Edited 9/3/22
Chapter 3
Harry woke up early the next morning feeling well rested, thanks to years of being forced to cook breakfast he could naturally wake up early. Harry checked the time and saw breakfast would be starting soon, looking around he saw everyone else was still asleep so, deciding not to wake them, Harry got ready quietly. Once dressed Harry went downstairs to the common room and saw a few students were already awake and heading to breakfast.
"Harry!" A familiar voice called out and Harry looked to see Hermione sitting on one of the couches with a book in hand.
Smiling, Harry walked over to her and greeted his friend, together they walked downstairs to the great hall for breakfast, once they arrived they sat down and started to pile up their food, Hermione was excited to see what their schedule was and wondered if they'd have time to visit the library before class. Soon Professor McGonagall walked over and after wishing them a good morning handed them their schedules. They immediately read their schedules
Breakfast: 7-8:30
Lunch 12-2
Dinner 5-7
First class 9-10:30, second 10:40-12, third 2-3:30
Monday: Transfiguration (Hufflepuff), Herbology (Hufflepuff), defense (Ravenclaw).
Tuesday: Charms (Ravenclaw), History (All), Potions (Slytherin).
Wednesday: Astronomy (All), Transfiguration, Herbology.
Thursday: Defense, Charms, History.
Friday: Potions, flying lessons, Astronomy 12-1:30.
"Looks like for today we have transfiguration after breakfast."
Hermione sounded excited and Harry thought about the advice the journal gave him and spoke "I heard the best way to transfigure an object is to imagine the process clearly in your mind first, once you can see the object changing from one to another clearly then your magic will make it happen." Hermione nodded looking interested, they talked a bit about their classes while they ate but soon Harry saw Percy walk in and sit down to eat. Percy was close enough that Harry asked "Hey Percy can you tell me where transfiguration is?" Percy looked at their schedules and pointed out how to get there, they thanked him and went back to eating.
Neville joined them soon and the three friends ate but Harry noticed after a while all the other students showed up but Ron hadn't showed up yet. Harry asked Neville "Hey where's Ron?"
"He was still sleeping, I tried shaking him awake but he still wouldn't get up." Harry didn't want his friend to go without food so he set some aside for him in case he didn't show up. For the rest of breakfast the three friends talked about their favorite class, soon breakfast ended and the three walked back to the tower to get what they needed for the day.
Harry and Neville walked into the dorm to see Ron still asleep, the two worked together and were able to wake him up, when Ron heard he missed breakfast he fully woke up but he saw the two of them saved him some food. Harry and Neville quickly gathered their stuff and told Ron where the class was and that they'd meet him there, with a mouth full of toast Ron told them he'd see them there, Neville seemed a bit grossed out but Harry had seen worse from Dudley and Vernon and so the two left. They met up with Hermione in the common room and all left for their first class, on the way Harry told Neville the advice for transfiguring an object hoping it will help him.
The three arrived and saw the class was mostly empty except for a cat sitting on the teacher's desk, Harry had to stop himself from smiling since he knew that was the professor. Soon after the other students showed up, Harry looked at the Hufflepuffs and tried to guess who was who but when he saw Susan sitting next to a blond girl with pigtails she picked that moment to glance over and their eyes met. Both of them now knew the other was looking so Harry decided to give her a smile and nod at her, Susan smiled back and did the same. The door slammed open and everyone turned to see Ron showed up last second, Harry could see Ron's clothes weren't in order and he still had some food on his face.
Once everyone was seated Neville asked "Where's Professor McGonagall?"
The cat jumped off the desk and while in midair transformed into the professor, the class was shocked then she spoke "Welcome to transfiguration, I will tell you now this branch of magic is one of the most difficult you will learn, you will be starting with transfiguring a small and simple object and from then on it will only become more difficult."
McGonagall informed the students about the rules to transfiguration they would need to know before taking out matchsticks and instructing the students to turn them into needles. Harry focused on the matchstick and pictured it turning from wood to metal and the end becoming pointed, once he had a clear image Harry waved his wand and soon the matchstick turned into a needle.
Harry smiled and before he could say anything he heard "I got it!"
Glancing over he saw Hermione was happy she managed to change hers on the first try. McGonagall seemed surprised and said "Well done you two, five points each to Gryffindor, I would like you two to practice changing the needles back into matchsticks then turning them into needles again."
