Harry Potter awoke the following morning to the quiet of the Gryffindor dorms. He slipped into a pair of uniform trousers and the requisite white button-up shirt. He put on his tie loosely. Then, glancing down noted the journal was beginning to glow. He slipped on his new dragon hide boots and opened the journal and noticed that there was a message from Theo.
The message was simple: If you need to find me during free time or after classes I can usually be found at the library table nearest to the restricted section. No one really ever bothers me.
Harry then closed up his journal and slipped it into the backpack that he used to carry things to and from classes. He then headed down into the common room and out the entrance heading to the Great Hall for breakfast. He piled up his plate and was soon joined by Neville. The taller boy chuckled as Harry gave a blank look, "I'm always down this early for breakfast. That way I can eat in some peace. Harry actually could understand that. As he was sitting there, he found that he preferred the quiet to the normally gregarious and loud atmosphere that accompanied many of the Gryffindors being present.
As others slowly filtered in the Professors began handing out the course schedules and Harry groaned double potions first thing followed by defense against the dark arts. Then he had a free period followed by ancient runes. Harry and Neville waited until the others started to exit and slowly made their way to the dungeons. The took their places waiting for Snape to open the door to the classroom and allow them to come in. Harry nervously followed the others into the classroom. As they entered, he mentally reviewed what he had learned from the text that Theo had sent him over the summer. It was time to see if he could improve at all in this class. He took a seat at a station with Neville while he noticed that Theo was sitting with a tall dark-skinned boy whose name Harry could not recall. Snape closed the door as the last student Seamus came rushing into the room and took his seat next to Dean.
In his normal bat like fashion Snape stalked to the front of the room with his cape billowing out from his body, "As this is OWL year, I expect that you all know the proper procedure and rules for preparing and brewing potions. Those of you who do not are destined to fail and will not be joining this class next year. You must obtain an outstanding on your OWL exam in potions to be accepted into my NEWT level course." Snape's gaze during these remarks were markedly on Harry and Neville.
Then, as was customary for Snape's class. The instructions for the potion they were brewing that day appeared on the board with a swipe of the professor's wand, "Instructions are on the board. Please proceed in silence." Harry went to the store cupboard and carefully gathered the ingredients and began to set up their station for ingredients preparation. Harry began to cut up the mandrake into fine cubes to stew. Then put the moonstone into his mortar to powder using pestle. He first handed the powdered moonstone to Neville and then carefully measured out the syrup of hellebore, while Neville added the mandrake to stew, followed the syrup of hellebore. Harry took out some unicorn horn that he and Sirius had ordered that was already powdered to avoid contamination of any sort. Harry took over stirring the potion as Neville added the porcupine quills slowly, not wanting a repeat of what had occurred before with adding them either fast or early. Thankfully, their potion turned out a beautiful perfect turquoise color. Snape begrudgingly gave Harry and Neville and Exceeds Expectations, in spite of the potion coming out exactly as it was supposed to, but it was Snape, so Harry wasn't about to argue. He watched as Seamus and Dean's potion was evaporated and they were given zeros as Ron who had worked by himself due to Hermione refusing to help him.
The students then moved on to their next class of the day. As they entered the defense against the dark arts classroom, they noticed that the classroom was strangely plain. While most of the previous professors had the room in some sort of setup that aided in students' learning the defense classroom was set up with singular desks, and chairs five across and five down from the front a single larger desk sat at the front for the professor to utilize. Umbridge dressed once again in pick from head to toe greeted them in her simpering tone, "good morning class." When no one bothered to respond she seemed to become slightly irked, "oh no, that just won't do. You say, 'good morning, Professor Umbridge'." The class responded and did as she directed hoping that this would be the worst of it.
Of course it wasn't though, "Please open your copies of the textbook to chapter one and begin reading." As Harry attempted to read the book, he found it not only incredibly dry and dull he found it useless. It took all of ten minutes though until Harry glancing to Neville on his right and Theo who sat to his left noticed that he wasn't the only pretending to read. It was clear that Umbridge couldn't care less about if they were simply quiet or actually reading the ridiculous text that she had assigned.
Finally, Hermione raised her hand. He watched as she kept raising her hand higher as the professor ignored her. Finally, Umbridge asked, "Yes, did you have a question about the chapter?" The bushy haired girl shook her head, "No mam I had a question about the course objectives." The toad like woman irked that someone would dare to question her objectives said, "I think they are perfectly clear if you read them" Hermione persisted, "There is nothing here about using defensive spells." The woman smirked, "Using spells, I can't imagine any reason why you would ever need to use spells." That lead to a lot of whispering in the classroom Harry almost blew up, it took a sharp look from Theo, whose glare said don' t you dare followed by a swift kick to the shin from Neville whose long legs allowed him to cross the distance for Harry to bite his tongue. Unfortunately, Ron ignored a similar look from Hermione, which continued the escalation in the classroom until Umbridge simply dismissed the class.
