Monday 9 September, 1991 Transfiguration classroom 4B
Harry was waiting outside the Transfiguration classroom waiting to be let in to take his test. He had studied really hard and hoped to do well. This would be his first major test in the subject. Hermione came bouncing up to him with a bright smile on her face.
"What's gotten you all riled up, Hermione?" he drawled.
"We have a test today in my favorite subject!" she gushed, "You ready to be pounded down into submission?"
"You wish, Granger," He snarked playfully back, "I'll tell you what. Let's make a bet, the one who gets a lower grade has to proclaim to the entire school at dinner just who is the King, or Queen, of the Universe is."
"And if it's a tie?"
"Then it rolls over to the next test. But it can only be for Transfiguration. Agreed?" He held his hand out.
Hermione shook his hand and agreed, "I look forward to you standing up at the teacher's table proclaiming to the entire school that I am the Queen of the Universe." Harry just gave her a toothy grin in response.
After they were let in and sat down, McGonagall handed out the test papers and informed them to begin. Nearly an hour later, all test papers were collected and the students were told that they'd receive their grades on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, both kids raced to the Transfiguration classroom to see their grades that had been posted on a bulletin board just outside the door. Harry reached the board first and ran his finger down the line to find his grade. He reached his name and gave a whoop of excitement, right there in bold was a nicely shaped 'O.' Hermione came running up a moment later and searched for her name. Next to hers was the same grade. She gave Harry a bit of a pout but relented and grinned at him.
"That was a challenge, it's a shame that I didn't win but I'll get you next time."
Harry nodded in agreement, "It was a good challenge. Until next time, I guess."
The next potion's class, they turned in their documentation for the Veritiserum variation. Severus' eyebrow rose in curiosity and glanced through what he had been given. A sly grin appeared on his face as he turned to the burgeoning Potion's Duo.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger?" he began, "I hope you have a sample and if you'd walk me through what you did?"
Hermione handed Snape a vial of the serum, "Would you like us to walk you through it now or wait until after class?"
"I think now would be good enough," he said.
So Harry and Hermione rose from their chairs and moved to the professor's table. Harry got the Teacher's Assistant set up and the two of them walked Severus and the class through the development of the serum variation. Harry described how it was Hermione's question that sparked the idea to create it even though he had been noodling with a similar idea previously. They both took turns describing the preparation and brewing of the recipe as well as the insights that were developed during the process. At the end of the speech, Hermione asked if they could have a volunteer to come forward and try out the serum. She warned that the effects would last for an hour but would fade when the accused finally told the truth about the lie. The dose would eventually metabolize out of their system within a day if the accused refrained from lying anymore.
"I'll volunteer," said one of the female Ravenclaws.
The Ravenclaw came to the front and Hermione administered three drops on the girl's tongue. They waited for a moment before Harry gestured to Professor Snape to ask away. Severus asked a few questions on both sides requiring a truthful and untruthful answer. Every time the student told a lie, her hair would turn a blinding shade of pink.
The class applauded the efforts of Harry and Hermione along with the volunteering of the Ravenclaw student. Snape awarded all three of them ten points each for their efforts and recommended that Harry and Hermione write up an article for the next issue of Potioneer's Monthly. Hermione looked like she was about ready to hyperventilate at the thought of co-publishing her first article. Before dinner, the two of them finished writing up the article and sent it off with Hedwig.
At dinner, Severus had one of the castle elves slip the modified Veritiserum into the drinks of the Weasley Twins. He casually mentioned to Minerva that Harry and Hermione had created a variation of the truth serum and that if the person was lying, their hair would turn a blinding pink and wouldn't revert back to normal until the person told the truth. Minerva was intrigued and a slightly evil smirk grew on her face as she turned to face back to the assembled students.
"Weasley Twins!" she barked, "Care to explain why you pranked Marcus Flint and gave him warts?"
The Weasley Twins' head snapped up at the sound of their names and began to vehemently deny their involvement from her accusation. Their hair immediately went blinding pink. Severus gave a quiet snort of vindication and amusement. The rest of the Hall erupted into laughter when the Twins' hair changed. The accused Twins' looked on in horror at the change in color.
