After the culture shock of his first week at Hogwarts, Harry quickly settled into a routine of classes, homework and spending time with Ernie Macmillan. Ernie, being a more outgoing personality than Harry, would routinely strike up a conversation with many of the other Hufflepuff first year students, either before class or in the common room. Harry was equal parts impressed with Ernie's ability to walk up to someone and join in on whatever they were talking about, and anxious about having to talk with so many different people himself. When he admitted as much to his friend, Ernie simply gave a good natured laugh and explained it was all just about getting to know the children of some of the families his parents knew, and it also had the added benefit of getting to meet new people and being fun! Harry idly wondered how on earth the first friend he'd managed to make was so obviously extraverted.
So, although an invitation was always extended to him to join Ernie and whoever he was talking to, after the first few times Harry began to beg off and simply used the time to explore the castle or read ahead on what had quickly become his favourite subject: Defence Against the Dark Arts.
Far from being an outlier to grab the attention of the new first years, their initial lesson had set the tone and Professor Quirrel had charged full steam ahead with his insistence that magic was merely ostensibly light or dark, and that the full scope of what they would need to defend themselves from was impossible to measure.
Not everyone appreciated Quirrel's insights the same way Harry did, however; Hannah Abott - a blond haired Hufflepuff girl in their year group - had been extremely vocal in her disapproval, and had found herself with a few around her nodding along in agreement.
"How can he possibly expect us to believe that there is no such thing as good and evil magic! The Church of the Light explicitly states that dark magic is the path to ruin. Its existence is a curse upon wizard kind and serves no purpose other than to steer us away from the light and into temptation! I remember three solstices past when the High Luminary gave his traditional address during the Litha sabbath..."
Growing up with the Dursleys, Harry had heard enough about religion from door knockers to know that he had absolutely zero interest in being around Hannah when she was in the middle of one of her tirades. He didn't need a sermon to realise that his defence professor's opinions were obviously not widely held. Nevertheless, Harry didn't think the Headmistress was the type to hire teaching staff idly - he doubted McGonagall would have given Quirrell a second glance if there was no truth to his words.
He also couldn't help but feel excited by the conviction in which the lesson's were delivered. Even many of Hannah's supporters found it hard to argue with when Quirrel backed up his statements, going into great detail about how one particular healing charm was capable of ending lives if used maliciously. This was then compared with a spell that the Ministry currently classified as dark but which was capable of curing a rare illness. All in all, Harry had a lot of thoughts to occupy his time and quickly found the days remaining in September were rapidly running out.
After the second weekend of the month, the excitement in the common room had risen to new levels when Miles Brown - one of three remaining players from last year's winning quidditch team, and this year's new team captain - posted the results of quidditch tryouts on the notice board. The fervour that had briefly gripped Hufflepuff at the announcement of the mostly new team had trickled down to the first years, many of whom were now eagerly awaiting their own opportunity to get up in the air during their upcoming mandatory flying lesson. And so it was, on the last Saturday morning of September that Harry and his year mates found themselves standing on the quidditch pitch. Uniquely, this time they were not alone; the full morning flying lesson was to be shared with Ravenclaw.
The almost 80 students stood in two distinct groups - although Ernie and a few of the Hufflepuff girls had tried socialising with some of the more approachable Ravenclaws, any conversation was short lived as the Ravenclaw's almost universally made it clear that making small talk with strangers was not particularly high on their to do list.
Just as Ernie had made his way back over to Harry, a strongly built woman with short grey hair and yellow eyes approached the field from the Ravenclaw side. Leaning in to whisper to his friend, Harry pointed out her arrival.
"Madam Hooch - she's Gryffindor's head of house" Ernie whispered back. "People expect her to favour Gryffindor, but I've been reliably told it's just the opposite - she gives them a proper dressing down if they lose."
Finally reaching the front of the large group of students, Madam Hooch took less than a second to assess their number before launching into her lesson.
"Well. Is this all of you then?" she shouted to be heard. "We've got no time to waste, so any stragglers will just have to catch up. I want your full attention for the next half an hour as we cover the safety essentials, and only after I'm satisfied that what I've said has stuck will you be getting up into the air. I won't be stopping the lesson for questions and for the sake of expediency I'll assume that your full focus from this moment forward is on what I have to say to you. It's in your very best interests that it is; If I catch anyone mucking about on a broom today they'll find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say 'quidditch.'
