Disclaimer: I solemnly swear that Harry Potter belongs to the amazing JK Rowling and that I am most definitely up to no good.
Previous Chapter Summary: Harry travels on the Hogwarts Express where he meets new friends and, quite possibly, a new enemy before being sorted into Hufflepuff.
Early the next morning, too early in Harry's opinion, there was a light knock on the door and the raven haired boy rolled over in confusion before remembering where he was. "Yes?" He asked groggily.
An older boy that Harry barely recognized as having showed them to the common room last night opened the door and stood in the doorway. "Just wanted to make sure you guys are up and dressed in time, the first day is always the hardest. It's about 6:45 now and breakfast starts at 7:00 but Professor Sprout likes to greet all the first years and go over a few things before we show you guys the way back to the Great Hall."
"Ok thanks…" He paused and looked at the older boy questioningly.
"Adrian."
Harry stifled a large yawn. "Thanks Adrian, we'll be down in a bit."
Adrian nodded and left, closing the door behind him.
As the door closed Harry took a look around the room that he would be staying in for the next year and was not disappointed in what he saw. The room was split evenly down the middle from the door so that both boys had their own space and they each had their four poster beds covered with patchwork quilts, a small desk, armoire, and bookcase. The rounded windows along the walls began to lighten and show a pleasant view of what looked like an open meadow and those, coupled with the copper lamps, made everything feel warm and bright.
Climbing out of bed with a groan Harry made sure Justin was awake before starting to get ready for the day. 20 minutes later, both boys made their way down the hallway, that greatly resembled an underground tunnel, to the large round door that lead back to the Hufflepuff common room. Harry vaguely remembered Adrian telling them briefly last night that the first year's rooms were first in line followed progressively by the upper years along the long hallway.
Stepping into the common room, Harry and Justin found most of the remaining first years huddled around Professor Sprout and went to join them. "There you are Mr. Potter and Mr. Finch-Fletchley." Just then, Susan and Hannah stumbled out of the round door leading to the girl's dormitories looking half asleep. "Ah, and Ms. Bones and Ms. Abbot too, that is everyone I believe so we can go ahead and get started."
Though Harry really wanted to see just how comfortable those overstuffed sofas and armchairs were that were spread about the room, he decided against the very real possibility of falling asleep as a result and simply stood to the side to hear what Professor Sprout had to say.
"First off, I would like to officially welcome you to Hufflepuff house and I hope that you all enjoy yourself here for your time at Hogwarts. Please note that while Mr. Calderon and Miss Sutton did wake you this morning, they will not continue doing this in the future so please be sure to set your appropriate alarms from here on out. Breakfast starts at 7:00AM and curfew is at 9:00PM sharp though I would like you each to try and be in the common room at least 10 to 15 minutes beforehand to try and reduce the chance of you being caught out and receiving point deductions and/or detentions.
"Now, you will have noticed that you all have your own desk in your room that you can use to do assignments and such but I would like to encourage you to use the ones out here in the common room as much as possible. Not only can some of the upper years assist you if you need help but you can also create your own study groups to help each other if you wish." She paused here to look around them and focused on Harry when she saw his hand go up. "Yes Mr. Potter?"
"Are we allowed to create study groups with other houses too?"
Professor Sprout beamed at him. "While it is rather uncommon to see separate houses band together like that, you are most certainly allowed to give it a try Mr. Potter. Go ahead and take a point for such a great question and another point for your thoughtfulness."
Harry turned scarlet at that and ducked his head in embarrassment. While receiving praise from Nicolas and Perenelle had become the norm, receiving it from someone he didn't know was a completely different matter. "Thank you Professor." He mumbled.
After waiting a few moments to make sure nobody else had a question, Professor Sprout continued on with her speech. "Any notices, such as club activities or house announcements, will be posted on the common room notice board right over there." She said and pointed to a large board off to the right of the door leading out of the dormitories. "If you have your own notice you would like to put up please make sure you get permission from myself, one of the Prefects, or the Head Boy or Girl, should they be a Hufflepuff, to display it. And last but not least, while the students of our house do enjoy helping their younger housemates, our 5th and 7th years will have a busy year coming up and if you ask them and they tell you they cannot help you at that time, please respect that and try to find someone else to assist you. Are there any other questions?"