"I've told you both before that we professors have ways of knowing who is lying and who is not. Until you confess and tell me the truth, your hair will remain this color. Care to reconsider your answers?" Minerva said glaringly.
The Red-Headed Menaces bowed their heads in shame and admitted that they pranked Flint because of his insults about their family. As they confessed to the truth, their hair faded back to their usual fire red. Minerva glanced over at Severus and gave him a small nod in appreciation.
After dinner and back in the Hufflepuff Common Room, Harry spent his free time reading ahead for next week's classes and taking notes. His homework had already been finished and he was looking forward to actually getting to use wanded magic. One of the prefects made an appearance and told him that his presence was requested in Professor Sprout's office. Upon arrival, he spotted Professors McGonagall and Snape and Hermione Granger waiting for him.
"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger; first of all I wanted to inform you that you are not in trouble," began Minerva, "I wanted to share my appreciation and gratitude towards you and Miss Granger for the fine work you did in the creation of the variation of the truth serum. It worked beautifully as you saw at dinner. I also was wondering if you'd be willing to create a larger batch of it?"
Both Harry and Hermione nodded their agreement.
"How much did the ingredients cost you, Mr. Potter?" asked Severus.
"Well, about twenty-seven Sickles all told… though most of the ingredients I already had, harvested from the Greenhouses or from the perimeter of the Forbidden Forest. The expensive parts I bought when I was in Diagon Alley before the start of term."
"Why did you feel the need to have those specific ingredients, Mr. Potter?" asked Professor Sprout.
"I wanted a well-stocked personal potion's laboratory. As is the case, you can never be sure as to when you might need something." Harry replied to which Snape agreed.
"I also wanted to ask you how you managed to brew this variation so quickly. What was it, about two weeks from start to finish?" Snape inquired.
Hermione shrugged, "We used the Potioneer's Assistant and discovered some alternative ingredients that didn't have the same…requirements as the normal ingredients. Also, since we were only using the original formula as a reference, things progressed faster than normal." Severus nodded thoughtfully.
Harry and Hermione were dismissed with the three professors thanks. Harry gave Hermione a goodnight hug and thanked her again for the help and the idea. Then he went back to his reading before heading off to bed.
Thursday 19 September, 1991 Dinnertime, Great Hall
Hermione sighed internally as she descended the Grand Staircase; she missed celebrating her birthday with her family. Harry had mentioned something about it at the start of the school year but made no further comment. As she entered the Great Hall to have dinner, she spotted a new table and gilded chair up near the Head Table. Suddenly, a loud voice that sounded like Harry rang out across the room.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls! May I have your attention please! Tonight, we are here to celebrate the birthday of someone very close to me. Tonight, Miss Hermione Granger of Ravenclaw celebrates the twelfth year of life here in the castle!" Thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the students and staff.
"Now, I would be amiss to say that I'm sure that Hermione would rather be spending that celebration with her family but I think we'll just have to do." Chuckles and light jeering at Harry's cheekiness spread out amongst the crowd.
Harry moved down next to the new chair and table and motioned to Hermione to join him, "Hermione, would you please take your seat here at the Birthday Throne?"
Blushing madly, Hermione approached the throne and Harry amidst applause and light cheering. Once she sat down, a delicate filigree crown appeared on her head with the words, 'Birthday Girl' written in gold wires. A huge birthday cake in the shape of a stack of books and Hogwarts castle with the Ravenclaw emblem appeared on the table. Twelve candles were dancing around the top of the cake.
"Make a wish, Hermione and blow out the candles." She thought for a moment and blew as hard as she could and extinguished every candle.
"If everyone would join in with me to sing the birthday song…one, two, three!"
