Professor Snape eyed the potion in front of them critically. It was their very first Potions class and he'd split everyone up into pairs. Fortunately he'd put Henry and Hermione together which meant they'd had little trouble working with each other to brew a cure for boils.

Henry himself had been surprised by how well they worked as a team and he had no doubt that the potion they'd made was a good one. But he also knew Snape was especially hard on Gryffindor.

Poor Neville had made the mistake of adding the porcupine quills to the cauldron before taking it off the fire. Somehow that had melted the cauldron, turned it into a twisted blob, the potion had begun seeping across the floor. It burned holes in people's shoes and Neville ended up drenched in it. Boils had popped up all over the boy's skin and he was taken by Seamus up to the hospital wing for a cure. But not before being utterly chewed out by Snape for his folly and taking points from Gryffindor.

"Your potion is…passable," Snape finally said. "Which I suppose is much more than I expected out of you." He swept away without another word.

"Did we do all right?" Hermione whispered to him.

"For Gryffindors? I think so. Tonks said he's especially hard on our house."

"I suppose that makes some sense. Salazar and Godric did have a rivalry with one another which affects the houses even today. Still, I'd expect better from a teacher."

Henry was quick to shush her before Snape passed by them again as he headed their direction.

"You're going to love Mabon," Henry said with enthusiasm. The autumnal equinox was today and he could hardly wait to see and experience it at Hogwarts for the first time.

"It sounds wonderful! I think it's very interesting that the Wizarding World celebrates the old Celtic holidays," Hermione replied.

"Supposedly Celtic muggles actually got it from us. But there's no way to know for her certain seeing as we only have Wizarding accounts to go off of. Wizards love to claim that we've had the most influence on muggles but there's just no way to know now that muggles think magic is only myth and legend. You will find though that the way things work are still fairly different from the Celtic holidays from muggle books."

"What did you and your family do for Mabon before Hogwarts?"

"Unfortunately I never got to celebrate it with Tonks as she was always here. But mum and dad put on a nice dinner with all the traditional meals and decorations. Nothing too fancy or big.

Those that have large and extended families all get together to have a huge feast. But my mum is estranged from her family and my dad's family are muggles like yours so they don't celebrate Mabon. Which is why I'm really looking forward to finally experiencing the Hogwarts version."

"Can you tell me what the rest of the holidays are like?" She asked as they walked together to their next class.

The classes for the day had seemed to stretch endlessly as students eagerly awaited the feast they would be having tonight. The teachers seemed to recognize this and so were a bit more lenient about everyone's ability to focus. Even Hermione has trouble concentrating today.

But then at long last the moment they'd been waiting for had arrived. As the students entered the Great Hall there was much oohing and ahhing at the sight of it all. Everywhere they looked was a magnificent display of the beauty of autumn.

There were countless decorations using real pine cones, acorns, wheat, corn, and grapes as well as plenty of red, orange, and golden leaves. In addition to real leaves as decor there was also an enchantment cast that made it look like autumnal leaves were slowly drifting down from the ceiling, a spectacular illusion.

Each table had a large enchanted cornucopia at the end of it, which shot endless amounts of food out of the end of it. The various dishes of food floated and danced in the air before gracefully landing back down and spreading out so that everyone could take what they wanted.

It seemed like there was no end to the different things to try. Various dishes such as mushroom, apple, pumpkin, squash, gourds, corn, and more all lay before him. There was turkey, chicken, beef, and ham too.

Henry poured himself a large goblet of his favourite drink at Mabon which was a blend of grapes, pomegranates, and cranberries. All throughout the meal he recommended various dishes for Hermione to try that he'd had before at home. Creamy maple bacon pumpkin soup. Warm garlic and herb Parmesan bread. Sugar crusted pumpkin harvest hand pies.

"I don't think I can eat another bite, I'm going to burst," Hermione said after her fourth helping.

"No kidding," Henry agreed, setting his utensils down. It was all so delicious he had wanted to try a little of everything but there was simply no way he could possibly manage it especially with how filling it all was.

"It's the best meal I've ever had though!" She said decidedly.

"It really is. When we celebrate the harvest season we go all out."

"I'm going to write to my parents and tell them all about tonight. Ever since we learned that the Wizarding World has its own holidays they've been curious to hear more about it. Earlier this morning, Introduction to the Wizarding World explained that we do this to honour Mabon ap Modron, the god of autumn and the harvest. I'm not sure I completely understand it all yet, I've never been good with theological studies. But still, I think my mum and dad are going to find this all very fascinating."