Harry looked around and noticed that quite a few older students were now milling around the common room with some even listening to Professor Sprout as she wound down. When nobody raised their hands she gave a short nod and stood up. "With that out of the way, Mr. Calderon and Miss Sutton will lead you back up to the Great Hall for breakfast and I will hand out your schedules at around 8:30. Your first class will start at 9:00 and just so you don't have to come back down here once you eat, I will go ahead and let you know that you will only need your Intro to the Wizarding World textbook since your only classes before lunch is that and Intro to Latin."
As she left, the two 5th year Prefects told them to run along and get their textbook. They were all back within a few minutes and were immediately led up the passageway to the entrance of the Hufflepuff Basement. As they filed out Harry noticed that the corridor they were in was filled with a bunch of paintings of food, including a rather large one depicting a large silver bowl of fruit. The journey to the Entrance Hall then across the way into the Great Hall took less than 5 minutes for the Puffs and before they knew it, they were sitting down at their table and partaking of the excellent breakfast that was set out before them while chatting excitedly about their classes coming up.
As he was walking to his first class, Harry was immensely glad that Professor Sprout had provided them each with a map of the school on the back of their schedules with their classes clearly marked because he was sure he and his fellow year mates would have gotten lost had they not had them. As it turned out, all of the new classes for first years, excluding Healing and First Aid which was in the Hospital Wing, were located in the 3rd floor corridor on the right hand side so they wouldn't have to travel very far from their first class to their second.
Introduction into the Wizarding World was taught by a rather quirky woman by the name of Professor Chloe Gardner and the first thing she had them do after taking roll was take a short quiz to see who knew what before she passed out massive amounts of fake Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts to everyone. What followed was nearly an hour full of trading and buying, items and their prices were based on cards that each person randomly drew, from each other using Wizarding currency so everybody could get a feel for how to use the strange coins. The Professor even wrote that days conversion rates into Pounds Sterling to give the muggle-borns an idea of how much they actually had in their hands.
Harry walked into Transfiguration on Tuesday morning for the double period they would be sharing with Gryffindor and immediately made for the empty seat next to Neville. They hardly had the chance to catch up though before Professor McGonagall demanded silence so that she could begin her lecture.
Harry made sure to take meticulous notes throughout the lesson so that he wouldn't miss anything in regards to the theory and application of Transfiguration. While the Flamels had him study over the summer and read at least the first few chapters in each of his textbooks, he had made sure to devote extra time into studying his text for this subject because it was supposed to be one of the most difficult branches of magic and he wanted to do well in it.
By the end of the lesson, Harry realized just how difficult Transfiguration was. While he was able to make some progress into transforming his match into a needle, he and Hermione were the only ones to actually even get that far.
"Transfiguring a match into a needle seemed pretty simple until we were asked to actually do it. It's still very fascinating but much harder than I realized it would be." Hermione said as she came to walk beside Harry and Neville on their way to the Great Hall for lunch.
"Yeah." Harry replied. "It's difficult to keep all of the variables together while your casting. I kept concentrating too hard on imagining the wood turning to metal and then the wand movements and spell itself, that I would forget to focus enough power into the spell when I finally cast it."
"At least yours looked somewhat like a needle by the end. I couldn't even manage to get mine to turn silver." Neville said dejectedly.
"But it did look rather pointy the last time you tried so don't beat yourself up. We will just have to make sure to practice and Hermione and I can try and help you out if you would like." Harry reassured the shy boy and looked questioningly to Hermione to make sure it was ok to include her like that.
"Of course I'll help. We could make a study group together if you want to."
Harry nodded. "I already asked Professor Sprout about studying with other houses and she said that it's fine. I was thinking that we should try and include all houses in the study group if we can."
"Even Slytherin?" Ron burst out, having been eavesdropping on their conversation.
Harry and Hermione gave him a disapproving look before Harry responded. "Why wouldn't I invite them. They're students the same as us and might like the help if they need it."
Ron spluttered a bit. "But Harry mate, they're Slytherins and evil, the whole lot of them."
"Don't be so dramatic Ron. I know three of them who are pretty nice. Weird sense of humor maybe, but nice overall."
"Well I'm not studying with those filthy snakes."
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I still plan on asking them to join us but it's your choice whether you decide to participate or not."
"Bloody mental." Ron murmured and stalked off into the Great Hall.
"Honestly, how can he think that just because they're in Slytherin it automatically makes them evil?" Hermione huffed.
"It must come from the Gryffindor Slytherin rivalry I heard about and the fact that all of his previous brothers were in Gryffindor so I'm sure he grew up hearing all about it and it just stuck with him." Harry said and paused just outside of the doors leading into the Great Hall.
