Thoughts: 'Blah. Blah. Blah."
Flashback: Blah. Blah. Blah. ( [END]FLASHBACK before/after them)
Hedwig: "Blah. Blah. Blah."
Parseltongue: {Blah. Blah. Blah.}
Letters/Articles/Writing: Blah. Blah. Blah.
Chapter 3
There is something poking Harry's ear. He notices this as he is drifting in and out of consciousness. But, as more time passes, the sensation becomes less of an inconvenience and more of an annoyance.
He reluctantly untangles his hand from his bed covers and flaps his hand at his ear. Unfortunately, whatever is annoying him has moved just in time, narrowly avoiding his assault and causing Harry's hand to smack the side of his head. Pain ricochets through Harry's head and he groans.
Suddenly, the slight pressure at his earlobe returns, and this time, Harry decides to ignore it. Being the bigger person is the best way to get back at someone. Or so he's been told. He has some reservations about that particular philosophy, but he figures it's worth a try. A few moments pass, the pressure persists, and Harry's patience disappears.
Harry gathers all of his weight and flings it over the side of the bed. His sneak attack works beautifully and Harry finds himself sprawled on top of another body.
"Bloody hell, Harry! Get off of me! Are you insane?!" A disembodied voice reaches Harry's ears, and he vaguely realizes that he recognizes said voice.
"Draco?" Harry cracks an eye open and the blurry face of Draco Malfoy comes into focus.
"Yes, you idiot!" Draco yells as he squirms and attempts to get out from underneath Harry's dead weight.
"Are you two still alive down there?" Harry hears Blaise's voice from above him. He rolls lazily off of Draco and his back thumps heavily against the cold floor.
"No."
"Yes"
Harry and Draco say at the same time, Draco groaning as he replies in the negative.
"Oh, good then. That means you can get up and get moving. Class starts in a half-hour."
Harry begrudgingly rises from the floor and begins his day, his head already beginning to pound.
~~~Time Skip~~~
Harry and Draco have just sat down when Professor McGonagall sweeps into the room, effectively silencing the student's quiet conversations. They have Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws this year and this is their first class of the day. Harry is definitely not happy to have Transfiguration first thing in the morning. He's not exactly what you'd call a "morning person", and having one of his most difficult classes this early, when his brain isn't entirely awake, does not bode well for him, especially because he struggles the most with Transfiguration out of all of his classes. But he supposes that he'll eventually get used to it.
McGonagall moves to stand behind her desk in a flourish of robes, taking a moment to evaluate her class. Once she's satisfied that she has everyone's complete attention, she begins her lecture.
"Today we will be learning how to transfigure a beetle into a button and then how to reverse the process.
"Both of these spells are medium-level spells, so don't expect to succeed on the first few tries. This is mostly for me to see where each of you are in your skill levels." McGonagall pauses, raking her eyes over the room full of students before continuing. "Let's begin."
McGonagall retrieves a small, black beetle from within a jar on her right, placing it carefully on the table and watching as it scuttles across the wood. She removes her wand from her robes and fixes it on the beetle. "You just focus on the image of the button you would like to transfigure the beetle into, and then visualize the transition from the original form to the secondary one. Observe."
McGonagall flicks her wand sharply above the beetle and clearly incants, "Ciabdo!"
The students watch as the beetle slowly transforms, its legs receding and its body flattening, eventually settling into a perfect button.
"Now, if you are performing the spell correctly, you will be able to feel the beetle's life force pushing very lightly at the edge of your consciousness." McGonagall sets the button to the side and puts her wand away. "I'm going to be walking around and observing your progress. I will provide input and instruction as I come around. Please, if you have any questions, just ask."
Professor McGonagall claps her hands together twice and suddenly containers, with one beetle in each, appear on the desks, one for every student. The quiet din of conversation quickly breaks the silence as students begin reaching for their beetles in order to begin their task.
Harry picks up his container and stares intently at the beetle, watching it as it tries to climb the walls of its plastic prison.
"If we're going to do this, I need to have your full cooperation, you hear? We're in this together, so we might as well help each other out."
"Harry, please tell me you're not talking to that beetle." Draco whispers in Harry's ear.
"Hush, Draco, I'm in the middle of a pep talk. Don't distract me." Harry chastises, his eyes never leaving the beetle.
"Okayyyy…" Draco draws out the end of the word as he regards Harry with confused disbelief. "You have fun with that. Let me know if you and that beetle want some privacy."
