SHOUT OUTS/ANSWERS

Lalez: Thanks. Yeah, it always bothered me that the Slytherins were housed in the dungeons and then sent back to where there was a freaking troll loose, so I thought that this would be a good compromise. Glad you like the Lockhart investigation. My plan is to make people competent but also fallible so that things aren't so ridiculous. As for the part with Molly, you'll just have to wait and see.

AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER

As you'll see in this chapter, some things will happen differently than how they happened in canon. And as always, this is inspired by a fic I read a couple of years ago where some Slytherins had fought against Umbridge and Voldemort's forces and the thing that I remember most is that when Umbridge came to power, Blaise (who I seem to recall being a girl in this particular story) and some other Slytherins banded together with the other houses against her, even going as far as to stop each other from placing hexes, curses, and jinxes on Umbridge so that no one would get in trouble. The other thing that I remember is that Snape often told them that they could trust him but they found out that he was actually a Death Eater and had no redemptive arc. If this is your story or you know who wrote it, let me know and I'll fix my shout outs. All familiar characters belong to J.K. Rowling. Anything you don't recognize is mine.

The next morning, Harry woke up, bolting up with a start. I need to start breakfast! Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia will kill me for being lazy! he thought to himself and scrambled to get up and dressed, unaware of the others getting up.

"Harry, what are you doing?" At Ron's voice, the boy turned around, nearly falling down as he put on his shoe.

"I'm late for breakfast! It's not gonna make itself!" came the response.

"Uh, Po-Harry…you don't have to make the breakfast," Draco corrected. Why on Earth does he think that he needs to cook breakfast for everyone? he wondered.

"You heard the headmaster, the houses are like family, and I always cook for my family," Harry replied.

"You mean you take turns?" Ron asked and Harry looked at him in confusion.

"No. I do all the cooking for my family. Have been since I was five," came the response as he finished getting dressed.

"Five!?" Ron, Neville, and Draco yelped. Why was he preparing breakfast when he was five? Ron wondered. That was too young to be trying to conjure up ingredients or cookware for food.

"Why were you cooking when you were five?" Ron wondered. That's not very safe, he thought to himself. At this, the rest of their housemates turned to look at them in confusion and Dean and Seamus both opened their mouths as if to say something but then stopped.

"Because Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley didn't want to bother with it," Harry responded with a shrug.

"That's outrageous, making you do it all the time," Seamus declared and Neville and Draco nodded in agreement. At this, Harry shrugged again,

"I'm used to it," he told them. I don't get it. Why are they so upset? he wondered. Plenty of other kids had chores, he was sure. And cooking was a good skill to have as it would make sure he could take care of himself when he was finally old enough to move out of the house. That was why he put up with everything and did all the chores without complaining. He wanted to be able to have skills he could use to survive out in the real world. He had a feeling that once he turned eighteen, they'd toss him out as fast as possible and he wanted to have skills to at least get some sort of menial job. But that wasn't important right now. No, the important thing was to get out there so that he could make the breakfast.

"Well, you're going to have to get unused to it because that's not a requirement of you here," Draco declared.

"What Mal-Draco said," Ron agreed and the blonde-haired boy made a face at the near slip. However, he didn't say anything but continued getting dressed and once everyone was ready, they headed out, going to the Great Hall. Suddenly, there was an almost inaudible gasp from Seamus.

"Elves!" he noted, his eyes wide and everyone turned to see the creatures who were beige with large, pointed ears and large eyes. I can't believe I'm seeing an actual elf, Draco thought to himself. While he was certainly aware of the creatures and knew that they had some that helped out at the manor, he had never gotten the chance to see one before.

"What are they doing?" a female voice asked and they turned to see Hermione Granger and the rest of the Gryffindor House as well as students from the other houses.

"They're making the food," Neville replied. "I didn't know that Hogwarts had elves. Gran never mentioned that," he continued.

"Do they get paid for what they're doing?" Hermione wondered. Making meals for all of us has to be a lot of work and they should be paid for their trouble, she mused. To her surprise, those who heard her turned to her in confusion.

"Why would you want to pay them?" Draco wondered.

"Because they're doing a lot of work and it's wrong to just expect them to do so without getting compensated for it," Hermione responded. Ugh, honestly! I had no idea that they believed in slavery, she thought to herself. Maybe getting to know the wizarding world had been a bad idea.

"They wouldn't take money," Blaise responded and everyone turned to him.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"It's incredibly rare for a person or place to have help from the elf species," Blaise told them. "They generally try to keep themselves unless they think someone deserves their help. Like when an elf couple helped a wizard that was a cobbler by trade and his wife."

