Disclaimer: It's all Rowling's.
Harry had leapt out of bed that morning, overly eager to start learning some proper, usable spells. His first day had been magical in itself: being herded through the magnificent ancient castle, watching the ghost swoop through the rafters and around the stone columns, being greeted by moving paintings, the sorting... when Harry had heard that delicious word, Gryffindor, he could've cheered with happiness. He was with Hermione and Neville and lived among the ghosts of his parents' mischief. Later, he would write to them. He'd tell them that he was in Gryffindor and they would be fiercely proud of him.
But just one hour into the second day, Harry was in a bad mood.
His first lesson had been charms class. He'd spent an hour trying to levitate a feather and failed. Even Hermione, who'd had no contact with magic before, was able to get her feather floating ten feet above them. And if that wasn't enough, Seamus Finnigan had made his feather explode, causing sparks to singe Harry's new school tie. His tie now looked like a sieve.
Defence Against the Dark Arts was something Harry had been looking forward to, having known that his mother had been a high achiever in this subject when she was at Hogwarts. However, Harry had learnt the perfectly simple spell, Wingardium Leviosa, an hour ago. He still hadn't made anything fly. Perhaps he was a squib after all.
"Don't be ridiculous Harry, of course you're not a squib," said Hermione when Harry voiced his concerns to her while they waited for their teacher to arrive. "Spells need practice. Magic has to be worn in. Lots of people didn't manage it!"
"How did you do it then?" he asked.
"I... well, I... just concentrated really hard, and-"
"But I concentrated! I did!"
"SILENCE," a deep, cold voice reverberated around the stone walls of the classroom. A lank, sallow-looking man came striding into the room. His billowing black robes were buttoned up to his throat. The wand in his hand was glossy and black.
"My name is Professor Snape, I will be your Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for the foreseeable future," he spun round and picked up a piece of chalk.
"This class," he began as he scribbled his name in jagged script on the board. "will teach you how to defend yourselves against the dark forces of this world..."
"No... really?" whispered Seamus Finnigan. Many students, including Harry, giggled.
"I SAID BE QUIET," boomed Snape, spinning round. His eyes fixed on Seamus, who was still red from fighting back laughter. Snape swooped down the aisle, ready to shout at him when the classroom door burst open.
"Sorry I'm late!" called a voice. In ran a panting boy with ginger hair and very worn clothes. Harry cringed into his seat at Snape turned to face him.
"What's your name, boy?"
"Ron Weasley, Sir. I'm really sorry I'm late, I got lost!"
"Sit down."
Ron looked round at the busy classroom, unsure of where to go or who it was safe to sit with. Harry scooted closer to Hermione, allowing a little space for the boy to sit down. Ron didn't see him.
"Sit down, boy, or you'll receive a month's detention for silly idleness,"
Harry coughed loudly and Ron whirled round, seeing the space on the bench and gratefully sliding into it.
"Thanks," he whispered.
"Quiet..!" warned Snape, walking back over to the blackboard.
The students continued listening to their teacher in solemn silence, not moving, not even breathing too loudly. The tense introduction of Ron to Snape was slowly dissolving from the forefront of everybody's minds and before long, Snape had them practicing the wand-lighting charm.
"Very good, Mr Malfoy," Harry heard Snape say. He, Ron and Hermione turned to see a blonde, slick-haired boy smugly holding his wand up. The tip was glowing with a blue-ish light. The three of them turned back round, staring glumly at their dull wooden sticks.
"Lumos!" said Hermione impatiently. Then, to their amazement, the tip of her wand illuminated the whole of their section of the classroom, shining much brighter than Malfoy's. Snape did not turn round. Hermione sunk in her seat. On Harry's other side, Ron cleared his throat.
"Lumos," he mumbled. Nothing happened.
"You have to speak clearly!" explained Hermione, swishing her bushy hair behind her shoulder. Ron rolled his eyes.
"Lumos!" he barked, flicking his wand. "ARGH!" everyone in the room was blinded by the dazzling light coming from the blackboard. Panic ensued.
"KNOX!" boomed a voice. Harry's vision was restored. Around the room, students were rubbing their eyes and blinking spastically. Standing near them was Snape. He'd grabbed Ron's wand and aimed it at the board which was no longer glowing. He turned and glared at Ron.
"I'm sorry, Sir! I didn't mean to-"
"You were pointing your wand in the direction of the board when I specifically told you to not focus on any other object other than your wand. Ten points from Gryffindor."
The other Gryffindors in the room groaned. Students from other houses sniggered. Harry stared at Snape, outraged.
"That's not fair!" he blurted, finding himself standing up. When Snape's eyes fell on him for the first time, Harry immediately wanted the ground to swallow him whole. It was as though Snape was trying to kill him with his impenetrable glower.
"Mr Potter..." he began, his voice low and gristly. He seemed to choke back a roar. "Sit back down and keep quiet or it'll be another ten points from Gryffindor."
"If it's so easy to lose points, it must be just as easy to earn points!" Harry crossed his arms. If he'd been consciously aware of what he was doing, he might've run from the room. "Hermione managed to light up this whole area! Surely that's worth ten points!"
"Sit. Down."
Hermione tugged at Harry's robes, coaxing him to sit down.
"I'll restore the house points to Gryffindor if all three of you can successfully produce a wand-lighting charm without blinding half the class."
Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other tentatively. Holding their wands in front of them, they prepared themselves for the onslaught of humiliation. Punishment, too, no doubt.
"Lumos!" they said together. Three wand tips glowed perfectly in the gothic darkness of the classroom, illuminating their delighted faces. Snape raised an eyebrow.
"Ten points to Gryffindor," he droned before walking away.
When the lesson was over, the trio marched out into the hallway victoriously, waving goodbye to their grateful classmates as they departed to their next lesson.
"That was brilliant, you lot!"called Neville, plodding up behind them. "Really brilliant! Snape looked fit to explode!"
"Did you see my charm?" asked Hermione eagerly. "I'd never done that before!"
Beside her, Ron scoffed. "We all lit our wands, Hermione. But you made me say it too loud and now Snape hates all three of us!"
"Hang on a minute," said Hermione, stopping in the middle of the corridor. "You were late! It's not my fault that he hates us!"
"You made me light the board up!"
"You practically screamed at it!"
"Not true!"
Neville shifted his weight uncomfortably. Harry chuckled. "See you later, Neville," he grinned. Neville gave him a quick wave before sprinting down the corridor, away from the bickering which kept going through the entire walk to their first flying lesson.
What do we think? Who do you want to see more of? It may start to get a bit Harry-heavy at some bits, but there are some golden Lily head-canons coming up, some teenage wizard angst and a new threat to the wizarding world.
Please review! PLEASE!