fact, he was doing remarkably good since it was his first time and the only one who was doing as good as him was, to his great dismay, Malfoy.
When they were getting close to lunch, Madam Hooch allowed the more advanced students to try and spread their wings while she worked on helping the ones who had trouble. Smiling at Ron, who had gotten slightly better once he got into gear, Harry kicked off from the ground. It was a wonderful feeling. The air that was carressing his hair and sweeping it out of his face, the sensation of being completely free... it just felt awesome. He couldn't describe it in any other way. He felt like he was one with the broomstick. Behind him, Ron was wobbling a bit but managed to stay upright. Aside from the two of them, only 3 students were able to keep control of their broom: Draco Malfoy, Susan Bones and Blaise Zabini. Malfoy of course was flying circles around the poor students who hadn't managed to completely control their broom yet while grinning superiorly, Blaise was just hovering in the air and Susan was flying over towards her friends in Hufflepuff to see if she could help them get the hang of it. Unfortunately, she was still pretty high up in the air when...
WHAM!
With a scream of surprise, mixed in with pain, Susan was rammed by Neville who had lost control of his broom. The two fell off their brooms in mid air and fell towards the ground. Harry watched in horror as his friend and classmate was about to hit the ground.
"Alesto Momentum!" came a shout and a bang from Madam Hooch's wand. Somehow, Neville and Susan began slowing their descent but not enough to stop completely. Seeing as they only had a few seconds to spare, Harry dove towards them and managed to grab Neville's collar, slowing his descent and righting him up enough to land shakily on his feet. Unfortunately, that meant he could not get to Susan in time and she hit the ground with a big baam.
Immediately after being set down, Neville took a deep breath to calm his nerves after the acident before rushing over to Susan.
"I'm so sorry! I couldn't figure out how to land the broom and panicked, then it all went wrong!" he shouted, horrified that his lack of skills in the matter had hurt someone other than himself.
Susan didn't move her head, but made a weak gesture with her hand as if to say it was not his fault. Harry touched down at the same spot he had sat donw Neville only moments before and rushed over to his friend's side.
"Out of the way! Out of the way!" Madam Hooch shouted as she made her way through the group of amassing students.
Looking over the injured student, the Professor quickly made out that she had hit her head pretty badly. She didn't know to what extent the damage was, but Madam Pomfrey should be able to fix it without a problem.
"Listen closely! No one is to ride a broom until I am back! Stay on the ground! If you disobey, you will be out of here, faster than you can say quidditch!" Madam Hooch declared as she conjured a simple stretcher to carry Susan on without risking to worsen her head. Neville, eager to make up for the damage he had caused, followed as Madam Hooch levitated the stretcher away from the rest of the students.
Harry watched them go. Seeing Neville distressed gave him a sinking feeling in his stomach and seeing a fellow student hurt didn't really make it better. If they had been in the muggle world, he was pretty sure Susan might have been hurt for life form an accident like that. By now, all students had gathered in one big group and was either whispering to the person standing next to them or looking after the corner where the stretcher had disappeared.
"Give it back Malfoy!" came an angry shout from somewhere behind Harry's back and he turned around, along with the rest of the collective first years.
Standing by the spot where Susan had crashed, Draco Malfoy was holding his right hand high into the air, keeping a lustrous object just out of the reach of a blonde girl with pigtails. If Harry's memory served him right, she was named Hannah Abbott and had been sorted into Hufflepuff. She had been the first one to be sorted.
Malfoy sneered as he took a step forward, his shoulder bumping into Hannah and causing her to lose balance. The Slytherins that stood behind him, excluding Blaise Harry noted, gave off a mocking laugh.
"I don't know what you are talking about. I found this little thing here in the grass. No one said it belongs to anyone." Malfoy sneered.
Harry felt himself slowly growing angry again. Hadn't Malfoy done enough damage today already?
"It belongs to Susan! She must have lost it when she fell..." Hannah tried to reason with him, though it was evident from her face that she was hurt by the way she was treated and didn't hold much hope that Malfoy would listen to her.
