Chapter 29
After studying for a bit, Harry and Hermione headed to the Great Hall for lunch. For once, they were actually one of the last to appear in the hall, because they had concentrated on studying even when the starting time for lunch first passed. Surprisingly, though, their usual spot was still free, so they simply walked there and sat down across from Neville and Luna, who were already nearly finished with their own meals.
Once Harry and Hermione were seated and began placing food onto their plates, Neville said to them, "I was wondering if you two were going to show up in time for lunch."
While still gathering food, Hermione replied, "Harry and I spent more than two hours with Hagrid this morning, so when we finished there, we wanted to get a decent amount of studying in first before coming to eat."
Neville and Luna just nodded in response before continuing to eat.
After a few minutes, when Harry and Hermione had started to eat while Neville and Luna had just finished their food, they were interrupted by Professor McGonagall walking over from the staff table.
After she and the four students greeted one another, the headmistress then said, "Miss Granger, Mr. Potter. Would the two of you mind coming to my office whenever you finish your meal? There's something which I wanted to discuss."
Her eyes then seemed to twinkle as she added, "And no, before one of you asks, it's nothing like the last time you were required to make an appearance in my office."
Hermione looked to Harry, and he just gave her a shrug and a nod.
Thus, she responded, "Of course, Professor. We'll be there."
McGonagall replied, "Thank you. I'll be waiting in my office, then. And don't feel as though you need to rush through your meal to get there as quickly as possible."
After saying farewell, the headmistress then walked out of the Great Hall.
At that point, Luna said, "Well, I wonder what the headmistress could want."
Harry replied, "Your guess is as good as ours, Luna."
Harry and Hermione returned to their meals, while Neville and Luna remained sitting to keep the two company for a bit.
About twenty minutes later, Harry and Hermione had passed the gargoyle statue and were walking up the steps to the Headmistress' Office. Once they were at the door, Hermione knocked twice.
A few seconds later, Professor McGonagall opened the door.
"Ah, you two," she said. "Come in then, and have a seat."
Once Professor McGonagall was sitting behind her desk and the two students were sitting in front, the headmistress clasped her hands together on the desk.
"So," she said, "the two of you must be curious as to why I asked you here, yes?"
Harry and Hermione both just silently nodded.
McGonagall continued, "Well, I have an idea relating to the two of you pursuing a teaching career here at Hogwarts. I've spoken with Filius and Hestia regarding this idea, and they both agreed with it as long as the two of you were willing to do it.
"Now, you both of course have N.E.W.T.s for which to study, so if you think this proposal would take too much time away from your studies, you may freely reject it. Now, with that in mind, are you willing to hear what I have?"
The teenagers looked at each other. Harry shrugged again and said, "Couldn't hurt to hear it, right?"
Hermione smiled at him for a moment. Then, she just faced forward and said, "Alright then, Professor. What is it?"
The response seemed to put the ghost of a smile on McGonagall's lips, before the headmistress answered, "The idea is… if a student would go to Filius or Hestia outside of class with a Charms or Defense question that you could easily help with, they would instead send the student to you. This is essentially a way to allow the two of you to build more teaching experience, by tutoring students in your chosen subjects as much as you are able."
She then became more serious. "So, is this something that you would accept? You can take time to think it over if you wish. I told Filius and Hestia to not do anything yet unless I received certain approval from both of you on this matter. And again, if you think this may conflict too much with your own studies, you can reject the idea."
Turning to each other again, Hermione immediately asked Harry, "What do you think?"
"I should probably be the one asking you that," he replied. "You're the one that has seven classes to study for. I know that you want to do as well as you possibly can on the exams, and frankly, I want you to do well on them, too. Are you sure you want to give up time that could be used for those studies?"
She couldn't help smiling warmly at him. How many other people in the world would have said that they basically knew how crazy she would get about exams, as those would continue to creep closer and closer, and yet also understood why she would get as such?
Still, this was not only an opportunity to sharpen their skills for Charms and Defense by successfully tutoring others, but it could also count as a small break from the rest of their studies by assisting others in those subjects.
Thus, she said to him, "Think of it this way. You and I both know that you're probably going to have to force me at least a few times to take a break from studying to rest as we get closer to exam time, right?"
Though his expression became a bit sheepish, he gave a chuckle. "You said it, Hermione, not me."
She smirked at him. "Which means you know I'm right."
The smirk dropped as she added, "More importantly, this can not only be used to see how well we know all the Charms or Defense material by being able to successfully teach it to those who come to us, but in a way, those tutoring sessions could also count as a small break from the rest of our studies."
His eyes glanced down for a moment before he nodded. "Yeah, I guess that second part of your statement isn't wrong, and you're definitely right on the first part."
He then took a deep breath. "So, you want to agree to this?"
She waited for a few seconds before slowly nodding. "Yes, Harry. I think I do."
For a few seconds, he just slowly nodded again.
Then, he turned to Professor McGonagall. "OK, Professor. We'll take you up on your idea."
The headmistress smiled and replied, "Very well then. I'll relay your answers to Filius and Hestia as soon as I can today. You two should just simply be prepared for more students to come to you with Charms and Defense questions."
The smile on her face then dropped. "But if things should get to the point that you feel as though you are losing too much of your overall study time by tutoring others in Charms and Defense, simply say so to me or the actual class professor, and we will stop it so that you can fully concentrate on your other studies and duties."
Hermione said, "Thank you, Professor. We'll keep that in mind."
Harry just silently nodded his agreement.
At that point, the headmistress looked back and forth between them for a few moments before asking, "Now, do either of you have any questions?"
When Harry and Hermione looked at each other, Harry just silently shook his head. Hermione did have on her mind the question of whether she and Harry could qualify to get their own dormitories by accepting this tutoring offer, but she decided to refrain from asking it out loud, considering her previous thoughts about McGonagall certainly having a good idea of why she might ask.
Thus, she just said, "No, Professor, no questions."
"Alright then," McGonagall replied. "That was all I needed, so the two of you are free to go."
With that, Harry and Hermione said farewell to the headmistress.
Once they had exited the gargoyle entrance, Harry said, "Can't say I was expecting that."
