Hello, everyone! Here's the newest chapter for the "Harry Potter: the Serpent Lord" story. Enjoy!

* Review response:
Shinjuu - Hakari No Juunishi, it's good to know that you liked what I wrote for Draconica's part so far. ^_^ And if memory serves me right, I answered to the rest via PM.
Dark Dragen, heh.
Still Not Dead Yet, did that really sound like Draconica thought about marrying Harry? My bad then.
Siriusly Grim, here you go: the next chapter. =)
ChaosLord SilverLink310, HarryHermioneBellaSwan, call015, Akira Stridder, Highvalour, thanks, folks!
Aries The Ram, who said that Draconica is the heir? (damn, here is the spoiler to the future chapters...) As for the contract, 'that man' won't play a big role, though sometime into the future his name will be released onto the pages of this story.
RE5 forever, though it wasn't a review to this story, I still had answered it via PM.

* Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" and its characters in any shape or form.

"human speech"
'human thoughts'
"spells / parseltongue"

Special thanks to NARUHAREM FOREVA for beta-reading this story.

chapter 3: Lessons

Next morning Harry woke little past six o'clock - long before any of his dormmates, especially the red-haired one - and, after performing his morning rituals, descended to the common room. He still had about an hour before the breakfast would be served, so the green-eyed wizard decided to continue reading his biology book, from time to time casting a tempus charm, so that he won't miss the breakfast, because he was absorbed by the book...

When the clock showed seven thirty in the morning, Harry closed his book and, using a plan for the route between Griffindor common room and the Great Hall he had sketched the previous night, went there to get his breakfast. Even with the said plan it took him some time to get down there – the stairs did change their configuration during the night a little. But as it turned out, there were only so many students in the Great hall, mostly older Ravenclaws...

The breakfast, unlike yesterdays feast, was quite simple, but there was everything a true Englishman could think of having for breakfast. Helping himself with a plate of fried eggs and some bacon and a glass of orange juice, Harry started eating, while reading his book simultaneously: professor McGonnagal, his head of the house wasn't there yet, and she was the one who would give him his timetable...

At about quarter past eight students and professors started filling into the Great hall, and, after having a quick breakfast herself, professor McGonnagal went along the table of her house, giving timetables to the Griffindors. When she reached Harry, who was sitting near the door of the Great hall, he shut his tome and accepted his timetable.

"Thank you, professor." He said, while his eyes scanned the said timetable. It was like this:

Monday: History of Magic (with Ravenclaw) – Herbology (with Hufflepuff) – lunch – double Charms (with Slytherin).
Tuesday: Transfiguration (with Slytherin) – DADA (with Ravenclaw) – lunch – free period – Herbology (with Hufflepuff).
Wednesday: double DADA (with Slytherin) – lunch – free periods – Astronomy (all houses) at 11 pm.
Thursday: lunch – Herbology (with Slytherin) – Charms (with Ravenclaw).
Friday: double Potions (with Slytherin) – lunch – Transfiguration (with Ravenclaw) – History of Magic (with Hufflepuff).

Nothing too bad in Harry's opinion. Thought the fact that good nine out of the seventeen lessons were shared with Slytherins was a little bit disconcerting: while he himself had no problems with the house of the 'snakes', not many of his housemates were of the same opinion, while most Slytherins despised Griffindors... Who, again, had that bright idea of pairing them together for the half of the lessons?

History of Magic was taught by a ghost – professor Binns – who kept droning on and on about one goblin rebellion or another, and only Hermione was able to both stay awake and write notes. The rest of the mixed Griffindor and Ravenclaw class was either sleeping or doing something not related to the history lesson... Thankfully, it was just a single lesson...

Herbology, which on Mondays Griffindors shared with 'puffs, was much more lively, compared to the history lesson. It was taught by a roundish kind witch, professor Pomona Sprout, and took place in the Hogwarts greenhouses. So far she had introduced only the most safe plants to her first year students, but – one could say she had promised – with years to come they would advance to more dangerous and more interesting magical plants...

Charms was taught by very short wizard – and most likely not entirely human as he bore some similarities to goblins in his appearance – who had to use several books to stand on to be seen above his table. And as lively as the professor Flitwick was, the first weeks he taught only magical theory behind charms to the first years, so Harry decided not to make the final opinion about the subject until they started practicals... But on the brighter side of things, he managed to talk a little bit to Draconica during charms as Griffindors shared it with Slytherins on Mondays...

Tuesday's first lesson was transfiguration, which professor McGonnagal started with some demonstration of what could be achieved in the field: first she transformed into a cat and back, before changing her table into a pig and reverting it to its original state of the table with merely a flick of her wand...

At this point point one winded Ronald Weasley ran into the classroom, claiming that he got lost on his way there. This earned the redhead a scolding from McGonnagal, and a threat of turning him into a map, so that he won't get lost again. This caused everyone but Hermione to chuckle or even outright, but still quietly, laugh...