As he got closer to the two, Harry could make out what looked like a golden locket, attached to a golden chain, resting in Malfoy's clenched fist. His eyes narrowed when he looked at it. It reminded him of the locket he himself was wearing, day and night, that contained a picture of his mother and aunt on his parents' wedding. Lockets were usually kept to hold a very special picture to the person it belonged to.
"Give it here Malfoy!" he growled as he walked up to them.
Hannah, who was still sitting on the ground, looked up at him with a surprised look as he reached down and helped her to her feet. He gave her a brief smile before he turned back towards Malfoy and glared at him, like he had done earlier that morning. Malfoy seemed to be a little more self-concious under Harry's gace than he had been, looking down on the blonde Hufflepuff girl. Apparently, it was a whole different matter to stand up to someone who had been an inch from hexing him that morning than it was to look down on a girl that was almost half a head shorter than him. Sure, Harry couldn't have hexed him cause he didn't know any spells to use for it yet, but Malfoy didn't need to know that.
While Harry glared at him, Malfoy fought an internal battle. He didn't want to play into Potter's stupid hands and do as he said, but he didn't want to look like a coward in front of his entire year at school either. He was trapped between a rock and a hard place. However, Potter would only be able to hex him if he used his wand and to use his wand, he needed to have his hands free and it would also require for Malfoy to be relatively still. Too bad for Potter he was holding a broomstick.
"No! I think I'll hide it somewhere that girl won't find it." he sneered before sitting up on his broom and glide into the air. "What's the matter Potter? Scared of heights?" he mocked as he soared higher and higher into the sky.
Growling at his now official nemesis, Harry sat up on his broom and before anyone could protest, he shot off after the Slytherin. He heard gasps of surprise as he raced towards Malfoy who seemed to pale when Harry didn't slow down. When they were only a few meters apart, Malfoy dove to avoid getting caught by Harry. Missing his nemesis, Harry turned around but didn't shot away again. That had been a risky move he had pulled and it could have ended with another crash.
"This is you last chance Malfoy! Give it here or I'll knock you off your broom! You're gorilla friends can't protect you up here!" Harry growled.
The blonde boy seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because he was increasingly getting paler while Harry was glaring at him. Down below, the rest of the students had taken to watching the two students in the air, despite Hermione's claim that it was rule breaking and that they should be expelled for disobeying orders. Her claim had earned her glares from her fellow Gryffindors and, surprisingly, most of the Hufflepuffs. Hannah Abbott had her eyes fixed on Harry. She couldn't help but think that even if this was rule breaking, and she was usually one to be very strict about following the rules, Harry did not deserve any kind of punishment for this. He had stood up for her, and for Susan, and he didn't even know them. Come to think of it, he hadn't spoken to any of them since they started school. If someone deserved punishment it was Malfoy.
"Fine then! If this stupid piece of mock jewelry is so important, why don't you catch it?!" Malfoy cried as he pulled his arm back and sent the locket flying.
Harry's eyes widened as he saw the locket sail through the air, away from him. Without a second thought, he shot of after it but he made sure to give Malfoy a shove when he passed him, causing the Slytherin boy to cry out in surprise and lose his balance. He almost fell off his broom, but managed to hang on with his arms. While the non-Slytherins on the ground were either laughing or insulting Malfoy, Harry was driving his broom into a steep dive. Below him, he heard someone scream as he got closer to the ground, but he locked out the sounds to concentrate on his task. It was as if the locket was falling in slow motion. When he was close enough, he reached out with his hand and felt his fingers close around the small golden object before quickly pulling out of his dive, mere inches away from touching the grass.
Back with the group of students on the ground, Malfoy had just touched down on the ground, but no one payed him any attention as Harry had just ended his dive. When he had gotte too close to the ground for comfort, Hannah had screamed in fear and so had most other girls. The boys hadn't screamed, but at least a few of them had given fearful shouts. When Harry pulled out of his dive with the locket in his hand and steered his broom back towards, the students erupted into cheers (except the Slytherins of course). Lead by Ron, Seamus and Dean, the group of students came rushing towards where Harry had just touched down on the ground.