McGonagall told them the incantation and once again the two managed to change their needles. For the rest of class while they practiced changing the matchsticks back and forth they informed Ron and Neville on how to do it, many nearby students were listening in. McGonagall gave them another five points each for helping the other students, by the end of class most of the Gryffindors and a few Hufflepuffs were able to change their matchstick into a needle, sadly Neville was only able to make his matchstick pointed.
Once class was over the students started to leave but Harry stayed behind to talk to McGonagall while Hermione, Neville, and Ron waited by the door. McGonagall looked at Harry and asked "May I help you Mr. Potter?"
Harry nodded "Yes ma'am, I was hoping I could ask you for your help."
"And what would that be?"
"I know the students are forbidden to use magic outside of class but I was hoping there was a place where I could practice casting spells."
McGonagall seemed surprised by the request but then her eyes narrowed, remembering what James was like she asked "And is there a reason why you want to practice casting spells?"
Harry seemed a bit nervous but said "I heard my mum was a prefect then she became head girl while my dad became head boy." McGonagall seemed interested and Harry continued "I want to improve my magic and work hard like they did, I want to practice using my magic and hopefully when the time comes I would have worked hard enough to become a prefect then become head boy."
Harry faced McGonagall and for a few seconds there was silence but then for a moment Harry could have sworn he saw a smile on the stern professor's face, McGonagall answered "It's quite an unusual request Mr. Potter since I've never really had a student request this of me but very well I will see what I can do, come see me when you're done with your classes for the day."
Harry smiled and nodded "Thank you professor."
McGonagall watched Harry leave with his friends, she thought "At least he takes more after his mother, hopefully he won't cause me as much trouble as his father did."
On the way to herbology Hermione asked Harry about what he asked McGonagall, she seemed excited at the idea and asked if she could join him to which Harry agreed. Neville asked the same but Ron called Harry mental for wanting to do extra work and become a prefect like Percy. This caused a small argument between Ron and Hermione that thankfully ended when they got to class. Harry got to see how excited Neville was for herbology, when they started working with the plants Harry saw Neville was a natural since he knew how to properly handle the plants. Neville quickly stopped Harry from reaching the devil's snare and telling him how to properly handle the plant so it wouldn't strangle him. By the end of class Neville earned Gryffindor fifteen points and Harry joked that Neville should teach the class instead.
The four went to lunch where Harry was able to talk to Dean and Seamus, the two boys thanked Harry and Hermione for helping them with transfiguration. While Ron was stuffing his face to make up for missing breakfast Harry spoke to Dean and Seamus and was able to get to know the two boys better. Once lunch was over they all headed for their last class of the day, arriving at defense against the dark arts the students saw how poorly lit the room was and there was a strong smell. The professor soon showed up and Harry was soon disappointed to see Quirrell would lecture the students about the subject without going over any spells, even worse was listening to the professor stutter over every word and jump when a student sneezed.
Harry was feeling bored with the professor but then felt his scar start to hurt when Quirrell turned around to write something on the board. Harry winced and quickly tried to reinforce his occlumency shields, thankfully the pain stopped but he heard Hermione whisper "Are you ok?"
Harry nodded "Yeah, it was just a headache." Harry was confused to what just happened, he felt like there was still something there but when Quirrell turned back around he felt whatever it was vanish. Class ended but Harry didn't pay attention since he was wondering what caused the pain, he focused on keeping his shields up and tried to see what caused it but for the rest of class nothing happened.
Shaking the thought from his head Harry and his friends went to go see Professor McGonagall. They ran into McGonagall outside her office, she spoke "Good I'm glad to see you're here, please follow me." The four friends followed McGonagall up several staircases until they made it to the seventh floor, they soon arrived at a door that wasn't too far away from the portrait of the fat lady, McGonagall opened the door and stepped in and they saw the room was bigger than the classrooms they were in. There was some furniture in the room already but for the most part it was empty.
McGonagall spoke "I decided to prepare this room while I asked one of my seventh years to teach the second years, in the past Hogwarts use to teach the students about dueling."
Hermione spoke "I read about that in Hogwarts: A History, it said the teachers stopped teaching the students when some of them used the duels as a chance to hurt those they had something against."