Everyone from the Headmaster down to the First Years began to sing 'Happy Birthday, Hermione.' When they finished, the cake disappeared and a slice of it re-appeared in front of everyone. Harry gave her a hug and a gift; when she opened it she squealed in delight as she received her very own brand-new copy of the Potioneer's Assistant. She then received a gift from Neville. It was a book on Wizarding Culture and Etiquette. She squealed again and gave him a hard hug and a profuse thank you as she had been asking him a load of questions about that very topic.
Friday 20 September, 1991 Breakfast time, Great Hall
Hedwig arrived with the other morning post owls and delivered the responses from the Diagon Alley bookstore and Miss Honeybloom. The bookstore said it had the books inquired upon in stock and gave the prices for each. Miss Honeybloom said that she'd be sending the books via another owl, as there would be too many of them for just Hedwig to carry. She also said that Uncle Vernon had contacted her and asked if she would be kind enough to send the exhibitor's display of drills and bits along with her shipment, which she said she would.
A couple of moments later, two large owls dropped down on the table with shrunken boxes attached to their legs. Harry gave all three owls bacon and water and thanked them for their services. He unshrunk the package from Miss Honeybloom first and rifled through the books and magazines inside. Included with the textbooks were some magazines on topics of how things worked or were made, trade magazines and the like.
Hermione and a couple of other muggleborn and raised came over at that moment and exclaimed in joy and wonderment about the bounty of written treasure that lay within the box.
"Wow, Harry! This is very exciting stuff," Justin commented.
"I know. I'm thinking that maybe we ought to hold a student-teacher conference to properly showcase what we have here. Did you any of you get responses to your letters?"
"I did," said Dean, "My mum will be shipping out my telescope as soon as she gets a day off."
"I got a couple of science and astronomy books from my parents," said Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw first year student.
"What's in that other box, Harry?" asked Dean.
"A selection of drills and bits from my uncle whose company makes them," Harry replied, "along with some documentation and brochures. Ah hell, I just realized something though, we're going to need a way to power these up…damn."
The others looked pensive for a moment before collectively discussing the problem. In the end, they decided to write to Harry's Primary Five teacher and see what sort of solution he could come up with. So Harry pulled out a piece of parchment and began writing.
In front of the door to the Potions classroom, Dungeon A15…
Hermione spent all of her free time since her birthday perusing through her new Assistant. She discovered that Harry had loaded all of the notes and recipes that they had developed together in the prior potions classes. She thoroughly loved her gift; it was the perfect thing for a lover of books and learning like her.
When Harry arrived for lessons, he grinned as he saw Hermione's nose buried in her Assistant's Owner's Manual, clearly reading about all the different features.
"Interesting read, Hermione?" he drawled.
Hermione's head snapped up and she blinked owlishly before realizing that Harry was standing in front of her with a knowing grin on his face. She lightly blushed and gave a small grin in response.
"I'm still amazed by all that's possible with this book. The features are simply astounding, I'd doubt that there would be anything similar in the muggle world or if there is, it's in its infancy."
Harry nodded knowingly, "Just to let you know before you actually start using the Assistant, I locked down some of the more advanced options; like the one that would allow you to delete everything in memory, for example. Once you get comfortable using the regular features, I'll test you and then we'll see if you can handle the advanced stuff." Hermione agreed to this.
Professor Snape opened the door and ushered everyone in. He spotted Hermione's copy and turned to Harry.
"Any news on getting those manufactured in mass quantities?"
Harry nodded, "I've got a few inquiries to some manufacturing companies. Their owners are either Squibs or Muggleborns, which allows me to get around the Statute of Secrecy laws. I'm hoping to get the final bids by the middle of October." Severus gave a nod in acknowledgement.
