A/N: another week, another chapter. Thanks to HowInMadeHowie for another great work revising this chapter and telling me when i should ad some more details. Hope you all like it
Lockhart was in his office, looking over the preparation for his next class the following day. It was the second-year students, so Harry Potter would also be there and would learn from him. He then remembered what happened before dinner and the warning Chief Wulf gave him about grabbing the students, but he never thought that Harry would already be this strong at his age. He guessed that he should just watch the older students, as some could even file a case against him if he was not careful enough and getting them hurt. He looked at the cage with the pixies inside, which were getting anxious, so he told his assistant to check the lock one more time while he answered more fan mail.
Triss rolled her eyes, as she knew exactly what he was going for as the cage was closer to his desk then her desk. Even his attempts on seducing her to choose him over John was rather hilarious as he wanted to show her that he had the fame and the money so she would not have to work ever again. Of course, she did not care about those things, or she could have left her friends a long time ago. Even telling Lockhart that she was taken did not make him give up on this, rather it intensified his endeavor to proof his point. He even suggested that she should just introduce her man to him, and he would challenge him to a duel and show her that he was the better man for her. He surely thought that John would just run away from his name alone, but Triss knew that Lockhart would not last even one minute against John.
Lockhart enjoyed the view he was now getting of Triss bending down to check the lock on the cage with the pixies in it. He even thought of getting a bit handsy, but then he remembered that Chief Wulf also told him that he was here for the security of everyone in the castle, and he was sure that would also include harassment, and it was not like he could afford another case of this. It was just a small hug, he could not know that this other woman would not like his hand on her behind, but he had just to pay her enough so she would pull her complaint to the DMLE back.
After Triss was sure that the lock was still in working order, she walked back to her desk and worked on the preparation for tomorrow's classes, knowing full well that Harry would sit in this classroom tomorrow. Hopefully he would not use his new abilities to catch those little creatures to fast.
As the night ended with the sun rising, Harry was already running around the lake together with John, he noticed that with this new training regime his improvement was more noticeable. For that, he needed for John to push him harder, so he asked if John could run with him and increasing the speed every time Harry would catch up to him. That worked rather well, as Harry was out of breath when they arrived back at the castle and John told him that he should go take a shower and then go to breakfast. That was something he didn't need to tell Harry, since he noticed that he was hungry, but not as much as he was used to before the mutation, but Geralt explained that one side effect to him. It seemed that his metabolism was improved to use the energy of his food more efficiently, while it also burned faster through any poisons that would enter his body. Something that will come in handy, he was sure of it.
When Harry arrived back in the dorm, he saw that Neville was doing some push-ups with his feet on the mattress of his bed while his arms were beside it, so his upper body was below the line of his feet and so it would feel heavier to lift. Neville heard him coming into the room and looked up to him, seeing that Harry also was a bit sweaty. Harry asked why Neville was doing those push-ups, he told Harry that over the summer, he told his grandmother about the training sessions they had in school and saw it as beneficial because Neville's clumsiness was now almost non-existent. So, she looked it up and even found a gym that was operated by a Hogwarts alumni, who graduated 3 years ago, so they just missed him. But he was so impressed by the training that Chief Wulf started, he wanted to keep it up and even showing the other wizards how benefical it was.
Of course, it was not a big hit with the older magical's, but those who were in Hogwarts the last 10 years and especially the muggleborn were frequent visitors so the owner could not complain. So, Neville trained under him over the summer, even learning some self-defense techniques that the owner learned himself when he was visiting Japan over one of his holidays. The owner also instilled the sense of honor and discipline in Neville, just like John did back last year, so Neville was now used to those small morning workouts. Harry smiled, happy that some of the students liked how John conducted his training, even if they did not know that he only showed a small part of it. Harry asked Neville if he could show him this weekend after Harry had practice with the Quidditch team or before, when the first years were running the beginner course.
"Naturally I can show you Harry, but I will not go easy on you. I know that you are far more stronger than me, but some of these moves take this into account and uses the opponent's strength against him. So be warned, you may land on your back more than you want to." Both boys smiled at this declaration, with Harry grabbing his shower supplies and getting ready for a shower before Neville, as he had still few reps to complete. Harry had to make a mental note to write a letter to Yen to investigate this new gym and offer the owner an investment of Potter gold. He wondered if John knew about this new gym and decided to ask him later.