Harry and Neville entered to Great Hall and sat down to lunch and ate swiftly. Next, they headed into the library so that they could begin to work on the assigned essay for Potions. This one on the effects and uses of the draught of peace and the purpose and properties of each of the ingredients. Harry pulled out the books that He had for Potions including the ones that Theo sent him over the summer. While Neville selected a couple of others. From the potions section in the library. Harry began to work through the process of the potion and preparation steps. Focusing on the difference between powdered, stewed, and cubed. Then, went into the various ingredients borrowing one the books that Neville selected on properties of ingredients commonly used in potions and allowed the other boy to borrow his book on ingredients preparation. By the end of the free period both boys had finished their essays and headed to their next class.
While Neville headed up to divination Harry headed to ancient runes. He found that the class, like all of the electives, had students from each house mixed in. So, he took a seat next to Theo and listened intently to the instructions that they received for their first assignment, and they set to work immediately. This was primarily review and Harry remembered most of it from studying over the summer. They turned them in and left at the end of the class and Harry made his way back to the dorms so that he could talk with Theo in private through the journal.
Harry pulled his curtains and set up the privacy spells which were becoming second nature to him at this point. Only to be pleasantly surprised as the journal was glowing as he pulled it out.
Theo: I am glad to see that you already brought Longbottom into the circle that we need to build. I started talking to Blaise last night. I'll keep you up to date on recruitment here.
Harry: Thank you! I still don't completely understand why you want to help me but thank you.
Theo: If you are looking for the reasoning behind things, aside from liking you, it has to do with choices. My father is a monster himself Harry. My father is older that Draco's. He is one of the original followers and I would argue one of the ones who is closest to the Dark Lord. We all have choices to make Harry, before all is done everyone will have to pick a side. I'm just picking one for myself before it gets chosen for me.
Harry: I guess that makes some sense. Even I had to make a choice back in the first year. Voldemort tried to convince me to help him, and I had to make a choice of whether to help him and give him the stone or not.
Theo: I had heard about that. So yeah, I don't want to end up being forced to spend what's left of my life forced to like the boots of some arrogant, self-styled monster.
Harry: Understandable, what do you want out of your life?
Theo: All I have ever wanted to do is study magic free of the craziness of imposed strictures. Which is not so possible right now. Other than that, to find someone who will be a loyal friend, companion and eventually lover.
Harry: That sounds reasonable. I've never really given it too much thought until recently. I'd like to help people. Perhaps become a healer. I am with you on the later part.
With that Harry turned to the assigned essay he needed to work on for Professor Babbling. Before heading to dinner. At six o'clock Harry went down to the common room to meet up with Neville and began heading down to the Great Hall for dinner. As they walked Harry asked, "What do you know about Susan Bones?" Neville smiled, "Hufflepuff in our year. Her aunt is the head of the department of magical law enforcement. If we can quietly convince her and her aunt that You-Know-Who is back they would be an asset. Susan's parents fought in the last war but died in an attack on their home.
The days began to fall into a somewhat familiar routine. Although Ron's temper earned him quite a few detentions with the toad. Harry couldn't be more grateful for Theo and Neville helping him to keep his own temper in check. He spent most of his free time studying with either Neville or Theo, and he looked forward to the start of the quidditch season although he knew that his studies still needed to be his first priority.
As the days began to turn colder and the leaves began to turn color and fall from the trees, Harry could be found either in the library or on the pitch if not in class. Soon he and Neville added spell practice to their schedules a couple of times a week as Harry tried to help the other boy gain more confidence.
Then, one day when meeting Theo to study a dark-skinned tall boy joined them. Theo smiled, "Harry Potter this Blaise Zabini. Blaise, this is Harry Potter." The boys spent the next hour talking about the upcoming OWL exams and working on the essays assigned in herbology and potions that day. Eventually they were joined by a nervous Neville, who saw Harry and came over. Harry smiled, "Theo, Blaise, this is Neville Longbottom. Neville, Theo Nott and Blaise Zabini." The boys all shook hands and went back to work on their assignments.
As they were eating dinner a special edition of the Prophet was released, and hundreds of owls could be seen swooping into the Great Hall. It Declared that Delores Umbridge had revolutionized the teaching of defense against the dark arts, Fudge had passed a reform that made her the first ever High Inquisitor. As they read the article it became clear that this was not good. It basically gave her the power to fire the professors and make whatever rules that she wanted as well as approve punishments. They were going to have to be very careful.