"It's still a silly thing to think." She replied and then changed the topic back to the study group. "So I think we should meet up either Friday night or sometime over the weekend to study."
"Sounds good to me but I think we should wait until we have everybody who would like to join before we decide so we can get their opinions too. What do you think of those days Neville?" Harry asked his quiet friend.
"I think Saturday or Sunday would be best since most everybody will probably be trying to finish up their homework around then anyway."
"Makes sense. I'll talk to the other Puffs and see if any of them can reach out to the Ravenclaws, then I'll try and talk to one of the Slytherins and see what they would like to do. I'll let you guys know what happens." Harry said and they parted ways to go to their individual house tables.
That afternoon, Harry couldn't keep down his enthusiasm for their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Perenelle and ended up nearly running all the way there from the 3rd floor where they had just gotten out of their new Health and Wellness class.
Learning that Professor Max Bennett had organized it so that they could have a menu provided to them during meals so they could choose their own healthy options to eat rather than the feast style they had encountered with breakfast, lunch, and dinner had actually appealed to him since Healer Manning had mentioned that eating balanced meals coupled with regular exercise would help him to grow strong and healthy. That Perenelle told him soon after that the right exercises would ensure that he maximized his defensive training didn't hurt either, so by the end of their Health class he had opted to go with the menu option for now and see how he liked it.
Professor Bennett also offered to help them write up an exercise schedule and told them that if enough people showed an interest then Headmaster Dumbledore would allow him to create a gym of sorts that would be housed in one of the many empty classrooms within Hogwarts so they could exercise without worrying about the elements when it started to get cold outside. Harry decided to sign up for that option as well and made an appointment with the Professor to go over what type of exercises would benefit him most.
Harry managed to make it to Perenelle's classroom in just over 5 minutes and was, unsurprisingly, the first one there. "Hi Ne… Professor Flamel." He greeted, catching himself at the last minute.
Perenelle gave him a warm smile from where she sat behind her desk. "Good afternoon Mr. Potter. Please feel free to sit wherever you would like."
It didn't take long for the rest of his Hufflepuff year mates and the Slytherins they were sharing the class with to start filing in and Justin came up to sit with Harry at the front of the class. "Blimey Harry, you were out of there like a shot. Did you not like the Health class?"
"Oh no, it's not that. I was just really excited for this class."
"Why wou… oh I see. I keep forgetting that the Flamels are your guardians." Justin said as the bell rang and the last student took their seat.
"Good afternoon everyone," Perenelle said as she stood up. "My name is Professor Perenelle Flamel and I will be teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts. Please say 'Here' when I call your name."
Once she was done taking roll she set the parchment down on her desk and stepped around it to stand in front of them. "Now, just so you all have an understanding of what you will be learning in this class, who can tell me what Defense Against the Dark Arts is?" She looked around at all of the raised hands before choosing someone. "Yes Mr. Zabini?"
"Defense Against the Dark Arts is the study of how to defend oneself against Dark creatures and Dark magic." Blaise answered.
Perenelle nodded. "Very good. Take 2 points for Slytherin. Can anyone specify for me what Dark magic entails? Miss Jones."
Megan went slightly pink at being called upon. "Um, there are Dark spells, potions, and items. They are classified as Dark because they are used to cause harm or discomfort to the person they are being used on."
"Also correct. 2 points to Hufflepuff. As Miss Jones said, there are three main classifications of Dark magic but we will be focusing mainly on the Dark spells as well as Dark creatures until your N.E.W.T. years, at which point I will incorporate the potions and items portions into the curriculum. Does anyone know the three classifications of Dark spells? Miss Parkinson."
"Jinxes, hexes, and curses." Pansy said simply.
"Indeed. Take another 2 points for Slytherin. And who can tell us what the difference is between these three types of spells? Mr. Potter."
"Jinxes are spells that cause mild discomfort or inconvenience to the target and can be easily removed using a counter-jinx while hexes are designed to cause minor suffering and can sometimes be difficult to reverse the effects of without help, depending on which hex is used. Curses are the worst and are used to cause major injury, discomfort, or even death to the victim." Harry rushed out, surprised at himself for being able to remember all of that from his textbook. Then again, he had found his DADA texts to be the most exciting subject of all and spent nearly as much time on it as he did Transfiguration.