After that little incident, McGonnagal informed the class – once again Griffindors and Slytherins – about the rules of her classroom, which was followed by some theory behind simplest transfiguration of one material into another and of shape alternations. Once that was done, professor sent each student a matchstick and told them to change it into a sewing needle...

In the first ten minutes no one had succeeded in forcing even the slightest change to the matchstick. But unlike some people, Harry was analyzing his failures and came to conclusion that the effect wasn't tied to the volume with which he pronounced the transfiguration spell, nor to the amount of power he put into the spell – at least not on this scale – and with him performing the wand movements like professor McGonnagal had shown them, those could be removed from the 'equation'. That left only intent as a 'variable'... But how does one intent something to change? Replacing the mental image of the matchstick with the image of the needle didn't help, so that meant that he should imagine and visualize the whole process of the transformation...

Unfortunately, it seemed had his mental discipline was lacking somewhat as all he managed to do was turning the matchstick round in section and making the sulfuric head smaller. Still, it turned out that this was enough to get a small praise and three points to Griffindor from McGonnagal for his efforts. Hermione, who managed to turn her matchstick silvery a minute later, eared another five points to the house of lions.

"How?" Draconica asked in an barely audible whisper from across the passage between desks. In response, Harry tapped his head with his index finger and mouthed 'intent' to her. The blond girl nodded a 'thank you' and continued her attempts at transforming her matchstick into a needle... On her second try she managed to turn it pointy, for which McGonnagal gave Slytherin two points. "Thank you." Draconica whispered to Harry, and continued her experiments at transfiguration of the matchstick...

Even if Harry thought he had figured the secret behind transfiguration, by the end of the period he managed only to turn his matchstick into a wooden needle without the eyelet... Earning him two more points for the Griffindor house.

Unfortunately, the Defense Against Dark Arts turned out to be the second worst subject so far – professor Quirrell was a joke: the man was reeking of garlic, was constantly stuttering and seemed to be afraid of his own shadow, and wasn't teaching them anything useful... That, and Harry was getting an odd headache in his scar around the man...

Wednesday started with two more DADA periods, which brought only more headaches to Harry. Thankfully, there were no more lessons after that, until the Astronomy at eleven in the evening. The said subject, like Harry got the feeling when reading the textbook, turn out to be Stargazing: professor Sinistra was good, but all that she taught were names of stars and planets that could be seen through the telescope...

On Thursday first years were allowed to sleep till lunch, which was a good thing since Astronomy ended a little past midnight. And after lunch there was Herbology with Slytherins followed by Charms with Ravenclaws...

Friday for Griffindors began with double potions with Slytherins...

Professor Snape that taught potions was a nasty man with greasy hair that quite obviously hated three quarters of the students – everyone who didn't wear robes with green and silver... And the moment his eyes landed on Harry's name, Snape made it clear that he hated the green-eyed wizard at least twice as much as anybody else...

After a long speech about how great potions are and how there will be no need for wand usage in his classroom, professor Snape decided to pop-quiz Harry:

"Potter!" He called sharply. "What would I get if I added powered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Harry's mind raced, trying to remember a potion with these ingredients from the textbook, but failed to do so. But he did remember properties of the named ingredients when they were used alone, so it was possible to deduce the potion based on the information given. Snape kept staring at Harry, ignoring Hermione's raised hand.

"These ingredients used together would have a strong soporific effect. So, if I were to guess, this is a powerful sleeping drought... Drought of Living Death?" Harry replied.

"Three points from Griffindor for coming to my lesson unprepared. I would have taken five, but by some dumb luck you managed to get the answer right, Potter." Snape said with a sneer. "Let's try again, but this time you will lose your house ten points if you fail to answer." The potions professor made a pause, clearly trying to think of some really hard question. "What for are lacewing flies used in potions?" Once again, professor ignored Hermione's hand.

"Lacewing flies are used in potions that alter appearance of the recipient." Harry replied, this time without more than a second of thinking. Snape gave him a cruel smile.

"Incorrect, Potter. They are used as a stabilizing agent in appearance-altering potions. It appears that you fail to see the truth that your fame is not everything. Ten points from Griffindor." Ron wanted to shout something, but his partner – Dean – managed to keep the redhead from doing that. "Let's try once more, Potter. I want you to bring me some leaves of Cassia. Where will you look for them? Answer me, Potter, or I will take twenty points from Griffindor."

"I'll look in an apothecary, in an ingredient cabinet in a potions laboratory or in a greenhouse. Cassia isn't native to British isles and can't be found there in the wild." Harry replied with a false confidence in his voice. Judging by Snape's face – which looked like he had just swallowed a whole lemon – he got this one right. The professor was about to say something like 'ten points from Griffindor for knowing too much', but Ron chose this moment to break free of his partner's grip.

"Potter, you traitor! What are you doing losing our points!" Glare from professor Snape made the redhead shut up instantly...

"Weasley..." He hissed in a low dangerous voice. "I do not tolerate such outbursts in my classroom. Five points from Griffindor." Now it was Ron's turn to look like he had swallowed a lemon. "Now answer me, Weasley, what is a bezoar and where you will look for it?"

