A/N: Hello. Here's the newest chapter of Harry Potter: Prince of Dragons and it's lessons time. Other than that this is mainly a filler chapter.
But first a moment for a blatant plug. I've started work on a new project which is a crossover between Harry Potter and the X-Men which I'm calling Lightning. I just posted a preview chapter of it over on the section for crossovers between Harry Potter and X-Men comics. Please go check it out if you can. Work on that story will not stop work on this one so don't worry about that.
I don't own either Harry Potter or Dungeons and Dragons. They belong to their respective creators. The only things that are mine are the story itself and any original characters I might come up with. Please read and review; I always appreciate feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome, however no flames please.
13 – LESSONS
As Harry circled above Hogwarts castle he surveyed the area around the school. He could see far in all directions including the lake, the Forbidden Forest, Hogsmeade Village, and the mountains beyond.
"Nice view up here, isn't it?" said a voice to Harry's right. Harry twisted his long neck around to see who was there and found the Weasley twins riding brooms near him.
"What are you two doing up here?" he asked them.
"We've always wanted to fly with a dragon" said Fred, "and this is the first chance we've ever had to do it without risking getting burned up."
"Do I want to hear about the times you did risk getting burned up?" Harry asked causing Fred to chuckle but he said nothing.
"When we saw you take off" said George, "we rushed back to our dorm room, grabbed our brooms and flew out of the window to join you."
"Okay" said Harry, "but make sure to stay in front of my wings unless you want to get caught in the wind they make. Also stay near my head where I can see you. I don't want to accidentally hit you if I twist my neck suddenly."
"Right" said Fred.
"So why don't you tell me about the land around here?" said Harry, "I know what everything is called but have never actually been here before."
The three of them had made a few loops of the castle before moving away and flying over the Forbidden Forest.
"As you can see" said George, "that's the Forbidden Forest below us."
"Why is it forbidden?" asked Harry.
"Well," said Fred, "everyone says that there are a lot of dangerous beasts in there, although that probably wouldn't be much of a problem for you."
"But we've never actually gotten in to find out" said George.
"Hagrid always chases us off when we try to go in" said Fred. They all banked into a turn and were soon flying over the nearby village.
"Hogsmeade" said George, "only all wizarding settlement in Britain."
"So my parents have told me" said Harry looking down at the village.
"Now that we're in third year" said Fred, "we finally have permission to visit it on certain days."
"You must tell me all about it when you come back" said Harry as they made another turn and headed back towards Hogwarts, this time passing over the lake.
"Does a giant squid really live in the lake?" asked Harry.
"Yes" said George, "you'll see it from time to time."
"It's not dangerous" said Fred, "it knows not to harm the students."
"Sometimes it even helps them" said George.
"When we were riding the boats at the beginning of our first year" said Fred "someone fell out of a boat into the lake. The giant squid grabbed the person and put him back in the boat."
"That's impressive" said Harry as they neared the castle, passing over the greenhouses and then circling around to fly over the Quidditch pitch.
"So is flying with a dragon everything you hoped it would be?" Harry asked the twins as they headed back towards the castle.
"I'd say that – " said George
"– It's pretty great" finished Fred.
"Good" said Harry, "now let's come in for a landing. It looks like the watching crowd has gotten bigger."
"And why not?" said George, "free entertainment is always fun."
"And not easy to come by" said Fred, "let's do one last pass over the lake as we land."
"Okay" said Harry and the three of them made one more circle back away from the castle. They then turned back towards the castle and swooped down low over the lake before finally landing back near where Harry had first taken off.
The crowd had grown bigger while Harry and the Weasley twins had been flying. It looked like most of the school had come out to watch. The teachers were there too and it looked like they were trying to get the students to go back inside.
"Hello everyone" said Fred grinning like crazy.
"Did you enjoy the show?" asked George with a similar grin on his face. Harry, looming over both of them (and everyone else), said nothing but smiled a little to himself as he watched the twins play to the crowd.
"That's enough" said Professor McGonagall stepping forward, "it's almost time for the first classes to start. Everyone who has one please go and get ready. Now please." Most of the crowd gave a sigh of disappointment but they obeyed. Only Harry's fellow Ravenclaw year mates hung back for a few minutes.
"Nice performance" said Neville looking up at Harry.
"Thanks" said Harry looking down at him, "but I just wanted to do some flying. I wasn't trying to impress anyone – well not much at least."
"Yeah but you did" said Terry, "I've never been so close to a dragon before. I'm glad you're our friend."
"Like I said" replied Harry, "I'm not going to hurt anyone."
"Not even if they attack you first?" asked Padma. Harry snorted.
"Why would anyone do that?" he asked, "I'm not looking for fights, but I will defend myself if I have to."
"Children I know you're friends" said Professor Flitwick who had come outside with the other teachers and was now standing next to Professor Snape, "but you should get ready for class."
"Yes Professor" said Hermione as the Ravenclaw first years started to go back inside, "see you at lunch Harry?"