"I imagine it can be a little confusing especially to someone who is new to it, but you'll get the hang of things with time," Henry assured her. She was already learning so much and picking things up quickly.

"I'm just glad they have a class to help us navigate this whole situation."

"The sad thing is, they didn't used to from what I've read. Muggleborn used to be left to figure it all out on their own and deal with any faux pas they might make. It only made things harder for them and ostracized them further."

"That's awful!"

"I don't know if your class has covered it yet or if they will. But the thing you should know is there are some Wizarding families who believe they're superior to others because their blood is purest and the most magical. They see muggle-born as an anomaly, an abomination, who don't deserve magic. During the Second Wizarding War You-Know-Who gained many devoted followers because of this. He tortured and killed hundreds of muggle-born even if they weren't involved in the war, he and his followers got a sick joy out of the whole thing.

I'm telling you this because the prejudice still exists, it didn't vanish with You-Know-Who. My dad had to face being called a mudblood which is a kind of racial slur and people bullying him just because of where he comes from. Even working a job at the ministry has had its obstacles because there are a lot of those pureblood supremacists who have high positions that give them a lot of power and authority."

"The professor did bring it up briefly with us, but he assured us that sort of thing won't happen here at Hogwarts," Hermione replied.

"I wish I could believe him. But teachers can't keep an eye on us all the time. And there are an awful lot of kids here whose parents were Death Eaters but got out of Azkaban by claiming to be under the Imperius curse and throwing their money at the problem to make it go away."

"Are you saying the Ministry is corrupt?" She asked, horrified.

"It can be. But is it really any worse or more corrupt than many muggle forms of government? At least we have Dumbledore who sees these problems and is working to fix what he can. And people listen to him too. I've heard Minister Fudge constantly owls the headmaster for advice on what to do."

"I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or not," Hermione said.

Henry chuckled. "Fair enough. But I believe we can make a change too. I want to be a wizard as great as Dumbledore when I'm older. I think you could too."

"I'd like that very much." He could tell she was picturing it in her mind.

"Then let's do our very best!"

"Deal!"

When another month of classes had gone by it became clear that even Snape was unable to let his bias against Gryffindor keep him from giving high scores to both Henry and Hermione on their potion assignments. Though Henry was pleased to find that his scores were always just a little bit higher than everyone else's. Even Hermione's. Something that quickly earned the ire of the Slytherins they shared the class with.

Then one day when he was walking to his first class of the day—notedly without Hermione who would just be finishing her Introduction to the Wizarding World class though headed the same way—when he turned the wrong direction and ended up in an empty corridor, he was ambushed.

"Flipendo!"

Henry felt the spell hit him like a blow to his chest, flipping him upside down and slamming against the ground.

"What the—" He looked up to see a Slytherin boy with blonde hair and a pale pointed face, leering over him with his wand pointed in at him.

"You think you're so great, but I know a liar and a cheat when I see one," The boy said angrily. "There's no way a mudblood like you is getting higher marks in Potions than I am."

"Really?" Henry spat back in defiance, getting to his feet. "You think someone like Snape wouldn't be able to tell the difference if that were true? Especially from the one house he watches like a hawk?"

"SHUT UP! Mudbloods like you do not speak in front of me! You are here to listen and be humbled."

"This one does! And seeing as you haven't cast another spell on me to shut me up, I reckon the knockback jinx is all you know so far. Would you like to see what spells I know?" He challenged, raising his own wand.

"Do your worst," The boy seemed entirely unafraid.

I'll show him! I just hope I get this right. Henry got into the correct stance, the one he'd seen a picture of in one of his spell books. "Expelliarmus!"

The spell went off marvelously and the boy flew backwards into the wall, Henry reaching out to grab his wand as it flew out of the boy's hand. A kind of thrill went shooting through him. The spell had worked and it felt exhilarating taking a bully down with it. And then the joy was abruptly sucked out of him by the sound of a teacher's voice.

"Mr. Tonks!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed in shock. She marched right over to him, furious. "I cannot believe that a student of mine would attack another!"

"He attacked me first! Check his wand and you'll see he used the knockback jinx on me," Henry defended himself. But deep down he knew he couldn't prove his innocence even if she checked both their wands to see what spells they'd used it wouldn't tell who had fired first.

"He attacked me first!" The boy replied as the professor helped him to his feet. She then checked both of their wands then looked at both of them sternly. "I don't care who fired first. Neither of you should be attacking one another regardless of who started what. Detention for both of you and ten points from your respective houses will be taken. Now get to class and don't let me see you two near each other for the rest of the day!"