"Neither was I," Hermione replied. "I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what happens from here and how many people may actually come to us."
Harry let out a snort. "Considering you're widely known as the best student in the school, as well as so many people being scared of me after the first part of the year, it wouldn't surprise me if a lot more people come to you with Charms questions than will come to me about Defense."
She tilted her head to the side slightly. "And I think that you're selling yourself short and that, even if people may be scared of you, all it takes is that first person to come to you and be thankful for your help, and afterwards, others that may have previously been too afraid will push past that fear and come to you."
He shrugged and replied, "Well, like you said, guess we'll see what happens."
With that, they began the journey back to the library. Both were silently wondering when that first person may get sent to them from Professor Flitwick or Professor Jones.
Turns out, it didn't take very long at all.
The next day, after a long morning session of Herbology and Potions studies, Harry and Hermione sat down in the Great Hall at the start of lunch. As usual, when food appeared, they began to fill their plates.
Right as they finished that, however, they were interrupted when a voice said, "H-hello?"
They looked up to find a young boy they had never before interacted with, a slim boy with an oval-shaped face, brown eyes, and short blonde hair, standing across from them on the other side of the table. He looked at Harry with fear in his eyes for a second before locking his gaze onto Hermione.
Then, he said quite nervously, "You – you're Hermione Granger and H-Harry Potter, right?"
Hoping to calm his nerves, Hermione gently replied, "Yes, we are. May we ask what your name is?"
He replied, "M-Matthew. Matthew Clarke."
She said, "It's nice to meet you then, Matthew. Now, do you need Harry and me for anything?"
Matthew visibly gulped before saying, "W-well, when I went to Professor Flitwick and Professor Jones for help with spells from their classes, Professor Flitwick said that I should go to Hermione Granger, and Professor Jones said that I should go to Harry Potter."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other.
He whispered, "So it begins, I guess."
She smirked for a moment before turning back to Matthew.
With what she hoped was a comforting smile, she asked, "So, you need help with casting certain spells?"
The boy just gave a couple of quick, frightened nods.
"Alright," she replied. "Then, how about we all eat our lunch first? When you finish lunch, just come right outside to the entrance hall. If Harry and I have finished before you, the two of us will be waiting there. If we haven't, you can wait for us there instead. Then, we can all find a classroom in which to work, and Harry and I can go over whatever you need. Is that alright with you?"
He glanced back and forth between Harry and Hermione a few times, before finally saying, "Y-yes, OK. Thank you."
Before either Harry or Hermione could say anything, he scurried off. They watched him until he finally took a seat at the Slytherin table.
At that point, Hermione turned to Harry, when he sighed and said, "I wonder if he was scared because he's apparently a Slytherin student while we're both in Gryffindor and he thinks we're automatically going to hate him for it, or if it was just because of my general reputation this year. The fact that he talked only to you has me thinking it's the latter."
She put a hand on his thigh in comfort. "Well, if it is, then like you did with our friends, here's another chance to make up for that."
He just smiled at her before, without caring who may stare, leaning in and gently kissing her.
When he pulled away after a second, he whispered, "Thanks for sticking by me, Hermione, until I finally started to pull my head out of my arse."
She smiled and simply replied, "Always, Harry."
With that, they returned to their food as the Great Hall filled with more people.
Fifteen minutes later, Harry and Hermione stood from the table and left the Great Hall. Not seeing Matthew anywhere, they moved a few steps along the wall away from the Great Hall's entrance to wait for him. It only took another few minutes before he appeared, tentatively looking around the entrance hall until his gaze landed on them. He immediately seemed to stiffen up, however, once he saw them.
Hermione gave the boy a sympathetic smile and walked up to him, with Harry immediately following to stand beside her.
"Hello again," she said to Matthew. "Are you ready now to work on your spells?"
He glanced fearfully at Harry for a moment before saying to Hermione, "Yes, I think so."
"Alright," she replied. "Then how about we use one of the classrooms on the first floor to practice?"
Harry spoke up for the first time, quietly and gently. "That works for me. How about you, Matthew?"
The boy seemed to be surprised to have been addressed by Harry, but after a couple of seconds, he whispered, "Yes, OK."
Harry then turned to Hermione. "You want to lead the way, then?"
She just gave him a nod and began walking towards the steps that led from the ground floor to the first floor.
A few minutes later, the group of three had entered a classroom. Hermione performed a Locking Spell after shutting the door, so that they would not be disturbed during the time of tutoring.
When she did that, Harry stepped up to Matthew and then kneeled down so that he was more at eye level with Matthew. Hermione was certain that Harry was doing so to try and make the boy feel more comfortable by not towering over him, since Matthew was at least one full foot shorter than Harry. She followed the cue and kneeled down beside Harry.
At that point, Hermione said, "Alright, so what year are you in, Matthew? And which spells are the ones where you need help?"
He shuffled in place for a moment and replied, "Well, I'm repeating my second year because of all that happened with the war and the Death Eaters last year. And the spells we were working on in my classes are the Engorgement Charm for Charms and the Disarming Charm for Defense."
Harry then said, "OK. So, which would you rather work on first? Charms, or Defense?"
Matthew blinked rapidly and remained quiet as he stared at Harry for a few seconds. Then, he hesitantly said, "W-well, while I'm having trouble with both spells, I think I'm doing worse right now with the Disarming Charm."
Hoping to lighten the mood a bit, Hermione said, "You're in luck then."
She then locked her gaze onto Harry. "Harry here is an expert with that particular spell."
He just gave her a quick smirk before turning to Matthew and replying, "She may exaggerate just a bit. But yes, I do have a lot of experience in my life with using that spell."
He then stood up. "OK, let's go to the front of the classroom to have space to work with."
Matthew looked at Harry with slight confusion but then silently nodded.
At the front of the classroom, Harry pulled out his wand and moved the teacher's desk over to one of the corners of the room, giving them even more room. He then stood in a spot and directed Matthew to stand about five paces away in front of him. Hermione simply sat down in one of the student desks in the first row, content to watch Harry do whatever he wanted for the lesson.