Later that evening…
Albus sat in his favorite chair in his office going through past issues of Potioneer's Monthly trying to find the contributions that Harry Potter had given towards the creation of the Potioneer's Assistant. He kept drawing a blank, Harry's name just never appeared even going back to issues when the boy was seven years old. All the articles were indeed interesting though some of the non-magical topics were clearly over his head. On top of that, the author was someone called Harold Talbot. 'Could it be that this Harold Talbot is truly Harry Potter?' he wondered. It didn't seem possible for the boy to have come up with something like this on his own. Even taking into account the help he might have received from his schoolteachers, it seemed unlikely. Perhaps this was the break he was looking for? He now had a letter to write…
Monday 23 September, 1991 Great Hall
Harry dragged himself to the table to have breakfast. At the very least, he needed a very large mug of coffee, pulling a late night study session with Hermione was very draining. The girl's propensity to go overboard when it came to learning and studying knew no bounds! He loved to learn, but there should be time limits before the feeling like your head would explode got to be too great.
He looked up as he heard the post owls make their entrance and spotted Hedwig amongst the incoming flight. He realized that he really hadn't paid too much attention to her and made a mental note to set aside some time for her. Hedwig landed in front of him and he untied the newspaper from her leg.
"Hedwig, don't go back to the Owlery. I think we should spend some cuddling time together." The look of surprise was evident on the young owl's face and she gave a little squeak and a short dance of happiness, "Have some juice and bacon if you will."
He received a letter from Mr. Cody and smiled at the news that his former teacher would try to obtain a small gas generator, protected with shielding runes and shipped out to him as soon as possible. Mr. Cody had laughed when Harry had explained the issue and was proud of him for coordinating with other muggleborn and raised students to solve the problem.
As soon as he finished reading the letter, he looked up and noticed everyone was glancing over at him, which got him curious as to what happened. Harry gasped when he opened the newspaper. There in big bold words was his name.
Harry Potter, The Boy-Who-Lied?
By Rita Skeeter
Magical inventions happen all the time around us; the credit going to the authors and creators of said inventions. So why is it that the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter (11), be stealing the admirations and acclaims awarded to someone else? The latest development in the Potioneering field is a new interactive journal called the Potioneer's Assistant, created by a gentle-wizard named Harold Talbot, yet young Mr. Potter seems determined to have the magical public believe that it was he who created this wondrous item. The Potioneer's Assistant is an interactive journal that allows the user to create and modify potions before even needing to touch the ingredients or adjust a flame. From the research that this reporter has done, such a journal could potentially revolutionize the Potion's field in unimaginable ways and yet a mere eleven-year-old boy wants us to believe that it was he who created it?
The article continued a bit more, asking questions about the validity of Harry's claim and a request from the reporter to the publishers of Potioneer's Monthly to confirm or deny the accusations made. Harry was shocked and hurt that someone could be so callous as to even suggest something like this. True, he had to use a pseudonym but if he didn't, no one would've taken the work seriously. A shadow appeared over his shoulder and he heard Professor Snape speak.
"Mr. Potter? I see that you've read that disgusting article. Try not to take what Miss Skeeter writes seriously, she's a notorious gossip muck writer who's more interested in garnering attention rather than factual articles."
Harry looked up at him with tears in his eyes. He wiped at them with a napkin and nodded in understanding at Severus' advice.
"Thank you, sir…. I need to ask you something though. If you had known that I, as myself, had written all those articles about the journal would you have given it the same consideration that you gave when you first read it?" Harry asked. Then when Snape admitted he would not have, Harry asked, "In your opinion, would it be beneficial to write to the publishers of Potioneer's Monthly with the evidence that I did create it along with the documentation of who else helped me? Should I write a rebuttal to this dreck in the Daily Prophet or just ignore it?"
"Don't ignore it. I think it would be beneficial on both counts, Mr. Potter. Get ahead of the potential backlash so it doesn't seem like you're a whiny, attention-seeking child. I've seen your work in my class as well as read the articles you wrote about the Assistant. Aside from obvious adult help in phrasing and editing, it's clear to anyone with half a brain in their head that you are the creator. I would be proud to write a letter of recommendation to you stating this fact and a condemnation to the Prophet against Skeeter."
Harry gave Professor Snape a watery smile and thanks. After Severus left, he turned back to Hedwig who by now had cleared his plate of bacon and was sitting listlessly on the table, "Silly bird. I did say you could have some bacon but I never thought you'd make a pig of yourself," he snorted then put up a mock sigh of consternation, "Well, it looks like I'll have to create a carrying sling to put you in. You're in no condition to fly and it will easier for us to snuggle." Hedwig gave an overstuffed, feeble hoot of thanks.