Towards the end of Hooch's lecture, two additional instructors made an appearance on the quidditch field and began setting up a number of areas, including two sections at opposite ends of the field where they deposited a number of brooms. After dividing the students into four groups, each having a combined twenty Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students, she directed one of the groups to follow her and one to follow an assistant to the brooms at opposite ends of the pitch. The remaining two groups stayed with the second assistant to go over broomstick fundamentals and a safety quiz. Eager to be up in the air, Harry found himself along with Ernie in a group following madam Hooch.
Arriving by the brooms, Madam Hooch wasted no further time. "Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles.
"Stick out your dominant hand over your broom" called Madam Hooch, "and say 'up!'"
"UP" everyone shouted. Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, but it was one of the few that did. The broom belonging to a bushy haired Ravenclaw girl that Harry vaguely remembered from the sorting ceremony had simply rolled over on the ground. Other's still hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Harry; there was a tremor in a surprising number of the Ravenclaw's voices that spoke only too clearly of a desire to keep their feet firmly on the ground.
Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. "Now, when I blow my whistle, you'll kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. Under no circumstances will you fly beyond our section of the pitch. On my whistle! Three, two, one."
The shrill noise of the whistle was soon replaced by the voices of twenty students kicking off the ground to mixed levels of success. Harry, who had risen quickly, stabilised his altitude and then leaned forward, bringing himself slowly back to ground.
Looking around, Harry noticed Ernie wobbling noticeably on his broom as he touched back down beside him; the pair sharing a wide grin before attempting the process again at madam Hooch's instruction.
After ten more minutes of this, those who Hooch deemed ready were permitted to take a low speed flight within the air space above their allocated area of the pitch while the others continued to focus on lifting off and touching down. It was sometime after this, as Harry contentedly cruised along on his school broom - occasionally picking up speed and climbing higher - that he decided that he would absolutely be doing this again soon.
After their session with Hooch was over, they all walked back to where they had begun as they and the other previously flying group sat through yet another safety speech and as well some advice and a demonstration of some of the fundamentals of flying such as how to turn sharply and to read wind direction. At the end of the morning's flying session, Madam Hooch read out a list of all those students who she had deemed good enough to be allowed the supervised recreational use of school brooms during weekends and after class, as well as the date and time for a follow up lesson for any who's name had not been called and who wished to try again. After finishing up the second notice, she dismissed them to a late lunch so that they could prepare the pitch for the Gryffindor and Slytherin first years.
As the pitch began to empty of students, Harry and Ernie hung back to walk with the other members of their dormitory. They were almost back to the castle gates, and as Justin was animatedly explaining how he managed to faceplant off the side of his broom without ever taking off to begin with, a loud laugh interrupted them.
"Take notes Longbottom - it might be better to fall on your fat face than your fat arse." A boy with sandy hair and an Irish lilt to his voice sniggered as he and his friends pushed past a short boy with a round face.
Harry stopped in his tracks, as did his dorm mates. Ernie surveyed the scene with a frown; Harry thought that might be the first time he'd seen the outgoing Hufflepuff boy with anything other than a smile on his face.
"Steady on now, boys. That's not really called for, is it?"
His patience already thin from having had to sit back through a second broom safety lecture, Harry let out a sigh and brought a hand to his face. A lifetime of dealing with bullies gave him the instinctive knowledge that far from being cowed, his - pompous at times - friend's remarks would only add fuel to the fire. A second burst of laughter confirmed Harry's thoughts.
"Hear that Lads! The Hufflepuffs are sticking up for fat-bottom! Aren't ye lucky Nevie mate! Do us a favour won't you Longbottom and ask if they'll take you with 'em. I reckon if ye…"
"Today has been a good day so far. Are you going to fuck that up for me?"
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Harry in shock - Ernie's mouth actually fell open at hearing his generally quite reserved friend speak in such a way. Harry - who had gambled on one of the very few things in life he had actually learned from his cousin Dudley - was staring directly at the Irish boy.
A few months after the incident with Piers Polkiss, Dudley had tried to 'educate' Harry on 'how to be tough like him.' Now, while Dudley had never taken pleasure in causing people physical pain, he did confess to Harry that he got a thrill out of the stare down before a fight started; partly for the adrenaline rush and partly for the fun of messing with someone's head.
One of Dudley's favourite methods for coming off as tough was what he called the 'calm psycho.' Fittingly for something that Dudley approved of, it was a rather simple concept. "Don't lose your cool and stare them down until they crack. Never break eye contact" Dudley lectured. "Oh, and use swears! Not a lot of them, but swearing in a calm voice freaks people out for some reason" he added with a laugh. "It'd work better if you were a unit like me, but since you're scrawny, stick with the psyche out."
Harry hoped that he was projecting a presence of being calm and in control, both of which his racing heart could attest to were lies.
