Time to see how Harry's first week goes. And what exactly does he think to his new teachers? And what about those classmates?
6:30 seems like such an early time to wake up but when he really thinks about it, it isn't. that gives him exactly one whole hour to have a shower, dry his hair and make himself look presentable and that is always going to take work. He doesn't know how to tie a tie, his hair ever stays down and never looks like it's been combed, his clothes normally don't fit him and well he's just glad he had to be measured for his school uniform and robes otherwise that would be another thing that stops him looking presentable. Harry jumps out of bed and goes to his trunk to pull his clothes and wash stuff out for his shower before running to get in there first. He realises whilst showering that there is space for him to leave his shower stuff and actually, he is sure he has a wardrobe beside his bed for his clothes too, he guesses it's stop them getting creased. Once washed and dried he gets dressed and doesn't even bother to look in the mirror whilst doing his hair because unless there's some magic spell to fix it there's just no point. Walking back into the room he see's the other four boys picking their clothes out for their showers, and he realises he has enough time to unpack his trunk whilst they all get ready. He takes out the alarm clock that he fixed because he can't be relying on other people to wake him, he hangs his clothes up and it hits him that he really needs nicer clothes if he's to be the Heir to his dad's house, he wonders if he can ask Neville on where sells jeans in Diagon Alley. He places his books into his satchel and he's thankful they're not too heavy, but he could really do without carrying them all the time, he puts his wand in his robe pockets and puts his shoes on. He's glad he asked Madame Malkin for some smart shoes as his trainer just won't last all year.
Checking his clock, he sees its now ten minutes until Percy told them to be in the common room and thinks it would be best to wait down their rather than sitting on his bed, walking into the common room he spots Percy and Hermione already chatting and decides it would be rather rude to interrupt so he takes a look around. The other girls come down before the boys but only by 3 minutes and then they are off, through the portrait to which Harry wishes a good morning and back down the stairs which he now remembers Percy told them changes. Percy is actually a very good tour guide at least he's telling them what to look out for, so they don't take the wrong exit. When they get to the great hall, he sees that all the other years are already present to which Hermione asks about and Percy replies breakfast is only mandatory on the first day as that is the morning where your schedules are handed to you which Harry is certain he heard Hermione squeak at. Sitting down next to Neville who looks like he could use a lot more sleep and across from Hermione who looks like she's been ready to go for hours makes Harry feel a happy medium. That is until he looks at the breakfast options and gets really upset there isn't anything light, the toast is pre-jammed, the pancakes are smothered in maple syrup and the fruit looks to be covered in sugar, all of which are just not what Harry wants or can stomach. Neville lightly whispers that he can ask the house elves for just toast and butter if he would like as there is always one hidden under the first year's section to gather food preferences, well he says that's what Gran believes, Harry swears she must be right as suddenly on his plate there's two slices of butter toast and crazily enough it is done to just how he likes it. He chooses a glass of water over any of the fruit juices present as he's already going to feel sick from the two slices of toast.