"And why should I know? Am I a know-it-all? Ask Granger, she is." The redhead replied angrily. This outburst cost Griffindor five more points.

"Granger you say..." Snape said in a sneering voice. "No... But how about ms. Brown? How would you answer?" Lavender too didn't knew, which had the potions professor taking another five points form the house of lions.

"For your information, Weasley, Brown, bezoar is a stone found in a stomach of a goat. And it will save you from most poisons." Looking at the clock, Snape noticed that he had used a good part of his first lesson for today already. "Today you will be brewing a potion to cure boils. Instructions are on the board." With a flick of his wand he made the said instructions appear. "You have until lunch. Begin."

Five minutes later Harry discovered that it was a great mistake of his of pairing himself with Neville. The chubby boy was nice, sure, but he was about as inept at brewing potions as one could be, and Snape practically melting their cauldron with his glare didn't help the situation at all. So, deciding that his partner would do better at preparing the ingredients, Harry took brewing in his own hands, which – in the end – proved to be a wise decision: thanks to Dursley he could concentrate on his task and not let Snape's hurtful remark distract him. His cooking skills were a great help there too...

Their potion turned out to be a couple of shades darker than it should be, but Snape marked it as 'passable', while Draconica's and Daphne's – which was about the same – got 'outstanding'. Scowling at the obvious hate his professor had for him, Harry collected his things and, throwing his bag over the shoulder, headed to the Great hall to get something to eat for lunch... But as soon as left the classroom, he was sent into the wall by a very angry redhead.

"Potter! How dare you lose us the points good people had earned, you traitorous bastard!" Ron yelled as he tried to physically assault his classmate. Alas, he was not very fast, and Harry managed to get away from the strike rather easily.

"At least I earned more than I lost!" The green-eyed shot back, but it seemed to only make the redhead angrier. With a determination to hurt burning like hellfire in his eyes, Ron attacked again and, managing to fight his way through Harry's defenses, punched him in the stomach – thankfully, not as hard as Dudley, that is when the fatso managed to catch him.

"And what do we have here?" Said a sneering voice that belonged to professor Snape. "Fighting in the corridors, Potter, Weasley? Five points from Griffindor each. And you are doing it like some dirty muggles? That's another five points each from Griffindor." Ron immediately switched his anger to the professor, and started yelling at Snape for taking points from him when 'it was all Potter's fault'. This resulted in potions professor giving a detention to the redhead... Using this distraction to his 'advantage', Harry just slipped away.

Even though they had transfiguration just after the lunch, Harry decided to visit his head of the house right away. As it turned out, when he had reached the transfiguration classroom, professor McGonnagal just finished her lesson with the fifth years.

"You wanted something, Mr. Potter?" The Scottish witch asked when she saw him standing by the door. Harry nodded.

"Yes, professor. I'd like to complain about points being unfairly taken from Griffindor by professor Snape earlier today. He took ten points from me for fighting, even though I only protected myself and wasn't counterattacking." McGonnagal nodded.

"Very well, Mr. Potter. But I want a proof of that. A simple oath that, had you lied to me, would have you gaining a temporary stigma of a liar, would suffice." Harry nodded: this way of determining whether he was telling truth or not seemed fare.

"OK... How do I make such an oath." He asked.

"Most magical oath are made this way: you say 'I', followed by your full name, 'do swear on', here you insert what on you do swear – this would determine your punishment for breaking the oath – 'that', and say what what you are making an oath about. You must be holding your wand while making your oath." Professor McGonnagal explained. "There are some other forms of making an oath, but that's beside the point."

"All right, professor." The green-eyed wizard replied, as he drew his wand. "I, Harry James Potter, do swear on a stigma of liar that what I said to professor McGonnagal earlier this lunch break is truth." There was a slight flash of magic, but nothing else happened.

"Very well." The professor replied. "As the deputy headmistress I hereby restore ten points unjustly taken today from the house Griffindor student Harry James Potter for fighting by professor Severus Snape." Harry could have sworn that he felt the castle hum for a moment. "But as an advice for the future, Mr. Potter, if you're making an oath about such simple things, try not to make it on the pain of permanent penalty..." Harry nodded. "Is that all, Mr. Potter?" Professor McGonnagal asked then. Harry nodded again. "Then you are free to go now, Mr. Potter."

"Thank you, professor." The green-eyed wizard said, before turning around and heading to the Great hall. But before he had made even ten steps, professor McGonnagal called him.

"One more thing, Mr. Potter. While your mother was a first generation magic user, albeit one of the most talented witches of this century, your father was from a noble house that has several centuries of history in the magical world. Even more, if you include Potters' history before they were given the title. As such, it is possible that you have another, more official name, even if 'Harry' is acceptable too." She said. "I suggest, you contact Gringotts or the Archives of the Ministry of Magic regarding this matter." Harry nodded, his brain still processing this information.

"Thank you, professor." Was all that he could say...

That's all, folks!
The forth chapter will be published in a week.
Leave me a review.