At that point, while keeping his wand in his hand, Harry said, "Alright, Matthew. What I want you to do now is to hit me with a Disarming Charm. I won't try to dodge it or defend against it. That way, I can get an idea of what may be giving you trouble."
Matthew seemed to still be confused, but he nodded and pulled his wand from his robes.
Then, the young boy stammered, "O-OK. Are you ready?"
Harry nodded. "Ready when you are."
With that, Matthew waved his wand and quickly called out, "Expelliarmus!"
A flash of scarlet light flew from the wand. When it hit Harry, however, the spell didn't appear to do anything. Harry wasn't shifted from his standing position, and his own wand also never moved at all from his grip.
Harry then walked up to Matthew and kneeled down. "OK, so you did cast the spell and hit me with it, so that's good. Your pronunciation and wand movements, though, could use a little work. You didn't put emphasis on any of the syllables of the incantation. And with the wand gesture, there was an extra, small curl that needed to be added at the end."
Hermione, still in her seat, instinctively nodded. Harry was exactly right.
Matthew, meanwhile, grew a bit thoughtful as his eyes glanced to his wand.
Then, Harry added, "How about I cast the spell once, to show you what a completely successful casting is like?"
The fear in Matthew's eyes that had been there every time he looked at Harry seemed to start dissipating slightly, as he nodded and said, "Sure, OK."
Harry nodded before looking to Hermione and asking somewhat sheepishly, "Hermione, do you mind if I cast the spell on you so I can show it to Matthew?"
Before she could say anything, however, Matthew quickly replied, "No! You – "
He shuffled in place again. "You can use it on me, Mr. Potter. I – I should know what it's like to be hit by that spell in case it would ever happen outside of class, right?"
Hermione couldn't help smiling at this development, and she saw Harry do the same.
Still, he asked, "Are you sure, Matthew? You don't have to do that."
The boy's response was more resolute. "No, I – I'll do it."
Harry slowly nodded and said, "Alright then. And for the record, you can just call me Harry. No need to be formal when I'm just a student like you."
Hermione decided to speak up. "That goes for me as well, Matthew. You can just call me Hermione."
Matthew looked to Hermione for a moment and then timidly replied, "OK, Harry and Hermione."
"Good," Hermione cheerfully replied. Then, for the first time, a tiny smile appeared for a moment on Matthew's face, giving Hermione joy that she and Harry really were slowly starting to wash away his fear of them.
Harry stood and moved back to his original spot away from Matthew. He held up his wand and said, "Alright. Are you ready?"
Matthew took a deep breath before silently nodding.
Thus, Harry waved his wand, much more slowly than Hermione knew he was fully capable of with this spell, and then said, "Expelliarmus!"
A jet of scarlet light flew and hit Matthew. The boy's wand rushed out of his left hand and soared far enough that it landed right by the door to the classroom.
Matthew stared in awe, his mouth agape, towards the door for a few seconds. When he blinked and finally looked at Harry, he cried out, "Whoa! I barely felt anything when the spell hit me, but my wand flew out of my grip like it was on its own! And it flew so far!"
Hermione couldn't help grinning, glad to see that all of Matthew's previous terror was now gone after Harry's display, before she said, "See? Didn't I tell you that Harry was an expert with the spell?"
Harry shook his head at her, but the grin on his own face said everything.
To Matthew, he said, "Well, my intention was to not put too much power into it, for your safety. But, like I said, I also have lots of experience with the spell."
He then pointed his wand towards the door and silently cast a Summoning Charm on Matthew's wand. When the wand zoomed over, he grabbed it and tossed it back to Matthew afterwards.
At that point, Harry sobered up and said, "Now, as a small test, can you tell me what was different about my casting compared to yours? What did I do differently?"
Matthew became thoughtful. After a few seconds, he nodded and replied, "When – when you cast the spell, you said it like 'Ex-PEL-liarmus' with a little more emphasis on the 'pel' part. And I think I saw what you mean about an extra curve at the end."
The boy held up his wand at chest height before first slowly pulling it down. After some inches, he pulled a bit to his right and brought it up again. He went up halfway to the original height from where he had first held his wand. Then, he curved the wand left and downwards to make a small and open circle but without overlapping any other part of the line movement, before finally ending with a tiny curl into where the center of that circle would be.
"Like that? Was that right?" he nervously asked.
Hermione nodded and said, "It looked correct to me."
Then, unable to resist the opportunity to tease Harry, she lightly added with a grin, "Don't you think so, Professor Potter?"
He said nothing and just stuck his tongue out at her. The curl of his mouth, however, told her that he was holding back laughter, causing her to just grin even harder.
When they both looked back at Matthew, Hermione could see him wearing an expression that seemed to simultaneously be confused and somewhat fascinated at her and Harry's interaction.
Harry, however, got right back to business when he replied, "Yeah, Matthew. Looked like you had it correct."
He then added with a small smirk, "So, do you want to give it another go then?"
Matthew immediately nodded and held his left hand up, readying his wand. He waited for a few moments as he took a deep breath.
Then, he waved the wand and said, "Expelliarmus!"
When the jet of light hit Harry, though he still remained in place, his hand opened and allowed his wand to drop to the floor.
Hermione grinned to herself. Though it may not appear so to Matthew, she knew that Harry wouldn't have just dropped his wand of his own accord to make the boy think that he had successfully cast the Disarming Charm without actually having done so in the first place.
Indeed, Matthew was puzzled when he said, "Did – did I do it right, Harry? Your wand dropped from your hand, but it only fell to the floor."
Harry grinned and picked up his wand. Then, he replied, "I didn't do anything myself. My hand, completely out of my control, automatically opened up a bit and let my wand fall."
The young boy's eyes widened. "I really did it right?"
Harry nodded. "You did, Matthew."
A big grin came to Matthew's face at the response. It lasted for only a second, however, before he said, "But, mine barely did anything compared to yours – "
"Hey," Harry softly interrupted, causing Matthew to go silent.
Harry then walked to the boy and kneeled down to eye level again. "Don't think of it like yours was worse than mine. Think of it like you just took the first step towards mastering the spell. Now, compared to all other attempts you may have made before today with the Disarming Charm, was that last one the best that you've done so far?"