McGonagall nodded "Indeed, since then these rooms have gone unused but I've decided to let you practice in here, as the head of Gryffindor I have an office on this floor so if you need any help you can come see me." McGonagall turned to Harry and spoke "Mr. Potter, I want to be clear this room is a privilege I am giving you and your friends, if you cause any trouble you will be banned from this room and if you keep causing trouble I will make the ban permanent, do you understand?"
Harry nodded "Yes ma'am."
McGonagall nodded "Good, I will be checking from time to time to see how you and your friends are doing here, I shall be in my office."
McGonagall left and Hermione was excited to practice spell casting "Let's go to the library, I want to check out a few books with more spells we can practice, imagine how much this room can help us!" Harry smiled at her and Neville agreed to go, Ron decided to head back to the common room but Harry decided to stay in the dueling room for a bit longer.
When Harry was alone he waved his hand and the journal appeared, Harry flipped to the personal research section and found the list of spells with their instructions on how to use them. Harry saw the list of easier spells his mum let him learn so he turned to the section that had the list of spells his dad left for him, while Harry saw most of them were prank spells he could easily see the potential these spells had. Harry decided the first spell he was going to learn was one that caused a part of the floor to lose all friction making it easy for someone to slip and fall. One of the biggest advantages Harry saw to the spell was that the description said the spell gave off no light so it would be easier to trick a target, looking over the rest of the list Harry saw many of the spells gave off no light.
The rest of the day was spent in the dueling room, when Hermione and Neville came back Harry saw they had a few new books, although Hermione insisted that they finish the homework first before they start practicing. Using a table in the room all three sat down and started on the homework, once they were done Harry suggested they try to practice a few jinxes first so they can learn how to undo the spells in case they need to. By the time dinner started Harry and Hermione knew how to cast the jelly legs jinx although Neville wasn't able to cast the spell.
During dinner Harry decided to save some bacon for Hedwig, thanks to the bond Harry could feel Hedwig was in the owlery and she seemed happy so Harry decided to visit her after dinner before curfew. Once dinner was over Harry told his friends to head back as he needed to visit the owlery, Harry walked up several staircases before making it to the owlery and when he walked in he saw over a hundred owls. Harry saw perches where the owls could rest but he noticed something, when Hedwig spotted him she flew down from the highest perch and landed on Harry's shoulder and greeted him. Harry asked "How are you doing Hedwig, are you getting along well with the other owls?"
Hedwig answered "Yes, it seems the other owls are giving me special treatment because they can feel we have a bond." Harry was surprised at that and understood why the other owls let her be on the highest perch alone, Hedwig continued "It would seem many of them wish their witch or wizard would form a bond with them as well but they either don't know how to or don't want to, thanks to our bond many of them call me Lady Hedwig."
Harry couldn't help but chuckle at that before saying "Well Lady Hedwig, I have brought you some bacon if you would like some." Hedwig happily ate the bacon and thanked Harry, the two talked for a while about how happy they were to be there but soon Harry had to leave to get ready for the next day.
The next day Harry and his friends arrived to charms with the Ravenclaws, once they were all sat down Professor Flitwick arrived, Harry saw he was just as short as his mum described but he had a joyful smile as he spoke "Good morning students and welcome to charms, with charms you have more spells to work with and because of this we will be learning on how to properly control your magic, there are some spells that require a constant flow of magic while others are only short bursts of magic and we shall work on control so you don't overdo it, for example..." Flitwick raised his wand and suddenly many of the students' desks started to float, some students made surprised gasps when their chairs started to rise too, soon everyone was put back down and Flitwick continued "A simple levitation charm like that can help greatly as long as you can control the flow of magic the spell needs, or you can use something like this."
Flitwick waved his wand and a barrier appeared surrounding the teacher along with the desk he was standing on, Flitwick didn't lose his smile and spoke "With a spell like this you can protect yourself but there are also different types of shields you can make, some also require a flow of magic, in charms you will learn how some spells have different versions you can cast depending on why you need them." Harry was fascinated with the class from the beginning, he could understand why this was many of the students' favorite class. The barrier vanished and Flitwick continued "For today we will be learning two spells, the lighting charm and the knockback jinx." Once again Harry and Hermione were the first to get the two spells, Flitwick was happy to give the two of them ten points each for getting the two spells right.
