My dearest readers. I am so dreadfully sorry for not updating this sooner. It's been over a year, and I just didn't have the ambition to continue it. However, reading other people's stories, I have again been inspired to write! I have no idea how often I will update, because my writers block is still spotty. This chapter took me about a week. I hope you guys like it. Thanks for reading! Reviews are always happily accepted
~Katie
Disclaimer:
I do not own, nor do I claim to own anything related to Harry Potter. Everything belongs to JK Rowling, and I do not have any claim to anyone in this story, except for the original characters.
For the next week, Harry, Ron, and Neville spent their time between classes getting lost and asking paintings for directions. Unfortunately, they were unlucky enough to get lost on their way to the first Potions class on their second day at Hogwarts. Neville was walking behind Harry and Ron, who were discussing the schedule that Professor McGonagall had given them that morning.
"So we've got Potions first, with the Slytherins," Ron groaned. "Shouldn't we get some time away from them? Especially since Snape is known for taking points from Gryffindor and doing the opposite for Slytherin. He favors them!"
"Uhhhh guys?" Neville cut in. "I think we-"
"Yeah, but Snape already hates my guts!" Harry cut him off, replying to Ron. He adjusted his glasses, "He and dad were enemies in their days at Hogwarts. Not to mention he hates Gryffindors."
Ron answered him, "well, at least you have a bit of Potions magic on your side. Didn't you say your mom was top of her class in her year?"
Neville was growing anxious as he caught up to them. "Guys, we've got a problem!" Ron and Harry looked at him expectantly. "Look around. Where are we? I don't think we're anywhere near the Potions room." The boys looked around. The walls were moist from water that was dripping from the ceiling, and there was a draft coming from the hall that they were walking through.
"We're fine Nev, Fred and George said that the classroom is in the dungeons, and we're down here right? It's probably just down this hall." Ron replied, not worried much at all. They kept walking until Neville pointed out;
"I haven't seen a classroom in at least five minutes. There aren't any doors down here." Harry looked around, and noticed that Neville was correct. There wasn't a door in sight. It was utterly silent in the hall that they were standing in, except for the ominous dripping sound that came from the water sliding down the walls to the floor.
"Neville's right. I think we might have taken a wrong turn or something. There's no one down here. Normally we'd see people walking from classrooms or maybe the Slytherin dormitory. Let's go back the way we came, and we should go quickly, because I think we're going to be late." As they turned to leave, the hair on the back of Harry's neck suddenly stood up, and the draft coming from the hall behind them suddenly turned into a cool breeze. Harry grasped his wand inside his robes and turned around to the hall behind them. The torches lighting the hall had gone out, and there was a, formless green glow coming from somewhere in the dark down the hall. Neville and Ron stood there and stared, however Harry didn't even hesitate, and immediately, he yelled "RUN!"
The trio sprinted in the opposite direction, down the hall from whence they came. They made 3 turns, and suddenly found themselves at a staircase. Barely stopping, they ran up, and suddenly found themselves near the entrance hall. It was completely empty, however there was still noise coming from the Great Hall. The boys caught their breath and walked into the hall, looking for someone who could point them in the right direction in order to find their classroom. Harry checked the clock, and was dismayed to find that they were already five minutes late for class. An older student walked out as they were walking into the Great Hall, and Harry asked him where the Potions classroom was. The Ravenclaw boy kindly gave them directions, and the boys made their way quickly to the classroom, only to discover that it was right next to the staircase that they had previously run up. Ron made a quick peek around the corner, and said that it looked completely safe again. Whatever had caused the eerie green glow had disappeared.
Taking a deep breath, the three boys walked in together.
The bell rang, after what seemed like hours, and the boys gathered their books, stuffing them unceremoniously into their bags, and rushed out of the room as though there were a Blast-Ended Skrewt chasing them. Outside of the classroom, there were two people waiting for them. On one side of the hallway, was the bushy haired girl from the boat the previous night. On the other side, sneering at Granger with a vast amount of contempt was a pale faced, fair-haired boy wearing Slytherin robes. Granger opened her mouth first:
"I cannot believe you got points taken away in our first class! Fifteen points! Those are extremely important to us. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Next time leave early from breakfast in order to find your class, so you don't get lost again and lost us even more points. Just be glad that Professor Snape didn't take more from you." She read them the riot act. "I'll see you again in Transfiguration. Don't be late again, because McGonagall takes points away from her own house too." She stalked off and left the boys angry and annoyed.