"I can't believe it!" Hermione said, horrified.

"I know! Completely unfair!" Henry replied.

"Unfair? You attacked another student!"

"Wait, you're blaming me?" He exclaimed indignantly. "He attacked me first!"

"That doesn't make it right for you to fight back! You should have gone and gotten a teacher."

"And what good would that have done? Never mind I didn't even have the opportunity without turning my back and risk having another spell come at me. Besides which, you have to stand up to bullies, telling a teacher only makes them go about it more sneakily!"

"You'll just antagonize bullies further by doing what you did and make things worse! And on top of that get into trouble yourself. I can't believe you lost ten points for Gryffindor after all the work I've done to get us points in class. Slytherin has won the cup for seven years in a row and I want us to beat them finally."

"Points? Is that all you care about? I could have been seriously hurt and all you care about is the points we lost!?" Henry asked, angry and hurt.

"That's not true, of course I'm worried about you!" Hermione protested. "I just think it was incredibly selfish of you to retaliate like that without even thinking about the consequences and what it would mean for Gryffindor's chance to win the cup. And you're implying that you'll do the exact same thing if it happens again!"

"Selfish?!" Henry said, stung. He could barely look at her. "I'm selfish? You're the one who cares more about points and following the rules at all costs than your own friend."

"As your friend it's my job to tell you when you're wrong!"

"I'm not wrong for standing up for myself. There's more important things in life than house points and cups. If you can't see that…" He shook his head, then turned on his heel and left the common room. He was in desperate need of some air and a cooler head.

"So," Sebastian said to Henry as they sat together on one of the benches in the courtyard. "You really cast a disarming spell after only two months into your first year at Hogwarts. I must say, I'm impressed." Henry was surprised to hear it. Normally Sebastian seemed pretty indifferent to everything around him.

"I'm glad someone thinks so."

"Oh trust me McGonagall was too even if she'll never show it. Not many your age can do much more than shoot a few sparks out of their wand. You won't even be learning that spell for a year or two. I'm sure the teachers are gossiping about your accomplishment with each other in private. I assume you'll be taking Dueling as an extra curricular in your third year?"

"I'm planning to. I have to admit, it was thrilling using that spell on Malfoy. Part of me is just itching to do it again."

"Know what the best part of all this is? Now he won't stop whining about it to those two lackies of his," Sebastian smirked. "Not that anyone else will listen," He added. "The rest of Slytherin are sick of him already. All he does is brag about his family Legacy. Pathetic."

"I hope it hurts his pride having a muggle-born like myself be the one to take him down a peg," Henry replied.

This was the kind of conversation he wished he could have had with Hermione. It was a relief to have someone on his side about the situation. He'd already gotten a letter scolding him for getting into a fight from his mum and dad. He was just glad it wasn't a howler. Tonks meanwhile had written him a separate letter of congratulations for his first detention at Hogwarts. To her, it seemed to be a rite of passage.

Henry had been hoping Hermione would apologize to him but instead she had started avoiding him. Which only made him feel worse.

Tomorrow was an important holiday and he wanted to be able to celebrate it with her. To celebrate Samhain Hogwarts lit large magical bonfires all over the grounds outside which the students would gather around and perform the ritual of protection. Then they would get roast sausages and others delicious things over the fires.

And with Hermione having grown up in the muggle world, she would be experiencing the holiday for the first time. He enjoyed Mabon even more than usual when he'd been able to see her enjoying it too, But now the excitement he'd been feeling had been squashed like a pumpkin.

"Is Samhain at Hogwarts as amazing as Tonks has described to me?" He had asked Sebastian who merely shrugged.

"It's a nice enough experience as a first year but I've found it's lost its charm after that. I'll be going to the festival in Hogsmeade instead this year. I've heard good things about it and want to see for myself."

"They let you do that?"

"They make an exception for third years and up to attend any of the festivals held at Hogsmeade during the year even though it's not on one of the designated weekend trips."

"I can't wait til I'm old enough to go to Hogsmeade. Tonks always used to bring me home some candy from Honeydukes during Yule. Sometimes she'd bring me some gags from Zonko's too. After she'd played some tricks on me with them, that is.

"The Three Broomsticks is the best spot if you ask me. Nothing quite measures up to a warm, foaming mug of butterbeer."

"I don't know why they won't let younger students go to Hogsmeade, two years isn't that big of a difference," Henry commented.

"It is kind of ridiculous. But frankly a lot of the rules here are. Take the third floor corridor for instance. We're told we'll die a painful death if we set foot there. Why even have something that's that dangerous in the first place? It wasn't there last year which means it's newly added. Whatever it is, it's bad news and they're keeping it in a school full of children."