"I'll be there" said Harry.
"Will you be staying in dragon form Mr. Potter?" asked Professor Snape looking up at Harry with a hint of recognition in his face.
"Yes professor" said Harry, "my first teacher today is Urgala the Fang. She's one of my father's inner circle."
"I've heard of her" squeaked Flitwick, "she's your father's military strategist and tactician, right?"
"That's right" said Harry.
"I would like to meet her" said Flitwick, "would you ask her to stay for lunch?"
"I can ask" said Harry.
"Thank you Mr. Potter" said Flitwick, "have a good lesson." Flitwick turned and went back into the castle leaving Harry alone with Professor Snape.
"You're an impressive dragon Mr. Potter" said Snape.
"Thank you" said Harry looking down at him, "it's kind of you to say that. But if you think I'm impressive you should meet my parents in their dragon forms."
"I have" said Snape.
"Really?" said Harry, "my mum said you knew her and my dad when they were mortal, but she didn't tell me that."
"They visited me here at Hogwarts about three weeks ago" said Snape, "as a dragon you look like a mix of both of them."
"I'm glad to hear that" said Harry, "too many people have told me that when I'm human I look like my dad but with my mum's eyes. It's nice to hear something different for a change."
"I'll be honest with you Mr. Potter" said Snape, "I wasn't looking forward to your coming to Hogwarts. I was afraid you'd be a clone of your father when he was human. We were not friends, in fact we were enemies and I didn't want to deal with someone who would be just like him. However seeing you in your dragon form reminds me that you have a mother too. She was a good friend of mine for a long time. I hope you're more like her when she was here than like your father when he was here."
"I'll try" said Harry.
"I'll still be keeping an eye on you" said Snape with a stern voice, "and if you break the rules I'll punish you like I would any other student so don't get a big head thinking you're above all that, even if you are a young royal god."
"I wouldn't expect anything less" said Harry, "my parents didn't raise me to be a spoiled brat – at least I hope not. My father often says that spoiled, pampered princes grow up to be tyrants, and he won't tolerate that in any of his children."
"He said the same thing to me" Snape said with a nod, "do you have a lot of siblings?"
"A fair number" said Harry, "they're all a lot older than I am though. I'm just a baby compared to them. I haven't actually met very many of my brothers and sisters yet although I know about them."
"That..." said Snape as he paused to think about exactly what he wanted to say, "...is, odd – well for humans it would be unusual. But I guess when your family members can live for thousands of years it's probably normal."
"I even have nieces and nephews who are older than I am" said Harry with a chuckle before spotting something happening nearby and turning to look. A large portal was forming and out of it stepped a huge gold dragon.
"Ah" said Harry to Snape, "Urgala is here. I have to go to my lesson now."
"As do I Mr. Potter" said Snape, "have a good morning."
"You too" said Harry, "I will try and get Urgala to stay for lunch so Professor Flitwick can meet her. Will you let him know?"
"I will" said Snape giving Harry a last nod and leaving to go teach his first potions class of the year. Harry turned around to meet Urgala who had come up to him.
"Good morning Prince Harry" said Urgala, "you do not wish to be human today?"
"I was just doing some flying" said Harry, "I haven't changed back yet."
"Well no need for that" said the gold dragon, "I can teach you just as easily in your true form as in your human one. Follow me." She took off and Harry followed her glad of the chance to do more flying.
"I'm glad you felt like flying" said Urgala once they were circling high above the castle, "did you take a look at the lay of the land?"
"In terms of seeing what's in the area yes" said Harry.
"Good" said the gold dragon, "so tell me, just from a quick look at the territory around this castle, if you needed to conquer it where would be the best place to approach it from?"
Harry did a full 360 look of the area again.
"If I want to take them by surprise" said Harry, "I would see about sneaking up as close to the castle as possible by approaching it through the forest. If I successfully avoided detection then when I finally broke cover to attack the walls there would be almost no time for the defenders to mount a defense against my surprise attack."
"Right" said Urgala, "but if you are the castle defenders presumably you would realize that well in advance and would try to have some way to counter such a potential surprise..."
From time to time during the rest of the morning students looking out of Hogwarts windows would see Harry and Urgala flying past as the two dragons discussed tactics and strategy as applied to the attack and defense of fortresses like Hogwarts. Since Harry would one day have a realm of his own to rule this was all stuff he needed to know. As one of Bahamut's chief military leaders whenever he needed to raise an army Urgala was extremely knowledgeable about strategy and tactics of all kinds which made her a logical choice to instruct Harry in this field.
By lunchtime Harry and Urgala had discussed over half a dozen scenarios for both successfully attacking and defending Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade village. Urgala seemed pleased when the lesson ended and the two dragons landed by the front of Hogwarts.
"Very good young prince" said Urgala, "for homework I want you to find out as much about this castle's defenses as you can. As it is a magical castle there will almost certainly be defenses here that are unique to it."