Mere seconds after he had landed, Harry was engulfed in a circle of first years. He felt slightly awkward as people kept on giving him comments and pats on the back. After a little while, it died down and the group began to give him enough space to breath. And enough space to notice the stern looking Professor that was standing a few feet away.
"Harry Potter!" Professor McGonagall called out in a voice that did not betray any emotions.
Harry felt his heart run cold. Madam Hooch had said that they could get expelled if they flew off on their brooms in her abscense. He couldn't be expelled! Not yet! No, not ever! He had only been here for 3 days!
"It wasn't his fault Professor!" came a shout from one of the Hufflepuffs.
"Yeah! Malfoy stole Susan's locket and Harry tried to get it back!" came a shout from Hannah.
Professor McGonagall however, didn't relent and knowing it was futile to resist his stern Head of House, he simply dropped his broom and followed her. When he passed Malfoy, the boy gave him a smug grin but Harry didn't even pay him any attention. Hermione had been right, he wasn't worth the trouble. Leaving behind the other students, McGonagall led Harry into the castle and through a number of corridors. Harry didn't really know where they were going, his gaze was locked on the ground in front of his feet. These steps might be the last he took here in the castle. He had been looking forward to walking these grounds since he was an infant and now he had to leave it? The realization hit him like thunder and he felt like his entire world collapsed around him. He barely registered when Professor McGonagall stopped in front of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and went inside, asking for one "Mr Wood". When his teacher returned, Harry looked up to find that his Professor had brought with her an older Gryffindor student.
"Mr Potter, this is Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team. Wood, I have found you a new seeker." McGonagall had an undertone of excitement in her voice as she said it, a tone Harry had thought was uncapable of making its way into her voice.
The other student, Wood, looked gobsmacked as McGonagall told him what she had seen Harry do. When she was done, Wood looked like christmas had come 4 months early. He immediately set to study Harry's physique, his lenght, his muscles and finished by saying they probably should try and get him a real racer broom for maximum effectivity on the quidditch pitch.
-:-:-:-
About 10 minutes later, a very confused Harry was making his way towards the great hall for lunch. He still had trouble to process what had just happened but it would seem not only had he avoided expulsion, but he had made the Gryffindor quidditch team in the process. That didn't add up for him in the slightest, especially when he thought about the fact that it was Professor McGonagall who had allowed him to slip away from punishment. This would take time to process fully, but right now he was just happy he hadn't been expelled.
Once he reached the doors to the great hall, he realized he was still holding Susan's locket tightly clasped in his hand. He should have given it back to Hannah before McGonagall took him away! So he passed the great hall and walked until he found an empty corridor, where he pulled out a certain piece of parchment.
"I solemny swear that I am up to no good!" he said and the marauders' map appeared.
Scanning the map, he found the dot with the name "Susan Bones" in the Hospital wing. She was sitting in one of the beds and was surrounded by Neville Longbottom, Hannah Abbott and Ernie MacMillian. Harry frowned. Could it be that Susan hadn't woken up yet? She hadn't been uncouncious when he had seen her but she had hit her head. It was possible she had lost conciousness or been put to sleep by the nurse. In any case, he could still leave it at her bedside table, or give it to Hannah to hold for her.
With that thought in mind, he erased the marauders' map and made his way to the Hospital wing. He stopped outside and took a deep breath, wondering what kind of reaction he would get from them. Well, he wouldn't find out unless he went inside so he opened the doors and stepped inside. He spotted group he was looking for in one of the beds furthest away from the door. It would appear that Susan was awake, because her friends were talking to her.
"...and then she just took Harry and walked off. She didn't even reprimand Malfoy for taking your locket!" Hannah finished, obviously upset about what she had been saying.
Harry slowed his steps. Were they talking about him?
"If Harry gets expulsed for that, I will feel so bad. Why did he even bother? It's not like we're friends or anyhting." Susan said.
The three Hufflepuffs turned to Neville, who was also sitting beside Susan's bed. He twisted slightly under their gazes and Harry decided to spare his friend from answering.
"Do you always need a reason to be nice?" he asked as he stepped up to them.