"That is strange. I wonder what it could be…" Henry said thoughtfully. "You know, Hogwarts is known to be one of the safest places in magical Britain."

"You think they're keeping someone or something safe here? Interesting theory. The question is, how to test it."

Samhain dawned gloomy and chilly, which was fitting for the holiday when the borders between this life and the next were at its thinnest. It was no wonder muggles also chose this day to celebrate Halloween.

Henry couldn't help but glance Hermione's way throughout the day. The truth was he missed her more than he was angry with her at this point. But he didn't want to apologize for something he didn't think he was at fault for. Still, maybe they could try talking again after class.

Professor Flitwick decided to pair everyone up for Charms class and Henry was hoping he'd be able to partner with Hermione, but instead he was with Neville Longbottom. Hermione meanwhile had been paired with Ron Weasley.

Henry had a feeling that would lead to disaster as Ron often seemed particularly miffed by Hermione's behaviour in class and her bossiness. And in fact it turned out about how he thought it would.

"You're saying it wrong," Hermione snapped. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

Hermione rolled up her sleeves, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Henry felt a surge of pride watching her perform the spell and was about to congratulate her, only for the pit in his stomach to return when he remembered they weren't speaking with each other.

Perhaps it ended up being a good thing he didn't say anything because Ron was already in a bad enough mood. When class was over, Henry found himself walking just a little behind Ron and his friends in the crowded corridor who began complaining about Hermione quite loudly.

"It's Leviooosa!" Ron mimicked mockingly. "She's a nightmare! No wonder her only friend has ditched her, I don't how Henry Tonks could stand her as long as he did."

Henry was about to speak up in defence when someone knocked into him as they hurried past. To his horror, it turned out to be Hermione and she was in tears.

"Hermione!" He called out to her but she had already rounded the corner out of sight. Either she didn't hear him or had ignored him. He wasn't sure which was worse.

When she didn't turn up for the next class it made him really worried. He very seriously considered skipping class and trying to go find her.

On his way down to the Great Hall for a quick dinner before they headed out to the grounds, Henry overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone.

"Which bathroom is she in?" He asked.

"Ew! We're not going to tell you that!" Parvati exclaimed in disgust.

"She's in the girls bathroom," Lavender added as if he was stupid.

"I'm worried about her," Henry replied in protest at their implication of him being a creep.

"Well you'll just have to wait until she comes out," Parvati said.

Henry sighed in defeat and sat down at the table with the rest of the Gryffindors. He could barely enjoy his dinner now.

Henry picked at his food when suddenly Professor Quirrell came bursting into the Great Hall shouting about a troll loose in the castle before promptly fainting. Dumbledore began instructing the prefects to calmly lead their houses back to their dormitories while the professors would head for the dungeons.

Hermione! Was Henry's only thought. The moment the Gryffindor prefects weren't looking he darted out of the line and went the opposite direction. His wand was out and ready like it was second nature. "Punctum mihi Hermione Granger!" The finding spell shot out of his wand. It formed into bright blue arrows that floated in the air and pointed the way for him. I'm coming, Hermione.

I have to pull myself together, Hermione thought to herself. But it was hard to get control of her emotions after everything that had happened. To think that she'd finally found a place where she belonged and had even made a friend for once in her life. Someone who was as passionate about books and learning as she was! But more than that he understood her. She'd been happier than ever before. So of course she had to go and ruin it all by being stubborn and insensitive.

Why did she say those things to him? How did the rules and house points become more important to her than her friend's feelings? Henry had already been upset about getting detention, the last thing he had needed was her lecturing him. But she'd done it anyway.

Besides which, he had been attacked out of nowhere, completely unprovoked. Even if she knew things would have been better if he hadn't retalitaited. It was one of the jobs of being a teacher to look out for your students and keep them safe, especially from bullies. Why couldn't Henry see that?

And there she went again. What was wrong with her? Did she really want to be lonely and friendless again? Like she had been for most of her life. Her friendship with Henry had brought her so much happiness, far more than when teachers had praised her for being such a good student. She hadn't thought such a thing was possible. It was then that she made up her mind.

He's more important to me than being right, She decided.

"What on earth is that smell?" Hermione said aloud as she the most awful stench had accosted her. She wrinkled her nose and exited the toilet stall. She heard a grunting noise too.

Suddenly to her horror a large brutish creature came lumbering into the bathroom. It was a mountain troll, all twelve feet of one. It was just as ugly and foul as the books described it to be.