Matthew hesitantly said, "Well, yes, it was."
"There you go," Harry responded. "That means you're making progress. All you need to do now is keep practicing to get better and better, until you reach the point that you can perform the spell quickly and without a hitch."
He then smiled a bit. "And if you don't trust my words, I can give you an actual example. Now, you saw me perform what is called the Summoning Charm earlier, when I summoned your wand to myself, with no issues, right?"
Matthew just silently nodded.
"Well," Harry continued, "in my and Hermione's fourth year, I was terrible with that spell when we first learned it in class. But at a point where I realized I was going to have to learn it in a single day in order to survive a life-or-death situation, I practiced the spell all day with Hermione at my side. And thanks to all that practice, as well as Hermione's help – "
He then turned and looked at her while saying more cheekily, "There's an argument to be made about whether it was actually Hermione that helped more than my own practice."
Hermione shook her head while smirking at him. That caused Harry to laugh for a second, before he turned back to Matthew and continued.
"Thanks to all the help and practice from that day, I was able to perform the spell so well that, when I needed to, I summoned something that could have been nearly a mile away, since it was here in the castle while I was far out on the Hogwarts grounds."
Matthew stared at him in amazement. "Wow! You really did it from that far away?"
Harry nodded. "I did, and I never could have done so without all the work Hermione and I did the previous day for me to master the Summoning Charm."
Harry's expression became more serious. "And while that was a different spell than what you're working on, the same principle can apply. Maybe right now, your casting of the spell only made my wand drop to the floor. But with enough practice, you could get to the point of making a person's wand fling across the room like you saw me do earlier. You just need to keep at it without giving up."
Matthew was slowly becoming more determined as Harry talked.
It seemed that Harry could see it, too, as he smiled and said, "So… do you want to keep practicing?"
Matthew silently but resolutely nodded.
"Good," Harry replied. "Now, to that end, there's one more thing that I can say about your previous casting. While your pronunciation of the incantation was correct, I also thought I heard some fear in your voice still, like you were afraid about casting the spell correctly. Am I right in thinking that?"
That caused Matthew to deflate a bit, as he hung his head and hesitantly said, "Yes."
"It's OK," Harry gently replied, causing the boy to look up again. "Like I've said, you're making progress."
He became more serious again before his next words. "With the fear, there's not really much I can help with on that beyond simply saying… try to push past those fears. Don't worry about failing or looking silly while practicing here, or anywhere else for that matter. Trust me when I say, the more you worry, the more it can impact your castings. Push those worries away. Concentrate and focus on your goal, and I have no doubt that you'll be successful, no matter how long or how many tries it takes."
Matthew's eyes shifted downwards, but he looked more contemplative than worried. After a few moments, his eyes locked onto Harry again as he said with determination, "Right. More practice."
Harry smiled and nodded. He then stood and moved back to his original spot.
"Alright," he said. "Then I'm ready when you are."
Matthew held up his wand and breathed deeply again. Then, he cast the spell once more.
The next few minutes of attempts all saw the same result as Matthew's second try, with Harry's wand simply dropping from his hand to the floor. Even with Harry's earlier words about just needing more practice, Hermione could see Matthew become more frustrated with each attempt. She couldn't help but wonder, however, if that frustration might be the push that the boy needed to make the leap to a more successful casting, just like had happened to her in her creation of the Four-Point Spell.
And on the next attempt after she had those thoughts, Matthew actually growled for a second before waving his wand and fiercely yelling, "Expelliarmus!"
This time, when the scarlet light hit Harry, his wand flew out of his hand and into the air, landing a few steps behind Matthew.
Matthew's mouth dropped open in shock at what occurred.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other and grinned widely at the successful spell. For Hermione, the happiness was twofold since she basically had her thoughts confirmed about the frustration actually helping Matthew to break a barrier.
They turned back when Matthew said in disbelief, "I did it. I made your wand fly away. I was so frustrated about not making any progress, and desperately wanted to make more even if it was just a little bit, that I forgot all about my worries."
Harry replied, "See? You were so focused on your goal of succeeding that it gave you that little push you needed to completely forget all your fears."
A great smile lit Matthew's face after the comment. "Yeah, I guess it did. And I really did it!"
Harry laughed and said, "You sure did!"
As they were speaking, Hermione pulled out her wand and summoned Harry's wand to herself. She knew Harry could obviously summon it wandlessly, but she still felt that it was best to keep those skills hidden for as long as possible.
After Harry's second comment to Matthew, she added, "That was wonderful, Matthew!"
She then threw Harry's wand back to him. When he caught it, he smirked and said, "You know I could have just gotten that myself."
"I know," she lightly replied, while raising an eyebrow at the same time. Harry simply chuckled, with Hermione hoping that he understood why she had summoned it herself, before turning back to Matthew.
With a challenge in his eyes this time, Harry asked, "You want to go a few more times with the spell?"
Matthew just resolutely nodded and held up his wand.
They went through five more attempts with the Disarming Charm. The first four were the same as the first one where Matthew made Harry's wand completely fly out of Harry's hand, but the second-year student still appeared to grow more confident with every success. And on the fifth and final attempt, he hit Harry with enough force to make Harry stumble back one step while his wand flew all the way to the wall behind Matthew.
As Hermione summoned Harry's wand and tossed it to him, Matthew was almost bouncing on his feet in excitement.
"I did it!" he exclaimed. "I don't know if I've ever taken that little time to get a spell right when I practice on my own!"
Harry chuckled for a couple of seconds.
When he stopped, he became more serious and said, "So, how do you feel now about the Disarming Charm? Do you think you're alright with stopping here, or do you want to practice a little more?"
Matthew stopped his movements and thought for a few seconds. Then, he shook his head and replied, "No, I – I think I'm OK with stopping there for now with Defense."
He then looked at Hermione, becoming more sheepish. "So, could we maybe move on to my Charms spell, Hermione?"
She said with a smile, "Of course we can, Matthew."
While Harry began moving the teacher's desk back to its original spot, Hermione used her wand to shift the desk on her left closer to her.