"Excellent and 2 more points to Hufflepuff. Now, as nasty as curses sound, there are a few that can be used in defense and you will eventually learn them in this class. I would like to warn you now however, that if I find out that any of my students are using these spells to bully or harass another, that student will receive a warning as well as punishment, on top of whatever punishment you may have already received and if you receive 3 warnings, you will no longer be allowed in my classroom. Do I make myself clear?"
She received affirmatives from everyone in the class but Susan raised her hand and immediately turned bright red when all eyes turned to her.
"Yes Miss Bones?"
"What do we do if we are the ones being bullied?"
"I would ask you to defend yourself as best you can without engaging your opponent until help arrives but if you feel that you are in enough danger, then you may use minor jinxes and the like to attempt to subdue them without causing injury. As long as your actions can be properly justified you should not be held accountable."
"How can we defend ourselves if we don't know how to block spells?" Anthony asked.
"That is a very good question Mr. Hopkins. Does anybody know?" Perenelle asked the class.
Harry's hand was the only one that went up, having asked Perenelle a similar question not too long ago.
"Yes Mr. Potter?"
"The best way to defend oneself against spells is to dodge them."
"2 points to Hufflepuff. Mr. Potter is quite right. Dodging spells is a very big part of defense and is used regularly in dueling when a duelist does not know what spell is being fired at them, therefore not knowing which shield would be best to use, or when they simply do not feel the need to take the time and energy to erect a shield. Because shield charms can be difficult to cast you will not be attempting them until 3rd or 4th year so until then, we will be focusing on dodging spells and I will even be setting up bi-weekly exercises to hone this skill.
"Are there any other questions? No? All right, as was mentioned before, you will be learning how to not just defend yourself against spells and the like but also against various Dark creatures. We will be starting with easily subdued creatures and most often than not you will learn a handy defense spell that you can use in duels should you ever find yourself in one. Who can give me some examples of Dark creatures?"
The class went on like this for nearly the entire period and Harry decided not even half way through that this was most likely going to be his favorite subject. In the remaining 15 minutes of class, Perenelle taught them how to shoot different colored sparks from their wand and told them that the charms could be used in self-defense as well as dueling and that the red sparks were often used to alert someone nearby that the castor is in danger and where they were located. She let them go for the day with an assignment to choose 3 spells from their various 1st year texts and explain the different ways those spells could be used to defend oneself.
Once they were let out, Harry waved goodbye to Perenelle and then rushed to catch up with Daphne, Tracey, and Blaise before they got too far away. "Hey guys. What did you think of the class?"
"It was great!" Tracey said excitedly. "I am so glad we got Professor Flamel starting this year. According to the upper years, the DADA professors had steadily been getting worse every year before this."
"Yeah, Nick and Nell told me that there had been a jinx on the position for a long time and that no professor had lasted more than a year. They got rid of it though, so Nell won't have to worry about that." Harry said.
"That's good. I would hate to see such a good professor have to leave. Professor Flamel really knows her stuff and I like the way she engages the class the way she does." Daphne chipped in.
Harry nodded in agreement. "It's my favorite class so far, though Charms was pretty interesting too, but we still have the rest of the week to see how the others turn out." When it didn't seem like any of them had anything else to say, he changed topic. "So I was talking to Hermione and Neville earlier and we decided to start a study group. I was wondering if you guys would like to join and if so, would sometime over the weekend work for you?"
All three of them stopped in their tracks, causing Harry to pass them up before he realized they weren't walking with him anymore.
"You want us to study with you?" Blaise asked in bewilderment.
"Sure, you can invite other Slytherins too if you want. I would have done it myself but I figured it would make them more comfortable if it was coming from some of their own. We are going to reach out to the Ravenclaws too so if they agree, we will have a pretty diverse group." Harry replied amicably.
They were silent for a moment before Tracey burst out. "You are so strange!" Before continuing in a calmer voice. "But yeah, I'd like to join. Blaise, Daphne, and I were going to make our own little study group but joining a big one like yours would probably be better."
"Great. How about you guys?" He asked looking to Daphne and Blaise.
They all agreed in the end and told him that Saturday would work best for all three of them before they went their separate ways.
An hour or so later, Harry sat down at the Hufflepuff table for dinner and a menu immediately appeared on the empty plate in front of him. Scanning the various options, he finally decided on tomato soup to start, followed by roast chicken breast, broccoli, and mashed potatoes. He touched each option with his wand and when he set the menu down, it disappeared and his bowl of soup appeared shortly after.
Just as he was halfway through the delicious soup, Ernie sat down in the open seat across from him and began piling food onto his plate. "I spoke with Terry Boot in Ravenclaw and he agreed to join the study group with us and is going to spread the word to his other year mates. I'll let you know who is interested and what times they prefer."