"Oh, you mean the Hadicourts?" Pansy Parkinson queried and the other magic born students nodded.

"Who are the Hadicourts?" Harry wondered.

"Robert and Janine Hadicourt were a wizarding couple that had been cursed with bad luck and poverty. It never broke their generous spirit and one day, a couple of elves started putting the shoes together for them and as a thank you, Robert made clothes for the elves. After that, the elves took the curse off of the couple and blessed them with prosperity," Susan told them. At this, Harry, Seamus, Dean, -Violet, and Hermione looked at each other.

"Wait, wait, wait. Are-are-are you telling me that the Elves and the Shoemaker is something that actually happened?" Hermione queried. That's amazing! she thought to herself. That had been one of her favorite stories growing up.

"What's the Elves and the Shoemaker?" Marcus asked.

"A muggle story," Harry answered. At this, the rest of the Hogwarts students looked at them in surprise. Something in their world was known by muggles? How was that possible?

"It was a story by the Brothers Grimm," Hermione added. "I had no idea that it was based on fact though," she continued. That's really cool, she mused. How many other stories had she read and thought had just stories were actually based on real events? Were there any others?

"And what are all of you doing up so early?" At the sound of Professor Flitwick's curious and bemused voice, the students turned and Harry shrank into himself. Great. I really screwed up, he thought to himself. He hadn't meant to. He was just trying to get up early to cook breakfast and earn his keep. He hadn't expected it to turn into a whole thing.

"We wanted to see what the Great Hall looked like when it was empty," Draco replied. Okay, not exactly true, but he wasn't quite sure what he could say to explain.

"Yes! It's so peaceful!" Hermione interjected, her eyes shining. I've never seen a place like this before, she thought to herself. First wizards and witches and now elves? This world was amazing! At this, Professor Flitwick smiled.

"That it is," he agreed fondly. Then, "If you want to show the elves appreciation, they are fond of articles of clothing or trinkets." At this, the students nodded. That's good to know, Harry thought to himself. Hermione's eyes clouded contemplatively. I want them to know that I appreciate what they're doing. I'm sure it's not easy to make meals for an entire school, she mused.

"Can we sit at our tables until it's time for breakfast or would that annoy them?" Neville queried.

"You won't annoy them. Go on and sit down," Professor Flitwick encouraged and the kids did so. Soon after this, the other houses walked in and went to their respective tables. Once the plates of food was in front of them, the kids began eating.

At the staff table, Severus glanced at the Gryffindor table, his eyes straying to the Potter boy. At least he's eating. He's too skinny, he thought to himself. And he didn't like that, especially not after the conversation he had with the rest of the staff. Minerva was absolutely right: Petunia and her husband were the worst sort of muggles. Why Albus had thought it prudent to leave young Potter with him was mind-boggling. However, from what he had seen when Minerva had taken him to task, the man was finally seeing the truth. Now he just had to keep the boy alive and away from Voldemort on top of teaching his classes. Oh this was going to be so much fun. As if he didn't have anything better to do than watch over a child who didn't even know him. And how was he supposed to do that given his circumstances? Okay. Calm. He had to be calm. He could do this. It was going to be easy. Giving himself a mental shake, he focused on the food before him and began eating. The last thing he wanted to do was make anyone worry about him. He had to keep his wits about him so that he could do his work. It wouldn't do for him to get distracted. He finished his breakfast and then headed out.

After breakfast, the students went to their classes and Harry's eyes clouded worriedly. What if I'm way behind everybody? he wondered. He didn't want anybody laughing at him or looking down on him like the Dursley's did. He wanted things to be different here. But what if it wasn't? What if Dudley, Uncle Vernon, and Aunt Petunia were right? What if really was just a freak that no one could like or love? Okay he had to stop. He was jumping to conclusions, he was sure of it. He just…he didn't want things to be weird.

"Harry?" Hearing Hermione's voice, he jumped slightly and then turned to her.

"I'm okay. Just taking it all in," he said, only half-lying.

"Yeah. Me too," she agreed. She gave him smile and he managed to return it. "We've got each other. We'll be all right," she told him, going to take his hand and his eyes widened in surprise. Was she…actually….comforting…him? That didn't make sense. No one had ever did anything nice for him. He didn't deserve it. However, instead of voicing this, he merely followed her to their first class, which was Charms.

From atop of his stack of books, Filius watched as his class filed in and sat down, the air buzzing with nervous energy. I remember being this nervous my first year, he thought to himself. He had been full of wonder, amazement, and excitement back then. Of course there had also been fear, but he hadn't wanted to admit it. He waited until they were all seated and then cleared his throat.

