Chapter 7: Day By Day
Harry woke up early the next morning. A little bit too early. After tossing and turning several times in his bed, Harry got up and stretched before venturing down into the common room. He felt the effects of the eating competition last night. He briefly wondered what compelled him to do such a thing...
It was still dark, so the only light in the room came from the small fire. Harry walked over to the window and sat there, staring out into the night sky. The stars were always so aloof. They reminded him of flying. Actually, it had been a while since he had gone flying. Struck by sudden inspiration, Harry dashed up to grab his invisibility cloak, before venturing out of the common room.
Harry warily walked through the halls of Hogwarts, and up the Astronomy Tower. Once he got there, he pulled off his cloak and let the crisp cool air touch his skin. Harry laid his cloak on the floor, before staring out to the skies again. He closed his eyes and imagined himself in his animagus form, and seconds later, a black feathered owl perched in his place. He leaped off the top of the tower and soared down into a steep dive.
Harry had trained long and hard to become an animagus. It had taken him two years, between work and his life to get the trick down, but it really was worth it. It was worth every second of the time he spent not being Harry Potter, but rather he looked like an average mail owl. Harry had found out rather strangely that Hedwig, like all other mail owls, had a rather unique gift. He could sense people, and better yet, where they were. It was like having a built in Marauders Map to a certain extent.
After a couple hours of flight, Harry decided it was time. The sun was just beginning to rise as Harry landed and changed back into a human. He quickly slipped under his cloak again and scurried back to the common room, where he sat down to wait out the last hour before people would begin to wake up. Then he would finally know what would become of Sirius. Waiting... waiting... waiting... Bored!
Harry thought for a minute before retrieving his Arithmacy text book and cracking it open. He stared at the text filled page for a brief minute before delving into the foreign matter.
Arithmacy is the study of the magical properties numbers hold. While muggles may call this a sort of science, it has been proved that, throughout the ages, equations and mathmatics have played a heavy roll in the creation of advanced wards and spells, in addition to magical architecture. A basic understanding number operations is assumed in this book, as it will begin with simple variable expressions. The first year course will mostly focus on developing these fundamental skills which will later play a part in the operations involving complex equations of differing degrees. To begin this book, we will examine the underlying history of some common numbers that have been considered so even in the muggle world. It dates back to...
Harry found his eyes grow weary as the passage progressed. Within the minutes, he soon succumbed to blissful sleep once more.
"-rry.. hey Harry, get up!"
Harry groaned as he opened his eyes to find Hermione staring at him. She looked briefly concerned for him. A smile graced Harry's face as he remembered the good old days.. darned time paradox!
"Are you alright? You fell asleep in the common room?"
"Yeah... I got up about an hour ago, so I decided to do some 'light reading'," said Harry as he held up the rather large Arithmacy book. Hermione smirked as he continued on, "But this book... this book was not meant for any sane person's pleasure, rather it was meant for the classroom and the classroom only" said Harry as he snapped the book shut, "that, or for getting yourself to bed at night when you can't sleep"
"Here Here!" came a cheer from across the room. It was Ron.
"Well, you seem rather chipper this morning" said Hermione.
"It is breakfast now, right?" he replied with a shrug. Hermione shook her head as she mumbled something about men and their mind on food all the time. Harry chuckled as the two got into yet another argument on their way down to the hall. Yep, just like the good old days... Harry slapped himself, earning a strange look from Hermione.
I'm only twenty five, dang it. Don't think like an old man! Well actually... I'm only like 13 right now... That makes it even worse...
Harry snapped himself back to reality to find Ron giving him a strange look and Hermione looking concerned once again. Harry sighed.
"Sorry zoned out there for a second. I was just... imagining what precarious evenet was going to happen this year" he ended with a chuckle. Of course, he was just scolded by Hermione.
"Harry, you have to maintain a positive outlook, you can't just assume this year is going to be a complete chase over your life again. I mean honestly..." and thus she continued on. Harry soon tuned her out. Hermione was a great friend, sometimes a little over bearing though...
Harry put on an uncharacteristic smirk once more. "Oh, I wasn't referring to any Dark Lord coming after my life this year... Nope, I was just wondering if Fred and Gorge might have some competition this year. Yes, that would make the year quite eventful"
Hermione was now looking at him as if he had become the top delinquent in the school. Ron's face, however, lit up in glee. He punched Harry in the shoulder and whispered, "I knew I had it in you!" while Hermione proceeded with another lecture. Harry however stopped her prematurely.
"Hermione, I was just joking, really!" and Hermione quieted down while Ron looked annoyed that Harry's taunt wasn't real. Or was it...
And so the trio entered the hall, which was alive with chatter over breakfast. Harry found Neville and sat down with him, and Ron and Hermione followed suit. Soon enough, Ginny joined them, having nowhere else to sit. Ron almost tried to shoo her away, but Hermione beat the argument down. Some other Gryffindors also gathered around. And soon enough, Harry could barely hear himself think.