When class was over many students had gotten the spells and while Neville had gotten the lighting charm he still struggled with the knockback jinx, Harry and Hermione saw Neville felt like a failure because of it so they promised to practice the spell later in the dueling room. Their next class was history and Harry saw all four houses were there, when all forty students were there Harry saw the ghost professor show up and Harry was soon disappointed to see the journal was right when it said the professor put many of his students to sleep. Harry was able to stay awake only because Hermione was one of the few students that was able to pay attention, when he started to feel his eyes close Hermione elbowed him to wake him up. Glancing around the room Harry saw all the Slytherins were sitting in the back but he could see they were asleep or whispering to each other, he noticed only one student from that house was paying attention and at the time he looked at her she looked and saw him.
Harry locked eyes with the blond Slytherin, not wanting to be awkward Harry tried smiling at her only for the girl to turn back to the teacher without responding to him. Deciding not to focus on her Harry glanced around the room and saw many of the Ravenclaws were sitting in the front but he could see a few were trying not to fall asleep, looking over at the Hufflepuffs Harry saw most were asleep but two were awake but barely. Harry decided to focus on his history book instead since he knew the professor would put him to sleep. Once class was over the students went to lunch, Harry remembered what Neville said about Professor Snape and remembering how the professor tried to look into his mind Harry kept up his occlumency shields and tried to review in his mind everything he knew about potions.
When lunch was over the students went to their next class, Harry arrived at potions and sat with Hermione while Neville and Ron sat together, soon the door slammed shut as the professor walked in "Welcome to potions, first I want all of you to put away your wands as there will be no foolish wand waving here." Many students put their wands away and Professor Snape continued "Potions is a subject that has practically no limit, it can allow anyone to do something a wand can never do, with potions you can brew glory, bottle fame, and even save someone who is mere moments away from death, because of this I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subject since it can be too complicated for you." Snape glanced over the class before his eyes stopped on Harry "Mr. Potter, our new celebrity, tell me what would you get if you added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
Harry took a moment to remember the notes he read while Hermione raised her hand, after a moment he answered "The draught of living death sir."
Snape seemed taken aback by the answer before his eyes narrowed and said "Tell me where would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?"
Hermione raised her hand again but Harry answered "The stomach of a goat, sir."
Snape's expression didn't change as he asked the next question "What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" Hermione raised her hand again but Snape turned to her and said "The question is for Mr. Potter, if you are too stupid to listen to simple instructions then you might as well leave."
Hermione seemed hurt by his words and lowered her hand as she lowered her head, Harry heard some of the Slytherins quietly laugh, he felt some anger but Harry answered "Nothing sir they're the same plant."
Snape sneered at Harry as he said "Ten points from Gryffindor for your cheek."
Harry was surprised and said "But that's not fair!"
"Another ten points for talking back to a teacher!" Snape snapped back at him before walking to his desk, Harry turned to Hermione and saw the sad look on her face but before he could say anything Snape pointed his wand at the board and said "The instructions are on the board."
The next hour and a half was horrible as Snape took points away from the Gryffindors for any reason while he only awarded points to the Slytherins, many of the Gryffindors made mistakes only because Snape was standing close by judging them and making them nervous. Neville ended up melting his cauldron and it resulted in him and Ron being sent to the hospital wing. Snape decided to put the blame on Harry and took more points away, Harry could hear Malfoy and his group laughing at him, Harry had to focus his occlumency to keep from showing his anger.
When class was over Harry and Hermione handed in their completed potions, Harry was certain the potion was close to perfect but when they handed them in Snape chose to grade them then and there "Barely acceptable, Potter, you should know fame can only take you so far and if you don't want to be a failure you better improve."
Harry locked eyes with the professor but when he did he felt something try to enter his mind again, with his shields already up Harry forced it out and turned away and left. The two left the classroom and Harry could hear Malfoy still laughing at him so Harry and Hermione quickly left not wanting to deal with anyone. Hermione spoke "How could a teacher be so unfair, he was completely biased and kept focusing on causing trouble for everyone in Gryffindor, why is he a teacher here?"
Harry asked "Do you want to go to the dueling room to practice new spells?" This seemed to brighten up Hermione's mood and the two left to practice.