"Ah, Potter. That's ah…" The Sandy haired boy, clearly not expecting to have been called out by a national celebrity, was at a loss for words. Fortunately for Harry, one of the other Gryffindors made the decision for everyone.
"Come on Seamus" a boy with dark hair and skin muttered.
"Yeah" a tall gryffindor with red hair and freckles quickly agreed. "Let's get to flying before the Slytherinsget here. Malfoy and that git Zabini would be unbearable if they saw this."
Throwing Harry a confused look, the redhead dragged his friends away, leaving the Hufflepuffs and Longbottom standing awkwardly in silence.
Harry let out a deep breath that he hadn't realised he'd been holding. The full weight of what he had just done crashed into him. Wiping his sweaty palms on his robes, he took a step forward on weak knees, his arms dropping heavily to his side. Turning to his still stunned dorm mates, he gave them a nervous grin. "Guess that worked then."
"That was brilliant!" Justin exploded, the first of the boys to recover. "I can't believe you said that!"
"Too right!" Ernie was next to recover from the momentary shock. "I can't say I expected you to say something quite so crass, or, well, to say anything at all…" he confessed with a sheepish smile. "You've certainly made an impression on the Gryffindors though, not that it wasn't the right thing to do of course. You're alright then? Longbottom, was it?"
This last part he directed at the sole remaining Gryffindor. Startled at being addressed so unexpectedly, the boy ducked his head and mumbled into his robes. Apparently realising no one could hear him, he lifted his chin slightly and spoke just loud enough for the Hufflepuffs to make out his words. "Neville… just Neville is fine…"
"Smashing." Ernie beamed. "Well, we'd best let you be off to flying lessons then, and we should be on our way too - I know all this fuss has got me eager for a bite to eat."
With that the Hufflepuffs, having all collected themselves now, made their way up toward the castle, nudging Harry with their shoulder and excitedly telling and retelling the event from each of their points of view. Looking back over his shoulder, Harry shot a shaky thumbs up to a still stationary Neville Longbottom, before continuing forward with the others. With his back to the castle grounds and his mind on lunch, Harry would never see the small smile he received in reply.
The excitement and adrenaline from the confrontation with the Gryffindors stayed with Harry and his dorm mates for the remainder of the day, emboldening them to even explore some more of the castle after dinner that night. Their adventure through Hogwarts had taken them up to the heights of the North Tower, then down a secret passage hidden behind a tapestry in the Divination corridor that spat them out next to the duelling chambers. After taking turns standing at opposite ends of one of the duelling piste while holding mock combat poses, four of the boys continued on, with Wayne and Roger heading back to the Common Room to put the finishing touches on some homework they'd neglected during the week.
The search for secret passages continued, and after finding one behind a statue of a crying monk, this time their exploration led them directly underneath the Clock Tower, where they emerged from a loose section of bricks in the floor.
Looking out from one of the windows, Harry took the time to enjoy the view, his gaze eventually turning past a small collection of hut-like structures to the dark expanse beyond them that he sensed more than saw. With the sun having long since set, the Forbidden Forrest's imposing presence was barely distinguishable as a blurred line against the starless sky.
A choked noise from Stephen Cornfoot had Harry turning around in alarm, only to find out that while the boy was quite alright, if they didn't return to the Hufflepuff Common Room quickly that was liable to change; they had slightly more than five minutes until curfew.
Wayne Hopkins was the first out of the tower, and with him at the lead, the first year's made their way back down a spiral staircase to the third floor corridor and had gotten as far as the hospital wing when a voice cut through the silence.
"Wandering around so close to curfew, ickle Firsties? Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty! "
"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please." Ernie hurriedly spoke.
"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves, adopting an innocent look, but his eyes gleamed cruelly, giving the game away. "It's for your own good, you know. Althouuuuuuugh" he spoke as though savouring the word. "Spose I could make an exception," he grinned as the Hufflepuffs faces lit up with hope, "IF, you can answer my riddle."
"Come on, let's hear it then" Ernie replied, taking note of the time on his own wrist watch.
A satisfied smirk wound its way across the poltergeist's face. "Why is a raven like a writing desk?"
Four blank looks were his only response.
"Ugh." Harry supplied helpfully.
After a couple more minutes of frantic silence, Justin hazarded a guess. "Because one is 'nevaR' backwards and the other is 'For words'?"
A widening smile was his only reply.
Sighing, Ernie threw in the towel. "We don't have the time for this. Go on then, what's the answer?
"I haven't the slightest idea" said Peeves.
"Oh just get out of the way!" snapped Stephen, taking a swipe at the poltergeist. This was a mistake.