"Okay" said Harry, "can you stay for lunch? One of the professors really wants to meet you."
"I can stay for a little while" said Urgala. The two of them transformed themselves. Harry returned to his human shape. Urgala became a young woman with short hair and a stern face. She was dressed in military fatigues and combat boots.
"This way" said Harry leading her into the castle and then into the great hall where he introduced her to a delighted Professor Flitwick. As a renowned dueling champion Flitwick knew a lot about strategy and he spent that lunch period in deep conversation with her.
At the Ravenclaw table Harry and his year mates talked about their first lessons. Neville admitted that Herbology was almost boring for him but it also meant he was able to help some of his classmates with it. Professor Sprout had briefly held him back at the end of class to talk to him about possible advanced work in the subject.
Near the end of the lunch period Crabbe and Goyle stopped by the Ravenclaw table to say "hi." With them were two girls and another boy. One of the girls had blonde hair and a very cold, even icy expression. The other girl had darker hair and looked more friendly. The boy was dark skinned with high-cheek bones and rather tall for his age.
"That was a good show you put on this morning" Crabbe said to Harry, "it was neat to see you flying around above the castle like that."
"And the two Weasley twins joining you was fun too" added Goyle.
"Thank you" said Harry, "I hope you guys have been having a good day."
"We have" said Crabbe, "oh, thanks for the help in Herbology Longbottom."
"No problem" said Neville.
"Who are your friends?" Harry asked the two Slytherins although before either of them could answer he looked at the blonde girl and added, "actually you look familiar. Do I know you?"
"We met once at a society ball my parents held" said the girl, "that was a couple of years ago though. I'm Daphne Greengrass and this – " she pointed to the other girl, "is my friend Tracey Davis."
"Nice to meet you" said Harry to Tracey before turning back to Daphne, "nice to meet you again. I think I vaguely remember that ball. My godfather took me to it for 'society function experience' I think he called it. I don't remember too much about it although now that you've reminded me I do remember you. I think you and I were the only two kids there and we were near each other a lot of the evening because of that."
"That's right" said Daphne, "my little sister had already gone to bed so she wasn't there and none of the other guests brought kids. If they had it would have been more fun."
"Yes it would have" said Harry before turning back to Crabbe and Goyle, "who's your other friend?"
"This is Blaise Zabini" said Crabbe, "he wanted to meet you."
"How do you do?" said Harry holding out a hand toward Blaise who shook it.
"Not bad, thank you" said Blaise, "I've read about your parents of course, your dragon parents I mean, and always thought they were myths. It's incredible to find out it's all true."
"So I keep hearing" said Harry, "I don't see it that way because, well, they're my parents. I grew up with them. It's an adjustment for me to really understand how other people feel about them and the way they react to them – I'm not explaining this very well, am I?"
"I know exactly what you mean" said Blaise, "and I bet everyone else does too" and when Harry looked around he saw the other Slytherins and his Ravenclaw friends all nodding.
"That's good" Harry said.
"Will your parents be visiting us here?" asked Blaise with some eagerness.
"Probably" said Harry, "don't know exactly when but I wouldn't be surprised if they do at some point."
"Vincent" said Goyle at the point giving Crabbe a gentle elbowing, "look at Draco."
"He doesn't look happy" said Crabble looking over at the the Gryffindor table. Harry and the others also turned and looked over at the Gryffindor table where they saw Malfoy looking at them with a big scowl on his face.
"He looks upset" said Harry, "I hope he's okay."
"What?" said Neville.
"Think about it" said Harry, "his family's always been in Slytherin. I wonder how his parents will take the news that he's not?"
"Assuming they don't already know" said Goyle, "Draco's father is on the Board of Governors."
"You looked rather relieved when he didn't go to Slytherin" said Harry.
"We were – a little" said Crabbe.
"All our lives we've always been around Draco" said Goyle, "and he acts like our lord and we have to do whatever he says."
"Like being his minders on the train?" said Hermione.
"Yeah" said Goyle, "it's weird not having him around all the time."
"Maybe you can make your own friends" said Terry, "make your own way."
"We thought the same" said Crabbe.
After lunch Harry had to study law with Borkadd the Claw. This was not his favorite subject but he knew it was one he would need. At three o'clock Dr. Strange arrived to work with Harry on his brand of magic which was one of many different types that Harry was learning from various teachers. After that lesson Harry was free for the rest of the day.
At dinner he and his friends compared notes on how their days had gone for each of them. Nothing in particular was noteworthy except that, so far, people had good first impressions of their classes. After dinner everyone went back to their dorms and either relaxed, socialized, or started doing their first homework assignments before eventually going to bed. This time Harry stayed at Hogwarts for the whole night. It had been a good first day although as he dropped off to sleep he did wonder about that malevolent feeling that had seemed to be directed at him from the back of Quirrel's head.
(To Be Continued)
A/N: Well it looks like Harry and Snape are getting along so far...