Hermione came up to him just outside the Great Hall and gave him a big hug. She looked into his eyes and declared that anyone who could doubt that he had created something like this had their head stuck in a hole. Harry hugged her back and buried his face into her shoulder and just held her, breathing in her scent to calm his nerves. Hermione gave a small grin of her own and was feeling rather proud of herself. She enjoyed this despite the circumstances; a boy was hugging her and drawing comfort as well. It didn't hurt that whenever Harry looked at her with his gorgeous green eyes that her insides turned to mush…
After classes had finished for the day, Harry got settled in a comfortable chair and began to write his letters to the publishers of both the Daily Prophet and Potioneer's Monthly. To the Prophet, he outlined the theory and history of development that he had gone through to create the journal as well as any non-proprietary information on its physical creation. He explained the reasoning behind using a pseudonym, in which he rightfully believed that any article written with the name Harry Potter would not have been given the proper attention that would've been required for something of this caliber.
To the editors of Potioneer's Monthly, he explained pretty much the same thing except for the parts outlining the background information of the Assistant, as they already knew about that. He apologized to them for misleading them about the pseudonym but asked them to understand why he did so.
He then looked at the clock and saw that he had enough time to get to Professor Snape's office. He trooped down and asked the professor if he'd look over his letters to make sure that everything was worded properly and edited carefully. Snape agreed and promised Harry that he'd have it done by breakfast time. Harry thanked him and made his way back to the Hufflepuff dorms. The next morning, Severus handed him the edited parchments. Harry rushed up to the Owlery and sent off the bundle with Hedwig.
A couple of days later, the morning edition of the Daily Prophet had a new article. It was Harry's rebuttal of Skeeter's accusations along with a published letter of recommendation from Severus Snape. The article was well written and asked the readers how they would've reacted if they saw an article written about the Assistant by Harry Potter. He stated categorically that the articles would've never been taken as seriously unless he used a pseudonym. The rebuttal also included a statement from Potioneer's Monthly saying that the handwriting from the submitted letters matches that of Harry's and that they confirmed the history of development.
The other students were quietly discussing this latest development. Some of the Slytherin students kept glaring at him though Harry couldn't figure out why. One of the Slytherin First years, Draco Malfoy, openly mocked Harry. He stated that he believed that this whole thing was just a set-up by the 'famous' boy-who-lived. Harry just shook his head in exasperation and ignored the blonde-haired idiot. Hermione congratulated him on clearing things up in a mature manner and that she had his back if needed. He smiled shyly and quietly thanked her.
In addition to the morning mail, was a package that had to be delivered by house-elf. In the package was the requested gas generator from Mr. Cody. It included a ten-gallon drum of gasoline and an instruction booklet. He thanked the elf and got in contact with the other muggleborn and raised. Together, they contacted all the necessary professors to demonstrate their goodies.
Saturday 28 September, 1991 Evening on the Hogwarts Courtyard
Harry and his friends had everything set up. The generator was gassed up and ready to be started, the lights that Hermione had requested from her parents were properly installed and focused. The high-powered binocular telescope from Dean was pointed in the general direction of Saturn. The telescope had a shield to protect the viewer's eyes from the lights set up in the rest of the display. Harry had the drills set up and the bits loaded along with different samples of materials from a block of wood to a piece of sheet steel.
The professors and interested students gathered around and waited for the presentation to begin. Harry stepped forward and began his opening speech.
"Thank you everyone who decided to attend. I and the other muggleborn and raised decided to put together this demonstration because we noticed that the magical world seems to be very behind in terms of technology, the sciences, culture and other things that we were raised in. This demonstration is in no means inclusive of everything available in the non-magical world but should at least give you a hint of what's out there."