"I thought coming to Hogwarts meant that I no longer had to deal with my mother." Ron grumbled as they turned to leave. Harry and Neville snickered and began to walk off, until they heard someone clear their throat, just behind them. They turned back around to confront the person who could cause them to again, be late for class. The pale faced boy looked at the trio and introduced himself as Draco Malfoy.
"My family is a very well known pure-blood family. You may have heard of us. I come from a very long line of Slytherins, and my father works for the Ministry." The boys nodded. "I just wanted to warn you of the Granger girl. For a muggle-born Gryffindor, she is extremely ambitious, and I don't trust her." Harry dropped his jaw. Malfoy was almost sincere in his warning. "Of course, then again she's muggle-born, so I don't trust her anyways. She shouldn't even be here." Neville rolled his eyes.
"Oh just stuff it Malfoy. You're just jealous that she's so much smarter than you. Take it like a man and accept it." Ron snickered again and Harry glared at Malfoy. The boys walked off, headed to Transfiguration, leaving Malfoy alone in the dungeons.
As they walked into Transfiguration, the bell rang, and so they ran to their seats before McGonagall entered the room. She explained the basics of Transfiguration to the class, filled with first-year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. She began by explaining the significance of wand movements and proper pronunciations in the class.
"If you do not properly articulate an incantation, the spell may not work, or else, it could go dreadfully wrong. This is very similar to Charms, however in Transfiguration, we are literally making an article into something else." As she finished this sentence, she abruptly began to shrink, and Professor McGonagall became a cat. The students gasped, though for different reasons. Most of the Gryffindors gasped in admiration and surprise, while the Ravenclaws gasped in comprehension. Professor McGonagall transformed back into her human form and straightened her robes. "Now can anyone tell the rest of the class what just happened?" A few Ravenclaws raised their hands, however before that, Hermione Granger's hand shot up into the air, faster than an arrow. "Miss Granger?"
"You transformed into your Animagus form!" She replied in awe. McGonagall nodded, and asked
"What exactly is an Animagus?" To which Hermione said
"An Animagus is a witch or wizard who can morph his or herself into an animal at will." McGonagall nodded.
"Well spoken Miss Granger. 10 points to Gryffindor." Granger smiled, and McGonagall turned and began to write on the board. For the rest of class, the students took notes on the history of Transformation, until the bell rang. As the students packed up, McGonagall told them "your homework is a full length of parchment on Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration. If you need help, do not hesitate to see me, or check the library. This assignment is due next class." The boys groaned as they walked out, headed to the Great Hall for lunch.
"Ugh. Great. On top of the essay Snape assigned us about the ingredients in the Cure for Boils, we've got another assignment for Transfiguration." Ron complained. Harry and Neville groaned too, and Ron asked. "What do we have after lunch?" Harry glanced at his schedule, but Neville beat him to it.
"We have Double Herbology with the Hufflepuffs. This shouldn't be too bad. I've always been interested in plants."
"Great. And I heard that Sprout doesn't assign a lot of homework." Ron smiled. Harry was walking ahead of Ron and Neville now, looking at a group of older Gryffindor boys, who he recognized to be Ron's twin brothers and their friends. They seemed to be excited, so he sped up to see what was going on. He came up to Fred's side and asked
"Hey, what's going on?" Fred turned to Harry, and then waited for his brother and their friend.
"Did you hear?" Fred said, somewhat animated, and somewhat guiltily. "A first-year was found unconscious in the dungeons by Snape. He said it was a Slytherin!"
As you may have noticed, I enjoy cliff-hangers! Now, I'm going to the beach for a week, however I'll try to update for the next chapter. It could be a while though. Fair warning. Sorry. I LOVE YOU THOUGH.