"Just be sure to not be too crestfallen when I do the same Neville. After all, I trained a lot longer than you." Harry then closed the door to the bathroom and took his clothes of, glad that the others could not see his scars from his training with the Witcher's and John. None of those were ever life threatening, if they would have been he was sure that Yennefer would have torn the others a new one. He was just glad that those on his arms were not as visible then those on his torso.
When both Neville and Harry had finished their showers and got dressed, they met up in the common room, they found Hermione once again reading a book, so Harry put a finger to his lips to tell Neville to be quiet. Neville just nodded and waited for the inevitable scream from Hermione as Harry once again snuck up behind her in hoped to catch her off guard.
"Don't even think about it, Harry, I heard you coming down the stairs." Hermione closed the book, turned around and smiled at the boy who had his eyes almost as big as saucers.
"Wow, Hermione, you improved too. I was sure you would been too engrossed in your book to notice us. Well done." Harry of course did not try to be absolutely silent like Geralt or John for that matter could be, he still kept his mutation a secret after all.
As the three students left the common room to get breakfast, they met Peeves, the poltergeist of Hogwarts and almost the best prankster on their way. If it was not for the Weasley twins giving Peeves a run for his money. He just wanted to throw something at them, as Harry caught the small item and threw it back at him, causing a smack to be heard on the wall where it impacted.
"Oh, look at the small second year, being fast on his feet. It looks like I have to keep an eye on you, Potter. You may be one of those who could beat me in pranks, just like another did back in his day. I should call Filch, I should! But I think I'll wait for the next poor fool." And with this, he phased through a wall and let the students go on their way again.
"Who do you think he meant Harry? I mean, your father had to be here, just like your grandfather, right?" To Harry's surprise it was not Hermione who asked him, even if you could see that it was on her mind too. Neville looked at him curiously, as Harry answered that it could have been either of those, but he would ask McGonagall about it, as he knew that both of them where in Gryffindor and she may know them. But he would have to wait until the next transfiguration class, as today was charms, defense against the Dark Arts and another class in History of Magic right after breakfast. So, Ron at least could sleep some more after he had eaten hopefully enough to not complain anymore.
As the three students arrived in the great hall, Harry saw the professors sitting at their table with Lockhart being right beside Triss, smiling at John who was standing outside the door and watching the students before he would also go inside and eat something. Harry guessed that John was waiting for Daphne to arrive, as he was sure that he wanted to make sure that she was safe after the news from the evening before. He was also tempted to wait for her with John, but just as he stopped next to John, he heard her coming up the stairs from the dungeon together with her friend Tracey, so he walked into the great hall and sat down at his house table next to Neville and Hermione.
Ginny was already sitting there and watched Harry stopping for a short time before he walked over to the table and sitting down. When she watched the entrance again, she saw Chief Wulf and Daphne coming through the doors with Tracey Davis just behind them. Ginny knew that Daphne could be targeted by the other students as the rumors told her some even are planning to do after yesterday's article from the Daily Prophet. And that Chief Wulf was with her made sense as he was here for the security of all the students and that includes Slytherins. She could not understand why her brothers did not like that house, as when other students were nice to her, she could ignore where the other student came from. But as it was only her second day, she had not made many friends yet, but she was determined to make headway with Luna at least.
Charms was similar to the first year, as Professor Flitwick repeated the lessons from last year and took their homework to grade later, but they did learn a new spell in the end that would allow them to make some things bigger than they were, called Engorgio. As it was already well known in this class, Hermione could do this spell just a bit before Harry pulled ahead by making his apple a bit bigger than hers. She pouted all the way until they were in front of the door for their first Defense against the Dark Arts class. They still wondered how it would turn out, even if Harry was sure that Triss would do her best to show them something worthwhile. Harry noticed that the Slytherin were also here for this class and that almost every girl was searching for some parchment in hope that they could get Lockhart to sign it.