Professor McGonagall is making her way down his side of the table handing out schedules and Harry is excited, today he gets told in which order he will be learning magic. He's shaking with excitement when the professor gets to Neville that he squeaks himself when she taps his shoulder, taking the parchment out of her hand he suddenly can't bring himself to look, this only causes Neville and Hermione to chuckle towards him. His schedule reads:
Monday
08:00 to 09:15 – Breakfast
09:15 to 10:15 – Transfiguration Theory
12:15 to 12:00 – Transfiguration Practical
12:00 to 13:15 – Lunch
13:15 to 15:15 – History of Magic
15:15 to 18:15 – Herbology
18:15 to 20:00 – Dinner
20:00 to 08:00 – Curfew
Tuesday
08:00 to 09:15 – Breakfast
09:15 to 12:00 – Charms
12:00 to 13:15 – Lunch
13:15 to 14:15 – Defence Against the Dark Arts Theory
14:15 to 15:15 – Defence Against the Dark Practical
15:15 to 18:15 – Self Study
18:15 to 20:00 – Dinner
20:00 to 08:00 – Curfew
Wednesday
08:00 to 09:15 – Breakfast
09:15 to 12:00 – Herbology
12:00 to 13:15 – Lunch
13:15 to 14:15 – Transfiguration Theory
14:15 to 15:15 – Transfiguration Practical
15:15 to 18:15 – Flying 101
18:15 to 20:00 – Dinner
20:00 to 00:00 – Curfew
Thursday
00:00 to 02:00 – Astronomy
02:00 to 08:00 – Curfew
08:00 to 09:15 – Breakfast
09:15 to 12:00 – Charms
12:00 to 13:15 – Lunch
13:15 to 14:15 – Defence Against the Dark Arts Theory
14:15 to 15:15 – Defence Against the Dark Arts Practical
15:15 to 18:15 – History of Magic
18:15 to 20:00 – Dinner
20:00 to 08:00 – Curfew
Friday
08:00 to 09:15 – Breakfast
09:15 to 12:00 – Potions
12:00 to 13:15 – Lunch
13:15 to 15:15 – Charms
15:15 to 18:15 – Herbology
18:15 to 20:00 – Dinner2
20:00 to 08:00 – Curfew
Reminder all first years must be in their dorm rooms by 21:00 except for Astronomy.
All first years will meet with their Head of House for medical and introduction before the 8th of September Curfew.
Harry notices that today is Monday meaning he will have his first flying lesson in two days. He's sure he won't do any actual flying that first lesson but he's still just as excited. Harry realises he has enough time to make it back to the dorm room to drop off the spare books and pick up his quill that he left on top of his bed before the first class but then remembers he has no idea where it is, so he runs all the way there and all the way back before the 5th year prefect leads them to class. When they enter and take their seat as the prefect told them too, they see that the professor isn't there yet, but a cat is sat on the professor's desk. When all the seats are filled, he hears Ron Weasley who he shares a dorm with stating if they were late, they'd get into trouble to which the cat leaps into the air and suddenly becomes Professor McGonagall. Harrys jaw drops, to the left of him Hermione giggles and Neville shudders to the right, he cannot believe it, how did that cat become the Professor? Did it hurt? Is that transfiguration? What else can she do? He quickly scribbles his questions down not wanting to forget them as she confirms to Mr Weasley that he is indeed correct if he was late to class, he would lose points but seeing as she was there before them all she will forgive him for speaking negatively about a professor. She takes role call to which she always looks up to see who answers and gives them all a tight-lipped smile, she goes on to explain that transfiguration is the most complex and dangerous magic that they will learn at Hogwarts and that if they are caught messing around, they will be dismissed and unable to return. She allows questions of which most surround her being a cat to which she explains it is called being a Animagus and it is very complex and will not even be address until they are 5th years, to this she looks towards Harry as if she knows a secret. She goes on to explain the process behind turning their match which they will be given into a needle, Harry is sue he'll fail, and it won't even change colour when it comes to it but then she mentions visualisation and Harry knows exactly what a needle looks like so surely, he has a chance. When it comes to it Hermione is first to do it although it takes her three attempts of saying the incantation and Harry gets it on the tenth try. Some other people manage it, but Harry isn't sure which house they are in because he's trying to help Neville who whispers that it's okay because he knows why he can't do it and will be speaking to the professor about it in his meeting. Its only when Harry stands up to leave that he realises it was Slytherin that he shares this class with.
History of Magic is taught by an actual ghost, like a real-life ghost called Professor Binns. Before yesterday Harry didn't even realise ghosts were real, since then he's met Sir Nicholas de Mimsy who every calls Nearly Headless Nick, but Harry finds that very rude, Peeves but he's a poltergeist and causes trouble and he's heard of one called the Bloody Baron, so he didn't really think he'd be being taught by one. Harry wants to find out how a ghost becomes a teacher, but he can do that after the lesson. Harry really tries to keep up with what the professor is saying but his voice is very monotone and is sending Harry to sleep even though he slept well the night before. However before taking a nap Harry does manage to write down Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball and he finds out later that the dates were wrong too. What's the point in having a history of magic class is everyone's going to fall asleep? How is Harry going to learn about important fact about Magic? Is Voldemort the only known Dark Wizard? Why does Hagrid say that all witches and wizards from Slytherin go bad and that Hufflepuff are all duffers? Unless something super important comes up Harry will use his self-study time to try and find answers.