"Thanks Ernie. It seems like we are most likely going to end up doing it on Saturday and shortly after lunch would probably be best."
Ernie nodded. "That would be a good time to do it. I'll tell them that's what we are aiming for and see what they say. You excited for Potions on Thursday?"
Harry pushed his empty bowl away and it vanished then quickly replaced with the rest of his dinner. "I can't wait. Nick is pretty fun so I'm curious to see how he is going to teach us. He let me watch him brew a couple of potions over the summer and would explain everything he was doing and why, as he was brewing. It seemed really interesting."
"Are you talking about Professor Flamel's upcoming Potions class?" Hannah asked as she and Susan sat down on Harry's left.
"Yeah." Ernie answered. "After the DADA class today, I'm curious to see how the Potions class will be."
"I'm just glad that Snape character isn't teaching it anymore. I heard some really nasty things about how he favored the Slytherins and would take points from other houses for just blinking and breathing. He looks right mean too." Susan spoke up and they all gazed at the High Table, but it was as if Snape could tell they had been talking about him because he immediately turned a glare straight onto them, forcing them to look hurriedly away.
"Definitely glad he's not teaching anymore." Ernie murmured and they all laughed softly.
Their first class of Healing and First Aid the next day was intriguing to Harry. They met Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing and she introduced the young man standing next to her, who wore the same type of light green robes that Harry remember Trainee Healer Price wearing at St. Mungo's. "Settle down now everyone, thank you. Just in case some of you don't know, I am Madam Pomfrey and I am the head matron here at Hogwarts. Here beside me is Trainee Healer Bradley Pickett, who will be assisting me with the day to day activities of the Hospital Wing now that I have accepted the offer to teach your Healing class."
"Hello everybody!" Trainee Healer Pickett said jovially and gave them a wave. "I'm not really a stickler for formalities so please feel free to just call me Trainee Healer Brad if you like."
Harry heard some of the girls standing behind him start whispering to each other and he just shook his head when her heard the words cute and handsome being spoken, followed by a round of giggles.
"Very good, thank you Trainee Healer Brad. Since I only have you once a week, we are going to go ahead and dive right into the diverse branch of Healing magic, which endeavors to improve the physical and mental condition of a person. Since you are only 1st years, you won't yet have the magical ability to perform many of the different spells a Healer has at their disposal." At seeing some of the crestfallen faces she tacked on. "But don't fret, there are a few that you will be learning this year along with the standard first aid I will be teaching you.
"Now, if you will notice the various dummies lying on the beds around the room, I have rented these from St. Mungo's for you to use and learn on during your classes. These dummies are used regularly by Trainee Healers to learn how to properly care for and wrap the myriad of wounds that people seem to encounter on a day to day basis. If you would each please choose a bed and stand on the right side of each, we can get started on our lesson."
Once everybody was situated Madam Pomfrey and Trainee Healer Brad split between the two sides as the lecture continued. "You might be wondering why I am teaching you how to properly wrap a wound if we have magic that can seal most wounds in a matter of minutes yes?" Many of the students nodded as she gazed around the room. "Well, the simple truth is that I am not training you to be Healers, not yet anyway. I am here to teach you the best practices to use in case you come across someone who is injured and there is no adult or older student nearby to help you.
"If you look at the table right next to you, you will find a small first aid kit that has the standard equipment you would need to dress minor wounds. You will notice that if opened one way, the kit is empty, while if you open it the other way, the kit is full of your basic first aid supplies. The empty side will be explained when you have your Potions class with Professor Flamel. Please keep these kits with you at all times and come to me to replenish your supplies if you ever need to." She gave them all a moment to stow their kits in their bags then, as Trainee Healer Brad started handing out trays of different kinds of bandages to everyone, she went over to another dummy lying on a large table in the middle of the Hospital Wing. She pulled her wand and drew a line on the upper left arm and there were gasps all around as a cut appeared on the same arm of all of the other dummies which began to 'bleed'.
The rest of the class was spent learning how to properly stop bleeding and wrap wounds on various parts of the body, though the lesson was interrupted a few times by people getting queasy at the sight of the fake blood. All in all, Harry thought it would be a useful class in the long run and would probably decide to continue it when it became an elective instead of mandatory his 3rd year, especially considering what his future held.
"That was great!" Hannah exclaimed as they were leaving, nearly bouncing up and down in her enthusiasm.