Soon the door opened, and the students entered the classroom to sit down at their desks. Harry looked around to get a feel for the room, but he was greeted with so many pictures of Lockhart that he was getting dizzy from all those smiles that the photos showed them. While some girls were giggling, the boys looked with disgust around, surely thinking that Lockhart was a self-centered prick. As the door to the corridor closed, the one to the teacher's office opened and with a flourish of his robes, Lockhart entered the class, followed by Triss who was looking over the students. Harry could see on her face that she was not happy with the décor in this classroom, but for now they had to endure it.
"Hello dear students, you have the privilege to be instructed by no lesser wizard then me, the holder of an Order of Merlin thirrd class and winner of the Most charming smile award from Witch Weakly for three years running. As I see you all bought all off my books, so I will now test how well you had read them."
He distributed sheets of paper with questions on it. Harry looked over to Triss and saw her rolling her eyes again and he understood why when he read the first few questions.
1: What is Golderoy Lockhart's favorite colour?
2: What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?
Harry raised his hands before Lockhart told them that they now could begin their quizes for the next half hour, Harry apparently caught the teacher off guard. "Yes Mr. Potter, do you have a question? Please not one about some of this quiz, as I will not answer that." Lockhart stood by his desk in front of the class and waited for Harry to talk.
"Yes Professor, I was wondering what these questions have to do with the subjects you are teaching us? I mean if these questions were about your deeds that you described in the books, I could understand why you quiz us right in the beginning to see how far we are in our reading. But this is not your fanclub, it's Defense Against the Dark Arts," Harry looked at the Professor straight in his eye, that was getting just a bit red. If it was shame or anger, Harry did not want to know, even if the body language from Lockhart was indicating that he was just confused.
The rest of the class was now also confused after they had read all the questions through and wanted to know the answer from the Professor, causing him to cancel the whole quiz and gathered the papers again and handing it to Triss with a small scowl directed to her. Harry thought that she may have told him that the students would react like that, and he did not believe it. With the time now saved from the test, Lockhart continued to tell them what they were going to do as he lifted a cage up to his desk.
"Now, my job here is to show you what is out there and prepare you to defend yourself. Now, I want you to know what I am about to show you may frighten you, but please don't scream or you will provoke them even more." Lockhart then lifted the cover of the cage and presented the pixies to the class. Some of the students began to laugh, as they watched the small creatures skitter about in their cage who wanting nothing more than to cause mayhem.
"They are just pixies. They are only classified as a pest." Seamus said that between his laughter, as he did not think that these small creatures could really be such a threat. Harry meanwhile was not as sure as his classmate, as even small creatures could kill you in great numbers and when he read about these pixies, they had some sharp claws and were, despite their size, pretty strong. Somewhere in the back of the class Harry could hear Malfoy talking to Crabbe and Goyle, as they did not pay any attention to the class like always. Harry begun to wonder if his father had a hand in it so his son could get passing grates so far, as with his work ethic Malfoy could not hope for any good grades coming to him.
"Freshly caught Cornish pixies to be precise Mr. Finnigan. I am sure that you think that it would be easy to get the situation under control when I release them right? How about you show me?" After this challenge, Harry got angry as the Professor, who should teach them how to defend themselves, just opened the cage and let the pixies lose. Thanks to his reaction he could catch three with his bare hands and throw them back into the cage before he held the door closed, ready to get the rest back into it.
"Don't be afraid, they are just pixies! Just use this spell, Peskipiksi Pesternomi" Lockhart swished his wand around, but just as Harry predictet, this spell did nothing to stop those pixies on their way to cause mayhem. One even grabbed Lockhart's wand and tossed it out the window.
Just as the rest of the pixies were prepared to fly away, they stopped mid-air with a red light shining around them. Harry looked to Triss, who had her hand outstretched and was concentrating hard to keep the spell she raised. After she looked at Harry, he knew what had to be done and unnoticed by the others used a Witcher's sign to control the three he already had in the cage. He then told the others to gather the pixies as long they were immobile and bring them to him and the cage. His classmates were more than happy to oblige and soon all the pixies were back in the cage. Triss then released the spell and looked at Lockhart, who was hiding behind his desk from the pixies.