"I will." Harry replies seriously and Draco turns his attention back to his own beetle, grumbling something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like "overdramatic idiot". Harry finds that he doesn't care at the moment. He has more important matters to attend to. For example, how the hell he's going to pull this off successfully. He's not going to go so far as to say that he sucks at Transfiguration. He understands the theory and he does rather well on the written exams. It's just the practical application of this theory that he struggles with.
Finally, Harry sighs, and with one last hopeful look at his beetle, he opens the container and tips the beetle out and onto the desk in front of him. He picks up his wand and holds it above the beetle. He does as Professor McGonagall had said, closing his eyes and visualizing the transformation from beetle to button, flicking his wand, and carefully pronouncing the spell.
"Ciabdo."
He knows something's gone awry before he even opens his eyes. McGonagall had said that he should feel the beetle's life force, and he did… Kind of. It felt off, like it was there, but not there, all at the same time. He begrudgingly opens his eyes and is met with the sight of a sort of beetle-button hybrid staring back at him. The thing in front of him has a rounded, shiny, black button for a body with four beetle legs sticking out from the bottom. And, to top it all off, it has two beady, black eyes coming out of the front of its button body that seem to be staring into Harry's very soul. It's rather unnerving, and definitely not something Harry wants to be dealing with this early in the morning. As much as Harry doesn't want to look away first - show no weakness, and all that - he finds the… Beetle's? Button's? Whatever… The point is, the thing's gaze is far too disconcerting for Harry to maintain eye contact for a prolonged period of time. So, when his creation shows no sign of giving up, Harry ruefully breaks eye contact.
Harry looks up to see Professor McGonagall staring down at his glorious creation. Then, in all seriousness, he says, "Professor, it seems as if I've created a new species of beetle."
"I can see that, Potter. And as impressive as that may be, I'm afraid that was not the point of today's lesson." McGonagall taps her wand on top of Harry's creation, saying, "Reparifarge", which turns It back into a beetle. "Try again. This time, make sure you perfectly envision the button before you say the incantation." Professor McGonagall advises sternly.
Harry gulps and closes his eyes once more, taking care to clearly picture the button in his mind. "Ciabdo," Harry says the spell clearly as he performs the wand movement. This time, the life force of the beetle feels less strange, not entirely as it should be, but there is a definite improvement from last time.
Harry steels himself as he opens his eyes, expecting to see the same lifeless gaze as before, but he is pleasantly surprised to find that his button is now lacking eyes. There is still one spindly leg attached to the bottom of the button, but hey, no eyes! That's progress!
"Not perfect, but very much improved. Five points to Slytherin." With that, McGonagall walks back up to the front of the class, clearing her throat to gain the students' attention.
"Very good. Ten points will be awarded to Ravenclaw for Terry Boot's perfect performance on the beetle to button transfiguration." McGonagall pauses briefly before continuing. "Now, moving on to the second part of the lesson: The Untransfiguration Spell."
The rest of the class passes by quickly, and soon enough, Harry is leaving the Transfiguration Classroom with Draco, Blaise, and Theo by his side.
Harry'd had much more luck with the Untransfiguration spell, having perfected it on the third try. Luckily, he's avoided creating any more new species during class, much to Professor McGonagall's relief.
Now they are heading to their second Charms class of the year. Yesterday they had learned the freezing charm, Immobulus, which Harry already has experience with. Thank you, Gilderoy Lockhart. Today, however, they are going to be working on theory, which is something Harry is not looking forward to.
They reach the Charms Classroom relatively quickly and take their seats, settling down to wait for Professor Flitwick to arrive. Once he does, the class settles down and the room falls quiet as everyone waits for Professor Flitwick to begin speaking.
"Today we will be discussing the theory behind memory charms, a rather interesting subject if you ask me." Professor Flitwick says jovially. "Please turn to page sixty-three in your books."
Harry opens his copy of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 2 and flips through the pages until he finds the right one.
Once the entire class has opened their books, Professor Flitwick continues. "Would anyone like to read aloud for the class?"
A Hufflepuff girl named Hannah Abbott raises her hand confidently and she is promptly called on by Flitwick. She clears her throat before she begins reading.
"The Memory Charm, or Forgetfulness Charm, is used to erase certain memories from someone's mind, unlike the False Memory Charm, with which it is often confused. The incantation for this charm is "Obliviate". When casting this spell, you point your wand at the subject's forehead and move it in slow, clockwise circles.