Then something important crossed his mind. He searched around for a newspaper, but didn't see one in sight. Then Hermione nudged him, and pointed to an article on the one she was reading. The headline read:
Peter Pettigrew Found Alive?
In a sudden change of events, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore brought a said to be deceased hero. But is he really a hero. Certain testimonies claim a completely different side of the story, some even radical enough to claim that Pettigrew was the perpetraitor for the crime that recently escaped convict, Sirius Black was put into Azkaban for. The ministry is currently researching the issue, though it must be noted that Black was put into Azkaban without a trial. The ministry is currently denying the theories, claiming that Black is a criminal and must be treated as such. Future news reports will track the development of the issue.
Harry sort of felt a little down. Although he knew that Pettigrew's appearance would not suddenly make Sirius free, he had surely hoped for it. Hermione, however, seemed to be uneasy.
"Do you think he really did it? Some are saying that he didn't..."
"I don't know, I'll have to wait to learn more" replied Harry forcefully with a smooth lie. It killed him, but he had to maintain somewhat of a facade if he didn't want his secret discovered.
Soon enough, it was time for class, and Harry found himself going through all the boring classes of the day, pretending to try very hard to master the spells he had down cold. He paced himself with Ron, repeating some of the errors he did, before eventually 'realizing' their faults and helping Ron improve. They weren't the first in the class, of course that belonged to Hermione, but they were no longer lagging behind.
His Arithmacy class was boring, though in whole different way. The material was intresting... but the Professor taught it like cold hard farts. Ancient Runes, however, was much more interesting, as it felt as if he was trying to learn a brand new language that had magical powers. Though he did get a jolt when he turned to find Hermione pop out of thin air. Guess she still had her time-turner.
And the rest of the day was rather mundane, except an interesting moment during his free period.
Harry was strolling through the halls, absorbing the awesomeness of Hogwarts all over again, when was granted with a strange sight.
There was a younger Ravenclaw girl, and she was being bullied by a couple of sixth years. Upon closer inspection, Harry found that it was Luna. She had mentioned that she never seemed to fit in with the rest of the Ravenclaws.
Harry found himself automatically approaching them, it was his CHD kicking in (Compulsive Hero Disorder). Meh what the heck.
"Hey Loony, did you find those pesky Narbulls yet? I wonder where they hid your stuff?" said the sixth year girl.
"I already found my stuff, though I would appreciate it if you could introduce me to a Narbull. I've never heard of them myself" Luna replied in her usual airy voice.
"Oh yeah, they can get pretty nasty sometimes" said the sixth year male. He began to reach for his wand, so Harry decided to take action. He quietly placed himself in the shadows nearby and whispered a silent spell.
The boys trousers then dropped off. Embarrassed, he quickly tired to pull them up, but when he grabbed them, they ripped apart.
"What are yo-" started the girl, before she tripped and fell face first into the ground. She quickly got back up, before promptly landing on her back. "Wha- What did you do t-" the girl started, but she hit the ground again.
"We'll remember this!" cried out the boy, as he dashed away, supporting his friend so she wouldn't fall. Luna of course only started laughing when they were completely out of sight.
"Hahmph- Narbulls... what a silly name"
Harry face-palmed. He would never get used to that. Anyways, he stepped out of the shadows and headed over to Luna.
"Are you alright?"
"Oh, hi! I'm Luna Lovegood."
"Erm, hey. I'm Ha-"
"I know, you're Harry Potter. Thanks for the help there."
"Don't mention i-" began Harry, but Luna was already halfway down the hall. "See you around!" Harry called out at her receding figure. Harry scratched his head and began to wonder about the positives of carrying an aura that made people face-palm at the first word that came out of your mouth.
Snape was as always, only Harry didn't let it get to him. He had a new found respect for the man, though he hoped he could develop the relationship between them a little. Maybe just so they wouldn't be staring each other down each time they met. Of course his attitude could use a little work.
As the day dwindled down, Harry finished up his classes, ate dinner, then spent some time in the common room doing a portion of his homework that was due the day after next. Hermione was proud, while Ron was annoyed, because it meant he had little to do except follow Harry's example. Harry smirked to himself, he was now The-Boy-Who-Inspired-Good-Habits. Soon enough, Harry called it a day and went to bed.
He thought of what the next day would hold. Maybe news on Sirius, would he finally be declared innocent? On a side note, Harry did have Remus' class to look forward to. It was Mr. Mooney himself. Harry briefly wondered how different were things going to become. An excitement welled up in him as he thought of the dozens of things that he could mess with, and the effects of these on the events that followed. Lost in the realm of infinite possibilities, Harry dozed off to a deep sleep.