"Welcome to Introduction to Charms, where you'll be learning what the different charms are, what they mean, and how to cast them," he stated, smiling at the children's eager faces. He then went down the list of students, the smile growing as they answered him. When he got to Harry's name, his eyes flickered over to the boy, perusing him critically. He is much too small and thin, he thought to himself disapprovingly. He'd have to talk to Albus about this. He then gave himself a mental shake and continued down the line and once he was done, he cleared his throat again. "As I was saying, in this class, you will be learning the different charms, what they mean, and how to cast them. However, today, you will just be becoming familiar with the wand in your hands. Pick up your wands," he instructed. Confused, the kids did so, looking at one another. "I know, I know. Bear with me," he chuckled. "The most important thing to remember is that along with choosing us, our wands are also sentient and will respond to you. However, you must get used to holding the wand in your hand. Make it a part of you. An extension, if you will," he stated.

"But, Professor, we already know how to hold our wands," Ron protested.

"Yes, those with magical parents grow up with this training, but not everyone has this advantage," Professor Flitwick responded. "Now then, using your dominate hand, pick up your wand." Everyone did as the man commanded and the professor watched as an expression of amazement came upon the faces of the kids. He then floated himself off of the pile of books and began hovering above the students, helping them occasionally. He frowned when he came to Ron.

"Mr. Weasley! Gently! Gently! Your wand is an extension of yourself," he admonished lightly.

"Ugh I hate this old wand! It worked just fine for Charlie but it refuses to work with me" Ron complained. I hate this. I know I can do magic but it's been trying to fight me ever since it was given to me, he thought.

"And why do you have your brother's wand?" Professor Flitwick queried gently. It's not good for him to be using a wand that hasn't chosen him, he thought to himself.

"Because Mum and Dad need to save up to buy me my own," Ron replied. "Mum said that it would do just fine for me until then," he continued. "But it doesn't! The stupid thing is always fighting me!" he complained as their teacher took the wand in his hands.

"The wand can sense your frustration, Ron. And that in turn, frustrates it. It knows that it is not truly yours and that you don't want it, which makes it not want to work with you," he told him. Wands are…delicate, he thought to himself. Their feelings could be hurt quite easily, though not a lot of people knew this.

"Professor, is a wand truly that sentient beyond choosing a witch or wizard?" Hermione asked, her voice fascinated.

"To a certain extent, yes. This allows a wand and its master to bond with one another so that they can work in tandem. If there's a disconnect, however, it is that much harder," Professor Flitwick replied. Ron nodded, taking in the man's words, frowning in concentration.

"Okay," the boy finally said, nodding as he took the wand back into his hands. "I am sorry. I promise to work with you as long as I have you," he murmured looking at the instrument and Hermione watched this silently, her eyes widening in surprise when there seemed to be a slight hum from the wand in Ron's hands, almost as if it was agreeing with him. Wow. I didn't expect something like that, she thought to herself.

"Now when handling a wand, you want a grip that is strong but also loose enough to move it about freely if need be," the charms professor stated, demonstrating with his own wand and then smiled as the students mimicked him and he once more levitated himself so that he could float about the room to offer advice when and where it was needed.

When the class was over, the students headed out with Harry, Hermione, and Seamus looking at the schedules they had gotten and then headed left while their classmates turned to the right. Seeing this, Ron hurried after them.

"Oi! You three are going the wrong way," he informed them. "Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall is next," he said showing them his schedule.

"Not for us. We have mathematics with a Professor Darling," Seamus Finnigan replied, as he and Hermione pulled out their own schedules.

"Why do you have a weird subject like that?" Ron wondered. I wonder what mathematics is. maybe it's something like Arithmancy, he mused. He'd have to talk to his dad. According to Mum, his father had taken muggle courses as a child and had excelled in them.

"Because we still need to learn this stuff," Hermione stated as she resumed her walk, putting her schedule away.

"We'll see you later, promise," Harry told Ron and he and Seamus followed Hermione until they got to the classroom that was on their schedule, each of them also putting their schedule away.

"Oh good. I'm not going to be alone," Dean Thomas stated with a relieved smile as the others sat down. Hearing a throat being cleared, they all turned to see a woman who was seemed to be about five feet tall with jet black hair and brown eyes, dressed in a crisp white blouse covered by a blue blazer, the top half of her outfit complemented by a black skirt, tan nylons, and brown boots.