Harry looked around if any students were hurt, and he had to suppress another laugh as he saw Malfoy hiding under his desk, just like Lockhart did. Harry once again wondered how he wanted to pass the class with his attitude. Daphne and Hermione meanwhile were looking at him with the unspoken Question how his reaction could be almost instant, but they would blame that Harry was training since he could walk, and some training regimes would need such a quick reaction to danger.
As Lockhart saw that the situation was under control, he stood back up and smiled as if nothing had happened. "Now I hope you all understand that it is never wise to underestimate the danger and is it just as small. Now, for the rest of the class, I will tell you how you should have handled this situation without the help of another witch or wizard."
Harry and Triss looked at each other, both not believing that Lockhart just risked the student's well-being for this class. Of course, those pixies could not kill you with the small numbers they were, but they could have been seriously hurt.
Lockhart was furious as he let the class go for the day, as everything went wrong that could have gone wrong. His contact assured him that those pixies were tame and would just float around for him to place them back into their cage. He would write him and demand a refund for the 15 Galleons he paid. But beside this problem, he had to think how he would explain that his assistant had shown him up in front of all the second year students. He wanted to show Harry Potter that he was better than him in every way, and then this redhead even showed him up. But Lockhart had to admit that Harry was fast on his feet, as he caught 3 out of the 15 pixies just as they had left the cage. Of course, he was just in the front of the class and had not such a long way, but this reaction was something to behold. He surely could use something like that in his next book. But for now, he had to think how he could put his assistant into her place, below him.
Harry walked to the Great Hall for lunch, as this afternoon was free for them to use. Harry already knew that he would meet the rest of his friends in the library afterwards to study, so he would need to eat something light to not make him drowsy. When he sat down, Colin came up to him and asked Harry if he could sit next to him, to which Harry nodded.
"Thank you, Harry. You would not believe how glad I am to be in the same house as you. All the other students have so much respect for you, maybe it has something to do with how you defeated You-Know-Who. Regardless, the photos I took last night are finished, would you like to see?" Colin then took out a small envelope with some photos inside it, so Harry took it and browsed through them. He had to admit that Colin had a talent for taking pictures, as even if the wizard photos did move just like the portraits, it looked like they were really alive, and he would watch a movie rather than a small scene captured on film. Harry had to laugh as he noticed that Colin had even captured the small detail in the background were the Weasley twins were teasing their older brother about something.
"Well done, Colin, they came out great. Mind if I take one and send it to my foster parents? They would likely be happy to see what is going on in our common room. I would even pay you for them." Harry holds the one photo up where all of the Gryffindor students could be seen just laughing at a prank that succeeded with the twins and Percy in the center. Colin stammered something about he would gift it to him if he could only sign the one where he was in the focus of the picture. Harry then had another idea and asked Colin if he could wait a moment, grabbed the photo and walked to the twins.
"Fred, George. Would you sign this picture for Colin? If only my name is on it, it would not feel right for me and you two are the most outgoing people in the common room."
Fred looked up to Harry and nudged George on his side, both nodding and pointing to the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team as if all of those would sign it was not as obvious what Harry was doing.
After Harry had all seven signatures on it, he saw that McGonagall was now also in the Great Hall for Lunch and decided on the spot that she could also sign the photograph. At her questioning look, she watched how rumbustious the common room was in the evening before bedtime.
"Mr. Potter, who took this picture? It is from a very good quality, and I wanted to ask the one who took it if he would also like to take some photos during the Quidditch matches." Harry's eyes grew big, he did not think about this possibility, but told his head of house that he could show her who it was.
When Colin saw Harry coming to him with McGonagall right behind him, he was scared if he done something wrong taking those pictures.
"Do not worry, Mr. Creevy, but I wanted to ask if you could take photos during a Quidditch match? If you are not sure, you always could go to a practice session with the Gryffindor house team and try it out." McGonagall had one of her invisible smiles on her lips as Colin nodded and told her that he would like to try. It was at this moment where Oliver came to Harry and asked if he could come early on Saturday before the first years would have to go to their obligatory PE class, as he heard on his way what was discussed with Colin. He also found this as a good idea, as these pictures could help see mistakes the team could make and then correct them.
Now with a date for his first practice, Harry said goodbye to Colin and walked up the stairs to the library, were Hermione, Daphne, Lavender and Parvati would surely already be waiting for him.