"The Memory Charm is primarily used on Muggles who have witnessed something about the Wizarding World. However, there are dangers to consider when casting the charm. For example, if the charm is performed incorrectly there is a possibility of massive memory loss and sometimes irreversible brain damage. As such, the Ministry appoints Wizards and Witches with extensive training to perform Memory Charms.
"The Memory Charm can sometimes be broken through torture, though the MInistry does not condone such practices. This charm was originally developed by Mnemone Radford in the late 1500s."
"Very good." Professor Flitwick says to Hannah, thanking her for reading. "Now, we will not be performing memory charms in this class, for obvious reasons, but we will be quizzing on the theory of the charm tomorrow, so be sure to review it tonight."
The entire class groans the second the word "quiz" leaves their Professor's lips, but Flitwick merely chuckles at the sentiment. A few minutes later, Professor Flitwick dismisses the class for lunch and the students calmly file out of the room.
~~~Time Skip~~~
Blaise and Harry are the only people in the courtyard at the moment, which makes sense. It's lunchtime, after all. Neither Harry nor Blaise are hungry, so they have decided to wander aimlessly around the castle grounds, leaving Draco and Theo in the Great Hall.
They stop in the courtyard and take a seat on the hard, stone ground, their legs crossing as they settle down. There is a moment of comfortable silence that is broken by Blaise asking Harry a question.
"Hey, do you know how to play gobstones?"
Harry furrows his brow, replying, "No, but I've heard of it."
Blaise gasps dramatically, placing a hand over his heart as he reels back in shock. "You mean to tell me that Draco has not taught you how to play one of the greatest games in existence!? That's absolutely treasonous! He has failed to cover an integral part of your magical education. But there is no need to worry, dear friend. For, I am about to close this heinous gap in your knowledge and change your life forever!"
Harry cocks an eyebrow at Blaise, who has finished his enthusiastic speech. "Wow, and Draco says I'm dramatic."
Blaise scoffs at Harry's sarcastic words. "I merely speak the truth." He says, crossing his arms over his chest and staring Harry down expectantly.
"Okay, okay. Enlighten me, oh wise one." Harry leans his upper body forward in the best attempt at a bow he can manage while sitting down.
"Fantastic." Blaise grins and pulls out a medium-sized velvet bag from within his school robes. He loosens the drawstring and carefully dumps its contents onto the ground.
Harry narrows his eyes suspiciously. "This was planned, wasn't it?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny this accusation." Blaise replies in a posh tone that strongly reminds Harry of Draco.
"Okay then, get on with it." Harry says, amusement shining through his tone.
"Okay, so there are three different variations of the game, but we're going to start with the classical version." Blaise gathers up fifteen stones and hands them to Harry before continuing his explanation. "The point of the game is to knock seven of my stones out of the circle, which I am about to draw. Whoever accomplishes this first wins the game." Blaise takes out his wand and casts a quick spell and a circle appears on the ground between them moments later. Harry nods his understanding. "Okay, so I'll start."
Blaise picks up one of his stones and aims it at one of Harry's before gently throwing it. The stone knocks into Harry's and pushes it out of the circle. When this happens, Blaise smirks mischievously, and just like that, Harry knows that Blaise left something out of his explanation. Specifically, what happens to the other player when their opponent knocks their stone from the circle. Suddenly, Harry hears a squirting sound coming from one of the stones, and before he has time to react he is being sprayed in the face with a foul-smelling liquid.
Harry stiffens, pausing for a moment in shock before wiping the liquid from his eyes and fixing Blaise with a heated glare. "What the bloody hell was that?" Harry growls, though the heat is mostly lost due to his dripping hair, which is now curtaining his eyes.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that when someone knocks out a stone, their opponent gets sprayed with, well, whatever that stuff is? How forgetful of me." Blaise says innocently.
Harry smirks darkly. "Oh, it is so on, Zabini."
~~~Time Skip~~~
Harry and Blaise run into Draco and Theo outside of the Slytherin common room on their way back from the courtyard. Their lunch break ends in about twenty minutes, so Harry and Blaise are heading back to their dorm to take showers and change clothes in an attempt to purge the acrid smell that seems to have seeped into their very being.