Apparently, they had been so focused on themselves that they hadn't noticed when he had entered. Neville looked grateful that the talking had been taken from his hands while Hannah, Ernie and Susan jumped in their seats and bed, in case of the latter.
"What are you doing here, Harry?" Hannah asked as she got up from her seat.
Harry just smiled at the blonde girl and went over to Susan's bedside. When he held out his hand, Susan seemed to get what he was doing and held out her own just underneath.
"I think this belongs to you. I would have given it to you earlier but I didn't realize I still had it in my hand when McGonagall dragged me off." he said as he dropped the locket in her hand.
Susan took the locket in her hand and looked it over. There was not a scratch on it. For a moment, she just sat there looking at it, before she retracted her arm and held the locket close to her heart and closed her eyes. Harry smiled at her while Hannah watched the interaction with interest. Neville just looked confused and unsure if he really should be there, while Ernie looked at Harry with a respectful look in his eyes.
"Thank you." Susan said at last and opened her eyes to meet Harry's gaze with a grateful smile.
Harry returned the smile and slowly reached inside his own robes, reaching for the chain that was resting around his neck to pull out and show his own locket. The eyes of the other 4 occupants of the wing shot wide at the sight of the similar object, though this one was in some cheaper material that looked like fake silver.
"I know how important one of these can be. They hold a piece of those most precious to us, right?" he said with a sheepish grin before stuffing his own locket back inside his shirt.
For a moment, Susan just stared at Harry's neck where his locket had disappeared, before she shook herself out of it and looked down.
"It contains a picture of my entire family. It was taken shortly before the end of the war, when my parents were still alive. They're dead now." she said in a quiet, trembling voice.
Feeling for his classmate, Harry sat down. She was a victim of the war, just like him. They were alike.
"I know how it feels. My parents died too."
It took a moment for anyone to respond, but when Susan finally gave off a sound, it was one no one had expected. She giggled. The other four stared at her as if she had lost her mind. Harry felt confused. What was so funny?
"Sorry. It's just that, pretty much every single wizard and witch of today know that you lost your parents in the last war Harry." she said in an apologizing way.
Reminded of his fame and that his family history was written down as a childrens tale and in history books all over the world, Harry groaned while Neville, Ernie and Hannah giggled at the exchange. At least the serious mood had lifted from the group.
While she was giggling at Harry's expense, she couldn't help but think about what had just happened. She and Susan had quickly become good friends but when she had asked what was inside the locket, Susan had simply said that it wasn't her business and pleaded for them to change subject. What was inside that locket was very personal for Susan and a very touchy subject, yet she had told Harry without him even asking. Perhaps it was because Harry could relate to her better since he too had lost his parents. After all, Hannah couldn't even imagine what it would be like to grow up without her own parents so how could she try to understand how Susan felt about it?
-:-:-:-
When Harry returned to the common room that evening, he was immediately caught by the twins, Fred and George, who congratulated him on making the quidditch team. Next was the team's chaser, Angelina Johnsson, who wanted pretty much the same thing. Soon, they were joined by Angelina's best friend, Alicia Spinnet who also was on the team. Just before Harry left the team to their own plans, Wood joined them and told them that he had decided that Katie Bell, a second year girl, had been chosen to fill the remaining gap in their chaser chain. The girl in question blushed and waved at her new teammates. Feeling relieved that there was someone on the team that was at least just one year older than him, Harry enthusiastically greeted the girl, who smiled at him.
Once the team introductions were done, Wood stated they would have their first training the next tuesday and the team split up. Well, Angelina and Alicia joined Fred and George in a game of exploding snap, but Wood went off to plan out their training schedule and Katie went back to her friends. Harry found Ron and Neville sitting by the fire, playing another game of wizarding chess. He took one look at the board (Neville only had 3 pieces left, out of which one was the king) and then stretched out and tried to stiffle a yawn. Claiming he wanted to get to bed early after an exhausting day, he excused himself and went upstairs. He really did plan on going to bed early, but there was something else he wanted to do first. Sitting down on his bed, he reached inside his robes and pulled out Ginny's letter.
Dear Harry!