Susan, who still looked quite green from her recent bout of queasiness, groaned. "Easy for you to say. You've always been interested in stuff like this."
"Best get used to it Sue, you have 2 whole years left before you can opt out of the class." Hannah teased her friend. "I just wish we had the class more than once a week."
"If you're so interested in Healing Hannah, maybe you can ask Madam Pomfrey if you can shadow her and Trainee Healer Brad some nights or weekends. They may even let you help out around the Hospital Wing if it's nothing too difficult." Harry suggested to the eager girl.
Hannah's face lit up at the thought. "That's a brilliant idea Harry. I'm going to go ask her right now." She turned around and was gone before any of them could say another word.
"So Harry, I heard you were going to try out for the Quidditch team this year." Justin half asked, half commented as he stepped forward to take Hannah's vacant spot on his right.
Harry nodded. "I plan on talking to Madam Hooch about it this weekend so I can get her permission. I don't think I'll make it though."
"Oh come on now Harry, you haven't even tried yet. How can you think you won't make it if you haven't even given it a shot?" Susan asked.
"Well Cedric was the Hufflepuff Seeker last year and he said that he is going to try out again this year. I got to see him fly a bit over the summer and he is really good so I don't think I'd be able to do better than him. Maybe I'll be able to make it onto the reserve team though."
"Well, don't sell yourself short. Not many students have the skills to even try out their first year so you never know what might happen." She said, trying to boost his spirits.
"Thanks Susan, but I don't think I would mind too much if I lost out to someone like Cedric. Some of the moves he did were pretty brilliant."
Justin opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the reappearance of Hannah, who was slightly out of breath from running back and forth from the Hospital Wing.
"Guys! Madam Pomfrey said that she would think about an internship type position for a few select students who show promise in the class and that she will let us know by the end of the next class whether its something she is able to do." The blonde haired girl said excitedly.
"That's great Hannah." Susan said, very happy for her best friend despite her dislike of the subject. Ever since they were little, Hannah had always wanted to play Healer whenever it was her turn to choose a game and if either of them ever got hurt, she would watch either her mum or Susan's mum, depending on who's house they were at at the time of injury, perform whatever spells that were needed to patch them up. Learning Healing spells and how to bandage wounds would be infinitely better than Hannah attempting to poke her skinned knees or elbows with a stick and recite whatever incantation she heard their parent's say to no effect, other than to cause Susan more discomfort.
"Isn't it? Oh, I can't wait. Thanks again for the idea Harry."
"You're welcome Hannah." Harry said as he tapped the barrel barring the way to their common room and stepped in. Since they didn't have any more classes until Astronomy later that night, Harry and his housemates decided to relax a bit and work on the Latin homework they had been given on Monday.
Their first Potions class with Nicolas was everything Harry had hoped for, and more. Harry found it hilarious that Nicolas and Perenelle's bet that they had made about Dumbledore the weeks prior to school starting had resulted in Nicolas getting to be addressed by the students as Professor Nick and Perenelle as Professor Flamel, since calling them both by their last names would be very confusing. Apparently, they had been arguing about this since they had decided to take the positions and felt that a bet would be a good way to settle the decision.
Upon entering the Potions classroom, the first thing the students caught sight of were the numerous vine like plants that covered the walls and ceiling. According to Nicolas, they were a type of magical plant called Drearite Vine that absorbs fumes and vapors to sustain itself, so was perfect for the classroom since there were no windows for ventilation in the dungeons and it gave the otherwise dreary grey walls some much needed color.
The next thing they noticed was that each table was enchanted to show pictures detailing the differences between ground and powdered ingredients, sliced vs slivered, and examples of chopped, minced, and diced. The pictures cycled through each example and students could tap on the picture with their wand to freeze it in place then just tap it again to continue the cycle to another picture. These came in handy as Nicolas began explaining to them why it was important for them to prepare the ingredients the proper way and the majority of the class was spent practicing how to do each method using various non-magical ingredients.
Though the first class was interesting, the fun didn't really start until their double period the next day, which they shared with the Slytherins. After some instructions on stirring and the importance of keeping your work area clean and uncluttered while brewing, Nicolas started them on the very simple potion to cure boils and even stood in front of the class to brew his own to help them through the process and encouraged them to ask him any questions they thought of.
The class was well under way and Nicolas was looking down as he stirred in the porcupine quills he had just added when he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye and snapped his head up to catch a small bright red object bounce off one of the shields he had surreptitiously placed on all of the student's cauldrons.