Herbology is next and Harry finds he really likes it, but he realises the Neville in herbology is a different Neville than the one he's been sat next to all day. This Neville looks so unbelievably happy and like he's fallen in love with magic. He manages to explain things really well to Harry who was too busy looking around at all the magical plants to pay attention to Professor Sprout. Harry had to stop himself laughing when she said her name for two reasons; reason number one: she's the herbology teacher with a name like sprout and two she's very short even shorter than Harry and all he can think is she didn't sprout up very high. He likes the lessons though because he can use the 'skills' he learnt tending to Aunt Petunia's Garden to look after the plants in the greenhouse they were having their lessons in. He also found it interesting because she didn't just tell you what the plant is called and how to look after it, but she also informs them on their usefulness. This is where Harry learnt that Herbology and Potions are closely related as all potions will us some form of plant in and many plants can be used differently, for example the root or a plant might be useful in one potion but could ruin a different potion which actually requires the leaf of the flower. She tells them the way you prune the plants will also impact their usefulness and to always pay close attention to how the potions recipe asks otherwise the potion might not reach full potentness. Neville feels really proud of himself that he managed to win Gryffindor some points for correct technique and honestly after the way Harry heard Seamus be corrected Harry is proud of him too.
During charms which is shared with Hufflepuff Professor Flitwick falls off his pile of books that help him reach his lectern when he gets to Harry's name during role call. Harry is actually pretty shocked at this before remembering Mr Ollivander said his mum excelled in Charms, and hey with that reaction the professor must remember his parents so that's another person he can ask for information. Professor Flitwick explains they will be given a demonstration on the charm they are working on and what happens when it goes wrong before they even start practicing, he will also explain how each charm came to be within the theory side of the lesson before giving them a chance to practice but that they will not be practicing the first week as they get used to channelling their magic through their wands and as they are starting with the wand-lighting charm they really need to have a feel for their wands before practicing so they don't overpower their spell and blind people. Harry can't help but feel disappointed however he does understand the logic and reasoning behind not practicing the spell straight away. Neville looks relieved to not be practicing straight away and Hermione looks heartbroken, Harry understands it, she feels like she's already behind everyone else due to not knowing she was a witch until she turned 11, he's the same but Harry also understands that the professor wouldn't limit them if he didn't truly think it was important.
Defence Against the Dark Arts is a class that everyone has been buzzing about since Monday breakfast Harry included however, he felt really disappointed. Having met Professor Quirrell at the Leaky Cauldron Harry already knew about the professor's stutter but he never expected the classroom to reek of Garlic to the point even if the professor didn't have a stutter no one would be able to concentrate. In this class it was two to a table and Neville and Hermione were sat together which left an empty seat next Harry which was quickly taken by Ron Weasley. The guy seemed thrilled to be sat next to Harry and if they weren't in class, he'd probably speak to him, but Harry was trying so hard to concentrate that he hadn't realised the other boy was even talking. It didn't help that when Seamus asked about how Quirrell fought off the zombie he was teaching them about he started talking about the weather. Like what's the weather got to do with fighting a zombie, especially today's weather. Harry still hadn't gotten used to writing with a quill which made it even harder to keep notes, he desperately missed his pen and pencils at least he could kind of follow along with his own writing. He might as a professor for some tips. They didn't do anything practical in the first week of DADA lessons which Harry was relieved about as he felt he would mess it up especially with the smell coming from the professor whenever he was close and if he turned his back to Harry his scar would hurt him, not enough that he'd have asked to see the nurse at primary school but enough to cause a minor headache.