Thank you for the sweets! I had to hide them under my bed or mom would probably have confiscated them on sight, but that's alright. I haven't eaten it all yet, though I just had to open one of the Chocolate frog packs to see what card I would get. Turns out I'm stuck with another Morgana. I already got 3 of her. But I'll just keep my fingers crossed that I get something better next time.
You will never guess what will happen over christmas! Me and my parents are going to visit Charlie in Romania! I have never been to Romania so it will be awesome! I was hoping I could get mom to allow you to come over but she said you can come over summer at least! I really look forward to that!
Things have so far been pretty good here actually. Mom have even promised to allow me to try out some cleaning spells if I behave like a good girl and listen to her when she babbles on about who knows what. The point is that I will get to learn something!
How are things at Hogwarts? Have my brothers been behaving nicely? I doubt it, but it can't hurt to hope, can it? I hope you are doing alright, despite my brothers. You have to tell me everything that have happened since you got there! Please write soon!
You friend,
Ginny
Harry smiled as he put away Ginny's letter. It would appear she was doing alright, but still it had only been 3 days. He idly wondered how long it would take for the Magical Menagerie to send the catalogue, but decided there wasn't much he could do to make it faster. With that thought in mind and Thinking about all the things he could write to Ginny the next day, Harry got out of bed and changed into his pyjamas, before slipping back into bed and under the covers and drifting off to a very peaceful sleep.
-:-:-:-
When Harry awoke on saturday morning after his first week at his new school, he felt like the last week had been more exciting than his entire life up until that point. So much had happened that he had been worried that when he sent his very long answer to Ginny the day before, Hedwig wouldn't be able to carry it all. She had huffed when he had impied it and taken off in hurry to prove herself as a worthy owl.
Harry had plans for today. He had recieved his catalogue from the Magical Menagerie the day before but been more eager to answer Ginny's letter and finish his potions assignment. Today however, he would be free to do whatever he wanted. Ron would spend the day doing his homework as he had refused to do it when Harry had done his. Dean and Seamus would probably do theirs as well, and Neville had a herbology assignment he had saved for the weekend in order to "really show what he could do". So Harry would have all day for himself. Yawning as he stretched out in his full lenght, he grabbed a towel and made sure to take a shower before he headed down for breakfast.
As usual, he was a little early compared to Ron, who liked to sleep in and Dean and Seamus wasn't any better. With no other boys his age down yet, Harry sat by himself and hummed slightly as he loaded his plate with bacon and fried eggs. He had brought his catalogue with him and was planning on going outside to read it. It was a beautiful day and he was hoping to find a secluded spot where he could think for himself, devoid of anyone elses opinions. As he was finished with his meal, an owl landed in front of him. Frowning at who would send him a letter, he detached the small piece of parchment and read it. It was written in a rather sloppy handwriting.
Harry,
Why don't you come down to my hut down at the grounds for a little talk today?
Rubeus Hagrid
Harry frowned in surprise. Rubeus Hagrid... wasn't that the keeper of keys for Hogwarts? The large man who had guided the first years over the Black lake in boats? What could he possibly want him? Then again, who was he to refuse to talk to him? He had the entire day to pick out a pet for Ginny, he could spare an hour for visiting Hagrid.
With a new destination in mind, Harry got up and exited the great hall. He had learnt the more central parts of the castle fairly good now, after getting the Marauders' map from Severus. He could now find his way down to the Great Hall without the map and he knew how to get to most of his classrooms fairly easy. Ron still had trouble finding his way anywhere except to lunch and dinner without Harry's help. Well, most of the first years still had trouble and Harry hadn't told anyone about the Marauders' map yet. He was thinking about sharing it with Fred and George since Severus had taken it from them originally, but he wasn't sure yet.
So much had happened since he first set foot here at Hogwarts and he had a hard time believing it had only been one week since he first got here. It seemed something new happened every day and that filled him with excitement. Feeling that same excitement bubble in his chest as he went to visit Hogwarts keykeeper for the first time, Harry stepped through the castle gates with a smile on his face.