The next day Harry and his friends arrived for their first class of the day, the teacher wasn't in the astronomy tower yet so they found their seats but then Harry saw Malfoy and a group of Slytherins approach them. "Hey scarhead, I'm surprised you're still here, I could have sworn you would have realized by now how inferior you are to a real pureblood and dropped out."
Harry glanced at the group with Malfoy and saw Crabbe and Goyle were laughing as if they heard the funniest joke in the world, he saw a kid he remembered as Theodore Nott join in the group, and lastly was a girl he remembered as Pansy Parkinson. Taking a quick glance at the other Slytherins in the room Harry saw the only other boy, Blaise Zabini, was by himself trying not to pay attention, and the rest of the girls in Slytherin were doing their best to ignore the group.
Harry turned to Malfoy and was about to speak but Ron beat him to it "Shut it Malfoy!"
Malfoy turned to Ron and spoke "Defending the boy-who-lived huh Weasley, did Potter take pity on you and pay you to defend him because your family desperately needs the money?"
Once again the group laughed and Harry saw Ron's ears turn red, Harry spoke "At least he's braver than you are, too scared to insult anyone without backup."
Malfoy turned to Harry and glared, Hermione tried to say "Harry don't, just ignore him."
Pansy spoke "Listen to your pet scarhead, it seems to know better than you."
Harry's eyes narrowed at them but before anything could happen the teacher showed up and said "Alright everyone take their seat!" Malfoy and his group left and once everyone was seated the teacher spoke "Welcome to Astronomy, you may call me Professor Sinistra, for today we shall review what you all know before preparing for Friday night when we shall have a clear view of the night sky."
This was how the rest of Harry's week had continued, he soon decided that charms and transfiguration were now his favorite subjects, while defense still seemed interesting the teacher made it hard to enjoy the class. Harry and Hermione continued to use the dueling room to practice but Hermione would make them work on their homework first, Harry and Neville didn't mind too much since Hermione would always help them but Ron would complain saying the homework wouldn't be due for a while. Ron would try to get Harry or Neville to play a game of chess with him instead of doing his homework, he'd only do some work to get Hermione to stop trying to get him to work then later he would ask Harry or Neville if he could copy theirs. Soon Friday had arrived and after another painful potions class where Snape continued to take points from Gryffindor the class left to go outside for their first flying lesson. Hermione was nervous since she was scared of heights so she had gone to the library to find whatever book she could for flying, meanwhile Ron didn't seem nervous at all and found it annoying that Hermione thought she could learn to fly from a book.
Harry was both nervous but excited to learn to fly, he remembered how in the journal his mum wrote Sirius was the first to buy him a broom on his first birthday and after she threatened to castrate Sirius if he got hurt she let Harry fly around. His mum wrote about how Harry was a natural on a broom and how his dad was already talking about him becoming a chaser like him. They arrived and saw many of the brooms they'd be using were on the ground, Harry could see that the brooms weren't in good condition but still the four friends stood close to each other as they waited for Madam Hooch to begin the lesson. When Harry yelled up the broom shot into his hand, he was surprised it happened that easily, taking a glance around he saw very few got it on the first try and after a while everyone had their brooms. Madam Hooch quickly corrected the students on how to properly hold their brooms but before they could begin flying Neville's broom took off.
Neville was yelling in fear as his broom went wild but before the teacher could try and help him Neville ended up falling to the ground and broke his wrist so Madam Hooch took him to the hospital wing while warning the students that they would be expelled if they fly without her there. Once they were gone Malfoy and his group started laughing and insulting Neville. Harry felt mad for his friend but before he could say anything Malfoy rushed forward and picked something off the ground and said "Oh look the squib dropped this."
Harry saw Malfoy was holding the Remembrall Neville got that morning from his gran, Harry walked forward "If you're smart you'll hand that back Malfoy."
Many students were now focused on them and Malfoy sneered and said "You want it scarhead why not come and get it."
Malfoy got on a broom and flew up, Harry was about to follow when Hermione grabbed him and said "Harry no, didn't you hear Madam Hooch you'll get in trouble!"
Harry looked at her before he heard Malfoy say "What's wrong scarhead too scared, maybe I should see how durable these things really are!"
Harry glared at Malfoy but before he could do anything he felt Hermione's hold on him tighten, Harry turned to her and said "Hermione sometimes it's more important to stand up for your friend, wouldn't you want your friends to stand up for you?"