She asked, "Would you mind sitting down here, so we can go over something first before starting?"
Matthew nodded and moved quickly over to the desk beside her.
Once he was sitting, Hermione said, "So, with the Engorgement Charm, I assume that your work for class involves something like enlarging a small object at the moment?"
The boy nodded again. "Yes, that's right."
He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a teacup, sitting it on his desk. "In my next Charms class, we're going to be tested on whether we can use the spell to make a teacup grow to double in size. So far, I've only caused the cup to barely grow for a moment, before it then shrinks back to its normal size."
"Alright then," Hermione replied. She then glanced at Harry for a moment, who had finished moving the teacher's desk and was now sitting atop it, watching silently.
She added to Matthew, "Now, I will say something before we go further. My method of learning has typically been theory first and then practical. Thus, that means you and I will first go over the incantation and movements separately and then we'll put them together to cast the spell, unlike Harry where you went straight to practical usage first before improving on the theory. Will that be alright?"
He quickly nodded. "As long as I can learn the spell, it doesn't matter to me how I go about learning it."
Harry gave a low chuckle and said, "Hermione's always been the first to perform a spell correctly in class, and many times she would also be the only one to do it in class. You'll be getting that spell sooner than you may think."
He then gave a devilish grin to Hermione. "Isn't that right, Professor Granger?"
Hermione just gave him a smirk and shook her head, before turning back to Matthew and becoming more serious. "Alright, let's start with the incantation. Let me hear you say it."
Without hesitation, Matthew said, "Engorgio."
Hermione hummed for a moment and replied, "You had a little too much emphasis on the first syllable there. Try saying it more like 'En-GOR-gio' instead, with the emphasis on the second syllable."
Matthew's eyes widened a bit. "Oh, OK. Thinking back on mine, I can hear the difference compared to yours just now."
He then took a deep breath and slowly said the incantation again, correctly this time. Hermione had him repeat it a few more times to the point that he could say it more naturally while getting the emphasis correct.
At the final one, she smiled and said, "Good! You've got that. Now let's move on to the wand gesture. Can you show me your hand movement for this spell?"
Matthew held up his wand. Then, he moved his wand in a circle, stopping a few centimeters before the point of his wand reached its original position.
"How was that?" he nervously asked.
She gave him a sympathetic smile, knowing what she was about to tell him. "Your circle was good, but that's also only part of the wand gesture. There were two tiny bits you missed, one each at the beginning and end of the gesture."
Matthew looked down at his teacup and dejectedly said, "So, with both this and the Disarming Charm, I was messing up almost everything without even realizing that I was messing up."
"Hey," Hermione gently said.
When Matthew looked at her again, she continued, "You don't have to feel bad. Think of it this way. You knew that something had to be wrong, but instead of just forgetting about it or not bothering with trying to improve, you wanted to get help so that you could find out exactly what was wrong. There's no need to be ashamed of that."
Harry added at that point, "She's right. Just remember my story about the Summoning Charm, and how I needed Hermione's help and a lot of practice to get better with it."
Matthew glanced back and forth between them for a couple of seconds. Then, a bit of determination fell over his expression as he took a deep breath.
"Right," he said. "OK, so what did I need to do with the wand movement?"
Hermione held her wand up in her right hand. Without a word, she slowly moved her hand in the correct gesture.
When she finished, Matthew widened his eyes again and spoke before she could.
"I saw it," he said. "A little straight line down for just a few centimeters, then start the circle going to your left, and just before you would close the circle, you do a little straight line up to end at the same height but just to the right of where you started."
Hermione grinned and nodded. "Good job, that's correct! Now, how about you pick up your wand and follow me?"
Matthew quickly did so.
For the next five minutes, Hermione simply had the boy follow along with her for the wand gesture. She started slowly and would increase the speed every few attempts. By the end, she had Matthew doing the movements at close to a more natural speed and without any guidance from her.
When she stopped him, she happily said, "Great! You have the pronunciation of the incantation, and you have the wand gesture. How about we put it all together now and actually cast the spell?"
Matthew nodded and looked down at his teacup. When he held up his wand, Hermione could see a twinge of nervousness enter his expression.
Before she could say anything, however, he pointed his wand at the cup and then waved it while saying, "Engorgio!"
The cup grew maybe one centimeter in diameter before stopping.
When nothing more happened afterwards, Matthew smiled and said, "It didn't shrink back this time!"
She smiled and nodded. "Indeed, you're making progress then."
She pointed her wand at the cup and silently cast the General Counter-Spell to put the cup back to its original size. When she finished, Matthew was looking at her with a bit of puzzlement.
"Do you have a question about something?" she asked him.
"Y-yeah," he said. "Um, you and Harry have both emphasized the importance of correct pronunciations and wand movements. But here just now, you did a spell without saying anything or moving your wand at all, and both you and Harry also did that earlier when the two of you would make wands come to you. Is that something I need to be worried about, the fact that you can do that?"
Hermione replied, "That's a more advanced form of spellcasting, which you and your classmates won't start learning until your sixth year here at Hogwarts. For the basics like you're learning, the incantations and wand gestures are essential to properly learn the spell, before you would even think about going into those advanced techniques."
Harry then jumped into the conversation. "Trust me when I say this. Trying to cast a spell silently for the first time, or trying it without using the wand gesture, is just like trying to learn it completely for the first time all over again. So, don't worry about needing to learn right away the advanced methods that Hermione and I can do."
Relief immediately washed over Matthew. "OK, that's good."
He then looked back at the cup, but as he held up his wand, Hermione said, "Matthew."
He stopped and turned to her.
She softly asked, "Were you still afraid about whether the spell would work when you cast it?"
His expression turned into that which a child might wear after being caught doing something forbidden, and he replied, "Yes."
"It's alright that you were," Hermione said. "Just try to remember what Harry told you earlier. Focus on your goal of casting the spell successfully. Push past your worries about failing, and believe that you'll succeed even if it takes a lot of work to do so, and take pride as you watch your progress."
She then gave a little grin. "You succeeded with the Disarming Charm, remember? So why worry that you won't be able to succeed at this one?"