Justin had seen what looked like a small flaming ball coming towards him from the Slytherin section but had been too slow to react, so he was very relieved to see it bounce off of what seemed to be thin air and fall to the ground. He wasn't sure what the flaming ball would have done to his potion but he had no doubt that it would have been bad.
Nicolas came forward and, using a small pair of tongs, picked up what he could now see was a fire seed before looking to the right side of the room. All students now had their eyes on him as he scrutinized the Slytherins. "I don't know who threw this but seeing as how it came from your direction I will give whoever it was 10 seconds to confess. Should I reach the count of 10 and nobody has come forward I will take 1 point off of Slytherin, at the 15 second count I will remove 2. I will continue to take an increasing amount of points for every 5 seconds that passes that the culprit remains silent after that."
The Slytherins looked at him in horror, but nobody moved to gaze at who they knew had done it… not yet anyway.
"Your 10 seconds starts now." Nicolas walked back to the front of the class, casually casting an area wide stasis charm on the cauldrons, and simply stood there, looking out at them all. Once the 10 seconds was up he said calmly. "1 point from Slytherin." Another 5 seconds. "2 points from Slytherin."
On it went and as Nicolas took another 6 points from Slytherin for a total of 21 points so far, some of the snakes began glaring at Malfoy, who was going slightly pink in anger and embarrassment.
Another 5 seconds and Blaise shoved Malfoy in the shoulder and whispered harshly. "Fess up Malfoy, we aren't going down for your stupidity."
Nicolas opened his mouth to take a further 8 points when Malfoy finally stepped forward. "I threw it Professor."
Nicolas looked at him and then down at the fire seed. "It is an interesting choice Mr. Malfoy and it shows that you are already quite gifted in the knowledge of potions and their reactions to certain ingredients at different stages. Fire seeds are not part of the ingredients for this potion, meaning you took it specifically from the ingredient cupboard, no doubt knowing that throwing it into Mr. Finch-Fletchley's potion right after he added the porcupine quills would cause the potion to heat instantly and explode, thus, ruining the potion entirely and harming at least one student and possibly others. Therefore, you will be receiving a zero for todays assignment for attempting to ruin a fellow students work and a further 10 points from Slytherin with a detention to go with it for endangering your classmates."
Malfoy's face was beet red by the time Nicolas had finished. Not only had he lost Slytherin a total of 38 points in one go but he had gotten a zero on what would have been a perfect potion and then a detention on top of everything else. "When my father hears about this…"
"Your father may of course come and speak with me about your behavior anytime he wishes Mr. Malfoy but it will not change the punishment that I handed out nor will it affect any punishment I see fit to administer in the future. I take the safety of my students very seriously and if it takes drastic measures for you and everyone else to realize that I will not tolerate such behavior in my classroom, then so be it." Nicolas replied, unfazed by the threat.
Malfoy glared at him but didn't say anything else.
"Now, since you will not be receiving credit for your assignment it is up to you whether you wish to finish it. If you choose not to then you may clean up your workstation and sit quietly reading your potions book until the end of class."
Malfoy stormed over to his workstation and continued with his potion while ignoring the dirty looks being throw his way from his fellow Slytherins. He didn't speak to anybody or look up for the rest of the class.
Nicolas got everyone's attention as he moved to secure the fire seed back in its original place in the ingredient cupboard and said. "As unfortunate as the attempted sabotage was, let this be a lesson to each of you on why it is important to follow the instructions for a potion as it is written and not attempt to experiment until you know enough about the ingredients you are using and their reactions. Even then, you are not to attempt such alterations without consulting me first. Should an accident occur because you felt like having a bit of fun with your potion, I will not be lenient with your punishment. Potions can be very dangerous if not handled appropriately and some injuries due to potion accidents cannot be undone, even with magic."
There were nods from all of the students, excluding Malfoy, and Nicolas waved his wand to cancel the stasis charm. "You may continue with your potions and please don't hesitate to ask if you have a question or need assistance."
There was a tense silence after this as various students thought over Nicolas' words and Malfoy's actions. It was clear to many that the blond Slytherin had known full well that sabotaging Justin's potion would have resulted in injuries. The fact that he cared more about the point deductions and detention than the fact that he could have hurt some of his fellow students did not sit well with many of the Hufflepuff's at all and they vowed to keep a closer eye on Malfoy in the future.