A/N: Well, this was quite a bit short than the last chapter. But well, I felt like this was a good place to cut it, or it would have gone on for all eternity. Speaking of that, I actually want your opinion on something:
Question! So far, my chapter updates have been fairly fast by my standards, which I feel pretty proud of. My chapters have been between 6k and 9k words long, however I have noticed that a lot of the stories I read myself tend to have a lot longer chapters. So my quesiton is: Would you prefer me to keep updating at a decent pace and stick with the 6-9k words or would you like me to draw out the chapters a little to , let's say, 12-14k words but slow down on the updates? Plz leave your opinion in a review.
Now, I can't speak of reviews without giving a few answers now, can I? I noticed that a lot of the reviews this time were centered around the Marauders' map and I can tell you that yes, Harry will notice Wormtail earlier this time. It never really made sense to me that Fred and George had the map during Harry's first 2 years at school and they never noticed that a thought to be dead man was sleeping in their brother's dorm. Other than that, here comes some review answers:
Harry Ginny and Daphne fan: Yeah, that's right... I forgot to put up Daphne... Well, I won't lie to you. I did have her in mind but didn't put her up because I didn't feel like she would fit very good in my story, but since you asked I have put her up and she seems to be recieving her fair amount of voters. I am not saying that I wont use her and if she get enough votes, I'll definetely let her get a more central role, but for the time being, that's all I'll promise.
ej101: Well, yeah I will let Harry make additions to the Marauders' map but there are a few things that will make it difficult to put up your suggestions. The Room of Requirement changes to fit the users needs, thus it doesn't have a physical form that can be sketched into the map. The rooms magic simply prevents it to be put on a map because it constantly changes its appearance. The Chamber of Secrets might be added once they discover it, but the problem there is that it is located far below the school and thus he would need to make an entire new level/floor for the map to include the chamber.
sisno2200: You lazy ass! I really should tell Hermione about this... she have been trained to handle lazy ppl by the best (Ron...)! Jokes aside, The Bat-Bogey is classified as a hex, not a curse, though I barely see the difference. Now, enough of my repirmanding. I'm glad you liked the secret passageway I added. It just came on a whim and I thought "why the heck not?" so I went with it. Glad someone liked it! =)
Lora Palmer: I think she did mention Luna as an alternative for a playmate in one earlier chapter? Well, anyway she will definetely play with Luna a little but as I said, Molly Weasley thinks the Lovegoods with their weird views on things are a bad influence on her daughter so she will try to minimum their meetings. But ah well, Ginny never was one to take orders without a fight...
debygoebel: Yeah, that will be a change. As you can see in this chapter, Harry is very eager to make friends with everyone who isn't a blonde, spoiled brat and have the surname "Malfoy". So you will have your wish fulfilled, he will make more friends than Ron.
marinka: I can't reveal my plans for it now without spoiling the surprise, but let's just say I got most of it worked out by now. On another note, glad you think I did a good job with Hogwarts.
RebeccaRoy: Haha, I don't think Cissy will be too hard on her precious little Draco... I have however been juggling with the idea of making Malfoy-is-pulled-in-the-ear-by-Sinistra an reoccurring event, so that once in a while, he will get his punishment when his head of house catches him. I'm still not sure, but its a fun thought to think of.
Crystal R. Black: Well, good thing you found my story! And well, technically the thing that originally went different was that Hagrid got the the Potter Estate before Snape. In canon, Harry was still sleeping in his crib when Snape was crying over Lily, at least in the movie. So if you want to make it down to a single change of event, that was the first thing that went differently.
Cosmyk Angel: Yeah, that is a thought that have struck me as well. Nothing in the books really said that it wasn't how Rowling had it work, but on the other hand, they definetely bought new books for Ginny when she started, as her cauldron had some books packed in it when Lucius sneaked the diary into it. Nevertheless, they will do that in this story, though something tells me they will still need to get e sht load of books for second year...*cough* Lockhart *cough*! =D
PHEW! Think that is the most reviews I've answered in one chapter ever! Then again, last chapter did draw most reviews of all chapters! =)
Now, I really don't have anything else to say, other than thanks for reading and I hope you ha a good time! And don't forget to leave your opinion on chapters length if you plan to review! See you soon!