Howdy everyone. It's been quite a while since I updated. I've been hunting for a muse for this story and it has finally struck me again. Overall though I am sorry for the delay in this story and wanna thank everyone for sending me so much support with it.
That night Harry wrote a note to his father about being sorted into Gryffindor and said how Hermione, and Neville were both with him as well. Susan had followed her aunt's path with being part of the House of Loyalty which he admitted made so much sense. He made a small comment about how Aunt Minnie looked both overjoyed but also exasperated that he was in her house and suggested that it might be because of his father's legacy at the school which caused him to laugh as he wrote.
The Gryffindors, by Hermione's suggestion, had decided that getting up early would probably be the best and ended up going to bed early. This allowed them to get down to breakfast at a reasonable time which they smiled seeing Susan had also had the same idea. Harry waved at her to come over which she got up and moved down to sit with them.
"Morning!"
"You too Susan." Neville smiled at his second friend "How was it?"
"It's actually pretty nice." She looked around to make sure no one was looking over her shoulder. "The older students went to the kitchen which is right next to us and got food for a celebration for everyone that was put in Hufflepuff."
"You know you could have asked too." Harry tipped in and saw the three of them look at him. "What? You guys didn't think your opinion mattered in the decision?" They all blinked their eyes. "Ah…just me….got it…."
Neville shook his head playfully. "Only you Harry." He chuckled before rolling off the mock glare from Harry himself.
Harry was about to retort when he felt a kick to his shin and a cough.
"Ah good to see some of my Lions down here so early." A voice could be heard over them causing Harry to turn around and see McGonagall looking down at them with a pleased smile across her face. "Now here are your sche- Miss Bones?"
"Yes, Professor?" McGonagall seemed to look at the quartet for a good long moment before she smiled and with a quick flick of her wand summoned a form from Sprout's pile by her table.
"Nothing just, Five points to each of you for not letting house rivalries splitting up good friends." She smiled before continuing where she left off. "Here are your schedules for this coming year. Luckily enough you will all have some classes together. Please be on your best behavior."
"Don't trust me Aunt Minnie?" Harry asked sheepishly which got him a look from her. "You know what? Fair." This drew giggles from the others and even a small turn of Minerva's lip upwards before she walked off to give more schedules out.
"Let's see classes start at nine, two classes afterward, then lunch and a break, start again at one, class in the evening, dinner, then back to dorms. We do have weekends off." Susan stated as she read over the schedule.
"And one night we are led to the astronomy towers for that class."
"We are going to want to make a studying schedule I. Order to keep up with this. " Hermione spoke up as her eyes were sparkling with excitement.
Harry smiled as he saw what classes they all had. Herbology turns out was gonna be Monday , Tuesday, and Thursday they had Herbology as one of their morning classes, Friday they had Potions only as a double class in the morning with the afternoons off. Charms on Tuesday and Thursday mornings before Herbology. Transfiguration was Monday after Herbology and Wednesday evening. Defense Against the Dark Arts was Wednesday and Tuesday evening. With History of Magic being Wednesday morning as a double. Astronomy although had stargazing on Wednesday at midnight they also had a theory class Monday evening. Thursday evenings were labeled as flying classes which was designated to start next week.
Weirdly enough seeing the schedule in front of him now made it all the more real to Harry which only stoked his excitement. He then noticed something down the ways when the two redheads they had met in the train looked down at something. They seemed to be snickering. Must be a prank they are planning. If he had a good sense of the twins. Perhaps some fellow Marauder inductees, the thought sneaked into his mind causing him to smirk.
"Professor?" Hermione's voice brought him back as they looked up and saw Sprout near them as she had begun handing out her schedules as well.
"Yes Miss?"
"Granger Ma'am. Do you have a map of the school? It's quite large."
"Five points to Gryffindor for quick thinking and forethought." She flicked her wrist and four maps appeared on the table for the students. "If you have any questions feel free to ask portraits or ghosts…though stay away from Peeves. He's quite the trickster." She walked away muttering about a whomping something dyed pink.
"Good thinking Hermione." Harry praised causing the young girl to blush slightly at the attention. They proceeded to finish their breakfast before standing. Luckily, since Herbology was first thing this morning, they could all go to class together and with the map it was a quick and simple trip. It also helped that some of the castle Harry recognized from the times he was here being babysat by Minerva in the summers.