That caused Matthew to grin back at her and say, "Right. Right."
Turning back to the teacup, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. When he opened his eyes afterwards, he appeared to be much more determined.
He waved his wand and said, "Engorgio!"
The cup began to gradually get larger. It actually reached twice the normal size, causing Matthew to smile widely, but the smile instantly vanished when the cup continued growing.
"How do I stop it?" he asked in fright.
"Pull your wand away from the cup and stop thinking about the spell," Hermione immediately said.
When he followed her orders, the cup stopped enlarging. It was definitely more than double its original size, almost triple even.
Matthew looked at her and sheepishly said, "Sorry, I guess I should have asked about that when you were going over theory stuff earlier, or even realized on my own that I could just stop pointing my wand at the cup. I wasn't expecting it to keep growing as much as it did."
Hermione shook her head. "No need to apologize. That's something that I could and should have gone over earlier when you were working on the components of the spell."
Matthew actually responded with another large grin. "No, you don't have to apologize at all. I actually did the spell! Even if the teacup is a size that's larger than what we're supposed to do, it still grew!"
Harry laughed and said, "I told you Hermione wouldn't let you down."
Hermione couldn't help giggling at the mirth from both boys, as she shrunk the cup back to its normal size again.
"Indeed, good job, Matthew!" she exclaimed. "You know you can perform the spell, so now the only thing to work on is your precision with getting the size right."
The boy nodded enthusiastically and held up his wand, ready for another attempt.
For some time, he made attempt after attempt at trying to get the teacup to be exactly double its normal size. Eventually, he was able to do it three times in a row.
As soon as he had done it for that third time, and Hermione had shrunk the cup afterwards, he jumped from his seat and pumped his fists once.
"I did it, I did it!" he joyfully exclaimed.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other with great smiles, before they stood up as well.
Hermione then said, "So, Matthew, do you feel like you're capable enough with both spells now and are ready for the next time you go to your Charms and Defense classes?"
"Oh yes!" the boy replied, as he pocketed his teacup and wand. "Thank you both so much for taking this time to help me! You helped me figure things out so much faster than I may have if I had tried to do all this on my own like I normally have!"
Hermione happily replied, "It was our pleasure, Matthew."
Harry nodded and said, "Yeah, we were glad to help."
But then, Harry stepped closer to the boy and kneeled down to eye level. "Now, if you don't mind, could I ask you a question?"
Matthew grew confused, but he nodded. "Sure, OK."
"Thank you," Harry replied. "And if you think this question is too personal and none of our business, you can say so. OK?"
Matthew nodded again.
With that, Harry took a deep breath and gently said, "So, would it be alright if I asked about why you were so scared of Hermione and me, when you first came to us for help?"
Matthew's expression immediately became quite hesitant.
Hermione quickly said, "Like Harry said, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to – "
"No!" Matthew loudly interrupted.
He shook his head and added more normally, "No, I – you helped me so much today, and I know that you both could see how fearful I was at first. I won't mind answering your question."
He took a deep breath and looked at Harry. "Harry, there – a lot of people have talked about you being scary to others when they come around you. That was part of the reason."
Harry grimaced in a way that made it seem like he was trying to smile and frown at the same time. Before he could say anything, however, Matthew continued speaking.
"But since that moment where I first came to you and Hermione, you haven't been scary at all! You've been really nice and helpful!"
That caused a tiny half-smile to rise on Harry's lips.
It lasted for just a moment, however, before Harry replied, "Well, I've always been willing to help out with academic matters this year, if someone would come to me with one. But I was also pushing everyone away to keep people from asking any question that's remotely personal, so I understand why you or anyone else would be afraid to even come near me at all."
Matthew's eyes widened a bit. "Oh, so you being scary was because people would ask you questions that they shouldn't have been?"
Harry shook his head. "I won't try to make excuses for myself. The fact remains that I acted like a git this year, so I apologize for giving you reason to be worried about having to come to us for questions."
Matthew shook his own head and responded, "No, it's OK! Like I said, you were really helpful!"
At that point, however, timidity quickly washed over him. "Besides… that wasn't the only reason why I was afraid."
When he went quiet and didn't talk afterwards for a few seconds, Hermione gently said, "If it's something that you don't want to tell us, you don't have to. Remember that."
Matthew shook his head again. "No, no. I'll talk about it."
He took another deep breath, before he hung his head and looked down at the floor.
Then, he said, "The other reason is that… well, I'm in Slytherin, and you are both in Gryffindor. I was worried that you might hate me and refuse to help me just because of that, after all the terrible things that people from Slytherin did last year or before in history."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, both having grim acceptance on their faces with the knowledge of both of Harry's earlier ideas being proven correct. Afterwards, however, some determination quickly entered Harry's eyes.
Hermione slightly raised an eyebrow, silently asking Harry what was on his mind. He just gave her a tiny smile and a wink in response.
Certain that he was wordlessly asking her to trust him, she simply nodded in return. That caused his smile to become more affectionate, telling her that she had made the right choice.
He then became serious and turned his gaze back to Matthew, who had continued to keep his head down and thus missed the silent exchange between the older students.
"Matthew," Harry said.
When the second-year slowly looked up with fear in his eyes, Harry added, "Do you believe in the same ideals as all the Slytherins who did those things?"
Matthew immediately and firmly exclaimed, with his brow furrowing, "No!"
He shook his head and then added, "While both my mum and dad can use magic, they've also always taught me to treat other people the way I would want to be treated. So, I know that treating witches and wizards differently because of whether or not both parents can use magic, and acting like Muggleborn people are somehow inferior just because of their parents, is wrong."
At that moment, however, the boy became timid again. "But… that's also why I've always wondered why I was put in Slytherin. Don't get me wrong, it's not like my parents think badly of me for being in this house, since they said that Slytherin had simply earned a wonderful student when I told them in a letter where I had been sorted. And the Sorting Hat did say to me that it could see a spark of great ambition that maybe just needed a little push, though I'm also unsure as to why it said that. But still…"
When he trailed off, Hermione spoke again. "But you worry that the actions of the Death Eaters in Slytherin and those who supported them will reflect badly on you, as well as have the other houses think that you support those blood supremacist ideas, simply on account of you being in the same house that so many Death Eaters once were?"