The question seemed to stun Hermione and before she could say anything Harry got on the broom and flew up to meet Malfoy, Malfoy seemed surprised that Harry had no trouble on a broom before sneering "You can follow orders so here's another one." Malfoy turned around and yelled "Catch!" He threw the Remembrall but before he could turn around Harry flew right past him nearly causing Malfoy to fall off his broom.
Harry felt as if the broom understood what he wanted to do and followed his orders, speeding up Harry saw the Remembrall was falling so he flattened himself to the broom and took a dive. When they were close to hitting the ground Harry reached out and caught the ball before it could hit and Harry managed to pull up. Harry was breathing hard after feeling the excitement of flying but he smiled as he saw Neville's Remembrall was safe, he then noticed the students cheering for him before he landed. Harry smirked at the shocked look on Malfoy's face but the cheering was cut off when they all heard a stern voice yell "Harry Potter!"
Everyone stopped and they saw Professor McGonagall showed up, the professor spoke "In all my years, that was the most, I've never…" She couldn't finish her sentences so Harry knew he was in trouble, when the professor calmed herself down she spoke "Follow me." Some of the students tried to speak up for Harry but McGonagall said "That's enough, Mr. Potter follow me."
Harry dropped the broom and was about to follow but he saw Hermione and handed her the ball and said "Give it back to Neville." As they walked away he could hear Malfoy and his group laughing, Harry wondered if he was really going to be expelled, it had only been one week and he got himself expelled, he could only imagine how disappointed his parents must be in him.
They had entered the castle and started down a hall but then they heard running footsteps catch up to them. Turning around Harry's eyes widened when he saw Hermione was the one who came running up, Hermione called out "Professor wait!" They stopped and before Professor McGonagall could speak Hermione spoke first "We were in our flying lessons when Neville's broom went out of control and he fell and broke his wrist, Madam Hooch took Neville and threatened to expel anyone who decided to fly without her there but when they were gone Malfoy and his friends started insulting Neville before Malfoy found Neville's Remembrall-"
"Ms. Granger." McGonagall tried to cut in but Hermione didn't listen.
Hermione continued "Malfoy threatened to break Neville's Remembrall so Harry tried to stop him but Malfoy threw it-"
"Ms. Granger!" McGonagall tried again but Hermione again ignored her.
Hermione kept going "Harry only flew to save Neville's Remembrall because he knew it was important to him, it was all Malfoy's fault so please don't expel Harry!"
Harry was surprised that Hermione was trying to defend him but was even more surprised when McGonagall spoke "Ms. Granger I am not going to expel Mr. Potter."
"You're not?" Both Harry and Hermione said at the same time.
McGonagall sighed and said "No, you might as well come along as well since you're already here Ms. Granger."
McGonagall continued to walk down the hall, glancing at each other Harry and Hermione followed after her, Harry took the chance to whisper "Thanks for coming to help me."
Hermione gave a small smile and said "Well sometimes it's more important to stand up for your friend."
Neither realized McGonagall heard them and gave a small smile, after a while they stopped in front of the defense class where McGonagall asked for wood and soon a fifth year student came out. McGonagall said to the student "Wood, I have found you a seeker." McGonagall turned to Harry and Hermione and said "This is Oliver Wood, he is the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team, Mr. Potter the way you handled the school broom was unlike anything I've seen a first year do before and with you on the quidditch team we can win the cup this year."
Oliver looked over Harry commenting he had the build of a seeker, Harry was left stunned at what he heard, he thought of trying out next year but now he had the chance to become a seeker. McGonagall continued "I'll speak to the headmaster and see if we can make an exception for you about owning a broom, with you on the team we can win the cup." Harry felt excitement building up but when he turned to Hermione he stopped and wondered if he should. With quidditch practice it'll take time away from his training to use wandless magic, Hermione had been a big help when it came to practicing since he already knew a few spells the other students didn't know yet.
Harry asked "What about my grades?"
The question seemed to stumble McGonagall as she took a moment to think before answering "As long as half your classes have an exceeds expectations and the other half are at least acceptable then you will be allowed to play."
Harry turned to Hermione and asked "Hermione will you help me keep my grades up?"