"You two smell." Draco says immediately, wrinkling his nose in disgust as Harry and Blaise come up beside him. The two boys in question are grinning from ear to ear, completely ignoring Draco's discomfort. Draco looks them over and comes to a realization. "Please tell me you didn't teach him how to play Gobstones." Draco says, his voice deadpan as he addresses Blaise.
"You know, I'd rather not say. I've got to have some secrets, after all. It keeps the mystery alive." Blaise replies, smiling cheekily at the now infuriated blonde.
Draco huffs, shaking his head in disapproval. "I will never understand your fascination with that bloody game."
"Oh, come on, Draco. You're probably just mad because you're bad at it." Harry joins the conversation, causing Draco's head to whip around abruptly to face him, an indignant look on his face.
"What?! No! Wait, what did he tell you?!" Draco narrows his eyes, looking accusingly back and forth between Harry and Blaise.
Blaise chuckles, throwing his arm around Draco's shoulders with enough force to send the blond's body dipping slightly. "Now, now, Draco. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it." Blaise teases, ruffling Draco's hair and waltzing into the common room, leaving a disgruntled Draco Malfoy in his wake.
"Wait, what is that supposed to mean?!" Draco yells at Blaise's retreating form, a mixture of confusion and anger lacing his tone.
Harry comes up to Draco and nudges his shoulder. "Relax, Draco. I just made an educated guess. But, now I'm curious. What kind of trauma has Blaise put you through to elicit that kind of reaction?"
Draco sighs, rolling his eyes and looking at Harry out of the corner of his eye. "Trust me when I say that you really don't want me to answer that question." With that, Draco stalks off, entering the common room in a huff.
Harry and Theo lock eyes once Draco is out of sight, sharing a mischievous look. "I do believe that I sense a scheme brewing on the horizon." Theo says, a smirk on his face.
"You have sensed correctly, my friend." Harry replies, returning Theo's smirk, full force.
"Brilliant; I'll break out the good parchment, then."
Harry looks away and begins walking to the door saying, "I'm glad to see that we're on the same page," as he passes Theo. Harry hears an amused laugh from behind him and registers Theo's soft footsteps following him into the common room.
Harry makes it a full three steps into the room before he is being assaulted by his best friend. Well, "assaulted" may be a bit over the top, but how else would you describe your vision being eclipsed by eighty-two pounds of excited blond who is frantically waving his hands around and talking a mile a minute.
Draco suddenly stops talking, donning a frustrated expression as he says, "You have no idea what I just said, do you."
"I'm fairly certain that I heard you say something about quail and treacle tart." Harry replies matter-of-factly. What can he say, if he's going to look like an idiot, he might as well do it on his own terms.
Draco gives him a disbelieving look as Theo snorts and continues into the room. "No, you utter prat, I was talking about Quidditch!" Harry perks up at the mention of his favorite sport.
"And you have officially gained my full and undivided attention."
"Good; Now, come here!" Draco exclaims, pulling Harry across the room and stopping in front of a piece of parchment that has been tacked to the wall. Harry squints his eyes, taking a moment to decipher the blurry words in front of him before realizing exactly what he's looking at. Beside him, Draco is making a mental note to get Harry new glasses.
"Quidditch tryouts!" Harry shouts, drawing the attention of the other Slytherins in the common room, most of which grumble quietly about the "stupid second-years" under their breath, while the others just shake their heads fondly and return to what they were doing.
"Exactly." Draco declares, locking eyes with Harry before grabbing the quill hanging from the parchment and writing his name in an elegant print on one of the lines. Once he's finished he steps aside, sweeping out his arm in an inviting gesture, prompting Harry to step forward and add his name to the list, his scrawled letters a stark contrast to Draco's neat handwriting.
"We really need to work on your handwriting." Draco remarks as he observes Harry's written name. Harry just mumbles something incomprehensible under his breath in response. Draco seems to be coming down from his euphoria, because he grimaces and begins pushing Harry toward the stairs leading down to their dormitory. "Shower. Now. I can't be seen out in public with you when you smell like that." Draco insists urgently, his haughty attitude finally making an appearance.
Harry complies without a fuss, shocking Draco. Harry, sensing this, snickers and says, "What? You know I have to surprise you every once and a while. I can't let myself become predictable, you know."
Draco smiles fondly as he continues pushing his friend to their room. "Yeah, okay, crazy." Draco and Harry enter their dorm, seeing Blaise, dressed and hair dripping, pulling on his shoes. "Now, hurry up. We're going to be late for Potions."