During self-study Neville, Hermione, and Harry found themselves in the library for the first time and as big as he thought Little Whinging's library was Hogwarts library is double the size from a first glance. Introducing themselves to the librarian Madame Pince she explains the rule of the library: do not talk loudly – nobody wants to hear what you are studying, be careful with the books – some of them are over a hundred years old, no food or liquid allowed – you will be banned for a week if you are caught, no entering the restricted section – you can only enter with a form signed by a professor, you can withdraw three books at a time – they are to be returned a week later, always ask for help – don't go wondering around she is there to help, put any used books back on the trolley and she will return them to their rightful place – this is only until they learn the levitation charm, make sure you share your books – other people are learning the same thing as you. She looks like a very stern woman which Harry can respect, when she's in charge of the only library that hundred of children will be wanting to use, she has to be strict and set rules. Harry doesn't think the rules are anything bad, in fact all the ones that would translate to a non-magical library he finds do. They quickly find a table and they pull their parchment out; Harry takes his schedule out to make sure he doesn't miss anything as his old system of doling homework was do it in class order. He had transfiguration first which means he should do the required reading and work for transfiguration first. They discuss quietly what they learnt and what things need including in their essay before they all silently get to writing them. Harry finds his and Neville's are the same length although Harry's handwriting is messier, so Neville has more writing on his parchment and Hermione's is twice as long as the required length. He doesn't know how it's that long but as it's not his work he doesn't feel he should remind her that it wasn't a minimum length it was a maximum. They move onto a History of Magic to which Harry and Neville both complain about as they slept most of the lesson and they didn't learn anything to which Hermione scolds them for but then shares her notes. They quickly write up her notes as their own and get set on the required reading. When he's reading it, Harry finds history is quickly becoming his favourite topic, but Professor Binns is just boring.
They are just about to start their charms work, but Madame Pince announces that Dinner time is about to start, and that the library is now closing. Quickly they tidy their area and place the books they have used as reference material back on the trolley as directed to before speed walking to dinner, they hadn't realised just how hungry they were. They make conversation with the other first years on how they are finding the start of school to which they find that Dean is also a first-generation wizard, and that Seamus is a half-blood like Neville, this means that their dorm room has two purebloods, two half-bloods and one first-generation wizard whereas in Hermione's dorm she's the only first-generation witch with Fay Dunbar being a half-blood and Lavender Brown and Parvati Patel being purebloods. He finds out that Parvati has a twin sister who was sorted into Ravenclaw called Padma and how doesn't Harry already know this when he shares History of Magic with the Ravenclaw's. he finds out that Fay was raised by her Auror father, and she manages to slip in that he actually was in the Academy with Frank Longbottom and James Potter to which both boys look so happy about. Neville might have known his father's profession, but Harry had no idea, he wants to learn everything he can about what his dad liked and didn't like and from the sound of it a Auror is a magical cop and isn't that just great, his dad was a cop.
Tuesday morning Harry got a letter from Professor McGonagall stating he would be expected in her office between 19:30 and 20:00 for his check in so he quickly leaves after saying he'll see them all back in the common room and makes his way to the office which was easier to find with all the moving portraits than he thought it would be. When he knocks, she tells him to come in and take a seat before sticking her head in the fireplace and then suddenly a woman comes through it. Harry can't help but hide his shock to which professor McGonagall explains that the fireplace isn't like the non-magical ones, these are used as a form of communication by floo calling which is what she did and then transportation which is what Madame Pomfrey did when she stepped through. The fire being green means it doesn't hurt the person travelling or talking. She asks how Harry is settling in, to which he replies the stairs confuse him but he's really liking it. He does enation that he likes having friends in Hermione and Neville and that before he had even gotten off the train, he was taught how to properly address someone in the wizarding world. Madame Pomfrey asks whether he had his inoculations at St Mungos as they hadn't sent his file over to which his response was very telling when he asked what St Mungos is and he had his last jabs when he was 4. Madame Pomfrey seemed to have seam coming out of her ears mumbling uninformed people will get someone killed, she then asked him to follow her to the hospital wing where she can request his personal healer to come and do a thorough check on him. Professor McGonagall seems angry too when she nods her head and says she will be up shortly.