Hermione smiled and said "Of course!"
Harry smiled and turned back to McGonagall and Oliver and said "I would like to accept Professor but I do have a request I'd like to make." McGonagall waited for Harry to say what it was "You see I meant it when I said I want to one day become the Gryffindor prefect then head boy so I plan on working hard in my classes, I would like to know how many practices I'd have to attend so I can make sure it doesn't interfere with my studying." McGonagall understood and couldn't help but give the briefest of smiles, she saw even though Harry looked so much like James he acted a lot like Lily.
McGonagall answered "Wood here often does try to schedule as many practices as he can but I say you only need to attend three practices a week." Wood seemed a bit disappointed at that but he figured Harry can't be as bad as the other student he considered making a seeker.
Harry turned to Hermione and asked "Do you think that'll work?"
Hermione nodded and said "Yes, I can make a schedule to help you keep track of when to study and when to practice."
Harry smiled and turned back to McGonagall and said "I accept."
McGonagall nodded "Excellent, I will order a broom for you Mr. Potter, now I understand the flying lesson is still going on but as I pulled you both away you will be excused, Ms. Granger I will take five points as I only needed Mr. Potter but I'm rewarding you ten points for looking out for a friend."
The two smiled at each other before McGonagall dismissed them, as they walked away Harry said "I can't believe I just became the seeker, I thought I'd try out for chaser next year but now I get to play as the seeker!"
Hermione nodded "It was scary seeing you dive like that but the way you moved it almost seemed like you were in full control the entire time."
Harry looked excited as he said "When I was flying like that, feeling the air blow through my hair, I couldn't help but feel like I was free. The broom followed what I wanted to do as if it understood me so I felt like I was in complete control, I'd like to fly like that again."
Hermione couldn't say she understood the feeling but felt happy for him, Harry saw they still had an hour before class was over so asked "Should we go see Neville and return his Remembrall?"
Nodding, the two friends headed straight for the hospital wing, once there they saw the healer, Madam Pomfrey, finished up with healing Neville's wrist. They returned the ball to Neville, who was overjoyed to have it back, and explained everything that happened to Harry while he was gone. Neville was amazed and happy for Harry making the team and so the three friends enjoyed the hour before lunch.
When lunch started the three friends arrived and sat with their year mates who started to question them about what happened, after giving a quick explanation Harry tried to go back to eating but was interrupted again when Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle came over, Malfoy opened his mouth "So scarhead when are you getting kicked out of here?"
Harry spoke "Look at that, you're too scared to walk over here alone so you need to bring Crabbe and Goyle with you, not that I'd expect much from a coward like you." Malfoy glared but before he could say anything Harry continued "To answer your question Malfoy I'm not getting kicked out, I was protecting something important to a friend while you were trying to cause trouble so if anyone might be in trouble it's probably you."
Malfoy angrily said "You think you're so special scarhead, it's time someone put you in your place, I challenge you to a duel!"
Instantly Ron spoke "Harry accepts, I'll be his second, who will be yours?"
Harry looked annoyed at Ron for speaking for him when he didn't need to, Harry already saw his outburst brought attention to them and knew he couldn't back out but then he got an idea and spoke louder for others to hear "Very well then Malfoy I accept your duel but since you were the one who issued the duel I'm the one who will choose the time and place, right after lunch we can have our duel."
Malfoy's eyes widened at that, he intended to trick Harry into getting in trouble and not actually face him, before he could say anything Harry spoke again "Do you accept Malfoy or do you want to show everyone how much of a coward you are and back out?"
Malfoy saw many were staring at him and he knew he couldn't get out of it, angrily Malfoy said "Fine, you better be there scarhead."
Malfoy left with Crabbe and Goyle following right after, as soon as they were gone Hermione said "Harry what are you doing, you could get in trouble!"
Ron once again spoke first "He's going to finally shut up Malfoy."
Harry looked annoyed and turned to Ron and said "Ron, I didn't need you to speak up for me, Malfoy was just trying to cause trouble again and now I have to face him in a duel."
Ron spoke "But it's just Malfoy, I'm sure you can beat him!"
Harry still looked annoyed and said "With what spells, so far we've only learned about five spells in class and only two can be used in a duel."
Ron seemed to realize what Harry said was true but then he said "But that means he knows the same spells as well so you can still win."