"FIRSTIES OUT OF BOUNDS!" Peeves bellowed, "FIRSTIES OUT OF BOUNDS BY THE HOSPITAL WING!"
Bolting straight through Peeves, the boys ran for their life, aware that their brief run in with the mischievous spirit had cost them what precious little time they had up their sleeves. Running with no real direction other than away from Peeves, they quickly passed by the charms room until they found themselves in front of a closed door on the right hand side wall of the corridor. At the front of the group now, Harry reached for the handle but as his hand closed around it he found himself filled with the sudden desire to try another exit instead.
Looking away from the door and shaking his head slightly, Harry quickly realised they had gone past the exit to the charms corridor and was about to say as much when yet another voice reached their ears.
"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."
The sound of Filch the caretaker speaking to his cat Mrs. Norris filled the boys with dread. The sound of footsteps carried to the boys, coming from beyond the exit Harry had just identified!
"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."
Mind running in overdrive and his actions fuelled by panic, Harry - with his hand still on the door - spasmed involuntarily, the sudden movement pushing down on the handle and the weight of his body doing the rest as he fell inside the doorway.
The other four boys rushed in after him, and half tripped over their friend in their eagerness to evade detection. Shutting the door behind him, Ernie let out a shaky breath. "That was too close."
Picking himself off the floor and dusting his robes off, Harry looked around at a corridor that held the appearance of disuse. A fine layer of dust coated the floor, and the air held a staleness of a room that hadn't experienced the airflow of open doors for some while.
"Where are we?" Stephen gave voice to the question on all of their minds.
"I think" Harry said slowly, "that we're in the third floor corridor that Mcgonagall said was closed. We took the door on the right hand side so…"
"The words she used were 'out of bonds'" Ernie whispered. "Maybe we shouldn't be here."
"It was either this or Filch" Justin fired back. "Besides, this doesn't look like it's being renovated to me. In need of a good clean to be sure, but nothing beyond that. Maybe they haven't started yet? Bit odd they didn't lock up the place though."
The last remnants of a memory caused Harry to pause at Justin's words. "I think they did… sort of anyway. When I first went to open it, it was like I just… I don't know… stopped wanting to go inside? I'm not really sure. All I know is that as soon as I touched the handle I wanted to walk away."
"Wards, or maybe some kind of compulsion charms?" Ernie mused thoughtfully.
"Guess whoever cast them didn't count on the boy who lived nearly pissing his pants in fright and falling through the doorway" sniggered Stephen. A firm shove from Harry had them all laughing, the tension broken for the moment.
"Let's not stand around then, chaps" Ernie decided. "Filch shouldn't check for us behind that door, but why take the risk."
The group of Hufflepuff first years made their way down the corridor, the layer of dust muffling the sound of their footsteps. They passed by a few empty classrooms and after walking through a zig-zagged section of hallway Harry found himself running into the back of Justin.
Any words Harry had been about to say to Justin died on his lips; they had found themselves gazing straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, one so large that it filled the entire space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes. Three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction, and three drooling mouths; saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.
It was standing quite still, all six of its eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden meeting had surprised it as much as it had them. A set of deep, menacing growls made it clear the dog was quickly adjusting to the change of circumstances.
"RUN!" Someone, or perhaps all of them screamed.
The deafening echo of barks reverberated through the corridor behind them; the sound of each one was felt in their bodies like a physical slap, their presence hung like thunder over head. The four of them slammed into the doorway, fumbling for the handle before someone had the presence of mind to yank it open. They tumbled out into the corridor and continued running, never noticing the door closing slowly behind them of its own accord.
It was a while before any of them stopped running for long enough to say anything. Stephen looked like he'd just as easily never speak again.
"What do they think they're playing at, keeping an animal like that locked up in a school?" said Justin finally. "I know the magical world operates a bit differently to what I'm used to but that's too much!"
Harry leaned forward on his knees, his weight supported by the castle wall as he drew in deep breaths. "Did you see what it was standing on?.
"The floor?" Justin snarled. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its three effing heads!"
"No, not the floor. Well… yes, - but! - It was standing on a trapdoor. Someone's put it there on purpose."
"Who cares!" Ernie put an end to the discussion. "You can argue about what that beast was or wasn't doing later; we need to get back to the common room, now!"
But Harry couldn't shake the thought from his mind, and when he finally climbed into bed that night his head was full of questions. What was the dog doing there? And what possible need could there be for something like that at Hogwarts? What was underneath that trap door?
Flying and fleeing. Let me know your thoughts in the reviews!