Matthew hung his head and remained quiet. Then, he gave a little nod while still keeping his head down.
At that point, Harry quietly asked, "Matthew, will you look at me?"
It took a few seconds, but the second-year slowly brought his head up.
Then, Harry said, "How would you like to hear something that no one else knows? I won't even ask you to keep it a secret after today."
Matthew's eyes widened in a bit of confusion.
Meanwhile, Hermione furrowed her brow a bit as she stared at Harry.
She whispered, "Harry?"
He glanced to her and simply responded, "Trust me?"
"Always," she instantly replied. She received a quick smile, before Harry looked at Matthew again.
He said, "So, how about it, Matthew?"
Though Matthew continued to remain quiet, he quickly nodded a few times.
Harry chuckled once and replied, "Alright then. Well, what if I told you… that the Sorting Hat thought about placing me in Slytherin?"
Shock instantly ran through Hermione. Harry wasn't kidding when he said that this was something that no else knew, since even she had never before heard about this.
And it seemed that Matthew was just as shocked at the information.
He whispered in awe, "Really? You could have been a Slytherin?"
Harry nodded. "Yep. In my sorting, the Sorting Hat actually struggled with placing me, telling me that I had courage, a decent mind, talent, and a thirst to prove myself. At that point, I started thinking that I just didn't want to be in Slytherin. I did that because I had met someone in Diagon Alley that summer, a person who did look down upon others because of blood status, and I watched that person get sorted into Slytherin. Because of that, I didn't want to be in the same house.
"The Sorting Hat then asked if I was sure about my choice. It said that I could have been great, and that Slytherin could have helped me on the way to that greatness. But because I still held to my choice of wanting something else, only then did the hat decide to place me in Gryffindor."
At that point, Harry finally stood up straight. Hermione immediately followed him, though she still remained silent in case he had more to say.
Indeed, Harry continued, "So, does it make you think any less of me that I had the potential to be a member of Slytherin House? Does it make you believe that I'm like any one of those Death Eaters?"
Matthew immediately shook his head. "No. You're Harry Potter, you saved us all last year, even if you've been scary to people this year. And you've helped me so much today."
Harry gave a tiny smile. "Well, I don't know about me taking credit for saving everyone else, but I'm glad to hear that this information doesn't change your view of me."
Then, he became quite serious. "Now, what I really want you to take from this is… just because you're in Slytherin doesn't make you the same as an actual Death Eater or pureblood supremacist like the person who I didn't want to share a house with. And if someone else would ever try to tell you otherwise? Stand up for yourself, and show them that they're wrong. Show them that you can be great in Slytherin while also being a kind person who is nothing at all like those horrid Death Eaters. And by doing so, slowly but surely, one person at a time, perhaps the name of Slytherin House can start to be redeemed from its marred history, in this new future we all have."
As Harry ended his speech, Matthew was looking up at him with admiration.
The boy whispered, "Do – do you really think I could do that? I'm just a second-year student, and I've almost always kept to myself outside of classes."
Hermione decided to speak at that point. "You can, Matthew. Like Harry said, change happens one person at a time. Just because there have been no incidents yet with Slytherin House this year, because of the Death Eaters and their sympathizers losing their lives in the early aftermath of the war last year, it's still possible that something could happen in the future. And outside of Slytherin itself, I'm sure that there are also numerous students here who do still think of Slytherin, as you said earlier, as just the house for evil witches and wizards, even after some of the older Slytherins actually helped to fight in the Battle of Hogwarts last year.
"Permanent change needs to take hold if there can ever be hope of Slytherin removing that image so that, just like all the other houses, a person could be proud to be part of that house in the future. You could be one of the early roots of that change, simply by sticking to your belief of treating others as you wish to be treated, and saying something if any person would try to act otherwise."
She then added with a smile, "But if you would ever have trouble from anyone because you try to act as we've suggested, you could always come to Harry and me if you would need any help."
She glanced over to Harry. "Right, Harry?"
He gave her a smile and nod, and he said to Matthew, "Yep, Hermione's right. We can back you up if you ever need help."
Matthew was now looking at both her and Harry in total astonishment. Then, a twinkle seemed to enter his eyes, as a great smile began to rise on his face.
Almost to himself, he said, "Like practicing the spells. Take one step at a time, keep practicing, and you can eventually succeed."
Harry chuckled and replied, "Exactly."
Matthew's smile grew as wide as one could at that point. It dropped after a few seconds, as his expression became full of resolution.
"OK," he said. "OK, you're right. I should stop being afraid about having been put in Slytherin, because I know that I'm nothing like those Death Eaters, and I should show that to everyone else. And if that means my actions can change even one person's mind about Slytherin being a house for only evil wizards, that helps because it's one person who then can go to someone else and change that person's mind."
Harry and Hermione replied at the same time, "That's right."
Matthew smiled again for a moment, before he said, "OK, I think I'm ready to go back to my common room now."
Hermione said, "Alright then, we'll walk with you to the door, since I need to remove the Locking Spell that I placed on it."
Once the door was unlocked and open, Matthew then looked at her and Harry with tremendous gratitude.
He said, "Thank you again so much for helping me today and being so kind. I'll never forget this."
Hermione smiled and responded, "You're welcome, Matthew."
Harry added, "And if you need help with anything in the future, feel free to come to us."
Matthew thanked them again before happily walking out of the classroom.
At that point, Hermione shut the door again, though without placing any spells on it this time.
When she saw the slight look of confusion on Harry's face, she said, "To give us a minute alone. I wanted to talk with you."
He just gave her an understanding nod, which allowed her to continue.
"So," she said with a smile, "the Sorting Hat really thought about placing you in Slytherin? Is that why your sorting took so much longer than everyone else's that year?"
With a smirk, he replied, "You know, yours took a while, too. Remember how you once said in fifth year that the Sorting Hat seriously considered you for Ravenclaw before putting you in Gryffindor?"
Without missing a beat, she lightly retorted, "Then that just makes us two peas in a pod when it comes to giving the Sorting Hat trouble."