"Come in everybody, don't be afraid!" A voice from inside shouted as the first year Hufflepuff and Gryffindors came in. There Professor sprout stood putting on her gloves and smiling in her garb. "Come in come in, there's a seat for everyone. Put your bags at the walls. Now for those who don't know-"
The doors burst open as the red haired boy and sandy haired individuals who Harry recognized as being Gryffindors. Ron and Seamus if he remembered their names correctly.
"That'll be five points from Gryffindor each for tardiness boys. Now as I was stating, I am Professor Pomona Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff and your professor for Herbology. Now what is Herbology you may ask. Herbology is the study of the care and uses of plants and their magical properties. With this class I not only expect you to do good here in this class but also in potions….Professor Snape notwithstanding that is. " This caused a chuckle throughout the class. Clearly all of them had already heard the rumors about Professor Snape. Harry most of all from his uncles and father. And thus they began the day off on class procedures and safety requirements along with a syllabus in case they wanted to research ahead of time before classes. Overall the class was quite simple and they were informed the next day they'd start on something called a Bouncing Bulb.
Although slightly disappointed that their first class wasn't Transfiguration, Harry had to admit that Professor Sprout had a way to make the class fun and entertaining. She was a ball of light to say the least and it made it pretty clear why she was the Head of Hufflepuff House.
"Isn't it amazing?!" Neville spoke aloud after they left the class. "SO many different properties for just simple plants and Morgana only knows what would happen with crossbred ones!"
"Wooooow there Nev." Harry held up his hands. "Breath mate."
"I am actually agreeing with Neville on this one, Harry." Susan sided with the shyer friend. "There is so much we still don't know and experimenting is the only possible way."
"Maybe you'll write a book someday, Neville. You're one of the only people I've seen who were staring starry eyed in there. Don't get me wrong, the class is interesting and I am planning on reading ahead but I still would choose an office job from that point." Hermione added her two thoughts to it.
The gang had a thirty minute gap between this and their next class but unfortunately Susan wouldn't be there for it. She apparently had History of Magic next with the Slytherins, unlike the Gryffindors who had Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws. It seemed that the tension between Gryffindors and Slytherins had resulted in them only having one class together unlike the other classes, or maybe this was a thing to cause tension now that Harry thought about it in comparison to everything else.
Makes sense, he thought. Keep most of the supremacists in Slytherin isolated to brew their ideas and then in later years open it up so it affects all of them. It did cause a sour taste in his mouth and made him realize that perhaps come Potions class he should attempt to partner up with a Slytherin or perhaps invite some if he sees one alone when studying. Harry didn't have too long to consider this mind you as he, Neville, and Hermione had to get to class. As soon as they entered they saw a Cat sitting on the main desk and sat down with them in a row. Harry smirked at the cat who eyed him for a moment and he playfully waved at it as the class filled up. A board with instructions to copy down what was written, which was an alphabet with its translation script to english.
It was a moment after the class was pretty full, once again Ron and Seamus showed up late, to which Harry had to wonder how they had done that. He had given them the benefit of doubt with mornings probably being a bit rough with them waking up in a place unlike their normal homes but twice in one day was ridiculous.
"Good we beat the professor." Ron sighed in relief as he and the pale sandy haired boy made their way to some seats.
"I know right, imagine if we were late to two classes on the first day."
Their mood was quickly squashed as the cat leaped from the table and changed mid air to the form of Professor McGonagall who stared at the two of them.
"That was brilliant."
"Why thank you, Mr. Weasley, though perhaps next time you and Mr. Finnegan should find a new path to class. One with less distractions."
"Sorry, Professor, it was Peeves he locked the door we were going to go through and had to cut around the entire building." Ron excused.
"Very well ... .today I will accept that but in the future please be more attentive." Professor McGonagall headed to the front as the two finally took their seats. "Now, without further adieu, Good Morning and welcome to First Year Transfiguration. My name, if you did not catch it at the sorting ceremony, is Professor Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House, Deputy Headmistress, and Professor of Transfiguration." She waved her wand and the curtains on the windows changed to woodend covers which secured themselves against the walls bringing in full light. The desks and chairs shifted to different levels to aid the students with being able to see if they were in the back while demonstrating some. Even the tables changed to incorporate designs of all four houses. "Now can anyone tell me what Transfiguration is?"