"Good morning, I am Gwendolyn Darling. You may call Miss Darling. This is elementary mathematics," she began crisply once she had their attention. "Since this is our first day, I'm just going to give you an assessment test to see where you are so that I can better teach you. Raise your hand when you're finished and I'll collect your papers. If you're finished before someone else, you may read or draw quietly," she continued, handing them sheets of paper. "You may begin," she told them and the kids immediately went to work. Wow. I can't believe they even have regular subjects here, Harry thought to himself. It was amazing. Okay, he to focus. He didn't want to give Miss Darling a reason to give a bad report on him. If that happened, he'd be in trouble and he didn't want to be in trouble. He wanted to belong. Was that so bad? Okay, focus. He needed to focus. He didn't want Miss Darling thinking that he was useless like Petunia always said he was. Biting his lip in concentration, Harry worked at the sheet that had been handed to him. Everything was rather easy. He had always liked school, except for the fact that he had had to cater to Dudley's "delicate feelings" and not do better than him in anything, making teachers believe that he was rather stupid. But here, it seemed like he was expected to do well. No one had even heard of Dudley, and he wanted to show them all what he could do. After all, he didn't want them to decide that they had made a mistake by letting him into the school. Beside him, he could hear the others scratching away at their worksheets, but he ignored them. He didn't want to get into trouble. When he was finally done, he stopped and raised his hand. Looking around, he saw that Hermione and Dean also had their hands raised. Oh good. She won't think I'm trying to be better than everyone else, he thought in relief. Yes, he wanted to do well in his studies, but he knew better than to draw unnecessary attention to himself. But at the same time…he wanted to prove that he wasn't stupid. Was that so wrong? He just wasn't sure. What he did know was that he wanted this to be a fresh start for himself. He just had to figure out a balance. Do well enough that they'd let him stay, but not so well that it garnered undue attention to himself. He gave himself a mental shake and watched as Miss Darling collected the papers. Once his was collected, he pulled out a book entitled Introduction To Potions and began reading it.

Presently, he became aware of someone staring at him and he turned to see the others looking at him.

"What?" he queried.

"Class is over," Hermione told him.

"Sorry. I got engrossed," he apologized. At this, Hermione grinned. Another reader! Excellent! she thought to herself. She hadn't thought that she'd run into one. After all, her luck had never run that way before.

"I completely understand," she assured him as he picked up his book, stood up, and then followed the others out. In the hallways, Sean, Dean, Hermione, and Harry were met by Professor McGonagall.

"All done with your mathematics class?" she queried politely.

"Yes Ma'am," Harry answered for the group.

"Wonderful," she stated. "Now then, let's get down to business. As I'm sure you've deduced, those with muggle blood in them have to double up on classes, otherwise when you graduate from Hogwarts, you will only have what would amount to a grade four education which does you no good. To combat that, teachers use a time turner and a memory spell to allow students to get a full education," she continued.

"We can turn back time?" Sean gasped. "Wicked!" At this, the professor gave him a disapproving scowl. There's one every year, she thought grumpily. Well, better to discourage any thoughts of mischief now.

"The turning back of time is not something that's done lightly. However, as stated, it is the only way to ensure that wizards and witches with a muggle background receive their full education," she responded. At this, the students nodded.

"How does the spell work?" Hermione wondered, curiosity in her voice.

"A minute amount of blood is taken from the student in question and smeared on the time turner which is then set for the specific time daily. It is only done once and each professor has their own time turner," Professor McGonagall answered as she got the instruments she needed out of her robe pockets, resulting in the group to pale slightly. Blood? They had to give blood?

"What's the blood for?" Dean asked, trying to resist the urge to gulp. He hated needles or getting poked.

"To key a student into the spell. Otherwise, time would turn for everyone, not just the person it's intended for," Professor McGonagall replied, setting her things on a small bench that had been conjured up during the conversation. At this, the kids lined up and the woman made quick work of pricking their fingers over what appeared to be an hour glass inside a pocket watch. "Maneat memoria," she intoned and then began winding the watch. The kids stared at her and then began to look around. Then, things began flowing backwards and there was a white light.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Maneat memoria is Latin for "Let the memory remain" according to Google Translate. If this is wrong, I apologize. I tried. As you can see, I didn't stray too much from the students or teachers in this chapter and probably won't in the next chapter because these are the set ups to introduce the kids to the wizarding world and their classes. I will try to get other point of views in other chapters. This was mainly written cause after watching the movies and reading the books, it occurred to me that unless muggle born and half-blood wizards and witches went to summer school, once they graduated from Hogwarts, they would have no better than a fourth grade (Grade 4) education in the real world and hence, Muggle Studies being its own course of subjects rather than just the study of muggles was incorporated.