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Wednesday 25/9/91
Dear Spencer
I was surprised that the hat was even considering Gryffindor for me, but then again, I chose to come here knowing that it might be dangerous that the headmaster might very well want me abused and beaten and weak for some nefarious reason, so I guess that could be construed as a ridiculous amount of bravery and daring, or stupidity which I'm not totally convinced isn't the same thing. I was a bit surprised by some of my other classmates sortings as well. There's a girl in Gryffindor, the one on the train who was proud to tell me she'd read all about me, that spends all her time studying and thinks books are so wonderful that they can never be wrong, and my friend Neville seems to be afraid of just about everything, he thought that he'd be in Hufflepuff. Maybe it's partly influenced by families because my parents and Neville's parents were both in Gryffindor. Part of me thinks maybe I'm just not smart enough to be in Ravenclaw. But in the end I think that the hat let me choose, it said I'd be great in Slytherin but could also fit in Ravenclaw and Gryffindor I decided that I wanted to be in Gryffindor, not because I think it's the best fit for me but because my parents were both in Gryffindor and it was clear that that was where everyone expected me to go, and appearing to be doing what's expected is the best way to fly under the radar, so maybe the hat just makes conversation and sorts students where they want to go. Though it was right when it said I could be great in Slytherin, choosing which house I wanted to be in to manage other people's perception of me is cunning and I am ambitious to learn everything I can to succeed in this world and to beat whoever is trying to keep me ignorant. Anyway being in Gryffindor seems to have worked I see Dumbledore at meals but I haven't noticed him watching me and he hasn't tried to speak to me.
Besides if I hadn't gone into Gryffindor I wouldn't have met Dean who offered to ask his mum to help with our letters, and I don't know if anyone else would've offered without telling someone about it, so it's definitely worth it even if Gryffindors are a lot more rowdy than I would like. I think that I'd like the relative calm of the Ravenclaw dormitory better but I can't say I like the actual Ravenclaw boys in my year level that much. Not that I know them well.
My professors are a bit of a mixed bag. There's Flitwick who I think might be part goblin or some other race I haven't heard of yet, he's an energetic cheerful little man smaller than all of the students in my class. Probably about the same size I was when we met or maybe a bit shorter. He teaches charms and stands on a pile of huge books to see over his desk. Professor McGonagall is tall and thin and Scottish, very strict and efficient and looks about seventy years old, she teaches transfiguration and is the Gryffindor head of house. Sprout teaches herbology and is somehow motherly and practical and looks middleaged and I don't want to say fat but she is big. Binns is a ghost who has been teaching history for a couple of hundred years and tries to bore us all into a stupor. He usually succeeds. You'd think magical history would be interesting and I enjoyed the books I read about it over the summer, even the textbook which was the worst of the lot of them, but the way Binns teaches just isn't a bit interesting or even tolerable. The only way to stay awake is to concentrate on not listening to him and get on with reading something else. Snape teaches potions, the subject I was looking forward to the most. It's a huge disappointment. He should never have been a teacher, he hates students, he doesn't even try to teach or explain anything and he is condescending, sarcastic, abusive and unfair. If we ask a question in class it just invites more insults. He's the youngest of the professors and looks about in his mid-thirties. There are rumours that he's a vampire so he could be a lot older but I think that's only other students being nasty about him because of the way he's treated them, his classroom is down in the dungeons and he's very pale but I have seen him in the sunlight. It's now my least favourite class. Last but not least DADA, Defence Against the Dark Arts, which should be an exciting class but is another disappointment, it's taught by professor Quirrel the professor with the stutter that seemed to be afraid of his own shadow when I met him in Diagon Alley he still seems to be afraid of just about everything, he's the last person who should be teaching us to defend ourselves. I think he has PTSD. They say he had a run in with a vampire last year in Europe somewhere but he isn't afraid of Professor Snape. I have to make sure I've done my prep for that class because I can barely understand his stammering and stuttering half the time.
I'm sure I've missed somebody, oh yeah. Astronomy but I can't tell you much about the teacher, I was too busy trying to stay awake because the class is taught at midnight after a full day of other lessons. We have the morning off afterwards though thank heavens.
The most exciting thing we've learned so far is flying. On a broom, which I know sounds so cliche but it's awesome. They're brooms specifically enchanted to fly of course nor any old kitchen broom but it was the best! Like a roller coaster without being confined to the rails. There's a sport played on brooms and I made the team, it's a bit complicated and it didn't make much sense to me when Ron tried to explain it and I haven't seen a game yet so I'll send you a book about it when I can get one. It sounds really dangerous but the captain said not to worry because the healers here can fix broken bones in like a minute or two.
Now that I'm learning to use magic deliberately every day, I haven't had any more episodes where it feels like I need to be careful not to lose control of it, which I was worried that I would being out of the dampening field that's around the Dursleys house. They say here that controlled wandless magic is very rare, I wonder if it because they only teach us to use magic with our wands until they become dependent on it. I am still using the wandless lights at night that I used to make in my cupboard, and before I master each spell with my wand, I attempt it without one, sometimes I succeed and sometimes not. I managed to make a fake wand before I came to Hogwarts. It looks like my real one but it feels like a plain stick so I can practice doing the spells without a wand without anyone noticing. Charms are easy so far but Transfiguration is incredibly difficult. It's easy with my wand though.
I haven't tried asking anyone for somewhere else to stay yet. I don't know who I could ask. I probably should talk to my head of house about it, but Professor McGonagall is so strict and stern and she always sits next to Dumbledore at meals. I'm not sure whether that's because she was assigned that seat, it comes with her role of Deputy Headmistress or if they're friends. I feel I need to know that before I can confide in her.
How is your school and your house? You do call it a house not a dorm, right? And your classes? You haven't told me anything about your professors this year. Is that because they're all the same ones or have I been a bad friend and too excited about Hogwarts, forgetting to ask about your things?
Your friend always
Harry
A/N: Thank you to all those who reviewed followed or favourited this story for your support.