As time went by, the classroom was slowly but surely filling up with pink smoke rising from the various cauldrons as students completed their potions and Nicolas began to hand out two vials to each student that had finished, while inspecting Malfoy's potion carefully before giving him only one. "Please spoon some of your potion into one of these vials and bring it up to me." When a group of them attempted to step forward all at once, Nicolas chuckled. "Perhaps forming a line would be best. Mr. Malfoy you may spoon some of your potion into that vial and then clean up your station."
The next twenty or so minutes was spent with Nicolas inspecting each potion brought to him, labeling it, then telling some students to spoon another sample of their potion into the second bottle they had been given before cleaning up their workspace while a few other students were told to simply clean up.
When he had finished with the last student, Nicolas stood and summoned the empty vials of Crabbe, Goyle, Millicent, and Megan before heading to his cauldron to begin filling each with his own potion. "Since you all did so well on your potions today, I will allow you to keep the potions you brewed in case you or another student are ever in need of it, and do not worry, I have already received Madam Pomfrey's permission to let you do this so as not to bring about her ire." There was laughter all around at this and he continued once it got quiet again. "She actually provided you with a perfect carrying case for the potions I will be letting you keep in the future in the form of the first aid kit you received. So you can go ahead and store your bottled potion in the empty side of the kit."
As they proceeded to do just that, Nicolas spoke to the four students whose vials he was currently holding. "Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle, Miss Bulstrode, and Miss Jones, it seems as if you were a bit too energetic when you were stirring in your Shrake spines and as a result, your potion came out a bit weaker than I would have liked, which is why I will be providing you with my own. Please do not fret, it is a very easy mistake to make and your potions were still very well done for your first time but I imagine that if you took them then they would only partially work and we don't want that.
"I have already cast the necessary preservation and unbreakable charms on the vials so the potions should last you about 6 months before they begin to lose potency and once they turn grey I would very much recommend you dispose of them as drinking an expired Boil Cure potion can cause very bad stomachaches." He said as the 3 Slytherins and 1 Hufflepuff stepped forward to get their potion. "Now, next week we will be working on the Burn-healing paste so for your homework I would like you to write down the recipe and instructions on brewing it and then write examples of how the potion can go wrong if you do not follow the instructions correctly or miss an ingredient. You can use no less than 4 separate ingredients or steps but please do not use more than 6 if you choose to use more. I just gave you a great example of what I am looking for when I explained to you how stirring too vigorously right after adding the Shrake spines caused the potion to come out weaker so keep this in mind when you are doing the assignment. Are there any questions?"
He scanned the room but nobody raised their hand. "Very well, I will have the results of your potions by the beginning of your next class and if you think of any questions to ask me before then, feel free to stop by my office." He looked down at his watch. "You have about 4 minutes until the bell rings but since you are all ready, you can go ahead and leave early to lunch."
While everyone filed out of the classroom, babbling excitedly to each other, Harry held back until they were all gone and then went to speak with Nicolas.
"Hello Harry, how did you like the class?" Nicolas asked him as he began to clean up his workstation.
"It was brilliant! I had a lot of fun and you showing us how to brew the potion helped a lot I think." Harry replied happily.
Nicolas gave a chuckle and fond smile at Harry's enthusiasm. "Well I'm glad you liked it. You did very well on your potion and I can't wait to tell Nell. She told me all about how good you were in her DADA class the other night at dinner."
Harry stood a little straighter and blushed slightly. "She did?"
"Oh yes. We can't wait to see your first graded assignment so you better come and show us as soon as possible once you receive it, no matter what class its in ok?" Nicolas knew he was laying it on a bit thick but he and Perenelle never passed up the opportunity to give Harry praise, or any positive emotion for that matter, since he had grown up with hardly any.
"I will, I promise." Harry said.
"Good. Now I've got a few more things to do before I'm done here so why don't you head up to lunch. Oh, and try to drink more water than you normally would since you will be working out in the greenhouses for most of the afternoon and we don't want you getting dehydrated. You should probably let your friends know too."
Harry's head bobbed up and down as he nodded. "Ok." He said and turned to leave, giving Nicolas a wave.
As he made his way to the Great Hall for dinner later that evening, Harry thought about his first week of classes at Hogwarts. He had certainly had fun learning about all of the different aspects of magic but he did feel a bit overloaded with everything he had been forced to take in. He was immensely glad that Perenelle had given him two weeks to settle into his new schedule before they started on his private defense training on the weekends and one weekday as well as his new exercise regimen but couldn't wait to see what she would be teaching him in the future.