Harry didn't want to argue anymore and started to think of what to do during the duel, he quickly ate enough to fill his stomach before approaching Professor Flitwick and asked "Excuse me Professor but I was hoping you could help me, you see Draco Malfoy has challenged me to a duel and we agreed it'll happen after lunch is over, can you referee the duel for us?" Flitwick was surprised but agreed and seemed excited to see how the duel will go.
When lunch was over many students stayed to watch the duel happen, as Flitwick finished getting everything ready Harry and Draco stepped up to begin the duel, Malfoy said "Last chance to back out scarhead, you don't stand a chance."
Harry had a plan he hoped would work so he answered "Not a chance, Malfoy."
Flitwick started the duel and quickly Malfoy fired "Flipendo!"
Harry quickly sidestepped the spell letting it pass, Malfoy didn't let up and kept firing the same spell but Harry kept sidestepping the spell since he knew it would tire out Malfoy first, luckily dodging the spell wasn't too different from when Dudley and his gang would throw rocks at him so Harry was able to avoid being hit. Harry focused on Malfoy's right and whispered as quietly as possible "Frictionless."
Just as the journal described the spell gave off no light but Flitwick noticed the ground next to Malfoy change slightly. With the spell in place Harry fired back his own spell "Locomotor wibbly!" Aiming for his left side the jelly legs jinx almost hit but Malfoy was able to dodge to his right but suddenly he yelled as he slipped. The moment Malfoy moved Harry aimed for where he was going to be and said "Flipendo!" The blue spell rushed and hit Malfoy knocking him on his back, causing him to drop his wand, Flitwick called the duel and declared Harry the winner and this caused many students to cheer.
Harry watched Malfoy still on the floor before he decided to walk forward, Malfoy felt it was impossible to get a proper hold of the ground to stand up but soon the floor felt normal, looking up he was confused when he saw Harry standing in front of him with his hand held out to him. This caused many of the students to stop and watch to see what would happen, Malfoy asked "What are you doing?"
Harry answered "Look Malfoy I don't want us to be at each other's throats for the seven years we're going to go here, I'm hoping to make friends in all the houses including Slytherin so let's shake hands and agree to stay out of each other's way." Many were stunned but none were more stunned than McGonagall and Snape, Snape wanted to give Harry detention for the duel but after hearing it was Draco who issued the duel and Flitwick was the referee it meant he couldn't punish the boy for this but he hadn't expected Harry to say what he just said.
Malfoy was quiet for a moment before anger appeared on his face and he hit Harry's hand away and said "I don't need help from a worthless half-blood like you!" Malfoy got up and continued "You only won because you got lucky, you're still nothing compared to a real pureblood!" Malfoy picked up his wand and stormed off with his group following after him, soon many of the students started to leave but some of the Slytherin first years glanced back at Harry.
Harry sighed in disappointment as he had hoped Malfoy would accept so they won't have to keep fighting. Harry felt two hands hit his back causing him to jump before turning around and seeing it was Fred and George Weasley, the twins spoke "It was a nice effort..."
"But Malfoy is too pig headed…"
"To accept an offer…"
"Made by someone…"
"He looks down on."
Harry saw Ron was right about the twins but said "I figured but hoped he might accept, now I have to deal with him for the next seven years."
The twins placed a hand on Harry's shoulders and said "If he causes you trouble…"
"Let us know…"
"And we'll deal with him." They finished together before heading off.
Harry smiled at the twins before he was approached by an excited Hermione followed by Neville and Ron, Hermione asked "What was that spell you used on the ground!?"
Harry quickly thought of something and said "It's called Frictionless and it causes someone to keep slipping on the ground until the spell is canceled, I forgot where I read it but it sounded interesting."
"Can you teach me how to cast it?"
As the four friends walked off Flitwick kept watching Harry as he thought "That wasn't a coincidence, Mr. Potter clearly dodged Mr. Malfoy's spells as though he had practice and after observing the way Mr. Malfoy was fighting he thought of a plan to end the fight quickly, even though it was a whisper he still tried to cast a spell silently, I'll keep an eye on him and see if he's someone with the potential to become a duelist." The four friends headed back to the common room to prepare for their final class in the astronomy tower at midnight.
Please comment and let me know what you thought of this chapter.