But what was it doing in here? How did it get into the castle?

Hermione slowly backed up only for the troll to take that as an invitation to take up more room, effectively trapping her in a corner with no way out. She couldn't help it, she screamed. If she thought the day couldn't get any worse she had been wrong. Now she was going to die!

"Reducto!" The scream had sent him running. Henry was relying purely on instinct by this point. He'd seen the door to the bathroom shut and blasted through it without another thought. Hermione was there, cowering in the corner. The troll swiped at her with its free hand. The other was dragging a club behind it.

When Hermione had smacked against the wall and cried out in pain, Henry found that a dozen dark and deadly curses were rushing into his mind. He had no idea how he knew them.

If you use those it'll hit Hermione too, The voice in his head reminded him. Due to the thickness of its skin, not many normal spells would work on it. He tried to run through the spells he knew but all he could think was that there was no time! He had to do something!

Next thing he knew he was jumping onto the troll's back and shoving his wand up its nose. "Run Hermione!" He yelled as the troll howled in pain and twisted and flailed its club. Henry clung on for dear life for as long as he could before being thrown off. He soared across the room, banged against the wall, and hit the floor with a crunch and an explosion of pain.

A terrified voice cried out, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Henry heard a loud thud, and looked up to see the troll lying face down on the ground, Hermione standing over it with her wand. She looked stunned by what she had done.

She used it on the club to knock him out, He realized.

Hermione carefully stepped around the troll and quickly hurried over to him. "Are you alright?" She asked frantically.

"More or less," He grunted.

She threw her arms around him, crying, "I'm so sorry!"

"Ow!"

"Sorry!" She said again, loosening her hold on him.

"It's okay."

"No it's not okay! I'm sorry for everything. You risked your life to come and save me and after all those awful things I said to you too. Can you ever forgive me?"

"I already have," He assured her and meant it. He wrapped one arm around her as the other hurt too much.

They spent a few minutes like that, just clinging to one another until a group of teachers came rushing in, looking shocked by the sight of the troll unconscious on the floor. "What on earth…" Professor McGonagall began as if she couldn't quite believe what she was seeing.

Professor Quirrell took one look at the troll and let out a faint whimper.

"It was my fault," Hermione told them.

"No it wasn't!" Henry was quick to defend. "Another student called her names and she's been in here all afternoon crying. When I heard a troll was loose in the castle I came to find her."

"He was very brave, professor! He jumped on the troll's back and shoved his wand up its nose to give me time to run for it."

"But Hermione was the one who thought to cast the levitating charm on its club and knock it out, it was brilliant!" Henry replied, wanting to give her the credit she deserved. He'd only been thinking of complicated ways to get rid of the troll and she'd come up with a simple but effective solution.

"I see," Professor McGonagall said, eyeing them incredulously. "Well you were remarkably lucky then. Not many first years could have taken down a fully grown mountain troll."

"It was foolish," Snape said harshly. "If you were in my house you would be swiftly punished for such reckless behaviour."

"I think they've been through enough, Severus," McGonagall said sternly. She turned back to Henry and Hermione. "Now, let's get the both of you to the hospital wing."

A/N: Bit of a longer chapter for you as we cover quite few important events that needed to happen. Obviously I needed the troll incident from the books to happen as a way to shatter Hermione's trust in authority figures and rules and have her loosen up a bit so she can help with the main plot lines like in canon. But don't worry there won't be many fights between Harry and Hermione in my fic. I love the healthy communication and conflict resolution they develop in canon and intend to keep it.

Yes Harry was a bit OP for a first year in this chapter but this fic will feature a Harry and Hermione who are prodigies when it comes to magic and it's no spoiler as you've already seen hints of it but he does have the horcrux in his head (even though the physical scar is hidden) which has more influence on him in this story. Part of my intention for this fic is to write a Harry who is truly Voldemort's equal as per the prophecy which is why he's more intelligent, ambitious, and talented. But I still love canon Harry and intend to keep the core of who he is. He's still going to be a bit impulsive and headstrong, still going to have noble and self sacrificing tendencies and his love for flying. But he also takes after Lily (and James) more as evidenced by his aptitude in potions.

So yes there will be what could be considered an OP Harry (with Hermione catching up to be on his level over time) in this fic. But I've done everything I can to even it out by giving Voldemort and Dumbledore added abilities and other things to make them even more OP than in canon too. I still want to write a Harry who has challenges, struggles, and suffering, who has to work hard for what he wants. It's not all going to come easy for him.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!