Harry laughed for a few seconds. When his laughter ended, though, he became serious and said, "But to actually answer your question. Yeah, the Sorting Hat really did consider Slytherin House for me."
Hermione nodded for a moment, before she asked, "The person that you said gave you reason to not want to share a house with them. Am I right when I assume you're talking about Draco Malfoy?"
Harry let out a quiet snort of amusement and then nodded. "Yep, got it in one."
She gave her own snort. "I thought so, considering how even from the very beginning here at Hogwarts, he acted like a supremacist twat."
That caused Harry to laugh again. When he finished, he stepped closer to Hermione and touched his forehead to hers.
"Language, Miss Granger," he cheekily said.
She grinned and retorted, "Don't try and act like you wouldn't say the same thing."
He gave the same grin. "Wouldn't dream of trying."
She chuckled for a moment and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her back in response, while keeping their foreheads touching.
At that point, Hermione couldn't help giving a content sigh. "I guess that tutoring session and all of its aftermath were our good deed for the day."
Harry gave an amused hum. "That's one way to put it."
He then said more seriously, "I really hope Matthew does well, in his classes with those spells and with doing however little he can to show that Slytherin can be different from its past."
The left side of his mouth then curled slightly upwards. "Who knows, maybe everything we did with him today could help him with finding that spark of great ambition that he said the Sorting Hat could see within him."
She smiled and replied, "Maybe, Harry. Anything's possible. For now, though, we just wait and see what happens from here, and we help Matthew if he does ever come to us again for anything in the future."
He just nodded against her forehead. They stood there in silence for a few more seconds.
Then, Hermione became a bit more serious. "You know, now that we both know that you and I could have potentially gone to different houses, does it make you curious at all? About what could have been if we did get sorted into those houses instead of Gryffindor?"
Harry didn't immediately answer, just continuing to gaze into her eyes. Once he did finally speak, his tone was quite solemn.
"Could there be some fun in speculating with you, thanks to the knowledge that we're here together and none of it actually ever passed? Maybe. But still…"
At that point, his eyes went soft, in that manner which would cause her breath to hitch because he would look at her like she was his entire world.
He continued, "Frankly, for me… your friendship since 1991 is something that is just too important. I don't even want to imagine a scenario where it's possible that you and I don't become friends in first year. And if we weren't in the same house together, isn't it likely that could be the case? And if we never became friends in first year, then what? Would we ever become friends? Could things happen in such a way that we might even hate each other?"
He gently shook his head against her forehead and then gave a warm smile. "No, I'm not really curious at all about what could have been if we ended up in different houses. I'm too happy where I am to want anything else besides the present that you and I are living in right now, and the future that we can hopefully have from here on out."
Hermione felt a few tears well up in her eyes at Harry's words. With a tender smile, she whispered, "Like you and I have said to each other many times before. Leave the past behind, and reach forward for the future. Right?"
"Exactly right," he softly replied.
With that, she simply brought her mouth forward, slowly and deeply kissing him. He eagerly responded as soon as her lips had touched his.
When the kiss ended, they just silently stood for another minute, holding one another close and keeping their heads touching.
Hermione was the first to disturb the stillness. "Well, how about we get back to our N.E.W.T. studies?"
Harry gave a small half-grin for a moment before saying, "Yeah, we can."
With that, they slowly broke their hug. As Harry began to reach for the door, however, Hermione couldn't help thinking of something. She reached out and put her hand on Harry's arm, causing him to stop and look at her with a bit of puzzlement.
At that point, she smirked and said, "And you were worried that your teaching Defense in fifth year may have just been a fluke. You see what you did today, right?"
At the reminder of his own words, Harry chuckled and replied, "Well, let's wait and see if we get any feedback later, from the professors or from Matthew after he's had his next classes, about our lessons from this tutoring session, as well as see if more people do actually start coming to me even if they're initially afraid, before you start extolling my virtues as a teacher just yet."
Her smirk just grew, and she responded with a slight singsong tone. "Whatever you say, Professor Potter."
He gave another half-grin to her and shook his head. "Come on, Professor Granger. Let's actually go take care of our studies."
Thus, they left the classroom and began the journey to the library.
Along the way, Hermione couldn't help thinking that Harry simply still wasn't giving himself enough credit. Still though, he was at least using more humor this time, rather than the more despaired reactions he'd given before he finally decided to try pursuing a teaching position. And he certainly had to know that it wasn't a small thing that he helped in convincing Matthew to try and get others to see that those in Slytherin can certainly be more than just Death Eaters and dark wizards, however little Matthew may actually be able to do.
Hermione smiled in her mind. Just like they had told Matthew when it came to learning the spells, and just like she had tried to keep to with Harry himself ever since he finally left his shell and first opened up to her on that December night in the Gryffindor common room. Give it time, appreciate the progress that happens whenever a new step is taken, and eventually, the goal would be reached.
A/N: So yep, a little tutoring gig for Harry and Hermione to help with the path to becoming Hogwarts professors. Obviously, it was just a single person at the moment, but seeing as it was also just the first day after accepting McGonagall's offer, there is more time to see how things further unfold.
Regarding those two spells being taught to second-years, the Disarming Charm is obviously learned by Harry in his second year in CoS even if it was first shown in the dueling club instead of an actual Defense class, and the Engorgement Charm is listed on the HP Fandom wiki as being part of The Standard Book of Spells Grade 2 (though according to the citations, this is also apparently a Pottermore addition and thus is technically not actual hard book canon). My descriptions of the wand movements for the spells also came from me looking at the hand movement images shown on each spell's respective Fandom wiki page (see "harrypotter dot fandom dot com/wiki/Engorgement_Charm" and "harrypotter dot fandom dot com/wiki/Disarming_Charm).
And I couldn't resist that little "peas in a pod" comment and moment at the end of the chapter, after Hermione knows that Harry potentially could have been sorted into a different house than Gryffindor, just like her (it's canon, from Chapter 19 of OotP, that Hermione says the Sorting Hat considered her for Ravenclaw before finally placing her in Gryffindor).
If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you stay tuned for more!