Hermione stepped up and said; "The non-magical world has the ability of providing power to just about anything that requires a form of power called 'electricity.'" She motioned to the boxy-looking thing at her side, "This unit is called a gasoline-powered electrical generator. It operates on the principle of burning a liquid fuel to drive a set of pistons that turns a crankshaft, which finally operates a spinning generator. Be warned, it gets a bit noisy." She started up the generator, which roared to life then settled down to a loud growl.
Justin then stepped forward and said with a raised voice to counter the generator, "You will all notice that the lighting out here seems rather dim, or at least what's normal for out here. What if I were to tell you that the muggles have a method of turning night into day?" There was some scattered mutterings of 'impossible!' from the crowd. Without further ado, Justin flipped a switch and the courtyard was flooded with bright light.
The assembled crowd squealed a bit and covered their eyes from the sudden illumination before blinking the spots out. In addition to the floodlights, there were garlands of twinkling multi-colored lights, a rotating disco ball with strobe and a couple of desk lamps. Terry began handing out a set of brochures and booklets of some of the items displayed on the tables. The professors and students were amazed that they were able to read the words quite clearly. All of the books, magazines and such were passed around.
"Now, imagine how much easier it would be in the library or any of the classrooms when we need to read or study?" Justin continued.
The next major attraction was the television that Terry had brought in. It was tuned to the evening news channel in Edinburgh and all the magicals were transfixed on the images and sound quality.
"With this television, I can get quality pictures and sound for broadcasts such as news, sports, entertainment and educational programs. The range of the reception is determined by the size of the antenna. At this point in time, Edinburgh is the limit of reception. In addition, there is a device that allows for the recording of said shows and permits playback at a later date and for however many times you wish to view it." He pointed to and demonstrated the videocassette recorder and played a tape of an educational program that had been broadcast nearly a month ago. "Finally, I'd like to point out that normally, any muggle electronics would not work here in Hogwarts because of the ambient magic. With the help of Mr. Harry Potter and by copying the runic array segment of his Potioneer's Assistant, we were able to shield everything you see here."
Dean then handled his portion of the demonstration and showed off his telescope. One by one, the assembled guests marveled at the clarity and focus of the telescope. Professor Sinistra was practically drooling at the thought of having one of these for future classes.
Finally, Harry demonstrated the manufacturing side of the display. He described each item and showed how the drills worked. He handed one drill off to Albus and Minerva and demonstrated proper safety and handling along with the operation of the drills.
The demonstration lasted for several hours and by the time that they were done, Harry and his friends were truly tired and sore from talking so much. Despite all that, they were proud of what they accomplished. It might not have any immediate results but they did get the seed of future possibilities planted.
Sunday 29 September, 1991 Teacher's Staffroom
The teachers had decided to hold an impromptu meeting the next day to discuss the results and discoveries made from the demonstration last night. Excitement was running rampant throughout all assembled. The Muggle Studies professor, Charity Burbage, was besieged with requests to hold these events more often and also questions as to why these demonstrations and the information were never discussed before. She repeatedly said that she didn't even know that these things were available or possible. She admitted that she'd never stepped one foot into the non-magical world and was just basing her class off the available textbooks.
Minerva spoke up, "Well, I think that this demonstrates the real need to fund a research trip for Charity to go out into the muggle world and investigate in greater depth. I will contact the Board of Governors and see about getting a grant."
"Now, Minerva," Albus began with a mildly condescending air, "I don't think that the governors will want to be bothered by this sort of thing. I hardly think it's necessary at any rate. The class is doing just fine by using the available textbooks."
"Are you off your rocker, Albus?" she exclaimed, "Were you not there with me and the others using a drill and looking through that telescope? Did you not witness that television and its possibilities? It's patently clear to me that this school needs to update its ways in so many areas. I, for one, cannot wait to examine in greater detail the subject of engineering."
The other professors gave their support for expanding and updating the Muggle Studies class. Albus had no choice than to acquiesce to their demands and promise to send along their decisions to the Board. Privately though, he would "accidentally" lose the inquiry at the first chance he got. This sort of thinking and progress was not conducive to his vision of the Greater Good.