One hand immediately jumped upward followed by another.
"Yes, Mr. Potter."
"The branch of magic that focuses on changing something by its molecular structure." Hermione stared wide eyed at the fact that Harry had gotten the answer before her.
"Excellent, Ten Points to Gryffindor. That is exactly what it is." McGonagall showed a smile at him before she gestured to the board. "And the first thing you must know about it is how to understand how transfiguration speaks. It is, as any language, something one must learn in order to be able to speak or spell it correctly. Yes, I know the joke there. Once you can recognize the language of Transfiguration we will move on to the formula with how to complete even the simplest of changes. By the end of your schooling I expect you all to be well versed in the art."
The rest of the class was simple enough with them being given words in the transfiguration language and ciphering it back to normal English or vice versa. In a way it was extremely comforting to know that this was their first introduction to the art. Well most of their first introductions. Harry had slowly grown bored of the language part of it due to his past lessons with his father. At the end of class however they were all tasked with researching the unfortunate side effects of misspelling and mis-translation.
"Mr. Potter please stay behind." She asked Harry who nodded and once the class was emptied she gestured to the seat beside her desk. "How is your first day Harry?"
"It's going alright Aunt Minnie…"
"Oh now, don't give me that Harry. What's bothering you?" Minerva asked as she looked at the boy.
"It's nothing against you Auntie, it's just…" He paused and she couldn't help but smile as she saw something familiar.
"You are so much like your parents." This caused Harry to look up at her.
"What?"
"James and Lily were both so bored in mine and Flitwick's classes respectively. It doesn't surprise me that you find these first lessons boring Harry…so here's what we are going to do. In the coming weeks we will start doing some transfiguration spells. If I see you are advancing in a way unlike others then we will test you and forge a curriculum path specially for you as we would any student who shows advancement."
This brought a smile to Harry's face who hugged her tightly. "Thank you Aunt Minnie!"
"It is no problem Rionnag Seilg." Minerva's Scottish heritage came forward as she squeezed her god-grandson before letting him go to eat with his friends and have a break before his Astronomy theory class. She sighed softly as she watched them and pulled out a journal from her desk. It had been about twelve years since she had pulled it out.
Lunch went by pretty quick and it gave the quartet to breath and go outside to explore the grounds. Although they didn't explore too much it was still nice to get some fresh air after two classes back to back this morning. It also allowed Harry to split off and sneak to Filch's office.
"Accio Marauder's Map." He whispered and scolded as none of the papers flew to his hand. He snuck back out and towards the Astronomy tower. Where Neville and Hermione were waiting for him.
"Where were you?" Hermione asked curiously with a raised eyebrow that reminded him way too much of Minerva.
"Exploring. I haven't seen the castle since last summer." Harry omitted some of the truth there but he was in all sense ... .exploring. He smiled though as the class was brought in and saw a smiling woman who gestured out to the maps along the walls of this class room.
"Welcome. Welcome." A dark skinned woman with olive robes and a pointed hat with astrological signs smiled at them all. "I am Professor Aurora Sinistra, ladies and gentlemen. And I will be your Professor for Astronomy. I have learned what I have from Uagadou. Does anyone know what that is?"
One hand shot up.
"Yes? Miss?"
"Patil, Padme Patil ma'am." A girl of Indian descent sat beside a girl, who if Harry was insane he'd thought he'd be seeing double, who must have been her twin sister. "That is a magical school in Africa well known for their Astronomy, Alchemy, and Self Transfiguration."
"Fifteen points to Ravenclaw for being knowledgeable in schools outside of britain." Professor Sinistra grinned. "But yes, That is where my education has come from and I am considered a well-founded expert in the field. Now you are aware that the true stargazing will be done Wednesday nights. During these times my NEWT students in Seventh year will be aiding me as teaching assistants incase you have any questions. Here however we will be going over the theory and uses of this branch of magic." She informed them. Similarly to his other classes this was a pretty basic first day of getting them prepared for the rest of the year.
It was a nice way to end their classes for the day and the theory of how the magic would affect their magic actually had piqued an interest in Harry as it could help him with understanding how his family had figured out animagus transformations so quickly in school. Overall Harry thought it was a pretty good first day at Hogwarts.